WHO: Henry and Iestyn Ceredig, Lucifer and the Antichrist WHEN: August 2023 and months onwards WHERE: The sheriff's basement dungeon, repurposed WHAT: Round 2 WARNINGS: Lucifer, torture, sexual assault (though the worst is off screen), suicide, self-harm, isolation, a rotting body, etc
It was supposed to be a nice walk around Central Park on a summer afternoon, though that wasn't what it ended up being. Henry and Iestyn had been strolling happily, hand in hand, taking in the sights. Neither of them had been in a hurry to get anywhere, really, and then it was like the lights went off.
Henry woke up first, with literally no memory of Lucifer appearing in front of them and letting his mask slip a little to make them both lose consciousness. It was like his mind had wiped it clean away, rather than remember it. He groaned his body stiff and aching. He sat up to find himself somewhere he didn't recognise. And as his head cleared, his stomach dropped because he was in a cell. A basement with...eight cells, to be precise.
Not again. No no no no-
His cell was the closest to what looked like a door leading upstairs, and Henry glanced over to see Iestyn locked in a cell beside him. He gasped and with his heart in his throat, he crawled over to the bars separating them. In the cell beyond Iestyn, there was glass littering the floor, and a board had clearly been nailed over a window. If Henry had been paying any attention at all he would have assumed that window had been shattered, but his entire focus was on Iestyn now. Oh god, was Iestyn hurt?
Before he could even think about who had done this, Henry needed to know if his husband was alright. "Iestyn!" he yelled, reaching through the bars, though Iestyn was lying a little out of reach. "Iestyn, honey! Wake up! Oh god, please wake up."
As Iestyn opened his eyes, he had a sick feeling in his stomach. He knew this feeling. The way the darkness had suddenly descended and was now lifting...
His mouth dry, his body on full alert, he tried not to move too fast just in case anyone was watching, but he could hear Henry panicking so he'd have to say something. "I'm alright," he croaked, forcing the words out so Henry would take a breath. He sat up, his hand to his head. "Where are we?" He didn't recognise anything about this place at all, but the fact that there were bars around him was making his guts twist.
Relief washed over him to hear Iestyn's voice, though it was short-lived. They were still in a fucking prison somewhere. "I-I dunno," Henry said, reaching out for his husband still. "Baby, come here. Are you hurt?" Henry himself was sore, most likely from lying on the hard ground though. Nothing of significance.
Shuffling over, Iestyn took Henry's hand, looking him over to make sure he wasn't hurt either. "No, I'm just... I just-" He was having trouble pulling together his words or thoughts, because his mind only went to one place, and it was so hard to think around it. He shook his head, looking around the room, trying to take in any clues. "I don't- don't know-"
"Hey-" Henry was so glad to be able to wrap his fingers around Iestyn's hand. "We're okay then. We're okay and we'll figure this out," he said, trying to keep his voice calm and level. He wasn't sure they were okay, but as long as he was reassuring Iestyn, he could try to ignore the knots in his belly.
"Okay, we- We should pray, right? You talk to your dad and I'll talk to Gabriel? Or-" Henry realised he hadn't even checked for his phone so he patted his pockets to find it. His phone was gone - clearly taken, but the granola bar he had shoved in there before their walk was still present. Probably flat and melty, but still good. "Whomever it was left this," he said, pulling it out. "Should we hide it?" He didn't want it taken away if it was going to be their only food for who knew how long.
God, he didn't want to do this again.
Iestyn gulped, looking at the wrapper in Henry's hand, and then at Henry's face in horror. Stashing food again?? He couldn't, he just couldn't do this, he wanted to take the bar and throw it far away just to prove the point that he didn't need to do this.
"I don't know," he said miserably, his voice squeaking on the last word as his lower lip started to quiver. "I can't- I can't do this again- Henry-"
"I know, I know-" Henry's voice was shaking now too. He was so scared but he had to be brave, because they couldn't both fall apart at once, surely. And Iestyn was clearly falling apart.
Silently, he sent a desperate prayer to Gabriel, but workout knowing where he was, all he could do was beg for help without specifics. "Hold on to me, okay? We're together. That's something, right?" Unless they made him watch Iestyn being tortured. Then it was the literal worst thing. "We have to think. There's windows. Can we climb up?"
Iestyn was gripping Henry's hand painfully, not realising how hard he was clinging in his fear. The only window he could see without turning was boarded up, which gave him no hope at all. "We're locked in, how can we climb??" he wailed. "And even if we get out a window, they'll chase us down again, it'll be a trick. They think of everything, you can't trust them!"
"Iestyn!" His husband was well and truly panicking now. "Look at me, okay! Look at me and breathe. Just breathe." He wished he could pull Iestyn into his arms, but there were bars between them and he couldn't. He would have to do with just holding Iestyn's arms firmly. "Look at me. We're alright. I prayed to Gabriel for help and he'll be coming. He'll have told everyone. We're going to be okay. Breathe with me, babe."
"But we don't know where we are. It took them weeks last time." Tears were escaping, and Iestyn was having trouble following Henry's words. "I don't know if- oh God-"
He cut himself off though, because he didn't want to tell Henry he didn't think he would survive this. Henry was stuck in here too. They both had to endure the suffering, together this time. Who knew how quickly the angels would even come through...
Henry reached out to wipe Iestyn's tears. He pulled Iestyn's face closer so he could try to kiss Iestyn's forehead, but he couldn't quite make it work. "Darn," he hissed. "Honey, they'll find us. We just have to hold on. We should- We should see if the water works. I saw a sink-"
Henry let go of Iestyn, but only to check the sink. He twisted the the handle and was relieved when water gushed from the tap. "Thank god. We should drink something, honey. We have to keep hydrated."
Iestyn quite wasn't in the mood to think smart like Henry was, and he didn't trust the taps either. As Henry moved away, he went to the door instead, searching it for its locking mechanism. There had to be a key or something, surely. Pressing his face as close as he could, he tried to peer around the door, until he realised he could just look across at the door locked opposite. There were key pads with codes. No lock picking here, even if they could.
As he breathed in to speak, his throat caught on dust, and he coughed. His hands were grubby where he'd gripped the bars, and it looked like, outside of their two cells, everything had been unoccupied for some time. What the hell was this place? It smelled dank. He rattled the door and made a sound of desperation. Why did He insist of leaving them alone for so long??
Henry had so such qualms about the taps. He sucked water into his mouth, soothing his dry throat, and then he twisted the tap off, hoping hoping hoping that supply remained on. Because there was nothing to store any water in.
His stomach clenched as he realised he was thinking long term here. And even if he was trying to be the strong one, he was terrified. Seeing Iestyn be so fucking scared was awful as well. And the desperate sound Iestyn made while rattling the cell door made Henry's chest clench.
He turned around so he could see Iestyn, and he moved to the front of his own cell, closer to his husband. "I'm trying-" he whispered to Iestyn, "trying to be calm and not panic before we know what's going on here. But I- I'm scared, Iestyn." He pushed against his own cell door, but of course it didn't budge. "And I want to be able to hold you and I can't."
Iestyn held his breath, trying to calm the steadily rising panic. Henry was trying to tell him how afraid he was, and he wanted to be supportive, but it was so hard to think past himself in this moment.
Except to be so, so grateful that Addy wasn't here.
Oh God. Addy. She was going to be in pieces when she found out...
Stiffly, he folded down to sit on the floor, shuffling over to lean against the bars separating himself from Henry. "I don't know how long we'll be in here until He comes," he said softly, drawing his knees up. "I'm sorry. It's not fair on you, it's just because of me-"
Every time Iestyn said something like that, Henry's heart ached. Of course it wasn't Iestyn's fault. He lowered himself to the floor too, and he reached through to clasp Iestyn's hands, holding them so tight. "Listen to me," he said, trying to keep his voice steady, though it still wavered, "you are worth everything."
It was true. Even if the worst happened...even if he died now, Iestyn had made his life so happy.
But god he didn't want to die.
Time wore on, and the muggy air in the prison cells made those damn bars seem all the more oppressive. After what felt like hours of them both, huddling and terrified, Henry spoke up. "Iestyn? We both know what this looks like. What this is. Right? So we should- We should uhm...plan, right? Decide how to- Decide- Oh God. God."