RandomWriter28

TF 141 stood outside a two-story house that could be compared to a miniature mansion. Too much space for one person, plenty of space for a group of people. And it was. Price’s sharp blue gaze stared at the front doors, the weight of what he was doing settling on his chest as he approached the door and knocked firmly three times. A moment passed and the door opened, revealing a man about 6-feet tall, dressed in a sharp suit with an ear piece and sunglasses, the stereotypical bodyguard look. “State your names and your business here.” The guard said in a low, wary tone, his hands put together in front of him and the gun on his side on display. “John Price. And I’m here to ask your leader for her assistance.” Price answered reluctantly. The guard looked over each man in turn before stepping aside and allowing the team into the foyer. A faint cinnamon scent lingered in the air from a wax melter in a different room and the decor was simple but lavish anyway. The guard spoke into his ear piece and another moment passed before the sound of heels clicking against the hardwood floors echoed through the foyer. Price’s gaze came up and stopped when they landed on you, dressed in a simple but formal business attire, at the top of the stairs.

“What a surprise. John Price on my doorstep asking for my help.” Your tone was bitter, posture straight as you descended the staircase until you reached the bottom. Price pressed his lips into a firm line under his moustache, clenching his jaw at your tone.

“We need to talk.” He said firmly. His tone made you scoff as you approached, crossing your arms over your chest. You feigned a hurt expression and tilted your head to the side.

“Now, John. Give me one reason why I should help you in any way after you kicked me off the team.” You narrowed your eyes at him, tilting your head slightly to stare into his gaze with a hardened gaze of your own. “Last I remember, you were telling me that my interrogation methods were unethical and inhumane despite them getting the job done. And you wouldn’t let me do the same to Vladimir Makarov.” You added, narrowing your eyes at him before your gaze shifted to Gaz and Soap for a split second when their expressions shifted subtly. Your gaze came back to Price and realization dawned on you while amusement spread across your face. “Makarov got out.”

“We need your help.” Price interjected quickly, confirming your previous statement. 

“Let me remind you that you wouldn’t be in this situation had you let me kill him in the first place.” You sneered, getting up in his face. His expression remained stoic and unreadable. However, you picked up on the tick in his jaw when you reminded him of the first time you had captured Makarov. Price swallowed his pride and took a breath, still smelling of cigars, dust and gunpowder.

“I know.” Price’s voice dropped. “Kicking you off the task force was a mistake.” Price added, the air thick and suffocating with tension and lingering hatred from you for his decision back then. You didn’t back down though, despite his admission to his wrongdoing. You could feel Gaz’s and Soap’s gazes flicking between you and Price, their expressions of unease coming with the tension that radiated through the space. After a long moment of staring each other down, you let your arms drop to your sides and your expression relaxed. Without looking away from Price, you addressed the guard standing nearby.

“Gather everyone in the living room.” You told him. The guard nodded and disappeared down a hall to do what he was ordered. “I will help you capture Makarov.” You started, a sense of relief loosening the air. “However,” Price knew that was coming. “You will hand Makarov over to me after you’ve interrogated him, and I will have my fun with him.” You narrowed your eyes again, daring Price or any of them to challenge your condition.

Price narrowed his eyes at you when you named your condition, knowing that it was coming and not liking it either way. His gaze flicked over to the guard when he disappeared to carry out his task. You focused your gaze on him when he stepped closer, challenging your gaze. “You know damn well that isn’t how we do things.” His voice was low and firm, reminding you that they had a code of conduct to follow. But you didn’t have that anymore, you lived by your own rules now. 

Soap shifted his weight on his feet from behind Price and Gaz remained silent, unrecognizing the woman standing in front of them. You listened to his firm words before a malicious grin spread across your lips. “Then I won’t help you capture Makarov.” You told him bluntly, your gaze hardening as you stepped back and crossed your arms again. “I am in no way obligated to help you, John. The fact that you had the guts to appear on my doorstap and ask for it makes me really brave or incredibly stupid. But you don’t make the conditions here. If you want my help and the manpower I can provide, then you will agree to my condition of handing over Makarov once you’ve captured him so I can feed him a taste of his own medicine.” You explained, turning away from the team, your voice carrying through the foyer while you gestured for another guard to escort the men out.

Price hated that you were so set on the condition you set for helping them, but he couldn’t afford to watch you walk away with anything coming out of this.

“You’re asking us to hand over Makarov so you can indulge in sadistic torture.” Ghost spoke up, the first time since they arrived. “What exactly do you plan to do with him once you’ve got him?” Ghost asked, crossing his arms over his broad chest, eyes dark under the skull mask.

“Since you’re so curious about my methods.” You turned back around, darkness in your eyes as you stared the team down, that same malicious grin twitching at your lips. “I am going to make him bleed. I'm going to make him cry. And scream. And beg. And plead for mercy. But I'm not going to give him mercy. Just like he did to me. And I am going to continue torturing him until he blacks out. Then I will wait for him to wake up and do it all over again. And I will continue doing that because no one will be coming to save him. And he won't be walking out of here."

Each one of the soldiers paled at the description you’d given for your plan with Makarov, your eyes catching on every little reaction they had from Price’s clenched fists to Ghosts’ subtle glint of anger in his eyes. “We’re here to take down a nuclear terrorist. Not become monsters ourselves.” Price butted in, narrowing his piercing blue eyes at you.

“We ‘ave rules, lass. A code of conduct. Torture innit a part of it.” Soap added, looking at you warily. You let out a soft sigh, shaking your head in mock disappointment.

“That’s not how we operate, love.” Gaz shook his head.

“No, that’s not how you operate. I don’t have rules to follow. I have free reign in these walls. This isn’t about revenge, it’s about Vladimir Makarov getting the karma that’s been waiting for him for a long time.” you sneered, pointing a finger at each man in turn before ending on Price, your eyes narrowing further at him. That fire in your eyes quickly disappeared, like a flip being switched, when the sound of a child’s voice echoed through the halls upstairs, giggling and squealing. You snapped around, eyes peering up at the staircase as a little girl with hair matching your own and sparkling blue eyes came skipping down the stairs, two at a time. 

“Maman!” She squealed, hopping down the last two steps before darting towards you where you scooped her up into your arms and settled her on your hip.

“Mon petit amour, maman travaille en ce moment.” You whispered to the little girl in your arms, a genuine, loving smile replacing the malice that was there moments earlier while nuzzling your nose against hers and making her giggle. You planted a soft kiss to her forehead before looking back at the men standing in her foyer.

“I have wanted nothing more than to see Makarov suffer the way he made me suffer. And I will do anything to protect my family, to keep what I have gained.” You told them, spotting the shocked expressions on their faces and the minute shock in Ghosts’ eyes. Price’s expression softened when he saw the little girl, watching the moment unfold in front of him. He could tell this was your daughter, by the way you loved on and was affectionate towards her, and the similarities in her looks to yours. She didn’t look more than seven years old. Ghost, the ever observant soldier, looked between the little girl and his captain, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

“You have a daughter.” Price said, voice softer now than it was before.

“I do. She came as a surprise to me but I wouldn’t change anything.” You looked at your daughter and smiled a little more, watching her rest her head against your shoulder while she stared at the four men standing in front of you. 

“What about her father?” Gaz asked, raising a curious brow. 

“He’s not in the picture.” your tone became bitter again. “It was a one night stand that happened because of drunken choices. But I don’t regret anything regarding my daughter.” you explained, eyes flicking towards Price for a split second before you took a breath. “I’ve given you my conditions. In exchange for the manpower I’m willing to provide, I want Makarov handed over to me. If you can’t do that, then I won’t help you clean up the mess you’re in.” You laid out, shaking your head.

The silence stretched, the only sound being the slight movement from your daughter whenever she moved in your arms. You hoisted her further up on your hip before brushing her hair out of her face before your attention came to Price when he spoke up.

“Can we talk? In private.” Price dropped his voice, looking between you and your daughter. You huffed before looking back at a guard. 

“Take them to the living room.” you instructed before looking at Gaz, Soap, and Ghost. “Make yourselves at home.” You told them before gesturing for Price to follow you. The silence between the two of you was tense, charged, and full of unspoken comments and unasked questions. You handed your daughter off to the nanny you hired before stepping through a doorway into your personal office. Once Price was inside, you shut the door behind him and sauntered over to your desk.

“When were you going to tell me? Were you going to tell me at all?” Price’s questions came fast, filling the silent air while you rounded your desk and folded your arms. Your silence irked him more than he cared to admit. “Were you goin’ to tell me that you were pregnant?!” Price kept his voice calm but his question came out more as a demand.

“Would you have stuck around if I did?” You peered at him over your shoulder. He stiffened up at your question, a frown tugging at his lips. 

“O’course I would’ve.” His voice was closer now, right behind you. You tensed when you felt his hands on your biceps, holding your breath until you saw him step around until he was standing in front of you. “I woulda wanted nothin’ more.” He muttered, a solemn look in his once cold gaze. You stared off at the floor until you felt his finger nudge your chin up until you met his gaze. You swallowed the growing nerves in your throat and let your arms drop to your sides.

“She’s always asking about you.” You felt a tinge of shame hit your heart for keeping this from him but at the time, he’d given you no choice. The silence returned, not as tense as before, but still thick.

“I will give you Makarov.” Price’s voice hit your ears and your gaze jumped back to his in surprise. “But, I have conditions of my own.” you sighed, knowing he would.

“What are they?” you ask, feeling his hands rub up and down along your arms.

“I will give you Makarov if you keep her out of this mafia business of yours and…” Price paused, bringing his hands down to grasp yours. “I would like us to start over. I wanna get to know my daughter.” He finished explaining. You felt your throat tighten as you met his gaze, searching for anything that would tell you he was lying but came up empty. You thought over his request and felt your heart squeeze in your chest before nodding.

“Okay. We can do that.” you agreed, feeling your lips twitch up into a slight smile. Price smiled in return before tucking you against his chest, arms strong and protective around you while your arms wrapped around his chest and gently gripped at the back of his shirt. “I’ve missed you so much, John.” you whispered against his chest.

Leon finished speaking with Grace, letting her know about the possibility of saving Emily, turning and walking away before spotting the soldiers rolling a gurney towards one of the idle helicopters and he jogged over, recognizing your face. “How is she?” Leon asked upon approaching the medics, walking beside the gurney until they reached the helicopter.

“Alive. She was infected with the same thing as you and took the antiviral immediately.” the medic explained, stepping back as the soldiers lifted the gurney into the aircraft. Leon’s brow furrowed together. You had been infected by the T-virus too? He snapped out of it when the helicopter came to life. He stared at you, lying motionless with a steady heartbeat in the heli. 

“You coming?” a voice called from the cockpit of the heli. Leon looked over and chuckled, meeting gazes with Chris Redfield. 

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Hope not. Isn’t that what the antiviral was for?” Chris chuckled, settling into his seat as Leon climbed into the cabin. He accepted a headset offered to him and placed it on his head, allowing him to hear Chris and the rest of the team clearly over the noise of the rotors above them. 

“Never thought I’d see that ugly mug again.” Leon jested, shaking his head as he pulled the door shut and took his seat just as the helicopter started taking off.

Your face scrunched up from the pain radiating through your body, a soft groan falling from your lips as you peeled your eyes open. You flinched and closed them again from the brightness of the fluorescent lights above you. Your hands moved underneath yourself, pushing you up into a sitting position with another groan from the ache that felt like it was everywhere.

“Take it easy. You took quite the fall and then some.” you forced your eyes open again, glancing around while your eyes adjusted to the light until your gaze stopped on a familiar face.

“Chris? What the hell?” you laid back down and your arm wrapped around your abdomen, your face scrunching up in discomfort. “Fuck, what happened?” you questioned, looking at Chris as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

“That’s a story I better leave for someone else to tell you.” Chris said, looking over towards the doorway as another familiar face entered the room. Your heart leapt in your throat, eyes widening as tears threatened to blur your vision. Chris stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving you and Leon in the room together. The two of you were silent as he stepped further into the room and occupied a chair at your bedside.

“What happened?” you asked, needing to know that first and foremost. Leon pulled the file from under his arm and handed it to you. Inside, it contained a journal full of entries about your discovery and what had been done to you. You read through every single page, brows pinched together while the pieces clicked together. From the corner of your eye, you watched Leon sip at the cup of coffee he’d gone to grab, the lights catching on something metal on his hand. You looked at him and immediately recognized the ring, your heart clenching in your chest. “You found it.” Your voice was breathy, eyes locked on the ring on his hand. He looked at it and then at you before nodding.

“Yeah, along with your note.” He stared at the ring before remembering the small weight in his pocket. “Oh, um, the doctors asked me to hold onto this for you while they did scans and shit.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the engagement ring you had tucked away in one of the pockets on your tactical vest. You clenched your jaw, holding back the tears that came back tenfold.

You had just gotten off the plane and to the hotel for your next mission. The flight had been long and uncomfortable so you were looking forward to getting to your room and getting some much needed rest. As you reached your room and entered, you dropped your suitcase on the extra bed and opened it up to grab your shower items and pajamas. As you turned to head to the bathroom, you heard a soft thump on the floor, making you turn with a raised brow as you looked towards where the noise came from.

“The hell?” you muttered, spotting a small box sitting on the floor before bending down to pick it up. It was velvet. The texture of the box made your throat tighten. You glanced towards your suitcase and noticed a piece of paper tucked under the holster of your gun. Upon picking it up and unfolding it, you began reading what the note said.

Your eyes flicked back and forth over the words, tears pricking your eyes as you looked at the velvet box in your hand again. Once you finished reading the note, you set down the paper and opened the velvet box, your eyes settling on a sparkling, three stone engagement ring with a silver band. You choked out a sob and put a hand over your mouth, staring at the ring as a couple of tears rolled down your cheeks.

You stared at the ring in Leon’s hand, sitting up a little more before meeting his gaze. “Even though you don’t like over-the-top things, I couldn’t let you leave without knowing if you would be mine?” Leon quoted his note. You put your hand over your mouth like you had years ago. 

“Leon…” You whimpered, watching a mixture of emotions swirl around in his eyes. You nodded quickly and immediately regretted it, feeling your head spin. Leon let out a soft chuckle before slipping the ring onto your hand, his hand coming to rest between your shoulders while the dizziness subsided. “I said yes when I found it in my luggage then too.” you told him, meeting his gaze and smiling, your tears beginning to dry. Leon smiled even more before leaning down and kissing your head.

“So we’ve been engaged for what? Five years?” Leon asked. You laughed and leaned your head against his shoulder, closing your eyes and letting a soft breath enter your lungs. “And we didn’t even know it.” His voice dropped and became softer, exhaustion starting to settle in your bones and that didn't slip by Leon’s notice. A yawn was pulled from your lips after you laid back into the pillow behind you, and Leon gently grasped your hand in his.

You stood in the middle of the golden yellow room, staring at the Elpis device that Zeno had been trying to figure out since discovering it. Your arms remained crossed over your chest, a blank expression on your face. You had ordered to get to ARK and wait for Zeno and Grace to arrive and keep the place protected, so that’s exactly what you’d done. But being by yourself proved to be not such a good idea.

It was another day at the DSO, the usual buzz of people in the offices just a background noise to you now. You were heading to the training room where you and Leon had planned to meet up and train for the day, working on your hand-to-hand combat skills. As you stepped through the door, your eyes landed on your partner as he busied himself while he waited for you. “Hopefully I didn’t keep you waiting too long, old man.” you taunted, catching his attention and watching that cocky smirk tug at his lips.

“I would wait for as long as I needed to for you.” he flirted, smirk growing when he spotted the flush that crept along your cheeks. You glared at him and smacked his shoulder before setting down your gym bag and doing a bit of stretching.

“Even after all this time, you can’t help yourself when it comes to flirting.” you rolled your eyes but couldn’t conceal your own grin spreading on your lips.

“Only for you, sweetheart.” His voice was unexpectedly closer, startling you some before you jerked around and were mere inches from kissing him. His grin widened, hands resting on your hips and everything about him subtly clouding your senses before you remembered why you were in the first place. So you caught him off guard when you kicked his leg out from under him, bringing him to his knee to look up at you. A smirk of your own tugged at your lips as your hand came up and settled against the stubble on his jaw, the glint of a metal bag circling your ring finger that caught your attention for a second.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have time to play around.” You grinned, initiating the training after Leon climbed to his feet. He gave you pointers, helped you fix your posture, and increased the difficulty the further into training you got. What really disoriented him was when he grabbed you to pin you but your legs came around and wrapped around his hips, the momentum allowing you to take him down and land on top of him, straddling him. One of his hands held your wrist of the hand holding a fake knife and one of yours held onto his forearm.

“Someone’s got a special move.” he teased, releasing your wrist after pulling you down and pressing a kiss to your lips.

“Only for you, sweetheart.” You fed him his own words and watched the dust of pink creep across his cheeks while a rough chuckle shook his chest under you.

You blinked and lifted your gaze when you heard the sliding doors of the room open and close, your eyes landing on Zeno and Grace as they entered and approached the giant, circular platform that the device was on. Zeno was explaining something to Grace that you didn’t pay too much attention to, not that it was any of your business.

You continued watching the two before feeling the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, eyes glancing back and forth before you turned your head slightly to peer over your shoulder. There he was. Before Zeno or Grace had noticed him, you were already kicking Leon’s gun out of his hand and listening to it clatter away from either of you. You stood your ground in between Leon and Zeno and Grace, your knife gripped in one hand while you stood ready to fight Leon again.

“Don’t embarrass yourself, Mr. Kennedy.” Zeno said behind you, talking to Leon. “You can’t beat me.”

With that, you swung the blade of the knife at Leon, watching him duck back and catch your arm. Your other hand came around to land a punch across his jaw, pulling a soft grunt from his lips before he held his jaw and looked at you.

“Still packing quite the punch.” Leon gruffed before twisting your arm until you dropped your knife but you caught it with your other hand and swung it back around. Leon grabbed your wrist again and met your gaze, but you refused to break under it. Your booted foot came up and kicked the back of his knee, bringing him down onto one before your arm wrapped around his neck in a headlock with the knife against his throat. Leon wasn’t fighting back, he couldn’t find it in himself to fight you, to hurt you, but he was starting to run out of options.

“And you still don’t find time to play around.” He grunted, peering up at you with those baby blue eyes.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have time to play around.” You grinned, initiating the training after Leon climbed to his feet.

You narrowed your eyes at him and tightened your grip on the handle of your knife, feeling him pull you around where your boot pushed you away from the railing and towards him, landing in the same position as the last time. “Always with the special move.”

“Someone’s got a special move.” he teased, releasing your wrist after pulling you down and pressing a kiss to your lips.

You growled and pushed the knife towards him, feeling and noticing your vision begin to blur as tears built up in your eyes. You had a surprising amount of strength against Leon, his hold struggling a bit to keep the knife away from his skin. “Come on, sweetheart. You know I won’t hurt you.” His voice was a soft whisper against your cheek, only a couple of inches between your face and his as the knife blade inched closer to his neck. Your breaths wavered in your lungs, a single tear slipping down your cheek as Leon’s hold against you fell away and the knife moved forward abruptly. A gasp of breath sounded and you weren’t sure if it came from you or Leon. You hadn’t realized you closed your eyes until you opened them and saw the knife blade had narrowly missed Leon’s neck, piercing into the metal flooring from the sheer force. Your eyes were no longer a hazy white color. Instead, they were back to normal, the only remnants of the mind altering control being a small ring of white around your pupil in each eye.

You lifted your head when you heard Zeno’s voice yelling at Grace about whatever she did. Upon seeing the black marks receding from Zeno’s skin, you yanked your knife from the floor and lunged at him, knocking both of you down just as the platform started to crumble. You were so occupied with keeping Zeno from getting to Leon and Grace that you hadn’t noticed that she’d put in the password and gotten the cure from Elpis and administered one to Leon.

Leon boosted Grace onto one of the lasting walkways before pulling himself up, turning to look at you as you fought Zeno. Hearing your name be called, your head jerked around and met Leon’s gaze, your feet working automatically to push you towards him and Grace but just before you could jump to grab the hanging bar, Zeno grabbed you and your fight resumed. Leon’s eyes widened as the platform fell further down before crumbling entirely and time seemed to slow down as you slit Zeno’s throat, finally killing him before turning and looking at Leon. You brought a gloved hand to your lips, blowing a kiss his way before disappearing into the darkness below. Grace’s voice briefly snapped him out of it.

You pulled the binoculars away from your face, having watched more infected drop from the gun of one Leon Scott Kennedy. You watched the area you were scouting for a moment longer before walking over to your laptop, noting down what you observed before sending it. The movements were stiff, automatic, like they weren’t your own but you didn’t know how else to be. The afternoon sun was shining high in the sky above the dilapidated ruins of Raccoon City, the radiated city looking bleak and colorless after the nuke had been dropped on it. You didn’t linger on looking over what remained of the city, having a mission and needed to carry it out.

Stop Leon S. Kennedy.

“He’s moving through the infected fast.” A voice said from the ear piece you had equipped. “Let’s give him a warm welcome home.” You looked at the city, the last spot you’d seen the DSO agent, with piercing white eyes. Without so much as a word, you grabbed your weapons and left your scouting spot, swiftly climbing down the crumbling pieces of the building you had been camping out in. 

It didn’t take long to find him, having a trail of bodies and blood leading straight to him. You found him at the gates that blocked off the rest of the city, putting in place the detonator he’d pieced together. Your spot in a building on the corner provided good coverage, because you noticed a few more infected rising from their nuclear graves. Leon spun around, drawing his gun to fight them off but you were quicker, tucked away where he couldn’t quite see you. Each shot rang and echoed through the air, your mind keeping count of each bullet used as the infected dropped one by one. Leon looked around, confused and cautious while keeping his pistol drawn. You set down your rifle where you perched and adjusted the cloth concealing your face and preventing most dust from entering your lungs. Leon spotted you immediately when you climbed the ledge of the second floor you were on, eyes narrowing as you stared at him over the cloth perched over your nose and mouth. 

A drop that should’ve fractured something was painless and harmless to you as your feet hit the ground below, your steps slow and methodical as you approached the agent as if he wasn’t aiming a gun at you. There was a light breeze in the air that brushed over the cloth, pressing it against your face but your eyes remained unflinching, even when a gun shot rang through the air. There was a light sting in your shoulder and you looked down, seeing the entry point of the bullet before the wound healed within seconds. Your gaze came back to Leon, your head tilted to the side a little before you narrowed your eyes and charged at him. Before he got another shot off, you kicked the gun out of his hands, listening to it hit the ground and slide away before you shoved him against the metal barring of the gate. A grunt left his lips but the surprise on his face didn’t go unnoticed from the amount of strength you seemed to have. 

“Great, another one of Victor’s experiments.” Leon muttered before blocking your arm when you attempted to slash at him with the knife from your belt. The exchange went back and forth for a moment, each attack matching the next in speed and agility, a dangerous dance between you and the agent until he had you by the waist. The cloth on your face had slipped during the hand-to-hand combat, your eyes meeting him and watching the surprise harbor the hidden emotions from the past. Hearing your name fall from his lips made memories long forgotten reemerge in the back of your mind but you didn’t waste a second to shove your hand against his chest, the force of it plus what had been done to change your biology sent him flying back into the concrete wall.

“You must be delusional, Mr. Kennedy.” You said, rolling your shoulders back and approaching where he sat hunched over on the ground against the concrete. Leon felt his chest tighten upon hearing your voice and how you said his name, bringing his gaze up from the ground beneath him and meeting your eyes that used to be so full of mischief and excitement. Now they hold a cold emptiness, but he refused to believe that the woman he first met wasn’t there somewhere.

You flinched and stopped midstep when he said your name again, your hands clenching into fists at your sides. “What did he do to you?” Leon’s question hung heavily in the air between the two of you, your fierce eyes narrowing at him as he climbed to his feet, his own gaze never wavering from you. Dust followed the wind when the breeze picked up, his hand grasping his side while he straightened up against the wall. Your lips twitched a little before tugging up into a smirk, showing off the little fangs that fit right in with the rest of your teeth. 

Leon shook his head with a light scoff before charging at you, a grunt leaving your lips when his shoulder collided with your gut. A growl sounded from you when you hit the ground, lifting your head and glaring at Leon before jumping to your feet and quickly ducking when he swung to grab you again. “This isn’t you.” Leon grunted, skidding to a stop when you launched him backwards, his hand over the spot that your hand had collided with his chest that sent him back. Leon grabbed your forearms and swung you around towards the wall, and you used that opportunity to press your boot against the wall and push yourself towards him, pushing him back and making him stumble back.

You landed on top of him, straddling his waist and holding a dagger to his neck while his hands remained against the ground. Those baby blues of his stared up at you, a chuckle shaking his chest under you. “Just like the training room.” He said, his words sparking another memory to prop up in the back of your mind, making you visibly flinch before growling in frustration. Your head perked up when you heard the voice in your ear piece again.

“Return to base.”

Without a second thought, you shoved yourself off of Leon and darted off, climbing the building you had dropped from and retrieved your rifle before disappearing like a ghost in the wind. Leon watched as you fled, taking shaky breaths into his sore lungs as he climbed to his feet. 

“Leon? Are you okay? What’s going on?” Sherry asked through his comms device.

“Yeah, just…ran into an old friend.” 

You returned to your stakeout spot and set the rifle down, your eyes landing on Zeno as he stood near your computer with a white haired woman beside him who looked confused and lost. Her hand reached out to touch one of your weapons and your hand swiftly came out and grabbed her wrist, making her flinch back and look at you in shock.

“Easy now.” Zeno said, turning to look at you. Your focus remained on the woman before you reluctantly let her go, standing up straight and turning your focus to Zeno when he looked at you.

“Youse okay?” he asked, raising a brow at you. You stared at him for a moment before registering that he had asked you a question.

“Uh yeah, yeah. I’m cool.” you told him but he wasn’t buying it. However, he didn’t push the subject, grabbing a tray and going down the line to get food with you following suit. You were functioning on autopilot as of right now, everything felt like too much. The lights seemed too bright, the noises around you felt too loud, the feel of your uniform made your skin crawl and made you want to crawl of them, and scent of the food being placed on your tray made you want to turn up your nose and not eat it at all for the rest of the day. You automatically followed Yancy to your usual table, sitting beside him but you didn’t move to start eating your food.

He took notice of this and frowned a little, taking himself out of the conversation that his friends were having to focus on you. He gently nudged your shoulder, watching you snap out of whatever trance you were in and look at him before offering him a small smile.

“Are youse sure? Youse just poking at your food.” he pointed out, making sure not to draw attention to you. You dropped your gaze to your tray as your smile faded, a shuddering breath entering your lungs as unexpected tears filled your eyes. Yancy’s concern only grew when he noticed how your eyes gained a glassy look to them, his words catching in his throat when you suddenly stood and left the table, heading to the cell block. He closed his mouth and watched you disappear around the corner, wanting to go after you but deciding that you probably needed some space.

You reached yours and Yancy’s cell, stepping inside and going over to the bunk where you climbed onto the top bed, your bed, and curled up on your side to face the wall. The tears started to fall and you attempted to stay quiet so you didn’t catch the attention of the guards or passing inmates, remaining in your bed for the rest of lunch period and into free time. You picked up on the sound of the door of the cell opening and closing, soft footsteps approaching the bed and the slight creak of the metal bed frame. 

“Wanna talk?” Yancy’s voice was gentle, carefully not to break the remaining bit of your patience that you were barely holding onto. You stared at the wall for a while before slowly rolling over onto your other side, meeting Yancy’s gaze while sniffling and wiping at the tears that trickled down your cheeks.

“Everything feels too much. From the moment I woke up today, everything has been getting on my nerves and overstimulating me.” Your voice trembled slightly as you spoke, hands gripping onto the blanket beneath you. Yancy crossed his arms on the edge of your bed and rested his chin on his arms, frowning softly. 

“What does youse want?” he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly, maintaining eye contact despite you looking away from him. You were silent for a moment, thinking over his question and chewing at the inside of your cheek before you met his gaze again.

“Can we cuddle?” Your voice was small and the sound of it made Yancy’s heart clench in his chest.

“Of course.” He climbed up the rest of the way while you shuffled over to make room for him, watching him lie down beside you before you tucked yourself into his side, your head settling on his chest and listening to his heartbeat while his arm loosely wrapped around you and gently drew mindless shapes against your hip. The steady beat of his heart helped ease your mind, your breaths syncing with his while the two of you laid in silence, simply enjoying each other’s presence and holding each other.

“Thank you, Yancy.” you muttered softly after lights out, feeling sleep starting to drag you down as your lashes fluttered and eye lids fell shut.

You remembered the first time he had a nightmare while the two of you were dating. It had you panicked, you weren’t sure what to do, especially since he hadn’t opened up much about his past or whatever he’d gone through to cause such night terrors. 

A soft groan was pulled from your lips when you felt movement beside you in bed, your eyes slowly peeling open to see that Simon was tossing and turning. He was mumbling about something that shouldn’t have happened, or that it wasn’t his fault, or someone called ‘The Butcher’. “Simon?” you muttered softly, rolling over to sit up and looking at him fully after rubbing the remaining sleep from your eyes. When he didn’t respond, your brows came together in worry and confusion before you nudged his shoulder, calling his name again a little louder.

He still didn’t wake up. A dreadful panic settled in the pit of your stomach as you turned to face him and placed your hands on his shoulders, shaking him in an attempt to wake him up. “Simon?! Wake up!” you urged. You hadn’t realized the yelp of surprise come from you when you were suddenly pinned against the mattress, dark eyes with shrunken pupils staring down at you before lashes fluttered and his attention fully focused on you. Your chest was heaving with breaths while you stared up at him, eyes wide in surprise. Simon finally seemed to notice what had happened and pushed himself off of you as if he’d burned himself from touching you.

“I-I-I’m so sorry.” he muttered, staring at you when a gloss coated his eyes. You slowly sat up and frowned a little, reaching over to take one of his hands but Simon flinched away.

“Simon. It’s okay.” you said softly, attempting to grab his hand again and he let you, your fingers intertwining together before you brought his calloused hand to your lips with a gentle kiss to his knuckles. “It was just a nightmare. You’re safe here.” You coaxed him closer to you before you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and felt his head rest against your chest, listening to your heartbeat. “It’s okay, my love.” You shushed, your hand gently caressing up and down along his arm while your chin rested atop his head, feeling his body slowly relaxing and his breaths evening out. The two of you laid in bed, holding each other while you helped him calm down from the anxiety his nightmares caused. “Nothing can hurt you here.” 

The door hissed open after you punched in the code to the keypad, kicking off your boots before going over to the washroom and looking at yourself in the mirror. Evidence of the lack of sleep was starting to show on your face, shadows under your eyes that held a slight redness from being rubbed. Maybe Mark didn’t love you anymore? He wouldn’t cheat on you though, right? Maybe they’re just good friends? You were trying to logic with yourself, unaware of the door opening and closing to your quarters or the footsteps approaching you from behind until you felt a pair of hands on your hips. Your focus honed in on your reflection, seeing Mark standing behind you now.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked, bringing a hand up and wiping at the tears you hadn’t noticed were rolling down your cheeks. You sniffled a little and felt the dam of tears straining against your throat. Unable to form words right now, you shook your head and felt Mark’s arms wrap around you in a firm embrace. The doubt was starting to eat at you now.

“D-do you still love me?” you breathed out, raising your head to meet his gaze. Mark’s expression melted into shock and then into sympathy at your question.

“Of course I do. How could I not?” He pulled you back into a tight embrace, rubbing a hand up and down your back while you leaned your head against his chest, sniffling and feeling more tears rolling down your cheeks.

“I-i-i don’t know. I just…I saw you talking to that crew member and the way you were smiling and stuff made me think-” Mark silenced you when he lifted your head up by the chin. You frowned a little, unable to help the apology that automatically slipped out.

“You don’t need to apologize. I do still love you and only you. She was simply asking about colonists and Celci.” Mark reassured, maintaining eye contact with you despite you wanting to look away and curl in on yourself. “Of course I still love you.” His arm wrapped around you again. You wrapped your arms around his abdomen and closed your eyes tight, taking in a deep, shaky breath that pulled his scent into your senses. The comforting hint of oil and sweat with a little bit of dust helped ease you from your anxious thoughts before your tears dried up and you looked up at him again.

“I love you too, Mark. I really do. I’m just afraid you’ll leave me for someone else. Someone better.” a soft gasp left your lips when he kissed you to shut you up, not wanting to hear anymore doubts come from you. When he pulled back, he gave you his dopey and charming smile.

Your legs trembled as you stood from your bed, tossing the notebook onto the made bedding along with the pen before you walked over to the door that separated your room from the rest of the manor. Most everyone was out doing something, you knew Dark was up in his office, and Wilford was somewhere around here.

Wilford.

Your heart clenched at the thought of him. He’d been so welcoming since you arrived and despite his strange habits and alarming personality, he was always a joy to be around. Your throat tightened as you lifted your gaze, attempting to stop the tears from falling but a couple escaped. Your steps were quiet, careful, as you walked to the bathroom, hands trembling, body stiff and mind running wild with a mixture of the voices and thoughts on top of the reality of what you were about to do. But you couldn’t handle all of it anymore. It was too much. It was too loud. It was overwhelming. Your heart hammered against your ribs, reminding you that you were alive, awake, and on the verge of breaking.

You stopped in front of the bathroom, pausing when your thoughts pulled another memory from the depths of your crowded mind. 

It was the first week of staying in the manor and your room felt so barren though you barely had the motivation to do anything to change it. There was an enthusiastic knock at the door that pulled you from your ever-consuming thoughts, your throat working automatically to call out ‘come in’. Wilford had bounded into the room before halting abruptly, noticing had depressing the room looked before looking at you, curled up in your bed, facing away from the door, away from him. His lips formed a small pout under the pink mustache before an idea infiltrated his mind.

“Come on, sugarplum! We’re going to decorate your room! I’m taking you to the mall!” Wilford declared before stripping the blanket right off of you, the sudden chill of the room shocking your system before you looked at him. You couldn’t hold back the small smile that formed on your lips at the bubbly aura wrapped around Wiflord. He urged you out of bed and ushered you to get dressed before the two of you spent an entire day together. He was absolutely spoiling you, despite your protests and arguments against him spending money on you, but the smile on your face was something he didn’t want to see disappear ever again.

When the two of you got home that day, Wilford helped you organize and situate your room with the new things he bought you before the two of you played games and told jokes, enjoying each other’s company. It was one of the better days amidst the dark storm that constantly surrounded your mind.

Your lashes fluttered, your eyes refocusing on the bathroom door as you brought a hand up and touched at the tears rolling down your cheeks. You closed your eyes tight and felt your mind beginning to succumb to the dark thoughts once again, reminding you that happiness was only temporary, it would never last, and you didn’t deserve anything that the Alters did for you. With your trembling hand on the door knob, you pushed open the door and stepped into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind you before you stepped away from it, staring at it for a while, the tears continuing down your cheeks. You shook your head, feeling too weak against the storm in your mind that weighed down your limbs and settled a heaviness on your heart that ached. You turned to the sink and reached for the mirror, pulling it open and looking amongst the multiple pill bottles sitting on the small shelves. Each of them had your name on them, each one was prescribed by a different doctor, each one was given for a different purpose from sleep aid to shutting off the thoughts that constantly filled your head. 

Your focus zeroed in on the name of the bottle in your hands. Diazepam. You looked at the amount in the bottle, subconsciously counting them and doing the math compared to the prescribed milligrams. 150mg. You nodded a little, determining that it would be enough while you sat at the edge of the bathtub and slowly sank down onto the floor, back against the side of the tub and legs pulled up until your knees were against your chest. 

Everything felt louder now. Your heart pounding, the twist of the bottle cap, the tapping of the pills as they landed in your hand, the shallow breaths entering and exiting your lungs. Your throat tightened even before you brought your hand to your mouth, dumping the pills onto your tongue and easing them down with a swallow of water from the sink. Everything was still. Nothing felt different as you leaned into the corner where the wall met the corner of the tub. 

Time felt like it had slowed down, or maybe that was just your heart rate? Your breathing? You weren’t sure anymore. You stared off at the sink cupboards, all of the sounds around you seemed muffled. There was a knock on the bathroom door and when you tried to answer, nothing came out. The doorknob jiggled a bit before a pounding rammed against the door, but you couldn’t move or say anything. Your eyes started to feel heavy, your breaths slower and deeper with a lingering anxiety tugging at the back of your mind. The door to the bathroom busted open, Wilford and Dark standing on the other side. Wilford’s eyes glanced over you, widening and bouncing between the glass of water, the empty pill bottle and your paling skin.

“Sweetpea.” His voice cracked, and in that moment, he wasn’t Wilford ‘Motherlovin’ Warfstache. He was William J. Barnum. His heart dropped when he noticed your eyes starting to droop shut.

“Doc! Get up here!” Dark called out, watching Wilford rush over to your side and scoop you into his arms. 

“Hey, sweetpea. Keep your eyes open for me. Keep them on me.” Wilford said, moving you into his lap with ease and tapping your cheek. You hardly understood what Wilford was saying until he lifted your face by your chin and held your gaze. “Come on.” he begged softly, worry etched into his features while your lashes fluttered and your body slumped against him. His eyes scanned over your features, taking in the pale color and the blueish tint that your lips had taken on. Doc skidded to a stop into the bathroom and saw the scene unraveling in front of him, his quick examination of the room giving him the details he needed without asking any questions.

Wilford felt panicked, his fingers gently wrapped around your wrist and feeling your pulse slowing down under his touch. Your eyes fluttered shut. “I’m sorry, Wilford.” Your voice was breathy, hitched and quiet.

“Hey, hey, no, keep your eyes on me. Come on, open them up.” He tapped your cheek again and again, your lashes fluttering for a moment before shutting again, your body slumping further into him as darkness started consuming your vision. Wilford felt tears building in his eyes, watching Doc work to get you conscious and flush the medication out of your system while Dark was calling 9-1-1. Wilford buried his nose into your hair, sniffling and taking in your scent while rocking you back and forth. 

Wilford was sitting in a chair beside the hospital bed, his hand intertwined with yours while the monitor beeped steadily in the room, filling the silence with its signal that you were alive. He was staring at your wrist, fingertips gently grazing over the light scars that were once dealt by a blade, his throat tightening at the same time as his hand around yours. He wasn’t the bright and goofy, colorful man that everyone was used to in that moment. He was just William. A man in love with a person who almost lost an ever-going battle in their mind. “Come back to me. Please.” His eccentric accent was gone, his overalls were draped around his waist and the top buttons of his shirt were opened, his hair draped over his face and the remnants of tears and loss of sleep remained on his face.

“You lying, manipulative son of a bitch!” you raised one of your hands and slapped him hard across the face, watching the surprise bloom over his expression as his eyes landed on you. He was speechless for a moment and for a number of reasons. How did you break through the ‘adventure’? Why were you so angry? And most importantly, why the hell did you slap him? He would get his answers soon enough. The makeup and costume staff quickly vacated the room, leaving the two of you alone. You were seething. The script in one of Mark’s hands was left forgotten about on his lap, his focus entirely on you.

“You’ve kept me trapped in these endless fucking nightmares for years and you knew everything!” you kept a pointed finger at him, eyes narrowed with a fire in them that Mark had never seen before.

“Wh-what do you mean, darling?” He hadn’t meant to stutter but the anxiety of you knowing the truth and the fury radiating off of you forced it out. His question only seemed to piss you off more.

“Don’t play fucking dumb with me, Mark! You know exactly what I’m talking about! But you were never going to tell me, were you? You were just going to keep me around to fulfill your stupid fucking fantasies until my usefulness ran out, weren’t you?!” Your voice was raised, chest heaving with short breaths. Mark’s face dropped when the reality of the situation started to set in. “I was just some fucking pawn in your stupid game! Wasn’t I!?”

“Hun, come on, you know that’s not true.” Mark slowly stood from his chair, setting the script on the seat of it while his gaze remained on you. He reached out to grab your hand but you pulled back before he could, an incredulous look on your face at the audacity he had to try and touch you.

“I don’t know what to believe, Mark. You’ve been hiding and keeping things from me this entire time and I come across some entity who looks very similar to you who tells me everything and shows me the life I had before all of these ‘adventures’. You lied to me this entire time.” Somehow, the softening and bitterness of your voice was worse than you yelling at him because at least he could tell you were mad. “I thought-” you stopped, throat tightening when the words tried to leave your lips and failed to. With a grounding breath, you looked at Mark through tearful eyes and a deepening frown. “I thought you loved me…”

Mark froze up, the emptiness in his chest feeling heavier than ever, eyes slightly widened when the words left your lips. The chasm where his heart should’ve been ached and tightened, his hands clenching at his sides. This felt like your goodbye but he couldn’t let you go. No, he wasn’t going to let you go.

“I don’t know what you want from me, hun.” 

“I want freedom! I want to live the life that I didn’t think I could have! I want to get out of here! I want you to let me go!”

“NO!” The facade crumbled around, the room falling away. You stepped back, eyes staring wide at Mark as his picture-perfect disguise fell away, revealing a broken, bare-holding together corpse of the man you once knew. In place of the honey brown eyes that you once loved staring into were fierce red eyes that glowed with an intensity that made you hesitate. For a moment, Mark just stood there, eyes on the ground with his hands clenched at his sides. “I need you.” His voice was quieter, a low echo in the darkness that surrounded all sides of you. Your anger returned tenfold.

“You need me? You need me?! Why? Because you love me?! Or because you just need a player to control in the games you create!?” 

What remained of Mark’s composure shattered upon hearing your hurtful words. Heavy darkness in shape of chains wrapped around your wrists and ankles before yanking you down until you were on your knees.

“You are mine. And only mine. You don’t get to leave just because you had some eye-opening interaction with him.”

The calmness in Mark’s voice made you freeze, eyes widening as he raised his head and looked at you with piercing ruby eyes.

“You are my toy and I’m going to play with you for as long as I want because that’s all you’re good for.”

Mark stalked closer to you and knelt down, leaning in towards your ear despite your best efforts to lean away from him.

As you approached the man in the water, you knelt down and brought a hand to the column of his throat, feeling for a pulse. Faint. He was alive. You nodded to yourself and were about to stand back up when a strong grip wrapped around your wrist and yanked you back. Your eyes met a pair of unfamiliar ones, one a deep chocolate brown and the other a fierce ruby. The resident was about to come forward to help you but you brought your other hand out to stop him. 

“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” Your voice was soft spoken, your free hand coming to rest on top of the one holding your wrist. You took a moment to look over the man’s features, his defined jawline and the stubble that layered it, his dark hair and the curls that framed the sides of his face and how half of it was pulled back into a ponytail, the scar on his neck that seemed to conceal a mark underneath it and barely succeeded. His grip around your wrist slowly released you and you offered a small smile, standing up and holding out a hand to him to help him out of the water. 

The man looked at you, wary, before taking your hand and climbing to his feet. His eyes glanced around, taking in his surroundings like a lost child looking for their parents. “Do you know what your name is?” you asked him, his attention snapping back to you when you spoke. He was silent for a while before his lips parted, his chest filling with a breath that he seemed surprised to take.

“It-it’s Simon.” He looked towards the other resident, his eyes widening a bit and when you looked between the two, you could tell something was up. However, you weren’t expecting the resident to lunge at the new guy.

“Woah! Jack! What is going on with you?” you stepped between Jack and Simon, looking between them before focusing on your friend.

“This is the stupid son of a bitch who doomed me to death with cancer!” Jack snapped.

“I didn’t mean to! I didn’t know what the camera was!” Simon retorted. 

“Oh bullshit! You were just having a fucking tantrem because Ava didn’t let you out of your little cage!” Jack pointed a finger at Simon.

Before Simon or Jack could get another word out, you snapped.

“Enough!” the two men stumbled back when a pair of large, silver and black wings sprouted from your back and further separated them. Jack continued glaring at Simon but Simon seemed like he was trying to wrap his head around everything. “Jack, go home. Simon, come with me and we’ll get you looked at.” You looked at each one respectively before starting to walk. As Simon walked past Jack, he noticed that the glaring red of his skin from the x-ray radiation was no longer there, further confusing him in the mess of his thoughts before he focused on following the woman with wings.

Wings. Such a thing shouldn’t exist on a person, right? Had human evolution gone so far to be so ridiculous? Simon wasn’t sure about anything, watching the feathers of the woman’s wings twitch a little in the breeze blowing through the town he’d appeared outside of. “Where am I?” Simon asked, focusing on your face when you looked over your shoulder at him.

“I’ll get to that after we make sure you’re okay. Most who end up here have suffered a ton of physical trauma they vividly remember but have no signs or damage to their persons that would show any kind of damage done. What do you remember before waking up here?” You started, listening to him as he recalled his moments before the blood ocean swallowed him whole and made him a part of it. You nodded a little, opening the door to a medium sized building, gesturing for Simon to go ahead before you while you tucked your wings away to be hidden like they were before.

“Is the doctor available?” you asked the woman sitting at the desk who raised her head and looked at you before looking at Simon. 

“He is. I’ll let him know you have a new resident.” she explained before gesturing for you to have a seat while you waited. You turned back to Simon, seeing the questions and confusion swirling through his eyes and all over his expression.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions right now.” Your voice was soft again when you spoke to him. He stared at you.

“Yeah! I do! Where the hell am I? And how do you have wings?!” Simon was irritated and an impending headache was starting to creep up on him. You sighed softly, knowing he would’ve asked about the wings sooner or later. Ignoring his second question for the time being, you opened your mouth to answer the first.

“We call this place, The Valley. It’s our home. Most of the people here woke up after a traumatic event that led to their death. Some just woke up here, remembering a good life.” you explained, placing your hands in you lap while Simon sat in a chair across from you, now noticing that your wings were nowhere to be seen. Had he been seeing things? No, he could’ve sworn you had wings. But then, where did they go? He had too many questions and not enough answers. You spoke again, giving him a proper invitation to the town you called home.

“Welcome to The Valley, Simon.”

You heard someone call your name but when you looked around, you didn’t see anyone, you couldn’t find the source of the voice at first. Your feet carried you through the garden, eyes glancing around when your name was called again, the voice a familiar and comforting timbre that you never thought you’d get to hear again. But you still couldn’t see the source of that lovely voice of his. A squeal of surprise fell from your lips when you felt hands on your hips before you turned and were lifted into the air. Your hands perched on the broad shoulders of the dark haired man, his chocolate eyes staring at you with glittering happiness and relief. 

“Damien.” you choked out, breath catching in your throat when you felt tears threatening your eyes while your feet touched the ground again. “H-how are you here? I-i-i-” he shushed you with a finger to your lips, his charming smile remaining on his lips as he looked you over.

“Because I’m not here. You are. We watched everything and…” Damien took a moment to collect his thoughts before proceeding. “I hope you understand that it was all an accident. None of this would’ve happened if Mark wasn’t such a narcissist and a greedy bastard.” A soft growl sounded from Damien when he mentioned his former friend. You frowned lightly and brought a hand to his cheek, caressing it before wrapping your arms around him in a tight hug.

“I thought I lost you.” Your voice cracked again, this time, tears spilling over and trailing down your rosy cheeks. Damien brought a finger to your chin and lifted your gaze to meet his, a frown of his own appearing when he saw the tears.

“My love. I would never stray far from you.” he reassured, brushing the tears away before leaning down and capturing your lips in a loving kiss. Your heart clenched in your chest upon being able to feel his touch again, to be held in his arms and kissed so sweetly by your lover.

“You two always find a way to be together, don’t you?” The kiss was interrupted by a feminine voice you recognized as Celine, your gaze meeting hers. She had a smile on her voice despite her comment, her hands put together in front of her. Damien rolled his eyes at his sister, shaking his head before looking at you again. 

“Love is the best compass.” Damien smiled. His corny comment made you roll your eyes at him, and Celine let out a short laugh. “Let’s go. There are some people we’d love you to meet.” Damien gazed down at you, your arm moving to link with his before you nodded and the two of you followed Celine towards another pair of people. They were older but you could see the similarities between them and Celine and Damien. Damien proceeded to introduce you.

Yancy turned back to you and frowned, glancing over your expression and recognizing it. He kept his movements slow and gentle, grasping one of your hands while he watched your breathing for irregularities. When that first stutter in your breathing pattern happened, Yancy gently took one of your hands and guided you away from the spot and towards a secluded area where no one would disturb you or see the rising panic on your face. You mindlessly followed like a zombie on a leash, your eyes flicking around but not actually seeing anything, your body feeling numb as the memory flashed in your head, reminding you of the trauma you sustained before ending up at Happy Trails.

Yancy guided you to sit down, watching with concern as you slid down to the floor and pulled your knees to your chest, eyes staring off at nothing in particular. He could tell you were reliving that moment. He would suffer the same trance sometimes whenever something reminded him of the behavior of his parents. Yancy knelt down and hovered nearby as you curled in on yourself, holding your knees and biting at the inside of your cheek while the memories played over and over in your head.

When he realized that you weren’t going to snap out of it without some help, he inched closer to you and sat beside you, letting his arm brush against yours to let you know he was there. Your eyes flicked towards him, for a moment, you only saw your ex until you blinked and focused, and then you saw Yancy, sitting beside you and offering a small lopsided smile. “Breathe with me.” His voice was soft, accent softer, as he walked you through a breathing exercise to get your breaths under control again. Feeling started to flow back into your hands and arms, the memories started to fade away to the back of your mind, and your eyes remained focused on Yancy the entire time. One of his hands held yours, his thumb caressing the back of your hand while you came down from the panic state you’d fallen into when the inmate threatened to hit you.