Mac and Li Ann stormed into the briefing room. The Director looked up from the file in front of her and raised her eyebrow.
“What do you want?” the Director asked in an irritated voice.
“What happened to Vic?” Li Ann demanded.
“What happened to Vic when?” the Director sighed.
“What happened to make him split? What brought about the other personalities?” Mac asked.
The Director leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling. “I told you that if you wanted to know you had to ask him.”
“We did ask him and he told us to ask you. So we are asking. What. Happened?”
“Are you sure you really want to know? I guarantee that you will never be able to look at Victor the same way again. Not to mention that some of the things done to him, make even me sick, and you know how few the things that bothers me are. Be very sure that you can deal with this. They did things to Victor that not even our scientists would do, and you know how far they would go. Go home, think about this. Talk about it, then tomorrow if you are sure you want to do this come back. I’ll show it all to you. It will take you several days to go through it all, then you will have several days off to deal with what you have seen and I will set up appointments for you to talk to the Agency shrink. I’m not joking when I say it is very disturbing. Now leave and think it over.” She leaned forward and started reading her file.
Mac and Li Ann stood in front of her for a few minutes before realizing that she was done and would say nothing else. They turned and left the room. A few minutes later Victor entered. She looked up at him.
“They asked. Are you sure you want them to see it? If you say no, I won’t give them the materials.”
“They need to know. There have been a few cases that their knowing what I went through would have been helpful. Trust me, I’m not looking forward to their questions or reactions but they need to know. Besides, I’m getting tired of them bugging me about it all the time.”
“Getting persistent are they?”
“No getting about it. They’ve been persistent. I’ve just been putting it off, but I can’t do it for much longer.”
“Things are starting to heat up between you and Mac, aren’t they?”
Victor glared at the Director. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop spying on me.”
“How many times do I have to tell you I own you,” the Director smirked. Suddenly she became serious. “What if they can’t accept what happened? You know it is a possibility.”
“I know. I guess I would go back to being a lone agent. You’d find someone else to stick with Mac and Li Ann. I have to admit I’ve always wondered why you made me a team player. You know I’ve done better when I was solo.”
“I know, but you need to learn to play well with others. If you are going to rise in the Agency you need to be a team player. Granted there are times when I wonder if I did the right thing teaming you up with the two of them but I’ve seen the results. Victor, you have opened up since they arrived. The other Director’s aren’t complaining about you as much, and you haven’t been in the infirmary as much. Granted when you do get hurt, it seems to be more serious, but you have others to watch your back. You’ve needed that.”
“Gee, you make me sound so pathetic.”
“I don’t mean to, Victor, but you have to face facts. You’ve never really had anyone in your life that really gave a damn about you. Now you do. Even you have to admit it feels good. I’m just worried about how it will affect you if they can’t look you in the eyes, or if your relationship with Mac is affected.”
“If those things happen, we will cross that bridge when we get to it.”
“Okay, if they still want to know tomorrow, I will give them the tapes and the files. You will stay away from them for the few days it takes them to go through the information, right?” Victor nodded. “Good. Now get the hell out of here. I have a meeting.”
“With that other team right?”
“There is no other team. Out!” Victor grinned at her and left the room. The Director let a small smile cross her face before she turned her attention back to the file in front of her. The other team would be showing up in a few minutes and she wanted to make sure she knew all the information before they arrived.
****
Mac and Li Ann had agreed to go to Mac’s apartment to discuss whether or not they wanted to know about what had caused Vic’s personality split. They drove to Mac’s apartment building in separate cars and Li Ann arrived a few minutes before Mac. She stood waiting outside of Mac’s door thinking. Did she really want to know what happened to Vic? While she wasn’t in love with him anymore, she did love Victor. She thought of him as a brother and the thought of what her partner must have gone through to cause such a drastic problem must have been terrible.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened and Mac exited the car. He was surprised to see Li Ann waiting outside his apartment. He had thought that if she arrived before he did, she would use the key he had given her to let herself in. “Li Ann?”
Li Ann started and looked at him. “Mac. I didn’t realize you were here yet.”
“Why didn’t you let yourself in?” Mac asked unlocking the door. Li Ann only shrugged. “You’re already thinking about it, aren’t you?”
“Like you aren’t?” she asked. “This must be an even harder decision for you. You are in love with him. Should we really do this, Mac? I mean do we really want to know about what he went through?” Mac motioned her into the apartment. She took a seat on the couch and he went to get them two beers. He handed one to her and then sat down beside her.
“I don’t know. Part of me wants to know what he went through, that maybe it will help me understand him better. Another part of me is screaming that I don’t want to know. God, Li Ann, the things that I’ve been able to figure out on my own breaks my heart. I really don’t know if I can take the whole story. As it is I want to go out and find the sons of bitches and kill them really slowly.” Mac stopped and took a swig of his beer. “I figure that if Vic managed to live through it, then I can manage to read about it and see a few videos.”
Li Ann stared down at the bottle in her hand. “I think we need to know. Victor reacts to things based on what happened to him. It’s one of the reasons we never know what he is going to do. We also don’t know the triggers that make him change personalities. Maybe this will help us figure it out. I mean I like Cory, but I like Victor a whole lot more and Alex creeps me out. I want to keep Victor around as much as possible.”
“I know what you mean. Victor is the man I fell in love with. Cory is fun but I would rather have Vic around.” Mac leaned back against the couch and stared up at the ceiling. “What worries me is what the Director said. She said some of the things made her sick. To be honest I didn't think there was such a thing.”
“Do you think Victor wants us to know?”
“I think if he didn’t, there wouldn’t be a chance in hell of the Director giving us the information.”
“Yeah. I think we should see it. I think we need to see it.”
Mac nodded and leaned forward and put his head in his hands. “We should probably go get some sleep. I have a feeling we aren’t going to be sleeping much once we look at the stuff the Director is going to give us.”
Li Ann agreed and left Mac’s apartment building. Not long after she left a knock sounded on his door. He stood up and looked through the peephole. Through the distorted lens he saw Victor standing in the hall. Mac opened the door. “Vic, what are you doing here?” he asked motioning him in.
Victor entered the apartment and shrugged. “The Director made me promise to stay away from you while you were looking through the files. I wanted to see you before you started.” Victor looked down at his feet unable to look Mac in the eye. Mac walked over to him and put his hand under Vic’s chin and lifted his head so he could look into the green eyes of the man he loved.
“I’m glad you came. I need to hold you and I need you to tell me that it is okay for me to see the files. I’m so scared, Vic.” Victor moved into Mac’s arms and he rested his head against Mac’s shoulder.
“I want you to see it, Mac. You and Li Ann have to know what they did. I don’t remember it all, and I react sometimes without knowing why. I need you to be able to tell me why.” Victor leaned his head back and looked at Mac. Mac slowly lowered his head and lightly touched his lips to Victor’s. Mac pulled back after a few minutes.
“I understand. I love you, Victor. That will never change. I know that I will be upset over the things they did to you, but they won’t change the way I feel about you.” Mac pulled away and reached out and took Victor’s hand. “Come to bed with me. I have a feeling I’m going to need my sleep and I want to hold you. All I want to do is hold you.” Mac started to walk backwards towards his bedroom. Victor followed behind.
Once they reached the bedroom they silently got undress and then got under the covers. Victor moved closer to Mac and rested his head on Mac’s chest.
“I love you too, Mac.” He turned his head and placed a kiss in the center of Mac’s chest and then put his head back to it’s previous place before falling asleep.
****
The next morning found Mac and Li Ann waiting in the briefing room for the Director to appear. They both sat silently lost in their own thoughts. Mac was thinking of his lover who had left sometime during the night.
The Director came down the stairs and sat down in front of them. “I assume you have made your decision?”
“Yes. We need to see it,” Mac answered.
“Alright.” She stood up and left the room. A few minutes later she returned with a large bag. “These are the files and the tapes. There is a piece of paper in there that tells you how to go through it all. Follow the list, other wise what you see and read will not make much sense. After you have gone through it all come back here and you will talk to The Shrink and then to me before you talk to Victor. I expect you to come straight here after you have gone through everything, no trying for revenge. Is that understood?” The tone of voice the Director used left no doubt that if they disobeyed her they would suffer for a long time before she put them out of their misery.
“We understand. How long do you think it will take us? There doesn’t seem to be much there,” Li Ann said.
“No there isn’t much, but it is very detailed and you should take quite a few breaks. I would think it would take at least two days.” She set the bag in front of them. “You should get going.” She turned to leave and then she stopped and looked back at them. She had a soft look in her eyes. “Remember, just because you start going through it, that doesn’t mean you have to finish it. If it gets too much, stop.” She turned and left the room.
Mac picked up the bag and motioned to Li Ann. “Well, shall we go to my place and start going through this?”
“Yeah. We need to do this now, otherwise we might loose our nerve. Let’s go. I’ll follow you.”
They left the headquarters and drove to Mac’s apartment. Once there they pulled out the files and tapes. Mac looked at the paper with the viewing order on it and arranged all of the material in order. “This says we should look at the first three files first, then the first tape. The couch would probably be more comfortable.”
Li Ann picked up the three files and they settled onto the couch. She handed him the first file. “You read this one and then I’ll read the next. We switch off and on, okay?”
“Works for me.” Mac took the file and opened it. “Date: June 4, 1965. Subject: Mansfield, Patricia Alexandria. Age: 32. Test Group: 43A. Months pregnant: 4. Injections: Course of 23431, showed no immediate effects. Course of 4871325, showed no immediate effects. Course of 998123, showed no immediate effects. Subject will return in one week for next round. A Course equals 3 injections, IM 3cc a week. What the fuck is IM?”
“Intra muscular,” Li Ann said. “Keep going.”
Mac turned the page. “Date: June 11, 1965. Subject: Mansfield, Patricia Alexandria. Age- I think we can skip that, it’s all the same. Injections: Course of 23431, showed no effects. Course of 4871325, Subject showed slight nausea, fetus showed no effect. Course of 998123, showed no effects. Subject will return in one week for next round.”
“Do they say what the drugs are that the numbers stand for?”
Mac flipped through the pages. “I don’t see anything. Maybe it will be in another file.”
“I wonder if those drugs might have something to do with what happened to Vic,” Li Ann mused.
“I would imagine that it must.” Mac looked back at the file. “Let’s see, the next page. No change with the first and third drugs. The nausea from the second ended and still appears to not effect the fetus.” He flipped through the rest of the pages. “No effects, no effects, same, same, same, third drug caused a large rash on the right side, no effect on the fetus. Rash cleared up no effect on the fetus, course is raised to 4 injections of 3cc’s a week. No effect, no effect.”
Mac flipped to the next page and stopped. A piece of paper had been paper clipped in with a sticky note attached. “The note’s in the Director’s handwriting. ‘This woman was Patricia Mansfield’s sister.’” Mac pulled off the note. “Subject: Susan Rice. Age: 29 Test Group: 43A. Subject went into labor at 7:38 am on 9/23/65. Child was stillborn. Autopsy is unable to determine if it was the drugs or a medical problem with the mother that caused the child’s death. Will continue same treatment with subjects Mansfield, Patricia and Kneen, Molly to determine.” Mac looked up at Li Ann. “My God, these people are monsters.”
“I can’t believe they would do that.”
****
Mac grabbed the tape off of the table and slid it into the VCR. He sat back down next to Li Ann and picked up the remote control. He looked over at Li Ann. “Ready?”
She hesitated for a moment before giving a slight nod. Mac pushed play. The playback was in black and white. It showed a hospital room with at least twenty children, all about five-years-old, strapped to beds.
A man stepped in front of the camera. He appeared to be in his late forties and was dressed in a suit and tie with a white lab coat over top of his suit. “This is test one of Test Group Alpha 3. We are injecting 4cc’s of drug B5298C.” The man held up a box of syringes and motioned to someone behind the camera. A group of men came over to the Doctor and they each took a syringe and each went over to a bed.
Li Ann suddenly sat up straight. “Pause it, Mac.” Mac hit pause and Li Ann leaned forward. “Look, they all have name tags on the sides of the beds. Victor has to be in one of those beds. Help me look. You take the beds on the right, I’ll do the ones of the left.”
They both moved closer to the TV and tried to read the fuzzy lettering. “Hey, I think I found him,” Mac exclaimed. He pointed to a boy in a middle bed. “I’m not sure, but I think that says Mansfield, Victor.”
Li Ann squinted and nodded. “I think you are right. Okay, lets see the rest.”
Mac hit play and they watched the orderlies inject the children with the drugs from the syringes. Mac and Li Ann paid only slight attention to the other children, most of their attention was on Victor. They both jumped when Victor’s body started to spasm. The convulsions lasted around thirty seconds. They were only vaguely aware of the other children having the same reaction.
Suddenly Victor’s body sagged and he wasn’t moving. The sound of monitors going off was so loud, Mac had to turn down the volume. The orderlies checked the children they had injected and half of them raised sheets to cover the children.
The orderly next to Victor checked his temperature and blood pressure before moving away. The Doctor stepped back in front of the camera.
“As you can see, the effects of the drug are the same with this test group as they were with the others. The different drugs given before birth appear to show no difference. There is still no explanation for why only half of the subjects have such adverse reactions to the drugs.”
The screen changed to static and Mac turned off the VCR. They both sat in shock.
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Li Ann said in a small voice.
“I think I’m gonna join you.” They both sat in shock, neither one of them knowing what to say or think. “Wanna get drunk with me? The way I see it, it’s the only way we are gonna get through this thing,” Mac asked getting up from the couch and heading for the refrigerator.
“A beer sounds good, but I don’t think getting drunk is the answer.”
“Li Ann, you are such a party pooper.” He dropped down on the couch and handed her a green bottle of beer. “Here, drink up. I guess we better get on with this. I would suggest lunch, but I’m afraid if we have to watch many more things like that, lunch wouldn’t stay in my stomach.”
“I know what you mean. What’s next on the list?”
Mac picked up the list and looked it over. “Another tape.” Mac closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Please don’t let it be like the last one.” He got up and ejected the tape they had just watched and put in the new tape. He sat down again. “Prepare yourself for a bumpy ride.” He hit play.
This time the tape revealed a gymnasium. A young boy, about five-years-old walked in front of the camera and took a place in the center of the room. He watched an older man walk towards him. The man stopped and looked back at the camera. This is the fifth training session with Mansfield, Victor. He is being trained to be an assassin.”
The man turned back to Victor. “Now, what did you learn the last session?”
“Sir! I learned the pressure points to cause the most pain and the least damage to extract information from a mark. Sir!” Victor stood at attention and seemed excited to answer the man’s question.
The man nodded and then motioned at a very lifelike dummy. “Show me.” “Yes, Sir!” Victor moved to the dummy and proceeded to show the trainer pressure points that both Mac and Li Ann were very familiar with.
“Li Ann, did we ever think that Victor was helpless and didn’t know how to take care of himself?” Mac asked.
“Yeah.”
“How did he hide that he had training in being an assassin?”
Li Ann shook her head and they turned their attention back on the screen.
“Very good. You have learned well, Victor. You are the first of your group to advance so far, and for a reward you will get to handle real weapons today. You will learn the correct way to use a knife to kill and to use it much like the pressure points, to get information.”
Mac and Li Ann then watched the boy that had grown up to be their partner, gleefully learn how to cause damage to another person. By the end of the tape both of them were feeling rather queasy.
“I can’t believe that Victor managed to fool us for so long,” Li Ann said.
“Let’s face it, there were the hints he gave us, we just never paid any attention. I remember one time he was over here, we were guarding that old guy, and an assassin came here and he threw a knife and pinned the guy to a door. He knew what he was doing. We just never questioned the things he could do.”
They looked away from each other, both ashamed that they had paid so little attention to their partner.
“Well, shall we look at the next file?” Mac asked.
“Okay. Or do we want to get some lunch?”
Mac glanced through the next file. “This seems to be just updates on Vic’s schooling. I think that we can do lunch and then look over this with out having to head for the bathroom.”
****
They placed the next tape in the VCR. It was clearly a surveillance tape from inside someone’s house. There was a man sitting at a kitchen table, working on some papers that were spread out in front of him. Suddenly a boy around seven years old ran into the room.
“Victor! How many times do we have to tell you? Don’t run in the house!” the man yelled at the boy.
Victor came to a halt. “I’m sorry, Papa. I have my reports from my instructors. I thought you might wish to see them.” He held out some papers and his father took them from him. He glanced over the papers.
“Your biology teacher says that you haven’t been doing as well on your tests lately. Your television privileges are taken away until you can get the tests back up. Now go study.” Victor’s father dismissed the child and then turned back to his papers.
“But, Father, my other instructors-” The rest of Victor’s sentence was cut off by a slap to his face. Victor stumbled back a few steps.
“I said go study!”
“Yes, Sir,” Victor mumbled and left the room.
A few minutes after Victor left, a woman entered the room. She walked over to the table and looked at the papers. She saw Victor’s reports, picked them up, and started to read them.
“I see Victor’s weapons, language, unarmed combat, strategy, and math teachers all have positive things to say about him,” the woman said.
“Yeah, but did you look at Biology, Patricia? The boy has been slacking off on science. I took away the television until he gets his test scores up,” Victor’s father said without looking up from the papers in front of him.
Patricia threw the papers on the table. “You were too soft on him. He can’t slack of on anything. We’ll see if this works. If not, I’m seriously thinking about giving him to them permanently. I never wanted him.”
“I didn’t want him either. Hell, I never wanted to marry you. It’s all for the Plan. Remember that, they want the subjects to have semi-normal childhoods so that they can blend with everyone else. You’ll just have to deal with it.”
“Fine, Peter. You deal with the boy then.” Patricia left the room and Peter went back to the papers.
The tape cut to Victor’s room.
TBC