Triggering content in this chapter.
Lee opened his eyes to find himself in a room with no windows. It was a typical place for a typical villain to store him. It wasn't his first rodeo. He was on a chair with his arms tied behind him, the rope wrapped around his neck so he couldn't move his hands without choking himself. His ankles were tied to the legs of the chair as well.
Super.
He listened for any sound that might give him an idea for where he was, but it was pretty quiet. He sat there for a while wondering when they were going to get to him and looking to figure out a way out of this mess when the door opened and Roger walked in.
"So sorry to keep you waiting," he apologized, approaching Lee slowly. "Had some business to take care of first."
"And here I thought you never got your hands dirty by doing your own work," Lee said sarcastically. Roger gave a small chuckle at this before punching Lee in the face as hard as he could.
"How's that, pretty boy?" Roger asked.
"Oh! Phew!" Lee shouted, giving his head a shake. "Is that your best shot?" Roger punched him again, and again, Lee egged him on. The best way to conquer your enemy was to get inside his head. After a few dozen punches, Lee felt blood dripping down his face, and Roger's knuckles were chafed.
"Tough guy," Roger noted. "Imagine that." He pointed at Lee with a smile. "I know how to break you."
"No, you don't," Lee replied.
"Where is Joe Brown?" Roger asked, moving on.
"Dunno. CIA has him."
"You work for the CIA, Lee. I know you know."
"I don't. Sorry."
"Where is Joe Brown?" Roger asked loudly.
"Up your ass," Lee answered. Roger paused for a moment before starting to laugh. He shook his finger at Lee, still laughing after a moment.
"You're a funny guy," he said. "You should have been a comedian."
"That's my retirement plan," Lee retorted.
Roger stepped right into him, grabbing Lee's head and pulling it forward so that the rope tightened around his throat. Lee didn't give him the satisfaction of choking.
"You think you're getting out of here, do you? You are sadly mistaken. You see, Lee, I'm in control here, and even if you know where Joe Brown is or not, I will kill you. Got it?" He glared at Lee and held on a moment longer before releasing him and punching him in the face again.
"So...much...anger," Lee said, breathing hard. "Your momma must have really messed you up bad."
"At least I have a mother," Roger said calmly. Lee felt a twinge inside of him then, surprise flickering on his face. "Ah, hit a nerve, did I? Didn't think I'd find that out? Well, I did. Lee Christmas. Orphan. Former SAS. Friends with a gang of psychotic mutts. No heart. No soul. No mercy. Nothing touches you. Nothing breaks you. At least, nothing did."
A guard came in and handed him a laptop, setting a stool down next to Lee before going back out. Roger stood before him, tilting his head at him.
"Play a game with me, Lee," he said.
"Bite me," Lee answered. Roger leaned in front of him and met his stare.
"I said, play a game with me, Lee," he repeated.
"Do your worst," Lee ordered.
"That's what I thought," Roger smiled. He opened the laptop and set it on the stool before Lee. It showed Kate hanging by her wrists in a room with two of Roger's men. Lee swallowed.
"It's kind of a modern version of hangman. You get four tries before she's dead. You tell me where Joe Brown is, and I don't kill her," Roger told him.
"You don't kill her, and I won't kill you," Lee reasoned back.
"Again with trying to take control. You don't have it, man," Roger said, spreading out his hands. "You just don't. Now, where is Joe Brown?"
"Like I said, I don't know."
Roger clicked something, and one of the guards aimed his gun at Kate and fired, hitting her right leg. Kate screamed. Lee felt it stab his inner core, and he clenched his fists. He didn't yell out. He knew that's what Roger wanted.
"Where's Joe Brown?"
"In CIA lock up, but I don't know where that is," Lee answered. Roger clicked again, and again, Kate was shot. Her other leg this time. Lee closed his eyes at her scream. He wasn't going to break. He wasn't going to show he could be broken, even though he was getting there. He didn't know where Joe was, which was not good for his situation.
"Two more chances, Lee," Roger warned. "Where is Joe Brown?"
"I really don't know," Lee said. "Give me a phone, and I'll find out for you."
Roger clicked. Kate was shot again. The left arm this time. As her scream echoed, Lee knew where this was going. The last shot would be either her heart or her head. He felt his breathing quicken, his heart race. He knew Roger was going to kill her no matter what. That was a definite.
"Please stop," Kate was begging on the screen. "Please. Please stop."
Lee swallowed his emotions. Seeing her in pain was the worst thing he could imagine.
"Take it all in," Roger said softly. "She's dying because of you, Lee. She doesn't have to, if you just tell me where Joe Brown is."
"I can't tell you what I don't know," Lee argued. "But like I said, I can get it for you. Just give me a phone!" Roger moved to click again. "Don't! Come on, man! Give me a phone!"
He jerked as Kate was shot in the right arm. He couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take her screams anymore, her sobbing and pleading to live.
"Last chance," Roger said. "You know what I want."
"Then give me the chance to find out for you," Lee said. "I don't know. No one told me. I'm just a mercenary. I'm not an agent!"
Roger shook his head slowly and tutted.
"That's really too bad for Kate, isn't it?"
"No," Lee said. "Come on. Don't."
Roger clicked, and Lee watched in horror as Kate was shot through the heart. His rage was almost at its tipping point as he stared at her lifeless body. Roger closed the laptop and looked at him.
"I told you. I know how to break you, Lee. I just took away the one thing you've ever loved. You're broken. I broke you." He tucked the laptop under his arm and left Lee alone enraged and heartbroken.
...
"Come on, come on," Toll was muttering. He was watching the screen search through a sea of faces. He knew Barney was impatient. He was working as fast as he could.
"We don't have all damn day," Barney said on cue.
"I know!" Toll shouted. He glared at the computer screen. "Come on!"
Caesar was muttering some kind of prayer to himself in the corner. He was ignored by both Barney and Toll. Gunner and Doc weren't back from handing Boris to Drummer yet.
"Wait, wait, wait," Toll said, getting excited.
"What?" Barney asked.
"I got Edward," he said.
"Edward?"
"Yea."
"Good enough," Barney said. "Let's pick him up." He started the van, threw it in gear, and tore off. Ten minutes later, they pulled up to Edward's apartment where he was leaving with a duffel bag.
"Going somewhere?" Barney asked after getting out. Edward stopped and looked at them, a slightly scared expression on his face. Then he started to run, Barney on his heels.
"Aw, man," Caesar complained, getting out to run after him too. Toll stayed to keep trying to find the others. He bit on his thumb as he watched. He hoped they would find them soon.
...
Roger came back after a while. Lee didn't care what he did to him anymore. There was nothing to care about now. Roger seemed to sense this as he stopped in front of him.
"Took the hee hee out of you, didn't I?" he asked. "Where's Mr. Funny Man now?"
"Hurry up and kill me," Lee instructed. "I don't have what you want, and you took away any leverage you had on me anyway."
"Did I?" Roger asked, making Lee look at him. "You really should pay more attention to what you're watching, Lee. You'll find that if you look closely, you can see what's real and what isn't real."
Lee didn't dare to feel any hope. This was the whole game Roger was doing to him. It was demented, and it was hurting him, not that he'd show it.
Roger held up his phone to show Kate tied to a chair very much alive. She was looking around at her surroundings.
"You really don't know where Joe Brown is, do you?" he asked Lee.
"I don't," Lee answered.
"Maybe she does," Roger said. He waved his hand, and a guard came and tied a rag around Lee's mouth tightly before putting a bag over his head. He could hear the sound of a chair being dragged into the room. He'd bet anything that Kate was in it.
...
"Oh no you don't," Barney said, grabbing Edward by the scruff of the neck as he tried to escape again. "You're coming with us." It hadn't been hard to tackle him. Caesar had the duffel bag while Barney held onto Edward's hair. The man was yelping and crying the entire walk.
"I don't know nothin', man!" he kept saying.
"Where is Roger?" Barney demanded, slamming Edward into the side of the van now.
"I don't know!"
"Like hell you don't. Where is he?"
"He told me to take the first flight out of here. I don't know anything else."
"Then guess. Where would he take two people he wanted to torture and kill?"
"Even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you that," Edward scoffed. "They deserve to die. That bitch lied to me!" Barney cuffed him hard in the head, making him hit the side of the van once more.
"Those are my friends you're talking about here," Barney said menacingly. "I've already got Boris locked up. You're next. If you want to see daylight outside of a jail cell ever again, you'll help me, and I'll put in a good word for you."
"I...I really don't know," Edward said.
"I got his phone," Caesar said, pulling it out. "And a burner phone. Imagine that. I believe that's Roger's number on this one." He wagged the burner phone in his right hand. Edward said nothing.
"You can find Roger with it?" Barney asked.
"Yea," Caesar answered.
"Do that," Barney said. He turned Edward around and zip tied his hands behind his back. "Get in there, pretty boy. You're going to lock up, and I'm gonna make sure the CIA knows you didn't help us out. They'll shove you in the deepest hole they have. You'll never see daylight again." Toll moved aside as Edward was shoved in with him. Caesar climbed into the passenger seat as Barney got into the driver's seat. Caesar gave Toll Roger's cell number, and Toll began to search.
...
Kate had never been tortured before. Her body was hurting from the blows Roger had kept giving her. She was ashamed to say at one point she begged him to stop. Then she was put on a chair and dragged across the hall to another room and brought to a stop. She regulated her breathing as best as she could. She couldn't keep her eyes off the hooded figure sitting across from her. She had a very sinking feeling she knew who it was, but she desperately wanted to be wrong.
"Welcome to the party, Kate," Roger said, smiling as he walked around so she could see him. She met his eyes with a steely eyed glare.
"You gonna kill me?" she asked.
"Not yet," he replied. "I want some answers first."
"You're not going to get them from me," she retorted. "I already told you that." She clenched her fists. She hated this man more than anything in the world.
Roger stepped closer to her and put his hands in his pockets. He was still smiling.
"I think I just might," he said. He gestured with a nod to his one guard, who yanked the hood off the other person. Kate wanted to scream. Lee looked back at her calmly. He'd already been beat up based on the cuts and bruises on his face. The look in his eyes when he looked at her was almost like relief. She couldn't understand why.
"He's not a part of this," Kate said, keeping her voice as regulated as possible. Never show weakness to your opponent. That was pretty standard training.
"No, but he's a part of you, and I want to hurt you, Kate. You have been terrorizing me for too long, and it's gonna stop. All you have to do is answer some questions, and he dies a bit faster rather then getting tortured," Roger told her.
"He is not a part of me," Kate argued. "I haven't seen him in well over a year...since we parted ways." Roger looked at his two men, chuckling.
"Why do they always lie?" he asked them. A few shrugged back in return.
"I'm not lying," she started. Roger's backhand came out of nowhere, and it clipped her face hard. She worked to keep from screaming as her previous bruises and cuts smarted from it. He bent down in front of her and pulled out photos. He held them up for her to see. She closed her eyes, feeling defeated. What she had feared had come true. They'd been seen through her bedroom window that morning.
"That looks pretty intimate to me," Roger said, looking at them and shaking his head. "And recent. See? Time stamped. Barely 24 hours ago."
"You made your point," Kate said stiffly. "What do you want?"
"I had it all wrong that day," Roger said instead. "I killed your partner thinking you two were having a fling and you were using Lee here to make him jealous. I killed the wrong man that day. I won't this time."
"What do you want?" Kate asked again, trying not to feel afraid.
"I want to know where they're keeping Joe Brown," Roger answered. "He's a dear friend of mine, and it just won't do to leave him in a hole somewhere. I want to rescue him."
"I don't know where he is. CIA has him. Ask them."
"I'm asking you," Roger said. "Because don't think for a second that I believe you when you say you don't know where he is. You were put undercover with his cousin for God's sake. Did you seriously think I wouldn't find out?!"
"I didn't know that..." Kate tried. Edward was Joe's cousin? Why hadn't Drummer known that?
Roger smacked her again, and she grunted in pain. She tried not to look at Lee, who had very evident rage in his eyes now. She noticed he couldn't move his hands without choking himself, which made her hurt inside.
"Where's Joe?" Roger asked again.
"Dead," Kate answered. Roger briefly flinched, but he kept staring at her until he smiled slowly.
"You almost had me," he chuckled. "You're very good, Kate Macer. But not as good as me." He reached to pull her chair closer to Lee and let it drop with a bang, jolting her. He looked at Lee, who was giving him a level stare. "Maybe he really does know where Joe Brown is."
"He doesn't," Kate started.
"Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't," Roger shrugged. "But I'm going to make him suffer first since you're not holding up your end of the deal. You see, there's only one real way to break a man, Kate, don't you know?"
Roger went to stand behind Kate, and she waited, knowing he was going to either put a knife to her throat or a gun to her head, but that's not what happened. His hand on her skin made her jerk, and he grabbed her throat to hold her head in place as he moved his fingers.
"She despises me, Lee," he said as she tried to get away. "But watch how, despite that, she responds to me."
"No," Kate choked out, and Roger moved so that his hand was clamped around her mouth, pressing her head into his side. She could hear Lee's breathing get heavier the farther Roger went. Kate felt tears leak out of her eyes as she saw the expression on Lee's face. She did her best not to respond, to pretend she was anywhere in the world but there in that moment, but she could only take so much of it no matter how hard she tried. Roger's persistence wore her down; her own body betraying her with him yet again. A noise escaped her, and it made Lee look more broken then she'd ever thought she'd see him.
"You see?" Roger said, continuing while Kate twisted and screamed in anger into his hand. "She likes it."
"No," Kate said, muffled. "Stop it!" She was envisioning all the ways Roger could die as a way of dissociating.
"So," Roger said, finally releasing her and going over to Lee. "How do you know that she really loves you, Lee? She's probably been faking it this entire time. After all, she did despise you in the beginning, right? If she can respond to me while hating me with all her being, then she can respond to you while hating you. She's probably just using you for some unknown goal of hers. You, the tough ass mercenary, are gonna fall for that again? Did Cindy not teach you that lesson the first time?"
"No," Kate said through her tears, shaking her head at Lee. "I'm not pretending with you, Lee. I'm not." He didn't look at her.
"And I bet you thought I couldn't break you anymore than I already have, eh Lee?" Roger said, giving him a nudge. "There's so much more I could do, but we don't have a lot of time. So, let's kick it up a notch or two, shall we?" He snapped his fingers, and a guard brought him an electric cattle prod.
"Don't you touch him," Kate said angrily. She wanted to kill him for doing this, even more than she already wanted to kill him.
"Or what? I don't really think there's anything you can do, Kate," Roger mocked. He moved closer to Lee, switching it on.
"No," Kate said.
"Where's Joe, Kate?" Roger asked again.
"I'd tell you if I knew, but I don't," she said urgently. He sighed.
"You see, I don't believe you," he said. He rammed the prod into Lee, making him grunt in pain and choke on the rope when he jerked his head too far forward. Kate started yelling and swearing as she helplessly watched Lee be shocked. He was breathing even harder when it was over, and Kate could tell he was hurting.
"Stop it," she ordered. "I don't know where he is, but I can find out. Just give me a phone."
"You know where he is," Roger interrupted. "Tell me."
"I don't know!" she yelled. She screamed as Lee got shocked again. This went two more times before they changed tactics so as not to kill him. She knew the tools of waterboarding when she saw them. She was crying a little at this point and begging him to stop.
"Shut up," Roger barked, looking at Kate. "You can end this. All you have to do is tell me where Joe is."
"I don't know where he is," she said raggedly. "Please, stop hurting him."
"You want me to hurt you instead?" Roger asked.
"No," Lee said loudly through his gag.
"I wasn't talking to you," Roger snapped at him. He turned back to Kate. "Answer me."
"As long as I get to fight back," she said. Roger raised a brow at her.
"You want to fight me?" he asked.
"What? Are you scared?" she taunted. "It's easy to beat up a girl when she's tied to a chair. How good are you beating up a girl when she can fight back?"
She could see Roger contemplating it, and she needed to seal the deal.
"I'm dead anyway, right? Might as well make it fun for you," she said. "You've got leverage over me sitting right there. I'm not gonna do anything stupid."
She could see Lee shaking his head at her, but she didn't care.
"You and me, huh?" Roger asked, tapping his forehead with his finger.
"You scared I'm gonna mess up that pretty face of yours?" she asked. He laughed.
"No, but I'm pretty sure your boyfriend doesn't want to watch you die. If you're willing, though, then I accept a challenge."
"Bring it," Kate said tightly.
"Kate, no," Lee said again, muffled. Roger flicked open his knife and cut her loose. He stood back while she stood up.
"Anything goes?" Roger asked.
"They stay out of it," Kate answered, gesturing to his men. "And fists only."
"All right," Roger agreed, putting his knife away. He looked at them. "You heard her. Back it up."
They obeyed, and Kate squared off, staring at Roger. She understood this was a fight for her life. It was also a fight for Lee's life, and she wasn't about to let him down. She wasn't going to fail him like she failed Reggie.
Roger lunged, and she ducked. He struck out at her while she blocked him with her arms. He tried to back her into a corner, but she struck at his knee and made him falter, giving her the chance to get around him. She nailed him twice in the back on her way out, and he grunted in pain. She moved backwards, never taking her eyes off of him, and Roger came at her again. She didn't get so lucky this time. They exchanged quick blows with each other while blocking blows as well, but he managed to strike her face twice, knocking her down. He grabbed her by the back of her coat and hauled her up only to throw her across the room. Kate rolled, winded, but she got up and blocked his next blow. She managed to punch his face hard, and he staggered. Then he smiled as he pulled out a knife.
"I knew you'd fight dirty," she said. "Can't do it the proper way, so you gotta cheat, right?"
He said nothing as he went at her again. She dodged and ducked, but his knife caught her arm, slicing through her coat and making her cry out as it connected with her skin. It didn't go deep, thankfully, but it still hurt like hell. She did her best to remember her training. She moved away from Roger as he followed her until she got to her chair. In one swift motion, she grabbed it and threw it at him as hard as she could, catching him in the chest and face. He shouted and went down, and his guards started to move in.
"Stand down!" Roger yelled from the floor. He was panting as he got to his feet. "Bold move, Kate. But that tells me you're getting desperate, which means I'm getting close to finishing this." Kate stepped backwards until she was against the wall. She almost lost her balance, making her put her foot on the wall to steady herself. Roger was there in an instant, and he grabbed her by the neck and threw her down hard. She rolled into Lee's legs, grabbing his right ankle to stop herself. She got back up and turned in time to have Roger shove her backwards into Lee, making them both topple over. Kate reoriented herself quickly and moved fast. Roger grabbed the back of her coat and yanked her off, and she toppled over once more. Kate gasped and coughed. Then he rolled her onto her back and put one knee on her chest while putting his hands around her throat.
"No," she choked. Not this again. She couldn't be experiencing this again. She reached to scratch at his face.
...
Lee had seen Kate pull the knife out of her boot when she put her foot against the wall. Roger's blind fury made him miss it, just like he missed Kate cutting the rope around Lee's right ankle before he picked her up and threw her into him. Kate used that opportunity to cut the rope off his right hand and stick her knife into it. When Roger yanked Kate off and threw her again, Lee wasted no time freeing himself and getting onto his feet, throwing his chair at the two guards standing by. He was on them in an instant, killing them both. Then he turned to face Roger, who had his hands around Kate's throat.
...
Roger turned his head in time to see Lee's fist coming at him. The blow took him off guard, and he released his hands from Kate's neck. She kneed him in the stomach hard, grabbing Lee's hand so he could drag her out from under Roger. Kate sat up as Lee approached Roger slowly.
"Play a game with me, Roger," Lee said menacingly, mimicking Roger from earlier. Roger coughed and got to his feet, facing Lee.
"What kind of game?" Roger asked. Kate could hear a bit of uncertainty in his tone. It was two on one after all.
"It's a new version of tag," Lee answered. "Only I'll be using a knife, and when I tag you, you won't be alive anymore to tag me back."
"You both think you're so clever," Roger said.
"We know we are," Lee reasoned. He grabbed Roger by the neck and rammed him into the wall. "I should cut off all your fingers first for what you did to her."
"Lee," Kate warned.
"You didn't break me," Lee went on, his face next to Roger's. "You only poked the bear, and a bear can only be poked so many times before he unleashes fury and rips you apart limb by limb."
"This is you unleashing the fury, is it?" Roger taunted. Lee squeezed his throat tighter, making him choke slightly.
"Just a small version of it," Lee answered. He punched Roger in the face and stomach before throwing him hard onto the ground. Roger coughed and immediately started to get up.
"Lee!" Kate shouted, and he turned to see three more men coming inside.
"You won't win this," Roger told them. Kate jumped behind a beam to protect herself from the spray of bullets. Lee ducked all the bullets as he ran across the room, throwing Kate's knife as he went and having it land in the one man's neck, killing him instantly. He ran to pick up a gun from one of the fallen guards, firing back. He took out one and engaged with the last one, trading bullets. Kate looked to see Roger starting to slink away.
"Oh, no," she said, getting up and running after him. She grabbed her knife from the dead man on the floor as she went. Roger was running fast, but she was faster. She leaped onto his back, bringing him down. He flipped her over, and she dodged his hands while ramming her knife into his abdomen. He gasped, and she pulled it out and shoved it in again, and he fell over sideways. Kate moved quickly to hover over him.
"Y-you...bitch," he managed to say.
"This is for Reggie," she said to him, stabbing him one last time in the heart. "Game over, asshole." He died in front of her eyes, and she checked to make sure. When she didn't find a pulse, she ransacked his pockets and took back the photographs of her and Lee and anything else he had that might be important. Then she went back to help Lee, who was finished with the remaining guard and had burst out into the hallway to find her. Kate threw herself into his arms and clung to him.
"I'm so sorry," she said over and over.
"I'm okay," he promised. "I've been tortured before, Kate."
"I haven't," she cried. "Not like this. I've never had someone I love tortured in front of me either." The beatings from her time in the brothel were nothing compared to this in her mind.
Lee held her close until she regained her emotions.
"Are you okay?" he asked, gripping her face with his hands.
"I will be," she answered truthfully. It was going to take a while to get the memory of Roger's hand on her body out of her head, but she was already working on it. She put her hand on his face now. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I am now," he said with a slight smile.
"I'm definitely going to have to call my therapist again," Kate sighed.
"Do they do group sessions?" Lee asked. "I might join you."
"She might," Kate said thoughtfully, smiling finally. He rested his forehead against hers and held her close until footsteps pounding made them look up.
"Looks like we missed the party," Barney commented. Toll was behind him.
"You weren't invited," Lee retorted after letting go of Kate.
"Not my kind of party," Toll commented, looking into the room and eying up the water and the cattle prod.
"Come on," Barney ordered. "Let's get the hell out of here."
"They took Tansley," Kate said as they went. "We have to find her before they ship her off."
"We'll find her," Barney promised.
They started to walk out when Toll stopped suddenly. He looked straight up.
"What's wrong?" Barney asked him.
"This place is wired," Toll answered.
"Wired?" Barney repeated. Toll walked over to the corner of the hallway and followed the wire down the wall to the other room. He stopped when he stood in the doorway.
"Holy shit," he said.
"That's big enough to blow up the whole block," Lee commented.
"Can you disarm it?" Barney asked him.
"Can I disarm it? Please," Toll scoffed. "Look who you're talking to."
They could hear doors opening and men shouting now. Company had arrived.
"How much time you need?" Barney asked Toll.
"Five minutes," Toll answered, eyeing up the bomb in front of him.
"You heard the man," Barney said. "We gotta stall. You up for it?"
"I'm good," Lee said.
"I'm okay," Kate added. She was surprised to feel okay, but that was adrenaline for you. Her arm did ache a little from the slash Roger had given her with his knife, but it was manageable. She was more surprised that Lee was okay, having been shocked and all. He was moving a bit slower but still standing. He hadn't been kidding when he said he'd gotten through torture before. He was tougher than she realized.
"Put these on," Barney said, handing them comms. They obliged.
"Come on," Lee said to her, and she hurried behind him.
It clearly wasn't over just yet.