This is Prompt No. 34-Water

Mitchie regained consciousness a few hours later and rolled over, her muscles screaming out their protests, only to find quite a scene going on. Two men, dirty from their matted hair to their scuffed boots, were taking swings at each other and were rolling around on the floor, shouting at each other at the top of their lungs. "She's mine!" one called before the other one dealt a punch to his jaw that jolted him flat on his back.

Mitchie let out a gasp as she realized that they were fighting over her! Despite the pain in her back, she pulled herself up to a sitting position and inspected each of the men as closely as she could since they continued to lunge at each other, making their features harder to distinguish. Both were average in height, with generously-portioned middles, and both wore clothes that had definitely seen better days. One's matted hair was a greasy gold color, while the others was an oily black shade.

Mitchie got no further in her examination before there was another roar, this time from the blonde fellow. "No! She's mine! You weren't here when they brought her in!"

"That must be Lonnie," Mitchie thought, recognizing his voice from earlier.

"Mine!" cried the black-haired ruffian.

Lonnie squirmed out from under the headlock he had been put in and slammed his foot into the back of his opponent's knees, sending him to the ground with a cry. "No, she's mine!"

Mitchie could feel the anger well up in her. How dare they fight over her, a married woman? Neither of them had any claim whatsoever to her! Without thinking, and without realizing that she had spoken aloud, Mitchie announced, "I'm nobody's!" All she could think about was Shane. She was his, and he was hers. If it wasn't him, it was nobody.

Almost immediately, the scuffle ended. Both men turned in her direction, surprised that she was awake and talking. As soon as they looked her way, Mitchie realized her error. She tried to scoot back further in her cell, but met with the solid resistance of the wall. "Oops," she whispered.

"Well, well, well," Lonnie cooed, and it was at that moment that Mitchie officially began to dislike his voice. It sent shivers up her spine. "Our little spy awakes."

The man next to him snickered and nodded. "She's looking a little better, too," he remarked, looking Mitchie up and down until Mitchie squirmed under his inappropriate gaze. He took a step towards the door of Mitchie's cell, but Lonnie put a hand on his arm. "I wouldn't do that, George."

George yanked his arm out of Lonnie's grasp and took another step towards the door. Lonnie's face turned purple and he yanked George around by his shoulder, punching him hard in the nose. George howled as the blood began to flow from the appendage, and he launched himself at Lonnie, starting yet another fight.

Mitchie rolled her eyes and laid back down, hoping that by the time they finished fighting, they might think she had fallen asleep again. She turned towards the wall so that she could keep her eyes open the whole time, but regulated her breathing so that it was deep and even. She barely twitched when she heard a crunch and a bellowing howl that accompanied it. "Perhaps they'll kill each other and then I can get myself out of here," she thought sourly.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to stare at the wall anymore, and thought back over what had happened. Everything made sense now, at least in Mitchie's mind. Queen Victoria's calculating looks, her stares, her curious questions, it all tied together now. She had known from the very beginning that Mitchie was a spy, and she had kept her there at court to see if she would make a mistake. When Mitchie hadn't, she had been forced to call Mitchie's bluff in front of the whole court. The "audience" she had granted Mitchie had simply been a way to trap her.

"Idiot," Mitchie muttered to herself, but then reminded herself that no one in the UUS would have suspected such a twist to the mission. No one would have even thought about a mission that happened well over two years ago tying into the mission at hand. Thousands of miles between the two, and yet they had been connected and had now caused grave problems.

"What must Shane think?" Mitchie fretted. She'd been gone so long already, that he must be terribly worried. Was Shania alright? Mitchie closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing, which had become heavy and forced in the last few moments as she thought about her family. Would Shane be thinking about his dream? Would he think that she had chosen not to come back? Would he guess that she was in trouble? She groaned as questions assaulted her already worn out mind, causing a headache to build up, pressing against the back of her skull.

"Hey! Stop that!" Lonnie shouted as George tried to charge him. Mitchie rolled over so that she could see what was happening. "I have an idea!"

George, his chest heaving from the exertion, stopped mid lunge, fists clenched and ready in case he didn't like this new idea of Lonnie's. "What?" he asked sharply, obviously eager to continue the fight.

"We could share her!"

Mitchie tried not to retch at that idea. She let her eyes flicker over to George, who seemed to be contemplating that idea. "So we could take turns?" he asked hesitantly.

Lonnie nodded. "You can even go first if you want." His eagerness made Mitchie even more nauseated.

"Fine," George said with a nod. He turned towards the cell, and Mitchie jumped to her feet, blocking the pain that the action caused from her mind.

"I won't let you touch me," she hissed. "I have a husband back home, I belong to only him."

Lonnie looked at George, and George looked at Lonnie. Then, without warning, they burst out laughing. George was slapping his knees in time to his grating laughs, and Lonnie was trying to wipe his eyes. "I think you've misunderstood," Lonnie said in between hiccups. "Yes, I do believe she's got it all wrong."

George just nodded, still laughing. "Yes," he managed to choke out.

Lonnie unlatched the cell door and opened it. "See, we don't want your body. We're rather, how would you say it?" He paused for a moment, trying to think of the word he wanted to use. "We're rather opposed to spies snooping around our queen, and we have a few ways of punishing them and getting them to spill their secrets."

Mitchie set her jaw firmly. "You won't get any secrets from me," she told him coolly.

He just grinned. "We'll see about that." He jerked his head and George stepped inside, advancing towards Mitchie. He reached out, and Mitchie threw a kick at him that caught his wrist. There was a loud crack, and George hissed out some obscenity under his breath.

He grabbed her leg and with a mighty blow, brought his fist down on her femur. The pain caused Mitchie to scream, and she collapsed right into George's arms. He dragged her towards the door of the cell, and Lonnie grinned as he caught sight of Mitchie's pinched, white face. "Don't worry," he told her sweetly, his foul breath causing her stomach to turn. "You won't need that leg where you're going."

George tried to get her to stand up by herself, and the jarring motion on her leg almost made her faint. She let out a groan and a hiss, digging her nails into George's arm as a warning. "Ouch!" he cried, slapping Mitchie across the cheek. "Wildcat."

"Come on, George, hurry up!" Lonnie cried, annoyed. "We have to go."

Mitchie could feel herself being dragged along, but she refused to look up, and instead focused on the stones beneath her feet, counting them as they went by. Her mouth pressed into a thin line as she tried not to cry, but as a particularly hard jar shuddered through her body, two tears fell from her eyes, wetting the pavement but getting lost in the shuffle. No one had seen her pain.

Mitchie soon found out where she was being taken. The smell was the first thing to hit her. She smelled horses and sweat, so she looked up and saw the stables right in front of her. Lonnie looked around to see if there was anyone of consequence around to notice what was going on, and he motioned for George to bring Mitchie along, not noticing the stable boy that slipped back into the shadows of the stable.

George dragged Mitchie further down and she soon saw where the jailers were heading. The water trough for the horses was as long as a tall man, half as deep and just as wide. Her eyes widened and she struggled as much as could, fighting both George and the pain in her leg. "None of that!" he hissed at her, continuing to use his brute strength to drag her over.

Lonnie grinned as she came up to the trough. "Now we'll see about you and your secrets, Wildcat," he said, and his voice sounded as though he was trying not to laugh. "I've often heard that cats don't like water."

He nodded to George, and with that, George plunged Mitchie headfirst into the water trough.

A/N: Uh oh! Please review!! It means the world to me!!! And no, DrmmGrl, he's not a pervy rapist! LOL! (Now I can say it!)