Fallout

Chapter 1

Written by: GreyDitto

"You'll come home immediately after practice." Stefano boomed into the phone.

"But…" At 16 years old, EJ DiMera did not want to go home after basketball practice. In fact, there was a definitive shortage of things EJ wanted to do less, than go home after practice. He wanted to carouse with his friends. He was a good kid for the most part, but he wanted to blow off steam too.

The first game was just around the corner and he was nervous, he was the starting center as a sophomore, which obviously, was a huge deal. The pressure of being a DiMera was entirely another.

"Is there a problem with the connection?" Much quieter, the degree of discontent his father injected into the few words sent the fine hairs on EJ's forearms on end.

"No Sir." EJ rolled his eyes as he pressed his head back into the headrest of the 2015 Lexus that he'd received for his 16th birthday the previous summer. Attempting to look out the windshield proved to be impossible as his breath fogged in the thirty degree temperatures. Salem in January. He shook his head and pressed the button to turn on the defroster and get the heat pumping into the frigid interior.

"Dinner is at 7pm. I have spoken with your siblings already. Everyone will be here." EJ relaxed, as Stefano's tone had softened. But then just as quickly, he bolted ramrod straight in the driver's seat, his fingers gripping the ice cold steering wheel, his Galaxy dropping to the floor mat at his feet. A trickle of sweat dripped down the center of his spine, chilling him further.

"Father…" his voice cracked and he had difficulty swallowing the massive lump in his throat. "A-are you sick?" EJ finished on a whisper.

"No. No, my son." Stefano assured him and EJ slumped against the wheel, the breath he hadn't been aware he was holding, bursting from his lungs. His heart thumping against his ribs as if he'd just finished practice instead of sitting out in front of the gym about to go in.

EJ couldn't speak. Father wouldn't lie to him, right? Swallowing again, he looked at the display on the radio as the time changed from 227 to 228. He was going to be late to practice.

"EJ, I am alright. I promise you." Stefano's voice surrounded him from the radio speakers.

"I believe you." EJ croaked, lifting his head, running the fingers through his hair, the bloodless fingers of his right still strangling the leather wrapped wheel.

Stefano sighed and EJ felt a resounding catch in his chest again, "there will be a new resident at the mansion when you get home tonight. Uncle Roman is gone."

Dirty face. Dirty hair. A little girl with blue eyes too big for her face that he'd once wondered if she may have been borderline 'special'. That's how EJ remembered Sami Brady. His father and hers had grown up together, been best friends, gone to school together. EJ had loved Roman Brady, he had always sent him interesting stuff from where he was stationed in California. They'd had random holidays together. Exchanged gifts, but he didn't know if he'd ever even heard Sami ever speak before. Roman, on the other hand, he'd been an honorary uncle, someone who had always been on the fringes of his life sure, but now… They were family. She was family. EJ couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that Uncle Roman was dead.

"What do you mean you have to go home right after practice?" EJ's best friend and the only other sophomore on the Varsity basketball team, Philip Kiriakis tossed his Navy and Grey embossed 'Salem High' Under Armour duffel into the locker next to EJ's own, with a scowl.

"I've no bloody idea." He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Deliberately not making eye contact, he bent over, bringing up his size 15 on the wooden bench, lacing up his basketball sneakers, mulling over his thoughts. Why wasn't he sharing what was going on at home? It wasn't like he was going to be able to keep this a secret? By this time tomorrow, everyone would know what was going on. The rumor mill at their high school could teach Fox News a thing or twelve.

"This will be the only Tuesday night we don't have a game for a month Eeej. I thought we were going to go to grab something to eat after practice?" He exaggerated as he whined, yanking his sweatshirt over his head with a minimum of effort. Go grab something to eat, was obviously code for go scope out the ladies. It was a well known fact that on Tuesday nights, the cheerleaders all went out and grabbed dinner together for team bonding night. Chloe Lane, Melanie Jonas, hell my sisters were usually there too. That's how we knew about it.

"No shit. It's not like I have a choice. He told me to get home." Pulling his laces into a double knot, EJ stomped his foot down onto the floor, switching feet. He didn't look up as Philip changed into his practice uniform next to him. Number one, because he was a guy and they didn't roll like that. Number two, because he could feel Philip watching him.

"Riiight." Philip plopped down on the bench and tugged on his sneakers. "You know I'm here right? If you want to talk or whatever." As 16 year old boys have a habit of, there was zero eye contact made as EJ slammed his locker door, tucking his water bottle under his arm.

"Let's go practice. Coach will make us do ladders until we puke if we're late." EJ sidestepped the statement completely, grabbing Philip's water bottle from behind him while he finished lacing his sneakers.

As if on cue, the locker room door behind them opened and their coach stood in the doorway. "Let's go Ladies. Reverse Sprints to anyone not on the court in the next 45 seconds." Metal clanged all around them and grunts echoed as male bodies suddenly scrambling a lot faster to try and avoid the dreaded threat issued by the man in charge.

At 650pm, EJ rounded the corner into the formal dining room of the DiMera mansion. His dark brown hair still wet from the shower he'd taken when he arrived home. He silently thanked his father for giving him time. Although, the more he thought about it, he'd given them all time. Lexie and Kristen had cheer practice. Chad had JV basketball. Father had said all of his siblings would be there, but he hadn't meant it, he couldn't have.

"Hello Elvis." Tony quipped, tapping away on his smartphone, at the chair to the immediate right of the head chair of the cherry table for eight.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" EJ smiled, giving his brother a sharp rap on the top of his head. He had meant it! Tony smoothed his hair, shooting EJ a glare before returning his attention to his phone.

"Language." His father corrected, sipping from a chilled glass of Strega.

"Father called me, so here I am." Tony explained, continuing to text away, the corner of his lip pulled up as he made quick eye contact again, with his younger brother.

"Wow, I didn't think that Stanford made such accommodations to freshmen." EJ sniped, falling into the chair next to Tony, being as much a pain-in-the-ass little brother as possible. He missed him, plain and simple and was grateful he was home, whatever the reason.

"Stanford doesn't make accommodations to freshmen, but they do make them to DiMeras," Stefano trilled. "Where are your sisters?" He asked, looking around. A short stout maid entered, filling water glasses and placing fine china on the table in front of each of the chairs.

"Thank you Mary." Each of them responded as she passed them.

EJ shrugged, looking behind him as Chad sauntered in the door, scrubbing his hair dry with a hand towel. "Lexie is coming. Don't know about Kristen. Hey Tony!"

"How is my favorite youngest brother?" Tony quipped, sure to put emphasis on the youngest part of his question. If there was any question, Tony didn't play favorites. The DiMera kids were a tight knit group of siblings. But college was college, so EJ hadn't been sure that Tony was going to be there when Stefano had said all of the siblings would be at dinner that evening.

"Starving." Chad answered, rubbing his stomach with one hand. He tossed his towel underneath his chair beside EJ's, waving Mary off when she bent to retrieve it. "No, I'll take it back to my room when I go back up, Miss Mary, thank you though. What's for dinner?" Chad was a high school freshman and 14 years old, he had a hollow leg, like most adolescents.

"It's a surprise." Stefano answered as Kristen darted into the room. She hadn't bothered to change out of her practice attire.

"What's a surprise?" She asked, stopping short when she counted all three of her brothers seated at the table. "Oh. Hey Tony."

EJ shook his head. "Is there an echo in here?"

Chad grumbled. "No love."

Stefano narrowed his eyes, "I thought Alexandra was coming?"

"She is, she was in her room. I heard her on my way down." Chad grabbed his water glass downing half of it.

"Daddy," Kristen took her seat and folded her arms on the table, pinning her dad with her baby blues. "What's this about? We had team bonding tonight."

EJ closed his eyes for the briefest of seconds. Oh God. He didn't tell them. His stomach tightened as a wave of acid rose in his throat and he shifted painfully in his seat. Kristen caught the movement and fixed him in her line of sight. He felt her eyes and forced himself to keep his attention on his father. Saved from making any sort of move in Kristen's direction, Lexie walked through the door at exactly 7pm. Unlike their sister, Lexie had showered and wore a simple black sweatsuit. Her thick dark hair was coiled on top of her head.

"Good. Now that you're all here. I can explain what is going on." Stefano sighed, crossing his arms, he adopted a similar posture to Kristen, templing his fingers under his chin. "I don't want to do this more than once."

"I want him to tell us." Kristen accused, pointing a finger across the table at EJ. 4 pairs of eyes swung in his direction as Lexie hovered over her seat at Stefano's left hand.

Voices exploded as everyone demanded an explanation of why EJ knew what was going on and they didn't. The flat of Stefano's hand connecting with the table and the heat of his eyes commanded an immediate quiet. EJ wanted the ground to open up and swallow him into it, if he could have managed it through sheer will, it would have happened.

Stefano DiMera was a business mastermind, a millionaire mogul, a man who raised five teenagers all on his own. Correction, he was now raising six teenagers on his own. "Children." His voice had that thread of malice that had each of them silent in an instant. "I will give you an explanation, but because I want to. Not because you are demanding it. Do you understand me?" He made deliberate eye contact with each of them, proud that they all maintained it, even though all of them were suitably paler than they had been seconds before. Fine DiMeras, all of them.

"I have some very sad news." Stefano paused. "Uncle Roman is dead."

Lexie's hand went to her mouth and a sharp cry came from her mouth as tears streamed from her eyes. EJ closed his eyes, the pain at hearing his Uncle Roman was dead, not any less acute the second time hearing it today.

Kristen shook her head, angry, defiant even. It was her way. "No."

"Cara mia." Stefano smiled, nodding at her. "I'm so sorry. I wish it weren't so."

"But…" Kristen's lip trembled, she fought so hard, her fingers lacing together as tears gathered in her eyes. Lexie's hand shot out, blind, to give her strength but Kristen stumbled away from the table choking on a sob.

"Uncle Steffie." A small voice called from the doorway. Spinning around on their chairs, Tony, Chad and EJ had similar reactions. Gone was the little girl with a dirty face and stringy dirty pigtails. In her place, a young woman with loose blonde waves. Alabaster skin, blue eyes ringed with faint purplish bruising beneath them from tears or lack of sleep. Her lips were entirely too pale. But the figure she cut in a simple pair of jeans and t shirt stole EJ's breath for the second time today.

Stefano rose to his feet, "Sami! I'm so glad you're here." Moving quickly across the space, he pulled her into his arms.