A Valiantremnant original
Pre story notes: No, this is not a James Bond story, although it is sort of a spy novel. In the aspect that there is a spy in it. Lemme back up. We all know the 80s spy movie formula, roguish spy, man of action, total ladies' man, punches the bad guy in the face, disables the world destroying laser, and saves the girl the bad guy captured, and escapes the evil island on a helicopter with explosions in the background, and then title screen with a lot of brass and bass in the theme song. You know the type. Well, this idea got crossed with a few other ideas I had been mixing around and around in my head. Now, I'm not going to be writing the spy aspect of this as such. Not really what I wanted anyway. What those movies and shows never focus on is the captured woman, the damsel in distress, placed in a horrifying trap, forcing the hero to choose between saving the world and saving her. So I decided to have fun there. And yes, the shoes are based off of Hannibal Chau's shoes. This is also the longest story I've written in one piece so far, so enjoy!
CW/Ingredients List - General peril, laboring and giving birth while restrained, kidnapping, birth denial, (attempted,) and to top it all off, this is going to be campy. Like really cliched and over the top. So expect campy over the top bond villain violence and stuff.
Hadley James woke up slowly. Her head hurt, and she could feel part of her head pounding harder than the rest of it. She remembered… Hadley remembered returning home from work, her last day as the main weapon technician at GSS, or Global Spy Service. She remembered getting to her apartment… Hadley jerked and tried to sit up, only to feel a rope bite hard into her shoulder, making her cry out.
"She's awake, Hacklin," A thin, high voice commented somewhere behind her.
"Who cares," A deeper voice responded, "She's hooded, and we're almost there. And besides, She's maybe five foot nothing? Even pregnant, she don't have enough weight to do anything."
"I don't know," The first voice said, "I should put her back under."
"No you ain't. I know you can't fight anything but a scared child you twiggy halfwit, but she ain't gonna put up a fight worth fighting, and the boss will want to get her secured as fast as possible. And he can't do that if she's unconscious."
"I don't know," The first speaker said again.
"You don't know nothin'" The second voice grunted, "Now shut up. We're here."
A loud hum that Hadley had barely been aware of began to lower in pitch until it became a churning rumble, and the motion that she had assumed was her head spinning had changed. Hadley had never wanted to be a field agent, but she had been involved with setting up the in house tests for field agents. And dating one of them, against all regulations, had meant that she picked up on a few tricks. Not in escaping or fighting, but at least in identifying her surroundings. She could hear waves crashing. Between that, the motion and the humming, which was definitely an engine meant a boat. Something that could move fast. And based on the rocking, something somewhat small. She cracked open her eyes and winced as bright lances of sunshine bored through the weave holes in a burlap sack that had been fixed over her head. Running her tongue over her mouth, she could tell she wasn't gagged or anything like that. Moving her arms slowly, she could tell that she was on a sort of padded bench, facing the backrest. She winced as her bare arm brushed against the sun baked vinyl, burning her slightly.
"Where are you taking me?" She asked, hating how her voice wavered as she did.
She knew she should have waited, but the uncertainty was scaring her too much to think clearly anymore.
"Shut it," The thin voiced speaker said, and Hadley gasped in pain as she felt a hard jab into her back.
"Garrin!" The second speaker said, "Knock it off."
Hadley didn't dare say anything else.
The motor sound changed again, this time echoing and reverberating, and Hadley sighed in relief as the sun was blocked out by something. Now she could hear the waves slapping against rock. The boat slowed more and more until the motor cut out completely and she could hear other voices overlapping in the echoing environment. The boat lurched as it bumped up against something, and Hadley squeaked in alarm as she nearly fell off of the bench seat. She flexed and braced herself as well as she could, just barely staying in place. Hadley gasped and reached for her belly, both hands moving, bound together as she felt the baby kicking and squirming. The flurry of motion filled her with relief. She hadn't felt the baby move since she'd woken up.
"Let's go," The deeper voice said, and she felt a huge set of hands picking her up, and slinging her over a shoulder.
Hadley groaned and squirmed as her full body weight was put on her belly, the baby kicking in protest at the pressure put on it.
"Ah, OW! Please! The baby! That hurts!"
"I said shut it," The thin voice said.
Hadley gasped as the one who was carrying her spun around and held stock still.
"Garrin, I don't want you to speak until the boss talks to you."
"But-"
"SHUT IT!"
Hadley whimpered, trembling as she felt herself adjusted, and while still carried and uncomfortable from the ropes, at least she could breathe.
She tried to tell what direction she was being taken in, but her still aching head was not up to the task. Soon, she heard a set of doors open and she was set down. Hadley gasped and wobbled, surprised to find that her legs were not bound. The big hands guided her forward, her bare feet slapping against a stone floor. After only a few paces, she was sat down in a chair, and she flinched as the hood was ripped off of her head.
"Ow!" She yelped as the dried blood from the side of her head had partially glued the hood to her face.
She reached her hands up to massage the wound, looking around her. She seemed to be on a sort of outdoor dining area, sitting at a table. She had a view of a massive, brightly colored house set into a cliff, overlooking a deep blue lagoon, waves crashing over white sand beaches. It was the sort of place she might have been to on a fancy date with Marks, the baby's father.
As she looked around, she heard the clack of footsteps and froze. Not just a clack. It was the hard sharp sound of dress shoes, followed by a metallic jingle. Another clacking jingle. And another.
"Oh my," A voice, low and well controlled, but with a rough burr to it said calmly off to the side, "What have we here."
Hadley was too afraid to look, and flinched again, trying to get away as a gentle touch brushed the wound on her head.
"My instructions were to bring her without harming her," The voice said, more clacking and jingling as the speaker moved, "Were they not?"
"Yeah boss," The deeper voice said, "They were."
"Would you care to explain to me the injury on her head, and the welts on her back?"
"Well boss," Garrin piped up, "She was pretty feisty when I went to nab her, so I had to-"
Hadley screamed as she heard a violent sounding blow, accompanied by Garrin's screech as he was struck somewhere behind her.
"I imagine you struck her in the head with a pistol," The calm voice said, "And as for the welts? Hacklin?"
"Uh, Garrin kicked her in the back to shut her up as we were driving boss."
"Did you now," The calm voice said, and she could hear Garrin whimpering, "And you felt that this was necessary to subdue a petite pregnant woman who you were supposed to take by surprise?"
"I couldn't use the stun gun, you said not to!"
"I also said not to harm her," The calm voice said, now sounding less calm.
"Oh no, no no no no, please boss, PLEASE!"
Hadley jerked as she watched someone carrying a thin balding man with little effort to the edge of the patio. Garrin was set down, right at the edge of the patio.
"Now, I want you to look out there."
"Please boss, please don't, please don't shoot me in the head."
"Why would I do that. You didn't shoot Ms. James, now did you?"
"N-n-no boss."
"Then I won't shoot you. Now turn and look out there.
Garrin, trembling, turned and looked out.
Hadley screamed as the man who carried him there lifted a leg and planted a hard kick to Garrin's back, sending him over the edge, screaming until a hard, meaty smack was heard, silencing the scream.
"Hacklin? Have someone clean that up, and have lunch brought up."
"Right away boss."
Hadley turned and her eyes widened. Hacklin was huge, easily over six and a half feet tall if not seven, and built like a linebacker. He pulled out a radio and began speaking into it.
"I apologize for the rudeness you experienced Ms. James," The other, once again calm voice said, getting closer, "But my men had orders, and one of them violated those orders. Are you hurt badly."
"What do you want from me?" Hadley asked, trembling so bad her chest hurt.
"We will get to that," The man said, sitting down across from the table Hadley was at, and leaning forward to examine Hadley's head wound, "I asked if you are hurt?"
"A little," Hadley admitted.
"Hacklin, have the medic arrive too. We might as well get that part done as well."
"Medic?"
"All in good time," The man said, leaning back.
"You know who I am?" The man asked, and Hadley nodded.
"The Dragonfish," Hadley said, "Why am I here?"
The Dragonfish head up a hand, "All in good time. I simply felt I had the advantage on you, and I wanted you to know who's company you are in. Now, I understand you were taken before you had chance to eat, so you must be famished. I've taken the liberty of having a lunch prepared. Ah, here we are!"
Hadley turned to see a white suited man in a chef's hat bringing a cart with covered trays.
"I normally eat fresh caught seafood, but I understand that you are to avoid that during pregnancy," The Dragonfish said as the trays were removed from the cart and placed in front of herself and the Dragonfish, "So I had the liberty of having something else prepared."
The lids were removed, exposing steaming chicken on a lettuce leaf. Hadley's mouth began watering despite herself. Her appetite hadn't been very active the last couple of weeks, with the baby taking up all the available room and all, but missing dinner, breakfast and now presented with this lunch?
"Your hands please," The Dragonfish said, gesturing to Hadley's still bound wrists.
She gingerly lifted them forward and whimpered as the chef took out a large knife and nearly split the ropes.
"Feel free, dig in," The Dragonfish said as he began neatly cutting bits off of his own chicken.
Hadley didn't waste time with that. Urged on by hunger, she used her fork to simply rip bits of bird off and eat them. The Dragonfish watched with some amusement as Hadley ate until she felt gorged.
"Now that lunch is out of the way, let's see to your wounds, and we'll address why you're here. Hacklin?"
Hadley heard the giant of a man lumbering forward and she yelped and struggled as she felt her arms pressed to the chair and tied down, one at a time.
"Let go! What are you doing to me?" Hadley cried out, "Let me go!"
"I'm afraid that isn't possible," The Dragonfish replied, "I have great need of you, and I need to ensure that you are healthy enough for it."
The medic who came in was professional and quick, cleaning the wound on her head and rubbing a sort of paste on it. He then took her blood pressure, a blood sample and asked her questions that she would have told her regular doctor, but this stranger?
"Weight?"
"Go to hell," Hadley said, feeling a little bit of fire now that her head wasn't hurting as badly.
"Miss, I need that information."
"Hacklin?" The dragonfish prompted.
Hadley screamed as the chair was lifted off of the ground and hefted a few times. She was panting and trembling as the chair was set back down, and Hacklin picked up another, empty chair.
"About one forty, maybe one forty five," Hacklin declared.
"Will that suffice?" The dragonfish asked the medic.
The medic nodded, "It'll be close enough. I'll err on the side of caution, but the wider tube will be more uncomfortable."
"That would appear to be Hadley's choice. Go make the preparations."
The medic collected his tools and left.
"Now, as to why you're here. I'm working on a little project, but I need something I cannot get on my own. The recently recovered Soviet Comm unit brought back to your GSS by a certain Agent Marks. Ironic, isn't it? Marks, Marx. Now, I know that you and Agent Marks are…"
The dragonfish gestured to Hadley's belly, prompting her to try to curl around the swell.
"…Entangled. And that using you as leverage, he'll do exactly what I want."
"He won't steal the comm unit for you," Hadley snarled, "He'd never."
"Not even to save you?"
"He'll come for me," Hadley bit back.
"Not fast enough he won't. Hacklin, are the preparations done?"
"They will be by the time we get down there boss."
"Well then, by all means."
Hacklin carried Hadley down, chair and all to an outdoor dock Hadley was sweating, even though she hadn't climbed down the hundreds of steps to the beachfront from the patio. She whimpered in fear as she was a pair of men scrubbing what was left of Garrin off of the stone at the bottom. Hacklin set her on the deck of a pontoon boat and began attaching a set of heavy cuffs to her ankles. She tried to lash out, but she was still wearing the dress she had been going wear to her date last night. Ankle length and tight, with one long sleeve and her other arm bare, her legs were already pinned close enough together that Hacklin didn't need to work too hard to chain both of her ankles together. As he did that, the Dragonfish pulled out a phone and began setting up a video call. Hadley's eye widened as she realized he was using her phone.
"You know he can track that, right?" Hadley almost said out loud, before realizing that saying that would ruin her chances of rescue.
The Dragonfish waited until Hacklin had untied Hadley's arms from the chair and put her in handcuffs behind her back before unlocking the phone that GSS's technicians had assured her was uncrackable, and opened the messenger app, starting a video call, leaving the camera off.
"Hadley? Thank god, I was so worried. You haven't called, texted or anything! Where are you, are you alright?"
"JAS-" Hadley shouted before Hacklin placed one of his hands over her mouth.
"Hadley is fine Agent Marks," The Dragonfish said calmly, "As long as you do what I say. I can see that you are in a car. Are you alone?"
"I want to talk to Hadley!"
"Not how this works," The Dragonfish said, his calm voice shifting to let a bit of steel through, "Are you alone?"
"I… I'm alone."
"Good."
The Dragonfish turned on the phone camera, and panned it over Hadley.
"As you can see, your lovely friend, the mother of your child is just fine. And she will remain so as long as you do what I say."
"What do you want?"
"Right to the point. Alright. The Soviet comm device? The one that connects to the supposedly decommissioned nuclear satellites? I want it. And I want the real thing too, not some phony, or a replica, or even the more modern replacement. I want the original."
"You want a glorified cellphone from the 80s?"
"Don't insult my intelligence. You and I both know that there's more to that 'cellphone from the 80s' than that. Why else would it be guarded?"
"I don't-"
"And before you say anything about how you don't have clearance to take it, find a way. Because you don't have time to save Hadley. I figure with your resources, you can get to me inside an hour. To be fair, you can get to most anywhere in the world inside of an hour. Do you know how long it takes someone to drown?"
The Dragonfish snapped his fingers. Hadley whipped her head around to see Hacklin picking up a chunk of concrete the size of a dishwasher with a chain coming out of it. A chain that was connected to…
"JASPER!" Hadley screamed, before the block was tossed over the side of the boat.
She desperately sucked in a breath the moment her body went airborne, pulled like a ragdoll over the side of the boat and into the clear blue water.
"HADLEY!" Agent Jasper Marks screamed on the phone, his eyes swimming with tears.
"Relax," The Dragonfish said in that damn calm tone he always used, "Just watch."
The feed changed and Jasper watched as the feed changed to a camera held by a diver. The diver swam forward to a plume of dust, the block of cement. Swimming closer, the diver found Hadley and shoved a clear tube into her mouth, a tube that went up to the surface, shown as the camera panned up. The diver gave a thumbs up after he fixed the tube in place with a mask that made Hadley look like a snorkeling Hannibal Lector and the feed jumped back to the Dragonfish, now standing on the pier instead of his boat.
"As you can see, Hadley is alive, but not safe. The end of her breathing tube is right here next to me. If you do not do as I ask, all I have to do is plug the tube. Or pour water down it. It depends on how upset I get with you."
"You bastard."
"Careful," The Dragonfish said, resting one hand delicately on the tube, "Aggravating me right now might not be wise. I'm sure Hadley would agree."
"Let her go you sick son of a-"
"Perhaps a demonstration?"
The Dragonfish dropped his hand.
Hadley struggled desperately against her chains, both the ones on her wrists and the ones on her ankles. She had thought she was going to drown instantly because of what the Dragonfish had said, right up until a dive had appeared. At first, she thought it was a GSS agent, he was using some of their gear, but upon closer inspection, it had been defaced, and was older, so probably stolen or lost. The diver had roughly shoved a tube into her mouth, shoving it so far back she nearly gagged. Then he had wrapped a mask around her, which pinned the tube in place, and then shoved two plugs into her nose. Hadley coughed and gagged into the tube, unable to do more than make guttural moans with her mouth immobilized around the tube which let her breathe. It was hard, the pressure from the water trying to squeeze her from every direction. She could feel the baby kicking and squirming in her belly as she thrashed, trying to get loose, her lower back aching from the sudden drop to the bottom of the lagoon. Once the block had dropped down and she had begun stabilizing, she realized that she was floating upward, drifting maybe three feet away from the block, as far as the chain would allow. Her dress clung to her, somehow making the pressure of the water feel worse. As Hadley struggled, she felt a pop of pressure in the tube, and her eyes widened as she realized there was no more airflow. She desperately sucked against it, gagging as the action pulled the tube just far enough to trigger the reflex. She thrashed, her eyes pounding with her pulse, her heartbeat going erratic as she struggled, struggled to get free, to find air, to find… light…
"JESUS, ALRIGHT! STOP!" Jasper bellowed at the phone, watching the feed of Hadley on the bottom of the lagoon, struggling and writhing in the dress she had chosen for their date last night. The half cape drifted around her, occasionally hiding her face from the camera, but he could see the sheer terror on her face as her struggling grew weaker and weaker, until she went limp, drifting against the chain.
"Oh god, Hadley," Jasper whispered, feeling his heart surge in relief as she suddenly spasmed, jerking back awake, looking confused, panicked, but alive.
The feed cut back to the Dragonfish.
"Now, do I have your undivided, and more polite attention?"
"Yes, yes, for god's sake, just don't hurt her."
"Good. Now, I'm certain that you are thinking that you can have your collogues trace this call, and while I cannot do anything about that, I promise you, I will be waiting right here, and if you do not do exactly as I say, I will plug the tube again. When you bring me the device, it will be you, and you alone. If I see anything I don't like out in my ocean, a GSS taskforce, a naval vessel out of it's normal patrol circuit, anything intruding on my airspace, I will pour seawater and tar into the tube and put an end to Ms. James. Do you understand me?"
"Yes," Jasper ground out.
"Good. Now obviously if you ask for the device, they will say no. And even if your superiors say yes, they will find a way of disabling it before it gets to me. So you are going to steal it, and bring it to me, unaltered, unbugged, and untampered. And if you don't remember, it only takes two minutes for a man to drown. I wonder how long it would take pretty little Hadley James?"
The feed switched to Hadley, fully alert once again.
Jasper knew he only had once choice.
Hadley shook herself awake, and felt the diver pressing something into her ear. She tried to shake herself clear until she heard the Dragonfish speaking.
"I apologize for the theatrics, but you know what they say, go big, or go home. You understand that I couldn't well tell you what I was planning before I pushed you overboard. The fear on your face really sold our Agent Jasper Marks. Thank you for the first name by the way."
Hadley closed her eyes, burning from the salt water already as she realized her slip.
"And I also apologize for cutting your air off. You see, Agent Marks is going to do exactly what I say, and if he doesn't, I will simply do it again. You are his motivation to work to perfection, and bring me what I want."
Hadley tried to shout, to spit hatred at the man who had sent her down to the bottom, but just heard distressed gurgling and moaning over the earbud pressed in her ear.
"Please don't try to speak," The Dragonfish said, cutting her off, "I'm afraid that not only can I not understand you, but you'll need to conserve energy. Breathe evenly through the tube, it'll get easier as you develop the rhythm. And at least your dress was as long as it was. I understand that the bottom of the lagoon can get quite chilly after a while."
Hadley then writhed, moaning into the tube as she felt something. It wasn't a kick, it felt like her belly was twisting, her whole core turning in knots.
"I see. Well, tire yourself out and we'll see how you feel later on."
There was a click and the earbud fell silent. Hadley continued moaning through the tube, hoping to get the point across. Gagging out the same phrase over and over through the tube that garbled her words beyond recognition.
"The baby! The baby is coming!"
Hadley had felt a warm gush during the first contraction, and had struggled to look down. She had seen a few dark shapes drifting near the edges of what she could see, and while those terrified her, the fear was magnified by the sensation of the gush. She was convinced her water had broken, and was horrified that there might be blood in the water now. But as she looked down, she would only see a faint burst of white clouds that quickly vanished into the water. But to her relief, the only one she had, there was no blood.
"Gguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuchhhhhhhhh-OGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Hadley screamed into the tube as she had another contraction, this one feeling worse than the first. She didn't know much about labor, having only taken a few childbirth classes herself and gone through the mandatory first aid training she was supposed to with GSS, but nothing of what she had learned covered being chained up and dropped to the bottom of a lagoon.
"Huuuuurkghh," She ground out, shivering slightly at the chill that had begun creeping into her body.
The Dragonfish's island fortress might have been tropical, but the water at the bottom was still far colder than was comfortable after a few minutes. As Hadley shivered, she heard a click in her ear again.
"Now you see why I said to conserve energy. It will get somewhat chilly down there, but I promise, you will survive."
"HUUUUGGGH!"
There was another click and the earbud shut off again. Hadley wondered how clearly the Dragonfish could see her, then remembered the diver from earlier. She looked around and saw the camera fixed to a rock nearby, pointed directly at her. The Dragonfish could see her every move, every twitch, every shiver. Hadley was suddenly glad her dress was tight enough not to drift up her legs, like the half cape kept doing.
Hadley drifted for what felt like hours, her only constant method of telling the time was the contractions that came and went, each one making her gurgle into the tube as she bit down on it, wanting to scream, or hold her breath. Her jaw ached with it being jammed open by the solid mouth piece, and her throat burned with the effort of controlling her breathing. It wasn't the only thing that burned. Her chest felt like she had been runover with the extra energy it took to breathe, each breath working against the water, a full body hug that never let go, each inhale a monumental effort, and each exhale shaky as she tried to control it. Letting her breath go explosively each time made her light headed, and she had gotten to the brink of passing out, only to be woken up by the other thing that passed the time.
Either the Dragonfish or one of his henchmen would blow clean, fresh air into the tube on occasion, to, as the Dragonfish said, "Blow out the stale air. Can't have you passing out, now can I?"
She wanted to move. Hadley wanted to lean on her legs, rolling her hips in their sockets. To bend forward and lean on something. To hold and rub her belly during and after contractions, to soothe the aches. She wanted to stop shivering, the hard knots building up in her body from the miniature spasms making each contraction more painful, little blades of pain that stabbed at her everywhere.
"Leuh…eeeeugh…gggghhooogh!" Hadley begged after a particularly brutal contraction, one that left her floating limply against the chain as it tried to crush her belly more than the rest of her body.
"Hleeagh?"
Her earbud clicked on, but whatever the Dragonfish said was drowned out as she fell into another contraction and tried to scream her way through it. Over the earbud, she was horrified and almost disgusted by the wet, guttural, animal noises that came over the earbud, the results of her screaming with a tube in her mouth. When she finished, the Dragonfish began speaking with controlled patience.
"If I had to guess, you were begging to be let go?"
Hadley nodded, looking directly at the camera.
"I see. And I assume you think I will do so because you are clearly having contractions?"
Hadley nodded again.
"I assure you, you are sadly mistaken. Not to worry though, I'm told that waterbirths are more relaxing in any event. Not under these circumstances, obviously, and with the video feed up, I can't well remove you. My advice, don't fight it. It will only make the process more painful. And don't worry about the wildlife."
And Hadley was alone again as she screamed through another contraction.
The contractions had begun changing. Not in intensity or frequency, but they began to feel different. Each one brought the same pain, but now they also brought pressure. She could feel it gathering in her belly and hips like some sort of energy waiting to be released. Even without having given birth before, Hadley knew what it was. She was nearing the end. She would be pushing soon. Pushing. Hadley's mind floundered like the rest of her body as the tried to figure out what she would do. She gave an experimental effort, inhaling and doing her best to hold her breath, her chest inflating and bringing her taut against the chains, her torso trembling with effort. The motion felt weak and powerless. She released the breath, hoping that the helpless feeling was just due to her not having a contraction. When the next contraction began, she tried pushing along with it. Hadley knew it was probably too soon, but she had to know. She had to know how she was going to push.
"Gguuuuggghghghghghgggguuuuhhhhn," She grunted out, biting down hard on the tube, trying to keep her breath in.
She trembled, her legs locking and going rigid as she pushed. The pressure that had been building fluttered and grew worse as she tried to push, only for it to overwhelm her, cutting off her attempt. Hadley panted though the tube, hating the slimy feel of the thing in her mouth. And she felt something else too. Right on the heels of the last contraction, which had just barely begun to fade, she could feel another one building, her belly feeling like it was rippling, giving smaller cramps ahead of the full contraction. Far too soon. She gagged in pain as it tore into her, her belly imploding before she had a chance to recover from the last one.
As Hadley started getting accustomed to the new faster pattern of contractions, she became aware of motion above her. Looking up was difficult because of the tube, but she managed to see blurry and distorted forms a little ways away from her, probably the Dragonfish and his henchmen. Just as she was wondering what was going on, the one form she assume was the Dragonfish held an arm out and rested it on something next to him. Immediately, Hadley felt that there was no air in the tube anymore.
"HNNNNNNGHPH!" She shouted, muffled now from the lack of airflow. Her lungs burned as she tried to suck against what felt like a solid wall. The tube pulled against the back of her throat and she gagged, her body lurching as she tried to cough. Even as her mind fell into sheer panic, a new sensation made the whole experience worse. She felt a contraction building, and she thrashed desperately, her eyes frantically looking for the camera, begging for Jasper to give in, to give the Dragonfish what he wanted. A few heartbeats later, slow and labored, she couldn't even think that. Her womb clenched down, the muscles trembling as she desperately tried to suck in air. Something about not being able to breathe made the contraction feel worse, each nerve ending feeling like it was on fire, consuming every inch of space in her mind. She couldn't fight, there was just pain. She couldn't cope, there was just pain. She couldn't. There was nothing, just pain. Hadley could see the ocean around her getting darker, the edges of her vison growing darker, and the pain, while still there, seeming to grow distant. Her vision pulsed, her ears roared and her heartbeats grew slower…and slower…and…slower…
With a desperate panicked inhale, Hadley felt fresh air blasting down the tube and she shot awake, thrashing as the contraction, if it was still the same one, ripped through her. A diver had poked her, and seeming satisfied, swam away. Hadley gulped in huge lungfuls of air, her chest feeling like it was filled with flames as her oxygen starved body helped itself to all of air it could. Her whole body still hurt, and her head pounded with the aftereffects of the attack. She half expected the Dragonfish to call her and talk to her. She wanted him to, anything to explain what had just happened, why he had done that. But he stayed silent, and that was almost more unnerving. She began to cry, hitching sobs that did nothing but make the contractions feel worse. She let it all out as she sobbed, the pain, the fear, the unfairness of it all, her self loathing that she wanted the Dragonfish to talk to her. She sobbed until it was almost as painful as having the air to her cut off.
For the next few minutes, Hadley barely was able to catch her limited breath as the contractions began piling on each other, until it felt like there was no longer breaks between them, her whole body convulsing from the cold, the effort to stay steady against the drifting, and the contractions. The pressure that had been building took on a new desperate feel, almost begging for her hips to move, to make room. Hadley tried, pulling her legs as far apart as she could. If she kept them straight, she could only get a few inches from the shackles around her ankles, and bending them at the knee didn't help, the tight dress keeping her legs bound together.
"HLEEEEAGH!" Hadley screamed, begging once more to be released as she went once again from one contraction to the next.
Something had to give soon, and she didn't know what it was going to be, either her, or the pressure. The contractions, she could almost handle, even with as close together as they were. The pressure was something else entirely. She kicked her legs as best as she could, wiggled, thrust her hips, doing everything she could try to relive it, to sooth her body, but nothing she could do helped. Hadley knew at some level that even if she were giving birth in a safer, more controlled environment, the same pressure would be there, but being chained down made everything so much worse, so much more intense. She could tell it was nearing something, some inevitable barrier that she couldn't avoid. She knew that soon, she would have to push.
Hadley had done little research on births, but had done some. She knew that some women reportedly said that when it was time to push, it was a sort of wordless signal from their bodies that told them it was time to give into the urge to push, and then they began. Hadley had always envisioned this as something gentle, something relieving, as one could finally do something about the contractions and pressure. When she knew it was time to push, it was not subtle, gentle, or even wordless. She didn't know how long she had been dealing with back to back contractions, but one came on that felt different. She had finally gotten a short pause, almost like the end of a sentence and the beginning of the next, and had just begun to wonder what was happening when it struck.
"IEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAUUUUUUHHHHGGGGGGHHHHH!" She howled as the contraction drove not in, but down, and she felt her hips grinding against something.
She thrashed against the chain, the pressure moving and driving her insane with pain and the instinct to move with it, but totally unable to. And worst of all, was a frightening message from her body. Nothing wordless about it. A single demand that she had no idea how to give into: 'PUSH!'
Hadley tried. In the movies and classes, she knew how women pushed, but she had nothing to brace against, nothing to offer counterpressure. All she had was a desperate urge to give in, and no way to do it. She held her breath and tried with each contraction, now somewhat spaced apart, but more intense, and felt no progress. Like her practice push, Hadley pulled her legs tight against the shackles, arching her back, and holding her breath, trying her best to funnel the pressure down between her legs, and feeling nothing but the pressure getting more intense. She could only hold it for a few seconds, letting go of an explosive burst of air and panting heavily before trying again. Her hips trembled and flexed as she pulled against them and the chains, wanting to make more room, to make the awful grinding sensation stop, but nothing helped. Unsure of what to do to make it work, she simply tried again and again with each push, feeling a tight wad of frustration building in her chest with each useless, futile failed push. Between contractions, she lolled her head against the tube, and while doing this, she froze, a splash of color catching her eye, the very thing she had feared earlier. Red. Blood.
As the next contraction came, Hadley pushed as hard as she could, desperate to get the baby to at least move, and all the while, looking frantically for what she knew would be coming. Sharks. She knew they could small even a small amount of blood from great distances, and knew that there had to be at least one on it's way, hungry and crazed. Hadley pushed despite the fear, unable to hold back from the now frenzied urge. Halfway through the contraction, she got so frustrated with the lack of progress that she stopped, simply trashing against the mounting pressure, screaming into the tube until her throat felt raw. When it passed, Hadley took as calming of breaths as she could trying to sort out her situation.
'Ok, I can't keep trying to push like that, it's not working,' She thought to herself, 'What if…'
Her thoughts were interrupted by the next contraction, and she put her plan into use. She pushed her knees out as wide as they could, which wasn't much, and it pulled the dress tight against her hips, which surprisingly, felt somewhat better for it. Instead of arching her back, she did her best to curl forward. Without anything to brace her back, it looked more like she was just hunching her shoulders, but in the end, it felt better. The pressure was still a vicious, living thing, but at least it seemed to not grow worse that time, moving down instead. As she pushed, now facing the bottom of the lagoon, Hadley could see more blood gently flowing out of her. She didn't think it was a huge amount, but it still unnerved her, and hoped that it wouldn't attract anything.
The first thing that arrived was a school of small blue fish that darted around the thin rapidly dissipating clouds of blood, some of them nipping at small white flecks that also drifted out of her. None of them touched her, which relieved her. Not that she was afraid of them, but she didn't think she could handle being bumped by hundreds of small fish as she pushed. There were others too, long purple and yellow fish, that did the same, and tall looking yellow and white fish. Each fish would seem to float through the blood and swim around before darting away. Hadley watched them between contractions, unable to keep her eyes open during them anymore, hoping that they would be the extent of the sea life that came to sniff at her. As the contractions and blood went on, more and more fish showed up to investigate until suddenly, with a flash of movement, all of them scattered. Hadley froze, trembling, her heart, which had already been pounding, going into overdrive. She could feel the baby sitting so ow that it was making her hips hurt from just sitting in place. The next contraction came and she struggled to hold still, but finding herself totally unable to.
"You might want to stay calm," The Dragonfish's voice came in her ear, making her jerk as she lost her concentration mid push, "But don't worry, Scalloped Hammers rarely attack humans."
Before Hadley could figure out what that meant, she lurched and screamed as something rough bumped her from behind. A shark, long thin body, capped off at one end by a long fluted tail and at the other end by a wide, flat head wiggled it's way through the water, drifting through the cloud of blood and other fluid that kept coming out of her. It jerked its head, changing direction quickly, the water coming from it's tail's powerful movements buffeting her, making her cry in fear.
"HLEEEEAGH, HLEEEEAGH EUAGH EEEGH OOGGGH!" Hadley screamed, begging once again to be let go.
As she screamed for release, she had to stop as another contraction came on, and despite her terror, Hadley had no choice but to give into the urge once again, bearing down as much as she could, feeling the baby drag ever so slightly further down. She whimpered and groaned in frustration, knowing that on one hand, if she were able to stay still, or was on a stable surface, she could push so much better, but at the same time, was grateful that her weak pushes kept the baby where the shark couldn't get at it.
It kept circling and circling, the shark getting closer and closer each time, it's tail flicking sharply as it moved. Hadley watched it in fear, trembling and whimpering between contractions, which while she still pushed through them, tried to keep silent as she did now. As she pushed, she could feel the head moving lower and lower, at an almost glacial pace. It was fast enough that when she started feeling stretching and burning between her leg, she wished it would slow down.
"UnnnngggghhhhhhHHHAAAAAAGGGHGG" she gurgled into the tube, unable to keep the sound inside as she moaned from the new sharp sensation.
As she pushed with the new burning, the slow flow of blood seemed to spurt, more flowing into the ocean and it seemed to aggravate the shark. It whipped it's head and the circles drew tighter, occasionally cutting hard towards her and missing her by inches, only touching her with it's tail as it passed.
"Not to worry Ms. James," The Dragonfish said over the earpiece, "It looks like your trials will soon be over, one way or another."
Hadley twitched and struggled to look at the pier to see a new figure running up only to be stopped by a massive one who she assumed as Hacklin.
"AAAAAAASHHHHHHEEEEEGGGGHHH!" Hadley tried screaming Jasper's name as she recognized him, only to stop and scream as she had another contraction.
The baby inched forward again, the burning between her legs getting worse. Not only was her bad position making every push seem hopelessly weak, but her legs still being so close together seemed to be actively holding the head in place.
The contractions were overlapping again, and Hadley didn't know if it was the stress, or just the baby almost coming out, but as she heard muffled voices above her, she kept pushing, over and over, the head moving down slightly, only to get pushed back by her thighs. It seemed useless, but she could tell that each time, it got pushed back a little less, and soon, she was screaming as the head began a new wave of stretching. It seemed unfair to Hadley that the ring of fire still burned hotly underwater, but she struggled to widen her legs more, feeling a few strands pop in the seams of the dress as she did so. As she did, the head seemed to move more, stretching her wider, prompting her to let out another gagging, gurgling scream.
"Hadley, I am trying to negotiate here, if you could be so kind as to quiet down for a spell?"
Hadley's eyes bulged in rage as she heard the calm voice asking her to quiet down while in labor, and began screaming abuse up the tube as best as she could, only to start coughing as she felt smoke blown down the end of the tube, the awful taste of a cigarette cloud drifting into her breathing device. Hadley could feel the head lurching with each cough, and each lurch brought the head just a little bit further. Without being able to touch anything, Hadley felt like she was splitting apart, like if she stretched one more fraction of an inch, she would tear, and struggled not to push with the next contraction, giving in and screaming once again as the shark did another quick pass right next to her.
Hadley could feel it. One more contraction. One more effort and the baby would be here. She had to hold back. She had to wait. Jasper was right above her, and as soon as things were done, she would be brought up and it would be safe to push the baby out. She tried to brace herself, this time not to push when it struck. She held her breath, keeping it high in her chest, trying to arch backward like before and her legs shook with the effort of keeping them closed. Her hips bucked as much as they were able to, her own body rebelling against her attempts, not knowing or caring that pushing would put the baby in danger. The shark darted in again, and Hadley flinched, the small movement being enough to break her. Letting her breath go, she began relaxing her legs, and began curling forward to take a deep breath, knowing that no matter what was happening, she. Had. To. PUSH.
Hadley began to inhale, feeling air fill her lungs only for a sharp, strong taste to clog the back of her throat. She tried to scream, but felt nothing but the pressure in the tube spiking. There were loud noises above the water and some sort of commotion, but she couldn't care about it. The contraction wasn't letting up, and neither was the urge to push. The only thing she didn't have was air. She thrashed, her body going berserk as it fought to get more air. As she wriggled and thrashed, the shark seemed to get more agitated, but Hadley couldn't care about that either. The only thing her mind could bring any focus to was the new and intense demand to push. It was as if the earlier pressure and urges were nothing but practice runs. Every cell in her oxygen starved body was screaming at her to push. Her head pounding and her vision swimming from more than just the water, Hadley curled as best as she could and pushed, choking on the awful taste in her mouth, her scream a soundless vibration in her throat. Her belly clamped down like a machine, the contraction seeming to want to press her entire body flat, the effort feeling more intense than the rest of her labor combined. The only other thing Hadley could feel was the burning. She could see clouds of blood as she felt herself splitting apart, feeling like her lips were on fire as she pushed, feeling the baby move faster than it had the entire time she was pushing, the head shoving forward, opening her wider and wider until with a pop or relief, she could feel her vagina relaxing as the head came fully out. With a strange shuddering tumble that made her shudder with what little energy she had left, Hadley could feel the body slipping out immediately after.
To her astonishment, the baby began kicking and squirming in the water, surrounded by blood, fluid and with white gunk floating off of it, drifting higher and higher until the umbilical cord kept it near her. It's kicks were growing weaker, and Hadley tried to scream, her vision going dark. Her baby was in danger! It's movements slowed, but that wasn't the only danger. Apparently sensing something new, the shark turned one last time and darted towards Hadley and the baby, it's mouth, hundreds of sharp teeth promising a swift and violent end as it arrowed towards the baby. Hadley could only watch in horror as it got closer and closer. Ten feet. Five. Less than a foot. Jsut as Hadley was convinced that her world was about to come crashing down, a dark line shot down, catching the shark in the head, driving it down. A harpoon stuck out of the head, the shark spasming as it died. Jasper dove into view, looking briefly at Hadley, before turning and doing what she was screaming at him to do in her head. Her last thoughts as her vision began failing and flickering out.
'Save him… save…my… baby…'
With a final pound on her chest, Hadley gagged and coughed as seawater burst from her mouth, and she felt herself being turned to the side, letting all of the fluid drain out.
"Hadley Thank god! Oh my god you're alive!"
Hadley couldn't talk, still gagging and sputtering as the last few drops made their way out of her lungs. Her head pounded, her eyes hurt, her ears were ringing, she could feel that one of her ribs was cracked, but there was only one thing she cared about.
"Gaackch… Ba- baby! Where is-?"
She cut off as another fit of coughing wracked her body, reducing her to a heaving mess on the pier.
"Right here, he's right here Hadley," Jasper said, coming over and holding out a dripping bundle to Hadley.
Hadley cried out and tried to take the baby, nearly dropping him as her ribs cried out in protest.
"I'm so sorry, I tried to get here as soon as I could, I just-"
"Let her breath," A deep voice, interrupted.
Hacklin! Hadley gasped, wincing in pain as she turned to see the big man sitting back on his heels.
"St-stay away!" Hadley gasped out and tried to scoot back, but Jasper held her in place.
"It's ok," Jasper replied, "I think he's on our side?"
"Not really. I just am not on the Dragonfish's side anymore."
Jasper was arrested afterward. Hadley was assured that his sentence would be commuted, but he would be blacklisted from the agency afterward. When he had stolen the comm unit, he had escaped with the entire GSS reaction force hot on his tail. The Dragonfish's anger over that was why he had cut off her oxygen the second time. He had done so a third time by pouring tar into the tube when, while during the exchange, the GSS had begun assaulting the island that former Agent Jasper Marks had led them to. Hacklin, who had apparently had bad memories with loosing his own wife and child at sea years ago, had refused to stand by Dragonfish's side in the final battle. So even as the villain escaped with the device, he had dived in with Jasper, retrieving Hadley while Jasper cut the baby free and bolted for the surface. And while he had broken several of her ribs, he had saved her life, even as Jasper saved the baby.
"He is a cute little thing, isn't he?" Hacklin said as Hadley visited the prison he was sitting in.
"He is," Hadley said, her voice still raspy from her trials.
The doctors said her voice would always sound a little rough from the near drowning, the stress of the breathing device and the repeated air deprivation.
"I know you didn't visit me just to show me the baby," Hacklin said, "What do you want."
"Actually, I did come here just to show you the baby. And to tell you that Jasper finally agreed with me. His middle name is Hacklin."
"Where is the old man," Hackin said after laughing with surprise and joy at the news.
"He's getting released later today. And after that, who knows."
Hacklin sat quietly for a moment before speaking up, "I know. He was arrested for what he did, and he didn't have a choice. I'm still not joining up with you guys, but I'll give you some information. I know where Dragonfish is going. And I will give it to you, as long as the one headed up the team is Special Agent Marks."
