A/N: This Chapter is starting to get into the question of what's Nick doing? I'm sure I won't answer it the same way the show will, since I don't know that yet! But it's fan FICTION after all! Read on...

Sara Tancredi woke up in her quiet apartment after having arrived home the day before and then having spent the rest of the evening trying to reach Veronica on the phone. She usually turned on her radio as soon as her feet hit the floor in the morning, blasting music throughout her room as she got ready for the day. But not this morning. She had a lot on her mind, and the quiet helped her sort it all out.

Yes, she had a lot on her mind.

Not the least of which was a pair of luminescent blue-green eyes that seemed to be staring at her out of her memory no matter where she looked or which way she turned. Not that she minded; his eyes were one of her favorite sights. Along with his broad shoulders, his full, red lips, his intricately tattooed and muscled arms, his…

Okay, Sara, get a grip, she told herself. She had a job to do before she could allow her mind to sink into its chosen puddle of romantic Michael mush. She mentally reviewed what she knew so far about Veronica's situation. Lincoln and Veronica had had an agreement to meet at the cabin. She was fairly sure that, if Veronica had been able to, she would have kept her promise. Those two definitely had some kind of chemistry thing going on. So why hadn't she shown up? And why wasn't she answering either her cell phone or her home phone? With Veronica being a lawyer, Sara knew she would never be far from her cell, at the very least.

It all added up to the frightening prospect that something had happened to Veronica, something done to her against her will. Sara decided to check out her house. Glancing quickly at the address in her lap, she took a right turn towards the location. It was on the other side of town, but she should get there in about 40 minutes, she estimated. She drove anxiously, hoping she wasn't getting herself into a situation she couldn't handle.

Veronica Donovan woke up suddenly, covered in sweat, disoriented and muddled. She struggled in the dark and the silence in which she was entombed in a desperate attempt to make sense of her environment. Her nose itched something fierce. It was when she could not force her hand up to take care of the infuriating sensation that she discovered her hands and feet were bound.

Her heart was now pounding in fear. She shuffled gingerly around on the surface on which she lay, trying to make it out. It seemed to be a rug, so she was on the floor. Now that consciousness was returning more fully, the events of the past few days began to replay through her tortured mind.

Nick had pulled a gun on her. She had been sure he was going to kill her. Then not so sure. That look in his eye. She'd seen remorse, tenderness, sadness, maybe even love. He couldn't do it. Instead Nick had forced her out to his car and cuffed her to the passenger door handle. She had vaguely wondered where he gotten a pair of cuffs. They'd gone to a run-down motel in an area she didn't recognize. He'd left her there, tied up and cuffed to the leg of a chair.

She'd asked him why he was doing this. He'd said he had no choice. He was sorry, he added. He didn't want anything to happen to her; she was important to him. She'd resisted the temptation to spit at him at that point.

She'd asked him who he was working for, but he didn't answer. She asked, already knowing the answer was yes, if this had something to do with Lincoln Burrows' case. Again, he'd just stared at her and said nothing. He'd left then, after leaning in towards her so close and so intensely that she'd been afraid he was going to kiss her. It occurred to her that possibly the only reason she was still alive was that he had developed feelings for her. Lucky me, she thought wryly.

She must be on the floor of the motel room he'd left her in. If she was lucky, he was still gone. And if she was really lucky, she was still cuffed to the chair leg. Opening her eyes more fully now and trying to ignore her aching head, she looked around her, really looked. Sure enough, the cuff on her arm was joined by its short chain to its sister shackle around the leg of a chair. Nick was not stupid. Why had he made it so easy for her to escape?

She crawled under the chair and bucked up with her back, lifting the leg off the floor. As she had planned, the shackle fell to the ground, free of the chair. It was a matter of minutes before she had untied her legs and was free, the cuffs hanging uselessly from one arm. She ran to the window and looked out. Nick's car was gone. Her shoes were gone too, but she wasn't going to let that stop her.

Swallowing her fear Veronica eased open the door to the outside. Seeing no one, she disappeared into the shadows.

Sara pulled up a block away from the address on the paper in her lap. With a deep breath, she got out of her car and walked slowly towards Veronica's house, looking around her with anxious glances as she approached on foot. Not sure what she was afraid of, but pretty sure she should continue to be alert and afraid, Sara slipped into the shadows of the side yard up onto the back porch. The back door was locked, so she tried the window. It was also locked. She pulled out a metal nail file and began working the lock on the window. She wasn't proud of the skill set she had gained as an addict, but it was coming in handy today. With a twist of the file, the window opened a notch and she easily slid it up the rest of the way.

Sara hesitated. Opening the window was one thing, going into the unknown was another. She wasn't big on scary movies where the hero or heroine was walking around in a haunted house and you just knew something was about to jump out. She could almost hear the eerie music from a movie cue in her mind as she eased herself over the sill into the dark house.

Veronica's feet were sporting blisters by the time she made it to her house. Looking at her home from the safety of the neighbor's bushes, she wondered if this was a good idea, coming back to a place where Nick would surely know to look for her. On the other hand, he had practically let her go. He'd been told to kill her and he couldn't. At least, not then. What if his resolve had changed and he was here, waiting for her? Who had ordered her killed and why? Veronica felt faint. She closed her eyes and leaned against the trunk of the tree she was under.

She suddenly stood up straight, instantly alert. She'd seen movement in her house, there, at the window next to the back door. Watching, she saw a figure move past the window again. Someone was in her house!

Veronica found herself breathing faster as fear filled her mind. She didn't know what to do. Finally, she decided to go in. If she ran, she'd always be looking over her shoulder, and she'd never know why she'd been targeted. As things stood right now, she had the advantage. Whoever was in there didn't know she'd seen them.

Sneaking carefully around the back of her house, she crept up to the window and glanced in. The window opened into her kitchen and breakfast nook. She could now clearly see a woman standing at her breakfast table, sorting through the mail she had carelessly thrown there.

At first Veronica was filled with fear at the sight of a stranger in her house, but anger quickly overtook her fear. Then, as she peered more closely at the woman, she realized she'd seen her before. She knew her. It was Dr. Tancredi from Fox River.

Veronica ducked down, out of sight, to think for a minute. She was truly confused now. Was Dr. Tancredi in league with Nick? Who were the two of them working for? She fumbled around until she found a garden trowel on her back porch. Armed in some small way, she felt braver. With a lightning quick movement, she popped up and climbed through the open window, brandishing the trowel at the unsuspecting woman across the room.

"What are you doing in my house?" She demanded in a quavering tone.

"Woah, now," Sara cautioned her, raising her hands in surrender. Veronica probably had no idea that she looked like a crazy woman to Sara. Her face was streaked with dirt and mascara and her legs were scratched. Tracks of tears that she wasn't aware she'd cried were visible on her cheeks. She was trembling so hard she could barely hold the instrument in her hands, much less use it as an effective weapon.

"Lincoln sent me to find out what happened to you. He's really worried. He said you were supposed to show up at the safe house two days ago."

Veronica relaxed as soon as she heard Lincoln's name. She dropped the garden shovel with a clang on the floor, causing Sara to jump involuntarily. Veronica saw her reaction and smiled just a bit.

"Sorry," she offered sheepishly. "I know how you feel, though. I'm so nervous I'm scaring myself. It's Sara, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"It's probably not safe to stay here very long. We should get out of here."

"Agreed."

Veronica opened the back door and Sara followed her out. They scanned the back yard before darting across it and into the bushes that Veronica had been hiding in only minutes before.

"I have a car around the block," Sara whispered. Although there was nobody in sight, they both felt threatened enough that they were speaking in whispers. Veronica nodded and followed Sara on a circuitous route through the backyards and trees of her neighbors. Veronica was very happy that the car was only a few minutes' walk away. Her feet hurt badly by now. Nick had apparently taken her shoes, since they had been nowhere to be found in the motel room, so she had made the long walk in socks. Socks that were practically in ribbons by now.

"I'm heading back to the cabin," Sara informed her as they got underway. "It'll take about an hour."

"You sure you know how to get there? It's my cabin, you know," Veronica reminded her.

"I'll wake you if I need help," Sara replied. "Now, get some rest. No offense, but you look like you could use some."

So you don't mind mind if I close my eyes for a bit?" Veronica asked.

"Sure," Sara agreed. "I'm going to call Lincoln's cell first, though. He's really worried about you."

Veronica brightened up at this. "You have a cell phone with you?"

"Sure, do you want to call him?"

She smiled. "Yes."

Sara watched as Veronica dialed. She knew when Lincoln answered by the sunny smile that erupted across Veronica's face.

"Linc, it's me," she told him.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." Veronica's assurances were undermined by the fact that she had now begun to cry.

"No, really, I'm fine. I'm just so glad to hear your voice. Yeah, a lot has happened. I'm not sure what's going on. I'll tell you all about it when we get there. Are you all okay there?" Veronica was silent for a minute, listening.

"Is he okay?" Veronica inquired with concern. Lincoln must have told her about Michael's injury, Sara deduced.

"We're on the way. See you soon, okay? I'll tell you everything when we arrive."

"I love you, too," she said quietly, but Sara heard her and smiled at her as she hung up the cell.

"Love, is it?" Sara teased.

"I'm asleep now," Veronica shot back, but in spite of her closed eyelids, she was smiling, too.

TBC!