"Alright. We're here." As he pulled the keys out of the engine, he noticed that the young journalist beside him had fallen asleep. Her head lay limp, hanging off her left shoulder, and her eyes were shut tightly. She must've been out for a while. He didn't blame her, though. She'd had a pretty rough day with the kidnapping with Blake and all. Not to mention the brutal beating in the confession room. He still could not seem to brush the image of her sprawled across the floor out of his mind. Even now her lip still looked a bit swollen and her cheek as well. Blake really knew how to pack 'em.

A dim light was cast over the car, allowing just enough brightness for Norman to examine her face . She closely resembled a porcelain doll. Prominent cheek bones and a sharp jaw line but yet delicately soft pale skin. In all his years of being an FBI agent Norman had never come across a suspect that he was so intrigued with. He quickly shook the admiration out of his mind and got out of the car.

I guess I'm gonna have to carry her. He thought to himself. He unbuckled her seat belt and gently wrapped one arm under her legs and caressed the other around her back. Using his hip to shut the door, he realized she wasn't as heavy as he'd expected. His opinion soon changed once he found himself practically having to haul her up the hotel stairs. Taking the elevator wasn't an option, seeing as he'd have to cross the lobby carrying a sleeping girl. He decided his best bet to get up there without being seen was to dash for the stairs and get up through there. Once past the first floor he could take the elevator.

Upon reaching the first floor , he was already panting. He dashed over to the opening elevator doors only to see that there was already another man in there, dressed in a baggy jacket and some navy blue sweat pants. Too late. Norman stepped inside the elevator and let out a nervous cough. "Floor 3 please." The man gave Norman and little smirk and pressed the button.

"Yeah. Definitely looks like your hands are full." He chuckled. Norman's face blushed a bright pink.
"O-oh. No you see... she fell asleep in the car.. and I.."

"No need to worry man, I got you." He replied slyly, and gave Norman a little wink. A shiver went up his spine. He sighed and turned away to face the wall, what would his opinion matter anyway? He looked like the slump type to do that kind of stuff on a daily basis anywho.

After what seemed like much too long, the man got off on the third floor. "You have fun, Y'hear?" He cackled as the elevator doors shut. Norman shook his head.

As he approached room 245, he realized he was faced with another dilemma. How was he going to get inside? Gently laying Nicole down, he grabbed his pass from his pocket and slid it through the lock on the door. It blinked green with joy and the lock was released. He then picked her up once again and carried her to the bed of the hotel room. "There you go… nice and cozy." He said, gently laying her down.

Norman let out a sigh of relief and looked around the room. It looked like it'd been cleaned while he was away. The towels he'd left on the floor were taken away and replaced with new ones hanging on the bathroom hooks, and the messy bed sheets had been neatly remade. But something was missing. Was it still under the head stand? His heart began to beat heavily. Norman dashed over and frantically stuck his hand under the desk, grabbing for a familiar vial. At last he pulled it out and his heart rate began to calm down. Probably not the best place to stash his last vial of tripto. His life practically depended on it. He decided to hide it in his coat pocket in case the other one ran out. He headed for the shower. Who knew how much stress it was to help a suspect escape a police station?

A few minutes after Norman had stepped into the shower, Nicole was beginning to wake up from her slumber. She turned over on her side and began to murmur something about it being cold. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself in unfamiliar surroundings. She slowly sat herself up straight and stretched her long arms, yawning. "Where the hell am I?" She wondered. Just then, flashbacks of the escape and Norman's face began to flood into her mind, and she realized he must've taken her to the hotel. How did he manage to get her up here? She stood up and clumsily knocked over Norman's trench coat that was lying on the bed. Out of one of its pockets rolled a little vial filled with a strange glowing blue substance. "Oh. What's that?" She leaned over and picked it up. What an odd thing to keep in his pocket. Was it some sort of chemical? Candy maybe? She flipped the vial around, closely examining it. The bathroom door unlocked, and out stepped a shirtless Norman, with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

"O-oh." The two stared at each other for a moment before both quickly looking away. "I didn't know you were awake… I would've put on a shirt. I-I mean I would have even if you weren't here but I… I didn't realize that you… I'll go now." He grabbed a tshirt and some boxers from his luggage and ran back into the bathroom. He could feel his cheeks burning up. Nicole sat still on the bed, aghast that she'd just seen a half naked FBI agent. It wasn't a bad thing though. No. Not at all.

A few moments passed before Norman stepped out of the bathroom, finally clothed.

"…Sorry about that." He mumbled, still very much embarrassed.
"Okay." She replied, and turned away to avoid further eye contact. Both of them could feel the awkward in the air. "Mr. Jayden." She finally started, "What's this?" She held up the vial of mysterious substance. Norman's heart practically stopped. He snatched it from her hand and shoved it into his pocket.

"W-where did you find this? It's mine. Don't go through my things!' He yelled. Nicole looked up in curiosity.

"Oh I'm sorry. It fell out of your pocket and I picked it up. Didn't mean to upset you or anything." Norman let out a long sigh and waved his hand.

"No , no , I'm sorry. It's just… I need this stuff. To live. And it'd be a horrible thing if anything had happened to it…"

"To live? Is it that important?" She asked

"Er.. Well you see…" Should I tell her? It can't hurt… It's better for her to know anyway, in case of emergency. He wrung his hands together. "It's a drug. But I only use it because of these ," He pulled out his ARI glasses from his pockets. "They cause headaches and other symptoms if I use 'em for too long. So this helps ease the pain."

Nicole nodded . "But isn't it dangerous?" Norman slipped the vial back into his coat pocket and headed towards his luggage.

"Yes… I suppose…Very dangerous."

"Then why do you use it?"

"I… I can't stop." There was another silence. There was a hint of regret in his voice. Nicole did not reply. "Listen, Nicole, you should wash up. You'll get sick if you stay like this. You can borrow my clothes if you'd like, there are clean towels over there." He pointed to the rack of white towels, freshly replaced.

"No , it's alright. I'll just use the blow dryer for my clothes." She said. "Hey," She turned to face him. "How did you get me up here anyway?"

"Oh…" He chuckled nervously. " I carried you of course." Her face flushed a light red.

"Oh. Well. Thanks for going through the trouble." She grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom. "Oh, and Norman," She stated. He looked up.

"Hm?"

"Be careful okay? Don't… get carried away with that… stuff." She stopped for a moment, then stepped into the bathroom and locked the door.

"Right… Be careful..." He repeated to himself, and zipped up the luggage.

FINALLY! AN UPDATE!

I'm sosososososo sorry for not updating sooner. I admit, this is way past due.

But I was so caught up with school and summer and I abused Norman's story ):

I promise I'll be more persistent with updating.

Enjoy! ~