Slash woke up merely a few hours later. He couldn't see very well, due to his terrible morning eyesight, but something about the bed, room, and atmosphere seemed different. What did I do last night? He thought to himself, still unable to remember where he was. Slash rubbed his eyes a couple times, hoping to improve his vision. Before he could rest his knuckles, he heard the sheets rustle and a quiet, mouse-like squeak behind him. That's when it all came back to him. His heart literally stopped. Oh my…..god...Did I? He tried to make sentences in his head. Quietly, he turned around to see if his mind was playing tricks, but there she was. Nancy was in the bed that he had just gotten out of. Slash couldn't believe it. He also found it hard to believe that for once in his life he was up at two in the morning. Unable to remember exactly why he had gotten up in the first place, he climbed back into her bed. Apparently, sometime earlier that morning, both of them had gotten dressed at least in their underwear. He sighed as he got comfortable, rolling onto his side so that he was facing Nancy's back. At first he didn't want to touch her, afraid she would wake up. Eventually however, he had too.

He slowly and gently slipped one of his arms in between Nancy's body and her arm and wrapped it around her so that she was in his arms. He placed his other hand on her shoulder and scratched her back gently so that she would relax. Slash truly loved Nancy. He never wanted to leave her, ever. Just laying there with her was enough, to be next to her, and to feel her breathing. He scooted his body closer to hers and continued to scratch her back, feeling her chest rise and fall in her sleep. Her hair was so soft and beautiful. She looked gorgeous, even in the morning.

When he was absolutely sure that Nancy was asleep, Slash rolled out of his bed again to grab a glass of water. Looking upon his lover, he laughed a bit to himself before leaning in close to Nancy. "I am so in love with you," he whispered into her fragile ear and kissed her on the cheek. He stumbled towards the door and shut it ever so quietly so not to wake her. It occurred to him, as he made his way around the living room that he had absolutely no idea where the kitchen was. Slash sighed, realizing that he was going to have to wake the precious Nancy up in order to get directions. He made his way back to the door in a mope. Opening the door slightly, Slash peeked in to see if she was awake.

"Nancy where's your…." But she wasn't there. The covers of her bed were spilling over on her side, where she was sleeping the last time Slash checked. The alarm clock was on the floor next to her bedside table. "Nancy?" Slash shouted, looking about the room for her. Was it possible for her to slip out while I wasn't looking? While he contemplated the highly unlikely ness of that scenario, something rustled in his peripheral vision. He turned quickly; hoping it to be Nancy, but it was merely the curtains, blowing in a slight breeze. His face turned pale white, and that was it. The window was open, and everybody knew that Nancy never left an open window unattended after her mother's accident. "But Nancy, she never….hmmmm", Slash desperately tried to piece this mystery together. "Oh my god. She's been…no no no, you're getting way ahead of yourself….I think…" He reasoned and fought with himself.

"She's been taken alright," A voice from nowhere sounded.

"Who are you?" Slash asked, in a slightly panicked tone, growling at no one.

"Calm down, you'll wake her up," The voice mocked. Slash was infuriated. He could feel his face flushing with anger and sadness.

"Wake her….what have…have you done to her?"

"Nothing but a simple dose of GHB, she'll be alright. Sheesh, you didn't think I would hurt her did you?"

Slash felt a little woozy. GHB? Isn't that also known as date-rape-drug……who is this guy? He sat down on the bed trying to catch a grip on what was going on here.

"What do you want?" He asked calmly, wanting to bargain anything for his love.

"I have what I want. Finally."

"Then why did you call me? Why would you torture me like this, I don't even know who you are!" Slash angrily interrupted.

"I just wanted to hear you struggle with your inability to do jack shit about saving Nancy…your quote true love."

Slash stood up, "You Bastard." He repeated this phrase over and over, getting more and more intense with every time he said it. Suddenly, a question arose. "How is it that you can hear me?"

"You know that little itch in your ear? I've been tracking you Slash, go ahead, pull it out, your services are no longer required. I've been watching you for quite a while, and you lead me straight to I wanted. Thanks to you, I finally got her. I owe it all to you kid."

Slash ripped the piece out of his ear.

All that was left in his brain was Get out…Get her back. He was infuriated with himself for letting her be taken by someone he had no knowledge of, doing god knows what. If only he had some idea of whom this mystery person was so that he could somehow and in some way, find her. Unfortunately, he didn't even recognize the voice that had talked to him the previous night. The only thing he could do was start looking, and pray for some kind of hint, something to help him out even just a little bit.
What he got was a strange tire track and shoe prints in the newly fallen snow, just outside of Nancy's place. Everyone was asleep…nobody would have noticed anything strange. Slash's head was swimming with questions, with not enough answers to balance them out. He knew there wasn't much time before something really bad happened, but what could he do? There was no obvious lead or path to the perpetrator.
"Patience," he said to himself, "Just think. Nancy is counting on me."
His pointless wandering gave him no avail and led to the police station as a last resort. The way the officers spoke to him, wasn't giving him any reason to have hope either. The Chief was the last person Slash pled with before leaving the station in slight rage.
"This happens all over the world…. but never here." The chief sighed, "I don't know how long it'll take to find her," he spat outside the window, "But we'll try our best."
"Are you sure you can find her?"
"No one's ever sure about these kinds of things son. Little Nikki"
"It's Nancy." Slash interrupted.
"Right, little Nancy may be long gone by now."
"That's not good enough!" Slash shouted, smashing his fists against the chief's desk. The chief stood up, and leaning over his end of the desk until he was towering directly over Slash, gave him an extremely agitated look.
"Listen here young man," He ordered, "You don't now or ever will have the authority to talk to me like that." He settled himself back into his rickety chair, and Slash began to breathe again. "We're gonna try to find Fifi…ok?"
"It's Nan…"
"Yeah whatever. You turned in a report yes?"
Slash nodded, feeling a little more humbled.
"Good. Now, I got work to do. Go on back to school"
"Sir, I'm nineteen."
"Well, shouldn't you be at a job or something? I said go on, get!"
Slash hurried out of the police department without another word. They won't find her in time. Slash tried to reason with himself, attempting to somehow lift the guilt off of his tiny, skimpy shoulders. If I hadn't gotten up to get water, she'd still be asleep in that bed no doubt. It kept coming back to him, and it all seemed hopeless. If the police won't help me, I guess it'll be up to me to get her back, but I can't do it alone. I need somebody smart…I need…………
Slash knocked on Wendy's door hoping that she too hadn't gone on vacation like Linda so caringly did.
"Wendy? Hey! Are you there? It's me…Slash!"
He heard footsteps scurrying towards the doorway. The door swung open to reveal Wendy, still in her hacker pajamas sipping a cup of coffee and holding a copy of The Snowboard Times in the other.
"Slash? Do you realize what time it is?" Wendy yawned.
Slash was a little confused, "Wendy, its 11AM, when did you go to bed?"
Wendy giggled a little bit before going on to say she had been hacking into the pentagon since five the previous night, only to fall asleep about two hours ago. "Oh, sorry." He said.
"Come on in." Wendy invited, revealing the rest of her house behind her.
Wendy's house was apparently nothing to sneeze at, especially for Slash who owned a mere two-room apartment on Main Street. Wendy had her own place, and yet, even though its size in mass wasn't huge, she had invested heavily in a lot of cool gadgets.
"Where did you get this stuff Wendy?" Slash asked in awe as they walked towards the middle of the living room. She giggled a little embarrassed.
"Oh, I made most of it. I invent for a living." They stopped in a little nook by the indoor garden. It smelled wonderful and made Slash almost forget why he was there in the first place. "So what's up? You seemed kinda stressed at the door." That was the sentence that brought Slash back to full consciousness; now he remembered why he was there.
"It's Nancy, Wendy." Slash sighed, lowering his head in dismay. Wendy, however, seemed a little bit confused.
"I thought you and Linda were together or something." Wendy laughed a little bit.
"What are you talking about? Linda and I have never…. anyway, that's not what I was trying to say. Nancy has been kidnapped! And it's all my fault." Wendy gasped when she heard the sad news then lowered her head, feeling very empathetic and sorry for the man sitting next to her.
"Well, did you kidnap her?" Wendy finally spoke.
"What? No! Why would I do a silly…" Slash ranted. Wendy interrupted him by lifting her hand up.
"Then it's not your fault," she comforted him, rubbing his back and trying to cheer him up, "Now what do you need from me?" Slash sat up from his slouch. He then began to tell Wendy the long story about what had happened, reciting the entire conversation he had been having with the man on the radio to her.
"I need some help with her past. Whoever did this, OBVIOUSLY knew Nancy when she was younger. You've known Nancy since you were both five. Is there anybody in particular who would have it out for her?" Slash asked. Wendy rubbed the back of her neck as if it would help her think faster, all the possibilities. She shook her head. "Well how about anybody who would try and take her, any ex-boyfriends?" A gong rang out in Wendy's skull. Her head shot up as she stared off into space.
"Dimitri."
Slash was confused.
"Dimitri? Who the hell is Dimitri?"
Wendy sighed. "There are some parts of Nancy's past she doesn't want to share with anyone, especially someone that means worlds to her like you do. Are you sure you want to know this?" Slash nodded his head vigorously. "When Nancy was about sixteen, she met this guy, Dimitri at a Snowboard Competition down in Seattle. He wasn't local, so she wanted to check out just how good he was. Turns out he was the best in his class, and they ended up going head to head here in Snowboard Town only a year later. That's when they hooked up."
Slash listened intently, trying to find a motive.
"Anyway, it turned out that Dimitri wasn't exactly all the man Nancy had seen him to be when they first dated. He got obsessive, fearing only losing her and nothing else. Whenever she'd try to hang with anyone other than him, he'd lose his temper. It scared her and me half to death. When she finally ended it, he swore, in public, that he would one day get her back…no matter what."
"And it seems he's reached his aim. What did he look like?"
Wendy sighed, "Nobody really knows. Nancy was the only person to see him."
Slash looked up at Nancy, who was mourning for her best friend. "Hey," he lifted her chin, "I'm going to get her back…ok?" Wendy nodded.
"But you're going to need my help."