A/N: This chapter is a bit short. I apologize, but it's kind of a bridge between Paige in the hospital, and the later scenes.
"Paige."
The tall, handsome figure stood a safe distance away from her, waiting for her decision. She looked around, to get some sense of where her second reality had taken her this time, but there wasn't so much as solid ground beneath her feet. It would assume whatever form she needed it to, but the knowledge remained that it would disappear beneath her if she were to take it for granted. Matt's image was the same way. If, for a single second, she allowed herself to be too pulled in to her fantasized idea of him, he would become Dean. Or worse, disappear forever, and there would be nothing to replace him in her thoughts.
He took a step toward her, and tried to lean in for a kiss. She turned away abruptly, and a look of hurt formed on his face. "Not yet," Paige said, defying her nerves, and staring him into the eyes. "I need to know who you are. As soon as I trust you for a moment, you'll be him again."
"Him?" Matt asked. "There's no him here. There's you and me. Where's your mind, Paige?"
Paige took a seat on nothing, as the dream was completely devoid of anything, save for the two people. A salty bead of water formed between Paige's eyelashes, as she considered how to answer his question. "Where it's always been, Matt. Where I left it, two years ago. Where it was stolen from me, and never given back."
Paige wished she had something to distract her from bursting into tears. Having no alternative, she shut her eyes and tried almost effortlessly to drift out of her second world. Not to return to her first, but to travel even farther from her origin. Perhaps the only way to clear her mind was to lose herself completely.
"We're here to help."
It was an echo from the "real" world, intruding on Paige's delusion. Paige smiled ironically, and started to laugh. She was trapped in a place she didn't recognize, once again facing Dean. None of this registered in her mind. "They want to help me," she said. She laughed, as if it were the punch line to her favorite joke. She thought back to the exact moment that had destroyed her life. She was there again, reliving it. But, for once, it didn't seem real. "I kept asking for help," she whispered. "But that was when I realized that the world didn't exist to protect me. That what I wanted didn't matter. I wasn't beautiful. I didn't have nice eyes. I was just some whore named Paige, getting what she deserved."
She laughed again, and the scene disappeared. At first Paige thought it was restarting, but it turned out to be a different event altogether, taking place in a college dormitory. Dean was leading a drunken girl up the stairs, through the door to an empty room. Paige tried to scream, to warn the girl, but nothing could come of it. The situation became worse and worse, and the girl, like Paige, was helpless to escape.
For a split second, Dean turned to face Paige. "I never have to stop," he told her. "I'm not guilty."
Paige felt a falling sensation in her body, as she woke up in her first reality. She had no idea what time it was, but the room was dark. More importantly, she was alone.
I can't stay here, Paige thought to herself. I have to stop him myself.