Log: Prison Visit (John, Pietro,& Petra) Characters: John Allerdyce, Petra, & Pietro Maximoff NPCs: — Location: MDC Timeline: August 23, 2013, Visiting Hours [backdated] Description: John and Pietro go to scope out the MDC for themselves while visiting Petra. Rating: PG-13, some language.
The drive to the place wasn't too long considering John was borrowing someone's car and he was an impatient person. He was familiar enough with New York traffic by now that he knew where the cops usually hung around and so he knew where to speed. They got there in barely under half an hour. The car was parked and John got his first real good look at the Mutant Detention Center. It wasn't a huge building compared to what he thought, but still sizeable enough. He observed the chain link fence and the cameras that kept an eye on the parking lot, and continued to take mental notes. All that training from Sage was good for something though. Those things he learned from his year as a Hellion under her direction taught him a lot.
Pietro and him made their way in and subjected themselves to the pat search. He made sure to leave his lighter in the car, and so they were allowed in. Walking through the hallways, John continued to take mental notes. The guards themselves looked like they meant business. He could tell from their body language that they had some sort of formal training in combat and he knew if he tried to fight one without his powers, they'd take him down pretty quickly. Even if he'd been learning fighting styles, it didn't mean he was ready to take on prison guards.
They came to the visiting room and both of them too a seat near a window. Now it was just a matter of time before Petra came out.
"You wanna talk to her first, mate?" John asked, "I'll wait till you two are done." He didn't mind waiting, it definitely gave him time to look around and see what he could figure out about the place. Though it was extremely limited. The room didn't have tech he could just grab and pick apart and everything looked new which meant that the security system might be something newer as well. Still, he could try to find out what he could or at least, think about it.
Pietro was grateful that the drive hadn't taken very long because for all John's impatience it was tripled by the speedster's standards. The moment the car stopped the silver haired teenager was stepping out and observing the building, gaze sweeping over the walls, chain link fence and cameras, mind taking everything in during a quick succession before filing the details away for reference later.
The pat search was... uncomfortable, but he endured it the same way John did, slowing his movements so it wasn't too obvious what his mutation was. It was difficult, especially as everything about his mutation was so intrinsic to his character, he rarely thought about it.
He weighed up the guards, noted the way that they moved and could tell that they were not to be messed with. Probably highly trained, especially as they had been assigned to watch the mutants under arrest. Couldn't just be any run of the mill security force, even if the mutants had to have been restrained somehow. Why else would the place still be standing as Pietro understood that Petra along with her friend Dominik could bring the place down if they had access to their powers?
"Yeah," he muttered with a nod, blue eyes shifting from looking at the room to focus on John. "Sounds good." Quicksilver stepped up and settled on the chair, fingers tapping restlessly and teeth worrying his lower lip.
When Petra was told that she had visitors, she was, in all honesty, confused. She'd been in this place for over a week now and wasn't expecting anyone to come and see her. It didn't stop her feeling a gnawing jealousy whenever Dominik was pulled away for his every–other–day visit from Emma, or when she heard the others being dragged out for visits, but she kept reminding herself that it was better that way; the visitors she would have wanted (aside from Miss Munroe) she didn’t think should be coming here. Since they were sort of high profile themselves.
So when she was dragged out into the visitors area for the first time, hands cuffed and collar on her neck branding her as a mutant, less than human, leashed like an animal, she felt more humiliated than she had at any point as her eyes fell on her visitors. She didn't want them to see her like this. She froze on the spot, only to be shoved forward roughly by the guard behind her. She stumbled and caught herself on the chair, orange jumpsuit hanging off her already slender frame.
"Sit," the guard ordered and Petra just pulled the chair out a little and sat down in it. It took her longer than she would ever admit to look up and meet the eyes of the two friends that had come to visit her.
Wetting her lower lip, she reached up and curled her fingers around the handset and lifted it, finding it awkward to hold due to the fact that her hands were cuffed.
Pietro’s eyes watched the interaction between the guard and Petra and it wasn’t long until the icy blue depths narrowed and his lips pulled into a tight line, tension ticking along his jaw and fingers curling inwards at which point blunt edges of his nails bit into his palm. He reached for the handset and brought it to his ear at the same time as Petra.
“Hey,” he greeted quietly, eyes slipping over the guards before finally settling on Petra and that collar. Was that how they were keeping the mutants from getting the upper hand? It had to be, especially as this place would have been dust if Petra had access to her powers. “So, aside from the guards being real assholes, you doing okay?”
Pietro itched to touch, to smooth the disorderly strands of hair behind her ear and to just- Well, he didn’t even know, but this glass thing was annoying.
Petra didn’t say anything for half a second before she lifted a shoulder, finally raising her eyes to meet Pietro’s. She offered him a half smile before she curled her fingers tighter around the handset. “Yeah,” she muttered into the phone, still looking more like she was retreating into herself. She hated this; hated that she was in such a position. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this, let alone John and- and Pietro. She felt weak and after such a long time in the grip of the officers here, the guards who were pretty brutal with reminding them of just what position they were in, she didn’t half find herself wondering if at least some of what they were saying wasn’t true.
She wet her lower lip. “Yeah, I’m alright.” It wasn’t a total lie. “They’re keeping us busy when we’re allowed out of our cells…” She blew out a breath, “You guys shouldn’t be here,” she said finally, “What if they don’t let you out again?” Not that it wasn’t good to see them, to see Pietro (and John’s arm looked like it was a lot better, God, that felt like forever ago). But she hadn’t been expecting them to risk visiting her.
“Why not?” Pietro challenged with a lift of his eyebrow and a slow cocky smirk. “You’re our friend, we’re not just going to let you sit in here without at least visiting.” He could see that being in jail was having an effect on Petra, she wasn’t sitting up straight and the speedster’s attention flicked to the nearby guard and his fingers itched to put the guy’s face into a wall. But that wasn’t going to help anyone especially Petra.
He shrugged his shoulders. “We got told that we would be let out and even if they tried to keep us in here I’d like to see them try and catch us.” And he did use the word ‘us’ because if push came to shove John would find himself slung over the speedster’s shoulder and carried the fuck out, simple as that.
“We wanted to see you.”
Petra knew that she was worrying for no reason; the other students had been coming and going without much of an issue and to be honest, Emma had been visiting regularly and that seemed to be helping Dominik cope with being stuck in prison so she supposed that having some friends visit might make her feel better? Perhaps later, when she could think about what happened rather than being busy worrying about the fact that they were seeing her collared like an animal.
“It’s not great in here, so I wouldn’t want you to get caught,” she offered with another upward quirk of her lips, a little more alive this time as she met his eyes glancing back to see the guard eyeing her. She’d clashed with them verbally on a few occasions, as had Dominik and a few of the other prisoners, she knew they were just waiting for an opportunity, waiting for an excuse.
She sighed and wanted to reach out, wished that there were tables instead of this stupid glass separating them. She knew why it was done this way, why they were being treated like they were in a supermax prison; they didn’t know what abilities their visitors might have. Who was to say she wouldn’t get broken out if they could touch? But it sucked, it really did.
“It’s nice to see you. You’re a sight for sore eyes.” She gave a soft laugh, “But I’m really okay, I guess, it could be worse.”
Pietro took a mental note of everything Petra was telling him in case there was need to reflect on it later. “It’s good to see you too.” And it was, not having the luxury of just being able to see Petra whenever he wanted was strange and weird for the speedster. Especially as he and his sister had come to America to escape this sort of fear and ignorance. It would seem that they weren’t safe anywhere.
He watched the guard for a moment not at all liking the way he was looking at Petra or how he regarded Pietro, wondering if he’d put two and two together yet? Hopefully not. That was the last thing Petra needed.
“I think this is pretty bad,” he offered with a rueful smile. “I mean, what even happened that night?”
“A series of unfortunate events,” Petra answered with a shake of her head. She wedged the phone between her shoulder and ear just to give her hands a rest; having them effectively bound together was exhausting and the weight of her other hand meant that the bindings were chafing against her wrists which was painful. She chewed the inside of her lower lip. “It wasn’t Dominik’s fault, if anything it was mine. I panicked and used my powers when I shouldn’t have done which made things a lot worse. Then Dominik lost his temper and a fight broke out.”
She blew out a breath, awkwardly trying to rub at her wrists. She wanted to reach out and touch the glass, but as she made a move to do so, the guard clicked his tongue at her like she was a child and she retreated her touch, holding the handset again. She muttered ‘bastard’ under her breath.
“A group of boys were harassing me. Not exactly taking ‘no’ for an answer.”
If it were possible the blood in Pietro’s veins might have boiled over at the implication that there had been a group of boys harassing Petra in such a manner and his feeling in regards to what had taken place was written all over his face. The next time he saw Dominik he was shaking the other teen’s hand, for having done what Pietro would have done in his shoes.
“And yet you’re the one in jail,” Pietro said with an admonishing tone and a twist to his lips, his accent so much thicker now. “Fucked up shit.”
Quicksilver tapped his fingers restlessly before he lifted his gaze and met Petra’s. “Just remember that you have friends and we’re not just going to sit idly by and let this continue.”
Petra frowned at the sudden change in Pietro’s expression. She knew that he was angry for what had happened, but they couldn’t control that, couldn’t change the way people thought. She lifted a shoulder, “I even stopped a building from collapsing on some onlookers. They didn’t report that, I bet.” She bit her lower lip, holding eye contact with him. “Dominik shouldn’t be in here; he was protecting me and defending himself. They’re trying to charge me with murder as well. I don’t think I have much of a chance.”
She smiled, though, at his words. “I know you guys are out there. I just- I don’t want you to feel that- I mean, don’t do anything stupid, okay? Because you should be out there, where you can protect your sister and Meggan.” She hadn’t realised just how much she had missed him until this moment, how weird it was to see him through a partition. “That goes for him too,” she glanced over Pietro’s shoulder towards John.
Pietro’s gaze flicked over to where he knew John waiting and his lips soon curled into a smirk as he turned back to Petra. “I dunno, I mean we do kind of rule at doing stupid things. His arm being a prime example of that.” He then pushed a breath out and combed his fingers through his hair before he shrugged his shoulders. “Besides, we look out for each other.”
“Wait,” he muttered as it took him a moment to register what she had said, hand held up. “Murder? They’re trying to charge you with murder?”
“Of that cop,” Petra said, uncertainty in her tone. “That was one of the things they booked me under. I think they’ll try and pin it on me because of that video. Thing is, I don’t- I don’t think that’s what happened. They got me before my powers could kick in, but the more I think about it, the less sure I am of how events unfolded. How else would that video know about my abilities if I hadn’t done-”
She cut herself off and shook her head, “Sorry- you didn’t come here to hear that. Is everyone at the school okay?”
“Don’t let them make you think you did something if you aren’t even sure of it yourself,” Pietro said with a certainty to his tone. “They’ll use it against you. Try and convince you that you’re guilty because they can see an opening. Don’t give them that, Christy.” And he used her actual name because this was serious business and he needed to get that through to her.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Just worried about everybody stuck in here.”
Petra looked up when Pietro used her real name. He’d never done that before, never actually called her by name even after she’d told him what it was. “It’s harder than you’d think,” she muttered before she went with her own conversation shift.
“Yeah, there are a couple of people in here with friends who’ll be noticing their absence. Most people have had more than a few visitors.” John and Pietro were her first. “Is your sister okay?”
“Well guess I’m going to have to visit a lot more,” Pietro said with a shrug of his shoulders before just letting the point go.
“She is,” Pietro said with a nod of his head. “She’s actually doing a lot better than she has in a while.” Which was positive, especially as he was starting to see a real stirring of strength in Wanda and it made him proud, really proud in fact.
He blew out a breath, fidgeted and then stilled his movements as he realised some of them were faster than the eye could see.
“Watch out,” Petra muttered into the handset when she spotted Pietro’s hand blurring. “I don’t know what they’ll arrest for in here, but you can’t take that risk. I need to know you’re okay.” It was an admission of sorts, and she nodded, “But I would like it if you visited again. Something to look forward to. I’m afraid I can’t get all dressed up, so I’ll constantly look like an unkempt criminal. I’d understand if you wanted to visit me with your eyes closed.”
She gave a laugh at that, soft and warm. “And I’m glad, about your sister, that is. Good to know that there are good things happening outside here.” It was easy to forget. Especially since she hadn’t had any contact from the outside world since she was locked up.
Pietro nodded his head and put active and conscious thought into slowing his movements even if it felt unnatural and just plain alien. “I dunno,” he said with a shrug as he looked at her for one long intense moment. “I still think you’re rinkeny even when you’re unkempt and in the most vile shade of orange I think I have ever seen.” His lips tugged into the smallest of smiles and his eyes warmed a little.
“Definitely some good things happening in the face of everything else.” Small mercies or at least that’s what Wanda called them. “
“What does that mean?” Petra asked, tilting her head a little and ignoring how she mimicked his smile a little bit. “And this is a really horrible colour. No one should ever be forced to wear it.” She added a second or so later with a grin that clearly meant she was joking, “And it makes my butt look huge.”
“It’s a Roma word,” Pietro said with a shrug. “It means pretty.” He snorted a moment later when Petra began to joke about her delightful jumpsuit before he just bit out a small laugh at her comment about her butt. “I seriously doubt that. You always did have a nice-” Then he caught himself as he realised what he was about to say and the speedster clamped down and cleared his throat.
“Uh, yeah, awful colour.”
John was waiting outside the door, saying that he was just waiting for his turn. The guard glared at him but said nothing except a gruffed, "Fine." And didn't really keep his eyes off of John. The entire time. That didn't matter. John could easily pretend he was just glancing around and so he did. Looking up at the camera and making a face, but it was just to give them the impression he was just some punk kid and not causing any harm. He counted cameras, glanced behind counters from ideal angles to see what they were dealing with. Everything had a password or a code of some sort. High tech, fancy stuff.
When he heard a guard mumbling about how the blond kid was raising his voice and John figured that was his cue. So he went back in and walked over where Pietro was sitting, "Can't have you hogging all her time, mate. I'd like to get a chance."
Oh thank God, Pietro would happily hand the handset over, especially as his mouth had most definitely run away with him. “It was good to see you,” he murmured into the handset before he passed it to John, rising to his feet.
He totally wasn’t a little red around the cheek area, most definitely not.
“I’m gonna…” Pietro gestured over his shoulder before catching Petra’s eyes one last time before sure enough the speedster was gone.
Petra watched John appear, unable to hear what he was saying but it was good to see him properly too, she’d only really gotten a glimpse of him. “Yeah, you too-” she was saying as Pietro got to his feet and hurried out of the area. She frowned a bit at his back, she didn’t know why he was running away, but then she supposed this place was an uncomfortable one for someone to be stuck in who was used to be moving.
Hell, it was uncomfortable for anyone.
She flexed her fingers around the handset, adjusting how she was holding it to try and minimise the awkwardness of holding the stupid thing. Her eyebrow lifted as she waited for John to sit down opposite her.
John moved to sit in the chair and came to pick up the phone, "Hey, how're you holding up? You don't look any worse for the wear, sheila." He smiled as best as he could, though he wasn't exactly thrilled to see her in the orange. But she didn't look bad, and that, as much as he said, was the truth. He couldn't really tell her what the plan was, what he was formulating in his head and hoping that he could somehow accomplish. There was only so much recon they could do though. He'd have to visit a few times and letting Petra get some visitors (and Bobby too) would be good.
Petra snorted. “I think the collar probably says otherwise, John,” she pointed out, “Collared like some kind of fucking little pet.” Her nose wrinkled in distaste. It was easier to be angry sat opposite John, she didn’t know why, didn’t want to think too much into it. Her shoulder lifted. “I’m alright though, they’ve got us doing stuff in here, working when we’re not kept in our cells.” She wet her lower lip. “Like I said to Pietro, I guess it could be worse.” She glanced behind her to see how close the guard was before she dropped her voice a bit. “They don’t beat on us or anything, even if they’re just waiting for an opening.”
Her shoulder lifted. “I’ve not been thrown in solitary yet. Just had a few disagreements with the guards. I really hate it in here.” She leaned back in the chair to give her shoulders a rest from the uncomfortable position she’d held the phone in. “I appreciate you guys coming to visit, you know. First friendly faces I’ve seen save for the one I was arrested with since I came in.” She bit her lower lip, adding teasingly, “Was beginning to think you’d gone and forgotten about me. How’s the arm?”
"Don't give it to them then," John said, "not that you would. Still, doesn't make it nicer having to play nice and let them glare at you and treat you like shit. The collars are enough. What do they do anyway?" He had a good idea of what they might do, but nothing was ever said in the papers or anything about them. Hell, it took them barely over a week before they told anyone where the kids were being kept. He wished he cared more about the law, because maybe he'd be able to get all hot under the collar like that girl from Stark said on the networks.
He smirked in response, "Can't leave you to sit all by yourself now, can we? Sorry we didn't come sooner." Which was the only thing he could say he was really sorry about. Other than her being in there. He asked, "What happened that they stuck you in here anyway? I can't believe what the paper said. They printed your face in it, you know. That, right there, I know is against the law." And it was after that first article with Bobby and that other girl, and then Petra, that they stopped doing it. Someone must have said something.
“Apart from push us around and remind us we’re pretty much nothing?” Petra asked almost flippantly, but there was something behind her eyes, something that belied the flippant words. She lifted her shoulder as best she could. “The collars-” she glanced back at the nearby guard before she figured it was probably safe to say something. “They’ve turned off our powers. Can’t access them or anything.” She held the phone between her shoulder and ear, freeing up her hands to tug at the gunmetal grey monstrosity latched around her throat. “It doesn’t budge-”
“Hands down,” a voice from behind her ordered and she dropped them instantly, picking up the phone instead.
“And it’s okay, I mean, about not being here sooner. I get it.” She didn’t, not really, but then she wasn’t about to expect her friends to drop everything and come and see her in a prison. It was a horrible place to be; she wouldn’t wish it on anyone. “I can’t imagine that side of the wall’s much better than this one.”
She sighed and tried to work out how to explain what had happened. John might not have understood as much as Pietro. Pietro knew. She bit her lower lip, “Dominik and I were out getting something to drink on the other side of the park when a group of guys surrounded me.” Her shoulders lifted, it wasn’t the most pleasant of memories. “They started getting handsy and shit, you know? And weren’t taking no for an answer. So when one of them grabbed me and wouldn’t let go I panicked and yelled for Dom- and my powers kicked in to shove him away from me.” She blew out a breath, not meeting John’s eyes, rather looking at a spot just past his left shoulder.
“Then they started egging Dominik on, how I was a mutant and that he shouldn’t protect me. Joking about how they coulda caught mutant off me or something.” That barb obviously still hurt her. “Dom lost his temper but they were taunting him, saying really horrible stuff about us and- and me- and then one of them hit him with a bottle and his powers exploded.” She frowned. “I stopped a bit of building from falling on people, you know? That woulda killed them. Then-” She shifted, “Dominik’s control is shaky at best-” she missed her own pun, there, “-and after he got hit with the bottle he sort of just lost it. I was calming him down, making him stop and then I got hit with tasers.” Again. “They charged us with property damage and shit. And they’re trying- I think- to do me for the death of a cop. Just like in that video.”
She frowned, deeper this time. “My face? How did they even get my picture? What the fuck, John? Seriously. But not Dom’s, right? Not Dom’s face? They didn’t print that?”
John listened and grimaced as she recounted the tale. Using your powers wasn't necessarily a conscious thing. The first time John's worked, it was an accident and he nearly burned a kid's face off. Sometimes when he got mad, he had a harder time controlling the flames. Emotions were a funny thing, and it sounded like they were partially at fault. Though he couldn't blame her for her powers being used when a group of douche bags were treating her like that. If she didn't have her powers, things would have probably been a lot worse. Especially if these people were hitting Dominik over the head with bottles and he was one guy against a group.
"They mentioned the video in the article," John commented and then shrugged, "Hell if I know. They're the press, they find crazy stuff all the time. Where did they get pictures of Bobby and that other girl that was arrested? Until someone said something to them, they were acting like you didn't even have the same rights. Funny how people forget about that stuff." And how easily they did it too.
There were a lot of questions he had and he looked at the collar again, "What happens with that thing if you try to mess with it? Have you tried?" Because he knew if he were in her shoes, he'd have tried.
Petra just nodded her head as John spoke, tapping her fingers restlessly against the handset. She shifted, squishing it between her ear and shoulder to rub her fingers over her eyes. She didn’t say anything for a few moments before she wrinkled her nose.
“They shock you,” she offered, opening her eyes to look at John, fingers scratching along the curve of her jaw. “They’re like, tamper proof or something. ‘Nik and I tried not too long after we got here. It’s not as bad as a taser, though, but it’s uncomfortable. Right by your head. I guess it’s meant to be a deterrent from trying?”
She shook her head. “It’s humiliating, you know,” she said into the mouthpiece. “When I find out what scientist was behind these things…” Anger was good, anger was better than the twisted self hatred that had been rippling through her mind since they’d been booked here. “Whoever they are needs to have a sense removed or something, just temporarily, just so they know what it’s like.”
Shocked them? Even if it was light, that seemed unnecessary. But then again, John was immediately going to think that everything that was going on was unnecessary and cruel. He'd have to figure out if they used those things on Rogue when she was in jail. It was lightly, given her power. But for Rogue it might have been some relief for her. "I don't think anyone wants to wear one of those unless they have absolutely no control over their power and still, the looks they'd get in public." But this was jail and they were probably all wearing them. Except for the guards.
"They don't know what it's like to be a mutant," he shook his head, "Your ability is part of who you are. It's not all you are, but a component." Like she said, it was taking away one of their senses. Sure, they didn't have these powers since birth (well, some people did) but once it was there, it was always there. You controlled it but it was like learning to see and then it was gone. He couldn't imagine what it might be like for him not to have his abilities. The word she used, humiliating, summed it up well.
"If it's any consolation, MacTaggert has her lawyers on it," John said, "Though the justice system here moves slow. You're in here until they get you a court date and with all the crazy shit going around, I don't know, sheila, it might be a while." And it was convincing him that the need to get them out was stronger. Even if some people could get out, that story and the accusations of her killing a cop were damning. Damning to keep her in here for awhile and then when she got to trial, who knew what would happen.
“I don’t know, I mean I suppose if their power’s not something they can control,” Petra shrugged, swallowing and feeling more and more aware the longer they talked about the collars. “They get a kick out of the fact that we can’t do anything. If we didn’t have these on they know full well they wouldn’t be able to get away with what they do.” She shook her head, “My powers and I haven’t always been best friends but now I can’t even access it? I feel like there’s a part of me missing. And all that happens in here is that these people remind you of that every day.”
She wrinkled her nose at the mention of lawyers. Doctor MacTaggert was a smart lady, but there was little to no chance even the best lawyers would get her off the charges laid against her. She looked resigned as John told her that she might be stuck in here a while, like she’d already made her peace with it. “But- the others, maybe they’ll be able to get out? Like Dominik? I mean, public property damage is one thing but surely they can argue community service or something…? I mean-” she cut herself off before she got too impassioned; she didn’t want to say anything more than she already had done to Pietro. “I don’t think they’ll let me out.” Not with the charges of killing that cop pending against her along with everything else.
She bit her lower lip. “John- I-” she stopped, not even sure what she wanted to say. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be in here for a really long time. Just don’t forget about me, mm?” Forced levity, there you were.
"I don't know, we're haven't heard anything from them, but that's it. I'm sure they could figure something out, and if not…" he let the words trail at the end. Seeing that look of acceptance on Petra's face bothered John. She was accepting she was going to be here awhile and it felt wrong. Like she was giving up the fight before it really began. It might help her sit at ease in her jail cell but it didn't sit right with John, not in the lease. It only seemed to fuel his intentions of finding a way to get them out by non-legal means even more.
John shook his head, "Don't say that. You won't be in here long. Just hang tight and there will be a way. I'm sure of it." He couldn't say any more and he had to be careful about his wording too. His mind had a plan, but whether that plan would find its way into fruition was yet to be decided. He had an idea of what they were dealing with but not enough to plan a full scale escape yet. Still, he felt the need grow stronger.
"We'll come visit again soon," John said as he saw a guard approaching Petra from behind, "and we'll bring you things to keep you occupied till you get out. What do you want?"
"A burger?" Petra asked with a small upward curl to her lips. She was craving red meat like there was no tomorrow, the food that they were serving in here - whilst meeting their basic nutritional needs - wasn’t the most appetising and was pretty standard, par for the course food. Nothing interesting or exciting and a lot of grey.
She shook her head, “I don’t know, a book or something? There’s a library here but-” she wet her lower lip and didn’t want to go back. She just wanted to stay, talking to her friends a little longer. “Thanks for coming, John,” she said down the handset. “Say thanks to Pietro for me too? And don’t do anything stupid, okay?” Because she couldn’t- she didn’t want anyone to get into trouble for her. She doubted the others in here did either.
She offered him a smile which wavered a bit when the guard’s hand came to rest on her shoulder.
“Time’s up,” he said and Petra managed a ‘bye’ before she was replacing the handset and getting to her feet. The guard nudged her forwards, away from the booth and back towards the cells.
"We'll be back soon. And we'll bring you some books. What do you—" but she was starting to thank him to say good-bye and then the guard was there. He said, "Stay safe." And it was all he could get in before she was putting the phone aside and she was taken away and heading back to her cell through the door. John sat back and frowned, his fists clenching a few times but he let out a breath.
He rose from the chair after a moment and looked at Pietro, "We should go back." But that was all he said as he pushed through the doors. He had a lot of thinking to do. A lot of planning as well.