Quinn looked at the rows of bottles behind the bar. The temptation to take a couple of shots to calm her nerves was overwhelming, but she needed a clear head. She had been sat at the bar for ages having searched the building over and over, trying to come up with a plan for her escape. She didn't have much to work with at the moment. There was nothing much in the bar to help. Or the cloak rooms. Not even any outdoor friendly clothes. There was a store room full of more booze and the like plus the store room with the dusty magic props and that was about it. Of keys or another exit there was no sign. 

So far the best she had come up with was the gap under the door. If she could will herself as flat as she had made Sheena she may fit under it. But there were problems. She didn't know if she could flatten herself without any pressure, and she was alone. Once flat she couldn't see she would be in any position to push her way through. Plus there was the small matter that she detested flattening tricks, they gave her the heebie jeebies. 

She banged her fists on the counter in frustration and then she spotted it . Way above the entrance and its securely locked door was some sort of skylight. How had she not spotted it before. It must have been thirty feet up but it was something new to think about . She wondered if she could make a tower of tables to climb up, but they were heavy and she wasn't sure she could climb in the wretched high heels. Last resort. Well, apart from the flattening of course. 

"Idiot" 

She had it. She had been levitated before so she figured that logically that magic should be within her. She could float up! She looked about and grabbed a fire hose that was by the door. It was heavy and cumbersome but would do. She pulled out enough to easily reach the ceiling then locked the reel before tieing the free end around her left ankle. At least she could pull herself back down if need be. She guessed she would have to check out what would be needed to open the skylight before returning to terra firma to get anything needed to complete her escape. For a few seconds she baulked at the thought of havuing to wander the streets of some strange place dressed like , a , as she was. but decided that compared to staying here. If things went well she could even take Sheena with her. 

Quinn dragged a table into place right under the skylight and laid back on it. She closed her eyes and visualised being light. Floating on air, as if she was weightless, or an astronaut in zero gee. Nothing happened. She wrinkled her nose in concentration but she felt no different. She sighed and opened her eyes wondering what she had done wrong, then closed them again. She was a good twelve feet off the floor. It had worked!

Quinn quickly realised that any movement altered her trajectory and as she wanted to go straight up she tried to hold still. Maybe it would be easier to be a little to one side she wondered, so she could make a positive movement to end up at her target. Finally she was there, and after a little scrambling with her hands she could examine what would be needed to get out. The first issue was the glass seemed to be toughened with wire and was screwed into place. She would need some makeshift tools. The second was that her body was still trying to rise so she was being pressed into the smoke stained ceiling, making things much harder. Finally she realised she was still thinking in two dimensions and with a bit of scrambling managed to move herself to the point she was kneeling upside down on the ceiling the constant pressure keeping her in place. It was the strangest feeling, she felt like a real life spiderman. She began to look at the fittings so she could return to ground level and try and find some implements.

".........totally agree it's time to get us and the diamonds somewhere new, staying still doesnlt feel safe."

Quinn cursed, her time had run out. She froze for a second but it was impossible to miss the fire hose pointing up to her on the ceiling. 

"Fuck the silly bitch is trying to escape ! "

"Where's the other one? She must have got her away already. Fuck fuck fuck..."

"Told you not to leave her here alone, you thinking with your dick not like the boss, got too carried away with the kinky shit.."

"And what would you suggest, smart ass?"

Quinn listened with dismay as the mobsters bickered among themselves even as they pulled her down to earth. 

"Stop the fucking floating" . And with that Quinn felt gravity grip her again. She knew it was pointless to resist, she was outnumbered, in dumb shoes and trapped. She glanced over to the back office where poor Sheena was waiting in the mail, at least she had a bit of a chance.

"We need to split up, and divide up the gems too. Even the small ones are worth a fortune." Quinn could see that Biggs was thinking hard, he wore a pained expression. 

"And what do we do with .....her"  Stella almost spat out the word.

"I think I have an idea"

"Well gee I thought you might. Let me guess it's kinky again." 

"!'ll do it" Cindy sounded forlorn, as if Quinn had usurped her role as chief plaything. Quinn would have been delighted for her to have it back. 

"This will do the trick" 

Quinn watched with dread as Biggs shoved a mismade trick out of the closet. She recognised it right away although it seemed to have five doors rather than the regulation four, and looked more than a little battered. She wanted to cry, it looked like she would soon be in helpless and in pieces again. 

Quinn held still as she was prepared. her mind was racing. She knew she couldn't run, she was determined not to beg, nor tempting as it was, to break down and cry. So she endured her next ordeal with a defiant smile. At least that seemed to annoy the women. Stella and Cindy had fitted metal cuffs around her ankles, thighs, waist and wrists with a collar around her neck. Now they were locking each metal restraint to the inside of the box with short lengths of chain. It seemed overkill to Qunn she wasn't going anywhere anyway. She watched Biggs check the locks and put the keys in his pocket. He had been dividing the smaller diamonds into plastic bags. He took the first and secured it Quinn's calf with a sort of gun that looked like it fired the plastic things that held labels to clothes. Pain exploded in Quinn's leg, she would have fallen over if she hadn't been locked in a box! She blinked away a tear. How come that hurt so much, she had been sliced into bits with way less pain than that. Clearly being punctured with a plastic barb didn't count as magic! The next bag was attached to her inner thigh, it hurt even more. A third one to her right breast. She whimpered. She had been pierced already why couldn't they just have used her rings, bastards!  

"Piece de resistance...." Biggs shot a plastic barb into Quinn's tongue to secure a baggy with the Purple Orchid itself.

"You gonna give the stones back to her? " 

"Course not you stupid bitch, you want to walk through border control at LAX with those in your bag ? 

"Well no, hey are we going home ? " 

"It's time, but not direct and not together.. "

"And her? "

"Don't care but we will make sure we have some back up stashes just in case .."

They had become accustomed to being able to manipulate her at will Quinn reflected glumly. They hadn't even bothered with the doors. There was no theatrical element. She felt the first blade shoved in through her calves.     Thighs, waist neck. With no ceremony she was in five pieces, unstacked and spread along the bar. Cindy took her head box and shoved the huge diamond in its bag into Quinn's mouth, sealing it in place with a strip of duct tape. Meanwhile Biggs and Stella had put the bottom box containing her feet and lower legs into a black wood and metal box. Once closed and locked it looked a bit like the cases she had seen bands use to carry their kit between gigs. Her upper legs went into another case, then her hips and waist, finally her arms and chest. Quinn watched on feeling ever more hopeless as the keys to the cases were shared out. At the same time shipping labels were applied to each case. Nairobi. Bogota, Zagreb, Oslo. There was clearly no trust between thieves, each got keys to a box with a different destination than the flight tickets Biggs dished out. Quinn whimpered into the tape. She was clearly going to be in pieces for some time, assuming that none of the boxes went astray of course. 

Everything went dark as Quinn's head was lowered into the final shipping crate. She watched the chink of light get narrower as it's lid was sealed. Out of sight she began to sob, it was too much.  Then everything went red and there was a defeaning crash. She felt her box tip and fall and she passed out.




"Quinn, Quinn, its Maisie, you're ok... its ok" 

Quinn opened one eye and then the other. It was indeed the federal agent. Her heart sang! "MMMpphh"" 

"Its ok we are getting you sorted out" 

Quinn could see Matt at the bar. He had found the other part of Sheena and made it three dimensional once more and was now lining up the parts to make her whole again.

"She will be ok, just traumatised. Shes not used to magic like you. They dropped your head when the flash bang grenade went off and you passed out, just a bump, you will be fine."

Quinn took in more of the scene . Agents in all black FBI garb and bullet proof vests were opening the flight cases and removing her boxed body. The diamonds were painfuly removed and put into evidence bags. Maisie pulled off the tape and reteived the Pink Orchid, handing it to two other agents. It occured to Quinn she was naked tied up and in pieces in front of all these strangers, but she didn't care. She was so relieved to be rescued she thought she might cry again.  She watched with satisfaction as Biggs and the gang were cuffed and marched away. 

"They will be going away for a long time, don't worry, though we may have to be economical with the truth when we detail the charges for what they did to you and Sheena. The agent was whole again ,sat on a chair in a borrowed jacket. 



                                                         ......................                             .........................                ........................

"So you could have tracked us all the time ? "

"In theory yes.." Matt looked sheepish. But this place is built in a castle basement and the walls are so thick we lost you. Sorry again. "

"Its ok, I suppose I got the adventure I wanted. But I ... "

"It's gonna be a big ask to write this into a believable story.." 

" I will think of something, and there's always a new show in the meantime I guess... " Quinn looked sheepish. For his part Matt looked relieved. 

"Hasn't put you off then? " 

"Of course not. But I may stick to a more normal show for a while" 

"Normal ? " Matt laughed 

"Well... ish".

"OK lets see about getting you home ..."

"Aren't we flying back with Maisie and the crew ? " 

"We could but they have warrants and paperwork and god knows what then they are waiting for a plane from Langley. Could be a couple of days, besides we have a show back in Vegas to do." 

"But I haven't got my passport. Or any clothes!" Quinn looked down, she was still locked in the leather harness, with a flight jacket over her shoulders. 

"All taken care of, you do worry" 

"To be fair, its not lik.........."

Quinn felt a familiar tingle and then light headed. Then she found herself staring at the ceiling with a fixed gaze. 

Matt took a snap on his phone and held it so Quinn could see. It took Quinn a second. She was looking at a pack of cards fanned on the bar. The Queen of spades was on top. It was her! posed in the bondage gear she had been turned into a playing card. She realised all the other picture cards were naughty pics when Matt flipped them and tucked them in their box. She would kill him!