Down But Not Out
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, then I don't own it. Some dialogue is taken from the episode Knockdown.
A/N: For Whumptober 2022 #10 Poor unfortunate souls - Waterboarding
After the flash bang detonated on the stairwell, Javi remembered grabbing onto his partner's arm as the world darkened around him. He tried to fight against the hands that pulled him away from Ryan but the walls tilted around him in a dizzying array of shapes and shadows. Ryan was limp, not responding to the rough treatment as their cellphones were pulled from their pockets and their hands were tightly bound behind their backs. He tried to call out, but Esposito only heard muffled voices over the ringing in his ears. Dark hoods were placed over both their heads before the older detective could determine his partner was really okay.
Sound came back gradually as they were taken away from the stairs and into an unknown location. With no phones to track and all the leads with drugs and girlfriends used up they were screwed. Nobody knew where they were or how to find them. They were at the mercy of a professional killer, who for some reason hadn't killed them yet. That meant he wanted something from them. Something they refused to give the bastard. He had been trailing Becket, they sure as hell weren't going to give him something he wanted. When the hoods were removed Javi was relieved to see Ryan alert if scared shitless. He tried to hide it but Javi knew the man as well as he knew himself. Javi was scared shitless too, not that he would allow it to show. There was a very real possibility they would not live through the night. For the first time ever, he wished his best friend wasn't next to him.
"Now, I'm gonna make you a deal. You tell me what I need to know. One pro to another and I will put a bullet in your brain. You don't, you jerk me around and you will be begging me to before this night is up." Lockwood pointed his finger in their faces to punctuate the seriousness of their situation.
Ryan turned to look at his partner, ready to follow the other man's lead. Though he tried he couldn't hide the fear in his blue eyes from his partner. Javi glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. He was willing to take the hits. He was ex-military special forces. He was trained to handle this kind of shit. Kevin wasn't. He didn't doubt his partner's strength or capability in the field. There was no one he'd rather have watching his back. Kevin Ryan was a hell of a good cop. But cops weren't trained to handle torture. He would be the loudmouth that Lockwood would go after. He glared up at the man holding their lives in his hands, daring him to pull the trigger.
"I'm gonna have to go with option B," Javi declared, trying to keep the attention on himself and away from his partner. Ryan didn't get the memo. He did not like leaving his partner alone. He would antagonize their captors because Javi had. He didn't know when to shut up.
"Oh yeah, we're definitely gonna jerk you around."
Lockwood looked between the two imprisoned cops, eyeing them for a moment before he pointed at Ryan. Kevin was jerked from his seat and his head was shoved under the water without a word. He was finally allowed back up and he gasped in the sweet air in between sputters and coughs.
"Listen, ass clown, I was in Catholic school for twelve years. Hell, they used to do this to me for talking in class," His head was dunked under the water once more before he could finish speaking. His words had not only been to inform their captors that he wasn't yet beaten but to let his partner know as well.
Javi cried out, pulling against the rope around his neck, "You're dead, Lockwood," He watched helplessly as Kevin fought the hands holding him down.
"They always start out with bravado. The begging comes later. See this is ice cold water. It will burn like hell when it hits his lungs. But he won't lose consciousness right away. But all this stops when you tell me how much the cops know."
Javi watched his friend continue to weakly fight against the hands holding him underwater. His movements were becoming jerkier and more uncoordinated the longer he stayed underwater. Soon he would no longer be able to fight them at all. They were slowly drowning him in the icy water. It covered his head and rushed into his mouth and filled his lungs as he fought for air. He could not breathe, the water was all that was left. It burned like fire as it went down. He could hear voices above him but he couldn't make out their words over the waves filling his ears. Just when he was ready to give into the icy embrace his head was jerked up into the dank air once more. His lungs heaved as he tried to pull air into his drowning chest. Shivering and hacking he could still feel the icy fingers of the water surrounding him on all sides.
"Okay," Javi shouted, relieved to see his partner surface once more.
"Don't tell this jackhole anything," Ryan coughed out weakly.
"Sorry, bro, I can't watch this. Listen to me, you're too late. The cops already know all about" Javi paused figuring he was signing his own death warrant, "Me and your mom."
Ryan laughed.
"Shoot out one of his kneecaps," Lockwood spoke the order calmly like he was asking for extra mustard on his sandwich.
"No!" Esposito figured Lockwood would turn on him not escalate his torture against his partner.
Ryan was thrown to the ground as the man over him chambered the bullet that would cripple him and probably end his career if he lived through the night. He wanted to close his eyes; he didn't want to see the bullet entering his flesh in an antagonizing wave of fire. He heard Javi shouting but there was nothing he could do. He was tied to a chair with a rope around his neck, helpless to stop the inevitable piece of metal that would shatter his partner's knee and his life. He heard the shot but the only pain he felt was in his chest as he struggled to pull air into his still burning lungs. He struggled to understand how his would-be shooter ended up on the floor in a bloodied mess instead of him. He looked over in shock only to see Beckett aiming her gun as the firefight intensified around them. There was nothing either hostage could do as they watched their friend single-handedly take on their kidnappers. She had come to save their lives.
Javi ducked his head as a wild shot came close to hitting him. He struggled against the ropes holding him in place, making him a sitting duck. He tried to follow the flow of the firefight, but it was difficult with his limited range of motion and vision. Not that there was anything he could do to help. As suddenly as it started the shooting ceased. Beckett was behind him freeing his hands and carefully removing the rope from around his neck. He didn't turn to thank her as he fell to his knee next to his prone partner. Tapping his wet check lightly trying to rouse him. He was shocked by how cold the pale cheek was against his fingers. Ryan leaned into the warm touch as his body shivered uncontrollably.
"We win?" Kevin mumbled without opening his eyes.
"Yeah, bro, I think Castle punched that asshole," Esposito tapped him again before moving to lift him up, "You gotta wake up."
An uncoordinated hand came up, wacking against Javi's arm weakly as dull blue eyes cracked open to deliver a weak glare. Ryan opened his mouth to no doubt deliver a quippy remark only to let out a vicious round of barking coughs. His shaking fingers gripped at his partner's shirt as he helped him ride out the attack. When the coughing finally let up it left him gasping air into his protesting lungs. Each breath a new wave of fire in his chest. Javi held him securely against his chest as he struggled to catch his breath. The water seeped into the older man's clothes as his best friend shivered in his arms.
"We need to get you warmed up," Ryan fumbled with his buttons at the suggestion, trying to get his wet shirt off. Esposito gently brushed his fingers away and quickly got the soaked clothes off. Javi didn't let go of his shivering partner until the ambulance arrived and the EMTs had to pull them apart.
