*crashes in* I return! Sorry ya'll, but I got caught up with Metal Night there for a while! Please accept this chapter as an apology and prepare for some ass kicking in the next chapter because it's coming :D

Christina kept her back to the wall and her eyes on the man in front of her, not willing to drag her gaze away from the cause of her nightmares.

"Oh relax, sweetie," Caspian McKandless drawled, circling her away from the door, and, consequentially, her brother. Any chance of safety or escape was dwindling away, "You know, it'll be much easier if you just come along with me."

"No," Christina said, jaw clenching.

Caspian's eyes flashed briefly, "Now, sweetie—"

"Don't call me that," Christina bristled. She bared her teeth, "I'm no one's 'sweetie' and certainly not yours!"

Caspian changed tactics, "How did you escape? I always make sure my merchandise is… hard to move."

"I guess I grew immune to your drugs," Christina said. "Give someone the same thing enough times and that'll happen, you know."

"You needed someone to lead you through the building though…" Caspian narrowed his eyes, "Who was it?"

"Why would I tell you? So that you can kill them? Punish them?" Christina spat, gaze flickering around the room for something she could use as a weapon. Her eyes landed on a boxcutter she'd been using to cut tape and slice open boxes that evening, and she quickly brought her gaze back up to Caspian when he stepped closer. Christina stepped to the side, trying to ignore the panic building in her throat.

"I can't have another person escaping, so yes," Caspian sneered at her. "Tell me who, and your own punishment for escape will be… less severe."

"Go to hell," Christina growled. "I ain't giving them up. I'm not going to put another person in your hands."

Caspian straightened, and eyed Christina for a moment. Christina stared right back at him, willing her heart to slow down and hoping her fear wasn't on her face. Eventually, an air of almost calm washed over Caspian and he sighed, "Alright then. So, we're doing this the hard way. Just remember, Ms. Cadelle, I did give you a chance to come clean."

Christina's heart leapt into her throat, eyes going wide as Caspian drew a knife and lunged. She stumbled back into wall with a cry of terror, but Caspian never reached her. Instead, there was a blur of yellow and blue, twin snarls of anger ripping through the air, as Chris tackled Caspian and began wrestling him for control over the knife. Christina could only watch in numb horror as Chris pried the blade out of Caspian's fingers and then slammed his elbow into other man's face repeatedly, until the redhead's face was bloodied, and he was out cold on the floor.

Christina whimpered and slid down the wall, curling in on herself. Vaguely, she was aware of how much she was shaking, and the thunder outside only seemed to add to her terror. Distantly, Chris was moving around the room, and even more distantly, Christina heard her brother talking to someone, but she couldn't find it in herself to focus.

"Chrissie?" Chris eventually crouched in front of her, and Christina whimpered in response, the only noise she felt she could make. A hand curled gently around her wrist, before lacing with her fingers, and a rush of air left Christina's lungs at the solid touch, grounding her, "Squeeze my hand if you can hear me?"

It took a moment for Christina to get her muscles to respond, but she managed a quick squeeze.

"Good, good," Chris murmured. "Tyler's downstairs, calling an ambulance and the cops. When he gets back up here, he said he'll keep and eye on Caspian while we wait downstairs, but I need you to get up. Think you can?"

Christina's throat clicked as she swallowed, her mouth dry as a desert. A shudder ran through her.

"Squeeze once for yes, twice for no," Chris requested, quietly. "But we both need to get checked out by medical, even if you didn't get injured."

Christina took in a shaky breath, and then squeezed once.

"Okay, good," There was some footsteps, and Christina whined, curling up tighter in herself. "Easy, it's just Tyler."

"I called Kyoya and Ryuga," Tyler said, voice low. "They're on their way, and so's an ambulance. You two want to get downstairs?"

"Yeah, soon as Christina's ready," Chris replied, but the statement was directed towards his sister.

Christina took a deep, steadying breath. A moment passed, before she managed to uncurl from her position. She pointedly kept her head down as she stood up, but didn't let Chris' hand go, her grip tight. If she was hurting him, Chris didn't say anything.

"Grab her jacket, over on the chair there?" Chris requested, and from the corner of her eye, Christina watched Tyler walk away, boots thumping on the hard wood, and then come back with Christina's brown coat, draping it over her shoulders while barely touching her directly, "Alright, if you need anything, you know where we are."

Tyler hummed, "Take care of her." He walked away and crouched over Caspian, expression twisting into a sneer, "I'll make sure this guy won't go anywhere."

By some stroke of luck or misfortune, Nefertiti ended up seeing to them both. Christina had her first look of Nefertiti as a doctor, as she fussed over her husband.

"Good news is, no concussion or broken bones," Nefertiti said, as she finished applying a bandage on top of the stitched-up gash over Chris' left eyebrow. Once she was done with that, she took his right arm, running her hands over his forearm, and began to poke at his elbow. Chris hissed in pain and flinched away, "Bad news, you definitely bruised some muscles and probably strained your arm in the struggle. You'll need a sling for a couple of weeks."

"Could be worse, I guess," Chris mumbled. He flashed Nefertiti a salacious smirk, "Guess it's a good thing I have an in home nurse, huh?"

Nefertiti leveled him with her most impressive unimpressed look, "Do you actually want a concussion?"

Chris pouted, "I'm teasing, darlin', you know that."

Nefertiti rolled her eyes, then leaned in and kissed him. When she pulled away, her voice was low, "Later. After all the excitement has died down." With that, she stepped away and made a note on a chart, before settling it back on the rolling cart and picking a sling up. As she began to maneuver Chris into position, she called over, "Christina, dear, how are you holding up?"

Christina blinked herself back into the present, eyes half lidded. She curled up in her chair, bringing the blanket one of the paramedics had provided her tighter around her shoulders, "I'm fine. Just… tired."

"Hm. Well, the medics said you didn't have any injuries besides going into shock over the whole event," Nefertiti nodded. "You're coming down from the adrenaline, so it makes sense you're close to dozing off." As she made the final adjustment on Chris' sling, she said, "I think Kyoya's outside, waiting for the go ahead for an interview. You two up for it?"

Chris glanced over at his sister, frowning at the way he could visibly see her shut down and push her walls up, "… I am, at least."

Nefertiti understood exactly what Chris wasn't saying, and nodded, "Alright then. I'll be back in later to check on you." Her lips curled into a vicious smirk, "I need to go check in on Caspian."

"Feel free to give him an accidental overdose of morphine," Chris muttered as his wife walked out. He turned on the bed, leaning against the pillows and feeling himself finally relax. He sighed, loudly, of relief, and closed his eyes. He could feel him beginning to doze off, Nefertiti's voice ringing in his ears about how descending from adrenaline could leave a person exhausted, when there was a knock on the door.

Chris opened his eyes and tried very hard not to glare at the ceiling; he glanced over at Christina, just a bit surprised to see her asleep in her chair, but then his attention was brought back to the door as Kyoya stepped in.

"Do you think you went a little overkill on bashing Caspian's face in?" Kyoya asked, with amusement coloring his voice.

"Since when the hell do you care about overkill?" Chris drawled, "He's lucky I didn't stab him with his own knife."

"Poetic," Kyoya deadpanned. "What happened tonight?"

"Bastard was in the bar for a while," Chris muttered. "He gave us—me, Tyler, and Bao—the creeps with how he was acting. Paid a good amount for just a few glasses of whiskey." He frowned, "He left, said something about bringing some of his friends by sometime, and we didn't think anything of it, 'cause we've had weirder customers."

"I can imagine," Kyoya said, dryly as he was writing all this down. "What happened after that?"

"I went upstairs into the loft just before midnight," Chris sighed. "Christina was still up, sorting some stuff, and Tyler stayed downstairs to fix us something to eat. Christina and I were talking while we waited, there was a knock on the door—I thought it was Tyler, so imagine my surprise when I got bashed in the head."

Kyoya nodded, "Were you out?"

"Almost. It took me a few minutes to get my bearings about me," Chris shrugged. "He was talking to Christina, but it was only when he tried to attack her that I managed to shake off my surprise and stop him. Got his knife away from him and then did a number to my arm knocking him out." He frowned, "Who is Caspian, anyways?"

Kyoya paused—it was the kind of pause that told Chris he knew exactly what was going on but was unsure if he should say anything. Chris narrowed his eyes, "Kyoya."

"Caspian McKandless," Kyoya said, slowly. "He's Wales' father, and the one who kidnapped Lucas when they were kids."

Chris felt his blood turned to ice, a voice tickling the edge of his memory, "Caspian… he said something about keeping his merchandise unmovable—you don't think."

"If we put together Christina's story and what we know about Caspian and Luke's case now… We're probably looking at a…" Kyoya faltered, and glanced over at Christina, before sighing, "Yeah. Human or sex trafficking ring. Who knows how many other people are involved."

Rage simmered beneath Chris' skin, and it took every ounce of willpower for him not to start yelling. Instead, he grit his teeth and swallowed the emotion down, and looked Kyoya in the eye, "You make sure that son of a bitch gets what's coming to him, Kyoya."

Kyoya's answering grin was sharp and vicious, "Now why would you think we'd do otherwise, Chris?"

I love writing Chris and Nefertiti interacting as a married couple. They're adorable, but not like Lucas/Nero are to me.

Next chapter: Kyoya and Ryuga reluctantly rope Wales into an interview with his own father. Fur will fly.

to say i'm excited for the next chapter is a damn understatement. Hope ya'll enjoyed and will leave a review!