A/N: I should probably mention that I'm totally making up these drugs and their effects. I assumed you all would figure that, but just in case... Yes, our villain is a super drug chemist guy with all the magical syringes full of as much Brangsty whump as I can possibly want! Screw realism! Ha!

Thank you all for your wonderful reviews, sorry this chapter took a little longer to get out. I'm playing around in Vegas right now.

Beta Branch, you're beautiful. Keep me laughing, guys! You're my energy drink of choice. ;)

Will was exhausted. Pain had a way of draining the body of all its energy faster than sprinting a marathon ever could, and the last hour of his life was hands down the most painful one he had ever experienced. Anyone who had ever used the term blood boiling had no idea what it meant – he did, now. For almost an hour it had felt like someone had lit a fire under him, but the only thing that got hot was the liquid coursing through his veins. Even now as he hung limply from the shackles, not caring that the muscles and tendons in his shoulders felt like they were slowly being torn in half, or about the lines of blood running down his arms from where the metal was biting into his wrists, he could still feel the warm remnants of the drug. The burner had been turned off, but he was still sitting at a slow simmer, cooling little by little.

He heard the door open behind him and gamely shifted his feet beneath rubbery legs. It was an effort, but he managed to get himself standing on his own accord before Roux circled around in front of him. Unable to quite lift his head all the way, he glared up at his captor under his brow, breathing heavily from the effort it was taking not to just let himself hang there like a slab of beef in front of the butcher.

"How was that?" Roux asked in an obnoxiously chipper voice.

Brandt wasn't going to answer, but then he caught the slight shift in where his captor was focusing, and the tiny quirk of a smile that played across the man's mouth for only a millisecond.

"Peachy," he rasped out, wincing at the sound of his own voice. His throat was more than a little raw from screaming off and on for the past hour, but he swallowed past the searing pain so he could continue. "Better than those…boring office parties…nobody goes to."

Roux laughed. "You have a smart mouth, Prometheus. It's a shame you won't be using it for long."

Will let his head fall forward again, too tired to care about vying for any sort of dominance via eye contact. "You gonna…stitch my lips shut? …Probably the only way…to shut me up."

There was a slight hesitation before Roux answered, and Brandt was glad his face was hidden so the diamond dealer couldn't see his victorious little smirk. "No. That would be barbaric. I have a…subtler touch."

"Right, subt-"

He cut himself off with a hiss as he felt the prick of another needle in his neck. Instinctively he kicked out at his captor, but the movement was slow and weak, allowing Roux to dodge it with little effort. The man laughed as he stepped around to Brandt's side, surprising him with a second needle injection. He jerked one of his arms in it's confines as if trying to take a swing, growling in frustration at his lack of ability to defend himself.

"Shhhh….do not take this out on me," Roux said in an oddly soothing voice. "This is Zeus's doing. He's the one who won't give up the girl."

Brandt did his best to clear his throat. "You being a…sick fuck…is not his fault. I'm glad…glad he won't…"

The words faded away as he felt his body responding to the new drugs. It started with a tingling numbness, followed with loss of motor function. He sagged down in the shackles again, and let out a little moan as he realized the numbness was evolving to complete lack of feeling. Following the inferno he had just went through, part of him wanted to be grateful for that; but coupled with the way the floor was starting to look oddly like water swirling up around his ankles, he didn't think the experience he was about to go through would be any less traumatic than the last…

~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~

"But you have her," Gale repeated.

Ethan paced back and forth in his bedroom as he spoke, not liking where the conversation was going. "Yes, Senator, she's in our custody."

"Good. I'd like you to keep her there for now. I trust that she'll be safe until the vote closes?" The man sounded distracted as he spoke.

"Senator, what about my agent?"

There was a pause as Gale instructed someone to fetch him some paperwork. "I don't see how losing one of your men has any relevance to me. I'm sorry it happened, but you people know the risks when you sign on for a job. I'm sure it's in your contract somewhere, as my lawyers would be more than happy to point out if-"

Ethan stopped moving and clutched the phone harder. "This isn't about a lawsuit, Gale," he ground out, trying his best to keep his voice down so Tabby wouldn't hear him yelling at her dad from the other room. "My man is still alive, taking the place of your daughter. I'm just asking you to help me stall for time."

"And what do you expect me to do? Postpone the vote?"

"Yes." Ethan held his breath as he waited for the Senator's answer. The small chortle of disbelief that finally came through was enough to have him moving on his next course of action before Gale could speak.

"How would I even begin to explain that? I can't hold up a vote that the entire country – hell, that the entire world - has been waiting on simply for the sake of a…a…bodyguard. He did his job, he'll be commended for it with the highest honors, and I apologize for your loss, Agent Hunt."

"He's not dead yet," Ethan spat out as he got to the bottom of the stairs. Benji and Jane looked up at him from where they were working on obtaining information in regards to Porter and Richards. Hunt looked at Benji and pointed at his watch, then motioned between the cell phone and the comm unit he fished out of his pocket. The tech nodded and changed gears without any hesitation, putting away the research in favor of linking up lines of communication.

Jane leaned forward and whispered, "I want to hear it, too."

Ethan shook his head, but the dark looks he got from both his teammates made him change his mind. They were going to listen in on that call this time whether he wanted them to or not - Benji would see to it. Asking for permission was simply a sign of respect they were granting him, but they'd do it without his approval. Not wanting to put them in that position to go against direct orders, he closed his eyes and nodded. Now was not the time to create rifts between the remaining members of the team.

"Senator, I need to make a call to the man holding my agent," Hunt informed Gale once Benji gave him the thumb's up.

"I'll leave you to it, then," Gale answered in a dismissive manner.

"No. You're hearing this."

"Agent Hunt, I don't have time to-"

Ethan's voice was eerily calm as he interrupted the politician. "We have your daughter, Senator Gale. You don't know where we are, you don't know much about who we are, we have a man being tortured by the enemy making demands to give up the girl, and we are holding her in our custody. Do you really want to argue with me on this?"

Gale sucked in his breath, his full attention on Ethan now. "Are you…threatening me, Agent Hunt?"

"No, I'm simply laying out the facts. Truth is, Senator, we have more control in this situation than you seem to think we do, so right now I'm taking it. You will listen to this call, you will hear what that man is doing to my agent, and then you can think about reconsidering that vote. Is that clear?"

Gale's voice was cold when he responded. "How dare you use my daughter against me. I'll have your jobs for this."

"Fine," Ethan answered with solid acceptance. "Now shut up and listen."

He made eye contact with Benji and Jane who nodded back to him, granting him their full support. Taking in a breath, he turned on the comm and checked in.

"Zeus is online."

He was answered immediately. "Ah, perfect timing. Much better than the last call. Are you willing to hand over the girl now?"

"You know I can't do that."

A chair scraped across the floor. "And did you have any success with the Senator?"

Ethan ducked his head. "No."

The man chuckled. "Did I not tell you? He is selfish. He acts only to improve his own image. I fear you'll never get your agent back if you continue to seek the Senator out for assistance."

"Maybe there's another way," Ethan offered. "This is about stopping the diamond trade restrictions, right?"

"You've figured it out. It took you longer than I thought." There were footsteps on stairs.

"I had a hunch, just wanted to confirm it. Maybe we can stop the vote another way. We keep the girl safe, you free my agent, everybody walks away happy."

The man laughed. "You can't seriously think that will work. What are you going to do? Pull the fire alarm?"

Ethan shrugged. "If that's what it takes."

Another laugh. "A temporary solution, Zeus. Until I can go home knowing the bill is dead in the water, I'm afraid we have no deal." The footsteps stopped. "I can't honestly say I'm disappointed at this point. There is still time before your mind is changed."

"You sound pretty sure of yourself," Ethan commented dryly.

"Because I am." A door opened. There was a soft groan and chains rattled, followed by panting breaths.

"How was that?" the African asked, clearly no longer talking to Hunt.

The chipperness in the man's voice hit a nerve in the listening agents, especially in Ethan who had heard Brandt's previous screams. "The more you enjoy this, the more I'm going to enjoy making you pay for it when we catch you," he hissed.

The chains rattled again and suddenly Brandt's voice was there, rasping, tired, pained, but there. "Peachy… Better than those…boring office parties…nobody goes to."

Jane and Benji exchanged a curious glance with Ethan. The IMF didn't have office parties, so it was an unusual comparison for Will to make. They wanted to believe it was a message for them, that he knew somehow that they were there; but not wanting to get their hopes up too much, they listened more as Brandt mouthed off to the African about stitching his lips shut.

"Don't give this bastard any ideas," Ethan mumbled. His comment was followed by a slight hesitation in the conversation as if the man almost responded to it but caught himself, instead carefully choosing a response that would address both Ethan and Brandt, claiming himself to be not barbaric.

The looks that passed between the trio were more sure this time - Brandt was sharp. He would've caught that odd hesitation in the conversation. Ethan gave them a slight nod as they continued to listen, then turned away from them quickly when Brandt's response to his captor were suddenly cut off. There was a grunt as the chains rattled, a gasp, the sound of the chains being jerked sharply, followed by a frustrated grown and heaving breaths.

Then there was the African's voice again, low and soothing, and placing the blame on Ethan. Hunt put his hand over his eyes and ducked his head; and then there was Brandt's response – soft, but his tone firm despite it's fading strength, clearly telling Ethan that it was not his fault, and trying to reiterate that he didn't want the girl involved. Any doubt left that Brandt knew they were listening diminished with that statement.

The chains rattled sharply, the sound coming to an abrupt stop. There was another light groan followed by an agonizingly prolonged silence. The nerve-biting laugh returned.

"I should really introduce you to the myth of the Eagle the proper way; but don't worry, Prometheus. I promise you won't feel any pain, but I've made certain that you'll stay awake through the procedure. I want you to see everything." Footsteps sounded, and then the man was hollering orders. "Get that table in here and my tools, then help me get him down. We have a little surgery to perform."

Ethan lost his tight control and frantically yelled into the phone, "You said you were keeping him alive!"

"And I intend to, Zeus. Trust me, he will be quite fine when I'm through. I won't break my play thing this early in the game."

Hunt clenched his jaw and spoke through gritted teeth. "When I find you-"

"You won't, agent, not unless you promise me the girl. Until then, enjoy the show."

As they listened in horror to what the African was doing to their friend, the only glimmer of satisfaction Ethan could gain from the experience was hearing Gale's reaction to it. If nothing else came of this torture session, at least he knew the Senator would look back on this moment in shame, terror, and hopefully some guilt-ridden self disgust for the rest of his life.