Talia groaned and tried to open her eyes. Her head felt heavy and her muscles weren't responding to her commands. It was as if she were chained down.

It felt cold. She couldn't tell if it was from the wind or an air conditioner. She thought it had to be an air conditioner, because she last remembered it being really warm and sticky.

She finally managed to pry her eyes open and she took a few deep breaths and squeezed them shut again, trying to clear the fog. When she opened them again, she could see clearly.

She was in a hotel bedroom by the looks of it. There were two beds: one right underneath the curtained row of windows, and the other against the opposite wall. They were both propped up on their sides, legs facing inwards, likely to make room for the chairs she and Callen were tied to.

Wait, chairs they were tied to?

Talia looked down, only to see her wrists secured to the arms of a chair with zip ties. She looked across at a still unconscious Callen, in much the same situation. How this had come about, she had no idea.

At least the chair she was stuck in was relatively comfortable.

She leaned back and let her mind reel back to earlier, to try and figure out how they ended up in this mess.

6 ½ hours earlier…

"Come on, what are you, a wuss?"

"No! I just…have a fear of falling from eighty stories up straight onto the concrete."

Talia gave him a challenging glare. "It's a glass box. Secured by metal poles. You'll be fine."

"No."

She rolled her eyes. Since when was Callen, Agent Callen, afraid of heights? Perhaps it had something to do with the time he'd nearly fallen into an empty elevator shaft. She shrugged.

"Suit yourself."

With that, she spun on her heel and marched straight into the box. The Edge, it was called. Located on the top floor of the Eureka Tower. This was the only reason Talia had wanted to visit this bulding, but had been pleasantly surprised by a whole bunch of other cool things, such as a wonderful view of the city, and a cafeteria with amazing food, however expensive.

Talia made herself comfortable in a corner of the box, sitting cross-legged. It'd only be a matter of seconds now before Callen entered.

No sooner had she finished her thought that she heard some mumbling of "excuse me" and Callen entering. She smirked to herself, and then stood up to talk to him with a straight face.

"I thought you didn't want to do this."

"I have to," he answered, not missing a beat. "You're going to need someone to protect you from dying when the glass shatters."

"And they say you aren't romantic," she teased, punching him lightly in the shoulder. Callen narrowed his eyes at her, only resulting in a playful grin.

"Aww, lighten up, G! I'll hold your hand when you get scared."

This elicited an annoyed sigh from him, and a mutter that sounded a lot like "how did I fall in love with you", much to her delight.

4 hours ago

After The Edge, Talia and Callen had eaten lunch. They'd shared a KFC meal, which Talia found adorable. Callen had joked about being glad that Sam wasn't around to grill him about his eating habits, which Talia laughed at and snatched one of his fries (or chips, they called them here in Australia). It'd then turned into a little battle of stealing and defending food, which earned them a few looks, but most people ignored them.

They then stopped in 7/11 to grab some Slurpee's and snacks. Then they headed over to Crown to visit the Casino. Neither of them gambled much, but they enjoyed a good game of poker from time to time. Talia chatted away as they walked along the river way, while Callen was content to listen and smoulder.

They arrived at the Casino a short time later. It really was quite beautiful, and Callen stopped to appreciate the architecture. They then collected their chips and made themselves comfortable at a table.

They played for about two hours before Talia left Callen at the tables to go relieve herself. She sighed as she washed her hands and inspected her face in the mirror. It was already nicely tanned, with her more sun-sensitive collarbone on the brink of sunburn. She made a mental note to put more sunscreen around that area.

She shook her hands and pulled some paper towels from the dispenser and wiped them, then abruptly dropped them in the bin when she noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye. It was just a quick flicker of a shadow, and it was enough to put her on edge. Instinctively, she reached behind her for her gun, when she remembered she had left it at her hotel room.

Talia glanced around for something she might be able to use as a weapon before her logical side kicked in.

Relax, Talia, the average Australian citizen doesn't own a gun. The only reason someone might be after you in here is if you won too much money, which you haven't. Just breathe.

She sheepishly smiled at her jumpiness and took a deep breath before finishing drying her hands off. She saw no more movement as she finished up and exited the restroom (or "Public Toilets", the Australians called them. Man, Australians were weird). She saw nor felt any movement as she walked back down the corridor towards where she and Callen were.

She neither saw nor felt any movement until a stream of electricity zapped the back of her neck and she fell backwards. She let out a little gasp as her attacker, wearing a hoodie that covered their face, stuck a needle into her neck. Her world started to go fuzzy, and soon went black.

1 hour, 35 minutes ago…

Callen glanced down at his watch for the fifth time in the past minute. Talia still hadn't returned from her bathroom break, and he was growing anxious. She never took this long, not even when she was fixing her hair and/or make-up. He decided the best thing to do would be stop and go look for her.

"I fold."

He put his cards down and scooped up the tokens he had in his possession and collected his money, then hurried down towards the restrooms. He stopped outside the ladies, wondering what the customs and rules in Australia were when it came to a male entering the ladies room.

The Australians were laid back, surely they wouldn't mind if he poked his head in just to check on Talia? He really wished there was a handbook for situations like this. On top of that, would he be comfortable going in there? Probably not, he thought. But he'd do anything for Talia.

So, Callen took a deep breath and put his hand on the door to open it, but was stopped short by a small prick and a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He fell backwards, but his head was caught by strong hands before his head hit the ground. He tried to see his attacker's face, but all he could see were fuzzy features that looked vaguely like a woman. Then he lost consciousness.

Present time…

Talia licked her lips and took a deep breath. Panicking now would do nothing. The best thing she could do was try to figure out where she was. The curtains were currently covering the windows, which were closed, so seeing outside was near impossible.

The walls were pretty average, and the carpet was dark. In front of her on the wall was a painting of a young boy. He was white with brown hair, and wearing posh clothes. But the painting was of no concern to her. It'd probably been hanging in this place for donkey's years. The wall to the right of the painting had an air conditioner. She turned her head and tried to see behind her, but the most she could glimpse was the frame of a door.

So, she was in a small room, with a row of small windows and one door, and she was strapped to a chair. Escape was nearly impossible.

Talia then went back to focusing on figuring out exactly where she was. She closed her eyes and focused on her other senses. Outside, she could hear the chirping of some birds, and the sound of a gentle breeze. She then concentrated on what she couldn't hear. What she couldn't hear were cars. She couldn't hear water, or boats, or trains. She couldn't hear any people.

So, they were probably out in the countryside somewhere.

Good start, Talia, she told herself, keep going.

She listened carefully for what was happening on the other side of the door. She heard a bit of shuffling, some quiet talking that she couldn't make out, but she did think the voices belonged to women, and…was that the sound of a gun being cleaned? She drew in a short breath and forced herself to calm down. Freaking out now wouldn't do her any good.

After that, Talia decided to fixate on her sense of smell. All she could smell was the classic smell of the interior of a small hotel bedroom. She tried desperately to smell beyond that, but there was nothing to smell beyond her room. No one was barbequing anything, no one was taking a dump right outside, nothing.

She sighed, and then zeroed in on her sense of touch. She could feel the solid surface of the chair she was sitting in. She could feel the slight gusts of air coming from the air conditioner, she could feel the soft carpet…

Talia suddenly looked down to discover that she had no shoes or socks. Their captors must have taken their footwear.

Meaning that they were dealing with professionals.

She sighed and dropped her head. So much for their vacation.

12 minutes later…

"Talia?"

Callen's voice was soft and weary, his words slurred, meaning that he'd just woken up.

"Yeah, G, I'm here," she whispered back.

"What happened?" he groaned quietly, pushing himself fully upright, struggling to grip consciousness.

"We were kidnapped. Captured. Or whatever."

He left out a small, annoyed huff of air. Talia smiled slightly. Even when he was sedated, he was still funny.

"By who?"

"Dunno. But I did hear some quiet talking. I think they're women."

Callen hummed quietly in response, as he fully woke up and stretched to the best of his ability, being restrained and whatnot.

"How long you been awake?"

"About 10 minutes."

"Any idea where we are?"

"Countryside."

Callen responded with a sigh. He slumped back in his chair and tilted his head back so that he was staring at the ceiling. Talia felt bad for him. He'd wanted this vacation for years, and now he had snatched away from him by whoever was keeping them as prisoners. She stared at the wall behind him for several minutes before she thought of something to say that might cheer him up. She slid her gaze to his exposed throat and smirked.

"You know what I'd be doing if we were here by free will?"

Callen lowered his chin and looked at his girlfriend and mimicked her smirk as soon as he saw it.

"I have a feeling I'd still be tied up."

Talia merely waggled her eyebrows and Callen chuckled, allowing a slight shake of his head. He was about to respond when the door began to open. Both parties promptly shut their mouths, closed their eyes, and dropped their heads.

The door closed and there were a few seconds of silence before the person who had entered spoke.

"Come on, I know you're both awake."

It was a woman's voice. She sounded American, and Talia noticed a slight southern drawl in the accent. Still, neither she nor Callen reacted. The woman sighed and there were a few more seconds of nothing, until Talia felt two fingers squeeze either side of her thigh, sending a sharp shock through her nerves.

She yelped and her head shot up. She came face to face with a woman with dark eyes smirking at her.

"Morning, sunshine."

She stepped back and Talia got a good look at her. She was a small woman, roughly the same size as Nell, but with a lot more muscle than the tech geek. She had dark skin, of Middle Eastern origin. She had beautiful dark brown hair to match her skin.

The woman with the southern drawl stood a good foot taller, Talia thought. She had fair skin, with brown hair. Her style seemed to reflect her southern origins, specifically her leather jacket and boots that could almost be called cowboy boots. Almost.

Talia stole a quick glance at Callen. She had to give him credit; he still hadn't opened his eyes or lifted his head.

"Who are you?" Talia asked. She kept her voice soft, fearing the shorter woman slightly. She looked like she killed for a living.

"I'm Root, and this is Shaw," the taller woman introduced. "We really wanted to avoid doing this, but she told us, and we figured, you wouldn't come willingly."

She? Did Root mean Shaw, or was there a third woman involved? Talia was confused, but she shrugged it off. There were more pressing issues to deal with at the present time. Such as where the hell they were.

"Where are we? Why are we here?"

"Currently, we're in a hotel in Dimboola. Nice and cheap, too. Hey, Sam, do you reckon we should vacation here sometime?"

"Focus, Root." Shaw's tone was scolding, but it also sounded…bored. Or incredibly focused. Or both. Talia couldn't tell which. Shaw was incredibly difficult to read.

"And as for why, well, it was really the only way to save you from wannabe Hydra terrorists."

"What?"

"They call themselves Hive, after the Hydra god or something. They're into the whole 'compliance will be rewarded' thing."

"Sort of like us," Shaw murmured with a smirk. Root bit back on hers.

"Now, sweetie, that's no way to be a good host." She turned back to Talia. "But if someone else captures or kidnaps a wanted asset, then they respect that and don't try to steal prisoners. It's a weird criminal moral code."

"So, you're saying that you kidnapped me to stop me from being kidnapped?"

"A little weird, I know," Root admitted. "But there wasn't really any other way."

Talia nodded, processing all the information she'd just received. It was a lot to take in, but it only took a few minutes to wrap her head around. As she did, she nodded slowly, and then raised her gaze to meet Root's.

"…thank you, I guess?"

"You're welcome." Root smiled at her. Talia wasn't sure what to make of the smile. It seemed friendly enough, but she wasn't sure if she could trust it or Root. After all, Root did kidnap her. She titled her head and studied the woman's face. She seemed harmless enough, but Talia knew better than anyone that looks could be incredibly deceiving.

But she was incredibly good at MMA. If anything went wrong, Talia was fairly sure she could take them down. Besides, if they wanted to kill her, something told Talia they could have done so many times already.

It was another minute of silence before Talia spoke again.

"So, um, if you're not really kidnapping us, are these really necessary?" Talia wiggled her wrists beneath the zip ties, and glanced over at Callen before looking back up at Root.

"Only if you promise not to run away." Root spoke as if she were giving a warning to a small child, but was still bending over to free Talia.

"No guarantees," Talia replied, waiting patiently for her restraints to be cut. She heard Shaw let out a chuckle.

"I like her."

"Well, that's good," Root said, slicing Talia's zip ties in two fluid motions. "Since you're going to be spending a lot of tim-"

Root was cut off with her own yelp as Talia abruptly leapt out of her chair, wrenched the knife from her hand, slammed her against a wall, snatched the gun from the back of her pants and gave the back of her head a solid thump. Root crumbled to the ground in pain, although not unconscious.

Talia breathed deeply, rounding Root so that she was standing behind her. Shaw had her gun out, pointed at Talia. Talia held her gun up in defence, and risked a glance at Callen, who was now no longer faking unconsciousness.

"Put it down." Shaw's voice was calm and flat, but her eyes betrayed her. Talia could see that she was incredibly protective of this woman, and therefore she knew that Shaw wouldn't hesitate to shoot if necessary. Still, Talia stood her ground.

"Me? You're the one who kidnapped me!"

"She's right, sweetie." Root's voice was a little slurred, having been almost knocked out. But she seemed to be recovering quickly. Out of her peripherals, Talia saw Root slowly roll over onto her back.

"Talia, we don't want to hurt you or Callen. Put the gun down, please."

It was the please that caught Talia's attention. It wasn't a beg, or a mock, or a demand, but a soft request. She looked down and again studied Root's face. She didn't look afraid, or angry. She simply looked…submissive? No, that wasn't the right word. She had an expression on her face as if she were cautious of Talia's skills, but at the same time was confident that Talia wouldn't hurt them.

Talia tilted her head, and lowered her gun slowly out of curiosity, but didn't lessen her grip on it. Root smiled gently, and slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. She nodded at Shaw, who reluctantly also lowered her weapon.

"Now that we're more or less understanding of each other, how about we discuss this over a sandwich?"