AN: Here we go, another chapter here.

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

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"Andrea's a special case, that's all," Alice said.

Melodye's partner outweighed her by probably half her own body weight. Alice was taller than her too, by several inches, even though Alice wasn't a large woman by any stretch of the imagination. Since they'd begun dating, though, long before the turn of the world, Alice had always joked that she was Melodye's protector. She, as the bigger of the two of them, was the muscle in the relationship. And in a few situations they'd been in, Alice had stepped up to prove that the role—though she may not really be suited for it—was one that she was willing to take on.

But if Alice was the muscle, Melodye knew that it was—and always had been—her job to keep Alice's feet on the ground, even if she didn't ever really let Alice know about her role.

As they moved as quickly as they could through the community, Melodye kept her pace matched with Alice's despite the difference in their strides. She listened to Alice filling her in on a job that she'd already been briefed on, and she grabbed Alice's arm in time to distract her from looking at the body that was still lying in the street and, more than likely, would lie there for at least the rest of the day.

It wasn't easy to look at the remains of a human being shot down in cold blood, but it was easier for Melodye to do it than it was for Alice to do it.

"Al, I think I got it," Melodye said. "And I believe—this is my job, you know? That's why they hired me to do it."

"I'm not doubting that, Mel," Alice responded. "But I know Milton gave you limited information. I'm just trying to help you out. From someone who's been working with Andrea since she got here."

Melodye stopped their forward progress and grabbed Alice's shoulder to bring her skidding to halt when she didn't recognize that Melodye had fallen out of step with her.

"I understand, Al," Melodye said, trying to put the correct amount of force behind her words. "Wild A. I know. I understand. I read the original reports. I heard everything that you heard. I heard a little more, even. Wild A? She's massively important in the world of Wild psych. In fact, until now? Until Wave Thirty Three? There hasn't been a single development in psychology that's been more important than Wild A since the turn."

Alice frowned at Melodye, her deep involvement in the project showing on her features.

"Andrea is a human being, Mel," Alice said, almost begging her with her voice. "She's just a human being. And she's hurt. She's been hurt a lot before. And she's scared and she's—she's isolated. She just wants to live a peaceful existence with people she cares about and she wants to care for her baby. That's it."

Melodye nodded her head.

"And that's what we're trying to make happen, right?" Melodye asked.

"I don't know," Alice said. "Because I don't know what you know that—I don't know."

"Alice—I'm not lying to you," Melodye said. "I've told you everything I know. I know—just what Milton needs me to know. I know that I have to go in there and I have to talk to Andrea. I have to ask her these questions and I need honest answers from her. Real ones. Not the ones she's inclined to give Maggie because these? They're going to Milton and that's what's going to really matter. I believe that everyone is going to get through this and this project? It's going to change the world. At least, it's going to change their world and the lives of every Wild in captivity and still out there."

"Can you bring them back?" Alice asked, her eyes darting from side to side as she tried desperately to read Melodye's thoughts to see if there was something there she might be hiding. Melodye furrowed her brows at Alice.

"Bring who back?" Melodye asked.

"If they break them," Alice said, "can you bring them back?"

Melodye sucked in a breath and held it, considering how she might answer Alice's concerns. Finally, she nodded her head at her.

"Even if they break," Melodye said, "I can bring them back. But you and me? We're not going to let them break." She held her hand out to offer Alice the bag that she was carrying. "Here, take the bag. You're up first."

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Melodye walked in right behind Alice when Alice opened the door and announced her presence to Andrea. For a moment, the house was so still that it might have been abandoned, but then Melodye saw Andrea sitting on the couch, her hands held up in surrender, while the television flickered the "news" that it had to offer the citizens of Woodbury. Today's news was all about what had happened—and it served as a warning to everyone.

"You can put your hands down," Alice said, doing her best to keep up the cheer that she tried to wear everywhere for the benefit of her patients. "I brought you something to celebrate."

"What am I celebrating?" Andrea asked.

"Crossing the first trimester off the to-do list," Alice said.

Melodye kept quiet. She wasn't foolish enough to think that Andrea hadn't noticed her presence, but her ultimate goal at the moment was to simply be present in Andrea's environment as a non-threatening entity.

Alice went into the kitchen, gathered glasses out of the cabinet herself, and carried them with the bag into the living room. As someone already welcome in the house, she sat down without asking permission and put the glasses on the table before she produced a bottle of fruit juice from the bag. Melodye made a mental note of Andrea's physical recoil at the sight of the bottle, even if she wasn't going to make any moves to write it down for herself just yet.

"I don't want that," Andrea said.

"Water, then?" Alice asked.

"I'm not thirsty," Andrea responded. Alice, in response, reached and took Andrea's hand. She quickly pinched up the skin on Andrea's hand and frowned at her.

"You're dehydrated," Alice responded. "Which is nothing unusual. And, frankly, it's starting to piss me off. So juice or water? Your call."

Andrea rolled her eyes in Melodye's direction, the first clear sign that she was even aware of her presence, and Melodye walked closer to her, putting herself fully in the space of the living room.

"The juice is good," Melodye offered. "Arrived fresh this morning."

"Liquid and nutrients," Alice said, pouring it into the glasses. She took one and offered the other to Andrea. Andrea watched Melodye, but with a little nudging she finally took the glass that Alice kept bumping against her hand.

One of the reasons that Alice was good at her job was that, like a little child, she had persistence that never ran out. It was also one of the reasons that Melodye felt like the two of them had made it through everything they'd ever had to overcome together. Nobody could resist Alice. And if they tried? She'd just badger them until they gave up the fight.

"You can drink your juice, Andrea," Melodye offered quietly. She gave Andrea the best and most reassuring smile she could. "Can I sit?" She got a nod and she took a seat in a chair that gave her a good view of the couch. She moved her pad to her lap, but she didn't look at it or show that she intended to use it in any way. "Do you remember me? We met—in the clinic?"

"Melodye," Andrea confirmed. "You were here when..."

"I was," Melodye said quickly, fully intending to cut Andrea off before she could put too much voice to what were likely bad memories. She didn't want any more negative associations there than were already cemented. "When you saw the baby. How is the baby? Any movement yet?"

"No," Andrea said. She looked at Alice and Alice shook her head before directing her own response to Melodye.

"Could be too soon," Alice said. "Maybe it won't be long, but it's too soon right now." Reminded of the juice that they'd brought, Alice bumped Andrea's glass with her hand and Andrea somewhat reluctantly tasted the juice. Apparently, though, seeing that nothing was going to happen to her and having missed the flavor of the liquid, she drained the glass after her first hesitant taste. It was progress. Minor, perhaps, but progress nonetheless, and Melodye was happy to see it.

"Baby likes fruit?" Melodye asked. Alice refilled Andrea's glass, mostly ignoring the juice she'd poured for herself as a sign of solidarity. Andrea drank half the glass like it was the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted before she nodded at Melodye and muttered something along the lines of "yep." "Any other cravings?" Melodye asked.

"Raisins," Andrea said.

Melodye laughed to herself.

"Just raisins?" She asked. "Not raisins with—with asparagus or something?" Andrea shook her head. "Raisins sound pretty tame."

"I never liked raisins," Andrea pointed out. "But now? I can't get enough of them. Every morning when we place our order? They bring them in these little tiny boxes and every morning I have to ask them for like twenty of the little boxes. They should just bring them in bulk."

Feeling like things were at least calming down a little, and the tension wasn't quite as high in the room as it had been, Melodye got a little more comfortable in her seat. She caught Alice's eye and nodded her head. Alice put the bottle of juice on the table and got to her feet. Andrea almost seemed startled and started to stand with her, but Alice waved her back down.

"I've got to make a couple of rounds," Alice said. "I just wanted to congratulate you on what's—what's actually a pretty big milestone. An important one. Mel, here, she's going to take care of you. Hang out with you for a little while. I'll swing back by later and see what I can do about some bulk raisins."

Affectionately, Andrea reached a hand out and caught Alice's arm. She gave it a squeeze and Alice caught Andrea's hand in response to offer the same squeeze. In her own silent way—and Melodye hoped it was a way that Andrea could understand—Alice was trying to tell Andrea that it was OK.

Melodye didn't speak again until Alice left the house and, finding herself alone with Andrea, she knew that she had to say something to keep any progress made between them from being lost in silence.

"Alice wants what's best for you," Melodye said. "I do. Milton does. Andrea—none of us want to hurt you. We don't want to hurt you or your baby or—or anyone, really."

"Except when you do," Andrea said. Melodye shook her head and Andrea gestured toward the television. "How many people did they kill? How many animals?"

Melodye nodded her understanding. The news was unsettling to them all—and it was meant to be.

"Just one," Melodye said. "Two tried to escape. One was caught and the other wouldn't stop."

"What happened to the one that was caught?" Andrea asked.

"He was—removed from Woodbury. Taken back to the prison," Melodye said.

Andrea sat up and changed her position so that she was facing Melodye.

"What happened to him?" Andrea asked, something in her voice telling Melodye that she already knew the answer.

"Nobody was told," Melodye said. "But—if I had to guess? He was driven about a mile and a half out. There's a stretch of road there that—where there's not really that many people around. It's a nowhere stretch between here and there. More than likely they unloaded him there and they—euthanized him."

"Euthanized him," Andrea repeated. "Exterminated him. Shot him in the head and left him there to rot. Call it what you want, it's all the same thing. And why? Because he wanted the freedom they promised us. And now? They're saying this could set us back. It could set back—freedom for everyone. It could be longer before the citizens earn any rights. Longer before they're allowed some freedoms. It doesn't matter to me, though, because I'm never getting out of here. I'm never leaving this house. I will die here, in this house. They'll never let me out because I'm Wild A."

Melodye swallowed.

If she'd had any expectation of what she'd be dealing with when she was left alone with Andrea, it wasn't this. She expected her private, inside-the-house persona to be a lot like the frightened Andrea that was the only one that she'd ever seen. She didn't realize, really, how much challenge was still down deep in the woman. She didn't realize how much they hadn't been able to beat out of her yet.

But she wasn't afraid of it. In fact, she was happy to see it. It made it easier, in her mind, to keep the promise that she'd made to Alice. If they were all like this? They wouldn't break. At least, most of them wouldn't. And if they did? She could bring them back—just as long as they wanted to come back.

Melodye sat forward, closing the space between herself and Andrea a little more.

"You'll get out of this house," Melodye said. "You'll get out of Woodbury, if that's what you want. But when you go? You'll take everyone else with you. You're buying their freedom. You. Wild A. They're all here to help you. To further the project. But it's you who's buying the ticket out of here for everyone. Just telling you that, if you didn't already know it, could put me in hot water. But I want honesty from you, because that's the only way that anybody is getting out of here that isn't headed for that little stretch of land, so I'm going to be honest with you." Andrea set her eyes on Melodye. Melodye lowered her voice. She knew they were alone. She knew, for a fact, that the house wasn't bugged. But old habits die hard and not every private place was as private as it seemed. "You keep two stories always. The one you tell Maggie and the one you tell me. What you tell me gets into the right hands. But this is only going to work if you trust me. Understand?"

Andrea nodded her head.

"I understand," Andrea said.

"Thank you," Melodye said. "Just understand—nobody wants to hurt you. But some of what we have to talk about? It's going to hurt."

Andrea laughed to herself.

"Hurts for my own good?" She asked, a little sarcasm slipping into her voice.

"That's the idea," Melodye said. "You just have to trust me."

Andrea sat back in the couch, seeming to relax into the cushions again.

"Might as well," she said. "I've got relatively little left to lose."

"And everything to gain," Melodye agreed.