Chapter Text
The room was mostly dark, save for an old television set sat in the corner. It was messy, with clothes and other such belongings strewn about. If not for the mess all over the floor and on the furniture, then the room would look as luxurious and tastefully expensive as it actually was. An unconscious figure was sprawled on the large bed against one wall, dirty blonde hair ruffled and crusty with drying blood. The man was mostly naked, save for a pair of nice slacks that were unbuttoned and unzipped. There was a bloody wrench laying next to his head. Amidst the mess upon the floor were two figures, another man and a child. The child was clothed in a set of crisp hospital garments, while the man only had a pair of pants that were wrinkled. The two were digging through the rubbish and mess on the floor, pulling important items out and packing those into a bag. While they fearfully packed anything they needed, the TV started to play the tape within it. A catchy but haunting theme-song started to play, displaying the title after a bunch of different clips and images were shown. The man and child paid it no mind, until a man had begun to speak. The child was intrigued, and turned to the TV curiously. The man tried to stop the child, until he noticed what the video was about. He froze, his eyes widening behind his glasses.
“For every mystery, there is always someone who knows the truth. I am Jack Determined, Host of Mysteries To Solve, and I need your help in solving a mystery. In tonight's episode, we'll be exploring 3 separate mysteries. The first mystery is a teenage prodigy who went missing from New Jersey before he graduated high school-” The video suddenly cut, as if a chunk of the episode was cut from that tape. The child glanced up at the man. He could tell. He could feel their eyes on him, which meant that they could see his pain. “On the morning of April the fifteenth, 1982, Stanford Pines and his twin brother, Stanley Pines,” A picture of Stanford Pines had popped up on the screen. “Had left their childhood home to go to school, as usual. There had been a science fair taking place at their high school, and Stanford's science project was to be viewed by scouts from West Coast Tech college. According to his mother, Caryn Pines, Stanford Pines had been excited about getting into his dream school. Nothing had been wrong, at the time.” The screen switched over to a couple sat on a couch. The woman was wiping at her eyes with tissues as Jack Determined spoke, before Mrs. Caryn Pines spoke shortly after she blew her nose. “Yeah. My boys had been goin' to school cause of those college scouts. At least, Stanford was. Stanley was tagging along, cause where one goes the other follows. An' my little Stanford had built a cool machine that was gonna impress them, ya know? But somethin' happened, and the twins fought after gettin' home. Then- I just- I don't know what's worse. That Stanford had either run away, or he was taken!” She broke down into sobs as Jack Determined took back over. “According to Mr. Filbrick Pines, a few hours after Stanley had left the house to cool off, Mrs. Caryn Pines had gone to the Pines twins' room to check up on Stanford. But Stanford Pines had not been in his bedroom, and the window had been open.” A couple of recreations of the scenes played out while Jack Determined spoke. “It was believed, with what he had taken with him, that Stanford Pines had run away from home. There was no evidence of anyone breaking into the home and taking him. Though his backpack and other things were found later on the beach, near a small sailboat painted with a name on the side, the police believed that he discarded them to conceal his identity better. But according to Stanford's brothers, Stanford would never run away.” The screen switched to a couple of men sitting in a couple of chairs. One of them was identical to the man next to the child, but without the cleft chin and the bright white stripe of hair cutting through his brown curls. He knew that the child noticed. The man scoffed. “Yeah, Stanford wouldn't run away. He ain't like that. He was always the well-behaved twin, not the rule-breaker.” The other man put his hand on the man's shoulder. “I believe what my brother, Stanley, is trying to say is... Stanford was always following the rules. When he was told to do something, he usually followed without much complaint. We tended to not listen and had to be reminded a lot of the time. The only thing he had issues with was going to bed on time. But he was smart, and he wanted to go to college. He wouldn't ruin all of that. He wouldn't want to. Not with the college of his dreams still in sight. He still had a really good chance of getting in, if he tried to apply. So no, he wouldn't run away and ruin that. He was going places.” Jack Determined spoke again. “But according to others, it seems like something that Stanford Pines would do.” The screen switched over to another familiar blonde man.
As the familiar blonde man started to speak, the man suddenly and forcefully stopped the tape with a trembling six-fingered hand. The child noticed, and shakily gasped. Uh oh! He abruptly turned to him and softly shushed him. The two tensed, turning to the unconscious figure on the bed. The man was still and silent, hopefully unconscious and not faking it. He sneered as he slowly got to his feet, before stopping again. Wait, no! He couldn't kill him! He... He couldn't risk it. Not with the boy there. He had already seen enough. He had already been through enough. So he turned to finish packing whatever else he could into the bag, before he rifled through the (hopefully) unconscious man's clothes. There had to be something he could wear. He absolutely refused to put on that ridiculous outfit again, not after everything he'd been through. Soon enough, he found a shirt and sweater-vest. It... had been a while since he had worn anything other than the ugly hospital garments. But it was still something, so he threw them on. After he was decent, he made sure that they had absolutely everything. Much to his relief and surprise, the boy had grabbed the tape and shoved it into their bag. Good. They needed as much evidence as they could feasibly take with them. If they were to change things for the better, then they needed the ammunition to make it possible. He then studied the boy, making sure he was ready to go. The boy was trembling a bit, but seemed ready. So he led them out of His room after slipping on a pair of His shoes. The two found themselves alone in a hallway, which was perfect for their plan. He didn't know the entire layout of the building, so they had a good chance to find a way out without alerting anyone else. The man kept glancing at the boy as they crept through the dark hallways, the boy cradling their bag of goodies. The child seemed alright, as far as circumstances allowed. So he continued leading them out of the building, which was surprisingly easy... almost concernedly so. But the two had made it out of the building and onto the grounds surrounding The Complex. The Complex was large, with multiple buildings spanning the visible area. The night was thankfully still deep, with the galaxy gleaming high above them. Which meant that they had a chance to escape without being noticed.
The man carefully led the boy around the Complex, avoiding any of the guards and anyone who would rat them out. After a long while of sneaking around and avoiding people, the two found themselves crouched next to a parking lot. The parking lot was full of different vehicles. There were cars, trucks and other such machines. He was only paying attention to the normal cars and trucks, as he knew how to get into those vehicles. Hm, if they could take one of the vehicles, they would have a better chance of getting to safety faster and get a lot further away from this place. The man paused to glance around, to scout their surroundings. When he didn't see anyone near the cars, he urged the boy forward. The two carefully crept through the parking lot, the man taking the time to study each vehicle. It took longer than he'd wanted, but they had found the perfect vehicle they could take. It was nondescript enough that They wouldn't be able to track them easily. He started to work on getting into the car. They needed to get out of there. The man cursed in Alpha-Cipher when the two suddenly heard the alarms start blaring! He struggled with the door for a moment, before he was finally able to get the car open. He quickly shoved the boy and their duffel bag into the passenger seat, before hurrying to the other side and climbing into the driver's seat! He rushed to get the car on the move, not wanting to get caught by Them! Fortunately, the keys were in the car, so it didn't take much longer to start the car and get it moving. He was able to get the car up to the gates out when they were finally spotted. A group of the Cipherologists were stood in front, as if that was going to stop him. He sneered. Well, it was high-time he made some of them pay for what they'd done to him and the boy. He accelerated the car, not caring if he ran them over or not. The Cipherologists took a moment, before realizing this and leaping out of the way! His hand snapped to the side to push the boy down, just as they rammed through the gate. He was not willing to see the boy hurt, not if he were in charge of the boy's safety now. And... They escaped?! They escaped! The Complex was swiftly disappearing behind them as he drove, the lights growing dim and the alarms growing silent. It took a while before it was no longer in sight and they could no longer hear the alarms, and he felt himself relax for the first time in ages.
Okay, now to get them back home. He refocused, refusing to stop now that they were on their way. The boy was silent as they drove, the man nervously checking the road behind them as they did. He did not want Them to chase the two back to their homes. He did not want to know what they would do to- His thoughts were cut off when the boy spoke up. "Mister?" "Hm?" He glanced over at the child when he didn't immediately give him his question or statement. The boy seemed to be thinking deeply on something, before he turned to gaze up at him. "Are we going home now?" And he gladly smiled and nodded. "Yes, home." Because it was true. He was taking the two of them home, whether it killed him or not. He refused to die a John Doe, leaving his family without answers or the truth. The child lit up at that, grinning as he turned to gaze out the window excitedly. Good. He deserved to be happy, even for a moment. The two were silent for a very long time as he drove, the two happy with the silence. The man saw it as freedom and safety, a break away from being hurt again. But... he grew curious as to where the boy came from, and he also wanted to see if the boy remembered his own name. Most of the time, he didn't. He couldn't. He also often forgot other things, too. Driving was thankfully not one of them. He... could distantly recall someone important to him teaching him, a familiar face tickling the back of his brain. Was it his older brother, his twin brother S, or his father? He couldn't recall, exactly. God, what was his mother's name again? Memories had been difficult to keep in that place. He glanced at the boy, hoping for an out from his thoughts, only to find himself smiling when he caught the boy sleeping. Ah, of course. He should have known. Cars had the right vibration frequencies to put most people to sleep, if they were tired enough. Though, it would be best if he found somewhere they could sleep properly without causing any pain or discomfort. After a while, he noticed that the sky was lighting up? Oh. So they had made decent progress in escaping the Complex. Good. They needed a chance to escape. He eventually found a gas station, and pulled into it. The car was nearly out of fuel anyways. He made sure to park carefully, not wishing to disturb the child's sleep yet. But parking jolted the boy awake.
The child noticed, and turned to him in confusion. Ah, right. "We need t-to r-r-re-f-" He growled in frustration. Ugh, speaking English again was difficult! It had been nearly 30 years since he last spoke it, and the last time he spoke in English, he- His thoughts were cut off by the child gently grabbing his hands. He slightly jolted, before turning to him in gratitude. Thank god the child was here. He wasn't sure how far he'd be by now, and if he would actually escape. "We n-need to f-feed the car." He tapped the gas meter, which drew the child's attention to it. "Th-that needs to be f-full. C-car won't g-go oth-therwise. Th-thingy is p-pointed at emp-ty." The boy's eyes lit up in understanding at that, before he nodded. He relaxed, glad that the boy understood. He didn't think he'd be able to explain it otherwise, not without slipping back into Alpha-Cipher. He then grabbed the duffel bag and searched it, relieved when he pulled out the bag of money they had taken. Good. HE was repaying them a tiny fraction of what HE had done to them. He glanced at the sign for the gas prices, and did the quick calculations in his mind for the cheapest option. Even though HE was paying, he still wanted to stretch the money out until they were both home or somewhere safe. He pulled out the right amount for the gas, as well as a little extra for anything else. The boy seemed to understand, with how he was quick to leave the car. He quickly packed everything else away, before also climbing out of the car. He walked with the boy into the gas station. The two quickly grabbed a couple of snacks and drinks before making their way to the counter. He knew that the child and he needed to get something into their stomachs, so he helped the child in grabbing his things. But when they reached the counter, he nearly clammed up. So the boy quickly piped up. "Hello, missus. We need to fill up our car." The cashier was a little surprised, but went along with it. She nodded with a smile, ringing up their items, before leaning over the counter to look down at the boy. "Uh huh. Do you know what car is yours?" The boy paused, glancing up at him. He focused, before he spoke. "It's the grey one at 5." The cashier was surprised, but nodded. "Alright, sir. How many gallons will you need?" Oh, he didn't actually know that. He suddenly remembered a family member, someone very close, a best friend, telling him 12 gallons. So he repeated that bit. The cashier nodded, before she smiled and told them their total. Ah, good. He had a little more than that. His brain turned a little fuzzy, until he was back in the car. The gas meter was on full, so he had definitely refueled the car. He checked that he had put the gas cap back on, before he drove away. Everything was in order, so he nodded to himself before checking the seat beside him. The boy was already digging through their snacks and drinks, and only pulling out his. He gingerly pulled out the bottle of coffee he had gotten himself. Yes, he knew it would be a bad idea, but he didn't care. He was desperate not to fall asleep at the wheel.
The rest of the ride went by smoothly, surprisingly. It was almost suspiciously easy. So he kept an even bigger eye out for whatever was coming their way next. He didn't know what was around the corner, so he wanted to be careful anyways. He drove until he started to grow too tired to. The child had woken up a few moments ago, and was currently watching everything pass by through the window. He knew that it would take a while before they reached the States. It had been awfully stupid of Him to tell him where they were when he'd asked. His thoughts paused as his eyes caught the sign for a motel. Oh, good. Somewhere to stay for the night. God, had that much time really passed by? He wasn't sure. His mind kept growing fuzzy. He was guessing that it had to do with him not getting the right amount of... anything. Wait, no. He did not want to go down that rabbit hole. He knew that it would only cause him to grow distracted. He couldn't afford to be distracted. Not with the boy with him. He needed to get him home before he could lose himself in his mind. Before too long, he was parked before a decent looking motel. It wasn't the greatest, that was for sure, but it was decent enough for their needs. He made sure to grab their bag and lock the car up after he and the child leave it, before leading the boy into the motel. The man at the check-in counter noticed them, and eyed him with a sneer. Uh, he didn't do anything to warrant such a reaction, right? He approached the man anyways, the boy suddenly grabbing his hand as they did so. Which... surprisingly made the man's expression soften. He gently squeezed the boy's hand, giving the child some comfort. Once they reached the counter, the man perked up a bit. He felt... off-kilter again, since he should be able to speak to other adults without problem. The problem was that he physically couldn't anymore without stuttering due to the language barrier that was crafted, ironically enough. The boy, seeming to notice his plight, spoke up on his behalf. "Hi, mister. Me an' my uncle need somewhere to sleep for the night." The man seemed surprised, but nodded. "Alright. Ya got any money?" He gingerly pried his hand away from the boy, only to pull out the money needed. The check-in guy nodded, before he took the money and placed it on the counter. "Alright. What type of room do ya want?" Okay, he could do this. "One room. Two beds?" The man quirked a brow, before nodding. The man took the money required, and let him take the rest back. Ah, good. He had over-calculated. He softly thanked the man as he took the rest back, packing it back into their bag. The man nodded as he handed him the key to the room. After getting directions and leaving Check-in, the two made their way to the room. Fortunately, it wasn't too far from where he'd parked.
He unlocked the door, then gently urged the child inside with their bag. He waited until the child was inside before hurrying inside and locking the door behind him. He relaxed minutely at that, before turning to find the boy eyeing up the two beds in the room. Ah, right. They would have to check for bugs before laying down. He moved to the beds and carefully checked them over. Fortunately, they were clean of bugs. So there was also that. They had a safe place to sleep for the night, with accessible food and water should they need it, and a way to escape should things go south. And that was all he needed to know. He breathed a sigh of relief before turning to the boy with a smile. "We, safe now. We should sleep." The boy nodded, before squinting up at him. Oh? Did the child need something? Oh, did he need to go get food or something for him? He was about to ask, when the child took a step closer? Oh? Okay, now he was concerned. Did the boy have an injury that he didn't know about? Or did he- His thoughts were cut off when the boy gently touched one of his hands. He froze, memories of phantom hands running all over his body at the touch. His thoughts were cut off again when the boy softly spoke up. "Mister, did it hurt when Master Cipher touched you?" And that... He needed to be strong for the boy. The boy needed it. He shrugged out of his frozen trance to give the boy a comforting smile. "I am okay. Will be okay. My ma and bro-thers will take care of me." The boy lit up in relief and glee at that, nodding. Good, now that was taken care of. He then checked the boy over. Since the child had been recently bathed, he decided to bathe himself. Besides, he... needed a moment by himself, just to breath. Fortunately, he was able to get to the bathroom and lock himself inside with the shampoo and body wash that they took with them. He took a moment before undressing and stepping into the shower stall in the bathroom. Figuring out how to work the knobs was a bit difficult, since he hadn't bathed himself in a long time, but he still figured it out. It was easy to figure out which one was for what temperature of water he wanted. Which... he tried not to think about, the fact that they physically bathed him in freezing water all the time. After a moment of standing in the warm running shower, he silently screamed as he crouched under the spray of water. God, why did he have to suffer so much? Did God hate him? It sure felt like it. Once the overwhelming emotions passed, he got back to bathing. He didn't bother overthinking anything else while bathing before his hair and body were clean and the water was off. He stumbled out of the stall and approached the mirror in the room.
The mirror was foggy, so he wiped it with an unsteady six-fingered hand. All too quickly, Stanford Pines was staring down his reflection. And god, he looked awful. Bags and a few early wrinkles under his brown eyes. He was much too skinny from malnutrition, his cheeks sunken in and bones sticking out in most places. His hair was a tangled brown mess that nearly went past what was left of his butt-cheeks. He paused when he noticed the thick white stripe going around his head, from temple to temple, the strands coming from the stripe mixing into the rest of his brown hair. Scars littered his body, a good deal of them triangular brands burned into his flesh. The newest wounds were bruises, from where He was grabbing him. No! Focus, Stanford. Scruff covered his chin, making him itchy. Itchy. But he couldn't deal with it yet. They were on a time-crunch, and he couldn't risk the boy getting hurt on his account. He was also pretty sure there was nothing in there he could use. But, in spite of everything done to him, he was still HIMSELF. And that was relieving. He had been scared that He had taken even more from him than what He had. He heaved a sigh. He could do this. Just a little longer. He just needed to return the boy to his family, or at least handed over to people who would return him to his family. He turned away from the mirror to get dressed. No more wasting time watching his reflection.
When he was finished with getting dressed, Stanford left the bathroom. He quickly found the boy watching TV. The boy was watching a movie, from the looks of it. He hummed as he joined the boy on the bed he had apparently claimed. The two were silent as the movie played, before the boy gazed up at him with a curious smile. “So your name's Stanford, mister?” And he nearly gasped aloud at that, since it had been a long time since anyone had called him by his name. To be honest, he had forgotten his own name at times. So to hear this boy call him by his name again was as refreshing as that shower. He nodded after a moment, internally reminding himself of his own name. "What is your name?" The boy was happy to indulge him. "Alexander, Mister Stanford!" Ah, well, maybe it wouldn't hurt for the child to call him by one of his nicknames. Ford smiled. "Just Ford is good." Alexander lit up at that, before nodding. "And I like being called Alex." Okay, he could do that. The two drifted back into silence, their attention going back to the movie on the TV. It was a black and white piece, with women dressed in classy old-fashioned dresses and the men in old suits. It seemed to be a drama piece, too, something he could picture his mother watching. The story seemed to be about a duchess falling in love with someone below her station, which caused quite a ruckus. But he felt for her. He had fallen for someone "not of his station" while "being allowed to go to college". He... He wondered if he was okay, and if he had found someone. God, he hoped so. He would not wish his loneliness onto him. And... watching the movie reminded him of... God, he hoped his twin brother was doing okay. Was Stanley okay? Did he-... Did he believe that Ford had run away, like most others? NO! Lee wasn't like that! His twin was many things, but no one could deny that he was loyal and caring. Lee had thrown away any chance of getting friends once his muscles had grown in and he became good at boxing, because of him. Lee had refused to be friends with anyone who gave Ford problems. God, he missed his twin.
Ford was pulled from his thoughts by the boy yawning. Ah, right. They would need to sleep to function. He couldn't trust himself on the road if he was to drive them further from The Complex, and closer to true safety and freedom. "Bed. Must sleep." The child was about to protest, but he suddenly found himself yawning shortly after the child. The boy seemed as surprised as he was at that, before he chuckled. "Okay. Goodnight, Mr. Ford." And Ford could only nod at him, too tired to do much else. He got up from the boy's bed and waited until the boy was mostly laying down before flicking off the light. Pretty soon, he heard the boy deeply breathing in sleep. He took a moment to stretch a hand above himself, and to spread his six fingers out. Good, all six were still accounted for. He found himself drifting off as well, following the boy into the land of dreams. What came next were the nightmares, the memories of what happened within those walls for 30 years.
The next few days became a somewhat comforting routine of eating, sleeping and traveling. Ford tried his best to be positive and gentle with the boy. After all, the child hadn't asked for him to be the one to rescue him from That Place. But finally, FINALLY, they had reached the states! They were finally getting close to home! And they hadn't been followed that whole time, which meant that they had gotten ahead of their captors! Now that was progress. Stanford knew just what They were capable of, and what They would do to them once They recaptured them. And Ford wouldn't let himself be captured a third time. Not until he knew that his family was okay, and the world knew what actually happened to him. He had to know that Stanley was okay and safe, that his older brother wasn't angry at him, that his ma wanted him back home, that his pa was proud of him. He wanted to do so much with his life now that he was free, and the cult could still take it all away. Well, Ford wasn't letting that happen. Not again. He was going to return home, to a loving and happy family, free to live the rest of his life the way he wanted. Without Him to stand in the way. So he continued on. First he had to get the boy to safety. Alex deserved to be returned home. Returning Alex home was expected, after all. If he didn't, then he felt like everyone would be angry at him. Besides, he liked the boy, and wanted to see him off safely. He hadn't deserved to be sold to Them by a nasty aunt. And god, Ford really didn't want to know what he'd do to the woman should he ever meet her. He doubted that he would have been nice. Well, no time to dwell on such a woman.
They were traveling through Washington, carefully staking out safe spots for Alex to be dropped off. He needed to make sure that the boy wouldn't be noticed immediately, before the police found the boy. Alex was helping him, as best as the eight-year-old could. Which... wasn't as helpful as he thought it was, but it was the thought that counted. At least, in Ford's mind. So Ford let him continue, even gently correcting the child and encouraging the help. Alex will make a very good friend to someone, if any of the other children ever gave him that chance. He hoped so- No, he believed it. Alex would return to a relatively calm life, once he had processed his trauma. Something that Ford knew he would struggle with. After a moment, Alex perked at the sight of a building. A building he brought to Ford's attention. When Ford glanced over at it, he knew what it was immediately. A police station. Good. They finally had somewhere safe to go. He carefully drove into the parking lot. He needed to make sure Alex could get to the doors. It took a bit of maneuvering before he was able to park the car. Alex was curious as they sat there for a moment, before Stanford turned to him with a smile. "You need to go. Inside. Police will help you. Family w-will come here t-to get you back." Alex was surprisingly shocked, before lighting up. "I can go home?" Ford nodded, grinning as the boy excitedly jumped out and rushed up to the station's doors. It wasn't truly goodbye, he knew that. He will find a way to contact the boy. As Alex rushed the doors, an officer noticed him from the inside. The station suddenly grew lively with activity, before Stanford watched as Alex was swarmed by officers. The officers immediately ushered him into the building. Good. Alex needed to be returned home to his family, to be given his life back. He still had a good chance to do so, just like Ford. Once he was sure Alex was deep inside, he slowly drove the car out of the lot. Now he needed to return home.
Stanford Pines took off, aiming for New Jersey. He needed to hurry home. He needed to see how his family was doing, and nothing was going to stop him. He didn't stop for a while until he needed gas. But this time, he didn't need Alex to hold his hand. The boy would be proud of his progress, grasping English all over again. It has been a while. He knew that his ma would absolutely fawn over him. She was always like that. He also knew that his twin would sweep him up into a bear hug. Stanley was always like that. He also knew that his older brother would give him hell for disappearing like he did, before swaddling him into a tight hug. God, or whoever was out there, please let him- His thoughts paused when a bunch of dark cars came speeding up to him? Okay, now that was a bit concerning. Who were they? Were they more- He nearly cursed when the cars tried to force him to pull over! Oh god! They had finally found him! He tried to keep going, but the cars were persistent! Ford... Ford won't be able to go home, would he? After everything, he was going to be dragged back to Them. Then one of the cars drove slow enough in a streetlight, and revealed something on the side. He was confused, before he relaxed. U.S. Government was printed on the side, along with a symbol that he knew wasn't Their very recognizable triangle. So he slowed down and pulled over. Stanford was still wary, though, as he watched the Government Agents surround him and the car. He carefully climbed out the vehicle with the bag, placing it on the ground as they aimed guns at him. He knew that they had every reason to be suspicious of him. So he straightened up into a stand, and watched two specific Government men approach first. Ford waited until they could see his hands, then lifted a shaky six-fingered hand into sight. "I am Stanford Filbrick Pines, and I have been missing for 30 years!" The Agents' eyes all went wide in shock at that, before they put away their weapons and approached him with questions and other things. Good. He could go home soon.