Waking up is hard to do.

Miranda woke slowly, a sweet chemical taste in her mouth, her head pounding as she tried to remember where she was, what had happened to her.... The first thing she knew was pain, pain in her arms, her shoulders, running down her back... and blackness. Her arms were aching, feeling like they were being pulled from their sockets as they were pulled up and back behind her head. And she couldn't see... no, that wasn't right. She could see... only everything was dark. Her eyes were covered. She was blindfolded. And bound. That's why her arms ached, she realized as she coughed slightly, the noxious odor of ether still filling her mouth and nose.

"So. You're awake." A strange male voice stated simply, the voice harsh and distinct in her ears, sounding close to her, close enough to make her jump at the words.

"W...who... where?" Miranda managed to stammer, her voice sounding weak and pitiful to her own ears, barely more than a croak as she tried to move her arms, to lower them to relieve the pressure in them. The smallest of motions caused waves of pain to surge through her shoulders, her breath escaping her in a hiss of pain, tears wetting her eyes behind whatever soft cloth blocked her sight.

"Call me Tom." The voice told her softly, whispering to her, the speaker's mouth close to her ear. She could feel his breath on her cheek, smell the sweet mint on his breath.

"What... what do you want from me, Tom?" Miranda asked softly, almost sobbing in pain from her arms, her shoulders feeling like they were about to rip from her body.

"We'll get to that in a bit," another voice answered preemptively, the words harsh and the tone commanding. The speaker seemed further away, almost across the room from her.

"Who?" Miranda asked, turning her sightless head towards where she thought the voice was.

"I'm Harry," the cruel voice informed her with a nasty chuckle.

"Where... where am I?" Miranda asked, almost pleading with the strange voices, tears now wetting the soft cloth over her eyes.

"You're home," a third voice, a gentler voice, assured her. This voice was almost like honey, sweet and soothing to her ears, and sounded like it was coming from behind her.

"Who..." Miranda started to ask only to be interrupted by the harsh voice of Harry.

"That's Dick," Harry seemed to snarl from a great distance away.

"What... what do you want with me?" The bound mother pleaded, shivering in fear at the cruel sound of Harry's voice. She was trembling, her breath coming in short frightened gasps, her body wracked by spasms of pain from her bound arms, the fear of the unknown, of not being able to see, slowly overwhelming her. Her chest heaved in silent sobs, the cloth over her eyes soaking up her un-shed tears as her mind began to come to grip with her circumstance.

"What do we want?" Tom's voice echoed her words, almost whispering them into her ears.

"What do we want with you?" Harry's hard voice repeated.

"We want you," Dick's smooth voice crooned softly, the sweet honeyed tone of his voice hiding the intent of the words, Miranda not realizing the true import of what he'd said for a few seconds.