***Possible Rape trigger later in this chapter, no action, only dialogue between Celina and Lenny as they discuss Fort Mercer***
She involuntarily held her breath as she waited for the young boy to respond, "Yeah," He nodded, showing the front page of the paper to her which read 'Williamson Gang', "It's Bill Williamson's gang. They're ruthless they are, stay away and stay safe ma'am. a lot of people have been raped and killed."
Celina exhaled and nodded, it seeming to take everything she had to do just those simple actions, "I'll..." She took a deep breath. The life she thought she had known for four years now had been a lie. It had all been a lie, Bill... he wasn't dead but this was almost worse. He had become the man that she didn't think her Bill would ever become and it hurt worse than the time she had been shot. Who else had made it out of that homestead? Was the gang alive after all? Immediately, her thoughts went to Fort Mercer, was Bill already there? Was John alive and was he going to hunt him down like he had to do the first time 1911 had come and went? She licked her lips, doing her best to keep her senses about her even when it felt like the world around her was falling apart. No, Bill... he couldn't have really done all of those terrible things that the Williamson gang had surely been accused of, could have he? Not her Bill... but the fact was he was most certainly alive as this paper before her proved and he... he wasn't her Bill. The homestead being torn apart, the gang being separated had clearly impacted everyone in different ways and it appeared that those events, those events had broken Bill Williamson, drove him to madness apparently... unless something else had happened over the years.
She realized that she had lapsed into silence for a period that was probably too long, likely too long- definitely too long and it had to be weird. So, she forced herself to restart her sentence, taking in the fact that the kid was looking at her like there was something wrong with her. That was the truth, in that moment there was most definitely something wrong with her, something very wrong. She kept her kind tone with the boy, "I'm sorry... um, I'll take one paper please."
The boy nodded and handed her a paper which she took quickly and handed him a bit too much money for. He looked down at the three dollars in his hand, "Um, ma'am, you only owe me a dollar." H
He started to try to hand the extra two dollars back to her but she raised her hand to stop him and shook her head, "You keep the change." She then walked away from the confused boy, her heart hammering inside her chest as she started back towards her apartment.
Bill was alive, he was alive and his gang was out there murdering and raping just as she had warned him they would do all those years ago when he had stopped her from killing herself. She could hardly wrap her head around how it was possible that Bill Williamson could be both the leader of the Williamson gang and the man who had walked her home after Dutch had broke her heart at the Mayors party. It was hard to believe that he was the same man who had saved her life and the same man that had gotten her to fall in love with him. It was hard to believe he was the same man who was Jimmy's biological father- the same man whom she was seriously considering running off with the day that he had supposedly been killed. She took a deep breath in attempt to prevent herself from having a panic attack which she could feel coming on. It was too much, all of this, all at one it was too much.
Somehow, she managed to get herself to the front door of her apartment but instead of opening the door, she just stood there and stared at it as if it were foreign to her, as if she was unsure of what she would find on the other side. She reached out to the door handle slowly but found herself unable to open door, not physically unable... but mentally unable to complete the task. Instead, she sat sown on the chair that she kept out front of the apartment and stared down at the paper seeing no confirmation that the gang was yet in Fort Mercer. She held the paper with shaky hands. How could it be?
A sob escaped her as she knew that if she just would have stayed back when the homestead was attacked instead of leaving Bill this all could and would be different. She could have escaped with him and James and things would be different. Which did Bill believe? That she was killed? Or that she had left him? She watched as a tear ran off her face and dripped onto the paper. She clenched it tighter, causing it to wrinkle and tear. "No," She whispered under her breath, willing the news to disappear from the paper, "No, Bill... what..." She shook her head as her whole body started to tremble, "What have you done?"
...
Celina laughed harder that she had in a long time, "No, get off me you jerk!" She jerked in attempt to cover her side as Bill tickled her, easily wedging his hand past her arm and accessing her sensitive side. She laughed so hard that she couldn't stop, pushing at his chest which was currently above her face as he supported himself right over her, "You better stop before you make me pee myself!"
Bill chuckled and shook his head, "Not until you tell me the truth."
Celina gasped for air, tears from laughter streaming down her face, "No, I'm not telling you."
"Alright then," Bill continued to tickle her, "Until you tell me the truth this is going to keep happening. And I do know the truth, so it's just up to you to say it."
Celina shook her head, trying to refuse but couldn't any longer, "Fine! Fine, fine, fine!" She relented, relieved when he ceased tickling her, "Marion is... an old ladies name." She laughed even harder when Bill's mouth gaped open, amusement twinkling in his eyes. She held a hand up to stop him from saying anything, "But- but... It isn't as bad a name as Prim."
"Prim?" He looked at her in both confusion and amusement, "Who the hell's name is Prim?"
She pointed to herself, still shaking with laughter, "My middle name is Prim... Celina Prim Knoll." She laughed, "Talk about a stupid full name, right? If you say it fast, it's even worse."
Bill laughed along with her, "Celina. Prim. Knoll... Celina Prim Knoll." He shook his head, "That's bad."
She laughed, "I know, I know." She stared up at him who remained positioned above her for a quiet second after that, "So... Billy, what do you want to do?" She raised a brow suggestively at him and tugged at his shirt.
...
"Fuck." She continued to stare at the paper. It was surely a good thing that she had never told James who his real father was. No boy would want to grow up knowing that his father was the leader of the Williamson gang. Bill had gone bad, it seemed that Bill had gone real bad. What was worse was that seeing the paper... knowing where his life had taken him didn't keep her from feeling a sense of relief that he was alive. It didn't keep her from missing him or wanting to see him. It didn't make her hate him and she wasn't mad at him. No, she was hurt by what she had found that he had become and she was disappointed, terribly disappointed. She wondered that if she even would be able to talk to Bill again if she could reason with him. Would she even be able to look him in the eyes, knowing what kind of gang he led? His men... those were the kind of men that the Van Der Linde gang had taken pleasure in killing.
If... if he was alive, that meant that John could be alive... and Javier could be alive as well. She hope that was the case, she hoped that all of her friends had made it out of the homestead alive those years ago. If they had thought then that meant that the original events of 1911, the events which RDR1 was based around, may begin unfolding and soon. She ran her fingers through her hair and tugged at the black strands. If that was true, if the law began using John to hunt down their old friends, she was going to have to start making some decisions and fast because 1911 was just right around the corner. Dutch, Bill... and Javier- if he was alive as well, were all in danger and she was the only one who may be able to help them avoid paying for their sins with their lives. John? Well, how she was going to handle John if the events did come around was going to be another story. Would he still hunt down the three that used to be family to him even though they hadn't betrayed him as they would have if things hadn't been changed by her presence? Was John even living in Beecher's Hope? If he was would he listen to her if she could make it over there and tell him to run with his family before it was too late? She would have a long trip ahead of herself.
It appeared that her self-assigned duty of protecting and saving the Van Der Linde gang may not have come to an end after all. How glad she was to have found out that her family may still all be alive- or most of her family anyway. As glad as she was, she was just as nervous, she was going to have to uproot her life yet again for these men. If she saved them this time, could they all finally escape, could they find peace and freedom once and for all? She took a deep breath, it was going to be hard to get them all out of this new potential mess but she would try... even if it meant laying down her life for them. She shook her head at the paper again before balling it up and chucking it to the ground, "Dammit Bill... look at the mess you have made."
She stood up and slowly opened the door to her apartment, stepping inside quietly and shutting the door behind herself, petting Sam who ran up to her, greeting her as if he hadn't known she would come back. She made eye contact with Lenny who was sitting at her dining room table eating cereal which he had obviously made the decision to help himself to. She took a deep breath and forced a smile, seeing James and Ryder sitting at the table with him and not wanting them to see her upset, "Boys, could the two of you give me and Lenny some privacy to talk please?"
Lenny looked back at the boys and nodded at them, "Go on, I'll finish telling you the story later."
At that, Jimmy and Ryder left the table and went off down the hall most likely to one of their bedrooms. Celina walked over and stat down at the table, "I got a paper." She held eye contact with Lenny, silently confirming that she had seen what was plastered on the front page. When Lenny looked around, wondering where it was, she answered before he could ask, "I crumpled it off and threw it off the balcony."
Lenny nodded slowly, obviously not exactly sure what to do or say about the most recent news, "So..."
"So," Celina exhaled heavily, "So... I am going to have to have you either take the boys back to Rhodes with you or I'm going to have to see if either Arthur and Sadie or Josiah and his wife can watch them wile I go out and save the idiots butts one last time, also known a our family... more specifically Dutch, Bill and possibly Javier... if he is still alive too... and if John, Abbigail and Jack are alive that is. The law and John... they will only go after Dutch, Bill and Javier as far as I know since they are the only three who have managed to stay in the eye of the law. The rest of us... I think we should all be ok... but I need to leave for Beecher's Hope as soon as I get everything sorted out here with the boys."
Lenny sat there with his mouth ajar in shock at what he was hearing, his eyes were wide as well, having clearly not expected her to come up with all of that by simply reading about Bill's gang. "Wait," He blinked slowly, "What? What is this about them being hunted down?... and John?... What?"
Celina took a deep breath and rolled up her sleeve, showing him her tattoos once again, "I'm from the future, remember?"
Lenny nodded quickly, "Yeah, I know... but..."
"So, things are staring to look dangerously like they did the first time 1911 came and went... With the gang being disbanded, Dutch off with the natives... Bill running the Williamson gang.. it just..." She sighed, "It's all lining itself back up and if John is alive and living in Beecher's Hope, doing the farm life again, it is only going to be a matter of time before the law kidnaps Abbigail and Jack and uses them to force John to hunt down Bill, Javier and Dutch. If that happens then he will not have much of a choice... or at least he didn't in the first 1911, and he will kill or capture them all." She bit down on her lip, "I know that I was happy to get out of the outlaw life and live a quiet one, but... this?" She shook her head, "I am not going to sit around knowing what could happen to the people I love. I will not let them be killed or captured if I can stop it. I will lay down my life to save Dutch, Bill and Javier and if I'm killed doing so, at least I will know that I was loyal to them to the end and I did everything I could to see them achieve freedom. I will not let them be killed or captured, Lenny, I can't- they're my family. I love them all. And Bill... I am going to do everything I can to not only save his life but also any sanity that he may still have." She stared down at the table, "It almost kills me, Lenny... to see his name in the paper like it is."
Lenny was staring at her like she was nuts. Actually, she probably was nuts, to be willing to come out of retirement like she was, "You're talking about the federal government?"
Celina nodded, "I am talking about the federal government... the state.. city, whatever. They are all wanting the three of them dead, Lenny. And you know what's even more crazy? You want to know what is even more disgusting about the government than what meets the eye?"
Lenny looked nervous but he shook his head, "No, what?"
Celina laughed humorlessly, "After John would kill the three of them in attempt to get Abbigail and Jack back, the law lets him return home to them and then they bring an army onto his land and kill him and Uncle... Abbigail and Jack escape but I don't think Abbigail lives too long... I know that Jack lives, but he's the only one of John's family that isn't killed... It can't happen. We are not going to lose anyone. Not now, and when we do, it'll be of old fucking age."
Lenny still looked uncertain, "You really think that you can protect Dutch, Bill and Javier from the federal government?" His voice raised an octave or so in question. Yep. Lenny definitely thought that he had finally snapped and gone crazy... maybe she had.
"I- I don't know... maybe? It will be dangerous and definitely not easy but I am going to try, I have to at least try. As long as I know that Jimmy and Ryder are safe and in good hands, I am going to do this. I have to... I.. I can't let this befall them." She tapped on the table, "I need to get out of here, Lenny, I need to get down to Beecher's Hope and I need to see exactly what it is we're dealing with."
Lenny was still staring at her as if she had three heads, "Bill has lost it, Celina. You know that's not the man you loved... he's, he's changed... that's not even the Bill you know."
Celina nodded and stood up from her seat, raking her hair back and away from her face with her right hand, "Yes it is. It's Bill... he's there, he's in there. He's angry and hurt and that has turned him mad but he can come back from this. He will be fine if he knows the truth I can help him. I don't know how I'm going to save them but I will... I just have to..." She paced back and forth in the dining room as she so desperately attempted to formulate a plan, "I just have to think." She stared up at the ceiling, paying no attention to Lenny as he continued to stare at her like she was crazy. "I go to John first and then Dutch.. since there's less distance between the two of them than Bill and John. After I warn Dutch, I'll go down to Fort Mercer and get Bill out of there... then there's Javier down in Mexico... I won't be back for a while but once I'm back I'll see if I'm wanted or not." She looked over at Lenny, "What do you think? Do you think I could get them all on the road in say... five days?"
Lenny raised a brow at her, "I think you're nuts. You have a good life here and if you go out there playing savior to all of them then you're going to get yourself killed."
Celina acted as if she hadn't even been listening to what was said, "All of them need to go North, into Canada... way far north."
"Celina," Lenny said her name demandingly as she continued to pace, "Would you look at me and stand still please?" When she finally did as asked, Lenny took a deep breath. He would never have brought the Williamson gang to Celina's attention if he had known she would go bonkers, "You need to sit down and think about this rationally... I know you want to save them, that's understandable. As for Dutch, he's a smart man... if you think that you need to go down there and warn him and John, I agree that maybe you should and then back off and get out of this. You don't need to get yourself involved in all of this and get the law after you as well. You have a life, a good life here. Don't be risking that all over Bill Williamson who has clearly went off the deep end and Javier who you aren't even sure is alive."
It was Celina's turn to look at her friend as if he was the one with three heads, "Were you not listening to me when I said that I'm going to do this?" She pointed at the ground decisively, "I am going to go and warn all of them, Lenny and nothing you can say is going to change my mind. I can't just set by and let this happen." She licked her lips, "Hell, even you would be dead by now if it weren't for me."
Lenny's face screwed up in confusion, "What're you talking about?"
"The Saint Denis bank robbery back in 1899... you would have been shot and killed on that rooftop if it weren't for me making sure Micah was dead and gone before he could snitch on out plans... heck, Hosea would have died that day too if it weren't for me." She observed the surprised look on his face, "You're welcome. Now, tell me, would you say to give it about five days to make it to Dutch, John and Bill? Javier is going to be in Mexico so I know that'll take a little longer."
Lenny still looked shocked as she had never mentioned before that she had saved his life, he nodded slowly, "Not counting Javier... yeah, I'd say five days or so..." He shook his head, "You still need to think about this... four years have passed since you have seen Javier, John or Bill... we know that Bill has changed but the others may not be the same as you remember them either. Celina, this is a suicide mission."
"It's only a suicide mission if I get killed," That sounded like a better response in her head but out loud, it didn't sound as great. The look on Lenny's face confirmed it and she sighed, "I'm going. I'm doing this. You don't know that the Bill I knew is gone... He's been through at lot, Lenny... is whole life, he just needs a chance to make things right again."
Lenny sounded like he was getting irritated, "He is a rapist and a murderer."
The look she cast at him when he said that would have killed him if looks could kill, "You don't know that he did those things... his gang, yes. They're terrible... Bill... I... I'm not convinced he raped anyone."
"But you're ok with him being a killer?"
She opened her mouth and then closed it again, "We're all killers, Lenny. All of us have killed people. We all either do or have done bad things."
"I still say that if his gang is raping women then he is as well. Why would he lead a gang like that if he doesn't agree with it?" Lenny was doing his best to get her to see Bill through his eyes but she wasn't having it.
"No," She defended him, "I refuse to believe that he would do anything like that. As many men as he's got? It would be near impossible to keep them from doing those things if they wanted too. There's too many of them..."
Lenny shook his head at his long-time friend, "Do you also refuse to believe that if you step foot into Fort Mercer that you will not be raped if not by Bill than by someone else? Do you believe that Bill, amongst the heck of a ton of men he has could really protect you even if he wanted to if they wanted to rip your clothes off and take advantage of you? What if you enter the fort and he doesn't know you're there? What about that? All of those men could have you before he even realizes what's going on. What if he would realize and decide he likes it or wants in on it too?"
Celina continued to shake her head as he spoke, "That won't happen."
"You don't know that!"
She stared long and hard at him, "I know Bill, Lenny. I can get through to him no matter what state of mind he is in. It will be ok. He won't let anything happen to me." She admittedly wasn't quite sure if she was trying to convince him or herself of wat she was saying.
"Ok, fine." Lenny huffed out an irritated breath, "You're going to do what you're going to do. At least wait until morning and sleep on it before you go out. Get a good nights sleep and let everything sink in good."
Celina nodded, "Oh, I will, I'm going to need the rest before I start the trip to Beecher's Hope anyway."
Lenny shook his head again with a sigh, "You're crazy, woman."
A/N: The action is officially going to start picking up again from this point forwards. Let me know what you think as always, the more comments I get the more I am inspired to write.
So, Celina is set on heading out in an attempt to save the old gang one more time and she is not going to let anything anyone says to her convince her otherwise. Can I get any predictions for Fort Mercer or what you guys want to happen there? That chapter will definitely be interesting as will when she goes off in search of John and to warn Dutch. Any thoughts on this would be loved. Also, with the news, she is acting a bit unhinged, we could possibly see Celina's badass side surfacing again here soon.
Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.