**2 Weeks Later**

Cat sat curled up on a chair in the lounging room, barefoot, wearing tight, short blue denim shorts and a white tank top. Her knees were drawn up to her chest as she stared blankly at the wall. 2 weeks. 2 fucking weeks, during which she has been repeatedly abused, physically, mentally and sexually, until she was a mere shadow of her former self. When she wasn't going through her share of torture, she was busy helping the others recover from their own, including cleaning wounds from whippings and soothing the youngest girls out of their states of shock afte a session.

Where the hell was the fucking Calvary? The tracker in her watch had been set off as soon as she had gotten it back, which was a couple days after she arrived. But no one had come. She had avoided being chosen by the customers so far, but she didn't know how much longer she could avoid it.

The door behind Cat creaked open, causing a sudden hush to fall over the formerly buzzing room. The fat man who had raped Cat escorted an overweight, balding, white man wearing a gray business suit into the room. The businessman was brash, red-faced and sweating as he wandered around the room, carefully inspecting each girl before passing them by. Cat tucked herself tighter against the plush chair, whispering silent prayers to whatever deity that she would not be chosen.

Unfortunately, that deity seemed to have decided that this was the perfect day for a vacation. "I'll take her," she heard the man say in a husky voice. It was vaguely familiar, but she was certain she had never met the man before.

The fat man grabbed Cat's arm in a bruising grip, which caused the businessman to scowl and gently pry his fingers off her arm. "I don't like my merchandise bruised."

As the fat man spilled apologies, Bethany drew Cat aside. "If you just relax and don't fight it, it'll be ok. He looks like a guy who isn't getting any at home. Strip off your top as soon as you get in and surprise him. He'll get off faster, and it won't be as rough, because he'll think that you want him."

Cat nodded and followed as the fat man led her and the "customer" into a separate, private, soundproofed room. She wandered in as the businessman conversed quietly with the fat man. Glancing over, she shuddered in disgust and turned away as he was given the remote. Seeing no way out of this, she pulled off her top and tossed it aside, onto a chair as the man shut the door and rubbed the back of his neck. Cat turned around just in time to see the man peel off his face and reveal, "MAX?!"

Max turned around, eeped, dropped the mask, and clapped his hands over his eyes. "Please put your shirt back on."

As Cat grabbed her shirt and Max hid his eyes, Berto stared unabashedly at Cat from the safety of his monitor. His eyes narrowed as he noticed some shadows on her body. Typing in a string of commands, the camera zoomed in and focused, recording Cat's every move. An angry flush grew on his face as the camera revealed them to be, no shadows, but bruises on Cat's slender body. "Max, look at her when she puts her top back on. She's got bruises all over her body," he said with a soft, outraged growl.

Max stiffened and murmured, "Damn it." Louder, he asked, "Cat? Can I open my eyes now?"

"Go ahead, Steel."

Max pried his fingers off and opened is eyes just in time to see Cat tackle him. Max grunted as Cat's willowy body hit his, knocking him onto the bed as her fists flew, hitting him in the head, chest and stomach.

"TWO WEEKS! TWO FUCKING WEEKS, STEEL!" she screamed, beating on his chest with her clenched fists as tears poured down her face. "Where the hell were you? Did you know? Did you CARE?! What were you doing while I was here? Do you have any clue what they did to me?! What they MADE ME DO?" she sobbed before she finally collapsed on Max's chest.

Max went still. The bruises on her body and her mental state only led to one conclusion. One he really hadn't wanted to consider. But seeing this, he knew he had to. Carefully, he wrapped his arms around her trembling body, soothingly stroking her back. "Shh..... it's gonna be ok.....We're gonna get you out of here as soon as possible," he murmured softly in her ear."

After a few minutes, Cat swallowed and wiped her eyes and cheeks, sniffing as she tried to remove any evidence of her former weakness. Slipping into her Secret Agent role, she said, "Max. There are about 45 girls here. The oldest are about 28 while the youngest are 11 and 12 years old. We have to get them out. They're the important ones right now. Not me."

Max's eyes widened and he shook his head in disbelief. One second, she was hysterical, and the next, she was calm and worrying about the other women first. Typical, unpredictable Cat. "We were actually hoping you'd say that. See, they offer water fights here. Two women fight in a pool, and the men watch and bet on it. Problem is that it's a fight to the death. We've mapped out the place, and we're hoping to strike in two days. It would be even easier if we had an agent in place already. Do you want to do it?"

Cat nodded instantly. "No problem." Max smiled reassuringly at her and bent forward to pick up his mask. He grasped the mask and straightened up as Cat murmured, "Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell anyone? Please?"

Max stared at her mutely for a moment before nodding resignedly. "My lips are sealed."

"Thank you," she whispered before curling up on the bed and staring at the wall once more.

Max looked at her melancholy face and plopped down on the bed beside her. "You gonna be ok?"

Cat nodded absent-mindedly.

"Anything I can do to help until we can get you out?"

She snapped her head around, coming out of her self-induced trance. "What?"

Max shrugged. "Anything you want or need?

Cat nodded. "I need to know...What took you so long?"

Max sighed. "The place lets off some weird radiation that masks it from our tracking systems. It was overshadowing your tracer."

"Then how did you find me?"

"About a week ago, an agent was investigating the readings and saw you. He knew you were missing, so he informed Jeff, and he put us on the mission. Reason it took so long was partially finding you and partially doing reconn."

Cat lay back on the bed, causing Max to notice her ribs protruding slightly. "Have you lost weight," he asked suddenly.

Cat shrugged. "They put stuff in the food. So, I don't touch it unless I have to.

Max reached for the briefcase he brought and pulled out a couple of 3 Musketeers and Hershey Bars. "Here."

Cat rolled over and grabbed one of the bars, ripping off the wrapper, tearing off a piece and quickly shoving it in her mouth, swallowing quickly, like she was starving, But then again, technically, she was. After she finished off the candy, she sat back and sighed contentedly, her stomach making happy, gurgley sounds, causing both Max and Berto to snort softly.

"Feel better?"

"Oooh, yeah," she murmured, lying back once more. "Chocolate makes Cats happy. Now," she continued over Max's chuckles. "What have I missed?"

"Rachel's back."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. She's head of the mission."

"Have you two resolved your issues?"

Max looked a little embarrassed. "We don't have issues."

"Sure. And Buffy's really a virgin."

"Speaking of the Slayer, Buffy's mom died."

"WHAT?!"

Max nodded solemnly. "Anya broke down, too," he said, causing Berto to groan audibly and shake his head.

Cat's pretty face formed a scowl. "See, NOW, I have to kill them."

Max grinned. "Don't worry. I taped it."

"Steel, I think you just saved their hides."