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montammil · 8 months

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Playing Along, Part 1

This is a collab with @lucakairomi ! I had a lot of fun with this!! Luca belongs to @lucakairomi

CW: Parental whumper, female whumpee, description of gore and wounds, failed escape attempt, kidnapping, mentions/threats of drugging

Luca slowly comes to, her head pounding. Lights and skin and darkness dance. She tries to move her hands- rope stops her. It chafes. She blinks a few times, forcing the black spots to recede from her vision. What she finds is... well, unexpected, to say the least.

She's lying on a bed- a colorful bed, the kind she recognizes from magazines. Around the room- windowless, but spacious- are piles of stuffed animals, drawing supplies, as well as a large easel. A large beanbag chair sits in the corner, surrounded by what looks like chapter books- she knows some of the titles. The closet has a neat pile of folded clothes beside it. A children's room...?

She sits up with some difficulty, inching herself up against the headboard, and swings her legs over the edge of the bed. Her shoes are gone- the plush carpet feels pleasant under her feet. But more to the point... Lawrence. Right. He'd shot her with something... no wonder her legs felt like lead. Her head was still full of fog. Where had he taken her...?

She slowly slides off the bed and carefully regains her balance, grimacing at the ache in her neck. She tries to pull at the ropes, but they're tight- not enough to hurt, but enough that she won't be able to slip out of them without serious work. And she doesn't have time for that. Getting out of here is the priority.

She manages to twist the doorknob with her hands tied- it's unlocked, luckily. Bruefly she wonders what sort of kidnapper leaves the door unlocked, but she's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Creeping out into the hallway, she heads for the stairs, pressing herself against the banister and listening intently for any signs of movement.

She begins to walk down the stairs, her bare feet making no noise, her heart in her throat. She hopes... she hopes he's gone. She doesn't want to see him.

She reaches the bottom of the stairs without incident, and starts to creep towards what looks like the front door. It's right there, just a few more feet...

The lights flicker on.

"Luca!" a voice gasps.

She spins around, heart pounding.

Lawrence is standing in the doorway, one hand on the light switch. He's dressed neatly, wearing a sweater and jeans, and his expression is shocked. "What are you doing out of bed?"

Luca shakes her head, incredulous. "What do you mean? Why am I here?" Get as much information as possible. If he really is the Collector- and let’s be honest, if it wasn't obvious before it sure as hell was now- she's in a situation unlike any she's been in before. "And what's the deal with these?!" She gestures to her tied hands, letting a bit of the bitter betrayal leak into her voice. "You shot me!"

"Oh, Luca," he says softly, approaching her. "I'm so sorry about that." He takes her shoulders, steadying her. "I didn't want to knock you out, but you gave me no choice. You shouldn't be walking around like that." He gently turns her around. "Come on, let's get you back to bed."

She digs her feet in. "No! You have to tell me what's going on!"

"Luca..." he chides, and there's a warning in his voice.

She takes a step back, away from him. "No! No, I'm not going with you!" She's surprised by how even her voice is, when inside she's trembling.

He sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I can see I'm going to have to be a little more persuasive, then." He reaches behind his back, and when his hand reappears, it's holding a filled syringe. He sighs at her baffled expression. "I always keep them on me, for moments just like this. So you can continue to throw your temper tantrum, or you can make your dad's life a little easier and obey him."

Ingratiating herself with her captor was a slippery slope to Stockholm syndrome, but it was also the best strategy she had at the moment. It didn't usually work with regular goons (motivated by money) or... certain others (sadists) but Lawrence didn’t seem to be either of those. If she got into his head enough, maybe she could convince him to let her go of his own free will.

Not to mention that cocktail of drugs he had shot her with left her feeling a little less confident than usual about brute-forcing herself out of this situation, and she can't do anything while unconscious, so she takes a few more steps back. "Hold on- you- you don't have to do that, Lawrence. I'll- I'll come."

"Ah, see, was that so hard?" he asks, and there's a touch of smugness in his voice. He gently takes her by the arm and leads her back up the stairs, towards the room she woke up in.

Luca swallows. She needs to try and keep him talking- find out where he's taken her. She casts a glance at him out of the corner of her eye- he's smiling softly, almost beatifically.

"I'm not tired," she says as Lawrence opens the door to the room. "My- head hurts. And I'm uh- I'm scared. Where are we?" She lets a little of the fear she's suppressing color her tone- the better to garner sympathy, and she isn't sure how long she can keep up the calm facade anyway.

"Oh, Lulu," he says, and the words make her skin crawl. He gently leads her to the bed and helps her sit down. "It's all right, sweetheart. You don't have to be scared. You're safe here." He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "We're at my house."

Luca manages not to flinch away from the touch. From her short look around the house, the place is big, and presumably on a private plot of land, so Lawrence definitely didn't lack for money. She wishes she would have been wrong on that deduction.

Which meant her others were also probably correct- he had done this before. With two people, if not more. And they hadn't gone after him... well. She understood why. He was rich, powerful, and influential. And apparently extremely delusional, from what she could tell... "Is that why- you were so nice? You wanted to kidnap me?! I got too close, is that it?" Her tone is accusatory. "Why didn't you just kill me like a those other reporters who looked into your business, huh?"

Probably a terrible idea to tempt fate, but she was wondering about that. Why had he spared her? What was different?

Lawrence seems taken aback, and then sad. "Oh, no, Luca, of course not." He sighs. "I'm not going to hurt you, sweetheart. You're my daughter. From the day I met you I knew you were my daughter. You just didn't know it yet. But now, you do." He smiles. "And you're not leaving. You're never leaving. I need you to understand that."

Okay, he's... seriously delusional. Bad sign. Very bad sign. "Never? You mean- I'm stuck in this house like- forever?" Surely he didn't plan on keeping her imprisoned, right? That was impractical as well as, well- ridiculous.

He nods with conviction. "You're making it sound like a bad thing! I want to be there for you, Luca. I'm going to take care of you. You're safe here." He takes her bound hands in his. "There's nothing to worry about here. I'm not like those… other people you deal with regularly. Far from it. In fact, that's just another reason why I need to keep you here. To keep you safe."

Luca nods slowly, less out of agreement and more out of a dawning sense of cold understanding. "I... see..." The obsession with paternity and trauma from losing his wife has led to... well, this. Kidnapping young adults to be his surrogate children.

Definitely one of the weirder things she's seen in her line of work... "But I- I was doing okay before. I was safe." Well, "safe" wasn't the word she'd use, but it was manageable. It wasn't being stuck in a house with a potentially unstable man, at least.

Lawrence laughs, like he can't believe she'd claim such a thing. "Not from what I saw. You were throwing yourself into danger, Luca! You were always running into some bad situation! You're my daughter! I'm not going to let you throw your life away like that!" By the end of his speech, he looks genuinely angry and hurt. He runs a hand through his hair. "I had to save you. I had to take you out of that dangerous job, before you got yourself killed! I can't lose you."

He sounds... he sounds like he means it. Luca doesn't know what to say to that, so she falls silent for a moment.

Looking back to her, Lawrence murmurs, "I know I sound crazy to you, but I promise, everything will make sense soon." He sits down on the bed next to her. "Why don't you rest for now, sweetie? We'll talk again later."

Luca quickly grabs his hand, more out of impulse than anything. "W-wait! Don't go! I'm- I'm not tired, really." She won't get anywhere being stuck in here. Even getting a layout of the house was better than that. Besides- Lawrence's strangely genuine words had piqued her interest. Was he really that concerned after knowing her for a total of a few weeks, maximum? "I'm uh- hungry."

Not a lie, she hadn't eaten since before her visit to the college. Not that she trusted him not to drug her food, but if he had a syringe on him at all times it didn't seem necessary to hide it.

Lawrence seems to brighten up at this. "Of course you are! I'm sorry, I should have thought about that. I'll go get you some food." He gets off the bed and heads for the door, turning back at the last second. "Don't get out of bed again, Luca." His voice drops slightly, to let her know how serious he is.

Luca nods at that. She can practically feel his emotions shift from lighthearted to threatening. It makes her hair stand on end. She'd have time to see the house later- and not like she'd be able to do much while her hands were tied, anyway. "I won't."

After studying her expression for a moment, Lawrence nods and heads downstairs.

She breathes out a sigh of relief as soon as he's out of earshot. She's... not sure what to make of this. Lawrence is obviously obsessed with her, but she hadn't thought it went *this* deep. But she can use it. Maybe if she plays her cards right, he'll let her go.

She hears the sounds of cabinets opening and closing downstairs. It sounds like he's making something on the stove. She wonders what it is.

She looks around the room some more. The childish decor makes more sense now. Clearly he had some sort of belief she needed protection... even from herself, apparently.

But if there had been others here, they must have escaped somehow, right? Surely she could too- maybe she could get enough evidence here- assuming he kept that sort of thing- to put him away when she escaped.

Lawrence comes back up the stairs carrying a tray. On it is a plate with crêpes and strawberries. A cup of orange juice sits on the side. He sets it down on the bed next to her, then starts to cut a piece of the crêpe for her.

Luca stares at him incredulously. Before she can open her mouth to protest, he shakes his head.

"This will be easier if you just let me help you." His tone brooks no argument.

She shuts her mouth. Definitely not a fan of this. "My hands still work, you know..." Begrudgingly, she allows him to feed her a bite. It's delicious- apparently between kidnapping people the man had taken some cooking classes. She feels energy flood back into her body- the fog finally fades, snapping her mind back into focus.

Luca takes a moment to flex her muscles, before she channels her strength into her arms and snaps the ropes binding her wrists in two. She leans her head back then abruptly thrusts it forward, smacking Lawrence in the face with her forehead.

He stumbles away, the tray crashing to the floor, and Luca takes the opportunity to bolt out of the room and down the stairs.

Lawrence is close on her heels, and he lunges, grabbing her ankle and yanking her to the ground. Her chin smacks the tile, and she feels blood in her mouth. Before Lawrence can grab her more firmly, she kicks him in the face and continues running.

"Luca!" he yells, fury evident in his tone.

She makes it to the front door, twisting the knob frantically, but it's locked. She hears Lawrence coming down the stairs, and she curses, scanning the room for another escape route. There's a window that looks like it leads to the backyard, so she grabs a nearby lamp and smashes through it. She ignores the shards of glass digging into her palms and climbs out, wincing as a few pieces dig into her feet.

The yard is large and grassy- she can't see any houses nearby. She runs into the trees, hoping that maybe she'll find a road if she goes far enough.

After about twenty minutes of running, she slows, panting. She listens carefully- the forest is quiet.

No sign of pursuit. Maybe she lost him... she sags against a tree, heart pounding. She can feel the glass in her hands and feet- she's probably leaving a trail of blood, which isn't great.

She scans the area- no sign of anything, and she has no idea what direction she's going. She doesn't even know what state she's in.

She sits down with a huff, wiping the sweat from her brow. She'd take a minute to rest and then go looking for help.

If she could just find a main road or something, she'd be able to figure it out from there.

But, from the looks of it, there could be no roads for miles. It looks like Lawrence took her to a secluded house in the middle of the woods. She sighs. "Of course."

She considers her options. Keep going, injuring herself past the point of being able to walk, for a road that might not exist... and a very VERY pissed-off kidnapper... or give up, and wait for a better opportunity. He couldn't keep her in the house forever, eventually one of them would have to leave for some reason.

And although she hated to admit it... she didn't want to leave yet. Not before she knew what had really happened to those other kids. Escape now, and he'd get off scott-free.

Probably find her again- or worse, someone less equipped to deal with this type of thing. So, against every nerve in her body, she stands, wincing, and steps out from behind the tree with her hands in the air.

Her palms are bloody- wielding like this will be painful, if not impossible. Probably should have thought about that before she went through the window...

Quickly, Lawrence sprints over. Blood is dripping down his nose, and his expression is furious. He doesn't say anything, instead taking her by the arm and marching her back towards the house.

"God, I can't believe you, Luca." He shakes his head. "And now look at you! Look what you've done to yourself!"

She winces as he tightens his grip, but says nothing.

He drags her all the way to the kitchen, where he plops her in a chair. "Sit. Don't move." He leaves for a moment, returning with a first aid kit and bandages. "I'm gonna take care of you."

He dabs a wet towel over her palms and fingers after removing the glass. He takes one hand and cleans it carefully, placing a bandage on it.

"Why'd you call my name? You had the opportunity to leave and you chose to come back to me, still." He moves to pluck the glass from her feet next. He smiles slightly. "You don't actually want to leave me, do you?" It was presented more as a statement than a question.

Luca grimaces at the pain, gritting her teeth as she replies. "You get kidnapped once and it isn’t normally a mistake you make twice." Half excuse, half true. Normally she'd have been dead by now.

He exhales through his nose. "I guess I should be glad you didn't make the same mistake twice." He finishes cleaning her feet. "But you shouldn't have tried to escape at all." He wraps her hands and feet, then places the first aid kit aside. He looks over at her, studying her. "But... I am glad you came back."

To her surprise, he goes to the kitchen, even turning his back to her, to wash off his own face, from the bloody nose she gave him.

"Luca, I want you to listen to me," he says, as he washes his face. "I don't want to have to knock you out again, but if you keep acting out I will. Do you understand?" He dries his face with a dishcloth. "If you ever run away again, I won't take it well. You don't want that."

Luca flexes her hands and winces. "Yeah... I don't. Sorry." Not for escaping, obviously- that was a given. She actually felt more guilty about giving him a bloody nose. He hadn't manhandled her or anything, after all. She's been treated worse for far less.

He turns back towards her and sits down. He seems to be calming down. "I forgive you, kiddo. You're just scared and confused." He pats her head. "You must be exhausted. Why don't you get some sleep, and we can talk more when you wake up?"

He probably won't fall for the food excuse again, and her feet and hands are still stinging. The energy from the few bites of food she had eaten had pretty much been wasted on her escape attempt, and as if to punctuate her point, she suddenly yawned, the stress of the past few hours abruptly hitting her like a truck.

Lawrence turns her towards the room, but stops her at the door. "One last thing- I want you to think about your behavior today. You disobeyed me, and you put yourself in a lot of pain." His smile disappears. "If you do it again, I'm not going to be so lenient, Luca."

Luca feels his aura shift, turning cold. She shivers. Delusional... and dangerous. She'll have to tread carefully- obvious won't cut it. "Okay."

He nods, satisfied, and opens the door to the room. "Get some rest, and then we can talk about the house rules tomorrow." He kisses her forehead and then closes the door, the sound of a lock clicking unmistakable.

Luca grimaces, and hobbles over to sit on the bed. She glances at her bandaged hands, then back around the room, then back at the door. Lawrence was strange- violent one moment and calm the next. He almost seemed normal, of not for the kidnappings... and the murders... and, okay, he definitely wasn't normal, but maybe he could be...? Sighing, she flops back on the bed and stares at the ceiling. Thinking later, sleep now. She has a feeling she'll need all the rest she can get.

#lawrence oc #luca oc #cce collab #parental whumper

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