Thank you for your reviews, I enjoyed reading all of them. I was surprised to hear that you suspected that Elena is behind EE. Although I understand it would be highly satisfactory to see "one big evil" doing it all, I find it even more scary that there are different kinds of evil. From the closest person to cells of people acting in organized crime.. all can harm you if you are in the wrong spot at the wrong time.
„Mr. Grey? We've reached our destination."
What? Where am I?
I jolt from my seat to see Taylor.
„What happened? Where's Ana?" I splatter while patting down my body for signs of a gunshot.
„She's safe, Sir. Custody held her. Our fake search warrant worked. Greasing the right hands was expensive I can't tell you that.. " Taylor smiles at me.
What? How?
I look around. We're in the jet. The last thing I remember we were in front of the..
„What happened? We were at the auction. I bought her back. Vlad. They came after us."
Taylor looks at me rather confused.
„Sir?"
„Warsaw!"
„Sir, we haven't landed yet." He says and musters me with suspicion.
How can that be. Everything felt so real.. Those faces. Vicky. The minors in the penthouse. Ana. Then it dawns on me.
It was only a nightmare.
„Oh God." Is all I can push out before I bury my face in my hands. Feelings of confusion and relief wash over me.
„Sir, are you alright?" I can't answer. „Do you need something to calm your mind?" he asks.
„Get that shit away from me!" The sleeping pills probably got me here in the first place. For fucks sake.
I walk to the small bathroom to splash some water on my face. Realization hits me.
Ana is safe. I will see her shortly. We can go back home as if this never happened.
We land in Warsaw and make our way to the border police office. It takes a few calls from Welch to whatever higher ranked policeman or politician he had payed off in the first place until they let us in.
„Christian?! What are you doing here?"
Ana.
There she is. Sitting in an interrogation room. Blue eyes. Rosy cheeks. Ponytail. Normal clothes. No bruises. No drugs.
I can't speak. I just brush past the officer and take her into an embrace.
„What is going on?" she asks, her voice muffled by my neck.
I take a deep breath, inhale her scent. She's here. Safe. Unharmed.
„Let's go home. I'll explain later." I say when I pull back.
„Home? What..?" I take her hand and we leave the room. Taylor is already arranging the paper work. Declaring Ana found and safe. We pass several officers looking at us in curiosity, when we exit the office Ana halts.
„Wait. Stop. What is going on here."
„There's no time. We need to leave. Now." I say
„What the hell Christian. I'm not coming with you. I'm looking for.. „
„Sheila. I know."
„How do you know about it?"
„Later." I pull her hand to continue walking but she's pinned to the spot.
„I said No. Christian. Have you been following me? Wait. Are you the reason they held me in custody?!" she's looking confused and furious now.
I don't care.
„Ana. For the last time. I'll explain later. You're not safe here."
„I said No." She yells. People turn around to see what the commotion is about.
„You leave me no choice." I say and lean down to lift her up on my shoulder.
„Let me down!" she shrieks. I don't care.
People are staring at us now. Ana is thrashing her arms and legs.
„Alright. I'll come with you! Let me down."
Begrudgingly I slide her down. If looks could kill I'd be a dead man by now.
With Taylor behind us we walk all the way to the secluded business class area until we reach the entrance to a private lobby secluded for members. The lady at the entrance gives us a polite smile.
When I gusher Ana in, she's still as furious though.
„How do you dare kidnap me? Who do you think you are!" she says between gritted teeth when I sit down in the seating area. I hope the jet is reading soon for boarding. Kidnap her? Man, she has no fucking idea what she's talking about.
„You wanted answers. You get them. Sit down."
„Forget it, Grey." She pushes past me. What the hell is she thinking? Now that we came all the way up here she wants to leave again?
„Ana." To my surprise Taylor speaks up. Having watched our reunion with a distance. „You're in trouble." He simply says. Ana looks at him and they stare at each other in what must be a silent conversation.
„Taylor. What is going on?" her voice is suddenly warm. Oh so she listens to Taylor then? Great. He's old enough to be her father!
I lean back in the lounge chair, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves. Without a doubt I need to stay reasonable, I don't want to start a fight here. Ana sits down too.
It doesn't take long until we explain to her how and why we are here. To avoid further escalations I let Taylor speak most of the time.
„That sounds pretty far fetched… „ she says after he's finished.
„We shouldn't take that risk."
„What about Sheila?"
„We can let Taylor and Sawyer look for her." I say after my longer silence. Sawyer and his team should be arriving tonight.
„I don't need your help." She says after a while, crossing her arms in front of her. I note the slight shaking in her voice.
„Don't need your help?! You stubborn woman! Didn't you hear? They're going to kidnap you! Rape you! Sell you off!" I burst out. Yeah, not my proudest moment.
She only looks at me. I expect her to explode. Tell me what a jerk I am.
Instead she stands up. „You shouldn't have come. We broke up, remember?"
„Just because you broke up with me doesn't mean I have stopped loving you. I would never let anyone do you any harm. Girlfriend or not." I don't care that Taylor is listening. I'd put that on the cover of the New York Times if it meant I could save her.
Ana jumps up to a stand and stares at me as if I have slapped her. Insulted her. I don't get it.
„Excuse me for a moment. I need the.. ." She says and almost runs to the adjacent bathroom. I swear I hear her sob before she slams the door behind her.
Which leaves two men left behind in an awkward silence.
„I think I should go check on her." I say to Taylor who avoids my gaze.
„That would be advisable.. „he murmurs before taking out his phone.
My hands are cold and sweaty when I make my way to the ladies bathroom. At least no one except us is here, I enter with a short glance around if the staff noticed.
As expected all the stalls are empty, except one. I can hear her crying. It crushes my heart and confuses me all the same. Why is she crying? Sure, me coming here made her furious. Annoyed. Even betrayed. I didn't expect less of her. But the crying says something else. Did she miss me then? Or is it out of fear?
Instead of letting her know of my presence I lean against the wall, close to the sinks. It takes a while for her to calm down and finally exit. She stops in her tracks when she sees me.
„This is the women's bathroom." She says while walking straight to the sink to wash her hands. Her red and puffy eyes testifying what had tormented my soul a few moments ago. Without a word I push off the wall and come to stand besides her, watching us through the mirror. Slowly she turns towards me.
I can't help myself. My hand has its mind of its own, cupping her jawline, caressing her face.
She might as well have torn my heart out and ripped it apart as she pulls back, out of my reach.
„Christian. You shouldn't have come." She says. But her eyes tell me the opposite. Why is this woman a contradiction in herself?
„You're lying. I just don't know why." I say and step closer again.
„We can't do this. Not here!" she says and looks around the bathroom.
Unfortunately she's right. This is not the place or time for an honest conversation or even a reconciliation.
„The jet is ready." Taylor let's us know when we get back to him.
As expected Ana refuses to go home with us.
„It feels wrong. Sheila might need my help."
This again.
„I told you Taylor will take over from here. There's nothing you can do."
„Fine. Then I'll go home by myself." She says. Ever seen a pot of milk boil over? Yeah, that's me.
Taylor steps in. „Ms.Steele, with everything that happened I'd advise you not to go home for a while. It seems that you have become a threat to that agency. Without us knowing how far they are willing to go to get cleared of said threat. We will take you to safe place until the situation is more under control."
This is news to me. To my surprise Ana starts crying again, nodding in acceptance.
An airport employee escorts us to a vehicle which stops in front of the airplane. Taylor gives some last minute instructions to the pilot before he heads back to the hotel. To my surprise Ana hugs him goodbye.
Finally. Safe and secure we sit in the jet. Every last bit of anxiety is falling off my shoulders. All of this went better than expected, concerning the fact it only happened in the matter of less than 24 hours.
What I just can't wrap my head around is the way Ana is reacting to all of this. She has been more or less crying the whole time since we decided she couldn't go home. Even after calming down a bit I could see silent tears running down her cheeks. I tried to console her but she rejected me at every attempt.
Now, sitting opposite to me in the jet, calmer now, my mind is capable to function again.
The Jack Hyde business and him being in the hospital? The sudden breakup? The trip to Warsaw? All of these are connected. It's so obvious I want to punch myself for not figuring it out sooner.
„Did EE make you break up with me?" I ask and stare at her teary eyes that just get bigger at my question.
So… what the hell were these last two chapters about. Well.. I never understood the canon obsession with him having nightmares. He just had them without any consequence for the story. Except once where he punish-fucks her after dreaming she was dead (?) , correct me if I'm wrong. So I wanted to change that. As you've seen the nightmare motiv recurred several times in this story and found its climax here.
Because what Christian saw in his nightmare is unfortunately the reality for others. Anastasia never went through that hell. But it does exist for many other women in real life. Youtube – Slavery of slavic women in Turkey. It's worth a watch.