A/N — crackfic in the Bookworms/Choices world. This may or may not come up at some point in the future, I make no promises either way. In fact, this snapshot was heavily inspired by a nice cabernet and was written and posted while imbibing so all mistakes are totally mine. Also, credit (or blame) to Aspect and SPR2017 for encouraging my madness. xoxo — kals

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Name: Belem

Universe: Bookworms/Choices (maybe)

Time: sometime after Choices Chapter 9 (maybe)

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The second that the door slammed shut, locking them into the underground chamber, Sasha reached down to start unbuckling Danny's belt. "Help me get his pants off."

She had noticed the lack of windows or furniture immediately upon her hood being removed, and a second glance around showed only a single hole near the corner of the space clearly designed for sewage. From the smell, she suspected that it overflowed often, but she didn't plan to stay here long enough to find out. Their one and only way out of this hellhole was through the door they came in. Given the limited information at her disposal, Sasha was guessing that they were in Belem, but her time in Mexico City had been limited so, for all she knew, there were hundreds of moldy prisons where El Chapo might stash prisoners.

"Excuse me?"

It was the incredulousness in Kara's voice that caught Sasha's attention. Glancing up, she could see the shock on Kara's face as she stared at Sasha with a mixture of horror, anger, and confusion. Kara was sitting, cradling Danny's head in an apparent effort to keep it off the floor — pointless, in Sasha's view, given the way the guards threw his unconscious body in here when they first arrived. Doubtless that gash in the back of his head was already well on its way to getting infected and the only way to help Danny was to get him — get them all — out of here. How they were actually going to lug his dead weight out of this place while not tipping off the guards was a problem, but one that she would deal with once she got them the hell out of this cell.

Turning her gaze to Tom, not bothering to hide her impatience at Kara's cluelessness, Sasha was baffled by the scowl that he was leveling at her. For the love of god, did he remember nothing from SWCC?

She began working Danny's belt loose from the loops. "I take it that neither of you is carrying any weapons?"

Kara frowned. "They took everything, you know that. Including whatever Danny was carrying."

Tom, on the other hand, seemed to be getting with the program. Finally. "Does Green conceal carry?"

"In the field, usually no less than three," Sasha confirmed, tossing him the belt that their guards hadn't taken, suggesting they were far from professionals. "Check behind the buckle."

After checking Danny's fly — an excellent hiding place because of the zipper but one that Danny rarely used, being squirrely about sharp objects near his dick — Sasha pulled his pants down enough to confirm his pockets were completely empty. Moving to Danny's boots, Sasha ran her hand around the sole without luck. Next, giving up on getting Danny's pants off, she began running her hands up and down the seams.

"Got it," Tom said, holding up a small razor.

Sasha nodded. "You take position by the door while I find something to pick the lock with."

"Um, check his left knee," Kara said softly. Sasha looked up, noticing the flush that covered Kara's face. When Sasha moved her hand to the outside of Danny's pants, Kara corrected. "The inside. I, um, got stabbed by something one time."

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes at Kara's embarrassment, Sasha moved her hand to the inside of Danny's knee. The fact that Danny and Kara had obviously been doing something more than a little kissing in uniform was hardly a state secret. It took two attempts to find the slim wire that was hidden there — one Sasha was unlikely to have found without knowing it was there — but it was exactly what she needed to get the door open. She grinned at Tom. "Jackpot."

"That thing good for more than picking locks?" Tom asked, his voice tense, and Sasha realized that she could hear footsteps in the distance. Crap.

"Check his collar," Sasha instructed Kara. "Also arm patches, front pocket, rear pockets, seams..." As she was talking, Sasha checked the cuff of his pant leg. "Bingo."

She looked at Kara, holding up the razor. "You know how to use this?"

"No. But I can pick a lock."

Accepting that Kara was going to be relatively useless in hand-to-hand, Sasha passed her the wire. "If things go south, wait until they're gone and get out of here. Don't try to take Danny. He's too heavy. Find Utt and get help. That's the best thing that you can do for him. Understood?"

Before Kara could answer, Tom hissed. "Sasha. Now."

"Get behind the door!" she hissed back in Russian, knowing that Kara wouldn't understand but hoping that the woman had enough sense to stay down and out of the way.

Almost tripping over Danny's feet — the cell couldn't be more than ten feet long — Sasha flattened herself against the wall, hoping that whoever opened the door would be looking straight ahead, giving her a moment to get a jump on them.

Unfortunately — and fortunately — the man coming through the door was looking left, directly at her, which is the only reason Sasha didn't slash his throat.

"He's a friendly!" Pulling back at the last second, Sasha managed to get out a warning before Tom finished the task for her. "What the hell, Shemanski? I almost slit your neck."

Before Pablo could answer, another familiar bearded face appeared, Tex taking in the scene before him in a single glance. "Well hell, Cooper. If you wanted to have an orgy, the least you could have done was invite us."