"I can't believe Fang would do this," Snow muttered to himself, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at the tall gate that held them within their small, cage-like "dungeon", as Adonis dubbed it. Leave it to two responsible adults and a blonde to get captured by a gang, possibly awaiting their own executions. "This'll make the second time I let a girl take me down!"

"Snow, you're not counting the other thirty times I've taken you down," Lightning muttered under her breath, arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the wall of their cage. She, of course, was offended beyond belief over the fact that Fang, of all people, had the audacity to lock them up in a cage. For Etro's sake, they had been frozen in crystal for two years! Why, after all of the drama and near-death experiences they've been through, she had expected a kinder welcome to her little bandit gang. Also, that fact bothered her, as well - a bandit gang? Oerba Yun Fang was many things, but a bandit was not one of them. At least, from what she knew and from what Vanille told her, Fang had nothing to do with any crime. Now, trouble— making, that was another story.

She spared a glance in Hope's direction, who had his head pressed against a wall of the cage, his arms dangling by his sides as he - as Lightning put it - rethought his entire life choices. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to get Hope so early in their trip...

"Well, what do we do now?" Snow turned to face the pair, rolling his eyes briefly at Hope's position, "We're stuck in here. Unless the fabulous Lightning Farron has a plan."

"Oh, what? The great Snow Villiers is out of bright ideas?" The rose-haired woman rose an eyebrow, pushing herself off the wall to walk towards one of the gates that blocked them in, "And yes, I do have a plan. Give me a boost - and Hope, snap out of it, Fang wouldn't really have us killed."

"So you think!" The director whipped his head up, ignoring the struggling Snow and now taller Lightning, "I barely remember her, and from what I do remember, she's as cold as stone!"

"Cold?"

"As stone?"

With that, the siblings-in-law promptly attempted to block Hope's tangents out of their minds, Snow finally pushing Light over the edge of the gate. Fang should really consider getting a taller gate next time, the woman found herself thinking with an amused half smile, letting herself drop to the floor below, making sure her footsteps didn't alert any guards or bandits wandering nearby. She turned back to the gate, hands on her hips, "I'll look for a key or something to break this gate open, you two sit tight."

"You're gonna get killed!" Hope exclaimed, sea-green eyes wide. Light had to sigh to herself; this Hope honestly wasn't as experienced as the Hope who attempted murder. "At least take Snow with you."

"He'll get killed if he tags along. Trust me, director," She gave a half-smile, "I'll be fine."

And, she was gone as fast as, well, lightning.

How big is this place? The rose-haired woman thought angrily to herself as she made a dash down another hallway, hair whipping behind her and her boots making small squeaks against the ground. So far, after about a total of thirteen minutes, Light had found nothing but twisting hallways and even more gates off areas, but no guards— which didn't exactly calm her— and no keys or at least a crowbar to get the gate open.

She definitely did not remember going through all of these hallways to get to the gate in the first place, however she did remember passing by a certain someone's office, which seemed to be empty by the looks of it. Perhaps she could catch a lucky break and find a pair of keys or something sturdy to pop the gate open in no time. Slipping into the office after making sure the coast was clear, Lightning made did a quick once-over of the room: the same expensive looking desk in the left corner, with several papers scattered across it in a messy manner, a bulletin board with more papers and flyers tacked onto it, decorative and exotic plants that seemed to take up most of the room, and two swords perched in the middle of the wall, crossed over each other and well polished. Mostly everything that Fang would probably have in an office, Light figured.

She made her way towards the desk, pulling open drawer after drawer until she found exactly what she was looking for— a crowbar. Why Fang would need a crowbar tucked in the very last drawer of her desk, the woman didn't know nor want to know, and as she began to close it, something caught her eye. A photo, with the edges torn a bit, of two people; two of which Lightning knew too well. After Fang said so convincingly that she didn't know who Vanille was, she hadn't expected to see a picture of them together, in a particularly lovey-dovey pose of Fang draping her arm across Vanille's shoulders and smooching her cheek. After getting over the slight disgust over the public displays of affection, Lightning tucked the photo away into her back pocket, deciding to save it for later if they run into each other again.

Since she found what she was looking for, the former soldier decided to make her way back to Snow and Hope, who were probably panicking over her life (well, perhaps Snow was calm). As she turned another corner, she quickly backtracked behind it before being spotted by none other than Fang herself, chatting with Adonis in the hallway. However, Lightning was able to peek over to hear what they were saying, as Adonis seemed to appear confused.

"Boss, why'd ya say ya didn't know Vanille?" His hands were tucked into his pockets, devoid of his red bandana, "I mean, I know it's been a few years, but you two were really close."

The brunette let out a sigh, a hand resting on her hip as she leaned against the wall, "Listen, what happened between her and I was ages ago. I thought it'd be better if they didn't know what went on between us— who ever they are. But I am curious as to how they know Vanille, too."

"That story they told was kinda far fetched, don'tcha think?"

"A little. . . but for some reason, it made me kinda sad. It wasn't because their story was a bit 'crazy', but I felt as if I should know 'em. That maybe they are tellin' the truth, because no way would three idiots get caught out in the middle of our turf without knowin' exactly who they're dealin' with. And their names. . . to be honest, they did ring a bell."

Lightning nearly gave away her hiding place as she dashed off the opposite way, a burst of adrenaline running through her veins. She had achance! Albeit a small chance, it was a chance nonetheless, and as she finally weaved her way through the endless hallways of the facility to where Snow and Hope were, she couldn't help but ignore the fact that they were in a cage and go straight to telling them about Fang and Vanille.

"Fang— she remembers us," The rose-haired woman panted lightly, clutching the crowbar in her hand, "and Vanille, too. They were together a few years back."

Snow was the first to pipe up with a laugh, "I knew they had something goin' on between 'em!"

"That's great and all, Light, but can you get us out of here, now?" The silver-haired man spoke up next to the bubbly blonde, hands grasping the fence that caged them in. Pulling Lightning from her swirling thoughts, the woman then stood back to jam the crowbar into the edge of the fence, pulling back with brute force as she waited to hear a popping noise from the gate's screws. Unfortunately, all of this commotion had been rather loud, they had guessed, as several guards began to rush their way to where they were, fully armed and equipped. The gate finally popped open just before the guards began to circle them, and as Hope and Snow hurried out of the cage, Light felt the barrel of what seemed to be a pistol held up to her head.

She turned slowly, ignoring the cold sweat that rolled down her neck, to come face to face with just the woman she had wanted to see, "Fang."

"I don't believe we're on a first name basis, yeah? Sunshine."

Snow came to stand in front of Lightning, holding an arm over her to keep her from possibly tearing Fang's head off, "Only you know that nickname for Light, Fang. Give it up, you do remember us, and Vanille."

Hope, not so to appear courageous but wanting to appear chivalrous, came to stand next to Snow as well, "It won't cost you anything to leave these hoodlums and come with us, Fang."

The Australian gave a laugh, bringing her pistol down to her side, her green eyes holding an amused shine, "Well, I didn't think ya'd need two gumbies to keep ya safe, Lightnin'. Ya appeared to be capable of handlin' yourself."

"We're not—" Hope's words trailed off as the soldier pushed her way past them, eyes icy cold and fists clenched. Oh, she knew what Fang was up to— she had gotten so used to it back on Gran Pulse— and if this is what she wanted, then so be it. A little "playful" banter between them was not new, however this was different. She was purposefully poking fun at Lightning to get a reaction of some sort, and boy was she going to get one.

Hopefully, this will make her remember, Light thought to herself as Snow stepped aside as well, raising her hand midway to Fang and bringing it down onto her cheek, almost making the other stumble to the ground with the amount of force behind the assault. The guards behind them gasped and readied their weapons, ready to take aim and fire at will if need be. To be honest, it felt good to get Fang like that, the soldier found herself thinking, the palm of her hand stinging. It had been too long since she was able to hit something that wasn't her pillow or a punching bag. The only downside was that it happened to be one of her friends; a close one at that. But she knew this was what the tanned woman wanted, to get a reaction, any reaction from Lightning to see if she was the real deal, if they were really meaning what they were saying about the whole Cocoon journey and about them being as close as they were.

Apparently, Fang got the message. She held a hand up towards the men and women circled around them with their weapons, signaling to stand down. As she held her cheek with the back of her hand, she turned back towards the three, a half smile present on her features despite the stinging pain, "That it?"

With a shake of her head, the rose-haired woman put her hands on her hips with a smirk of her own, "You sure better hope so."

Both Snow and Hope sighed in relief; another member gained.

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