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Everything hurt. Everything hurt a lot. Elizabeth let out a low groan of pain, weakly putting a hand to her bleeding head, or at least, she tried to. She couldn’t move very well. She was handcuffed, arms in front of her and ankles handcuffed together as well. She was on her side on the floor, but… Everything was shifting, spinning, like either her head was damaged or she was in a moving vehicle.
Oh. Oh no.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened, starting to squirm on the ground, but to very little avail. The only light was that of her flame, she could hardly see anything, could hardly tell what was going on. She had enough context clues to be worried though.
She tried to think of what happened last, but her head hurt too much to think. Instead she got to trying to escape, hands gripping the chain between her wrists, trying to focus the flames in her blood into her hands-
Only to freeze.
The bandages on her arm were missing. Grotesque burnt skin stared back at her, mottled fingers that barely worked, almost melted together…
…
Why did they take her bandages? Was she really not allowed at least a little dignity? Were they that determined to make her feel awful on top of capturing her?
Truly, Justice was utterly cruel.
Elizabeth still tried to melt her bars, but it hurt far more than usual, the phantom pains more intense with the broken, melted skin exposed to the heat. She grit her teeth, but kept going. Kept trying to melt the metal, but- It wasn’t budging, it was getting hotter and hotter, glowing with heat, but it wasn’t melting. Why… Why wasn’t it-?
“It’s made of tungsten, dummy. You aren’t getting away this time.”
Elizabeth froze at the familiar voice. Grit her teeth even harder, flecks of glowing blue appearing in her irises at just how intense the feelings behind her ribcage grew at her presence.
She stepped into the light.
Harbinger Shiori.
“You’re a hard one to pin down, you know that?” Harbinger Shiori chuckled, crouching down to her level.
Elizabeth said nothing.
“Let me guess, you hurt yourself trying to melt that?” Harbinger Shiori tilted her head, reaching down and reaching for the burnt arm-
Elizabeth flinched back as if burned, teeth bared and the red of her eyes starting to bubble with the same glowing shade as her flame.
“Oooh, feisty. Quiet as always though. ‘You ever get tired of the silent treatment, tall dark and handsome?” Harbinger Shiori teased, reaching out again, this time for her face, running a thumb over the burn on her cheek. Elizabeth tried to shy away, but she didn’t have much room to work with.
“...Why…Did you take…Bandages…?” Elizabeth tried to ask, voice a weak warbled thing as her head continued to spin.
“So you wouldn’t try to melt your cuffs and hurt yourself, turns out that didn’t work, someone isn’t as smart as she thinks she is.” Harbinger Shiori continued to tease, as if this were a simple playful exchange. As if this were normal.
As if Elizabeth’s life wasn’t in incredible danger right now.
“...You won’t…Get away…With this…” Elizabeth tried to sit up, but she was held down by the hand on her face, though it trailed down the side of her neck, fingers trailing over the burn there, down her shoulder, tracing a toned bicep and earning a shudder, down…
Trailing over burnt skin, earning her bared teeth and a growl.
“Your friends are probably chasing us right now, probably to get you, but they won’t make it. We’re close to the portal to HQ. You’re alone.” Harbinger Shiori said firmly, grasping a burnt wrist and pulling the Advent leader closer.
“So how does it feel, to be alone?”
Elizabeth said nothing. Tried to squirm away from her beautiful captor, away from her usual touchy behavior. It was familiar, something that seemed to happen whenever they crossed paths. The flirting, the casual touches…
And of course-
“Maybe you’ll finally see reason after some time to think in The Cell, maybe enough to come back.”
-the bids to make her return to be a Harbinger once again.
“I… I would never work for those monsters, never again.” Elizabeth tried to say resolutely, but her voice trembled slightly.
“Eh, so you say, but I’m sure you’d change your tune if it meant you could help your little friends. Isn’t it kind of selfish to not try to get them out of trouble too?” Harbinger Shiori chuckled, her smile all sharp teeth.
“Aren’t you tired of running?”
…
“I will run as far and as fast as I can if it means my girls are safe. I don’t care what you do to me, what matters is that they're safe!” Elizabeth spat out defiantly.
“So selfless, and stupid. Nothing new there.” Harbinger Shiori sighed, fingers tracing meaningless shapes against the burnt skin, much to Elizabeth’s immense discomfort.
“Why are you always covering up your arm anyways? I can’t imagine you feel much in it anyways.” Harbinger Shiori commented, tracing where burnt skin created horrid streaks of melted flesh.
“...It’s grotesque. I don’t want to see it.” Elizabeth decided to answer honestly.
“Hm… I don’t see it that way at all. It’s just a part of you, nothing grotesque about that.” Harbinger Shiori shrugged, trailing her fingers up and down the arm, looking oddly unbothered by what had to be an awful texture against her own unblemished skin.
…
“Why are you being nice to me?” Elizabeth murmured.
Harbinger Shiori paused for a moment, as if thinking.
“...I dunno. I just don’t see any point in being mean to you. I mean, you’re handcuffed and on the floor of our van, it’s not like you can do anything to me. Besides, I don’t dislike you or anything. There’s a lot to admire about you, actually.” Harbinger Shiori shrugged, hand drifting back up to hold the redhead’s face.
“I really wish you weren’t so stubborn, I don’t like being enemies all that much.” Shiori spoke softly, something not so teasing in her voice. Something honest.
“..I-”
The van lurched.
The loud shrieking of tearing metal. Light.
In an instant they were ripped apart by a large tar-like hand reaching in through the new hole in the ceiling and pulling Elizabeth out.
“I GOT HER!” Gigi’s distorted voice called out. She had grown far larger, transformed into her more monstrous form. Elizabeth had half a mind to be worried about that, but then Gigi was racing away at top speed with the redhead in her grasp and that thought got dashed away.
Elizabeth could hear the Harbinger letting out an annoyed shout, could hear the shriek of tires spinning around to give chase, but it wouldn’t be any use, Gigi was far faster than a car in this form. So much so that they lost sight of the van in a matter of minutes.
Another capture attempt foiled, and far more questions about the Harbinger in her mind, the usual. If Elizabeth didn’t know any better, she’d say the Harbinger was fond of her.
…
Yeah, like that would ever happen.