A/N: Thanks, Cheri, for the start-off!
TRAPPED
by
Owlcroft
Trapped. A rat in a maze, a tiger in a cage, every cliché he could think of—he was trapped. He tried not to let his mind drift to the most obvious comparison: a prisoner in a cell. He was still trying to keep himself from imagining what two years in San Quentin must have been like. It was going to take more than his usual snappy repartee to get out of this. Over-confidence—your damn ego, he could hear McCormick correcting—that was the problem. For reasons he would never be able to understand, he always expected to come out on top. Life had certainly taught him the folly of that line of thinking on more than one occasion, but he still couldn't quite let it go. On the other hand, maybe what those life lessons had really taught him was that he always survived, and he did it by counting on himself.
There was no way out of this situation, no alternative at this point. The thing had to be done and it might as well be done now and gotten over with. Given the circumstances, there was only one way out and that was to be a man and do what was needed.
Hardcastle shook his head ruefully, then straightened up, pulling his shoulders back. He took a deep breath, then let it out again slowly. It was time to admit that he might have been wrong and got himself into trouble all by himself this time.
So, as they prepared to check out of the Canary Creek Motel, he thanked the kid for breaking him out of jail. Again. After all, a price has to be paid for freedom.