"Who are you working for?" Koval asked with a hint of annoyance.

When he got no response, he tried again. "Why are you here?"

When Bashir defiantly didn't answer, Koval looked at his fellow Romulans "Bring him,"

Julian was roughly grabbed by both shoulders and hoisted out of the chair, before he was lead out of the room. He expected to go back the way they came, but instead, they turned the other way.

He still felt groggy, the implants had hurt! It felt like his brain had been had tried so hard not to let them read his thoughts; it took so much effort to prevent it. He could feel his uniform stick to his sweaty body as he was walking down the corridor. It was unnerving for him that they didn't walk past anyone; where were they going?

Koval suddenly stopped, turned and looked at Julian "If you please, doctor." He gestured to the room.

Julian just stared at Koval's eyes, if he was to enter the room, it would be forcibly. He wouldn't be tricked into willingly entering what was clearly an interrogation room ever again.

"Doctor…" Koval began to say, before stopping and signalling the guards.

Julian was grabbed around the throat by an arm, he tried to pry it off of him, but an elbow jabbed him in the stomach. He was seeing stars, his vision was dimming and he gave one last attempt to get the hand off of him, only to be forced to his knees and brutally kicked in the ribs.

The arm disappeared from his throat and he collapsed to the floor, holding his stomach tightly and coughing convulsively. The Romulans took the opportunity to grab hold of his ankles and drag him inside the room, bolting the door shut behind them.

The room lit up upon their arrival, revealing a table with straps on it, its purpose obvious. Julian was placed on that table, too dazed to fight back. In no time at all, he was strapped down by his wrists and ankles.

Koval gave a smirk and walked towards Julian, who was blinking repeatedly, trying to get the world in focus.

"I have tried to use less painful means of getting the information I want, doctor. Now you leave me no choice but to use more barbaric tools." He looked up at one of the guards "Bring the tools from the other room; I want to start with the preultium pliers."

When the guard left, Julian began to regain his senses. He knew he was strapped down; he couldn't move. He felt his heart begin to quicken in his chest and his stomach churn. He turned his head to seek out Koval, who was sitting calmly at a desk, reading through a PADD.

Julian coughed, trying to get the Chairman's attention. He succeeded. Koval lifted his gaze to see Julian stare at him, just as quickly as his eyes lifted, they dropped back down to his PADD.

Just when Julian was going to say something, he heard the door open. For a short moment he truly believed that it would be someone to help him, but his beliefs were thrown out the window when it was the guard who entered, a tray of painful looking tools in his hands.

Trying desperately not to panic, Julian turned his head back to Koval "You don't need to do this. I'm not your enemy, Koval."

His breath was hitched, he couldn't stop gulping. He had read about Romulan torture; he was not looking forward to it.

Koval stood up and ignored Julian, he walked over to the guard who held the tray and placed it carefully next to Julian's line of vision. "These," he pointed to a tool, looking much like the pliers Miles used "Are the preultium pliers."

He picked them up and studied them "You say you are not my enemy, doctor. Forgive me when I say I do not believe you." He kept hold of the pliers and turned to look the other guard "Hold his head in place,"

Julian couldn't do anything to defend himself as the guard marched up to him and grabbed hold of his forehead, forcing it down onto the table. Julian's head made a thud from the impact and he tried to lift his head, but the hold was too strong.

"Let's begin shall we…"

Koval looked at the doctor, wondering how humans could be so weak, he was obviously scared, his breathing was erratic and he was sweating again.

He moved his free hand to grab hold of Julian's, picking out a finger at random.

At the touch, Julian balled his fist up as tight as he could. He knew what was to come and he tried again to reason with Koval, before a sharp pain hit him in his groin. Someone had delivered a solid punch there and he yelled out, unclenching his hand as he tried to curl up.

Koval took the opportunity to grab his forefinger an iron grip; Julian wouldn't be able to pull it away. "This will not be pleasant, doctor," was all he said as he squeezed the pliers on Julian's nail, slowly pushing the metal between nail and flesh, blood already seeping out.

Julian clenched his teeth against the pain; he refused to let himself scream, but he found it so difficult! This was such a simple torture technique, used for centuries and yet it was total agony!

One hard yank and the nail came loose; blood was covering its previous place and dripping onto the floor. Koval moved the pliers and dropped the bloody nail onto the tray. He looked at Bashir's pained expression; he would try his questions again.

"Who are you working for?"

Julian didn't answer, the pain was excruciating, but he couldn't give up the information. He moved his eyes and stared at Koval, before he opened his mouth "I'm a Starfleet Officer with the rank…" He bit his tongue as Koval moved to his thumb, pulling the nail out quickly this time.

After dropping the bloody nail on Julian's face, he asked again, just as calmly as before.

XXX

It wasn't long until Julian had no nails left, blood staining his hands and the table. He tasted blood from where he bit his tongue, trying not to scream. He originally thought that he would get used to the pain, but it just seemed to get worse with each finger.

"It seems we've run out of nails, doctor." Koval said devoid of all emotion. "It looks like we'll need the laser scalpel." Koval saw the slightest shudder run through Julian's body. Koval smiled with satisfaction at the doctor's reaction. He was only getting started. He would break the Human.