She'd broken one of her rules.
Well, two to be honest, though she would never admit to anyone that she had panicked; it was obvious however by her choice of destination when she came to her senses. It was safer to stay away from large cities, lest any of her "handlers" find her. Unfortunately, her panic had led her to New York City.
She had to leave. Now.
The dark haired woman looked around the alley she was hiding in. Excluding a man smoking at one end, it was empty.
Not good.
Empty meant an easy target, but the alley had a small crossway she could use. She backed away from the man until she stood in the center of the intersection. Turning, she looked up to see a fire escape leading to the roof, though she still watched the man at the end of the alley. He was watching her now.
He smiled.
She moved to climbed the fire escape only for her world to go black.
~x~
She awoke in a dark room sitting in a chair. There were no windows and a single dead light hanging above her. When she twisted, she could barely make out light reaching through the cracks in the door frame.
What concerned her more were the restraints keeping her in the chair.
Closing her eyes, the woman breathed deeply. Things could be worse. At least she was still awake and alive. Whether that was truly a fortunate occurrence had yet to be seen.
Opening her eyes, she scrutinized the restraints. Thick rope bound her forearms to the chair. He feet were left free though. Whoever restrained her must be idiotic.
Unless they wanted her to get out.
In that case, she had to tread carefully. As quietly as possible, she leaned forward and lifted the chair off the ground. She had to get this just right. There would only be one shot at this.
She charged backwards into the wall she had been facing before, smashing the chair's legs and weakening the arms of it. She had to move fast. It wouldn't be long before the noise attracted any guards. Shouts could already be heard.
Forcing the remains of her restraints off, she stood and moved to the door. She could hear running now.
Breathing slow and body tense, she watched as the door swung silently into the cell covering her body in the shadows as the rest of the room was bathed in light.
She struck quick, slamming the door shut. In the darkness, she could just make out the person's hands swinging in her direction, the faint light from the doorway making the metal gleam. There was a bang that echoed through the small room as she pushed the person's hands up and away. Turning into a decidedly male body, she wrested the weapon from his fingertips, stunning him with an elbow to the abdomen and finishing him with a blow to the knee.
She could barely hear voices outside the door over the rushing in her ears. Without pause, she hauled the man up, gun to his head, and faced the other unwelcome visitors entering the small room.
In the doorway stood another man and a woman, going by the body shapes, though it was clear to see the woman was in charge. Both raised more weapons at her. She stared unblinking at the woman's face.
"We only want to talk."
She only stared even more, though it was clear she'd understood the woman. The guns were still pointed at her. The man she was holding shifted.
"Put him down."
She contemplated following the order. A better idea came to mind. She'd wait. They wanted her for a reason. So she'd wait until there were no more weapons pointed at her.
"I'm not going to ask again."
The resolve in the stranger's voice gave her pause. Would she really…? A cracked and disused voice finally spoke.
"No weapons."
The stranger assessed her, it seemed. Reaching a conclusion, she spoke. "Jennings, lay your piece on the ground."
The man looked at her strangely for a moment, eyes flickering towards the prisoner. Slowly, he lowered his weapon to the ground. The woman kept hers pointed at her though.
"I'll holster mine when you give him back," she said, nodding towards the man she was holding up with her own strength. It was another tense moment before the yet unnamed man yelped, as he was shoved passed the woman in the doorway, where Jennings kept him from acquainting his face with the floor.
The prisoner pointed her newly acquired gun at the other woman instead. She watched as the other woman carefully holstered her piece in her belt, eyes never straying.
"Report, Reed."
"Knee is fucked, maybe a couple ribs. Can't walk on my own."
"Jennings, take him to the Med-bay. Make sure he stays until the Doc says otherwise."
"But, Boss-"
"Don't make me repeat myself, J."
With that the two men shuffled away, leaving an armed prisoner facing off against an obviously powerful woman known only as "Boss."