Blackout: Thunderstruck

by Imperator

Introducing: Bobbi Dale, P.I.

Dr. Jonathan Smallwood's hands shook violently as he flipped through the pack of photos that arrived in an anonymous package. The photos showed pictures of his only daughter Bianca bound and gagged in a chair. The further Smallwood got into the stack of photos, the more clothes had been ripped off Bianca. The more vulgar pictures consisted of close-ups of Bianca's horrified face with various penises poking into her cheeks.

Smallwood began to cry as the thought of losing his daughter overwhelmed him. She was all that was left after a car accident had taken away his wife Madeline along with the use of his legs. Then, the phone rang.

Smallwood rolled over to the phone and picked it up. "H-H-Hello?" he stammered.

"Dr. Smallwood," a husky female voice answered, "I trust you received our package?"

"Y-Y-Yes," Smallwood sighed.

"Very good," the woman continued, "then I will get straight to the point. I am an agent of S.I.N., the Secret Infiltration Network. I'm sure you've heard of us. Despite the offensiveness of the pictures you received, Bianca has not been touched or harmed in any way. If you wish her to remain in that state, you will give us the original plans for Thor's Hammer."

Smallwood gasped. How could they have heard about that? Thor's Hammer was a top-secret project for the military that allowed someone to create and direct pinpoint lightning strikes anywhere in the world. It was a devastating weapon, and if an organization like S.I.N. got a hold of it...

"We will contact you again in a few hours to arrange the trade, Dr. Smallwood. I trust you realize there's no need to involve the authorities in this matter, nor should you attempt to draw up fake plans. We will have a scientist at the meet who will be able to identify a fake. Have I made myself clear?"

"I understand," Smallwood answered. "Can I please speak with Bianca?"

Smallwood only heard a click as the caller disconnected. A wave of hopelessness ran through him and he spent the next few minutes sobbing. What could he do? He was an invalid with no hope of stopping a group like S.I.N. on his own.

Suddenly, it hit him. He remembered reading an article a few weeks ago about a local detective who busted up a major leak at a large corporation. The mole was a S.I.N. operative, so this detective would probably know how to deal with them.

A quick Internet search brought up the article. Bobbi Dale was the detective's name. Smallwood paused on her picture. Bobbi was a tall, curvy blonde that could've passed for a Baywatch actress. Smallwood found it difficult to believe a woman who looked like that could be such a great detective. The article was legit, however, and Smallwood realized he had to put his prejudices aside in order to save Bianca. Smallwood flipped open the phonebook to look up her number. Hopefully, she could help.

Bobbi Dale was having her own problems at the moment. Against her better judgment, she had taken a "cheating spouse" job, and busted a dot-com millionaire cheating on his wife. Apparently, the divorce didn't go well, and the millionaire's wife walked away with a good chunk of the guy's fortune.

Said millionaire had burst into her office about twenty minutes ago, getting the jump on her. Bobbi was forced to strip down at gunpoint, then bound to her office chair and gagged. The geek then set up a webcam and was broadcasting her nude struggles to several BDSM web sites with her name prominently displayed on the feed. To say this was humiliating was like saying the ocean was a bit moist.

The rest of her staff was out of the office for at least another forty minutes, leaving Bobbi to try and free herself. It wasn't going to be easy, however. Her wrists had been tied together in front then pulled behind her head. A rope ran from her wrists down to the base of the chair, keeping her in a reclined position, giving the webcam's viewers a full view of her all-natural D-cups. Each of her legs had been tied to its corresponding chair leg, preventing her from crossing her legs, reinforcing she was a natural blonde. With her office at the back of the building, it'd be difficult for anyone to hear her screams even if the tape hadn't been affixed over her mouth.

The phone rang, and Bobbi's spirit jumped. She shifted the chair closer to her desk and with great effort, managed to hit the speakerphone button with her elbow.

"Ell ee!" she yelled through the gag.

"Um, Ms. Dale?" a voice asked.

"I ied uh ah ee ell!" Bobbi shouted.

"I'm having trouble understanding you, so I'll be brief," replied the caller. "My name is Dr. Jonathan Smallwood, and my daughter has been kidnapped by S.I.N. They want me to give them the plans for a terrible weapon. I can't go to the police, and I thought since you had experience with them in the past, you could help me out."

"I ee eh oh leez!"

"I'm sorry, but I didn't catch that."

"Ell ee!" screamed Bobbi.

"I'm afraid I can't understand a word you're saying," responded Smallwood, oblivious to the situation. "Could you move to a different line and try calling me back at 555-8972? It's of the utmost urgency."

"Oh ay..." replied a frustrated Bobbi. There was no use continuing this. This Dr. Smallwood had no clue she was in trouble, and if what he was saying was true, he had a good reason for being anxious. S.I.N. was big trouble, and despite her prior experience, she wasn't looking forward to crossing paths with them again.

"Thank you," answered Smallwood as he hung up.

Bobbi looked at her desk. The speakerphone was a separate unit from the actual telephone, which was (of course) at the other end of the desk, completely out of her reach. She looked over at the webcam which was conveniently equipped with motion sensors and had rotated in order to keep her in full view. She sighed and gave a few defiant, but otherwise ineffective, jerks on her bonds, resigning herself to wait until someone came back to work.

Smallwood checked his watch. It had been forty-five minutes since he'd hung up with Ms. Dale, and she hadn't called back yet. Even if she couldn't get to a working phone, Smallwood couldn't wait. He needed to have at least some sort of plan before S.I.N. called back.

Then it hit him. He had worked in the past with a scientist named Karamoto. Karamoto had been killed, but his daughter Mai had not only continued his research, but had used his creation to become the superheroine Blackout. It had to be worth a shot.

Smallwood dug out an old journal and found Karamoto's phone number. Taking a chance, he called it.

"Karamoto residence," a female voice answered.

"Miss Mai Karamoto, please," Smallwood asked.

"Speaking," she replied.

"Thank God," Smallwood gasped with a sigh of relief. "Miss Karamoto, My name is Dr. Jonathan Smallwood. I worked with your father on Project Polaris, and I am in desperate need of your help, or rather, the help of your alter ego."

"Go on," Mai responded with some hesitation. While her identity was more or less public knowledge, she didn't like the idea of her home phone being used as a hotline for people in trouble.

Smallwood quickly recapped the situation.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Mai empathized. "Yes, let me change into my costume, and I'll be right over."

Smallwood gushed thank-you's until Mai finally told him he needed to let her get ready and leave.

Smallwood hung up with the first inkling of hope he'd felt all day.

Kelsie and Pepper had come back from lunch (late, naturally) and freed Bobbi. Bobbi directed Pepper, her niece and expert computer hacker, to trace back the webcam signal so she could make everyone involved with her humiliation pay. She told Kelsie to pull all the information they had on S.I.N. Bobbi tried calling Smallwood back, but got a busy signal.

Hoping that Smallwood wasn't agreeing to some unfavorable terms for the exchange, she looked up Smallwood's lab and got in her car to meet with him personally.

Bobbi and Blackout arrived at the same time. Both were somewhat taken aback at first, but realized their combined talents could be useful in recovering Smallwood's daughter, keeping the plans out of S.I.N.'s possession, and maybe round up a few S.I.N. agents in the process.

S.I.N. called back and gave Smallwood the address of an abandoned warehouse where the exchange would take place. Smallwood explained that due to his immobility, he would be sending a courier in his place, giving them Bobbi's description. While not happy, S.I.N. accepted the terms, and reinforced the fact Bobbi should be coming alone, otherwise there would be a problem.

Blackout and Bobbi quickly ironed out the details. Blackout would go to the warehouse early and hide. Bobbi would take the plans and make the trade. Once Bobbi and Bianca were out of harm's way, Blackout would swoop in with the primary goal of recovering the plans and a secondary goal of capturing the S.I.N. agents.

Once all the details were set, Blackout flew off to the warehouse. Meanwhile, Bobbi took the plans and faxed copies of them to Pepper, just in case. The plan was simple enough, but she'd been in enough tight spots over the years to know that anything could happen.

Blackout arrived at the warehouse and seeing no cars parked nearby, decided to land. The entrance door was unlocked, and she walked in. There were no signs of anyone around, which was good. There was a walkway as a second floor with stacks of boxes at various intervals, and she decided that'd be the best place to hide.

S.I.N. would most likely arrive first and meet Bobbi as she walked in the entrance. Tactically, it'd be better if she were facing the entrance, that way, she could attack S.I.N. from behind and protect Bobbi if need be. She flew up to the walkway at the far side of the entrance.

Blackout walked around the various stacks, wondering where she'd have the best view of the exchange without being seen herself. What she didn't notice was the laser beam crossing her path, and as her foot broke the beam, hidden jets sprayed a cloud of sleeping gas around her. The fast-acting gas dropped Blackout before she could react while a silent alarm signaled S.I.N. that their warehouse had been compromised.

When Blackout came to, she found herself in a kneeling hogtie. To make matters worse, they had leaned her up against a support post and attached nipple clamps to her now-exposed breasts, the chain wrapped around the post, keeping her in place. She glanced around frantically and saw her staff lying just a few feet away. Normally, she could just call to it, but a large rag had been stuffed in her mouth and was held in place by several strips of tape.

Blackout tugged at the chain, but the clamps held firm, issuing a painful reinforcement of her captivity. She wondered how long she'd been out. Had she missed the exchange? Were Bobbi and Bianca okay? Did S.I.N. already have the plans?

Then she heard some low whispers below her. She wished they hadn't tied her up behind one of the stacks, because she had no idea what was going on.

Bobbi pulled up to the warehouse and checked her watch. Right on time, she thought. Hopefully, Blackout's in position, and this will all go as planned.

Taking great care to assess her surroundings, Bobbi walked up to the warehouse, holding the briefcase containing the plans tightly. She opened the door slowly and peered inside. Across the warehouse, she could see two figures standing, one was a man in a three-piece suit, the other was Bianca.

Bianca looked understandably terrified. She was cuffed hand and foot with a white cloth tied over her mouth. So much of her clothing had been torn at, she may as well have been standing there stark naked. Bobbi immediately felt sorry for her and hoped like hell this went smoothly, because this poor girl probably wouldn't be able to take much more of this.

Screwing up her courage, Bobbi strode confidently towards the man, letting her heels click loudly against the concrete floor. If nothing else, maybe I can distract this guy with my legs, she reasoned.

When she was about twenty feet from the man and Bianca, the enemy agent raised his hand and barked, "Stop right there."

"Why's that?" Bobbi asked playfully.

As if to answer her question, four more agents sprung from out of nowhere, each siezing one of Bobbi's limbs.

"What's going on here?!" Bobbi yelled. "I thought we were going to do this by the book!"

"We were, but you didn't come alone, did you, Ms. Dale?"

Bobbi turned towards the new voice and froze when she recognized Ursula Holter, a female S.I.N. agent she had encountered during the previous S.I.N. bust. Ursula's comment indicated they had nabbed Blackout as well, meaning Bobbi was pretty much screwed at this point.

"Ursula, you're looking well," Bobbi chided with mock bravado.

"No thanks to you," growled Ursula. "You left me bound, gagged, and naked in our hideout, then called the press before you called the police. No one gets away with humiliating me like that!"

"Oh, come on," replied Bobbi, frantically glancing around for any sign of Blackout, "you've got a great body. It would've been a shame not to show it off."

"Don't bother looking for your superhero friend," Ursula remarked. "She happened to walk right into one of our booby traps, which is a rather ironic statement considering the state she's in at the moment. Now, gentlemen, if you will..."

The men walked Bobbi back towards a support beam. Bobbi tried to struggle, but four men were just too many to try and fight off. As they went to work tying Bobbi to the beam, Ursula picked up the briefcase and walked it over to the man holding Bianca.

"Verify these for me, Prendergast," she ordered.

Prendergast started leafing through the documents inside, taking a few moments to study each diagram and notes. "They look legitimate," he finally said.

"Good," replied Ursula, turning back to Bobbi, who was now tied tightly to the post with enough rope to hold an Olympic weightlifter. "Now, Ms. Dale, as for you..."

"I don't suppose we can just let bygones be bygones," pleaded Bobbi.

"I think you talk too much," muttered Ursula, pulling a long white cloth out of her jacket pocket. One of the S.I.N. agents pinched the sides of Bobbi's mouth, forcing her jaw open. Ursula wedged the cloth in between Bobbi's teeth, and then pulled the ends around the back of the post, tying the knot so tightly Bobbi wondered if the sides of her mouth were being cut open.

"Much better," smiled Ursula. "As for 'bygones', in twenty minutes, several explosives scattered around the building will detonated making sure you are 'gone'. Bye!" Ursula waved her hand in a mocking gesture.

Bobbi's eyes widened in horror and she fought violently against the ropes to no avail.

Ursula just laughed. Turning to her cohorts, she barked, "Let's get out of here."

"What about the Smallwood girl?" asked Prendergast, pointing toward Bianca.

"Leave her," replied Ursula. "We've no use for her anymore."

Without another word, the S.I.N. agents exited the warehouse leaving Bobbi and Bianca wrestling furiously with their bindings.

Blackout heard the entire exchange, and Bobbi and Bianca's distressed cries told her she was their only chance for survival.

Okay, one chance, she thought. This is going to hurt like hell.

Blackout shifted her knees back and then braced herself mentally. She lurched backwards as hard as she could, using enough force and speed to release her nipples from the clamps. Not without incident, however, as the rough interior of the clamps raked her nipples as they slid out.

She doubled over for a few seconds as the pain nearly overwhelmed her. Realizing here was little to no time left, Blackout rolled over to her staff and used its cutting beam to free herself from the ropes. Blackout experienced pain once more as she tore the tape off her mouth.

Blackout flew down and cut Bobbi and Bianca free. Both women grabbed a hold of Blackout as she flew them out of the warehouse mere moments before it exploded.

Back at Smallwood's lab, Blackout and Bobbi were shouting and blaming each other for the plan going awry. Finally Bobbi stated she was going to get the plans back her way and stormed out.

As the door slammed behind Bobbi, Blackout turned to Smallwood. "Dr. Smallwood, I have an idea, but I'm going to need your help."

It had taken a few days, but Bobbi finally figured out Ursula's assumed identity and residence. She stood outside, listening intently at the doorway with her gun drawn. She took a deep breath to collect herself, then kicked in the door and burst inside.

Ursula had apparently just gotten out of the shower, as she was only wearing a blue terrycloth robe. Her damp hair hung straight down instead of being pulled back in its usual stern-looking bun.

"Dale!" Ursula seethed. "You're supposed to be dead!"

"And you're supposed to be in jail," answered Bobbi. "How did you get out so quickly, anyway?"

"S.I.N. is a very resourceful organization," grinned Ursula. "Apparently some evidence that proved my involvement got 'lost' and they couldn't convict me on anything."

"That figures," muttered Bobbi. "I don't suppose you're going to be a good girl and tell me where S.I.N.'s building the lightning machine?"

"Never!"

"I didn't really expect you to cooperate," sighed Bobbi, motioning with her gun. "Let's go into your office."

Maintaining a safe distance behind Ursula, Bobbi followed her into a small room with a computer. Bobbi motioned towards the chair and said, "Have a seat."

Ursula did as she was told. "If you're expecting me to give you the password to decrypt my files, you're crazy," she said defiantly.

"Nope, not at all," smiled Bobbi, who pulled a large roll of duct tape out of the small of her back where she had tucked it. "Now, put your hands behind your back."

Starting with Ursula's wrists, Bobbi wrapped the tape all up her arms, then across her torso and under the chair, finishing with her ankles. Bobbi ripped off two final strips of tape. "Last chance to cooperate," she offered.

"Never! There's nothing you can do to... Mmmph!"

Bobbi had heard enough at this point and affixed the two strips over Ursula's mouth. "That's better," she replied smugly.

Although Bobbi couldn't really understand Ursula's muffled expressions, she was pretty sure they weren't suitable in church or around children.

Looking at the computer, Bobbi pulled out a USB key drive and stuck it in an open port. She then opened her cell phone and speed-dialed the office. "Pepper, I need you to crack a system for me. Yes, the USB drive's already mounted. The IP is... 64.233.183.103."

To Ursula's amazement, several screens opened, and not even a minute later, her encrypted files were wide open and on-screen.

"Thanks, Pepper. You're the best, as always." Bobbi clicked her phone shut and started clicking through the various files until she found the address she was looking for.

After writing down the address, she turned to Ursula. "Since you gave me a sporting chance, I'll give you one, too. In twenty minutes I'm going to call the cops and give them your location. Of course, the way I taped you up, I could probably give you twenty days. Oh well, catch ya later!"

As Bobbi strode out of the room, Ursula pressed the jewels on her ring in a specific order. A small razor blade popped out of the side, and Ursula began cutting her way to freedom.

Oh yes, Bobbi Dale, I will catch you later, and when I do... All sorts of evil thoughts ran through Ursula's mind.

The signal on Blackout's staff finally lit up. Working with Smallwood, the two of them devised a tracker that identified a specific set of energy waves emitted by Thor's Hammer. Really, the only problem was that the waves were undetectable until the machine was nearly completed.

Quickly, Blackout followed the signal until she was directly over the lab. All she had to do now was find a way inside...

BRRRRRZZZZZZAAAAPPP!!!!

The lightning blast had come out of nowhere. If Blackout hadn't raised her force field at the last second, she'd have been a charcoal briquette by now. As it was, the force of the bolt was strong enough to leech through and deliver a knockout blow, and Blackout fell to the ground with an unceremonious thud.

Moments later, some doors at the side of the building opened and some S.I.N. agents walked out. They picked up Blackout and carried her limp form inside.

"Holy crap," gasped Bobbi, lowering her binoculars. She had intended to do some recon on the lab before trying to enter it and witnessed the power S.I.N. now had at their disposal.

I'm going to need some help on this one, she thought, taking out her phone.

"Pepper, I'm going to need you once more on this case. Thor's Hammer is active, and I need a way to shut it down, preferably for good."

"Yes, I have my laptop with me..."

Blackout's ears were still ringing as she came to. The sharp pain in her wrists caused her to look upward where she found her hands cuffed around an overhead pipe. Blackout tugged at the pipe, but it held firm. She muttered a curse, but the thick cloth tied around her head kept it from being heard by anyone else.

She was in a large room dominated by a computer console the size of a small tank. Scientists were scrambling around verifying readouts and other data.

That has to be Thor's Hammer, she thought.

"Ah, you're awake."

Blackout turned towards the voice. A man in his mid-forties wearing a three-piece suit stood in front of her holding her staff.

"We'd like to thank you for providing the perfect test of Thor's Hammer," the man continued. "While we aren't sure of your staff's full capabilities, we feel that if twenty-five percent power is sufficient to penetrate your force field, full power should be more than enough for our needs."

"Oo eh-er ed a-ay iv iz," Blackout stated defiantly.

The man laughed. "I'm quite sure we will. Between the cuffs and the gag, there's no way you'll be using this toy to stop us. However, once we've completed our first real test with Thor's Hammer, you and I will have a 'conference' with one of our torture specialists, and you can tell me exactly how this staff of yours works."

Blackout shuddered. S.I.N. torturers were known worldwide as some of the most sadistic in existence. Rumor had it Imperator used their manual whenever he was low on ideas.

"I must be getting back," the man sighed. "We're nearly ready, and I'm sure you want to devote one hundred percent of your attention to this."

The man turned and walked away, leaving Blackout helplessly tugging at her cuffs.

Bobbi finished disheveling herself and unbuttoned the top two buttons on her blouse. Gathering her wits, she ran screaming towards the guard outside the door.

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to stop," the guard ordered.

Ignoring his warning, Bobbi ran right up to him and collapsed into his chest, pressing her bosom firmly against him. She leaned her head back, and when the guard looked down, he got an amazing view of Bobbi's impressive cleavage.

Using the momentary distraction, Bobbi quickly shot her knee up into the guard's groin, and if that didn't knock him out, a well-placed chop under his jaw made certain.

"Who needs brawn when you've got these?" Bobbi said quietly as she readjusted herself.

Bobbi activated her now-reprogrammed cell phone, took the guard's keycard, and let herself inside the lab. All she needed to do was get within fifteen to twenty feet of Thor's Hammer, and Pepper would be able to disable it remotely using her phone's wireless capabilities.

She ducked around corners and slowly weaved her way through the lab, managing to avoid discovery. Her luck ran out, however, when she rounded a corner and slammed right into another woman — a woman named Ursula Holter.

"You!" both women exclaimed.

Bobbi reached for her gun, but Ursula's combat training gave her the speed advantage, and she slapped Bobbi's gun away. Ursula spun Bobbi around and handcuffed both of her wrists behind her back in the blink of an eye.

"Whoah! Learned some new moves lately, did you?" Bobbi asked, tugging at the cuffs.

"I've been taught these moves since I was twelve years old," boasted Ursula. "You've just never given me the opportunity to show them off until now. Let's go. I'm sure Director Laine will enjoy meeting you."

Not the way I would've liked to do this, thought Bobbi, but if I'm lucky, this "Director Laine" will be near Thor's Hammer, and Pepper can deactivate it. The difficult part will be escaping from these goons.

Ursula marched Bobbi through several hallways before finally entering a huge room. By the number of people in the lab and the overall atmosphere, Bobbi assumed this had to be the lab containing Thor's Hammer. Out of the corner of her eye, Bobbi caught sight of a struggling Blackout chained to a pipe.

At least she's still alive, thought Bobbi. Now if we can just walk out of here that way...

Stopping behind a middle-aged man holding Blackout's staff, Ursula asked, "Director Laine?"

The man turned. "Ursula. This is a surprise." Recognizing Bobbi, he continued, "Ah, and I see you've brought the lovely Ms. Dale with you. Any particular reason why?"

"I caught her snooping around out in the hallway," reported Ursula, "so I captured her and brought her to you."

"Why would you do that?" asked Laine.

Ursula looked confused. "I'm not sure I understand your question."

Laine looked over Ursula and Bobbi and snapped his fingers, pointing at both women. Immediately, they were both grabbed by two men each, while two more jumped beside Laine with their weapons drawn.

"What I mean," growled Laine, "is why would you dare show your face around here again? How exactly did Ms. Dale find this lab in the first place?"

A wave of realization rode down Ursula's face. "She... hacked my computer."

"And why was she able to hack your computer?"

"Because she surprised and subdued me."

"Because..?" prompted Laine.

Ursula hung her head. "Because she and Blackout both escaped the warehouse bomb."

"In other words," continued Laine, "you screwed up three times in a row. Instead of simply dragging her out in the street and shooting her, you relied on a poorly thought-out 'death trap' and potentially led not only her, but also the authorities, to this site."

"Ha-ha!" gloated Bobbi.

"Oh, shut up!" cursed Ursula.

"Both of you be quiet!" ordered Laine. "If we weren't ready to conduct the first true test, I'd shoot you both myself, but you'll have to wait a few minutes. Gentlemen, take them over next to Blackout. Gag them, too. I've no desire to listen to their bickering."

Ursula and Bobbi were led over to the back of the lab where they were cuffed and gagged in a similar fashion as Blackout. Bobbi hoped Pepper managed to hack into Thor's Hammer and disable it.

The technicians completed their final checks and told Laine they were ready.

"Target the Sears Tower," ordered Laine. "This time of day, it should be full of people toiling away at their jobs. We're going to make 9/11 look like nothing!"

Suddenly, the main screen went blank. After a few seconds, the readout switched to a game of Dig Dug.

"What's going on?" barked Laine.

Bobbi smiled. This was obviously Pepper's work. Now, all that was left was to get free.

As the game continued to play, Dig Dug was killed by a Fygar. The words "Game Over" appeared on the screen. Without warning, a circuit blew, sending a shower of sparks throughout the lab.

All hell broke loose as more small explosions rocked the building. Scientists and technicians were running everywhere trying to escape. Even the usually-cool Director Laine was starting to panic. Several small fires broke out.

No time to lose, thought Bobbi as she grabbed the pipe. Kicking off her heels, she hoisted herself up and used her toes to pull down Blackout's gag.

"Staff, to my hand!" yelled Blackout.

The staff flew out of the chaos into Blackout's hand. A laser cut through all three handcuff chains, freeing them.

"Grab hold of me!" shouted Blackout. Ursula and Bobbi hugged Blackout around the waist, and Blackout flew them out of the burning lab into the open air.

Once outside, they saw Pepper had also taken it upon herself to alert the military, as several groups of soldiers were rounding up and arresting the S.I.N. agents as they escaped the inferno.

Blackout landed them a couple hundred feet behind the action. Bobbi turned to Ursula and said, "Looks like we just saved your life. I guess this makes us even, then."

Aghast, Ursula screamed, "Even?! Even?! S.I.N. was my life! Not only did you disgrace me completely in their eyes, but you may have been responsible for shutting them down completely! All I know is spying! What am I supposed to do now?"

"Do you know how to file?" Bobbi replied sarcastically. "Because I've got a lot of backlog at the office, and I could use some help on a temporary basis."

Ursula grunted in disgust and stormed away. Blackout started to go after her, but Bobbi raised an arm to stop her.

"Let her go," assured Bobbi. "She really doesn't have anywhere else to turn. Chances are, she'll either turn state's evidence or get herself arrested for doing something stupid. Besides, Smallwood's daughter is safe and S.I.N. no longer has a WMD. That's all we were hired to do, and I think that's enough for today."

Blackout shrugged. "If you say so. I guess we're not such a bad team after all."

"Nope, not half-bad," agreed Bobbi. "Now, let's see if the Boys in Green need anything from us."

Both women began walking towards the action, satisfied with the day's results.

Epilogue

Bobbi woke up with such a splitting headache it took her a few seconds to realize she couldn't move. Someone must have shown up while she was sleeping, stripped her down completely, and tied her in an extremely tight spread-eagle. A too-large ballgag not only silenced her cries for help, but made her jaw throb from the tension. Glancing around the room, she saw a bottle of chloroform and a rag sitting on her nightstand. That explained the headache. She then noticed a message written on the far wall in lipstick:

NOW we're even!
-U-

Bobbi had to smile a little bit. Like it or not, Ursula was probably right. Bobbi had screwed her over good. Now, if she could just get herself free...

The End