Author's Note: Sorry about the delay, folks. I got stuck in a rut. But I'm out now. Maybe. Thanks to my patient beta, Blucrayons. love ya!
Chapter 47: Dusting the Cobwebs
Peter watched as Davy followed the directions the man in the diner had given them. It took them almost all the way up the mountain in the bright afternoon sun. They went up and down winding roads, which Davy took slowly so as not to jostle Peter's leg or Emmett, who had fallen asleep in Rose's arms since Mike was planning on getting out and checking the place with Micky. When they got close to the cabin, Mike told Davy to stop a ways back, just in case a trap waited for them. They could barely see the cabin from where they stopped and Peter desperately wanted to go with them to make sure they'd be ok, but when he put weight on his leg, it hurt.
Davy had tried to go with, but Mike and Micky told him to stay in the van in case they needed to make a quick getaway. Mike and Micky left and promised they'd be back, but Peter felt anxiety nearly cripple him. At first Peter just couldn't relax; he felt like his body was surging with electricity. After another few minutes, he felt pain in his chest. When even more minutes ticked by without sign from either of them, he felt like he couldn't breath. He shifted uneasily in his spot and Willow looked at him concerned.
"We are at least close enough to hear something if something happens," Willow said softly as she offered him a smile and placed her hand reassuringly on his knee. "It's gonna take time to search the place even after they get there. I'm sure everything's fine."
"They've been up there a long time," Peter said.
"We have no idea how big or small this place is," Rose said. "We have no idea how long it'll take."
"I should have gone with them," Sarah muttered, obviously just as worried as Peter.
"I'm sure they're fine," Willow reiterated.
"Davy, can you see them?" Peter asked.
"I don't see anything," Davy said. "Wait…"
"What?" Peter asked when Davy trailed off.
"I see them coming," Davy smiled. "They're fine."
"Thank God," Peter said finally able to breath.
"The place is huge," Micky said climbing back in the back of the van. "Sorry it took so long, but we had to search everything."
"No sign of anyone at all?" Rose asked.
"Nothing," Mike said. "Dust covered the floor, doors and windows. There hasn't been anyone there in ages. Drive on up." Davy drove up the rest of the path and pulled into the driveway. The place really did look completely abandoned. Weeds grew as large as some of the dead bushes and layers of cobwebs lined the walls. It looked like the typical log cabin, but bigger. The walls were made completely of wood logs and a small set of steps led up to the front door with a wooden balcony wrapping around the sides.
"This place really is huge," Rose said climbing out of the back of the van still holding Emmett.
"Come on, Pete," Micky said helping lift Peter out of the back with Mike. Peter tried not to let his bad leg touch the ground. It had been almost a month since he'd been shot, but he still couldn't walk on it. He didn't feel a lot of pain when he didn't put any weight on it, but as soon as his foot touched the ground, pain would tear through his leg. Mike and Micky carried him up the steps and into the cabin before setting him down inside on a dusty old couch.
"Sorry about all the dust; we'll work on cleaning it up," Mike said as a cloud of it rose up and surrounded Peter. He sneezed once, but Davy started sneezing and couldn't stop.
"Maybe you should go back outside for a bit," Micky said trying to stifle a laugh.
"No, I'm...achoo!" Davy said. "I'm good. Achoo! I want to help. Achoo!"
"Davy, come outside," Sarah smiled pulling him by the arm. "Why don't we start clearing some of the weeds and stuff."
"Ok," Davy finally agreed. At least he'd still be helping. Peter couldn't do anything, on the other hand. He just watched as Mike, Micky, Rose, and Willow set about cleaning the cabin. They'd handed Emmett to him to hold for a while since they had their hands full cleaning. Emmett wasn't a very cranky baby. Peter had imagined a baby that would cry all the time and never let them sleep, but Emmett was rather quiet. Peter was grateful for that; they all at least slept well when they got to sleep and weren't running. Now, maybe they could live somewhat of a normal life, though.
Peter looked around at the cabin. Underneath all the dust and cobwebs, it really was a great looking place. Once it was cleaned and repaired, it would make a really nice place for all of them to stay while. The place was two stories with rooms on both floors. Judging from the number of doors, some in state of disrepair, there were about 10 rooms or more, including a couple of bathrooms and a kitchen. The furniture all looked good, but some of it needed to be repaired.
Peter looked down at the little baby in his arms again. Emmett was sleeping peacefully. There was already a small patch of dark brown hair on his head and he had dark brown eyes. Just like his father. Peter smiled. This little one week old baby in his arms looked a lot like Mike. Maybe that was why Emmett was so quiet. Mike wasn't really shy, if anything Peter was the shy one, but Mike kept to himself a lot.
"I think that's good enough for now," Mike said sitting on the couch next to Peter. "We should just pick out some rooms and head to bed."
"Sounds good to me," Micky said stifling a yawn. "None of us have really gotten a good nights sleep in a long time."
"I'll get Davy and Sarah," Rose smiled. They picked out a nice room downstairs for Peter and helped him into it. Willow said she'd take the room next door and insisted she'd help take care of Peter until he could walk again. Davy took the room on the other side of Peter, which were the only three rooms downstairs whose doors closed. Micky and Sarah picked a room upstairs and Mike chose another with Rose choosing a third. Though Peter had a feeling that Rose wouldn't be using it all that much. She was already acting like Emmett's mother, even though Mike never asked for her help. They seemed a natural fit to Peter and he was happy they finally admitted to each other how they felt.
Once Davy had helped Peter get into some nightclothes they'd picked up while travelling north, Peter curled up under the blankets and started to drift off to sleep. While he knew they were safer now than they had been in a while, Peter was still terrified and couldn't sleep well. Most nights he had small nightmares, but he usually didn't sleep as long and this was the first time he was alone.
Visions of Micky being tormented tore through his mind. Blood, tears and screams surrounded him. Mike. Micky. Rose. Sarah. Even Willow, though he didn't know exactly what happened to her, he could venture a guess. He heard the sadistic laugh of Claire's that made his blood boil. He saw the van they'd travelled in become surrounded by Claire, Wayne, Heather, Shirley and Cole. They couldn't escape. Claire and Wayne raised large guns and pointed them directly at Davy and Mike first. The blast of the gunshot overwhelmed his own screams as Claire and Wayne changed their targets to Micky and Rose. One by one his friends fell around him and he couldn't do anything but scream.
He only woke up when he felt something on his shoulder. He looked around in the darkness and saw Willow staring back at him, her face full of concern and worry with her hand resting on his shoulder. He realized his screams must not have just been in his nightmares. She must have heard him and woken up. He tried to pretend he was ok, but he couldn't. The pain in his leg was too much and he felt guilty for having woken her up. He broke down and cried. Willow just pulled him close to her and gently rubbed his back in an effort to comfort him.
"It's ok, Peter," Willow said softly. "It was just a dream. We're safe now. They can't get us here."
"No one knows that for sure," Peter said.
"This is true, but…" Willow said. "I don't know you guys that well, but I do know about compassion and love. And I know how the world really works. My parents had me committed to that place when I was 12. I had my first baby at 13."
"That's horrible," Peter muttered not really sure why she was telling him any of this. It didn't make him feel better about what had happened to her.
"I've learned to deal with it," she said. "To cope, at least. But that's not really the point. I learned from an early age that people will do whatever it takes to get what they want. I learned people don't care about you. But Sarah changed that for me. I don't know how much she remembers because we were both pretty drugged up, but she helped me one night. I had just given birth to...I don't even remember which pregnancy it was anymore, but I was in a lot of pain. The men came in and wanted to have their way with me. Sarah was in the room next to me and heard all this. She begged them to spare me given my condition; I was in too much pain to endure them. But they refused. They wanted what they wanted. So she...she offered herself up in my place."
"She what?" Peter asked horrified by the entire story.
"She sacrificed herself for me," Willow said. "I expected her to leave when they were done with her, but she didn't. She stayed and watched them leave to make sure they didn't touch me. I figured she'd follow them out; back to her own room, but she stayed. She knew I was afraid of them coming back for me. So she stayed with me all night. She never cried. Not once. Not when they made her take her gown off. Not while they were hurting her. She never cried. It was in that night I learned something new. She taught me that there was compassion and love in the world. She taught me that as long as you stand up for what's right, you can never be brought down. They can hurt you physically, but they can't take away what makes you human. Not unless you let them."
"That's great she stood up for you, but why are you telling me this?" Peter asked still confused.
"Because," Willow smiled at him. "As long as we stand up and do what's right, it doesn't matter if they find us. We will fight and we will win. Micky and the others are strong. So are you. Compassion and love are stronger than hate. Even you, Peter. You were given the choice to run away from all this. And you didn't. Without a moments hesitation, you stayed."
"I can't turn my back on them," Peter said. "But I don't want to see them get hurt either."
"I know," Willow said. "But if we don't let them, they can't hurt us."
"Their bullets can," Peter said looking at his leg.
"Maybe," Willow said laughing a little. "But it can't change who we are. You're proof it won't knock us down or tear anyone apart. You still help your friends; stand by them, no matter what."
"I can't do anything to help," Peter grumbled.
"Sure you can," Willow said. "You helped today."
"No, I didn't," Peter said. "I sat there while you all worked."
"You watched over Emmett," Willow said. "You made sure he stayed safe so the rest of us could work. You made sure he didn't walk off on his own."
"He can't walk yet," Peter said.
"You know what I mean," Willow laughed.
"Yeah," Peter answered thinking back. He didn't see it as helping out; he was just doing what needed to be done, but now he realized that he had helped Mike. He was still scared, but Willow's words touched him. He felt a little better about everything and felt like he could go back to sleep peacefully. At least for tonight. "I'm sorry I woke you."
"You didn't wake me," Willow smiled. "I was awake already and I heard you tossing and turning. It's ok; go back to sleep, Peter."
"Thank you, Willow," Peter smiled at her. She laid her hand on top of his for a split second and Peter felt a warmth spread through his body. She gave him one last smile before leaving and Peter laid back down, his brain swimming with thoughts. The words Willow spoke and the smile on her face. He felt happy for the first time in a long while. And he felt hope. She was right; no matter what they did, they could never kill his hope and love for his friends.