A/N: Warning: This chapter contains scenes of torture as well as some violent battle scenes.
In an almost complete reversal of that, Merry Christmas!
Chapter 8: Heero's Inferno
"Snake. Everyone. Come in."
"What is it, Lady Une?" Snake responded. "Do we have the files of Arsenal's AI?"
"Otacon was able to work for a while, but had to terminate the connection for fear of being traced. Let's just hope that what we have is enough."
"So what is this about then?"
"Snake, we have not heard from Heero for a good twenty minutes. We fear he may have been captured."
"What?!" Duo let out in a tone of disbelief. The great Heero Yuy, Perfect Soldier, caught?
Snake grunted. "I suppose we'll have to find him, and fast, before he reveals anything about us. But I do think that kid can resist torture well."
"And why is that, Snake?" Otacon asked over the Codec.
"I can just see it in him. C'mon, let's get a move-on. We'll remain split. Start searching."
Everyone agreed and began their search, remaining in the separate groups they had split into.
Heero awoke to the feeling of ice-cold water being poured over his head. He saw that he had been stripped of his clothing. He was immediately greeted with a punch in the face. The attacker had been wearing brass knuckles. The room was lit only barely and he was bound to a metal chair. Heero knew in the back of his mind that none of this was legal, but legalities counted for nothing in war. That type of thinking was for Relena, not him.
"Who are you and why did you come here?"
Heero looked up. The man who had knocked him out was standing at ease, with his back turned. No doubt this was the bases' commandant. Heero said nothing. He was given a rifle butt to his bare right ribcage by one of the soldiers in the room in response to his not responding. Heero tried his best to keep the pain from escaping his mouth.
"I won't ask you this again." The commandant said as he walked over. He had short auburn hair and shockingly cold green eyes that would burn through a lesser individual. "Who are you and why did you come here?"
Heero spat in his face. The commandant angrily withdrew his pistol and lined it in inbetween Heero's eyes. Heero knew that he wouldn't shoot, he needed information from him, but that couldn't stop the all too human reaction for Heero to close his eyes as the trigger was pulled. The gun clicked harmlessly.
"You're lucky I don't keep this one loaded." The bases' commandant smirked as he lightly slapped Heero across the face.
"Why? Is it because you're afraid to carry a gun? You hit like a girl, so I don't see anything surprising about that." Heero muttered with a painful grunt.
The commandant slammed his fist into Heero's stomach as hard as he could. Heero's eyes constricted in pain, but he was determined not to shout.
"A cheeky one are you? We'll just see how tough you are then. Corporal."
"Yes sir?" One of the men in the room asked with a salute.
"Get the cattle prod."
Duo, Wufei, and Trowa wandered through the base, trying to get into places they hadn't before, following Otacon's instructions on their Codecs. Trowa walked slowly up a staircase, followed by Duo with Wufei covering the rear.
"Otacon, does this lead to where they're holding Heero?" Duo asked.
"I don't know. All I know is none of us have been in this area. Watch for guards."
"I'll keep that in mind."
At the top of the stairs, the three ex-Gundam pilots noticed that they were in a long hallway. After avoiding the cameras by keeping close to the wall, they came across another flight of stairs, albeit a much shorter flight this time. After reaching the next level, Otacon called them.
"Guys, you're at the very top of this base. I think this is some sort of surveillance center, there's also a control tower for aircraft."
"And is there any significance to this place?" Wufei responded with a question as the three of them entered the next room to their right.
"I suppose you ought to take a look around, but I doubt Heero is being held here."
Wufei just grunted as the call ended. Duo motioned Trowa and Wufei toward this window. The other two followed slowly.
"This place overlooks where we first snuck in. So we must be directly above where we started." Duo said to no one in particular, trying to make a mental map of the base to try and find where they'd take Heero.
"Well I think it would be a good idea to get away from the window, Maxwell." Wufei snorted. "Although seeing you cut down by sniper fire would be somewhat pleasant."
"Well gee." Duo said somewhat sarcastically. "You're a wonderful friend."
"Who said anything about being your friend." Wufei began walking with a slight smirk.
"Sheesh." Duo followed him.
Trowa said nothing and followed behind.
The door to the room opened and a guard walked through. Startled, he fired a few rounds causing the three men to duck. He quickly scurried out of the room, the three former Gundam pilots hearing a muffled "intruders spotted, requesting backup unit."
The alarm went off, the Codec showing "ALERT" in red.
Trowa went out of the room, knocked the guard down and threw him against the wall.
"We better hide." Trowa said casually.
The other two nodded and followed him down the hall. Scurrying about, they found a locker room. The three of them got into their lockers and shut their doors, hearts pounding as the assault team entered the room.
Heero groaned in pain as the cattle prod was pushed once again to the sensitive skin directly under his chin. He had given up trying to be stoic, his body was not agreeing with it. Still, he would not give in under torture, would not reveal his mission.
The bases' commandant pistol-whipped him again to the same part of his head that he had previously hit. Heero fell unconscious again, for a second. The ice-water routine was repeated for the second time, pouring some of it over his unclothed penis for good measure. The commandant punched him in the stomach as another rifle butt smashed into his ribcage.
"Who are you? Why did you come here?" The commandant asked calmly, as if nothing at all was happening.
Heero answered only with a grunt. With a slight glance and nod from the commandant, the cattle prod shocked and singed the skin it touched-the part over his ribcage that the latest rifle butt had just abused. Heero yelled out in pain. Blood trickled down from his temple, an after-affect of the last pistol-whip. To aggravate the wound further, a guard in the room punched Heero in the same spot with the brass knuckles, opening the gash up much more.
"Not so cheeky now is he?" The guard who had just punched Heero with the brass knuckles asked.
The commandant's only reply was a sly smirk.
"I think we've been here already..." Zechs trailed as he checked his Codec's Soliton radar.
"We have." Snake confirmed. "And Trowa, Duo, and Wufei had no luck on the upper floors."
"Luckily they managed to evade the guards." Zechs stated. "We need to find Heero before they kill him...for my sister's sake at the very least." He added, trying not to sound concerned.
"Wait." Snake answered. "There must be some sort of hidden basement around this base. We've scoured every area. "Otacon, do you see any structural irregularities anywhere, anything that might lead to a passage of some sort?"
"I'll check around. In the meantime, keep a low profile. I suggest staying right there and finding a place to hide for a while is the best option."
"Roger that. Hurry." The call ended. "Zechs, you know the drill."
Zechs nodded in affirmation.
Seeing that their radars cleared, and that the increased security had left the area, Trowa, Duo, and Wufei left their lockers cautiously. There was only one guard that appeared on the Soliton radar, the same one that had spotted them earlier.
"Tranquilize him." Trowa whispered to Duo, giving him the M9 that he carried. Duo nodded, and moved to the door, which slid open automatically. When Trowa and Wufei heard the sound of a body hitting the floor, they followed Duo outside. Duo looked back with a smile and nod and returned the M9 to Trowa. The three of them made their way down the stairs.
Snake peered around the corner and signaled for Zechs to halt. Sneaking up behind an enemy sentry, Snake put him in a rear naked choke and knocked him out, then motioned for Zechs to follow. Zechs suddenly had flashbacks going off in his mind...this was so similar to what had happened all those years ago during the invasion of the Sanc Kingdom-Snake choking enemies out and him following silently behind. Suddenly, the Codec rang, interrupting his train of thought.
"Snake, Zechs." Otacon signaled.
"Otacon, what is it?"
"You were right, Snake. There's a passageway that leads down to a lower level, and it can't be reached by elevator."
"Where is it?"
"It's around the bases' main control room, where Heero was captured, but you guys will have to be careful around there. I'm gonna call Duo, Trowa, and Wufei to get over there to support you."
"Understood." Snake replied as the Codec hung up.
Snake and Zechs made their way toward the control room. In 10 minutes, they were outside the wide doors that led toward it, hiding in the shadows that the walls made.
"Zechs, get out your PSG-T. We can't throw a flashbang. Any disturbance here, and they might kill Heero." Snake ordered over the Codec.
"From here? Is there a better place to snipe?"
"I don't think so. Just do it. I'll cover you with my M9. Ready?"
Zechs sighed. "Let's get this over with."
Snake peered around the corner as Zechs slowly snuck his way into a dark location further back in the room. Snake took a careful aim at the first soldier he saw and fired a dart into his head. He fell down after a startled yelp.
"Huh?" A startled nearby soldier looked down at his sleeping comrade, only to be hit with a dart from Zechs.
Snake hit another straying soldier with a dart, followed by Zechs sniping two more.
"What the hell is going on?" Another soldier yelled, getting ready to radio for backup.
"Zechs, rush them! Now!" Snake ordered over the Codec.
Snake and Zechs fired a last dart from their respective weapons, once again startling nearby sentries. Snake leapt out and started punching, kicking, and throwing his opponents with Zechs finishing them off. Snake grabbed an attacking soldier's arm, dragged him to the floor, and whipped him over the back of the head with the M9, causing him to go out cold. Zechs shot another far-off attacker with a dart in the head, and spun around, throwing his rifle at another. The slight distraction allowed Zechs to take down his opponent and put him in a guillotine choke. Snake knocked the last one out with two punches and a jumping-spinning kick to the head.
"There's a hidden passageway on the left side of this room. I don't know how it's activated, so try anything." Otacon said over the Codec.
Snake and Zechs immediately began looking around. Remembering Shadow Moses, Snake instinctively leaned himself against the wall and began tapping it, listening to the sound made by his fist. In a couple of minutes, a different, hollower sound was heard.
"Zechs, come here."
Zechs came over and looked at Snake with a questioning glance.
"Hear this?" Snake asked as he tapped against the wall rapidly.
"Yeah. It sounds hollow. That must be the secret passage Otacon was talking about. But how do we get inside?"
"Well...there's always C4, but then Heero's dead." Snake thought out loud.
After Zechs thought for a second that that wouldn't be so bad, he slowly nodded.
"Doesn't look like there's any keycard...or a code to input anywhere." Snake continued to think. "Which means..." Snake trailed. "Zechs, start pushing places on the wall."
"What?" He asked in a skeptical tone.
"Just do it!"
Zechs and Snake began to push spots on the wall, after a few minutes, Zechs pushed a spot that caused a small part of the wall to recede, revealing a shoddily lit stairway.
"You'd think this was some sort of ancient castle rather than a military base." Zechs said with a hint of amusement.
"Look who's talking, Prince of the Sanc Kindgom." Snake smirked.
"Fallen Prince." Zechs corrected as they made their way down the long stairway.
Heero tried his best to muffle the scream of the cattle prod on his skin. What started as a second or two had progressed into a 30-second hold of the prod onto his skin, starting with his shoulders, and as the torture progressed, going to more sensitive areas of his body, finally now settling on his naked groin. His veins coursed with flame from the Sodium thiopental-a truth serum.
"So, still not compliant are you?" The commandant asked with a hint of amusement.
Heero laughed. The Sodium thiopental had made him somewhat chattier. "Go fuck yourself."
"Is such a thing possible?" The commandant could not hide the smirk.
"I suppose if you have a big enough penis." Heero then burst into hysterical laughter.
The commandant laughed mockingly and then ordered the cattle prod to be jammed into Heero's scrotum. His eyes burst out in pain.
"Who are you? Why did you come here?"
"You want to know?" Heero asked, looking up into his eyes with a comedic tone. "To tell you that you'd never have a big enough penis to fuck yourself!" Heero laughed hysterically again.
"Four more CCs!" He ordered.
In a minute, Heero felt the injection flooding the veins in his arm, and then spreading through his body like wildfire. The wildfire was accompanied by another rifle butt, aggravating it even more, then the sensation of the cattle prod on his scrotum again.
"Relena..." He whispered, the first hint of distress other than physical pain he had given.
"Relena." The commandant said to himself, to understand better. "Relena...Darlian? Queen Relena?" He asked in a mocking tone.
"Look at this boys! We got ourselves another pathetic romantic in love with Miss Relena!" The sergeant in the room shouted in a mocking tone. "I really think you shouldn't have given him those four more CCs, sir."
"Why not? I mean c'mon." A private protested. "I mean who in this room hasn't whacked off at the thought of her at least once?"
The room burst into laughter, including a light chuckle from the commandant.
At this Heero growled. These bastards were insulting, degrading and mocking the person who had given him a will to live...his angel his...lov-somehow he still couldn't quite make out the word, even under the influence of the Sodium thiopental. But he knew he was getting angry. He snarled and attempted to escape from the chair, it was no use and he was met with yet another rifle butt to the ribcage amidst laughter.
Snake and Zechs continued to make their way down the long, narrow, and dimly lit corridor. There were a few sentries, and they easily concealed themselves in the darkness of the place. The sentries were quickly tranquilized or killed with silenced .45 pistols.
Eventually the two of them came across what the passage was hiding-the interrogation chambers.
"Heero's gotta be in one of these." Snake said over the Codec.
They didn't need to search; the loud scream followed by laughter gave the location away. Snake and Zechs aligned themselves on either end of the door.
"Ok, blast his knee cap." The commandant ordered.
Snake and Zechs both nodded toward the other. Readying his M4, Snake kicked the thin metal door down. He could see a soldier getting ready to shoot Heero from behind his knee cap-effectively crippling him for life. Less than a second later, his head burst into a fountain of blood and he collapsed-a well-aimed pistol shot from Zechs had done the job.
The commandant's eyes widened. "It's...you! Solid Sna-"
Snake burst into fire with his M4 on full auto, killing the rest of the soldiers in the room, including the commandant. The room pooled in blood-ironically none of it was Heero's.
"Damn!" Snake yelled as he ran toward Heero. Quickly freeing him from his chair, Snake took a first look at the extent of his injuries. His ribcage was badly bruised-a sickly purplish color. "Heero. Look up at me."
Heero looked. "Sn.."
Snake could see that Heero's eyes were glazed.
"Can you hear me?"
All Heero did was nod.
"Can you walk?"
"I...I...I...think so." He stammered.
"Stay there for a second." He said as he walked toward Zechs.
"What's up?" Zechs asked in a somber tone that surprised him.
"He's been beaten up pretty bad, and he's been shocked from that cattle prod. He's also had a dose of some sort of truth serum."
"Shit." Was all Zechs could say.
"I...I...didn't tell them anything. I swear!" Heero said in a sloppy tone as he stumbled toward them.
Snake managed a weak smile. "Otacon, Lady Une. We've found Heero. He has been tortured, repeat, he has been tortured. He needs medical attention."
"Snake, get out of there, now." Lady Une told him sternly.
"Of course. Duo, Trowa, Wufei, can you read?"
"Loud and clear. What's up?" Duo asked.
"Get down by the control room ASAP. We may need backup."
"Roger that, we're on our way." Trowa affirmed.
"Let's go. Heero, follow us at a distance."
All Heero did was nod weakly.
Snake and Zechs ran outside as the bases' alarm went off. They were greeted with a hail of gunfire down the corridor as the alarm went off and the word ALERT in red appeared on the Codec.
"Heero, stay back!" Snake ordered as he and Zechs took cover.
Zechs fired his .45 until the magazine was empty, killing three enemies down the hall. Snake then peered around the corner and fired a hail of M4 rounds down the hall, killing any enemy in their path.
"C'mon!" Snake yelled as he took off down the hall, followed by Zechs on his heels and Heero stumbling far behind them, feet pounding through the blood on the floor.
More bullets whizzed by and they took cover again. Snake peered around the corner as he unloaded an entire clip of his M4. Zechs threw a grenade. After it exploded, Zechs ran out, firing his pistol's clip, cutting down two more guards with four bullets landing in their respective chests. The two of them then took cover again, with Heero straying behind, still naked.
"One more burst." Snake said to Zechs, who nodded.
Snake went first and opened up with Zechs supporting him, firing over his shoulder. The enemies were cut down and screamed as the blood drained from their bodies. Snake and Zechs climbed up the stairs, but the passage way was shut.
"Zechs, look around, I'll keep watch." Snake ordered as he descended down the stairs, pushing Heero between himself and Zechs.
For a while, Zechs stared at Heero. He looked so pathetic. Zechs had never seen Heero so weak...so powerless before. It was almost hard to believe. His nemesis during the wars looked like a decrepit shell.
"Zechs, are you staring at Heero or finding the way out of here?" Snake asked with a little anger. "I thought you weren't gay." Snake taunted.
"Sorry." Zechs said with a scowl as he resumed pushing places on the wall.
Three more enemy soldiers appeared approaching the stairway, firing at Snake, who narrowly managed to dodge and then shot all three in the chest, one after the other, blood spraying from the bullet wounds and then puddling on the floor.
"Got it!" Zechs yelled as the door opened up, letting a warm light onto the stairway. Zechs ran out. Snake ran up the stairs, grabbed Heero, and led him out, closing the door behind him when he was in the room outside the control room.
Duo, Trowa, and Wufei greeted them there.
"Hey guys, what took ya?" Duo asked with a classic Duo Maxwell grin.
Snake looked around, seeing that the three former Gundam pilots had taken out the guards to the room. "Let's get out of here." He ordered as he slung Heero over his shoulder.
"Snake...I can walk..." He stammered.
"It's better this way." Snake replied.
They slowly snuck out of the base, avoiding any more confrontation. They got into the helicopter and then into the plane, Snake and Sally treating Heero as best they could on the long, arduous plane ride back to Maine.