Justin and Gabrielle in the Shadow of the Gods, Chapter Five
By Xie

Justin strained against the ropes binding his wrists and ankles, wishing for the thousandth … no, the millionth… time that he was completely deaf.

The violin music stopped on a discordant note. It had started that way, too, so at first Justin didn’t realize it meant Ethan had stopped playing. He opened his eyes just enough to get a quick view through his thick golden lashes.

Ethan was staring at him, his bow still against the strings. Justin closed his eyes again. Not since he’d been stuck in the bottle with Gabrielle had he been so frustrated.

Well, other than when every time Brian tried to fuck him, he’d get pulled back into the bottle before Brian got his dick inside him, but other than those, this was the worst. Or when Callisto had him chained to the ritual altar, although he didn’t remember too much of that. Or possibly when he was chained to the bed at the police station…

He really had been tied up a lot lately, Justin thought to himself.

The music resumed.

For the last three days, Ethan had been doing nothing but playing violin music and trying to feed Justin chocolate and champagne. At first the defiant captive had refused everything, but hunger and thirst had finally taken their toll, and he’d reluctantly accepted a few bites of candy and sips of champagne. Ethan had tried to kiss him, but he always managed to shut his lips and turn his head. He’d sworn to himself he’d never kiss anyone on the mouth but Brian.

Brian. The very thought of the older man made tears well up in Justin’s tightly closed blue eyes. Would he ever see him again, or would he die here, the sound of screeching strings the last thing he’d hear?
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Brian followed Hunter down a dark alleyway, with Xena and Gabrielle close behind.

“Quiet,” the greasy-haired hustler hissed. The three of them froze, waiting for a signal.

He finally gestured them into a narrow opening between two buildings, and then pressed his hand against a rough brick wall. A gap appeared between some of the bricks, and with a small grinding noise, enough of the wall shifted inward that they were just able to slip through.

It closed behind them with a loud noise, but no one flinched or even seemed to notice.

“If Ethan has your boyfriend, he has him down here somewhere.” Hunter had started moving down the dark hall as if he was familiar with its every twist and turn, which he probably was since given his general pallor and pastiness he almost certainly lived underground.

“He’s not,” said Brian, “my boyfriend. I don’t do boyfriends.”

He couldn’t see anyone’s face, but he was fairly sure he heard Xena snort. He frowned.

“I don’t think this is the time for semantic debates.” Gabrielle sounded firm and slightly disapproving. He thought he heard Xena snort again, but she didn’t say anything.

Brian felt the air on his face get cooler, and he saw a dim light ahead. Hunter stopped them with an extended arm. “Okay, we have to split up here. There’s about a dozen branches, and I don’t know where he’s got your boyf… friend. We’ll have to search each one.”

“Right.” Xena’s voice cut like a contemptuous knife. “We’re going to let you split us up.” She pulled Hunter to her with one strong arm. “All of us together, one branch at a time.” She gave him a little shove. “And you go first.”

Hunter mumbled something that Xena ignored, and led them down the dark hallway furthest to their left. A number of times Brian could hear the flowing of water or roar of traffic far overhead, and twice they passed other figures pushing by them in the dark halls.

What felt like days but was probably only nine or so hours later, Brian, Xena, Gabrielle, and Hunter were sitting in a small circle back where they’d begun. They had searched everywhere Hunter led them, but hadn’t seen any sign of Justin. Brian’s mind had begun to circle like a caged animal, going from nightmare scenario to nightmare scenario of the blond boy’s taut young body tied to an altar or chained to a bed, scenarios that he had no trouble picturing since they’d already happened to the teen, and recently, too.

“We have to find him!” The words were torn from his throat.

Gabrielle put her hand on his arm. “We will.” She turned to Xena. “I’m worried about Justin’s post-traumatic stress disorder.” Her voice stumbled over the unfamiliar modern medical terminology. “This can’t be good for him after everything he’s been through lately…”

Xena sighed, rubbed the bridge of her nose, stood up, and yanked Hunter to his feet.

He flew up with a yelp. “Hey! Don’t put the pinch on me again, I don’t know where he is! Honest!”

The tall woman stared into Hunter’s eyes for a long time, but finally let him go with a jerk. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.” She stared off into the darkness.

Brian walked a short distance away from the group, and rested his forehead against the dank walls. He was surprised to notice his heartburn flaring up, even though it had been several hours since he’d had anything to eat. He jerked when he felt someone touch him.

“We’ll find him.” It was Gabrielle, her small hand firm on his shoulder, her voice comforting and certain. “Xena will find him.”

Brian turned around and looked down at the petite Amazon, then shook his head. “When? And what’s happening to him while we look?”

Her eyes looked into his, troubled.

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Justin had stopped testing the bonds that held his hands and feet. Ethan’s training as a police officer had come in handy for his new career as a kidnapper, he thought to himself. Fucker.

He was alone, the room dimly lit only by candles that one by one guttered out. Soon the room would be lost to darkness.

Justin tipped back his head and ordered the tears not to form.

He heard the door open, and refused to open his eyes or even move. He sensed Ethan moving near him, and smelled something sickly sweet… roses? And then it began again, the nightmarish scraping of bow on violin strings.

Justin drew a deep, shuddering breath, and tried not to listen.

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Brian jerked his head upright. “Did you hear that?”

Xena was gazing down the same hallway, her eyes alert. “I heard it.”

Gabrielle and Hunter looked at each other. “What is it?”

“I don’t know.” Xena’s eyes narrowed as she listened. “It sounds like… cats. Being tortured.”

“Oh, no!” Gabrielle cried. “Xena! We have to do something!”

“Wait here.” The tall woman moved confidently towards the sound. Just as Xena’s footsteps faded into silence, Hunter made his move.

Only to land flat on his ass, Gabrielle’s foot on his throat. He looked up at her, but her eyes were still fixed on where Xena had vanished moments before.

Brian stood in the darkness, listening to the eerie screeching sounds coming from the dark corridor, feeling his heart pounding and then the burning of his acid reflux or esophageal paralysis or whatever the fuck was causing this chronic burning pain in his chest. He sighed.

A few minutes later, Xena returned, her face streaked with grime and her jacket torn. “I think,” she said, “I know where Justin is.”

Gabrielle closed her eyes for a second, then opened them. Xena was looking down at Hunter, frowning. “He tried to escape?”

Gabrielle glanced down, and lifted her foot off Hunter’s throat. “Oh, yeah, I forgot about him.” He sat up, rubbing his neck and scuttling backwards until he was against the wall.

“Fuck you,” he rasped at Gabrielle.

Xena rolled her eyes. “Better men than you have died trying.”

“Can you duel over her fucking honor later? Where’s Justin?” Brian was glaring.

Xena ignored him. “Follow me.”

She jerked Hunter up, then shoved him down the hall in front of her. Brian could feel the slope of the ground beneath his feet, leading deeper into the bowels of Pittsburgh. With every step the screeching sound got louder. After a few more steps, when the sound was at its loudest, Xena stopped and slipped her shoulder into a gap in the wall that was all but invisible. If it weren’t for the noise escaping it, no one would have noticed it.

Xena pressed against the two sides of the wall and they parted enough for Gabrielle to shove Hunter through, and then follow. Brian took over for Xena while she went after the blonde and the hustler, and then let the gap close again behind him as he moved into the musty space behind the wall.

Xena grabbed the back of Hunter’s hoodie and yanked him backwards, stopping Brian and Gabrielle with a gesture. “Brian, try that door and see where it goes. Gabrielle, keep an eye on Hunter while I try the other entryway.”

The blonde nodded and put her hand flat on Hunter’s chest, holding him immobile against the wall. Xena disappeared down the passage to the right, and Brian went left, feeling for the doorway along the wall with his hand.

He felt air move on his skin, then heard the screeching music crescendo then resume at a slower tempo, just as his fingers found the crack. He waited, but he didn’t hear the music falter. He slid the door open just enough to let a sliver of light escape, and looked inside.

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Back in the corridor, Gabrielle kept a steady pressure on Hunter’s chest with her hand.

“Why are you even keeping me here?” he said. “It’s not like I know where Brian’s boy toy is anyway. I already took you everywhere I know. I didn’t even know this place was here.”

“Because Xena told me to.” Gabrielle’s voice was pleasant but implacable.

“Do you always do everything she says? Lame.”

The blonde smiled. “Not always. But at times like this, I’ve learned not to ask a lot of stupid questions.”

Hunter contemplated her words in silence, since the pressure of her fingers on his sternum had intensified with each one.

Xena re-appeared. “That was a dead end. Is Brian back yet?”

Gabrielle shook her head. “Should we follow him?”

“Not yet. Let’s give him a few more minutes.”

“You should let me go.” It was Hunter.

Xena barely glanced at him, and didn’t say anything.

“I’m no help, and it’s a waste of Gabrielle’s time to guard me.” He sounded very sincere.

Xena snorted. “And you’d be back in half an hour with a few friends.”

Hunter shook his head. “Not a problem, dude. I have no friends.”

Xena ignored him. “I’m going after Brian.” She glanced at Gabrielle. “Bring him.”

The three of them moved in the direction Brian had disappeared earlier. When Xena felt the edge of the door, like Brian, she slid it open just a crack. When she didn’t see or hear anything, she opened it a little more. She finally opened it all the way.

The room was dimly lit by dozens of candles. There was a chair with rope tied around the arms and legs. There was an open door at the far end. There was a violin lying on the table, with a discarded bow across it.

And there was blood trailing from the chair to the doorway, and no one anywhere to be seen.

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When Justin had seen Brian in the doorway at the end of the room, he had to bite hard on his tongue to keep from crying out. He kept his eyes closed as much as he could without completely cutting off his vision.

Brian’s face showed anguish for a second, but it was rapidly replaced with determination. Justin watched the taller man’s gaze narrow as he located Ethan, who was playing by the far doorway, his back momentarily to them both.

Brian calmly walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Ethan spun around, shock on his pallid face.

Brian hit him in the jaw, and Ethan went down like a tree being felled in a particularly brutal clearcutting operation in the Pacific Northwest.

Brian strode to Justin’s side and unfastened the ropes holding his wrists to the chair. “Fuck, Justin, why, why does everyone keep fucking tying you up and chaining you to shit?”

Justin threw his suddenly-freed arms around Brian’s neck, and Brian forgot the question with the touch of the teen’s soft lips. He kept working at the bonds on Justin’s legs, and when they were free, he brought his hands up to Justin’s hair and buried them in the silky locks.

They finally broke apart gasping for air, and Brian touched his forehead to Justin’s. “Xena and Gabrielle are outside. Let’s go.”

Justin pressed against Brian, his eyes closed, and nodded. Just as his eyes opened, he saw something – a shadow, a movement – and the next thing he knew, Ethan was swinging at Brian with a champagne bottle.

Justin cried out “No!” and Brian moved at the last minute, but the bottle still hit him, shattering and leaving a bloody gash on his forehead.

Brian’s eyes registered momentary shock, and then he turned on Ethan, who got even paler under his shock of greasy hair. The former police officer started to stammer and walk backwards. Brian went after him, pausing for a second to shake the blood out of his eyes.

Ethan turned to run, and Brian followed him, but felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He knew he needed to apprehend and restrain Justin’s erstwhile captor, but he staggered and almost fell. He felt Justin’s arm slipping around his waist, and he shook his head again.

Ethan vanished out the door, and Brian felt the dizziness pass. He sprinted after the other man, Justin behind him.

The door led to a passageway that branched off in the opposite direction from the one Xena had been exploring. Brian hesitated, but the passage dead-ended at the room they’d just left, so there was nowhere else to go. Holding Justin’s hand in his, he set off after Ethan.

A few minutes later, the passage branched off in three directions. “Fuck,” Brian said, and dropped Justin’s hand. “Fuck fuck fuck.”

Justin nodded, and leaned against Brian’s side. “We should go back and find Xena.”

Brian turned around and wrapped his arms around Justin, resting his cheek on the teen’s hair. Even though he could barely see it, he could feel its softness under his skin.

The terror and grief of the last few days welled up in Justin then, and he pulled Brian’s face to his frantically, kissing the taller man until their lips burned. He pressed his lithe body against Brian’s, and for the first time in three days, Justin felt his cock start to harden.

Brian hadn’t gone three days without having sex since… well… the last time Justin disappeared, but he didn’t want to think about that so he didn’t. He just let himself thrust against the blond teen, desire spiraling through them both. Slowly he walked Justin to the wall, and pressed him back against it.

He lowered his mouth to the tender pink ear peeking out from between the golden strands of Justin’s hair. His voice was just a whisper. “Turn around.”

Justin turned against the wall, and felt Brian fumbling with a condom behind him. A minute later he felt Brian’s hard cock pressing against his ass, and he arched his back and sighed happily.

Unfortunately, he sighed too soon. Just as Brian pressed deeply into his tight channel, he felt the wall in front of him shift and move. He fell forward, Brian on his back, and then both of them plunged into absolute darkness, rolling downward, sharp stones digging into their skin as they fell.

They landed hard at the bottom of what felt like stairs. Justin wasn’t sure if his eyes were open or closed. The darkness was utter. He glanced back they way they’d fallen, but the door must have closed behind them, because there was not even a crack of light.

He shivered, and reached for Brian next to him. He felt the older man’s warm skin, and gripped him tightly. “Brian.”

There was no answer. Justin felt a knife of fear cut his heart. “Brian?”

Justin leaned over him, hands frantically feeling for Brian’s face in the darkness. He felt his hair, and felt the sticky blood that covered it.

Brian didn’t move.

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Xena was standing on the sidewalk outside of the alley where they’d entered the underground passageways. She had her cell phone pressed to her ear. Gabrielle was standing next to Hunter with deceptive casualness. Hunter wasn’t deceived, and didn’t even try to move.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying! Brian went after Justin, and now he’s missing, too.” Xena held the phone away from her ear as Brian’s lawyer, celebrity defense attorney Bunny Happenshatz, cursed Brian Kinney in highly colorful language for quite some time. Xena herself was in perfect agreement with her, but finally cut her short.

“What do we do now? I have no idea where they are or who has them, and all things considered, I’m not sure getting the police involved is the best idea in the world.”

Bunny sighed on the other end of the phone. “Yes, this isn’t time for a ‘the policeman is your friend’ approach. If I learned anything while representing Jim Stockwell, it’s that the Pittsburgh PD is not exactly a chapter of the Brian Kinney fan club.”

Xena didn’t know the full story, but she knew enough to agree. Any police department that promoted Callisto to a high management position was not likely to be a bastion of law and order.

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Justin’s hands were shaking as he fastened his pants and then Brian’s. He held the older man close in the darkness, stroking his face and hair, trying not to cry. Every few minutes he softly said Brian’s name, but between attempts to rouse him, he just did his best to keep him warm.

After a long time, he pressed his lips against Brian’s chest, and, vaguely comforted by the feeling of Brian’s heart beating, fell into a troubled sleep.

He didn’t know how long he was curled around Brian in the dark and cold. One minute he was sleeping, dreaming about violin music and fighting cats, and the next the room was full of a harsh, unnatural light. His blue eyes flew open, and he gasped when he saw the man from the gym… Erik… lounging against the wall. A short woman with wild hair stood next to him; the light was flooding from her hands and head, and Justin blinked in confusion.

“Well, well,” Ares purred, walking towards where Justin cradled the still-unconscious Brian at the foot of the stairs. “I was looking for some Xena bait, and it seems I’ve found it.”

Justin pulled Brian tighter in his arms, and looked from the tall man’s amused face to that of the woman next to him. Ares leaned down and grabbed him by the arm, and even though Justin clung to Brian with all his strength, the stronger man easily dragged them apart.

Justin struggled and fought, kicking out at Ares. He heard the woman say, “Stupid boy,” and the next thing he knew, he was falling in the darkness again, turning over and over and over.

And then he didn’t know anything at all.

Continued here...