Jack and Vanessa walked slightly down the corridor before either of them spoke, not wanting Mac to overhear.
"What the hell was that?" Jack exclaimed, his hand pointing back to the room they'd just left. "He just spoke so calmly, like it was the most natural thing in the world. 'Oh yeah my father hung me from the ceiling and beat me, no big deal.'
"As crazy as it sounds, it is normal for him. I hate it and we need to get that notion out of his head as quickly as we can, but his father has conditioned him into knowing he'll be punished when he's bad. In his and his father's eyes, things we wouldn't class as bad are," Vanessa replied. "I'm afraid that what happened this morning is just going to make telling him he won't get punished for being bad here that much harder."
"Another reason to take off those cuffs, if they'd been gone already, that wouldn't have happened," Jack said, already annoyed that they hadn't been taken off yet.
"That might be true, but my initial statement still stands. We have to let Mac decide to have them removed, we can't force him, that would just defeat what we're trying to do."
Jack closed his eyes, knowing that the doc was right, he couldn't believe someone at Phoenix had done something like that to the kid, whoever they were could count themselves lucky they wouldn't have Jack to answer to. They had Matty instead and that made him smile, she was ruthless, they would crack just from one look from her.
"I need to go to the gym, get some of this energy out," Jack said, his fists still closing off and on. "I don't wanna leave the kid though."
"I'll stay, we'll have some lunch and I'll try to get him to talk some more. To be honest it might be good for as to chat alone for a while."
"Ok, I'll be back in an hour or two then. Is that enough time?"
"Plenty."
Jack nodded and headed off to the gym, he wanted to stop and get Mac some more books on the way back and have some lunch himself, two hours would hopefully be enough time.
Back in Mac's room, he was still sitting where they'd left him, but he now had his hoody back on. He knew he'd have to give it back when he left, his father wouldn't allow him to have such luxuries, so he wanted to wear it as much as he could. He was thinking about all the questions the woman with the notebook had asked him, sure now that she was there to keep an eye on him for his father. He had to be careful what he said, knowing that she'd be reporting back. If his father didn't like any of his answers then there'd be more punishment.
Mac knew she'd be back soon, she was going to get them some lunch, he had already decided he wouldn't eat anything unless she told him to, he didn't want to be caught doing something he shouldn't. When he was punished he usually missed meals, sometimes he didn't eat all day, he'd had breakfast so he would wait until dinner, providing nothing happened between now and then. He really wanted to leave, he knew what he did wrong at home, knew that it would lead to being punished, could usually tell what punishment he would receive and how long it would last. Here he was on edge because he never knew what was going to happen.
Mac looked up when the door opened, the woman was back and she was alone, carrying in a tray and putting it on the bed.
"I've brought some food, it's there if you'd like to have some," Vanessa said, hoping that he would come and join her.
Mac stayed where he was, she hadn't told him to eat so he wasn't going to attempt it, better to be safe and avoid getting hurt. He did take the bottle of water she handed him though, he was thirsty.
Vanessa pulled the folding chair over to the bed, sitting sideways so she could still see Mac, she was worried that he hadn't even attempted to take any food. Once she'd finished her lunch she'd ask him why he hadn't had any. They sat in silence, Vanessa eating slowly, observing Mac as she did.
"I'd like to continue the talk we were having earlier," Vanessa said, moving back to sit on the chair nearer to Mac. "I've just realised I've not introduced myself, I'm Dr Vanessa Barnes."
Mac sat there, looking at her, she was a doctor too, his father obviously knew quite a few, he wondered why they'd never met before.
"Why didn't you take any food Mac?" She knew the answer but wanted to get Mac to explain.
This was obviously another test, Mac thought, surely his father had explained everything Mac was and wasn't allowed to do. "I mustn't eat without permission."
"Why?"
"Because Father decides whether I'm allowed food and how much. I can't take any because it isn't mine to take."
Vanessa nodded. "I understand. What happens when you're hungry?"
Mac looked confused, not understanding what she meant.
"If you don't get permission to eat but you're hungry, what do you do?"
"It doesn't matter if I'm hungry, I can go days without food and it won't hurt me, father knows best."
Vanessa wrote something down, she needed to make sure Mac was eating regularly, or it would halt his recovery and that meant someone was going to have to give him permission. She moved on.
"I wanted to ask about the cuffs you have on. Do you like wearing them?"
"I have to wear them," Mac replied, knowing it didn't matter if he liked them.
"What if I said you didn't have to wear them, what would you say?" Vanessa asked, she was interested to hear the response.
Mac furrowed his brow, clearly thinking it through. "Father said these were to make it easier to secure me when he needed to. I don't think he'd want me to take them off." Mac paused. "I suppose if they were removed, I could be restrained other ways, before I wore these, father used rope to tie my wrists and ankles."
"What if you didn't need to be secured or restrained anymore?" Vanessa wasn't sure if it were too soon to broach that subject but wanted to see Mac's reaction.
"That's not going to happen," Mac said instantly, his head down. "I don't deserve to have too much freedom, and I'm still going to have to be punished so being restrained is necessary."
Vanessa wrote some more down, starting to feel a little hopeless, this case was going to be hard, there were so many things they needed Mac to overcome. Of course, it would take time, patience and a lot of coaching, she just wondered if she would be able to get all the things that his father had drummed into him out of his mind. Obviously, it wouldn't be simple. She needed to tell Mac that he wasn't going home and that he'd never see his father again. Deciding to wait until Jack came back before she did.
"Why do you have to sleep on the floor Mac?" Vanessa asked, wanting to get him into the bed as quickly as possible.
"I don't deserve to sleep on a mattress."
"Why?"
"I had a mattress when my father first brought me to his house, I destroyed it. That means I'm never allowed one again." Mac shifted were he sat, playing with his hoody.
"Why did you destroy it?"
"To try and escape. I used one of the coils to pick the lock on my cuff. I shouldn't have done it."
"Are you happy sleeping on the floor all the time?"
Mac shrugged. "It's fine."
"It must be uncomfortable when you're hurt?"
"It is, I wake up in pain a lot, but it's my own fault." Mac shrugged again.
Vanessa sighed, she wasn't getting Mac to be honest about how he was really feeling, as if he thought his father would find out. She suddenly realised that maybe that's exactly what was happening. "Mac, who do you think I work for?"
"My father of course," Mac said, as if it was obvious.
"And Dr Fray, everyone else here?"
"At first I wasn't sure, but now I've realised everyone must work for my father. He sent me here to heal up, he's mentioned taking me to a doctor before. Once I'm better I'll go back home. The other doctor told me himself that I'd be leaving soon."
Vanessa closed her eyes; this was worse than she thought. They needed Mac to understand that he was wrong and that he was safe here. His father didn't know a thing that was going on and he wasn't ever going back to him. She had to tread carefully. She knew Mac wouldn't believe her if she just blurted everything out.
"Ok Mac, I'm gonna leave for a bit, but we'll talk more later."
She got up and left the room, getting out her phone to call another meeting, asking the nurse to keep an eye on Mac while she was gone.
"He thinks what?" Jack said, after Vanessa had explained everything.
"I should have realised sooner," Vanessa replied, kicking herself.
"So, he thinks I work for his father?" Jack asked, hoping that wasn't the case.
"I'm not sure, possibly. He's only just seemed to realise that you are actually who you say you are, before he probably thought you were someone who just looked like Jack but worked for his father."
"What do we do?" Matty asked, hating the idea Mac still thought he was under his father's thumb.
"We need to tell him of course, I'm worried he won't believe us though," Vanessa said, knowing her next words weren't going to go down well. "I think we need to have his father tell him."
"I'm sorry, did you just say you wanna put Mac in a room with his father?" Jack exclaimed; the doc was crazy.
"As crazy as it sounds, yes. Hearing directly from his father will have more of an effect, than if we tell him. I highly doubt he'll believe us; he might go a long with it, but he'll probably deep down still not trust any of us."
"Won't that just traumatize him more?" Dr Fray asked.
"I'm not going to lie, it might. I want to talk to his father myself before I decide."
"I think this is a bad idea," Matty said. "But you're the expert, if you think it might work, we'll try it."
"Matty, no, there's gotta be another way," Jack cried, getting up and pacing.
"Trust me," Vanessa said, but Jack wasn't sure that he did.
So, they put the plan in motion, Vanessa would speak to James and if his personalities were stable get him onboard. Dr Fray was going to check Mac over, make sure he was physically ok for the meeting and Jack spent time with Mac, desperate for him to realise that he was wrong before they committed to a plan he hated.
That evening everything was set, Jack stayed, even though he wasn't sure he could control himself around Mac's father. Mac was sitting, reading the new books Jack had bought completely unaware that he was about to see his father. James had been told what to say, agreeing that he would let his son know that the people there weren't working for him and that Mac wouldn't be seeing him again. He wasn't to say anything else.
The door opened and Mac looked up, Vanessa walked in followed by his father. He instantly shoved the books aside and got to his feet, looking down at the floor. It was obviously time to leave, he wished they had told him so he could prepare.
"Mac, your father has some things he needs to tell you," Vanessa said, stepping to the side.
"Angus look at me," James began, his voice harsh. "I've been made aware that you've had some ideas about what's going on here, and I need to tell you that you're wrong."
Mac was confused, what was he wrong about. He stood straight and looked at his father, the confusion showing on his face.
"The people here do not work for me; they took you away from me and because of that you're going to be staying here with them. Do you understand?"
"I understand sir," Mac replied, thinking his father wanted him to stay with these people for some reason.
"You will not be seeing me again," James said, that was supposed to be the end of his speech. "You will behave while you are here and remember everything I taught you, you will not be the disobedient, weak, ungrateful child that I know you are."
"Get him out," Jack cried, as the agents behind him were trying to pull him out of the room.
James was struggling, wanting to get his last words out. "I'll come back for you Angus; you'll never be free of me."
Jack punched him hard in the face and then turned back to Mac, to find him tucked in the corner, shaking. He looked at Vanessa. "I hope you're happy."
Walking towards Mac, he sat next to him like he had done that morning. "It's ok kiddo, it's gonna be ok. He's gone now, and he's never coming back."
Mac just stayed, shivering, tears running down his face, his father's words staying in his head. He was so confused, he thought his father had come to get him, that they were going home. Then his father told him that he had to stay here and that he'd never see James again, his father obviously didn't want him anymore, his words about what he thought of Mac proving it. Although he had said he'd be back. Did he want him or not?
Jack stayed sitting quietly, not wanting to do anything that would hurt Mac more, slowly the kid sat up a little and turned to Jack. His words breaking his heart.
"Why doesn't anyone want me?"
"I want you kiddo, I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying right here until you realise it."
Mac looked at him confused, he sounded like he meant it and he was sure now that this man was Jack, but he didn't know if he should believe him. He turned leaning against the wall closing his eyes, asleep after a few minutes, hopefully when he woke up things would be better.
While Mac slept Jack paced, Vanessa had stayed, and he could feel her watching him.
"We shouldn't have done that," Jack said, turning to look at her.
"Perhaps not, at least now Mac has heard what's happening direct from his father. I hope it means he'll be more open to change."
"I'm fairly sure the kid's more confused now than he was before James came in, and now he thinks even his father doesn't want him. You said yourself he felt safe and at home where he was, now that's been pulled away."
"It had to be, and it was always going to be hard. Now we need to help him move forward. Take one day at a time," Vanessa said, getting up. "I'm going to go and find him some food; he hasn't eaten since this morning and he shouldn't miss any more meals."
Jack nodded; she'd explained her assessment after her talk with Mac before they'd set the evening plan in motion. He was to make sure whenever he was with Mac that he gave him permission to eat, he hated the fact that was something he would have to do, hopefully it wouldn't last long and Mac would eat when he wanted to rather when he was told to.
Mac woke up before Vanessa got back, quietly getting up and going to the bathroom, he went straight back to his corner. His ribs were painful again, but he guessed he wouldn't be allowed any painkillers, he'd only had some that morning. He was going to say his father wouldn't let him have too many, then realised his father wouldn't know. What did that mean? He guessed he should act the way he did while he was at home, until he knew for sure what these new people wanted.
At the minute they were all being nice to him, letting him eat and sleep and giving him things without anything in return, apart from that man earlier, none of them had restrained him and he'd been given care for his injuries. He was sure though that soon that would all change, they would see as his father had that he didn't deserve all those things and he was sure that things would go back to normal. He wondered if Jack would be the one to punish him when he was bad, he got angry easily like his father did, Mac knew it was only a matter of time before he took that anger out on him. He was sure Jack would beat him badly, flashes of Jack hurting people popping into his head.
Mac would just have to try hard to not anger him, he'd do what he could to make him happy and if he felt the need to hurt Mac then he would obviously deserve it. The door opened and Vanessa walked in, placing a tray in front of him.
"It's time to eat Mac," she said, stepping away.
He was hungry so he pulled the tray towards him, wincing when his ribs pulled, he stayed as straight and still as he could after that, he didn't want to look weak and he was sure Jack had noticed that he was in pain.
Jack walked out after that, probably disgusted that Mac couldn't even handle some broken ribs, Vanessa stayed, sitting back in the seat opposite him again.
"I'm sorry that your father isn't coming back Mac, but it will give you time to heal and get better," Vanessa said, not wanting to start anything too heavy until the morning. "We'll speak more about what that means for you tomorrow."
Mac looked up at her a scared look on his face, they already knew what they were going to do with him, he hoped it wouldn't be too bad, maybe he could just stay here. He guessed it wouldn't be practical though, it wasn't very secure, and he didn't think he'd be allowed to roam the corridors outside. He sighed, whatever happened he wouldn't have any say in it, so there wasn't any point thinking about it. He just quietly ate his dinner, curling up on the floor afterwards and falling back to sleep.