Chapter Text
Dean
Anthony Webber was gone. He’d said he was late for his shift.
He’d left Dean all alone, tied up and gagged in this cabin.
The brand on his thigh was killing him. It burned like fire on his skin. He felt like all those women his father had killed all those years ago. The spectator always becomes the victim in the end.
He might die if nobody finds him soon. Two parts of his father’s MO had been completed already.
He’d been tied up.
He’d been branded.
Next was the cutting – the part his father especially loved making Dean watch. He’d relished in forcing his young son to watch him purposefully create deep wounds in his victims. The blood would always make Dean sick, which his father would get off on.
And then the hanging.
Dean needed to get out of here before Anthony hung him. He needed to survive so that Anthony didn’t go after anyone else in the program. He could only imagine what he’d do to Cassie if he got his hands on her.
~~~~
Michael
Michael Townsend knew from a young age that his father was a monster.
While he wasn’t a serial killer like Dean’s, he was still no better. Michael can still recall the many nights he’d spent crying in bed after being subjected to a beating by his father.
He didn’t want to be that boy again, so he developed an ability to figure out what emotions a person could be experiencing. At least he’d be able to get away from his father if he could tell when he was upset.
And if it weren’t possible, then Michael would intentionally provoke his father to induce a beating. It was better to know when he was being beaten than to not know and be unprepared in the moment.
This program had saved his life. After his father had traded him in for immunity against his crimes, Michael finally felt like he could breathe. He hadn’t had any siblings growing up. He felt glad that he didn’t, because he would’ve hated to see them be subjected to the abuse he’d faced.
To him, this program was more like his family than the one he was born into. Biology didn’t matter to Michael Townsend when it regarded the people in this program.
But now, someone in their family had been taken. He may not always get along with Dean Redding, but he’d never wish for him to be in danger – especially when it may be about his father. Michael knew all too well about dangerous fathers.
“What’s on your mind, Michael?” Sloane asked. Ever since Lia and Cassie had gone to the prison to see Dean’s father, it had been just him and Sloane. Judd was presumably downstairs.
Michael shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
Michael sighed. While she wasn’t a lie detector like Lia, there was no point in lying to Sloane.
“I’m worried about him.”
“Dean?” Sloane sat beside him on the bed. “I’m surprised. You don’t seem to get along with him.”
“Well, that is obvious.” Michael responded, a light chuckle following. “But that doesn’t mean I hate him, Sloane.”
“Well, what do you feel towards him?”
Michael shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Not possible.”
“Sloane, please.”
Sloane then suddenly wrapped an arm around Michael, tightly squeezing him.
“There are fourteen variations of hugs,” Sloane said, brushing back Michael’s hair. “This is one of them.”
“I swore you’ve said that before.”
“Yeah, to Cassie.” Sloane tilted her head to the side, flashing him a smile. “But you need a hug, too. I know, deep down in your heart, you love Dean.”
“I don’t-”
“You just don’t know how to express it, which is ironic for an emotion reader.” Sloane chuckled. “You can accurately analyse our emotions but can’t even properly express your own.”
“You have a point, Sloane.” Michael shrugged. “I just struggle because of my… dad, I suppose?”
“Your dad?”
“I learned to read emotions so I could figure out when he was angry.”
“Why?”
Should he really tell her? He didn’t enjoy bringing up his homelife to anyone. He used his humour as a shield against those who may be curious about his and his father’s relationship. Nobody ever suspected anything when you were the one who always seemed okay.
“My dad hits me, Sloane.” Michael quipped. “He couldn’t control his temper. He took it out on me when he was angry. I had to learn to read emotions just so I could survive. I even got expelled from my school just so I could go to boarding school – just so I could be away from him.”
“And you’re here now?”
Michael nodded. “I know me and Dean are at odds most of the time, but I would never wish for him to be in a terrible situation. Why would I do that, when I’d been through it before? All of us, even.”
“We all just differ regarding the situation.”
“Exactly.” Michael sighed. “We can’t just sit here, Sloane. I know Cassie and Lia are going to the prison to speak to Dean’s father, but I can’t sit here much longer, wondering if they’ll even get an answer from him.”
“Are you subtly suggesting that I hack the FBI again?”
“What?”
Sloane slapped his shoulder. “People who say ‘what?’ often hear what the person said, Michael.”
“Okay?”
“I said that you wanted me to hack the FBI but didn’t want to outright say it. I’m guessing it’s because you think we’ll get in trouble for it… again.”
“Do you want to hack the FBI?”
“Does a cloud weigh around a million tonnes?”
Michael shook his head. “Um… yes?”
“Then there’s your answer.” Sloane got up off the bed. “Now, go get me Judd’s laptop. He confiscated mine last time we hacked the FBI.”
~~~~
Cassie
“May I ask why you’re asking to speak to Daniel Redding?”
Cassie watched as Briggs rolled his eyes at the question. Despite having obtained permission to interview Daniel Redding, this prison guard was not letting them pass through, thus wasting their time. Cassie wasn't able to determine if it was intentional or not on the guard's part.
“It’s about his son,” Briggs explained for what felt like the hundredth time. “We have reason to believe that his son is in danger, Mr...?”
"Webber. Anthony Webber."
"Right. Mr. Webber, his son may be in danger, and we'd like to talk to him about it."
“You believe? Or are you certain that he’s in danger?”
“Oh goodness, can’t you get the picture?” Lia chimed in, clearly frustrated. “We want to speak to Daniel Redding. We’re not asking to see the president.”
“Lia!” Cassie snapped. “You can’t say that!”
“Well, I did, Cassie. What are you going to do about it?”
“Enough. I was informed that you’ll be here to speak to Mr. Redding. I’m concerned about why his son is involved in it, though.”
Okay, Cassie didn’t like Anthony Webber at all.
She didn’t like how his eyes always seemed to linger towards her.
How he seemed particularly interested in Agent Sterling. While Cassie was aware that she’d been a victim of Dean’s father that had escaped with Dean’s aid, she wasn’t certain if this guard knew, too.
And she especially didn’t like how harsh he was being towards them. He especially hated Lia and Briggs, though neither of them cared how he felt. They were here to see Dean’s father and Christopher Simms, too. This guard’s opinion was not relevant at all.
“And as I said, his son may be in danger. I have obtained permission to speak to Mr. Redding. If you have a problem with it, then you’re free to bring it up to your supervisor.” Briggs affirmed, his tone sounding harsh. He clearly didn’t want to waste any more time that they may have left. Lia’s words had clearly stuck with him, and Cassie was glad that they had.
“Sir-”
“As my colleague said, we’re here to see Daniel Redding. We’ve obtained permission. Now, if you could let us through to see him, that would be greatly appreciated.” Sterling cut in. Cassie noticed how Webber didn’t like being talked down by her. He clearly didn’t like how Sterling was in the FBI – a position of power over him. She made a mental note to ask Sloane if she could find information on him later.
Webber scrunched up his nose at her and groaned. “Fine. Follow me.”
Cassie didn’t like how his eyes raked over her before he snapped his attention away from her, focusing on Briggs this time.
Yeah, she’ll be asking Sloane to research his background when they get back to the house.
~~~~
Lia
Lia knew that look all too well.
She saw how Webber had looked at Cassie. She didn’t need to be a profiler to know how creepy he seemed. She may be regarded as a human lie detector, but she was also a person who’d grown up around despicable human beings.
The cult leader from the cult she’d grown up in, as an example. He’d been a creep who’d done awful things to her, and then gave her presents to shut her up. Lia could smell a creep from a mile away, and Anthony Webber raised enough red flags in her mind.
So, as they were standing at the two-way mirror, waiting for the interview between Briggs and Daniel Redding to start, Lia had grabbed Cassie’s arm, pulling her in close enough so that Sterling didn’t hear.
“What, Lia?” Cassie asked, clearly confused. Lia didn’t blame her.
“Are you okay?”
“What?”
“Listen, I’m not an idiot, Cassie. I saw how he was looking at you.”
“Webber?”
Lia nodded. “I don’t need to be a profiler, or an emotion reader to see that you were uncomfortable by it. Do I need to go cause an “accident” that will result in his death? I’ll even recruit Michael for it.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry, Cassie. I can assure you we won’t argue the entire time.”
“No, Lia. You don’t need to do anything.” Cassie shook her head, much to Lia’s chagrin. “I can assure you that I’m fine. He’s a creep, but we don’t need to be focusing on him right now.”
“Really?”
“Yes. We need to focus on finding Dean. Putting all our resources into killing a weird prison guard will not get us anywhere in finding Dean.”
Lia rolled her eyes. “Ugh, such a shame.”
“Why?” Cassie asked.
Lia smirked and nudged Cassie’s arm. “I was really looking forward to killing a man again. My murderous urges suddenly came back when I saw him looking at you.”
“Would you really kill a man for me?”
Lia shrugged. “I would kill anyone who hurts any of us. You’re not the exception, Cassie.”
Not a complete truth. While she would kill for anyone who harmed those in the program (especially Dean), she wouldn’t even hesitate if someone looked at Cassie the wrong way. Cassie clearly made Dean happy. And she was determined to bring Dean back home. Anyone who even tries to hurt Cassie would be immediately put on Lia’s kill list. She would go just right in for the kill and not regret it.
And Anthony Webber had already made his debut on it the moment he laid his creepy eyes on Cassie.
Too bad Cassie was against killing him because of Dean.
“Okay, maybe I lied.” Lia suddenly blurted. She was meant to be focusing on the interview, but she was too focused on Cassie. “You’re the exception because you do make Dean happy. I would kill anyone who hurts Sloane and Michael, but those murders would be meticulously planned. Anyone who hurts you or Dean would be slaughtered on sight.”
“Really?” Cassie didn’t seem to believe her, but Lia didn’t blame her for it. She was an expert in the art of lying, after all. It made sense that Cassie, whom she gotten off on the wrong foot before, wouldn’t fully believe her.
But Lia was being honest this time. Though she was an expert in telling lies, her ability was also to detect them. She wouldn’t lie to Cassie about Dean. She could lie about a lot of things, but Dean wasn’t one of them.
She also wouldn’t lie about killing a man. She’d done it before, and she would gladly do it again to that creep who’d been watching Cassie.
Heck, there was something about that prison guard that made all the alarm bells in Lia’s mind go off. She may not be a profiler, but there was something about his personality that freaked her out.
He was guilty of something, even if Lia didn’t fully know what it was.
~~~~
Dean
Cassie?
Cassie.
I need to see Cassie.
Please don’t let him find Cassie.