Chapter 7

You'll not only kill the Ghosts, you'll kill their souls.

Hawk… you mean so much to me.

They left you to die.

I love you…

Tahatanskah opened her eyes slowly but she felt sluggish. Everything sounded warped as she blinked and sat up. He was standing there looking at her and amused that she was on the ground and he was standing up. Why was she on the ground? The memory was fuzzy. She stood up warily and slowly and almost fell over.

"Easy there Little Charlie. Can't have you walking around like a drunk."

Tahatanskah felt hands around her and she recalled that it was a touch she abhorred. She pushed them away and fell back to lean against the wall. She rubbed her head trying to clear the cobwebs but her senses were so fuzzy. She said something in her people's language and then repeated it in English, "What happened?"

Rorke watched as his little Charlie tried to make sense of her world. The drug in the water would help and it was already doing its work. He could see the confusion in her eyes that was not related to the whole waking up and not knowing how you got there. He knew she was experiencing sluggish senses and things not seeming as they were supposed to be. Now was time to start. "Nothing. Might be that concussion."

Tahatanskah shook her head and frowned. That didn't sound right to her ears. She hadn't hit her head and if he had hit her, it was something easily shaken off. She narrowed her eyes but she had a hard time focusing.

Rorke saw that she was resisting. He really liked that. He liked that she took whatever he threw at her and fought it. It showed her true nature when she did that and he suspected she had more than what she had been showing. He continued, "Now I know you've been bored and you think I am a bastard for taking you from your friends but Little Charlie… I'm here to set you free."

"Free?"

Rorke mistook the question as one that was looking for a ray of hope. It didn't occur to him that she was confused about the whole thing nor did it register that she was fighting the urge to be compliant about things. He said, "That's right. I'm going to set you free. I know you've been wanting to get your hands on Feds."

Tahatanskah managed to eye Rorke warily but she was still groggy and she didn't like it at all. She blinked at him making it seem like she was trying to comprehend what he was saying. In truth she was trying to force clarity.

There is only one way for an interrogator to know what it feels like to be interrogated and that is to experience it firsthand. You've all had POW training but…

Father, this tastes funny.

Recognize the taste. What you are tasting generally means it is poisonous. Now spit.

"Come on Little Charlie. Since you've been good…" Rorke tried to coax her out.

Tahatanskah grew wary. She didn't like the change in demeanor and backed away. She remembered this from her training. She knew what this was. She replied, "No."

"I'm giving you freedom."

She studied Rorke. The drug she had ingested was starting to take over. She was becoming sluggish again and everything sounded like it was reasonable. Yet it didn't feel right. She blinked at Rorke unable to form a sentence at the moment. Instead she frowned like she wasn't sure what she was going to do.

Rorke recognized the flitter of expressions. She was fighting but the drugs were working. She needed another round and he had it. He held out his hand and put another in his pocket. "Come with me Little Charlie," he wheedled.

If you are ever in doubt my little Hawk, play along with the enemy. Play along as far as you can. Sometimes the best way to learn about your enemy is to be their friend. Sometimes it comes with a cost…

Shappa, I hope you are all right. If you can't come to me, I will come to you. I just hope that you can forgive me for what I must do…

Tahatanskah looked at Rorke and swallowing the lump that welled in her throat, she blinked and let the drug hazed look take over. She reached out and took Rorke's hand and allowed him to help her stand completely up. She allowed him to touch her in terms of dusting her off. She allowed herself to be led out of the pit and towards a compound building. She asked sleepily, "Freedom?"

Rorke glanced at her and nodded, "Freedom Little Charlie is in that building. First you must understand something. I am giving it to you. I am setting you free. I rescued you from those you called your friends. They want to keep you back."

A load of horseshit, Tahatanskah thought to herself. She knew that the Ghosts were her adopted tribe. They were a team and they watched each other's backs. They will come for her because of her and not because of what she knew that was hidden in her mind. It was what she had to protect but she knew that her captor knew that she trained under her father. He knew she knew a few tricks.

Rorke led her into a building and said, "Little Charlie. I need your help. A Fed infiltrated and tried to sabotage our facility."

"A spy?" She hated to say it and she knew that Rorke was making it up. It was hard work trying to push back the drug induced haze. If anything she may start hallucinating or something. That meant she might be in trouble. God it was bringing back memories. She put a hand to her forehead and rubbed it in order to give her captor the impression he was looking for.

"Yes," Rorke said as he stopped her before a door with a slide window. He opened it to reveal the 'prisoner'.

Tahatanskah took a look in. It was then that she felt the prick on the back of her neck. It was too quick for her counter in her current state. Plus she knew that this was part of what was meant of playing with the enemy. She felt the liquid course into the vein she had been stuck with. She gasped at the sensation she felt as she pressed against the door for support.

"Consider it insurance Little Charlie. The initial dose was just the beginning. You resist too much. You need to relax and listen to what I am telling you," Rorke said as he leaned in close to whisper into her ear. He took a moment to look at her hair and even though it was messy, it smelled nice. "I am going to give you the freedom you crave. I see it in you. You follow Charlie's footsteps but you have the potential to take it beyond that. You yearn for it. So I am going to give you that chance and it is in there."

Tahatanskah looked through the window at the 'prisoner' in the room. She started to feel the effects of the drugs running through her system. She blinked as her ears heard the Southern drawl that was almost like a crooning in her ear. She had been poisoned, given limited water and now she was being drugged. With what, she didn't know but she had a general idea and it was leaving her in a highly suggestive state considering that some of the words she was hearing sounded like they were right or rather toying with the lock to a door that she had vowed to keep shut unless necessary.

Everything is permitted my precious treasure and nothing is true… except what you make of it. What is true to you?

She looked at the prisoner as Rorke said, "I want you to break him. Use whatever means that Charlie taught you."

Forgive me, Shappa.

She continued to look at the prisoner and slowly said while Rorke breathed on her neck, "If this man is one of them then he shall be crushed. Everything he knows will be ours."

Rorke grinned at that. He patted her on the shoulder like she was a good child. "Yes Little Charlie. Do it for them. You want to get back to them right? Then help us."

It sounded like the worst prattle ever but even she knew that it was pretty effective. She was also well aware of how people could be changed if you gave or took power away. She had studied the famous prison experiment and what happened there. Though dismissed in terms of scientific applicability due to the human rights issue… she had learned how to make use of such material as teaching material. The things her father taught her…

What I teach you my dear daughter is for your own protection. Forgive me some day if you can but please understand that this is for you to live…

Please try to understand. I love you…

She looked at Rorke and said, "I will do it but my way. This traitor must be taught." Her words were slurry and hardly convincing but she was hoping that by sounding like the drugs were working, she could pull this off. An idea was coming to mind and she hoped that it might work.

Rorke grinned, "Alright. For your first yes."

"My way," she emphasized. She turned to look at Rorke and pointed hard into his chest deliberately seeking the area where his chest wound was and pushed. By giving the look of being drugged, it appeared as a lucky guess.

Rorke tried not to wince at the pressure she applied. He pushed open the door and grinned as she tried to walk in straight and actually succeeded and she looked like she was going to kick some ass. He closed the door and the window slide. He was tempted to watch but when he heard her speak… he decided to give a little. He turned to walk away but not before stopping to tell the two guards that they were to do anything she said even if it was to bend over and touch their toes.

Tahatanskah waited until she heard nothing to look at the prisoner whom she initially scared. She changed her tone and said in a low voice, "I am not going to hurt you."

The 'prisoner' was the old man servant. It made her despise her captor all the more. She wasn't going to hurt the old man and it was going to be a bitch to figure out if he could be trusted. He certainly was afraid and he said something back in his native language.

Tahatanskah saw that this was going to be difficult. She then repeated what she had said in Spanish hoping that it was going to click. She was going on the assumption that native peoples would end up learning more than their tribal language like the language of their colonizers. If it worked for the US then…

It was a relief when he responded in Spanish. She sighed and looked at the door. This was risky. She sensed that this was a test. Her paranoia raised the question of whether or not the old man was a plant to tell if she did what she said she would or not. Her mind raised possibilities and in a drug induced haze; she was getting a headache. She put a hand to her head to rub her aching temple. She blinked as she tried to relieve the pressure.

The old man said something in his tribal language and edged closer. He didn't back away when he was almost face to face with her. He was staring at her and by that time she had lowered her hand slowly and looked at him. He said something in his tribal language and nodded in affirmation. He then said in Spanish, "You are the one."

Tahatanskah looked at him with a raised brow and blinked. She replied in Spanish in a low voice, "I am not going to hurt you. I don't want to be with that bastard and his men." She sighed and looked away before looking back at the old man. She said, "I need to interrogate you but I won't hurt you."

"I know." The old man nodded as he reached out and touched her temple and rubbed with his hand. "The wild bird must be set free. For this I will help you."

"You have been a big disappointment Little Charlie."

Tahatanskah pushed herself up and dusted herself off as she looked up defiantly at Rorke. She was back in the pit after a month of 'freedom'. She replied, "Everything is permitted Otaktay. Nothing is true. That is the first lesson."

Rorke kneeled above the edge of the pit. For the past month she had been cooperating. He had her on their side. In fact he had taken her on a couple of jobs. The last one, which was recently, they ran into the Ghosts. It was a four man team and they had brought the kid that he initially tried to take. Apparently they had gotten word that he was around and no doubt they were hunting him and decided to go on a chase. They had a job to do for the Federation to regroup since their heavy losses were the destruction of LOKI and everything was razed in the assault.

He still was on a primary objective and that was to hunt Ghosts. He was determined to complete that mission and kill them all or if he couldn't, at least crush their soul. He would make them but a shell of what others thought they were. He would reveal who they truly were and he would have it done in the worst possible way. Little Charlie would do it and that was all because she knew how to do what he and the Federation barely tapped into and then some. He knew it because she was Charlie's pupil. He would have taught her.

Their mission was to oversee a shipment of weapons to one of their outposts. It was tedious work but it served a dual purpose. Earlier in the month certain pieces of intel had been leaked. The Federation was trying to rebuild and there were rumors of a couple of scientists who had been working on a prototype of a weapon. Nothing elaborate like LOKI but it was considered a next generation in terms of assault guns. The goal was to capture them and Rorke was to head that endeavor.

It was a worthy mission since it would attract the attention of the Ghosts and after a month of convincing, he had the little hunter that willingly joined. He was pleased since she wasn't another mindless drone like the others. No… she had a mind of her own and some of the things she came up with were more than he could have guessed with old man Charlie. She was also quite deadly and some of his men learned that the hard way.

In Rorke's mind if you were stupid enough to mess with deadly beauty then you deserved the consequences. He had given orders that she wasn't to be touched in any way that was related to having their way with her. She didn't need that distraction and to take something like that would ruin his hard work. So he didn't bat an eye when the two that tried… Well one ended up in the infirmary looking like he had been dragged behind a truck and a weak bladder having pissed in his pants and the other met his death swiftly and silently with a broken neck. It certainly taught the others a lesson when she gave that hard stare of hers.

The operation was a setup since they had information on the scientists but it appeared that they went into hiding so that was a bust but the Ghosts didn't know that. So Rorke deferred to his Little Charlie for her input on setting up the trap. He told her that more than likely her favorite would be with them and he was in danger of becoming corrupted by their influence. He suggested that she rescue him and teach him the truth.

It was a perfect plan. Everything was going along smoothly and the Ghosts showed up like they were supposed to. It was hard to let them get deeper into the net and he had wanted to spring it when he was sure they had them. She said no. Then came that whole patience is a virtue shit and then something about a hunter reading everything and not just the prey; it was all babble to him but he was willing to follow. What he didn't expect was what happened.

It went off as planned. There was a firefight and those were always fun. He had told her to specifically go after the kid and bring him to the group. Looking back on it now, he should have paid closer attention to the look in her eyes. He was more focused on the surprised looks of Keegan and Kick when they saw her shooting at them. Nothing like seeing what you once called friend now shooting at you. It was a personal victory. It went wrong after that.

Junior was not there with the group but there was a new guy. He looked just as surprised but he also seemed not surprised. That should have been another warning and he didn't pay attention to it. The explosions went off as they should and she gave chase to track down the kid. She was doing what he asked her to do and she was under the impression that she was saving him from the enemy… or so he thought. He was in for a major surprise.

They had been separated but he found her looking at the kid and she said something along with a silent gesture. Rorke had no idea what she meant until she turned and gave him a hard kick to his midriff. That started a fight with their fists and her shouting something at him. It was like she was a crazy woman or her head finally snapped. It wasn't until he managed to subdue her that she had done it on purpose. It was evident when the Ghosts made their escape with what they needed and she was grinning at him like a madman. It was then he knew. She had played him.

He brought her back to the compound and flung her into the pit which was where they were at now. He repeated his earlier statement, "I am very disappointed in you Little Charlie."

Tahatanskah looked up at him and started pacing like a wild animal that was restless. Her gaze never left Rorke's as she circled with a grin that was intended to be predatory. She replied, "And I am very disappointed in you."

Rorke frowned in confusion. What game was she getting at? "Me?"

"Oh yes," Tahatanskah replied, "Disappointed that you are good at hunting but it is only fit for game. It's no wonder the Federation broke you. Weak and pathetic."

"Consider your own actions Little Charlie," Rorke retorted as he took in the predatory gaze that was in her eyes. She was taunting him to a fight. "You joined us."

"Free will is a lot stronger than being beaten, drugged and isolated into submission. Tactics used by those who are weak and given a smidge of power over their betters," she countered smoothly as she looked up. She then tsked at him in disappointed. "Would have thought you'd learn that much from me since you've seen my work," she sneered. "But just as I expected."

"You talk a pretty good game and you're the one in the hole, princess."

Tahatanskah smirked, "And what makes you think I can't back up what I say? You saw what I did to that traitorous old man. Not to mention the pathetic loser you broke before me." She crossed her arms over her chest as she paced the bottom of the pit. She gave him a challenging look. After a pause, she added, "Besides, how do you know that by letting them go a larger plan wasn't in the works?" She raised her brow to force the issue.

Rorke narrowed his eyes at her. Could she have planned something and not tell him. If that was the case, how did he know she wasn't out for her own interests? Certainly she tried to kill him when he killed Elias and then on that damn beach… Did he foster that hatred and she was just biding her time until she could take over? He replied, "And how do I know that you aren't saying that to get out of staying in that hole?"

"The hole doesn't bother me. It was home for two months. I actually like it down here," she countered with a grin. She paused in her pacing to take a good long stare at him. The look on his face had her chuckling. "Everything is permitted."

"You keep saying that crap but what the hell does it mean?"

"You haven't answered my first question yet," she replied. She started to pace again in that slow and deliberate manner. "Let me make it simpler. Do you only see the turn and not the road after that?"

Rorke growled a bit. That was one thing he couldn't break her of when he let her out. She loved using riddles and that sage crap that drove him crazy because he couldn't tell what she meant. It drove the men crazy but for some reason they managed to follow orders. "Now what are you talking about?"

"Same thing I was when you threw me down here," she replied. She made a face and added, "And you still are a rock head."

"Name calling?"

"Take it as you like Otaktay," she replied with a shrug. She paced around glancing occasionally to make sure she didn't run into anything but there was no need for that since she pretty much knew the place inside and out. "I'm not the one who can't keep up."

Rorke paused trying not to lose his temper. He really hated that she always made it seem like he was stupid or something. He looked at her and found that she was looking up at him with a smirk on her face. "Oh I can."

"Prove it then."

"Fine," Rorke retorted. He then jumped down into the pit to land in front of her. He wasn't surprised that she didn't flinch. It was like she expected it. He continued, "I take it that you have something else going on in that brain of yours beautiful. You deliberately let the kid go…"

"So he'd go crying back to mama and bring the whole group it. It's much more fun when you can toy with the whole group." Tahatanskah shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal. She didn't add that it was so he could tell them that she was fine. Of course things didn't look too good since they caught a glimpse of her playing with Rorke. "Besides I prefer to make sure that everyone is watching when I start."

Rorke studied her. She might have been telling the truth but that was too easy. Yet she had helped them along. He chuckled, "You're good Little Charlie. You almost had me fooled but you and I both know the bottom line. You disobeyed orders."

Tahatanskah narrowed her eyes. Play time was over now. "And I would do it again. I don't belong to anyone Otaktay." She got closer and made her intent clear as she glared, "I will never be yours."

Rorke felt his lip quiver in anger. She had been playing him. In anger he struck out and gave her a hard backhand. He watched her head go to the side but she was still on her feet. She turned to look at him, her red-brown eyes flickering and for the briefest of moments he felt afraid but he didn't back down. He noticed that blood was coming down her nose but it didn't bother her. He said, "You've had your chance to join willingly. Now you will get the full treatment."

"Let's see if you're any better with that," she taunted as she watched him climb out.

Rorke got himself out of the pit before turning back to look down at her. He countered, "You'll be sorry Little Charlie but I will have my way and you will hunt Ghosts for me. You're staying down there and you will know what it is like to experience real pain."

"I already have," she retorted.

Rorke turned abruptly and took in her defiant pose. He didn't want to have to do this but now he was going to. "You haven't seen anything yet," he replied as he walked away.

She waited until he was out of earshot before saying in Sioux, "We'll see." She then walked to a corner and started digging.

A/N: Looks like things are going in an interesting direction. Let's see what happens next time on The Hunt...

A/N2: For those that are confused Tahatanskah and Hawk and Sequoia are all the same person.