[TW: Slavery mention]
Chapter Sixteen: Revenge and Anger
Connor was so still that it almost scared Hank. He knew he was still alive, his chest still heaving up and down. His eyes were closed and his body was slumped. Hank didn't even think he was actually sleeping. He was absolutely silent after Hank made his promise. Hank didn't expect words but he did expect at least a struggle, small or not.
Hank had hoped that the kid would be encouraged to try and fight when he saw Hank do so. He didn't. He just ignored Hank. It was like he wasn't there. He thought of trying to talk to him some more but he knew it would get him nowhere, even if it was just casual talk or reassurance.
Trying to get his mind off Connor, he thought of how much time had passed. It was hard to tell, considering there were no windows in this room. The last he remembered, it was 11:30PM or so. At most, he expected at least an hour to have passed. He doubted that it was more than two.
He looked up when he heard Connor make a strange noise, like a grunt of some kind. "What's wrong, kid?"
Connor didn't look at him but he was trying to pull his arms apart. He groaned some more. Although it was dark, Hank swore he could see the kid pale. Hank thought about what he asked Connor earlier, about his hands being numb. At first he didn't seem certain and now…
"Connor, calm down," Hank said, quickly. "Hey, it's going to be okay."
After a moment, Connor did calm down. He stopped struggling and his body slumped again. Connor closed his eyes again. Knowing how Connor was, he might have been thinking he was panicking for no reason. But his hands going numb so abruptly was a perfectly normal thing to worry about.
"I'll get to you as soon as possible."
It was Connor's panic that made Hank go harder and faster when trying to force the zip ties off.
For some reason, Connor shook his head. Hank furrowed his brows, especially when the kid still refused to look at him. Hank held back his frustration at the fact Connor couldn't speak. It wasn't the boy he was frustrated with but there was no one else in this room. He knew Connor would think it was him he was upset with.
He stopped his movements when the door started to creak open. Both he and Connor looked up to see Daniel. Hank would've preferred Luther. He had some questions for him. All he had for Daniel was anger and he wanted to beat his face in again. Payback for pistol-whipping him a couple hours ago.
"I thought I heard some noise," Daniel said. "I was wondering if you'd ever get up."
Hank frowned. "The hell's that supposed to mean? How long have we been out?"
Daniel shrugged. "Eight or so hours by now."
Hank's mouth gaped. Connor looked away. Daniel gave the two of them a shit-eating smirk. Daniel raised a hand. "You're still on the ship."
"We headin' back to Detroit?"
"On our way," Daniel said. "Strange how we were on a detour and now we're heading home."
Hank glared. The Stern Institute had been the ones to make this detour happen then. They must have done something to Lucy. Unless Lucy was part of the Institute, too. For some reason, Hank doubted the woman was with them. He also doubted Daniel would answer him truthfully. Hank would have to get answers on his own.
Daniel walked and stood in front of Hank, making it so Hank could only focus on him. Daniel nudged Hank's knee with his foot and hummed. Hank didn't take his glare off him.
"You know, I still gotta pay you back. For that beating you gave me."
"You already did," Hank scoffed. "You pistol-whipped me, for fuck's sake."
"That little thing? That was nothing. You hit me while I was down."
"You tried to kill the fucking kid. Twice. You deserved it."
"And I think you deserve some payback."
Hank grunted as Daniel slammed his foot into his stomach. He didn't get the chance to breathe before he did it again. Daniel kneeled and then started pounding his fist against his face. Hank could tell he was holding back, probably trying to keep in mind that Daniel wasn't allowed to kill him yet.
It still hurt like hell. Blood started to spill from his nose and slide into his mouth. He wasn't sure how many punches Daniel got in before he was satisfied. It was much longer compared to when Hank gave him his beating. He knew that it was nothing compared to what Connor went through.
Daniel panted as if he just finished working out. He stood and took a couple steps back. He nodded, satisfied with himself.
"Feel better?" Hank asked, sarcastically. He spat out sticky blood. He wanted to give more bite and sass but he felt too light-headed now.
Daniel didn't respond. Instead, he turned and looked to Connor and Hank followed his gaze. The kid was shaking and he looked frightened. His eyes looked Hank up and down and Hank didn't miss the tears that threatened to spill.
"What are you whining about? I never touched you," Daniel scoffed. He turned to him. "Want me to?"
Hank kicked Daniel's shin. Daniel looked back to him. "Don't touch him. You already beat him once."
Daniel rolled his eyes. He gave Connor's knee a slight kick. The kid didn't respond. Daniel started to leave but before he was out the door he said, "Luther will check on you later." Then he left.
Hank sighed and leaned back against the pole again. His body loosened and his eyes felt droopy again. He looked at Connor who seemed to have trouble keeping eye contact with him. Hell, he wasn't even giving actual eye contact, he was looking off to the side just slightly.
"This isn't your fault, kid."
Connor looked to the floor again. Hank hated that. He felt stupid for not asking Daniel to untie him or at least take the gag off. But knowing Daniel, there was no way he would've complied.
Hank felt twice as bad when he heard Connor sniffle. He could feel the kid's guilt from here. He shouldn't have even felt guilty. It seemed like nothing he said would work on him. He could give a million reassurances and nothing he would say matter. There had to be another way. He needed to get free first.
He tried one last time. "It'll be okay. I'm going to get us out."
Connor didn't respond in any way.
Hank closed his eyes. He wanted to get free as fast as possible but he did need a quick moment of rest. Not only could he barely feel his arms but his head continued to pound non-stop. It had been a while since he was punched and kicked that repeatedly. He felt that it was better than Connor, though. He would take a thousand beatings for Connor if it meant keeping him alive.
While resting, he thought about the fact that it had been eight or maybe more hours. That was the last thing he expected. He didn't think he was hit that hard. Connor might've made sense because he was drugged before being taken to this room. Hank had only been pistol-whipped twice. He didn't think it was that bad.
It was possible he was drugged while unconscious but that made little to no sense to Hank. Zlatko was a crazy man, though. He was capable of all kinds of shit.
All of this thinking made his headache worse and before he knew it he was unconscious again.
XXX
Knowing how sore he was, he knew he was out for at least another two hours. His body was still sore but at least it calmed down a little. A little is better than nothing. It was the sound of the door creaking open that woke him up. It was Luther this time, like Daniel told him.
"Hello, Hank." Luther had a tray of food and water on it. He kneeled in front of Hank.
"We aren't friends anymore, Luther," he said, watching as the man put the tray down. "Don't call me Hank."
"Lieutenant…" Luther corrected himself.
He had a lot of nerve to look upset. The only people that were allowed to be upset were Hank and Connor.
Hank looked to the tray. It was fucking meatballs. He nodded to Connor. "Give it to the boy."
He was asleep but waking him up would be no problem. Connor needed the food more than Hank. And the water. Lord knows how dry his throat must've been, not that Hank's wasn't. Still. Connor was more important.
Luther contemplated, staring at the floor. He sighed and closed his eyes. He shook his head. "I can't do that, Lieutenant."
"Why the fuck not? He's a kid."
"I can't," Luther repeated. "I have no orders for that."
"You're not a fucking machine! You're a human! Feed the kid!" Hank snapped. "What the fuck are you so afraid of?!"
Despite the rough tone and yelling, Luther didn't flinch or seem deterred. He only looked more and more dejected as time went on. He had no right. No fucking right to feel dejected or pained.
"I don't want to have to force feed you," Luther said. "Cooperate, please."
"Fuck you!"
Connor stirred but didn't actually wake. It was impressive.
"Will poor Luther get into trouble if I don't eat? Aw, how sad." He nodded to Connor again. "Give. It. To. Him."
Luther didn't even shake his head. He only pushed the tray closer as if Hank could eat it freely. His hands were still fucking tied. Luther would still have to hand-feed him and Hank would be damned if he let that happen.
When nothing happened, Hank scowled. He kicked the tray away, messing up the plate of meatballs and causing the water to fall over. Luther sighed. It took all of Hank's willpower not to kick him.
"Lieutenant, listen...I'm sorry," Luther said. He went to clean up the mess Hank made.
"Luther, this isn't the old fucking age," Hank said. "You aren't slaves anymore."
"You don't understand, Lieutenant."
"So fucking tell me! Tell me so I can understand why you're going back in time!" Hank shouted. "What is going on?"
"I can't tell you." Hank could tell that Luther's patience was beginning to go away. "Is telling you going to get you to trust me again?"
"Hell fucking no," Hank replied. "But it'll get me to understand and maybe then my anger will calm down. Maybe."
Luther shook his head. Hank was getting really fucking tired of that movement.
The man stood and took the tray with him. He went to the door and only went halfway out. "I don't have a choice."
Luther walked out.
Hank thought of yelling for him to get back here but went against it. Luther wouldn't listen. He would probably make up excuses, too. Everyone seemed to be doing that recently. The only exception was Connor because he didn't have a choice. He knew Luther did, he was an adult. He could do what he wanted freely. Connor had much more struggles with it.
Speaking of Connor, the kid stirred again. His eyes fluttered open. He looked up at Hank but it only lasted a few seconds. Thankfully he didn't stare at the floor again. His eyes actually roamed around the room.
Hank froze for a moment. "Fuck!"
Connor flinched and his eyes widened. He looked at Hank with, thankfully, only some fear. A lot of his eyes showed confusion. Connor whimpered and tried to back away but, again, couldn't.
"I'm not angry with you, kid," Hank said, forcing his voice to be calmer.
Connor tilted his head. This was the most emotion he had gotten out of Connor so far.
"It's…" He wasn't quite sure how to explain in a way that would make sense to Connor. It wasn't as if it was actually hard to understand. What it was was trying to find a good way to word it. "Not about you. It's okay."
Technically, it was about him but not in a bad way. Hank wasted his time with Luther. Instead of being so angry with him, he should've asked the man to loosen Connor's restraints or take the gag off.
Fuck. He really needed to control his anger. He did nothing rationally when his anger took control.
Connor nodded. He looked to the door with a questioning gaze.
"Uh...Yeah, Luther came by," Hank said. He assumed that's what Connor wanted to know. "It's what the yelling was, if you actually heard that."
Connor shrugged.
This was the most 'conversation' Hank had had with Connor since the incident started. He didn't want to waste it but he also wasn't sure what else to say to keep his attention. The boy still looked guilty and still avoided eye contact for the most part.
"Hey, about Lucy...Is she part of the Stern Institute?"
Connor furrowed his brows. He shook his head but seemed reluctant about it.
"Alright." Hank nodded.
Connor closed his eyes and slouched again.
"Not sure how long we'll be tied here for but it shouldn't be too long until we're back in Detroit," Hank said. "Especially if Lucy is speeding."
Connor shrugged.
"You'll be safe in Detroit," Hank went on. "I'll get you to the station or something. I'm going to get you somewhere safe. Can you just...trust me?"
No movement.
"I won't hurt you."
Nothing.
"Alright…" Hank sighed. He wanted to rub his eyes. "Alright. I'll make this right."
Connor managed to pull his knees to his chest. He slouched even worse and hid his head in them. His body shook.
Hank heard something that sounded like a light sob.
Author's Note: I hope that that quick slavery mention wasn't triggering to anyone. I'm sorry if it was, hence why I put the warning. I honestly didn't even realize it was a there until re-reading the chapter. Hopefully it ain't too bad for ya'll. Again, apologies to anyone who is offended. It wasn't my intention.
Also, I feel terrible for Connor. Someone (Hank) give him a hug.
That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading!
~Kurosaki
