Chapter 2: The Nightmare Continues...

June 17, 2000
Buchanan Mansion

Todd stares at the door, dreading what he's about to do. After spending a sleepless night at the cabin, allowing memories of her voice, her scent, to soften the pain inside him, he had strengthened his resolve. Find who did this. And make them pay.

But even before that, he had to convince himself to keep living. And there was only one person who could do that. He also knew, though, if he saw his precious Starr, he'd have to tell her about her beloved "Tee".

His eyes burns as the tears come, but as he had done since he had heard this god awful news, he blinks them back. No acceptance. Crying over her would be acceptance. It would make it too real. And it couldn't be real. It couldn't be possible that the rest of his miserable experience on this god forsaken planet would be without her.

Sighing, he lifts his hand and quickly raps on the door, bracing himself for a battle with Blair. Nigel quickly opens it, and immediately does a take.

"Yes?"

"Yeah, I need to see Blair Cramer...Holden...Buchanan..whatever the hell she's calling herself these days."

"Nigel? Who...?" he hears Blair's twangy voice drawing closer, and suddenly stop as she sees him in the doorway. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asks angrily.

"Where's Shorty?" Todd asks gruffly, brushing past Nigel. Blair eyes him, noticing how awful he looks, but her anger at him quickly overrides any sympathy she feels towards him.

"You have some nerve waltzing in her and demanding to see MY little girl! After you walked out on her! What, did you think you could just come and take her off to live with you and the Ice Princess?" she yells. Todd immediately glares at her in response to her reference to Téa.

"Shut up about Téa," he says slowly. Blair grins snidely.

"She left ya huh?"

"Shut up!" he yells.

"Can't say I'm surprised," she mumbles, glaring at him.

"You don't know anything, Blair. You don't. Now, I wanna see my kid."

Blair steps over to him. "Over my dead body."

"Careful Blair, don't tempt me," he hisses back, his desire to see Starr and his anger and misery over Téa starting to get the best of him. The two are locked in a staring battle of wills when a joyful yell rings through the air.

"DADDY!"

Starr comes barreling into the foyer and leaps directly into Todd's arms. Blair's mouth forms a straight line as she glares at him, ticked that he managed to get his way yet again.

"Hey Shorty," he says softly, squeezing her tightly to him. He carries her into the main room and sits down on the sofa, still holding her close. Blair follows them in, arms crossed defiantly.

"I missed you!" Starr says, pulling back and kissing Todd's cheek.

"I missed you too," he replies, taking in every inch of his beautiful daughter's face. Then he notices her pull back slightly and look towards the door.

"Where's Tee? Is she coming later?"

Todd swallows hard, his eyes never leaving Starr's face, wondering how in the hell he was going to explain this to her. He glances quickly at Blair.

"Could we have a minute alone Blair?"

"Not on your life, buddy," Blair retorts, walking over and sitting in a chair across from Starr and Todd. Todd shakes his head slightly, then turns back to Starr.

"Uh, no Starr, Tee's not coming later."

"Where is she?"

Todd takes a deep breath and pulls Starr closer. "Do you know what heaven is Starr?"

"Yeah, Mommy told me about that. She said that's where Jessie's baby and Uncle Mel went."

Todd nods slowly, glancing at Blair, who is now staring wide eyed at Todd. His eyes fill with tears as he turns back to Starr.

"Yeah, your Mommy is right," he says, his voice beginning to crack.

Starr stares at Todd for a second, and he notices her bottom lip starting to quiver. "Daddy, did Tee go to heaven?" she asks sadly.

Todd blinks quickly, not wanting to cry, not wanting to accept. "Yeah Shorty, Tee went to heaven."

Starr's eyes fill with tears. Mommy had told her that when people went to heaven, they were safe and warm, but you wouldn't get to see them anymore. She shakes her head sadly as tears start to stream down her cheeks.

"No! I want Tee Daddy! Make Tee come back!" she cried, burying her head in Todd's neck. Feeling his daughter sobbing against him was too much for him. The realization, having to say it out loud to the person he loved the most in the world, finally allowed the floodgates to burst open. He buries his face in Starr's long blond hair, soaking it with his long overdue tears. Blair watches this, shellshocked. That was the one thing she had never expected Todd to say. And while she had no love lost for Téa, she knew her daughter adored her, and she certainly never wished her dead. As if in a trance, she gets up slowly and walks into the next room, grabbing some tissues for her sobbing child.

After a few minutes, Starr pulls back from Todd. He roughly wipes at his own face with the back of his arm. Blair hands him some tissues, and he gently wipes his daughter's heartbroken face. He manages a small smile at Starr.

"You know how much Tee loves you Shorty?"

Starr nods quietly. "I love her too," she whimpers.

"Starr?" Blair says quietly, glancing quickly at Todd. "Remember how I told you that Uncle Mel would always watch over you from heaven? Well, now you have Tee to be your very own guardian angel," she says softly.

"Yeah," Todd adds, silent tears starting to run down his face again, "and Tee will make sure nothing ever happens to you."

"Daddy, can I go to my room now?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah, Shorty. I'll be back a little later to see you okay? Hey," he says, pulling her close, "I love you."

"I love you too Daddy," she says, as she slowly climbs off him. With her head down sadly, she heads toward her room.

Todd wipes his face again, trying desperately to stop the tears. Blair looks at him sadly.

"I'm sorry Todd."

Todd stands up and walks over to the window. "Oh come on Blair, you hated her."

"But I didn't wish her dead Todd! And Starr loves her, and I hate to see her hurting."

He leans against the window, staring out at nothing. Feeling the sudden need to talk. "We had just gotten re-married, three days before," he says quietly. "We were making plans to come back here for a visit and tell Shorty about the wedding....and that she was gonna be a big sister."

Despite herself, a tear slips down Blair's cheek. "Oh my God. She was pregnant?"

"Yeah, found out about a week and a half ago. One month pregnant," he says softly.

"Oh Todd. Oh I'm so sorry," she says sincerely. And she meant it. She knew what it was like to lose a child, and she knew Todd knew what it was like. Even she wouldn't have wished this on him. "How...how did it happen?"

Todd turns towards her quickly, seemingly snapping out of some sort of daze. "Car bomb."

Blair's eyes widen. "But who...?"

"I don't know, but I'll tell you this, when I find out, there is no place on earth that bastard will be able to hide from me. And know this Blair," he pauses, his face taking on an angry countenance Blair knew well, "now that I'm back, I want my kid. She's had enough time living in Buchanan hell."

Blair's sympathy was quickly evaporating in the face of another threat to her custody. "Damn you Todd! If you think that I'm going to let you take her away from me, than you are crazier than I thought!"

"That's me," he says, grinning, "crazy. And desperate. Life's gonna suck for the residents of this burgh til I found out who took Delgado from me."

"Oh, so you just take your pain out on everyone else?" Blair snaps.

"You got a better idea?"

"God, you are unbelievable."

"Thank you. I'm outta here, but I'll be back later to check on Shorty."

"You know, you can't just come and go as you please here Todd!" she yells at his retreating back. At the slamming of the front door, Blair covers her face and yells in frustration.

On the other side of the door, Todd's body deflates. God, he didn't know how many times he could do this. Tell people this. Every time he even formed the words in his head, he felt like it was killing a bit more of him.

He raises his eyes skyward, the dark clouds mirroring his mood.

"Delgado," he whispers.

*****

Puerto Rico

A throbbing pain is the first thing that Téa feels, followed closely by the cottony feeling of her incredibly dry mouth. She rolls over on her back, the pain worsening in her head as she moves. Every muscle, every joint in her body aches.

She opens her eyes slowly, squinting as the light of the day harshly greets her. A panic starts to fill her as she glances around. Where was she? She frantically tries to remember something, anything. But her mind at the moment is nothing but haze.

Through her cloudy eyes, she sees the figure of a person standing in the doorway. Breathing a small sigh of relief, she blinks quickly.

"Todd?" she whispers softly. "Where are we?"

There is no response as the figure steps closer. Téa's vision becomes clearer as she blinks. When she finally focuses on the person in front of her, a wave of terror washes over her, and her mouth opens in complete shock.

"Dios mio..." she whispers.