His head hurt. Bad. It's what he got for not dodging a direct punch to the face. He looked around the dark room, the only light coming from a dim bulb hanging in the corner. He was laying on the floor with his four unit mates next to him. Sitting up he saw the room was completely concrete except for a door that was metal with tiny crisscrossing bars at the top so people could see in. The bars were too thick to move and the gap was too small to get out of even if the bars weren't there. He leaned against the cold wall and waited for someone else to wake up.
He was rewarded a few minutes later when Ben woke up, Snake and Wolf followed. Eagle was last but only woke up because Wolf was impatient and smacked him. They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before Cub voiced his uncertainty.
"Does anyone know why we are here?" Cub asked, his voice quiet but echoing in the room.
"RTI" was his only response and he couldn't even tell who it was from, probably Snake.
"Oh, ok. That's fine." They looked at him like he was insane and Ben just laughed. "What?" He asked, confused by their expressions.
"We're about to be beaten senseless and tourchered for so called 'practice'. And you just said it was fine. What's wrong with you?" Eagle asked, for once calm and serious.
"It's RTI. They can't truly hurt us. Yes, we'll be beaten, partially drowned, and most likely electrocuted. But they can't do any true damage because what good would a camp full of soldiers do if they'd be injured for a month after? This will last for a few dozen hours, a day or two tops." They seemed to find reason in his words and calmed down a bit.
They lapped into silence once more only to have it interrupted by the door banging open. "Grab the little one. Time for some fun here." A male figure stood in the door, leaning against the frame to give off an air of importance and nonchalance. It was working. "Let's see how long his confidence lasts." He left the doorway but his laugh could be heard still. Five men walked in and all forced Cub to his feet.
"Aw. Look at that. I have you worried. Really 5 men for a little old me?" Cub stood and walked slowly simply to annoy them. He paused to consider something, "Well, it did take four of you to get me here in the first place." His unit could hear his smirk and smile. That smile faded a moment later when they watched their youngest member get punched in the gut before pushed into the wall with one of the man's arms at his throat.
"You're going to regret that little boy." The man holding Cub sneered at him, spit hitting his face.
To the unit's horror Cub just smiled, "Wanna bet on that?" Cub got punched again before yanked out the door. This time it was Cub laughing down the hall.
"What the heck just happened? Is he trying to make his situation worse?" Snake asked, worried about the future physical health of their youngest member as well as the current mental health of him.
"Nah." Fox said, grinning despite the situation. "That's just Cub. His coping mechanism is sarcasm and winding up the people against him. He's absolutely terrified right now."
"How do you know he's scared? Why would he be scared, he made perfect sense earlier. They can't hurt us too bad." Eagle spoke up.
"He's not scared of them. He's scared of his own mind. He's been in a lot of situations similar to these ones, only they weren't fake. They were very very real, he fears his own mind and what he might be forced to remember during this time." Fox paused, wondering if he's shared too much about his friend. "I know he's scared because no matter how good you are at hiding things. You can't hide your eyes. His eyes are cold, empty, dangerous. But a few minutes ago they were scared, you can see his whole life through his eyes, they hold no secrets. He was tapping his leg with his fingers, he was releasing his stress in the least damage creating way. He was rubbing the side of his hip where one of his holsters normally rests. He doesn't have his weapons and he doesn't like being defenceless, yes he himself is a weapon but he prefers his things. He was noticing so many little things at the same time, it's the spy in him, having to know everything and it overwhelms him. He was showing stress and for him being stressed means being afraid." Ben finished off, once again feeling guilty about telling his friends tells the unit.
"You know him really well then." Snake more so stated then asked.
"You could say that. Yes. But not everything, I only know what I've been told by him or Mrs. Jones and Mr. Blunt. Anything else I know simply from paying attention to him during our missions. It takes a while but you do start to see his expressions and understand what things mean. He's like a living jigsaw puzzle."
They fell back into silence and it lasted a lot longer than any other that they had earlier. They just started to drift off into sleep when the door opened again and a wet figure was thrown brutally onto the floor. A bottle of water was thrown in after him along with a single slice of stale bread.
"Cub!" Snake ran from where he was sitting to figure who was pulling himself up off the floor. "Don't sit up. What are your injuries? What happened?" Snake shot of his questions, sitting down next to the boy. He grabbed his shoulders and pulled him closer so the teen's head was laying on his lap. His wet hair and torso leaving a mark on the floor. Cub flinched but Snake was unsure if it was from the injuries of something else.
"I'm fine Snake. Lay off a bit will ya." Cub pushed himself off the medic before standing once again. He stood for only a moment before the world started to spin and he fell once again only to be caught by Ben who played him sitting by the wall so he could lean against it.
"Idiot. Just let him help you."
"I'm fine, B-Fox." he caught himself at the last minute.
"What'd they even do?" Snake asked, still determined to figure out what happened to the teen.
"Beaten, waterboarded, sensories overwhelmed with light and noise, electrocuted, as well as a few other things."
Snake curse, why do so many things back to back? "Are you sure you're okay? That's pretty extreme."
"Fine." Cub seemed to smile but they weren't sure in the dim light. "A little twitchy though. Electrocution will do that to you."
Snake opened his mouth to say something but never got the chance, the door opened and the process repeated with him this time. He returned a while later, they didn't know how long and then was dumped back in only to have Fox taken. It happened again and again till everyone had gone, Wolf was last. Probably because he was the leader and would have to watch as his team came back bruised and hurt before being taken himself. Only Eagle was wet but the others had larger bruises on them from worse beatings and Wolf was electrocuted pretty badly as well. Fox had blood on his face that ran down his neck from getting punched so hard the skin broke. They weren't allowed to sleep as everytime they dozed off the door would slam open and they would get yelled at before the silence returned.
They had started to doze off again when the door slammed on the wall again, this time there was no yelling but a dozen men walked in and took all five of them to a new room. This one was bigger than any other they had been to. There were four chairs that were bolted to the floor and a rope hanging to the ceiling.
"String up the little one." Five men once again grabbed him and forced his hands out as a rope wrapped around them, his arms jerked up and the rope was pulled up, his body followed and a moment later he was dangling by his wrists, a foot in the air. At the same time K-unit was forced into a chair and tied down to them, the chairs stuck firmly to the floor didn't move as they struggled. When nothing happened they opted to watch their teammate who was now hanging unmoving in the air. Their thoughts were all cut off by the same man who had given the first order spoke again. "Well, it seems that despite our best efforts, you are all so good at not giving me what I want so instead I'll have you watch what goes on rather than experience it yourself." he stood off to the side and motioned for one of the men to start the process they had all just been through.
"What's your name?" Silence met his question. Thump! K-unit winced as the punches landed perfectly on Cub. Cub was swaying in the air, swinging from getting hit but he was glaring at the man who hit him.
"That's all you got? I'm a little disappointed, I truly believed in you." his unit stared at him in shock. He had just got punched but managed to sound like an ashamed parent who was talking to their kid.
He was hidden again and again, in the face and the body. Each hit was followed by a witty remark. This went on for a few more minutes with no response to the question other than sarcasm.
"Stop." The first man's voice cut the man off mid punch and his arm froze before he backed away. "Interesting that this isn't working. Let them really see what their silence is making their youngest member go though. Cut off his shirt."
Cub's eyes widened and he started to struggle as the one who was hitting him came forward with a pair of scissors. "Stop! Stop! No, don't! No, please don't. Stop!" Cub's yelling filled the silent air. The man hesitated before looking at the first man. They were baffled, even his unit. He hadn't struggled a single time or uttered a sound of pain, much less pleaded. And for a shirt? What was wrong with the boy?
Mind curiosity crossed the man's face and he motioned for the man to continue. "Let's see what you're so keen on hiding now shouldn't we?"
The cold metal of scissors brushed his side as the fabric gave way under the sharpened blades. He stayed silent this time and looked down, shame and embarrassment coloring his neck and ears. Not a sound filled the air as the fabric fell to the ground, he could feel a dozen eyes on him, scanning him, staring at him, assessing him. All at once shouting filled the air. "What the heck"'s were accompanied by cursing and "What happened"'s. It all cut off when a sharp whistle sounded. The first man had whistles and was still staring at Cub.
"Well color me impressed. Those are some war wounds, boy." His eyes traced each scar individually, whip marks filled his back, burn scars crossing his shoulders. Knife cuts and spots of burned skin from over exposure to electricity filled any empty gap. Bullet wounds were scattered here and there, one in his arm and two in his stomach. The worst one was one directly above his heart. "No wonder you haven't been affected by us almost at all." Bruises from his current beating were starting to show up as well, blotches of color only adding to the array of marks on the boy's skin.
The boy looked up and there was a fire in his eyes. "Well". His voice was colder than they had ever heard, the man stepped back by pure instinct. "I think we all know how to resist interrogation now. Thank you for that knowledge." Sarcasm laced his words that seemed to still be dripping with venom.
"Who said you could go?" the man mocked only to be glared at.
"Who said we needed your permission?" He shot back. Stretching his wrists he grabbed the rope only inches from his hands and pulled himself up. Once he got a good grip he was able to pull himself all the way up to the beam the rope was tied to. Straddling the wood he untied his hands using his teeth before dropping the end of the rope and climbing back down the rope a second later, now free he ran to his unit and united them. No one stopped them from leaving either from shock or fear from the glare that the teenager shot them as he passed.
Sorry that it took me so long to update. I went to a church camp last week and haven't been able to write for a while. Till next time guys. Have wonderful day.
- AOP