A/N: My betas think I'm evil and bloodthirsty... I can't help it! Whumping is just too much fun! I'm sorry! ...Okay, I'm not really sorry, but I'll say it if it makes ya'll feel better... Those of you who are as sicko as I am, enjoy your further beating on Jensen happy fun times.
Mary, Ais, Telly, Jess - I heart you. Best. Betas. Ever. You guys make everything that much more fun and interesting. ;)
Clay trudges out to the barn where Pooch had tied both scientists to a highly unsturdy-looking support beam. There's fear in their eyes as he approaches and places one hand on the wood above them.
"I push this an inch in the wrong direction, I have just enough time to get out of here before the whole damn building comes down on your head," he reminds them angrily. They nod quickly and, satisfied, Clay leans down to pull the gag out of the mouth of the scientist that they had personally dragged out of the building.
Clay plasters on a smile. "You seem to be the more reasonable one. Are you the more reasonable one?"
"Yes, please yes, I'll answer any questions, anything, just tell me what you want. Please just don't hurt me!"
The Colonel nods and cuts the guy loose, hauling him to his feet. When the other one starts to mutter through his gag, Clay gives the support beam a swift quick, shifting it just enough to let a trickle of dirt fall down on the man's head. "I didn't ask for your opinion."
As they head back to the house, the scientist hesitantly speaks up. "What, exactly, do-"
"That," Clay cuts him off and shoves him through the door, pointing at Jensen. "I need to know if that's normal."
Jake is lying in the middle of the floor now, the others circled around him but keeping a slight distance. The scientist looks on in confusion, seeing nothing more than his unconscious test subject remaining perfectly still. A few seconds later, however, Jensen's whole body spasms once, then continues to seize violently. When it ends he rolls over on his side and curls into a ball, wrapping his arms around his head as he mutters gibberish to himself. A few seconds go by before he falls quiet again and his body relaxes.
The scientist frowns. "I don't really know-"
"Wait," Clay sighs. "He's not done."
Almost as if reading his cue, Jensen suddenly sits bolt upright and looks around the room, ignoring the small trickle of blood escaping from his nose. When his gaze falls on Cougar he flinches back, his eyelids fluttering rapidly; and when he comes out of it, he almost seems to be a different person. He springs to his feet, eyes wide, and rushes to the sniper's side.
"Colonel, I got him! What's the ETA on that evac chopper?" Jensen says this with his hand up to his neck as if pressing on the button on their older comm. units. His eyes flick around the room as if searching for oncoming threats. "No worries, boss, we'll be there in ten," he answers to an invisible voice. Cougar stays still and lets the tech take the lead in the situation, biting back a groan as Jake drags him up to his feet and wraps an arm around his waist. "Come on, buddy, rendezvous point's not far. You can make it."
They take about two steps before Jake flinches again. This time when his eyes clear he takes a calculated look at the sniper before unexpectedly shoving him backwards. If not for Pooch's quick reflexes Cougar would've hit the ground hard; instead the transport specialist catches him and gently eases him down, a whispered exchange passing between them to make sure the sniper isn't further injured.
Jensen backs away, badly favoring his left leg as he points a nonexistent gun at Cougar. Breathing heavily, he wipes one hand under his nose, smearing the blood across his face. He glances up at the scientist and shakes his head. "¡No se mueva!" he shouts, his voice sounding almost desperate. A split second later he pulls the gun up and "shoots" the man before quickly pointing it back down at Cougar, pulling back on an invisible hammer.
Clay pushes the scientist to the floor. "Play dead," he snaps, his attention still glued to the scene in front of him.
"¿Dónde?" Jensen demands of his hostage.
Cougar says nothing, just watches as the tech's hands begin to tremble. Jensen sees it, too, and his face contorts as if he's fighting off tears. "Dammit, where are they?" he shouts, his pitch higher than normal in his state of remembered pain and frustration. He takes a step forward and crumbles to the ground, unable to support himself on the leg he believes to be injured. It only takes him a second to bring the "gun" back up though, aiming it at Cougar's face. "Tell me where they are, or I will shoot you," he hisses between clenched teeth. "¿Comprende?" Whatever Cougar's new personification does brings fear into the Corporal's eyes. "NO!" he shouts just before pulling the trigger, and Clay nods for Cougar to play along. Pooch steps back as the sniper performs his role, going limp on the ground.
Jensen drags himself forward on arms that look like they can barely support his weight. "Oh god, oh god, what did I do?" he whispers. When he reaches Cougar he grips the sniper's vest in both hands and pulls him up so they're face to face. "Where are they? Please, por favor. ¿Dónde están mis amigos?" Cougar bites his lip as Jake gives him a rough shake. "Where-" Some nonexistent noise in the distance makes him jerk his head up. He drops Cougar and scrambles back to where he had dropped the "gun", wiping quickly at his eyes as he mimics flipping open a chamber. With one hand he drags himself back to Cougar's side and searches through the dead man's pockets until he comes up with more imaginary bullets, slipping several into the "revolver" before snapping the chamber back in place. He looks off into the distance again for only a second before forcing himself to his feet in an attempt to flee from some new threat.
The flashback abruptly ends, sending Jake back down to the floor with a startled yelp that quickly escalates into an anguished yell. Clay and Pooch rush forward as Jensen goes from cradling his head to clawing at it, and when it becomes obvious that they can't hold him, Aisha and Cougar move in to help. Despite their myriad of injuries they manage to pin him down until he finally stops fighting them.
"How long?" he gasps.
Pooch squeezes his arm. "Your twenty-fours hours isn't even half over yet. You've got plenty of time to get through this thing."
Jensen doesn't take it as the good news it was meant to be. Instead, he makes a pathetic little whining sound deep in his throat and squeezes his eyes shut. The others continue to hold him until they feel his body relax beneath their touch, and even then they stay where they are for a minute longer before backing off.
Clay looks over at the scientist who is watching in what looks like utter fascination. "That's the fourth time in the last hour we've been through this with different memories every time. If we try to snap him out of it or alter the memory, things get...ugly. We need to know what's going on."
The man shakes his head. "Tell me everything you know and I'll see what I can figure out."
~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~
"The concept is genius, really," the scientist says with a touch of admiration in his voice.
"But will it work?" Clay asks.
The Colonel turns to look at where Jensen is huddled in a corner with his face turned against the wall, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. He nods slightly at whatever Cougar is quietly telling him but doesn't attempt to look at the sniper. The others are keeping their distance.
"Using the bots to reprogram each other most definitely would've worked," the man confirms.
Pooch steps closer to him. "What do you mean 'would've?' That's what he said he was doing, so will it work or not?"
"Well, clearly what he said he was doing and what he actually did were two different things. A simple reprogramming would've taken minutes and he would appear entirely fine on the outside."
"But?" Aisha prompted.
He turned his attention to her. "The downside to that would be the simple fact that live nanotechnology would still be living in his head, prototypes nonetheless. Something could short-circuit; if someone else found out about them, a way to essentially reprogram his very behavior could be devised; he'd basically be a constant walking stick of unstable nitroglycerin if you think about it – a hazard."
Clay runs a hand through his hair. "He had us program those things to go in and destroy the others, didn't he?"
The scientist nods. "It appears that way, and the bots weren't exactly built to be vulnerable. There's essentially a war going on inside his head right now with his brain being used as the battlefield, and whether he'll make it out on the other side without any permanent damage really all depends on which side wins…and there's still the possibility that the sheer number of microscopic electric bursts from the bots' destruction may have some permanent side effects…"
Jensen sucks in a sharp breath and presses his head further against the wall, his whole body tensing up with pain. He bites his lip hard enough to draw blood in order to hold back the scream; but the second Cougar shifts forward to place a comforting hand on him, his tentative self-control is lost.
"No!" Jake shouts, practically climbing up the wall in an attempt to get to his feet faster. He looks at Cougar and at the others in the room with wide eyes and taking frantic breaths, appearing very much like a cornered animal. His voice drops to a pleading whimper as he hugs his arms against his chest. "You said you wouldn't… You can't… Touching – it sparks… Please don't hurt…"
As he slides down to the floor he shakes his head in an exaggerated manner and closes his eyes, as if trying to will away everything he doesn't like. Cougar whispers something to him but he just shakes his head that much harder. With a sad sigh, the sniper backs away slowly to stand by the others. Jake doesn't even look, just ducks his face and buries it with his arms. After a few seconds they can see his shoulders shake in silent sobs.
Clay turns back to the scientist. "Is there anything you can do for him?"
The man shakes his head. "Without the proper equipment, I'm afraid not. I'd say if the subject is still damaged after-"
His words are cut off by a hard right hook from Clay, sending him to a heap on the ground with a mouthful of blood. "You talk about him again like he's still a fucking lab experiment, I will end you in the most painful way your genius brain can imagine." After the man's frightened nod the Colonel gives him a disgusted look and turns to Pooch. "Put him back with the other one… and take your time if you want."
Pooch smirks. "I might just do that."
As Pooch hauls the man away Jensen calls out, "Colonel?" in a soft, wavering breath, keeping his face hidden. Clay limps over to him slowly and awkwardly squats down in front of him, being careful not to touch him.
"Right here," he alerts his Corporal.
Jake's voice breaks as he practically whispers out his next words. "…I don't think I want to do this anymore..."
The Colonel clenches his jaw and takes in a steadying breath. "The orders were for twenty-four hours, soldier," he reminds Jensen in a quiet, but strict tone.
Jake whines out a begging, "Nooo, please..."
Clay's voice softens further in response. "Just get through the rest of your day, and I promise you it'll be over… one way or another."
Red-rimmed blue eyes peer up at him from behind tucked knees. "Promise?"
The tone is so full of hope that Clay has to swallow back the burning bile threatening to come up. "Yeah, kid, I promise," he chokes out, then stands and walks away before he's forced to see the look of sheer relief on Jake's face. He leans heavily against the wall between Cougar and Aisha.
"You keep your promises?" she asks quietly.
Cougar answers for him with a grim tone. "Always."
~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~L~
Pooch returns a short time later, earning him a questioning look from Aisha. "Get bored with your toys already?" she asks.
He turns to where Jensen is still sitting in the corner, half dozing and staring off into space. "Clock's ticking, I wanted to be here… How is he?"
She shrugs and lowers her volume, sneaking a quick look at Clay who's sitting in the opposite corner busying himself with dismantling and reassembling the hand guns. "He's pretty fucking sure this'll end with Clay pulling the trigger, and he's pretty fucking happy about it."
"Shit," Pooch whispers, and heads over to the Colonel. "You don't have to do it, you know."
Clay roughly shoves the clip back into the gun he's working on. "I gave him my word."
"Look at him, Clay. He probably won't even remember you talked to him."
The Colonel lets the gun droop in his hand as he turns sad eyes on the youngest member of his unit. "That's the problem. He doesn't want to stay like that… He remembers his episodes, Pooch, remembers losing control. I think that hurts him more than the physical pain."
"I know, but that doesn't mean we have to stick to the one day plan, here. It's almost morning; we can get him in the car, take him to a hospital or something-"
They look up as they hear the door swing open and Aisha's sudden, "Shit!" as she goes dashing outside.
Cougar moves to follow but stops in the doorway, clutching at his injured side. He peers out into the fading darkness as Clay and Pooch rush up beside him. "Jensen," he mutters, "he's gone."