March 5th 1981

Andrea Collins sat at her desk with a large sketch of some type of tank in front of her. She began making several marks of measurements and pinpoints on the blue print. It was a very sophisticated drawling that only someone with a vast amount of knowledge would be able to come up with.

Off to the side of her desk was a picture of her husband and three year old son, Wesley. She looked up at the picture and smiled; everything in her life was perfect. She had a loving husband, a beautiful kind-hearted son, a job she loved. What more could a woman want?

"How's it going?" asked her husband, Alec Collins, a man in his early thirties, already very successful in his company Bio-Lab, in a new age of research to better the world.

"Going very well. I should have the designs finished by next week. We should be able to start building it within the next year." She watched as he walked around behind her, leaning down close and staring at the design.

"The Raimei, kind of catchy." He grinned.

"Yes," She turned around in her chair, stood up and put her arms around his neck. "Just think, in the years to come we will be one of the biggest supporters in the defense industry." There was nothing more important to her then protecting others from those who would wish harm and havoc onto others.

"That will be wonderful, a safer place for our son to grow up in." He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. Alec loved her more then anything, she was his whole world, his everything.

"Mom! I'm ready for you to read my bedtime story," they heard young Wes call from down the hall.

The two parents grinned. "Speaking of son," said Andrea. She started to roll up the design, but Alec stopped her taking the blueprint from her.

"No, go ahead, I'll take care of it," he said, taking the blueprints from her. "Don't keep our little man waiting."

"Thanks, honey." She kissed him on the cheek before heading out of the office.

Alec stared down at the design. It was perfect, unlike anything he had ever seen. Andrea had all these ideas on defense and law enforcement, a brighter future for their son to grow up in, for all children, a safer and more promising world. And with his company having some of the top scientists and researchers in the state, there was no telling what they'd be able to accomplish.

….But sometimes life has a way of throwing things at you, things that end up changing everything and throwing all your plans, all of your hopes and dreams out of balance.

July 1st 1989

The brakes screeched hard as the car started to drive out of control. Andrea felt her heart racing as the car spun. She couldn't see anything through the darkness and pouring rain. Her eleven year old son Wes was scared to death, watching frightened and helplessly as the car violently spun around and around.

"Mom!" he shouted shakily.

"It's okay, sweetie. Everything's going to be all right. I promise." She tried to regain control of the car, but all attempts failed, nothing would work. And then the worst possible thing happened and by the time she saw it, it was already too late. A truck on the road had also lost control, due to severe weather conditions. It was coming right at them. The last thing both of them saw were big bright lights.

"Wesley!"

"Mom!" cried Wes. The truck slammed against them, sending their car spinning out of control, hitting a tree and then rolling on its side.

One week later.

Alec Collins sat close to his son, who had been in a light coma for a little over a week. He had been away on business when the accident had taken place. By the time he had gotten home, it was too late…

Wes flashed his eyes open. Despite a few cuts and bruises, he was fine. The doctors had said he wouldn't be in the coma for long. That he had been very lucky.

"Dad?" Wes looked at his dad and then looked around the room, confused. This wasn't his bedroom; none of this looked familiar to him.

His father looked up, smiling faintly. "Wes." He gently ran his hand through his son's hair. "You're awake."

"Where am I?"

"The hospital." He saw the fearful look on his son's face. "But don't worry, you're going to be all right." Collins sighed; it was just enough to see him moving his eyes around. "Do you remember what happened?"

Wes winced at the memory he couldn't get out of his head. It all happened so fast. There was nothing they could do. "A truck hit Mom and me. It was raining real hard."

"That's right." Collins took his son's hand, sighing heavily. He was already feeling the agony in his heart starting to return. It had been hard enough for him, and now Wes… He would have to be the one that shatters his sons world. He would be the one who breaks his sons heart for the first time. He would be the one who strips his son of his innocence...

"Where's Mom?" he asked, looking at his father with his big blue wide-open eyes. He needed to see that she was okay, to tell her that he loved her and feel his arms around him. "I want to see her."

Collins felt his heart break into a million pieces. Here was the question he had been dreading for the past week. He felt his voice breaking apart, but he held it all in, needing to stay strong. "I'm sorry son, but your mother is no longer with us."

Tear filled Wes's eyes. He shook his head. No, it couldn't be true. "No…No…no!" he cried. Why? Why'd she have to die? It wasn't fair. He still needed her.

Alec gripped his son's shoulder. "You've got to be strong, Wes. From now on it's just you and me," his father announced putting on a very strong and brave face for his son.

Wes sniffled, nodding his head.

A couple of weeks later…

Alec Collins stood in a large room, where the Raimei was being built. On a large table rested the blueprints. The design Andrea had done just a few years before, before everything changed, before their dream fell apart.

"Sir, the project is almost finished. You can't just put a stop to it, we're halfway through," said one of the workers. "Not after all the hard work that was put into it." They had been working on it for years and they were so close to being done.

His face became hard, almost violent. "It is my project! I can damn well put a stop to it whenever I wish!" he roared into the worker's face not at all pleased that his employee wasn't following his orders.

Although frightened, the worker still persisted. "It was Andrea's project. Her design. She would have wanted it finished." He looked Collins hard in the eyes. "And you know it." He slightly backed down when Collins stared at him with a monstrous glare. "Sir."

"Andrea is dead! This project is dead!" Collins waved his hands, pointing right at the worker. "I want you to have your people and your junk cleared out of here by tomorrow. Is that understood!"

"But sir-"

Collins got right into the man's face. "Is that understood?" he roared again.

He sighed, nodding his head. It was useless, no matter what he said it didn't seem to matter. "Yes," he answered softly.

"Good!" Collins then stormed out of the building.

The worker in charge turned around to face all the people working on the tank. "Pack it up, people. This project has been terminated." He sighed heavily. It was a shame, they were really progressing on the Raimei, and now all their hard work was for nothing. Everything Andrea had put into this was gone, in one instant, just as her life had been taken from her, far too quickly, so to would this project. All they could hope for was that maybe one day in the future things would change and the project would start back up again.

A few hours later Collins was back in his office, yelling on the phone. "Yes, I want you to cancel everything, drop the project …Of course I'm sure….Yes…Goodbye." He slammed the phone down. He sighed heavily as he ran his hands down his face.

His eyes fell onto the picture of his wife, Andrea, who had died a few weeks before, a fatal car accident. Wes had been with her, but he had survived, with minor injuries. In that moment Alec swore to himself that he would never let anything in, never let anything remind him of her, because it just hurt too much.

"But sir, it's only been a month; you cannot send Master Wes away now," Philips sighed, knowing now wasn't the best time to be shipping a young boy who just lost his mother away. "He still needs you, just as much as you need him." But Collins didn't answer, his face was hard as a brick. "Both you and Andrea had agreed never to send your children away to school," protested Philips.

"I made my decision." His eyes locked hard on Philips. "And in case you haven't noticed, Andrea is no longer here. I'm both parents now, so whatever I say goes."

Philips wasn't about to back down. "You cannot keep doing this, sir. First her own projects that she worked so hard on. And now, you're sending her only son away to school. Sir, y-you cannot-"

Collins got right into Philips' face. His face was hard and unmoving. "You finish that sentence and you'd better be looking for another job."

Philips then backed off; no matter what he said he couldn't reason with him. He sighed heavily, although he didn't agree with what Mr. Collins was doing he would have to go along with it. He knew he had to stay here, for her, for Wes and for him. Although he wouldn't say or show it, Philips knew Alec was hurting, much more then anyone knew. And there were those who had always wondered: would Alec rather it been Wes than Andrea, but no one would ever ask it or speak it.

"I will go help Master Wes pack his things," sighed Philips as he headed upstairs to Wes's bedroom.

Philips found young Wes sitting on his bed with his head down, staring at a picture in his lap. The kind butler sighed as he walked over to the boy and sat down next to him. He put a comforting arm around the boy, knowing it had been sometime since Wes had even felt the loving touch of his father.

"What if I don't like it there?"

He paused for a moment. "I'm sure you'll make friends in no time. You're very good at that," Philips smiled at the young boy before him. "If you like I'll write to you."

"You'd do that?" That made Wes feel a little bit better about going knowing that Phillips would be there for him when he needed him.

"Of course." Philips smiled, looking down at the picture. "You're a lot like her you know."

Wes sighed. "Is that why he's sending me away?" He gulped in, feeling tears start to rush down his face. "Because I don't have to be like her, I can be-"

"No, don't ever change, Wes." Philips sighed. "Your father is just having a hard time dealing with this. He loved your mother very much. It's just going to take time, that's all."

Wes set the picture of his mother on his bed and turned to look at Philips. "Do you think things will ever be the same again?"

"In time, yes." He smiled. "Come on, I'll help you pack your things."

But it would be a little more than twelve years later when Alec Collins would begin to realize just how hardened his heart had become. And that was just when the trouble began, when everything changed, when the secrets had started. Alec Collins would carry most of those secrets for a good five years, until he would reveal them to the one he cared for the most, and after the secret was out, both of their lives would be forever changed….