David was standing naked in Dorian's living room holding a glass of champagne.

As much as she liked this state of affairs, Dorian regretfully told David to get dressed. "I have Adriana coming over at eight and Langston at nine."

David swirled the liquid in his glass and made no attempt to move. "Adriana's always been like a daughter to me, but Langston…" he gestured at himself. "I really think she's always wondered what it would be like if I weren't taken. That time she put on her naughty schoolgirl outfit for me, back before you adopted her, well, let's just say there was chemistry."

Dorian rolled her eyes. "Regardless. Cover up."

"What made you decide to summon them this evening?"

Dorian grinned wickedly. Life was good. She was a United States Senator; she was married to a handsome man young enough to be her son; and she had a foolproof plan to improve the lives of three of her girls at once. (And what did Viki have? An impending umpteenth marriage to her ridiculous cowboy? Dorian had taken Clint for a ride. He wasn't as good as her seat in the Senate, let alone as good as a naked David.)

"I spoke to Blair today."

David made a gagging noise. Dorian ignored him.

"Blair tells me that her new baby is a girl."

"Mazel tov, as my step-Nora would say." David toasted her with his glass and took a long drink.

"There is an obvious problem."

"Todd is the father and they're living happily ever after."

"Not happily, and certainly not ever after."

"And how do Langston and Adriana factor into this glorious plan?"

"I have to be here, fighting for my constituents. I need eyes and ears in Llanview so I know when to take action. I can wait. Todd will hang himself. He always does."

"Langston and Adriana are going to agree to be your spies?"

"They're going to agree to come home, where they belong, now that that miserable cretin Rex Balsom is visiting his personal brand of insufferability on the good people of London and Robert Ford is roasting in hell."

"You shouldn't phrase it that way," said David helpfully as he belted himself into a robe, and just in time, because Adriana let herself in without knocking.

She poured herself a glass of champagne and perched on the couch. "Whatever it is, Mother," she said, looking Dorian right in the eye, "the answer is no."

"Adriana, darling," Dorian cooed. "I'm not asking for myself." Adriana raised a critical eyebrow. "It's about your Aunt Carlotta."

"I talked to her last week. She didn't sound like she needed any help. She's on top of the world planning Cristian's wedding."

"His wedding to your dear friend Layla."

"So? What does Layla have to do with anything?"

"Don't you want to be more involved in her big day?"

"I'm the maid of honor. Of course I'm involved."

"But there's so much planning, and after all those years you spent together perfecting your wonderful lingerie line no one knows her taste better than you. I'm sure she misses having her own sister there to help."

"What makes you think she and Carlotta don't have it covered?"

"Poor Carlotta is stretched to the breaking point with the diner and the wedding and…" Dorian pretended to fumble for a name. "Of course that girl Antonio married is pregnant—"

Adriana swallowed the bait. "Her name is Talia!" she interrupted at the perceived insult. "She saved my life! She literally saved my life, and Layla's, when Tate had us cornered on the roof. We would have been dead right alongside Evangeline if Talia hadn't taken him down. And then she got stabbed in your swimming pool trying to protect your family from that freak Powell Lord!"

Dorian fluttered her hands artistically. "Of course, Talia. I meant no disrespect, Adriana. I only meant that she and Antonio are in New York and Carlotta can't be in two places at once. But reading between the lines of what Carlotta has told me, I really do think Talia is having a difficult time."

Adriana slackened. "I worried about that," she admitted. "Talia's never been a girly-girl, you know? Having any kind of physical restriction is going to drive her crazy. She wants to be out catching criminals."

"But when Carlotta goes to New York to help Antonio and Talia, she feels like she's abandoning Cristian and Layla. She'd never say this to you herself, of course. She hasn't said it to me. But with so many momentous things going on with your family and friends, I thought you might want to consider relocating. Is there really anything holding you in Paris, darling?"

"No," said Adriana softly. "You're right. I should be there for them. I'm sorry for accusing you of having an agenda, Mother."

"It's all right, darling," said Dorian nobly. "I know that I've earned your mistrust over the years."

In no time at all, Adriana was out of the room and Langston was in. Dorian tried not to let herself celebrate yet. Just because she'd expected Adriana to be the difficult one didn't mean that she could afford to lose focus with Langston.

Langston shook her head at the champagne David offered and perched on the arm of Dorian's chair. "What's so important?" she asked.

"Your future, Langston."

Langston smiled the bemused smile she usually gave to Dorian, and Dorian's heart warmed. She loved this girl, and it was always a pleasure to do right by her. "What about my future?"

"You don't have a professional writing project at the moment and you haven't enrolled in classes this semester. I'm concerned about that spectacular mind of yours losing its edge."

"I'll enroll again next fall if nothing comes up. Don't worry."

"But I do worry. You're my daughter and it's my job. And even for a smart girl like you, school becomes more difficult the longer you stay away."

"I know that. It's just hard to get a slot at UCLA."

"You have a slot waiting for you at Llanview University."

Langston rolled her neck as if to ward off stress. Her beautiful hair fell in a circle around her head, and Dorian reveled briefly reveled in the absence of purple and green streaks. (She was defensive of her daughter's independence, but enough was enough.) "First you pushed me out the door to California. That was less than a year ago. Now you want me back in Pennsylvania? Away from Markko?"

"Where I really want you is right here in Washington with me. And Markko can come too. But doesn't Markko have a project that's going to keep him working all hours for most of the spring?" Dorian knew full well that he did, of course. She had pulled the strings to get him hired.

"Yeah," said Langston. "I'm so proud of him. But I didn't think I'd told you yet." Her head snapped toward Dorian with realization. "Did you get Markko that job?"

Dorian did her best to form an abashed expression. "I should have known I couldn't trick you."

"Dorian! He wants to make it on his own."

"And he will. All I did was open a door. It wasn't at all difficult because he's building a solid reputation with Vickerman."

"Unbelievable. You should have told us." Langston hopped off the arm of the chair and looked down at Dorian with crossed arms. She was full of pride in her boyfriend, exasperation in her mother, and self-congratulation at her own cleverness. There was no room left in her fine mind to divine Dorian's real purpose.

"I know," said Dorian contritely. "The opportunity arose quickly and I just had to take it. Forgive me?"

Langston sighed. "You were only trying to help."

"But I do worry about the position that leaves you in, all alone out there at loose ends. You need to continue your education. Starr is on her way to South America, following her dreams, you know."

"Isn't it great?" Langston agreed. "I'm glad she decided to go for it, even though she's so worried about leaving Hope."

And with that, Langston laid the trap for herself.

"Wouldn't it be easier on Starr to know that you were in Llanview? You've known Hope since before she was born. When Blair had that crisis during my swearing-in, you were the one who stepped in to look after Hope. It was generous of you. I don't think I tell you enough how proud I am of you."

"All right," agreed Langston. "I'll think about it."

"I'll pay your tuition at L.U. just in case," said Dorian. "I have influence there to get you in late that I don't have at UCLA. I tried."

"I should have known that you did." Langston hugged her mother.

And so pieces one and two of Dorian's plan fell into place.

Todd's first thought was to lie to Blair about going to the appointment. The doctor wouldn't be able to tell her he had skipped out if he didn't give permission, he decided with a new appreciation for HIPPA.

Blair ruined that idea by plopping herself in his lap at breakfast that morning and announcing that she was accompanying him. He told her that she had better things to do. She insisted that she did not. He told her that he had private matters to discuss with the doctor. She promised that she would retreat to the waiting room once they reached that part. He told her that it hurt his feelings that she didn't trust him, and that he didn't want to scare her but it might take a toll on their marriage. She wrapped her arms around him and advised him that she would rather know he was healthy than have him love her.

That made him feel like an absolute douchebag, so he told her that he loved her and stopped arguing. He really shouldn't have expected anything else after she'd seen him getting plastered at the mere mention of a doctor's appointment.

And he did admire the subtle manipulative value of the dress she chose to wear—clingy and implying a baby bump where he knew perfectly well that there wasn't much of one. The boots, meanwhile, were the sort that would definitely be used on his ass if he didn't take the risk of a complete psychotic breakdown and let the doctor poke and prod him like Irene's little friends had done.

Once his decision had been made, he stuck to it, and he didn't even consider sprinting out of the waiting area when Blair excused herself to use the restroom. At least, he chose not to do it after he considered it, which was almost as good. He hadn't even needed Blair's comment that her emergency absence was his unborn daughter's fault, and he would be betraying her if he took this opportunity to make his escape.

The receptionist used that moment to call him forward. "Dr. West has been called away."

Todd made a mental note to start believing in God.

Then the receptionist continued. "Dr. Lewis is covering, but he said that you might prefer another doctor."

Todd discarded the mental note."Why? Is Dr. Lewis a quack?"

"He's a fine young doctor."

"Then it might as well be him."

"I'll let him know. The nurse will bring you back."

Blair returned just in time to escort Todd and the nurse back to the exam room.

Todd stared at Blair and re-memorized every detail of her face while he climbed on and off the scale and answered a slew of questions about smoking and drinking and exercise habits.

"Are you in any pain today?"

Todd opened his mouth to say only the pain inflicted by her stupid questions, but Blair glared at him and he changed his mind. "No pain," he said begrudgingly.

"Good." The nurse velcroed the blood pressure cuff onto his upper arm. Just as it was getting tight enough to convince him that it was, in fact, one of Irene's restraints, it deflated. The nurse pretended not to notice that he'd been halfway to ripping it off his arm. She didn't know that his next step would have been to break her nose. "Dr. Lewis will be in in a few minutes."

"Dr. Lewis?" Blair objected. "Dr. West—"

"I said it was fine," Todd interrupted, just so he could pretend that he was in charge of his own life. The nurse left hastily. "Who is this Dr. Lewis? An ex-boyfriend?"

Blair laughed. "He's more likely to hit on you than me."

"So you're afraid he's going to steal me away from you? That's why you didn't want him to do this?" Todd batted his eyes and Blair crossed the small room to kiss him.

"Yes," she agreed. "That's it exactly. Who could resist?" She caressed his ear the way she did.

Todd sighed. If Blair was willing to play along with the fiction, then the truth must be really bad—something that she was afraid would lead him to bail on this appointment halfway through. "What is it really?"

Blair looked at him sadly and he braced himself. "You might not want to marry him," she said gently. "But you wanted to marry his sister."

"Lewis?" Todd thought aloud stupidly, as if there had been such a long list of women he'd wanted to marry that he had to turn reams of names over in his mind. "Rebecca… Rebecca didn't have any family."

"I don't know the specifics."

"Has she—is she back in Llanview?"

"She was. Todd, we can talk about this later—"

"Stop treating me like I'm made of glass and talk about it now!" he snarled.

"She's dead," said Blair, and Todd's heart dropped like a rock. He'd never expected to see Rebecca again, and he hadn't much thought about her while he had his own life and family to put to rights. But somewhere so deep inside of him that he wasn't entirely aware of it, he had had a picture of Rebecca living a quiet, happy life in a small town, teaching Sunday School and baking cookies for the PTA.

"How?"

"There was an explosion." Blair reconsidered and Todd could have sworn that the words fuck it flashed across her forehead. "She set the explosion. She could have killed Tea and Marty and me. Hope, too. Hope was just an infant."

"You and Tea and Marty." Todd gulped. "So this was about me."

"Rebecca broke Powell out of the mental institution. He decided to take revenge on everyone who ever hurt Marty. Murdered the man she was dating. Stabbed the cop who came after him. Stabbed me, because you can never shed enough blood in the name of Marty the Martyr." Blair scowled hard, like she usually did when Marty's name came up. "And yeah, they ended up drugging me and kidnapping me in front of Jack and Sam. They told Jack he couldn't call for help or they'd hurt Sam. Jack spent the night locked in the closet while Powell and Rebecca brought the rest of us over to KAD house." She smirked meanly. "Kyle came over to make sure Jack didn't call the police before Powell and Rebecca were good and ready."

Todd jumped off the table. "I see your point about wanting another doctor."

Blair planted her hands on his chest and pushed him back against the table. "You wanted to make your own decisions and you wanted the truth. You got it. Now you can follow through."

"I will follow through. I'll follow through with a doctor who never kidnapped my family. I'd rather let Dorian give me a physical than this guy."

"I don't think Kyle actually knew what was going on," Blair tried. "He and Rebecca didn't know each other well. She called him over and asked him to baby-sit, and he did. Believe me, if I thought the people who did that to my sons were out walking the streets, they would be paying for it."

That was so undeniably true that Todd relaxed. "What happened to Powell?"

"Dead. John shot him."

"Another point for McBain," Todd reflected.

He hadn't quite decided what to do when Dr. Kyle Lewis came in. Todd could see the family resemblance, mainly around the eyes, and when they shook hands Todd almost imagined that he could feel Rebecca's warmth.

"Good to meet you," said Kyle. "Are you sure you don't want another doctor?"

It was the polite offer that made up Todd's mind. He would have taken pleasure in humiliating a man who had the nerve to stand guard over his terrified son and act like he'd done nothing wrong. This man was Rebecca's little brother. His Rebecca, not the Rebecca who had somehow ended up teaming up with Powell the Pure to commit mass murder.

"I'd just as soon get this over with, no matter who the doctor is." Todd jumped back on the table. "Now tell me how you're Rebecca's brother when she didn't have a family."

Kyle told the story in between listening to Todd's heart and lungs, testing his reflexes, and flashing light in his ears. How their parents had been young when they'd had Rebecca, and how their unconventional lifestyle had caught the attention of Child Protective Services. How Rebecca had been consigned to foster care and over a decade had passed before Kyle's birth. How they hadn't been able to track down Rebecca until after Todd had known her, and how she had never quite bonded with her natural family.

Todd was so distracted by the story that the examination was over before he knew it.

"Two things," said Kyle as Todd contemplated the alternate reality where this was his brother-in-law. "I'm sending you down to the lab for a full workup. Blood and urine. Head down there now. They aren't too busy this morning and I'll be able to put a rush on the results. All right?"

"We'll do it right away," Blair answered for Todd. "What's the other thing?"

"You haven't been to a dentist since you've been back, have you?"

"I like my smile the way it is."

"Well, I don't like the way periodontal disease affects your heart and your lungs if you let it get away from you. You need a good cleaning and you need it now." Kyle clapped Todd on the shoulder. "You'll be more comfortable when you get those cavities taken care of, too. I could see the loose filling in the back and I wasn't even looking for it."

"Thank you, Kyle," said Blair, and enough Southern slipped into her voice that Todd knew she had forgiven him any grudges she had held. "I'm glad you were able to step in today."

"Sorry you lost your sister," said Todd, because Blair wasn't the only one who could be polite. He wasn't entirely thrilled with the way Blair had taken over—he wasn't a child, after all—but he was grateful that she held his hand while the phlebotomist drew only slightly fewer vials of blood than Irene's men had.

Note: If you watched the 2009 KAD redux on OLTL, you know that Powell didn't just stab Talia; he killed her. I ordinarily try to keep very close to the show's history while writing, but I thought that this change was so minor that it wouldn't hurt anything.