Last Chapter Synopsis: Through a tip, Will discovers where Greg has been keeping Lizzy. After an epic showdown in which Lizzy is injured, both men tumble off the boat into the water below.

Chapter 47: Three Days

Will felt the frigid water crush his lungs with its' icy weight. Thrusting himself forcefully to the surface, his face had barely felt the cool night air before a blow to his temple sent him face down into the water once again. Swimming at the torso he could barely make out beneath the murky surface, Will wrapped his arms around Greg's ribcage and pulled, forcing him down beneath the surface with him. Greg wasn't having it, kicking up his legs into Will's abdominals and creating a brief separation between the men. Reaching back towards the direction of the blow, Will twisted his fingers into the fabric of Wickham's shirt and gave a decided tug towards him, while simultaneously wrapping the crook of his arm around Wickham's neck. Breaking the surface to finally inhale a welcome and water free breath, Will used his other arm to restrain Greg's arms while shouting to the officers above. Although Wickham struggled against him the entire way, the irrepressible rage birthed from their repugnant past fueled all the strength he needed. Will determinedly wrangled Greg to the pier's edge, where waiting officers assisted him in extracting Wickham from the water.

The venom his foe directed at him was toxic and incoherent. Will chose to mostly ignore Greg's spitting of vile words and flailing limbs, and instead focus on getting warm as quickly as possible. Removing his wet clothing, he greatly welcomed the heated blanket the EMS team was already draping around his shivering arms.

Lizzy.

Quickly scanning towards where he had least seen her crumpled at the side of the boat, he was dismayed to find she was no longer there. Grabbing the attention of one of the patrol officers marking the crime scene, Will tersely demanded, "Where is the woman that was on the boat?"

"She was taken to the hospital. She was incredibly disoriented. I'm sure they also wanted to question her when she came around."

Will immediately dropped his blanket and stood, but the female EMT at his side steadied him with a firm hand on his shoulder. "Whoa, not so fast. You need to take it easy. Your vitals are not where they need to be yet. In fact, I think it's time we transport you to the hospital as well."

"I'm fine," Will tersely replied.

Her slight amusement at his insistence was tempered by her stern reply. "I'm sure you think that you are. But you were in thirty-five degree water and are still at severe risk of hypothermia. We have to monitor you for a bit longer."

Their eyes met, and Will could see that she had a determination that would easily match his own. Settling back down on his makeshift cooler-turned-chair, a growl was all Will could manage in reply.

Three days.

It had been three days since she had escaped the boat.

Three days since Wickham had been taken into custody.

Three days since she had been tearfully reunited with her family. She had never, in her life, been so happy to see her sister. And Lizzy was certain that her mother had never, in her life, been so happy to see her.

Three days since the doctors informed her that she had a severe concussion and strongly recommended that she spend the night in the hospital. Three days since she had refused. She wanted her life back as quickly as possible. She desperately needed normal. Concussions were for the weak.

She paused a moment to rub the pulsing pain in her temple and to take an Advil before continuing her mental tirade.

Three days since she had agreed to not press additional charges if Wickham gave a full confession regarding Gianna's case which meant - she hoped, at least - that it had been three days since Gianna had felt the full bliss of freedom once again.

Three days and yet…no phone call. No email. No text message. Nothing.

Of course, her phone had never been recovered from the scene. The image of Kitty's phone gracefully arching through the air before plunging into the lake was all she needed to figure out where her own phone had ended up; rendered unusable, either at the bottom of the Hudson or destroyed by some other violent means after Greg was finished using it to mess with Will's mind.

But she had a new one now. Although they had been able to retrieve her contacts, Will had never had a chance to call her after she had landed stateside, which meant his number wasn't saved in there. In desperation, she had already reached out to Will via the only direct way she could remember clearly; his work email. And she still hadn't heard back.

Lizzy curled back into the fuzzy comfort from the warm blanket on Charlotte's couch and tried to shut her eyes. Although Jane and Charlie had already made arrangements to cut their trip short the moment Lizzy was reported missing Sunday Morning, Lizzy had already been recovered by late Sunday Night. Although Jane was insistent on still coming home, Lizzy assured her sister that she was fine and made her promise to try to enjoy the rest of her vacation. The ordeal was assuredly over now with Wickham behind bars; there would be nothing gained by Jane losing the remainder of her travels.

However, that still didn't mean that Lizzy could bear to be in their apartment alone after all that had transpired. No WAY. Thankfully, Charlotte had suggested that she stay with her, particularly as Robert was away on business with Mrs. DeBourgh. They would have all the time they needed, the quiet and solitude they wanted, and Lizzy could rest easy with a friend.

A pang of regret briefly struck before Lizzy once again pushed the feeling out of her mind. Although she had desperately wanted to, Lizzy had been unable to bring herself to ask Jane…to tell Charlie…to contact Will for her. She didn't want to harass Will or force him into communication. There had to be a reason she hadn't heard from him - most likely, that after the events of the past few months, he simply never wanted to see or speak to her again. Seems Reasonable.

Could she blame him? Probably not. What had transpired during her recent ordeal would always be something she longed to forget. Why would Will seek her out when she had become the epicenter of his chaos? How could he begin to heal if she was always around to remind him of how close Wickham had come to winning?

But, did that mean he had…for certain…decided to forget? Wickham? That night?

…Her?

Her heart hurt just as the knot in her stomach tightened again in anxiety. Three days.

It was already enough. Three days and the message was perfectly clear. She had lost him. She had never even had him, really…there were no ties to even be severed…but the sense of grief she felt at the loss of what could have been caused her to tremble uncontrollably. As she pulled the last remaining comfort the blanket could provide closer around her, the tears – her constant companions for the past thirty-six hours – once again rolled silently down her cheeks.

His first order of business when arriving to the Hospital was to find Lizzy; but it wasn't meant to be. She had been released prior to his arrival. Well…she had forcibly discharged herself, or so he was told.

The news did not surprise him in the slightest.

Although his attempts to do likewise were not similarly successful, his stay had also been short lived; he left early the following morning. His release coincided with the most welcome news; Wickham had agreed to make a full confession regarding his involvement in Gianna's case. The charges against Gianna were going to be dropped and she would once again be a free woman. Between the drug-trafficking charges to be levelled against him, in addition to the assault charges that Will had already pressed, Greg Wickham seemed to be going away to jail for a very long time.

Of course, there was quite a bit of maneuvering that still needed to happen. Working closely with Philips, Darcy made sure that everything was firmly squared away in regards to his sister to ensure that she could resume her life immediately without any further interruption or delay.

Once he could be sure that all was settled as it should be in regards to Gianna, his next thought was to see Elizabeth immediately; not only to share the incredible update regarding Gianna, but to finally just hold her again. However, a new thought stopped him immediately in his tracks. Of course, by now it was fully evident that Lizzy had been taken hostage and held against her will. Her testimony to the police on the events of her abduction, in addition to the evidence collected from the boat, made her innocence abundantly clear. He had even been made aware to the fact that Lizzy was so adamant that Gianna be freed that she refused to press charges against Wickham as a part of the negotiation for Wickham to exonerate his sister. He read pages upon pages of testimony and transcripts of conversation, but no matter how hard he tried to read between the finely typed lines, there was one piece of information clearly lacking from the reports.

No amount of thorough documentation could reveal what he needed to know- the only information he truly cared about - her feelings regarding himself.

What was a fact, however, was that Elizabeth Bennet had just endured the most traumatic event of her life thanks to him. Her sister had been drugged, and she herself had been in danger of losing her life, over him. Who was he to her? He tried to think back to their time in England, but no explanation could come from there. Some peace maybe, but explanation? Absolutely not. The only explanation he had ever come close to having were her words in the cave. 'You're right, you're not an outright liar, Will. You're something worse…. you're manipulative, and I…I want nothing more to do with you…You NEVER had a chance with me.'

In time, of course, he would get her the message about how grateful he was for what she had done for Gianna. Charlie could probably help with that when the time was right. Lizzy didn't need any reminders about anything that had happened lately for a long time to come, and seeing him would certainly bring back a flood of unwelcome memories.

It's crazy. To hope that she would ever want to hear from me again after what she's been through. It's enough. No more unbearable hope. No more torment. It's time to let it rest...for good.

Crushing his eyes together in defeat, he turned his attention to his desk and the pile of unopened letters that had accrued from days of business being left on the backburner. Although email would normally be his first priority, his old phone was only useful as a paperweight after his fight with Wickham in the frigid waters, and his new one, although active, was still refusing to restore his contacts and account settings. All were valid excuses in their own right to be slow to return to normalcy, but Will knew that – particularly if he had to be honest with himself - the sight of his sister using his laptop in his NYC apartment to complete her coursework, instead of her apartment prison back in Vermont, was truly too welcome to interrupt. Pending business be damned. Flicking through the unending pile of stamped international mail, he was surprised to find an envelope with only his first name as the direction present amidst the correspondence.

Mildly bewildered, Will gently slid the letter opener across the top and removed the crisp pages.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Dear Will,

I had hoped to tell you these things in person, but it seems that fate had other plans in store. When I think about it more, this is probably for the best; we don't seem to get on so well talking face to face sometimes.

However, I couldn't let matters rest considering the enormity of the misunderstandings that seem to have fallen between us. I have read your letter, Will, and I need you to know that I believe you. You seem to express a need to know that you have justified yourself to me; I can tell you that you have. You opened my eyes to a very different reality than the one I thought existed previously.

It was difficult at first, understanding how undeservedly harsh I had been to you. I hope that you can understand that my comprehension of the circumstances, particularly in regards to Greg, were very far from the truth at the time. I am sorry for the behavior I exhibited; for saying words that I realize now were very unfair and most likely, very hurtful to you.

I don't think I am half as good at this letter writing thing as you are, but I needed to reach you some way. I'm here, Will. I'd like to think that we haven't reached the end; that we can somehow move past recent events and move forward together. I know that I told you that you never had a chance…but I lied. Completely, recklessly lied. I care about you a lot Will; more than I had ever allowed myself to acknowledge before.

Everyday I find myself hoping that we could be back in that cave, but with the understanding that we share now. Although I know that could never be, I am willing to move forward as though it was. I miss you Will. Please, if there is any chance that you still feel the same, come find me. I will always be here, hoping to start again where we left off.

With fondest thoughts,

Elizabeth

Will jerked up from his seat with a bolt, knocking into the desk and sending his coffee mug tumbling onto it's side. Clumsily setting it back upright and snatching away his letters, he watched the black liquid snake its way to the edge of the desk, creating a steady drip to the floor below. Attempting to grab the tissue box to clean up the spreading mess only allowed for another catastrophe, as his reaching hand missed the tissues and instead sent his pen holder flying sideways. His mind tried to make sense of the cavalcade of writing instruments and java both splattering at his feet, but his brain was still reeling from what he had just read. Staring blankly, with absolutely no ability to muster any course of action to address the present circumstances, Gianna turned around with a surprised gasp and caught him in his moment of weakness.

"Will, are you alright?"

The fog lifted immediately at the sound of his sister's voice. "Yea. Yes. I, um, just have some urgent business I have to handle immediately. Will you be alright here? Uh… alone?"

"I keep telling you to stop worrying about me. I'll be fine. I haven't felt so good in months and your apartment building is probably the safest place in the city."

They locked eyes then, and he knew she could see it. She had no doubt what this was about, and she wasn't going to let him wait a moment longer.

"I was wondering when you were going to get off your rump," Gianna laughed lightly. "Go get her Will."

A/N: Long overdue, but I hope worth the wait. I hope 2017 has been all that you dreamed it would be so far. As always, from the bottom of my heart - thank you for taking the time to read, follow, favorite and review! I look forward to touching base again with you all soon!