Author's note: There will be slight torture and violence in the next two chapters, if that makes you uncomfortable I suggest you not read. Hope you enjoy, the chapter 8 is a little longer than the others.
Riley couldn't believe it had been another night, she was starting to lose it a little, worried that when they finally found out where Mac was it would be too late. Was his father treating him ok, or had he hurt him so badly that he couldn't escape even if he tried. She had refused to go home and sleep, she knew she was close to finding that green car. One night of lost sleep wouldn't hurt her and if they found Mac today then she could sleep all she wanted later. Jack had refused to go home out of solidarity, he was now asleep on the sofa opposite her. She didn't blame him, there was nothing he could do until she found something, and he needed to be fresh.
Something beeped on her rig and she sat up straighter, finally she was getting somewhere, she'd found out around midnight which car she was looking for, another stolen one, although this had been stolen from another state. She was currently tracking its whereabouts for the night and morning Mac had been taken, it looked like she'd finally spotted it, around 6am. Now she just had to follow it to see where it ended up, even if it just gave her a rough area they could go door to door, or she could realign a satellite to check out the neighbourhood.
It took another hour and then she had it, the car had finally stopped, she couldn't see exactly where, as there weren't surveillance cameras everywhere, but it had gone past one camera and not appeared on any others. She almost woke Jack, then realised she hadn't narrowed it down enough, there was still a lot of ground to cover and it was still only 5am, a little early to be sending a tac team to a residential neighbourhood. She'd give it another hour and then wake him, he wouldn't be happy that she'd let him sleep so long, he'd be even more annoyed she hadn't woken him now she had a lead.
Just as Riley was about to wake Jack up in the War room, Mac was waking up on the floor of the basement, really wishing that he still had the mattress, he was sore all over. At least his headache seemed to have gone and there was no nausea when he sat up. He took the bottle of water from where he'd left it and finished it, getting up to relieve himself, slightly more conscious of where he was standing, due to the camera he now knew was in the corner of the room. He stayed standing, stretching out his muscles, he also started to massage his ankle, the manacle wasn't tight, but it had been in the same place for a while now, and it was starting to ache.
He knew that it was only a matter of time before the door opened, he now realised why the timing always seemed so precise, because he was been watched. It wasn't too long after that, James came through the door, carrying a few things. Mac sat down before he was asked, not wanting to make any trouble if he could help it.
"You're learning," James said, setting a bag like the one he'd brought yesterday on the floor, then putting a bowl and a cup of orange juice in front of him. "Eat up, then we're going to try a little experiment."
Mac wasn't sure he liked the sound of that, what kind of experiment could his father be wanting to do, unless he wanted Mac's help to build something. He was about to ask and then thought better of it, best to just wait and see. He ate the bowl of cereal and drank the juice, all the while his father sat on the bottom step watching his every move.
"Now I've decided to try a different method to get you to behave, it's an experiment, but it's similar to a technique we used at the agency so it should work."
Mac hated the sound of that even more, whatever technique this was, it was obviously something they'd used either in an interrogation or to keep prisoners in line. He didn't want any part of it.
"I guess I can't say no?" Mac asked, hoping the way he worded it didn't sound too defiant.
James laughed, "I'm afraid not son. If you do as you're told it will be painless, I won't lie it'll be uncomfortable, but I'm sure you can handle it." He stood up and picked up the bag. "This is happening Angus, whether you want it to or not."
Mac closed his eyes, trying to get his emotions under control, he couldn't believe his own father was about to torture him. Because whatever it was, painless or not, that's what it was going to be. As he opened his eyes he noticed the breakfast things had been tidied to one side and James was standing in front of him. He bent and unlocked the manacle, stepping away and out of reach straight away. Mac was surprised but he didn't show it, last time James had made sure his hands were tied before he did that, was he getting sloppy or did he think Mac wouldn't fight back. It was probably the latter and to be honest he was right, there was no way he was going to overpower his father, get up the stairs and out the front door, so he just sat there.
"I'm glad you're being sensible Angus, if you're acting this way already, I may only have to put you through this experiment once." James stayed where he was, putting the key he just used in his pocket. "Now I need you to strip down to your boxers."
Mac looked at his father like he was mad, what did he just ask him to do. Why would he ask that? He stood stock still, his breath quickening a little.
"I don't like to repeat myself son, you know that. Take your t-shirt and trousers off and sit down."
Mac now knew why James took the manacle off before tying his hands, he couldn't remove his clothes with either on. As much as he really didn't want to, he started to remove then, wow he was being far to compliant, he wasn't sure if it was purely because it was his father, he normally wouldn't be acting this way. Once his clothes were off he sat down, he guessed now his hands would be tied.
James came over as soon as he'd sat down and asked for his hands, he was right, they were tied tightly, tighter than they were before. He was then blindfolded; James gripped his arm like last time, and they made their way upstairs. They moved through the hall, past the bathroom and through the kitchen, at least Mac thought they did. They stopped and Mac heard a door open, he was pulled into the space and pushed onto a stool, at least that was what it felt like. He felt his arms being pulled backwards and there was a clicking noise, James let go and his arms stayed where they were. It wasn't incredibly uncomfortable, but it was a little disconcerting, he didn't like not knowing what was going on and he guessed that was the point.
He heard footsteps, his father was obviously leaving, Mac didn't understand what this was, what kind of experiment was this. A minute later James came back, and he felt his ankles be tied together, he thought it was overkill, he wasn't going anywhere.
"Comfortable Angus?" His father asked.
Was that a joke, he chose not to answer, it would just be a snarky comeback anyway.
"Now as part of the experiment the subject needs to be drowsy, I'm going to inject you now," James said, not giving Mac a chance to respond, the needle went into his neck for the third time since he'd been there, he must have a giant bruise by now.
Mac started feeling a little lightheaded straightway, not enough to make him fall asleep, it was like being tipsy but without the fun.
"Subject must also be gagged, I'm sorry Angus but everything needs to be right or it might not work."
Mac couldn't believe what he was hearing, like this was some normal experiment he did with him all the time, if he kept apologising then why was he doing it, why was he about to perform some experiment that required the subject to be bound, gagged, blindfolded and drugged. He didn't get the chance to say any of that though as a piece of cloth was forced into his mouth and tied tightly around his head, he'd be surprised if he could breathe.
"I think we're ready," James said, as if he was talking to someone else, maybe there was someone there, Mac had come into the room blindfolded, for all he knew James had a partner he was working with. "Angus in a moment I'm going to put on some headphones, it'll be quiet at first and then you'll hear talking, just listen to the words as best you can. Once the headphones are on I'll shut the door, the first tape is an hour long. I think that's all we'll need for today, but we may play the second tape as well. I hope you respond well to this; it'll be interesting to see if this works."
Mac wasn't sure at first what his father meant about listening to tapes, what kind of torture is that. He then realised that is was a bit like sensory overload, you dull all the other senses and focus on one, this time being sound. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what was going to be played. The headphones were placed on his head, there was nothing he could do at this point to stop it. Like his father said at first there wasn't any noise, then he started hearing beeping, it was a repeating pattern, soon that stopped and the talking started, he was certain that it was his father's voice he was hearing. The same sentence was repeated over and over, Mac knew now what this was, it was brainwashing, James was trying to brainwash him until behaving. The same words repeated over and over, and Mac couldn't get away from them, he was tied securely so he could hardly move, he couldn't see to distract himself, he couldn't even talk to speak over the words. He was starting to shiver because it was cold in just his boxers, and the sedative was making it hard to concentrate on anything else, other than what he was hearing. He had a horrible feeling that if his father decided to repeat this experiment he would be broken; his father would break him like some CIA prisoner. The hour was over, and he could still hear the words.
"I will behave, or I will be punished."
While Mac was being tortured, across town the Phoenix tac team were gearing up, Riley had finally narrowed the search down to a specific house. It had taken a little time, but she was certain that was where the car had stopped, she had tried to get a satellite view but there was too much cloud cover. That wasn't stopping Jack though, he didn't care if he was going in blind, all he cared about was getting his kid back.
Both Riley and Bozer were coming along, Cage had already been sent out on another op or she would have been there was well.
"Go bring our boy home," Matty said, praying that the house they'd found was the right one. "And be careful."
"Careful is my middle name," Jack replied, smiling as he left the room.
They were all silent as they made their way to the house, it was slightly apart from its neighbours, but there were houses nearby so they had to be careful. It was a one storey, owned by someone who was now deceased, the perfect place to lie low without getting caught. Jack had made Riley and Bozer promise that they would stay at the back, only coming in once the place was cleared. He couldn't be worried about them while he was looking for Mac.
They pulled up near the house, not wanting to get too close, James was a trained agent, they couldn't forget that. The green car that had led them there was parked on the street, it looked like this was the place. Jack took a deep breath and readied himself, directing the team to surround the place. Once everyone was in position he shouted to breach, the front and back doors were kicked in and smoke grenades were tossed inside, the team then made their way through the house searching room by room.
Riley was so tense, that she thought she might not be able to move when she was given the signal. She watched the team breach the house, waiting patiently beside Bozer who looked as tense as she was. What felt like hours later Jack walked out the front door. Riley frowned, this wasn't right, why would Jack be leaving without Mac. Oh god, they were too late, Mac was dead! But Jack didn't look like he'd just found Mac's body.
"Jack?" she questioned, as he got closer.
"There's no one there Riley, we got the wrong house."
Riley couldn't believe what Jack was saying, that had to be the right house, the car was there, and she had followed it from Mac's house to exactly where they were standing. Was she wrong, had she followed the wrong car? She was breathing so fast that she couldn't see straight, Jack was talking to her, but she couldn't understand what he was saying, and then her world just went black.