"Aw, c'mon, I'm playing an unconscious woman and still losing, how is that possible." Rafe picked up all the cards and reshuffled them. "Your dad thinks I'm nuts, of course, your Ma thinks it's cute." He dealt two cards to Leah, and two to himself. "I'm not sure which is worse. It's funny, they both spend so much time here anyway, now it's like they're both living here. Sorta like Ma and Liv."

He put a card to one side, and dealt the flop. He chuckled when he saw the cards. "Nine of hearts, little Emma, Queen of hearts, Ma, and Queen of Diamonds, Liv..." He shook his head, "They're so different, like Liv's this... Mistletoe or, no, Poinsettia, pretty as hell, but damn can she poison ya, and Ma... Ma's..." He trailed off.

From the doorway Olivia finished his thought, "Flowering Dogwood, one of my favorite trees, even before I met your mother. She's religious, and.." A smile came unbidden to her. "...and she always seems to bloom when you need her to."

Rafe frowned, "What?"

"She's never told you that... fable, or myth, or story or whatever it is?"

Rafe dealt the turn, a Jack of spades. "Yeah Olivia, we spend hours and hours talkin' about trees."

Olivia leaned against the door jamb. "Well, we have a dogwood at the farmhouse land. Uh, let's see if I remember it, I'll probably get it all wrong. It used to be that the dogwood was a tall, magnificent tree. A totally different tree. But then, its wood was used to make the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Anyway, because its wood was used in such a way the tree vowed that it would never grow tall enough to be used in such a way again. Also, its flower would be... would look different in honor of Jesus, or something like that. A white cross, with the stigmata, blood and indentations that look sorta like nail holes on each end of the four leaves of the flower. Also, the indentations had a rust color to them. Oh, and in the middle it would have a crown of thorns, yellowish."

Rafe dealt the river and stared at the King of hearts for a while before he looked up. "Do you believe it?"

Olivia pursed her lips, "I believe what I think it stands for, what it means." Rafe looked back at her with a 'huh' look on his face. "That if, in your life there is a big enough event, some truly life changing experience, that even if you're as hard and immovable as even a tree, you can change who you are."

Rafe chuckled, "Ya mean a sap?"

Olivia crossed her arms over her chest with a smile, "Oh, young one, I could whip your ass at poker or any other game, and why haven't you asked about Emma?"

Rafe rolled his eyes, "'Cause you're all bubbly and as for poker..."

He flipped over his cards. He had a two of clubs and an eight of spades. He flipped over Leah's, a Queen of spades and a Jack of hearts. He shook his head. "You're probably right."

"If you think you can pry yourself away from the Bauer princess, Emma finally woke up and wants to see... her words, not mine, words which made your mother brighten like a demented firefly... her big brother."

Rafe blushed to the tips of his ears. "Uh, yeah, yeah, I'll be right there, soon."

"Good."

"You need to come home."

"I can't."

Jeffrey put a hand on Reva's shoulder. She was in a chair next to Josh's hospital bed. She hadn't left the chair, except to pee since the Doctors had cleared her. "Josh has Marah, Shane, Billy, Bill, even Matt. Colin only has us."

Reva turned and stood, nearly butting heads with Jeffrey. "You think I don't know that?" She turned back to Josh, "But I just... I can't."

"It's not your fault Reva, you're..."

Reva sighed, "It is Jeffrey."

Jeffrey frowned, "Do you know something?"

Reva took Josh's hand in her own, "No, we were walking, and then, black. But, it's always my fault. I need to be there for him, because Josh... he's always there through it all."

"Every..." Josh groaned as he slowly woke, "...painful wondrous second."

Without thinking Reva leaned down and kissed a still very confused Josh, "Joshua."

He put a hand to his head, "Where's Frank?"

"Frank?" Jeffrey jumped on the name, "Is he the one who did this to you?"

Josh shook his head and his eyes closed as the world became a tipsy turvy place. "No... no..." His eyes opened, "But, he's on the case, right?" Jeffrey nodded, "Please, get him."

Rafe kissed Emma's forehead and the young girl's eyes opened, "Rafe... you came."

Rafe smiled, "I have to make sure my protégé is ready for more lessons."

Emma bit her lip, "Can we do something other than poker?"

"Like what?"

Emma shrugged, "Don't know."

"Well, tell me when ya do, and I'll do what I can pipsqueak."

Emma fell silent for a bit. Rafe thought that she'd fallen back asleep when she spoke, letting out a total non-sequitur. "We're actually related you know."

"I..."

Emma pushed on, "Dad and Gus were brothers, so we're cousins. Is... is that why you hang out with me, and, and stuff?"

"We are in no way cousins Em," Emma's face fell, but Rafe wasn't done, "No matter what happens with my Mom and Liv, you're my little sis, 'kay?" Emma nodded, "Anything you ever need. Need me to beat up Derek, or cover for you when you go on a date with him."

Emma laughed, "I don't like Derek, like, like..."

Rafe pretended to wipe his brow, "Phew. But, seriously, we're fam... Oh, my God. That's it." He ruffled her hair, "I gotta go find Frank, or, or Mallet, or someone. I'll be back."

"Josh, good to see you conscious. Reva, Jeffrey." Frank finished his circuit of the room and his eyes settled back onto the man on the bed. "What do you have for me?"

"It was a woman. She was wearing a mask, but it was a woman, I know it was a woman." He glanced around, "Where's Mallet?"

Frank waved towards the rest of the world. "Following another lead. Back to you, did you know her. Did she speak?"

"No, no, but..." He closed his eyes for a moment, "She did seem familiar."

Reva stood, "Everyone out. Frank, Jeffrey. Joshua's helped, now find this despicable woman."

"Reva." This came from Jeffrey.

But Reva was having nothing of it. "We'll talk later Jeffrey, please."

Jeffrey's jaw worked, but finally he nodded and left the room, Frank next to him.

Josh sighed, "You shouldn't have done that Reva."

"Neither you, nor Jeffrey will tell me what I can and can't do. Now, you've had enough excitement for today, you need to rest."

Josh couldn't help but smile, "Yes ma'am."

Mallet sighed. He hoped that he'd finally get something. There were only so many places in Springfield and the surrounding area that the materials that bomb squad had found in Company's wreckage could be bought.

Mallet walked into his last hardware store, "Doyle..."

"Camaletti. More home improvement. For your little one?"

Mallet shook his head, "Unfortunately, no." He handed Doyle Pound a list, his last copy. "Official business. Do you recall selling any of this stuff to someone recently, maybe a couple of people?"

Doyle inspected the list for a moment before he nodded. "I do think I did. It was a woman, and I didn't recognize her." He paused, "But that's not unusual, I'm off the highway, get lots of walk in sorts of first timers in addition to my Springfield crowd."

Mallet had out his notebook, writing. "Do you remember anything else about her?"

"No, sorry Anthony, customers tend to bleed together."

"Surveillance?"

Doyle chuckled, "Watchin' over my buy one screw, get two free sales? Nah."

Mallet took out a piece of paper, "Would you mind looking at some photos. If the woman's not there, that's okay too."

Doyle shrugged, "If I kept all the faces I see in my head, my brain would leak out my ears, but sure, what the hell."

He took the sheet and studied it for a bit before he handed it back to Mallet. "Sorry Anthony, don't recognize any of them, but..."

Mallet nodded as he flipped closed his notebook, "That doesn't mean that she isn't in the pictures. Yes." He held out his hand and Doyle shook it. "Thank you."

"You need to catch this woman. All my wife lets me have is veggie burgers."

Mallet chuckled.

"Frank, Frank..."

Frank whirled as Rafe skidded to a halt. "Is it Emma, Natalia?"

Rafe waved Frank silent. "No, no, I know what he's doing, or why he's doing it, or, or something. Cooper, Spaulding, Lewis, Spencer, Bauer. Cooper, Spaulding, Lewis, Spencer, Bauer... it's one of each family."

Frank frowned, "Company..."

Jeffrey interrupted the Detective, "Company and the Coopers have always been one and the same."

Rafe added, "And I bet he thought that there'd be a Cooper there, Buzz, or Marina, or even you Frank."

Frank didn't get a chance to answer as his phone rang. He moved to one side to have his conversation. Jeffrey patted Rafe on the shoulder. "That was a good catch." He paused, "How's Emma?"

Rafe leaned against a wall and let a slow breath out. "Emma, she's fine. She's the one who gave me the idea."

"I believe that."

"Said something about us all being related, I mean, we're already cousins, but now we're like brother and sister. Something... anyway..."

Frank flipped closed the phone as Mallet came into the hospital hallway. Jeffrey put his hand on Rafe's shoulder again, "Go back, be with Emma and your family. We'll catch this woman."

"Woman?" Rafe glanced over at Jeffrey, stunned, "Really?"

"You didn't hear it from me."

Doris had been staring at Casey for nearly five minutes. They were both in Doris' bed, again, and the previous night they hadn't been cuddling.

"I think you have a problem Mayor Wolfe."

"Oh?"

Casey rolled over with only a small wince. "Yep. Apparently, you have a thing for me." Doris moved so she sat on the edge of the bed, facing away from Casey. "Uh, that was a joke Doris."

Doris shook her head, "I'm not that woman, I will never wake up every day next to the same woman, I don't think it's in me."

Casey sat up against the headboard with a frown marring her features. "Really... today, this morning, I'm gone. Are you okay?"

Doris stood, "Course, of course." She groaned as she slipped on a T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. "Tonight's the incredible two girls in love's rehearsal dinner." She turned, "Aren't you curious who you're related to, Phillip, or Olivia?"

Casey shrugged, "I just want to get out of this mad house of a town before someone decides to take a shot at me too..."

Frank didn't get out of his marked cruiser, he didn't want to know. Mallet was lucky, he was off at a simple traffic accident. Frank, he got the, 'Uh, 911, I think I sorta heard a gunshot, or perhaps just kids with firecrackers' at the Beacon. At least he wouldn't run into Olivia or Natalia, and he hoped to anyone that would listen that it wasn't Natalia or Olivia.

"I'm just not having a kid with firecracker sorta week."

"Is Shane okay? Is he?"

Mallet patted his ex-wife's hand as Dinah Marler was put into the waiting ambulance. "He'll see you at Cedars Dinah, he's better than you and your scratches are."

"5PQ69C... okay. I'm not wrong, that was the license plate number."

Mallet held up his notebook so Dinah could see it. "I got it." He nodded and Remy's partner slammed closed the back doors. He gave the young woman paramedic a smile, "Good luck with that one."

The young woman chuckled back, as she walked to the driver's side and climbed in. Soon it was on its way to Cedars. Mallet turned and studied the mangled wreck. He finally sighed and moved to his car. He slid in, not bothering to close the door. He typed in the license plate number Dinah had remembered and waited, and waited.

His cell phone rang, "Mallet. Hey Frank."

On the other side Frank sounded weary, "I have some... good news. She's deviated."

"Mmm.. I don't think so, I just finished loading Dinah and Shane into ambulances. Marler."

"Trust me Mallet, unless Springfield just obtained another crazy killer, she broke her pattern."

Mallet frowned, "No, it has to be someone else, she hasn't killed yet, oh lord, I think I can guess who you've been standing over."