"Let her go?" It was an almost amusing request. "You can't honestly believe that I'd do something that stupid. She's the best leverage I have right now and, as an added bonus, she's a good way to stick it to you and I'm not about to miss out on every possible chance to do that." Cameron smiled as he watched the expression on Nick's face change.
"Cameron Brooks!" The sound startled all of them as it rang out through the silence that now settled over the room.
Commander Von Lutken stood outside, his hand gripped around the base of the megaphone as he waited for a response. "It'll work," he said quietly, as he turned back to look at the woman that stood behind him. "You were right to agree to this. You're gonna help a lot of people tonight."
"Mr. Brooks, we need you to come to the window. There's something you're gonna want to see."
"Sounds like they want to talk to you," Nick said as he stared icily at him. "You're not the least bit interested in what they want to say?"
"I'm just gonna need some company." Cameron reached out and grabbed her arm. "Come on," he said gruffly before lifting the gun slightly to prevent Nick's almost certain interference. "Just in case you were getting any renegade ideas," he muttered.
The sight of watching her, completely at his mercy made him sick inside, but there was little he could do especially now. Every move he made directly impacted her safety and his pride could never be take precedence over her well being. "Don't hurt her," he managed, the lump in his throat a mix of guilt and anger. "She didn't do anything to you."
"I'm okay," Phyllis said reassuringly as she felt her body being pushed towards the window, her chest pressing towards the glass as she served as a literal shield.
"Movement!" One of the officers yelled.
The Commander nodded.
"She's in front of him again," the officer noted. "We don't have a clear shot."
"No guns," the Commander directed. "We don't want to escalate anything. Right now this has been fairly peaceful and we hope to keep it that way." He looked back towards her as his finger hovered on the button again. "I'm just gonna talk to him a little bit and then I'll hand it off to you, okay?"
"Are you sure this is gonna work? I'm afraid this might upset him even more."
"He's here because he feels like he's lost everything," the Commander reminded her. "Your being here will remind him that there's still a chance."
"But there's not … I mean, I don't know how I feel about lying to him when …"
"There's a woman's life at stake here. We need to get everyone out of that house alive. I'm not asking you to promise him anything. I'm just asking you to try to remind him that there's still a reason to go on. The last thing we want him to think is that his entire life is meaningless. Talk about your son. Talk about the memories that you have. Talk about the good times. Focus on that. Can you do that?"
"I'll try," she said weakly.
"Good." The Commander lifted the megaphone. "Cameron," he said again, "I've got someone here that really wants to talk to you. She saw the news tonight and came down here. She was worried about you. She doesn't want to see you do anything that's gonna get your hurt. She doesn't want to see anybody get hurt. I want you to listen to her, okay? I want you to listen to everything she has to say." He handed her the megaphone and nodded supportively. "Go ahead. Just hold the button down when you're ready to speak."
Gwen drew in a deep breath, her entire body trembling as she forced her voice to sound powerful. "Cam?" she managed. "It's Gwen. I'm here and I'm really really worried about you. I'd really like to talk to you. I think it's important that we talk about this. I know you've been trying to contact me and I'm sorry that I haven't called you back. If I'd known you were this upset, I swear I would have called, but I had no idea, Cam. I didn't. Please don't do anything stupid. Just come out here and we'll talk, okay?"
Phyllis felt the grip on her arm loosen almost immediately. "Is that your wife?" she whispered.
Cameron nodded, his throat completely closed. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined Gwen would have cared enough to come. Was it possible that there was a chance after all? Was there some circumstance on this planet that would allow for a scenario that might put them back together again?
"It's good that she came, right? She still cares about you and she wants to talk to you. Maybe you should talk to her. Maybe the two of you can work things out."
Hope was a dangerous thing. Hope was what had got into this mess in the first place. Hope and trust and belief that people were actually good. He felt the anger welling up in him again. He heard her hiss as he fingers tightened around her upper arm again. "I didn't ask you to talk. You keep your mouth shut until I tell you otherwise, you hear me?!" He shoved the gun hard into her side and she yelped at the surprising jolt of pain.
"Leave her alone!" Nick yelled, feeling even more hopeless than before as he watched them. He wanted, more than anything, to go over and rip her away from him, but his bravado could also get her killed.
"That goes for you too!" he screamed. "Both of you just shut up!" The conflicting voices in his head continually fought for supremacy. He brought his hands to his head in an effort to silence them all. "I just need to think," he hissed. The brass lock slid easily as the window unlocked and he pushed the panes forward, allowing the cool night air to enter and his voice to easily travel through the air. "How do I know you're not lying?" he yelled.
Gwen swallowed hard. "I guess you don't," she answered back, the shaking of her hands making it increasingly difficult to hold the megaphone. "You'd have to come talk to me to find out for sure. Or else you could stay in there and never know." She waited, hoping to hear a response. Commander Von Lutcken gently touched her arm, pushing her on. "But if you plan on staying there," she managed, "At least tell me what you want me to tell Maxton. Tell me what I'm supposed to our son, Cam."
"He's not here is he?" The thought of it terrified him. The last thing he ever wanted was for his son to see him like this. "Did he see the news? Does he know?"
"No. He's not here and he didn't see it, but if you stay there … If this gets worse, you know he'll find out and this will be what he has to live with. This will be the legacy of his father. Is that what you want?"
It wasn't. The voices got louder in his head, sanity and senselessness all battling within. He slammed the window shut, letting the curtains fall over the window plane and jerking her back towards the couch.
She fell back down onto the cushions, as she watched his maniacal pacing. The warmth of his touch startled her and she felt his fingers squeeze hers tightly as their eyes locked. He knew better than to speak. They both did. At the moment, Cameron was preoccupied with his own internal struggle and that allowed them to have this brief reprieve from the nightmare that was this evening.
The look in his eyes said everything. There was a flicker of hope, a shred of belief that Cameron might actually give in and give up, but there also existed the measured dose of dread, the horrible, foreboding thought that as bad as tonight had been, it was about to get much, much worse.