Need to Break Out

[Shana O'Malley]

"I don't know that that actually makes me feel better," Shana commented, letting out a breath that she may have been holding while she waited for his answer. "I appreciate that you'll let me live," she added, in case he had his doubts. She just didn't know what other option there was.

She was quiet for a minute, and then pushed the pile of cards towards him. "You go first."

She was thinking. It was time to try another escape... she'd have to be really smart about this one, but she couldn't just stay here forever and play this stupid game by his rules. And despite Mateo's assurances, she wasn't convinced that the second anyone above him realized she wasn't useful, she wouldn't have a price on her head.

[Mateo "Teo" Rossi]

Sometimes Teo wished that he could forget about the whole situation. That he could just pretend that she was there because she wanted to be. But she didn't, and he was ever aware of that. Still, there was a part of him that couldn't help but think that his house would be very empty without her in it.

"I'm not going to lie to you and say that I wouldn't kill you if it became necessary," he told her quite honestly. "But I do not believe it will be necessary, and I certainly have no desire or intention to do so. I also wouldn't entirely rule out letting you go free, either. It depends on a few factors, which I really can't discuss with you. But as it is, I feel that the chances of your going free are actually greater than the chances that I'll have to kill you."

[Shana O'Malley]

"Wow, you know how to woo a girl, don't you?"

She dropped her hand of cards, pretty much abandoning the game. She wondered if she pushed hard enough if she could get him to tell her more. But she also knew she ran the risk of angering him, and she didn't really want that either.

"You know, Mateo, I'm not stupid. I know my chances of getting out of here are very slim. So thanks for the positive thoughts and all, but I'm not a fairytale and butterfly kind of girl. But it is really romantic when you can so conversationally talk about my murder."

She smiled at him at this, showing that she was actually just teasing him. "You do understanding how frustrating this is though, right? I didn't want anything to do with this."

[Mateo "Teo" Rossi]

"I'm being honest because I know you wouldn't believe me if I lied. You're a smart girl--too smart for your own good--and you'd see right through me if I lied."

He also set his own cards down and leaned forward to look at her quietly for a moment. "I know you probably suspect that I've kiled before. You probably even have a vague suspicion of what it is that I do. If I'd had my choice, I wouldn't have involved you in this... it was pointless and I knew it all along. But what's been done can't be changed. I may be able to fix it, but it will depend on Dante. I have reason to believe he may be about to make contact with his family again."

[Shana O'Malley]

"I don't see how that will help me." It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he was into some pretty shady dealings. Figuring out the obvious didn't make her smart. It was these details that she couldn't quite grasp.

"Even if he does talk to his father again... and I don't know that he will, but hey, you would know better than me, it clearly won't be about me, or having his father get back at you for..." She trailed off. That vague suspicion he talked about just solidified in her mind, and she was actually scared. "This is a lot bigger than just you and Dante. I really don't want to be involved in this anymore. Okay? Game over. I'm done playing." She wasn't referencing the cards on the table.

They had to be some kind of mob. Mateo and his family were obviously Italian, and she knew Dante was Italian. The shady dealings all made sense all of a sudden. For the first time in almost a year, she was a little scared.

[Mateo "Teo" Rossi]

Teo could almost see her mind working, and he could see the look of panic on her face as she reached her conclusion. He let out a sigh and set down his own cards. He was really rather surprised that she hadn't figured it out sooner.

"Whatever you're thinking, you'll want to pretend you never realized it," he said, his voice taking on an ominous tone. "Whether you believe it or not, there still is a chance you can get out of this unharmed, but not if they think you know too much. For what it's worth, I'm actually sorry you were dragged into this... and I don't apologize often, so you know I mean it."

[Shana O'Malley]

"Well, a lot of good your stupid apology does me!" Shana snapped. While being held here, away from Dante, away from her family, away from everyone except him, she had always shown her American spunk. She wasn't scared to talk back to him, and she wasn't scared to let him know she was pissed.

But she was becoming pretty convinced that if Dante did anything they didn't like- she'd be dead. And Mateo would have no remorse about it.

"Does he know I'm here? Does he know you took me?" she asked, more or less ignoring his warning. "And who is 'they'? Your brother? And...?"

[Mateo "Teo" Rossi]

Interestingly enough, Shana’s American spunk was one of the things Mateo most liked about her. He was the kind of man who was used to being respected, feared, and even hated. And while Shana might hate him, she did not fear him or bow down to him. And he rather liked that about her. She had fire; she didn’t just lie down and accept whatever he said or did. Sometimes this frustrated him, but deep down, he rather admired it. All of his favorite people were the ones who were not afraid of him.

“Dante knows nothing,” Teo replied. “I think he believes that you’re either dead, or that you ran away from him. We thought… Well, never mind what we thought. Really, the less you know about any of this, the better it is for you. And I know my word means very little to you, but I have no intentions of killing you.”

If she knew about magic, she would know how it would be possible for him to let her live, and even to release her. But she didn’t, and Teo didn’t care to enlighten her.

[Shana O'Malley]

Shana leaned back in her chair, pulling her knees up under her, sitting in a sort of modified, cross legged position. She didn't like his answers, and the more he said, it seemed like the less he really told her.

"Not until someone tells you to, anyway." The statement wasn't really directed at him so much as just her way of letting off her own frustration. The other thought that occured to her was that maybe Dante was smart... maybe he knew exactly what happened to her, and he just didn't care.

She sighed and met his eyes again. "You know, I'm kind of over the card game now. And I've lost my appetite, so...." she trailed off, letting him off the hook with keeping her entertained for the night.

[Mateo "Teo" Rossi]

Teo leaned back in his seat and didn’t say a word as he fixed his dark eyes on her. He wasn’t sure what was more insulting, the fact that she believed he would kill an innocent girl, or the fact that she believed he took orders from people. The only person he took orders from was his father, and when the order had been given to take Shana, it had been because his father had been convinced of the necessity of it by another person. That person was now dead. But Teo knew that his father, as ruthless as he could be, would not order the killing of an innocent girl—not while magic was an alternative. And yes, Teo had killed people before… but never an innocent person. Never a woman. Shana had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and involved with the wrong person.

“I’m not a murderer, Shana,” he said bluntly. “I won’t lie to you and say I’ve never killed anyone, but it’s always a last resort, and only when threatened. I can imagine what you must think of me, but I would never treat another person like a piece of garbage to be disposed of.”

[Shana O'Malley]

Shana gave him an incredulous look. "You've killed people, Mateo. By definition, I'm pretty sure that makes you a murderer." She was lashing out because she was scared, and while she didn't doubt that Mateo would kill her if he had to, she had always felt sort of... safe with him. That still didn't excuse the fact that she was here. Her family probably thought she was dead anyway, and for what? To find out that the one person she had grown really close to didn't really care about her at all?

She was quiet, unsure of what else she could even say. The conversation seemed to be at a dead end, and she didn't want to keep pushing his buttons.

"I don't know what else to say, Mateo. It seems we're at a stalemate."

[Mateo "Teo" Rossi]

He pressed his lips together, biting back the words he wanted to say. Shana, like most people, saw the world in black and white. A person who killed someone was, to most people, a murderer. But Teo saw things in shades of gray. There were lots of reasons to kill a person, and in his mind, the motivation was very important. Some killings were justified, and some were unintentional. If he approached someone with the intention of killing them, then, yes. That was murder. But with the exception of one person, all of the people he had killed had been unintentional. He merely meant to silence them, and if they fought.... well, that wasn't his fault, was it?

The only person he had ever killed intentionally was the man who had kidnapped Sedona as a little girl. And now Teo had become just like him. It left a very bitter taste in his mouth.

"I guess we are," he said, leaning back. "I don't know how else I can reassure you that I am not going to kill you. And I'm not going to have anyone else kill you, either. I know my word doesn't mean much to you... but you're an innocent in all this. I don't kill innocents."

[Shana O'Malley]

Shana just sighed. He already told her that he'd kill her if he needed to, so how much faith was she supposed to put into the fact that he didn't want to kill her? This was ridiculous. She might die because of Dante, and the jerk hadn't even tried looking for her. She didn't like the taste this left in her mouth, either, and she rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Kay," she answered, deciding she was tired and pretty much over the argument. She picked up her plate of the take out and turned in the chair so that she was more comfortable, choosing not to say anything to Mateo. It was better than her mouthing off, she figured.

[Mateo "Teo" Rossi]

Teo sighed, watching her. He didn't want to argue with her, but for some reason it bothered him to think that she thought of him as some kind of monster. And maybe he was. But he didn't want to kill her, and he would do everything in his power to make sure he wouldn't have to.

"Shana.... I'm not going to insult you by pretending that I'm a good guy. We both know I'm not. But I'm not all bad, either. I'm just trying to put your mind at ease... I don't blame you for not trusting me. But this will be easier if we can at least be civil to each other, don't you think?"

[Shana O'Malley]

"I am being civil," Shana said, her tone disinterested. At least she hadn't snapped at him when she said it. Still, how could he expect her to be civil and nice to him and such when she had to worry about Dante screwing something up and getting her killed. The whole situation was just really messed up.

"What?" She asked, turning back to him. "Do you want to keep playing cards? Just tell me what you want."

It wasn't like she could stomp off angrily. She had nowhere to go, really. Finally, she sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just frustrated. You have to understand that."

[Mateo "Teo" Rossi]

"We don't have to play cards," Teo sighed.

But talking with her wasn't really working, either. All it seemed to do was bring up more questions and problems and reasons why she shouldn't trust him. How could he tell her otherwise? She was a prisoner in his home; that was reason enough for her not to trust him.

"I understand completely. I'm frustrated with this situation, too. I just.... I want to make the best of things, that's all."

He was perfectly aware of how lame that sounded.

[Shana O'Malley]

Shana raised an eyebrow in his direction. Make the best of things? She had a lot of ideas how they could 'make the best of things.' Letting her go, for instance. Or actually answering her questions. Or letting her contact Dante. Or her family, who probably assumed her dead by now. What if Dante thought she was dead, too? She shook the thought from her head. She couldn't handle thinking all of this had been for nothing, in the end.

"What if we just pretend for a while that I'm here on my own? That you, for whatever reason, invited me to stay with you, and I said yes? Would that make the best of things?"

[Mateo "Teo" Rossi]

It was all so very complicated. It probably would have been better if he had just kept Shana locked in her room all the time and just shoved food in through a cat flap a few times a day. But for whatever reason, he hadn't been able to do that. He may have taken her and held her against her will, but he couldn't bring himself to behave like.... well, like a kidnapper. He remembered all too clearly what the family had gone through when Sedona had been kidnapped as a little girl, and he resolved at the beginning that he would at least treat the girl humanely. Now he wondered if, in his attempts to be kind to her, he had actually been even more cruel. It certainly made the situation more confusing.

"Yes," he said quietly. "Yes, that would be making the best of things."

He sighed and looked at her. Sometimes, like now, he found himself noticing how pretty Shana was. He could see why Dante Santino had fallen for this girl. Not only was she pretty, but she had a disarming honesty about her. If the circumstances were different.... no. No, if the circumstances were different, he and Shana would have nothing in common, nothing to talk about. They were too different.

"We could watch a movie. Then you wouldn't have to talk to me if you don't want to."

[Shana O'Malley]

Shana only shrugged. "I've seen all your movies. And I don't mind talking to you."

This was the truth, too. She enjoyed his company sometimes... on evenings when they got along really well, when they could almost forget the absurd reality to their situation. Mateo, under normal circumstances, would be someone she might even consider a friend. But these weren't normal circumstances.

"Do you think we could go outside?" It had been nearly a year since Shana had actually been outside, no doubt to keep her from running away. But if Teo were with her, where could she go?

[Mateo "Teo" Rossi]

Why would she want to talk to him? She should hate him. He was holding her prisoner, and apparently she thought it very likely that he was going to kill her. What were they supposed to talk about, anyway? It wasn't like he had any hobbies.

"Outside?" he repeated, frowning. It seemed cruel to deprive the girl of fresh air and sunshine... but it wasn't like he lived in the middle of nowhere. Godric's Hollow was a residential neighborhood, and even though he lived on a corner away from everyone else, there were still people close by. And Shana had already tried to escape once or twice. He knew she would try it again. And a part of him was almost tempted to let her.

"I might be able to... make some arrangements," he said. The back yard was fairly sheltered, and with a little magic, he could obscure the area around so that she wouldn't see anyone and no one would see her. And an invisible barrier would keep her from running. But he didn't want her to think it was that easy, since she didn't know about magic.