"Club Nytro at 11. And don't wear the suit."
DeeDee shut off the phone, setting it on the desk behind her. Dana struggled, arms cuffed to the cage door behind her. DeeDee unfastened the handcuffs, smiling. "Well, this should be a fun evening."
Dana pulled the gag from her mouth. Her voice was very quiet. "Terry doesn't deserve this."
DeeDee's face hardened. "Yes, he does."
Dana held her gaze. "No. You think you're the only person who lost someone they loved?"
DeeDee turned away. "His father was murdered," Dana continued. Resolve was growing in her voice. "By Jokerz just like you. Just because your sister is dead, it doesn't make you special."
DeeDee spun, grabbing Dana by the throat. "And what did his daddy do to him? Kill his mother right in front of him? Make him live on the street for years?" She backed Dana into the cage, throwing her to the ground. "Turn him over to an old witch who beat the shit out of him?"
She was kicking her now, her voice losing control. Dana rolled into a ball to shield herself. "You live in your mansion and you drive your cute little convertible and you think you have problems. But you don't. You don't know what it feels like. You can't begin to know." She picked up the bucket, held it over Dana. "You can't know what it feels like to lose the only person you could ever trust. That you ever loved."
God, no, Dana thought, not the--
"That ever loved--"
"STOP!" Dana held her hand above herself, not daring to look.
DeeDee halted, stopped short like a dog reaching the end of its tether. The bucket clattered to the floor.
"No," she panted. "I'm not going to waste this on you."
Rolling over, Dana looked at her. DeeDee held still for a moment, her eyes focused on nothing. Then, abruptly, she turned on her heel.
The cage door slammed shut. "It's Terry I want." And she left the room.
Dana pulled herself up.
She looked at the bucket.
There was no way out of this cage.
She looked at the door.
She had tried everything.
Except...
She pulled the bucket to her and began working the metal handle off the rim.