Merritt jolts back hard at the shock, and then grunts again when the chains react to his movement and tighten even more, pulling him farther back into the chair.

He sees that, too, hears it like Dylan said it outloud. He missed what Wade had planned, missed that he was about to get screwed over - and now he missed this.

Merritt lets his head drop for a moment, abruptly defeated, and then tilts his head to the side to look at Dylan sideways. "Just take care of the kids," he says, simply, because he knows he can't win this. He can't talk himself out of this, magically or otherwise.

He missed again what little he actually meant to someone. He deserves this.