With Fear or Without

61- Hours in Minutes

When Cleo returned to the group huddled around the side of the building, nothing had changed. Each person was back in the same positions; Cassian resuming his pacing, Remie continuing to aimlessly kick the wall.

Nolan, though, perked up as she approached.

"Did you see? What're they're doing in there?"

Cleo frowned. It took a second for her overworked mind to remember what he was referring to. She shook her head. "They wouldn't let me see, I'm sorry," she lied. The truth was that she had no desire to go back in, see the sight of that awful room.

He slumped back against the wall, making Cleo's heart break and pour more guilt through her body.

Sitting back down onto the hard ground, Cleo stared out into the endless expanse of the impossible cavern. Behind all the roads, behind all the buildings, the space grew and grew- and yet it stopped at the same time. She stared at the darkness, noticing the way it pooled at the edges of the world to leave the rest of the area in light. She wondered what was out there, if there was anything out there. She wondered where they were in space, in the world. She wondered what would happen if someone just kept walking into that dark expanse.

Long after they had lost track of all time, Ambrose approached them once again. Accompanying him was the woman Cleo spoke to before- Rowana's aunt- looking more sullen than she had before.

As they approached, everyone except Nolan scrambled to their feet, anxiously awaiting any sort of news.

"You were all very... involved in everything that went down tonight," Ambrose said, his opinion on their "involvement" well hidden. "You deserve to know what we've been doing."

No one else spoke.

Ambrose continued.

"We did a thorough investigation of everything inside this building, and we moved Rose and Silver to a more," he took a breath, "suitable location."

Cleo looked at Charlie and Andy. The former stared at Ambrose like he was a solution to all their problems; the latter wore a mask of distrust and caution. Cleo glanced at Cassian. She was still wary, but her shoulders relaxed the tiniest bit at his subtle nod.

"Look, we don't know what all of you know, and we're going to have to find out before anything goes further," Ambrose told them seriously.

"What does that mean?" Andy demanded, stepping forward. "This may not be the best time to break it to you, but some of us have... lives!"

"I understand that, which is why none of this will be happening tonight. But I shouldn't need to tell you," he looked at the trio in turn, "over the weekend you will be closely monitored. Until we know what we're dealing with. Until we know just how big Silver's operation is."

While he spoke, Cleo tried to catch the eye of the woman next to him. After avoiding Cleo's eyes for as long as she could, the woman finally acknowledged her. Cleo tried to silently ask her a question; if she found out anything about Rowana. The woman's shoulders inched higher and she shook her head subtly. Cleo chose to believe that meant she had no new information. The alternative was... Well, she couldn't deal with the alternative.

From behind them on the ground, Nolan spoke. It barely sounded like him. The words were shattered glass, cracked and weathered. Broken and betrayed.

"None of us knew. That's why we're still here. She left us behind."

They all avoided each other's eyes. Everything he said was the truth. In fact, it was more truth than any of them had cared to admit. They were still here because they were in the dark for a week, a year... maybe their whole life.