Chapter Twelve
The next day, Diana was sitting in the waiting room alone as she stared at the mirror across from her blankly, barely blinking. It all just seemed unreal. Had it really been just yesterday when she'd made up with Drake? And now, knowing he was…he was…
The door opened, earning Diana's momentary attention. She glared with a sudden heat at the boy that walked in, the door shutting behind him quietly as he avoided her gaze.
"What did you do?" she accused him angrily.
"I didn't do anything!" he denied, finally looking up at her desperately.
"And why do I not believe you?" she spat harshly.
"Diana, I haven't done anything. I swear," Caine continued, sitting a few seats down from her and trying to get her to understand.
"Caine, you're royally pissed at him. I'm having trouble believing that this isn't just some way for you to retaliate against him."
"But the FBI, Diana? Really? Even I don't have those kind of connections," he tried again.
"Just don't talk to me," she hissed, turning back to glower at the her reflection, body tense as she tried to keep from digging her nails into her arms as she held her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
Caine looked down at his feet, for once not trying to talk his way out of this. He still hadn't come up with a reason as to why she cared so much for Drake. So what if he was—
The door opened again, earning both of their attention. Another agent walked in, offering them both cups of water. Diana refused hers, instead moving to scowl back at the mirror silently, while Caine accepted his with a polite nod.
"Sorry for the wait. We had to contact and bring in a few more witnesses for the initial interrogation, but they should be here shortly and then we can begin. Honestly, it was kind of lucky you were still in town," he spoke to Caine, politely. "I can't imagine hold long we would have had to wait if you had to be flown in from New York."
Caine chuckled along with him awkwardly. "Is this really that important?" Caine asked, watching the surprise cross the man's face as he looked down at Caine.
"What? Of course it is! Don't you remember all the bad things you children were telling us this guy did while you were all stuck in the dome? This is what he deserves," he spoke as if trying to get Caine to agree. The boy could only nod slightly, nearly wincing at the increase in hatred he could feel emanating from his side. Oh, he was doing great at winning Diana back.
"Well the others should be here soon," the agent spoke, smiling before leaving the room again.
"I can't believe you'd go this far," Diana hissed at him angrily.
"Not too long ago you would have agreed with me," he muttered, not looking at her.
"That was before all this!" Diana exclaimed, standing and whirling around to shout at him from a better angle he assumed. He slid down in his seat a bit, not really wanting to hear whatever 'all this' was that had taken place between the two. He was instantly on his feet and by her side, however, when she winced at the sudden pressure standing put on her ankle and she wobbled unsteadily on her feet.
"You shouldn't be standing," he murmured, helping her get back to her seat. She scowled, jerking away from him.
"I don't need your help," she growled.
Caine sighed, still leaning over her seat and putting his hands on either armrest, boxing her in. "Diana, listen to me," he spoke, capturing her livid gaze. He cut her off as she started to speak. "Not yell at me. Listen," he repeated. "People do that with their ears, not their mouths."
She scowled, but settled into the seat, still glaring at him. He took this as a sign to continue.
"I'm pissed, alright? I am. And most of that's at Drake, some of it at myself, and a lot of it doesn't really have a source. But I'm not stupid. I get that somehow—impossibly—you've begun to feel something for Drake. And because of that, I wouldn't ever try something like this. I might be willing to fight him for you but I'm not going to involve the legal system. Especially not the FBI. I mean, come on. Really?" he asked, shooting her a look.
"Well this timing is suspicious," she grumbled, not entirely trusting him.
"What is it about me?" he asked suddenly, straightening up and throwing his hands in the air as he began pacing. "What is it that makes me untrustworthy? Has this always been a problem and I just didn't realize it? Why can you trust him and not me?" He questioned, turning to her and waiting for an answer.
"I told you, there is no trick or reason. It's just the way it is," she told him.
"That's not possible. There has to be a reason you don't trust me," he demanded. "Have you ever trusted me?"
"I trusted you to protect me in the FAYZ," she spoke softly.
Caine laughed suddenly, devoid of any humor. "So that's it. My power. That was the source of everything. God, I'm such an idiot," he grumbled to himself, running a hand through his hair. "Did you ever feel anything for me?" he asked, staring her down. "Or was it all just a matter of using me for protection? So you could get what you wanted?"
"Caine, I do like you, and I honestly mistook that for love while we were in the FAYZ. But now I just realize that I don't love you, not like you love me, and I don't want to keep leading you on."
"What does that even mean?" Caine stressed, confused. "You like me, but you don't trust me. You don't love me like I love you? What is that supposed to mean? That you love me like a brother or something? Are you expecting me to still be your friend or something after this? Because honestly, this is the worst break-up speech I've ever heard," he ranted, now angry himself.
"This isn't a break-up speech, Caine. We broke up two days ago," Diana pointed quietly.
"Agh!" Caine yelled, kicking one of the chairs as he turned away from her. "Dammit, Diana," he hissed, hand coming up to hide his eyes from the lights, trying to make it look like he was holding his head for a headache.
"Caine," she began gently, trying to stand and come over to him, only her ankle wasn't allowing much hopping and she really didn't want to use crutches just to move the few feet it was to him. She grit her teeth, moving past the pain so she could gently press a hand to his shoulder, feeling him tense.
"You shouldn't be up," he muttered lowly, still not looking at her.
"Caine," she repeated, trying to get him to look at her.
"What?" he spoke lowly, sounding tired. He wouldn't look at her, his hand still covering his eyes.
"Look at me," she murmured, moving gingerly until she was in front of him and could reach up to grab his wrist, pulling it away from his eyes. He focused on something over her shoulder, avoiding her gaze as she took in the twin trails falling from his eyes. "I'm not doing this to hurt you," she spoke quietly, evenly.
"Sure seems that way," he muttered.
"What do you mean?" she asked quietly.
"Out of everyone, Diana, anyone, you tell me you like Drake. That you trust the guy who's tried to kill you more times than I can count more than me. Do you not remember all that he's done? Have you two just decided to team up against me and see how badly you can hurt me?" he asked her.
"This has never been about hurting you, Caine," she denied, brushing away one wet trail gently, watching brokenly as more silent tears came to replace it.
"How could you have expected this not to hurt me?" he questioned bitterly, looking away again.
"Look, I didn't go into this expecting this to happen. He blindsided me. There's a lot about him that neither of us never bothered to learn," she tried to explain.
"Like what? What could he possible say that could explain away all that he's done?" Caine spat, angrily.
"Caine, he's lonely," she murmured, softly turning his face back until he was looking into her dark eyes. "Don't tell me you don't know what that feels like," she added quietly.
Caine scoffed, pulling his face from her hold though not pulling away from her touch on his shoulder, knowing she probably needed him to keep standing. "So what, that excuses everything? And how does leaving me alone to help him solve anything? All it does it trade his and my places," he accused.
"You're not alone, Caine, not like him," she tried to refute. "You have your parents and friends at your school, and you're going to go to college and make more, I'm sure, and—"
"None of that matters if I don't have you," Caine cut her off. "You think I'm actually close to any of those people? Diana, you're the only person I've ever felt connected to. I love you. Why can't you understand that?" he asked.
Diana sighed, resisting the urge to just hug him and agree. Caine was so hard to deny sometimes, so compelling when he wanted to be.
"I'm beginning to see that you might really love me," she spoke slowly, carefully thinking about her words. "But you have to understand also that I just don't love you like that. I care for you, I want you to be happy and safe, and I want to still hear from you, but I just can't be with you like that anymore."
"Why?" Caine pleaded, wanting an answer, wanting a reason for why she was just walking out of his life after all this time.
"Because of him," she answered simply, meeting his eyes even as they began to be consumed with pain. She had to accept this; she had to accept that she was going to hurt him and get it over quick. Drawing this out would do no good and after having made up with Drake, she knew there was just no way she could go back to how they'd been.
Caine's jaw tensed as his teeth clenched together, trying to save face. Diana figured it probably wasn't the safest move, but she still couldn't stop herself from reaching forward and embracing him, pulling him tightly against her. Caine hid his face against her shoulder and she could feel the wetness dampening her shirt. She didn't comment though, just holding him and knowing there was nothing but time that could heal the wound she'd just so viciously made.
"I'm not giving up," he murmured after a while, arms wrapped around her waist lightly as he spoke into her shoulder.
Diana sighed. "I know you won't," she admitted. "But I wish you would."
"You know I can't accept losing to him so simply," he answered, quietly speaking the words against the bare skin of her throat, giving her goosebumps.
"Yeah, I know," she agreed. "Though, considering how this is likely to end…all of this might be for naught," she added.
Caine had no words for that, knowing it was true. Even he was bit surprised by what 'justice' they were going for, he couldn't honestly say it wouldn't be his gain in the end. Even if by such means, he'd still accept a win as a win and Diana would definitely be his if the FBI got what they wanted.
"You shouldn't be on your leg," Caine spoke finally, quickly wiping off his face before moving to once again help Diana into the seat. She rolled her eyes.
"You'd think I was made of glass or something. I just sprained my ankle, Caine. Nothing crazy."
"Either way, you don't need to make it worse," he noted, smiling slightly at the mild return to normality. He took the seat beside her, sitting in relative silence as they waited.
"Who else do you think they're bringing?" Diana asked, curiously.
"Who knows? Could be anyone from the FAYZ. They'll probably bring Sam and Astrid, though. Maybe Edilio and Brianna too. Dekka maybe? Or Lana?"
"So we're going to have a FAYZ reunion. How great," Diana muttered. "And everyone's going to be celebrating," she added bitterly.
"You would have once too," he added, slouching in his seat.
She sighed. "This is so stupid. Why now?" she grumbled.
"I'm not all that surprised actually," he shrugged at her look. "I mean, you can't have expected them to just let him off, considering everything we told them about what he's done."
"We did bad things too," she noted.
"Yes, but not a lot of people know about those, do they?" he smirked.
"Because anyone that was involved, you killed," she growled.
"See? That's the difference between Drake and I. I don't leave loose ends," Caine pointed out, just before the door opened and a girl entered. She scowled at seeing them both.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me. What are you doing here?" she growled towards them both.
"Well hello to you too, Brianna," Caine acknowledged.
"What do you think we're going here?" Diana grumbled unhappily. Brianna grinned suddenly.
"Ah, so you're here for the good of the cause, huh? Guess I can accept your presences then, considering how helpful you're bound to be." She shrugged, walking to take a seat down from them.
"Good of the cause…?" Diana repeated quietly, hollowly. Caine eyed her warily, wondering if she was going to snap and attack Brianna. As entertaining as that was bound to be, it probably wasn't the best idea what with all the federal agents out and about.
The door opened again and another girl and a guy walked in. The former paused, staring at Brianna with barely concealed surprised while the boy grinned with obvious relief, moving further into the room.
"Oh thank God you're here," Brianna stated, grabbing Jack's hand and pulling him into the seat next to her. Caine noted how she'd neglected to even look at Dekka. "I thought I was going to be stuck with these two," she complained, gesturing to Caine and Diana.
Dekka moved silently into the room, sitting a few seats down from Caine and on the opposite side of the room from Brianna and Jack. Caine idly wondered why there was no chairs set up on the wall opposite of them, though he didn't get much time to wonder as the door opened once more.
Five people filed into the room, none of them looking happy. Penny stalked in first, Bug following, with a reluctant Sam stepping in then, and Astrid behind him. Lana moved into the room like a ghost, not looking at any of them and taking a seat quietly near Brianna while everyone else decided to stand.
"Guess the gang's all here then," Caine commented, meeting Sam's uncertain gaze with a slight nod.
"What the hell's going on?" Penny demanded, a timid looking Bug following her like a shadow as he eyed the others uncertainly. Caine raised a brow at her.
"They didn't tell you?" he questioned.
"They just said they needed us to testify about the FAYZ," Astrid spoke up, turning to him. "Why don't you explain what they've told you," she added with a frown.
And just like that, every pair of eyes—with the exception of the pair belonging to the girl next to him—turned to him expectantly. His eyes widened in shock, looking to them all.
"You mean that's all they've told you?" he questioned, surprised. What kind of shady investigation was this?
"Yeah, so why don't you share with the class?" Penny growled, clearly annoyed.
Diana spoke quietly then, all of them turning to her. "They want us all to testify in a trail for Drake's execution."
-break-
Drake fidgeted in the seat in the interrogation room that he'd been left alone in. He'd been here for a while now—though he wasn't sure how long—and he could feel the nerves eating him. Execution, Agent Michaels had said. He felt his hand shaking, fisting it to try and keep everything outwardly steadily. It was one thing to go down in a fight, but to be put down like a no-good dog…
He tried to shake the thoughts away, eyes instead focusing on the mirror in front of him, his reflection staring back at him blankly. Honestly, he looked horrible. Dark shadows were still around his eyes, the scratches adorning his face and peeking out between his long bangs—the doctor said they'd basically scabbed over and as long as Drake didn't pick at them he didn't have to wear the stupid looking bandage on his head—his face had a slight gaunt look about it, making him look pretty pathetic, if he did say so himself. He sighed, running his hand through his long locks, making himself momentarily mad at just how long they were, before propping his chin up in his palm with a loud exhale.
A moment later, the door opened and he looked towards it, watching as the agent from before walked in carrying a rather thick looking file.
Guess it's about to begin, he thought to himself, sitting up straight and emptying his face of any expression.
-break-
"Alright, since everyone's here, we're about to begin," an agent spoke, sticking his head into the waiting room. He smiled kindly at everyone as they all looked towards him. "You can watch it through that," he motioned to the mirror, moving to flip a switch beside it. There was mixed reactions as the mirror dissolved to reveal itself to be a one-way mirror, the sight that was revealed to them being a pale and sick-looking boy sitting at a table alone. "I'll be back after the interrogation," the agent dismissed himself, exiting the room.
"Who's that?" Penny questioned, nose curling in disgust as she eyed the ill-looking boy.
Diana was oddly silent, just letting them figure it out on their own. Caine, picking up on what she was doing, just went along with it, remembering his own shock at seeing Drake as he was now after so long.
"He doesn't look healthy," Astrid noted, face frowning in sympathy. Sam's eyes had gone wide from the very moment the boy had been revealed and he was both tense and quiet. Diana, observing this, noted that he'd probably recognized him instantly. Of course, that's just how fear works. You never could forget the one you were absolutely terrified of, and Sam certainly had a reason to be terrified of Drake.
Dekka took in the new boy carefully, able to put together that it must be Drake but her mind just not able to connect the pale, ill looking boy in front of her with the demonic terror from the FAYZ. This boy looked exhausted and beaten, his face scratched up, his eyes surrounded by dark rings, his cheeks hollow. The clothes he was wearing were baggy on his frame and her eyes widened as she took in the lack of a right arm. No, this could not be Drake, the arrogant, powerful whip-handed monster.
"Do they not feed their patients? Like seriously, he looks like he'd break with one hit," Brianna noted. "They should give the guy a sandwich or something."
Diana nearly snorted at that, holding in her incredulous laughter. She could understand not instantly recognizing him, but he was still obviously Drake and there was no way Breeze would have been saying that if she'd known who it was.
"Looks familiar," Jack noted, frowning as he studied the boy. Diana couldn't believe just how hopeless they all were. Did no one seriously recognize him?
"Are all of you blind? It's Drake," Lana spoke up for the first time, eyes not wavering from her glare at the oblivious boy at the opposite side of the mirror.
"What?" Penny questioned, looking back for a moment, studying. Then she grinned, laughing nastily. "Ha! It is him!" she deemed.
"Seriously?" Brianna breathed, eyes wide in disbelief. She'd just felt pity…for Drake.
Suddenly, Drake moved, seeming to focus his attention and stare right at Sam, whose eyes widened like a deer caught in headlights. They all became quiet, wondering if it was in fact a one-way mirror as they'd assumed. But then Drake just sighed, closing his eyes and looking tired as he ran his hand through his hair, tugging at the locks roughly. Then he propped his head up on the desk with his hand, looking through bored, half-lidded eyes at the mirror. Suddenly though his attention shifted, turning to the right as an agent came into their view.
"Mr. Merwin," the agent spoke, sitting down a large file he was carrying before leaning against the table, looking down at Drake. The boy huffed, raising a brow but not answering verbally. "I'm sure you know why you're here," he added. Drake hummed, acting bored while every cell in his body sat on edge. Surely they wouldn't really execute him, right? That hardly ever actually happened, right?
"Then let's get on to business," the agent began, eyeing Drake warily. "Surely you've been informed by now that the hearing you went to over a year ago was, in fact, just that: a preliminary hearing, not a trial. Thus, as you were found unfit to face charges, you were placed in psychiatric care. However, due to the observations of one Dr. Raymond who's come to think you're beginning to be fit for society, you can understand why we're all a bit suspicious as to how a murderer could become well so quickly."
Drake didn't respond, once again. Every teen in the room adjacent to the interview room was watching with baited breath, all surprised by what was bring revealed.
"After all, sadism is apparently incurable, yet you're showing signs of improving after only a year when it's known that you've had some form of psychiatric care all through your life since you were five. Why is it suddenly working now? Maybe because you're actually locked up now and you don't think it's fun? So you'd thought you'd make a mockery of our legal system, pretend to be worse than you are and then fake get better, thinking you could just waltz back into the community without owning up to your crimes." The man leaned over the table suddenly, getting in a scowling Drake's face. "But we're not going to let you do that," he promised lowly.
"Get out of my face," Drake growled lowly, eyes flashing coldly. Diana's heart stopped at his voice, noticing how everyone else in the room seemed to tense with the addition of his voice as well. The hatred, the anger…all of that was still there. If there had been any doubt, the purely Drake growl had surely put those at rest. This was Drake Merwin, and they would all damned-well remember that.
"Or what? Are you going to attack me too, sadist?" the agent mocked him, eyes glaring at the cold orbs evenly. Drake's lip curled up in anger, just like a predator baring its teeth in a threat.
"Get. Out. Of. My. Face," Drake demanded haltingly, teeth clenched together.
"Go ahead, boy. Hit me. See if that clears your name," the agent mocked him, not backing up in the least.
Drake instead clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out the anger and the agent's voice. He had to calm down. He couldn't just attack a federal agent. That was just asking to be executed and he didn't want that.
"Don't I get a lawyer?" he gritted out, opening his eyes to glare at the agent who'd finally backed off a bit. He raised his brow.
"Do you think you deserve one?" he questioned.
Drake growled, fist clenching angrily as he chanted in his head, 'federal agent, execution, federal agent, execution.'
"I'm not answering any questions until you bring me my lawyer," Drake stated simply, forcing himself to at least look like he'd taken up an air of nonchalance as he leaned back in the chair, shutting his eyes and leaning his head back against the rest and hoping this guy didn't try to slit his throat.
"Oh, you're going to talk," the agent growled, slamming his hand on the table, trying to get the boy to look at him again. Drake clenched his teeth, forcing himself not to react. "Otherwise, we're going to go ask some of your friends."
Drake really tried not to react, honestly he did, but he didn't have any friends and he had no idea who this guy was talking about. Plus, he wasn't entirely sure whoever it was hadn't just been threatened with torture; this guy seemed pretty hardcore. And since there was still a few people he didn't want to come to harm anymore because of him—well, really only one—he figured he should probably at least see what was going on.
"What are you talking about?" Drake demanded, sitting up and staring down the older man coolly.
"I'm talking about all your friends from the FAYZ. They're all right through here, waiting for their turn to testify in favor of your execution," he drawled, knocking at the mirror lightly. Drake's eyes widened. A one-way mirror then. That meant they were watching him now. But who was 'they'? 'Friends' from the FAYZ? That would have to include Caine…maybe Sam too. Diana wouldn't be there though, right? Surely she wouldn't testify in favor of him being executed, not after everything they'd been through…right?
"Shit, he looks seriously worried," Penny noted with malicious glee, grinning from her seat as she watching the interrogation.
"Shut the hell up, Penny," Diana hissed angrily, not even sparing the girl a glance. Penny, however, did deem Diana worth a glare, turning to her.
"And what's your problem, Princess? You of all people should be glad they're getting rid of the dragon. Now you and your darling prince will be able to ride into the sunset without any loose ends," she mocked callously.
"Riding off with the prince," Caine mused aloud, before chuckling without humor, smiling self-deprecatingly. "Yeah, not going to happen anytime soon."
"Don't tell me you two are going through a rough patch," Penny rolled her eyes mockingly. "Oh, what happened? You pick the wrong movie for movie night, Caine?"
"The princess decided she liked the dragon more," Caine answered simply, face blank as he glared at Drake. Penny's—and really everyone's—eyes widened in total shock.
"What?" Astrid asked in surprised.
"You've got to be kidding me," Brianna agreed.
"No-fucking-way!" Penny nearly yelled. No one was really paying attention to the interrogation anymore, that was for sure. "Are you serious?" She laughed out loud then. "Serves you right, Caine!" she mocked, earning a glower from said teen. "But seriously, I just can't believe that. It's too out there!"
"Not really," Dekka muttered, looking with bored eyes at the interrogation that she could no longer hear thanks to Penny's loud mouth.
"Yeah, I'm not all that surprised either," Jack spoke up, shrugging.
"What are all of you talking about?" Caine hissed, annoyed. How could they have seen it coming and he hadn't?
"Yeah," Brianna added, turning to Jack suspiciously. He suddenly looked nervous. Even Diana was paying attention now, wondering how Jack and Dekka had been able to see it before even she and Drake had.
"Well, they've always seemed to be on the same wavelength, you know?" Jack tried.
"Like even when they hated each other, they could still have a whole conversation just by glaring at each other," Dekka offered, earning a thankful smile from Jack.
"Not to mention how fixated Drake is on Diana," Astrid adding, seemingly coming over to their side in the argument. "It makes sense when you consider his sadism playing its part in that. Of course any crush he'd form would be distorted."
"But he tried to kill her," Sam stressed, looking at Astrid in surprise.
"Thank you, brother," Caine nodded coolly. "My point exactly. But no one wants to listen to me, the voice of reason," he grumbled, sending Diana a pointed look.
"We've already had this discussion, Caine. Twice now. Three times if you count the cell phone call that made me wreck," she sighed, tiredly.
"Explains the crutches," Lana noted idly, eyeing Diana with a seemingly new light.
"So why are you here then?" Brianna asked. "If you like him—which is still just crazy, by the way—then you're not seriously going to testify for his execution, are you?"
"They'll charge me with contempt of court if I don't," she muttered unhappily, slouching in her seat unhappily.
"Would you back the hell off?"
They all paused in their discussion, turning towards the mirror to see Drake glaring in the agent's face, looking very close to exploding.
"Am I making you angry, Merwin?" the agent taunted.
"What are you trying to prove? What a prick you are? That you can make me angry? What's your game?" Drake demanded, growling.
Finally, the agent moved away, humming, while a slight smile crossed his features and he stood a respectable distance away, leaning against the table and watching Drake.
"Seems you're not going to hit me," he commented.
"I'm not an idiot," Drake growled, glaring at him.
The agent's smirk only became more pronounced.
"What?" Drake demanded, eyes narrowing.
"It's just, a mentally unsound person wouldn't be worried with the consequences of their actions. If you were in fact insane, you would have attack me the first time I got in your face, not tried to get me to bring you a lawyer and refrained from acting out any violence. That, to me, seems like someone capable of sane thought," he mused aloud.
Drake stiffened, staring at him in shock. "Are you telling me that because I didn't smash your face in, that that's your proof as me being fine?"
"It's going to be part of it," the agent nodded, before reaching for the file on the desk. "Though this is going to be the majority of our proof. This and your friends' testimonies, that is."
"Go to hell," Drake seethed.
"I think you'll be going there a lot sooner than I will, boy," the agent stated coldly before exiting the room briskly.
So yeah, post-chappie notes:
1) Yes, I brought back more of the gang :)
2) Yes, Penny's technically dead at the end of Fear, but I want her here so...yeah. My fic, my rules. Also, since I can't remember anything that happened in concerns to the meeting, we're going to pretend like Penny and Drake never met up in Fear either. In fact, why don't we just discount most of Fear? I mostly remember through Plague and reference things from there anyways. So, timeline switch: story now set like the FAYZ ended after Plague.
3) Just to let you know, I'll be referring to Brianna mostly as Brianna. Why? Well, they're not in the FAYZ anymore so she's not the Breeze anymore.
