Plot - Interrogation Room I
Apr. 15th, 2007 01:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
She doesn't have to submit to them. The mirror shows a reflection, but she knows it's hiding double sided glass.
They're watching her.
Thousands of miles away, she senses Behrooz, and she knows he can't be distracted or feel her fear. 'I'm sorry,' she thinks. 'I'm sorry that I can't let you be here and that I can't help you and that I was unable to figure any way out for either of us.'
She keeps her hands on the table, wanting to dig her nails in, feeling the weight of the path she's chosen. For anyone else, they'd be trapped, but she could escape, it would just mean that at least one person would know what she really is - and she can't let that information get out.
The other way out of this situation, would be to start talking, to tell them what they want to hear and save herself. If her dad knew what was happening, he'd tell her that he only wants her to be safe and that he wouldn't blame her for giving in. She knows that there's no good option, either she betrays his trust, or she stays silent and deals with the consequences.
Bill enters the room, he talks to her for a few minutes, and she wishes she could tell him the truth. Her lies are part of the reason why she's here now, if she'd only been honest, maybe he would have accepted her arguments as more than just family loyalty.
He tells her that she could be protecting an assassin, and she presses her lips together for a moment before looking up at him. He doesn't know a quarter of what her family's been through, and she intends to keep it that way.
'I know who I'm protecting and you have no idea what I could do to you right now if I let my control slip.' she thinks. She went to China, she faced unknown danger to save him, and he's done the same for her.
They want to use her to get to him and she won't let them.
A long time ago, she told her dad that she'd sooner die than be used to hurt innocent people. The situation's not exactly the same, but, she survived Mesaana, and she'll survive whatever happens next.
She saw her dad after China, she tried to remind him of reality when it slipped away, when the lights went out and just that was enough of a trigger. A sick feeling spreads through her at the thought of him in this situation. In CTU, you're guilty until they find evidence otherwise, and they wouldn't listen to denials and they'd hurt him until he confessed or they --
"He's innocent," she repeated as Bill left, and with him her chance for getting out of this unharmed.
Time passes.
Behrooz was right. She has some idea of how he felt, sitting in that room, and waiting for them to make a decision. She'll defend them even after they make her scream, because it's the only way she knows, and she's part of it. Once she only felt hate and a desire for revenge, now she tries to feel nothing at all.
She breathes in, allowing herself one last image of the rose unfurling, prepared for pain, and determined not to speak or give in.
A soft buzz and the door opens.
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Date: 2007-04-15 05:18 am (UTC)Mike Doyle always thought that the most important part was the anticipation. His stride is measured, careful, and takes just slightly too long to put a foot down. There is a hollow reverberation in the empty room. He held a piece of paper in his hand. The other hand was folded behind his back and held a heavy, silver gun--the weight felt just right in his hand. His voice is mechanical.
"Name: Kimberly Anne Bauer. Gender: female. Social Security Number: Eight Seven Zero Zero Three Three Four Seven Zero. Height: Five foot three inches. Weight: one hundred and thirteen pounds. Father: Jack Bauer. Mother: Teri Bauer--deceased. No siblings. Level Two Analyst at CTU: Los Angeles."
Casually, Mike Doyle sat on the table in front of her, the gun in his lap.
"I'm Agent Doyle, Miss Bauer. Now that the introductions are done, I think we should have a talk."
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Date: 2007-04-15 05:37 am (UTC)His tactic catches her off guard, they've worked together, he certainly doesn't need to be introduced, but there's no familiarity in his stare.
She inwardly winces at the tone of his voice. This is going to be more difficult than she thought.
His legs almost touch hers and she wants to move away. The gun resting on his lap is large, a high calliber, and it's meant to intimidate her.
"I have nothing to say," She meets his gaze calmly, but the source is just within her reach, and she stops herself from embracing it only because she knows anything she does will make things worse.
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Date: 2007-04-15 05:45 am (UTC)"That's a shame, Miss Bauer. After all, I'm a busy man and we have some words to exchange before I can get back to work."
His index finger caressed the underside of the pistol's barrel. The cool metal skipping across his callused fingers with the ease of familiarity.
"Why don't we talk about your dad? To break the ice, you know."
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Date: 2007-04-15 05:53 am (UTC)'I thought interrogating people was your job' she thinks. It's better that she's here, she can handle this, she can make it out of this undamaged.
"What about my dad?" She asks carefully, stalling for time.
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Date: 2007-04-15 06:04 am (UTC)"I'd like to have a chat with the Great Jack Bauer, so why don't you call him up, and ask how his day has been?"
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Date: 2007-04-15 04:37 pm (UTC)Her hands are still free and she keeps her wrists pressed against the arm rests of the chair. She'll be non-threatening, but also non-cooperative.
"I don't know how to reach him," she lies and forces herself to maintain eye contact.
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Date: 2007-04-15 08:08 pm (UTC)Pounding the metal butt of the gun against the metal table, Doyle snapped at her. The sound echoed and re-echoed throughout the room. Waiting a moment, he commented in his cold mechanical voice again.
"Don't insult my intelligence, Miss Bauer. Get ahold of Jack."
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Date: 2007-04-15 08:17 pm (UTC)'He might hurt me, but no matter what happens, I'll recover.'
"I can't do that," she says softly, her expression is deceptively neutral.
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Date: 2007-04-15 08:20 pm (UTC)"We will have your cooperation, Miss Bauer. The only question is how long is it going to take and how much is it going to hurt. Tell me where I can find Jack Bauer."
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Date: 2007-04-15 08:37 pm (UTC)His words slide over her. She won't give in.
"I can't do that," she repeats. "He's innocent and I won't let you hurt him."
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Date: 2007-04-15 08:58 pm (UTC)Kneeling beside Kim, he adjusted his fingers to dig into the veins on the side of her neck. Pulling the silver pistol to his face, he held the top of the barrel in his teeth and pushed forward to cock the gun. Doyle put the barrel against Kim's face, and licked the metallic taste off his lips. His voice was calm.
"Now tell me how I can get Jack, Miss Bauer."
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Date: 2007-04-15 09:49 pm (UTC)The pressure of his hand and the look in his eyes is reminding her of events she's locked away for a long time.
As her body realizes it can't get air into her lungs, her breathing threatens to become erratic, and if she's not careful she's going to fall back on instinct.
Saidar beckons her, the warm glow enticing and promising an end to the ordeal. If she could just channel a single thread of air, just enough to make him release her, or Compulsion him to move away, she could regain her composure.
'Dad would break, he couldn't go through this, Doyle wouldn't be gentle - oh God is this gentle?'
Another jolt of pain through her neck and into her head. The gun is cool against her cheek and it's a shock to realize she's feeling temperature.
"I'm not telling you anything," she whispers as tears slide down her face. She's made her decision, she has no choice but to follow through.
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Date: 2007-04-16 01:48 am (UTC)"Yes, Miss Bauer, you will."
His grip tightened as he put more of his body weight on his hand and dug his fingers into the sides of her neck.
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Date: 2007-04-16 02:02 am (UTC)It's like being under water but she can't get to the surface.
Without thinking about the consequences, she places her hands against the floor and tries to move backward, her heels pressed against the legs of the chair and kicking off slightly.
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Date: 2007-04-16 02:22 am (UTC)"You aren't convincing anyone of your or his innocence."
Shooting his knee to her side and then repeating it twice more to discourage her further, he kept his hand on her throat--enough to stay conscious but precious little else. Brushing the hair out of her face with the barrel of the gun, he tensed his lips.
"Now get me Jack Bauer."
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Date: 2007-04-16 02:43 am (UTC)Her vision's starting to grey out at the edges, creating a viewing arc that's obscured further by blurry eyes.
And she knows that compared to what people she loved went through, this is nothing.
He caresses her face with his gun and she's on the verge of panic, a few more moments and she'll have to defend herself.
"I don't know where to find him," she pants, gasping for air.
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Date: 2007-04-16 04:32 am (UTC)Pressing the button that allows him to communicate with Doyle's earpiece, Bill barks, "Doyle, get off of her and get out here right this minute!"
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Date: 2007-04-16 04:58 am (UTC)"Right away, sir."
He glanced down at Kim for a moment. She could get up herself. Without another word, he slipped the gun into the waistband of his pants and walked out of the door.
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Date: 2007-04-23 02:31 am (UTC)They're halfway back to his office when an analyst runs up to him, a folder in their hand. "This just came up from Forensics, sir. It's urgent."
Bill stops, taking the folder and flipping it open. Skimming the report, he can feel his stomach start to sink, his fingers turning cold.
...concluded that the substance found on the partial fingerprints was common cooking oil...no human epithelials or skin oils were found on the weapon, including in the partial fingerprints...
"Sir?" Doyle asks, and Bill realises he hasn't hidden his reaction; not that there's any reason to. Not with this kind of development.
"Call the field teams back, and get someone to take Kim to medical," he says, starting toward his office, "Jack didn't kill David Palmer; he was set up."