Page 50 of Sanctuary After Dark

All of that pressure needed a release, and we were there to give it to him while also making sure he didn't hurt himself.

I was going to be reliving the moment he hit the cross repeatedly for a while. The sound of his knuckles and his feet hitting the wood, and how angry his skin looked, and he didn't even feel it because he was so angry. I was itching to get a look at his injuries and bundle him up in a blanket and cuddle him. But, that would come later.

This was one of the hard parts about being a Daddy. When all you wanted to do was be soft and coddle them and protect them from everything that would hurt them, you couldn't. Sometimes you had to do the hard thing because that was what was best for them, and you always did what was best for them at the end of the day, no matter how difficult it was.

Following them into the wooded area my shirt was already soaked through as the rain picked up, I listened to Elias fight and yell at Lincoln as he went deeper into the woods with our boy firmly in his grasp. Neither of them seemed to care about the rain as I watched Elias try and bite my twin only to have Lincoln smack his ass.

"Lincoln, put me down right the fuck now! Let me go!!"

My brother ignored him as he went off the trail and towards a spot where the trees were spaced out more and less brush covered the ground. Once he stopped, he put Elias down on his feet. I stayed back to give them space but remained close for when they needed me, knowing they both would.

Elias didn't even look around before he wiped his hand over his face to get some water off and then tried to stomp past us to head back to the house. Anger contorted Elias's face, and his clothes were wet and rumpled as he huffed when Lincoln stepped in front of him to stop him. Elias glared up at Lincoln before trying to go around him, but Lincoln stepped in front of his path again.

"Move."

Lincoln squared his shoulders and crossed his arms over his broad chest, the rain making his shirt stick to his body and making his muscles bulge out more, and he stared Elias down. He was the perfect person to do this. We had both agreed that when the time came, he would be the one to handle the explosion. He was used to taking hits from people, so he could handle anything that Elias threw at him.

"Make me."

I leaned against a tree trying to ignore the rain that fell on me and soaked through my clothes. This wasn't about comfort right now. I crossed my arms over my chest and just watched the exchange, ready to step in if need be. Elias rolled his eyes and stepped past him before my brother's hand reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back and spinning him around.

"Uh uh. Not today, squirt. We usually let you cool down after a session and go quiet, but not this time. Let it out."

"I just want to go to my room and be left alone. Why can't you take the hint?!"

Lincoln laughed at him and shook his head.

"Because you don't get what you want right now, kid. You obviously want to fight, what with your little show in there against a piece of furniture. Why not fight something that can fight back, huh? Come, Elias. Hit me. I know you want to hit something." Lincoln opened his eyes wide and took a step back. "I'm right here, sweetheart. So, come on. You want to fight, then let's fight."

I watched as Elias just stared at him and shook his head. Lincoln was goading him, trying to get him to snap like he had in the bondage room. I hated seeing it and knowing what was going to happen next. I knew what Lincoln was going to say to get more of a reaction from him, and it was going to hurt our boy, but it had to be done.

"I'm going to have to throw things in his face. Bring up things he's most likely been sayin' to himself all these years. How he could have fought back more. How he could have said no more. How he could have just left or done something more to make him stop. I'm going to have to get mean with him so that he'll fight me."

"I hate this, Linc. I wish he would just talk to us about all of it."

"I know, mo chuisle. I hate it too. I don't want to do this, but he needs to snap. He'll break down, and we'll be there to build him back up. We'll catch him when he falls."

"Just like I'll catch you when you fall. This is going to be rough on you."

"Fuck, don't I know it. I'll probably drop after… but I know I'll have you there to put me back together, too."

Elias scoffed and rolled his eyes as he turned away from him again.

"I'm not doing this right now. Its fucking raining. I just want to go back inside."

Lincoln let him start to walk back toward the trail as his arms fell down to his sides and he huffed a laugh before his lips were pulled into a sneer.

"Pathetic."

My heart stopped for a moment at just that one word. We knew Jack had often called him that, and it was a trigger for him. We knew it was going to hit deep with our boy and bring back memories and feelings from when Jack had him firmly in his grasp. I hated this so fucking much and I wanted to yell at Lincoln to stop, but I stayed rooted to my spot and kept quiet. I watched as Elias froze before turning slowly back towards him, his brow furrowed as he stared at Lincoln. The shock was clear on his face as he just stared at my brother for a moment.

"W-What...?"

"You heard me. You're pathetic. You can try to fight an inanimate object, but the moment you're faced with someone who can fight back, you run away. I shouldn't have expected anything more from you, though. You let him abuse you after all. You didn't fight back and stop him. You just rolled over and let him do whatever he wanted."

I winced as I heard Lincoln and my heart broke because we never wanted to use this against him. But we didn't really have a choice right now. He wouldn't open up fully about all of this with us, and even Alec was having a hard time trying to get him to get angry about it and let it out instead of bottling it all up and ignoring it.

Come on, baby boy. Just let go. We'll catch you.