Leaves rustled beneath their feet and the trees cast an ominous shadow on the two Heroes and the Sidekick. The moment they had entered the woods, the warm sunlight had been cut off, plunging them into a cold night. Upon hearing about the kidnapping of her best friend, Natalia had refused to let them leave her behind and she had screamed at Speed until he allowed her to tag along. Ensuring that she was safely between him and Lash, the trio hunted for the cabin in the midst of a dense forest.

"Do you think she's hurt?" Natalia asked, tone hushed for fear that if she spoke too loud it might make the words real.

"If she is, Penny better run. And fast." Lash growled menacingly.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Lash questioned, eyes not diverting from scanning the trees.

"For saving my best friend, and loving her. She needs someone to care for her." Natalia admitted. "Although she'd never admit that. With the life that she's had, she thinks she has to be the strong one."

"I wouldn't thank me. I haven't done a very good job."

Guilt and disappointment ignited in him but he shook his head and used it to fuel his determination to find the woman he loved.

"You have. I mean, yeah, she got kidnapped but that's not your fault. You can't watch her every minute of the time. You carried her to the bus after she passed out, you made sure she was returned to her mother safely and most importantly, you loved her. Your job for the evening was done and that's all you need to do. You need to make sure that you love her as much as you do now forever."

Sniffing, Lash ignored the tear that strolled down his cheek at the girl's words. Guiding them through the trees, he ignored the clenching of his heart when Speed reassuringly took Natalia's hand. He had never told anyone that he loved Astrid but of course he couldn't keep it from Natalia. Now he just hoped that he would have the opportunity to tell Astrid.

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Groaning at the agony in her body, she ignored the aches and knots that would take forever to ease. Being shackled to a wall meant that the sparse amount of sleep she managed to achieve was uncomfortable and the thin blankets did little to keep out the cold. Even though there was a pillow beneath her, sitting on the floor constantly left her with a sore back and a numb backside. Sweat had caused her clothes to stick to her body as the burning of her ribs refused to ease.

Two days had passed but it could've been months with the never-ending darkness. Penny had taken to visiting the girl every two hours and the torture she inflicted upon the blonde left Astrid panting and bruised. Astrid couldn't wait until she was rescued and able to heal herself. However, some injuries would never heal.

Cringing at the creaking door, Astrid tucked a lock of greasy hair behind her hair and tried forcing herself to her feet so as to face Penny. Her legs had given out hours ago and she was too weak to make it all the way there but she refused to be looked down on. Using her chains, Astrid forced herself to her knees and decided that was the best she was going to get.

One eye had been swollen shut and the other was twitching as the blood from her cut eyebrow pooled into it and dripped down the left side of her face. In addition to her cracked rib, her right arm had been broken, her wrist was sprained, her hip fractured and she was riddled with cuts, bumps and bruises. As the original stood in a corner and watched, Penny's clones looked for different ways to break her. Hurtful words, cruel memories and abusive beatings had been combined to shatter the girl's resolve. As much as she wanted to curl up in a ball and just fade away, Astrid refused to give Penny the satisfaction of seeing her weakened. No matter how much the manacles were siphoning the strength out of her.

"Aw, look at you, you're pathetic. No one is coming for you. It's been days and Lash still hasn't saved you. He doesn't care about you, no one does. If anything, he's probably grateful to have gotten rid of such a burden. He doesn't love you and now, he and I can be together."

"Then why am I still here? You wanted revenge on Lash but if he doesn't love me, what was the point in taking me?" Astrid smirked, the cut on her cheek splitting open once again with the movement of her muscles. "You proved your point that he's not coming to rescue me so you can let me go."

Snarling, Penny stormed from the room, angered at the fact her own prisoner had belittled her. Letting out a sigh of relief, Astrid knew she had been saved from further pain for the moment. Whilst she told herself not to listen to anything Penny said, Astrid couldn't help but pray that Lash truly did care enough about her to rescue her. Or that anyone cared enough to realise she was missing in the first place.

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"How much further, Speed?" Lash barked out, his separation from Astrid was causing his temper to shorten.

A few days had passed since they had entered the forest and all three of them were running on limited sleep and no hot meals.

"Couple more miles." Speed responded, understanding his friend's attitude.

All of them wanted the sweet Healer back as soon as possible. With every hour that passed without them having rescued her, she could be getting more and more hurt.

"Then use your speed to get us there," growled Lash.

"You said not to because it would alert Penny-."

"I don't care what I said!" Lash snapped. "That was two days ago. Let Penny know we're coming. Let her fear me and the pain she will experience when I get my hands on her. Nobody hurts my Support."

Sharing an uneasy glance with Natalia, Speed picked her up bridal style and allowed Lash to clamber onto his back before he used his power to reach the cabin.

Taking in the appearance of the cabin, Lash knew that Penny truly had found the perfect place to imprison someone. The wood that built the foundations of the dilapidated was rotting and snapped. Windows had been smashed in and a thick layer of dust coated them. Parts of the roof had collapsed and the front door flapped in the wind. Nobody would ever bother entering the small, rundown cabin for fear of sustaining an injury the moment they stood on the porch.

"Oh, Penny, darling. I'm here!" Lash yelled in a singsong voice.

Murder coated his facial features and he booted open the front door before tearing into the cabin, the other two hot on his heels.

"Shit!" Penny cursed upon hearing Lash's voice.

After being friends with him for four years, she could understand the pure fury in her tone. If she didn't play her cards right all of this would've been for nothing. She had honestly never expected the striped boy to find her, even if he had searched for years so she had been naive enough to not plan for the event that he did hunt her down. It had been foolish thinking on her part and now she would most likely the pay the price for it.

Instead of rushing to her prisoner, Penny went out to the greet the Heroes, deciding it was best not to alert them to Stronghold's location.

"Lash." Penny greeted, smothering her fear behind a blinding smile. "I see you brought some friends. Hi, Speed."

"They're only here to stop me from tearing you apart."

Letting out a nervous chuckle, Penny shifted from foot to foot but attempted to play it off. "Great, more people for me to defeat."

"Lash, behind you." Natalia called out.

Just as he spun around, a clone of Penny appeared behind him and swung for him. Thanks to Natalia's warning, he managed to block it. For the next ten minutes, clones appeared to attack the trio as they fought back with the help of Natalia calling out the moves seconds before they happened. For the first time, she was finally using her telepathy for Hero reasons.

Sensing that Penny was becoming more frustrated, Natalia checked that the Villain was distracted before she slipped away from the group in search of her best friend. A cold draught raised the hairs on her arms and she shivered, rubbing at them in an effort to warm herself. Fiddling with her necklace, Natalia comforted herself by reminding herself that she would be seeing Astrid in just a few moments.

"Astrid?" Natalia's voice echoed down the hallways, carrying under the doors.

Uneasiness settled in when she thought of the possibility that Astrid might not be the only angry thing down here. Back pressed against the wall, Astrid willed herself not cry when she heard the voice of her best friend. Convincing herself that she had simply imagined it, Astrid tried to crawl towards the door when she heard it again.

"Nat? I'm in here!" Astrid screamed. "Nat!"

Following the sound, Natalia stood before a door at the very end of the hallway. Three locks had been placed on it and there were bloodstains on the handle.

"Astrid? Are you in there?"

"I'm here, Nat. It's me," a cry of relief burst past her swollen lips when she realised that the only thing separating herself from her best friend and freedom was one simple, wooden door. "I can't use my powers."

"I can't get the door open. I'm not strong enough to break it down." Natalia explained. "We're going to have for Speed. He and Lash are dealing with Penny and her clones."

Full on sobs escaped the damaged girl when she heard the news that Lash was there. He had come to save her. He really did care about her. Hearing the cries from the other side of the door, Natalia was torn between staying with her friend and sprinting upstairs to get Speed. In her desperation, Natalia forced her thoughts to enter Speed's head. A feat she had never managed before despite how hard she practised.

'Speed, I need you. I can't get the door down.'

Ensuring Astrid remembered she wasn't alone, Natalia continued to speak to her best friend through the door, hoping Speed had heard her.

"Lash!" Speed gained the attention of his friend who was busy tying the real Penny up with a spare pair of manacles he had found, made from the same material of the ones used on Astrid. "The girls need us."

Sparing one last hateful glance at Penny, Lash hurried after Speed as they descended the stairs to the underground floor.

"You're too late, Lash. I've already broken her." Penny's haunting words plagued the boys as they trailed down the dim hallway.