Chapter 8, enjoy! I had a busy weekend!

Warnings: Non-con recovery and coping

Unbeated AF

Can You Keep A Secret?

Chapter 8

Setbacks and Day Dreams

Alejandro sat outside of the closet Brittany sat in, looking at the slightly opened door. He came up to check on her, after hearing thumps and found that the bed had been stripped and the blankets could be seen in the closet. When he knocked on the door slightly and told the woman who it was, she opened the door slightly, reaching out for his comfort, but keeping some distance, which he would respect. He was glad to have gotten this far, the woman had been locked away in her closet for days, since the incident, only sneaking out to go to the bathroom, late at night, when she thought everyone was sleeping and eating the meals served to her in mere seconds before pushing the plate out the closet.

They sat like that for over an hour before Alejandro asked her, "Do you want to eat dinner up here?"

"…yeah," came the muffled response, from her phone, "Thank you…"

"No problem," Alejandro pushed the prepared dinner tray to the closet door and Brittany's small hand opened the door a bit more. He watched her as she scooped the lukewarm chicken and rice into her hand, her face over the plate as she ate with her hand, stuffing as much as she could in her mouth. She ate quickly, not looking up as she did and within 40 seconds, her plate was empty. Alejandro had made a choice to cut her chicken up into tiny squares, so she was less likely to choke on her food. That 30 seconds that had been played on the screen had caused so much regression, she didn't even give the fork a passing glance, choosing her fingers instead.

"May I see your hand?" Alejandro asked and Brittany slowly held out the hand she ate with, "Thank you," he gently wiped it down with a warm, wet cloth and Brittany curled it against her frame, "Do you want Stephanie here?"

Brittany shook her head and curled up into a ball tighter, "Don't want her to see me," was her phone's respose as she pushed her tray away, "Don't want her angry at me, for lying."

"She's not angry at you, none of us are, what you went through was very traumatic," Alejandro soothed Brittany, as she shivered on the hard closet floor, "May I give you some comfort, Brittany, I think you need some, even if it's just me sitting beside you."

There was a moment of silence and then the closet door was opening fully and Alejandro crawled into the closet with the woman, who was curled even tighter on the floor. He sat beside the woman for a moment before she shifted and leaned herself against his shoulder. This was a big leap forward for them both. He'll take this win.

"I didn't know…I didn't know he had recorded all those times," Brittany typed out, her eyes filling with tears, "It's like…he's violating me all over again."

"I'm sorry you're feeling that way," Alejandro told Brittany with honesty, " I don't know how it feels to be violated in that way," he turned to the woman who sniffled and rubbed at her eye patch, "The only solace I can give to you is that he's dead."

"But those tapes live on, who ever leaked those tapes lives on," Brittany typed out angrily, "I will never live a normal life, because of this, I'm scared to leave my own closet, damn it," she left out soundless breath of air and angrily ripped her eyes patch off to rub at her eye, "And my damn eye won't stop itching!"

Brittany turned her head slightly and Alejandro saw something that had him gently grabbing the woman's chin to look at him, his eyes widening for a fraction. Brittany's eye, the one that had been a light brown, was white now. He looked to the frozen woman and asked, "When did this happen?"

"I don't know, a few weeks back, before the holidays," Brittany typed, closing her right eye, "It hurt for a while and then it stopped hurting and bleeding and this is what happened."

"Does it hurt still?" Alejandro asked and Brittany shook her head, opening her strange colored eye, "This is odd, maybe delayed trauma?"

"I don't know," Brittany said as Alejandro turned the closet light on causing her to blink against the light, "Maybe-" she looked to the man and stopped, as images flashed before her right eye only.

It was a little boy, with brown hair and eyes, looking sullen as his mother took away his cookies, telling him something in Spanish that she didn't know, putting the packet of cookies away, while she cooked dinner. The boy pouted and walked out the kitchen but then the pout turned into a laugh as a smaller little boy slunk over to him and palmed him a cookie.

"….any? Brittany?" The woman blinked and she looked up at Alejandro, who looked down at her with concern, "Are you okay, it looked as though you had a seizure, your eye blew away."

Brittany looked over to Alejandro and then slowly took out of her phone and began to type, "I saw something, two children, I don't know, but one child was upset because his mother took away his cookies, I could feel his sadness but then another boy came and snuck him some cookies…that made him very happy" She frowned at the blank look Alejandro gave her, "What?"

"Nothing," he said slowly, letting go of Brittany's shoulders and looking down at her, with that blank face, "Nothing…at all."

Brittany wasn't convinced but she gently rubbed at her eye and then pulled her eyepatch back on. Alejandro was stunned, what Brittany had said, what she told him she saw, was a piece of his childhood. He could remember it clear as day, the downside or upside of photogenic memory. Maybe it was a fluke, maybe she just guessed some thing specific right. Alejandro let the woman lean against him and curl up in a ball, once more.

It had to have been fluke.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Jeanne shook her head, as she and another group of agents combed the bunker once again. After that news leak, the FBI swooped in on the news corporation that made a segment on the audio clip of Brittany. They went the legal way, subpoenas and the like and the lawyer from the news anchor told them where they got it from, due to the threat of everyone being arrested for interfering in an FBI investigation and not submitting evidence to the FBI, when given it.

An unmarked envelope, with no return address, the address of the news company had been typed out and glued on the envelope. Just a small SD card with only that audio clip on it. Jeanne sent it to the tech lab to look for any clues while she and her team went back to the bunker.

The checked every room once more and Jeanne stopped in one room that she and her team did a sweep through in but didn't look twice in it. Now she was looking deeper into it. She walked into the room and looked around it. It was off to the side, a room, with a double sized bed. Jeanne looked around the bed and paused, using her gloved hands she moved along the mattress and paused, finding chains tucked under mattress, attached to the metal bed frame. She looked away, with a disgusted sigh, before she stood up.

Barton used this room to sexually abuse his victims. Brittany had been in this room, he had raped her in here. Jeanne stood up and then looked around the walls of the stone room and then swept her hand out on them to look for something, something off. Jeanne closed her eyes and concentrated and paused feeling something off here.

She opened her eyes and found herself, looking at the wall that looked right ahead of the bed, in this position, she could see the side of the bed. It was close, if she had equipment, she could most likely hear the on goings on the bed, with clarity.

Jeanne tapped the stone wall and paused, seeing a hole, it wasn't a noticeable hole, but, there was something in the hole that had her calling for help. With the help of her fellow agents and a sledge hammer, they tore away at the area of the whole and paused, finding a complex camera system set up, apparently there was a door that led in here, on the outside of the bunker, somewhere, but for now, they found the setup, the video cameras, the microphones, and several hidden SD cards and one of them had Jeanne covering her mouth.

'Taking My Petite Lamb's innocence.'

"I don't care what you have to do," Jeanne finally whispered, looking to the crew, "Figure out where this was sold from, a complex system like this, there's no way the 'pillar of the community,' could have done this on his own, I'll bag these myself, and if anyone of them is missing from evidence, I'll have more than your badge…"

Jeanne bagged the evidence herself, numbering them as she did, before leaving the bunker, going off to the side of the property line and throwing up. The thought of countless women being forced against their will into that bunker, to end up as some man's sexual toy. His last victim, Brittany, had been a virgin, to experience her first time, like that... Jeanne wiped at her mouth, took a gulp of water and spat it out, to clean her mouth.

"Agent Jeanne," another agent walked up to Jeanne as she made her way back to the station they choose to do their second sweep through at, "Wilke's widow, Vanessa Wilkes, wants a word with you, she has her lawyer, demanding we leave the property at once."

"I'll go handle that bitch," Jeanne muttered and she walked over to the FBI tape line and found the widow of Barton Wilkes standing there, her arms crossed and a stiff looking man beside her. The woman was pretty, with blond hair and blue eyes, she was well maintained and lived a comfortable life with her dead husband's money, with more to come, her way from policies and crowdfunding. The woman gave Jeanne a look of detest and said, in a high pitch voice, "I have my lawyer with me, today, I'm demanding you get off my property, That bunker of his, it's been there for so long, who knows who built it!"

"How would you know the age of the bunker?" Jeanne's eyebrows raised and Vanessa's lawyer held a hand out and shoved a piece of paper in Jeanne's face, "And this is?"

"A cease and desist order, to remove the FBI from this family properly," The lawyer said and Jeanne looked at it, with a raised eyebrow before shaking her head, looking at the duo, "You cannot-"

"I can when I found something that tells me Barton Wilkes wasn't working alone, new evidence has been found regarding his bunker, we'll be moving into the house now as well, and possibly all properties he owned, we're not going anywhere and no you do not have the right to see this evidence on the grounds of how sensitive it is. If you want to see it, go to a federal court, but know that the federal prosecution will fight you tooth and nail to stop that."

Vanessa Wilkes let out a choking noise as she shrieked, "What gives you the right to go into my vacation home?"

"The same rights I have from the federal judge that told me the property that the bunker is on can be searched, including the house the bunker sits under," Jeanne said, waving the woman off, "In fact, I'll be getting another warrant to look in the other properties as well. Don't worry about this house, all of them will be looked into."

Jeanne tossed the letter from the lawyer back to the duo and told her team to split up, because they were checking out the house, any electronics from there would be taken and searched upon. She could hear the woman in the background, screaming about the neighbors and what they would think and she wondered the very same question, what did the neighbors think, what did the people that spent time on this property think or know….or saw….

It sounded like Jeanne would be quite busy with interviews and electronic searching…

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I don't understand it," Stephanie said to Carlos, as they went on their afternoon walk, the snow falling made the Suburban D.C. neighborhood look almost like a snow globe, "Why didn't she tell me, when we were…you know…down there?" She tucked her hands in her coat pocket and sniffled, "She could have told me…"

"I don't know what goes on in that woman's head," Carlos admitted, looking around the area, a firm hand on Stephanie's forearm as they walked, "But I can take a guess, maybe she was ashamed about it, or scared to tell you, Alejandro did tell us, she didn't want you angry at her."

"But-we've been friends for over 17 years," Stephanie sighed, "We celebrated our birthdays in that hell hole," she sighed and looked down at her feet, "I wouldn't have been angry."

"You've both been through a lot, like it or not, you two have some degree of damage to your mind and bodies," Carlos reminded Stephanie as he steered down a narrow alley, "You both went through the same hell, but suffered differently, it would make any person think differently about what they say to another person."

"So you're telling me, Brittany's so damaged she's lost trust in me?" Stephanie asked and Carlos gave her a pained looked, "That's what it sounds like to me."

"I'm trying to say, Stephanie is that Brittany's lost that stability in her life, you, her parents, her family, might be a constant, for now, but what if that changes, which it won't, not with us around," Carlos said, putting Stephanie's mind at ease, "Plus, there's a level of shame that many sexually abused people go through."

Stephanie looked away from Carlos and thought about that. When she was 16, she had dealt with the same issue, with Morelli, she had been forced into it, confused with what was happening, to her and she had kept it to herself, only Heidi knew well, that was until the rumors flew and her mother found out and she had called her a whore. She didn't tell her mother about that night for that reason to be-

Stephanie looked to Carlos and found him looking at her, as though he was reading her mind, as if he knew what she was starting to understand. She looked away and mumbled, "I get it, I understand, but damn it, it still stings."

"It's gonna sting, for a bit," Carlos said as her led her down another alleyway and made them both stop behind a large SUV, "But you just need to know that her not telling you is not because she dislikes you, it's because she's not sure of herself and who she can trust."

Stephanie slowly nodded her head and then said in a low voice, "You're right, you're right, Carlos," she sighed and looked up at the man, "You all must feel like keepers and not bodyguards."

"Maybe Alejandro, but I think he enjoys it," Carlos said, looking to Stephanie, a smile on his face, "He has a fondness for helping those who need the help, he's always been like that, besides, Brittany is starting to trust him, and she needs more stable people in her life, no?"

Stephanie looked to Carlos and then asked, "We've been going on weird routes, through alleyways, why?"

"Someone's been tailing us, during our walks," Carlos said, softly making Stephanie's eyes widen, "I don't know who it is but to keep you safe, on our walks, we'll go on strange routes."

"Maybe we can start going to National Mall or something," Stephanie whispered and Carlos nodded his head at the agreement, "Like when they first open or start to close, so there's not too many people."

"Sounds like a good idea," Carlos said as he finally led Stephanie away from the SUV and down a different route, "Plenty of cameras and I can get a man to tail us, how does the history museum sound?"

"I think I like the sounds of that," Stephanie said, with a smile, as she walked with Carlos, "Can we start going tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Carlos said as he led her into the house, "Let's do that."

Stephanie was starting to enjoy her walks with Carlos more and more, she thought, as she walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. Him, Lester and James, they were great to be around. Stephanie looked up at the kitchen ceiling, and sighed, looking away. What could she do for Brittany to make her know that Stephanie still cared and loved for her?

She looked to entryway of the kitchen, seeing Alejandro walk in, with a tray that had an empty plate and an empty cup that had milk in it. He set the plate and cup in the dishwasher, saying, "How was your walk, Stephanie?"

She smiled, saying, "It was great, we're going to the museum at the National Mall now it's safe," she sipped her coffee and then asked, in a soft voice, "How's Brittany?"

"She's had a few setbacks," Alejandro said, in a soft voice, as he washed his hands, "She's stopped using her fork and lives in her closet now, I doubt I can get her out the house for a walk around the block, I'll try for a walk down the hallway. At least she still enjoys milk and cookies..."

Stephanie looked to the man and folded her arms, "Can you tell her that I still love and care for her? I know she's…she trusts you now, right?"

"I suppose she does," Alejandro said, looking at Stephanie, pouring a cup of coffee for himself, "I sit with her in the closet."

"When will she…trust me again?" Stephanie asked softly, looking down, tears filling her eyes, "I miss my friend."

"And she misses you too," Alejandro said, walking over to Stephanie and placing a hand on her shoulder, "She just needs time, that news segment shook her, greatly, I don't know what we can do, but be there for her."

Stephanie nodded her head and then wiped at her eyes and then set her cup down. She sighed and said, "Alejandro, thanks for being there for her, she needs that stability."

"I'll try what I can," Alejandro said, with a sad smile, as he drank his coffee, "Now, I have to go check on her, I'll see you at dinner."

Alejandro gave Stephanie a smile and then walked out the kitchen, leaving Stephanie with her thoughts. She leaned forward and closed her eyes and to her surprise she found herself in the field of blue rose, with Heidi standing away from her, weaving rose netting. Stephanie walked over to the woman and said, in a soft voice, "Heidi?" startling the woman, "What are you…how are we doing this?"

"Goodness," Heidi said, a smile on her face as she looked at the confused woman, "Hello there, you're not sleeping, our bond must be deepening, we were getting to this point, you being able to come see me in day dreams, but things happened."

"I'm daydreaming?" Stephanie asked as Heidi continued weaving the netting, "I didn't think this was possible."

"The deeper our bond gets, even more stranger things will happen, Stephanie," Heidi said as she looked up from her weaving, "I will not tell you that means, I will let you ponder on it," she frowned at the look on the woman's face, "What's troubling you? I've not seen this look on your face in ages."

"Brittany, she…stuff got leaked to the news, she lied about not being raped, but she didn't tell me," Stephanie sat down in the flowers and plucked one, "Why didn't she tell me?"

"She must have had her reasons," Heidi sat down with Stephanie, setting her work to the side, "Everyone has their reasons for things."

"You can sense things, you know a lot of things," Stephanie said to Heidi, suddenly, making her blink, "You're magical right?"

"I suppose you can call me magical," Heidi mumbled, tapping her chin, "I suppose you can…"

"Did you…know…you could you sense Brittany when I spoke to her, do you see what I see?" Stephanie asked, making Heidi look away, tensed, "Heidi, please, answer my question."

"I can, only with extreme emotions," Heidi said, slowly, "I felt your extreme emotions, I felt hers as well, when I freed you both and, yes, I saw what she had been through."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Stephanie asked, feeling this strange sense of anger, "Why did you keep it to yourself?!"

Heidi's lips thinned out and she looked to Stephanie and asked, "How would you feel if someone said something about you being sexually assaulted by Joe Morelli in the pastry shop, without your permission? Something you didn't want the world to know because you were afraid of the world knowing.""

"I-I would be angry, upset, betrayed," Stephanie mumbled, and she looked at Heidi, who's stare was hard like steel.

"Yes, you would, wouldn't you?" Heidi said to the woman, folding her arms, "Now, put yourself in Brittany's shoes, because you can. She wouldn't feel relieved or happy because you knew, she would have felt awful, scared even, because, how in the world did you know about her rape, when not even her rapist told you? When you weren't even aware of the rapes happening? Unless, he's telling you with glee or else, you heard, or something, right?"

Stephanie felt her gut twist and she whispered, "That would make her lose all her trust in me, she'd be terrified to confide in me."

Heidi looked to Stephanie and said, "If I had told you about her rapes, I would be violating her again, in a different way, it's not my secret to share, Stephanie. Any secret you tell me, will stay between us."

Stephanie curled her legs up and sighed, "Thank you, you're a good friend, Heidi, I hadn't thought about how…violating it can be, if it out of your hands, not since that time when I was 16," she looked to the woman, "I'm sorry for being angry, you didn't deserve that, nor did you deserve my outburst."

"Now-now, don't be too sullen, my dear," Heidi said, looking to the woman, who sighed and then nodded her head, "Just wait until she comes to you, it will be worth it, I promise."

Heidi squeezed Stephanie's knee and then together the two sat in silence, Heidi resuming weaving her rose netting and Stephanie watching her do it, before she opened her eyes and found herself leaning against the counter, her coffee cup on the counter and her head turned to the window. She would wait for Brittany to come to her. She could be that friend who would be that silent support.

TBC…

Heavy chapter, and Jeanne has her hands full with a Helen Plum like character...hmmm...hmmmm