Okay, I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry, everybody! I seriously didn't mean to put up the same chapter twice! I hope you enjoy this- the ACTUAL tenth chapter!

Chapter 10

"Wow," Irina sighed, a small smile on her face. "That was…" Amazing. Stupendous. Remarkable. "…Fun."

"Yeah," Fiske agreed, nodding. He sat up; Irina, since she was on top of him, did the same. "Did I… I mean… Are you…"

"You did wonderfully," Irina assured her companion. "I am fine."

"Good," Fiske grinned. "We should probably get dressed."

"Yes, we should," Irina said, reaching for her clothes, which were lying on the cold stone floor of the cell. She gracefully climbed off of Fiske's lap and put them on. Turning back around, she saw that Fiske was already dressed. The Lucian gaped at him. "How did you do that so quickly?"

"Pure skill, my dear Irina," Fiske said, winking secretively. Irina's smile grew in response.

"Whatever you say, Fiske," she chuckled. "So… what are we going to practice today?"

Fiske groaned. "Can't we just relax?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"But I'm tired!"

"And does that stop you from doing missions?" Irina countered, raising an eyebrow. "No. I don't think so. Therefore, I will not let it stop you from teaching me."

Fiske huffed. "You're lucky you're beautiful."

Despite her cool façade, Irina blushed. "Do not worry, you are not so bad yourself."

Fiske laughed at this, and then decided, "Alright, today, we'll practice controlling emotions. Okay? To start, I'm going to-"

"Well, how's the happy couple here?"

Irina and Fiske whirled around to see the guard leering at them, his eyes malicious. They exchanged a look and gulped.

"What do you mean?" Irina asked, feigning confusion.

Nicolas laughed heartily, cruelly. "You know exactly what I mean, Princess. This morning, Mrs. Wizard woke up, and guess what she saw?" He laughed again as Fiske and Irina paled. "That's right. I have to tell you, in all my years of working in a Janus dungeon, I have never had two cellmates hook up before."

Fiske glanced over at Irina; from the furious, embarrassed look on her face, he guessed that she was too preoccupied with internally cursing in Russian to say anything. So, he decided to. "Does Cora want to see us, then?" he asked calmly.

"Yep," the guard said, quickly unlocking the cell door, slipping inside, and relocking it before either Irina or Fiske had a chance to dart out. Nicolas pulled two sets of handcuffs out of his pocket and approached the prisoners. Fiske stiffened, and then moved to stand in front of Irina.

"Aw, how sweet," the guard cackled. "You're trying to protect your sweetheart. But, I hate to break it to you: it's not going to help anyone."

"Don't touch her," Fiske growled, completely ignoring the guard's words. Irina felt her heart swell with gratitude.

Nicolas sighed dramatically. "Well, I guess that if you won't stand aside, I'll have to make you." Then, so fast that neither Fiske nor Irina had a chance to blink, he pulled off his belt and slapped Fiske with it. The man cried out with pain and fell to the ground, clutching his cheek. Irina let out a cry of outrage.

"How dare you!" She shouted, instantly kneeling at Fiske's side, but facing Nicolas still. "You barbaric cockroach! You do not know how lucky you are that I do not have my weapons with me, otherwise-"

"Save it, Princess," Nicolas snapped, irritated. "Now, get over here so I can cuff you already. And don't think about refusing; or else your lover's gonna get hit again." His eyes glinted venomously, darting down to Fiske, who was slowly rising, his hand still on his bruising cheek.

Slowly, reluctantly, Irina stood up, walked towards Nicolas, and allowed him to put the handcuffs on her. Smirking, the guard then strode over to Fiske, pulled him off the ground roughly, and slammed the handcuffs on his wrist as well. Then, he attached the same chain as before to the handcuffs, and, keeping a firm grip on it, he dragged the prisoners out of the cell.

XxxxxxX

"I must say, I am shocked," Cora Wizard said, pacing back and forth in front of Irina and Fiske in her office. Nicolas was standing behind her at her desk, watching her with the utmost admiration, as if she was an angel come down from Heaven.

It made both Irina and Fiske sick just by seeing it.

"Absolutely stunned," Cora went on, stopping her pacing to face Irina and Fiske. "I have been the leader of the Janus branch for a long time; before me, my father had the honor; and before him, my grandmother. Until now, it had been unheard of for two prisoners to get along- let alone fornicate with each other!"

Irina and Fiske blushed identical shades of dark red, looking down at their feet. To hear what they had done broadcasted like that, and to know that Cora Wizard had actually seen it… it was just plain embarrassing.

"I told them that, ma'am," Nicolas interjected excitedly. "I told them, that in all my years of guarding the dungeons, I'd never seen two prisoners hook up before."

"Very good, Nicolas," Cora said, clearly uncaring and exasperated. However, the guard beamed proudly, standing up a little straighter. "Now, prisoners- I am going to ask you some questions, and you are going to answer them truthfully. Understand?"

"How will you know if we lie?" Fiske asked, looking at the Janus branch leader unwaveringly.

"Oh, believe me," Cora began, "I will know. I am a Janus; I know acting when I see it."

"That is what you said the last time you spoke to us," Irina pointed out. "And yet, we were able to fool you into thinking that we did not have feelings for each other. What does that say about you, Cora? Personally, it makes me wonder why you are in a position of power when you are so stupid."

Nicolas lunged forward angrily, but Cora calmly held up a hand to stop him, though her eyes flashed. "Perhaps we will give our Lucian friend here a taste of what her lover had to go through for his insolence last time," she smirked deviously. "Electrocute her."

The guard pressed a button on his belt, and instantly, bolts of electricity shot into Irina's wrists, burning them from the inside, giving the Lucian pain like she had never before experienced. She let out a strangled cry of pain and stumbled, but refused to fall.

"I think," Cora started slyly, "that we should make her bow to me, like she is supposed to. I am her superior, after all. Nicolas- shock her again."

The Janus did as he was told, and this time, Irina found herself fall to her knees from the pain, which was even worse than before, in spite of all her efforts to remain standing. She heard footsteps rushing to her side, and saw Fiske kneeling next to her. "Irina? Irina, are you alright?" he asked worriedly, concern seeping through all of his features.

"Yes," Irina murmured back, "I am fine." With a grunt, she pushed herself back up to her feet; Fiske rose with her, keeping his arms out as if to catch her in case she fell again. Irina smiled at him, signaling that she was grateful, but she would not be falling. Not again.

"Are you two ready for your questions now?" Cora asked primly, with a polite smile, as if she hadn't just tortured Irina.

"What makes you think that we will tell you the truth?" Irina shot back, glaring at Cora with renewed loathing.

"Simply this: if you lie to me, Lucian, then I will shock Unidentified Cahill," Cora replied, keeping the deceiving smile in place. "Just as I will shock you if Unidentified Cahill lies to me. I am sure that you do not want either of you to have to experience that."

Irina could not argue with this. For a Janus, Cora was as cunning as a Lucian when it came to using peoples' weaknesses against them. She knew that Irina and Fiske would rather be hurt themselves than for the other to be hurt; the Janus leader used that to her advantage.

"Now, I'm going to ask you again: Are you two ready for your questions now?" Cora repeated, her tone unnaturally cheery.

Irina and Fiske exchanged a look, and then nodded.

"Good," Cora said. "First, I have a question for you, Lucian: What is your name?"

"Irene Sidorov."

Instantly, Fiske cried out as his wrists were shocked. Cora smirked, raising an eyebrow at Irina, silently saying, I told you so. Without even thinking about the consequences, Irina burst out, "Irina Spaskaya!"

"The pole-vaulter?"

"Yes."

"Interesting," Cora said shortly. "Irina Spaskaya… the name fits you. Now, Unidentified Cahill, a question for you: What is your branch?"

Fiske, keeping a cool face all the while, responded, "Not Janus."

Cora's eyes narrowed at him. "I am well aware of that, you miserable piece of filth. I would like to know which Cahill branch, specifically, you are a part of. And if you do not tell me a straight answer, then your darling Irina Spaskaya here will be shocked. Again."

There was a moment of tense silence. Then, so quietly, that Irina, who was standing right next to Fiske, had to straight to hear it, the man said, "Madrigal."

"Louder."

"Madrigal!" Fiske blurted out, looking straight into Cora's now astonished eyes. To his glee, he saw a trace of fear there before the Janus leader resumed her glaring at him.

"I should have known," she hissed. "You're not brawny enough to be a Tomas; not intelligent enough to be an Ekat; not stealthy enough to be a Lucian. Of course, that must come as no surprise to you, seeing as that's how we caught you in the first place."

Fiske ground his teeth together angrily. Irina reached out her hand to squeeze his, silently calming him down. He looked down at her, and his blue eyes softened slightly, filling with love.

"Oh, how sweet," Cora simpered. "I'm afraid we don't have time for that, though. Nicolas- you know what to do."

This time, the guard pressed two buttons, and both Irina and Fiske were shocked. They let out twin screams of agony; this pain was at least three times worse than before.

"What a beautiful sound," Cora sighed. "Thank you, Nicolas. Now- another question for the Madrigal. What is your name?"

"My- my name?" Fiske stammered.

"Yes. Your name. Is that such a hard question to answer? Your companion did, after all."

Fiske didn't know what to do. On the one hand, if he didn't tell Cora the truth, then Irina would be hurt; on the other hand, if he did tell her, then Grace and her family could be hurt- not to mention himself.

However, he was spared the trouble of answering by a loud thud on the roof, causing the whole room to tremble. Cora looked up at the ceiling suspiciously.

And then, it broke.

With a loud crack, a large piece of the ceiling fell out. The Janus branch leader darted out of the way just in time to avoid being hit- and then, on top of the piece of ceiling, a robot dropped down, landing on all eight of its spindly metal legs. Aside from its legs, the robot closely resembled a metal human, complete with torso and thick, flexible arms. But in place of a head was a thin, black TV.

"Hello, Irina," Nataliya Ruslanova Radova's head greeted from the screen.

Hello, all! I have an important announcement:

This story is coming to a close.

If all goes as planned, there will be two more chapters after this one, including the epilogue. I would have loved to make it longer, but unfortunately, I just don't have enough ideas to do that.

Anyways, what did you guys think of this chapter? Love it? Hate it? Please review; I'd love to know what you think!

Thanks!

-Joelle8