Vegas AU

Nala turned, softening her features as she faced Hansel, and lowered her voice to address him. In spanish, of course.

-Ha sido… divertido... conocer a tu hermana, pero creo que me iré yendo.

-Oh, ¿ya vas? -he replied with a very basic spanish, but understandable nonetheless.- ¿Qué sobre mi poema? Tú decistes...

-Sí, le echaré un vistazo más tarde -Nala smiled patiently- Buscame cuando acabes, no quisiera interrumpir este tiempo de calidad entre hermanos, os queda un rato todavía.

Hansel noded, ignoring Gretel's countless demands to know "What the fuck are you assholes talking about", and gave Nala a hug before she left, which made gretel finally shut up, but her anger wasn't gone just yet. She waited for a few seconds after Nala closed the door and stared at Hansel severely.

-What do you think you are doing? -She finally muttered. She had sat down, arms crossed. Her posture was closed off but still aggressive, and Hansel got nervous immediately. 

-Well, I… -He evaded eye contact, looking at whatever meaningless objects he could spot around the room, fiddling with the notebook in his hands. He wasn't sure what Gretel was asking about, but he knew he had done something wrong- I just wanted Nala to review some writings of mine, I want to give them to someone I met, and…

-Oh shut up, you know I don't mean that.

-I'm sorry.

-You're just, what? Hanging out, making friends? Just like that? What the fuck, Hansel? Where do you think you are?

-I'm…

-We are going through hell trying to get your ass back and you are not helping. At all… Christ… -She rubbed her temples-  You are so absolutely clueless. All the fucking time. 

-I'm sorry, I really am.

-Are you, though? Because I haven't seen you do shit about it! You know I've been using Juliette's camera, yes? I've seen you brush off all of her… plans, explanations. You get sidetrack, you get distracted, you get some… stupid crush in some stupid guard that, BY THE WAY, is working for the very same people that are keeping you here. Open your god damned eyes for once.

-He's not that bad…

-Oh my god, Hansel.

-No, I mean it, he helped me break in!

-Yes! On your own! Without our knowing! That is the fucking issue!

-But he must have thought I had backup! I… I told him I had things handled, he couldn't possibly have known! And he's very nice to me, he was very understanding during the whole ordeal, too.

-Listen.

-I'm sorry I have feelings!

-No, listen! This is not the core of the problem, get it in your stupid head I don't care what goes on in your personal life, go fuck whoever, I don't care!

-Gretel!

-What I do care about is the fact that you have been a hostage for months and you seem to not give a fuck, I don't think you even understand what position you are in!

-But I'm fine, no one has harmed me.

-That's not the point! For god's sake how can you be so stupid!? -She let out an annoyed sigh, rubbed her eyes and continued after having calmed down- You are fraternising with the mafia. Do you even know what a mafia does?

-They told me they did very serious stuff…

-And you just ran with that?

-Well, yes, but that's always what you tell me our company does, too, I didn't think that much of it… I… I just assumed they took me for some clueless bloke.

-Because you are.

-I'm sorry.

They fell silent for half a minute, during which Gretel checked her watch and relaxed a bit. Hansel left the notebook he'd been holding on the table, only to notice his blurry vision; quickly wiping his eyes clean of tears.

-I'm sorry -He repeated again, quieter than before.

-No, it's fine… I… I apologise. I guess

-But it's true

-No, no… sorry, it's just… stressing, seeing you so calm in this situation.

Hansel didn't respond

-We still have… about 10 minutes left -Gretel spoke again- How about we chat about something else?

-Sure

-How about that poem?

-Sorry…?

-The poem, you told her -she said "her" with a tinge of disgust- something about a "poema", I put two and two together.

-Oh… oh, you wouldn't like it -He laughed without joy- It's rubbish.

-It's probably not… Can I see it?

-Why?

-Am I not allowed to check out what my little brother does for fun?

-You've never wanted to.

-That's a lie! I have! I admit it wasn't always with the greatest enthusiasm but I've kept track of what you've written. For example, I know you haven't written much in a while!

-That's not true. I've written a lot

-You have? -Gretel raised an eyebrow- How come I haven't seen any of it? -She waited for an answer but Hansel didn't give one. He took his notebook back, slowly, gripping it tight with one hand, and wiping his eyes again with the other- Fine, it's fine… I won't push you… but I miss having you around, I really do.

-You don't need to lie to me.

-It's not a lie. I'm scared with this whole situation, not being able keep an eye on you makes me nervous enough, but on top of that, you are… here… I know you don't understand how dangerous this is but trust me when I tell you should leave as soon as possible.

-Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe I can take care of myself?

-Come on -She said, laughing- You are my brother and I love you but you wouldn't last a week without supervision. I'm sure you know that, deep down.

-... I do.

After Nala had left the room, she went straight to the one Juliette was in. 

Every time someone was allowed visitation everyone involved had to be searched thoroughly, both before and after the visit, to ensure nothing was out of the ordinary. These searches were carried out in a small room made for such purpose, and were usually quick. However, after a certain eye-camera incident, they had evolved from 2 minute sessions to 15 minutes minimum, sometimes up to half an hour for Juliette, so Nala was quite sure she was still there.

-Are we done yet? -Nala recognised her spouse's voice thought the door

-Just a while longer, Mrs...

-Just call me Juliette will you? Or Julie, Julia, Juls, whatever, anything but that damned surname.

Nala didn't quite understand when they were saying, as the conversation was all English, she got bits, but the context was difficult to piece together from those. 

Tired of waiting around, she finally pushed the door opened. The guards froze in place, addressing her with a small bow. Juliette had her back to the door, but quickly turned around when she saw the guards stop. 

Nala let out a small gasp, more from surprise than terror, when she saw the empty socket where Julia's eye was supposed to be.

-Tu ojo -She mumbled.

Julie pointed at her socket.

-¿Ojo? -She said, Nala nodded, she sighed, and looked at a guard- Give me the eyepatch back.

Nala watched the command be fulfilled, wondering if maybe Juliette had misunderstood her comment, or if it had offended her… she got closer, softly placing one of her hands on Julie's cheeks. The hand with the ring.

-Te ves tan linda -She looked back at the guards, her expression and gestures instructed them to leave what she hoped to be a tender moment. She turned back to face Julie, who wasn't quite sure what kind of moment this was- Linda: 

-Gracias a tú -She replied, unmoving and awkardly.

-Brillas más que cualquier luz, ¿no te parece?

-Slow down, I'm not quite there with the Spanish yet

-Realising Nala wouldn't understand her, she quickly apologised- Yo no… entender.

Nala's expression became rather sad, one of nostalgia almost, and slowly lowered her head until she reached Juliette's forehead. She kissed it, slowly and without much pressure, now holding her face with both hands, and backed away. Julie was left with an awkward confusion, but didn't say anything.

-¿Qué tal si vemos otra película más tarde? -Nala smiled and started to gesticulate when Juliette frowned her eyebrows- Tú -She pointed at her- Yo -She pointed at herself- Película -She made some weird shape that was probably supposed to be a cinema screen somehow- Luego -She raised one of her hands and pointed at her wrist, then made a "forward" motion.

-Oh, I get it -Juliette, back to English, chuckled at the realization, making Nala smile wider- You are very good at charades, uhm… Sí, ok.

These movie nights had taken a place in both their schedules. Juliette used to avoid them for a while, most movies were in spanish, and she wasn't really up for being bored out of her mind AND spending time with Nala. At least not until she discovered the subtitles option, which she took advantage of to further her understanding of spanish. She eventually figured they also kept Nala entertained and fulfil the "spend time with your accidental wife" quota, so it ended up being a win-win. 

Nala left, not without throwing a little wink first, and when the door clicked closed Juliette was left to drown alone in her contradicting feelings.

Hansel bid his sister goodbye once again. She asked for a hug but he denied it, giving an excuse that both knew was poorly made up on the spot. None of them cared too much, they were too emotionally exhausted to.

A few guards escorted him to the search room. He led the way, he had memorized it, and kept quiet during the whole trip, a tiny, gloomy detail that silently freaked everyone they passed by.

-Hansel -Juliette called his attention when they crossed paths. He simply gave a half smile and raised a hand, and kept walking without looking at her. Worried by this out of character response, she followed the bunch back to the small room she'd just been in, but was instructed by the guards to stop just outside the door, and so, with not many options, she went back to wander aimlessly around the building.

It was half past four. Dallas looked away from his watch and around the hall, at the doors. Still nothing. But he kept waiting. Hansel wasn't one for being late, especially not half an hour late, so something must be holding him up, and knowing these people, pretty much anything could be the cause of that.

He glanced at his watch for the seventh time. Quarter to five… it must be serious.

Finally defeated by the wait, he picked up his things and walked out the door, only to find that Hansel was… there, standing immediately on the other side of the door.

Both hands were buried in his pockets and his eyes were watery, but didn't seem tired and his face wasn't wet, so Dallas deduced he was just starting to cry. He got closer, tried to say something that would comfort him, but Hansel interrupted before he could even open his mouth.

-Oh, I'm so sorry -He walked back a few steps- I was just going to come in, I promise.

-That's alright. -He smiled, patiently- I'm glad you made it.

-You are?

-Of course, why? 

-Nothing, I was just… nothing -He smiled, rather awkwardly- I'm… well, It's… it's complicated... I can't… I'm not...

-Take your time.

-I'm sorry.

-It's alright.

-I'm very sorry -He clutched the torn papers in his pocket and blinked slowly, but strongly holding his eyes closed, hoping no tear would fall. Dallas kept offering him a smile, clearly worried, but leaving him some space to breathe, to calm down.

It took some awkward extra seconds for Hansel to regain his posture, but when he did, he lifted the unoccupied hand out of his pocket and offered it to Dallas, much to his confusion.

-It's been grand knowing you, you've helped us a whole lot, you've helped me a whole lot... I appreciate that.

-This is really sweet, but ﹰI just want to let you know real quick that if there's anything wrong…

-I know, I'm fine, I really am -The corners of his lips moved up to what should have been a smile, but was void of any emotion- It's just… some things… some things came to light recently, I had some… silly ideas -he chuckled- rubbish, rubbish, really, and I… I don't know who I can trust anymore… I'm so sorry, don't take this as an offense, you are truly wonderful and if it were for me I'd trust you fully, but…

-No, I understand, you are in a complicated situation and we're kind of on different sides.

-Well, that's not really true, is it? You helped us try to esc -Dallas instructed him to keep his voice down- Oh, I'm sorry, you… well, you know what you did.

-I thought you meant you couldn't trust me because I work for them.

-No… I mean, yes, I guess… I don't really know. I don't know what's happening -He wiped his eyes with the other hand, accidentally making a piece of broken paper fall to the ground.

-You'll learn.

-Thank you… so much -He smiled again, it felt softer and sweeter this time, he meant it- Could we… shake hands, you think?