It didn't really surprise Michiru that the soldier didn't remove the hood after he had taken her to wherever Steele wanted to have her locked up; keeping her in the dark, she figured, was an attempt to make her uncomfortable, so she'd be more willing to talk once the Commander would drop by.
The fact that her hands were still cuffed behind her bothered her more than the hood did, though; the air beneath the thick fabric was hot and stuffy, but at least it didn't hurt, while her shoulders already began to ache and her fingers were starting to feel numb, the sniper asking herself how long Steele would make her wait before she'd join her.
Flexing her fingers, she grimaced at the tingle this caused all the way up to her elbows; the soldier had pushed her down onto a bench of some sort, and she gave her best to sit in the same place, not wanting to end up falling off and hurting herself.
You won't have to wait long, she told herself as she listened hard for any sign of someone approaching, they didn't take your pieces of the key yet, and she wants to get her hands on those.
Briefly, she wondered why the Commander hadn't had her soldier take the key pieces, as well – they were in a pouch in her pocket, after all, and he surely had felt that when he had patted her down, but had made no move to take them from her, not even after she had been handcuffed and hooded and couldn't fight back.
Flexing her fingers again, Michiru kept listening, unable to pick up anything else than her own breathing though; after a while, she carefully shifted backwards on her seat, ready to stop the moment the surface beneath her butt would be replaced by nothingness, her breath momentarily hitching when her back hit a wall instead after a few careful movements.
Relaxing as far as the handcuffs allowed it, Michiru leaned against the wall, not letting the cold stone bother her; she focused on keeping her calm as she sat there and waited, rigorously keeping any concern for Haruka at the far back of her mind, telling herself that Steele would want her to cooperate and that this would be reason enough to not harm the blonde.
She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, waiting for something to happen, when finally, footsteps came up outside; and not long after her ears had picked those up, she heard a door open, followed by Steele's voice, a cold, professional tone now, different to the sardonic one she had used outside in the side alley.
"Miss Kaioh", she stated, her footsteps stopping rather close in front of her, "I see you got comfortable."
Thanks to her years of training, Michiru didn't flinch when Steele reached out and pulled the hood off; a few hairs went along with it, but she didn't move a muscle, even though she had to squint, her eyes not yet used again to the bright light which illuminated the small room she had been taken to.
"Don't try anything", Steele warned her as she bent over her, "I have no desire to kill you, but I won't hesitate if I have to."
Glaring at her, Michiru held back the urge to kick her in the face when the Commander reached into her pocket and removed the pouch holding the key pieces; smirking again now, Steele pocketed it, then crossed her arms over her chest, the cold, hard tone back in her voice when she spoke up again. "Tell me where the third piece is."
"Go to Hell", Michiru replied at once, earning a chuckle from the Commander, an amused twinkle in her eyes as she held her gaze.
"I thought you'd say something like that", she then stated, pulling her gun from the holster with one hand while she grabbed the sniper's arm with the other, jerking her up from the bench quite harshly, Michiru once more refusing to show any reaction at how Steele manhandled her, only gritting her teeth a bit when the Commander pushed her to the door, the tight grip she had on her arm only increasing the pain in her shoulders.
"Remember", Steele said as she opened the door, then forced the sniper through it, into a narrow hallway, "don't try anything."
She didn't bother to wait for Michiru to react in any way, but started marching her down the hallway at once; they took a few turns, making the sniper wonder how big the building she had been taken to was, then they finally stopped in front of yet another door, Steele not opening it yet though, looking at her instead, a hint of malice in her voice when she spoke up.
"It is not surprising that you refuse to talk", she let the sniper know, holstering her gun so she could rest her hand on the doorknob, "and, judging from what I know about you so far, torturing you won't lead anywhere, you wouldn't talk."
She paused for a moment, giving Michiru a chance to reply; the only answer she got was that the sniper looked at her coldly, making her smirk again, a strange glint in her eyes as she went on.
"I know more about you than you might think though", she stated, "so, while I do know that torturing you won't lead anywhere… torturing your girlfriend will."
This time, Michiru couldn't hold the reaction back, her eyes widening; with a cruel smile, Steele turned the knob and pushed the door open, then shoved the sniper into the room behind it, keeping firm hold of her arm, and holding her back with ease when her first reaction was a try to rush into the room.
It was bigger than the one she had been locked up in, despite the pane of glass which had been mounted in the middle of it, going from wall to wall and ceiling to floor; and at the other side of the glass, Haruka stood upright, her wrists chained above her head, water dripping from her hair and clothes, but at least, Michiru told herself, she just was drenched, and had no visible injuries.
"She can't see you", Steele told her, still keeping firm hold of her, "on her side, that glass is mirrored. And she can't hear you, either. Now, I wonder who will talk first, her, once we get started, or you, once you see her suffer?"
"Don't you dare touch her", Michiru pressed out, even though she knew how futile the threat was; and clearly, Steele knew too, letting out a small laugh, then raising her free hand to her collar, touching at tiny black button there and speaking into it, the few words she said making Michiru's blood run cold.
"Ready for the show", the Commander said, presumably speaking to someone on the other side of the glass who hadn't come into view yet, "get started."
Unable to do anything but stand there, Michiru clenched her fists in helpless anger as a man stepped into the room, a long, thin silver metal stick in his hand; thanks to his position right behind her, Haruka couldn't see him yet, but he quickly moved to stand by her side, Michiru realizing with another moment of her blood turning to ice that he was making sure she'd be able to see her lover even once he'd start to torture her.
He said something to the blonde, the glass keeping Michiru from hearing him though; Haruka replied at once, and clearly, whatever she had said didn't please him, a frown briefly wrinkling his brow – before he brought the stick up and pressed it against her side, then moved his thumb on the grip, Michiru crying out "no!" when Haruka started jerking in the chains in response, her head snapping back into her neck, her teeth grit so hard that her jaw muscles were moving visibly beneath the skin.
"Electricity", Steele informed Michiru unnecessarily, "that's why we drenched her first, makes it flow better. Also, it leaves almost no marks, and is much less tiring for our specialist than just beating her up."
She smiled at the sniper, then looked at the other half of the room again, just when the man pulled the stick back; Haruka slumped down as far as the chains let her, and the rapid rising and falling of her chest was enough to tell Michiru that she was in pain, but she refused to talk, her only response when the man spoke to her again being that she spat at him.
As he raised the stick once more, Michiru turned her head, not wanting to see her suffer again; not willing to grant her this though, Steele grabbed her jaw harshly, pushing her gun into her ribcage with her other hand, her voice cold and hard again when she told her to look.
"Look", she repeated when Michiru didn't comply at once, "or I'll have him go on until her heart stops. Look, look at what he does to her, he'll stop once you talk."
She only clenched her fists tighter in response, until she felt her nails bite into her palms; and then, when the man pressed the stick against her lover again and she reacted just as she had before, Michiru felt those strange powers again, stirring deep within her, the way Steele's grip suddenly went slack telling her that she had noticed something, too.
She wasn't sure yet which powers she actually had, but figured that they would be useful either way; the Commander took a step away from her, clearly startled, when the light blue symbols started glowing on her skin, the same glow filling her eyes, strength surging through her, one tug of her arms being enough to rip the chain between her cuffs with an audible metallic clink.
Getting over her surprise quickly, Steele brought the gun up, but before she could fire, Michiru whipped around to look at her, raising her hand; a blast of bright blue energy shot from her palm and hit the Commander in the chest, throwing her backwards until the wall stopped her, a grunt coming from her as she slumped down to the floor, smoke curling up from the blackened spot on her armour where the blast had hit her.
Ignoring her for now, she turned to the glass, bringing her hand up again; another blast of energy flew, and the glass shattered, the torturer's eyes going wide, but before he could show more of a reaction than that, she fired off another ball of energy, and he went flying just like Steele had, landing on the floor in a lifeless heap.
"Holy crap", Haruka murmured, sounding a bit dazed, but at least, Michiru figured, she wasn't out cold; she took another moment to make sure that the torture guy wouldn't get back up and attack her, then moved to where the blonde stood, the symbols still glowing on her arm when she reached up and snapped her chains with ease.
The moment they weren't holding her upright anymore, Haruka stumbled, and quickly, Michiru reacted by grabbing her around the waist, mindful of her enhanced strength; the taller woman clung to her for a few seconds, then mumbled that she was okay, Michiru watching her doubtfully as she let go of her, ready to grab her again the moment it'd look as if she'd need it.
To her relief though, Haruka appeared steady on her feet, even though she looked quite pale; she gave her another concerned look, then remembered Steele and turned to take care of her, only to curse herself for not doing this immediately when she saw that the Commander was gone.
"Steele's gotten away", she stated the obvious, focusing on Haruka again, "we better get out of here quick, before she returns with reinforcements."
Haruka nodded at once, something she regretted immediately though as the world began to spin around her; she wasn't quite sure if that was caused by the torture or by the hit on the head she had taken when the soldiers had grabbed her in the side alley, knocking her out so quickly that she hadn't even been able to alarm Michiru, but she figured that the cause didn't make much of a difference, the result being the same either way – her stomach turned as her knees buckled, and moments later, she was throwing up, feeling Michiru rub her back soothingly.
"I'm good", she forced herself to say once she could be sure the puking was over, forcing herself to come to her feet again, knowing there was no time for weakness now, "we have to get out of here…"
"Yes", Michiru agreed, even though she wished they'd just have a few more minutes for Haruka to recover; since this wasn't an option though, she kept one arm around the taller woman's waist now as they headed for the door together, holding back a smirk when, despite their hurry and her not all too good state, Haruka took a second to kick the groaning torturer on the ground.
After that bit of vengeance had been taken care of, they left the room together, finding themselves in another empty hallway; still keeping her arm around Haruka's waist, Michiru chose to go left at random, hoping that this would lead them to the exit, and that they'd make it out of there without running into too many of Steele's men, the sniper well aware of the fact that her companion was in no state to fight.
It's going to be fine, she told herself, for the moment skilfully ignoring the fact that not only had they lost the pieces of the key they had found so far, but also their weapons, you'll get out of this, you'll get new weapons, and it'll be fine.
She tightened her hold on Haruka as she felt the blonde stagger, just for a second, but long enough to let her notice; and once she could be sure that the taller woman was firm on her feet again, she kept moving, all her worries about her quest pushed to the far back of her mind for now, the sniper knowing that for now, all she had to focus on was getting Haruka and herself out of there alive.