Finished


"How is this happening?" Cassie whispered, looking at Theo sat by the bed. Her head couldn't process it. She knew she just had to be dreaming, or she had to be dead.

"I'm gonna explain everything." Theo nodded, "To you first, before anyone else." He made clear as she stared at him, "How are you feeling?" He asked, first and foremost.

"I-I don't know." Cassie shook her head, starting to get a little distressed, trying to sit up in bed but feeling the pain of her wounded side weighing her down.

"Hey, careful." Theo said with concern, "Here, let me move the bed frame up." He said, leaning over her to press the buttons on the other side as Cassie looked at him, lifting her hand and poking his cheek as Theo chuckled.

"I don't understand." Cassie said.

"I promise you, I'm here." Theo assured her, moving the bed up a little so she could sit up properly, "You ok? You want me to get a doctor first?" He asked her.

"No, sit." Cassie said suspiciously. It was just unbelievable.

"Ok." Theo nodded, sitting back down by the bed, "I'll explain everything."

"You were… You were dead." Cassie shook her head, "I watched you. I… held you. You were gone." She shook her head. She hadn't only lost him, but he had physically slipped away in her arms that night at the docks. It was hard to believe that he really wasn't dead after all.

"I did get shot that night." Theo confirmed, "Obviously. But it was a graze at my ribs." He said, "Once they took me away I was put into hiding for a little bit." He nodded, "Only my mom knew."

"Why? Why were you put into hiding?" Cassie questioned.

"I was going undercover to Puerto Rico for a little while." Theo said, "I was watching your mom's family. Who, I'll be honest, I don't think you or your family grasp just how dangerous they are." He said, "They were still running business here and… when your mom got into that car accident, they took off and came back here. I knew they were up to something. Had to do my homework on it all. I was doing my homework whilst we were together actually-"

"Excuse me?" Cassie shook her head, "So you… you used me?" Cassie looked at him.

"No, I don't mean like that. I was doing it in my own time." Theo assured her, "And I left some stuff behind in my drawers, hoped that you'd look into it but… I guess you only got so far." He said.

"So what exactly were you trying to do?" Cassie asked him.

"I was trying to see what strings they were pulling. Who they were still working with. What their moves were. When Robert was killed, I knew it was about to get worse." He said, "So Jake had me monitoring their every move-"

"Jake knew?" Cassie whispered to herself, wondering how her boss could look her in the eyes the way he did, knowing Theo was still alive.

"We had to do this. It was the only way I could get close to them without them thinking cops were following them." Theo said, "They're dangerous people. Every business tie your mom and dad have had… Rio, Marina, even that guy Austin who was dealing for Thea when she was younger… they all somehow connect to the Mendez family, even if they lived here then or not." He said.

"You think you have my family all figured out?" Cassie looked at him. She couldn't believe this. She was hurt that her heart had been toyed with in the process of all this mess.

"I don't, I'm… I'm just trying to do my job." Theo said, "That whole situation with Sam and Daniel… they were trying to get away from The Mendez family. Sam tried to get them arrested and it blew up in her face, they found out and they… they trafficked her to get more money, to punish her." He shook his head, "It's fucked up, Cassie."

"Is that why they hated my dad?" Cassie asked, "Because of Sam and Daniel trying to turn them in?" He asked as Theo nodded.

"And, since I've been following Janet around these past few months, she's in business again, and she's… she still puts your mom's name on things. I reckon she hates your dad because… she wants your mom." Theo shrugged, "And if we didn't stop her tonight, she probably would have taken the kids-"

"The kids?" Cassie looked at him, "What? What happened to the kids?" She shook her head as Theo sighed to himself.

"Janet and Rob took James and Sofia from the party. But they're safe, we got them back and they're ok." He assured her as Cassie sighed to herself, rolling her head back on the pillow, "I shot Rob and… well they got away, but we'll find them." He nodded as Cassie sighed to herself.

"I can't believe all this time you've been out there and I've been… breaking my heart over you." She looked at him, "Regretting all the things I couldn't say to you." She shook her head.

"And I'm sorry. I never wanted to do this. When I signed on for it, we weren't that close, and then we got close and… I had to do it. I'm sorry." He shook his head as she looked at him.

"I want you to get out." Cassie nodded. She just couldn't handle it. It was too much, and she was in too much physical pain.

"Cassie, please-"

"No, just leave me alone." Cassie shook her head as Theo sighed to himself, looking across at her.

"Ok… Ok." Theo put his hands up, doing what she wished as he stood up, watching her deliberately not looking at him, "I'm sorry." He shook his head.

"Just go." Cassie shook her head, tears running down her cheeks as Theo sighed, slipping out of the room to leave her alone as she wished.


"So we… met?" AJ asked, looking across at her husband, sitting in the hospital cafeteria, finding a second to themselves, to find some sort of calm for a minute.

"I don't remember." Punk admitted truthfully. He couldn't think back to his four year old brain and remember meeting his wife, who was also four. It just wasn't realistic.

"Neither do I." AJ shook her head, struggling to place the memory, "I do remember my mom used to drag me around to different houses for whatever reasons but… I never thought I was in yours." She said, a little taken back by the fact she had potentially met her husband, way before high school and their teenage years.

"I wonder if we spoke to each other." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"I'm really trying not think about all of this." AJ admitted as Punk looked across at her, "It's like… everything is always linked back to my family. Both your prison sentences, Rio, Marina, the things that happened with your parents, even what happened with you in prison was to do with them." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"I can't stop thinking about my mom." Punk said truthfully as AJ nodded, "I thought she got into drug debts and chose to… pay it off in that way." He shook his head, "I know she's had her choice words for us in the past but… I can't get her out of my head." He admitted.

"I know. Me neither." AJ said, "And how the hell is Theo alive?" She shook her head.

"Doing some undercover cop stuff, no doubt to do with your family. Explains why he was at the wedding and found Cassie." Punk said, "Glad he did." He mumbled.

"I just… I don't know what to think. My head is so messed up right now." She admitted as Punk nodded, "Do you really think that's why they have such an issue with you? Because of their beef with your parents?"

"Yeah, I mean it makes sense, in lunatic terms." Punk rolled his eyes.

"I don't even see them as my family. They're just strangers trying to hurt us." AJ realised. To say she looked at her mother and saw a mother was a lie. She saw a very dangerous, evil stranger who had caused her family pain and grief. And she barely even recognised her brother. That wasn't her family.

"They won't get far with Rob shot up." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"We should go back and see how Cassie is." AJ suggested as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, let's go." He stood up from the table, taking her hand and leaving the cafeteria.


"Jude, what are you doing?" Sean asked, watching his new wife packing her bags on their untouched bed in the honeymoon suite.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Jude asked as he looked at her, "We're leaving."

"To go where? Home?" Sean asked.

"Yeah." Jude nodded, "And then when we're getting out of here."

"To where? Where are we going?" Sean asked.

"Anywhere but here." Jude said desperately, "New York. I went there when I was younger. As an artist, there's so much job opportunity for me. And you could ask for a transfer. I mean… you could work for the NYPD." She nodded.

"So we're going home and then we're moving to New York?" Sean clarified with confusion.

"Look, I don't care where we go, as long as it's far away from here, and far away from my family." Jude nodded.

"Jude, I know you don't mean that." Sean said.

"Look at us." Jude said angrily. She was in some shorts and t-shirt, her hair was wet from the shower whilst Sean was in his shirt and pants, "This was our wedding day." She reminded him.

"Yeah I know that but… I don't think this was your family's fault. I know every single one of them wanted us to have the perfect day. And we still did-"

"Oh, please this is all I'm gonna remember my wedding day as. My dress has blood all over it." Jude said, shaking her head, "I'm sick of it. I was held at gunpoint when I was seven months pregnant. I was raped because of my parents mistakes and my sister's ex. I am finished with this family." Jude made clear as Sean looked at her, noticing she was being deadly serious.

"You can't blame them for those things." Sean said.

"I can and I do." Jude said, "I want Mirren nowhere near any of this. James and Sofia were taken tonight. That could have been her." She pointed over to the travel crib where Mirren was sleeping peacefully, "Do you really wanna let it get to that?" She asked. She truly felt like she'd reached breaking point.

"No, but I don't think we need to move state. You're just upset, I am too. This wasn't the night we hoped for but… everyone is safe-"

"It's beyond that now." Jude shook her head, "I don't want my daughter growing up around stuff like this. Hell, I don't want us around it. I'm sick of it." She said as he looked across at her.

"So what Jude? You're gonna cut off contact with your entire family?" Sean shook his head.

"No… I just… I just want away. Maybe I just become the daughter who sees their family at Christmas and… and Thanksgiving." She shrugged.

"And what about Mirren? She's not gonna see her grandparents? Her aunts and cousins? My family?" Sean questioned, "You'll wake up in the morning, and you'll feel completely different. You're just upset right now. And you have every right to be. I'm upset about it."

"I'm not just upset. I'm done with it." Jude assured him, "And I'll be with it in the morning too. Doesn't it sound good just to get away? Get a house in some new place that we don't know. Just be on our own, away from all this shit."

"Yeah, but it also doesn't sound like the Jude I know." Sean said, "The Jude who loves spending time with her sisters, and her mom and dad." He said as Jude shook her head, continuing to pack her bags.

"Yeah well I got my own family to think about now." Jude said, "I want better for us. For Mirren." She told him, "And staying around here doesn't feel like an option anymore."

"You're serious?" Sean realised.

"Deadly." Jude nodded, "Come on, I know you feel the same as I do." She said.

"Yeah, I don't want to be around stuff like this but… I also know that us taking off and leaving would kill your family. They're always there for us."

"Yeah, I know that… but we need to start thinking about us now, and Mirren, and what we want our lives to be." Jude said as he looked across at her, "My family will get over it." She said coldly, walking off to the bathroom to get her things to put in the suitcase as Sean sighed to himself, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He was trying to be a voice of reason for Jude right now, but everything she was saying was true.