Faith strained her ears as she began to unravel the paperclip until it was mostly straight and then bend the very tip of one end into a small "L" shape, but she was too far away from the door to make out any words being said. Upon feeling for and eventually finding the keyhole, she fit her makeshift key inside before removing it again and bending the paperclip a second time so that it was hopefully in a "Z" shape. Perhaps it was a good thing she couldn't hear anything outside--just as long as she didn't hear Aaron's voice or any footsteps coming close to the door, she still had time.
The most time-consuming part of her task had now come: twisting the paperclip around inside the cuffs' inner mechanisms, until they would hopefully click open. Even then, she would need to find her way out of here before Aaron returned. She tried her best to unlock the cuffs the way she had had to once before, though it was a lot harder having to work on herself while unable to see behind her. She shook her head, remembering how she had never even questioned where Rowan and his friends got those cuffs from that day. They had had no real key that day either, but nonetheless one of Rowan's 'friends', possibly Parker, had decided to handcuff him as a cruel prank, leaving Faith to figure out how to get them off. As frustrated as she had been that day, she later realized that she and Rowan were done an unintentional favor by having to learn a potential life-saving skill--even if their captor in question didn't turn out to be Rowan's abusive grandfather.
It could always be worse, though. At least Aaron doesn't abuse children, and he even got a girl out of a potential human trafficking situation. Faith attempted to calm her mounting anxiety as her fingers fumbled and shook, continuing to try and find that perfect angle that would lead to her partial freedom. Aaron isn't like Spencer. He's not a monster. He just feels he needs to protect himself--the same way you feel right now. This doesn't have to end badly. He's just as frightened as you've been all this time--he's even shown you glimpses of it. This has all just been a terrible misunderstanding and you're going to do what you can to prevent him from acting on any assumptions. That's all.
Having calmed herself with those thoughts, how true or untrue they were not mattering in the moment, she eventually heard a blissfully liberating click behind her. Quickly, she slipped out of the cuffs and stashed them inside the desk drawer next to her, once again straining her ear for any noise from outside.
She paused, tempted to immediately slip out of the room, but then decided it wouldn't be worth the risk of getting caught. She closed her eyes, trying to remember everything she could of that hallway. As she wracked her brain, the only details that would come to her was the hallway perpendicular to the one outside this room, and that at one end of that hallway was an exit. If she had a better idea of where exactly Aaron was in the building, she could likely figure it out as she went. Faith gingerly crept over to the door and put her ear up to it to see what she could hear...only to quickly back away from the door, the footsteps outside the door just as sudden as they were brisk.
Quickly, Faith placed her arms behind her back and sat back down in her chair. As the door swung open, she kept Aaron in the corner of her eye, but after a few seconds of him just standing there, Faith lifted up her head to get a better look at his demeanor as a whole, as opposed to just the hand holding the gun that she'd already had her eyes on.
"Well Faith," he said with what she could have sworn was a look of genuine disappointment, "I tried. Looks like they failed us both." When Faith saw him begin to raise the hand that held the gun towards her, she stared him straight in the eyes in the hopes it would make it just a bit harder for him to shoot her. She considered one last possible idea--perhaps the riskiest one yet. "There's something else I need to tell you, Aaron," she said in a near-whisper.
Aaron hesitated, just as she needed him to, but didn't move the gun. "Okay," he said, his voice heavy with the gravity of the decision he would have to make soon. "I guess there's no harm in a few last words."
"I won't bore you with the whole 'tell my family I love them' routine, since technically I've already gotten to tell them that. But this information is for you alone." Faith shifted around to face him and slowly rose up, backing away toward the blinded window behind her.
Aaron narrowed his eyes. "Okay--this stopped bein' funny a long time ago. What are you trying now?"
"Nothing. Not anymore," Faith said simply. "I'll admit it--I did think about escaping while you were on the phone. But I realized something. I do want to escape--but I want you to escape with me. I may have gotten out of these..." Reluctantly, Faith turned around to show him her now-free arms. "...But I couldn't bring myself to actually leave. Not without you. You've seen sides of me that my family never has--things they and those in authority would judge me for, but you wouldn't because you've been there too."
Faith looked through the partially-open blinds while she waited for Aaron to make up his mind, her eyes frantically darting around for something, anything, pretty to set her eyes on. As it turned out, the now-dusky sky with its fluffy cotton candy clouds was a sharp contrast to the dull gray silhouette of trees and concrete outside. Everything was alright, as long as she focused on the beautiful colors in front of her. As for what was behind her, there stood only a scared, lonely orphan trapped inside a dangerous man's body. There was no true danger.
The floor creaked behind her as she began to hear footsteps again, and while they were coming increasingly close, these were slower. She continued to focus on the clouds in the sky, even spotting one that looked like a rabbit, and only when she felt hands take hold of her from behind to turn her away from the window did she find herself flinching.
Aaron's analytical gaze made it seem more as though he were trying to make sense of figures on a piece of paper than looking into the eyes of a human being at his mercy. "Who are you, anyway?" he muttered.
"Someone who hasn't outlived her usefulness yet, I can guarantee," Faith said carefully. "If you were to let us all go, I won't press charges. I just want to live a life free from Rowan--and for you to have a second chance, after hearing what you did for Melanie. I was wrong about you."
"But they'll still arrest me and ask you to testify," Aaron countered.
"But you would still get a lighter sentence," Faith reasoned. "I would make sure the courts knew you didn't hurt us as much as you could have."
Aaron's face further hardened into a glare, which either meant this was it for her...or he was having to finally accept what she was saying if he wanted to save himself. But Faith would never know, as his eyes suddenly brightened with an apparent idea of his own. "I'll see your lighter sentence and raise you no sentence at all." As he used the end of the gun to move a strand of hair out of her eyes, he now asked her, "Do you really care about me?"
Faith was caught off guard by the question, but she would answer truthfully, "Yes. In spite of how all of this has looked, yes. I do."
Aaron nodded slowly. Now placing his arm around her, he began to walk her toward the door--the door that could lead to her freedom or her death--only to pause next to the chair she had previously sat in and push her back down into it.
Circling back around the desk to his own chair, he sat down himself and began to rummage around in a drawer for something. "Aaron?" was all Faith could utter as she wondered if it would even be worth it to try running again.
"I'm gonna let you in on something, since clearly you meant well but have no idea how prison works for guys like me," Aaron began. He must have been serious about his earlier professed ability to multitask, as he kept his finger uncomfortably close to the trigger with one hand at all times while saving only his other hand for searching the drawers. "Even if I had the slightest interest in changing anything about myself or what I do, it's not gonna matter. There's a lot of people out there who think I should pay for what I've done to 'em, probably with my life. And--" He paused. "Ah, so that's where you put 'em," he mumbled to himself, apparently having found the handcuffs Faith had broken out of. "Anyway," he continued, "the minute I get thrown in that pod with a former customer, or maybe a friend or relative of one, it's over for me. Chances are I've lost any allies that could put me somewhere safer, let alone get me outta there in time." He then opened and peered into a second drawer. "Oh--here it is." Faith watched with dread as he pulled out a dirty-looking white cloth and a brown bottle, the sound of liquid sloshing from inside.
Using his free hand to open the bottle, he poured a generous amount onto the cloth. "So here's the deal now--I don't wanna shoot you. I do need to get outta here though, and in the meantime, you're gonna go to sleep for a while." He rose from his chair, his free hand holding the cloth. "We don't have any tea like Rowan gave you that night, but we're doin' the best we can with what we've got," he said nonchalantly, making his way toward her chair.
Faith shook her head, her throat tightening. "Aaron, please. I can't do this. Not again."
"Of course you can," he replied, his tone ever colder. "You'll just have to trust me, the same way I trusted you to keep your mouth shut. Either way, you're gonna get a taste of the same uncertainty I'm having to deal with now goin' forward."
Even if she survived ingesting whatever was inside that bottle, Faith had no way of knowing where she might wake up...assuming she would even be waking up at all. She was on the verge of simply taking her chances with being shot when she and Aaron both heard it: the faint but unmistakable thud of a car door closing outside the building. Whatever the source of the sound was, it was more beautiful to Faith than any clouds or sunset in the sky as Aaron whipped around to peer out the window at the unexpected visitor.
Using her renewed adrenaline, she picked up the chair she had previously sat helplessly in and prepared to strike Aaron in the back of the head. She would, too, but not before Aaron turned and saw her.
POP! The gun may have fired, but all Faith would feel was a vague stinging sensation on her upper arm as she thrust the chair into his skull, causing him to lurch forward and the window to shatter. But Faith wasn't quite finished yet as she struck him again. This wasn't Aaron anymore. She was still afraid of him, along with another feeling she couldn't make much sense of. But Rowan? He was the real reason why she was here and not safe with her family.
Finally, her burst of adrenaline would come with a reward: an even more beautiful sound of her .38 special hitting the floor, now out of Aaron's grasp. Faith tossed the chair behind her and dove for the gun, and just as she did so, she felt a hand grab her by the ankle and drag her backwards. But Aaron was soon to regret it, as the roles had now been reversed. As the end of Faith's gun lightly bumped against his forehead, she pointed it steadily at him and seethed, "How's your multitasking now?"
"Faith--listen to me," Aaron said frantically, letting go and slowly putting his hands up, "this whole thing was a joke, alright? A joke. I just wanted to scare you." A gash had now become evident on his forehead and begun to bleed.
"Ugh. At least Rowan was good at lying," Faith muttered as she painstakingly rose back to her feet.
"So what now? You gonna shoot me?" Aaron asked flatly, realizing that lying wasn't going to help him.
"I will if you try anything funny. But not to kill you. The prison system might have its imperfections, but something tells me it will be safer than a rival gang out on the streets when you have no available allies. And who knows? Maybe the S.A.S. will still bail you out."
"They didn't come to help you, so I doubt it," Aaron scoffed.
Faith paused. "They did enough, I suppose. They got me out of debt with you and they protected my friends and family."
Aaron only shrugged, shaking his head as new footsteps approached the outside of the door. Faith's gaze darted between Aaron and the door, wondering who it could possibly be as she hadn't gotten a proper chance to see if she could recognize the car outside.
"Aaron Galanos, you're going down!" came an all-too-familiar voice now as the door flung open.
Faith froze. "Sherm...!" Meanwhile, Aaron said nothing, only glaring at the voice's owner as though he knew who he was, or at least had gained enough intel on him to recognize him.
"Faith!" Sherm looked relieved to see her at first, but his smile would quickly fade. "You're hurt--what did he do to you?"
"A punch to the stomach and maybe a grazing wound," Faith answered tersely. "You'll probably need to take me to the hospital once we're done here."
Sherm looked over at Aaron with a look of pure disgust. "You know what, Galanos? Be glad I don't think like you--otherwise you'd be needing a hospital too about now."
"And what could you do to me?" Aaron countered defiantly, eyeing Sherm's slender frame in comparison to his own.
"Sherm--calm down," Faith cut in. "I'll tell you everything later. Right now we just need to call the police and tell them where we are. Although..." Faith paused, remembering how the cell phone signal seemed to be unpredictable inside the room they were in. "You'll probably need to go in the hallway to get the best signal. You call, and I'll keep an eye on Aaron. Let them know Rowan and Chance are in the basement--I don't know whether they're alive or dead."
Sherm's eyes widened at the revelation. "Well, given what all I've just seen and heard, I'm gonna try in here first. I don't wanna leave you alone with that scumbag if I don't need to," he said firmly, and Faith could tell he wasn't to be swayed. As he pulled out his phone to dial, Faith observed to her relief that he hadn't stormed into this place unarmed, wielding what looked like Cobalt's electric baton attached to his belt loop. I wonder if he took it without permission, though...
At first, the call seemed to go through. "Yes, hello--this is Sherm-- Hello? Hello?!" Eventually, Faith saw Sherm slowly lower the phone from his ear as he wordlessly stared at Faith. "Faith--why don't you go and call them, and I'll watch Galanos?"
Faith shook her head. "I'll be fine. You go ahead. There's some things I need to say to him."
"But Faith, he might try to--"
"Alone," Faith insisted, receiving confused winces from both men in response.
With a long and reluctant sigh, Sherm turned to Aaron and warned, "I'll be right outside, so just remember that."
"You might have to go a little farther than that to get any signal," Aaron replied with a taunting edge to his voice.
"Noted. And in answer to your earlier question, Galanos..." Sherm gestured at his apparently borrowed weapon. "...You'll have this to look forward to if you lay a hand on Faith again." Faith couldn't help but be taken aback as she watched Sherm reluctantly walk outside the room and leave the door cracked open behind him, having never seen or heard Sherm threaten anyone that way before.
"So, I guess you don't care that much what happens to me after all, huh?" Aaron commented. "Now that your friend's here and you think you're safe."
"I meant what I said," Faith said plainly. "I hate what your adoptive father did to you, even if he and the others did help me some. But they might be all you have on the outside now--so the more honest and cooperative you are, the better off you'll be."
"I can be cooperative," Aaron shrugged. "But will you be this confident once I start tellin' 'em the things I know about you?" Faith furrowed her brows with sudden uneasy confusion, so rattled by what Aaron said that she only half noticed as he gingerly rose to his feet while still keeping his hands outward and visible. "I mean, you did pay me to rough up that Agna girl all those years ago, ever since you moved outta your parents' house you've been protectin' a troublemaker in active addiction, and of course, you borrowed money from me. Last one might not technically be illegal from your end, but it still might be a bit much for everybody to take in, depending on what they already know."
Faith could almost physically see the looks of shock on her family's faces upon finding out who their daughter really was now. She had been so busy trying to make sure her life wouldn't end inside of this warehouse, she hadn't stopped to consider just what exactly her life out there might actually entail now, and what more her family and friends could find out about her.
"It's like you said earlier. You were a scared little girl who thought she was protectin' a scared little boy--I get it. But these people? They're gonna see you as just another disappointment that's dragging society down. That goes for Sherm out there too."
"I think right now you're the scared little boy," Faith corrected, once again struggling to hide her uncertainty. Aaron had started to slowly come closer to her, but for some reason what she saw in front of her wasn't nearly as terrifying as the sights and sounds Aaron's words had formed inside her mind right now. On the outside, she still wore the clothes she wanted to wear, her family and friends still loved her, and in spite of what this man was capable of and even what he had already done, right now he was talking gently to her. But inside her mind, she stood alone and clad in an orange jumpsuit, caged like an animal in her cell, and the voices of her parents were the loudest in expressing her disappointment as they mixed with orders barked from the detention officers and taunting from the other inmates. But yet I'm trying to make Aaron go to a place like that. He was probably abused in the orphanage as a child, and now I'm sending him to possibly go and be abused again somewhere else while I return to safety...
"You're shaking," Aaron observed aloud, his voice like velvet, and it didn't even hurt when his hand wrapped itself around hers. "That's dangerous when holdin' a gun." But what he said next would cause something to snap inside her. "Besides, I know you couldn't actually shoot the guy who went to the trouble to give this back to you in the first place."
Suddenly, her mind no longer saw a prison cell, instead jumping back to that living room the night Rowan betrayed her. She may have been foolish to allow Aaron to try and trick her again, but his last choice of words had been all the more foolish, and Faith knew she could not let go like she had before.
"Come on," he cajoled, and with how tight his hand was becoming, Faith knew there was only one way she would make him back off again. "Just help me--give me the gun."
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Faith screamed in his face as she proceeded to back up her words. It was actually easier than she thought it would be, the loud popping sound barely phasing her this time.
Aaron stumbled back with a yell of pain and shock, clutching his shoulder. Eventually he collapsed, but not before his head came in contact with the sharp corner of his desk as his knees buckled from underneath him.
"What's going on in here?!" Sherm demanded as he burst inside the room, jumping slightly at the sudden sight of Aaron's motionless body on the floor and Faith's deer-in-the-headlights stare when she turned to face the door.
But instead of answering the question, she only shook her head. "Let's go, Sherm--please. Let's just get out of here."
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