His eye had swollen up after his processing torture and had slowly started to come down over the last couple of days. The bruise on his left cheek refused to go away and he hadn’t had the time to get the dental surgery yet so while he wasn’t looking his best it was definitely better than it had been before. He managed to get the chance to visit with Logan, something he thought he’d never be able to achieve but after filing the appropriate paperwork, they led him into an area to wait for him.
He hadn’t been able to get his mind off of Logan. In his heart, Ehren felt like he had to be innocent, that someone had set him up, but what did he really know about him? Roman had some interesting stories to tell about him and Ehren wasn’t sure if he believed him or not.
Finally he heard the click of the door and in walked Logan with a guard following close behind to monitor the prisoner. His heart leapt in his chest when he saw the state of him.
Days had been spent in shackles, in a box of a cell which acted more like a cage. He had finally become the monster that everyone always portrayed him to be in the eyes of the law. Regardless of what he said in his own defense the ropes seemed only to tighten. The detainment center was different than others he had heard about - these reeked. They weren’t well maintained, there were no luxuries.
The clanking of chains, wailing, pleading echoes kept many from sleeping. Logan remained quiet regardless. Any questions posed went unanswered. He didn’t care what anybody asked, said. Not anymore.
And then all of the sudden the door to the cage opened. At first Logan didn’t move. He didn’t lift his head up until the guard said something about having a visitor. Finally then did Logan lift his chin, exposing the remainder of his own black eye. His lip was finally beginning to feel less swollen, his body still hurt from the instruments the guards used to apprehend him.
Slowly he rose. The shackles would go around his wrists and ankles, in chains he was lead out and into the area used for visitors. The guard behind him was a silent presence. As the door clicked shut behind both himself and the shadow with the gun Logan looked at the floor and waited, not bothering to look up or acknowledge anything that might be there.
“Logan?” Ehren finally said, standing from where he was sitting in the corner of the room. He walked toward the man in chains, tears starting to form in his eyes. It must have taken at least three guards to get Logan to go with them and he bit down on his lip as he surveyed the damage. The closer he got the more he felt the guards eyes on him.
“I can’t believe they did this to you.” He said. He wanted to reach out, to examine his marks, but he knew what it was like in these places, they probably wouldn’t get to be very close at all.
He felt exhaustion weighing down on him. It had settled into his bones worse than it had the last five years. He was weary, tired, it showed in the sag of his shoulders and the dimness in his eyes as his head lifted. Looking at Ehren he nearly looked afraid. This was not a state he wanted the other man to see him in if he could help it.
Quietly his gaze would fall again. He felt shame but only because of the state of himself. Feeling exposed rather than contained, almost as if he were suddenly caught in a blizzard.
“What did they do to you?” Came the question. It had to have been the Government. Why wouldn’t it have been? This was a deterrent to not get close to anyone, someone tended to get hurt. “You shouldn’t be here.”
He looked up at the guard then back at Logan. There he was, shutting himself off again and Ehren shook his head. “They wanted to register me.” He held up the ID badge he was required to wear now, the disappointment clear in his voice. “I didn’t make it easy for them.” He added, since that was who he was now, he was someone who had fight in him.
“But I am here, and I want to know what’s going on. What sort of evidence do they have on you?” He wasn’t going to let Logan just shut him out but he couldn’t ask the question he wondered in the back of his mind. Did you do it? because that would display distrust and how could he do that when Logan opened himself up to him? He couldn’t possibly.
Register him. Why, after all of this time, was that an issue now? Eyes would lift. He saw the new badge as it was lifted up, observing it with distaste. Ehren deserved better - while he knew the man had abilities it wasn’t unheard of to manifest later (or so the government would finally discover) and thus fall victim to the registration process.
In spite of his better judgement Logan began to shift forward. The chains clanked, clacked against the floor. Slowly, tenderly his hands would lift, touch and turn Ehren’s face to survey the damage. “I’m sorry they hurt you.”
“Stop touching!” The guard yelled.
Logan’s jaw set but he pulled backward, hands falling to his front again.
When the conversation wandered back to the elephant in the room he offered a shrug, “Just that I killed a guard. Something about an animal attack.” He didn’t understand all of what they’d told him mostly because it didn’t make a lot of sense. But he didn’t offer much else.
The touch however brief felt nice and Ehren hadn’t realized how much he had begun to enjoy those tender touches from Logan. It was over too quick and a single tear drop from his eye. His hand came up to wipe it away and he sniffed to clear his sinuses. “Yeah well, it looks like they hurt you too.” He said, dipping his head forward to indicate Logan’s state.
“I was with you earlier than night.” He said, although he didn’t know what he really meant by it. He followed it with a question, one that might skirt around any kind of accusations. “What did you do after I left you?” He asked, too curious not to ask.
His own state didn’t matter. It took a lot of guards to take him down, and he suspected that the same amount probably came at Ehren too. Regardless of the number he was looking at the outcome and it made him angry, protective. There wouldn’t be a pity party here, neither of them needed. They’d been hurt, they would live and move on.
“Stayed in the apartment,” came the answer. He wouldn’t mention Daisy here, not with a guard standing there, but his eyes never left Ehren’s. A fire blazed in the darkened hues. “Didn’t leave until it was time for work.”
Would Ehren believe him?
Something about the way he looked at Ehren made him feel at ease. How could he even begin to think that Logan could have done something like this. Logan was a good person, whether he admitted to it or not.
“I’m going to get you out of here, I don’t care what it takes.” And of course that was foolish of him to promise but sometimes that foolish hope could come to good use. He foolishly hoped Logan would like him and that seemed to work out well enough for him.
“I’ll talk to somebody, try and get you some representation.” He promised, reaching his hand up to touch his hand. The guard yelled again. “No touching!”
When Ehren left he and Daisy tried to watch some television, played together on the floor, ate a bit of food and eventually passed out on the couch. During the middle of the night he’d gotten up to try to get her to go to the bathroom on the paper Ehren had brought. But that was akin to wanting an infant to use the toilet. After a bit of trying without success they fell asleep on the floor until the morning came.
Shaking his head at Ehren, Logan sighed, “No. They’ll just stop you, bury you in paperwork. There isn’t legal representation here worth anything.” He wished Ehren would just forget about him, find something better and more worthwhile to pursue.
It was like trying to push a boulder uphill. But he appreciated the willingness to fight.
Ehren shook his head, desperate laughter bubbling up from his lungs. All this deflection, he wondered if Logan was more self-deprecating than himself. “You’re innocent, there has to be due process. We still live in America.” He replied, pacing around the room.
“Government is all about connections.” He said, gesturing widely with his hands. “So it would make sense if I were to go through the right channels that I could get to someone who would plead your case.” He looked at Logan then. He wasn’t about to let him go, not yet, not like this.
“Let me do this for you.” He begged.
He knew this was a hopeless battle but he nodded anyway. Never in his life had anyone fought for him besides Casey. Usually he was the one fighting everyone else to get what he wanted. Or what was needed. “Okay.”
There was no energy to fight Ehren so he wouldn’t try. A guard? Maybe. But not the other man. That bit of hope and faith was something to look forward to.
If Logan was innocent then there had to be some security footage somewhere that exonerated him, unless someone was specifically trying to set him up. “Don’t give up, okay? I’m here for you every step of the way” It occurred to him that his best chance was to talk to Roman, which made his skin crawl.
“I think I may know a way, just hang in there.” He ran his fingers through his long hair, he really did need to get it cut. He needed to know more, needed to find out if what Roman said was actually true. “They told me you had a criminal record, is that true?” He asked. It didn’t matter to him if he did, he just needed to know what angle to go at it from.
A breath was taken. He wanted to believe there was a chance he would get out of here, get back to what little bit of a life he had left, but he wouldn’t hold his breath. These charges were big - there couldn’t be a shred of doubt that Logan was innocent for the hope to turn into a reality. At least, that was how he felt about it.
Nodding, he sighed. “Okay.”
And the way the gears turned in Ehren’s brain had him interested but he didn’t ask. Didn’t want to throw any flags up to the guard who might do something to stop the momentum. “I had the cops called on me twice,” he explained, voice laden with guilt. “Casey. But I never put my hands on her. We used to fight - the neighbors got used to it. Once I threatened her with a broken bottle, both of us were drunk and I was angry. The second time she was throwing stuff at me and I grabbed her arms to stop her. But other than that I haven’t done anything serious.” Some crazy shit when he was younger, underaged drinking and other things kids might do. But he wasn’t violent. Not really. But that was up to Ehren to decide.
That was good, no record of any actual violence would bode well in his case. How did anyone even think to arrest him in the first place? Then he remembered the other thing Roman had mentioned. “They also told me you bit a guard, when you were a wolf.” He said, hoping this wasn’t incriminating him at all. If Roman had told him than it was already something that they had on him.
“What happened?” He asked, since there had to be an actual reason. Logan didn’t seem like the type to pick fights with guards for no reason.
“The hurricane,” Logan began. He cast a glance at the guard and then turned to look at Ehren again. “One of the guards was throwing Dorian out into the torrential rain. I saw him be tossed out like garbage. I ran up to help, the guard was being rough so I nipped him to get him off and away from Dorian. It worked. And then Dorian and I were out in the storm.” If he’d wanted to hurt the guard worse then he could’ve.
That was a name he hadn’t heard in a while. He remembered seeing Dorian cast out of the facility, and he remembered feeling helpless to stop it. He’d been on the brink of a panic attack and could barely move. But of course Logan saved him, because that’s who he was. He didn’t quite understand the feelings he was having at that exact moment but if he had to describe it, he’d use sad and amazed all at the same time.
Ehren nodded his head to Logan. “I’m going to make sure that they know every side of the story.” He proclaimed, finally standing still in front of Logan. “I believe you.” He said it because it needed to be said, Logan needed to know.
He watched the expressions change on Ehren’s face but he didn’t feel up to asking why. Some things were better left to the silence than uttered aloud.
Those three words hit him harder than he thought they would; the relief flooded into him and his knees nearly buckled with it. Logan caught himself from the sway and emitted a breath. Eyes would fall to the ground to hide the emotion which creased his face.
The guard watched them. “Five minutes, inmate,” came the sharp bark of words.
He could help but glare at the guard when he gave them a time limit. He didn’t know when he was going to be able to see him again and it would be over much too soon. He stepped forward to try and catch Logan’s gaze. “I believe you.” He repeated. He wanted to see his eyes, his face, regardless of how much he’d been bruised and beaten.
“I believe you.” He said more quietly this time. If this was annoying the guard then he was doing good work at the very least.
Those quiet words caught his attention and Logan lifted his head again, looking at the other man. He didn’t know when he would see Ehren again, didn’t know when he’d see anyone again. Whatever happened at least they could say they tried.
“I know. Thanks.” Logan nodded. He wanted to be closer, to relish the last few moments there, but he didn’t want to bring the guard down upon Ehren either.
“One minute,” the guard growled.
Ehren took a breath and looked up at the guard before leaning in to press a chaste kiss to Logan’s lips. It was risky he knew but that quick kiss made him infinitely happier. The guard pushed Ehren off of Logan and screamed in his face again. “No touching.” He said and Ehren stumbled back.
“I’ll try and see you again soon.” He said from further away than he had stood before. He knew their time was up but he didn’t want to watch him walk out that door.
That soft connection made the fire inside of him blaze hotter - he felt more confident knowing that in spite of all of this that Ehren believed he wasn’t guilty, would help him fix all of this wrong. The kiss was severed much too quickly. Logan’s jaw set as the guard put his hands on Ehren, who had clearly seen enough physical violence to last a lifetime.
“Don’t yell at him,” Logan growled, brow furrowed with anger. He hated all of this.
Eyes would go to Ehren. He nodded and then refocused his gaze on the guard, distracting the man of authority so Ehren could leave.
“What did you say, mongrel?” The guard snapped, eyes narrowing as he spoke to Logan. “You heard me, you piece of shit. Don’t yell at him.”
The guard just barked a laugh and began to shove Logan away with the end of his gun, slamming it into Logan’s arm. “Move. Back to your cell, now!”
Logan stumbled, winced at the blossom of pain but begrudgingly moved along. He turned to look back at Ehren.
Ehren watched him go, even more sad than he was before. Logan had protected him so fiercely and it only hurt him more to see him chained up like this. As they exited the room he felt an sense of overwhelming pressure build up inside of him. He had to help Logan, and the only way he was going to get anywhere with all of this was through Roman.
He really didn’t want to deal with Roman again but Logan didn’t deserve to be behind bars, especially when the real killer was out there somewhere making the faction look bad. He’d have to plead his case to Roman and suck up the fact that he hated the other man. It wasn’t distrust or dislike anymore. Ehren hated Roman and deep down he knew that he had to be behind this.