Xena was even busier at work now that it seemed they were getting closer to solving the case. Morale amongst the Agents had lifted significantly, Richard Mascetti that had always seemed to be untouchable did not appear to be so out of reach any longer.

She constantly thought about Venus, wondering how she was doing. She hoped that she was doing okay and planned to check up on the woman soon, to put her mind at ease.

Xena got into her car and began the journey to work. The streets of The City were free as she cruised down the highway. She always enjoyed the early hours of the morning before everyone was up and bustling. It was quieter and Xena felt as if she could hear her thoughts clearer. She left the windows down, feeling the cool wind against her face.

The drive to work was brief, and Xena found herself wishing that she could have enjoyed the drive for longer. She parked her car and was about to leave when she noticed something on the passenger seat of her chair.  Squinting her eyes, she saw that it was a red substance that appeared to be dried blood. Her eyes scrunched up in confusion. She couldn't understand where the blood had come from. The last person that had been in that seat was Venus the night she drove her home from the club.

Xena stared at it for a little while longer. Had the blood come from Venus? Had Venus been injured that night at the club? She felt herself growing angry at the thought that Venus had been hurt in some way. Taking a deep breath Xena calmed herself. There was nothing that she could do about it right then, but she made a mental note to ask the smaller woman about it later.

Xena stepped out of her car and began making her way into the HeadQuarters building.

"Agent Vale."

Xena looked up, coming face to face with Agent Fox. He was standing in the lobby and she wondered if he had been waiting for her.

"Agent Fox."

Agent Fox had already begun walking towards the elevators, Xena now followed after him. The elevator doors pinged open and they both got into it.

"We have a very important witness here." Agent Fox announced the second the elevator doors slid closed. Xena turned to look at the older man. It was then that she noticed the look of anticipation spread out on his face. He was doing everything to contain it, but Xena knew that look, it was the look he got when drastic progress was being made on a case.

"What do you mean by important?" She asked, not taking her eyes away from him.

"Apparently she had been trying to reach out to us for quite sometime. She's a Doctor and claims to have operated on the Assassin a couple years back."

"Operated on an Assassin or operated on The Assassin?"

"She's pretty convinced that the Assassin she operated on is the same one we're after." At that moment the elevator doors pinged open and Agent Fox walked out, followed by Xena. "But you can ask her everything you want to when we interview her."

They had gotten off on the FBI Head-Quarters floor dedicated to interviews; of both witnesses and suspects.

Xena followed Agent Fox as he led her into a room. Through the one-way glass, Xena could see a woman who appeared to be in her late forties. She was seated on the table, her hands clasped together, looking arund her awkwardly.

"That's her?" Xena asked, but she already knew the answer.

Agent Fox nodded beside her. "That's Doctor Nancy Harrington, she arrived here earlier on, but I didn't want to start the interview before you got here."

Xena snuck a glance at Agent Fox. He was staring up ahead through the one-way glass.

"Let's go, Agent Vale."

Xena nodded, and they both walked in through the door, entering the room with the witness.

The witness was sitting at one side of a rectangular table with a cup of coffee in front of her. As Xena got closer she made out the dark circles under the woman's eyes. It didn't seem as if she had gotten much sleep the night before.

"Doctor Harrington." Agent Fox said as he sunk into a seat opposite from the witness. "I'm Head Agent Fox, and this is Agent Vale here with me."

The witness nodded her head as she acknowledged Xena's presence. Xena responded by sending her a reassuring smile. She could tell that the woman was tense; this wasn't unusual, most people felt nervous when being interviewed by the FBI.

"So," Agent Fox began, getting straight into things, "I hear that you have information that could help us."

The witness swallowed hard. A strange nervousness seemed to come over her. "Yes. I-I can identify the very Assassin you're looking for."

Agent Fox nodded his head. "Could you tell us what you know about this Assassin?"

"I operated on her about 5 years ago," the witness began. Her voice was low as she spoke, "she had been involved in an incident that resulted in the back of her neck getting slashed. It left a pretty deep cut and she was going to bleed out and die if she had not been brought in when she did."

She took a pause then.

"I myself was the one that operated on her, I stitched her up. At the time, I didn't know who she was, I just assumed she was just another patient. It wasn't until a few days later when the hospital got word from Richard Mascetti to hand over all the files on her. We were supposed to erase the woman and all her data completely from our systems to make it as if she had never even been there."

"Did you?" Xena asked.

The woman looked up at her incredulously. "Of course we did, it's Richard Mascetti."

Xena nodded her head. That was the answer she was expecting. The older woman cleared her throat and began speaking once again:

"Seeing as I was the Doctor that had operated on her, I was especially threatened not to let word out about the woman."

"How are you so sure that this woman is the Assassin we're looking for?" Agent Fox now asked, leaning forward and clasping his hands together.

The witnesses grasped her hands so tightly that Xena could see the green spidery veins popping out.

"Because of all the efforts he went to for her." The witness paused, swallowing hard. "Gang leaders usually won't do that for any regular Assassin. It's an unwritten rule for assassins to never go to normal hospitals. There are underground criminal hospitals, which is where their injuries are normally treated."

Xena nodded her head. She knew about the rule forbidding criminals from going to normal hospitals. It was the dumbest thing they could do, seeing as they would basically be giving all their data to the government.

"Why did you decide to tell us this now?" Agent Fox asked. Xena wanted to know the answer as well. She was curious as to why the woman was telling them this information at all, purposely putting her life at risk.

"I'd been trying to reach out for quite some time, but trying to be as discreet as possible. Richard Mascetti somehow found out about it and sent the same Assassin I had operated on over to my house to kill me last night."

Xena's eyes widened at this. She could tell that Agent Fox was shocked by this information as well.

"She didn't kill me.. obviously, but she told me I need to get far away from Richard Mascetti. I'm scared that she'd be back, that she'd come back to kill me."

There was a moment of silence as Xena and Agent Fox tried to process the information they were given. Xena contemplated on the fact that for some reason, the Assassin had not killed the woman as she had been directed to. However, her thoughts were cut short by Agent Fox's voice:

"Thank you for sharing this information with us, Doctor Harrington. Please remain here for a little longer, we'd get someone with you shortly."

Xena smiled reassuringly at the woman before making her way out of the room with Agent Fox.  There was a moment of silence that settled between them as they both tried to gather their thoughts in order, looking through the one way glass at the woman taking sips out of her coffee.

"We're going to get a criminal sketch artist assigned to her ASAP." Agent Fox now said, his voice was grim. "I'm pretty convinced that she knows the Assassin that we are looking for."

Xena nodded her head. She too was just as convinced as Agent Fox. "Is that all?"

"No." Agent Fox said almost immediately. "She will be put in witness protection and she will be taken as far away from here. We're going to do what the Assassin instructed her to do. If Richard Mascetti finds out she's still alive, it's a done deal for her."

Xena did not doubt that for a second.