Nancy came to, about half an hour later. She found herself in a car. A police car.

So that officer is involved in this with that scheming woman, her aching brain told her. Uncle Mark, she remembered.

They are kidnapping me.

She didn't have the strength to fight. She struggled to sit up in the backseat of the car. She looked out of the window

This place... we came here the other day. Detective Jones gave us the address. She coughed. Allison and Jones alias Mark looked at her from the front. They didn't say anything. They didn't need to. There was murder in their eyes.

"Where's Ned?," she asked struggling to speak."Who are you?"

Allison spoke up. "You'll soon find the answer to your first question. And if you're as smart as they say you are, you'll find the answer to the other question, too."

Nancy decided to give up. She leaned back against the seat and began to drift off.

Ned.

--------------------------

Nancy felt someone shaking her hard. She opened her eyes and blinked. She saw Mark standing in front of her eyes.

"Wake up, will you. It's about time. Road trip's over." He pulled Nancy out of the car.

Her heart began to thud.

She stepped out and saw the lonley place she had been to, not long ago.

I knew they were hiding Ned here.

"And if you're thinking of screaming, don't bother. There's no one else here.,"Allison's voice came up from behind Mark.

"I hate you," Nancy said bitterly.

"I hate you, too,"Allison replied cooly.

"Now that we've all shared our feelings," Mark said sarcastically,"Let's get to buisness."

Nancy gulped. What buisness?

She suddenly felt a hard, cold metal against her back. She drew in sharp breath.

A gun. A real one, this time.

"Now follow Allie. If you try to pull anything funny, let me tell you there ain't going to be pretty consequences," Mark said lowly.

Nancy nodded.

Allison began walking for what seemed like miles from where the car was parked. Nancy quitely followed, the skin on her back hyper - sensitive. After a number of turns, they reached an old, almost haunted looking house.

What next?

Allison undid a number of locks before she opened the door.

"Follow her upstairs."

Nancy did as she was told.

"Is Ned here?", she asked, breaking the silence.

"Shut up," was the answer she received.

On the second floor, Allison stopped and pushed open another door. Mark then pushed Nancy inside.

"Ow," she cried in pain, when she bumped her shoulder. She had hit it with such force, that she was sure there would be a bruise developing.

"Nancy," she heard a voice call out to her.

"Ned," she whispered back.

-------------------------------

Nancy, everything else forgotten, practically flew into Ned's waiting arms. They collided so hard, that they stumbled and almost hit the floor together.

"Nancy, oh Nan," Ned whispered into her hair. Nancy began to cry. She held him tight.

"Ned," she choked," Why? What happened?"

He kept murmuring her name in answer.

"You're here? I'm not dreaming?"

"I'm here," Nancy confirmed. "And I won't let you leave me, ever again." She sobbed.

"Nancy, oh my God, Nan," he said still holding her tight, so much that it was almost hurting. "I lov - " Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance to complete.

"Aww, isn't that sweet?" Allison's voice interrupted them. "Too bad I have diabetes.Too much sugar is not a good thing for me." She snickered.

Mark said something to Allison so low that Nancy could only hear ' We've got her, now we've got to start working.'

Allison gave them each one last stare before she shut the door.

A stare that spelt : Say your prayers.

-------------------------

Nancy turned to Ned once they had left. She blushed.

"Um...hi." She didn't know what else to say.

"Hi, yourself," he answered.

She smiled at him.

"You sent me that message, didn't you? Straight From...?" She let her voice trail away.

Ned blushed. "Yeah. I could have sent something else like 'Ned', but then again, anybody could have sent you that. 'SFTH' is kinda like a trademark."

Nancy smiled again.

"I am the only one who sends you that kind of...stuff, right?" Ned asked and immediately reddened.

Nancy looked down. "Yeah," she whispered.

We can't keep on blushing at each other like this, she thought.

"What happened? I mean, why have we been kidnapped?" Ned asked.

"I don't know, but it has something to do with me. I'm sorry for getting you into this," Nancy said.

"Hey, I'd feel a lot better if I were kidnapped with you, instead of you being kidnapped alone."

"Yeah, I'd feel better, too," Nancy said. "At least then I'd know that someone's there for me." She blushed, yet again. "I mean, with me," she ammended. Silence followed.

"I missed you, Nan. Really missed you,"Ned said softly.

"Life's been hard for me, too, since we broke up," Nancy said, not daring to look him in the eye.

Say it. Say that you want to get back to being a couple. But he didn't.

He reached out and put an arm round her shoulders. She flinched. He immediately removed his arm.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"No, it's not that. I banged my shoulder, it hurts."

"Oh, uh, there's this little tube of cream that I found the other day... where did I put it?" Ned stood up and began to look around.

"Ah... I've found it," he said after a while. He walked back to Nancy and removed the cap.

"Can I?...Do you want me to...?"

Nancy simply shrugged.

Ned pulled down the sleeve of Nancy's top gently, ignoring the wild beating of his heart. He squeezed the tube and gently rubbed a dab of the cream onto the bruise.

I must look a red as a tomato, he thought.

"Does it burn? he asked when he was done.

"A little," Nancy answerd.

But everytime you touch it , it feels like...Heaven.

"Do you want to talk about the case now?" Ned asked, desperate to start a conversation.

As if, Nancy thought. That's the last thing on my mind.

"No, not really. I'm kinda tired, I guess," she answered. "If you don't mind."

Suddenly I don't want to solve this case. We could live here forever. Together.

--------------------------

Hours later and Nancy was beginning to feel guilty. Guilty of not wanting to work on the case.

I got Ned into this mess, and now I've got to get him out.

"Ned, tell me everything about Allison. Every single thing."

"Well, I met her at work. I, uh...didn't tell you that -"

"I figured that out,"Nancy said.

"Oh, okay. And she kept asking a lot about you and then one day she somehow made me feel as if you didn't want me. That's why I began neglecting you...I'm sorry. And then after we broke up, she and I were out when Mark, that's her Uncle slapped some chloroform over me, and the next thing I knew, I was here."

"Mark is an officer under the name John at the PD. He told me the way to get here, it's like as if they wanted me to find you, so they could kidnap me as well. And I should have known that Allison would be the one capable of sending that note..."

"What note?" Ned asked.

"A note that said that they had the person that I, uh...liked, they must have been talking about you. And Allison knew that I, well, liked you...I mean, sort of," she explained.

"Allison sure had me fooled," Ned said, shaking his head.

"Me, too."

"Well, one thing's for sure, she'd make a great actress,"Ned said, dryly.

"Yeah, an Oscar winner," Nancy said.

They were silent for the next few minutes.

"What now?" Nancy asked.

"We sleep, I guess," Ned replied.

----------------------------------

They had never slept together before. And there they were, with no other choice, but to sleep together. Not that they didn't like it. It was just that they weren't even a couple anymore. It felt...awkward.

They were lying on the floor with absolutely no contact. They kept their distance.

They kept sneaking glances at each other, and when they caught each other's eyes, they blushed.

Ned closed his eyes, and forced himself to forget about Nancy. It was all he could do to prevent him from pulling her close.

She might not want that, he thought.

Instead, he reached out his trembling hand to touch the palm of her own. She turned onto her side and willingly took it between both of her hands, and squeezed gently.

Ned interlaced his fingers through her's. For the first time, they gazed into each other's eyes, feeling as if they could sink into them. Neither of them dared to look away, to break the spell. Nancy remembered them looking at each other like this before. A long time ago. It had been love at first sight, back then. She wondered if it was happening again. She hoped it was.

"I'm scared, Ned,"Nancy admitted,softly.

Ned kissed her hand tenderly. "I won't let them hurt you, Nancy. I promise." They smiled at each other.

They maintained the distance.

An hour later, after making sure that Nancy was asleep, Ned pulled her as close to him as possible. He fell asleep, feeling just as content as her.


Sorry, there wasn't much about the case in this chapter. But, seriously, how can you expect me to write about plot, when there's NN romance to write?

Thanks to everyone who sent a review.. Keep them going, please.

nickersoncrazy:,,,!