Ashton had fallen asleep at some point. He didn't know when. All he knew was that Mason was in the cell, prodding his shoulder to wake him up. He rubbed his eyes and looked up into the concerned face above him. "What?"

He gave him a brief smile. "Nicole's here, and your dad's stepped out."

Ashton nodded and got off the floor. His shoulder still ached, but it wasn't too bad. He sat on the bench that hung from the wall. Mason stepped out and Nicole walked into the cell. He felt his heart speed up just a little when he saw her. She sat next to him. Her eyes were puffy and red, and he felt bad for her. He reached up and touched her face.

She smiled a little, lip trembling. Her forehead was sweaty. "Are you okay?"

He smiled and kissed her cheek. "As fine as I can be, I guess. What about you? You look like you've been running or something."

"I have. I ran over here after I fought with Hailey." She frowned, glancing at the bars. "I found your computer." He swallowed. She smiled a little. "I know why you didn't hand it over. It's a good call. It's evidence, and it put me on the right track."

Something occurred to him. "You went through my things?"

She nodded. "Your bedroom and kitchen. Cops came before I could get to the living room."

That made him worry. "Wait – cops came to my house?" She nodded. He suddenly felt so dense and had a feeling of betrayal again, but this time it was because of his father. He couldn't help the small moan that came. "My dad – he's going to frame me. He's going to swap out my cleaners with ones that have hydrochloric acid."

Nicole's lips pressed together. She looked mad. More than mad. The anger building in her eyes began to scare Ashton, though he didn't let it show. "He's gonna pay," she said simply and calmly.

He grabbed both of her shoulders and rested his forehead against her hot, sweaty one. His eyes bored into hers. "Nicole," he murmured. "Don't let anger guide you. If you do, you'll make stupid choices and we'll both be in trouble. Calm down. Breathe in, breathe out." He watched as she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. When her eyes opened, the anger had subsided.

She closed her eyes again and rubbed her nose on his. "I found your letter to me."

He felt his face get warm. "It wasn't finished."

"But I loved it." Her eyes opened and looked into his. "And I love you."

"I love you." He couldn't keep himself from kissing her, so he kissed both of her cheeks and her forehead. She closed her eyes again and didn't object to his kisses. He could have done that all day, but he stopped after a couple of minutes and sighed. "I forgive you," he whispered.

She swallowed. "Thank you," she whispered back. She buried her face in his chest and stayed there. He stroked her back and her hair, holding her to him. He leaned back against the chain support for the bench, enjoying having her close, but hating where they were. He closed his eyes and tried to picture them in his house, on his sofa, under different circumstances.

It worked so well that it was the squeal of the cell door opening that brought him back to reality. She was resting so beautifully on his chest, it just about physically pained him to have to get her to leave, but Mason was standing in the doorway. He pointed to her and pointed to the office.

Ashton gently shook her. "Nicole," he said in a low voice. "Time to go, honey."

She smiled, but her eyes stayed closed. "'Honey?'"

He smiled, gently pushing her away. "Just thought I'd try it. I think it sounds better than 'babe'."

Her eyes opened. "Me too." She kissed his cheek. He returned the kiss, then she got up. She looked at Mason. "Think you could help me with something?"

He shrugged and his eyes cut over to Ashton. "Depends on what you need, actually."

"I want to learn to pick locks."

Ashton and Mason looked at each other, matching expressions of surprise. Mason's mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he answered. "Uh, sure." His eyes darted to Ashton. He didn't see why she needed to learn, but surely it couldn't hurt anything. She was smart. He nodded at Mason. "Uh, I guess you can come with me now and we can go ahead and get started."

She nodded and began walking away but stopped and looked back at Ashton. He stood and walked over. His hands on her waist, he leaned close and put his mouth by her ear. "I'll be okay. Go ahead, but explain why to me later?" She nodded. He smiled and kissed her temple. "I'll see you later."

---

Nicole wasn't as surprised as she thought she would be when Mason pulled a lock picking kit out of his glove box. They were at the rental house she was staying in. He walked her around to the back door and had her lock the door with her key. He opened the kit and took out what looked like an L-shaped hex wrench, except it was square.

He held it up. "This is called a tension wrench." He put it in the bottom of the lock and held it. "You put it in the bottom of the lock. Then, if you don't know which way the lock turns, gently turn it from one side to the other. Try it."

She got down next to him and turned it. It turned a tiny bit in both directions before it stopped. "Now what?"

"Does one side come to a firmer stop than the other?" She turned it again and nodded. "Turn it to the side that isn't as firm and gently apply a little pressure." She did. He pulled out a pick and handed it to her. "Now, put this in the top part of the lock and feel the pins. There's about five."

She pushed it in and pulled it back. "What does that do?"

"Well, what you just did does nothing. Put it back in and feel the farthest pin. Try pushing it up." She pushed and heard a tiny click. "Did it click?" She nodded. "Okay, now on to the next one. If it's really easy to push up, turn the tension wrench a little harder. If it's too hard to push up, ease the tension until you can push it up. Do that for the other four."

About a minute later she made all the pins click. "Okay, now what?"

His eyebrows rose. "That was fast. Now, take out the pick and turn the wrench." She did and the lock turned easy. She looked at him. She couldn't believe she did it. He grinned and pat her back. "Great job. You can now officially pick a lock. Of course, you need to practice a bit before I can say you're good."

She nodded, took out her key, and re-locked the door. "Can I keep these?" He shrugged and nodded. "Thanks, Mason."

He smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "I need to go. Come find me if you need anything else."

"Can you keep an eye on Ash and let me know what happens when I'm not there?"

"Of course."

"Thank you." He nodded and walked away.

She took a deep breath. Practice time.

---

Clive summoned him. The cell was dark, so Ashton knew it was late at night. He braced himself for something. He didn't know what he was about to face, but if this was happening at night, it had to be bad.

Mason was on duty and hadn't left the station ever since he came back from giving Nicole that lesson in lock picking. Ashton had a feeling it was because of Nicole, somehow. It was Mason that came for him that night. He cuffed him and led him down the hallway. Instead of taking him into the office space like Ashton expected, he brought him into a different cell.

It was occupied by a single chair and his dad – who looked like he was ready to kill. Ashton was put in the chair and Clive cuffed his arms to the chair. Ashton was terrified but resigned. He knew what he was about to endure. He'd seen that look in Clive's eyes before, the tightness of his mouth. Ashton only prayed he'd pass out quickly.

"You can go, Mason."

"But sir-"

He turned and glared at the man, instantly shutting him up. "You can go," he said in a calm voice.

"Yes, sir." Ashton heard his footsteps retreat into the office and the door separating the two closed. He was alone with his dad. Fear and dread curled up inside of him and he felt himself go numb. Same as always.

Clive ran a hand down his face and stared at Ashton. "What did you have her do?"

"Have who do what?"

Veins stood out on Clive's neck. One kept pulsing near his jaw when he clenched his teeth. "Nicole. At my house. My computer has been messed with. She didn't know the password, but she tried until it was locked. Meredith saw her leaving. Did you send her out there?"

Shocked into silence, he shook his head. What was she thinking? Suspicion swirled around his mind, though. Something about those words didn't feel right. He rarely ever used a computer, so he couldn't be sure, but this wasn't sitting right with him.

Clive sighed as if what he was about to do pained him. "My son, you know better than to lie to me. I know you knew she was coming, and I know you knew what she wanted out there. You need to learn." Ashton swallowed reflexively.

---

Dinner came and went, and Nicole's heart was still pounding. She barely got out of Clive's house before she was found. It was way too close for comfort. She still wasn't sure if she'd been spotted or not. Time, unfortunately, would have to tell.

She still got some useful things: A picture of the different cleaners they used, most of which had hydrochloric acid, and a shirt with a hole burned through the top part of the arm was stuffed in the trash. She took pictures of it all. The one thing that held her up was the computer.

She forgot the password and she tried so many times that the computer locked itself and she turned it off. He had obviously set it up to lock after a set number of attempts, and now she hoped he'd be able to get back in. It wasn't until she was around the block that she thought about how he would always leave it sleeping during the day.

She hoped the mistake wouldn't do her in.

Or Ashton.

The thought chilled her.

Mason wasn't in yet when Nicole got to the police station first thing the next morning. The one she remembered as Gary was the only one in the office. She gave him a smile. "Is it okay if I see Ashton?"

He looked up, raked his eyes over her in a way that made her uncomfortable, and smirked in a smug way that suggested he knew something. "Of course." He stood and walked towards a closed door. "He's right down here." He unlocked the door and led her to a cell door, which he unlocked. As she got near, he reached out and shoved her inside, locking the door behind her.

She gripped the bars. "What are you doing?"

He gave her a mock salute. "Have fun with your lover. Remember to not let him go at you too hard." He laughed as he walked away, the sound chilling to Nicole.

What did he mean? She turned around to see why Ashton didn't say anything and found him in a heap on the floor near her feet. "Ashton!" She dropped to her knees. His eyes were swollen shut, his lip was cut and bleeding, bruises were popping up all over his face, his shirt was torn in places and blood was seeping out there, and he didn't appear to be conscious.

He moaned and moved his head, but she got no other response out of him. She felt panic loom, but it wouldn't do any good here and now. She fought it. All she could do was lean back against the cold cell wall and cry.