I wasn’t going to stop them, hell, I was going to follow them. I wanted to see John cringe in pain, I wanted to see him hurt, the way I hurt.

I’ve never been the violent type. And considering the heinous nature of my attack, you would think that I would cringe away from such a prospect—that Vic could show aggression, that I could be supportive of him and the others showing aggression. But I knew who they were, I knew their true characters; anger was not a typical characteristic of Jaime, Tony, Mike, or Vic. But protectiveness was. And I knew that they were very protective of me.


VIC’S POV


I didn't waste my time. This horrific excuse for a human being deserved nothing more than my fist in his face.

I've never felt so violent before, and part of me worried that I would scare Claire away. But, no, this wasn't about violence. This was about protecting her. This was about getting rid of the problem.

I could see it in her eyes: the fierceness, but also the pain.

Parker held her back from following. I didn't want her to see me like this.

Thinking about what she went through... I could hardly focus, my vision blinded by rage, the blood in my veins boiling.

"Vic," Tony was following me down the hallway. I ignored him. I knew he was just as angry as I was.

"Don't try to calm me down, Tone," I muttered.

My hands were shaking with fury as I banged on John's door.

It was four in the morning, but I was far from tired. I hoped the bastard was sleeping so I could disrupt him.

I continued to slam on the door. I was still slightly drunk, so my anger continued to rise.

"Vic, Tony, what's going on?" Jaime poked his head out of his neighboring hotel room. I didn't answer, though, because John’s door finally swung open.

I didn't think, I didn't hesitate. I lunged straight at him.

"Woah, dude!" Jaime exclaimed, grabbing my arm. I swatted him away and punched John in the jaw.

"You—fucking—coward!" I yelled in between punches. At first, he was taken off guard, but he was quick to retaliate. My face stung when his fist collided with my jaw, but I was numb and didn't care.

"Vic! Stop it!" All of a sudden I felt Mike rip me off of John, hooking his arms through my underarms. "What the fuck, man?" Mike exclaimed.

I didn't answer, but I stared at John, who was sitting on the ground looking up. He had the biggest smirk on his face, I wanted to wipe it off with my fist. I wanted to kill him.

But then Mike went rigid after Tony whispered something in his ear. “What?” He growled.

I jerked away from Mike's grasp angrily. I saw Jaime and Tony slowly walk to John. They picked him up roughly, their hands clenched around his upper arms.

"Go on, Vic," John taunted.

"The fucking nerve you have!" I yelled, walking closer and closer to him.

I punched him in the gut with all possible power. He gasped, unable to fight back with Jaime and Tony holding him back. Mike was now guarding the door.

I punched him again, this time lower in his gut. He groaned.

"Stop this!" He moaned.

"What did you say?" I snapped, punching him again.

"Stop!" He yelled.

"Stop? You want me to stop?" I felt a foreign crazed facial expression plaster on to my face as I punched him over and over again.

"Ha, did you hear, guys? He wants me to stop. I'm sorry, John, but did you stop when Claire asked you to?" I growled, punching him again.

"No," he dragged out the word, moaning.

"No? How many times did she say no while you were taking advantage of her?" I yelled into his face. Then I yanked his shoulder, putting more force into the knee I thrusted into his stomach.

John jerked his head forward, hitting me in the head with his head. "Why are you fighting back, you fuck? Did you even give Claire a chance to fight back before you tied her up? You fucking coward!" I punched him in the face again.

Tony and Jaime released John, who conceded to the ground.

"If you report this, we report you. For the sake of your life, I would highly recommend you to not show up tomorrow," I growled into his face. Before I turned to leave, I took a massive swing to his face with my foot. I think he was finally unconscious, but I didn't even bother to turn around and check.

~~

I knocked softly onto Parker’s hotel room door. “Hi,” she said softly, her face horrified—I think I was bleeding. I was too numb to notice. “Claire’s asleep. Maybe you should wash your face before waking her…” she suggested. I lightly nodded, walking to the bathroom.

And sure enough, my face was smeared with blood. I splashed my face with cold, refreshing water, making sure to get rid of all traces of blood, all traces of violence. Except there was nothing I could do about my split lip, inflamed jaw, or bruised forehead. I sighed—would she panic if she saw me like this? I didn’t know if I could handle her being afraid of me…

“Vic,” I hear a soft voice behind me. Her arms carefully wrapped around my waist, her head rested on my shoulder, and her face stared at me through the bathroom mirror.

I laced my hands over hers, our fingers intertwining. “I’m sorry,” I said quietly. Except, was I sorry? I quite enjoyed beating the shit out of John, making him hurt the way my Claire hurt.

“Shh,” she nuzzled her head into my neck, her touch sending warmth and comfort through my body. Was she really comforting me, right now?

“Come on,” I said tiredly, leading her back to our room. Parker was already asleep, and Tony was just entering as we were leaving. I nodded goodnight to him.

Claire immediately crawled into bed, curling up into a ball. I didn’t know what to do; did she want me there? Was she afraid of being touched? Was she afraid of me?

She lazily opened her arms, though, answering my mental questions. I slid carefully next to her, hugging her gently. She pressed herself close against me, eliminating the space between us. “I just love you so much,” she said quietly. I brushed her hair absentmindedly with my hands that were still shaking from adrenaline.

“Please, you can tell me anything, you don’t need to be afraid. You don’t need to bottle it up inside to the point where you need to return to the blade,” I said quietly, kissing her bandages. I hated seeing her like this: so weak, so broken. She nodded. I kissed her forehead. “And I just love you so much, too.”

Notes

Alright, it's pretty short, but pretty action-packed, if i do say so myself (but actually, i've never written a fight scene before, so i hope it wasn't too terrible)

once again i can not thank any of you all enough!! <3

more to come soooon