Everyone was looking at me and I shifted in the bed trying to get comfortable, Steve was glaring at me since he knew something had been up for the last few days with the headaches and late nights in the office at sometimes as JSOC.
"He wanted information on a microfiche from twenty odd years ago, something your mom was working on before she disappeared; he knows it has something to do with the Yakuza and relates to his father who your mother was close too during the time. He kept asking the same question over and over again – next thing I knew I was dumped out the truck and wandering through the fields."
"What was the question he was asking you?" Joe demanded.
"Where is she and where is the film?" I replied.
"He tortured you over the film, what did you tell him?" Joe demanded.
I looked up at him and my temper rose at the accusation that I would tell him anything; I was a tactical operative who was trained to endure torture and it sure as hell wasn't the first time I had undergone it either! I glared at him and the others got their first real introduction to my alter ego by the expression across my face and the death stare I was giving Joe.
"How dare you imply that son of bitch made me talk, do you really think just because I am female I would talk to get him to stop hurting me?" I yelled.
"Calm down Sadie, you need to keep calm to heal!" Danny called gently.
I had gotten off the bed and was standing on the opposite side to where Steve was, the others were frozen into place as the three SEALS in the room all went into 'OP mode'. Danny got Chin and Kono out of the room and they headed outside the room to keep everyone else out of the area – by force if necessary!
"Sadie – you were gone for over twelve hours and he used the same techniques on me in North Korea – I know how much it hurts and if you slipped then it's alright – you don't know anything about the fiche – Doris never told you anything when you met her!" Steve called.
"Oh so now you think I talked, thanks for the support McGarrett – You for one I knew would have my back, knew that I would protect this family with my last breath which I was prepared to do!" I hissed.
I started to pull of the wires and IV cannulas out of my hands and shuffled to the bag lying on the chair, both of the men tried to stop me but I hissed at them and they backed off – they both well knew to leave me be when my temper was up.
"Sadie you have just litterly been tortured by a psychotic son of a bitch and you need to be in hospital to be checked over, I didn't complain when I was brought back home by Joe and the team and that is saying something! You know the human body can only handle so much before your natural instincts kick in for self-preservation – we don't blame you if you said something to make it stop!" he said.
"I DIDN'T SAY A DAMN THING, WHEN WILL YOU BOTH GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEADS – I AM TRAINED TO ENDURE, ESCAPE OR DIE!" I yelled at them both.
I was slipping on my clothes and shoved my boots on; my hair was braided so it would do and I grabbed some gauze for my hand and headed towards the door, both men blocked me and I pushed past them. The doctor spotted me leaving the room and was shouting down the corridor for me to stop and the other members of the team where hot on my trail as I moved through the crowd quickly; I heard them call on me and I slammed the door shut as I walked out of the main fire exit. I looked about the place and found the best way to get onto the main street level and make my way to the bus station without any of them seeing me – my luck held and I was offered a lift from an off duty police officer who spotted me.
An hour later I was on a bus heading towards Diamondhead and I was getting looks from the driver as I sat hunched over as we went across some of the rougher patches in the road. I hadn't taken my painkillers through the IV yet before the argument and I was really wishing I had hit the damn button a couple of times before ripping it out of my hand. I pulled in a deep breath and stared right through the window as we neared our destination in the central area; thank god for that as I needed to find a bathroom quickly!
Ten minutes later I jumped off the bus and started to head up the steep hill that led to a remote villa that was owned by a wealthy farmer on the island, he had a habit of being off the island for 6 months at a time and I knew he rented it out occasionally to those he did business with – which business that was is still unknown. It took me twenty minutes to climb the hill at pace and another ten to walk the mile long driveway that secluded the villa from prying eyes; I finally came to the main door and leaned against the wall with a massive headache and wobbly knees. I chapped the door hard and waited.
The door opened, the woman who had opened it just stared at me and I stared back, my face showed every bit of loathing I was feeling for her at that moment.
"Sarah – what the hell, how did you find me?" she demanded.
She grabbed my arm and helped me into the house; I shut the door behind us as she led me to the chair and got me to sit down as she looked me over and grabbed the first aid kit. I waved her off and she handed me a bottle of water instead and sat opposite me.
"How the hell did you find me, not even WITSEC know where I am?"
"I have had one hell of a shitty day because of you Doris and I am well past caring for the polite bullshit that leaks from your mouth every time you speak, so you will do yourself a favour and start speaking the truth before I become creative and make you wish you had been blown up in that car!" I hissed at her.
She actually recoiled at the venom coming out of my voice as I stood up and started to pace the room in front of her, she tried the innocent look and I glared at her.
"I think you need to calm down and let me look at your wounds, you must be pretty dehydrated climbing that hill on such a hot day? Come sit back down beside me and I can get you some painkillers!" she said all motherly.
"DON'T START WITH THE MOTHERLY BULLSHIT DORIS – WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STILL DOING ON THE ISLAND WHEN WITSEC MADE ARRANGMENTS FOR YOU?" I yelled.
"Mind your language Sarah!" she shouted back ignoring me.
"You have no right to order me about Doris, you've burned Steve again by staying here and put him in direct danger by playing this twisted game of yours – you need to come clean about your motives before I take matters into my own hands!"
I stood in front of her and looked her straight in the eyes, she was cool as ice and didn't look away; she actually tried to hold me and I backed off immediately as she took a step forward.
"What happened to you Sarah?" she asked again.
"I had a little visit from a mutual friend, someone I believe you know rather well – he asked me questions about you and something you have – something he wants?"
"You are speaking in riddles now Sarah, let me call you a cab for the hospital!"
"I DO NOT NEED TO GO BACK TO THE HOSPITAL – I NEED TO KNOW WHERE THE MICROFICHE IS – WHAT DOES IT CONTAIN?" I yelled loudly.
She snapped her head up at that and I knew she understood what I was talking about, she glared at me and I shuffled closer to her, ready to pounce on her if needed. I could read in her expression that she understood what I was talking about and her skin went pale.
"Yeah, I was introduced to WoFat last night who held me chained in a room for over twelve hours as he water boarded me for information, as he electrocuted me with a fucking cattle prod to give him the information on where you where! He never gave up asking the same question, he never stopped torturing me and I kept my mouth shut for you – SO YOU WILL GIVE ME THE FUCKING ANSWERS I NEED OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL PUT A BULLET IN YOU!" I screamed at her aiming my weapon.
The front door smashed open and Steve, Danno and Joe came charging in armed to the teeth; Joe tried to disarm me and we ended up battling with our arms and fists as he tried to get me to drop the weapon – only reason he managed it was by poking me on a burn mark that was right over my nerves in my side – my arm went numb and I was pinned to the wall.
"Let me go you bastard!" I hissed through my teeth.
Danny looked at Joe and I, I was locked into a hold that I couldn't break and Doris was looking on in shock as her son walked towards her; Steve looked at her once and then turned to the rest of us.
"Danno get Doris out of here, get her back to HQ with Joe," Steve hissed.
I was staring at Joe who was using his whole body weight to pin me to the wall since I was still fighting him, he mistook how strong I actually was and the added venom I had in my system due to the recent event was a massive surge of energy he was having a little trouble controlling. Steve came over to me once Danny had led Doris away and swapped places with Joe who was nursing a bloody nose and swollen eye; his hands were on either side of my head and he stared at me, whispering at me to breathe and calm myself down. Danny had the courtesy to close the door behind him so we were alone in the house; Steve looked straight into my eyes and held me tight against the wall, his body pinning mine snugly.
"Calm your temper down, breathe through the pain and centre yourself – I need Sadie back, not the operative – where is the woman I love?" he whispered.
I looked up at him a few moments later and he stroked the side of my head, right over the massive bruise on my temple; he leaned in to kiss my head and I closed my eyes.
"I want her to know how much hurt she has caused you, I want her to feel what she led WoFat do to me!" I hissed through my clenched teeth.
"I know, but you are above revenge and this is the anger coming out – you need to learn to control it – focus it away from yourself and into something less lethal!" he replied.
I had started to shake and shiver, he held on to me and watched as I slowly came out the operator persona we all took on during stressful situations, I looked up at him and I saw the worry in his eyes and I knew he wanted the same as I did.
"I want him dead, I want him to feel this pain I am in and for him to die with that memory!"
"You're not alone Sadie – I thought you were lost to me!" he whispered.
Steve continued to stare into my eyes and he pulled me into his arms, his strong stance gave me the shelter to calm my breathing down and get back into my normal self-control and out of the mind-set we were trained in – he definitely needed me less lethal right now. A few minutes later he looked back down at me and I was back in control, he knew I was hurting and wasn't fully aware of what I had been through – he needed to find out so he could support me as Joe had supported him through his recovery cycle.
"I need to know what he did to you last night, I need to know everything so I can help you deal with it and this isn't the place or time for you to tell me. Do you want to go back home or come back to the office where Max is waiting on you with some painkillers and strong words about leaving AMA – think you pissed him off?" he whispered.
"I'm going to the office, but only so I can question your mother and then kick the living crap out of her!" I replied.
"How the hell did you figure she was still on the island, Danno and I never told anyone about our suspicions and we sure as hell couldn't find her?" he replied ignoring my outburst.
"I hacked into WITSEC via JSOC, there was a rumour going about that a high ranking member of the Yakuza was due to fly in dark a couple of days ago – guess I was right, just didn't figure it would be WoFat," I replied.
"Why the hell would you hack into WITSEC in the first place?" he asked.
"I overheard you and Danny talk in the office one day about a lead on a woman's location, Danno said that she was still on the Island and then by the amount of digging you were doing, I guessed it had something to do with your mom. I looked into JSOC and did some mining of my own through back channels; I found a lot of information about a CIA Op twenty odd years ago that was suddenly blanketed – on the day of your mum's accident. I figured it out, she was still on the island, probably somewhere remote but with good links to the SAT network and with defensive locations – so I came here," I replied.
"How did you know this was a safe house, only SEAL teams are aware…" he stopped.
He let me go and ran his hands through his hair as his brain caught up with all the evidence I had laid out before him, he squeezed his eyes shut and I slid to the floor exhausted. He had figured out there was a potential leak in the NI unit at Pearl – a leak that reported to WoFat.
"Who else was in the room with you – you don't have to tell me details yet if you don't want too but I need to know if there was anyone else?" he whispered kneeling beside me.
"There was another two men, not Yakuza but they were military trained and my guess had a connection with militia or possible Op training, they disappeared after WoFat gave them an order and I never saw them again," I replied.
I looked up at him and he immediately sat down beside me and pulled me between his legs so I was leaning against him, I was shaking from the pain and I was tired of all this covert bullshit due to Doris; he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight as possible.
"The call I got last night was from my contact, he had information for me and would only see me alone so I faked the HPD call; sorry to lie to you but you know how contacts can be? He arrived with the information at the back of 2am and he gave me the address for here and information on the occupants and a visitor that had never been there before, I assumed it was Doris due to the description and I was planning to go see her just after dawn and drag her back to the house to get answers." I started to explain.
"I looked back through the CCTV footage, they were switched off for twenty five seconds and I'm taking it that's when the contact arrived and gave the information?"
I nodded and snuggled back into his chest; he took a deep breath and urged me on.
"After I did some chores and caught Danno up on his paperwork I went to get a drink of water, I came back to the touch top to check for results on a search I was doing and I heard the doors opening; I turned around and saw it was WoFat and Yakuza – I tried to go for the emergency alarm to contact you all – he threatened to kill Gracie so I backed off."
"He knew about Gracie – he was watching the hospital?" Steve said shocked.
"I think he has been watching all of us for months, it was his warehouse we raided four months ago and it was his people who tried to kill Chin and Kono. Anyway if you watched the CCTV then you saw what happened next and I was thrown into the boot of a SUV and taken to wherever I was taken." I replied.
"You don't need to tell me anymore, it took me days to talk about my experiences," he whispered.
"If I don't talk about it now then I'm no use to anyone – it wasn't my first experience of torture Steve – you know that!" I replied.
"At least this time I am here for you, the fact your willing to talk about this time so quickly…." He started.
"Steve, he interrogated me by water boarding me and then using a cattle prod!" I whispered.
His hands froze their actions across my arms, I could feel the tense muscles he had across his chest and his arms flexed around me, I leaned back and looked up to him; he looked down at me and his eyes were bright sea green – he was seriously pissed.
"How long for, how long did you manage to hold out?" he whispered.
"All night, I knew he continued to torture me even as I was passed out, his enforcers woke me up with more water before the questions began again; I held on because I knew I had something to live for, something to fight for this time around. I used every trick I had learned to keep the pain away – you know I aced the psych part of my training – that's why I succeeded in the programme." I said as my voice broke.