A/N: Yeah, sorry, this took a little while. Wasn't in a writing mood, but Julia456's progress has spurred me into writing more and not being left in the dust. Uh-oh, wait a minute, Kat's last name just slipped out of my head! Argh! Oh, ok wait I remember it now. Ryan. Ok. Haha. False alarm. Yeah. By the way, does anyone know what kind of VCRs people in Australia use? Do they use PAL VCRs or is that just you UK people over there?

Chapter 13

Abigail snapped out of a dead sleep, opened her eyes, and then quickly closed them again as she saw Max and Kat sitting six feet away. Thank fully they hadn't seen her open her eyes. That gave her more time to asses her situation without their mind-numbing babble interrupting. From what she had seen, Berto was still working on his transmitter-thing, and Kat and Max were sitting where she had seen them, presumably keeping watch over her. She realized she was sitting too, against something hard and rough, which she determined was one of the lousy trees which were everywhere. Since Kat and Max weren't watching her that closely, she assumed she was probably tied up, which she soon realized was true. She tested her bonds and discovered that her hands and feet were tied with vines, which also bound her to the stupid tree. The throbbing pain in her jaw did not improve her situation either. Damn.

She opened her eyes again, this time keeping them open, and realizing that it was midmorning, judging from the intensity of the sun that managed to get through the thick canopy of leaves above the clearing. She cleared her throat and directed her attention towards Kat and Max.

"Oh, look, her royal highness is awake," Kat said dryly.

"Oh, I don't know what your problem is, really," Abigail rolled her eyes. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You're the reason I'm stuck in this stupid rainforest again!"

"Details, details."

"And you messed with my partners!"

"Oh, but they're so cute!" Abigail winked.

Kat started to get up, but Max grabbed her arm. "Don't let her get to you."

"Who says she's getting to me?" Kat protested, but sat back down anyway.

"So," Abigail began casually, nodding towards Berto, "how far has he gotten?"

"About halfway, he's been able to concentrate a lot easier with you tied to a tree," Max answered.

"He's got to calm down a little."

"Tell me about it."

Kat glanced at Max, and then at Abigail. She didn't like how easily the small talk between them was going. "Um, Steel? Recap? She betrayed all of us, sent Berto to the med bay, had you captured by Dread, who happens to be her grandfather? Ring any bells here?!"

"She's not so bad," Max answered, still looking at Abigail, his voice sounding a little emptier than usual.

"Dammit, Steel! Snap out of it!" Kat took off one of her boots and threw it at Max's head. It hit its target, and then flew off into the brush.

"Max, go get that," Abigail ordered.

"Max, stay there!" Kat yelled.

Max didn't move for a second or so, and then got up and went after the shoe.

"How are you doing that?!" Kat raged.

"Why? Jealous?"

"No."

"You know, Kat, you're not that bad."

"Gee, thanks," Kat replied sarcastically.

"Seriously, we could be friends. Which side you fight for is just a minor aspect..."

"Save it," Kat yawned, "been there, done that, not interested."

"Too bad," Abigail said, as Max reentered the clearing, holding Kat's boot.

"Kat? Why am I holding your boot?"

"Welcome back, Steel. Have a nice nap?"

"What? Did I fall asleep or something?"

"No, you were just listening to her again!" Kat yelled, pointing at the redhead sitting tied to the tree.

"Oh," Max stared down at his feet, something he was doing a lot lately, and which Kat was personally sick of."

"Just sit down," she said pulling her boot back on.

Max sat down, and after a withering glare from Kat, Abigail was silent. The three of them sat there in silence, until Kat suddenly jumped up and started slapping at her left foot. "AHHH!"

Berto looked up as Kat took off her left boot and hurled it across the clearing. "Kat! What's wrong?!"

"FUCKING ANTS!!!!!!"

Max and Berto jumped up as they saw the red ants swarming over Kat's foot.

"I've got to get to water! Don't take your eyes off her!" Kat yelled as she took off running.

"Tough luck," Abigail smirked. "Now, Max, untie me."

Berto watched in horror as Max kneeled on the ground and undid the knotted vines holding Abigail captive. "Max! What are you doing?!" He ran and tried to pull Max back, but all he did was slow him down for a few seconds.

Abigail got up and massaged her wrists. "Save it, Berto. Now, go and tune the transmitter into channel 11. You'll know you're there when you hear classical music coming out."

"No way! KAT!!" Berto yelled for the other member of Team Steel, but at the same time realized that he had no hopes of being heard over the racket of tree frogs and birds.

"Berto, you will tune into channel 11 right now, or I'll simply instruct Max here to go for a little swim in the quicksand pit. Got it?"

Berto hesitated, and then admitted defeat as he saw the blank look in Max's eyes. "You definitely failed the test, Hermano," he muttered as he fiddled around with an antenna on the metallic contraption. Once he heard the sound of classical music, he handed over the makeshift microphone to Abigail.

"Thank you, now stay there." Abigail kept her eyes on Berto as she communicated their coordinates to the operator back at the DREDD base, and completed the transmission. Fifteen minutes later, Kat had still not returned, and an aircraft not unlike Behemoth landed in the clearing. The door opened, and Psycho clambered out.

"Ready to go, your highness?" he growled.

"Yes, thank you. Hope your arm is feeling well," Abigail replied sweetly. She looked at Berto and jerked her head to the ship. "Let's go, in."

"I'm not going in there!"

Abigail sighed. "Psycho, would you mind?"

Psycho, surprised at not being addressed as a household appliance, held the door for Abigail and Max, then walked over, hoisted a struggling Berto over his shoulder, and boarded the craft, storing the youngest member of Team Steel in an overhead compartment, and then sat down across from Abigail and Max, buckling his seatbelt.

To be continued...