“...Lara? Is that you? Please tell me it’s you.”

The voice on the other side made Lara sit up and her heart pounded in her chest, eyes widening in disbelief.

She’d recognize it anywhere.

“What happened?” Audrey asked, concerned, but Lara brushed her off as she gripped her phone tighter.

“...Sam?” She asked softly, almost scared. It had been 8 years since....

“Oh my God, Lara!”

Sam was just as incredulous as she was, but... happy?

“What... why... how did you find me?” Lara asked the first coherent question that she could form. Sam sniffled on the other side. “Are you crying? Please... I’m so sorry, Sam-“

“Do you even know where you’re going?” Lara asked, unwilling to allow herself to get swept up in her own head. She couldn’t afford this now.

It would have looked like Bryn was confidently navigating if they weren’t just walking a straight line, following the road. The woman’s flashlight pointed in all directions, except at the spots Lara needed to see where to step. She willed its batteries to run out, not only so that her eyes would be allowed to get accustomed to the dark, but also because it would’ve been so much easier to escape a blind opponent—Bryn tripped more than once, even with the aid of light.

“No.” Lara could hear Bryn rolling her eyes. “Walking until I find reception or life, whichever comes first.”

A beat of silence followed as her captor walked closer to her.

“Do you know where we are?” Bryn’s tone was much softer.

On another day, Lara would have laughed.

“I’ll tell you if you loosen one of my zip ties, it’s cutting off all my blood flow.” When the woman met her gaze with a skeptical look, Lara sweetened the deal. “I’m pretty sure Alberto won’t be happy if you bring me to him already damaged.”

A hand placed on Lara’s shoulder, stopping her stride. Lara clenched her fists and tensed her wrists before Bryn’s fingers felt over the zip ties. With her hands keeping everything in tension, one of them seemed indeed tighter than the others. It must’ve been the tie Bryn added after her smartass comment.

“Hold still.”

A moment later, the zip tie snapped loose.

One down, two to go.

As they started walking again, Bryn was mindlessly rubbing her own wrists. Lara relaxed her fists, then clenched and unclenched her fingers, willing to restore the blood flow. She needed proper sensitivity before working on the second tie.

“Have no idea where we are.”

Bryn huffed. “Right.”

“I want my best friend back. I need you, Lara,” Sam said, and Lara’s heart swelled so fast it hurt.

“We’re... we’re still friends? You don’t hate me?”

“Of course not, you fucking dumbass!”

She had never been happier to be called a dumbass.

“I hate doing this over the phone. Come see me, Lara. I’m-“

“So what are you, exactly? Hit woman, mercenary, Alberto’s new lap dog?”

“I—we wouldn’t be here right now if I was a hit w-“

“You know there’s other ways to make money. I could hook you up to a few gigs around the city.”

“God, you talk a lot.”

Lara shrugged. “What else am I gonna do?” Wallow in misery?

“I don’t want to be a drug dealer.” The words stressed, like her current job was far more morally sound. “Bounty hunting is working out just fine. Thank you.”

Lara threw Bryn a side glance. Off the top of her head, Bryn seriously considered getting rid of her gun just because she asked, and her sudden “attack” had also caught the woman off guard. Had the Whitt’s not come home that moment, Lara might be a free woman now. Not to mention bumping into two stationary cars and driving a piece of shit van with no actual knowledge of basic mechanics. And only a few minutes ago Bryn cut loose the one zip tie stopping her from escaping the others. The list was becoming rather long, and those were the parts Lara was aware of.

“Right.”

“And you? Do you only pass out addictions, or is that a side job?”

Selling drugs was no better or worse than selling alcohol or cigarettes, but Lara wasn’t interested in talking about herself.

“At least I’m not kidnapping people. Young, attractive women, no less. How are you sleeping at night?”

“You just don’t give up. But I’m sorry, you’re not my type.”

Lara made a show of looking Bryn up and down. “Someone’s very adamant about me not being her type.” Not that she was seeing much of anything through the dark, but it was so easy getting under that woman’s skin it almost wasn’t funny. Almost.

“I’m so happy to see you alive and well, dear,” Mrs Grace said, emotional, as Lara started returning her hug.

The older woman let go, but still held Lara at an arm’s length as she looked her over. “You’re not eating enough, Lara, you’re thin as a stick.”

Lara remembered how to smile at that moment, though the motherly behavior awakened a deep ache in her chest.

This didn’t make sense, any of it.

“Well, come on in!”

“It’s so nice to see you, Mrs Grace,” Lara finally spoke as she took her jacket off and looked around the place. No one else was in view.

“I’m sure you’re as impatient to see Samantha as she is. We moved her into the guest room. It makes things... easier.”

Why would Sam need to stay in the guest room?

“She didn’t tell you.”

Lara tore her gaze away from the closed guest room door. The look on Mrs. Grace’s face made her stomach drop.

“Tell me what?”

“So what’s your sob story?” Lara asked. “Mommy and daddy didn’t love you as a kid and now you take it out on other people? Your pet lizard needs surgery and not enough money? I’ll donate to your Go Fund Me, all you have to do is ask.”

The topic instantly caused the other woman to retract three feet, and Lara stopped to face her. Squinting through the light thrown by the flashlight, she made out Bryn’s tense jaw and the hard lines distorting her features. She had struck a chord.

“Oh! I know.”

Lara stepped close, and Bryn threw a glare into her already burning blue gaze; it would have been the hottest flame if it hadn’t been holding on to the very last of its wick. Bryn’s hands clenched at her sides, her stance and expression firm, angry. It was the perfect opportunity to keep pressing on the sore spot, which had nothing to do with reptiles.

Lara leaned close as she delivered her line. “You’re just a fucking bitch.”

After that, she stepped back and resumed her walk. Bryn was soft, perhaps soft enough to give in with some pleading. But hell would freeze over before Lara would resort to begging a stranger for anything at all.

Bryn didn’t join her side again, traveling closer to the edge of the woods instead. Just like she planned it.

When Bryn had tied her hands, Lara had clenched her fists to make her wrists occupy more space. That would’ve allowed her to simply slip out of her bind, had there only been one. This was trickier, but with the tightest zip tie out of the way, Lara believed she could still do it.

Lara started slipping both zip ties closer to her hand until she was able to contort her index finger and hook it on the closest one. She wrung her hands and pulled on the plastic, biting down her groans as the material scraped and bit into her skin. Sweat beaded on her neck, her wrists burned, and she lost feeling in her fingers before the bind finally broke over the base of her thumb.

By the time Bryn silently walked by her side again, the zip tie had fallen on the forest floor.

The last one was too tight to slip out of, but Lara knew a way to break it. She didn’t even have to distract Bryn anymore, because the woman was walking ahead of her.

“Lara.”

She stood up, but Sam placed her hand on top of hers and she sat back down. The touch was so light, like a gust of wind could blow it away. “Are you in pain?”

“I need to ask you a favor.”

“Anything.”

Sam’s smile was bitter. “You shouldn’t jump head first into things, it’ll get you in trouble.”

Lara huffed, though something in her friend’s eyes made her stomach churn. “Ok, what do you want me to do?”

“I’m getting worse, Lara. My pain is becoming harder to manage. I don’t want to wait until my cancer takes me out.”

“Shouldn’t you be monitoring your kidnapee more closely? Nothing’s stopping me from running away.” Except the gun at your hip.

Admittedly, this was her worst, most stupid conversation starter to date. And yet Bryn did not reply. She didn’t even look her way. Did she speak loud enough?

“You’re asking me to murder you!” Lara sat up, turning her back on Sam. Her fingers clenched into fists, but it didn’t stop her entire body from shaking.

“You’re not killing me.” Sam’s voice raised, but it was a mere stroke of a brush. She added in a softer tone, “My cancer is.”

Lara stumbled and leaned on a tree to steady herself. The plan was to push herself off it and keep walking, but her muscles refused to obey.

“There’s no hope, you know that. My doctors do, my parents do, everyone does, and yet they expect me to keep holding on, to keep fighting... for what? I’m decaying in this bed right as we speak. Even breathing is a struggle and everything hurts; every second of every day.”

Sam squeezed her hand. The sadness in her eyes was contrasted by a deep calm, brightened by a tinge of hope. Her voice was even, collected, rational. She must’ve rehearsed this speech in her head countless times.

“I’m exhausted, Lara, and sleeping makes it worse. The pills make me numb to where I just stare at the walls for hours. All I want is for it to end, but no one wants to see it. This is not life. I can’t do it anymore. I’m not getting better. You saw that, you know that, I know you do.” Sam’s voice broke as she looked at her. “I need you, Lara. I need you to do this for me, please.”

She leaned more and more of her weight on the thick trunk until her back was against the tree and the sensation of being able to lean on something infused weakness in her feet as well.

I can’t do this, Sam. You gave up too. I know you’ll understand.

Lara slid down on the ground, head hanging low and her short hair falling to shield her eyes from the dark.