#####

Shaw wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. Well, all right. She'd been expecting to see Elizabeth, of course. Elizabeth handcuffed to a radiator, maybe, or Elizabeth drugged and unconscious. A small part of her—the fearful, pessimistic side—had been expecting blood and tears, but there was none of that.

Whatever Shaw had been expecting was nothing like the sight before her.

She stared.

It was the ball gag that caught her eye first; it was fat and red and glistening, held between Elizabeth's lips with a thick leather strap that wrapped around her head, disappearing into her hair. Elizabeth's freckled face was rosy, flushed with heat, and so was her neck. From there, Shaw's eyes made their way downward, taking in the way the ropes were wrapped tight around Elizabeth's snowy white blouse, the bindings constricting her chest and drawing attention to her breasts, cradled as they were between the two lengths of rope above and below. Her arms were doubtlessly tied tightly behind her, probably held fast by the ropes that lashed her hips down to the chair.

Elizabeth's legs were spread and bound securely to the chair, but her modesty was preserved by the ruffled blue skirt pooled around her thighs. Her ankles were bound to the back of the chair, leaving her feet, still shod in tan leather sandals, dangling with her toes hanging an inch above the carpet.

The captive woman scowled and huffed angrily into her gag as Shaw stood in the doorway, still trying to process the image before her.

"Elizabeth," Shaw breathed. Finally remembering to move, she stepped into the room, her training kicking in as she quickly scanned all the corners while keeping her pistol pointed safely at the ground. As soon as she was satisfied that no one was hiding behind the desk, she ran to Elizabeth's side and knelt down next to the bound woman.

"You're safe now," Shaw said, her fingers already expertly unfastening the buckle on the ball gag. She pulled it out of Elizabeth's mouth and wiped the trail of saliva away from her chin. "I'm getting you out of here."

"Shaw…" Elizabeth gasped.

"Root's gone," Shaw said. "I'm going to get you out of here." She picked at the knots on the ropes wrapped around her torso, trying not to pay too much attention to the way they were squeezing and emphasizing Elizabeth's modest breasts. (Okay, maybe she snuck in a few appreciative glances.)

"Shaw, wait…" Elizabeth mumbled.

"What's wrong?" Shaw didn't stop working at the knots until Elizabeth said, "Can…can you turn it up first?"

Shaw blinked, not understanding at first until Elizabeth looked shyly away and glanced downward at her skirt. She shifted awkwardly, as much as her bonds allowed. For the first time, Shaw noticed the faint humming sound.

Had Root really…?

"It's been driving me nuts," Elizabeth whimpered. "She set it to some random mode and—I-c-can you just turn it up? Just for a few minutes? Please?"

It took Shaw a few seconds to find her voice. "I don't know if that's a good idea," Shaw said carefully, glancing over her shoulder at the open door. In her haste, she had forgotten to close it behind her.

"Please," Elizabeth whined. "I've been like this for a fucking hour."

Shaw considered. She had been planning to rescue Elizabeth, drop her off at the nearest available safehouse, and then burn rubber back to her Number. They didn't have time to stick around, and even if they did have time, the building was unfamiliar and unsecured.

At least, that had been the plan for the situation before Root had called.

Now Shaw knew it was pointless to return to her Number. Root had well and truly played her; there was no doubt that the Number was even now being kidnapped at taser-point, and she would likely never see him again. (Not that she was upset about that or anything.) And, as Root had promised, it did look like they had the place to themselves.

So why hurry?

"Shaw," Elizabeth whimpered. "Come on!"

Coming to a decision, Shaw hushed Elizabeth with a single finger across her lips. She stood and walked to the door, closing and locking it, and then sauntered back to Elizabeth, who followed her every movement with desire gleaming in her eyes.

Kneeling reverently in front of the chair, Shaw carefully hiked up Elizabeth's skirt to reveal the wand vibrator nestled against her intimates. Her panties were soaked and beads of sweat clung to her rosy thighs.

"Turn it up," Elizabeth pleaded, and she held her breath as Shaw's fingers neared the switch. But instead of adjusting the toy's intensity, Shaw's fingers slid under the rope holding the vibrator's handle against Elizabeth's leg.

"Wait, no, what are you doing?" Elizabeth gasped as Shaw untied the vibrator. The head of the toy came away dripping with wetness. "Aww, c'mon. Put it back! I need it!"

"I can see that," Shaw said.

"Shaw!"

"This is a great toy," Shaw said idly. She pressed a button on the handle and the buzzing noise redoubled. Elizabeth's eyes tracked the humming device with hunger as Shaw waved it around, much as Root had done an hour before. "Do you want it?"

"Yes, please!"

"It's great for sore muscles," Shaw said, and to Elizabeth's irritation, she began rubbing the business end of the device along her inner thighs—far from where she needed it. "Your legs must be super sore after being tied up this long."

"Come on, cut the crap," Elizabeth growled. "I really need to oh, oh, oh!"

Shaw held the toy against Elizabeth's panties for several seconds and admired the way the bound woman's face got even redder as she made inarticulate noises. Then Shaw took the vibrator away again.

"No!" Elizabeth moaned, "Shaw, please, don't—don't do that."

"Don't? Okay." She clicked the toy off.

"No! No no no! Not what I meant! Not what I meant!" She struggled angrily against her bonds.

"Well, make up your mind," Shaw said, running her palms along Elizabeth's thighs. For a moment, Shaw's roving fingers tickled close to her womanhood, but the brief contact wasn't nearly enough to make a difference. "First you say yes, then you say no—"

"Please," Elizabeth begged. "I really need to come."

"Do you now?"

"Yes, yes!" Elizabeth struggled to move.

"What's it worth to you?" She was really enjoying the desperation in Elizabeth's voice.

"Shaw!"

"It's been awhile since you've baked me cookies." Shaw calmly held Elizabeth's imploring gaze for several seconds. Then she smirked and held up the toy again, clicking it on high. "Just kidding. You've had a rough day. I know how to make you feel better."

Without waiting for a response, she pulled Elizabeth's panties aside with one hand and, with the other, held the vibrator against her clit.

Elizabeth's eyes went wide, her mouth falling open in a soundless gasp. Her fingers clenched and her toes splayed. Her hips tried to grind against the toy even as they were held back by the ropes, but it didn't matter, because Shaw held the buzzing device tightly against her trembling body.

She was trying to say something, Shaw thought, but she couldn't get the words out. She managed a shaky moan, which turned to a squeak and was suddenly cut off, and for several long seconds, there was only the persistent buzzing of the vibrator as Elizabeth's body went taunt.

"Ah, okay," Elizabeth gasped out, "I came, turn it off." But Shaw didn't take the toy away or turn it down.

"Pft, you've been pent up for an hour, there's no way that's all you're getting."

"Shaw!" Elizabeth said sharply. The chair creaked as she squirmed, trying to buck the toy away, but there was no escape. "Shaw, turn it down!"

"No," Shaw said simply, and instead, she began to move the toy in tight little circles. "You know your safewords."

"Shaw! Oh! Oh f-fuck!"

"That's what I'm doing," Shaw said. She moved the toy up and down, making Elizabeth yelp and swear at the intense sensations. Shaw had to hand it to Root—she'd done a really good job tying Elizabeth up. The ropes held fast despite Elizabeth's struggles, which was quickly becoming more and more urgent.

But it wasn't long before Elizabeth's protestations morphed into near-uninteligible pleas for more. Shaw was only too happy to oblige, keeping the toy centered on Elizabeth's womanhood, but moving it around just enough to keep her from getting desensitized and numb. Soon Elizabeth was on the precipice again.

Elizabeth's face was perfect, Shaw thought. The wide, begging eyes, cast skyward; the parted lips, caught mid-gasp; the look of rapture, adorned with freckles-

Her body shuddered, her muscles trembling, her feet shaking. Shaw felt something warm and sticky coat her hand. She raised an eyebrow. It'd been quite awhile since she'd managed to get Elizabeth to squirt.

"Ah! F-fuck!" Elizabeth yelped. She recoiled, her body shaking. "T-turn it off! Too much!"

Shaw let Elizabeth suffer and squirm for just a moment longer, before finally clicking off the wand and setting it aside. Elizabeth slumped in relief, her gasps tapering off as she caught her breath.

"There we go," Shaw said, brushing a slick strand of hair out of Elizabeth's eyes. "Better?"

"Yeah," Elizabeth sighed happily.

"All right," Shaw said. "Time to get you out of this." She searched the desk and soon found a pair of shears, which made quick work of the ropes binding Elizabeth to the chair. Shaw cut the ropes binding her wrists first, then freed her torso. Elizabeth wiggled her fingers and stretched her arms, reveling in the tingling warmth as her limbs woke up after being tied in one position for so long. She gingerly ran her fingers over the rope marks around her wrists and upper arms. They would fade within an hour or two, but right now they were bright, angry red.

Shaw loosened the bindings around her knees and then, finally, parted the ropes around each ankle. She held out a hand to help Elizabeth stand. It took a few attempts. Once she was on her feet, Elizabeth awkwardly smoothed her skirt and straightened her blouse, brushing sweaty strands of hair free from her neck.

"Do you think you can walk straight?" Shaw said, a teasing smirk on her face.

"No thanks to you," Elizabeth said, leaning heavily against Shaw. "But yeah. Let's go home…"

#####

"V!" Elizabeth yelled at the same time Shaw called out, "X!"

"X? Really?" Elizabeth said.

"Clearly the first word is 'sexy'. Therefore, X." Shaw licked her spoon clean and dug around in the carton for the remnants of the ice cream. The dessert had been pilfered from Elizabeth's freezer. Elizabeth had long ago learned to keep extra goodies on hand for Shaw.

"It's not even a four-letter word!" Elizabeth groaned. She was swaddled in a cocoon of comfy blankets on the couch. Only her head and the very top of her shoulders were visible. "There's five spaces. You are literally the worst at this game."

Shaw shrugged. "It's too painful for me to watch regularly. Especially when the contestants are dumb enough to do that." She jabbed at the television with the spoon.

"Oh no," Elizabeth gasped. "Oh no, she's spinning again."

"Oh yes."

"She could've solved it!"

"Aaaaand bankrupt."

They both sighed as the contestant lost all the money, the Bahamas vacation, and the half car coupon she'd picked up over the course of the last few minutes.

"And now," Shaw said, "the guy on the left is going to solve, because he's not stupid."

Sure enough, a second later, the contestant said, "Pat, I'd like to solve the puzzle," and then it was all over and the show cut to a car commercial.

"I don't understand why you don't just stream everything," Shaw said, tossing the now-empty carton to the coffee table. "There's no ads that way."

Elizabeth shrugged. "I used to watch television with my mother a lot when I was a kid. It's family tradition to make fun of dumb advertisements. And you can always use that time to pee or get a snack from the kitchen."

"I'd rather just not deal with the ads," Shaw said.

"Mmm."

For a little while, they watched "real people" extol the virtues of a SUV that, in Shaw's opinion, resembled more a blobby amoeba than a functional vehicle.

"Thanks for rescuing me today," Elizabeth said.

"I mean, how could I not rescue the beautiful damsel in distress?"

Elizabeth scowled. "I'm going to throw something at you if you keep calling me that."

"How about 'Hapless Heroine' instead?" Shaw said, a tiny smirk finding its way to her lips.

In response, Elizabeth snaked one arm free from the blankets, trying—and failing—to reach the remote control on the coffee table. She made two half-hearted attempts and gave up, saying, "Meh. Hand me that so I can throw it at you, would you?" Her face softened. "But, really. Thanks. I was...kinda worried for a bit that you...you know...might not show up."

"As if," Shaw said. "I like seeing you tied up. Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Uh-huh," Elizabeth said dryly.

"I just...prefer it when it's me doing the tying."

"Me too."

Another ad came on, this one for some medication with a list of side-effects longer than a CVS receipt.

"So, uh," Elizabeth said as the narrator described all the ways a person could experience gastrointestinal distress, "what are you planning to do to Root?"

"I haven't decided yet," Shaw said. Elizabeth observed the muscle in her jaw tightening, the shape being emphasized by the shadows cast from the television. "Don't worry, I'll think of something."

"Mmm. Just don't kill her or anything like that."

"Killing her would be so boring," Shaw said. "I'll make it more interesting."

"Try not to leave her disfigured for life either. I mean, she did manage to pull off her crazy plan without getting anybody hurt. That's improvement. You know. For her."

"She left you tied up and alone," Shaw said darkly. "There will be retribution."

"Shaw..."

"Fine, I won't kill her."

"And no brutal dismemberment?"

"No brutal dismemberment."

"And you're not going to leave her in some dark hole like John does with the people he doesn't like?"

"You're really not leaving me a lot to work with here."

"Shaw."

"Fine. No shipping her off to my favorite black site. No death. No permanent damage. I'm still going to make her regret kidnapping you."

"Maybe an eye for an eye sort of thing."

"I can work with that."

"Then I'm happy," Elizabeth said.

With the ads over, the two of them went back to watching Wheel of Fortune.

#####

Root couldn't see. The burlap sack over her head made sure of that. She couldn't move, either. Even if she hadn't been zip-tied to a chair, her muscles were still aching and twitching from the taser barbs, and she probably wouldn't have gotten far if she'd tried to run.

She couldn't see or move, but she could hear, and she knew exactly who the echoing footsteps belonged to.

"Sameen," she said cheerfully, turning her head towards where she was guessing Shaw was standing. "This is exactly how I pictured our first date going."

"You know," Shaw said, her voice devoid of emotion, "I promised Elizabeth I wouldn't kill or maim you. No permanent damage."

"I know. Thanks for that."

"But I didn't promise I wouldn't make you scream."

"A girl after my own heart," Root said dreamily.

"We'll see if you're still saying that in a few hours..."

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A/N Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think.

Now that this little story is done, I can go back to working on the Portal story ("Nondeterministic") and the sequel to Feature Creep.