English is not my native language and I'm still looking for a beta reader, so if there are spelling or grammar mistakes… I'm sorry! But you can still apply for the job as my beta reader!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own the characters of "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman"… One Beth Sullivan does… But I do own the characters Jonas "John" Kerrigan and Elena!

Rating: I don't know anything about these ratings, but let's say T or PG-13. Just to be safe...

Warnings: I know that in the official Dr. Quinn timeline Hank's Nana is introduced in Season 4, so after Dr. Mike's and Sully's wedding. However, in my story they aren't married yet, but they already do know Ilse. So, in my timeline the events concerning Hank and his Nana in the episode "Woman of the Year" have already happened. So this story is slightly AU… I hope it doesn't bother you…

This story is the sequel to "Past Fears" and "Child of Mine". If you haven't read those stories I suggest you do that first. Otherwise this story won't make a lot of sense… I think…

Summary: Hank is trying to pick up his life again, with a little help from Elena. However, there still is a man out there who doesn't want to see Hank happy…

Thank you to those who read and reviewed! You guys make it worthwhile for me to continue writing! On to the next chapter!

Chapter 2

"Hank's grandmother?" Elena looked in disbelief at the old woman in front of her. Hank never said anything about a grandmother! But then again… we never got to talk about these kinds of things… Elena sighed as many different thoughts ran through her mind. She looked at the woman carefully. She didn't really look like Hank. She was small and thin, unlike Hank who was pretty tall. Her hair was grey, almost white and her eyes were blue. Unlike Ha… No wait a minute… Hank's eyes are blue as well… Okay, so they do have something in common! Again Elena looked at the old woman carefully. She actually looks kind of cute… Elena thought, like a real grandma!

Then it occurred to Elena that the old lady must be real tired from her trip to Colorado Springs. "I'm sorry," Elena started, "Would you like to sit down? You must be tired, Mrs…" The woman laughed at Elena. "Oh dear girl," she said, "I'm Ilse Lawsenstrum, but you can call me Ilse! And you are?" Elena had to smile at the woman. Ilse reminded her of her own grandmother; however, she had passed away years ago. "I'm Elena Alvarez," Elena extended her hand to Ilse who shook it gently. "So, you are Elena? Hans told me so much about you!" Ilse said to the young woman. Elena was surprised by the remark. "Really?" she asked shyly, "I had no idea…" She led Ilse to a table in the back of the saloon and offered her a chair. Ilse nodded her thanks and sat down. Elena sat down on a chair across.

"He wrote me about you," Ilse said. Elena smiled at that. She knew Hank couldn't write or read that well, but she doubted whether his grandmother knew that. Mostly he had one of his girls write things down for him, and so Elena figured he must have asked one of the girls to help him write a letter to his grandma. "He did?" Elena asked, her voice soft. "Oh, of course he did!" Ilse exclaimed, "He adores you, dear! He told me how you helped him out after Zack's death and all…" Both women were quiet for a moment. "Oh, that poor boy," Ilse said softly, "No man has the right to take an innocent life like that." Elena shook her head in agreement. "I've never met Zack," the old lady continued, "But he must have been a wonderful boy! Hans said he could draw pretty good…" Elena smiled and said: "Yes he was a fantastic and talented young boy… Have you seen some of his drawings?" Ilse shook her head. "Unfortunately not…" Elena jumped up. "There are some drawings upstairs in Hank's room! I could get them for you… I'm sure Hank wouldn't mind…" Would he? The enthusiastic smile that appeared on Ilse's face was enough for Elena to run up the stairs to Hank's room where she grabbed the drawings she was after. She was back in no time.

Together the two women looked at the beautiful drawings. Sometimes Elena had to explain who a certain person was, or what the meaning was of a drawing. Some drawings even brought some tears to both women's eyes. Even though she wasn't aware of it yet, the arrival of Hank's grandma came as a revelation to Elena. For the first time in a very long time she felt at peace. It was a relief to her that she could finally talk about Zack without anyone getting mad at her… without Hank getting mad at her… Finally she could look at the beautiful pictures Zack had once drawn, without someone grabbing them out of her hands because she wasn't allowed to look at them… She felt stress leaving her body and before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face. Ilse grabbed her hand and smiled at her.

"I'm sorry," Elena said, wiping her tears away with her other hand, "I don't know why… it's…" She didn't know what to say to the old woman in front of her. She just couldn't explain why she was crying now… in front of a stranger no less! She didn't understand why she was crying. Ilse handed her a handkerchief and continued to smile at her. "There's no need to apologize, dear," she said and squeezed Elena's hand gently. "You just had to let it out… It would have happened sooner or later." Elena nodded her head as she was still wiping her tears. "You're probably right," she sniffed, "I just don't understand… I thought I was already over this…" She tried to smile at Ilse through her tears, but she didn't really succeed. "Oh dear," Ilse said softly, "I'm sure you're not just crying about Zack… I know Hans isn't easy… He must be giving you a hard time, am I right?" Elena had to laugh. "You know your grandson well," she said to Ilse, "Better then I do anyway… I just don't know what to do with him anymore…" She sighed deeply and hung her head in defeat. "Oh dear," Ilse said, squeezing Elena's hand again; firmly this time. "Everything will turn out fine! You'll see… But these things take time… and no one knows how much time… He lost his son! And unfortunately he takes his anger and grief out on you…" Ilse was silent for a moment but then said: "I will talk to him…" Elena looked up in disbelief and then shook her head. "Oh no, you don't have to… it's…" Elena said but Ilse interrupted her. "Oh yes I will," Ilse said determinedly, "I know how stubborn he can be… and he shouldn't be hurting a sweet girl like you." Elena had to smile at that. The old lady had already stolen her heart. She was one of the sweetest women she had ever met. And so 'grandma-like'!

Elena was about to ask Ilse where she was staying when the doors of the saloon swung open. Elena turned around and saw Hank taking in the sight of the saloon. "Why isn't this place clean yet?" he said in a gruff voice. Elena stood up from her chair and walked towards Hank. "I… I'm sorry… I…" she began, but she had no time to finish. From behind her Ilse appeared in Hank's field of vision. "Don't you be so hard on the lovely lady Hans… if anyone is to blame it would be me!" she said with a big smile. The expression on Hank's face changed the second he saw his grandmother. "Nana!" he called to her incredulously and wrapped his arms around her. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Norway! Why'd ya come back?" As he heard himself ask the last question he fell silent. He lowered his head and sighed. Ilse raised her hand and touched his cheek. She rubbed it gently and said: "I came back for you Hans… I'm here to help you… I want to help you grieve…" Hank looked his Nana in the eyes. "Nana…" he said softly, "Ya didn't have to… I'm doing fine… and Elena is helping me." He nodded in Elena's direction and then looked back at Ilse. "That's her," he said, "I told ya about her…" Ilse smiled. "We just met!" Ilse said happily. "She's sweet and you should treat her better." Hank was dumbfounded by the remark. Elena had to smile, but she felt a little embarrassed as well. She didn't dare to look Hank in the eye.

"Nana?" Hank said questioningly. "Look at this mess!" Ilse said, "You're not going to let her clean all that on her own?" Hank looked around and then at Elena. Elena however avoided his gaze, so he turned his attention back to his Nana who was smiling brightly at him. He couldn't help but smile back at her. "No, of course not…" he finally answered, "I'll help her." Now it was Elena's turn to be surprised. He winked at her but decided not to say anything. He knew he had to talk to Elena eventually. He hadn't been treating her right and obviously his grandmother knew that as well.

"Where are you staying?" he asked his grandma. "Oh, at the hotel down the street," she said. Hank nodded. "I'll bring ya back, alright." Ilse nodded in agreement. "It was nice to meet you Elena," she said to the woman in question. "It was very nice to meet you as well," Elena said softly, "Maybe we could have breakfast together tomorrow morning… the three of us…" She looked at Hank, uncertain of what he would say. "Sounds good to me…" he said and smiled at Elena. The smile made her feel good. Maybe he's turning around… "Very well then," Ilse said, "See you tomorrow…" And with the everlasting smile on her face she left the saloon. Hank nodded briefly at Elena and followed his Nana outside…

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After Hank had brought his grandmother back to the hotel he had helped Elena cleaning the saloon. They didn't say much to each other and Hank wondered how he could ever make it up to her. He had treated her badly and he would probably treat her bad from time to time in the future. That, unfortunately, was in his nature. But if he wouldn't do something about the current situation he would probably loose her forever. They needed to talk to each other, that was for sure. And they didn't just need to talk TO each other but also ABOUT each other. Like they had talked that day in the restaurant in Denver. They needed to get to know one another.

As Elena prepared the last few things before opening up the saloon, Hank walked up to her and grabbed the bottles of whiskey she was holding from her hands. "What are you doing?" Elena asked him. He smiled at her and put the bottles on the bar. "I'm giving ya the night off," he said. Elena didn't believe what Hank had just said. "Excuse me?" she asked him and gave him a confused look. Hank sighed. Women! Why do you have to explain everything to them… Can't they just take the hint? "Look," he started, "I know I've been treating ya badly lately… and I want to make it up to ya." Elena looked at him incredulously. "By giving me a night off?" she almost sounded angry. To her surprise Hank grinned at her. "No," he said, "But I have plans tomorrow which involve you… and I need yer full attention for it." He put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them gently. His mouth was near her ear when he said softly: "So go upstairs or wherever ya want to go… relax… and make sure you're well rested when I take ya along with me tomorrow." Elena turned her head a little so she could look into his eyes. "Are you seducing me… Hans?" she said and gave him a flashing smile. He had to laugh at that. "Maybe," he said and then turned around to open up the saloon. Elena was still smiling as many guests entered the saloon. Maybe Ilse was right… she thought, Maybe everything will turn out all right… eventually…

TBC

I know that I may have described Ilse a bit differently from what we've seen of her in the episode "Woman of the Year". My opinion is that what we've seen of her there, isn't much to go on to make a good and thoroughly description of her character. For that, her part in "Woman of the Year" was too small and unfortunately she didn't come back in future episodes. I hope you all like my version of Ilse! Just a cute, little old woman, smiley and very grandma-like… Please review! Hit the blue button below… :D