A/N: Here's another installment of this wonderful story!
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Enjoy!
Chapter: 11
Tori was helping Jess wash the dishes. Jess was washing, Tori drying. It was times like this that Tori realized how much more of a mom Jess was than Maud. Jess actually did things with them rather than just for them. She'd read bedtime stories to Cameron, help Ali with homework despite the attitude and help Liam with college essays when he required someone to edit his punctuation-less papers. Most of all, she'd been there with Tori since the day she was awoken by her family. She drove them all to school and back…she went to meets, games and matches. Tori remembered Max and Maud being too busy to come to any of her Karate matches, gymnastic meets or soccer games. Jess was always there, ready to help in anyway…Tori hoped that won't change in the next few seconds, she'd been trying to work up the courage to ask about Peter for the past five minutes. Finally, after a long stretch of silence Tori worked up her courage and opened her mouth,
"Hey, Jess?" she asked,
"Mmmhuh?" Jess asked, concentrating on getting the last bit of baked ziti off the ceramic plate,
"Can I ask you something?" Tori continued,
"Anything," Jess replied, still not looking up,
"Who's Peter?" Tori asked, Jess froze, ceramic plate crashing into the foamy, soapy water with a splash. The Crowne nannie snapped her head up to look at Tori incredulously,
"You remember Peter?" Jess exclaimed,
"No…someone…said his name," Tori said, not wanting to throw Jason under the bus if the family knew him for some strange reason, "Who is he," Jess frowned, as if debating something, continuing her work,
"It's really not my place to tell…go ask your mother. She should be explaining who he is…not me," Tori sighed. Maud…her mother. They had not spoken since Tori yelled at her during dinner all those nights ago. Determined to discover who this person was she took a deep breath and marched upstairs to the master bedroom.
The Master bedroom was plain enough. Cream colored walls and a dark red carpet to match. The bed was king sized with a flat screen TV in front of it. Two night stands, one dresser with a large mirror to go with it. A Large window was on the right of the room if you were facing the door. They showed the beautiful nighttime of Gotham. Her mother was already in bed, reading a book, eye glasses perched precisely on her nose. Max was staying late at work, grading papers…it was hard to do that with five kids screaming over the remote. Tori had knocked and to her surprise, her mother let her in,
"Tori, what is it?" Maud asked, setting her book down and giving her middle daughter her full attention,"Does you're cheek hurt? I don't know how you managed to run into a light post…you aren't usually that clumsy," Tori bit her lip,
"No, I have a question," she said, stepping tentatively into the room,
"Well then ask it, come…sit," Maud said, indicating the spot in the middle of the king sized bed, right by her. Tori complied, "You know, when you were little you used to run into our room and crawl up the middle of the bed and right into my arms," Maud reminisced fondly, a far away look in her eyes. Maud gently tugged on a lock of dark chocolate brown hair affectionately,
"You look so much like your father," she whispered, as if to herself,
"I don't look anything like him," Tori argued, confused. Maud blinked, focusing back on the present,
"What did you want to ask,"
"Who's Peter," Maud went stiff as a board, looking at Tori hard…as if angered by this question,
"Did someone…did Grant put you up to this?" her mother asked,
"What…no…I just remembered the name randomly," Tori said, sitting back, away from Maud, as if she could feel the stress and anger rolling off the woman. Maud took a deep breath,
"I thought you forgot about him for good. I had hoped you'd never regain your memory of that man. Your brother Grant probably told you about him when you were young and that's how you know his name. I love and hate that boy," Maud said, pinching the bridge of her nose,
"Stop trying to protect me," Tori said calmly, "Tell me the truth,"
"Peter…Peter was my first husband," Maud started, "Grant, Liam…and your's father,"
"Oh…that's why they have the golden eyes," Maud nodded,
"And why Grant has such curly dark hair,"
"So Max Crowne is Cameron and Ali's father," Tori said. Maud hesitated, but nodded,
"Not exactly, Max's last name isn't Crowne. That's my maiden name. I kept it and gave it to my children. Max doesn't really care about last name linage…but my family was one of the elites of Gotham. Along side the Cobblepots, Waynes and Elliots. They were a powerful family in Gotham, and we've stayed that way up to this day. You kids are all that's left of the Crownes…although there was that one story of the first child of my grandmother, your great-grandmother, Amelia Crowne…there are rumors that he lived,"
"Mom, stay on topic," Tori chided slightly, "…what happened to him?" Maud closed her eyes, as if praying to God not to let herself cry,
"One day, your father felt that Grant and Liam had been good enough to earn a trip the the amusement park. Liam was barely a year old but he took him anyway. It was late when they all started to head home…on the way they…they were mugged and Grant refused to give the man his watch. Peter had given it to him as a birthday present. It had his favorite superhero on the face. It was worthless but how would a mugger know that? He was nearly four, he didn't understand the severity of the situation. The man shot his gun, but Peter got in the way,"
"Oh…" Tori whispered,
"He died…I couldn't let my boys be without a father. I was hurt. Then…then you came along. You helped, you were adorable, my little whirlwind of activity. But I couldn't let you all be without a father either so I hired Jess. I didn't want to rely only on her…I thought it was inevitable until I met Max. We fell in love and I married him. We kept her because she was so good with you kids and we were expecting more as well,"
"Did you know you were pregnant with me when Peter died?" Tori asked, it felt strange to use her father's name,
"…yes," Maud whispered, "I was going to tell him when he got home," her eyes seemed a million miles away. It must've been so hard and sad. Tori could understand why she hired Jess…something was still bothering her…but she couldn't quite place her finger on it,
"You never crawled," Maud said, almost a whisper, Tori felt a smile quirk her lips. Only Maud would change subject that quickly, eradicating anything too overwhelmingly emotional to her,
"I didn't?"
"No, one day you just decided to up and walk. I had married Max by that time…we never really dated. It was just…meant to be. Max was the one you walked to, your first steps went straight to him…well more like the teddy bear he was holding out for you," Tori laughed,
"You hated your bottle cold or warm…it had to be scalding hot. I had to hold it in a wash cloth just to give it to you," Maud said, relaxing into the pillows, "I've missed you so much my little one," Tori smiled, feeling tears prickle in her eyes,
"I'm sorry for yelling at you that night," she blurted out,
"You had every right to be angry," Maud said, yawning, "I tried to erase you…just like I did to Peter. The papers were cruel when I married Max, saying that I only married him to have my perfect little family of angels whole again. He was the 'rebound guy.' But he wasn't…I love him. But I did erase Peter. I convinced Liam that Peter was an imaginary friend…I ignored Grant's nightmares for weeks until I couldn't take seeing him so upset. I told him that it wasn't his fault…but he didn't believe me. He didn't trust me after I tried so hard to erase Peter. He thought Max was trying to invade our family…replace his father. He'll hate me forever for that," Tori said nothing, just listened with rapt attention,
"I eventually told Liam the truth," Maud continued, "He took the truth like a good little soldier. He was always able to mask his emotions well. But he didn't talk to me for two months," Maud said, "I didn't get so much as a head shake or nod from him. Liam may be slow to anger, but he's never quick to forget. He'll punish you slowly for anything he felt you did wrong," Maud's eyes slipped closed. It was very late at night, almost midnight and Maud had work again in the morning,
"My biggest regret…" Maud started, "Was trying to erase you." with that said, Maud was asleep. Tori sat there in a stunned silence before leaning in and giving her mother a peck on the cheek before whispering,
"I love you too mom," then she turned out the light and left.
. . .
It was a few days before Tori decided to talk to Tim. She called him and asked if he'd like to hang. He complied, saying to meet him at Hyde Park. Tori had sat on that bench for twenty minutes before he finally showed,
"What took you so long?" she demanded,
"I had to explain to someone where I was going so late this afternoon,"
"Why, they're afraid the Boogeyman's gonna eat you?" Tori asked rolling her eyes,
"There are plenty of Boogeymen in this city," Tim stated before sitting down. Tori sighed, he was right about that, "What's this about? This is the first time you've talked to me in over a week," Tim finally asked. Tori sighed again,
"You know Jason Todd," Tori stated, Tim snapped his head around, looking at her in shock,
"You remember him?"
"Sort of," Tori said, "I've been talking to him,"
"He's dangerous, you shouldn't talk to him," Tim said frowning,
"You talk to him," Tori stated, "what makes you so different that you can go and talk with him but I can't?"
"He's my brother," Tim said exasperated,
"You two look nothing alike," Tim frowned,
"We're adopted," he said,
"Oh," Tori bit her lip, it was like she was saying all the wrong things today, "Well, he told me to ask my mom about something…and then talk to you,"
"He did did he?" Tim said, "What did you ask,"
"I asked who Peter was," Tim frowned again, deeper this time
"Of course he would. He just wants this to be out in the open," Tim muttered to himself,
"What are you talking about?" Tori asked,
"Peter Pierce was a man who worked with my father…my real one before he died. They were going to combine companies and co-lead,"
"Oh…which companies?"
"DrakeIndustries and PierceInc," Tim said, "The company was failing even before my father died…it's not really a big thing anymore,"
"Okay, so you knew Peter,"
"I knew of him. I'm only ten months older than you," Tim said,
"So?" Tori said, rolling her eyes, "What's that got to do with anything?"
"When you think of your family…what's the first thing that comes to your mind?"
"Big," Tori said with a smile, Tim snorted,
"My family's just as big," he argued,
"I actually don't remember much about your family…I don't really remember anything about your family at all actually," Tori said,
"Is that why you've been ignoring me?" Tim asked,
"I haven't been ignoring you…" Tim gave her a look, "Okay fine…it's just I don't know who to trust and I hardly remembered anything about you so…I panicked,"
"You can trust me, I promise," Tim said,
"It's those exact words that caused my doubt…only I was saying them. I remember saying 'I promise to keep your secret' to you…but I don't remember why or what that secret was,"
"So you thought I was a criminal or delinquent didn't you?" Tim asked, sounding slightly offended,
"Yeah," Tori said looking down, "I want to know why I said that," Tim bit his lip,
"It's complicated…it's not my secret to tell exactly,"
"But you told me before," Tori said,
"That was different…you had facts, a reason to be told," Tim said, "You just found out that Peter had been murdered before you were born…you were angry, you wanted the mugger caught. We made a compromise. I told you the truth, you didn't push to be a part of it,"
"What's 'it'?" Tori demanded,
"'It's' not important…that's not why Jason sent you to talk to me,"
"Oh you told him to tell me to talk to you?"
"I told him to keep an eye out for you,"
"And you couldn't tell him to stop that homeless guy from hitting me in the face with a metal bat?" Tori huffed, rolling her eyes,
"Yeah…that must've hurt," Tim said,
"What do you need to tell me? If it's not that secret then what secret?"
"Do you trust me?" Tim asked, randomly,
"That's debatable…you haven't really given me much to trust you with," Tim rolled his eyes,
"Don't forget I was there when you took us grave digging," he said,
"Fair point, now spill or I'll leave," Tim sighed, turning a pebble from the pathway in his hands,
"Have you noticed that you and your siblings don't look alike?"
"We're half-siblings!" Tori said, Tim sighed,
"I'm not explaining this to you right…let me try a different angle. Your mother and my father were friends from college…she knew him for a long time. They both grew apart though. Maud had Peter, Grant and Liam…but then Peter died. The company that Peter used to own and my father's company had decided to join in business at least a week before he was killed, so Maud would come by to discuss the plans in his place, she was co-owner and still helps manage the companies…at least what's left of them. She knew enough of the plans to work it out, she, after all, runs her own business even if it is a cosmetics one. But she was…depressed, I mean she did tell you she practically ignored your brothers until you were born right," Tori nodded,
"So, what's the big secret?" Tori asked, not following,
"She came by more and more, sometimes drunk out of her mind…this is just what my mother told me herself through her letters,"
"Letters? What would she know of that?" Tori interrupted,
"She had died…she left me letters to remember her by. My father told her everything,"
"Oh…sorry," Tori said, then, "Some friend your dad was,"
"He kind of had no choice, my mother caught him,"
"Caught him doing what?" Tori demanded, Tim let out an impatient breath,
"Cheating. My father cheated on my mother with your mother," he blurted,
"Oh," Tori said, "That's the big secret?"
"There's a bigger one," Tori frowned, trying to see where he was going with this, then it hit her…her eyes grew wide,
"You don't mean…" Tim nodded,
"You're my half-sister," he said,
"That—that can't be true," Tori said, "Maud said she knew she was pregnant with me the day Peter died…that's…that's not possible,"
"I know it's a lot to take in—," Tim said, trying to put his hand on her shoulder, she dodged his comforting hand, trying to ignore his hurt look,
"I'm sorry…but I need to ask her!" Tori said, getting up, "Just…just stay here. I'll be back I promise," she said, sprinting away, eventually blurring away once she was out of sight in the direction of her family's penthouse.
Tori threw the door of the penthouse open, it slammed against the wall. The house was practically empty. Jess and Cameron were birthday shopping for Max's birthday next week, Ali was out with friends and Liam was at a cross country meet. Maud was the only one home,
"Maud!" she screamed, not bothering to call her mom. Maud ran out of the kitchen, panic on her face,
"What, what is it? Are you hurt…what's wrong!" she sounded terrified, part of Tori wanted to calm her down, but she couldn't do that not yet,
"Is Jack Drake my father?" Tori asked, getting straight to the point, Maud seemed broken,
"What?" was all she could manage, her raised hands slapping to her sides,
"Is. Jack. Drake. my father?" Tori asked again, looking her mother in the eyes, ready to see if she was lying or not,
"I-I never told you—how could you remember—how could you know that?" Maud mumbled,
"Is it true?" Tori demanded,
"Argh! It's true!" Maud huffed, "How the hell do you know that?"
"Tim Drake, my half-brother," Tori said numbly, shock filling her system,
"Oh, that brat told you," Maud growled, "Of course he would ruin everything, that's what his family does,"
"Don't turn this on him!" Tori yelled,
"I was perfectly content with you never knowing Jack Drake existed at all. If only you hadn't gone and became friends with him…our family wouldn't be in danger of being ruined and exposed!"
"Our family?" Tori screamed, "Our family isn't the reason we'd be exposed or ruined, it's you! You're the reason! You used Max to make up for the fact that you cheated! A way to hide that you had no idea you were pregnant until way after Peter had died! Everyone's right about you, you have more secrets than truths! You don't even care about any of us! Just your perfect image, perfect job and fake perfect family! I mean how many of us are bastards?! Ali? Cameron?" Tori screamed, "Does Max even know?"
"That is enough Tori…you will speak of this to no one, it's our secret now Tori…I will do whatever needs to be done to keep this from the public…even silencing that Drake brat,"
"Did you just threaten Tim?" Tori exclaimed angrily, "I can't believe you didn't tell me about Peter or Jack or anything. You took advantage of the fact that I had amnesia…you didn't want me to regain any memories of anything that I might've caught that hinted to my true father! Secrets have a price Mother. If you're not careful they will come back to haunt you and karma's a bitch. Lies are dangerous, I wouldn't be surprised if any other secrets come back to torment you. Inner demons can kill you from the inside out…and I won't be here to pick up the pieces for you!" with that Tori turned on her heel, ran out of the penthouse, slamming the door so hard it came off its hinges. The sound of splintering wood echoing through the hallway. Both Maud and Tori stared at the door in shock before Tori sprinted away.
A/N: Wow, huge reveal there! And hmm, I think we know what happened to Amelia Crowne's first son don't we? ;)
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