Diana slid underneath a table, keeping all of her extremities away from the light.

The guard in front of her glanced in her direction for a second before shrugging his shoulders and turning away, gulping down another mouthful of booze. Judging by his stained coat and overall smell, drinking on the job was probably commonplace.

"Top notch security," murmured the former assistant dryly.

The sewer she was in had connected to her cell below Kalin's barracks through a hole covered in plywood and dirt, likely a collapsed portion of the foundation. It had taken her a while, but she had managed to make the hole large enough to fit through and give her time to escape. Thankfully the hole apparently had been unnoticed, and the security in this section of the sewer was rather low.

"Alright, let's go over my options," stated Diana lowly, vocalizing her thoughts aloud much like Nikon did. "He's armed with a pistol and sword, and although drunk, he could easily kill me with either. I am unarmed, tired, hungry, and freezing. Run? He'll shoot me. Attack him? He'll stab me. Seduce him?"

She pondered that last one for a bit. It didn't immediately hold the risk of being shot, though she was hardly a stunning figure. She was also filthy, wearing a tattered white lab coat, and was covered in bruises and cuts. Not exactly prime lecherous material.

Then she stopped. The guy was hammered out of his skull. He'd stick it in mud if he thought it'd wiggle.

She grabbed a bottle of wine off the nearby table, testing its weight. It would do.

She put on a convincing smile, doing her best to walk sensuously, though that seemed more akin to swinging her hips like a spastic. She really was not used to this.

The guard heard her footsteps when she was about five feet away. Clearly, he wasn't completely out of it yet. He whirled around, eyes widening in shock.

"Who the hell are you?!" he demanded, pointing his bottle at her like a weapon but not reaching for the ones on his belt. Good. That meant he didn't perceive her as a major threat.

Diana flashed the best grin she could manage, trying to be charming and mysterious and all those other words men liked to describe their favorite whores.

"Name's Bianca, sweetheart," she said with her best lovey-dovey voice, which was apparently something men liked to hear from whores. "I was sent here by your friends to keep you warm. Seems you've been having some…trouble as of late."

The man glared at her, taking a step back. "What the hell…who sent you? Nikolai? Anton?"

Diana put a finger to her lips, smirking and taking a step forward. She was smirking because she was imagining bashing the bottle into his skull. "A lady never reveals her secrets, but don't fear, I'm not a completely proper lady…"

She extended the bottle of wine temptingly, blowing a kiss over it. "Let's say we have some fun?"

Then she whirled the bottle in her hand, gripped it tight, then smashed it across the man's brow.

The guard screamed in pain as the bottle shattered and dug glass into his face, Diana shoving him into the water of the sewer and sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" she chanted running away, panic flooding her body. "Totally not what I planned. I am so screwed."

A bullet slammed into the wall next to her head, causing her to shriek and duck her head for cover. Clearly the man wasn't completely drunk, and her attack had failed to damage his eyes like she had hoped.

She kept running, knowing she was moving towards the south of the city. That was good and bad. There were more guards in the sewers that way, but there were also more nooks and crannies she could hide in. That was the only real option she had now. He would catch her, even as injured as he was, or his cries would draw more guards to her position.

She tempted on going to the first door, but shook her head. He'd definitely search that one first, even if she did her best to hide, and she couldn't guarantee she could hide in that room.

Diana noticed a few barrels in a corner of the room, deciding that was the best place to stow away for the moment. She tucked in quickly, sliding the barrels around to hide her body as best she could. Then she swore to herself, realizing she was wearing white. It would immediately give her away in the darkness, no matter how thick it was.

She ripped the coat off and threw it into the center of the hallway, hoping it would look like she abandoned it in her running. She shivered, her black undershirt paper thin, but decided cold was better than dead.

She glanced to her side, noticing a small rat was perched on the crate next to her. It studied her curiously, not at all afraid.

"Oh, fuck off you," she snapped in a furious whisper. "You'll get me caught."

She heard voices, deciding to tucker down as best she could with her new furred comrade in arms.

A group of guards rounded the corner, one of them holding his bleeding brow.

"She went this way, I know it!" shouted the man she had glassed, panting from the pain he was certainly feeling.

"Hey, there's a coat!" snapped one of the others.

They rushed towards it, grabbing it feverishly. She paled, realizing that all of her pursuers were males, and most of them did not appear to be exactly paragons of society. One of them even smelled the garment like a bloodhound, smirking and licking his lips.

"Still warm," spoke the hound-man, his voice dangerously low.

Diana shivered. She had heard that tone before.

The captain of the group picked up the coat, glancing at it curiously. "A doctor coat? You sure we chasing a lady?"

The injured man nodded, holding his head to stop the blood pouring into his face. "Hell yeah! Bitch fucking glassed me!"

"Nice, you got your ass kicked by a lady," snapped the hound-man.

The injured man glared at his comrade. "Oh, fuck off Anton. I didn't exactly think an ironing board wearing a skirt would knock my ass down."

Diana narrowed her eyes. Ironing board? Now that was rude.

The captain held up the coat. "Think, numbskulls, why would she get rid of this?"

The others looked at each other, not sure what their leader was getting at.

"Uh…to run faster?" proposed one of them, a man with a low brow like a Neanderthal.

"That answer was so terrible I actually got a brief spike of pain when I processed it," stated the captain rubbing the bridge of his nose. "It's freezing here, and this an article of clothing. So, and this is the hard part, think why she'd get rid of it, knowing that little fact."

"…to hide nearby while we're distracted," concluded the one named Anton.

It didn't take them long to find her with that nugget of information. They dragged her out of cover, the man she had glassed earlier glaring at her through a bloody face. The captain studied her face, eyebrows raised.

"Bruises, torn clothing, bad makeup…nothing but a whore," argued the captain calmly.

"She did try to seduce me," spoke the injured man.

"It was difficult, considering your smell," stated Diana.

The captain nodded slightly. "Fair point. Maxim, you smell like a latrine."

"I work in a latrine," argued Maxim, wiping a blot of blood from his eyebrow.

"…again, fair point."

The captain grabbed her by the chin. "Name, whore?"

"Diana Khil. I'm a prisoner under Secretary Kalin."

"Yeah, and Anton over there conducts brain surgery."

Diana shrugged, though such a thing was hard considering her arms were bound. "It's the truth."

The captain paused, genuinely considering the implications of that, then decided it was probably false. "Well, we'll take her back anyway. Figure out what we're going to do with her then."

"I got a few ideas," spoke Anton with a lecherous grin.

Diana paled. She knew that tone very well.

"Captain," warned Diana with a low voice, "you have to believe what I just said, because if you let them do what they're about to do, I swear to God above…"

The captain put a finger to her lips, eyebrows raised. "That sounded suspiciously like an order, whore. So, Anton, you want to have some fun?"

Anton grinned, his dog-like face making the features remarkably disturbing. "Oh yeah. I could do with getting a little wet today."

The captain looked back at Diana, before smiling. "Well, I don't see why not."

He took a few steps back. "Proceed."

Diana did her best to fight back. She kicked, she clawed, she screamed, but there was no fighting. She managed to knock Anton rather hard across the face with a kick, but such an action caused a chorus of blows to rain down on her, surrounding her body in pain. They tore at her clothes, exposing her skin, her body growing numb from the cold.

Anton grinned, licking his lips. "Well, let's proceed then."

A loud snapping noise flew through the tunnels.

Anton gasped as a crossbow bolt slammed through the back of his skull and jutting out his left eye, dislodging the eyeball and spewing the people in front of him with his blood.

He stopped, holding his left eyeball still attached to his head, so shocked all he could do is hold his mouth agape with his hands shaking.

Then he screamed.

A second one slammed into the base of his skull, burrowing through the inside of his mouth and stopping as it smashed into his front teeth. This silenced him completely, having split his spine, and sending him sprawling to the floor.

The soldiers backed away in horror, the captain whirling around in shock.

Four new people stood at the end of the sewer tunnel, one of them holding the crossbow responsible. Diana knew them well, each of them a personal guard for Secretary Kalin.

"Nice shot Zakhar!" complimented Dorian Page, his rapier already out. He grinned at his comrade, holding a thumbs-up. "You really nailed that guy!"

"My first shot missed," murmured Zakhar Usov, reloading his crossbow. "I intended to hit hos cerebellum and brainstem, but I instead hit the parietal and frontal lobe. Really, an all-around disappointing first shot."

"Ah, you really are a bloody bummer, ya know?" asked the swordsman stepping forward, flashing his rapier with small hand strokes. "Well, what have we interrupted today? A few guards having some fun?"

Ranald stepped forward, cracking his metal gauntlets. "Yeah, I'd say so."

The captain stepped forward, hands held up apologetically. "Now let me explain, Sir Ranald…"

The massive bruiser grabbed the captain with both hands, squeezing hard. The captain grunted in pain as he collapsed, only the two hands crushing his skull keeping him up.

"Please do, captain," stated Ranald evenly, though his tone was slick with venom. He began to squeeze tighter, blood beginning to leak from his eyes due to the pressure. "Because it appears that you were approving the sexual assault of this woman here, and that really pisses me off if that is the case."

"Sir…it was…a spur of…the moment…"

"Ah, a spur of the moment decision? Well, I take it you can forgive a spur of the moment decision I'm about to have."

He slammed his hands together as if he were clapping, crushing his skull and soaking his entire front with blood, brain, and bone fragments. He dropped the captain, smirking.

"Dorian, you owe me twenty coins."

"Ah, shit, you really did it?" snapped the swordsman. "Crushing a man's skull with your hands…I really didn't think it was possible."

He grabbed Diana, removing his cloak and wrapping it around her exposed body. "Here you go miss. I apologize for the treatment these dullards gave you, it was never our intention for you to be harmed in such an animalistic way."

"As opposed to beating me senseless with fists?" asked Diana sharply.

"You can blame Mikhailov for that," argued Amelia Caro, aiming her twin pistols at the guards. "We guard Sir Kalin, that is all. You are important to him, so we rescued you. But this…"

She snarled. "This breach of conduct by our personal men…it is unacceptable."

"Oh, let me do it, let me do it," begged Dorian hopping on his feet, panting in excitement. "I want to kill them, kill, kill. I'm so fucking ready right now."

One of the guards got to his knees, hands held up. "Wait! Wait, please! Spare me!"

"Spare me?" quoted Dorian standing before him, smiling pleasantly. "Now that's cowardly and selfish. You could've at least asked to 'spare us' instead of just you. I wouldn't have done either, but my opinion of you would've at least been above that of an insect. Now, it holds roughly the same rank as that of bacteria."

He suddenly stabbed him clean through the neck, the guard grasping at the sword desperately. His breathing became labored, blood leaking into his lungs.

"Oh? Out of words? Shame. I wanted to hear more excuses or pleas."

Amelia rolled her eyes, leveling her pistol and blowing the man's head off. He flew off Dorian's sword, slamming into the floor.

Dorian whirled to face her, his face red with rage. "Bitch! I had him! He was already dead!"

"Then kill him and move on," grunted the gunslinger. "You're so damn sadistic it gets in the way of your work. Killing is part of the job, that doesn't mean we have to enjoy it."

Zakhar nodded in agreement. "Yes, let's kill them and move on."

Amelia and Zakhar killed the remaining two, Dorian cleaning his blade with a pouting face.

"You all are no fun," murmured the swordsman. He elbowed Diana. "You get a look at these guys? Bunch of serious-faced assholes, the lot of them."

"Do you always have to act like an ingrate?" inquired Diana critically.

Dorian grinned. "Well, you're acting rather ingrate-ful."

"It's ungrateful," murmured the assistant rolling her eyes.

The swordsman chuckled, though his eyes did not. "Well, to be fair, I'm not from around here. And where I'm from, you thank people who save your life, or in this case, your ass."

"Dorian, back off," ordered Amelia grabbing Diana's arm. "You don't get to harm the prisoner unless ordered to."

Dorian gave a mock bow, his head low. "Of course, forgive my insolence."

They took Diana back, leaving the bodies in the sewer for the rats to feast. Dorian left shortly afterwards, claiming the need to resume his patrols.

He winked at Diana, bobbing her softly on the nose with his index finger. "Farewell lovely lady. I hope one day we can meet again in more favorable conditions."

They lead Diana past her cell, leading her deeper into the facility.

"Where are you taking me?" asked the assistant nervously.

"Secretary Kalin ordered us to take you directly to him if you should ever escape," explained Zakhar. "We planned on you doing so. I was stationed directly opposite your cell for the last three hours, waiting for you to break into that hole you discovered. I admit, it took less time than I expected."

Diana gritted her teeth. They had planned on her escape after all.

They stopped right before an ornately decorated door, Ranald pulling a set of keys to unlock it. He stepped in first, followed by the others.

Secretary Kalin looked up from his desk, eyebrows raised. "Oh? You found her. Excellent. I would be most disappointed…"

He stopped, eyes narrowing. "Amelia, she is half-naked. What happened?"

"Some of the guards were attempting to have their way with her," explained the gunslinger, the disgust flowing through her voice.

Anna Morozov, having stood by Kalin's side the whole time, straightened in shock. "What?! Those bastards…what did you do to them?"

Ranald held up his gauntlets, still covered in blood.

Kalin nodded. "Good. I do not tolerate rapists in my inner circle."

He glanced at Diana and gave his best politician's smile. "I am truly sorry that happened to you, Ms. Diana."

"Save your sympathy," spat Diana tightening the cloak over her chest. "Doubtless it is insincere."

Morozov took a step, raising a fist to strike, but Kalin stopped her with a single hand. He shook his head, causing her to back away.

"Diana, I understand you are emotionally disturbed, but please do not lash out at us. Also, if you call me a liar again, I'll have your head chopped off. Now onto the matter of Nikon's research…"

"I told you, it's gibberish," argued the assistant, trying to bluff her way out. "Nikon's actual notes were terrible, barely legible really. I had my own version of his notes, but your men burned them as well as the rest of our research equipment with Kuznetsov's manor."

Kalin frowned. "That is indeed unfortunate."

He sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Diana, you are going to force my hand at this if you continue. I will have to do something I really dislike doing to get that research out of you, and I hope you are aware of that."

Diana glared at him, eyes full of anger. "Go to hell. I hope Nikon takes your eyes out."

Kalin shrugged. "Maybe he will. I don't really need them, to be fair…"

He held up his right hand, removing his glove to expose the back of his hand. Diana's eyes widened when she saw what was there, and knew she and the doctor were in deep trouble.

Kalin glanced at the mark of the Outsider on the back of his hand, smiling. "I won't really need them, because this lets me see whatever I want. This hand of mine can see all, and what it does not see, does not exist. So…"

He reached across the table, fingers outstretched. "…let's see what I want to see."