Present

"You owe me an answer." She said after I sat in silence for a few seconds.

"I don't owe you anything, Hyde." Her deep brown eyes were staring into mine with a fiery anger I had seen a handful of times before. Most of which she aimed that stare at me. All of them were called for, especially this one.

"You don't owe me anything?" She asked, processing my words. "How about the four hundred and thirty-seven days I've lost because you put me in here?" I should have known she would count the days, would remember the number. I'd hoped she hadn't.

"You're a criminal, Hyde. This is where criminals go. There are no exceptions to that." She smiled at my words, but it was nothing friendly.

"Not even the one you slept with? Took information from? Advanced in your career because of?" She knew that attack was deserved. What she couldn't know was that I agreed with her, and that I had regretted my actions every day since.

"No." I watched the hurt pass her eyes as she leant back in her chair. I dared to look away from her then, checking on the warden, who was watching us intently through the window. Fuck, what if he's a set of eyes for Queen?

This was a mistake.

It was a mistake from the first time I saw Max's file.

From when I planned to infiltrate Queen's 'court' through Max.

When I lost sight of what I was supposed to be doing and let myself lose grip on reality.

But coming here, after not seeing her for over a year, when I hadn't processed what had happened and moved on from it yet, was the worst mistake.

I rubbed my forehead, taking my eyes away from the warden. Maybe he would get information, maybe he would pass it onto Queen, but not if I held more over him than she did. And I know what happens in these prison walls. I would remind him of that before I left here today.

I took a deep breath and looked at Max again.

She looked tired, like she hadn't been sleeping at all. Her back was probably killing her, imprisoned here without proper care for it. Why did I put her here?

"I need your help." I told her, I just had to tell her. I couldn't dance around it.

"You didn't want it last time."

Don't say what you want to say. Get her out, then talk. Then apologise.

"I ended the op too soon. Queen has something going down. I need your help to stop it." She furrowed her brows, looking at her hands.

"What does she have going down?" She asked, but I couldn't say it all. Not with the warden watching.

"That's classified information." I said, hoping she would see where my eyes were. But she was still looking at her hands, instead of seeing my eyes flicking between her and the warden.

"Then any information I have is also classified." She said, finally looking at me. I kept flicking my eyes between her and the warden, not so much that he would notice, but enough that she would.

She tilted her head to the side.

The warden? She mouthed at me. I didn't show any response to the silent question. She knew that was answer enough.

"I need to know about her storage facilities."

"Classified." She had that adorable smirk on her face. You cannot think that right now.

"Hyde-"

"I'm sorry, but no. You're not getting shit from me because I'm not getting anything from you. So, with that unfair trade, I have to pass."

"I need help to get her before New Year's Eve."

"MI6 won't help you?" I grimaced, not because she was right, but because of the way she had said MI6. She was beyond pissed at me. Even after all this time.

Four hundred and thirty-seven days.

That's how long it had been since I turned on her, put her in cuffs, and never looked back. While I knew she would count the days, she probably didn't know I had been too.

"No."

"Then it can't be that important, can it?"

"No, that's not..." I took a deep breath. "I need you to help me. You're the only one who knows her court, how she operates. I need you on the field with me."

"Look, being imprisoned wasn't a part of my ten-year plan... so I might help you if I can stay out of here permanently." Little did she know I already had clearance for that. MI6 was also desperate for Queen to be stopped.

I told them what she would ask for; they approved it. They knew Queen was the bigger problem, and that Hyde would want to stop her after finding out one piece of information I hadn't told her yet. That bit could also wait until we were out. If the warden was a pair of eyes, I didn't want word getting back to Queen that Max knew. It would be far too motivating and make her a target.

If Queen didn't know... maybe she would leave us be.

For the moment.

"So, for you to help me, I just have to get you your freedom?" I asked.

"A deleted record might be nice, too." She said, another smirk on her face. That damned smirk. This was a bad idea.

"I have a phone call to make." I said, standing up from the table.

"You wouldn't have come here if that wasn't already approved. There's no need to do this dance with me, Es." And there it was, the nickname she always called me. Only she did. Everyone called me by my full name, but never Max. This would not end well for me. I could tell that much already.

"Interview concluded at..." I checked my watch. "One twenty-two p.m." I shut off the recording device and stood up from the table. "Just give me a minute." I said to Max, while looking directly into the warden's eyes.