Fang almost growled when Richard didn't say anthing. He just sat there, staring into Fang's eyes as if searching for something.
Finally, as Fang opened his mouth to speak- rather, yell- Richard spoke, "Stop trying to visit Max,"
"Excuse me?" Fang, Ella, and Iggy yelled, Fang standing up from the table. Iggy had dropped a picture frame onto the floor in his anger while Ella slammed the cabinet shut, almsot breaking the wood.
"What the hell? How dare you come in here and tell us-" Ella bumped Nudge to shut her up before her rant started.
Richard stood and slid away from a fuming Fang. "I'm saying that I'm trying to do all I can but all of you trying to get into jail is messing me up!" He yelled, shocking them all. "I can see you're all the assertive type so now I don't have to be quiet." His British accent was in full swing. "There's something that Shannon and I need to ask of you, all of you,"
"Who- who's Shannon?" Ella asked, stepping closer.
Richard hesitated, worrying they would all kick him out if they knew Max didn't send him. "My wife... She's Max's cellmate and- and Marian's biological sister," He glanced at Fang to see all the anger replaced by sorrow.
"I," Fang whispered, voice broken. "I didn't know Marian had a sister?"
"Neither did Marian," Richard soothed. "But Shannon knew she had an older sister. And we want to help,"
"How can you help? How are you able to visit Max? Why haven't we met- how did Max know you?" Iggy kept questioning, stepping closer and closer until they were nose to nose. Richard was slightly taller than Iggy so his eyes were tilted at the top of his eyelids.
"I visit Shannon every other day with our children. Since Max is her cellmate, we convinced a security guard to let Max in on some of our visitation sessions. Seeing Max like that," he shook his head as if to expell the thought from his mind. "Shannon and I never want to see Max looking dead in the eyes. I haven't seen her like that since the funeral."
Fang took a step over to Iggy and Richard, getting in their line of sight, Iggy's face devastated. "You were at the funeral?"
Richard looked over at Fang and nodded, frowning. "Yes. Not a day goes by Shannon doesn't wish she and Marian grew up together. Now, like I said, stop trying to visit Max. I'll deal with that part, alright?"
Ella and Nudge ran over. "Then what exactly are we supposed to do, huh?" Ella yelled. "Just sit here while she rots away in a cell?"
Richard stared at her. "Yes," He stepped toward the door. "I am sincerely sorry for startling you when I first got here but, if you'll all excuse me, I must be going." He opened the apartment door and turned to face them all. Nudge was lookingat him warily, as if expecting him to laugh in their faces. Iggy and Fang looked furious; they wanted to go with Richard to the prison, see Max and be there for her. Ella... well, Ella just looked blank. He could see the trust in her eyes but also the expectancy of betrayal.
"Do what you have to." Ella crossed her arms, staring at him. "But you better get her out." Her voice was more threatening than any of them had heard.
Richard smirked. "You're just like her. No wonder she loves you so much," He left without another word, Ella falling to her knees, crying.
Fang ran over to her and kneeled next to her, pulling her into an embrace.
"I want her back home!" Ella sobbed, pressing her face into Fang's chest.
"We all do. It'll be fine, Ella," Fang kissed her forehead. "Nudge, get her to bed. Iggy, I'll help you with the box,"
-!-
Max sighed and looked around the courtyard. All the prisonmates were outside to exercise. There was a yoga session going on at one corner of it, an outdoor weightroom (weirdly enough), a basketball court, and spots to sit and relax. Max chose the weightroom and stepped onto a tredmill. Shannon was right next to her, jogging on hers.
"Why is all this outside?" Max asked, chuckling. "Wouldn't everything get ruined by the rain?"
Shannon nodded. "If they didn't cover them up with tarp, yes." She smiled. "Despite it being jail, they're fairly nice to us when it comes to this kind of stuff. We're a women's prison; it's not like we're going to be strong enough to murder the guards. This jail houses no killers," She nodded to the tredmill Max stood on. "Level 2 is best for jogging; it really gets you winded but so worth it."
Max stared at the buttons as she turned the tred on. She smiled and turned it to level 5. The guards had music playing over some speakers so she could run to it. Glee's version of Thriller/Heads Will Roll was playing loud and clear as she started running. It cleared her mind perfectly.
Her legs pumped quickly, a blur to everyone around, her voice straining to be as loud as the music, the speakers still drowning her out. She laughed, not even sweating, her arms working at her sides to keep her balance. She turned it up a level and a half, noticing the guards and other inmates watching her.
She felt free, her eyes closed after a moment. She felt like she was flying. She ran in beat with the music, somehow her feet barely touching the ground as she sprinted in place.
"Ride!" A guard yelled, trying to get her attention.
Her eyes snapped open and she jumped up, sliding back from having stopped moving on the tredmill. She landed on the ground an inch from the moving trackpad. She stared at the guard, her eyes hard.
He blinked, his arms crossed. "You have a visitor." He looked her up and down. "We'll give you time to cool down before you head over." As he turned to leave, he paused and stared at her with worried eyes. "Try to be careful on the equipment, alright? We wouldn't want you to get hurt. Dylan wouldn't either,"
She blinked, shocked, and ran over to him. If she recalled, his name was Jason. "Jason! How do you know about Dylan?" She grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.
He bit his lip and stepped closer to her so no one would hear. "He's here. I know you're not best friends but pretend alright? He's my cousin and he sent me to work here to make sure you were safe. He's here to help," He backed away. "Richard wants to help too so... hurry up to visiting quarters."
-!-
I sighed as I stared at Dylan sitting across from me at the table. He smiled sadly. "How are you?"
I raised an eyebrow. "How do you think I am?"
He nodded. "Fair enough. I know the last time we talked was... uneventful-"
"You tried to make me break up with Fang," I pointed out, annoyed and leaning back in my chair.
He winced. "Yeah. Like I said, or was going to say, I'm sorry about that. I worked through my thoughts and I'm back with Lissa."
"Does she know you're here?"
Dylan winced again and shook his head. "No. No one does except for Richard. He told everyone to stop trying to visit."
"Why would he do that?" I yelled, standing up. The guards by the door took warning steps toward me.
Dylan held up his hand. "It's fine, it's fine." He looked at me as I slowly calmed and sat down. "If they kept trying to get in, Will's insider would have been all over your case still. Once everyone stopped, he relaxed a bit and Jason was able to transfer here and sneak me in to see you,"
"If he can sneak you in, can't he sneak Fang in?"
Dylan ground his teeth together. "The only way to sneak me in was to say I was your lawyer for court."
I tilted my head, confused. "You're an attorney?" He nodded. "And... and I'm going to court?"
He nodded once more, smiling. "Fang and Iggy are working on the evidence against Will as we speak. And so far, they've got enough to send him to jail for life. He's done more than you think, Max. Richard was the gateway to get you a lawyer. When he was visiting you, he talked to some of the guards and found out when your trial was."
I smiled, happy, but it faded. "Ella... Dylan, how's Ella? She can't be taking this well. She may act tough but... there's only so much as she can handle," Tears welled up in my eyes.
Dylan put a hand on mine and curled his fingers around my own, squeezing reassuringly. "I haven't seen her but I'm sure she's fine. Like you said, she's tough. And she has family to help her through this. She's not alone." He looked into my eyes, his own flickering slightly as he looked at one then the other. "And neither are you, Max. We're all fighting this. We'll win. You just have to trust me." He paused. "Do you trust me?"
I bit my lip and looked down at our hands before wiping the tears from my eyes and smiling at him. "Yes."
He smirked. "Good,"
Oh my gosh, I am super D- I freaking hate Barney- dooper sorry! I've been trying to update, I really have but I, alas, have no excuse. I've just been losing inspiration lately, which sucks for everyone, and I don't have Word anymore on my computer since it crashed AGAIN *eye twitching...* Anyway, I have to use the Document Manager to write the chapters which is kind of hard to do since I need it for more than one story. :/ But I hope you liked this. Spring Break is coming soon for me but, before that, I have my choir concert where the middle schoolers sing with us. Tragic, I know. But I need to prepare for that and I'm trying to get jobs- that's right, jobS- so I can pay for my own stuff. And all of a sudden, I'm busy making party plans with my friends. AND I'm busy with getting my grades in order. I love fanfiction, I do, I really do, but real life comes first. If not, I would be here every second of every minute of every day of every month of every year until the end of time.
Since I can't, this will have to do. I swear I'll try to update soon but I can't promise for sure. I hope you all like it, it probably seems like it's falling to shit but I mean it when I say, this is the best I can come up with right now. I would love if everyone- logged in or not- would review and honestly tell me what you think.
I love you all,
~AmyKatherine