"So what are you trying to tell me?"

Butters stares across at Stan Marsh as they sit at his dining room table. His apartment is similar to Butters; neither of them make much money, but at least Stan can afford to pay all of his bills. He appears tired as he swirls a cup of black coffee across from him, and rests his head on his hand.

"Kenny didn't run away, he was kidnapped. And Cartman has years of proof."

Stan raises an eyebrow, which makes Butters retrieve the files from his pizza delivery bag.

"Kenny's a part of a human trafficking ring. I haven't been able to read any of it, but Cartman and Craig-"

"Cartman lost his badge two months after joining the force." Butters sighs heavily, "and Craig... Craig... he's Craig, man!" Butters slides the top file to Stan, who sighs heavily and opens the manila folder.

His eyes scan the documents and examine the pictures. With every moment that passes, the color drains from his face and a worry line etches deeper into his forehead.

"Is this real?"

"I saw him tonight..."

"You saw Kenny?" Butters nods and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. Stan rakes a hand through his hair and sighs shakily before he opens his laptop. "How... after seven years... everything we thought..."

"Was wrong," Stan shakes his head and buries his head in his hands. He takes a deep breath and pinches the bridge of his nose as he stares at the document before him. "And Kenny, and all these other people who are involved, need our help."

"They don't realize what they've gotten themselves into. This is way bigger than they know."

"You know about this?" Stan waves his hand in a haphazard manner and grimaces.

"I'm an advocacy journalist, I know that there is an entire underground of human trafficking going on and they've dug themselves into a deeper hole. If they think they can just swoop in and save Kenny, they're dead wrong."

"W-what do you mean?"

"They're objects for life, they-"

"They're people, Stan!" Butters interrupts with a horrified look on his face.

"Not to the pigs. Not to the people that buy them and do the sick things they do. It's not just sex, either. Companies will buy people to do their work for no cost. Parents sell their children, rent their children... it's not just drug lords and mob men. It's the people down the street and the big business assholes on Wall Street." Butters' eye twitches as he stares at Stan. "And if they bust them, they're dead. To them, these prisoners are their objects, their sale items... they're stolen. Cartman and Craig would be stealing Kenny, and they'd get him back and kill them for it."

The blonde's hands are shaking as he listens to Stan. As he stares at the files he realizes his dear friend is completely right. If Cartman and Craig haven't thought this far through then they would have a huge problem. And what would the repercussions be when this information is leaked? Would they even be taken seriously?

He just has to hope that everything will turn out okay. That their work is not in vain and that he can help them with whatever they need. That they can save Kenny and finally bring him home.

Butters knows he's in shock; his mind hasn't had time to realize his best friend who they had all been told had run away was really abducted. Kenny is a sex slave and has been for sale for seven years now; his mind is lost at fifteen. On top of all this his ex-boyfriend and close acquaintances have been working on the biggest cover-up their generation will ever see.

And there is an effect to their actions. If they save Kenny and release the information, then they are all put at large. Even he would be; and he's just the poor sap who delivered the damn pizza.

"So you don't think it's... worth it?" Stan sighs and glances up from his laptop. His fingers hover over the keys before he finally types something.

"I didn't say that," he mumbles, his eyes are set on the picture of Kenny. "I just hope they know what they got themselves into."

Butters can say the same for himself. But deep down he knows that bringing these papers and being available to help them will be for the best. Because Kenny needs their help, all of these people need their voices finally heard. Perhaps with a former cop, a private investigator, a journalist, and a pizza delivery guy they could manage to do just that, and so much more. It was empowering to have all of this information and proof; they are right. There is no way that those involved would get away with this.

"Butters, they have a list of the people these guys have... Jonny Bledel... that was Kenny's manager at the strip club. He's the one who sold Kenny according to and two other girls were sold to this guy on the same night. The girls went to... Jesus, how do they have all of this?"

"What?" Stan shakes his head and types something on his laptop. He then looks up and sighs.

"These girls were sold to arranged marriages. Their parents sold them off."

Butters' stomach churns; their parents. This runs thick with blood now; parents were selling their children.

"It says the older someone is and the more damaged they are the less money they'll make. Most don't live to be twenty-three..."

Butters stiffens; Kenny's twenty-two and is going to die tomorrow if Craig and Cartman can't stop it.

Stan grabs his phone and calls someone. He tilts his head at the raven, who rifles through the papers.

"Kyle?" Butters swears his heart stops. "Listen, there's something going on and I really need you to get down here." A moment's pause and Stan glances at Butters. "Yeah, it's about Kenny. Kyle I'm looking at the papers, it's him. He was sold into the human trafficking ring-" he hears Kyle's sharp voice, "yes, Kyle! I'm looking at a fucking picture of Kenny McCormick that Cartman must have- I know he was kicked off the force but it's Kenny! It's... it's Kenny and he's needed our help for the past seven years and we didn't even know..."

Butters' eyes sting as he hears the words. Seven years have gone by. A few hours, no a split second, has changed everything, and now they are all left to question. Most of all, Butters can't help but feel guilty for thinking Kenny abandoned them all. But how were they supposed to know?

"Kyle is coming over. He... you know how hard Kenny's disappearance was for him, he-"

"For Kyle?!" Butters barks, "Stan, Kenny is my best friend! I have blamed myself every day the past seven years because I could have been a better friend and helped him! And you know what? That's still true! I could have never lost faith in him. Kenny didn't abandon us, we abandoned him!"

Stan's lip quivers and he looks as if he ready to say something. At the last minute he sighs and lowers his head.

"You're right," Butters feels the tension leave his body, "you're right dude..." he trails off, then thumbs through the papers again. "Oksana Borsnova... she was, Christ, she was ten when she was taken. If that's... that's her and Kenny in that picture. That's her..." Stan trails off, "she was twelve."

"What happened to her?" Butters asks as he sits next to Stan and skims the page.

"She died. Her body was found a month ago on the side of the road outside of Baja, California."

"She was only nineteen..." Butters trails off, shaking his head in disgust. "She spent most of her life as a slave..." Stan just stares at the paper and covers his mouth with his hand.

"Butters?" Stan asks; his voice is soft. He's scared to speak, and Butters has a feeling he knows what he's going to say. "We need to tell her."

"I..." he trails off.

Karen McCormick is the second most difficult name to say. Butters knows she deserves to know, as well as their parents, but this is the last thing she needs to hear. Besides, right now telling her in person was physically impossible, and the phone calls are monitored.

But Karen does need to know. She needs to know her brother is alive and didn't leave her. She deserves to know the truth and to finally be able to have some sense of closure. She hasn't been able to move on, and perhaps knowing he was alive would be exactly what she needs.

"Not right now. It's too soon. We can't give her false hope..." they catch glances, and Stan nods.

"When we have Kenny?"

"Yeah."

They are left in silence as Stan resumes his typing. Butters stares at his hands and wonders how everything always turns out this way. Everything was normal, everything is always normal, until one moment flips everything upside down. Now here they are picking up the pieces as they figure out just what happened to dismantle their teenage years. Everything they believed to be true was a lie, and now they are all facing one of the biggest underground industries in the United States and the world.

This is the stuff of movies. This doesn't happen in real life. But he shakes his head as he realizes that yes, it does. Every day countless children and adults are taken, sold, bought, tortured, abused, killed. But no one thinks to consider it, or even the importance, until it hits home. Well it came swinging and hit hard, Butters realizes with a deep grimace and an aching heart.

The front door opens and Kyle enters with a worry line etched into his forehead. Without saying hello, he grabs the stack of files and reads each and every word. His eyes appear haunted as he stares at the photos, and finally he exhales.

"You were serious," Kyle says to Butters. The blonde nods and folds his arms across his chest. "This... that's Kenny."

"His name is right there, Ky," Stan trails off, "somehow they even managed to get copies of the names and prices. I just don't get what the number is by the name. They all have them... Kenny's is 42." Kyle's hands shake as he continues reading. He is completely absorbed in the facts, the proof, and the sinking feeling of realization. In seven years they have all graduated, gone to college, and moved on with their lives. In seven years Kenny has been sold and moved throughout the country, maybe even the world, stuck in the mindset of a fifteen year old boy. Or worse.

"So... what are we going to do?"

"Craig is... Craig's with him right now. He's undercover as another..."

"Slave?" Kyle asks with distaste. Butters nods. "Does he realize he could get caught and stuck there?" Butters nods once more, "and that's the plan?"

"He's wearing a bug. It's being transmitted and recorded to Cartman's computer."

"So... if Cartman comes here... we can..."

"Hear Kenny, yeah. He's supposed to be on the way." Kyle nods slowly and glances to Stan, who is still typing.

"And you're writing the report?" Stan gives a nod and scrubs a hand through his hair. "This isn't just some fucked up dream?" Butters grimace deepens, and he sighs heavily.

"No, it's not."

"Kenny... he didn't run. He was taken..." Kyle trails off. His voice shakes and his eyes are glittering, "and he's been through... through so much. And I thought..."

"We all did," Stan murmurs, "we all thought he left us. Is there anything you can do to help with this? I just... I don't know who I'll give this to." Kyle sits down with Butters and pats his shoulder, then tries to smile at Stan.

"I got it," he assures, "are we sure Craig is safe?" Butters is silent; he doesn't nod or shake his head. Craig had looked absolutely terrified but his safety isn't his first concern. And it's not Cartman's either.

"I'm sure they have a plan," yet as Butters says this he isn't so sure. In the past there hasn't necessarily been a plan; so what would make them have one now? A part of him can't help but wonder if there is a plotted course of action. After all they have been digging for months; why wouldn't they be planning as well?

Kyle, Stan, and Butters begin piecing the information together in an outline for Stan to write. As each second passes they burrow deeper and deeper into this hole that they aren't quite sure they will make it out of. This is the biggest moment of their entire lives, it's almost as if the pieces had been laid out for them to pick up. As vile and gut-wrenching as some of the details are they can't tear their eyes away from the readings and photos.

Because this is Kenny's life over the past seven years, right before their very eyes. And if they look away they won't have the answers to their questions.

A banging on the door breaks them from compiling the information. Stan closes his laptop and Kyle quickly shoves the files back into Butters' pizza bag. Cartman comes running in with his laptop open and a small program running on the front.

"Good, you're all here," Cartman says, then sets the laptop down on the table. "We've got shit to do and I can't do it alone."

"Is that...?" Butters can't quite finish his sentence. The brunette nods and turns the volume up.

"I've been listening the whole way."

"That's not love, that's rape..." they silence as they hear Craig's voice, and a quiet sniffle on the recording. This is the first sound they have heard from Kenny McCormick in seven years.

"Do you have a plan? Craig could get killed if they find that on him, Cartman!" Kyle is waved off by Cartman.

"It's in his pocket... if anything they'll take off his clothes before they mess with him, it's not like-"

"Jesus Christ!" Stan shouts in horror at his friend's words, "that's... dude!"

"Well, it could happen! Craig knows how to fight 'em off, besides I said he can't be touched 'til I sell him and that's never gonna happen." Three pairs of eyes stare in horror at him. "It's part of the plan."

"Then how does your plan end...?" Cartman sighs heavily, the raises his eyes.

"That's the problem," he mumbles, "I need $20,000."

"W-what?!" Butters cries, "what for?!" Cartman rolls his eyes and points at his screen.

"H...he raped me," they hear Kenny's whimper. The first words they've heard from him in so long. He sounds broken. Dead. Kyle shakes his head at Cartman and stands up.

"No, no, no, no!" He cries, then tears at his poofy curls, "you cannot do what I think you're going to do. God dammit Cartman!"

"What...?" Stan asks, Kyle whips around and points at their oldest friend.

"That fucker is going to buy Kenny... and he wants my money." Butters' eyes narrow and he turns to Cartman.

"It's the only way this can be done!" He yells, "you think we can just go in and sweep him away? No! We have to buy him, and then we'll bust them, get the money back and save those people." Stan shakes his head and closes his laptop.

"But you realize you're gonna be just like them? Kenny's going to hate you... maybe all of us." Cartman sighs and slumps his shoulders forward.

"I think I'd rather have him out of there and hating us than having him die in twelve hours."

The three of them grow silent. He's right. Kyle groans softly in frustration and pulls out his wallet.

"I'm transferring the money to you. I get it back and I'm donating it. I'm not touching this again," he hisses, then grabs Stan's laptop.

Butters eyes Cartman, who appears defeated. He then realizes this is the only option they have. But it's all a matter of trust; Cartman is Cartman. He may be working for the law, but if he owns Kenny... he shakes his head. Cartman wasn't that kind of a person. He wouldn't possibly keep Kenny. They just have to trust him, and he wasn't quite sure how to do that.