let's do this [petra]

Henrik took a deep breath. He glanced at the guard, who was looking at him expectedly. Henrik was still trying to gather his thoughts perfectly…this wasn't easy for him, but it was something that he knew was worth doing.

What were his thoughts going to be when he passed this guard again? Would he be threatened, would he be hopeful? Was this a waste of time?

For the possible good that could come from this, no. Even if Petra didn't agree to work with him, giving it a shot was the best way he could spend his time right now.

He checked the numbers of the cell and paused as he came on the one he was here for. He stepped in front of it, hands behind his back and head down.

Petra's anxiety was growing every day she woke up to find herself in this cell. It wasn't just the familiar feeling of being trapped and captive that got to her (though that was part of it,) it was the knowledge that every day she was in here, her bosses were growing more and more impatient and likely to want her killed for her failure.

She had to find a way out of here. She had to. If she could just...if she could just trick a guard into getting too close, or something, take one hostage. From there she'd just have to get to the ocean. Where was this jail located on the island, anyways?

She was interrupted from planning her escape when she noticed she had a visitor. Henrik. She sat up slowly, eyeing him suspiciously. "What are you doing here?" she asked disdainfully.

Henrik looked at Petra. Even looking around this place as a visitor sent chills down his spine, he couldn't imagine having to stay here. And here he was, looking at Petra who was being forced to stay here, again because of him.

This was better than him, Nils and Paisley being dead or tortured or whatever their fates may have been, but this wasn't right either.

"I'm sorry you're in here," he said, taking another look around her cell. "I know it doesn't mean much, but…" He paused, not sure if what was truly genuine would be perceived that way. "I want to help you, if you'll let me."

What was this? Some kind of way for Henrik to try to assuage his guilt or something? By offering her meaningless words and apologies? "Unless you're here to let me out, you can't help me," she told him bitterly. Of course she knew that would never happen, considering that the last time they'd seen each other she'd held a blade to his brother's neck.

If he really wanted to help her, he would have. Four years ago. But instead he left her to her fate, and she didn't really see him doing anything differently this time around. She didn't even know why he bothered showing his face here.

"I can pull some strings, Petra." He had spent a lot of time lately getting very close to an Overloridian. There was definitely a way that he could get her out, especially for a mission like the one he was ready to propose.

"I mean it. I want to help you. I want to set you free -- I want to do what I wasn't able to before. For you, for the others I left behind, and for those who will or would be captured."

He looked her in the eye. "I want to take them down. And I want your help."

Petra looked at Henrik for a long time, the look of suspicion never leaving her face. "Is this a trick?" she asked finally. She wasn't buying a thing he just said. She couldn't. It had to be a lie, all of it. There was no way he could "pull some strings" and let her out, not after what she'd done right in front of an overloridian. There was no way he cared enough to, either. He left her to rot. He didn't care about her.

As for taking "them" down, he had to know that was impossible. Why was he saying all of this to her? If he was trying to trick her into something, she wasn't sure what it was.

Henrik shook his head. "This isn't a trick, no. I didn't come here to trick you."

He didn't know how to convince her. He had broken her trust, assisted in breaking her down bit by bit by not saving her before. Why would she trust him? Would she even want to work with him to take them down?

"I want to bring them down. We're some of the best killers -- they trained us that way. By getting out, I was able to see the world more clearly. We aren't worthless, Petra. We aren't what they tell us we are. We don't deserve to be beaten, starved, assaulted.

"I should have taken you with me, I know. You don't have to join me as a friend. We can work together, kill those who need to be killed, and walk away. We can free those who are still enslaved to them, we can save others in the future. This is bigger than us -- but if you do it just for your freedom then that works too. I need your help…but I'm going to attempt it with or without it."

Petra was still doubtful, but she didn't know why Henrik would make all of this up. Some kind of mind game, to get her hopes up only to crush them? That was something her bosses would do, but it didn't seem like something Henrik would. Then again, she hadn't thought he would ever abandon her either, and look where that trust got her.

"I'll believe you," Petra said slowly, "when you actually get me out of here."

She thought about his supposed plan. Killing the leaders. Was it even possible? They were some of the best killers too, after all.

What do you have to lose? Tasia asked her. They're going to want you dead either way after this.

That much was true. "Who else is in on this?" she asked. She couldn't imagine that Henrik would want to involve his brother in this. Nils was no killer, unlike them. And she also didn't think his new overloridian friend would want to get her hands dirty either.

"I understand," he said. He couldn't completely trust her to help him when he got her out, and she may even go back and tell them the plan and have them killed. But he couldn't do this anymore. He couldn't keep running and fighting. He couldn't keep breaking these relationships that he could be building. Paisley had really changed his heart -- she'd shown him care and trust, even when she knew where they had started.

What kind of life are you leading if you're constantly fearing getting attacked and hurting those around you? Yes, he had Nils, but Henrik had noticed that even he was changing by being around someone else. He was growing more confident, even just a little. He was opening up. He was allowing himself to feel some sort of love for someone else.

So even if this was all a huge risk, even if there was a small chance that he could succeed, then it'd be worth it.

He wished he had that sort of outlook when he and Nils had escaped…maybe taking a chance with Petra would have been worth it in the end. But it was too late for that now. This is where they were, and he had to work with that.

"I'm still working out the details. We could use all the help we could get, but too much help could ruin it. We need to find some core clio and use their specialties. You're one of the key clio in this plan, which is why we need you. You know them best, you know who's in there. And they still think you're working with them. For all they know, Nils and I could be dead because of you. You could really be the key component that can bring them down."

Petra hated herself for it, but she found herself actually considering this plan. 'Core clio with specialties,' she assumed he was talking about hired hitmen or something. That...could actually work. She could tell the bosses she had killed Henrik and Nils, it had just taken her time to track them down, that's why she'd been gone for days. Get their guards down. Kill them all, one by one.

She even actually smiled at the thought of it. Watching her bosses slowly die, standing over their lifeless bodies. She had thought catching the brothers would have brought her some vindictive happiness (and it would have,) but that would have been nothing compared to watching those men and women die by her hand.

"I'll help you," she told him. "If you let me out, I'll help you. It doesn't mean I'll ever forget what you did, though. By the way, does your overloridian girlfriend know about this?"

She had a hard time believing that Paisley would condone Henrik letting her go.

A small smile grew on Henrik's face. He was expecting this to go much worse -- and it still very much could -- but he was willing to trust that she'd help him because of how badly he knew she'd want to kill them. This was her chance.

And maybe they'd never see each other again after this, but…he was glad to see her again. Even under the awful circumstances in which they'd been reunited. She had brought him back to reality, to the realization that he couldn't avoid his past forever. He was being given an opportunity to save so many lives. He felt empowered and hopeful for once.

"And I won't forget that you tried to capture Nils and me," he said with a slight chuckle. Probably not the time to make a joke out of that, but he couldn't help it. Also…overloridian girlfriend? Henrik's cheeks flushed slightly. "I still have to talk to Paisley. But this is bigger than you or I and I think she'll understand that."

He looked away and muttered, "and she's not my girlfriend."

Petra rolled her eyes, both at Henrik's idea of a joke and at his embarrassment at Paisley being referred to as his girlfriend. She felt a lot of conflicting emotions, from hopefulness at the thought of this working, to amusement at Henrik's reaction, to nostalgia that they were talking kind of normally to each other, to burning self-hatred that she was letting herself feel any of these things.

"I guess we'll call it even for now," she said. He abandoned her to be used and beaten, she kidnapped him and threatened to stab his brother. She almost wanted to laugh at how they were somehow calling a truce after all that.

What the fuck was even going on? She'd resolved that nothing would ever change the hatred she had for Henrik and Nils (but mostly Henrik), and here she was wanting to laugh and joke with him.

Henrik laughed lightly. If they could be civil with each other now, that was a good sign for working together through this.

He looked her in the eye, completely genuine and serious, honest and open. "Petra, I'm going to get you out of here. And we're going to bring them down. I'll be back for you soon. Brainstorm some clio we might be able to contact and get on our side, I'll talk to Paisley and get this whole thing started."

He turned but looked back to Petra before leaving. "And…thanks."

I'll be back for you soon.

She nodded at him solemnly when he thanked her and left. She wanted to fully believe him, but she still had a part of her thinking it was all just a lie, and that for the second time she would be sitting here waiting while he did nothing.

The other part of her was still hopeful though. She felt very conflicted still, but comforted herself by imagining Henrik's plan coming to fruitation, and them killing the bosses slowly and painfully. Together.