"You couldn't let well enough alone, could you Monk?" said Grayson as he sat in a chair next to Monk's cot in the makeshift infirmary in the Spacelab.

Monk had just regained consciousness and had no recollection of how he got where he was and he struggled to focus his eyes as the man rebuked him. Lying there, he wasn't sure which hurt worse, his head or the blinding glare of the lights in the cabin. He felt strange, like he was tied down. He looked at his chest and he was tied down with some sort of harness to a fold-out cot.

"Wh...where am I?" Monk asked, squinting to see Grayson. He felt dizzy.

"You're in the skylab of the Zenith spacecraft on your way to deliver some equipment to the moon." One of the crewmen stated as he reached into a cabinet to grab some water and promptly exited the room, leaving Monk and Grayson alone.

"I'm what?!" Adrian tried to sit up...

"You're on the Zenith..." Grayson responded.

Monk protested..."The Zenith?! As in the spaceship?"

"One and the same."

"Uh...no...um...this can't be. Y-you see...here's the thing, I'm I...I...I'm afraid of heights...We need to land."

Grayson rolled his eyes and leaned forward, checking the heart rate monitor that they had hooked Adrian up to when he was found. "I'm afraid that is impossible. Besides, I'm not sure why you are afraid. Up here, it's zero gravity..." Grayson unlatched a belt on his chair did a somersault in the air and began floating above Monk's cot.

Monk looked around nervously at his surroundings. "Uh, nice trick. D...Did I mention I'm not big on zero gravity either?" he said, adjusting his neck.

"No. You didn't." Grayson grinned. "We'd better get you used to it. You're going to be in it for awhile. My associate, Rachel Dawson, has bandaged your arm and looked after your head, though trust me," he whispered, "if you tell anyone onboard how you got that way, there will most assuredly be consequences that you will find quite unpleasant, if you catch my drift." Grayson made a show of brandishing a small knife that he hid in the sleeve of his jumpsuit, before floating over to a closet and pulling out a package with some sort of clothing in it.

"Here - take this jumpsuit." he said, in his normal tone of voice. "It's what we call a launch and reentry suit. It's designed to protect you should we have any issues while traveling through earth's atmosphere. Given that you haven't trained like the rest of us, it might be a good idea you wear it for a while so you can feel more comfortable. Also, anyone aboard this vessel must work. Put this on and go through the tunnel by the airlock and meet me in the main vessel in 10 minutes. I'll have a list of your chores ready."

Was this all a crazy dream? Monk pinched himself then winced. No. Not a dream. He unbuckled his safety harness and suddenly floated towards the ceiling. "Whooaaaah...w'w'wwwwant to come down, come down, come down..." Monk said out loud. He lightly rammed into the ceiling and raised his arms and pushed himself back down. Where he had been shot had apparently been just a flesh wound, and while it hurt, felt nowhere near as bad as it did initially. Soon, he learned to navigate weightlessness pretty well. It wasn't all that bad actually. But, he much preferred his feet on solid earth and managed to trick himself into not considering the fact that he was further at this moment from earth than he had ever imagined himself being.

"You say you heard Trudy?" Dr. Bell asked Natalie while sitting in a leather chair in the living room of her apartment.

"Yes. When I was in the basement. She spoke to me." Natalie replied, staring straight ahead.

"And what did she say?" he asked with concern. Being in his line of work, it wasn't unusual to see people hallucinate during times of great distress and given Natalie's recent history, he was just grateful that she was talking at all.

"She said to stay strong. She said that Adrian needs me. Doctor, why would she say that if Adrian were about to die?" Natalie asked with pleading eyes. Bell reached forward his hand and touched her arm.

"I really don't know, Natalie. Perhaps she didn't know he was going to die. How did she make you feel?" he asked.

Natalie thought for a moment and responded "At peace. Confused. Like I had a mission to protect Adrian." She began to cry. "I tried. I tried, Dr. Bell. I tried to go to him. Oh, that I had never left him."

"Yes dear, you tried. But he asked you to go." Bell responded. "That can hardly be your fault."

"He was just being nice." she replied.

"No, he was just being a man trying to take care a woman he cared for deeply. You know he loved you don't you?" Bell responded. Natalie looked down towards the floor, feeling in her heart that Bell surely meant it some other way than the way it sounded and desperate to keep him from seeing in her eyes that she wished it were exactly as she wanted it to be.

"Yes. Well, Adrian loved several people. Leland, Julie, Randy..."

"No, that's not what I'm talking about. I am saying he really LOVED you. Natalie, I don't know why I'm telling you this, other than I think you should know. Adrian Monk was in love with you, I know he was - even if he wasn't willing to admit it to himself. He told you to go because that is what a man in love would do. He put you ahead of himself, and wild horses ...or Natalie Albright...couldn't have stopped him from getting you to safety. So dear, please don't blame yourself. It was his choice, not yours. You tried. But they were mainly after him, so he let them have him rather than sacrificing the woman he loved." he said.

Natalie began to sob. "Oh, Dr. Bell - if that's true then it is my fault. Adrian didn't deserve this."

"Of course not. But I don't see how you..."

"It, it's my curse. Wagner called me the 'black widow' as he was being hauled away. He said my kiss is the kiss of death. Adrian first met me when I had killed a man. My whole life with him has been working together chasing death. No man can be close to me without dying. I'm cursed."

"Natalie, that's just nonsense. Listen dear. It is clear to me that Adrian loved you and I know you love him too. I saw how very good you were for him in the years you worked together. He brought a blessing to his life, not a curse.

Before you, he was nearly incapable of performing some of the most basic tasks. You inspired him to do more and he did. You were his very best friend in life. When you married Albright, that wasn't Adrian giving his blessing because he felt good about seeing you go. It tore him up inside. He talked to me for months about missing you. When he gave you his blessing to leave, that was Adrian being selfless in wanting to see the woman he loved happy and being too insecure to think there could ever be anything between you."

"Why are you telling me this Dr. Bell?" Natalie asked.

"Because, I think it is important for you to understand what the reality of the situation was. You didn't get yourself kidnapped. Bad people kidnapped you. You didn't leave him behind of your own volition. He told you to go. He put himself in this situation because of his love for you. And that's a kind of love that survives, Natalie. It transcends death. The best tribute you can give to Adrian Monk is to live. Grieve, but then move forward. Live life to the fullest. Don't spend your days in a prison of guilt like he did so many years. He would tell you that solves nothing."

Natalie was quiet for a long time as she considered his words. She felt like she should mourn, but she felt flat inside. No, not really flat. She couldn't describe the feeling but she knew she couldn't let go. Finally, she spoke.

"You may be right - but, Dr. Bell, I'm not ready to move forward and right now I...it's weird, I can't let go of the feeling...what if he's not really dead?"

Dr. Bell looked at her seriously, gaging for signs of instability and then he smiled gently. "If he's not dead, Natalie, then I can tell you now, it will be the best news I've ever heard. I hope you're right."