Bound to You

Leana didn’t know where she was. She had gotten out of Jamesburg without getting caught by the police, who for all she knew could be working for Sean. She’d ditched the car in a nearby rest area, feeling too guilty for stealing it to keep driving it. She’d left it there in the hopes that the police would find it and return it to the person she’d carjacked it from.

After she’d left the car, she had decided to keep moving, choosing to walk through the fields adjacent to the highway. She didn’t want to walk close enough for anyone on the road to be able to see her, though she hadn’t wanted to be so far from it that she would get lost.

It had been two days since then, and she had no idea what was going to happen. She knew the guys would probably have seen the newscast if it had made either the TV or internet news; they always kept up on stuff in the areas where Sean was allegedly hiding, and she had a feeling that they knew Sean was somewhere in Illinois.

She came to a halt abruptly when she saw someone standing on the highway, looking in her direction. She froze, and then ducked into the waist-length yellowed grass to hide herself. She didn’t know who was standing on the side of the road, but it could be Sean or one of his lackeys. If they found her, she was as good as dead. She stayed still, not wanting to stir the grass. She could only hope that whoever it was thought they’d been seeing things when they saw her standing there.

Just then she heard a loud, familiar voice ring through the air, bringing tears to her eyes. “It’s fucking her, dude! I know it is!” Jimmy’s voice yelled just a few seconds before she heard someone begin pushing their way through the grass towards her direction. “Leana? Where are you?”

“Jimmy, it might not be her. What if it’s just some farm kid?” Zack’s voice called out to him.

“It’s her!” Jimmy yelled back angrily before she heard him stop. She wanted desperately to believe that it really was Jimmy and Zack; that they’d found her, and that she was finally going to be able to go back with them. She could tell them the truth about Michelle, and she could tell them about Leigh and what Sean had done to her. But this could all be an elaborate trap laid by Sean, too; she wouldn’t put it past him.

“Le, baby, where are you?” Jimmy’s voice called, slightly breaking with thick emotion. It was then that Leana realized that it was really him. They’d really found her. She just barely peeked her head above the grass, spotting Jimmy a few feet away from her, worry and fear on his face. His eyes met hers and he let out a sound that was somewhat of a cry and somewhat of a scream when he saw her and rushed over to her, pulling her up and out of the grass into his arms. He hugged her tightly and picked her up, not letting her go as he hugged her.

“Jim, I’m okay.” She whispered to him, hugging him back with tears falling out of her eyes. She’d been so focused on getting out of Sean’s grasp alive; so fixated on returning to the Complex to make sure Jimmy didn’t do something stupid over her, that she’d forgotten how much she missed him. Now that he was in front of her, holding her, all those emotions came rushing back to her. “I’m here.”

“Don’t ever fucking do that to me again, Leana.” He told her, tears falling out of his eyes and splashing down on her back as he continued holding her. “I…I was going fucking insane.”

“Jimmy, dude, we’ve gotta get back to Arizona, man.” Zack’s voice called to him.

Leana then realized that she needed to talk to Zack. She told Jimmy to put her down and he begrudgingly did so, before grabbing her hand in his. They walked over to Zack and looked him in the eye before she began speaking.

“Where’s Michelle? She’s not who we think she is.” She said slowly. Zack sighed before pushing a hand through his hair, nodding.

“We already know she was the rat.” Zack told her. “She’s in Solitary back at the Complex.”

“Is she alone?” Leana pressed. “Does everyone else know?”

“Yeah.” Jimmy whispered. “Brian…He’s taking it hardest of all. Val won’t talk to anyone, either. She still doesn’t believe it. She thinks Zack or one of us set her up.”

“She’ll believe me.” Leana said softly, remembering her blonde friend. She could only imagine how confused and betrayed Val must feel. To find out that your own sister had committed treason against not only her country, but her family and friends as well, would be enough to break anyone. “She’s got to.”

“There’s no getting through to her.” Zack said, blinking. “She hasn’t said a word since we put Michelle in Solitary.”

-x-
With Brian
-x-

“Jared Sean Castro.” Was all Brian said as he walked into the Solitary room, slamming the door shut behind him, not caring who heard. He’d be finished with his business with Michelle long before anyone could come in and intervene. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me, ‘Chelle? Why did you fucking lie to me like that?”

She looked up when she heard his voice, and smiled when she saw the pain and anger written all over his face. “It’s not lying if you never knew.” She retorted, pulling in vain against the bonds that were too strong for her to break.

He slammed his fist into the wall, glaring at her. “Tell me, did what we have mean anything to you?” He asked her, moving closer. “All those fucking years we spent together; were they just a complete waste of fucking time?”

“Obviously.” She scoffed. “If they hadn’t been, would I have had a secret child with another man?”

Brian couldn’t refrain from slapping her, and a frown settled on his face when he saw the shock form on her face. But soon, that look was replaced with a smile, and she shook her head to get the hair out of her eyes so she could meet his gaze dead on.

“Now you’ve resorted to hitting women when you get angry? My, you’ve changed since a few days ago, haven’t you?” She taunted him. “C’mon, hit me. The guys won’t be happy when they find out you’re in here, will they?”

“Shut up, Michelle.” He spat at her angrily, balling his hand into a fist at his side. He didn’t want to hurt her too badly. “Where is he?”

She had the guts to laugh in his face. “You really think I’m going to tell you just because you slapped me? Come on, Brian. You know me better than that. I’m loyal to a fault, right?”

“You’re just a dumb fucking bitch who couldn’t keep her fucking legs closed, that’s what you are.” He insulted her, grabbing her neck and squeezing so tightly that her face began to darken a few shades. “Tell me where he is and I might not kill the fucking brat.”

When he mentioned the idea of killing her son, Michelle began struggling against the bonds holding her again before she glared at him, pure rage in her eyes. “You will not hurt my child, Synyster.” She said angrily. “I won’t allow for it.”

This time, Brian laughed at her. “You’re in no position to be making claims like that now, are you?”

“You’re never going to find them.” She told him angrily. “Go to hell. I’m done wasting my time talking to you.”

Brian’s eyes darkened to almost black. He could kill her; he really could. And he wouldn’t feel an once of shame for it. But he knew they still needed her, and no matter how many emotions he had telling him to take his revenge out on her by murdering her, he knew that it wasn’t an option until she broke and told them what they needed to know. So instead, he’d settle for the next best thing.

He slammed his fist into her face, not making a sound as she cried out in pain at the sudden impact. He took his other fist and hit her in the mouth, this time breaking one of the fangs that had sprung up due to her hunger. It fell to the ground with a clatter, and Brian briefly looked at it before hitting her as hard as he could in the stomach. She spat up blood, but it wasn’t enough for Brian. He wanted to see her suffer the way he’d suffered when he learned what she was; he wanted to break her heart the way she’d broken his, if only in a more literal way. Just then, the door swung open again and Benji and Joel ran into the room, pulling Brian away from Michelle.

“Enough, man!” Joel yelled at him, struggling to keep him restrained. “We can’t fucking hurt her until she’s told us where he’s at!”

“Let me go! She fucking deserves it!” Brian yelled angrily, pulling against their hold as he glared at Michelle. “She’s a fucking traitor!”

“We know, man.” Benji said quietly. “We’ll make sure you’re the one to kill her in the end. But we can’t do shit to her right now. Let it go for now.”

They pulled him out of the room, Michelle’s laughter following them out the door.

-x-
With Eliza
-x-

Eliza was pacing in the common area of the Complex, waiting for Zack and Jimmy to return. She wanted Leana to be with them, and was hoping that they’d found her in Illinois like Zack had thought they would. She heard a commotion coming from the Solitary room and looked over to see Joel and Benji pulling a seething Brian with them. Matt went over to talk to them to find out what had happened, but she continued pacing. As far as she was concerned, Brian had every right to do whatever he’d done to Michelle in there. She’d hurt him in more ways than she’d thought was possible, and she hated the fact that he was in so much pain over a woman who so obviously didn’t care for him. The Complex door opened a few minutes later, and she looked over to see Jimmy and Leana walking in, followed by Zack. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him, running over to him and hugging him tightly.

“Hey,” He said into her ear, hugging her back tightly. “What’s with the hug?”

“I was worried about you.” She whispered into his ear, squeezing him tighter. “I thought something bad would happen; that I’d lose you.”

Zack chuckled and stepped back a little to look at her face, and she frowned up at him. “What’s so funny?” She asked him, causing him to shake his head before he pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

“What happened to all the hate you used to feel for me?” He couldn’t help but ask her quietly. “Not long ago, you used to want nothing more than to see me die and leave.”

She smiled softly up at him before she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips softly against his, wrapping her arms around her neck. “I’m bound to you now.” She whispered. “I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to anymore.”