I was being moved. I could hear footsteps, and feel the motion. My mind returned to nothingness.

“Tam!” Percy. It was Percy calling my name. My body was put down on yet another hard surface. Footsteps, the clang of metal, silence. “Tam? Are you alive?”

I thought so. Death is supposed to remove pain, right? I tried to tell her so but my voice wouldn’t obey. Broken. I opened my eyes again, and the red was receding. She looked like shit. But still the most beautiful shit I’d ever seen.

I must’ve smiled, she relaxed. Stroked my cheek. Laid her head against mine. “I’m sorry, love. I’m so very sorry.” She was crying. I wanted to comfort her, but the effort was too great. My eyes closed again on their own, and all there was in the world was the touch of her hand on my hair, of her forehead on mine, and our breaths mingling.

I have no idea how long it took for me to regain my body. Once in a while someone would come with food and water, or with something they rubbed on my back. The rest of the time, Percy sang and talked. To me or to herself I wasn’t sure, but her voice was soothing. I learned a bit about her story then.

About her mom, who had gone to the store one day and never returned, shot in the head for no reason. About her dad, who had raised her as best he could, working two jobs to feed the family. About her siblings who had left to find work. About survival.

Her voice held no rancour, only tenderness. She had loved her family dearly. They had all disappeared at some point in her life. And she had learned to do more than survive. She had embraced life with an open heart, with gratitude. I kept my face hidden so she wouldn’t see the tears. Gods she was strong. 

I healed relatively fast. Don’t know what they rubbed on my skin but it was effective. As soon as I could sit up on my own I dragged Percy in a hug. A kiss. That was all I could manage, but it felt good.

Every now and then Hans would come up to the cage with a small retinue and watch. No talking, no sneering, just a cold stare. Unnerving at first. Then we got used to it.

They didn’t let us out again for days. It felt like we were back in that cave during the storm. Nothing to do, almost no food. They even served us tea for some reason. We talked. We slept. We hugged. I healed. We tried not to despair. There had to be a way out of there. We’d find it.

Once I was well enough I started stretching and moving around the cell. My back felt like fire but it was a little more bearable, and I was going insane. In the cave it felt comfortable, safe. In the cell it was oppressing. Suffocating. 

Crushing.

And Hans kept showing us off like zoo animals. Percy was starting to get sick of it, I could tell. On one occasion, as we heard the footsteps approaching, she gave me her daredevil smile and pulled me in for a kiss. A long, hot kiss. It sent spikes of fire throughout my entire body, and I’d have torn her clothes off there and then if I could. Our tongues played a secret game, teasing and coaxing, softly at first but it went faster and harder soon. I couldn’t resist sliding my hands under her shirt. Her skin was dry after such a long time without moisture, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to touch her, all of her.

Flames leaping at us stopped my exploration of Percy’s skin. Hans had brought his girlfriend as well as his minions. And it looked like he was fired up. When we turned, he didn’t say a word. He was staring at us, a hungry look in his eyes. Very obviously aroused. I felt sick.

Perceneige smirked. “What do you want, creep?”

Hans didn’t answer. His finger was twitching on the trigger. His light green eyes were so wide they were mostly white. It turned into a staring contest again. But this time Hans didn’t drop his eyes. He took one hand off of his flamethrower to motion for his minions to leave. Then resumed his position. The bastard never blinked.