Chapter Fifteen: Ship of Lies
Hank recognized that voice. It was one he hadn't heard in years but it was one that was hard to forget. There were only a number of people in the world that had a constant sleazy voice. Zlatko Andronikov was one of them.
"Get off him, Daniel," he ordered. "We aren't supposed to kill him yet."
Daniel. Hank preferred Blondie-McAsshole, but he supposed it was good to have a name to report to security. Now he needed Scars' name as well and then Hank got the whole squad.
Daniel looked between Hank and Zlatko. He rolled his eyes and complied. He got off Hank but he wasn't done yet. He forced Hank up, grabbing the fabric of his shirt and yanking him on his feet. He went behind him and grabbed his arms, aggressively pulling them behind his back. They cracked and he gritted his teeth.
He felt cold metal press against his temple. He had his revolver against his head a number of times before, so he didn't feel any intimidation with the action. He didn't move and he shot a glare at Zlatko.
"Been a while, Zlatko," Hank said.
"It sure has, Lieutenant," Zlatko replied, smirking. "Or should I still call you that?"
Hank scoffed. "That's a poor attempt at an insult."
He thought about the last time he heard from Zlatko but it really had been a while, even before the accident. He had been busted for dealing with drugs and operations on humans. Illegal operations. There was always disgust whenever Zlatko did a new operation on a poor victim and Hank and other officers were forced to deal with it.
Then there came a time where Zlatko simply disappeared. Most thought he either moved somewhere else and stayed off the map. Others thought he might've been killed by bounty hunters or people who had it out for him. He did mess up many peoples' lives after all.
Hank shouldn't have been too surprised that Zlatko ended up being with the Stern Institute. If that's what this was and Hank didn't doubt that this was. Still, he decided to ask.
"So, all of you are from the Stern Institute, hm?"
Zlatko's sleazy smirk grew. "How observant of you, Anderson."
Hank rolled his eyes.
Zlatko walked up to Connor's side. The boy tried to move away but Luther held him still. "The kid is no exception," Zlatko continued, patting the top of Connor's head.
"Don't fucking touch him," Hank growled.
Zlatko looked back to Hank with a raised brow. "You can't tell me you still care about him. Not after what he did to you."
Hank scoffed. He wasn't petty enough to be angry with a child. Anyone could see this was distressing for Connor. Hell, even if someone was fucking blind it was obvious by the tone in his voice.
"Or are you so out of touch with reality that you can't tell when someone is using you and lying to you?"
"What I can see is that you forced the kid to do this," Hank said, nodding at the kid while keeping his glare on the sleazy bastard. "You're a sick fucker, you know that? Using a kid?"
"The kid did this on his own."
Connor shook his head. Zlatko gave him a quick glance then looked back to Hank. He seemed to be contemplating something and Hank didn't want to know what. Again, he looked at Connor.
"You were still supposed to be in a daze by the time you got back here. You took your time on purpose, didn't you? Wanted to apologize? Wanted to warn him? Hm?"
Connor shivered.
"Leave him alone," Hank repeated.
Zlatko ignored him. He nodded to Scars. "Shaolin, give him another shot."
Scars- Shaolin nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an all too familiar syringe. He started to move to Connor. The kid shook his head and tried, again, to move away but Luther, again, held him still.
Zlatko looked all too amused. Shaolin grabbed one of Connor's arms and forced his sleeve up. Connor tried to protest again, muffled. His eyes were wide with panic and his body wouldn't stop shaking. Hank couldn't bear this.
"Stop it!" he shouted. He tried to step forward himself but was forced back. His arms cracked again. "Luther! Fucking help him- let him go!"
Luther remained silent. All he did was close his eyes and turn his head. It was like none of the kid's panicking meant anything. Hank didn't mind Luther before; he actually trusted him. After this, all that went down the drain. How anyone could watch someone panic like this and not do anything was beyond him.
He looked back to Connor. Shaolin pressed the needle into his arm mercilessly, emotionless. Shit. Connor's body flinched and then his struggles slowed. His arm fell back to his side and Shaolin walked away from him. It didn't take long for Connor's eyes to get droopy and dull. There was still some life in them but not a lot.
Hank wanted to know what exactly was in the needle, what kind of drug Zlatko must have made for it to effect Connor so quickly. Maybe it took effect so fast because he was young and could spread through his body faster.
Zlatko waved his hand lazily. "Take him away to the other room, Luther. Tie him up."
"Don't," Hank snapped again. Connor didn't deserve any of this.
No one fucking listened to him. Luther took Connor away to some connecting room and the boy didn't even struggle. He just let Luther do what he wanted. Hank glared back at Zlatko and was met with that same sleazy smile.
His anger levels just continued to rise more and more. It wasn't only because of the kid either. It was also all the lies. Everyone lied to him, even Luther. The only people who didn't was both Jerry's. Then there was also the fact his revolver was stolen from him, probably from Daniel or Luther (maybe Connor), and now it was pressed against his temple by an asshole. He wasn't sure who to be angry at the most.
Well...probably Zlatko. But aside from him, he wasn't sure. He was far too angry and stressed.
"So, what's your twisted plan now?" Hank asked. "You gonna kill me now that the kid is gone?" Hank didn't fail to notice the 'yet' when he spoke to Daniel earlier.
"No. I said we aren't killing you yet," Zlatko said, shaking his head. He waved an annoying finger at Hank. "You're useless to us dead. Be grateful."
Hank was very much not grateful. "I'm waiting for one of your monologues. You know, the bullshit you threw at the precinct when we brought you in for interrogations."
"You remember my intelligence? I'm honoured." Zlatko placed a hand over his heart in a dramatic gesture.
Hank rolled his eyes again. "Tell me what's in that drug of yours."
Zlatko hummed. "Sorry, Anderson. Can't do that yet." He winked. "You'll probably find out soon."
Hank opened his mouth to ask just what the fuck that meant but was interrupted. Daniel slammed his gun against the back of his head and he found himself collapsing on his front. His vision blurred only a little and he was sure he could get up again. Then Daniel pistol-whipped him again.
Everything went black after that.
XXX
He could feel his consciousness come back to him but he didn't want to open his eyes. They felt dry despite the fact his lids were still shut. It wasn't the first time that happened but it always bothered him. The more his consciousness came back, the more he could feel his body and damn was he sore. His arms were also numb and his hands felt cold, it was a strange feeling.
He couldn't keep his eyes closed forever. He did want to see where he was. It took a lot of effort, but eventually his eyes pried open. His vision was blurry for a while and he blinked quite a bit to clear it.
His head was pounding, like there was someone slamming a hammer against his head. His arms also kept getting number and number. His eyes were still droopy as he raised his head. Then his eyes widened.
"Connor!"
The kid was tied to a pole across from him, gagged and unconscious. It didn't look like he had any new bruises, so that was a relief at least.
Hank attempted to move forward but found he was also tied to a pole. It explained why his arms felt so numb and why his hands were cold. He almost wished he didn't notice, he hated when his blood flow was getting cut off and he couldn't do anything about it. Shit.
"Connor," Hank called again. His voice wasn't too loud, he didn't know how close this room was to the previous one.
While he waited for Connor, he looked around. This seemed like a storage room. Metal and wooden boxes were stacked in this room. It wasn't as dark as the last one, what with a poor excuse of a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Some light was better than no light, though. It was eerily silent, he couldn't even hear anything from the connecting room and or hall.
"Connor," Hank tried again, raising his voice just a little. He didn't want anyone coming in. "Hey!"
After another minute of silence, Connor moaned. The kid stirred. He seemed to have trouble opening his eyes, similar to how Hank reacted, not that he blamed him. It was probably more exhausting for Connor than him. Connor shook his head lightly and Hank could finally see some of his brown eyes.
Connor looked up and flinched, looking panicked now. It looked like he tried to push himself away but couldn't do so. If it was possible, Hank would have raised his hands in placating manner to calm him.
"It's just us," Hank reassured. That didn't seem to do much, but Connor's body seemed to lose some tension. "Are you okay?"
Connor nodded. He sighed through his nose and slouched a bit. He went back to staring at the floor.
Hank tried to think of yes or no questions that Connor could nod or shake his head to or shrug. There was a lot he wanted to ask but he couldn't ask everything considering the boy was gagged. Even if he wasn't, he didn't want to make the kid have a panic attack.
"Do you know where this room is? Is it connected to the one we were in before?"
Connor looked around the room. He looked down again and shrugged. Hank would take that as 'not sure'.
He wanted to know why Connor seemed so lifeless and avoiding eye contact. "Are you still drugged up?" It was poor wording but he figured Connor would get it.
He was surprised when Connor shook his head.
"Why are you avoiding eye contact?" Hank sighed.
Connor shrugged.
Hank wanted to just go over to him and untie the poor kid and get him out of here, get him off this damn ship and somewhere safe. No kid deserved to go through any of this. It just wasn't fair. It was just as unfair as how he exploded at Connor that morning.
Hank doubted the kid would attempt to answer any more of his questions. For the moment, he would let Connor think and collect himself. In the meantime, Hank tried to think of ways to escape.
He was also tied to a similar pole as Connor was. He could feel the cold metal on his hands. He wasn't exactly sure what his hands were tied with. It felt like zip ties but it could have been cables or wires. All he knew was that it was tight and his circulation continued to get cut off. He was grateful he could feel his hands at all.
If he could position himself properly, he could possibly break the zip ties, or whatever this was, by repeatedly running his hands up and down against the edge. If he did it hard enough and fast enough, there was a chance they would snap off. Then he could deal with Connor and they could get the hell out.
That gave Hank a quick reminder and question he was sure Connor could answer.
"Hey, how tight are you tied? Can you feel your hands?"
For some reason, Connor shrugged again. Hank did see his brows furrow, though, so he must have been thinking of something. He watched as Connor tried to pull his arms apart, although Hank could see there was no real fight in it.
Connor only shrugged one shoulder this time.
Hank wasn't sure what to make of that. He just hoped the kid's hands weren't as bad as his. He also hoped the kid would look at him again. He doubted that would happen.
Hank sighed and leaned back against the pole. He wanted to know what Connor was thinking. He wanted to know exactly what he was thinking.
Maybe he needed reassurance.
"Connor, please look at me," Hank said, calmly.
Connor didn't.
Hank sighed. "Please."
He still didn't.
Fine. There was nothing Hank could do about it.
"At least trust me when I say this," Hank started, "I'm going to get us out of this."
Connor didn't respond in any way.
"I promise."
This was one promise he had to keep. He absolutely had to keep this one.
Author's Note: So I decided that ETU is going to be 25 chapters long. So we're halfway there, halfway through this ride.
That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading!
~Kurosaki
