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Chapter 29

Steve had already been tortured during his missions or encounters with Wo Fat, but it wasn't something to get used to. The drowning sensation he felt as the water poured over the towel made him jerk, tugging at his bonds with no hope of release, just in a useless survival reflex. His lungs began to burn as he did his best to keep the water out, but the need to breathe grew stronger and stronger.

He bent forward as much as he could as soon as the towel was removed from his face to spit out the water he'd sucked in and take several much-needed gulps of air. His past Navy Seal training enabled him to catch his breath quickly and try to gather his thoughts.

"You won't break me," he declared, hoping that Wo Fat would decide to ask him some questions.

Steve knew he hadn't just stated an absolute truth, with the right levers he'd be ready for anything, but none of those levers involved torturing him.

"The human mechanism is in motion, you'll tell me what I want to know.¨

¨What the..."

He didn't have time to finish his sentence, his head was pulled back again and the towel placed on his head. The water came at once, making his lungs burn again, he could see death coming, he forbade himself to think of Charlie and hoped to be soon delivered from this nightmare.

"Where's my dad?"

The former 5-0 chief thought to himself that this was the end of him. He'd stopped himself from delving into all these riddles since he'd left Hawaii to protect Charlie and him, he had no idea what could have happened to this man.

"I don't know.¨

¨You expect me to believe that?¨

¨No, but it's the truth."

The answer didn't please Wo Fat, who nodded to his partner. Steve barely had time to catch his breath before his head was pulled back again and water poured over his face through the towel. The burning in his lungs and throat was becoming more and more painful, his stamina drained a little more each time, and he needed more and more time to get his breath back.

"It'll stop, as soon as you tell me what I want."

Steve couldn't see any way out of this situation; he was going to die of pain or drown if Wo Fat didn't accept the idea that he didn't have the answers he wanted.

"If you're going to kill me, just do it," he said after spitting the water out of his lungs again and catching his breath.

¨Steve, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it a long time ago. Think about it."

This reassured Steve that he might be able to get out of this, but at the same time, he had no idea what Wo Fat wanted. He didn't have time to ask before the torture resumed; however knowing that his torturer wasn't trying to kill him, didn't stop the pain and fear making their way through him.

"Okay. You want to know where your father is? Ask Doris," he managed to articulate between breaths. ¨I know she visited you in prison. You should have asked her when you had the chance.¨

¨I asked our mother," Wo Fat replied. She said she didn't know."

The words 'our mother' swirled around in Steve's head; he couldn't understand how Doris could be their mother.

"What did you just say? Did you just say 'our mother'? What do you mean by 'our'?"

His reaction didn't please Wo Fat, who grabbed an electric baton and swung it. Steve arched his back, tipping his head back, and grunted in pain until the burning stopped. He let his head fall forward as he tried to recover from the intense pain he'd just endured.