Hello Readers!

Okay, okay, I know I was meant to update my other stories first, but this one is my favorite.

I don't own W13 obviously, and happy reading. Let me know what you think!

Claudia gulps as she looks in the mirror.

Walking in confidently and convincing Steve she could do this was the easy part. She had always been good at talking big. Perusing the different outfits and finding the most modest one? A cinch. Ignoring the other women in varying states of undress and smoking things that were less than legal - fine. She had seen it before.

But as she looks in the mirror, she doesn't recognize her reflection. She sees a power-hungry woman, the kind of woman who can stop a war with one look and get her way with a few words. She certainly looked the part of a stripper. But she didn't feel like one. She felt the same as she always did. The 19 year old awkward tech-girl. Desperate for a family. Desperate for recognition. A little girl. Not this reflection. Not this sex machine. She's never been able to grab a guy with her real personality anyways. Normally she seduces them with her awkwardness and adrenaline.

She hears the music change, the slow beats turning faster. The music morphs into something graphic, explicit. It disgusts her, if she's honest. But she knows it's her cue. The other women hear it too. An older woman, 30s maybe, a crack addict, a master's student drowning in school bills. The possibilities are endless. They line up at the door to the stage, adjusting their thongs, fixing their hair- some smirking and ready for a challenge, some impossibly bored, others stoned out of their mind.

Okay, Claudia. It's time.

She bites her lip and tries to forget who she is. Her thoughts, her emotions. Artie, Joshua, Steve. They drain out of her. She's dead. She's just a moving skeleton, following orders. Everything she is, everything she was. All of it. It's not her anymore.

There was never a Claudia Donovan. It's just this woman she does not recognize in the mirror, the one she only knows is her from the reflection moving as one with her. The wild woman picks up her platform heels and walks towards the other women lined up like they are part of an auction, primped and polished in varying states of undress. The lights come up, the women sashay out, and as she walks on stage, the crescending music drowns out the very last bit of Claudia Donovan.

Steve POV

Honestly, Steve needed a drink. He downs a second vodka spritzer as he considers the situation in front of him. No matter what Claudia thought, he wasn't about to abandon her in a club where women kept dying. He didn't give a damn what she said, but he was also very sure he didn't want to see Claudia come out of that door.

He wished he could just delete the entire day from existence. Never been thrown case folders that morning, never flown to New York.

Eyeing the club and its howling and jeering inhabitants with distaste, he was glad he couldn't see the stage that well from his spot at the bar.

He had never liked strip clubs, even when he thought he was straight. Not that he hadn't gone to a fair few; it was a favorite activity of his frat in college. Even then, somehow seeing women as objects just turned him off, disgusted him. It was inexplicable, but every strip club made him want to run. Even more so now. Steve shook the thoughts out of his head.

Keep your head in the game, Jinks. The quicker you find the artifact, the better. You are a federal agent. Go investigate.

Just as he was about to question the young brunette bartender, the music changed. The dancers currently on the stage disappeared, and a stream of new women came out.

Oh God.

He caught a glimpse of Claudia against his will. She had grabbed one of the many poles like an old pro, and the glimpse of her swinging in nothing but a thong and a skimpy bra was imprinted in his mind forever. He downed another vodka spritzer in one gulp and rubbed his face. He wasn't one to drink on the job, but this was a special circumstance.

A cheer went up from one of the customer tables on the floor. He had spotted some 25ish year old men there earlier. Drunk out of their minds, obviously regulars. Steve automatically glanced back at the noise and saw Claudia goading them, collecting tips in her bra, hanging upside down off her pole.

He had to admit to himself- she was good. He had seen her dance normally around the warehouse when she thought no one was looking - and her me dance wasn't half bad, but somehow she had just the right knack to swooping up and down the pole flexibly and dancing to the beat at the same time.

The others noticed, too. All the eyes in the club were on her, including some of the other strippers. She was gaining more than one or two glares from the other women, and soon she was showering in dollar bills.

Steve took the opportunity to question the workers and regulars about the disappearances of women in the club, although it wasn't too helpful, what with the flashing lights and deafening music.

It felt like a million years later, but soon enough Claudia had walked off stage and into Mazzeti's office. He didn't follow, but when she emerged again- still in her thong and bra- Mazzeti emerged with her, unashamedly hard and smacking his lips.

Steve got up and went to the back entrance of the club where the stripper's changing room emptied into the street.

When Claudia emerged, she had washed off all her gaudy makeup, but was still in her bandage dress.

He stared at her for a few seconds too long, and the next thing he knew, she was next to him pulling off his leather jacket and wrapping herself up in it, exposing his arms to the artic wind of New York in January.

Her legs must be freezing.

Steve idly wondered if the stress of walking in those heels had helped her keep warm.

"I got the job, Jinksy." Just like that she's the Claudia he knows, albeit in a dress. Which was weird, in and of itself. She hails a cab and gets in. "Let's go back to the hotel. I'm freezing. " She eyes his mutinous expression. "Then we can talk."

Steve nods and his inner gentleman holds the door for his dressed up companion, and they ride back to the hotel in silence.

How was it? Please review, good or bad! I can't decide whether this will be a Clinks fic or not in later chapters. The more I think about it the longer this story seems to get. Let me know what you thought!

Thanks!