FIC: In a Mirror, Darkly: Chapter 8/?
Title: In a Mirror, Darkly: Chapter 8
Author: Valerie Vancollie (valeriev84 [at] hotmail.com)
Characters: Charlie, Don
Pairings: brief canon mentions of Charlie/Amita & Don/Robin
Rating: 15
Summary: There was a certain irony to the situation, that the brother who was a federal agent had been abducted to be used as leverage against the brother who was an applied mathematics professor at a highly respected college. Don Whump, Charlie Angst!
Betas: aleo_70 & fredbassett
Spoilers: Uncertainty Principle, Vector, Man Hunt, Dark Matter, Spree, Two Daughters, Brutus, Finders Keepers, One Hour, The Janus List, Breaking Point, Black Swan, When Worlds Collide, The Decoy Effect, Jack of All Trades, Arrow of Time, The Fifth Man, Greatest Hits, Angels and Devils
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Numb3rs characters, items or situations. I only lay claim to the original aspects of the fic.
Part II: Don: Fugitive Recovery
Chapter 8:
Sunday, 16:45
Basement, Unknown Location
Another slap to the face brought Don back to the present and he blinked owlishly at Frazer as he tried to bring his scattered thoughts back to the present. The man frowned at him, clearly displeased by his lack of attention span. So, he wanted a captive audience, did he? Well, that was just too bad for him, Don thought as his eyes slid closed. He wished he could just slip back into the thoughtless and dreamless embrace of the narcotics simply because it would piss off Frazer.
He must have had his wish granted for a few seconds as the next thing Don was aware of was a sharp pain in his right arm. He jerked his head up off his chest to find a needle embedded in the limb. As he watched, Frazer started depressing the plunger on the syringe attached to the needle and the amber colored liquid inside was expelled into his body. It burned as soon as it hit his system and he gritted his teeth to prevent any sound of pain from escaping him.
"What the hell was that?" Don demanded hotly once he was sure he had control of himself.
The pain seemed to be receding and all he could feel was a warmth as it entered his bloodstream and spread to the rest of his body.
"A little something one of Keane's friends brought. It's from this Blakely dude," Frazer explained, a huge grin on his face. "Don't know the name, don't care."
So he was using it purely for one of its effects, probably didn't even know all of the other side effects. Don resisted the urge to close his eyes in resignation, he wouldn't give Frazer that satisfaction no matter how little he knew of what was now in his system or what damage it could do to him.
"Let's see if we're ready to start this," Frazer said impatiently, circling round to stand behind him.
He hadn't paid it much notice earlier, but the chair he was tied to had an open back, something Don felt now as the fugitive's hand came to rest on his lower back, just above where he'd been kicked yesterday.
"Ready?" Frazer asked, then jabbed him in the kidney, hard.
Don yelped loudly, as much in surprise as in pain, as the bruise screamed its complaints at him. What the hell? Yes, the area was sensitive and, yes, it should hurt, but not like this! It took him a few seconds to realize that the second drug he'd been given was a pain enhancer. Don clenched his fists and choked down the other cries that welled up within him as Frazer laughed aloud and viciously prodded the area some more, obviously looking for a repeat performance.
The pain swirled in his already clouded mind, giving everything a hazy, half real quality and Don desperately wished for the blissful embrace of unconsciousness once more though he knew Frazer was only just getting started.
"Still determined to act tough, huh?" Frazer questioned as he moved around to stand in front of his victim once more.
Frazer simply observed him for a few moments and Don wondered what he saw. He was clearly enjoying it, so he feared his control was starting to slip under the dual assault of the drugs. Slowly, the fugitive leaned forwards and it took all of his concentration to still the instinctive impulse to recoil. When Frazer stopped, their faces were inches apart and Don could smell the cigarette smoke on his breath. As if sensing the thought, the fugitive brought his cigarette up, the burning end nearly skimming his stubble, and took a long drag. The blast of smoke in his face was expected, but Don allowed himself to cough and continued to do so longer than necessary. It wasn't so bad and if he could keep Frazer entertained with that, it meant more time he wasn't actively being hurt.
It worked for a few more minutes before Frazer gave into temptation and dragged the lit end of the cigarette along his cheek. He didn't press it against the skin, just skimmed it across, but the drug took care of the rest, resulting in a fiery trail across the side of his face. Still, Don managed to resist voicing the pain, though his eyes watered as the smoke irritated them. The pain visible in his eyes must have been enough for now, though, as Frazer pulled back slightly and traced the cigarette down his throat, causing him to freeze and not swallow, to the edge of his shirt before returning it to his mouth.
"I'd have thought you would have kicked that habit in prison," Don said as a distraction when Frazer grabbed his shirt in both hands and ripped it open, buttons flying everywhere. "What'd you have to do to get them? Trade yourself?"
Frazer's smile twisted into a snarl instantly and his hand flew upwards, striking Don in the face. His head snapped sideways and he tasted blood in his mouth. A quick probe with his tongue found a cut on the inside of his cheek where his teeth had cut it.
"You're just begging for it, aren't you? Like pain, do you? Well, you're going to get a lot of it before I let you die. So much that you'll be begging me to kill you."
"Don't count on it," Don declared, spitting at him.
It was really quite amazing how red Frazer's face could go without exploding, Don thought as he moved his head along with the expected blow, thereby reducing the force of it significantly. Maybe, if he was lucky, the man would keel over from a heart attack if he kept this up. The idea seemed funnier than it should and he cursed the haze in his mind.
"Sooner or later, I'm going to stumble across something you really don't like and then I'm going to dig in and rip you apart with it," Frazer hissed, his eyes wild.
Terror, pure and simple, gripped Don as he looked into those eyes. Frazer was no longer fully sane, he realized with a jolt. Oh, he'd known there was something not quite right with him, but this wasn't just a little over the edge, this was completely insane. It reminded him of what he'd seen in the eyes of that psychopath whose interrogation he'd watched as a rookie in Detroit. Only, this time, he was the focus of that madness. His pulse quickened as he recalled the photos of that one's victims, they literally were torn apart while still alive. It had nearly caused him to loose his lunch, just from the crime scene photos.
"'Cause you obviously don't mind this too much," Frazer said as he dragged his cigarette down Don's chest, purposefully crossing the inflamed path his knife had traced the other day. "Or guns. Well, at least not so you actually show fear."
His breath was coming out in short gasps as Don tried to clear the haze from his mind as his chest now chimed in with all of his other injuries, clamoring for attention. He noticed some movement behind Frazer and briefly glanced over to see Geek splitting his attention between the screens and what was happened behind him, eyes wide with horror and disgust. The guy looked like he might faint or be sick, but Don dismissed him as Frazer stamped out the cigarette and drew his revolver.
"I doubt Keane will be pleased if you injure me enough to require a trip to the hospital," Don said, hoping to remind the man that there was more going on here than his lust for revenge.
"There are places I can put a bullet that don't require immediate medical attention," Frazer countered though he spun the gun in his hand so he held it by the barrel.
Before Don could do more than wonder what was going to happen next, Frazer smashed the butt of the revolver down on his left hand and he screamed at the resulting agony that lanced through him. His vision went white, then black as the amber drug doubled and tripled the pain, his mind briefly sending him into oblivion before the pain pulled him back and he felt fingers feeling along the bones of his hand.
"Bastard," Don spat out, unthinkingly.
"Nope," Frazer replied cheerfully, clearly in good humor now that he'd gotten the reaction he'd wanted. "Oh, yeah, definitely got some broken bones there."
Don cursed as his vision started to fade out again at the continued abuse, but he didn't actually black out.
"Eh... excuse... me."
It took Don a moment to place the voice as that of Geek, though the nervousness should have given it away instantly.
"What?" Frazer snapped.
"I... He... Uh... Dr. Eppes... I think he... knows something isn't right."
Don struggled to clear his vision and looked towards the monitors, watching a dozen images of Charlie pacing back and forth in front of his blackboard while glancing at a file in his hand. The frustration and consternation were clear on his face and Don felt his heart sink as he realized that this was what Keane had feared. Charlie now knew something was wrong and would be given the ultimatum and photos to ensure his cooperation from this point on.
There was a small part of Don that rejoiced at the idea as it meant he wouldn't be on his own in this anymore. Once Charlie knew, he'd tell David and the team and they'd start looking for him. All he had to do now was hang on for a rescue. The rest of him was horrified, but that small part remained, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this on his own.
The flash of a camera brought him back to the present and Don found Frazer holding the Polaroid. The man took a few more photos before putting the camera away in the filing cabinet. Don noticed how Geek shied away from Frazer just as the door to the basement opened and Keane walked in followed by Banner.
"Is it time?" Keane demanded, his eyes falling on Don as he approached the desk. They hardened before looking towards Frazer.
"Nothing life threatening," Frazer stated, holding out one of the photos. "Maybe you wanna give this to the professor too."
"Perhaps tomorrow," Keane said, glancing at it. "We have the ones we want to show him now. No use sending him into a trauma induced number trance, if he looses himself in one of those, we're never going to get the answers we want."
They knew about Charlie and P vs. NP, Don concluded as he tried to fight off the increasing haze in his mind. Now that Frazer wasn't actively torturing him anymore, the first drug was trying to drag him under again. There was no way that it could still be so strong given the length of time since breakfast, not without a top up. So much for avoiding being jabbed again with more needles.
"Well?" Keane demanded of Geek.
"It's time," Banner replied instead. "He's getting agitated."
"Go, let him know what's really going on and give him the photos. Be careful, though."
"Don't worry. I know how to handle him, I've done it before."
The tone set Don's teeth on edge and he glared at Banner's back as the man disappeared.
"Get that shirt off of him before he catches a cold," Keane ordered as he noticed the shivers that racked Don's frame from the cold water still soaking his upper body.
As Don turned to face Keane, there was a snick of a blade jumping out and a flash of silver. Between the drugs, pain and memories, Don reacted instinctively, violently flinching away from the knife that entered his view before he froze, horror and terror coiling in his gut as it hit him what he'd just done. Despite his earlier determination not to show any weaknesses to Frazer, that was exactly what he'd just so unthinkingly done. Not even fifteen minutes ago, the fugitive had mentioned wanting to uncover what it was that he feared and he'd just given it to him on a silver platter.
Almost against his will, Don's eyes were drawn to Frazer's face and the triumphant and manic smile he wore.
"So," Frazer stated, victory and anticipation in his voice. "It's knives you don't like, eh? I can work with that. Like I said before, I bet you'd look real pretty covered in blood."
Chapter 9