(A/N) Hey guys, sorry for the delay up to know, we've lost touch with one of our writers, Tall on the Inside, but hopefully they'll make contact again soon enough, and we can get this all sorted out. Thankfully, SpoonyAzul has come to our rescue, taking on this chapter, and, to be honest, it's a pretty damn good one, as I'm sure you'll all agree! It's got pretty much everything you'd like to see in an Agents Burns and Heyman chapter, and hell, I know you all must've been waiting for the inevitable interrogation scene. Well here it is!

Also, for any followers of our Red vs Blue fanfiction, Phase One: Genesis, and its sequel, Phase Two: Betrayal, we will be opening our forum to applications on the 25th of November, so consider this a heads up! We've already got some great writers ob-board, and are hoping to gain a few more, so if you're interested, send me a PM and I can give you some more details, while you wait for apps to open!

Enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen – Harnessing Jack Bauer

Agent Joel Heyman

Written by SpoonyAzul

"For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth." -Bo Bennett

"This is not going to end well."

Agent Heyman sighed as he took a sip from his coffee mug while he and his partner mentally prepared themselves outside the interrogation room. They stood next to the two-way mirror while looking at the handcuffed Iron-Ryan, clad in an orange jumpsuit and sitting in his chair with, an Joel would have thought this impossible before now, no trace of any kind of expression on his face.

"You've said that fifty times already," Joel quipped, grabbing the key to the interrogation room, "We've already disarmed him of his weapons and handcuffed him to the chair. He ain't leaving anytime soon."

"Uh, did you forget how he has a laser eye that could burn right through our skulls," Burns protested, looking at the file he held in his hands, "or how easily he could break those secure cuffs and walk out the door?"

Heyman grunted non-committedly as he unlocked the door, "Then we'd be dead already, complete with burnt holes in our heads, scorch marks all over the walls and a psycho cyborg taking a stroll out the front door."

"I swear we don't get paid enough for this," the other agent groaned while following his partner inside.

"Of course we don't!" his partner quipped back, "How could any government afford it? Possibility of death-by-killer-cyborgs alone has got to double our current pay, at least!"

Both agents entered the room where Iron-Ryan sat with handcuffs attached to his wrist and to the arms of the steel chair. Even with the neutral expression adorning his face, Heyman found the cyborg's red eye unnaturally disturbing. It was as if it was about to fire a red hot laser beam at any moment. Joel definitely didn't need that on his mind during an interrogation, but it was a fact that was a little hard to forget. That, and the fact that the cyborg was probably capable of not just breaking out of his cuffs, but physically tearing Joel in two with minimal effort. Regardless, he somehow managed to keep his composure in front of the metallic man, sitting across from the cyborg and placing his file on the table. His partner leaned against the wall and glared at Ryan in contempt.

"So, Mr... Haywood, is it?" Agent Heyman said, opening and reading the file silently before him, "We would like to ask you a few questions about the Community, and your…transformation, starting with-"

A fist slammed on the table and made him jump in surprise, the noise echoing throughout the room.

"You better start talking, you oversized trash can," Burns suddenly shouted at the cyborg, "We know you were sent by the Community! We need names, addresses, battle plans! Spill everything you know or we'll take you apart, piece by rusted piece!"

While Burns raved, Ryan sat silently in his chair, his face expressionless in the midst of the failing interrogating tactic. After a few minutes, he looked over at J-Roll. "I appreciate the thought, but I don't think I'll be able to return to that life, Agent Heyman. Ryan Haywood, and most of what he was, is dead. Now, I'm sorry, I believe you wanted to ask me questions?" He half-smiled at the younger agent –an unsettling sight in its own right- before nodding to the FBI agent's partner, his benevolent grin shifting ever-so-slightly into a smirk. "Your friend here seems to think you're here to simply yell at me… Sadly, I don't think I'm going to be of much help. My memory's been… uncooperative, lately." He tapped the metal plating on his head, as if to indicate it as the cause.

"A very likely story, Mr Haywood!" Burns laughed, taking off his sunglasses and stared down at Ryan, "You tell us everything you know about the Community! Why did they target the bank? I want answers NOW!"

He slammed his fist down again when he stressed the last word in the last sentence, but Iron-Ryan remained passive in the outburst.

"I told you, I don't remember." Ryan simply said again in a metal baritone, "I have no memory of the time before the attack. However, on an unrelated note, perhaps you should get over your resentment towards this desk? I get the feeling your fists will lose that fight, in the end."

Burns opened his mouth to yell again when his partner stopped with a raise of his hand. Joel asked, "Are you saying you actually have amnesia?"

With a cold, monotone voice, Ryan gave his explanation, "What I mean is my memory has been wiped. I've searched my memory with the intention of giving you some clues about the men who did this to me. Trust me, I want to help you find who whoever it was who turned me into this," said with a gesture towards his robotic body, "However, there's no data to find. The fire at my workplace, my time with the Community, the records are all empty. Missing. They have ceased to be. My memory is measured in terabytes, now. Forgetting things does not just happen to me anymore. My best deduction is that they installed some sort of fail-safe in my memory banks as a precaution if I were to fail my objective… Or, to be more accurate, their objective, that they forced upon me."

Agent Burns whipped his head at his partner, who then shrugged in confusion. Despite being surprised at the cyborg's cooperation, Joel continued on with the interrogation, "Then would you care to explain the incident at the bank? What made you do something like that?"

Ryan looked down at the floor, as if contemplating about his actions, "First of all, I am sorry about what happened, but I can offer no logical explanation for it. All I knew was this deep-seeded anger, this...need to kill X-Ray and Vav. Not a want. A need. This is surprising, as I am no longer capable of responding to emotional stimuli. It's possible these functions were repurposed, and used as a primitive control system." He laughed an odd, deep, grating metallic noise before continuing. "Very primitive. I'd have used the hunger reaction, myself. Most likely, it was something the Community implanted in me to make me bend to their will."

Heyman quirked an eyebrow, "But, you don't feel the urge to kill us now?"

"No, I do not," Ryan said matter-of-factly, "There is a very likely chance that, when I was knocked into the harbour, the salt water damaged the device they were controlling me with. Indeed, several of my systems feel like they are still recovering from the submersion. I'm not entirely sure I could kill you if I…" he glanced back at Burns. "Wanted to… As of right now, I do not wish to harm X-Ray and Vav or," another glance at Burns. "…or anyone else for that matter."

After a few more questions, the FBI agents left the room and stood outside, eyes narrowing at the cyborg from the two-way mirror.

"Damn," Burns spoke up, "this guy's got a good poker face. I can't tell if he's lying or not."

"But controlling his actions like a puppet, then wiping his memory so we couldn't trace them," Heyman said, taking another sip of his coffee, "it sounds like something they would do."

Burns rolled his eyes and let out a humourless laugh, "Don't tell me you believe him?"

"Look, I'm still up in the air about trusting this guy," Agent Heyman argued, "but I don't think he has a reason to lie to us. He was being cooperative the whole time and answered all our questions. Not once did he try to break out of his chair and try to shove his fist through your face. You've got to admit, it's a nice change of pace."

"Oh please," his partner snorted, "for all we know, the Community could still be controlling him. Hell, they could be making him say all this just so they get him out. This damn Corpirate character, he could be dictating this rustbucket's every last word." There was a slight pause before Burns added, "I fucking hate pirates."

Heyman stared at the cyborg a little longer before he said, "Or maybe your paranoia is going off the deep end right now. All I'm saying is that he would've killed us if the Community still had a hold of him. Right now, he isn't a threat to anyone."

Agent Burns drew a long breath and thought about it for a while, repeatedly opening his mouth as if he was going to say something, but then closing it, thinking better of it. Finally, he sighed, threw his hands up in the air and pulled out his cell phone. He pressed a few buttons, calling his superior on speed-dial, and held the phone up to his ear. "Omega, this is Agent Burns. Yeah, we talked to him. He was pretty cooperative and answered all the questions we asked him."

As his partner paused, J-Roll could faintly hear their boss over the phone, though he couldn't make out what he was saying.

Burns sighed in exasperation, "No, we weren't able to get any new info. Apparently, they installed a memory wipe, so they wouldn't leave a trace when he failed their mission. Fucking typical, I know." More talking and then, "Personally, I don't trust this guy, but he doesn't appear to be a threat to anyone."

Heyman faintly heard his boss ask, "Are you sure?"

Burns took one look at his partner, as if thinking about what Heyman had said a few moments earlier. Finally, he answered his boss, "If he was, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

About a minute later, Burns ended the call and stowed his cell phone away before facing his partner. "Okay, boss man says he's free to go, but we'll have to keep an eye on him. We're to prep a surveillance squad within the hour."

Then he looked his partner in the eye and added, with a hint of venom, "I swear to god, you better be right about this, Heyman."