Chapter Text
-Stan Pines-
The afternoon winter light had already faded around three hours ago, but Stan was still driving. He had been driving for the past two days, stopping only once for food, gas, and a couple of hours of rest. Where he was going, he didn't know, but somewhere - hopefully - better than where he was now, which was some kind of backwater town in the south of New Mexico.
Rico was after him; he wanted money that Stan didn’t have, but wouldn’t stop until he got the debt. Stan was also pretty certain that some of the other gang members were also not happy with what had happened so that put a bigger bounty on his head - no pressure.
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Althogh it was basically impossible to run away from Rico - he had proven that to Stan time and time again - Stan had no other choice but to run. His only hope was to get to the forest (It was surprising to find one in this state) on the other side of town and try to lose anyone who was trying to follow him.
But of course, all his plans had to be ruined when everything was going so well.
Out of nowhere, a van blocked his way. Stan bearly had time to stop to avoid a crash. He decided to take a turn, but that turned out to be blocked off too, on both sides . Stan looked behind him. Sure to his disappointment, a fourth van had blocked the road where he had just driven through.
Shit
Quickly, he got out of the car as a last chance at escape. He didn’t want to leave his car, but he would return after her later. Hopefully. He slammed the door shut, but it turned out he was too slow.
About a dozen men had exited the four vans and surrounded him and his car. Another three men were approaching him. Stan’s fears were prooven right when he instantly recognised the leader of the three.
Rico
“H-hey Rico, long time no see.” Stan tryed to seem as calm and natrual as possible while on the inside he felt fear rising.
“Hello Hal,” Rico replied stopping a few feet away from stan. His voice and face neutral, revealing nothing, “Yes, long time no see, a bit too long .”
“Heh, yeah, maybe.” Stan let out a nurvous chuckle. He knew what was about to happen, and it looked more serious than usual. Usually Rico sent five men tops and his right-hand man to fetch someone for him - he rarely went himself.
Now there were three times more than usual, and even Rico himself came. You see the point. Rico wanted the money, and he had run out of patience.
“You know why i’m here Hal,” Rico’s voice broke Stan out of his thoughts “You still owe me money. So either hand it over and make it easy for both of us, or I’ll have to do it the hard way.”
Rico was trying to scare him. Most people in his position would just hand the money over and be done with it. But not only Stan didn’t have the money but he also wasn’t ‘most’ people. He knew if he did give Rico the money, it wouldn’t really change things. No, what Rico wanted wasn’t money, it was revenge. Rvenge for not giving the dept back for so long and having to try to catch Stan - the moving target.
So, having money wouldn’t’ve really changed things now. Or else he wouldn’t be running right now. Although to be fair, he’d probably still run even if he had the money - who would willingly give away money in his position? But that isn’t the point, the point was that he didn’t have the money, he didn’t have it before, why should he have it now? Rico knew that.
That's when he realized Rico was still waiting for an answer.
“I don’t have it,” Stan told him.
Rico tsked, “Wrong answer.” He snapped his fingers, and the two guys that were flanking him had started towards Stan.
Stan reached into his pocket and slipped on his brass knuckles. When the goons came enough stan punched one of them in the gaw and sent him a few paces back. Stan turned to the second goon but was a second too late. The next thing he knew was being held and not being able to break out.
During that time, the first goon had already recovered and was coming up to him, taking out a cloth. He then had covered Stan’s mouth and nose with it. Stan instantly recognised the sweet smell that tickled his nose. He had been drugged more times than he could count, but that didn’t stop the panic rising in his chest.
He tried to escape, but the goons’ grip didn’t falter. In addition, Stan already felt his strength leaking out of him and eyelids drooping. He tried to fight back unconsciousness but was severely losing.
Eventually, his head lolled forward, and he went limp. Only then did the goons release him, and he fell to the ground. He didn’t feel when he hit the floor. He distantly heard footsteps nearing him, and Stan had just enough strength to open his eyes. Everything was so blurry that he could barely make out a figure standing above him.
“Sleep tight Hal, sleep tight.”
That was the last thing stan remembered before every thing went dark.
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When Stan woke up, he found him self in a mostly empty warehouse sitting on a chair. The soft light from above had been blinding at first, and he tried to lift his hand to rub the sleep from his eyes - or at least he tried to. His hands were tied behind his back, restricting his movement. The most resent events came rushing back to him and stan was instantly awake.
“Ah, good, you’re awake. Sleep well?”
Stan’s head snapped to the sound. Rico was standing a few feet away from Stan twerling a knife in his hand. Stan looked past him and saw table standing against the wall. Sure enough, all his stuff was on the table. He turned back to Rico, putting on his poker face even though he was panicking like hell.
What is Rico gonna do this time? Stan thought to himself. “What do you want Rico?” he asked instead.
“You know what I want, or what I wanted at least.”
Stan swallowed. He did not like that last part. If he hadn’t been sure before, now there was no room for doubt; this wasn’t about money anymore.
Rico continued, “I’m tired of chasing you all around the country. You keep on trying to run away, just like you tried today. But here you are again, just like all the previous times. But unlike other times, your luck has run out of luck. Today, you aren’t leaving alive.”
Before Stan could react to what had been said rico shot forward and stabbed stan in the arm. It happened fast and suddenly that Stan couldn’t stifle a cry of pain. He felt blood start running down his arm, and he swore he saw a glint of satisfaction in Rico’s eyes.
Stan wasn’t exactly sure what had happened next as after a few more times of drawings of blood he was sore all over that he became dizzy. By the end of it, there were so many cuts and stabs that he wasn’t even sure where the pain was coming from. He was also covered in blood.
He ignored all the pain and looked up, “‘S that all you got?” he asked. That was definitely a mistake.
With a smirk, Rico pulled out a gun and pointed it at Stan’s head.
He’s going to actually kill me now, Stan thought.
His whole life flashed in front of his eyes, and it wasn’t pleasant. Just then, he got a horrible thought.
Maybe it would be better this way.
The thought itself was kind of… Nice, but the implication of it wasn’t. Still, he lowered his head in defeat.
“Any last words, Hal?” Rico teased.
One thing came to his mind, and before he could stop himself, the words slipped out of his mouth.
“I regret that I never apologized to my brother.” he might regret the words later, but the thing is, there isn’t a later now. He waited for the gunshot, darkness, or anything! But nothing came, only seconds passed, but nothing happened. Stan had looked up and was surprised to see that Rico had lowered the gun.
“You know, if I’m being honest, I’m not really satisfied with this. Not everyone was, but I thought killing you with a bullet would be enough. But I’m starting to change my mind. Say, you have a brother? He cares about you, doesn’t he? Would he hate it if something bad happened to you?”
Stans eyes widened. Dread and fear started to pool in his stomach.
“No…” Stan’s voice was barley a wisper.
Stoopid, stoopid, stoopid! Why did you tell Rico about Ford?! Did you forget the number one rule?! Never tell anything about yourself! Now, because of your own stupidity, Ford will get hurt!
Rico didn’t seem to have heard him, “Carlos, Hunter! We have a slight change of plans! Bring another rope, something heavy, and a flashlight!” he paused, “and bring a few masks! Just in case.”
A few minutes later, two goons came into the room, a weight and the other items. It took Stan a few seconds to recognise them as the two who had drugged him.
Rico took the rope come up to Stan and tied it to his neck. It wasn’t tight enough to choke him, but tight enough not to slip off. On the other end, Rico tied the weight. He took one of the masks and the flashlight. He slipped on the mask, and the goons did the same. Finally, Rico cut the rope that tied Stan to the chair - but not the one that had his hands tied together.
The whole time, Stan sat silently, paralized by fear and thinking of the worst possible scenarios of what Rico had come up with. Only when the goons pushed him to his feet had he broken out of his thoughts. Also, because of the rough treatment, all of his inguries began to sting, and Stan had to stifle a his of pain.
He was then led outside and Rico started walking to some, unknown to Stan, destination. Whatever warmth his clothes could keep in before, now had become useless from being ripped in so many places and Stan couldn’t help but shiver.
As they continued walking Stan started to hear a soft rumble in the distance, and the more they walked the louder it beame. Finally, they reached the destination - a river.
Stan’s blood turned cold as he realized what Rico had planed. Panic started to rise in his chest. Without warning, Rico grabbed his face, turned it, and flashed the flashlight into it. He got blinded by it at first, but after a few seconds, his eyes adjusted, and he saw a camera. It was live and Stan wanted to cry for help but his voice was dead in his throat.
As quickly as it appeared, the light disappeared. Before his eyes could once again adjust to the dark Stan was grabbed and flung into the river. He didn’t scream instead, he took a gulp of air just before he hit the water.
Instantly, he was washed away with the current, but before the weight touched the riverbed, Stan felt something sharp cut against this arm - adding another cut on his already bedragged body. Stan silently winced and for a split second he didn’t care - what’s another cut gonna do now?
Then he realized - something had cut him, something sharp . Something sharp had cut him in the water. Adrenaline shot through his veins. His mind didn’t know what to do in this situation, but his body somehow did. Stan pulled his legs in and brought his hands underneath him and infront. It wasn’t easy doing all that in the water, and it didn’t help that he was doing that against the current. Still, he kept going - he won’t die. He twisted in the water, and as he did, his arm hit whatever object that cut him. He checked it, trying desperately to find the sharp bit with his hands. It seemed to be some kind of pole, but that was at the back of his mind.
His lungs were screaming for air by the time he finally found what he was looking for and feverishly started to cut the rope around his hands. Logically, it was the better option as it would be easier to cut the second rope later. Plus, it would be safer as he would be able to use his hands to swim. But right now stan wsn’t acting on logic - he just had to cut two ropes and get out. He just got lucky (not counting the whole situation he was in) that his hands were closer.
When he cut the rope around his hands, he instantly went for the one around his neck. He was starting to feel lightheaded from the lack of oxygen, but he didn’t dare to slow down. The problem was, when your life is on the line, you don’t think through your plan well. You just act.
That was the same problem Stan had encountered - he didn’t think through his plan well. When the rope came undone, he instantly got washed away with the current. He flailed in the water, trying to get his bearings.
Figuring out what was up and what was down was impossible. Not only was it typically hard to see in water, but the fact that it was the middle of the night didn’t help. Although somehow, he broke to the surface and tried to take a gulp of air, instead he took a mouthful of water and went under the water.
After a second, he resurfaced again, and this time his task was accomplished, and he was breathing again. He was still in the was in danger of going under the water, so he looked for something to support him. It was no luck - there were no rocks, and the walls around the river were too tall and too smooth.
Oh, come on, I can’t die now! I got this far, surely there has to be something! Stan thought desperately.
Just then, something caught his eye. A log. Stan nearly missed it, but he managed to take hold of it and clutched it like a lifeline. After a few moments, when Stan was sure that the log wouldn’t sink, he relaxed a bit. Just as he did, a wave of exhaustion hit him and stan realized how tired he was. He guessed it was the adrenaline fading.
He looked behind him, and he saw light shining into the water - probably where he sank. It didn’t matter much. It was pretty far away now - he wasn’t in the light, so he wasn’t seen. And as the current carried him away, the light was getting smaller and smaller. Eventually, it disappeared entirely. He didn’t know if it was from the distance or because Rico left, but whatever it was, he wasn’t in danger of being discovered now.
Stan let out a sigh of relief and for the first time he actually took in his situation. Although the river wasn’t as fast as he thought, it was freezing, and going under was not an option (not like he was going to!). He had to get out of the water, but again, the walls were too high to get out. Although the good part was that the river was flowing in the direction out of town, that means that he was going into the forest, so the walls should end pretty soon.
Until then, Stan had to wait, and since he had nothing better to do, a question arose, one that he didn’t ask himself often: what was he going to do next? Well, first of all, he would have to find shelter. But he couldn’t go back to town because he didn’t want to risk Rico finding out he actually survived and finishing him off. That also means he can’t get the Stanleymobile and go to the next town over. Stan let out a sad sigh.
He could try coming back in a week, but he didn’t know what Rico would do to her or if he’d be able to find her. Also, Rico might still be in town, but that was far-fetched even for Rico. So if he couldn’t get back to town to get his car or a motel room (although he wouldn’t be able to get one either way because he didn’t have any money), he’ll have to find something else. Maybe a cave or something? It was a forest after all, what better could he find? What about after that?
Stan shook his head. He was overthinking - the exact reason why he didn’t plan what to do in the future. That was future Stan’s problems so he would deal with them later. Right now he was floating in a river, only staying afloat by a log and trying a failing to stay awake. God, he was tired. He couldn’t fall asleep now, it was too dangerous. But it appears his brain had a different idea, and within seconds, he was enveloped in darkness.