[kernelkink]

After she'd composed herself a little more, Stephanie tried to think things through. She was miserable, though; every possible future seemed to result in disaster. The loss of her earpiece made her feel more naked than anything else had. Well, okay, that might be an exaggeration; having her boobs swinging around made her feel pretty damn naked. But to the point: with her earpiece gone she had no way to communicate with Robert or the outside world. She didn't know if the SWAT team was here, what their plan was, if they would even act quickly enough without word from her. Basically, she was just another hostage; a sad little Latina with no power whatsoever.

She looked around at her fellow hostages. Amy looked as pathetic as Stephanie felt, pale and shivering in her Batgirl panties. The doctors and nurses all looked as frightened as they ever had since Stephanie and Amy came in. One nurse was crying, the female doctor trying to comfort her. Everyone was truly scared that they might get hurt. Stephanie shook her head sadly. She felt like crying herself. Her job was to make people feel safe and protected. She had failed so badly already, and Bruce still had six bullets to use.

“Use your natural resources,” Stephanie had said to Robert. So she decided to make a thorough inventory of what she and Amy had to use. “(1) One pair unfortunately damp boyshorts, color: pink. (2) One pair bikini panties, color: purple, special traits: Bat symbol. (3),” Stephanie continued, stroking her silky blue-black ponytail, “ One rubber hair tie, color: black.” She considered letting her hair down, but it wouldn't be long enough to really cover her boobs at all. It was just a little more than shoulder length. So it would only be a distraction.

“And (4),” Stephanie finished, giving Amy's arms a once-over, “One wrist bracelet, material: silver. Inventory complete.” It was just about as sad as she'd figured. But then Stephanie had a thought. The doctors and nurses, the true hostages, were fully dressed and potentially had something to offer her. If she could go over and talk to them, she could potentially figure out something to do. Even if they had nothing, it would be useful to plan with them and, in the worst case scenario, plot how to overpower Bruce.

Stephanie wrapped an arm around her boobs, shivering slightly as she brushed against her soft areolas and stiff nipples. She stood up slowly, wobbling with both nervousness and imbalance. Bruce immediately trained the revolver on her, squinting suspiciously. “What's the idea, pig?” he said slowly.

“I'm just going to check on the hostages again,” Stephanie replied, glancing down to see if her areolas were fully covered. Of course they weren't. “It's been a while, there's been a lot of chaos, and I want to see how they are.”

“Nah, I don't think so,” Bruce said with a smug grin. He polished Stephanie's badge, currently pinned to his chest, with his grimy fingers. Stephanie hated that. It somehow made her feel like he had ripped the clothes off her back, instead of her giving them willingly. “Take it as a compliment! I've been underestimatin' you two quite a bit. Women's lib is truly here, I have to admit it. So I ain't takin' any more chances.” He stood up, focusing the gun more purposefully. “You're gonna stay in that corner, and they're gonna stay in theirs.”

Stephanie bit her lip and shot daggers at Bruce best she could. She'd faced down a loaded gun before, but it was never easy. Especially when the memory of showing the gunman you had been soaking your panties was so very, very fresh. “We're all okay,” the female doctor called out, breaking the silence. “We're okay, thank you.” She nodded as warmly as she could, the other hostages murmuring agreement.

“Well, at least there's that,” Stephanie thought. She had been a little worried that something bad was developing over there, but they seemed more put-together than she had suspected. It was cold comfort though, as there were less than 20 minutes left and she still had no idea what she could do to save everyone. If she had to, she really would rush Bruce, but that was practically suicide and she didn't really doubt Bruce would fire on her.

Stephanie turned her gaze to Amy, who had settled on a position where her knees were pressed up against her chest and her arms were wrapped around her knees. Stephanie wondered if she could find inspiration in Amy. The teenager had tended to be most helpful or at least thought-provoking when she had been baited into giving a gut reaction, so Stephanie decided to lay that bait. “Amy,” Stephanie whispered quickly, getting the younger girl's attention. “If you had to get us out of here right now, what would you do? Tell me in 3, 2, 1-”

“Prob'ly shit myself!” hissed Amy, with a horrified expression. Aghast, she put a finger over her lips. “Oh, shoot, pardon my language, Steffy!” Amy quickly glanced at the ceiling. “You too, God.” Stephanie glared dourly at her partner. She was nothing if not painfully honest. “Now, Batgirl,” Amy continued, “she would have a good idea. But she would probably not be sitting here in her panties right now either.”

A big part of Stephanie thought this last comment was not only dumb but a waste of time. But another, desperate part of her thought there just might be a point to exploring it. “But if she was, Amy!” Stephanie insisted. “If Batgirl was sitting here in her panties, no costume and no utility belt, how would she help all these people?”

Even Amy seemed bewildered to be asked this for a second. “Well, I hope she would at least still have her mask,” she started. “It would be terrible if she lost her secret identity and everyone saw her undies on the same day. What kind of panties do you think Batgirl wears?” Stephanie shook her head in frustration and Amy got the hint. “Right, not the point. Um, well, I don't know! I think she would prob'ly have some gadget hidden somewhere. Like a secret communicator!” Amy lifted her wrist up to her mouth in imitation of some old-fashioned spy watch. “Hello? Batman? I need backup. And some spare jeans.”

Amy giggled at her own joke but Stephanie was too defeated to. She could only wish harder for her own hidden gadget of some kind. But then, synapses fired and strange connections were made. And Stephanie birthed an idea.

Bruce was the worst kind of paranoid. It was the one common factor reigning over all of his unpredictable behavior. He would fear anything, let nothing slide if he thought some powerful secret was being kept from him, and it made him much more malleable to suggestion. He was exactly the kind of person who would really believe Amy's silver bracelet was a secret communication device.

But it couldn't just be used as a bartering chip. Waiting would get them no farther. Stephanie had to bring in Kermit the Frog and end the whole thing herself. If she got Bruce to walk out the front door, even with a gun, the waiting police would stand a better chance than she and the hostages did inside. If the SWAT team was there, as she suspected they were, Bruce wouldn't stand a chance.

After thinking her plan through, Stephanie shared it with Amy. Her younger partner was freaked out, but agreed to stick with Stephanie and give it a try. The two of them waited a couple minutes to give the SWAT team more time to arrive, and then Amy lifted the bracelet to her mouth and shouted, “What's that? K-Kermit's limo just pulled up outside? And he doesn't want to see any guns since they make him n-nervous? That's g-great, we, um, we'll be out there soon!”

“What?” Bruce shouted, springing up with gun in hand. “Kermit's here? But how do you know?” Amy sat there, petrified at being in Bruce's sights, so Stephanie grabbed Amy's wrist and shoved it behind her back. This left Amy's right nipple totally exposed, causing her to squeak and pull her knees up against her chest again.

“It's our secret CIA communicator device, Bruce, but you'll never figure out what it could possibly be...” Stephanie shouted, laying painful emphasis on her words and actions to lead Bruce on. She was doing everything short of whistling nonchalantly to make sure he got the hint.

“God dammit, I'm still hip to what's in front of my eyes, pig!” Bruce growled. “You're obviously hiding it in that little bracelet, so toss it over! And not another word until ya do!” Stephanie made an exaggerated pout, but she knew Bruce would do something like this. It was essential that she let him feel like he had outsmarted them again and defused the threat so he would be off his guard when he walked outside.

Stephanie wrapped one arm around her boobs as best she could, though she knew now, with burning skin and loins both, that hints of her areolas were definitely showing. With her other arm, she slipped the bracelet off Amy's wrist. As she started to stand, she glanced down at her panties, which still, to her chagrin, had a slightly darker patch on the crotch. Stephanie didn't know how visible it would be from far away, but she still slid her hand with the bracelet over her crotch as she got to her feet. She quickly tossed it to Bruce and then planted the hand back where it was.

Bracelet in hand, Bruce smiled and lifted it to his lips. “Fantastic, thank y'all! Tell Mr. the Frog to pull up by the back entrance. I'm taking the hostages out that way, and I'll be lookin' for cops on the way out!” Stephanie felt so sick she had to gag. She had no idea there was a back entrance to this place, and that was totally on her! Thanks to her hastiness, they were all about to walk out into a whole lot of nothing, and when Bruce saw that, he would definitely be angry. “We'll give 'em a couple minutes to pull back around,” Bruce said warmly.