EXSILIUM - contact.

[hostage]

UNIT№409



_“ Hey, it's me. Wait for the thing. _”

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[controlledvariable]

[She can't do this over the phone.]

Hold on.

[And then she's there, in the middle of the room he's being held in. She looks tired, worn out, but mostly she just looks worried.]

Jesse.

[She doesn't know how to fix all this, and she hates that it's all her fault.]

[hostage]

[Jesse lets out a quiet giggle when she appears. He tosses his tablet aside, settling back against the wall where he's perched atop a pile of mattresses.]

Go ahead. Say it.

[controlledvariable]

[And she just frowns, confused by both the giggle and the request.]

Say what?

[hostage]

The thing you came here to say. Your speech. Let's hear it.

[controlledvariable]

I don't have a speech.

[It's plaintive, almost, because she doesn't know why he's always like this, going hot and cold so quickly.]

I just wanna help.

[hostage]

Nobody wants to help me.

[He's not fucking stupid.]

Don't worry. I didn't bring you up when I did it.

[controlledvariable]

Would you quit it?

[It's a flare of temper, but the words are hissed, because she's not supposed to be in here and she doesn't want to get both of them in trouble.]

Do you just have these bouts of amnesia where you forget all the times I've told you I care about you or love you? Because it sure as hell feels like it.

[hostage]

It's easy to say, ain't it? Three words and this idiot'll do anything for you. But, god, it really sucks when he messes it up. Does something you didn't tell him to do. Then you gotta make the tough choices, like... Do you hit him? Lock him in a room somewhere? Drugs, that one works real good, just get him so fucked up he's drooling all over himself and he won't run away. There's so many choices!

But yeah. I care about you's the best one. He likes that one. Eats it right up.

[controlledvariable]

[She steps back like he's struck her, but it's not because the accusations are true, they just hurt, draining the anger away as effectively as Max's little tricks.

When she speaks again, her voice is quiet.]

I wouldn't do that to anyone, Jesse. And I definitely wouldn't do it to you.

[Not to someone who's been jerked around and fucked over and hurt like Jesse has.

Like she has.]

[hostage]

[And how many times has he heard that one, too? He folds his arms and slouches back against the wall.]

I'm so done with this, Steph.

I did the best I could. And it was never good enough for anybody.

[controlledvariable]

[All she does for a long moment is watch him, still hurt, but she's searching for something, too.

And then it clicks, because it hurt her, too.]

It was good enough for me.

[She doesn't know what else to say.]

[hostage]

[He doesn't believe her.]



I'm not giving it back.

And everybody's gonna fuckin' pay for this.

[controlledvariable]

[It sends a chill through her, the same way it did when he promised he made Saul sorry.

But she doesn't flinch, what she does is close the distance between them, and if he'll allow it, she'll take his hands.]

Don't let them make you the bad guy, Jesse.

[hostage]

[Jesse gives a bitter, guttural laugh.]

Too late.

[He holds her hands, anyway, and his touch is gentler than his voice.]

You got your chance, you know. Right now. Before it gets worse.

[controlledvariable]

[She opens her mouth to tell him it's not, but the rest of what he says confuses her.]

Chance to do what?

[There's concern in her voice, but it's for him.]

[hostage]

To stop me.

[controlledvariable]

[It feels like someone just punched her in the chest.]

Is that really what you want from me?

[Can he really ask her to do that? It was different, when they barely knew each other, when she was just Batgirl, but she thought maybe things had changed.]

[hostage]

Who cares what I want?

[controlledvariable]

[quietly, but firmly:] I do.

[hostage]

[Jesse tugs her hands lightly to bring her closer, leaning to whisper in her ear:]

Then get me outta here.

[controlledvariable]

[She lets him pull her closer, but she shakes her head, just a tiny bit, at the request.]

It'd just make things worse for you.

[hostage]

[He lets go of her, sitting back again.]

See what I mean?

[controlledvariable]

[She nearly reaches out for him again, but stops herself, wrapping her arms around herself instead.]

I'm still just trying to help. What would you do if I got you out? Spend the next month playing hide and seek with the cops?

[hostage]

Aristeas is still down, right?

[controlledvariable]

[Cautiously:] Yes. Why?