"Strength does not come from winning.
Your struggles develop your strengths.
When you go through hardship and decide not to surrender, that is strength." -- Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Dedicated to princess_on_board. 

- - - - -

Carter looked up slowly and met her eyes. His dark eyes were tired and pained.

A gasp left Sam's lips and she fell to her knees in front of him. Carter mumbled incoherent sentences, and she held his face in her hands.

She looked up at Candice, who had an unreadable expression on her face. Her eyes swam with emotion, however, one's Sam couldn't decipher. Her jaw twitched and her hands balled into fists.

"You said you wouldn't hurt him," Sam's voice was an octave higher than normal, and her troubled eyes looked into Candice's cold one's.

"I did, didn't I?" Candice admitted, "but I didn't say my men wouldn't."

Sam shook her head and looked back at Carter.

Talking softly so that no one else in the room could hear her, she asked him, "Are you okay? Okay, wait, that's a stupid question," she shook her head and rephrased her sentence. "Where did they hurt you?"

In a weak voice, he managed a reply, ". . . Don't . . . know."

Sam muttered curses under her breath and tried anything to help him. Candice huffed out a breath.

"Enough," she barked. "Get her out of here. And take the boy back."

Immediately, the men answered her orders and dragged her out of the room.

Knowing that her attacks were futile, she simply let them drag her away. Carter followed not long after, slung over one guys shoulders, barely conscious. Sam's mind was preoccupied and she felt a slight throbbing forming in her temples from her swarm of thoughts.

They took her to a different room this time. When she was dumped on the chair and locked in the room, she looked up and observed her surroundings.

It was a more comfortable version of a cell, she decided. It had a small bed in the corner, the chair she was currently sitting on, a tiny window looking out into the dull daylight, and a single naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. Everything was black, gray or white, just like the place she was currently in and the hearts of the people that surrounded her.

She propped her arms on her legs and put her face in her hands.

What am I going to do?

- - -

A few hours later, one of the guys opened the door, dumped a plate of food by the door, and shut it closed again. Sam was annoyed, to be honest, because she was broken out of her reverie.

She had been planning non-stop for the past few hours, trying to figure out a way to all of this. She got up gracefully and stretched out her cramped limbs.

After eating a small meal, her mind started working properly again. She smiled as her plan took form.

She paced the small distance in the cell, tying loops together and making sure her plan was a hundred percent. After a while, she layed down on the hard bed, knowing that she would need all the energy she could get.

- - - - -

Hi, everyone! How are you?

I am so, so, so very sorry for not updating for two months or so. I've been in a writers block, and I'm almost done with exams, which means that I'll have a bit more free time on my hands.

I apologise profusely for keeping you hanging for so long. And I know that this chapter wasn't long, only a couple of hundred words, but it's honestly the best I could do. I'm so sorry. Please have just a bit more patience with me, I'm going through a hard time.

Don't forget to vote comment and share the story! It'll make me unexplainably happy :)

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                 (I typed it
                  incorrectly and
                  can't fix now :/) 

Peace,

Croc