Classified light- a criminal minds fan fiction

War of emotions (3)

Hotch lay in the sub basement of the hotel as his head throbbed and wrists screamed in pain from being hung from them on the piping all night.

"Do you want to chat yet?" The voice that had taunted him for hours walked back in.

He didn't speak.

"You know, this would go a lot faster if you would just stop being so stubborn" the voice spoke again as they pulled a crank lowering Hotch to the floor but still hung loosely by his hands.

"This is my personal favourite one- most people don't make it past this one more than twice but you seem to be trying to set a new record" a bucket of water appeared in front of Hotch, a bucket he had come to know well and sent automatic chills when he thought of the pain of the water going into his lungs again.

"Now, let me give you a little history lesson-" the voice spoke before submerging Hotch's head into the water as they spoke.

"Back in France in the middle ages, water boarding was seen as a kind of law enforcement and used so casually that it became almost as common as agents cuffing people. Their tactics were a little different than this, they would pin their victim down and force one gallon of water down their throats. Of course that would defeat the purpose of finding out more information as after a few times the combination of the water being forced down with some kind of tube and the screaming of the victim, their throat would tear and vocal chords would snap so-"

Hotch spluttered out the water as the unsub released his head momentarily before forcing him back down as they casually continued speaking.

"-In Spain, they used many similar tactics but with one big change; the water used was boiled to a scolding degree, and then then would submerge you into ice water for shock after making you think you were getting some relief when really it was doing more damage. It proved to build some kind of sick fake trust between the torturer and torturee, making them think they were showing any kind of sympathy to trick them into revealing more. It is as much of a mind game as much as it is a pain game."

Once again Hotch was released and fell backwards onto the floor, spitting out water and blood that ran through his nose and throat as the unsub chuckled.

"My personal favourite is the Russian use of it; the dripping methods. Now that is one messed up tactic that even I shiver at. The mental torment on that one is something that leaves the traitor being tortured begging for death, I don't know how those people think of things like that- it's genius."

"Genius?" Hotch scoffed through burning lungs, "you must be sick and twisted if you think that."

"Thank you" they said it like his words were a compliment, "I've read every book on these tactics, I've researched everything- I know every tactic of how to make a man scream in beautifully pained ways, except those. It seems if someone was keeping track of the Russian wars they certainly weren't publishing it, Those Russian's are just as good at keeping their secrets as they are inflicting pain. I became fascinated with it, it's the unknown parts- the secrets that intrigue me. I like to know things, I like to be an expert in things, I have to know everything. I even tried to get an interview with a guard or inmate at the Black Dolphin prison but an explosion happened with one of their ships and now they let no one in or out- bastards."

Hotch swallowed and shook his throbbing head.

"Anyway, you wouldn't believe my surprise when my contact told me that one of the agents working my case was Russian! I almost didn't believe them when they told me which one of you it was, you don't look Russian- although you do have a scarily stern face" the unsub shook her head.