A/N I do not own these characters. I am simply borrowing them for my own amusement, and hopefully that of my readers. I mean no harm and am gaining no profit from the use of these characters so please, please don't take me to court! Thanks Ya'll...

Chapter 8

Wednesday morning Chris sat in his car. A pair of binoculars to his eyes. He would find out who was up here with Natalie! He had been sitting in the car for more then an hour now looking in the window of Asa's cabin. The fact that the area was so secluded making his job easier. Natalie hadn't even closed most of the curtains so he got a pretty good look into the cabin.

He had yet to see the man who was with her but he knew that the man was there! So far Natalie had made breakfast and took it into the bedroom to eat. The curtains in that room was closed so he couldn't see anything but when she came out the dishes were empty. He frowned as he peered into the binoculars... That was a lot of dishes for one person he thought to himself.

"Son of a bitch!" he muttered! "She was waiting on the man hand and foot!" he figured out. Again he frowned... that wasn't like Natalie. Chris sat for a while, there was no more actively in the house. He couldn't stop the thoughts. The questions in his head of why she would be bringing food back and forth into the bedroom on a tray. Something didn't seem right... Why would someone do that? He thought to himself..." Someone's hurt" He said out loud and shook his head. But Who?

Chris sat and thought more... who could possibly be hurt and up here on the Mountain that Natalie would be taking care of? Cooking for? "Damn it! She should be taking care of me! I should be the only one she's worried about taking care of!" He began pounding the steering wheel, getting off track in his head.

"Who the Fuck could it be?" Chris paused for a moment, getting back to the question at hand. Wait! He was starting to remember something... He vaguely remembered a shady looking guy that was looking for an injured man! He remembered Bo had thought that the guy was from the mob or something. He began to smile at the thought.

"Well, well, well" Chris said softly to himself. "Now, what do I do with this information?" He knew what he wanted to do but that would put Natalie in danger. He sat back in the car trying to decide what to do. Finally he had an answer, he would give Natalie one more chance to come to her senses and if she didn't he would tip off those men looking for...for... what was his name...? "Oh well," he thought, "it doesn't matter."

But first he had to be sure that it was indeed the right guy... So Chris sat, waiting for a glimpse of the man. He had to come out of the bedroom sometime...

Three days later John was up and walking around more. Because he was so healthy his wound was healing quickly. He knew that he was healthy enough to leave but he couldn't seem to bring him self to. He knew it was because he didn't want to leave Natalie but it didn't seem to matter anymore. Somehow, after only seven days with this woman, she had become vitally important to him.

After that kiss they had shared he had sat in his room for hours, just thinking. He felt somehow freed after he had talked about Caitlyn, as if the pain and guilt that had always been a part of him had eased, making him feel lighter, more in control. He walked over to Natalie's laptop and sat down. She was in the shower. She had told him he could use it if he liked and he was just bored enough right now to take her up on that offer.

As he opened it up something caught his eye. It was a photograph. He flipped it over to see what it was of and froze. He recognized the figure staring back at him. He sat there stunned as Natalie came out of the bathroom. She came over and he suddenly stood up and whirled around. "Where did you get this?" he demanded harshly.

Natalie was stunned at his tone. She opened her mouth then snapped it shut, trying to think of a response. After a second she looked at the photo and suddenly remembered, "Ohh I was going to show you that the other day but I forgot. He came up here with your picture, looking for you."

John paced back and forth once then got in her face, "You forgot to tell me? A guy comes looking for me and you forgot to tell me?" he asked incredulously.

Natalie flushed, knowing he was right to be angry. She had forgotten, as stupid as it sounded. "Well he was only here for a minute. I just forgot. I really am sorry."

John saw her guilty expression and he relented. He wasn't really that angry with her, more worried that Fritz would come back. "Its ok," he sighed, "For some reason I just can't seem to stay mad at you," he said ruefully.

At that Natalie grinned and then sobered up, "Who is he?"

"This is Fritz Norman. He is a professional bad guy. Mostly he beats people up for information." John explained. "What day did he come here?"

"On Monday. He really was only here a minute or two." Natalie paused and then asked somberly, "You think he is the one who beat you up and shot you?"

John nodded his affirmation and said, "Yeah, I do."

"But why?" Natalie asked.

"I wish I knew," he told her. Then, "We have to get out of here incase he comes back." Just because the man hadn't been back yet didn't mean he wouldn't.

Natalie nodded. "I have to get back to Llanview anyway. I have to be at work on Monday."

John was thinking of places he could stay. He needed to stay in the area of Fritz and most likely Mickey D was here. He needed to figure out what happened to him, why his cover had been blown.

Natalie packed up her stuff and got everything together. She hadn't said anything to John about him possibly staying in the carriage house with her. She didn't know what his plans were and was a little hesitant to ask. Once they were all packed up she broached the subject. "So... what now?"

"Now I go to Llanview and see if I can't figure out what went wrong." John shrugged, as if the answer were obvious.

She hesitated and then blurted out, "You can stay with me if you want." She blushed at the forwardness of her statement but she didn't take it back or break his gaze. Instead she boldly looked into his eyes, waiting for his reaction.

John was a little shocked at her offer but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides he really enjoyed spending time with her AND since she was a Forensic Tech her help could be useful, that is if she wanted to help him. Seeing her worried expression he smiled and said, "Why, yes Miss Buchanan. That sounds like a wonderful idea."

Natalie smiled back at his playful tone, relieved. If she didn't know better she would think she was in love with the man... 'IN LOVE?' She thought with sudden horror. "Oh God!' She thought. Going over her feelings on the way to the car with her duffle she realized that she WAS in love with him! She groaned to herself as she thought, 'Why me? Why do I always fall for the man that I can't have!'

She sighed and pushed her feelings back, not wanting John to see them. She knew he wouldn't return them and would probably be embarrassed to know about them. Her face carefully blank she returned to the cabin to lock up and help John to the car. The last thing he needed was to fall and re-open that wound.

As they got in the car John noticed that Natalie was unnaturally quiet, "You ok?" he asked.

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just worried about this Fritz guy," she told him, truthfully. She WAS worried. After all the man had probably beat up John and was looking for him right now. She was extremely worried he would find John again and finish the job. She was also worried about Chris. He had called again the day before and had wanted to get together when she got back. She had tried to let him down gently, even after their harsh words the last time they spoke. But he had gotten mad and started making threats, telling her that she would be sorry so she had hung up on him. She didn't know what he was going to do but when she got back she knew she was going to have to watch her back around him.

"So what do you do when you find them?" she asked him after another minute. She had left the cabin and was carefully making her way down the mountain.

John sighed; he knew what he wanted to do but it wasn't what he was going to do. "First I got to figure out how they found out about me then I need to get some dirt on them to arrest them. I was close to bringing down the whole operation. I just can't remember how! Whatever I was on to... I just can't remember!" he said, frustrated.

Natalie understood his frustration. It was like when she was working a scene. She sometimes knew something was off but just couldn't figure out what. To be so close yet not having all the answers was frustrating. The frustration was the same for him she figured.

They were quiet again; this time it was a comfortable silence. Natalie stole glances at him out of the corner of her eye. The knowledge that she was in love with him kept rolling around in her head. She didn't quite know how to act normally anymore. It seemed like ever time she looked at him she saw something else that attracted her to him. The way he smiled, the way he tilted his head slightly when he talked, even the color of his eyes; they all fascinated her and caused her stomach to do queer little flips.

John noticed her glance at him but said nothing. She was still acting strangely. He caught her eye when she glanced again at him. She flushed red and looked away quickly. John grinned then suddenly snapped his eyes forward as a sudden movement caught his eye. "Watch out!" He said hoarsely.

Natalie slammed on the break and spun the wheel to the left, hard. The car jerked and began to skid on the slippery road. "John!" Natalie screamed. There was a loud crunch as the car slammed to a stop and her head smashed against the side of the car. Pain exploded in her head and then everything went dark.

To be continued...