Ileeya rolled to her side with a groan. Her breasts felt hard and engorged with milk. When was the last time Adorei nursed? She usually woke up every two to three hours to nurse. As Ileeya moved, however, she slowly came to realize that instead of her warm soft bed, she was on a hard stone floor. She opened her eyes and sat up quickly, drawing in a short gasp.

She was in a cell! One wall was all stone with no window. The other three sides of her cell were made up of bars. Her mind immediately went to Adorei and she quickly looked around for her daughter. The infant lay on a pile of hay, still wrapped in her blanket. She picked Adorei up to make sure she was okay. The infant began to stir, seeking nutrition. Ileeya complied, cradling her in one arm and opening her tunic so Adorei could nurse. She used the blanket to cover herself for modesty's sake.

That done, she finally glanced at the other occupant of her cell, Kristie. Moving next to the human, she gently shook her. "Kristie? Wake up." She didn't wait for the human to move, though. There were three other cells in this room. She glanced in each one to discover Jelune and the human stranger two cells to her left. Amy was in the cell between them. And in the remaining cell to her right, closest to the door of the room, was Kirlothenin and Adam.

Ileeya moved over to Kirlothenin's cell and reached her arm through the bars. She couldn't reach him. "Kir? Kir, wake up! Adam!" She could hear Kristie stir behind her, but ignored her for now. She looked over to where her foster brother lay and called out, "Jelune! Wake up!"

"Wha-? Where-? Ugh! What is that stench?" The voice belonged to Kristie. Ileeya glanced at her, but could only shake her head. Their situation had finally sunk in and she now desperately tried to suppress feelings of growing panic. Adorei fussed and Ileeya mechanically lifted her to her shoulder and patted her back until she burped. She then cradled the infant again to let her nurse on the other side.

A rattle of chains could be heard as Kirlothenin moved. Ileeya saw that he had shackles on his wrists with a chain connecting them. She briefly wondered why only he wore them. But she didn't have time to ponder this as the blood elf sat up. Kirlothenin swore in Thalassian as he saw his surroundings. He looked around and upon seeing Ileeya and Adorei, stood and moved over to them. "Are you okay?"

"I think so. Kir, what's going on? How did we get here? And why?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. All I know is there must have been a sleeping gas in the house. Obviously, I discovered this too late." He scowled at himself.

As each person woke up, the questions were repeated. Who did this? Why? Where were they? No one had any answers. Kirlothenin discovered quickly that he could not create a portal to escape, in fact, he could not perform any magic at all. At first he thought it was because of the shackles he wore. They had some sort of inscriptions carved into them. Yet, Ileeya could not perform her magic either. There must be magic prevention wards up inside this room.

He glanced at his cellmate. Adam's wrists were tied with a leather strap. Kirlothenin tried to untie it, but some sort of hard substance covered the knot. He glanced at the others in the room. Jelune was pacing his cell. Lord Aron was leaning back against the wall, brooding. Kristie was holding a scared Amy as best she could through the cell bars. Ileeya held Adorei. No one else was restrained in any way other then he and Adam. This, he concluded, meant that something special was planned for them. But what?

About an hour after they had awoken, steps could be heard approaching the door to the room with the cells in it. They all looked in that direction as they heard locks clicking open. The stench in the room suddenly grew as an undead forsaken entered the room.

"What is the meaning of this!" Lord Aron moved to the front of his cell in anger. "I demand you let us go!" No one else spoke. The others in the cells were either too frightened, or were sizing up the forsaken. The undead's face was impassive as he ignored the human's outburst. He merely stood there observing them as much as they observed him. He said nothing as he waited.

It was Ileeya who finally spoke. "By Elune!" Her voice was whispered, but spoke volumes as she finally recognized him. "Kir!" She backed up against the wall and close to the bars next to his cell. She held Adorei close to her, just barely conscious enough to keep from smothering her child.

"Ah, finally." The undead man spoke in common. "I was beginning to think you had forgotten me, my dear." He slowly approached her cell and noticed the human female in the cell with her move in front of the night elf, eyeing him with a mix of fear and apprehensiveness. With an inward smile, he merely took a couple of steps towards the cell with the little girl and the human female abandoned the night elf to protect the child. "Stay," he commanded her before moving back to face the night elf again.

"What do you want, Forsaken?" Jerold turned to face the angry face of the blood elf. The rogue stood next to him with just as angry an expression.

"Want?" He pointed towards Ileeya. "I have what I want- What I've wanted for the past year and a half ...no thanks to you two."

The rogue seemed to finally recognize him. "The auction..."

Jerold nodded his head once. "My reputation and finances were ruined because of your little con." He moved closer to their cell, but stayed just out of arms reach. "Oh was I the naive one. You had it all set up well, didn't you? Pretend to sell the slave, take the money, and steal the slave back to pull on someone else!"

"That's not-"

"Silence!" Jerold did not raise his voice. But the vehemence in his tone convinced the blood elf to say nothing more for now. "I had to pay the apothecary back from my own funds. He had to find another subject for his experiments." He found himself feeling oddly satisfied at the shudder the female night elf gave at this bit of information. He gave a smile, stretching the dead skin of his face as far as he dared. "In an hour, my associate will arrive and take you two," he pointed to the blood elf and the rogue, "to the apothecary to suffer the fate she would have."

"Then let her go! Let the others go if we are all you need!" The blood elf's plea amused Jerold to a degree. Oh how he must be suffering! Let him suffer more.

"Because you asked so nicely...no." He moved back in front of the female's cell and looked directly at the night elf. "I paid for her. She is my property. And as the infant is hers, so too is it mine." He didn't even flinch when the blood elf rushed to the bars of the cell with a growl.

"I'll pay you back your gold!"

"It's too late. I've lost more than just gold when it comes to her." He kept his voice calm and spoke matter-of-factly. "She's not for sale. I will never sell her."

"But the others don't belong to you! Let them go at least!" This time it was the rogue pleading for his friends safety.

"It was their own fault for associating with traitors such as yourself and I'll have no more discussion on the matter. They are a source of income for me...or research," he waved his skeletal hand carelessly, "whatever the case may be."

Jerold moved to the door of the room and paused to look back at them. "You have one hour to say your goodbyes." He left the room, locking the door behind him.

…

Jackson hesitated for only a second before knocking on the door ahead of him. All agents knew not to disturb Master Shaw at home unless it was an emergency. He figured he was about to end his career with this news, but he also knew he would be worse off if he did not inform Shaw right away. He raised his fist and rapped on the door.

A muffled voice inside the home told him to wait a moment. After a minute, Shaw opened the door. His hair dripped water and a towel hung around his neck. He wore only a pair of cloth lounging pants. He held his scabbard with a sword in his hand as he answered the door. Jackson surmised he was in the middle of a bath before his interruption. Mathias frowned. "What is it Jackson?"

"He's missing, sir." Jackson shifted under Shaw's narrowed gaze, but he did not retreat as much as he wanted to. "I arrived this morning to relieve Trenton and found him unconscious at his post. I immediately entered the residence to find Mrs. Alexston fixing breakfast. She told me that he had left for work early, but when I checked his office, the agent watching the office there said he hadn't shown up."

Shaw let out a curse. "I knew he'd try something! That man just doesn't know the meaning of the word 'no'." Shaw whipped the towel from around his neck and rubbed it in his hair to dry it some more. He stopped and looked at the waiting Jackson. "What about Kristie Alexston?"

Jackson shook his head. "I haven't seen her at all on this assignment."

Shaw pursed his lips for a moment, then nodded his head. "I'll find out about her from another source. Go back to the Alexston home and stay with Elenor. And Jackson..." He paused to make sure the agent had his full attention. "If anything happens to her, you'll be demoted back to fourth finger, possibly kicked out of the guild, got it?"

Jackson nodded his head and turned quickly to head back to the Alexston home. Shaw shut the door and stood there for a moment. "If you keep listening in on official conversations like this, I may have to promote you, just so you don't overhear something you don't have clearance for."

Maggie Strome unstealthed behind him. Her own hair was wet, but she was more fully clothed than Shaw. "I'm not here because I'm looking for promotion, Shaw."

He turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "If I thought you were, you wouldn't be here, Strome."

Maggie couldn't help but smile, but only for a moment as she recalled what had interrupted them in the first place. She could only assume the missing person was Baros. Why he was missing, she had no idea. But she knew she could answer one question at least. "Adam said that he, Kristie, and Amy may stay the night in Moonglade." She filled him in without being asked.

"Go check on them. Make sure they are safe." He went to the bedroom where he picked up her leather arm band off his bed and tossed it to her before changing into his gear.

She put her arm band on, recalling with satisfaction how quickly the band had come off last night. She didn't dwell on it, though. Now was a time for business, not pleasure. "What are you going to do?"

"Go after him. What else?" He buckled his scabbards into place, quickly pulling out the short swords and checking them before putting them back. He told Maggie where he was going and to follow after she had made sure the others were safe.

"What does Jorach want with him?" She couldn't imagine what Lord Jorach would want with Baros.

"Ego. That's all."

"So there's no danger to him?"

Mathias paused. "Knowing Baros, maybe. If he keeps his mouth shut, he'll be fine. If he shoots it off..."

Maggie could well imagine what would happen. "Meet you there, then." She turned towards Shaw's window, not wanting to leave by the front door. Their 'one-night stands' have lasted longer than expected. And the longer it went on, the more chance there was that others would find out. Neither one of them wanted to consider their relationship as anything more than a matter of convenience. In fact, Maggie was starting to grow concerned that she may be growing too comfortable with him.

As she climbed out the window in her ghosted form, she snuck a glance back at him. He had paused in his movements to stare at the window she was climbing through. Was he getting too comfortable as well? Maggie frowned and climbed to the roof where she made her way to the the gates of Stormwind. She scolded herself for even thinking such a question. It meant she cared about what he thought...which was a dangerous path towards more of a possible permanent relationship. She wasn't ready for that. Was he?

…

Lara and Jerold had waited in the laboratory. The gas they had put into the house had been strong enough to force the prisoners to sleep for the whole night. As they had waited, Lara had tried to convince Jerold to let her take the other human male. She had been hoping for them to argue again. But he had known this and shook his head. "Perhaps the elf and rogue will entertain you enough with their own misery on the journey, my dear. I still have not decided what to do with the rest. Perhaps I'll sell one or two. Let Faranell know that I may have other specimens if he has the gold."

She went down with him to check on the prisoners, but had stayed outside the room, out of sight. Lara preferred to avoid the living, opting to move among them only when she had to. Now, as Jerold returned from the prison room, Lara asked him, "Why did you bother to let them say goodbye?" They returned to the laboratory where Lara randomly picked up different vials and inspected them. She just wanted to go and get this job over with.

"The living are sentimental, Lara. They will worry themselves and mourn for their lost loved ones, wondering just what is going to happen to them." He took a vial from her that she had just picked up. "That's acidic, my dear." He put it down and moved on to find another vial he had been looking for.

She had fallen silent as she tended to do when thinking about the living. A slight scowl formed on her face. The living hate the forsaken. Even members of the Horde. Perhaps not the tauren, though. But they only seem to feel pity for the forsaken. She didn't want pity. She didn't want anything from the living, other than their pain. Giving them pain and misery was all she had to live for. She, like many others of the forsaken including Jerold, could not remember her past. So, there was no past for her to even live for. Some regained their memory, but most didn't care enough to even try.

It mattered not. She stood up when the hour chimed on Jerold's goblin-made clock. "Let's go." She was tired of dwelling on...nothing.

Jerold led the way back down the stairs, but did not open the door to the prison room. Instead, he turned and slid open another door to the right. He ignored the small spiders and the gray rats that were quickly skittering out of the light of the doorway. It opened into a tunnel where a cage on wheels sat waiting. A skeletal horse stamped it's hoof as if impatient to begin it's journey. He went to the small cage and opened the door in preparation of its occupants.

After that was done, he went back to the prison room and unlocked the door. Inside he observed the rogue and human female clasping hands. She was stiff with red-rimmed eyes from crying. The human girl was sitting near the night elf hunter with her arms resting on her knees, her head down. The blood elf stood stone-faced, staring at him. Jerold gave him no mind. The hunter and other human male were trying to comfort the little girl, he assumed.

Observations done, he spoke. "Time to go." He pulled out the keys to the cell, knowing they would put up a fight. He was prepared. Jerold unlocked and opened the cell door. But the two occupants stood towards the back with determined looks on their faces.

"If you want us, come get us!" It was the rogue who spoke.

The forsaken smiled to himself. That old trick. "I may be dead, but my brain still works. You seek to overpower me within the cell." He moved away from the cell, certain that if they tried to run, Lara would stop them easily enough. "You will exit the cell." His voice remained calm and confident. Jerold moved two cells over to stand in front of the cell with the little girl. She had been separated from the others for reasons such as this.

The mage and rogue hadn't moved. "Well if you don't come out, perhaps I'll send this one instead." He took out his keys to open the girls cell door as he heard a quick shuffling of feet of both the elf and man rushing to the girls aid. He didn't even look at them. His yellow orbs for eyes just watched the fear wash over the little girl's face. The shuffling stopped as Lara's frost nova spell immobilized them.

Jerold finally turned to them with a sneer. "Sentimental living creatures!" He pulled out the vial he had found earlier and approached, still staying out of their reach. The vial had a pale yellow color to it. It wasn't liquid inside, but a gas of some sort. He uncorked the tube and passed it close to the blood elf and human, risking their grabbing him. The human was able to grab his clothes, but that was all before his face became blank and he just stood there limply, along with the blood elf.

"What did you do to them?" The human female had moved to the front of her cell, trying to reach out to the rogue.

Jerold didn't even look at her. "The effect is temporary, I assure you. The apothecary I'm sending them to prefers them whole and healthy before he starts his experiments."

"Don't do this to them. Please."

The forsaken finally looked at the female. He took a step towards her, and faster than she may have expected, reached out and grabbed her wrist through the bars. He felt her try to pull away, but his grip was too strong. He pulled her arm through the cell bars until she was forced to press herself up against the bars. At this point he stopped, knowing his time was short before the effects of the gas wore off. He moved his face close to hers, seeing the revulsion in her expression from the smell of his rotting flesh. "I'll do as I damn well please." He could see the shudder run through her and let her go.

He then motioned for Lara to help him and the two escorted first the blood elf, then the human rogue to the small cage in the tunnel. It was just tall enough for them to sit up in, but not stand in at all. Once inside, Lara closed and locked the cage door. She moved to the skeletal head of the horse and with a click of her tongue, urged it to move forward.

Jerold watched them leave with some satisfaction, knowing that only pain and torture awaited those two. He closed the side door and waited for a moment before returning to the prison room. After all, there were other prisoners who needed his attention now.