Self Sacrifice

"What are you doing?"

"Calling in a favour for private flights to Moscow - we need to get out there now."

"No, Austin." He glared at the Englishman who remained un phased by his anger.

"We need to do this right, Austin. If we just go charging blindly around Moscow, Veronés is going to find out and target us, or take Andy and leave. We've found more traces, and his brother. Once we've made sure that his brother is in our grasp, we can go out there and get Andy back. Not before."

"It's been seven days now. He could be dead. It's likely, in fact. He could just be laying somewhere, dead and rotting away-"

"Veronés is desperate, he's lashing out in the only way he knows, he's not going to get rid of the one thing he has to use against you-"

"FINE! Then he's probably subjecting Andy to god knows what!!"

"You're right. So we need to stop wasting time and get this sorted out as soon as possible, for his sake." Austin took a deep breath before striding out of the hotel to take a walk.

"Good morning sunshine! I've been thinking, Andy, and I realised I just haven't been treating you right!!" Andy frowned and coughed weakly, the Mexican was pacing quickly, talking in a more manic fashion than usual. He was agitated. Something had happened.

"What...what's wrong?"

"Like I said I haven't been treating you right, you must be thirsty! JOSÉ!!" The man who'd bought the chair in walked in with two large watering cans. Andy felt sick with fear.

"Let's make sure Andy has all the water he needs for now." Andy felt confused but was unable to resist the strong man who pulled him to his feet and into an adjoining room that Andy hadn't realised was there. He felt the steel on his back before he could see it as the man pushed him down and held him there while he started buckling up leather straps that fastened over his ankles, knees and thighs, waist, wrists, elbows and shoulders. Andy struggled, panic kicking in.

"Ssssh, relax. Get comfy." Andy's breath began to cloud as he realised just how cold it was in the almost pitch black room. Dim lights suddenly came on, and the Mexican loomed over him.
Andy didn't hear the words that followed, his feeling was heightened, the feel of the leather tight against his skin, the steel almost painfully cold on his back and legs, and his breath hitting his lips and chin as he struggled to stay calm.

His mouth and nose were then covered with a cloth. The realisation hit Andy who began struggling desperately.
"I think he's ready for a drink now." Andy only just had the presence of mind to suck a breath in before the stream of water hit the cloth.

"Ok, we've got Foster and Marx headed towards the house now, they should be radioing in at any point now." They all watched the video feed flicker to life on the screen and the two men whispered to ensure the sound was going through.
Austin crossed his arms tightly and secretly crossed his fingers on the hidden hand, praying that they would catch Juan Luis before he was able to escape - an act they had learnt while investigating that he was extremely proficient in.
Austin didn't flinch as the others did when the silence was broken as surprise gunfire rung out, his eyes remained fixed on the screen. Fixed as the gunfight and then heavy pursuit followed, fixed until the two men were chasing Luis over the back garden fence of the house he'd been staying in, and through a dry-looking field. It wasn't until they'd tackled him to the floor and confirmed they had him, that he realised he'd been holding his breath. Charles clapped him on the back as the others sat back in relief and shook hands.

"Now you can call in that favour - we're going to get him, Austin." Austin raised an eyebrow.

"Who's the boss around here?" Charles chuckled tiredly.
"Go and get some rest - we won't be able to get the flights until tomorrow, thank you." The Englishman nodded in the modest, sideways way that Austin had begun to recognise.

"You should do the same. The worst is over now, we can go and get him and then everything will be fine." Austin's moment of positive nature fell and shattered as he spoke his doubts into the air:

"Well, let's just hope he isn't dead yet."

Andy looked as though he was beginning to fit violently on the titled steel contraption as his lungs felt as though they would burst.
"That's enough. Tilt it back upwards." The man did as he was told and Andy vomited a tiny amount of bile - there wasn't much to exclude from his body. He panted with a mixture of fear, pain and panic, and screamed for them to stop as he was tilted back downwards and the cloth replaced.

The water beating down on his face, he pulled so hard against the restraints that something snapped. The feeling of drowning, he didn't even come close to getting used to it, no matter how many times they did it. And they did it, over, and over, and over, and over again until Andy was sweating and shaking and crying and begging them to stop, screaming unintelligible rants and profanity.

"WHY?! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!!" The Mexican stood coolly and blinked once before speaking.

"I want you to break. And I want Carlile to see it, to know that it's his fault-"

"HE'S NOT C....he's not coming!! He's not...he's...." Andy trailed off into tears, he was already broken.

Nerves bubbled away in Austin's stomach as the plane began to drop closer to the Belarusian soil below.
"I still don't understand why we couldn't have just landed in Russia."

"We're doing this the safe way, Austin. It's much safer to land in Belarus and drive into Moscow."

"We've still got to cross the border-"

"Trust me, Austin." Austin sighed and looked out the window grimly, fingers still firmly crossed underneath his arm.

Andy was delirious as they unstrapped him.
"José, put him back in the other room for me." The bodyguard looked incredulously at him.

"I thought this was going to be the last thing we did to him?"

"No...I'm not finished."

"May I ask-"

"They're on their way to us now. I want Austin to find him completely destroyed."

"They're on their way? Shouldn't we get backup?"

"No. He's rushing in with his little team of soldiers, and we're going to let him. He can have the broken toy back, and then I'll kill him when they get back home."

"I thought the whole point of bringing Andrew here was that we could lure Carlile out here."

"I'd like to play with them a little more, José. I'd like him to think he's won-"

"He's more dangerous than you let on, as your friend, Miguel, please, I beg of you, don't put yourself in any more danger. Kill Carlile whilst he's here, and let the boy go. He'll probably die anyway."

"No, that's far too anti-climatic for my liking. After all of this hard work, I'd hate to see it come to such an abrupt end." José walked out with the limp, pale figure in his arms and Miguel looked at the used torture frame before following.

Austin was like a ticking bomb the whole drive there. He sat in silence, perfectly still, looking a picture of calm and serenity, and yet, beneath the skin he was like an erupting volcano. The anger had been mounting up since the search for Andy had begun, and he was ready to be as sadistic to Miguel, as Miguel would have been to Andy. The thought of what he might have done made Austin absolutely furious. The car was silent too, with only the quiet hum of the radio to break it, Austin's mood seemed to envelope everybody else, Sean and Daniel were nervous, not of the upcoming situation, but of what their boss and close friend might do once they arrived there.

"I received a message from Yegor, apparently Austin crossed the border with his little team in a black SUV ten hours ago. They're driving to us from Minsk - they should be here in an hour." José was pacing.

"You're making me nervous, walk around outside if you have to." The other man looked at him before sitting down.

"What else did you do to him?" He asked, tilting his head towards the room that held Andy.

"Just gave him a choice. Nothing special."

"I hate what he's done to you." Miguel looked at his bodyguard who looked saddened.

"Why? He's made me stronger-"

"He's made you evil. And you're not evil, not really. I know you."

"Be careful, José, I'm not in the mood to deal with you as well tonight."

Andy's head lolled back and hit the wall. Had he been asleep? He wasn't sure and looked around blearily. There was a small lamp in front of him, with a little vial in front of that. Andy shakily picked up the piece of paper that was underneath it.

- Andy, I've enjoyed our time together, however, I think I have failed. Austin won't be coming for you after all. José and myself will be leaving soon, and I leave it to you to make the choice.
You can wait here for Austin to find you, or, you can choose to fall asleep and never wake up. (Hence the bottle)
Good luck, Andy.
M.V -

Andy stared at the bottle blearily. He didn't fully understand what had happened, how long he'd been there, he remembered everything that had been done to him, but it was almost as though someone had drawn the memories in chalk, and then accidentally smudged them. Everything was clouded by pain, darkness, and this airy presence of mind that he now had. He felt detached from his body. Maybe it would be better to take the pill. To get rid of everything.

"Ok, is everything packed up? We'll wait for them outside. Austin will care more about finding his little boy toy than torturing me for revenge."

"I doubt that very much. Do you not remember Carlile?"

"I remember the old Carlile-" José swallowed and Miguel grinned as they heard the crunch of tyres on gravel approaching.

"Let's go and greet them, shall we? No guns necessary."

"Ak-47." Daniel was hesitant to hand the machine gun over.

"Give it to me."

"Just don't...be hasty." Austin snatched the gun out of his hands and his head snapped sideways when the large, wooden door opened and Miguel walked out with a big grin on his face. Austin fought the urge to storm up to him and kill him in the slowest way possible, and instead, walked up casually.

"Austin! How lovely of you to visit us all the way out here."

"I'm done with this game, Miguel. Where is he?"

"Who? Oh, Andy, little Andy, young Andy, precious...Andy. Right. Hmm...that's a good question." Miguel paced up and down as he spoke, looking as though he was talking to himself.

"I mean it, Miguel. Tell me where he is."

"He's in the house, of course. But first, you and I need to settle some things."

"When I said I'm not playing this game, I meant it!" Austin shouted. Miguel looked at him, cold and unfeeling.

"And what can you do, dearest one? Shoot me? Very clever. Do you think I left that room without any kind of defence system? It won't open without the key code that only I know, and if you try to break in?.....boom." Austin leant back as Miguel whispered manically and mimed in his face.

"And precious little Andy? Well...you know. Although, he could be dying right now. He could have been dead...for a very long time. It's just a shame that it took you all so long to get here-" Austin grabbed the other man by the throat and slammed him up against the wall.

"Oh! Good....very good...I was starting to think that you'd lost your touch!!" Austin breathed shakily with anger and tightened his grip, whilst Sean and Daniel trained their guns on José.

"Is he dead?"

"Not...telling!!" He sung hoarsely, and grinned when Austin let him go.

"Fine. Wanna play? Ok let's play, let's play. Charles!" Charles waved to the people in the second SUV who unlocked the back, allowing the two IT geniuses to pull out the struggling figure with a bag over his head.

"Oh you didn't try to find someone that you think I care about, did you? Copying? Really? You have lost your touch after all....but very well, surprise me." Austin nodded once and strode over to the figure, whipping the bag off his head to reveal his face. Miguel's eyes widened slightly and he cocked his head to the side.

"Go and get Andy...or I will torture your brother while you stand there defenceless." Miguel stood for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly.

"Very well." Juan Luis, who had been crying and wailing in Spanish to his brother - screamed and began begging until Sean slapped him and instructed him to stop.

"Oh I hate it when I get my way so easily...but I hate it when you do this....every time, every time. Austin, oh Austin, how I love you. You are a fantastic rival for me, you really are. But you see...I'd rather see him die...than help you."

"Really? Ok." The two men who had been driving the second SUV walked over and pushed the two Mexicans against the wall at gunpoint while Austin walked over to the panicked figure of Juan Luis.

"Let's play."

Andy looked at the little white capsule in his hand, it had blue speckles in it. Andy wondered absent-mindedly what it had in it. Austin wasn't coming. The silence in the room was deafening. It must be sound proof. Andy nodded for no reason, maybe it wasn't a bad idea.

Miguel found it harder and harder to look the more pain his brother was in, and Austin had no problems breaking each and every one of his fingers, then starting to move towards his legs.
"Ok! Fine, fine fine. You win."

"Go and get Andy."

"He's probably already dead anyway."

"What?"

"Well I mean...he's undergone some substantial level of physical and mental stress, and then, well, he's given up on you, Austin. He told me you wouldn't come, but I could tell he thought you would. Until last night anyway. An hour ago I gave him a choice. He could give up...or keep his faith in you. I wonder what he chose-" Austin punched him as hard as he could, knocking the man clean out of consciousness and slapping him awake.

"You haven't lost that arm..."

"You're going to lose yours unless you tell me where he is!!" Miguel sighed and nodded, walking into the house, followed closely by the rest of the group.

"Get on with it." Austin snarled and Miguel entered in the passcode, rolling his eyes when Austin sprinted in the moment the door opened.

"Andy!" He shouted, struggling to find the light.

"Where is he?!" He shook Miguel who pressed a button, opening the door to the next room. Austin ran in and skidded to the floor when he saw the fragile, bloody, body of Andy.

"Andy, Andy can you hear me? It's me, Andy it's me, I'm here, you're ok now, Andy, wake up." He prised open Andy's pale hand to see the small, empty vial sitting there.