Author's Note:

Sorry it took me so long to get this one out. I had some misgivings about the ending and needed to change a few things, not necessarily in this chapter but in future chapters. Thanks for all the great reviews and we are almost done! Let me know what you think in the review section.

Chapter Thirty-Six

"I am so sorry for all of this," Spencer replied. "I didn't want to be here but the mayor insisted we get answers."

"So, what do we do now?" Nancy asked, her voice calmer since Mitchell was gone. "Do we need to worry about the mayor?"

"No, it's more like he needs to worry about me," Spencer laughed. "Him and his daughter. What say you, Chief Dorwood?"

"I agree," Dorwood answered. "I believe she just earned herself a suspension for the outburst after she was warned. As for the mayor, we have work to do with him. Miss Drew, Mr. Hardy, please accept my apology for this. After what McGinnis, Norris, and Ms. Miller showed us earlier, we should have never come."

"What are you talking about?" Frank asked.

"They don't know?" asked Spencer, looking at Chief McGinnis. "I thought you would have showed them or at least told them about it."

"We haven't had the chance," Norris replied. "We would have said something earlier but we didn't know if they were ready to hear it."

"Okay," Nancy replied, getting a bit annoyed. "Please stop acting like we're not sitting in front of you and tell us what you're talking about before I lay a smackdown."

Surprised by her sudden change in attitude, Detective Norris explained everything about Kyla and the emails she sent, including the videos.

"If it hadn't been for her," Norris replied, "we never would have found either of you."

"What was in the videos?" Frank asked. Norris and McGinnis looked at each other, trying to find the right words to say. Nora Miller looked a bit uncomfortable, shifting from one foot to the next.

"You said you felt a lot of pain," Norris said sadly. "The first couple of videos were mostly of things going on around the house, including a few of Nancy. But they were nothing compared to the last one. We couldn't even finish it the first time around."

"It's the main reason why I didn't want to press charges on either of you," said Spencer. He grimly looked at Frank before continuing. "The last video was of you but I can't even begin to describe it."

"As far as we can see in the video," McGinnis replied slowly, "Dr. Cox/Cosgrove kept giving you drugs while you wore headphones. We couldn't hear anything but we could tell there was a lot of screaming involved."

"That was how he originally manipulated people twenty years ago," Amelia said. "He had been perfecting a drug that would do the work for him while the patient was virtually tortured into submission. My guess is that you were the real experiment. He had weeks with Nancy and did it slowly while with you, Frank, he only had days. Leo more than likely knew the police would eventually come and wanted to quicken the pace in order to give a 'show' to his employer, whoever he or she is."

"We found video cameras along the hallway and in the bedroom where we encountered the two of you," Norris said. "It was a set up the whole time. Your dad caught on but it was too late."

"The pain you say you remember," Amelia continued, "was probably him giving you too much."

The room remained silently for a few minutes as Frank took in what was said. It would explain a lot of the feeling he had when he remembered his time with the doctor. He didn't want any kind of drugs in his system anymore since that time either. Frank looked at his arm, seeing the track scars of where Dr. Cox shoved needles in. The more drugs that was given the more pain they held, the more screaming he started to remember. He closed his eyes and dropped his head to Nancy's bed, trying to block out everything though it did nothing to stifle the pain. A hand gently touched his head, fingers running through his hair as he started to softly cry. Taking a moment to regain his composure, Frank wiped his face and looked up at the sad faces watching him.

"Have you told my parents?" Frank asked.

"No," McGinnis replied. "We didn't want to upset them anymore than was necessary. If you want us to, we can. It may help them understand everything a little bit."

"If and when you do," Frank said, adamantly, "don't show my mother. I think it would break her heart and scare her to death."

"We will honor the request as best we can," McGinnis replied with a laugh, "though your mother can be very stubborn."

"Yeah, I know," Frank rolled his eyes. He watched as the group began to gather themselves to leave.

"Before I forget though," Norris said, holding up a finger. He went to the door and grabbed a bag that he left just inside. When he came back, Norris was holding Frank's laptop bag. "I wanted to give this back to you. That Kyla is a good friend."

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" Frank said with a small smile.

"What I'm still trying to figure out is how she knew I was a cop."

"Oh, she can turn people's web cams on when they're not looking," Frank said nonchalantly. Norris gave him a stunned look. "She did it to me once but I flipped her on it and she never did it again. Until now that is."

"You know what she looks like then?" McGinnis laughed at Norris.

"A little on the young side," Frank shrugged, laughing lightly, the memories of his experience being pushed into the back of his mind. "Not my type though. She's too goth for me."

"Do either of you know what happened to James?" McGinnis said suddenly. "We haven't been able to find him."

"He was here," Nancy admitted. "Last night."

"Did he say why he came to see you?"

"He said he wanted to see me before he left," she answered. "And to…say he was sorry for everything."

"Well, I guess that's why we haven't been able to find him," Norris shrugged. He had feeling that she wasn't telling the whole truth but didn't press her on it. "You'll let us know if he contacts you again, right?"

"Absolutely," Nancy smiled.

"Thank you for your time," replied Spencer. "If there is anything else you remember or need to say, please let me know."

Handing Nancy his card, the DA gave a small wave and followed the court reporter and Dorwood, who were already leaving the room. McGinnis, Norris, and Nora left as well with Amelia staying behind. Frank made a small wave to the door as the three left. When the door closed finally, Nancy lay back onto the pillow and closed her eyes. She felt drained from all the talking and wanted nothing more than to sleep although it was disrupted by the images of everything. Her eyes popped back open and she noticed Frank staring at her.

"What?"

"You look exhausted, Nan," he said, concerned. "Are you sure you don't want to get some rest?"

"I will when I don't have to watch everything replay itself in my head," Nancy said with a bite. "Were you really telling the truth about Kyla?"

"Were you really telling the truth about James?" Frank retorted, raising his eyebrow.

"Touché."

"What are you two talking about?" Amelia asked, amused at how comfortable they were around each other. She wondered how they were able to be so calm after everything they said and done over the past few weeks. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Even though I'm still mad as hell at him," Nancy confessed, "James left something here that I haven't had the chance to look through. It's why I didn't tell them about it."

"Typical," Frank laughed.

"What?" Nancy looked at him innocently. "There's a bag underneath the bed. I just wanted to see what was in it."

"Yeah, and curiosity killed the cat," Frank stated. "You do this every time."

"Oh, I do not!" she cried, slapping his good arm. She watched as Amelia retrieved the bag from under the bed and laid her head back onto the pillow. When Amelia opened it and pulled out the silver case, Frank suddenly stopped smiling. He looked up at her and she realized he knew what it was.

"How did James get that?" Frank asked.

"What? What is it?" Nancy asked, popping her head up again.

"That's the doctor's case," he replied. "He was looking through it while we were on the helicopter and acted as if it were more important than life itself. But how?"

"How much longer do we have to wait?" asked Joe. It was a half hour after Lt. Mitchell stormed out of the room and they were still waiting in the hallway for the rest of the group to come out.

"If you ask one more time, Joe," Laura replied, annoyed, "I'll bend you over my knee. You may be an adult but you're sure as hell acting like a child."

Joe crossed his arms and slumped to the wall to sulk. He was beyond bored but didn't want to leave for fear of missing out on something. Being right across from the door, Joe was able to see right into the room when it finally opened. He looked over as Chief Dorwood held the door open for the court reporter and DA Spencer, both of whom left quickly with only a smile and not so much as a word. Dorwood soon followed them to the elevators. For a split second, Joe caught a glimpse of his brother and only a little of Nancy. Frank was just lounging on the chair next to the bed, looking a bit haggard. When they caught each other's eye, Frank gave him a sad look and half a wave before McGinnis, Norris, and Nora walked out of the room and closed the door behind them.

"Well?" Carson asked impatiently, his arms folded in front of him.

"No charges will be filed," Nora smiled. "Their story can be backed up by evidence and testimony."

The families heaved a collected sigh of relief as Joe moved closer to his parents. They hugged one another but Carson still looked a little troubled though Joe didn't know why.

"That's wonderful," Carson replied. "But what kind of evidence are you talking about?"

"It will come out in time, Carson," replied McGinnis. "They told us everything that they knew or remembered though I would never wish it upon anyone to go through what Frank and Nancy did. Amelia is with them now so I'm not sure when you can go in."

"What can we do for now?" asked Laura.

"Not sure," McGinnis shrugged. "That's up to them, and frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if either one of them crashed and burned very soon. Telling their stories seemed to zap their energy, especially Nancy."

"How is she?" Carson asked. They all could tell he wanted to go in to be with her but Carson also wanted to respect her wishes.

"Tired," McGinnis sighed. "She hasn't slept or eaten much for quite some time. I was waiting for her to fall asleep during the whole interview."

"What about Frank?" asked Fenton.

"He seems fine but don't expect a lot from him at the moment," Norris answered this time. "Both of them are going to be haunted by this for a long time. In the near future, we'll all sit down and discuss everything but for now, I would suggest you take this time to be thankful that you have them back."

"We need to get going," Chief McGinnis said. "We have a few things to deal with back in River Heights anyway. When they're discharged, your house is ready for you to return. I got word that the clean-up crew came in but it wasn't necessary for them to be there."

"What do you mean?" asked Carson.

"Well, a few people came in and cleaned up the house," McGinnis smiled. "They left a little something there too that you might want to see."

"Thank you, Chief," Carson said, shaking the man's hand. "For everything."

"No problem," the Chief smiled again. He and Norris waved good bye as they walked to the elevator down the hall.

"I'm glad to hear about the house," Nora replied. "I'm sure you want to return after everything that happened."

"Yes," Carson nodded. "I can't wait to be home even if it feels weird."

"We'll stick around for a little while," replied Fenton. "But we do eventually want to go home ourselves."

"In time, dear," Laura said. "Let's just get Frank and Nancy out of here."

"Don't worry about them," Nora replied. "From what I saw in there, they have a good support system in each other."

"What do you mean?" asked Fenton.

"Well, when one of them got upset, the other stepped in to calm them down," Nora explained. "I'm sure Dr. Foster would be able to explain it to you better than I could. It's like their experience gave them a bond, so to speak."

They heard the door open and turned to see Amelia come out. She smiled at them but looked determined, walking over to the nurse's station. They didn't know what she was saying but when the doctor came up, Amelia began speaking to him. Every so often, she would look their way and smile.

"Well, I have some good news," Amelia replied, strolling up to the group. "I got the doctor to agree to discharge Frank and Nancy in the morning."