AN: Thank you to Bo for helping me edit this chapter and to Ebba for suggesting a scene which is included in.

I think Nile is dying.

Booker blinks, only to keep blinking when he opens his mouth, only for the words to die in his throat. The words repeat in his mind as he stares at Quynh in shock, tears dripping down her cheeks as a sniffle escapes her.

"You — I don't understand. What do you mean you think Nile is dying?" He didn't want her to pull away from his embrace as another sob escapes her, this time it makes his heart ache as he tries to pull himself together.

"She's dying, Sebastien," Quynh whispers, so faintly that he feels like he's straining himself to hear, despite them being on the bed together, his arms wrapping gently around her waist. "She's suffocating."

"That can't be right. She . . . she was going on a solo mission, that's all," Booker couldn't breathe for a second as his mind flickers back to a memory. His betrayal ran deep but Copley, no — James was able to work with his and Quynh's family, finding them jobs, helping them.

James wouldn't betray them, not for a second time. Right? "I need to ring James," his throat felt like it was burning as he said the words, trying not to think too much, to dwell on the past while Quynh was in his arms. He was supposed to comfort her, to listen, not shoot her down and distract himself.

"Stay, please. Just for a few minutes," he hears her say, "I can't . . . I don't want you to move just yet," a crack in her voice makes him feel as though someone is ripping at his heart and crushing it in their hands as he nods. "I'm here, Quynh. I'll always be here."

She closes her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder as she does, taking a deep breath in, feeling the air fill her lungs before she exhales. "She was scared," her lips feel dry as she speaks without opening her eyes.

When had she stopped dreaming of Nile?

Dreaming of her usually was more peaceful than her memories of Booker. She had been drowning, locked away in the Iron Maiden, deep in the ocean while he had been drowning his sorrows, his pain and anger in alcohol. Nile was like fresh eyes to her world. She could see glimpses of Andromache, of Nicolo and Yusuf through her. Now, all she saw was darkness. "She's terrified and alone," Quynh's words hit hard as he didn't know what to say, what to think.

"We'll get answers, I promise," Booker's voice sounds rough, as though he's trying to hold emotion but she couldn't open her eyes, as she wanted to see if she could rest against him, to see more and get a clearer picture. "—then I'll tell James and he can tell the others."

She feels restless.

"We cannot let them do it alone," Quynh says, blunt as her eyes open, staring at him with such a fierce gaze, it makes him flinch. "We have to help her, Sebastien. We have to try. Because why should we let her rot?" She barely takes a breath as she continues speaking, "What will happen to Nile if she spends five hundred or more suffocating? Like I spentdrowning!" Quynh explodes, though her words are bitter and cold as there was a flicker of rage that originally spurred her on to find Booker.

Pulling away from his embrace, she has the strongest urge to get off the bed, to walk away before she snaps and stains the walls with Sebastien's blood. "I need some fresh air," she murmurs, not waiting for a response as she disappears, this time letting the bedroom door close with a click.

Andromache, how could you? How could you leave me to drown?

Quynh flicks her hair out of the way of her face, letting it fall past her shoulders as she loses herself to her thoughts. She grabs her thick jacket and slips on shoes, not glancing back as she leaves the cottage. Snow is thick and crunches beneath her as she walks away from the small cottage.

How could you leave her?

"Where are you, Nile?" She murmurs as she takes a deep breath in and out, seeing a thin mist appear. She welcomes the cold as she decides that she needs to stay away from the cottage while her mind is so clouded. "Why didn't I see you?''

How many times have you died?

A crunch of snow beneath boots makes her aware that she is not alone, though she has no idea how much time has passed except the sun has risen. She is sitting in the snow, knees pressed up to her chin.

"I've contacted Copley," Booker's voice echoes as he slowly makes his way up to where she is sitting, as she turns her head to look up at him. "He said to meet him at his house but he doesn't-" he hesitates, "I didn't tell him everything."

"You didn't tell him about me," she retorts as sharp as ever with her rising to her feet, brushing the snow off her, "or Nile." It was how the blood drained away from his face that Quynh knew she was right.

"I just told him it was urgent," Booker told her, his shoulders hunching a little as he watches her carefully, "we're on the next flight out from Inverness so all we need to do is pack and get to the airport."

"I'm driving."

A wave of relief washes down on him when she doesn't strike out at him, doesn't make him land in the snow as he expects. All she does is shove past him after telling him she'll drive before making her way to the cottage. Booker flinches as he hears the front door slam open then shut.

"Putain je suis con." Booker hisses at himself while knowing he needs to wait a minute or two before he even dares to go back inside. They were to leave Invermoriston for Inverness Airport since he booked them on a flight from there to Heathrow before making the drive to Copley's house.

Driving whilst it was snowing made Booker feel anxious, except he wasn't the one driving. Quynh was and the way she was gripping the steering wheel made him wary before daring to reach over to turn the radio on when she slaps his hand away. "Ouch," complains Booker at the sharp sting.

"I'm picking the radio station."

"Did you see anything else? Maybe where she was? Or what she was in?"

"No."

Instead of elaborating, Quynh switches the radio on and puts on the heavy metal radio station, not caring about the volume. It makes her think of nothing but the music, which she's found a fondness for, while Booker mutters something under his breath.

It was silent for the rest of the journey to the airport with few words exchanged on the flight. Booker insists on driving as Copley only knew that he was coming. Music playing quietly during the second car journey, the only other sound coming from Quynh who taps her fingers against her leg repeatedly.

Parking the car outside of Copley's house makes Booker nervous as he switches the engine off, only to inhale and exhale as he unbuckles his seatbelt, getting out before Quynh does. The car doors being shut quietly.

A man opens the front door, looking surprised to see someone beside Booker. Her arms fold across her chest, disgust on her face after looking at the house then at Copley, "So, your house is ugly. It looks like someone decided to get a … what are they called again? Oh! A matchbox and put it together with no care for proper architecture.'

Booker scowls at her words as Copley blinks once then again, "You should find a better house," Quynh continues like she hadn't made any insult, "something which fits you far better than this monstrosity.'

"We should go inside," Booker interrupts before she can start saying anything else with James nodding then takes a step back. He turns to lead them through the house and up the spiral staircase to the main level of the house.

"I'm James Copley."

"I'm Quynh."

Booker begins pacing back and forth while Quynh walks over to the board where there's a photo of a licence with Andromache's face on it and touches the photo, running her finger across the name first then her face.

"Guess it wasn't your turn with the company's one brain cell when you got this place, hm?" She says bluntly to distract herself. "I'm disappointed, James. You can create all this," Quynh taps her hand against one of the photos, "and you still live here."

"I'm sorry?"

Booker turns at that moment, stopping his pacing as he registers only the last two words spoken by Copley. "You should be sorry!" He shouts.

He marches over to James, shoving him into the largest section of the bulletin board. "Nile is dying and you betrayed us!" He shakes James who has his hands up in the air, the board rattling, "She's just a fucking kid!"

"Book—Sebastien," James says, "I swear, I haven't done anything."

"I thought you'd be kissing, not shouting," Quynh interrupts them. Booker glances back at her before turning back and staring at James, searching for any sign of deceit on his face.

"Quynh?"

A familiar voice echoes from behind her causing Quynh to spin around. She catches a glimpse of a shocked Yusuf and Nicolo, who stand behind Andromache. Her breath catches in her throat as she stares at Andy.

"You . . . How did you get—" Andromache starts moving toward her.

Quynh doesn't let the red haze clear as she lunges forward, knocking Andy to the floor before back-handing her across the face before doing it again this time a lot harder, as she straddles her to stop her moving.

"You abandoned me, Andromache!" Quynh shouts. Her hands wrapping around Andy's neck, squeezing slowly as she continues to yell, "You left me to rot in the ocean!"

Loud, incoherent words from the others echo in Quynh's ears as she squeezes her hands tighter around Andromache's throat. As the other woman scratches at her hands and tries to shove Quynh off her, firm arms suddenly wrap around Quynh's waist and tighten, pulling her.

She kicks and shouts even more as she struggles in Booker's grasp. Copley still has his hands cautiously up in the air, torn between trying to help and staying where he was. Nicky rushes over to help Booker in pulling Quynh away, grabbing one arm while Booker grabs the other.

A grunt escapes Nicky as he is kicked hard in the stomach after he releases her arm and moves in front of her.

Blocking her view of Andromache.

Quynh is now yelling in an archaic language, kicking Nicky again. This time it was hard enough to knock him back towards James.

She slams her elbow into Booker's face as Joe pulls Andy to her feet. Quynh is still kicking out, twisting as she slams her boots into one of the boards, making it collapse.

"— Fuck! Listen to me, Quynh. . ."

Booker curses as she manages to get out of his grip by slamming her head back, connecting the back of her skull against his nose. Twisting around, she slams her boot into Booker's groin causing the man to crumple onto the floor, cradling himself.

Damn, that hurt. Booker thinks, grimacing. Quynh stands near the fallen bulletin board, breathing heavily whilst gripping luscious black locks in her hands, pulling hard as she mutters under her breath.

Booker shakes his head in the direction of Andy's conflicted face, her gaze wary as she glances between all of them. He gets back up on his feet, heading for Quynh and wraps his arms around her waist gently.

"It's okay, Quynh," Andy hears him say. "I'm here."

Andy rubs her cheek, still feeling the sting, the red mark slowly fading as she watches the exchange with bated breath. She was still in shock while Nicky was standing by Joe and Copley.

It wasn't like Quynh could truly harm her. She could kill her, sure, but Andy was certain she would only end up coming back. She chooses not to think of the alternative, her gaze settling on the interaction instead.

Joe is torn between happiness and anger. He feels happy to see Quynh again but he's also angry with Booker for hiding her release from them. "Quynh," Joe has to address her, to say her name before he strides over to her.

Booker lets Quynh go as he notices Joe moving, his back straightening and his shoulders stiffen, only to relax when he sees them embrace. Joe has his arms wrapped around Quynh's waist as she embraces him warmly, only for him to lift her off the floor to twirl her around when a small laugh escapes her. Quiet, soft words were exchanged between them with Booker only wishing that he could know what was said as he watched them interact before Joe set Quynh back down on her feet.

"Nicolo," Quynh's voice cracks, as she finally addresses Nicky, "I'm sorry for kicking you in the stomach," she apologises first as she moves past Joe, brushing against his arm as she walks over to Nicky. "Oh, how I've missed you." Quynh murmurs as she embraces him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he pulls her close to him.

Minutes ticked away, the peace of them reuniting makes Booker relax until he hears a question being asked by Joe, "Where's Nile?" he hears him say as Booker is unable to look up from staring down at his feet.

They need to know. Booker thinks as he listens to Andy's response first, "She's in China, isn't she? Didn't she tell you that she wanted to see the Great Wall? See how fast she could . . ." a sinking feeling appears in the pit of his stomach.

"I thought she left China," Nicky's voice echoes as it makes Booker look up, realising that they didn't know what he and Quynh knew. "Said she was going off to explore Egypt and see if she could find any of our-"

Why were they talking about Nile exploring? Quynh sat down on the sofa when the thought crossed her mind as her embrace with Nicky lasted longer than the one with Joe. She forced herself to pull away and sit down, refusing to even think of hugging Andy.

"She's not exploring, Nicky."

Quynh looks up at Booker who straightens his shoulders out and lets a puff of air escape him as he was the one to speak to Nicky. "What the hell do you mean by that?" Joe demands, turning to face him. "Booker, I swear if you have-"

Booker's expression turns sour, as he registers what Joe is trying to imply, "Me? I haven't done anything! I wouldn't — how could you say I would do that to her?" he snaps as Quynh gets back up on her feet.

"You betrayed us!" Joe snaps, stepping forward as Nicky's shoulders drop as he listens to him start on Booker, "You aren't even supposed to be here, Booker! You were exiled, remember? One hundred years—"

"Nile is…" The words died in Booker's throat, not being able to say the words that he heard from Quynh earlier that day, so he tries to change tactics to make them realise that she wasn't off exploring some forgotten wonder of the world. "Nile is on a solo mission."

"No, she's not." The silence stretches for what feels like an endless amount of time. Which is ironic, given how much time Nicky has been alive for, and he lets his gaze travel around each person in the room, dread filling him.

Someone is missing.

His eyes land on Copley, recognising the look on his face. Guilt. "No, she's not," Nicky repeats but this time it's something more of a demand and a question.

Copley sighs, rubbing his hand across his face as he shifts uncomfortably on the spot, "Booker's speaking the truth."

Anger settles on Nicky's face as he marches over to the man, gripping his jacket before kicking the man's right knee out from under him and making Copley drop to his knees. Copley is disorientated by a right hook to the face, "Where is she? I swear if you've betrayed us, I am going to kill you!" snaps Nicky.

"I haven't betrayed you, I swear," James protests, whilst trying to cover his face with his hands.

"Nicolo," Andy warns, her tone sharp as she sees how Booker has shifted into a defensive stance, looking like he wants to wrestle Nicky to the ground from witnessing Nicky punching James in the face.

"So where is she?" Nicky demands, not paying attention to the others. He ignores the small plea from Booker who speaks in French to him, ignores how Joe says his name after Andy did, and doesn't look to see if Quynh has moved or not. "Where's Nile, Copley?" He shakes the man hard.

"I don't. . ."

"Nile is dying, Nicolo."

Booker takes a shaky breath as he listens to Quynh speak, to hear her say the dreaded words that cause his heart to ache even more. "What?" Nicky asks, still having a tight grip on Copley's jacket as he looks towards Quynh, sharp blue eyes narrowing.

"What do you mean she's dying, Quynh?" Nicky insists, tightening his grip on Copley as he turns back to stare at him. "What have you done, Copley?" He glares at James, who flinches at the man pulling him up to his feet to slam into a wall.

"Nicolo, let him go."

"No," Andy hears him retort at Booker, "where did you send her?" His tone was sharp, not caring if he makes the others anxious when he slams Copley up against the wall, simply tightening his grip as Joe walks over to him. Joe places his hand on Nicky's shoulder, trying to pull him back when his hand is pushed away.

"Where did you send her?"

"Nicolo," Joe is speaking to him softly, keeping calm even if the way his hand gets pushed away from his husband makes him flinch. "Let Copley go so he can answer our questions and show us where he sent her," Is all he says in English as he switches to Arabic, letting words flow between them, to try to settle Nicky's temper a little.

Bitter words spew from Nicky's mouth, a mix of Arabic and Italian. He lets Copley go, but not before one last push, making the back of James's head hit the wall. He brushes past Joe, fists tightly clenched as he inhales then exhales, trying to calm himself as the others are silent, watching him as he starts to pace.

James grimaces. He needs a moment to stop feeling disorientated and takes a deep breath. He brushes his hands against his jacket nervously, looking at Andy. "I didn't betray any of you," he repeats himself, wanting to assure her first before walking over to the table where his laptop is placed.

"Nile promised to contact me using a burner phone after she finished," James continues, unlocking the laptop as he speaks. "But I haven't heard anything since I gave her the details for the second mission."

"How long has it been since you heard something from her?" Inquires Andy, who wants to demand or shout at him for not being told that Nile went on one mission and had been intending to go on a second mission without any of them as a back-up. Not even her.

"About a month and a half."

"You didn't think to tell us?"

Nicky spins around, facing him, "You didn't think to tell Andy that Nile went on some secret mission and hasn't been heard from since?!" He's breathing heavily as he says the last words, trying not to think of the worst.

Nicky remembers how it felt when Merrick took them, how the doctor experimented on him and Joe before Booker and Andy were brought in. He remembers Nile saving them, helping them get out of Merrick's labs. Now his thoughts linger on what could be happening to Nile since Quynh's words keep ringing in his mind.

Nile is dying.

"Are you dreaming about her?"

His next words were for Quynh, not letting James say anything in response to his demanding questions. Nicky faces Quynh who is standing up, standing close to Booker, her hand resting on his arm. It's an action that doesn't go unnoticed by him or Joe.

"It's why we came here," Booker speaks before she can answer, "Quynh woke up this morning after dreaming about her," he omits the part where it had been twice during the night that Quynh woke up, feeling as though she was suffocating. "We want to find her and we were . . . I was going to tell you, Nicky," he hesitates, running a hand through his hair. "I would have called and told you where to meet us."

Joe's attention is on Copley, who is pressing keys on the keyboard, searching for something before turning the laptop around to face them, "Her last known location was in Tel Aviv," James states, looking into it.

"It's where her last call to me is from." He says, tapping on the screen as he shows them where she had been located. Nile had been near a bakery known as Lehamim when she made her final call to him.

Quynh has a curious expression on her face as she pulls on Booker's arm to pull him with her as she walks over to the laptop, staring down at the screen. Technology to her was new and it feels so easy now to be found. "So, she's in Israel?" She asks, frowning.

"No, I don't . . ." Copley hesitates, "I don't think she is in Israel. Not anymore. You see, I gave her the mission brief in person while she was exploring Acre." He explains as Joe recognises the name of the place he mentions.

It was in North Israel with him and Nicky taking Nile to Acre several months ago along with Andy when they were on a break. They were relaxing as it had been before they accepted a mission as a group. He remembers the way Nile's eyes lit up, taking in everything, how they sketched side by side together. How she had been so eager to try new foods and take up lessons in Hebrew from them.

"She went back."

Booker hears how strained Nicky sounds as there's pain laced in his tone, though not from finding out where Nile had been. The man suspects Nicky has come to the dark and sad realisation that Quynh is now seeing Nile die through her eyes.

"Where was the mission supposed to be?" Booker questions him, seeing the way Copley sighs, how he rubs his face with one hand twice, looking as tired as he had been when they had seen him not long after escaping Merrick's labs.

"South Africa."

"What was she doing?" Andy demands as she watches James move around, stepping away as Booker has grabbed the laptop, examining the files that were up on the screen. A thick file is handed to her with it making Andy feel nervous to see the words: CONFIDENTIAL written on the front in bold letters.

A sinking feeling appears as she opens it to the first page, reading quickly as she tries to digest the information as fast as she could. Some pages were removed from the file, being handed over to the rest of them as Copley has the other file, identical to the one Andy holds.

"I vetted it thoroughly," Copley tells them, "but I didn't think she would go for it because it was more of a team mission," he says as he tries not to stare at them all at once with Quynh clutching one sheet of paper between her hands.

Joe exhales as he reads the information he has been given, his hands shaking a little as he reads a page. He watches out of the corner of his eye as Andy clears Copley's coffee table by knocking everything to the floor to spread the rest of the file out.

"A human trafficking ring?" Joe feels like he's exploding, as he utters the words, having read the page twice to make sense of what he was reading. "She went after a human trafficking ring, alone, without us by her side."

"She wanted to prove herself."

"Prove what, exactly?" Nicky snarls, tossing the sheets of paper he was given by Booker and Quynh onto the floor, rounding on Copley with a fierce glare. "Prove how much suffering a mortal can make us endure?!" He steps forward, being about to cross over to where Copley is standing whose expression is full of guilt.

"No," Andy murmurs, taking in all the information she can, spreading the contents of the file out as she takes a step back from the coffee table. "I think she wanted to prove that she could handle herself," she makes a wild gesture to the paperwork, "that she could help the world by taking down something as evil as that."

"She has nothing to prove, Andromache!"

"I know that, Joe."

"Do you?" Joe regrets it as soon as he sees the way Andy's expression crumples. There's a sharp jab about something with Booker grimacing as it causes Quynh to pinch him. "She looks up to you, to us and we-"

"Yusuf, don't."

"We've left her to die, Andy." Joe ignores Nicky's warning, dropping the paper on the floor as he makes a gesture towards Quynh afterward. His voice cracks as he asks, "How many times has Nile died, Andromache? How many times has she begged to be saved while we've been thinking she's just off exploring some wonder of the world!"

"Joe, please."

Joe ignores Booker's plea as Nicky is still glaring at Copley, not having said another word after he tried to give a warning to his love.

"What did you see, Quynh?" Joe's attention is firmly set on Quynh, whose hands are now trembling, her gaze filled with anguish. "Tell us everything."

"I didn't see anything," Quynh clarifies, only to hold her hand up, stopping Andy from trying to retort about what she said as she lets out a low sigh. "It was too dark, Yusuf. It was like she was in a box, maybe even a coffin."

The words cause Nicky to feel nauseous as he thinks about how terrifying it would be, to be locked away in some box, not being able to breathe, only to come back to life, over and over again. "She's suffocating," Quynh's words echo in his ears as he has to force himself to sit down, knees shaking as he listens.

"So, she's not drowning?"

"No."

Quynh does not want to speak of her time under the ocean or how she screamed for what felt like an eternity. How she kept dying, her bloody fists hammering on the Iron Maiden, to get free, only to keep drowning. Shaking her head, her focus is now on Andy, whose face drains of blood.

"Nile is suffocating and I don't..." Quynh hesitates, knowing she hasn't told Booker about it. Her fingernails dig into her palms as she bites her bottom lip. There is a hitch in her throat when she finds the courage to say it, "I don't think she's alone."

"What do you mean she's not alone?" Copley has to ask, not wanting to hear the answer but he is feeling sick by the turn of events. He can see how slowly Quynh turns and see the torment which echoes painfully in her eyes.

"Someone is in there with her."