So glad to hear from some of you again! Just to keep everyone up to date, these events are happening within the timeline of Season 1 Episode 8. Hope you enjoy this one! Please be warned that updates might not regularly come this quickly, I just found some free time today.

Edit: Sorry to have to repost this. For some reason the formatting screwed up and it was not letting me edit / fix it.

In the morning Liette woke up early, she showered, did her hair and started rifling through some of the previously unopened drawers in the prison cell she now knew as her room. Joe had not been kidding when he had said he'd done his best to make sure she was comfortable. The drawers were filled with clothing and possessions very much like what was back at her apartment in Virginia. He had gotten everything right down to the shade of blush she occasionally wore. It might've been flattering had Liette not figured out what this meant: one of his followers had been in her apartment and they'd been through all her things. It bothered Liette that she hadn't noticed that, that somehow she'd missed it. But then again, she wasn't the only one who had been duped: Claire had let one of Joe's followers take care of her son, and Sarah Fuller had become close friends with Jacob Wells and Paul Torres, two other pawns in Joe's game.

She was sort of surprised that Roderick hadn't come to choose her outfit again, or to tell her to get ready for breakfast. Perhaps Joe had taken last night's disastrous dinner as a cue to slow down. Or perhaps he was with his son. Liette swallowed hard at the thought, feeling slightly guilty that her reluctance with Joe might've put Joey in a dangerous position. She wanted to believe that Joe wouldn't harm his own son but after reviewing Joe's case over and over again, she knew that his violence was seemingly unlimited. If Joey resisted too much he could get hurt, and if he was too accepting he might find himself amongst the throngs of brainwashed bodies that roamed these halls.

By nine o'clock Liette had settled on a pair of black slacks and a white blouse. Her blonde locks fell around her shoulders and framed a face painted lightly with the makeup she'd found in one of the drawers. It almost looked like she was getting ready for another day at the academy, preparing to step out into a lecture hall and talk to a group of future agents about apprehending serial killers or assessing risk. By all means, Liette looked as normal as possible, even though her situation was anything but.

She wondered if the others would be looking for her. If they'd reviewed the security feed from the hospital and seen that she had not gone on her own free will. She wondered how Mike was doing and if he was out of the hospital yet. Would they have told him what had happened to her? Did anyone even care? Obviously getting Joe back into custody would be the main priority but Liette had to hope she was still on their radar. She knew it was unlikely she'd get out of here without help from the outside.

As Liette opened the door of the bedroom she caught the end of a conversation between Joe and Emma. The agent hung back a little bit, careful to observe before throwing herself into the unknown. She'd need to apologize to Joe about her behaviour last night but she also needed to remain timid. If she just threw herself into his arms he would suspect something. She'd need to pretend that she would give him the chance to earn her trust, even though he would never have it. She peaked forward a bit and watched as Emma led Joe down the stairs, pausing at the middle. Liette emerged from her room to get a better view, but crept quietly as to not draw any attention to herself. She watched as Joe's hand slid along the wooden bannister until he stood in the middle of the landing, looking down upon the gathering at the first floor. Liette watched a familiar smile spread across his lips. It was the same kind of smile he'd given his students before almost each and every lecture she'd attended.

"Good morning everyone."

From where she stood, Liette couldn't see much of the crowd downstairs but the glimpse she got of the few lingering in her view was quite enough. They were beyond excited, they were entranced. Not a single gaze moved away from Joe, even as he took a step away from the bannister to finish descending the stairs. Liette couldn't make out much substance in their murmured excitement but she got the general idea: these people looked at Joe Carrol as a god. They'd already seen that his followers were willing to do pretty much anything for him. Some had already died in his name. But there were so many more of them than the FBI had predicted and Liette had to assume that this house wasn't the end of it. She only wished there was some way she could get a message out to the team. She wanted desperately to just sneak away in all of the excitement and find some way to contact them.

But someone seemed to be constantly watching her.

"Enjoying the show, darlin'?" Liette nearly jumped out of her skin as Roderick came up the hall behind her. She turned slowly to get a look at him and felt an overwhelming sense of dread wash over her as she came to see what he was wearing. Roderick was dressed head to toe in a Sheriff's Uniform and not some fake version you pick up at a Halloween store. No, this looked to be the real deal, which meant that Joe had friends in local law enforcement, which made it much less likely that this location would be found any time soon.

"I was just hoping to speak with him. Alone."

"What? After you ruined last night's dinner?" Roderick replied with a smirk. That look on his face, it reminded her of Joe somehow, like they were cut from the same cloth. Liette wondered how many people he had killed for Joe… or even not for Joe. "He's got a busy day ahead of him, people eager to meet him, who actually appreciate him." If he was trying to insult her or make her feel guilty it wasn't working. Liette had appreciated Joe, back before he'd turned out to be a blood thirsty killer. "I'd suggest finding a way to occupy yourself." the young man added with a wink before he pushed past Liette and headed down the stairs after Joe, clearly on a mission to get the day started. Liette was tempted to follow him, she figured she could pick up a lot from their interactions, maybe get a working profile in her head, but at the same time she knew her every move was being scrutinized by Roderick. For now she'd just have to wait.

It was the first day since she'd been taken that Liette actually felt the courage to venture out away from her room. Everyone seemed so distracted by Joe's presence that they didn't even turn their heads to look at her. She waited until the crowd dispersed at the bottom of the stairs and then ventured down slowly. The place was even bigger than she had thought and there were at least a few dozen living here. They were fixing everything up. Her room had been completed, as had the dining hall that Joe and her had been left alone in the night before but it seemed most of the rooms were unfinished and in a constant state of repair. There were a few painting the walls while others hung paintings or arranged furniture. All of it very much suited Joe's style and there were homages to Poe in nearly every room. They'd certainly taken their obsession overboard.

By ten, Liette was feeling hungry and she'd yet to catch another chance glimpse at Joe because Roderick seemed to have taken him off to some private room. She headed to the kitchen only to find Emma trying to get Joey to eat something. "When can I see my mom?" Joey asked desperately, ignoring the sandwich that Emma had laid out in front of him.

"Soon, sweetheart. She was supposed to be here but some bad men got in the way."

Aka one of Joe's followers hadn't been able to come through on his task of fetching Claire. Liette wondered what the end game would be there. Joe clearly intended on romancing her so bringing his ex-wife into the picture was a bit confusing. What was supposed to happen? Would Claire be expected to play housewife and mother while Liette would be Joe's paramour?

Liette wasn't given much time to ponder her own questions as Emma quickly noticed her. "Liette." oh of course she knew her name. They all seemed to around here. This time, Liette felt like she was at a bit of an advantage because she'd read over Emma's case file the night she'd been dragged into all this nonsense. Perhaps she might be able to create a rapport with the girl. It could be useful, considering how important she'd been in all this. After all, she'd been the one who had been entrusted with delivering Joey to Joe. That had to mean something.

"Hi." Liette said quietly. "I just wanted to grab something to eat."

"Of course. You must be hungry after last night."

"Does the whole house know about that?" Her supposedly private dinner with Joe gone wrong seemed to be popular gossip, and so far Liette felt as if both Roderick and Emma had tried to throw it in her face. Emma was being seemingly polite but Liette could still sense some hostility in her voice. She wondered if Joe had charmed Emma with literature and romance the same way he'd charmed her. He wondered how they had met, if she'd been his student too. Liette had always been curious by nature, inquisitive and a natural born academic but in this case it was so much more than that. The initial fear of being locked in this place with nowhere to go was starting to wear off, other instincts were kicking in and she'd need to rely on them if she was ever going to get out alive.

"Not the whole house." Emma shrugged, subtly making it apparent that she was a bit more important than some of the others around here. Liette was still trying to figure out the hierarchy. It was clear that Joe was on top but who fell directly under him was certainly up for debate. "Help yourself to whatever you'd like."

There was a definite coolness in Emma's voice, she tried to sound sweet but she was trying too hard. Liette might've thought them rivals had there been something, or rather someone, worth fighting for. But she could tell that Emma yearned for Joe's attention and his approval, and well, in a way Liette couldn't blame her for she had once done the same. Except now Joe was a sociopathic serial murderer, so really his attention was the last thing a young woman like Emma should want.

"Are you one of my dad's friends too?"

Joey's innocent question could get Liette into a lot of trouble. No, she was not one of the many 'friends' that Joe had running around this place. She certainly wasn't Joe's friend in the way that Emma was. Liette honestly didn't want to be associated with Joe Carroll at all anymore. He'd brought nothing but trouble into her life. But she had told herself she could play the part. That did not mean calling Joe a friend but it meant not scoffing at the idea either.

"He was my teacher." Liette answered diplomatically "We used to be very close."

She could feel Emma's scrutiny, her beady eyes watching her every move. Liette moved towards the cupboards, turning her back to Emma and Joey who were sitting at the island. Joey finally took a reluctant bite of his sandwich, distracted now. That was a theme around this whole place: people were so distracted that they didn't realize how much of a mess they were all in. It was a cult mentality. Joe's followers had been brainwashed, either by Joe directly or by one of those loyal to them. Liette knew that young Joey could be moulded in the same way if he was held here in captivity for too long. The right words and enough time would have him won over. In a way she knew that she was vulnerable too, perhaps more vulnerable than she'd like to admit. She wanted to believe her years with the FBI had made her strong enough to resist whatever charms and promises flew about this place but she knew it would still be dangerous. She was going to have to play Joe's game, and that meant acting the part. She'd just have to make sure it was all acting and nothing else.

"You're different than I imagined you would be." Emma said, beckoning for Liette's attention again. "I always wondered if you would come and visit Claire and I'd get to finally see you but of course that didn't happen. I suppose it would've been awkward."

"I never had a reason to."

"Especially not with Joe locked up, right?" Emma was quick on her feet, that much was easy to tell. And her bitterness was becoming more and more apparent. "You never did go to visit him, did you?"

"No."

"Hm." It was a single syllable, not even a full word but Liette could feel Emma's judgement.

"You did though, right?"

"Of course."

Liette really didn't know what kind of a stand off she was getting herself into but she knew the outcome couldn't be good. Joe trusted Emma, and while Liette was sure his feelings for her made him blind to some of her misgivings, she wasn't sure he was completely blinded by love. If Emma suspected that Liette was up to something it could get her into a lot of trouble. So she needed to play nice, or at least as nice as Emma would let her.

An awkward silence lingered between. Liette took the chance to raid the cupboards for some bread which she then popped into the toasted. She turned back to look at Emma who was still sizing her up. "You've done a lot for Joe." Liette said, feeding into the girl's ego.

"More than anyone." Emma nodded.

"So you know how to talk to him."

"Of course."

"You see, I'm… things are so different now, I'm not sure I even know where to start." Perhaps she could make Emma feel sorry for her. Liette wasn't sure she wanted Emma as a friend but she could potentially use her as an ally.

Except Emma wasn't taking the bait. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, clearly perturbed. "Well, you'll have to figure that out." the short haired beauty shrugged. "Come on Joey, lets go play outside." she said, ignoring the fact that the boy was only halfway through his sandwich. He grabbed the other half and jumped off the barstool, following Emma out of the kitchen and leaving Liette on her own.

Well, that had been pointless, and that seemed to be the theme of the day.

Everyone was too busy wrapped up in their Joe Carroll excitement to bother with Liette. She felt like a ghost among these walls and no matter how much pacing around she did she couldn't seem to catch even a glimpse of Joe. It was a little past lunch time before she noticed Roderick and a group of other young men emerge from one of the rooms. She watched carefully down the hall as the group of them headed towards the front door. That was when she noticed one of them carrying something unsettling.

It was a picture of Mike Weston.

They were going after him. Again.