Scarecrow and the Rainbow Solution

Crimson huffed and concentrated, twisting herself forward so that the broom she was manoeuvring with one foot nudged against the keyring on the floor. She tried again to twist the rounded end into the metal ring, the pain in her wrists growing as it exasperatingly refused to cooperate. She had been at this for more than twenty minutes and it was starting to piss her off.
In fairness Party had warned there would be trouble for nearly breaking his nose and she really should have known better than to doze off but several more rounds of sexual athletics and then relaxing in his warm arms had been impossible to resist. Until she had realised that the bitch had her over his shoulder. Crim had fought back but the combination of Party and Kobra was not one that could be easily subdued and she had found herself securely handcuffed to the rail on the wall which served as a wardrobe.
“Are we really going to do this now ?”
Party smirked, returning to the bed to pull Ghoul and Rainbow back into his arms. Kobra and Jet had brought their new lady friends back to play at some point and now all of them were watching this drama play out. The old hands took little notice, it had long been a game between Party and Crimson to put each other in extremely awkward or difficult positions and see how long it would take to get out. Party threw the keys on the floor a little out from her reach.
“You should know better baby girl.”
Blood frowned and whispered to Kobra.
“Is this normal ?”
“Very. You get used to it.”
Crimson managed a very obscene finger gesture as hands started to wander among her friends again. They soon ceased to watch Crim’s efforts to get free and all had finally fallen asleep. Which doubly pissed Crim off and made her more determined than ever. With some experimental swinging on the cuffs she had managed to knock down a broom that stood by the door and it had taken more than an hour to get it close enough to try and hook the keys. The pain between her shoulder blades was becoming excruciating despite the enjoyable thoughts of all the ways she was going to make him pay and now she just wanted to get free and find something to drink.
She narrowed her eyes, finally forcing the keyring onto the end of the broom, it took a while longer to twist them until the head of the broom faced toward her and the keys were near the far end of the pole. This would be the tricky part and required some serious hand to eye coordination which she never normally had. If Crimson got this wrong she could lose the damn keys for good and have the humiliation of Party finally letting her down in the morning.
NO. FUCKING. WAY.
Gritting her teeth against the pain, Crimson lifted her knees and managed a half swing before landing hard on the brush and sending the keys up into the air toward her. They landed just on he ledge above her head, hanging down towards her hands. The broom inconveniently decided to smack the bruised side of her face before falling to the floor. Swallowing down the desire to scream, Crimson inched her fingers to the keys and managed to finally get some kind of grip.
In some ways that was the easy bit. Her hands were numb from the tight cuffs cutting off the blood supply and it took agonising minutes to figure out where the lock was and which end of the key she had hold off. She watched Party, noting that he still retained the look of innocence when he slept, remarkable given that he had taken great delight in using his belt on her ass. Bitch was going to pay for that one.
Finally one of the cuffs gave and Crim dropped on the floor with a groan. There was nothing to be done except sit and rotate arms and shoulders until the pain subsided a little. Crimson picked up the cuffs and slipped one around Party’s ankle before attaching the other to Jet. Depositing the key in her bra she slipped jeans and t-shirt over her aching body and quietly left the room to go hunt down some alcohol and get the air. There was no telling what time it was but there was no music from down below and very few people around so she took it that it was very late and headed down to the only place still open.
“Knew you’d still be up.”
Midnight smiled, continuing to wipe down the bar as Crimson took a seat in front of him and gave her best appealing smile. He turned and pulled down the tequila bottle, reaching for salt and lemons as she leant across to find glasses.
“I thought you and Party would have been too busy for you to wind up here.”
“He’s an old man, I left him sleeping.”
Midnight looked pointedly at the fresh and bleeding scuff marks around her wrists and raised an eyebrow. He knew just how rough she liked it and wondered why she had left the comfort of a warm bed. Crimson always managed to puzzle him but he was glad she had found her way to drink and talk with him, it was always stimulating in all kinds of ways.
“You’re going out there tomorrow ?”
Crim nodded, downing the shot and licking salt from her hand. The lemon quelled the burn a little as he lined up another.
“Yeah, Korse had something to do with that thing in six. It’s bad Mid, really bad.”
“When isn’t it ?”
She nodded and raised the glass to him, both of them downing the liquid in one mouthful as she pointed to the glasses again. Clearly Crimson intended to get drunk enough to sleep whether there was a mission or not. Midnight turned back to the bar and hunted for another bottle, talking to her over his shoulder.
“Do you ever wonder if it’s worth it ? If the people in the city are worth it ?”
Crimson shrugged as he turned back and filled the glasses again. He always looked good, there was something powerful about the blue eyes and just the way he held himself. She considered whether taking him to bed would be bad form.
“You’re asking the wrong person. Party deals in the morals, I just like the chaos.”
“C’mon, you came back.”
Midnight watched as Crimson downed the shot, a wry grin spreading across her face.
“Nowhere left to run and hell, I do love the asshole. One way or another it has to end.”
“It could end with us dying. I sometime wonder if the people in the city would be any happier living like us. I mean, it’s not like we have that much going for us out here.”
Midnight blushed and looked a little uncomfortable. They had known each other a long time and philosophical discussion had never really come into it. There was a silence and both enjoyed another shot before a small smile crossed her face.
“You want the honest truth ? I don’t give a fuck if they all die. If I get my hands on that weapon then I’m going to use it. Party has faith in humanity, I don’t.”
“You’re a hard bitch.”
She nodded with a smirk and attempted to move. Everything swum a little in front of her and the warm fuzz of the alcohol was mixing nicely with the aches in her body. Midnight watched her closely with a smile and poured another drink.
“He won’t let you do that.”
“I know but if it comes to it there may be no choice. Shit Mid, what proof is this stuff ?”
Crimson coughed at the burning in her throat and decided that enough was enough. It was time to get some sleep before they needed to think about going back out into the desert. The hangover would be cleared by the clean desert air and riding with Party in the Trans Am. She frowned and stood up, they still needed to retrieve the Camaro from that bunker.
“It’s about forty percent and with an added something. You ok ?”
Crimson looked up at him, suddenly badly unfocused and light headed. She stumbled and managed to catch the bar and pull herself up again. Midnight still watched, his eyes now taking a piqued interest in what was happening. The drug was fast acting, within minutes her breathing was laboured and Crimson found she was on the floor and not able to move. Her eyes clouded, everything blurring and fogging over as she realised Midnight was now kneeling next to her, a pleasant smile crossing his face.
“You’re also a dumb bitch. Did you and your friends never think BLI had a plant in here ? I’ve wasted years in this fucking place to get close enough to catch one of you when Korse said so. You got away once Lily, not going to manage it a second time and when your friends come for you we are going to bring them down to.”
Crimson tried hard to lash out, her mind struggling past the drugs to realise he had betrayed her. All the times they had been together were nothing more than a way for Korse to find her, she almost admired his balls before his foot connected hard with her head and she passed out. Midnight knelt down and slapped her face to make sure she was completely out before checking on the hallway. Lifting her onto his shoulder he made his way upstairs. He would have no trouble getting past the guards and out into the desert.
His Master had explained it all. It would be easier to catch Crimson, she was wild and often reckless whereas Rainbow never went anywhere without thinking about it. This weakness however could be played on, Rainbow and Party would attempt to come for Crimson and bring all the other fugitives with them. Korse could then show the rest of the rabble that the resistance would die with them and finally Midnight could go home.
The guards waved them off, just Mid and Crim getting some air when both had been drinking. Nothing unusual.
Nothing to worry about.

Notes