I re-wrote the SMUT in chapter 4, to make it clearer.

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Part II, episode 7: Nina Azarova

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Emily sat down at the table, always a bit late. Homer thought he was good some things never changed. He had already ordered coffee for both of them. When she took her sunglasses off and put them back into her purse, he saw her eyes were red and puffy, probably from crying.

"Em, what happened?" Homer said as he extended his hand to grab hers on the table.

"Do you think Hunter's behavior is weird these days?" Emily asked. "You know I don't want to put you in a delicate position since he is your boss, but right now, I need my friend."

"Yeah, he's different. I don't know what changed though. What made you think he's acting weird?"

"I would say since that accident, you know, when a patient tried to strangle him. He had been more impatient, colder I would say. I know he works a lot, he tells me all the time, but he missed dinner reservation without even being sorry. And this is not usual."

Homer nodded; she did point a turning point in his behavior.

"But what bother me the most was yesterday. Hunter did not come home until like 4 in the morning. I think he might be cheating. I tried to question him, but he was evasive. I could swear his shirt smelled vaguely a woman's scent."

"You do not deserve to be treated like this by any man. What are you gonna do, Em?"

"I don't know."

"What you just described, lack of remorse, coldness, secretive, doesn't it remember you anything?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Your thesis."

"But my thesis was an analysis of psychopathic inmates who committed violent crimes. It has nothing to do with Hunter."

"All I say is to be careful, Em. You are too nice and he manipulated you too easily."

…

Homer was back home. He was still feeling weird, mixed up. He had so much admiration for Dr Percy and his work, but he felt he hadn't been acting upon his beliefs for the last months. He needed time on his own to think before going back to work. He had just finished a short training when he heard footsteps in the stairs.

"Dr Percy, what are you doing here?" Homer asked.

"How are you feeling? Darmi said you called in sick?"

"Yeah. I've been feeling a little bit off lately."

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry to show up like this, but I don't think it can wait. You feel up to sharing the detail of your conversation with Scott?"

"Okay."

Homer was not in a good mood. It was a bad time for Dr Percy to be inside his house and to insist on listening to the recording of Scott's interview. Of course, he indulged and both men listened the tape. This case was still a mystery he wanted to uncover. Even with his mixed feelings, he still thought Dr Percy was an excellent therapist.

"What do you think it means?" Homer asked.

"Oh, uh… I have a theory, but I'd like to test it first. Okay, thanks." Dr Percy replied, still evasive.

"Dr Percy. Rachel DeGrasso isn't at Perkins. I called."

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Rachel's dead."

"What?" Homer was so tired, he thought for a second he would cry. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

"After the incident the other day where you allowed Nina Azarova to interact with the other patients and they elaborated on their shared delusion… she cut her throat."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Now, look. The truth is I've been worried about you, Homer. That you might be getting lost in the delusion yourself. You have the same concern, yes?"

"Fuck!" Dr Percy was seeing completely through Homer and it made him as angry as he was scared.

"No, no, no, no, no. it's okay. It's okay. You're just having trouble navigation the line between what's real and what isn't. It's an occupational hazard. Because, you empathize so deeply with others. It's your greatest strength and your greatest weakness. But I can help you. Will you let me help you?"

"Can you?"

"Yes. Try and clear your head, then come by the office later on tonight. We'll work through this, okay."

"Okay."

…

Scott was brought into Hap' office; his straightjacket was removed before the guard left both of them alone.

"I'm gonna release you from the clinic Scott," Hap said.

"What about Renatta?"

"Renata's not ready. She hadn't made the adjustment yet. She'd be better off here. But you're fine."

"Truth is; you just want to keep Renata here because she knows the movements."

"I'm done with the movement, all of it. It costs too much pain. I like it here. And I am trying to make peace with the past. Move on to something better. There's interesting work to be done, helping people," Hap said, sitting down.

"You are not helping anyone here. Does Emily even know who you are? The real evil you are?"

"Keep her out of here," Hap growled.

"She doesn't know. Why Homer and Emily would not remember a thing from the other dimension? Poor Emily, I can't believe she felt for you once again."

"You will not speak of her like this. She is making me a different man from what I used to be, before. In her eyes, she sees the good in me. I want to change for her."

Scott sighed and sat down on a chair.

"Would you do me a favor, one last experiment and I let you go," Hap negotiated.

"You let Renata go too. And I want to talk to Emily. And I'll be your lab rat once again," Scott concluded.

Hap agreed, but he knew Scott would never truly leave the facility. His precious Emily would not be informed of anything.