Kermit and Mary Margaret Skalany joined the evidence team that had come to scrape up the blood from the floor and dust for fingerprints. Mary Margaret was bleary-eyed from being awakened from a sound sleep. Kermit's eyes, as usual, were unavailable for comment, safely hidden away behind his green sunglasses.

The pair approached Peter, who was sitting in a chair with his leg propped up. Peter gave them the full run down on what had happened. Skalany eyed his leg. "Do we know yet what was in that hypodermic needle that they jabbed you with?"

"Pop says he thinks it was some kind of anesthetic like Novocaine. No wonder my leg's asleep," he told them. "The squad already ran it downtown to the lab, so we'll know for sure in a couple of hours."

"Are you sure you don't want to run over to City Hospital and let them have a look?" Skalany asked him.

"What, and ruin my new record? Besides, I don't have any health insurance anymore, remember? This isn't serious, Skalany, trust me."

"And what about Dollface?' Kermit inquired, looking across the room to where Sarah sat holding a compress against her cheek.

"She'll be all right, Kermit. Apparently, the guy who was sent up here to leave us the message had no idea she was here. She had picked up a pestle, made from marble no less," Peter chuckled, "and when he grabbed her, she let him have it right in the nose. That's what accounts for the blood. Sarah said he didn't take too kindly to being popped in the face, and so he returned the favor, backhanding her right across the cheek. She was knocked for a loop temporarily, but she seems fine now." Peter silently blessed his father for his sense of timing. If today hadn't been a day for progress, Peter was unsure of how Sarah would have handled the events of this night.

Caine approached the group. He brought Kermit a written translation of the message that had been left for them. Peter snatched it from Kermit's hand and began to read: Priest, mind your own business or next time the hypo will have something different in it. Your son will die just like the rest.

"That's what I thought it said," Peter informed his father. Caine shrugged. "Pop, you don't have to protect me from this. I'm a big boy now, remember?" Peter flashed his brands to his father.

"But you will always be my son," Caine told him.

After getting very little sleep for the rest of the night Peter decided to have breakfast with his father. When Peter arrived he found Sarah massaging the feet of an elderly Chinese woman. He recognized her as Mrs. Woo, who ran a small market down the street. Peter first greeted the woman, "Qing wen ni hao jintian, Woo taitai?" (May I ask how are you today, Mrs. Woo?).

"Wo hao, Xiao Caine, xiexie." (I am fine, Young Caine, thank you.)

With a bow to Mrs. Woo, Peter turned to address Sarah.

"How's your face feeling this morning?" he asked her.

"I'm sure it looks worse than it feels," she told him, not pausing in her work. "Your father put a liniment on it earlier, so that should help." Peter was not quite sure of her emotional state, but this was not the time to discuss it. "How about you? How's your leg?" she asked him.

"Fine. It woke up a few hours ago, so no problems there. Kermit just called me to let me know that Pop hit the nail right on the head. It was Novocaine." Peter invited his father to join him for breakfast at a local café. He didn't want to discuss the case in front of Sarah. Caine gave Sarah a few final instructions on Mrs. Woo's treatment, and then he left with Peter.

After breakfast Peter and his father parted company at the café. Peter wanted to prepare for the day's classes and he also felt a need to spend some time in meditation. He was starting to feel like there were loose ends all around him, and he needed to center himself. There was something about this case that Peter couldn't put his finger on; it was eluding him. Maybe with a clear mind, the answer would reveal itself to him.

It was lunchtime when Peter headed back upstairs to his apartment. He went out onto the fire escape to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. He thought about the fact that the intruders had used the same method of entry he preferred himself. Well, Pop doesn't believe in locks, Peter mused.

Suddenly he was aware of the fact that he was hungry. He wondered what Sarah planned for lunch. Maybe he could get the chance to see how she was really holding up after last night. He scrambled up the fire escape to the terrace and looked for her in his father's apartment, but she wasn't there. He was just about to cross the hallway to her room but stopped to run his fingers along the gash in the door where the knife had held the note. Peter got a flash of a group of scared young women. That was all. Peter shook his head. "What was that all about?" he muttered.

He was distracted by the wonderful sound of laughter coming from Sarah's room. It was delightful, a sound of liquid sunshine. It was not the little chuckle that she had allowed herself the night before when talking about her flower shirts, no, this was full-belly, drive-the-darkness-away laughter. Peter was enthralled. It was the first time he had heard her laugh like this. He wondered what could have tickled her funnybone so much.

He crossed the hallway and rapped on the door. "Sarah? It's me, Peter."

"Come on in, Peter," called a voice that did not belong to Sarah. It was Skalany. She and Sarah sat at the small table and chairs that Sarah had placed in her room. They were having lunch, and Peter assumed they were sharing girl-talk. He was glad that Skalany was befriending her - but then he recalled the conversation over dinner last night.

When Sarah saw Peter, she clamped her hand over her mouth, but giggling still escaped from it. Peter looked at Skalany suspiciously. "Okay, what exactly is so funny?" he demanded.

Sarah choked on her words, trying to speak around her laughter and her hand, "Oh, no, Mary Margaret, you can't tell him!" She began to blush furiously.

Skalany was pleased with the reaction she had created, and she was not about to let Peter off the hook. Tormenting Peter Caine was one of her favorite pastimes, and she didn't get to indulge in it very often now that he had left the force. "Actually, Partner, I was just telling Sarah about that time during the robbery in the bakery..."

"You didn't?" Peter hoped she was pulling his leg, but he looked at Sarah's renewed spasms of silent laughter and realized that Skalany was telling the truth. She had, indeed, told Sarah about the time he had shed all his clothes to confuse some robbers. It sounded drastic, but the plan had been effective. Peter began to blush now, too.

"Well, look at that," Skalany announced, "If I weren't seeing it with my own eyes, I would have never believed it. Peter Caine, you are blushing!"

Peter attempted to gather his shredded dignity around himself. Funny, but he felt more naked now then he had in the bakery. "I don't have to stand here and be treated like this," he informed the women. "I'm leaving." Peter walked out and closed the door, stopping to listen to the renewed laughter he left behind. He smiled. He wasn't mad at Skalany, though he did wish she could have chosen a story that wasn't quite so...revealing. Sarah's laughter was a bonus to a plan that had actually worked well to help him catch some bad guys. He walked away from the door feeling quite content.

Later that afternoon Peter returned to the kwoon to prepare for his after school class with some of the neighborhood children. He was still mulling over the feeling that he was on the edge of discovering something critical to the Chinese businessmen murder case.

When he entered the kwoon he was surprised to see that a number of his students were already there. Sarah was seated on the floor, surrounded by children who were working on homework. As Peter entered, the children scrambled to their feet and said, "Good afternoon, Sifu," as they bowed to him.

Peter smiled at them. He was enjoying this part of being a Shaolin priest. "Good afternoon, students," he responded. "What's going on here?"

Sarah bowed to him, the model of respect though her face was turning scarlet. "Just homework, Sifu. Now, children, I must return to my duties in the apothecary. With your permission, Sifu?" she asked Peter.

Peter returned the bow to her. "Yes, you may go, Sarah."

When Sarah left, Peter pumped the children for more information. He discovered that she had been helping them for the past week with their schoolwork. The children called her "Hwa-ren," the Flower Lady, because of the shirts she always wore. He also discovered that on days when the children did not have class with him, if the weather were good, Sarah met them in the local park after school was dismissed. Peter was glad that the local children had taken a shine to Sarah. If they accepted her, their parents were more likely to accept her. Peter knew the Chinese community was generally distrustful of "Waigworen," foreigners.

Peter put his students through their paces for the next hour. Just as class was almost over, Kermit walked into the kwoon. He leaned against the wall and watched as Peter dismissed the children. Several of them stopped to hug him as they went out the door of the kwoon.

"Looks like you've got quite a fan club started," Kermit said as the last child left.

"Oh, yeah," Peter replied. "What news do you have?" Peter settled into seriousness. He knew Kermit wasn't here to see how his kung fu classes were going.

Kermit informed Peter that they had a lead on who was behind the case. It was a Chinese "Mafia" leader named Li Su Zhao. He lived in China, but his business ties reached just about every country in the world. They were still not sure on the product he was smuggling, but they had staked out several of his known local henchmen.

Peter walked Kermit out to the Kermitmobile, promising again that he would continue to assist on this case as much as he could. After all, the threat had become personal last night. Peter and Kermit were surprised to find several of Peter's students clustered around Kermit's car. It seemed they were fascinated by the color of it.

"What do you expect from a frogman?" Kermit leered at the children. They giggled and ran off up the street. "Let's try and wrap this case up, huh, Pete? I've got a really bad feeling about this one," Kermit told his friend.

"Well, Li Su Zhao is not someone to be taken lightly, Kermit. If he's in on this, then this is a very big deal." Peter thought about mentioning the image he'd had this afternoon, but he decided against it. He didn't know if it was related to the case or not. Peter watched as Kermit drove off, then went back inside the kwoon.

Several hours later, after working himself past the point of tired, Peter went upstairs to his apartment to shower. He checked his answering machine for messages; there were none. He had somewhat expected to hear from Mary Margaret, with an apology for her snitching on him today. Peter decided it was still worth it even without an apology. He would have gladly paid more to hear Sarah laugh like that again.

Sarah wasn't laughing when Peter swung himself onto the terrace. She was on her hands and knees, scrubbing the brick floor of the terrace. "Uh, oh, what'd you do?" Peter asked her. "I recognize this; this is Pop's favorite form of punishment for misbehaving students. I spent more than my fair share of time scrubbing the temple floors when I was younger."

"We had a disagreement," Sarah told him, sitting back on her heels. "Your father did not appreciate what I had to say, nor the way I said it."

"Where is Pop now?"

"He's gone. That's what we argued about. He left you a note on the worktable," Sarah informed him.

"He's gone? And he left me a note? He never leaves me a note." Peter was very taken aback that his father had decided to leave so soon after they had received a threatening message. Peter walked into the apothecary to retrieve the note from the worktable. It was written in Chinese. "I don't believe it," Peter muttered. "For the first time, he leaves me a note and then he writes it in a language he knows I don't read well."

"He did it on purpose," Sarah said smugly, returning the scrub bucket and brush to their proper places. "He did it so you would have to go see Lo Si. I think he also did it so I couldn't read it, not that I would have," she quickly added.

"Oh he did, did he? Well, I think I'll just go have Lo Si read this to me right now."

"Peter, I don't think your father's gone far. I have this feeling that he's trying to lay low, make these bad guys think he's no threat to them so they won't come after you."

Peter looked at her thoughtfully. "You know, you may be right about that, but one never knows with my Pop. He's got this serious wanderlust and it strikes at the most unusual times. Then, poof, he's gone and you don't know when you'll see him again." Peter looked at Sarah's solemn face. "But, he will be back. You'll see. He has the most wonderful knack for showing up just when you need him the most."

"I need him now," Sarah murmured softly. Peter could relate to the ache she was feeling. He had felt it many times himself.

"Hey," he responded, catching Sarah carefully under the chin and raising her face until she looked him in the eye, "He wouldn't have gone if he didn't think you were ready to stand on your own two feet for a little while. And I'll be here for you," he told her.

"Yes, you will," she retorted, "Because your father left you in charge of me! Like I needed a babysitter! I'm sure the note spells out exactly what your duties are concerning me." Sarah was rather perturbed over the whole thing.

"Look, Sarah, let's not jump to any conclusions, okay? I'm going to go have Lo Si read this to me, and we'll discuss it later." Peter picked up the note and left, leaving Sarah alone to her thoughts.

Lo Si confirmed what Sarah had told him. Caine had left Peter in charge of her with the exception of her apothecary duties, which Lo Si was to oversee. Peter was responsible to continue all other aspects of her training while his father was gone.

"I don't believe this," Peter muttered. "Lo Si, what was he thinking?"

"He was thinking that you are now a teacher, Young Peter, not a student any longer. Though you will never stop learning, it is time for you to pass on the knowledge that you have obtained."

"Yes, but I've been doing that," Peter protested. "I'm teaching her kung fu, and I've helped her to make a lot of emotional progress."

"So you have, Young Caine. But she has been your father's responsibility. Now, she is yours. Your father also wanted me to remind you of what emotion often follows close on the heels of fear," Lo Si told him.

"And that is?" Peter asked.

"Anger, Peter, anger. Your father wanted you to be prepared for the anger which will follow as Sarah moves away from her fear to the next stage on her journey of healing."

Peter walked back to the Caine building (as he had begun to think of it) slowly. He was enjoying the cool night air. He began to plan what he would teach Sarah during his father's absence. Meditation would be a good place to start, he thought. Maybe that will help her continue on her journey. Peter didn't think the Ancient and his father were right about the anger issue. Peter had seen fear in Sarah, and sorrow, but he just didn't think he would ever see her angry. I never thought I'd hear my father raise his voice, either, Peter told himself. Maybe I better be ready just in case.

For two days things proceeded quite well. Lo Si came to the apothecary each morning to instruct Sarah on herbs and treatments. He oversaw her as she worked with several patients. Peter worked with her in kung fu, and he began to teach her meditation. She had great difficulty centering herself. Peter began to see himself as a student through a whole new light. He was amazed at the things he learned while teaching others. It helped to focus things more clearly for him.

On the third day, everything changed. Peter was meditating in the kwoon when several of his young students came running in, breathing hard. "Sifu Peter, Sifu Peter," they all began to clamor for his attention at once.

Peter jumped to his feet. "Boys, boys," he began. "Now, you know that is no way to enter the kwoon..."

The children cut him off, "But Master Peter, it's Hwa-ren. She is in trouble!"

"What? Where?" Peter demanded.

"In the park, Sifu. Hurry!"

Peter rushed from the kwoon and jumped into the Stealth, which was parked out front. Tires squealing, he headed to the nearby park where Sarah often met the children in the afternoon. All types of scenarios were going through his head, but he was still unprepared for what he found when he got there.

First he saw the Kermitmobile, surrounded by more of his little students. What is Kermit doing here? Peter wondered, as he guided the Stealth to a stop next to the green Corvair. There was also a squad car and an ambulance in the park. Peter's old impulsive nature crept back to the surface as he ran to find out what was happening, pausing only long enough to instruct his students to stay where they were.

It was Mary Margaret who stopped him. "Peter! Over here!" She beckoned to him. Skalany was standing next to the squad car, which pulled away with a suspect in the back as Peter approached.

"Skalany, what the hell's going on? What are you and Kermit doing here? Where the hell is Sarah?" Peter fired off questions without letting Mary Margaret answer.

"Which question would you like me to answer first?" Skalany asked him sarcastically.

"Any of them! All of them." Peter ran his hand through his hair. Skalany had not seen him this frazzled since before he had quit the force.

"Peter, calm down first. You'll do Sarah no good in this condition."

Peter closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. He focused his chi, calming his body and regaining control of his emotions. He reopened his eyes to see Skalany watching him closely. "Okay, Skalany, give."

Mary Margaret began to tell Peter exactly what had happened. She and Kermit had been on their way to see him about the case when several small children flagged them down. They were Peter's students, and they had recognized the Kermitmobile. The children proceeded to explain that Sarah was in trouble.

Apparently, the children and Sarah had been playing in the park when they observed a man beating a woman. The children said Sarah had stood quietly for a moment, then she had instructed them to go get Sifu Peter as she moved to intervene in the situation herself.

"She didn't wait for me?" Peter complained.

"No, Peter. She didn't wait for backup; she just rushed in herself. Remind you of anyone you know?" Skalany couldn't resist pointing out the similarity in the situations. She could see Peter was really angry and she didn't want him coming down on Sarah too hard.

"Where is she now?" Peter wanted to know.

"She's over there by the ambulance," Skalany told him, "but Peter..."

Peter was no longer listening; he was trotting across the park to the ambulance. As he got closer he could see Sarah standing there with Kermit at her side. She was holding an ice pack over her right eye.

Peter descended upon them like a sudden storm. "What were you thinking!" he yelled at Sarah. Sarah dropped the ice pack and slid behind Kermit, leaving him in between her and Peter.

"Now, Kid, just calm down," Kermit began.

"Calm down! Kermit, look at her! She's a mess!" Peter could now see the shiner Sarah was developing. Her clothes were disheveled and there was dirt and grass in her hair.

"I've had worse then this many times!" Sarah shouted at him from behind the safety of Kermit's back.

"Not while you were in my care!" Peter yelled back as he reached around Kermit to grab Sarah by the arm. Kermit slid his glasses down his nose and met Peter eye to eye.

"You don't want to do that, Peter," he growled, his voice dark with warning.

Peter let go of Sarah's arm. He continued to lock gazes with Kermit for a few moments more. When Kermit was satisfied that Peter had a grip on himself, he pushed his glasses back into their proper position. He then gently pulled Sarah around in front of him. She was gazing down at the ground, refusing to look up at Peter.

"Why don't you take her home now?" Kermit suggested. "We have all the information we need from her for now, and besides, you're making a spectacle of yourself." Peter followed Kermit's gaze to where his young students stood looking at them. Their mouths were dropped open and their eyes were wide.

"Great, just great," Peter muttered. "Come on, Sarah, we'll continue this discussion at home." Sarah meekly began to follow him to the Stealth. Kermit accompanied them as the Corvair was parked next to the Stealth.

"Sarah, why don't you wait in the car for Peter," Kermit suggested. "I'd like to talk to him for minute." Sarah nodded her head. "I'll be by to check on you later," he told her.

Once Sarah was out of earshot, Kermit turned on Peter. "That was not exactly the Shaolin priest I was expecting to see," he informed him. "What was it you told me that day you tried to introduce us? 'She's been abused and she doesn't trust easily?' Has it occurred to you that you may have damaged that trust with your little act just now?"

Peter was not about to back down at this point. "She's my student, and I'll speak to her as I see fit," he replied smugly.

"All right, but I will be by to check on her later. Why don't you get all the facts before you jump all over her? Did you see what the woman she tried to rescue looked like?" Peter shook his head. "Then come over here and have a look for yourself."

Kermit took Peter back to the far side of the ambulance where the EMT's were tending to a young Chinese woman. She couldn't have been more than 16. She had a large gash across her forehead. She was unconscious. Her nose was bloody and she had bruises on both her cheeks.

"Is she going to be okay?" Peter asked the EMT.

"We think so, Sir," he told Peter. "We'll be taking her to City Hospital. Sometimes it's hard to tell with head wounds. They're tricky things; you never know exactly how they'll turn out."

Peter turned back to Kermit. "Okay, I get the picture. Where's the perp? Was that him I saw in the squad car? How's he look right now?"

Kermit chuckled. "If you're asking did your student do any damage, the answer is, oh, yeah. He's got a black eye to match hers. And yes, he's already gone downtown."

"Okay. I'm going to take her home now. Thanks, Kermit." Peter was genuinely grateful that Kermit had been there for Sarah.

When Peter returned to the car, he found Sarah cradling her head in her hands. "Head hurts, huh?" he said. "Maybe we should just take you over to City Hospital and let them have a look at you."

Sarah snapped her head up and looked at him with her one good eye. "No hospitals! We have everything we need to take care of this back at the apothecary." She decided to soften her approach, "Please?"

"All right. Home it is," Peter agreed as he directed the Stealth towards home.

Peter guided her up the stairs and into the apothecary, settling her on a stool. He began by giving her some ice to put on her eye. He then poked around the herbs for a moment, snapped his fingers and said, "I'll be right back. Keep that ice on there."

When he returned he had two small capsules, which he handed to Sarah with a glass of water. "Take these," he instructed her. "These are from my own personal stash. This herb really works, but I just can't stand it in tea form."

Sarah sniffed the capsules. "Phew, Peter, valerian? Do you know what will happen if I take both of these?" she quizzed him.

"As a matter of fact, I do. You'll get all nice and relaxed and maybe, if I'm lucky, you'll fall asleep! Now, take them!"

Sarah could see that Peter was on edge. She had never seen him like this, so she decided to humor him. She took the capsules and handed him the empty water glass. "There. Satisfied?"

"No, not yet," he answered. "Where else are you hurt?"

Sarah pulled up the right leg of her pants and exposed a skinned shin. "Uh, huh, I see you were blocking with your leg again, weren't you?" Peter asked his student. She nodded. "Now you know why I've told you time and time again not to do that. Maybe now you'll work harder at stopping that bad habit."

Peter retrieved a bottle from his father's shelf. He took a piece of cotton and doused it with the liquid. "This is going to sting like a son of a gun," Peter informed her just before he rubbed the tincture on her shin. Sarah inhaled sharply as Peter applied the medicine.

"Yow! You can say that again!" she exclaimed.

"It hurts, but it works. The pain will go away in a few minutes, but hopefully this will help prevent a big bruise from forming on your shin." Peter pulled back so he could see her face and looked at Sarah carefully. "Now, what about your back?"

Sarah looked up at him, startled. She had hoped that he hadn't noticed that her back was bothering her. "My...my back is fine, Peter," she lied.

"Why don't I just take a little look to be sure?" he asked, moving around behind her.

"NO!" Sarah bolted off the stool and halfway across the room. She turned to confront Peter with a wild look on her face. "I said my back is fine! There's nothing wrong with it." Peter could see she was working herself into a panic, and he needed to reel her in.

"Sarah!" he said sharply. "If there is something wrong with your back..." he pointed a finger to silence her protest before it even got started, "then I need to have a look at it."

Sarah still refused to cooperate. "Peter, really, it's nothing. It's just a bruise. Give me the tincture and I'll put some on myself. Really, I will."

Peter could feel his last shred of patience slipping away. "That's it, Sarah. Now I mean it. Get yourself over on Pop's futon and lay down so I can take a look." Peter moved across the floor and caught her by arm. This time Kermit was not there to stop him. He pulled her over to the futon and pushed her into a sitting position. "This is no time for modesty," he told her. "I may not be as good as you or Pop at this, but for right now you can consider me a healer. Now lay down."

Silent tears began to flow down Sarah's face and Peter felt guilt tug at his heart. Still, he knew that back injuries of any kind were not to be taken lightly. He had to see it.

Sarah finally conceded the fight. Peter could see the spark go out in her eyes as she turned and lay down across the futon, hiding her face by pressing it into the corner. Peter sat down next to her and gently lifted the flower-print shirt to the middle of her back - and was shocked at what he saw.

It was not today's injury that she had been attempting to hide from him. "Battle scars," Peter whispered. Her back was a mess of scars. Some were long and thin. Some were round. Peter began to feel slightly nauseous. No wonder she hadn't wanted him to check her back. His hands began to matter-of-factly tend to the large bruise in the middle of her back, applying the tincture to it. As he did, his mind was reeling. Whatever this woman had been through, it was even worse than he had imagined - and being an ex-cop he had seen a lot.

He could feel that Sarah was crying silently beneath his hands. He felt like an absolute idiot. He had no idea of what he could say to her to make up for this. So he didn't even try. He just caressed her back, trying to soothe her, to let her know that he wasn't put off by what he saw there. Slowly, he felt her body begin to relax and her silent sobbing tapered off. It was replaced by slow, even breathing, and Peter was grateful that she had fallen asleep. "Thank you, valerian root," he muttered, as he lowered her shirt and stood up.

Peter moved to the meditation room and lit several candles. He needed to get a grip on himself, to work out what he had just seen. What he really wanted to do was go downstairs and punch the stuffing out of the heavy bag. But he didn't want to leave Sarah alone, so he would have to settle for meditating.

It was a little while later when a knock came on the door. Peter opened the door to find Kermit standing in the hallway.

"Come on in, Kermit," Peter muttered tiredly.

"You look like you've been through the wringer," Kermit told him. "Did Dollface give you a hard time when you got back here?"

"Something like that," Peter replied. "Kermit, come here. There's something I want your opinion on." Peter led him over to the futon where Sarah was still asleep. "Take a look at this," he said, raising Sarah's shirt so Kermit could see the scars. "What do you think he used to do this?"

Kermit gave a low whistle as Peter replaced Sarah's shirt. "I'd say abuse was a mild term to describe that, Peter. I'd call it torture." Kermit was intimately familiar with these types of battle scars. His own body carried reminders of various missions, but then one expected that in his line of work. Kermit didn't think that Sarah's background should have qualified her for inclusion in the club. "I'd say it was a belt, about 1-inch wide, and the round ones are cigarette burns. Actually, though, I'm not completely shocked to see this."

"You're not?" Peter could not believe his ears.

"No. I've seen the police file on her ex-husband's arrest and I've read the trial transcript. Not a pretty picture. And speaking of pictures, there were those, too, taken of her in the hospital right after they arrested him."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Peter demanded.

"I figured it would be better for her if she told you herself. I'm serious, Pete, you want any more info, you ask her yourself. Now, let's talk about the case."

Peter and Kermit went out on the terrace so their continued talking would not disturb Sarah. Kermit told Peter that they now knew what was being smuggled.

"It's not 'what,' Pete, it's 'who,'" Kermit informed him. It seemed that Li Su Zhao's new import/export business involved illegal Chinese immigrants in this direction, and western women in the other.

"What?" Peter asked, not quite sure he understood.

"He's dealing in the slave trade, Pete. He's kidnapping young western women and shipping them to China to be sold to the bigwig men there who seem to have lost their appetite for Chinese women. Too much t.v. apparently."

Peter suddenly saw the image of a group of young, scared women again. So, the vision did have to do with this case. "Any other leads?" he asked Kermit.

"We've got a few possible locations that his thugs might be working out of, but nothing solid yet. Looks like there's going to be a lot of cops on stakeout over the next week."

Kermit and Peter both looked at the terrace doorway as Sarah appeared there, bleary-eyed. Kermit looked from Sarah to Peter and decided that it was time for him to leave.

"Well, I gotta be going now," he informed them both. To Sarah he said, "Dollface, you really need to pay more attention in Peter's class before you go busting up anymore bad guys, okay?" He reached out and gently touched her cheek.

"Oh, yeah," Sarah told him somberly. Kermit smiled at her.

"I'll catch you both later," he assured them as he left. Sarah and Peter were left alone, staring at each other. Neither of them knew quite where to begin.

Peter started with an apology. "Sarah, I'm really sorry I pushed you like that. I should have known better. But it really had to be done, and now maybe we can pick up and go on from here?" he asked her.

Sarah leaned on the terrace wall and looked out over the city. "Peter," she began, "I think it's time I told you the whole story. I want to get it all out in the open, no more secrets between us. Then you can decide if you still want to be my teacher - and my friend."

"Sarah, there's nothing that you could tell me that will make me want to stop being either your teacher or friend. That's what being a friend is all about, helping each other through the rough times. Did you see Kermit today? He would probably walk through fire for me. I know he's pulled my butt from some bad situations in the past. That's a friend, Sarah. So don't think anything you're going to tell me is going to shock me. I used to be a cop, remember? I have seen the ugly side of humanity far too many times."

Sarah began to fill in the details she had omitted from her first sharing session with Peter. She told him how her husband had shown his true colors immediately after their wedding ceremony. She hid her face as she described her first night as a married woman. She described a life of no hope and only pain and despair with no way out. She told Peter of the one thing that had finally brought a ray of sunshine into her dark life and finally made her plot a way to get away from her abusive situation.

Her eyes glazed over, and she remembered:

Sarah looked down at the home pregnancy test in astonishment and fear. It was positive! Frankie was going to be furious! She quickly hid the packaging and test itself on the bottom of the garbage, which she then tied up and took outside to the can. She could not risk Frankie finding it.

After she had gotten rid of the evidence, she sat down to think about what she was going to do. A baby! She couldn't believe it. How could this have happened? She was always so careful not to forget the pills. There was no way she wanted to bring a baby into a household like hers. And Frankie had expressly forbid it anyway. She thought ruefully, he'll probably blame this all on me, anyway. Like it happened without him.

Sarah thought about having a baby. She came to the conclusion fairly quickly that this was finally the last straw. She could not stay with Frankie any longer. It wasn't just her own life in danger now; it was her child's as well.

For the next two weeks, she bided her time and plotted her escape. Frankie generally left work and went right to the bar, not coming home until he was drunk. Friday nights he usually stayed out even later and, as luck would have it, early Friday evening was when there was a bus out of town.

Sarah planned to be on that bus tonight. She wondered what had taken her this long to decide to risk leaving. She had her bags packed and ready in the living room. Now all she had to do was wait. She headed for the bathroom for a last "pit stop" before she left.

The front door slammed open, and Frankie stormed into the house. He had gotten into trouble at work earlier, so he had decided that he would pay his wife a little visit before he headed off to the bar. A little go 'round with the wench was just what he needed, he thought.

Frankie skidded to a stop when he saw the two packed suitcases in the living room. It took a moment for the meaning of it to register. "SARAH!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Get your butt in here, girl!"

Sarah froze in terror. "Of all days, why did he have to come home early today?" she asked herself and the fates.

Frankie bellowed again. Sarah hurried out to the living room while trying to come up with a good explanation of the suitcases. "What the hell is this?" Frankie demanded, pointing to the suitcases.

"Uh, Frankie, it's just some stuff that I'm giving to the mission!" Sarah tried to get out of it. Frankie, however, did not believe her. He grabbed the first suitcase and dumped the contents on the living room floor.

"This doesn't look like stuff for the mission, wench!" Frankie yelled. He grabbed Sarah by her long hair and forced her to her knees. Once she was kneeling in front of him, he backhanded her across the mouth. As she fell over on the floor, he kicked her.

Sarah cried out, "No, Frankie, don't! I'm pregnant!" She regretted the words the moment they were out of her mouth. They infuriated Frankie even more. He began to curse her and call her names, accused her of having an affair. He pummeled her with his fists. He removed his belt and used it on her. Mercifully, Sarah was unconscious before long.

"He beat me that night so badly that when they took me to the hospital, they called the chaplain right away. They didn't expect me to live."

"I had a fractured skull, a broken arm, a broken leg, and five broken ribs, one of which punctured my lung. Needless to say, I also had a miscarriage. I was in a coma for three weeks, and when I woke up, the hospital discovered, to their shock, that I now had an absolutely irrational fear of men. No male doctor could even set foot in my room. Heck, even the janitor in the hall outside my room would start me screaming. When I had recovered physically, they sent me to the funny farm, a place, I might add, that really isn't very funny."

"That's where I met your father." Sarah paused in her storytelling to look at Peter. She was trying to gauge his reaction to the news that she had been in a mental institution. His face was unreadable. He was doing his best to contain himself, to digest all this information without hurting her further.

She continued her story, recalling how she had met Kwai Chang Caine:

Sarah sat on a bench in the hospital's gardens. She liked being out in the gardens among all the plants and flowers. She felt peaceful there. Very few patients went out there, and the staff seemed to be too busy to appreciate them.

Sarah closed her eyes, letting the warm sunshine beat down onto her face. When she opened her eyes a few minutes later she discovered a beautiful flower lying in her lap. She looked around to see who could have put it there without her noticing. A gardener stood several yards from her, trimming a bush. When he noticed her looking at him, he bowed to her. She picked up the flower and bowed her head in return.

Several days later the gardener approached her again, holding out another flower to her. "A beautiful flower for a beautiful lady," he told her, again bowing to her. Sarah reached out and accepted the flower. Two nurses who were watching from a distance quickly ran up to the pair.

"Mr. Caine, would you come with me?" one of them asked, taking his arm and quickly moving away with him. The other nurse sat down next to Sarah, taking hold of her hands.

"Are you okay, Sweetie?" she inquired, concerned.

"What a lovely gentleman," Sarah responded. It was the first time the staff had seen her interact with any man without screaming in terror. The gardener was soon drafted to become part of Sarah's therapy.

Sarah stopped talking. She had to know what Peter was thinking. "Peter? Do you have any questions you want to ask?"

"How did they find you that night? Who was it that finally came to your rescue?" Peter was clenching and unclenching his fists in an effort to contain himself. More than ever before, he wanted to catch up with Sarah's ex-husband in a dark alley somewhere.

"Would you believe it was the paperboy?" Sarah inquired. "The poor kid. He stopped by every Friday night to collect his money and that Friday he got a real eyeful when he came to the front door. He ran to the neighbors and called the police, but by the time they got there, Frankie was gone. That was okay, though. They knew exactly where to find him."

"I can't believe no one had intervened before it got that bad," Peter said.

"It was a small town, Peter. Lots of stuff like that gets overlooked in a small town. The cops had been by before, and told Frankie not to do it again, but they all knew there'd be a next time. I wasn't going to press charges when I knew he'd be out the next day and I would only get it worse. Such as it was, I was always glad to be alive and having Frankie arrested seemed to me to be a sure way to get dead fast."

Peter was finally getting some insight into what it must have been like for her. He just couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. "Come here," he ordered gently, holding his arms open to her.

That invitation was all she needed. She threw herself into his arms, glad to know that he still accepted her, even knowing all the truth about her past.

Peter held her for a few moments, then gently moved her away from him, so he could look at her. "I'm sorry I jumped on you today for getting involved in that woman's beating. It took a lot of courage to do it. I'm proud of you, but if you tell Pop I said so, I'll deny it," Peter told her, attempting to lighten the mood. "Besides, you forgot the most important rule, again! You are in for some heavy duty work-outs, Lady."

Sarah went to bed that night reassured that her place was secure, that Peter would still be her friend and teacher.

The black van cruised the streets of Chinatown, a hunter stalking its prey. No one seemed to notice it. During the day it made several passes in front of Peter Caine's kwoon.

The two men in the van were low-level employees of Li Su Zhao. Their task was to find several more attractive western women to be included in the next shipment. It didn't make sense to Dan Lin that they were cruising in Chinatown.

"But, Jimmy, why are we looking for western women here in Chinatown? You know there aren't very many of them around here," Dan questioned his partner.

"Because I have a particular woman in mind, Lin. She broke my nose, and now she's going to pay. It'll serve that Priest right, too."

Dan Lin was not happy. "Jim, you know Mr. Guo said to leave the Priest's son alone now that he left town. Mr. Guo isn't going to like this." Dan knew what happened to people who crossed Mr. Guo and he didn't want to be on the receiving end.

Jimmy Wang was focused on only one thing. He would have his revenge on the woman who broke his nose. And he would serve Mr. Guo and Li Su Zhao while doing it. "The boss said to leave the Priest's kid alone. He didn't say nothing about the girl."

Lo Si and Sarah walked the street of Chinatown, each lost in their own quiet contemplation. They greeted the local people, stopping to admire a plant or a photo of a new child. Lo Si was glad to see that the people were accepting Sarah. She had much to offer them.

When they passed the shop of Mr. Lee, Lo Si suddenly remembered that Mr. Lee had asked him to stop in the next time he was in the area. "Sarah," Lo Si began, "I must stop and see Mr. Lee for a moment. Will you come in with me?"

"No, Lo Si, that's all right. I'll wait out here for you. It's such a lovely day; I don't want to waste a minute of time that I can be outside in the sun." Hwa-ren was truly a good nickname for her, for like all flowers, she loved the sunshine.

Lo Si bowed to Sarah and entered the shop. Sarah leaned up against the corner of the building, watching the people pass by. She was amazed that only a few weeks ago she had watched this same sight from Caine's terrace, content to stay up there and watch from afar. She had come a long way since joining Kwai Chang Caine.

She let her thoughts wander to Caine. Where could he be? she wondered, and when will he be back? She was enjoying her work with Peter and Lo Si, but Caine was her anchor and she was worried that she might drift in his absence.

Suddenly Sarah was abruptly brought back from her musings. She was grabbed from behind and dragged into the alley on the side of Mr. Lee's shop. A wicked knife was pressed against her throat, and a voice growled in her ear, "So, we meet again." A cloth was pressed to Sarah's nose and she found herself losing consciousness.

When Lo Si left Mr. Lee's shop he expected to find Sarah waiting for him where he had left her. But she was not there. Instead, what Lo Si found was a knife stuck in the side of the building. Lo Si shook his head. He had been dishonored. Sarah had been taken during his watch. He went back into Mr. Lee's shop to have him call the police.

It was Kermit who was dispatched to pick up Peter and bring him to the crime scene. He dreaded telling Peter that Sarah was gone. It seemed to Kermit that Sarah had replaced Peter as a trouble-magnet. "It's only been three days since that little fiasco in the park," Kermit mused, "and now I have to tell Pete that she's missing." Kermit wondered which Peter would respond this time. Would it be Peter, the priest, or Peter, the still somewhat impulsive man? Kermit hoped he would keep his cool. It was going to take all their combined talents to clean up this mess.

The Corvair glided to a stop outside the kwoon. Kermit paused outside to gather himself, then he walked inside the kwoon. Peter was nowhere to be seen. Kermit climbed the steps to the second floor, checking Peter's apartment. He was not there, either. He began to climb the stairs to the third floor when Peter came running down them at full tilt, nearly colliding with him. Peter had seen Kermit arrive from the terrace. "Whoa, Buddy, slow down!" Kermit steadied him.

"What's going on now, Kermit?" Peter demanded. "Please, tell me it's not Sarah again." He had a gut instinct that his request would be denied.

"Sorry, Pete, no can do. It is Sarah. She's been snatched," Kermit told him. He watched Peter's face slowly turn white. "Come on, Kid, I'll take you to the scene."

The area around the corner of Mr. Lee's shop had been cordoned off with the standard yellow police tape. Kermit lifted it up, and he and Peter ducked under it. Lo Si was standing in the doorway of the shop. Peter approached him first.

"Lo Si, what happened?" he asked the old man.

"Peter, I am sorry. I went into the shop to speak with Mr. Lee and when I came out, she was gone." Peter reached out and touched him on the arm to reassure him.

"It's okay, Lo Si. It wasn't your fault. We'll find her." Lo Si knew that Peter was trying to reassure himself as well.

Peter walked to the corner of the building and looked at the knife stuck there. It was the same type of knife they had discovered with the message in his father's apartment. Peter's stomach turned a summersault. He didn't like the direction this was going in. A police photographer snapped a shot of the knife. Kermit joined Peter. "Kermit, has that thing been dusted for prints yet?" Peter found it very easy to slip back into his police-persona.

"Yeah. It's clean. They must have been gloved," Kermit replied.

"All right, then," Peter told him. "I need to handle it." Kermit looked at him. Peter knew full well the rules regarding crime scene evidence, but if he said he needed to handle it, then Kermit wasn't going to stand in his way. He'd often seen Caine gather information just by touching objects.

"Go ahead, Pete. Do whatever you need to do."

Peter grasped the knife by the handle and yanked it from the building. He looked at it carefully, turning the blade over in his hands. Peter closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the knife. Images began to fill his mind. He again saw a cluster of frightened young women. Then, he saw Sarah attack the intruder, hitting him in the face with the marble pestle. The final image he had was of this knife, pressed against Sarah's throat.

Peter opened his eyes and found Kermit looking at him intently. "Anything?" Kermit asked him.

"Oh, yeah, Kermit. This is definitely the work of Li Su Zhao's men. She was snatched by the guy she pegged with the pestle that night," Peter told him.

"Anything on location?"

Peter shook his head sadly. "That, Kermit, I don't know."

Sarah was still only semi-conscious when she was dumped unceremoniously onto a hard floor. She was vaguely aware that she was in a large warehouse of some sort. Jimmy Wang and Dan Lin went to get their boss, Mr. Guo, so he could inspect the latest piece of merchandise.

They led Mr. Guo back to where Sarah lay in a heap on the floor. "Pick her up," Guo snapped at them. "I can't tell what she looks like lying there like that!"

Wang and Lin hurried to comply with his order. They each grabbed one of Sarah's arms and hauled her to her feet. When they set her down, she stood there swaying. Mr. Guo approached Sarah and took her face in his hands, turning it from side to side, appraising her.

"What is this bruise near her eye?" Mr. Guo questioned his men. "You know what I've told you about mishandling the merchandise."

Lin began to get nervous. "Uh, we didn't do that boss, honest. She had that when we grabbed her."

"It will heal before she arrives in China, so I do not think it will be a problem," Guo told them. "Now, let me have a better look at her," he smirked. "Hold her."

Guo pulled a knife from his pocket and waved it in front of Sarah's face. "Now, we shall see what kind of a price you will bring," he told her. Sarah's still groggy mind was straining to think of a course of action. Lin and Wang had hold of each of her arms. In all her beatings at the hands of her stepfather and Frankie, she'd never faced a weapon before. Fear and absolute stillness was the only response she could manage.

Guo lowered the knife to the top button of her blouse and with a flick of his wrist, he cut it off, leering at her. Sarah closed her eyes and tried to retreat inside her body. Guo continued with his knife until all the buttons were gone. Then he nodded his head to Wang, who pulled the now shredded blouse from her body. Sarah flinched at the sudden exposure.

Guo was nodding appreciatively at his view. This one will bring me a good sum, he thought. She wasn't as attractive as many of the others that they had in this shipment, but she would do. Wang shattered this thought for him. "Boss, I think you better take a look at this," he said from behind Sarah. Guo crossed to behind Sarah and looked at her exposed back. He could feel the fury rise up within himself.

"Fools!" he yelled at his men. "Idiots! How could you bring me this? I cannot sell this! This is damaged merchandise! Get rid of it!"

"Uh, Boss, what do you want us to do with her?" Lin asked cautiously.

"Take her to the basement and put her in a solitary cell. We'll deal with her after the shipment has been made," Guo told them.

Peter was pacing back and forth across Kermit's office. It had been 24 hours already and his nerves were getting the better of him. Kermit's eyes followed him from one side to the other. They were never going to get anywhere at this rate. "Yo, Pete, how about taking a seat for a while? You're making my neck hurt. I feel like I'm at a tennis match."

Peter stopped pacing and looked at Kermit. Finally, he plunked himself down in the chair in front of Kermit's desk. He raked his hand through his hair. "We're missing something, Kermit," he complained. "It's right in front of us, but we're missing it! Tell me again the places you guys have had under surveillance."

Kermit ran down the list for Peter again. They were watching the docks, and several warehouses near them. They had someone watching for private planes at the airport. There was a team covering the known major players in Chinatown.

Peter recalled what his father had taught him about tracking animals. Think what the animal needs. "Kermit, what is it that this guy needs?" he asked.

Kermit leaned back in his chair and laced his hands together behind his head. "He needs a way to move his product," he told Peter.

"Right. Now, if you were him, how would you transport a group of young women while attracting as little attention as possible? "

Kermit began to think out loud. "Private plane would be nice, but then you'd have to get them from where you were holding them to the airport. That's too much trouble. By ship would work, especially if you were holding them in a warehouse near the docks. But our people have had the docks covered for the past week, and they've seen nothing." He looked over at Peter and they both exclaimed, "Train!"

Kermit grabbed his computer keyboard and began typing. Peter yanked open the door and stormed out into the main room, shouting directions to anyone in earshot, "Skalany, I need a map of the city; Jody, get me diagrams of all the train tracks in this area; Chief, I'll need to fill out a ride-along form!" With that, Peter disappeared back into Kermit's office.

Capt. Karen Simms opened the door of her office to see what all the commotion was. She saw Peter issuing his directions and everyone scattering to comply. She shook her head. It was too bad he had decided to leave the force. He had great potential of being a captain of his own precinct someday now that he had outgrown his reckless stage.

Guo hung up his cell phone. Wang and Lin had brought in the last woman and the shipment was now complete. Guo had made plans for the train to pull in later that night. The women would be shipped by train to the West Coast where they would be transferred to a ship for the trip to China. The ship would then be reloaded with Chinese immigrants who wanted to come to this country and the process would run in reverse.

"Wang! Lin!" Guo called for his men. "The train will be here at eleven. We will load the woman tomorrow morning at 4:30, and pull out by 5:30. See that everything is in order."

"Yes, Boss," they both answered. "What about our complication?" Wang asked.

"I told you, leave her in that cell. We'll take care of her when we get back from the West Coast - if she's still alive by then!" Guo glared at them. They were so stupid. It was hard to find good help.

Peter and Kermit had pored over all the maps and train information available to them. They had spotted a main junction of tracks that converged from areas all over the city to the tracks that headed west. Peter knew that the pipeline to China ran from the West Coast, so they decided to concentrate their efforts at this main junction.

Everything was being put into place. They would stop and search every train as it left the junction and headed west. They were bringing in K-9 units from all over the city for this operation. Portable barricades were being moved into the area. Once everything was set, all there was to do was wait, something Peter had never been very good at doing.

Peter and Kermit were staked out at the junction in the Corvair. Peter carried his weariness available for all to see. Mary Margaret Skalany approached the car, and leaned over the passenger-side door. She held out two cups of coffee to the men. "Coffee, anyone?"

Peter gratefully accepted the cup. "Thanks, Skalany. I definitely need this right now."

"And here I thought that you Shaolin priests only drank tea," Skalany teased lightly.

"Not when we're helping the police catch bad guys," Peter quipped back. Skalany was heartened by his response. She could not help but notice the concern in his eyes had been deepening with each passing hour.

She placed her hand on his arm. "Don't worry, Pete, we're going to find her."

Peter nodded his head. "I know, Mary Margaret, I know. It's just that it's been two days since she was snatched. I can't help but wonder what she's been going through since then..." Peter's voice trailed off and he sipped his coffee.

Kermit joined the conversation. "She's a survivor, Pete."

"But just how much can one person survive, Kermit? Just how much?"

Kermit prepared to tell Peter just how much one person could survive if they had the will, but the police radio stopped them from continuing the conversation. Another train was headed into the blockade, and everyone was called to take their positions. Kermit opened the glove box of the Corvair and offered Peter a spare pistol. Peter shook his head. There were limits imposed on him by taking the brands.

As the train rounded the curve, the engineer saw the blockade that had been erected. The curve had forced the train to slow down so it was relatively easy for the engineer to stop the train completely. It was short train, pulling only three cars. It was quickly surrounded by armed police officers.

Guo stood up in his private car. "Wang!' he shouted. "Why is the train stopping?"

Wang looked out the window and saw their greeting party. "Uh,oh, Boss, it's the cops!"

"Well, don't just stand there, Idiot, fire on them!" Guo stuck his gun out the window and fired on the nearest officer. Shots rang out as several officers fired back at the train. Soon bullets were flying madly in both directions as Wang and Lin joined their boss in defending themselves.

Peter and Kermit were pinned down behind the bushes alongside of the tracks. Peter rolled over and took a good look at the train. The bullets were coming from the first car only. Peter assumed that meant the women would be in the other two cars. He began to slither towards the end car, gesturing that Kermit should cover him.

The bullets stopped flying when Guo went down. Rather than continue to risk their own lives, Wang and Lin decided to surrender. They lay down their guns and put their arms in the air. Guo's last act before he died was to kill the cowards who had worked for him.

The women were released from the train cars and assisted out onto the ground next to the train. Peter, Kermit, and Skalany walked among them, looking for Sarah. When they came back together, it was unanimous. None of them had seen her. Kermit could see the panic beginning to spark in Peter's eyes. He began asking some of the woman about Sarah. Peter followed his lead.

He soon found a woman who could give him some answers. She told him that she had not seen Sarah, but she had heard the two men drag someone downstairs to where they were being held and place that person into a solitary cell. "I heard a woman's voice screaming madly for about an hour after that," she told Peter. "After that, I didn't hear anything more from that cell. When they moved us out to put us on the train, that cell door stayed closed. If it was your friend who was in there, I'll bet they left her there. I heard the two guys who did the kidnapping arguing when they put her in the cell. The one was riding the other about his revenge turning out to be damaged merchandise, whatever that means."

Peter winced when he heard the words damaged merchandise. That was going to take some repair, he could tell. "Do you have any idea about the location where you were being held?" Peter asked the woman. She could give him no more information. "Okay, thanks. You've been a big help," he told her.

Peter wandered back to the Corvair and leaned against it. Kermit and Skalany were still busy questioning some of the other women. Maybe they would find some helpful information that would lead them to Sarah. "Pop, where are you?" he asked out loud.

A voice answered from at his elbow, "I am here, my son." Peter looked down in surprise. His father was seated on the ground next to Kermit's car. Peter just shook his head.

"All right, Pop, I don't have time to play 20 questions with you just now, so I'll limit myself to one: How are we going to find Sarah?"

Caine stood up and faced the train. "That is easy, my son. We will follow the track." Caine shouldered his bag and began to walk towards the end of the train. Peter hurried after him.

"Wait, Pop. Just like that, we follow the track?"

"Just like that, my son. Shall we go?" Caine again turned to begin the journey.

"Just let me tell Kermit and Skalany, Pop. Sarah may need some help when we find her."

Peter took a police radio with him when they left the junction. He planned to radio the location to Kermit as soon as they found where the women had been held. Father and son walked along the railroad tracks in silence.

When they came to an intersecting set of tracks, Caine laid his hands on the tracks. He motioned for Peter to do the same. "Which way, my son?" Caine asked. Peter pointed. "Yes, very good."

The technique worked well for them, but it was slow going. Peter was impatient; aware that time was slipping by. But he controlled himself and continued to practice the new skill of tracking a train backwards.

The tracks ended in a side yard alongside of a large brick building. Peter looked at the footprints in the dirt next to the train tracks. Caine meanwhile, laid his hands on the side of the building. Both of them came to the same conclusion. This was the building that had housed the women and hopefully still contained Sarah.

Peter pulled out the radio to give Kermit the location. Then he and his father slipped silently into the building.

The air was stale and heavy, and Peter could feel oppression hanging over the place. He and his father moved without ever making a sound, creeping across the entire first floor. It was Peter who discovered the stairway, concealed beneath a trap door in the floor. He lifted the door by the heavy, metal ring and motioned for his father to follow behind him.

They descended the stairs into darkness. Caine moved to restrain his son. "Peter, you must wait a moment. Give yourself time to acclimate to the darkness. Do you remember your lessons?"

Caine had taught Peter to see in very little light by controlling the pupils of his eyes.

"Yeah, Pop," Peter answered softly. "Let's go."

They began to search the basement. Together they found the large cell that had held the group of woman. Now they needed to find the solitary cell, which they had been told contained Sarah. They moved farther along the darkened passageway, coming to a group of several doorways that led off of it.

Peter indicated to his father that they should split up. Peter would search the cells on the right; his father would take the cells on the left.

Peter had entered the second cell when he heard his father's voice, "Peter! I have found her!"

Peter followed the sound to the last cell on the other side of the hallway. He entered the pitch-black cell. "Over here, my son," Caine's voice beckoned from the far side. Peter ran his hand along the wall to guide him to his father's side. He was crouched next to the silent, unmoving form of Sarah. Peter reached out to touch her, to assure himself that she was alive. "She is alive, my son," Caine also assured Peter. "But we must get her out of here."

Sarah stirred lightly beneath Peter's hands. "Dark. It's too dark..." she mumbled. Peter gathered her in his arms and stood up, following his father out of the cell. He cautiously made his way to the staircase and out onto the first floor.

Since they had seen no one during the entire time they were in the building, Peter felt confident enough to trade stealth for speed. He began to run to the outer door with Sarah cradled in his arms.

When they burst outside, Kermit and Skalany were just pulling up in the Corvair. They jumped out of the car and ran over to where Peter was gingerly laying Sarah on the ground.

Caine leaned over her and began to examine the flow of her chi. Peter rocked back on his heels, watching his father at work, grateful that it was Caine who was in the position of healer this time, not him. He was also very angry when he noticed the state of her flower-print shirt.

Sarah was extremely pale. Caine examined her for a few moments, then turned to Peter. "She is very weak. You must share your chi with her," he told his son.

"Me?" Peter was unsure that he had the skill to do that. "Why don't you do it?"

"Peter, do not waste time! You are the one who must do this!" Caine told him, taking hold of his hands. "Place you hands here...and here. Now focus on your chi, flowing into her, giving her your strength." Peter did as he was told. He closed his eyes and concentrated on Sarah.

In a few moments time, Peter sagged and was supported by Caine. Peter recovered quickly and leaned over to look carefully at Sarah's face. "Come on, Hwa-ren," he murmured softly, "It's time to wake up."

Sarah's eyelids began to flutter. As they did, she screamed from the pain of the sunshine in her eyes that had known only darkness for several days. Both Peter and Caine reached out to soothe her, but it was Kermit who eliminated her distress. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a spare pair of sunglasses, which he slipped carefully onto Sarah's face. Her body relaxed. Everyone turned and looked at Kermit.

"What?" he said with a shrug, "Spares. Don't leave home without them." If the situation hadn't been so serious, it would have made them all laugh. But right now they were too worried.

Off in the distance they heard the sound of an ambulance's siren. It couldn't get there fast enough to suit Peter.

The ambulance driver called ahead to City Hospital with a warning - he was bringing in a friend of Peter Caine's and Peter was riding with them. The nurses quickly drew straws to see who would get to tend the patient and who would have to stay behind, man the desk, and deal with Peter Caine. The short straw had Caine duty.

Peter paced the waiting room like a caged tiger, eyed warily by the nurse behind the desk. Kermit, Skalany, and Caine sat watching him. Skalany decided to try to get through to him. "Come on, Pete, you're wearing a hole in the floor. Have a seat. It's not like you haven't been here before. See? This chair even has your name on it." She tried to tease him.

"This is different, Skalany. Usually I'm in there," he pointed towards the treatment area.

"Yeah, and we're all out here, doing just what we're doing now," Skalany retorted. She looked over at Caine, "You've really got to work on teaching this boy patience."

Caine looked at her and gave her one of his famous shrugs. "I have tried," he informed her with a sigh.

"What you all seem to fail to remember is that she was my responsibility," Peter told them all, "Thanks to you, Pop, but we'll talk about that later. My responsibility, and this is what happened to her."

Caine indicated with a gesture to Kermit and Skalany that he wanted time alone with his son. Kermit stood up, stretched and invited Mary Margaret to go with him to get some coffee. They left the father and son alone.

Caine began to try to help Peter understand that although Sarah had been his responsibility, what had happened to her was not his fault. "Peter, do you remember when Annie was attacked at the hotel?" Peter nodded, already knowing where his father was headed with this. "You told me, did you not, that I could not have known what was going to happen to her?" Peter nodded again. He did not trust himself to speak because he knew he was standing on the edge of an emotional cliff. "So how could you have known that this would happen to Sarah?"

Peter spoke in a choked whisper, "I know, Pop, but I'm so worried about her. Not just physically, but what is this going to do to her emotionally? She's been through so much already and she's made so much progress..." Peter's voice trailed off and a tear rolled down his cheek. He was amazed at how quickly this young woman had gotten under his skin.

Caine reached out to wipe the tear from his son's face. "She is lucky that she has a teacher who cares so much for her." Peter pulled his father into a tight embrace, letting him go only when they heard the sound of a doctor clearing his throat.

The doctor proceeded to brief them on Sarah's condition. The only physical traumas she was suffering from were dehydration, and sensitivity to light caused by her prolonged period in total darkness. However, even though she was awake and capable of responding, they had been unable to get Sarah to talk to them. The doctor suggested that perhaps they would have better luck at coaxing a response out of her and led them to her room.

The desk nurse watched as they left, shaking her head at her incredible luck. Not one peep out of Peter Caine while he'd been in her waiting room. The other nurses were going to be so jealous.

Caine and Peter entered Sarah's hospital room. Although she had an IV running into her one arm, she was not lying on her back. She was lying on her side, curled into a ball. Peter had seen this position before but he doubted if she would allow the same therapy now as she had then. She was still wearing Kermit's sunglasses, so it was hard to determine if she was even aware of their entrance.

Peter walked up beside the bed and tried to peer over the glasses. He could see that her eyes were open, but she wasn't really focusing on anything. "Sarah?" he said, "Can you hear me?" There was no response. "Sarah, I know that you can hear me, but if you don't feel like talking now, that's okay." Peter looked over at his father who was standing on the opposite side of the bed. Caine looked back at Peter and shrugged, then nodded to indicate the Peter should continue as he was.

Peter reached over to take Sarah's hand in his, his fingertips lightly caressing the back of her hand. He began to speak to her, telling her stories from when he was at the temple, then moved to stories of when he had been a cop. He didn't stop until he was sure she had fallen asleep. He then reached over and removed Kermit's sunglasses from her face. "Poor Hwa-ren," he said softly. "No wonder you're so wilted. No water, no sunshine for two and half days. What else did they do to you, Flower?" Peter could not get the picture of her shredded blouse out of his mind.

Caine answered for her, "She was not abused any further that that, my son. This reaction is a result of the emotional trauma that occurred. You see, the walls which previously protected her, we had begun to tear down together. In order to survive, she was forced to bury herself deep within. She will return to us, you will see. And now that the path has...been paved, she will walk it much quicker this time."

Peter laid the sunglasses on the table next to the bed. "Come, Peter," his father beckoned from the doorway, "She will sleep through the night. Let us go home." He placed his hat on his head and slipped into the hallway. Peter stood up to follow him, pausing only long enough to brush his lips across Sarah's forehead.

When they returned to the hospital the next day, the doctor again briefed them in the hallway outside of Sarah's room. Physically she was fine. They had successfully treated the dehydration and removed her IV. Although she was still insisting on wearing the sunglasses, the doctor assured them that her eyes were fine and the light should no longer be a problem for her. "I could let her go today," he told them, "except for the fact that she hasn't spoken yet. If she doesn't respond, then I'll have to turn her over to Psych."

Peter and Caine looked at one another, and an unspoken agreement passed between them. There was no way they were letting her be turned over to the Psych. Department.

They entered her room in a boisterous manner; Peter laughing at something he pretended his father had said. He set a large flowering plant on the table and plopped himself down in the chair next to the bed. Sarah turned her head away from him. "Hey there, Sarah, " he announced loudly, "I brought you a plant, but it seems I didn't have to. The doctor says he'll let you out of here today!" That got her attention. She turned her head back towards Peter.

"Good, I have your attention now," he spoke to her softly. "Listen, Sarah, I know how much you want to go home, but the doctor is not going to let you out of here unless you talk to us." He waited to see how she would respond. Her silence filled the room and threatened to drown them all. Then a tear slid out from underneath Kermit's glasses. That tear encouraged Peter. At least she was responding. However, he didn't think the doctor would accept a single tear as enough of a response to let her go. He glanced at this father. Caine made a slight pushing motion with his hand. Peter got the message.

"Come on now, Sarah. How badly do you want it? How much do you want to get out of here?" Sarah reached out and grasped his hand, squeezing it. "That's not good enough, Hwa-ren. If you want out of here, you're going to have to talk to us." Sarah shook her head. Peter played his trump card, "If you don't, Sarah, the doctor's going to transfer you to Psych."

Her hand went stock still in his. He waited. This was the one thing that he expected to get a rise out of her. Inside his mind he heard his father's voice, Patience, Peter. So he waited a little longer. "Sarah? Do you want to go to Psych. or do you want to go home?"

As more tears made their way out from under Kermit's glasses, Sarah swallowed hard and whispered softly, "I want to go home."

Peter leaned over to hug her. "And so you shall, Hwa-ren, and so you shall."

Slowly they tried to get Sarah back to her old routine. She was still refusing to talk except under limited circumstances. She would assist Caine by grinding herbs and working in the apothecary, but she refused to see any patients herself. She wouldn't leave the building and she would only enter the kwoon if no one else were there. She also wouldn't part with Kermit's sunglasses. Kermit didn't have a problem with it, but it was really starting to get on Peter's nerves. One person in his life hiding behind green glasses all the time was enough.

He decided to confront her about it. He waited until his father was busy and Sarah was in her favorite spot - the terrace. She was sitting in the sun, something she had liked to do before, but absolutely couldn't get enough of since her experience with Guo.

He entered quietly and slipped to a seat at her feet. "Hey, Sarah. How's it going?" She nodded her head at him. "Sarah, come on. Enough is enough. I thought we were friends, but you're not letting me help you. Now, take off those ridiculous glasses and talk to me!"

Sarah gave Peter a look filled with sorrow. He couldn't see her eyes, but he knew without a doubt that they were filling up with tears - again. Simple crying was the one thing Sarah did do frequently since they had brought her home from the hospital. But she had never given in to deep soul-cleansing sobbing as she had that one day in Peter's arms.

Peter knew it was time to once again take matters - and Sarah - into his own hands. "Sarah, you promised to look at me when I talked to you," he reminded her, reaching for the sunglasses.

"I have been looking at you, Peter," she replied softly.

"Now, that's a cop out," Peter said, "and you know it." He pulled the glasses off her face. "There, now I can see those pretty eyes." He had been right, there were unshed tears brimming there. Peter stood to his feet and pulled her up with him. Then he turned and sat down in the chair himself, pulling her down into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her ear, "Now tell me, what's going on?"

Her body began to tremble and Peter stroked her hair to soothe her. She turned her face into his chest so she didn't have to meet his eyes when she spoke. Peter wasn't going to press the issue. He could feel the waves of sorrow and feelings of worthlessness emanating from her. "Tell me, " he whispered again, "Tell me what could be so much worse than everything else you've already been through, what could make you feel like you are worthless."

Sarah froze in surprise. Peter chuckled. "Yes, I know what you're feeling. You're broadcasting it loud enough."

"What? How is that possible? No, don't tell me, I know. Shaolin secret."

"That's right," Peter affirmed, hugging her tightly to his chest. There was now an obvious crack in the new wall she had built around herself. He thought to himself how much he had missed this woman. He'd never had a friendship with a woman quite like this. "Now, I'm still waiting for an answer to my question."

"Peter," she said in a choked whisper, "They didn't want me. Slavers," she spat out the word much like she used the word ex-husband, "rejected me. They called me damaged merchandise." There it was. That was the phrase Peter had been waiting to hear from her lips since the day they'd rescued her.

"And you believed them?" Peter asked. "Hwa-ren, you are neither damaged nor worthless. In fact, I think you're priceless."

"But what other man is going to want me?"

Peter sighed. So that was what it came down to. She didn't think there would ever be a romance in her life. He stroked her hair absentmindedly. "Sarah, do you know what my father always told me? He told me that for every person in this world, there is a soul mate. They are two halves that make up one whole. Now, I haven't had much luck finding mine, but I know she's out there. And there's someone out there for you, too. I don't quite think that Frankie qualifies, do you?" Sarah shook her head against his chest. "Well, trust me, Sarah. Someday you're going to find this guy, and when you do, he's not going to be concerned about the scars on your back. He's going to love you for what's inside your heart." Peter sat quietly for a while, holding Sarah in his arms and thinking about what it would be like to find his soul mate, to know the kind of love that his mother and father had shared.

Kwai Chang Caine stood inside the doorway to the terrace, where he had been listening to the conversation between his son and his apprentice. Caine shook his head and chuckled. It seemed his son wouldn't know his soul mate if she bit him on the nose.

The End

Next: Shaolin Hearts

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