Title: Legacy
Author: Sita Z.
Genre: Angst/ Drama
Rating: PG-13
Summary: During an away mission, Reed was kidnapped and tortured. Back on Enterprise he has to deal with certain memories of his past brought back by the traumatic experience. Please read and review!!
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Enterprise, I'm not making any money from this.
Chapter 1
"Why are you doing this?"
Reed slowly raised his head, looking his tormentor in the eyes. Blood trickled down from the gash on his forehead, running down his cheek. Some of the sticky liquid got into his eyes and and he blinked, his vision momentarily blurred. The man's face leaned closer to his.
"Why are you doing this?"
Reed's mind was empty. He couldn't fathom the meaning of the words, only realized that it was a question. And an unanswered question meant pain. He opened his mouth, repeating the sentence he had screamed, moaned and whispered again and again the last few days.
"I don't know."
That was not what they wanted to hear, and he knew it. Unable to muster enough strength even to close his eyes, he just sat there, waiting for the blow. It never came. Instead the man simply repeated the question without laying hands on him, something he had never done before during their sessions.
"Why are you doing this? We will kill you, and you know it. You will not be able to withstand us forever. The time will come when you will tell us what we need to know. So why do you insist on prolonging this unnecessarily?"
The words were meaningless to him. His brain refused to make sense of what the man was saying; the only thing Reed registrated was that the voice talking to him had become less threatening. It sounded calm now, almost weary, and no one was hurting him. That was strange, and suspicion rose somewhere in his numb mind. He mustn't fall for their tricks, he had to stay awake and aware of what he was saying. And there was only one safe answer to their questions.
"I don't know."
This time the blow came before he had even finished the sentence and white-hot pain flared up in his face as he heard an ugly crunch. Something warm was tingling on his upper lip and in the next moment he tasted blood. The man grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked him forward. Reed almost blacked out when his broken ribs sent up a blaze of pain. Through the spots dancing in front of his eyes he saw the man's face only inches apart from his, gray eyes staring into his own. As the man spoke, his voice was not more than a soft hiss.
"You can make this stop, you know. It's up to you. Just say the word, and it will all be over. Do you wish to die?"
"I don't know," he whispered, seeing the man's eyes narrowing to slits.
"But I do. Just think about it. It would be over."
Reed closed his eyes, trying to understand the meaning of the word. Over. They would leave him alone, they would finally go away, satisfied with what they heard, and he would be able to rest. The thought filled his mind, leaving no room for anything else, and suddenly he knew he couldn't take any more. He wanted the man with the quiet voice to be contented, finally, and more than anything else he wanted to close his eyes and go to sleep. He was so tired.
He heard his own voice, roughened by hours of screaming, say words he had no control of.
"What do you want?"
"You know what we want." Again the man spoke in a quiet, almost encouraging tone. "Tell me, and we're done. It's so easy."
He knew what they wanted, of course he did. After hundreds of questions which had been repeated over and over for days at a time, he knew exactly what he had to say to make it stop. Reed opened his mouth and began to speak.
###
A few days later Captain Jonathan Archer entered sickbay, feeling relieved and worried at the same time as his eyes fell on the only bed occupied, the drawn curtains hiding it from view. Two hours ago the away team had returned from the planet, bringing Lieutenant Reed with them. The Armoury Officer was unconscious and in a bad shape, but he was alive. After six days of searching, scanning the planet over and over without finding a trace of human bio signs anywhere, Archer had begun to lose hope of ever seeing Malcolm Reed again. Reluctantly, he had already started thinking of contacting Starfleet Command and reporting the Armoury Officer missing and very likely dead, when T'Pol suddenly had picked up a human bio reading near one of the big cities. He'd sent down Trip and a Security team and they had found Malcolm Reed unconscious beside a road out in the country. There seemed to be not much life left in him when they took him to sick bay, but Dr.Phlox had assured them Reed's injuries, while quite serious, were not life-threatening. When Phlox had called a few minutes ago, telling him Reed was regaining consciousness, Archer had left the bridge and come down to sickbay immediately. Ever since Reed had suddenly disappeared a week ago during that wretched research mission, worry and guilt had been weighing down on him. Malcolm hadn't approved of the away mission from the start, trying to convince Archer that it was too much of a risk exploring those cities. They knew nothing about those people except that they hadn't yet developed warp technology and looked almost human, and Reed hadn't wanted anybody down on that planet without at least five days of further research and an armed Security team accompanying them. But Malcolm always argued over away missions and Archer, thinking it was just the Armoury Officer's paranoia striking again, had ordered him to give a phaser to every member of the away team and get going.
It had been a mistake, and Archer knew it. Staring at the curtains of the bed he swallowed, afraid of what he was going to see when he pulled the fabric aside. Feeling a hand on his arm, he turned his head and saw Dr.Phlox standing beside him, his cheerful Denobulan smile a little subdued as he spoke.
"I'm glad you came, Captain. I think it will help Lieutenant Reed if he sees your face when he wakes up."
Archer bit his lip. "How is he?"
Phlox hesitated a moment before he answered. "His injuries will heal. No permanent damage has been done; not on the outside, that is." He looked up and Archer saw grief and anger in his eyes as he continued. "Captain, Lieutenant Reed has been tortured."
Archer felt his throat constrict. "How-how do you know?"
Phlox averted his eyes for a moment. "It's obvious from the pattern of his injuries. Most of his ribs were broken, as well as his nose and three fingers. There was a severe bleeding in the right kidney, probably due to the beating he received. On his chest I found several burn marks, probably caused by hot metal or something similar."
Archer felt sick. The mere thought of someone doing such things to another person was appalling. Hot anger took hold of him as he thought of Malcolm suffering like this, and he had to fight to keep his voice steady as he spoke.
"Can I see him now?"
Phlox pulled aside the thin fabric, and Archer stepped closer, his breath catching in his throat as his eyes fell on Reed. Malcolm's face was pale, almost white, and there was a nasty-looking bruise on his left cheekbone. The nose had been splinted, but Archer could still see bits of clotted blood on his nostrils. On his forehead was a deep cut, glistening wet with the antiseptic gel the doctor had applied. His ribs were bandaged as well, but his chest was exposed enough for Archer to see the blistered red burns there. A blanket was drawn over most of his body, and there was a tube attached to his right arm. Phlox checked the screen over the bed, then turned to look at Archer.
"His condition is stabilizing. I'm going to wake him up now, but it is essential not to upset him right now. Don't try to make him talk about what happened, unless he wants to. Try to calm him, tell him he's going to be all right."
While Archer ususally didn't like being patronized by the doctor, he knew Phlox was right. He nodded silently, and Phlox bent down to press a hypospray against Reeds neck. Malcolm stirred, turning his head from side to side as if to pull away from the touch, and then slowly, painfully opened his eyes. For a second he didn't seem able to focus, his swollen eyelids refusing to give way. Then his eyes fell on Archer and Phlox standing beside the bed, and he startled.
"Captain..." His voice sounded hoarse, barely more than a whisper. Archer stepped closer, carefully reaching out to touch one of Reeds hands. He felt Malcolm tense at the contact, but didn't pull away.
"Yes, I'm here," he said, keeping his voice as calm as possible. "We're so glad to have you back, Lieutenant."
Reed seemed to relax a bit, but as he spoke again, his voice was scratchy and the words were halted, pained.
"I was... they were taking me back... I blacked out. I don't remember..."
Archer tightened his grip on Reeds hand. "It's ok. You're safe now. Doc says you'll have to stay here for a while, but you're going to be ok. Don't worry."
Reed shook his head, clearly upset now. "No... it's not ok... you must... contact Command. Immediately."
Archer exchanged a worried look with Phlox. "Is he still hallucinating? The sedatives, maybe?"
Phlox shook his head. "I gave him some painkillers, but they shouldn't have that effect." He bent down to Reed. "Just try to relax, Lieutenant. Everything's all right."
"No!" There was a definite edge of panic to his voice. "It's not... the... information..."
Trying to speak in a soothing tone of voice, Archer interrupted him.
"What information are you talking about, Malcolm?"
Reed swallowed convulsively. "Information about weapons... the information I gave them."
The last words were almost inaudible, and Malcolm, not able to continue, closed his eyes. Archer shook his head, beginning to understand what Reed was trying to tell him. They had questioned him about weapons, and he had - or believed he had - given them restricted information. The Captain saw Phlox preparing another hypo, and held up his hand to stop the doctor from putting Reed to sleep just now.
"Malcolm."
The Armoury Officer looked at him, and Archer saw shame and guilt in his eyes. Never letting go of Reed's hand, he continued, hoping his voice sounded firm enough for Malcolm to believe the truth of his words.
"Whatever you told them, it doesn't matter. You survived, that's the only thing that matters right now. All you need to do now is rest, and stop worrying, ok?"
Reed turned his head away. "No. You don't understand. It was... essential information I gave them. They know about our weapons, they know how to..." He coughed dryly, and his voice became even hoarser as he continued. "I... failed."
Archer opened his mouth to reply, but Phlox put a hand on his arm. He shook his head slightly, and Archer reluctantly complied, knowing that arguing would only upset Reed further. He said nothing, moving aside so Phlox could administer the hypospray. Reeds eyes closed, and a moment later he was asleep, but even then a slight frown remained on his face. Phlox cast a worried look at the screen over the bed.
"This will last for a few hours. But I can't keep giving him tranquilizers, his body is still too weak for that. He needs to relax on his own."
Archer looked down at Malcolm's pale face. "He said he failed. I wonder what he meant by that."
There was a moments silence before Phlox answered. "Captain, it seems Lieutenant Reed wasn't tortured only once, but several times during the last six days. It is... very possible that they managed to break him; nobody can withstand this kind of thing forever. As he said, in the end he probably told them everything they wanted to know. And just as well, because he wouldn't have survived much longer if he hadn't."
Of course, Archer thought, Malcolm would expect himself to hold out until the very end, rather dying than giving them any information. He would never accept the fact that even he had a breaking point, that at some point sheer willpower wasn't enough anymore to stop himself from answering their questions. Malcolm Reed had never accepted the fact that even he was only human, after all.
Sighing, Archer got up. He had to go back to the bridge, tell the others Malcolm would make it. Trip had been badly shaken when he had returned with the shuttle, and Archer had seen the anxious worry on the engineer's face when they had taken Reed away to sickbay. He looked at Phlox, who was busy applying some more gel to the burns on the Armoury Officer's chest.
"Please notify me if there's any change, Doc."
Phlox nodded, closing the box containing the gel. "I will, Captain."
Archer turned, heading for the door. Guilt was still weighing down on him, maybe even harder than before. As he made his way to the bridge, he thought of the look on Malcolm's face as he had told him that he'd failed. There had been utter despair in his eyes, and Archer couldn't think of a way to make him understand nobody blamed him for what had happened. He had never known anyone who was as unforgiving about his own failures and shortcomings as Lieutenant Reed. Archer knew the Armoury Officer would never forgive himself for saving his own life and sanity, for giving in to his survival instinct rather than letting himself get killed in the line of duty.
Author: Sita Z.
Genre: Angst/ Drama
Rating: PG-13
Summary: During an away mission, Reed was kidnapped and tortured. Back on Enterprise he has to deal with certain memories of his past brought back by the traumatic experience. Please read and review!!
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Enterprise, I'm not making any money from this.
Chapter 1
"Why are you doing this?"
Reed slowly raised his head, looking his tormentor in the eyes. Blood trickled down from the gash on his forehead, running down his cheek. Some of the sticky liquid got into his eyes and and he blinked, his vision momentarily blurred. The man's face leaned closer to his.
"Why are you doing this?"
Reed's mind was empty. He couldn't fathom the meaning of the words, only realized that it was a question. And an unanswered question meant pain. He opened his mouth, repeating the sentence he had screamed, moaned and whispered again and again the last few days.
"I don't know."
That was not what they wanted to hear, and he knew it. Unable to muster enough strength even to close his eyes, he just sat there, waiting for the blow. It never came. Instead the man simply repeated the question without laying hands on him, something he had never done before during their sessions.
"Why are you doing this? We will kill you, and you know it. You will not be able to withstand us forever. The time will come when you will tell us what we need to know. So why do you insist on prolonging this unnecessarily?"
The words were meaningless to him. His brain refused to make sense of what the man was saying; the only thing Reed registrated was that the voice talking to him had become less threatening. It sounded calm now, almost weary, and no one was hurting him. That was strange, and suspicion rose somewhere in his numb mind. He mustn't fall for their tricks, he had to stay awake and aware of what he was saying. And there was only one safe answer to their questions.
"I don't know."
This time the blow came before he had even finished the sentence and white-hot pain flared up in his face as he heard an ugly crunch. Something warm was tingling on his upper lip and in the next moment he tasted blood. The man grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked him forward. Reed almost blacked out when his broken ribs sent up a blaze of pain. Through the spots dancing in front of his eyes he saw the man's face only inches apart from his, gray eyes staring into his own. As the man spoke, his voice was not more than a soft hiss.
"You can make this stop, you know. It's up to you. Just say the word, and it will all be over. Do you wish to die?"
"I don't know," he whispered, seeing the man's eyes narrowing to slits.
"But I do. Just think about it. It would be over."
Reed closed his eyes, trying to understand the meaning of the word. Over. They would leave him alone, they would finally go away, satisfied with what they heard, and he would be able to rest. The thought filled his mind, leaving no room for anything else, and suddenly he knew he couldn't take any more. He wanted the man with the quiet voice to be contented, finally, and more than anything else he wanted to close his eyes and go to sleep. He was so tired.
He heard his own voice, roughened by hours of screaming, say words he had no control of.
"What do you want?"
"You know what we want." Again the man spoke in a quiet, almost encouraging tone. "Tell me, and we're done. It's so easy."
He knew what they wanted, of course he did. After hundreds of questions which had been repeated over and over for days at a time, he knew exactly what he had to say to make it stop. Reed opened his mouth and began to speak.
###
A few days later Captain Jonathan Archer entered sickbay, feeling relieved and worried at the same time as his eyes fell on the only bed occupied, the drawn curtains hiding it from view. Two hours ago the away team had returned from the planet, bringing Lieutenant Reed with them. The Armoury Officer was unconscious and in a bad shape, but he was alive. After six days of searching, scanning the planet over and over without finding a trace of human bio signs anywhere, Archer had begun to lose hope of ever seeing Malcolm Reed again. Reluctantly, he had already started thinking of contacting Starfleet Command and reporting the Armoury Officer missing and very likely dead, when T'Pol suddenly had picked up a human bio reading near one of the big cities. He'd sent down Trip and a Security team and they had found Malcolm Reed unconscious beside a road out in the country. There seemed to be not much life left in him when they took him to sick bay, but Dr.Phlox had assured them Reed's injuries, while quite serious, were not life-threatening. When Phlox had called a few minutes ago, telling him Reed was regaining consciousness, Archer had left the bridge and come down to sickbay immediately. Ever since Reed had suddenly disappeared a week ago during that wretched research mission, worry and guilt had been weighing down on him. Malcolm hadn't approved of the away mission from the start, trying to convince Archer that it was too much of a risk exploring those cities. They knew nothing about those people except that they hadn't yet developed warp technology and looked almost human, and Reed hadn't wanted anybody down on that planet without at least five days of further research and an armed Security team accompanying them. But Malcolm always argued over away missions and Archer, thinking it was just the Armoury Officer's paranoia striking again, had ordered him to give a phaser to every member of the away team and get going.
It had been a mistake, and Archer knew it. Staring at the curtains of the bed he swallowed, afraid of what he was going to see when he pulled the fabric aside. Feeling a hand on his arm, he turned his head and saw Dr.Phlox standing beside him, his cheerful Denobulan smile a little subdued as he spoke.
"I'm glad you came, Captain. I think it will help Lieutenant Reed if he sees your face when he wakes up."
Archer bit his lip. "How is he?"
Phlox hesitated a moment before he answered. "His injuries will heal. No permanent damage has been done; not on the outside, that is." He looked up and Archer saw grief and anger in his eyes as he continued. "Captain, Lieutenant Reed has been tortured."
Archer felt his throat constrict. "How-how do you know?"
Phlox averted his eyes for a moment. "It's obvious from the pattern of his injuries. Most of his ribs were broken, as well as his nose and three fingers. There was a severe bleeding in the right kidney, probably due to the beating he received. On his chest I found several burn marks, probably caused by hot metal or something similar."
Archer felt sick. The mere thought of someone doing such things to another person was appalling. Hot anger took hold of him as he thought of Malcolm suffering like this, and he had to fight to keep his voice steady as he spoke.
"Can I see him now?"
Phlox pulled aside the thin fabric, and Archer stepped closer, his breath catching in his throat as his eyes fell on Reed. Malcolm's face was pale, almost white, and there was a nasty-looking bruise on his left cheekbone. The nose had been splinted, but Archer could still see bits of clotted blood on his nostrils. On his forehead was a deep cut, glistening wet with the antiseptic gel the doctor had applied. His ribs were bandaged as well, but his chest was exposed enough for Archer to see the blistered red burns there. A blanket was drawn over most of his body, and there was a tube attached to his right arm. Phlox checked the screen over the bed, then turned to look at Archer.
"His condition is stabilizing. I'm going to wake him up now, but it is essential not to upset him right now. Don't try to make him talk about what happened, unless he wants to. Try to calm him, tell him he's going to be all right."
While Archer ususally didn't like being patronized by the doctor, he knew Phlox was right. He nodded silently, and Phlox bent down to press a hypospray against Reeds neck. Malcolm stirred, turning his head from side to side as if to pull away from the touch, and then slowly, painfully opened his eyes. For a second he didn't seem able to focus, his swollen eyelids refusing to give way. Then his eyes fell on Archer and Phlox standing beside the bed, and he startled.
"Captain..." His voice sounded hoarse, barely more than a whisper. Archer stepped closer, carefully reaching out to touch one of Reeds hands. He felt Malcolm tense at the contact, but didn't pull away.
"Yes, I'm here," he said, keeping his voice as calm as possible. "We're so glad to have you back, Lieutenant."
Reed seemed to relax a bit, but as he spoke again, his voice was scratchy and the words were halted, pained.
"I was... they were taking me back... I blacked out. I don't remember..."
Archer tightened his grip on Reeds hand. "It's ok. You're safe now. Doc says you'll have to stay here for a while, but you're going to be ok. Don't worry."
Reed shook his head, clearly upset now. "No... it's not ok... you must... contact Command. Immediately."
Archer exchanged a worried look with Phlox. "Is he still hallucinating? The sedatives, maybe?"
Phlox shook his head. "I gave him some painkillers, but they shouldn't have that effect." He bent down to Reed. "Just try to relax, Lieutenant. Everything's all right."
"No!" There was a definite edge of panic to his voice. "It's not... the... information..."
Trying to speak in a soothing tone of voice, Archer interrupted him.
"What information are you talking about, Malcolm?"
Reed swallowed convulsively. "Information about weapons... the information I gave them."
The last words were almost inaudible, and Malcolm, not able to continue, closed his eyes. Archer shook his head, beginning to understand what Reed was trying to tell him. They had questioned him about weapons, and he had - or believed he had - given them restricted information. The Captain saw Phlox preparing another hypo, and held up his hand to stop the doctor from putting Reed to sleep just now.
"Malcolm."
The Armoury Officer looked at him, and Archer saw shame and guilt in his eyes. Never letting go of Reed's hand, he continued, hoping his voice sounded firm enough for Malcolm to believe the truth of his words.
"Whatever you told them, it doesn't matter. You survived, that's the only thing that matters right now. All you need to do now is rest, and stop worrying, ok?"
Reed turned his head away. "No. You don't understand. It was... essential information I gave them. They know about our weapons, they know how to..." He coughed dryly, and his voice became even hoarser as he continued. "I... failed."
Archer opened his mouth to reply, but Phlox put a hand on his arm. He shook his head slightly, and Archer reluctantly complied, knowing that arguing would only upset Reed further. He said nothing, moving aside so Phlox could administer the hypospray. Reeds eyes closed, and a moment later he was asleep, but even then a slight frown remained on his face. Phlox cast a worried look at the screen over the bed.
"This will last for a few hours. But I can't keep giving him tranquilizers, his body is still too weak for that. He needs to relax on his own."
Archer looked down at Malcolm's pale face. "He said he failed. I wonder what he meant by that."
There was a moments silence before Phlox answered. "Captain, it seems Lieutenant Reed wasn't tortured only once, but several times during the last six days. It is... very possible that they managed to break him; nobody can withstand this kind of thing forever. As he said, in the end he probably told them everything they wanted to know. And just as well, because he wouldn't have survived much longer if he hadn't."
Of course, Archer thought, Malcolm would expect himself to hold out until the very end, rather dying than giving them any information. He would never accept the fact that even he had a breaking point, that at some point sheer willpower wasn't enough anymore to stop himself from answering their questions. Malcolm Reed had never accepted the fact that even he was only human, after all.
Sighing, Archer got up. He had to go back to the bridge, tell the others Malcolm would make it. Trip had been badly shaken when he had returned with the shuttle, and Archer had seen the anxious worry on the engineer's face when they had taken Reed away to sickbay. He looked at Phlox, who was busy applying some more gel to the burns on the Armoury Officer's chest.
"Please notify me if there's any change, Doc."
Phlox nodded, closing the box containing the gel. "I will, Captain."
Archer turned, heading for the door. Guilt was still weighing down on him, maybe even harder than before. As he made his way to the bridge, he thought of the look on Malcolm's face as he had told him that he'd failed. There had been utter despair in his eyes, and Archer couldn't think of a way to make him understand nobody blamed him for what had happened. He had never known anyone who was as unforgiving about his own failures and shortcomings as Lieutenant Reed. Archer knew the Armoury Officer would never forgive himself for saving his own life and sanity, for giving in to his survival instinct rather than letting himself get killed in the line of duty.