When Mort woke, he found he had leaned over, resting his head on the arm of the sofa, which was now doing a number on his neck, and Marissa was sprawled across his lap. He couldn't help but smile, and slowly got to his feet, being extra careful and extra gentle so he wouldn't wake her. Her hands twitched a little, but she made no further movement as he pulled a blanket over her, then went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

He never actually made a real breakfast for himself in a long time, but she was going to wake up hungry, it was inevitable, so he thanked his luck that he at least knew how to make French Toast and scrambled eggs. About a half hour or so after he got started, he heard Marissa's footsteps in the kitchen, and he turned to her with a smirk.

"Look who finally decided to wake up," he said softly.

"I fell asleep on the sofa," she said, smiling and acting like she had just gotten away with something mischievous.

"My sofa?" he asked making a face. "Did I say you could sleep there?" She shook her head, starting to giggle. "Well, what am I going to have to do with you?"

"Uh-oh!" she said stepping back.

"I think I'm gonna have to dump you outside!" he said, breaking a smile. She squealed and he picked her up before she could get away and started running to the front door. Marissa was kicking and screaming with laughter the whole way, and he soon had the door open and began swinging her, threatening to throw her out. "One... Two... THREE!" She gave a squeal and started laughing when she realized he wasn't throwing her out after all. Laughing too, he set her down and watched her run back inside. He smiled, knowing he hadn't had fun like that in a very very long time. What had come over him anyway? He almost never got that playful with a kid.

"Looks to me like you got a little infestation of little people," said a voice from behind. Mort's heart froze. He knew that voice.

"What the hell do you want, Shooter?" he asked, closing the door behind him so Marissa wouldn't see.

"As if killin' your wife and those men wasn't bad enough. Now you're after a child." He shook his head. "Just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower."

"Not now," he said simply, turning to his door. Fighting with Shooter never got him anywhere, and making him angry would put Marissa in danger most likely.

"You can just walk on in there, Mr. Rainey, but you know damn well I'm gonna follow you's in, so you might as well save the girl the trauma and stay out here." Mort froze and turned around, hating it whenever Shooter had this kind of power over him. "That's better," he said in a cocky tone that made Mort want to gag.

"I don't know what you're after this time," he growled angrily. "But keep this girl out of it. The only person who did the killing was you, we both know that, so spare me the monologue and get your Mississippi ass off my property!"

"The only way you can keep that kid safe is by getting her as far away from you as possible," said Shooter in a dangerous tone.

"What do you think I'm doing today?"

"But you don't want to."

"What do you mean I don't want to? Of coarse I want to! The kid won't be safe here, you think I don't know that?"

"That's a lie, and you know it," said Shooter. "That lil' girl's gotten to you, made you all soft 'n mushy inside. You know she's a hell of a lot better than the lonliness you keep so close to."

"So what if she is?" said Mort. "You think I have a choice as to whether or not she stays?"

"Oh I know you's always got a choice, Rainey. You chose to keep me around incase you needed me."

"I wanted you around?" said Mort, sneering. "You're more of a dumb ass than I thought."

"It wasn't me who made the final decision about Amy." Mort froze again and looked at him. "That's right, but you couldn't see it. I was suggesting what could happen the entire time, what I could do for you. And you chose to let me go through with it. Remember?"

He suddenly saw himself back, right before Shooter had killed Amy. "I promise you miss," he remembered Shooter saying. "It was never me. This was all Mort Rainey's idea..."

"Now, that little girl in there is going to eat at you even when she's gone," continued Shooter. "Bad things happen to people who are alone for too long. They start to go crazy-like. Start to lose their sanity."

"You're suggesting I keep her here?" asked Mort, knowing something was screwy. Since when was Shooter honestly looking out for his well being? At least in a healthy manner?

"I'm suggesting you get yourself commited before you can do any damage to her or yourself."

"To myself?"

"You'd be surprised the things you can accomplish with enough free time." Inside he could hear Marissa calling for him.

"Mr. Rainey, are you coming in yet?"

"You heard her," said Shooter. "Get back in there and do whatever you feel you need to do. Just remember my warning."

"You will NOT lay one hand on her!" growled Mort. "You understand me? Not one hand!" With that, he turned around and stormed back into the house, slamming the door behind him.

Mort adjusted his jacket, and looked behind him to see if Marissa was coming yet. "You ready?" he called. He heard her give a small shout from her room, and he moved closer to the stairs. "What?" he called back.

"I can't!" came her voice. She sounded like she was crying, and he sighed, wondering why she had to bring on the water works now.

"What's wrong?" he called as he started up the stairs. She was sniffling, and he walked into her room to find her sitting on the bed with a photo in her hands. "Marissa, what's wrong?" he asked. She didn't respond, and he walked over and sat behind her, looking at the photo from behind. There was a family in it, including herself and Mary, the only two he recognized. "That your family?" he asked.

"Mommy and Daddy," she said pointing to the man and woman. "And me and Mary," she said, pointing to the other two. "We were s'posed to go to New York city for Christmas. I miss Mary." She started crying again, and he put his arms around her, drawing her into his lap and cradling her almost on instinct. Marissa's sobbing did not die down, and he gently shushed.

"Ssh," he said softly. "It's alright. It's going to be alright."

"I don't want to go," she sobbed. "I don't want to go to the orphanage."

"It's okay," he said softly, trying not to let her get to him any more than she already was.

"I wanna stay here with you."

"With me?" he asked, sounding a little shocked. "No you don't."

"Yes I do," she wailed.

"No you don't," he said gently. "My life is so boring. You wouldn't have any fun here."

"Yes I do!" she persisted, pouting now. "I don't wanna go away. Please don't make me!" He sighed. She was starting to get to him, and he was trying to hard to stay strong. Remember Shooter's warning, he thought to himself. "I don't wanna be all alone again."

"Stop," he muttered to himself. He was giving in, but he knew he shouldn't.

"I can't go, Mr. Rainey!" she sobbed. "I can't! I can't!"

"Alright," he whispered, giving in and feel terrible as he did. "Alright," he said again. "You can stay for a little while, but as soon as you want to go, we're going." She sniffled and nodded as he hugged her closer. "Okay?" he asked. "No need to cry now. It's going to be okay." Marissa looked up at him and nodded, her lower lip still trembling. "We're gonna get through this together," he said softly.

Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! his mind scolded, but he ignored it for now. Marissa's crying had almost completely stopped, and she seemed more at ease now. Just thinking of her being alone in a group home made him shudder, and he knew it'd be a while before he'd be able to take her there. But you'll have to eventually, warned his mind. Don't forget Shooter's warning.

"I won't," he said under his breath, thankful that Marissa hadn't heard him.

Mort walked down the isle of the small grocery store, trying to make sure no one he knew came near him. The storm from the previous night had caused a tree to get struck by lightning, making a nasty four car pile up, so the road leading to the outside of town was closed. Marissa was following him around closely, and he especially didn't want anyone to notice.

"Rainey?" came a female voice. He froze, closing his eyes, and turned to face the woman. He recognized her almost immediatly. She used to work at the post office, but now worked at this store. How could he have forgotten?

"Hey," he said, giving a brief smile and quickly turning back to the shelf in front of him. He didn't want to cause any trouble.

"I thought you'd moved away or something," she said in an almost friendly tone.

"Nope," he said, not looking at her. "Still here."

"It's just, you never come into town anymore. I just thought you left." Why the heck was she trying to make a conversation with him? She was the one who had made the first request to have the sheriff ban him from entering the village.

"I'll be out of here soon," he said softly. "The road was closed so I had nowhere else to go."

"Well, can I help you find anything?"

"We're looking for a toothbrush," said Marissa with a smile. The woman glanced down at her and back at Rainey.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"Someone," he muttered. "Marissa, why don't you go to the isle over there and try looking." She walked to the other end of the store to look around and Mort glanced up at the woman.

"Didn't know you had a niece," she said softly. "How long is she staying?"

"I don't know," he muttered.

"Is she your daughter then?"

"Nope. Amy decided to take off before we could make that happen."

"Well then, who is she?" He looked at her with unfriendly eyes.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Since when did you give a damn?"

"I was just asking," she said defensively.

"Really?" he asked in a sarcastic tone. "Because, now correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the last time we met, you wanted to get as far away from me as possible and now you won't leave me alone. Are you trying to get me in trouble?"

"I didn't realize it bothered you so much," she said softly.

"What? You think being sent into exile was the cherry on top of my sundae?"

"Exile?" she asked, folding her arms in front of her. "I sent you into exile?"

"No, but you helped support the movement. I already told you I'd be out of here as soon as I can, so do us both a favor and get the hell out of here."

"Whatever!" she said turning around. "I just came you see if you had changed at all over the last year. Guess I was wrong. Somethings never change."

"Well I'll make myself stand in the corner and think about what I've done then," he said with a sneer. "Good riddance!"

She walked away, muttering 'freak' under her breath while Mort watched her leave in absolute loathing.

"There's only chips and jerky stuff over there, Mr. Rainey," said a small voice behind him. He turned to Marissa, putting on his 'friendly' face, and nodded.

"Right," he muttered. "I'll go look over-"

"There," said another voice. It was the post office woman again, only she was just talking to Marissa, ignoring Mort completely. He rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Escuse me," he said. "But is there a reason for you to be he-"

"C'mon," she said to Marissa with a friendly smile. "I'll show you." Marissa started over to the isle, and the woman stuck her tongue out at him before following her. Mort couldn't help but snicker a little at that, and decided to wait there until it looked like they were done.

(A/N: this story might be updated a little slowly, because I am currently working on the long expected sequel to 'Like Father Like Daughter?'. I was supposed to have it started weeks ago, but things have been moving a little slowly. Sorry for the inconvenience. Tootles!

-Smeagol's (happy skizo freakazoid) girl)