"I know. I do…." Francine burst into an evil grin, turning her head and looking at the figure of Tommy trying to get untied. "But I don't think he does."

Raven looked at her, then at Tommy.

"Francie, was the rope really necessary?"

"Yes." She said grimly, then sighed, still looking at Tommy. "I'm afraid we had to use the rope. Don't want him escaping."

"Why are we doing this anyway? I mean, I thought you liked Tommy." She glared at Raven.

"I do not like Tommy. I do not LIKE anyone. People get me places. When I grow tired of them, I make them go away. I have never liked anyone. I don't like you, but we have a common enemy, and he's tied up over there."

"Francie, I never said I hated Tommy. We get along now. You're not going to kill him, are you?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"I don't kill anyone. I just make them go away. How could I ever kill anyone?" she looked innocently at Raven, who squirmed, under her gaze.

"Well, I don't know how much longer I can see him tied up like that. God, Francie, he's not even talking. He can see, and he could talk, but he's not. I think you really scared the shit outta him." Raven forced a laugh. "I'd never seen him that scared. He never expected you to turn on him."

She smiled with remembrance.

"No one ever does." Francine stared at Raven, making uncomfortable and knowing it. He finally decided to get out of the room. He'd never seen Francine this…odd, and it scared him.

"I'm going out for a smoke. You don't need me here anymore, right? I did my part. I'm outta here." She shrugged.

"Whatever. Go. I have things under control here." Raven shook his head as he left the room. He just had to get out. He had never seen that side of Francine before, and it scared him. She was going to make Tommy go away? He didn't even want to begin to think what that meant. It seemed to him that she had gone through with this before, and would again. He shuddered as the look in her eyes came back to him. Pure and utter psychotic was the only thing he could think. Granted, he wasn't the most stable person around, but Francine had crossed the line. Kidnapping Tommy, tying him up, and now she was doing god knows what with him. Maybe she shouldn't have been left alone in the room with him. No, just a second, while I go out for a smoke, he thought, it couldn't make a difference.

Five minutes later, Raven decided to get back to the room. This shit with Francine was really starting to freak him out. He walked in the door to find Francine lying on top of Tommy, who was untied, and on the bed.

"Guess they made up fast…" he said under his breath as he closed the door. Walking down to the hotel bar, he wondered what had got into Francine earlier. Just women's mind games, he decided. Until he was halfway down the hall and heard a slight guttural yell.

"Shit…. Oh shit." He muttered turning and running back to the room. He pushed the door open, and saw Francine, still lying on Tommy, with blood dripping from his temple, onto the white pillow. She got up, and threw the letter opener on the floor, then started at Raven.

"Uh-oh…. Did you see that? Someone's in trouble now…. And…. its….not…me." she said, almost playfully, nearing closer to him, throwing a robe over her figure, and reaching into one of the pockets that was weighted down. Francine produced a thick bladed dagger.

"Shit, Francie, don't. Did you…. my god, you really did. You killed Tommy."

She sighed, and toyed with the knife in her hand.

"Well, you found out my little secret. Guess you get to find out how skilful I can be with sharp objects." Raven turned to face the door, but she slammed it shut, and he felt the cold knife press against his throat.

He struggled for breath, and tried to think about something to do, something to stop her. If he had killed Tommy, then she would kill him too.

"Francine…stop it. This is crazy." he trailed off, feeling the knife being pressed harder.

"I know I'm crazy. I can't help it. The only way to make it better is to act upon it."

"But, you're not going to…."

"What?" she said, voice rising, "Kill you? Oh no, why would I kill you? The one person I understand…" there was a slight sarcastic edge to her voice.

"And I understand you too, Francie. Which is why I can't let you do this." He said, and dropped quickly to the ground, throwing off her grasp, and sending the knife to the floor. Raven looked at her for a second, and seeing desperate anger in her eyes, darted over to where the knife had fallen and picked it up.

"Do you want to kill me Francie?" he walked over to he figure crouched on the floor. "Do you? And what would that prove? Who would you have then? No one. You'd just end up some slut on the shore, which is where you started." Raven toyed with the knife in his hands, and stared at her menacingly. "You kill me and there's nothing left." He flipped the knife over in his hands, and then pointed the handle at her. "Take it." He pushed it at her, and she took it, confusion replacing the crazy look in her eyes. "Because I know you're not going to kill me."

And when Francine looked up, the door swung shut. Raven was gone.

"He's gone?" a voice said, emerging from the bathroom.

"Yea, Jim. He's gone." Francine crouched in the corner, turning the knife over in her hands, trying not to look at the tall blonde figure coming towards her. Jim moved to stand over her, and grabbed the knife, tossing it into the wall. He grabbed her by the hair, and twisted, so she stood up.

"Why did you let him go? You had him…we had him." Jim roared in anger at her. She clenched her jaw shut with pain, and he slapped her with his free hand.

"Answer me…." He said, staring at her with blue eyes, full of rage.

"He…. He just left. I didn't want to kill him…I already killed…" she trailed off, looking over at the bed, and seeing Tommy's figure lying there. The full realisation of what she did hit her and tears cascaded down her face.

"Stop crying. I wanted this. I wanted you to do this because I thought you were strong." Jim said, seeing her pain. " You said you'd kill anyone, without remorse. What's this now? Crying…" He let go of her hair, and she fell back to the floor, not bothering to move. His hand pounded against her head, and she made no attempt to stop it, too disgusted with her actions to even care.

Getting no pleasure out of the assault, Jim kicked Francine in the ribs, doubling her over, and then sat on the bed beside Tommy's dead body. Pushing him aside, and onto the floor, Jim lay down where Tommy had been killed, and slept, ignoring the soft sobs of Francine still coming from the corner of the room.

Seated on a stool at the bar, Raven went over the nights events. Why had Francine killed Tommy? As much as he pondered it, he couldn't come to a conclusion. Just days earlier, they had been inseparable, the perfect couple, and now tommy was dead, and francine was insane. There had to be something or someone else behind this. It didn't add up. He ordered another one of whatever he had been drinking in the first place, and decided not to think about it unless he really had to. No one could link him there, except francine, but she was insane. Unless it was some sort of odd elaborate act to drive him slowly insane, which he quickly ruled out, remembering the blood from tommy's head cascading onto the pillow. Raven shuddered, downed the drink, and stumbled out of the bar, wondering where to go next, as a thought occurred to him.

"Holy shit, Sandman." He mumbled, remembering the smell of cigarettes in the room, and knowing that neither Francine, nor Tommy smoked, and Raven always took it outside. He pushed the button for the elevator, and waiting impatiently for less than two seconds, he decided the stairs would suffice. Upon arriving at the room, and opening the door, which was still unlocked, he saw nothing. No Francine, no Sandman, but tommy's body laying on the floor next to the bed. The smell of cigarettes was clinging to ever fiber in the room, and Raven knew who was behind it.