Warnings and disclaimers: See chapter 1

Extra warning for torture in this chapter.

Many thanks to CorieHall for the beta on this story.

Chapter 9 Lost in the dark

Dean woke slowly and had to shake his head several times to clear it. No matter how wide he stretched his eyes open, the room was in darkness and he couldn't see. He called for his brother; it was something that was as natural as breathing to him. He used a tried and true method he used when lighting was low: he closed his eyes. Dean tried to remember his last memory. Unfortunately his brain was sluggish and he had to fight hard to push up through the fog to grasp at the tails of the recollection of pulling a dart from the back of his neck then one from his shoulder. He concentrated harder ignoring a burning headache and remembered staggering away from the narrow alleyway looking for the source of the dart whilst trying to find something to leave for John and Sam should he been unable to get out of the mess he had been in.

The fleeting thought of leaving his amulet wedged in something he wasn't sure of before he had felt hands on his arms trying to guide him. Dean had struck out with his head and felt bone break with satisfaction. A broken nose for sure. Dean had felt a smack on the back of his head with something hard like a club or the world and his knees unhinged and he hit the ground with a crushing thud. He breathed a sigh of relief knowing Sam was safe at school or with John. With the how worked out, Dean needed to discover the why and where. With his eyes still closed, he sniffed hard. His nose was assaulted by an array of smells including his own sweat.

He shook his head again and attempted to sort them out. Musty with an underling chemical smell. Maybe gunpowder and primer? Some metal but not strong. A weapons cache? No the smell wasn't strong enough. He could smell cold concrete. So an old weapons factory or explosives store. By the pressure it felt underground by at least two floors. Okay so some kind of idea where. The why would have to wait until someone showed themselves and he had the feeling he had been alone for some time. No people scents around at all so at least twenty-four hours on his own. Dean had an idea if someone was keeping him alive it would have to be revenge of some sort or he would already be dead.

With the why an unknown, Dean concentrated on his body and how he was being held. He was splayed out on his front, tall and tight like he was doing a star jump. Lying on something hard but not solid. Lying near the floor but not on it. Kind of hanging on metal straps of some kind. Metal rings around ankles and wrists. Probably handcuffs. The ones on his feet were uncomfortably tight. Thick steel chains around neck and hips. 'They don't want me escaping that's for sure.' His arms and legs were sore from the position he was in but not overly sore so not much longer than twenty four hours. Nothing on his upper body and his boots and socks were gone but his jeans were still on thank god.

There was a sharp pain inside both elbows which the foggy feeling in his brain helped him register as IV needles. There was a chemical taste in his mouth that he knew was a sedative. He shook his arms a little and heard the faint ting of plastic tube on polished metal. Check the IV. They were keeping him quiet with drugs as well as shackles. Dean opened his eyes again but found he couldn't see much more than before. This time as he swept the space with his eyes he saw a tiny red dot in one corner. A camera. And by the sound of a door opening above his position, it was probably infrared. The best way to see in the dark. Dean closed his eyes to a slit as the footfalls got closer.

He breathed in his captors smell trying to work out who it was. He didn't recognize anything except it was male and received a belt to the back of his head which forced his head into the metal bed. Dean heard the rattle and tear of plastic as the man changed over the IV bags. Dean wanted to break his silence and ask what was going on but a cloth was wound around his mouth to the back of his head roughly then his head pushed down to the bed again making him see stars. Dean tried to struggle against his bonds but the telltale sting of drugs in his system quickly overtook him and he was down for the count.

Dean woke later and was still unsure of how much later it was. He was strongly aware of his parched throat as he fought his way through the fog and attempted to assess possible methods of escape. He realized there was now some soft light in the room behind him. He turned his head as far as the chains let him and caught sight of a heavily muscled male thigh under dark material move and a hand came into his vision momentarily before disappearing behind him again.

He just had time to register there was an item in the hand: an electric cattle prod. Before he time to even clench in anticipation the device touched his lower back and made him arch off the metal bed as the white hot pain drove up his back down his legs and up over his chest to his head. Dean bit into his gag to stop any sound coming out of him. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction. The pain was blinding and stunning and the seconds dragged as the pain continued almost to the point of unconsciousness. The chain around his neck threatened to strangle him as he jerked against it. The man holding the weapon must have seen Dean fading fast and withdrew the prod. Dean's head slammed against the metal straps as his muscles all slackened at once and he panted roughly through the pain that seemed to be all over his body at once. Cramps seized him at once but his bonds stopped him reliving them and he had to put up with the sharp biting pain on top of the rest of his bodies agonies.

Just as Dean was starting to recover, he was hit with another blast of electricity. It continued as before: until Dean was about to fade away. He was given a full minute to recover before being hit again. The pattern of pain and short rests continued on until Dean could handle only ten seconds of shock before starting to slip down into darkness. Just as his vision was about to close all the way in a gloved hand pulled his head up by the hair and another hand dragged the gag aside and squirted water into Dean's mouth via a sports bottle. The water came so fast and hard Dean was beginning to think he would drown. As suddenly as it had begun Dean was left in the dark again feeling the sting of increased medication race up his arm as he slumped into the cot and blessed unconsciousness.

TBC