Bad Blood ~Rewrite~

Ten

Voices faded in and out of existence as Caitlyn tried to understand what was going on around her. She couldn't feel anything, couldn't see anything, and she couldn't even tell if she was actively breathing or not. Everything was numb, especially her heart, and she knew that she wanted nothing more than to face away.

The voices began to grow louder, but she still couldn't make out what they were saying. She tried to move, tried to open her eyes, but nothing was working.

A name echoed in her mind as a deep British accent sounded in her ears.

"When is she going to wake up?" Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as it faded out once again. She willed herself to focus, begging herself to hear the conversation around her. She felt something suddenly grip her hand, causing her to jump slightly at the sudden sensation.

"Caitlyn?" A familiar voice spoke out. "Can you hear me?"

Leave me alone... Just let me die.

The voice sounded again, "Caitlyn? If you can hear me, try to open your eyes."

A sudden light blinded her and she felt herself turn away suddenly. Her eyes fluttered open and she felt dizzy. She looked up and let out a soft groan, not recognizing where she was.

"Caitlyn?" A voice sounded beside her. She looked over quickly and froze when she saw her brother sitting beside her. He stared at her desperately as a swarm of emotions filled her chest. She tried to understand where she was, why she was with her brother, and where Nick was before the sudden realization hit her. "Are you okay?" She looked back at her brother suddenly, realizing that they weren't alone. She glanced around the room noticing that Grant stood beside her on the other side of the bed while Thomas and Urie stood at the end.

"What happened?" She muttered, falling back into her pillow. A dull ache spread through her body, causing her to groan softly. Maybe it was all just a bad dream.

"We'll give you a minute," Urie muttered, gesturing for Thomas and Grant to follow him out. The three men left quickly and Caitlyn looked back to her brother. She didn't have the strength to fight him, but for some reason, she felt herself silently begging for him to stay with her.

"Caity-" he stopped and cleared his throat. "Caitlyn, you were shot," he said softly. He fidgeted with his hands nervously as he looked down at the ground. "Do you remember anything?" Caitlyn felt a tear slip down her cheek as the memory replayed in her mind.

"Nick..." she muttered. "Y-you were right about him. He tried to kill me..." she took in a deep breath and stared at the ceiling, begging her tears not to fall.

"I'm so sorry, Caitlyn," Dylan sobbed suddenly. "I-if I didn't tell you... If I had kept him away from you." She shook his head suddenly and took in a shaking breath. "I-if I never left..." he buried his face in his hands as Caitlyn stared at him silently. She reached over and put her hand gently on his shoulder, causing him to look up quickly.

"W-why did you leave?" She begged, trying to understand.

"I had to," he muttered. "I really did leave to keep you safe. Depp is a very powerful man. He gathers information on powerful people and uses it to blackmail them for his own needs. When that doesn't work, he kidnaps someone close to them. He's a lying murderer, and a few years ago, I met him in California. He offered me a way to get Allen out of our lives forever," he muttered. "He promised that if I came to New York and worked for him, he would protect you, Mom, and Julia from him... he didn't give me a choice. He made me leave that night with him and never let me look back. I didn't realize it was a lie until it was too late and I have regretted it every damn day...

"It's all my fault you got dragged into this, and I'm sorry... I was sick of doing Depp's dirty work... we all were. So last year, I decided to end things... I rallied an alliance against Depp and we tried fighting against him... we tried to take him down." Dylan sighed and shook his head.

"What happened?" She whispered.

"A lot of our people died. Some people defected and went to Depp's side fully... some people were already on his side, feeding him information about us. Nick was a part of the alliance when we started. We had no idea he was Depp's nephew. He sold out all of our plans, got a bunch of people killed, and..." Dylan cleared his throat and looked down at the floor. "H-he killed Holland," he muttered. "He killed the woman I loved... and then he disappeared. He went after you to get back at me..." Caitlyn sat up and pulled her brother into a hug, feeling tears stream down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," her voice cracked as he wrapped his arms around her gently. "I'm so sorry, I was so stupid," she sobbed. Dylan shook his head in response as his tears fell silently.

"No, Caity, you weren't stupid," he whispered. "You didn't know... I tried to keep you out of it so I tried to push you away. I'm so sorry I got you into this mess. I'm sorry I left..."

"You're here now," she whispered. Dylan smiled and took her hand in his own. Soft chatter sounded from the other room and Caitlyn looked over quickly, her brow furrowing in confusion as she glanced around at the concrete walls. "Where are we?" She muttered softly.

"This is our hideout," Dylan wrote softly. "It's an abandoned underground warehouse on the edge of town... we meet here every day after work to share any intel we gain on Nick or Depp and we hide here whenever things get really bad..."

"Who's we?" She asked, resting her hand over her stomach as she rested against the pillow.

"The remainder of the alliance," he said softly. "So pretty much just the people from our floor and a few others... the team is pretty wiped out." A soft knock sounded at the door and they both looked over quickly. Caitlyn smiled softly when she saw Luke standing at the door.

"Dylan," he said softly, looking down at the floor. "Urie's asking for you." Dylan just nodded softly in response and looked back to his sister.

"I'll be back in a minute," he mumbled, standing up and heading to the door. Luke watched as he walked away before turning back to Caitlyn.

"How do you feel?" He asked, walking over and sitting beside her.

"Like shit," she admitted. He gave her a sympathetic smile but refused to look up at her. "This is all insane," she muttered quietly. The pain in her stomach was getting worse and she closed her eyes tightly, trying to ignore it.

"I'm sorry about all of this," he muttered.

"You tried telling me about this earlier, didn't you?" She asked, turning to look at him. Luke finally glanced up at her, guilt radiating in his crystal blue eyes. He just nodded softly in response.

"The others found out I tried telling you and wouldn't leave me alone... they didn't even want me to talk to you after that," he admitted.

"Why did you?"

"You seemed like you needed a friend... and I thought you deserved to know the truth before it was too late... they didn't think you'd believe me, but I think they were also worried that Nick had already gotten to you and that you would be on their side." Caitlyn scoffed lightly and looked towards the door, hearing the group arguing in the distance.

"They really think little of me... don't they?" She asked quietly. Luke shook his head quietly in response, looking back at the floor.

"They thought you were dangerous," he muttered. "We could all tell that you're smart, we all knew that you could hold your own... they just worried about what would happen if you were on the other side and the things you could do against us. Thomas was the first to realize how well you can hold your own..." Caitlyn stared at Luke intently, remembering something Dylan had told her right before the incident.

"Luke..." she muttered breathlessly. "Y-your..." she cleared her throat and looked up at the ceiling suddenly. "Did they kidnap your mom because of what you told me?" The man tensed up suddenly, turning to look at Caitlyn. He just nodded his head silently in response. Caitlyn felt a tear slip down her cheek as she reached over and grabbed his hand suddenly. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry... it's there any way we can get her back?" Luke looked down at their hands as tears threatened to fall. He just shook his head in response and let out a bated breath.

"As long as I do whatever Nick or Depp tells me... she'll be okay," he whimpered. "They'll let her go if I complete my tasks..."

"What's your task? Can I help?" He looked at her suddenly and forced a soft smile.

"No," he whispered. "No one can..."