He walked towards the building in a shirt and a cap that said he came from a certain pizzeria. In his hands he held a pizza box. He looked like a normal man delivering pizza but that couldn't be further from the truth. He had dressed up like this since he had no idea if her apartment was being watched or not.

He looked through the names next to the door bells but her name wasn't there. Of course it wasn't. She was trying to hide. There was a door bell without any name next to it and he knew what name was supposed to be there.

Beverly Perry.

He rang another door bell without looking at the name and shortly after a man's voice sounded.

"Yes?" The person asked.
"Pizza delivery," he tried to sound cheerful.
"I didn't order anything," the unseen man said.
"I must have rung the wrong bell. Can you just buzz me in so I can deliver it?" He asked.

The man didn't answer but the buzz sounded and the door was unlocked. He hurried inside and started walking up the stairs. She lived on the fourth floor. As expected there was no name tag on the door either. It didn't matter. He knew she was in there. He raised his hand and knocked. He heard someone move close to the door on the other side and he felt her looking at him through the peephole.

"I didn't order a pizza," she said.
"It says here it's for a Beverly Perry," he said.
"There's no one here by that name," she lied.

He looked around to make sure no neighbours had stuck their heads out before he moved a bit closer to the door.

"I need to talk to you. It's important. Can you put the chain on and open the door just to hear me out for five seconds?" He asked.

He waited nearly thirty long seconds before she finally opened the door with the chain on it and peeked out at him through the small gap.

"My name is Seth Rollins and I'm friends with Dean and Roman," he said. "You remember them, right? Big, bad monsters chasing you down and you saving everyone's asses."
"Ssh, not so loud. Someone might hear," she said.
"Then let me in," he said.

She didn't know what made her trust the stranger, maybe the sincerity in his eyes, but she removed the chain from the door and let him in. He watched the woman in front of him in horror. She was nothing but skin and bones and she looked like a wreck.

"You look nothing like Roman said," he said. "Do you even eat?"
"Sometimes," she said.

She eyed the pizza box and he felt so guilty.

"It's empty," he apologized. "I didn't know if anybody is watching your building so this was the best disguise I could come up with."
"It's okay. I'm not hungry," she lied.
"Yes, you are. When is the last time you ate?" He asked.
"Three days ago," she answered.
"What the actual fuck?" He looked even more shocked.
"I'm too fucking scared to leave this apartment so I only do it when I can't stand the hunger anymore," she said.
"Come with me. I'll buy you a fucking family sized pizza right now just to be sure you get something inside you," he said.

She scratched her head nervously and stepped away from him.

"Come back later and bring a car. I only go out at night. Walk around the building by 10. We all have a storage room in the basement and I climb out the window in mine so that no one will see me," she said.
"That place really did a number on all of you," he said. "I'll be back. I promise."
"Leave the box," she said.
"It's still empty," he said.
"If anyone's watching and you walk back out with the box, your cover is blown," she said.
"Right. You're the smart one," he pointed at her and smiled. "You saved my boys once before. Maybe you can do it again. I'll see you later, Beverly."

He disappeared out of her door before she could argue with him about saving his friends. He heard her lock the door and the chain being put back in place. He felt for her. She wasn't safe behind a locked door and if someone was to break it down, she would probably die trying to jump out of a window on the fourth floor. It was a false safety and she was hurting herself in the process. It seemed like she needed him just as much as he needed her.

He was behind the building 15 minutes before 10. It was almost pitch black on the other side. The moon and the stars gave enough light. At 10 PM a window opened and a hooded figure climbed out of it. She didn't say anything. She just grabbed his arm and he led her silently to his car. She seemed nervous as he started driving. He drove to an open pizzeria.

"Leave the motor running," she said. "And hurry."

She wasn't gonna go in there with him and risk being seen by anyone. He nodded at her and walked inside. He had no idea what she liked on pizza but judging by her skinny body, she'd probably eat anything. He ordered one with ham, cheese and bacon. He wanted something greasy in her although he knew one meal wouldn't do much difference. Once back in the car, he handed her the box and looked at her.

"Just drive," she said.

He started driving again, taking turns whenever she told him too. After a while they drove into an old parking lot in front of an abandoned mall. He parked down by the end and killed the engine so they were left in darkness.

"No one's here," he said.

She opened the box and took a slice before watching him reach over to take one too. They sat in silence until the entire pizza was gone. She closed the box and put it in the back seat before finally dropping the hood to look at him through the darkness.

"What do you want?" She asked.
"Your help," he answered.
"I'm no use for anybody," she said.
"You know that's not true. Because of you my two best friends are still alive but they've changed. That place changed them just like it did you," he said.
"What happened?" She asked.

He sighed and ran a hand down his face while thinking about his two best friends that used to be so strong.

"Dean's in the loony bin," he said.
"What?" She asked shocked.
"He went out drinking on his own after they came home and one night he snapped and started shouting about that place and all the creatures. He ended up spending the night in a cell at the police station but next morning sobered up he continued shouting about it and they ended up locking him up. They have him drugged up on god knows what and he's a fucking zombie but at least he's not talking about that place anymore and that's all that matters to the stupid doctors," he said.

She felt her heart drop and nodded. Dean had been so strong in there, even joking around by calling her great one. It had been a cover just like her leading them all out had been a cover. She had been so scared but never shown it.

"And Roman?" She asked.
"He's become numb," he said. "It's like he doesn't care about anything anymore. The only time his eyes light up is when he's talking about you."
"Me?" She asked surprised.
"I think he fell in love with you in there," he said.
"He doesn't even know me. We only spent one day together and that was a fucking day from hell," she said.
"He always talks about the first thing he remembers seeing when he woke up was your eyes, and before realizing anything was wrong, he wanted to kiss you," he said.

She swallowed hard as she took in that information. Never once had she thought a man like Roman would like a woman like her. Not that it had mattered in there. All that had mattered was surviving and getting out. That was nine months ago and she was a shell of the woman she had been back then.

"What is it you think that I can do this time around?" She asked.
"We're going back in there," he said.
"No, no, no, no, no!" Her voice went higher and higher.

The man in front of her was either crazy or he was working with the people inside. There was no way she was going back in there. She reached for the handle of the door but just as she got it opened, he reached over and slammed it shut again. He was too close to her face for his liking and he had her pinned in the seat.

"I'm checking Dean out tomorrow. All the papers are done and I'm his legal guardian. I'm throwing those stupid meds out the second we get home and it can't take long for his brain to follow. Roman's gonna be there too although I doubt he cares much about what I'm planning on doing. But he cares about you. So please, Beverly, I need you in this. I'm going in there with or without any of you to shut down that place for good. You're all still fucking prisoners in your own minds and you don't dare to start living as long as you think someone is still out there ready to kidnap you again," he said.

He moved away from her and she was free to open the door again if that's what she wanted.

"If you wanna leave, just leave. I won't stop you," he said. "But I could use your help. Don't do this for me or even for yourself. Do it for Dean and Roman. I want my friends back."

He started sniffling and felt her hand on his shoulder. He reached up and grabbed her hand, squeezing it as a thanks.

"Take me home," she said.

He drove back to her apartment and she pulled the hood up before they got there.

"I don't think anyone is actually watching," he said.
"But you can't be sure," she said.
"No, I can't," he looked at her. "Will you help me?"
"I'll think about it," she said.

She couldn't make any promises because she had no idea what she would do. He reached over, opened the glove department and took out paper and pen. He wrote down his address and phone number and handed it to her.

"Please," he said. "I'll check him out tomorrow after breakfast and I'll take him straight home to my place."
"You're a good friend, Seth. They're lucky to have you," she said.
"And who do you have?" He took her hand. "You're not in this alone, Beverly. Not if you choose not to be."

She managed to give him some sort of smile before opening the car door and getting out. He watched her run around the building and he waited for five minutes to make sure no one followed her there before he started the engine again and drove back home.