The Prodigal Saga: The Escapee

Chapter 2: Now Do You Trust Me?

(Wesley POV)

"She is so unpredictable!" I said, watching Hudson go and leaning on the main mast. Jeff smacked me in the head.

"Idiot, she's a girl!" Jeff growled.

"So?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Jeff rolled his eyes.

"Vati!" he shouted to his sister, nodding her over and whispering something to her. Vati nodded and proceeded to copy her brother in smacking me upside the head.

"Moron! She goes from angry, to emotional to stone cold -" she started.

"Actually, she went from stone cold, to angry, to emotional." I corrected.

"Shut the fuck up. The point is, she's having mood swings."

"She's pregnant!? Who the hell did she fuck!?" I demanded.

"No...Mother Nature decided to pay her a visit." Vati said simply, handing me a tampon.

"Why do I need...oh...she's PMSing?" I asked.

"Gee? That explains it. She's probably just finished it. That's what I get when it's my time of the month. Crampy, then hungry and bloated and when I'm done every little thing sets me off." Vati cocked her hip and rolled her eyes. "And being away from her family should be triggering the mood swings, even if it's not PMS. Now, how about you stop being a total ass for ten minutes and go see if she's ok! You know her better than we do!" I huffed.

"If I do, will it shut you up?" I asked.

"YES!" Parvati growled.

"Ok, fine!" I went over to her cabin and stared at the closed door, before hesitantly knocking.

"FUCK OFF!" Hudson half shouted, half cried. I started to turn around, only for Vati to glare at me.

"Go!" she spat. I sighed.

"Ok, I'll try again!" I knocked again.

"What!?" Hudson spat.

"Hudson, let me in." I demanded. I heard a thud and could tell she threw a pillow or one of her bears at the door.

"Piss off, Carter, I don't need your bullshit." Hudson spat. I huffed and grabbed the knob, jiggling it. It was locked.

"God damn it, Hudson, open this door, Merideth! That's an order!" I smashed my shoulder into it.

"You're not my Captain!" she screamed at me. I huffed, looking around and finding she had dropped a bobby pin.

"Beautiful." I grabbed it and shoved it into the lock, picking it until it clicked. I smirked and opened the door, finding Hudson laying dramatically on her bed. She shot up and glared at me.

"How the fuck did -!?" she started. I tossed the bobby pin onto her dresser.

"You dropped that. You're dealing with a street rat, I know how to pick a lock with essentially anything that can fit in your ear." I smirked before stepping towards her. "But that's not the point."

"What do you want, Carter? If you're hear to be an ass, just go be an ass somewhere else, please?" that was the first time she had said please to me without being sarcastic. I went over and knelt beside her.

"I wanted to know if you were ok." I said. Hudson looked at me with eyebrows raised.

"What?" she asked.

"I want to know...are you ok?" Hudson looked to the wall.

"I'm fine." she whispered, her voice wavering. I got up and sat beside her.

"No, you're not." I said, looking down at her.

"I'm ok, Carter." she lied. I almost grinned. She was so vulnerable. Maybe I could finally get her to trust me. I wrapped an arm around her.

Little did I know the effect that made. She turned instantly into my shoulder and sobbed, her fist clenching a piece of my shirt. I absent mindedly rubbed her arm. "I'm sorry." she whispered. "It's just...this is the longest I've been away from my family and...I don't know what to believe anymore. For all I know, they could be..." she shuddered, gulping for air. "I can't even say it."

Dead. I knew that. But I knew Issacs, he wouldn't kill them until Merideth had gone to help them. He wanted her, not them. I brushed hair from her face. "He won't touch them. Not unless you go for them. And alone, let's face it, you have zero chance."

"I have no choice." she sobbed. "I have to go alone." another piece of hair fell into her face and I tucked it behind her ear.

"No, you don't." I said, gathering my courage. "I was being a coward, thinking of the risk to my mother and sister. But I gave you my word in Bath, and I am a man of my word. I'll help you get your family back."

Suddenly, she tackled me, her head in my chest, her hair in my face as her arms wrapped around me. Had she been stronger, she could have crushed me easily, but she was a girl, nothing compared to me.

"Thank you." was all she whispered as I eased her off me, letting her lay her head on my shoulder. I smiled down at her and ran my fingers through her hair, knotted from the wind and still wet from the rain and her tears.

"Now do you trust me?" I asked. The last of her tears fell down her cheeks and into my shirt. She looked me in the eye for a minute and I took the time to notice. Her eyes were rounded, but almond shaped, large, blue mixed with green...they were the colour of sea water. Eyes that lived up to her destiny. She laid on my shoulder again and smiled.

"Yes." she whispered. I smirked and stroked her hair out of her face, running it through my fingers absent minded. The next time I had seen her, her eyes were closed, her breathing deep. She was sound asleep. I grinned and stayed with her as the door opened, revealing Jeff, who stared at me.

"What are you doing?!" I glared at him.

"Will you shut up? I just got the Prodigal to fall asleep." I smirked down at her and brushed her hair back again. Jeff leaned against the doorframe.

"You love the little shriek." he stated. I growled.

"Fuck off." I snapped as one of Jeff's rats ran over to the bed, climbing up and laying on Merideth's stomach. Her dog ran in, knocking Jeff over and laying at her feet.

"I think Stevie there likes her." Jeff grinned, turning to me. "And I know you do. Gonna try hitting it?" I threw a knife at him, which he dodged.

"No! She's a fucking child!" I rolled my eyes.

"Need I remind you she has a destiny. Didn't Daniel tell you that?" I snarled.

"Don't talk to me about him." I said, slowly moving myself away from the girl and drawing a blanket over her. "All he wants is that necklace, he doesn't care if he has to kill her for it."

"And what about what you have to do?"  Jeff asked. I turned around and steered him away from the cabin.

"I'm bailing. He's only out for her blood. And I'm not letting him get it." I snarled. "Even if it kills me."

"But your name -" I smacked him.

"Don't you get it!? He's holding my freedom and my father's whereabouts over my head! And now that I have my family back, I don't need him to help find my father." I smirked. "I'm not going through with it. The necklace and crown stays where they are. That's final."