Never Judge



"Do you know what Annabeth's last name is?" Al asked Angelo as they scanned through the latest info dump that Angelo's sister, Sora had just sent.

"No. I never bothered since you dealt with everything." Angelo said with a shrug as he studied one of the documents carefully.

Everything in front of them was taken from the lead organization, the king's group. 

After working together, Al and Sora became good friends and he asked for her to be transferred from the Dean family mafia to his father's group.

Seth Dean had no objections and allowed for the transfer. 

Now Sora had access to every database in the underworld, she could even access those that were being hidden from Ray with her hacking skills. 

"Don't you read the documents your sister sends us?" Al questioned. He was certain it was there.

"Not unless it's relevant to me." Angelo said with a shrug. 

"So you didn't read the information on your new identity?" Al asked with a raised eyebrow.

Angelo looked at him, shocked by what he had just said.

"You didn't, did you?" Al asked again, this time his tone was even more intimidating.

"I was going to." Angelo grumbled. 

He was five years older than Al but he acted like he was younger than Al most times. 

"Cortez, her family name is Cortez." Al said as he waited for Angelo to realize what it meant. 

When Angelo just carried a confused look on his face, Al sighed and shook his head, slightly annoyed at the fact that Angelo ignored relevant information.

"Your new name is Angelo Cortez, twenty six years old." Al told him, rolling his eyes at the other man. "You are Annabeth Cortez's older brother."

"I thought her brothers all died in the fire?" Angelo asked Al.

"Again, you should really read the files." Al rolled his eyes. "Our lives and the lives of others are on the line."

"I'll read all the packages, I'm sorry boss." Angelo said as he bowed his head in submission, admitting that he was wrong.

Al sighed and nodded.

He couldn't do anything now, at least Angelo was willing to do better. 

The man was a great fighter and he was good undercover, he just tended to be lazy and ended up leaving a few loose ends in the past.

"Angelo and Max Cortez didn't die." Al explained to his friend and partner on the mission. "They tried to escape but our people managed to capture them on their way out of the building. They have been in our custody ever since."

"Did Annabeth know that they were still alive?" Angelo asked.

Annabeth had mentioned that the people she loved all died in the fire, it was only logical for Angelo to ask.

"I don't think she knew." Al admitted. 

"Will you tell her?" Angelo knew that Al not only tortured the body but the mind as well when it came to these matters.

"Eventually." Al said with a suspicious grin. "I think she deserves to know the truth."

Angelo nodded but didn't say another word. 

The rest of the day went more quietly than Al had expected.

As promised, Angelo was now studying all the package drops his sister, Sora, had sent them.

"Day two." Al said with a wink as he came out of his room newly showered and in different clothes.

His plan was to make it seem to Annabeth that days had gone by. 

"She'll figure it out." Angelo warned Al.

Al smiled and chuckled at Angelo.

He took out a bottle of pills and showed it to his friend.

"Specially made for torture meathods such as these. It makes her think that a day has passed when it's only been a few hours." Al knew that Annabeth wouldn't take the pills willingly, so he had a backup injectable version of the drug. 

He had less of the injectable version so he didn't want to use it too much.

Al entered the room to find Annabeth waking up. 

"What do you want, asshole?" She asked, raising her head to glare at Al.

"Still stubborn?" Al asked as he threw the plate by her feet. "Now if you ask nicely I'll feed this to you."

Annabeth glared at Al.

He knew that her will would still be strong, so he needed to break her down little by little. 

"I told you, your suffering will be up to you." Al said as he walked over to the table where the torture devices were lined up. 

He picked one of the cat o' nine tails, this one was one of the simpler ones, it didn't have metal or hooked tips. 

"You won't beg?" Al questioned as Annabeth continued to glare at him. 

He grinned as she showed no signs of breaking.

Al walked up towards Annabeth, dragging the ends of the whip behind him. 

"Last chance, whore." Al spat as he snapped the whip against the wall.

Annabeth flinched as she realized Al was serious, but still she didn't beg. 

Al raised the whip and struck her, she cried out in pain, clearly not used to being hurt physically. 

This was also how Al gauged how far and how fast he would need to go to get what he needed from Annabeth.

He struck her a few more times before stopping.

"Please, Al, please." She finally said, giving in to the pain and her hunger.

Al grinned as he walked back to the table and placed that cat o' nine tails back on the table with the other torture devices. 

He then looked at Annabeth and examined her.

She was no longer the well dressed and proper woman who would follow him back when they were dating. 

Her hair was disheveled as it dropped on her face, through her mop of hair Al could see that her mascara now ran along her cheeks, probably from crying. 

Her lipstick was also smudged, most likely from her multiple attempts to break the chains.

Al walked up to Annabeth and took a piece of bread from her plate. 

It was to show her that her food wasn't poisoned. 

"I thought you would hold up longer." Al said in a condescending tone as he looked down at Annabeth. 

He then kicked the tray closer to her and released the chains that kept her arms hanging, making her fall with a thud on the ground. 

He watched as she quickly ate her food, clearly starving from the two days she had not eaten.

"I hope you learn a lesson from this." Al said as he continued to watch her, vigilant that she wouldn't attempt to attack him.

He had seen many people desperately attack their captors, it often didn't end well for the prisoner, but there was still a chance he could be caught off guard. 

When Annabeth finished the food in front of her and didn't try anything, Stephen pulled the tray towards him. 

He then pulled out a pill and forced Annabeth to swallow it. 

At first the woman tried to fight him off, but eventually she gave in. She couldn't win against him and drank the pill.

"Next time, don't fight me." Al said as he picked up the tray and walked back out of the room.

He headed towards the monitor and watched Annabeth slowly passing out. 

"Day 2 done." Al said with a grin as his phone began to ring, flashing Eric's name.