"You're more than welcome to spend another night, CC," Maxwell said as she put down her suitcase and went to the coat closet.

He was a lot more pleasant since he had settled down and decided what to do about the play.

"That's not necessary, Maxwell," she told him. "I'll be perfectly fine in my own apartment."

"I don't think you should be alone after such a traumatic event."

"Nonsense. I've known Niles for fifteen years. If that hasn't traumatized me, nothing will."

"Well, if you're sure."

"Miss Babcock," Niles said, entering the room holding the phone, "the phone is for you."

"For me?"

"Yes, it's your father."

"My father? Again?"

"He says it's important."

"Okay."

Hanging her jacket over the newel post, she took the phone from Niles. "Hello, Father."

"Hello, kitten. How are you?"

"I'm fine," she told him, wondering if he'd heard about the attack.

Niles was watching her, studying her face, so she turned her back on him.

"That's good," her father was saying. "Listen, I have some bad news."

"Are you all right?" Her stomach lurched.

"I'm fine, CC. It's your grandfather. He died a couple of hours ago."

"Randall's dead? But I just saw him."

"He was an old man. They told me he went to take a nap after lunch and died peacefully in his sleep."

CC found that the news saddened her. Most of the memories she had of Randall were good ones, and he had never tried to force her into a mold like the rest of the family.

"There's more," he continued.

"Yes?"

"He left you a letter. They found it in his things, and they were wondering if you'd come get it, either today or tomorrow."

She felt like hell, and all she wanted to do was curl up on her couch with Chester and either read or watch TV.

"I can't drive all the way out there, Daddy. I just..."

Niles interrupted, "I'll drive you."

"What?"

"If you have to go somewhere tonight because of your grandfather, I'll drive you."

CC was stunned. "It's an hour out of the city."

"Let the butler drive you, kitten," her father said.

"But..."

Niles took the phone out of her hand. "Hello, Mr. Babcock?...Yes, this is Niles...Yes...Yes, I will." He smiled slightly. "Of course not, sir...Yes. I'll take care of it."

He hung up and regarded CC solemnly.

"Niles, you didn't have to..."

"Shut up and get your coat. We're going for a drive."

XXX

Niles watched Miss Babcock in concern through the rear view mirror. She sat in the back seat, her face calm, her eyes far away.

The bruise on her neck was dark purple and black, and it stood out starkly against her pale skin. Every time he saw it, he was back there, in the foyer outside of her penthouse, hearing her scream. It had sounded so much like the one in his dreams that Niles expected her to be dead when he burst in the door.

He hated to think what would have happened if she hadn't forgotten the chequebook—if he would have been just a half an hour later.

It made him not want to leave her side. The feeling was strange, but he was slowly starting to realize that it came from a place of actual caring. The knowledge was scary, but he couldn't deny its truth. Despite his insults, jests, and sometimes even downright bullying,his life would be empty without her.

"We're here, Miss Babcock," he told her as he pulled into the driveway of the impressive mansion.

Her face became animated as her mind came back from wherever it had been for the last hour.

Niles shut off the car and got out to open her door. Though it was dark, the parking lot was well lit and nearly full.

"I'll just be a few minutes," she told him, getting out.

"I think I'll come in with you, if you don't mind." When she frowned at him, he added, "I need to stretch my legs.

"Oh. Okay."

Miss Babcock seemed reluctant and nervous as they approached the door. She wrung her hands and slowed her steps the closer they got. Niles pretended not to notice.

As they went inside, he was impressed at the opulence. He openly gawked as they went to the desk and Miss Babcock started talking to a slim, dark haired nurse.

"Do you want his things?" the nurse asked.

"No, my father will send someone for those. I've come about a letter."

"A letter? Let me check."

She got up and went to a filing cabinet. Miss Babcock watched the nurse in silence, her back tense and rigid. Niles wondered if he should say something or do something. Just as he was making up his mind to speak, the nurse came back with a yellowed envelope in her hand.

"May I see some ID, Miss Babcock?"

"What?"

"I can't let anything belonging to Randall go with you without ID."

"Oh." She opened her purse and dug through it for her wallet. After a moment, she fished it out and took out her driver's license. The nurse glanced at it, asked Miss Babcock to sign a release paper, and handed her the letter. Miss Babcock took it without even really looking at it and shoved it in her purse.

"Where is my grandfather now?" she asked.

"They've already taken him. Are you sure you won't be taking the rest of his things?"

She shook her head. "No. Thank you. Come, Niles. Let's go home."

"That's it? We came all the way out here for that?" he grumbled.

He saw a sudden flash of fire in her eyes. "Just shut up and drive, Hazel."

For some reason, he smiled. It wasn't just a little smirk, either. It was a full watt grin, stretching joyfully across his face. All day, Miss Babcock had been acting strangely subdued and fragile. It had been bothering him. Between the attack and her grandfather's death, he was starting to worry about her resiliency.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she did the strangest thing. She smiled back.

"All right, Miss Babcock. Let's get you home." As they left, Niles continued, "I'll leave the light on so you can read your letter."

The easy peace that had settled between them collapsed and she frowned.

"That won't be necessary."

"You are going to read it, aren't you?" He wanted to take the words back as soon as he'd said them.

She stopped and looked at him coldly. "I haven't decided."

"What if it contains something important?" He couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut.

"The only thing important he has to say to me is in his Will," she snapped and hurried to the car.

Niles paused and stared after her before shaking his head and following behind.

XXX

Despite her telling him not to, Niles turned the light on to illuminate the back seat. He seemed to be unimpressed with her and didn't say a word as he pulled out onto the road.

That had been CC's intention. She just wanted Niles to leave her alone. She wasn't used to people being concerned about her, especially him, and it made her uncomfortable.

They had driven for about fifteen minutes when CC's mind turned to the letter. She'd lied to Niles about its importance; she cared more than she wanted to admit.

CC glanced at the back of Niles's head. He was watching the road carefully and not even looking at her. She wondered if he'd watch her if she did take the letter out and read it. She thought she might be okay with that as long as he didn't say anything.

Making up her mind and moving with the decisiveness she was known for, CC opened up her purse and took out the envelope. Looking up, she met Niles's eyes.

"Don't say one word, Niles. Not one word."

He inclined his head, and his attention went back to the road. For some reason, this warmed her, and she felt a little better as she slid her thumb along the seal.

The paper wasn't as yellow as the envelope. It had a ragged edge at the top, showing it had been torn from a notebook, but it was crisp and white. Her grandfather's handwriting was shaky and uneven, but she could read it. A lump came to her throat as she read, 'My dearest Chastity-Claire'. At that moment, she actually felt loved. It was both unfamiliar and overwhelming.

The rest of the letter was not quite so lovely. As she read through it, absorbing both compliments and ravings, she realized that her grandfather had probably been senile. Despite the fact that he'd seemed so lucid when she spoke to him, he believed an evil entity wanted to murder the both of them.

She should have been angry that the letter was full of nonsense. Still, she couldn't bring herself to be, not when it was also full of so much love.

XXX

"Please, please, no..."

Niles followed the sound of pleading sobs down a long, narrow corridor. Dim lamps on the wall gave off small halos of light, but it wasn't enough to dispel the gloom.

It seemed as if he'd been following Miss Babcock's voice for hours. She'd been pleading over and over for someone not to hurt her. Her fear was so tangible, he could feel it against his skin.

Suddenly, in front of him, the corridor ended. There was a room with an open door and light spilled out of it, light so bright it hurt his eyes. A cry of pain came through the door, setting Niles in motion. He ran towards the light as another cry followed the first. The cry became a scream, and it went on and on and on.

"Stop it!" he yelled. "I won't let you hurt her. Not anymore."

A voice came out of the wall surrounding him. Niles was so shocked, he stopped running as it said, "Why do you care if she's hurt? What do you care for her pain? Don't you hurt her every chance you get? Don't you live to see her in pain?"

"It's not like that!" he said defiantly. "I've never physically hurt her. Not purposefully. It was all just a game."

The voice laughed at him. "Is the pain any less real for her?"

"Sometimes I hurt her feelings, but most of the time, she knows...she knows..."

"Knows what, Niles? That you loathe her? That you want her to die?"

His own voice surrounded him: "I despise you."; "Why don't you die and we'll find out?"; "Was it as bad for you as it was for me?"; "You say it but you don't mean it." The snippets of past conversations went on relentlessly.

"Stop it!" he cried, putting his hands over his ears. "Most of the time, it wasn't real. It wasn't real!"

His words continued, and the voice kept laughing as Niles started running again towards the door. He was determined to save Miss Babcock, and no distractions could stop him.

When he pushed through into the room, the voices and the laughter stopped. Niles gasped for air with his hands on his knees. He drew in great gulps of it, forcing his lungs to breathe.

Nearby, he saw Miss Babcock. She was battered and bloody, but she was still alive. Her clothes were ripped and stained, and her skin was mottled with bruises.

"Niles," she said shakily.

Straightening, he saw two men standing near her. The young one, he knew. Scrawny with blond hair that flopped down over his eyes, he was unmistakably Ian Woon. Woon was wearing blue gloves on his hands and they dripped with fresh blood.

Beside him was a man probably Niles's age or older. It was hard to tell with the mat of hair that covered both his head and face. He had a hawk-like nose and faded and holey green sweats. He was holding a knife.

When Woon saw Niles, he smiled and said, "Hello, Niles. You're just in time."

"Don't let them hurt me!" Miss Babcock said desperately as the older man handed Woon the knife.

"I won't." Niles took a step forward...and woke up.

He was lying on the floor, tangled in his blankets. Sweat dampened his forehead, and his stomach churned. He fought against the blankets, determined to get away from them before he threw up.

This time, there'd been voices and there'd been faces. Up until now, the only other person he'd seen and heard had been Miss Babcock. Also, this was the first time the nightmare hadn't killed her. She'd been severely hurt but alive and determined to remain so. The horror of the nightmare faded somewhat at that memory.

Finally able to fight his way free of the sheets, Niles looked at his clock. It was still only three a.m. He wondered briefly if he should curl up into his bed and go back to sleep for another three hours. He also toyed with the thought of calling Miss Babcock. It would both annoy her and reassure him. Imagining her sleepy and cranky amused him. In the end, though, he decided not to. At that time of the morning, his real feelings were too close to the surface, and he was afraid he'd never be able to keep them hidden.

Swallowing bile, he stumbled to the bathroom, deciding that he needed a shower to wash the dream off of his skin.

XXX

CC lay awake, staring at the ceiling. It was three in the morning, and she'd been lying there for hours. She couldn't get her grandfather's letter out of her head. She knew it was mostly ridiculous, but his words were haunting her all the same.

She didn't know which was worse, discovering after all this time that her grandfather had loved her so much or the fact that he thought something evil was coming to murder her. Both thoughts were disturbing and enough to interrupt what was usually troubled sleep anyway.

Then there was Niles's strange behaviour. He'd been acting strange on and off for weeks. Sometimes, he seemed to almost like her. She was grateful to him for helping her in her fight with Woon and for taking her to get her grandfather's letter. CC didn't like being grateful.

There was something else keeping her awake, something that she didn't like thinking about. Ian Woon. CC prided herself on taking things that bothered her or hurt her and shoving them down deep where she couldn't see them. It was disconcerting that every time she closed her eyes, she saw Ian Woon's face and felt his fingers squeezing her larynx.

Her hand went up and touched her throat as this thought went through her mind. It was still tender. She stroked it gently, hating that he had marked her.

Finally, she let out a groan and forced herself into a sitting position. Chester raised his head to look at her, so she assured him, "I'm all right. Go back to sleep."

Her little dog had been sticking fairly close to her since the attack. She still hadn't figured out if it was so he could protect her or so she could protect him.

At her gentle words, he lay his head back on his paws, sighed, and closed his eyes.

CC got up and turned on the light. She studied herself in the mirror, frowning a the black circles under her eyes.

Feeling crabby and vindictive, she decided that it wasn't fair that she was the only one not able to sleep. She wanted Niles to be as awake and miserable as she was.

At least, this was what she told herself as she went out into the living room and snagged her portable phone. She refused any suggestion from the part of her mind that told her maybe she just wanted to hear his voice.

CC had known Niles's private number for years but she'd rarely used it. She imagined him there sleeping and the ring of the phone jolting him awake.

The phone rang several times before a gruff voice said, "Hello?"

"Niles?"

"Yes. Who is this?" He didn't sound sleepy, but he did sound grumpy. CC was starting to have second thoughts about calling him so late. She was just about to hang up when he spoke again. "Babcock, is that you?"

She swallowed, wondering if she should answer.

"Babs, if that's you, say something. It's too late for me to deal with an obscene phone call."

"Were you sleeping?" she blurted.

"No. I couldn't sleep. If you called to wake me up, I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"Oh, well. I tried. Night, Niles."

"Wait."

"What? What is it?"

"Is that really why you called?"

"Yes."

"I don't believe you."

"Why else would I call you, Rochester?" she asked defensively.

"I told you it was too soon for you to go back to your penthouse."

"Nonsense!"

He sighed. "What are you doing up at almost four in the morning?"

"I was working," she lied, settling in on her couch, tucking in her legs.

"Okay." His tone was mildly mocking.

"Did you hear about Ian?" The words came out of her before she even knew she was going to say them.

"Ian?"

"Ian Woon."

"The man who..."

"Tried to kill me. Yes."

"There are so many, it's hard to keep track," he said lightly.

"Niles..."

"Sorry." He even sounded sincere. "What about him?"

"He's saying he doesn't remember being here, in my apartment. None of it. He's telling everyone who will listen that he doesn't remember anything after the Hallowe'en party. I think he's going to plead temporary insanity."

"They might believe him."

CC swallowed before admitting, "I might believe him, too. Did you see his eyes, Niles?"

"I was too busy trying to keep my skin."

She shuddered.

"Do you think someone could try to kill someone and then forget it?" he asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he wasn't just temporarily insane. Maybe he's been insane all along and is just good at hiding it."

"Like you are?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of you."

"Go to sleep, Babs."

"I can't."

"Then let me get some sleep."

"I thought you said you couldn't sleep either."

"Not with you on the phone, I can't, and I have to get up in three hours."

"Maybe we should play hooky."

"Together?" She could hear the amusement in his voice.

"Why not?"

"Now I know you're sleep deprived."

She laughed, surprising herself. "All right. I suppose I'll let you sleep."

"We'll meet together for a nap in the library at eleven."

"Do you think Maxwell would notice?"

"Of course not."

"Oh, go back to bed, Butler Boy," she told him, still smiling.

"Ditto."

"All right. Bye."

"Bye."

When CC turned her phone off, she suddenly felt sleepy. Adjusting her position, she stretched out on her stylish but uncomfortable couch. Laying her head on a colorful throw pillow Sylvia Fine had given her and, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to throw out, CC placed the phone over her belly with her hands folded over top. Two seconds after she closed her eyes, she was fast asleep.

XXX

"Are you listening to me, CC?" Maxwell asked, snapping her out of her light doze.

"Uh...Of course I am, Maxwell. You're talking about going ahead with the backer's party next weekend and about starting the auditions on Tuesday." At least that's what he'd been talking about when she fell asleep.

"Well?"

"Almost everything has been done for the backer's party. Everyone's clambering for invites, so it should be successful." She didn't add that the writer trying to kill one of the producers seemed to be the cause. "As for the auditions, the advertisements went out today, remember?"

"But do you think we're ready?"

"Yes."

"But this one feels different."

"It'll be fine, Maxwell," she soothed.

"I wish I could be so certain."

"Mr. Sheffield?" there was a brief knock before the nanny popped into the room.

"Yes, Miss Fine?" Maxwell looked happy to see her. He usually did.

"I was just wondering about this weekend. Are you still planning on taking the kids to the museum?"

"As long as nothing comes up," he told her agreeably.

Nanny Fine noticed CC sitting in her usual spot and said, "Oh, hi, Miss Babcock."

"Nanny Fine."

"I didn't think you'd be here today."

"Why on earth not?"

"Your grandfather..."

"He's dead, Nanny Fine. It's not like I can revive him, and his funeral isn't until Saturday."

"But don't you feel sad?"

"Of course not," she lied. "I didn't know him very well, and I haven't seen him in years."

"Oh." The look Nanny Fine gave her was full of pity. CC didn't like it.

"Is there a reason you're still here?" she snapped.

"Geesh. Somebody's cranky today."

CC tried to smile but it felt more like a baring of teeth. "Listen, Nanny Fine, it's been a hard week. I've been attacked and my grandfather died..."

"But you said..."

CC raised her hand. "Please, just spare me. You know what? Never mind. I'm going in the kitchen for some coffee. I'll be there if you need me."

"Wait."

"What is it now?"

"Are you okay? Are you really okay?"

"I'm fine. I just need some coffee."

Not wanting to hear any more from the nosy nanny, she got to her feet and headed towards the kitchen and sanctuary.