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RECOVERY Written by: Aryea CHAPTER ONE Sydney dealt with the last two men between her and the trap door that would lead to Nigel, quickly as Cate kept her gun trained on the leader. She noticed that there was no lock on the door and she hauled it upwards, glancing down into the dark, filthy interior of the small four by eight pit. “Nigel!” Nigel had been curled up in a fetal position, and as the door opened and shone light into his prison; his eyes squinted up at the sudden intrusion. He was dirty, and had obviously been beaten, he was also completely naked. “Nigel!” Sydney repeated, appalled and was startled when Nigel crawled away from her, his face full of fear, back into the darkness. “Nigel, it’s me, Sydney.” What had those monsters done to him? The sound of the leader laughing caused her to turn. “You’re wasting your time, Professor Fox,” he assured, calmly. “He won’t come out, he’s been wrong to many times. Why do you think there was no lock, we were not worried he would escape. I admit, he took much longer to break than I thought, his loyalty and faith in you to rescue him was unparalleled.” The man smiled an evil, viscous smile, full of triumph. “Unfortunately it was that faith that destroyed him; you were his strength, Professor, but also his greatest weakness. He is a broken man.” Cate’s eyes widened in horror as she realized what that meant; one of the things that they warn you about in Interpol was brainwashing and sometimes, manipulating another human or bending them to your will was all about how much pain you could inflict, both physically and mentally, before they could no longer trust their own senses anymore. Sydney saw the awful truth in Cate’s eyes and rage consumed her. She wanted nothing more than to walk over there and tear the man apart, and for a moment that seemed what she was about to do. She stalked over and grabbed the leader roughly by the throat. For the briefest moment, the gaze of victory in the man’s eyes was replaced by a very real fear at being faced with an enraged Sydney Fox, but Sydney merely pulled the ceremonial robes off him. He smirked, right before she slammed him face first into the brick wall, breaking his nose and rendering him unconscious. Sydney returned to the pit and slowly climbed down the ladder to Nigel. She approached him carefully. “Nigel? It’s Sydney, Nigel.” Nigel was cowering in the corner, his hands up to protect his head, his body trembling uncontrollably. Sydney was close to tears but she forced them back. “Nigel, it isn’t a trick, it’s really me. I’ve come to get you out.” Nigel was violently shaking his head, still trying to keep it covered and refusing to look at her. He looked so scared, so bruised and frightened and…violated. Sydney knew that they didn’t have time to do this properly, there would be more men coming soon and she had to get Nigel out of there. She stepped forward and draped the cloak over him, he didn’t move. She reached down to help him up and he screamed; such a horrible, anguished sound that she immediately released him. “Cate!” she croaked, distraught. “Help me!” Cate climbed down into the pit and was horrified at what she saw; she could not hide her tears. “Oh my God!” “He won’t let me touch him.” Cate stepped forward and crouched beside Nigel, who had stopped screaming the moment that Sydney had let him go. “Nigel? Nigel, honey, it’s Cate.” Nigel looked up at her, seemed, for a moment at least, to recognize her, but then that frightened, wounded look returned. Cate took a chance and carefully touched his shoulder. He didn’t resist. She helped him to his feet and secured the robe around him, hiding his nakedness. He was still trembling and unsteady on his feet, but he was letting her guide him, until they stood below the trap door and he squinted up into the light. He shook his head and started to pull back, terrified. “No, it’s okay, Nigel,” she assured as she indicated that Sydney go first. When the relic hunter had disappeared up the ladder and nothing bad seemed to happen, she pulled Nigel slowly towards the opening, again. “See, it’s okay, lover. We’re getting out of here, come on.” Nigel looked at her, confused, uncertain and frightened. Cate blinked at her tears for a second time at his distress, seeing him so afraid, but one tear escaped and Nigel caught it with the tip of his thumb, staring at his digit confused, was it real? “Please, Nigel. Please go up the ladder. I promise nothing bad will happen.” Nigel stared at her, and then started to climb, cautiously. Sydney offered him a hand out and he shrank back, almost falling, but Cate was behind him, encouraging him to continue. Sydney straightened and let him climb out unassisted, she couldn’t stand to see him so afraid of her. What the hell had they done to him? What had they made him think about her? When Nigel glanced over and saw the leader he immediately dropped to his knees and again covered his head. Cate and Sydney exchanged a horrified glance, and then Cate was helping him up. “He’s not going to hurt you anymore,” she said as she guided him out of the room. “He’s never going to hurt you again.” She didn’t know if Sydney was aware of it, but when the relic hunter had smashed the man’s face into the wall, Cate could tell that the impact had killed him; and she was glad. They headed back through the tunnels, Sydney in the lead and Cate leading Nigel, who was following subserviently, although remained skittish and nervous at every sound.
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Back at the hotel room, it took some convincing by Cate to get Nigel to take a shower; they had to get him cleaned up so that they could see how bad his wounds were. Nigel seemed to be a little more alert now that they were away from that horrible place, but he still wouldn’t let Sydney near him and it was killing her. They booked two rooms and she let Cate stay in the one with Nigel, since she seemed to understand more about what had happened to the TA than Sydney did and Cate was the only one Nigel would let near her. Sydney took the one across the hall and took a shower of her own, allowing her tears to fall then, where no one would see her as they mixed with the water and slid down the drain, destroying the evidence. She had not allowed herself to envision what the kidnappers might be doing to Nigel, it would have thrown of her focus at finding him and that was more important, but she had never imagined discovering him like that. The leader’s words made little sense to her, but they had registered with Cate and she meant to have the Interpol agent fill her in on exactly what had happened to her assistant. Cate. The name incensed Sydney like nothing else ever had. It was all Cate’s fault that Nigel had been taken, all her fault that he’d been beaten and tormented and God knew what else and all Cate’s fault that he had almost died. Now, Sydney could hardly go near her beloved Englishman, but Cate could and Sydney wanted to strangle her. Finally, she stepped out of the shower and pulled on some clothes, just as there was a knock on her door. She walked over and tossed it open, knowing who she would find on the other side. “Hi,” Cate greeted, quietly. “How’s Nigel?” “He’s asleep. I got him cleaned up and his….his wounds bandaged as best I could.” Cate stepped in and lowered her eyes, ashamed. “He…he should be in a hospital, Syd, but I’m afraid what that will do to him right now.” Sydney closed the door, quietly but firmly, a sign of her anger. “What did they do to him, Cate?” she demanded, turning to face the blonde, fire in her eyes. “What did that bastard mean when he said I was Nigel’s strength and his greatest weakness?” “ Sydney , I’m…I’m so sorry…” Cate began, remorsefully. “This is…all my fault…” “Yes, it is your fault, Cate. You got Nigel into this, pulled him into another one of your agency schemes and almost got him killed for the second time. Didn’t you learn anything from the last one?” “I…I know, I…I thought I had everything covered this time, I never expected…” Sydney stormed up to her, waving her finger in Cate’s face, furious. “Don’t you dare try and make excuses, Cate. You’re an Interpol agent; you’re supposed to expect the unexpected.” “I know…” “Nigel isn’t trained, Cate, he’s lucky if he can keep up with me let alone one of your undercover bullshit scenarios.” “It wasn’t like that…I… “I never meant to hurt him, Sydney!” “But you did, Cate. Just like the last time. You almost got him killed by the Gural Nataz and this time…I don’t know what damage has been done.” “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, it…” “Look, I don’t want to hear it, I just want you to tell me what they did to him and none of your ‘classified’ crap, or I swear to God I will strangle you with my bare hands!” Cate believed her. She moved over to the bed and sank down upon it, sapped of energy. “I…I can’t be sure but…I think they tortured him, Sydney.” She took a deep breath. “I…there are several ways of torturing someone or interrogating them. Many of them involve a process called Brainwashing. It was…it was made famous during the Second World War, and then again in Vietnam and Korea . They warn us about it when we first become agents, they…It’s a way for the captors to gain information and…and also…” She swallowed hard, remembering her own training, remembering the horror stories that she had heard and the idea of Nigel going through that, dear, sweet, unobtrusive Nigel. She shook her head “And also what, Cate?” “Some people enjoy breaking the will of others, Sydney. It’s a game to them; it’s all about holding the power over another person. Cult leaders use it, though not often to extremes.” “Tell me what they did to him, Cate,” Sydney demanded. “Tell me why he’s afraid of me.” “I can only guess, Sydney . If…if they were brainwashing him…trying to break him they would have used several different methods to make him doubt his own reality; both physically and mentally. If…if they were having trouble…getting him to respond to their way of thinking, they would find a weakness and use it against him.” She shook her head and wiped at her tears again, finally meeting Sydney ’s gaze. “My guess is that…if Nigel was so certain that you would come for him and that was what he was holding on to, they may have tricked him, several times into thinking you had.” “And then…what?” Cate shrugged. “I don’t know, they may have shown him that it was a trick, may have let him get so far, and then beat him again, they may have…they may have made him think he was watching you die in front of him. I don’t know. I only know that they probably convinced him to associate the sight of you with his beatings, and that’s why he can’t allow himself to go with you.” Sydney dropped down on the bed, stunned. “This guy Reynolds who kidnapped him, the man you were setting up the sting for. Were you aware he was involved in this stuff?” “We suspected but we had no proof….” “Suspected! Did you see what they did to Nigel, Cate? Did you see what that monster did to him?” “Yes! It’s all I can see, Sydney ! I never wanted that to happen...” “Why did you need Nigel, Cate? Why pick on him?” Cate brushed away the tears that had started to flow again. “He…he fit the profile. We suspected that Reynolds was looking for young men with very sharp minds to turn into soldiers in his war against the government.” “What war?” “Reynolds is a fanatic, but before that he worked with the CIA in a special operation called Jupiter. We believe that he was training military men and CIA recruits to be part of a secret group of assassins. The CIA eventually found out what he was up to and shut him down, but he disappeared before anyone could bring him to face the charges.” “How is it you knew about him?” “We’d gotten word he was starting an underground network, going back to his old ways and this time he meant to infiltrate the government that exposed him. We knew he was in Europe but we couldn’t get close to him because of his people. Nigel was just the type Reynolds was looking for, young, reasonably naive and a brilliant mind. Someone that could be moulded into a perfect assassin.” “How could you expose him to that kind of insanity, Cate?” “We were watching him and he was wired, there was no way Reynolds should have been able to get him without our knowing.” Cate dropped down on the bed and covered her face in her hands. “We just needed to get Reynolds out in the open, we never expected…” She shook her head miserably. “God, it all went so horribly wrong!” Sydney crossed her arms over her chest, her body vibrating in fury and stalked over to the only window in the small hotel room. Finally, she glanced back at Cate. “Will Nigel ever…I mean…will he recover from this? How…how come he lets you touch him?” “They probably didn’t know about me, Sydney , they couldn’t use me in any of their scenarios, and so I was a reality Nigel could cling to because it hadn’t been used against him.” Sydney stood there, silently digesting Cate’s words. “So…what do we do to help him? Will he ever be…right again?” Cate stood up, agitated and began to pace. “I don’t know. They didn’t have him very long and according to Reynolds Nigel’s will was strong so we don’t even know how long he’s…been like this. We may be able to reverse it or he may come out of it and start trusting himself again now that he’s away from there.” She shrugged helplessly. “He may need intensive therapy he may never recover, Sydney , I just don’t know.” “He was with that monster for two weeks, Cate.” Sydney said, dully as a grip of fear tightened inside her stomach. The idea of what had been done to her friend during that time caused a twist of fear to curl painfully around her insides. It had taken them weeks to find him, weeks that he had been at their mercy and Reynolds had said he’d finally broken him. Nigel had been broken, there was no doubt of that, and he might always be afraid of her. Even with recovery, he would never truly be the man he was, the Nigel she loved and trusted. She couldn’t face that. “There has to be something we can do.” “There isn’t. It’s like he’s under a spell, and we don’t have the right magic to break it.” Sydney stared at her hands, thoughtfully. There had to be something they could do, all the things that she and Nigel had faced together, there had to be something. “I…I better get back and check on him,” Cate decided when the silence had become stifling. “Sydney, I…I really am sorry. I’ll have the agency bring in the best psychologists to help.” Sydney wouldn’t even look at her; if she did she might snap Cate’s pretty little neck.
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