Disclaimer: Saw does not belong to me, and therefore neither do Hoffman and Amanda (thank God).


Rope - Cross My Heart - This Way and That

There were no pulleys on this one, no way of raising or lowering. If she could get out she would drop, buckle, acid falling like rain on her head while she waited for death, for no one could help her this far underground.

But Kerry wasn't on their minds now.

There was a very small margin for error with the sedatives they used. For convenience they couldn't be administered constantly, and the dose that could be given without suspicion was small. Something powerful. And the stronger they were, the thinner the line became between kidnap and murder.

The dose wasn't on their minds either. John had the matter in hand. They took what they were given and they delivered.

But because of this thin line, they could leave nothing to chance. Once the subject was in the warehouse, every game had many moving parts to be assembled quickly. They had to be sure they could keep the subject safely asleep until they were restrained, secured, and rigged. They had to move quickly and avoid unnecessary injury. They had to have a system.

It was with poison in her eyes that Amanda eased herself once again onto her back on the stone floor. She tucked her hair into her collar to avoid the dust. Hoffman stooped and put his hands under her shoulders. She squirmed. He shook her impatiently.

"You're too stiff."

"I'm sore. You fuckin dropped me."

"Won't happen again," he picked up a short leather strap and tightened it around her wrists. She cursed under her breath as her scars pressed into each other. "Full dress. Work with me."

"John's office's got shotgun holes in the wall. I don't know what you did do it, I had it calibrated. Now it's on a fuckin hair trigger. Makes me look like an amateur." she hissed as he tightened a belt around her knees.

"This comes first. You know why. And you're not gonna make me tell you again." As she glared at him, he took the strap on her wrists and pulled her forward onto his shoulder. He jerked her knees forward with his gloved right hand. "Now relax, or I swear I'll knock you out against the door."

He could hear her teeth grinding as he heaved her over his shoulder, and carried her to the chains and iron bodice that awaited Kerry. He secured the chains around Amanda's hollow waist, then released the belt on her knees. She was securely suspended now, a foot off the floor, as he pulled the iron bodice around her and fastened the hooks into her shirt. He thought of the metal washers that would be around the ribs, fastening into this deadly corset like hooks and eyes

She kicked him. "Stop enjoying the view, Detective."

What view, he thought, his fingers found her ribs and fit between them with ease, you're wasting away...

"Fuck are you talking about?" she snarled when she was afraid. She was on her guard before he had touched her like he would a sleeper, when he'd cuffed and shackled her like the cop he'd left behind. Now he imagined the metal rings around her bones, and how it would feel to slip his fingers between them and pull.

Their eyes met. She had to struggle to keep the walls up behind hers. She knew what he was thinking.

He turned her loose."Time"

"Two minutes."

Pause. Eyes locked.

"It won't be long." he murmured, half to himself.

Her eyes crackled and blazed. "Is that a promise, Detective? Or a dare?"

He just shouldered the restraints.

Cross my heart and hope to die.