Maritza knew it was stupid, but she felt pressure to get out of this place not from herself and Quinn but from her family. Her pet name back home was Houdini due to her uncanny ability to escape from places, and if she couldn't escape from here ... well, she'd never get home, and it would kill her. She'd rather be doped up on Xanax than know her home was waiting for her.
"That involves asking people, Quinnlan, can you do that?" Maritza asked Quinn teasingly, nudging him with her shoulders as her chocolate eyes washed over the other patients and questioned what they could do.
Breakfast was over so Maritza shoved her hands into her pockets and made her way outside with her friend. Since they weren't in trouble today, they were free to do what they liked for a couple of hours before they were sent back to their rooms, or cells, as Maritza considered them. She couldn't get comfortable in such places when she felt like she was trapped in there.
"When we get out," she said to Quinn, being particular with her words since she wasn't going to entertain the possibility of staying in this hellhole forever, "where are you going to go?"
"Call me Quinnlan one more time and I'm not talking to you anymore." Quinn frowned at, a warning lilt to his voice. And he was very serious. There were very few who called by his full name and could get away with it. He didn't even like hearing it as a joke.
He sighed lightly, ruffing his blonde hair. "Where am I going?" He repeated after her, asking the question to himself. Where was he going? That was a good question. which had no solid answer to as of yet. What he cared more about at the moment was getting out first.
"I don't know yet." He admitted.
"I can tell you where I want to go, though. Home. I want to go home."
"Where's home for you?" Maritza asked her friend, sitting down on the same bench at which they had been seated the night before and pulling Quinn down by the hand so he sat beside her. Home was all she wanted right now. She just wanted to escape this hellhole of a place and go home, where she belonged, no matter how undesirable home was for other people. "You could come to Mexico with me," she said in a highly serious tone as she fiddled with the broken latch of her cuffs. She'd gladly take Quinn to Mexico if he wanted to go. He was her only friend.
"It probably sounds scary but you'd be the most protected white boy in the country if you were with us," she said earnestly. "No one would touch you. And you'd never have to come back here. You wouldn't need to be a dealer or anything, I promise."
Quinn chuckled lightly at her offer, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. He stretched his legs out in front of him and shrugged his shoulders. "Mexico?" He frowned, pondering on it.
Mexico certainly was not the first place he thought of going to, that spot was taken by home. And it wasn't the second either. There was nothing there for him really and he'd still be just as homesick there as he was here. Or worse. At least the hospital was still in the same country as home.
Still, he would need a place to lay low as he planned his next moves. He wanted to see Lucy so badly it hurt. It had been that way for a while. "I may take you up on that offer. But I would stay or anything. I don't know yet."
"Well, as much as it saddens me, we're not escaping today so you have plenty of time to figure it out," Maritza murmured as she scratched at her wrists, bound by the cuffs that kept her gloves secured around her fingers. Now that she knew she could get them off it was almost unbearable to keep them on. All she wanted to do was tear them off and burn all the guards to a crisp but that would not end well so she refrained from doing so.
"You didn't answer my question," she reminded him, glancing up at him through her thick black lashes. "Where's home for you?"
It occurred to Maritza that she knew almost nothing about the boy next to her. She didn't know why he was in here, other than the conspiracy. She didn't know what kind of home life he'd had and she didn't know about the relationship between the boy and his mother. His mother, who directed this hospital. She didn't really know anything about Quinn Evans.
"Galway. I'm from Galway. It's a nice city and I miss it." Quinn answered with an absent mind.
Galway where his sister lived, his family and his other friends too. He missed them all terrible and wished he could return to that life, but he was unsure if that was possible for him or anyone in the hospital. It was just a hunch or a feeling, it felt so much more intense than that, but even if he left, things would not simply go back to normal.
"I hope I can some how go back." He ruffled his blonde hair and looked up from the floor to watch the other patients, many of whom he recognized and others he didn't. "But that may not be possible."
"Let's try this break in or whatever around lunch." It was the best time to try, less people around, less trouble.
Maritza knew what it was like to be homesick, to crave home so badly that you felt it in your stomach and your heart and every bone in your body. She felt like an alien in this country, like she didn't belong, and she missed the company of her loved ones more than she could describe in any of the languages she spoke. At least Quinn was in the same country as his home.
Maritza rubbed his knee reassuringly. "I'll get you home," she murmured, "I promise."
The courtyard was mostly empty and the only other people in it was a couple of teen girls and the guards, who, like always, weren't really paying attention. One was leaning against the wall, his eyes on a bird on the ground near the girls, and the other was talking to another guard through the window.
So it didn't surprise Maritza when they didn't see Patrick from breakfast materialise out of nowhere. "SH --!"
Patrick put his hand over Maritza's mouth before she could yell the profanity she had been planning and she sat down between her and Quinn, looking up at them both with a slightly nervous and mostly determined expression on his face. "I want to help you break in."
Quinn's eyes widened when the boy form from absolutely no where. He pinched his lips and closed his eyes for moment to let it sit in his mind process before he opened his mouth. It was still a lot to take in and stomach if he was to be honest. He sighed deeply an reopened his eyes, narrowing his eyes at the boy for a moment.
His line of vision wandered away from him and to the authorities lingering around the vicinity, but far away so they weren't in earshot. Still, he kept his voice low to be safe. He, however, kept his eyes looking ahead as leaned back in his seat casually.
"Firstly, I would just like to inform you eavesdropping is rude. Secondly, don't use powers again without a significant reason." He glanced at the child and pursed his lips. The last thing he wanted was to involve anyone else in this half
-assed plan. The entire plan could go wrong in so many ways and he didn't want anyone to get hurt from it.
"Why should we let you help?" He raised an eyebrow at Patrick. He could see how the child would be useful, but he wasn't going to risk anything just yet.
Patrick frowned. "Because I want what you want. I want to go home."
"How long have you been eavesdropping?" Maritza asked the boy irritably, but managed to look casual like Quinn was doing. She was a fast learner and had picked up on the tips Quinn inadvertently provided on how to survive in this hell hole they called a hospital.
"Since you got here." Patrick, however, seemed to be particularly dim. "I saw you come in and you seemed like you'd be the first to escape so I followed you and --"
"You know what happens to eavesdroppers where I come from?"
"No. What happens?"
Maritza turned her head to look at the kid. "They get their ears cut off."
Patrick paled and looked to Quinn for help. "Please? I can help. I just want to go home."
"Don't scare the kid, Maritza." Quinn nudged her side gently, and turned back to the kid, though unsmiling.
He tilted his slightly, pondering his use because he could and would be a useful asset to have. Quinn folded his arms over his chest ad breathed in heavily. He could end up regretting this, but, he would end up regretting everything if they didn't get inside the office anyway or worse, get caught.
He patted the empty seat beside him, gesturing for Patrick to sit. "You do know if we get caught we're pretty much dead, right?" Asked the Irish.
The wouldn't have their lives ended literally but their lives would be over and they could then for get about any plans of escaping.
Patrick delightedly sat down beside Quinn and grinned at the two older kids. "Yeah, yeah, I know, but we won't get caught, right? Maritza can control fire, I go invisible and --"
"Keep your fucking voice down," Maritza hissed at Patrick, harshly enough for him to shudder and quiet down. Maritza glared at him for a couple of more moments. If they got caught, she was going to blame this little fucker entirely, and she would make sure he lived the rest of his days in hell.
She sat up ever so slightly and turned to Quinn, who had been the one to allow another patient into their elusive plan. Sure, the kid would be useful, but this would fall back on the Irish boy if the Italian one fucked up.
"So what's the plan?" Quinn had been here for longer than Maritza so he would have a better idea of the layout of the hospital and such.
Quinn folded his hands,leaning forward and setting his elbows on his knees. "As much as it's a pain, I don't think there's a way we can avoid my mother and still get inside." He thought aloud. And it really was a pain, she could usually see right through a person. If she found out their plans ...
He groaned, closing his eyes briefly. "Alright, it's inevitable that we'll have to confront. Or, at least I will." He licked his lips softly, his plotting finally coming to form an actual plan.
"I have an idea, but, in order for it to work we're going to need an extra addition to our team." He smiled somewhat but it was more of a smirk.
Maritza could assume that this entire ordeal was a difficult one for Quinn because she knew how she would feel if she was forced to go behind her mother's back like this. No, she wouldn't be able to do it. Her family instincts were too deeply ingrained in her to betray any of them in the way Quinn needed to do so.
But they needed to escape.
"You could pretend you need to talk to her," Maritza said, "and then Patrick can get me through the window." Her suggestion was a good one, in her opinion, but she knew that Quinn had a better idea of what they needed to do to get those files.
"Who do you want to add?" Patrick asked.
"Shut the fuck up," Maritza told the child. "Who do you want to add?" she asked Quinn.
"Maritza, be nice." Quinn shook his head at the two with a look of disapproval. He stood up from his seat and dusted off the back of his pants. "None our plans will work if we don't have someone who can distract and deal with the guards." Those guys always guarded her office, inside and outside. That was the one place they did their job the most.
"So, I'm going to recruit Leah." The mulatto brit who could have been deemed a supermodel. "You met her at breakfast the other day." He said to Maritza with a shrug. Of course, they didn't get off on the right foot, but who did with Mexican girl.
"She can help, she has been here almost a year and has almost just as much intelligence on this place and the people as I do." Sometimes he was sure that she knew more. And she was also a part of the group of patients who knew how to bend the rules and pen closed doors.
Maritza pursed her lips at the mention of Leah. It wasn't like she didn't like the girl, or that she even disliked her. It was that Maritza was reluctant to trust anyone and especially other girls, because she knew what girls could be like. Bitchy. Spiteful. And if they crossed Leah she could turn them over.
"Okay," she said anyway, also standing up and brushing herself free of dust. Patrick stood and tried to do the same thing -- he was like a little kid replicating his parents. It was somewhat endearing, but mostly just annoying. This had better work. Maritza would be completely shattered if this plan fell through -- not to mention the consequences they would suffer from if they got caught or were unsuccessful.
But it was sure as hell worth a try. All Maritza wanted was to go home and she would take any risk if it meant that she could do that.
"Where is she?" Maritza asked Quinn as they started to walk, trying their best to just look natural and not like they were planning an escape mission, with Patrick trailing behind them like a lost puppy.
"Where she always is. Here. The courtyard," Quinn turned on his heels to face the two and raised a finger. He made a clicking sound with his tongue and looked at them for a moment before deciding to go retreat her himself. Maritza wasn't very friendly and Patrick was just a kid and Leah would immediately cut down his use to their plan. "I'll go get her, you twp stay here."
He looked away from the two and searched the area with his eyes until he spotted the five-foot-ten British girl. She was sitting underneath a tree by herself as usual. Though, her lips were moving so she was obviously talking to someone or something.
Quinn smiled and strolled her way, leaning against the tree once he reached her. "Hey, Lee." He addressed her and taken her by surprise, though not purposely. He had thought he made himself very obvious.
"Oh, it's just you." Leah breathed and stood up to face him. "What's up, Harley Quinn?"
"Do you want to help us break into my mother's office?" Quinn Inquired as if he was asking if she wanted to play with them
"Us?" Her eyes wandered over to Maritza and Patrick.
Maritza watched Quinn move to Leah with a suspicious and wary expression on her face. Her stance indicated that she wasn't comfortable, and she wasn't -- her arms crossed over her chest, her shoulders rigid and her jaw firmly set. She scoffed when Leah called him Harley Quinn. How stupid.
"You like him," Patrick giggled.
Maritza whipped her head around to face the annoying kid she hated to some extend. "Excuse me?"
"Quinn. You totally like him. That's why you don't like him talking to a pretty girl -- woah."
Patrick jumped back when Maritza stepped towards him, her finger jabbing his chest. "Shut your annoying little mouth," she snapped, "or I'll shut it for you. Okay?"
Patrick nodded and Maritza went back to her previous position. She wasn't even going to address the point Patrick had brought up because she knew it wasn't true and she didn't need his comments.
Quinn turned simultaneously with Leah as she marched over to the other two with crossed arms. He had explained to all that she need to know which was basically everything because she wouldn't help otherwise. He told her of both Patrick and Maritza's powers and their theory they need to confirm to get out. She wasn't the least bit surprised to hear any of it.
And she agreed to help.
"Firstly, I would like to say none of you are completely sane if you're planning to cross paths with that bitch, no offense, Quinn."
"None taken."
"But I'll help. It's not as if I have anything to lose. During lunch, right? Perfect timing."
Quinn smiled, happy to have her onboard. "Good to have you."
Maritza forced herself to smile at Leah, then followed the two as they left the courtyard. Patrick snickered at her. She carelessly shoved him into a bush.
When lunchtime finally rolled around, Maritza wedged herself between Quinn and Leah with Patrick behind them as they made their way to a private stairwell where they could talk quietly.
"What's the plan?" Patrick murmured.
"You're going to shut up," Maritza snapped.
"This isn't going to work if you're going to be a bitch to me."
Maritza raised her eyebrows and he shied away. She looked at Quinn. "Before we get there, if I need to do anything, are you going to have a problem if I have to knock out your mother?"
"No, I won't be okay with it, but I honestly don't see any other choice." Quinn clicked his tongue and shook his head as an answer. As mean and heartless as she was, or at least seemed, she was still his mother and there were still some good memories between them. Even if she had hurt him, the ties and bonds between family weren't broken so easily.
He turned round the corner, they were only little ways from her office so he kept his voice down because the security was steadily increasing. That only made him sure that she had lots to hide in those files of her's. "Whether we knock her out or not she'll know what we did, but if she's unconscious It'll give us time to make our next move."
"So, before we start we need to establish a few things." He looked each in the face for a moment. "Maritza, stop being a bitch to Patrick, we can't do this without him. Patrick, you better not screw this up. And Leah, how long do you think you can keep the guards off our backs?"
"Maybe ten minutes? But they'll have a lot more to distract them soon. Trust me." She smirked.
