CHAPTER 40: SHOOT THE MESSENGER, PART 1

At one point in time, the utmost concern of the people of Hillwood was the escape of notorious criminal 'Little' Nicky Russotti; a concern fueled on by his attacks on the city in an attempt to avenge his son. The aforementioned attack had caused the National Guard to be called into the city, in an attempt to quench the threat that had placed itself upon Hillwood and its people.

Now, with the escape of the Freak and his list of crimes committed as of so far, the concern of 'Little' Nicky and whatever threat he has posed has been pushed aside, as if he were the news of yesteryear. With influence and power like his, gaining control over all crime organizations in the city, and having managed to pull off a full-scale attack on the city itself, surely someone like him cannot be forgotten or swept away so easily.

So, pray tell, what is the massive mafioso known as 'Little' Nicky doing now?

As of currently, with little attention placed upon him by the public eye or even by law enforcement, there is not much left for him to do now but wait and hope that the Freak will soon be apprehended, and he may be able to take revenge on him where he can. In order to keep up with current events as he hides away, holed up in one of his safehouses by way of a warehouse owned by a puppet company, he watches the news for more information.

The report he sees come on now gives him plenty of it, but what the information that he gets is not anything that he enjoys hearing in the slightest. As the news report begins, the Channel 96 theme and introduction plays out, eventually segueing into reporter Lisa Bartholomew sitting behind a desk.

"Tragedy struck today when the young Hannah Williams was brutally murdered and partially eaten alive, and her mother, Chloe Williams, had also just committed suicide mere hours ago following the death of her daughter. Police efforts to locate the perpetrator have been ongoing, with the shroud of locating the Freak overshadowing all other priorities at the moment. The involvement of the Hillwood Heroes is typically to be expected for a crime such as this, but public opinion of the group of costumed crimefighters has begun to sway towards unfavorable levels. Earlier today, one of the most well-known, and most lethal of the group, Valiance, issued a vulgar and extremely violent threat to Thaddeus Gammelthrope, known better as 'The Freak', accusing him of the murder of Hannah Williams. This was his message given to us on the spot at the murder." Lisa Bartholomew said.

The camera feed switched to Valiance standing outside of the murder scene, talking directly to the camera to issue his threat.

"Listen to me very carefully, Freak. You know best what kind of hate I have for you specifically, and the kind of damage you've done. This is the very last time you will do anything like this, I swear. I will do whatever it takes to find you. When I do find you, I'm not going to hand you over to the Green Eye, to the police, or anyone else. You'll be all mine. When I get you, I'm going to personally pull off your arms and legs one by one, like a little insect, and watch you squirm and scream as I do it. After that, I'm going to start skinning you alive, piece by piece, and force-feed you your own flesh. When I run out of skin to feed you, I'm going to drench your body in acid, and watch it eat away at what's left of you. When you finally die from all that... I'm going to rape your [bleep] corpse for a whole year." Valiance said.

The camera feed then switched back to Lisa Bartholomew in the Channel 96 studio, continuing her report of past events.

"Following this threat issued to the escaped criminal, many people in Hillwood have no longer felt trustworthy of the Hillwood Heroes, or have questioned their authority in the involvement of keeping the streets of Hillwood safe. Here's what a few people on the street had to say." Lisa Bartholomew said.

The camera feed switched to a Hillwoodian on the street with Lisa Bartholomew, being given questions regarding Valiance's message.

"I never liked him in the first place. The Green Eye? Now, that dude kicks ass, I love him to death. Valiance, that guy just scares me. Who's to say he's not as crazy as the people they go after, or worse?" The citizen asked.

"So you trust the Green Eye, but not Valiance, despite the fact both are on the same team of superheroes, and both fight to keep the same criminals behind bars?" Lisa Bartholomew asked.

"Hey, lady, the Green Eye, he's... he's just somebody I can trust. There's just something about him that makes you just trust him right away. Valiance just doesn't have that. He's just like... Well, I think the dude's just flat-out crazy."

"Do you believe that Valiance should be expelled from the Hillwood Heroes, and would you call upon the Hillwood Heroes to do so?"

"Yeah, man, I think they should. That dude's totally off his rocker, and I don't want him anywhere near the business of keeping me safe."

The camera feed switched again to show Lisa Bartholomew interviewing another individual, providing a similar line of questioning. After moving through her interview, she found much of her questions being answered the same way, in more similar and nuanced manners regarding the topic.

"Valiance? Oh, no way in hell do I trust him. I mean, this guy only just came around after the Green Eye. He's just some coattailler, and a killer one at that. That message that he sent earlier today? Not a good look. Hey, H.H., what are you doing letting this guy stay on your team?" The citizen asked.

"So do you feel it's more important for the Hillwood Heroes to handle the Valiance than the Freak?" Lisa Bartholomew asked.

"Look, man, I'm of the belief that the Freak's gotta be stopped, no doubt. But we got both the cops and the National Guard on the look for this guy, and he's just one guy. They can handle it. The Hillwood Heroes say they wanna clean up the streets? You guys need to clean out your own closets first, buddy. That's all I gotta say."

The camera feed switched again to another citizen of Hillwood, with yet another similar stance regarding Valiance.

"Oh, I've never trusted that horrible man since he first came around. What really nailed it for me is when he murdered that poor boy- What was his name... Torvald? Yes, it was Torvald. He shot him right in the alleyway, must've gotten caught up with a bad crowd, and he died all because of it. He was a boy who struggled a lot in school, held back a good number of times, but he really meant well deep down. His mother put herself through two terrible part-time jobs just to keep him fed, and that boy ate a lot, trust me. When she first got the news, I thought she was gonna faint. She died a few weeks later from grief. I can't imagine what that poor woman was going through." The citizen said.

"And so I take it that you are for advocating the Hillwood Heroes expulsing Valiance from their team?" Lisa Bartholomew asked.

"I would go further than that. I would put that murderer behind bars, because that's where he belongs."

The camera feed finally moved back to the Channel 96 studio, focusing on Lisa Bartholomew behind her desk.

"And thus lies public opinion. It seems that, after years of being the first superheroes in America, and untouched by the ebb of the Hillwood Effect, the tide has turned for the worst for the Hillwood Heroes. If they do not follow some form of disciplinary action against the unpredictable Valiance, they may find their public approval plummet, even going the way of the Silver Sentinel. I'm Lisa Bartholomew, here's Tom with the weather." Lisa Bartholomew said.

As the news report moved onto its weather predictions, 'Little' Nicky disregarded whatever else the program might be playing to put himself in his thoughts. Taking his time to study the subject of Buckley Lloyd, he understood well why he would have this sort of reaction, and thought over how to use this to his own advantage.

In the midst of his thought, Weston intruded upon his thoughts, sharing in his own support and feedback to his employer.

"Well, at least they've been keeping their eyes off you for the time being, sir. It seems that everyone's found the Freak just as interesting as you do, and, now, this Valiance character, it seems." Weston said.

"So it seems, Weston. I knew that this man wasn't the most stable, but I didn't expect that he would go this far." 'Little' Nicky said.

"He hadn't encountered any instances of... ugh... half-eaten children, sir. Given how you and him share similar stances towards violence towards children, I'm surprised that you've been taking the news of this girl's death so calmly."

"I'm not. Nobody deserves to die like that, not even half the shitheads we've wasted, and especially not a little girl. But this isn't his style. Don't get me wrong; I want whatever animal who did this gutted badly, but credit's due where credit's due. This isn't him. Something's going on here, some detail that's not quite clear yet."

"Perhaps he's changing his methods? This is a very unpredictable man."

"There's no such thing as an unpredictable man. I don't care how crazy he is; at the end of the day, what drives a man is what he wants. The Freak? He just likes to kill for fun. He's not a cannibal. There's someone else in the mix here."

"I believe that it was also reported that Wolfgang was reported missing and his caregiver murdered. Could that be a factor as well?"

"Maybe... I remember 'Big' Gino telling me about Wolfgang; some Nazi punk. Last I heard, he lost his legs and an arm. He's a loose end, too."

"So, now what, sir?"

Running through his train of thought one last time, 'Little' Nicky finished concocting the plan in his head, thinking over a way to solve his dilemma of the Freak and the yarn to be unraveled around it. Taking a puff out of his cigar, the massive mafioso let out a breath of smoke through his nostrils to speak his next command.

"Get me Lars." 'Little' Nicky said.

"Lars, sir?" Weston asked.

"That skater kid with the robot arm. Lars, or 'El Cucuy', or, whatever the hell he's calling himself."

"Right, sir, I understand, but... why him?"

"You'll know in just a minute. There a problem?"

"Well, sir, he, uh... He's... 'enjoying' the payment you gave him... at the moment."

"Well, then, go tell him that playtime's over and he's back on the clock. I need him."

"...Yes, sir."

[Soundtrack Cue: (hed) p.e. feat. Kottonmouth Kings & Tech N9ne - Wind Me Up]

Taking a room to himself, Lars Rodriguez, going under the alias of 'El Cucuy' to build himself up a reputation as a supervillain in a world of heroes and villains, made the most of his downtime during his employment of 'Little' Nicky. Following his first encounter with Valiance and the Hillwood Heroes, his first instinct was to leave the city of Hillwood before encountering any more problems.

Still needing the talents of El Cucuy (whatever they might be), 'Little' Nicky managed to prevent his departure with an incentive to appeal to his more basic instincts.

Standing before him were two prostitutes; one a 17-year old blonde, and the other a brunette 42-year old with a motherly body, exact to his specifications. Laying back in his bed, dressed only in his underwear, El Cucuy placed a joint in his mouth, enjoying the sight placed before him. Taking out a small flame from his robotic arm, he lit the joint and gave it a deep inhale, taking in a large dose of marijuana smoke with the sounds of hip-hop playing on the stereo.

Crawling into the bed with him, the prostitutes laid their hands across his chest, giggling as they teased him.

"Well, Mr. Cucuy, what are you going to do with us now?" The 42-year old asked.

"Yeah. I haven't gotten fucked that hard since grade school. Aren't you going to use that 'Schlong of the South' on us again?" The 17-year old asked.

"Alright, alright, calm yourselves down, we're gettin' there. Even I need a break now and then. Here's what I'm thinking we try next: The scenario is, you're the rebellious high school girl, and your mom and I are having a talk with you after the principal caught you eating another girl's pussy. Your mom tries to make you eat her out to show you how it's done, and she goes on and on about how much she loves women and wanted another dyke to eat her out, and that's where I come in. Now, I'm the big daddy of the house, right? I can't stand to see my daughter and her mother turning into little lesbos. That's when I whip it out and give you both the dick to remind you what a woman's made for. Got it?" El Cucuy asked.

"Uh... You know we're not actually related, right?"

"I know that, you dumb bitch. It's just a little role-play for me to get in the mood. Now get the show on the road, will you? The hell am I paying you for?"

Taking the instructions as delivered by their customer, the two prostitutes prepared themselves for the role-play, setting the stage for the play scenario that El Cucuy requested. Quicker to catch onto her customer's wants, the 42-year old approached the 17-year old in a strongly disapproving fashion, crossing her arms towards her.

"Honey, I heard that you were performing oral sex on another girl in the shower room at school today. Is that true?" The 42-year old asked.

Though the acting skills of the 42-year old prostitute were nowhere near a level ready for the stage, it was enough to entice the mood of the scenario that El Cucuy requested. Despite whatever opinion might be held of her acting skills, what little there was, it was Shakesperian in comparison to the 17-year old's emotive skills.

"Uh, like, isn't it a free country and stuff? Isn't love... like... love? Huh-huh." The 17-year old asked.

Well, I sure didn't pick these sluts for their acting skills, that's for sure. El Cucuy thought.

"Young lady, you live in our house under our rules! You will not succumb to such sin like that!" The 42-year old said.

"Maybe you should, like, go fuck yourself or something, mom. Hey, uh, am I, like, doing this right, or-?" The 17-year old began to ask.

Before the 17-year old prostitute could ask to ensure she was doing a good job, the other prostitute took the initiative to the role-play, picking the girl over her shoulder and placing her over her knee. Pulling down her panties, the older prostitute began spanking the younger one's bare bottom, making loud smacks and leaving red marks upon her buttocks, as well as pained screams from the girl.

Taking surprise at the event, El Cucuy found himself smiling at the show, and his arousal rising.

"You do not talk to your mother that way! You will show respect to your mother!" The 42-year old said.

Okay, okay. I'm liking where this is going. I like little surprises like that. Ooh, put your finger in her, put your finger in her. El Cucuy thought.

Just as he was hoping to see, the 42-year old prostitute began manually stimulating her younger counterpart, eliciting some moans of pleasure out from her. Following a full few minutes of stimulating her with just her hand and fingers, the older prostitute leaned down and began orally stimulating her, getting louder moans from the younger prostitute.

Enjoying the show as it was being provided to him, El Cucuy watched on with a large smile on his face, and a raging hardening in his underwear.

Yeah... Yeah... That's what I'm talkin' about. Eat that pussy good, bitch. Eat it up like candy. That's what I like to see. El Cucuy thought.

"Oh... Ah... Mom... What are you doing?" The 17-year old said.

"I'm... giving you some punishment for your actions, young lady! I haven't given you a... punishment... in a very long time, and I plan to make the most of this punishment before your father gets home. I've wanted another girl to... punish... for so long." The 42-year old said.

Taking this as his cue to enter in, El Cucuy stood up from the bed, stepping towards the two in an exaggerated manner. Looking upon the oral display of lesbianism between his pretend wife and daughter, he feigned a surprised gasp and disapproving groan of disgust, prompting both of the prostitutes to turn towards him.

"Hey, now, what in the hell's going on here?" El Cucuy asked.

"O-Oh, honey, I didn't realize you'd be home so soon." The 47-year old said.

"D-Daddy, I don't... uh... I don't know what's going on... She said she was just... punishing me... or something." The 17-year old said.

"Punishment, huh? Well, what a coincidence. See, I can't have both of the women of my house being little dykes. I can see I'm going to have to remind you two why a woman's made for a man." El Cucuy said.

"Oh, no, honey, please! I was only trying to discipline our daughter, I swear!" The 47-year old said.

"Oh, I know, but I'll be taking over from here, and you'll be getting some discipline of your own, too. Both of you, over here and on your knees."

Complying with his order, both prostitutes kneeled before El Cucuy, leaning towards his crotch. Reaching down to his fly zipper, El Cucuy began pulling it down to retrieve the object of 'punishment' that he would inflict upon his pretend wife and daughter, needing to 'discipline' them for their acts.

"That's right. Now, both of you, open wide and prepare yourself for... the Schlong of the South!" El Cucuy said.

Before El Cucuy could make good on his promise to pull out his newly transplanted genitalia, Weston entered the room to the obscene and lewd sight. Witnessing the ugly man with a Frankenstein-esque face have two naked women kneel before him, a sight only found in obscene underground comics, the spectacle was not something he was pleasantly looking forward to seeing.

Needing to converse with El Cucuy regarding business, Weston turned off the stereo, ending the music.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

"Ahem. Mr. Rodrgiuez, 'Little' Nicky demands an audience with you." Weston said.

"Aw, c'mon, can't I just have a few minutes? I was just getting to the good part, and so were they." El Cucuy said.

"Now."

Giving a frustrated grunt, El Cucuy pulled his pants back up, missing the chance to fornicate further with his paid women.

"Don't you two go away. Daddy'll be back from work soon." El Cucuy said.

"So, what about the other guy? Do we have to do him, too?" The 17-year old asked.

"Ma'am, I'm a professional. I don't fuck on the job." Weston said.

Weston led El Cucuy through the door, leading him to his audience with 'Little' Nicky, but not before sharing one last exchange with the prostitute.

"Besides... I prefer the company of men." Weston said.

Weston closed the door behind the prostitutes, leaving them behind to lounge on their own while their customer was absent. While the older prostitute took a bathrobe to make herself at least partially modest, the other did not bother with such simple affairs, taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

Taking a seat beside her co-worker, the older prostitute was offered a cigarette of her own, which she gladly took and smoked.

"God, that guy's as creepy as he's ugly." The 17-year old said.

"You get used to it, honey. I've had worse customers." The 42-year old said.

"Even ones with that weird 'daddy and the family' shit?"

"A lot. More often than not, I ended up playing the daughter. But at most of them didn't have all those scars all over their face."

"Eh, that's not the worst part. I've blown uglier guys."

"Uglier than that?"

"High school, before I dropped out. Why do you think I'm a hooker at this age?"

"Hmm. Tell me about it."

"And what's with that 'Schlong of the South' thing? Is that some racist thing?"

"Kind of. It's this old movie called 'Song of the South'. Basically an old Disney movie with a bunch of black stereotypes."

"Figures."

Taking the last puffs out of his marijuana joint, El Cucuy tossed aside the depleted roach, approaching 'Little' Nicky as he was led away from his favorite preoccupation. Being met with the offensive display of El Cucuy walking in shirtless and reeking of sex and hemp, 'Little' Nicky looked upon his employee with a sense of discontent.

"Listen, boss, I'm glad to get myself the hos I asked for, but you mind giving me an actual moment of time to actually fuck 'em?" El Cucuy asked.

"You've had them for nearly a day now. That's not enough for you?" 'Little' Nicky asked.

"No, sir. I paid me some good money for this big black dingus, and I wanna make the most of it. A second it's not in a teenage pussy is a second wasted."

"Forget about that, you idiot! I need you to send a message to someone."

"Me, send a message? To who?"

"The Hillwood Heroes."

"What?! Those assholes?! They tried to kill me at least twice and ruined two of my favorite shirts!"

"Because you've survived both times, and both were instances that should've killed any normal person. I'm hoping the third time's a charm."

"Look, man, can't you just get your butt-buddy here to do it? Unlike him, I'm not looking to get penetrated again."

Weston raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips at El Cucuy's homophobic comment; showing an expression of anger.

"What did you just-?!" Wseton began to ask.

'Little' Nicky held his right-hand man back with a steady hand put on his shoulder, calming him down from his rage.

"Don't, Weston. He's not worth it. As for you, you little shit, I know for a fact you'll be just fine. Looking at your track record, you've been eaten by sharks, shot and melted at some karaoke bar-" 'Little' Nicky began to say.

"C'mon, I keep telling you guys, that wasn't me!" El Cucuy said.

"...had your face burnt off and eye shot out, and, just recently, had only been burned lightly and had some minor tissue damage with that sword accident of yours. The only reason I'm keeping you around is because you are almost impossible to kill. However, if you don't go and deliver this message for me... then I'm going to try as hard as I can to see if I can kill you. And, believe me, I've learned a lot of different ways to end someone's life; experimented enough times to find tricks most people have never even heard of. Would you like me to start with the ones that involve removing most of your vital organs while you're still conscious?"

Looking back at the massive mafioso staring at him with a pair of burning, angry eyes, El Cucuy suddenly felt multiple times smaller than before under his watch, as if nothing but a mere bug underneath his shoe to soon be squashed. Not wanting to test his patience any further, he decided to end his own protests to the order.

"Uh, no, no, boss, I'll do it. Just, uh, what message am I supposed to send?" El Cucuy asked.

"The way I see it, the Hillwood Heroes and I both have a common enemy: The Freak. I want you to find the Green Eye and the Hillwood Heroes and tell them... I want to work with them." 'Little' Nicky said.

Far away from either the base of the Hillwood Heroes or any location holding 'Little' Nicky, Gerald and Phoebe make their way back to their apartment, with the latter intent on giving the former time to rest herself. Opening the front door, Gerald lifted Phoebe out of her wheelchair, carrying her inside the small building.

Upon setting her down on the couch, Gerald returned outside to retrieve her wheelchair, needing to walk it up 3 small stairs; a small elevation just enough to prevent any convenient movement for one bound to a wheelchair. Stepping back inside the apartment, Gerald shut the door behind him, setting the wheelchair in one corner of the room.

"You know, I didn't really need this. The way I see it, I've got nothing else to do anymore but help you guys, and being away just feels like a waste." Phoebe said.

"Even you need a break sometimes, Pheebs. Besides, I probably need this time away more than you. Seeing that little girl... I just..." Gerald trailed.

Letting out a grunt with the mixed emotions of disgust and frustration, Gerald threw his hands up, subsequently sitting himself down on the couch next to Phoebe. Seeking to comfort her significant other, Phoebe moved over to him, placing her arms around his shoulders.

"Gerald, it's okay. You can talk to me." Phoebe said.

"I don't wanna talk about it. For god's sakes, you think I honestly want to talk about the fact I saw a little girl's dead body, dead because someone ate her alive, and watched her mother blow out her own brains?" Gerald asked.

"I... I just thought that you would need someone to talk to and let out your feelings on. It would probably make you feel better-"

"Yeah, well, news flash, Pheebs, I don't think I'm ever gonna be okay after that shit. If you saw what I just saw, you wouldn't think you'd ever be okay, either. Plus, you're... Well, let's face it: You're paralyzed, and I can't get you the help you need. Arnold could've given you what you needed, but-"

"Gerald, we've been over this, you know why he can't just-"

"I know he can't do it! It's just... It's just not easy to accept. I hate not being able to help you. Especially now. You always wanted me to be the whole stand-up and responsible guy to take care of you, and I just wanted to be the laid-back idiot. Look where it got me now."

"You couldn't have guessed that this would've happened."

"I could've done a hell of a lot better at trying to stop it. That goddamn little punk who shot you gets to go right free and-"

Before Phoebe could protest to the reasons for his anger again, Gerald held up his hand and shook his head at the first sign of speech.

"I know, I know. Just venting. I mean, all this crazy stuff's happened so far, I've just barely been able to take half of it. I mean, worst we've had to deal with is just some muggers or robbers or something. This is a whole new level. Arnold, he just walks right through it like it's nothing. I don't know how he does it." Gerald said.

"You don't know what all goes on inside his mind, Gerald. He could be taking this a lot harder than you are. Arnold's always been one to hide from everyone what he really feels; too focused on everyone else. He didn't tell us anything about his parents when he was trying to get us to San Lorenzo." Phoebe said.

"Yeah, you're right. But... even looking at that dead little girl and not even flinching? Sometimes I wonder if he even really came back from San Lorenzo all those years ago. Maybe, whatever the Green Eyes did to him, whatever they gave him... they took a piece of him away. And... Jesus, to think I was going to give you that..."

"Gerald, you're starting to not make any sense. He's still the same Arnold we know. What the Green Eyes did was save his life."

"So he says. But I don't really know what exactly happened to him, and I might not know. What I do know is, I don't think I'll be able to keep this up much longer."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I was putting some thought to it, leaving Hillwood to start a new life together. At first, I was wanting to stay because of Arnold, him being my best friend. Now, I'm not sure that friendship we had is the same as it used to be. What he's been doing recently, how he's been acting, I'm less and less convinced that he's still my friend at all."

"Gerald, don't talk like that! Maybe you're right; maybe you do need a break. Just stop overthinking everything. Just stop talking and stay here with me. Just be with me."

Phoebe pulled him closer to her, calming his thoughts and quickly putting a stop to his multiple and stressful rantings. Finding some shelter in her arms, Gerald quickly surrendered to her hold, holding her back and bringing each other to a closer embrace to make one another forget their own woes.

For a moment, this embrace is just enough to make them forget. For just this moment, Phoebe forgets about how she has lost her ability to walk and can no longer serve the Hillwood Heroes as Lady Tetsu. For just this moment, Gerald does not think about the dead body of Hannah Williams or her mangled corpse.

But, like all moments, it passes. In this instance, it is interrupted by the ringing of the house phone; its loud, blaring ringtone taking both parties out of their moment of peace. Reaching to answer the phone, Phoebe picked it up, pressing the 'ANSWER CALL' button and greeting the person on the other end.

"Hello?" Phoebe asked.

"Hey there, you must be Phoebe. Is Gerald there?" The caller asked.

"Um, yes, just a moment."

Phoebe handed the phone to Gerald, who took the call with a look of skepticism regarding who could be calling."

"Hello?" Gerald asked.

"Hi, is this Gerald?" The caller asked.

"Yeah, who's this?"

"It's Jamie-O, your big brother. Hope you didn't forget about me, did you?"

"Oh, uh, hey, Jamie-O, it's, uh, been awhile. No, man, sorry I didn't call, I've just been real busy all the time."

"Yeah, same here. Well, no, to be honest, I haven't really been that busy. Just been doin' a lot of nothing. I've just really always sucked at keeping up with people."

"It's alright, man, it's alright. So, what's up?"

"Well, uh... I wish I could be calling under better circumstances, but... Well, uh... There's no real easy way to get to this, but... You remember that chick you were dating, Chloe? You know, the one that was kinda going after me when she was dating you?"

"What?! Heh, no, man."

"Really? Not at all? You know, we had a pretty big fight around that time."

"Apparently not big enough for me to remember. You forget about a lot of dumb shit."

"Apparently so. Well, uh, I don't suppose you watch a lot of news up there in Hillwood?"

"Uh... Depends, I guess. What's up?"

"Well, you know, there was that whole thing on the news where that woman's kid was killed and she killed herself right on camera, right?"

"Oh, yeah, that. Really rough stuff. What's that got to do with this?"

"You mean you didn't recognize her?"

"Recognize who?"

"That woman who shot herself, that was Chloe, man. The girl that we fought over."

Gerald paused for a moment in his speech; his mind still trying to process this piece of information as it entered his head. His first instincts were to share on how he personally encountered her at the site of suicide, but failed to recognize her, but that thought was shut down to preserve his identity as a member of the Hillwood Heroes.

"Oh, uh, I, uh, didn't even recognize her. That's pretty rough." Gerald said.

"Yeah, but, uh... I was just curious, I couldn't find out, did they say who the kid's father was?" Jamie-O asked.

"I... don't think so, why?"

"Well... I'm kind of embarrassed to tell you this, but... Back then, I... kinda... fooled around with her once. They say that girl was around 8 years old... and it was 8 years ago that the whole thing went down."

Taking in yet another damning piece of information such as this, Gerald once again went silent in shock; his mind barely able to keep a sense of civility in this conversation.

"Gerald? You still there?" Jamie-O asked.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm still here. I... No, I didn't hear anything about the girl's father, I'm sorry." Gerald said.

"Right. Well, a girl like that probably fooled around with a lot of people, so I'm probably not the only candidate. I just... Oh, man, if she was my kid, I... It was just keeping me up and I couldn't get my mind off it. Listen, I'm sorry to bother you, I just didn't want to-"

"No, no, bro, it's cool. Really. I'd be doing the same thing as you if I were you. But, look, don't worry about it. Nothing's come out about it, so she probably wasn't yours."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Well, sorry again to bother you. I'm gonna try to get some shut-eye right about now. You take care of yourself, alright?"

"Yeah, you too. See you later."

Hanging up the phone, the impact of the conversation left Gerald nearly going pale in the face; nowhere near recovered from the life-changing facts he had just received. Not yet aware of the facts at hand, Phoebe once again offered her comfort to Gerald, hoping she could be his steady hand to sanity.

"Gerald, what's wrong? Who was that?" Phoebe asked.

"That was my brother. You remember that little girl that got eaten? Turns out that may or may not have been my niece. As if I wasn't feeling bad enough about a dead kid, I gotta find out from my idiot brother that it could've been my niece, why-" Gerald groaned.

Thinking once again about the deceased Hannah Williams, Gerald held back his stomach from heaving itself, merely coughing after his efforts paid off.

"Gerald, it's okay. You couldn't have known, how could anyone have known? You said it yourself, she might or might not have been your niece. You can't make a judgement if you don't know for sure." Phoebe asked.

Phoebe's line of reasoning managed to calm Gerald back down ever so slightly, letting him keep the contents of his stomach down at last and his tears back.

"You're right. I guess if the cops didn't know, then there's no way I could know. I guess you'd have to be a mind-reader or something to know for-" Gerald began to say.

Before finishing his own sentence, the realization came to Gerald that there was, in fact, someone who could not only read minds, but had read Chloe's mind as well, giving him a chance at a legitimate answer. However, that also meant that this individual had this information and purposefully chose to withheld it, leaving Gerald with no choice but to confront the man himself...

"Arnold." Gerald said.

"What?" Phoebe asked.

"Arnold read Chloe's mind. He should know for sure. If he does... then that son of a bitch's been holding that away from me. I'm gonna talk to him right now."

"Gerald-?"

"I'll be back in a minute or two."

Headstrong to move out the door and confront Arnold to get this piece of information, Gerald quickly walked out of the apartment, leaving Phoebe behind and disregarding her state of vulnerability. Whether this negligence was intentional or not was not clear in Phoebe's perception, but the end results render such a point irrelevant.

Unable to move around by herself around a room not tailored for a disabled individual, Phoebe was alone and without help; more vulnerable than she had ever been before. Now, without any caretaker to tend to her needs, she was alone and without any sense of help nearby.

A desire to call out to Gerald crossed her mind and worked her way to her vocal chords, but a sense of pride and honor prevented her from doing so.

I'm alone here, but I can't call him. I don't want to hold him back. Face it, Phoebe, you're not his girl anymore. You're just dead weight. Phoebe thought.

Author's Note: When I wrote the character of Chloe Williams in the last chapter, I originally just made her as a throwaway character and picked the name 'Chloe' at random. I totally forgot the character of Chloe from the original show and that specific episode she was in until I read your reviews, and I was tempted to change her name to avoid confusion, but, after thinking it over, I decided to make her that same character anyway. Thanks for the idea.