As much as it distressed him to do so, Tony shifted his battered form forwards and set his shoulders back, subtly leaning in front of Bishop, who had essentially folded back into herself. Her curled form shivered violently, even more so than before, as she bit nervously on her nails and kept her eyes trained on the floor, avoiding any eye contact with the men who now crowded the room. It seemed as if she was trying to disappear into the floor and that was a game plan he admittedly envied. But a cursory glance over the bruises and cuts that covered her skin and disappeared into her ripped, plaid shirt, reminded Tony he had made a promise to protect her and he had done a shitty job of it so far. So he tried to make himself seem larger by sitting up straighter. Forcing his eyes to become more alert. So he seemed less weak. Less defeated. Less like he came out of the losing side of a prizefight. Even if that strategy had not worked then and it almost certainly would not now.
The man that stood before them was ruthless. He had absolutely no reservations with inflicting pain. A fact he'd stated several times and had proved relentlessly over and over again. On their first day of confinement, he'd told Bishop and Dinozzo that his name was Alakoso and that they were to refer to him as so. And even though Tony was sure that was not his real name, saying anything different would result in punishment and Alakoso took punishment very seriously. Six feet of muscle bulging formidably under scarred brown skin and an apparent lack of sympathy for anything with a heartbeat made him right for this 'job'. In addition to them, Alakoso asserted degree of dominance over the other guards whose faces changed as rapidly as the day did. In the earlier days, Tony often found himself wondering, if he was more than just the torture technician and perhaps had a significant leadership role. Now, he realized it didn't matter because the implications of each were just as bad and there was no negotiating with either.
Alakoso's eyes were beady and cold as he scrutinized the two agents. Two other men Tony had never seen before stood rigidly in the doorway with AK47s in hand further crowding the small cell. Their eyes stared straight ahead with military like aptitude, but neither could hide the hungry looks they wore on their faces. Like ravenous sharks waiting for their next meal to cross their path. Initially, two guards would show up with Alakoso as a deterrence strategy, to prevent Bishop and Dinozzo of thinking of escape. But as they grew weaker, Tony was sure they showed up for the shits and giggles of watching federal agents get the crap get beaten out of them.
"Stand up. Both of you." Alakoso sneered. His tone was icy, and left no room for doubts as to his willingness to prove to him just how capable he would be if they dared disobeyed. Having learned from experience, Tony quickly staggered to his feet, swaying with nausea as he pulled the quivering Bishop up with him. Tony briefly saw stars as his migraine flared up in protest, but he managed to remain upright. He kept his eyes transfixed on the ground as Alakoso stalked towards them slowly, almost predatory, like predator approaching its prey. He circled the battered duo once, a ritual he had consistently done since their capture, before the dark soles of his military combat boots stopped in front of Tony. A stony silence stretched uncomfortably when no further movement was made. Only the sound of their labored breathing echoed in the room.
Several tense moments passed, but Tony refused to let his guard down. Tony desperately willed his heartbeat to slow down and for his body to stop trembling. He knew Alakoso was looking for a crack in the façade. Alakaso would act as soon as he saw a sliver of weakness and when he did it would not be pretty. The man roughly grabbed Dinozzo's chin, dragging him forward as he forced Tony to look him in the eyes. They were cold and unsympathetic, reminiscent of the pain that was to come. Alakoso jerked Dinozzo's head sharply to the left and then again to the right, as if he were a doctor doing an examination. Tony stifled a groan as the pressure aggravated his sore jaw.
"I've think I've made it plenty clear that I am on a time constraint." Alakoso snarled irritably as he released Tony's jaw from his grip and pushed him back towards Bishop.
"You two are testing my patience. And while I am a meticulous man, I am not a patient one."
Neither agent said a word. Alakoso made a clicking noise of disgust as he turned towards the men guarding the door.
"The bag." He commanded and the smaller of the two guards, disappeared into the hallway, returning with a small, rectangular, black bag. Tony swallowed nervously with apprehension. Despite its small and unassuming stature, Tony knew not to underestimate its power. This man could turn toothpicks into instruments of mass destruction if he wanted too. Alakoso made a great show out of opening the bag, revealing its contents, an assortment of knives, scalpels, and other sharp objects, and laying each out on the dust covered ground. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead as he recognized the obvious implications of those tools. Tony imperceptibly glanced at Bishop who had gathered enough of her bearings to stop shivering, but her eyes were still trained on the floor. So Tony turned back to the man who was painstakingly laying out objects in neat little rows with the precision of a surgeon. The men in the doorway were no longer staring straight ahead, but looking right at them agitatedly with unsavory eyes. The taller of the two grinned wickedly when their eyes meant and Tony immediately shifted his gaze towards the floor once more.
"This would all be easier if you would just give us the codes." Alakoso murmured as he organized the last of the tools on the ground. Tony and Bishop had no faith in those words, they would be digging their own graves if they said the truth, and even if they were to survive, the U.S government would ostracize them anyway. Alakoso turned to them unnervingly, cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck. The bastard was itching for them to make a mistake.
"I'm going to ask nicely one more time." Alakoso stated calmly. "Give me the release codes and passwords of Project Dual EC BRB Sha-3."
Both agents remained stock-still.
"Very well." Alakoso whistled at the two gun-wielding men behind them and gestured at Bishop.
"Take the analyst to the other cell. Do whatever you need to get her to talk. I will deal with Mr. Dinozzo here." Alakoso said in a sickeningly sweet tone and the two soldiers descended on them like flies to a light bulb, discarding their machine guns outside of the cell. Bishop reflexively flinched away while Tony stepped in font of her, but it was to no avail.
"N-no. Don't touch her! Get away from her you son of a bitch!" Tony protested as the men descended upon them. "Alakoso! Tell them to stop!" A violent uppercut delivered to his solar plexus, disrupted his protests and left him crumpled on the floor wheezing for air as they dragged the fighting Bishop out of the cell. The prison door slammed shut behind them.
"Oh, Don't worry Mr. Dinozzo. I'm sure she'll be fine. My men are very… considerate and concerned for her well-being. We don't have a lot of women here after all." Alakoso said sardonically as he moved towards Tony.
Alakoso grabbed the collar of Tony's shirt, forcing the smaller man upwards. His captor's elbow dug painfully into his back as he pressed Tony up against the wall.
"A word of advice." Tony cringed as calloused hand wrapped itself around his neck. "Never tell a person in a position of power, your superior, what to do."
The fingers on Tony's neck tensed, then a digit dug into a tender soft spot that made Tony gasp in agony. The pressure did not lessen and red hot pain exploded in his skull, and then he was screaming. It hurt it hurt it hurt oh God it hurt. The pain was constant, then increased until Tony's lungs deflated and the scream died on his chapped, bloody lips.
"Pressure points. A man's best friend." Alakoso chuckled, refusing to let Tony's position against the wall relax.
His fingers increased the pressure again and suddenly the pain was back. And the agony was worse, Tony didn't even know it could get worse, but there it was, fraying his sanity and ripping his lungs to pieces as he screamed, and screamed. His body crumbled to the ground as the agony crushed him, his nails dug into his palms, drawing blood, but Alakoso didn't stop there.
When the pressure finally stopped Tony felt hot tears roll down his cheeks, cutting through the dust and dirt on his skin. His throat was raw, and there was a metallic taste in his mouth that was undoubtedly blood; he must have bitten himself at some point. The brevity of all his others injuries were forgotten as he struggled to overcome this one. Alakoso released him and Tony crumbled to the ground once more.
As Tony caught his breath laboriously, he could hear the muffled screams of Bishop in the distance. He lay dejectedly as he watched Alakoso whistle his way over to the assortments of objects on the floor.
"Make them stop. She doesn't know anything!" Tony rasped desperately.
" Do you take me for a fool? Of course one of you knows something." Alakoso tsked as returned with a blade and rope. Tony wished he could disagree with that statement.
"At the very least, that Probationary Agent Ellie Bishop has to know something." Alakoso said with disgust as he busily tied Tony's wrists in front of him. The rest of his work was done in silence only interrupted by the faint screaming of Bishop from somewhere else inside the building. The cell swam in dreary circles as Alakaso tied the rope to a boathook attached to the ceiling and began hoisting him upward until his toes barely skimmed the floor. His ribs protested with aching discomfort as his shoulders were pressed into an unnatural position.
"Maybe you need a little more incentive or a little more… influence to get that brain speaking? No?"
Without warning, the knife sliced across the blue fabric on chest, and dark blood started to pool out of the long wound and down onto the fabric, crisscrossing over the other barely healed scars from earlier sessions. Tony groaned with anguish, more tears salting the wounds on his cheeks.
Alakoso barely gave him time to recover before slammed the handle of the blade into Tony's temple, sending blood down his tanned skin and into the dark stubble on his cheek. His arms strained against the weight of his body hanging only from his wrists. Tony cried out as the ropes rubbed the skin of his wrists raw. Sluggishly, he forced himself to reposition himself onto his toes to take the stress off of his wrists.
"Physically impressive – very impressive, I must say – but no mental discipline. A real man would not cry."
Tony's red-rimmed green eyes looked up and into the dark eyes of the torturer. Alakoso started right back, fiddling with the blade of the sword. "Alakoso, please," he begged. His head was pounding in time with the rest of his aching body.
Alakoso eyes furiously snapped up from cleaning the blade. "Please, what, Mr. Dinozzo? I told you what to do. Just say the words. The passwords to Project Dual EC BRB Sha-3. And this will all stop."
"I. Don't. Know." Tony reiterated desperately.
Alakoso put the blade perpendicular with Tony's neck, pushing just enough so that he could feel the blade against his neck. Alakoso pushed his body close, daring the younger man to make a move. He slowly applied pressure to the sharp end of the knife into Tony's skin; a bead of blood oozed out and covering the tip
"I thought so." Alakoso said grinning morbidly tracing the blade down his torso bringing thin streams of crimson red wherever the knife touched.
"Maybe if you thought a little harder. You would remember. Then you and 'Probationary Agent' Bishop would be free." Alakoso taunted and then buried the knife into his left thigh. The pain skyrockets as his muscle spasms as it tries to get rid of the foreign object. Tony screams himself hoarse as he tries to lessen the pain, but with his hands tied above his head there is nothing he can do. The knife stifles the blood flow and the crimson trickles slowly from the puncture area, but the pain is raw. His vision blackens as the pain overwhelms him. Then every thing goes dark.
When Tony wakes up again, Alakoso is gone as with all the objects and the black bag. Yet, he is still hanging from the ceiling by his wrists and he can barely bend his fingers. As he examines the knife wound, he is shocked to see the knife was removed and a darkening cloth wrapped tightly around the area. It wasn't first aid quality, but it was better than nothing. Tony guessed he was to good to die from infection. He oddly found himself laughing at his joke, even if it wasn't that funny.
The familiar clicking of the keypad sobered him instantly. Was Alakoso back? Was he coming back for round two? The cell door swung open and one of the guards from earlier dragged an unconscious Ellie Bishop in, smirking as he did so. Her long plaid shirt was missing now only the previously white, now maroon tank top remained. He felt sick to his stomach as he saw the scars that crossed up and around her arms. Bishop had always been hesitant to display her injuries to him, so he never the full extent, but now he could see a large number of pin pricks dotting her skin like freckles. Needles. The guard stepped away, spitting on the floor as he did so. On his way out he tossed in four peanut butter sandwiches and two bottles of water. Their only meal for today.
What was taking Gibbs and Mcgee so long?