[AN - This is the final chapter. Again, let me repeat my warning of general darkness. No real happy ending here, folks. Dixie, you might not want to read this.]

I'll talk! I'll bloody well talk now, cause I have just reached my breaking point. After so long, I have finally been pushed over the edge, and hell, I'll betray anyone and anything now, just to make it stop. Just please, make it stop!

:::

They finally drag him back in and chain his arm again - not that he could go anywhere anyway. I could almost laugh at it, but he is crying and I am just so, so ashamed. I always hear his screams when he is gone, but by the time they bring him back he has usually succumbed to the darkness. But this time he is quietly crying, and his little moans somehow tear at my heart even more than the agonizing screams. He clenches and unclenches his jaw, trying to deal with the pain.

I pound the wall with my fist and squeeze my eyes shut.

"I'll talk!" I blurt out before they can ask again. "god! I'll talk."

It is defeat, but I am beyond caring. They smile, in the sweetness of victory, and in another situation I would despise them. But here, with his broken body screaming at me from the corner, all I feel is relief that the suffering will soon be over, at least for him.

They unchain me and drag me out, deposit me back at the tired table, and replace the paper and pen. This time, I accept it, and press my information darkly into the pad. I refuse to think about the possible consequences of giving them this - all I think about is what will happen if I don't. I finish, and lay the pen back down. It feels final, like the last words before death.

The lift me from the chair and drag me back along the hallway to our tiny room, and throw me in, slamming the door shut with yet another echo of finality. They don't chain my arm this time, but I don't even stop to wonder why. I immediately pick myself up and crawl over to him. He is still awake, a small miracle. I hold his free hand tightly in both of mine, and now the tears come, running down my face and dripping onto the bloody floor.

"I talked. Do you hear me? It's over. I talked," the words spill out brokenly. He blinks painfully, and tries to say something. I bend down to hear to hear the raspy whisper.

"It's okay," he breathes. I smile a salty smile.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's all okay." I squeeze his hand and take a deep breath, trying to stop crying. He gives me as best a smile as he can, and then his eyes slip shut. I pull his hand to my chest and bow my head, as the sound of the sobs that I can't hold back anymore fill the room.

It's over.

[If anyone is interested, I have alternate versions of chapters 3&4, that clear up the ambiguity. Warning - I don't generally write happy endings! But if you want to see them, just PM me and I will send them to you.

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed!]