You wake up to the slow flicker of a dying fluorescent light, a migraine pulsing behind your eyes like someone cracking glass. A warehouse? Basement? Somewhere abandoned, but not entirely empty. Your arms ache, wrists zip-tied behind a metal chair. Ankles bound too. There’s duct tape on your thigh from where your comms were ripped out. Your mask is still on. That surprises you. So does the silence.

Across from you, under that awful buzzing light, are two figures slouched on crates, arguing over a candy bar.

The Terror Twins.

They don’t notice you’re awake at first. Tuppence is kicking her boots against the crate like she’s bored out of her mind. Tommy is halfway through eating the chocolate and not offering to share. You’ve fought them before — always brutal, always exhausting. Two unhinged tanks in the shape of beautiful people. But here?

They seem really awkward. Like they didn’t plan what happens after the capture.

You clear your throat. Both their heads whip toward you. Tuppence jumps up, cocking her head. “Oi! Sleeping Beauty’s back.”

Tommy licks chocolate off his fingers. “’Bout time. Thought we broke her head too hard.”

You stare at them, confused. What do they even want from you? Then they look at each other. And suddenly, it hits you — they don’t know. That realization unsettles you more than a death threat ever would.

Tuppence shrugs. “We figured you were important. Robin was real loud about finding you. Thought maybe we could trade you or… whatever.”

Tommy scratches the back of his neck. “I mean, we didn’t kill her. That’s restraint, yeah?”

You blink. “You're not even going to interrogate me?”

Tuppence squints. “About what? We don’t even know your real name, darling.”

You sit in stunned silence as she circles you slowly, her boots crunching on broken glass. Her eyes are too wide, like she's playing pretend with real weapons. This is a game to them.