Sam's stomach dropped and he felt the blood drain from his face. He glanced at Fred and saw him swallow nervously. He glanced back at San-Li and was relieved to see that she didn't have her sword, but she was still every bit as intimidating. Joe had told them how she broke into his house and threatened Anna. But suddenly Fred burst out laughing.
"Nice outfit." He snickered. "French maid looks good on you."
Surprisingly, San-Li's cheeks turned pink and she looked embarrassed.
"Shut it," She growled menacingly. "And get the hell out of here I'm working."
Fred looked confused but Sam noticed that there was an open jewelry box on the night stand , she was hiding something behind her back, and there was a suspicious bulk in her apron pocket. Sam would just been content to just back out of there now and find someone else to help them, if it wasn't for the fact that they heard footsteps enter the sitting room.
"Oh dear, isn't the maid done cleaning yet?" A woman's voice said.
"Hmm, probably waiting for a tip no doubt." A man's voice chuckled.
San-Li blew her bangs upwards in a sigh of frustration temporarily revealing her eye patch.
"Perfect," She mumbled. "Just my luck."
"Quick," Sam hissed urgently. "Put whatever you stole back before they come here."
"I have a better idea," San-Li muttered a certain glint coming into her eyes.
Before they could react she threw them what she was hiding behind her back; a thick gold chain and a ruby and diamond pendant. Sam thought it was ironic that this was one of of the few times he caught something that someone threw to him. They then stared in shock as she roughly tore the shoulder of her outfit and slammed herself against the nightstand causing a loud bang and the lamp to fall with an even louder crash. She lay on the floor and threw them a wink before assuming a terrified expression.
"Help! Thieves!" She shrieked loudly and now with a French accent. "Oh mercy, someone please help me. Someone please save me from these thieves."
"Run!" Fred yelled finally breaking Sam out of his state of petrification.
They started to run out of the room, but were stopped by a large burly man in a tuxedo.
"Hold it right there gents," He thundered grabbing them by the collar. "Who are you two and what have you got in your hands?"
Sam looked down and saw that he and Fred were still holding the jewelry San-Li threw them. She came limping out of the bedroom holding her shoulder with tears streaming down her face.
"Oh please monsieur," She wept. "I was cleaning your room like you asked when I thought I heard a noise coming from your bedroom. I investigated and caught them riffling through mademoiselle's jewelry box, but when I tried to call for help they, they, attacked me!"
She collapsed in a puddle of tears and Sam and Fred could only watch in shock at her quality acting skills. Even under all the anger he felt at being used as an escape route Sam could still feel a twinge of guilt for making her cry. What wait!? Oh man... she was good.
"We didn't steal anything I swear!" He defended himself starting to panic. "She was the one stealing your jewelry not us! Check her apron pocket!"
San-Li shot him a murderous look but the large man only scoffed.
"Nonsense," He said gruffly. "And I suppose she hurt her shoulder herself as well?"
"Yeah that's right!" Fred nodded eagerly. "You see, she's a time thief who travels through time stealing stuff and tricking people into giving her their crap. Man are we glad you guys didn't fall for it."
Sam rolled eyes and resisted the urge to kick him for being so careless. He caught San-Li's eyes and was surprised to see mild amusement in her expression.
"That's enough crazy talk." The man said angrily dragging them into the sitting room.
The woman called the ship's constable and the man watched them in stony silence as she comforted a quietly weeping San-Li. Sam shook his head still shocked that he still felt a small twinge of guilt in the back of his mind. His musings were cut short when the ship's version of the police came in. He and Fred tried pleading their case again, but to no avail, San-Li was just way too good of an actress. And the next thing Sam knew they were being handcuffed, and dragged several down several floors to the bowls of the ship into a small storage room where they were handcuffed to a large pipe. The only thing else in the room was a table, a chair, and a cabinet full of keys.
"Now you two stowaways are going to stay here until we dock in New York and then we'll charge you will attempted burglary and assault." The constable said snapping the handcuffs shut.
"But we keep telling you we're innocent." Fred groaned in frustration. "She's lying. She's the one who was stealing jewelry and she's the one who slammed herself into the nightstand."
"Enough talk!" The constable yelled banging on the pipe for emphasis. "Now behave yourself or there will be no supper for you."
The constable slammed the door shut with a loud bang and left them alone. Sam could feel a panic attack coming on as he and Fred tugged uselessly on the hand cuffs.
"This isn't working." Sam panted feeling his wrists throb painfully. "We have to try something else!"
"What are you so panicky about?" Fred asked continuing to tug on the cuffs. "When he comes back we can just tell him that the ship is going to sink and he'll let us right out."
"There's no way they'll believe us." Sam shook his head. "The builders claimed that this ship was unsinkable and everyone believed them."
"Well that was stupid." Fred mumbled. "So what are we going to do? If the ship sinks while we're handcuffed down here-"
"We'll both drown to death." Sam finished for him.
They took one look at each other and started yelling for help at the top of their lungs. No answer. No one even came to tell them to be quiet. They only stopped when their throats became sore and then they heard the laughing. A slow seductive chuckle that made Sam shiver. He looked around wildly for the source and then the air in front of them darkened and the very air rippled. San-Li materialized in front of them and Sam and Fred both jumped in surprise.
Instead of her maid outfit she was now wore a tattered brown skirt with baggy pants underneath, an off white blouse, a heavy black jacket, thick books, and a small hat.
"If there's one thing I love most," She said with a large grin. "It's two cute guys in handcuffs."
"What are you doing here?" Fred asked suspiciously. "Here to gloat about how you got us arrested?"
"Of course not," San-Li pouted mockingly. "What kinda girl do you take me for?"
"Pfft," Sam scoffed under his breath. "The kind who's a really good actress that's for sure."
Suddenly San-Li materialized in front of him, her lips a mere few inches from his. She gently caressed his cheek with her sharp finger nails and he felt a different kind of shudder run through him.
"Ooo, snarky and cute." She whispered a bit menacingly. "I like that in a guy, but be careful what you say to me. I can be mighty sensitive and I might lash out in anger."
Sam was frozen in fear until Fred cleared his throat loudly. "Um excuse me! Can we get back to why you're here exactly?"
A look of irritation crossed San-Li's face before she smiled again and stepped back from Sam.
"I felt bad for you guys." She shrugged. "I'm not completely heartless. Besides, I sorta need a little... favor..."
She leaned against Fred and began tracing one of his muscular arms. She smiled at him seductively and Sam was a bit concerned to see Fred blushing. He really, really hoped that Fred was smart enough not to fall for her seductive act.
"W-well, um," Fred stuttered blushing. "I-I guess I-, I mean, um, we could help you."
"Not so fast, Fred-" Sam said quickly and then turned to San-Li with a suspicious frown. "What is it exactly do you want from us? Because we don't have The Book with us and we don't know how to get rid of the ban. Not that we remove it for you in the first place."
San-li's eyes flashed towards him and he jumped a little at her piercing gaze. She looked like she was stuck between slapping him and laughing in his face. All she did though was shrug and step back from Fred to look at both of them.
"I know that." She shrugged. "But I also know what you aren't going to find your book handcuffed to this pipe. Which is why I stole this."
She reached inside the front of her shirt and pulled out a small brass key.
"You're just going to let us go?" Sam asked incredulous.
"Hmm, not quite." San-Li said with a small smile twirling the key around her finger. "Like I said I need a little favor. You see, because you two morons almost blew my cover I decided to call it quits for this little job and head home, but then... "
She paused and pulled out her pocket watch and looked at it with complete and utter irritation. "This stupid thing went on the fritz and won't work right now."
"So you're hoping to hitch a ride with us?" Fred glared.
"Bingo!" San-Li smiled brightly.
Fred looked over towards Sam and whispered, "What do you think Sam? Can we trust her?"
"I don't think we have much of a choice, Fred." He whispered back. "It's either that or we stay here until the ship sinks."
"Cutie's right." San-Li said to Fred, but wrapping an arm around Sam's shoulders. "I'm not giving you guys much of a choice at all."
They heard footsteps coming down the hall and everyone tensed. There was a collective breath of relief when the footsteps faded away. San-Li quickly unlocked their handcuffs and reached down towards a duffel bad on the floor that Sam didn't notice was there before. She then tossed them two bundles of clothes similar to the ones she was wearing.
"Swiped them from second class." She explained sitting on the table with her back to them. "Better put them on or they'll recognize you two as the two stowaway thieves that tried to take advantage of a poor, helpless maid."
"Helpless my butt," Sam mumbled but he and Fred started getting dressed anyway.
As they changed he glanced back at San-Li to make sure she wasn't watching them and found her watching Fred as he pealed his shirt off revealing muscles gained from fourteen years worth of playing sports and a relatively recent growth spurt. Her lips were pursed and there was a small smile on her face so it wasn't hard to tell what she was thinking about. Sam looked down at his own lanky body and frowned. What...wait!? He shook his head and cleared his throat to get Fred's attention.
Fred looked at him quizzically, but then smirked when he noticed San-Li watching him. He looked back at Sam, chuckled, and rolled his eyes.
"I guess some girls just can't help staring at all this awesomeness." He said arrogantly.
"As if," San-Li scoffed and turned back around. "I'm not much for dumb blonds."
"Hey," Fred frowned. "Who you calling a 'dumb blond'?"
"Hotdumbblond say what?"
"What?"
"Exactly." She threw a wink over her shoulder at Sam and he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.