Covert Operations - Chapter 223
SYNOPSIS: Colum Mackenzie takes his punishment out on Operations in the White Room for what he did to him personally, and the person he loved. Meanwhile in the Committee Room, Madeline hears more damaging information from the witnesses. She is shocked to find out who is responsible for helping the Head of Oversight with intel for his dossiers.
Chapter 222 and all other chapters can be found at … https://sablelab.tumblr.com/covertoperations
*This can also be read on AO3
N.B. This chapter contains some violence.
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CHAPTER 223(V)
Operations sat slumped in the White Room torture chair riddled with the pain of the incision that Henry had just inflicted. He was ashen white; his skin was clammy and his body was trembling with the aftershocks of what had happened to him.
As for what was happening in the Committee Room, he cared naught. He had not one thought for what his partner Madeline was facing. All he cared about was the agonizing pain under his eye socket that was throbbing intensely. He had called Colum’s bluff and his brother had followed through much to his surprise once again. He had ordered the incision the other day and Henry had again carried out another Torture Twin signature tactic.
In regards to Madeline, he knew she could hold her own in any situation and if she was able to find a loophole in any of the information, then she would. The stakes were high for her having been the one to actually implement the Gelman program on Claire and he breathed a sigh of relief that his involvement was the lesser of two evils. Evidence from Jamie, Letitia and particularly Claire Beauchamp would not be easy to listen to, but Madeline had no empathy for anyone and she would certainly care nothing for the victim of this mind-altering procedure.
He knew that Section’s Head Strategist was a mastermind in dispensing torture of all different kinds to browbeat a terrorist. She knew all the ploys used by victims to try and avoid punishment so she knew how to react when the boot was on the other foot. She was a genius in avoiding any blame for procedures they had used on their unsuspecting operatives, albeit James Fraser had always proved problematic. But that still didn’t stop Madeline from testing new methods of control. When Jamie had returned to Section with Claire after he had reversed the Gelman program, they had been indifferent and just welcomed them back. It was back to the drawing board for his partner to find a new way of controlling a couple that could not be controlled. James Fraser had always managed to foil any and all attempts to better him in mind games. Madeline truly had an adversary on the same wavelength as her, but one who could scuttlebutt her devious plans for Claire’s compliance.
So, he had no qualms about her facing the adversaries in the Committee Room. He had enough on his plate with his brother’s revenge for the afront he had caused to him and his paramour Letitia Chisholm.
So far Colum had won twice but he vowed he would not for a third time. Although the pain was killing him, he remained indifferent. He would not give Henry or Elizabeth or his brother the satisfaction of seeing him suffer. He had a high threshold for pain, but the incision cut was in such a delicate area that the tissue flesh was severed deep under his eye and the throbbing was inescapable. This cut was the deepest yet and the most insidious. There was no way that he could avoid suffering and the worst thing of all was that Colum knew that he was faking his indifference.
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Suddenly the sound of his brother’s supercilious voice made Operations grimace with rage at what he had subjected him to.
“Now! This is just the beginning brother. Don’t get too comfortable in that chair. There is more that Henry and Elizabeth can do to you before I am completely satisfied.”
Raising his head Dougal Mackenzie practically spat the words out at his brother. “Do your worst Colum. I am not afraid of you or of Henry and Elizabeth.”
“You should be. Let’s just say that this is the appetiser leading up to Mr Lambert’s main course,” were his foreboding words.
Operations’ retort was cutting with scorn and belligerence. “You haven’t got the guts to torture me Colum.”
“Test me and see Dougal. Payback is a bitch and what you are about to experience is just a small dose of what Mr Lambert will inflict on you once he takes his pound of flesh for all you have done. You thought you and Madeline would get away with my murder, and that of Letitia as well, but our nephew James Fraser came to our rescue just in time. You tried to have him killed along with his partner Claire Beauchamp on several occasions that I was able to discover, so if you think I am not capable of torturing you … then think again.”
“You have always been more bluff and hot air than action Colum. Do your worst if you can. I endured Hanoi Hilton as a POW in Vietnam. There is nothing that you could do that would be worse than those internment camps and the Viet Cong torture methods. I suffered beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement, my hands and feet were bound and my hands tied to my ankles, so if it is pain that you want me to feel for the things I did to you and Letitia, then by all means do your best,” Operations sneered in retaliation.
“If that is your request, then I can comply. Remember brother that Mr Lambert will make you suffer too and perhaps even more painful than what you have described. Could you bear that Dougal?”
Operations glared at him with contempt for if his hands were free now, they would be around Colum’s neck.
“Under the circumstances, he will torture you without remorse for what you have done … for treason, your lies, deception, lack of empathy, and no regret for your actions. More importantly he will be here soon to dispense his own brand of punishment for what you did to his niece Claire Beauchamp as well.”
Dougal Mackenzie’s face contorted with rage as his brother continued with his tirade.
“I know it and so do you that your end is near brother. You must remember me saying that this room just might be the last place in Section that you see. Are you prepared for that scenario Dougal … that you won’t leave this room alive? Now isn’t that a sobering thought? Perhaps you should think about that as the pain courses through your body. The pain Mr Lambert will order will be nothing like what you are experiencing now. It will be far, far worse. After all, you do know what Henry and Elizabeth are capable of.”
“Go to hell!!!”
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Ignoring his barb, Colum Mackenzie directed his gaze to the Torture twins again. This time Elizabeth approached the chair with a trolley bearing a selection of surgical bone cutting instruments as well as a pair of secateurs. She stopped just near the Head of Oversight and waited for her instructions. Operations looked down at the trolley and noticed medical grade stainless steel bone cutters, a scalpel, pliers with a heavy, pointed jaw, a bone hacksaw and rotary drills plus the garden shears that could cut easily and quickly through flesh and bone, laid out on the top of the trolley like Elizabeth was ready to assist a surgeon to perform an amputation. However, it was she who would be performing this task. Dougal glanced at the trolley, then at his brother, then at Elizabeth and swallowed the bile that had risen in his throat.
“So, that is your next move is it Colum … torturing. and dismemberment to make me atone for my sins.”
Dismissing his brother’s response, Colum asked, “Which of your phalanges shall Elizabeth start with Dougal? Your thumb? Index finger? Middle finger? I’m sure you have a preference,” was his unsympathetic statement. He waited a moment for Operations to digest what he had just stated before saying, “What? No answer? Well let’s make this interesting then.”
Dougal Mackenzie gritted his teeth then replied, “You’re barbaric Colum!”
“This is to be your atonement for me brother. Surely you knew that you would be punished for what you did to Letitia and myself.”
“You’re enjoying this aren’t you Colum? Does this make you feel important now that you have the upper hand? Well, you’re a weak man brother … How you ever rose to power in Oversight is beyond me.” He sneered with disrespect, “Now you are hiding behind a woman to do your dirty work. Not only are you barbaric, but you’re gutless too.”
Colum Mackenzie disregarded the words coming out of his mouth. “So, you have no preference. Well, how about we start with your left pinkie.”
Operations scoffed at his brother with scorn lacing his words. “I see you have … grown a backbone after all brother. That would be a first!”
As his mocking belligerent retort gushed from his lips, he glanced at the stoic torture twin as she canvassed the trolley before picking up the innocuous pair of secateurs. Her gaze rested on Operations’ face as she coolly lifted up his little pinkie. As Elizabeth squeezed the handles of the secateurs over his digit, they cut through the skin and flesh of his finger.
This time as his guttural cry again filled the White Room, Operations’ head lolled back against the chair, his eyes rolled up in his head leaving only the whites of his eyes visible. His scream bordered on a sinister laugh as Dougal cried out again as the pain from his partially severed finger added more severity to the pain he was already feeling. Dispassionately Elizabeth squeezed the secateurs again cutting through the bone severing his little pinkie finger which fell to the floor with a squirt of blood at Dougal’s feet.
“That will be all for now Elizabeth but when Mr Lambert arrives after I report back to him, he may issue orders that for every minute Operations refuses to answer his questions, you will cut off another finger or perhaps a toe instead.”
“Yes sir.”
Then turning to his brother Colum announced, “There is no way that you could get away with all the atrocities that you inflicted on others Dougal, and you know it. The Head of Centre will make sure that your punishment fits your crimes. Take this time to think about how you will respond to Mr Lambert when he is here brother. Think about your actions in regards to James Fraser and Claire Beauchamp in particular. If you can find it within yourself for some remorse, he may be a little more lenient with you. But I doubt it.”
With those ominous parting words, Colum Mackenzie left the White Room leaving his brother with a severed finger, a slash under his eye and prospects for more of the same when Quentin Lambert finally arrived. It was a daunting feeling which sat heavy in his stomach like a lead balloon.
Meanwhile back in the Committee Room …
Colum Mackenzie had left his brother in the White Room contemplating his fate and made his way back to the Committee Room to report on proceedings thus far with Operations. Meanwhile Letitia Chisholm, James Fraser and Claire Beauchamp still had some information to relay. The intel they had already spoken of was enough for the Head of Centre to make his decision, but he listened intently as Letitia continued.
“As you know Quentin, Operations and Madeline planned to use this sinister procedure on all of their operatives. That is exactly what they would have done if they could. That kind of conditioning would have been a living death,” Letitia Chisholm added issuing a warning to their methods of control over their operatives.
“Indeed, it would have. It was a godsend that Jamie was able to thwart their plans.”
“I had no other options Mr Lambert. I had to deprogram Claire while outmanoeuvring Operations and Madeline. The stakes were high and I couldnae fail. I had to checkmate Operations and save my queen. Claire was already under the influence of the drugs in her system and she was the antithesis of her true self. I ken that my Sassenach was in there somewhere, I just had to make sure I was able to bring her back to me. It was because I loved her that I was able to reverse the program.”
Claire looked at her mate with tears welling in her eyes. She then looked at her uncle. “I know I hurt Jamie’s feelings when I was under the Gelman influence with what I said to him.”
“Do you recall what it was that you said my dear?” The Head of Oversight asked gently.
“I will never forget Uncle Lamb.” However, when she started to speak, her words cracked in her throat with emotion. “I told him that I prefer this. No needs, no fears, no desires. I used to think you were like that. But you're not. You're weak. You should let them make you feel stronger."
Jamie leaned over and gave his Sassenach’s hand a squeeze. “Aye … but Claire didn’t mean it, sir. It was the drugs that had addled her mind and stripped her of her emotions. This was the robotic Claire not the empathetic woman that all in Section loved.”
“I can see how those words now upset you Claire, but that was not the real you talking. It was the shell of the true you. At the time they were devoid of any emotion. I can see why it was necessary for Jamie to move swiftly to intervene.”
“Like he did for me, Jamie had to kidnap Claire to try to reverse the effects of the Gelman process that would have had irrefutable consequences for this operative’s feelings in the long term. If not for Jamie’s intervention, Claire’s emotions would have been erased for all time.”
“Madeline and Operations showed little or no compassion sir. She once tried to convince Claire that Operations was in fact her father. No father, would ever sentence his own daughter to death ... more than once! Their beliefs were that Claire’s compassionate nature was in fact a weakness to her performance and by suppressing these feelings; they could make Claire be what she was not … an operative on the same wavelength as them.”
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Letitia knew that emotion, and anger in Jamie’s voice about what Operations and Madeline had done to his partner. She was well aware of their methods only too well.
“When the relationship between Claire and Jamie became more apparent, Section’s leaders feared that her compassion would influence him as well. Fears of rebellion by their two penultimate operatives would never be accepted, as total control of the two of them was their ultimate goal. I think they were remembering their own coup in overthrowing my leadership from an Alpha male and his mate, Quentin. They couldn’t stand the fact that Jamie and Claire were a formidable team who had great support from other operatives in Section. This procedure was the beginning of making that happen.”
Letitia’s accuracy could not be denied and Mr. Lambert agreed.
“From what I have heard thus far, this procedure was certainly abhorrent. Using Claire in this repugnant way was reprehensible Madeline. I am appalled by your methods in manipulation of any operatives let alone my niece.”
“It was a struggle to deprogram Claire, Mr Lambert. She was resistant to all that I tried to do, but once committed I persisted until the task at hand was successfully completed. To ensure the success of the detox program I had tae control as much of the process as possible ye ken.”
“Could you explain your sequence of events in the detoxifying program Jamie?”
“At one stage I had to spit medicine directly into her mouth by kissing her as she would spit it out each time I tried to administer the detox. Claire needed tender nursing, as when she started to shed the effects of the Gelman procedure it was a painful transition for her. She needed all the love and care I could give. As Letitia has mentioned it was a protracted withdrawal program that I put my Claire through. It took patience, and more importantly love. Her feelings for me had been erased and to get them back I had to show her all the love that I had for her to remind her of the feelings that she had for me too. It was heartbreaking to see the pain my Sassenach went through in the withdrawal but I was determined to make it happen. I knew that my Claire was in there somewhere I just had to let her ken that it was my love for her and vice versa that would make the pain go away. It was similar to what I had to do when Claire experienced her nightmares after her torture at the monastery by Karen Yee.”
Meanwhile Colum Mackenzie returns from the White Room …
As they were discussing how Jamie was able to turn things around and bring Claire back to him, the Head of Oversight quietly re-entered the Committee Room. Quentin Lambert looked up at him with a questioning look on his face asking ... “Is it all done?” Colum nodded in affirmation and took his seat as James Fraser continued with his testimony.
“How did you manage to do the impossible Jamie?”
“Murtagh Fitzgibbons helped me smuggle an isolation chamber out of Section. Claire was still in a lot of pain, but it was the intimate sessions in there, in close quarters together, that finally saw my Claire come back to me.”
“You have a good friend in Murtagh Fitzgibbons. He helped rescue you and Claire from the monastery when you were captured, didn’t he?”
“Aye, He did.”
“And when you returned to Section with a detoxified Claire, what was Madeline and Operations response?”
“Although I had succeeded in bringing my Sassenach back to me, we both had to gather our strength to return to Section hell. I confronted Operations and Madeline upon our return, but a stalemate was negotiated with utter calm and complete insincerity. They merely said, “Welcome back!” They were ambivalent as if nothing had ever occurred. We had returned. Claire was back to normal. Life in Section continued as per usual.”
It was then that Colum Mackenzie announced a bombshell of information which caught all gathered by surprise especially James Fraser. However, Madeline’s response was one of shock and condescension.
“If I could interrupt for a moment Quentin, I think it appropriate now, that I mention that Murtagh Fitzgibbons was the one who had passed intel on to me for the dossiers. Hiding in plain sight, he was the one who was able to manoeuvre his way around Section One with little attention, given that he has been a long-time member of the organisation. As the eyes and ears of Section One, nothing much escaped Fitzgibbons’ perceptive eye. He was the perfect operative to carry out this task undetected. Murtagh was able to fit Section One with many hidden gismos that he had designed, such as miniature cameras, and listening devices that taped conversations between Operations and Madeline. This audio feed revealed some alarming Intel about the two of them which has been discussed at this meeting. Their plans were recorded and are on file at Oversight.” “Murtagh was in Section with you Letitia, was he not?”
“He was Quentin. He knows Section like the back of his hand and this would have been to his advantage for any espionage against Madeline and Operations.”
“However, that was not his main role in Section One. There is another reason why he is an important piece of the puzzle.”
“Really? And what was that Colum?”
“Murtagh has been keeping a staunch eye on Jamie and Claire too over time, and has had their backs from the get go. It was he who was thrilled that James Fraser had found a woman not a lassie to be his mate and his partner in crime in Section. You see … Jamie is his godson, and he has been keeping a quiet eye over him ever since he was recruited to Section. Murtagh’s quirky disposition was a great foil to Operations and Madeline and they never once suspected that their Munitions’ Expert could be an undercover mole in Section for such a long while without detection.”
“Undeniably this is intel that Jamie will need to digest Colum.” His voice held disbelief but humour as well. “His godfather you say?”
“Yes sir. His real name is Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser. He is godfather to James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser, the son of his second cousin, Brian Fraser.”
“Excellent news Colum! Excellent news indeed. I could think of no better man than Murtagh Fitzgibbons to have kept your nephew under his watchful eye.”
“Yes, there were none better than the man who loved Jamie as his own son.”
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The information was a different one to Madeline though. It couldn’t get any worse than the charges circling over her head …. But it just did.
This was a humongous blow, not only to hers and Operations carefully controlled personnel but a blow to her ego as well. Murtagh Fitzgibbons had performed these clandestine tasks right under their noses.
Well, there it was! The old Viet veteran had been surreptitiously passing on Intel to Colum, Jamie and whoever else was in the chain of secrets behind their backs. She was kicking herself for her lapse of control over this operative who has seemed so insignificant except for his position in Munitions. Thinking back to past events she knew why he wanted to go back into the field to rescue Jamie and Claire at the monastery. It all made sense now. As James Fraser’s godfather, he needed to see for himself that they were alright. She remembered the way he kept a fatherly eye over Jamie when he collapsed because he was shot. Then there was the way he undoubtedly had set off the alarms in Section, although she and Operations had not been able to prove that he did. No doubt he had been snooping in classified areas he shouldn’t be in, with his wingman Fergus Claudel when the Breach occurred. How had she and Dougal been so stupid not to know there was more to their antics than just entertaining themselves for shits and giggles?
So Murtagh Fitzgibbons was the someone on the inside to help.
Along with his buddy Fergus Claudel, he was the biggest busybody in Section. But he seemed harmless. How she regretted that assumption now that Colum had stated this information, never realising that he was more dangerous than Frank Wolverton-Randall had ever been. She and Operations took great satisfaction in the way they ran Section. Nothing much escaped them. So, to think they had let their Munitions’ Expert perform these clandestine tasks and slip under their radar was an anathema to her, especially as she considered that she had her finger on the pulse of Section One.
Murtagh Fitzgibbons had sealed her fate well and truly. She was gone for sure now! There was no way in hell that she could turn any of the testimony around. Throwing Operations under the bus hadn’t even caused a whimper, just a snigger of unbelievability. Anything she had said had been taken with a grain of salt.
All that was left now was to hear her sentence.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~to be continued Friday 19th August