"What do you think she's doing?" Raelle muttered to Abigail while they looked over a map of known spree activity.

"I don't know, probably nothing," Abigail looked over her shoulder to glance at the General who was sitting at her desk within the warding circle looking stoic and resolved as ever. The General's biddies were all looking at Alder. All eight of them were silent though. Abigail looked for a moment longer and Raelle even turned to look too, before they turned back to the map. "Yup, that's exactly what I expected to see, a whole lot of nothing,"

Raelle rolled her eyes. "You'd think she'd at least look like she cared a little bit more, you know, after that whole lecture. 'Oh if I could I would be out there right now' blah blah blah," She imitated the General's tone from earlier.

"Come on, Rae, this is the General we're talking about," Abigail scoffed. "If what you saw was really what happened, then she probably doesn't want Tally to be found, not alive at least. No matter what she said,"

That made the blonde tense up. "I hope you're wrong. She did sound like she wanted to find her, and when I was fixing her, I didn't feel any ill will toward Tally. If anything I felt…uh,"

"What?" Abigail looked at her.

Raelle shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know, like she cared, a lot,"

"Oh really? And you believe that?" Abigail had her arms crossed in her typical 'you've-got-to-be-kidding-me' stance.

"I don't know Abs. I'm not saying she loves her or anything, but her emotions were strong and she felt like she knew she made a mistake,"

"If you say so, but I don't believe it,"

"If I was Nicte, where would I take her? What would I do with her?" Alder thought over the questions over once again as she looked down at the map that detailed current troop positions across the state.

"Somewhere secluded," Devon responded.

"Obviously Dev. She needs more than that. Half the state is forest," Ava remarked.

"Sarah, have you noticed how cold it is?" Jodie asked tentatively.

"How could she not, it's freezing in here, can we get some blankets?' Chimed in April.

"Can we just focus please, Tally probably has it worse," Devon interjected into their side conversation.

"How are you guys not concerned about this?! This isn't normal!" Rosa piped up.

"Because Tally is still missing, how can you think about anything else?" Alder's second eldest biddy, Jamie, snapped. She was probably the most bitter about what happened with Tally out of all of them.

"How can you focus on Tally in these conditions?!" April argued.

"By remembering we-Alder got her into this situation, so we have to get her out," Jamie pointed out harshly.

"How will that work if we all freeze to death? " Rosa retorted. "I want Tally back just as much as you do!"

"I find that hard to believe," Jamie rolled her eyes.

"Quiet down unless you have something helpful to add. Bothering her and bickering isn't doing her or Tally any favors," The eldest, Danny, stated through the link from where she now stood at Sarah's right hand, hand gently on her shoulder.

'Thank you,' Alder took her hand and looked up at her gratefully. She had been ignoring them all until then. She really did have more important things to focus on but she did also have an obligation to them.

Danny nodded with a soft smile.

'But it is Cadet Craven. What did I tell you about getting too familiar?' She scolded them all harshly.

'But General…' They all groaned in unison .

'No, there are no exceptions,' She looked across all of their faces.

"You call her Tally all the time," Jodie pointed out.

"I do not,"

"You do, and it's okay. Sarah, we like her too, it isn't something you should feel the need to hide from us, we support you," Danny said calmly, she was almost always her voice of reason.

"If she liked her that much, why in the name of the goddess did she torture her then?" Jamie asked fiercely.

"To protect her! Jamie, we've been over this!" Ava snapped.

"And to make sure she could handle herself if she ever was actually captured, which she has been," Danny added.

"Only because the General ordered that elaborate scheme in the first place!" Rosa took up Jamie's argument.

"You all know information is dangerous, especially when the General is involved. We all know she cares about her and therefore that she had to do that to her, as unfortunate as it was," Danny continued.

"Ladies, please enough of this. And for your information, I do not like her-" She stopped herself after seeing the disbelieving looks from each of them. They knew her too well, she did have a soft spot for her cadet. That fact was inescapably apparent. "She is a fine cadet, that's all I'm going to say,"

Her two youngest, April and Devon smiled, the next two Jodie and Ava nodded, both Rosa and Jamie rolled their eyes, and Danny looked down at her knowingly. "Regardless, please forgive me for being distracted from your needs,"

'I'll consider forgiveness when Tally is back,' Jamie said pointedly.

Alder glared back at her but after a moment she relented . 'I understand you are all feeling the strain of this, and I am sorry…' Alder went silent, and they could all feel her guilt in that instance. 'But it is being taken care of, I am confident she will be found and returned unharmed,'

'You harmed before she even left the base,' Rosa stated.

'Unharmed any further then,' She sighed audibly. "And in the meantime, I will send for blankets for each of you, does that sound acceptable?"

"Don't forget one for yourself," Danny added to which Alder cracked a rare appreciative smile.

"Quartermaine," She called for her daughter, the slight waver in her voice had the drill sergeant's attention immediately.

"Yes, General?" Alder couldn't decide if the concerned tone of Anacostia's voice was sweet or insulting, but she didn't dwell on it too much.

"Is it cold in here?"

The drill sergeant looked at her curiously. "Not to me, I was actually feeling rather warm, why, what's the matter?"

Alder racked her brain for what could be causing this. "I don't know, but perhaps call upon Major Verger, and have some blankets dropped off for my biddies,"

'And…' Almost all of them echoed in her head at once. She sighed and shivered involuntarily. "And one for me as well,"

"Right away," Anacostia looked across the room at the biddies. "Thank you," She mouthed to them, knowing the General would not have asked for herself if not for them. Even though she was upset with her for this mess, Alder was still her mother and she didn't want to see her suffering anymore than she already was.

"So it does go both ways," Nicte's lackey said out loud as she watched the blurry images shuffle across the wall above the fireplace. Sarah Alder was central, and several officers walked around in the background.

Nicte just watched in thoughtful silence, with a rueful smile upon her lips. "That certainly makes everything more interesting,"

"So do we still need the girl's cooperation, or can we use her for something else?" The other woman looked from Nicte then back up to the image of Alder passing blankets to each of her biddies.

Nicte's eyes flashed with the orange reflection of the fire and her smirk widened. "There's no reason we can't have both,"

Tally desperately tried to focus but the stiff unrelenting bone chilling cold prevented it. All she could think and feel was cold. Her body shook violently and her breath left her mouth in thick grey puffs. Every attempt to use her sight resulted in a vicious stabbing pain behind her eyes.

This was a nightmare. Her stupid mouth got her in trouble again. Without fail, she always made things worse for herself by speaking, she should really figure out a way to get through life without having to do that so much.

Thoughts of trying to escape had long since left her mind. Even if she were to get out of the restraints, her muscles were slow to react, her fine motor skills had been numbed and dulled. The window was too small and the door led to the other room where there were undoubtedly several spree agents. She wouldn't be able to move fast enough to get away without being caught or killed by them.

She clung to the idea that they couldn't kill her because they wanted information or leverage or something. It didn't really matter what it was, they couldn't get it with her dead. She just had to keep reminding herself. Nicte wanted her alive, well really she needed her alive, for whatever reason. Still that was a step up from the General. If she lived, if she died, it was probably of no great consequence to her. Tally balled her hands, albeit slowly and painfully, at the thought. She willed herself to think about something else. It wasn't hard, she had an overwhelming plethora of unanswered questions.

The fact that Nicte now had her locked up yet still alive, was confusing by itself and she couldn't wrap her head around it. She was being held by the real spree now, for real this time. Nicte was unmistakable. So then who was holding her before, who was imitating the spree, and why? What could they possibly gain from pretending to be the spree?

Nothing made sense to her at all, she just knew she wanted out of whatever this was and she wanted answers, eventually. First and foremost, she wanted it to not be so damn cold.

She had no way of knowing how long had passed until she heard voices on the other side of the door. Curiosity and the need to not be blindsided by any oncoming attacks compelled her to slowly force herself to look up.

A bright light shined on the other side and the sounds of muffled shouts filled the air.

Could it be? Had the army found her? The door was blown open.

She half expected to see Nicte, but she instead was greeted by the sight of the General out of breath and standing before her. When their gazes connected everything changed.

Any pain or suffering left her. Everything, every other feeling, the cold, the fear, the confusion, and everything about her present situation was erased as she looked into those crystal blue eyes.

"Tally! Thank the goddess. What did she do to you?!" Alder was quick to cross the room and crouch down in front of her. She ripped free Tally's bindings before cupping her face, inspecting her for any physical damage.

Tally couldn't help the tears of pure elation that sprang into her eyes. "General, you're here, you came to rescue me?" She didn't believe it, but she felt her hands on her face, how could it be anything but reality?

"Something like that," She muttered. "What did they do to you?"

"Nothing, really, I'm okay. I am so happy to see you," Tears still streamed over her cheeks and she hugged Alder tightly.

"Shh, calm down, I've got you now, you're safe," Alder hugged her back. "And I am happy to see you as well, Tally,"

That surprised the cadet, it went against everything she knew about the General. She tried to push herself away to look in her eyes, but Alder didn't release her.

"Don't fight it, I'm not fighting it anymore,"

Tally stopped struggling. "Fighting what, ma'am?"

"You felt it, I felt it, our connection. In your absence I have come to realize that to even attempt to sever it was a mistake," Tally felt the General's voice rumble through her and she couldn't help but smile.

"I-I don't know what to say, I can't believe this, are you serious?" Tally buried her face in the General's shoulder, while it was being allowed.

"Incredibly. I have missed you…desperately," She whispered close to Tally's ear.

"Goddess," Tally inadvertently gasped. "I missed you too, but can we please get out of here?"

"One thing first," Alder did pull back from her then.

"What is it?" She searched the General's eyes and they looked cold, distant.

"What did you tell them?" Alder's voice was void of any emotion and the scrutiny of her gaze was overwhelming.

Tally's eyes widened. "Nothing! I would never. I swear I didn't tell anyone anything!"

Alder nodded and smiled, but there was still no feeling behind it which put Tally on edge. "Very good girl, come here," She said softly before pulling Tally into another, if possible, tighter hug.

Good girl? What the hell? For whatever reason, those two words hit differently in her head. This couldn't be Alder, she would never be like this. Even if she were to show an emotion, it probably wouldn't be like this. Not to mention Alder wouldn't come to rescue her on her own, where were the biddies, and where was her unit? Tally tried to push herself away but Alder's grip was impossibly tight. "General, could you - uh - could you let me go?"

"I will never let you go," Her voice was the same, but it sounded so sinister. "I have to make sure you'll never tell anyone anything," Alder shifted the way she was holding her.

Tally struggled and thrashed against her but it was no use, the General was just so much stronger than she was. She felt her cold hands tighten around the back of her head and under her chin.

Her heart raced, she didn't know how to get out of this. "General, please don't do this," She whimpered, closing her eyes, now she was crying out of fear. She didn't want to die, not like this.

Instead of feeling the snap of her neck breaking, she heard a maniacal laughter, but it wasn't the General.

In sauntered Nicte, with that damn smirk on her face. "Now wasn't that both entertaining and enlightening?"

Tally felt the cold return to her, all feeling of the General holding her was gone. It was replaced with the briefest faintest flicker of worry that she knew wasn't her own. She blinked and tried to look around but the room was empty except for her and the other witch. "What-what happened? What did you do?!"

Alder held the blanket over her shoulders as she looked up at the older witch before her. "Major, I need you to assist Izadora in her research. And can you-,"

'General, please don't do this!' Alder froze mid sentence. That voice, quiet but panicked, much like she had heard the other day. Her eyes widened. "Tally,"

The major just looked at her. "I'm sorry, General?"

"I-I heard her," Alder said quickly, looking around to see if she had been mistaken. She was well aware of how believable Nicte's manipulations could be. Her own imagination was likely no match for whatever images Nicte was forcing into Tally's mind. If Tally was begging for the General specifically to stop, she couldn't fathom what she was seeing, and that scared her.

"Who?" The major looked across her biddies then back at the General.

"Not them. The cadet. Craven," Alder shook her head. "Get me Izadora now!"

"Right away," The major hobbled off to find the Necro.

Alder braced her desk. Hearing the girl's voice so clear in her head shocked her, but there was no mistaking it this time, no shrugging it off as a dream. This was real. She tried to focus, but all of the wild thoughts of what Nicte could be doing to her poor cadet made it difficult.

"Breathe, Sarah," Rosa spoke to her gently.

"Focus just on Tally. If you heard her then you know she is still alive," Jamie added, trying to be helpful.

"It could be a manipulation," Alder barked across their link.

"But it also could have been real, and if it was, then she needs you to pull yourself together," Danny tried to reason with her.

"Focus," They all got quiet and allowed her the silence to focus.

Eyes closed, she tried to steady her breathing. "Tally, Tally can you hear me?" She tried to reach out as she focused all of her energy on the girl, but she couldn't tell if she was getting through to her. Her heart sank when after another minute she got no response whatsoever.

Her biddies didn't say anything, but they did their collective best to make Alder feel their support.

"Me?" Nicte feigned innocence. "Just wanted to give you something to think about,"

Tally just wanted to cry. It felt so real. As relieved as she was that it wasn't real and the General wasn't trying to kill her, she desperately wanted someone, anyone, to burst through the doors and rescue her.

Nicte was still smirking. "So you and the General really aren't close then, to your obvious dismay I see,"

Tally gritted her teeth. Those feelings she had when, whatever vision of the General she had seen, hugged her, were things she had never acknowledged. Feeling anything like that for her superior was inappropriate, or at least to acting upon it was. "Why does it matter to you?"

"You fear she would hurt you for what you know?" Nicte stepped closer to her.

Tally didn't answer right away. "I wouldn't rule it out,"

"Good. As you shouldn't," Nicte nodded. Before Tally could press her on the meaning of that, Nicte spoke again. "Brr, it's cold in here," She remarked facetiously.

Tally just grunted. "You think?"

Nicte rubbed her hands together. "I can change that if you like,"

"I still won't tell you anything," She tried to force her voice to be still despite the shivers that still ran through her.

"Now now, Red, relax. I let you see your precious General, surely you can give me something in return," Nicte paced in front of her.

"Fr-freezing me to death and showing me things that aren't real is hardly an incentive," Tally glared at her.

Nicte just shook her head with a wicked smile. "Freeze you to death, oh please, don't be so dramatic," She snapped her fingers and suddenly the room was filled with warmth once again.

Tally gasped and groaned at the heated air that made her skin tingle and her muscles ache. She tried to move as much as possible to get some feeling to return to her extremities.

Nicte watched her for a moment. "Come with me,"

"I'm still-" Tally looked down, the restraints were gone completely. She looked around and the room seemed different, bigger now, not as dark and dingy as moments before.

"Don't play dumb with me Red, I know you are an intelligent girl," Nicte remarked at the confused expression on Tally's face. "Don't tell me you never experienced Verger's pride and joy,"

Tally's face contorted to even more confusion, then realization hit her. "The dollhouse?"

That smirk was back on Nicte's face. "That's right, tell me, how did you like it?" She asked almost eagerly.

"I uh-" Tally was a little taken aback. Her body had yet to completely warm up and her thoughts were racing all over the place. Here was the woman that she knew for a fact was her General's mortal enemy, and they were talking about her classes. "I passed, why?" Nothing critical about that. If it could eventually lead her to more information, she would have whatever idle conversation this woman wanted.

"How many tries did it take you?" Nicte eyed her curiously.

"One," Tally said fiercely, as if it was something that proved her skills.

That didn't seem to shock her but Nicte nodded anyway and led Tally into the other room. "Very interesting, not many people have that kind of inherent skill. Your know, I helped the kind Major design it back in the day,"

"Interesting," Tally tried to observe every detail of the cabin as she followed Nicte. She had to be smart about this if she were going to try to escape. Without her sight she couldn't see how many other spree agents were around or any other workings Nicte had in place. That only meant, that at least for now, her best option was to get as much information as she could and wait for an opportunity.

If anything that she just saw was any indication, Nicte was a master at illusions and mental manipulation, so none of what she saw as they walked around could be real, but she took mental note of it anyway. The main room had a fireplace, average cabin type decorations, and a few small windows. There were a few other people about. A man appeared to be sleeping on a reclining chair in the corner, one woman was busying herself hanging some ropes about, and the other woman was stoking the fire.

The two women both glared at her skeptically and she glared right back, but was distracted when Nicte directed her to sit at the table. Nicte sat directly across from her. "Shall we begin?"

"I already told you I wont tell you anything," Tally crossed her arms.

Nicte just smiled and shook her head. "Oh Red, it isn't only what I need you to tell me, it's also about what I can tell you, and believe me, I have been just dying to tell you so many things,"