Clyde opened the door when I knocked on it, a scowl plastered over his face, but he hesitated when he recognised me.
Bonnie was staring wide eyed from the bed behind Clyde, looking just as rigid as him. He relaxed slightly, but she didn't.
"It's only Ace, sweetheart," he called to her over his shoulder and she nodded, wiping at her eyes. "I'll just be out here, okay?"
"How is she?" I asked as he stepped outside, closing the door behind him.
He was biting his lip the way he always did when he was stressing over something, rubbing at one arm with his hand, glancing away to the side.
"She's fucked up, man," he responded, his voice hitching in his throat. "She's paranoid as hell, I don't know if it's the shit they injected her with, or if she's traumatized..."
He broke of, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.
"Maybe Debbie can help," I suggested, but he shook his head.
"She doesn't want to see anyone," he told me. "And I'm not going to force her and upset her even more. I don't know what to do."
He twined his fingers together behind his head, staring up at the roof.
"I let this fucking happen to her, man."
"You didn't let shit happen to her," I insisted. "She knows that you did everything you could. You can't blame yourself for this."
He drew in a shaking breath and shook his head, looking crestfallen and broken. I hated seeing him like this. He was the happiest guy I knew, and I couldn't stand the haunted look in his eye. I pulled him into a tight hug, thumping his back reassuringly.
Things had looked bad, a few hours ago, but we'd won, he needed to understand that. Everything that happened now was going to be okay. Bonnie was in bad shape, sure, but we had her, and we could help her, now that she was safe, again.
"Fuck, we're gay," he muttered as he pulled away after a moment, trying to smile, but it came out all wrong.
"Clyde?" Bonnie called from the other side of the door, and Clyde quickly looked in around the corner.
"I'm just here, sweetheart," he assured her.
I turned when I heard footsteps approaching, about to send whoever it was away from Bonnie, but it was only Jenna, moving painfully.
"How is she?" She wondered, stopping short about three feet away, keeping her distance from me.
"Not so good," I told her truthfully.
"Will she let me talk to her?" She wondered, but I shrugged, shaking my head.
"She really won't see anyone."
Jenna nodded understandingly
"I just want to know that she's okay," she told me, tears springing to her eyes.
She angrily wiped them away and I tentatively moved toward her, placing my hand on her waist when she didn't back away. I felt her tense up, though, just like she used to.
"Bonnie is fine," I assured her, as she stared at the space between us. "She has Clyde to take care of her. I want to know that you're going to be alright."
Jenna bit her lip, saying nothing. I swallowed hard, tilting her chin up so I could study her face, but she pulled away.
"I'm fine," she promised, looking away once more.
Clyde came back out a second later, glancing at me, then at Jenna.
"Hey, Jenna," he said, and she smiled tightly at him.
He hesitated a second, casting an anxious glance behind him at the door Bonnie was behind.
"Ah, Bonnie wondered if she could see you for a second?" He asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
Jenna glanced between us, then nodded quickly, walking into the room, and closed the door behind her.
"How is everyone?" He asked, gesturing vaguely down the hallway. "Jack didn't look real good."
"Robert is here," I told him, "you know? From the Reapers?"
Clyde nodded, looking relieved, and he followed me back out to the bar, the both of us trying to ignore the groans of agony coming from two of the rooms. One, I knew Jack was in, the other, I assumed, had Ricky there.
It was slightly less chaotic out in the bar compared to what it had been like, before. A lot of people had gone home, to their families or whatever, if they weren't badly injured. Most of the official members of the Specters were here, still, lingering about, celebrating our victory.
I'd been so preoccupied worrying about Bonnie and taking care of Jenna, that I'd forgotten that we really should be celebrating.
Every single person who had been working for Lucas, at that warehouse, was dead. We'd rescued five kidnapped girls in the process, and Lucas was gone for good. I'd killed him, myself. Maybe that would take a moment to sink in, but, somehow, I didn't feel as sick at the thought of killing that bastard as I thought I would.
So, yes, I really should be with the others, drinking and laughing and celebrating the fact that we'd blown away something so evil.
But I couldn't. My shirt still had blood stains on it, not even my own, which made me want to throw up whenever I thought about it. The girls that we'd rescued were all huddled in the corner, being tended to by the Queen and some of the Specter's girls. Jack and Ricky had both been shot. Jenna was so timid that she couldn't even look at me, and Bonnie refused to see anyone but Clyde.
Clyde was obviously feeling the same, and the two of us found ourselves a quiet table down the back, away from the celebrations going on around us. Kelly caught my eye from where she was working the bar, as usual, and quickly filled two glasses, bringing them over to us.
"Here you go," she said, smiling kindly as she put a hand on each of our shoulders. "You two have earned these, I think."
"Thanks, darlin'," I responded, smiling gratefully.
"How's Bonnie?" She asked, turning to Clyde, wrapping her fingers around his, searching his face. "I heard what they did to her-"
"They didn't touch her," he said firmly, his eyes growing hard, and Kelly backed away, nodding, then gazed at him, a little more hesitantly. "But she's okay?"
"She's going to be fine," I said, as much to assure her as it was for Clyde.
"And Jenna?"
I clenched my jaw, thinking about how quickly she reverted back to the girl I'd first met, after how far she'd come, the way she'd tensed at my touch, and the bruises and scrapes over the rest of her broken body. She might come back from this, but, going back to Lucas may just have ruined her for good.
No.
"Jenna's a lot tougher than everyone gives her credit for," I said firmly. "She's going to need some time, is all."
Kelly nodded, hugging me quickly.
"Let me know, if there's anything I can do," she told us both sincerely. "I know people always say that, at times like this, but, anything you need... I mean it, don't hesitate to ask."
"Thanks, Kelly," I told her, and she shot us another smile, returning to the bar once more.
"We're gonna have to get used to this, I guess," Clyde muttered, gulping down several mouthfuls at once.
"I know, man," I responded, taking my drink more slowly. "But, they're our friends, they only want to make things easier."
"The sooner I can get her home, the easier it'll be," he said, then slammed his fist down onto the table in frustration, making several people glance in our direction. "I can't even keep her safe in our own fucking house."
"You can't blame yourself for this, man," I insisted, fixing him with a firm look. "If you'd known, you wouldn't have let it happen."
"I should have been there," he muttered, as though to himself.
"If you were, they would have killed you, and taken her anyway," I reasoned. "Then, where would she be? That would have been worse than anything they could do to her."
Clyde set his jaw, crossing his arms on the table top.
"I've killed people before, for her."
He said it so quietly, I was sure I'd misheared him. I frowned, leaning in slightly.
"What did you just say?"
"It's how I met her," he explained. "Someone put a hit on her. I killed them for her."
I shouldn't have been surprised, and I guess there was a part of me that wasn't. I knew there was a dark past between the two of them, something we had silently agreed not to bring up. They'd never told me, and I'd never asked. Still, I found that I had nothing to say in response, my mind just went blank and I stared at him as he glared at the table top.
"Where do I take her?" He asked me, the hopelessness dulling his normally bright eyes. "There's no fucking lock on the front door, it's not even safe for her at home."
"Stay the night with her, here," I suggested. "I'm sure Beast would be fine with it. Our family's here, they'll protect you. I'll fix the lock tomorrow and you can take her home, then."
He leaned his forearms on the table and looked up at me, his eyes desperate.
"She's pregnant."
"Serious?"
He nodded, and a massive grin broke out across my face.
"Shit, man, congratulations." I leaned forward as well, but, my smile fell when he didn't return it. He ran his fingers through his hair, looking stressed again.
"How can we bring a kid into this?" He stared at me hopelessly, searching for an answer I couldn't give him.
"You don't want to keep the kid?" I asked him, instead.
He shook his head.
"It's not that," he said quickly. "I want the baby, more than anything, and so does she. When she told me, I was so happy..."
"Then what's the issue?" I wondered, confused. "You're both happy. You'd make a great dad, man."
"It's this fucking town," he groaned, dropping his head onto his arms. "Why the fuck did we decide to stop here? It's poisonous. "
"I know," I agreed. "Everyone knows it, Kim did, my mum did. If you guys decide to move on, after this, I can't blame you."
Clyde was quiet for a long time, and I glanced around the bar, at the smiling faces, everyone becoming drunker and happier.
"I don't want to leave this," Clyde finally admitted. He'd lifted his head from his hands and had followed my gaze, looking around as well. "You guys are the best family I've ever had. I don't want to leave that behind."
I knew he was right. This town was as fucked up as most of the people who lived here, but this was my family, I loved it here. My whole life was here, and I couldn't think of anywhere else I'd rather be.
Kelly brought us over another drink each, smiling sympathetically, taking away our empty glasses, and Clyde and I sat in companiable silence.
He occasionally shot glances to the door leading to the back rooms. He was as eager as me to go back there, and we waited impatiently, but neither Bonnie or Jenna emerged.
An hour had passed, and Robert had finally come to join the celebrations. Both Ricky and Jack would be fine, he'd assured everyone, they just needed to rest.
Debbie, Tanya and Claire had taken the five girls we'd rescued out to the back rooms, away from all the chaos, and, soon after, the door opened again.
When we glanced over, expecting one of the Specter's girls, we were both estatic to see both Jenna and Bonnie.
They made their way toward us when they spotted us, smiling politely at anyone who spoke to them along the way, and Clyde and I got up from our table to meet them halfway.
There were some cheers and wolf whistles as Clyde caught Bonnie up in a bear hug, holding her against him as she hid her face against his chest, sobbing. Jenna was smiling when I looked at her, and I felt her slip her fingers into my hand.
"Can you please take me home, Ace?" She asked me, and I quickly nodded, just as eager to crawl into bed and leave this awful day behind me.