Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Winry sat in a chair on the front porch, her eyes stared out seeing nothing, what little wind there was blowing at her curls. It was three days after her attempt to run away and she sat defeated, at first Luda Mae had let her stay in bed to 'lick her wounds' as she called it. The reprieve from the family had lasted for two days, now on the third day she had been moved to the porch to get outside, Luda Mae now telling the family 'she needs some sun to feel better'. Thomas had been hovering around her room and had been all too happy to collect Winry and put her out on the porch.

Before her hair could fully cloud her vision a large hand gently pulled her hair back out of her face and placed it behind her ears. Winry flinched, but the owner of the hand either didn't notice or chose to ignore it.

"Thomas, you let her be, she needs to rest." Luda Mae hollered from the side of the house where she worked on the laundry. Her words made Thomas nearly stumble back, his hands grabbed at the sides of his shirt before he smoothed the material with his fingers and stormed off the porch. Winry followed him with her eyes till he was around the house and out of sight. She didn't know what was worse, seeing him or not knowing where he was.

Monty sat near her on the porch, he was there as a look out, but she wasn't moving, so it was a perfect job for a man in a wheelchair. Her body was banged up and sore, the bruise she imagined her left leg would get ended up being her entire left side and then some. Luda Mae had patched her up and now her body was on the mend, but they didn't have anything for the pain. Winry had been offered more tea to sleep through the pain, but the thought of being unconscious had thrown her into a fit. She had only calmed down when Luda Mae promised not to drug her again, as long as Winry said she would be a 'good' girl.

She had promised and wasn't moving much and they knew it, everyone was alert, but everyone also knew they were at a stand still. Winry had tried to refuse eating in protest, but when the sheriff had taunted her to keep up her strength to fight she caved and ate. They all watched her like a hawk as she ate. She didn't understand what was so fascinating about her eating, but they made sure she ate everything and didn't skip any part of any meal.

When Thomas came back around the side with a basket full of linens, Winry's eyes snapped back to him. He was a big man and you wouldn't miss his size, but he was so quiet. A few times he had snuck into her room and the only give away had been her door squeaking. She hadn't spoken since she had asked if they were going to kill her for escaping, so when he came into her room and would step towards her bed she would glare at him till he left. Sometimes it was minutes and other times it felt like hours till he left.

He could do whatever he wanted and yet he seemed so scared of upsetting her. Winry was beginning to understand from all the yelling she heard in the house that Thomas may be strong physically, but mentally he was cowed by his family. They yelled for him daily to help with everything around the house, his footsteps nearly shook the house as he stormed from one side to the other all day. She used his uncertainty to her advantage whenever he tried to get close and it usually made him leave her be, but occasionally he would get stubborn and would touch her hair or face.

The days that Luda Mae and Thomas left for the gas station and Hoyt left to do his sheriff duties was the most peaceful. They would bring her food for the day and lock her up, she could hear Monty roll around the house cursing about something, or she would hear the TV blaring loudly from the living room. She had learned this family's routine in three days, they either weren't worried of her trying anything with her injuries, or they really needed to get back to their jobs.

Three days.

Her thoughts turned to Lee and she felt awful, she had been throwing a pity party and hadn't asked about him once, not that she hadn't tried. Before no one answered her questions and now she felt too defeated to bother.

Thomas was walking out of the house when she whispered his name and he froze mid step, his head snapped to her and she could feel all of his attention on her. Monty turned his head enough to look at her as well and Winry blushed at the attention. Her eyes slowly rose and she glanced at Thomas and quickly her eyes dropped to her lap where her fingers dug into each other.

Before she spoke again she swallowed and nearly coughed as her throat tightened, "I-I need to see Lee." Winry used his name hoping it would help, maybe saying his name would make them realize he was a person and not just a thing tied up in the basement.

When no one moved she looked up and her eyes met Thomas's own and her lips trembled into a small smile before they went flat again, she couldn't fake a smile, it wouldn't hold. His chest rose and fell which made her eyes flicker down, besides his heavy breathing he didn't move at all.

As the silence stretched out Monty sucked in and spat out off the porch breaking the peace. His voice sounded haggard, "girl you don't want to see that shit stain." His words made her jerk in her seat and she eyed him.

"He's injured, he needs medical attention. Plea-"

The laugh Monty gave ended in a coughing fit before he spat again, "he's a prick and anything that's happened was deserved." After he spoke he wheeled himself back into the house and Thomas snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head no at Winry before he walked off the porch and back towards where the laundry lines were to help Luda Mae.

Winry pulled both her hands into fists and stood slowly and limped back into the house, immediately she heard the TV turn on and knew Monty was distracted. Her feet took her to the back room past the stairs where the tall metal door stood and she began to pull on it. Her body protested at the physical labor and she quickly gave up and used her right hand to rub at different parts of her left side to ease the aches.

"Want help openin' that door darling?"

The gruff voice made her jump and she regretted tensing her body up and released a soft hiss. Slowly turning she found Sheriff Hoyt leaning against the door jam of the empty room that led to the rest of the house. Winry calmed herself before she spoke, "I need to know if my boyfriend is ok."

Nodding he stood fully and walked toward her, before she could move out of his way he caged her against the door using his body and Winry again tensed, but her adrenaline kept the pain at bay this time. "BOYfriend is the right term I say, he ain't much of a man." Hoyt's head leaned forward more and one of his hands gently grabbed some of her curls and began to wrap it around his fingers, he leaned on his other fist above Winry's head. "Do you know what it's like to be with a man? Hmmm?"

"Please don't."

Her plea made him chuckle before he let go of her hair and stepped back enough to let her slide out from under his body, once she did he opened the metal door. When he didn't move Winry looked up and they stared at each other for a moment till he stepped back and she slipped through the opening and made her way down the stairs as quickly as her injured body could.

Sheriff Hoyt's laughter echoed down the walls as if chasing her. Near the bottom she eyed the water that flooded the basement for a moment before she stepped into the giant puddle again. Winry's eyes landed on the table and she immediately saw that Lee wasn't there, the only thing left was the torn out metal manacles and dried blood. Tearing her eyes away she walked deeper into the room and her eyes landed where she had found Marlene, she felt herself walking in that direction before she could stop herself. The closer she got the slower she walked till she was five steps from the bloody table. Nothing.

Taking in the room again she walked to the right, an incline kept a portion of the floor dry, where an ancient and large foot pedal sewing machine stood on the dry patch. Looking over the work area Winry noticed papers and photos strewn about. Her eyes skimmed over the photos at first and then slowed as she noticed faces scratched up on the photos. Her fingers skimmed over them and it looked like whoever had done it had scratched the faces out in anger. She moved on and saw the mess of thread and needles scattered over the nearby tables, a vanity mirror was hidden behind a shelving unit and she made her way to it.

The mirror was dirty and cracked, the lighting wasn't the best, but she saw photos of people that had been cut or ripped out of books and magazines, the photos were nailed up around and on the vanity. Each photo had torn pieces from another photo taped or pinned over other parts of the photo making the picture a mix of different parts from different people. There were a few tangled wigs draped on the vanity and what looked like masks, but before her fingers could touch anything a hand grabbed her right arm and pulled hard.

Spinning around with a yelp, her hands went out to catch herself and landed on a solid object, looking up she saw it was Thomas's chest. Before she could open her mouth and get a word out he began pulling her away from the vanity and towards the stairs, when she pulled back he leaned down and threw her over his shoulder.

"Wait a minute! Where is he? Where is Lee!?" Her fists pounded on his back as she yelled at Thomas. She huffed as he ignored her and attempted to lift herself, but he kept one arm around her legs and the other over her waist to immobilize her. "You can't just pick me up and put me where you want, I'm not a doll!" Realizing she wasn't hurting him she reached down and dug her nails into his back and felt his muscles twitch, it was a start, so she gripped tighter and ripped her nails into his back harder and heard him hiss.

He let go and she slid down his front and landed on the stairs nearly twisting an ankle as her foot slipped, but Thomas grabbed and steadied her. Looking from her feet to his eyes Winry took a step back, but stopped when he turned them and she had her back pressed to the wall and his front crowded her. On the same steps he towered over her till he took his right foot and placed it a few steps down and leaned on it so that they were nearly eye level with each other. His bent left knee pressed into the side of her leg and once again she was trapped by him.

Taking in a gulp of air she looked him in the eyes and tried talking to him again in the calmest voice she could muster, "Where is my boyf-" before she could finish the word his right fist slammed next to her head causing to Winry yelp and flinch away pressing into his bent knee, nearly sitting on it. Breathing hard her eyes opened at a squint and eyed his fist, watching it tremble before it opened and he placed his palm on the wall. Looking back at Thomas she saw he was still looking into her eyes and his gaze was full of fury.

"Ok, ok, ok…Lee, where is Lee?" Her words came out as a whisper and she saw his neck muscles tense and then relax. When he swallowed a few times and still didn't speak she looked up and found him looking away to the right and down the stairs. The realization hit her when she asked, "You can't talk, can you?" Winry jerked when his head whipped back to face her and after a short moment she watched his shoulders move in a shrug.

Blinking rapidly and licking her lips, which Thomas watched without her noticing, her words came out fast, "ok you don't have to tell me, where my bo-I mean Lee is. Can you show me?" She adjusted her words and used Lee's name before she made Thomas upset again. Though when Thomas shook his head no, her shoulders slumped in defeat and her words came out a little angry, "What do you mean no? You and your family killed my friends and are keeping me here against my will, what do you mean NO!?" The last word was nearly screeched out and her hands moved and gripped at his shirt and pulled to jostle him, but he didn't move.

Thomas didn't mind when she grabbed at his shirt, she was touching him on her own and so his hands moved to cup her face. When her eyes widened and she pulled back only to bump the back of her head into the wall he smiled under the mask. Slowly leaning forward he let his forehead rest against hers. When her hands pushed at his shirt and shoulders rather than pull he closed his eyes to ignore her pushing. He hummed lightly while breathing her in through the slits of the mask and that's when he felt her begin to wiggle below him, it made him open his eyes and take in her angry pout.

He wanted to kiss her. At that thought he let her go and stood quickly causing him to fall back into the other wall, both of them facing each other with wide eyes. Before she could talk again his left hand motioned up the stairs, but when Winry didn't move Thomas made a fist and slammed it back into the wall causing her to jump. When her eyes moved to his hand he again motioned up stairs and then pointed.

Slowly Winry walked up the stairs and when she reached the top she glanced back only to slightly jump, finding Thomas right behind her. So damn quiet. She exited the basement door and moved to the left as Thomas followed her out and when he slammed the door shut she did jump then. When he waited Winry assumed he wanted her to go first making sure she left, so she did and ignored the creaks in the floorboards as he followed after her.

Sitting down at the kitchen table Winry watched Sheriff Hoyt be chased out of the kitchen by Luda Mae wielding a wooden spoon. The family was so normal and polite you wouldn't know that they were murderers, if they hadn't stopped, if she hadn't been so nice, if Lee had driven on like he wanted, if they didn't-

Playing the if game doesn't help me… Winry's thoughts were crashing together and she was finding it hard to focus. After the close encounter with Thomas in the basement she had made sure to keep her distance from him. She had avoided him by turning down another hall or limping back to her room all day. Keeping away from Thomas had made the day feel so much longer, the house was big, but when you were limited to certain areas of the house it made the large house feel smaller.

Acting out didn't get her anywhere and running hadn't worked out. Just too soon…another time maybe, later. Nodding to herself and lost in her own thoughts she was surprised when Luda Mae waved the wood spoon in her face.

"Hello dear?"

Blinking rapidly to clear her thoughts she looked up to respond to Luda Mae, "Oh-um, I'm sorry, I was lost in thought."

"That's ok, you had a spill a few days ago, I'm sure your body is just tired."

Furrowing her brows at how Luda Mae ignored her escape attempt and acted like she had just fallen badly, Winry tried to ask, "Can we talk about my frie-"

Tutting to interrupt Winry, Luda Mae walked back to the stove and spoke in an overly cheerful voice, "Winry, why don't you help me with dinner, it'll go faster and keep you from getting lost in your head." She started to pull items from jars and crushing fresh herbs, when she started to hum Winry stood and slowly made her way over to where Luda Mae was working.

"What can I do to help?" Winry tried to keep the frustration out of her voice, but when Luda Mae handed her a head of lettuce, Winry held it up in her left hand and her lips lifted into a small smile as her tone became slightly hopeful. "Can I have a knife to cut this up?" Watching Luda Mae wipe off her hands with the apron she wore and always seemed to have one handy before turning to look at Winry with a smirk.

"Now now, you can use your hands just fine, you know we don't want you to get hurt and cut yourself." Patting Winry's arm Luda Mae moved around her and to the fridge to grab something. Eyeing the lettuce, Winry placed it next to a large bowl that had already been set out then began to rip off and tear the leaves into bite sized pieces.

Everything sharp had been removed from the kitchen, some other objects that had littered the counters a few days ago were also gone. They were trying to limit what she could get her hands on. Even though Thomas was a hollar away they still took precautions with her, she usually had one of them nearby to keep an eye on her, it was that or be locked in her room for the day.

The rules had been spelled out today, be good and she had mostly free access, be bad and she was locked in her room. Though she had been mostly lost in thought the last three days, Winry was starting to wake up and plan another way to free herself. After tearing at the lettuce and washing it out she stood at the counter at a loss. "What else can I help with?"

Turning quickly with a pot of meat a piece fell out and before Luda Mae could put the pot down Winry leaned down to grab it and clean up, but before she grabbed it she stood up quickly and started gagging. A human finger, oh fuck!

"Now child-"

"NO!" Winry yelled and put her right hand up to cover her mouth trying to keep from gagging again. "What is that!?" Before Luda Mae could answer, Winry asked another question "No, who is that? Who- Where did it come from?" When Luda Mae leaned down and picked up the finger and tossed it back in the pot Winry ran out the front door of the house again. This time though she nearly tripped down the stairs and landed hard on her hands and knees and puked. Her hair fanned out and blocked out her surroundings.

Breathing raggedly and trying to spit the last of the bile out of her mouth she felt the pain in her right wrist from landing on it, moving to sit back on her legs. She used her left hand to cradle her injured wrist close to her chest and ignored the hair sticking to her face.

The screen door smacked open behind her and Winry didn't have the energy to look and see who it was. I've been eating people, no, my friends I've bee- The thought of eating her friends had her leaning forward and puking again. A large warm hand touched her back and she fell sideways on her butt and used her legs to kick away. "NO! Nononono…" Looking up through her hair she saw Thomas on his knees reaching towards her with the hand that had touched her shoulder.

Her left hand shoved her hair back and her eyes were wide and wild, "You people made me eat my friends!?" Gagging on the last word she leaned to the left and spat out saliva. The sound of the screen door opening again had Winry looking up and she found the rest of the Hewitt family making their way onto the porch.

Sitting there she screamed "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU!?" Tears began to trickle down her face and she kicked her feet out again when Thomas tried to scoot closer to her and ignored the hurt look in his eyes. She watched Luda Mae rub her hands into her apron and Monty reach over to try and settle his sister. Sheriff Hoyt watched Winry and lifted a brow before he stepped off the porch and walked towards her. Shaking her head no and trying to slide backwards Winry didn't get far before Sheriff Hoyt grabbed her arms and lifted her quickly, when she got her feet under her and tried to pull out of his grasp he backhanded her.

Winry leaned to the right from the force of the hit, she heard Thomas grunt and then whine, she saw through her hair Luda Mae putting her hands to her mouth while Monty just spat off of the porch and shook his head.

"Listen here, you're about to wear out your guest title with me." Sheriff Hoyt pulled her to stand straight up in front of him. "You think we're wrong? No, we're surviving."

"Fuck you."

Quickly he backhanded her again and this time Winry went down on one knee, she only stayed upright because the sheriff kept a firm grip on her left arm. Thomas whined louder and stood up, but before he could walk towards them Hoyt yelled at him 'stay there boy'. Luda Mae gasped and Monty's hand on her arm kept her from walking off the porch.

"Now why would you say something like that after that little warning?" He spoke calmly while he hauled Winry back up onto her feet by her arm. Using his free hand to grab a handful of her hair and rip her head back ignoring her wincing and shook her head till their eyes met and they stared at each other. "This farm has been in our family for generations, we're not going to lose it, this is our birthright."

When Winry opened her mouth Sheriff Hoyt let go of her arm and slammed his palm over her mouth and dug his fingers into her cheeks causing her to cry out from the pressure. Her hands came up to grab at his wrist, but he didn't release her, he used her hair to lead her back toward the porch and slammed her back into one of the pillars. His face pressed closely to hers and he squeezed harder on her jaw till a muffled scream escaped and she beat at him with her left fist while her right hand dug her fingers into his wrist at her mouth.

Thomas made a noise deep in his throat that sounded like a growl making Hoyt turn and look at him, "Tommy she needs to learn." Shaking his head Thomas grabbed at the wrist holding Winry's hair and jerked hard forcing the sheriff to let go. Scoffing at Thomas he looked back to Winry and jerked his hand off of her mouth. Quickly Thomas pushed between them and he began to rub at her jaw lightly, Winry was too shocked to make him stop and stood there shaking.

She had seen Thomas throw a tantrum and thought of him as the family's attack dog, he was the muscle in his house, but he was kind to her. Looking up to eye the sheriff she saw he was calming his mother down and she knew he had no problem hurting her. He would enjoy it too.

Walking back towards Winry, Sheriff Hoyt was stopped by a glare from Thomas, raising his hands up to show he meant no harm he lowered them and looped his thumbs in his belt and spat to the side before he spoke. "We eat what we have to so we can survive."

Her lips trembled, but she asked her dreaded question, "My friends…Lee, did I eat them?" When the sheriff nodded she cried out and would have fallen if Thomas hadn't caught her to his chest. Her left fist smacked half heartedly at his shoulder, her right hand gripped at his shirt and pulled threatening to tear the shirt.

Thomas palmed the back of her head and pressed her face to his chest while she cried. He felt her push and pull at him, but while he used his other hand to rub her back he smiled under the mask. She was smacking and pushing at him, but she was also gripping him closer and rubbing her face into his chest. When Hoyt spoke again Thomas turned to glare at him, but it did nothing to deter the man.

"Just about finished them up so don't worry your little head, that last boy…Lee was it? We're finishing him up tonight." His words were happy and he chuckled when he heard Winry give a soft moan into Thomas's chest.

"Oh enough Hoyt! Leave the poor girl alone!"

Luda Mae stormed down the porch and smacked at his arm, she argued with him and shoved him towards the house and smacked him again as he went inside and complained. Monty eyed the driveway for a moment and silently made his way inside without a word.

Sobbing still Winry leaned more into Thomas, but when he picked her up she protested. "Stop! Let me down, you killed them!" Her screeching and struggling made him grip her more tightly to himself. "LET ME THE FUCK DOWN!" She screamed directly into his ear and he turned his head away, but kept a tight hold when Winry tried to rip herself out of his arms.

Instead of heading inside Thomas sat on the porch steps and placed her in his lap and just hunched over her to keep her immoble. Listening to her hiss like an angry cat made him smirk. He didn't know how long it took before she tired herself out from struggling and just lay in his arms. He realized then that she was whispering as she panted and he heard what it was.

"I hate you. I hate you. I hat-"

Tuning her out he just sat and looked up to stare out at the property while she whispered angrily. Again he sat there for a long time, occasionally she would try to get up or slap him, but he just held her till he heard snoring and his head quickly looked down and saw that Winry had passed out in his arms. Tilting his head and sitting up straight he just watched her as she slept. He used one hand to remove her hair from her face and then cupped her now bruising cheek.

She's nearly black and blue all over.

He grunted in anger remembering Hoyt gripping her mouth and causing her to scream. When she stirred he petted her face to sooth her till she moved to hide her face into his chest. When his mama came to call him inside and he motioned with his head towards his lap and Winry she went back inside to leave them alone.

When she woke up she was going to be mad and ignore him more than she usually did, he was going to enjoy what time he had with her while she slept.

Even if I sit on this porch all night, it'll be worth it.

Author's Notes: Sorry for the wait, depression is still kicking my butt. I appreciate the reviews and I hope the story is still to everyone's liking. She finally got to figure out where Lee and everyone went. I didn't want to gloss over it, but I hope it wasn't too lacking either.