Author's Note: Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and whatever else you celebrate! Hope everyone's holiday is a great one! And thanks to my beta, BluCrayons!

Chapter 41: Trickery

"How are you feeling?" Micky asked Sarah about a week later.

"I'm ok," Sarah answered. "No more pain and the sickness is lessening."

"That's good," Micky said.

"What if they don't come?" Davy asked pacing the room. He'd been impatient all week and hadn't stopped pacing the room. It was even beginning to make Micky stressed. "I mean, not that I want them to come and torture Micky and all, but…"

"Davy, relax, will you?" Mike said. "We've been over this. They should be here soon enough. Micky's healed and she needs to satisfy her desire to torture someone."

"What if it doesn't happen soon enough?" Davy asked. "Only a few weeks until Heather gives birth. What if we don't have enough time?"

"She won't go anywhere," Sarah said.

"Can you be sure?" Davy asked.

"We know her," Micky said. "She'd much rather stick around and rub the baby in Mike's face. Even if she gives birth before we escape."

"What if she goes to a hospital to give birth?" Davy asked.

"She won't," Rose said. "Too much notoriety. She'll do it here. Privately. It'll all still be legal and this is technically a hospital, anyway."

"Besides, it'll take her time to recover," Peter said. "So she won't be going anywhere after that either. Now can you relax? You're stressing me out." Before Davy could respond, they heard the locks of the door once again. Micky looked at Davy to be sure Davy was ready. Davy nodded and sat down, a stern look on his face.

"I can do this," Davy said firmly.

"Good," Mike said sitting straight up too. As soon as Claire and the others came in, they all started to play their parts they'd been rehearsing all week.

"Please don't hurt him," Sarah said. "Haven't you done enough already?"

"Sit down and shut up, sweetie," Claire snapped. "If you know what's good for you."

"I'll be fine, Sarah," Micky said. "Don't worry about me. I can take it."

"Micky…" Sarah said softly.

"Please leave him alone," Peter said. "You have to know we don't know anything."

"Sit down and shut up!" Wayne barked. Peter pulled Sarah away from Micky and closer to him. Micky could tell they were all having a hard time with this, but knew they were doing what they had to. Sarah softly placed her hand over her stomach as a way of reminding herself why she was doing this.

"You promised you'd leave them alone," Micky said.

"I didn't say for how long," Claire laughed. "And I'm not going to hurt them as long as they behave. Just you. Wayne, tie him up."

"I'm not telling you a fucking thing," Micky sneered as Wayne moved to tie him to the bed. "Do whatever the hell you want to me."

"You know you're more like your father than you know," Claire laughed setting a bag down at the end of Micky's bed.

"Which one?" Micky snorted.

"Cute," Claire smiled. "Chucky raised you as his son."

"Did he even know?" Micky asked. "Do you even know who my father is? I mean you did fuck about half the damn country."

"Shut up," Claire sneered. "How dare you speak to me like that. Of course they knew. Both of them knew."

"Who is my father?" Micky asked. "Do I know him?"

"Now why would I tell you something when you won't tell me anything?" Claire asked as she sat on the edge of Micky's bed.

"Fine," Micky answered. "Not like I really care that much."

"Then why did you ask?" Wayne asked with a smile.

"Curiosity," Micky answered honestly. He really didn't care that much who his father was, but he couldn't deny he was a little curious.

"You do know him," Wayne said. "But only vaguely. But your friend knows him very well."

"What?" Micky asked thoroughly confused. Which friend was he talking about?

"Nevermind that," Claire said straddling him and ripping open his shirt. "It's not important. What is important is you telling me the truth."

"You know you could have just taken that off," Micky said. "I'm running out of shirts here."

"Don't be a smartass," Claire said backhanding him across the face.

"Please, stop," Davy pled.

"Davy, hush, I can handle whatever this bitch can dish," Micky snapped, though he tasted blood in his mouth. Claire first reached into the bag and put on a pair of gloves, which Micky thought a little odd. Then she pulled a small glass bottle out of the bag with an eye dropper screwed into it. Micky wasn't sure what was in it, other than a clear liquid. And judging by the look in her eye, it probably wasn't pleasant.

"Since you're so curious," Claire smiled sadistically, "do you want to find out what's in here? Or do you want to tell me what I want to know?"

"Go fuck yourself," Micky spat.

"Rose, how about you, sweetie?" Claire asked after glaring at Micky. "Want to take a gamble at what's in here?"

"Not really," Rose answered. "But I don't see how we have much of a choice."

"Of course you do," Wayne said. "Where's the girl?"

"You can't make us choose between Micky and an innocent girl," Mike said. "An innocent child who has nothing to do with this and knows nothing about any of this. She's not a threat to you. You don't need to hurt her."

"Have it your way," Claire said unscrewing the eye dropper cap and drawing a little of the liquid into it. She held it over his bare chest and Micky suddenly realized what it was. Only one liquid could really hurt someone by touching them. As soon as the few drops had made contact with his chest, Micky felt searing pain rip through his chest. It was as if someone had taken a hot poker and driven it straight through his chest. He screamed out in pain and arched his back into the bed as though he could get away from the pain.

"Acid!?" Mike shouted jumping up. "Are you mad!?"

"Sit down," Heather snapped pushing him back down. "Shut up."

"Micky…" Sarah said choking back a sob. Micky tried to bite back the gasps of pain so his friends wouldn't be too worried about him, but it was too late. And the acid was still eating away at his flesh.

"Where's the girl?" Claire said holding the dropper over his chest again.

"We'll never tell you," Micky said through gritted teeth.

"Have it your way," Claire said with a shrug and dripped a few more drops onto Micky's chest. The sting tore through his chest again and he couldn't help but cry out in pain again. He heard Davy whimpering a little and silently hoped Davy could hold on a little longer. The longer Davy could last, the more believable their plan would be. He tried to hide the amount of pain he was in, but it was just too severe.

"Stop it!" Sarah squealed in agony of her own.

"Tell me where the girl is, Sarah," Claire said pulling more acid into the dropper. "And I will."

"Don't make us do this!" Sarah exclaimed. "You can't make us do this! Please!"

"I can and I am," Claire said. "One...two...three…" When she got to three, she dropped more and Micky once again screamed. Micky couldn't see anymore. All he saw were bright lights burning the back of his eyes from the pain. The voices in the room even seemed to dull as though he were underwater.

"Stop!" Davy exclaimed. "Please, for the love of God, stop!"

"Give us a reason, pipsqueak," Wayne laughed. "Or sit down and shut up."

"I have plenty of this stuff left," Claire said. "And a little bit goes a long way. Made sure this stuff is as concentrated as possible. Almost pure sulfuric acid."

"Please leave him alone!" Davy exclaimed.

"I told you to sit down and shut up, you little runt!" Wayne barked and Micky distinctly heard the sounds of someone being shoved. Micky felt the sting of more acid being dripped onto his chest and cried out in pain. He had no control anymore and the sound of his own screaming ripped through his head like a knife. The voices became duller and his vision blurred further. He couldn't see anything or anyone anymore. He felt unconsciousness calling to him. But he couldn't let it. He had to stay awake.

"Stop, I'll tell you!" Davy yelled. "If you please just stop! Just let us go and I'll tell you."

"Tell us first," Claire said. "Then we'll reward you."

"If, that is, what you tell us turns out to be true and not just some wild goose chase," Wayne said.

"Davy, don't!" Rose exclaimed. "Don't you dare!"

"I'm sorry, Rose," Davy cried. "I just can't take it...I can't stand seeing this anymore. I can't stand watching this. I'm so sorry."

"Davy, don't," Mike pushed.

"Don't listen to them, sweetie," Heather said. "You do what you want to do."

"Davy," Peter mumbled.

"I'm getting impatient, David," Claire muttered.

"No!" Davy exclaimed. "Stop! Don't!"

"You have about 5 seconds, David," Claire said. "Or he gets another dose."

"A church," Davy answered.

"Davy, no!" Mike exclaimed. "You swore!"

"I'm sorry, Mike!" Davy answered. "I can't take this anymore!"

"A church?" Heather prompted. "Come now, Davy. Be a good boy."

"He said he dropped him off at a church doorstep," Davy sobbed. "In New Jersey."

"Where in New Jersey?" Heather asked sweetly.

"Some place called Cherry Hill," Davy answered. "That's all I know. I swear. Now please leave him alone!"

"Davy, how could you?!" Rose exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," Davy muttered softly.

"You better not be lying to us, boy," Wayne spat. "If you are just sending us on a wild goose chase, there will be consequences."

"But you'll let us go otherwise?" Davy asked hopefully. "You'll leave Micky alone?"

"We'll let you go," Claire smiled.

"Good boy, Davy," Heather almost cooed. Micky felt Claire slowly get off him and heard them leave. As soon as the door left, he heard his friends quickly rush over to him.

"Oh my god, has she completely lost it?" Mike exclaimed. "Acid!? Seriously?!"

"Mike, just help me help him!" Rose said. "We already know she's sadistic."

"What do we do?" Peter asked terror filling his voice.

"Shower," Rose said. "Help me take him to the shower. We need to wash this off now. And be careful; don't let any of this touch you." Micky felt his friends lift him off the bed and carry him over to the bathroom. He was still trying to fight just to stay awake. The pain was almost too unbearable for him.

"We should take his clothes off," Mike said. "Just to make sure she didn't spill any on his pants or anything."

"No sense in getting his clothes wet, either," Sarah said as she moved to unbutton his pants.

"Can we help?" Davy asked his voice still choked.

"Davy, you did wonderfully," Rose said. "Micky would be proud of you, but right now I need you to go wait out there with Peter. We can't crowd him, ok? Let me and Sarah and Mike take care of him. Trust us."

"I do," Davy said. "Is he gonna be ok?"

"It was just a few drops," Rose said. "He should be fine. Just some scarring. Now go."

"Make sure the water's lukewarm, Mike," Sarah said as they unclothed him and lifted him into the tub. Micky had at least some sense of mind to feel ashamed in his nudity and groaned as he tried to shift to cover himself.

"Do either of you know what you're doing?" Mike asked turning on the water.

"Not really," Rose answered kneeling next to him with a cloth to start cleaning him. "I'll be honest; I've never dealt with this before. I just know we need to get this off him as fast as possible."

"How long do we leave him in here?" Mike asked.

"Not really sure," Rose answered. "Maybe half an hour to be sure. Hand me the soap."

"Micky, I know you don't like this, but we have to make sure all of it gets washed off," Sarah said softly pushing his body back open and under the water. "We don't know where it all splashed. We need to rinse your whole body."

"Are we gonna be ok to escape tomorrow with him like this?" Mike asked.

"I think we should wait a few days," Sarah said. "We need him to be stronger if we're going to escape."

"Is that gonna give us enough time?" Mike asked. "Not that I want to push Micky. I just don't want to risk anything. What if they fly out there? They could only be a few days."

"There are a lot of churches out there," Rose said reaching for the soap and starting to wash his chest. "It'll take maybe at least a week. We'll be fine to take a few days to let him heal. I had no idea she'd go this far. I've never seen her use acid before."

"How do you feel now, Micky?" Sarah asked after a few minutes stroking his hair gently.

"Still burns," Micky answered honestly. "But not as bad."

"You're gonna be ok," Sarah soothed.

"He looks like he's gonna pass out," Mike said.

"Probably," Rose said. "Can't imagine the amount of pain he's in. Again. God I can't wait until we can get this bitch."

"Relax," Mike said. "We're all pissed as hell. Fuck, I'd have killed that bitch in a second if I thought I could, but we need to focus."

"I know," Rose said. "I'm just…"

"I know," Mike said. "But we have to relax and focus."

"I love you," Micky said weakly.

"I love you, too," Sarah said kissing his forehead. "Just relax, Micky, everything is gonna be ok."