An FBI Archive

Chapter Eleven

"Hey. You okay?" Elliot's voice broke her out of her trance. 
"Yeah, sorry" 
"What were you thinking about? You seemed really out of it" 
"I lied to you" 
"About what?" 
"About being molested. I was kidnapped as a child" 
"I understand why you didn't tell the whole truth" 
"Harper knows, Nadia, Shirley too. Shirley is the one that found me and the other girls, we're what got her promoted" 
"What happened?" 
"To Shirley or to me?" 
"You and those other girls" 
"The same thing that were going to see right now, just times it by five years" Nia muttered, turning her eyes to the window beside her, she watched the world fly by. 
"Is that why you wear turtlenecks all the time?" 
"It was the only way to hide the truth when its written all over my body" Elliot sensed that she wanted to end the conversation there so he didn't push it. 
They arrived at the crime scene and waited for Nadia's approval to move in. They lined up outside the door, one behind the other and all Nia could think about was the day that she was found how-
"Move in" Nadia ordered and Nia charged into the building behind the SWAT officers. They moved room by room searching until Nia heard something. 
"Quiet!" She ordered, making the large space fall silent and then she heard the noise again. The faint but unmistakeable sound of sobbing. Nia followed the sound, finding a hatch bolted shut with a lock "It's bolted shut" Elliot grabbed a metal pole and wedged it into the lock, pulling hard until it snapped open. Inside what looked like a room not much bigger than a vent there was Heather, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs as she wept against her knees.
"Hi Heather" Nia began softly and she shooed Elliot and the others away "I'm here to take you home. When you're ready I'll be here" Nia sat on the ground, her back against the wall, she purposely left the vent door open and clear remembering that freedom was hard to take the first time. Nia waited a few minutes then she felt Heather's light touch against her fingers. 
"I'm not ready yet" Her sad little voice broke Nia's heart, she couldn't stop thinking about her months alone with Joe, with no one to share her pain or save her from it. 
"That's okay. We can wait as long as it takes" Heather climbed out of the small hatch and sat beside Nia, laying her head against her arm "I was Kidnapped once. I was the same age as you were when he took me" Nia admitted. 
"Were you alone too?"  
"For the same amount of time that you were" 
"And then were you found too?" 
"No sweet girl, after being alone for so long the man brought me a friend, and then another, and another, and another. Leah, Nora, Jade and Lacie. It felt good to not be alone but bad things happened to them too. Did the man hurt you?" She felt Heather nod against her arm "We'll find someone who can help you but we need to take you to the hospital first. Does it hurt?" 
"On the inside" She muttered against Nia's arm. 
"I remember what that feels like" 
"Will I be able to forget?" 
"I hope so sweet girl, I hope so" 
"Can we go now, I want to see my mom" 
"Yeah" Nia stood and smiled down at Heather offering her a hand up which she took but didn't release. Nia walked her out of the warehouse and took her to the car, slipping into the seat beside her Heather retook her hand, holding on tightly.  

Joe dragged Nia down the hall, her arm was hurting from where he was gripping it but she couldn't break free of him. She could feel the blood between her legs soaking into her jeans. It ached. Everything ached.
"This is your room now. Good girls get rewards"
"Hey" Nia jumped out of her skin at the sound of Wesley's voice "Woah there, you alright?"
"Yeah, you startled me. What's up?"
"What did you say to Heather to get her to come out?" Nia noticed the rest of her team then gathered around her desk, she decided that lying sucked and the sorrowful looks would be easier to take than trying to hide the truth.
"I told her the truth about when I was kidnapped"
"You were kidnapped?" Wesley didn't hide his surprise.
"I was eight. Shirley found me when I was thirteen. I won't forget the day I was found or how hard it was to accept freedom. I let her come out in her own time, I let her decide. I gave her her first choice in six months"
"I'm proud of you sweetheart" Shirley smiled.
"I'm proud of Heather, she's in better shape than I was after six months alone with him" Nia frowned.
"We have a rape crisis counsellor coming to talk to her, we'll find out soon enough what happened to her in those six months" Nadia added.
"Hey" Nia froze at the sound of the familiar voice, she turned slowly her eyes landing on the girl she hard recognised "Hi Lavinia"
"Don't call me that Caroline" Nia couldn't stop the bite in her tone.
"Did you forget your own name Lavinia?" Nia flinched at the sound of her name.
"What do you want Cara?"
"Mom and dad have been looking for you for a long time-"
"What are you doing here?" She bit, trying to stop the guilt trip.
"I'm the rape crisis counsellor whose working with the FBI" Nia couldn't hide her disappointment "What? What have you got against my job now?" 
"I left so that you could finally be free of me" 
"Mom and dad have been focused on since you went missing Lavinia-"
"Don't call me that!" Nia bit, her voice raising "They called me that" 
"A part of me wishes that you had just stayed missing" Cara bit storming through the squad room to get to the interview room where Heather was waiting with her parents. 
"A part of me wishes the same thing"