Hello I have reappeared again! Just a filler chapter here, with more Frank and Nancy feels next chapter!

"And you certainly did not care about people glaring at that horse shirt," Bess laughed aloud as Joe chuckled along. Nancy had to laugh with her friend. Her tenth birthday really was an experience.

"Well good for me. I like me- I think," Nancy replied. "I wish I could just come home. I'm so tired of this boring hospital room. I want to come home to my yellow room," Nancy reminisced. Joe nudged her.

"Hey! You're remembering things again. You'll be home before you know it, Drew." Nancy returned his reassuring smile.

"I sure hope so. I'm really tired of looking at the crack in the ceiling trying to determine what caused it," Nancy replied. "At least the room feels a little brighter with you guys in it. And Frank as well, of course." Bess nudged her best friend.

"Oh yeah, I bet Frank does brighten your day," she joked. Nancy's cheeks turned red and her eyes widened.

"Well of course. He's like my best friend," Nancy shyly admitted.

"For now," Bess teased. Joe chuckled.

"Knowing my brother, you're not wrong," Joe said. "But in all sincerity, how have you been feeling Nance?"

"Better, I think. It seems like the more I remember, the less I forget. As soon as I remember one thing, I realize there are a dozen more things I can't remember. Every step forward is ten steps backwards," Nancy sighed. "I think what would cheer me up is maybe talking to me about how I ended up here, and about the accident. In some weird roundabout way, I think knowing how I ended up here will help me know how to get out." Joe and Bess exchanged a look.

"I'm not sure, Nance. The doctor suggested keeping your stress levels down as best as possible," Bess hesitated. "Frank mentioned that he'd already talked about your mother. Are you sure?"

"Bess, c'mon. You know me. You know I can handle it. I've investigated murders, missing persons cases, and been near death."

"Nancy, this is different. This is news about you. You're the victim this time," Joe explained.

"I'm ready. I want to start the road out of here, and I need to know my roots." Joe hesitated before speaking.

"Well, we haven't read any kind of official police files, but when the ambulance did find you, you were beaten pretty black and blue. You had a broken rib and a sprained ankle when they brought you in, and you had no memory of who you were. They said that once you came to, you were asking for Frank, almost nonstop. Once Frank was able to identify you based on the nurse's description of you, the staff got ahold of your dad. He was crushed Nan, absolutely crushed. He still is. It's killing him not to be here.

"The doctors aren't sure what happened unfortunately, nor do they know much about your case." Joe stopped talking for a moment and stole a glance at Bess. She bit her lip.

"There's something you're not telling me," Nancy hummed. "Something else happened."

"Nancy, the doctors told us to wait, but I think waiting will make it worse. When you were admitted, the staff ran a lot of tests and took a lot of samples, just to cover all the bases. They, um, they ran a rape test kit as well." Nancy's face fell immediately. She felt as if she was going to vomit.

"Do… do they have the results?"

"Well…" Bess trailed off.

"Bess." Nancy sat up and grabbed her friend's shoulders. There almost appeared to be tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "Please."

"It came back positive," Bess muttered quietly. "Nan, I'm so sorry. We're one hundred and ten percent here for you, and we are going to get through this together." Everything else Bess and Joe continued to tell Nancy fell upon deaf ears. She slumped back into her bed, her head shoved into her hands. Nancy felt her head start to spin and her stomach flipped twelve times over. She had been raped. The floor fell out from under her as she tucked herself into a ball to hide from the world.

"Tell me about Kate," Frank asked as he stood from Nancy's desk chair. "She was more than a Cathedral spy, wasn't she? She was a detective, just like Nancy," Frank concluded. Carson licked his lips slowly and tried to fix his suddenly dry throat.

"What are you digging through?"

"That doesn't matter. I know you didn't tell Nancy for a reason. I know she means everything to you. I know you want to protect her. But this links her back to the case she was on. Anything you can tell me means a lot."

"Why don't you come downstairs to the kitchen? I'll make us some coffee, then we can talk about Nancy as well," Carson said with a wry smile. Frank closed the laptop and followed Carson downstairs.

Fifteen minutes later, Frank and Carson were sitting at the kitchen table, each drinking a cup of hot coffee. The two silently exchanged looks every few seconds, each waiting for the other to speak first. Frank finally cleared his throat. "She's doing better. She misses you."

"I wish I could be there more. This case is a headache and a half," Carson joked.

"I'm not sure what they've said about her case or injuries to you, but she has a broken rib and sprained ankle. They police department also let me… borrow, Nancy's case file. If you'd like to read it, I have it upstairs."

"Since you've already learned about my late wife, I have a feeling I know what case she's involved in," Carson sighed.

"There's something else you should know. Nancy's rape kit came back positive," Frank said. Carson couldn't find his words for a moment.

"Positive?"

"Yeah. They don't have a positive ID yet, but they said it wasn't impossible. She doesn't know yet."

"It was the Dimeer brothers or one of their lackeys," Carson growled.

"Those names are in her case file. I also linked those names to Kate." Frank sat forward in his chair. "I want revenge on the people that hurt Nancy just as much as you do, Carson. I… really care about her. A lot," Frank choked out. It was the first time he was starting to break. He couldn't lie to himself; he was worried about the love of his life. It wasn't fair, none of it was. "Nancy is one of the kindest people in the world, she didn't deserve any of this," Frank breathed out. "We just got ourselves out of so many situations that I never thought things would come down to this. Our luck ran out, and it wasn't fair that she took the fall." There was a brief moment of silence between the two men.

"Frank, what I've learned in this life is that bad things happen to good people. I've heard a lot of horror stories, and maybe part of me knew this day was coming. I'm worried about Nancy, and the information you've told me of course makes me sick, but Nancy is one of the most headstrong people I've ever met. If anyone can come back from this, it's going to be her. She's brilliant, Frank, and she's tough. But she needs your support."

"She's going to need more than that. Tell me about the Dimeer brothers." Carson downed the rest of his coffee before speaking.

"Bernaggio and Gerald Dimeer began crime at age sixteen by stealing tools from a hardware store and reselling them. Once they got enough funding, they started a drug ring, the first drug ring River Heights ever saw. The community wasn't a place for drug rings. Even the darker side of River Heights didn't have drug rings native to the city. Nancy was just six years old when the ring started to develop. By the time she was eight, the drug ring was fully functioning.

"Kate loved being a mother and a wife. This home brought her joy, but only so far. Kate was meant for great things in this world, and she got stir-crazy if she wasn't involved in something exciting for too long. Once she caught wind of the drug ring, that was it. She spent all of her spare time with Chief McGinnis down at the station, as the two were really good friends. She wanted to solve that case. She wanted to dismantle that drug ring more than anything.

"Eventually, she caught a lead, one that couldn't wait until the next day. Kate always put Nancy and I first, but she couldn't rest until the puzzle was solved. She had this addiction and I loved her even more for it. She followed that lead by herself out of determination. She found the two brothers, and then some. By the time the police reached her, she was beaten pretty badly. They admitted her to the hospital immediately, where she was able to disclose enough evidence for the squad to catch the brothers, effectively putting them in prison until they ratted their way out.

"While Kate was being evaluated, they discovered something. Kate had been pregnant," Carson choked out. Frank's face fell even more. "We lost the baby because of the beating she took. Kate was so incredibly crushed. She didn't visit the station to help the police department ever again after that. The doctors didn't think she would be able to carry a child again. She stayed a housewife until she left for Scotland and never came home," Carson finished.

"Carson, I am so sorry," Frank started, but Carson put his hand up.

"It's in the past now. I just don't want to see it repeated ever again, especially not with Nancy. Frank, I know you care a lot for her, and I trust you to take care of her while I'm busy with this case." Frank opened his mouth to reply, but his cellphone interrupted him.

"Oh shoot, it's Bess. Do you mind if I take this?" Carson shook his head and sat back in his chair. Frank answered his phone. "Hey Bess, I was just-"

"Frank, you need to get down here right now," Bess said quickly.

"What's wrong? Is everything okay?" Carson suddenly looked alarmed.

"It's Nancy. She… we told her about the case, Frank. She begged us to. We told her about her injuries, including the potential rape. She needs you," Bess continued.

"Carson and I can be there in twenty minutes," Frank said as he stood from the table. Carson didn't hesitate and grabbed his shoes and car keys. Frank shoved his shoes on and grabbed his coat.

"See you then." Frank hung up the call as the two started heading for the door.

"What's going on?" Carson asked as they climbed into the car.

"Nancy knows about her accident, everything about her accident. She's not taking it well," Frank explained as his blood boiled. Why would those two tell her? She clearly wasn't ready. And worst of all, he wasn't there to support her when she found out. He wanted to hold her close and tell her that she'd be okay, that nothing and no one would violate her again.

"Well knowing Nancy, she worked the information out of them. Sometimes that girl is too curious for her own good."

"Why would they tell her? She wasn't ready to hear it. She's got so much on her plate-"

"Frank. Take this piece of advice from me," Carson started. "Don't determine when Nancy is ready or isn't ready for something. She's a smart girl, and whatever you think is right for her, may not be. I've learned that the hard way," Carson joked. "If Nancy says she's ready, it means she wants to dive in headfirst, and nothing you can say will change her mind. That's just how Nancy is," Carson explained.

"Yeah, I understand. She's a tough cookie," Frank chuckled. His thoughts wandered to Nancy and the argument over their relationship they'd had. Maybe she was ready to try something between the two of them.

Frank decided that they needed to sort things out the minute he could get her alone and kiss her a thousand times over again.