"Where is the plate, Don?" Vardhaan's voice echoed around him. A cage surrounded him with pitch blackness outside it. There was only sounds to give him any direction of what was up or down. Don yanked on the cold bars in front of himself, hearing Ayesha smooth voice behind him, her thin hands wrapping around his chest.

A slap across the face brought him back to the torture room where they kept him, as dimly lit and green as ever. The contrast of the light-blub making the room look like it was underwater. Don was forced backward to the floor, still bound to the chair. He pulled on the restraints, but they did little to budge.

"WHERE IS THE PLATE DON?!" Ayesha's face howled into his. Water was thrown on his face where it seemed to stick, cutting off his much needed air supply, a few gasps from the impact and his lungs where full of boiling liquid. He screamed into the water and struggled to escape from his captors, his whole body being set aflame.

Everything suddenly shifted as he felt a drop off, falling through space and time, unsure of where it'd end. He was somewhere else... Somewhere he once knew well. Don glanced around the small richly decorated room he was now in. It was bright but faded somehow, as if it was from the past before there was bold colors to properly represent life's beauty.

"You know momma loves you, Marc..." Said his mother. Don turned around, his coat tails swaying along behind him. His mother leaned down and kissed Don as a child, smiling sweetly at him. "But what you are now isn't enough. Momma needs to fix you." With those words from his mother's mouth, her soft eyes turned slit and furious as she bashed him over the head with a heavy object.

There was the pitiful sound of crying and screaming before more darkness consuming Don... Back into nothing...

Don laid on Roma's couch, drenched in sweat and pinned by gravity to stay there until this wicked curse left him. He muttered on and off through the long nights, trashing about as the nightmares invaded his mind and tortured him unmercifully. Roma sat by his side, tending to his every need. He said very few words that made actual sense and rarely required anything of her outside her company. Every time she stood to leave, he'd wake up to a second layer of consciousness and ask her to stay. She could never refuse the look he gave her...

She sat beside him once more, hoping he'd try eating again tonight but was letting him sleep for now because he seemed more peaceful and relaxed than the days before. His health was still spiraling downhill but at least he was able to rest properly now.

Guilt clawed it's way at Roma as she realized how insensitive she'd been to him and his critical state outside her apartment. She couldn't help being angry with him for all he'd done to her in the past... but he was now laying on her couch, helpless and in pain. She'd never seen him this way before. It had been two days of this torture as he slept, screaming and kicking about in what seemed like feverish nightmares. She didn't think he was capable of dreaming...

She was exhausted after watching over him for so long and wished deep down inside she had someone else to share this large secret with. She was harboring a wanted criminal in her home... She came close to reporting him to the police, hoping they'd give him the care he needed, but she knew better than to do that. They'd throw him in front of a trial, half dead and sick, ship him off to prison to never be heard from again until death row... If he didn't die of his infections before then, the chair would end him. A hospital visit was impossible because someone might recognize him and report her, then she'd get in trouble and might go to jail too... None of these things were options, so she was forced with sticking this one out alone.

The chiming of her cellphone ringing broke her from her thoughts, she glanced around the room unsurely and stood, giving Don's shin a soft pat to let him know she was leaving and would return shortly. She reached her phone and scooped it up, clicking answer. "Hello?" She talked into it cautiously.

"Hey, Roma, it's Arjun. I was just wondering what you were doing tonight," Said Arjun's cheerful voice through the speaker. Roma mentally punched herself for forgetting she was supposed to be going out with him tonight and talking over more wedding details. This was the second time he'd called to remind her since Don showed up and she always forgot every time.

"Hey umm, Yeah, look, I can't make it actually. I have my hands full with assignments from Malik right now." She said, slapping her hand to her forehead. She realized now she hadn't dressed herself properly either in days. A tank-top and jogging pants. Not very bride-to-be looking.

"Oh really? That's funny, seeing as you haven't come in to receive any paper work from him in three days." He replied with a laugh.

"What are you trying to say, Arjun? 'cause I really don't have time for this right now." Roma asked, dropping her arms to her side in a huff, feeling quite offended by his stupid comment... And paranoid.

"I'm only teasing you, Roma. It's okay! Just, forget I said anything at all." He said back, still keeping a chuckle in his voice though she could tell something was bugging him. "How have you been feeling?" He added, being sweeter.

"I'm feeling fine, I'm just really busy, you know? Malik's really piling it on for me and I haven't had time to take a break for hours." She said, looking over at Don. It was true, he was stealing all her attention like a spoiled child and with the presences of Arjun in the mix, she slowly realized how stupid it was to be keeping him here like this. She had a real life to live that didn't involve chasing after Don or running circles trying to get over it. She was past this already... It was dangerous and she shouldn't care about what happens to him when she turns him in.

"Ah, I see... Well, if you like I can come over and give you a hand with it all. I'm quite handy. Or even just give you a massage or something." He replied, deepening his voice at the word "massage" to something more sensual and silly, causing Roma to giggle for the first time in days. This is what she needed. Not baby-sitting someone who acting like a cancer to her.

"ooh, I wish you could, I really do, but I don't even have time for that right now, I'm SO busy. But I promise you can do all the massaging soon." She said, leaning against the kitchen counter in front of her as she spoke, smiling.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah." She answer.

"Positive?

"Positive."

"Super, SUPER positive?"

"Yes, Arjun... Super SUPER positive."

"Alright." He sighed some. "I'll leave you to your work then, just get some sleep tonight, baby. You sound tried."

Roma nodded to herself, giving Don a glance before sighing as well. "Yeah. I'll try to."

"Good. Sleep well. See you later?" He said back, hope in his voice.

"You too and I'll see you soon." She answered, looking down at her hand now.

"Okay. Bye." He said, about to hang up the phone before Roma interrupted his leaving. "Oh, Arjun!... I love you." She said, biting her lip after, feeling like a teenager in love all over again.

"I love you too, Roma... Sleep well." With that and a kissing sound, the line was cut, following by the low droning moan of a dead line. She lowered her phone and clicked the off button, staring down into the display on it where Arjun's name was written. She missed him...

.

.

.

Don opened his watery torched brown eyes, scanning the room for Roma as his eyes adjusted to the light which poured in the room. Upon this new awakening, everything was from a different, more positive perspective. Nothing seemed difficult or so painful to where he could hardly breathe, his fever had broken and his stomach didn't ache nearly as bad as before. He wondered how long he had been out. He stretched some, yawning to clear the sleep from his body and lungs, which seemed to have healed nicely during his blackout. The smell of something cooking reminded him of how hungry he was.

Regardless of the healing he had done, he was still quite stiff and he sat up off the couch slowly, pausing for a moment as he allowed a wave of dizziness to pass. It was much easier and quicker than it had been before, much to his shock and relief. Within a minute he was up on his feet and walking about, exploring Roma's apartment for himself after all this time of being bound to her, flat and spring filled, couch, he longed for some exercise and mental stimulation.

It was rather tidy in her apartment, which was understandable seeing as it was very small and made for one person and a guest but with no guest room itself. The only messy part of her small flat was the kitchen where he discovered a pot on the stove, boiling over with foam from whatever she'd been cooking and left there. He switched it off and moved it to a different burner, chuckling to himself as he examined the huge mess of ingredients she'd left all over the counter. He fingered some of them as he looked them over before moving on to the living room where he'd been sleeping for days, noticing she had removed the picture of Ramesh, Kamini and herself from the desk.

Slightly disappointed, Don walked over to the stand it had been on promptly sitting before and searched through the drawers until he found it again along with a collection of other photos she had hidden down in there.

"Cute." He said to himself with adoration, holding up a picture of Roma when she was much younger with the typical clothing style of the time. She looked quite silly in them, mostly since she looked like a queen even at such a young age but was being held down by such awful clothing that made Don want to gag at the sight of. It was precious to see her so ignorantly pleased with her look but so utterly wrong in her pride. Her eyes bared that same fire though, he could see it burning strongly even through time itself in a photograph...

While looking over these pictures Don couldn't help but wonder to himself... What his own childhood was really like.

At that moment Roma came barraging through the doors with more bags under her arms and in her hands then she was capable of carrying. She froze completely, as did Don, when they both caught sight of the other, launching into a silent stare off.

"Nice to see you again, Meri Jungili Billi." He said finally, smiling widely as she dropped all the bags to the floor.