Roberto swiped a strand of sweat-dampened hair away from his forehead and huffed. Keeping count of time was an ability that had already started to elude him. Had it been a week since the obviously insane Anna abducted him? Or a month?
Maldito! Roberto swore. How dare you do this to me, Anna? I think the only place in the world you should be in is a top-security mental institution! Wait until I get out!
As if Anna was reading his thoughts, the door to his cell creaked and swung open slightly. Roberto contemplated leaping at Anna and throttling her throat, but common sense stopped him. More likely than not, Shadow and Possessor would be ready to throttle him back.
Roberto's face twisted with disgust as Anna's hateful face popped round the door for the umpteenth time. A mocking grin was plastered on her face, making Roberto's insides lurch. Ignoring her, Roberto turned his face away.
"Oh Roberto, don't you want to see who I've got here?" Anna cooed, her tone seductive.
Roberto steadily took no notice, and deliberately clapped his hands over his ears.
"I'm talking to you. Hey!" Anna's normally soft voice rose, loud enough to vibrate past his hands.
"Shut up!" Roberto yelled. "Go blabber to someone else. I've heard enough poison."
"So you don't want to see the treasure I've brought with me?"
Roberto laughed humourlessly. "Your 'treasure' is nothing but worthless junk to me."
"Roberto."
The change in voice was more than enough to startle Roberto considerably. The feminine voice that had just spoken was familiar to him, all too familiar. Deciding that this was just a dream, Roberto looked up anyway.
"Rahne?" Roberto spluttered.
Rahne's lips stretched into a smile, somewhat hesitantly. "Hello, Roberto."
Roberto's breathing had stopped, and his face had paled to the colour of clouds. This couldn't be happening; Rahne couldn't be here with him in a prison! It was just a dream. It had to be a dream.
"Fifteen minutes, little wolf, and you're out of here."
Rahne did not even appear to hear Anna. All her attention was solely focused on the Brazilian prisoner in front of her now. Her eyes were larger than saucers, the expression in them one of utter shock mingled with relief and apprehension at the same time. Neither of them spoke. Neither one of them made any move.
"I'll leave you to it, sweethearts," Anna said mockingly, before departing.
Rahne cleared her throat, fixing her attention on the ground beneath her feet. "Roberto, we only have fifteen minutes," she mumbled. "I only managed to make her agree to let us talk by…coming up with a sort of…bargain."
Silence.
"Can we…can we at least sort out things before Anna returns?" Rahne sighed hesitantly.
Roberto shook his head. "There's nothing to sort out on your part," he muttered. "I've…I've been told everything about…about…you know what." He bowed his head with shame, not daring to even look at Rahne.
"Then, you know that it was merely an illusion?" Rahne said, not daring to assume anything.
"Yes. So I heard. That is, if Anna can be believed at all."
"Whatever it is, I did not betray you."
"I know. I know. I'm sorry, Rahne. I'm so sorry." Roberto buried his face in his hands and felt tears wetting his palms. In his heart, there was no more room for joy at this unexpected reunion with Rahne. Such emotions would have been the most inappropriate thing in the world. All he could feel was shame and self-loathing. If he ever escaped this hellhole, he would spend months and months making amends if that was what Rahne wanted.
"I'm sorry, Rahne," Roberto repeated.
A gentle touch on his hand. Roberto sniffed and surreptitiously wiped his tears away, raising his head slowly. Rahne was kneeling down next to him, a very hesitant hand on his. Green eyes eyed him warily, as if anticipating an attack any moment. Roberto wanted nothing more than to hug her, but that was a fantasy, surely. More likely than not, Rahne would shove him five miles away if she could.
"Are you hurt? What did Anna do to you?"
"Nothing." Roberto deemed it wise not to tell her the truth about Anna's disgusting and unwanted approaches to him. A single wrong word or move might make everything all wrong again. "She's done nothing that could harm me. Except keeping me here, of course."
"The Professor already knows where I am," Rahne replied. "He said he'll be sending in several mutants soon. They'll probably be here any moment. I know that." Her voice shook slightly, and she almost felt stupid saying that. There was no conviction in her tone. If she herself had hardly anymore hope, how was she supposed to make Roberto feel any better?
"How did you get here in the first place?" Roberto asked quietly. "And why alone? How did you find me?"
Rahne gave the smallest of laughs. "You'd hardly believe me if I told you," she replied, before recounting the tale.
Roberto sighed and shut his eyes, feeling another wave of shame. "You did that for me? Even after what happened between us?"
"It was an instinct I followed when I had no control over my senses. The wolf side of me felt you were in danger, and I responded as I would have in the wild. There's nothing remarkable about that."
"I think it's more than remarkable. You were risking your life for me, someone who could mistrust you enough to accuse you of…of betraying me. I…I…"
Acting on impulse, Rahne slipped her arms around Roberto and hugged him tightly. "Don't think about that now. The past is the past. Holding on to it will drag us both through more despair and pain. We still have the future to look to. Why don't we concentrate on that? Regretting the past won't change it. We can expect help to arrive any moment now, eh?" The Scottish girl's lips stretched into a tentative smile.
"Thanks. For everything." Roberto threw his arms back around Rahne and squeezed her. "Friends again, then?"
"Need you ask?" Rahne replied, and in that moment, Roberto could not help but laugh at how easily friendship could triumph over enmity.
Guys, please do review and let me know what you think! Unless I get your opinions, I won't know what to improve on! I've not been getting reviews for the past 2-3 chapters already. That might make me very unmotivated, and this could be put on hiatus again.