Ten Past the Hour (Mycroft Holmes Fanfiction)

Chapter 10

They'd alternated her between the black and white room for what she guessed was five or six days now. Amy prided herself on the fact that she hadn't told them anything. Two beatings, one episode involving what she suspected to be an experimental drug, and another escape attempt later, she was still alive and still winning. If one could describe her current state "winning."

She'd stopped shivering hours ago. Her body had evidently decided it wasn't going to get warm. The cold had completely suffused her bones. She could feel it in her muscles and veins and it seemed to be wrapping around her lungs. She couldn't breathe well.

The wet cloth was only serving to make her colder, but taking them off didn't seem much an option. Despite the cold that made her stiff, she stood every few hours and ran laps around the room.

It was really more like stumbling laps. She couldn't seem to get her feet to work. They'd been numb for so long, she had to stare at them to be sure they were working. She swayed on them when she stood and whenever she stopped moving she'd have to wait a few minutes. The room would spin around her and then settle into a wobbly stability. Her thoughts kept going in circles. Mycroft worked in a world of shadows even darker than what she knew. This was commonplace, perhaps even a facility they would use to break someone like him. Had she revealed something while here? Was she really important enough to warrant this? Or was something more happening behind the scenes? Was this an elaborate plan to get to him? 

Her mouth was dry and her tongue felt thicker than usual. Her head was still pounding from the black room. She couldn't do anything from in here, not like this. Help would come. It had to; she had to believe as much. Otherwise... 

The room spun again. She sighed and went back to her corner, deciding a quick nap would do her good.

***

The video looped and began to play again. Jordan sighed. "Classic technique. It's almost exactly what we do in The Pit. If that's all they're doing, she'll recover just fine when we find her."

Lestrade sat back in his chair. "At this point it's becoming a question of if we find her. The likelihood of her being alive diminishes each day. There's no way to tell if this video was made yesterday or the first day. It's no sure indication that she's alive. I'm sorry, Mycroft."

Mycroft remained silent, sitting in a chair in the D.I.'s office. He nodded his understanding but did nothing more. Jordan and Lestrade kept talking, trying to think of other places they could look. They exchanged worried glances. Mycroft looked to be on the verge of giving up. It had been six days. They weren't sure how much longer this could go before they started looking for a body.

***

A boom woke her. She jumped awake and groggily looked to the source of the sound. A metal bucket sat by the door. She crawled to it and peered in. Frozen water sat inside, filling the bucket to a line close to the rim. A small layer of liquid water sat on top. Amy braced her hands on either side of the bucket and leaned in to sip the water up. It was freezing and the extra cold hurt but water was water.

She sat back finally and waited for more of the water to melt. The room grew warmer over time and she watched the temperature rise on the thermometer. From five to ten degrees and from ten to twelve. It stopped there. The room remained at twelve degrees until more of the water melted. Then, to her despair, it fell back to five degrees. Still, at least now she had some water. She sipped it all up and sat back to wait for more to melt.

The door opened.

"Good morning, Amelia. How are we today?" Thomas stepped in, wrapped up in a long black coat and wearing leather gloves. He crouched down in front of her. "Ready to chat?"