AN: I want to thank BST for helping me with this chunk of a chapter. It might not be as long as the second chapter but it's something. So thank you so much and thank you to Del as well who helped me figure out a few things. You both deserve praise for putting up with this chaotic mess that is me. The lovely DukeofQueers provided the French translation "Putain, ne me fais pas dire ce que je n'ai pas dit!" which in English means: "fuck, don't make me say what I didn't say."

COPLEY'S HOUSE

Someone is in there with her.

"What do you mean?" Joe demands as his attention is solely on Quynh who takes a deep breath and stares back at him, "Why did you say you think someone is in there with her, Quynh?" he continues, watching her exhale as the silence was like a punch in the gut as he thinks about what it means — not for them but for Nile.

"Because someone is," Quynh tells him, becoming ignorant of the others as her focus remains on him as he is the one to ask rather than Andromache. She half-expects Andromache to ask, to demand answers but she finds relief in hearing Yusuf questioning her, as strange as that might be.

She continues, "I know someone is in there with her and I don't believe it's a skeleton," the words cause her to feel nauseous as she remembers how Nile was feeling as she dreamt about her and tries not to gulp at the thoughts swimming in her head, "I think it's a corpse that's just beginning to rot."

Joe blanches.

"A corpse," He repeats the words, more to himself than to anyone else in the room as he begins to pace back and forth with him trying to keep calm. Not even looking in Quynh's direction as he speaks, "They locked Nile in a box with a corpse. . . to do what? What is there to gain from doing such a vile thing?" He murmurs, stopping his pacing to turn to look at the others with pain etching across his face that it makes Booker's heart sink.

"Joe…"

"No," says Joe, taking a step back as he glances at Andy after looking over to Nicky who is sitting, hunched over with his head in his hands, body pulled tightly against the chair, not looking up. "I can't … I need fresh air," Joe murmurs, feeling overwhelmed as he can't stop thinking about the smell of a rotting body, of Nile being locked in some box, breathing that smell every time she comes back to life.

Joe doesn't wait for anyone to say anything, turning and walking out of the living room without anyone following him as he disappears down the stairs while Andy's expression becomes torn as she wants to go after him. "Leave him be, Andromache," Quynh speaks, giving her an instruction which makes Andy bristle a little as she feels on edge, "as you can't say anything that will bring him any peace."

"I know!"

"Do you? Are you aware of what your words can do?" Quynh begins to say as she feels her control slipping once more as despite the conversation turning to Nile, there is a bitterness still deep inside her that comes boiling to the surface. "This isn't about you!" Andy snaps, "it's not about you, it's not about me. It's about Nile! We have to focus on her, not what we've said and what we've done."

"Andy!"

"No, Booker," Quynh's voice echoes as he has to stop and listen to her, despite the urge to want to tell Andy off for speaking to Quynh in such a manner with him feeling the way her hand touches his arm gently, "Andromache is right. It isn't about us right now," she murmurs as she tries not to show how hurt she is by Andy's sharp response with her taking a deep breath before continuing, "it's about her."

"We need to go through all this," states Andy, making a gesture with her hand to the paperwork that is strewn across the floor and knows that they need to look deeper into what had been given to Nile as well as where she set off from and heading to. "And then we can start searching for her."

"Let's begin."

Several hours pass by without seeing Joe as he is still gone from the house while they are trawling through the information, digging out details of how Copley got the intel, how legit the human trafficking ring was. It is rather disturbing for Andy to know the information was correct, that there was no lie as it makes her heart ache and a bitter taste appear in the back of her mouth.

"Fucking hell."

Booker curses as he finds the photos with him having grimaced at the sight, though it was not their first time dealing with such vulgar and disgusting acts of humanity. It makes him wonder how Nile felt, seeing everything that was in the file and even the extra bits of info provided by Copley who is sitting in a chair, a heavy stack of paper in his lap.

"Is it still active?"

"I believe so," James says, answering Booker's question as he does not flinch at the cursing which follows in French with him waiting for him to stop before continuing, "as I would have been made aware if Nile completed it before she was taken." He notices the way Booker's shoulders slump as the answer makes the other man deflate a little.

It was like he was hoping for a different answer, trying to force himself to believe that Nile had done it before being taken away. Now, they had two tasks to do in Booker's mind - to find Nile while also taking down the human trafficking that Nile had been going after in the first place with him glancing at the others.

"We should take them down," Booker says, startling Copley as he doesn't expect that answer, as he expects something else to be said, "We need to find her and take them down too. Don't tell me none of you think that's a good idea! If it wasn't for the human trafficking-" as he ignores the way that James shakes his head at him from the other side of the room while Nicky finally looks over at him.

"Is that what you think? We haven't even begun searching for her!" Nicky snaps, not waiting for one of the others to speak. He has read the files and feels sick from reading them with it being the first time he has spoken in hours. "There will be someone else who-"

"No one else will take them down, Nicolo!" Booker snaps back, not caring if it surprises the others or makes Quynh pinch his arm hard. "We have to do this. We can search for her and make this right!" He doesn't even let himself take a breath as he continues on, "You know I'm right! You know deep down that we have to do both. We have to find Nile and stop the human trafficking ring."

"We're not splitting up."

"I didn't say that!"

"What do you think will happen, Booker? Do you think we're going to split up? Let you find her while the rest of us go and deal with that. What happens if we do split up, hm? What happens if one of us gets taken too? Or-"

"Nicolò, Sébastien. . ."

Andy tries to interrupt them as there is silence from James and Quynh with her having to find the words to say, to stop them from arguing even though it doesn't come as a surprise to her as she watches Nicky stand up, moving forward but doesn't get too close to Booker.

"Arguing isn't going to bring Nile back," A voice from the doorway echoes through, rendering Nicky and Booker silent. "It won't stop them from committing crimes like they are either," from where Joe leans against the door, he sees them both deflate as their anger slowly retreats. Unwilling to tell them where he had been as Joe ignores the question in Andy's eyes, choosing instead to address the room, "We all know that even if it's a bitter truth to swallow."

"We need to find Nile first," Andy says with such conviction in her tone that makes Quynh want to believe that they will find her, that they'll be able to save her from the fate she endured for so long. It's how Booker stares at her which causes Andy to hesitate, "and then we can come back, we can look at these files and we can save as many people as-"

"What happens if we don't find her, Andy?" Interjects Booker with his sharp words startling her as shock appears on her face, "What happens if we never find her? What then?" Even though he knows it might be a step too far, it's too late to turn back, to stop the words from coming out of his mouth.

Nicky lowers his voice whilst glaring at Booker, "Is that what you think, Sébastien?" he questions him as a shiver goes down James's spine at the tone in his voice, "Is that what you want? For us to never find her," he pauses as anger begins to seep through, "Is that what you are hoping for?"

"Putain, ne me fais pas dire ce que je n'ai pas dit!"

"It's the truth."

It's how quick Booker reacts, invading Nicky's personal space, balling his hand into a fist before slamming it against the other male's nose. Not caring about how there is a sickening crunch as he swings again, wanting to hit him harder. His temper blinding him as he lets all his frustration out.

"Fuck you, Nicky!"

"You fucking bastard!" Nicky snaps, lunging forward as he slams into the other male, knocking him off his feet and onto the floor with fists continuing to fly as each hit seems to be harder than the next. Blood drips from Nicky's broken nose while Booker's lip is cracked after Nicky has split it open.

"Sébastien, stop it!"

"Nicolò!"

Furious shouts echo around them but their anger reaches boiling point as they continue to hit each other. A hit to the ribs winds Booker while a hard hit to Nicky's eye makes him feel disorientated with each hit seeming only to get worse as the blows are hard and heavy, pain beginning to flare up.

"Yusuf, do something!"

A low frustrated sigh escapes Joe as he watches the fight between Nicky and Booker before the insistent shout from Quynh makes him move. He turns his head to look at James briefly who simply nods before they have to try and separate them with Joe knowing it was better for him to grab Nicky.

"Nicolò, listen to me." Joe begins to say, speaking in Arabic as he grasps Nicky by his shoulders to pull him off Booker as it had begun to be a blur of motion, of heavy hits and quite harsh words being exchanged. "Let go of me, Yusuf!" Nicky snaps, still letting his rage blindside him as he thrashes in his grasp to try and get free.

James has an easier time in forcing Booker up onto his feet and shoving him in the direction of a sofa as he continues to push him until the man ends up hitting the cushions after a rather hard shove. "Stay," James commands, his tone sharp as his choice of the word makes Andy quietly snort.

Nicky's actions however make her frown as she watches him and Joe carefully, seeing how he makes Joe let go of him in a forceful manner, reminding her of a fight that had taken place years earlier. It makes her sad to think that this is something which could happen more times than not, as tempers were flaring badly.

"Nicolò, please."

Blood has stopped dripping down his face as he pulls away from Joe and storms out of the room without looking back. Joe hesitates, torn between staying and letting Nicky cool off by himself or following. "Go," Andy instructs him, sternly as her attention is on him rather than on James and Booker, the latter cradling his head in his hands. "We'll be alright, just stay close," she insists.

Booker lets out a heavy sigh as Joe leaves with him not being able to look up, not wanting to see Andy's expression or the reactions from Quynh and James. His head hurts and his anger is still bubbling away. "Fuck," he mutters under his breath, "fuck, I'm so sorry, Andy."

"It's not me you should be apologising to," says Andy softly, looking at him as she sees the way he looks so defeated, how his shoulders slump with his whole posture making her grimace as she quickly glances at Quynh. "But if you go out there right now, you'll only make things worse, Book."

"I know."

UNKNOWN LOCATION

A painful, loud gasp escapes her. She cannot see as darkness encases her but she can feel a maggot crawling up her left - or maybe it was her right arm. It was wiggling around her arm as a putrid smell began filling her nostrils making her want to gag. Lights flickering in the corner of her eye which doesn't quite register in her mind.

One.

It is the smell of a body, decomposing with that same, unsettling feeling of nausea slowly creeping up inside her. How long has she been locked away for? She only remembers counting numbers, the last time she came back, gasping for air as she starts to count again.

Two.

She tries to move her legs, to kick out at the bottom of what she is stuck inside. Trying to make enough sound for someone, for anyone to hear her. Nile doesn't believe she has the strength to try and push her hands up, to scratch her nails against the metal but she thinks she needs to do something.

Three.

A hitch in her throat as she realises what is to come next as it seems to be inevitable. She will start to lose air and die, suffocating like she has done so many times since being locked away in a box. Suffocating is something Nile never thought she would experience and even if she did, she thought it would only be a one-time thing.

Why haven't you saved me, Quynh?

Gasping.

Four.

Nile feels the air begin to fade away, already. No, no, no. It's too soon as she thinks about kicking harder, about reaching up to slam her hands against the metal, drag her nails across to make a loud grating noise. If she could catch someone's attention then she wouldn't have to die again, right?

She feels air leaving her lungs as she struggles to breathe in and out with her being aware that there is a maggot crawling up her neck. Nile tries to claw at her neck, to get the bugs off her body by scratching away when her right-hand touches another and there is a slight hitch in her throat.

The next time, she comes back — terror filling her as she cannot see. How many times has she died now? Fifty? More than fifty? When will it end? Nile wonders as she begins to count again as her eyes try to search for something, anything. Only for her gaze to land on a flashing red light from somewhere.

One.

Nile takes a deep breath in, closing her eyes shut. She exhales deeply, attempting to keep as much air in her lungs as possible. She feels the need to gasp for air to take a full breath, not obstructed by dirt. The need fuels her as she forces her hands up to feel the metal under her fingers before a sob escapes her throat after realising her hands were not up in the air, touching at the metal.

Two.

It was only her imagination.

Mom, forgive me.

AN: Well, this chapter was a . . . beast to write. I also want your opinion on if there should be a time-skip after this. Would you like to see a time-skip? If you do like to see a time skip - would you want it to be a few days, few weeks or a month or two? (I won't offer like years or anything because it's TOO SOON for one of those huge time skips). Thank you for reading and being patient with me.