I could feel sweat trickle down the back of my neck as he looked at us, as I'd expecting one of us to volunteer to be one of his lab rats.  We needed to get out of here. Needed to somehow alert Dare. But how? Dammit, how?
"Well, since no one seems willing to step forward... Alex, grab the one in the middle." Stone said.
I felt Alex leave my side as he went over and took Damian's arm, tugging him away from Marisa.
The gun he had trained on me earlier,  I saw was now stuffed in the back of his pants. I had no doubt, however, it would quickly appear in his hand again, if one of us made a wrong move.
Marisa protested, calling Alex every obscene name under the sun.
"Shut up!" Alex snapped, leveling her with a lethal look.
Once Marisa had fallen silent, he turned and tugged Damian along. Damian tripped and stumbled right into Alex. Next thing I knew, Damian had the gun in his hand, his other arm wrapped around Alex's neck,  "Now then, we're going to walk out of here and you're going to let us."
Alex stood there, stone-faced while Stone just smiled, "well, it would seem you have the upperhand." He raised his hand and waved his hand in a shooing motion. Marisa and I exchanged glances before slowly backing up.
I had an uneasy feeling. Like this was just too easy.  Coupled with the way Stone was smiling, and well, in the words of Harrison Ford, I've got a bad feeling about this.
Next thing I knew Damian lay sprawled out on the floor with Alexstanding over him, gun in hand, "I would suggest you not take another step."
What just happened? How had Alex gotten the upper hand? I never even saw him execute a move that would leave Damian flat on his back. It just happened in the blink of an eye.
I froze where I stood as Stone stepped toward Damian's inert form, "You always have to make things so difficult,  dont you, Ms. Shade. And here I'm trying to share my work with you."
I stood frozen as Stone dragged Damian to his feet and over to the examination table.
How did he know my name? He has called me that earlier too. Project Shadow made sure our identities stayed buried, to project its agents. My gaze flicked to Alex.was it possible? Had he told Stone who I was? Who the agents of Project Shadow were?
"What are you planning to do to him?" Marisa demanded, snapping me out of my musings.
"I'm going to give your friend here just a small dose of the serum." Stone answered casually as he tapped the side of a syringe.  Alex had finished strapping Damian bavk down before stepping back, "tie them up so they can't interfere. " Stone added.
I stiffened, glancing at Marisa, who gave me a subtle nod. She was working on a plan. That's what that look told me. So I let Alex guide me over to one of the empty cages, before cuffing our hands to the bars. He looked at me as he finished cuffing me, "To bad it had to be this way, Belladonna.  We might have picked up where we left off."
He smirked as he said that before walking away.
I tugged on the cuffs that held me in place, my eyes still on Damian as he tugged against his restraints.  But no matter how hard he struggled, he wasn't able to stop the syringe as it pierced his skin, the serum inside, plunging into Damian.