Chapter Fourteen: Offer

Heart:
When I came to I was back at our hideout. Without a second thought I sprinted down the hall to Duke's room, knocking on his door in a panicked state. Saffire and Silver soon found me.
"He hasn't come back yet," Silver told me before Saffire nudged his side.
Silver hung his head a bit, "It's not looking good Heart."
"What do you mean? He got out didn't he?" I questioned in disbelief
Saffire shook his head, "It's all over the news Heart. The media knows his face now. They're sending him to a prison out of the city tomorrow! His trial will be a in few days, but it isn't looking good..."
I shook my head in disbelief, "No! He said he'd find us! He said he would get out!"
"Heart..." Saffire attempted.
"Why are you comforting her?!" Ebony demanded from behind us, "She's the reason he got arrested in the first place! He wouldn't have gotten caught if she hadn't been there! They were looking for her!"
I thought back to the night before, "No...It was Falcone! He must have set this up with them! He wanted to take on Duke and get me dragged away! But when we didn't spring the original trap they only got..."
I shook my head, not wanting to believe what was happening.
"Heart..." Silver tried again, "In either case...Duke faces life imprisonment for his life as a thief. They're preparing to take him away tomorrow morning."
"No! He-He'll get out! They can't hold him!" I started to panic.
"Heart, that won't help him!" Saffire snapped as energy began to spark around me.
"Then what will?!" I demanded, "I couldn't! Ebony's right, I got him in this mess! He never would have gotten caught if I had never shown up! He would still be free! He would still-"
"Be so distant he shuts us all out?" Silver questioned suddenly.
I looked up at him a bit startled, "What?"
"You heard me!" Silver exclaimed, "You think not being here would have made things better for him? Duke was merely going through the motions after losing his eye! You know that better than anyone here!"
"Silver, calm down!" Diana pleaded.
"Are you really going to say it would be better if you two hadn't met?! He loves you! He's risked everything for you!"
"He wouldn't have had to if it weren't for me!" I shouted.
"That doesn't mean he would be better off! Duke put his neck on the line for you! And you have done the same for him! You almost did last night! Now you're going to sit here and question that?!"
"What am I supposed to do?!" I snapped, panicking still.
"I don't know! Anything but that though!" Silver shouted back.
For the first time in months I felt an urge take over my legs. An urge that I hadn't listened to in so long. Yet this time I did. Not even bothering to change I ran. The city around me became a blur, the cold air of the morning froze my lungs as I sprinted down the street.
I didn't even know where I was running to. Around me on the news I could see his face, hear his name being announced. The news I had just heard made my head spin. My father's words echoed harshly in my head, "They'll lock him up and throw away the key."
"Duke...I'm sorry..." my head screamed, "Please come home!"
As I ran I wasn't watching where I was going. I was too distracted when I bumped into someone. Fear quickly came over me as their hands grasped my shoulders.
"No! Please!" I begged before I looked up.
"Sis?!"
I looked up in shock, "Wildwing?!"

Duke:
After having several cameras shoved in my face and other such devices, I was finally brought to an interigation room. There I was seated with my hands cuffed to the arms of the chair on both sides.
"I see you haven't gotten out yet?" The woman from the night before taunted.
I shrugged, "Not yet."
"You really are stubborn L'Orange. All of this attention and you're still acting clueless." she mocked.
"I told ya I don't know who you're lookin' for," I repeated once again.
The door was then closed behind her. Once it was she walked over and leaned close from across the table. Her piercing blue eyes reminded me of a cat trying to corner it's prey. Yet I wasn't a mouse, or a rat for that matter.
"Duke," she started pointedly, "I can make all of this go away."
"What are ya talkin' about?" I questioned.
"All of this," she said looking at my handcuffs holding me in place, "It would all go away if you simply told us what we want to know."
I looked at her confused.
"Duke, your ticket to freedom is right in front of you. You should take it before you're carted off tonight," she taunted.
"I thought I was leavin' in the mornin'," I said confused.
"You got bumped to a higher priority. You should be proud," she told me sounding vaguely impressed, "However, I can let you leave right now with the right information."
I didn't answer.
"Duke, you could leave. You could have your reputation back, in fact it would only be better now. You could claim that no cell could hold the great Duke L'Orange! And all you have to do is tell me about the girl we're trying to find."
"What girl?!" I finally questioned with a lost expression.
Her eyes took on an amused expression, "She's dangerous L'Orange! Surely you've seen what she can do to our city!"
"I have no idea what you're talkin' about!" I insisted.
"You're risking everything! Your freedom! All for this girl!" She scowled, "You would be let go if you just told us where she is!"
"Well...when ya put it like that..." I said thoughtfully, thinking of Heart and the promises I knew I couldn't keep now, "I still don't know who the heck you're talkin' about!"
The woman glared at me with her icy eyes. Then with a deep breath she turned to her partner as he cracked his knuckles. In an instant he gripped the back of my neck, pulling at the feathers of my ponytail a bit as he growled at me, "Where is the girl L'Orange?!"
"I don't know who you're talkin' about! It's jus' been me this whole time!" I said firmly.
He pulled me up by my neck and I could feel the metal from the handcuffs biting into my wrists a bit in an attempt to hold me down, "Where is she?!"
"Who is this girl you're tryin' ta find so badly?!" I questioned.
"You tell us!" The woman snapped.
"I won't 'cause I don't know!" I insisted as I was then shoved down against the table, nearly slamming my head against it.
"Ya know, I'm pretty sure this counts as torture," I mentioned dryly.
"Do you think anyone out there cares how a thief is treated?" The woman mocked, "And who here would claim it was us? It could have been someone in your gang and the bruises are just now showing up?"
"Now where is she?" The man holding me down, shoving me into the table now, asked again, "Tell us before I lose my patience L'Orange."
For a moment I thought of her, yet I didn't let it show. The woman's question stung, knowing that Heart cared for my well being. Yet despite this I gave the only answer I could at this point, "I don't know who you're talkin' about."
Just as he went to kick at my chair to knock me down with it, I snapped my fingers as I finished unlocking the handcuffs around my wrists that I had been working on. Then I jumped to my feet, leaping away from the man's grasp.
"We need back up! L'Orange is trying to escape!" The woman called out the door.
Before I could move the room filled with officers all with weapons trained on me. I put my hands up again before being slammed into a wall as my arms were once again pulled behind me. Again I felt them being bound. As I was lead away the woman sneered at me with a whispered warning, "You have until tonight L'Orange to remember. I suggest you get to thinking about it!"
"There's nothin' for me ta think about," I assured, her eyes widened as I said this, and I was then tossed back into my cell.