FicWad

After what Havoc guessed to be about twenty minutes of failure, Blight and Vex managed to shake Solace awake without using their hands. After a few seconds of sleepy mumbling, Solace's eyes shot fully open and he started to thrash and shout. A split second after he opened his mouth, Vex managed to swing his leg over the smaller boy's chest and none too gently pin him to the floor of the van.

With a muffled wump, Solace stopped moving and lay there panting, eyes wide as he stared up at the ceiling in the dark.

"Shhh," Blight whispered soothingly, "Don't worry, Sol. We're all here. We'll be out soon. But you have to listen, all right?"

Confused, but obedient, Solace nodded slowly.

"You're not going to start freaking out again, are you?"

He shook his head.

"All right. Vex, let him go."

Slowly and carefully, Vex put his leg back in place in front of him. Solace stayed put.

"Okay, Sol, the first thing I need you do is get rid of your ropes."

Nodding slowly, Solace shifted onto his side so he was facing the others and closed his eyes, concentrating. In just a few seconds, they heard the soft sound of fragments of the rope that had been binding him drop to the van's floor. When it was done, Solace didn't move from his spot.

"It's okay to sit up, just be quiet and stay low," Blight continued and turned so he could show Solace his own bound wrists. "Come help me with mine."

Slowly, carefully, Solace crawled closer and sat on his knees next to Blight. After freeing Blight, Solace moved on to free Vex, Havoc and Chaos. When that was done, he sat back in his original spot, if a little closer to Blight, and waited for further instructions.

Sitting forward, Chaos reached behind his head and opened the latch on his blindfold, carefully sliding it away from his face. "Blight."

Blight twitched at the quiet, severe way his name was spoken. Chaos was angry, that much he could tell. Unable to form a reply, he simply nodded.

"Switch places with me."

Blight blinked in surprise. Whatever he had been expecting, it hadn't been that. He started to ask why, then thought better of it and nodded, shifting forward. With a little difficulty, they managed to switch places without creating noise loud enough to reach whoever was driving the van.

When they had settled into their new positions, Chaos held out the steel blindfold he had been wearing. "Give me your mask."

Blight's eyes got a little wide. "My mask? But - I can't -"

"Just hand it over, Blight. We don't have time to argue."

Confused and a little worried, Blight reached up and unhooked the paper mask from behind his ears and held it out to Chaos. Chaos slipped the mask onto his face, unafraid of Blight's poison breath, and with a little help from Havoc, Blight managed to put on the blindfold.

"Hands behind you," Chaos said, directing the instructions at them all. "Sol, turn towards the doors and do the same. Until the van stops and those doors open, everything's normal and we're all still fast asleep. Don't worry. You'll know when to move."

He received nods in reply and they all settled into position, hands hidden and chins resting on their chests, feigning sleep as best they could. Havoc couldn't help but worry about Solace. He was closest to the doors and would probably play a big part in their escape since Havoc and Vex's powers were effectively subdued and Blight would have to be close enough to someone to breathe in their face to disable them. Havoc couldn't wait to get that stupid mask off his face and take his fury out on someone. Anyone.

It didn't take long for the van to slow and finally come to a stop.

"Are they refueling, Vex?" Chaos asked without picking his head up, his voice even quieter than before.

Vex listened intently for a few seconds, then shook his head, shrugging. He couldn't tell. He didn't know what it sounded like.

"Did one get out?"

Vex nodded once.

"Is another still up front?"

Another nod.

"The one that got out - he walked to the side of the van and opened a hatch?"

Vex thought for a second, then nodded.

"Was he pressing buttons?"

Still another nod.

"Good." Chaos glanced at the others, then resumed his position. "Most likely, we've stopped at a gas station. Are there other cars around?"

Vex paused for ten seconds or so, then nodded.

"One?"

He shook his head.

"Two?"

Another shake.

"Three?"

He paused for a split second, about to shake his head, and nodded instead.

"Any idea how many were with us?"

Vex shook his head. He hadn't been paying attention.

"It's fine. The plan is still in play."

Chaos waited for something to happen, anything, but nothing did. No one came for them. He knew they didn't have much time.

Thinking quickly, he came to a decision. "Solace, kick the door."

Confused, Solace paused for a moment. Then, setting a foot against the door to find an angle that wouldn't hurt his bare feet, he pulled his leg back and kicked the door hard enough for a solid bang to ring through the van.

"Back into position." Chaos whispered quickly.

Heart beating faster, Solace shut his eyes and did his best to act as if he were asleep. Tense seconds passed. Finally, the handle on the other side of the door squeaked as it turned. The door swung open.

Light poured in from the gas station's lamps and Chaos squeezed his eyes shut tighter, turning his head away a little. Then, squinting and acting sleepy, he looked out at the man that had opened the door.

"One of them's awake," The man said, looking to the side as he talked to his partner, "Should we hit him again?"

"Be careful," Chaos said quietly, "We hit back."

The man looked back at him in mild surprise. Thinking he was Blight, the man didn't guard against eye contact. Three seconds later, his eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped to the ground.