Pawns Chapter 25
GAH! I swear after this, I'm writing nothing but soft cuddly bunnies for a week! Yes, nothing but cute adorable kittens. Dark and angsty is nice in small doses, but really this week, whoo boy, it's been non-stop squick. No, I'm going to write cuddly lovey dovey pairings, drinking hot cocoa and snuggling under the stars.
Otherwise people are going to see my name, shudder and run.
And yeah, a little of Gran/Ed bled over into this in some subtle ways.
Ok, on to THIS chapter.
It's nasty folks. As in TORTURE. The torture is (barely) off camera but it's discussed in pretty detailed terms.
The good side is this is the lowest point in the story - the point where things are at their worst. This is the worst I'll put in here. From now on we start sailing towards the climax of the story. If you can stomach this chapter, the rest will be easy.
Now gird your stomach….
Pawns 25
SURRENDER
Major Devers watched with satisfaction as the windows disintegrated, and a scattered row of holes marred the outside of the cottage. His ears rang. He turned back to the box that housed the field phone, and nodded to the soldier manning it.
The men and women with him took the time to inspect and reload their weapons. Hopefully the show of initial force would convince those within that they meant business and the hostage was not the bargaining chip they thought he would be.
Devers sincerely hoped that the bullets had missed Ashfell. He liked and admired the man, and serving under him had been enlightening and enjoyable. But the military's policy on hostage takers was firm. Never give in. If there were casualties, so be it.
The man at the phone nodded his head Devers way. Devers signaled his people to resume position. He lifted his hand and they aimed. He then looked at his watch and counted down the seconds.
At second 10 he heard some arguing. He allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. By second 20 the arguing reached a peak. Then at second 28 something white was thrown out the window. A lace doily, Devers realized with a smirk. He signaled his people to go back to a ready position.
"Tell them to throw out the automail and the guns. They have another 30 seconds."
More arguing inside, but then first two guns, then the automail arm was tossed out the window.
"Leg as well." He wanted Fullmetal thoroughly disabled before he stormed the place. Even without an arm, Edward Elric was quite a fighter. It had taken blinding and six men to bring him down the first time, and even then two men injured. Devers didn't want any of his men injured this time.
The leg came out the window.
He signaled his people to rush the house. Dever's followed at a more sedate pace. By the time he reached the front door, the house had been secured. Almost disappointingly easy, thought Devers.
He looked at the three men lying prone on the glass-strewn rug. His people were shackling Mustang's arms and legs. Elric's remaining arm was being pinned back to his waist with a shackle and a piece of rope. As a precaution Ashfell was being held down as well, but Devers people were less certain about what to do with him. "Let him up," Devers said.
Ashfell rose and dusted himself off. He looked remarkably calm for a man in such a position. Devers admired his composure. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"Was … IT… involved?" whispered Devers.
"Thankfully it hasn't moved to human trials yet, and neither Mustang nor Elric were allowed to practice it on the animals. No, it seems Mustang smooth talked Midnight into giving Elric back his arm, then Elric was able to overpower their guard. They used alchemy to conjure up the uniforms, and then they just walked out of the place."
Devers looked relieved. This almost fit the scenario he'd been building. Then he looked around. "There should be another person here… the guard…"
"He was another hostage," said Ashfell. "I convinced them to let him go."
That didn't quite fit, but he let it pass for the moment.
"Is the facility secure?" asked Ashfell.
"Yes. There appears to be no physical damage. However, the other Elric brother is unaccounted for, as is Midnight. "
"It's their day off, they could be anywhere. Keep looking."
"I thought they might be involved here. There were sightings."
"I didn't see either of them."
Devers frowned. He looked over the damaged house. "Well, at least it ended well. I'll have Davidson and Ming mop up and start the investigation here."
Ashfells eyes narrowed, then he nodded. "You do that. My primary concern is to get those two back where they belong. Tell me everything you know so far."
Devers went down the list of what he'd done in the last four hours. Ashfell grunted occasionally, and finally gave his back a clap. "Good job." Ashfell's hand moved up to his shoulder and squeezed. "Listen, Major. It looks like they were pretty quiet about their break out. And since Central hasn't been called up on this one, I'd like to keep this whole incident in-house, if you know what I mean."
Devers understood entirely. The fact that Mustang and Elric were able to break out at all reflected rather poorly on the staff. Since the incident had gone down smoothly, sweeping it the rest of the way under the rug was probably the most face-saving way to go. Of course, they would need to do their own investigation to prevent a repeat of the same mistakes, but the file could then be buried.
"The Fuhrer need not be bothered with this," Ashfell stated.
"I suppose then that the condition of the prisoners need not be fully reported, either."
"Mustang will need to be presentable with the Fuhrer comes… other than that…" Ashfell gave him a malicious smile.
Devers smiled back. "I will personally see to Mustang's punishment." Ashfell just nodded. Devers signaled his people again. They lifted the prisoners up like sacks and carried them to the back of the waiting van.
The ride back to the fifth lab was uneventful. Except for the cries and moans and the periodic thuds and smacks coming from the back, there was silence.
TORTURE
Roy regained consciousness again while being dragged down a corridor by his wrists. He opened his eyes to see the periodic caged bulbs against a sound-textured ceiling. He blinked and looked over to see the brightly painted numbers on the side of the corridor.
He was home. 5th lab.
The cell they thrust him in was vaguely familiar. Dull grey walls, suspicious outlets placed at waist height. The pipes. The steel bed with built in manacles.
He'd been here before.
Even the people here were familiar. There was the Weasel, for once not looking the least like he wanted to be Roy's friend. The man's thin face was hard, and his eyes just slightly narrowed.
"Undress him and get him down," the Weasel ordered.
Roy's head swam as they jostled him about, removing the uniform, shoes tossed into a corner, shirt pulled off so quickly and roughly that a few of the buttons tore free and bounced. He tried to hold out his arms to steady himself and keep from being slammed against the floor or the edge of the bed, but his hands were grabbed and he was spun about. His head hit the wall and caused bright lights to dance in front of his eyes.
Then they hoisted him up, pulled him open and strapped him down. His fists were pried open and a soft roll shoved into each palm, then wrappings used to enclose it all. They didn’t didn't want him to be making arrays with his blood.
Which meant that there would be blood this time.
The Weasel grabbed Roy's chin and forced him to look at him. "You have to look pretty for the Fuhrer in a week. This limits me somewhat. So I will be doing very shallow cuts, mainly to your torso, but other areas as well. We'll start on your front, and then do your back. Your face and hands will not be touched. When I'm done with that, you will be put back in isolation again until the Fuhrer's arrival."
Roy steeled himself. There was no getting out of this, but hopefully it wouldn't last too long.
"You are off the project, of course. I'm afraid Midnight will have to finish those arrays on his own. For your sake, lets hope they aren't too damaging when it's time for you to go under one. I'd hate to see you a reduced to a drooling idiot."
Roy tried to move his head away, but the Weasel's grip tightened. Roy didn’t care what position the Weasel had in the organization, he vowed that the man WOULD go under his array, and when that happened, he'd take a moment to let it sink in before he let Al activate it. He wondered what kind of face the man would put on then.
There was a muffled scream from nearby. Roy's heart suddenly slammed.
The Weasel smiled and put a hand to his ear. "Ah, listen to that."
"Who?"
"That would be your roommate. Edward Elric. I thought you might wonder what had become of him, so I had him put in the room next door."
There was another heartrending scream. No that couldn't be Ed. Ed never screamed. Not even when they attached his automail.
"Wondering what they are doing to him, I suppose," said the Weasel. "Well I won't keep you in suspense. We decided that electrical shocks would be the proper treatment for him. Once every thirty seconds, for various durations and intensity. They should just be on his fingers now. I imagine by the time they get to his automail ports he should be much louder. Of course, that's not where they will end."
No. No. No. Ed wasn’t supposed to get hurt. "Leave him alone," said Roy. "I talked him into it. It's not his fault. Punish me instead."
"Oh, I believe you talked him into this. He should be really angry with you for getting him into this mess." The Weasel's smile was thin and sadistic.
Another scream. Louder this time.
Roy moaned and closed his eyes. He'd failed Ed. How would ever make this up to him? How could Ed ever forgive him for this?
"Don't worry, though, we plan to punish you, good and proper. But really what could be more punishing than hearing your lover shriek and not being able to do anything about it. To know you were the one to put him in this position in the first place.
"Or rather, I should say ex-lover. You'll not be seeing him again. And even if you should pass him in the halls sometime in the future, I rather doubt he will give you the time of day. I imagine he will hate you for what you talked him into. I imagine he will feel good and betrayed, and he'll carry that hurt around him for a long, long time."
Roy spat at the Weasel and scored a hollow victory when some drops landed on the man's forehead. The Weasel just wiped them off. "I think it's time we got started." He reached down and pulled a large box from the ground and set it up on a table within Roy's sight. He opened it up to reveal a rather unpleasant number of knives and picks.
In a few minutes Roy was too busy listening to his own screams to hear Ed's.
SCREAMS
Ashfell watched them drag first Mustang, then Elric into the adjacent torture cells. He smiled. It really was TOO BAD that Mustang had to endure this. Really.
Part of him felt guilty. Part of him really longed to protect his (master) leader, but part of him also thought that Mustang could use a good humbling before he got too cocky with his arrays.
Ashfell couldn't protect him anyway. Devers wanted his pound of flesh and he was going to get it. But he didn't need to get it from the boy as well. Ashfell, opened the door to Edward's cell and motioned to the torturer. "I'll be doing this one myself."
"Understood, sir."
"Alone."
A knowing nod and a wink. "Understood, sir."
The soldier left, leaving Ashfell alone in the room with Ed. The boy - no, despite his size he'd be a man now wouldn't he - was in a sorry state. Ashfells men had worked him over pretty good, there were bruises all over his torso, his thighs and upper arms. The face had been spared. He was naked, automail uncoupled, about as vulnerable as a person could be. He lay a little funny on the slab, being that he was only held by a single wrist and ankle.
The electrodes had already been attached to his hand and nipple, the specially made automail plugs had been readied but not inserted yet. The rest of the electrodes lay in a tangle on the floor.
Ed glared at him. "What now," those eyes said. Still defiant despite his position. Remarkable.
"So, tell me," said Ashfell in a quiet voice. "How well do you scream?"
"I don't."
"Hmmm. You will. You will have to."
"I'm not going to scream for you. You can torture me, but I won't."
"Oh, don't be stupid." Ashfell sighed. "Are you going to force me to actually shock you?"
Those eyes widened questioningly at him.
"We have an audience, they are expecting screams. Now either you can do your best acting job, or I can actually flip this switch. One way or another, you are going to make noise - enough so that my second in command next door can hear it."
The start of a smile crept across Ed's face. "Since you put it that way."
Ashfell grinned back. "Good. Now try it."
Ed screamed. It wasn't much of a scream. "Oh, you can do better than that."
Ed rolled his eyes and let out a louder scream.
"That's the spirit. Now the way this is supposed to work is that I give you a shock every 30 seconds or so. Are you up for that?"
"Why are we doing this?"
"Electrocution is the SHORTEST of all the torture routines we have. It's also one of the most severe. It satisfied my second in command, and it gets you and I out of here and on to better things sooner. Now, scream again… put your lungs into it."
Ed did.
Ashfell began removing the electrodes. "And again." Scream, with just a bit of a wail in it. The kid was getting into this. Starting to enjoy the act. Good.
Ashfell undid the manacle at the kids ankle. "Again."
Louder.
An answering scream came through the walls.
Ed jerked. "What… Is that Roy?"
"Yes."
Ed yanked his hand out of its strap before Ashfell could get it properly undone. "You mean he can HEAR us?"
"Yes."
Ed snarled. "How dare you. He thinks I'm being hurt."
"He'll learn better soon enough."
"Why didn't you tell me?" said Ed utterly horrified. "I never would have… my God, you are a SICK bastard."
The screams next door were more vigorous.
"Stop them. Whatever they are doing to him, make them stop."
"I can't." Ashfell reached into a bag and brought out the automail leg.
The kid's eyes pleaded with him. Mustang moaned. Ashfell hesitated.
This is turning into a really lousy day for all of us isn't it, kid, he thought. A really first class screw up of a day, and it's not over yet. "If I could have prevented this I would have. It will get better soon."
"Please," said Ed. "Do something."
Ashfells mouth was dry. "I'll… I'll see what I can do."
He lined the automail leg up with the socket and thrust it in.
Ed screamed.
Back to Chapter 24
On to Chapter 26
Otherwise people are going to see my name, shudder and run.
And yeah, a little of Gran/Ed bled over into this in some subtle ways.
Ok, on to THIS chapter.
It's nasty folks. As in TORTURE. The torture is (barely) off camera but it's discussed in pretty detailed terms.
The good side is this is the lowest point in the story - the point where things are at their worst. This is the worst I'll put in here. From now on we start sailing towards the climax of the story. If you can stomach this chapter, the rest will be easy.
Now gird your stomach….
Pawns 25
SURRENDER
Major Devers watched with satisfaction as the windows disintegrated, and a scattered row of holes marred the outside of the cottage. His ears rang. He turned back to the box that housed the field phone, and nodded to the soldier manning it.
The men and women with him took the time to inspect and reload their weapons. Hopefully the show of initial force would convince those within that they meant business and the hostage was not the bargaining chip they thought he would be.
Devers sincerely hoped that the bullets had missed Ashfell. He liked and admired the man, and serving under him had been enlightening and enjoyable. But the military's policy on hostage takers was firm. Never give in. If there were casualties, so be it.
The man at the phone nodded his head Devers way. Devers signaled his people to resume position. He lifted his hand and they aimed. He then looked at his watch and counted down the seconds.
At second 10 he heard some arguing. He allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. By second 20 the arguing reached a peak. Then at second 28 something white was thrown out the window. A lace doily, Devers realized with a smirk. He signaled his people to go back to a ready position.
"Tell them to throw out the automail and the guns. They have another 30 seconds."
More arguing inside, but then first two guns, then the automail arm was tossed out the window.
"Leg as well." He wanted Fullmetal thoroughly disabled before he stormed the place. Even without an arm, Edward Elric was quite a fighter. It had taken blinding and six men to bring him down the first time, and even then two men injured. Devers didn't want any of his men injured this time.
The leg came out the window.
He signaled his people to rush the house. Dever's followed at a more sedate pace. By the time he reached the front door, the house had been secured. Almost disappointingly easy, thought Devers.
He looked at the three men lying prone on the glass-strewn rug. His people were shackling Mustang's arms and legs. Elric's remaining arm was being pinned back to his waist with a shackle and a piece of rope. As a precaution Ashfell was being held down as well, but Devers people were less certain about what to do with him. "Let him up," Devers said.
Ashfell rose and dusted himself off. He looked remarkably calm for a man in such a position. Devers admired his composure. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"Was … IT… involved?" whispered Devers.
"Thankfully it hasn't moved to human trials yet, and neither Mustang nor Elric were allowed to practice it on the animals. No, it seems Mustang smooth talked Midnight into giving Elric back his arm, then Elric was able to overpower their guard. They used alchemy to conjure up the uniforms, and then they just walked out of the place."
Devers looked relieved. This almost fit the scenario he'd been building. Then he looked around. "There should be another person here… the guard…"
"He was another hostage," said Ashfell. "I convinced them to let him go."
That didn't quite fit, but he let it pass for the moment.
"Is the facility secure?" asked Ashfell.
"Yes. There appears to be no physical damage. However, the other Elric brother is unaccounted for, as is Midnight. "
"It's their day off, they could be anywhere. Keep looking."
"I thought they might be involved here. There were sightings."
"I didn't see either of them."
Devers frowned. He looked over the damaged house. "Well, at least it ended well. I'll have Davidson and Ming mop up and start the investigation here."
Ashfells eyes narrowed, then he nodded. "You do that. My primary concern is to get those two back where they belong. Tell me everything you know so far."
Devers went down the list of what he'd done in the last four hours. Ashfell grunted occasionally, and finally gave his back a clap. "Good job." Ashfell's hand moved up to his shoulder and squeezed. "Listen, Major. It looks like they were pretty quiet about their break out. And since Central hasn't been called up on this one, I'd like to keep this whole incident in-house, if you know what I mean."
Devers understood entirely. The fact that Mustang and Elric were able to break out at all reflected rather poorly on the staff. Since the incident had gone down smoothly, sweeping it the rest of the way under the rug was probably the most face-saving way to go. Of course, they would need to do their own investigation to prevent a repeat of the same mistakes, but the file could then be buried.
"The Fuhrer need not be bothered with this," Ashfell stated.
"I suppose then that the condition of the prisoners need not be fully reported, either."
"Mustang will need to be presentable with the Fuhrer comes… other than that…" Ashfell gave him a malicious smile.
Devers smiled back. "I will personally see to Mustang's punishment." Ashfell just nodded. Devers signaled his people again. They lifted the prisoners up like sacks and carried them to the back of the waiting van.
The ride back to the fifth lab was uneventful. Except for the cries and moans and the periodic thuds and smacks coming from the back, there was silence.
TORTURE
Roy regained consciousness again while being dragged down a corridor by his wrists. He opened his eyes to see the periodic caged bulbs against a sound-textured ceiling. He blinked and looked over to see the brightly painted numbers on the side of the corridor.
He was home. 5th lab.
The cell they thrust him in was vaguely familiar. Dull grey walls, suspicious outlets placed at waist height. The pipes. The steel bed with built in manacles.
He'd been here before.
Even the people here were familiar. There was the Weasel, for once not looking the least like he wanted to be Roy's friend. The man's thin face was hard, and his eyes just slightly narrowed.
"Undress him and get him down," the Weasel ordered.
Roy's head swam as they jostled him about, removing the uniform, shoes tossed into a corner, shirt pulled off so quickly and roughly that a few of the buttons tore free and bounced. He tried to hold out his arms to steady himself and keep from being slammed against the floor or the edge of the bed, but his hands were grabbed and he was spun about. His head hit the wall and caused bright lights to dance in front of his eyes.
Then they hoisted him up, pulled him open and strapped him down. His fists were pried open and a soft roll shoved into each palm, then wrappings used to enclose it all. They didn’t didn't want him to be making arrays with his blood.
Which meant that there would be blood this time.
The Weasel grabbed Roy's chin and forced him to look at him. "You have to look pretty for the Fuhrer in a week. This limits me somewhat. So I will be doing very shallow cuts, mainly to your torso, but other areas as well. We'll start on your front, and then do your back. Your face and hands will not be touched. When I'm done with that, you will be put back in isolation again until the Fuhrer's arrival."
Roy steeled himself. There was no getting out of this, but hopefully it wouldn't last too long.
"You are off the project, of course. I'm afraid Midnight will have to finish those arrays on his own. For your sake, lets hope they aren't too damaging when it's time for you to go under one. I'd hate to see you a reduced to a drooling idiot."
Roy tried to move his head away, but the Weasel's grip tightened. Roy didn’t care what position the Weasel had in the organization, he vowed that the man WOULD go under his array, and when that happened, he'd take a moment to let it sink in before he let Al activate it. He wondered what kind of face the man would put on then.
There was a muffled scream from nearby. Roy's heart suddenly slammed.
The Weasel smiled and put a hand to his ear. "Ah, listen to that."
"Who?"
"That would be your roommate. Edward Elric. I thought you might wonder what had become of him, so I had him put in the room next door."
There was another heartrending scream. No that couldn't be Ed. Ed never screamed. Not even when they attached his automail.
"Wondering what they are doing to him, I suppose," said the Weasel. "Well I won't keep you in suspense. We decided that electrical shocks would be the proper treatment for him. Once every thirty seconds, for various durations and intensity. They should just be on his fingers now. I imagine by the time they get to his automail ports he should be much louder. Of course, that's not where they will end."
No. No. No. Ed wasn’t supposed to get hurt. "Leave him alone," said Roy. "I talked him into it. It's not his fault. Punish me instead."
"Oh, I believe you talked him into this. He should be really angry with you for getting him into this mess." The Weasel's smile was thin and sadistic.
Another scream. Louder this time.
Roy moaned and closed his eyes. He'd failed Ed. How would ever make this up to him? How could Ed ever forgive him for this?
"Don't worry, though, we plan to punish you, good and proper. But really what could be more punishing than hearing your lover shriek and not being able to do anything about it. To know you were the one to put him in this position in the first place.
"Or rather, I should say ex-lover. You'll not be seeing him again. And even if you should pass him in the halls sometime in the future, I rather doubt he will give you the time of day. I imagine he will hate you for what you talked him into. I imagine he will feel good and betrayed, and he'll carry that hurt around him for a long, long time."
Roy spat at the Weasel and scored a hollow victory when some drops landed on the man's forehead. The Weasel just wiped them off. "I think it's time we got started." He reached down and pulled a large box from the ground and set it up on a table within Roy's sight. He opened it up to reveal a rather unpleasant number of knives and picks.
In a few minutes Roy was too busy listening to his own screams to hear Ed's.
SCREAMS
Ashfell watched them drag first Mustang, then Elric into the adjacent torture cells. He smiled. It really was TOO BAD that Mustang had to endure this. Really.
Part of him felt guilty. Part of him really longed to protect his (master) leader, but part of him also thought that Mustang could use a good humbling before he got too cocky with his arrays.
Ashfell couldn't protect him anyway. Devers wanted his pound of flesh and he was going to get it. But he didn't need to get it from the boy as well. Ashfell, opened the door to Edward's cell and motioned to the torturer. "I'll be doing this one myself."
"Understood, sir."
"Alone."
A knowing nod and a wink. "Understood, sir."
The soldier left, leaving Ashfell alone in the room with Ed. The boy - no, despite his size he'd be a man now wouldn't he - was in a sorry state. Ashfells men had worked him over pretty good, there were bruises all over his torso, his thighs and upper arms. The face had been spared. He was naked, automail uncoupled, about as vulnerable as a person could be. He lay a little funny on the slab, being that he was only held by a single wrist and ankle.
The electrodes had already been attached to his hand and nipple, the specially made automail plugs had been readied but not inserted yet. The rest of the electrodes lay in a tangle on the floor.
Ed glared at him. "What now," those eyes said. Still defiant despite his position. Remarkable.
"So, tell me," said Ashfell in a quiet voice. "How well do you scream?"
"I don't."
"Hmmm. You will. You will have to."
"I'm not going to scream for you. You can torture me, but I won't."
"Oh, don't be stupid." Ashfell sighed. "Are you going to force me to actually shock you?"
Those eyes widened questioningly at him.
"We have an audience, they are expecting screams. Now either you can do your best acting job, or I can actually flip this switch. One way or another, you are going to make noise - enough so that my second in command next door can hear it."
The start of a smile crept across Ed's face. "Since you put it that way."
Ashfell grinned back. "Good. Now try it."
Ed screamed. It wasn't much of a scream. "Oh, you can do better than that."
Ed rolled his eyes and let out a louder scream.
"That's the spirit. Now the way this is supposed to work is that I give you a shock every 30 seconds or so. Are you up for that?"
"Why are we doing this?"
"Electrocution is the SHORTEST of all the torture routines we have. It's also one of the most severe. It satisfied my second in command, and it gets you and I out of here and on to better things sooner. Now, scream again… put your lungs into it."
Ed did.
Ashfell began removing the electrodes. "And again." Scream, with just a bit of a wail in it. The kid was getting into this. Starting to enjoy the act. Good.
Ashfell undid the manacle at the kids ankle. "Again."
Louder.
An answering scream came through the walls.
Ed jerked. "What… Is that Roy?"
"Yes."
Ed yanked his hand out of its strap before Ashfell could get it properly undone. "You mean he can HEAR us?"
"Yes."
Ed snarled. "How dare you. He thinks I'm being hurt."
"He'll learn better soon enough."
"Why didn't you tell me?" said Ed utterly horrified. "I never would have… my God, you are a SICK bastard."
The screams next door were more vigorous.
"Stop them. Whatever they are doing to him, make them stop."
"I can't." Ashfell reached into a bag and brought out the automail leg.
The kid's eyes pleaded with him. Mustang moaned. Ashfell hesitated.
This is turning into a really lousy day for all of us isn't it, kid, he thought. A really first class screw up of a day, and it's not over yet. "If I could have prevented this I would have. It will get better soon."
"Please," said Ed. "Do something."
Ashfells mouth was dry. "I'll… I'll see what I can do."
He lined the automail leg up with the socket and thrust it in.
Ed screamed.
Back to Chapter 24
On to Chapter 26