It had now been thirty-six hours since Ruthie had been abducted and she sat against the wall in the basement that smelled like urine because of her. Her hands were still above her head and were numb along with her buttocks from having been in the same position for so long. She had dried blood on her wrists and forehead and her cheeks were sticky from the dried tears that had finally stopped the day before. Her mouth was dry, and her stomach cramped from hunger.

"Ruthie?" She heard her husband say.

"I'm here!" She called out.

"I'm coming, where are you?" Alfie said, sounding almost as if he were in a tunnel.

"In the basement!"

She watched as a bright light shined from the top of the stairs and her beautiful husband ran down.

"You found me!" She beamed.

"'Course I did treacle, I always will." Alfie said before ice cold water was thrown on her, pulling her from her dreams.

"Good morning!" Simon said cheerfully. "Were you dreaming about me?" He asked as he kneeled down to be at eyelevel with her.

Ruthie didn't attempt to answer, her mouth was full of fabric anyways.

"I've brought down a large tub this morning and filled it full of water for you to bathe. It'll be cold, but you can blame that fucking man across the street." He said, talking about Alfie. "He's been watching the building so it's hard for me to move around like I need, and I can't start a fire." He added, as if he were trying to make her life comfortable while she was chained to the wall.

Simon grabbed a piece of twine from around his neck and lifted it to reveal the key to her cuffs.

Ruthie perked up, despite her dehydration and lack of energy. Simon unlocked her right hand and her arm fell with a thud and then began to pulsate painfully as blood and feeling were returned.

"I'm going to undo the other one, but you have to promise you will behave." He said as he looked at her hopefully, his bad eye hidden behind its lid.

Ruthie nodded furiously.

"I miss that beautiful voice of yours." Simon said as he ran a thumb along Ruthie's jaw and she made a conscious effort not to cringe in case he got angry and decided not to undo her other cuff. Ever so slowly, Simon removed the cloth tied around her head and the knot in it from Ruthie's mouth. The other, smaller rag that he had shoved in to muffle her screams was also removed. Ruthie's mouth felt so dry, when she closed her mouth to relieve her jaw pain, she worried she wouldn't be able to open it.

"Tell me you love me; I need to hear it." Simon implored.

Ruthie's mouth remained closed and her eyes looked up at her left hand, reminding him that he needed to unlock it.

"Say it!" Simon growled.

"Please." Ruthie asked, her voice scratchy. "I hate that you have to see me like this. I just want to be clean." She lied.

Simon clenched his jaw and snarled his lip before he took a deep breath and reached to undo her other cuff. Her left arm fell as her other had and began to throb. She rubbed her wrists once she regained feeling and Simon reached out to her.

"Let me help you up and out of that dress." He said as he looked at her chest hungrily.

Ruthie looked down and anger rose at the sight of her dress, stained from the inability to feed her child. Her emotions grew and Ruthie began to shake. Her daughter was suffering because of Simon. And poor Little Alfie, what was he going through? At least Alfie had seen through the letter she had left him. The only respite she could get from the situation was that he came to this empty building looking for her and he was watching for any sign of her. He knew she would never leave him, and that fact made every fiber of her being grow stronger, despite her situation.

She accepted Simon's help off the floor because her legs hadn't moved in over a day, she wasn't sure what they were capable of. Once she knew, she could escape. Her legs resisted her orders as she stood and took a step. The closer she got to the large metal tub, the easier it got. When they were close, Simon put his hand on her waist and Ruthie turned her head briefly to look at him with as much hate as could be displayed on a person's face and pushed him. She turned toward the stairs and ran but in her weakened state, was too slow. Simon grabbed her wrist and she released the loudest scream for her husband that she could.

Before she could finish yelling Alfie's name, Simon picked her up and buried her head in the water. Ruthie struggled, what remained of her air escaping her as she fought to be free of his hold and the water that was flowing into her lungs. She scrambled and flailed her arms, her body desperate for air.

Oh Fuck! This is it! This is how I'm going to die! She thought before she closed her eyes, her body too weak to go on fighting.

Thirty-Six hours after his wife had gone missing, Alfie sat on the floor against the wall, staring at the building across the street. He wanted a light, or a shadow, or SOMETHING, ANYTHING to let him know where she was. At this point, he didn't even care if Tommy found some mental gypsy witch, as long as it told him where she was. They had questioned everyone, breaking things and making threats. He even beat three random men because he couldn't punch himself. It didn't help. No one had seen her since she had returned home from looking for him. He ran through his theories of how she had left without anyone noticing and came up empty. Every table had been flipped and every piece of glass or porcelain in his home was broken from his rage.

Not a soul saw her leave.. he thought about it over and over until finally he rose and began searching the house, looking under every bed and opening every cabinet.

"What the fuck are you doing?" John asked.

"No one saw her leave." He answered.

"So, what? You think she's been hiding in the kitchen cupboard for two days?"

Alfie shot John a look. "I don't fucking know, do I? If I knew where the fuck she was, I would be there! And that FUCKER that you should have made sure was fucking dead would be a fucking pile of bones!"

John didn't say anything, knowing that Alfie and the rest of his family blamed him and Arthur for what happened. He didn't condemn them for it, even he blamed himself. He'd hidden his tears, but they had flowed in guilt the night she went missing and their search and threats had brought nothing.

"Alfie." Tommy said, stepping in. "Why don't you rest."

"What?" Alfie said, turning wide eyes toward Tommy. "You want me to fucking rest? While my WIFE is out there somewhere with a fucking mad- She's probably in Sabini's-"

"Sabini hasn't seen Simon since the day Ruthie was shot." Tommy interjected.

"Yeah, so he fucking says." Alfie said running a hand through his hair. "I can't fucking 'REST' knowing she is out there and that she needs me. I have to find her and-"

"You're not going to find her. Not like this." Tommy said softly. "You need rest and a clear head."

Alfie looked Tommy in the eyes and Tommy could see the pain and emotion in his comrade's dark blue eyes.

"And how long after your wife died was it until you slept? Hmm?" Tommy didn't answer and Alfie nodded. "And you at least knew she was fucking dead and not out there somewhere waiting on you to rescue her while some fucker did God knows what to her." Tommy looked down, acknowledging Alfie's truth. "And you expect me to fucking rest?" Alfie whispered before shaking his head at Tommy.

"You could at least-." Arthur started by Alfie interrupted him, pointing a finger in his direction.

"You don't get to fucking talk! You're lucky I need every man possible to find her or you would be fucking dead at the bottom of the FUCKING CANAL!"

"Yeah?" Arthur said, puffing his chest out.

"YEAH!"

"Enough!" Tommy said as he stepped between the men who were three seconds away from throwing punches. "This won't help find her." He pointed out and Alfie growled in frustration before walking toward his bedroom and slamming the door closed behind him.

Alfie paced his bedroom floor a couple of times before he violently punched the wall, hearing his knuckles crack. He didn't mind the pain though, in fact, he welcomed it. What pain has his wife experienced since he wasn't there to protect her? A few broken knuckles was nothing compared to what he imagined her going through when he allowed himself to go there. Walking in the bathroom, he turned on the sink, splashing cold water on his face.

"C'mon Ruth." He said to the mirror. "Tell me where the fuck you are."

He had just grabbed a hand towel and began to pat his face dry when he heard it.

"ALLFFI-"

He dropped the towel and rushed to back to his bedroom to look out the window. It seemed quiet but for the normal hustle and bustle of the street and factories. He scanned the building across the street.

"She's there. She has to be fucking there!" He growled before rushing to the sitting room. "Grab your fucking guns!" He said as he rushed to the door.

"What's happened?" John asked as the men stood in alarm.

"I heard her." Alfie said as he exited his house.

"You-?" Was all he heard before he was across the street.

Alfie threw open the door to the empty building and stormed into the quiet. The three Shelby men and Michael came behind him, their guns drawn.

"She's here. Somewhere, she's fucking here." Alfie thought aloud.

"Alfie-" Tommy started but Alfie turned on his heels to face the Peaky Blinders leader.

"I heard her. She's fucking here. She yelled my fucking name and I'm not leaving until I fucking find her." Alfie squinted his eyes at Tommy threateningly.

The five men, searched the building, coming up empty again.

"What now?" Tommy asked.

"I'm not leaving until I find her." Alfie said, looking around the large room suspiciously.

Tommy nodded, understanding and lead his family out of the building.