Tina's Tales (idk I'm bad at naming things)

Chapter 3

I'm sitting on the curb outside the apartment building.
I'm not sure how long I've been out here, but it's been a while, and I've been thinking hard the whole time about why I was sent out so swiftly.
And then it hits me.
My brother.
What's he done?
I'll kill him, I swear.
What on earth could he have done?
My mind is racing, and I notice my hands are shaking. I've got to stop him from doing, well, whatever he's doing.
For all I know, he could just have been freed or something, but he's definitely got some sort of plan.
Mabry's always have a plan, whether it's evil or not.
I stand up, telling myself I'm going to march into that apartment and promise them I'm on their side, but I turn around and see Justice closing the lobby door, and she gives me a comforting smile. I run up to her and give her the biggest hug I've ever given, and I feel tears in my eyes.
I'm so confused right now, I just need a friend, and I've got a really good one.
"It's okay, Tina. Don't cry. Everything is going to be fine."
I look up to her, and smile half-heartedly.
"But it's not J. Everything is not fine. My brother is-"
"Your brother is an asshole, who just so happens to have broken out of jail."
I push away from Justice's embrace, livid.
"WHAT? Broken out?" Oh GOD!
This is worse than I thought. I feel a rush of adrenaline and I push past Justice forcefully and run through the lobby and up the stairs, fuelled by fear and anger, with Justice running behind me, calling out for me to stop.
I reach the right floor and bolt down the hall, not slowing remotely, desperate to prove I'm on their side. I get to the door and knock so hard my fist hurts, yelling out to Danny, or Merritt or even Jack, just someone, to open the door.
"SOMEONE! OPEN THE DOOR! I NEED TO TALK!"
I slowly run out of energy, and slump to the floor, my face in my hands, and start to cry.
It's hopeless.
They think I'm evil, a mole, sent to destroy them.
All I want is to fight with them.
To prove my worth.
But they're probably planning to attack me now.
They're behind those doors, plotting to kill me, put me away, where my brother is.
Or was.
I can't believe it.
How on earth did he break out?
It doesn't matter now.
If they get rid of me, their chances drop dramatically. With me, they've got a Mabry's brain on their side, but they'll never trust me.
Justice has caught up, and she sits down next to me, panting, out of breath.
"You should go inside, J. They won't want you out here, with me, the mole." I say through tears.
"Never. I would never leave you behind, even if you were plotting to kill me, which, by the way, I know you're not." I sigh.
"It's hopeless though. Jack never trusted me in the first place. Now what's he gonna think?"
"He's gonna believe me, Tina. And I swear on my life, you're on our side. Tell you what, I'm gonna go inside, and I'm going to argue my head off for you. Fun fact, after you left in 2004, I became quite the debater. We won the national championship in 2009, thanks to me."
She nudges me with her shoulder as she says this, and I can't help but giggle at her. She stands up and gives me a consoling smile, before walking in the door. I hope this works.

I sit in the corridor, next to the door for a while, and contemplate all the possible things Walter could do in a small time period, and it's not much help. Mabry's are quick thinkers and swift implementers.
I thank myself for the nightmare fuel by slapping myself.
A bit weird, but who isn't?
I move on to thinking about how he broke out of jail. Probably explosives.
Molotov cocktail, most likely.
Damn! Why do I know that? My thoughts are disrupted by Justice opening the door and tapping me on the shoulder.
I look up hopefully, and she inconspicuously gives me a thumbs-up, so I try not to look too happy as I stand up and slowly walk in.
I almost turn around and go back outside when I see all three men brandishing some sort of weapon at me.
Jack's obviously holding a deck of cards, Danny is holding a handgun (!!!!), and Merritt has a rolling pin.
I'm intimidated, and I think that's what they were going for.
Danny speaks up first.
"Say what you want, and we'll listen, then consider the pros and cons."
"Okay. Here's my point. I'm definitely not evil. I idolize you all, and would never do anything to bring you down. If you let me help, with whatever has happened, by the way, I would like to know about that, if you let me help, you'll have a Mabry's brain. We're twins. We think alike. The only reason Walter is a manipulative criminal mastermind and I'm not, is because Walter was raised by Tressler. I'm quick thinking, brave, a damn good cook according to yourselves, and I'm also a mentalist."
Merritt surrenders his rolling pin, and looks at me with a slight smirk.
"A mentalist, eh?"
"Yes, I am. Justice was going to ask you to let me read you, until the news about my brother came."
"Well, give it a try."
"Uh, okay then. Merritt McKinney, this morning you woke up at, lets see, 5, 6, 7, 8, no 7 okay 7... 13, 7:13, yes 7:13." Merritt nods, impressed. This is going well.
"You woke up, and went to watch... the news, no too boring isn't it? I always find it a bit tedious, why not look it up or just read a newspaper? No, you went to watch something more entertaining, didn't you? Oh, my goodness, no! You, Merritt McKinney woke up at 7:13am this morning, got up and went to watch Gilmore Girls!! There you have it fellas, your friend Merritt watches Gilmore Girls. And that's when you saw the email, when you went to open Netflix." There's a silence, as everybody looks at Merritt with curious expressions, and Merritt nods slowly, embarrassed.
Jack and Danny stifle a laugh, and Justice is on the floor, trying not to lose it entirely, holding her breath almost.
"Sorry Merritt, buddy. You'd get it, its all part of the act."
"Nah, it's okay, no shame, I guess. Good job though, that was, impressive." I feel myself blushing and look to the floor.
Justice composes herself, and stands up, and Danny lowers his gun. Jack gives him a look that says "what gives", just as I thought, he still doesn't trust me much.
"Okay then, let's have a vote. I vote Valentina stays." Yessssss! Merritt's got my back!!
"Me too." says Danny, raising his hand.
"I think I've made my vote clear." Justice smiles at me.
"What!!? What're you guys doing? I vote no!" Jacks vote or not, I'm still in!!
"Oh, thank you guys so much!! I promise it's worth it!! Now can some one please tell me what is going on with my brother?" Danny plonks himself down on the couch. "Okay, sit down. It's a long story."

I sit down with Danny, and look into his eyes. I know that's weird, but it's a thing I instinctively do as a mentalist in moments like this. I don't get much, but I can tell he's frightened.
This must be bad, whatever it is.
Really bad.
Justice seems to hear my thoughts, and squeezes in next to me and puts her head on my shoulder. I lean into her.
"Okay, tell me everything." Danny takes a deep breath and starts talking. He tells me all about what happened "behind the scenes", basically all the stuff the general public didn't know about my brother and Tressler's "plot" and all the things they did. I would say something about how I know most of this; I either figured it out when I was bored or its one of those things famous people think is private, but isn't, but I decide against it.
It's really not the right time.
"And we haven't heard anything from or about him since then. Until now." Danny concludes his explanation, and I can't help but moan. Danny gives me a dirty look, so I explain.
"That's it!?!?!? I know you haven't heard anything until now, but what have you heard? If I'm helping, you need to tell me what he's done!!" Justice nods.
"She's right, give me the iPad, I'll show her." Merritt hands over the iPad, and Justice shows me a photo of an empty jail cell, that looks like it was maximum security.
I say was because half of the walls have been blown off, in true Bellatrix Lestrange fashion. That's not a Molotov cocktail, there's no way it could do that much damage. At first, I'm confused, why would Walter blow so much up, if he only needed to fit himself through, but then I realise, he's not just a sociopath, he's a psychopath and he probably just felt like blowing up some shit. I scan over the image one more time, and something catches my eye.
There's something scrawled on the wall, a message.
But I can't read it, because it's too small, and I can't zoom in.
"Uh, I'm going to need to look this over more, is that okay?" Its my only shot at figuring out what he's written on the wall.
"Sure. I'll forward it to you." I hand the iPad back to Merritt.
The room is silent. Not from shock, not from fear, not even sadness, just...
Dead air.
No one can think of anything worth saying.
Merritt coughs, and leaves, and Danny walks back into his room.
Justice, Jack and I are left alone, and Justice is the first to speak.
"So, Tina, I guess you're staying for more than a week now, huh?" It hits me that I am. At least until Walter is under control again. I shouldn't be glad that he's at large, but there's a positive in everything, I suppose.
"Huh. Yeah, I guess so." In spite of myself, I grin a little.
I am a part of the Horsemen.