Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the good guys portrayed in this story. I'll just borrow them from the MCU and release them back to them more or less unscathed at the end of the story.
Author_Note: I apologize with the people that dealt with the horrible version from last night and I would like to thank Katie MacAlpine for pointing it out to me.
Here is a readable and hopefully more enjoyable version.
X
There was an almost unreal silence, broken only by the cracks of the whip, smacking alternatively on the flesh and on the floor. Cooper winced with every sound. Kelly's smile grew bigger with every wince.
«Dude, that must hurt» she commented on the third. The words seem to stab Cooper like a dagger, like hearing out loud what was already going on in his head made it somehow more real. Clint saw the tear forming and a silent please coming from Cooper's mouth. He could almost see the mental loop the kid was going through. He needed to bring him out of it.
The whip hit again and the pain clouded is thought for a couple seconds.
Cooper. He needed to stay focus, he needed to help him. Short sentences. He needed to keep the pain out of his voice not to scare him more.
«Hey Coop! Do you remember the lake? »
Cooper, that looked like on the verge of shouting to let his father go, went quiet and diverted his attention to his father.
«When we went camping? What…why? » the kid looked confused. The other people in the room even more. Kelly was the fastest to recover and gave a small nod to whoever was behind Clint.
Whip.
Deutsch recovered at the sound of the whip hitting and approved loudly.
«Yes. Camping. » Clint continued. That was one of his favourite memories, one that he used as a refuge in situations like this one. He ignored the questions and he ignored the daring look Deutsch was giving him and went on with the conversation «We went on the raft. »
Whip. This time it hit without any notice, those were the worse.
«Mum went on the raft- Cooper seemed to be fond of that memory as well by the way he started smiling- you fell in the water and drag Lila and me down. »
«I guess Lila is then the name of the little one.-he made a long pause, to let sink in that they just slipped through a piece of information -Happy family memories. Maybe if one of us would tell where she is you can soon be reunited » suggested Deutsch. «No volunteers? Are you sure Cooper? You know what happens if you insist right? »
Cooper was again frantic between the guilt of slipping the name and the guilt and fear of what to come. He looked at Clint who shook his head. There were twenty long seconds of silence and then the next lash arrived.
This time it was harder, probably it tore apart some skin. It took Clint a few seconds to recover, enough to worry Cooper.
«Dad? »
«We told ya, Coop. » Kelly taunted in a sing-song voice «We told ya's was gonna happen. It's just your fault »
«Dad? »
«'m fine»
«Shut up both of you» shouted Deutsch, who was getting more and more annoyed, and then he gave the sign for another hit.
«I jumped. »
«What? »
«I did not...»
Whip.
«...fall. I jumped. » The pain was getting harder and harder to ignore.
«No, you didn't. You fell and almost flipped the raft in the process…
Whip.
…Then you swam around the raft and pulled Lila and me in the water. Mum was completely mad.»
«Yes, she was.» A smile got to Clint's lip at the memory even in the middle of his predicament.
Kelly and Deutsch exchange a glare trying to decide their next move. It looked like an entire conversation was going on in it, but as long as they were having it a minute of a break for Clint's back.
«And do you remember at night, you taught me how to start a fire?»
Clint's back was burning, but he was quite lost in the memory. And Cooper seemed to have cheered up and found some courage back.
«And we sang. »
«We sang all night the same song. »
Whip.
«Do you remember it?»
Cooper started singing softly and Clint closed his eyes and let the voice bring him fully into the memory. His back was probably bleeding and they were not going to stop. But there was no pain into the memory, only the warmth of the fire and the smell of the half-burnt meat. The rough wood on which they sat and mostly important the exasperated laugh of his children every time he asked them to start all over the song. A far cry echoed in the air as he beat two branches to give the tempo.
«Dad! » a second desperate and terrifying cry followed and brought him out of the memory forcefully.
None of the cries was there that night. It must have been in the room. His throat was coarse. Like he had just screamed out at the top of his lungs. He was so lost in the memory that he forgot to keep his mouth shut in reality. No wonder that Cooper was terrified once again.
He snapped his eyes open right in time to see Cooper getting slapped by Deutsch.
«Do you think it is just a joke? Small talks and singing songs? Do you think that we are going to get tired or that someone is coming to rescue you just because you saw a plane before we grabbed you? Let me show you how much of a joke it is Cooper, let me show you what your silence is meaning. »
This time it was Kelly to get closer to Clint. She grabbed one of his arms, while the third thug, whose face he hadn't seen yet grabbed the other. They were turning him around and his feet had not enough leverage to contrast it.
Shit.
«Don't …» Clint started shouting, but Kelly was faster to react and punched him in the stomach cutting out his air supply and suffocating his warning for Cooper before it got out.
He heard the kid gasp loudly for air. There was an opening in the wall behind him and he saw a couple people lurking in the dark, just outside the cone of light from the room. That was probably how his tormentor got in the room without him noticing.
«So you see Cooper? This is what you are doing to your father, do you think that it is so important where your little sister was hiding? Or who is helping her? In the end, she has help now, she is safe, right? Do you think this information is worth so much pain? »
He was good. Clint could only think Deutsch was doing a really good job on his side.
«Coop don't listen. » Kelly's hand was on his throat in instants and squeezing hard enough to stop him from talking.
«Should we continue Cooper? Do you think your father is a hero? How much do you think he could take? » Deutsch had decided to press more and more.
«Stop this Cooper. It's not really fun for anyone. It depends only on you. »
Kelly released his throat to put her hand on the shoulder opposite the arm she was already holding and Clint felt the second man release the hold on the arm. He still had no option to turn, so he kept repeating:
« I'm fine. Be brave. Don't look » but his voice was so weak that he was almost talking to himself, but it didn't matter.
Whip and keeping the scream at bay was hard, but he wasn't going to let the scream out again, but he couldn't do much about the way his face cringed. Kelly smiled.
«Another one! » she called out loud, like his torturer at the back was needing a signal.
This was more vicious, or his back was so torn that it could not take anymore.
He could hear Cooper starting to sob and that was the real torture because there was nothing he could really do to protect him from the show.
«So, Cooper? » Deutsch gave him a few seconds pause and then call the next shot.
This time Clint could not hold it completely, something between a grunt and a scream escaped his lips. The whip had barely left Clint's back when the man called «Again.»
«No, stop please. »
«What have you said, kid? »
«P...please, stop. Don't hurt my dad. » Kelly released the hold on Clint and turned him again. It felt like she knew what would hurt the most and she was having fun with it.
Cooper's eyes were filled with tears and he was fighting hard to choke down sobs. If possible the handprint on his face appeared brighter than ever, as it was starting to get purple. Thinking he was about to crack worried Clint even more. Did Nat really found Lila? Were they safe? How much time would have taken their captor to kill them after they revealed the little information they had?
He couldn't gamble with his children life. They had to hold on Lila current position as much as possible.
«Coop, don't. Be brave, please. Do it for Lila.» Clint started repeating under his breath, not sure his son was going to hear it.