Truth

"Where did you get this?" AJ whispered, looking at the photograph as Punk looked at her.

"Teresa gave me it." Punk said, "I don't know how she got it." Punk said, "Why did you never tell me?" He asked softly. He wasn't mad. There was no way he was mad at something like this. Something he couldn't possibly understand the feeling of.

"She said it… it was a boy." Punk nodded as AJ looked up at him, "You had him when you… before you had gone to the orphanage?" He asked.

"He wasn't mine." AJ shook her head, looking at him, "He wasn't mine." AJ assured him as Punk looked at her.

"April, it's… it's ok." He nodded.

"No, I promise… he… he wasn't mine." AJ assured him as Punk looked across at her, "My first baby was Raimy." She told him, "And then Vivian." She nodded, "Ok?" She said as he nodded slowly.

"Ok." Punk nodded, "Then… then who is the baby?" Punk asked her as AJ looked down.

"I was in a… in a room with a girl who was pregnant. She was sixteen. She went into labour and… they wouldn't take her to hospital. They didn't care if she or the baby died." AJ said, "I had to deliver the baby and… the girl… she died." AJ shook her head, looking on at the picture as Punk watched her.

"This was in a camp in Russia?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Girls got pregnant all the time. They would either let them die in birth or they'd take the baby and… sell it." She shook her head as Punk looked at her. He knew his wife like the back of his hand, but he didn't quite know all of the things she had seen during her upbringing, all the tragic and horrible things.

"Was she your friend?" Punk asked.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "They… they just… they dragged her body out on the floor." AJ swallowed the lump in her throat as Punk ran his hand through his hair, "Like she was nothing. I… I didn't know what to do to help her. I… I got the baby out and he was fine. We had blankets and we made sure they were clean… but she probably had infections and… stuff I couldn't help her with." AJ said.

"You were fifteen?" Punk asked her as she nodded.

"They took her body out and I was with the baby for a few days. They gave me milk for him and they let me name him. I was doing it for Stacey, my friend." She nodded, "But I was wondering why they were being so nice. They were giving me off days to take care of him. And no one ever got off days." She said, "And then they… started taking pictures of me with the baby." She nodded as Punk shook his head.

"Why?" Punk questioned.

"To sell us to another camp." AJ said as Punk sighed and nodded, starting to understand of course, "So when they were taking us in the car… that's when I jumped out." She said, "And I left him." She shook her head, "I left him there and I don't know where he was going but I… I couldn't do it anymore." AJ shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked at the picture.

"Shh, it's ok." Punk sighed, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around her tightly as she held onto him, "It's ok." He nodded, rubbing her back softly, which made her cry even more as she had bruising all over her back from her 'punishment' the day before.

She pulled back from him and dried her eyes, trying to get a hold of herself, "She must have looked into me at the camps and got… got a hold of the picture, and assumed that it was mine." AJ nodded, "But it wasn't."

"I just thought-"

"It's ok." AJ nodded, "It could have been me." She nodded, "What else was she saying?" She asked, drying her teary face as she sat the picture down.

"She was just being a bitch, no surprise." Punk said, "Just saying this place is just about being a successful business woman, like her husband would have wanted." He said, "And how… this is my punishment as much as it is yours." He said, "Which… makes me think this… this might not go the way we think and I… I'd feel better just getting you out."

"No." AJ refused, "No, I'm onto something here." AJ said, "I need to talk to Connie a little more and I need to get upstairs to see what's going on." She nodded, "They're hiding something and I think it… I think this is like a cover-up camp. There was a lot in Russia. Just businesses posing to cover up what's actually going on inside it." She nodded, "And everyone here thinks they're being saved and helped. They drug them, they're… raping them… I can't walk away from this." AJ said.

"And what if you get hurt? You can't expect me to be ok with this." Punk said.

"Well you were before." AJ said.

"That was before I realised how… how bad this is." Punk said, "I mean if you're right about this being a camp, I can't leave you in here. What about the girls? Forget about me, you need to come home for them." He nodded.

"I just need a few more days and I can get what we need." AJ said, "I need you to find out who the doctor is that Teresa is working with, who gets the records, I also need you to try and somehow find a list of all the girls here, and where they came from… I'll try and get some information to help but… I wanna figure out what's being hidden here." She said.

"I'll try and find out what I can for tomorrow, I'll come back and see you." He said as she nodded.

"Maybe that's why she's put me here. It's not really to put me through some sort of psychiatric evaluation. It's just another camp. It makes sense." AJ nodded.

"Then we gotta shut it down." Punk said, "What if I go to Coleen, to your office? I can see any activity that's been going on, any transfers, things like that?"

"Yeah, do that." AJ nodded at the idea, "Yeah." She said, "And I'll try and work my way up to the second floor, and I'll speak to some other people here. Problem is they all think this place is good."

"Do you hear any guys come in?" Punk asked.

"No." AJ said, "They… They give everyone a sedative before bed. I… I just pass out." She said.

"And what if someone tries to… do something to you when you're passed out?" Punk stood up, "No way… come on, let's just… let's get you out of here and go home. We can figure out something else. This is not worth this." He said as AJ stood up.

"I am not leaving these girls in here. I'm staying here and I'm getting to the bottom of what this is." AJ said, "You don't get to make this choice for me. I was brought up in all of this. I know what these girls are feeling. And they want to believe that this is good and safe here, but it's not." AJ nodded, "I'm doing this for girls like Stacey." She said, "And all the other girls who came and went." She said as Punk looked across at her and sighed to himself.

"What did you call him?" He asked.

"What?" AJ shook her head.

"The baby. What did you call him?" He asked her as she folded her arms.

"Thomas." AJ said, "I called him Thomas." She said as Punk nodded, "And every day I blame myself for leaving him."

"You were fifteen, April. You were in a horrible place, in a horrible position. You didn't know what to do." Punk said, "You can't blame yourself."

"I can and I do. Because I promised her that if anything happened to her, I would do everything I could to help him. But instead I… I just let him go. He's probably dead." AJ ran her hand through her hair.

"Or he got out, like you, and he's happy." Punk said, "You can't blame yourself for any of that." He said as she sighed.

"I do." AJ nodded, "You just… you need to find the doctor working with Teresa and try and find out why these girls, where they came from." She said, "I'll try and figure out the rest. When we can get hard proof evidence, that's when we can make our move. You know that." AJ said as Punk nodded, "This is FBI territory, as soon as we got stuff, we give Frankie a call and this all goes away." She said, "You gotta let me do this."

"Please just… be safe, be careful." Punk shook his head.

"I'm always careful." AJ nodded, "Nothing is gonna happen to me." She said, "You do your job, I'll do mine. That was the plan." She said as he nodded.

"I told the girls we were going on vacation when you get home." He said as AJ smiled and gasped with relief.

"I'd really like that." She admitted truthfully, rubbing her forehead tiredly as he smiled, "Anywhere. Just… just the four of us." She said as he nodded.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Once we put all of this to bed." He said as she nodded.

"I really miss you." She sighed. Having her family to miss was really hard. She missed her babies. Tucking them into bed at night, taking Raimy to school, getting those long, warm hugs from both of them. She missed being in bed with her husband every night and feeling safe.

"I miss you." Punk shook his head, "I just want you to know that you don't have to be here. It's not necessary. We can manage without-"

"Phil, you know I'm not going to leave until I get what I need. You know me." She said as he nodded.

"I do." He smiled, caressing her head softly, "I just want you to be safe, if anyone hurts you I… I'd feel responsible-"

"No one is gonna hurt me. It's just a few more days I need. Two or three at the most." She assured him, "And then this can be all over. She thinks we're dumb, and we don't know what's going on here." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, she does." Punk nodded, knowing because of the conversation he had with her.

"It's gonna be fine." She said as Punk nodded, leaning down and kissing her softly. She deepened the kiss, cupping his cheeks as she pulled him in by the loop of his jeans, backing herself against the wall with him as she tried to unbuckle his jeans.

"What are you doing?" Punk asked against the kiss.

"If we're quick." She nodded, leaning her forehead against his, "Please, I need this." She nodded, kissing him passionately as Punk nodded, lifting her up against the wall as she wrapped her legs around him. They both needed this before it was time to go back to work.

A/N: Hope you guys are enjoying! I know the story is really dark but I think it can be more interesting, but that's just my opinion. For anyone who wants it, my twitter is punkdlau

Thanks for those who review and support! More coming soon.