Hello, everyone! I'm certain several are you are mad at the unexpected several months long absence I took from this story. I apologize for that…College became absolute hell during those several months…I managed to write a one-shot for Rise of the Guardians during my absence from the story, so it's not like I completely vanished or anything! I put a better explanation in chapter one of the Pokémon story I started.

But, here we are again! I am ready to get back into action. I'm not sure when I'll get this story finished by now. I would like to get it done before my summer vacation is over…We'll see! So, here's a mostly filler but slightly canon chapter. We're back with Nemo and the Tank Gang. Shall we learn more about them? Also, I added a tiny bit with Samuel near the end, to show that he's working hard on his part of this case. Yes, I know that this goes a bit out of order with the film, but it works just fine, I believe!

Once again, Ronnie343's story gave me heavy influence for this chapter. And, for those who are curious as to the date in the story, it is now Sunday, September 9th. Alright, let's jump right on in!

Disclaimer: Finding Nemo isn't mine to own.

Nemo sat quietly in a corner of the playroom, playing absentmindedly with the stuffed shark toy that he had grown incredibly fond of over the past couple days. His stomach rumbled, but lunch wasn't going to be served for another two hours.

With Sherman having left the night before to go and pick up the "new merchandise", the five guards who stayed behind were acting as Gurgle said they would. The five set up a table just outside of the playroom and were playing poker as they kept a close eye on the kids.

Because of this constant supervision, the kids couldn't act on their escape plan. At least they could talk about it, since the men only understood Russian, but they had finished discussing the plan last night. So all they could do now was wait for Sherman to come back on Monday.

Nemo glanced up to see what the others were up to. Peach and Deb were having a conversation as they sat on the beanbags. Bubbles was playing with the toy treasure chest, as usual. Bloat, Gurgle, and Jacques were watching a baseball game on the TV. Gill was leaning back on the couch, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

As though he felt Nemo's gaze, Gill turned his head towards the boy. Nemo quickly lowered his own head and resumed playing with the shark. It seemed like he didn't turn his gaze fast enough, because he heard footsteps coming towards him.

"Yo," Gill greeted.

"Hi," Nemo answered shyly, glancing up just a bit.

Gill smirked a little at the boy before taking off his blazer and putting it on the ground before sitting atop it, next to him. He didn't say anything to Nemo, and Nemo couldn't think of anything to tell him, so they sat in a not so awkward silence.

"You miss your dad, don't you, Sharkbait?" Gill asked softly after a few moments.

Nemo frowned as he hugged the shark toy close to his chest.

"…Yeah," he murmured.

"Hey," Gill said, waiting for Nemo to look at him before continuing on, "You're pretty lucky to have someone out there who's looking for you."

"He's not looking for me," Nemo disagreed sadly, "He's scared of the world."

"Is that right?"

"…My mom died when I was born," Nemo explained in a small voice, "Ever since then, he's kept me by his side all the time. He panics over tiny things. He didn't even let me go to a real school until a few days ago, because he thought bad things would happen."

"Well then, maybe he really is out there searching for you," Gill said, "After all, he sounds like he loves you, kid."

Nemo's shoulders drooped at that as he remembered what he had said at the Hall of Science.

"I told him I hated him," Nemo confessed, "He thought I was going to climb this jungle gym thing that looked scary. I got mad and climbed it anyway. That's why I'm here in the first place…I wouldn't blame him if he wasn't looking for me…"

To Nemo's surprise, Gill simply scoffed at that.

"Sharkbait, I know a thing or two about good parents," he told the redhead, "It takes a lot more, way, way, way more, than saying 'I hate you' to get them to stop caring."

Nemo wasn't so sure that he believed Gill's words. The silence came back between the two of them as they observed the others.

Suddenly, the sound of car's engine came from outside. Nemo was certain he recognized the noise. As he wondered about it, one of the guards, who looked rather angry, left the table. The kids all got up and peered out the window to see what was happening.

There was the sound of arguing outside before a man burst through the door.

"Nigel!" Bloat exclaimed.

Nigel made his way over to the playroom, a smile on his face and the angry guard right behind him and still yelling in Russian. Nigel looked as shabby as ever.

"Ah, shut up, man!" Nigel snapped at the guard, "Can't understand a word you're saying anyways!"

The guard growled but backed off, returning to his game with the other guards, all of whom sent dirty looks at Nigel.

"Well, if it isn't the little New Yorker?" Nigel grinned as leaned against the glass window of the playroom so that the kids could hear him, "Glad to see that you're still here, though I guess you'd still rather be home, huh?"

"Sherman's giving him to Darla, Nigel," Deb whispered as Nemo nodded.

Nigel's eyes narrowed, a cold expression on his face at Deb's words.

"Shi…shoot," he hissed, though Nemo thought Nigel was going to say something else. Nigel looked at Gill seriously, "Kid, now's a pretty good time to have an escape plan that works."

"We've taken care of it, Nigel," Gill assured him.

"I hope so. Because now you've got a little one involved. And you do not want Darla getting him."

"I know."

With that, Nigel went over to talk to Peach, who was still sitting on her beanbag. Nemo stared at them from where he was seated beside Gill. They looked very happy speaking together, almost like a parent and child.

Nemo glanced over at Gill, who was also looking at Nigel and Peach with a grin. Nemo couldn't help it when his eyes wandered over Gill's horrifically scarred arm and the stump where his hand used to be. He didn't notice that Gill had been watching him until he looked up again. Embarrassed, Nemo quickly turned away.

"Got all of this during escape attempt number one," Gill told the curious boy as he gesture to his arm and the scar on his face, "That was back when I was on my own…"

Nemo stared at the teen in awe, amazed that he would keep trying to escape after his first attempt had ended so badly. Thinking about that got Nemo wondering about certain things, things he wasn't sure he was allowed to ask, even if he was a part of the "club" now.

"Gill?" Nemo began, thinking there was no harm in trying, "Um…Why are-? …How come all of you are still here? I mean, I thought you said Sherman only gets little kids."

Gill took a deep breath at that as he looked over to where the other kids were.

"Because we're troublemakers," Gill answered.

"Sherman got all of us when we were at young ages," Gill continued upon seeing Nemo's puzzled expression. He paused for a second, momentarily debating if he should tell someone as young as Nemo about this before speaking on, "For example, there's Jacques."

The pair looked over who was absentmindedly polishing his shoe.

"His real name is Enjolras Lestrange. Ha, that's the first time I ever got it right. His folks were Les Misérables fans, I guess," Gill saw that Nemo was confused, "Right, I'm rambling. Anyways, he came here five years ago, when he was eight. He and his dad immigrated to New York from France. His dad wanted a better life for his son. But Sherman and his men happened to be near when they arrived, and Jacques fit the description of what a client wanted. Jacques' dad tried to fight them off and they got a bit too violent…"

Gill trailed off, but Nemo realized what he was suggesting happened. The teenager pointed over to Deb, who was speaking to her mirror as usual.

"Deb Spiegel. She came here when she was ten. She came from a nice looking home in a good neighborhood. But looking nice meant nothing the night that place went up in flames. Her house burned down to the ground in a couple hours. Deb had managed to escape. She was standing off from the crowd, watching her home vanish before her, when Sherman spotted her. Poor girl was too out of it to resist or cry for help."

"H-how come she talks to her mirror?" Nemo asked, feeling horrified about the story.

"Deb had a twin sister named Flo," Gill explained, "Apparently they were as close as could be. They did almost everything together…I don't know the exact details but Flo couldn't escape that fire. Deb couldn't handle the stress of losing her precious twin along with her parents in one night. So she just made herself believe Flo was still around."

"Gurgle's real name is Henry Hammond. He came here when he was eleven. He came from a family in a pretty poor neighborhood that didn't understand him, didn't want to understand him either. They couldn't stand how 'obsessed' he was with cleanliness. They yelled at him a lot to relieve stress from living in bad conditions. One day, Gurgle couldn't take it anymore…He ran away from home. A few days later, Sherman's men got him."

"Then, there's Bubbles, or Aaron Millais. Sherman brought him here when the kid was nine. He and his family loved to go boating. One time they went, their boat broke down in the middle of the ocean. His mom blew bubbles in order to entertain him and his sisters while his dad called in for help. They didn't realize that there was a huge storm coming…The boat capsized and…Bubbles was the only one the rescuers found…I'm still not sure how Sherman snatched Bubbles away from the authorities."

"As for Bloat, his name is Steven Puffer. His last name got him bullied a lot as a kid, since he was always on the bigger side. He came here when he was ten. He lived with his grandparents after his folks died in a car accident. Bloat never wanted to tell them how much he was being bullied at school, if not for his weight then for his asthma. One day, the bullying became too much and Bloat ran into the nearby park to cry. It was at a time when there weren't that many people there, certainly no one near him. That made it easy for him to be kidnapped."

"And Peach?" Nemo asked after a moment, still digesting the stories of the other kids.

Gill frowned as he looked at Peach, trying to decide how best to describe her tale.

"Coretta Starling," he started slowly, "She came here when she was ten. Peach's parents weren't very good, kid. They associated with some pretty bad people."

"Gangsters?" Nemo suggested.

"More or less. Her parents weren't ever kind to her, didn't care one bit about her. Some parents are like that. Peach had to take care of herself for the most part and tried to avoid getting her folks angry at her. I think that's where she got her muttering from. Anyways, her parents got into some deep trouble with the local 'gangsters' and ran. I don't know if it was on purpose or if they forgot, but Peach was left behind. Sherman found her a couple days later."

Nemo stared at Peach in shock. She was so kind and warm during the time he had been with the others. It was like having an older sister. Nemo couldn't understand how someone who went through so much could end up so nice.

"Well, it's not like she only had bad influences, Sharkbait," Gill answered when Nemo asked him such. He pointed at Nigel, "You see, Nigel is Peach's uncle."

If they weren't talking about such serious matters, Gill would've laughed at the flabbergasted expression on Nemo's face.

"I know, I was shocked too when she told me! Nigel was the only family Peach had who actually cared for her. She couldn't see him often, since he lived here in San Jose, but he made the effort to visit as often as possible. When he learned that Peach had been taken, Nigel looked everywhere he could for her. By some miracle, Sherman set up a base in the neighborhood Nigel lived in."

"But how come Nigel isn't telling anyone about this?" Nemo wondered, "Can't he talk to the police?"

"That's where things are a little tricky, kid. Thanks to certain 'dealings' Nigel's no stranger to the police. And people aren't quick to believe the word of someone with a record. Plus, Sherman's got enough money to keep the local police department eating out of the palm of his hand."

"Does that mean Nigel is a bad guy?"

"Depends on how you choose to see it," Gill said simply, "If we just look at his record, then you could say he's bad. But he worked hard to look for Peach when her own parents didn't care. He loves her like she was his own daughter. And he's the reason Peach has dealt with Sherman's clients the least out of us."

"You see," Gill went on, "Nigel made a deal with Sherman. So long as Nigel can pay Sherman a certain amount each week, Sherman will let Nigel see Peach and she won't be forced to do anything. Nigel's been keeping that promise for years now, one way or the other."

Gill looked around at the others, at the people he had grown to know and care about over the years.

"We gave each other nicknames as a way to forget the past and connect," he said, "Deb didn't get one since that will only confuse her more. All of us have seen just what kind of business Sherman runs. But thanks to how troublesome we are, from my attitude to Gurgle's love of cleanliness, the clients always returned us soon enough. Everyone else the Sherman has brought is usually gone forever in a couple weeks at most. The only reason he's kept us around for years, the only reason he doesn't 'get rid of us', is to avoid getting the authorities' attention."

Nemo was silent as he took all of this in, hugging his knees close to his chest.

"I know it sounds complicated," Gill told him.

"I think I understand," Nemo replied, his shoulders drooping, "Everyone else went through bad stuff. But I'm complaining about nothing."

"Sharkbait, I didn't tell you this to make you feel bad. I just want you to understand. Trust me, your dad's looking for you. And we'll get you out of here so you can get back to him."

Nemo nodded slowly. He still wasn't sure if his dad was actually looking for him. The guy seemed so scared of everything.

"Hey, Nemo!" Bloat called, "If you want to watch some cartoons with us, come over."

Nemo glanced at Gill, who motioned with his hand for him to go on. Nemo stood up and was about to walk off, when he turned back to Gill.

"Hey, Gill? You never told me your story…"

A pained expression came across Gill's face when Nemo said that. Nemo realized he might have brought up something bad.

"Sorry!" he said quickly, "I didn't mean to-"

"No, i-it's fine," Gill stuttered, "After all, I mentioned everyone else's story, so I should-"

"Don't," Nemo interrupted, "I don't want you telling me if you don't want to."

Before Gill could respond, Nemo ran over to the television to watch cartoons with the others. Gill stared after the kid in surprise before a smile formed on his face.

"What a guy…" he chuckled.

Meanwhile, back in New York…

"Sam, what're you doing?"

Chief Walker was a bit confused when he saw his son enter the room where they kept files on cold cases, but he dismissed it. However, when he didn't see Samuel come out after an hour, Chief Walker couldn't help but peek in.

Samuel was sitting on the floor, surrounded by large stacks of cold case files. He would take a file and read through it and then put it in another pile before grabbing another file.

"Sam?" Chief Walker called out again.

"I know something about the Fischer case is way too familiar to me," Samuel stated as he grabbed another case file, "I feel like there was a case like this a few years back but I'm not sure…"

There was indeed something familiar about Nemo's case to Samuel…But what was it?

And we're done! Once again, sorry for the huge delay in getting this chapter to you.

So, we've gotten some answers as to most of the kids' backstories. Now do you understand why I put most of the kids' names in quotation marks in the bottom notes of the chapter they were introduced in? But now we've gotten more questions as well. What is Gill's backstory? And what is it that Samuel Walker is remembering? Will he find the answer in the cold case files?

Well, please read and review everyone! Thank you for waiting so long!