A/N: Thank you for reading, reviewing, favouriting and following. I'm so sorry for the delay. I have very little writing time at the moment, but a little inspiration coincided with me desperately needing some time away from real life. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

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As Emily drove across the city towards the run down industrial district, the streets slowly changed from quiet to deserted. She was a few minutes away when the growing sense of apprehension overtook her desperation to get to Marissa before she disappeared again. This could be a trap. She had no reason to trust the girl and every reason to fear those who surrounded her. But she'd jumped straight in without pausing to think. Had she learned nothing from the past?

With a renewed sense of caution, which she suspected stemmed from thoughts of the man who would be praying for her safe return, she parked her car a couple of streets away from her destination and made the rest of the journey on foot. With her hood casting her face into shadow, even when she crossed the orange beams of the streetlights, she wasn't at risk of giving away her identity unless she wanted to. And with her right hand never more than a few centimetres from her glock, she knew she wasn't as defenceless as her appearance suggested.

She rounded the corner, eyeing the partially boarded up warehouse at the end of the street. It didn't exactly do anything to put her at ease. There were too many places for hiding out of sight; too many vantage points for a shooter. She pulled her hood further over her forehead and tucked herself as close to the buildings as she could.

The sounds of the city played as a muffled backing track while the rain battering the damp ground, and the thumping of her pulse flooded her ears. She was hyper-alert, ready to respond to the slightest movement or noise. Her eyes scanned the area which surrounded her own elongated shadow, playing tricks on her as they detected shapes that weren't there. With the building tension, she was certain that something was about to happen.

At the clattering sound which echoed from the dumpsters on the other side of the street, she pulled her weapon from its holster and pointed it into the night. Her finger shook, just millimetres from the trigger, as two glowing eyes stared back at her. Her nerves held long enough for the startled creature to scamper away, abandoning its sack of discarded food in the middle of the street.

"It's just a fox," she mumbled to herself, relaxing her arm and daring to take a breath.

"Emily?"

She spun round in the direction of the voice, instantly alert once again. This time, the face at the end of her gun was that of a pale and frightened young woman.

It took a second for her to accept that there was no immediate danger and lower her arm.

"Marissa, you scared me!" she gasped, feeling her whole body tremble from the massive rush of adrenaline.

"I'm sorry," Marissa responded, stepping further from the doorway in which she'd been waiting. As the light struck her face it illuminated a dark bruise beneath one of her heavily made-up eyes.

"What happened?" Emily asked, reaching out and gently turning the girl's face towards her to reveal that her lip was also split and swollen. "Are you okay?"

Marissa flinched at the woman's touch and quickly pulled away, turning her eyes to the ground.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "It's nothing."

Emily frowned. She knew that tone of voice all too well, and she could tell the girl had taken worse than her latest beating.

"My car's just around the corner. Can you come with me?" she asked, slipping out of her damp jacket and draping it around Marissa's bare shoulders.

"No cops?" Marissa replied, making it very clear that was a non-negotiable condition.

"No cops," Emily promised. She hadn't come this far to throw away her opportunity to find out what was going on.

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The heater was up full, blowing hot air throughout the vehicle and steaming up the windows as it mingled with the moisture in the air. But it wasn't enough to stop Marissa's shivering. As she cleaned the girl's lip with the first aid supplies from the trunk, Emily put the trembling of her hand down to the residual effects of the adrenaline, rather than the temperature. She hadn't been so on edge since Doyle resurfaced for the first time.

"Let me take you somewhere safe," she offered again, as she wiped the last of the dried blood from Marissa's chin. "Or at least somewhere away from here." It was too much of a risk to bring her to the safehouse but she could easily hide her away in a hotel somewhere.

"I've only got a couple of hours before they'll miss me," Marissa replied. She pulled Emily's jacket more tightly around her skinny frame and leaned closer to the air vents.

"You don't have to go back. I shouldn't even give you a choice about that," Emily muttered, shaking her head. It was unbelievable that she was allowing the girl to keep returning to the men who pimped her out to anyone with cash.

"But if you did then I wouldn't tell you about Valhalla," Marissa reminded her, proving that while she'd been subject to more manipulation and abuse than most people could imagine, she was still sharp enough to get what she wanted.

"Why do you want to help me if you don't want my help?" Emily asked.

"Because I want the bastards who killed my sister to pay. And I want to be there to see it."

Emily nodded, seeing the same drive in Marissa that she'd been feeling since Sophie's death. Or more likely since Doyle had left her bleeding out on that cold floor. This girl wanted revenge and she would do anything to get it. Even if it meant taking the occasional beating from a client.

"What do you want to tell me?"

"Doyle's men are planning something big," Marissa began. "I don't know the details. All I know is there's a big delivery coming in. They've been calling it Valhalla."

Emily tried not to laugh – it would have done wonders for Doyle's ego that they had continued their work under his name.

"How do you know this?" she asked, focussing on the task in hand.

"My… There are other people who are planning on turning it into a bloodbath. They're still pissed that they couldn't get their hands on the baby."

"So it's not Doyle's men that were after her?" Emily inferred.

Marissa paused for a second, realising she could no longer pretend to be oblivious to the plans to snatch the child.

"They were – still are as far as I know. But they're not the only ones."

Emily sighed, biting down on her lip as discreetly as she could manage in an attempt to disguise her frustration. Marissa had always known far more than she was letting on, and while Emily knew the risk the girl was taking in speaking to a federal agent, she couldn't help but be annoyed at her reluctance to provide answers.

"I need names," she said, taking a far sterner tone than she'd intended. "My team need something to go on."

"Your team?" Marissa repeated in surprise.

"Do you really think I'd be doing this alone?" Emily responded.

The two women shared a look which made it clear they both believed that to be a plausible scenario. From what Marissa had heard about Lauren Reynolds, in the stories told in busy pubs as she tried to remain invisible, she was more than willing to do anything it took to get what she wanted. Rules and regulations and teams didn't factor into matters.

Emily watched the disbelief in Marissa's eyes turn to disappointment. Had she really been led to believe Lauren would be able to step in and single-handedly save the day? Someone so bright and streetwise couldn't possibly have been so naïve. But then again, how long had it been since she was offered any sort of hope?

"I can't do this on my own, but I will do it," Emily assured her. "We'll get them for what they did to Sophie. And for what they've done to you."

Her gaze came to rest on Marissa's bruises and her face fell into a deeper frown. She needed to get her away from this before she ended up like her sister.

Marissa nodded, somewhat reluctant to meet the older woman's eye now that her child-like burst of naiveté had been revealed.

"How's the baby?" she asked, trying to move on from the exchange.

"She's safe and she's doing well," Emily answered, knowing that despite the other risks she was willing to take, she couldn't give anything away about Lucy or her whereabouts.

"Do you have any pictures?" Marissa said, a flicker of light returning to her face.

"Next time," she replied, knowing there was an element of bribery in her promise. She had to keep drawing Marissa in and any incentive to meet worked in her favour. It didn't however prevent the feeling of disgust that she was playing on the emotions of an already vulnerable girl.

"Emily, I…"

Marissa didn't get to finish her sentence because a burst of sirens, that was just a little too close for comfort, took all of their attention.

"You promised no cops!" she exclaimed.

"That's nothing to do with me!" Emily insisted, knowing her protests were in vain.

The girl was already lunging from the car to make her getaway. The thin silver bracelet on her wrist caught on the seatbelt as she did so, causing her to pause as she tried to pull herself free.

"Marissa!" Emily pleaded, clutching at her last opportunity.

With one final tug, a flicker of silver dropped into the dirty puddle outside the open door, and Marissa took off along the dark street, leaving Emily alone to curse another lost chance at answers.

Her moment of exasperation and self-pity was however short-lived.

"Excuse me, ma'am," came the voice of a young police officer. "Can I ask what you're doing here?"