A/N: Well, I decided to post this last chapter in two parts. I've had so much fun writing this story; it's hard to let it go. Be warned, this chapter is somewhat violent. "Reader discretion is advised!"

Chpt 12: Time With Markus et al.

"You've missed me?" he asked. He sounded so innocent, like a child.

"I've been here by myself, waiting for you to get back... Markus, I want you to look at me. Really look at me."

He studied Lori, her face and her hair. He blinked hard as the image of Rachel melded with hers. He grabbed his head with both hands and winced.

"Markus don't leave me. Markus! Stay with me," Lori pleaded.

His head popped up and she saw the fear in his eyes. "Child, I told you to leave things be."

"Nana! Send Markus back!"

"I'm sorry."

Markus fell limp to the floor. Lori held her breath and prayed he was out. She watched in horror as he rolled to his back and sat up. He looked pissed. "I see Milliken sent his medic to stitch you up." he said and kicked the bottom of Lori's bandaged foot. Somehow she managed not to react. "You think you're pretty tough, huh?" Lori watched him watching her. He started to turn away then whirled back around and grabbed her by the shoulders. He picked her up and held her off of her feet against the wall. She closed her eyes and turned her head. "Look at me." Her brow furrowed, but she didn't open her eyes. "Look at me!" he demanded through gritted teeth. Lori slowly turned her head back to face him and opened her eyes. He dropped her to the floor and she tottered on her wounded foot grabbing at the wall to steady herself. He took one step back and Lori found her footing hoping that was the last of it for now. Without warning he backhanded her across her face. Her head jerked hard to the side and her body followed sending her sliding down the wall, yet she remained silent. "Why won't you scream!" he huffed. He rammed his palms hard into his eyes and his vision blurred. Her silence was driving him away, but he was strong and intended on staying as long as he could. He grabbed her hair and yanked her back up. Her hands flew to his trying to relieve the pull on her scalp. Her eyes grew huge when she saw his fist. She turned just as it connected with her face saving her nose, but sacrificing her eye and driving her to the floor. Somehow, she kept her reaction to herself. He grabbed his head, still fighting to stay in control. In a desperate attempt to assert that control, he kicked Lori hard in the gut lifting her off of her hands and knees sending her crashing into the wall. She landed on her side coughing and gasping for air. Bull stumbled backwards his rage forcing him deeper into his own mind. He collapsed in front of Lori. This time she prayed he was dead. His hand twitched and he drug himself to his knees. Lori lay curled in a ball next to him. He crawled closer to her and she tucked her knees in tighter. A soft voice found its way through the pain. "Let me see you, child."

Lori opened her eyes and studied the man hovering over her. "Let me see, Angel."

"Nana," she said relaxing a bit. She allowed the older woman to help her into a sitting position. "Nana, I need you to talk to Markus," she said through quick, strained breaths. "You have to tell him about Bull. You have to help me explain this to him. He's the only one that can stop him. He has to, Nana, before Bull kills us all."

"Hush now child. Let me look at you. I think your ribs are broken."

"Nana, please listen to me. You have to talk to Markus."

"I can't talk to Markus, child. I love him, and I take care of him, but I aint never talked to him. Now let me see your face. Your eye's already swoll shut."

Lori grabbed her hands and held them in front of her. "Have you ever tried?"

"You have to stop this, child," she said more firmly.

"Please, Nana? If you won't talk to him, let me try."

"Angel..."

"Please, Nana," she said squeezing her hands.

"Let me get your ribs wrapped and settled, then we'll try, okay?"

Lori nodded, trying to be patient. Right now Nana was her only ally and she didn't want to lose her. Nana rounded the corner into the small storage closet. Lori could hear her humming in the other room. "Here we go," she said returning. "I think these will do nicely, you being so tiny and all. Don't you eat, child?"

"Every chance I get," Lori assured her.

"You know that's probably true. Here you are skinny as a rail, likely eatin' anything and everything you want while ol' Nana here can just look at something sweet and swell up like a pot bellied pig." Lori smiled and Nana bent to help her to her feet. "You gonna' have to stand for this, Angel so I ca get you wrapped right." Lori winced with the movement. "You don't have to stay quiet for me," she winked. "That's smart, staying quiet around Bull. He likes it when they scream. It makes him stronger." Lori held her arms up so that Nana could look at her ribs. "I think these two over here are cracked. You've got a nasty bruise forming. Are you breathing okay?" Lori nodded. "Good. This will help."

"You see what he does? You saw him beat the other girls?"

"Turns my stomach. The more they cry and beg, the more he hits 'em."

"You can't stop him?"

"Now don't you think I would if I could? Bull shows up when he wants and leaves when he's mad or finished. I got no control over him."

"Nana, could I ask you a question?"

Nana continued wrapping Lori's ribs with the old t-shirt pieces she had torn and tied together. "I suppose I can't stop you either, huh?" she chuckled.

"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

"Now what kind of question is that?" she teased.

"I'm just curious. You're beautiful, Nana. I just wondered if you see that too."

"Beautiful is a strong word, child."

"What do you see?"

"Hold your breath, Angel," Nana said and tied the last knot. She pulled Lori's shirt back down over the wrap. "I see a tired ol' woman, child. That's why I don't look in the mirror any more," she said and tapped Lori playfully on the nose. "You're different than the other girls I've had to work on. You're smart… tough too. Just watch yourself. Bull's always been mean, but lately, since he's decided he'd rather live alone in this body, he's been plum ruthless."

"Nana, could I talk to Markus now?"

Nana sighed deeply. "You're not gonna' let that go are you?"

"No."

"You're stubborn too… Alright, you can try. How do you want to do this?"

"Can we sit?"

"Sure. Here, let me help you down."

"Thank you." Lori sat cross-legged in front of Nana. The old woman closed her eyes and wished Lori luck. "Markus," Lori said quietly. "Markus, I need to talk to you. I know you're in there and I know you can hear me. Markus, my name is Lori and I'm in trouble. You're the only one that can help me. There's a man. His name is Bull and he's gonna' kill me. He's gonna' kill you too if you don't stop him. Markus I need to see you. I need to show you what's happening. Please Markus, I need to talk to you."

Nana opened her eyes. She looked confused as if she were seeing Lori for the first time. "Markus?"

"Who are you? Where's Rachel?"

"I'm Lori."

"Where are we?" he asked noticing for the first time her bound hands and feet.

"We're in a warehouse. A man named Bull brought us here... You brought us here Markus."

He shook his head fighting the onset of one of his headaches, the kind that usually knocked him out.

"Stay with me Markus. Fight it."

"Fight what? What's happening?" He was frightened and Lori feared she might lose him.

"Markus, I need you to listen to me," she urged, her voice commanding yet soothing and empathetic. "The headaches you have, the bad ones that steal time... You have another personality; one that you know nothing about. I know this sounds crazy, but its not. I don't have a lot of time to explain it all to you right now, but this man, this personality… He takes over and you lose time." She could see that he was listening, that what she was saying made sense to him somehow. "Markus, this all started with Rachel, didn't it?"

He frowned. "What do you know about Rachel?"

"I know you cared about her. I know she disappeared right about the same time your headaches started."

Markus pressed is palm hard into his eye. "Fight him, Markus. Stay with me. I can help you figure this out."

He grabbed his head and clinched his jaw. "Where's Rachel? I find her... time and again I find her, and then she's gone."

"Markus, your mother was schizophrenic, so was your grandfather. It's an inherited disease. You have multiple personalities living inside of you too. One of those personalities brings you a girl, a young blond woman and feeds your delusion. You think its Rachel, but it's not. Just like you thought I was her at first, remember? Schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder are not the same thing. You suffer with both, Markus, and it's not your fault. You have to believe me when I tell you; it's not your fault. But this other personality, he has his own schizophrenic delusion. He thinks he works for someone named Milliken. The girls he brings to you end up beaten and dead."

His lower lip started to tremble. "Is Rachel dead? Did he kill her? Did I kill her?" he asked as tears began streaming down his face. "I don't know. I wish I could tell you differently, but no one has seen her in two years." He buried his head in his lap and rocked back and forth. She tentatively placed a trembling hand on top of his head and kept talking, trying to help him understand. "Do you remember anything about the night she disappeared?"

He shook his buried head. His voice was muffled. "I remember waking up under the big oak tree at Battle Hill..."

"Battle Hill?"

He nodded slowly, his head still buried. "At my old school. It was the first time I blacked out. I found out Rachel was missing a few days later." He started shaking all over and rolled to his side away from Lori. Desperate to keep Markus with her she followed him and rested her arm over his cradling him as best as she could. "Stay with me Markus. We're gonna' figure this out."

She rubbed his arm and shushed him until he stopped shaking. When he spoke his voice was stronger. "My life isn't mine anymore. I've been bouncing for so long… "

"I know, Markus. I'm sorry. I want to help you, but we have to get out of here first. Can you help me with this duct tape, please? We have to hurry, Markus. We need to get out of here before Bull comes back."

Markus rolled away from her and sat up, a sardonic grin painted across his face. "Too late, princess. I'm baaack," he sang. He dove at her, knocking her off of her knees sending her careening into the wall. This time she screamed. She couldn't help it. He was terrifying. He scrambled for his knife grabbing it before Lori could regain her footing. He shoved her back to the ground with his foot and held her there, his boot across her windpipe. He cut the rope where it encircled her wrists and drug her over to the hook dangling from the ceiling in the middle of the room. He hoisted her up and forced her hands over the hook so that she hung by her wrists. He left her swinging while he lowered the hook so that the balls of her feet just grazed the cold floor. She twisted and kicked trying to gain some sort of leverage to aid in her escape. He caught her from behind and pulled her tight against him. "None of that, princess," he teased. She strained against his hold. "You're a feisty one, aren't you? Sure you don't want to tell me what you did to land yourself on Milliken's list?"

"Milliken doesn't exist and neither do you," she spat through her teeth.

"If that were true, then this wouldn't hurt a bit, would it?" he said as he raked the blade across her last rib and abdomen leaving a deep, piercing cut that traversed the breath of her mid-section. She drew in a sharp breath, too startled to scream. It felt like her abdomen was on fire. Hot, sticky blood spread across her shirt. He circled her and stepped back inspecting his work. "Well now, that's gonna' leave a mark," he said through a grin. Invigorated by his handy work, he drew his fist back and punched her once in the gut sending her dangling body flying backwards. The metallic smell of iron filled her nostrils and mouth causing her to gag and wretch. She heard Bull fall to the side of her like he had been hit from behind. For a moment she thought she had been saved. He rolled to his back, eyes wide with fear and confusion. He stood and stumbled toward Lori, but dropped again when he saw the blood. "Markus!" she tried to scream, but she choked on the bile in the back of her throat. "Markus wake up," she pleaded. He moaned, but his eyes remained closed. "Markus if you can't help me, send Nana. Please, Markus," she said fighting her own battle with consciousness. She watched in horror as blood, her blood, pooled on the floor below her.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Hope that wasn't too brutal. Steve and Danny are up next as Steve hits his breaking point.