Small torture mention here. -Rae
- Late March, 2046 - (Two months ago)
"You look heartbroken today," Jamie said in between pants, taking a second to spit out the blood that collected in his mouth towards the ground. He had felt pain everywhere, and he tried hard to not show it because he knew that would only fuel her to do more.
Daija raised a brow, then scoffed. "You're bleeding in multiple places -- some worse than others -- and that's what you're concerned about? I'm starting to get worried about your priorities."
"You're going to hurt me regardless, so why not make it fun and try to guess what kind of mood you're in?"
"Don't be ridiculous," she said as her eyes narrowed into a glare.
Jamie grinned with blood-lined teeth, then tipped his head back and laughed. "Oh, Daija," he sighed out. "You've changed a lot, I'll give you that. But sometimes, you still slip and make it way too easy."
"Too easy to piss me off?"
"No, too easy to tell what happened," he leaned forward and held her gaze, his smile unfading as his voice lowered. "Did you argue with your troublemaker over me again?"
She froze, and Jamie knew he had hit the mark. "Poor Simon," he said. "It must be infuriating and exhausting to see the love of his life be so obsessed with someone that isn't him, especially someone that she hates so much."
"Is that what you're calling this?"
"It's exactly what it is," he shrugged. "Your obsession with me and your desperation for answers are the only reasons I'm still alive."
Daija rolled her eyes and walked towards the table at the back of the room. There, she removed her gloves and flexed her fingers, probably to ease the pain in her knuckles. "I know what you're trying to do," her calm voice echoed throughout the cell. "You and your odd ways of attempting to get answers are amusing. They would've worked a few months ago, but I will admit that I'm not as hot-headed and eager to prove you wrong like I was before."
Oh? "Amusing, huh?"
"Very," she said. "You said so yourself that trying to break you apart will drive me insane because of the way you enjoy messing with people's heads -- my head."
"In a way," he started slowly as he watched her movements, "it has."
It was her turn to smile now. "You believe so?"
"You believe it hasn't?"
She shrugged her shoulders as she leaned back against the wall and sighed tiredly. "Not really. Besides, no one can be more insane than you and Oliver Stevens. Never thought that I'd have to put you two in the same category."
The unspoken questions hung in her words. 'What happened to you? What happened to us?'
"I bet you of all people understand him," she said.
Unfortunately. "I do."
She hummed curiously at the bite in his voice. "And you hate it? Knowing too much?"
Jamie swallowed the lump in his throat, then admitted, "I do sometimes, but I don't think he did."
"Why would you hate knowledge?"
"Because I ended up coming up with shit like Blue Fire."
Daija went silent at that, then shook her head slowly. "Knowledge didn't lead to you making Blue Fire. Your own anger and desire for power did."
"Daija-"
"But if you must know," she started as she held his gaze, and at the hints of sharpness in her voice, Jamie shut up. "You're alive because I want you to be. I'm keeping you here because I like hurting you."
When Jamie paused for a moment, she grinned, lethal and predatory. "That there. That's what I like the most."
"What?"
"The look on your face when you remember just how fucking powerless you are here," she chuckled. "You can taunt and tease me all you want, but at the end of the day, the only thing you can really do is sit there and scream while I rip you apart and put you back together as many times as I please."
Jamie said nothing, and she hummed in satisfaction at his silence. Daija then grabbed something from the table and stepped closer to him. "I think since you can talk that much, you can go through a bit more today."
------
At the memory, he inhaled, then exhaled slowly.
It had been many, many months since Jamie last saw a sunrise. He stood outside the motel room, quietly leaning against the wall near the door. As he watched the sky fade from a dawn blue to a gorgeous array of bright colors, he didn't think about the looming danger or the stress for a few minutes.
The night they escaped, the group ditched the truck in case it could be tracked. Then Amaya used her abilities to get a new car, and a motel for everyone to get some rest.
If he had listened to Tony's advice and followed Valerie's rules, Simon, Daija, and the rest of the leaders would be celebrating his gruesome murder right now. Tony would've murdered him as an engagement present.
He was relieved that he made it out, but there was still so much he had to worry about. Making the formula, keeping the rest of the group safe and finding a way to win the new game between him and Daija. He knew she wouldn't stop until she had what she wanted, and even though he had a head start, he needed to be smart.
It felt good to not be under the constant fog of the depowering bracelet, but for the last few hours, he'd been questioning his own thoughts outside of his fear. How much of his own thinking was actually Daija now? Or Tony and Valerie? It was hard to remember the tiny details about himself before the constant torture and paranoia.
The door opened, and he didn't even have to look to know that Layla was now outside. "Heard you leave," she started quietly as she rested against the wall right next to him. "Just wanted to check on you."
"I'm fine," he muttered. "You should be sleeping. You had a long night."
"Please. Desmond and Victor snore pretty loudly, so that's impossible," she scoffed.
He didn't stop his chuckle, and when he looked over at her, he saw her smile; bright and dangerously pretty. Layla's brown, wavy hair was bound up with a few flyaways that flowed in the gentle morning breeze. Her smile grew as she held his gaze, and he turned away, suddenly aware of the way his heart pounded in his chest.
"I really like your smile," he confessed as he faced the sky again.
"But you turn away every time it's directed at you."
Because I don't deserve you, your time, or anything else you could ever offer me, even if I want it more than anything.
"Jason," his fake name sounded sad, almost desperate. "We're not at the base anymore. We can talk openly now."
He sighed. "I get that, I'm just worried. You're here with me. I dragged you into-"
"You didn't drag me into anything," she cut him off sharply. "I know the consequences, and I know what would happen if I'm caught. I chose to go with you."
Still, he couldn't shake the awful thoughts of what would happen if Daija or the others found her. They'd hurt her to get to him. He knew that they would. He faced her once more, then took another step closer to her. "Listen to me. If shit goes downhill, I'm putting you in charge to take the others and run. Don't try to save me, don't try to fight with me. Just go."
"Jason-"
"Promise me, Layla." His voice shook on her name, and his hands squeezed into fists at his sides. He cared about her and Victor. He was worried sick over CJ being back at base. Amaya and Desmond were now his responsibility.
This was what it felt like to be a leader. Constantly worried, thinking of back-up plans, forcing people to make promises, then making promises that he more than likely wouldn't be able to keep.
She stared at him for a moment, then reached a hand towards his face. First, her fingers flexed hesitantly at his forehead, then once his eyes softened -- a look of permission -- she gently ran her hand through his hair. Then her hand slowly slid down to cup his cheek, and he reached up to hold it in place, nuzzling his cheek into her palm. The gentleness of it all had him wanting it to last forever.
"I promise," she whispered. "Can you promise to stop shutting me out?"
He knew he had to.
"I promise."
Jamie would do anything if it meant keeping her and the others alive and safe. Everything between him and Daija had nothing to do with them, and he'd take the fall a million times over if it meant saving them.
The door opened, and Desmond poked his head out, his eyes widening at how close Layla and Jamie were. "Oh, uh... I hope I'm not interrupting. We're all awake, and we just heard from CJ."
The two of them separated, and their expressions hardened. Time to work and time to get moving.
-----
"I just got off the phone with him," Victor said as he put the flip phone back in his phone. "Simon is pissed. Everyone is going to be looking for us, even our old friends in our unit. There's a colossal bounty on each of our heads," he said before pointing at Jamie. "Especially yours."
Figured. "But he's okay, right?" Jamie asked.
"Yeah. He was questioned by Wylan and Austin, but that's because everyone in our unit was questioned."
Amaya sighed as she rested on the cheap couch of the motel. "Okay, what's the plan?"
"How much time do you need to create that formula?" Victor asked Jamie.
"As much time as I can get. I'll need to get into a few places to get supplies."
Desmond's eyes lit up like he remembered something. "I know someone who can help with that. His name is Pat. Not only can he get you into the factory that's near downtown, he could also get you into the chemistry lab."
Jamie nodded. "Alright, then I hope he won't mind helping."
"Don't worry, he won't. He owes me a few favors."
"How long should we stay in this motel?" Layla asked. "I walked around last night. We're just outside of Kunross. I'm sure there will be teams checking every part of the city before starting to search outside of it, but at the same time, they might change it up or even have teams search everywhere all at once. Did you ever give Tony a hint about where you'd go once your deal with Valerie was up?"
"No," Jamie replied. "We'll have to be careful and find ways to avoid them."
Victor took some time to think, then said, "This place is pretty secluded. I think if we can get away with staying here for another two weeks while we get what we need, then that'll be perfect. We'll just have to remain hidden, get things one at a time, and Amaya will continue using her abilities on the staff to make sure this place is still safe for us."
Amaya nodded. "Alright, but what about after that?"
"We'll just have to see," Victor said with a shaky sigh. "I won't lie. I don't know."
"At one point, we'll have to go back into Kunross," Desmond said. "Let's just hope that it's not against our will."
Layla paced back and forth in the small room, crossing her arms as she tried to piece something together. "Okay, CJ being back at base helps us more than we think. He can keep an eye on the leaders and hopefully give us enough time to prepare in case something goes wrong."
"Alright, so we have this partially figured out," Amaya said before turning to Jamie. "So, what's the first step of your plan?"
Jamie reached into his pocket to run the pad of his thumb over the flash drive. Oliver's plans, theories and formulas were all on there, waiting to be read and dissected. A part of him couldn't believe what he wanted to do -- what he was about to do.
But what choice did he have?
"First, I need to get to a printer."