After spending some time working on Kayce Rudy sent her home and tried to keep his mind occupied without success. He had to find out what was happening to Steve. He replaced his lab coat with his suit coat and headed to the NSB offices. Upon arriving he quickly located Hansen’s office. Before he could knock the door swung inward, an angry looking man in his late thirties excused himself and headed passed the doctor followed by three similar looking men. Rudy eyed Hansen, seated at his desk. The agent had a bloodied handkerchief held to his head. Looking up he said, “Well doctor it seems your friend Austin is now a hunted fugitive.”

Rudy’s stomach clenched unsure how far Steve would go to defend himself from being railroaded. Little did the physician know Steve was taken off site by another NSB agent under the cover of night to be delivered to an anxious buyer. Hansen had deliberately injured himself to make him look much more innocent then he really was.

Steve awoke tied to an examination table still feeling the ill-affects of the blow he took to the back of his head, one that afforded him a nice sized lump. His eyes gradually focused and surveyed the dimly lit room, a laboratory by the looks of the equipment. He suddenly heard footsteps approaching. Deciding to play opossum he closed his eyes and feigned unconsciousness. Listening to the two voices her realized one sounded very familiar but the throbbing in his head would not allow him to place a face or name to it.

A clammy hand touched his left wrist for his pulse. The two men began discussing their plan freely, knowing there was nothing Steve could do in his present position. “I must say Mr. Hansen does live up to his promises. Captured and delivered in 24 hours. I assume he was satisfied with his payment?”

“Yes. He should be on a plane as we speak.”

“Oh and where is he off to…a tropical island I presume.”

“I don’t know but I’m sure he’s long gone by now.”

“Uh huh.” The man commented abstractedly as he began examining his long awaited specimen.

Steve’s muddled mind suddenly recognized the familiar nasally voice. ‘Dolenz’ He thought. He waited patiently for the men to leave the room but it was soon clear they would be here for some time. Deciding to enter the conversation he opened his eyes and grunted at the bright fluorescent light above him.

“Ah Mr. Austin. It’s good to have you back. I hope this meeting is more fruitful than our last. As you know I never did get a chance to study Dr. Wells’ work. Now we have all the time in the world. This here is Carl my nephew and assistant. He will be helping me find out everything about your bionic construction. Carl I think we’ll begin with his arm.”

Dr. Jeffery Dolenz went about his work, as Steve lay helpless, the assistant jumping in at random intervals. From what Steve could figure out the younger man was not very bright but Dolenz seemed intent on teaching him things that were obviously beyond his comprehension. It was evident that the doctor treated his nephew as the son he never had. Steve glanced at the instruments laid out next to the examination table and broke out in a cold sweat when he saw a familiar tool. He inhaled deeply hoping they would kill him before dismantling him, he really did not want to be witness to the act itself.

Oscar was only in the air half an hour when the urgent call from Dr. Wells was relayed through. Oscar’s fear rose as the doctor explained the situation and how it had taken place in the short time the director was incommunicado. He arrived in Rudy’s lab within an hour after arriving in California. He entered the room, with a haggard appearance, in the early morning hours as Rudy was making minor adjustments to Kayce’s arm.

“What did you find out?” Rudy asked.

“It’s worse than you thought Rudy,” Goldman replied causing Kayce’s throat to tighten. “When you gave me the specifics and your feeling that it all seemed too well thought out I had the NSB agents investigated. Hansen was paid to deliver Steve to an unknown buyer. The files that Steve allegedly stole were found and OSI agents traced them back to Hansen’s partner in the NSB. They rigged the steel door to look like Steve pulled it open. It didn’t take much to get him to roll over on Hansen. Unfortunately he was never told who the buyer was. It was all very well planned to frame Steve and get the Secretary to order his deactivation so they could grab and confine him easily.

“Do you know where they took him?” Kayce inquired.

“No. No leads yet but wherever they have him he’s not likely to escape easily. I’ll keep you informed as information comes in.” He turned and exited the lab feeling like he let his friends down.

“Don’t worry Kayce Oscar will find him.” His words of reassurance could not stop the tears that quickly filled her eyes. She whispered, “I just hope they aren’t too late.”

Two OSI teams were dispatched, one to locate Steve the other to hunt down Hansen. By afternoon Oscar returned to Kayce and Rudy in the lab. “I think we’ve located Steve. They took him to the city’s industrial district. My men and I are heading out there now. Rudy I need you to come with us. I’m not sure what condition we might find him in when we get there. It appears that Jeffery Dolenz has him.” Those last four words sent chills down Rudy’s spine knowing the unethical scientist would take Steve apart without hesitation all in the name of science. “Let’s go.” Rudy said grabbing his coat.

“Wait! I’m going with you.” Kayce states assertively. “You may need my help.” Oscar nodded his okay and they headed out. On the way to their destination the two men brought Kayce’s up to speed regarding Steve’s previous experiences with Dr. Dolenz and she was appalled.

The warehouse was difficult to approach without being seen. Dr. Dolenz had a few competent security personnel in his employ. They quickly notified their boss of the uninvited guests. Knowing they didn’t have any time to be meticulous and still make their escape the two men resorted to extremely crude methods to get what they needed, what they had already paid a large sum of money for, what they didn’t plan on leaving without. Choosing to take the arm, they swiftly and clumsily amputated the limb before running downstairs to their van. The subject of their study was left barely conscious, bleeding and in shock.

One set of three-armed OSI agents were swift to ascend to the second floor. The other set of two agents, followed by Oscar, Rudy and Kayce were careful as they checked every room on the first floor.

Oscar’s radio came to life with a shaky voice requesting his immediate presence on the second floor. Rudy and Kayce kept pace with the tall man as he raced up the two flights of stairs, two steps at a time, to come face-to-face with his top agents standing in a doorway, their faces pale. “Sir, you need to see this.” They led the trio into the makeshift laboratory that held an empty examination table. Slowly entering the room Oscar choked back the bile that threatened to gag him as the sight before him. Rudy bent down and confirmed the small puddle to the right of the table was indeed blood as well as the sticky liquid found on the power saw on the adjacent table.

The silence was broken by Kayce’s raspy voice, “My God they cut off his arm didn’t they?” The two men looked at her with the doctor nodding his head. Oscar’s voice traveled loudly through the 2-way radio demanding the search continue in haste. A second team of agents found a van abandoned just outside the warehouse garage. It apparently was broadsided during its swift exit into traffic. The agent leading the second group contacted his boss.

“Mr. Goldman we found Dolenz’s van in traffic just outside the warehouse garage.”

”How do you know it’s his?”

“We found Colonel Austin’s arm in the back.” His voice taking a sullen tone.

“Any sign of Austin?”

“No sir, nothing.”

“I want every inch of this building searched immediately.” With his radio silenced he turned to the doctor who was staring at the power tool still trying to comprehend how anyone could do something so gruesome to another human being. “Rudy, what condition would Steve be in after this?”

Never having seen his patient with a bionic arm traumatically removed the physician gave his best guess, “He’s probably unconscious and in shock. I would be very surprised if he was still walking around under his own power.”

The first team of agents found an unknown man, unconscious, and his gun holster empty. Contacting Oscar with the information they continued there search. A few seconds later Oscar’s radio was once again cued, “Mr. Goldman we are at the southwest corner of the building on the first floor. We are taking random gunfire… from Austin. Please advise.”

“Come on.” Goldman said to Rudy and Kayce. Into his radio he shouted his orders, “All agents stand down, do not return fire. I repeat do not return fire!””

The trio arrived quickly, the two men panting from the exertion. The agents met them outside the storage room “Anyone hurt?” Oscar inquired glancing at each agent.

“No sir. I don’t think Colonel Austin is shooting to kill. I think he was just warning us off, he’s aiming high.” He pointed to the two bullet holes in the upper doorframe.

Oscar turned urgently to his friend, “Rudy?” The doctor shrugged and shook his head, “I can’t believe he’s still conscious. He’s probably in shock and not thinking clearly.”

“Let me go in.” It was not phrased as a question as Kayce confidently stepped around the men to turn the doorknob. “Kayce wait!”

She smiled weakly, “They said he’s not shooting to kill.”

“But if someone gets too close he might. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.” The doctor explained.

“Rudy, trust me, I was a psychologist for many years. I’ve had to deal with my share of angry, violent and incoherent patients…and I know he won’t shoot me.” With a quick glance at Oscar she slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

“Steve?”

He heard the familiar voice but it couldn’t be. Why would Kayce be here with Dolenz? It didn’t make any sense to him unless it was a trap to lure him out. Steve leaned his injured right side heavily against the wall to keep himself upright, his unsteady left hand holding the .38 revolver on the wooden crate in front of him in self-defense. He wouldn’t let this experiment continue. His breathing was becoming more shallow and rapid, sweat trickling down his cool, clammy skin. Suddenly he saw her friendly face, the face of the woman he loved. He blinked hard twice to clear the hallucination from his vision but it remained unchanged.

“Steve, it’s me Kayce.” She said calmly, her heart pounding against her ribcage. Oscar and Rudy slowly entered the room behind her, holding their collective breath, and were just as shocked at the scene as Kayce.

Steve remained silent; backing along the wall, into the corner leaving a smeared blood trail along the gray painted wall. The three could tell he was having trouble clearing his head. “Steve please give me the gun. You need medical attention. Rudy’s here he can help you…. Please Steve.” She gently pleaded as she stepped within three feet of the armed man. The back wall suddenly stopped his backward motion, his legs slowly gave way and he slid to the floor, the gun resting on his raised knee. Kayce squatted in front of him watching him struggle to stay conscious. “Please Steve,” She whispered and he allowed her to remove the gun from his left hand as his eyes became unfocused.

“Rudy!” She called out and the doctor was immediately at her side as Oscar ordered an ambulance to be summoned quickly. Rudy tried to talk to Steve but he remained silent with a distant stare in the direction of Kayce’s familiar voice, his breathing irregular. Steve was in a deep state of shock, bloody wires exposed from his shoulder joint where his bionic arm was attached to his human body. Steve finally lost consciousness as the ambulance arrived.

Kayce was at Steve’s bedside shortly after Rudy stabilized him and he was settled in a room at the medical center. Entering the room the doctor didn’t miss the sad expression she tried to hide. It was then Rudy understood her deep feelings for Steve still remained. She quickly straightened up and took in a deep breath while her back was towards him.

“I think I should be going.” By the time Rudy turned to comment that she should stay with the unconscious patient, the young woman was already out the door.

Jaime was curious what ever came of Steve’s situation with Kayce, since she had not heard from her childhood friend since he arrived unexpectedly at her doorstep three months ago. She decided to contact him. When she couldn’t reach him she contacted Oscar.

Her former boss shared with her the recent nightmarish events that involved Hansen and Dr. Dolenz, leaving out certain grisly details he didn’t think she needed to hear. Jaime was in her car within the hour. During the drive her heart broke realizing what Steve must be going through. It was one thing to keep the unwanted thought about being half machine at bay during normal circumstances but to have it made glaringly obvious by having his arm removed would be much more difficult to recover from. She already decided she would stay as long as he needed.

Rudy planned on putting off the surgery to reattach the arm until Steve was strong enough, keeping himself busy repairing the arm that was recovered from the abandoned van. Meanwhile Steve was heavily sedated to prevent the possibility of bionic rejection. The doctor was elated to see Jaime enter the glassed observation area adjacent to Steve’s room.

“Jaime it’s good to see you.” He said with all sincerity, greeting her with a warm hug.

“Hi Rudy. Oscar told me what happened and I thought I’d make myself available if Steve needed me. How is he?” Her eyes traveled to the glass partition to see friend sleeping peacefully, the heavy, stark white bandage on his right shoulder a sharp contrast to his suntanned torso.

“Right now he’s weak but stable. I haven’t scheduled the surgery yet. I’m hoping he’ll get a little stronger. He’s heavily sedated for both medical and psychological reasons.”

“What medical reasons?” She asked concerned

“Right now he at a very high risk of bionic rejection. In the past 48 hours he has been tuned down and his arm traumatically removed. Each of those in and of themselves could trigger rejection. I’m worried what having both done in such a small time frame will do.”

“When will he be out of danger?”

“Two weeks. If by then he hasn’t shown any signs of rejection I’ll breathe a lot easier. I felt it was also better for his state of mind to keep him sedated until his arm is reattached.” He turned and smiled at her, “I think you being here will make a big difference.”

“Can I sit with him awhile?” She asked still staring at his still form.

”Sure. I’ll be back in a couple hours.” Jaime nodded and headed to his bedside. Rudy gave the nurse on duty some instructions before he left. As he exited the room he didn’t notice Kayce headed towards Steve’s room. She entered the observation room and saw Jaime at Steve’s bedside, holding tightly to his left hand and gently caressing his cheek, not knowing her identity Kayce asked the nurse.

“Oh that’s Jaime Sommers. She heard what happened and came to see him.”

“Are they related?”

“Not exactly but I think they were engaged at one time. You’d have to ask Colonel Austin to be sure.” Kayce just nodded and returned her gaze to the lovely woman comforting the patient with a loving touch. Feeling suddenly overwhelmed with a mixture of conflicting emotions she turned to exit the room. Her walk took her outside, she needed air.

Arriving on the patio she sat herself down on a secluded bench. Tears welled up in her eyes but she fiercely fought them down. It was so hard to see Steve without his arm. She wondered how Steve would deal with the aftermath of such a horrible experience. She wanted to be near him but didn’t know what to say. Her emotional turmoil began to take over her usually rational mind. She suddenly sensed another presence. Her sapphire eyes moved up to connect with the brown eyes of Oscar Goldman. He smiled his most charming smile and she weakly returned it.

Sitting next to her he inquired how she was doing. She reassured him that her rehabilitation was almost over and she was anxious to move forward. His smile turned into a grin as he began his pitch….

Rudy returned to the room finding Jaime still at Steve’s side and asked if she needed anything. She shook her head negatively. The patient occasionally stirred but didn’t waken. Jaime couldn’t help but ask the doctor why she was the only visitor.

“It seems Kayce has been distancing herself from Steve ever since her surgery. I don’t think she has come to terms with her new self and broke off the engagement.” Jaime was surprised but nodded her understanding.

“How did Steve take that?”

“He didn’t. He told her he wasn’t leaving her until she was back to her normal life and he hasn’t. Surprisingly Kayce hasn’t fought his presence during her rehabilitation. Personally I think she’s still in love with him.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because since his kidnapping she’s been very distraught and the way she disarmed Steve when he was shooting at Oscar’s agents.” Jaime looked at him with a shocked expression knowing the Steve not only abhorred guns but also would never fire one at a colleague. “It’s not what you think he was in shock, bleeding and not very coherent. He wasn’t trying to hit anyone. Kayce walked up and convinced him to give her the weapon.”

“She sounds like a very courageous woman.”

The doctor nodded, “She is that and many other things. That’s why I can’t stand to watch her struggle with her new life but I can’t seem to reach her. I’m hoping Steve can and soon.” Jaime’s eyes rested on Steve’s handsome face.

“You know when he came to talk to me I was surprised he wasn’t willing to instantly talk Kayce into becoming bionic. He was really torn. When he left my house…I don’t know…I remembered what a caring man he was and why I love him so much. I suddenly realized how much I really miss him you know?” Rudy nodded.

“Well I need to get some paperwork done. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want but he won’t regain consciousness until I let him. I need him to rest and remain quiet. The only way I know that will happen is by keeping him sedated.” She smiled knowingly and he made his exit.

Oscar made a quick visit to his friend’s room before heading back to his office. He was relieved to hear Steve was holding his own even if he wasn’t out of the woods yet. Before leaving the medical center he stopped by for a short talk with Dr. Wells.

Jaime stayed until just passed dinnertime before deciding to save her strength for when he awoke. When she stood and leaned down to place a tender kiss on his still lips she was not aware that the young blue-eyed woman had returned to the observation room. Jaime ran her hand through Steve’s short brown hair and whispered her goodbye before turning to leave. She saw the pretty woman in the doorway looking at her with a confused expression so she took a chance, “You must be Kayce.” She held out her hand and Kayce took it in her.

“Yes I am.” She replied confidently, eyeing the tall woman carefully.

“I’m Jaime Sommers. Steve has told me a lot about you.” Kayce looked at her surprised since Steve had never mentioned this woman to her.

“Really. I wish I could say the same.” She chuckled softly with a friendly smile. “Well if you’ll excuse me I’m a little pressed for time.” She said and walked to Steve’s bedside. She only stayed a short while, just enough time to apologize for hurting him and to say goodbye. She felt her time away would be exactly what she needed. Being around Steve was making it harder and harder to control the dark emotions brewing just under the surface. She didn’t believe that Steve’s deep love for her would easily subdue the terrible emotions she thought would consume her should she let them surface. Unwilling to take the chance she kissed his cheek tenderly and left.

A day later Steve’s his arm was replaced and his bionic system reactivated. He gradually came out of his drug-induced coma and thought he was dreaming when Jaime’s face came into focus.

“Hi.” She greeted with a smile.

“Hi, what are you doing here?” He asked in a tired voice figuring another assignment had gone wrong ending with him in the medical center.

She just shrugged, “I heard you were here at the OSI Hotel for a short stay and thought I pay you a visit? How are you feeling?”

He tried to sit up when a firm hand came out of nowhere and Rudy pushed him back down with little effort. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Steve chuckled weakly and thought of a quick reply, “I just wanted to see if all my parts still worked that’s all. What happened?”

“You tell me. Do you remember anything that happened?” The doctor replied.

Steve thought awhile before asking again expecting a direct answer, “No. What did happen, Rudy? What am I doing at the medical center?”

Rudy and Jaime shared a quick concerned glance, “Hansen had you kidnapped.” The doctor waited to see if any memory returned. Steve sank his head deep into his pillow with a furled brow trying to recall the incident. “Nope, nothing’s there Rudy.”

“What’s the last thing you do remember?” Rudy waited patiently while Steve thought long and hard.

“I guess talking to you on the phone, you asked me to help with Kayce’s next set of tests. No wait…I remember running…Kayce and I were running through quadrant 7…. you wanted to test her legs at full speed over uneven terrain.” Rudy nodded, “Anything else?” He held his breath while Steve’s memory came within a whisper of his kidnapping. Steve sighed in frustration and nodded at his friend.

“Well maybe it will come with time. Your right arm was badly damaged but I repaired it this morning.” Again he paused to see if the reference to his arm cued any recall but he saw no signs of recollection on his patient’s face. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving. How long have I been here?” He asked looking at the IV hanging from the pole next to the bed.

“Only two days. I’ll have the nurse bring you some of our home cooking.” Rudy commented with a devilish smirk.

“Jaime, help.” He said with an exaggerated pout causing her and the doctor to chuckle.

“Sorry. I’ll see if I can sneak you in some real food tomorrow. Okay?” She gave him a wink.

”Unless Rudy is going to discharge me by tomorrow.” He eyed his friend with a cocked eyebrow.

“No, that won’t be happening tomorrow. You’ve been under sedation quite a while. You need to get your strength back first.” He said as he headed out the door, wondering what was going to happen when Steve regained his memories.

“So what ever happened with Kayce?” Jaime asked. Steve shared with his former fiancé his predicament with his present fiancé, silently amused at the irony. Jaime nodded in support and told him to just give the young woman some time.

When the doctor checked on his drowsy patient later that evening Steve asked how Kayce was doing. Rudy replied that he gave her some time off from her rehabilitation. In his sleepy state Steve just nodded and returned to a peaceful sleep without giving the odd situation another thought.

...Continued