Val's return to the basement hours later was brief, only going down there to drop a plate of food next to Blake's feet and rearranging his chains so he could move to grab the food before leaving, all without even sparing him a passing glance. Blake thought about stopping her, but decided against it and stayed silent. Besides, what would he even say?

"I'm sorry for biting you?"

"You got a mean left hook, lady?"

No, it was probably in his best interest to keep quiet. At least for now.

Now with the somewhat limited freedom to move his arms, Blake inhaled the food: a turkey sandwich and a glass of water, not realizing until now how hungry he was. After scarfing down the sandwich and draining the glass in one gulp, he suddenly felt tired. Perhaps finally eating something kicked started his brain to tell him it was time to sleep. Perhaps Val slipped something into his food or drink to get him drowsy. Either way, Blake's eyes were feeling heavy and sleep sounded so nice right now.

Ignoring the warning signs screaming in his brain that was telling him to stay awake, Blake slipped away, letting the gentle wave of sleep wash away everything and drifting off into slumber.

X X X

Blake awoke with a start, barely feeling at all refreshed as he was ripped from his dreamless sleep by the feeling of someone watching him. He opened his sleep-weary eyes and saw Val once again knelt down in front of him, her features obscured by the darkness surrounding them. Val didn't seem to notice he was awake, and whispered softly almost talking to herself she was so quiet.

"Can't believe I hit you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hit you, Blake," the woman's voice cracked, like she was on verge of tears, "I'm so sorry."

Blake shut his eyes, pretending to still be asleep as Val moved her face closer to his own and kissed his cheek soft and tender-like as fearing she'd hurt him again. He felt her move away, and opened his eyes, watching her rise and start to leave. Val was halfway up the stairs before Blake spoke, his voice quiet and raspy from sleep.

"Val. . .wait."

Val stopped, one foot raised to continue her climb up the steps while the other was firmly planted on the lower step. She lowered her foot back to the lower stair as she turned her head to look back down at Blake.

"B-Blake?"

Val's voice wavered, obviously nervous about starting a conversation with Blake after what she had done. As Val walked back down the steps towards him, Blake shifted in place, moving to try and get comfortable on the concrete floor. Val sat down beside him with her eyes cast down at the ground, unable to look at Blake. She kept her gaze at the floor and ended up zoning out for a few minutes until she felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her from her daydream-like state. She turned her head slowly to stare at the hand, pale and shaky, resting on the woman's shoulder. Gathering up a bit more courage, she turned her head a bit more and looked at the man, the face connected to the hand and felt her eyes start to brim with tears. She whirled around, throwing her arms around Blake as she shook and shuddered, her sobs muffled as she pressed her face into her captured love's chest.

Leaving Blake sitting there with no idea what to do.

This lady was nuts! First, she kidnapped him from work cause she thought she was in love with him, then she hit him (although admittedly he deserved it as he did bite her) and now she was crying into his chest. Talk about bipolar! Knowing he'd better do something, anything to make amends, Blake decided to do something that would end up going great.

Or end up going badly.

Blake tried to move his arms and although the man's chained arms were at an awkward angle, he was able to wrap one arm around Val's neck. He felt Val's body tense, startled by his touch, but heard no complaints or protest. Ignoring his heart going a million miles a second and silencing the voice inside his head that screamed at him to shove her away before she killed him, he continued his plan. Blake pulled her closer with his arm while his other arm's hand ran through the woman's hair, whispering into her ear as he rocked her back and forth on that concrete floor.

"I forgive you. . ."

Val pulled her face out of Blake's shirt, her face red and flushed from her tears. She stared into his eyes, her own blue ones watery and tired-looking. She pressed her face against his, the bridges of their noses touching and their lips nearly doing the same. Val's face split into a small smile. But this one was a soft and happy one, not like the usual obsessive and lust-filled ones she usually gave Blake.

They sat there on the cold yet strangely comfortable concrete floor of her basement, no words exchanged between the two. Blake's hands trailed through Val's hair and across her neck while Val's eyes wandered around Blake's body, as though the woman couldn't get enough of just being in his arms, that she also had to stare at every inch of him. Because he was hers, and nothing was going to take him away from her. Not again.

Never again.

Her eyes trailed down from his face to his neck where she noticed something interesting. A silver chain half-hidden inside his shirt, gleaming softly in the dim light of the room. She hooked her finger underneath the chain and before Blake could stop her, she pulled it free from his shirt only to frown when she saw what it was.

A silver cross.

"Blake, what's this?"

Her almost annoyed tone caught him off-guard, as she stared up at him and then back down at the cross necklace in her hand. Blake found his voice again and shrugged, "Uh, it's a cross?"

Her frown deepened and her eyes cast down to the ground, almost as if she couldn't look at him before she spoke up again, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Are you. . .a man of God, Blake?"

Blake nodded hesitantly, "Yes."

"Why?"

Blake took a moment to consider her rather blunt question before shrugging again and answering, "If a person can't believe in God, then what can they believe in?"

"But God doesn't love you," Val murmured and then her grip tightened on the chain, pulling it as her fist shook, "Not like I do."

Val's grip was nearly choking Blake as the chain pulled taut, only to break due to her excessive strength. Both Blake and Val looked down at the necklace, now a pile of chains and the little metal cross in the palm of her hand. Val started to mutter out an apology before Blake silenced her with something she didn't expect. His lips.

Val acted almost immediately, as though she had been expecting him to do this. Her hands grasped the back of Blake's head, wanting more and not even questioning why Blake decided to kiss her. All she could think about was Blake. She wanted him, she needed him, and now it seemed that he returned her feelings. Blake's own hands continued touching her neck, hair, and face before they unraveled themselves from her neck once more, laying limply at his sides. Val reluctantly broke the kiss, now even more red-faced than what her crying fit caused before.

Val got up from her spot on the floor, a somewhat restrained glee obviously coursing through her body as she leaned down to hug him tightly, nearly squeezing the life out of him before letting Blake go. She was smiling ear to ear as she left the basement, leaving Blake again. He heard the door close behind her and moments later, to his amusement, a happy sounding laugh echo from upstairs. When it was clear Val wasn't coming back down, Blake lifted his hand back up to his face and he eyed the chain dangling from his fingers, the small key to his freedom gleaming in the dull light.

To be honest, now he felt like laughing too.