Chapter Text
Angela Lopez had been a cop long enough to know when something felt off.
It was supposed to be a routine follow-up on a missing persons case—just her and Lucy checking out an abandoned warehouse where the victim’s car had last been seen. But the second they stepped inside, Angela’s instincts screamed at her.
“Something’s not right,” she muttered, hand hovering over her gun.
Lucy, ever sharp, nodded in agreement. Angela watched her glance toward a dark corner of the room, her expression shifting into something wary. But before Angela could react, the world exploded.
A flashbang! The deafening blast disoriented Angela. She tried looking around, but her vision was off. Ears ringing. “Lucy?” Finally, she found her, curled up in a corner, desperately holding onto her ears. Her cochlear implants! The realization hit Angela like a truck. Flashbangs were brutal for anyone, but for Lucy, whose cochlear implants allowed her to hear, it had to be agony. Her brain wasn’t used to sudden, overwhelming noise, and her implants couldn’t process something like this fast enough.
Angela fought to get upright, fumbling for her weapon, but the moment her vision cleared and she was able to move, she felt something cold and sharp press against her neck. “Drop it!” a voice ordered. Her fingers tightened around her gun, but before she even realized what was happening— a sharp crack against her skull.
Her last thought before it all turned dark was a desperate hope that Lucy would get away.
***
Angela woke to the feeling of a killer headache. What happened? That must have been one hell of a good party for her to feel this way. She could only hope, she hadn't anything embarrassing.
Slowly, she tried turning around, “mmh-esley?” Hold on! That was not her bed. The longer she was awake, the more aware she became of her surroundings and what had happened. Cold metal pressed into her spine. The air smelled damp and stale, a mix of rust and mildew. She blinked, trying to get up, but something held her back. Chains! Her ankles were shackled to the ground.
Panic flared as she reached out, fingers brushing against cold, iron bars. A cage. They had locked her in a cage.
Then she heard it. A ragged, uneven breath from somewhere close. “Lucy?” she whispered, her voice hoarse. “Angela?” came her partner's timid voice. Angela squinted through the dim light and spotted another cage beside hers. A small figure curled in the corner. “What, what happened? How did we get here? Where are we?” “Woah, woah, woah, slow down. I … I’m not sure exactly how we got here, I just remember the flashbang and someone hitting me over the head. Are you hurt? Can you move? I'm chained to the ground.” “No, they chained me up too. But we have to get out of here, somehow! There has to be a way!” Before Angela could reach for Lucy, to calm her down, footsteps echoed above them. Then the sound of a heavy door creaking open.
The footsteps approached and lastly, the door to their prison slammed open. Light flooded the room, illuminating their captors. “Hello, Ladies! Lovely day isn’t it?" a voice sneered and stepped forward, smiling in this ugly, twisted way. “It would be such a bummer if we couldn’t have a little fun on such a beautiful day, don’t you think, Ronnie?”
Ronnie chuckled in agreement.
Then everything happened way too fast. Hands grabbed Angela roughly, yanking her against the cage bars. Before she could even react, the ‘Boss’ pressed his lips against hers in a smug and disgusting kiss. She recoiled, her body tensing in fury—but she couldn’t move.
“No! Don’t you dare touch her!” Lucy shouted. She barely managed to scratch one of their arms before something hard struck her temple, sending her to the ground. “You just wait for your turn, dear. Don’t worry! You’re not going to be left out.”
Angela couldn’t hold back anymore, as soon as the guy let go of her, she jerked away from them and screamed: “You bastards! What do you even want from us?” “Oh, thank you Detective Lopez, that reminds me! Ronnie, please do me the honor and take them from her. She won’t be needing them anymore.” Lucy’s and Angelas eyes met, throwing each other a look of confusion, but also of silent comfort. What did they want?
Helplessly Angela watched as Ronnie opened up Lucy’s cage and moved closer to her. Lucy shrank away, but the chains kept her from going far. “Oh, don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you … yet” he laughed and ripped her cochlear implants off her head. “No!” Lucy and Angela screamed at the same time. “Give them back to her!” He wouldn't listen. Instead, he threw them onto the ground. And before anyone could say anything else, two shots rang out. Angela watched in horror as the implants shattered into utterly useless pieces.
She was furious. They just took Lucy’s hearing away, how could they! She turned to Lucy and saw the devastation written on her face. Ronnie slammed Lucy’s cage and moved to Angela's. She braced herself She didn’t know what to expect, she didn’t exactly have implants they could take away and destroy. She soon found out. Ronnie blindfolded her and tied her hands behind her back. Too tight. Unnecessarily tight! Not that she expected mercy. He yanked her to her feet, unlocking the chains from her ankles and then leading her struggling form out of the room. She could hear Lucy calling out for her, screaming at them to let me go, but they ignored her completely.
Then the door slammed shut.