Title: De profundis (part 5/5)

Author: That'd be me. *grins* Andrew, Obsidian, call me what you want. But only if it's nice. ;)

Rating: I think this'll end up staying somewhere along the T/PG-13 area.

Comments: Wow, I didn't think this would be my first D.E.B.S. fic. But the idea just wouldn't leave me alone, so... Well, hopefully, someone will enjoy it. It is just a bit dark, so be warned.

Legal Disclaimer: I do not own 'D.E.B.S.' That belongs to the fabulously talented Angela Robinson.

Author's Note: Yep, I think this story is just gonna be five parts long. Not my longest ever, but not bad for my first shot (in this fandom). And I promise, my next story will be fluffier. Or at least, not so dark and angsty... as much fun as that is. ;) (Oh, who did I think I was kidding...?)

De profundis - Up from the depths (of misery)

Perhaps this hadn't been one of her better ideas.

Amy almost laughed. Well, it was a bit late to change her mind, now. But at least there would finally be peace.

And Lucy would always be with her. That alone would always make whatever happened okay.

As the wind howled in her ears, and the windows and balconies of the hotel rushed by, she felt the serenity she'd had before return, after it had been blasted away by Lucy's presence.

Lucy herself didn't look quite so serene, muttering something to herself that Amy couldn't catch - she thought she heard Scud mentioned, but wasn't sure - and slapping at something on the handcuffs joining them together.

And then Amy's stomach protested severely as they were somehow pulled sideways, which made no sense whatsoever, and the howl of the wind was replaced by a familiar hum as her skin began tingling...

And they vanished.

Lucy staggered against a wall, leaning on it for support while she tried to keep her last meal in her stomach where it belonged. Damn, how did the D.E.B.S. do that on a regular basis? Maybe that was secretly why Amy wanted to kill herself. So she wouldn't have to use that damned thing again.

Thinking of Amy reminded her of what she was doing there in the first place, and of how little time she had to do it. A quick look around showed that Amy's room had changed very little since the last time she'd been there. That was good, it would make things faster.

She quickly set about searching the room. Desk drawers, nightstand, under the bed... all revealed nothing. She tried the closet. No, no... wait! What was that up there, on the top shelf, way in the back? That box looked somehow familiar...

She pulled it down, ignoring the various items that she knocked to the floor in her haste. She carried the box to the bed, sat down, and opened it.

And stopped.

Jesus... Her own face, grainy and blurred in a surveillance photo, looked back at her. Pictures, files, one of her diamonds... The whole box was filled with Lucy Diamond. There was even, she noted with some amusement, the infamous thesis.

And the handcuffs. They were stuck way down at the bottom, but they were there.

She let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. She didn't throw them away... Hurriedly, knowing how quickly time was slipping through her fingers, she fished the device Scud had made for her out of her pocket.

There had been a drug lord in Columbia that she had robbed blind about a month ago. Unfortunately, she'd very nearly not managed to get away, because she'd been misinformed about his security, and he'd had a powerful jamming field around his mansion that had kept her from signaling Scud that she was in trouble and needed extraction.

So after she'd finally managed to get away - by impersonating one of his own guards and going off to search for herself - she'd made up her mind not to let something like that happen again. So she'd instructed Scud to design a transmitter powerful enough to be able to punch through anything, but small enough to be missed in case she was caught and searched.

He'd done just that, making it smaller then a stud earring, and even making it look like a diamond, which had made her smile.

It also had the effect of making it blend in perfectly on a certain pair of diamond-studded handcuffs.

Plan D was ready.

Ow.

It was just about all Lucy could think as she and Amy crashed down on the floor of her lair. Thankfully, this particular floor was carpeted, and they hadn't had all that much time to gather speed, or that really would have hurt.

As they worked to untangle themselves, muttering curses inbetween making pained sounds, a celebratory whoop off to the side told them just where Scud was.

"What happened?" It was the first thing Amy could think of to ask. She could guess what had happened easily enough - she'd used the transporter enough times to know it when she felt it - but not how. A quick check of her wrist comm had shown her that Lucy had not shut off her scrambling signal. "The transporter needs a signal to lock on to. It can't just grab people randomly, especially in a situation like that."

"I know. So I brought my own." Lucy grinned, feeling the adrenaline rush brought on by their far-too-close call, and tapped the fake diamond stud on the cuffs. "Just in case."

"Just in case?"

"You think I was about to let anything happen to you if I could possibly stop it? Amy, I've stolen a lot of priceless things over the years, but compared to you, none of them are worth a damn thing."

Amy felt tears in her eyes again, but this time out of happiness. Huh, happiness. She'd almost forgotten what that felt like. She was just leaning forward to kiss Lucy when her comm started beeping frantically, making them both jump.

"Son of a..." she muttered, hitting a button.

Immediately, Mr. P.'s voice started coming out of it. Because of her tampering with it to prevent the D.E.B.S. from locking onto her, she'd lost video. But that was okay.

He was speaking in mid-sentence. "-y, are you all right? Where are you?"

She considered just ignoring him and going back to trying to kiss Lucy, but that wouldn't be fair, she knew. Her friends must have been frantic by then, and she didn't want to worry them. "I'm... We're okay. Not sure where we are, though."

She exchanged a grin with Lucy at the sound of cheers in the background. "Geez, Amy," came Janet's voice. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"You're not alone in that," Lucy piped up.

"Oui."

"So you finally made your decision, huh?" Max asked.

Amy gave a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess so," she agreed.

"I'm gonna miss you," Janet said sadly. There was a pause. "Can I have your room?"

That got a real laugh from her. "Sure," she said, still chuckling.

"Thanks! And you two take good care of yourselves. Stay in touch!"

"We will," Amy said warmly. Lucy just smiled at her, reveling in the fact that she finally - finally! - had Amy with her.

Next, she could hear Dominique blowing out a puff of smoke. Evidently, it was her turn. "I never really liked you... but I'm sad to see you go."

"Thanks, Dom. Um, I think. I'll miss you, too." She shook her head in amusement at her French teammate. Ex-teammate, she corrected herself, feeling a little giddy at the thought. "Mister P.?"

"Yes, Amy?"

"Tell Ms. Petrie that I'm sorry, but... this is something I have to do."

"Tell me yourself."

She blinked at the voice. "Ms. Petrie?"

"Agent Bradshaw, I've just been informed that my top agent just tried her best to kill herself, and was only prevented from doing so by the interference of a wanted criminal - a criminal who now, apparently, has access to the most classified form of transportation that the D.E.B.S. possess. As you may suspect, this does not put me in a good mood. Is there anything you can to add that would shed some light on all of this?"

Amy thought about that. "Not really," she said finally. "Only that I love her, and this time I'm not coming back."

"I rather suspected that would be your answer," Ms. Petrie said, resigned. "I'm afraid I must insist that you take the next three months off to rest and consider what you're doing carefully."

"Umm, actually, ma'am, I was going to just resign my commis-"

"Agent Bradshaw, you just tried to kill yourself," Ms. Petrie said, interrupting. "Evidently you've been suffering from depression for some time, as well. You're in an extremely fragile emotional state right now. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't accept a resignation from someone in your condition. Technically, I should send you to counseling and psychological examinations, but that would be difficult with you not actually here - and, I suspect, not nearly as effective therapy as what you're doing now. Amy, take the three months, and think hard to make sure this is what you really want to do. If, after that time, you still feel the same, you will have to undergo an examination, but if that comes up clear, you'll be free to do as you please."

Amy blinked in surprise. That actually sounded extremely reasonable. It would also let her collect her belongings eventually. Janet would take good care of them for her in the meantime.

Especially her sweaters, she thought with a grin.

"Okay. I'll do that, Ma'am. Thank you."

"Thank me in three months. Agent Bradshaw." A pause. "Miss Diamond." The comm clicked and was silent.

Amy shut it off, looking at it thoughtfully. That had definitely been a surprise. But perhaps it shouldn't have been. For all that she cared about the D.E.B.S. more then anything else, with the safety and security - and image - of the agency paramount in her mind, Ms. Petrie was a good person. "At least she got my name right, this time," she mused.

Lucy stared at her, lips twitching, then laughed. Which, in turn, made Amy giggle. Which made Lucy laugh harder. It continued like that until they were both laughing uncontrollably, hanging onto each other for support.

Which is just how Scud found them when he came to check on them later.

Several hours after that, Lucy lay in bed, drifting. It had been a long, exhausting - mentally and physically - day, after all. But she didn't want to go to sleep, because if she did...

She abruptly snapped herself fully awake with a start, feeling a sudden twinge of panic at the thought that it had all just been some bizarrely sad, wonderful dream.

But no, there was Amy, sitting up in bed, her pillow behind her back as she leaned against the wall, legs pulled up, balancing her sketch book on them.

Her strokes were slow and hesitant at first, but they were undeniably there. Lucy smiled. Amy had told her everything after they'd finally stopped laughing, including about her artist's block. Lucy had been appalled at how much pain she'd been in, especially since it was pretty much all her fault. But Amy wouldn't hear of blaming her. It didn't matter whose fault, if anyone's, it was anymore, she'd said.

Which sounded about right to her.

So Lucy didn't tell her to put it away for the night and come to bed. Even though they'd already worn themselves out right in that very bed, she thought with a wicked grin. If Amy wanted to draw, then she would draw, and that was all there was to it.

She slipped an arm around Amy's waist and hugged her, already feeling sleep tugging at her again. She planted a kiss on her girlfriend's waist and said, "I love you."

Amy paused briefly in her sketching, then resumed with much more speed and assurance, smiling widely.

It was no real mystery why she could, she knew.

She had her muse back.

Fin.