Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my twisted imagination.

A/N: This fic is not meant to offend anyone or cause some outrageous revolt. It is simply another product of three options: too much smutty imagination, too much time on my hands to help it thrive.

Pairing: Oliver Thredson/Lana Winters.

American Horror Story: Asylum

A Residual Haunting

Chapter Two

Red.

It was everywhere, filling cell with an incandescent and unnervingly euphoric crimson. Lana shifted, wincing as her back recognized the worn lumpy mattress that gave its indication that it was hers. Slowly she pushed herself, her blurred eyes adjusting themselves. She gazed sleepily at the light seeping into her room from the small grate window of her cell door and the opening where her door had been left ajar. Her eyes followed the slanted box of light from the hall to the wall next to her bed as though the cement had been splashed with angry red streaks of blood.

Groggily, she swung her legs over the bed, letting them dangle over the edge and she gave the light a closer inspection, realizing it was the facilities emergency lights beaming in through the hall. She didn't remember coming to her cell, nonetheless taking a nap in the middle of the evening. After a few moments, she buried her face in her hands and rubbed her eyes to try to shake off the fog when an unforgettable voice rose from the overwhelming clouds of her brain.

'Lana…. You haven't seen me in over three months and this is how you behave?'

Immediately her eyes widened and she gasped, looking towards the cell door. Thredson…. It must have been just as simple as a nightmare born from the product of too many sedatives. There was no other plausible explanation. The borderline lethal mixture of medication floating around this place would knock any sane person on their ass and send a psychopath drifting happily into the world of their own sick desires. Pushing herself out of bed, Lana lightly stumbled her way up to the cell door in wonder as to why it was open.

"Hello?" she called out hoarsely. "Helloooo?!"

Silence. It was the only comfort that you desperately desired for day in and day out, but couldn't grasp no matter how hard you tried was practically deafening to her ears in contrast. From what she could see the sliver of space where her door was open, the halls were empty and the adjacent cell doors were open. The power must have gone out. Curious, she grasped the metal door handle and with a little tug, she watched the door clank loudly and creak on its hinges as she swung it open. The more her mind began to clear, the more familiarity of the situation she now found herself in. Finally it dawned on her when she stepped out into the emptiness of the hall to bathe in the redness of the emergency lights over head. This was exactly like the time she foolishly gave up her own escape attempt to ensure Kit and Grace never made it through the exit doors. But this time, there was no one to stand in her way. No one to prevent her from taking back the life that had been stolen from her.

Quickly she began to wander down the hall, her eyes glued to that very same door up ahead that was normally locked while the power was still on. This was her chance! Her chance to be free…. The padding of her white shoes grew louder along the cement floor the faster she moved. Her heart sprang to life from its medicated slumber, pumping wildly the closer she came to those double doors.

When she neared the last cell, she heard what sounded like her name called softly by the only voice that could successfully strike an unbridled fear and freeze her in place. She immediately came to a stop. Swallowing, she slowly turned in the direction of her cell. Her eyes looked around the hall. Unable to discern if she was still hearing things, she clasped the sides of her head, her eyes immediately searching the darkened corners of the hallway where the red light couldn't reach. What the hell was going on? Why was she suddenly losing it? This was why she needed to get the hell out of here! Refusing to be deterred, she turned back towards the double doors sitting in the shadows just ahead to see that there was actually a heavy set of chains barring the doors shut. Immediately she felt her heart sink like a little kid's who just dropped a quarter into a wishing well for the first time and realized the harsh realities of life that his wish wasn't coming true.

"Lana…."

Her head whipped back to the cell at her left and her thin brows knit together. With a few careful steps, Lana crept up to the cell door and peered inside the small grate covered window. It was pitch black inside. Her eyes squinted to adjust to the darkness and she couldn't help wondering if she was actually still dreaming. Hesitantly she eased up on her tiptoes for a better look inside and her fingers slipped through the holes in the metal grate of the viewing window for better leverage. Her heart began to pound again at the thought of Oliver Thredson actually residing inside this cell. When she didn't hear anything, she laughed lightly to herself. She really was going crazy…. Just before she pulled her hand away, she felt the briefest brush of a warm fingertip caress the tip of her pinkie finger and Lana gasped, pulling away from the cell door. Her back slammed against the brick wall behind her.

"Oh don't be so melodramatic..." said the low baritone of that unmistakable voice echoing along the empty walls of the hall. "I always said we were drawn together like magnets. You thought I was crazy and yet... here you are."

Lana frowned, her hands beginning to tremble at her sides as the build of tears began to flood her vision. It wasn't a nightmare… It was something far worse. Her throat worked to bring the words screaming in her mind to her lips.

"Son of a bitch... You were in jail." she muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. "I know you were because I saw it in the paper. You… Were in jail! You were supposed to fry…."

"Yes, I'm sure that must be such a disappointment for you." Oliver responded from the darkness within the cell and she felt her blood boil at his hint of underlying sarcasm.

Lana's bottom lip began to tremble as she watched those long thick fingers emerge from the dark and grasp the grate where her fingers had just been. Immediately her brain sought desperately for some form of comfort and she felt herself begin to relax at the fact that unlike the other cell doors, his was still shut which meant it must be locked. Even though he was behind a wall of steel, his presence still frightened her. She couldn't help wondering why he wasn't strapped down to his bed and drugged up during this power outage. As crazy as this place is, it would be insane to let a murderous psychopath wander about freely while the electricity was out. Surely the staff couldn't be that careless...

"Oliver… Just because you're in here, don't think for a second that I won't be watching you." she jeered in response.

"You and I both know you can't watch me forever." he responded in a bored tone.

"Yeah well I've been in here long enough to know how to pull the strings. You come near me and I'll find a way to have you thrown in solitary for a week." she said almost proudly.

"As if I'm a stranger to loneliness." he snorted. "But tell me… What happens when that week is out, Lana?"

She didn't say anything simply because… he was right. What would she do then? She was stuck here in what seemed like her own personal nightmare that she would never wake up from. A tear slid from her eye and Lana slunk back into the shadows hugging the wall behind her. Her very own monster lurking in darkness of her dreams had come to join her in what was probably the lowest depth of hell.

"You know, I trusted you once. I told you everything. And what did you do in return? You left me…." he said in calm, quiet tone. "So there isn't anything you could do now that hasn't been done to me already. Don't you get it? We're stuck here... Locked together in hatred. But it doesn't have to be that way."

"What are you talking about?" she asked cautiously while edging further back into the darkness.

"We can make the most of a bad situation." he added and she jumped when she heard the rattle of the metal handle clicking noisily and the heavy cell door creaking open. "We can still have Paris."

Her eyes widened and she pressed against the wall as Olivers tall figure emerged and stepped outside the cell. She gave him a quick once over in full realization that what she previously thought was only a figment of her imagination had become a very ugly fact. He was indeed wearing a blue Briarcliff uniform and even that same worn black sweater. Still yet he looked as he always had with his dark round glasses, even though the sides of his head were shaved from the shock therapy.

"You can't have something that was never there to begin with." she said and her head twisted from side to side to look up and down the length of the hallway and called out for a guard.

"Are we pretending that this sanitarium actually still gives a damn?" he said as he closed the distance between them, his fingers reaching out for her. "Because we both know that's not true."

He felt her jump slightly under his fingertips when they met with the soft pale skin covering her exposed collarbone. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

Lana darted around him, but he grabbed her arm to pull her back against him and in quick retaliation her hand shot up to smack him, but Oliver was quick to grab her wrist. His free hand shot up to grasp her jaw tightly to force her to look up into his eyes as he hurriedly pushed her backward to drag her into his cell. Lana clawed at the doorframe to the cell, but was forced to succumb to his strength when he twirled her around and hugged tightly her against his front then dragged her into the darkness of his cell.

She cried out, wailing in desperation for someone, anyone to come for her. Ignoring her scuffling, Oliver couldn't resist the smile spreading over his lips. The sensation of feeling her pressed up against him was something he once thought he'd never experience again and yet she was right here. But her cries were interrupting his opportunity to enjoy it and he clamped a hand over her mouth. The arm wrapped around her waist suddenly darted lower and she began to panic when the blue hem of her dress was pulled up. The warmth of his palm was against her stomach and sliding upward along her skin. The sound of keys jingled loudly down the hallway, but Lana's muffled cries remained muted as the jingling grew closer and closer until suddenly the bright beam of a guard's flashlight shone on them both from the hallway and they stopped their scuffling.

"Alright, that's enough!" said the voice of a male guard. "Why aren't you two in the common room with everybody else?"

Lana's second strike attempt to Oliver's face hit its mark and Oliver winced as her hand collided, stunning him enough to release his grip over her mouth.

The clicking of a second pair of shoes came up behind the guard and they heard a soft gasp followed by the chastising sounds of disapproval from the voice of a familiar nun that Oliver and Lana both recognized all too well.

"Oliver Thredson... You've only been here a day, but I thought you'd show some signs of improvement after your first treatment."

"Well I must say, Sister Eunice... There were no holds barred when you gave me the standard Briarcliff welcome. I thought the delousing was bad enough, but the shock therapy so soon? I thought we had an understanding once." Oliver said almost bitterly.

Mary stepped into the cell and waved Lana over. After a moment's hesitation, Oliver let Lana slip from his grasp. His dark eyes remained glued to her small retreating form as she quickly darted behind the guard until she was completely out of his sight.

Mary walked over to him, the large key ring of keys at her hip jingling lightly. "No hard feelings. Besides Oliver, you of all people should know the importance of keeping up appearances. How would it make me look if I just let you slide in here unscathed?"

She reached up, resting her arm on his shoulder and brushed her fingertips over the shaved section of hair near his temples. Oliver didn't say anything. Instead he looked down into her eyes and for a second he saw that same unnervingly orange-tinted pair he originally saw looking back at him when he dealt with the supposedly possessed boy Jed Potter and quickly looked away.

"Well, in any case, we can't have you the two of you harassing each other. At least not so soon." Mary said quietly.

Lana came out from behind the guard. "Are you crazy? I had no idea he was even here!"

"Is that so? Why would you even come way down here at the end of the hall, nonetheless inside his cell just to have his hand up your dress rather than coming out to the common room with everyone else?" Mary shot back and watched Lana's eyes lower to the floor. "Peculiar how the two of you despise each other so much and yet you both always wind up in each other's arms…. In any case, it's been a long day and I really was in no mood to deal with the both of you right now. But it's not too early for another round of shock treatment to cool you off, Oliver."

"Only if you're trying to kill me..." Oliver retorted and nudged his head to the side to remove her fingers from his skin.

"Renowned murderer killed on his first day of serving out his life sentence? Hardly." the nun snorted and sauntered out of the cell. "Although you're well aware of the rules against fornication so we'll figure something out. Bring them both to my office."

Oliver watched the guard dart into the cell and force him up against the wall. Thick restraining cuffs were tied around his wrists and he glanced out of the cell's doorway to Lana who was watching. The guard then shoved him forward out of the cell and reached into the belt at his waist to apply the same cuffs to Lana's wrists.

Lana averted her gaze. She knew she couldn't divulge to the nun the real reason as to why she was down here at the end of the hall and decided to just stay quiet. At this point, she was beyond caring about what others thought. That part of her died the moment she came to this place. As they all then proceeded down the hall with Mary in the lead, Lana glanced behind her to Oliver who simply looked down at her and gave her a dark smile.

====To be Continued====

A/N: Thanks for reading!