John charged up the stairs, down the hall, and burst through his open door. His heart pumped blood and adrenalin but neither could dislodge the sick squeeze in his stomach as he tried to prepare for what he would find. Todd just had to be okay. John should have done a thorough perimeter check before leaving him alone. Had they been followed from the docks? How long had Baker laid in wait?

The first thing John saw was the clear signs of a struggle. Then he saw a man tied to a chair—and he let out a long breath he hadn't realized he was holding. It was Baker. Todd was nowhere to be found.

"What happened?" he asked the officer. "And where's my guy?"

"I don't know, lieutenant," said the cop sheepishly. "Someone knocked me out. When I woke up, this guy was all wrapped up for us."

"Where is he?!" John screamed at Baker. Baker blinked at him from behind his gag. Exasperated, John ripped it off forcefully. "Well?!"

"Off making matters worse for himself, no doubt," Baker replied unhelpfully.

"Not good enough."

"You would have done well to stay out of this, Officer McBain."

"Is that a threat? Because I can work with that. We're taking a trip downtown you lowlife thug."

"Shows what you know," Baker smirked.

"The only thing I hate worse than a crook is the dirty law," John said huffily. "And from what I'm hearing, you're dirty CIA."

"Is Tomas Delgado telling you stories, McBain? That's cute, but you don't know the half of it, and neither does he."

"You can fill me in on the way to lockup," John replied. He knew Baker wouldn't talk. At least not yet. So what he had to do now was secure this asshole, and then find Todd. As far as he could tell, there was only one place Todd would go. And it was gonna get messy.

Things were not going according to plan. Of course Todd had never really had a plan, so maybe they were and he just wasn't in on it. The thing was, this imposter, Fraudd Manning refused to admit he was caught, and now everyone was acting all confused, like it wasn't obvious they'd all been duped for eight years. Jack he could understand, he'd been a really little boy. But Blair? Delgado? Shorty? They should have known who he was. He looked around for John, who was supposed to be there. He would back him up; tell them he was the real Todd Manning—because John believed him. But John wasn't here. And things were getting a little hairy.

They were all keeping their distance, like he was some kind of dangerous freak show. They should have been cheering and crying and having Fraudd arrested. Instead they were all looking at Fraudd like he was going to give them all the answers. Then Tomas Delgado walked up to him and looked him dead in the face. At least he wasn't treating him like Llanview's resident leper.

"Who are you?" Tomas asked him quietly, looking him in the eyes as though imploring him for something.

"I'm Todd Manning, I told you," Todd replied. "I told all of you."

"Are you sure about that?" Tomas asked again.

"Of course I'm sure, what are you, deaf, dumb and blind? That guy doesn't even look like me."

"He had plastic surgery," Tomas intoned.

"Oh give me a break. He didn't have plastic surgery! You guys just bought that, because you are sheep, obviously! Easy marks, the lot of you!"

"Come with me, we should discuss this," Tomas said, taking Todd by the arm and trying to steer him away from the group.

"I don't think so, homie," Todd snapped, pulling away from him roughly. Delgado's brother was giving him the creeps. Tomas looked a tad offended.

"You really think you're Todd Manning."

"I know who I am! Do you really think I would carve my face up just for shits and giggles?" Todd pointed at the ever present scar. Tomas stared into his eyes again. What was with this guy? Then he looked over at Fraudd, and his eyes widened a bit. Todd walked away from him, and turned his attention back to the people he cared about. The people who were refusing to believe him. The people who were choosing this charlatan over the idea that they might have been wrong. He didn't know how to make it any clearer. They were letting him down, as everyone always did. He'd endured eight years of torture to come home to… this? This wasn't happening. He felt the emotion bubbling up and instantly began churning it into anger, where it would hurt him less.

"I just don't know…" Blair was saying.

"He has the scar…" Starr was saying.

"He has no proof," Tea was saying.

"No way that's my dad," Jack was saying.

"He's a complete nutcase," Fraudd was saying. "Oh thank god, here's John. John, arrest this maniac, we've all had a very long evening."

And then John was there, coming towards him, looking only at him.

"You shaved," he said calmly.

"It was a fancy party," Todd said nervously. John being here was better, John being calm, John being patient. But maybe it wasn't enough. Why didn't Blair believe him? Why didn't Starr?

"I told you to stay put," John said softly. Only to him, not the room. To hell with the room. Except the room was everybody. "Come on," John continued. "Let's go home."

"Have you been harboring this psycho, John?" Fraudd asked provokingly.

"I'm not talking to you Manning," John said.

"No, I'm Manning," Todd said hotly, slightly hurt.

"Not here, okay?" John said, trying to take his arm, but no, Todd didn't want to be touched. Didn't want to be pacified.

"Well we can't both be Manning," Todd said.

"Okay, It's time to go," Fraudd said. "If you're not going to arrest him, or you're trying to drag it out for some kind of sick police foreplay, I'm getting my family out of here. Tea, kids, let's go."

"You're not going anywhere," Todd said. He heard them all gasping, and that was a familiar sound. He was used to it, but it didn't make him happy. The gun was steady in his hand, but inside he was anything but. The pistol found its target though. That arrogant pretty boy with the dismissive tone; that stealer of children and wives and lives.

Tomas looked as though he wanted to make a move, but it was John who stepped into the weapon's path. He looked Todd in the eyes.

"No," he said. "Don't do this."

"Get out of the way John," Todd said. "This bullet's not meant for you."

"It's not meant for anyone. Not tonight."

"This is my family," Todd said, his voice growing tight. Anger. He wanted to feel angry. But it was dangerously close to sadness and hurt, and abandonment.

"Yeah, and if you play this right, if you follow the rules, you will get them back," John was saying. "You'll get everything back. But not if you kill somebody tonight. You don't want to do this. I know you don't."

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?"

"Because you let me in, Todd. Just a little bit, but enough for me to know you're not this kind of person."

"Don't call him Todd," Fraudd Manning said, seeming to feel completely confident with John's body shielding him from the gun.

"Shut up, Todd," said brother and sister Delgado, at once.

"I'm just saying John's feeding into his delusions," Fraudd said.

"So true," said Jack, following suit.

John was walking towards him. Maintaining eye contact. Todd felt scared. He wasn't sure what he might do. He wasn't sure he wouldn't shoot that bastard… but then, he couldn't shoot John.

"There is no way," John said, walking slowly closer, the faintest hint of a smile in the corner of his mouth, like they were just having a slight lover's spat and Todd was overreacting, "that you are going to shoot anybody in front of your children," he concluded, putting a hand out and covering the nose of the gun with it, pulling it down to hip level, and taking it gently from Todd's hand. Todd's shoulder's sagged a little. Without the gun and the rage, the hurt was threatening to consume him. In the moment, he hated John for taking away his armor.

"We're leaving," Fraudd snapped, gathering his coat and keys and heading for the door. "Tea!" he barked at his wife, revealing a little bit of the emotion that he was trying not to feel. She moved with a start, following him without a word. Everyone else was just staring at the train wreck.

"I'm going to have to take you to the station," John said.

"You're arresting me?" Todd asked incredulously.

"I have to. You've admitted to kidnapping Sam and shooting a guy. Now you've pulled a gun in a public place."

"You sure know how to show a girl a good time, McBain."

"I have no choice."

"There's always a choice."

"Well then I'm making the best one. For all parties concerned."

"Blair," Todd said, turning away from John. How could John arrest him after all they'd been through? Why did he act like he cared about him and then leave him at the mercy of the corrupt system? Why were his eyes so damn blue and why was Todd dying to kiss him, despite being pissed? No, no more kissing John. Just say no to cops. He turned to Blair instead, crossing the room to her, well aware that John was watching his every move. She was looking at him as confused as ever. This was ridiculous. They had two children together.

"You know it's me," he said to her.

"I—I'm just not sure," she said, looking to Starr for some sort of reassurance. That was crap. He took her swiftly in his arms and kissed her full on the mouth; right in front of that Delgado creep she was dating. He could hear John's audibly annoyed exhale from behind him. Two birds, one kiss. Then came the handcuffs.