Mai's head was spinning as thousands upon thousands of questions were running at the speed of 500 miles per second. When she thought she had a good grip on normality and safety it would be yanked from beneath her feet in a matter of seconds; who were these people? She just wanted to be left alone, just wanted to sleep, but this masked jerk kept poking and prodding with no remorse. Why didn't they just kill her then and there? She didn't need to be saved, at least, that's what she told herself but when Soap reached a hand out for her that night, she felt- no, she knew that things would get better if she took his hand.

The man that escaped was just one of the higher ups in the ring. She wrote before passing the notepad to Simon, the masked man took in the info and stashed it in his brain. This intel hinted to the fact that there were more of them in the world, his blood boiled when he slid the notepad back to Mai as he prepared his next question for her; she was unmoving while tears still fell and threatened to drown her. Before he could ask his next question she was already scribbling words onto a blank page, he wanted to speak up and stop her, to grab her tiny wrist and just feel her tremble in fear.

There were other women and girls there, but they were moved, I was only left there because I was his favorite. By now Johnny was hovering behind her like a protective honey badger, looking down and reading the sentence she had written almost brought him to tears; she had been there for 2 years alone? His heart shattered, he just wanted to take her into his arms and hold her close while he comforted her. The whole game of "pass the notepad" continued for 5 minutes between Simon and Mai, during those 5 minutes the men got the info they needed; there were 10 'Kings' and 20 'Knights', 40 'Bishops' and 80 'Rooks'. Those were only the "top ranks" while the 'Pawns' were many and spread out, she had no clue how many there were exactly since the Kings would keep recruiting more and more Pawns.

This trafficking ring was known as "The Chess Board" and they were anywhere and everywhere the shadows reached. Being "The 7th King's" favorite she was able to hear some important details about the Chess Board's moves, their bases, where their safe houses were and where they would have their next 'auction' at and when. The masked man was satisfied with this amount of information, he felt that Ghost Team would keep this girl for a while- or longer- and make her part of the team, or a mascot of sorts, he was done asking important questions about The Chess Board and wanted to know more about her.

"Now," his whole attitude shifted from hatred to curiosity, "where were you smuggled in from?" The man crossed his arms, his body shifting into a relaxed position in hopes to calm the girl down and get her to use her voice again. She tilted her tear stained face to meet his mask covered one, his dark brown eyes peering at her with a sense of desperation and loneliness.

"First off," she started, seeming offended by Simon's question, "that's racist to just assume I was smuggled into the states."

"Lass has a point LT." Johnny giggled at her remark, "Don't assume things." Simon glared daggers at his sergeant who instantly shut up upon seeing that glare.

"Okay then," although they couldn't see it, he was grinning underneath that mask of his; this girl was the first ever to talk back to him like that and it felt relieving in a way, "Which part of the 'States' are you from then, sweetheart?" Mai rolled her eyes, wasn't it obvious where she was from? California. The Little Saigon District, not too far from Anaheim actually. She was feeling a bit more comfortable around these strangers, sure they were a little abrasive and very straightforward, but they didn't seem threatening- they weren't bad guys. Mai looked to both the sergeant and LT, noticing how much bigger in height and build they were than she was, she smiled and gave them both a small 'thanks' under her breath which only Simon could pick up.

When they noticed that she was calm and speaking more, the men wanted to ask more questions, get to know her as a person. They took her gentle smile as a sign that she felt safe in their presence- Mai was a first gen immigrant, both her parents fled to the states during the War. Her parents met in a cafe sometime in the 80s, they were both in their 20s when they got married, and in their 30s when they had Mai. December of 2001… Mai's father, Vinh Phan, was in the US Army- he was a sergeant, well respected and loved his job but had a tendency to neglect his family. Especially her.

"Dad would always come home stressed," Mai shrugged, "always yelling and throwing things, he would never hit mom." She gently pulled the sleeve of her shirt to the side to reveal a faded scar. Mai's father would always blame her for not being the perfect child, the disgrace of the family, the embarrassment. One day when he came home from work he was so upset that he burned her shoulder with a lit cigarette, she was 5. She was a kid… Throughout her childhood, Vinh would constantly drill army training into her as if he were trying to raise the perfect little soldier; the training ranged from stealth training, resistance, and he taught her how to fight. All of this would've been fine if Mai were 18 and willing to learn these lessons but it's difficult to speak up for yourself as a kid.

"I forgive him though." She continued, "Ran off to Cali after I graduated high school, became a teacher- a good one too. He was still disappointed." she laughed. It seemed that no matter how much she tried she would always seem to fail her father. She was never good enough, even when mom got sick and passed away- she tried to be there for her father, even went so far as to letting him move in with her, but it was never good enough. That was her story, that was who she was, she hoped that answered all of the questions Soap and Ghost had about her; the men wanted to know more, know every little detail about her from her favorite color to her favorite drink. Now was not the time.

"Mai," Soap started, "I am so sorry you went through everything you did."

"Don't be." she flashed him a sick grin, "When the Chess Board came after me, the old man's fighting lessons helped me fend some of them off…" The more she spoke the more smitten both men became, the more they wanted to protect her and be in her presence. But time was not on their side that night. After the interrogation Soap led Mai to the room she'd be staying in, it wasn't much but it was something at least. Better than cardboard and a bedsheet. Better than nothing.

"We got you some blankets, a fresh set of clothes," Johnny went on about her sleeping arrangements while Mai seemed to be frantically searching for something, "Lass, what'cha looking for?"

"The bag I had with me," she panicked, "where is it?"

"Bag?"