The woman's actions were strange and unexpected to him. She had gotten down onto her knees, presenting herself to the boys as someone begging from a place of weakness. It was an incredibly strange sight to River, to see an adult giving the power over to them, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. While Ezekiel's mother knelt and beseeched them to leave with her, River simply stared, his bright blue eyes hard, cold, and unfeeling. He was frozen atop Zeke, but the older boy shifted beneath him, and River gave into him without hesitation when he sat up, pulling River along.<br/><br/>Ezekiel's voice was steady and stern when speaking to his mother, and although River was wary of the words passing between the two, he didn't question Ezekiel. The older boy had always acted with the protection of River in mind, just as River did for him. River did not trust this strange woman with her soft blonde hair, even though she was begging. She was Ezekiel's mother, but that didn't mean much. Father Lamont had proven that caretakers could hurt just like anyone else, and who was to say that Cassandra Benett wasn't a liar like the rest of the world? Father Lamont had told them everyone lies. Everyone cheats. Everyone misleads. Why would she be any different?<br/><br/>“I follow you,” River replied, nuzzling Ezekiel's neck when his companion asked for his opinion on the matter. He didn't trust Cassandra, but as long as she didn't try to separate them, going with her seemed better than sleeping out on the street, though River truly didn't care as long as he was with Zeke. The two boys stood up together, clinging, and River instinctively stood in front of Ezekiel when Cassandra tried to step forward to receive him. “No,” he said, and that was that.<br/><br/>River took the card handed to them by Watson and shoved it into his pocket. He didn't expect them to need it—truly, he didn't expect to see Watson ever again—but Father Lamont had taught them to waste not want not, and wasting the help Watson offered seemed wrong, somehow. Along with Watson's personal line was River's mother's number as well.<i>Natasha</i>. It was a shame. That name meant nothing to him now.<br/><br/>The back of Cassandra's car was surprisingly roomy, and River was able to place one leg up on the seat and allow Ezekiel to climb in between his thighs and settle there against him. “Just remember, everyone is a liar,” River whispered into Zeke's ear, holding the twenty year old close, his lips brushing against Zeke's pealescent skin. “Don't believe anything. We stay together. We run if we have to.”<br/><br/>Cassandra tried to talk to them but neither boy was interested in her words, and as she began speaking to Ezekiel's father on the phone, the two calmed one another with sweet, delicate kisses. It had been days since they had last had sex, and River was feeling stressed and tetchy, ready to snap at anyone who got too close. The only way the boys knew how to settle one another's terrified minds was with physical pleasure. Down in Father Lamont's basement, they had never had anything else to occupy their minds save the anticipation of their captor's next punishment. Their own bodies were the only things they could depend on.<br/><br/>“I love you,” he whispered, running his fingers through Ezekiel's hair and pulling his head back so he could look the older boy straight into his sad eyes. “Rest now.” River lay his head back against the side of the car's interior, closing his eyes as he hugged Zeke to his chest. He was exhausted. Even if he hadn't already been tired from their wanderings around town, the stressful situation in the police station had left River enervated and in need of many hours of sleep. If the drive was going to be long like Cassandra had said, now was as good a time as any to regain his strength, in case he and Ezekiel need to run when they arrived at their intended destination.