Jan 12, 2013

Interrogation Techniques - 24 AU - All audiences

Okay, now this story is something of a spin-off if you wish.
It's based on 24 and its characters, but I've added a twist, so don't shoot me at once for "messing Jack up".
It was an experiment and I really like how it worked out, twisted as it is.


I hope you'll enjoy the read and I'd love to hear your thoughts/comments on it.

Thank you.





Interrogation techniques.


He was getting tired of this.
They had been at it for hours and yet the suspect hadn’t uttered a word. Not even a sound, despite everything they had already done to him. Even Burke wasn’t getting anywhere.
The man just simply wouldn’t talk.
He was in agony, that much was certain.

Jack lost his temper suddenly and he lashed out, his fist colliding solidly with the man’s jaw.
More than once!
A split lip, a bloody nose and a cut brow later, Burke managed to pull him off with the help of two guards and they manhandled him out of the room to let him cool down. Burke went back in to keep an eye on the suspect while the guards ‘escorted’ Jack out of the building for some fresh air. When they finally let go of him, Jack turned, drew his gun and shot one of them in the leg for twisting his arm that hard. He turned the gun on the other, leveling it with his head.

“You,” he snarled, “are fired. Get the hell out of here before I change my mind.”

The guard swallowed hard but backed away without a word. He slipped back into the building, running into the doctor who went out, holding something hidden behind his back.

“Jack,” he said quietly, “let me help you.”

“What with?” Jack snarled, wondering if he should holster his weapon or not.

“To calm down. I have something that will help.”
He took a small step forward.
Carefully.
“Will you let me help you?”

“That depends.”

The doctor brought his arm forward, producing a can from behind his back.
“I think you could use this.”
For a long moment, Jack’s eyes remained glued to the can, but then the doctor drew his attention away from it.
“You can have it if you promise to be calm.”

“I promise.” Jack replied softly.

“Then put away your gun.”

He did and accepted the can.
It was cold.
Ice–cold.
He snapped it open and put it to his lips, taking a long swig from it.

“Not too greedy, Jack,” the doctor warned, “you know what happens when you get greedy.”

Jack emptied the can in long but slow gulps after what he handed the empty can back to the doctor for him to ‘dispose of the evidence’.

“This is our little secret, now isn’t it, Jack?”
He nodded.
“Now, go back inside and be a little more civilized.”

Again he nodded.
The beer had already given him a pleasant buzz and he felt better.
Lighter.
He went back inside and went straight into the interrogation room.

“Burke, I wanna do this my way. Go get my kit.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Go!”

Burke stopped the IV and shut off his equipment, pushed up and left the room.

“You’re gonna wish you never met me.” Jack snarled to his suspect.
Moments later, Burke came back with a large suitcase which he put on the table in the corner.

“What do you want to start with?” Burke asked, opening the case.

“Sensory deprivation.” Jack stated, eyeing his suspect.

Burke pulled out a pair of blackened goggles and put them on the suspect, blinding him completely. Next he put headphones on his ears and nodded to Jack. The suspect was ready to begin.
Jack walked over to the control panel and chose the music he wanted to use after what he switched it on, setting the volume to the loudest possible.
Seconds later, the suspect began to writhe about, his hearing assaulted by the extremely loud music in his ears. He shook his head, trying to get the headphones off, but that wouldn’t do. Next Jack threw another switch, turning on the goggles, which were in fact two tiny little screens on which a video played. The video that went along with the music he had chosen started up and the suspect yanked on his arms, trying to break free.
The volume was so high Jack and Burke could easily hear it as well and Jack started to dance, humming along until the chorus line came up.
He sang the chorus along at the top of his voice.

“You know I’m bad, I’m bad, you know it, you know it.”

Burke sat quietly, trying not to react. Even when Jack started moonwalking around the room. It had taken him a lot of practice to not react when Jack used his own torture techniques.
They were – to say the least – unique.
After an hour of the sensory torture, Jack shut off the music and the video, removed the goggles and headphones and got in his suspect’s face again. The man was sweating and breathing hard, his eyes puffed and red, his cheeks wet with his tears.

“Talk to me!” Jack yelled.
Still no reply.
“Burke, strip him.”

Burke got up and picked up a pair of scissors after what he started to cut the suspect’s clothes off him.
Jack went over to the case, hesitating which of the items to use.
He eventually went for a long goose feather and turned back to his suspect, wasting no time on starting to tickle him.
The man squirmed around in his chair, but remained silent.
“Shoes.” Jack ordered.
Twenty minutes of intense feather tickling got them nothing more and Jack tossed the feather onto the table.
“Damn you,” Jack yelled, “talk to me!
The man shook his head.
“Okay, you’re asking for this.” Jack snapped, pushing off on the arms of the man as he had been leaning onto them.
“Burke, the colors.”

Burke went over to the case again and came back with a tray filled with small bottles.
All different colors nail polish.
Jack picked the first one, a flashy pink one and signaled to Burke to hold the man’s hand.
It took some effort to get him to stretch his fingers and hold them in place for Jack to be able to paint the nail. The color screamed at them and Jack grinned a devilish grin, put the bottle down and picked another one, a nearly fluorescent Green, and painted the next nail. He picked a bright yellow after that and a screaming blue for the fourth, never relenting until he had painted the last nail in an ugly purple.
Burke let go of the man’s hand and he pulled it back, clenching his fist, but the polish was a fast drying type and all he managed to do was smudge the polish on his thumb a little.

“Talk to me, or I do your other hand as well.” Jack yelled.
Still nothing.
“Burke.”

Burke went around to the other side of the suspect and pinned his other hand while Jack picked out the colors he was going to use this time. Green, orange, red, white and black. He took his time to do it right, he didn’t like the messy jobs some others did.
The man still refused to talk to him when he had finished his second hand.

“Get his feet.” Jack ordered dryly.

He saw tears form in the suspects eyes but still, he wouldn’t speak.
He stubbornly refused to speak.
One foot down, his toes looking like a rainbow from hell, the man still wouldn’t answer his questions, so Jack painted the nails on his other foot as well, making it even worse on his prisoner.

“You can stop me anytime you want,” Jack barked, “all you have to do is answer my questions.”
The man was crying big fat tears now, but he still refused to speak.
“Get me the other kit.”
Burke retrieved a smaller case from the large one and put it down on the table.
Jack turned to it and opened it, revealing the contents to his prisoner.
His eyes went wide in shock and he shook his head.
“Talk to me.” Jack warned.
The man shook his head and swallowed his tears.
“Paper towel.” Jack said, holding out his hand.

Burke put a towel in his hand and Jack wiped the man’s face with it, drying his tears and wiping the moisture off his cheeks. He reached to the small case and pulled out a first item, flipping it open and checking the color. It would do. He took the brush and ran it across the powder while Burke grabbed the man’s head, holding it firmly so Jack would have no trouble doing what needed to be done. He applied a thick layer of powder and leaned back to check it. It was just about perfect.
Next he added a touch of blush to the man’s cheeks, smearing it out lovingly.
This was his favorite part.
After the blush, came the eye shadow. A screamingly green green. And the finishing touch was the sparkly blue lipstick.

Now will you talk to me?” Jack barked, “Or should I continue?”
The man shook his head.
“What ‘no’?” Jack barked.
“Talk?”
Again the man shook his head.
“You friggin’ piece of shit, you’re making me do this.”

He pushed up angrily and went back to the case.
He retrieved an electrical device which looked a lot like a baby-bottle heater and set it down next to the case, plugged it in and turned it on. Then he retrieved a large jar of wax.
He put the jar in the device and let it warm up, searching for the rest of his tools.
He needed a spatula and the sheets and he also needed the scented moisturizing lotion.
The heater bleeped twice and Jack retrieved the wax, screwed the lid off and tested the warmth, pulling his finger back hissing in pain.

“Too hot.” he hissed.

Burke kept his cool.
The suspect on the other hand was starting to lose it.
He struggled against his bonds and wriggled about on the chair.

“Burke, get his pants.” Jack ordered dryly.

Burke quickly cut the man’s pants off him and tossed the cut up garment to the floor along with the shredded shirt.
Jack approached, carrying the jar of wax, the spatula and the sheets. He deposited everything on the table and went back to the case to get the lotion. He stopped in front of his suspect, a look of sheer misery on the man’s face.

“This is a non-stop procedure,” Jack warned, “once I start it, I can’t stop until I’m done. Do you understand me?”
The man nodded.
“Do you want me to do this to you?”
The man shook his head.
Fervently.
“Then talk to me.” Jack yelled.
Much to his surprise, the man shook his head again.
“Fine.” Jack snarled, “Have it your way.”

He picked up the pot of wax and the spatula and knelt down in front of the man.
His ankles were tied to the chair so he couldn’t get away from him and Jack smeared the hot wax on his leg, applying a thick layer. The sheet came on and he yanked it off as soon as he could.
The suspect gasped in pain and strained against his bonds but not a word was spoken and Jack continued waxing his legs.
First he did the man’s lower legs, from the knee down.
He could still stop at that if he had to.

“Will you talk to me now?” he snapped as he finished.

The man shook his head again.
Jack continued with his upper legs and gave him another chance to give up the information they needed.
Still the man refused to speak.
So Jack tackled his arms.
It didn’t take long but it was damn painful.
He knew, he had tested it on himself a long time ago.
Still nothing came from the suspect.
By now, the wax wasn’t as warm as it should be, so he took a moment to reheat it, leaving it less long this time around.
When he came back, he tackled the guy’s chest.
It was covered in a thick layer of curly hair and he took his time to rid the man of every last one of them.
His prisoner gasped and writhed in pain, yanking on his bonds and shaking his head in disbelief at the amount of pain Jack was inflicting on him, but yet he would not talk to them.

He signaled to Burke who untied the man’s left arm and pulled it up over his head, wrapping it over so his hand touched his right shoulder, presenting his armpit to Jack who proceeded to apply wax there as well, ridding the man of every last scrap of hair. His left arm came back down and was secured again and Burke repeated it with his right, so Jack could tackle the other armpit as well. When the man still refused to talk, Burke picked up the scissors again and cut away the man’s briefs.
Eyes opening wide in horror and shock the man tried to pull free again, but not a word crossed his lips.
Jack reached down and applied a first strip of wax.
The man gasped and thrashed in his chair but would not speak.
So Jack continued, ridding the man of every last bit of pubic hair he could reach without touching him.

Still he wouldn’t cooperate.
Jack leaned his elbows on the man’s knees and hung his head for a moment.
When he looked up, he was just about as desperate as the man in front of him.

“Look, I really don’t want to do this to you, but I will if I have to.”
He left a blank.
“Don’t make me do this.”
The man shook his head.
Still not a sound escaped him.
Jack reached for the spatula with one hand and for the man’s privates with the other.
“Look buddy, I’ll give you one last chance to talk to me.” he said, lifting the man’s cock out of the way and revealing the hairy pouch underneath.
“Talk to me or I will wax your balls.”
The man shook his head, eyes wide in despair.
“You don’t want me to do this buddy.”
He kept shaking his head.
Talk to me!” Jack bellowed.
More shaking.
Not a word though.
“Fine.” Jack snapped.
He covered the man’s balls in wax and applied the sheet to it, then yanked it off without hesitation.

The man’s eyes opened as wide as they ever would and his jaw nearly dislocated itself, but still not a sound came from him.

There was nothing left for Jack to do.
Not a single hair on the man’s body left except on his head.
He sighed heavily and pushed up, putting his gear away again and turning to Burke.

“I’m gonna have to do this Burke.” he said apologetically.

He knew it was hard on Burke to do what he was planning, but he sucked it up and came over.
Just then the intercom buzzed and Bill’s voice crackled over the speaker.

“Jack, could I talk with you for a moment?”

Jack met Burke’s eyes, he knew what to do until he got back.
He went into the observation room and closed the door behind him, waiting just one step into the room.
He didn’t like it when Bill called him out of an interrogation like that.
It had better be important.

“What’s going on here, Jack?” Bill asked sternly.

His entire attitude screamed ‘I’m not liking what you’re doing’ and Jack instinctively pulled up his defensive wall.
“He’s not talking to me, Bill, I’ve tried everything I could think of.”
He looked through the observation window.
“I was just about to give him my clown routine when you called me.”

“Jack.” Bill said coldly.

He snapped his head back and met Bill’s eyes again.
“Yes?”

“He’s not talking to you?”

“No, he’s not.”

“Do you know why he’s not talking to you?”

“Well, because he’s a terrorist and-”

“No, Jack,” Bill sighed, “that’s not why he’s not talking to you.”
He sighed again.
“Jack, he’s not talking to you …” he dropped his head and shook it slowly.
“He’s not talking to you because he can’t.”

“Can’t what?” Jack asked, not understanding what Bill meant.

“Talk.”
He sighed again.
“The man can’t talk, Jack, he’s mute.”

Jack’s jaw dropped nearly all the way to the ground.
“But … why didn’t he say something?”

Bill threw his hands in the air.
“Because he can’t, Jack, he can’t talk.”

“But …”

“Have you been drinking, Jack?” Bill asked suddenly.

Jack’s eyes went blank and his shoulders drooped a little.
How come Bill always knew?

“Come on, let’s get you to the clinic, you need to lie down.”

“But …” Jack opposed, turning back to the big window.

“I’ll take care of him, Jack, don’t worry.”

“But he won’t talk.”

“Jack, he can’t, okay. He needs to use his hands to be able to communicate and since they are tied to the chair, there isn’t a thing the man can do. But that’s not your problem, come on, I’ll take you back to the clinic and the doctor can give you your pills and you can lie down for a while. I’ll take care of him, you have nothing to worry about.”

Bill closed the distance and carefully put his hand on Jack’s shoulder, turning him to the door.
For a moment Jack resisted, but when their eyes met again, Jack saw that eternal concern on Bill’s face and he followed the guiding hands without further hesitation.

~~~

The doctor knew what they were there for and he helped Jack onto one of the beds at once, handing him his teddy bear before reaching for the syringe.

“A little bee sting, Jack, you know there’s nothing to be afraid of, right.”
Jack nodded bravely but hissed at the sting of the needle.
“Okay, lie down now, it’s okay.”
Jack stretched out on the bed, cuddling his bear in his arm but reaching for the bedside table with his other.
He couldn’t reach it though and he moaned softly, tears forming in his eyes almost at once.
Bill came up to him and picked up what Jack was reaching for.

“Be a good boy now, Jack, and get some rest.” Bill said softly as he presented the object to Jack.
He nodded quickly and sucked the pacifier between his lips, sucking on it with a passion and closing his eyes, cuddling his teddy even closer to him and tucking his head into the pillow.
“Sweet dreams, Jackie boy.” Bill said, caressing Jack’s hair for a moment.
He turned and left with a heavy sigh when Jack’s breathing leveled out.

What were they going to do with him?
He was such a good agent, but the moment he touched alcohol, even just a sip of it, he lost touch with reality.
He sighed again and went to holding, releasing the man Jack had been interrogating, offering him a change of clothes to replace the ones that had been cut to pieces and their deepest apology.
It would be yet another law-suit they would have to deal with.



The end!

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