Susan army crawled ahead of him, scraping her elbows and knees along the way. The sound of the door bursting open behind them reaching their ears. Trying not to cough, she follows the ceiling panels along what she believes to be the hallway.

William followed, trying to be quiet but still producing alarming creaks and cracks wherever he rested his weight.

   Susan stopped, bending to look back at him. She pointed to a panel that she was laying beside, and carefully raised the corner to peek down below. After a moment, she set it back down and looked at him to whisper, "Its a hallway. I didn't see anyone."

William lowers his head to try and see but can't get a good angle. "So, get out here, or go on?" he asked, refusing to contribute anything to this escape.

   "Go on." she continues on, the panels creaking beneath her. She comes to a stop a couple minutes later, freezing as the sound of thunderous footsteps tromped below them.

William freezes along with her, awkwardly resting his weight on his left elbow and knee. The ceiling crakes and gives slightly under his knee, but the resigned expression on his face doesn't change.

   Susan turned to look at him when the panel creaked. Her expression turned to one of horror as teh sharp end of a pole burst up through a panel beside him. Numerous other poles shot up to destory the panels. In a shower of thick dust, panel peices and rubble, both of them crashed to the hallway floor below, filthy.

William landed badly and reflexivly jerked around before realizing the hopelessness of the whole situation, and relaxing. No point in fighting anymore.

   Lurching to her bare feet, Susan bolted to try and slip between two Bouncers, only to get a pole slammed into her stomach. Weazing in pain, she dropped to one knee with a hand on the ground and the other on her belly. A Bouncer grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her up. Face scrunching in pain, she reached up to grab his hand, and kicked out with her legs, yelling curses.

William considered fighting, on the grounds that the Bouncers might accidentally kill him, but it had never happened before, so he just sighed and stayed floppy as they the tossed him around and manacled his hands behind his back.

   Susan fought hard, but came to the same end as William. Hands bound behind her back. But unlike William her ankles were connected with a chain a few inches long, allowing for her to walk. They were escorted down the winding hallways, where they were seperated. Two bouncers led William into one room, and then Susan into the one next door.

   She was sat down in a chair, secured to it, and then hooked up to electrodes. The room was well lit, and had nothing in it but her chair, and the machine beside her. Confused, Susan looked ahead and saw another one way mirror. To the room that William had gone into, but all she could see was her reflection.




   Taking William into the room, lights dim, they sat him before a desk after re-tying his hands infront of him. The desk faced the mirror, and he could see Susan in her own chair, alone. Two Bouncers stood in the back of the dark room, arms folded across their broad chests. A minute or so passed, before William's door opened, and Dr. Horrible came into the room, smling happily.

William exercised every iota of self-control he possessed, and kept his heart rate down and his face straight. They were going to hurt her, and he would have to watch. He would not show them anything. If he did they would only hurt her more. He didn't care, he told himself over and over. He didn't care.

   "Afternoon, W. Blake." Dr. Horrible said in greeting, clasping his abnomrally spindly fingers behind his back, "Having a good day?" he asked, moving on without waiting for the answer he knew wouldn't come, "Today we witnessed this subject, S. Black, as she manipulated you into joining her on her foolish excape attempt. I will be asking you a series of questions, and you must answer truthfully." he looked down at William, his eyes nearly wild with anticipation.

William stared straight ahead, face blank. He kept his eyes unfocused and concentrated on his breathing.

   "When the subject first made it possible for you to stand up, would you have if she had not told you to?" Dr. Horrible asks, pulling a remote with a dial out of his pocket.

"Yes," William answered dully, automatically reverting to his strategy of always answering yes to every question they asked him.

   Dr. Horrible smiled to himself, fully aware of W. Blake's patterns. He brushed his thumb over the dial, "To what end?"

William wasn't really listening anymore. He wouldn't give them any excuse to force him out of the mental fortress he had built against them. He had made it so they had stopped doing this sort of thing to him. He knew now that it was all just one of their tricks. Probably even as far back as the girl busting into his room. Susan, even if she didn't know it, was working for them. He didn't care. He didn't care about anything anymore, except dying as soon as possible. Eyes fixed on the wall just below the mirror, he answered, "Yes."

   Dr. Horrible turned the switch to the lowest setting.


   Susan's face suddenly blanched with pain. Her hands gripped the arms of the chairs with white knuckles, and her whole body stiffened. She didn't scream, but pressed her lips together to hold her breath. Her hair rose slightly as the electicity pulsed through her body. After a few seconds, she exhaled and slumped in the chair, panting.


   Dr. Horrible had been watching William, his smile gone.

William didn't even blink. He just sat and stared dully, woodenly waiting for the next question.

   "Do you feel anything when you see S. black in pain?" Dr. Horrible says, keeping his voice level and slow.

Blinking slowly, William thought about his answer even while his lips said, "Yes."
Did he? He was trying very hard not to feel anything right now, and thinking about it was cracking his wall. He stopped thinking about it.

   "Try to put that feeling into words as you watch her now." he droned, twisting the dial.

   Susan stiffened, her back arching as a painfilled scream pierced the air. She screamed until she ran out of air, to gasp in short bursts and bend over to hide her tortured expression. Twisted moans and gasps were heard, until Dr. Horrible turned the dial again. Susan gasped again, this time in relief as the pain stopped. She dropped her forehead onto her knee, moaning.

Even as Susan was screaming, William repeated, "Yes." He felt a hard lump in his throat. He tried to make it go away, telling himself that if he showed them anything, they would only hurt her worse. He had to stay broken. If he showed any sign of life, they would hurt him too. He knew they already would; he had gotten angry at Susan in the other lab. Perhaps he was paying for that now.
His expression stayed hollow, eyes empty, breathing tightly controlled. He had to be strong.

   Dr. Horrible watched William until the dial was turned off. He opened his mouth to ask another question, when Susan suddenly lifted her head to shout, "What is going on?!" she jerked in her chair, moving only an inch to the side.
   The Dr. slipped the remote back into his pocket to suddenly slam his hands down on William's desk, saying to him in a seething whisper, "But you know what is going on here? Don't you?"
   Through the mirror, Susan was trying to bend far enough over to rip the electrodes from her skin.