The following morning, RJ was feeding David, taking great care not to mess up his clothing as he did so. Since they were going to the hearing, he had decided it would be best to make an effort, and look presentable, presenting a united front as they heard the proceedings.

RJ was wearing a pair of black suit pants, and a purple shirt that Liv had gotten him for his last birthday. Unusually for him, he was clean shaven. Lily came into the room, finding him fussing over David in an effort to keep his breakfast off his outfit.

"Maybe getting him dressed so early wasn't such a good idea." She suggested. RJ put the dish of beans aside and picked him up.

"I'm beginning to think you might have been right." RJ commented. "Dad's going to be here in a little while."

Lily nodded in understanding. Master Finn and Michael had agreed to take care of the restaurant that morning to allow them to go to the hearing. He came over, kissing her softly.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked her. Lily nodded in response.

"Casey kind of talked some sense into me." Lily told him. "I know I kind of went a little psycho there. The thought of what he did, it just terrifies me."

"Hey, it scares me too. I was the one that ended up in hospital remember?" He asked her. He held her in one arm, and David in the other, smiling a little. "You know that my family's the most important thing in the world to me. As much as I love everything we have, the restaurant, this place...none of it would mean anything if I didn't have you. All of you."

"Speaking of which, there's someone else I still have to talk to." Lily told him, separating from him, and looking to the floor a little ashamed. "Liv was really freaked out by the way I flipped out. I should really go and straighten things out with her."

She kissed her husband once more, before heading through to Liv's room. The younger girl was sitting in her bed, reading a textbook as she waited. Lily roused her attention by knocking on the door gently.

"Do you mind if I come in?" She asked. Liv just sighed and nodded as she threw the book aside. Lily came in, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked.

"I'm just trying not to think about it." Liv answered her honestly. "I thought if I did a little studying it would help, but I just can't concentrate. I think I've read the same page about a hundred times."

"I understand." Lily assured her. "I also know that I haven't exactly been the most attentive mom."

"I understand..."

"That's just it though, you shouldn't need to understand." Lily cut her off apologetically. "I'm meant to be the adult here. We were all freaked when we heard about this, but instead of being there when you needed me, I decided to go all momma bear psycho girl and start throwing out death threats all over the place. I just wanted you to know I'm sorry."

Liv just nodded as Lily put a hand on her shoulder, but she still wasn't looking at her, and she was still a little quiet for Lily's liking. She furrowed her brows as she noticed this.

"We are cool right?" Lily asked her. "I mean, is anything else bothering you?"

"It's nothing." She sighed. Lily just looked at her in a way that indicated she didn't buy that story for a moment.

"Hey, this is me you're talking to." She told her. "I'm the good mom, not the psycho that chases off half Casey's business because she feels the need to satisfy her inner savage."

"It's just..." Her words tailed off, indicating that there was something she didn't feel comfortable talking to her about.

"Hey, you can talk to me right?" Lily asked her. "I'd hate to think I'd screwed that up. You don't need to worry, you can tell me anything. Even if it is something I don't want to hear."

"It's just...when you went off the way you did, it really scared me." Liv admitted. Lily just sighed.

"I guess I can understand that." She replied. "It took me a while to realise it, but I guess all that talk of...well, you know...I guess it has to have been pretty scary. I know it can't have been easy hearing me talk like that. You've lost enough to violence. You don't need to worry, I'm in control now. As much as this thing scares me, I know better than to let it control me."

Lily smiled at her.

"You don't need to worry kiddo. I've got no intentions of going anywhere." She assured her. Liv forced a smile, but it quickly faded. She swallowed deeply as she prepared to tell Lily something.

"It was more than that." She told her. "When you were...you know..."

"It's alright, you can tell me." Lily told her. Liv looked at her, a few tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"When I saw the look in your eyes, it really terrified me." She told her. "It reminded me of dad. You know...my biological dad."

Lily felt her heart deflating as she heard Liv say this. It hadn't occurred to her what her behaviour was doing to her daughter. She pulled Liv into a long, deep hug, holding her tightly.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered into her ear, before pulling her away a little. "I never want you to feel like that again. I promise you that I would never raise a hand to you like your father did. You know that right?"

She pulled her in, holding her daughter tightly and felt a couple of tears roll down her face as her disappointment in herself as a mother hit her. She could understand now what she had done to Liv, and it broke her heart. She had never felt like such a failure as a mother as she had in that moment.

"I'm sorry." She whispered again.

In another part of town, Mike was busy getting dressed in a suit ahead of his hearing. His lawyer came into his room with a small smile on his face.

"Are you nearly ready?" He asked. Mike just nodded in response, before looking to the bed. He had been stuck here, in this institution ever since the shooting. His feelings about the hearing were mixed. He hated this place, waking up within the same walls, hearing the same soul-chilling howls and screams every day, but at the same time the thought of leaving almost terrified him more. The walls provided security. The guards and the treatments provided routine, familiarity. Once he left, although he would be going back to his mom's place, he would be largely on his own. There would be no guards to protect him, no one to tell him what to do or when to do it. He would have to fend for himself, and he was already painfully aware of the fact that many people were far from happy at the idea that he was coming back to Ocean Bluff. The lawyer smiled. "I'll bet your own bed will be far more comfortable than that."

"Perhaps." Mike said quietly. "Are you really that confident?"

"The doctor's reports are very convincing." He assured him. "Just relax and leave it to me."

He pulled out a small box, handing it to Mike.

"It seems not everyone in Ocean Bluff is against you." He told him. "This arrived in my office this morning, addressed to you. The card just said it was from a well-wisher."

Mike opened the box, finding a small, silver dragon pendant inside. It was mounted on a length of leather thong. Mike furrowed his brow looking at it.

"I'll bet it's one of your friends." The lawyer said with a little grin. "Maybe it's a girlfriend. I remember hearing you were a bit of a ladies' man back in the day."

"I doubt either." Mike sighed. "I haven't exactly had a huge mailing list since I came here. Most of my friends disappeared after...well...you know."

"Whoever sent it, it does show that not everyone is against you." The lawyer told him. "Maybe you should remember that."

With that, Mike put the pendant around his neck, tucking it into his shirt. He turned to the lawyer and took a deep breath.

"My mom...?"

"She's waiting at the hearing." He told him. "You'll see her soon enough."

With that, he led the young man from the treatment room. Mike followed him, not entirely certain what the hearing would entail. As they arrived outside, where a vehicle was waiting to take him to the court house, he took another look back at the asylum, before getting in and taking a seat.

Over at the school, Fran was taking a senior class, but had basically designed the lesson plan for the day around having them read the text they were studying. She was more than a little distracted. She was nervous to see the outcome of the case, and as a result, her concentration was left wanting.

"Thank you for that Kevin." She stated, shaking her head as she realised he had stopped reading. "Emma, why don't you take the next reading?"

She checked her watch as the girl started reading, realising that it was about time for the hearing to start. While she loved her job, right now she wished she could be at the hearing for her friends.

At the court house, Lily, Liv, Johnny and RJ filed into their seats, ready for the hearing to begin. Lily cradled David closely to keep him quiet as the rest of the audience arrived. Since this wasn't strictly speaking a court case, since Mike had never been convicted of any crime, there wasn't a jury. Instead, in this instance, there was a panel at the front of the court room, made up of the judge, and a couple of men in suits. As soon as the guards had finished getting the crowd into the room, the judge picked up his notes, and read the title.

"The next case is the appeal for release on behalf of Mike Bishop from the secure psychiatric facility." He announced. "Bailiff, please show Mr. Bishop in."

The bailiff went into the hall, before leading Mike into the room. Liv and Johnny looked to each other as he came in, a little surprised to see how much he had changed. He had lost a considerable amount of muscle mass from when they had last seen him, likely as a result of not spending so much time in the gym. He looked to them, and then looked away again, as though unable to look at them. He stood, facing the panel.

"Mr. Bishop, you know why you're here. This hearing is not a trial; it is merely a forum wherein we will decide whether or not you continue to present a danger to the public at large. The hearing will be presided over by myself, Judge Richard Umbridge, along with Dr. Henry Thomas of the Ocean Bluff Psychiatric Unit, and Leona Davis of Social Services. You may be seated."

Mike took a seat, just as he had been instructed. His lawyer stood up.

"We all know why we're here today. Indeed, anyone who has read a local tabloid will know why we're here." He began. "My client is the first one to admit that he has done many terrible things, not least of which was the violent incident in Jungle Karma Pizza that led to his incarceration. It is my understanding that the victims of that incident are in attendance today."

RJ took Lily's hand in a comforting gesture, while Liv put an arm around her.

"Mike Bishop is a seriously ill young man. As a result of some personal hardships, and some, by his own admission, far from admirable life choices, his mental state left him highly volatile, leading to sociopathic tendencies, violent outbursts and dangerous and reckless behaviour." He continued. "My client is the first to admit that when he was removed from society, it was the best thing in the interests of the safety of society. He openly acknowledges that he was a threat to those around him, and even to himself. However, it is the belief of myself, and the staff at the institution that he is no longer a threat."

He turned to the audience, and his gaze rested upon RJ and his family.

"Ocean Bluff has no reason to forgive Mike Bishop for what he did. However, it is my intention today to satisfy the court that the Mike Bishop before you today is not the same Mike Bishop who did the despicable things you all read about." He told them. "I would like to begin by inviting Mr. Bishop to the stand and allow him to tell us in his own words what his time in the hospital has meant to him."

Mike reluctantly got up, and made his way to the stand, preparing to face the panel, but more terrifying to him was the thought of facing the people he had hurt the most. His hand strayed to the pendant, reminding himself that even though he had no idea who it was, someone else believed in him.

"Mike, I'd like you to start by telling us a little about your home situation." The lawyer told him.

"My mom and dad divorced a few years ago." Mike told them. "I put on a brave face, you know, I tried to be the tough guy and pretend it didn't bother me. I was the man of the house, and I wanted to live up to that."

"Your father no longer lives in Ocean Bluff does he?" The Lawyer asked him. Mike shook his head.

"He left town shortly after the divorce." He informed him. "I saw him a couple of times across the couple of years after that, but it has been about two years since I last saw him."

"That must have been very hard for you." The lawyer said sympathetically.

"I'm not looking for sympathy." Mike told him. "I know that doesn't excuse what I did."

"Tell me a little about your relationship with Johnny Mancusso." The lawyer told him. "I understand you butted heads a few times before the incident."

"Johnny was involved in a fight with a couple of my friends." Mike told him. "I can't really explain what I was thinking. My friends were older than him, and they were angry with him because he beat them onto the wrestling team. They attacked him."

"We could understand you being upset with him if he hurt your friends..."

"I couldn't." Mike answered him honestly. "They attacked him. He was within his rights to defend himself. If anything I agreed with him for what he did, but they were friends, so I acted on their behalf. I ended up putting him in hospital."

"You took things too far." The Lawyer replied. "How did you feel about it?"

"Honestly, it made me feel good." He told him. "Making someone else hurt, having someone else suffer made me feel like I wasn't helpless. It made me feel powerful, like there was something in my life that I was in control of."

"Your doctors said that one of the symptoms of your illness were sociopathic tendencies." The lawyer continued. "So much happened to you that you couldn't control that anything you could control made you feel good..."

"Even if I hated myself afterwards." Mike admitted. He looked over to where Liv was sitting. "My relationship with Ms. Tennant was one example, but the one I regret more than anything was what I did to Olivia James."

"I understand that you dated for a while..."

"I wouldn't call it that." He responded. "I manipulated her at a time when she was vulnerable. In my dispute with Johnny, I used her. I still hold it as the most shameful thing I've ever done. I hurt her dreadfully, and for that, I'll never forgive myself."

"If you feel up to it, I'd like to talk about what happened at Jungle Karma Pizza." The Lawyer replied. "What were you thinking of when you went there?"

"Things had gone completely out of control for me. I had thrown everything away." Mike told him. "I had been expelled from school for cheating. Mom was going to make me work in the factory, but in my arrogance I thought that was just to humiliate me. I called dad to try and talk to him, but he wouldn't answer my calls."

He looked to the panel regretfully.

"I saw the way Mr and Mrs James supported Liv, the family she had...I just saw it and I couldn't believe anyone could have that." He admitted. "I saw what she had and I resented it. I couldn't believe it was real. I was so angry and bitter at everything, that what they had, it just felt like they were taunting me, and I couldn't take it."

"Thank you for that." The lawyer told him. "I'd like to go on and talk a little about the treatments you've received, but first, I understand that the James family are here today, and although it is against my advice, I understand that you asked for me to give them the opportunity to speak."

"I think they deserve it." Mike told him. The Lawyer turned to the James family.

"Would any of the James family like to speak?" He asked them. They looked among each other, before RJ stood up and made his way out onto the floor.