Disclaimer: I don't own Diagnosis Murder or any of it's characters.

Prologue

Dr Jessie Travis shuffled over to his locker, and for a few moments he merely gawked at it as his brain refused to register the need for opening it; Jesse was exhausted, the already-ridiculously-long-shift he'd managed catch for himself had ended so many hours ago, he was having trouble remembering what the inside of his own apartment looked like. Slowly his hand started to reach out for the locker door; it was funny, but he could have sworn his arm never used to be this heavy. After his pathetic attempt to open the door actually worked, Jesse was met with a terrifying realisation...He now had to decide what he needed to take from his locker, and what (if anything) he needed to put back.

And just when he thought things were getting simpler...

"You know, Steve, you really didn't have to pick me up at the..." Dr Jack Stewart was taken aback by Community General Hospitals new look, "Man, you really weren't kiddin' when you said this place had changed." It was the fist time he'd set foot in the place since he'd left to start his own practice in Colorado five years earlier.

"I wasn't kidding about the bomb either..." Lieutenant Steve Sloan grimaced at the not-so-distant memory.

"Jack!" Dr Amanda Bentley snapped him back to reality.

"Hey Amanda, long time no see," He gave her a quick hug, "I was just admiring the new decor...Mark, hey!"

Dr Mark Sloan walked over to the three of them, "Jack..." He smiled as he shook the younger mans hand, "It's so good to see you again."

"I just couldn't believe it when you said you were transferring back to Community General..." Amanda's voice was suddenly tinged with concern, "Are you sure everything's OK?"

"Yeah...You're not in any trouble are you?" Mark added.

"Guy's I'm fine, this is only temporary...Remember?" Jack reassured them with a good-natured smile, "So quit worrying."

Jesse trudged out of the locker room, paying little attention to what was going on around him; all he wanted to do was go home and sleep...He missed sleep, and he would be damned if he was going to let anything come between him leaving the Hospital, getting in to his car and going...

"Jesse!" Amanda waved him over, "Over here."

The young Doctor narrowed his eyes and sighed heavily...This was going to be harder than he thought.

As he walked over to his three friends...And some guy with black hair, he couldn't help but wonder if he was actually moving as slowly as felt he was moving, "Hey, what's up." He even thought his voice sounded slow and tired, Caffine...thanks for nothing!, he looked at the black haired man, who on closer inspection had a rather 'italian-look' about him, "Hey..." Jesse smiled as politely as possible, despite feeling sore that they'd stopped him getting from location A to location B successfully.

"Hey."

"Long day Jess?" Steve smirked.

Jesse shot his friend a look, "If you've shouted me over here just to mock me..."

"Pay no attention Jesse," Mark put his hand on his young friends shoulder, "We shouted you over so you could finally meet our old friend, Jack Stewart...Remember I told you he was transferring back to Community General temporarily?"

Suddenly, Jesse sparked up a little, "Jack...Hey, I've been wanting a chance to thank you in person for saving me a place on the cruise ship the other month...I really appreciated it."

"Yeah...I didn't actually save you a place, you just took mine." Jack replied dismissively, "Something came up at the last minute so I had to cancel...I was really looking forward to going on that cruise as well..."

Jesse's face dropped, "I'm so sorry...I really had no..."

A grin appeared on Jack's face, and he turned to the other three, "Is he always this gullible?"

"Yes." They replied in unison.

"What...?" The young Doctor stared at the four of them in confusion until his mind decided to catch up with them, "Oh...Right." He gave Jack a pathetic look, "I'm really tired..."

"Yeah...I see that."

"Aw man!"

"Something wrong Jess?" Steve asked.

"I forgot to get my car keys out of my locker." He whined, "I just wanna sleep..."

Ignoring their stifled laughter, Jesse trudged back to the locker room; suddenly remembering his manners, the young Doctor looked back and gave a friendly smile, "It's good to finally meet you Jack."

"Yeah, likewise." Jack returned the smile, then turned to his friends when Jesse was out of sight, "Man, and I thought I was working too hard..."

"Jesse has a hard time saying 'no' to people who ask him to cover for them." Amanda explained, "Oh, and believe it or not, his shift actually started on Tuesday."

"Tuesday?! But today's..." Jack's eyes widened in shock, "Now I feel tired just thinking about it...I'm gonna go sort out a few things before I fall asleep...See you guy's later." He laughed, shaking his head.

Gripping his car keys, Jesse pressed the button and got in to the lift...So far so good. As the lift moved downwards to the Parking Lot, the young Doctor allowed himself a brief sigh of relief...He was finally on the home-stretch. When the lift dinged and the doors opened, Jesse took in a breath of the not-so-fresh Parking Lot air, a small smile appearing on his face...He had officially made it outside, now all he needed to do was get to his car, and get out of there; and this time he was adamant that no matter what, nothing and no one was going to stop him.

As he walked across the Lot to his parking space, he couldn't help but overhear some sort of a disturbance; his first reaction was to go and have a look, but he quickly diminished the though, No way, not when I'm so close...

Just when his car came in to sight, Jesse groaned inwardly; he couldn't just drive out of there, not when there was a high possibility that the sounds he was hearing were due to some sort of distress...He was first and foremost a Doctor after all, what if the person (or persons) needed medical attention?

Managing to walk a little faster now (it was surprising what a little adrenaline could achieve), Jesse headed over to the disturbance, making sure to do his best to stay out of sight...Just in case.

Hiding behind a pillar, the young Doctor took a sneak-peak at what was happening; there were four guys, a large bald brute of a guy who had a black haired middle-aged guy with glasses on, tightly in his grasp; a dark haired guy who was punching the middle-aged guy in the ribs, and another black haired guy stood watching. Once the middle-aged guy had finally passed out from the pain, the black haired guy helped the other two put him in the trunk of the car.

Jesse took a sharp intake of air and pulled his Cellphone out of his jacket pocket; fumbling with it nervously as he attempted to go straight to Speed Dial...He needed to call Steve, Come on, please work! He prayed silently, knowing how the Parking Lot was notoriously temperamental when it came to phone signals.

Deciding to take one last look before he pressed his Speed Dial, Jesse took another peak at the men; dropping his phone in horror when one of the badguys turned around...It was Jack Stewart.