Devotion (John Seed)

35. Captured

The rest of the drive was silent and awkward. John still couldn't believe that he was driving their captives to a resistance base, the things that he would do for his deputy. John eventually stopped the car at the end of a dirt road, not wanting to get too close to the jail, they can walk from here. All of them climbed out of the car, all except John who remained in his seat observing them from the window.

They all walked around to the front of the car, Amelia standing opposite her old co-workers. "I told you that everything would be alright" Amelia smiled as she walked up to Pratt, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Are you happy?" Pratt asked, concern and sincerity in his eyes. The deputy just nodded with a smile and he knew that she was being honest. "G-goodbye Amelia, good luck" he smiled at her as her pulled her into a crushing hug. No matter what she has done he knew that she still cared about them, that's why she helped them.

"Goodbye Staci, you are going to be fine" Amelia spoke into his hair as she rubbed his back, he just seemed so broken, when he let out a soft sob tears began to brim in her eyes. John's grip on the steering wheel tightened while he tried to remind himself that she was just hugging a friend goodbye, he wouldn't let his jealousy get the better of him and ruin this for her.

Amelia pulled away from Pratt and walked over to Burke who was still suffering from the effects of the bliss. "Hey...Burke...Cameron, if you can understand me even over that damn drug...if you even remember any of this...everything is going to be alright, you are going to be fine" she assured him, placing a hand on his arm, the tears threatening to spill even more.

"I am fine...I am great!" Burke smiled widely before seeming to go off into a world of his own. Amelia just smiled sadly and patted his arm before stepping away from him.

Amelia then walked up to Hudson, expecting a punch in the face but it never came. "I don't know what the hell is wrong with you Rook, is it some sort of Stockholm syndrome or are you just fucking insane?" Hudson asked, raising her voice and waving her hands around frantically.

"It's hard to explain..." the deputy sighed, hanging her head a little.

"Then try! He tortured me! He tortured you! And now you are, what, sleeping with him? Dating him? I think that I just explained it pretty well" Hudson scoffed, raising an eyebrow at her.

"It's more than that, it's more complicated" Rook rubbed the back of her neck, sighing in frustration.

"How?" the dark hair woman asked, snapping at her.

"He gave a shit!" Amelia snapped, making Hudson look at her in confusion. "John actually gave a shit about me when nobody else did, when I was at the ranch I wasn't 'the deputy' I was just 'Amelia'...and it felt so damn good" she sighed, running her hand through her hair. 

"I hope that everything turns out alright for all of us. I hope that we can all go home and forget about this, and I hope that you can live a messed up life with John fucking Seed" Hudson smiled sarcastically.

"Joey..." Amelia sighed, the woman turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "Take care of them" she requested, referring to Pratt and Burke. Hudson just nodded before ushering the men towards the jail.

Amelia sighed, running a hand through her hair as she sat down on the hood of the car and watched them walking away. John climbed out of the car and walked around it, sitting beside the deputy on the hood of the car. "Be honest, how bad did that go?" Amelia asked, sighing quietly.

"Better than you think" John assured her, nudging her arm a little and making her smile.

"Please, Hudson wants to kill me" she scoffed, resting her head on his shoulder.

"So? She wants to kill me too" he joked and she appreciated that he was trying to make her feel better. John caught the small smile on his lips and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Ready to leave?" he asked.

"No...I just want to make sure that they get there safely" Amelia shook her head and continued to watch them walk away.

"Alright, we can stay as long as you like" John smiled, kissing the top of her head and rubbing his hand up and down her arm in a comforting manner.

"Or you can stay as long as we want you to" a male voice came from behind them. John and Amelia tensed and she cursed under her breath as she hopped down onto her feet, she put her hands up and turned to face the man. There was a group of resistance members, being led by the man speaking to them. John mumbled something before standing beside her with his hand in his pockets. "Deputy...what is going on? Where have you been?" the resistance member asked, eyeing John carefully. John almost laughed at how oblivious the man was.

Amelia glanced at John before sighing and stepping towards the man. "What are you doing? Here, cuff the bastard and lets move" the man furrowed his brow before throwing a pair of handcuffs at her. Amelia caught them and looked at him a little shocked, how could he not see what was going on? She turned back to John, unsure of what to do, John just smirked and held his wrists out to her.

Amelia cuffed him, a little too carefully but nobody other than John seemed to notice. "Just play along, we will get out of this" Amelia mumbled, not making eye contact with him and making sure that nobody else heard her.

"Stop playing the hero" John teased in a hushed voice, it almost reassured her that everything would be fine.

Amelia nodded before turning him around and placing a hand on the back of his shoulder. "Is it just me or does this seem familiar?" John asked at normal volume as Amelia and the resistance members walked him towards the jail. Amelia smirked to herself and suppressed a small laugh while the members of the resistance told him to shut his mouth.