(Tuesday June 23, 1987)

(8AM)

Judi was sitting in the lounge drinking a cup of coffee. Chevonne had fallen asleep during the night and the doctor said she needed to rest. They had planned on discharging her but she had a bad anxiety attack during the night and they decided she needed to stay a bit longer. Judi had to fight long and hard to keep them from moving Chevonne to the psych floor but finally the doctor agreed to give her a little more time before making a decision to move her.

"Good morning, you been here all night?" Sika walked

"Pretty much. I went home for a bit last night, but I got a call at around one in the morning. Chevonne was having a severe anxiety attack. I came back." Judi said.

"What happened?" Sika sat down across from her.

"I don't know. Chevonne's hands went numb, then her fists clinched up so tight she couldn't open her hands. Her blood pressure spiked. It took nearly two hours for her hands to return to normal." Judi sighed. "The doctor said it was an anxiety attack. Sometimes a huge shock to the mind affects the body."

"She is gonna need a lot of time and care." Sika said.

"I know." She agreed. "How is Roman? I haven't been able to get down there to see him this morning."

"He is awake, complaining about the food." Sika chuckled.

Bob and Elaine walked in and sat down.

"Chevonne doing any better?" Bob asked. Judi had called them when Chevonne had her anxiety attack the night before.

"She is sleeping. They gave her a muscle relaxer. Her blood pressure is back to normal." Judi sighed. "How is Randy?"

"Having a tantrum about his temporary liquid diet." Elaine laughed.

"Sounds like our son." Judi chuckled.

"I am going to sit with Chevonne. I want to talk to her when she wakes up." Bob said.

"Just be patient with her. She is feeling a lot of guilt and shame right now." Judi said.

"Which is why she needs me." Bob said.

Down the hall, Fatu was helping Jimmy eat breakfast with his injured shoulder. Mrs. Uso had gone to check on Naomi, who was still on antibiotics for the cut on her arm being exposed to the lake water.

In another room, Mrs. Reigns was chuckling as she watched Roman and Randy both complaining about what they were served for breakfast.

"Roman, why don't you call Seth and Dean later? It would do you good to talk to them." Mrs. Reigns said.

"I might do that. Right now I just wanna know when I can see Chevonne. Are you sure she is okay?" Roman asked.

"Yeah, I figured she would have been around by now." Randy said. "Although mom told me she had to be sedated and then had some kind of…something during the night."

"Physically she is fine. But she is really gonna need you boys because she has been through a very rough time." Mrs. Reigns said. "They are moving Naomi in with her today. Maybe having one of her friends in there with her will help."

(10AM)

Chevonne woke up slowly. She gently flexed her fingers and hands making sure they were working properly after her anxiety attack in the middle of the night. She looked over and saw Bob sitting in the chair next to her bed.

"Good morning, how are you feeling?" Bob smiled at her.

"I don't know." She looked over and saw Naomi's things on the other bed but Naomi wasn't in the room. "Where is Naomi?"

"She went to see Jimmy. You want to go see Roman?"

"Maybe later." Chevonne said.

"Are you hungry?" he tried again.

"No, I feel like vomiting." She said.

"Do you want to talk?" Bob moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

"What is there to talk about? My psychotic brother I never knew about attacked my friends killing three of them." Chevonne said.

"That is not your fault. You can't blame yourself for other's people's actions." Bob reached for her hand.

She jerked her hand back. "I am a child of that horrible preacher!"

"No you're not!" Bob made her look at him. "You are my child! Mine, you hear me. You are my daughter and nothing will change that. Just because that preacher was your natural father doesn't change how I feel about you or how Elaine and Randy feel about you."

Chevonne's eyes filled with tears. "What if I am like him?"

"You are nothing like him! Finding out about him does not change who you are. You are the same person you always have been." He insisted.

"I'm not sure which is worse….feeling abandoned and unwanted all those years or finding out that my real father is a crazy cult leader that is part of a ghost story I grew up hearing." She cried.

"Your mother did what she felt she had to in order to protect you. But you were never unwanted or abandoned. Your mother wanted you and kept you. Now she could've aborted you or put you up for adoption but she didn't. And then Elaine and me have always been proud to include you both in our family." He told her.

"I just don't know how I feel." She said.

"In time you will get your feelings together. But no one is abandoning you." Bob said.

"Papa!" she cried and hugged him, letting out a lot of the emotions of the past few days. Bob just held her and let her cry, knowing she needed to.

(2PM)

Judi had gone home to rest for a while once Chevonne assured her that she would be okay. Naomi had told Judi she would keep an eye on Chevonne too. Naomi was a bit worried because Chevonne wasn't talking much but Naomi knew she needed time. Elaine and Bob had left to get Chevonne something to eat when she finally felt hungry.

Chevonne had taken a shower and changed into one of her own nightgowns her mom had brought her from home. She stepped out of the bathroom and saw Naomi watching one of the afternoon soap operas.

"I am going to see Randy for a bit." She said.

"Anything I can do for you?" Naomi asked.

"No….I just have to see him." She said.

She walked out of the room and down the hall to the room she had been told Randy and Roman were. She quietly stepped inside and could see both were asleep in their beds. Both had IV's in their arms and were still in those pale blue hospital gowns. She didn't see Roman's parents and figured they had gone to visit with the twins.

She carefully crawled in bed beside Randy, careful of his IV and careful not to disturb his bandaged wound. She laid her head on his shoulder.

"It's either my sister or I am having that dream about Brooke Shields again." Randy said without opening his eyes.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" she asked.

"I was only half asleep." Randy opened his eyes. "How's my sister doing?"

She looked up at him. "Am I still your sister?"

"Of course you are." He wrapped his arm around her. "Look, between our parents and the police I know what came out about….your sperm donor and his psychotic son. But I don't give a shit about that. You are my sister. We have a bond nothing can change."

"Thank you, I needed to hear that." She kissed his cheek and snuggled against him. "Do you think I might turn out like them?"

"No way. You are caring and compassionate not to mention sane. You're much cuter too." Randy rubbed her back. "Quit worrying, you are an Orton in every way but last name. I'd marry you and make you an official Orton but Roman might object." He chuckled.

"Damn right I would." Roman said from his bed, eyes still closed. "And get away from my girlfriend."

"Hey she crawled in bed with me." Randy laughed.

"I know. Any other guy and I would've crawled over there and ripped your stitches out." Roman chuckled.

"Even if it were Jimmy or Jey?" Chevonne chuckled as she climbed out of bed and walked over to Roman's bed.

"Jimmy gets a pass. Jey I gotta watch, he likes to brag he dated you first…that one whole date." Roman smiled. "How you feeling?"

"Better. What about you two? You both had bad injuries." She took his hand.

"Sore, but they got me on pain killers for now. Makes me wanna sleep." Roman said.

"At least you can eat regular food. This liquid diet is for the birds." Randy fussed.

"Heard you had a rough time last night?" Roman asked.

"Doctor said it was an anxiety attack. I guess everything caught up with me." She said.

"How you feeling now?" he asked.

"I feel better now that I know my family and friends won't disown me. But I still have a lot of mixed emotions." She said.

"We'll get through it." He squeezed her hand.

"You bet we will. Even if I have to sit and watch hours of MacGyver with you. Maybe I will learn how to fix the TV using tweezers and yarn." Randy laughed then regretted it as it hurt his wounded abdomen.

She smiled. "I should get back to my room. You guys need to rest and Papa Orton is bringing me something to eat."

"Oh that is so not fair." Randy complained.

"Randy, I promise as soon as the doctor allows you to have solid food, I will make you anything you want to eat." Chevonne promised.

"I'll start on a list now. Fried chicken, chili, pizza, ice cream, brownies, a thick juicy steak." He listed off.

Chevonne chuckled and leaned down to give Roman a quick kiss. "I will be back in a few hours."

He nodded. She started to stand up but Roman grabbed her hand. She turned back to look at him.

"I remember what you said back at the lake…I love you too. And lineage doesn't change that." Roman told her.

She smiled and kissed him again. She quietly left their room and headed back down the hall to the room she was sharing with Naomi.

(6PM)

Ted, Kristin, Cody and Brandi had come to the hospital to visit the others and the kids were gathered in the lounge playing Trivial Pursuit. Roman and Randy were in wheelchairs with the nurses keeping a close eye on them. Naomi, Jimmy, Roman and Randy all had their IV poles with them. The nurses were keeping a close eye on all of them but thought that getting them out of their rooms for a bit was a good idea.

"I still say we should've played strip poker." Jey said.

"I've got my boxers and this stupid hospital gown, I'd be naked pretty fast." Roman rolled his eyes.

"Yeah and I don't share." Chevonne chuckled. "And I don't wanna see Randy naked, that would be weird."

"Hey it might help Randy make points with that nurse he keeps flirting with." Roman laughed. "What's her name...Elizabeth?"

"She is gorgeous. When my stomach heals, I may have to break my leg." Randy smiled.

"That's funny…me and Chevonne have a male nurse." Naomi chuckled.

"What? A male nurse?" Jimmy frowned.

"Yeah, he is a cutie too. His name is Marty." Chevonne smiled.

"Nice smile, big blue eyes…wonderful bedside manner." Naomi giggled.

"And dad is allowing this?" Randy asked.

"Why not? He is my nurse, he is professional." Chevonne chuckled.

"Besides, once you've seen one set of tits you've seen them all." Naomi winked at Chevonne.

"He saw your what?" Jimmy glared.

"He has to listen to our breathing and heartbeat." Naomi giggled.

"Before Jimmy's head explodes….our nurse has been nothing but professional and has not seen anything…even if he did, I doubt he would care." Chevonne laughed. "Besides, do you see us freaking out about the female nurses?"

"Easy for you to say, I got one that is about 110 years old." Jey said.

Judi stood quietly outside the lounge watching the kids playing their game. She smiled thinking this was exactly what they needed, to support each other and keep their minds off what happened. She looked up and saw the other parents coming down the hall. She frowned wondering what was going on.

"What is happening here? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"We felt we needed to talk to the kids and explain a few things. Jey and Roman have mentioned some things that Wyatt kid said and after talking to the police….we need to talk to the kids, you too." Ted, Sr. said.

Judi followed the parents into the lounge. The kids looked up seeing all their parents walking in at the same time.

"We decided to get the guys out of their room and hang out in here." Naomi said.

"Kids….we need to talk to all of you and we thought it would be best if you were all together." Fatu said.

"What's wrong?" Brandi asked.

"I guess it is best to just explain it as best as we can." Dusty said.

"Jey and Roman both mentioned that Bray Wyatt talked about the fire at the commune that killed his father. Detective Foley told us Bray had written in his own journal about it as well." Bob said.

"Did you guys really set fire to the commune?" Chevonne asked quietly.

"Let us explain….we were there that night, but the fire was not our fault." Ted, Sr. said.

"It was before any of you were born. That cult had moved here from who knows where…they settled on the edge of town. At first no one gave it much thought." Bob said.

"Then things got….uncomfortable…weird…I don't know the right word for it." Dusty said.

"Some of the members would stand outside stores or on sidewalks preaching about the end of the world, evil in the world, that we were all being led like sheep." Ted said.

"But….then stories started to float into town that some of the members were being mistreated at the compound….floggings to get the evil out of them and then they pulled all of their children out of school." Fatu said.

"And some of the kids while they were still in school started telling stories about child brides within the commune." Bob said.

"Some people in town complained to the mayor…looking for ways to get them out of town…especially after a few locals joined the cult." Fatu said. "But there was nothing that could be legally done. They owned the property, and there wasn't any evidence to prove they were breaking any laws."

"Some of us men got to talking….myself, Fatu, Dusty and Ted about doing something to make them want to leave town on their own." Bob said.

"I worked with Rocky Johnson and he wanted to be a part of it too. Dwayne was a child and he didn't want those people around his son." Dusty said. "I knew how he felt because Dustin was a child too."

"And I knew John Cena at the time, we had some mutual friends and he was adamant about wanting the cult gone. He was one that had even gone to the mayor." Ted, Sr. said.

"Right or wrong, we had the idea to go out to the commune at night and damage some things….a few cars, tear down the fence whatever…send the message they weren't welcome." Dusty said.

"We figured we might have to do it a few times. If that didn't work we would've figured something out." Bob said.

"We weren't trying to be bigots. We were worried they were dangerous and didn't want that stuff in our town, around our families." Fatu said.

"That night of the fire…it was the first time we all went out to the commune….we had decided to bust the windows out of a few buildings." Ted, Sr. said.

"To this day I don't know how they knew we were there, but before we could do anything….some of the cult members started throwing cocktail bombs at us. We don't know if they were trying to hurt us or just scare us away." Dusty said.

"We took off running to get out of there, we hightailed it back into town." Fatu said.

"The next morning we found out that the commune had burned down and that people had died in the fire." Bob said. "We could only assume that the members throwing those cocktail bombs somehow started the fire."

"We felt horribly guilty….but we didn't start that fire. We never meant for anyone to get hurt, we just wanted them out of town." Ted said.

"Most of the members left town after that. The area was bulldozed over and the town put it behind them." Dusty said.

"And we never talked about it. We wanted to forget about it." Fatu said.

The kids all sat quietly not sure what to think. They looked at each other, several of them joining hands.

"How did Bray Wyatt know who was at the commune that night of the fire? He knew all of your names." Roman asked quietly.

"We don't know. We have tried and tried to figure that out. Maybe someone recognized us that night. We'll never be sure. The police never questioned us." Dusty said.

"But we wanted you kids to know, we did not start that fire." Ted said.

"And we certainly never thought it would come back to haunt us like this." Bob said.

"So someone told Bray's mother about you all being there that night, they blamed you for the fire." Jey said.

"Then Bray, Erick and Luke decided to get revenge." Chevonne whispered.

"We wanted you to know the truth." Fatu said.

"Shit….are there any more secrets we need to know?" Randy snapped.

"Randy!" Elaine glared.

"No mom, we can only take so much. How many more secrets is going to come out and clobber us?" Randy yelled.

"Randy….even if we had known…I don't think it would've mattered." Chevonne squeezed his hand. "Bray, Erick and Luke wanted revenge…us knowing wouldn't have changed that. Besides, no one knew who their real families were."

"I think our parents had a point about that cult being dangerous." Jimmy said. "Nineteen years later….and they still managed to kill three of our friends, our principal and Nikki."

"And nearly killed us." Jey said.

Wednesday June 24, 1987

(10 AM)

Chevonne was sitting up in Roman's hospital bed with him, giggling as she listened to Randy complain about starving and the liquid diet he was on just not filling him up.

"Randy, you know what the doctor said. They have to be sure your intestines have healed enough before they let you eat solid food." Elaine sighed.

Bob chuckled at Randy's grumblings. "I know it is rough now, but you have to heal. Quit whining."

"How you feeling?" Roman asked Chevonne.

"No more anxiety attacks. Of course Naomi has been mothering me like an old hen. I love her for it. The counselor the doctor ordered stopped to see me this morning." She said.

"Did you like him?" Roman asked.

"Yeah, but I think I am gonna go back to the counselor I had before. I definitely want to talk some things out." She said. "But I am feeling better. He pointed out that everyone has relatives that do things their family isn't proud of…..sounds simple but it was really comforting." She said.

"I am glad." He kissed the back of her hand. "How do you feel about last night?"

"Me and Naomi talked about that a lot last night after everyone left….I can't be mad at our families, they were trying to protect their families…even if their method was….well questionable. And they truly didn't do anything other than trespassing, it was the cult members that accidentally started the fire." She said. "It was just a lot to take in at first…on top of everything else that has happened lately."

"I talked to Dean and Seth. They were a little shook up when they heard everything that had happened." Roman said. "By the way, Seth still wants to marry your mom if she'll cook for him."

"That is slightly disturbing." She laughed. "Do you think we will ever be okay again?"

"It is going to take time, but we'll heal. We have our friends, our families…and we got each other." Roman assured her.

They all looked up as Detective Foley entered the room.

"Well, glad to see you kids are feeling better." Foley smiled.

"Hey detective, what's going on?" Randy asked.

"I have been talking to everyone involved today, making the rounds. We have closed the case…just gotta finish up the paperwork but as far as investigation goes, we're done." Foley said.

"What can you tell us?" Elaine asked.

"First of all, we're not pressing charges on Randy or any of the kids for the deaths of Rowan and Wyatt. It was most definitely self-defense and we have overwhelming evidence of that. The DA agreed with us." Foley said.

"That is good news." Bob said.

"And Bob, I searched through the old files on that commune fire. The files showed that in 1968 the investigators believed the cult members had started the fire but they couldn't find any reason why they would. The old evidence seems to support the stories you and the others told me. That case will remain closed." Foley said.

"We've still paid a high price for that night, but thank you." Bob said.

"After reading through Wyatt's journals, it seems Harper, Rowan and Wyatt have been planning this for a while. His mother had been telling him about the fire and blaming you gentlemen for years. Bray had the idea that since they took his father, he was going to take their children." Foley said. "Nikki was killed by mistake. They wanted to just kill Cena, then decided to kill them both but that Riley kid arriving that night made them leave and saved John that night."

"Any idea how his mother even knew we were there that night?" Bob asked.

"She says one of the survivors told her they recognized you men that night. She says that same survivor left town following the fire. She stayed to raise her son where his father died." Foley said. "She is planning to leave town now that Bray is dead."

"Well at least it is finally over." Elaine said.

"Just a few more things…..it seems Rowan, Wyatt and Harper were stalking you kids when you were at the lake in March. They were looking for a chance to kill a few of you then…even got close to Brett DiBiase at one point but missed their chance that time." Foley said. "They were also the ones that assaulted the Uso brothers at the school. They had to abandon the plan that day when the other kids came out of the building."

"This sounds like some crazy movie. Hollywood is gonna make us into a movie." Chevonne sighed.

"I hope Sylvester Stallone plays me." Roman said dryly.

"The night of the prom, Bray and Erick were there too. They managed to get out of the area without being seen when the police confronted Harper. It was Harper having the blood of both Dustin and Brett on his clothes that led us to believe he was the lone killer. The weapon found with Harper also matched the wounds on both men as well." Foley said.

"What I don't understand….and I need to know or I may never have peace of mind….why didn't Bray go after Randy sooner? Why not go after Bob? I mean it is no secret they are my family. And me and Randy have called each other siblings for years." Chevonne said.

"In his journals, Bray always referred to you as Abigail. Bray thought he was biding his time, waiting for the right time to tell you who…your father was and that he was….your half-brother. That is all I know. We may never understand his motivations. But you are not to blame for any of this. One thing I can tell you from spending hours reading Wyatt's journals is that he truly held your friends' fathers responsible for the fire that night and had a strong hatred for them that has given me a few sleepless nights." Foley said.

"Thank you for coming to tell us all of this." Elaine said.

"It was the least I could do. I am truly sorry all this has happened. You have my condolences on the loss of your loved ones." Foley said. "I'll see myself out."

They sat quietly, lost in thought after Foley walked out of the room. Roman squeezed Chevonne's hand wanting her to know he was there for her.

"Papa?" she said quietly. "Do you remember what…..my sperm donor looked like?"

Bob looked at her. "It is a face I will never forget no matter how hard I try. And no you look nothing like him, nothing."

"You're not just saying that?" she asked.

"Trust me honey, you look nothing like him. You are tall like he was, but that is it. You got that reddish blonde hair and that your mother says you took after her grandma. You got those blue eyes that your grandfather had, you've seen the pictures the same as I have. You have your mom's nose and smile. And with those cheekbones sometimes I think you really are related to Randy." He told her.

"And you got Mama Judi's heart….loving, generous and loves to laugh." Randy said.

"I don't know why, but that makes me feel better." Chevonne said.

A/N- There will be one more chapter after this; an epilogue.