Bring The Heat

11. Double Edged Retribution

On her way back down the hall to her room, Wren noticed something on the floor. Getting closer, she saw that it was the apology note that Dominic had written for her. She was fully content to ignore it at first, but... she looked over her shoulder. Nobody was there. Cece was busy welding, Rebound was probably cleaning up, and BM was probably ushering Tenson and Mariah away from the TV, and into bed.

So Wren crouched down and picked up the note. It read:

'Hey Wren.

I don't really know you, so I'm sorry if you don't like me using your name.

I can't imagine how scary it must be knowing that the people you care about nearly died, let alone that the danger was still living in the same building as you. I want to apologize for that, but Best Man told me I need to stay here so that he can keep an eye on my recovery process, so unfortunately I do have to stay.

All of your friends are apologizing to me on your behalf, and saying that you'll come around. I imagine that they're urging you to do so? I just want you to know you're not crazy. Don't feel the need to 'come around' because your situation is definitely a difficult one.

I'm new here, and if I'm being honest, I was mostly thrust into this. It's all very confusing, and I'm still not too sure what's going on. And I'm sorry if I've overstepped a boundary or two, but I've been told about how you're new too, and not just to here. So, though you may well not be, if you're feeling overwhelmed or confused like I am, just know you aren't alone in that regard.

I hope this letter finds you well, and if it doesn't, feel free to tear it or burn it. Thanks for hearing me out.

Dominic'

For this whole ordeal, Wren had felt angry, and afraid. But now... she thought about it, and she was obviously worried about her friends, but... she was afraid because she didn't know what was going on. She was thrust into a world full of so much different stuff, and she kept being told that everything that was happening to her was strange, and different, but it was all she knew, and that felt wrong. Wren began to cry again. She didn't want to be someone with missing parts...

And so she cried, and cried harder, and sobbed, and fell to her knees, and broke down right there in the hallway. She managed to pull herself into her room, where she laid on the floor in a fetal position. She wasn't just afraid, she was fucking terrified, and everyone was treating her so normally. And she thought about how in all the movies, people would run to their families in times like these, and then she thought about how she didn't have one, so she cried harder.

If she looked into a mirror, she knew it was herself - but just like she had thought upon seeing her reflection when she had first woken up, she still saw another girl. Wren had never watched the girl in the mirror grow up. She was robbed of her past, and all the time she had spent making it, and it meant nothing to her. And now, in her present, she was winging it; following people, getting into their cars, fighting other people, hunting down bad people - she had no idea if that was even something she should be doing. She hadn't even been given a time before all of this responsibility. It all felt so heavy, bearing down on her...

-(DOMINIC)-

Dominic creeped back down the hall. He had left his letter on the ground. He cursed to himself. Was he trying to leave some cruel reminder of himself for Wren? He found that he was, after everything, unable to trust himself.

But it wasn't there anymore. Instead, he heard loud, distraught crying coming from Wren's room... should he go and check on her? Maybe she didn't want to see him... but if it was his letter making her cry, maybe he should? And why was he still standing here, thinking about how to avoid an altercation as he let someone cry alone in the other room? Dominic stepped up to the door to knock, but it slid open automatically.

Wren didn't even try to act like she wasn't crying. Nobody could pull that off convincingly. And seeing Dominic... she wasn't angry anymore, she was too tired to be. She didn't want to be. She just wanted to be normal.

Dominic rushed to her side, desperately trying to think of soothing words for her. But she just laid there, falling apart like a soft little dandelion in a wind far too strong for it. And she was clutching his letter...

So he laid down next to her. He curled up into a ball on the floor, his back against Wren's. He wasn't crying, but he just let his arms and her presence warm him up in this cold new world. Wren did the same.

They laid there together, not a word spoken. Dominic felt Wren stop convulsing with tears, and still laid there with her for a bit longer. Eventually, he felt her roll over, and so he did too, and they came eye to eye.

Dominic stared at her, her small, scared little face, her deep, blue eyes, and her dark blonde hair cascading to the floor like waterfalls of liquid gold. Wren stared back at Dominic, and the long, spindly black lines running across his face like cracks, originating from much bigger, pure black burn scars in the shape of flames on his neck. His eyes were a flat grey, and they looked tired and withered. Thick locks of black hair hit the ground like a dying plant, withered like the rest of him.

Looking at each other, they both felt a strange connection.

"Can you... help me to bed?" she asked, but the words seemed so far away from her mouth.

"Yeah. Of course." Dominic replied warmly.

And then he didn't, not for a while at least. They laid there for even longer, and neither seemed to notice. Eventually, though, he did get up, and helped a very weak, tired Wren to her bed. As he left the room, he said goodnight, but got no response. He just smiled softly and walked away.

Wren didn't want to respond. She felt it would be insulting; she couldn't find it in her to apologize for how she had treated him. But she no longer felt any malice towards Dominic - whether or not he was at fault for what had happened, he was the only one who understood her.

And she was the only one who understood him.