Author's Note: Thanks again to my lovely beta, BluCrayons! Love ya, girlie!
Chapter 30: No Easy Way Out
"How are you feeling, Davy?" Micky asked as he pulled Sarah close to him. He knew he'd promised her that he'd never leave her again, but something in the back of his head told him that he might have to. That he might have to die and leave them. But he knew in his heart that at least Mike would always be there to protect Sarah and Rose.
"Still a little sick," Davy admitted with a slight slur in his voice Micky hadn't noticed before.
"Then you just relax," Mike said. "Lie back down."
"I don't want to," Davy said, but then shivered a bit. "I'm cold."
"Here," Peter said walking over and wrapping a thick blanket around Davy. "Why don't you at least sit with me for a bit."
"Can we just get them to get her?" Mike asked staring at Heather. "I don't wanna be near her anymore." Micky could see the amount of disdain and disgust Mike held for her. Micky couldn't blame him; he hated his sister for what she'd done to Mike. He'd known from the start that she'd drugged and raped him, but now he knew that she may have let someone else have their way with his best friend. The only thing keeping him from killing Heather was the fact that she was pregnant.
"I'll take care of it," Rose said crossing the room and pounding on the door and yelling loudly. After a moment, they heard the locks slide open and Rose stood back to let whoever was on the other side in.
"What?" Shirley said walking in with Cole behind her.
"Just thought you might want your leader back," Rose said pointing at the still bound and unconscious Heather.
"What the fuck did you do to her!?" Cole exclaimed running over to her.
"Relax," Rose said. "We just knocked her out."
"Why?" Shirley asked.
"Next time you have a conversation about kidnapping someone, you might wanna make sure your intended victim isn't awake enough to hear it," Rose smiled sarcastically.
"He was drugged," Shirley said staring at Mike. "How does he even remember?"
"Sometimes it just takes a while for the memory to come back," Rose said. "He remembered a few hours ago." Micky could see anger flashing in Rose's eyes as Shirley looked over Mike. It was the same anger he felt. If he could move, he knew that he'd be squaring off with Shirley himself and fighting his temptation to hit her.
"How much does he remember?" Shirley asked almost sweetly.
"Enough," Rose said clenching her fists together. "Just get her out of here. She's not going to be your little spy anymore. And you can tell Claire that I don't care what she does to me: she's not laying a hand on my daughter."
"You'd better hope you didn't hurt her too much," Cole said picking Heather up and walking toward the door with her.
"Trust me, she'll be fine," Rose said. "I didn't hit her that hard. She's lucky I didn't kill her. If she weren't pregnant, I can't say I wouldn't have strangled her."
"You think you're some big tough bitch, don't you?" Shirley snorted derisively. "We'll see what you have to say when Claire deals with you and your little boyfriend." She turned to follow Cole out of the room.
"Oh, Shirley," Rose said causing Shirley to turn around. "This is for Mike." Rose pulled her arm back and before anyone could stop her punched Shirley in the face. Shirley stumbled backwards a little and grasped her nose. When Shirley pulled her hands away from her nose, Micky saw a large amount of blood pouring out of her nose into her hands.
"You BITCH!" Shirley roared. "You broke my nose! You'll pay for that!"
"Bring it on, whore," Rose answered.
"Shirley!" Cole yelled. "We'll deal with her later! We need to get Heather to Claire." Shirley reluctantly followed Cole out the door.
"You shouldn't have done that," Mike said when they left. "They're going to punish you for that."
"Like they weren't planning on torturing me anyway," Rose said walking over to him to sit on the bed with him. "At least this way I can get a little benefit from it." Mike pulled her close to him and kissed the top of her head gently.
"Just promise me you won't put yourself in harm's way for me again," Mike said. "I don't think I could live with that."
"No promises," Rose smiled and leaned in for a real kiss. "Only if you can promise me the same thing." When Mike didn't respond, Rose smiled and kissed him again. "That's what I thought. She had it coming, anyway. Don't worry about me."
"Why did you take the blame for me?" Sarah asked.
"What do you mean?" Rose asked.
"You said you punched Heather," Sarah said. "I punched her out. Why did you take the blame for me?"
"Because I want them to focus their anger on me," Rose answered.
"We need to figure a way out of here," Micky said. "And how to take Heather with us."
"Well..we..um…we... outnumber'm," Davy suggested slurring a little.
"Not really," Micky answered looking over Davy carefully. "Mike can't fight. I can't fight. You can't really fight. And no offense to Peter, but he can't really be counted on in a fight."
"None taken," Peter said pulling Davy a little closer to him out of worry. "It wouldn't work now, but we can wait until you guys heal."
"No," Mike said. "This place is pretty well guarded. Gotta be."
"That and I doubt I'm going to get better," Micky admitted.
"Sarah, you know this place," Rose said. "Do you think you could tell us about it? What you know anyway? How you got out?"
"I only got out cause I was in the basement left for dead," Sarah said. "I slipped out of my shackles because I was thin and starving. But Mike's right: this place is crawling with guards and orderlies. The basement was the only place not heavily guarded; it wasn't meant for...patients." Micky felt Sarah shiver slightly at the word.
"Do you have any idea where we are now?" Rose asked. "I know you were unconscious when we got here, but we went in an elevator and I'm not sure how far up we went."
"I haven't heard any screams," Sarah said, "which means we're probably on the abandoned floor. That's like the 5th floor. On all the other floors, you can hear the girls screaming when they are taken…"
"So that's five flights of stairs to run down," Mike sighed.
"Five sets of guarded and locked doors, I'm sure," Micky agreed.
"Not getting out that way," Mike agreed.
"'Less we c'n get th'vator t'work," Davy suggested in a low mumble.
"We need his key," Rose said. "And the doors were guarded."
"B'less guards ...t'past," Davy said.
"Still got the orderlies and nurses," Sarah said. "The orderlies are convicted criminals. Mostly sex offenders. Like them. And trust me when I say they are not afraid of violence any more than Claire is."
"There's gotta be something," Rose said. "Garbage chute?"
"Leads to a trash compactor," Sarah said. "Anyone goes in there will be crushed."
"Ok, that's not an option," Peter said. "What about laundry?"
"Laundry is collected once a month," Sarah said. "If that. They don't care if we sit in our own filth."
"I really don't think there is an easy way out of here, guys," Micky sighed.
"No one said it was going to be easy," Mike said.
"You know what I mean, Mike," Micky said looking at him sternly. He couldn't say it aloud. Not to Peter and Davy. He knew he could try and promise his mother anything in exchange for their release. He'd stay here for the rest of his life, however long or short that might be as his mother's personal plaything. She'd never touch him; not herself. She'd get her thrills watching others take what they wanted from him. If all they wanted was revenge, all he had to do was promise not to ever try and fight them and they'd hopefully let the others go. He wasn't sure it would work, but it was their best option. He just had to make them realize they weren't going to get their hands on Hope and pray that they'd soon give up.
"That is not an option, Micky," Mike said. "We've been through that. We're not leaving you behind any more than you're going to leave me."
"She doesn't want you," Micky said. "She wants me."
"Well…" Mike started.
"Well what?" Micky asked sitting up painfully. Mike was holding something back from him.
"You're mother kinda had a thing for me back in Texas," Mike admitted not looking at Micky anymore. "But it doesn't matter now, because you're not gonna let me make that trade any more than I'm gonna let you."
"My mother had a thing for you?" Micky asked shocked. He'd never seen his mother do anything to Mike, but then again, he'd been half conscious most of the time. "Please don't tell me she touched you."
"She tried," Mike admitted. "But that doesn't matter."
"The hell it doesn't, Mike!" Micky yelled. He was angry at his mother, not Mike, but he still couldn't help taking it out on him. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me!?"
"Because it was nothing," Mike said.
"Nothing, my ass, Mike," Micky said feeling anger surging through him. Not only had his sister hurt him, but his mother had, too. "What did she do?"
"She didn't really do anything," Mike answered with a heavy sigh. "She tried, like I said. She got a little close once and started touching my stomach a little. She didn't touch me anywhere else, so it doesn't matter."
"Micky, calm down," Sarah said putting her hand softly on his chest the way she always did to get him to relax. Micky closed his eyes and forced himself to focus on his breathing; relaxing with each breath.
"It might matter, though, Mike," Rose interrupted. "This is something we should have known. She's going to torture us next. I'm sure of it. What if she decides she wants to finish what she started in Texas."
"Don't worry about me," Mike said echoing Rose's own words back at her.
"I sho' 'ill…" Davy said slowly. Micky looked at him and noticed he was starting to get pale and looked sweaty.
"Is he ok?" Peter asked before Micky could say anything. "I'm scared. He keeps talking like that."
"He'll be fine," Micky answered. "It's the drugs. He needs water."
"There are cups in the bathroom," Rose said getting off the bed, although somewhat reluctant to leave Mike.
"But he's going to be ok?" Peter asked again.
"He's going to be fine," Sarah said. "It'll just take a little time to heal."
"How does he feel?" Micky asked.
"Really cold," Peter answered. "But he's sweating."
"That's normal," Micky said. "Just keep him wrapped up."
"Sarah was better the next day," Peter said. "How come Davy's not?"
"I'm used to being drugged," Sarah said. "My body can handle it a bit better than his."
"Just relax, Peter," Rose said handing Davy the water who took it and almost inhaled it. "We've been through this many times before. He needs a lot of water and rest."
"'M fine," Davy muttered.
"Just keep holding onto him," Rose said trying to offer a reassuring smile to Peter. Peter looked over at Micky worriedly and Micky nodded. He was still incredibly angry at his family, but he understood he had to remain calm for his friends' sake. He focused more on his breathing, trying to calm himself down. After a while, Davy fell back asleep and Micky even found himself drifting off. When he awoke, he heard the locks on the door opening. He opened his eyes and prepared himself for whatever might happen. He pulled Sarah closer to him as their four tormentors entered, but he was still weak. When Claire came over to him, he couldn't hold her as she ripped Sarah from his arms and handed her off to Cole.
"Leave her alone!" Micky yelled as Cole grabbed Sarah from Claire's grasp and put a gun to her head.
"No one move unless you want us to put a hole in her head," Wayne said as Claire climbed on top of Micky. Shirley, looking rageful with her broken nose, and Wayne began restraining Micky: tying his wrists to the edge of the bed and then his ankles. Micky glanced over at Mike and Rose in the bed next to him and both had a look of terror on their faces. Davy and Peter sat across from him and looked equally as terrified. They all wanted to do something to help Micky, but they knew that if they did, Sarah would die.
"Alright, Micky," Claire said almost giddily. She ripped Micky's shirt open and pulled a large blade from out of a bag Shirley set next to her on the bed. "You've all been very bad children, and now it's time for your punishment. We tried Wayne's way to get information out of you. Now we're gonna try mine."