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Brainy.

He stands there, lanky and tall, smooth light brown hair and two shimmering eyes now dull from age. His mouth opens slightly in surprise to see me.

I hate him. Why am I here? Oh, right, to protect Frankie.

"Helga?" He asks in disbelief, looking around at the four of us. "What are you doing here?"

"No time to explain," I abruptly and coldly say. "Please let us inside," I say. My words feel like ice as they roll off of my lips. I turn to Arnold and ask him to park the car a couple blocks away and come back. He agrees slowly, staring up at Brainy questioningly. I can tell he doesn't recognize him. Why should he? Brainy looks nothing like the geeky, spiked hair, wheezing geek we knew in the fourth grade. Its obvious Arnold doesn't know who he is.

But I do….oh how well I know him. Too well.

Brainy ushers us inside, still confused. Dad and Frankie head into the living room while he confronts me by the front door.

"Helga…what's going on?" he says, grabbing my arm.

I sigh, anger stirring in my stomach. His touch on my sleeve makes me feel cold all over, and I jerk my arm away from him. I look at him, eyeing him suspiciously. He has aged well, considering how many years it's been since I've seen him. Just being near him brings a bitter taste to my mouth and horrible memories to my mind. I cringe in hatred of him.

Besides, do I really want to tell him that I'm running from a madman who wants to kill all of us?

"I brought her here," I say finally. He pauses for a second, confused.

"What?"

"Your daughter," I say, pointing to the living room, while my father helps her out of the wheelchair and onto the sofa. Those two words are painful to say. He doesn't deserve her.

"You mean…"

"Yes, I brought her here. To see you. That's what you wanted right?" I say.

"Of course!" he says, bewildered, glancing at her again, then back at me. "But what made you change your mind…" he says, stuttering a little bit.

I bite my lip. I don't want to tell him anything. I don't want to make him a part of my life again – or Frankie's. Yet suddenly I hear Arnold's voice in my head telling me to move on and to forgive. Somehow I don't think telling him about Scheck is going to sound good.

"Brainy, she's dying," I say. "She has cancer, and she's slowly dying," My voice is gaining an edge I don't want.

He looks at me shocked yet again. Then he looks at her.

"She's…dying?"

Yes, criminy! How many times do I have to tell you? Is what I WANT to say. Oh how I long to slam my fist into his glasses. Instead I take a deep breath.

"She wants…to meet you," I say.

His eyes widen and I see a happy smile start to form on his lips. I hate him.

"I don't think you deserve to know her," I continue, bitterly. "But if it's what she wants…she can make that choice," I say to him, giving him a dark look. If he breaks her heart, I will kill him.

He looks down, the smile vanishing. He opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out. He stares at Frankie and slowly walks inside towards her. I want to stop him from approaching my daughter. I want to protect her, but I know I can't. This man is the father that Frankie had longed to meet. I couldn't take that away from her.

Before Brainy walks away from me, he turns back and says, "Thank you,"

I watch as he walks in, sits down next to her, and begins to talk. I don't want to hear what they are saying, so I step outside.

The cold air beats on my face as I sit on the front stoop. I feel the burning tears in my eyes, but I blink them away.

"Why am I here? What made me so desperate that I actually came here…?" I say out loud. I don't know if I am asking God, myself, or just speaking my thoughts.

Because you love her.

Because you love her.

I feel a gentle voice in my heart. I love her more than life itself. Am I here for her safety from Scheck or for the sheer reason that she wants to know her father? Because I want her to be happy even in the face of death.

"Why?! Why is she dying? Why would you want to take her away from me?" I shout into the blowing wind. I feel the tears trickle down my chin again. If there is a damned god in heaven, then why is he doing this to me? Was I really that bad that I deserved this?

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts…" a voice breaks my angry trance.

I turn to see Arnold standing nearby. I say nothing, a little embarrassed he was listening to me rant.

"An old Bible verse I learned in Sunday school. I used to go to church a lot as a kid with Grandpa Phil. It was one of the hardest days of my life when he died," He says, sitting down next to me on the stoop.

"He was a good person," I say, sighing, trying to wipe my wet eyes on my sleeve.

"Yeah, he was like a father to me," Arnold says, folding his hands in his lap. "I never understood why a supposedly loving God would take a kids parents away from him before he ever knew them, take his grandparents away in college, and take his wife and son away only a couple years later," he says. I hear a tone of bitterness in his voice that I had never heard before.

"So you think God had a plan? That his ways are 'higher than your ways'" I say sarcastically and angrily.

"I don't know, Helga," he says, I hear the brokenness in his voice. "But I do know, that in all the madness of the day, that you gave Frankie a gift that she had been wanting for a long time," Arnold says, as he points into the front living room window. I see Frankie and her father inside smiling and laughing, playing some sort of a game. It makes me feel sick to my stomach yet brings joy to my heart. I hate his happiness yet live for hers.

"That's Frankie's father, isn't it?" Arnold asks.

I nod my head and sigh. "Yeah, I'm not sure that we should have come here,"

"Helga, you want to know what I think,"

"Not really, but I have the feeling you're going to tell me anyway, football head,"

"You need to have a little faith," he says.

"Faith in what," I say bitterly, "That Frankie's going to die? That Scheck's going to try to hurt us?"

"How about faith that Frankie will get better, and that we will be protected from Scheck," He says, "Running won't keep us safe, facing him is the only way we can stand,"

"So what," I say.

"So I think we should go back to the hospital and face Scheck if he comes. Have some faith that he IS human and won't kill someone who's hurting and vulnerable,"

I smack my forehead, "I hardly think that Scheck is remotely human,"

"Are you going to let him win by controlling your life?" Arnold says. "Die or live, you still lose if you constantly have to run and hide,"

I sigh again, thinking about what Arnold had just said.

"What am I going to do?" I say tiredly.

"You're looking for safety when there is none, maybe God is just asking you take a chance and believe," Arnold says.

We sit there for a minute, I stare out at the street.

"We're going back,"

"Wait, what?"

"We're going back to the hospital. I'm not going to hide from Scheck anymore, you are right…like always," I say, adding the last part annoyed. Why does he always seem to know the right thing to do? And yet somehow it is the most attractive thing in the world.

I head back inside and announce the plan to everyone. I begrudgingly tell Brainy Frankie's hospital room number. I watch as my daughter smiles at him and hugs him. It's funny. She has his deep and radiant smile. As much as it fills me with happiness, it also feels me with pain and regret.

Before we load back into the vehicle, Frankie grabs my hand. "Momma, thank you," she says. I lift her into the backseat and look at her for a minute. Brainy does not deserve to know her. She is a brilliant star full of love, and he…isn't.

I watch as my father climbs into the backseat with Frankie and wonder what it would be like to never know him. As much as he hurt me, I couldn't imagine not knowing him. He made me who I am today, for better or for worse.

"He works all things together for good…" Arnold whispers into my ear. Now I really want to smack him. He really needs to stop quoting to me.

As we drive back the hospital I wonder about the purpose of this trip. I wonder if Scheck knows where I am, and what he is planning. I wonder if Brainy will actually come to see Frankie or abandon her just like he abandoned me. I wonder if Frankie will be able to defeat cancer. I look at her in the back seat, she is pale and looks tired…yet happy.

I stare ahead as Arnold searches for any sight of the black van. I marvel at the fact that the sky is still blue and bright, even in the face of such dark and frightening events. Maybe all I need is a little faith…or maybe I just need a miracle.

I wanted to take a moment to thank some of my reviewers for their comments. These include DeepVoice'06, scifichick07, Jessica, Butterfree, TheGreenFairy25, alexham19, squirrelandnight123, patron 86, MYimaginationForYou, CarlinJ83, and kasmira101 along with EVERYONE else who has reviewed, favorited, or followed this story. I wanted also to give a special shoutout to LeDawn and Nep2uune who have supported this story from the beginning and to every anonymous guest reviewer too. I love you all!

I will let you all know that we are nearing the end of this tale, but there are still a few dramatic chapters left, so stay tuned! Keep reviewing!