So sorry for the long delay! And I am sorry to present you with such a short chapter after such a long delay. I am not 100% happy with it, so I may do some more editing later, but I feel like it is complete for now. I have a good deal of the next chapter already started, so hopefully not as long of a wait next time. Thank you for sticking around.

PS: Since a lot of this is heavy stuff, I wanted to tell you that there are brighter times ahead. Promise! It will just take some time. :3

The first thing Chell did after removing Jan from her life was get rid of the pager she had been given. It had become a symbol of her reliance on the older woman and going forward, Chell felt she had no further need of it. It had been a mistake for her to have even accepted it in the first place, she now knew. After the incident, and after Winter had fallen asleep (after having spent the rest of the day in his room, upset, worried, and confused), Chell quietly crept outside and to the garbage bin designated for her apartment building, into which she tossed the small, unassuming device. She then made her way back inside, locked the door behind her, and stood for a long time in the doorway of her son's bedroom, watching him sleep, considering moving him to her bed for mutual comfort before deciding against it and returning to the living room.

There she sat for most of the night, barely moving or doing anything besides breathing, feeling strangely numb. The voices were silent again, and for some reason, this disconcerted her. Their absence left her feeling even more cold and numb and without the slightest motivation to move or do anything besides sit there and feel the quiet passage of time as it flowed around her, somehow leaving her trapped within her own little black hole of reality, unable to move forward, unable to escape, unable to do anything at all. It wasn't until she heard birds chirping outside her window that she realized she had just spent an entire night staring off into that black hole, into nothing.

After checking to make sure her son was still asleep, she wrote a note for him in case he woke up while she was gone and then hiked over to the office and business center of her apartment complex and used their phone to call out of work for the day. She grimaced the entire time while using the phone, but was able to portray through the keypad entry and telecommunications relay service that she needed the day off to make supervisory arrangements for her son. She then asked to be transferred to the on-site daycare where she made arrangements for Winter's care during the day going forward.

He would be starting kindergarten later in the year, but until then Chell needed reliable supervision for him - well, as reliable as she could get, under the circumstances. She was beyond uncomfortable with the idea of leaving him with strangers for any amount of time, much less for the better part of the day, but what choice did she have? She couldn't leave a five-year-old at home alone, especially one as curious as her son. And she sure as hell wasn't going to be asking Jan to come back and babysit for her again. And besides, she reasoned that this would probably be good for him - good for both of them - as this would help prepare him for when he did finally start school, not that she remembered what any of that was like herself. She just wished she could get rid of the sick feeling in her gut over leaving her son with people who were essentially strangers, even if, in essence, Chell had seen them nearly every day for the past six years.

Predictably - understandably - Winter was unhappy with these changes. While he was initially upset after Chell informed him of their new arrangements, it wasn't until she was waking him up early with breakfast already made, ushering him to get dressed, taking him out with her, and arriving at the daycare the next morning that he finally understood the full implication of what this all meant. It was with a rush of final understanding - and a flood of tears and panic - that Winter fully expressed his displeasure with what was happening.

"Do I gotta stay here?" he cried, his voice so small and frail, his sad eyes glistening with anguish.

(Let's just stay here like this, luv. If- if you want to, we could just call it quits and we could just sit here - forever.)

Chell felt a cold rush of guilt and almost wanted to change her mind, though in truth some part of her was surprised by his reaction. She had expected him to be at least a little excited at getting to meet new people and play with other kids all day. But then, logically, she also was not surprised, after all the events from the last couple of days.

Still, she had to remain firm in her stance. "Yes," she signed.

"But why? I don't want to! I wanna stay home with Grandma!"

(Let's just stay here like this, luv.)

"That is not an option."

(We'll go with Option B, then.)

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't."

"But-.. I don't understand. Why do I have to stay here? Why can't I just stay with Grandma?"

Chell held back a sigh and tried to steer him away from that topic - "I'll be right here. I'm not far away if you need me. I'll pick you up as soon as my shift ends," - but he seemed wholly stuck on it.

"Please," he said, giving her a hopeful look, as if repeating the question would change her mind, "Can I stay with Grandma?"

(Or I guess Option A, seeing as escaping was actually our first plan.)

Chell pressed her lips together, "No."

His brow fell and the look disappeared, "But... But is it because of what happened the other day, when I climbed the tree? Please, it-.. i-i-it was my fault, not Grandma's, and I won't do it again."

(We'll get out of here.)

"It has nothing to do with the other day.

(Together.)

This is not your fault at all, please don't think that it is."

(You and me.)

"Please don't leave me here. I don't like it here."

(All you ever cared about was escaping - didn't care about leaving me behind, did you?)

"How can you know that? You just got here."

"Because I want to stay with Grandma. And-..." he trailed off momentarily, casting his gaze away, "You don't like it here either."

(All the while you were plotting, scheming with your little potato friend over here to be rid of me.)

For a moment, Chell was stunned. Had her son really been able to read her expression that clearly?

(Well, I'm onto you now, luv.)

She inhaled, allowed her face to relax, willing herself to settle into the expressionless state she was once so proud of, and let out a calmer exhale.

(Your plotting is all over.)

Winter must have seen the change take place, because his expression darkened even more.

(It all - ends - here.)

"I am sorry," she signed, and indeed she did feel sorry, sorry for so much more than he would ever know or understand, "Please know that this is difficult for me too. The day will be over before you know it. I will come back and visit during my lunch break."

Winter brightened, but only slightly, "You promise?"

Chell offered him a smile despite the fact that she felt as though her heart was breaking, "Promise."

She held through on her promise, and despite her reservations the rest of the day seemed to go on like normal. Perhaps the world was not about to end after all. Perhaps things could finally settle down and she could get on with her life - anxiety, PTSD, guilt, and regret or not. But when they arrived home later that evening to what could only be described as a care package on their doorstep, Chell knew this wasn't over yet.

"What's that?" Winter inquired as they approached the bag, which appeared to be laden with medications, food, and other goodies.

Chell peered into it and held back a sneer. She did not answer her son and instead picked up the bag and moved it to the side before ushering them both inside. She distracted his attention away from it by asking him to help her with dinner and asking him how his first day at daycare was.

He shrugged, seeming disinclined to respond, whereupon she asked him again. He let out a small sigh, "It was all right, I guess."

"Did you make any new friends?"

"I don't know... How do I know if someone is my friend?"

(Just thinking back to the old days when we were friends. Good old friends. Not enemies.)

Chell did not answer right away, instead went about cutting up the vegetables for their salad and sandwiches. She had not prepared for a question like that and all at once realized that she had no good answer.

"You both enjoy being around each other," she signed, deciding to keep it simple, for all her limited repertoire on the subject. Then she picked up her knife and resumed her preparations.

(What happened to those days?)

"Well, Grandma is my friend," he said softly, cautiously. "Are you and Grandma still friends?"

(Aww, the poor bastard offspring of the dumbest moron who ever lived wants to know about friendship from his mute lunatic mother who is known for murdering her friends. Well, I guess he wouldn't know about that - but only just.)

Chell was silent for a long moment, considering his question, before shaking her head.

(Oh, that's too bad. But who can really say they are surprised.)

"But-... She enjoys being around us."

"But I don't enjoy being around her."

(But-..)

"Why not?

(Is it-...)

"Because-

(..-she came too close to seeing you for the monster you really are?)

"-you were fighting? But-.. the bag. She gave us the bag. Why can't you and Grandma just say you are so-"

Something inside of her gave way suddenly and without any warning. Before she could think, even as part of her was genuinely curious how he knew it was Jan who left the bag, Chell was setting down her sharp utensil a little harder than intended, eliciting a small start from her son.

"Stop with all the questions. Just stop."

Immediately she regretted what she had done once she registered both his reaction and the look of frightened surprise in his eyes.

"I'm sorry... I don't want to talk about that," she signed, pushing out a sigh, forcing herself to relax, and then forcing a smile. "I asked if you made any friends today."

Winter was quiet for a moment, glancing at her as if afraid of answering, and then shook his head.

"Well, give it some time," she said. Chell tried her best to be as encouraging as possible, under the circumstances, but the words sounded hollow even to her.

Winter looked like he wanted to say something,

(It's all over, luv.)

(You've broken him.)

but instead nodded and continued with what he was doing.