Stolen
Jak fought back to consciousness with a groan.
He remembered the asari, her gentle touch helping him face his past and future. He remembered Lara coming in, fear turning to wonder as he had accepted her for who and what she was. Then... His memory cut off. It felt odd. He felt odd.
Jak opened his eyes and blinked rapidly in the harsh light that surrounded him. He stared around, but the small room was bare. No. It wasn't a room, it was a cell. The light seemed to be set into the ceiling and there was no way to get at it. The sole door had a viewing port set into it and there was no opening mechanism on the inside. Jak looked around and was not surprised to see two cameras set up in alternate corners of the cell near the ceiling. They really wanted to keep tabs on him. Whoever they were. There were no markings on the walls, no insignia, no nothing. An Alliance cell would have markings on the door, on the cameras. He had seen a few during his career, from both sides. This? Nothing.
So, not Alliance, but the bed felt like it had been set up for a human. He wasn't restrained and no controlling devices were attached, so it wasn't a slaver ship with slavers putting evil things in his head but still…
Jak looked himself over and growled as he saw himself clad in a patient gown. The insignia on it had been removed, but the place where it had been was clear. The bare patch was familiar and not really surprising. Jak rolled off the bed and sank to the floor, putting his legs beneath him in a ready stance. Seiza was not a comfortable stance for most people, but for anyone who had studied hand to hand, it was a ready stance. Not a subservient stance at all no matter what some might think.
"Good morning, Lieutenant Collains." A neutral male voice sounded from a hidden speaker. It wasn't anyone Jak knew. "Your meal will be in shortly."
"Don't bother playing nice, Cerberus." Jak said calmly. There was utter silence. "All you will do is waste your time. I won't help you."
"What do you mean?" The male voice asked. Jak plucked the front of the patient gown from his chest with a small sick smile.
"For future reference, you stupid terrorist, simply taking the insignia off isn't enough when it leaves a blank spot." Jak said flatly as his fist closed on the spot where the Cerberus insignia had been. He tore a chunk of the fabric off and threw the piece to the floor. Then he spit on it. "So… going to make my death 'natural causes'?" He asked snidely. "Like Kahoku?"
Jak had served under Alliance Admiral Kahoku before Terra Nova. He hadn't know the admiral well but the man had taken time to visit when Jak had been in the hospital. Finding out that the old man had died had been a blow. But some of the situation hadn't made a great deal of sense to Jak. It had taken quite a bit of digging and more than a few favors for Jak to find out that the man's heart attack had been induced by a needle. A Cerberus needle. He had quickly been told to drop it and while he had, he hadn't forgotten it.
There was utter silence from the other and Jak simply waited. He was good at waiting. It was all he had done for almost a decade. He was not surprised at all when part of one wall shimmered and turned transparent. Two forms in civilian clothes stood behind consoles, looking at him. One was unfamiliar. The other, he knew.
"Lieutenant. We were worried about you." Janice had a smile on her face, but it fell when Jak did not react.
"Keeping an eye on me, huh?" Jak said softly. "Should have known you were too good to be true."
"Lieutenant, it isn't what you think." Janice said softly. "I will bring in your meal if you promise not to try and hurt me." Jak looked from her to the man and back, but did not speak. "Lieutenant, please." She begged. "We don't want to hurt you."
"Why not?" Jak asked snidely. "Hurting people is what Cerberus does."
"We are not-" Janice started, only to break off as Jak shouted at her.
"Don't you DARE lie to me, you stupid bitch! You can take the insignia off, but when you leave the patch spot, it is a dead giveaway." Jak snapped. "I remember the white armor! You gassed me. Did you kill everyone?" He demanded. "Kassidy? Lara?" Janice recoiled and he pressed his slim advantage. I bet you did. It is what your kind do!"
"We have not killed anyone." The man was trying for a soothing tone. It hit Jak's anger and bounced, hard.
"So.. torture or experimentation?" Jak demanded, still not moving.
"This is not helping." Janice's face was pleading as she looked from Jak to the stranger with her in the other room. "Your meal will be in shortly, Lieutenant. Please, you need the nourishment. You were unconscious for nineteen hours."
The wall shimmered and became blank again. Jak looked at it for a moment and then shook his head. He wasn't about to help Cerberus in any way. The door opened silently and Jak did not move as two forms entered the cell. Both in armor that he did not recognize. The white, black and orange armor looked odd, but functional. The Mattock rifle that one held trained on Jak also looked odd, not quite like any Mattock Jak had ever seen. The other carried a tray that he set on the floor. He nodded to the one with the rifle and both backed from the cell. The door closed just as silently as it had opened and a click heralded it locking.
Jak did not move. He did not speak. He remembered his training in escape and evasion, a brutal course designed to give Alliance soldiers a chance at surviving captivity. He hadn't had any chance to put any of those skills to use after his capture, he had been too badly hurt. Now thought?
"Lieutenant, you need to eat." Janice's quiet voice came over the intercom. "You are also dehydrated. You need the fluids."
"Collains, Jak." The kneeling soldier said quietly. "Service number AS 189743."
"Lieutenant, don't be stupid." Janice pleaded. "You are not going to win this."
"Collains, Jak." The soldier kept his voice calm through sheer force of will. "Service number AS 189743."
"Lara is fine." Janice said weakly. "She is asleep and we will keep her that way. Nobody was hurt. We faked a power outage and no one realized you were gone for three hours. They will be looking in the wrong places. We didn't hurt anyone, Lieutenant!"
"Collains, Jak." Jak replied. "Service number AS 189743."
"The Geneva Convention doesn't apply here." The man said snidely. "Eat or we will make you."
"No! Don't!" Janice said quickly but it was too late. Jak rose from his kneeling posture and kicked once. The tray went flying to hit the door. The door on the platters smeared all over it and dropped to the floor, leaving a mess. Jak ignored it as he knelt again. "Ah, Lieutenant..." Janice said weakly. She rounded on her companion. "I warned you. Pushing him won't work. All it will get us is hurt. Or him hurt."
"Yeah, the Geneva Convention doesn't apply to terrorists." Jak said softly. "But it does make me feel better to tell you traitors to fuck off."
"We are not the traitors here!" The man snapped.
"Stop!" Janice said sharply. "He is pushing you to hurt or kill him!" Just-" The intercom went dead and Jak was left alone with his thoughts as well as the mess. He focused on his thoughts, ignoring the mess. He didn't like his thoughts. First Hernandez and now Janice. Was the whole facility run by Cerberus or just heavily infiltrated? That didn't make any sense. Why would a terrorist organization be interested in a bunch of crazy people?
His thoughts took a sharp right turn. They were not interested in a bunch of crazy people. Hernandez had been focused solely on Jak. Janice… That was harder. She was the head nurse. She had access to everyone. But her empathy had seemed perfectly genuine. She had been genuinely concerned with Jak, Lara and the other patients, even Cross with all of his problems. So…
The door hissed open again and this time, both armored forms held Mattock rifles.
"Move to the bunk." The voice from the one on the right was heavily distorted. Synthesized or simply to keep anyone form recognizing it?
"Make me." Jak said firmly.
"Don't be stupid, Lieutenant." Janice appeared behind them. Her hands clasped in front of her. "I just want to clean up the mess."
"But that is what Cerberus does." Jak snapped. "Make messes." He glared at the rifles and then at Janice.
"I..." Janice wouldn't meet his eyes. "That is neither here nor there. They need you alive. No one said anything about intact, Lieutenant. Please. Don't make them hurt you. Please." She begged. "They have my son."
Jak felt his whole world fall to pieces at that. She wasn't with them. She was a prisoner just like he was. If she was telling the truth. He couldn't tell. He couldn't take the chance. He wasn't going to help Cerberus in any-
Something whistled and Jak felt an impact on his arm. He fell over. He tried to move and couldn't. He was paralyzed somehow.
"No!" Janice nearly screamed as she ran to his side. She opened his airway carefully before speaking again. "He was listening, damn it!" The men with the rifles ignored her as they moved into the cell, both still aiming at Jak.
"Clean up the mess." The man's voice from before said flatly. Janice growled form where she was checking Jak's vitals and the man sighed. "He isn't hurt, simply paralyzed."
"And paralyzing people doesn't hurt them at all." Now there was the old Janice, the one Jak had thought he had known. "You made me betray him. You made me help you. Well damn it all, if you don't want my help, then give me back my son and drop us off."
"You know it doesn't work like that." The man said flatly. "The girl trusts you. We will use that. Clean up the mess. Now."
"I am sure you will." Janice snarled. She bent over Jak and plucked something out of his arm. "I am sorry, Lieutenant."
Janice shook her head as she retreated towards the door. Jak couldn't see what she was doing, but from the sounds, she was cleaning up the spilled meal. He knew those sounds well from the asylum. He couldn't even move his eyes as one of the armored forms slung his rifle and picked Jak up before depositing him somewhat gently on the bunk.
"The paralytic is short term, Lieutenant Collains but we will continue doses of it if needed." The man said quietly. "We don't want to take any chances. You are our best lead to that asari yet. We didn't know she was there until it was too late to catch her, but we will eventually." The man made an odd noise, half laugh, half sigh. "Administer the antagonist to his jaw and voice box. We want him able to talk, but not to fight. That would serve nothing."
Jak could do nothing as the armored form that was closest produced a needle. He couldn't even scream as the needle penetrated his throat. A warmth spread from it and he could move his jaw. He knew what to do. A torrent of profanity burst from his lips. Janice whistled in seeming awe from where she was as Jak continued to lay verbal abuse on the armored form, the man who had been speaking as well as Cerberus in general. He was starting to question the Illusive Man's ancestry and familiar relations when the armored form drew his rifle again. Jak's stream of profanity didn't even slow. Finally, he ran out of things to say and gasped for breath.
"Feed him. We will talk later when he has had a chance to calm down." The man said and Jak watched out of the corner of his eye as both armored forms retreated out of the cell, still aiming at him.
Janice's face came into his view as Jak continued his profanity. She was crying. Either she was the best actress he had ever met or she was a pawn. He shut his mouth with a click.
"I am sorry." Janice said weakly. "They have George."
"You know what Cerberus does to prisoners, Janice." Jak said quietly. "You of all people know that."
They had both seen patients pass through the asylum who had been in Cerberus' tender care. They rarely lasted long.
"I… I do." Janice slumped. "But he is my son!"
"And that is what evil counts on. So… They planned to make me believe I was an Alliance prisoner or something?" Jak asked.
"I don't know. They didn't tell me what their plans were." Janice wiped his face carefully with a damp cloth. "I warned them how you felt about Cerberus. They didn't listen. They said you wouldn't figure it out. Idiots."
"You know I cannot trust you." Jak said flatly.
"I know." Janice shook her head. "I can't trust myself right now. I mean, I don't always like George, but he is my son, Jak." The use of his name was jarring. She never called him by name. Either this was an incredibly well planned and executed con game or she was incredibly stressed.
"So what is the plan?" Jak asked after a moment. "Why not a feeding tube? IVs?"
"You know those don't provide enough nourishment." Janice said with a scowl and Jak smiled a little. "Silly man. You know why. Those would be far easier, but you would fight the restraints. Hurt yourself. Probably badly. Even a mild paralytic would hurt you. Will hurt you." She corrected herself grimly.
"They don't care." Jak said with a calm he didn't really feel. "For them, the end always justifies the means. Kill a few humans to save humans that prefer heir brand of idiocy? Perfectly justified. Life means nothing to them. Human or otherwise."
"I know." Janice said weakly. "I just..."
"You were trying to help your son." Jak fought not to sigh. Whether she was telling the truth or not, he was stuck with her. So a bit of bonding might not be a bad idea. "Did you talk to him? See him?"
"I heard his voice." Janice shuddered. "He sounded bad, Jak."
"Janice..." Jak groaned with feeling.
"I know." Janice shook her head. "You cannot trust me. But… I need to get some fluids in you. You are dehydrated from the gas and then the paralytic. Will you drink?"
"Is it drugged?" Jak demanded.
"No." Janice said slowly but her head tilted just a little up and down. Jak's eyes narrowed. "Even if it was, it wouldn't be a full on sedative. They don't want you unconscious any more. You have slept too much as it is."
Jak stared at her and she winked. He fought to keep a smile off his face. Janice was no soldier, but she wasn't stupid either. He wished he could trust her, but he couldn't. Not here. Not now.
"Please don't fight me." Janice begged in an undertone. "I can't sacrifice George and I do not want to see you or Lara hurt."
"I cannot help them, Janice." Jak said slowly. "I cannot. Not after what they have done. Kahoku, others. They may have started as a protection for humanity, but they went off the rails and if they are not stopped, they will do far worse."
"I don't care about that." Janice put a straw to Jak's lips. "Right now, I care about George, Lara and then you. In that order. I have to try and keep you healthy." She mouthed something that looked like 'And fuzzy'
Jak was seriously temped to spit the water back in her face, but it soothed the parched tissues of his mouth and he found himself sucking greedily on the straw. Whatever was in the water, he couldn't taste, but the world indeed went a bit fuzzy.
He barely noticed Janice holding spoon to his lips, but when she put it in his mouth, he sucked it clean.
Then he was somewhere else.
He was lying on a cold, hard surface while energy played around his head. He couldn't move, but everything was so far way. He heard murmurs form nearby, but couldn't make any sense of them.
Then it all went away again and he came back to himself lying on a bunk that was similar if not he same as the one from before. The cell looked the same. But it wasn't the same.
A warm mass shifted beside him and he stared down at Lara's tousled head as she slept. She wasn't wearing anything but a contented smile as she snuggled closer to him in her sleep. Neither was he, he realized suddenly.
"Oh, you bastards." Jak said softly, moving to cover the girl from the watch of the cameras.
"Don't tell me you are not enjoying the view, Lieutenant." The man from before. Jak had never wanted to wipe a smile off a man the hard way than he wanted to right that moment.
"She is a kid!" Jak protested. "Even for Cerberus, this is sick!"
"She is a functional adult. She wants it." The man said smugly. "And so do you. Now anyway." Jak stared down at himself as he…
"No." Jak growled and threw himself across the room to the furthest spot from where Lara was stirring now. "What the hell did you do?"
"She wants you and you want her." He still didn't know the man's name but Jak knew suddenly that he would kill that man. "Your body agrees." Jak ignored the stirring in his lower body, snarling as he searched his body with desperate fingers. He found what he expected and pulled the drug patch off his leg. "Too late, Lieutenant. Let nature take its course."
Lara was awake now and staring at Jak, eyes huge as he moved to beat his head against the wall, maybe if he hit himself hard enough.… A hand grasped his and he spun to see Lara standing just behind him, her face sad.
She shook her head, opened her mouth and started to sing.