The phone on B.D.'s desk started to ring. He picked it up before it could ring a second time.

"Hawkins," he said into the phone. He listened intently to what the person was saying on the other end of the phone. He finally hung up the phone a couple of minutes later, smiling.

"What's going on, B.D.?" Nancy asked. "Why are you smiling?"

B.D. held up the picture of their suspect. "You want to know if this is our guy or not? Nikki just woke up."

"What!" Nancy exclaimed. "B.D., that's great!"

"I'm going over there right now," B.D. said, grabbing his blazer off of his chair. "Are you coming?"

"Are you kidding?" Nancy asked. "I wouldn't miss this for anything!"

Instead of taking two cars the three blocks to the hospital, Nancy and the Hardys rode over with B.D. When they walked into the hospital, they immediately went up to the fourth floor to the I.C.U. wing.

"B.D., should we really all go in there?" Nancy asked, stopping by Nikki's door. "What if it excites her too much?"

"You're right," B.D. said. "Maybe I should go in there by myself."

"I think she needs to see a friendly face," Nancy said.

"Are you saying that I don't have a friendly face?" B.D. asked.

"I'm saying, when you're on a case, you usually don't let that friendly face of yours show through," Nancy said. "She knows me, B.D. She may be more willing to open up to me."

B.D. sighed. "I hate it when you're right."

"Then you must really hate me," Nancy said. She grabbed the folder from B.D. and pushed open the door to Nikki's room before he could think of a retort.

Nikki was sitting up, glancing at the television. When she saw Nancy, she gave her a weak smile. "Hey, Nancy."

"Hey, Nikki," Nancy said. She pulled up a seat and sat next to her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm starting to feel better," Nikki said in a raspy voice. She pointed to the television. "According to the news reports, I'm dead."

"Yeah..." Nancy said. "We kind of had to do that. We didn't want the killer to know you survived."

"The doctors say I'm lucky to be alive," Nikki said. A single tear fell down her cheek.

"You really are, Nik–but you're a fighter," Nancy said. "If anyone could survive, I knew it would be you."

"Have you caught him yet?" Nikki asked.

Nancy shook her head. "Not yet–we don't even know what he looks like. He hasn't left any evidence. That's why we need you."

"Why?" Nikki asked.

"Because we're hoping that you saw his face," Nancy answered.

Nikki's face seemed to register panic and fear at the same time. "Nancy, I..."

"You don't have to give us a description or anything, Nikki," Nancy said, quickly. She pulled out the picture they had gotten from the videotape. "I'm just going to show you this picture. All you have to do is tell me if this was your attacker or not."

Nikki had tears in her eyes. "I don't know if I can..."

"Okay...we'll take a break," Nancy said. "I know it hasn't been that long. I understand–I really do."

"I'm sorry," Nikki whispered.

"Don't be sorry, Nikki," Nancy said. "That's the last thing you need to be."

"But I could help you catch him," Nikki said.

"You'll tell me when you're ready." Nancy pointed to the chair that was sitting on the other side of the room. "Do you mind if I sit with you for a while?"

Nikki shook her head. "No–not at all."

Nancy grabbed the chair and sat it next to Nikki's bed. She then sat down in the chair and turned her attention to the television.

"Why do you need to know now?" Nikki asked, breaking the silence.

Nancy looked at Nikki and let out a long breath. "Because he keeps going after the people I care about. You...Ann Granger...even Brenda Carlton, I hate to say."

"He's going after you personally," Nikki said. "Why?"

Nancy shrugged. "I couldn't really tell you. He's acting out Ann's book and he's brought me into his sick, twisted fantasy."

"I'm sorry," Nikki said.

"I'm only sorry that he went after you," Nancy said. "He took us by surprise on that one."

"Why?" Nikki asked.

"Because he had attacked me only a few hours before you," Nancy answered.

"What?" Nikki asked, shocked.

Nancy turned around in her chair and lifted up her shirt. She heard Nikki let out a small gasp when she saw where the killer had stabbed her.

"It's nothing compared to what he did to you," Nancy said.

"But still..." Nikki's voice trailed off. There were a few moments of silence before Nikki spoke again. "Why would a person do this?"

"He's not a person, Nikki," Nancy said softly. "You should only think of him as a monster. I guess that gives us proof that they actually exist. Our parents weren't lying to us when we were kids."

Nikki didn't say anything, but let what Nancy had said to her sink in. Nancy turned her attention back to the television and listened as the meteorologist predicted a thirty percent chance of rain for the day. A knock at the door caused the both of them to jump.

Frank stuck his head in and crooked a finger at Nancy. "Can you come out here for a sec, Nancy?"

"Sure," Nancy said. She squeezed Nikki's hand. "I'll be right back."

Nancy stepped out the door and walked across the hall where Frank was waiting for her.

"Did she tell you anything?" Frank asked.

Nancy shook her head. "It's too much for her right now. I'm giving her time."

"I don't think we have time right now, Nan," Frank said, his voice grim.

Nancy caught the tone of his voice and began to worry. "What's going on, Frank? Was there another victim?"

"It may not be anything, Nancy," Frank said in an almost reassuring voice. "But..."

"But what, Frank?" Nancy asked. "Don't leave me hanging–my arms are getting tired here."

Frank took a deep breath and plunged right in. "Ned's missing."

Nancy felt as if someone punched her in the stomach or maybe she had heard Frank wrong. She turned and headed for the elevators.

"Where are you going?" Frank asked, following her.

"Outside," Nancy said. "I don't want to talk about this in here."

The elevator opened and they stood to the side to let an elderly couple pass. They didn't say anything to each other as they made their way to the ground level. As soon as they were outside, Nancy whirled on him.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"Ned's job just called your cell phone, looking for him," Frank said. "We answered it in case it may have been something important."

"This can't be right, Frank," Nancy protested. "Maybe he just decided to blow the rest of the day off."

"Does that sound like something he would do?" Frank asked.

"No," Nancy answered dully. Not responsible Ned, she added to herself.

"The receptionist..." Frank fumbled for her name.

"Shannon," Nancy supplied.

"She said that Ned went out with a client to take a look at some property and he hadn't come back yet," Frank explained.

"What time did he leave?" Nancy asked.

"Around nine o'clock this morning," Frank said.

Nancy tried to formulate any reasoning she could for Ned's absence, but she was drawing blanks. He would never stray from his job–he had worked hard to get where he was right now. But there was no reason why he shouldn't have returned to the office by now. She was trying hard not to assume the worst, but it was extremely hard when the killer had gone after people she cared about.

"I have to go," Nancy said.

"What about Nikki?" Frank asked.

"I'm sorry, but I can't deal with that right now," Nancy said. "I have to find Ned."

"But we can't do anything until we know who our killer is," Frank pointed out.

"What good will a face recognition do?" Nancy asked. "We still won't have a name. And we don't have time to show the picture around town, especially if he has Ned."

"Nancy, you have to calm down and think things through," Frank said.

"I'm tired of thinking things through, Frank," Nancy said. "I just want it all to end."

Frank held onto Nancy as she collapsed against him. Everything was falling apart all around her and she felt helpless to it all; she honestly didn't know how much more she could take. She just let Frank hold her and comfort her.

"I can't stay here any longer, Frank," Nancy said, breaking apart from him. "I need to go home. What if the killer tries to contact me?"

"You don't need to go home alone, Nancy," Frank said. "If he sees you alone, it will give him the opportunity to go after you again."

"Someone needs to stay here and talk to Nikki," Nancy said. "We need to get that face recognition from her."

"I thought you said that wouldn't help," Frank said.

"It won't," Nancy said. "But at least we can see who we're dealing with."

Just then Joe and B.D. came out. "What's going on?" Joe asked.

"Joe, I need you to go to the house with Nancy," Frank said. "I'm going to stick around and see if we can get anything out of Nikki."

Joe nodded.

"You call me as soon as you find something out from Nikki," Nancy told Frank.

"I will," Frank assured her. He then grabbed Joe by the arm and pulled him aside. "You keep an eye on her, Joe. I don't know how stable she is right now. I think everything's just weighing down on her."

Joe nodded and patted his brother on the arm. "She'll be okay, Frank."

Frank nodded and watched as his brother and Nancy walked away towards the police station to pick up her car.

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Frank watched Joe and Nancy leave with sadness in his heart. He was extremely worried about Nancy and with good reason. Everything was piling up on her and he really was scared about her having a breakdown. It would certainly be understandable; he was surprised it hadn't happened yet.

And he hated to be the one to tell her about Ned, but he thought it best at the time. She would have never forgiven him if he had waited to tell her. And the truth was, he wouldn't have been able to forgive himself either. As much as he disliked Ned, he would never put that in front of helping him, especially if it helped Nancy.

"Where is she going?" B.D. asked.

"Home," Frank answered. "She thinks the killer may try to contact her."

"What if he's already dead?" B.D. asked, quietly.

"I didn't even bring that to her," Frank said. "She has too much to deal with, as it is. Besides, I know a part of her is thinking that already."

"She's going to need all the help she can get," B.D. said.

"And I'll be there when she does," Frank said. He turned around to see B.D. gazing thoughtfully at him.

"What?" Frank asked.

"She's a wonderful woman," B.D. said. "It must be hard to stay quiet on the sidelines when she's with another man."

Frank shook his head. "B.D., I've been on the sidelines for years. I'll stay there for as long as it takes. Like you said, she's a wonderful woman."

"I guess it's one of those crazy things you do for love," B.D. commented.

Frank didn't answer that; he knew what was in his heart. "I'm going back in to see if I can talk to Nikki."

B.D. nodded. "I need to head back over to the police station. Call me if you find out anything."

Frank went back into the hospital and made his way back up to Nikki's room.

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Dom lowered the newspaper that he was using to hide himself and scoffed. He thought he had taken care of the problem with the boyfriend, but here Katie was, hugging another man. He simply could not tolerate that. Didn't Katie know what she was doing to him when he saw her with another man? He would just have to show her.

He was sitting on a bench that was on the front lawn of the hospital. It had been risky for him to be out in broad daylight like this. But he was curious...what was Katie doing at the hospital anyway? As far as he knew, she had no reason to be there, unless the doctor had wanted to check her out after he had stabbed her.

That had to be the reason, Dom thought to himself.

He wished he could have touched Katie as she had passed by him a few minutes ago. But that would have ruined everything and he couldn't have anything interfere with his plans. And of course, the cop was following her everywhere. That was also making it hard for him to get close to her–but now she was alone.

Well, almost...But he could easily take care of the blond guy. Dom wasn't too worried about him.

But he had been very disappointed with Ned. He thought he would have put up a fight, at least. But then again, Dom had taken him by complete surprise with all of the photographs. It was the one time that he was glad he had taken photography classes at the junior college in Chicago. It had sure come in handy now.

But what to do about now?

Dom watched as the man who had hugged his Katie, entered the hospital again. Why was he going back in there? Katie had gone the other way with the other guy, so why wasn't he following?

And it was right then that Dom got a wonderful idea. It was as if it had been a blessing from above. It would make everything finally fall into place as it should.

Now I just wait...

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Author's Note: I can tell that you really enjoyed that last chapter. I know that I keep handing you cliffies, but it's what I do best. (Besides, I know that it will make you come back, hungry for more!) I just have a few more chapter after this, so it won't be much longer. Let me know what you think!

TesubCalle–I thought you would like the title of my last chapter. I know that I have several X-Files fans who read my fiction, so it's really cool that you knew where I got that title from. And yes, I got to use the Taser! Well, Dom did, anyway. And I have to admit, it was pretty awesome! I highly recommend that you do it in one of your stories. (Whenever we get another one, that is...hint, hint!)