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For a moment, he thought he was going to get away with it. The Barn, this space between worlds, was damaged enough that it couldn't keep him out any more. The side that connected to the Void was open and so he walked right in. For a moment, he hoped it might be a simple thing to find Mara and get her out of this awful prison.
He’d reckoned without Howard. “You're not welcome here William,” came the rebuke.
William swore under his breath, then turned a cheery smile in Howard's direction. He didn’t know what had happened, but something was clearly affecting the Barn and if Howard could’ve stop it he would have already. “You need me,” William guessed, but he said it like he knew it to be true.
Howard hesitated and William pushed his advantage, “You have a problem. The Barn is dying, and Mara is inside it.”
“The Barn is …” Howard began to protest, eager to disagree with William on principle. But he had no real objection to make.
“I mean she's inside, inside it, right? Not here, not like we are, in this …” he gestured to the apparently infinite space around them, “... featureless white. She's in the space the Barn creates for the overlay personalities. Isn't she? She's stuck in some manufactured world, with no idea who she really is or even where she really is or anything about what's really happening. She has no way to help herself. If that world collapses around her, she'll die along with it.”
Howard frowned, unwilling to admit William was right.
“And you can't do anything to help her, because she's tucked away in that world, and …” he realised as he said it, “... you're damaged.”
“Someone shot me,” Howard admitted, unable to escape from the logic of William's argument.
Thank you that person! thought William. If I ever find out who you are, I owe you. “And that's why the Barn is dying,” he said. “Do you want Mara to die along with you?”
“I do not.”
“Do you have anyone else who can help her?”
“I do not,” Howard admitted after a moment.
“So, you need me,” William said again. “She needs me. And you know I will do whatever I can to keep Mara safe. Even if she thinks she's someone else right now.”
Howard sighed. He disliked everything about William on principle, they both knew that. He would much have preferred that William be stuck in the Void and as far away from Mara as possible. He wanted to kick William out and get Mara to safety himself. But that sigh revealed the reality that William was right; Howard - and more specifically Mara - needed him. And Howard knew that William would prioritise saving Mara’s life over any potential short-term advantage.
Howard gave in. “I have some conditions,” he said.