Also, I'd like to note that I do not own ABC's One Life to Live or the characters and I will NOT be receiving any payment whatsoever for writing this story. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.
This story takes place BEFORE Marty attacked and killed her psychiatrist, stabbed Kelly, and pushed Natalie from the roof at Angel Square. In this story, those events will not happen. This is my take on the two-Todds story including Marty and with an eerie or supernatural twist. Hope you enjoy the story...
~*Chapter Seven - Multiplicity*~
Marty had gone to the vending machine in back of the Minute-Man Motel in search of something to eat. She pulled some coins from her purse and got ready to insert them into the snack machine. There wasn't much selection, but she thought she might try some of Todd's favorite chocolate donuts again. Coffee sounded good as well, so after she got the donuts, she would try her luck at the hot beverage machine. Usually the coffee it dispensed turned out bitter and hardly fit for consumption, but Marty had decided the caffeine it provided would far outweigh it's acrid flavor.
Marty had taken a seat on a wooden park bench in the picnic area behind the motel, snacking on her breakfast. The coffee really wasn't so bad when coupled with the sweet chocolately flavor of the donuts. As she finished off the donuts and coffee, all Marty could think about was the disc and the video Todd was watching. Even though much time had passed, it still hurt her deeply to think of the weeks she had spent with Todd2 in his home and how deeply she had once loved him. The love she felt for him was exquisite and all-consuming, but all he had given her was heartache and lies. Still even now, she could not think of it without tearing up. Why had he tricked her? And had she meant anything to him at all?
She hoped that by decoding the disc, she and Todd could get some answers. Both of their lives had been ravaged by Todd2 and whoever that evil woman was he had been speaking to on the telephone. All of this made no sense. Who was Agent Romeo? And why did any of these people have a reason to cause harm to herself and Todd?
Marty stood up to throw away the wrapper from her donuts and the sytrofoam coffee cup. She tossed the items into the trash can and began walking back toward the park bench when someone grabbed her, wrapping their muscular arms around her tightly. A scream rose in Marty's throat but it was stiffled by the man's huge hand. "Don't scream," a strangely familiar voice commanded. "I won't hurt you."
Twisting slightly in the man's imprisoning embrace, Marty got a glimpse of her captor. Suddenly all the blood had rushed away from her face. Unbelievably, she was staring up into the countanence of her late husband. *Patrick!* her mind screamed before she fainted dead away in his arms. A half-smile upon the man's lips, he lifted Marty effortlessly into his arms.
When she awakened later, she was lying upon a bed and the man was seated next to her. She looked at him in vivid shock as she sucked in her breath. "Patrick?" she spoke with disbelief, staring at the man before her who looked exactly like her husband whom she thought had died nearly a decade earlier. How in the world could this possibly be Patrick?
His eyes were the same rich chocolate-brown, his shoulders still so broad and muscular. Like her husband, he possessed those same chestnut curls, but instead of the locks tumbling wildly over his broad shoulders, they had been pulled back now with a single black band. He shook his head as he looked at her, the expression odd upon his face. "I'm not Patrick," he answered with an accent which seemed foreign upon his lips.
"Not Patrick?" she responded, perplexed by the odd accent he had just used when had spoke to her. Had it been Italian, French, or perhaps it was Spanish? She really didn't know. But most importantly, it was not Patrick's Irish brogue. It was his voice, but that was not his infamous accent.
"No, my name is not Patrick," he replied. "They call me Agent Romeo or sometimes they refer to me as Number Three, but neither of those are my name."
Looking at her, his gaze was locked to her lips; her soft kissable lips. He wanted them. God, how he wanted this woman. He ached for her. It had been so long. So very long. And he had to have her.
"What is your name then?" Marty demanded, sitting up in bed. Marty didn't like how this man was looking at her, and his proximity was disconcerting. He certainly LOOKED like Patrick, but that's as far as it went. Marty did not think that this man was her husband.
He laughed, his voice a low sexy rumble in his chest. "I'd love to tell you, but then you'd run from me. I don't want you to run from me, Marty. I have waited a long, long time to have you in my arms..."
"Listen, whoever you are, you have a face that looks just like the man I loved and married. I want some answers from you. Exactly who are you?"
"I'm the man you fell in love with once upon a time," he responded as he gazed into her eyes. "We made hot, passionate love. And after it was over, you begged me to stay..."
Marty's eyes went huge. This guy was really creeping her out. What the hell game was he trying to play?
"Stop it!" she cried out. "Just tell me who you are!"
He scooped her up in his arms, pressing her tight against his chest. "Don't you recognize me, Marty. Look deep into my eyes!" he insisted.
"Don't look at the man you see...the face. Look deeper. Below the disguise. Do you see it now? You see it... don't you?"
"What am I supposed to see?" Marty asked in an almost-whisper.
"Todd," came his whisper as his lips decended onto hers. She fought him for only a second, then she found herself giving in to his passionate embrace as she wrapped her arms around him tightly, kissing him as she had longed to be kissed for so very long.
Then after a moment, she began to struggle and it took every once of her willpower to push him away. "You aren't Todd," she said breathlessly. "Tell me who you are. TELL ME NOW!"
Still holding her close while gazing down into her lovely face, he spoke. "There was a time when we were One, but she separated us. She captured Todd and made him her prisoner. The rest of us were scared, but Todd was brave and courageous," he said softly. "But she hurt Todd. She did terrible things to him. She broke him down."
"Who is she?" Marty asked in a whisper.
"Todd's mother- Irene Manning. She did things to Todd. Awful things. Experiments and torture. And then came the mental extraction."
"What's that?"
"She tore apart his mind and ravaged his very psyche. And that night, I was born."
Marty nearly stopped breathing. "What is your name? Who are you?" she repeated.
"My name is Rodd," came his answer. "The Lover."
~*o*~
After discovering the commands Todd2 had been given, Todd hurriedly left the motel room, intent on finding Marty. He looked around outside, but couldn't find her a single sign of her. He searched about fifteen minutes, but she appeared to have vanished. He cursed himself for allowing her out of his sight. No doubt she had walked right into danger and had been nabbed by Todd2 or even that Agent Romeo guy. He decided it was time for his sister to know of his existence. He would go over to Vicki's and "surprise" her. And then together, the two of them could search for Marty.
As he got in the hot-wired vehicle and drove away, he silently prayed that Marty would be safe. The two of them had already been through so much. He hated being separated from her now, even for a few hours. *Marty, please be alright,* he was thinking as he drove toward Llanfair. He had to warn his sister and make sure that those he loved were safe from harm. He hoped while he was went to talk to Vicki, Marty would return to their motel room. If he came back later, and she was still gone, there would be hell to pay. And he vowed that Todd2 would be the bastard paying the price.
Once he had arrived at Llanfair, Todd found his sister in the garden, watering her flowers. "Hey, sis," he said, slowly approaching her with a small smile upon his face.
"T-Todd," she gasped, shock and disbelief prominent upon her face.
"Yeah, it's me. In the flesh and blood. No ghosts this time, Vicki," he said with a little smirk as he referred to the time she had discovered him in the cemetary just after his return from Ireland when he had been presumed dead.
"You... you can't be Todd."
"I am Todd, the one and only... and that other guy, that asshole, he's nothing but an imposter. He took my kids, my life, my fortune... and I want it back. I want it ALL back. I have been imprisoned the past eight years, but I'm back now, Vicki. Your brother is back."
Vicki just shook her head. "You can't be real. You can't be really Todd."
"I am. And Vicki, I'm here to protect you. The imposter, whoever he is, has been taking commands from a woman in power. For some reason, they locked me up, and he took over my life. I don't know what they were trying to gain, but Marty had this disc, and I deciphered the code, and there were commands on it-."
"Marty? Are you the one who broke her out of St. Anne's?" Vicki then asked. "Natalie said that someone with her uncle's old face had helped Marty escape St. Anne's."
Todd nodded. "I needed help, so I went to Marty. I helped her escape St. Anne's, and the two of us have been staying at the Minute-Man Motel. I needed proof that that asshole took over my life, and the proof is on that disc. Now I need to find out why... and stop him. Vicki, you have to help me," Todd nearly pleaded.
"I- I don't know... " Vicki said hesitantly. "How do I know you are really Todd? That you're telling me the truth?"
"Vicki, listen, there is no time for you to stand there and question my identity," Todd said urgently. "Marty's in trouble. While I was deciphering the disc, she disappeared, and there's a chance the imposter got her."
"You have to help me find Marty," Todd implored.
Looking at him, Vicki could see the desperation in his eyes. He looked just like her brother, and he sounded just like her brother. How could she not help him? "Alright," she said with a heavy sigh. "I will help you, but I hope I do not regret this..."
~*o*~
It all sounded like something out of a horror or science fiction movie to Marty. Irene Manning really couldn't have picked apart Todd's mind, could she? How could that even be possible?
"Why do you look like Patrick?" Marty asked.
"Irene said she wanted to make me appealling to you, so you would want me. She captured your husband, making you think he had been killed. But when she did the mind extraction, the part of Todd which is me, entered the body of Patrick Thornhart. I was born, and Patrick died," he told her.
"What about the imposter Todd? He's Number Two, right? Who is he?" Marty demanded, afraid of the answer.
"He's Pete, Todd's dark-side," responded Rodd.
"Ohhh myyy God," Marty gasped as a shiver went through her body. "I should have known. He scared me so much. And at times, he seemed like Todd, and that's because he was. He is. He's the darkest side of Todd."
"I will protect you from him," Rodd said, looking down into her dark sapphire eyes. "I've wanted you for so long, Marty. You don't know how long I have wanted you. Go away with me. I'll keep you safe."
"No," Marty said, trying to slip out his arms. The urge to wrap herself up in his embrace and forget everything was overwhelming. She had to get back to Todd. THE real Todd. Surely he was looking for her by now.
"But with me, you can have everything. Romance. Passion. Ecstasy. I am all that is good and passionate in Todd. I'd never hurt you. I'd never rape you..."
"But you aren't Todd," Marty said, shaking her head. "You're just a part of him. And you have Patrick's body. There's no way I'd ever-."
Just then, they heard a voice calling out. "Marty!"
"That's Todd," Marty said excitedly as she lept out of bed.
"I can't let you go to him," Rodd said as he pulled her against his chest and bound his arms around her so tight.
Twisting in the man's grip, Marty bit his arm and in that very same instant, her knee had shot up hard into his groin. He let out a groan of pain, utterly defenseless for a moment as she ecaped his embrace. "Todd!" Marty screamed, rushing toward the door. She scrambled to pull it open, anxious to escape Rodd AKA Agent Romeo. Whoever he was, she wanted away from him now!
As Marty stepped out into the sunlight, she ran right into Todd, hitting his chest hard. "Marty, are you alright?" he asked, seeing the frantic look on her face as though she were running from someone.
"Todd, we gotta get out of here... NOW," Marty insisted, but it was too late. The man who looked just like Patrick had followed Marty outside.
"Ohhh no, not you again!" Todd hissed, giving Agent Romeo a look of disgust. "I thought I got rid of you when I escaped that stupid place! Get the hell out of here, Thornhart!"
Betrayal ripped through Marty when sudden realization struck that Todd had known about this man's existence all along. Why hadn't he told her? Todd had thought that her husband was alive and well, but he hadn't even bothered to tell her of that fact. After all those talks about telling the truth and not keeping secrets, it wounded her unbearably that Todd had kept this from her.
"Todd, that isn't Patrick," Marty spoke.
"Then who is it?" Todd demanded.
When Marty didn't immediately answer, Todd withdrew the gun from his pocket, aiming it at the other man's chest. "Somebody better give me some answers pretty damn fast or this clown is going down," Todd said in a hiss.