Disclaimer: I do not own All My Children, its dialogue, storylines or any of its characters.

Warnings: Dark themes and violence

Chapter 20- "Dinner and Doom"

Maggie downed her champagne in a few gulps and immediately regretted it. She let her glass come to rest on the table at BJ's as she took stock of things. Her kids were here and her wife was here. She should be fine but felt people were looking at her oddly.

The theory had apparently got around the police station that Vanessa had Natalia transferred and Leo was not really missing or dead. It seemed the Bennetts could be held accountable for a lot of things and Maggie was related to them. She felt like she was insulting the Hubbard family just by being there at Natalia's going away party.

"Don't be rude. Smile," Bianca said as she nudged Maggie's slumped shoulders.

Maggie obliged and leaned back against her wooden chair with a small smile. She still was not happy though. "Maybe I should go with you to meet Palmer. I feel like everyone here is judging me."

Miranda looked up from her coloring of a squirrel on her paper place mat and gave a toothy grin to her mama. "I'm not doing that."

Maggie smiled more genuinely as she patted her daughter's hair. "I know that pumpkin. Your sister looks a little suspicious to me though."

Miranda giggled at the humorous way Maggie narrowed her eyes at Gabrielle in her booster seat. Bianca used the distraction to slide Maggie's empty champagne glass away before someone could refill it for her.

When Maggie turned back towards her, Bianca put on a cheery smile and stroked her arm. "Honey, this is your friends' going away party. No one is judging you. They're just trying to be happy at a sad moment. It's your job to be a supportive friend through all of this. It's all anyone expects of you."

Maggie looked around and saw the Hubbards toasting Natalia privately. Jesse smiled as he proudly looked at the daughter who was about to leave him with tears in his eyes. Angie had her arm around his shoulders, massaging away any tension that he might feel. Natalia's sibling and sister-in-law were toasting her as well from either side, each whispering in her ear for attention. Natalia glowed with the love bestowed upon her. It was like the rest of the party did not exist for them as they enjoyed their time together.

Maggie relaxed a little as she watched them. If their love for each other did not get them through crisis, no one would have a chance. She also knew that Natalia would at least be living in Pine Valley a little longer and making the commute until she found a place of her own. She was not gone for good. Not for the moment. Perhaps Maggie was over dramatizing. This was a party. It was time she should join it.

Maggie stood up and undid the straps of Gabrielle's carrier. She lifted Gabrielle up and the baby extended her hands and tried to grab onto Maggie's arms with her tiny fingers. Miranda stood up too, already knowing her mama was going to lead her somewhere. She was more than ready to follow. Maggie motioned with her head for Miranda to follow her and the girl obeyed instantly wanting to join her mother and sister.

Bianca watched Maggie with a twinkle in her eye. It was nice to see Maggie return to herself if only for a moment. Bianca finally felt comfortable enough to kiss Natalia goodbye and go visit Palmer.

Trey sat at the round kitchen table, tapping a pencil against yellowed lined paper. He felt like he was wasting all of his time just waiting for something to happen and someone to make the next move. Normally, he liked that kind of thing. He preferred to follow everyone else's lead. That way he could always have an exit strategy. He could escape being blamed for everything.

However, he had different plans for Pine Valley. He wanted to see his sister. Kendall was once his favorite relative. She was one of the people he spent the most time with. She was his safe place from his battles with the town including some of his own siblings and Vanessa at times.

Yet since their return all he seemed to be doing was waiting at home for something to happen with someone else. He was part of damage control. He longed to escape even for awhile.

Leo entered the room without noticing his brother and began going through their modest fruit bowl on the kitchen counter. His biggest concern seemed to be deciding between an orange or a peach.

"Finally," Trey said, dropping his pencil on the table since Leo did not seem to be getting a move on any time soon.

Leo jumped and spun around to spot his exasperated brother sitting at the table. He dropped the orange back in the fruit bowl and walked over to him. "Hey man, what are you up to?"

"Hello? Planning our next heist so we can make some progress here before we're eighty years old," Trey said.

Leo took a bite of his peach and shook his head. Trey started massaging his neck with one hand. The greatest suspense of his day involved waiting for his brother to finish chewing. What had his life come to?

"Vanessa took us off that. The next phase will be lead by David. He's planning the whole thing," Leo said, wincing as his brother's eyes widened in surprise. He could not say the right things to anybody lately. He hoped that someone in their family had explained things to Trey before but as he looked around the empty apartment, he realized it was dead silent and he had not seen anyone else for hours. "Sorry man."

Trey felt awful, just sitting there and waiting for something that never happened. Kendall was probably already at that going away party he was not invited to. Trey feebly snapped the pencil in his hand. He snatched the jacket off the back of his chair and headed out without sparing Leo another glance.

David put a hand on the handle, concentrating on his steadiness. He never got nervous, only angry. He gave as good as he got. This time was no different. David pushed the door open and entered BJ's. The room seemed to hush at the sight of him even though music was still playing from the jukebox. While he saw many police officers willing to show him the meaning of police brutality and cruel and unusual punishment, they merely served as the background as his eyes zeroed in on Maggie. His once prized pupil. There was a time he would have done anything to protect her.

12 years ago...

"David? Should we- Do we- Can we touch her?" Anna asked as she stared at Maggie's tiny form in her hospital bed.

The room still smelled of cleaning products. It was the cleanest room in the hospital. David had seen to that. He would have rained down hell were that not the case. Every wire and piece of the equipment was all in the perfect place, having been nervously adjusted many times by David and whatever poor hospital employee happened into the room to check on his cousin. He even made sure it was the best lit room of the hospital. The room was full of that light and white. Full of perfection.

He thought it was the right thing and would make everyone feel better but it actually drew more attention to the one imperfection in the room. Maggie Stone all bruised and battered.

Frankie was safe. He knew that. He made sure. She was with Leo and Ben. Gwen was with the police. He was supposed to go see her and Frankie but was afraid to leave Maggie all alone. Maggie liked being alone normally. Many of their family did but it just did not seem right this time.

He had been anxious and Anna did not help that. Maggie was hardly the worst and most impossible case either of them had ever seen. Anna was a former spy for God sake, but it felt different now that it was Maggie. Perhaps because Anna was the one to find her. Perhaps because Maggie's rescue was so damn coincidental.

Bianca happened to call the Hayward-Devane home before Anna was to head to work. She tried but barely stayed in touch while she was in Seattle so the call itself was a fluke. Bianca happened to have a bad day. She happened to call the twins to cheer her up but the line was dead. She happened to call Anna and David to help put her in touch with the girls since she could not come over herself being on the other side of the country. So much just happened to happen. Too much in David's opinion.

Anna assumed Gwen forgot to pay her bills again and Anna headed over to the house awhile later to make sure Gwen sent some checks out. She heard screaming when she got there. Anna broke down the door without thinking. Maggie was wheeled into the ER awhile later and Frankie was spirited away from the house with a surprising lack of fight.

If any one event did not happen or happened just a few minutes later, who knows what would have happened to Maggie. They still were not completely sure what happened to Maggie but they knew who to blame.

"Of course, you can touch her. She's a tough kid. She'll be up in no time," David said as he wiped the sweat off of his brow and blinked the tears out of his eyes. He knew that viewing things unemotionally, he could realize that Maggie was going to be fine. He would see to it personally and knew Anna would help him. "Don't worry, kid. I'm here for you no matter what."

He was so far from that time now. Maggie could stand on her own. He could not even save Anna from whatever his mother had planned but he would find a way. He was sure of it.

David turned his eyes forward and shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked over to the nearest waitress. She was tall and blonde. That did not hurt at all. "I placed an order. I'm here to pick it up. It's under Hayward."

The waitress shifted her eyes around the room nervously. This party was supposed to get her some big tips but everyone was sending murderous glares her way at the moment. She figured it was something to do with the man in front of her with his dark eyes and jet black hair and the wisps of white that appeared in the front. "We have the right to refuse service to any customer."

"Not if the customer has already paid for their take out. Go get my food, please," David said in a pleasant tone but his serious and calm demeanor left no room for argument.

The waitress slumped her shoulders and went to go fetch his order. He looked around satisfied but bristled at all the whispers and looks that were sent his way. His heart clenched as Miranda and Gabrielle blinked at him. While Gabrielle was just a baby, Miranda had almost no recognition of him. He remembered when he dreamed of a house full of family. Maggie and Frankie were part of his dream but it had become so warped since then. His house of family was a den of thieves.

The waitress shoved his order into his hands when his head was turned and quickly put some space between them by going to get drinks for another table. David muttered, "Well, there goes your tip."

David was ready to leave when he saw all those faces judging him again with unrelenting stares. He changed his mind and walked to the closest table and dropped his food down in a silent challenge. He sat down and took a cloth napkin off the table and tucked it into his collar. He ripped open his take out container and grabbed the fork off the table and dug in. He soon shoved a huge bite in his mouth.

The bite was so huge in fact he nearly choked on it but he refused to be beaten. Taking a bite was his way of saying that he would not be beaten by them. However, after he took his first bite he felt his point was proven. He did not want to stay and eat with all these people looking at him like a circus freak just because his mother was running Natalia Hubbard out of town. He was about to leave when his dear cousin Maggie took a seat in front of him.

"Palmer?" Bianca called out as she entered the Manor. She was disappointed to be in this position again. It was only yesterday she was feeling around in the dark, trying to find Palmer in the big empty mansion. Now she had to do it again.

This time she had an advantage. On her way out the last time, she memorized where all the hard to find light switches were. She walked to where one was and confidently flicked it on but nothing happened.

She trailed her fingers along the walls until she reached another room. After reminding herself just where to turn left and right she came upon another light switch that did not turn on. Was the power out?

How did Palmer not notice the power was off? Maybe he was asleep and forgot their plans to go see Wildwind together. She would just go and let him know she stopped by and tell him she would see him tomorrow.

Bianca walked along the hallways, trying to flick on any light switches in her path. She was foolishly hopeful one would spring on or they would light her path if the power came back on. She at least managed to mark where she was going as she flicked on light switches in her path. None of them worked. She put off climbing the stairs as long as she could. It was not something she wanted to do in the dark but she did not want to leave Palmer alone in his house with the lights off and no staff to help him.

When she reached the end of the hallway, Bianca opened her purse and started looking for the mini-flashlight that Maggie bought for her. Suddenly the lights flickered on. Bianca smiled with relief but her eyebrows drew together as she looked into the darkened guest bedroom in front of her. She thought about going up the stairs to Palmer's room but she saw a dark shape on the bed. It was big. It looked bigger than just an extra bag or a pile of laundry.

Bianca hesitantly reached into the room and turned on the light. It was Palmer lying on the bed. She wondered why he was sleeping downstairs when he could have just gone upstairs. She also wondered why he did not even move when she turned the light on. She did not remember him being such a sound sleeper.

"Palmer?" Bianca asked as she entered into the room. She felt her heart clench. He was not just sleeping. He was not moving at all.

Bianca rushed to his side and sat on the bed. She tried shaking his shoulders before cradling his head in her hand. Tears stung her eyes as she looked around. She wanted a phone to call the police. She was about to look into her purse for her cell phone when she saw a vial of something and a needle on the bedside table next to the lamp. Maybe it was some heart medicine. Maybe she could help him.

It was a drug that Bianca did not recognize. It must have been new. Something that some genius chemist could have created- David. Bianca pushed the thought out of her mind. It could not have been David because Palmer was fine.

He was fine. He was fine. He was fine.

Bianca slipped her fingers from Palmer's face and tried to feel his pulse point. She waited and waited but she could not find his pulse. She just felt how cold he was. She felt how still he was.

She could not take waiting anymore and quickly unbuttoned his jacket. She felt against his shirt in search of a heartbeat. Tears stung her eyes as she leaned over to listen for the sound of his breath. There was no sound. She could feel nothing at all.

A sob broke through her throat and she clasped a hand out of her mouth to try and contain it. Everything felt dry and raw. She could not keep down the hysterics as tears fell freely down her face. She tried to push everything down. She needed to call an ambulance. It was what she should have done when she first found him but she could not think straight when it came to Palmer. He was like family.

She felt like she was about to heave. Her heart was beating in her ears and she closed her eyes to stop the impending tears from flowing. She was so lost in the moment, she had no focus. She could not see anything, hear anything or feel anything else but what was going on and she needed to separate herself and get help.

She took long ragged breaths as she reached into her purse for her cellphone and tried to convince herself there would still be a chance for Palmer even though he was already cold to her touch.

Bianca's movements were stopped when she heard the sound of a gun being cocked behind her.

"Freeze. This is the police. You are under for the murder of Palmer Cortlandt."