“Well” ‘Hanson’ said thoughtfully, “Do it. We can always flatline ’em later.” Blade looked down as strong hands slid along her arms and knees. She didn’t struggle as she was lifted by three men. The front two held her by the armpits, while the one wrapped a metal limb around her knees. As they turned, she caught a glimpse of TJ. Her captors felt her stiffen.

“No squirming, or we change our minds and flatline you here.” She felt the press of a muzzle between her shoulder blades. “You two”, ‘Hanson’ growled, “Get that meat sack up and to security.” TJ was picked up like a sack of wet cement, and carried between the two men, leaving two unencumbered and armed.

They were moved to a security office, then zip-stripped by the elbows and ankles to a metal chair bolted to the floor. TJ, while pale looking, didn’t have the death-warmed-over caste to his face that she’d seen when he’d been shot. The door to the security room closed with a heavy thud. She saw one guard through the near one-way glass. He was leaning against the glass wall, weapon hanging from a shoulder sling. He reached into his pocket, pulling a thin stick-like tube that he brought to his lips and inhaled. He leaned his head back against the glass, blowing a waft of vapor into the air.

She tried focusing her own abilities. Her ears were normal human, because they had been sculpted that way to hide her in human society. A half-elf was generally spurned by both races. She leaned forward, letting her long hair form a curtain around her face as she focused on her power. She aimed her intent at the zip tie on her left arm. The spell wafted out, then recoiled away. The backlash created a stabbing pain between her eyes. She closed them, and waited a few moments before opening them again. The dim light stabbed at her eyes like icepicks, and she closed them hurriedly.

After a few minutes she felt centered enough to risk opening her eyes once more. The room swayed as she fought to focus, and slowly came back to normal. She looked over at TJ. His brown duster was splashed with blood from the shoulder wound. His black Tee shirt and dark blue body armor under the trench coat had a similar dark blotch of blood on them. Their weapons were outside of the security room, leaning against the far wall.

“TJ? Can you hear me?” she whispered. She focused again, shutting her eyes. She built the spell in her mind, felt it form, settling in place, making her eyes itch. She slowly opened them, and gazed slowly around the small room. Her gaze returned to TJ. His head was still tilted forward, his body trying to follow his head, hunching over only to be stopped by the tight zip ties at his elbows. She could see his noise amplifier in his right pocket, the holdout pistol up the heavy leather sleeve of the duster, the spring knives in each boot, the small blob of plastique in his hollow left heel, and the electronic detonator and control in the hollow right heel. Satisfied the spell was working she slowly scanned everything she could, finding two tiny cameras, one over the door, the other atop the wall shelves to her right. Neither had the bright glow of an active unit, meaning they could be passive, becoming active if sounds rose above a certain level.

Focusing on the one over the door, she said in a normal speaking voice, “Teej, you awake?” The dull color never changed. She rocked back and forth as much as the restraints would allow. No color change. The unit was turned off. She closed her eyes, and let the spell fade as she focused on a new one. TJ hadn’t twitched since they been trussed up in the security room. If they were going to get out, TJ had to be awake. She bit her lip nervously and nearly lost the spell. Regaining her focus, she nervously gathered saliva in her mouth, then activated the spell, spitting quickly. Her mouth burned from the burn of the acid. The spittle arced through the air, landing on TJ’s coat just above the zip tie on his right arm. The leather began smoking immediately, and the spittle ate through the coat, then attacked the plastic as it ate its way down the leather.

„Teej, you awake?“; came Blade’s barely audible whisper. He wasn’t. Not quite yet. Besides, he was curious just how far his partner would take her current teasing. Up until now it had always been strictly verbal; more often than not related to his near non-existant lovelife. So why /she/ would suddenly try to wake him up by nibbling on his arm was beyond him.

 Did we go out and get drunk last night? No, that couldn’t be it. They’d gotten bloody well wasted before, and managed to get home to their own, albeit spinning, beds. What the hell did we do? As he tried to remember, her biting became more insistent, painful even. Opening his eyes just as he jerked his arm away, he started to growl „Damnit! That hur…“; then memory -and awareness- kicked in. TJ started to growl, then jerked again at the restraining tie, and parted it. He flexed his arm, getting his holdout knife  to hand as the pain acted as incentive, and worked at sawing the other zip tie in twain. He gritted his teeth against the pain as the acid continued to eat away at the coat and his skin. Blade kept an eye on the guard, who hadn’t turned around yet. Once free TJ tore his coat off, wiping frantically at the dime-sized ulcer in his skin.

Blade kept spitting at the floor as her saliva continued to shift to acid. She finally managed to cancel the spell after receiving painful burns in her mouth.