#the dream is done now it’s all champagne problems (au verse ft stillwcndering)

[forthewinn]

@trcstme

"They won't hurt me if they see value in me." Winn wished that sentence were true. More than that, he wished that they didn't see any value in him at all. He wished that he could be at home with Sarah, not trapped in this hell. Not spending days tied to a chair and nights locked in a cell.

He couldn't tell where he was, just that he was clearly in some base of operations. Parts of it reminded him of Castle, at least the parts of it he got to see. Kami had dragged him into a windowless room, clearly having been used before. Winn barely noticed as she pushed him forward, stumbling into the chair before she pulled him down and started on his restraints. Another parallel to his first capture, handcuffs and zip ties biting into his skin.

"One day, you are going to learn you can't escape me Agent Schott." Her voice was soft, even as she finished tightening the cuffs. "You should really just learn to accept that I'll always find you. And it's an honor really." It took him another moment to focus, to really try and get himself grounded in the moment. "The Ring has found you to be a valuable asset. After we were able to test our last project on you, we have decided that we once again need your mind." Winn tried to hide the fear that showed on his face at the thought of everything he lost after his most recent encounter with Kami. The memories that were taken, the pain that came with them erasing them. How he almost didn't get them back. "Oh don't worry, we aren't going to do that again. No, what we need is your knowledge. I understand you work closely with the FBI, CIA, and NSA. What we need from you is simply to get into their systems for us, we have a present to give them."

He felt his heart almost stop. At the thought of what they wanted him to do. They wanted his help on a cyber attack on government agencies. He knew that this would be the start. That if they could they would force him to hack over and over, to get into any system so they could take over. "N-no. I'm not going to get into anything for you." He finally met her eyes, bringing his chin up as he looked at Kami.

"I was hoping you would say that. I would love to persuade you."

The words seemed to live in his mind, ringing as they dragged him back to his cell. His body barely moved as they threw him onto the ground after yet another encounter with Kami. He didn't register the 'click' from the shackle that they locked around his ankle, keeping him far enough away from the door that Winn couldn't override any of their security systems.

And so it continued. Kami trying to break Winn, pulling out new ways to get inside his head. New ways to break him. A taser crackled as he was thrown into another flashback. Winn on his knees as Kami watched a taller man shove Winn's head underwater, just to bring him back up gasping for air. Part of him wondered if giving in would even change anything. It was pretty clear Kami was enjoying this, watching as every morning she opened his cell door and smiled at his broken figure. After a while, he figured out the pattern. Kami decided that she was going to re-create their previous encounters. The taser left burn marks, similar to the scars on his temples. A reminder of when he lost his memory. Bruises from the beating that mirrored their first encounter, Tobais trying to break Winn down.

Another day Kami came in. He didn't register the metal pipe that was in her hand, the one injury that Kami directly caused. "Do you remember what Tobias did with one of these?" She asked as she held it up, the light dancing on the metal. "Because I remember how you screamed." And then he felt it, the pain he wished he would never have to feel again. The metal connecting with his knee, not even trying to hold back the scream that the impact had caused. "It sounded just like that."

His entire body protested as Kami came in, Winn unable to move. He had given up on anyone finding him. He was pretty sure that he really did belong to Kami and The Ring. Winn groaned as she moved him, propping him up against the wall as she handed him a bottle of water. He could tell that it had already been opened, and maybe that should have worried him. But he knew they weren't going to kill him, Kami needed him. "Drink it." She ordered, setting down the box that she brought with her. He recognized the clothes he wore on his wedding night. The ones that he was wearing when she took him. On top of the clothes she placed a few photographs, Winn looking long enough to recognize that they were ones she had taken over the past few weeks. All of them from different points in their torture sessions. His head was feeling heavy, Winn looking up at Kami for a moment. "The drugs must be hitting you. Don't worry, it's just trazodone. You'll be asleep within the next 20 minutes. We've been compromised. But don't worry, I'll find you again."

[forthewinn]

@trcstme

"You look beautiful." Winn spoke as they approached the dance floor. Taking her hand into his, he held onto her. They worked so hard to get here, so many battles they had to fight in order to be here now. A ring on his left hand, reminding him that they were able to overcome everything. He was Sarah's husband, and there is nothing else he would rather be.

[forthewinn]

@stillwcndering​​

"What happens next is up to you.” The words echoed in his head. He didn't know how long it had been, just that each time Kami called Tobias into the room things got progressively worse. After the initial beating, Kami would come back and just add onto the pile. Trying to get Winn to cave, to program and build things for her.

The punches kept coming, Winn knowing his face looked more swollen than not. Bruises forming, blood dripping down his face. His nose was broken, cheek had a large cut on it now. Black eye, and he knew that his torso didn't look any better. His tie was long gone, Kami having removed it for some reason. His suit jacket was torn, white button up destroyed and stained.

"Normally I would break a finger or two, unfortunately I need yours to work." He let out a sigh of relief too soon, Tobias coming back in with a metal rod. "What I don't need is for you to be able to walk." And then it was a pain he hadn't felt before, as the rod met with his knee. He couldn't hold back the scream, it bounced off the walls. He was so tired, his head hanging down as his chin settled on his chest. 

He heard voices, and for a second he convinced himself that it was fake. That there was no way he heard Sarah. She couldn’t have found him, she was supposed to be recovering. Kami said they wouldn’t find him. Winn had come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t going to get rescued. He was just waiting out his time, until she got tired and killed him. He couldn’t give himself that hope.

But then she was in front of him, and Winn had to let out a soft breath. “Sarah.” He whispered, tugging against the zip ties that held him to the stupid chair for days. “You’re not real. This isn’t real.” 

[forthewinn]

@stillwcndering

They had called him in to run a diagnostic, knowing that Winn was the best one for the job. They needed to figure out what was in that box, and they needed to know now. Tablet in hand, Winn was making his way to the room. Nodding at the two agents that were guarding the door, he froze as he heard a loud 'thump'. Which was interesting considering that the room was supposed to be empty. Motioning for the two to move, Winn slowly opened the door.

He remembered what Alex had taught him in these situations, to clear the room before anything else. Handing off his tablet, Winn reached for the service weapon that normally just sat in its holster. They made him go to FLETC when he joined Alex's team, never knowing when he was going to end up in the field. So he was treated as a field agent, even if he was better behind the computer. Entering the room, he announced himself. "FBI." His voice was a little shaky, unsure of if he was the best one for the job, but he was the only one qualified to handle the box.

The source of the noise was pretty clear when he saw a taller man stand up from the floor. Okay, so they came in through the ceiling, they were obviously well-trained. Next to him was someone that Winn certainly didn't wanna mess with, and then his heart stopped beating as he recognized her. He hadn't seen her since that night when he asked if she would spend the rest of her life with him, and she said no.

"Sarah?" He asked, knowing that he shouldn't. They were breaking into his scene, probably trying to steal the very thing Winn was sent here to work on. Still, it had been years since he last saw her. Years since he was on his knee, frozen as he tried to comprehend that she didn't want him. Like everyone else in his life, she walked away.

[forthewinn]

@trcstme

Winn slowly blinked awake, his head still pounding from the night before. He didn't know how long he was asleep, but he was still holding onto Sarah. His body hurt from the position he was in, which meant that he had been in it for a while. He appreciated that no one had tried to move him, he needed to stay by Sarah. Make sure that she was okay.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep on you." He slowly lifted up his head, closing his eyes as he tried to ignore the migraine. "You look better."

[forthewinn]

@stillwcndering​​

Winn looked up from where he was sitting at the Orange Orange, hiding his laugh behind his hands. Looking up he smiled as he saw Sarah walk through the front door. “Whatever you hear, I did not hit Casey with my crutch when showing Chuck how far I could throw it. Anything he says on the topic is irrelevant.” 

[forthewinn]

@trcstme liked this for a Taylor Swift starter || Last Kiss

"I never planned on you changing your mind." He finally said it, the words that had been sitting in his mind for years after she walked out on him. After he proposed and she said she couldn't do it. They weren't on the same page, and yes it broke him. But it gave him the push that he needed to realize that maybe he could do more than he was doing in that moment.

Of course he didn't really plan to pretty much be living with Sarah right now, but after Greece and the fact that Kami had destroyed his knee it meant that he couldn't be self sufficient right now. This conversation was a long time coming, and maybe it was the pain meds, or maybe it was the fact that he had come so close to death and he still couldn't figure out why he had given himself up like that.

"You told me you loved me."

[forthewinn]

"Love slipped beyond your reaches, and I couldn't give a reason."

ft @stillwcndering