Hiding From the Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Shake it Up, but I also don't own "Malevolence"

A/N:

Chapter 26 (The Hunter and the Hunted)

"Next," Phil muttered as he flipped through the channels on his television. It amazed him that nobody had come after him yet, but perhaps it was due to some growing concern that he'd already left town. Yes, that would be assumed, wouldn't it? He was bored, and grew tired of hunting down the police officer that ruined his chance to take the man's life the way he wanted to. Of course, this left him now with nothing to do, hence he was now complaining over there being nothing on the television.

"Bunch of daytime television, all the good shows are at night…" He stopped flipping through the channels at one point and set the remote down on the arm of the couch so he could get up and go to the kitchen. He was making barbecue roast beef, checking on it every now and then, and making sure it would come out tender as lamb.

Walking into the kitchen, he took a whiff of the invigorating aroma of the sweet barbecue drifting from the oven. He leaned sideways onto his counter and looked to the time on the oven, the meal had another half hour to cook before it would finish. "Seems like it's doing all right, checked on it five minutes ago, so doubt much has changed…"

It was hilarious the portrayal people had of his past crimes, some called Martin Bristol a butcher. While that may very well have been true, to an extent, he still had more pride than what people gave him credit for. Phil turned to go back towards the couch, his eyes glazed over what was on the screen and he sighed with nonchalance. It was The Maury Show, of which he was never a true fan of. He did often enjoy mocking the stupidity of some of the people that would go on, but only when he caught it in fleeting glimpses like this.

He reached for the remote, intending to change the channel, but stopped only when he saw Cece Jones on the screen. Immediately his interest was piqued, and he walked around the couch to see what was going on. "Officer Georgia Jones, she keeps popping up…" He narrowed his eyes and sank back in his couch, contemplating the many run-ins he'd had with her.

Though he never personally spoke with her but one time when she came to the studio for something about Cece, he could have sworn he'd seen or heard of her around other areas. Thinking back to his visit with Gary, he'd stayed behind a little and saw this officer as one of the first responders to show up. She later stormed out of the house in a wild huff. "What's the significance?"

He couldn't help but to wonder why exactly Cece was on the show, from the sounds of it, there wasn't a mention of any baby involved. "Unless she's the baby…I wonder what the chances are." He curled his finger over his lip and darkened his glare on the blonde haired officer. The woman was being very vague about something, and it was clearly upsetting Cece.

"Georgia, when it comes to fifteen year old Cece Jones, you are…not the mother?" Maury's face was overcome with shock and the audience let out a collective gasp. Phil's eyebrows shot up and his jaw dropped as more questions were coming out. The officer never legally adopted her, she just took her, and she wasn't able to tell who the father was.

"Now why…" He watched as Cece ran off the stage in tears and officers worked to arrest her on the stage. He narrowed his eyes once more, furthering his contemplation. Deep inside he had a feeling this woman might be the very officer that tormented Gary. It added up, Cece's age was right.

He had to find out! In which case, he would. If this was the officer, what would he do? Perhaps reunite father and daughter? Was he that 'nice'? He let out a soft chuckle and lifted up the remote, shaking his head in disbelief. "Me? Nice? Yeah sure…Does it snow in the Sahara?" With that, he flipped off the television and rose up from the couch.

Cece sat before her mother, with Maury sitting in a chair between the two of them. Rocky and Gunther were also in the room, supporting their friend. "Why? Just tell me that, why did you do it?" Cece's heart was in several pieces and her cheeks were swollen and red. She didn't know if forgiveness was possible, not right now. "I don't even know what to think about you. You've lied to me? Everything you ever said…a lie?"

"Not everything," Georgia replied in her attempt at defending herself, "I did love you. I valued you as my own daughter." She scoffed and turned away. Maury was still beside himself in shock and was busy searching for something to say. In all of his years as a counselor, he likely never saw a case like this. Even Dr. Phil wouldn't know what to say, and that man was a hack in Cece's mind.

"If you loved me, you would have told me the truth! Like I wanted! You would have been honest, let me know who my momma is, let me know who my dad is. Instead I live a lie because of you and I don't even know who my own parents were. Do you know how hard that is? Do you?"

She didn't want to keep her long, the police were going to have to extradite her back home soon. Even then, Cece didn't want to see her again, at least, not for a long time. She put her hands to her chest, struggling with a shaky voice. "Do you even know how much this hurts? For me not to know? For…For what you did…do you even realize-" Unable to contain herself, she buried her face into her hands and began bawling, feeling the effect of all these lies assaulting her body and tearing her heart apart. She felt Rocky rub her back while Gunther moved a gentle hand to her shoulder. She was grateful this counseling session was truly private, and the world didn't have to see it. This was too humiliating for that.

"I wish things had been different. I do…" Was this the woman's mixed up sense of an apology? It sounded more like a half-assed attempt at trying to come down from her lies. She scrunched her nose and moved her hands up her arms. Her stomach clenched and forced bile up her throat, which she cleared away as soon as she could.

"Doesn't even sound like you have remorse. You still didn't tell me why you took a baby away from her father."

"Why do you care?" She flinched and Georgia exhaled slowly, moving her hand to her forehead. "I mean, what reason would justify it. What excuse is there? There isn't one! I took a baby from a father who had just seen his wife murdered and nearly murdered himself. I thought he was nothing! Expendable…and I was just a young woman who wanted a baby. James couldn't have kids, and when I saw you, I don't know…I just snapped. I was afraid you'd grow up being neglected in a poor household. I was afraid of letting an innocent child grow up the way I did."

"So…because you-let me get this straight…" She took a deep breath and struggled to sit upright as she wiped away the tears in her eyes. Her voice wavered and her eyelids burned at the touch. "Because you didn't want a kid to grow up in a situation you knew nothing about…you deprived me of a father? A potential family! Because of selfish reasoning, you took me from a man who you say lost his wife. Now, now I'm at square one…I don't know who my father is, don't know what my family might be like, and you're saying nothing! You tell me you care about me, then why-why put me through all of this?"

"You wanted a reason…"

"Yeah, and it sounds pretty shitty to me." Cece rose up and put her hand to her stomach, groaning as the unsettling feeling inside stabbed at her. She didn't want to hate this woman, but she had no real idea what to think. She needed to know who her family was. "I-I don't know about the future…maybe one day I can forgive you, but right now…Right now?" Georgia looked up at her with mist in her eyes. Cece averted her gaze, still horribly disgusted with her. "I can't even look at you. Mrs. Blue is a social worker…she'll find my real dad…but now that I know, I'm not going to stop looking for him."

"I knew you would hate me if I told you anything…"

"Hate?" She jolted upright and turned towards Georgia, fire burned in her eyes. "Hate?! No I don't hate you. I'm just very, very angry and don't want to see you ever again! That could change in the future, I don't know, but I told you I wouldn't hate you for telling me the truth. You didn't tell me the truth. Instead I had to come onto Maury and learn the hard and humiliating way that I was kidnapped as a baby! Because of your selfish emotions!" With a loud scream, Cece grabbed at her hair and stormed out of the room, unable to face the woman any further.

It was not long before Georgia was extradited back to Chicago. She had her badge stripped from her and received an official notice of suspension from her boss. Not that it was necessary at this point. With her head bowed, she allowed two guards on either side of her to walk her out of the airport and towards a patrol car.

"Never thought I'd be in the back of one of these." She grimaced at the black and white car with flashing red and blue lights. Her heart pounded in her chest and her legs grew weak. She had an overwhelming desire to run, but knew it would do her no good. This was the walk of shame, and she was well aware that she deserved it.

The police pushed her into the back of the car and her eyes drifted to the rearview mirror. The officer driving was a thin, but broad shouldered man with slicked back brown hair and a police cap on his head. Dark shades concealed his eyes in the mirror. "To the station, Ms. Jones, I hope you're proud…"

"Just drive, officer. Please. I don't want to be here anymore…"

"Should have thought of that, I suppose." She rolled her eyes and looked to the window. Tears ran down her cheeks. The car started up and Georgia shut her eyes, whimpering softly as she feared an eternity behind bars. "Don't worry, we'll be there shortly."

"Delusions. I really am delusional…" What was there to be done now, when she'd deceived those she cared about for so long? She did care about Cece and wished that she could show the girl how much she meant to her. "Is it too late?"

She turned her gaze towards the officer and frowned as she studied his pale complexion. All except one small spot on his cheek, which looked like a blotch of makeup. Georgia raised an eyebrow and looked away. "What's with the makeup, officer?"

In the window, she thought she saw a strange man looking back at her. She did a double take and blinked a couple times, but the man was still there. This was a man with brown hair and a fuzzy brown goatee, but with dark shades and a stern face. He had a dented scar in his cheek and narrow eyebrows. Seemingly he resembled Max, the brother of Marylin, but that had to be impossible.

"Just some left over from a stage production at the community theater, pay no mind to it." She looked back at him, her lips thinned and her shoulders shrugged. "Anyway, you can call me Martin. Officer Martin…" Back outside, he took a street that she didn't recognize. At first she thought the station was the other direction, but she wasn't too confident in her beliefs.

"Fine by me. You may as well just call me Georgia. The officer part…doesn't really matter now…"

"I hear your crime was kidnapping a baby…using your title to do so, is that correct? Julian Sanders, the man that should be protected by your Witness Protection?"

"Yes, yes, that's my crime…" She looked back to the window, frowning at the man in the vision. He shot her a disapproving look, then faded away. She moved her forehead against the glass and wept under her breath. "I am the officer that took the baby, and I can never make up for it…"

"Maybe one day, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to think about it where you're going."

So what are you thinking so far? What about the last scene, any thoughts?