John & Natalie #3 March 4 - May 18, 2004: 8 hour original edit

Dvd #3A While preparing to set their trap for Stephen, Bo expresses his concerns, but John insists that he is in control of himself. When John sees Michael at the diner, he voices his concerns that neither have heard from Eve.

3/5 Jessica calls Stephen to the docks and into a set up. While Natalie worries about Jessica, she receives a call from Eve telling her that Cristian is alive. When a man approaches Jessica, the police move in to arrest him but quickly realize that it isn't Stephen. Opening the package the man brought for Jess, they find a jack-in-the-box with a note from the killer. Natalie cons the police officer out of the room and sneaks out of the safe house. Eve is distraught that Natalie fell for the lies that Stephen made her tell about Cristian.

3/8 John and Bo talk to Stephen's mother. She is uncooperative at first. She talks about how she did not raise Stephen but her mother did and turned him into a puritanical creep, who thought he was better than everyone. She then tells them about the husband that she had who collected artifacts from crime. She tells them that before she left him she gave him a music box. John asks her if it ever occurred to her that her son was the killer. She admits yes and that he is evil. They implore her to help them catch Stephen. Stephen taunts Eve. He tells her Natalie will die the same way Caitlin did.

Natalie collects her pay from Rodi's and runs to Cristian. Natalie catches her flight. She calls the hospital to talk to Cristian but they don't have a Cristian Vega as a patient. As her flight begins to board, Stephen, disguised as an officer, stops her with a gun.

3/9 John calls Michael to see if he heard from Eve. He finds out that she lied to the Manager at Rodi's and got her last check. John gets to the airport. He gets a call form Stephen that Natalie is at the house they are waiting for him. John gets to Stephen and pulls a gun on him. Stephen tells him if he shoots Natalie dies. He tells him that the remote he has is connected to a explosive vest attached to Natalie. Natalie shakes in fear as she is strapped to a bed with the bomb attached to her.

Bo and a team go in search of Eve. He gets to the pier and realizes that is where Haver was to meet Jessica. He makes arrangements for divers then spots something in the water. They pull her from the water. Bo gives her CPR and revives her. She comes to and asks for John.

3/10 John trains his gun on Stephen who sneers that Natalie is in his bed strapped to a bomb, same place that Caitlin was. Leading the way up to John's room, Stephen happily points to Nat on the bed, on the verge of hysterics. Téasing them, Stephen almost drops the control, but he admits that he's tired and it's time to move on. He brags about his never making any mistakes during all of these years and how he hasn't been caught yet.

As Bo, Antonio and others quietly make their way to the room, John informs Stephen that he has indeed made a mistake, that one of his victims is alive and can identify him! Stephen knows very well that Flash is alive, but in no way can she identify him, he retorts. He's not talking about Flash, John replies.

Suddenly, Rae walks into the room! John jumps up as though he's seen a ghost. She crawled out when the door blew off in the fire but before the explosion, Rae informs her captor. John proceeds to taunt the doctor for being a gimp as Rae inquires about his college girlfriend, the one who dumped him. Stephen blows up and yells that he's the one who broke it off, because she was a whore. They heard otherwise, they say.

When Rae begins to speak to Stephen as his mother would, the man loses it. She understands how terrifying it was when women left him, as his mother did, she continues. Stephen bellows for her to stop. Informed that he's finished, Stephen is finally captured when John finds the right time to jump on him. The others rush into the room and Antonio is able to make a catch of the control that has flown out of Stephen's hand.

The day is saved and Stephen is taken out in cuffs, with almost everyone following, save Natalie and John. Without warning, a beeper begins to sound. There's a second device that shows only four minutes to go before the bomb is set off! With no time to spare, John calmly speaks to Natalie as they decide which wire he should cut. Down to virtually the last second, success is achieved when John chooses the white one. Nat falls into his arms.

Nat and John arrive at the PCPD, a relieved Vicki hugs her daughter. Natalie declares that she is okay, John saved her life.

3/11 John is furious when Asa sneaks a gun into the police department and asks him to kill Stephen.

3/12 John refuses to shoot Stephen and threatens to arrest Asa if he tries to plan another attack on the criminal. When Bo walks into the office, seeing the gun, he too criticizes his father. When the DA comes in, he refuses to arrest Asa for fear that he will do something to ruin their case against Stephen. Later, as Stephen is escorted to his cell, a gun is pointed at him.

3/15 A vigil is held for all the victims. Natalie is on edge. She jumps at every sound and thinks she hears Stephen. Stephen is shot at but John saves him. Elyssa Collins a victim of Stephen tried to kill him. John pays Stephen a visit. Stephen easily riles him up with just the mention of Caitlin's name. John sits in the Church and talks to Caitlin. He tells her Stephen won't hurt anyone and maybe now they both can find peace.

Mr. Nelson tells Bo that John infringed on Stephen's constitutional rights. The FBI comes looking for John. He is from Internal Affairs. He wants to talk to John about his behavior. John is put on suspension and his badge taken.

3/16 Jessica visits Stephen. She tells him she came to write her last article on the Music Box Killer. She asks him why he killed all the women. He blames his mother, grandmother and grandfather. Before he finishes his speech, John arrives and tells Jessica to leave. While he talks to Jessica, Stephen snatches sleeping pills from her bag.

John asks the guard to leave him and Stephen alone. Stephen asks John why he saved him from being shot. John tells him it was instinct because if he had time to think, he probably wouldn't have saved him. When John leaves, Stephen begins to bang his head really hard against the bars. When the guard returns Stephen accuses John of hurting him.

Bo meets with Agent Christopher. Bo asks him to reconsider the suspension of John. Bo defends John by saying it's a ploy by Stephen to ruin John. He implores him to reinstate John. Agent Christopher agrees to take another look at the case. As he is about to leave Bo's office the guard barges in to tell them that Stephen has been brought to the hospital because John attacked him.

John stops by the diner. Natalie pours him a cup of coffee. She invites him to dinner. He suggests they have burgers at Rodi's. The police arrive to take him in for questioning. John defends himself to Agent Christopher. He tells him that Stephen could have hurt himself to get out of his cell. Agent Christopher has doubts and wonders how John has kept his badge all this time. John takes out his badge and throws it on the desk and resigns. He calls Natalie to let her know they are still on for dinner at Rodi's.

3/17 Rodi's is the scene for a St. Patrick's Day celebration as Natalie waits for John to show up. Viki gives her a shamrock for good luck. "Spirit of the Night" plays in the background. Nat divulges that she thinks she might have a chance with John. The evening hours go by as she looks for him to show up at Rodi's.

At the police station, John convinces Bo that it's time he move on, though he did nothing wrong. He went by the book for all of the victims. John thinks he needs to stop his mother from moving to Llanview since he has now decided to leave. Bo not only believes him but also offers him the position of Chief of Detectives. Reluctantly, John agrees to think about it. John runs into his brother. Michael invites him to help Eve move into Roxy's.

The McBains plus Marcie arrive at Foxy Roxy's and John gets to talk to his mom. Even though John is leaving, Eve decides to stay in Llanview for herself. She "saw" John's dad when she was near death and he told her to move on, to stop waiting for him. She'll miss him if he leaves but she's decided to give Llanview a try.

Nat shows up at John's place. Spotting the bottle in his hand, she figures out why he never showed up at Rodi's. They are awkward with each other and she suggests he take the position that Bo offered him. Suddenly, she grabs him and kisses him and he kisses her back!

3/18 Stephen is angry when he finds out that the assault charges against John have been thrown out.

After kissing John, Natalie rushes out of his apartment. Going after her, he apologizes for not being able to move on from Caitlin. Realizing that she forgot to invite John to her opening night, Eve heads to his house. When she arrived, she extended the invitation to Natalie, who accepts at Johns urging. Eve sings at Rodi’s. After the set, John announces that he intends to stay in Llanview and accepts a job with the Llanview police department.

3/19 When Viki goes to check on Natalie, she agrees to get a manicure Natalie notices that her nails are blue and begs her to see a doctor. Viki refuses so Natalie takes her to the emergency room. When Viki's EKG comes back irregular, the doctor orders her to have a full cardiac workup.

Bo gives John a badge. Stephen's trial starts with him confronting John in front of the press, moments before shots ring out and Stephen is shot. A witness comes forward, pointing to John as the person who shot the prisoner. Realizing the gun used to shoot Haver is the same that John uses as backup, Bo tries not to think the worst. When the trace comes back on the gun, it is registered to John. After telling Michael that John is the man who shot him, Stephen dies of his injuries.

3/22 Before he dies, Stephen tells Michael that John murdered him. John asks Bo if he believes he is not responsible for Stephen's shooting. John continues to defend himself against Stephen's lies. Bo tells John he is on his side. Natalie shows up too and asks about the shooter. John tells her they have a suspect, him.

Bo wants to take John to the office to test his gun. Natalie is outraged. Natalie follows them to the station. She tells John that she called Evangeline. He tells her he doesn't need a lawyer. Bo tells Antonio to stay objective; they must handle the case by the book since they are under a microscope. Daniel tells them the people want an arrest and so does he. Natalie tells John she is there for him.

3/24 The Vega apartment is the setting for dinner as Natalie and John arrive to spend an evening with Jess and Antonio. The article about John being a suspect in Haver's death, on the Intruder's front page, is largely ignored as the couples engage in small talk. Nat finally voices what everyone is thinking about and declares that John will be cleared.

Off to the side, Nat confides to Jess that she hopes she's happy like her sister soon; that she and John are not ready to start a serious relationship though they have lots in common. John on the other hand, confides to Antonio that he and Nat could never be more than friends. As the young couples are in the midst of dinner, Bo arrives with a couple of cops behind him. He's there to arrest John for the murder of Stephen Haver.

3/25 Natalie defends John when Daniel insists he be booked for murder. Bo watches the video tape that was sent to the police station. A taped confession from a police officer states that John approached him about killing Stephen. When Antonio tracks the officer down, he is dead. Natalie tracks down Evangeline to represent John. Jen and Natalie clash when they run into each other at Capricorn.

3/26 Natalie tells Rex that she has had enough of Jen. When Natalie confronts her, the two start a fist fight that is broken by police who have arrived to check ID's for violations. John hires Evangeline. Antonio worries about the evidence that is stacking up against John. When Jessica suggests that the shoot may have been hypnotized by Stephen, Antonio questions her further about what he had done to her. John suggests that Evangeline look into the theory.

3/29 Antonio sets out to prove Stephen set up John. Natalie seeks comfort in Jessica. Jessica suggests that Natalie's reaction to Jen is about John. Natalie admits she is falling in love with John. Natalie tells her she thinks about John all the time. Jessica suggests Natalie tells John how she feels.

Jessica offers Natalie a sleeping pill that she got from the doctor. She can't find them. The cops come to place Natalie under arrest. Jen has filed charges. She ends up in a cell next to John. He helps her let everything out. Antonio updates John as to how Stephen carried out his plan. John and Antonio figure out how Stephen carried out his plan. John tells Antonio he appreciate his faith in him. Antonio watches a tape of John playing cards with the officer that accused John of killing Stephen. Antonio sees that Stephen drugged the cop's coffee.

3/30 Viki comes to get Natalie out of jail, Jen has dropped the charges. Viki tells Natalie about her heart attack. Nora comes into the police squad room with news about John's case, the charges against John were dropped. As Natalie is about to leave, she runs into John. She apologizes about breaking down in her cell.

Jessica, John and Antonio have dinner at the country club. John tells them that he feels Natalie did not show up because of him. He says that he think Natalie feels he wants her to be tough around him, as if it's something he expects from his friends. Jessica makes a remark about how stupid men are and if John doesn't know how Natalie feels about him. John tells them that he and Natalie has talked about her feelings for him and that they decided to be friends.

Paul and Natalie meet again, this time at Rodi's. Natalie and Jen go at it again, but Paul and Riley break it up. Paul and Natalie find out they have Kevin and Kelly in common. Paul shows interest in Natalie when he learns that she is a Buchanan.

Bo gets a bad feeling that the Music Box Killer case is not over. A letter addressed to John McBain is shown among Dr. Haver's papers.

3/31 Rex talks with his sister at Rodi's and defends Jen after he learns about their fight. He tells Natalie that Jen caught him when he was with Lindsay. At a nearby table, John celebrates his release from jail with Eve, Michael and Marcie. He asks Nat to join them but she declines; he wonders if she's avoiding him. Nat denies that she is and they agree that they don't want their friendship ruined over recent events. She has other plans, she tells him, and when Paul happens to come in, she asks him to accompany her to the christening party.

John pops some pills for his lingering pain resulting from nerve damage and continues to look over at Natalie until she leaves with Paul. He doesn't hear Marcie talking to him. Eve attempts to give John advice when he says he only had Caitlin.

Nat and Jess gang up on Viki also and she makes a hasty retreat. When Jess states that one of them should move back home, Nat defiantly figures it must mean her, since she's alone. Her defensive attitude and quick indignation hurt Jess.

When Bo stops by Rodi's, the table empties suddenly, leaving him alone with Eve and John. He announces that the Haver case is officially closed and John decides to go and do some work at the station.

On his way out, John receives a letter delivered by Haver's attorney. John, letter in hand, interrupts Antonio and Jessica. "You missed one, John. Maybe dead, maybe alive. Cops always think they're the hunters."

4/1 At Rodi's, the tension between Natalie and Jen continues. John continues to try to decipher Stephen's final cryptic message, oblivious to Natalie's interest in him.