Derreck entered the house and headed over toward the other two kidnappers. "Well, she's on her way," he said. "How's he doing?"
"He's alive," said Blake. "Still out though."
"Well, maybe we ought to give him a wakeup call," said Onyx as he headed toward the couch.
Ralph heard a shaking sound as a bottle was tapped. He realized it must be smelling salts and groaned inwardly. 'Great, can't pretend I'm still out anymore,' he thought, 'there's no way I won't react to them.' Ralph coughed when Onyx waved them under his nose proceeded to open his eyes slowly as though he had been out all that time. He looked at the men in confusion, and he hoped, a bit of fear to keep the ruse intact.
"Welcome back, Hinkley," said Onyx with a smirk on his face. "Sorry my boys had to drug you, but you needed to be here for our surprise."
Ralph, feeling almost as strong as he did wearing the jammies, acted as though he still was weak as he tried pointing to get the gag off. Onyx removed it and Ralph coughed. "What surprise, a housewarming? And I didn't bring a present."
"You could say that," said Derreck with a smug grin. "It will get warm here quickly when Pam gets here. And you're part of the reason. I lied to her that you were messing around with another woman and got her to come here. Now, she'll have to do whatever, and I mean whatever, I say or you'll die. She's part of the reason my sister died, letting that killer go free, so it's time for her to pay."
Although he already knew what Onyx had in mind, Ralph played along. "Why you son of a..." he said starting to sit up, but as he raised his head pretended that he was still dizzy and lay back down.
The men laughed at his apparent weakness. "Well, I guess that settles the question of whether or not we needed to tie you up," said Onyx. "You're too weak. Now, all we need to do is wait for Pam."
'Boy are you in for a surprise,' thought Ralph just as the doorbell rang.
Derreck smirked and opened up the door. Pam stood outside wearing a longsleeved blue blouse and pants, similar to Ralph's dream. She also had an angry look on her face. "All right, Derreck, I'm here, let's get that lousy traitor," said Pam.
Onyx smiled and let her in. As she entered, she turned and saw Ralph on the couch staring straight back at her in mock shock. "What's he doing here," said Pam.
"Well, he's here as insurance," said Onyx as he pulled a gun out and aimed it toward Ralph.
"So you're behind Alexandrite's death and the plague bomb," she said. "What's that got to do with me?"
"You were the lawyer who let that killer go free, but now, I also happen to fancy you," he said leering. "Now, you're going to do exactly as I say, and if you don't, your husband here will die."
Pam looked at Ralph, who in turn noticed the glimpse of red and black around her neck under the blouse. She nodded slightly and blinked, giving a wink in the exchange. Ralph took in the wink, knowing that she wasn't the only one coming.
"Looks like I have no choice," she said resignedly, "but don't hurt Ralph."
"Don't worry, Pam, I'd only have them do that if he put up a fight, but he's too weak from his injuries and the drugs my men gave him to hurt a fly. Now, let's go to the bedroom so we can 'talk.'"
As the two went into the bedroom, Dusty and Blake looked at each other and smirked. They then turned to look at Ralph. "Well, how does it feel to know that your wife will do anything for you, only to watch you die after the fact," said Dusty.
Having a feeling that Bill was about to make his appearance, Ralph decided to play along further. He gave a look of rage and sat up to try to deck Dusty, but when he sat up, he pretended to faint.
The two men caught Ralph as he nearly fell off the couch, though the blanket had come off, and lowered him back down on the couch, laughing. "You know, we get to hear all the action and make him suffer even more," said Blake. "Let's wake him up again..."
"Freeze it, FBI, this is a bust. Put your hands in the air and drop those guns," said Bill in a quiet growl. Ralph placed his bets right as Bill snuck in during the ruse.
While Blake decided to drop his weapon, Dusty decided to instead aim a shot at Bill. Ralph proceeded to help Bill out by swinging a leg into Dusty's gut, cutting of the man's chance to yell for help. Dusty dropped the gun as he fell to the ground.
Bill kicked the gun away and said quietly, "Ralph, you all right?"
"Yeah, fine as I can be. Now, I have a score to settle, you think you can handle it from here?" said Ralph as he tilted his head toward the door. When Bill nodded Ralph turned toward the bedroom door. Praying this part wouldn't turn real, he peeked inside finding Pam and Derreck sitting on the bed.
Onyx looked at her and smiled. "All right, you just stay right there and I'll be right back," he said, entering the bathroom and closing the door. Ralph then saw Pam strip down to the jammies and glance at the door, signaling that he needed to get out of the way. Ralph stepped away, thinking how much he was going to enjoy this.
When he returned, Onyx took a long look at Pam in the suit. "What on earth is that..." his voice turned into a shout as Pam picked him up by the scruff of the collar and threw him as though a rag doll through the door.
Pam entered back into the living room, only to see Derreck stand up and pull a device out of his pocket. "Cute, but now, you're going to ALL do what I say or the state of California will be infected right now."
Bill dropped his gun and the other two men joined Derreck. "Now, Pam and I are going to continue where we left off. Then, we'll see what happens," said Onyx.
Bill and Ralph sat down on the couch while the other two men stood next to them, guns in hand. Onyx turned to Pam and smiled. She just stood there stoically. "Now Pam, you wouldn't want one of my men to hurt your precious Ralph," said Onyx with a smirk.
Ralph looked at Pam and noticed a glint in her gray eyes. It was the same glint he had all those years ago when... He turned to Bill, who was nearer to Pam, and noticed he was sweating slightly in the cool room. Bill turned back and gave him a knowing look. This was going to be fun, they thought.
"Well Pam, aren't you coming," said Onyx with a hint of impatience in his voice. Just then, the card table behind Pam caught on fire. "What the hell," he shouted a bit distracted. He noticed the triggering device seemed to float out of his hand into Ralph's. Blake and Dusty also stared at the site in disbelief.
Ralph and Bill quickly stood up and got out of the way of the fire. Bill then proceeded to deck Blake while Ralph ducked to keep Dusty from grabbing the device. Pam turned and picked up Dusty, throwing him out the window. She then threw out Blake out the same window.
In about 30 seconds it was just Onyx, Pam, Bill and Ralph. Onyx looked at them in confusion, but then threw a punch at Ralph, hitting him in the jaw.
Ralph fell toward the coffee table, only to be stopped when Pam caught his left hand and pulled him up. After wrapping her arm around his ribs to steady him, she turned toward Onyx again, this time with an anger in her eyes even Ralph hadn't seen.
Using all his defenses, Onyx pulled a revolver out of his pocket, aimed a shot at her and fired. Pam covered her head with her arms, deflecting the bullet. When Onyx tried to fire again, Pam took the gun out of his hand, crushing it.
When Onyx tried to punch her, she lifted him in the air with one hand and tapped his head against the fireplace. The man sagged, out cold. She then stooped to pick Onyx up in a fireman's carry and brought him outside with Ralph and Bill in tow.
Ralph called the fire department while Bill handcuffed the three unconscious men. After hanging up the phone, Ralph turned to Pam and covered her shoulders with the jacket Bill gave him. "Ralph, I'm not cold," she said, trying to brush off the jacket.
"I know honey, but I don't think you want anyone to see you in the suit," said Ralph, with a slight cough.
"So what, I don't want you to catch..."
"Look will the two of you quit bantering around and get outta here," said Bill. "I can take it from here."
Pam turned to Ralph and shrugged. "You feel up to flying?"
"So long as you know what you're doing," said Ralph. "I can't afford to nurse a broken leg too."
Pam chuckled softly and picked him in her arms, took three steps and jumped, taking flight without so much as a wobble.
As they were flying, Ralph took a look at the city from the sky. "You know Pam, I never noticed how beautiful the city was from the air. Then again, I'm usually trying to avoid trees and billboards," he said chuckling.
Pam blushed slightly, knowing how he felt. "Well, I'll confess that I haven't had it perfect either. I crashed into a bulldozer today while I was trying to catch the van they brought you to the house in. Had to pretend I was a new super heroine for a movie."
Ralph laughed at the comment, but stopped when he noticed something funny. "Pam, I don't know how to explain it, but my ribs don't hurt. Do you think it could be..."
"Oh Ralph, I don't know," said Pam.
"Pam, I'm wondering if it could be the suit? I mean, when you put your arm around my ribs to steady me, I could swear I felt a warm tingling sensation in my bones. Seemed that part of the room was brighter too."
"Ralph, that glow in the room was more than likely from the fire," said Pam. "Besides, you could still be doped up some from the drug."
"Maybe, but why don't we see how I feel tomorrow? If I feel the same, it might not be the fire that made me feel this way. It might be the suit helping me heal."
Both of them smiled as they landed at their home. Pam's feet slipped in the grass and Ralph ended up sitting in Pam's lap. "Flying, 10, landing...11," said Ralph with a grin. Pam just laughed and gave him a kiss. The two stood up and headed into the house.