Mine To Give
Monsters Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I don't own 24. If I did Jack and Chloe would be together and Audrey would be enjoying a free trip to China.
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Three more times they had taken Chloe out to the rope and three times they beat on flesh already raw and bruised. Chloe was somewhat familiar with torture. They did it at CTU in extreme circumstances except they usually used Torture Juice tm. She huddled on the mattress sipping on the water jug. Goldilocks had ordered them to stay away from the head and arms. They didn't want to damage their hacker. 'Gee this job sucks,' she thought. "I mean it really sucks.' She tried to remember herself as a young graduate fresh from the university with a world of possibilities ahead of her. So many companies she could have applied to, Microsoft, Pixar, Apple, among others. All offering a great deal of money. So why would she bypass them for a relatively low paying government job? A dull cough made her body wrack with pain. Patriotism, resentment against terrorists, a need to protect people, it would only be for a few years. Besides it's not dangerous, it's only office work. She wouldn't actually have to go out in the field. Chloe looked up at the clock, eighteen more minutes. 'I guess I did some good work. Saved some lives, helped some people, and now it's over.' She knew she couldn't give up the Sigma File no matter how bad it got. All those agents were depending on her. If she gave it up everything she fought for over the years, everything her friends died for, would be flushed down the toilet. She had to hang on no matter what they did to her.
(It hurts so much)
CTUCurtis Manning glared at the man on the other side of the table. "There's no way in Hell I'm letting you out of this room! You kidnapped a federal agent! You're facing twenty years and if we don't get Chloe back alive I'm going to see to it that you're charged with murder! Do you have any idea what these people are capable of!"
"I know exactly what these people are capable of! I was one of them for over a year. I had to do things to maintain my cover. Unforgivable things. I had to do whatever I could to get my kids away from them. I am fully responsible for what happed to Agent O'Brian and that's why I have to help get her back! I'm an expert on Reich Reborn. I know more about them than anyone else. I know how they think. You've got to let me help!"
Bill Buchanan pulled Curtis away. "We need his expertise. I'll see to it that at least four agents are with him at all times. We'll have to use every resource we can to get Chloe back."
Curtis glared at Mueller, "OK, but Chloe happens to be a good friend of mine, this isn't over. You might be surprised at how many friends she has here."
Chromedome and Tat-Face were laughing and joking as they dragged Chloe back to the equipment cage and dropped her on the mattress. She immediately curled up into a fetal position while they shut and locked the gate. It was her ninth session with the rope.
(God it hurts so much)
'My friends at CTU will find me somehow.' She thought.
(You don't have any friends at CTU, not really; they all think you're a bitch)
'It doesn't matter what they think, we support each other.'
(People disappear all the time. They don't know where to look)( They just keep hitting and hitting)
"Is this what you're going through Jack?" She whispered, "I hope not. I hope your evil bastards are nicer than my evil bastards. Stay safe Jack. I love you."
(Jack doesn't love you, he loves Audrey)( Oh dear God it hurts)
'I know, it's OK, Audrey's a good woman.'
(Jack will never love you, you're too weird, not pretty enough)( Can't take it anymore)
'It doesn't matter.'
(And you're a coward. You're afraid of that rope out there. You're afraid of that clock. You're afraid of the blowtorch. You're afraid they'll keep hitting you. You're afraid you'll become a traitor. Jack could never love a coward)
"It doesn't matter."
(No one will ever love you)
"IT DOESN'T MATTER!"
Across the room Tat-face and Chromedome looked up from their card game at Chloe then they both laughed and resumed playing. In the distance she could hear another train whistle.
(Can't stand it)
Chloe was soaking wet. During her thirteenth session on the rope she fainted so someone threw a bucket of icy cold water on her to revive her. The monsters didn't want her to miss anything. Her throat was raw and sore from screaming.
(So cold)
There was something stuck on Chloe's arm. She picked it off and looked at it. It was a wet dead leaf. 'Must have got the water from a stream. Must be a stream nearby.' More information to process.
(Hurts so much)
'I don't know how much more of this I can take.'
(Just give them what they want)
'No, I won't betray my country. Besides, when they get what they want they'll just use the blowtorch.'
(No they won't, you're too valuable to kill. You can do false I.D.s , money laundering, anything they want)
'Yeah, I'm sure they're very nice to their pets.'
(You'll be alive. You can help them)
'And the next time they kill some kid I can prove my loyalty by holding the blowtorch. I won't become a monster.'
(It won't be that bad)( hurts to breath)
'They want to make me a monster like Saunders. Stephen Saunders was a good man, an MI-6 agent. A patriot. The monsters got him and tortured him. They kept torturing him until he turned into a monster. That's what they want to do with me. They want monster Chloe to be their own pet hacker.'
Chloe poured some water from the jug onto her hand and wiped it on her eye. She did it again until the dried blood cleared away letting her open the eye again. She had done twenty sessions on the rope and she couldn't imagine anyone could hurt this much as she lay on the mattress gasping.
(Hurts to breath)
Was this what the rest of her life was going to be like? Getting beat on day after day, year after year? She suddenly thought of the old P.O.W. from her film. She hoped he was alright and had a good life with a family and grandkids.
(Just give up. Give them what they want and they'll stop)
'I…can't….they depend on…..me.'
(Sooner or later everyone breaks)( agony)
'I….won't….break.'
(Everyone breaks eventually, might as well get it over with)
'People will….die.'
(You held out as long as you could, no one will think any less of you)
'I….won't do….it.'
(You can't win)
'I win….every time….I say…no'
(You can't win)
'I win every time I say no.'
'I win every time I say no.'
'I win every time I say no.'
Chloe heard them unlocking the gate to her cage.
'I win every time I say no.'
'I win every time I say no.'
Whiskers and Shades grabbed her arms and dragged her to the rope.
'I win every time I say no.'
She didn't see who put the loop on her ankles and hoisted her up
'I win every time I say no.'
Goldilocks is talking to her, asking something about the Sigma File.
"No!" 'I win, hooray I win!'
Then the screaming resumed.
Everything hurts so much
Chloe could feel her will breaking down. After twenty-three sessions on the rope she could only take so much. It was never ending agony. She just lay limp on the mattress and could just barely move. 'That's… it….. I give…. up. I…. quit.'
"We're CTU! We don't quit until it's over!" a familiar voice shouted.
Chloe raised her head "Jack! Is that you Jack!" Across the room Whiskers looked up from his girlie magazine and looked at her. He glanced around the room then grinned and returned to the magazine.
(No it's not Jack. Jack's dead)( agony)
'Jack's not….. dead!…. He's not!'
(They tortured Jack to death and dumped him in a shallow grave somewhere. You were too lazy and stupid to help him)( Just want to die)
'No, he's…… out there……. somewhere alive.'
(No he's dead. You were going to waste your life chasing a ghost)
"No."
(You were going to waste your life chasing a silly little girlie dream )(Oh dear God it hurts)
'Its my…. life.'
(Not for long. The monsters are going to take your life from you)( So cold)
"No one takes my life from me but I lay it down on my own. I have the power to lay it down and the power to take it up." Declared a strong male voice.
Chloe looked around, "Who said that!" She fell into a fit of coughing. 'Oh yeah…..Jesus said that…..It's in…the Gospel…..of Matthew.'
(No it's John)
'Whatever! Jesus is….here and he….brought Jack!'
(No, you're just going insane, that's all)(Hard to breath)
'He's trying….to tell….me….something.' Chloe pushed herself to a sitting position, it took nearly all her remaining strength and left her gasping. 'They can't….kill…me. I chose to….give my life.'
(That's nuts)(Hurts to move)
'No I chose…to come….here. I could have pushed…..the panic….button. I could…have gotten away. They can't….take my life….It's mine to give and….I chose to…..give it. They didn't take….my body and beat it…I chose to give….it. I knew the risks….working at CTU…. My life is….my gift.'
(You're going to die)
'I chose here… They came….from Boston for me! They….set everything…. up here for me. They kidnapped….the Mueller children for….me They killed….Amy for me! They're waiting for…me! I'm in control!'
"Change the rules." Chloe knew that voice, the old P.O.W.
(You can't win)
'These guys are losers! They're Nazis. The Nazis had their big chance to conquer the world in the 1940's and they blew it! My Grampa kicked their butts halfway across Europe and he's ninety-two! These guys were losers decades before they were born! How big a loser do you have to be for that to happen?'
"No one takes my life from me but I lay it down on my own."
'Thank you Jesus! I heard you the first time. Now shut up I'm trying to think!'
(So scared)
'I'm smarter than they are. These guys are cruel but that's all they'll ever be. They lost in '45 and now they're stuck on the fringes of society forever. They're stupid. I've been up against the greatest terrorist masterminds in the world. Marwan, Saunders, Logan, Henderson, Bierko even Tony Almeida for a little while; wait, scratch Logan, he's not exactly a mastermind, but the rest of them were pretty smart. These guys are stupid.
(They can still kill you)
'Maybe, but I'm still in control and they're still stupid! Gotta think here. I'm in control. Gotta change the rules.'
She heard the jingle of keys as Chromedome unlocked the padlock. Shades and Tat-face took Chloe's arms and dragged her out. She was too weak to even pretend to fight.
(Can barely move)
They dragged her to the rope where Shades tightened the loop around the raw flesh of her ankles.
'Smarter than they are.'
Chloe gave a short scream as they hoisted her up sending a fresh wave of agony through her battered legs.
(Oh God it hurts so much)
'I'm in control.'
She saw Shades and Tat-Face pick up the belts as Chromedome got the cattle prod.
(So scared)
'Change the rules!'
"STOP IT! STOP IT! PLEASE PLEASE STOP! I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT! I'LL GIVE YOU THE SIGMA FILE! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT! JUST DON'T HIT ME ANYMORE! PLEASE PLEASE STOP HITTING ME!"