Episode 13 "Rekindling"

Chapter 1

SUBSCRIPT: 3 WEEKS LATER

Emily breathed in deeply and took in her surroundings with a lingering sigh that could only come from emotional exhaustion, pent up over an extended period of time. She stood amongst hundreds of Southampton residents assembled in Cedar Point Park, where the Memorial service for fallen Police Chief Edward Alvarez and Officer Ben Hunter had been held only two weeks earlier. The grave proceedings were a sharp contrast to today's ceremony, the presentation of a prestigious Medal of Honor to her childhood friend and life-saver time and again, Jack Porter. Emily watched in admiration, her father by her side, as she allowed a proud smile to creep across her lips as Jack accepted the honor from the newly appointed Chief of Police. Jack's expression remained humble and undeserving, as if he could not lay claim to the honor, but would accept it only when prodded by the merit of others. As Emily raised her hands to applaud with the crowd on his behalf, she caught eyes with the familiar faces sprinkled around her. Particularly, her eyes fell on Daniel, standing some yards away with his eyes on the stage, Margaux noticeably missing from his side. Emily scanned nearby but did not see her anywhere in the crowd.

"Looking for someone?" David whispered to her, noticing her scan of the assembly.

"Just keeping my eyes open," she replied, turning slightly to grin knowingly. She sported a conservative ponytail and her reliable black sheath dress and pumps, almost a mirror image of the attire she wore for the funeral services weeks prior. Despite her solemn choice in fashion, she seemed to light up when in the company of her father. Her disposition attributed even more so to the recent days with Malcolm Black out of the picture, Victoria incarcerated awaiting arraignment, and the rest of her closest acquaintances clear of any accusation in relation to the entire ordeal.

"Force of habit?" David asked, knowing the answer already, and Emily nodded in response. "I'm proud of him," he continued, looking back towards Jack, decorated in military blues onstage.

"Me too," Emily concurred.

"Me three," added Nolan, coming up behind them both. "Though I admit it's not every day you get to genuinely cheer on someone in law enforcement."

"Nolan," Emily greeted her friend and often accomplice, as her father did the same. She shifted her stance to get a bit closer to him, lowering her voice. "You've been quiet the past few days… I didn't know whether I'd see you here."

"And miss Jack's coronation as King of Southampton PD? Never… I have, however been rather occupied with a certain Southern charmer who, turns out, really has a heart of gold in the end." He smiled, hinting at the breakthrough he had with Louise following the showdown with Malcolm Black. To both their surprise, Louise was forthright about Victoria's manipulation and seemed to have broken free of her control. Emily admitted to herself that she had really begun to like the girl, and was pleased that Nolan found someone to channel his sidekick energy into. It seemed therapeutic for him. Now if she could only find a way to do the same…

"How are you holding up?" Nolan pursued, as the ceremony came to a close and the attendees began to dissipate around them.

Emily shrugged, looking over her shoulder as her father moved away from them to mix in with the company, and then facing Nolan again. "I suppose I should be used to loss by now," she guessed, withholding. "But it's just taking me some time…" She tried to avert her eyes but it was no use when her closest friend was standing before her and could see past the exterior she desperately tried to keep up. "Ben didn't deserve to die," she finally blurted. "Sometimes I feel like it was my fault he was involved in the first place?"

"Ems, don't do that to yourself," Nolan assured her, tilting his head in compassion. "What happened to Ben was unfortunate but it wasn't your fault – if anything you tried to protect him, you were honest with him. He chose to pursue this – he wouldn't have walked away even if you convinced him to." He took a breath to think for a moment. "You know who's at fault for this and no one else—"

"Victoria," Emily finished, a look of consternation falling over her face at the mention of the name.

"She's going to pay this time," Nolan continued. "For the things that she has done - no one else."

"Let's hope so," Emily conceded, still unsettled by her memories of that night. She recalled, as did everyone else, that Victoria's act was a last-ditch effort to protect her father from his own sins coming back to haunt him, a piece of information that Emily was certain Victoria would try to play in her favor if she didn't get what she wanted. She never ceased to prepare for Victoria's next step, having been down this road with her time over and again.

Their conversation was interrupted, as Margaux approached from the opposite direction, her eyes set firmly on Emily.

"Mr. Ross," she greeted Nolan, nodding in his direction. "Emily, can I have a word?"

Emily exchanged glances with Nolan before responding in kind. "Margaux… Certainly." She stepped away and walked in stride with her, softly glancing over in Daniel's direction but seeing him gone from where he was standing.

Margaux began without hesitation. "I promise not to keep you long, Ms. Thorne. I understand the loss of your friend, Officer Hunter and I have held off speaking to you out of respect for your time to grieve."

"Thank you," Emily replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"However, I wanted to make you aware of my intention to see Victoria exonerated from the charges alleged against her."

Emily's pace slowed, as she turned a side eye in Margaux's direction. "Exonerated?" she repeated, tongue in cheek.

"Yes, you heard correct," Margaux confirmed, stopping to face her. "I may not have shared a history with you like the Graysons have, but I know from the short time I have spent in the Hamptons that you are not one to be trusted…" her expression intensified with double meaning lurking under the surface. "And I am pursuing legal counsel to clarify exactly what happened that night."

Emily raised an eyebrow, floored by Margaux's audacity. "You don't know the first thing about my history with the Graysons," she retorted, fully aware that Margaux still did not know her true identity and most likely knew only a distortion of events of recent years from Victoria. "And aren't you forgetting something? There was more than one witness to her crime present."

"None of which have enough credibility to testify," Margaux retorted, closing the space between her and her nemesis. "The reputations of your father and Nolan Ross leave much to be desired, especially following their public vacillations of opinion regarding each other in the media –"

"A display if I remember correctly, Voulez was responsible for—" Emily inserted, sneering.

"Whatever the case," Margaux continued, raising her voice slightly. "Their testimony will be easy to refute, and that of Victoria's bitter ex-daughter-in-law, with a penchant for lying to the public, even easier! Especially considering your regular appearances with David, who happens to be Victoria's ex-lover," Margaux gave Emily a vindictive smile. "You don't have to be a jury to see the conspiracy here."

Suddenly aware that Margaux had somewhat of a case, Emily faltered in her argument, but only momentarily. "Well then, I guess that just leaves one person?"

Margaux sniffed in disgust. "The district attorney would never call Victoria's own son to testify against her."

Emily shook her head in triumph. "I wasn't talking about Daniel," she corrected her, rolling his name off her lips with the slightest touch of enjoyment.

Just as realization hit Margaux of who Emily was referring to, he appeared. Jack was stopped a few paces back from both of them, clearly sensing the tension between them both.

"Jack," Emily greeted him, giving him a sincere hug despite her fiery disposition from her exchange with Margaux. "I can't tell you how proud of you I am."

Jack returned the embrace, squinting his eyes suspiciously as Emily pulled away. "Am I… interrupting something?" he asked, glancing back and forth between Emily and Margaux.

"No," Margaux replied, her eyes still fixed on Emily. She turned to acknowledge Jack with a hug of her own, albeit stiffened. "I was just finishing with Emily." She placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, and he knew something was amiss. "Congratulations, Jack. No one deserves it more than you," she added before swiftly turning and walking away.

His eyes demanding an explanation, Jack turned back to Emily. "Ok… what was that all about?"

"History repeating itself," Emily replied with a sigh, turning her attention to him. "So, how does it feel to accomplish what you set out to?" she tried to master a half-smile.

Jack sighed in uncertainty. "Not exactly how I expected it… especially without a partner…" he trailed off glumly, and Emily could feel the lingering guilt in the air that they both shared. Eager to move past it, Jack pressed Emily, who was looking off in the distance. "What is it, Em?"

As usual, Emily was always hesitant to give Jack too much information, especially in light of recent events. She shuddered to think if someone the tables had turned and it was Jack's funeral as an officer she had attended weeks ago, and Ben being honored today. More than anything, she just wanted him to be free of all her desperate attempts at revenge. With solace, she realized that each day that went by; she lost more and more control over her life and the lives of the ones she cared about the most. Conscious of this, she looked at Jack with a slight pleading expression. "It's nothing. I just…" she thought carefully. "We may need you when this goes to trial. Now that the Hamptons recognize you for all you've done… it will speak volumes."

It was enough to satisfy his curiosity. "Hey, there's no one who wants to take down Victoria more than I do," he assured her. "But Emily, I don't know how much longer I can do this."

Emily furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… I'm quitting the force," he finished. Before Emily could pursue it further, he caught sight of Daniel and then scanned around and saw Nolan not that far in the opposite direction. Sensing an opportune time to exit, he placed a gently hand on Emily's arm. "Listen, I'll see you later, alright?"

As Jack walked away, Emily remained, pondering over her conversations with him and Margaux. Not realizing quite how long she stood there thinking, the grace of a gentle hand on her upper forearm woke her out of her trance.

"Daniel," she greeted him as he came around to face her.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind," he observed, also taking notice of how impeccably dressed his former wife was.

Emily did not attempt to hide the truth with him, only acknowledged his observation and licked her lips. "You could say that," she stammered honestly, noticing the ease to which he walked and stood, poised. She opened her arms, palms upward. "You look… a lot better."

Daniel nodded. "Physical therapy goes a long way," he shrugged, looking down slightly in realization of how simple he sounded. "But you already know that."

Emily smiled, making light of the reference. "It's good to see you back to normal." She began to look around and Daniel spoke up before she could find a reason to walk away.

"You know I worried when you didn't return my calls or messages," he ventured directly. "I thought we had moved past that?"

"Daniel, both of us know when it comes to your mother we've never seen eye to eye. I didn't see any point in making this any less comfortable than it already is," Emily looked downwards and closed her arms around her clutch in hand, mechanically.

"You know that's interesting considering we both saw exactly the same thing that night," Daniel replied, waiting for her to counter him. He looked into Emily's eyes but was met back with no response. Pausing at the silence, he continued. "Well for what it's worth, Em… when I saw Ben with that gun in his hand, I thought he was aiming for you."

Emily looked up at his revelation, but kept silent and just listened.

"And at that moment all I could think of was Kate… and how this time I wouldn't be able to save you in time. It scared the life out of me." Daniel stopped, realizing that Emily would have no idea of all this being that they hadn't talked in weeks. By now she may have had her own thoughts about the situation and had moved on from it. He couldn't let her go on without knowing the truth, including how he really felt about his mother. "I don't condone anything my mother's ever done. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved when I knew you were safe… but for what it's worth, Em… you're not the only one who's trying to change who they are." Daniel gave her a last look before walking away.

Immediately, Emily regretted not saying anything and wished he was there again. She spun around while he was still close. "Daniel," she called out and he stopped to look back.

With his eyes on her again she found herself at a loss of words, and remembered why it was so hard for her to talk to him in the past few weeks, why she had avoided him as much as possible. Ben's murder and even Malcolm's justified demise were all reminders of pain that Emily felt guilty for; the after effects of her decision to protect her family at all costs. But deep inside she knew that Daniel understood that now, and that he had changed – he was his own man now and she needn't worry that his loyalties would forever only remain with his mother, even if Margaux was. Daniel was his own man, about to have his own family and all he wanted was her friendship.

"I'm sorry," was all she could think of, and Daniel's eyes softened at her genuine expression. She wanted to say more, wanted to thank him, but was ever reminded of the distance that seemed to remain between them no matter how much she said it. Rather than try unsuccessfully to close it, the most she could do was wish him happiness. "Margaux is lucky to have a guy like you," she settled on, and she meant it.

Daniel's expression changed and Emily was immediately worried that she'd said the wrong thing. Clarifying, he replied, "Thanks… but Margaux and I aren't together anymore."

Emily tilted her head in confusion, but before she could pursue with any of the questions that were suddenly rushing into her head, Daniel had turned and walked away.

SCENE

Margaux waited patiently in the visiting room at the station where Victoria was being held, only days before her arraignment. After her confrontation with Emily earlier that day she was motivated more than ever to see her, her curiosity sparked by their exchange. Something that Emily said when she refuted Margaux's claims against her led her to believe that Victoria had not shared all she knew about the girl, and she needed all the ammunition at her disposal if she was going to truly go to war with her. Even Margaux did not underestimate that Emily would not go down without a fight.

The door was buzzed open and Victoria entered the room, fully clothed in prison uniform, accompanied by two large guards. "Five minutes," one of them barked at her before she sat before the glass partition separating her from Margaux. Despite her circumstance, she wore an ethereal look of pleasure on her face, relief at seeing the mother of her grandchild before her. She picked up the phone to speak as Margaux did the same.

"You're beginning to show, my dear," Victoria commented, eyeing Margaux's slight bump, which was more prominent nowadays. "Thank you for coming to see me."

"Victoria," Margaux began, and she felt her voice quivering with intensity.

"What is it?" Victoria asked, sensing her uneasiness.

"I haven't changed my stance, I intend to do everything I can to get you out of here," she continued.

"I'm grateful for all you've offered to do, Margaux. But I don't expect anything to be successful… I've accepted my fate here."

"You shouldn't… the people who are responsible for all the pain you've endured these past years are just as guilty for what happened."

Victoria only gave a slight shake of her head in reply, indifferent.

"But the reason I am here, is for something else altogether," Margaux looked down and then met eyes with Victoria again and immediately she knew what Margaux was about to say.

"You're here because of Emily Thorne," she answered correctly, before Margaux had a chance to confirm her suspicion.

"Yes. I want to know the truth about why she has become such an enemy of yours. There's more to it than what you've told me in the past, I can see it in her eyes. Please Victoria… tell me the truth?"

Victoria paused and thought deeply before her next words. "Alright," she conceded as Margaux focused intently through the glass into the dark pupils of Victoria's liquid brown eyes.

"The truth begins a very long time ago… with a girl named Amanda Clarke."

END OF CHAPTER