Chapter Twenty-Six

A few hours after they had finished interrogating Paige, Natalie sat at her desk deep in thought. Paige had explained how Spencer had helped Margaret had fake her death in order to frame Todd. Bo had spoken to Hugh and managed to get him to agree to grant immunity to both Paige and David in return for their help and testimony to nail Spencer.

Paige had also admitted to tipping Spencer off about Walter, but Bo believed her when she assured them she had no idea that Spencer was going to do. They were all pretty much in agreement that Spencer was the one that had poisoned Walter.

They had sent Paige back to the hospital and told her to act like nothing had happened. As she was leaving, Paige actually had the nerve to ask Bo for another chance. Natalie had found herself biting back a laugh as her uncle told his now ex-girlfriend in no uncertain terms where she could go.

The only problem now was nailing Spencer. Both Bo and John knew they had to go about this the right way in order to do so. The first step was finding Margaret as until they did, they only had circumstantial evidence and not enough to arrest Spencer.

That bothered Natalie as finding Margaret could take weeks or months.

Remembering that Paige had said both Walter and Spencer were off that night, she suddenly had an idea.

Maybe there was something she could do.

Coming out of Bo's office, John looked over at Natalie's desk but was surprised to see it empty. "Hey Ryan's, you seen Natalie around?" John called over to the nearest officer.

The officer nodded. "I saw her go into Dr. Crosby's office about ten minutes ago."

"Dr. Crosby?" John thought to himself, confused why Natalie would be there. But within seconds it dawned on him, "Damn it," he muttered under this breath.

Natalie was going to be hypnotized.

He made it to Dr. Crosby's in seconds, and without knocking just burst right in. Natalie's back was toward him and he could hear her counting backward.

Dr. Crosby looked up in annoyance. "Good Natalie, I will be right back, just stay there."

Standing up, the Doctor walked over to John and roughly pulled him into the hall. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" John erupted once the door was closed.

Dr. Crosby just shook his head. "John, Natalie is an adult who is fully capable of making her own decisions. If she wants to undergo hypnosis, then that's her decision. I don't need to ask you for your consent."

"But her family history…"

"Natalie and I discussed that. It is highly unlikely that she suffers from DID or that this memory will cause an onset of it." Seeing John's panicked expression, Dr. Crosby sighed. "You can come in and watch the session, but if you make one sound or interfere in any way, you're out."

Nodding, John followed the doctor back into the office and took a seat behind Natalie.

"Okay Natalie, I am back." Dr. Crosby said as he re-took his seat. "Now before we get started I need you to think back to the happiest moment of your life. We will use this to calm you down in case the memory agitates you in anyway. Do you understand?"

"Yes." A hypnotic Natalie replied.

"Good. Are you thinking of that memory?"

"Yes."

"Where are you?"

"On the roof of the hotel."

"Why is this memory so special?"

"John is there. I just got out of the hospital and he planned a romantic surprise for me."

Though shocked, John forced himself not to react. When Dr. Crosby had posed the question, John had assumed her first response would be her wedding day. He had no idea her happiest moment involved him.

"Good. Now Natalie, I want you to think back to the worst day of your life."

Knowing that there were so many to choose from, John inched forward in her seat interested in her response. "Noooooo… Don't take him. Don't take him away from me…" she began to cry.

"Don't take who?" Dr. Crosby pressed.

"Rex. They are taking him away from me. Don't let them do it, I need him."

"Natalie, it's just a memory. I want you to go back to being on the roof with John." Natalie's cries suddenly stopped and she was smiling.

"Good. Now, I need you to go back a little bit further." Pulling out the paper where he had written down everything Natalie had told him, Dr. Crosby continued. "You are five years old, and it's Christmas Eve. Maybe you had asked Santa for something special?"

"Santa never came to our house."

Feeling a hint of rage that was bubbling up over terrible Natalie's childhood, John pushed it away.

"You are wearing a pink dress with sequins that you hate. It's dark, and you are in an alley." Dr. Crosby continued, seeing for himself how angry the answer had made John.

Natalie clamped her eyes tighter and thought hard. Finally she nodded. "I see it. Walter brought me there at night. It was cold and I didn't have my jacket on."

"What happened?"

"Walter made me get out of the car, but I started to cry because it was cold."

"And then?"

"He made me walk into the alley with him, but then he left me there. It was dark and there were rats running by. I was scared." Natalie's breath hitched.

"And?" Dr. Crosby pushed gently.

"I heard footsteps coming toward me. Then I saw him."

"Walter?"

Natalie shook her head. "No, it was a man."

"Did you recognize him?"

"No. But he came over to me and I backed myself into the corner. I was scared and shivering. But then he took off his coat and put it on me."

Flashback

Thomas McBain crouched down so he was at eye level with the trembling child. "My name is Thomas McBain, I am a police officer. Do you know what that is?"

Natalie nodded, but pushed herself tighter against the wall. Still gripping the coat tight around her.

"What's your name?"

"Na…Natalie…" she stammered.

"That's a pretty name." Thomas leaned over and gently pushed a strand of red hair from her face. "Is your mommy or daddy here?"

Natalie shook her head, once again looking terrified.

"I want to help you Natalie. Will you let me help you?"

"How?" She asked softly.

"I will take you some place safe, away from here and anyone that is hurting you."

Natalie just remained silent and studied the man in front of her.

Seeing how upset the young girl was, he started to talk. "Do you go to school?"

Once again, she just nodded.

"Do you like it?"

"No…" Natalie whispered.

Thomas laughed. "I have two little boys that say the exact same thing when I ask them that."

"You do?"

Thomas nodded. "Yup. John is eleven and Mikey is seven."

"I have a brother." Natalie relaxed a little bit. "His name is Rex and he is two."

"I am sure you are a great big sister."

Natalie nodded with a small smile. "I love Rexy."

"Natalie, will you let me help you? Will you come with me?" Thomas asked as he outstretched his hand toward her.

"What about Rexy? Can he come too?"

Thomas nodded.

Natalie studied his face for a second before quickly nodding. "Okay," she said put her hand in his and let the older man pull her to her feet.

He was just about to lead her over to his police car when Walter stepped out of the shadows. "Stop right there McBain," Walter said coolly.

Thomas dropped Natalie's hand and stepped in front of her. "I know everything Walter – about Natalie, the black market sales… It's all over."

"That's what you think," Another voice rang out as Spencer stepped out of the other side holding a gun. "It's not over for us; it's over for you McBain."

Thomas began to reach for his gun, but stopped when Spencer aimed the gun at a terrified Natalie. "You reach for that gun and the child is shot."

"Spencer this wasn't part of the plan…" Walter said nervously, seeing how serious the other man looked. But Spencer ignored him.

Thomas lifted his hand and once again moved in front of Natalie. "Leave her out of this."

Spencer just laughed. "You cops need to stop poking you head in where it doesn't belong." Without warning, Spencer pulled the trigged and within seconds Thomas McBain had fallen to the ground, a pool of blood spreading around him.

End Flashback

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooo." Natalie screamed.

The sound of Natalie's screams had both John and Dr. Crosby jumping. She had just finished walking them through her memory. Hearing about the way his father had been shot was a horrible experience, but seeing Natalie reacting in this way made John's blood run cold.

"It's okay…" Dr. Crosby began, but Natalie was becoming hysterical.

"Noooooooo…. Spencer shot him. He is falling. He is in front of me. Oh god, there's so much blood. It's on me now. Noooooooo….. The nice man is on the ground. Spencer and Walter are arguing, they aren't looking at me, but he is. His eyes are closing, and the blood is there. He is shaking. He must me cold. So cold. I take his jacket and put it on him like a blanket. He reaches for my hand, he grabs it. I am sorry police man, so sorry. It's all my fault. It's all my fault. They trapped him; they used me to trap him. Why didn't I warn him? So much blood. Blood on my dress, my hands my hair… oh god, I killed him." Her voice was shaky and childlike.

Seeing that Natalie was reliving the experience and suffering a five year olds hysterical reaction, Dr. Crosby broke in. "Natalie, it's okay. It is just a memory."

"The blood…."

"Natalie, think back to the roof, being with John."

This time however, the happy memory didn't work. "John is going to hate me. It was all my fault."

Knowing he had to bring her out of this now, Dr. Crosby moved closer toward her. "Natalie, I am going to count back…"

"Nooooooooooooo…. Stop it, Stop it. Don't touch me Spencer. You hurt him. Stop it. Nooooo…" Without warning, Natalie suddenly passed out.

Getting up from his seat, John rushed over to her. "What the hell happened? You said this was safe," he yelled as he grabbed Natalie's arm and checked her for a pulse. "Natalie…. Natalie… can you hear me?" John said desperately.

But Dr. Crosby pulled him back. "We have to get her to a hospital and sedate her. If she wakes back up this hysterical, I may never be able to bring her back."

"Sedate her? What?"

"We have to get her to the hospital." Dr. Crosby snapped.

Leaning over, John lifted an unconscious Natalie into his arms and followed the doctor.

Once again, Natalie had endangered herself for him, and that realization made John sick.