A/N: Thank your for reading my story and a special thanks to jujuone23 for reading and reviewing. I hope you all enjoy it! Feedback is always greatly appreciated.

Warning: This chapter contains fairly violent/graphic torture. I feel like I should apologize for it. I assure you all, I am perfectly normal.

Chapter 4

Lucas looked nervously at the two unconscious men who were now tied up to a column with the fire hose. Krieg had left him a gun but he had no intention of using it. He looked at the clock...9:37pm. He keyed in a few commands and glanced over at one of the screens showing several security camera views around the hotel, including a perfect view of what was going on in the ballroom. He noticed Krieg approach Ford and knew that he would soon need to hit the lights. There was only one shot at this. If he timed it wrong and the gang wasn't ready it could mean serious trouble.

He noticed Ford and Katie stand up and waited for his cue.

In the ballroom:

Katie spoke up to the men. "Hey, a few of us need to go to the restroom." Several of her crewmembers stood up, acknowledging what they were supposed to do.

One of the armed guards nodded and responded. "Line up over there near the entrance. We will escort each of you one by one."

The five did as told and they were lucky that each one had a guard standing next to each one as the stood in line. Krieg stood nearby next to another guard. He noticed each crewmember was closely watching their assigned guard. He looked at Ford and nodded at him, which led Ford to nod back in agreement. He then looked up at the security camera he knew was there and nodded.

That was the cue. Lucas pushed the Return key as the lights went out in the ballroom, causing people to scream in surprise and fear. They heard scuffling and a few yells from the mercenaries. Lucas typed in another command.

In the ballroom:

As the lights came on, the terrified guests noticed that Ford, Katie, Crocker, O'Neill and Ortiz were all now holding the guns, leaving several guards on the floor. One of the guards had removed his mask and they noticed it was Lieutenant Krieg, who was also training a gun on the mercenaries. Relief spread throughout the crowd as they realized that the crew had taken control of the situation. A few of them broke out into applause.

Ford spoke up, relieved it had all worked. "Alright everyone. Everything is going to be fine."

Krieg continued. "Lucas is in the lobby and has access to the doors."

Ford nodded. "We should get everybody out, then." He took command. "Katie, O'Neill, take these people to the lobby and out the front doors. Everyone try to be as quiet as possible. We don't know how many more men these guys have parading around. Meet us back here afterwards." Katie and O'Neill nodded in understanding and started herding the partygoers and fellow crewmembers out the doors. Ford looked back at Krieg, Crocker and Ortiz who were still trailing guns at the fallen mercernaries.."The rest of you, help me make sure these guys can't call for backup."

The four of them led the men to the corner of the room and patted them down for any weapons or communication devices.

"Where is your leader?" Ford addressed the enemy group. None of the men spoke up. "You know, I am getting real tired of this. Tell us where the Captain, General Noyce and the doctor are. NOW!" He aimed the gun directly at one of the mercenary's faces, but not before he ripped the man's mask off. The fearful man quickly glanced at the others and looked downwards as he answered.

"They are in the suite on this same level. Just a few doors down."

Krieg was surprised that this guy actually caved as Ford continued his interrogation. "And what do you guys want?"

The guy looked like he was at war with himself. He avoided eye contact with the others, fearing retaliation. "Our leader, Yosef, wants your captain to beg to the UEO for the People's Freedom Alliance of Turkey to become its own nation. He plans to torture the woman to break him down and also make him pay for killing his brother."

The whole crew felt their collective hearts plummet now that they knew more of what was going on.

The man continued hesitantly. "I did not want to go through with this. I was forced to join the coalition by the others. They threatened my family...my sister and my nephew. I had to surrender and follow my orders or see them killed and then be murdered myself." The man didn't look proud but he seemed genuinely remorseful.

Krieg eyed Ford and the others, a seemingly sympathetic glance at hearing this man's story. Ford spoke up. "If you help us, we can help you."

In the hotel suite:

"Well, Bridger. The ball is in your court. Just remember that." He nodded towards one of the men who was still in the bedroom. That guard then grabbed the large video camera that was in there and picked it up, pushing a button and aiming it at the scene in the living room. Yosef smiled knowingly as he turned back to Kristin. "My dear, you and I are about to get better acquainted." He gently caressed her cheek and, without warning, quickly slapped her extremely hard, leaving a swelling red bruise on her face as she fought to breathe through her gag. She almost lost her balance but he held her in place. Another quick slap on her opposite cheek nearly knocked the remaining wind out of her lungs.

Nathan screamed. "Please...Yosef. Stop. Don't. Do. This." He could barely breathe out the words as he also remained conscious of the importance of holding the trigger. Yosef took a brief moment to enjoy his prisoner's fear and smiled as he looked at the cameraman. "Are you getting this? Do you see the precious captain of the SeaQuest begging like a worthless dog on the street? This is priceless." He chuckled as he turned back to Nathan.

"However, I'm afraid I can't have you interrupting me every 5 seconds while I work, though I so badly want to hear you beg the whole time. It is very inspiring."

The man has gone mad, Nathan thought, as Yosef continued. "But don't worry...there will be plenty of time for you to say what you need to say after we have a little fun." He nodded at two of his men, who took their cue and gagged both Nathan and Noyce immediately. "That's better. Now. Where was I?"

He walked behind Kristin and leaned in her ear as he spoke. "You're going to be a good girl and stay still, right? Otherwise my men will have to shoot your pretty little head off...and there's no fun in that." He spoke condescendingly. She took a deep breath and nodded, knowing she didn't have a choice, all the while facing Nathan and trying to maintain her composure. "Excellent." He jokingly patted her on the back in approval. He walked over to the bar area where he surveyed the tools that were laying out in front of him. "Now, let's see. Which one of these do I want to use first?" He toyed with Nathan as he picked up instrument after instrument, knowing it was killing him inside and wanting to draw out the psychological torture. He picked up a long whip that had several sharp metal objects at the end of each strap.

Without warning, he violently swung the whip towards Kristin's legs, causing her to shut her eyes and scream out in pain through her gag. Several pieces seemed to have stuck to her leg, clearly piercing the skin underneath her pants. He quickly and carelessly withdrew the the whip, knowing that some of the stuck pieces likely ripped into Kristin's flesh underneath. She stumbled awkwardly with her hands tied and unused to the weight of the vest but managed to regain her footing, even as blood started pooling down her legs. Before she could open her eyes, he swung a second time a little harder, cause even more of the sharp edges to stick and leaving Kristin to take deep breaths to try and forget the pain. Yosef threw the rod of the whip towards the floor, once again allowing the sharp edges to tear at her skin as they were pulled from their grip.

He then forcefully kicked the back of her legs, causing her to fall to her knees on the floor. The look of pain on her face as she reached out her bound hands to the floor and fought to stay upright made Nathan furious and frustrated that he couldn't do anything. Yosef took in a deep breath and grinned at the scene.

"Oh dear. I'd better move this closer if you can't even stay on your feet." He grabbed the entire tray of instruments.

Nathan kept trying to stand up but his mercenary quickly had his arm on his shoulder, forcing him down. Yosef walked back over to Kristin and set the tray to his side on the floor. Kristin managed to catch a quick glance and shut her eyes again in fear. She didn't see but actually felt the large blade slicing down her left arm, leaving a superficial, but painful gash on the way down. Before she could really acknowledge the full extent of her wound, she felt another, slightly more painful gash radiate from her right arm. Nathan and Noyce tried, uselessly, to escape from their captors and help Kristin while Yosef reveled in their struggle.

"Isn't this fun?" He quickly wrapped his arm around Kristin's neck and forced her to lean her head back onto his shoulder as he took the blade and slowly trailed it over her cheek and down to the hollow of her throat, leaving a small trail of blood as if playing an imaginary game of connect the dots. He looked back at Nathan while he continued his path.

"Remember you can stop this at any time, Captain. Keep that in mind. Ask yourself...how much blood is the lovely doctor able to lose before she dies anyway? How much pain are you willing to let her suffer? Only you can end this torture." He toyed like a cat playing with its captured mouse as he lowered the end of the knife and put more pressure into the small patch of muscle between her collarbone and her shoulder, drawing a small, but steady stream of blood. Kristin winced and tried to pull away but was helpless to stop it, her breathing becoming more labored as she took in the pain now emanating from so many places on her body. Yosef peeled away the blade and put it back down on the tray, giving Kristin a small, but necessary reprieve. Her relief was shortlived.

As if to confirm that he was insane, Yosef then slowly licked the blood off of Kristin's shoulder and up the side of her her neck while he used his hand to messily spread the rivulet down her left arm in a mocking caress. The whole time he never broke eye contact with Nathan, who was seething with rage as he watched his lover be tortured by this madman. Yosef satisfyingly licked his lips and smiled as if to show approval. "Mmm...I must say she's quite tasty." He teased and continued. "Perhaps if the woman survives this I can take her back into the bedroom and have some real fun with her later." He grinned mischievously, enjoying the look of pure terror that came upon Kristin and Nathan's faces.