fic: signal fire (kara/lee) chapter 05
Title: Signal Fire
Rating: PG/PG-13 For some strong language and adult themes.
Spoilers: All Seasons, All Episodes.
Status: Complete (Prologue+11 Chapters+ Epilogue)
Summary: Kara and Lee get one last chance to be together. Begins the moment after Daybreak II, on the hill where Kara didn’t say goodbye.
Special thanks to my sister, placeofthunder, who I've decided is better than any beta.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. I own nothing.
Previously:
Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four
Chapter Five
The sound of the hatch opening as quietly as a hatch possibly can was her first wake up call. She heard a couple of her fellow bunkmates rustle and stir then promptly fall back to sleep. They were used to each other’s odd hours.
There was the feel of paper under her cheek, rustling as she stirred.
“Starbuck?”
Kara groaned, slowly becoming aware of the awkward way she was slumped over the table.
“Kara,” the voice lower now, but more insistent.
She shifted, mumbled, “Lee?”
“Kara, are you okay?”
Her eyes fluttered open slowly, she turned her head on the table’s surface to see him silently helping himself to the seat cattycorner to her own. A corner of her full mouth pulled into a frown. He was in his uniform, eyes tired but alert. That indefinable something that was so clean and sharp about him was in full force, begging to be messed with and despoiled and rumpled. Kara, on the other hand, felt stiff and sore and clouded for the second time in as many meetings with him. It didn’t seem right.
“What time is it?” mumbled into her papers and scribbles as her heavy eyelids slid shut of their own accord. She felt herself beginning to drift off again.
“O-Four-Hundred.”
Kara groaned.
She could feel him leaning over the table towards her, whispering, “What are you doing out here, Kara?”
She lifted her head and slid stiffly off the crew quarter’s table, pulling in her outstretched arm, which had now gone numb.
“I guess I fell asleep…I was just trying to remember….” She gingerly moved her arm in and out from the elbow, making a fist, waiting for the feeling to return.
“Remember what?” his eyes fell momentarily to the countless notes, signs, and numbers on the sheets lying before her. He slid one towards himself.
“The way to Earth, “ she mumbled, placing the heels of her hands over her eyes, elbows on table.
He was silent for a moment, studying the fruits of her labor…or lack thereof.
“I thought you already knew the way?”
“I do…I mean, I will,” she replied, her quiet voice muffled still further from behind her hands, “If it works like before, then the pieces will fit together when the time comes for us to jump…”
She felt him stir, shifting closer to her, “Then why are you staying up all night trying to remember now, Kara?”
Kara scowled and dropped her hands, it was too early in the morning to make sense of this. Even to herself.
She was startled to see his face was very near her own, he had moved his chair to the very edge of the table. She felt a pang in the pit of her stomach, a need to be even closer, though she didn’t act on it. He was watching her with concern and it made her doubt and fear seem just a skeptical word from him away.
“I thought if I could just give the Admiral the coordinates, he might be more inclined to believe me.”
Lee nodded as if that were perfectly reasonable, lifting a hand to rub his chin just below his lower lip. Gratitude and attraction were powerful companions. The pang grew into something deeper, sharper. She glanced over at Hotdog’s bunk, curtain pulled shut. He was probably still sleeping like the dead and hadn’t stirred a hair since Lee had entered.
“Have any luck?”
“With what?” she frowned in concentration, though not really on his words.
He lifted a sheet of paper, covered in little black markings.
“Oh,” she cleared her throat quietly, “That.” She took the paper from him, placing it on top of the stack with the rest.
“Not really…it’s,” she threaded her fingers through her hair, holding it back from her face,”…it’s like you’ve already solved a complicated equation, right? Only they’ve taken away the formula to solve it, and now they want you to just recite the correct answer back from memory instead.”
He seemed to ponder that for a moment, hand over his mouth now. He finally placed both hands on the table, palms down and sighed.
“So, want to hear some good news?”
“Yes,” she said on a sigh of relief, glad to be done with the subject for now. Her hand slid from her hair onto the table’s surface.
Lee lowered his gaze to that hand. She stilled as he reached over, rubbing at some ink that had smeared along the outside edge of her palm and little finger. The action itself was casual, familiar, if her response was not. She narrowed her eyes, watching him for some sign of what he was thinking. He didn’t seem to notice.
His fingers smoothed warmly across her skin as he spoke, and for a moment, all the uncertainties and troubles that swirled through her brain came to a standstill and focused on his touch. Like tuning into a familiar voice in a crowded room.
“I have a couple of free hours in my schedule starting twenty minutes ago…and I finally convinced my dad to let me take you on a test flight; to get you reinstated. So we can go out right now, today.”
She looked up and cocked her head, skepticism written all over her.
“How’d you manage that?”
He finished removing the ink and his hand fell back to the table. She followed the movement with her eyes.
“He’s been saying for weeks now that as CAG, mine is the final word in the decision to keep you grounded. I thought it was only fair that if he was going to make me the final authority on keeping you out of the sky, that I should still be the final authority on whether you go back up into it.”
“I bet he loved that.”
Lee remained silent, nodding. Kara gazed over at him, dropping her head to the side. He was looking down at the table, reclining back in his chair now; his gaze unseeing. It couldn’t have been easy to convince his father, but he’d done it. She felt a rush of gratitude.
“Thank you,” Her low voice was warm, appreciative. She kept her eyes on him.
He nodded again, more absently this time. Why was he so frakking far away?
“What’s wrong, Lee?”
“Do you mind if I ask you something? Something personal?” he tapped the top of the table with his finger, his quiet voice came a little hesitant.
Kara fingered the edges of the scattered sheets of paper quietly, pushing at them a little, “Shoot.”
She heard him inhale, “What about Sam?”
Kara stilled for a moment, “Sam and I are over, Lee.” She turned sideways in her chair and leaned forward, elbows on her knees, “Anything else?”
She turned to look over at him. His jaw clenched in that way that was so familiar. She wanted to run her finger down the taut line of it, smooth the muscle.
“You say that now, Kara…”
“I’ve already talked with him. He knows,” Kara shifted the last little bit, so that her left knee aligned with his. She gave his leg a little push with her own.
He leaned towards her in response, and his left hand reached under to clasp gently over her knee where it rested against him. He held her leg still, but it was his touch, warm on the bare skin there below the hem of her shorts, that held her attention.
“And what is it that he knows, Kara?”
Her blood heated as he left his hand there, seemingly unaware. He was driving her frakking crazy. She pulled her leg away abruptly.
He mistook the gesture, his expression stiffening a little. He straightened and sighed.
But Kara had experienced enough misunderstandings and missed chances to last a lifetime. And they had just over an hour out of his schedule to wrap this up, suit up, get in the cockpit, and get her reinstated.
She clasped her hands together between her knees until her knuckles turned white.
“Lee,” her voice was low, direct, true.
He looked back at her then, watching her with that curious mixture of reluctance and fascination that was pure Lee. They stared at each other.
“He knows how I feel about…” She dropped her head, closed her eyes and stopped; clearing her throat a little. This was harder for her than it should have been. Why had she never noticed how bright the overhead light was in here?
When she spoke again her words were measured and her determined gaze on him was painfully honest, ”It’s you and me, Lee, okay? From here on in. Trust me on this. It’s you,” she could admit it now, “It always has been.”
He gazed at her with a fathomless expression; eventually pressed his lips together and nodded. But Kara could still see shadows of doubt in his eyes, flickering far past the shield of blue.
She didn’t fault him for it, they were in two different places. Perhaps he needed the time she’d already lived through.
“Promise me something?” he looked down and whispered after a moment.
“If I can,” she continued to watch him.
“Promise me that you’ll be careful today. Just…just be careful up there, Kara,” he gave her a very small smile.
His sudden shift in focus took her by surprise. She felt a little guilty somehow. As if he had asked too little of her. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and tried to smile lightly, reassuringly.
“Done,” she shoved off and stood, he pushed back his chair with a near-silent motion and did the same.
“And Kara?”
She glanced up and over. He was standing close.
“I think we should go to my father, together. Try to get through to him before we do anything crazy.”
Kara felt her brow lower, a nervous tick; still a little afraid to hope. She tried to smirk, “We?”
He smiled in that charmingly reserved way he had, “Yes, we, Kara. We’re in this together, aren’t we? Wasn’t that the whole point?”
Tenderness, appreciation, relief, flooded her. To not be alone. To be half of one whole.
She exhaled and stepped closer, breathing his air instead; wrapping her arms around his shoulders and tugging him forward. She rested her head against him and let the emotions play across her face where he couldn’t see.
His hands fell on her shoulder, on her back, securing her to him. Kara always thought it curious, that he could somehow make her feel both breakable and invincible in the circle of his arms. Sometimes she never wanted to leave them.
She finally dropped her arms and pulled away a little to meet his deep gaze, “You, Lee Adama, are just lucky …” She laid her open hands on either side of his face, her expression a little fierce, the promise of passion in her eyes, “…that we only have one hour.”
Kara could tell by his sudden stillness that she had taken him by surprise. It struck her then; how he could believe her, trust in her, about the most incredible things, and yet still doubt her on how she felt about him. It hurt most because Kara knew she had no one but herself to thank for that.
Kara shut her eyes and raised her head to press her lips softly against his. Just a touch, a connection. She needed him to believe her on this, too. He pulled away for a fraction of a moment, then returned the gesture warmly, his chin rasping pleasantly over her own as his mouth played gently over hers. Once, twice. Her teeth slid over his bottom lip as he pulled away completely.
She dropped her head to slide along his jaw in frustration. She kept her eyes closed and silently begged him to do the wrong thing and spend the next hour making her forget that she was supposed to be proving herself to people that hadn’t even believed her the first time around.
He held her tighter, his ragged whisper burned against her ear, “I wouldn’t call that lucky, Kara.”
Her stomach tightened in response but she had her answer. They stayed too close for a moment more, then by some mutual agreement, broke the embrace and stepped away from each other. Kara spun away, biting her lip viciously, and walked to her locker, quietly retrieving what she needed. Maybe the best thing for her right now was to be in her bird, stars above and nothing below. Completely in control. Even while spinning out of it.
She threw what she hoped was a good-humored frown over her shoulder and whispered briskly, “Ready, Apollo?”
He took a silent moment, then smiled a little miserably and nodded. He followed her out the hatch, closing it carefully behind them.
___________________________________________
“Ready, Starbuck?”
Kara strode up to where he stood waiting and stopped, placing her hands on her hips.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” She said, face set.
Lee tilted his head in the direction of the Admiral’s quarters, “Then let’s go.”
They walked in together, side by side, standing at ease. The Admiral was in his seating area waiting for them, eating some sort of pasta from a bowl. A familiar sight, so why did her stomach feel as it had been stretched out and tied and twisted?
“There’s more,” he raised his hands, indicating the half-empty bowl, “If you two are interested.”
“I’m good, thanks.” Lee looked calm enough. It helped, but only a little.
Kara lifted a hand off her hip, shaking her head, “No. Thanks.”
“So, you said you wanted to see me?” Adama asked between bites.
He continued before she could answer, glancing from one to the other, “Well, are you two going to sit, or just stand there and watch me eat?”
Kara sat down far enough away from the Admiral so that she could turn sideways and look at him. Lee chose to sit on the arm of the sofa directly behind her, crossing his arms. She found having him there like that oddly comforting.
The Old Man looked from one to another, “I take it this isn’t a social call.” He set the bowl down on the low table before him. He threw Lee a look which Kara interpreted as suspicion. He turned back to her.
“I understand you got back in your bird last week, Starbuck. Without incident.” He seemed sincere, but his expression was guarded.
She leaned forward and crossed her arms in her lap before her, “That’s right, Sir.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“I’m-We… aren’t here about my return to flight duty, Admiral,” she looked him straight in the eye, he would respect no less.
“Yes. I gathered that.” The older man leaned back now, folding his hands, watching them in that way he had.
“It’s about Earth,” she continued cautiously.
He sighed, “Of course it is.”
Well, this was going as badly as she’d expected.
“Admiral-“
But he wasn’t listening, his focus had shifted behind her.
“So, I’m assuming by your continued presence here, that she has somehow managed to convince you that she is the key to finding Earth?” Kara hated the faintly disdainful tone he lent to his words, even if it was directed more at Lee than herself.
“That’s right.” No hesitation, no fear. She drew from that.
“Just like that,” the Admiral laughed to himself, but there was little humor. He looked down at his hands, “I have to say, I’m a little surprised.”
“Admiral. Please,“ she tried again around her tight jaw, “If you’d just give me a chance to explain everything-“
“And if she told you Earth were right outside the nearest airlock, would you open it and step out, Son?”
It was like she wasn’t even speaking. He’d made up his mind that she had lost hers and thus wasn’t truly there.
“If the President of the Colonies told you that we should embark on an almost three year journey, searching for assumed “markers” on the way to Earth as told by the ancient oracle, Pythia, would you follow her?” Lee promptly returned with raised brows.
The older man huffed and looked down, smiling a little to himself without any joy, “You always did love to debate your way out of an argument.”
“You always did love to force me to,” Lee shot back; still in that calm, reasonable tone.
Adama turned his eyes to her face now, his expression softening slightly. “I can see why you brought him along.”
He paused and rubbed tiredly at his eyes behind his spectacles, Kara waited for him to finish.
“Truth is, I almost envy my son. I would like to believe you, Kara. And to hell with the consequences.”
He stood slowly, like an old man, “But I don’t have that kind of freedom.” He pinned Lee with a sort of glare, “I don’t get to just choose what to believe for myself-I have the wellbeing of an entire fleet to think of.”
Lee glanced over at her, one brow raised in question. He would follow her lead.
Kara began rubbing the palms of her hands together slowly “Sir, you’ve brought the fleet along on what amounts to a blind journey for years-“
Adama cut in crisply, “The sacred scrolls are thousands of years old. We’ve been to the Tomb of Athena. We’ve seen the Temple of the Five. We’ve followed the trail laid out by the Eye of Jupiter. I’m probably the last person to admit it- but the prophecies have foretold actual events.” He unbuttoned the top collar of his uniform as if it had suddenly grown too tight, “On the other hand, Starbuck, you have suddenly decided that a song you know from childhood is the answer to all of our problems.”
Kara blew out a hot breath, chest heavy. His words stung more than she’d like to admit. She glanced sideways at Lee, frustrated. He nodded, encouraging.
She closed her eyes and pursed her lips for a moment; turned back to the older man, met his gaze with renewed determination, “But we didn’t know any of those things were real, Admiral. That those events would happen, until we first followed some sign or symbol on faith. Why does this have to be any different?”
The Admiral’s eyes narrowed, “Because it contradicts all the things that have come before. Pythia never wrote of anything you’re telling us now.”
“Then maybe frakking Pythia is wrong,” Kara had had enough, she stood up quickly and started forward, taking both men by surprise. She didn’t stop until she was toe to toe with Adama.
“Regardless of what you say or think here, Admiral, I won’t give up. I’ll get us there or die trying. You know I will.” She shook her head, gritting, “I don’t know any other way to be.”
The Admiral narrowed his eyes, lips pressed together, searching her face as if for answers.
“Give me a ship-any ship. The Demetrius will work if you can do without it. I’ll take a small team to Earth. Take some pictures. Hell, go down to the surface and grab some soil samples. Then we’ll jump back to a rendezvous point. “ She crossed her arms and shifted on her feet, struggling to exude a confidence she did not feel, ”We’ll hand over the souvenirs, you’ll get your proof…” She tilted her head, “Then we all jump back to Earth together. Happily Ever Frakkin’ After, Sir.”
A terrible moment of silence passed. She tried not to shift again but she was dying to.
“And if you’re wrong? If you’re all thrown thousands of SU’s off course? If you jump your entire crew into the side of a meteor or on top of a fleet of cylon base ships?” He nodded his chin sharply in her direction, “What then, Starbuck?”
She sighed roughly, almost a growl, “Fine. I’ll go alone. Just give me a ship.” She could hear Lee standing up behind her.
The Admiral’s expression tightened, “And what makes you think I find you any more expendable than the rest of my crew?” He shook his head sadly, “No, Kara. The answer is no.”
Something inside of her strained beneath the weight, snapped.
His rejection of her the first time through had been devastating. She’d pulled her weapon on the President. She’d been thrown down to the floor of the brig by her throat, at the hands of this man who called her “daughter”. She kept those memories with her. He did not.
Her features tightened as she stared at him; betrayed, rejected. Something passed between them. They each had made a choice and neither would back down.
Kara narrowed her eyes and set her jaw, stepped briskly around him, and headed for the hatch.
“Kara.”
She spun the hatch wheel and pulled out her sidearm.
The Admiral began talking on the phone behind them both. It was hard to make out the words through the red mist of her anger.
“Kara.” He was closer now. She pushed open the hatch with a tremendous amount of force, it flew back and out of her way. She stepped over the ledge and started down the corridor, gun held low.
The Admiral wasn’t going to trust her, wasn’t going to believe in her. Her options felt increasingly limited. She was suffocating under the pressure.
The Fleet was only a day-give or take some hours and change- away from the Ionian Nebula. Hundreds of people had died there…would die there. Kara could either devise a plan to steal a ship right out from under the Old Man’s nose…or she could march right up to the CIC, make that frakking traitor Felix Gaeta move out of her way, and jump them all the hell out of here.
Shipmates in the corridor threw her suspicious, distrustful glances. Some wore panicked expressions as they glanced down at her hand.
It occurred to her, somewhere in the back of her quick-tempered fog, that she probably shouldn’t have drawn her weapon so far in advance. She adjusted her increasingly slippery grip on her sidearm, her lips pressing into a tight line as a young female officer threw Kara a particularly troubled look.
Kara blew out a breath and silently dared her to get in the way.
Lee gained on her, turned to face her, blocking her path to the CIC. He threw his arm out in front of her, hand on the wall, and cast a troubled glance over her shoulder.
Her chest rose and fell with every harshly drawn breath, “Move the frak out of my way, Lee.” Both her voice and expression were clear, sharp as glass.
His heated expression was inches from her own, as he whispered for the sake of passersby, “Kara, don’t. Think this through. We’ll find another way.”
“We don’t have time to find another frakking way, Lee,” her voice gained in volume. Didn’t care. She was so mad she was shaking with it.
“Hundreds of people will die when we reach that frakking nebula he’s so dead set on paying a visit to. How many jumps left? Two, three at the outside? He’ll never believe me. This is the fastest way.” She ducked under his arm and made it a few more steps.
He just managed to reach out and catch her arm. He pulled her back briskly so that she stood with her shoulder to his chest as she stared straight ahead. He focused on her, his back to the hallway.
“Just because it’s the fastest way, Kara, doesn’t mean it’s the right one,” His expression had tightened. The irritation in his voice giving his words a clipped, urgent cadence.
She wouldn’t look at him, seething with frustration.
“My father knows you a little too well. He was warning the CIC as we left. The guards will have a bead on you before you even make the hatch.“
“I have to try,” she gritted.
“No. You don’t. Because he won’t let you.”
She turned on him, a force of nature.
“That’s the problem. Don’t you understand, Lee? I don’t want to do this anymore. I’ve already done it. I hate it. Hate this stupid frakking ship, hate the endless fighting and war and waiting and wandering. I just want to jump us back to that frakking planet. I want some frakking peace. I’m not strong enough for this. “
She threw her head to the side in complete disgust, “Frak it.” She returned the curious stare of a young man passing by with a scowl, “Frak all of you.”
What was she doing? She didn’t even know. She was too angry, too sick and tired and over it.
His hand suddenly wrapped around her arm,“ Snap out of it, Kara. You are strong enough. Stronger than this. Stronger than him. Hell, you’re the strongest person I know.
She just kept shaking her head, angry at him, at herself, at the Admiral. At the universe. She wanted to spit and fight and demand that they all listen. She wanted to have some measure of control over her own damned life.
“You can’t stop me, Lee.”
His quiet laugh was completely devoid of humor, “See what I mean? Sometimes I think you’re too strong for your own frakking good.”
A part of her knew he was absolutely right. About everything. But the other part was too busy resenting him for it.
He waited. Neither of them spoke for a taut moment. He watched her.
“You made a promise, Kara,” his hand on her arm tightened a little, “Remember? You promised that I wouldn’t lose you again. Not this time.”
She felt a hot ache in her chest. She remembered. Frak, if Lee Adama didn’t play fair.
“What do you think is going to happen if you go through with this and something goes wrong? Because something will go wrong, Kara.”
She threw him a dangerous look out of the corner of her eyes; her skin felt flushed, hot. His expression was just as hard; unyielding.
She looked away, staring at nothing. Very slowly, she holstered her weapon.
He let out a sigh of relief? surprise? and then his entire body eased. His hand fell from her arm.
All the fight began to drain out of her, she exhaled slowly, felt her rapid heartbeat return to a more measured rhythm.
“I just don’t know what I’m doing anymore,” she sighed roughly, looking away from him. She slammed her palm against the bulkhead and left it there, “I’m just so...tired. Of all of this.”
He ever so carefully moved closer, unsure of her reaction. She stayed still, silent. It was all the invitation she ever gave him. It was all he ever needed.
He rested his chin lightly at the top of her head, hand falling on her left shoulder, whispering.
“I know. I know you are.”
She shut her eyes and swayed just a little. The fury inside of her flickered and died.
They were a team. He kept her sane, she kept him sharp.
She would have allowed the moment to linger; enjoying the peace, but Lee suddenly grew tense. His head lifted.
“Frak him.”
The fierce whisper told her all she needed to know. Her fingers found the grip of her weapon once more.
“It’s too late, they’re on top of us.”
Her trigger finger itched anyway. She stared at the floor sightlessly with suddenly blurred vision.
Lee turned to face them first, shielding her. Kara still hadn’t turned around to look when the first one spoke.
“Captain Thrace? Please come with us.”
“She’s not going anywhere,” Lee’s voice was quietly commanding, as if by saying it, it would make it so, “She hasn’t committed any crimes.”
She straightened, already feeling the steel renew in her spine again. Her teeth gritted together, it was hot behind her eyes.
She turned to walk out from behind Lee and stand just in front of him and to the side.
“Kara-“
Movements restless, she sized up each of the heavily outfitted guards in turn. They had their guns trained on her and Lee both. Her hand rested stiffly on her hip, just above her holster.
The Admiral was there too, standing behind the guards. Watching with sorrowful, tear-filled eyes. Kara’s gaze found him; she stared directly at his face, defiant.
“This is a mistake-“ It had been a long time since Kara had heard Lee so disdainfully furious.
But Adama had eyes only for her, “Starbuck, this is for your safety as much as everyone else’s. I won’t have you putting yourself in harms way-“
She looked away from him mid-sentence, uninterested in anything more he had to say. She licked her dry lips and stared at the side of the corridor.
“So are we going or not?” she ground out, putting a stop to the Admiral’s empty words. Lee walked passed, marching up to get in his father’s face.
“Think about what you’re doing…” a fierce whisper from a son, ignored by the father.
The guards cast questioning glances in the direction of the Admiral. He turned from Lee and nodded curtly. The guard nearest her reached and relieved her of her weapon then went for her arm.
She lifted her arm away and neatly sidestepped him, throwing the mother frakker a menacing glare, “Thanks. But I think I know the way.” I know it all too well.
The marine looked back and visually checked with Adama once more. The Old Man nodded again. Lee looked away from everyone, visibly agitated, at the end of his rope with his father and the situation. The marine didn’t reach for her another time, but stepped behind her.
Kara found herself immediately flanked and proceeded by all four of them, black uniforms rustling and slick helmets reflecting the light.
She clenched her fists as they neared the Admiral, speaking as clearly as her tight throat would allow.
“At the Nebula, we’ll lose the Pyxis, the Zephyr will sustain heavy missile damage, and the Astral Queen will have her hull breached,” Kara stared into his face and bit it out as she passed him, “Good luck.”
His expression flickered. Pain? Doubt? She certainly hoped so.
Kara shot one last look at Lee over her shoulder.
He was standing still, breathing hard and watching her with a tormented, conflicted expression.
In Kara’s mind, Lee had always been a study in contrasts. She could see how hard he was fighting right now to reconcile the soldier with the strategist. A part of him wanted to draw his sidearm and fight, consequences be damned. The other wanted to retreat, find the better way, avoid bloodshed.
Kara faced front, helpless. She had inner battles of her own.
__________________________________________
Kara spent an endless night and a day, alone in the brig, before the ship spooled up for the final jump. Her hands wrapped tightly around the cool metal bars as the jump sucked them all in and spit them out at the Nebula.
She looked over at the guard, sitting stoically at a low table with a crossword laid out before him.
“I think this is where I came in,” she said for no reason in particular. He just glanced at her and went back to his crossword, shaking his head.
“The last time, I mean, ” she continued perversely. Now he didn’t even bother looking up.
She smirked and shoved off from the bars, crossing her arms, biting her thumbnail. She’d just paced the length of her cell for the eleventh time when the lights went out.
Chapter Six