Episode 97

The interrogation began almost the moment they walked in the door.  If all the "Missing" posters hadn't been posted about Miah, they may have taken things at an easier pace, but the instant the secretary looked up from her desk, she knew, and began reacting at once. 

People were called, something went on over the loudspeakers, and Miah took a step back from the desk, almost wanting to run and hide.  I just want to go home.  I just want to be normal again.

She felt Ben take her hand and squeeze it tight, and she squeezed it back.  This was going to be a long ordeal.

The first round of questions were things like her home address, phone number, different things she knew by heart.  But after the initial, then came the difficult ones.  "Where were you?"  "How long were you held hostage?"  "Why were you taken?"  "Who held you captive?"  The questions were endless, and she would have broken down earlier if Ben hadn't been there.  Even through all he had put her through, the pain she had felt caused by him, he was still the one she knew best, and no one could take that away from her. 

It was when they took Ben aside for questioning by himself that her panic began to seep in.  It was a blur of movement, noises, voices, and someone holding her down as she first tried to run after him and then curled herself into a ball.  Tears ran down her face, and she wept for the confusion and misery of her situation.  All other policemen and personnel left her on her own.  She had a good cry, none of what was happening making any sense, all the while sitting alone in the room they had abandoned her in.  Every time she would stop crying, she could feel angry with herself for crying and acting like such a child, and start crying hopelessly again.

It was in the midst of one of these such great cries, which were steadily decreasing in magnitude as time wore on, that the door opened.

She immediately turned her face aside, ashamed of herself and afraid.  What do they want now?

Someone sat beside her, and she shuddered, the shivering of her weeping giving force to her instinctive response of fear.  The person began to reach to put an arm around her shoulders, and Miah burst into tears again, flinching at the touch, and turning in frustration at whoever would dare touch her in her moment of such an emotional breakdown.

Through the tears in her eyes, she saw the form of a man, and she blinked.  Realization broke loose like a floodgate of relief.

It was Connor who pulled her close, whispering, "Shh, it's alright, it's alright...it's me..."  He held her tight, not asking anything of her, not telling her what to do, not caring how she acted.  She took shuddering breaths and released the pent-up anxieties within her, finding more tears in her eyes as she did.

"I just--I just want to go home," Miah managed to get out before bursting into sobs once again.  Embarrassed by herself, she tried to catch her breath and stop herself, but she only cried even more.  Connor rocked her gently, holding her tight and safe.

By the time her cries subsided, she sighed and slowly sat up. Looking into Connor's eyes, it struck her to find tears in his eyes as well. She started to speak, but he put a finger to her lips.

"The first day I saw you, you were afraid and confused...from that moment, I knew that I wanted to be the one to help you, to be there for you when you didn't know what was going on. I couldn't stand to see you suffer alone. I want you to know..." He took her hand in his, and she grasped it. "...that no matter what happens to me or to you, as long as we are here on this earth together, I will be here for you...if not as your one and only, then as your true friend."

"Connor..." Her voice felt dry, and it hurt to try to speak after crying so hard and so long. "Connor, I..."

He looked intently at her, his fingers still around hers.

"I don't know if I can be the one you need..." Connor dipped his head in a slight nod, tears brimming in his eyes again, "...but if you ask me, I will be yours." She was smiling now, the sadness washed away.

“Then be mine,” he whispered, and she could feel him quivering with anticipation.

“I will!” Miah grinned through the tears on her face. She barely knew the feeling that coursed through her, new and full of life. It filled her head with words and filled her heart with warmth, pulling her in, pushing doubts aside.

She was crying again before she even noticed it, and Connor cradled her delicate form, waiting for whatever lay ahead. Tomorrow would worry about itself, and there was nothing she could do about it.