Chapter Text
"Something's bothering you, isn't it?"
I was met with blank stares. Slowly, David motioned the officer to step back. Then he turned back to me.
"Oh really? You're just trying to avoid being in a cell. I know."
"And I know that if you do put me in the lovely cell you have awaiting me, then you will have no hope of finding your daughter." Silence and a wide-eyed stare.
Bingo.
He slammed his fists right in front of me, startling me slightly.
"Where is she?" He demanded.
"Oh, I can't tell you just ye--"
"WHERE IS SHE!?"
Maintaining my composure, I met his glare coolly. He seemed to realize he couldn't strong-arm his way through and sat down heavily in his chair. "Don't you know where she is?"
Pleading. He was pleading to me. The raw emotion slipped through my façade and struck a chord somewhere deep. That merited a sincere response from me.
"Yes, I do."
He looked up quickly at me. "You do?"
"Yes."
"But you won't tell me?"
"Depends."
"On what?"
"Conditions, brother."
Again, he slammed his fists into the table and got up. "Goddammit, Hank! You're acting so childish! Is that what she is to you!? A goddamned bargaining chip!? Your own fucking niece!" He was behind me now. "I guarantee you, when we find her there will be nothing left tying you to this earth!"
"Oh well that just gives me even less incentive to tell you, now doesn't it!? You don't even know half the story and already you're making wild, baseless accusations! Trying to strong-arm your way through everything is going to get her ki--"
He grabbed a great fistful of my hair and pulled back hard, cutting me off. My eyes widened at the force in which my head collided with the chair. That, combined with the hair pulling, sent more waves of pain down my spine.
"Get her killed!? Is that what you were going to say!? Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't killed her yet yourself, you psychopathic little freak!"
Of course, being in extreme pain and facing the possibility of having a large chunk of hair ripped from my skull, I couldn't answer. Then he started twisting.
A gasp escaped me as the new wave of agony rippled through my scalp. Now I definitely couldn't answer.
"Colonel." A female voice from a corner of the room. "Colonel, he can't say anything with you abusing him like that. If you want answers, you need to stop hurting him." Finally, a voice of reason.
The pain lessened considerably, but his grip still held.
"What, are you feeling sorry for him?"
"I'd rather you not," I managed to say before he started to twist again.
"Not at all. You are just asking a question and then making it near impossible for him to answer you."
He let go of my hair and pushed my head forward. I heard him take a step back.
"Well?"
I took a deep breath. Oh, be still my beating heart. Once I had calmed down and trusted myself to speak, I began.