incarceration //phan

eight

PJ
For the past three days, PJ felt his body no longer relied on blood and oxygen, he was nothing more than a bundle of nerves and the walking-talking embodiment of pure fear.

He'd managed to put the urges of rushing to the nearest officer and pleading innocence out of his mind (mostly by throwing his ankle against whatever hard surface was near him every time he thought about it - he'd learnt it was a stupid but effective method of self-restraint).

Over and over again he tried to persuade himself that Dan was right - that he was an accomplice in a murder, he deserved some form of punishment. But he didn't deserve this. The trial was in a months time, and his life sentence was resting in the hands of a guy who, as far as he knew, hated his guts.

He wasn't stupid enough to turn in Marcus, Alfie and Cat alongside himself. Heaven knows what Alfie would do to Phil and Connor - and Dan too for that matter.

It seemed to be the best option for the majority of people: Phil and Connor could figure out how they'd get back to Dan, and Dan could try to turn turn the rest of them in; and preferably in that order.

"Doesn't look like the psycho type." he heard an officer speak outside of his holding cell, the man was talking about him presumably. But he wouldn't know, the place he'd found himself stuck in had restrained his ability, not wanting him to 'peer around heads and get too many ideas' - which PJ saw as fair enough considering what he was here for.

"Half of them never do - that's half the reason they're never suspects in these sorts of cases." a female replied.

"But he confessed, so he's either: deluded, has a very unforgiving conscience, or plain innocent."

"I'd like to think the latter, but it's barely ever the case - have you run any sorts of tests to look into his thought processes? To see why he felt the need to turn himself in?" she asked.

"They'll be done within the next few days - the kid looks pretty shaken up at the moment, so we're giving him space to calm himself before we investigate. They never react properly if they're in shock - thoughts vary so widely they become inconclusive."

"I see."

PJ felt his stomach drop - tests? The last thing he wanted was for his plan to be over before it even began; that'd make things worse than they were before. PJ never really understood why people had such an aversion to what he could do, but in that moment he'd realised just how intimidating it was. He vowed there and then to stop invading people's head spaces so often; he then proceeded to laugh at himself, knowing that wouldn't happen, old habits die hard.

"PJ!" he was immediately brought out of his thoughts as the woman shrieked and shut the door behind her as she entered the room.

"Erm, who are -"

"You absolute twit." she began to rant, forming her words so quickly PJ struggled to process them. "I came here for a calm conversation but that isn't gonna happen. Why would you turn yourself in for something you didn't even do - who the fuck does that? Have you lost your mind? I swear if my power wasn't switched I'd fucking freeze your head right now!"

"Woah, woah, woah - I'm talking to Dan, aren't I?" PJ took a shot in the dark and guessed, hoping he was right as another round of interrogative questions wasn't something he felt in the mood for.

"Yes, it's Dan - wait, how did you know?"

"Helen Parker, according that incredibly realistic ID badge, has began to grow a good few inches in the last few minutes."