The Red Lands ::Private RP::

[FrauleinD]

Dylan felt nothing as her body was laid on the cold cement floor, and didn't wake up, even when the beanie slipped from her head and fell a few inches away from her sleeping face. But it really was cold, to her at least. Her body shivered in its unconsciousness, quivering from the chills as visions of icicles as sharp as razors fell from the sky in the otherwise blank state of her mind. The ice blades began to graze her skin, causing blood to trickle down from cut after cut, on her arms, her face, and her bare body. But as the blood flowed, it appeared the trickles became cracks, as in the broken bits of desert ground just outside of where she lay unconscious. In her mind, she pulled off those flakes, one by one, revealing underneath them a hidden layer of crimson, fine-scaled skin, and when she looked up, there was a faceless figure before her, one she almost recognized. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came, no matter how loudly she screamed. The figure inched away, until they were completely out of sight, despite her voiceless cries.

There was the taste of blood in her mouth. Her lips quivered, her arms and legs numb, and the inside of her cheek was stinging. A warm trickle escaped the corner of her mouth and dripped to the cold cement. Her arm dragged itself in front of her, the fingers twitching underneath the glove, the arm twitching underneath the heavy, bulky sleeve. She brought one gloved finger to her mouth, biting down on it as hard as she could, pulling her small, dirty hand from the old leather. But her fingers were fine. Her nails had dirt under them, with bits of dried blood, but otherwise, her palm, all of that itching from the day before... Reluctanty, she turned her hand over, and on its other side found a small, scaly red patch as the one she had seen in her dream. What was happening to her? She wanted to cry, but hadn't the energy nor the moisture in her eyes left to do so. She flipped over onto her back and pulled off her other glove in the same manner, an identical red scale patch on her other hand. Her dry eyes traced the cracked concrete ceiling and for the first time since she'd regained consciousness she felt herself take a deep breath, and all at once the hunger from the past couple days struck her, her stomach howling to throw up and crying both from the pain of being empty and the lack of energy to do anything about it.

Dylan should have eaten that foreign plastic cake thing after all. But no, she had to give to... To Roi? Roi had been there when Dylan passed out, hadn't she? She licked her lips with her dry tongue, swallowing and retrying until she'd moistened her chapped mouth enough to try to speak, but her tongue caught something sharp in her mouth. She rolled over onto her side and pushed herself up from the floor with everything she had, staring at her goggles and hat to her side, not quite mentally registering that they weren't on her head. Her teeth were sharp. Very sharp, and she'd bitten the inside of her mouth in her sleep. Had her teeth always been that way and she was just now realizing it? Still, all that she could think about were the bits and fragments she remembered from before she'd fallen asleep.

Somehow, she made it to where Roi lay, softly breathing, but somehow still alive. Dylan stood over the woman, her head rocking back and forth, twinging her fingers as though she still expected the knife to be in them. She blinked, her eyes still needing some recovery from their lack of sufficient rest and from their constant visits to the dusty desert. For a moment in silence, she watched Roi as she slept, then without realizing she had even done so, Dylan had removed her heavy men's jacket and laid it over the woman, ignoring the red patches here and there up and down her arms, and walking back toward the car she'd found the day before.

...

She poured the stinky, clear substance from its bottle onto the wad of gauze she'd unwrapped from her old arm injury. Surely what smelled like alcohol was alcohol, right? Dylan could have sworn she heard the cloth bits hissing as she pressed it to Roi's bleeding chest, more worried about the infection her rusty knife would cause than she was about the cut itself. She wiped at the dried and fresh blood, hoping to eventually find some skin and a cut underneath as a small pile of bits and pieces of junk she'd taken from the car burned a few feet away, burning in a small, harmless fire that Dylan didn't even realize she'd set.

[KatDrama]

Roi's feverish mind had been miles away, reliving the old dusty past. She was alone, she was a child. She had no one to rely on, to help her. Even if she cried no one would come. The first memory she could even recall was of herself as a small child walking down a deserted alley, rummaging through heaps of refuse looking for food. How was it that she had learned to scavenge? Surely someone must have taught the child that much to survive? But try as she might Roi couldn't recall anyone. No one at all. Most people had at least a fleeting memory of a birth parent, or someone who raised them until they could fend for themselves. Children that had no one couldn't survive, right? Right?

So how was it that all alone the small child had lived for so long?

Roi's mind tried to grapple with this thought, but a burning sting in her chest made her gasp, her eyes flickering open. All at once she felt the heaviness of her body, the cold limbs that refused to move despite how she tried. She struggled to focus her eye sight, there was somebody with her. Roi's dry tongue rolled around her parched mouth, trying to form words, but all she could produce for sound was a crackled moan.

Roi closed her eyes again for a moment, trying to concentrate on her strength. Finally she found the words, her mouth curved into a sarcastic smile. "So I am alive still, am I?" She almost laughed, albeit weakly.

[FrauleinD]

Dylan stared blankly as Roi's eyes flickered and she lolled awake... Or half-awake. She looked to the fire not a few feet away and watched it burn, almost wanting to touch it, thinking she must be crazy since that was the most obviously bad idea she'd had yet. "Yeh..." She said with her raspy voice, wishing she'd kept that peach for herself instead of leaving it for the slimy fish man. The blood was all but completely cleaned from Roi's shoulder wound, and at least it didn't look at all infected. She looked to the blood still slowly dripping from the forming clot on Roi's wing, then thought she knew nothing about cleaning feathers or if getting them wet would only make them worse and finally decided to leave it be. Her finger she dipped into the alcohol and traced the stinging substance across the shallow scratch on Roi's face.

Her hands rummaged through one of the pockets of her jacket, rummaging for a few bits and scraps that at long last she found and withdrew, cupping her hands over stomach to make sure she didn't drop any of it. Past the fire she walked, toward where she heard the wind howling from the outside, where Roi must have fallen into the strange cave. She fiddled and fumbled with the few metal bits, wires, and a couple of her homemade grenades and, when finally satisfied with her result, set the structure on the ledge right near the little entrance to the cave, turning a small dial on one side before inching away, picking up her hat from the ground, pulling it over her head with her goggles as she plucked up her fleece blanket, replacing the jacket she'd thrown over Roi with it and returning her jacket, making sure to zip it up all the way as a ringer sang from her bomb, giving her just enough time to shield Roi's face from the explosion, though it probably wouldn't have hurt her anyway.

What was left was the bitter leftovers from the storm, the wind still a bit strong, but no longer deadly and dangerous as it had been. Wisps of dust brushed in through the now huge opening in the side of the concrete cave, and the sound of the wind echoed through the chilly cave walls, the dust smothering her baby of a fire.

There were voices outside the cave, ones she didn't recognize, but just as she reached for her trusty knife, she realized she'd left it near where she'd lain before, and there was no way to find it now, the explosion had probably tossed it into a corner and buried it in dirt. One more thing to put her further into debt. Just as she felt her last grenade in her pocket, a raggedy but tall and not-unintimidating man came through the entrance, a half smoked cigarette hanging from his lips and large man-goggles covering half of his face, his hair a mess of brown straw-like mass and dirt, his clothes looking like military issue of old.

"What in hell y'call that, Spit? Y'damn near shot off Bullet's leg." Almost as if it had been summoned by its name, a Jack Russel terrior mix dog came whimpering up around past the man and snuffled Dylan's torn pants leg a bit, barking when it was certain it was her.

"Well, well." the man said as Bullet took off toward what looked like a mess of feathers, girl, and old fleece, Bullet taking off and licking at Roi's face. "Banged her up pretty good didja? Or banged 'er up pretty good, eh?" he chuckled, seeing Roi's tattered clothing, but taking no notice as Dylan's cheeks flared, though it probably wasn't quite as obvious as it felt through all of the dirt on her face. "Pegasus'll be pretty pleased with this 'un, Spit." He tossed Dylan a fresh pack of cigarettes, which she let fall to her feet, and stared at it a bit before picking it up and pocketing it.

Bullet barked excitedly, wagging his tail and running little dog circles around Roi. "Should we oven broil 'er or fry 'er, Bullet?" he said as Dylan looked away and waited outside the cave entrance for the captain to drag Roi to her destination.

[KatDrama]

Roi was not aware of her transportation across the dessert. She didn't know that she had passed into the grey dome of Pegasus. She did not know that she was taken somewhere behind closed doors, in a cold white room, where she lay strapped to a metal table. She didn't know that there were tubes and instruments being attached to her, nor that they stitched up her wounds.

Roi did not know it, but she lay half naked now in a secret room in Pegasus's medical labs, her body bound to the metal table with leather straps, less she wake up and try to flee.

She didn't know it, but she soon would.

After shifting through her memories and the pain Roi slowly came to. She opened her eyes hesitantly at first, there was a giant, white bright light shining on her face that made her close them quickly again. Groaning she tried to make sense of her situation. Her limbs felt incredibly heavy, and try as she might she couldn't get them to move. For a fleeting moment Roi thought she might be paralyzed. But as she tested her mind further she began to come to the conclusion that it wasn't that she couldn't feel her arms and legs, rather it was that no matter what she couldn't move them. Roi paused for a moment, trying to figure it out. In the room there was a lot of grey noise, the sound of air moving through tubes, the sound of hushed movements, the sound of something metal being dropped in a metal tray...and then she focused on one sound, it was coming at regular intervals. Beep....beep...beep...beep...[/] it was almost in rhythm with her...

Roi's eyes flashed open entirely. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the lighting but she immediately began to understand that this was not where she had been before. She strained to move, but to no avail. Twisting her head to look at her arm Roi was alarmed by the heavy leather straps, and even more so by the needles and tubes protruding into her. Roi began to twist and trash against the restraints. A few nodes fell off of her body and blood began to trickle again from her wounds. But Roi was panicking, she didn't know this place at all! Fears began to build in her mind. The restraints dug into her skin but still she twisted and pulled, contorting her body painfully. "Eyaah!" She finally let loose a scream of desperation and fear.

[FrauleinD]

Captain Nancy had been standing idly by outside Roi's operation room door. He almost choked on the toothpick he'd been chewing on since cigarettes weren't allowed inside the medical facilities of Pegasus's dome. In through the door he burst to see Roi struggling under her harnesses. Heh... And here I thought she'd damn near ripped herself up already. He watched as she screamed and struggled, seemingly unmoved by her cries and pondering his toothpick more than he was anything else.

One of the doctors had dropped his scalpel, luckily just missing the toe of his shoe. "Shut it, shut it, kiddo," the captain's big manly voice said, though he wondered if she could even hear him over her screams. His goggles were pushed back on his forehead now, and somehow between the mass of dirty hair and dirty face was a pair of quite dainty blue eyes, the color of the ocean, or at least what the ocean would have looked like if it hadn't become polluted or in most cases, dried away to nothing. "If we's gone through this much trouble t'patch ya up, we ain't gunna be so ready to break ya again, now are we?" He flipped the broken toothpick into a nearby trash can. "Jes, calm down, you'll be good as new soon, provided y'don't break the good doctor's tools here, missie." He looked down on her strapped to the table, any emotion unreadable in his sea-like eyes. "Heh. Ya should used a higher dose o' that laughin' gas." he said to the doctor as he poked Roi in the forehead, both wondering what she would do, or attempt to do, in retaliation, and wondering if it would make her shut her yap.

Dylan, meanwhile, had locked herself in one of the shower stalls in the men's shower room. Luckily for her, these were each invidual stalls with real doors and locks, not the curtains of most cheap locker rooms. She sat in the corner of the shower, the water blaring at full blast as hot as it could possibly go, her clothes in a nasty mess, rumpled up right outside the door. Her knees were pulled close, and her head resting on them, her arms hugging herself as though she were afraid if she let go she would fall into a deep crevice. Well, if nothing else had been accomplished the day before besides her numb soul, she was clean at least. She looked up to watch the steam from the shower, her skin, what wasn't flaked and scaly, had turned a deep red from the heat of the shower, but she found that it didn't bother her. Her hand wiped away the moisture on the mirror by her side, and she pulled her cheek open to see her teeth, now fully-fledged fangs. She traced it with her tongue, careful not to p***k it again, wondering what it meant.

As a beating sound echoed from the door through her shower, she made no movement, just slowly loosed her hand from her mouth. "What?" she said as hatefully as she could, wishing the person would just go away.

"Fresh clothes!" giggled a feminine voice from the other side. "I'll leave them here for you, please wear them for me!" it tittered, and the sound of tiny lady feet was heard tapping, then fading away. Dylan's nose curled, but fresh clothes? Hot damn. She stood and turned the water off, making one last check in the mirror to make sure she really was clean, catching an odd mark going down her back in the mirror. Down the skin of her spine, red scales had popped up, and near her tail bone was a small nub that hadn't been there before. She poked at it, and found she could move it if she tried. She was sprouting a tail now? Well. That shouldn't have surprised her. She expected to wake up the next day being a lizard and not a person at this rate.

She grabbed up her clothes, old and new, and as soon as she was certain she was still alone, ran off as fast as she could to one of the closet bedrooms that had been unlocked for her.

[KatDrama]

Roi stopped her screaming and squirming when the man poked her in the head. She stopped and just glared at the man, her eyes burning with intense hatred. "Where...am...I?" She gritted through her teeth. Her hands had curled into such tight fists that her finger nails were digging into her flesh. "Let me out of here!" She demanded and began struggling again. At this rate she threatened to open her wounded back up. Maybe she really did have a death wish after all?

[FrauleinD]

The captain would have flicked up a cigarette if it were only allowed in the operating room. Instead, he pulled a fresh toothpick from a small plastic canister in his pocket and popped it into his mouth, just watching Roi as she griped and growled. "Now, didn't I already tell ya? Pegasus's got ya now. We're patchin' ya up as a welcome home present fer ya both." he said calmly, chewing his stick. "Well," he continued, crossing his arms and eyeing one of the glowing test tubes that was connected to her through a plastic tubing. "The doc here's got some nice drugs, could put y'right down if y'want. Problem is, the boss wouldn't be all too happy with that, and when the boss ain't happy, ain't none of us happy, so why don'tcha jes' shut yer yap 'til he gets back? We a'ready sent him word we gotcha here, it's only a matter of hours 'fore he gets back." He watched the anger growing in her eyes as he spoke, "Hey, kid, it's just business. You coulda been an ugly little boy or a dawg and I'd follow the same orders. Nothin' personal. Tell ya what he wants with ya, but I ain't too sure on that m'self. Why don'tcha save us all some yappin' and shut it fer now?" He waited, curious as to what she would say

Dylan wasn't sure if these new clothes suited her or not. The lace-up leather boots were nice, much better than the old sneakers she'd been taping together for god knew how long. She salvaged her old binding and had wrapped her chest, throwing on first the fresh black tank she'd been given, then a dark green t-shirt on top of it. She'd decided to keep her old jeans, a full camo outfit really wasn't her style, but that new hat was a nice one, thick, fresh brown canvas, as fresh as things got in the outerlands, anyway, and big enough to cover her horns without looking too suspicious. After transferring her still good belongings to her new brown and green patterned jacket, she left her old, useless things in a mess near the bed and tied the jacket around her hips as she slipped through the door, just dodging the maid who was making her rounds.Dylan wasn't overly familiar or fond of this building, but at least she knew where the operating rooms were, and if she could just get that far... Well, she would figure that out when she got there.

They'd made it back to the dome late, late that night, or early, early that morning depending on how you wanted to look at it. Dusk was just settling in again after a full day of the doctors doing whatever they were doing to Roi and Dylan sulking around, eating stale raisins and wondering what Pegasus would say to her when he got back. Maybe with the money he would give her, she could finally have some decent clothes, better grenades, and maybe even a medical kit to keep around, which she obviously needed. The automatic door that opened toward the medical wing opened into stale, ammonia-scented silence, and cautiously, slowly, she peeked into each door as she went through.

[KatDrama]

Roi continued to glare at the man, her hawk eye staring daggers into him. If it meant being Pegasus's slave then perhaps Roi would rather die. She continued to struggle. She bit her lip so hard that blood began to pour down her chin. All the while she stared defiantly at the man, as if to say 'do your worst.'

[FrauleinD]

Captain Nancy snorted, then broke into a hearty laughter. Watching the girl there like that was just too much for his old heart to handle. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he laughed, as though he were genuinely amused at her antics. "Well, you jes' do that. Be mad at me all y'want, kiddo, but it ain't my order that'll let ya go. Prisoners are the property of their catcher 'til the boss gets back, and seein' as I ain't the one cut y'up, I ain't the one gonna let ya go. Best be havin' a word with Spit." He laughed again. "Oh right, you's strapped down. You kids these days, dunno a good oppurtunity when y'got it shoved down yer throat, the boss's willin' t'give ya all 'at money 'n power fer nothin' more'n workin' for 'im." Damn fools... He added mentally.

"I'll see if I can't find Spit for ya." He paused, then broke out into another fit of laughter, tossing his toothpick Roi's direction, just missing her, as he walked out of the room, quite pleased with himself. But he ain't gonna let her go. Craziest a** kid I ever did meet...

[KatDrama]

As Captain Nancy came out of the med door there was a nondescript shadow of a man wearing a black suit. "Pegasus has arrived." The man delivered his message in a monotone voice befitting a low level drone. "He is most happy to learn that his Hawke has been caught. He would like for the hunter who caught her present tonight at a feast in Pegasus's main hall to reward him. He would also like his little bird delivered wearing this, and whatever means you must use to make sure she doesn't escape..." A small sadistic smile cross the messenger's face as he handed the captain a box containing a revealing, sleeveless white sheer dress with cutouts in the back and midsection and deep cut neck line.

--

As soon as the man was gone Roi continued to frantically work at her bindings. She tried to extend her fingers enough to scratch at the leather, or reach the buckles, but all that was doing was causing her fingernails to bleed. Roi somehow seemed numb to the pain as she continued to struggle, stretching and contorting her body in ways she didn't think possible until somehow by luck she managed to twist her wrist just right. It hurt terrible but she forced her hand through and suddenly it was free. Quickly Roi began to work with that hand to try to loose her other bindings. I will not become Pegasus's play thing... She thought with determination.

[FrauleinD]

Dylan heard a familiar echo coming from one of the nearby corridors. She heard he was quite a ways off yet, and decided to slip into one of the supply rooms until he passed. Quickly, she regretted her decision, since the room she picked turned out to be one full of semi-live bottle specimens intead. She was queasy for a moment but then her eye caught a shelf full of labelled bottles, a few of them useful healing potions. Tapping the bottles, she quickly pocketed the plastic ones that looked useful and popped open a drawer in the desk that was ajar to reveal a few plastic wallets of simulant needles, also quickly pocketed. She even took the fancy ballpoint pen and memo pad the doctor had left on his desk and stuck them in the breast pocket of her t-shirt. Footsteps approached, but they quickly faded away again, too light to be Captain Nancy's.

She waited, then slipped out of the room and headed toward the next corridor, quickly recoiling and ducking behind a janitor's cart as she saw Nancy and one of Pegasus's little messengers standing there. The captain seemed to be holding some sort of odd-looking lingirie piece and chuckling at it, nodding affirmingly at whatever the man had said. The shady figure disappeared back down the opposite end of the hallway as Captain Nancy set lingirie back into the thin cardboard box on a cart near the door. He stood there for a minute, snickering and shaking his head at the sheer monstrosity, then headed Dylan's way.

Dylan looked back and forth, he was too close to not hear a door closeby shut if she should duck into one of the other offices... Why didn't she just wait until he had passed? Such was her luck, and as she was just deciding to run down the hallway and hide on "smoking area" porch, he appeared from around the corner, catching her by the shoulder.

"Yo, Spit." he said like a big brother might have. "Got some good news for ya, Pegasus wants ya t'take that lil' chickie in there on a date. Got a dress ready fer ya'n everything. Y'ain't gonna wear that, are ya? Didn't they give ya a uniform?"

"... It didn't fit. So I wore this."

"Heh, yer too scrawny fer yer own good, this feast'll do ya wonders. Why don'tcha go'n frisk yer girl in 'ere, sure she's... Itchin'... T' see ya." He snickered. "Good work, Spit, look forward to the next one." he said, waving off as he left through the door with glowing red EXIT letters.

Dylan scowled. She'd been too slow, Pegasus was already back and now he wanted her to take her prey on a date? Great, just great. She headed down the corridor and tucked the skanky dress box under her arm as she entered the operating room, where Roi was just struggling with her bindings.

"Damn, girl!" Dylan gasped, her voice only slightly less raspy than before. "Th' hell y'doin'? Y'ain't even full sewed up yet, already got it bleedin' agin'!"

[KatDrama]

By the time the door opened Roi was working on the last foot binding. When Dylan entered she jumped in a half panic half rage off of the table, needles and tubes pulling out of her as racks and trays tumbled too the floor. Roi's wrists and ankles were badly bruised, adding further to her injuries. Her hands trembling slightly Roi reached for one of the fallen trays and grabbed a scalpel in her hand. Slowly she stood up and circled slightly around the table, her eyes never leaving Dylan. Blood spilling from her mouth, her entire appearance looking broken and bruised, for all the world she looked like a wild animal.

"Just leave me alone!" She shouted. Before when she was out in the wild Roi had been cocky and sure, teasing her opponent. But here in this place Roi was scared, and that fear was boiling over into rage, though she couldn't hide the tremors of her hands. She looked at Dylan as though that person had betrayed her, though in truth Roi knew that Dylan had no obligations to her, and this was Dylan's goal in the first place. "Let...me...go." She said through bared teeth, though in reality it sounded more like begging than demanding.

[FrauleinD]

Dylan's lips tightened and she scowled at the blade-wielding crazy woman before her who was threatening to cut her wide open. She tossed the box she was holding to the floor, it skidded, just stopping a few feet away from Roi. Dylan reached behind her and locked the door, crossing her arms and leaning up against the knob. In her lack of clothing, Dylan eyed Roi, through the bruises and blood, then finally met her gaze.

"Y'know, yer pretty hot. I mean, y'ain't e'zacly in pristine condition, but y'got a damn good body, y'know." She swallowed, pondering what exactly she was going to say. "Look," she continued, uncrossing her hands and sticking one of them into one of her loot-full pockets from before, slowly, so as not to cause Roi to flip out anymore than she already was.

"You'n me both know I dunno jack 'bout no medical hooey. Whadda happened to ya if ya'd been left in that cave? Y'wanna'nfection? That knife o'mine's one o' the nastiest critters ya'd ever see, ain't no tellin' what kinda germs'er crawlin' all over it, but now, thanks to Dr. Bimbo, y'got it all fixed up, better'n even you coulda dun, I'd bet." her fingers fastened around one of the syringes in her pocket she hoped she wouldn't have to use. Roi was probably so hopped up on painkillers and steroids such that just a bit more might render her unconscious... But for an uncertain amount of time. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

"Y'all can't fly like 'at, now, can ya, even if y'did git outta here? Ain't no tellin' what yer shot up with, y'wanna get riddled fulla bullets 'fore y'even git through the gate?" She approached Roi slowly, holding up one empty hand and leaving the other in her pocket, and stopped just a step away from the skanky dress box. Somehow, Dylan managed a smile, even with the blood-thirsty stab-happy hawk woman before her. "Why don'tcha slip on that dress fer me? Let me take y'ta dinner. Them drugs wear off, y'think my clumsy a** could handle you?" She tapped the box with the toe of her boot, wondering if Roi really was high enough on painkillers to go along with it, and she didn't need to know Pegasus was to be at the dinner...

"Ya ain't stupid enough to try'n take on the boss man in his own territory when yer hurt, now is ya? Why don'tcha jes make a man happy'n have some steak with 'im?"

[KatDrama]

Roi glared at the man for what seemed like ages before she slowly bent down and brought the box closer to her. She couldn't hide the immediate blush that crossed her face. The embarrassment at having to wear such a garment? Roi's harsh grimace slowly grew into a very sarcastic smile as she looked more darkly at Dylan. "You expect me to wear this?" She seemed to be growling as her smile grew more twisted. "Make me you..." Roi cut off her sentence, she couldn't seem to come up with an appropriate insult for the situation.

"It doesn't matter if there's a thousand guns pointed at me, Pegasus wont dare kill me." She seemed to be more sly now as she made a wide arc slowly and was angling towards the door. She looked like she was getting ready to pounce at any moment. "I'm more valuable alive." She gazed at Dylan from the corner of her eye as she walked, the scalpel still firmly in her palm.

[FrauleinD]

Dylan smirked a sideways smirk. "Ya could go's y'are. I don't think none a the guys'd complain." She said, indicating that Roi was, quite literally, next to naked as it was, even if the dress wasn't much of an improvement, it would at least cover her... Well, cover something. Dylan mentally commented they could probably make a better garment out of the sheets on the operating table. As she turned slowly, watching as Roi approached the door, not overly concerned since it was locked and it'd take her drugged hide a couple tries to shake it open.

"So, whaddaya say, babe? Steak strike yer fancy? Or maybe y'like fish..." She was a hawk, after all. "Well, y'can have whatever y'want, on me, an' all I want's yer attention, an' Pegasus ain't idiot enough to even tryin' hurt ya, he went through so much trouble t'gitcha here. An' sides, y'should show a guy some mercy after he went through all 'e did t'git'cha fixed up by the best professionals 'round."

She fingered the syringe in her pocket, feeling less and less likely that she was going to have to use it. Or at the very least, hoping she wouldn't have to use it.