Nothing to Write Home About: Bad Habit

I know I'm alone if I'm with or without you
But just being around offers me another form of relief
-- Rilo Kiley, Portions For Foxes

Blurry vision and a foggy memory were his only companions, as the gravely voice cratered into his brain, bringing with him sudden pain in every muscle in his body.

His first impulse was to jerk, but his heavy sluggish arms were bound, and as the realization processed, the senses came back, spiking into his brain with a burst of panic.

At first, he only noticed the girl in front of him. At least he thought it was a girl. Feminine features were nearly covered by scraggly black hair, and dark rimmed eyes narrowed at him with much more menace than he had seen in many women.

She spoke to him in English, mouth lilting up in a knowing smirk, and he didn't understand, not at first, until he tried to move again and tingles of electricity jolted up his arm, sleeping limbs waking, making their protest like stabs of knives in his flesh.

"I tell you, man," she told him, as he struggled through his pain, senses clarified and the discomfort of his blood trying to circulate grew sharper still. "You should have known better than to piss off the Kanes." His mouth was dry, his tongue nearly filled it, and it felt like cotton. He nearly choked on it, as he finally looked past his greeter and beheld three women, one in particular catching his attention with a gleam of a silver blade. "Still..." the girl continued, clucking her tongue. "I could have been down with that. Money, man. If you got the balls, go for it. But really... pissing off the Derevkos?" His heart jackknifed into his throat, the image of the woman standing among the others flashing forward, mimicking the photos he had seen. Sydney Bristow. Sydney Bristow.

"Oh, FUCK."

The girl hissed in supportively. "Yeah, man. Really should have known."

He was sweating now, his shirt clinging to him in a sheen, and he couldn’t swallow down his heart, unable to look away as the woman rose to her haunches and joined the rest.

"Any of you care to do the honors?" she asked.

Sydney Bristow had eyes that were cold as ice, and they glittered at him. He prayed she would not be the first. He PRAYED deeper and harder when she took a step forward.

"With a knife?" she murmured. "But that's just so cliché."

"I'm a fan of the classics," a taller woman said, and he glanced at her, really glanced at her, and it suddenly got much worse.

"The other one," he breathed. "Aye, muerde."

Marina Derevko studied him, his outburst casting her attention, and she smiled, cold and evil. "There's something I've been wanting to try," she announced, walking forward, even as he tried to inch back, tried hard to flex against the plastic ties that bit into his skin. "I saw it on a television show. You take needles and you insert them carefully up his fingernails- it looked very painful."

"Are you kidding?" the scraggly one asked. "That's so old school. No, look - I saw a wine bottle opener in the kitchen? With this corkscrew? Ten guesses to how many twists it takes to cut into his heart."

"Oh my God," Maggie breathed, every sentence flooding her stomach with more and more acid, making her nearly nauseous.

"How long have you been working?" Lena interrupted breezily. "It's done through the hands."

"Pardon?" Shane asked.

"Corkscrew. It's done through the hands."

"How Catholic," Marina observed.

Sydney sighed. "They would know about torture."

Beside her, Bianca was completely still. Maggie's fingers carefully unwove from hers, and her best friend barely noticed, too intent on the conversation.

It was quickly making Maggie sick.

Lena glanced over, and when Maggie's brow rose, she excused herself, heading in their direction.

"Of course, we could just say screw it - grab the wine bottle, and go right up his-"

"Oh my God," Maggie stuttered, turning away.

Lena was now directly in front of Bianca, eyes dark with concern. "It's all right," she began.

Oh, right.

"How can you say that?" Maggie hissed. "Do you have any idea who the hell you brought into this house? This is like Guess Who's Coming To Dinner but IN HELL!"

Lena rolled her eyes, huffed her bony shoulders, and spoke to her in the same damned condescending tone she had used for years. "Listen, Maggie -"

"Don't 'listen, Maggie' me," Maggie snapped, and when Bianca glared at them both, she grabbed hold of Lena's wrist, an automatic reaction. Years of fighting with Lena had led to an unspoken rule - no fighting in front of the apex of the triangle.

Lena followed her into the corner of the room willingly, and Maggie was almost glad for it. It made the talk harder to hear at least.

"I'm here to help Bianca," Lena said simply. "If you can't handle that-"

"I can HANDLE it," Maggie interrupted. "I'm not FIVE. But don’t you think the Witches of Eastwick are taking it a little far?"

"If it gets Miranda back, what does it matter?"

She had no idea what to say to that.

She was running out of kitchen implements to turn into potential torture objects.

Shane bit her lip, glancing over at the corner of her eye to the sweaty man breathing heavily.

"We can cool it," she said softly, just low enough for the two of them could hear. "Right now we could be talking about spaghetti and he'll be thinking we're trying to figure how to stuff dry stalks of it up his nose."

Sydney considered that, small grimace working her way onto her lips, rubbing tiredly at her neck. "Yeah, well, we can't just keep talking. I mean, Anna hired him. He's gonna be hard to crack. And we're wasting time." Shane's throat closed up, and she swallowed forcefully as Sydney once again picked up the gleaming knife.

"Sydney," Marina interrupted smoothly, and Shane felt a sudden release of tension in her chest. "Knives are my forte. I don't mind doing this."

Shane didn't know why it felt easier, more common, to allow Marina to break the skin. Marina wasn't any more evil than Sydney, but she had long ago embraced the darker aspect of their blood. Sydney was still trying to come to terms with it, and Shane had decided a while ago, she wasn't going to let Sydney go there.

There was too much light in Sydney to be eclipsed by the Darkside of Darth Derevko.

"Well, if we start cracking bones then we better get the two mommies out of here," she said, indicating with her head. "Syd, they'll listen to you."

"You guys..." Sydney sounded tired, and it caught her attention, as her partner rubbed at her forehead idly, like she had a headache. "You can't keep trying to protect me from this sort of thing."

"Come on, Syd-"

"You think I've never tortured anyone before? You think I've never wanted to?"

Shane winced at the glare thrown in her direction. More than once, she had interfered on behalf of Sydney's soul. One time, Sydney had nearly killed her for it.

It didn't mean she wasn't going to fucking stop trying.

"That's not the point," Shane said frankly. "That's not what we do. Marina's not an agent-"

"And Marina's not a killer."

"Who said anything about killing?" Marina said breezily.

In a room breathing with pain and desperation, Bianca felt it most of all.

It ached in her chest, took hold of her heart, and wrapped around it like fingers, squeezing so hard, so tightly, she could hardly breathe.

She took small pants, hand splayed over her chest, holding it inside of herself, as she took in the man sitting on the chair, small beads of sweat dripping down his frame, drenching his white shirt, plastering it to his body.

She hated him.

It was an odd emotion, but she buried herself in it, as she began to move, unnoticed by Maggie and Lena, who were still arguing in their corner, by Lena's spy friends, deep in their own heated conversation.

In that small room, only he saw her coming, a tall, whispy girl with murder in her dark eyes.

She stood directly in front of him, staring him down with cobalt orbs, taking in the pale face, drained of his color, the shifty eyes.

"I'm giving you once chance," she breathed. "I've murdered a man for the love of my daughter and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. So you get one chance. Where is my daughter?"

"My point is - this is a damned nursery!" Maggie snapped. "Don't you think we can invite murder and mayhem in another less special part of the house? Like? I don't know - the kitchen?"

"So now you're okay with the torture," Lena drawled evenly.

"I didn't say that-"

"Look, Maggie, they won't even touch him if they don't have to. It's all a game," Lena answered tiredly. "A game to simply frighten him into talking-"

And then he screamed.

The shrill voice sounded like a woman, and for one horrible second, when Sydney jerked her head in the direction of the noise, she had feared the worst: that somehow, he had gotten free, gotten to Bianca.

But the brunette standing over the vendor looked just as surprised as the rest of him, nearly jumping a full foot back, eyes wide with shock.

"What happened?" Sydney demanded, moving fast.

"I TELL!" he screeched. "I TELL!"

"Jesus," Shane breathed, palm lifting her bangs off her forehead. "What the hell did you do to him?"

"Nothing!" Bianca said. Sydney blinked, eyes narrowing with suspicion. The guy was openly blubbering now.

"I'LL TELL! I'LL TELL!"

Already, Bianca's protectors were at her side, one at each elbow, pulling her away from the hysterical man.

"Bianca," Maggie said, loud to be heard over his noise. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing!" Bianca insisted, as Sydney quickly scanned his body for any mark, any blood. "I just poked him and he freaked out!"

"In the eye?" Shane retorted.

Sydney was confused, but she was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Mouth set in a firm line, she eyed him, took in the wide orbs, the trembling mouth, the tears trickling down his skin, mixing with sweat.

"Whatever she did," she muttered, "He's talking."

"I'LL TELL!"

"Then TELL," Maggie snapped, "And stop telling us you're telling us."

"I was only to watch! I only to WATCH!" Snapping her palm forward, Sydney grabbed hold of his chin, jerking it upright to face her. He was too scared to try and jerk his way out of it.

"Calm down," she enunciated. "Now." It was an order, and he followed it, taking in huge, noisy breaths, rising against her hand. "Good. Now, speak."

"I was only supposed to watch," he said again, more slowly now. "She only told me to watch. Make sure she leaves tonight-"

"Who's she?" Sydney asked sharply. "Anna?"

He stared at her beseechingly. "Si."

Sydney took him in, studied the sincerity in his eyes, achingly aware of the women pressed in around her.

"Que quiere con Bianca?" she asked him swiftly, changing her language to match his.

"What's she saying?" Bianca breathed.

"She wants to know what they want with you," Marina translated softly. Sydney barely heard them.

"Esta noche," he began. "Esta noche -"

"The drop," Sydney said.

"Si. They said... she said..." He took in a heavy swallow. "They said they would kill her."

Shit.

A cold chill ran down Sydney's spine, and it made her close her eyes, take a moment to consider the worst.

"It's a hit," Shane breathed, body pressing against her side. "Fuck - it's a hit!'

Sydney didn't dare look at Bianca now. She kept her glare fixed on the man, even as her mind whirled with ten thousand questions, flit through her thoughts like a rolodex.

"Oh my God," she heard whispered behind her.

"Miranda?" Bianca began behind her, voice nearly shrill with desperate emotion. "What about Miranda?!"

Sydney's hold tightened, and she brought him closer still. "Why?" she bit.

"I don't know," he admitted, shaking in her grasp. "I don't know! They needed the baby!"

"Is Miranda alive!" Bianca breathed, nearly pushing Sydney aside in her earnestness.

"NO!" he stammered. "No! They needed her! They needed the Cambias baby - She won't kill her! I was only here to make sure you didn't call the police. She wanted to make it look like a regular kidnapping."

"WHY?"

Tears were running down his face, and Sydney held firm, knuckles going white in her grip of his collar. "I don't know! She didn't tell me that! All I was supposed to do was make sure Bianca went! They needed the Cambias baby."

"And they were going to kill Bianca to do it," Sydney breathed, eyes drifting close in her anger.

"Cambias," she heard behind her. "Miranda is NOT A CAMBIAS BABY." Eyes snapping open, Sydney turned, and discovered a nearly hysterical Bianca, dark eyes flashing with rage. "She's A KANE. You won't TOUCH her!"

"Get her out," Sydney said immediately, darting eyes from both Maggie and Lena. "Please. She can't hear this right now-"

They moved, but Bianca was stronger than the both of them, and she struggled hard, trying to get to the vendor.

"My baby is NOT A CAMBIAS!"

"Marina!"

Marina was already there, soothing now, wrapping a nimble arm under Bianca's flailing limbs to hug her around the waist, already moving fast, taking her with her.

It took the three of them to get Bianca out of the nursery, and when Bianca's cries drifted down to muffles, Sydney finally was able to think. Really think.

This wasn't a kidnapping. This was a job.

Anna had been hired to take the Cambias baby and off Bianca while she did it.

Oh, Christ.

She took in a struggling breath, glanced over at Shane, and found her wearing the same expression.

A well of anger suddenly flooded her, and with a snap of her wrist, she had Anna's flunky again by his collar.

"Listen to me," she breathed. " I can send you back to Anna in pieces or send to an American jail with just a bruise. You tell me what you want."

He blinked, dazed and confused. "I don't have a -"

She slammed her fist into his cheek, toppling him over with the force. He was out before he even hit the floor.

She rubbed at her stinging fist. "You do now."

"All right," Shane said, fingers closing over her forearm. "Save it. Syd. We need to talk."

"Let me go," she told her, in that dark, unreachable voice that Maggie recognized.

Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears, and Maggie was almost grateful that Bianca had nearly snapped, because it meant that she didn't have to. What they had heard made no sense, and it left her breathless and scared and angry.

But what it did to Bianca...

Her friend was shaken, furious. When Kendall wore it, Bianca called it her sister's 'untouchable' phase. It was a Kane trait, and Maggie didn't know what to do now, as Bianca literally shook with emotion, eyes glittering.

She whirled on Marina now, unafraid of the dark European. "So the drop is a fake? They're going to kill me if I go?"

"Bianca-"

"Shut up, Lena," Bianca snapped, eyes only for Marina. "How are we going to get Miranda back if the drop is a fake?"

Only Marina seemed unaffected by Bianca's menacing stare. She was calm, soothing, infuriating. "Bianca, you need to calm down."

"FUCK you."

The profanity coming from Bianca's mouth startled even Maggie, and it shook something inside of her, already had her moving.

Lena got there first, palms already on Bianca's shoulders. "Bianca-"

"Don't TOUCH me."

And Lena didn't. She backed off, and Maggie shook her head at the action, never faltering, grabbing hold of Bianca and jerking her down to her level. "BIANCA. STOP IT."

"Get out of my face, Maggie."

"NO!" She held her firm, struggling now. She had been on the receiving end of Bianca's temper before, she had gotten it worse than any non-Kane, and no matter what, she wouldn't back down. Not now. "STOP IT. You have to STOP BEING SELFISH."

"Maggie, I mean it, BACK off."

She didn't. She wouldn't.

"We're getting her back, Bianca. I don't care what it takes, we're getting her back! You have to LISTEN TO ME," she begged, palms on Bianca's face, trying hard to bring her back from her grief. "We'll get her back. I'll get her back-"

"And what can you do, Maggie?" Bianca spat. "In this you're as useless as I am."

She could have said anything else, and it wouldn't have broken Maggie as much as that did. Bianca's mean Kane streak only manifested in her extreme emotion, but for a second, as her chest exploded with pain and her mind went blank, Maggie saw Erica Kane in Bianca's face.

It was going too far, and the room agreed with her, sudden silence making it worse.

She dropped her arms, eyes suddenly stinging, and her head lowered, already turning from Bianca.

Until fingers caught her wrists, a death grip. "I'm sorry," Bianca said, tears staining her voice, already pulling her back. "I’m sorry, Maggie. I don't know- I love you so much. Please don't leave. Don't leave me, Maggie-"

Bianca was begging, and just the thought broke Maggie further. Without thinking she kissed Bianca's tears, burying Bianca in her embrace, feeling the warm, pliant body trembling against her.

"Shhh," she whispered, vision blurry, mouth pressing against the side of Bianca's neck, hot and sweaty, holding on so very tightly to the woman she loved. "It's okay, baby."

"I don't have anything if I don't have you," Bianca managed, and Maggie only held her tighter.

"I'm not leaving," she promised, "I told you years ago, Bianca. I won't ever leave you."

Bianca's face dug into her neck, she was sobbing. Slipping fingers through the dark strands of her best friend's mane, Maggie held her close, letting the moment exist, just for the two of them.

Marina had slipped her fingers into her palm, led her out the moment Bianca flung herself into Maggie's arms.

Whether Marina did it for the privacy of the grieving pair, or whether Marina did it in consideration to her own breaking heart, Lena didn't know. Either way, she was grateful.

They stood now, on opposite sides of the wall outside the room, and in the silence, Lena realized finally that she had been trembling.

Marina broke the quiet. " You didn't tell me it would be like this."

Glancing up, Lena was almost started at the sentence. She laughed bitterly, hands behind her, like a disciplined school girl. "I didn't know," she admitted. "I should have known..." Casting a glance toward the closed door, she took in a shaky breath. "Maggie was always the only one Bianca would really listen to. Her and her sister Kendall."

"She isn't afraid of her," Marina observed.

Lena shook her head in recrimination. "I did Bianca too many wrongs at the beginning of our relationship. Tried too hard to make up for those lies. And then came the rape..." her words shook, the memories suddenly vivid. "And even then, she didn't confide in me. Not before Maggie. She always told me I put her on a pedestal, and maybe she was right. Maybe I never knew her. She surprised me today."

Bianca's anger, so tangible, so real.

"Does that knowledge make you love her any less?"

Lena considered that, and smiled sadly. "No," she replied. "It makes me love her more."

Pushing off the wall, Marina came to her, and with a small, sympathetic smile, kissed her. Lena let her, opened her mouth against her lips, sweeping into Marina's with a languid tongue.

Marina broke the kiss, caressing her lower lip with her thumb, and when Lena smiled, she pulled her into a gentle hug.

Shane had long since sprawled into an available chair at the kitchen counter, picking at some lint on her jeans, idly popping grapes into her mouth.

"So?"

Sydney licked her lips, trying to regain the moisture, taking another sip from her bottle of water. "So it's not the first time I'd heard of a child being wanted for her blood." She glanced at Shane and held her look.

Her friend closed her eyes, shaking her head before blowing her breath out. "Whatever," she muttered. "My mother was a fucking diva and my dad was an ass. I didn't turn out like either of them."

"Yeah, but you're not a Derevko, a Kane, or a Cambias," Sydney muttered, tracing her thumb along the mouth of her bottle. She found a small ring of plastic keys, and toyed with them, hearing the dull clanks against the counter.

"Fuck," Shane drawled, shifting again, dropping her cheek against the counter, absorbed in thought. "So if we fit together the pieces..."

"Anna wants into those Cambias vaults," Sydney said methodically, hearing the clink of the keys as she shifted them, color by color. "She needs those Rambaldi relics."

"So if she needs that, then why take the kid?" Shane asked. "Why not just take Bianca? I can understand taking the kid if they want to scare Bianca into helping them get in there, but they were planning on fucking killing her off. Wouldn't they need her to get into the vault?"

"Not necessarily." Lifting her head, Sydney discovered Lena and Marina venturing into the kitchen. "Michael's vaults were very secure," Lena continued. "They were coded to him specifically. He wouldn't let anyone else get in. I doubt Bianca would even know how to get in if she tried. I'm sure they're tombs now."

"How do you know that?" Shane asked.

"I was Michael's whore," Lena answered, disgust dripping from her tone. "It was a very long time ago."

Sydney eyed her, and when Lena stared back at her easily, she only sighed, clinking the keys in her hand. It wasn't her business. At the very least, it was an asset. Marina pressed against the counter, taking a bottle of water Shane handed to her.

"Well, you're the resident thief," Shane told her, and Sydney arched an eyebrow, all eyes on Marina now as she deliberately took her time unscrewing the cap, bringing the water to her lips. "Let's pick your brain for a sec."

Marina took in another drink, saying nothing at first. Her eyelid fluttered in thought. "Lena," she said after a moment, "You said no one but Michael could get in?"

"Yes," Lena said, nodding. "He told me unless someone had a clone, they couldn't even try."

"So retinal scanners, finger prints..."

"Too easy," Sydney said numbly, still fingering the plastic keys. Clink. Clink. "If Michael were alive they could just pop out one of them or make a mold and you're in."

"But they wanted his kid for some reason, right?"

Already, Marina had something. Sydney could see it, in the darkness of her stair, the way her head tilted, just slightly. She sucked in her breath, and suddenly, Sydney rose slightly as Marina pulled out her cellphone, dialed.

All eyes on her, Marina only paid attention to Sydney, louder than normal. "Toni," she greeted, "Allo. What can you tell me about a DNA lock?"

"Fuck," Shane breathed, whirling to catch Sydney's gaze, "If that's what they're doing..."

"Even if we know what they want her for," Lena interrupted, "How will this help us get her back? We cannot afford to wait much longer."

"Our only lead is this drop," Shane confirmed. "We can't let Bianca near the place, she's going to get fucking killed."

"Nothing's changed," Sydney said, eyes on the plastic keys. Clink. Clink. "If this is a hit, Anna's not going to stop until Bianca's dead. And if this is about Rambaldi she's gonna want to do it herself. She's going to be there, and so are we."