Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. Not even the villain, technically.
Yoru: So…hi. I should probably be in bed right now.
Kuronue: Somehow, the fact that you're not doesn't surprise me.
Yoru: Shaddap. I'm going to type a little and then go to bed.
Tsuzuki sighed as he watched Terazuma sleep. He had, with difficulty, placed the bigger man on the bottom bunk and was now waiting for him to wake.
What had the woman meant by experiments? What was so interesting about Terazuma that would be a basis for experiments? It couldn't be the fact that he was a Shinigami; no, she could experiment on any of them if that were the case.
Tsuzuki sighed and rubbed his temples. He was getting a huge headache. He didn't even like Terazuma…suddenly Terazuma groaned on the bed. Tsuzuki, animosity forgotten, was at his side in an instant.
"Where am I?" Terazuma asked groggily.
"You've been kidnapped by a woman who wants to do experiments on you. The rest of us are here too, but I don't know why."
"…Where's Wakaba?"
Tsuzuki stared at him for a moment. He'd just been told that he was going to be a guinea pig and he was worried about Wakaba?
"The woman didn't say anything about Wakaba. Just us, Hisoka, Tatsumi, and Watari."
"Okay. Good." Terazuma's eye slowly focused on Tsuzuki, "What're you doing here?"
"I was thrown in here." Tsuzuki leaned against the bunk, sighing.
"Why?"
Tsuzuki closed his eyes, "Because this is where they threw me."
Terazuma blinked slowly; Tsuzuki was getting worried. Terazuma should have attacked him for that unhelpful answer. What had they given him?
"Terazuma, do you know what drug they gave you?"
"No."
"Well, think about it. You're starting to scare me."
"Why?"
"Because you're acting weird."
"You hate me." Terazuma's calm statement surprised Tsuzuki.
"That doesn't mean I want to see you hurt…by someone other than me." Tsuzuki moved to sit on the bed, putting a hand on Terazuma's forehead gently, "No fever, so it's not infecting you."
"Of course it's not infecting him. It's just keeping him from focusing enough to transform inconveniently."
Tsuzuki looked up. The woman stood in the door, flanked again by four men. He stood quickly, seeing Terazuma attempt to sit up out of the corner of his eye. The other man quickly fell back down.
"Get out of the way. It's time for the first experiment."
"In his condition? Are you crazy?" Tsuzuki suspected that she was, but kept that to himself. No sense in jeopardizing Terazuma further. She'd probably punish the other man for Tsuzuki's cheek.
"Get out of the way, Tsuzuki, or my men will get you out of the way." She took a step forward menacingly. Tsuzuki's eyes darted to Terazuma, who was looking apprehensive even in his drugged state.
"No."
The woman shrugged, and gestured to her men. Three of them suddenly rushed Tsuzuki, slamming him against the wall and effectively holding him there. He fought as the other man approached Terazuma, who tried to move away. Tsuzuki's struggles intensified as the man carelessly threw a weakly squirming Terazuma over his shoulder and turned to leave the room.
"LET HIM GO!" Tsuzuki shouted. Suddenly a manicured hand fixed over his throat and squeezed, causing him to choke.
"You shut up. We'll bring him back when we're done with him. I'm not totally sure whether he'll be recognizable, but that depends on how much he resists. Anyway, another peep out of you and I'll beat him until he's begging for mercy." The woman let go of Tsuzuki's throat, and he coughed a little. The man holding Terazuma waited for the woman to leave the room before following. Right before he disappeared, Terazuma looked up at Tsuzuki.
Tsuzuki had never before seen fear in Terazuma's soft brown eyes, and it made him want to cry.
Tatsumi watched Hisoka sleep in the circle of his arms. It had surprised him for the boy to admit his love, and even more surprising to realize that he returned that love. They should be trying to escape, Tatsumi knew, but he didn't want to wake Hisoka up now.
He heard footsteps outside the door, and looked up. Through the little window in the cell door he saw a severe-looking woman walk by, followed by a big man with someone thrown over his shoulder. Tatsumi blinked. Had that been Terazuma?
He woke Hisoka gently and told him what he had seen. Hisoka's eyes widened.
"But…what are they going to do to him?"
"I don't know. He looked drugged."
"Maybe that's to keep him from transforming." Hisoka's brow furrowed as he thought, "Do you think they're going to do something like that to all of us?"
"It seems to me that we should postpone our romantic urges until we get out of here."
"As much as I hate it, I agree. You start at that wall."
Watari leaned back, exhausted. The heavy chains on his legs clanked as he moved, annoying him greatly. This "project" they had set him on was a hard one indeed. How was he supposed to build a machine that would resurrect the dead?
"Work, Shinigami." A hard blow was delivered to the back of his head. Rubbing it, Watari snarled at the guard towering above him.
"It's hard to work with no food, no water, and no sleep."
"Miss Ukyou says you're to work until she comes in and personally tells you to stop for the day."
"What part of the earlier comment did not clear your thick skull? I'm too tired, you big ape!"
The man hit him again, harder, "Work!"
"No!" Watari made a noise of pain as the man seized his hair and pulled his head back roughly.
"Work, or I'll really beat you up."
Watari considered his options. Work, pretend to work, or refuse and end up black and blue. Grumbling, he picked up a wire and pretended to try and figure out where to put it. His guard smirked and leaned against the wall.
Terazuma pulled weakly against the leather restraints holding him down to the steel table. How had he gotten himself into this mess?
"Stop fighting. You're too weak to break them."
"Lemme go…" Terazuma slurred. He felt so groggy. His voice only grudgingly obeyed him, like a pet that hadn't been given a treat in weeks.
"Not until I'm finished with my experiment, and even then you're going back to your cell, where I have no doubt Tsuzuki will help you recover. Now hold still." The woman held Terazuma's arm down and readied a syringe. Terazuma fought weakly, but he felt the needle slide into his skin anyway. Pain and blackness became his world.