Assassin's Creed: Firewall

The Cat's Out, But You're In the Bag Now

Emma had a nagging feeling creeping up her neck as she started rooting through whatever file drawers would open. She couldn't leave though, not yet, not without some hard evidence that would get her the warrant she needed to thoroughly search the rest of the building. Her word against theirs wouldn't do her any good when she would not be able to explain exactly where she was when she heard such information. No judge would sign off on that.

So she was left to scramble up something, though the feeling only continued to get worse. 'Cop Sense' her Dad had called it, and it had been in the family ever since they first started wearing a badge some generations back. It had never led them astray, and had been the reason many of them made it to retirement.

Emma chose to ignore it for this exact moment, choosing instead to pick the lock of the secured cabinets. There had to be some sort of paper trail for what the company had been up to, she only hoped there were hardcopies somewhere. She lacked the time and skill to hack their computers.

With a frustrated huff, the locked drawers provided nothing beyond Abstergo's financial reports. Not a damn thing in this room could be used to get her warrant.

The feeling grew to the point she could no longer ignore it, and, checking to be sure the hall was clear, slipped out. She was loathe to give up tonight, but she'd already spent nearly an hour in this building, spending more was tempting fate beyond reason.

So she headed for the stairwell to go back to the first floor. There would still be a cop or two downstairs finishing the last of the paperwork for the mess she'd created, with luck she could slip out unnoticed.

Her sense told her to duck; she did, but her reaction was just a moment too slow.

Pain exploded across her head and her world tilted and dimmed. Did he hit her with a brick or something?! Bastard. She pitched forward, unable to stop herself or cling to consciousness.

"Son of a bitch." Emma hissed when she came to, head pounding and vision fuzzy as she tried to reach up and rub her abused body. Only her arm refused to budge, and a tight rubbing around her wrists clued her in that her hands were bound behind her. Damn. Shifting, she managed to get herself at least sitting up, cursing at finding her ankles bound as well. Shit, shit, shit, shit.

The room...closet...wherever they had thrown her was dark, empty and utterly bare of discernable details other than two doors on either end. Altogether not something that bode well for her, especially considering they had left her gun at her hip. Unreachable, it was as useless as the knife strapped to her ankle, or the pepper spray that never left her desk.

"Ah finally awake I see." A male voice made her jump and awkwardly attempt to turn to face him. She achieved at least twisting partially to face him, cursing herself for not hearing the door open. She squinted at him, head pounding even worse as she forced the part of her Cop Sense she could control to work. Very faintly, the man outlined in red. "You have become a colossal pain you know."

He was musing, like one who was acknowledging the irritation of an itch on the nose. Emma ground her teeth together as he continued, "First you were simply an annoyance, but now I can only wonder what it is I can do with you."

Her blood ran cold at what he was insinuating, and she worked at her wrists more than ever, rubbing the skin raw. A little pain would be well worth her life. His brows raised slightly, and he almost seemed....amused at her attempts. "Lucky for you, a...complication has arisen, and we have use of you yet. The struggling will need to cease."

She glared at him, tugging at her wrists more, attempting to work the knot loose without being able to see it. He sighed, as if dealing with a petulant child. Did he honestly believe she would stop fighting to get free just because he said she was 'some use' to them?! HA! She'd rather not be anyone's plaything thank-you-very-much.