"$165,000. An excellent return on our investment, wouldn't you say Theodore?"
The younger man nodded his response as he continued to pack away the supplies. He was sorry to be leaving this location – it was a good lab space. All the facilities they needed, and isolated enough not to have to worry about the neighbours. But there were other abandoned buildings all over the state, or the country for that matter, and staying here simply wasn't worth the risk.
"The funds have been transferred?"
"Bank has received them, and verification is underway. We still have a little time in our 3-hour window before I have to notify the buyer of the pickup site."
"I still wish we could've kept this one. He was a good subject."
"True, but all good things come to an end."
"Couldn't have said it better. Freeze. Don't. Even. Twitch." Larabee's voice left no room for doubt, and the two men were perfectly still.
Chris slammed the older prisoner against the wall. "Where is he?"
"Who?"
He slammed him again, harder this time. "Really not in the mood to play games friend. You have five seconds. Then we'll get the answer from junior here instead."
"Downstairs." Theodore answered quickly. "Please don't hurt Dr. Walters. I'll show you where your agent is."
"Really Theodore. These men are professionals. They wouldn't have hurt me." Chris slammed him again, this time holding the man's arm out in an angle. He gave the faintest grin when he heard the bone crack.
"Don't count on it. Vin, Nathan, with me. Buck, hold this guy in place. Josiah can stay to make sure you don't break many more bones."
"I may not be the best choice for that job." Josiah's glare was ice cold.
Buck leaned in closer to the doctor, speaking barely above a menacing whisper. "Just so you know. For every cut he's got, you get seven. For every burn, you get seven. Get the idea?" He got a small nod in response.
"What did you give him?" Nathan demanded as they walked down the metal staircase.
"Give him?" Theodore asked innocently.
"Don't make me push you. I really don't have the time or inclination to patch you up. What did you drug him with?" Nathan demanded again.
"A blend of my own creation. Rohypnol, Pentothal, Scopolamine, Ketamine, along with a few other hallucinogenic selections."
Nathan stopped mid-step, staring in disbelief. "You're insane."
Theodore looked insulted. "No, merely inquisitive. This activity wasn't simply for sport or entertainment. We took no real pleasure, I assure you. We are trying to develop techniques that will eliminate the need for traditional interrogation. First, we determine how resistant the subject is. Your Mr. Standish was a very impressive challenge. While none of his injuries were immediately life-threatening, they were certainly painful, yet he failed to succumb." Vin watched Chris carefully, certain he was going to shoot the idiot in a minute.
"Then, we give him a day to recuperate –"
"A whole day. What a humanitarian."
"- before moving on to step two." he continued, ignoring Vin's comment.
"That's when you drugged him."
"Yes. Quite a number of heavy doses, and he said nothing. Most frustrating." He stopped in front of a store room door. "It's not locked. There was no need."
Chris opened the door and turned immediately on the young man. "Seriously? You're playing games with me now?"
"What are you talking about?" Chris threw him into the empty room. The chair was on its side, but other than that the room was empty.
"This is impossible. He has to be here."
"Do you see him?"
"But, it's impossible. How could he get loose?"
"Chris. There's blood here." Vin spotted faint marks on the floor. Chris glared at the prisoner before grabbing his arm. Theodore shrieked in anticipation of the pain. None came, but he was locked into the manacles that hung from the ceiling. Chris could see Ezra's dried blood on them and tightened them another notch in response.
"He can't have gone too far, the shape he's in." Vin was already following the trail, but the poor lighting made it hard to see anything.
"Ezra! It's Vin. We're here Ezra. You're safe. Where are you Ezra?" They stopped moving, listening for any response.
"Ezra!" Chris shouted. "Dammit, answer us." Still silence.
Vin glared at him. "Tone it down a notch Chris. He's spooked enough without hearing you bellow."
"He may have passed out." Nathan reminded them.
Chris pulled out his phone. "Josiah, we need you down here. And find out how to get the damn lights on."
7-7-7-7-7-7-7
Ezra sat hunched tightly into a small crevice behind the corner stairs. He had tried leaning back to rest, but the pain the spasmed through his whip-battered back reminded him how foolish an idea that was. He couldn't find a way to be comfortable, only ways to be less uncomfortable. He could feel that he was bleeding, again. His right hand was bleeding from where the skin and been ripped off as he forced it through the handcuff. He had offered a silent prayer of gratitude that his overall condition had made his captors careless enough keep it just loose enough this time. The knife wounds on his feet and legs had re-opened when he made his escape. If only there was something to wrap them in, to ensure he didn't leave a trail. It was going to be hard enough to escape this hell and making tracking him easier was not going to help him.
There wasn't enough clothing left on him to make bandages. His shirt and slacks were long gone. Even his briefs were torn and tattered. They offered no warmth, and limited protection. He laughed quietly to himself. As if modesty was an issue at this point.
Surrendering for a moment to the exhaustion, he tilted his head to rest it against the support beam. There wasn't an inch on him that didn't hurt. He didn't want to think about how many bones were broken, but he had no doubt if he shook his left hand, it would sound like a maraca. The mallet had done a most effective job. He could see bruises and welts everywhere. Those he couldn't see, he could most assuredly feel. The burns were the worst. He couldn't lose the smell of scorched flesh, which only served to make the burning sensation more vivid in his mind. Every time a blistered wound was stretched, the pain flashed back.
The need to keep moving was foremost in his mind, but he was having a great deal of trouble convincing his body to cooperate. He told himself he just needed a few minutes to rest, then he'd make his way out. He had to get out. He had no idea of what they had in mind next, but he had no intention of waiting to find out. Something had been said about selling him off. He didn't really understand, but there was no way that could be a good thing.
But that wasn't the only reason. He had to find his team. He knew them. Knew they were looking for him, regardless of how ridiculous the odds were that he could be found. He was not going to let them down. If it took his last bit of endurance, his last ounce of strength, he would make his way back to them. They had to know, had to be told, it was not there fault that they were not in time. If there was one thing Ezra knew beyond a shadow of doubt, it was that they would find a way to blame themselves for this lunatics actions - or at least for the outcome. No matter what it cost him, he would not let that happen.
As he focused his energy on preparing to stand again, he heard footsteps at the far end of the building, and the mumble of voices. They were already coming for him. He wrapped his arms around himself, ignoring the blood but trying to cradle and protect his shattered hand. If flashed through his mind how much he would appreciate Nathan's ability to reset his shoulder at this point. That would at least have removed one aggravation. He cautiously peered out, trying to see how many of them there were. He couldn't focus his gaze. Everything was fuzzy and disjointed. He shook his head to clear it and felt a wave of vertigo as his reward.
"Ezra?" He snapped his head up, ignoring the spinning. They knew he'd escaped. "We're here for you."
Not if I have a say in the matter, he thought to himself.
"Dammit! Answer us?" The voice was loud and angry, even as it came to him through a muffling fog. They were new tormentors, not the voices he'd been listening to for the past – God, how long had it been? He tried to stand but his legs felt like rubber. Every nerve ending in his body felt like it was on fire. He reached up for support, fighting the gasp of pain from his arms. He'd been through too much to just give up now, but he had no idea what he could do. Looking around his position desperately, he found what could pass for a weapon to defend himself with, knowing it wouldn't be nearly enough. It felt too heavy to lift, and it nearly slipped out as it became coated in blood, but he had to try. He had no choice. A Standish does not go down without a fight, not matter how futile the effort might be. Well, this Standish didn't. And he knew was that he was willing to die before going with these men. More than that, he wanted to die rather that go through any more of this endless hell.
"Ezra? Come on Ezra. Where are you? Please answer us."
Josiah came behind them. "JD's trying to figure at the power – oh." The lights came on. "Guess he got it."
Vin could see the blood trail clearly now. There was more of it that he'd realized, and he moved quickly to follow it.
"It's okay Ezra. We're coming." Vin thought he would cry in relief when he got close enough to see him. He rushed forward. "Oh thank God. Whoa." He leapt back when Ezra took a weak swing with a pipe.
"Ezra. Relax."
"Get back. I won't go with you. You'll have to kill me."
This was exactly what he had feared he would find. "It's Vin. Ezra can you understand me?"
Hallucinations. It had to be an hallucination. After this much time, he couldn't tell the reality from his dreams any longer. They couldn't have found him. How could they? He wasn't going to be fooled into surrendering himself to the men who had already brutalized him.
But, what if it was real?
Seeing Ezra's hesitation, Josiah joined in. "We're here to help you Ezra. But you have to let us get close enough. It's over now son. Let us help."
It sounded real. He wanted it to sound real. If he was wrong, he was playing right into their hands. He would be captured again, a fate he dared not risk. But damn, they sounded so real.
"Vin? Josiah? You're here? You are really here?
"In the flesh. So could you try not to damage that flesh?" Vin took another cautious step. "Put the pipe down Ezra." He tightened his grip instead. "Ezra. I promise it's okay. We got them. The two of them are locked up."
"More coming."
"No, nobody else. Nobody's coming." Josiah tried to reassure him.
"Yes. They bought me."
His voice broke and it was all Vin could do not to rush to his side. "No Ezra. They didn't. It's over Ezra. Please, let me help you. Let us help you."
"Us?"
"We're all here Ezra." Nathan said quietly, not taking a chance on moving any closer yet. "I'd really like to try to fix up some of those wounds of yours if you'll let me."
"You're here. I knew you would come." Ezra slouched back, dropping the pipe.
Vin caught him before he toppled. His voice cracked as he responded. "Damn straight with you coming for you. Just wish we'd been a little faster." Josiah move close enough to drape his jacket over the shivering figure, fighting to keep his hands steady as he did.
Chris tone was low and cold as he reached for his cell phone and called up to Buck. "Bring him down here."
It was enough to divert Josiah's attention. "Chris?"
The leader said nothing, pacing slowly while he waited. He stopped only when Buck and JD arrived with the prisoner. "OK, rest of you go outside."
"No." Josiah spoke firmly, having drawn his conclusion on Chris's intention. Buck and JD were too much in shock at Ezra's condition to notice the byplay.
"I mean it." Chris's voice rumbled deep in his chest.
"So do I. Not letting you do anything stupid Chris. We don't need that now."
Chris ignored him, taking the prisoner roughly out of Buck's hands and releasing the cuffs. "Run." He spoke quietly but left no room for doubt. Walters stared at him, holding his injured arm tightly to his body, not moving. "I said -run!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing Chris?" Nathan looked up from where he was trying to assess Ezra's injuries to figure out what to do first.
He ignored the question, and the similar concerns now being voiced by the others. "GO. I'll even give you a head start. You might just get lucky."
"Don't do this to him Chris." Vin implored.
He answered without taking his icy stare of Walters. "You trying to tell me you give a damn about him. He doesn't deserve any consideration. He's a fucking psychopath."
"I'm not talking about him. Don't do this to Ezra."
"Not doing it to him, doing it for him."
Vin shook his head as he took a firmer grip on the trembling man who was reacting to hearing his name. "You'll be doing it to him. He'll know what you did, and will never forgive himself for putting you in that position Chris. You know him. He can take the guilt on like no one else. Don't put this on him. He's got enough to survive."
Chris didn't back down, staring at his intended victim. "Whatever happens to this bastard isn't going to be enough."
"Shouldn't we be more worried about what happens to Ezra?"
It took several more seconds for the tension in his shoulders to disappear. Reluctantly, he tossed the cuffs back to Buck. "Lock him in the room with his little minion. We'll decide later if we just want to leave them there. For now, get him out of my sight."
Josiah joined Buck to show him where to go, giving Chris a gentle pat on the shoulder as he walked past.
Vin had returned his attention to Ezra as if nothing had happened, but kept Chris in his line of sight. He finally moved, coming over to kneel beside them. "Thanks. But I'm telling you now, he walks on a technicality, I intend to finish what I started."
Vin gripped tighter to hold Ezra still as Nathan continued to check him over. "If that happens, you won't be alone."
TBC
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