A/N: You all are amazing, thank you so much for the reviews and story follows! I am so happy that there are other OLTL fans out there enjoying this story. You all inspire me to keep writing quickly! I can't promise that every update will be quite this quick, but here's chapter two!


It only took one look around the room for Bo Buchanan to know that this wasn't going to be good. Of course, no phone call that started at three in the morning ever was good, but as he'd told his wife over and over again on the drive over, this could easily be a mistake. Jessica hadn't said exactly why she needed him to come over, which left open the whole realm of possibilities from minor concern to dire emergency.

But when he saw her leaning against the refrigerator, her eyes bloodshot and her hair a mess as she stared intently at her shoes, her arms wrapped around herself as the tears fell, he knew this wasn't just a case of Jessica overreacting. He still didn't know what, but something was seriously wrong. He could only pray that when he spoke to her, it was Jessica he was talking to - he didn't even want to think of the phone call he'd have to make to his brother if Tess had somehow resurfaced.

"Jessica?" Nora said gently, stepping ahead of Bo and putting a gentle hand on her niece's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Jessica looked up and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her aunt and uncle. "Uncle Bo, thank you for coming so quickly."

Bo smiled gently. "Hey, what kind of an uncle would I be if I didn't rush over when you call me crying, even if it is three in the morning? Besides, I promised your old man I'd keep an eye on you and Natalie while he and your mom were in London this week."

"Aunt Nora, I didn't mean to wake everyone, you didn't have to come," Jessica said.

Nora shrugged and smiled as she wrapped her arm around Jessica's shoulder. "What's family for if you can't wake them all up for help?" she asked, glancing around the room. "Speaking of family…where's Natalie? She's not still asleep, is she? Should we wake her up for whatever's going on?"

"That's why I called. Uncle Bo, Natalie's gone."

Bo frowned. "What do you mean, gone?"

"I mean she's gone. As in, should be here but isn't," Jessica said anxiously. "She went for a drive earlier to clear her head and she hasn't come back. Uncle Bo, something bad's happened, I can feel it."

"What time did she leave?"

Jessica bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't know, I didn't think to look at the clock. Maybe eight? No, no, not eight…it had to be later than that, Bree went to bed at 7:30 and then Natalie and I had dinner. So maybe closer to nine? I don't know, Uncle Bo, I don't know exactly how long she's been gone, but she's not back and I'm really worried. Something's wrong, she wouldn't just disappear like this."

"Okay, well, let's not go panicking just yet, there's a lot that could have happened," Bo assured her. "Have you called her cell?"

"Of course I've called her! Do you really think I would have called you if I hadn't?" Jessica snapped in frustration. "She's not picking up."

"Does it go straight to voicemail?" Nora asked.

Jessica shook her head. "No, I think it's still turned on, she's just not answering…or something's happened and she can't answer."

"And you're sure there's no possibility she's just out driving around still?" Bo asked. "If it's only been a few hours…"

"Uncle Bo, Liam's upstairs," Jessica interrupted. "Natalie still calls home every two hours to check on him when she's just across town at work. She would never, ever disappear for hours and hours without at least making sure he's okay."

"No, I suppose you're right," Bo agreed, taking a moment to think about their next move. "Alright, I don't want you to panic, Jessica. We'll find her."

"How?" Jessica asked, still anxious and tense.

"Well, first things first, you're going to sit down and you're going to take a few deep breaths and calm down," Nora instructed, gently guiding her across the room to a chair.

"I'm going to make a few calls," Bo said. "I'll see if our tech guys down at the station can get a location from the GPS in Natalie's phone, and I'll put out an APB on her car, okay?"

Jessica nodded, taking a deep breath and nervously tucking her hair behind her ears as she bit back her tears. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Hey, look at me, kiddo," Bo said, crouching in front of her. "We'll find her, Jessie, and that's a promise. And have I ever broken a promise to one of my two favorite nieces?"

Jessica smiled through her tears and shook her head.

"Well, alright then," Bo said, kissing her forehead as he stood back up. "You sit tight here with Nora while I make those phone calls."


Later that morning, John McBain awoke to the sound of someone banging on his hotel room door. Cracking open his eyes, he groaned as he eased himself out of bed, throwing on a shirt before making his way across the room to the door.

"It's almost eight in the morning, what the hell are you doing just getting up, sleepyhead?"

John frowned as Sam McCall grinned at him from the hallway.

"Well? Aren't you going to invite me in?"

John nodded and stepped back slightly. "Sorry. It's a bit messy, but, yeah, come on in."

"Thanks." Sam smiled and stepped inside as John closed the door behind her. "So…you're probably wondering what I'm doing here."

"The thought had crossed my mind."

Sam reached into her purse and pulled out a cell phone, holding it out to him. "I figured you might need this."

"I thought I'd left that down at the cafe yesterday," John said, taking it from her hand and turning the screen on to confirm it was his.

Sam shook her head, not missing the smile that flickered across his face when the screen came on and Natalie's face appeared as his background. "Yeah, well, you must have left it out at the house when you were over signing those papers Mom drew up. I stopped by last night and found it. I figured it was as good of an excuse as any to come by and say goodbye this morning, seeing as you were planning to sneak out of here without so much as a 'see ya later.'"

"I guess Alexis told you I'm going to back Llanview for good."

Sam nodded. "She did. I'm…well, I'm sure it's the right thing for you."

"I thought the temptation to break that damn restraining order would be too much, but I need to be there," John said. "Even with the restraining order, if I'm in Llanview, there's at least a chance I can get through to Natalie, talk to her friends, her family…start putting the pieces of my life back together."

"Speaking of Natalie…" Sam hesitated for a moment as John stared at her intently. "I think I may have inadvertently caused you a little trouble on that front."

"How?"

"Last night, when I had your phone…well, you got a call and I answered it."

"Who was it?"

Sam hesitated again before continuing. "Natalie."

"Natalie called me?" John asked in shock. "Wait…why the hell would you answer a call from Natalie?"

"I didn't look at the caller ID," Sam protested defensively. "I figured it was you, calling yourself to see if you could hear the phone nearby. I didn't figure out it was Natalie until she asked who I was and why I was answering your phone."

"Oh God," John groaned. "What did she say?"

"All I got out was my name before she hung up," Sam said. "I'm sorry, John."

John shook his head. "It's not your fault."

"Still…I know I've caused problems for you, and I'm sorry about that," Sam said. "I hope that you and Natalie are able to work things out for Liam's sake."

"Yeah," John nodded as he opened the door for her. "Me too."

Sam smiled sadly and leaned forward, kissing him quickly on the cheek. "Goodbye, John."