All That is Forgotten
By Pamala Rush

All Disclaimers apply.

	Steve met them in the basement of the old restaurant. He 
thought he was meeting with someone who could help with his case, 
but the three men had other plans for him. "Well?" Steve asked as he 
stood before the three. "What have you got for me?"
	"This," came a voice from behind him.
	Steve started to draw his weapon but before he could turn, a 
two by four broke across the side of his head and he fell to the floor, 
his gun flying to a place in the trash in the corner. Four men stood over 
him as he lost consciousness.
	"That's what you get for sticking your nose in our business," the 
man with the wood said as he threw it to the ground.
	"Cops can be *soo*, nosy," said another as he bent over and 
took Steve's keys, wallet, badge, and I.D. "We'll leave these in the car 
for his friends to find. They'll be demolishing this building this 
afternoon, so he'll be taken care of and no one will be able to trace it 
back to us."
	The other two grunted in agreement and the four quickly exited 
the building. Out of the corner of the filthy room came a young man 
who had dirt on his face and hands and tattered clothing.
	"Man?" he said cautiously, poking Steve's chest. "Man hurt?" 
Steve didn't move and the young man poked him again. "Wake man? 
Please?" When Steve still didn't move, the boy started backing out the 
door. "Get help, man. Stay here. Get Nannie."

	Natasha Cooper had been looking everywhere for Peter. His 
favorite haunt was being torn down this afternoon, and she wanted to 
make sure he was safe. Finally, when she tried the old restaurant, he 
came tumbling out the door, landing at her sandaled feet.
	"Peter," she said scoldingly. "I told you that it wasn't safe to 
play here anymore."
	"Hurt man," Peter said.
	"Are you sure?" Natasha asked. Peter was know to play such 
gags though they had never gotten anyone hurt.
	"Sure, sure," Peter insisted. "Men," he held up three fingers 
then four. "Hit his head and he fall down. "He not wake when I axsk."
	Natasha smiled at the way he said ask. "If this is a joke...."
	Peter shook his head emphatically and pulled on her arm. "No! 
Not funny! Please!"
	Natasha wiped the smile from her face and followed Peter into 
the basement. Peter had been a mental patient for a lot of years, but 
after his parents had died and the insurance ran out, he was released 
from the mental hospital where he had spent most of his life. Now he 
lived on the streets where Natasha did her best to take care of him.
	Peter led her past piles of trash and to where the man lay, 
bleeding from a gash in his head. He was dressed in a pair of nice jeans 
and T-shirt with a sports jacket over it-- too well to be homeless. "He 
was probably part of a drug deal that went bad," Natasha mumbled as 
she knelt down beside his still form.
	"'Nother man hit him with this," Peter said as he pointed to a 
piece of wood on the floor. It had blood on it.
	Natasha glanced over at it, then back to the man laying on the 
floor. "Who is he?"
	"Mans took stuff from him," Peter told her. "Car too."
	Natasha nodded and searched through the man's pockets for 
some I.D. Peter was right. They had left nothing but an empty gun 
holster.
	Peter noticed. "Gun over there," he said as he pointed to the 
corner.
	"I don't care where his gun is," Natasha said. "We've got to get 
him out of here." She glanced down at her watch. "Now. They've got 
this place scheduled to come down in less than an hour. I don't think 
we want to be here when it goes."
	"Where?"
	Natasha thought a minute. "The clinic's too far away, so we'd 
better take him to my place."
	"Get there?"
	Natasha looked up at him with a tight smile. "Together we 
can," she said. She pointed to his other side. "You take that side, I'll get 
this side."
	Peter grasped his arm and together they lifted him off the floor. 
Natasha put his right arm over her shoulders as Peter did the same with 
his left. They got him out of the basement in record time.

	"Hey, come watch the show," Joe said to the others. 
	The four men who had tricked Steve into the basement were 
standing on the roof of a nearby apartment building, looking down at 
the place where they had left Steve to die. When the explosives went 
off and the building fell down on itself, the four cheered.
	"The poor detective," Daniel said. "He's a pancake now." He 
high fived Joe.
	Shawn and George clinked their beer bottles together. "Nobody 
will stop us now," George said.
	"Yeah," Shawn put in. "The girl's dead, the detective 
investigating her 'accident' is dead. We're home free!"
	"Yeah," Joe said. "If we can get the drugs moving as soon as 
possible."
	"Don't worry," Shawn said with the wave of his hand. "Piece of 
cake."
	"I wish I had your optimism," Joe replied.

	Natasha was dabbing at the gash on Steve's forehead when he 
woke up. He lifted his head quickly, was hit by a wave of dizziness, and 
lay his head back down on the bed. Natasha winced as if it were her 
head that was doing the spinning.
	"Don't move so fast, my friend," she said. "You've had a pretty 
good whack on the head." She dabbed at the wound. "I don't suppose 
you could tell me your name?"
	Steve thought about that one for a minute. "I was going to ask 
you the same question," he said slowly.
	Natasha sighed. "My name is Natasha. Peter started calling me 
Nannie, so that's what everyone calls me now. Your turn."
	Steve was quiet, watching Nannie as she dabbed at the wound 
on his forehead. "That's your cue to tell me your name," she said.
	"That's the problem," Steve said. "I can't seem to remember."
	Nannie nodded in understanding. "Oh I get it now."
	"I didn't have anything to identify me?" Steve asked.
	Nannie shook her head. "Nothing except a gun holster." She 
pointed to his belt with her free hand.
	Steve glanced down as she finished cleaning the wound and put 
the cotton she had been using in the nearby garbage. Sure enough, 
there was a brown leather holster clipped to his belt.
	While he had his head up, he took a good look around the 
room. It was a really small room with one window across from the 
double bed, which almost filled the room. A path wound it's way past a 
small dresser, in front of the window and to a couple of doors on his 
left. One led to a tiny kitchen with another window, opened to let the 
fresh air in, the curtains blowing in the breeze. The other room led to a 
dark bathroom. The door leading to the hall was over on the other side 
of the bed behind Nannie. 
	Steve finished his perusal of the room and looked back up at 
her. She carefully put a square of gauze over the cut and taped it down 
with some medical tape.
	"Do you remember anything?" she asked him.
	He thought for a minute then shook his head. "Nothing 
substantial," he said as she packed up the first aid kit to put it away. 
"Just bits and pieces."
	Nannie stood. "Well, why don't you describe what you see?" 
Nannie went into the bathroom and flipped the switch to turn the light 
on as Steve stared at the ceiling trying to remember something.
	"A hospital," he said.
	Nannie came out of the bathroom and  went to the dresser to 
dig around a bit. "Anything special about the hospital?"
	Blurry, vague images filled Steve's head. A woman dressed in 
hospital scrubs standing over a dead body. A man dressed in similar 
scrubs, an older doctor dressed in a white coat. Steve squeezed his eyes 
shut. "It's still too blurry."
	"Try not to worry about it too much," Nannie said. "I think you 
just have a temporary form of amnesia. If I can find out who you are, 
then we can start rebuilding your memory."
	She turned from her digging with an object in her hands. It was 
an instant camera. She moved close and snapped a picture, the flash 
surprising Steve.
	"What's that for?" Steve asked.
	"I'm going to ask around and see if I can't find out at least what 
your name is," Nannie told him as she pulled the freshly taken picture 
out of the camera and began fanning it. "You stay here and rest. I'll 
bring back whatever information I can find."

	Mark took a drink of his coffee and turned the page of the 
medical journal he was reading. Jesse Travis burst in the door of the 
doctor's lounge and flipped on the TV. "You've got to see this doc," 
Jesse said.
	Mark put down the magazine, slipped off his glasses and looked 
up at the TV. The reporter was standing in front of a building that had 
just been demolished. "Police have reason to believe that the officer 
was here to obtain information concerning a murder investigation 
which he was conducting," the reporter said. "Now, the reports have 
not been confirmed, but they believe that he was inside."
	The picture flipped to a man at a news desk. "What makes them 
believe he was inside, Susan?" he asked.
	It went back to the reporter at the scene. "They found his car 
just outside what used to be an entrance....." Susan went on, but Mark 
wasn't listening.
	"What does this have to do with me?" Mark asked Jesse.
	"Just watch when they show footage of the car," Jesse said.
	At that moment, the footage that Jesse was referring to 
appeared on the screen. The car was dusty, having been near the 
building when it went down, but to Mark it still looked familiar.
	"That looks like Steve's car," Mark said.
	"It is," Jesse said. "I saw the license plate."
	Mark sat back, trying not to panic, when his pager went off. He 
glanced down for the number, then picked up the phone and dialed it. 
"Mark Sloan," Mark answered, hoping it was Steve. He listened for a 
minute, then sighed with relief. "That is a relief for me to hear," Mark 
said into the phone. "Thanks for letting me know." He hung up. "He 
wasn't in the building when it went down."
	Jesse looked relieved. "Then where is he, and what happened?"
	"The captain said that they're not letting the press know he 
wasn't in there because they think he was put in there in an attempt to 
murder him," Mark explained. "They found his gun and a board with 
his blood on it, but they think he got out somehow."
	"They don't have any clues?"
	"Nothing," Mark replied. "They're going through the building 
with a fine tooth comb, but so far, nothing."
	"Maybe we should conduct a quiet little investigation of our 
own," Jesse said.
	Mark nodded. "That's what I was thinking," he replied as 
Amanda burst in the door.
	"Did you.....?" she began, breathlessly.
	"We heard," Mark and Jesse said together, then Mark went on. 
"He wasn't in the building, but we don't know if he's hurt or not."
	Amanda sighed with relief. "That's great," she said. "So are we 
going to look for him?"
	Mark nodded and glanced at his watch. "You both off?"
	Amanda and Jesse both nodded. "Great, then let's go," Mark 
said.

	Steve lay in the bed for what seemed like hours with one image 
running through his head. A young woman lay on the ground-- 
somewhere, Steve didn't know where-- her eyes open, her head bashed 
in. He tried to sleep, but couldn't get the picture out of his mind.
	He could almost hear voices, too, but couldn't remember what 
they were saying. Nothing was really clear right now, but it was so 
close he could almost reach out and touch it.
	Nannie came in the door with an armload of groceries. "How 
you feeling?"
	"Like it's there, but I can't reach it," Steve replied.
	Nannie took the groceries in the other room and began to put 
them away. "I showed the picture around, but nobody could identify 
you," she said. "Did you remember anything?"
	"Same thing," Steve told her. "Dead girl, hospital, voices, 
nothing."
	Nannie stood in the doorway. "We'll find out what's going on," 
she said. "I asked Peter if he could remember if anyone called you by 
your name during that meeting that he wittnessed, but he said no."
	Steve slowly raised up on his elbows to look at her. "I wish I 
could remember something," he said. "Maybe you should take me to a 
hospital."
	"I think you'll be safer here," Nannie told him. "Peter said they 
were going to leave you for dead, but since he saw everything...." she 
shrugged. "I don't want anyone to find you until I know you're out of 
danger."
	"You don't think I need medical attention?" Steve asked as he 
lay back down on the bed.
	"I am doing my residency at the clinic on third street," she told 
him. "You'll be fine. You could do with a CAT scan, but I think you're 
OK."
	Steve stared at the ceiling. "I feel like I need to go to the 
hospital."
	"Why?"
	Steve shook his head. "I don't know."
	Nannie sighed. "I could take you over to St. Victor's, I guess," 
she said as someone knocked softly at her door. She went over and 
opened it a crack, then let who was outside in. "Peter," she said. "You 
OK?"
	"Man OK?" he asked.
	"Yes," Nannie replied glancing over at Steve as he watched the 
conversation. "The man is OK."
	Peter looked at Steve. "Hi, man," he said with a wave. "I 
Peter."
	Steve smiled up at him. "I have no idea who I am."
	Peter looked back at Nannie. "Membered somethin'," he said.
	Nannie put her hand on his shoulder. "What?"
	Steve sat up slightly to listen. "Sparkle thing," Peter said.
	"Sparkle thing?" Nannie asked.
	"Bad mans took off pants," he said with a gesture to Steve.
	"You talking about his gun?"
	Peter shook his head and pointed at Steve again. "Man threw 
gun when bad mans hurt him," he told them. "Somethin' perty. Shiny 
like reflector."
	"It was in his pocket?"
	"No!" Peter was starting to get exasperated. "ON pants!"
	"Clipped to his belt like the holster?"
	Peter nodded emphatically. "YES!"
	"Do you think you could recognize it if you saw it again?" 
Nannie asked.
	"Already did," Peter said proudly. "That's how I membered it."
	"Where did you see it, Peter?" Stev asked.
	"On police mans," Peter replied. "Mans at restraunt digging. 
Look like they find something."
	A flash of something tore across Nannie's face, and she looked 
over at Steve. "You're a cop!"
	Steve raised his eyebrows when he looked at her. "I may be," he 
said. "But I still can't remember anything."
	Nannie shrugged and turned back to Peter. "Was there anything 
else you wanted to tell me?"
	"New mans," he told her. "And lady. Nice lady. Smile at me."
	"I don't understand. What does this have to do with him?" she 
gestured to Steve.
	"Looking for someone," Peter said.
	"You think they might be looking for him?" Nannie asked.
	"Don't know," he replied. "Didn't see picture."
	"They were showing a picture?" Steve asked.
	Peter nodded.
	"Where are they, Peter?" Nannie asked. "Are they still in the 
neighborhood?"
	"Think so," Peter replied.
	"You think you can show me where they were last?" Nannie 
said.
	Peter nodded and Steve started to get up. "Where do you think 
you're going?"
	"I'm going with you," Steve replied.
	"No, no, no," Nannie replied. "You are going to stay here." 
Steve looked like he was going to protest, but Nannie beat him to the 
punch. "If those guys who tried to kill you see you walking around, 
they're likely to try to finish the job. Plus, we don't know if these people 
are looking for you because they're your friends or because they were 
hired by the guys to find you and bump you off."
	Steve lay back in the bed with a sigh. "You _will_ bring them 
back here if you think we can trust them?"
	Nannie nodded. "I will definately bring them back here." She 
touched his cheek for a moment before following Peter out the door.

	Mark took a drink of coffee just as Nannie and Peter came into 
the bar. He saw the boy point at the three of them at the table, and the 
woman looked over and stopped. Something seemed to pass over her 
face, then was gone. She wasn't gone, however, and she walked over to 
them.
	"Word is that you've been looking for a certain man," she said.
	Mark pulled the picture out of his pocket and handed it to her. 
"Yes. Have you seen him?"
	The man in the picture was the man that was at her apartment in 
her bed. It was a good picture of him, too. He was standing against a 
wall wearing a gray jacket and a big smile on his face. It was definitely 
him.
	"Depends," she said. "Who is he?"
	"Steve Sloan," Mark replied. "He's my son."
	"I saw the resemblance," she said as she sat down. "I know 
where he is."
	"Is he OK?" Amanda asked.
	Nannie nodded and looked around then moved closer to Mark. 
"I want you to come with me," she said. "Just you."
	"Why?" Mark asked.
	"He's got a good bump on the head," she reported. "But he's 
also got some amnesia. You're most likely to stir up his memories 
because you're his father."
	Mark nodded. "I'll be back," he told the others.

	Mark followed the woman to a bar. She walked through it, 
waving at the bartender on her way through, and up a flight of stairs, 
down to the end of a hallway where she stopped in front of a door. 
"This is my place," she said. "Let me go in first. I want to prepare him a 
bit."
	Mark waited outside as Nannie went into the room and shut the 
door. A few seconds later, she opened it and waved Mark in. Steve sat 
on the side of the bed, the only injuries Mark could see were the 
bandaged gash on his forehead, and a bruise on his cheek. "Steve?" 
Mark said questioningly.
	Steve looked up at his father with a look of confusion on his 
face. "I don't know who I am," he said. "That's my name?"
	Mark choked up so he only nodded.
	"I know you," Steve said. It was not a question.
	Mark nodded again.
	Steve looked at Mark, trying to remember where he had seen 
this man before, and why he seemed to be so important. He could see 
him in his memory, but he couldn't figure out exactly who he was. "I 
know you," Steve murmured as he stood up. "But I can't remember 
you." Nannie jumped as he knocked a vase off the dresser, frustrated. It 
fell to the floor without breaking.
	Nannie took him by the shoulders and led him into the 
bathroom motioning Mark to come with them. "Look in the mirror and 
you'll see what I saw the first time I looked at Mark."
	Mark and Steve stood side by side looking in the mirror above 
the sink in the tiny bathroom. Steve looked at Mark's reflection, then at 
his own, then back to Mark. He had a flash of himself shirtless and 
shaving in a mirror next to Mark, complaining the whole time about 
how small the mirror was. Steve could remember him doing some kind 
of old man thing, even though he didn't seem very old.
	Steve looked at the faces in the mirror, comparing the eyes, 
nose, chin, and mouth. He looked so much like him, that they had to be 
related. Related.... related..... Steve closed his eyes and bowed his head, 
remembering the beach house and how he lived there with his father. 
He looked back up into the mirror with a smile. "Dad!"
	Nannie smiled as the two embraced. Nothing could compare to 
the show she was getting now.
	When they finally broke apart, Mark turned to her. "Thank you 
for taking such good care of Steve for me," he said. "You never did 
give me your name."
	"No problem," Nannie said. "And you can call me Nannie. "I 
wouldn't have had the chance to take care of him if Peter hadn't found 
him."
	"Who's Peter?" Mark asked.
	"The boy who brought me to you," Nannie replied. "He's 
mentally ill and has no one to take care of him, so I keep an eye out for 
him."
	"Make sure he knows I'm grateful," Mark said and he gave 
Nannie a hug.
	"I certainly will," Nannie replied.

 	Steve vaguely remembered Jesse and Amanda, but soon was 
remembering more and more of everything as they sat on the deck 
behind the beach house reminiscing. But no matter how much they 
spoke, Steve couldn't remember one detail about his most recent 
murder investigation. Mark, Amanda and Jesse went through the files 
with him, getting him briefed about what had happened.
	A girl of about sixteen had been found in an alley, the victim of 
a beating. It looked like she had been mugged, but Mark's instincts told 
him that there was more to it than a simple mugging, so Steve had 
talked to a few people. Somewhere in there he'd been hit over the head 
with a piece of wood and left for dead in a building that was being 
demolished. Steve, unfortunately, couldn't remember any of it.
	Steve leafed through the pictures as Amanda spoke. "She died 
of massive head trauma caused by the blow of a hard blunt object."
	The picture of the girl's body laying on the ground brought back 
a mental image. The image that he couldn't forget when he was trying 
to remember something after he woke up at Nannie's. "They find the 
murder weapon?"
	"Not yet," Mark said. "They're still looking."
	"This, I remember," Steve said. "But I don't remember anything 
after it."
	"You went to talk to someone about the case," Mark told him. 
"That's what you were doing in the restraunt."
	Steve rubbed his eyes as he thought about it. "I wonder if Peter 
saw the everything that happened down there."
	"Why? Are you thinking about talking to him?" Amanda asked.
	"That, and if whoever it was finds out he was there, they may 
go after him," Steve replied.
	"Good point," Mark said. "Nannie gave me a number to call her 
at. Do you want to give her a call?"
	Steve nodded. "I want to make sure Peter and Nannie both stay 
safe. They might have given up their safety to rescue me."

	George burst into the empty warehouse where the four kept the 
drugs they sold. "You guys are never gonna believe this," he said 
breathlessly.
	Joe turned to look at him. "What now?"
	"The cop ain't dead," Joe replied.
	"How?" Shawn asked as he smacked George over the head. 
"The plan was foolproof."
	George rubbed his head and went on. "Not entirely," he said. "I 
kind of listened around when the cops were packing it up. Seems some 
retard was hiding in the basement and saw the whole incident. Got him 
help that got him out before the building blew."
	"Son of a bitch!" Joe exclaimed. "You know his name?"
	"No," George answered. "But some chick down at the free 
clinic keeps an eye on him."
	Daniel had been silent, but now he pulled a gun from the back 
of the waist of his jeans. "I think we should take care of him," he said. 
"And the girl, the easy way." He cocked the gun to puncuate his idea.
	"We will," Joe said. "We need to get rid of the cop, too. He 
knows too much."
	George let out a short sharp laugh. "Like he'd remember. He's 
got amnesia."
	Daniel grabbed him by the shirt front. "Who cares what kind of 
disease he's got....!"
	Joe slapped him on the back of the head. "You idiot. He's got 
amnesia. That's where you don't remember stuff."
	Daniel looked slightly sheepish. "Oh."
	Joe shook his head. "It probably ain't permenant," he said. "So 
he's still got to go. But not until we get the girl and the retard."
	The only agreement he got were the nods of his co-criminals.

	"Nannie, phone," called the nurse at the third street clinic.
	Nannie looked up from the computer and nodded. She removed 
her glasses and placed them on the desk before she picked up the 
phone. "Nannie Cooper," she said. "Can I help you?"
	"You sure can," came a familiar voice from the other end.
	Nannie tried to remember the name of the man that Peter had 
rescued. "Steve, right?"
	A small chuckle came with the affirmative reply. "I need to talk 
to you about something," he said.
	"You remember anything?"
	"No," Steve said. "But I need to talk to Peter about what 
happened in the restaurant."
	"Anything in particular?" Nannie asked. "He told me pretty 
much everything that happened."
	"I need you to find him, too," Steve went on. "He may be in 
danger...." Steve seemed to want to say something else.
	Nannie ran her hands through her hair. "Which means I may be 
in danger as well."
	"I'm afraid so," Steve replied.
	"Where do you want me to bring him?"
	"Both of you come over to my house," Steve said. "I want to 
talk to both of you, then we'll take you into protective custody."
	"Sounds like a plan," Nannie said. "Where are you?"
	Steve gave her the address. "Be careful," he said. "I don't want 
anything to happen to you or Peter because you helped me."
	"It won't," Nannie said. "But if we're not there in a couple of 
hours, come looking for us."
	"I will," Steve said. "You can count on it."

	The woman started to throw the rest of her sandwich in one of 
the park's trash cans, but stopped when she noticed a dirty boy 
watching her. He had sad puppy-dog-like eyes and he was looking at 
her with them. They were hard to resist, so she glanced down at the 
sandwich in her hand then handed it to him. He gobbled it down and 
ran off.
	Peter wiped the remaining bread crumbs off his mouth and 
started towards the restaurant before he stopped, remembering that it 
wasn't there any more. He changed direction and started towards 
Nannie's place, then stopped remembering that she would be at the 
clinic at this time of day. Nannie found him long before he ever got 
there.
	"We need to go somewhere," Nannie told him after he gave her 
a hug.
	"Where?" Peter asked.
	"How would you like to go to Malibu?"
	Peter jumped up and down. "Yes, yes, yes," he said. "Beach?"
	"Kind of," Nannie told him. "The man you found yesterday lives 
in a house on the beach in Malibu with his dad."
	"He OK?"
	Nannie nodded. "Yes, but he wants to talk to us. We're gonna 
ride in a cab."
	"Fun, fun, fun," Peter chattered.
	Nannie giggled. "Yes, but first we have to talk to the man."
	Peter took Nannie's hand and skipped along next to her. "What 
man name?"
	"His name is Steve Sloan," Nannie told him. "He lives with his 
dad, Mark."
	"Nice dad?"
	"I think so," Nannie replied.
	They got to the street and Nannie held her hand up to hail a 
cab. A black van pulled up next to them and a man got out and grabbed 
Nannie's arm and pulled her towards the vehicle. Another man started 
after Peter, but he recognized him.
	"Bad mans! Bad mans!" he said as he ran off. "Nannie! Nannie!"
	Joe stuck his head out the window. "Daniel, go after him!"
	Daniel went after the boy as he streaked through the park 
screaming, "Bad mans!" Somehow, Peter disappeared. Daniel couldn't 
see or hear him anywhere although he looked everywhere for him. 
Finally he went back to the van where they had Nannie tied up and 
gagged.
	"I lost him," Daniel told Joe.
	"Danny, you are such an idiot," Joe said. "Get in!"
	Danny got in the van with a look to the park behind him. As 
they drove away, Peter peeked from the branch of a tree after them. He 
looked at what he had in his hand and murmured, "Peter get help for 
Nannie. Steve daddy."
	The card was the one Mark had given Nannie. It was his 
business card from CG.

	Susan Hilliard was filling out paperwork since there was 
nothing else to do. ER had been slow today, and they were due for a 
restock, so that's how Susan stayed busy. When a boy came in the ER 
yelling, she was the first one to him.
	"Need help!" Peter cried. "Help Nannie!"
	Susan took his arm with a gentle grip. "Calm down and tell me 
what's wrong."
	Peter handed her Mark's card. "Nannie need help. Bad mans 
hurt Steve grab Nannie in van."
	Susan wasn't sure what he was talking about, but she was sure 
it had something to do with Dr. Sloan's son Steve. Jesse had told her 
about Steve's case, and the boy had given her one of Mark's cards. She 
turned to someone behind her. "Page Dr. Sloan," she said.
	"Mans got Nannie," Peter repeated. "Where Steve? Need 
Steve."
	"His dad is here," Susan said. "He's coming."
	Peter started getting jumpy. "Need help," he kept repeating.
	Finally, Mark came out of the elevator and Peter broke loose to 
go to him. "Needs help! Bad mans got Nannie in van. Try take Peter, 
but runned away."
	"Calm down, Peter," Mark said. "I'll call Steve." He gestured to 
Jesse behind him and Jesse got on the phone and started dialing.
	Peter seemed to calm a bit at that. "Bad mans hurt her?"
	"I don't know," Mark said. "They might if we don't get there in 
time."

	Steve was pacing the floor in the living room of the beach 
house. She had said two hours, and it had turned into three and then 
four. He was hoping she had had trouble finding Peter, or just trouble 
finding the house. He had called the precinct to have them keep an eye 
out for them, but couldn't help thinking that something was terribly 
wrong. When the phone rang, he jumped and answered it, "Nannie?"
	"No, it's Jesse," said the voice from the other end. "That kid 
Peter is here in ER screaming that bad men have her."
	"I'll be right there," Steve said as he grabbed his keys and hung 
up. He stopped with the intense feeling that he had done something 
similar before.
	He felt the weight of his keys in his hand, remembering 
something. A phone call he had gotten before he left to meet the guys 
that said they had information regarding his case. Something about a 
warehouse that was a suspected drug storehouse. He turned around 
and looked through the things on the desk until he found the note pad 
he had written the message on. The address of the warehouse was still 
written there as clear as day. He tore it off and started again out the 
door, this time pulling the cellular phone out of his inside jacket pocket 
and dialing his father's cell phone number.
	"Mark Sloan," he answered.
	"Dad," Steve said. "Keep an eye on Peter. I'm going to check 
out a warehouse. I think they may have Nannie there."
	"I will," Mark replied as Steve slid into the driver's seat of his 
truck. "Do you want me to tell him you've gone to find Nannie?"
	"Yes, if it'll calm him down," Steve replied as he started the 
engine of the vehicle. "Try to keep him at the hospital."
	"I will, and Steve?"
	"Yeah?"
	"Be more careful this time."
	"I will," Steve replied. "I'm calling backup as soon as I get off 
with you."
	"Good," Mark said. "You know I hate to worry about you."
	"I know," Steve said. "But isn't that what fathers are supposed 
to do?"
	He could hear Mark's smile. "Yes, but just because that's what 
they do, doesn't mean they enjoy it." He paused. "Good luck, Steve."
	"Thanks, dad," Steve replied. "I'll talk to you later."

	Nannie was tied to a chair and gagged in the office of the 
warehouse where the four kidnapers were discussing Peter's escape.
	"He couldn't have gotten far," Daniel said. "I think someone 
ought to go back to the park and find him."
	Joe whacked him on the back of his head. "He's probably gone 
enough that he ain't in that park anymore."
	"Now what do we do?" Shawn asked. "He's a homeless kid. 
Probably knows every hiding place between here and Pasadena."
	"He won't go far," Joe said and pointed at Nannie. "He's too 
attached to the girl."
	Nannie leaned her head up when he spoke about her.
	"So we set a trap for him?" George said.
	"Exactly," Joe said. "Put the word out that she's here. But do it 
quietly."
	Danny and George took off to do as Joe told them.

	"Nannie need help," Peter kept repeating. He was very upset 
and jumpy.
	"Peter come sit down," Mark told the boy.
	Mark and Jesse were in a private examination room trying to 
calm the boy down, but every word they said just agitated him even 
more.
	"No, help Nannie!" Peter cried. He knocked a tray over, struck 
Jesse across the face and pulled the door open, running out and down 
the hall with Mark and a stunned Jesse close behind. He ran out the ER 
doors and disappeared before they could get out to find him.
	Jesse swore as he rubbed his face where the boy had struck 
him.. "I hope he'll be OK."
	"I'll call Steve just in case," Mark said as he turned and led Jesse 
back into the ER. He went to the desk, grabbed the phone and dialed 
Steve's cell number.

	Steve parked his truck around the corner and got out. He 
wasn't in the mood to wait for his backup and since they were sure to 
get here soon, he decided to go in and at least find out where they 
were. Before he could even go in, his phone rang and he pulled it out of 
his jacket to answer it.
	"Sloan here," he said.
	"Steve," Mark said. "Peter took off."
	"You said you'd keep an eye on him," Steve said.
	"He was agitated," Mark said. "He got away before we could 
give him anything to calm him."
	Steve let out a breath. "He's a smart kid. Hopefully he'll be 
OK."
	"I can get someone out to look for him," Mark said.
	"Don't worry about it for now," Steve replied. "I'm sure he'll be 
OK."
	"Well, be careful," Mark said.
	"You told me that, already," Steve said.
	"I know, but I can never say it too much," Mark replied then 
the line went dead.
	Steve shut off his phone and started through the door of the 
warehouse with his gun drawn. He wove his way around the boxes, but 
stopped when he felt the cold steel of a gun in his neck. He let his own 
gun swing from his finger, and the man behind him reached out and 
took the gun from his hand.
	"I guess we got back just in time," George said to the man 
standing behind him.
	"Sure did," Daniel said. "This ought to make Joe happy."
	"Go," George gesture with his gun.
	Steve put up his hands and led the way to a closed door which 
Daniel opened for him. George pushed him through the door and went 
through after him. "Look what we found," he said.
	Joe smiled. "Well, Detective Sloan," he said. "Long time no 
see."
	Steve glanced around and saw Nannie in a chair, bound and 
gagged. "You have another guest, I see."
	"She decided to join us earlier today," Joe said with a glance 
back at her. "We're still expecting another guest, but he hasn't gotten 
here yet. He should be here soon."
	"How can you be so sure that Peter will be here?" Steve asked 
as George sat him in a chair and tied his hands behind him.
	"We put the word out where we've got Nannie," Shawn said. 
"He'll be here."
	Steve was cut off from saying anything else by the gag that 
George tied over his mouth.

	Peter climbed a ladder to the roof of the warehouse and walked 
across to a window overlooking the ceilingless office. He could see 
Nannie and Steve tied up in the room. "Help Nannie and Steve," he 
whispered.
	He looked around the roof and found a door leading to a ladder 
down the inside wall. As quietly as possible, he opened the door, 
climbed in, and closed it behind him. He climbed down the ladder and 
landed softly on the catwalk that went across the warehouse's interior 
to the ladder that went down. Nannie leaned her head back and saw 
him there. Peter put his finger up by his lips as if to shush her, a sign 
that Nannie had given him many times before.
	Nannie jerked her head down and looked at Steve. He looked at 
her questioningly and she nodded upward to where Peter was climbing 
along the catwalk. Shock passed over Steve's face very quickly, then he 
put a poker face on. Nannie looked back at their lounging guard and 
did the same. George glanced over at them just as they got the shock 
off of their faces.
	"You two must really be looking forward to what we got 
planned for you," he said and he got up out of the chair. He crossed 
over to them and took Nannie's chin. "Maybe Joe will let us have a few 
rounds with you."
	With a suddenness that surprised Steve, George went to the 
floor, clutching at his groin. Nannie kicked him in the head and he flew 
to the floor, unconscious.
	Steve spit the gag out of his mouth. "Good job," he said. "Now 
how are you going to get us untied?"
	"Me here!" Peter said as he popped up from behind the desk. "I 
untie!"
	He crossed the room and undid Nannie's gag. "Good Peter, but 
be quiet."
	As quickly as possible, Peter untied the ropes and Steve and 
Nannie rubbed their wrists where the ropes had rubbed them.
	Steve glanced down at his watch. "The backup should be here 
any minute," he told them. "Let's get out of here."
	"There bad man by door," Peter whispered.
	Steve and Nannie turned to see Joe standing just inside the door 
of the office with a gun in his hand. Peter hid behind Nannie and 
peeked out around her.
	"Backup is going to be here a little too late," Joe said. "The 
drugs are ready to move and I'm ready to get rid of everything that 
could jeopardize this operation." He grabbed Peter through them and 
pulled him out. "Get out here boy," he growled.
	"Leave him alone," Nannie said as she moved forward after 
him.
	Joe's gun went off and Nannie screamed. Peter screamed as 
Steve moved forward and tackled Joe. He hit him and Joe fell to the 
floor, unconscious. Shawn came through the door seconds later, but 
Steve had Joe's gun in his hand and aimed it at him.
	"I'd suggest you dropped the gun," Steve said.
	Shawn dropped the weapon as a uniformed officer came up 
behind him. "You're under arrest," he said.
	Steve handed him the weapon as other officers poured into the 
office and gathered the men who were unconscious. Steve dropped to 
Nannie's side and surveyed her injury. Thankfully it didn't seem to be 
too bad of an injury. Blood poured from the wound in her side and 
Steve did his best to apply pressure to it as Peter held her head in his 
lap, crying. Nannie winced in pain as Steve squeezed the wound at her 
side.
	"Somebody get an ambulance!" Steve called.
	"It's on its way," someone said.
	Steve looked back down at Nannie. "Hang on Nannie. Just hang 
on."

	Nannie woke in the ER of Community General with Mark 
Sloan standing over her.
	"Welcome back," he said. He handed off the chart to Jesse and 
looked down at her. "They're taking you up to O.R. in a minute."
	"How's Peter?" she asked through pale lips.
	"He'll be fine," Mark told her. "Amanda's in with him and they 
gave him something to calm him down. He's worried about you."
	"I'll be fine," she replied. "What about Steve?"
	"I'm right here," Steve said from the doorway. He had blood on 
his shirt, her blood.
	She lifted her head slightly. "You OK?"
	Steve nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."
	Nannie put her head back down on the pillow. "Let's get you up 
to surgery," Mark said as he signaled to the orderly.
	Steve smiled at her as they wheeled her into the elevator. That 
was the last thing she could remember before she was put under for 
surgery.

	Peter was sleeping in a chair near Nannie's bed, cleaned up and 
dressed in some old clothes of Jesse when Steve went into Nannie's 
room. He woke up and smiled at him, then went back to sleep. Steve 
smiled and shook his head. He went to Nannie's side and watched her 
sleep for a minute before turning to leave.
	"Steve?" came her weak voice from behind him.
	Steve turned back. "Hey," he said. "How do you feel?"
	"Like I've been hit by a truck," she replied.
	"Not so big," Steve commented. "It was just a bullet."
	Nannie tried to laugh a little, but grabbed her side and winced. 
"Don't. That hurts," she smiled as she glanced over to Peter. "How long 
has he been here?"
	"Since you got out of surgery," Steve replied. "Dad said he 
wouldn't leave your side once they got you in here."
	"I see they cleaned him up," Nannie said.
	"They certainly did," Steve replied as he looked over at him. He 
turned back to Nannie.
	"Mark said that he's making arrangements for Peter to get into a 
good mental hospital," Nannie said.
	"If he told you that, then I'm sure he will," Steve replied.
	Neither said a word for a few minutes. Finally, Steve glanced 
down at his watch. "I've got to get going," he said. "I'll stop by later."
	Nannie nodded. "I'll see you later, then. Bye, Steve."
	"I'll see you later," Steve said. He turned to leave, thought 
better of it and turned around and kissed her. Then he turned again to 
leave, leaving Nannie shocked behind him.
	"Bye, Steve," Peter said without opening his eyes.
	Steve stopped at the door, glanced back at Nannie as she smiled 
at them both from her bed, winked at her then left the two alone.