The decision of letting a friend and colleague die, or having three young patients abducted by an evil organisation of torturous villains... was not an easy one to make.

Reece flattered, torn between the two crappy scenarios he had been given.

And it is times like these, that call for a maiden's gentle, self-sacrificing touch.

"What the hell are you hesitating for you imbecile?!" I shouted, hands haughtily on hips. "Shake his hand already before Garman keels over from old age."

That's right. Someone better contact the Vatican and let them know there's a real Angel down here, and her name is Maddison Trampth.

Startled by my outburst, Reece tilted his head back on the floor, his upside-down blue eyes staring at me pleadingly.

"But..."

"Just because Garmen's weird and annoying and somewhat sadistic and yes, probably a closet pervert, that doesn't mean its okay to kill him off! Besides..."

I crossed my arms seriously. "....if he dies, who else is going to remember to feed Havoc and take him out for walkies?"

Reece gave me a pained look as the room fell silent, yet made no attempt to argue with me. Cause... Yea, you can't really argue with the truth...

A hand landed on my shoulder before I could let out another round of abuse.

"What I think Maddison is trying to say, is that you can't rescue someone who's dead," Artemis explained gently, his pale eyes full of determination.

"Save Mr Garmen now, then you can worry about us later."

All the tension seemed to slip away from Reece as the realisation hit him.

He had to let us go.

Irritated, I shot Artemis furious glare.

"I was just about to say that."

Artemis met my eyes tiredly.

"I know that we only met a couple of hours ago Love, but I think that I already understand one thing about you." His hand squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.

"You can't say anything important or meaningful without trying to hide it under a mountain of abuse. And as charming as that is, we don't really have time for you to be shy at the moment." He finished dryly.

I stared at him in stunned outrage.

That little bugger, not only does he steal my lines....and say them better than me, he has to go and... and...

See-through me.

Glancing back over to Reece, I saw that he had sat up. Shoulders tense and head lowered in shame, Reece didn't look at us as reached up and shook Jack's hand.

"Deal." He said, barely over a whisper, and I let out a relieved sigh.

"A wise choice." Jack murmured, smile warm with content.

The moment Reece let go of his hand, Jack proceeded to ignore the small man. Stepping past him without another word.

And headed straight for us.

Oh, yea.... us getting abducted was the downside of the whole saving Garman deal. Bummer.

I nervously bit my lip as Jack lazily closed the distance between us with his giant steps.

Alright, Maddison. It's time for you to use your vast intellect and cunning to come up with an amazing plan to get us out of this mess...

Since I couldn't spot a chandelier hanging conveniently over Jack's head, Plan A looked like a no go.

On to plan B.

"I surrender!" I declared, raising my hand to draw Jack's attention.

Beside me, Artemis facepalmed, muttering something tiredly under his breath.

"Now now Maddison," Jack took the last few steps, standing over us so that I had to bend my head back all the way to see his patient expression.

"Surrendering implies that you actually have some sort of say in this."

My eye twitched in irritation.

I do so have something to say... But it kind involves a great deal of bad language...

"Fine. I formally take back my surrender." I pointed up at him. "Happy?"

Jack held his chin musingly. "I'm not bored or in pain... So something like that?"

Right... Creepy.

"Well, since I'm no longer giving up, let's make one thing clear. If you don't surrender right now, I'm going to officially start planning my revenge."

Jack's eyebrow raised slightly, speaking of the terror he must feel.

"Tell us how to save Garman, and kindly move away to Antarctica. Do that, and I'll let this whole thing slide." I held up a finger. "Just this once."

Without a word, Jack crouched down and plucked Artemis from my side.

The short boy yelped in surprise as he was suddenly abducted into the air, hanging onto Jack's fingers for dear life.

I took an involuntary step back.

"I-I'm warning you, My revenge is going to involve a rusty pair of bolt cutters, a box of lemons and a Justin Bieber CD...!"

I swear, when Jack yanked my tiny body from the ground, he did it with way more force than necessary.

"I think I will take my chances," Jack commented casually, standing up from his crouch. Opening his hand so that Artemis lay in his palm, Jack spared no time in dropping me to join my shrunken companion. Yelping, I fell on top of the short boy, ending up sprawled across his lap and knocking the air out of both of us.

"Ow." I moaned, dizzily pushing myself up.

"My sentiments exactly Love," Artemis muttered, patting me on the head once comfortingly before crawling out from underneath me with what little room he had.

"Now, it seems like the idiot has run off somewhere," Jack stated, sending his gaze searching across the floor. When he didn't spot Nigel, he sent me an accusatory glare.

Like it was my fault.

"What the hell do you want me to do about it?" I snarled defensively. "Shine the Bat-signal out my..."

"That won't be necessary." Jack's smile returned in for force, reassuring me that my help was not needed. "I'm sure that once he hears you screaming, he'll be out here before you can even start begging me to stop."

All I could do was stare at Jack blankly, trying to match the psychotic words with the flowery smile.

"....you seriously creep me out every time you talk, you know that right?"

"I try." Jack smiled, his empty hand reaching towards me.

"Nigel?!" I called nervously, backing away from the approaching fingers.

"Don't worry Maddison." Nigel's voice called faintly from somewhere in the room. "No matter what happens...I promise you, I won't forget to write about you in my memoir..."

Mem....?

"Get out here you traitorous little bug!" I screeched, almost leaping from Jack's hand in my need to strangle the idiotic jerk myself.

"...I'd really rather not..."

All I could do was sputtered indignantly. What the hell was that idiot doing?! We didn't have time for him too...

"Hey!" I screeched as I was painfully yanked up by a grip on my ankle. Even as I hung upside down in Jack's hand, I swung my fists at his giant smug face.

"Would you stop doing that!?"

"Come on out Joker." Jack addressed the room calmly, ignoring my struggles. "Don't make me wait. I can think of much better games to play than hide and seek...."

"Stop. I'm coming out." Nigel called, panic entering his voice. With a satisfied smile, Jack dumped me back down in his hand, making me swear profusely as I ended up on my back with my ankles in the same vicinity of my ears.

"Pity." Jack murmured, stalking calmly over to where Nigel had appeared from behind the desk.

"Looks like I'll just have to play with you later Maddison."

Don't hold your breath.