Tomas came back to the house late. He was surprised to find Tea up, papers strewn about her, and a cup of tea on the table.

"Hi," she said wearily, as she viewed him coming in.

"What are you still doing up?"

"Working on this identity case..." she sighed. "Figuring out a way to hold on..."

"You need a different strategy, pajarita," he interrupted before looking around. "Where's Victor?"

"Asleep," Tea gave her brother a shrewd look. "What are you talking about?"

Tomas sat down next to her. "These tricks and feints that you perform in the courtroom are not going to work against fact."

"Fact doesn't mean as much in the courtroom as you might think," Tea replied loftily. "Perception is far more fluid than people believe it to be which makes them so easily manipulated."

"The way you were manipulated into thinking that man upstairs is Todd Manning?"

Tea's face flushed.

"Admit it, Tea," Tomas said kindly. "You were fooled just like everyone else."

"That doesn't matter," she insisted. "What matters is what I can prove."

"If you continue down the road you're on," Tomas told her. "You will lose."

"What do you know?"

"Far more than you," he stood up. "Your best option is to make some sort of peace with Todd. The real Todd. He may take pity on you but he will not take pity on your husband. He may not even take pity on you if I'm to believe half the things they've said about him."

"Todd loved me," Tea insisted.

Tomas moved swiftly and silently off of the couch to shut the doors of the living room. He turned back to his sister, speaking in harsh, low tones. "Is that what you told yourself? Is that what you tell yourself now?" He shook his head. "I was there in that room when he came forward. He spared a glance for you when he grew desperate to prove he was who he claimed to be but it was Blair he wanted... it was Blair that he needed to believe in him... it was Blair he was focused on from the start... I saw him kiss her like a man who had been away from his heart for eight years.

"Pajarita, when I found him he was holding on to a picture of their wedding day. He whispered her name, not yours. If he loved you it was the barest, flickering candle compared to the inferno that burns for Blair... that still burns for her."

Tea's chin lifted. "She dumped you, didn't she?"

"She did," Tomas nodded. "Because I lied to her from the moment she showed up at my door. Because I sat on what I knew not just for eight years but when I came here and knew things were not as they seemed. They were going to kill him, you know."

Her eyes widened. "They... were?"

"Would you have been happier if they had?" Tomas asked. "If he had never escaped and returned here you would have been 'Todd Manning's' true love. Would you have prefered it if he had died and you had kept that particular vanity?"

"That's a horrible thing to say, Tomas."

"Truth often is, I've found." Tomas sighed. "Just know that all of the things you have in Todd Manning's name, this house, this marriage, is not actually in his name. Your life is going to change and what you have to do, my sister, is figure out what it is you really want. That man sleeping upstairs is not Todd Manning but if he is what you want you had best prepare him for what lies ahead. The life he took is about to be over and no trick you pull in court is going to change that."

He turned and opened the doors, going upstairs to sleep. He had carried a fantasy with him for eight years. He wondered how long his sister had carried hers. They both had them within reach and they both had it taken away by a harsh but undeniable truth. Todd Manning and Blair Cramer never loved either one of them. And they never would.


It wasn't until the next evening that Tea went in search of Todd. She started at Llanfair hoping he would be there and that Viki might be a calming influence on her volatile brother. If she could get Viki to be sympathetic to her and Victor's case, all the better.

"Tea come in," Viki said once she was announced. "What can I do for you?"

"Is Todd here?"

"No," Viki shook her head. "He's at Capricorn."

"I should have guessed," Tea muttered under her breath.

Viki took note of Tea's response. Remembering the comments Todd made about his relationship with Tea she decided to test the waters. "Blair's singing tonight."

Tea's smile was tight. "Is she?"

"Todd has been talking about it all day," it wasn't a lie, either. As the day had progressed Todd became more and more excited.

"I haven't heard her sing in years," he said. "Years. And now she sings at her club regularly? I'll be there every night she's at the mike, I promise that."

"That's very nice, Todd."

"Have you ever heard her sing? Blair's got a beautiful voice. She sounds like an angel."

"She sang at Bo and Nora's wedding."

"Why the hell would she do that?"

"The person they had scheduled got laryngitis. She filled in at the last minute."

"Well? She's got a pretty voice, doesn't she?"

"Yes, she does."

"What did she sing? She didn't sing that stupid Nat King Cole song, did she?"

"No... she sang a different song... something about love. Simply love or something like that."

There was a long pause.

"Todd?"

"That's the first song I ever heard her sing..."

"I'm sure he has," Tea said dully. "He's been very focused on Blair since he got back."

Viki regarded Tea carefully. "He's always been focused on Blair. I suspect you know that."

"She's always been there first," Tea replied. "Even with Victor, she was there first."

"But Victor doesn't love her the way he loves you," Viki said kindly.

"He did once, though, didn't he?"

"No," Viki smiled gently. "He loved her, or tried to love her, the way Todd did. But he wasn't Todd. No one loves Blair the way Todd does."

"Excuse me, Viki," Tea sighed. "I really have to find him."


His table had a perfect view of the stage which shouldn't have surprised her. Blair wasn't singing yet so Tea plopped down in the other chair at his table.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Todd demanded, his expression stormy.

"I need to talk to you."

"Blair is about to sing. Sit somewhere else." He craned his neck to see around Tea.

"This is important, Todd."

"Is Dani hurt?"

"No."

"Then sit over there and wait until Blair's done. You're in the way." He pointed at a nearby table and glared at her until she got up and moved.

The lights in the club lowered as Blair took the stage to welcoming applause. The piano began a gentle, lilting tune and Blair lifted the microphone to sing:

Stay by me and let this moment last.

Please take these lips

Even if I have been kissed a million times.

And I don't care if there is no tomorrow

I could die here in your arms

Even if the stars have made us blind

We're blind

We're blind

So blind in love...

Tea looked over at where Todd sat. He leaned on one hand, gazing up at the stage with a gentle smile on his face. She had never seen that smile before. She had never seen the expression on his face before. She sat there, again, feeling very foolish.

If she had known he had looked at Blair that way maybe she wouldn't have tried so hard to make things between them work. If she had known that smile existed, she wouldn't have believed Victor was him and that he had chosen her.

Or would she?

She had wasted years of her life hoping Todd would look at her the way he was looking at Blair now. She had yearned for Dani to be his so she would have the same claim over him that Blair had. But she knew she could never have that.

She wished Dani wasn't Todd's with all of her heart because now she only wanted to leave behind the life she had desperately reached for with Todd and create a new one with Victor. Tomas was right, she had to prepare her husband for their life as Victor and Tea... the life of Todd and Tea was never real.

Quietly, she slipped out of her chair and left the club before Blair finished her song and the lights came up again. She would talk to Todd later.

She needed to plan.


"You know, I am perfectly capable of getting myself to and from work."

"I like driving you," Todd grinned into the dark. "Once I get my paper back I'm going to have to give up this chauffeur job anyway. It gives us some one on one time, too."

"You're feeling pretty confident, then?"

"I am Todd Manning," he said firmly. "And it will be proven in a court of law. Tea showed up at the club trying to talk to me tonight before you started singing."

"She did?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "She slipped out during your song but she's been pretty adamant about avoiding me altogether since she ran out of ways to tell me that Victor had sex with her when I wouldn't. I'm thinking she had a reason to seek me out tonight and it's because she's not feeling as secure in her win as she might."

"A reasonable deduction," Blair mused. "You think she'll try to appeal to your better nature?"

"I'm sure she'll appeal to whatever she can. She's not exactly the most moral lawyer that ever was."

"I thought you liked that about her."

"Like is kind of a strong word," Todd shook his head. "It was useful to what I wanted at the time. But at the time what I wanted really wasn't in my best interest. I think she knew that and preyed on it all the same." He paused. "She's not going to win this. Victor isn't me and he never was."

"He did do his best to get rid of all your records," Blair said.

"What?"

"When we were supposed to get married as Todd and Blair," she explained. "He came into the diner all depressed because he couldn't get a marriage license. He said that when he came to town as Walker, he did everything he could to wipe out all trace of Todd Manning. I remember thinking it was an odd thing to do if he was posing as a completely other guy."

"Have you told anyone about this?"

"I've got it all written down in my journal," Blair said. "Asa 'helped' in the erasing Todd Manning project and we had to blackmail him into using his connections to get it restored."

"This could be really helpful, you know," Todd told her.

"I'm aware of that, Todd. That's why I've been writing it all down, reliving the past eight years, so I have all that information to give to your lawyer."

He stared out onto the streets ahead of them for a moment. "You've been doing that?"

"Yes," Blair affirmed. "When Jack does his homework, I sit down and write it all out and read it and reread it and relive all of it."

"That's amazing."

"Why?" Blair looked at him. "I told you I was on your side. What in the decades long history of our relationship would give you the impression that I won't help you when I say I will? When have I ever left you high and dry? Why do you act so god-damn surprised when I try to help you?"

"Maybe I don't deserve your help."

"Stop it," Blair said wearily. "You suffered for eight years, okay? You were held captive, tortured, God knows what else... you didn't deserve that. You didn't deserve the treatment Peter Manning gave you. You didn't deserve any of it, okay? Viki didn't deserve what happened to her. Jessica didn't deserve what happened to her. And Victor, like it or not, didn't deserve to be raised by your psychotic mother in whatever compound she called home. None of us get what we deserve... it's called life and you either accept what's happened and move forward or curl up and die. You didn't last eight years in that hell only to escape and whine about not deserving help. You are stronger than that. So just accept my help and stop acting like it's some strange and unusual occurrence. I've helped you out when we were far less friendly than we are now."

Well, that was Blair. Todd found himself smiling in the darkness. Sometimes, it was like trying to hug a cactus. "You sang great tonight."

"Thanks."

"That song was really something."

"It's just a song, Todd."

"It's never just a song, Blair." He glanced at her silhouette in the car. "I know you better than that." They drove in silence for a few moments. "I will stay by you."

"Todd..." Blair sighed again. "Look, just focus on getting your identity straightened out, okay? You've missed out on a lot of your life and the only thing you should be concerned with right now is getting your name back, your paper, the things that Victor took from you. You really shouldn't be concerned with me."

"I don't even know what that means," Todd told her. "Ever since I met you I've been concerned with you."

Author's Note: The snippet of song that Blair sings is "Stay By Me" from Annie Lennox' Diva album.

"It's just that you've got so much on your plate..."

"So?"

"So, getting all of that back should be the priority."

"Even when I get everything back it's not going to mean anything if I don't have you, too."

"Todd..."

He pulled into the driveway and shut off the car. "What did they do to you, Blair? What did they do these past eight years to make you think that you weren't worth fighting for, too?"

She didn't reply. She just stared down at her hands clenched her in lap.

Todd got out of the car and went to open her door and help her out. "It's like one step forward and two steps back with you," he said as they walked to the door. "I'm not giving up. You're going to tell me what the hell has gone on with you while I was gone."

"When you get everything back you'll have way too much to focus on than getting into my recent past."

"I'll always make time for you, Blair."

She smiled sadly. "We'll see. You should get home."

"My home is right here," he ran his fingers over her heart, feeling her pulse beneath them. "It always has been."

She closed her eyes and sighed softly. He watched her face, watched her try to remain stoic, watched her walls remain strong but he could tell there were cracks. He would get in and he would take care of her and protect her the way he always meant to. Patience was something he had never been good at but Blair was worth it and he intended to prove that to her.

He moved his hand to hers and pressed the delicate flesh of the inside of her wrist against his lips.

More than anything he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her until the sun came up. He wanted to take her inside to the room they used to share and hold her and make love to her. He laid his hand on the side of her face and looked into her eyes. He had never known anyone so beautiful, so fragile and so strong. His thumb brushed over her lips and with great effort, he backed away and broke contact.

"I'll see you tomorrow."