[2er RPG] The Shepherd [ENG]

Francis chuckled.
"You underestimate me again, little brother. I can go in whenever I want. But I want my brother to be save. So I trust you and give you my talents to use. I show you every route, I go in with you, I listen to your orders. As long as you get Marcus out. You take care of him. And I take care of my father. I won't get in your way. But you better stay out of mine as well."



Anne was only the first one. Constance and Daniel followed. Marcus killed them to stop ther suffering. His father tortured them all. Daniel died just a few minutes in. Marcus couldn't bare the screams. And after every kill, Ackerman comforted him. The worst thing was: Marcus liked it. He relaxed in his fathers arms.
Now he was sitting in his box again. By now, Ackerman gave him a matress to sleep. He didn't use it. He sat in a corner, staring on the ground without seeing it. The darkness was comfort. It was quiet and peaceful. He thought about Dylan. He needed to hold on to the good memories. Just a little longer. Logan would come. He would save him.

"Well, at least our priorities match.", Logan murmured and looked at the plans that where spread on the table before him. He probably had to few man to send everyone in in teams. He didn't even have the possibilities to send every member of the Shephards there. He needed Francis to confirm the most likely routes and the most the plan which was most likely to work. Logan was not able to read Frank Ackerman as good as Francis and Marcus did. So he decided right away that he'd go with Francis - alone. They would take the best route they came up with and they would find Marcus. Everything else didn't matter for Logan right now. What Francis did to his father after finding Marcus - Logan couldn't care less. He needed to bring Dylans father back home to him.

They met up again and discussed what Logan had on information, mostly provided from Stan. No one in the organisation tried to talk Logan out of cooperating with Francis and they decided on a path to take. The other members would either secure the escape routes Frank could take or go in themselves, alone. He hadn't enough men for this but he was positive that they didn't need the others for a plan B. He and Francis would make it and the others were just there for backup and to ease Logans mind if - and only if- something would happen.

After everything was ready and set just a few hours later, because they simply had no time to loose, Logan waited in a secure distance to the old building for Francis. He brought both his guns and the military knife he kept and hoped he didn't need anything else. His clothes also changed from his usual sloppy clothes to something more appropriate and dark. He waited just a minute now, but he was already nervous.

Francis watched Logan a bit. He was determined to say the least.
"You're ready to fuck some shit up?", he asked, stepping out the shadows.
He, too, wore some very practical clothes. All black, all military grade. He had no gun - Logan insisted - but he had a knife in his boot, one on each thigh, one in the back. Also, he himself was a deadly weapon.
In anticipation of a killing, his body reacted like a junkie to drugs. Francis wanted blood. He barely could controll his hunger and today he would have a feast. His bit his lip by just thinking about it.

He snuk into the building, not making any noise. His enormous stature moved quickly, stealthily, unseen. No wonder nobody could catch this guy. He was practically invisible.
There was no one here. Just an empty room with some old tools until they found the cellar entry. Francis gestured to Logan that he would go down and look and as he didn't see anyone, he ordered him downstairs, too. He knew that they were in the right place. He felt it and shortly after, they found the boxes. Francis knew them very well.
He opened the first one. Empty. The second one. Empty, but Francis recognized the interior.
"He's definitely not alone", he whispered to Logan, "he made himself a 'creature'. A person without any will of its own. They kill if he tells them. They die for him. Everything for the master. That's his first attempt of making someone like me but faster. Didn't work. But he uses them like other people use their toolbox."
They went further down the dark hallway. There were no other entrances to other rooms. Suddenly, the lights went on.
"Hello Francis. I didn't think, I would see you again", a voice echoed through the hallway.
"Well, I thought the same way, father. But apparently you refused to die after thirty-six stab wounds. Don't worry. There won't be a third time."
"Are you sure of that, boy?"
Francis analyzed their surroundings, looking for the man. He wasn't here in the hallway but most definitely in the building.

Francis looked way too excited when he finally came, but Logan didn't bother, instead he followed him inside. For his stature he was quick and quiet, almost like a cat, Logan almost felt a little clumsy beside him. He didn't trust this man, but at least he trusted him when he said he wanted to save his brother and therefore wouldn't do anything stupid just yet. That's why he let him lead the way and listened to his commands when he had any.
Logan followed him downstairs, entering a room with strange boxes inside, which where empty. Logan had his gun ready the whole time, but he wasn't nervously shaking or anything like that, he was in full work mode. Quiet, calm and ruthless if he had to. He had killed before and he knew his priorities. For now, it was to safe Marcus, whatever the cost.
When Francis told Logan about one of his fathers 'monsters' he didn't even have to think twice about killing anyone like that if they got in between Marcus and Logan. He just replied with a short 'Hm', then followed Francis further in.
Logan looked around for a moment when the lights turned on and Frank Ackermans voice echoed trough the hallway, but he notices soon, that he wouldn't find anything of interest in this empty hallway. He listened to the short conversation between father and son and yet again had to shake his head about this family. They went further in and Logans brain searched every possibility. Was this a setup? Did Frank know where they were or was it just a bluff? Did he plan something or was he just trying to buy some time to escape? Was Marcus with him? Probably.
"You think it's a trap?", he asked calmly, ignoring their conversation and he certainly didn't want to be part of it.

"Probably. But we have a head start: he doesn't want to kill Marcus. Just everyone else", Francis replied.
After a few more feet, he stopped abruptly. A second later he pulled out hone of his knifes. With the military sign language he told Logan to be quiet, stand back and watch out. He himself went to the side and basically melted with the shadows there. They waited. Then there was it: a quiet sound, footsteps. Those weren't Ackermans or Marcus'. It had to be the creature. A few seconds later, a latino woman went by Francis. She was clearly on the lookout for someone. And she was armed.
In less than a second, Francis jumped forward, restrained the woman with one arm and hold the knife up to her neck with the other.
"What d'you say, little brother. Kiss, marry or kill?"

Marcus was so important to everyone here, it was frightening. Logan shook the thoughts away, that didn't matter now. He followed Francis, before they stopped again. Logan pressed himself against the wall, his gun ready. He heard the footsteps and he knew they weren't Marcus' and probably not Franks. The steps where too short and they sounded not like they belonged to a man.
Francis stood a few feet ahead and was the first to catch whoever was coming at them. It indeed was a woman who was in a lot of trouble when Francis got her. And if that wasn't enough, of all agents Logan was there who - kindly said- didn't give a fuck about anybody other then Marcus right now, especially not someone who was a tool to this psychopathic maniac and probably beyond saving. He just walked up to her to take her weapon, then was looking in the hallway ahead again. Maybe there was more then one lunatic on the loose here and he didn't want any surprises. Frank sounded like he didn't expect his other son to show up, but maybe he bluffed. Whatever the case, Logan was sure Frank at least expected someone from the Shephard organisation to come here sooner or later and one woman was certainly not enough to stop them. There was probably more to follow.
"I don't care what you do to her, but if she's just half as twisted as you are, you should kill her quick, so we can move on."

"It'll be my pleasure."
Francis simply rammed his knife in the womans neck, cutting through both veins. She would be dead in about five minutes, when she lost fourty percent of her blood volume.
They went on and found a second hallway with two more boxes. The first one had a table and a bunch of chairs in it. There was blood on the floor. A lot of it. Frances knew this set up and clenched his teeth.
"Bastard", he said under his breath and went to the last box.
Marcus should be in there. He opened the door, but there was no one in it.
"Are you looking for him?"
Francis quickly turned around. There he was. The monster of his childhood, standing on the other end of the hallway. His arm rested on Marcus' shoulders, in the other hand he held a gun, pointing at Marcus. Marcus himself only wore his jeans and a strange collar. He didn't even look at Francis or Logan.
"You're to late, Francis. As always you're a failure. You never do anything right. It's a shame. You had so much potential."
Francis made two steps, but stopped himself at the sound of a gun being armed.
"You really wanna do this?", Ackerman asked.
"You wouldn't kill him. You need him!", Francis answered.
"I know. You know. But you also know that I can hurt him. That I can break him."
For a moment, the three men stared at each other. No one moved. Until Marcus lifted his head. There was no emotion in his eyes. Francis understood the plan of his brother without words and nodded slightly.
"You know, father. I may have been a disappointment for you. But I think I can at least try to not be one for my brother", Francis said and threw his knife.
He hit Ackerman in the shoulder, distracting him for a second. But that man was tougher than he looked and he himself used the hidden knife in his seemingly empty hand to cut open Marcus' neck. Then he ran. Francis knew that he was not supposed to care about his brother for the moment. He needed to trust Logan with the life of the one person, who saw him. So Francis ran, too. He followed his father into the darkness.

The cut didn't hurt. He only felt the cold metal of the knife and the warmth of this blood. He had ten minutes. His father did it in a hurry, he didnt cut deep or wide enough. And Logan was there. He would save him.
Breathing became heavy as blood filled his airway. He couldn't lift his head off the ground to help with that.
Keep the wound over the heart, put pressure on it to stop the blood loss, he thought. But he wasn't able to do it. His body already stopped replying to his commands. It cold very quickly. And the darkness crept back into his vision. Sweet, peaceful darknes...

With the woman dead they moved on to find another two boxes. One of which was filled with blood and Logan gazed over to Francis who wasn't all to happy about what he saw there. Logan didn't know what this was about, but it sure wasn't good. When they opened the second box, they heard a voice and Logan quickly turned around, pointing his gun at Franks head. He looked at Marcus who didn't look like himself at all and anger crawled up again in Logan but this time mixed with pure and honest fear. He couldn't loose him, not now, not ever.
He didn't get the silent conversation between the two brothers, instead he was shocked for a moment, when Francis made a move and Frank answered with cutting Marcus neck open. The three of them almost started running in the exact same time. Frank Ackerman headed for the dark hallway, Francis after him and Logan made the few steps over to Marcus. On the way he pulled his second gun.
"Francis.", he simply said to get his attention and throw the weapon over. He wanted this bastard to die and the gun certainly would help Francis and if he only used it to slow him down.
But what happend between them next was of no interest anymore for Logan and they soon where out of sight, when Logan had tried looking, which he didn't. He threw himself on the floor next to Marcus and immediately pressed his hands on the wound. He lifted his boyfriend up with his other hand and let him lean on his chest. He could hold him that way with one arm, using his hand to keep pressure on the wound, he was already full of blood.
Only now he had time to listen to Stans questions in his ear, who heard enough to know something happened.
"I need help. Marcus is bleeding... heavily.", Logan replied and Stan knew what to do. Logan gave directions so help could be here faster. When that was done he had to wait and that was the worst. He watched Marcus bleeding and tried to stop as much blood as he could from leaving his sagged body. He didn't even know if he was conscious anymore.
"You idiot...", he murmured more to himself then to Marcus, "why have you done something stupid like that...?" He felt something wet rolling over his cheek, it was a tear and more followed. His work-mode was off as soon as he had called for help, now only fear and helplessness remained.

Marcus was brought to a hospital and Andrew looked after Logan. He dragged him away from Marcus, he needed surgery and Logan couldn't do anything to help. He helped him clean up and change clothes without asking to much questions or trying to comfort him. He just did what needed to be done and when they were finished, Marcus was out of surgery too and lying in a hospital bed. Andrew also cared about Logan being able to see Marcus, otherwise Logan probably had snapped being called 'not part of his family'. Logan could live with only the information he would be okay again too. Now he was sitting next to Marcus bed, holding his hand. He hadn't really slept for days now and was just focused on finding Marcus. Now the tiredness kicked in, now that he got him back and could only wait for him to wake up. He rested his head on the mattress and closed his eyes for a moment, praying that Marcus would wake up soon.

Francis chased after his father, through more hallways and into the sewer system. As soon as he had a clear shot, he fired the gun. He hit Ackerman in the thigh and the man tumbled over. They exchanged punches and curses and Ackerman tried to confuse Francis with stories from the past, but Francis didn't listen. He had a goal. Everything he did in this moment was reinforced by the thought of loosing Marcus. Ackerman never stood a chance against the monster he created.

Frank Ackerman sr. made it out of the sewers alive, as did his sin Frank Ackerman jr. Frank went into a high security prison, Francis into the hospital to get patched up. Afterwards he refused to leave and stood outside the room they put his brother in.



The peaceful silence changed into loud noises, mainly a beeping sound and muffled voices. Marcus opened his eyes, only to close them right away. Even the dim light in the room was too much for him. He wanted the darkness.
"How am I?", he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.
He knew that Logan was in the room. He could smell him.
"You need a shower."
His throat hurt badly, even through the pain meds. Marcus tried to find the IV line to get it out. The drugs made him dizzy and slow. He didn't like that feeling.
"Where's Francis? And what about my father?"

Logan was half asleep but was awake as soon as he heard Marcus voice. His voice was quiet and scrappy. "Marcus...!" Logan smiled happily and pressed his hand a little. "You'll be alright.", he informed him only to roll his eyed a little. "You almost needed a new head so don't brag and... Andrew made me take a shower before seeing you, so..." He sighed. "Don't ever scare me like that again, you hear me?" Marcus was searching something with his hand but Logan held him back for a moment. "Stop... you need to recover and that's better working when you can actually sleep." But he let him go again, it was Marcus decision. "Your brother caught him and is waiting outside. He refused to leave. You wanna talk to him?"

Fighting with Logan seemed to exhausting so Marcus stopped.
"Where's Dylan?", he asked while he tried to get up in a sitting position.
He felt weak and dizzy, the meds made it worse. But eventually he sat and could open his eyes without getting blinded.
"I wanna talk to Francis", he added.

Francis kept his head down. Luckily, the staff avoided him. Annd this Andrew guy kept an eye on him. He should feel save. But he never felt more vulnerable.
"You good, brother?", he asked when Logan let him in.
Marcus certainly didn't look good. Pale, skinny, exhausted. Francis checked the monitors. He had no idea what he was looking at. But he knew how to stop the annoying beeping. Marcus sighed reliefed, when it stopped.
"I look better than you do", Marcus replied.
Francis looked down on himself. Two broken ribs, a bunch of bruises, a gun shot wound on his shoulder.
"But I'm out and about."
"The meds make me dizzy. What do I get?"
Francis checked.
"Junkies would kill for this stuff."
Marcus sighed.
"Thank you", he said after a while, "really. Thank you."
"It was your plan, little brother. I was just a tool."
"No. Without you, I would still be there. Logan needed your help, you needed his. And you didn't kill each other. So thank you. You both."

"Dylan's at home.", Logan replied, watching Marcus getting up. He wanted to help him, but he didn't know how and if he would like it. "I wasn't sure if you want him to see you like this." Logan stood up, he wanted to hug Marcus, but was scared of hurting him and he wanted to talk to him, or just be beside him, but did what he asked and opened the door to let Francis in. Andrew was waiting outside.
He stayed inside at the door, giving them some space to talk, even though Logan didn't want them to. It was true Francis was a big help and he hadn't got back Marcus without him, he also caught Frank Ackerman, but still Logan didn't like him and he didn't want Marcus to get compromised by him. They should arrest him after this converation, but something told Logan, Marcus wouldn't want that and Logan would do what he decided, no matter what it was. He didn't know why he wanted to act that way, but it was as it was. He loved Marcus and only wanted him to be safe and happy.
Marcus thanked them for working together and getting him back, more or less like Marcus has planned from the beginning. But Logan couldn't feel happy about it. He still thought it could have worked otherwise and he wasn't proud of needing help from Francis. But he didn't say anything but: "I'm waiting outside..."
He left the room, not able to watch them being family or whatever and maybe he was a bit jealous. All he got was a 'you need a shower' and a thank you alongside Francis, more or less like Marcus only had thought of him second. He didn't even ask if Logan was alright, with everything what happened he could have been shot or stabbed too.
Outside he leaned on the wall next to the door, tired and not able to describe what he felt right now.
"How is he?", Andrew asked and leaned against the wall next to Logan.
"Good I guess..."
"How are you?"
Logan sighed. "Undefined..."
"They have a strange relationship, but an existing one."
"I know, I... I don't wanna talk about it. I guess I just need some sleep, I'm..." Logan sighed again. "I'm not myself, I'm sorry Andrew. How I treated you the whole time. Thanks for not being mad..."
"Who said I'm not?", Andrew asked and laughed when he saw Logans almost shocked face. "Sorry, I thought you needed a joke."
"Thanks...", Logan smiled relieved. "I guess I neglected my duties..."
"Don't worry, we know Marcus is very important to you. He is to us too, but... we just know. I understand why you got mad at me."
"Yeah... and I understand why you did it. Marcus is your partner and you trust him more then I do. And somehow his plan worked... I guess it could have gone worse if you'd gone with him."
"Thanks for saying that Logan.", Andrew smiled, calm as ever, not in the slightest mad that Logan almost got in a fight with him and avoided him for days. And Logan felt better then just minutes ago.

As Francis left he gave a nod to Logan. And then, without a word, he left the hospital. He needed to go. Not because they could arrest him. He just needed some air. Some space. This whole family thing was new and it felt strange to have someone care about you. Francis didn't know what to do with this.

Marcus examined the needle that stuck in his hand. He really wanted to pull it out and get his head back under controll. But at the same time, Logans words echoed in his ears.
With a sigh he leaned back and closed his eyes. The nausea was really exhausting.
"Logan?", he carefully asked.
As mushy as his brain was, he knew that something was wrong. He'd probably know what exactly, but not with all the meds in his system.
When Logan entered the room again, Marcus reached out for him. He couldn't stretch his arm that far because of his neck, but he tried.
"I'm sorry for not telling you. I didn't know what I would do until I did it. I...", he sighed, "I don't know. You tell me. How can I make this right?"
He delt the urge to pull Logan into the hospital bed. But he didn't do it.

Logan watched Francis leave the room again but didn't follow him or anything, he just let him go. In this moment he wasn't at work, he was visiting his boyfriend in the hospital.
He went inside again and grabbed Marcus hand when he reached out to him. He sat beside him on the bed and looked him in his eyes. He knew, he wasn't feeling well and couldn't think straight and Logan also knew Marcus hated this.
"It's okay. You are here now and you are alive.", he murmured, slowly stroking his cheek. "I thought I've lost you... multiple times in the last few days and I should be the one to apologize." Logan sighed a little, he knew he was too tense and there were other things he regretted too.
"I'm sorry if you feel like you did something wrong. I mean... don't get me wrong, what you did was kinda stupid and you had me and Dylan scared, but it somehow worked. If I had found you faster, maybe this woulnd't have happened and if I had trusted Francis a little more, maybe you wouldn't have gotten hurt. And I... I seriously messed up... You told me to watch out for Dylan and keep him safe and I just let him down... I... I'm so sorry, I was so focused on finding you and so ashamed of loosing you at the same time that I... I couldn't bring myself to even look at him. I should have been there for him..." Logan sighed and shook his head. "And even now I'm only thinking and talking about myself, making you feel bad, while you had the hardest time of us all. I'm... I think I'm just tired... I can't think straight... Anyway...", he changed the direction of this stupid conversation, he didn't have to make it any harder on Marcus. "Do you want me to bring Dylan here? Or do you want to recover a little more first? For now, he only knows you are safe and he asked about you."

Marcus pulled Logan in and under the white hospital blanket.
"For once I am the one telling you to rest", he said.
Dylan was save, that was all that mattered. For now, Marcus was okay with that. He was tired. Logan was tired. The earned a few hours of rest.

About two hours later, the were disturbed by a doctor entering the room. He just checked everything. Apparently, Marcus had to stay in hospital a few more days but they wanted to send him bclack to Washington for that. Because of the nature of the wound, he wasn't able to fly, so they had a bunch of time to kill on the road. One person was allowed to accompany Marcus on that trip.

Back home, or at least in the right city, Marcus tried to convince the doctors to not give him anymore drugs. They settled on non-narcotics. He wasn't dozzy anymore, but the pain was manageable. His neck looked okay, according to the doctors. On the left side was the cut Ackerman made, on the right two little burn marks from the shock collar. The burn marks would heal, the cut would probably leave a new scar in Marcus' collection.
He had to stay in hospital for monitoring. He was dehydrated, malnourished and hypothermic when he first came in. All of that was reason enough to keep Marcus for a whole week in hospital. It was boring. But Dylan came by everyday after school and they called each other every morning. Logan was forced to take time off after all that, to get his own shit together and relax a bit.

Six days later, Marcus went home. Finally. The doctors said, he should keep it simple, take it easy and stuff. No lifting heavy things, no rapid movements, blah blah blah. Basically bore yourself at home.
Dylan was very careful around his dad. Hugs only around the hips, no jumping in bed and he always asked how Marcus was doing.
"I'm okay, buddy. The stuff on my neck is just itchy, that's all", Marcus always answered.

It was strange for Logan to come back home. He hadn't even visited Dylan the past few days and he was so sorry about that. But instead of Dylan being angry at him or sad, which would have been perfectly understandable, he hugged him tightly. Logan had almost lost his balance and hugged him too. Dylan thanked him for saving and bringing back his dead and Logan was just confused, nothing more. He didn't know what to say about this way too perfect child, which was not only relived now, he'd always believed in Logan and understood he was working hard to get Marcus back. Logan held him for a while and Dylan as if he had read his mind, calmed him and comforted him as if Logan was the child.

He was forced to take a few days off, so he managed their home, cooked for Dylan, brought him to school and to the hospital and helped him with his homework like always. When he had nothing to do, he sometimes visited Marcus alone, but he said he shouldn't always stick around the hospital so Logan started what he wanted to start before all that happened. He got his old motorcycle out and fixed it.

After almost a week Marcus came back home and Logan knew he was overly careful with him. He took everything out of his hands and carried stuff around if Marcus needed something. He had carried Marcus himself if he had let him. Dylan too was careful and helped with everything Marcus needed. Now he was bringing him another glass of water and sat beside him on the couch. "You should drink more...", he sighed and leaned back. They hadn't talked about what happened, and Logan wouldn't ask. If Marcus wanted to talk, he would and he knew Logan would listen.

"I know. But swallowing still hurts."
Marcus felt like a child. He was perfectly capable of walking around and get things done. But Logan - and Dylan! - treated him like a fragile piece of jewellery. It was annoying but he didn't complain. They cared about him, so he let them.
He reached for the glass of water and turned it between his hands. Not Andrew, not doc Rosemary, not Logan. Nobody knew what exactly happened. He didn't say anything. He always said, he's fine and that the bandages itched. Nothing more. But he wasn't fine.He thought about Anne, Constance and Daniel. He slept, yes, but only because of the pills he had to take. As soon as he could go without, he would stop sleeping, he was sure. But he couldn't not think about them. He killed them. Three innocent people.
"I need you to do something for me", he finally said to Logan.
He gave him a note with the infos, Ackerman gave him about the people he killed. It wasn't much but maybe enough to identify them.
"I need to know who they are."

"I know...", Logan replied when Marcus told him it still hurt. "But you don't wanna hang on an infusion right? Dylan asked me about it yesterday because he was scared you dehydrate too much. Wherever he got that from." Logan smiled. Then he took the note Marcus was handing him and read what was on it.
"You know I'm not allowed in the office either and apperently I'm 'not okay', whyever and if that doesn't change I won't be allowed back anytime soon." But he would have taken some time off anyway to help Marcus at home and care about Dylan. "Should I give it to Andrew or Stan or is this something the others shouldn't know of?" Logan didn't ask about the why or what this was about in the first place. If Marcus wanted him to know he would tell him. And if not, Logan was okay with it too.

"The boy's clever", Marcus shrugged.
He looked at the note in Logans hands.
"It's not a secret. Do whatever you need to do. But I need to know who they are. I need to..."
With a sigh he leaned back and closed his eyes. He wanted to tell the families what happened. They shouldn't worry about their loved ones.
"There is something else", he said, "It's about Dylan. I think he... I think he doesn't only look like me. His memory is exceptional. I wanna talk about this with his teacher. When I was his age and they had no idea and I got bored easily. That's why I was a shithead in middleschool. I don't want him to be a shithead. You as the jokster is more than enough."
He smiled, laughing hurt. Technically speaking hurt as well but he did it anyways. As long as he didn't turn his head in certain ways, everything was okay with his neck. But he always needed a reminder, not to scratch the burn marks. They healed quite good but that meant itching.
Marcus leaned over to Logan.
"Thank you. I know, I'm a big pain in your butt - no pun intended."

"I'll take care of it.", Logan nodded and let the note slip in his pocket. "I'm sure Dylan is already a better person then we both were at his age. I already got into fights with older kids frequently when I was his age.", Logan smiled. He still got into fights over his family as it seemed. He sighed. "That means I'm living with two super brains who constantly remind me where my stuff is at..."
Logan grabbed Marcus hand and grinned at him. "Yes you are. One way or another, more the other way lately." Then he got up. "Well, I need to drive to the office anyway and 'explain my report'. While I'm there I'll ccheck this.", he put his hand on his pocket. "On the way home I'll pick up Dylan. Do you need anything else from me before I go?"