A/N Hello, my lovely readers, I apologize for the long wait, however I started college this fall and as it turns out college is actually a million times harder than high school. So, yeah, I've had zero time to update. But now that I am on break I am taking advantage of the time to update. This story is nearing its conclusion and I will try to reach it in a timely fashion, so that you do not have to endure months of waiting.

Thanks to all Reviewers!

Dedication: To pinkdice16 thanks for your lovely review. :)

Disclaimer: I own nada. ;)

Frank had woken up three days ago, and after the rush of happiness of seeing his parents, and his Aunt, and all of his friends, and the gradual fading of the more severe portion of his pain, he had reached the traditional state of mind of a Hardy in the hospital: boredom.

The doctors were refusing to let him go home, citing ridiculous reasons like: he had almost died, he'd been kidnapped for a year, he couldn't get around on his own, etc., in order to avoid releasing him. This, if you asked Frank was a load of rubbish. Fortunately, for his continuing physical health, no one in his family saw fit to ask Frank.

Instead his parents spent their time acting like he wasn't actually an adult of twenty-two years, and conducted conversations with the doctor as though he weren't even present in the room. He could appreciate their concern and all but still.

After losing a year of his life, the last thing he was really interested in was spending more time cooped up, even if it was in a hospital as opposed to various terrorist holdings. Plus, there was just the whole issue of everyone being really, hugely awkward. His father and Joe despite having made some progress toward resolving their issues still barely spoke more than a few stilted sentences to each other, Vanessa and Joe were involved in some complicated dance of 'do I love you or don't I?' and he was still facing the question of what exactly was there between him and Callie.

Frank knew what he wanted there to be between him and his former girlfriend, but despite that kiss they had shared he couldn't be certain that she wanted the same thing. For all he knew she had moved on with her life, and the kiss had been the product of just joy over knowing that he was alive, but as a friend, and not in a romantic way.

And, then there was still the whole issue of Jonathan Marion wandering around somewhere. The Network was convinced that he had fled the country by now, or at the very least the state of New York, but something told Frank that the man was lurking about just waiting for the opportunity to take revenge.

He had been alone for the past hour, which was a rarity so far over the course of his hospital stay, as his family and friends seemed to fear that if he was out of their sight for more than thirty seconds at a time he would disappear, not that the belief was totally unjustified, but it was a little frustrating at times. Now that he had regained consciousness some of the people who had crowded the hospital waiting room had returned to Bayport, specifically, Phil, Tony, and Chet had all been forced to leave. Phil and Vanessa's boss couldn't spare both of them, and so Phil had volunteered to return in order to allow Vanessa to remain with Joe. Tony had received several increasingly dire calls from the assistant manager at Mr. Pizza, and Frank had finally told his friend that he would be fine, and that he should get back to work. Chet was needed to run the farm, and Frank hadn't thought it fair to keep his friend from his wife for much longer. Biff had been allowed to stay, most likely because his boss and the other channel seven newscasters were hoping that Frank would grant them an interview.

Callie had positively bristled at the suggestion that she should leave, and had informed Frank coolly, that unless he wanted a new injury to add to his collection he stop trying to send her back home. He had at least given up on that, but after badgering her and Joe, both of whom had been up for days with little to no sleep, managed to convince them to go sleep for a couple of hours in the hotel that they were all staying in. His father was currently going over possible leads on Marion's whereabouts with the Network, which left Laura and Biff to keep Frank company for the time being, although Frank was sure that Callie and Joe would be back any minute now.

His mother and Biff had gone to get lunch in the cafeteria, after being assured by Frank that he would be fine, and that he wanted to take a nap anyway, which he had a hard time doing when there were people staring at him.

He was expecting them to be back at any moment, which is why he didn't even look up from the magazine he had been idly flipping through when the door opened. "How was lunch?" He asked absently.

"It was excellent, thank you." The voice was cold, but it had an element of amusement to it, but one thing was clear it was certainly not the voice of Laura Hardy. The magazine slipped from his fingers. Frank slowly reached for the call button. "Ah, ah, ah," Marion cautioned. "It would be a shame if I had to use this one you," He gestured with the handgun he was clutching. "Wouldn't want to see you die before your time, which I can assure you is arriving rapidly."

"Fuck you." Frank spat.

"It's clear you haven't acquired any manners in the past several days, but what was I to expect." Marion strode over to the bed, and proceeded to forcibly detach the various monitors Frank was still hooked up to. "We're going to take a bit of a stroll," He explained ignoring Frank's wince of pain as he pulled out the IV.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Frank replied.

"I thought you might feel that way," Marion agreed. "Fortunately, this is a pretty simple dilemma, you can shut your trap and come with me, or I can end your worthless life, right here, right now. Take your pick."

"Fine," Frank agreed. "But I can't walk, so…"

"Not a problem," Marion said blandly, demonstrating by hauling Frank out of the hospital bed with surprising strength. Frank's bad leg almost collapsed underneath him, and he would have fallen to the ground had he not been held up by the terrorist. "Let's go shall we?" Marion inquired pleasantly, beginning to drag Frank toward the door.

He must have missed the stubborn look that flashed through Frank's eyes, because he seemed surprised a second later, when the former detective went limp in his hold, pulling down hard on the arm holding the gun.

The weapon discharged with a noise that resonated through the room, and two bodies fell to the ground with a loud thump.

A/N Review quickly, and I shall update quickly, and you will not have to be held in suspense for long.