"Josephine Potter! My name is Mr. Alan Desaeced! You're transferring into my class Monday morning!"

Joey was breathing hard, and fighting. She screamed the best she could and cried tears that obliterated her view.

"Josephine! Stop!" Alan Desaeced shook her, panicking. "Please! I'm not going to hurt you!"

Joey calmed down for an instant and found that he wasn't really hurting her. Just pinning her down.

"Let me go." Joey whispered as he cautiously removed his hand.

"Only if you promise not to scream." Desaeced sounded shaky himself. She nodded, and he carefully slid off of her.

Joey immediately jumped up and took off running. Desaeced stared after her, dazed.

"What a great way to begin a relationship of trust." Desaeced shook his head, and turned away.



"He attacked you?" Dawson sounded stunned.

"Not exactly." Joey was wrapped in a warm fleece blanket, looking incredibly pale and sick.

"Jo, he tackled you." Jen set the tray of steaming mugs on the top of the coffee table.

Joey nodded. "But I was screaming. Imagine if some guy ran from you doing that. You'd probably freak out too."

Jen hesitated, then nodded. "But I doubt I would tackle the person." She objected.

Joey, however, was busy staring at the mugs. "One, two, three..." Her eyes locked on the fourth mug. "Jen, you didn't..." She moaned to the blond.

"Joey, he has a right to-"

The knock at the door was quickly replaced by the door being thrown open by the person on the outside. Pacey came rushing in, his eyes wild. His gaze landed on Joey, and he looked almost relieved. "Jo-"

"Pacey, I-" Joey stood up and started to talk to him. The next second Pacey was on his stomach on the ground, unconsious.

A silver blade stuck out of his back, right where his heart was.



Joey was trembling, Jen noted. As she studied the tall, slender, pretty girl, she shook her head to herself. Trembling wasn't the word. The word was something like... shaking. Joey was rocking back and forth, her eyes empty and desolate and fixed on a spot on the floor.

"Kind of puts things in perspective." Dawson whispered, sliding into the seat next to Jen and taking the hand she offered to him. "I mean, it's Pacey. Joey claimed that they'd just broken up, and she acted like it didn't bother her." He shook his head. "But look at her Jen. That's not how someone looks when they don't care, or when they care even as just a friend. Joey looks like... Well... Worse than she did after her mom died. And she was incredibly close with her mom."

"Is Pacey going to make it?" Jen's eyes were already filling up with tears.

Here Dawson became choked up as well. "The doctor's don't know. His dad is in the right now with Doug, and they haven't been out in 20 minutes."

"I'm worried Dawson. If Pacey doesn't make it, who knows if Joey will?"

"Joey will be okay." Dawson insisted. "Just like Pacey."

Jen wanted to know who Dawson was trying to convince.

"They said he should make it."

Dawson, Jen, and Joey all stared at Doug. Then Dawson and Jen erupted; Jen squealing and Dawson kissing and hugging her and spinning her around.

Joey, however, had fallen into the plastic waiting chairs and was crying.

"Jo, Jo!" Dawson put down Jen and hurried to her side, carefully taking her in his arms. Jen sat on Joey's other side and gently patted her back. "Pacey's okay! He's going to be okay."

"I know Dawson. I'm just... relieved, I guess." Joey offered a half smile. Her eyes were still brimming with tears when she spoke to Doug. "Can we see him?"

"Yeah." Doug turned to the doctor, who nodded. Joey carefully stood, and followed the doctor warily to Pacey's room. Her friends followed her, but remained outside.

"Not too long." The doctor told her softly. Joey nodded, and went inside the room.

Pacey was laying, asleep she guessed, on the bed. He looked adorable.

"Hard to believe that all of this is my fault huh Pace?" Joey's eyes welled up with tears again. "How long has it been since this started? Almost a year now? My god. All of this happened because of me. Because I brought you into my rape and forced you to help me out. I'm so sorry Pace." She broke down on his bed, sobbing. "I'm so sorry!"

Flat line.

Joey looked up, horrified, and stared at the thin line that meant that Pacey was dead. She began screaming, backing away from the bed and clamping her hands over her mouth.

Doctors and nurses rushed in, one woman gently leading Joey out of the room as the doctors tried to ressusitate him. Joey watched, resisting the woman who persisted in trying to get her away. She watched as Pacey's body jerked, but the flat line stayed.

Finally, Joey couldn't watch anymore, and ran out of the room after they tried for the third time. She ran past Dawson and Jen and Doug, and out into the cold night air.

It was time to end this for good.


Joey checked her e-mail.

Joey closed her eyes, once. Then she opened them and scribbled down the address.

"Joey thinks what?!"

"She thinks your dead man." Dawson flung the note onto Pacey's hospital bed. "Read this."

Pacey lifted the note and read it over. Then he read it again. And again. And again.

"What are you looking at?!" Dawson finally exploded, causing Jen in the chair to flinch.

"She loves me." Pacey had an almost goofy look on his face.

"Yeah, and you're not going to be able to celebrate that with her if you don't get your ass out of that bed and help us find her!"

Pacey stared at Dawson, and looked next to him at the heart monitor. He ripped the stupid suction cups from his chest, causing him to go, once again, flat lined. He snapped off the machine and then looked over at Dawson. "Clothes D. We're going to go save a girl's life."

"You know her password?" Dawson sounded surprised as he leaned over Pacey's shoulder in the chair.

"Dude, D, we lived together. We survived death together. I think I know her password."

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

Pacey shook his head, as if trying to get Dawson to shut up. "Density."

"Wha...?"

Pacey sounded far away when he spoke. "It reminded her of Destiny."

"How?"

"Once, we were trying to fall asleep, and Alexander was with us 'cause we were babysitting. Anyway, Jo and I had been talking about Destiny all night, and Alexander just giggled at us. So anyway, we're laying there, trying to sleep, and Alexander says: 'Density'. Joey and I flipped on the lights, and Alexander's just having a ball shouting 'Density' at the top of his lungs. Finally Jo and I asked if he meant 'Destiny', and he spits out 'yeah'." Pacey smiled fondly at the memory. Then he stopped breathing. "This is where she went." He whispered. He snatched a pen and piece of paper, exchanged a look with Jen and Dawson, and scribbled down the address.

"Come out come out wherever you are..." Joey sang softly. "Come on dick head. Come after me."

"Jo Jo Jo. You don't mean that."

"Sure I do." Joey looked up to the top floor of the abandoned warehouse, where the person's voice seemed to echo.

"No, you don't."

The voice was right behind her now.

Joey spun around and stared in shock. "Oh my god!"