So Belle sat on the bed while I stared out the window.
"I heard about what you did back at the clubhouse," I said, not really expecting her to respond to me, but too overflowing with nervous energy to stay silent. "McCoy said you were pretty impressive."
"He seems sweet."
"McCoy?"
"Arty," she corrected. "He couldn't defend himself. It reminded me of myself a couple weeks ago."
"Oh, Belle..."
"But I'm stronger now."
"I noticed. Alaric said you're a really good shot. And he's like the best of the best, according to McCoy. I don't know why, though," I admitted. "He was a male stripper before."
"Just a hobby he's good at," Belle explained. "Like Che with cars."
"You like the guys, right?" I asked. "I know I haven't really asked you if it was okay that we stay at the clubhouse."
"There really wasn't much of a choice."
"That's true," I agreed.
"And yeah. I like all of them. They don't make me feel so weak."
"There's nothing weak about you, Belle."
"Not anymore," she agreed, making my belly twist. Because there was something very final about her tone, like the version of Belle that used to exist was gone for good.
"It's okay to be weak sometimes," I told her, but she completely ignored me. And with nowhere else to take that conversation, it fell away, fell into something I could say for sure had never existed between my sister and I before. Awkward silence.
When all this was finally over, I had to work on our relationship. The idea of that didn't sit right with me since our relationship and never required actual work before. We'd always just gotten each other and gotten along. But things had changed. And it was time for me to stop hoping the old Belle would come back, and learn how to relate to the new one instead.
Eventually, since she didn't have a significant other to fret about, Belle curled up against the wall and passed out. From the sounds of the house, the kids and their moms had fallen asleep too. I couldn't imagine being able to sleep when my man was out there doing something dangerous. Then again, I wasn't a mom with several little ones sucking all the energy out of me all day, either.
After a while, the walls started to feel like they were closing in on me, and I decided to tiptoe out into the kitchen to grab some snacks to stress eat until I heard from McCoy.
I'd just grabbed the door handle when I heard a voice.
At first, I thought it might be Teddy taking a personal call, so I didn't move out right away, not wanting to eavesdrop.
But after a second, I realized it wasn't Teddy at all.
It was Joss.
In the room next to ours.
On the phone?
Who would he be on the phone with?
Something just... didn't feel right.
I couldn't put my finger on it if you asked me outright what it was, but there was just a knot in my stomach as I heard the muffled sounds of his voice.
It was a strong enough sensation that I stepped silently into the bathroom that butted up against Joss's room, climbing into the tub to press my ear to the wall, shamelessly eavesdropping on him.
"No. No, I didn't. No, don't hurt her!" he said, making my stomach drop.
Betty.
He was talking about Betty.
Which meant he had to be talking to Anton, the guy who'd taken Belle, who currently had Betty.
I figured by now that maybe the Henchmen would have found them, would have already saved Betty and killed the bastards who'd taken her.
I guess I'd been too optimistic.
Because Joss was on the phone with his sister's kidnappers, begging them to have some mercy. After hearing what they'd done to Belle, I wasn't sure they understood the meaning of that word.
"No, I'm coming. I'm coming," Joss said, and before I could even climb out of the tub, I heard the bedroom door open and close.
"Shit," I hissed, rushing out of the bathroom, not having a clue what I was supposed to do in this sort of situation.
I figured that nothing wasn't an option, so I rushed through my room, breaking into the living room, ready to call and warn Eddie. But then I heard one slam, followed by a crash.
Not really thinking aside from wanting to see what was going on, I ran across the living room, finding Eddie sprawled on the ground in the hallway, a bloody cut to his temple.
"Teddy!" I yelled, after checking Eddie's pulse.
"What's... shit... what...Shy!" Teddy yelled after I checked to make sure Eddie was breathing, and just... ran.
I ran.
Following the path Joss had taken, going down the stairs, doing my damndest not to fall and face plant as I tried to call out his name despite my breath getting more and more labored by the second.
What the hell was I doing?
I was not a 'chase after the guy on a suicide mission' kind of woman. I had no weapon, no training, and no idea what the hell I could even do if I caught up to Joss by some miracle. Try to reason with him? Would anyone have been able to reason with me if this was Belle?
No.
No, of course not.
So my best option was to stay up in Teddy's apartment where I would be safe. And wait for McCoy.
What if something happened to them? What if that was why Anton had called Joss?
My heart ached in my chest, and it was impossible to tell if it was from being out of breath, or from the idea that something might have happened to McCoy and the others.
But why else would Anton be calling, right?
Joss still had time to kill the Henchmen like he'd been ordered to do. So why would Anton call? Unless he knew that Joss had betrayed them. Because he'd seen the Henchmen coming, and had taken them out.
"No," the sound escaped me without really intending to say it. It was a raw, pained noise as I broke onto the street, leaning forward, resting my hands on my thighs, trying to draw a couple deep breaths to ease the tightness in my chest and the negative thoughts in my head.
"Two for one," a chillingly familiar voice said.
I just had enough time to turn my head to see Anton standing there next to a car where Joss was knocked out in the backseat of, before the bat swung... and I didn't know anything else for an untold amount of time.
The pain was what I was aware of first.
There was a slamming behind my eyes that was just slightly overshadowed by the screaming in my temple.
Disorientation had me not remembering what had happened for a long moment, leaving me to curl in on myself, rocking to try to cope with the piercing pain in my skull.
I'd had exactly two migraines in my entire life. They had me hiding in a dark room, whimpering, and praying one of the over-the-counter pain pills I'd taken would at the very least take the edge off.
That pain was nothing compared to this.
A whimper escaped me as I pulled up my arms, pressing my palms into my eyes, finding the smallest bit of relief in the pressure.
Another whimper escaped me as a bit of nausea rose up my throat.
"Shh," a voice said, making me stiffen as the world came back to me in a rush.
Teddy's penthouse. Not sleeping. Hearing Joss. Eddie being knocked out. Joss gone. The chase. Seeing Joss in the car, knocked out.
Then getting knocked out myself.