Lost and Found

10

Desmond had finally caved, and given Ben the last address he'd known of, for them to find Penny. Ben warned him that if he lied, he'd come back and kill the both of them, without question.
He then threw Elyse back in the cage with Desmond and quickly made his way out of their vicinity, along with his black-haired accomplice.

Elyse sat on the ground in shock, unsure whether she felt more relieved to be alive, or more betrayed by Desmond.
He began approaching her slowly, like she was a wounded dog, and placed his large hands on each side of her face. She winced back slightly at his touch.

"Elyse, I'm sorry. I never meant for them to hurt you, I didn't think the bastard meant it."

He pleaded, searching her eyes rapidly for a reaction, though she gave none. She was just numb it seemed.

"It doesn't matter. I'm glad you decided to save my life one way or another."

She said, emotionless and still, while she fought the urge to lean into his touch for comfort.

"Listen, we have to go, now. This is our only chance. Before he gets back to the buildin' with the monitors. We've gotta head start."

He explained urgently, before looking up at the gap at the top of the cage that Elyse had almost climbed out of earlier.

She looked at him in confusion for a moment, feeling shocked that he was be willing to leave after he'd just told them Penny's address. She wondered if it was a fake...
She quickly decided she would ask him later if they made it out, just in case someone was watching the camera now.

She then nodded lightly and stood to her feet, brushing past him to begin climbing up the side of the bars, the way she had before. She felt his warm hands on her hips and she fought the instinctive feeling of comfort they brought.

"I've got it."

She said coldly, knowing it wasn't the time to be stubborn, though she couldn't help herself.

"Are ya sure?"

He asked, then proceeded to remove the pressure of his hold, with his hands still up by her waist, ready to assist in a moments notice.

She ignored him and grunted as she worked her way up to the top, feeling proud of herself when she made it without Desmond's help, and then squeezed herself through the opening. She felt secretly grateful when it was bigger than it looked, so she knew he would be able to fit too.

She then began climbing down the outside while Desmond climbed up himself, grunting while he fought to squeeze through the opening at the top. Just as Elyse's feet hit the ground, he climbed down to join her.

"Ya ready to run?"

He asked her with a bit of mischief in his tone. She would be lying if she said the adrenaline wasn't causing her to feel a bit of excitement as well.

She bit her lip to try and fight the smile that was forming, and took off sprinting as fast as she could, leaving Desmond behind her while she laughed aloud.

"Now you're just showin off!"

He shouted from behind her, and began running himself.

Elyse was never a very active person, in fact, she hated running usually, so it was no surprise when Desmond quickly caught up to her, and passed her, with a giddy laugh.

They ran through the jungle as fast as they could, until they felt they'd gotten far enough to safely take a walking break.

Desmond turned around to wait for Elyse to catch up, both of them panting out of breath and covered in sweat. Elyse cursed her brain for finding Desmond so utterly attractive in every state, even when he was sweaty, beaten, and out of breath; Even when he'd almost had her shot to save his ex girlfriend.