The nurses were all distracted trying to revive Walt, but Barbie the candy striper had been very helpful indeed in giving Lee directions to Glaser's laboratory space in the basement.

"I go by it all the time on my way to the laundry!" she chirped. "It's creepy down there; sometime I pretend I'm in a horror movie and think up all the ways I could escape the guy with the ax! Anyway – the quickest way down for here is by that service elevator!" She pointed to the large cage elevator at the end of the hall and after a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, Lee hobbled toward it.

As he descended in the elevator, he began having flashbacks to his nightmares and when a blast of steamy air hit him as he stepped out, it all began to crystalize. He inched his way down the badly-lit corridor; Barbie had told him it was about half way along and sure enough, soon he could see a blue door, halfway open, and heard voices inside. He flattened himself against the wall and listened.

"I thought you said you knew where our experiment with Kimball went awry! Why is Stetson managing to resist it?" Glaser was raging at his assistant.

"I don't know!" Chrysler sounded equally frustrated. "Everything seemed to be fine that first day, but the measurements dropped off on the second round. That's what confuses me – he should have been much more susceptible by then. It always works best when the subject is inclined to anger and we had everything in place with Scarecrow! We kept him in hospital which we know is a trigger for him, we put him on a liquid diet so he'd be hungry and irritable, and we drove a wedge between him and Billy Melrose by making Melrose responsible for keeping him here! But all these blood tests show that none of that is having any effect whatsoever!"

"Damn it, we don't have time for this! Melrose is giving that speech tomorrow! I want Stetson going down in a hail of bullets after killing Melrose in front of a room full of law enforcement officers!"

"Well that's going to be a problem since Melrose called today saying he wanted him discharged today, Apparently he's got some friend who's willing to look after him until his knee is better."

"That's ridiculous! Stetson doesn't have any friends!"

Outside the door, Lee bit back a reaction to that.

"Oh don't look at me like that," Glaser went on. "I mean, of course he has friends. Co-workers, acquaintances, one-night stands! But he's not close to anyone. He prides himself on being a lone wolf – it's what made him perfect for our purposes!"

"Well, he must have at least one - and we've run out of time to do anything else," replied Chrysler in his lugubrious tones.

"Not so fast," Glaser snapped his fingers. "He's still here, right? So we can insist he complete another set of lab tests before we release him. Melrose can't complain about that – after all, what kind of doctor would I be if I just released Stetson without a thorough once-over?"

"You want him brought down? Now?" asked Chrysler.

"Yes, right now," said Glaser. "If Kimball's been discovered, that will be providing enough of a distraction that no one will question Stetson being taken for another set of tests so soon after the last batch."

"Fine, I'll go fetch our lab rat."

Lee straightened up and gripped his crutches as he heard Chrysler move toward the door and the instant that the doctor stepped past the threshold, Lee brought one of them right up under his chin, sending him stumbling backward.

"What the-" Glaser yelled, stopping dead as Lee wheeled into view around the door. "Stetson! How did you get here?"

"I just followed the stench of something rotten," Lee responded though gritted teeth. "And now your little experiment is done."

"Oh really, Scarecrow," drawled Glaser. "You think you can take on two of us in your condition?"

Lee glanced at Chrysler who was still on the floor, shrieking in pain and clutching his nose which was spouting an impressive amount of blood. "Actually," he answered with contempt. "Yes, I do."

Glaser jumped to one side, and grabbed a lethal looking scalpel off a nearby tray. He began circling, keeping the large chair in the middle of the room between them, and waving the scalpel in front of him while Lee tensed, alert for his attack. As Glaser passed the chair, he suddenly flipped a small switch and a film projector burst into life.

"What a guy. Keep up the good work. Details are important. Success comes one step at a time," said a familiar voice from the speakers.

Lee felt that same wave of unrelenting dread he'd felt upstairs sweep over him. He glanced at the screen where he could see a series of pictures over and over, all scenes of violence: explosions, gunshots, bombs going off and a pair of eyes that seemed to stare right into his soul. His ears began to buzz and his mouth filled with the bitter taste of bile. Through the haze though, he saw Glaser begin to edge to the doorway and shook himself free of his trance.

"Stop right there," he croaked, swaying slightly as he raised a crutch.

"Now, now Lee," said Glaser. "You are doing so well. Lester has a job for you – do you want to hear what it is?"

Lee shook himself again, trying to resist the thrall of his words. "No, I… no," he uttered uneasily. ""I don't…"

"Lester says you need to forget all about me," intoned Glaser as he backed toward the door. "Lester says you should only remember to kill Billy Melrose tomorrow at 12 o'clock. Do you understand?"

"No, that's not right," said Lee. He shook his head again and gripped the crutches. "Billy's my friend."

"Lester says Billy Melrose deserves to die, Scarecrow."

"No," said Lee, more firmly. "No, he doesn't." With one final wrench to regain control, he stepped forward and swung a crutch at Glaser, managing a glancing blow to his head but then the doctor staggered back toward him, kicking out and managing to hit Lee's injured knee. Lee screamed in pain and tumbled to the ground, scrambling to get away from the advancing scalpel as Glaser pursued him. Finally, backed into a corner and still fighting the paralysing fear of that cartoon voice, Lee could only watch as Glaser lifted his weapon for the final blow.

"Lester says it's your time to die, Scarecrow" smirked the doctor.

An instant later, Glaser's face went blank and he dropped down in front of Lee like a stone.

"Lester is an idiot," said Amanda, dropped the fire extinguisher she'd just hit him with and ran to crouch beside Lee, pulling him into a tight hug. "Oh my gosh! I was so worried! Are you okay?"

"Amanda! What are you doing here?" Lee wrapped his arms around her, clinging as if his life depended on it.

"I could say the same thing to you!" she said, hotly. "I told you not to go charging off and what did you do the minute my back was turned?"

"Where's your mother?"

"Oh, I left her in the emergency room. There was a handsome doctor there to distract her and I told her I'd be right back. I knew you'd be doing something like this!"

Amanda let him go long enough to reach and turn off the film projector and Lee could feel the tension leave his body as the squeaky voice stopped.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know he deserves that bump on his head," Amanda answered, "Come on, let's get you out of here."

"No, we need to tie them up first," said Lee wearily, waving at the two men.

"I'll do that," replied Amanda. "You can call Security or something," she went on, as she began to rummage through drawers for something to bind them with. "Oh, how nice," she said sarcastically as she pulled out a pair of handcuffs and dangled them in front of her.

"Just a regular day at Doctor Frankenstein's office," quipped Lee as he dragged himself upright using the file cabinet drawer handles, then limped toward the phone.

"Or our honeymoon," joked Amanda. "There's only one set though," she added after going through the drawer more thoroughly.

"Cuff them together around the radiator," said Lee over his shoulder as he dialled.

"Gee, why do I get the feeling you've done this before?" she answered.

Lee watched as Amanda dragged Glaser by his pant legs to lie beside Chrysler and cuffed them as he'd suggested. After a brief – but very vehement – conversation with the Security department, he dropped the phone back in its cradle and turned to Amanda, holding his arms open again, hugging her tightly when she walked straight into them.

"See? I told you bad stuff always happens to me in hospitals," he said.

"You're right. We should get you out of this one as soon as possible," she agreed.

There was the sound of running footsteps in the corridor and they stepped apart regretfully, just before Francine burst in, followed by a few other agents.

"Oh!" she said, obviously startled. "Amanda! I wasn't expecting…" She looked around at the two men on the floor and the litter of things around them. "I see you've been busy."

Lee reached to the desk nearby and picked up a file that was lying on it. "I think we'll find everything we need to convict these bozos in there," he said, exhaustion starting to set in as the adrenaline wore off. "To say nothing of the drugs and everything else they probably have in here."

"Lee Stetson" Francine read out loud from the file cover. "These are your medical records… are you sure you want me to…?"

"Look at the first page," said Lee, slumping back against the desk.

Francine flipped open the cover and skimmed, then looked up with horror. "They were trying to kill Billy?"

"And me," he nodded. He pointed at the file cabinet. "I'd look and see if they have a file on Walt Kimball too – Glaser tried to kill him this afternoon. And he would have managed it too if it hadn't been for-"

"Oh my gosh! My mother!" exclaimed Amanda. "I told her I'd be right back! You'll be okay by yourself? I have to get back to her!"

"Lee has managed many years without your help, Amanda," said Francine acidly. "I'm sure it will make no difference if you toddle back to your mother." As Lee and Amanda exchanged a speaking look, she went on, "Besides, this crime scene is now under our control so it's best if you just get out of our way before you contaminate any evidence."

"Well, thank you so much," said Amanda under her breath as she edged to the door. She glanced back at Lee who mouthed "sorry" at her with an apologetic look. She paused in the doorway with a mischievous look. "Oh Francine," she said sweetly. "Just so you know, I've already contaminated the scene. The fingerprints on the extinguisher are mine – from when I knocked out Dr. Glaser. I wouldn't want you to have to look too hard for a match."

With a little wave and a wink at Lee, she whisked herself away.

Francine turned to Lee, looking stunned. He was hard pressed not laugh but managed to simply shrug and say nonchalantly, "I guess you shouldn't underestimate a housewife."