More time passed by in Daniel's bright room. If only they would install a clock in here, he thought wryly, knowing that was exactly the reason there wasn't one. A few times he heard footsteps passing by in the hall beyond the door, and twice he heard the faint 'woosh' of a shuttle lifting off.
The door opened again and this time Daniel opened his eyes and tried to brace himself for Round Two. The wind went out of him the second his eyes settled on the figure Martin was pushing through the door before him.
Gina.
Daniel knew the plan as soon as he saw her; he knew where this was going to go. Oh, God... this was going to be... Gina was a professional soldier. Daniel was sure she could hold out for the time they had. He didn't think he was going to be able to if Martin started beating on her.
Martin efficiently pulled Gina's arms up by the plastic restraints holding her wrists together in front of her and attached them to a hook hanging from a ceiling pipe. She already had a dark purple bruise on her jaw, and she was missing her field jacket.
Having strung up his new toy, Martin ignored the second chair and leaned back against the wall, one knee bent, and his arms crossed loosely across his chest. He was just out of Gina's sight, unless she turned to look at him. She was choosing not to, her eyes locked instead with Daniel's, trying to burn her will into his mind.
I know, Gina. I'll try. Daniel thought the words at her, giving her a tiny nod to show that he knew the stakes. He just hoped he could withstand what was coming. Not his pain, that he could deal with, but could he let a man with his face brutalize the woman he thought of as a sister?
"All right boys and girls, I think we know the drill here, don't we?"
Gina continued to look at Daniel but spoke to Martin behind her. "We're not your enemies, Daniel. This isn't necessary."
"First of all, Gina-May, does the expression 'with me or against me' ring any bells? Secondly, it's Dan, not Daniel. I grew out of that when I was twelve, for God's sake."
"And it's Gina, not Gina-May, Dan."
"I think of it as my pet name for you, Gina-May." Martin chuckled as the quietly fuming Gina glared at him, and reached down to pick up a bag he had dropped by the door. "Okay, this is a simple game but I'll go over the rules for the away team."
One by one, items were set onto the table in front of Daniel, within Gina's view. There was an assortment of items Daniel didn't recognize, then a Gomesah healing device. Lastly, Martin set a pad of paper and a pen on the table, then turned to Daniel.
"That's for when you start giving me locations and keys." Daniel wondered if he ever smirked like that. He had to assume at some point he had, but he was still hoping that there was some difference in the eyes... he hoped that he was incapable of that exact expression, incapable of being that cold.
Still, there was pretty good evidence standing in front of him that he was capable of being exactly that cold.
"So, the rules, as I promised. Danny, I need locations and keys from you. When you're ready to give me any, we stop. Gina-May, I need tech intel from you. When you're ready to give me any, we stop. We don't know anything about the objects I have here, but we think they have the potential to be useful." He stepped close into Gina's space, and ran the tips of his long fingers down her face from the temple to her mouth.
The touch was obscenely gentle.
"You sure you don't want to stop now, Gina-May?" He reached behind him with his other hand, picking up the healing device and showing it to her. The pad of his thumb brushed over her lips. "Maybe you could just tell me what this does?"
Gina's eyes flashed and she pulled her head away from his hand. "Let us go."
"With me or against me, Gina-May."
"Then go to hell," she said emphatically.
"Temper, temper, Gina-May. Good girls don't use that kind of language."
She gave him a glare for an answer, suddenly his left hand came off her face and moved back down with lightning speed, striking her across the cheek and her already bruised jaw. She grunted, but didn't cry out. It disturbed her, although, to see the flash of satisfaction in his eyes at her reaction... as though he were pleased she wasn't going to cave in on him straight off. His reaction bothered her more than the pain.
Martin turned his back on her and looked at his counterpart. "So, Danny, how 'bout you? Feel like saving us some time here? Maybe earn your team a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card?"
"I know you're not letting us go. There's no point in pretending you are."
"No one likes a know-it-all, Danny. It's obnoxious. Besides... I don't get anything out of you being dead, now do I?"
"You don't get anything out of us being alive, either."
"Arguing the case for your own demise, Dr. Martin?" He turned to Gina. "Is he always this fatalistic? Or do I just bring out the 'Lost Little Boy' in him?"
"I'm sure you bring out the best in everyone, asshole." Gina said the words with a bit of a snarl and it cost her another hard slap.
"I told you about the language already, Gina-May. Honestly, a person would think you liked it rough." The smile that moved across his face was the worst one Gina had seen yet, and he slowly brought his right hand up and buried it in her hair. She wasn't surprised when his grip tightened, painfully, and her head jerked back. Quietly, but not so quietly that Daniel couldn't hear, he purred into her ear, "Oh, that's right, you DO like it rough, don't you, Gina-May?" And then he pressed his mouth into hers with more force than passion. Meanwhile, his left hand roamed over her breast, her ribs, and down her waist and leg.
Across the room Daniel had long since closed his eyes and had started to silently pray, working his way alphabetically through the gods of pantheons that only a few remembered. He tried as best he could to make it an intellectual exercise, interesting enough to keep his mind from contemplating the horrific scene in front of him. He was failing miserably.
Martin took his time, holding her hair with that same painful grip and forcing her head back at an angle that pulled at her wrists. She was gasping when he pulled away, letting his hand drop from her hair back to her face.
"Now that was nice, wasn't it, Gina-May?"
She glared at him for a few full seconds and then spat on his cheek.
He chuckled, made a fist, and took his first direct swing at her face. The blow connected and she went backwards with it, but was kept from moving far by the plastic straps cutting into her wrists. She gasped at the impact and the lightning flash of pain that exploded through her jaw.
Daniel's eyes snapped open at the sound and he stared at the sight of his friend struggling to put her weight back on her feet. Martin was wiping his cheek on his sleeve. And, of course, he was smirking.
"Just for the record, Gina-May, that was a pulled punch. No point in breaking bones this early in the game, and I do need you to be able to talk, after all." He stepped around behind her, running his hand down her side. "I just don't want you to think I don't know how to throw a real punch. Can't let you lose respect for me, after all, right, baby?"
Gina remained silent, and Martin chuckled.
"Decided to quit talking to me? Does this mean the honeymoon's over?"
There was still no answer from Gina and this raised another chuckle from Martin. Letting his eyes meet Daniel's over Gina's shoulder he ran his hand back up her side again, and deliberately cupped and held a breast with it before stepping away. Daniel knew the look of disgust and anger on his face was far too transparent but he couldn't keep it off.
"Remembered any locations and keys for me yet, Danny?"
"Daniel, don't." Gina's voice was strong and Daniel was glad to hear it. Martin walked back around to face her and raised his fist. She flinched, closing her eyes and turning her head. His fist stopped at the top of the arc, although, and he lowered it, wagging a finger at her.
"Tsk, tsk, Gina-May. That's just bad manners." Then the blow came so fast Gina didn't have a chance to prepare herself before it caught her in the stomach. She cried out with pain and the plastic cut deeper into her wrists as her body tried to double over. Blood trickled from her wrists down her arms. "Now you think about behaving better." He turned and strolled over to Daniel, running a hand carelessly through his counterpart's hair, then sitting on the edge of the table. "So? locations and keys?"
Daniel pressed his lips together and met Martin's eyes evenly.
"Fine. Everyone always thinks they want to play this game the hard way. Don't see it myself, but ah, well." He let his hand go to his waist where he pulled a knife out of its sheath. He spun it lightly in his fingers before setting it on the table. "Just to give everyone something to think about. You still paying attention, Gina-May?" He said the last sentence over his shoulder to Gina and nodded in satisfaction to see her eyes locked on them. "Good, good. Remember, Gina-May, you can stop this at any time. Ready, sweetheart?"
Without breaking his gaze on Gina Martin shot out a hand and grabbed Daniel by the throat.
"Are you going to watch, Gina-May? Or are you going to let your imagination fill in the fun parts between the sounds? Which do you think will be easier?"
With a pale face and tight mouth she stared back at him without answering.
"I'll be fine, Gina." Daniel's voice was broken off at the end by Martin's thumb cutting into his windpipe.
"Oh, of course he will be."
The blows came hard and fast. Daniel lost track almost immediately... he lost track of where he had been hit, the time that passed, lost track of everything except the unceasing pain and haze of red. Daniel could not have spoken even if he had wanted to; the blows were coming in too fast to have allowed it. Time spun out and around him in a bizarre series of lurches and jolts... slipping by and then freezing in place so suddenly he felt motion sickness.
By the time it was over he was gasping, coughing, and shuddering with such intensity he couldn't have spoken then, either.
Martin pulled back and surveyed his handiwork. Daniel was hunched over from the pain, fighting to pull air into his lungs, while across the room Gina's eyes were squeezed shut. Martin took the moment of respite to shake out his hand, then walked back over to Gina and sat on the edge of the table in front of her.
"What an amazing little soldier you are, aren't you, Gina-May?" Her eyes snapped open but she stayed silent. Martin shook his head in mock sadness. "We never talk anymore. So, Danny," he called over his shoulder and listened to hear if Daniel had gotten his breath back. Martin wanted him to hear, but not give him time to let the pain dim. "Can you be as good a soldier as Gina-May? Can you stand up to me hurting her as well as she did to me hurting you?"
"Maybe she doesn't like you as much as you like her? Or is she just tougher than you?" He paused and turned around. "We both know you're going to break, Danny. Why not do it before she gets hurt?"
Daniel's mouth opened but it was Gina who spoke. "No, Daniel! Don't!"
She got another punch in the abdomen for her trouble, followed by another. In direct contrast to Daniel's fuzzy recollection of the blows that had landed on him, Daniel could count exactly the number that hit Gina, he could see... even through his swollen eye and without his glasses... exactly where they landed and how hard. Martin was working his way methodically around her torso, around her back to her kidneys, and back again. Daniel watched, horrified, as Gina spat out blood, and he heard someone cry out, "NO!"
It was him.
"Stop it! I... I'll give you some locations and keys. Just stop hurting her."
Martin was behind Daniel's chair in a heartbeat, cutting the restraints away with a slash of the knife he had grabbed off of the table.
"Start writing," it was Martin's command voice, hard and full of authority.
Daniel raised his hands, covered in the blood that had come from his wrists, and started scribbling jump gate frequency keys and locations as fast as he could, his fingers stiff from the lack of blood. Gina's voice seemed to echo in the small room as she begged him not to give over the information, but when he glanced up at her, the trickle of blood coming from her mouth just made him write faster.
It was insanity to think they weren't going to die here, but maybe he could stave off the inevitable for a while. In the meantime Gina was clearly bleeding internally, and at the very least, she needed to lie down.
Martin took the pad from him as Daniel's hands stilled, then dropped it and pulled another set of plastic handcuffs from his pocket. Crazily, Daniel had the thought that the JGC was going to go over budget with the number of those damn things they were going through. Martin had Daniel's arms behind him again and this time the restraints cut into his flesh even without him moving.
Gina was looking at Daniel, her eyes filled with disappointment, but also with understanding. Daniel felt sick for the feeling that he had let her down, but he had stopped her pain for a little of the time they had left, and he could not set his marks much higher than that at this point in time. It would take them some amount of time to test the locations and keys, then the whole horrible thing would start up again, but in the meantime, his friend wasn't being beaten.
So he looked back her, sad, but resolute.
Then Daniel noticed the table in front of him and the objects that were scattered there. One of them was a healing device. Behind him Martin was standing up.
"Thank you so much, Danny. Now don't you wish we had done the short version?" Martin walked behind Gina and cut through her wrist restraints with a slash from his knife and pushed her forward into the table. Gasping, she fell into it, then stayed there and let it support her weight.
Daniel made eye contact with Gina again, then looked pointedly at the table, and back up at her. She looked down, saw the device, and looked back up at Daniel, her eyes registering the idea.
Martin had grabbed the pad of paper and pen and turned his back to put them into his bag. Gina reached out and cupped numb fingers over her prize, then slid it into a pocket as he was turning around. With a sweep of his arm, he knocked the devices that remained on the table into the bag as well, then shouldered the strap. His hand went into Gina's hair again, and he pulled her up.
"Come on, baby. Time to go back to your cell for a rest. We can talk about the toys later." With a shove he pushed her towards the door.
Martin forced Gina down the hallway and shoved her into one of the storerooms, sending her reeling against a pile of crates in the back of the room. She gasped as the impact jarred the internal injuries she had already sustained from his fists.
"You see, Gina-May, this is why girls shouldn't be in combat units. It makes men stupid." He gave her that smirk she had hated on first sight. "Even the supposedly smart ones." Martin drew his pistol from its holster and she raised her hands to tell him to stop.
She was still saying "No!" when the bullet tore through her abdomen. With the slow motion awareness brought on by the mind in stress, she could hear the bullet move through the crates behind her and hit the wall. Gina slumped to the ground and Martin blew her a kiss as he closed the door behind him and left her alone to bleed to death.
Fingers numb with the shock that was already overcoming her senses, Gina fumbled with the healing device in her pants pocket. No time, no time, no time...
No time for shock, no time for dizziness, no time for blacking out, no time for crying.
She slid the healing device over her bloody, shaking fingers and tried to focus on making it work. It flared briefly, then went out and a sob wrenched from her. No time. Her blood was soaking her clothes and wave after wave of pain-induced nausea threatened to overwhelm her. She raised her hand again, silently begging the device to activate.
Suddenly, the wound was bathed in a soft, steady glow, and the pain began to ease. The longer she kept it going, the more the pain faded and the easier it was. Gasping in relief she let the technology do its work until, finally, exhaustion overcame her and she fell unconscious.
How much time had passed?
Gina blinked her eyes and looked at her wrist before remembering that Martin had taken her watch, certainly to disorient her. Missing her watch she couldn't know how much time had gone by, but she did know she had to move. Her body was weak from blood loss and from injuries healed too recently and not sufficiently. It hurt to move and she was so tired she thought she could have slept for a week, but she and her teammates didn't have that kind of time.
Hell, they didn't have any kind of time. What had Martin been doing to them while she had been passed out?
With a groan she couldn't suppress, Gina forced herself to sit up, and then to stand. She had to find her way to the rooms being used as cells, to try to free Adam or Joran. Then maybe the two of them could think about finding the third. Daniel would be the hardest to get to... they would probably need weapons for that.
No, she would need weapons to get to the others, too. There been guards by the cells, hadn't there? Surely there had been, it was SOP to guard prisoners, and Martin and Vickers were nothing if not good captors. It bothered her that she couldn't remember... it meant that she was still in shock, possibly, or that she had a concussion, or... or something else. Something bad.
Something irrelevant. She had to move.
"Move, Lucas!" Gina gave herself the quiet command in her most authoritative voice she could muster. It sounded weak to her own ears, but she obeyed anyway, and made her way to the door. Covered with cold, half-dried blood, her clothes clung to her skin. She tried to wipe her hands off on the front of her pants, but the effort was futile.
The hallway was empty, thanks be to whatever god might be listening. Gina slid down the corridor, trying not to get blood on the walls as she went. The rooms that had been converted to cells had been storage rooms and labs in the original facility. And Martin had pushed her into a storage room, but which room... and which direction were the cells? The maze of the facility stretched out around her.
Gina heard the slightest of sounds from behind and before she could react she was pinned to the wall, her arm wrenched behind her and the healing device pulled from her hand. She gave a gasp of pain as her freshly-healed wounds protested the rough treatment and she choked back a sob as she heard a voice she had come to detest whisper in her ear.
"Did you really think I wouldn't miss it?" Impossibly, his voice was even more arrogant than before. "I knew it was a healing device... the úlfhéðinn wouldn't confirm it, but I knew if I gave you the chance you would want to show off. Now, you're going back to your cell for a bit while I wrap some things up with your oh-so-charming CO." Martin half-dragged, half-marched her down the hallway. "And then you and I are going to have another little chat about how this device works."
After depositing Gina back in her cell and restraining her, Martin stopped by to check on his counterpart. Daniel was leaning forward, his head on the table when Martin walked in, grabbed him by his hair and pulled him into a sitting position. He waited for a beat to let Daniel's eyes adjust, then tossed the healing device, smeared with drying blood, casually onto the table.
"That was almost clever, Danny. Almost." Martin smirked as Daniel narrowed his eyes. "Fortunately for the home team, I have more practice at espionage than you do."
"Lucky you."
"Yes... lucky me."
"I'd still rather be me than you, all things considered."
Martin glanced at his watch, beamed a cold smile at his captive, and raised his eyebrows. "Ah, but the night's young, Danny. We'll see if you stick to that theory. Those locations and keys you gave me didn't pan out, by the way, so we're going to have to start from scratch. Now you rest up and I'll be back as soon as I'm done chatting with 'Adam' and his bad knee." Martin laughed at the murderous glare that was leveled at him, scooped the healing device back up in his hand, and left the room.