Jack Manning credited his genes with his ability to function best on four hours of sleep. That was convenient, since his niece was up and running about the house by eight thirty, he came out into the upstairs common area to find the five year old on roller skates.
"What are you doing? Do you want to fall down the stairs?" He asked in alarm before his eyes darted to the large open staircase a few feet away. He sighed in relief at the sight of his twelve year old brother nestled in a bean bag chair at the top, his legs resting on the banister preventing disaster.
Sam closed his book and looked up at him over the rim of his glasses.
"Mom said family meeting at nine." He swallowed.
"Yeah, Dad told me last night." Jack sat next to him, listening to the chair hiss as it's contents resettled. "It's okay. He said it's not a big deal."
"He's lying." Sam exhaled, his eyes following hope as she glided from wall to wall.
"I know." Jack rubbed his face.
"Boys?" Blair called from the doorway of the media room. "Victor's on the wall."
"I want to talk to Grandpa Victor first!" Hope shouted, crashing against her grandmother's leg. The baby Blair was holding screeched in irritation, her cubby leg stomping at her aunt.
"Nooo Hote!" She yelled.
"Ow!" Hope yelled in exaggerated distress, before breaking into choppy dramatic tears.
"Meredith Cassandra we do not kick people." Blair said sternly, watching the fiery redhead's lower lip shoot out in protest.
"NO! NO Hote!" She insisted as her aunt continued to wail.
"What is going on up here?" Todd called, coming up the stairs.
"Take this little terror." Blair sighed, handing her daughter to her husband as Hope skated and cried dramatically towards her uncles collapsing with flare onto Jack's lap.
"Alright you won the Oscar, that's enough." Jack inhaled dramatically, boosting her onto his hip. Let's go see if we can wake up your mommy." He looked at his brother. "You get first dibs on Victor. Don't tell him about my game. I get to do that."
"Yeah like I wanna use my fifteen minutes with my bio dad to talk about your soccer skills." Sam mumbled making his way past them and into the media room.
"Vic's live in there?" Todd chucked a finger at the room, Blair nodded. "She nail Hope?" He lifted Merrie up a little.
"She gave her a good kick in the neck but it wasn't her usual force." Blair shook her head. "She's a terror Todd."
"She'll grow out of it." He shrugged.
"I'm glad you're so sure." Her phone beeped and she looked down.
"Well, Starr's not blackmailing anyone and it's been years since Jack's accidentally killed anyone."
"That we know of!" Blair teased. "Your family's here. I buzzed them up."
"Okay." He puffed out a breath. "Wanna make sure we get the last few screens up?"
"Yeah. I think I heard Jack greeting Dani."
"Good." He called as he carried Merrie down the steps. Just as the security system announced their guests.
"Victoria Lord. Tina Roberts. Natalie McBain and Jessica Buchanan. Confirmed." It chirped obediently. "Please advise." He pressed the panel.
"Validate." He told it, kicking his wife's discarded shoes towards the wall.
"Val a did!" Merrie yelled.
The door chimed again before Todd opened it.
"Hi loved ones." He smiled before letting it drop off his face. "And Natalie and Tina."
"Todd, Meredith." He kissed Vicki on the cheek, moving Merrie further away from her.
"Careful she's being her usual self." He warned.
"There is Aunt Tina's precious girl!" His other sister squealed in the same voice she used for her dog. To Todd's chagrin his daughter squealed back, babbling incessantly at his least favorite sister as she pushed away from her father.
Tina scoped her into her arms and nuzzled her close. Jess rolled her eyes at them, but Natalie smirked at Todd.
"It's the hair." He told them both. "Come on up."
….
In the Media room Jack was helping her arrange the chairs in a u shape around the room so that everyone could be seen. Hope was dancing vivaciously for her sleepy mother and Sam was telling Victor about all the latest goings on around Llandview. She could see Dani smiling and laughing and she wondered which conversation she was focused on. It was only when she and Starr both broke into applauds at the same time that she really knew. Hope was bowing repeatedly and she watched Victor's eyes drift over Sam's shoulder to the little girl. Sam noticed too, his eyes rolling.
Todd and his sisters had made it into the room now, she watched him take in Sam's face before ruffling his hair which looked more and more like Jack's every day.
"Vic." He regarded his brother, before turning to Sam. "Can you help your mom get Hope settled, Son."
"Sure Dad." Sam muttered, Blair watched Victor's eyes shoot back to them.
"We'll talk later, Buddy." He called.
"Yeah.. bye Dad." He gave him a half hearted wave. Victor looked remorseful.
"Nice job Jerk." Manning muttered.
"I'm sorry I don't see her everyday. It's nice to be reminded she's alive." He pointed at Hope. Todd raised his eyebrows at him and nodded.
"Our sons need to be reminded that you know they're alive too." He countered.
"Hi Dad!"
"Shorty." He called, his eyes never leaving Victor. "Amazing set last night. We loved our song."
"Omg It was the gold balloon wedding anniversary!" Victor smacked his hand on the table. "I knew I was forgetting something."
"Hey!" Todd yelled. "Keep forgetting."
"Hello Father number three." He looked up at the screen.
"Danielle, I love your hair. You look like your Aunt Meredith. Vicki doesn't Dani look like the picture you brought me of Meredith for Merrie's nursery?"
"Absolutely." Vicki shot back.
"The eighty's are back in style." Dani shrugged. "Aunt Tina hold up our baby sister so Starr and I can see how big she is!"
"Speaking of.." Sam piped up after getting Hope set with the iPad. "Where's Tommy?"
"We're here. We're here." Tea's voice called from off camera. Victor frowned at his screen for a minute. "It's the little square on the bottom. No Victor, the square. Honey.. it's the.. Tommy show Daddy what a square looks like."
"I've.. got it.. Jesus...Tea." The screen zoomed towards Victor's nose for a minute and Todd pressed his lips together and looked at Blair.
"The other way Victor! For God's sake!"
"I know!"
Blair winked at her husband and he snorted out a laugh as Tea and and Tommy finally came into view.
"Say Hi!" Tea pointed Tommy's hand at the screen.
"Hi Uncle Todd!" Tommy yelled excitedly.
"Hey Kid." Todd said with a smile.
"Baby!" Merrie yelled confidently pointing at the wall.
"I not a baby!" Tommy yelled back with the full virbrado of a scorned preschooler.
"Baby!" Merrie doubled down angrily.
"You a baby!" He accused, causing the little girl to growl like a rabid dog before letting out a shrill scream.
"She's so bad." Dani laughed.
"It's the hair." He repeated. "We should get to it. We're missing one." He glanced at Vicki. She was already looking at her phone.
"He's not alone. He's working on it." She sighed.
"We should start." Natalie touched her mother's arm. "You can catch him up."
"He knows already about Blair's visitor." She told Todd.
"What visitor?" Victor sat up straighter.
"Tommy go play with your Legos' Sweetheart." Tea said before moving over to her husband.
"Is Hope-?" Starr whispered.
"She's got Beauty and Beast turned up so loud I can hear it through her headphones." Sam reported.
"Bo came to see Blair last night. Seems he ran a records check on me. He found our marriage license." Manning announced to the room.
"Shit." Victor rubbed at his face.
"Why is that a problem?" Jack asked shaking his head back and forth. "So Mom and Dad got back together like three years ago what does that prove?"
"It's more about what else he found Jackson." Victor mumbled. "And why he started poking around…"
"What if he finds out about the kids Todd?!" Tea hissed looking over his shoulder at Tommy. "We can't be sure they'll keep it quiet what if someone finds out where they are and-."
"No one is going to find them." Todd assured her.
"That's it. I'm coming home." Starr shook her head frantically. "Dad send me the jet to LA and-."
"I'll fly in tonight and come back with you." Dani agreed.
"No. No." Blair put her hands up. "That will put us under more scrutiny and put the kids at a higher level of risk."
"Mom!" Starr covered her eyes.
"Your mom's right Shorty." He looked between his two older daughters. "It's not safe right now for any of you to come to Llandview and it is absolutely not safe for any of us that are supposed to be dead or missing to leave our hiding spots." He stopped and looked at Victor.
"You're right."
"Todd…" Vicki's voice was strained, Todd turned slowly. "There's a problem."
"Is Dad okay?" Jessica asked, her hand coming down on her mother's arm.
"Yes, honey he's fine. There was just a man asking questions. He wants to make sure he's gone before he joins us."
"What kind of questions?" Todd asked, looking over his shoulder at Victor.
"Asking about his family, his past."
"We have to get him out of there." Jess shook her head.
"No. He's.. he's close.." Natalie looked between her uncles. "John told me Anna's positive that this is the last cell"
"I'm still on the fence about the Port Charles Police.." Victor announced unceremoniously.
"John trusts her." Natalie hurried to say. "He's known her since the FBI-"
"Well forgive me for not trusting a government organization or McPain-." Victor scoffed.
"You're talking about my husband."
"Stop it both of you." Vicki yelped. Victor and Natalie both fell silent.
"The PCPD is trustworthy. Without Devane we would have never gotten control of this situation and I we would have never found the kids." Todd told his twin.
"Clint's online." Blair said softly.
They all looked at their screens as Buchanan blinked into view.
"Well that was odd timing." He growled. "Hello everyone."
"What's going on?" Todd squinted at him.
"What are the odds of an unscheduled visit from the court to insure that the conditions of my agreement are being followed happening on the same morning of our spur of the moment family meeting? I think we have a problem Manning."
"Bo or Nora would have mentioned a visit to me." Vicki shook her head. "I don't like this at all."
"What did they ask?" Victor demanded.
"They wanted to know the specifics of my condition." He rolled his eyes. "When my symptoms began. He asked about my family. Then he asked about traumatic events."
"Did he mention the children at all?" Blair whispered, her eyes darting to the corner where Hope was curled into a chair. Todd clenched his jaw and looked at his daughter. Starr looked terrified.
"No, but he did bring up our girls." He sighed dramatically. "Natalie especially. You know who that points to."
"I don't understand." Jessica shook her head, her blonde curls swaying back and forth. "Mitch is dead. We saw him die. Nat made John check and recheck."
"Yeah well, dead is a relative term." Todd huffed. "We can't be sure…"
"We need to go to the source of all things Mitch Lawrence." Blair rubbed her face.
"Yeah." Todd sighed, looking at his brother.
"See aren't you glad I wouldn't let you put a bullet in her brain." Victor's eyebrows rose.
"Not really." Todd quipped. "But she may prove useful. Who goes?"
"Put me in coach." Natalie calle, raising her hand. Manning nodded in approval.
"No." Jessica's read was still shaking. "I should go."
"No way." Natalie pointed at her sister. "You need to stay away from Alison Perkins. It's not good for your recovery."
"Natalie-." Jessica growled at her sister.
"Stop!" Vicki put up her hand. "I'll go."
"Vicki!" Clint moaned.
"She can't hurt me Clint." She met her ex husband's eyes. "She has no power now."
…
"We're missing something."
Blair listened to the strain in her husband's voice as she leaned against the doorframe of the media room. Everyone else had gone, but he and his brother remained entrenched.
"Of course we're missing something." Victor's voice rumbled. "If we weren't this would be all cleared up by now."
"So.." Todd rose and went to the large touch screen on the wall, looking at the large chart of photos with Mitch Lawrence at the top. "Mitch takes me, hands me over to Mommy Dearest. She has you, and Patrick for some damn reason that won't produce any fruit until a decade later. Fast forward to then, Allison takes you. Then she tries to take Clint." He points at her. "In an attempt to gain access to Bree, Ryder and Liam, right?'
"Best guess." Victor shrugged, looking at his own screen and smacked at a picture of Heather Webber. Todd's eyes rolled. "Then they recruit this nut job from the Port Charles psych ward."
"Heather take's Tommy from me at the shed, replaces him with a dead baby she just happens to have on hand. I'm not gonna think too hard about that one." Todd grimaced. "Cole orchestrates his and Hope's death.."
"It all comes back to the common thread." Victor rubs his face. "What the hell is it all about?"
"Collecting Lord children." Todd growls.
"But why?" Victor shook his head. "It's not money. Not one ransom request."
"I don't care as much about why as who." Todd sat down slowly, "If I know who I can find them and kill them and it'll all be over."
"If we knew who we'd know why." Blair whispered softly coming into the room. Todd pulled her onto his lap. "If we knew why we'd might know who."
"We need a lead." Victor mumbled. "And Clint needs some back up."
"Starr wants to go see Cole, see if he's remembered anything else." Blair reported.
"No." Victor looked up sharply. "Nope. That's a horrible idea."
Blair looked at her husband, he twisted a lock of her hair around his finger. She smiled sadly at him.
"It's a good idea." He swallowed. Victor sputtered in protest. "We also need to bring someone in to help Clint."
"I'm going to make an unpopular suggestion." Blair kept her eyes on Todd.
"Cord." Todd guessed, she nodded.
"Oh come on!" Victor muttered.
"We can't bring in Bo." Todd turned to his twin. "You wanna call Kevin and see if he wants in?"
"Damn it."
"So Cord it is." He exhaled heavily. "You should have him and Tina here."
"Do I get a say in this?" His brother shouted.
"It's a democracy. We'll vote. It'll be unanimous with the exception of you, and probably Clint."
"Yeah." The youngest of Victor Lord's children murmured. "I need to think."
He pressed the button and the screen went blank.
"You think Mitch Lawrence is alive?" Todd asked his wife quietly.
"No." She traced the outline of his face. "I think his followers were cooped by your mother's organization. It was somehow blended and refocused on the next generation of Lords. They wanted to turn You, Natalie, Victor, Jack, Dani.. wahts the comon thread there?"
"We all felt like outsiders." Todd nodded.
"They thought they could turn you against the family easily, but when that proved more difficult they went after the younger children."
"For what end? Vic's right it would make sense if it was about the money.."
"If not money then what else.." Her eyebrow lifted and she waited.
"Revenge?" He shrugged, she pressed her index finger against his chest with a smile. "This is all an echo of Mitch Lawrences revenge?"
…..