John & Marlena #1 January 30 - April 30, 1986: 8 hour edit

DVD #1A 1/30 John walks into Shenanigan’s and sees Steve trying to give a description to the sketch artist. The sketch doesn’t look anything like John. Savannah tells the artist to take that over to Victor immediately. She warns Steve that he is going to have that silly grin wiped off his face if he keeps taking Kiriakis for a fool. She has known he was lying about what the pawn looks like all along, as John listens in on their conversation. Steve notices John looking at them and stops at his table and questions why he is looking at him? He demands to know his name, and orders John to look at him when he is talking to him. He asks if he knows him? Then Steve shakes his head and grumbles that this city is full of creeps and leaves, John smiles in relief that Steve didn’t recognise him.

Marlena is talking to Joey at the bar of Shenanigan’s. A would be robber waltzes in and takes Marlena at gunpoint and demand Joey fills up the bag with money. When he mentions killing her, John jumps up, takes him by surprise, grabs the gun out of his hand, and the bag of cash. He goes into a cop stance and tells the guy to freeze or he is a dead man. Chris walks in and demands to know what is going on? Marlena says everything is fine thanks to that man, pointing to John for disarming the gunman.

John wants to get bonded as a security officer at the hospital. He then goes to the library and reads old newspapers about Stefano. He slams the paper down and declares he has to find out if that is him!

2/3 John runs into Marlena at the hospital, and inquiries about the security job. While there, Marlena introduces him to Dr. Horton. Marlena is attacked by the rapist, but is luckily rescued by John.

2/4 Tom and Alice comfort Marlena after her near attack; she explains to Carrie what happened. Alice is disturbed to find out that the man caught was only a copycat rapist, not the real one. Maggie also tries to comfort her friend, Marlena, and also meets John for the first time. Bo has been arrested and charged with treason, and Marlena becomes unsettled when she learns of Roman’s involvement.

2/6 John and Marlena have coffee together at Shenanigan’s. Marlena says that she hasn’t been this afraid since Stefano was alive, which John seems to remember.

2/7 Glitchy. Marlena tells John that she has heard good things about his work at the hospital. She asks him, “Who are you?” Caroline tells Marlena that she needs a place to stay and confides in her that Shawn refuses to talk about Bo, and only recognises Roman as his son, and he is dead.

2/10 Caroline, who stayed with Marlena for the night, has some regrets about walking out on Shawn like that. Marlena suggests that she talk to him. Anna meets John for the first time in an awkward encounter; and he recognizes her last name, DiMera.

2/11 A rowdy mob confront Shawn at the Brady Pub over Bo’s arrest for treason, as Marlena and Caroline look on concerned when one of them pushes and then hits Shawn sending him to the floor. John comes into, and takes on all the men who attacked Shawn and they back off and leave. Shawn thanks John for stepping in at just the right moment. Marlena shares with Shawn and Caroline that he is the man who rescued Marlena from the attacker. Caroline feels like she has met him before. While at the pier with Marlena, John recognizes Victor.

2/12 Marlena shows John Kimberly’s old apartment, where he gets a sense that he has been there before. He asks Marlena out on a date after talking. John keeps having memories of being in Salem before; he abruptly leaves, which Marlena notices.

2/14 Anna bumps into John at the hospital, where she is looking for Father Francis. John and Anna go out to see a movie, but both grow uncomfortable when Stefano’s theme song is played. She tells John that he reminds her of someone. Marlena celebrates with the Horton women on Maggie & Melissa’s double wedding day. helps Maggie get ready.

2/17 At a Horton wedding celebration, Marlena and Savannah both catch the bouquets from the brides. Chris kisses Marlena for first time.

2/20 Marlena and Chris discuss the future of their relationship: continue being friends or take the next step. She is confronted by a jealous Savannah. Alex encourages Savannah to stop taking second place to Marlena, that the cute and innocent act isn’t interesting.

2/21 Savannah is stabbed while “saving” Marlena, which was not part of her plan. Marlena and John think it was the hospital rapist. Marlena tells Chris that Savannah got hurt trying to save her. John is frustrated that the stabbing doesn’t fit with the rapist’s typical MO. The power goes out during Savannah’s surgery. While Savannah is in surgery, John has flashbacks of his surgery. Marlena blows up at John when he tells her he’s arranged an escort to her car. She wants him to find the rapist.

2/24 John implements a new security procedure that annoys Marlena. She objects to his sign in and out sheet.

2/26 Marlena wants John to remove her office guard. After refusing, John asks Marlena out on a date…at Doug’s Place. She finds this odd because it has not been called that for a long time.

2/27 Marlena chats with Ivy and baby when John comes in, Marlena rushes out saying she has to respond to her page. John jokes, “Was it something I said?” As she exits. Ivy teases John that she thinks Marlena likes him, he doesn’t think so. Marlena walks right back in and tells him how much it bugs her that he is following her around with a sign in sheet, and it is a waste of time and doesn’t keep anyone safe. He questions, “You mean the one you didn’t sign this morning?” She reports that she came by last night to get a book from her office, she found only one security guard in the lobby watching tv, another with a patient swapping dirty stories, and the third one doing crosswords in the hallway. He promises to take care of it, and asks her again to sign in for this morning and she agrees.

John changes the subject and tells her about a book he is reading and the character has amnesia. He asks her if going back to a familiar place could trigger a memory. She agrees that if she was an amnesiac that is the first thing she would do. John sabotages Kirakis mansion alarm system. He demands that it be fixed! John and Marlena are talking in the hallway at the hospital, and Victor is discussing his security system needing to be fixed. John tells Victor that he overheard he had a problem with his security system. John recommends a certain system and Victor reports that is what he has but it isn’t working. John says that it is the best but can be a bit tricky if it isn’t set up correctly. John reports he has set them up. John offers to give him a number of a contact in Baltimore who can trouble shoot it. Victor requests that John come by and see if he can figure it out.

After Victor leaves, Marlena stares at John and says she can’t believe he is going to work for Victor! John shows up at Victor’s as the security alarm is blaring. Victor also arrives as John turns off the alarm. John reports that either the installers were amateurs or someone has been messing with his wires. Victor mumbles, “Donovan” under his breath. Victor asks if John could design an entirely new system for him that someone can’t just rearrange. John says he is pretty busy at the hospital, and a project like Victor is asking for could take quite a bit of time. Victor promises that money is no object, and John agrees.

2/28 Chris arrives at the hospital bearing flowers for Savannah and runs into Marlena. As they are talking, Caroline arrives worriedly looking for Kimberly. Marlena reports that she rushed out of the hospital and took off in her car. We see Kimberly laying unconscious after a car accident. Alice, Chris and Marlena are worried that Kim was driving in that state.

Marlena and Caroline overhear Neil talking about an accident victim who is in very serious condition. Neil reports that Kimberly is the victim and needs emergency surgery. Caroline blames herself for Kim’s accident. She tells Marlena that if anything happens to the baby, she will not be able to forgive herself. Marlena tells Abe and Victor that Kimberly has been moved to ICU, but she isn’t better, in fact she has gotten worse and it doesn’t look good at all. Savannah and Marlena call a truce. They hear Maggie screaming and Abe rushes into the staff lounge. The rapist had gotten into her purse, and we later see him put Melissa’s picture on his board of her photos.

3/3 John asks Marlena to brief him once more on the psychological profile of the hospital rapist. Not only is Ian the rapist, but his sidekick, Jake, gave him an alibi during rapes. The guy gets cold feet and tells Ian that he may retract his alibi, as John is approaching. When John questions Jake, he notices he has surgical gloves in his pocket. Jake gets defensive and won’t talk to John, and says he will only talk to Marlena.

Afterwards, Marlena steps out of her office. She informs John that the alibi Jake gave Ian was all Ian’s idea. John tries to call Ian, but no answer. He tells Marlena he is going to Ian’s place, and she insists on going with him. She points out she is a police psychiatrist and this could be dangerous. She assures him that she can take care of herself. When they arrive, John kicks in the door. They are horrified to see tons of Melissa pictures everywhere. Marlena is shocked and tells John that he was Melissa’s probation officer. John tries to reach Melissa but she doesn’t answer. The phone rings as John tries to reach her there.

3/4 John continues his calls with the Horton’s. Then tries Shenanigan’s and reaches Pete and asks if he knows where Melissa is? Pete says she is at Jump/Body Connection, her own practice studio. John tells him that he has a lead on the serial rapist and he believes Melissa will be his next target. John and Marlena rush out, and Pete says he is also on his way. Melissa is fitting off Ian, and Pete comes in and Ian knocks him out. Ian grabs Melissa as she cries for help. John and Marlena burst in and John pulls his gun on Ian. He warns them that if they ever want to see Melissa alive again, that they are not to follow him. Marlena tries to talk him down and offer help just as Pete comes too and knocks Ian out. She shakily tells Pete that Ian tried to rape her. John compliments Pete on coming to the rescue, and then tells Marlena that she makes one hell of a partner. Abe rushes in and Marlena informs him that Ian is the serial rapist.

3/5 Abe compliments John on his good piece of detective work, that Ian was the last guy he would have suspected. Marlena approaches Maggie and Mickey, and John soon joins the group. He tells them that he will be taking statements from Ian’s victims. John brings up the Salem Strangler case, and the similarities. Marlena gets a disturbed look and turns away and doesn’t respond when John includes her in his plan to gather evidence against the attacker. She walks off abruptly leaving John puzzled. Mickey shares that Marlena was the target of the Strangler, and her twin sister was murdered. This case has brought back bad memories. Mickey says Marlena never believes she needs protection, unfortunately that kind of woman needs more protection than others and John should remember that. John approaches Marlena in the staff lounge to apologize. He calls her “Doc” and she firmly tells him to stop calling her that. He asks if this is about the Salem Strangler and her sister’s death. She admits the memories are haunting her. She just wants to put the rapist terror behind her and move forward. She agrees to give him her statement so she can move on.

3/6 The next day, John approaches her. She warns him it isn’t even 9 am and demands that he go away and stop pestering her. He asks where she is going and she refuses to tell him. John informs her that they caught ONE of the rapists, but Ian has a solid alibi for the night that Savannah was attacked. He was not responsible for her attack, which means a copycat rapist is still on the loose. She groans hoping that he won’t reinstitute the dreaded sign in sheet. He tells her no but he will be putting a uniformed armed guard outside her door. She is beyond annoyed and they have words. She complains that he pushes all the wrong buttons and starts to say that he reminds her of… But she stops herself, and continues that he reminds her of the danger. She apologizes for being rude. She offers a truce and that they can start over.

He pretends to approach her all over again, and says that the risk is minimal and asks her to stay careful. He admits he isn’t putting a guard outside her door. As she starts to say her goodbyes, he shares that he isn’t going anywhere as the hospital as asked him to stay on as a security adviser. When Alex announces that Victor is waiting for him outside, Marlena is furious and storms off. John has flashbacks when he goes to the room he stayed in as The Pawn. He snoops around and finds pictures of people he recognizes. When he gets back to the hospital, he asks Marlena to have lunch with him.

3/7 Patch arrives at the Kirikas mansion. Steve reminds Victor that he offered a pay out to get the charges against Bo dropped. Steve informs him that he brought a witness back from Stockholm and they are tucked away in Salem. Steve is insistent on getting paid, and Victor stalls in due time. John comes downstairs and is introduced to Steve. He looks very familiar to Steve who says that he has seen him before, but can’t recall where. John reminds him they spoke at Shenanigan’s. When John walks back into the room, he overhears Steve mention that he is the only person who knows what The Pawn looks like. As Steve leaves, he promises Victor to find the pawn as he can spot him a mile away. Ironically, he is standing right next to them. At the hospital, Caroline is devastated to learn that the witness for Bo didn’t show up, they were grabbed by the KGB. John comforts her and goes to get her some water.

3/10 John sees Marlena and Carrie at a festively decorated table for her birthday. Marlena invites John to celebrate Carrie’s birthday with everyone. Carrie reports that Marlena says he is a hero, which surprises John. Next, Caroline, Alice, and Anna arrive for the celebration. Victor approaches and asks John if he could speak with him. Victor tells John that he was impressed with the work that he did with the rapist situation and wants to hire him on a permanent basis, with the condition that he reveals more information about his past.

John asks Carrie to dance with him. Marlena declares it is unnerving how John constantly shows up. Marlena tells her friends she doesn’t know about him but is determined to learn more about the mysterious Mr. Black, as she looks over at him tenderly holding Carrie in his arms as they “dance". Carrie returns and wants Marlena to dance with John. She is hesitant but agrees. John takes her by the hand and pulls her into his arms. He picks up that she is tense.

She admits that she can’t quite figure him out. He has only been in Salem a few weeks and during that time, he saved her from the robber at Shenanigan’s, then saved Shawn and those men at the Brady Fish Market, then he saved her in the parking lot. Now everytime she turns around he is there. She is curious about who he is deep down inside, and what he wants from her and her family.

He tries to reassure her that he doesn’t want anything from her or her family. She tells him sometimes he reminds her so much of someone that it is painful, but she doesn’t know who. He is troubled that he puzzles her so much. He offers that if it is so painful, maybe she would rather he wasn’t around. She clarifies that she didn’t say that. He twirls her and she points out he can dance, and he is funny too. Back at the table, Anna and Marlena are shocked when John orders Strega, liquor only Stefano DiMera was known to order.

3/11 Marlena decides to visit Savannah and give her a gift to thank her. They head over to Shenanigan’s together. Chris begins to grow suspicious of Savannah. He comments to Marlena what a coincidence it was that Savannah arrived just as Marlena was being attacked, almost like she knew it was happening.

3/12 John questions Anna about the DiMera family and grows frustrated when the discussion turns to Stefano. When he returns home, John discovers Stefano’s signature phoenix mark tattooed on his back.

3/13 Marlena stops by John’s apartment and wants to do a follow-up interview on the rapist situation. She catches him coming out of the shower and he quickly covers up the phoenix tattoo with a towel. Marlena needs to use John’s phone when her car won’t start and he gets nervous when she picks up the folder that contains all of the articles on Stefano. When Marlena arrives at Shenanigan’s, Chris tells Marlena that Savannah lied about everything and hired a copycat rapist to attack her. Marlena confronts Savannah about her actions; she finds her pathetic.

Shane breaks into the Kiriakis Mansion and is caught by John. When John asks him why he is there, Shane tells him that he wants to spy on a meeting that Victor is going to have. A stunned Shane overhears Victor say on the monitor, “How dare you threaten a child’s life that could be mine?”

Dvd #1B 3/14 Shane and John watch and listen on security monitor as Victor and Kim discuss her pregnancy and sleeping together. Marlena tells Alice that Savannah and Alex planned the attack on her so Savannah could save the day. Alice tells Marlena that she should pursue legal action, Marlena agrees with her. Marlena points out that Savannah is suffering as is Chris. Alice laments that Alex came out of this without a scratch. They both wish him to get his just deserts.

Marlena pulls Alex into her office and tells him that she knows all about their little plot. John invites Marlena to join him for Chinese food. He is apologising for being abrupt this morning and not being able to give her a ride this morning. She isn’t interested in hearing his excuses after she showed up at his door one time and he bit her head off. He brings up that she had wanted to talk to a reporter about the hospital rapist. He agrees to help her and suggests they go over background information for their article on the rapist. He tells her he has ordered Chinese food and it will be here in half an hour. He took a chance she would be available. She willingly reveals details about her past and is surprised when John is reluctant to talk about his.

3/17 Marlena joins Maggie, Mickey, Melissa, and Jennifer at Shenanigan’s. Marlena continues to have problems with her car and calls Bo for a ride. When Bo goes to pick up Marlena, she questions him about what exactly happened with Roman in Stockholm.

3/18 Anna tells Carrie that John is going to have dinner with them. She does not want him to join them and tells Marlena that John scares her. For Carrie’s sake, John pretends to have a prior engagement to back out of their dinner. Marlena thanks him for doing that and he asks her to have dinner with him. John and Marlena share a romantic moment down at the pier. He reveals that he once had a boat in this pier, which Marlena finds odd.

3/19 John tries to do a background search on himself using Marlena’s computer. Later, Marlena notices that her computer has been used.

3/21 Marlena wants to know if there is anything that John can do to prevent more people from accessing her office computer without her consent. Victor shows up while the two of them are talking and gives John a stellar recommendation, he hopes that he will finally agree to stay on with him. John installs a new lock to appease Marlena. When he goes to demonstrate it, Carrie is still reluctant to be around him. Marlena questions Carrie about why John makes her so uncomfortable. John makes efforts to get Carrie to like him.

3/25 Marlena asks John if he would help Carrie out at the talent show; Carrie is convinced he is psychic when he guesses her favorite ice cream. Victor tells John that his background check cleared and hires him. To his surprise, John learns that Victor’s job is hunting a man, “The Pawn.” Marlena decides not to do anything about the Savannah situation, but has an awkward run-in at Chris’ apartment.

3/27 Calliope asks Marlena if she will come to the Bradford’s for dinner; Marlena asks if she can bring a guest, while looking at John. For some reason, John is skeptical about having dinner with Marlena. He has been distant from her ever since their discussion about “brain washing.” John finally agrees to have dinner with Marlena and go to the Bradford Mansion.

3/28 Marlena stops by John’s apartment to check-in on him. He tries to brush it off, but she is determined to get to the bottom of the problem. John demands more information from Victor about The Pawn, whom he is supposed to be hunting. Everything that Victor reveals points everything to Stefano. Marlena gets a bill for inter-credit information that she did not use, for a report on John Black. Marlena confronts John about his identity and learns that he does not know his identity.

4/1 John shows up at Marlena’s and asks her to help him find out his identity. She suggests hypnosis and explains why she thinks it could trigger his memories. He immediately tells her that he can’t do that, as he is afraid of what might come out. She suggests that when his memories do start returning wouldn’t it be better to be safe with a friend rather than off alone on her own. He agrees and she puts him under hypnosis.

He sees Anna and becomes upset, Marlena brings him back with the instruction to remember what he saw. She suggests he follow up on what he saw and he agrees and rushes out. He finds Anna at Shenanigan’s. As he sits with her, he casually asks about her history in Salem. She reveals her first job after returning to town was as Stefano DiMera’s secretary which explains the flashback that upset him so. Marlena runs into Chris at the hospital as he waits for word after Todd is injured in an accident. Liz visits with her brother and sings a Beatle’s song as he dies from his injuries.

4/2 When Marlena sees John at the hospital, she thinks he is there for another hypnosis session. John tells her that he doesn’t want to continue with the hypnosis sessions, but she thinks that he should. She points out that he could have family that love and miss him. He suggests that he has a good life now and maybe he shouldn’t mess around with his past and let that remain dead. She abruptly walks away and he calls after her. He resumes hypnosis with her. He sees Bo running on a beach, the scenes when Roman died after falling off the cliff.

John arrives at Bo and Hope’s apartment, as they are meeting with Shane, Abe, and Steve. Bo is surprised at his arrival. Britta walks out and triggers a Stockholm flashback for John. These flashbacks reveal to him that Victor was involved in Stockholm, planning Lars’ escape. He leaves abruptly and returns to Marlena’s office. John sees Victor at the hospital and has a flashback of Victor with Britta. He tells Marlena that what he is remembering is starting to scare him. She asks if he still wants to continue but he tells her that he doesn’t think he has a choice.

4/3 John meets up with Victor at Blondie’s. John asks Victor if it’s possible that The Pawn left the country and starts grilling him about places that he would have gone. Victor mentions Stockholm as one of the places. Shane gets an anonymous letter from John telling him of Victor’s involvement in Stockholm 4/4 When John arrives at the hospital, he gets annoyed at Marlena when she brings up more therapy sessions. He abruptly leaves as he isn’t interested I learning anymore about his past and just wants to be left alone. She stares after him in surprise at his sudden change of tune. Later she approaches him at the nurse’s station, Marlena wants to make it clear to John that she is not treating him as a patient, but helping him as a friend. When Stefano’s name comes up, she assures him that he is nothing like Stephano. He invites her to join him at the Russian ballet that night as he has an extra ticket. She asks him if he likes the ballet but he doesn’t know. She shares that Roman hated it.

4/7 John and Marlena arrive at Blondie’s for dinner and find it busy for a press conference. Marlena is pleased to run into Doug as he has returned to town. John watches the press conference on tv, and Britta speaks, she was going to defect but announces she will return to Russia with her brother. There is an explosion and Britta and Lars disappear. John shares with Marlena that he remembers Britta. She points out that Britta is a KGB agent. He asks her if she is sure she wants to continue to help him remember, still afraid what he might find out.

He points out that he knows how to forge papers (for his own identity), use a gun, has knowledge of intricate security systems and maybe he is just a petty criminal. She says he doesn’t seem like any criminal she has ever dealt with. He asks doesn’t he frighten her? She tells him that no he doesn’t, the eyes are the windows of the soul. He asks if that is why he hasn’t blown his cover. She is sure she isn’t wrong about him. He points out that until they unlock this mystery, she can’t really be sure.

4/11 Marlena is surprised when John shows up at Bo’s hearing. Britta and Lars are granted political asylum. All of the charges against Bo are being dropped. Even though the charges are dropped, Shane calls Britta back to the stand. He wants to know of Victor’s involvement in the espionage charges. She claims that she has no knowledge of him. Victor stands and claims he is merely there to support the Brady family. John senses that both she and Victor are lying; Patch knows it as well. Marlena promises to help John find out who he is no matter what they learn about his past.

4/14 Marlena brings John back to her house. While she is discussing how the children were with the babysitter, he notices a picture of her and Roman. This prompts John to try and leave. At the door as she walks him out, she softly tells him that he doesn’t have to go if he doesn’t want to. She shares that she would like his company. He goes back in as she goes into the kitchen, and everything that he notices starts reminding him of his past. They joke about boiling water and she tells him that she is glad to being his friend, compared with their earlier adversarial relationship.

Marlena asks John if he could possibly have children? John tells her that he has remembered children and Marlena tries to work him through it. He tells her that he knows family parties were in his past. She tries to get him to focus on those memories and try to see faces. He remembers laughter, but he can’t tell if they were children of his. She suggests that they could also be siblings, but he can’t tell if he is the brother or father. She is very encouraging that every step takes him further down that road. He is still afraid that he doesn’t want to know who he is, and maybe it is better for the people around him if he doesn’t find out.

Carrie (now played by Christie Clark in her first appearance) comes downstairs and gets angry, demanding to know why John is in her home? Carrie tells her that she doesn’t like him being here with her. Marlena asks why he scares her so much? She tells Carrie that he is her friend. Carrie says she can’t help how she feels and begs her to make him leave.

Marlena goes upstairs and gets the situation with Carrie resolved and then comes back downstairs and is relieved to find he is still there. She asks him not to be bothered by Carrie’s feelings. John feels that she is picking up something from him that they can’t sense, something evil. He doesn’t want her to get hurt. She asks how that would happen, and he upset he declares by him! He tells her again that he wants to quit digging, trying to protect her, and perhaps himself from what might be uncovered. Marlena is not going to let it go and informs him it is too late to stop now as he has already begun uncovering memories and that will continue.

4/17 John does research on Stefano on Marlena’s computer. He learns that the body was burned beyond recognition from the ice show injury. He says out loud, “I can’t be him…” as Marlena walks in and overhears him. She gets mad at him for breaking into her office and breaching her doctor patient confidentiality by using her computer without permission. An upset John leaves and goes into the staff lounge and pours a cup of coffee as his hands shake. John gets frustrated, picks up the glass coffee pot and throws it against the wall. It shatters just as Marlena walks in. Tom rushes in and demands to know what happened?

Marlena covers for John, saying that he merely dropped the pot. He urges her that he could have seriously hurt her and tells her this is exactly why she shouldn’t be around him. Marlena tells him that she will not give up on him. She has never ever quit as a patient is close to a break through as he is. She tells him he is so close that something is trying to come up to the surface. She gets through to him, and gets him to go back to her office together. Marlena brings John into hypnosis and starts remembering more of his past. He says he knows the place he is at. She wakes him up and he remembers and declares it can’t be far from here and he is sure he can find it.

4/18 John returns to the familiar farmhouse, where he was tended to as “The Pawn.” Sam Barnes, who works on the farm, sees him through the window and reports this information to Victor. Victor tells Steve that he suspects the Pawn is at the farmhouse. Patch heads over and finds John there searching for clues (and talking to himself). Patch puts it all together, realizing that John is “The Pawn” and ties him up and heads back to tell Victor the good news. Sam comes in and John insists that he has a chance to catch the Pawn, if Sam lets him go. Sam calls Victor, and talks to John who urges him that he still has a chance to catch the Pawn, and plays it that he was working with Patch. Victor orders Sam to let him go.

Patch arrives back at Victor’s and he happily tells him that he has found the Pawn and that Victor will never guess who it is! Annoyed at being fooled, he declares, “John Black”! Patch is surprised he knows. Of course by the time Victor gets a hold of Sam, he is told that John is long gone. Victor is upset that Patch left him at the farmhouse!

Meanwhile, John tries desperately to track down Marlena as he calls looking for her. He asks, “Marlena where are you?”

4/21 Victor has his whole crew out looking for John. Steve and Britta are on the docks when he sees John coming down the stairs and he grabs Britta and they hide. John is on the run and hiding out, he uses the pay phone to call Shane, he wants to meet up at Shane’s place. Patch overhears the entire conversation and sees this as an in for getting back in Victor’s good graces. Patch informs Victor that John is on his way to the Donovan’s. John asks Shane for a safe place to hide for a little while. Kimberly notices similarities between Shane and John. When the doorbell rings, Shane takes John to hide. Kim answers the door to find Victor there. Shane approaches and demands to know what Victor is doing there! Victor lies and says that with the storm and the power being out that Victor just wanted to be sure that Kimberly is okay and if she needed anything. Shane says she is fine and demands that he leaves.

He then asks if they have seen John Black this evening, and Shane says they can’t help him. Victor’s henchman comes back after searching the house. Shane is furious when he realizes and throws them both out. Shane makes calls but John is missing. Shane is sure that John asking for help has something to do with Victor, and he must have heard their voices. Back at home, Victor tells Alex that he is tired of losing these little battles and is determined to win the war. He demands that he wants to see Stephen Johnson immediately. Victor wants to know exactly what he knows and what he has been lying about.

4/23 John finally gets in touch with Marlena, he needs her help. Marlena agrees to help John out by providing him with some money and clothes. She is going to stop by his apartment, which freaks him out. Marlena enters John’s apartment and sees the pictures of Stefano on his desk. Upon entering, she is held at gunpoint by Kate Honeycutt and one of Victor’s henchmen. Marlena is tied up and gagged by Kate. While peering through his apartment, John notices that Marlena is tied up. He breaks through the window, grabs the henchmen’s gun, and escapes with her. John tells Marlena that she is now involved and will have to leave Salem also.

4/25 John and Marlena check into a motel. Marlena demands to know why Victor is trying to kill John. He says he doesn’t know. She points out that she is as deeply involved as he is and if he knows something, she deserves to know. Marlena asks John if the surgeon who operated on him would know his true identity? John believes that he could be dead, but Marlena seems determined to find him. She calls Dr. Mark Peterson’s office, but does not get in touch with him directly. John remembers a man named Petrov. Marlena is shocked to hear this news, as Petrov was one of Stefano’s henchmen. Dr. Peterson returns the phone call. Dr. Peterson confirms that he did operate and has a picture of what he looked like before the surgery. They plan a meeting for the following morning. Ingrid is revealed to be in cahoots with the good Dr. Peterson.

They are both tired and get ready to go to sleep. John makes his bed on the floor and Marlena won’t hear of it. She insists that he sleep in the bed. They have a long drive tomorrow and he needs his rest. They both start undressing as he looks at her intently. She is already in bed and looks like she will be asleep very quickly. He takes off his tank top rather slowly. He gets into bed with her and he thanks her for everything he has done, and they look into each other’s eyes. She rolls over to go to sleep, showing the Phoenix tattoo on his shoulder though Marlena doesn’t see it as she is turned the other way.

4/28 John and Marlena check into a cabin under false names. Dr. Peterson informs them that he was in surgery later than expected and is going to arrive later than expected, Ingrid can now make her move.

4/29 Victor questions Neil about Marlena’s whereabouts. John goes in to take a shower, comes out to answer a phone call (presumably from Dr. Patterson). Marlena notices the phoenix tattoo on his right shoulder. She now believes that he is Stefano DiMera and grows noticeably nervous in his presence. Marlena tries to get John out of the cabin and he begins to worry. She tries brushing it off by saying she is hungry, but he isn’t convinced. Marlena finally convinces John to leave the cabin and desperately calls Bo. She tells Bo that John is really Stefano! Bo and Hope are on their way to help. She looks over and sees John standing in the doorway, clearly overhearing the entire call.

**The End**