CTC – Chapter VI

Jack lay awake, desperate to sleep but unable to find a quiet place in his head that would allow him to do so. The evening had been weird as hell and he knew he had to make some sense of it before he could let it go.

For a start, Ramon had turned out to be an entertaining host. Jack had expected dinner to be a quiet affair, possibly filled with more questions and subtle interrogations of his past. Instead, there had been a group of them consisting of himself, Ramon and about six of the higher-ranked men in Ramon's security detail, including Carlos and Frederico. There had been a lot of alcohol and great food, even though Jack wasn't able to eat most of it. He'd been trying to hide the pain he was in when suddenly Ramon declared that he was going to search for better wine and he'd asked Jack to go with him. He'd obliged of course, curious as to what this was about.

But instead of anything sinister, Ramon had gently told him that he knew he must be in pain and why didn't he go and fix? He'd go and ask the kitchen staff to make some soup that would be easy for him to eat - because Jack must be hungry - and they'd meet down here and would go back in together so the men would never know about it. Jack had stared for a long minute and started to refuse but Ramon had laughed gently.

'Go on Jack. I know you want to say no because you don't want to appear weak in front of your new boss. But I do not think of it as a weakness. You're in pain and I want your first night with us to be an enjoyable one. So go do it and then come down and we'll go and have some fun.'

His tone had been reassuring and Jack – prompted by the agony that was tearing holes in his face – had agreed by nodding slightly. So he had gone and taken slightly more than he usually did because he wanted to keep numb for as long as possible. He told himself that he needed to be able to think and analyse.

But lying here now, he didn't feel good about it. He told himself that it had almost been an order from Ramon and the man might have been insulted if Jack had refused. He told himself that being a drug user was part of his cover and he had started it and needed to keep it up. He stared at the ceiling and eventually, let Michaels go. Bauer spoke to him and told him that he had been stupid. He should never have done that. He should have put up with the pain and just hung on and fixed later. But he had wanted to. He hated to admit it – but he wanted the needle. Oh, it wasn't enough to be considered 'addicted', there were no physical symptoms but still, in his head, he had wanted that weightless feeling to creep through him and he hated himself for it.

He rolled over and punched into the pillow. Damnit! He had to cut back. He couldn't afford to become dependant. This was getting ridiculous. He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down, told himself to work through the rest of the evening instead of getting wound up.

Added to the strange accommodation of earlier, Ramon had made a special effort to include Jack and make sure that he wasn't left out. He chastised one of the men that had started speaking in Castilian Spanish, because he knew Jack wouldn't understand most of it, then they'd all smoked cigars together and got into a lively discussion with him about the merits of soccer over baseball.

Jack felt like a virgin on prom night, one who was being seduced. He kept thinking that any minute now he was going to be lured into the backseat of some car and get horribly raped – metaphorically speaking of course – but no, the evening had been entirely pleasant. They'd all got pretty drunk and the conversation had turned away from sport and onto cars and women. Bauer wouldn't be comfortable talking about his conquests under any circumstances but it turned out that Michaels – a high Michaels anyway – was quite easily persuaded to invent a few lurid details about modern Iraqi girls and share them with a group of laughing guys.

He felt sick. This wasn't him. Then he had had to remind himself that that was the point of all this. He'd never had to remind himself of that when he was undercover before.

It was the drugs. Had to be the drugs. Damnit! He rolled onto his back again because his face couldn't take the pressure against the pillow. Calm down, just cool it. He was being stupid. His objective here was to infiltrate these guys. He couldn't do that while remaining silent and aloof, they'd get pissed off with him. The logical part of brain told him that he was actually going about this the right way. The better they liked him, the easier this would be – especially if he proved to be a strong asset to the business as well. Which he would, he knew that – he has a lot to offer. So yeah – it was OK. It was just Bauer that was complaining because that way of behaving was so foreign to him. He'd never really been a guy's guy, he kept his mouth shut about women and the intimacies he shared with them. He sighed. Michaels wouldn't though. An ex-Army guy on the Circuit in the Middle East would be full of hot air – he had to let go and play the part.

Jack felt better and started to drift off. Then his eyes snapped open and he remembered he hadn't called into CTU for two days. It was no big deal, he only had to call in once a week before alarm bells started ringing. But he should do it as often as he could really. He sat up in bed and reached for his phone – but after his hand hovered over it for a second, he changed his mind and sank back into the soft mattress. This was the base for the Mexico City operation – he'd have to assume it was bugged. It would be stupid to risk any other assumption.

He sighed as he felt his eyelids start to droop finally. It would be alright. He'd wake up tomorrow, sort out his focus and everything would be fine. This was what he did after all, and failure was not an option.

Ramon stalked around downstairs, drunk and feeling pretty pleased with himself. He'd had a good evening and was happy with the way the new guy seemed to be reacting to him. Still not scared in any way - which was understandable as he'd gone out of his way to be nice to him – but he'd let down his guard a little too. Ramon liked guys that fit in with the rest of the crew, there was no room for prima donnas in the team. Of course, if he managed to reach a position of power, he'd have to stand apart from the regular guys a bit – but this man wouldn't have a problem with that, Ramon knew it. Hell, he already did stand out a little, there was something about him that reached out and asked to be noticed. He hadn't quite put his finger on what it was yet, but no matter, it would come to him.

Ramon walked through the main office and pulled aside a fake bookcase to reveal a door in the wall. He opened it with a key from his belt and walked in on the man seated inside.

'What's he been doing?'

Frederico pulled his headphones off and stood up from the bank of monitors and microphones that sat in front of him. 'Nothing Ramon. He just took a shower after dinner and went straight to bed.'

'No phone calls, no talking?'

'No, nothing.'

'Is he asleep now?'

'Yes.'

Ramon chewed on his fat cigar speculatively and lost himself in thought for a moment. 'He went straight to sleep?'

'Well, he lay for a while. Rolled about a bit, punched his pillow once. Then, yes. No talking.'

He nodded. 'OK. Go and sleep. I'll watch for a little while, I'm not tired. Tell Carlos to come down in two hours.'

Frederico nodded and left. He wanted to ask why Ramon was showing such an interest in this gringo but knew that it would be extremely hazardous to his health to do so. He'd learned a long time ago that around either one of the Salazar's, you just shut your mouth and did as you were told. This Americano should learn the same thing too but he'd have to find it out on his own.

Ramon took a seat in the comfortable leather recliner and poured himself another drink. He watched the sleeping figure of this man Jack, and wondered why he was invading his thoughts so much. He'd been pretty quiet over dinner really. Almost silent at first but that could be attributable to the pain he must have been feeling. He'd been good about that too though, hadn't bitched or whined about it at all. And after he'd had his fix, he'd relaxed a little. Hell, he'd tried to convince seven South American men that baseball was more interesting than soccer - he definitely had a sense of humour there somewhere. Ramon laughed to himself and took another drink. What was it, what was it…. He tapped his ring on the rim of the glass.

Maybe it was the way he held someone's eyes when he talked to them. Or seemed completely attentive to what another person was saying when they spoke – that was important to men of less intelligence, Jack had probably learned it in the Army. If you made a subordinate feel special, they'd do anything for you. Ramon had never seen the need to bother personally, he ruled by fear. But that wouldn't work on Jack. It was lucky that he had a ready-made weakness, or he'd have had to beat one into him. He grinned and picked up his phone.

'Hector?...How's everything down there? Good…listen, I'm bringing this new man down tomorrow….yes, I'm sure it's the right thing to do. You will see when you meet him. But that's not why I'm calling – has the new shipment left yet?...Good – I want you to keep a kilo back, one kilo of the strong stuff. …it's for our new friend. I'll explain properly when I see you, but trust me, you're going to like it….' There was laughter down the line, Hector was clearly drunk. 'Alright, I will see you tomorrow. Make sure it's done…'

He rang off and placed the phone back down. Then another grin spread over his face and the black eyes sparkled. He raised his glass in a silent toast to the sleeping figure on the monitor. 'You're going to have fun with us Jack. Welcome!' He laughed, amused at his own joking around, and was finally able to turn his mind to other matters.

The plane ride seemed to take forever but that was probably because he was high again. Ramon was off at the other end of the plane, pacing and on the phone. A few of the guys were playing cards and a couple were sleeping – the ones who had been working during the night. Jack was doing neither, he just leant his head against the window and stared out at clouds that blanketed the sky below them. Which sort of summed up how he felt right now, everything was upside down.

He'd never fixed every day before, much less more than once. But he'd woken up in the night, his jaw inflamed and screaming at him. It felt hot to the touch and he knew he was getting an infection of some sort – those pliers probably hadn't been very clean. But there was nothing he could do about it so he'd just taken a dose and let it put him back to sleep. It was wearing off by the time they left just after lunch and Ramon had noticed that he wasn't eating again. Jack had quietly explained that it wasn't due to pain, he just wasn't hungry – which was true enough. Heroin killed your appetite. Ramon had smiled and told him to do what had to be done, and Jack had. He felt like shit for doing it but told himself that he would be no use to anyone if he couldn't work, and that was the crux of the matter. He was there to work and he had to do everything he could to keep on going.

Now he was staring out of the window, almost oblivious to everything. It didn't matter, there was nothing going on worth noting anyway. Ramon was too far away to listen to and the guys were just talking about women again. So he let his mind drift like the clouds he was transfixed by and wondered what he was doing. He didn't notice Ramon's eyes on him, watching him sitting apart and still wondering about him.

The truck drive was just as boring. Luckily, his high had worn off a little and he was able to focus some more. It was important that he pay attention to where he was going as much as possible and having something to concentrate on made him feel much better about things. It helped remind him that he really was working here, not just lazing around and taking drugs which was what he had come to the conclusion he was doing on the plane. It seemed stupid now, that he had thought that even for a short time but it was enough to make him realize that he had to stop with the heroin. It was interfering with his though processes and that was bad. He would just have to deal with the pain, it wasn't like it would last forever anyway.

They drove for five hours and in the end Jack had to give up on his careful following of the route, simply because it got too dark. He knew the direction they were headed in of course, but he'd have to find out the specifics later on. Most of the men had fallen asleep, but not Ramon, who sat up front and seemed as alert as ever. Sometimes he was on the phone – speaking Portuguese for the most part this time, which Jack didn't understand – and sometimes he was talking quietly to the driver or simply looking around at where they were. Occasionally he would look into the back of the van and sometimes Jack thought he caught his eye in the darkness but it was impossible to be sure, the man's eyes were darker than the night.

He huddled inside his jacket as he'd started to get cold, even though the night was warm. He was aching again and he felt kind of light-headed. He was starving too but the thought of food made him ill. His face was swelling nastily and he could hardly stand anything to touch it either – fuck, those assholes had got him sick. This was not what he needed right now. He wrapped his arms around himself for warmth and tried to concentrate on his plan of attack. He'd made it this far alright. He needed to get in touch with Tony tomorrow if possible and let him know he was in Columbia. He needed to take every opportunity he could to show Ramon that he could be useful to him. And he needed to gain the respect of the men, that was very important. If they didn't respect him, he'd never get anywhere. Which meant no sign of weakness. He sighed at the realisation and reluctantly unwrapped his arms from his body and let them rest on the seat beside him. If Ramon saw him like this, he might think it was junk sickness. And that would be the worst thing of all – the last thing they would want was a junkie working for them.

They pulled up at a gas station and most of the men roused themselves and got out to buy food or beer and to use the restrooms. Jack stayed where he was and tried to look as though he were completely fine. He had thought Ramon had gone inside too, so he was surprised when the side door was pulled open and the man stood there, eyeing him.

'What's wrong?'

'Nothing Ramon. I just don't need anything right now.'

'You sure?' It was a loaded question and Jack hoped the nod of his head was visible in the darkness. 'Listen to me Jack…you know the kind of work we do here. Do you think that my men all stay away from the stuff? Of course not – most of them use something. And I'm fine with that, as long as it doesn't impair their work. So don't feel you have to hide your problem…'

'It's not a problem!' Jack burst out and interrupted Ramon mid-sentence. His head was starting to spin so he didn't see the dark look that overcame the other man's features. 'I just…I'm sorry. It's not a problem.' He tried to keep his voice down. Fuck, what am I doing… 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. I mean it though, the drugs are not a problem for me.'

'So what's the matter?'

'Nothing, really.'

Ramon stared at him with an unreadable expression. Jack was sitting in darkness, so the state of his face was not obvious. All Ramon knew was this new guy had just bitten his head off, and he was going to have to pay for that. Still, he kept his voice calm and friendly for the time being, holding back the rising fury that was coming up his throat. Who does this little fucker think he is…

'Alright Jack. We're almost there anyway. We'll talk some more when we arrive.' He walked away, leaving Jack staring after him. He hadn't missed the undertone of anger in Ramon's voice, not matter how hard the man had tried to hide it, and he cursed himself. Damnit, he was going to pay for that remark later on…

The others came back and filled the truck again. They offered to share their stuff with Jack but he declined with a smile in his voice so they wouldn't think anything was wrong. The drive was about another hour after that and conversation among them was kept low. Jack pretended to sleep, fighting off waves of nausea and dizziness. Fuck…

They eventually arrived at what seemed to be a ranch and Jack climbed out with the rest, throwing his bag over his shoulder and waiting to be directed where to go. Half of him hoped that Ramon would ignore him for the time being, the rest of him knew that it was a futile hope. They hadn't walked two steps before Ramon yelled at everybody to stop. Jack turned towards him in the darkness, resigning himself to what was coming. He just hoped the man would stay off the face but no such luck – the first punch hit him directly on the most painful part of his jaw. He struggled to stay on his feet while lights exploded behind his eyes. The second punch hit him right in the solar plexus, knocking all the wind out of him. He choked and fell to his knees, gasping for air and he was wide open to the kick that hit him in the chest and knocked him flat on his back.

Ramon stood over him in the darkness with a leer on his face. It couldn't be seen but Jack knew it was there anyway as he struggled to breathe on the floor. 'You know what that was for Jack?' His voice was loud and rough and demanded an answer.

'Yes. I'm sorry I snapped at you.' Fucking asshole.

'Do it again and I'll break your neck. You'll get off easy this time because you're new but that's your last warning, you understand me Jack?'

'Yes I understand.' Motherfucking asshole prick.

'Good. Get up and follow me. You need to meet my brother.' He turned to the rest of them. 'Start at 7am tomorrow morning. You've all had enough of a vacation.'

There were mutters of 'Yes Ramon' as they all averted their eyes from their bosses face and the man struggling to get to his feet. They trailed off into the darkness, aiming for some dim lights attached to a low building not far away. Jack managed to stand finally and again fought the urge to throw up.

'Come on.' He followed Ramon, swaying slightly but thankful that the air was cool. It seemed to help clear the fog in his head and he dreaded entering the lights of the house that were already making his eyes ache. They entered and luckily it was cool inside as well. Jack wearily took note of the plush surroundings and tasteful furnishings and part of him wondered who had picked this stuff out. Surely Ramon wasn't the type? He gave a small laugh inside his head. Who cared? He just wanted to pass out somewhere.

They walked down a tiled hallway that opened out into a spacious kitchen . Ramon hadn't turned round and Jack took a chance and paused for a moment, leaning on the doorframe and shielding his eyes from the light by keeping his head down. He was aware of Ramon embracing another man quickly and made sure he stood upright when he sensed eyes turning to him.

'Jack, this is my brother Hector. You'll do as he tells you, alright?' Jack raised his head and was aware of the shock that registered on their faces as he swayed into the kitchen. He tried to extend his hand and stay upright, but purple spots were closing over his vision and he couldn't fight them off anymore. He thought he heard a woman cry out as the world tilted and he fell but he passed it off as his imagination as blackness descended and his head hit smooth hard tile.

He awoke to cool air blowing on his face from the ceiling fan and the lights were off. As soon as his eyelids opened, crushing pain forced them closed again and a small groan ripped from his throat. He heard a door opening and felt a presence in the room almost instantly so he tried to open them again.

'How do you feel?' It was a woman's voice, speaking soft English and he wondered if he was hallucinating.

'Been better. What time is it?'

'About two in the morning. You've been out for a while.'

He blinked and tried to assess his surroundings. OK, he was in bed. And had apparently been stripped down to his shorts. But where the fuck was he? The woman seemed to read his confusion.

'You've got a room in the house for a couple of days. The doctor has been to see you. There is an infection in your mouth because you lost a tooth and it caused a fever. You'll be fine. They have given you an injection and you have pills to take.'

'Thank you. Who are you?'

A deep throaty chuckle sounded from the darkness. 'My name is Claudia. And now, I have to go and find Ramon. He wants to talk to you.'

'I'm Jack.'

'I know.' She left and he let his eyes close again. He wanted to sleep but knew that would piss Ramon off, so he poked himself in one of the bruises in his side to keep himself awake. It wasn't long before the door opened again and Ramon entered.

'Why didn't you were say you were sick?' His voice was demanding but not really angry.

'I thought it would pass.' He saw the dark outline sink into a chair a few feet away and his voice seemed disembodied as it floated from the blackness.

'Listen to me Michaels and listen carefully. I have a reputation and I know you know of it. You should also realise however that I am not a stupid man. I recognise talent and you have it. So, yes, be as tough as you want when you're working. I expect nothing less and I will punish you if don't work hard. But a sickness like this – it's not something you can do anything about. Do you think I don't understand a fever? When something like this happens, you get the right drugs, you get better and you go back to work. You understand? You are here to work and you are no use to me if you can't.' He stood up. 'Do not think you are getting special treatment. All of my injured men get treatment when they fall ill. Otherwise they are no use – and like any employer, I need workers. So you will stay in bed until you're better, then you will do as I ask and work hard. Is that clear?'

'Yes that's clear.'

'Good.' He left the room, leaving Jack more confused than ever. Months planning for this mission. Months of excruciating, painstaking work, learning the area, learning about the drug trade, learning about Ramon Salazar. Hearing what a monster he was. And now – this. OK, the man was really looking out for himself. But from what he'd heard, he would have expected to get a quick bullet in the head rather than this sort of treatment. He would have thought that this would be too much trouble for Ramon to bother with. And he cursed and cursed the stupid bastards who had put him here. This was not the way he wanted this mission to start off. The plan had been working so well, now it all seemed to be going off the rails. He had to get it back on track, and quickly.

Claudia came back into the room and stood over him. He couldn't see her face but her presence felt nice. 'Do you need something for the pain?'

'Yes.' She gently pushed a pill between his lips and stuck a straw in his mouth so he could swallow it. 'What was that?'

'A morphine tablet.'

'Morphine?' Shit!

'Yes. The doctor gave them to you. Now go to sleep, I will see you in the morning.' She left again and he swore under his breath. Morphine was as bad as heroin. He'd decided to stay away from this shit. Damnit! He couldn't stay mad for long though because he was getting drowsy and it wasn't long before sleep pulled him back under.

Claudia walked into the kitchen where Ramon and Hector were talking and drinking. She heard Hector asking what the hell Ramon thought he was doing.

'You will see Hector.'

'I don't understand. He's just a gringo. Let him have his pills if you like but throw him into the bunkhouse with the rest of the single men. Why have him in here?'

'Because I have a plan Hector. There is something different about this man, you will see when he is well. He's strong and he's going to be useful to us. But I don't want him to get above himself.'

'What are you thinking?'

'He likes the heroin. But I don't think he's addicted to it. We were watching him in the house and he was only taking it when I told him to, and because of the pain in his face. There has been no sign of withdrawal from him.'

'So?'

'So…' Ramon toyed with his glass and paused before he spoke. 'He used to be in the Special Forces. I think he will be good at training our men and perhaps we can use him for planning purposes too. But he needs to be tested and men like that, they know how to resist pain. We will do what we normally do and he will pass. I want more on him.'

'What then?'

'Do you have the kilo I asked you to set aside?' Hector nodded. 'We'll make sure he gets addicted properly. That way, we'll be able to control him. He wont be able to cause problems if he's reliant on us for his supply. He'll do what we ask.'

'And then?'

Ramon just smirked as he raised his glass to his lips. 'You'll see Hector. Just make sure that he uses a lot. Keep an eye on him. Get the word to Charlie and Pietro as well. We'll work him and make sure he's comfortable here. When he's ours…that's when we see what he's made of. If he breaks, we'll kill him. If not, we'll have someone worth holding onto.'

Hector smirked and sat back in his chair. That was the sort of devious plan he liked. And this Michaels guy wouldn't stand a chance.

Claudia turned around from where she'd been drying some glasses and looked at the two men. She sighed inwardly. This was exactly the sort of thing she would have expected from these two and for a second, she allowed herself the luxury of wishing someone would kill them. But she banished the thought quickly and went to kiss Hector goodnight. This was her life, she had chosen it and she would live with it. She really didn't have a choice.