1
With a start, she was awake.
She was not entirely lucid – her vision was blurry and her throat painfully dry. Fumbling beside her, Charlotte grabbed for her trusty glass of water but could not find one. Her vision was coming into focus and, within a few seconds, it was evident she was no longer in her bedroom. The room she was in bore all the hall-marks of a Hotel Room – furnished in neutrals so as not to be offensive, cheap and offensive curtains that barely held out the sunshine of midday and a mattress that was so uncomfortable she was certain she would need surgery after staying in it.
Charlotte's brain was coming to life now, and apart from the drowsiness and dehydration, she was overwhelmed with concern: where was she? Who was she with? Why wasn't she in her room at home? Gingerly, she slid out of the bed, putting the duvet down softly and crept across the room to the door – the only one from the bedroom and paused, resting her hand on the handle. A million scenarios blazed through her head about what was on the other side of the door: kidnappers? The Police?
With a swell of confidence she eased it open and stepped across the threshold; something far better greeted her.
"I'm glad to see you're finally awake, I wasn't sure how long the Doctor's would take."
"Mom!" Charlotte greeted ecstatically, almost leaping across the room to envelope her in a hug. Charlotte stood back suddenly, memory flooding back to her, "But the plane…it exploded? You…you're dead…or meant to be."
Victoria offered a ferocious grin, "Rumours of my death have been exaggerated, though at least your father seems to have been taken in by the pyrotechnics. He and Lydia have been in the Cayman Islands for a week and he hasn't even had the decency to organize a funeral for me." She raised an eyebrow before standing up and hugging her daughter once more.
Charlotte frowned, "But I…I took those pills-"
"-a troubling habit that stops now," Victoria said firmly, "but the important thing is I have gotten you away from your Father, and your brother and neither of them are any the wiser."
Charlotte admired her mother for a moment, "How?"
"Daniel believes you're recuperating with Adam's parents, and Conrad believes whatever Daniel tells him." Victoria smiled, savouring her accomplishment. She was Charlotte's shocked expression and raised a finger, "Your father may have discovered you, but he would be surprised to discover how many contacts I have in private hospitals in New York. Having you moved was no trouble, and according to Hospital Records you're staying with Connors."
"Did you give your evidence then?"
Victoria nodded, "Three days ago, the FBI are already looking for Conrad. I wish I could point them in the right direction but we never vacationed in the Caymans…he always reserved that for," she paused, the pain of Conrad's affair with Lydia returning for a moment, before her loathing of Conrad rushed back to her, extinguishing it, "someone else. Would you like something to drink or eat?"
Charlotte nodded, "A croissant would be nice…and some juice."
Victoria nodded almost imperceptibly, and Charlotte suddenly became aware they weren't alone in the sitting room. A maid, stood as a silent sentinel had just left the room, shutting the door behind her as she left.
Charlotte marvelled at her mother. She had experienced so many emotions toward her, but through it all, she had a recurring twinge of affection and love – the mother-daughter bond was not easily broken, and the near loss of Victoria had fully restored it for Charlotte. Conrad was not her father, and much as he cared for her, or feigned it, Daniel had always been the favoured child. Daniel would succeed at Grayson Global. Daniel would marry the right girl. Daniel would prosper even if he nearly killed a girl and spent his youth partying. Charlotte didn't resent her brother, but she resented her father's prioritisation of him. That made siding with her mother all the easier.
"What are you going to do now?"
Victoria smiled as the door opened. The maid returned with a trolley replete with croissants, fruit juices and a teapot. Victoria plucked the pot and poured herself a steaming cup, adding a drop of milk before sinking back happily in her armchair.
"Now I'm going to have tea with my daughter," she smiled, thinking about her plans, "then I'm going to wait for my ex-husband to be arrested before turning attention to resting back control of Grayson Global and bringing my son back under my influence." She paused, staring Charlotte straight in the eye, "With your help, of course."
._.
Nolan sat opposite Emily, in the living room of her beach house on the couches in the sitting room, his interest piqued. Emily had been cagey since the plane crash and the revelation about her mother – he wanted answers, primarily to help Emily, though truthfully, because he wished to know what she was planning. He had seen a dark side to Emily with the man who had killed her Father, he wasn't about to let her continue on that path: if he could help it.
"So someone beat you to it, Em?" Nolan quipped nervously. He wasn't entirely sure what kind of mental state she was in, but he was hoping to find out using his outwardly light-hearted, harmless persona.
Emily fixed him with a knowing look, "If you really think Victoria Grayson died in that plane crash you're very foolish. Self-preservation is second nature to her. I have it from a reliable source that she's in Washington – with Charlotte. The rather more pressing question is the whereabouts of Conrad…and Lydia. I should have buried her a long time ago, the fact she's remained in the picture this long is troubling."
Nolan offered her a confused expression, "You're still after them? What about your Mom?"
Emily brushed a stray golden hair from her face.
Her dark eyes sparkled, "Two birds, one stone. I was going to have to see Satoshi at some point anyway, Amanda's escape needs dealing with – and if anyone knows where I can find my mother, he does. He also has the resources to track down Conrad."
"Why not ask Daniel?" Nolan prodded innocently.
Emily's lips rose into a smile, "Because he wouldn't tell me anything now, and besides, he's off my radar for the time being." She rose up unexpectedly and crossed from the living room to the kitchen, grabbing her handbag and slinging it over her arm, affixing her retro-style Ray-Bans to her face. "While I'm gone I want you to see if you can handle Amanda for me. I'd bet a lot that the bay isn't Jack's. Plant that idea in Declan's mind and he'll do the math, got it?"
"Got it." Nolan said, shrugging sheepishly as Emily swept out of the house, her stilettos ringing out loudly as she left.
._.
The business world was a lot more charged and intimidating than Daniel remembered. He'd been coming to see his Dad at the Grayson Global Office Building since he was a small boy, but now the workers who had once looked at him with such warmth and generosity, now offered him veiled-glares or icy expressions. Nepotism was never popular, but the fact that Daniel was now running such a vast corporation, largely because of who he was rather than on any actual merit was a problem for a lot of people.
He'd thought he might at least count upon the support of his Father's friends, but it was becoming abundantly clear that Conrad Grayson hadn't focused upon forming bonds and friendships in business. Daniel frowned at a mass of spreadsheets, figures, articles and reports spread haphazard across his desk that he could never hope to understand in a million years. The knock at the door to his office yanked him back into reality and he smiled at the first friendly face in hours: Ashley.
She wore her dark hair tied tightly up in a bun, held in place by an ornate oriental hair-clip fashioned to look like a butterfly and wore an accompanying sapphire-coloured dress with complimentary white blazer. Her iPad was clutched tightly in her hand as she seated herself, without greeting in an armchair in front of Daniel's desk and crossed one leg over the other, getting seated comfortably before making eye-contact.
"Hello to you to." Daniel laughed but he received only a frosty stare from Ashley.
She cleared her throat and sat up in her chair, "This is bad Daniel – I just got this report from one of the company's contacts." She handed over the iPad and Daniel briefly read it and then handed it back.
"So we've been subsidising some charities, since when was that a crime?" he shrugged.
Ashley rolled her eyes, "Read between the lines – haven't you ever heard the saying one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist? These charities are fronts for six out of the top ten most active extremist organisations across the planet – Grayson Global has been subsidising them since the early 1990s. Daniel this, is, very bad."
Daniel shrugged, "If my father authorised it then it's his problem, not mine, why can't you just paint it as his doing? I thought we paid you to be a media officer Ash?"
"I can't work bloody miracles! Daniel half the Grayson board have involvement in this – if the press find out about this, you're going to be tainted and the company will be wiped off the stock exchange. People will start rush-selling and then your competitors will begin dividing up the company assets." Ashley frowned deeply, her forehead creasing as she did so, "Your father fleeing the country is bad enough, this is a disaster."
"So what do you want me to do Ashley? Give me a to do list and I'll get it done, I can't do anything about it, if you don't give me anything."
She placed the iPad down on the desk, "You need to stop these payments, find out who was responsible and get them out of the picture, preferably with signed confessions that they did this without your knowledge. I'll have to speak to someone to see if we can erase the electronic trail somehow – the government could find out about this any day. One look at any terminal in the building and they'll be all over this. I cannot emphasize how dangerous this-"
"I get it Ash," Daniel half-yelled at her before recovering his composure, "and I'll get onto it."
"Actually you won't." Daniel looked up, regarding the tall, young-old man with a shock of white hair stood in the doorway. "Your father has masters son, now they're yours. So I wouldn't do anything foolish like start withdrawing funding for companies."
._.
For an international playboy, somehow the Stowaway had wormed its way into Nolan's affections. He sidled into a stool at the bar and scanned it, looking to see which of the brothers was on duty. He had struck lucky: Declan eased along the boor, smiling weakly as he drew up opposite Nolan, "Hey," he greeted blandly, "what can I get you?"
"I'll take a sex on the beach." Nolan resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow – the remark had been unsettling enough, and his offering of a smile made Declan believe he was almost certainly in the room with Jack's slightly weird friend, instead of one of Emily's disciples, about to grill him for information. It was a wonder that someone as unintelligent as Declan had failed to deduce anything weird about Nolan and Emily's involvement with Jack – but then how could he? He hardly spent enough time with them. And he was too focused on Charlotte – love truly could blind a person.
Declan began mixing the drink, pouring out the measures into the shaker before grabbing it with both hands and shaking it vigorously. "Jack's out with Amanda at the moment…at the hospital actually," he said as Nolan looked away, worried he might have to make drawn out conversation with him, "so he could be gone a while."
"Oh yeah," said Nolan disinterestedly, admiring a painting which, although he was sure had seemed tasteful at the time was a bad forgery and also fairly uninteresting, "I heard about that, excited to be an uncle?"
"Feels weird," Declan admitted truthfully, "I just hope Jack's ready…guess I never imagined him having a kid before."
"Get imaging," Nolan advised, sipping at the drink as Declan offered him the finished cocktail and barley disguising a grimace – Jack was definitely the better bartender, "Uncle Declan."
Declan frowned. He wasn't going to get rid of Nolan any time soon. He resigned himself to having to force conversation with him and began tidying away glasses into the racks, ready for the rush – assuming they got one that evening.
"What do you make of Amanda?" Nolan quizzed jokily, "Excited to have her as a sister-in-law?"
Declan would be lying if he said he did.
"She's…sweet enough."
Nolan nodded – Declan disapproved, this would be a piece of cake.
"Kinda weird though, Jack went after her…she pushed him away and then only turns up when she finds out she's pregnant." Nolan had been careful to neglect to add 'with his kid,' to the end of the sentence.
Declan looked up at that. He had reservations about Amanda, but he hadn't realised he was the only one. Though the friendship had come from a weird place, on some level, Declan could see Nolan valued Jack's friendship and clearly, was concerned to, about Amanda's involvement in his life.
"I guess it's a little odd…she seems like a good egg though…I mean she isn't like…shady." Declan turned away, seeing if Nolan would offer anything about it. "What does Emily think?"
Nolan shrugged, "She's pretty cagey about that stuff…she just wants the best for Jack. But I mean Emily's done time and she knows…certain types of people pretty well. I'd just be…a little concerned as to whether Jack is the only guy Amanda's been with…recently." Nolan gulped the drink in one go and then placed it down on the counter, "I'll see you later Dec, tell your brother I said hi." Nolan stood up and turned on his heel, striding off, confident he'd planted the seeds of doubt in Declan. Amanda would be out of the stowaway before she knew it herself.
._.
Emily bowed respectfully, a move that severely pained her body as a result of her highly inappropriate footwear. She looked up into the eyes of her Sensei, and, for a change, received warmth and comprehension. This was the Satoshi she remembered – the one who had set out as her mentor on the quest for revenge with her. He looked as if he had aged a few years in only a few months – evidently Amanda had caused the normally resolutely composed man great strain.
"Sensei," she greeted deferentially, "I am sorry to arrive unannounced."
"I always have time for you," he said, leading her from the entranceway through to his expansive living room, whose panoramic window took in an impressive view of the beach and crystal clear ocean, "and am impressed you knew to find me here."
Emily gave him a wry smile, "We all vacation sometime," she paused, "and your receptionist said you were here on business."
"Have you been before?" he asked, gesturing for her to follow him out onto the vast balcony, overlooking the beach.
Emily shook her head, removing her sunglasses, "But I'm looking for a place out here."
"I saw the news about Victoria, evidently someone beat you to it," he looked at her, his face suddenly serious, "or believes they have."
Emily nodded, "I'm not sure who, but I know Victoria escaped. Charlotte Grayson has to be somewhere, and I hardly believe even the Graysons are bad enough parents to put a drug addict daughter in the house of her supplier."
"Then what brings you here? To find who blew up the plane?"
"I'm sure it was the man who killed my father – but that why can wait. What I need from you is the location of Conrad Grayson, and my mother."
For the first time she could remember, Emily saw surprise and then confusion flicker across Satoshi's forehead. It creased, showing his many wrinkles and his eyes flickered alarmingly – he crossed back inside the house and settled himself onto one of the wicker armchairs and interlocked his hands, frowning deeply. He began murmuring to himself, looking up to Emily as she crossed the room, taking the chair opposite him.
He sighed, "Your Father told me little about her, when I knew him. As far as I knew, she died shortly after you were born – he told the same to all his close confidantes. How did you find out, something in the box?"
Emily shook her head.
Though she had scoured the box many times, looking for her phantom mother, she had never found a trace. There were a few photos but they were taken either at the point of her birth or shortly thereafter. There had been on information about her whereabouts, nothing about her death…Emily had little or no idea of where she would find her mother now.
"It was a security recording, Victoria knew my Dad's biggest secret. My Mom didn't die all those years ago, she's still alive," she frowned, "I think it's part of the reason he never truly challenged the Grayson's over Flight 197. He knew Victoria could reveal everything, he knew she could destroy him." Satoshi had been listening to it all intently, and now the confusion of earlier had evaporated. His face was determined and his manner appeared far more intense and determined than before.
"Then we'll find her," he said clasping her hands in his, "I owe it to your Father to make this step for you, and help you further your quest."
Emily smiled appreciatively, squeezing his hands back and then frowned.
"There is only one more thing on my mind."
Satoshi nodded as a prompt.
"How did Amanda escape?"
._.
So I love Revenge and I hope you like my take on what could happen in Season 2…I wanted to try and differentiate a little from the official description for the pilot. Reviews and responses welcomed and appreciated, it could be a one-shot but I think I'd like to do more…I guess I'll just see where I go from here,
Acrobat
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