Time: Tony's memory of 1991

Place: DiMera Compound

An incredulous and stricken gaze worked its way up to Tony's face. Stefano stood aghast, not even bothering to hide the grief welling up as he was forced to accept he'd been wrong but Tony didn't care any longer.

"What in God's name have you done now?"

Standing in the doorway, shy and innocent, his young eyes fixed on Tony was Sebastian's son. A hand lay on the boy's shoulder. Not his mother's but that of a man and Tony found himself staring into Rolf's cold expressionless eyes. Damn it, he thought, how? This was an illusion surely…Rolf was tied up back in the lava tube out on the far side of the island past Sebastian's cottage, and already completely sealed off by the evening tide. He'd checked on the man himself only a short time after Sebastian had taken off. And Sebastian's wife and son had left as well. One of his relatives had arrived to ferry them away to safety, hidden so that they couldn't be used like this.

"Your mother is waiting for you, young man," Stefano said to the boy with such gentleness in his voice that it made Tony cringe. "Tell her she may leave as soon as I notify her that it is safe. Your friend here" he nodded at Rolf, "will come and take you down to the boat."

With a furtive nod of his own, the boy vanished back up the dark passageway.

"Please Tony, put the gun down."

Feeling dazed, Tony realized he still had it pointed directly at Rolf. He swallowed carefully, lowering his arm, but didn't drop the gun or lay it aside. Rolf also nodded and stepped back, closing the door as he left.

"The gun, Tony," said his father, once again.

But Tony shook his head.

"Ahhh yes, I see. You're curious about how I located Rolf. I must say, your plan was nearly perfect and I would never have found him if it hadn't been for the boy."

"He showed you…"

"No, no. Of course he had no idea what he'd find after crawling all the way back into that hole."

Tony locked eyes with his father who remained at the top of the stairs. Despite the attempt at levity in his tone, he looked older, horrendously tired and there was still a spark of bitter disappointment set into the lines of his face.

"The boy was terribly confused…had no desire to go off with his mother, leaving his father behind. Apparently no one explained why this was necessary and being rather sensitive," Stefano gave a slight shrug, "he knew something about the situation was wrong. So he went off to the spot where he was certain he'd find Sebastian and when I arrived on the island, his poor mother was searching for him frantically and…"

"Being the chivalrous scoundrel you are, you felt the need to assist her." Tony's laughter was anything but humorous.

Stefano smiled indulgently. Descending the stairs he strode across the room to stand a couple of feet in front of Tony. "The gun," he said, with his palm stretched out. "Please."

Fighting his urge to fling it across the room or out the window, Tony acquiesced, placing the weapon in Stefano's hand, half expecting to find the barrel of it shoved up to his temple and from the look on Stefano's face, Tony knew he was considering it.

"How could you do this?" The words were spoken quietly but each one carried the sting of betrayal.

And Tony felt his outrage reach the boiling point in record time. "I'm not the one who brought back the despicable piece of garbage that murdered Renee, for Christ's sake, or kept Marlena locked up and experimented on her. And I'm not the one playing god with our lives. How dare you question my motives you miserable old…"

A blinding flash of light exploded in Tony's head as Stefano lashed out with the butt end of the gun, backhanding him with enough force to knock him off his feet. "You will learn respect Antony."

Tony tried to sit up but his vision was blurry. "For you?" He managed a breathless bit of snide laughter.

"You will learn the hard way if necessary," Stefano informed him coldly. "Now, where is Sebastian stopping to refuel the plane?"

Tony remained silent, trying to ignore the searing pain spreading from his temple down every single nerve ending in his cheek.

"If I do not get the location Antony, your friend's wife and child will remain here," and though he had no need to add the threat, he did so anyway, "permanently."

"And if I tell you, there will be men waiting to drag Sebastian and Marlena back here and…" but Tony couldn't finish the sentence.

"Better the guilty," lectured Stefano's deep ringing baritone, "than the innocent."

Still Tony remained stubbornly silent, his eyes squeezed tightly against the inevitable.

"You have my word that no harm with come to Marlena," said Stefano after several tense minutes ticked by with no answer.

"And Sebastian?"

Stefano didn't bother answering Tony's question because there was no escaping the consequences of Sebastian's decisions. "His wife and son will be cared for, I swear that to you."

He'd lost. There was nothing left to do except give Stefano the information. Tony might be willing to shoot his father, but he'd couldn't bring himself to allow Stefano to hurt these two people, not even for Marlena and he was well aware of what his friend would expect out of him. The precautions he'd taken had been for naught and now it was Stefano that held all the cards, he had Rolf and so, control of the twins and could blackmail Tony into anything at this point. "Brownsville," he muttered, the ache and despair in his soul far worse than the pain still drumming violently in his head.

"As soon as I have confirmation they have arrived and are on their way back here, Sebastian's wife and his son may leave."

"And Marlena?" asked Tony, without really any hope.

"Soon."

Tony shot a suspicious glance up at his father who grinned back at him.

"I do believe you've fallen for the woman."

"Oh? And was that the plan all along, Father?" A sneer hung just at the edge of Tony's otherwise flat tone.

"What plan?"

"To get John and I fighting over the same woman."

"I have no desire to hurt you Tony, no deep dark hidden agenda. I told you that..."

Tony leaned back against the bedpost and gingerly lifted his hand to his cheek. "You might as well dispense with this farce Stefano, I know you've lied about everything, including that ridiculous charade of a blood test you pulled off when you tricked me into coming back."

Both of Stefano's eyebrows inched higher. "Sounds to me as though you've been listening to more of your cousin's entertaining and, what was your word…bizarre tales."

"I didn't hear you deny it last night when he called both John and I bastards."

It was rather a strange sensation to watch Stefano, in the process of removing the clip from the gun slowly fumble and drop everything as the implication of Tony's statement swept over him. It was even difficult to tell if he was breathing and his color was not so good. "I'm afraid you must have heard…"

"Wrong?" Tony couldn't help enjoying Stefano's utter confusion.

"You of all people know your cousin's insecurities. He has spent a lifetime resenting the love I bear you, our…relationship."

Tony forgot for a moment the pounding in his head, his laughter a pure mixture of malice and delight. "And who has been responsible for cultivating that jealousy until it burned through and destroyed the one person we cherished the most?"

Unable to face this accusation, Stefano turned his back on Tony.

"You created this beast Stefano and he will devour us all in the end."

"No…" Stefano voice came back stronger now. "No you're wrong. I have control of Andre."

"You," said Tony dismissively, unable to stop himself from driving the knife in a little deeper. "The way you had control of him the night he murdered Renee."

"ENOUGH." The words echoed off the stonewalls and Stefano's temper snapped. Twisting on his heel, he grabbed hold of Tony's shirt and yanked, wrenching him to his feet. "You will refrain from ever mentioning Renee's name in my presence again." The powerful fist pulled the material near his collar even tighter until Tony could feel it begin to choke him and his father hissed, "If you'd just done as I asked of you and left her alone, she'd still be alive, be here with me now."

"No," Tony's eyes glittered. "She never would have accepted you, not like this."

A spark of insane jealousy lit up his father's face, his eyes boring in to Tony's and then, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, Stefano let go of him. "She was never yours."

The way Stefano uttered those words brought Tony up short and he realized he'd missed something obvious here. From the very moment Tony returned to his father's house years before, the man had done his best to orchestrate Tony's life for him, choose the right people for him to associate with, meet, date, even marry but Tony had resisted and it had always been a bone of contention between them until finally Tony had to nerve to fall in love with his sister. As angry as Tony was over Stefano's involvement in her death, Stefano had his own issues with the situation and he'd never forgiven Tony for defying him. In fact, a part of Tony had suspected for some time that Stefano blamed Daphne, not just for the infidelity but for telling Tony the truth about his father so that he felt free to pursue a relationship with Renee and it was a decision that Stefano was hell bent on making him pay for dearly.

"You wanted me to find Marlena, didn't you? In fact," said Tony, gazing at his father suspiciously, "if Sebastian hadn't contacted me, you would have found a way for me to discover it…or…" an icy jolt shook him and he backed up, putting a good deal of space between himself and his father. "You sent Sebastian here on purpose, didn't you?"

"Your imagination is getting the better of you, my boy"

"The hell it is," snarled Tony, now so infuriated now that he completely ignored the warning in his father's expression. "You sick son of bitch, you set this all up, knowing he'd come to me, knowing he's take pity on Marlena and want to help her. Didn't you?" The last two words demanded an answer but Stefano said nothing, which was really all the explanation Tony needed.

"And you'll still punish him for it….punish both of us for doing exactly as you intended all along."

Stefano didn't reply to this accusation either right away. Instead he closed the distance between the two of them, his dark eyes betraying for just a moment his own disillusionment and reached to stoke his son's face tenderly but Tony jerked his head away. That lit a fire in his father's expression. "You could have come to me instead of doing this…" and thick fingers seized Tony's chin, forcing him to look down at the gun where it lay on the floor. "There is no one who wishes more than I do that there was another way, that neither of you had to suffer this way but you've left me no other choice, Tony." He stepped back and for an instant seemed to catch his breath before his face grew hard again. "If you wish to blame someone for Sebastian's fate, I suggest you look in a mirror."

"And my brother, and Marlena and Roman? Who is responsible for their fate," Tony laughter was painful, even to his own ears, "the complete and utter ruin you've made of their lives?"

Idly, Stefano fingered the chain around his neck. "You concern for your brother is touching but completely lost on John I'm afraid."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"He'll betray you Tony, just as you've betrayed me here today."

"Why would he…" Tony's voice trailed off and it felt to him as though entire minutes ticked by, beating along with the blood in his ears as he remembered Andre's words to Stefano from the previous night…'you've already set everything into motion and all I have to do is sit back and enjoy the show'…and Tony flashed a grim smile at his father. "I'm afraid your little ploy is not going to work Stefano. Marlena is not interested in me or," he shrugged, "vice versa."

But Stefano didn't appear concerned. "When have you known me not to be prepared for all contingencies?"

Tony felt sick, literally and figuratively, and wanted nothing more than to tear into this man in front of him who was so bloody determined on getting his pound of flesh that he'd rip his family to shreds over a past that was buried.

"That's what this is about, Daphne deceived you, cheated on you so you're going to make us pay? She's dead," Tony hurled the words back at him in a fury, "isn't that enough for you?"

"For what she did to you and I…no Tony, it will never, EVER be enough."

The rage and sadness in his father's eyes tore away a curtain and everything he'd discovered over the previous few months was illuminated brilliantly in contrast to the rest of Stefano's behavior since he'd returned. And oh God, nothing had changed. He may not be locked up wearing the chains any longer but Stefano wasn't about to quit until he'd seen to it that both of Daphne's sons paid for what she'd done, for making a fool of him. Stefano's pride simply wouldn't allow him to budge so much as an inch. And whatever his feelings for Tony, they'd not get in his way or divert his purpose…his sick obsession, and for the first time, Tony envied his brother who at least wasn't saddled with the knowledge of what was about to happen to his life. "Why…" he struggled to get the words out. "Why Marlena?"

"Surely my son you can figure that out."

Unfortunately Tony could. "She got the best of you and that is a sin you never could live with, from anyone…not even your children."

Stefano shrugged. "You'd rather I'd chosen someone else?"

And his implication sent a chill down Tony's spine. "No." His eyes narrowed, but he did his best to hang onto control of his temper. "I did what you asked of me…I divorced her…stayed away from her on condition that you did the same…"

"And have I not left the lovely Anna be?"

It was impossible to ignore the underlying threat Tony detected beneath the cultured accent and something inside, the ounce of restraint he'd clung to for the sake of his children and both of his friends shattered in a blinding rage at the thought that nothing in his life was safe from this man's insane desire for retribution. He swung around and in one smooth movement, snatched the gun and clip from the floor, fitting the latter into place as he quickly slid backwards out of his father's reach, taking aim at Stefano's chest.

The old man shook his head with a hard look at Tony. "Rolf has his orders…if you shoot me, you'll be condemning your children."

"And god, what am I doing if I don't?" Tony's voice sounded strange to his own ears, brittle and fierce and hopeless. "Condemning them to a life of being used by you and brainwashed into destroying those they ought to trust and love."

"They will have a father to love…"

"NEVER." The word burst from Tony with raging anguish. "You will not steal these two innocent lives along with everyone else."

"Oh Tony, I'm not stealing anything away from you, I created them…"

"To manipulate and destroy, yes I know but you don't own them Stefano, nobody owns them and if I have to live with the consequences of making certain that doesn't happen…" Tony had to grit his teeth to the get rest out, "so be it."

"And Marlena…" returned Stefano, wearing a tiny secret smile, "how will you explain an act such as this to her?"

That would be impossible Tony knew but so was the prospect of the future he saw stretched out in front of him if he didn't remove this man from their lives, a future filled by an endless cycle of destruction and hatred…a wasteland. "Living with impossible choices is the one area where I've had no lack of experience, thanks to you, Father."

Tony wasn't certain if it was his words or something else in his demeanor that got through but he could see the realization dawn in Stefano's eyes at exactly the moment his finger pulled the trigger and Stefano hollered Rolf's name but Tony didn't see him fall because at that same moment, he felt a sharp pinch in his side and before he could turn around night descended, crushing him.