Disclaimer: Yeah yeah, I still own nothing but the plot and Neilson. Marcus, and Serenity.
A/N: YAY! Thank you soooo much for your reviews! Yes, I know it was bad for me to blackmail you, which I shall now stop doing. But please continue to review. Oh yes, PREWARNING!!!! There will be RAPE in the NEXT CHAPTER!!! I cannot, for the sake of the story, take that out. So please, please, do not report me. It is necessary to the fic for that to be in there. Thank you.
"Lexa!" Shalimar exclaimed in fear. "Lexa what's going on?" Lexa ignored her for a moment, checking for a pulse from his seemingly-lifeless form through the blood and bruises. "LEXA!" Shalimar shouted. "Is he okay!? LEXA! GOD DAMMIT LEXA, ANSWER ME!" Lexa got her ragged breathing under control before speaking.
"He's alive," she breathed. Shalimar exhaled a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. "God, look what they did to you." Lexa said, more to herself than to the others. She ran a hand over his cheek, cold and pale. Blood poured from deep claw-like gashes in his face, chest, and stomach. Lexa took her sweater from around her waist and wrapped it tightly around the wounds on his torso to slow the bleeding.
"Is he okay?" Brennan asked, his throat tight.
"No, he's bleeding really badly. Brennan, I think he's dying." Lexa sobbed, burying her face in Jesse's hair. She heard Shalimar gasp.
"We'll be there soon Lexa, hold on." Brennan told her. Lexa's head snapped up as she heard the guards coming back.
"Uh-oh; I think it's my turn." Lexa told them.
"Lexa, no!" Shalimar cried out in panic.
"Hurry, guys, I don't know how long Jesse can hang on. I'll be okay. I'm putting the ring on Jesse so you can track the signal." With that she slipped the ring off of her finger and put it on Jesse's. They just barely heard her murmur, "And so the fun begins. Those bastards are gonna pay for what they did to you, Jess," before she went out of the COM link's range.
The guards, four of them, burst through the door. Lexa stood, spun around and aimed a beam, not at their chests, as they seemed to be protected there, but at their faces. One of them fell to the floor, dead. Another clutched at the side of his head where her aim had been thrown off by a hand grabbing her arm, and her attack had grazed his temple. Lexa turned on the hand that held her, kneeing him in the nuts, then in the face as he fell, clutching his crotch in pain. The fourth finally took her down, slamming the butt of a knife into the back of her head, just hard enough to stun her but not knock her out. Several other guards came in and dragged her away.
"You're turn pretty miss." Neilson informed her with a grin. "If you're a good little girl I promise you won't end up looking like your insolent little friend."
"You son of a bitch," Lexa snarled, straining against her bonds. "If he dies, I'll kill you." Neilson grinned wider and put an arm around Serenity, who purred with anticipation.
"I like this one, she's feisty." Serenity purred, her long black hair falling into her face.
"Yes, but she also seems to be the more dangerous of the two, so I'd be wary around her, my pet." Neilson warned. Serenity whimpered disappointedly, but kept her distance. Her fun would come.
"Now, baby," Neilson addressed Lexa, "where is Adam?"
"Damned if I know," Lexa spat. Serenity nodded. "It seems as though none of Adam's puppets know where he is. Quite the elusive character our Adam Cane. Ah, well, next question. Now, remember, my sweet, this is the more important of the two questions, so answer truthfully." He smiled disarmingly. "Where is Sanctuary?" Lexa didn't bother trying to lie.
"Bite me," she snarled, glaring at him viciously. She struggled harder against her bindings; she managed to get her hands in the right position and shot an orange-red beam up, severing the painfully tight ropes. She leapt up and pounced on Neilson. She threw her fist into his face repeatedly, smiling with satisfaction at the crack of his breaking nose. Serenity leapt on her, growling. She winced as the feral's claws raked deep into her shoulder and across her back. Lexa was pulled off of Neilson and shocked repeatedly with the buzz baton. A large, dish plate sized fist slammed into her face. Serenity slashed her nails across Lexa's side. Lexa felt something heavy slam into the back of her head and she passed out. She was dragged back to the cell and thrown in carelessly. The door slammed shut behind her. Harsh red bruises were forming on her sides and stomach and blood flowed heavily from the wounds in her shoulder and side.
Brennan kicked open the door to a dingy factory that had been closed down for years. It reeked of damp and mold. Rats and insects scurried about in the gloom. Shalimar cringed at the thought of Jesse and Lexa being trapped here. They followed the path designated them by Jesse's hand-held computer. "Down this flight of stairs," Shalimar instructed Brennan, following him through the doorway and down the crumbling stairway. Brennan kicked open the door at the bottom of the staircase. "Left," she said and they ran down the hallway. "They should be around here somewhere."
"Lex!" Brennan yelled loudly. "Lexa! Jesse!"
"Jesse's probably still unconscious and we have no idea what condition Lexa's in after her torture session. She could be out too. Keep calling, though; maybe one of them will hear us." She walked slowly down the hall, glancing into each grimy cell, calling Lexa's name as loudly, not caring who heard, Brennan doing the same. Shalimar's eyes flashed yellow. "They're close." She murmured, more to herself than Brennan.
Lexa stirred into wakefulness, regretting that she did so, as her whole body ached and blood flowed freely from several deep cuts in her side and shoulder. 'Bitch,' Lexa thought of Serenity's vicious claws. Suddenly Lexa's head snapped up, she thought she heard voices. Someone calling her name. It sounded familiar. She heard Shalimar's voice and she was flooded with relief. She tried to respond but couldn't summon up the strength to yell or even sit up. She raised a weak, shaky hand and shot a small flare up and ricocheting around the cell, then collapsed, clutching at her injured side.
"There!" Shalimar shouted, leading the way to the lit-up cell at a run. She screamed, startled, when she came face to face with two surly guards. One of them grabbed her arm.
"Shalimar, duck!" Brennan shouted. Shalimar struck out at the man holding her with her fist, then dropping to the floor in a crouch. Brennan shot a bolt of electricity at the guards, knocking them unconscious. "Come on!" Brennan grabbed her hand and they ran to the still-lit prison cell. Shalimar ran back and snatched the electronic key from one of the guards, opening the door and running over to her friends, Brennan just behind her.
"Lexa," Shalimar breathed, brushing the brunette's hair out of her face and holding her hand gently.
"Shal," Lexa whispered hoarsely. "Brennan," Brennan clasped her other hand briefly before turning to see where Jesse was.
"Oh God, Jesse!" Brennan exclaimed, Shalimar turned and gasped. Jesse's hastily wrapped chest and stomach was covered in blood, soaking through the make-shift bandage, as were his face and arms. What they could see of his skin was pale, bruised in places, and cool to the touch. A large pool of blood surrounded him. "Bastards," Brennan whispered angrily.
Shalimar's eyes glowed yellow suddenly and she growled viciously deep in her throat, blonde hair framing her face. "Shal?" Brennan asked, "What is it?"
"Reinforcements," she snarled. "Lots of them; A dozen at least. We've gotta get out of here. Now." She helped Lexa to her feet, putting a supportive arm around her waist, half-carrying her to the cell door, which she held open. Brennan hoisted Jesse's limp body over his shoulders, gently, so as not to hurt him anymore than he already was, then hurried out the door before Shalimar, then heard it close behind them. Footsteps pounded down the hallway, angry shouts echoed through the desolate corridor. "Hurry, Brennan!" Shalimar yelled, urging them forward. She ran, though she knew, just as Brennan did, that they would be caught unless they did something to slow the guards down. Shalimar came up with the only possible answer.
She halted abruptly, calling for Brennan to stop. He turned to her, unawares of her plan. Shalimar came up in front of him and kissed him deeply, putting his free arm around Lexa and disentangling the other girl from her embrace. "Shalimar, what're you doing?" Brennan asked; fear striking his heart because he suddenly realized exactly what she was doing. "Shal no!" He exclaimed. She kissed him again, tears in her eyes, before shoving him away down the corridor. She drop kicked the first guard to come around the corner.
"Go Brennan! I can't carry them both out of here by myself. You can! You've gotta get them out of here or Jesse will die! The only way you can do that is if someone slows them down! Now go!" She shouted, cold-cocking a second guard and winding a third.
"I'm not gonna leave you here!" He shouted in panic.
"I'll be okay! But they won't! Now please Brennan, go!" Shalimar cried desperately, knocking out the next guy, kneeing a fifth between the legs. "I can take care of myself. If I'm not out in ten, leave without me. I'll be okay." She assured him.
"Hide your COM ring," Lexa said weakly. "Down your bra. If they catch you, they won't look there." Shalimar smiled at her, before knocking the feet from under another guy. She was now fending off three men at once, as they had finally realized that she had been picking them off one by one.
"GO!" She screamed exasperatedly, slipping off her ring and hiding it as Lexa had suggested. Brennan took one last reluctant look back, meeting her eyes and seeing the determination there, turned and ran down the hallway, calling back over his shoulder.
"I love you. I'll come back for you."
"I love you, too." She smiled, landing a spin kick into the chest of the nearest guy. "Take care of them. I'm counting on you, baby." Brennan nodded and took off down the corridor as fast as his could with his precious burdens.
Shalimar grinned cattishly as she took a few steps backwards in a prowling- fighting stance. The hallway became flooded with guards. Her grin widened. "Play time," she purred with anticipation, then leapt upon the men.
TO BE CONTINUED....
A/N: Okay, I won't blackmail you for reviews anymore. I just like getting them... Anyways, I like my fics and that's all that should really matter...I just like knowing what you think. So, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease review...please. No blackmail, no threats of not updating just...you know...me aking you veryvery nicely. Thanks. Saph