(Untitled)

[hopeless_hacker]

Who: Toshiko Sato & Luke Cage
When: Roughly present-dated; towards the end of the flood
Where: Toshiko's cabin plus elements of 'random hallways'
Warnings: YES. Violence, allusions to sexual violence, character death
Note: Assumes a conversation between BatTim and Luke that never actually happened (with Ari's permission) so don't go looking for it

Comments

[notiaraincluded]

Luke had had his fair share of run ins with Tim, but this argument had been the final straw. On the street, the way to get respect was to get fear. And Luke didn't think enough people feared him so he planned to make an example of Tim by broadcasting his beaten body to the whole Barge.

So caught up in his anger and desire to hurt someone, Luke didn't even notice Toshiko until he was a few feet away from her.

[hopeless_hacker]

Toshiko had heard him coming. He wasn't exactly walking quietly. By the time he was within distance she had steeled herself a little and donned the calm, slightly predatory half-smile her counterpart used over the network when she was talking to her (ahem) 'friends'.

"Luke."

They'd spoken a couple of times before the flood, gotten on well - she liked him. But she had to disconnect that from the man she was in front of now.

[notiaraincluded]

Looking up, he'd recognize Tosh from the couple of times they'd spoken in the past. She was one of those women who'd never taken him up on his offer of coming to 'party' in his cabin so he'd finally stopped asking, though he never stopped looking.

"Sup girl? I'm headin' out to handle some business."

[hopeless_hacker]

She set aside her misgivings that this just wouldn't work. Her other self's notes on Luke had made no mistake of his 'interest' in her, after all, even if he'd had the sense to stop pursuing her after repeated polite refusals. And they looked exactly the same.

"What a coincidence - so was I."

She placed her fingertips on his forearm, drifting across his skin, and she gave him a look that could not have left her intent mistaken.

"How long could your business wait?"

[notiaraincluded]

This was certainly unexpected, though not an unwelcome surprise. And, unfortunately for this Luke, he's got much more ego than brains and sees this as simply a woman coming to her senses. A cocky smile crosses his face as he steps up closer to her.

"Hours..."

[hopeless_hacker]

Well, he...really is an idiot. Not that it isn't useful. She takes a step backwards, up the stairs, fingers still on his arm.

"Come back to my cabin?"

She can't imagine him arguing with that. Easier to leave someone else's place than kick them out of yours - not that she has all that much personal experience of one-night-stands.

[notiaraincluded]

"Lead the way."

He's all but forgotten about Tim now, the adrenaline from his anger now being diverted for other purposes as he obediently followed Tosh up those steps.

idk what happened to the past tense in my last tag :C

[hopeless_hacker]

She let her face slip back into a vision of tightly-controlled panic, just for a moment, as she turned away to head back up the steps. She had arranged more to say - reasons for her sudden and unprecedented interest - but she knew that supplying unasked-for detail was the sign of a bad liar. If this exchange could be so simple for him, it could be simple for her.

Her room was straight out of the Torchwood Hub, cold and industrial - a living area with an actual bed and some other creature comforts was at the far end of the cabin, half-concealed by a black curtain. She had locked away (almost) all the actual weapons, aware that he could bludgeon her to death with his bare hands and that there was no reason to make things easier.

She stopped as they were just inside the room; she turned back to him with a smile and touched his chest.

"Just give me one moment to freshen up?"

She needed a reason to make some distance between them. If she didn't get one, well...she would have to improvise.

[notiaraincluded]

Nope, Luke was pretty simple like that. He felt pretty indestructible and believed that his strength and durability were all he needed to get out of virtually any situation. And, back home on the streets, that was pretty much true.

Reaching out, he took hold of her hips with both hands and pulled her close while smiling down at her. For a moment it seemed she might have to improvise before he let her go.

"Don't be too long, or I'll come lookin' for ya."

[hopeless_hacker]

"Now, why would I keep you waiting?"

She smiled over her shoulder as she turned away, walking slowly - you're in no rush, you're not trying to get away from him - until she reached the curtain. Behind it were a pair of ear defenders and her sonic modulator.

She hated the thing. She hated everything it meant to her - she'd rebuilt it from memory on the Barge as a last line of defence, it had saved her life against the Borg, and she still hated it. Her counterpart, needless to say, loved it - and it was one of the few things she had that would disregard skin harder than steel.

She pulled on the headphones and everything around her - the hum of her computers, the rustle of the curtain, the sound of her own breathing - went dead. She pulled the curtain aside and threw the switch on the modulator.

[notiaraincluded]

"What the he-aaaaAAAAAAAGH!"

When she'd thrown the curtain back, he'd been expecting maybe some lingerie or hell maybe for her to be naked or something, he wasn't picky. Instead, he saw her standing there pointing what looked like some kind of high tech gun at him before he felt the excruciating pain like someone was trying to force their way out of his brain.

Gripping his head, he staggered backwards and dropped to a knee, all the while screaming in pain.

[hopeless_hacker]

Toshiko couldn't hear his screaming, but she could see him - she could see the pain written all over his face. He was pinned down for now, but she didn't know how long it would last - and she couldn't just do this until he died, she couldn't. With his resistance being what it was, this might take - who knew how long. Five minutes, ten?

She'd cut off all roads that didn't involve killing him, but she couldn't watch him in agony on the floor for that long. She wouldn't leave him with the memory of that.

Once she turned off the modulator she would have four, maybe five seconds of disorientation before he got up and it would take him maybe three or four to get across the room. If that wasn't long enough for Plan B then she was dead.

Maybe ten seconds had passed since she'd turned on the modulator. She let her finger slide off the switch, reaching instantly for a larger, bulkier piece of equipment. Morbidly enough, she had learnt from her other self's 'experiments' that the signals of one interfered with the other - being able

[notiaraincluded]

Even after the noise itself had stopped, the pain continued for several seconds before he was able to force his eyes open and see her making her way over towards him. He had no idea what that piece of machinery was in her hand, but he doubted it was something he wanted her to use on him.

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to his feet before lunging towards her, throwing his shoulder towards her chest to knock her away and probably off her feet as well.

[hopeless_hacker]

Toshiko felt the breath driven from her body, almost able to feel her breastbone creak under the force of the blow, and she fell back onto the bed like a stone. It was only a heretofore unknown force of will that managed to keep her fingers around the handle of the device. She sucked in a breath, winded and dazed for a couple of seconds she didn't have.

[notiaraincluded]

Before she could fully recover and try to come at him again, she'd feel Luke's large powerful hands grab hold of her arms and pin her to the bed. His forehead was covered in perspiration and a bit of blood had started to come from his nose.

"Fuckin' bitch..."

He was still a bit shakey himself, but even in that condition he was more than able to overpower her.

[hopeless_hacker]

She grit her teeth. She needed maybe a maximum of four seconds to program the Singularity Scalpel - and the unimpeded use of both hands - and it had become clear she wasn't going to get either. He was going to kill her, then find Tim, and then - God only knew what.

She closed her eyes tightly. There was nothing she could say to make this better, and quite a lot that could make it worse.