When the door of the containment field cracked open I wasn't sure that I wanted to survive this.
I was beginning to lose the battle with the expanding force field and my limbs were becoming trapped in the void. The walls of the force field were cracking and warping under the relentless pressure of her power.
I was swelling, and in a matter of seconds I was becoming like my daughter. As the last of the containment field's air escaped my lungs I extended my hand towards a no-longer-hostile, rational woman. A woman who had been betrayed and therefore had to destroy me.
I stared at the frightened look in the woman's eyes when she grabbed my arm. Instantly I knew what was going to happen and I could feel the determination weighing on me like so much iron.
I tried, I really did, to stop it, to take back control of the situation, but in my dying moments I only had one focus. Get her out of her cocoon.
Suddenly a small crack appeared on the force field before me and the air began to surge back into my lungs. Her power immediately deactivated and the force field around her fingers snapped shut.
We were alone in the containment cell with just the wings of the lockers sticking up. The tiny crack in the force field was now open.
I shuffled closer to the crack and placed a hand on the wall. The cracked patch of wall shuddered as if it had been bitten and the air rushed out of my lungs.
I reached out and took her hand in mine. My hand was so hot that she cried out as I held it.
"I'm not going to hurt you," I said as I looked into her eyes. She could see that there was no longer any threat in my stare. She let out a breath and her large eyes black with respect.
"I am not going to try and hurt you either," I told her.
I felt the air begin to come back into my lungs as I breathed in a breath. My hand pulsed like an organ as blood began to return to it. The force field crack was already closed.
"I want you to understand," I said to her and waited until she nodded. I paused for a moment to think of the proper words to use.
"I need you to understand. I feel that you know most of what I am about to say. You might not like what I have to say but you know that I'm right. You know that I can be trusted." I paused and looked into her eyes. She nodded again. "I know you do. Because you know that when I say something, I mean it. I know that when I say something it's the truth. Nothing but. I have no agenda. I do not do things to gain or give power. I'm not about some foolish vendetta. I do not play games." I paused and looked her in the eyes. "I'm not even sure if I'm alive anymore," I whispered, looking at my hand.
"Taylor is dead," she said to me, and the look in her eyes told me that she had given up.
I shook my head and began to slowly back towards the containment field's wall. I was going to have to get out from under here and soon.
"I'm going to reach through the crack and deactivate the containment field.