Hey everyone! Again, sorry for the delay in updating, but it's an extra-long chapter again to make up for it! Thanks again for the support and reviews, I honestly really appreciate it. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Weeks passed and the atmosphere in the manor was very tense indeed. Riff Raff worked tirelessly, day and night, in the lab and I began to worry about him. If I didn't bring him food, I feared that he would just forget to eat and he looked so exhausted. For a while, I selfishly allowed him to continue without mentioning that he should perhaps take a break, but his frailty was becoming too obvious to ignore.

On one of my usual visits to the lab with an evening snack, I decided to broach the subject. I knocked on the door and entered without waiting for a response I was unlikely to get. I looked down from the balcony and, as I had suspected, Riff Raff had not noticed the knock or my presence. The redness under his eyes was even more pronounced and, as he looked up at me, it was visible even from the balcony that his eyes were bloodshot and hungry for sleep.

"Hey, Riff Raff, just brought you a snack," I said quietly. He looked up from his work, grunted and ignored the food. "Maybe you should take a break? You look so tired."

He stopped what he was doing and glared at me. "And how do you know when I need a break?" His lack of sleep was also making him quite irritable.

"I'm sorry. I'm just worried that you're working too hard. There's no rush." Riff Raff raised an eyebrow as we both knew that I was desperate for Frank to return. "I really appreciate what you're doing, but I don't want you to kill yourself in the process! Please, just stop and we can have our food together maybe? We haven't had a 'civilised meal' in weeks."

Riff Raff pondered this suggestion for a moment. "Maybe I could take a short break… I need to eat, after all."

"And, Riff Raff, I need to check your wounds."

He rolled his eyes like a teenager being lectured by a parent but picked up his food and headed for the dining room. He opened the door, his hand shaking and struggling with the weight, and stopped, mouth agape.

"You've… set the table." He said, incredulous.

"Yes, well, you've been busy so I thought that I'd… buttle for once."

We shared a smile and I went back to the kitchen to get my meal, and some drinks. I returned and we ate in silence, Riff Raff still indiscriminately angry. But as his food disappeared, the furrow of his brow faded and he managed a courteous smile when he had finished. He began to rise from his seat but I gestured for him to remain as I cleared the table. I returned to him with the first aid kit, which he glared at in disgust, quickly and set about checking his wounds.

"Riff Raff, can I just ask you…" I began, without looking at him, "why haven't you brought Magenta back to life? Don't you want to?"

"OF COURSE I WANT HER, HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST…" Riff Raff's outburst caused me to flinch away from him but I quickly resumed my work. "I think about it every day, Janet."

I stopped unwrapping the bandage and looked into his eyes. "Then how can you not do it?"

Riff Raff opened his mouth to speak but then took a moment to compose himself. He sighed, in an oddly fatherly way, as if amused by my naivety. "Because I don't know how much she will remember. Because I don't know if she'll come back exactly the same. I killed her… it wouldn't be the same. At least now, she's all mine."

I nodded, admiring his candidness. His wound had healed nicely, so I only needed to change the dressing but I did so slowly, not wanting this shared moment to end. I felt closer to Riff Raff now than I ever had, and I smiled as I realised that he trusted me enough to be himself. He trusted me as a friend.

"Your wounds are healing, Riff Raff. There, all done," I said cheerfully, surprised at my own motherly tone as I tied the bandage. "So, how are things going?" I added, trying to hide my antici…pation.

"Very well, Janet, it's going very well indeed."

"Really?"

"Yes, but I need to tell you something. You need to be aware that there is a potential for things to go wrong. Frank was never happy with his… creations, they never turned out the way he had hoped. Hopefully, because he isn't being mixed with anyone else, he should be exactly the same but, you need to prepare yourself, Janet."

"Why didn't you warn me before now?"

"Would it have changed your mind? Or would you have still wanted me to try?"

Riff Raff greeted my silence with a smile, knowing that he had made the right decision, but this quickly faded. "There are some things that I would like you to think about, however, before we try this. You won't like what I'm about to say, but it is necessary." I nodded, apprehensive but ready. I sat back in my chair and Riff Raff leant over the table on the opposite side, staring intensely. "I want you to remember that Frank is not from this planet, Janet. I want you to remember how he used you for sex, and the horrible things he said about you. I want you to remember how Frank really was."

By this point, I was already in tears. I felt his dominant hand across my face, in this very room. I saw his mocking smile as he chased me. I saw Riff Raff's misery. I saw Eddie's carcass.

"And, Janet, remember this…" Riff Raff walked towards me and placed a hand on my arm, all without breaking eye contact, "Remember Columbia."

My face fell into my hands and stifled my woeful sobs. "Why must you do this to me, you horrible, horrible man?" Riff Raff was silent as he watched me fall apart. Columbia, the last person to fall victim to Frank's charm. She fell in love with him and what did she get? A big fat nothing. Frank had taken what he wanted for her and then moved on, leaving her to watch his many, many other conquests without a care. Yes, she had had Eddie – like I had had Brad – but Frank couldn't even allow her that. Like Brad and I couldn't have had our happy ending. And in the end, she had died grieving for him, before he had even gone. Maybe Riff Raff had spared her when he shot her – at least she didn't see him go.

I lifted my head, my neck feeling heavy with melancholy and looked at Riff Raff with fire in my eyes, my body shaking and bulbous tears still flowing. "She couldn't change him, Janet. And she knew that. If you asked her, do you think she's say that it was all worth it?"

"Yes," I said, without having to think, "because it was fun while it lasted. I have to try, Riff Raff, you know I do. I have to try."

I began to sob again. Riff Raff placed an awkward but comforting arm around my shoulders and whispered, "I'm sorry, I had to make sure. Go and get a good night's sleep, Janet. Tomorrow is going to be a long one."