Tandem
Chapter 6
Early in the morning, sun barely peering over the horizon, Dr. Emil Skoda preparing for the rigors of the day; going over his notes on Jack McCoy. It was going to be a busy day.
An unpleasant one for Jack McCoy…
There came a knock on his office door.
Who's here at this time of the morning?
"Come in," Skoda closed his notebook. He was surprised to see Detective John Munch enter the office, folder in his hands.
"What brings you here?" he asked the Detective.
"Blame the rumor mill," Munch shifted the folder from hand to hand. "Word got out about your…afternoon appointment."
Skoda went cold.
"There are privacy issues here," he warned Munch.
"And you have no idea what you're getting into," Munch shot back. "Your patient has been abducted. Multiple times, in fact."
"Munch…" torn between kicking Munch out on his ass, and inviting him in. "You know I can't talk about this."
Munch held out the folder.
"If you're going to regress Jack McCoy, you need to read this first."
"What is it?" Skoda accepted the folder.
"Just read it," Munch sat. "This is important. I can wait."
Skoda looked through the folder's files.
"Who compiled this?"
"I did, Dr. Skoda, over the last year, or so. I did some deep research on EADA McCoy's entire life, starting from his birth in Chicago in Nineteen forty, all the way up to now. School records, medical records, everything I could find on the man…"
Skoda was stunned.
"Why?"
And John Munch sighed, sadness in the sound.
"The abductions begin on November the Twenty-third of Nineteen Seventy-three, and seem to continue, on and off, right up to the last time he was abducted, earlier this year. The date, November the twenty-third, of Seventy-three…that's the date you'll want to ask McCoy about when you regress him."
Skoda read the file.
"MUFON?" he looked over at Munch. "Little Green men, Munch?"
"Not necessarily," Munch said. "There have been clear indications of quasi-governmental agencies, black ops and such, with histories of taking civilians right off the streets, and doing…tests…experiments…on them."
"I refuse to believe that, Detective," Skoda moved to hand the folder back. Munch stopped him.
"That last abduction was real," he said. "X-rays showed that…someone…drilled holes into Jack McCoy's skull. Your beliefs-and mine too-don't matter. Someone drilled holes into Jack McCoy's skull, into his brain. Whether aliens did it, or just plain old-fashioned human villains, is irrelevant. Someone did this to him, and he almost died. That's what's relevant."
Skoda sighed.
That was true, Jack McCoy had almost died. That last abduction was real, those tiny, almost invisible scars on McCoy's forehead were real, and his breakdown…
All of that was real.
"Shit…" Skoda muttered.
He made a decision.
"John," he turned to Munch. "Had breakfast yet?"
"No," Munch cocked his head. "Why?"
"I need food," Skoda reached for his wallet, drew out some cash. "Order for me too, then come back and help me make sense of this…"
Whatever it took, Emil Skoda was going to find a way to save Jack McCoy…
Bellevue Psychiatric Unit
Adam Schiff was waiting patiently in the Observation Room, just outside the Treatment Room. The setup was almost exactly the same as the 27th's Interrogation Chamber, the large one-way Mirror enabling those in the Observation Room to see, and hear, what was going on in the Treatment Room.
The differences lay in the furnishings…
There was a fully equipped hospital bed, complete with IV stand, heart monitor, oxygen tank…and crash cart.
Adam shivered when he saw that.
The Waiting Room door opened, and four men entered; Dr. Emil Skoda, a MHTA, John Munch, and Jack McCoy…
Another time, Schiff may have questioned Munch's right to be there. But right now, he only had eyes for Jack McCoy…
Hugging himself, shoulders tense, as if expecting a terrible blow, his eyes frightened…
Schiff wanted to take Jack into his arms and hold him tightly.
"Jack…" he murmured.
McCoy's head turned at the sound of Schiff's voice, and a haunted smile graced his features.
"Adam…"
"How are you, my boy?"
One of Jack McCoy's trademark mirthless chuckles…
"I've been better…"
"It's time, Jack," Skoda said, and Adam saw Jack flinch, swallowing convulsively.
He's losing his courage…
Adam walked up, drew Jack into his arms.
"I'm here, Jack. Get this done. Get some peace."
McCoy nodded shakily.
"Yeah…" he spoke hoarsely. "I'm ready."
He followed Skoda and the MHTA into the Treatment Room; and the door closed behind them. Now, Schiff turned to John Munch.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.
"I'm helping Skoda," he sighed. "I have…special knowledge on Jack McCoy's situation."
"Knowledge?"
"I've been investigating McCoy's abduction," Munch admitted. "The people who did this need to be brought to justice, wouldn't you agree?"
Appalled, Adam Schiff turned his attention back to what was going on in the Treatment Room, watching Emil Skoda prepare Jack McCoy.
Regressive hypnosis…
No wonder Jack's frightened…
Jack McCoy lying down on that hospital bed, drugs, via IV, slowly entering his blood. McCoy was staring up at the ceiling, eyes frightened.
"I hate this…" he muttered.
Eventually, the drugs started to have an effect, McCoy's body relaxing as his eyes slid shut…
Skoda sat there, by Jack McCoy's side.
"How are you feeling, Jack?"
"Hmm…" McCoy's voice was slightly slurred. "Yeah…I feel…kinda nice…"
"Good…" Skoda spoke soothingly. "It's time to start…"
Adam Schiff watched as Emil Skoda put Jack McCoy under…
"You're in a warm, comfortable place," the psychiatrist told McCoy. "This is your safe place, and nothing can hurt you here. You like it, Jack?"
"Yeah…s'nice…" McCoy sighed deeply. "Really nice…"
"Good," Skoda bent over the seemingly sleeping man. At first, he started with safe dates, ones that were happy memories for Jack McCoy; and Schiff understood why.
Establishing a baseline…
Schiff had to smile at some of those memories. From the first, Jack McCoy had been dedicated, fearless, and principled.
The young Jack McCoy had also been a bit of a rascal…
Skoda was smiling too.
"All right, Jack," he said. "It's November twenty-third, Nineteen Seventy-three. What are you doing?"
"Here it comes…" Schiff had forgotten about Detective John Munch.
"Detective?"
"Just…watch…Counselor," Munch glanced at him. "Bear witness."
Bear witness?
Fear crawled up Schiff's spine; and Jack McCoy…
Jack McCoy laughed softly, delight in his voice.
"George…"
"George?" Skoda repeated the name.
"My boss, George Atkinson," McCoy was smiling sleepily. "I just got promoted! I'm going to be Second Chair to Adam Schiff! George gave me a week at his vacation cabin. He called it a Promotion Present. I'm really looking forward to working with Adam Schiff."
Schiff closed his eyes.
He sounds so…young…
"Where is George Atkinson's cabin?"
McCoy's hand fluttered vaguely.
"It's near that abandoned airbase…El Rico…"
"El Rico…" Munch sighed, real sadness in his voice, and Schiff caught his arm.
"El Rico?"
"Just…watch…" Munch kept his eyes on the developing scene. Frustrated, Schiff did the same.
"What are you doing now, Jack?"
"On my bike," McCoy sighed rapturously. "Miles of unused road here, and it's all mine."
"Okay," Skoda looked down, at the folder in his hands. "Same day, nine o'clock in the evening. What-"
Jack McCoy gasped, body stiffening.
"What's wrong, Jack?"
"Too bright!" panic in McCoy's voice. "I can't see!"
Breathing suddenly gone ragged, McCoy's head turned from side to side, like a caged animal seeking escape.
"Where am I? Who are these people? Oh…god…this isn't happening!"
Real terror in Jack McCoy's voice now.
"Jack-"
"It can't be happening! It can't! Oh god…they…they're…real!"
His body jolted, as if electrocuted, and he suddenly screamed in pure terror.
"Stay away!" he leaped off the hospital bed, tearing out the IV needle in the process.
"Don't touch me!"
In blind terror, McCoy hurled the hospital bed right at the Observation Window, and Adam Schiff stood there, paralyzed by horror. Abruptly, something shoved him to the right, Detective John Munch's body pressing him to the wall as the Observation Window shattered into a million pieces.
The bed sailed right through, bouncing off the wall, and Jack McCoy flew through the window too…
Detective John Munch spun around to tackle him from behind, arms wrapping around his chest, pinning his arms down.
Jack McCoy fought like a wild animal…
"Hold him!" Skoda was coming through the broken window now, nose bloodied.
Somehow, Munch managed to hold on to McCoy. Skoda grabbed McCoy's head in both hands, bent close, their heads almost touching.
"Jack, when I count to three, you'll be back in your safe place. One…two…three!"
Jack McCoy collapsed on three, legs skidding out from under him. Munch eased him down, arms still tight across his chest.
Schiff stared at the sight.
Jack…What did they do to you?
Jack McCoy's body sagged in Munch's arms, head bowed, breath coming in sobbing gasps. Ignoring his own bloody nose, Skoda lifted McCoy's head, thumbed the eyelids open. After that, fingers to the base of McCoy's throat, counting out the beats of his heart.
"Wake up, Jack," he sighed.
McCoy's eyes fluttered open. He looked dazed.
"What…Where…"
He seemed to notice Munch's arms now, still wrapped around him.
"You good now, Counselor?" Munch asked.
McCoy nodded, still looking dazed, still breathing hard. Schiff knelt by him.
"What happened?" McCoy asked him, and all Schiff could do was sigh...
Dear Lord, they kidnapped him…
They tortured him…