A/N I do not own these characters. If I did I would be fabulously wealthy and wouldn't need to post my fan fiction here. I would be writing for the show and dining regularly with Michael Easton (Snicker perks of the job. LOL) and I wouldn't let that hack Higley near them.

Chapter 10

"Oh Rex," Natalie murmured. She could feels the tears dripping down her face as she held Rex's limp hand. His breath wheezed out of him and was labored but Natalie took comfort in the fact that he was still breathing at all. Her biggest fear was losing him. Rex was all she had, the only person in her life that was always there for her, that always believed in her. Losing him would be like cutting out a part of her soul. 'She had taken care of Rex when they were children and by god she would take car of him now!' Natalie thought to herself fiercely. Whoever did this would not get the chance to finish the job!

So lost in thought was she that she failed to hear John walk in the room. When he put his hand on her shoulder gently she jumped, letting out a low, "Ahh!" Spinning around in her chair she breath in a sigh of relief when she saw John standing behind her.

"You all right?" John asked, concerned. He knew that normally she could handle anything, she had proven that on more then one occasion, but this was something that might be too much for her. Looking at her face he realized that she had been crying. Wanting nothing more then to take her him his arms and sooth away her pain he settled for a comforting hand on her shoulder. They stayed like that for a long while, Natalie praying that Rex would wake and John offering his comfort.

Wiping her face with the back of her hand she looked away, to Rex. He was so still, so pale. If it weren't for the rise and fall of his chest she might have thought he was dead. That thought threatened to overwhelm her so she pushed it away. Looking back to John she nodded and said, "I'm ok. Its Rex I'm worried about. What if whoever did this comes back to finish the job?"

John understood her concern; he himself had thought that very same thing. He was about to suggest calling the local police department when there was a soft knock at the door. Looking up John saw an older man standing there. Giving him a thorough once-over he noted that he was a cop. Hoping he wasn't here to make trouble for Natalie he faced the older man and waited for him to introduce himself.

Bo stood in the doorway of Rex Balsom's hospital room and took in the scene. At Rex's side was a beautiful redheaded woman. She looked about 23 or 24 years old. He was almost positive that she was Natalie Balsom, though having never seen her before he couldn't be certain. Standing slightly behind her with his hand on her shoulder was a tall man with dark shaggy hair wearing jeans, a black t-shirt and a long black leather jacket. Despite his hair and his manor of dress Bo was almost positive that he was a government man. CIA, FBI, NSA...He wasn't sure which but he had a feeling that he worked for the government.

Stepping in the room till he was at the foot of Rex's bed Bo finally introduced himself, "My name is Bo Buchanan. I'm the commissioner of the Llanview police department." Extending his hand to John, who shook it absently, then to Natalie who simply ignored him and concentrated on Rex. Taking his hand back Bo looked back and forth between the two, maybe this had been a bad idea. He thought to himself.

"John McBain, FBI. This is Natalie Balsom." He said, "What can we do for you Commissioner?" John asked politely.

"Well I came here to talk to Miss Balsom actually." Bo said. He was unsure how to proceed with this. This wasn't exactly the ideal circumstance but it might be the only chance to do this with out the rest of the family knowing. If Rex was wrong a lot of people could be hurt unnecessarily if he told them now.

"I don't know you." Natalie said to him not bothering to turn around. Watching Rex she was looking for a sign that he might be waking up but he hadn't moved since she had sat down. "I didn't do anything wrong. Why do you want to talk to me?" she asked.

"Actually I'm not here as a police officer," Bo said, "I'm here because Rex came to see me three days ago and I needed to talk to you about it." Bo was relieved when she finally turned around to look at him. What he had to tell her, and to ask of her, was better said to her face rather then her back.

Letting go of Rex's hand Natalie got up and went to stand next to John, "Rex came to see you?" She asked, "Why? And what does it have to do with me?"

Bo glanced at John before saying, "Can we talk about this in private?"

Natalie wasn't about to go anywhere with this strange man, cop or not. "We can talk right here," she said. "What is it you need to talk to me about?"

"Fine," Bo sighed and took out the letter Rex had given him. "Can we sit down, this might take a while to explain." After they were all seated Bo handed her the letter saying, "Rex came to me and gave me this. It might be easier if you read it first, then I'll try to fill in the blanks."

Natalie began to read the letter. It was written by Allison Perkins and was dated almost 5 years ago. "No, this can't be true!" Natalie burst out, standing up she began to pace the floor. "This is crazy! I don't believe it. You're making this up!" She accused Bo.

John took the letter from her hand and read it. Apparently Allison was claiming that Natalie was a long lost Buchanan who had been stolen at birth from her mother by some crazy guy called Mitch Lawrence! He stared at Natalie then at Bo, Natalie was right it was crazy! But... If Bo Buchanan didn't think it was a possibility he wouldn't be here. "Natalie," he said.

"What? Don't tell me you believe this garbage! It's impossible! Roxy is my mother and Rex is my Brother!" Natalie said heatedly.

John put up his hands and said, "I just think it wouldn't hurt to hear him out. Crazy or not it can't hurt to just listen."

Natalie thought about it a minute then abruptly walked back to her chair and sat down, "So talk." She said.

Bo began to explain how Rex had brought him the note and told him that he believe Natalie was a Balsom. After Rex had dropped that bomb Bo told them how he had began to research Natalie and her family. It took over an hour to explain everything and when he was done he watched as Natalie took it all in. It was obvious she didn't believe him her next words confirmed it.

"So let me get this right," Natalie said, her voice dripping with skepticism, "First Allison gives this letter to him telling me that I'm not really but a Balsom. But instead of telling me he holds on to it for five years. Then after keeping the letter all those years a secret, out of the blue he brings it to you and tells you the whole story."

"That's exactly what he said happened." Bo told her. He started to say something else but she began talking again.

"And the reason you believe this crazy letter is because Walter Balsom was Vicki Davidson's doctor. Or should I say Nikki Smith's doctor? And" Natalie emphasized, "some crazy dude hated Vicki so he had Walter steal her baby, who was a twin I might add, and give the baby to Roxy, my mother? That's nuts!"

John had to agree with her there. Alter identities, crazy cult leaders, stolen babies...it was too farfetched.

Bo knew how she felt; his reaction had been similar when Rex had first told him about the letter but the more he thought about it, the more he thought about Mitch and his twisted mind, the more it seemed possible. There was one simple way to find out he knew. "It should be easy to find out one way or the other," Bo said.

Natalie's head was spinning and she didn't know what he was talking about at first but John knew immediately. "DNA." He said.

Natalie frowned. If she gave him her DNA it would be on file and then the FBI could use it to tie her to Victor Grossman. Besides which she still didn't believe that Rex had given him that letter. The Rex she knew wouldn't keep something like that from her. "I don't believe Rex even gave you that letter. My brother wouldn't keep something like that from me for a day let alone five years." She said.

"I did. I gave Bo that letter Natty" Rex said in a low voice, having woken up to hear most of their conversation.

To be continued...