AN: I've been talked into extending this. Though be warned I have no plan whatsoever
He'd been left alone in the room for what felt like hours. He'd given up on the ties a short while after they'd dragged Elizabeth away. His legs had gone numb. He couldn't feel his feet. And now his shoulders were beginning to ache. His neck was tense too. He sagged back against the chair and turned his neck so he could stare up at the ceiling.
He wondered if she was dead. If they had continued to treat her the way they'd been treating her earlier it wouldn't be a possibility, but a reality. She was dead. And his mind turned. If they were willing to kill the Secretary of State, they wouldn't hesitate to do the same to the mere policy guy.
His head jerked up when the door rattled. He groaned from the quick movement, and if his hands were untied, he would have raised one to rub at the back of his neck.
One of the three men he'd seen since being taken here appeared in the doorway. He'd dubbed him Scar because of the marking on his neck. War wounds? He'd considered it. Gang fights? Maybe even from his own group of guys.
Scar crossed to his chair, leaned down, and with the blade of his knife, he cut the ties one by one. He swallowed, watching as the metal glimmered when it was held just so. He wondered if that had been the same knife that had sliced through Elizabeth's skin.
Scar stepped back and motioned with the knife to stand.
He didn't hesitate, not with a crazed man waving around a blade two steps away.
A hand was on his bicep, and he was being pushed towards the door. What did he want? Where were they going? His heart felt heavy in his chest, and for the fourth time, he prayed Chloe wouldn't be left without a father.
"Bathroom," Scar mumbled as he was led down a hall.
At least they were being considerate.
He glanced into a room as they passed an open door. He hoped to see Elizabeth, but the room was too dark to make out a figure.
Fingers tightened around his arm. Scar stopped and pointed to a door on the right.
"Two minutes," he mumbled before urging him forward.
He would be a fool to not take the two full minutes. Elizabeth would scold him for it. His eyes wandered the windowless room, searching for a way out. An exposed vent. Anything that could help him. But all too soon a fist was banging against the metal door.
They passed a window on their way back. It had fallen dark, meaning it had been at least eight hours since they'd been taken from just outside the hotel. Why him? He'd spent the last how many hours he'd been alone in that room contemplating. What did they want with him? Carl was dead. He had been shot in the head. Blake had taken a bullet too, though he didn't know where. He was being put into the back of a car by then. He thought they'd been mistaken. Maybe they were meant to take someone else. Maybe they didn't want another body holding a bullet that would match back to their guns.
He felt a barrel of a gun being shoved into the middle of his back.
"Go," Scar pushed. "Move!" He yelled.
He'd been staring too long.
He was surprised to see her as he approached the door. He was even more surprised that the zip ties were being forgone. He was shoved forward into the room and then the door was being closed.
He had the urge to rush towards her, but by her body language, he could tell something was wrong.
She sat back against the wall with her knees to her chest. Her eyes were stuck on something on the floor, though there was nothing there.
"Ma'am?" He asked softly.
He slowly walked towards her. "Elizabeth?" He said as he squatted by her side.
The sole lightbulb hanging above gave just enough light for him to see the array of bruises forming up and down the side of her face.
His stomach turned. "What did they do to you?" He asked as he lowered himself to the floor.
She tucked her chin to her chest.
His eyes wandered down, catching on her side— the spot where blood had soaked through her shirt.
"Can I look at this?" He asked, already reaching.
She flinched away. "Don't touch me," She gritted.
He pulled his hand away, holding it up.
Something was very wrong.