Holding / Interrogation Room
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It hadn't taken them long to find Harry Tusker and James Brighton.
The commanding officer of the Secret Service held the door open for Jack, to let him enter the little adjoined room on the other side of the large wall mirror.
The officer who was in the room, watching Tusker through the glass stood at once as he realized the high ranking visitor. „Sir!", he reported and saluted.
Jack indicated him to sit down again and stop the unnecessary formalities. „What do you have?", he asked.
The officer pointed at three bags of evidence. They all carried the official „Military Intelligence" signs. „He carried these with him as he met Mr. Brighton."
Jack took the first bag - the one with the photos - to look at it.
As he saw the black and white photography of obviously eight men of Petrovsky and that woman who they had been holding… for a moment Jack felt like the ground had been pulled away and his knees would be giving in.
This picture - Renee, killed, her and her tormentors bodies being ripped apart by Tusker's airstrike had haunted him in his dreams for the past 12 months.
„Sir..?", the officer concernedly asked, „is everything alright?" He had seen the sudden change in Jack's view. It was obvious how shocked he was. „Sir?"
Jack was so engrossed in his worst memories that the other's voice sounded like someone who was trying to make contact out of a foreign galaxy. Again, he heard the man ask if he would be alright.
Everything's alright, Jack murmured, still looking at the photograph.
Disgust - disgust about himself, long since drowned pain and hate arose inside him. He felt it starting somewhere deep down.
Control yourself, he thought. He wasn't allowed to let it out. Because if he had done that in the past, he had most of the times killed somebody in blind rage.
It was hard to control himself. It was even harder to swallow the pain and to push away the hate and the anger.
He finally put the photograph away. Inside the other two bags were a gun and a cartridge case.
Jack turned away from them. He couldn't handle these things, he knew, if he looked at them any longer. „Put them into a box and bring'em into my quarters.", he ordered the man. „I want these under constant watch. Nobody to be allowed to them besides me."
The man nodded yes Sir and grabbed the three bags.
Jack went over to the back of the mirror. Harry sat on a chair in front of a metal desk. Standard equipment. His hands were bound to the armrests of the chair.
The anger still growled inside Jack.
„Do you record him?", he asked.
„No Sir, not right now. It's on pause."
„I want you to switch off all recording devices.", Jack began, and turned around to him. „And I want you to leave this room."
The man stared at him, eyes ripped widely open. Security details spun in his thoughts. He wasn't allowed to leave the Vice President alone with a fugitive. He wasn't allowed to switch off the recording devices.
Jack knew that he had to do better than that. „I need to discuss matters of national security with Mr. Tusker. In private. No recording."
The secret service man seemed to understand.
Although he was violating five different regulations in one moment, he handed his key card over to Jack. „1-4-4-2-7", he told him the code. He wouldn't deny the Vice President his wish.
Jack took the key card.
Silently, he stayed watching Harry through the glass until the agent had taken the bags of evidence and had left.
He reminded himself to keep his anger at bay.
But it didn't work.
Jack opened up the lock and let the door swing open.
He saw through the mirror that Harry expectantly starred at the open door.
Reluctantly Jack finally walked in. He feared that fighting back his anger would become a losing game.
Right as he had entered the room he got it confirmed.
„Jack.", Harry spoke. He saw that look in his opponent's eyes. He knew everything about him. He had read his file. He knew how Jack treated his fugitives.
He tried to be prepared for pain.
Jack began to circle him. Silently.
Harry eyed him. As he couldn't bear the silence any more, he chose himself to be the first to talk. „This wouldn't have needed to come that far."
„No?", Jack answered. He suddenly grabbed the edge of the metal table in front of Harry and threw it over. „NO?", he roared. „DAMNIT I TRUSTED YOU!"
Harry tensed up and expected a hard blow of a fist - somewhere - anywhere, right to come. But it didn't.
Instead, Jack grabbed the second chair in the room and sat down in front of Harry, took out his cigarettes and lit one.
Harry watched him, suspiciously. Instead of being beaten to death a thought crept into his conscience that he might get significantly burned.
„Why do you do this to me, Harry?", Jack finally asked.
„You called the conference off, Jack. We've all worked for it, for months. All of us but you. And now… in the end you come around and ruin it…"
„… just because I personally hate Suvarov, right?", Jack finished the sentence. „Just because I want to take revenge for Agent Walker?"
He looked right into Harry's eyes. „He told me things that only Petrovsky could know. Do you know what that means, Harry? Suvarov and Petrovsky held contact up to the very end. They're in cahoots together."
„Gooooood, Jack.", Harry answered, unnerved. „Is that a reason to send two countries at war?", he breathed.
„I know.", Jack lowered his view. „Think back a few years. If it weren't Suvarow and Petrovsky that we're talking about- and if you were still head of Military Intelligence. What would you have done after receiving such a witness statement?"
Harry shook his head. „You can't compare that, Jack."
„Yes, I can. Tell me. What. would. you. have. done." He stressed each word to get him believing how important this question was.
„I would have started some investigations.", Harry finally said the words Jack wanted to hear. „But not if it was Suvarow. Jack, on this kind of political level there are other rules."
„Maybe there are." Jack stood up and went over to the large mirror, looking at himself and at Harry behind him. „Maybe that's why you're trying to bring me to court for murder. Is that what you were up to?"
He turned around.
Harry shook his head. „No. Force you to resign. That was it."
They both stood there, silently looking at each other.
Harry wondered what was going on inside Jack's mind. No more rage. As he had seen him enter the room, he had feared that he'd leave it on a stretcher.
Jack looked at his wristwatch, left the interrogation room for a moment and came back with a bunch of keys.
He hunkered down in front of his captive and took off the cuffs around his ankles.
Before opening up the cuffs around his hands he hesitated for a moment. „I risked and I gave too much up for the sake of this country, Harry. So don't doubt me when I make my decisions, alright?"
Confusedly Harry let Jack uncuff him.
„You like to think that there are different rules on this level. But there aren't. Don't be afraid of Suvarov like that." Jack stood up.
„What now?", Harry asked him.
„Officially, you're under arrest. But I want you to see something."
As they passed the outer door, Jack instructed the Secret Service agent to take his Chief of Staff to the meeting room- under arrest and under constant oversight, but without handcuffs.