Chapter Fifty-Four -Revelations

Hope arched her eyebrow while she watched Chloe disappear into the night. "Hmmm," she murmured, finding Chloe's behavior slightly odd. Chloe had seemed, well, she had seemed unsettled. "Interesting," Hope said aloud, shaking her head once.

"It certainly was," a masculine voice answered from the shadows.

Hope gasped in astonishment, turning around quickly and searching for the owner of the voice. She breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw Brady step out of the shadows by an alley near the pub. "Brady Black, you scared me half to death!" she scolded him, pointing her finger playfully at the handsome man approaching her.

"Sorry about that," Brady said with an unrepentant grin, slowly walking towards Hope. He was quiet until he stood next to Hope. "I, ah, saw the whole thing, Hope. You know, the greeting between Chloe and J.T."

Hope looked at Brady inquisitively, tipping her head back to look Brady directly in the eyes. Then, she admitted to him with a frown, "I was…surprised by Chloe's willingness. She was very kind and compassionate with him. I don't know what I expected when J.T. finally saw Chloe again, but I know for certain that it wasn't that."

Brady nodded his head curtly, agreeing wholeheartedly. "You're right, Hope. That wasn't what I expected either. It would have much more in character for Chloe DiMera to completely ignore J.T.'s overture or to brush him off." His eyes looked off in the distance while he pondered the importance of Chloe's reaction to J.T.

"She didn't do that, not even when she realized who J.T.'s parents were." Hope paused thoughtfully for a moment and then added quietly, "Or who J.T. once belonged to, a long time ago."

"Lexie," Brady answered right away, remembering the revelation of the baby switch years ago, and how Lexie had to give up Isaac to Hope. Hope, in turn, had to turn full custody of J.T. to Glen and Barb. Now, Hope and Bo were the parents of J.T. But, of course, John was J.T.'s biological father, thanks to DiMera's meddling. Brady shook off the whole complicated history behind J.T., and then said slowly, "This meeting was definitely a contradiction in terms for Chloe. But she handled it very nicely. No stated anger over the fact that you have Lexie's son. Never mind the fact that you are J.T.'s birth mother."

"It would have been more accurate if Chloe had blown up at me or if she had been completely cold. That wasn't the case at all, though, Brady." Hope then softly added what she hoped was the case. "This is the first time I saw our Chloe in her, Brady."

Instead of cheering at Hope's pronouncement, Brady merely smiled sheepishly at her. He thought about the near kiss on the pier. That was the first time he had seen Chloe Lane clearly within DiMera's creation.

Hope studied Brady carefully, questioning the cat-who-ate-the-canary look on his face. "What?" she finally asked, a wide smile upon her face. "Don't hold out on me, Black. What do you know?"

Brady flushed slightly before admitting reluctantly, "I've, ahh, seen glimpses of our Chloe in her, a few times, actually. Like that night at Tuscany." He hunched his shoulder and then crammed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, whistling lightly.

Hope exploded with laughter, recalling how she had teamed up with an irate Greta and cornered Chloe in the bathroom, where Chloe had been extremely uncooperative. Then, Brady had forced Chloe into a confrontation, where Chloe had finally lost all of her cool reserve. "Oh, that night was something else. You really know how to push Chloe's buttons. And…" Hope trailed off when she saw Brady blush even brighter under the glaring glow of the overhead lighting.

Brady turned his face away, trying to keep his expression hidden from Hope Brady. A useless endeavor, he should have realized, but still he attempted the impossible.

Hope placed her hand under Brady's chin and forced him to meet her gaze. After searching his face for a moment, she breathed out with a combination of incredulity and amazement, "Oh my god, Brady Black! Something else happened tonight, between you and Chloe. God, Brady, you can't hold out on me. Spill it, now." She was half-serious, half-joking in her pronouncement, willing him with her eyes to follow her order.

Brady tried to shake the recent encounter off. He wasn't certain if he wanted to share it. With anyone. He shrugged his shoulders before he admitted, "It was nothing, Hope, really." He turned to leave.

Hope stepped in front of Brady, halting his progression. She placed her hands on her hips, and then said, her voice tainted with a touch of sarcasm, "Nothing, huh, Brady Black? I guess that's the reason why you look guiltier than the famed kid with his hand in the cookie jar. Come on, Brady, you're dying to share it with me. I can tell. Please?" Hope finally resorting to coaxing, wanting to know what exactly had transpired between Brady and Chloe earlier in the evening.

Brady hemmed and hawed a little, but eventually gave in to Hope's pleading looks. "Bo must love living with you," he grouched before he decided that it might be a good idea to get someone else's input on the evening. He began haltingly, choosing his words carefully, "This thing with Chloe's been killing me slightly more each day. It's so damn hard, knowing that she's so close and yet so far away."

"I know, Brady, believe me I know," Hope replied sympathetically, remembering her own tough times with Bo, when she wasn't certain if they would ever overcome their nearly insurmountable problems. She placed her hand on Brady's solid shoulder and squeezed, offering him comfort for the impossible situation Stefano DiMera had created.

"Pathetic, I know," Brady added in a side note, slightly frustrated with himself. He chuckled harshly at Hope's indignant gasp, before he explained, "Anyway, the pier has always been a special spot for me in Salem. It's where I come to think, to help me through any rough spots. I don't know why it pulls me the way it does, but it always has. Ever since I first came back to Salem."

"Those were some pretty rough days, if I remember correctly," Hope interjected, remembering the angry young man who had returned and found fault with the world in general, his family in particular.

Brady acknowledged Hope's opinion with a lop-sided grin, inwardly chuckling at the insolent young man he had been. Then, he brushed the memory away and continued with his story. "So, I decided that I needed to come to the pier tonight, to help sort out everything that's going on. Anyway, here I am, approaching the pier, thinking, of course, about Chloe. And who do I see, standing on the pier and gazing out at the water?"

"Chloe," Hope answered, without a doubt in her mind.

"Seeing her there, at a spot that's always meant so much to us, well, it threw me for one HELL of a loop." Brady shook his head slightly at the unbelievable occurrence, still finding it hard to believe that Chloe had been there. "Anyway, my first reaction was to throw myself at her feet, to beg and plead with her to accept my love."

Hope lifted both eyebrows and waited a second before she said, with a small chuckle, "Oh, I can only begin to imagine how she'd have reacted to that, Brady! My god, she'd still be laughing hysterically."

"Exactly," Brady agreed without hesitation. He rubbed his cheek, thinking how Chloe had reacted the one time he had followed that inclination. "So, that's the approach I've completely and totally overruled with Chloe. She would never go for it, even though it's what my heart wants me to do every time I see her." Brady paused for a moment, a smirk twisting his lips while he recalled Chloe's reaction to his "approach."

Hope playfully slapped Brady on the upper arm, encouraging him to move on with his intriguing story. "Come on, Brady! I can't take this suspense much longer. What exactly happened between you and Chloe?"

Brady's smirk grew into a large, pleased grin. "You see, Hope, I went on the offense again, attacking her personally. I, umm, compared her to Chloe Lane, and told her how she doesn't match up to her."

Hope's eyes widened slowly while she contemplated Brady's words. "Wow, Brady! That was brilliant! I bet she hated hearing how you viewed Chloe DiMera. Damn, but that was a great button to push." She shook her head once, marveling at Brady's approach.

"You're right, Hope. She hated it. She even began to defend herself, to prove to me that she was like Chloe Lane. It really fired her up." Brady recalled the events with a humorous glint to his eyes. "Until she recalled that I'm supposed to be the enemy."

Hope watched him closely and decided that Brady hadn't spilled everything to her yet. "That's not all, Black. What are you leaving out?"

Brady took a deep breath, and then admitted, blushing even brighter than he had before. "You see, we were arguing. Quite heatedly, I might add. And Chloe was about to stomp off, but I stopped her. God, Hope, it was like a moment out of time. All of a sudden, there was my Chloe, staring at me with a mixture of anger and desire. Just like before. I was shocked, completely shocked, by it."

"Oh my god!" Hope exclaimed slowly, drawing her own conclusions, a delighted sparkle lighting her eyes. "You kissed her! You kissed Chloe DiMera!"

Brady gave a negative shake of his head before he shared the entire scenario with her. "Ah, actually, no, Hope, I didn't. I did something better, actually." He grinned slowly, roguishly, until he finally said, "I pulled back, right when her defenses were down, right when she was totally expecting me to do it. And then I taunted her, telling her that I would be glad to kiss, if she would only initiate it."

Hope's mouth dropped in shocked amazement at Brady's brilliant approach. Then, she began to laugh uproariously at Brady's confession, picturing the whole episode in her mind. "Wow! Brady, that was…oh, that was marvelous! And would explain the stupor she was walking around in, when we first ran into her."

"Stupor?" Brady asked hopefully, prompting Hope to explain the state Chloe had been in after the meeting.

"Definitely," Hope confirmed. "And, after J.T. finished with her, she walked away with a look that could only be described as unsettled. You got to her, Brady. You really did. And so did J.T."

Brady heaved a sigh of relief, finding seeing a ray of light through the murky darkness created by Stefano DiMera. "Good. I keep praying that she'll come back to me, Hope. This uncertainty is getting to me. Bad."

Hope approached Brady again without hesitation and threw her arms around him, pulling him to her tightly. "We'll get her back, Brady, just you wait and see. All of us are working towards the same end," she whispered into his ear, infusing her voice with strength.

Brady returned the hug and pulled back slightly, giving Hope a grateful smile. "Thanks, Hope. That means a lot."

Hope returned the smile and then gasped, "Oh, my! Bo's gonna wonder what's happened to me. I've been out here for ages. What do you say, Brady? Care to join us for Brady Pub meal?"

Brady answered quickly, rubbing his stomach jokingly, "I think you've just made an offer my stomach can't refuse! Especially since I happen to love the pancake special!"

Hope laughed again and tucked her arm through Brady's. "Let's go, then, Black!" When they reached the doorstep to the pub, she stopped and exclaimed loudly, "Oh my, I almost forgot something, Brady! You'll never believe what Greta told me the other day."

Brady turned to Hope with a curious look and then prompted her, "Well? What is it?"

Hope brought her hand up to her forehead, stunned by her own foolishness. "Well, you know that Ethan has been keeping really close tabs on Stefano and his activities. He's using a few trustworthy agents to inform him of any of DiMera's movements."

"Has he come up with anything?" Brady interrupted, his earlier jovial mood threatened by the mention of Stefano DiMera. His eyes deepened, revealing the depth of the hatred he felt for that evil monster.

"No, no, not at all, unfortunately," Hope replied quickly, completely understanding Brady's feelings on the matter. "But I think you'll like it even more. You see, Brady, DiMera's left town. And taken Lexie with him."

Brady's eyes widened slowly while he digested this new, stunning information. "You mean…"

"Yep," Hope cut in, her own smile sharpening brightly, "Chloe's all alone."