Talwyn moved into the building with trepidation. She held her blaster at the ready, preparing, in the highly likely chance, the parrot had tried to trick them. She moved through the house, working her way to the back. Much like the other houses she had checked in, this one lay in a similar state of dilapidation. The group stepped past broken family heirlooms and smiling portraits marred by dust. They arrived at, what they figured, was the master bedroom. Yellowed wallpaper peeled from the musty walls. There wasn't much left in the room: a pair of bedside tables, the rusty remnants of a bedframe and the wardrobe in question. It stood in the far corner, weathered and rotting. Talwyn waved Cronk and Zephyr over, positioning them behind her and ready just in case of a possible trap. She holstered her blaster, needing both hands to open the heavy old door. It whined in protest as she pulled at the unwilling thing. It was as bare as the room it sat in. She touched the back panel, moving her hands along it to feel where to open it. She slipped her hands along the seam and about halfway down the right side, she felt a groove. Hooking her fingers into it, she tugged at it and slowly the back wall began to shift. She had it about halfway open when she heard the old wood whine again, louder this time.
She realized it wasn't the wardrobe making that noise.
It was someone screaming.
Talwyn jerked the panel open just enough to slip her small body through, and took off down the darkened stairs that lay behind. It was so dark and musty as Talwyn descended the stairs. She moved as quickly as she could without outright tripping down them. She was faintly aware of Cronk and Zephyr calling after her, but was too distracted by the thundering in her ears. Another scream rang out.
It was Ratchet.
She launched herself down the stairs, her heart climbing into her throat and hands quickly turning numb in terror. She felt the heavy metal door at the end of the dark corridor, before she even saw it. Quickly scrambling for the handle, she gripped it, before slamming her weight into it, forcing the door along its rusty hinges. In one hard shove the thing burst open. It took her eyes a second to adjust to the lighting of the room beyond. Once they did, she gasped.
Before her hung Ratchet in the middle of a darkened room, chained, battered and naked. A couple feet from him she spotted Clank, in a similarly rough state. And there, standing behind Ratchet, with his hand on Ratchet's throat and pelvis flush with his rear, stood the man who had perpetrated these abhorrent deeds. Their eyes met, a stunned silence hanging heavy in the air. Talwyn felt as if she had been petrified into stone. Out of all the possible ways she could have found Ratchet, this was, by far, worse than anything she could have ever imagined.
"You bastard!" Talwyn screeched.
Her hand instantly went for her gun, but at the same moment, the Smuggler reached for his knife. As soon as Talwyn had it trained on him, the Smuggler had managed to slip his knife against Ratchet's throat. They had arrived at yet another silent impasse.
"Well now," the Smuggler drawled evenly, "It seems like we've gotten off on the wrong foot."
Talwyn heard as Cronk and Zephyr quickly caught up to her, followed by their gasps of shock, as they now witnessed the same terrible sight she had.
"Get away from him!" She barked, keeping her blaster steady with both arms. Her eyes were trained on him, unwilling to even blink.
"Sorry, no can do, these two here owe me restitution." The Smuggler drawled.
"Bullshit!" Talwyn snapped, "They owe you nothing! And if they did, how could they possibly owe you anything close to what you've already stolen from them!"
The Smuggler adjusted his grip on Ratchet's jaw, the movement shifting Talwyn's focus. The knife glinted dangerously close to Ratchet's throat. She followed it up to the bright red line drawn across his cheek. To his cracked and crusty lips, twitching in discomfort. To his heavy bagged eyes, squeezed tightly in exhaustion. Her heart was like a pincushion, each little detail she noticed feeling like an extra needle stabbed into it. Her pain was only compounded when she finally dared a better look at Clank. He stared at Ratchet, as intensely as she did, through his one good eye, the remnants of which lay scattered at his knees. Oil leaked from the gaping wound in his chest, coating his exposed wiring and slowly forming a small puddle around him. His whole form twitched and shook, more than it ever had that night, than she'd ever seen before, than she ever thought possible. Guilt and fear and anger and so many other emotions she couldn't even name swirled around inside her, threatening to undo her completely. But she quickly snapped her focus back to the Smuggler, letting the raw anger, disgust and vitriolic hate she felt for this creature keep her grounded. Once she got Ratchet and Clank out of here, then she could break down, then she could scream her lungs out, then she could collapse into heaving sobs. Right now, she needed to keep a clear head, look for an opening, and formulate a plan.
The Smuggler fixed the Markizian with a grin, slick like oil.
"You're a smart one ain'tcha? You're their little Markizian friend, Talwyn Apogee, eh?"
Talwyn said nothing, staring at the Smuggler coldly.
"Huh, smart and beautiful?" The smuggler continued unperturbed, "I gotta say, the lombax has a great taste in women." Talwyn remained silent, watching as he began to undress her with his eyes.
"You think so?" She asked evenly.
"Darling, in all my time across the cosmos, I don't think I've seen anything quite as lovely as you." The Smuggler replied.
Talwyn paused.
"How about this then," She said after a moment, "If you let these two go, I'll take their place and willingly go with you instead."
"Miss Apogee!" Cronk and Zephyr gasped from behind her. They took a step forwards, reaching out for her, but the Smuggler raised both Ratchet and the knife in warning. With a growl, the war bots quickly and begrudgingly fell back in line.
"How do I know you're not pulling my leg?" The Smuggler asked skeptically.
Talwyn glanced back at Cronk and Zephyr, before lowering her gun. She placed it slowly and carefully on the ground, before kicking it, sending it skittering into the darkest corner of the room. She then raised her empty hands in surrender.
"There, see?" Talwyn said.
"And how do I know those two won't try anything?" The Smuggler said, indicating to the robots behind her with a jerk of his head.
"They won't. I promise you. For me, they'd do anything." Talwyn replied.
She carefully began to step forward, keeping her hands up and visible, and true to her word, neither Cronk or Zephyr moved. They stood stock-still and straight-faced.
"TALwyn…" Clank called out despondently.
Talwyn's lip twitched nervously, but other than that she ignored him, continuing under the watchful gaze of the Smuggler before her. She stood directly in front of him now. Carefully, she rested a hand on his bicep. Then slowly, ever so delicately, reached out her other hand. She placed it on the side of his face, rubbing her thumb gently along his cheek.
"Tal." She heard Ratchet murmur.
She leaned in then, and kissed him.
The Smuggler seemed almost surprised, when she had done it. Slowly though, he closed his eyes and began to kiss back, pushing himself deeper into it. He moved his tongue against her lips, and she opened them willingly. Letting it dip and dance against hers, she even returned the gesture, moving against him in turn. He breathed in her scent, admired her taste, how nice of a change up it was, to have someone willingly submit to him like this. It turned him on too, knowing that she was doing this to spare her boyfriend. His mind began to race. Once he got ahold if her, he would fuck her harder than he ever did the lombax. He would tie her up and make her scream, much louder than he could ever get Ratchet to. He'd make her submit to I'm so completely, she'd forget what life had ever been like without her. He'd fuck her everyday, everynight, whenever he pleased.
The Smuggler's fantasy was quickly cut short, when he felt the cold barrel of a blaster against the back of his head.
"Drop the knife. Now." Talwyn hissed.
Chapter 15 image: i imgur com ApB5LEf png