Nalan: Thanks XD New episode/chapter every Monday at 7pm...yeah, sounds kinda like a TV series to me ;) Or maybe a chapter play, which is how this story was designed. Seriously though, with other work, writing and commitments (not to mention Christmas shopping) one chapter a week is about my limit right now ;)

Q: No worries ;) And thanks :D

I tell you, I was not happy about going into that room. Bad enough most of the other rooms had already tried to kill us, but at least we'd been able to see what we were doing, unless you counted the room with the beam. It wasn't until Decker and Nadia had been in there for about three minutes without dying that I managed to force myself inside.

Predictably, the door slammed shut as soon as I was through.

"Peck!" Decker hissed. Why do people always speak so quietly in the dark?

"Yeah, that was me. You guys found anything? Any giant man-eating plants or something?" I felt my way along the wall as I spoke, moving until I reached the corner. That was better. There's something nice and friendly about a corner.

This particular corner, I discovered upon further investigation with my fingers, was already playing host to a hard, cold pipe...no, I amended after I'd pulled it and it wiggled a little, not a pipe; a cable. I frowned, trying to puzzle it out.

"Hey Decker," I said in a low voice. "What do you make of this?"

Decker fumbled his way over to me (or to be more precise, blundered right into me) and felt the cable.

"Think it's part of that electrical room?" I asked.

"No. Not unless this was the main power supply. Those cables were cut off and dangling; this one goes all the way to the floor and it's a lot thicker."

I knelt down and traced the cable with my fingers. He was right; it went right down into the floor and beyond, fed through a small hole. I gave the cable an experimental tug, then a harder one.

"Hold on," I said to Decker. "I'm going to see how far up it goes."

I took a firm grip on the cable with both hands and hauled myself up. I didn't do it as quickly as normal (I'm pretty good at rope-climbing, or cable-climbing in this case, but I'd been through a lot recently and my arms were getting tired) but that didn't matter, since the ceiling wasn't all that high. I wasn't sure in the darkness, but I guessed it at about twelve feet.

The cable went into a small hole up there too, a hole set in an inch-deep groove at the very edge of the ceiling. I couldn't make out anything else or see how such a tightly-strung cable could be dangerous, and so I dropped back down to the floor.

"Anything?" Decker asked.

I shook my head, forgetting he couldn't see the gesture, then said, "Nothing. It goes into a kind of groove, but that's all I can make out."

Nadia's voice drifted out of the dark from a place I guessed to be the other side of the room.

"There's one over here as well."

I turned to investigate, but Decker – either by good luck or really amazing night vision – caught hold of my arm.

"Those needles, Peck...any ideas how they got into your leg?"

I glared at him, or at least in his direction.

"No," I said flatly, "and if you even think about saying that Nadia did it, I'll tell everyone that you gave me CPR! Those things were embedded in the spark plug, Decker. Get that? Embedded. Through glass and metal. Do you have any idea how hard she would have had to ram them into my leg to do that? I'd have felt the impact, if nothing else."

Decker shook his head. "No, I don't think she tried to put those needles in you, Peck, any more than I think she was the one who filled that room with water. But if I were you, I'd be very careful around her, and before you put on your shining armor, Lieutenant, answer me this: can you think of any reason, any logical reason why I would want to turn you against Nadia? What do I get from it? You were going to leave me to take her somewhere safe after all this, which I understand and I was willing to do, she's too young for us to fight over her – and even if she wasn't, she's not my type – and we stand a much better chance of getting out of this if we work together. Why would I try and warn you about Nadia if I didn't think there was something to warn you about?"

I folded my arms, determined to get him to give up on this once and for all, although I couldn't quite shake the unease in my mind.

"Right," I retorted. "So if Nadia secretly wants to kill me – which, by the way, I still don't believe – then why me? Why hasn't she tried to kill you?"

I wasn't sure in the darkness, but I thought Decker might have looked away. Eventually he said very quietly, "I'm not so sure she hasn't."

"Decker, if you expect me to believe that you of all people would just stand there while someone tried to kill you, you're even crazier than I thought!"

"I'm not talking about her sneaking up on me with a knife, Peck."

"Right," I said again. "So what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about—" Decker began angrily, then broke off. In a quieter voice, he said, "Do you hear that?"

I went very still, not moving a muscle.

"Hear what?" I asked.

"That," Decker insisted, which seems to be both the most popular and least helpful answer to that particular question, I've noticed.

Straining my ears, I thought I could just about hear something; a low, very quiet hum.

"What..." That noise hadn't been there before, I was sure of it.

Decker was silent for a few moments, then abruptly said, "The cable's moving."

I reached out and felt the cable slithering upward. Something about that worried me.

"Do you think the floor's going up?" I asked. Dumb question, I know, but I couldn't think of anything else it could be.

Unfortunately, Decker could.

"No, I don't. I think that cable is hooked up to some sort of counterweight, which means it's more likely something's coming down. We'd better get moving." He said all this quite calmly, as if we weren't about to be crushed by a...well, whatever it was.

I didn't need to be asked twice. I turned, feeling for the right direction with one hand on the wall, and ranwithout stopping to think of what might be ahead. Fresh pain shot through my knee every time I put my weight on it, although I'd traveled with worse pain (that time when I got shot in the leg outside Khe San was a case in point). Even with a bad knee, I was sure I could make it to the exit in time.

It was at that point that I tripped and fell hard enough to knock the wind out of me. Not over a piece of rock or a tripwire, or even on a sneakily placed banana peel; that would have been bearable, although I'd never hear the end of it from the guys if it had been a banana peel.

No, I tripped over my bootlace. My stupid, stupid bootlace that stupid, stupid Decker had ordered me to tuck inside my boot rather than stopping to tie it up, because he'd been in such a hurry to stuff me into that crawlspace!

I fell forward, hit the floor hard and lay motionless. Anyone who's ever had the wind knocked out of them will know how it feels. If you haven't, you can't imagine it. The best way I can describe it is by saying your body goes into something like shock. You can't even yell.

I heard scrabbling as Decker reached the other wall – it was only a few feet away, how's that for irony? – and felt around it for the door, but couldn't call to him. I wasn't even sure he'd help me if I did. I wondered if he'd find an anonymous way of letting Hannibal know what had happened and then realized he wouldn't have to; my colonel would soon be getting an unlabeled video with the mail and could see for himself.

The door opened and I could see light on the other side. I guess I hadn't cut all the power supply after all.

Decker. I couldn't even whisper it; instead I just mouthed it and wondered why. Instinct, I guess; I'm not too heavy, but Decker could drag or carry me a lot more easily than Nadia could.

Something – I never did find out what – pressed against my ribs and kept pressing. I felt them crack under the pressure and bit back a scream, dizziness whirling through my head. I couldn't die here, not like this. Not this slow, lingering death. I just couldn't!

All of a sudden, I was grabbed under the arms and pulled hard. My ribs grated against each other and I screamed soundlessly, but then I was out, I was out from under that and into the next room.

I dimly heard Decker saying, "Now we're even, Peck!" but didn't have the strength to answer him. I felt numb, like I was floating in a bubble, and I was trembling so violently I couldn't move. My ribs were nothing but splintering pain and I collapsed onto my side, stars darting around in front of my eyes.

"Peck!" Decker's voice rang eerily in my ears and I rolled over, propping myself up on my elbows, and opened my mouth to answer.

Big mistake, as I discovered when I threw up. Again! It was bad enough having to puke back in that freezer room, but at least Decker and Nadia hadn't been around to see it.

I don't know how long I stayed there, but at last the stars cleared and I could see, although I still had that sense of numb detachment, as though I was seeing the world through a glass. Swallowing hard, trying to get enough saliva into my mouth to rinse out the sour taste of bile, I accepted Decker's offered hand and hauled myself to my feet.

Actually, that's giving me a little more credit than I deserve. The truth is that I yelped when I got halfway up and fresh pain spiked through my ribs, and I had to cling onto Decker for support. Once I'd managed to regain my balance, I looked around and saw the way out.

Well, alright, not quite the way out. Not in the sense of a door we could just open and walk through. But there was a small rectangular opening with daylight coming through it (it had to be daylight; no artificial light ever looked like that).

There was an inviting looking lever on one side. Before either Decker or I had a chance to stop her, Nadia walked up and pulled it. A low whirring filled the room, and the opening widened just enough for one of us to squirm through. Nadia glanced at us.

"I guess that's that," she said, and released the lever. Immediately, the opening slammed half closed.

Yes. That was that. This room was clear enough: two of us would get out, one wouldn't. There was nothing in the room we could use to tie the lever, nor was there anything to tie it to.

"Alright." Decker sounded tired. "Well, I guess there was no reason this should be any easier than the rest of the place. Peck? Grab the lever."

I choked. "Me? Why me?"

"You're a fugitive. That makes you expendable, so you hold the damn lever."

"Yeah, but unlike me, Decker, there's nobody on the other side who's going to miss you! You hold it!"

Nadia stepped forward, a look of terminal exasperation on her face. "I'll hold it! You two go."

Decker and I broke off mid-argue and stared at her. Both of us had taken it for granted that Nadia would be one of the ones to go through the window; the only thing left to decide was which of us went with her.

"What?" I said, stunned. "No!"

"You're soldiers, Face. I'm just a fifteen year old girl; the police aren't going to help me if I go to them with this."

I was about to say that I didn't think the police were all that likely to help me either, but Nadia continued.

"But you two are Army officers. They'll listen to you, you can go and bring them back and, I don't know, cut through the wall or something. I'll be fine here. Even if whoever did this comes back, you can search the place more easily with, I don't know, guns or cutting torches or something. And there'll be more of you. It's the only logical way."

I shifted my weight, studying the walls to avoid meeting anyone's gaze. Nadia's plan of sending us both to the cops for help was good, but I doubted Decker would go with me to the police except to deliver me into their custody. Oh, I was sure he'd send that help back for Nadia—

Oh really? a little voice inside me whispered, cutting off my train of thought completely. How sure?Because you're talking about the man who thinks that Nadia is a part of what's been happening here.

I glanced at Decker, who was staring at Nadia through narrowed eyes.

"How do I know you're not going to let go of the lever when I'm halfway through?" he said suddenly.

Nadia shrugged. "Face can hold it for you, if you want, then I'll hold it for him. He trusts me, Decker, even if you don't."

Something in the way she said that sent a sudden chill down my spine, although I didn't know why.

"Do any of us know what's on the other side of that window?" I asked. "I mean, we're not ten floors up or anything."

Decker shook his head. "No, we're on the ground floor. It's desert out there as far as I can see, although I can only see one side. Once we're through the window, we're free."

I nodded, then walked over and pushed down on the lever. "Alright. Go."

I could see in his eyes that this wasn't what he'd expected, but he wasn't stupid enough to argue. After all, if I'd wanted him dead, I wouldn't have bothered resuscitating him.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked me.

"Simple. I hold the lever for you, you get out. Nadia holds the lever for me, I get out. Nadia keeps holding the lever while you and I find a rock or something to prop the window open from the other side, and then Nadia gets out. Now, have you got that or do you want me to say it all over again?"

Apparently it was clear; Decker walked away without another word and hoisted himself headfirst through the window. It wasn't a graceful maneuver – people aren't meant to wriggle through tight spaces like that – but it was effective; he was out in about five seconds.

Nadia took hold of the lever. With my luck, her grip would slip or something and I'd be in serious trouble; that window snapped shut with enough force to break my back if I was stuck in the middle.

"Are you sure you can manage?" I asked her.

Nadia smiled. "Of course I can, Face. You go out and find some of your soldiers to send back for me."

I thought I'd leave the finding soldiers bit to Decker, but didn't say so. Instead, I walked over to the window.

Decker was right. It was a desert out there, if you'll excuse the cliché. I could see him standing a few feet away from me, watching.

Moving slowly, because any rapid movement sent pain screaming through my ribs, I slithered halfway through the window and stopped as I caught one of those ribs on the edge. The pain made me dizzy for a few minutes and I shook my head, fighting to clear it.

"Having trouble, Peck?" Decker asked me.

"I'll be fine," I retorted, although the words came out badly slurred. I watched him as he moved toward me. "If you're thinking of pushing me back—!"

"No." His voice was quiet, and something made me believe him. Decker might try and arrest me, might handcuff me, but he wouldn't force me back into that place. Still, even if he was waiting for me, I'd be happier when I was outside. The heat of the desert was exhilarating, thawing me out (those last few rooms really had been freezing) and I made one last effort to wriggle free.

As I watched, Decker shifted his gaze to just behind me and did something odd: he lunged forward suddenly, grabbed my wrists and yanked so hard that I popped out of that window like a champagne cork, tumbled on top of him and we both went down together.

A split second later, the window slammed shut.

"No!" I scrambled to my feet and lunged for it, scrabbling around the edge with my fingers and when that failed, trying to prise the two parts apart with my bare hands. "Decker, c'mon, give me a hand! See if you can find something to get this open!"

Decker caught hold of me and dragged me away.

"You can't help her, Peck. It's too late."

"Don't be stupid, Decker! There has to be another way in—"

"The only way to get to her is to find the entrance and run the whole damn gauntlet again! Do you really want to do that? Because there's no way in hell I'm going back in there, and you'll never get through that acid room without me."

I twisted out of his grasp and shoved him away so hard I sent him sprawling. Pain shot through my cracked ribs, but at that point I was past feeling it.

"We can't just abandon her!" I protested.

Decker picked himself up slowly – that gauntlet, as he put it, had left him in just as bad a shape as me – and shook his head.

"Wrong." His voice was very calm. "The Voyeur won't hurt her, Peck. Believe me."

I stared at him, searching for some hint that he was kidding. Even Decker couldn't be this ruthless. I knew he hadn't liked the poor kid, hadn't trusted her, but abandoning her?

"Look," I said, fighting to keep my voice even. "I know you don't trust her for some reason, but I'm telling you now that she has nothing to do with this! Nadia is just a fifteen year old girl who got kidnapped and sucked into the same hell as we did and I for one am not going to leave her in that building to die!"

I spun on my heel and strode back to the building. There had to be a rock or a really strong stick or...or something around here I could use to get the window open!

I'd gotten all of three steps when Decker spoke again.

"Is? You mean you still don't get it?"

Okay, I know that technically this was two rooms, but I couldn't stretch either of them out long enough to make two chapters, so I decided to put them together ;) Only two more chapters to go and then it's on to the next fic (genre voting is now open on my profile if anyone has any preferences ;)) In the meantime, hope you liked this and if you read, please review!