San Francisco - San Quentin State Prison (March 2001)

[Hollywood Heidi]

San Quentin State Prison

San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated town of San Quentin in Marin County.

Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the oldest prison in California. The state's only death row for male inmates, the largest in the United States, is located at the prison.

Events taking place in March 2001.

[DarkSideCookie]

Andro wasn't even aware of how much time must have passed since everything had gone downhill, but he knew what had been the beginning of all that. This wild anger inside of him. He had always felt something been there, for years, maybe ever since he had been facing injustice - first against his family and now against himself. Those who had power in the world, ruled it. It had always been like that, since time immemorial. Andro had been reading so many books, so many articles - of the past and also the present time - just as he had learned it the hard way, over and over again. He had always known that it would stay like this forever if no one turned the wheels and changed something on a fundamental level. SpUp, one of the biggest social groups in the university, one that he had brought into being himself, or at least into growing, had never been enough though. Nothing would ever be enough as long as power was in the hand of the government and those who had money.

Andro had always had a vision that was bigger, but also something that had been withholding him. Hope van Dyne had helped provide a higher range of audibility to them, but likewise had taken his mind off things at times. He hadn't even noticed so himself until she had left him only months ago - or maybe until he had discovered his real strength deep inside, his full potential. First, Andro had seen his anger as kind of a burden, but then he had started to use it as a tool to bring his vision into fruition finally. Or had it been the outer world using it as a tool? Blind from all his anger and hatred, that might have crawled back under the surface yet had been awakened for good and all, Andro hadn't questioned who it actually was being in control, as they gave him the feeling like he was. They even allowed him to bring his vision, actually their vision, into life and give it his alleged own name, making it look like it was still his, while it always had been theirs. They - Hydra. Theirs - Cerbero. That was when they had tasked him with proving his unconditional loyalty, calling it missions.

Andro had already long ago unofficially renamed the group into Cerbero, a name he had come up with during his own research about Hydra, but only a handful of chosen within the group, those who had proved their unconditional loyalty to the vision, had actually been aware of the name. Hope had never been, only because her father was a man that seemed too powerful to him to take a risk, even if she had practically no emotional contact with him. Andro's appearance, in connection with the new group's name, on several dubious places around the world wide web had him, at some point, gotten in the eye of Hydra themselves, watching from the background until the above-mentioned moment.

Andro had never actually talked a lot to his father, who, due to financial difficulties, never had been able to visit him in San Francisco before, yet Andro always had been wishing to see him again at some point. When that day had come though, he was suddenly barely interested in anything but Cerbero and the little missions he did for Hydra. After all, all his sacrifices were to create a better world for everyone, including his father as well. It hadn't taken Marco de Flores long to realize how much the recent years had changed his son and how much he seemed to have gotten stuck in wrong views. As his father had been bringing his worries up, a big fight between father and son had happened. In the end, Andro's anger had risen up once more and had caused him to throw his own father out of his apartment. Not knowing that this would have been the last thing he was able to say to him ever again, he had shut the door behind - until three days later, police officers would be showing up there with the message of Marco have been murdered. After all, Andro had been deeply shocked, although it wasn't granted to him to mourn for his father very long. After only one public hearing only a few weeks later, the police had taken him into custody, as he seemed to have been the only suspect with no alibi. In truth, he had found himself imprisoned innocent. He actually would have had an alibi, if he'd been able to talk about where he was when the murder happened. Another mission for Hydra, a cult fighting the system, wasn't exactly what the police department would have been willing to hear and also not what he would have been going to reveal or even was allowed to do. Anyways, Andro was sure that somebody must have pushed some buttons to blame Andro so easily - somebody with power. But captured or not, his plan to screw the system would never die, that he had sworn on that day.

***

Andro's features were cold and rigid as one officer walked him off along the corridor leading to the telephones where inmates were allowed to talk to visitors for a strict period of time. Andro hadn't asked any questions about the potential visitor, for he never talked to anyone inside these walls at all. He guessed it could be one of his little birds outside, though. Cerbero surely wouldn't die with him imprisoned.

[Hollywood Heidi]

Hope sat on the little stool, arms crossed on the counter before her, keeping her hands in plain view as the guard had strictly instructed and as the writing on the wall above the windows of the visitor area reminded. She waited for Andro to be brought out, wondering how they'd gotten to this point. In only a couple months, they'd gone from a partnership (she was hard pressed to call it a relationship) to a jail visitation.

After their falling out, she'd still seen him around campus, though thankfully, their different majors kept them mostly to different areas and helped avoid awkward run-ins. He hadn't held any more rallies. She'd been the ones to organize them and it seemed he hadn't bothered to take up the task himself. Or, more likely, he'd decided to take his cause to the next level.

Off of the stage, Andro didn't communicate as much or as openly, but she'd gotten the impression that he was becoming unsatisfied with just talk. It was becoming more prominent in his speeches during the rallies when he'd been calling to the people to start taking action. She'd been uncomfortable with the new turn. Riling people into angry frenzies, then telling them in their unlevelheaded states to go out there and make changes. It was the wrong way to go about it.

Seeing him less and less on campus gave her the sinking impression that he'd decided to take the wrong way himself. Eventually, she'd stop seeing him around entirely. Worried, she'd made inquires and had learned that he'd been dropped due to too many missed classes. Her guilt doubled, feeling it had been her fault for pushing him to do more. She'd gotten him up the incline but once he'd reached the peak, he'd started plummeting down the other side of the mountain and she'd completely lost hold.

Hope had no idea that Andro had landed in prison. Not until her kindly older neighbor, who'd turned out to be watching over her for her father, had seen Hope looking anxious over her upcoming finals and had assumed Hope's worry had been in regards to Andro. "Don't you worry, dear. That young man won't be bothering you anymore."

With some prodding, Hope had gotten the whole story. She'd worried that Andro might have some run-ins with the authorities along his path to making changes, but she'd never imagined he'd be doing hard time for murder, of his own father no less. She didn't believe it for a second. Andro may be passionate about his cause, but he wouldn't take a life. With the speed with which he'd gone through the court system, been found guilty, and been incarcerated along with how much her neighbor knew, Hope knew her father had had a hand in it. He'd probably been having people keep an eye on Andro, which explained how even without being caught in the actual act or with the weapon, there'd been enough evidence to work against Andro.

Hope was pulled from her deep thoughts by the opening of the door. In walked a guard holding onto the upper arm of Andro. She sat up, watching him approach in the inmate uniform of light blue button-up shirt and dark blue pants with 'PRISONER' written down the right pant leg in big, bright yellow capital letters. His hands were cuffed with a longer chain that enabled enough movement to avoid too much awkwardness in using the phone that allowed them to communicate through the glass.

Once he was settled across from her, Hope picked up the receiver with a mixture of sadness and worry on her face and waited for him to do the same.

[DarkSideCookie]

There had come only one person to his mind he hadn't expected to see here - or even to ever see again, at that. And yet, was she sitting there on that little stool, her arms crossed on the counter before her, while she was waiting for him to be led to the seat across from her.
Hope van Dyne.

Andro was known for being no person of reflecting his emotions on the outside, and so he just watched her with intense while it was hard to tell which range of emotions this intensity was coming from. His eyes, anyways, seemed to break contact for not even a blink.

While he slowly picked up the receiver to his side as well, the chains quietly jangling at the movement, a lot of questions were running through his mind. Why did you come back? Have you changed your mind? Do you believe I did it - killing my own father?

But just like with his lack of reflections upon his features, it was with his words. They were rare. And so he said nothing at all, but instead waited for Hope to speak up first while he still didn't break eye contact.

[Hollywood Heidi]

Hope watched him pick up the receiver, the entire time remaining quiet and unreadable. She'd always thought he was simply withdrawn. Uncomfortable around people and unsure what to say or how to show how he felt. But she'd been wrong. She knew now, based off what had happened at her apartment and how he was on stage, that it was more of an issue of not being able to properly control his emotions. He was like a volcano. Quiet and dormant, people around it unsuspecting, until suddenly and unexpectedly, it bursts into angry action leaving destruction in its wake.

Still, this was something that wasn't a person's fault. He needed professional help, not to be locked up in prison. This wasn't the right way to handle mental illness. This was the lazy, selfish way. If he'd landed himself in here, Hope wouldn't have visited him. She'd set her mind to never see him again and believed she wouldn't. If it weren't for the guilt, she wouldn't be here. So it seemed her father's plans had slightly backfired.

"I'm sorry you're in here," she said. It was normal to make a general statement of empathy toward someone in a bad situation. People made them all the time, even if they had nothing to do with the circumstances. But Hope felt this was partly her fault. She knew it was because of Hank that Andro had ended up here. He had no way of knowing that and Hope was not prepared to confess what she'd figured out. "This isn't right. I know you didn't do it." Her features showed the helplessness she felt over not being able to do anything about it.

[DarkSideCookie]

"I'm sorry you're in here,"

Andro's features remained the same stone-cold expression. He didn't believe her. Or he simply didn't care if she was feeling sorry for him or not. He wasn't even feeling sorry for himself. All he felt was anger and disgust towards those who thought they would have won. But he wouldn't give in just now. He never will.

"This isn't right. I know you didn't do it."

Andro watched her with intensity. He couldn't tell if she meant it, but maybe that wasn't of importance anyway. For another felt eternity, he said nothing at all until he leaned a little closer towards the safety glass. The chains around his wrists jangled once again in the rhythm of his motion. One of the officers nearby threw a wary look over at him, yet turned back elsewhere once there was another inmate who was acting much more conspicuous. Or maybe just mad. They had a lot of crazy birds down here. Surely an advantage for those who were up to some trick indeed.

"Then help me," Andro suddenly whispered, quiet enough to be not heard by the officers but loud enough so that she could get every word through the receiver.

[Hollywood Heidi]

Help him? But how? His request, which felt as if it bordered on demand, caught her off guard and the fact that he'd whispered it gave her the uncomfortable feeling that he was asking her to do something illegal. But he wouldn't be asking her to do anything illegal, she reassured herself. He was probably just afraid that the guard would cut their visit short if they heard his request and assumed the worst, seeing as he was already found guilty. Still, surprise registered on her face as her mind worked to wrap itself around this scenario she did not expect.

It had been a couple of months since they'd parted ways. People usually felt uncomfortable asking favors of people they'd lost touch with, especially exes, unless they felt they were owed but there was no way Andro could know that Hank had had people watching him. She was far removed from being any part of his alibi, having no idea what any of his routines were as she was no longer the one setting them up. So why ask her help? What could she possibly do? Wasn't everything presented in court?

She reminded herself that Andro was different from most people. Disconnected, in a way. He probably didn't feel such things as pride or discomfort in requesting help. She suddenly remembered that he had no close family or friends, nobody else who could help, nobody else who would visit him, and she felt guilty for feeling as if she was being put out by his request. He probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her, she also reminded herself.

Determined, though she knew nothing of his alibi or what had transpired during his case, she squared her shoulders. Hope spoke quietly, though not exactly in a whisper. She felt there was nothing wrong in what they were doing but whispering might look as if they were up to something. "I could try to dig up evidence to support your alibi. Where were you when it happened?"

[DarkSideCookie]

Andro watched her through the glass, silently wondering what was going on in her mind, for she seemed to be... surprised? Why would she be surprised when she knew he hadn't done it as she stated? If he hadn't done it, it would be just logical to ask her for help, wouldn't it? He will probably never really understand others' way of thinking. The fact that they'd lost touch with each other had, in Andro's way of thinking, nothing to do with it. He had never really comprehended her words and decision back on that day, anyway.

It felt like an eternity to him, in which he didn't even blink, until Hope finally spoke up.

"I could try to dig up evidence to support your alibi. Where were you when it happened?"

Andro's face seemed to remain the same expectant look for some more seconds until, suddenly, the corner of his lips rose into a joyless smile. It wasn't even a real smile but something that was rarely seen on his face. It wouldn't be working the way she offered, though. Unfortunately, Andro wasn't a good liar, or rather, never had comprehended the reason for lying when you were doing the right thing - or, in his case, thinking that you were. But Hydra had made it more than clear to him that he wasn't allowed to talk about anything that had happened in the night his father was killed. "I can not give an alibi." Andro eventually stated factoid, and before she could ask why that was, he added even more quietly: "I need you to get me one."

[Hollywood Heidi]

Struck by complete surprise, her eyes widened as her jaw went slack. "Get you--" she began in a slightly elevated voice, quickly catching herself. She leaned toward the glass, an automatic motion of discretion that was unnecessary when it was only through the phone they could hear each other. "Get you one?"[/i] she repeated in a perplexed whisper. "Andro, that's not exactly something I can..." she gestured with her hand as she grasped for something that matched the casualness of his demand, "go and pick up in a Costco run."

Relaxing herself, she looked at him with concern brought on by a lingering care and continued in quiet tones. "Andro, why can't you give an alibi? What've you gotten yourself into?"

[DarkSideCookie]

"Get you one?""Andro, that's not exactly something I can...""go and pick up in a Costco run."

He got that, yet he thought her reaction was a little bit over the top. She, or rather her father, belonged to this kind of people that had enough influence in society to easily get someone an alibi if needed. And he needed one. So, what was the problem then?

Andro remained quiet, for now, waiting for Hope to go on. But instead of helping him out, she continued with more questions. Questions that he wasn't allowed to answer, even if he would have wanted to.

"Andro, why can't you give an alibi? What've you gotten yourself into?"

"There is..." he paused in search of the right words, "no one who can confirm an alibi." This was, at least, kind of true, even though the complete truth would have been something like 'There is no one left who could confirm an alibi'. But he better didn't say that - most probably wouldn't have been allowed to anyway -, especially in a place like this. And before Hope could have asked more questions, Andro repeated his request one more time. "Help me..." He always had been spare with words of pleading or gratitude, but this time he thought it could play into his hands to add them: "... please."

[Hollywood Heidi]

Pleading usually evoked a feeling of sympathy and a yearning to help the person but coming from Andro, it gave her a disturbing feeling. Andro did not possess the natural repertoire of human emotions or reactional devices and it was obvious that included pleading. The way he'd delivered it, it had been used more as a technical device to get her to play to what he wanted her to do.

Yet she still felt she owed it to him to do what she could. "Andro, I'm trying. I'll do whatever I can," she reassured. Within legal rights, of course, which is how she was naturally thinking and naturally assuming were the unspoken boundaries, as with any and all situations in life. Hope thought about the character witness angle. Basing things on past history of a relationship she knew nothing about. Andro had never talked to her about anything person. She hadn't even known he'd still had a father until all this happened. "Tell me about your relationship with your father. The court records say you fought with him shortly before he was found. Was your relationship with him strained? Were you a part of each other's lives or did you not see much of each other? Why did you see him that day and what did you two fight about?"

[DarkSideCookie]

"Andro, I'm trying. I'll do whatever I can,"

He was satisfied with himself, although nothing like that was seen on his features. Andro had never made use of pleading words, but it seemed to do something with people, or so he thought. Little did he know that Hope's willingness to help him out was coming from a feeling within herself. Guilt.

"Tell me about your relationship with your father."

Andro looked up at her, still remaining rigid though a little bit questioning. He was surprised by this demand. They had never talked about family affairs, nor anything really personal. Yet, it probably made sense that she wanted to know now.

"The court records say you fought with him shortly before he was found. Was your relationship with him strained? Were you a part of each other's lives or did you not see much of each other? Why did you see him that day and what did you two fight about?"

"My father...," he started hesitantly, as he was unused to talk about anything regarding his family or childhood, to say the least, "... lives... lived," Andro corrected himself, visibly more nervous than before, yet still far from seeming emotionally shaken. Of course, he regretted what had happened to his father - he'd been his father, after all - but, just like with any other emotion, he could only feel it like through an opaque pane of glass, "in Puerto Rico, my hometown. We did not see each other since I have graduated from high school. When he appeared at my door only recently, he said that he had saved money to visit me. At first, I believed him. That he was glad seeing me." Andro made a pause. He had heard it wasn't right and proper to talk bad about the dead, but there was still this anger in him whenever he recalled their argument. "But all he did was telling me that I would be a disgrace, and that...," he paused again, this time visibly harder for him to go on as his gaze turned elsewhere for the first time during their conversation. "... she is dead because of me." He had said much more already than he wanted. More than he ever had given away to anyone. And yet again, it couldn't be seen on the outside, but on the inside, Andro was seething with rage, almost like rage was all he had, even when another feeling was the trigger. He could still hear his father's accusations echoing in his mind.

'... Because we had spent all our money on your therapy, we couldn't afford the medical examinations your mother would have needed. She'd always believed in the good in you and that we had to do anything to enable the best possible future for you, and for a while I did as well, but, in the end, she had been wrong. It never did anything with you. You've never changed. And you never will. You're a disgrace to our family, Andro. A disgrace to yourself. Your mother... she could be still alive.'

[Hollywood Heidi]

His father had saved up money in order to travel to his son to tell him, face to face, that he was a disgrace and that he was to blame for a woman's death, which she assumed the 'she' was his mother? Hope looked taken aback. That was some deep seated anger that made her own pale in comparison.

It couldn't be true. She just couldn't believe Andro would hurt someone. The man hardly ever showed any emotions, but when he'd unintentionally inflicted a small wound on her from the shattering glass, he'd had the rare moment of appearing to look shocked and sorrowful for what he'd accidentally done and genuinely apologetic in his simple apology before taking his leave.

But what if it had been unintentional? What if he'd had one of those fits of rage before and it had been his mother in the wrong place at the wrong time? It would completely unravel any hope of a positive character witness if the fits of rage were brought up at all, let alone the knowledge someone had been hurt by one of them.

She didn't think it was the case. Based off the little reaction he was showing, he didn't appear remorseful as he had when he'd inadvertently hurt her. But he was still affected by it. Andro never broke eye contact, but he did so now. Perhaps he did feel some blame, but a different kind? She felt the blame was misplaced, though it was hard to read someone who showed so little emotion on the outside. Hope had to know all the facts in order to try to help him out of this, so she pressed for more information. "Your mother?" she clarified before continuing. "Why would your father blame you for her death?" she asked, sorrow and compassion on her face and in her voice.

[DarkSideCookie]

"Your mother?"

Andro almost winced at her question while, at the same time, his gaze turned back in her direction. Before he even could have affirmed, Hope went on. He had said too much anyway. Not to appear guilty but to continue keeping his own affairs to himself - where they belonged. Andro had never been a friend of confiding in somebody, so he saw it as having been a mistake.

"Why would your father blame you for her death?"

And there she went, going on with more questions. The distance between eyes and brows decreased ever so slightly yet noticeable. Were they still not done with talking? This wasn't helping anybody.

"That is not important.", Andro eventually answered, trying to keep his voice quiet and calm while anger was, yet again, starting to boil up inside of him. "I have not done it. I am no murderer, ... Hope." Usually, he didn't address somebody by their name very often, but, just like with the words of pleading before, Andro had had a lot of time to study the avail of that. People seemed to do so whenever they tried to get somebody's empathy. That, at least, seemed to be one of a few scenarios. He didn't like to manipulate or lie by withholding information, but where had his sincerity gotten him? In the end, nobody was listening to those without power anyway, never mind what they said or did.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"That is not important."

There was a slight edge of something seeping through his voice and showing on his features. Was that... annoyance? It tossed a bit of fuel on the spark of frustration that had started to outweigh her guilt, starting a slow simmer to the anger always close under her surface. He wasn't giving her anything to work with. Every question she had, every attempt to glean the smallest of information was brushed off. "But it is important, Andro," she stressed, the frustration lacing its way through her tone.


"I have not done it. I am no murderer, ... Hope."

Something had been feeling a little off since she'd faced him again after all this time but she'd been too distracted hiding her own feelings of guilt to pay it much attention. But with the guilt having ebbed, something was starting to strike her as off from Andro's side but she couldn't place her finger on it.

"I didn't say--" she broke off when it struck her but was careful to disguise what was truly affecting her break in speech as merely the frustration she'd already begun to show. Hope let out a heavy sigh as she leaned the elbow of her free hand on the small counter and pinched the bridge of her nose, pretending to take a moment to gather herself in order to find a more beneficial route to the solution of his freedom.

It was the use of her name. She couldn't recall him using her name in any other way than to call her attention. It brought with it the realization that the way he was acting, or more like, the way he was attempting to act was out of character for him. He wasn't like this before. There was never any emotion and never attempt to pretend at one. It was as if Andro was trying to appeal to her empathy, but in a cold, calculating way. Where had he picked this up? Why had he picked this up? What kind of people had he been around since she'd last seen him that had encouraged him to use this method of manipulation?

Letting her arm fall heavy to the counter, Hope gave him a direct look, almost a business-like demeanor she usually employed when at Pym Tech or back when she'd been taking charge of organizing his rallies. She'd always been direct with him then. It had been her sorrow over his plight, in reality, the guilt at feeling it was her fault he was here, that had kept her tip toeing around for the first part of this visit.

Her eyes flicked to the clock on the wall behind him before pinning him with her usual countenance of getting down to business. "My visiting time is almost up and we've gotten nowhere. I'm really trying, Andro, but I can't seem to get any of my ideas off the ground. So tell me the ideas you've come up with. She lowered her voice and leaned closer in a conspiratorial manner. "Tell me exactly what it is you want me to do," she said with a couple of stabs of her finger onto the counter.

[DarkSideCookie]

While Andro watched her through the glass, he believed to see a change in her features. He couldn't tell what it was, especially since he was anything but well educated in the reading of other's state of mind - hers, at that, but something felt not right between them. On the other hand, he'd never really had an interest in reading anyone's emotions before. But things were different now. He had to get out of here, and he had to make the only person who would still talk to him help him with that.

"I didn't say--"

And yet again, something seemed to come over her. It was infuriating him not to know what it was, same as it did the way she stopped speaking while in the middle of a sentence. Andro remained quiet, although inwardly he was boiling with rage. He watched her as she seemed to take a moment on her own. What was she thinking about? What was she waiting for? Didn't she want to help him? It was almost as if Andro had forgotten that there had been a matter between them that led them to separate paths. A matter, though, he never had fully understood. Maybe that was why he could so easily blend it out right now.

Andro took one deep breath, only visible by the lifting and lowering of his chest, while he watched Hope in silence, waiting for her to go on. And when she moved her arm, letting it fall heavily to the counter underneath, Andro's gaze would still remain glued to her eyes until she finally drew her attention back at him as well.

"My visiting time is almost up and we've gotten nowhere. I'm really trying, Andro, but I can't seem to get any of my ideas off the ground. So tell me the ideas you've come up with."

Her ideas? She had done nothing but asking him questions. This was, of course, a heavy incrimination for someone in his place, so it surely was to his advantage that it didn't show on his face, just like usual.

"Tell me exactly what it is you want me to do,"

He leaned closer in as well, stopping only inches away from the glass, even though it wasn't making any difference while they spoke to each other through a phone. "As I said before... Get me... an alibi." By this point, his upcoming annoyance clearly was to hear in his voice. Maybe not as distinct as it would be with anybody else expressing an emotion such as annoyance, but distinct enough to, for once, pick out any emotion at all.

[Hollywood Heidi]

The guard that had been standing in the far corner to allow them the privacy whilst still keeping a watchful eye started to step toward Andro. The guard on her side that had been keeping a watchful eye on the other guard for silent signals started to do the same. They still had a few minutes, but it looked as if Andro's guard had picked up on the tension starting to build and made the judgment call to cut their visit short. Hope sat up and softened the tension from her features to hopefully appease the guard. It worked. The guard on his side paused and the one on hers followed suit, but they not return to their posts, allowing them a semi-private chance to end their conversation.

"I'll do whatever I can with the little you gave me," she promised, adamant in her promise but the last half making it clear that she would not falsify information to form an alibi. "Andro," she said, leaning close again and speaking quietly. "If you want someone to help you--if you want a person on your side--you have to let them in."

Not waiting for the answer she knew she wouldn't get, Hope hung up the phone and got to her feet, giving him one last sad smile before the guard led her away.

That had always been the problem between them, she thought as she was led out of the room. Hope had always been by his side, helping him get his word out, doing all she could, but he'd never really let her in and because of that, she'd only been by his side but not truly on his side. She'd only been able to make assumptions of what his goal was in this fight of his and because of that, she'd completely misunderstood and gathered the wrong understanding. While fighting for a completely different angle of his cause, she'd inadvertently appeared to be on his side and had encouraged him further down a dark path to methods and an outcome she never would have taken part in.

If he'd only let her in, she'd have understood and would have tried to help him accomplish his vision with the right methods toward the right outcome. But 'right' was a matter of perspective, one she wouldn't begin to realize until they met again years later on a rooftop was a perspective they never would have aligned on.


***Hope exits***

[DarkSideCookie]

Andro made not the slightest movement when the guards to both their sides were starting to eye them like sharp dogs. He did not even do when the one on his side stepped closer. There was only the slightest hint in his eyes that gave away he was taking notice of it while his eyes kept focused on Hope.

"I'll do whatever I can with the little you gave me,"

She won't. Andro knew that this was but a lie to get away from him, just like everyone else. Maybe she even believed that he had done it, that he was a murderer. Andro's features hardened once again.

"Andro," He watched her with now visible anger and disappointment, not even moving an inch away from the glass between them as she leaned closer again. "If you want someone to help you--if you want a person on your side--you have to let them in."

An almost unnoticeable twitch around one of his eyebrows was his only reaction to those words. He didn't internalize the meaning of them, not for a long time at least. But that was another story, another chapter of his life.

Andro wasn't going to say anything to that anyway, so it was little surprise to him when she hung up the phone with no more words, not even of goodbye. He had a feeling that she wasn't going to do what he requested, but little did he know that this would be the last time they saw each other at all, in this chapter of his life at least. A chapter, somber and lonely while, at the same time, constructive and fundamental.

He watched Hope getting led away by one of the guards, as he was holding onto the phone in his hands for a while longer. His grip around it tightened until, once she was gone, Andro let it clash back on the hook, the sound his action caused slightly drawing everyone else's attention now as well. And while the guard got a grip on him to lead him back to his cell, Andro didn't oppose but instead put all his anger into the look in his eyes that was still directed at the spot where Hope had been disappeared to only a moment ago. Eventually, the spot had shrunk to no more than a tiny dot in the distance until it would be completely out of his eyesight. Until there were, again, only these dark cold cell walls around him. He would get out of here, one day.

He should end up being right...

... yet not before a long imprisonment of nine years.