Black Fuel and Bikes

Chapter Four

Warnings: Mentions of violence, abuse.

Shannon's heart thudded in his chest as he opened the door to the office. Talia was in there. He hadn't seen her since that day at her house. One week had gone by. He had tried to call her a couple of times but got no answer.

Shannon leaned against the doorframe, trying to control his breathing. He had to help her. He took a couple of steps forward slowly, not wanting to scare her.

She was lying on the floor, upper body clothes torn, blood running down her nose. She also had strangling marks on her neck and some cum on her face. Her pants seemed to be intact and for that, he was somewhat grateful.

She was looking into the distance, a blank stare in her eyes. He kneeled down, unsure how to approach her. "Talia?" he whispered. She looked up at him, shaking her head. "Talia, let me help you, please..."

"No..." She said firmly but made no move to stand up.

"Talia..."

"Don't touch me! Please..." She said.

Shannon didn't know what to do. She seemed so broken. He'd never seen anyone look like that before and he had been through a lot. He sighed, picking up the sheet from the bed and draping it on top of her, backing away slowly.

He sat down with his back against the wall. She didn't move for the longest time. Minutes ticked by. Shannon wanted to ask her about Adrian, but he had a feeling she would gun it for the hills if he did.

Fear overtook him just thinking about that son of a bitch coming back. He wanted to take her back to his house, keep her protected. He struggled with words. The anguish in his chest kept growing as time went by.

"You have to leave."

He didn't even notice she was sitting up, clutching the sheet in her hands.

"Am I supposed to leave you like that? I can't, Talia."

She sighed. "Yes, you can and you will!" Talia said. "I'm not asking."

"Talia..."

"Shannon, please..." She said. "Don't make me call the cops on you."

Shannon's eyes widened at that. That stung deeply. Defeated, he got up, heading towards the door. He looked back one last time, watching her fall apart and knowing there was nothing he could do... for now, anyway.

He covered for her when she didn't show up throughout the week. Talia turned around, shocked to see him there. There was a letter in her hand.

Shannon closed the office door, taking a couple of steps towards her. "Hey."

"Hi." She said. He noticed she had make-up covering the bruises he knew were there.

"How-?"

"Don't!" The strength in her voice made him flinch. "I came to deliver this." She said, handing him the letter. "I was hoping to be gone by the time you came back."

"Hold on. What's this?"

"My resignation letter."

"What? You..." Shannon said, fear paralyzing him. "You can't leave!"

"What's the use, Shannon?"

"Please... stay. I want to help you..."

"There's nothing you can do. I've resigned to my fate."

"There's always something you can do." Shannon said, struggling to keep composure. "There's gotta be."

"Not in this case. Please, don't make this any harder than it has to be." Talia said, making her way towards the door.

"You said you would explain everything later."

That made her freeze with her hand on the handle. She sighed, heading back to the chair and sitting down. Shannon sat down next to her.

"Look, you have to understand that I have a past. I'm not proud of some of the things I had to do, and for that, I'm paying my dues. There's nothing anyone can do. It's just how it is." Talia said. "I'm sorry you got tangled in the middle of my mess."

"I doubt you caused any of it..."

Talia raised her hand up. "Oh, but I did. You don't know the half of it. I'll spare you some details... Look, these people are dangerous. Adrian is dangerous."

"Fuck it, Talia. Don't spare me the details! I want to know everything. If you're leaving, I have the right to know why."

"Putain, Shannon!" She said, her voice raising. "Are you really sure you want to know everything? Why would you even fucking care?"

Shannon got up, pulling her up and into his arms. She struggled for a bit, before collapsing against his chest crying. "Shh, it's all right. I'm here. It's gonna be all right!"

He let her cry for a while, some tears of his own falling. God, he had to help her. He refused to believe there was nothing he could do!

She pulled back after a while, staring up into his eyes and reaching up to wipe his tears while he did the same. She was still beautiful to him, even if she was broken.

"Please, I want to know everything." He whispered.

She nodded, sitting back down. He walked to the door, locking it to make sure they wouldn't get interrupted. He sat back down, taking a big breath. This wasn't going to be easy for either of them, but he swore no matter what, he was going to help her.