Mitchell was still faking sleep when the vehicle finally pulled to a stop. He was ready to pounce however because they had given him that injection to allow him to heal, but then never administered the suppressant after. So he had healed up nicely in the car. Now he had to decide how to proceed. Did he try to make a break for it now? Did he wait and allow them to take him inside and hopefully identify where they were now? He heard the men talking as they got out and slammed the doors. Their voices were muffled so he focused his hearing to pick up what they were saying.
Well crap, he thought. He could hear them discussing how to incapacitate him so that they could get him inside. If he could just get in without a hood so he could see he would deal with it.
He only had a few seconds before they would be on top of him, he need to think and act fast. He could hear doors from other vehicles slamming shut then footsteps as they made their way over to where he was. He let his body go limp, hoping they would just drag him in.
Someone yanked open his door and before Mitchell could register what the man was doing three men quickly leaned in with Taser sticks and shocked him violently. He tried to kick out at them but found his legs wouldn't cooperate and he was quickly dragged out of the vehicle.
Very much out of his character Mitchell found himself laughing. "You cocksuckers, I wasn't expecting that". He was thrown to the ground with one man on top of him, a knee in the back of his neck as another tried to tie his hands behind him. Out of spite Mitchell tried to rear up only to get a Taser stick to his side. "You wanna walk in shithead or should we drag your ass?" the one with the Taser spat at him. Hands secured in reinforced metal cuffs he was hauled to his feet. Mitchell looked at the men, not recognizing them. He glared at the one aiming the Taser at him. He could feel his rage building up but worked to keep it down. He needed to remain calm and clear headed so that he could hopefully see something worthwhile to pass on to Gideon. All the same, Mitchell was tired of this and pissed. He bent his head down and spat on the man's shoe, which earned him a smack to the head with the non-electrified end of the Taser stick. "Move it asshole," the man said to him. And with that the two men who'd had each arm in a vice grip dragged him off.
Before they went through a door Mitchell glanced around him quickly and took in his surroundings. Other than drab buildings, there were only two things out there that caught his eye that may have been a landmark. He cleared his mind and to contact Gideon with what he saw, but he couldn't seem to do it. The Taser must have interfered with his ability. He would keep trying until he was successful.
The men dragged him down a dark hallway to what looked like an elevator. The man on his right spoke in to his com.
"Major, this private Jones, we have the prisoner inside. Heading to containment area with your approval." There was a slight pause, then his guard replied with a "yes sir" and a nod at his partners. The man with the Taser leaned over and hit the button to call the elevator. Mitchell noted they were going down. Of course they were, he thought. Dungeons and torture chambers were always in the basement, right? He found himself laughing slightly at the thought. Lack of sleep and food was starting to make him loopy. At his quiet laugh someone behind him hit him upside the head.
"You find your situation funny shithead? Just wait til the Major gets to you." The man with the Taser stick laughed, thinking he was scaring Mitchell. Mitchell just scoffed. Despite trying to remain calm with his blood lust roaring just under the surface, Mitchell turned his head just enough to look at the man and allowed his eyes to turn to their lust color, then back. The man blanched, but regained his composure. The elevator door chimed, then opened and Mitchell was shoved in. He took note though that Taser man stood as far away from Mitchell as he could.
One floor down and Mitchell was shoved again once the doors opened. He was pushed down another hallway into a large room with smaller rooms attached, each with a large glass window that looked like they were designed to contain people. Stopping at one his guard punched in a security code to unlock the door and pushed him in. The Baron was inside, Martinez next to him setting up his gear. The Baron turned around and his face immediately turned a bright shade of angry red when he saw Mitchell being walked in.
"Why the hell is this man not hooded and sedated?!" He yelled to the man with the Taser.
Taser man looked very nervous when he replied. "I..I..wasn't aware he w-was supposed to be."
The Baron looked like he was ready to strangle the man. Pointing at Mitchell, he was practically in the man's face when he yelled. "Do you know what kind of fucking prisoner he is?!" Turning to Martinez he spat out, "Martinez get him contained NOW!", then turning back to the guards holding Mitchell he yelled at them to get out. Mitchell smiled at the man who had Tasered him, smiling at his look of panic, and made sure to flash him some fang, scaring the man even more as he all but ran out of the room. A split second later he felt the sharp prick of a needle being jammed into his neck and then he was pulled in to the room proper and secured to the wall.
Mitchell wasn't sure what was coming over him. He had always been the quiet, reserved member of the team, but right now he felt an overwhelming need to provoke his jailer.
"It's so hard to find good help these days isn't?" He said.
The Baron turned towards him, his anger beginning to ebb and Mitchell could see him pull himself back into the creepy aristocrat persona of earlier. He smiled at Mitchell, "Yes, well, times are different now."
The man walked over to Martinez, speaking quietly. Mitchell figured the suppressant was kicking in since he couldn't hear what was being said, despite them being close enough. The Baron turned around and faced Mitchell again. "I am curious how your people knew to send surveillance to our area."
Mitchell just shrugged. "Just lucky I guess."
The Baron shrugged, looking bored. "Well no matter, they won't be able to find us here. You won't be found." Mitchell just smiled and blinked at the man, saying nothing.
"I find myself wanting a bit more from you, Mitchell. While I want what you know about Shadow, I also want to know more about Atlas, and how to get to your boss. He's proving to be a thorn in the side of my boss. And when my boss is unhappy, I am unhappy."
Mitchell just mock frowned at the man, as if to say, "aww poor baby." He saw the flash of anger quickly show in the man's eyes, but seriously, did he think Mitchell would just tell him what he wanted to know?
The Baron clapped his hands together. "Right, let's get started shall we?" He then turned, nodded to Martinez, and promptly left.
Martinez set up various pieces of equipment. Turning one on an incredibly loud and head-pounding noise was played. The next to go on was some type of strobe light system. Martinez then turned off the lights, plunging the room in darkness except for the strobe lights, then left, locking the door behind him.
Joker was deathly white, eyes round. He kept staring at Gideon, then Ilona, then back to Gideon. Gideon took in his color and asked Ilona, "Damn Ilona, how much did you take from him?"
Ilona smiled at Gideon. "Just enough." She then winked at Joker. Joker felt faint. Yes, he was man enough to admit that. He was going to faint. This was so not happening to him, he thought. Nonononono, he kept repeating over and over in his head. Joker looked over to Gideon, raising his eyebrows as if to say "help me!" Gideon just shrugged. He looked at Torres, but he was on a tablet and completely oblivious to what was going on. Looking over to Ronin he saw the man with a smirk on his face as he pulled on the scruff on his chin. He looked amused.
Gideon was doing everything he could to school his features into one of boredom. He knew exactly what was happening, and the irony of the pairing was not lost on him. Nor it seemed was it lost on Ronin, judging by the look in his eyes and the constant rubbing of his mouth, as if to refrain from laughing. That was two pairs of team members paired up now. He couldn't help but wonder if Ronin and Torres would be paired. Was that why he had the members he had? Hard to say, he thought. What was, was. Joker was looking at his feet, making every attempt to NOT look at Ilona. Gideon caught Ilona's eye and nodded at her arm. She caught his meaning. Grabbing a knife from her thigh sheath she kicked Joker's foot, making him look up at her.
"Fancy a drink?" She said, her Russian accent smooth as she held out her knife and offered him her wrist. Joker went even more white while furiously shaking his head, pushing back into the wall of the war bird. At this Ronin lost it and let out a belly laugh and Gideon couldn't help but join in. Ilona started to laugh as well, making Torres look up in confusion as to what was going on. Joker looked ready to either indeed faint, or jump out the war bird. Still laughing Gideon leaned over and smacked him on the leg. "Roll with it buddy," he said. Looking defeated he looked at Ilona. She smiled at him again and wanting to yank his chain some more, ran her tongue over her bottom lip, letting her fangs out.
"Oh dear God", was the only thing Joker could say as Ronin grabbed him around the shoulders, telling him, "you'll survive man."
The pilot's voice came in through their coms, announcing they were coming to their LZ and to prepare to disembark. The team would rope down quickly while the war bird flew slow, at almost ground level, hopefully concealing the team. Everyone stood and began to attach the ropes to their harnesses, making sure weapons were secured. Gideon knew that Mitchell had been in Detroit. He wasn't sure where he was now, but he figured they would start here. He knew Mitchell had to have been held somewhere near the Spirit of Detroit statue, so they would search the area there. But for now they were dropping in outside of Detroit and would work their way in from there.
The pilot spoke up telling the team to get ready and to head out on his mark. The war bird flew in low on a street that was nice and wide but with skyscrapers lining both sides, providing some cover for the team. Levelling out the pilot gave the signal and Gideon and his team threw their ropes out and quickly descended. Once everyone was down and disconnected Gideon gave the pilot a hand sign and he pulled up and off, heading away from them.
"Joker, pull out your scanner and check for any life signs. The rest of you, stay alert and see if you sense anything." Gideon let his senses loose, picking up the scents of a decaying city. He could smell trash, animal life, water – nothing of interest. Same with his hearing, only picking up on critters scurrying around nearby. Looking at his team he got acknowledgements of the same.
"I'm not seeing anything of interest on the scanners boss." Gideon figured as much. But he didn't want to be caught unaware again.
"OK, let's work our way in, heads on a swivel. I know Mitchell was here but has been moved. As soon as I hear from him we'll start towards him. Keep your eyes open, if you see anything that looks like wavy air, stay on top of it. I do not want another run in with our ghostly tangos." When every member of his team nodded, he knew they were ready to move out.
They began to work their way in through the streets, scanning everything with their senses. It was eerie, the entire city had been overtaken by Sentinel and promptly emptied of civilians. Gideon knew this meant that if Sentinel forces were out there scanning, Alpha team would be promptly picked up. Not having civilians in the area showing up on scanners meant the team would stick out. But there was nothing Gideon could do about it. Their only hope was that Sentinel would not be looking for them. Atlas was performing a fake search of a completely different area, war birds and some ground troops working the area to make Sentinel think that's where their focus was. Until Gideon could check in with Mitchell on his new location they would start from here and hopefully find something. He was a little concerned about the lack of contact, but tried not to dwell on it.
About an hour later Joker told them they were close to the statue and he stopped to scan the area. Still no signs of life, but Gideon wasn't going to take any chances. He needed a plan. With only 5 of them there wasn't a good way to separate and search the area. They would have to break up into two teams, and it would be slow. Gideon tried to replay the scene in his head when Mitchell told him he was being moved, trying to determine how far from the statue he may have been. Looking around at the height of the buildings, he wondered if going up would be the way to go.
"OK folks. Let's get a higher vantage point. Make sure your mag grips and boost jump are enabled. Torres, Ronin and Ilona take that side of the street. Joker you're with me. I think this may be the fastest way to search. Let's hope someone left something behind for us to find."
As the three people made their way across the street Gideon and Joker put on their mag grips and took a running leap at a building, climbing all the way to the top of the multi-story building. From there they would jump from building to building, looking and hopefully spot something.
Mitchell wasn't sure how long he'd been in the room with the lights and noise, but he was ready to go crazy. He had a pounding headache and felt sick to his stomach. Finally the door opened and Martinez walked in. He turned off the strobe light and noise, but before Mitchell could sigh in relief he threw another switch activating a blinding light. Slamming his eyes shut Mitchell cried out. It was like being up close and personal to a sun, the light was so bright. It was physically painful. Suddenly the light went off, causing Mitchell to become disorientated. Still not able to open his eyes he didn't see Martinez approach until the man put a hood over his head and tightened it around his neck. He could then feel chains being attached to his cuffs, then the cuffs being removed from the wall hook he'd been attached to. A second later he heard the chains moving, followed by the feeling of his arms being pulled up. Once again he was on his tip toes. The deafening noise started up again and Mitchell forced himself to even his breathing out before he hyperventilated inside the hood. He was worried though, while he felt confident he could withstand the physical torture, he wasn't so sure about this. His cuffs were already cutting into his hands and he tried not to move too much.
However, Martinez wasn't quite ready to leave yet. He picked up a metal bar and swung at Mitchell, shattering several ribs in the process. Mitchell cried out with the pain, wholly unprepared for what had just happened. The agony was intense, the pain of his ribs coupled with the noise and the difficulty with breathing inside the mask was overwhelming. Mitchell just kept trying to breathe and waited for the next blow, not knowing when it would come due to his lack of sight.
The team had been searching for two hours when Torres came in over his com.
"Captain, we may have spotted something. We're up on an old office building and Ilona spotted what looks like an Atlas vehicle outside by a loading dock. There's an open door on the building. We're not picking any signs up."
Gideon signaled Joker to start working his way down the building to ground level. "Copy. Make your way down but wait for me before moving in. Let's do this right."
About ten minutes later Gideon and Joker met up with the rest of Alpha team. Torres moved up to him. "We scouted all sides, it looks like this is the only way in or out. How do you want to do this?" Gideon would've loved to have had the time and manpower to search and take their time working out a plan, but that was time and manpower he just didn't have. His hope was that if this was indeed where Mitchell had been held, then they evacuated everyone, or close to it.
"We move in, look for intel that'll lead us to Mitchell. We stick together this time. Torres and Ronin, I want you watching our backs, keep your eyes open for signs of our invisible friends. Joker and Ilona, I want you scanning for threats and any intel. I'll take the lead. Let's move in."
As a unit they made their way in, Torres and Ronin covering the rear, Gideon in front, Joker and Ilona secured in the middle. "No signs of life yet boss," Joker said quietly. They cleared every room on the ground floor, noting that it had the air of being left in a hurry. There were cold cups of coffee left on table tops. One station even had a partially eaten sandwich. After clearing the ground floor Gideon motioned for the stairs heading down to a sub level.
"More than likely Mitchell was kept down here. Let's start here then work our way back up." Staying in formation they made their way down the stairs coming out into a small area that would've been secured by the reinforced door that now stood open. Gideon stepped through, his rifle at the ready, visually and aurally scanning for threats. The small room looked like an observation room, there were four rooms attached, two on each side. All of the rooms had large windows that were tinted on this side. Probably two way Gideon thought. All but one had looked unused.
Gideon could feel his anger building as he stepped slowly into the room that looked like it had been used recently. There was dried blood on the floor. A lot of it. Chains hung from the ceiling from a pulley, one end attached to the wall, the other ends ending in heavy, blood-encrusted manacles. Turning he saw a hose had been coiled up, still attached to the spigot. A cart that had been left behind held some kind of machine with cables running from it.
Gideon hadn't realized he was growling, eyes glowing and fangs out until Ronin had stepped in front of him, blocking his view of the cart and placing a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find him. He's strong." Gideon snapped out of it, nodding at Ronin and silently grateful for him stepping in. Turning he saw Joker and Torres looking uneasy at room. Ilona however looked thoughtful, like she was finding inspiration for the next time she "questioned" someone.
"OK, other than assuming this is where Mitchell was kept, there's nothing here to give us any indication as to where they went. Let's move back up to the second floor." The team seemed eager to get off this level and the visual reminder of what Mitchell had, and was probably still, enduring.
They climbed back up to the ground floor, then continued to the second. Gideon gave the signal to search the room, letting his senses roam and finding nothing. It seemed the building was abandoned.
Three hours later they had scoured the building, finding nothing. Gideon was ready to tear doors off their hinges in his frustration. Despite being in a hurry to leave this building behind, they'd still had time to wipe out their computers, leaving nothing of interest behind.
Mitchell had started seeing the little flying creatures about an hour ago. They were cute, little bat-like wings in varying shades of blue, big green eyes. They would flit around in front of him, dive-bombing each other, making Mitchell giggle. In the back of his head he knew of course he'd entered the realm of hallucinations, but he welcomed it with open arms. It distracted him from the 24/7 noise, lack of sight and constant beatings. They had broken his left leg this morning. At least he thought it was this morning, he had no idea what time it was, what day it was – hell he didn't even know what month it was.
The constant noise and pain had prevented him from contacting Gideon. He didn't know if that was intentional, if they'd discovered his ability to mind talk, or it was just a coincidence. Regardless, he'd had no way to make contact and therefor no way to tell Gideon about what he saw on the way in. Every so often though he would just repeat two words over and over, hoping that maybe at some point they would reach his mate. But for now, he followed his little flying friend's antics as they helped him escape the pain.
Gideon sat at a table in a room on the ground floor of the building they hoped to find clues in. One work screen was still operational enough that he could pull up a map of the city and outlying areas. Gideon studied it, trying to determine where they had taken Mitchell. He had marked the building they were in as well as the statue Mitchell had seen, drawing a line to connect them. It was the only thing he had to go on. Mitchell hadn't been able to determine their direction, so it was completely up in the air where they went. Hell they may not even be in country anymore. The frustration level was rising to extreme levels. He needed to make contact with Mitchell, and he was beyond worried at how long it had been since he'd heard from him. They hadn't gone this long without making contact, but he refused to think the worse.
He sat back in the chair, rubbing his eyes. They had scouted the immediate area surrounding the building but saw nothing of interest. It was late and he knew his team was tired. They decided to hole up for the night and hopefully get more intel and head back out in the morning. He looked his team over. Torres, Joker and Ilona were eating MREs, Ronin was working on a tablet. Trying to clear his mind somewhat he watched the three eating. Ilona was sitting next to Joker, and it didn't escape his notice that Joker was as close to Torres as he could be without actually sitting in his lap. He inwardly chuckled. He never would've pegged these two. They didn't even know each other, other than Joker being scared to death of the interrogator. If he really thought about it though, it almost made sense. He could see Joker being paired to a very dominant woman. Not that Joker was weak or submissive, but he had gotten his nickname for a reason, so it just seemed natural that his mate would be a strong dominant. Ilona would keep him in line and on his toes. If he didn't succumb to fear of course.
He looked at his other two members and found himself wondering about them. Torres and Ronin had always been a bit more private. He'd never seen them with anyone openly or even really flirt. Joker of course flirted with anything that had boobs and was breathing, so maybe he never noticed if the other two did as well. Ronin had always been reserved for the most part. Very much a team member and outgoing within their group, but when in the general populace he would tend to stick to himself. He was very comfortable with solitude, but at the same time didn't hesitate to throw himself out there to protect his team. Torres was the rock, always there when Gideon needed him, very even keeled. Gideon trusted both men with his life, and he considered all three men to be very good friends. He had warmed up to Ilona pretty quickly. She was definitely not one to take shit and was all business in the field, but he had a feeling if she stuck around Gideon would see a devious side to her. He already knew she was enjoying the torment of Joker. He made a mental note to talk to Joker about feeding from her and completing their mating. It would make Joker's life a lot easier.
Torres finished eating and threw his wrappers back into his pack and grabbed a bottle of water. Looking up he saw Gideon watching them, and asked if he wanted something to eat. When Gideon said sure, Torres rifled through the pack and pulled a couple out.
Speaking in a snooty French restaurant waiter voice he told Gideon, "we have a very nice Beef Stew with roasted potato and spring peas, or a fine spaghetti and meatballs." Gideon laughed and told him to give him the beef stew, and with a snooty "very good suh" Torres threw the MRE at him and Gideon ripped it all open and began to eat.
Mitchell was terrified. His funny little friends with the bat wings had left him and he'd been tormented for hours by the most horrifying creatures he'd ever seen. They had large red eyes, huge talons and snakes for tongues. They would fly at him and slash his face with their barbed tails making horrific screeching sounds. His body hurt so bad, he kept praying for death but it just wouldn't come. When all of the creatures flew in a tight circle and morphed into one large one it flew right up to his face and roared, its maw opening up and revealing rows and rows of serrated teeth. Mitchell screamed out in terror, jerking in the chains to get away, but it came at him anyway.
When the two men walked into the observation room and heard Mitchell screaming and jerking, the taller man knew it was time to continue his questioning.
Looking over at Martinez, he said, "Let's see if he's ready to cooperate now." Martinez nodded at the Major and putting ear plugs to protect against the deafening noise playing inside opened the door to the cell and pulled in the cart with metal pails on it. He then brought in a long table with restraints and set it up. Killing the music he then began to lower the hanging man to the floor. Mitchell collapsed but screamed in pain. His arms had dislocated at some point and after hours of relentless noise the silence felt like it would blow his ear drums.
A third man walked in to help and together the two of them went over and grabbed Mitchell and carried him over and placed him on the table. They secured his hands and feet to the table. Mitchell was in an uncontrolled panic and breathing heavily inside his mask. He had no idea what was real, nor what was happening.
However when he heard that voice, the one that belonged to The Baron, he went still. He knew that voice. He HATED that voice. He fought against his restraints but to no avail. With two dislocated arms and two broken legs he could barely move. He could feel someone close to him. "Are you ready to tell me what I want to know?"
Mitchell screamed at the voice.
"MOTHERFUCKER!"
Nodding at the two men, The Baron stepped back. Martinez picked up a pail of water and poured it over Mitchell's face, the water pouring in through the hood causing Mitchell to panic, believing he was being drowned. He struggled, coughing and gasping, trying everything to get air into his lungs. Just when he was able to pull a breath in, another pail of water was poured over him. Mitchell was in a true state of panic, his body reacting on its own.
"Tell me what I want to know and this all stops."
Sputtering and coughing, Mitchell only said, "never". When someone began to hold a flame to the bottoms of his bare feet while another pail was poured, he began to actively pray for death.
Several hours later he was finally thrown to the floor. His hood was still on and his hands tied behind his back. He was having difficulty breathing, he could barely swallow and the pain on his feet was unbearable. He lay on the concrete floor and tried to hold it together. He didn't think he would survive much more and he was terrified he would talk.
'Gideonhelpmehelpmehelpme'