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Aaron's Muse

Chapter 2

All warnings and disclaimers appear in chapter 1. Rated R for language/violence.

CASCADE GENERAL HOSPITAL

MONDAY AFTERNOON

When Simon, Jim and Blair came into the room they saw a very pale, tired looking Brian Rafe sitting propped up in his hospital bed, tiredly watching his partner hover around him like a 'mother hen'.

"How are you feeling Brian?" Coming up to Brian's bedside, and taking note of the young detectives pale complexion and sunken eyes, Simon asked with concern.

"Like I haven't slept for a week. I feel absolutely exhausted..." Brian answered weakly.

"Not surprising man." Blair commented to no one in particular.

"What happened?" Brian asked, eyeing his colleague's tiredly.

"That's what we were hoping you could tell us. What's the last thing you remember?" Jim asked as he came to stand at the foot of the bed, dialing up his senses to catalogue his friend's health.

The young detective frowned, drawing in a deep breath. "Everything is really hazy. I'm not sure if I'm remembering, dreaming or hallucinating..."

"Just take it slow, partner," Henri encouraged, resting a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Just tell us everything you can remember."

"Do you remember going to the Underground Club?" Simon asked.

"Is that the club over on Eighth?" Brian questioned.

"Yea. It's an alternative rock bar." Blair explained, adding. "You don't strike me as the 'alternative rock' kind of guy..."

Brian chuckled weakly. "I'm not. Got a call from an old friend of mine from back east. He was passing through on business. *He's* a fan of that music and heard about some singer he liked that was going to be there, asked me to tag along so we could catch up on old times."

"So you did go to the club?" Jim prodded.

"Yeah. Definitely *not* my kind of music." Brain chuckled again. "Chuck and I visited for a few hours then he had to take off on a red eye to San Diego—we left the club about half an hour after the bands last set. Must have been around two fifteen or so "

"Then what?"

"That's where it gets real hazy. I remember putting Chuck in a cab to the airport and heading over to the next block to my car..." the young man's brow furrowed in concentration, his voice becoming a strained whisper as he struggled to remember. "I heard...I heard this...voice. It was...mesmerizing. I saw this shadow...it was coming towards me. I felt, I don't know... overwhelmed, terrified. I was fixed in that spot. I...I couldn't move........couldn't call out........"

"Whoa, Brian. Calm down, man." Henri comforted, sitting down on the edge of the bed and putting an arm around the panicked man's shoulders. "You're safe now. I'm here. We're all here, Brian."

Brian, however, was becoming more agitated as he became lost in his memories, his breath coming in pained gasps. "Darkness........stifling blackness and........and the, and the pain........gods, the pain........couldn't, couldn't get........get away........tried........couldn't get away."

The young man turned and buried his face in his partner's chest, reaching one arm up to wrap around Henri's shoulder. Henri wrapped his arms around his terrified partner, trying to comfort him, while also exchanging worried looks with the other three men in the room. One did not become a police officer and certainly not a member of major crimes by being squeamish or easily spooked. Brian's state of panic and agitation had all of them extremely concerned.

After a few tense moments Brian took a ragged breath and looked up into the worried faces of his friends, his voice tense and low. "Sorry...sorry, I lost it like that. But this feeling........it's like being a child and waking from a nightmare that won't fade...but I can feel it, it still seems so real."

"After what you've been through I think you're entitled to lose it a little bit." Henri comforted.

Brian fell tiredly back into his pillows, looking up with sunken eyes to meet his partner's gaze. "Just what exactly have I been through?"

"You were... attacked...'after' you left the club. Do you know who it was, did you see them clearly to give us a description?" Simon prodded gently.

"Attacked? I...uh...I don't remember..." Brain said in surprise before trailing off.

"Damn, it was to close partner. Lucky for you some other patrons left the bar the same time you and Chuck did, scared off whoever it was before they had a chance to...anyway, we barely got you to the hospital...if it wasn't for the transfusions........" Henri rambled, the memories of his partner hovering near death, causing him his own kind of agitation.

"Transfusions? Blood transfusions?" Brian interrupted, picking up on his partner's agitated state. "What in the hell happened to me?"

"It's really weird, man, but you were...well, you were missing almost all your blood!" Blair answered the distraught man.

"Missing my blood? Are you saying I nearly bled to death? Was I shot?" Brain asked in confusion. "You said attacked, was I mugged?"

"That's another part of the mystery, it wasn't a mugging...you still had your cash, credit cards, your car keys. Also, the Doctors found *no* wounds. Nothing to account for the blood loss." Jim explained. "Just like the other victims."

"Other victims? There have been others?" Brian said in surprise.

"There was all ready a kidnapping associated with the club you were at Saturday...or more exactly the band that's currently playing there. The lead guitarist disappeared for four days and reappeared in near the same condition as you were brought in. A back ground check came up with six other kidnappings and five murders that happen to coincide exactly with the bands tour dates in other cities; all equally mysterious for there lack of clues." Jim briefly filled in Henri and Brian.

"Have the other victims been able to give any clues?" Brian asked.

"I've only got brief reports from the other PD's so far. Hopefully there will be more detail in the reports that are being faxed to us. We were really hoping you would be able to fill in the details," Jim said hopefully.

Brian closed his eyes tightly, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. A moment later he let out a long, frustrated sigh, slamming his fists down on either side of his bed. "I can't remember anything. Why can't I remember anything? The person in the alley was nothing more than a shadow. I *can't even* tell you if it was a man or a woman."

"It's all right Brian. You're still recovering. You damn near died out there!"

"I'm a cop, dammit. I'm supposed to be trained for this sort of thing, not lay here like some helpless victim..." the young detective raged weakly.

"There might be a way," Blair interjected quietly.

"How? I'll try anything." Brian said hopefully.

Blair came to stand by Brian's bed, holding his friend's gaze. "I want to warn you, it most likely won't be pleasant."

"What's not pleasant is not knowing what the hell happened to me!" Brian ground out. "So whatever it is I'm willing to do it."

"I could put you in a light meditative state, almost like a trance. We could take you back and see if we can break through the haze..." Blair explained.

"Let's do it," Brian interrupted.

"I think we should wait until you've gotten some of your strength back." Henri stated.

"And give this perp a chance to strike again. Do *this* to someone else. *I don't think so*. You said it yourself; I almost didn't make it. The next victim might not be so lucky; hell, five guys *didn't* make it!" Brian said pointedly, his gaze going from his worried partner to his captain. "Please, Captain, I *need* to do this."

Simon sighed heavily then nodded. "Let me talk to your doctor Brian. If *he* thinks you're up to it *then* we'll consider giving it a try."

"Thanks Captain." Brian said quietly.

TBA