Author: Queen of Iron

Summary: What if Pete would have been the one that caught Miranda on the hallway? What would have he done? Would he let the doctors close her up again or would he help her to escape?

Disclaimer: The characters are NOT mine. This is a non-profit story created only for fun. The characters are of their creators and of the incredible actors that played them. I'm only borrowing them for a little story. The credit goes to the amazing Robert Downey Junior and Halle Berry for their incredible acting skills.

Fandom: Gothika

Pairings: Pete/Miranda

The darkness had been long set over the city. The usual sound of footsteps on the penitentiary hallways being long gone for the night. The same as the sound of the patients that fought against the doctors or nurses that were taking care of them. But with those things, gone was the peace of a special doctor from the penitentiary as well.

A blue-white light coming from the screen of a not too small but neither too large laptop screen washed over a man face. The pairs of eager, slim fingers working on the over used keyboard of the laptop and creating a steady sound into the room that in combination with the thunder from outside were creating a music. Just like in those bad written horror movies when a man is sitting at his desk and suddenly attacked by a zombie or any other monster the movie director might have thought of. Only that it wasn't a movie but a real life event.

Pete Graham stared at his laptop screen for what was the hundred time in that night. His fingers working on the same page since hour ago and when they weren't working on the keyboard, they were grabbing the ice cold coffee cup that was next to him. He let out a frustrated sigh when he saw that the coffee cup was empty. If it was empty that meant that he had to get up and pour some more into it. That was too tiringly but he had to do that.

Gathering his energy and power, Pete stood up while holding his coffee cup between his fingers with disgust. He was disgusted with himself for not believing Miranda when he could have saved her. Now it was too late, she was drugged and barely focused on anything. He hated himself for that. He didn't even noticed when he stopped in front of the coffee machine and a loud thump echoed through the penitentiary hallways.

'Taylor?' he called out the name of a fellow colleague, thinking that it was her who was roaming through the closets on the hallways. When he got no answer, Pete frowned and silently let his cup on the cupboard next to the coffee machine.

He silently and carefully stepped toward the main hallway and scanned the area with his eyes. Nothing seemed unusual until he rested his eyes on the shape of a woman with her back at a wall, apparently hiding from someone or something. He remained silent but he couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips at the sight of the woman face.

Her brown hair was messed up from the earlier shower he knew she had taken. Her perfectly shaped, almond eyes larger with fear than he had ever seen them. Her delicate features frowned into fear and concern maybe with a hint of shock also as he saw that her lips were parted in a silent gasp. Her hands were reaching behind her to grab the wall but he could see that they failed from the way she always tried to curl her fingers on the hard, white pained metal.

Pete shook his head and stepped closer to her, he caught sight of the video camera above her head and the angle it was into. The man that watched the screens couldn't see her. That was a good thing because from its angle, the camera couldn't see him neither. Maybe I was given a second chance, he thought and stepped even closer to her. He walked smoothly, as if he was trying to catch a deer that might run from a second to the other.

Now is the moment, Pete. Is now or never, he thought and took out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket while his other hand reached in his trousers pocket for another thing. He smoothly took out the vial and turned it around between his fingers. Twirling it again and again until the label was in front of his eyes. Morphine, the label was reading with small and black letters. He opened its lid and poured the content of it on the handkerchief. It was now or never.

He stepped next to her and just in that moment, she turned her head and saw him. It seemed that time had stopped in place for a second as their eyes met. Both of them terrified from different reasons and neither of them knowing what was in the other mind. The woman was the first to make a step and that was to take it away from him. She turned around sharply, her bare feet slipping on the floor nearly making her fall but she kept her balance as she tried to run away but it was too late.

A strong, muscular arm wrapped around her middle and kept her from running. She struggled against his grip but she was too weak. The mixture of medicines she ate that day were making her dizzy and weak but not weak enough to stop struggling. She kicked her legs as he slowly lifted her off the ground to can draw her closer. She kicked her arms, slapping his hand away from her waist but the grip wouldn't loose. She then felt a warm fabric cover her nose and lips and she involuntarily inhaled the odor coming from it.

It smelled as old papers, coffee, cigars and a special cologne that she couldn't place. And there was another smell she couldn't place either but she knew only a person that had it. It was the signature smell only Pete Graham had. The one she felt each time she 'accidentally' bumped into him in the hallways or the smell that she felt when he pushed her down on the penitentiary bed in the first day she woke up. She let herself be lulled off to sleep by the smell of his handkerchief and slowly relaxed in his arms.

Pete slowly let go of her and laid her on the cold floor when he felt her go limp into his arms. He stared at her features for a moment then placed the handkerchief back into his jacket pocket and knelt beside her. 'What do I do with you,' he muttered to himself before he leant in enough to can study her face closer.

What if she said the truth since the beginning? How could someone with those angelic features do that unless something possessed her? How could he let her into that room again and be a lab rat when he felt like that was a mistake? How could he let her spend her life being destroyed by the medicines they gave her if she wasn't mental sick but if she was possessed? What if she felt the same as those peoples who's blogs he had been reading ever since she got checked in?

With a loud sigh, Pete put his arms under her knees and slowly rose her from the floor. He felt her head fall on his shoulder and her hair tickle his jaw line as she moved in her sleep. He felt a chill run down his spine at the moment and he looked down at her again. He knew he was attracted to her but was it love? How could he call it otherwise when he would give up his liberty, his life and reputation and be a fugitive only for her?

He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. It was the hardest decision he had ever made in his life but he had to make it. Giving a quick glance around on the hallway, Pete bit his lower lip as his eyes lowered again to her face. He closed his eyes tightly again and said a silent prayer in his mind before he reopened his eyes. He tightened his arms on her knees and practically ran down the hallway into a unknown direction.

The green sign reading 'EXIT' with its arrow pointed in the direction where he vanished with her in his arms, long gone behind them.

Well, that was my first attempt to a Gothika fanfic. Hate it, love it, want more of it?

Don't forget to hit that little, yellowish button, it'll make my day.