I'll Have So Much More To Say (Closed-Maverick)

[Kaydence Morgan]

If someone had ever told Kaydence Morgan that at some point in her life she would end up in a small and cold cement five by seven cell full of small puddles of water from a broken window that leaked and tiny mice that ran around in search of food, she would have laughed in their face. A woman like her was not prison material. She was too smart, wealthy and good-looking to be locked up with the rejects of society. The ones who got caught stealing or blackmailing or something of the sort. The ones who really only had Azkaban as a way to provide themselves with free shelter and food. The prison held the real threats to society, those hell-bent on the demise of their government and the uprising of the Dark Lord and his followers. It may have been the original path in her life several years ago, but even then the thought was laughable. Azkaban was for the idiots who were stupid enough to get themselves caught. Kaydence was certainly not an idiot. She had been taught at an early age how to be elusive and how to lie if ever confronted with a scenario that required it for the safety of hers or for the cause. She knew exactly what to do when she was in a tight spot. Fortunately, she had never been in a situation like that. She knew better than to go around looking for one. After all, why would she purposely set herself up for the hot seat?

Yet somehow, Kaydence had ended up here. It had been a full day already, but to her it felt like a century. Having nothing whatsoever to do didn’t help. Neither did the constant presence of the horrid creatures that sucked any possible ounce of happiness from one’s body. She had always heard about the horrors of Azkaban. How even some of the most hardened criminals of the times had succumbed to meek individuals who cowered at the sound of footsteps from the guards. It became quickly apparent to her that the stories weren’t just rumors. Not only where they true but they went beyond expectations. Azkaban wasn’t just an ordinary wizarding prison. It was Hell. Everything from the dementors to the screams of the tortured souls residing all around her to the bone-chilling cold that engulfed her. Kaydence thought her life had been miserable. Her return to Austria had started out optimistically. Things had gone according to plan for the longest time. Even the first few weeks of running into old acquaintances or meeting new ones hadn’t caused her to stray too far. As the summer progressed however, her priorities had slowly begun to change, which she didn’t even fully realize until that first hot day of August when everything came to an abrupt halt. Coming face to face with Darren, finding out Ashton’s job, getting Cammie hurt, all things she hadn’t expected. The consequences from Gringotts had caused Kaydence to think that her life couldn’t possibly get any worse. She should have known better though. Yesterday Ashton had come looking for her, after nearly two and a half months of silence. It had been her own fault for sticking around. To think that someone wouldn’t come looking for her was foolish. It was unlike her to let her guard down. She had simply thought that if she stayed put in her condo, only walking Luka occasionally and going out in disguise to get groceries that she’d be fine.

Merlin was she wrong. Sighing to herself at the thought Kaydence leaned her head against the back of the cold wall behind her and closed her eyes. She had been so stupid. So damn stupid. Her thoughts went back to Darren’s final warning to her. He had demanded she leave. Why hadn’t she listened? Why had she allowed her stubbornness to take control? Well, it wasn’t like she wouldn’t have plenty of time to dwell on it. Tristan had told her she’d be here indefinitely, despite not having any sound evidence against her to give cause for it. They tried to use her relation to Darren. They hadn’t believed her when she tried to tell them that she hadn’t seen him for four years before Gringotts. The fact that the mark on her arm wasn’t a faded black meant that she still had contact with him. They were such idiots. Only hearing what they wanted. They were so desperate to have any sort of good news to give to the public that they had taken advantage of capturing her. There was no doubt in Kaydence’s mind that her picture was plastered all over the front page of the Timestopper and other various publications throughout the country. Everyone knew exactly who she was now and that she had the Dark Mark to prove that she had been aligned with him and probably still was. Her life was ruined. When she was younger, she had never had any issue with letting anyone and everyone know that she was a Morgan. She flaunted it like there was no tomorrow. After everything that had drove her from Austria though, she had done her best to keep her identity a secret. She had dyed her hair, adapted her tongue to fit the language of the country she was residing in and did her best not to draw attention to herself. Naturally she had a few slip-ups, but nothing she couldn’t handle. After yesterday, that privacy had forever been taken from her. People would know her face the moment they saw it and she wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without hushed whispers following her. If she could even go anywhere that was.

A shiver ran down her spine causing Kaydence to pull her knees up close to her chest. Wrapping her arms around them she pulled her head back up and leaned her chin on the tops of them. Opening her eyes, she stared darkly at the decaying wall in front of her. There was no source of warmth in her cell whatsoever. The black and white striped uniform hung loosely on her. She had been provided with a thin sheet that lay in a crumpled heap at the end of her equally thin cot. Sleep was impossible on that damn thing. Springs went in every possible direction, conveniently finding the positions in her back that hurt that worst. Honestly, she could probably sleep better by lying on the wet floor. The thin slip-ons she had also been provided did nothing to warm her feet either. Kaydence knew that complaining didn’t do any good, but that didn’t stop her from ruing her surroundings. Breathing in deeply, she continued staring at the wall, doing her best to focus all of her attention on it. The screamer next door had started up again after what must have been an hour of silence. She was foreign and in between screams she could hear the woman muttering rapidly in what sounded like Ukrainian. She never knew how far Azkaban’s reach spread out. There were other wizarding prisons, but to her knowledge they were all space miles upon miles upon miles apart. The locations had been carefully chosen as to not allow any form of contact from an inmate of one prison to the next for security purposes. Maybe they just randomly picked inmates to place in certain prisons. Most of the women around her sounded like they were local but there were the occasional few who definitely didn’t.

She had just begun counting scratched in tally marks on the right side of her wall when her name was yelled. ”MORGAN!” Kaydence did her best to avoid the approaching footsteps. She wanted nothing to do with anyone here. Two plates of uneaten food that had spoiled were sitting near her door. She knew she’d have to eat sooner or later, but she had every intention of waiting until starvation took over. The footsteps stopped when they were right in front of her cell. “You have a visitor Morgan.” That got her attention. Turning her head to the right, a confused expression fell on her face. “A visitor?” The guard ran his wand down the lock of her cell. “Yeah, you’ve got someone really wanting to see you to sail the waters to come here. The storm got worse over night and the waves outside are choppy as hell. Surprising the boat made it in one piece.” As the door slid open, the guard motioned for her to stand up. Kaydence slowly obeyed. The man stepped in. “Wrists together.” Lifting them up, she grimaced slightly as the man put his wand to them and bound them together. He then grabbed her arm and began leading her out of the cell. So many questions ran rampid through her mind as she began being guided towards the elevators. Who had come to see her? And who would visit so quickly?

[Maverick Dresner]

It wasn't easy getting a prison boat to take a trip across choppy waters to a building which housed some of the wizarding world's most dangerous criminals. It took some fairly liberal bribes and just a touch of intimidation, but he had done it. Money had never really been an object for Maverick, and bribes were just another of the many valuable, if not morally questionable, lessons his father had ingrained in him. Plus, Mav had been feeling flush with cash since his recent employment with the Ministry. In fact it was that job that was in large part to blame for his presence at the prison. The visit itself was personal, the department of mysteries had no interest in the lives of prisoners...though now that Maverick was here it could make for some interesting findings in the death and time research. Time was bound to move slower in a lonely cell, with death a looming cloud, with the dementors delivering the fury of the storm.

No, that would all have to wait. The ministry's role in this visit was far simpler, for if it hadn't been for Maverick's new position he would have never been up early enough, or had interest enough to pick up a copy of the Timestopper and recognize the face plastered over the front page. It was a shock to say the least when he found out that his ex-girlfriend/friend with benefits and current awkward grey area relation, Kaydence Morgan had been put behind bars in the very building which he now stood for nothing less than the capital crime, of murder. Maverick still carried the paper under his arm as he was escorted to the visitors room. Azkaban was a horrid place, but the common areas at least were clean. Everything was just grey, as though even the walls were having the life drained from them. Kay didn't belong here.

Or maybe she did. She was after all, a murderer, there were witnesses. But was it really that simple? How many others got away? How many more deserving criminals roamed the streets while she was locked away. Sure, Maverick had a personal stake in the matter, he wouldn't be here waiting in the room of neutral tones, of grey walls and tan tables, if he didn't, but that didn't make him wrong. Maverick slid into a seat at a table, guards stood at every exit, bodies upright and scowling at the prisoners, daring them to attempt to run past them in a break for freedom. The young blond's fingers tapped absently at the table top and he soon became mesmerized by the action.

Finally, Kay was lead into the room, clearly unaware of who it was who had summoned her. Maverick imagined he wouldn't have been her first guess. "Surprise," Maverick smirked putting up his hands and flashing his palms open as though Kay had just walked into some lonely, monotone, birthday party. "Saw you're picture in the paper, congratulations," Maverick continued his sarcastic celebration of Kay's 'accomplishment.' "You know how I used to say you would look good in just about anything?" Maverick asked his tone still seeming horribly out of place in the prison. "I think we've found your limit." he finished, left side of his mouth tugging upward. Perhaps he was having just a bit too much fun with all this.

[Kaydence Morgan]

This was humiliating. It was impossible to ignore the harassment coming from the other female prisoners of the ward. They all knew exactly who she was. If they hadn’t met Kaydence at some point or another, they were well aware of her last name. She was fairly certain that more than half of the inmates had been associated with her brother, more than likely here because of him. Whether on their own whim or not, well that was hard to tell. They were too busy making fun of her for Kaydence to pay attention. ‘Spoiled little rich girl’ was being used a lot. Selfish, greedy, princess, any word along those lines, and those that were more than inappropriate, were being tossed around like the women were playing ball or something. Her eyes wandered to the guard, curious to see if he would say anything to stop it. He didn’t. In fact, he looked more amused than anything. A silent, annoying smile was plastered to his face. If her wrists weren’t bound she’d have no qualms with hauling off and smacking that smile right off of it. It wouldn’t matter anyway. She was going to be in here for the rest of her life it felt like. Amazing how a day could suck so much optimism out of her. The elevators were getting closer. Kaydence wished they could run. Anything to get her out of here faster. An object being thrown by one of the woman had narrowly missed her. She had no desire to turn her head to see what it was.

As they finally approached the elevators, the one to the right opened instantly. Two guards armed with strange looking wands stood at either end. They really knew how to make prisoners feel welcomed here. The doors closed behind Kaydence and her guard as they entered the elevator. He turned them around to face the front. One of the arm guards pressed the button for the second floor. She remained quiet as the elevator began going down. Not that she really had a choice. She was positive that if she even coughed she’d be shushed. The only sounds were that of the mechanics used to move the metal cube downwards. It sounded rickety. Like it had been ages since the lines had last been checked to ensure proper safety. Great. That would be all she needed now. Dying in Azkaban would be bad enough. Dying in an elevator in the prison was even worse. A sigh left her lips as she closed her eyes. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. It would probably be faster dying in here than in her cell. More painless she’d be willing to wager as well. These thoughts were so absurd. Kaydence knew she didn’t want to die. It was just…being here…it sucked the very life out of her. It had from the moment she stepped foot on the docks outside of the prison. How witches and wizards could work here on a daily basis was beyond her. They had to be given some sort of magical protection to make them somewhat immune to the soul-sucking of the Dementors. In her thinking, the elevator suddenly came to a stop. Her eyes flickered open as the doors did the same. The guard gripped tightly on her arm and began to lead them out, leaving the armed guards in the elevator. At least they weren’t coming.

The second floor looked just like the first and her own floor. It probably looked like all of them actually. There were numerous doors. Some had windows next to them. Kaydence passed a few with lights on and supervised talks with inmates and their visitors. Others were dark. The hall seemed never-ending. Every time she thought they were stopping, the guard kept dragging them on. As they turned a left, she saw a set of steel doors at the end of the hallway. There were no others, just the pair at the very end. The image was unnerving. Was this all a trick? Was she being taken to the room where the Dementor’s performed their kiss? Her legs began to feel like stone. “Cut it out Morgan.” Apparently the guard had noticed as well. Her heart began beating faster. The only times she had ever faced death was during the battles her brother had initiated. Both times though, she had never been led to them. Kaydence had been the one to place herself in the situations without realizing the true danger. She could see it now. She was surrounded by it. Her eyes began to water up. They were at the doors now. The guard’s arm was extending towards one of the handles. Only a few more seconds before facing what was waiting for her. Pressing down on the latch, she heard the click of the lock as it open, permitting access. The guard opened the door and pulled her through.

It was safe to say the room was nothing like Kaydence had imagined. Her mouth dropped open slightly as she saw numerous tables lining the room with two chairs at each. A few tables were occupied. This was nothing more than a larger version of the rooms she had passed earlier. Those could have been for higher-risk inmates, or maybe Ministry visits. Either way, she was fine. Turning her gaze forward her eyes widened as her sight landed on the table she was being led to. She could already see who it was waiting for her. Maverick. She had thought she had been humiliated earlier while walking towards the elevators. She had been very wrong. The embarrassment of being led by a prison guard while dressed in a pin-striped baggy uniform. “Surprise.” Why would he be amused by this? Kaydence glared at him. What the hell was he doing here anyway? How had he heard so quickly about her getting locked up? Had he come to rub it in her face? Before getting the chance to respond, the guard stopped them at the table and motioned for her to take a seat. “Make it worth it. You only have an hour.” Only? At this rate, it was far too long. She did as told and quietly placed her hands in her lap. Maverick was far from being done. He confirmed her suspicions about her picture being on the front page of the Timestopper. She wondered if she could get him to tell him the excuse that was being given to the public. But he still wasn’t done. Kaydence did her best to breathe in and out slowly, one of the only methods she could use to calm herself down. The first thing she said that was out of line would end this faster than it had taken for her to be notified. She couldn’t leave without knowing why he was here.

“Are you done?” Kaydence asked coldly once she presumed he had finished. “Did you really come all this way to see what I would like up close and personal? If so, congratulations. You’ve seen what so many have wanted for years now, Kaydence Morgan in an Azkaban uniform.” She brought her bound wrists up. “Ta da.”

[Maverick Dresner]

“Are you done?”

"Not nearly," Maverick smirked. he only wished he could have compiled a list of all the clever quips he'd thought up on the boat ride over. Of course now they'd all vanished, stolen from his mind by the dreariness of this place. Azkaban certainly did not take itself lightly, and while Kay was less than cheery in there last encounter she too seemed unamused by his efforts to keep the tone light. The depressing nature of the situation was starting to creep in on Maverick, and he really did not care for the feeling.

"You know, I'm not one of the people who wanted this," Maverick shot back. Though he really had no idea his ex was so unpopular in the real world, but being the sister of a Dark Lord probably wasn't great for influencing the public's opinion. "Besides, seeing you in chains was only half the reason I made the trip," Maverick continued forcing himself to perk up just a bit. He was going to remain entirely in control of his motions, he would stay cheeky and coy as he had been in his last encounter with his formerly dead ex-girlfriend. "The other half, was to ask what the hell you thought you were doing?" Maverick's voice became more severe as he finished the question. "This isn't you Kay," he added his tone slipping from severe to confused; hurt.

But what did he know of Kaydence anyway? Never would he have thought she would abandon him without a word, and yet she had. And it wasn't as though Maverick had been naive. He knew plenty of his former classmates were capable of murder, he knew for a fact that a boy who sat in front of him during potions class in years 5 through 7 had committed no less than three murders and was locked up in this very building. He knew what Kay was capable of, he just never thought she was dumb enough to get caught.

Maybe, she had died all those years ago after all. The girl who sat before him bore resemblance to his ex girlfriend, but it wasn't her. It wasn't the girl he knew and cared about. This unkempt brunette was someone entirely new, and Maverick couldn't afford to give her the same privileges he had once given the pretty blond girl he'd taken to Italy. They only shared the same eyes, everything else had changed.

[Kaydence Morgan]

“Not nearly.”

Kaydence’s bound hands dropped to her lap in defeat. Why would he be? Maverick was just like every other man she had ever known. Stubborn and enjoying her misery. She had thought that he had been different, but for what other reasons would he come to Azkaban? No one in their right mind would brave the dangerous waters that led to such a cold, dismal and depressive place like this without some sort of agenda. What was Maverick’s? Could he really be so cruel to visit her just to laugh in her face? If so, then he really was like every man that had ever been in her life. Whether she liked it or not, a heavy feeling was slowly pressing itself down harder and harder on her chest. Hurt. This was what it was like to rub salt in one’s wounds. Kaydence had done it without batting an eyelash for years. It had been what she was trained to do. Never take other’s feelings into consideration. It had taken her ages to be on the other side, to really experience what it felt like to consistently be pushed further and further into the ground when all she wanted to do was get up and tend to the injuries that had been sustained. On her own. She had done this to herself. This was years and years of karma coming back to bite her in the ass. Maverick was only the beginning in a long line of tribulations that would haunt her for the rest of her life, the life that would presumably be spent forever in Azkaban. Not even trying to convince herself that her sorrowful mindset was being brought on by the dementors could make her outlook on things any better.

Lowering her head to the side, Kaydence stared at the ground. Suddenly, it was very hard for her to look at Maverick in the eye. She couldn’t even be angry, just sad. She felt like a ton of bricks had hit her. This was what she wanted. This was what she had asked for. This was only the second day of the rest of her life. She could feel her tear ducts getting heavy. Merlin forbid she show any more weakness then she already had. She didn’t need to be made into a complete laughingstock. Breathing in again deeply, she wondered if it was possible to ask the guard if she could return to her cell. The silence was deafening. At least in her cell, the rare moments of it that she could get would be more peaceful then the way it felt now. She was so damn uncomfortable. Kaydence hated feeling uncomfortable and out of control. She had spent so long of her life with such an excess amount of superiority that not having any of it at all made her feel helpless. She didn’t know what to do with herself. Just another reason why she should have never come back to Austria. What was she thinking trying to take her title from her brother? The thought alone should have caused such a state of hysterics that she should have shook her head once finished and moved on to the next thing. This country meant nothing but trouble. She was safe when she was travelling all around Europe. She had still been Kaydence Morgan. Back here, she had started out as that woman but had slowly changed into someone unfamiliar to her. There were still parts that scream the old her, but they weren’t enough. Nothing could pull her out of the slump.

"You know, I'm not one of the people who wanted this. Besides, seeing you in chains was only half the reason I made the trip.” Kaydence brought her gaze back up to Maverick. Her eyes were full of fire but her face lacked the usual life to make them effective. It was tired, pale and difficult to contort into anything other than a stone expression. “Don’t condescend me Maverick. I’m really in no mood for it. If you came to laugh at my expense, perhaps exchange a few snide remarks while you were at it, I hate to disappoint you but I’m really not up for it. Get your laughs out of the way and get out of here. Leave me to rot and spend the rest of my days in a tiny and cold cell that’s constantly dampened by the water-flow from the storms outside.” At this rate, her new home was more than appealing enough then being the butt of anymore of Maverick’s jokes. “The other half, was to ask what the hell you thought you were doing?" There was a large part of her wanting to continue with the Ministry’s charade. The faster she responded and went along with it, the quicker Maverick would be gone. "This isn't you Kay.” The way that his last words left his mouth though made it impossible. It was the same tone she had heard faint traces of it during their reunion in Somerset. Why would he be upset by this? It’s not like she was falsely being accused of murdering someone close to him. This had nothing to do with him at all. Kaydence’s mouth opened slightly but then closed. She wanted to lie. The story needed to be kept with if she was going to stay here. Her life would be easier if she didn’t resist the lies she was being forced to be jailed for.

The guard had left them. He was now standing over by the door keeping watch. Still, he was good of enough distance away where he couldn’t hear anything being exchanged between the two. Biting down on her lip slowly, the battle in her mind raged. Should she be honest with him? Should she accept her fate? Kaydence could feel his eyes on her, waiting for her to respond. Maverick had travelled all this way to see her. His voice had been sincere. For once in whatever relationship it was that they had, he deserved some fraction of truth from her. Sighing, she closed her eyes briefly before opening them again and speaking. “That’s because it’s not,” she said quietly. “I didn’t murder anyone. All the Ministry has on me if resisting arrest, beating the shit out of a Ministry official and this.” Lifting up her arm, she showed him the exposed Dark Mark. It was the first time he would ever see it. “Just because current times do not reflect the past, having this during times like these is a death sentence.” She laid her arm back on the table. “They’re pinning this on me because they need to make an example of someone to gain more trust from the citizens. Who better than the sister of the Dark Lord?”

[Maverick Dresner]

Maverick's goading drew no reaction from Kaydence beyond her continued morbidity. It wasn't like her, but then again he had to keep reminding himself of where exactly he was. Mav wasn't sure what he had expected, but really were there rules against a little verbal sparing? This was likely the only conversation Kaydence would have for some time, was it really best spent rolling her eyes and ignoring his attempts at being clever? It was selfish, Maverick realized because he didn't want the playful verbal sparing for Kay's benefit, he wasn't looking to restore a bit of normalcy to her life, he was looking for answers.

Ever since she had sauntered back into his life Maverick stood baffled as to what his exact role in his ex girlfriends life was. They had gone from friends, to lovers, to near strangers, lovers again to lost love to found...friends he supposed. But were they? Could they be? Friends were supposed to be kind to each other, cordial, share interests. Maverick couldn't be certain, but just looking at Kay filled him with emotions that were anything but cordial and kindness seemed a fickle thing, and yet how could he let her go again? All the pain and agony, all the swearing that if he could just see her one more time, just know what happened...and now he did know and he could see her and everything was different and yet nothing was.

Still he was here, with her. He couldn't place why, but it hardly seemed to matter. Maverick reached out, as if to take Kaydence's hand, but his half curled fingers fell empty to the table as he became acutely aware that Kaydence had moved her hands into her lap several moments ago. Maverick withdrew his own hands, and thought for the second time in their two meetings that Kaydence was perhaps a ghost after all. So much color had drained from her in such a short time, she seemed a shell of her former self. Maybe she had returned to his life, not for some grand romantic reunion as he may have hoped at one time, but instead to haunt him in physical form. He must have roused the spirit of his ex and angered her by ridding himself of all the horrible what-if's that crept through his mind for so many years, so now she returned with her vengeance to show him just what her life had become without him. His punishment for forcing her out of his mind would be to sit here at the this table for years and watch Kaydence whither away, helpless to do anything, for he had found her...too late.

“That’s because it’s not,”

Maverick suddenly found himself sitting up straighter wondering if his ears were to be believed. As Kay explained herself, he was assured that his hearing was accurate, but the question of whether or not the words could be trusted still remained. Kaydence still had a lot of ground to make up in Maverick's mind before he could trust her fully. He was still too desperate to believe her. She could say anything to him and he would trust her because she was alive and how could she ever mislead him? Worse than that Kaydence's words were exactly what Maverick wanted to hear. A corrupt government looking to make an example of a beautiful girl was much more appealing to his romantic side than an ex girlfriend turned murderer.

Still, Mav was skeptical, he had to be. "Well that's new," Maverick commente as Kay pulled up her sleeve. It was a bit of a shock to see such a damning piece of evidence for the prosecution. Still Maverick shouldn't have been surprised, Kay;s was far from the first mark he had seen on an old friend, the Dark Lord may have become more powerful than he was willing to admit. Though if Kay were any indication, loyalty in the cause may be faltering. Still, this didn't feel right. It fell to perfectly in line with what he wanted to be true, he couldn't believe her. "I believe you," he said quietly. While his brain and heart battled his mouth meant every word. "I can help. Just tell me, who really did it?" Maverick kept his voice low, if this was a cover up those protecting it could be listening. He just wanted a name, any name, some place to start someone he could torment until they begged for the protection of a dementor.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence didn’t expect Maverick to believe her. Why would he? With everything that she had done to him in the past, she was expecting him to laugh in her face or go off on a belittling tirade about how much of a bitch she was. She would have deserved it. She had mentally tormented him for so long now that she wouldn’t even protest his words. She would know that everything he accused her of, every spiteful word and every glare would be a taste of her own medicine. A glimmer of hope filled her chest once witnessing Maverick’s body language. He seemed interested, but that didn’t mean anything. There was still that chance he could listen to what she was saying, take it in and then tell her to fuck off. Still, he was definitely paying attention. That had to mean something. Biting down on her lower lip nervously, Kaydence’s eyes searched his face for some sort of reaction when she finished speaking. He was thinking, that much she could tell. “Well that’s new.” She briefly looked down to her mark. “To you,” she agreed, bringing her gaze back to Maverick’s face. “I’ve had it for about seven years. Not something normally brought up in conversation though.” She wasn’t going to waste his time with the ‘I didn’t tell you to keep you safe’ routine. The mark had come well after they had broken up the first time. Then when the romance had been rekindled, she had been finished with that part of her life. Either way, it probably wouldn’t matter to him. He could still understandably be upset that she had never said anything to him period.

She didn’t need another battle to fight right now. There were other more pressing matters that being scolded for being a terrible person. Right now, Kaydence needed Maverick to know the truth. Whether he believed it or not, she had to tell him. No one else would be coming to visit her. No one in their right mind would anyway. All the people she knew were reformed DeathEaters who hadn’t made their former careers known to the Ministry or still current followers of her brother. None of them would be stupid enough to make a trip up to Azkaban with the public’s opinion on supporters of the Dark Lord. If the Ministry officials that guarded the prison caught wind of the real identities of the visitors, they’d be done for without even realizing what it until it was too late. Maverick, however, had nothing to worry about. While Kaydence doubted he had a pure soul, she felt that she knew him enough to know that his loyalties didn’t rest with the Dark side. Actually, she had never heard him speak of his thoughts about the Good side. Perhaps he didn’t allow himself to get entangled in the raging war of Good vs. Evil. Maybe neither side offered him more advantages than the others. Maybe he just didn’t care. Smirking to herself, she figured it was likely the second option. Maverick wasn’t a high strung person who felt the world was out to get to him. He went with the flow. He didn’t waste his time dwelling on the future. He instead chose to live in the now and take things as they were thrown to him. Kaydence envied him for that, for having choices to do what he wanted. The freedom.

“I believe you.” Kaydence could feel her heart beginning to race. He believed her? Out of all the things to happen, that was one thing she hadn’t even fathomed. Maverick believed her. How had she convinced him? Her eyes examined his own to look for some sort of explanation. She wondered temporarily if his words were a hoax, but the stone expression on his face was solid proof of his belief. Nothing about it suggested he was merely going along with her for some deep-rooted goal of getting her to confess. She was taken aback to say the least. The face she was making might have appeared dumb-founded, surprised that he had believed some lie, but she didn’t know how else to respond. He had thrown a curveball at her. "I can help. Just tell me, who really did it?" Kaydence’s brows furrowed in confusion. Why did every man in her life feel like needed to help her? Ashton felt he could help her by invading her privacy whenever he felt like it and wanting her to confide in him. Darren felt he could help her by killing her. Now Maverick felt like he could help her by giving up a name she didn’t even know. Closing her eyes, she sighed out of frustration. Most girls would kill to be in her shoes, to have a man so willing to help without even having all of the facts. She would have loved this back when she was younger. But the fact was that she wasn’t a teenager anymore. She was a grown woman. An unstable woman perhaps, but grown nonetheless.

Every time someone tried to get in Kaydence’s life, they always wound up making things worse for the wear, whether it was by screwing things up for her or getting themselves injured. Ashton, well, that all needed to go without saying. Getting her friendship back with Cammie had only resulted in one of her oldest friend’s nearly being internally burnt to death by her brother. And Maverick…he just kept making things complicated. He kept playing with the buttons in her brain to see which one would do what. He particularly liked messing with the one that brought back memories of their time together in Italy. Those memories were making it very difficult to remember why she was mad with him in the first place. Turning her palms to the table, Kaydence began to drum her fingertips on the steel surface. “There’s nothing you can do to help,” she said, after a few minutes of silence. “They quite literally picked a name of a deceased from Gringotts, one whose death came from a spell or curse or whatever, and pinned me to it. Kaydence Morgan, naturally a good name to tie to such a crime with no questions asked. I overheard two of the Ministry guards that came with the Ministry official that brought me here talking about it. No one is going to question their proof Maverick. Because of my bloodline and this hideous mark on my arm, I sealed my fate.” She looked away as she finished, her eyes involuntarily clouding with tears. Now, more than anything, she wished to be back in her tiny cell free to cry in peace.

[Maverick Dresner]

“I’ve had it for about seven years. Not something normally brought up in conversation though.”

"Well, conversation wasn't exactly our strong suit, was it love?" Maverick forced a quick smile, but his mind was elsewhere. Seven years? Granted he wasn't around for most of that, but how could it never have come up? Why wouldn't she just tell him? And just who was this girl sitting across from him? Maverick was so sure all the change in Kay was so new, that she was so different from the girl he used to know, but maybe the truth was that he never really knew her at all. He knew her name and what she looked like, but beyond that, maybe he just ignored the truth and filled in the rest.

He was so willing to trust her, but why? Guilt? Still? Even knowing he wasn't to fault, that no harm came to Kay that she left of her own will, that if anyone should be guilt ridden it should be her and yet it was Maverick approaching her, chasing her down, time after time. The one he refused to let leave. Perhaps the logic that had lead him to azkaban was flawed, or more likely nonexistent, but it didn't matter. He was here now, and if there was even the slightest chance Kay was telling the truth he couldn't leave her to die. But Kay seemed puzzled by his desire to help, then tired as her eyes fell shut and finally dismissive of his offer.

Nothing he could do to help. Of course not. And of course there was no name, no clear murderer, only a victim, well counting Kay two victims. But it couldn't really be so easy as just nabbing anyone with a tattoo and saying they did it. Fear had lead to a lot of short cuts in the ministry but surely there was still some form of due process, a need for evidence...at the very least a chance to prove one's innocence. "What about priori incantatum? You could prove your wand never cast the spell," Maverick offered his brain racking and finally coming up with something. It seemed to simple to be a final solution, but it was a start on the right track. After all priori incantatem had limited range it could be argued that Kay fired off an assortment of spells after the murder and before the capture knocking the fatal spell out of range, or even that she merely used a different wand in the slaying to throw off suspicion. At the very least though it created doubt that should push back any execution date the ministry may be planning.

"See, I can help. The ministry pays me to think, and I am very good at my job," Maverick smiled hoping to turn the morose meeting towards a positive ending. He needed to leave kay with some shred of hope, some reason to keep fighting and not just give in to the dementors. If she could just stay strong he was sure he'd find someway to help, even if it meant breaking her out himself.

((Short, late and not great...but at least my apology rhymes)

[Kaydence Morgan]

Inadvertently, a small smile crept up on Kaydence’s lips at Maverick’s comment. Shaking her head lightly, she looked back to him. “Point taken.” She doubted the conversation was on the fore front of any hormone-filled teenager’s mind. It hadn’t been for them. She had been so tired of talking by the point that she had met him in Italy that she had gone through a lot of trouble to keep her personal affairs from leaving her mouth. Fortunately, Maverick seemed to have his own demons back then and had made things easier for her then she had expected. A flashback of a walk on the beach at sunset briefly came to mind. Kaydence couldn’t remember who had started it, but talk had gone to what one another had planned on doing with their lives. Feeling the small beads of sweat quickly start to form on her brow, she found the nearest patch of privacy and went about their usual way of distracting each other. Those times were so much simpler. Every time she looked at him, they were brought back, if only for an instant. Of course the guilt of how she had left him always managed to loom over any bit of happiness she had, but deep down, she was comfortable around Maverick. She always had been. She just wished she could have done more to assure him of it. It was unfortunate he had come back around in a time of her life when she had a general disregard of anything and anyone. He hadn’t deserved that. Sighing again, the smile left Kaydence’s face as quickly as it had appeared. Her eyes shifted back to the table, hoping against all odds that Maverick would just leave it be.

But of course he didn’t. None of the males that had ever been in Kaydence’s life could just let something drop and be finished with it. The weeks of Ashton’s persistent stalking was enough proof of that. "What about priori incantatum? You could prove your wand never cast the spell. "See, I can help. The ministry pays me to think, and I am very good at my job.” At the mention of the Ministry, her eyes flew to Maverick’s face. The Ministry? Seriously? Only then did she see the faint glimmer of the badge that hung around his neck. Closing her eyes, she breathed out in frustration. Why was it that everyone around her seemed to work for the bloody Ministry now? At what point in her life had she started associating with more people from the good side then Darren’s? If her brother found out of yet another Ministry official in her life, then he would without question kill her. Kaydence knew Darren too well to think that he would simply let another one of his enemies be a constant presence in her life regardless of the Ministry knowing of his identity. “Just my luck,” she said to herself, hoping Maverick wouldn’t force her to elaborate. The last thing she needed now was to admit to another tangled web she had gotten herself into with a man. She wanted to spare him even more anger. He had already dealt with enough at her expense. Plus, if she could keep him from throwing anymore insults at her, she was all for it.

She did her best to refrain from chuckling as his question finally sunk in. If only he knew. Her wand had, in fact, last casted the very spell she was being accused of using. However, it had been on a soul not of the one the Ministry was insisting it had been. It had been an Auror, that much she was aware of. She had no clue of a name though. At that time, a name hadn’t mattered. What had mattered was doing whatever necessarily to save herself. Kaydence had landed herself in a compromising position after being attacked by that very same man. When she saw that he was advanced, a look on his face that guaranteed her captured, she had panicked. Her former training instantly kicked in and her arm had risen, wand firmly grasped, on its own. Once he had gotten closer, the curse left her lips and the Auror fell to the ground dead only a second later. Knowing full well the consequences of her actions, consequences which she had no intention on falling victim to, Kaydence had broken her wand into pieces. The pieces had soon been hidden by falling rubble of the ceiling, forever hiding the secret of what she had done. She couldn’t tell Maverick this though. He had come all this way to find out what had happened and confessing to the crime was out of the question. He already saw her in her current vulnerable state. Something was keeping her from exposing more of her true self to him. It was like a part of her still wanted him to think good of her. That she wasn’t completely the monster she had made herself out to be.

“I can’t,” Kaydence finally responded, refusing to look him in the eye, “it’s broken. It got damaged at the battle. Rubble hid it before I got the chance to get back to it and try to fix it.” There. That wasn’t completely a lie. She was just being the truth a bit. “So, as you can tell, I’m screwed. I’ve got nothing to prove that the Ministry isn’t full of shit. Also, I don’t think your boys would be very fond of you going out of your way to prove the innocence of the Dark Lord’s sister. Rumor has it that people frown upon that sort of thing nowadays.”