(Untitled)

[askwhatsreal]

[oom: Sometime after this, Annie tries to escape. She opens a door.]

There is a girl huddled on the floor, bound hand and foot in iron chains. She is barefoot, wearing a purple hospital shift and bruises up and down her body. Most noticeably, three tight rings mottle her upper arms in blue and green (the color of her eyes, if you care to make the

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[trigger_man]

It comes on quickly; the clank of chains, the sound of sobbing. The table Jack's sitting at, the sounds of the bar; it all fades. A dark, damp cell, the smell of blood and sweat and urine and fear filling his nostrils until it feels as though he can hardly breathe.

Then, it fades; the bar returns, and Jack looks down at his hands to find them clutching the side of the table, white-knuckled. Just a flashback.

But then he hears those noises again: the sobbing, the chains. He turns around, freezing when he sees a woman--a girl--huddled on the floor, chained and weeping. He sees this before he sees the livid bruises against her skin, but only just barely.

Without even thinking, he stands and walks over to her, crouching a few feet away. For a moment he almost reaches out to touch her, before sense takes over. He knows, he knows that it isn't likely to help.

"It's okay," he says, careful to keep his voice gentle, trying to find a volume that won't startle or scare her but that she can still hear with her hands pressed over her ears.

"It's okay. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you here."

She's probably as likely to believe him as he believed the same words when he walked into the bar. But it needs to be said; it's the truth.

[askwhatsreal]

And he's right: she doesn't believe him.

"Why not?"

Her voice is hoarse, from the crying.

"They hurt me everywhere else."

[trigger_man]

Even with those few words, he wants to hurt whoever did this to her and hurt them badly. He's careful to shove that feeling as far down inside him as he can, though, at least for the moment. He doesn't want to scare her.

"I know it's hard to believe, that the only way you're going to believe me is through time. But it's true."

There's a beat where he tries to think of what to say next, of anything that might help. "Can I help you get those chains off?"

[askwhatsreal]

His voice is soft, soothing (she can feel herself yearning to let it sooth her). She trembles; the metal responds with a soft chink.

"Got the key?" she asks, with a shaky smile.

In other words: "Can you find the way out?"

[trigger_man]

"Maybe," he says, with a small, answering smile. "Can I see the locks?"

He holds out his hand, careful not to move too fast.

[askwhatsreal]

She looks at him for a few seconds (an eternity) before lowering her hands from over her ears, and extending them.

Unlocking dream cuffs isn't what she wants, ultimately - but it's a start.

[trigger_man]

Jack's careful to try and only touch the locks and chains as he examines them.
The locks look more advanced than anything he's tried to pick before, but then this is the bar at the end of the universe. Maybe Bar will know what kind of key they need, or be able to provide some kind of lock picking tool more advanced than he's ever seen.

"Okay, do you want to wait here and see what I can find or come with me to that bar over there?" he asks, pointing. "You don't have to follow me if you don't want to, and I won't take you anywhere you don't want to go."

[askwhatsreal]

She shivers, again - earthquakes everywhere - and reaches a half-crouched stance.

A tangle of dark hair falls down over her shoulders as she strains to stand upright.

"I'll come." She's afraid to be forgotten in this corner, with the Peacemakers on the other side.

[trigger_man]

"Okay. Only move as fast as is comfortable for you," he says, getting to his feet and turning toward the bar.

He won't hover, but he'll moderate his stride so he's nearby, just in case she needs a steadying hand.

[askwhatsreal]

She grits her teeth.

Standing, she feels the dull aches all over her body come rushing back.

Finally, she reaches the bar, and clutches at the solid wood.

She used to be so strong - they took even that.

She laughs to herself, without joy.

[trigger_man]

Jack watches her carefully as she walks over to the bar, watching the way she moves, trying to figure out what kind of injuries she might have. She should probably go to the infirmary, but he's not sure she'll welcome that idea.

One step at a time. First, get those damn shackles off of her.

"Here, you can take a seat if you want," he says, gesturing to a bar stool. "Bar, do you have a key that might work in these locks?"

[askwhatsreal]

She sits, watching him talk to an inanimate (if immaculate) counter.

An intricate mechanisms appears - Annie jumps back, grabbing for the bar before she falls off.

This is a dream, then.

"How'd you do that?"

[trigger_man]

"I didn't, the bar did," Jack says, picking up the device and taking a moment to figure out how unlocks the shackles. "She's sentient and she can provide food and keys for the rooms upstairs, as well as other things. All you have to do is ask."

[askwhatsreal]

Annie curls her plaster-white fingers around the edge of the bar. She'll take the sentient bar idea on faith, if it will give her what she needs.

"Finnick," she whispers, softly.

Then, if the thing hasn't understood: "I want to be with Finnick."

Of course, it doesn't work. (The Capitol wouldn't allow that kind of happiness, even in her sleep.)

[trigger_man]

Jack's hit both with a twist to the gut and the urge to smack himself even as the lock on her wrist shackles pops free. He probably should have been more clear.

"Something not living, I should have said; even she can't do that much. Is Finnick someone special to you?" he asks, gently.

[askwhatsreal]

Her hair falls back into her eyes - she lets it stay.

She can't help it: tears spring to her eyes. A few course down the well-beaten trail on her cheeks.

"He's all I have left," she whispers, trying not to choke.