A/N: Hey, guys! We just wanted to let you know this chapter contains a trigger warning. Be careful, and have some compassion on these characters, poor babies!
Drake sighed and stood, wiping his tears from his eyes. He laid down in the bed, and lay there for a while, before he realized he would not be able to sleep. His fifth near-sleepless night in a row. Normally, it would have begun to take its toll. But, he felt fine. He wasn't even tired. Perhaps it was all the sleeping he'd done in the morgue. He stood again and began to pace. Back and forth, thinking about Paige. He had to see her. Something of her, at least. And he knew exactly where to go.
Drake slowly opened the door to his room, peeked out to make sure no one was watching, and slipped down the hall. He turned a corner and walked over to what appeared to be a blank wall with nothing but a card-reader attached to it. He pulled out his wallet, found his AVCORP identification badge, and slid it through the reader. A secret door opened, revealing a room full of computers. Drake walked in, stood before one of the touch screens, and logged on. He left the door open behind him.
"SIDNES, bring up the simulation recordings from Project X. Isolate to images of Paige Barnett. Play back."
A large screen attached to a side wall lit up, playing back footage of when Drake and Paige were together on the island. He watched scenes of her teaching him sign language and them sitting together under the palm trees.
Drake walked over to the screen and ran his fingers over the illusion of Paige's face. "I made you a promise, baby. I'll keep it."
/
Kitania sank onto the bed and studied her hands. She didn't know why she had healed him, only that she had felt compelled to help. He scared her and made her feel safe all at the same time. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. This place felt so... foreign. She didn't know what to do. She didn't have a piano and she didn't want to keep Drake awake.
So she sang quietly this time. The same song she had sung before pulling out her knife. Only, this time there was no knife to pull out at the end. She was utterly alone, and she had to face that reality.
Kitania heard something whir to life nearby and, being an overly curious soul, couldn't resist the urge to check it out. She silently slipped from her room and stood, watching in awe, as Drake played video of some super adorable girl. A girl who, from the looks of things, he was still in love with. She couldn't help but smile at the cuteness.
Drake watched as the images on the screen changed. Suddenly, he was face to face with the image of Bruileo. The coward had Paige pinned to the wall, his blade at her throat.
"You know one thing I like about you, Paige? You can't scream."
Bruileo grabbed her wrists with his free hand and slammed her back against the wall, pinning her legs with his knee. "Why you gotta fight, hm?" He trailed the flat side of his blade down her cheek. "This'd be much simpler if you'd just give me what I want."
Unable to fight any other way, Paige spat in his face.
Bruileo growled and slapped her, hard.
Paige gasped, wide-eyed. As she tried to recover from the blow, Bruileo quickly slit through her shirt.
"Paige?"
Paige gasped as she heard Drake call from the other room.
Bruileo heard him,too. He grabbed her by her hair and dragged her into her room. He threw her down onto the floor and slammed the door behind her, while he remained out in the hall. "Well, looky here." Bruileo gave a cold, sinister laugh as Drake approached him. "What you gonna do, tubby? Eat me?"
His blade came out again and the two began to struggle for it. They fell to the ground and Drake grabbed Bruileo's arm. Without thinking, he quickly snapped it in half. The beast howled in pain and scrambled away from Drake. In an instant, the coward was on his feet and out the door, dripping blood all over Paige's carpet as he went.
Drake stood, went into Paige's room, knelt down beside her, and pulled her into a hug. "I promise you, Paige, I'll protect you. I'll always be here to protect you."
Drake wiped a few tears from his eyes as the clip ended.
Suddenly Kitania wasn't so okay. Her stomach recoiled. Her head spun. Her chest tightened. Something about the video triggered things she didn't want to think about, but she couldn't escape the memories now.
"Relax," he had cooed, putting his slimy hand on top of hers.
When she'd tucked herself into a corner, he had followed and put those same hands on her arms. "Hey, calm down."
"Please, don't," she had begged.
"You know I can't help it."
The memory of his fingertips grazing her skin as he reached for the hem of her t-shirt sent Kitania over the edge. She collapsed to her knees and felt the bile rise. She couldn't hold it in. Choking spasms overtook her as she lost what little lunch she'd had.
Before the next clip began, Drake heard the sound of retching coming from the doorway. He turned and saw Kitania getting sick. Thinking it was from the horrible scene of him breaking Bruileo's arm, he frowned and quickly went over to her.
"Are you alright? I didn't know you were still awake. I'm sorry. Let me help you back to your room." He looked over his shoulder at the computers. "End program. SID, call a cleaning crew down here. Computer station three. The door's unlocked." He turned back to Kitania and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Kitania shrugged out from under his hand and scurried across the floor. She huddled next to a wall, using it to pull herself to her feet. Every movement caused her muscles to spasm with pain from what she just did. So she sank back to the floor.
She didn't say anything, just looked at him with a pained expression. He had no idea how well she knew the pain that girl had been through. No idea how much she identified with the terror that the boy in the video had brought. And no idea that she had never had anyone to protect her from it, so she had to protect herself by any means necessary. She slid her eyes closed and laid her forehead onto the cold wall in front of her.
Drake watched Kitania's movements and recognized them. Paige had acted the same way for a long time. Only through love and support was she able to overcome. "Oh, no. I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I had no idea that clip was in there." He walked toward her, but still kept a good distance away. "I'm not going to harm you, Kitania." He spoke softly and comfortingly. "I would never. Whoever hurt you should pay for what he's done. Please, allow me to walk you to your room. I won't touch you. I won't even come near you. I just want to know that you're alright."
Kitania didn't believe what she was hearing. Here he was, supposedly in love with someone else, and he was trying to offer her comfort? She didn't know what to believe anymore.
The tears flowed freely down her cheeks. Her overwhelming anxiety caused her shoulders to shake in breath-stealing sobs. "I don't want to go back there," she cried, eyes still closed. "I don't... I don't want to be here. At all. I just want to sneak out early... and go to the piano shop downtown... I want to be normal." She finally opened her eyes and turned the pain-filled irises to meet Drake's. "I want to forget."
As Drake watched Kitania, all he could see was Paige. Her words. Her sobs. It was all so familiar.
Not knowing what else to do, he knelt close to Kitania, yet still far enough away to give her space. "If you don't want to go back there, we won't. It's dark now, but at the first sign of light, I'll get you out of here. We don't have to listen to the Avril's. They don't own us. We'll go wherever you want to."
Kitania breathed deeply, surprised that she believed every word he said. Either he was a very, very good actor, or he was completely sincere. She chose to believe the latter. "I want donuts and I want a piano. A real one, none of this 'electric keyboard' stuff. I need ivories under my fingers."
"Done and done. Anything else I can get you?" Drake smiled and wanted to make her smile, too. He was tired of all these tears, both his and hers. "I think they have elephants in the zoo if you want one of those. But, I don't think I'd be able to carry it."
An elephant. He had offered an elephant. Yes, it had been in jest, but still. Who offered an elephant to lighten the mood?
Kitania rolled her eyes. "Slow down there, cowboy. I'm not asking for an elephant. Just the moon." She shrugged. "Although, coffee..."
Drake laughed for the first time in days. "Alright. Coffee, donuts, a piano, and the moon. How hard can that be?"
Without really trying to, or realizing she had, Kitania giggled. A girly, nervous giggle that bubbled up from somewhere inside. Somewhere she had thought was forever dead. Looked like Drake could end up being a friend, after all. She shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"Really? I thought the doctors who told me that were just kidding." It was a stupid joke, but anything to make her tears stop. Drake stood and held out his hands to help her up, completely forgetting about his power. "Come on."
Kitania put her hand in his without thinking about any repercussions and hoped he helped pull her up. She couldn't do all the work, after all. Human contact felt better than any therapy might have. For a moment, she couldn't remember why she'd decided to swear off of it. Was this what friendship felt like?
Drake yelped and jumped back when their hands touched. It felt as if he'd been shocked. "Ow... I bet there's just a lot of static in here." He tried to shrug it off, but when he took her hand to help her again, he jumped and yelped again. This time, however, he helped her to her feet before he let go. "Sorry. I don't think dark and light get along too well."
Kitania wrapped her left hand around her upper right arm and shrugged. She should have known better. She shouldn't have tried to touch him. But, she felt it. And she knew it wasn't human. Not his fault, even. Something else bit at her. Something inside him or just out of reach. She didn't know, but she didn't like it.
"It's okay," she offered. "I shouldn't have—" she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"No. I shouldn't have. I should have known better. I'm sorry."
The sound of wheels coming down the hall caused Drake to turn towards the door. The cleaning crew had arrived. He turned to Kitania. "Come on, I know a place we can go." He stepped over the mess and stood out in the hall, waiting for her to follow.