Jack stayed quiet out of spite.

At first, he wanted to protect national security and keep America safe and all those good and noble reasons that only lasted for about the first week.

After that, it was hard to remember what country he was from and where he'd been before he'd woke up in pain and it was hard to understand the words over the throbbing in his hand and the erratic beat of his heart. Only Cheng spoke English, and the part of his mind that hadn't been numbed by the drugs still wanted to smash Cheng's head into the floor until the man was reduced to an unrecognizable mess.

If I talk he wins.

His ribs hurt from a beating he couldn't remember, he tasted bile from when they pumped his stomach full of garbage and waited for him to throw it up, he found new marks on his body every time he regained consciousness and a fine tremor ran through him every so often from the amount of electricity that they'd used on him. Still, he knew that if he talked, then Cheng would be pleased, and he'd do anything to keep that bastard from getting one second of triumph.

When not questioned he was alone and the combination of drugs they injected into his body made his dreams walk through walls. He was on the beach and in the water he saw people struggling to swim. The sand was real under his hand, the voices clear and familiar, and he watched them drown.

Time passed and the door to the cell opened.

They dragged him into the interrogation room and secured him to the chair. He stopped struggling after realizing that he'd never push them far enough to kill him. Except for his silence, he was a model prisoner, and he knew that made Cheng unhappy.

"Mr. Bauer," Cheng was saying as he entered the room, "you've been very uncooperative." He smiled and said a few words in Chinese to the guards.

Jack tried to mentally communicate 'go to hell'.

Cheng nodded and a baton jabbed into Jack's side, just hard enough to make him gasp for the next breath.

"Your government's forgotten about you, your friends and family have deserted you, and yet you refuse to talk. The only person you're hurting right now, is yourself." Cheng leaned down to make eye contact and Jack didn't look away.

"We're going to see if you're really this great American hero."

The door opened and a petite dark haired woman walked between two guards. Her head was lowered and electrical burns were visible on her arms.

His stomach clenched as he pictured the next few hours.

"Ling Hu was practicing her religion after being warned about the consequences." Cheng said and then spoke sharply to her in Chinese. She answered him in a whisper and raised her head to glare at him. Cheng's smile faltered and one of the guards backhanded her.

"If you tell us what we want to know, she'll be set free. If you refuse...she'll take your punishment."

Jack wanted to pretend this wasn't happening, but if he retreated to spare himself from this experience, he would be ignoring her pain. She looked so young, and he hated himself for being grateful that she wasn't someone he knew.

Her first scream was the worst and he forced himself to watch. You've read the reports, you know they would do this anyway. Cheng's trying to get inside your head, even if you told them everything they wanted to know, it wouldn't save this girl.

Logic had little value when her screams turned into sobs and Cheng kept talking to her, motioning toward Jack as her sobs morphed into pleas. Jack imagined he could feel her blood coating his bare feet.

"Who authorized the invasion of the Chinese Consulate?"

The drugs took him deeper, he heard Teri begging him to tell them, and Audrey, and his daughter, and Tony was demanding to know how he could let this happen. I'm sorry. I can't. I'm so sorry.

He stayed silent.

"I thought heroes were supposed to save innocent women, not cause them more pain," he tilted his head. "Do you enjoy seeing her hurt the way that most Westerners do? Does her begging make you wish you were one of the guards?"

Jack was almost still, hiding his emotions until he could afford to let them show, but inside he was trembling with the desire to kill everyone in the room other than the girl.

After what felt like hours, she slipped into unconsciousness.

Cheng looked at him with an expression that was part admiration and part disgust. "I gave you the chance to stop that from happening and you refused. You are a heartless man, Mr. Bauer."

The guards threw him back into his cell. Jack leaned his head against one of the cement walls and hit his hand against the rough material until the pain pushed away the images and the crescendo of voices for a few moments.

His only outlet for every self-destructive impulse was himself.

END

Author's Note: This story was inspired by several conversations and also research from a few sites. The religion that Cheng refers to and China's treatment of practitioners can be found here: Clear Harmony - Falun Dafa in Europe. Obviously some artistic liberties were taken but the treatment is quite horrible and brutal. In my mind, in canon, Cheng also went above and beyond what his superiors would consider appropriate methods.

Did you like the story? You have complaints?
How about letting the author now what you think about her work?
Feedback to Catch22girl (Please write in English)