Summery: Perri's thoughts on Kolchak during the episode with the mind control murders. Slightly A.U. (Carl/Perri)

"I'll be right here"

I was a nervous wreck, what if the pills didn't work? It must have been really easy to tell how freaked out I was because he sat down next to me on the bed and took my hand. "Don't worry" he said "if anything happens I'll be right here." I looked deep into his brown eyes and he smiled. His words struck my heart and I knew that as long as he was there nothing could happen to me. I took two of the sleeping pills from the bottle he held out to me and swallowed them. Lying back on the pillow, I prayed that they would work because if they didn't Carl was in trouble.

When I woke up Jami was sitting next to my bed. I sat up and looked around. This wasn't right where was Carl? Jami gave me a weak smile. "Where's Kolchak?" I asked. He looked around the room as if unsure of where to begin. "Well first the good news, the sleeping pills worked. He couldn't get into your head," he let out a sigh then "Bad news, you weren't the only one he came in contact with." I looked at him confused. Suddenly my mind reeled back to the meeting at the prison when He grabbed me and Carl pried me off and saved me. I looked up at Jami and he nodded. I remembered that the mind control made the victim think that they saw a loved one that they had lost. This of course made an ideal target since his wife had been mysteriously killed two years ago. Jami cleared his throat to get my attention again. He nodded at the large kitchen knife that lay on the nightstand. "Thankfully he through off the mind control but it rendered him unconscious." I nodded "So we were both out of it when you got here," I asked and he nodded "so how did you get in?" I asked. Jami looked at the ground then and looked nervous. "Don't worry," he said quickly "I can fix the door." I groaned and shock my head as I stood up from the bed and walked into the next room. Carl Kolchak lay on the sofa with one arm raised above his head draping over the arm rest. His shoes lay on the floor next to the coffee table while his feet lay across the other arm rest. His socks had hoes in them and his hair stuck out at odd angles, he had a childlike quality about him and I couldn't help by smile as I watched the steady rise and fall of his chest. A triumphant cry from behind me brought me back to reality. I turned and saw Jami, looking quite pleased with himself, standing up from the floor. He wiped his hands on his jeans and turned to me. "The lock just snapped," he told me "I told you I could fix it." I nodded getting lost in my own thoughts again. I still couldn't figure out why Carl would come after me? All of the other victims went after those they… loved…? I was torn from my thoughts by movement from the sofa. I watched as Carl sat up and rubbed his head. Looking around bewildered he asked "what happened?" he continued to look around the room until he spotted me, smiling he asked "what'd I miss?" I smiled and rolled my eyes at him. "Welcome back Kolchak." I said, smiling because he looks so cute when he's confused.

THE END

A.N.: this is part one in a series of one shots following the hopeful relationship between Carl Kolchak and Perri Reed.

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