Adam scowled as he listened to the news on his car's radio, finally being released by the police and allowed to go back home. So his bitch had survived had she? All be it touch and go as she was now in a coma; she was still fucking alive! Ok she might not make it until morning, but right now she was still living, breathing! This infuriated Adam. Could these guys not even do this properly?

However he was glad he'd had the foresight to call Ashley from his burner phone before getting rid of it the night before. "I've changed my mind," he'd said. "Don't send me the video, the pigs are all over me. I'll come to you when the coast is clearer."

"Fucking better," Ashely growled. "Mr. Leach won't be happy if you don't. He was very reluctant to authorise this in the first place you know, almost didn't. So you'd better give us our God Damn money, or you'll have both him and us to answer to and deal with."

"You have my word," Adam promised. But now as he sat in his car, he wondered. They hadn't even killed her correctly. Would he, should he pay for such an incomplete service? If he could he'd go in there and finish the bitch off himself. But of course that was impossible. The place was crawling with police, as if the idiots seriously thought he was just going to turn up there with flowers and grapes!

The interview with the police had been among the most gruelling Adam had ever faced, and he'd faced a few with them. Most unfortunately for him, Dr Loomis had sent the cops the footage of Graham Williamson's visit to SG, and the cowardly little worm had warned the doctor what was going on.

They'd made their contempt for him pretty obvious during their interview. "Not only that," DC Peters had said. "But we now also have reason to believe and suspect you were at least involved in another murder which happened just over 2 weeks ago. We have spoken to Dr Loomis of Smith's Grove hospital, and we find it incredibly suspicious that a man who only an hour before was visiting that location, was found deceased nearby. Especially if you take in to consideration the fact that he talked about "tricking a blind woman." Hmm. What does that sound like to you, Mr. Dawson? Not to mention he wrote this."

DC Peters showed Adam a copy of the message Graham had written Dr Loomis. Adam wants you, watch your back.

"So?" DC Peters asked, glaring at Adam. Even his solicitor sitting beside him in a well-tailored suit said nothing. But Adam answered as he'd been advised.

"No comment." The police officers exchanged knowing and contemptuous looks.

"Did you plan this visit?"

"No comment."

"Who did you send in to "trick" Danielle Hayward?"

Adam remained silent this time. The interview felt like it'd gone on for hours. When would he get out of here? Finally he was released, but just as he'd feared he didn't get his phone or any other devices back this time.

"If we find even the slightest proof on any of these," DC Peters warned him. "We'll be back to arrest you. Do you understand?"

Adam just shrugged and left. Now, he thanked any God who existed and those who didn't that he'd thrown away his cheap burner phone. The pigs couldn't seize it as he no longer had it. The head of a misogynist gang would surely be on their systems, they'd know who he was instantly. Adam had cleared his call log and text messages, which would hopefully make it a hell of a lot harder for the pigs to find them. He'd also refused to give them his pin, taking the consequence of the warning he was committing another offence by doing so. What did he care? He was on borrowed time and knew it, as much as he hated it. He was starting to wonder if he should just get out of Haddonfield for a while. Take his bitch Claire and just go. But he'd be back soon enough. As soon as it was safe to do so. As he continued driving back towards his house, he reflected that right now, safe was one thing he was not.

…

"So what do you think?"

Danielle, Dr Stark, Joanne and Nigel who'd arrived half an hour ago were sitting in the living room of Charlotte's DASC flat. The last couple of hours had been intense. Danielle had had her fingerprints taken, photos, and recorded her voice in to the voice ID. She'd had to say phrases such as "I am Danielle Hayward," "this is what I sound like." But it had all been worth it when Steph, her DASC engineer said "ok, shall we test it?"

Danielle had been taken up to Charlotte's flat and shown the keypad outside the door. 3 buttons, one shaped like a microphone, a hand and a nose.

"Hand is fingerprint," Steph said to Danielle, Dr Stark and Joanne, who true to their word were right beside her. "Nose is Face ID and microphone is voice. You select how you want to enter when you get to the door.

"Just one question, this won't remove Charlotte's details will it?"

"Don't you worry about that Danielle," Steph said. "Charlotte's details are going nowhere; you will just both have access to the flat."

Danielle pressed the microphone button and a male voice said, "After the tone, please state "I am" and your name to gain entry." There was a beep.

"I am Danielle Hayward," Danielle said clearly, just as she'd said in the recording suite. There was a soft ding, and the door slid open.

"Bingo," Steph smiled.

"I take it it'll buzz if it doesn't work?" Danielle asked.

"Yep. You get 2 tries and then security are automatically called up to reset the licence and if necessary ask you to leave. If not willingly, by force."

"Wow," Danielle said quietly. "You guys really aren't kidding."

"We take Domestic Violence and abuse very seriously," Steph said. "No shit! What if I've got shopping or something? The door doesn't stay open for very long. There's no way someone can enter behind me."

"Which is precisely the point. So if you have stuff to bring in, alert reception and a guard will come up with you to keep the door open with a special code only the guards have, but they will also stand outside the door until you are done."

Danielle could only nod. This was seriously advanced security. It was just a terrible shame it hadn't managed to save Charlotte's life.

SHE'S NOT DEAD YET! Danielle shouted at herself. DON'T THINK LIKE THAT! DON'T YOU DARE, HAYWARD! Charlotte's A FIGHTER AND YOU KNOW IT!

Nigel had been true to his word, collecting anything Danielle might need from Charlotte's parent's house, where all her stuff had been taken after she'd been taken to Smith's Grove. Colin gave Nigel his key and the other man bought anything she needed.

"Thank you so much Nigel," Danielle said, hugging him tightly. "I told Joanne here you're like my grandfather."

"Less of the grand," Nigel said, but there was a small smile on his lips. "I love you too Danielle. Thanks for keeping me up to date by text while in SG. So, you and Mr. Michael Myers, eh?" Danielle blushed, but nodded.

"God help anyone who tries to hurt you now," the older man said. "I sure wouldn't want to piss off Michael Myers."

"That's what I said," Joanne nodded to him.

Now, the 4 of them were eating take away food, Nigel had insisted on paying for every one of them. Dr Stark and Joanne had tried to argue, but Nigel was having none of it. "Danielle loves you 2," he'd said. "You've helped her no end, she's told me that enough times. This is the least I can do to say thank you, whether it's your job or not."

Danielle picked at her food, struggling to eat, but Nigel kept nagging her to try her best. She normally loved food from this restaurant, having gone there and had taken away from there countless times with Charlotte before everything had happened. But tonight, she couldn't. Charlotte, Charlotte. Her friend would not leave her mind. Would she make it to see the dawn? Desperate for something to distract herself if that were at all possible, she tried to answer Dr Stark's question.

"It's… well the security's state of the art it seems, fingerprint, face or voice to get in. The doormen all seem really nice, even if it is somewhat intimidating to walk past a group of guys in suits with guns on their shoulders and radios in their ears!

"I thought you'd like the suits Danielle," Nigel teased. "As for the ears…"

Dr Stark and Joanne chuckled. Danielle blushed again. "Shut up Nige," she muttered. But it was good that he was at least trying to help her through this hell she and the rest of Charlotte's family were stuck in.

"As for the inside," Danielle continued. "It's surprisingly nice, almost luxurious I guess. But then, women stay here for a long time sometimes, right?"

"That's correct," Dr Stark agreed.

"Dr Stark," Danielle said quietly, lowering her voice, even though only the 3 she loved and trusted could hear her. Sadly the 4th couldn't, being Michael. Nor could Charlotte… but she forced that thought away. "I'm a bit scared to trust. I'm sure Dr Clarkson is a lovely woman, but I don't know her. I've worked with you for months but…"

"Now Danielle," Dr Stark chuckled and touched her hand. "Why do you think I'm here and not leaving until you tell us? It's precisely for that reason. So I can carry on treating you. The therapy rooms here are just as good as Smith's Grove and I will continue working with you. Although Dr Clarkson has said that she and her staff will help you in any way you need, just ask them."

"You…" Danielle gaped at her doctor, affection rising fast. "You're staying here to continue treating me?"

"But of course," Dr Stark said. "What did you think I was staying here for? To decorate the rooms?"

Danielle managed a small laugh. "I… thank you. That means more to me than I could ever tell you."

"Then you're welcome. It's the same with Joanne. You'll have a guard with you whenever you wish to go out, so it made sense it was one you trust and know well."

"Are you getting paid extra for this?" Danielle blurted out before she could stop herself. "Because if you're not, I want to give you some money! This… this is over and beyond the call of duty, I…"

"Now Danielle!" Dr Stark's voice was a little stern now. "Don't you start worrying and thinking about that? That's the last thing you need to worry about! Joanne and I will be just fine."

"Agreed," Joanne said. "Don't even go there Missy, got me?"

"I think you've just been told," Nigel hugged Danielle and kissed her forehead. "I'd do as they say if I were you."

Danielle couldn't deny however she might try, that the fact Joanne was with her was hugely comforting. When she was there in all her equipment and concentrating solely on her, Danielle felt incredibly protected and now, cared for. When she'd first arrived, it had purely been to guard her. Now, Joanne felt like so much more than a guard. A friend, the mother she'd never had. She'd gone way passed what was expected in her job description.

A few minutes later when Danielle entered her on suite bathroom, Nigel spoke quietly to the doctor and guard. "Though I didn't want to say it in front of Danielle, I agree with her. Please let me at least give you something?"

"Nope," Dr Stark and Joanne said together. "There's no need Mr. Manning," Dr Stark said. "If it wasn't for you, we would never have met Danielle. That's enough for us."

"Are you sure? Also please, call me Nigel?"

"Done. Yep, positive, there's no need, Nigel. We are getting paid by SG, but that's irrelevant. We want to be here, we want to do this for Danielle during this hard time, just as much as you do. It's the least we can do during this terrible time."

When Danielle came out, Dr Stark showed her again where Joanne's and her rooms were. She'd been right, they were literally connected to the flat. Their rooms were in a little corridor just inside the front door. Dr Clarkson explained they were there if a woman needed a psychologist close by 24-7, a doctor or councillor.

…

"I told you," Dr Loomis said, as they landed at the airport nearest to Smith's Grove. "Our guards and driver are armed, there is no need for you to get on your high horse Mr. Andrews. You were perfectly safe. The only reason you got overpowered was because you threatened the wrong people… people Michael Myers here happens to care about."

"Armed?" Andrews sneered. "What? Those flimsy, stupid rubber bullets? Jesus Christ! They won't do a damn thing to anyone besides sting! I never agreed we should use them."

"Is that really what you think?" Rick asked softly. "You're so wrong Sir. Just ask Adam Dawson." Jack smirked at his colleague.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Andrews said, clearly still unwilling to drop the attitude now he no longer had a gun pointed at him. "But those stupid bullets, or so-called bullets, don't do a damn thing to a fly!"

"You're just lucky Joanne, Jack or Rick didn't decide to prove you wrong," Dr Loomis said. "They could have you know and would've been quite within their rights to do so. Considering you threatened them and showed cold, merciless cruelty to a very vulnerable patient you know no more about, than what is written in her file on entrance to Smith's Grove." Nothing, in other words."

"You're too fucking soft Dr Loomis," Andrews snapped. "That's your problem. Danielle Hayward is a patient, end of story. She should've been chained according to the rules and you know this only too well. You and Gemma Dr Stark both broke those rules."

"That's your problem," Dr Loomis said to Andrews, releasing him from his seat but not the handcuffs. "You only care about money, rules. You don't care about the patients as people. Some very ill, other very dangerous patients pass through our hospital Mr. Andrews. What they need is compassion and care, not HR ticks in a box."

"Bullshit," Andrews snarled as Rick and Jack took his arms to lead him off the aircraft. "Unhand me! You are my guards; you are supposed to be protecting me! Let me go! I'll see you all fired for this! I don't even know what all the fuss is about! Just because Hayward is blind, you all act as if she's made of cotton wool! Maybe that's what she needed, some toughening up! What the hell was wrong with her anyway? Why she was so apparently terrified? They were only chains; anyone would think they were snakes! Whatever care and compassion you've given her clearly hasn't worked. You're treating her like a child and she's most certainly not! Yes she had horrific scars, I've seen the pictures. But how do I know she didn't deserve…"

But that was as far as he got, because that was when Michael's arm closed tightly around his throat. Rick and Jack looked at each other as Myers began to squeeze Andrews's windpipe. Should they act?

"Oh dear," Dr Loomis said mildly, as if nothing was happening. "You just insulted Michael Myers's girlfriend, oh excuse me, his, "thing." I don't think… well I'd like to say you'll regret that, but I don't think you'll live long enough to. I think you pushed Michael here over the edge when you kept talking about the chains. As for Danielle's scars, that was a big, big mistake."

Jack and Rick looked at Dr Loomis, unsure what to do. They couldn't lie, they were a little afraid themselves. If they tried to help Andrews, Michael could easily target them. It was their job to subdue him, but could they? Should they?