Sam was kneeling in front of Marco at a loss of what to do. Everything about him just clicked into place, a reason why he was always hanging around, why he never talked about his parents, why he seemed so distant from everyone else, and why no one really paid him any mind. Could I just take him? No, who would believe me and fight for him? Who has enough power to take him away? I need to ask him what he wants.

"Marco, I will do anything I can help, but I need to know. What do you want? Do you want away from them? No matter what that might mean?"

     A tear escaped Marco's eye as he looked up in the direction of his parents. They were still on stage loudly speaking and acting out a tale, but Sam kept her eyes on the boy in anticipation. 

"I love them," he said as more tears overflowed, "but I don't want to hurt anymore." 

     Sam hugged Marco one more time and spoke low to not draw any attention. "Ok, I'm going to talk to Rui and Juda, see what they think. I don't know if I'll be believed yet, but I promise I'll do all that I can. Do you feel safe going home with your parents?" 

Marco gave a small nod. 

"Okay, I'm going to go see about finding Juda first. If you need to run, come to me and we'll figure something out together." 

"Figure what out?" A rich accented voice rung out from over the counter

     Both Sam and Marco jumped at the voice and turned to see Miles peering over the stand with Jamir not too far behind. Can't leave me alone can they?

     Standing up she stood in front of Marco and thought of a believable lie quickly. "We were talking about how we could get him to see his dog again."

     Both Miles and Jamir peered at them with scrutiny before Miles slumped on the counter and let out a deep breath. "You'd have better luck with the council than whatever plan you two are thinking of. And maybe ask his parents this time." 

"Right, because they approve of me so much," retorted Sam. 

Jamir shrugged, "You'll figure out a way."

Sam let out a sigh and turned her attention back to Marco, "I'll see you later kid." 

     Marco nodded and turned back to his parents to watch them. Sam frowned and walked out of the stall with the pair of men. 

     Sam knew that she would see Juda tomorrow in the fields and all excitement that she had felt up to seeing Marco vanished. The people dancing and singing all around her melted away as she got lost in her thoughts. Who would have enough power and balls to protect him, someone who doesn't mind going against the grain... the ghost? It had been a while since she had thought about that man, and it was weird that no one really talked about him. He was definitely one of these people and from what she knew... wasn't scared to do whatever needed to be done. 

     Thinking about it, Sam didn't notice that the two men had stopped in front of her and she hit them mid-stride causing her to lose her balance and start to tip over. Shit! Expecting to hit the soggy ground she was surprised to feel both her arms yanked to keep her upright. Both Miles and Jamir had a grip on her and steadied her. 

"Watch where you're going!" sneered Jamir. 

"Sorry," mumbled Sam. 

"You okay? Seems like you're pretty out of it." Asked Miles. 

     Taking the opportunity to leave, "You know what, I am feeling pretty tired and I'm working the fields with Juda tomorrow. I think I'd like to go home." 

Both men glanced at each other and Miles spoke up first. "I'll take her home." 

     Jamir nodded and looked at Sam, "Get your rest, you're no good to anyone spacing out." Sam gave him a slight glare before taking off behind Miles. 

     The walk back to her home was relatively quiet with Miles trying to get a few jokes into what little conversation there was. Sam enjoyed his presence but had too much on her mind to really laugh with Miles and instead gave small smiles. At her shack, she turned around and bid him a good night before heading inside and getting ready for bed. Though she didn't get much sleep. 

     The next morning she got up and ready for work like any other morning, except, maybe a little faster. Sam was anxious to see Juda and get his perspective on Marco's situation. She needed to tell someone who would believe her. Rushing out of the house she heading off to the last field there were working on. The first sun was already up to light her path and she knew she would find Juda already working. It seemed like that was all he did. 

     And there he was, knelt down in a field of potatoes pulling them up from dirt. She walked up to the older man and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up at Sam and smiled, "Ah early today arent' we? I was expecting you to sleep in a bit after last night's fun."

Sam grinned at him and got down on her knees next to him weeding the area. "Nah, I left early last night." 

"Oh? Not quite your thing?" 

"No that's not it, I found it amazing and fascinating but I wanted to talk to you about something," Sam said as she looked around to make sure there were alone in the field. 

Juda's eyebrows shot up as he regarded her. 

"I wanted to ask if you knew Marco was being hit?" She asked as calmly as she could. 

"You mean like spanking?" He asked with his head at a tilt.

I'll take that as a no.

"No," responded Sam "He had a black eye last night and when I asked how long he's been abused he told me it's been going on for years." 

"Are you sure? I feel like someone would've noticed by now." Juda asked with a frown on his face. 

     "I'm positive. He is terrified of his parents and they have complete control over him. No wonder why he ran, there's got to be more of the story than we know there. And the reason why no one noticed? He's homeschooled, how much does he actually go out and do things with friends? Does he even have friends?" Sam went on in a panic. 

"I'm not sure..." Juda said quietly, "He's always been a shy boy... Do you have any proof?" 

"No, but I'm sure he'd be willing to speak against them and tell his side of the story." 

"I'm not sure that would be enough Sam, his parents are a big part of the community here, they have a lot of influence on the council." 

"But not on all of them and surely they would at least take action if a child didn't feel safe at home right? What about the Ghost of Archimedes? He saved me, surely he could help Marco in some sense?" 

Juda gave a lopsided smile, "You still haven't figured it out huh?" 

"Figured what out?" retorted Sam. 

"Sam the Ghost of Archimedes isn't one singular person, it's a group of us." 

"What? That doesn't make sense, after your shop was destroyed I talked with one of your neighbors and they said they only saw one person walk away from the scene." 

"Sam, we never touched my shop, that was a safe house for us. The watchers in the tower destroy it and framed it to look like it was done by the Ghost to scare the public. You'd be surprised how often they do that." Explained Juda. 

"So what do you guys do? As a group?" Asked Sam blown away by surprise. 

"Well, mostly try and make a change inside. Open people's eyes to the corruption going on with-"

"By killing people?" Interrupted Sam. 

Juda looked shocked by what Sam said, "We don't kill people. We may defend ourselves, but we don't slaughter them." 

"That's not true, what about what happened to Representative Ryan? He was murdered that same day the Ghost was there to save me. He was involved in that!" 

     Juda sigh and changed positions to sit on his butt and motioned Sam to do the same. "I can see how your perception of that event might seem that. It was awfully suspicious. I suggest you just listen for a while." 

Sam got in a more comfortable sitting pose stared at Juda. 

     "This might come as a surprise but Ryan was one of us. He was put there as a teenager to become a leader, a spy. He grew up, kept in contact, started a family, and set out what he was meant to do. He started to follow up some theories we had and at the same time started to push for some change with-in the tower. He was.. very important to us." Juda's face was twisted in pain before continuing the story, " That day, seven of us, including me, met up with him in his home. To grab a few supplies and catch up. We didn't know that Ryan was also being investigated so as we were about to leave through the vent system. His door was broken down and a flood of watchers poured in... only two of us made it out alive. That's how we stumbled upon you too, on our way back to the Marketplace." 

Sam sat in silence as she processed the information, it sort of added up. She remembered Ryan being a favorite among the workers but never really followed up on the politics. But Robin's family...

"I have to ask. Did you know of a Victor Green?" She whispered. 

     Juda looked up at the ceiling of the cave. "Yes, he and his family were good people and supported us. The watcher killed them too after discovering that they were aiding us. However, this is an excellent time to bring up a question that's been bugging me. Why do you have his last name and how did you know him?" 

Sam decided to fill him in on her story, the same one she told Marco when they first met. 

"He was a good man, I'm glad to hear his daughter is still alive and he made you his daughter as well." 

"How many are there of you?" Sam asked

"Quite a few, maybe 40? There would be more but as I'm sure you know, it's not easy to make fake identifications."

"So what do you do?" 

"More than you think less than I would like. We mostly go and get supplies that we can't get here. Electronics and such." 

Leaning back Sam stared up at the sun rays flowing down around them. "So getting back to the original problem... How do I help Marco?" 

     Juda sighed, "If what you are saying is true. I would suggest you talk to Rui and fight for that boy. Especially if he's willing to fight for himself too. I'll snoop around with some of his old friends that I remember seeing him with and see if they're willing to tell an old man some tales." 

Sam rolled in the dirt to on her stomach to face Juda, "Thank you." 

"Now, you can do that later but for now we need to puke these potatoes that you have decided to crush under yourself."

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to write this, between writer's block and some life's up's and down's... well yeah... thank you for reading, and let me know what you think! Trying to make sure everything is all nice and wrapped together.