Once Upon A Time: An LBaker Fanfic

Chapter 24- Paranoia

LB spent the entirety of the next five days in the bed in Ward 16, Tangerine corridor. Bradley and Hitch stayed with her as much as they could, even sleeping in the chairs by her side. Every morning the nurse would ask the same question:
"How are you feeling?"
And every morning, LB would give the same answer:
"I've just been burnt alive. How do you think?"
Although her sarcasm was perfect for relieving any tension or worry inside Hitch's mind, he couldn't help wondering how The Count had known their greatest fears. If he knew them, maybe he knew more. Their darkest secrets, their deepest regrets, their biggest desires. What did he know? How did he know these things? Hitch couldn't answer either of those questions and it tormented him. Bradley and LB were both too happy to see each other alive that they didn't notice. At that moment, it was no surprise that Hitch was known by Nine Lives and 'the secret agent extraordinaire'. All the while, Bradley and LB continued to smile, Hitch's mind began to spiral into darkness, grief and fear. What would happen if The Count began exploiting their terrors, emotions, fears and maybe even pasts? Hitch had a lot to lose if any memories of his own past, especially with his father, were to be toyed with. The darkened part of Hitch's own heart was clouded by fear and distress. Pain, ruin and cruelty were things Hitch knew all too well and hated to be familiar with. Pain: The loss of his younger sister at just five years old. Ruin: Being torn up by grief and loneliness. Cruelty: The lack of trust, respect and love between him and his own father. His entire life had revolved around trying to run away from his own heartbreak and pain. With this in mind, Hitch half shook in fear. If any information about his past got into the wrong hands, Hitch would forever be consumed with paranoia and pain he had tried to put aside. He couldn't do anything.

Harry walked down onto Bowery Street to meet her. His anger nearly caused him to shudder. Her green eyes glinted in the moonlight and she smiled smugly when she saw him.
"What the hell have you done?" he hissed, grasping at her shoulders aggressively.
"I hurt those who deserved to be hurt," she growled.
"I told you to scare Bradley, not physically hurt Hitch and LB and lock him in the dark, listening to her screams. I swear to god, I'm gonna..."
"What? Kill me? I don't think so. LB survived because I let her survive. I can kill her with a snap of my fingers if you don't do what I want," a thin smile spread across her lips.
"Look, I don't know who you are or why you hate them but I'm not gonna help you without something in return. LB's life isn't enough. I can protect her, myself, from you and anyone else. I wanna know who you are and why you are doing this," he said.
"Fine. I'm the kid who threw Hitch to the crocodiles when he was a kid. I'm Casey Morgan,"

When you feel your life has been taken away from you, what do you do? Hide? Run? Or do you take it like the strong, independent person you are and face your pain head on? As a highly classified, extremely intelligent and extraordinarily brave, secret agent, Bradley Baker felt no fear for his own life. Dr Selgood referred to his condition as 'The Miracle Effect'. In reality, Bradley was not fearless, he just had a certain disregard for his own safety when it came to saving those he cared about. In his mind, he always had to be the one to save the others but it always turned out the other way around. Either Hitch or LB would be in trouble and yet they would save themselves and then save him too. In a way, he liked it like that; it reminded him that he was still human. No matter how incredible of an agent he was, everyone needs rescuing every now and again. Although he was the youngest, Hitch usually rescued the other two. Hitch was always saying things like:
"Jeez, Brad. What is it with you and trouble?"
"Why can't you both just be normal people?"
"Stop walking into the clutches of psychopaths, dude,"
"I'm never doing this again,"
Although every time he said he would never save them again, he always did. That was the great thing about Hitch. If you were Bradley, or Ruby later in his life, all you had to do was get yourself into trouble and Hitch would show up just to yell at you. Even though he bugged the hell out of Bradley, he loved him too much to ever get mad at him. Hitch was the same. He hated Bradley at times, or rather he hated his impulsive attitude, but he wouldn't change him. Bradley and Hitch were both the kind of people who were pretty much perfect just the way they were. Sure, they had their flaws but they always did what was right. They were good people no matter how life had treated them. You could see it in their eyes and their smiles.

Hurt. Cruelty. Pain. Suffering. Four things that were part of the life of a secret agent. You were prepared to feel loss. Trained to stay emotionless. Told who to become. You always have to understand that there is nothing you can do. You can't control who dies, who survives. You can't always be the hero. Sometimes you have to be the hopeless one, the frail one, the hurt one. You're forced to drown in your own self pity. The only thing that gets you through is how you feel about your friends. You have a one in a million chance of survival but if love is on your side, you'll happily take those odds. Often, it's not the loss or the pain that breaks you, it's the guilt. It's someone else's blood on your hands. The blood of someone's child, partner, parent. It isn't the hurt you feel, it's the hurt you cause that drives you to insanity. Three teens, too young to have to feel anything that horrible, had to grow up too fast and their jobs cost them their childhoods. They didn't realise it at first. In fact it took them twenty six years to figure it out. It took one carefree child to show them what childhood should be. It took one girl to change their opinions about life. She taught them how to love, how to understand but, more importantly, how to be themselves again. She was all it took.

Two weeks after the kidnapping:

LB awoke in her own home again and smiled happily. Her mind was still occupied with paranoia but she was glad to be home. Being inside Spectrum's hospital only reminded her of her pain and fear but at home, in her own room, she felt safe and comfortable. Although she knew she could never truly be protected, at least now she was able sleep soundly. Being alone was the best for her at that moment and all she really wanted to do was sleep. Still, she stood up and walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, rubbing her eyes and adjusting to the light. It was after she had gotten dressed that she heard a knock on the door. Walking through the hall and took a look through the peephole. It was
Harry. She opened the door and greeted him with a hug. She smiled, happy to see him.
"How are you?" he asked, mid-hug.
"As good as I can be, I suppose," she smiled. "Come in,"
He smiled and they sat down in the living room with cups of peppermint tea. They talked for a while, about their childhoods and many other pointless topics. They didn't even notice the time, nor did they notice how strange it was to be together again. In fact, their conversation only stopped when the doorbell rang. Hitch and Cleo opened the door slowly and smiled at them. LB stood up after greeting them and walked into the kitchen with Cleo to make more tea. The two girls were very happy to see each other safe and untroubled.
"So, how are you and Hitch?" asked LB, smiling cheekily.
"Very happy, thank you," grinned Cleo, blushing.
"I'm glad. It's been so long since I've seen you both this full of life," she smiled.
The two of them talked while making the beverages and then walked into the other room. They sensed an atmosphere almost immediately. You could tell by the look on Hitch's face that something had been said that probably shouldn't have been. There was cold silence for a moment, all that could be heard was the sound of breathing. Aggression was in the air.