[b]Jess - Haywood - Decisions[/b]
Jess was jerked from her sleep by the sound of the door opening. As the man talked she tried to make sense of what was happening.
She gasped when she realized that not only was she free, but Bruce was the one tied now. He was the prisoner. 
Before she could even process this a crowbar was placed in her hand and the men left. She stared at the weapon, trying to make sense of their words.

Eli was dead?
Bruce was overthrown?
They wanted her to kill Bruce?

Before she could fully think about doing anything Bruce started to talk, doing what he did best : yelling at her and tearing her down with his words. All he ended up doing was confusing her. Did he want her to kill him or not? He kept changing his mind. One thing didn't change though. His words still hurt.
Jess only stared during his rant that was sounding more crazed by the second. She felt that she saw him, truly saw him for the first time.
He was a bully. He was a tyrant. But he was also a man who was scared. Scared that everything he had built was crumbling beneath him. Actually it was.

But instead of making her happy, it made her feel sorry for him.

She lifted the crowbar... and tossed it aside.
Kneeling before him, she took his face in her hands. "If you are going to die, it will not be by my hands. There has been too much death... too much hatred... I will not kill you so that you can escape from this. You have run from everything. Now you are going to have to live with your cowardice."
She stood upright. "And yes, you are a coward. To say such things to me, such horrible awful things, you are a coward. You feel like you have to use words and violence to make people obey you. A leader isn't made from violence, he is made by the people who follow him. Look around you. If you were a better leader they wouldn't have been able to do this to you. Your people would have fought for you. But that is your own fault. Do not take it out on me."

She stroked her stomach with her hands. "You do not want me here, so I will leave. Should you change your mind some day, I will not keep your child from you, should you want to see him... or her..." she lifted her head, a new look in her eyes. "But do not believe that because you don't want me that no one will. I want to be wanted by a real man, not a coward who needs to hurt people in order to feel important. Because in the end, that kind of importance is an illusion."
A smile actually lit up her face, bringing a warmth to her eyes. "I think I may have already met someone. I think... he already cares about me, so maybe... just maybe, he could grow to feel something for me. He is the kind of man you could only hope to become."

Jess took a deep breath, ready to endure whatever venom he was going to spit at her. She just kept Floyd in her mind's eye. Thinking of him and his bravery would make her strong enough to endure this.
"Despite everything, I do hope that you get everything you want Bruce. I am truly sorry for whatever happened to you to make you this way, but I will not let you make me like you. I... I forgive you, Bruce. I forgive you because I do not want hatred within me anymore."