Again, many thanks for the reviews. I'm honestly blown away by them. Another update. We start with George and Nina. Mitchell's thoughts are in italics as always. Again, all errors are unintentional and are my own. I'd love to hear your thoughts :) Again, this chapter was written before last night's absolutely incredible episode.

Slither.

She can see he's distracted. If she's to be absolutely truthful then she noticed his distraction before today, months before today. In fact she knows exactly when all of this started. The day she came home from the hospital and realised that Mitchell was no longer there. His room was empty, his clothes and stuff gone as if he'd never been there in the first place.

Despite it all, she had been used to him. He'd always been there, skulking in the background, always preoccupied, always brooding and always hiding something. He didn't have a reflection and she often thought that it was more than what he was. He was always dark, insidious, and a slightly bit toxic.

George loved him like a brother. She knows how they got together in the first place, a vampire and a werewolf, the two of them, struggling with their secrets but trying to cling to their human sides. Some with greater success than others, so no big surprises there then. She watches him stare at his plate, idly stirring the food round and round.

"What's the matter?" she sighs, unable to take anymore of this stretched silence. He lifts his head up and looks at her. His eyes are wide, he's surprised.

"Nothing…"

"George…" she sighs out and there's a brief silence. He looks down at his plate again and then slowly, carefully puts down his fork. She watches him pause before raising his eyes to look at her again.

"I saw Mitchell the other day" he confesses. She feels a jolt of surprise. She has kind of guessed that this moody silence was about his best friend but it's still quite a shock to hear his name spoken out in the open after six months of banishment. Then she frowns as a thought occurs to her.

"You saw him?" This would mean that he knows where he is and she frowns in confusion. He sighs and looks away again. He rests his head against the palm of one hand.

"Yeah" he confesses and she blinks.

"He's still…he's still here?" she splutters. She hadn't questioned where he'd gone once she'd returned from the hospital, she'd just assumed that he'd packed up and moved on. He lifts his eyes and looks at her.

"He never left Nina, he's in Bedlam" She stares at him in shock. Of course she knows what Bedlam is. It's notorious.

"What in God's name is he doing in there?" she demands. George straightens up in his seat but he doesn't look at her. He can hear her disgust.

"I put him in there for his own safety" he tells her and the silence afterwards is absolute.

"His own safety? My God George, it'll be like a pick and mix in there for him" This time he does look at her and there's a spark in those blue eyes of his.

"He isn't feeding. He's currently in lock down, out of it on anti psychotic medication and under threat by a nurse in there who just happens to be…one of us!" he retorts.

"There's a werewolf working there?"

"Big shock, huh, imagine that?" she rolls her eyes at his vitriol.

"There's a full moon soon and if he's on duty then…" he lets his words taper off. She looks at him.

"If he has any sense George…"

"He has it in for him Nina, Mitchell is on lockdown, he could fix it to lock himself in with him during the full moon and you know it won't be pretty"

"He couldn't get away with it George, too many questions will be asked. He couldn't be that stupid" George rolls his eyes.

"You haven't met the guy; he's not exactly high on Mensa's most wanted list" he mutters. Nina regards him and then she leans across the table and covers his hand with her own.

"George. You have to let go of this" she tells him softly. He looks at her and his expression darkens. He pulls his hand away and she feels the rejection keenly.

"So if a werewolf rips him to pieces, that'll be okay with you?" he bites.

"That's not what I'm talking about…"

"Isn't it?"

"It's because of him that we're in this situation. Did you forget what he did?" her voice rises and George stares at her.

"I will never forget Nina"

"Those people on that train…here….he's poison and he's dragging you back into that poison George"

"Oh Nina, he doesn't even know I'm there…you should've seen him, strapped to that bed, so completely unaware. It's…"

"What he deserves?" she fills in and she sees the look of complete shock in his eyes. A tense moment stretches out between them and then he sits back.

"I have to help him Nina; somehow I have to get him out of there"

"How are you going to do that and more to the point, where are you going to take him?" George shrugs almost restlessly.

"I don't know" he admits. Nina sits forward.

"He isn't staying here again" she hisses and he frowns at her.

"I wouldn't bring him here" he defends crossly. She stares at him.

"He has cost us so much George" she reminds him, as if he'll ever forget.

"It's not in me to just abandon him Nina; he saved my life once upon a time"

"And I thought you'd repaid that debt" Slowly he gets to his feet.

"You don't know him like I do, you didn't see him before all of this started. Yeah he's a vampire and yeah, he had his…issues but he was there for me when I needed him…mostly. He was the most loyal friend I ever had and I know he'd do the same for me" his voice becomes shaky as treacherous tears threaten. He swallows.

"I need to do this Nina and I'll do it with or without your approval" a tear leaks out and he wipes it away before turning and striding out of the kitchen. Nina watches him go and she swallows down her anger. Of course he'd want to help him. It was who he was. She shakes her head.

There's talk of Mitchell being moved to a secure hospital if his condition doesn't improve soon. He's still under constant supervision. Elizabeth watches him. He's always accompanied by two male nurses who watch him like a hawk. His eyes are dull, his senses are slow and it takes a couple of times for instructions to get through to him. He's no longer under lockdown but the nurses are edgy, watchful, news of how he lunged at Elizabeth has gone around. As always, Mitchell seems oblivious to the attention he's creating. He sits in his armchair, curled up, his feet are bare and he's rocking very slightly. His expression seems vacant but she sees him twitch occasionally.

He's standing there but I'm ignoring him. I noticed him yesterday. He's been whispering to me constantly, the hiss of his words grating, grating, scratching. He thinks he'll get the better of me but he should know by now that I haven't survived this long without a lot of patience. He won't win. He will not succeed.

I can smell her again. She's watching me too. Pretty nurse girl. I want her. I won't look at her. She'll know, the moment she sees my eyes she'll know. I don't know for how much longer I can hide this. I don't know how much longer I can hide who I am.

He's whispering again. I can hear him. I see him as he walks around the other patients. His eyes turn black, he smiles and I can see his fangs. I look away and stare at the floor. I know what he wants me to do but I won't, I won't do it. I'm sick of the bodyguards. Everywhere I go, they follow. What do they expect me to do? Could they really stop me if I did what I'm really good at? Could you just imagine the bloodbath?

George stands in the centre of the small room. There's a small cabinet that holds a handful of magazines, a delicate looking mismatched tea cup and saucer that Mitchell had discovered in a charity shop and brought back, giving it to her like it was the Crown Jewels. He looks at the single armchair in the centre of the room and he sighs raggedly. He misses her, he misses her constant, comforting presence but since Mitchell went away, she's kind of faded away, her heart broken beyond repair. He lowers himself down onto the chair. He misses her eternal optimism, which in her case really was eternal as well as her cheery smile and enthusiasm for those close to her very big heart. Mitchell had truly shattered it, crushed it, stamped on it and completely destroyed it.

Annie was gone.

It's quiet in the dead of night. Elizabeth writes up her notes. Some of the staff are creeped out by the silence but she finds it relaxing. After the busyness of the daylight hours, she welcomes the peace. She looks up when she hears footsteps and her expression freezes when she sees Daniel. He regards her but doesn't offer a greeting and that suits her fine.

I'm moving. What the hell? I open my eyes and stiffen when I recognise him. It's the dog. I can smell him, it clogs up my sinuses and I almost choke. George never ever smelled this bad. The sleeping meds they've given me make me feel like my head is wrapped in a wet towel. I feel slow, thick headed. He's got a good hold of me and no amount of struggling will help so I stay still and hope someone else comes along. At least this time he doesn't have his little friend with him.

"Full moon soon" he whispers and smiles almost happily. He loosens his grip and pushes me. I fall back against my bed and hit the floor. It hurts and I'm surprised I can feel the pain through the cloud of medication I've been floating on recently. I shake my head as if trying to clear away the fog but it doesn't seem to be working. I'm sleepy. He grabs me again and half lifts me up I think and shakes me again and my eyes open. The room spins drunkenly and I feel like I can't focus properly. I'm vaguely aware of hearing him swear and then I'm flying backwards. I fall, my back hitting the side of something. The pain briefly sharpens my mind and my eyes pop open and briefly fix on his face. I'm used to seeing hatred but his is especially sharp.

"Where's the monster Mitchell?" he whispers against my ear and I don't know what he's talking about, I want to close my eyes again, the pull of the drug is winning its fight.

What monster would that be then?

Elizabeth does another bed check. She sees Daniel at the other end of the corridor and her spine stiffens. They normally don't share a shift but someone has gone on the sick and he's the cover. She has a sneaking suspicion that he's been paying Mitchell a visit. She decides to make a point of checking in on him.

She pauses by his door and looks in. He's slumped on the floor across the room and her eyes widen. She turns and sees Callie following her.

"I need some help here" she calls to her and watches her jog over. Callie peers through the door and she sighs.

"He's fallen out of bed"

"He doesn't fall out of bed Callie and look where he is" she looks at her and rolls her eyes.

"It happens to them all at one time or another. We'd better sort him out" and she waits as Elizabeth unlocks his door.

As they approach, he moves. It's slow, sluggish and he's moving towards his bed.

"Mitchell…" Elizabeth murmurs, crouching down beside him and he stills. It's as though he recognises her voice. She brushes his hair away from his face and lifts an eyelid to see his eye rolling. She looks up at Callie who is frowning.

"He fell out of bed?"She looks back at him. His t-shirt is halfway up his back, exposing his waist, his stomach and she sees the red marks blemishing his lower back. She frowns.

"We need to get him back into bed" she tells Callie, whose eyes widen.

"I'll get Daniel…"

"No!" Elizabeth calls out and Callie freezes.

"Not Daniel. Between us we can do this" She sees how Callie looks warily at Mitchell. She then sighs raggedly.

"Okay"

They manage to get him back into bed. Callie goes off to complete the bed checks. Elizabeth stares at him, a pensive frown on her face. She lifts his t-shirt and does a quick check, noting bruising on his back, his shoulders, places that wouldn't be immediately noticeable. She sees small fingertip sized bruises on the side of his neck, below his ears. She feels the anger begin to rise inside of her.

"Problem Elizabeth?" she freezes when she hears his voice and she turns her head and looks at him. She looks back at Mitchell, who is completely oblivious. She takes a deep breath and draws the sheet over him. She spins around and stalks towards Daniel. She plants her hand in the centre of his chest and she pushes him until his back makes contact with the wall across from Mitchell's room.

"This is your doing…I don't know why but I know you did it and I'll make sure you don't go near him again, ever!" she hisses. Daniel's eyes darken angrily. He grabs her wrist and wrenches it away.

"You don't know what he is!" he quietly snarls at her.

"He's a patient here…he's sick…"

"Oh yeah, he's that alright but not in the way you think"

"Meaning?" she demands. The smirk Daniel gives her is annoying and smug. She rolls her eyes. She pulls her hand free, or at least she tries to but he's holding on to her.

"Let go of me"

"You don't ever let your guard down around him do you hear me? Not ever because if you do…you'll regret it" he whispers. Her heart leaps in fright. She pulls her arm free and watches him stride away. She rubs her wrist and then looks back to Mitchell's room, where he's still sleeping.

It's early and he's stirring. His eyes slide open and he looks up at the ceiling. He can hear the other patients stirring into life too. He listens for a moment. He makes to sit up but his back is hurting, like really hurting and he frowns. He lies back down.

Full moon soon… it whispers alarmingly through his mind and it makes him freeze. Then he catches the drift of a smell, a horrible, acrid wet dog kind of smell and his eyes widen. He turns his head as he hears his door being unlocked and opened. It's the blonde nurse. He frowns when he hears her voice but she isn't speaking.

He fell out of bed?

"How are you feeling this morning?" he looks at her. This time she's speaking to him. He looks at her again. She smiles at him, a quick fleeting thing. Slowly he sits up. He frowns again.

"Sore. I feel sore" he admits. The nurse pauses. She slowly turns to look at him.

"Oh…why would that be?" he looks at her, her tone sounds almost…guarded.

"I don't know. I think…I fell out of bed" He swings his legs around so that he's sitting on the side of his bed and she watches him slowly stand up. He sways a little and she automatically reaches out to steady him. He doesn't flinch away this time as he has done in the past. Instead he just looks at her. She slowly lowers her hand.

"Can I check you over? For any injuries?" she asks, fully expecting him to retreat back into silence. Instead he just nods.

"You need to…" she makes a motion with her hand for him to lift up his t-shirt and without questioning, he does so.

Her perusal is quick but professional. His stomach, his chest are unmarked as she expected them to be. He turns around and she breathes in a gasp. His back is scored with livid purple bruising; it looks as though he's made contact with something long and thin. She frowns.

"You're sure you don't know how these happened?" he slowly turns his head to look over his shoulder and then shakes his head.

"No" he mutters but she doesn't believe him.

She has a very good idea how it happened.