Author's Note: Thanks again to my wonderful beta, BluCrayons. You are truly lovely, my dear. Thanks for the help! Again, please review!
Chapter 27: Suspicions
"That's...that's absolutely horrible," Peter breathed when Micky finished. He couldn't imagine anyone going through anything like that: being faced with such a horrible decision. He saw Micky's face shift a little and realized what he'd said. Or rather how it had come out. He quickly tried to correct himself, but ended up tripping over his own words. "I mean...umm...it's not horrible what you did...it's...uh…"
"What Peter is trying to say," Mike said saving Peter, "it's horrible that you were faced with having to do that. But you did the right thing, Micky."
"Yeah," Peter said. "Thanks, Mike."
"Micky, you do know you did the right thing, right?" Davy asked.
"How is killing someone ever the right thing?" Micky asked quietly.
"When the only other option is to allow great harm to befall someone you love," Mike answered. Peter felt like he wanted to cry. He loved Micky and nothing would ever change that; but he couldn't imagine how Micky must have felt in that moment 7 years ago. He couldn't imagine how he felt now. He'd worked so hard to protect them all from his family and it had all been in vain. He wished he knew of some way to get them all out of here safely, but there really didn't appear to be any. All he could do was try and offer comfort.
"Micky, you were faced with an impossible choice," Rose said. "I told you this before. You did what had to be done. And I know that faced with that choice again, you'd do the same thing. We all would. My only question is how did they even find out?"
"They must have found the body," Sarah answered.
"I buried that thing pretty deep," Rose said. Peter got a little chill up his spine at her choice of words, but knew she was trying to de-personalize him; he'd tried to rape her and her friend. "Besides, why would they have been digging there?"
"Could be any number of reasons, Rose," Micky said. "Not least of which is to bury someone else there."
"Yeah, but the body would be nothing but bone now, right?" Davy asked. "How would they have known it was him? And how would they have known that Micky is the one who killed him?"
"Davy brings up a pretty good point," Heather said.
"The clothes," Rose answered flippantly. "They could have recognized Danny from his clothes and I buried Micky's bloody clothes with them. Why? What are you trying to say?"
"Just that they seemed to come to that conclusion pretty quickly," Heather muttered.
"You think one of us said something?" Rose demanded getting a little flushed with anger.
"Well, they knew your daughter was alive and they know Micky killed Danny," Heather said. "They seem to know a lot about all of you. They knew who best to lure out of the house and how. They knew when you'd be gone; when best to strike."
"None of us said a thing, Heather," Micky said.
"What reason would any of us have to turn on each other?" Rose asked.
"Ask Sarah," Heather said.
"What?!" Sarah exclaimed.
"They held you here for how many years?" Heather asked. "You could have told them everything they wanted to know just to get them to stop torturing you. Maybe that's the real reason you escaped this prison. You promised to give them Micky in exchange for your freedom."
"That's fucking bullshit!" Rose spat. "She's locked up in here with us! They fucking raped her!"
"Maybe she wasn't expecting that," Heather said. "My mother has a bad habit of stabbing people in the back."
"I didn't say a word," Sarah said in a tone that sent chills down Peter's spine. Micky looked like he wanted to get up and strangle Heather, but the pain prevented him from moving.
"How do we know it wasn't you, Heather?" Davy asked jumping up and turning on her. "How do we know you're not the mole?!"
"Because I knew nothing about Danny's death and I knew nothing about the baby," Heather answered. "Besides, as Rose said, I'm locked up in here with you."
"Yeah, but you're the only one of us they have yet to lay a finger on!" Davy exclaimed.
"I'm pregnant," Heather said simply.
"ENOUGH!" Mike boomed so loudly that everyone seemed to get an inch or two shorter. "Davy, I don't want to hear another word about how you hate Heather. We all get it. I'm sick of hearing it. It doesn't really matter how they found out. The fact is, they did."
"Doesn't it though?" Davy asked. "If one of us is feeding them information, we need to know about it."
"Davy, I really don't want to hear it," Mike said. "We're all in this together. And we don't need to be pointing fingers at each other. Besides the fact that she's carrying my child and I really don't want any undue stress added to the baby right now."
"You aren't seriously telling me you trust her, are you?" Davy asked. Peter felt very uncomfortable with his two best friends fighting like this, but didn't really know what to say to make it stop. All he could do was sit and listen to them. "She has a point about them knowing way too much about us! And unless you think she's right about Sarah-"
"Davy, I said knock it off!" Mike exclaimed. "It doesn't really matter if I trust Heather or not. All that matters is that we're all being held prisoner. They're not going to hurt her because she's pregnant. And I'm really happy about that. That's my baby. There's no reason for them to keep her here with us if she's an informant. It makes no sense. And Heather, you need to knock it off, too. I don't want to hear any more pointing fingers at anyone. The only thing it's going to accomplish is turning us against each other and if we plan on getting out of here alive, we need to remain a team. Do I make myself clear?"
"Mike's right," Micky said, surprising even Peter. "The only way we're going to get out of this is if we stick together."
"Thank you, Micky," Mike said. "Why don't you try and get a little sleep; you're hurt pretty bad and need to rest."
"It's not as bad as it looks," Micky said laughing it off a little, though Peter knew that Micky was just trying to put them at ease.
"Just try and sleep, Mick," Mike said trying to manage a smile. Micky nodded and relaxed a little more on the bed. He pulled Sarah close to him as if she'd disappear if he let go of her. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest with her hand just below the wound on his stomach as though protecting it from more damage. Micky looked over at Mike for a moment but barely had a chance to open his mouth.
"Mike…" he started.
"It's ok, Micky," Mike said walking over and resting a hand on his shoulder protectively. "I promise." Peter almost asked what the two of them meant, but the look that passed between them before Micky finally closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep told it all. Micky didn't want anything happening to the rest of them. Neither Mike nor Micky cared what happened to themselves, but they had just promised each other that they'd do everything they could to keep any harm from befalling Rose, Sarah, Davy, Peter, and even Heather.
They sat there for hours in silence. Davy seemed antsy; he hated just sitting there and wanted to do something, but knew there was no means of escape. Peter noticed glances he shot Heather when Mike wasn't looking; and they weren't nice glances. Peter could almost feel the hatred Davy had for Heather. Peter wasn't sure how he felt. He agreed with Mike to some degree; it didn't make sense for her to be locked up here with them if she had planned this kidnapping. But he also didn't like that she'd suggested Sarah could do anything like it either.
He'd come to know Sarah over the last 5 months and trusted her like a sister. He knew in his heart that even under the cruelest form of torture, she'd never betray Micky. She loved him too much for that. And he loved her the same way. And yet a small part of him wondered how their captors had gotten so much information about them. Had someone been feeding them information? He didn't think Rose could be capable of it either; Hope was her child, too. And Heather hadn't known the baby survived; nor had she known about Micky's brother. None of it made any sense to him.
He was snapped out of his thoughts with the sound of the locks on the doors opening. Just like he had before, Mike jumped up and stood in front of the door as though shielding the rest of them from whoever was on the other side of it. Peter knew that it wouldn't work, though. If they wanted to hurt any of them, Mike alone wouldn't be able to stop them. So did Rose and Davy, apparently, because all three of them moved to stand next to Mike. Together they'd do what they could to protect Micky.
"Calm down," Shirley, the woman who'd tricked Peter, said as she smiled carrying in a covered tray. "I just brought you some dinner. Thought you all might be hungry." Shirley set the tray down on one of the beds and lifted the lid off it to reveal pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches: one for each of them. And a pitcher of water with a cup for each of them. She smiled at Micky lying asleep on the bed. "That looks painful. Poor thing."
"Shut up and go away," Mike said. "You brought us food; now go."
"So testy," Shirley answered. "Fine. I do hope you enjoy your dinner." With that she turned on her heel and left. Peter didn't even realize how hungry he was until he saw the food. He and Davy both moved towards the tray but Mike and Rose hesitated.
"Should we wake Micky?" Davy asked picking up one of the sandwhiches.
"No," Micky said. "Don't eat that."
"I thought you were sleeping," Davy said startled. "Why shouldn't I eat this? I'm really hungry."
"I can't sleep with all this pain," Micky said wincing even as he said it. "And you shouldn't eat it because it could be poisoned."
"Poisoned?" Peter asked eyeing the food as if somehow he could see the poison in the jelly or the peanut butter. "Why would they poison us? I thought they wanted us alive."
"Not that kind of poison," Rose said staring at Heather.
"Oh," Peter answered suddenly understanding what they meant. Davy stared at the sandwich in his hand as though it were something he'd never seen before. "So do we just not eat then?"
"No," Mike said. "We need to eat; but someone should test it first."
"Right," Micky said. "Hand it over."
"No way, Mick," Mike said. "You aren't gonna touch it."
"Why not?" Micky asked. "I've been drugged before. I can handle it better than any of the rest of you."
"Yes, but think about it, Micky, why would they be drugging us?" Rose asked.
"To toy with us," Micky answered.
"To lower our inhibitions," Sarah said. "To make us do whatever they want us to. Including tell them whatever they want us to."
"Like where Hope is," Peter muttered realizing it at the same time as Davy. That also meant that Peter couldn't test the food either; he knew exactly where she was.
"I'll test it," Mike said. "I don't know any details."
"Yeah, but last time it nearly killed you," Davy argued pulling the tray away from him before Mike could grab one.
"Well, we're in a hospital and I'm sure this is a smaller dose," Mike argued. "Even if something happens to me, you just bang on the door and call for help. They aren't gonna let me die."
"Don't care," Davy said quickly and shoved half the sandwich in his mouth quickly before anyone could stop him.
"Davy!" Mike exclaimed ripping the rest of the sandwich out of his hand. "Damnit, Davy! Why the hell did you do that!?"
"Seemed the logical solution," Davy answered swallowing. "Micky can't cause he knows too much. You can't cause it nearly killed you."
"That was really, really stupid, Davy," Mike said then took a deep breath. "And really, really brave."
"So, um, how long until we know if this was drugged?" Davy asked.
"Few minutes," Micky answered looking just as angry as Mike.
"What...what's gonna happen to me?" Davy asked sitting down on the bed.
"You'll feel a little light-headed mostly," Micky answered. "Kinda like you're drunk."
"Just sit down and relax, Davy," Mike said. "You'll know soon enough. We all will."