Okay, so this chap's a two parter--here's Oliver's statement first.

Please see disclaimers in Ch. 1.


Oliver woke up in the white room, wondering if this was what heaven was like. He felt warm, and rested, and his hair wasn't sticking to the top of his head as it had been for days. Across his shoulders scratched some sort of itchy cloth, and his feet didn't feel like giant blocks of frozen ice.

"Hey there," a voice said. It sounded vaguely familiar…

"Sarah?" he mumbled, trying to shove his eyes open. It made sense. If this was heaven, then Sarah would surely be here.

"Sorry, hon. Wish I could get her, though. She'd be proud."

Not Sarah? No, that can't be right…

"Sarah--she's n-not here?"

"Nope. 'Fraid not." The voice—the not-Sarah voice—was kind, and gentle, and not mean-spirited. "Guess you'll have to settle for me."

Oliver's eyes fluttered open wider, and he saw a familiar face looking at him—it had dark hair, and bright green eyes, and a hint of an impish grin twitching on those lips.

"Chasie?"

"Yep. Mean ol' boss lady," Chase said. "Welcome back. Didn't think you'd be up this soon, really, way you were shivering like that when we found you…"

"Shivering?"

"Yeah. What did they, put you out? I mean, Will I kind of understand, but you…"

"You got Will? He's okay?" Oliver shot up like a bolt.

"He'll need an elephant's share of therapy, but once he realizes he actually did save Olivia from freezing or starving to death down there he should make some progress." Chase's face grew somber. "He really did the right thing, even if he doesn't think so."

"Chase, you weren't there. We-we tried everything. Will rigged up this thing to feed her, a-and we tried to keep her clean, and…"

"Ollie, you were thrown down in a hole. A freezing, filthy, concrete hole with no light and no food and, for reasons unbeknownst to me, no shirt."

Oliver blushed a little. "You saw that?"

"Uh-huh." She settled into the little plastic chair, the sound of belt buckle metal scraping against industrial strength plastic. "It's okay…you don't have to explain…"

"We needed something to change the baby."

"And you volunteered your shirt?"

"Wasn't anything else." Oliver pulled the white hospital comforter up to his chin. Though he didn't mind being shirtless, he did seem to mind the thought of being so around this woman, for reasons he couldn't quite place.

"Oliver." Chase's tone was now strictly no-nonsense. "There's some things I have to ask you…"

"About what?"

"About what happened."

"Oh." Pushing the button on the little remote, Oliver raised the bed so he could sit up without too much trouble. Though there were no broken bones and he was just a little fatigued from the exposure, his doctor seemed to insist that he 'take it easy.' God only knew why.

"I'm going to be honest with you—there's some decisions that have to be made, and much of it will depend on what you and Will have to say."

"Why us?"

"Because you were the victims in this crime. Legally, it normally doesn't matter much, but this time it could depend on whether or not those gardeners are tried here in the States or in China."

Oliver's brows furrowed. "China?"

"Technically, the kidnapping occurred on Chinese soil. Chinese law applies there. However, because both you and Will—and Olivia—are American citizens and you were held on American soil, you can choose to have them tried here."

"What's the difference?"

"Tell me what happened." Chase's face grew serious—that cold, scary look that said I mean business.

Long fingers fumbled with the edges of the white blanket overtop the patient. "Will was taking his walk," Oliver began. "That night he went into that patch of trees—those dark ones, over in the corner…"

Chase nodded. "Go on."

"We walked along for a while after I met up with him, then we started hearing noises. I didn't like it, so we headed back. When we figured out the sounds were following us, we ran."

"Okay."

"That's when someone hit me in the head. Next thing I remember is waking up in that hole."

"What happened then?"

"Will was screaming, holding Olivia. That's when I figured out about the hatch opening, the hole, and how we got down there."

"How did you? Get down, I mean?"

"Someone carried me down that damned ladder," Oliver spat.

"Okay, okay," Chase said. "Then what?"

"Got oriented with the hole. I'm sure you've been down there to take stock."

"I'm gonna do that later. Right now I wanna hear it from you."

"We were stuck. Someone sent down some things…"

"Like what?"

"A tray. A bowl. Milk in a plastic bottle. Clean cloths. Will used one to feed the baby and we used the other to clean her."

"Sounds like someone was planning."

"Will said that one of the men wanted him to give the baby over to him, and he refused. Might have been him that sent down the stuff, I don't know. It's words to you, Chasie, but that language they speak's all gibberish to me."

"Well, it's no worse than that French you speak sometimes."

"Touché," Oliver said, pointing a "L" hand towards her. "Anyway, we ate the bread in the bowl—there were four pieces, two apiece—and we tried to keep the baby warm and fed and clean. It got so bad we had to beg just to get the smallest thing to keep her from getting sick…"

Chase's face bore no expression. "Sick?"

"Don't know a lot about babies, huh?"

"Can't say as I do."

"Their immune systems are really fragile. They catch cold, takes them a month to kick it, that kind of thing. Add freezing temperatures, limited food, limited blankets, and no soap to that equation, and the outlook isn't good."

"Okay."

"Then that bastard appeared—the German. He told Will and me that if we wanted to 'save' Olivia, we'd have to give her up to him. Will was completely against that notion. Completely.

"At first?"

"Yeah. I couldn't blame him. Even if he did give her up, there was no guarantee that she'd be safe, or cared for. It's a miracle that she was…"

"The man who tried to take her initially was a Chinese gardener named Yang Chen. He and his wife had lost three children in six years, and he was promised Olivia in return for his help in taking you and Will."

"But why…?"

"Oliver, I don't know. People do strange things when they're desperate. Believe me, I know that desperation."

"Me too. Still, taking a child?"

"He says he wanted to make his wife smile again. Truth be told, I believe him."

Oliver goggled at his boss. "You do?"

"Like I said, desperate. I'd be willing to bet those 'things' you got down there were his doing. It might be he helped save your lives, though he didn't know it."

"He gets off for trying to help?"

"Not at all, Oliver, not at all," Chase said, holding her hands up in surrender. "He'll be tried. I just don't think he should go to China for the crime."

"I don't…"

"In China, they'll kill him. Him and his accomplices."

"Maybe they should."

"I dunno. You'll have a chance to talk to him yourself, if you want."

Oliver fell silent. This was a lot to take all at once. "The other two?"

"Again, you can speak with them. Reigning opinion is that the other two get deported for their trouble. I doubt they'd have ever let you out of that hole…"

"Probably not. Chase, you know this has everything to do with the Silver Spring case—with Sarah, with me, with you, with the BAU…"

"Yeah. We're still trying to figure out how, though." Chase's face tightened in determination. "Adlington's a dead end on that part. He copped to the frame-up and the aiding and abetting for the prison attacks. Josh is thoroughly enjoying his work right about now, I'd imagine."

"I hope so. Bastard. When I find this German, I want ten minutes with him." Oliver's face was dead serious.

"In time. We'll find him." Even if it takes the rest of my life, Chase added silently. She watched as Oliver laid down and fell back into a deep sleep. It all depends on Will now…Oliver's done his part.