A Month Earlier
Lara is busy researching on her father's notes, frantically turning pages on books with ten different tabs open on her laptop. She has bags under her eyes. Her body sore from being hunched over for so long. The room is a cluttered, unkempt mess with books everywhere. Lara's hair isn't any better. She hasn't showered in two weeks. She's desperately trying to keep herself busy so she doesn't think about what happened only a few months ago. Desperately trying to avoid another prodding session of therapy. She's two hours late now.
Jonah comes in to check on her, but before he can get a word out, he trips a wire that triggers a mechanism, shooting arrows at his head. "Shit Lara!" Jonah shouts, panicking.
Lara shoots up to her feet, hugging Jonah tightly, apologizing as she takes out the arrows. Thankful she hasn't figured out the correct angle for the mechanism. "Are you out of your mind?!" Jonah shouts again.
"Maybe." Lara answers back.
She goes to her arrow trap and refills the arrows as Jonah looks around at the room, at Lara. Seeing how messy everything is. "You're still on this?" Jonah asks, still catching his breath.
Lara doesn't answer, but she tries to change the subject. "Did they send you to check on me?"
"Yeah. You're two hours late." Jonah replies. "I know you don't like it, but,"
"What I'm doing here is important." Lara interrupts him.
"What's that smell?" Jonah asks as his nose wrinkles in disgust.
Lara pretends not to notice as she looks out the door. "Were you followed?"
Jonah is uneasy by Lara's distressed nature. "What are you-" Jonah questions before he's interrupted again. "They're watching."
Lara then goes to the windows, making sure they're shut and locked, and draws the curtains back again. Jonah notices a cut on Lara's hand. A lot of them. "What are those cuts on your hands?"
"Papercuts." Lara answers as if it's nothing.
She goes back to her spot and gets ready to sit down as she tells Jonah, "Tell them I'm in the middle of something important."
Jonah stands his ground as he makes his own demand. "I'll do it when you get some help."
Lara takes a deep breath as she repeats herself, "You don't understand. No one does."
"If you gave people a chance, they'd understand!" Jonah's voice is a little louder this time. Not the normal calm. But not enough for a shout.
Lara picks up a book and goes to a bookmarked page, color coded corresponding to a certain discovery. "My father was searching for immortality, answers to life itself, a world without pain; they called him crazy, but-"
"I'm not talking about your father." Jonah's voice is louder this time.
"But this is something extraordinar-"
"Lara!" Jonah shouts. "I'm talking about you!"
"This could be something huge! If the world only knew-"
"Lara! Stop!"
He grabs her book and puts it on a shelf, grabs her by the hands but Lara keeps insisting it's about her father. Finally, Lara breaks and her face is riddled with guilt. Grief. Hurt. She hugs Jonah and sobs into his shirt. Jonah's voice is calmer now as he strokes her hair. "It's okay." Jonah says as he tries to calm her down.
Through her muffled sobs, Lara whimpers, "I'm sorry, Jonah."
Her sobbing is uncontrollable. "It's okay, little bird. I'm here." Jonah adds, trying to calm her down still.
Lara pulls away and looks Jonah in the eyes, asking with a broken voice, "But what about the ones I killed?"
Jonah rests a hand on Lara's cheek, answering back, "I don't know, Lara." His voice calming, but with doubt along with it. "You don't have to feel sorry for yourself."
Lara wipes away the tears and shakes her head in disapproval, "But it was me."
"Don't say that." Jonah says, still trying to calm her down.
"You didn't see what I saw."
"I didn't." Jonah replies, bringing Lara back in for a hug.
Lara looks up at Jonah and asks, "I don't want to go back."
"I'll come with you."
Lara smiles a little, knowing she's not alone. But she can't help but feel she could be. Or still is. She can't help but feel safe around him. But still scared out of her mind about what could happen.