This one is a bit short, but it had a natural ending. You'll see what I mean.
Frank looked at Edward gratefully. "Yes, we're going to need all the help we can get. Thanks for this Edward," he said. "I appreciate it."
"It's what we're for isn't it ?" asked Edward.
Zoe was sitting in the back of a black van, speeding along roads to somewhere. She had no idea where. It probably didn't really matter. Every nerve of her body screamed for her to act, to escape, to do anything. She wasn't going to do anything. She couldn't do anything. Slumped on the bench opposite her in the van was Dan. A KORPS agent held his unconscious body upright with one arm and held a large knife to his throat with the other. Every so often when the van bounced over some pothole or bump either Dan or the knife moved and the knife pricked another small slit in the skin of his neck. The tiny trickles of blood from these wounds blended in with the lines of blood which had now stopped running from his nose where Tom had punched him.
Zoe burned with anger at the memory of standing and watching while Dan tried unsuccessfully to wake the team. She could still taste his gentle, anxious kiss and see his disappointment when she didn't respond. Unable to move or protest she watched as the Crime Minister forced Tom to attack Dan. Dan's reluctance to hurt his friend had inevitably resulted in his injury and capture. She would not cry ! These thugs were not going to see any weakness from her. There was a soft cough and Dan stirred. His eyes flickered open and he lifted his head, choking slightly. When he pushed against his captor the man forced his knife up hard against Dan's throat making him flinch from the sharp pain of the knife slicing into the outer layer of his skin.
"You move and I'll kill you, understand ?" growled the man. Dan swallowed and froze. Zoe saw his eyes focussing on her and saw the question in them.
"I'm alright Dan. Just stay still please ?" she begged him gently.
The KORPS man chuckled nastily. "Yeah, you do what your little girlfriend says sonny. Otherwise it'll be MI9 kebab ! Har, har," he laughed, obviously very satisfied with his position of power over the two helpless teens. Zoe recognised a bully when she saw one. KORPS was full of them.
Zoe glanced at her watch. They'd been driving for hours now. Even the KORPS agent had to shift position and let Dan sit up more comfortably because of his own aching arms. He still held the knife to Dan's throat. The van suddenly ground to a halt. It took all of Dan's remaining strength to stop himself falling sideways and impaling himself on the man's knife. The van's doors were thrown open. The KORPS man grabbed the back of Dan's jacket and pushed him out of the van doors. Dan fell to his hands and knees before being pulled back up and pushed towards a tunnel entrance. A hand grabbed the back of his jacket again and he was propelled through tunnels lit first by tiny LEDS like fairly lights and then once deeper inside, by glaring flourescent strip lights. The walls of the tunnel glittered with white crystals and gleaming metallic veins.
Dan felt exhausted and his head was throbbing. His rubbery legs just made it into a room hacked out of the surrounding rock and he was thrust into a metal chair in the middle of the room. His hands were pulled behind his back and tied tightly. Zoe followed him only seconds afterwards and she too was pushed into a chair facing him. "Don't you two love birds get up to anything now will you ?" said one of the guards, laughing. Everyone left the room and the door clanged shut.
Zoe felt her eyes stinging with the start of tears. Dan could barely hold himself upright in the chair, he looked so exhausted. Slowly he lifted his gaze from the floor and tried to focus on her face. "Zoe," he said in a hoarse whisper. "You OK ?" he asked.
"I'm fine Dan. They had us all under control with some sort of gas. None of us could do anything unless the Crime Minister told us to do it. I'm so sorry, I couldn't answer you !" said Zoe, her voice gradually fading to a despairing whisper.
"I know. 'S okay," muttered Dan. "Hope Tom's OK."
"Well, he might have bruised his knuckles," said Zoe, sounding surprised.
"Not what I meant," muttered Dan.
"No, I'm sure he'll be OK. Aneisha will look after him," offered Zoe.
"Heck of a punch !" whispered Dan.
Zoe giggled in spite of herself. "Yes, he threw a good one didn't he," she said.
"Just need to point him at someone else next time," said Dan, his whisper fading, and his head sagging.
They sat in silence, with only Dan's wheezing breaths filling the room. "Dan," said Zoe. Dan twisted his head to look at her. It seemed to have become too heavy for him to lift. "Dan, I won't let them hurt you. Whatever they want me to do, I'm going to do it," she promised him. Dan could only shake his lead slightly. He seemed to be overwhelmed with weariness.
They both jumped when the door suddenly banged open. "Oh how lovely, the young lovers !" sneered the Crime Minister as she stalked into the room in her long, high-heeled boots. She grabbed Dan's chin and forced it up, making him look into her face. "Oh Romeo, Romeo, whatever have we got planned for you Romeo ?" she taunted him. She dropped his head which slumped back down. She turned to face Zoe. "And Juliet ! How sweet you look, all under my control," crowed the Crime Minister. "You my dear, are going to do what you are told, do you understand ? We have some new gasses to test and your lovely young man here is going to test them for us. Provided you do as you are instructed we will only test the non-lethal gases. If you should even attempt to cross us however, Romeo here will be testing out potentially fatal doses. Do you understand me ?" she demanded, pushing her face into Zoe's.
Zoe automatically pulled back her head. She nodded frantically. "I'll do what you say," she whispered.
"Everything !" demanded the Crime Minister.
"Everything !" promised Zoe.
The Crime Minister smiled in triumph. "Good. Take them away ! I'm tired," she announced. "You will start tomorrow," she ordered as she swept out of the room. Dan and Zoe were untied and walked through more tunnels to some small cells, separated by bars. The men who were half carrying Dan threw him on to a small bed at one side of his cell. Zoe was pushed into the cell next door. The men marched away, leaving the two agents alone. Zoe dashed the short distance across her cell to Dan's side. His eyes were closed.
"Dan," said Zoe gently. His eyes opened and looked up at her. "Lean over. There's a blanket under you," she instructed him. He managed to shift his body so she could pull out the blanket trapped under his body. Reaching through the bars of the cell, she spread out the blanket over his body. He was asleep before she'd finished. She looked at her bed, and pulled it over to the side of her cell next to Dan. Wrapping herself in her blanket she lay down beside Dan and listening to him gently snoring through his blocked nose and tried to get to sleep. Things couldn't get any worse could they ? Knowing KORPS, things could always get worse.