Once again, the chapters in the events of the movie are named after certain scenes. I own nothing, no money making, just for fun.

Chapter One

Thirteen Years Later

He could feel the cold, unforgiving eyes of the man who had once been his housemate and partner drilling hard holes through his soul. In the audience of witnesses, Francesca was in black and watching them without an expression. Dan felt himself shrink under pressure when he gave away the whole story and every "crime" Herbert West committed against nature. There was a part of him that felt guilty; he was throwing away the chance to conquer death. His other half insisted he was doing the right thing; he could finally move on with his life and away from all this death.

West's eyes burned through his skin and ignited the fear in his blood once more. Since he would be put away behind bars for the rest of his life, the spell might be broken but the memories would always remain with him. Every night now, he dreamed of the faces of the patients he lost...most notably Megan and Gloria, the latter whose head was used for that "female" who carried the former's heart. He tried telling himself Herbert did that for him, but he still created something unacceptable. There would be no way West could forgive him as he never forgave himself.

Dan was finally excused to his seat beside Francesca, who took his hand into hers and massaged it gently. Her warmth and love did not ease him, though, not even when the judge gave West the opportunity to say his final words to plead innocence, but it was the jury to decide his ultimate fate on a vote of seven to two, which sealed it all.

Dr. Herbert West, on an extensive count of illegal experimentation and murder, was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Francesca heaved a sigh and leaned into him, but her rich scent of sandalwood, musk, vanilla, and lavender didn't distract him from receiving the venomous glare from his former partner as two police officers came to cuff his hands in front of him and lead him away. Herbert's look promised he would pay him back someday if that was the last thing he did.

~o~

"Daniel? Dan – Dan! What's wrong, baby?!"

He awoke shivering violently and gasping for air as he stared first at the ceiling, lying on his back, and then to his right. He was safely tucked away in his warm bed, at home in the middle of the night, with his wife Francesca looking down at him with alarmed eyes. He managed a smile. "Just another nightmare. That day again."

She leaned in and placed a tender kiss on his mouth. "Therapy helped you so far but hadn't erased it completely," she noted.

"I'm afraid not," he answered, returning the kiss. She'd been through the pit of anguish the moment she stepped into the old mortuary that had been his and West's shared home adjacent to the old tomb. "I'll never forget that look he gave me or any of it. What we were doing..."

"Was wrong. In the name of science, as you said." She leaned her head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat, which was now slowing down to a steady rhythm. "You did the right thing in having him locked up; you saved more lives." Dan sighed; he wanted badly to say that a couple of those people, such as Hill and Chapham, got what they deserved, but he didn't have it in him.

"Yeah, I feel so guilty, but I did what was right. But still, we could have saved more lives..."

Francesca interrupted him with a finger to his lips. "You could have saved more lives without body parts put together."

He pulled his face from her hand. "Baby, please, I want to end this conversation right now. It's bad enough talking about it brings the nightmares back to me."

"We've been through so much, Danny."

"Damn right," he mumbled, turning his face from her finally. "If only you were there when Meg died, seen that I tried to save her. I've accepted her death, but I still see her at night."

She was about to respond when there was a familiar little cry across the hall. "Oh, damn it, I woke him," he said with a groan. She smiled briefly and kissed his cheek before leaving the bed to check on their son.

He and Francesca had been married for nine years, and they had a five-year-old son named Adrian Howard. But in the early years before marriage, their relationship after the trial had been a rocky one. She'd gone back to Peru for awhile to "clear things" up while he went back to school, but there he faced whispers despite getting out alive and well. They called him a "madman who deserved to be locked up with that mad doctor"; he was glad he'd met young Heather Phillips that final hellish night, when her older sister Emily had been killed by a re-animated corpse which had somehow escaped the collapse of the Averill's crypt. She was his only little companion then, but she wasn't even that little then, and she'd wanted to be a doctor, to which she'd gone to Miskatonic despite its horrid history. He'd been her mentor in the emergency room as Dr. Harrod had been to him before she died of cancer a couple years back.

Tomorrow she started her new job at the Arkham State Penitentiary...the very same place where he knew Herbert West was serving his sentence. Dan had tried talking her out of it because he knew the death of her sister got her to the level he'd been on. She was so stubborn she didn't listen to me. She went ahead and refused the offer to be a doctor at the general hospital all for a place holding deranged criminals and sex offenders...and one certain mad scientist. But she's grown up now and doesn't need anyone bossing her around. He sighed and rolled on his side. I hope she knows what she's getting herself into.

Heather had even been to his and Francesca's wedding, fifteen at the time and estranged from her parents who didn't come since they knew who he was. Dan found himself on his side which happened to show their wedding photograph framed in bronze. There he was smiling in his black and white tux, happy but inner turmoil still residing. And there was Francesca, a goddess in a romantic A-line gown with glimmering lace appliques and a sweetheart neckline. Her hair was sleeked into a bun behind her head, the veil of great length, unique Italian lace covering the bite marks from "Gloria" on the left side of her neck. In her ears and around her neck were an ornate set of opulent Italian gold. She carried assorted flowers right in front of her, smiling as brightly as the color scheme. Happiness doesn't erase anything all the way, he thought as he put the picture back. After Meg died, he hadn't been brave enough to pursue a commitment because he was afraid to lose her like he'd lost Meg. But Francesca was his chance at the normal life which was almost prevented by Herbert West.

She came back some time later, just after he finally turned on the light for the hell of it. Little golden waves rippled off the black satin nightshirt she wore, ending mid-thigh to show off toned honey legs. Dan smirked at the look she was giving him. "I think I should start helping these bad dreams leave you once and for all." She was already unbuttoning the top two buttons by the time she straddled him atop the covers.

"Agh, you can't stop them permanently," he moaned, stopping her hands even though he wanted her to finish, seeing the distinctive rings on her finger he gave her on their wedding day; a brilliant round diamond was set in an intricate yellow gold band sure to attract more attention than one you see everyday. And then it was moving again to finish the rest of the job, showing curves but nothing sensitive. Yet.

"I'll dare to try," Francesca purred, leaning down to kiss him again, then drew back to push the shirt the rest of the way off. "My Danny has been hurt so much to last a lifetime." She then began to kiss her way down over his chest, her nails scratching him but not painfully so, just exciting his nerves, shooting throughout his body and going to all parts, even his now-eager erection which shook and poked under the bedcovers. He uttered a groan when she began to draw the covers down to show his mostly naked body, his hard-on obvious in his shorts. "It's working," she noted, reaching to give the head a pinch between her thumb and forefinger. Damn her for making him feel so good!

"Don't stop," he ground out.

"Don't plan to." Francesca tugged the fabric off, and cool air wisped over the shaking head, wet with pre-cum already. A heavier, wetter heat covered him when Francesca dipped her head to give him head. He burst out into a fit of laughter at both the joke and the distraction from the same dream he always had as of late.

"Well, hurry up, will you?" he teased. "I haven't got all night."

"Not much night left," she corrected, moving on top of him. She slid herself on top of him and wasted no time with riding him like the little spice she was. Dan had his grin glued to his face the whole time and rest of the night, getting a good night's sleep for once right after that with his wife in his arms.

~o~

Thirteen years...he had been in this place for thirteen long years now.

Sunlight barely filled his cell, silence in the room save for constant screams, but he didn't care. He quite favored his seclusion so he could continue to perform his experiments in secrecy; if the Warden found out, the worst would be that he was never allowed to leave the room again, left to die there without nutrition of the likes. Not that he hadn't had any for the last thirteen years – or anytime in his life. As if the Warden didn't remember that life sentence meant Herbert West, former doctor of the Miskatonic University Hospital, would be spending the rest of his life in this place.

Little to no sleep was no different for him than back in medical school; he suffered withdrawal from the re-agent since committed to the prison, which meant constant sickness and nightmares nearly driving him as they all called him: mad. Which resulted in the guards coming in to take him to the infirmary and him pumped full of sedatives he thought he would die within hours. Among his night terrors were the memories of the events that brought him to this place: Dean Halsey's expulsion of him and his former assistant, before his successful re-animation and end in the morgue...Dr. Hill's decapitation and also successful re-animation but ultimately led to the chaos in the morgue...Meg dying and her heart discovered, used for "Gloria"...and most of all, Dan. Dan who I did everything for, almost died twice in a row for...and who turned against me in the end.

Herbert remembered his body in immense pain, though it had felt like nothing was broken, and his body was always the least of his worries. Unleashing a series of animalistic screams and he hauled off the rock slabs that covered him with the rest of the monstrous mistakes he made, he saw not one trace of them OR those other two. He was betrayed...betrayed and abandoned by the man he'd dared called a friend. What had Daniel done for him in return? Left me here to die, like the rest of these things.

The trial sealed his fate when his former assistant gave everything away, his exotic little flame watching them among those who wanted nothing more than to see the "evil Dr. Herbert West" locked away forever. Cain's betrayal wounded him so deeply that he knew he would never forgive him.

And now, thirteen years later, he was more determined than ever despite his incarceration. It seemed impossible, but for some reason, he was harassed by omens in sleep despite disbelief in them. The staff of the infirmary was lessening more and more each day, and the only reason the Warden allowed him to work there was because of his "medical background". Brando's sneer was evident when his back was turned; most of the time he wasn't shy about his true colors. The one major issue was that the prison medic center lacked basic First Aid, and the nurse wasn't much better than the second-hand doctors who came and went, besides revealing a wee too much for the eyes of the sex offenders here. He remembered hearing that a new one would be coming, recently graduated from Miskatonic – well, well, a bright young mind choosing a lesser, more dangerous field than a better pick – and arriving today. Herbert had just about met his match if this young face would be stupid enough to come here.

He had resorted to rats as his only specimens; well, animal specimens, but still, since a human subject was more advanced and at risk of exposure. And for some years after imprisonment, Herbert's mind and his cell were filled with books and theories about how the body operated as a machine, no surprise with life physical and chemical in disregard to God, heaven and hell. A machine could charge via electricity, and the body charged and discharged; the nerve cells regulated sensations so high that feelings depended on this situation.

Herbert strapped down the latest rodent subject on a metal slab he kept hidden cleverly in one of his old textbooks he no longer used, his memory more precious than a mere book – this rat was none other than Ratty, the rodent pet of one of his hated rivals he "encountered" in early years of sharing a cell with before being transferred to confinement. He was no important to West because rodents were the lowest forms of animal life, much like these parasites around him were.

He had discovered the only source of electricity to use for this test from his wall light source, taking out the bulb – a mere small capsule – and the wiring cable it was still connected to throughout the rest of the electrical system of the institution. He had gathered metal clippings from the infirmary's "toolbox" throughout the main key points of Ratty's body – the top of the spine being major.

Herbert pursed his lips together and pushed the button of the outlet, shooting Ratty into a frenzy as his life source was taken from him, and the charge caused his own nerves to fire up with excitement as he felt it surge through and into the bulb, sparkling blue in the grand finale. This was a phenomenon that existed in place of the soul, and he'd given it the name of Nano-Plasmic Energy. Nano meaning "extremely small", and plasmic being the term for the blood which the cells were suspended; in physics, it was an electrically neutral matter of electrons, ions, and neutrons. This was the unseen energetic force that scientists failed to discover in the event of conquering death. He wrote Ratty's previous weight down in his notebook: 207.1165 g.

A human being lost about three or four grams of weight upon death, but a rodent lost much less than that. And speaking of rodents, all their behaviors were the same upon receiving the spark of life, and that was a perfectly behaved rat instead of the violence all his past subjects resorted to in the past.

Herbert was about to write down Ratty's new weight at death when he heard the sound of the alarm blaring. He fumed, putting his pencil down and closing the notebook before hastily working to get the clippings off the dead rat's cadaver. It won't even be approximately fresh next time; damn Moncho for it all. "West!" Speak of the devil. He spun around and held the rat to his side, but not enough to hide it from the sergeant's eyes. This was the Warden's dog who followed the orders his master barked at him; Warden shouted, Moncho executed.

"What do you have there?" His beady dark eyes in his Spanish-descent face over a broad muscled body that outmatched his own, but Herbert's had gotten a little more to it despite little exercise in the courtyard in which he decided he'd prefer the infirmary to being with the others, rested on the thing in question. "Is that some kind of animal?"

"Why, Moncho? Are you hungry?" The man's brain was no bigger than his body; "all muscle and no brain" had never been more correct.

Another look closer at the animal got another question out of him. "Is that a...rat?"

Herbert snorted. "Your powers of observation are...dubious at best." He knew Moncho wouldn't know the definition of the word, but it meant two things. One was where one was fraught with doubt and uncertainty, the other of questionable character in the sergeant's case. It was amusing to see him repeat the word twice, not knowing what it meant, but he wouldn't show it. "You wanted me?"

"Oh, yes...here." He snatched the pink paper from Moncho's hands with one of his own, his other behind his back and still holding Ratty. He read the whole page briefly without so much as simply scanning. He frowned then. The new doctor requested he work with them in the infirmary. "New work assignment?" he mused aloud. They clearly had no idea I already worked in there. And then he read the name of the newcomer at the bottom of the page: Heather Phillips, MD

Moncho nodded to his answer and repeated "dubious" one more time, about to leave before he stopped and turned back with one finger raised. "Oh, and it's Sergeant Moncho." Herbert snorted as he watched him leave. This was one of the many times he enjoyed insulting his foes in here, no different than when he insulted Hill in his own classroom. However, with the Warden, who was fond of executing torture with his cane, Herbert had his chances of being careful not to cross the sadistic man's path.

Three of my many favorite stories namely for the court flashback, Herbert's early years in prison and memories of the people who put him in his cell for life, as well as his memory of Dan saving Francesca and leaving Herbert behind: "Not enough" by Sobeitsaidhe, "Sleep" by afullmargin, and "Before 'Beyond'" by VD for VANDitta. All very angsty and deep.

The interaction with Dan and Francesca was in thanks to another story called "Borrowed Flesh" on Livejournal, though I forgot who the author was, and it's been awhile since I read it. But let's just say that Dan had a terrible nightmare - though not of this day he turned his former partner in - and he wasn't so warm towards Francesca who DID try her best to console him. A little bit of their words in here are kinda similar to bits in that story, so my apologies if it was stupid of me, given that it was too good to be wholly reversed. And fitting for comforting your hubby after a bad dream. ;D We'd all imagine Dan would be psychologically broken and would have been to a therapist (though in "Borrowed Flesh", Francesca suggested it to him and he'd brushed it off unlike here).

The thing with Dan and Francesca married was a great idea, in my opinion. :) Because they'd been through hell together, while other authors depicted them separated after the events of "Bride". Women hard to obtain, especially them being nonexistent in Lovecraft's stories. But the part where Francesca was Dan's hope at normality is true, and we all saw it ourselves, no matter how useless she appeared in the movie.

The idea of them having a child came from actress Fabiana Udenio, who plays Francesca in the movie. I read online that she was married before divorcing, has a young son named Adrian. :) Thank you, girl, if you ever find this.