Thanks for reading and please do review.

'It doesn't look as if he's reduced the guards.'

Elliot only grunted in response as Finn crept back amongst the trees. They'd walked to the edge of the forest and had taken it in turns to creep closer to the castle but the defences were the same as always. Elliot hadn't expected anything else, he'd just needed to get out of the camp and walk off his frustration and anger.

'Do you think Liv will be okay?' Elliot asked. Finn was now crouched beside him, both of them watching the walls.

'You know her better than I do.'

Elliot shrugged, 'I guess. She'll feel better when I give her Alex's head, you're sure the guards are the same?'

Finn turned his gaze away from the moving flames of the guards and looked at his companion. Elliot's jaw was tense and without his shirt Finn was able to see his muscles flex every time he clenched his fists. 'I don't think that would make her feel better.'

'She tried to kill us all.'

'I think there's more to it than that.'

Elliot finally looked over, appalled, 'were you there today. She cosied on up to us, then went running off to daddy to give him our heads!'

'Why'd it take her a week?'

'What?'

Finn shook his head in bemusement and sighed, 'You English, you're all the same. You get angry for some reason or another and then run off to kill people. You've got no idea of the long game, of getting your answers first.'

'What fucking long game,' Elliot cut in angrily, 'you were the one who suggested we leave.'

The two men, while living and working comfortably together had never formed the same bond with each other as they had with the others. They were too different yet strikingly similar. Elliot the epitome of masculinity, all muscle and strength; Finn still masculine but in a smaller quieter way. The first would insult you then punch you the face, the second would complement you then slip a knife between your ribs. They respected that they both got the same result while scorning their different methods.

'I'm not saying that maybe she shouldn't die, but it's been hours now and I've calmed down. I learnt at Saladin's side that anyone who acts in anger will be unlikely to see sunrise. If she wanted to sell us out she would have done it the first day, yet she waited a week. I want to know to why.'

Elliot grunted and turned back towards the castle, he would never understand Infidels. 'Fine, ask your questions, but when you're done I'm going to kill her all the same.'

'Depends on her answers.'

'No!' Elliot gave him a deadly look. 'I don't care if she's been to hell and back she's dead.'

Finn shrugged, 'you don't always have to kill a person to punish them, if she's in hell why not keep her there?'

'Maybe….' Elliot said after a moment 'We've got to get her first.'

They were both staring at the heavily guarded castle again. 'We'll get her.' Finn said.

'I guess,' Elliot answered looking dubious, 'we got in the castle before.'

'Nah,' Finn said shaking his head, 'We only got in so easy cause the Black Cloak wanted us in. This is what I mean man,' he smiled over to Elliot, 'you Englishmen have got to learn some patience, let the prey come to you.'

Elliot scoffed, 'What person would be stupid enough to leave the protection of ten inch thick stone walls?'

'Alex apparently.'

'What?' Elliot looked over at Finn's shocked face and then followed his gaze to watch as two shadows crept away from the walls. They were moving low over the flat ground and straight towards them. 'Shit!' The two men looked at each other and then without needing to confer faded further into the trees and out of sight.

For the first time Elliot thanked God that his boots had been lost back at the ravine as his bare feet made no sound on the leaves. He and Fin stalked either side of the pair as they crashed through the foliage and waited for the distance and perfect chance to attack. It was clear that Alex's companion, a small dark haired man, had never hunted in a forest before as his feet seemed to snap twigs that weren't even there. He expected Alex to be better but her gait was off and she was stumbling along, seemingly happy to be led where ever this man was taking her.

'Common, further into the trees then you can sit down. Just a little further.'

The dark haired man spoke with an accent that Elliot couldn't place and he met Finn's eyes over his head. They nodded slightly to each other and then leapt forward onto the path.

Elliot grabbed hold of Alex from behind and with one foot to the back on her knee he forced her to her knees while pulling her head back under her chin. He didn't need a knife to slit her throat, he'd decided to simply snap her neck. She looked up at him and after her initial shock her eyes looked resigned to whatever he was about to do. He had to take a deep breath to resist sliding his hand down and squeezing till she hung limp in his arms but he knew he'd never hear the end of it if Finn didn't get to ask his questions.

'Who are you?'

He looked over to see Finn holding the small man against a tree with a knife to his throat. The small man had his hands up and was shaking his head profusely.

'You need to talk right this second because the way I see it you're an extra I don't need.' He had to smile at Finn's interrogation technique.

'My name's Rafael.' The small man had got his breath back and after running a hand through his hair and trying to appear unfazed by the knife to his jugular he had spoken. 'I'm looking for Olivia Benson. Do you know her?'

'Oh no,' Finn shook his head, 'I'm asking the questions right now…. Why you looking for Benson?'

'We have mutual concerns.'

'Mutual concerns.' Finn exchanged an amused look with Elliot. 'What, you mean her?'

'Among other things.' Rafael was smiling, trying to charm his way out of this situation like he had so many others but seeing Finn's expression turn even uglier after looking at Alex he knew that charm would only get him so far.

'Why should we trust someone who is helping our enemy?' Elliot asked, still holding a surprisingly unresponsive Alex.

'You've got it wrong, she's not your enemy.'

'Right now she is.' Finn let go of Rafael and walked over to Alex. Elliot let go seeing that she was giving no indications of running and went to grab Rafael's arm. Finn crouched down and tipped Alex's head forward. 'Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now?' he asked her.

'You should.' she replied in a croaky voice shivering from the cold. Both her and Rafael were soaked through after having to swim through the moat.

'No! wait wait…' Rafael tried to say before a slap from Elliot stopped him.

'Why'd you wait a week Alex?' Finn asked in a quiet voice, almost looking sympathetic.

She shrugged. 'No that's not good enough.' Finn replied, 'You need to speak to me.' She remained silent and he sighed. He raised a hand and cupped the side of her face. 'You're going to tell me.'

Rafael was dancing from foot and foot and hearing Finn's threat he couldn't stay silent even though his cheek was still stinging from the time before. 'There's you're answer right there.' Finn threw him an annoyed glance not understanding what he meant. Elliot raised his hand again and Rafael shrank back choosing to forget euphemisms and saying rapidly, 'he tortured her.'

Everyone paused for a moment before looking back at Alex. Elliot finally really looked at her, beyond her eyes and his own anger. He saw the bruise on her cheek and the sheen of sweat that covered her whole face. Her eyes weren't focusing on anything and shivers were racking her whole body.

'Show me.' Finn ordered her. She didn't move. 'Alex if he's telling the truth you need to show me!' She still didn't move and Finn sighed reaching for the hem of her shirt. His act seemed to snap her out of the daze and she shuffled backwards pushing his hands away.

'No no no, don't….' she was shaking her head and panting and though Finn tried to reassure her she kept fighting off his hands.

'Help him,' Elliot said to Rafael, 'If you want to help her then you need to let us see.' Rafael nodded and walked forward stepping behind the still kneeling Alex. Her eyes became panicked and flicked between the two men but she still couldn't stop Rafael grabbing her shoulders and pushing her down on to her back. She stretched out her legs and tied to roll to the side but Finn used her distraction to gain the upper hand and kneel on her thighs. Rafael held her arms above her head as Finn once again grabbed the hem of her shirt.

'No no please. Please don't.' she was gasping from the small scuffle and felt tears roll down her face.

The others didn't listen and soon they were all feeling sick from the sight of her torso. Rafael had heard William describe it but to actually see it was different. Every rib had a burn mark running along it and deep incisions had been made like a compass from her belly button. Her skin that should have been white was a mixture of blacks and yellows as different bruises littered the surface and there were bite marks all over her breasts. Finn wouldn't have been surprised if more than one rib was broken. He looked over at Elliot's aghast face and asked. 'You still want to kill her?'

He stared down at the scene in front of him. He hated her… or so he thought. The woman on the ground wasn't the bitch he had pictured in his head. This woman hadn't ran as soon as she could and betrayed them, gone back to the lap of luxury. Elliot was lost for words as he looked at her face. Her eyes were wide open but looked as if she was seeing something completely different to the forest around her and she was muttering no over and over again under her breath.

Finn cupped the side of her face again but this time he did it gently as Rafael let go of her arms. 'You're okay…..Alex look at me….you're okay.' His words seemed to have no affect and any thoughts they might have had about who was working for who, or who hated who were gone in the face of her obvious distress. Finn moved off her thighs and knelt beside her head, lowering his face to her level. 'Come back to us Alex….. You're not there anymore….you're safe.'

'You need to explain.' Elliot said bluntly to Rafael as Finn continued to calm Alex back down. Rafael got to his feet and went to lean back against an aspen tree.

He watched as Alex blinked and seemed to become aware of where she was again. Finn helped her sit up and he started speaking. 'I'm William's companion. I'm a minstrel. When the Sheriff ordered his son back I came with him. About a week after we arrived Will came back to our rooms and said his father had taken him to see his sister. Said that he was torturing her because she betrayed him. Will's not like his father, he's soft hearted, and he wanted to help her. We came up with a plan to get her, Alex, out of the castle and to this Benson woman that everyone said she was with before we got there. We thought, well I thought, that Benson would want the Sheriff dead as much as I do and would want to help Alex. If she betrayed you it wasn't because she wanted to.'

Finn and Elliot looked at each other when Rafael stopped speaking. It was a good story, but whether it was true or not neither of them could tell. 'We'll take you to Liv.' Elliot decided, 'she can judge whether to believe you or not.' He looked over to Alex who was now visibly swaying where she sat and walked over to pick her up. He set her on her feet and grabbed her upper arm. He motioned towards Finn, 'You take our singer man here.' They all set off walking through the trees again but before they had taken more than a couple of steps Alex's legs gave way from beneath her. 'Don't play with me!' Elliot said roughly, dragging her to her feet again. They walked a bit further but again Alex collapsed and this time Elliot couldn't make her walk again. 'Shit!' he laid her on the ground and felt for her pulse, noticing that her skin was worryingly warm under his palm.

'I don't think she's playing.'

He gave no answer to Finn's statement of the obvious, instead choosing to pick Alex up and throw her over his shoulder. Amanda would know what to do and so he continued walking back to camp.

Olivia was still awake when Finn returned, still sitting in basically the same position. She looked up as he crawled under the cover.

'Liv you all need to come out and see this.' She raised an eyebrow but Finn just shook his head and motioned that she leave the hollow. She crawled past him and turned to watch as he woke the others. When they were all standing under the ominous black clouds that had formed that night Finn started walking down towards the river. 'We thought it best not to show them the camp.' he said over his shoulder. Olivia and Amanda exchanged a confused look while Munch just looked pissed that he'd been woken up.

Olivia stopped dead when she saw Alex lying at Elliot's feet. She thought she was dead at first and felt a physical pain in her chest that surprised her seeing as that was exactly what she had asked for. When she saw the small movement of Alex's chest her legs went numb with relief.

'Explain.' She looked away from Alex at Elliot's order and saw that he was taking to a small olive skinned man.

'My name is Rafael,' he started looking only at her but speaking to them all. He continued on to give the same story he had given the two men in the forest.

'Why should we believe you?' Munch asked as he saw that Olivia was still reeling from the idea that Alex had been hurt. Rafael shrugged, 'Look at her,' he said motioning to Alex, 'it's obvious she's been tortured and if you've heard anything about William then you'll know I'm not lying about him.' Munch nodded to the others, he had heard the good rumours about the temperament of the Sheriff's son. 'To be honest,' Rafael continued, 'I'm not here for her, or even for you, I'm here for William. His father could corrupt anyone and if he'd do this to his own daughter then I don't want him near Will. You ever heard of your enemy's enemy being your friend?'

'I have,' Olivia finally said kneeling beside Alex, 'and I agree with it. I believe you… but perhaps friend is too far right now.' She placed a hand on Alex's cheek and tried to wake her. 'God she's burning up.' She looked back over her shoulder towards Amanda who came and knelt beside her. Amanda placed her palm on Alex's forehead and then slowly raised the hem of her shirt till just her stomach was showing. Both woman and Munch gasped at the sight and though the other men had seen it before they still felt sickened. A light rain had started to fall around them as they were talking and on seeing the state of Alex Amanda quickly took charge.

'Get her into the hollow.' She said to Elliot standing as he picked Alex up and started up the slope with her. By the time they were all gathered under the roots the rain had gotten harder till it thundered through the cover and Finn and Elliot who were at the edge got slightly wet from the spray. The hollow was dark and uncomfortable quickly filling with the smell of damp unwashed bodies. Amanda and Olivia crouched at the back with Alex laid in front of them. They quickly stripped her of her breeches trying not to see the marks on her legs but when Amanda went to remove her shirt she found it stuck to her back. She tried pulling on it lightly but when Alex groaned- the only noise she had made since collapsing- she decided to leave it.

Olivia had tears in her eyes as she stared down at the body of her friend. She hated that she had jumped to conclusions, that she had doubted Alex so quickly. She had let her walk away, trusted that the Sheriff knew nothing and now…. God. She felt a tear make its way down her cheek and quickly brushed it aside. Her anger wasn't gone, but this time it was directed back at the sheriff. That man had spent his whole life hurting Alex and Olivia swore to herself then that she would never let it happen again.

'You can make it better.' she said to Amanda bluntly, not daring to think that the blonde couldn't.

'Olivia….' Amanda could barely bring herself to tell her idol that she wasn't skilled enough. 'I don't know where to start…there's just so much…. I don't have my medicines.'

'We have to make this better.' Olivia said forcefully looking into Amanda eyes. The blonde stared back trying to convey comfort but not getting through to Olivia's pain. She quickly tried to think of how to help the woman on the ground in front of her.

'I can't help her...'

'Amanda' Olivia interrupted dangerously.

'But I know someone who might be able to.'