Tally opened her eyes slowly. This memory she had seen was horrifying, but the General's presence felt realer, closer if possible, than in any of the memories before. It felt as though if she just reached out she would be able to touch her. Seeing the General lay injured by Nicte's doing was a sight she didn't want to remember but Alder's bruised face had burned itself into her brain.

She shook her head, trying to get herself back to her senses. Doing a cursory check of herself she was still physically unharmed, she still was chained to the most uncomfortable chair on the planet, and she still had an anti-vocalization collar clasped tightly around her throat. Her head hurt mildly but that easily could have been from being hit in the face any number of times by the spree agents.

She wondered how long it had been since they left. Her last memory before being sucked into Alder's past was of the spree yelling at her about the General. It really was an odd threat for them to use. If they really had people close then they surely didn't need her, but then again, the General was definitely capable of withstanding torture for probably an infinite amount of time, whereas Tally was not so capable. That reasoning made some amount of sense to her, but it still wasn't sitting right in her head.

She didn't know but she got distracted from her line of thinking by the lights turning off. Moments later a dark fabric bag was put over her head and she was being unchained from the chair.

"What's going on?! Where are you taking me?!"

They didn't speak to her at all, they just shoved her along until she was lifted into a truck or a van, she couldn't tell. The engine sounded old and tires were loud against the pavement as it lurched into motion.

Tally coughed against the collar and the black bag over her face, struggling to concentrate on how many turns they had taken, not that it would do her any good, she didn't know where she started. It did give her something to focus on though, so she did her best.

When they finally stopped, an hour or two later, she was pulled out of the truck and chained to a new chair, but it was just as uncomfortable as the last.

They took the bag off her head and she could see she was in a large warehouse. Goddess, she hoped someone would find her because this was not a place she wanted to die in. It was drafty, damp, and grimy. Why couldn't the spree have better facilities, she thought dryly.

She was left alone for the most part aside from one guard who just paced around.

"Are you going to kill me now?" Tally finally decided to ask. The guard didn't stop pacing.

"No,"

Tally was mildly intrigued by that but kept it to herself. She just wondered what was going to happen next.

"What do you remember, Cadet, be specific," Raelle looked everywhere but at the witch asking the questions. She glanced at Abigail who sat supportively beside her. She let her eyes briefly follow Petra as she paced back and forth, and finally she halted her gaze when she came to stare painfully at her own reflection blurred by the morning dew on the window.

"We were at my house in the Cession," She answered finally. This had to be the third or fourth time going over it. "It was getting late, not dark yet but getting there. It was cold out, cloudy, and grey. We were talking…" She paused and the woman across from her looked up from her notes.

"What were you talking about?"

Raelle didn't respond and instead searched her memories for any clue as to where Tally could be. Every moment of that night replayed in her head over and over, the outcome always the same. She was so lost in thought she missed the look shared between the investigator and Petra who had since stopped pacing. Abigail gave Raelle's hand a firm squeeze, which she managed to return albeit very lightly.

Petra sighed and came to stand directly in Raelle's line of sight. "I know we have been over this, but we need to go over it again. Anything could be helpful, we want what you want, to find Craven and bring her home,"

Raelle pointedly glared at her superior now. "My mom. We were talking about my mom, does that help you?" She asked distractedly, her voice gravelly and distant.

Petra began her pacing again. "Asking you for more details, no matter how unrelated, can inadvertently help you to remember more,"

Raelle sat back and crossed her arms with a huff, some of her feeling coming back to her. "Thank you, it helped me so much,"

"Okay, let's switch gears then," The investigator flipped to a different page of her notes from a previous time. "Tell us about Scylla,"

Raelle scoffed. "Not this bull...stuff again," She corrected after getting a warning look from Petra. "I already told you everything there is to tell! I didn't even know she escaped until the riot at the testing center! I saw her for a split second then she was gone,"

"You didn't speak to each other? You hadn't planned to see her there?" The investigator pressed. "Did you tell them Craven would be with you during the break?"

Raelle laughed humorlessly, in the way that Abigail knew she was really pissed off. "Ok. I see. You think I'm spree? Are you serious?! Are you saying that I, the army's new super weapon, collaborated with the spree…," Raelle was getting worked up now. The room shook with every word, the lights flickered momentarily, and even some of her speech had become distorted with the voices of unrecognizable others. "...informed them of where I'd be and hand delivered my own sister over to them?! Is that what you're accusing me of?!"

"Calm down, soldier," Petra warned but Abigail waved her off and came to kneel in front of Raelle instead.

"Look at me, Rae, we will find Tally, okay, let just get through this,"

"I don't want to talk anymore," Raelle hissed and Abigail nodded.

"I know I know but we need you to, please, she's my sister too, Rae," Abigail pleaded.

Raelle calmed down but the room didn't stop shaking and the lights had completely gone out now. Both of the young witches let their gazes fall on Petra who held a hand to her ear. The confused expression she had on her face confused them as well. That was, until she turned and looked at Raelle.

"You need to come with me right now! It's the General," Petra yanked her out of the chair and practically dragged her out of the room.

A few moments prior...

Izadora pricked her finger, dropping her blood into the crystal clear tank of water. The black squirming blob of black death grew and morphed to consume it. Sarah was transfixed by it, leaning in as close as she possibly could to see it. It moved almost rhythmically through the water but it was also menacing and grotesque. The glass being the only thing that kept it at bay, and she was thankful it was contained. Goddess help them all if it ever got loose on the grounds of the base.

She straightened herself up and considered what she would do now. She still had a headache but with the knowledge that Tally was now miles and miles away merely waiting to be brought right back into her waiting arms, she was feeling pretty good about the rest of the day ahead of her. "Thank you Izadora for the briefing. I will -" The rest of that thought died on her lips. "Is it hot in here?" She questioned, the pounding in her head growing, only to be instantly overshadowed by the scorching flames that erupted from her throat. She let out the only sound she could, an ash filled wail of searing pain and agony as she collapsed to the floor clawing at her own burning flesh. In an instant she was surrounded by officers, and fixers quickly followed after.

She felt her biddies struggling to take the pain from her, trying to keep her conscious enough to make her own decisions but she felt herself fading in and out, noticeable only by the distinct change of personnel every time she opened her eyes.

"Collar. I know you are untrained, but you very well may be the best fixer we have," Sarah could recognize Anacostia's voice anywhere. Anacostia stayed. How sweet of her, she thought in her borderline delirious and pain ridden state. Did Anacostia say Collar. Raelle? Tally Craven's best friend?! She pried open her eyes only to be blinded by bright fluorescent lights.

"Yes ma'am, I will do my best," The blonde haired cadet tentatively walked toward where the General lay dying.

"No!" The least injured biddy declared on Sarah's command, making Raelle freeze in her step.

"General, Sarah, now isn't the time for this, we need her to fix you," Anacostia argued, beckoning her closer. "She's the best we have,"

"I agree with the General, Collar is untrained and it would be highly irregular to allow a Cadet to link with her," Izadora defended the General's position knowing exactly why she didn't want Raelle to fix her. She knew what the girl would see if she did and there was no telling how she would react.

"Collar, I am ordering you to fix her now," Anacostia pressed, ignoring Izadora.

"I will not allow it," the General commanded through her biddies again.

"I am overruling you, Sarah," Petra barked as she walked up to them. "Raelle, get to work,"

The blonde nodded and put her hands under the general's chin. Even though General Alder glared up at her, she was more afraid of Petra at this moment, as she continued to follow her orders instead of Alder's. "We will do damage control if and when we need to, Sarah, but that is not our priority. Having you healed is," Petra continued and Sarah refocused her glare to be on General Bellwether.

"Knock and it shall be opened, seek and ye shall find," Raelle recited her usual words and focused as hard as she could on syncing up with the General. It was a strange sensation because of her connection to the biddies. Slowly but surely though, Sarah's wounds began to heal, only leaving redness in their places rather than the seared and burnt flesh that had been there only moments prior.

Try as Sarah might to keep her eyes open, the cooling touch of Raelle's hands on her and the energy being used to fix her soothed her back into a light stage of unconsciousness until the connection between them was broken.

Tally must have dozed off, waking from an intense burning feeling in her throat. She tried to shake it off or cough to make it feel better but it didn't help, it only got worse.

The guard had since stopped pacing and was now seated with her eyes closed.

She heard the sounds of more people outside, they sounded like they were fighting but she couldn't see what was going on. The guard with her finally opened her eyes at the sound of some screams and took off running to see what was happening, leaving Tally all alone.

Only a few moments later, several people ran up to her, undoing the chains and removing her collar. "Thank-you. Who are-" She couldn't finish that thought, her throat hurt too much to speak.

"We are the spree," One of them said quickly.

Tally was confused and in pain. "But why- doing this? - locked -up? Why -letting - go?" She hoped they understood because she could barely get through those few words without coughing. What in the name of the goddess was wrong with her.

"We are saving you, this was not our doing," The other one said and pulled Tally along.

"- don't understand," Tally was in a daze. She didn't know what was real anymore. Who had been holding her if it wasn't the spree? They said they were Spree, and the camarilla would have killed her by then, so who else was there and why were they posing as Spree agents? Tally had no idea, she just knew they were taking her with them, she didn't really have a choice, and her throat hurt like hell. Hopefully they would fix whatever was wrong with her, well they would have to if they wanted anything from her in the way of information. They piled her into a black van and seated her in between two agents. The burning feeling in her throat not lessening, if anything it was getting worse, she couldn't pay attention to anything else and she eventually collapsed into the lap of the agent on her right. She immediately heard some shouting but even that was drowned out by the pain.

Raelle backed away from the General slowly, still processing everything she just saw. "You know where Tally is?! How could you?" Her voice was quiet, but laced with anger.

Anacostia was confused and Alder tried to prop herself up to meet the blonde's now teary but fiery gaze. "I don't know what you mean," Her voice was hoarse and the lie was easy to tell but not nearly convincing enough for someone who had just seen through her eyes.

"Tell me where she is, right now! Or so help me I'll-" Raelle hissed, her fist clenched at her sides.

"Remember your place, Collar!" Anacostia put a hand on her shoulder. "What do you mean she knows where Craven is?!" The officer looked between them, finally settling on Alder. "General, I thought the spree had her,"

Alder's silence was answer enough.

"She's in New York," Petra said over her shoulder, giving up the information now that Raelle clearly knew.

"I can't believe you did this to her! She lo-" Raelle stopped herself, her anger blinding her. The General did not deserve to hear about Tally's feelings. Alder just looked at her curiously, not knowing what word was about to come out of her mouth before the girl thought better of it. "She looked up to you. She saved your life without a second thought, without regard for herself, and you did this to her?!" Alder didn't argue with her, she didn't have the strength in her voice but she also knew the girl was right. "Abigail and I are going to get her, and I hope to the goddess she doesn't forgive you so easily this time," Raelle didn't give her even one more look before she turned and left.

Alder let her head hit the chair once again and looked up to see Anacostia looking down at her disapprovingly. "I hope you are prepared to explain what you've done to my Cadet, ma'am," Anacostia said expectantly.

"I owe you nothing," Sarah managed to force the sounds over her raw vocal cords.

"You are correct, but others will demand that explanation, so you should probably figure it out," With that she left the General alone.

One single tear fell over Sarah's cheek but she didn't bother wiping it away. She willed sleep to take her again so she wouldn't have to deal with any of this. Perhaps when she woke up the girl would be back and this nightmare would be over. She would feel so much better knowing she was back on base, the goddess only knew what she was thinking when she gave all the orders to Izadora that morning.

Eventually she did fall asleep, thankfully for her. Unfortunately she did not dream, but that was preferable to having nightmares so she didn't complain.

The second her eyes opened again she asked for a status report on the retrieval operation. It was difficult to get a straight answer out of anyone, everyone was avoiding her gaze. "Just tell me they retrieved Craven and are on their way back now!" She shouted a little louder than she should have, causing her to cough. Izadora rushed over and forced her to lay back on the chair.

Izadora shook her head, looking down at her with a near blank expression that Alder knew was just about as sympathetic a look as she could get from the woman. "I am sorry, ma'am, but the undercover team was disabled and Craven was gone long before Collar and Bellwether showed up,"

Sarah closed her eyes and shook her head, this was not the day she had wanted to have. "Do we know by whom?" She didn't know what option was preferable to her, the spree or the camarilla, neither would yield pleasant results. "Is it not possible she escaped on her own?" She had that small fragment of hope until it was shattered by the small head shake of the necro officer before her.

"I'm afraid not, General. Judging by the broken glass bottles, Collar reported, we can only assume it was the actual spree," Izadora said matter-of-factly.

"Nicte," Sarah growled under her breath, shaking the building with her storms of fury that were now uncontrollably swirling around outside.