Just when Steph thought she’d lose strength in her arms entirely, they were met by light from around the bend of the tunnel. Steph started to walk a little faster and when they passed the turn they were met with bright light spilling in through a tall, metal gate.

“We made it…” Alex whispered, the relief clearly audible in her voice.

While Steph nodded, she carefully put Alex down as she’d promised earlier. “Yeah, I think we’ve got the worst part behind us.” After Alex turned off the flashlight and handed it to Steph, she put it back into the backpack. She supported Alex as they slowly made their way towards the large gate, the light becoming brighter and brighter.

“I never want to see the inside of a mine again.” Steph turned her head to look at Alex and nodded in agreement. “I don’t even want to get close to one, ever.”

“You and me both, Alex.” Steph stopped as they got to the gate and used her right foot to kick it open. They were met with a loud screech that left a peep in their ears as the gate moved and opened far enough for them to walk out. “I feel like that guy over there,” Steph said as she nodded her head in the direction of the lawnchair, a skeleton bearing a pair of sunglasses sitting in it.

“Yes, spot on.” Alex chuckled and grasped at her left side again, sucking in a breath of air.

“Shit, sorry.” Steph was about to continue walking when Alex stopped her with a tug at her hand. “What is it?” Steph asked as she followed Alex’s gaze. Then she saw it; the sign on the gate.

   We raise our drinks to
  JED LUCAN
  Who, at this location
  On December 30, 2008
  Pulled us out of hell

Reading the sign nearly made Steph’s stomach turn upside down, she literally felt nauseous. She looked at Alex and couldn’t place the facial expression, which was odd. But she was hesitant to ask, as she didn’t want to push Alex too much.

“Fuck Jed Lucan.” Alex removed herself from Steph’s supporting arm and stepped towards the gate, only for Steph to follow right behind and support Alex regardless. Especially when Alex got onto her toes, Steph made sure Alex didn’t put too much weight on her injured leg. Alex grabbed onto the edges of the sign and started pulling until she successfully ripped the sign off, then dropped it onto the ground. Ironically it fell face down.

For the first time Steph saw Alex’s injuries clearly, in the daylight. The wound on Alex’s forehead still had some remnants of blood, as well as on her cheek, jaw and neck. There was still a trail of dried up blood that came from Alex’s ear and now Steph saw how bloodied the sweater really was. Steph gasped and without thinking she threw her arms around Alex, pulling the woman into an embrace. She was mindful of Alex’s state and made sure to be gentle, the last thing she wanted was to further add to the injuries.

“Fuck Jed Lucan,” Steph hissed and pressed a kiss on top of Alex’s hair. “Let’s go home.”

“Yes please,” Alex whispered. Steph noticed how tired Alex suddenly sounded, which wasn’t surprising in the slightest. The woman had literally been through hell and back, she deserved all the sleep she could get. And if it was something Alex wanted, Steph promised in her head that she’d stay with Alex while she slept. To make sure nobody would disturb her sleep, that nothing bad would happen to her. That there would be someone in case she’d wake up, in case she’d experience nightmares or needed help with anything. Steph would be there for Alex, no matter what, no matter when.

There wasn’t much water left in the bottle and they still had quite a bit to go before they’d get back to Haven Springs, their progress had been pretty slow going. Steph thought for a few moments, mulling over an idea that had popped into her head.

“Hey Alex?” she asked, gaining Alex’s attention. “Would you be okay with me carrying you? I know your leg hurts really bad and if I carry you, it would go a bit faster.”

“But your arms… Are you sure?” Alex’s brows were knit, the worried expression pulling at Steph’s heartstrings.

“Positive,” Steph assured. Her arms be damned, she’d carry Alex until her arms would fall off and not stop a second sooner. “Although I won’t be carrying you bridal style.” As Steph said the word, she felt her face grow warm, remembering the marriage proposal during the LARP.

“That’s fine, just tell me what to do.”

“Alright, I’m going to carry you on my shoulders, with your body sideways. I’ll be holding onto one of your arms and one of your legs, your stomach facing down. It’s probably going to hurt your side, but this is the best way to distribute your weight and make it so that I can walk a bit faster.

Alex nodded and let herself be picked up by Steph, wincing at the pain on her side, but not protesting.

“You ready?”

“As ready as I can be, I guess,” Alex answered and took a deep breath as Steph started to walk.

“If you need me to stop—”

“I will let you know, yes. But please, Steph,” Alex pleaded, “please don’t stop.”

“That’s what she said,” Steph mumbled under her breath, her lips forming a mischievous grin.

“I heard that,” Alex said and Steph sharply inhaled while squeezing her eyes shut in embarrassment. “And you’ll probably hear me say that again someday, in a different context. When I’m not in pain.”

The mere thought of it caused Steph’s brain to dissolve into silent chaos, her heartbeat increasing speed and her throat to go dry. Worst of all was that she brought this onto herself, there was nobody but herself to blame.

“I figured you’d enjoy that idea, just please don’t drop me.”

“Never,” Steph replied without thinking. Despite that, she meant it wholeheartedly. Regardless of how much Alex messed with her head, she would make sure to not drop her under any circumstance. Bringing Alex back to Haven Springs in one piece was of the highest priority. “I won’t drop you, no matter the cost. You mean too much to me, Alex.”

“You really meant it, didn’t you?” Alex asked, leaving Steph confused. However, before Steph even had the chance to wreck her brain over it, Alex elaborated. “What you said on the rooftop, after we made out?”

As the images of the previous night popped into her head, Steph couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. Her chest felt warm and tingly, flutters filling her stomach and chest as she thought back. “Yeah,” she said, “every single word of it.”

“Sorry for not saying this sooner, but…” Steph was about to interject when Alex started speaking again. “I hope you realize you really mean a lot to me too, Steph.”

There was a silence as Steph simply didn’t know what to say in response, her mind was spinning and her heart threatened to jump out of her chest from the excitement she felt. Damn Steph, you really have it bad. Her cheeks started to ache as she smiled widely, the giddiness inside her nearly too much to handle.

“I-uh, I mean… T-thank you…” Thank you?! Steph, what the fuck? She mentally facepalmed at herself, how was she stuttering? She was usually pretty confident, but with Alex that disappeared like snow in the sun.

“You are very welcome,” Alex replied, if Steph could have seen Alex’s face, she would’ve seen the way she was wearing a smug grin.

When a sign indicating they nearly reached Haven Springs appeared, Steph could swear she felt her entire body rejoice. She’d definitely have to call off work for at least a day or two, maybe even three, to recover.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk?” Alex asked, to which Steph adamantly shook her head. “Wow, you sure are a stubborn one, huh?”

Steph huffed in protest, about to defend herself, but stopped herself at the last moment. “Seems like I’m not the only one, though.”

There was a silence, only the sound of Steph’s boots on the gravel and the leaves of the trees being rustled by the wind accompanying them. She couldn’t help but grin at the lack of a reply from Alex, meaning she was right.

“Touché, Gingrich. Touché.”

When they reached the familiar bus stop at the edge of the town, Steph nearly collapsed, but made sure to carefully put Alex down first. They both sat on the bench inside the bus stop and rested their heads against the back wall.

Steph turned her head to face Alex when she felt Alex’s hand take hold of her own, fingers lacing between hers. She looked down at their intertwined hands and felt warm and fuzzy, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

“You know, Steph,” Alex said, her voice soft and gentle. “I can read your emotions and what causes them, but even if I wasn’t able to…” Alex looked up and met Steph’s eyes, lips curling up into a smile. “The fact that you came to find me speaks for itself.”

Steph was stricken by how Alex hit the nail on the head, only now really processing what she had done. Despite all the risks and possible outcomes, she had gone out there in order to find Alex at all costs.

“I don’t want to ask more from you, because I’ve already asked so much… You carried me all the way back and—”

“Alex, I did that because I wanted to. Please ask me; anything. Pretty sure I’ll say yes either way.” At this Steph received a somewhat skeptical look from Alex, which she answered with a smug grin.

“Could you please stay with me? I don’t think I can be alone right now…”

The smugness instantly vanished off her face as her heart squeezed almost painfully at Alex’s request and the way her voice sounded. Steph lifted their linked hands and pressed her lips against one of Alex’s knuckles, leaving a kiss on it. “Absolutely,” Steph whispered, “I wouldn’t want you to be alone right now. After everything—I won’t leave you alone, Alex.” It was a promise and Steph felt like Alex realized this too.

After another few minutes passed, Steph sat up a little straighter and looked at Alex. “Shall we?” Her voice was soft, only loud enough for Alex to hear.

Alex sat up and let out a sigh, “Yeah.”

They made it over the bridge without too much trouble, met by a fairly quiet Main Street. It wouldn’t surprise either of them if it was due to most people still waking up. The Spring festival had ended pretty late and it was a Sunday, too.

The Black Lantern had never seemed so far away, it hadn’t ever taken this long to get there before. Steph was grateful that the town’s heart was nearly completely empty, which meant less interruptions. She did notice one or two people staring, but they didn’t say anything. She felt kind of bad for them, because Alex was looking quite gruesome thanks to all the blood.

Steph looked sideways to look at Alex without turning her head, the crack in the lens of Alex’s glasses was now more apparent in the sunlight. Alex would definitely need to get new glasses, or at least a new lens glass to replace the cracked one. The glasses and clothes could easily be replaced or fixed, but the same didn’t go for Alex’s injuries. The physical injuries could heal, depending on their severity and how long that would take, but the mental scars would never truly go away. Steph knew this all too well, she still had plenty of scars that weren’t visible. And just like that, a memory she had pushed away so often resurfaced, despite her best attempts to fight it.

   “First the storm, now this? What the fuck is happening? This can’t be real…” Steph was nearly screaming, tears running down her face as her heart ached so painfully she thought she’d have a heart attack. Despite the fear, it kept beating, pounding in her chest. 

   “I’m so sorry, Steph…” Mikey’s voice sounded distant and murky, as if they were under water. The only thing she was fully aware of was the aching in her chest, the feeling of despair and rage and the images flashing in her mind at a rapid pace. 

   “This can’t be true… She was leaving for Los Angeles, Rachel was—” her voice cracked and her throat closed up, making it impossible for her to speak. Steph’s breathing was ragged and heavy, burning in her nose and throat with every in- and exhale. Her knees gave out and Steph fell, screaming while tears streamed down her face and the stabbing feeling in her chest only intensified. 

   “Steph!” The voice sounded muffled and far away, nearly impossible to understand, drowned out by the screaming inside her head. The intensity of her emotions were overwhelming, making her dizzy. Steph desperately gasped for air, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs. 

   “The body of Rachel Amber was found in Arcadia Bay’s local junkyard after a tip. She was a student at Blackwell Academy and had been reported missing back in April. The suspect, M. Jefferson, who had been a teacher at Blackwell Academy, has been arrested by law enforcement. There’s still an ongoing investigation, as soon as there’s more news about this case, you’ll hear it here on—”

   The news kept repeating in Steph’s mind on loop, over and over again. A part of her hoped it was just a bad dream, even though she knew it wasn’t. It was a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from. The girl she’d been in love with was dead and never even made it to Los Angeles, Rachel hadn’t even made it out of Oregon or the town she tried to get away from. All this time Steph thought Rachel had just up and left and was trying to make it in Los Angeles, but instead had been buried in a fucking junkyard of all places, like a piece of trash.  

Rachel had always been so full of life, and had played a role in so many people’s lives. In Blackwell Academy alone, Steph remembered the amount of clubs Rachel had been in and the amount of classes she had taken. 

   She always looked forward to drama class, mostly because it meant Rachel would be there. Steph cried as she remembered when Rachel had rejected her, although she hadn’t been surprised it still hurt. 

   And now… Now it was officially confirmed that Steph would never see Rachel again. It hurt so much, she couldn’t do anything but scream and cry while gasping for air. Her head was throbbing and her eyes burned from crying, the skin underneath them raw from the amount of times she had wiped the tears away. But no matter how often she did, new tears kept coming and spilling. 

   Steph had no idea how much time had passed, it felt like hours and simultaneously it felt like only seconds. Her body was exhausted and she felt drained. Tears had stopped falling, the tracks of them on her cheeks dried. Where her heart was located in her chest it felt like it was empty, hollow. 

   The feeling remained. Hours, days and weeks passed, everything was a blur. It was hard to focus on schoolwork, she’d been eating less and forgot to reply to texts and emails. 

   Steph couldn’t quite remember what day it was, or even the date, when there was someone knocking on her door excessively. Despite her not answering the door, they kept knocking with only brief breaks in between. Finally Steph had enough and stormed to her door, almost violently swinging it open. 

   “What the fuck—” Steph swallowed the rest of the words as she saw Mikey in her door opening. 

   “Hey to you too, Steph.” 

   There was an incredibly awkward silence and Steph shrunk, hugging herself while avoiding eye contact.

   “Mikey… What are you doing here?” she quietly asked, staring at her socks as if they were the most fascinating thing in the world. She noticed one of them had a hole in it, showing a bit of her big toe. 

   “Wow, Steph.” Mikey let out a heavy sigh, causing Steph to look up. “I came to check if my friend is still alive, because she hasn’t been answering calls, texts or even emails.” Before Steph could say something, Mikey stepped past her and into the room, then sat down on the bed. “Look, I know the news hit you hard… I can’t blame you for how you feel, because your feelings are valid, but…” 

   Steph huffed as she closed the door and sat down backwards on her desk chair, facing Mikey but not looking directly at him. She rested her arms on the back rest, her chin leaning on top of them.

   “I’m genuinely worried about my friend, Steph. And now I see I had every reason to be, sorry to be blunt but… You reek, do you remember when you last showered?” 

   The question hurt, likely because it came from Mikey and because he had a good point. She turned the chair and faced the wall. Steph let out a frustrated grunt as she shrugged.

   “Please let me try to help?” 

   It turned out she didn’t have much choice in the matter, Mikey helped her tidy up her room, taking out the trash, even helped with the dishes and laundry. It had taken hours, but eventually her room wasn’t looking like a bomb had exploded in it anymore. The floor was actually visible again and after a lot of nagging on Mikey’s part, Steph had taken a shower and washed her hair. 

   “How do you feel now?” Mikey asked as he sat down beside her on the couch and handed her a bowl of pasta. “Sorry if it’s not great, I’m not the greatest cook, but I tried.” 

   Steph stared at the bowl of steaming hot pasta and felt tears pricking in her eyes. She fought incredibly hard to hold them back, but ended up losing the battle. 

   Without saying another word, Mikey took Steph’s bowl and put it on the small table along with his own. He wrapped his arms around her and held her while she cried.

   “She’s really gone…” Mikey nodded but didn’t speak, he just hugged her in the hopes of offering some comfort. “That asshole, he—” she couldn’t even finish the sentence. It still hurt so much and she wondered if it would ever stop, if the pain would ever go away. 

“Steph?” The alarm in Alex’s voice pulled her back into the present, the memory fading to the back of her mind. “Are you alright?” Alex asked, “your face is nearly as pale as a sheet…”

“Yeah, sorry… Just—Don’t worry about it.”

“Too late for that, Steph. Your aura tells me otherwise.”

Right, I forgot about that… Steph sucked in a breath as she realized there was no fooling Alex when it came to her emotions. As frustrating as it could be, maybe this was exactly what she needed. Someone who wouldn’t let her pretend like everything was fine when it in fact was not, no opportunity to hide behind a forced smile.

“I’ll tell you, someday. Promise.” Steph intended to keep her promise, but it felt wrong for her to delve into that right now. She knew that once they’d get to The Black Lantern it would be extremely emotional, one way or another. Both of them needed to conserve as much energy as possible, because Steph felt like it would be a very long day.

As they passed the record store, Steph couldn’t help but look inside. Valkyrie was perched on the counter and looking outside, the tip of her tail curling up and laying down repeatedly. I’ll make sure to feed you later on, Val. Alex needs me right now. The cat looked at them for a second or two, then looked away with disinterest. Yep, still Valkyrie alright.

“Nearly there,” Steph said and received a nod from Alex. “I’ll be right there with you, okay? No matter what happens.”

Alex turned to look at her and gave her a weak smile, accompanied with a sigh. “Thanks, Steph. I just need to try and not lose control.”

“Hey, Alex?” Steph stopped Alex with a gentle nudge, and Alex turned to face her. “You’re incredibly strong, you know that?” Steph could swear she saw Alex’s cheeks turning a bit more pink, it was pretty damn cute. “You’ve endured so much… Hell, you’ve survived a fall of I don’t know how fucking far. So if you ‘lose control’, as you call it, nobody gets to judge you for it. You have every damn right to, Alex.”

Alex didn’t meet Steph’s eyes, and that was okay. Steph smiled as she leaned closer and gently pressed her lips against Alex’s forehead, making sure to avoid the bandaged wound on her temple.

You’ve got this, Alex. And I’ve got your back, no matter what.

“Thanks, Steph. That really means a lot.”

Steph took Alex’s hand in her own and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

“I’m ready.”

And with that, they closed the last bit of distance between them and The Black Lantern. About to face whatever was waiting for them.

After what Steph estimated to be about ten minutes, they reached The Black Lantern and paused as they were about to turn the corner and head inside. Alex’s breath was slightly labored, holding onto Steph for support.

Steph got worried, but Alex was determined; it was written all over her face. Steph was amazed by how strong Alex was, the determination was impressive to say the least.

When Alex indicated with a single nod that she was ready, Steph went ahead and opened the door, holding it open for Alex to walk inside freely. Once they were both inside, everyone’s heads turned towards them.

Duckie, Eleanor, and Charlotte were there, as well as Pike, Ryan, Jed, and Diane. Steph noticed the shocked expression on Jed’s face, as well as the surprised look on Diane’s. All the others looked shocked with worry as they saw Alex’s state, the way she limped to where they all were. Ryan had turned to look at them and his jaw dropped when he saw Alex.

“What happened to you?” he asked, looking Alex up and down and taking in all the visible injuries.

Alex glared at Jed before turning to face Ryan and looked at him apologetically. “I found out something you need to hear… I’m sorry…”

Ryan looked at Alex with confusion, then turned to Steph and back at Alex. “What?”

Alex turned away from him and stepped towards where Jed was standing. While she did, Ryan turned to face Steph and shot her a questioning look.

“I’m so glad you found her, Steph,” he said and Steph answered with a subtle nod. “But what is going on? You never replied to my texts…”

Steph let out a deep sigh as she purposely kept herself from looking at Jed, knowing that if she did, she would be the one to lose control. “Sorry about that, my phone died and even if it hadn’t; I didn’t have any service back there.” Steph let out a sigh as she thought of how Ryan was about to hear something that would turn his life upside down. “Just… Listen, okay? It’s going to be hard and I know for a fact you won’t like it, but just listen.” It was clear that it didn’t exactly settle Ryan’s worry, if anything it was worsened.

“Do you need help? We can call an ambulance—”

Alex cut Diane off, clearly not having any of the facade Diane was putting up. “Typhon’s been lying to all of you. And so has Jed Lucan.”

When Jed asked Alex what was going on, she glared at him. “You know exactly what is going on.”

Ryan looked at Steph, but when she didn’t say anything he turned to look at Alex again. “What the hell happened?” Steph put a hand on his arm, wordlessly telling him to wait.

Alex looked at Ryan, then turned to face everyone else as she answered Ryan’s question. “I was down in the mine last night. I saw what Typhon’s been hiding for twelve years. Jed Lucan isn’t a hero.” She looked at him as she said it. “That whole story is a lie. Jed caused the accident. And then he abandoned seven of his men. He let them drown to save himself.”

It looked like Diane wanted to say something, but remained quiet and Alex continued. She looked at Jed as she spoke, not hiding the angry expression on her face. “There were pictures of me and Gabe down there, in the dirt. Because one of those miners was my father.”

Steph noticed the way Charlotte’s expression shifted just the slightest bit and shook her head, both of them remembered how Gabe had tried to locate his father in Haven Springs when he first arrived. It was what had brought Gabe here in the first place, but it had seemed to be a dead end.

“Typhon wanted to keep this covered up, in case it jeopardized the vote. Everyone at that company is scared to death. All they do is protect themselves. So they decided to bury the evidence. And nothing was going to stop that blast, not even the fact that there were four people up in the mountains. That’s how Gabe was killed.

“Jed knew all along. He covered up the truth about the past, about Gabe… And when I found out, as you can see, he tried to kill me, too.”

When Jed looked exasperated and even dared to roll his eyes, it took Steph every grain of discipline to not walk over to him and smack him in the face. It made her blood boil that even after the truth being revealed, he tried to hide behind the mask he had created to fool everyone. Her knuckles had turned white as her nails dug into the palms of her hands with tension, teeth gritted and toes curled.

As it stayed silent, Alex looked around the group of people surrounding her. “Why aren’t any of you saying anything?”

“We don’t want to embarrass you, Alex.” Steph turned to look at Diane, staring daggers at her. Although she had to hand it to Diane, the woman had some serious balls.

“I wasn’t asking you,” Alex spat as she glared at Diane.

Diane let out a sigh, as if she was talking to a stubborn teenager instead of a young adult, who was clearly badly injured. “The things you’ve said… obligate me to at least address them. These accusations are… Well, they’re insane. And trying to go into the mine was, obviously, a very dangerous, very illegal thing to do.

“But we all sympathize with your situation. You’ve been through so much. Your brother was your only family, wasn’t he?” Diane walked towards Alex as she spoke and Steph subconsciously stepped closer to Alex in response. If the woman so much as laid a hand on Alex, Steph swore she’d absolutely lose her cool.

“I can only imagine how much you want an explanation for his loss. Something to give you comfort and… Make your life seem less unfair.”

“What the actual fuck, Diane?” Steph spat, unable to keep it in any longer. “You’re so full of shit.” When she looked at Alex, she caught the way the corner of Alex’s lips curled up into a small but very amused grin.

“Steph’s right, you know there’s proof of the cover-up. You had Pike arrest me to suppress the evidence,” Alex responded to Diane. Any bit of respect she previously had for the woman had completely vanished.

“Officer Pike arrested you for stealing items from my purse. Perhaps you were looking for evidence—”

“And I found it. Which is why you and Jed tried to threaten me into silence.”

Before either Steph or Diane had the chance to say something in response, Ryan stepped forward and faced Jed. Ryan’s expression caused Steph’s heart to sting, she felt incredibly bad for him, she saw the way his shoulders were slumped and his brows were knit.

“Dad… Do you have any idea what Alex is talking about?”

Jed stepped forward as he replied to Ryan: “No, I don’t. I’ve tried to be there for Alex since Gabe died. I thought—I don’t know, I hoped I could be something of a father figure to her.”

Alex rolled her eyes while shaking her head, exchanging a look with Steph of absolute disbelief and disgust. Steph replied with a subtle but firm nod, they were on the same page. It was a small gesture that didn’t go unappreciated when Steph gently took Alex’s pinkie finger and softly squeezed it.

“All I can guess is, sometimes when we’re hurting, the people we lash out at are the ones who are trying to help.”

What a fucking hypocrite! Trying to kill someone isn’t ‘helping’, Jed. You disgust me. Steph bit the inside of her cheek while squeezing her eyes shut. The only reason she didn’t storm towards Jed to kick and scream at him was that if anyone had the right to do that, it was Alex.

“You tried to kill me. How can you stand there and say these things?” Alex spat, the disgust written all over her face.

“Alex—” The condescending tone of Jed’s voice made Steph see red and it took everything for her to hold back. She kept thinking that she couldn’t lose it, for Alex’s sake. She’d been through enough and had dealt with enough bullshit to last her an entire year, adding on top of that was the last thing Steph wanted to do.

“You’re a monster.” Alex stepped forward and winced in pain, causing Steph to help support her in an attempt to minimize the pain as much as possible. Alex shot her a grateful look, to which Steph just nodded. “Please. I know this is hard to accept. You all trust him. I did, too. But I’m telling the truth.”

Steph took Alex’s hand in her own and couldn’t help but suppress a small smile as she looked at Alex, who was being so incredibly brave that her heart nearly burst with pride. “I believe you. Of course I do.” She nodded in response when Alex mouthed ‘thank you’ at her, but she wasn’t done yet. “Yesterday night I asked Alex to meet me on the rooftop, as I had some news to share with her.” Steph looked at Alex again, only to find her being somewhat flustered, which caused the butterflies in Steph’s abdomen to spread to her chest. “After I shared the news, I asked Alex to meet me at the festival again. Alex never came back, which is extremely unlike her.

“I texted Ryan to ask if he had seen or heard anything from Alex, which he hadn’t. Honestly, I barely slept because I felt like something was wrong. As soon as I woke up at the ass crack of dawn, I called Ryan, still nothing from Alex. So I decided to go ahead and try to find her, with help from Ryan who set me up with the necessary gear.” At this, Steph took off the backpack and handed it back to Ryan, who took it from her and set it down next to him. “Obviously I did find her, unconscious. She was down in the mine, where Typhon had set off an illegal second blast.” Steph glared at Diane as she said the last part, to which Diane looked away to avoid eye contact. “I thought I lost her, after losing Gabe… I cried when Alex finally woke up, helped her out of the mine as she told me what had happened.” She turned to Jed with a disgusted look on her face, fighting the urge to spit at him. “You fucking shot her, to save your own ass. You’re a fucking coward, Jed.

“How could you?! Trying to murder someone, lying to everyone for over a fucking decade, to your own son! If any of you have any doubts about Alex’s story, I can tell you she is telling the truth.” Steph let out a deep breath and held on to Alex’s hand a little tighter.

When Charlotte stood up, everyone’s eyes turned to her, tension hanging in the air. “I believe you too,” she said as she looked at Alex, a sad expression on her face. “I’m horrified. And shocked. And—still processing everything. But I believe you.”

Ryan looked extremely torn, lost. Steph could see the different emotions in his ever changing facial expression. Confusion, disbelief, hurt, sadness, anger… She couldn’t remember ever seeing him like this before, which only confirmed how much this whole ordeal messed with him.

Everyone turned their head to look at Duckie when he announced he would like to speak and got up from his chair.

“This young lady came to Haven as a stranger, but over the last few weeks, she’s become one of us. Now, her story certainly seems unlikely, if not impossible. But she deserves at least an investigation of her claims. We ought to take her seriously.” He looked at both Alex and Steph and shot them a sad smile before he sat down again.

“I agree with Duckie,” said Eleanor while she stood up and faced Alex. “I’ve always found Alex to be a very trustworthy person. She wouldn’t make these accusations lightly. Something must have happened.”

“Miss Lethe, there’s no actual evidence of anything.”

Steph glared at Diane at the lie, feeling more and more grossed out thinking she’d ever considered doing anything with the woman that involved both their bodies. Like hell there isn’t! When she felt Alex squeeze her hand, Steph swallowed hard as she focused on her breathing in order to calm herself down a bit.

Eleanor put her hands up in the air as she responded to Diane: “Maybe not, but that’s what I think.” This brought a grin to Steph’s face, liking Eleanor even more now than she did before.

“Actually, Diane, there is evidence,” Pike said while getting up, almost dramatically slow.

Diane rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

Pike winked at Alex and completely ignored Diane, “I’ve got a USB stick full of recordings.”

Alex turned her head to look at Steph and grinned, Steph mirrored her. This was going pretty well so far. With Pike having their back too, Diane, Jed, and Typhon didn’t have a leg to stand on. Steph was grateful and relieved that, so far, everyone was on their side. It probably helped that she was able to confirm Alex’s story, as she’d been part of Haven Spring’s community for well over a year now. She knew these people, especially Duckie and Charlotte.

But Diane fought back, still trying to get herself and Typhon out of this entire mess. “Yes. We went through this yesterday. Your superiors closed the case. None of us have time for conspiracies.”

Pike shook his head with a grin, he seemed to be tired of Diane’s attempts to wipe her hands off of all this. “Yeah, now you’re trying to weasel your way out of things again, huh? I know your game. I know how you—”

“Don’t test me, Jason,” Diane interrupted.

Steph’s eyes widened as she looked at Pike, surprised that Diane called him by his first name rather than his last. However Pike didn’t look particularly phazed by this.

“You know what? I’m not scared of you anymore. Yeah, not of you, not Typhon—”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Jed said, but nobody seemed to listen as Diane and Pike kept arguing.

When Alex tugged at Steph’s hand and nodded in Ryan’s direction, Steph nodded and helped Alex walk over to him. He had been pretty quiet and she was worried about him, although she couldn’t imagine him not backing her and Alex up.

Once they were standing in front of Ryan, Steph stepped a bit to the side. Despite hoping there wouldn’t be a falling out between the two, she wanted to make sure she could step in between if necessary. She cared about Ryan, but she’d protect Alex at all costs.

Steph watched how Alex looked up at Ryan with an apologetic expression, feeling her heart pinch when Alex apologized to Ryan.

Ryan shook his head, eyes closed. “No, I’m sorry, Alex.” Steph genuinely wanted to hug both of them, but it wasn’t exactly the best time or place to do so, and so she held herself back. “I’m so sorry,” he said and stepped aside, then walked towards Jed.

Both Alex and Steph turned around and held their breath as they watched Ryan approach Jed. Neither of them had a clue of what he was going to say, all they could do was wait and see.

“Dad, please. Come clean. We’ll figure it out together.” Despite the fact Steph couldn’t see Ryan’s face, she could visualize the pleading expression by the way his voice sounded. It honestly broke her heart.

“It amazes me the extent to which she’s manipulated you,” Jed said and had the audacity to look at Alex when he did. Steph glared at him as she nearly threw up inside her mouth, it was astonishing how this man still tried to uphold the lies despite everything.

“Come on, dad.”

“Never in a million years.”

“Come on. I hate seeing you do this.”

“My own son.”

Steph looked at Alex’s free hand as Alex took something out of her pocket, when she opened her hand Steph saw it was a beautiful locket. It was a bit dirty and the little gems in it were dull, but despite that it was still gorgeous. Steph realized this must have been the locket Alex had showed and told her about earlier, in the mine.

“Dad—” Ryan pleaded with a shaky voice.

“My own goddamn son!” Jed yelled.

When Alex let go of her hand after giving it a gentle squeeze, Steph gave Alex a questioning look. She watched as Alex closed her hand around the locket again and her expression shifted to one of what Steph would best describe as determination.

“Stop.” Alex’s voice was calm and controlled, so much so that it nearly scared Steph. It was incredible how powerful it was, because nobody spoke after that. She watched Alex limp towards Jed and fought her instinct to help Alex. It was clear that Alex needed to do this on her own. Besides, if Alex needed her, Steph would be only a few steps away.

Jed stepped forward, but stopped when Alex looked directly at him.

“I know why you tried to kill me.” Alex placed her hand on her side while wincing in pain as she passed Ryan, who looked at her worriedly. “It’s not what you tell yourself, that you thought it was best for Haven. This was never about Haven at all, was it? This was about you.

“I know it’s easier, not having to think about the men you buried.” Jed looked away, only to be called out about it by Alex. “You want to look away and pretend the people you hurt aren’t people. But I won’t let you. My father worked for you. His name was John.”

Steph swallowed a lump in her throat and hugged herself as shivers went through her. The way Alex faced Jed, seemingly without fear, it was absolutely incredible to her. Steph wasn’t sure she was capable of doing the same.

“He made a lot of mistakes. He wasn’t a good father. I think he came here trying to be better. But you killed him.”

The fact that Steph couldn’t trace a hint of remorse in Jed’s expression while Alex said this was astonishing, she wondered if she’d ever even really known Jed at all.

Alex continued, albeit with a tremor in her voice. “And then Gabe. My big brother. He was building a family here. Doing it his own way, figuring it out as he went along.” She looked at Charlotte, who met her gaze with a sad smile. “He was so nervous about it. And so excited. And he brought me here to be part of that family.”

Steph looked at Charlotte and felt tears welling up in her eyes, remembering all too well how crazy Gabe was about both Charlotte and Ethan. How excited he was for Alex to come to Haven Springs. And she saw in Charlotte’s eyes, she remembered it too. The emotional rollercoaster that she was in today just didn’t seem to end.

“But he died, because of you.” Alex paused, with still very little change in Jed’s expression. “And then there’s me. For so many years, I just wanted to survive. To get through. Haven changed me. I started to think about the future. I want to belong somewhere. I want to know that there’s a place and a group of people who wouldn’t be the same without me. I was starting to feel that here.”

As Alex said those words, Steph felt her heart beat a little faster as she remembered a train of thought she’d had earlier this morning. How she had called Haven Springs ‘home’ in her head and meant it. It was only last night she’d told Alex that she wanted to go back onto the road again, to travel, to perform. But after everything that had happened today… Steph decided that if Alex wanted to stay in Haven Springs, if that made her happy, Steph would be okay with that. If it meant she’d get to be with Alex, she’d be more than willing to give up touring. They’d still be able to travel while simultaneously calling Haven Springs their home, performing would still be more than doable. And as the idea of staying in Haven with Alex settled in Steph’s mind, she felt a sense of peace and calm, a sense of home. 

“And you tried to murder me. You would have ended my life just so you wouldn’t have to face the truth,” Alex said, her voice shaky with emotion. It was incredibly hard for Steph to keep herself from rushing towards Alex and wrap her arms around her.

However when she noticed the way Jed’s eyes looked around, anywhere but at Alex, she also caught the way his body shifted uncomfortably. Finally there was some emotion to be found, which Steph wasn’t quite certain about if she felt relief because of it or not.

Alex took another step, getting closer to Jed but with still a good amount of distance between them. “You’ve forgotten it, haven’t you? You’ve plastered over it with another story.

“You tell yourself you’re a good man. You take care of so many people. You gave me a roof, and a job. You checked on me when I was grieving. Such a good, generous man.” Alex took another step forward while still looking at Jed, her hand still on her side. “But that’s the lie. If we scrape it away, what do we see?

“Eleven years ago, you led a group of men to their deaths, and you couldn’t even say those words out loud because you’re a coward. You couldn’t imagine saying it to your wife. Saying it in front of your son.

“Every day you were brave enough to go underground and look death in the eye, but you couldn’t muster the courage to admit a mistake.”

When Jed turned his head, Alex took another wobbly step forward. “I can feel you trying to pull away. Don’t.” Reluctantly Jed faced Alex once again, “The truth hurts. Sometimes it’s so awful you think you’re going to break. But when you come out the other side and you’re whole and free and still alive—then you’ll finally know how strong you really are.

“I see the truth about you. You hate yourself. You hate what you did in the past. You hate what you’ve done to keep it secret. And the more you deny the hatred, the worse it grows. I know who you are. I’ve seen the worst parts of you.”

Jed fell to his knees as he started to cry, everyone was silent, not sure how to respond. Steph felt shaky, which made her wonder how on earth Alex was able to remain so calm and collected.

“I’m done here. I’ve spent enough time in the same space with him,” Alex said as she turned around and limped back towards Steph. As she was about to pass Ryan, she turned to look at him and shot him an apologetic look. The two didn’t exchange any words, Steph could tell Ryan would need some time to process everything. It was a lot to take in, after all. He basically just lost his father.

“I’ll take it from here, Alex. Please make sure to get to a doctor,” Pike said, surprising Steph a little bit. She shot him a grateful look and nodded.

Before she had the chance to reply, however, Charlotte interjected. “I can drive you two to the hospital.”

Steph looked at Charlotte, then at Alex and back at Charlotte. “Thanks, Char,” she thanked her.

“Don’t thank me, it’s also a good excuse for me to get away from this place.” Charlotte flashed Steph a lopsided grin.

“Well, before we go, I think it’d be good to go ahead and grab some clean clothes to take,” Steph said and Alex nodded in agreement.

“Take your time, I’ll go get the car,” Charlotte said and walked out of The Black Lantern.

Steph looked back at Ryan and let out a sad sigh before helping Alex up the stairs, she needed to give him the space he needed. Either he’d reach out to them, or Steph would reach out to him after a couple of days. Right now there wasn’t much else any of them could do for him.