Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.
Thank you! To Wendylouwho10 as usual for reading for flow and content. Typos are mine and I find them all the time!
Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Started as kinda blue spine with a touch of Casefiles but is now completely AU. Frank is 20 and Joe is 19.
Author's Notes: Indeed Cherylann, it my night to post! :-)
Chapter Six
It was similar to waking up from surgery, which he had unfortunately experienced several times. Things were foggy. His brain felt fuzzy and his mouth… his mouth felt dry. The attempt to move his arm brought him fully awake because he realized he was restrained and that was never a good thing in his experience. Joe's eyes popped opened and he blinked several times as the brightness of the room hurt his eyes. Since he couldn't see things around him he opted to look at his own situation. Arms restrained at the wrist to what appeared to be a metal chair. He glanced down; leather strap around his bare chest. He was wearing the shorts he had put on in the locker room and he could feel the restraints holding his ankles. The only thing he couldn't see but knew was there was some type of restraint around his neck. He moved slightly. Leather. Feels like leather.
Then his attention was drawn to the room and more precisely, a figure in the room. The room itself was bright white including the floor, walls and ceiling and measured roughly twelve by twelve. The woman moving toward him was also dressed in white. "With all the white, I'd say I was in heaven but I'm thinking that you're no angel."
A melodic laugh escaped her throat. "There are angels in hell are there not?"
"Who are you?" he asked as he swallowed and tried to generate some moisture in his mouth.
"I think you know," she said as she stepped forward again and elegantly grasped her hands behind her back.
"You're an Assassin. You killed VanStall and you've kidnapped Jacob Yates."
"Correct on two, wrong on one. VanStall killed herself. And technically I did not personally kidnap Yates."
"Is he still alive?"
She seemed to think for a minute as if debating whether to answer. "For now," she finally answered.
"He was offered a choice just as VanStall was and just as you will be. He made his choice and now he'll live or die with the consequences." She began to walk slowly around Joe. "Choose carefully."
Joe sat quietly.
"Join us," she said from behind him.
"Never."
"You're one of us already."
"No I'm not," Joe said calmly. "I don't kill people without reason."
"We have reason," she said as she rounded to stand in front of him once again.
"You're paid to do it."
Her head tilted to the side. "Do you not receive a salary? Are you doing what you do for free?"
"I'm not going to play word games with you. I'm not an Assassin."
Her voice was soft as she answered. "No you're not. You're just a killer." She turned and walked toward a door that opened without her touching it, letting Joe know that others were watching. The door sealed behind her barely showing a seam.
Joe squinted as the lights were turned up so the room was blindingly white. He sat that way for hours. The words of the woman ringing in his ears. He wasn't a murderer. The lights dimmed to a more tolerable level as the door opened and the woman entered with a man also dressed in white.
"Another of hell's angels?" Joe asked.
"We can leave if you like and you can sit in your own excrement. It is your choice. Choose wisely," the words returned as before.
Joe sat for moment. Nothing would be gained by refusing a bathroom privilege. "Stay."
"Well, you can make wise decisions." A smile ghosted the woman's lips as the man moved behind Joe and he felt the chest restraint loosen and then fall. The same occurred with the neck restraint. "You will use the facility and then return to sit in this chair. The arm and ankle restraints can be remotely activated. If you do not return to the seat you will have made an unwise choice with painful consequences."
"I wouldn't call my current situation pleasant," Joe said sarcastically.
She inclined her head. "Let me clarify then. The consequences will be more painful than your current situation." She turned and left the room with the man and as she said, the restraints opened.
Carefully, Joe rubbed his wrists and throat. His head was clearing but his muscles had stiffened. How long have I been here? He turned and saw a toilet in the back corner of the room. It was also white. He took slow and stiff steps toward the fixture. He hated using it knowing that he was being watched. When he was done, he zipped his shorts back up and moved slowly back toward the chair. He stretched his arms over his head and did a few knee bends. Who knows when they'll me free again. Then he took a deep breath and sat in the chair and watched as the restraints closed around his wrists and felt the ones on his ankles. The lights brightened slightly making the white of the room glow a little. He couldn't help that his breathing quickened slightly and he waited for the woman to return... she didn't until hours later.
.**********.
Joe opened his eyes at the slight sound of the door opening. The woman was returning with a tray. His mouth salivated and his stomach grumbled remembering that he had never made it to his mother's for supper. Mom. Joe closed his eyes.
"I didn't bring this here to taunt you," the woman said misinterpreting why Joe had closed his eyes. "You will have the chance to eat once I leave." She looked at the tray and then back to Joe. "There's nothing there for you to use as a weapon. You have a peanut butter sandwich and a plastic bottle of water. I suggest you eat it all. You'll get two sandwiches a day and two bottles of water." She moved to stand directly in front of Joe. "Have you thought about your choice?"
He looked her in the eye. "I'm not joining you."
"Thinking of how you shoot to kill? Have you been thinking of Marilyn Laird? How you threw that hatchet to kill?" Her voice was soft. "You're a killer and you belong with us."
"No. I. Don't."
A frown marred her expression. "You will be given the option to join us for four days, after that, the option will be withdrawn and we will need to provide you with some information that will be unpleasant."
Joe stared at her as she left. His restraints released and once again he had to stand stiffly. Gingerly he stretched his arms and legs and moved to the white porcelain toilet and relieved himself. What I wouldn't give for a sink and some soap, he thought as he seated himself beside the tray. Picking up the sandwich, he took a bite. It could be drugged but there's not much of an option, he thought as he chewed. When he had finished both the sandwich and water, he returned to the toilet and then sat down against the wall.
He had barely seated himself when a voice sounded in his room. "Return to your chair."
Joe grimaced as he stood. "What will you do if I refuse?"
"Gas you and put you in the chair and cut you down to one sandwich and a water."
Joe walked over and sat in the chair and closed his eyes as his restraints closed.
.**********.
Frank sat in an ORT office watching a computer screen. Johnson had gotten the security footage for all buildings connected by the underground tunnels. It would take them forever to search through all of it. They were starting with the closest buildings and exits and moving outward. He spared a glance over to Vanessa, who sat nearby. Her red-rimmed eyes testament to the grief she too was feeling. A noise drew both their attention to the door.
"Any word?" Frank asked Agent Williams.
"I'm afraid not," she answered as she walked to stand between Frank and Vanessa.
"How about Yates?" Frank knew he was grasping. But if they found Yates, his captors might have information on Joe.
Her head shook negative.
Frank turned back to his computer screen. "Then we need to keep looking for something."
.**********.
The lights in his cell never went off. They would dim on occasion and then brighten sometimes to blinding amounts. There was no way to distinguish between day and night but finally his exhaustion took over and his head sank to his chest and he fell asleep.
.**********.
The man and woman looked through the two way mirror at their captive. "You don't expect him to turn do you?"
"No. But Al-Rousasa wanted each of them to be given the chance. It also gives us time to introduce the drugs into his system. It will make him more pliable later." She looked at her watch. "Hassan will be joining us in about ten days once Yates completes his mission."
"VanStall was a success. You believe that Yates will be as well?" the man asked as he continued to look at Joe through the glass.
"Yes. Our tactics are perfect. By the time VanStall was released she felt that she'd been betrayed by the person she loved. Yates is in the final stages. Getting them to commit suicide after… well, we'll see if that continues to work." The woman continued to look through the window.
.**********.
Joe awoke to someone tapping on his head. Raising his chin up he wondered how long he'd been asleep. He blinked several times and shifted his shoulders as he'd slumped forward while sleeping and now his neck was cramping.
"Glad to see that you've been able to rest," the woman said pleasantly. "It's still a few hours until you eat again but I was wondering if you'd reflected on your choice further.
Joe shifted again. His chest and neck restraints had not been refastened since they had first been taken off but he was certain they would be reinstated soon. "What if I said that I did want to join you? Would you actually believe me?"
The woman stood silent for a moment. "We'd believe you once you'd proven that you meant it."
"Proven?" Joe asked calmly though he was sure his face had probably paled in the lighting.
"We'd bring someone in here and you'd break their neck. Once you did that, you'd start on Assassin training and be given a better room than this though you'd still be monitored." The woman paused and once again stood with both hands behind her back. "So, Joe, are you ready to prove yourself?"
Joe shook his head in silent denial and the woman left and the lights brightened.