Life was bene, and then it wasn't bene. Its getting better though. Kinda'. Eventually. :D BUTYES! This was in sore need of an update, so I thought that was what I'd do today! :)

25th of April, 2012. Scotland

Rebecca was fairly sure she was going mad. Not the kind of mad where you insist that there's rabbits in your soup, but the kind of mad where you don't feel anything at all – not even hope. The boredom of the routine of sitting at her computer, staring at walls in her cubicle and being escorted to and fro was slowly beginning to gnaw away at her, wearing down all that she was. When she began to sense it, she tried to claw herself back, forcing herself to remember everything – the feel of a board and snow under her feet, Lucy's laugh, Desmond's quiet smile and Shaun, Shaun, all that he was, especially the way his face had felt under her hand. But she lost her grasp of even him soon enough – him, Lucy and Desmond, all of them – they faded away until they seemed like an amazing dream she'd had long ago that she couldn't quite remember. All she knew now was the flickering screen and the want for sleep as she hid under her blankets each night. She hadn't heard from the mysterious RecEptIonIst190, and she'd concluded that it was just some sick joke of McDonald's – to get her hopes up and drop them again. So when the chat bar popped up on her screen just past noon, she thought she was dreaming.

RecEptIonIst190: Don't react. Keep working.

It wasn't much effort for Rebecca to keep her expressions passive; she couldn't remember the last time she'd smiled. She wasn't sure what to think – a dream, a sick joke, a trap, or something genuine? Well, to play along wouldn't hurt. She typed as though she were typing DNA codes:

WoRkEr: l00k, i d0nt c4re w0t u r, or w0t ur g4me 1s, im ju5t 5ick 0f th1s and 1 w4nt 0ut.

She hit enter, and continued working Desmond's DNA with a blank expression. Her reply popped up a moment later:

RecEptIonIst190: I'm an Assassin working on the inside. I'm working with someone to get you, Miles, Stillman and Hastings out of here. You have to trust me.

WoRkEr: Y sh0uld i?

RecEptIonIst190: You have no hope of getting out of here if you don't.

WoRkEr: I h4vent h4d h0pe 4 a l0ng t1me.

RecEptIonIst190: Let me give it back to you. Give me a moment –

Almost a minute went by, and Rebecca found it difficult to concentrate on Desmond's DNA. Did she have real, solid hope? Could she start believing in getting out of here alive? Her heart was already thumping at just the thought of it, and she was so engrossed in a dream of getting out alive that she didn't notice the doors at the end of the room twitching – the automatic lock seemed to have gotten stuck on itself again. The guard standing nearest to it rolled his eyes and swore, before heading over to nudge the door back into place. And as he got near it, it suddenly swung open wide and cracked straight into his nose. The guard howled in agony and staggered away, holding his nose – everyone started at the noise and watched as another guard led his moaning friend away, who was trying to keep the blood in his nose through the use of his sleeve. The chat updated itself in the corner of Rebecca's eye, and her attention snapped back towards it rapidly.

RecEptIonIst190: I'm not a hacker of your standards, but I've got power here. With my help, you'll be out sooner than you know it.

WoRkEr: A1r1ight. Wh4t've u g0t p1anNed?

RecEptIonIst190: I have an agent on the inside working to get you and your colleagues out. He'll contact you soon with more details.

WoRkEr: Ple4se d0n't teL1 mE its McD0n4alD.

WoRkEr: He1L0?

WoRkEr: Its McD0n4alD, isnt iT.

RecEptIonIst190: Look, he's the best I've got. If he doesn't do what I say, he's in a whole lot of trouble himself.

WoRkEr: I w0uLdnt trUst h1m as f4r aS i c0uld thr0w h1m.

RecEptIonIst190: Just hang on in there.

WoRkEr: F1ne. U t4lked to Sh4Un 0r LUcY?

RecEptIonIst190: I won't be able to get near Stillman for a while. But Hastings has been contacted.

WoRkEr: C0u1lD u te11 h1m th4t i h0pe hE's d0inG 0K?

RecEptIonIst190: Of course. :)

Rebecca's mysterious contact disappeared with the chat bar, leaving just Desmond's DNA twisting around itself on her screen with the codes blurring into nonsense around it. Rebecca had a warm feeling inside of her. She'd forgotten what hope felt like.

Suddenly, she remembered that Shaun's eyes were blue.

I'll get some more updates done over today. Aren't you lucky? Review, I'd love some nice words right now. :)