The door slowly creaked open and the room was flooded with a blinding light. Max had to cover his eyes to stop the pain. Once his eyes had adjusted, he slowly removed his hand from his face and looked up at a figure standing in the doorway. Though he didn't know the man's name, Max recognized him as one of is torturers.

"Get up!" demanded the figure as he grabbed Max's arm and pulled him, painfully, to his feet

Max knew what was going on, in addition to torture sessions he had also been subjected to long hours of interrogation about the code, and at times Control in general. He didn't know which was worst. The torture was taking it's toll on his body, but the interrogations were affecting his mind.

The two men walked across the warehouse and back into a dimly lit room with a table and a few chairs. Without even being told, Max took a seat in the chair closest to the door. Soon after the room was filled by Dr. Peligroso and seven other men. As they took their places around the table Max prepared himself for another long session. When Dr. Peligroso began to speak the words that came out of his mouth sent Max's body into alert. His senses seemed to spark up again and he just stared at the men..He must've waited too long, because the question was repeated in a voice filled with anger.

"Answer me, Smart. How long have you known 99?"

99!? What did she have to do with this? As far as he knew she knew little or nothing about this case.

"How long have I known 99? Well, we mee.Wait a minute, what does she have to do with any of this?"

"So, Mr. Smart, you want to be uncooperative with us. As far as your wife's connection.or should I say dis-connection.with this case is concerned, that's something you shouldn't worry your mind with. Not now, not after what's happened."

Max's eyes filled with rage and he jumped up from his chair.

"Damnit! What happened to 99? What did you do to her? If you so much as put a hand on her I swear right now that I will kill you all with my bare hands!"

The men in the room just stared at him and started to laugh to themselves. Dr. Peligroso just stood at the end of the table with a smirk on his face.

"My, my, we sure have a temper, don't we, Mr. Smart. Don't worry about your wife, I can guarantee that she won't be a problem, we've taken care of her for you."

"NO!!!" screamed Max, his eyes filled with rage and tears "what did you do to her? She had nothing to do with this case. If you wanted to hurt one of us you should've killed me. She was innocent, she had no idea what was going on. How could you hurt her?"

Max's body leaned against the table with it's full weight. His body began to shake as his mind filled with thoughts of his beloved wife, 99. How could he have hurt her? She had been right, he never should've gone on this case. For days he had felt his life slowly fading, but had held onto the one hope he had in the world. Now it seemed that hope was gone and nothing was left. He decided at that moment he wanted to die. He couldn't go on living without 99.

"Geez, Mr. Smart, you speak as if something has happened to your wife. Did she have an accident? I do hope that it was nothing too tragic," his mouth turned up into a sinister grin as he saw Max's eyes widen with every word, "Oh, you must've misunderstood my previous comment. Did you think I said your wife was dead? I never said she died."

Max began to breathe a sigh of relief. He had overreacted. 99 was safe at their apartment.

"Although," interrupted Dr. Peligroso, "I never said she wasn't"

Max's body froze and he stared into his eyes. Was he kidding? It had to be a joke, but something that he saw in his eyes made something deep in Max's soul doubt it was a joke.

"Get him out of here," Dr. Peligroso told his men, "I'm sure Mr. Smart has a lot he needs to think about."

As Dr. Peligroso left the room from the rear, the same man took Max back to his prison in the warehouse.

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The Chief was sitting at his desk trying to calm the frantic voice at the other end of the line.

"99, calm down. I can't understand a word you're saying..What?.Yes, of course I can, I'll be right there. I only wish you would tell me what was wrong..Ok, ok, don't worry, I'm on my way."

The Chief grabbed his coat and raced out of his office. Something about the tone of 99's voice told him that he'd better get over to the Smart's apartment right away. When he arrived at their door he put up his hand to knock, but the door opened before it made contact. 99 threw her arms around him and started to sob uncontrollably.

"99, what's wrong? On the phone your voice sounded like you were in trouble."

99 continued to stain the Chief's jacket with her tears. As he tried to comfort her he looked, for the first time, around the apartment. He couldn't believe what he saw. Rose petals.

"When did this happen?"

"After I got back from Headquarters. I came home and it was just like in the nightmares, only 100 times worse," her voice was beginning to crack as she continued, "I we-went upstairs to our b-be-bedroom and I saw it on Max's pil."

She broke into a fit of tears again as the Chief tried to calm her down and learn the rest of the story.

"Saw what, 99?" he pulled her chin up so she was looking at him, "what's in the bedroom?"

99 slowly stood up and began to climb the stairs. The Chief followed close, noticing with disbelief the rose petals that seemed to blanket everything. He stood behind 99 as they entered into the bedroom. When she stepped out of the way, the Chief's eye's glued onto Max's pillow and the black rose. He walked over to the pillow and when he did he noticed something else, something red. He picked up the rose and noticed small, dried reddish droplets on the rose. Blood he thought and quickly turned around to prevent 99 from seeing it. However, he was too late, 99 was already at his side and had also seen the red droplets.

"Oh!," she gasped, "Max!! They've done something to him. It was Max they were celebrating about. I know it was, I just know."

At that moment, 99 started to cry worst than she ever had. Her body slumped to the floor as exhaustion took over and she passed out. For a moment the Chief tried to convince himself that whoever put the rose there had cut themselves on its thorns. Though, he knew the rose had no thorns.

***********************************************************************

Max finally awoke and for a moment forgot where he was. Then he looked around at the dim room and at the corner. It was then that he remembered what had happened only hours before. He couldn't get the thought of 99 out of his head. She's dead, he thought, the look in Dr. Peligroso's eyes and the way he said those last words only made it all seem more true. Suddenly, he noticed a sour smell in the room. Then he remembered getting sick when he was thrown back into his prison. For almost an hour he had been on his knees in the far corner. He cried and vomited uncontrollably as the thought of 99 being dead sunk in. He couldn't understand what was happening to him, he was a mess. The experiences of the past days had affected him like nothing he had ever been through. His body and soul had been crushed to within an inch of existence, but there was one person who had given him the hope to hold on. And now that hope had vanished with a single sentence. Max's mind was no longer on his present situation. He was now thinking about what life would be like for him from now on. He thought about going back to their apartment, alone. The way she used to look at him when they were in an important meeting with the Chief. How she used to squeeze his hand with reassurance whenever they found themselves in a dangerous situation. He couldn't go back to his old life, without 99 he had no life, she was his life, his very soul. He sat for several moments just staring out into space. His breathing slowed as he let his thoughts sink in. Suddenly the odor began to take over, it seem stronger than ever. He decided to try and find something to cover the vomit up with. He noticed a wooden box in one corner of the tiny room and decided that placing it upside down would help to block the stench a little. He went over and picked the box up. When he looked down at the now bare corner he noticed something in the small pile of dust that had accumulated through the years. He bent over and picked up the object. After wiping it off with his shirt he realized it was a jagged piece of glass. He held it in his hand and looked up at the tiny window high up in the room. In the bottom left corner he noticed a piece of the glass was missing. He held up the piece in his hand and they matched up perfectly. At that moment a strange feeling came over him. He sat down on the wooden box and stared at the jagged piece of glass. He turned it over and over in his hand. The dim stream of light that had entered the room streamed through the piece and onto the floor. Max couldn't help but notice how it seemed to sparkle like a diamond..Diamond, ring, love, ...99...Thoughts and images of 99 began to flood his mind once again, only this time she looked different. He closed his eyes and saw her standing there. She had tears running down her checks and she had a look of pain and sorrow in her eyes. She called out to him, begging him to come home, to come be with her. He began to cry and call out her name.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, I won't let you be alone, I will always be by your side."

Max knew he had to be with 99, no matter where she was. He took the piece of glass and examined the edges. Some of them were rather smooth considering the circumstances. However, there was one edge that had a rather sharp point. He stared at the point, taping it with his fingertip. Then, he closed his eyes, whispered "I love you, darling", and pressed the point against his wrist...