It was a conversation they all dreaded, but in order for them to move on, it had to be talked about. At least Sonny and Brock felt that way. Clay didn't fully understand why the conversation was so important.
Clay closed his eyes as flashbacks of those two days in Hell played over and over in his head.
/
Mexican Warehouse – 2 months earlier
Clay, Sonny and Brock were blindfolded, had their hands handcuffed behind their backs and ankles bound together. As the truck they were thrown in after being abducted pulled into the warehouse, they were roughly dragged out as members of the cartel pulled them over to the back of the building and chained them to the wall.
They could hear people talking in Spanish in the distance about what their next moves were going to be. Brock and Sonny both looked at Clay knowing he was the only one who could understand what they were saying. Clay didn't like what they were saying and he prayed that help would come sooner rather than later.
Clay was just about to inform Sonny and Brock what the cartel members were saying, but as he went to open his mouth they heard footsteps approaching them. Clay instantly shut his mouth and all three of them tensed up.
Their blindfolds were removed and they were able to see part of their 'prison' for the first time. In front of them stood seven men, two of them being Doza and Lazo. They didn't even have to look at each other to know what the others were thinking. Whatever is about to happen is not going to be good.
Doza said something in Spanish and when no one answered, one of the men stepped forward and struck Sonny hard across the face.
Sonny chuckled, shook his head and spit a little bit of blood out onto the foot of the man that hit him.
The three men looked at each other and reached a silent understanding, no one can know that Clay is fluent in Spanish. That was the only advantage they had at the moment. If they were under the impression that none of them spoke Spanish, hopefully the cartel would continue speaking freely around them and they could gain a slight upper hand by knowing what was coming.
After continued attempts at trying to get someone to reply in Spanish, Doza began speaking in English "Who sent you here?"
No one answered. This time it was Clay who was at the receiving end of the strike.
"I will ask one more time before I begin losing my patience, who sent you guys here?" Doza spoke through his teeth.
When they still refused to reply, Doza's patience reached the end of its rope. "Get them out of my face!" Doza ordered as he and Lazo watched the five other men unchain them and pull them by the handcuffs on their wrists to a small, dark room with chains hanging from the rafters. Each man had chains attached to their handcuffs and were hoisted off the ground until they were each hanging just barely out of reach of the floor.
"Lazo se va a diverter con ellos." One of the guys joked, causing the rest to laugh. Once each man was securely hanging from the rafters, they exited the room.
The little bit of light that entered through the doorway was just enough for them to see that once the door was closed, that they were alone in the room.
They remained quiet for a few minutes, each debating if it was safe to speak. Sonny's curiosity got the best of him and he whispered to Clay "What did he say?"
"Nothing specific, just that Lazo's gonna have fun with us." Clay whispered back.
It didn't take long for the handcuffs to begin digging into their wrists. The longer they hung, the more sore their arms became. Every move they made to attempt to find a somewhat bearable position just caused the cuffs to dig deeper into their wrists and the blood to run down their arms.
They were left to hang there for the next few hours. Doza had hidden a night vision camera in a dark corner so they he could see and hear what they were doing. He had already learned that the blonde one understood Spanish. He hoped that the longer they hung there, maybe one of them would slip again and reveal details about who sent them.
No one said anything useful to Doza. They only sounds he could hear, were the occasional grunts of pain and them asking each other how they were holding up.
Finally after about four hours Sonny, Brock and Clay began to doze off. Doza's frustrations grew causing him to send Lazo in earlier than he had anticipated. "They won't talk if they're sleeping. No one sleeps until I know exactly what they're here for…or they're dead. Understood?"
Lazo understood perfectly and he had the perfect plan in mind to ensure Doza's orders were followed. He walked to the room where the three members of Bravo were being held and opened the door.
The screech of the door instantly cause the three men to snap back into alert mode and turn their attention to the door. They had no idea how long they were hanging there but judging by the numbness in their arms it had to be awhile. As the door opened wider they all scrunched their eyes shut and looked away from the door and the light that entered with it.
Once their eyes had adjusted, they noticed actual lights had been turned on and Lazo was standing in front of them.
Their stomachs turned as they noticed the table of weapons and tools next to him. "Hello friends. Ready for our little play date?" Lazo smiled.
"We ain't your friend's hombre." Sonny barked back, his way of hiding the fear he was experiencing. Clay and Brock instantly glared over at him. They knew this was Sonny's was of coping, but Lazo was not the guy to mess around with.
"That's unfortunate. I had a lot of fun planned for us today." Lazo replied as he walked around his table, deciding on what he wanted to 'play' with first.
"Yeah, sorry about that. As you can see, we're a little tied up at the moment. We'll take a rain check though." Sonny smirked back with another smartass comment.
"Shut up dude." Brock mumbled under his breath.
Lazo didn't reply. Instead he picked up a small metal pipe that was on the table, walked over to Sonny and began hitting him repeatedly with it.
Sonny growled out in pain as he tried to stop himself from panting while Clay and Brocks eyes widened in fear. Lazo was definitely not playing around.
"Now, which one of you speaks Spanish?" Lazo questioned as he eyed down each of the three men hanging in front of him. Doza had informed him it was the blonde one, but he wanted to hear it from them.
"Our team is going to find us and when they do, you're all dead men!" Brock hissed out, ignoring the question that was asked.
Lazo picked up a crowbar from the table and slowly made his way over to brock, stopping only a few inches away from him. He pulled back and let loose, swinging the bar into Brocks left side.
Brock held back his scream. It hurt like a bitch but he would be damned if he was going to show that to Lazo.
Lazo walked back over to the table and put the crowbar back down. He walked back towards the door and before he walked out, turned around to get another look at his prisoners. "You know, it's a little too quiet in here. What kind of host would I be if I didn't provide entertainment?" He smiled as he turned on a radio to full blast. The heavy metal music that was playing was so loud they couldn't even hear themselves think.
Lazo turned the lights off, returning the room to pitch black and turned the heat way up.
Clay attempted to ask Sonny and Brock how they were, but despite how close they were to each other, they couldn't hear a thing over the music.
It too about 45 minutes for them to each begin sweating. The longer they hung there, the worse it got. Within the next hour they were each dripping sweat.
During the next five hours they tried their best to block out both the unbearably loud music and the heat. They had each been through the training in green team and they were thankful for being taught coping mechanisms. It worked pretty well for Brock and Sonny who both had people back home waiting for them. Clay on the other hand struggled. He had no one waiting back home for him. Stella was gone, his dad couldn't care less about him and the rest of his family was gone. Sure he had a few friends, but no one that actually meant a whole lot to him.
His thoughts started to get the better of him. He began to convince himself no one would care if he died and felt himself giving up. 'No one back home would care if I died. Why fight the inevitable? Sure the team would be upset for a little bit, but they would eventually get over it and replace me.' He thought.
Suddenly he was pulled from his thoughts when the music went mute, the lights flickered on and the door opened.
At this point, heat exhaustion had crept in on all of them. The sweating was beginning to stop as they no longer had enough water in their bodies to sweat out. They were extremely dehydrated, tired, thirsty and suffering muscle cramps.
Doza and Lazo slowly made their way in front of the three men, none of which could even lift their heads up to look at them. Both Doza and Lazo had every intention of killing the three men, but not yet. Not until they had the information they wanted. The temperature of the room was turned back down to a comfortable temperature. Lazo had one of his men bring a large pitcher of water and placed it on the table. He fills up a cup and walks over to each man, holding their heads up to allow each one to have only a couple sips, nowhere near close enough to satisfy their thirst but definitely enough to lead them to wanting more.
Once again, Doza asks who sent them to Mexico.
No one answers. Lazo walks over to the table and grabs the pitcher of water, then walks over to Clay. "You sure you don't have anything you want to tell us?"
Clay just stares at him. He's not sure he could answer even if he wanted to.
"Alrighty then, so be it." Lazo says as he takes a few big drinks out of the pitcher and then dumps the rest on the ground.
Once Lazo walks back to the table, Doza approaches Clay. "Stupid move, boy."
At this point, Clay has a pretty good idea that they know he understands the language, but he didn't care. He was in pain, his wrists were raw, his arms and shoulders killing him, exhausted in every possible way. He was at the point where he almost welcomed death. He would gladly take the brunt of the torture, even if it resulted in his death, as long as Brock and Sonny were left alone.
Doza just watched Clay for a minute. He recognized the hopeless look in Clay's eyes and planned on using it to his advantage. "You speak Spanish, no?"
Clay still didn't answer. He wanted to, but he couldn't get the words out. He thought he nodded his head enough for Doza to notice but he didn't.
Unsatisfied, Doza ordered two of his men to unchain Brock and strap him to a table on the other side of the room.
Once Brock was unchained he immediately fell to the ground, too weak to support his own weight.
They dragged him over to a table where he was strapped face up to a table. Once they start beating Brock, Clay's adrenaline kicks in and he somehow manages to find just enough strength to admit he does speak Spanish and to let Brock go.
The men ignored Clay, continuing to beat Brock until he fell unconscious. They then unstrap him from the table and drag him back over to the chains and hoist him back up off the ground.
Doza walks back over to Clay, grabs his face and forces him to look over at Brock. He then tells Clay in Spanish that Brocks beating was all his fault and that Sonny was next.
Clay manages to pull his face out of Doza's and glares at him. Informing both Doza and Lazo that regardless of what happens to them, they're both dead men."
Lazo and Doza both laugh at Clay's threat and then head for the door, turning the loud music back up and leaving the lights on. Doza wanted Clay to see the pain Brock was in. He knew Clay was close to cracking, or at least he thought he was.
Sonny lifted his head up and looked over at Clay and he wasn't a fan of what he saw. He had never seen the kid look so defeated. He desperately wished he could talk to Clay, but no level of screaming could be heard over the deafening music. After a couple minutes of staring at Clay, Clay finally looked over at Sonny. The only way to communicate was through facial expressions. Sonny lifted his eyebrows and gave Clay the 'are you going to be ok' look to which Clay shook his head no.
Clay truly believed he wasn't going to be ok. On top of being in pain, overheated and exhausted, having to watch Brock beaten into unconsciousness was more than he could handle. Now he had to continue hanging there for God only knows how long, listening to the deafening music and staring at Brock, hoping he would wake up, all while knowing the next time Doza and Lazo return that Sonny is going to be next. He would much rather it be him. He HAD to find a way for it to be him.
The longer they hung there, the more Clay tried to figure out ways to convince Doza and Lazo to let him be next. Sonny could see Clay's wheels turning and wished he knew where his head was at. He knew Clay wasn't ok, what he didn't know was if that meant mentally, physically or both.
There was a clock on the wall and Sonny and Clay watched the hours slowly ticked by. Brock would occasionally slip in and out of consciousness, which both Clay and Sonny took as a positive. At least he was starting to come around from time to time they thought. They continued watching the clock, wondering why it was taking so long for Doza and/or Lazo to return.
The waiting, accompanied by the loud music and lack of sleep was driving them crazy. They weren't sure exactly how long it has been since they've been abducted but they knew it was at least a full day. That meant at least 36 hours with no sleep, probably more, but sleep was impossible with that obnoxious music.
Right before they both felt like they were going to completely lose their minds, the door swung open. Neither Clay nor Sonny had the energy to look up. The music was once again turned off and Doza and Lazo reappeared in front of them. They first checked on Brock, slightly annoyed that he was still alive. Then Lazo stood in front of Sonny while Doza stood in front of Clay. Both of their chins were lifted up, forcing them to each to look up.
"Lucky for you, your friend over there is still alive. I thought for sure he'd be dead by now." Doza said to Clay. "Let's see how long your other friend here can last. My guess, not as long."
Clay new this was most likely his only chance to convince Doza to torture him instead of Sonny. "Please. Leave them alone." He begged. "Take me. Take me instead. Kill me if you want but please just leave them alone."
Sonny immediately turned his attention to Clay. He didn't like the way the kid was talking. Not one bit. Sonny was just about to speak, when Doza beat him to it.
"Oh don't you worry. You'll get your turn, but right now it's his turn." Doza said pointing to Sonny.
Before Clay could even protest, Lazo struck Sonny with a taser. The shock caught Sonny off guard, causing him to scream out in pain. He then alternated between hitting him in the torso and then tasing him. The electrical shock of the taser quickly took its toll on the already weakened Sonny. Within just a couple of minutes he was unconscious.
"So help me God. If I wasn't chained up right now, I'd kill you both with my bare hands." Clay mumbled angrily.
"Oh yeah?" Doza laughed. "I'd like to see you try." Lazo then proceeded to unchain Clay, resulting in him falling straight to the ground. Clay remained still for a second attempting to catch his breath. He was in more pain than he expected to be. Every muscle in his body from his waist up was killing him. Doza approached Clay and uncuffed him. "Alright tough guy. Let's see what you got." Doza challenged.
Both Doza and Lazo stood next to Clay, waiting for Clay to make his move. When he didn't Lazo looked at Doza, shrugged his shoulders and kicked Clay as hard as he could in the side.
The kick knocked the wind out of Clay but he managed to get himself up to all fours. Just as he was about to attempt to stand, he took another kick to the side causing him to fall right back down, but managing to scoot himself over towards the wall to try to stand himself up.
Doza looked at Lazo and they both laughed. Clay was practically slumped up against the wall. "You're pathetic, you know that? You can't even fight back, let alone kill one of us."
Clay was in too much pain and too out of breath to respond. As much as he wanted to respond, as much as he wanted to get up and wrap his hands around their throats, he just couldn't.
Lazo took a few more steps closer to Clay and kicked him one last time, this time in the head causing Clay to immediately fall unconscious.
"Hang him back up, and wait for him to regain consciousness. We're not done with him." Doza ordered Lazo, who complied and then left the room.
All three men hung there for the next hour unconscious. Sonny was the first one to come too and noticed Brock starting to stir and a bloody unconscious Clay. "Hey. Brock." Sonny quickly stopped talking. He would have kicked himself if he could for using Brocks name.
Brock heard his name being called and slowly lifted up his head and looked over at Sonny. He then furrowed his brow, noticing Clays condition. "What happened to him?" Brock breathed out.
"I don't know. Woke up and found him like that. You good?" Sonny asked.
"Not really. You?" Brock breathed out again.
"Will be." Sonny replied.
They hung there for a few more minutes before Clay began to slowly make his way back to consciousness. It took some time for him to fully come too but when he did Sonny demanded to know what happened.
"Lazo happened. Don't worry about it. I'm fine." Clay mumbled.
"You're fine? You're definitely not fine. Look at you man." Sonny was trying to be sympathetic.
"I said I'm fine." Clay bit back. He felt responsible for what happened to Sonny and Brock. He felt like if he would have just been honest from the beginning Brock and Sonny would be fine. He was also pissed off at Jason for getting them into this situation in the first place.
Sonny looked over at Brock and gave him a concerned look. Neither one of them liked where Clay's head was at but decided to back off for the time being.
They hung there in silence for a little longer before the door opened back up. Brock and Sonny both lifted their heads. Clay had no desire to.
Lazo snickered at Doza. "Looks like blondie's playing dead."
"Hey. I'm the only one that gets to call him that. Understand!?" Sonny yelled at Lazo.
Lazo replied with a quick punch to Sonny's gut that instantly shut him up.
Doza unchained Clay and once again he fell to the ground. This time though he didn't attempt to move. He just laid there until Lazo ordered his men to pick him up and strap him down on the table. As he was picked up, he didn't even attempt to fight.
"Come on man. Don't give up. Fight!" Sonny yelled at Clay.
Clay just looked over at Sonny and Brock. He had no fight left in him. Didn't see a reason to fight. He acknowledged the fact that he was most likely going to die in that room and he was ok with that. Death would mean no more pain, plus, he was still slightly convinced no one would miss him. "I'm sorry" was the only response he gave Sonny.
"No. You don't get to do that. You don't get to give up. Not now. Not ever." Sonny shouted back.
Brock was about agree with Sonny when Lazo sent two of his men over to shut them up. A few hard hits to each man was enough to send them both into the darkness, Clays already low spirits dropping to the floor as they fell unconscious.
He was tossed onto the table and roughly strapped down. The next thing he knew there was a cloth over his face and what felt like an endless supply of water dumped on top. "You looked a little dehydrated, thought we'd give you some water." Lazo laughed as Clay attempted to squirm, trying to catch his breath.
As soon as the water stopped pouring, he gasped for air, each breath hurting more than the last. The reprieve only lasted for 2 minutes before more water began pouring over his face. He could feel the water filling in his lungs.
When the water stopped this time it was impossible for him to catch his breath. He could do nothing but cough up water. Each time he coughed, he felt his broken ribs protesting the movement. The cloth was placed back over his face for a third time. He was sure this would be the round that killed him. The water began pouring over his face one last time and the last thing he remembered hearing before succumbing to the darkness was gunshots. Or at least he thought he did. At this point he wasn't sure if they were real or if he was just hearing things.
The next thing he knew, he was waking up in a Mexican hospital two weeks later.
Clays Apartment – Present time
"Why'd you do it? Why'd you just give up?" Sonny asked. "Out of everything they did to us, watching you give up, that hurt more than any of that."
Brock nodded his head in agreement. "I would go through that physical pain ten times over before watching someone I care about give up."
Clay looked up. He didn't realize how much him giving up affected them. He now understood why this conversation had to happen and for the first time, he felt like he was ready to talk about it.