A/N: Don't hate me for leaving you guys hanging like that, I'm picking it back up now. No need to get angry! haha Keep the reviews coming! I love hearing all the feedback!

I do not own these characters they are the property of DC Nation.

Chapter 33:

Tuesday, 13 September 2013

8:12 PM

Cassie's POV:

The door didn't close behind her. Her heart pounding and body screaming and the only thing she can seem to focus on is that she didn't hear the hatch close behind her or stop to lock it. Stupid! It's too late to think of that now though, when she left her cell she stepped into a cavernous boiler room, which meant she's in a ship. A ship means lots of turns and hallways. It means it will be easy to get lost – trapped. A set of stairs to a catwalk and another hatch catches her eye and she bolts toward it. Her legs burn running up the stairs but she keeps moving, if she stops she's dead.

The hatch opens up to a hallway and she turns back and forth her body shaking with adrenaline. Left or right? Cassie has no idea where she is going and either choice could be the wrong one. There are no signs to help her and no way for her to make an educated guess. She spins in a circle and sees that Slade isn't on her tail but somehow that makes her more nervous and she has to bite her lip to keep from making any noise. Leaving that room was stupid. In there at least she always knew where he was. He's coming and she's completely exposed. This was a mistake. Her chest tightens and her lungs feel like they won't work anymore. Don't panic. Cassie whips around thinking someone spoke but the voice is only in her head. Cassie, what are you supposed to do? Her heart aches hearing her dad's voice but knowing he isn't really there.

"Don't think." Cassie whispers aloud, "Just move," she takes a step toward the right. She picks up her pace until she's running again. "And keep moving." And she doesn't stop, turning whichever way her body happens to be leaning whenever she comes to another hallway. She scrapes up every staircase hoping it's taking her toward the surface. Twice she hits a dead end but finally she finds a closed hatch and beyond the porthole she sees rain pounding on the deck.

The steel door screeches open but she doesn't care about the sound because she's outside in the rain. Fat cold drops land on her skin and she laughs thrilled that the dirt and grime are being washed from her person. In seconds she is drenched, hair clinging to the side of her face and neck. Cassie's body relaxes feeling an inkling of safety for the first time since she was taken but the feeling is soon forced away by her father's voice in her head; Why are you stopping? Let's go! Just because you're out doesn't mean you are safe! Now! She shakes her head and wipes water from her eyelashes, he's right, she's got to move. Below her the ship expands dark and desolate into the night, it's large, either a trade ship or a small cargo ship, and it's docked to a concrete stretch of land which can only mean the docks. And by the looks of it, it's one of the old ships the city just doesn't know what to do with so it's been sitting here for a while. To her right she sees a metal staircase leading down to the main deck, and down is where she needs to go so she jogs toward it squinting against the rain. She grips the railing to steady herself on the slippery metal steps but her hand slides when she's hit hard in the back and sent rolling down the stairs.

The back of her head smacks painfully against the bottom step and various parts of her body burn from the fall and she's sure that the stitches on her arm rip back open. Slade sent her tumbling down the steps and now he was coming to finish the job. Cassie forces herself to get up and is pulled the rest of the way to her feet by her ponytail. Between the rain falling into her eyes and the black spots floating in her vision she can't see him as anything other than a black mass holding her by the jaw. She blinks the rain out of her eyes and falling down her cheeks like tears. Cassie will not go back in there without a fight. Standing so close to him the easiest option is to knee him in the groin so that's what she does. He doubles over but reaches out and takes hold of her jacket before she can run. Again she knees him but this time in the face, his grip doesn't slacken. Seeing no other option she unzips her jacket and lets it fall from her shoulders. The cold bites her skin.

Regrettably, removing the jacket is just a temporary fix, before she can take more than three steps back Slade is barreling toward her. He's more massive so she sidesteps him and he ends up blocking her path to the dock. Again he comes toward her but slowly, he knows he has the advantage. Backed up against the staircase Cassie smiles, he doesn't have as much of an advantage as he thinks, she turns and runs to the top with the plan to flip over him. Slade dives forward however and pulls her leg out from under her before she can reach a high enough step. One ankle bursts with pain and the rest of her body follows suit as it again slides down the steps but this time minus the jacket. At the bottom of the stairs she crashes into Slade and tries to push off of him with her feet despite the injured ankle. Slade catches her leg and pulls her down under him placing his knee painfully on her thigh so she can't get any leverage to squirm out. This is a bad place to be. Cassie throws her elbow up hitting him beneath the jaw and sending him backwards slightly, another punch to his chest and he goes back further. His weight shifts mostly onto the knee pinning her leg down and she groans against the pain but keeps going, a little further and he will fall backwards. His fist connects with her ear and she leans toward the side shaking out the ringing with one hand held up to block more punches. The second she gets the chance she punches him again but he deflects the blow and grabs her injured elbow. He digs his fingers into the newly opened cut and rain fills her mouth when she screams.

Her body is covered in a mixture of blood and rain and it burns with every muscle she tenses but she can't stop fighting. Her pinned leg is starting to go numb from either the cold or from Slade's weight and yet her ankle still manages to throb. Her hands are really all she has at the moment. Slade has one arm and with the other she punches him hard in the throat, it has the desired effect, he starts to cough but he quickly recovers himself and punches the side of her head. Cassie falls back onto the steps, one digging into her shoulders. The rain is still pouring but she can't hear it hit the metal all around her and she tries again to blink away the black spots but they just seem to be getting bigger and bigger. Somehow she remembers she's supposed to be fighting back and tires to push herself up onto her right side. Hands wrap around her shoulders and pull her up then she's falling fast and the black spots meld into one.