First off, thanks to Rachel, Olivia and Safnerd...ya'll are awsome!

I don't own anything from ER..sadly.

The constant screeching of the alarm clock, was enough to make Jake finally open his eyes. Normally he was a heavy sleeper, and normally if the alarm clock went off, Abby would reach over and shut the thing off before Jake even had time to hear it. So when the thing kept sounding, Jake pulled himself out of his dreamland. It was the one noise he could not stand, he considered it one of the most annoying sounds on the planet, maybe that's why the genius who had first invented the alarm clock, chose that particular sound. Damn him. Once Jake got over the annoyance of the alarm, he noticed something..or rather someone was missing. Abby, who would usually sleep on the right side of the bed, was gone. But Jake knew exactly where she would be, the same place he would often find her.

Yawning he stood up and headed into the living room, and there she was, asleep on the couch, the television still on. He reached over and took a blanket from the chair and draped it over her, wanting to make sure she wasn't cold, he gently tucked the old thing close to her body. His hand grazed the side of her face and suddenly she bolted up, wide awake.

Jake saw the fear in her eyes, and how the color had drained from her face, she must have been having another nightmare. "Abby, its okay, its me!" he said quietly, He had become use to the nightmares now, that's why she was on the couch. Although they weren't as frequent as when she had first experienced her abduction, they still came multiple times a week. Abby would wake up, early in the morning, and not be able to immediately fall back to sleep. She would go out into her living room, turn on the TV and eventually fall asleep, it was a pattern now. Jake waited until she had calmed down, before reaching over to her, he grabbed her hand and gently squeezed. "Another nightmare?"

"Yeah," Abby threw off the blanket and placed her head in her hands. "What time is it?"

"Just past nine, do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Jake nodded, he knew better then to push Abby when she didn't want to talk about something.

"How about breakfast?"

Abby shot him a smile, which in turn made him smile. "Your going to cook?"

"I never said that, we can go out. We don't have to be at work for another two hours," he stood up and pulled her to her feet, "Care to join me Dr. Lockhart?"

"Let's see, eat a huge breakfast before going to the ER and dealing with the poor and unfortunate sick and hurt souls of Chicago," ah typical sarcastic Abby, her sarcasm let Jake know that the nightmare had not been that bad this time around.

"Hey, I didn't say you had to eat," he pulled her close to him, "I, on the other hand, am starving. But you know what they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"

"Alright, but on one condition, I get to pick the restaurant," she was actually wanting to go out and eat, the apartment kitchen had only the bare essentials in it, neither Jake or her had had time to go to the grocery store, and she was actually hungry for something other than hospital food.

"Deal, which one are going to?"

"Haven't decided yet," Abby said as she pulled out of his grasp and headed towards the shower, "I need to shower, give me half an hour then we'll go," and then their bedroom door slammed shut. Jake knowing full well that he wouldn't get breakfast for another hour now, headed into their kitchen and started some coffee, before grabbing a pop tart and sticking it in the toaster.

As he ate the pastry, the news caught his attention, he grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.

"Police still have no leads in the case of the Michigan Avenue Strangler, we have heard unconfirmed reports that the FBI is now involved in the investigation do to the fact that the suspects, most recent victim, Mary Collins, was kidnapped from Indiana and her body found in Chicago, the Strangler has now crossed state lines, which would give the FBI full command in the case." the news anchor began as the screen switched to the picture of Lisa Washington, and then various scenes of the police gathering evidence from multiple sights. "The Michigan Avenue Strangler has now claimed four victims, police are urging anyone who has any information to call the Chicago police department immediately. There is now a $25,000 reward leading to the whereabouts of the suspect,"

"What a psycho," Jake said to no one in particular as he took another sip of his coffee. Suddenly the familiar sound of a pager going off sounded through the apartment. "Damn it," Jake whispered as he began searching for the one that was going off. He finally found the pager, buried beneath a backpack. It was Abby's that was going off, the message was simple, get to work ASAP. He sighed, there went breakfast with Abby. If they were lucky, she could grab a doughnut from one of the many concession stands that littered the sidewalk leading to the hospital.

"Abby?" he knocked on the bedroom door before entering. He could tell she was finished with her shower, the water was no longer running. To his surprise, she was not only out of the shower but was already dressed, damn it, if it wasn't for the ER, they could have had that nice long breakfast together.

"Let me guess," she started as she pulled her hair into a pony tail.

"Yeah," he tossed the pager to her, which she easily caught.

"Let's see its Monday morning, I bet they're getting slammed. To many drunks, not enough doctors, I wonder what Susan would do if I deicide to ignore this page," she clipped the pager onto her black pants before sitting down on the bed to put on her shoes.

"Probably shit a brick." Jake said looking over at her, "and then she'd page me until I answered her. Of course there's always the possibility she'd have an MI too from worrying about you." It was true, since her kidnapping, everyone became concerned when Abby didn't immediately answer her page.

"Jake," Abby said punching his arm, "you are not funny in the slightest, you know that?" She looked at the number on the pager, "guess breakfast is going to have to wait... I am needed in the ER."