April 4th - Night

Bianca Montgomery sat in the kitchen of her large Paris apartment. She knew that her best friend/nanny to her infant daughter, Miranda/roommate, Maggie Stone, was due back at any moment from her night classes at the university. She stood and walked over to the stove to start a kettle of water boiling for tea.

This had already become their ritual in the one short week Maggie had been going to school. She would come home, enter her room by her private outer door, change clothes and meet Bianca in the kitchen. There they would sit and discuss their respective days, over a cup of tea.

Tonight though….tonight Bianca was going to let Maggie go first. She was going to have Maggie tell her about what exciting new thing she had learned about medicine. Or what experiment they were going to work on next. She was going to let her go on and on about whatever, because that would allow her to delay telling her the news she had learned just a few hours before.

April 4th – Evening

Bianca was just preparing Miranda for her bath when her cell phone began ringing. She was guessing it was Myrtle, as she seemed to have a knack for calling during her daughter's baths. While trying to juggle Miranda with one hand, she scooped up her phone, and earpiece so she could talk hands free, and answered.

"Bonjour!" she answered, in a jaunty, happy voice.

"Binks?" replied the somber voice at the other end of the line.

It was Kendall Hart, Bianca's half-sister. "Kendall? Is everything ok? You don't sound right."

"Bianca, I….I…don't even know where to start."

Bianca placed Miranda in the tub. She was too far along in the bath process to do anything else. Bianca gulped before replying. "Start at the beginning Kendall. Whatever it is that's happened, start at the beginning."

"It's Jonathan….Jonathan Lavery is dead."

Bianca felt her jaw slacken. She was not a member of the "Jonathan Lavery Fan Club", that was for sure, but this still shocked her. "How? What happened."

Kendall took a deep breath. "It seems big brother Braden wasn't the only member of the Lavery clan with a screw loose Binks. It's all out in the open now, it was all Jonathan…everything. He shot Ryan…he poisoned Greenlee…he killed Edmund…"

Bianca had been kneeling next to the tub, bathing her daughter. She now fell backwards, landing on her rear end and was in a sitting position. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why? What happened? Why in the world would he do any of those things? And how do you know he did?"

Taking another deep breath, combined with a sigh, Kendall continued. "I know all this because I just spent some quality time trapped in a cave with Greenlee and Lily due to his highness, king of the psychos!"

Bianca's head was swimming, she had a million questions, all wanting to come pouring out of her mouth at once. "Ok…I've got the part he did all the things to Ryan and Greenlee and that", Bianca had to pause for a moment while she dealt with the concept of Jonathan as a killer, "….that he killed Edmund, but what's this about a cave?"

"Jonathan knew that Lily had seen him that night in the Wildwind stables. Jackson sent her and Greenlee to Lily's old school, figuring they would be safer there while this got sorted out. On their way there, Jonathan intercepted them and took them hostage."

"And you? How did he get you?"

"I was out for a walk in the woods…long story…and stumbled across the whole thing. Next thing I know I'm locked up in the cave with them."

Bianca got back up to her knees now to quickly finish Miranda's bath. "And at some point during all this, he confessed to…well..everything?"

"Yes."

"So how did he end up dead?"

Kendall paused, and finally replied in a soft voice "Ryan…Ryan had to shoot him Binks."

Bianca could feel the tears welling up, she always had a good relationship with Ryan, and knew what a good man he was, and how desperately he had wanted to help his brother after it was discovered he had abused Maggie. "Is he…is he ok?"

"He's catatonic Binks…god…there's so much more to this story. I'm barely scraping the surface…..we all thought their other brother, Braden, had been behind everything that happened, it turned out he had tried stopping Jonathan, and got himself killed for it….his body was in the cave with us, but we didn't know it until the end."

"HOLD IT! Both of Ryan's brothers are dead? And he just learned of this…when did all of this happen?"

"Really late last night. And we are guessing Jonathan is dead. Ryan's shot didn't kill him. Jonathan had the cave rigged with explosives, strapped ever so lovingly to brother Braden's body. They're still digging for their bodies."

"I can't….I can't even wrap my head around all of this Kendall."

"I know Binks, I know. Look, I have to get back to Greenlee, she's at the hospital with Ryan. Why don't you call some of the other folks who know everything to get some more of the details…call Reggie…he'll be able to fill you in. Or Tad and Aidan. I have got to go though, but I knew you and….oh god Binks!…how are you going to tell Maggie about all of this?"

Bianca lifted Miranda out of the tub, wrapped her in a towel, and once her daughter was fully in her arms, she froze. "I….I…have no idea Kendall…oh god Kendall…this is going to tear her apart!"

April 4th – Night

Bianca had done just as her sister suggested, she had called everyone she could think of, getting the news piecemeal, but she had gotten it. Now, as she stood next to the steaming kettle, she poured water into two mugs with tea bags, just as she heard Maggie's door opening. That was soon followed by the "shave-and-a-haircut" knocking ritual they had established. Bianca knew that she only had moments left to steel herself for the coming storm of Maggie's emotions.

Maggie sat with her hands wrapped around the mug in front of her, staring at it like the brown liquid inside somehow held the answers to everything she had just learned. She hadn't said a word since she had uttered a question to Bianca, a simple "So, anything go on around here today?"

Bianca had started slowly and softly with the news she had learned while Maggie had been in class. Maggie had not spoken a word. Instead she had just sat and listened. She soaked in the information of the man she thought she had loved…the man she had let into her bed…the man she had almost married…was something so dark and foul, that there were not even words to describe his brand of evil.

Maggie hadn't even noticed that Bianca hadn't said a word in well over 5 minutes. It wasn't until Bianca reached across the butcher's block, and squeezed her hand, that Maggie realized she hadn't even been in reality.

"Are you ok? Do you need to talk?"

Maggie remained motionless and silent for another moment. Finally, she stood up, and very calmly walked over to the kitchen trash can….and vomited.

Bianca sat on the kitchen floor, her back against the cabinets and Maggie's head laying in her lap, facing out. Bianca's right hand was slowly moving up and down Maggie's right arm, while with her left, she was pulling all the stray hairs out of her face.

No words had been spoken, no questions asked, no answers given. The kitchen was enveloped in silence, except for the sounds of Bianca's hand moving up down the sleeve of Maggie's shirt.

Maggie opened her mouth to ask a question, but had to close it again, and swallow before her voice would work. "Are….are they alright?"

"Who?"

"Kendall…and Greenlee…and Lily….are they alright?"

"They're fine. They're all fine."

"G…good."

The silence returned again for a few moments before Maggie asked another question. "Did….did I cause this?"

Bianca's jaw dropped. "Did you cause what?"

Maggie sat up now and also leaned back against the cabinets, her legs crossed in front of her. She stared forward, not looking at Bianca. "Did I cause him to go over the edge?"

"No Maggie….NO!" Bianca got up to her knees and grabbed both of Maggie's hands and stared into her eyes. "Do not go there Maggie….you can not blame yourself for this. No matter what, you can not think you caused this to happen."

"But…maybe…maybe if I hadn't broken up with him…." her eyes were starting to squint, trying to hold back the tears.

Bianca moved her arms to Maggie's back and pulled her in as tight as she could in to a hug. "Maggie, you can not think that! You can not think you had anything to do with this. This was all Jonathan. Every last bit of it was his insanity, his doing. It had nothing to do with your breaking up with him!"

"But…but if I hadn't left Pine Valley with you….maybe I could have helped him…maybe I could have stopped this….he could have killed them Bianca."

Bianca pushed Maggie back now. Her hands went to Maggie's shoulders, pinning her against the cabinets. "And if you had stayed in town, it could have been you in that cave. If you hadn't broken up with him, you could have been laying dead in that cave next to his brother."

"But I brought him in to everyone's life…."

Bianca was shaking her head for emphasis. "No you didn't. He was already around. All of this would have happened with or without you. All of it."

Maggie paused for a moment, opening her eyes enough to stare into Bianca's. "No….he wouldn't have threatened you that night at the Miranda Center and…my god…Miranda." Maggie forcefully shoved Bianca aside, throwing herself towards the trash can to once again vomit.

Bianca crawled on all fours over to her friend and sat down. She reached over and brushed Maggie's hair back out of her face. "You can play the 'What if…?' game with yourself all night long Maggie, but it's not going to change the outcome of what happened. You are still better off having left him. You are still better off having left Pine Valley. And everyone we care about is safe now. What happened was the product of his upbringing, and what his father did to him and his brothers. It had nothing to do with your time with him."

"If…if I had just seen it…."

"If you had seen it, you would probably be dead like Edmund is for figuring it out."

This caused Maggie to heave again.

Bianca stood up and grabbed a towel. She ran it under the cold water from the faucet for a moment, and then wrung it out. She walked back to Maggie, and sat down next to her again. She placed her hands on her shoulders and turned her to face her. "Come here…let's get you cleaned up."

Maggie got to her knees and leaned back so she rested on her heels. As Bianca ran the cool cloth over Maggie's face, she went to speak again. "Bianca…I just….I just don't know who to blame for this….if so many things had gone differently…if…"

"Ok, you want a starting point to all this, and someone to blame? Fine. How about you walking in on Babe and I in bed when we were trying to fool JR? Or, you want to go back further? How about we go back to when you told me you loved me and I threw Lena in your face and rejected you? You want to blame someone for setting all this in motion, you blame me, not yourself."

That seemed to sober Maggie up quickly. "Bianca…I…no…you can't….you can't blame yourself."

"See? If you play that game with yourself, it's never ending. You just can't do it Maggie. You can't let yourself think you are at fault for this, because if you do, it's like he still has power over you." Bianca reached up and pulled some of Maggie's hair far enough forward so that she could show it her. "You were getting rid of him Maggie…don't let another of his insane acts pull you back down…if you do, he wins again."

Maggie bowed her head and stared at the floor. There was silence again as Bianca obsessively brushed Maggie's hair back with her finger tips.

"I….I think I'm going to go to bed." Maggie whispered.

"Ok…are you sure you want to be alone right now?" Bianca asked, her voice dripping with concern.

"Yeah….I think I just need to be alone for awhile….thank you Bianca."

"For what? Giving you some of the worst news of your life?"

"For still caring about me."

Bianca fought back what she really wanted to say to that, but instead just softly said, "Always."

Maggie stood up and shakily walked to her bedroom door. As she got there, she paused, and asked, without turning around, "Is there…is there anyway you could take Miranda tomorrow?"

"Of course."

"Thanks." and with that, Maggie disappeared into her room.

Bianca heaved a heavy sigh and set about cleaning up the kitchen. "You know Jonathan, I wish you were still alive….so that I could kill you."

April 5th – Morning

Bianca shuffled around the kitchen, listening intently for any signs of life coming from Maggie's room. Nothing was to be heard.

She picked up the phone and called her new personal assistant, Aurélia, to tell her she wouldn't be in today. She was discovering more and more that she really wasn't essential to the day-to-day running of Cambias, so she didn't especially feel any guilt about canceling her appointments for the day. Being here was going to be far more important.

After taking care of the office, she was just preparing to call Patrick and tell him not to bother with coming to get her, when the intercom buzzer went off. Bianca glanced at the clock, 8:30, it had to be him.

She walked over and pressed the intercom button. "Good morning Patrick. I'm afraid I'm not going in today."

"Ma'am….may I come up?"

"Of course." She pressed the button to open the outer security door, and left the front door of the apartment partially open so Patrick could let himself in. She walked back towards the kitchen to start making some breakfast. She was hoping the smell of food might bring Maggie out of her room.

She walked by Miranda who was sitting in her high chair, quietly playing with a stuffed animal. The little girl had been unusually quiet all morning, almost as if she could sense things weren't right.

Just as she got the eggs out of the refrigerator, she heard footsteps in the entrance hall, and turned to see Patrick walking towards her in the kitchen.

"Good morning Patrick. I'm sorry I didn't get a hold of you in time to let you know I wasn't going in, but it was kind of a last minute decision."

"Not a problem Ma'am. I had guessed something might be going on when I saw the tabloid reporters down stairs."

Bianca shut her eyes and shook her head. She had contended with them once already since being in France, about why she had moved here, and if it had anything to do with JR Chandler. Having spent her entire life being the daughter of Erica Kane, she knew what it was like to live under constant scrutiny, but poor Maggie wasn't used to it, and she was sure to get caught up in this particular story.

Bianca finally opened her eyes, and glanced over the door to Maggie's room and sighed. "I don't think she will even be leaving her room today, so hopefully she won't have to deal with them."

Patrick glanced over at the door also. "May I ask how she took it Ma'am?"

"As well as you could expect anyone to take the news that their fiancée was a homicidal psychopath." She turned and continued with preparing breakfast. Suddenly it dawned on her. "How did you know about it? About Jonathan I mean."

"I am informed of any news regarding yours or Miranda's safety. Though he was Maggie's fiancée, there is enough crossover that I was informed of it this morning when I picked up the car. I thought you might not go in, but felt it best to still come over and check on you both."

Bianca smiled for the first time since last night when she had picked up the phone, only to find Kendall giving her the news. "Thank you Patrick. You've formed quite a bond with Maggie since we got here, haven't you?"

"She reminds me so much of my own daughters. They have both gone off and started their own families, and they do not get to visit often, so it is almost like having them both back taking care of you two." Patrick was silent for a moment as he watched Bianca continuing to get ready to make breakfast. "I should probably give you both some privacy at a time like this." He stood, and turned to leave through the dining room, pausing only once to again look at Maggie's door. "I will be available if you need me Ma'am."

"Patrick, please, sit, have some eggs….I…I could use the company."

Patrick paused for a moment before finally taking a seat at the butcher's block. "Alright…thank you Ma'am."

"Please…call me Bianca….I don't normally cook breakfast for people who call me 'Ma'am'."

"Thank you…Bianca. And I must say, I am not used to my employer's fixing me eggs." Patrick said with a chuckle.

"Really? You mean Alexander Cambias never had you over for eggs?" Bianca asked with obvious, mock sincerity.

"No, I can't say I remember that ever happened."

"Well, you can say you have seen both sides of me now."

"Both sides? I'm not sure I understand."

"Well, right now you are seeing the Montgomery, down-to-earth part of me. The Kane half….well the Kane half you met in the parking garage awhile back when I fired Jean on the spot."

"Ah….well, I must say I like both sides. The few times I have dealt with Jean, I have not been a fan of his attitude, so it did not sadden me to see him get to meet the Kane side." He said with an enormous grin. "And to which ever side is fixing the eggs, I thank you again."

"No problem." Bianca began cracking eggs into the pan while she continued to talk.

Patrick again glanced over at Maggie's door. "Has she done anything to even indicate she is in there?"

"Not a peep since last night. I stayed up for awhile and cleaned the kitchen, but from the time she went in there, it has been total silence." She was scrambling the eggs as she talked, being a little louder with the pan then usual, hoping something, anything, would motivate Maggie to come out of her room.

"And you? How are you doing?"

Bianca stirred the eggs around with a spatula, contemplating the question. "I'm fine…concerned for her…..I just want to run in there and hold her…to tell her everything is going to be ok."

"But you realize you can't." Patrick said softly. "You know you have to let her do this in her own time…her own way. She has to come to you."

Bianca heaved a sigh as she turned off the stove top and served up the eggs on to three plates. "I know…and that's why I haven't rushed in there…but it doesn't make it any easier just sitting by." She used a fourth plate to cover one of the three she had served up, just in case Maggie would choose to join them.

She walked over and handed one plate to Patrick, and set another down across from him for herself. Now Miranda began to fuss at the sight of food, and Bianca pulled the high chair closer so she could give her daughter a couple of small bites from her plate. "I just wish she would do something so that we knew she was in there."

Patrick set his fork down, stood up, and walked over to the door. "Maggie? It's Patrick…could you give us a knock on the wall so we at least know you are alive in there?"

There was a thump on the wall, approximately where her bed would be.

"Thank you." Patrick walked back to the stool and sat down and resumed eating his eggs.

Bianca stared with her jaw slightly slackened. "Well yeah…I coulda done that…I..I was just testing you!"

Patrick lifted another forkful of food to his mouth. "Of course Ma'am." He said with a grin.

Patrick had stayed with Bianca until the early evening, when she finally sent him home. He only agreed to do this, once Bianca had promised she and Maggie would come have dinner with him and his wife some night soon.

Even though she wasn't that hungry, she ordered Maggie's favorite pizza, spicy chicken and olives, as soon as he had left. The mixture didn't appeal to her much, but she thought she might try the food odor trick again to get Maggie out of her room.

Once the pizza had arrived, she stood next to Maggie's door with the box lid open, hoping the fragrance would drift into her room, and lure her out. She briefly had a mental image of a cartoon character being lifted off their feet, and pulled along by some lovely smell. No such luck this time.

As the night dragged on, she thought she finally heard some movement, and then she was sure of it when she heard the distinct sound of empty cardboard boxes being dropped onto the floor. The hollow thud was unmistakable. "Oh no….she isn't packing to leave is she?" Bianca thought. She knew Maggie hadn't thrown out all of the boxes her items had arrived in yet. "Could she be turning around to use them to head back to Pine Valley with?" she wondered.

She walked over to Maggie's door and made a fist to knock, but stopped at the last second. She unclenched her hand and just laid the palm very gently, and quietly, against the door. Patrick's advice of letting her do this in her own time, playing over again in her head. "She has to come to me. I can't rush her though this."

She turned and glanced over at Miranda, who had been a quiet little angel all. Now her eyes were getting heavier by the second. Bianca walked over and picked her up to take her to bed. She figured she could leave her post for a few minutes.

Once in Miranda's nursery, Bianca changed her into fresh pajamas and laid the tired girl in her crib. Reaching into the crib, and stroking her daughters back, she whispered "You were such a good girl today…you have no idea how much I appreciate that…and I am sure your Auntie Maggie would too,"

Bianca had returned to the kitchen after putting her daughter to bed, and continued to sit there until her eyes just got too heavy to fight sleep any longer. Though she could still hear Maggie moving around in her room, she had to head up to bed. She stood up, and stared at the door to Maggie's room for a moment, before she finally turned out the lights, and went upstairs.

She stopped to check on Miranda before heading to her own room. Seeing that all was well with her daughter, she passed through the master bathroom and into her bedroom. She changed out of the jeans and t-shirt she had worn all day and into a nightgown.

As she crawled into bed, she glanced over at her nightstand and saw the book she had been reading for the past week. She loved reading in bed, but somehow the idea of a murder mystery like "The Killing Club" just didn't appeal to her tonight. She reached over and turned out the lights.

Though the room was quiet and dark, she couldn't get her mind to stop going over the hundreds of possible scenarios of what Maggie was doing down in her room at that very moment. She tossed and turned, finding no comfortable position that would allow her drift off to sleep. Finally she came to rest flat on her back, and just stared into the black void of night that drifted above her bed.

Bianca wasn't sure how long she had been laying there when she was positive she had heard a door open and close in the kitchen. Perhaps Maggie had left her room at last? As much as she wanted to run downstairs and see, she knew she had to let her friend handle things at her own pace. She couldn't deny it though, she was dying at the thought of talking to Maggie, making sure she was ok.

Her heart quickened all the more when she could see light spilling in under her bedroom door from the second floor landing lights being turned on. Her temples even began to throb as she heard the distinctive sound of the bare flesh of feet slapping against the stairs just outside of her room. Then, from the sliver of light under the door, she saw the silhouettes of two feet standing there.

Bianca turned to lay on her right side so she could face the door, and see the shadow better. She watched as they shifted nervously, back and forth…back and forth. Once, they even turned around as if to leave, but again they came about to face the door. Bianca heard a sharp intake of breath, as if one was steeling themselves for something. The door knob began to turn with excruciating slowness, but turn it did.

As the door slowly swung open, a sliver of light made its way across the floor of the room. It finally landed where Bianca's head lay, blinding her to everything but shapes. As her eyes adjusted, she made out the form of a back-lit Maggie standing in the doorway to her room. Her right hand still on the door knob, her left foot raised so it only rested on the very tips of her toes.

She couldn't make out her face really at all, but the body language said enough. After a moment of staring at her friend, Bianca shifted her self further away from the side of the bed that was closest to the door. Once enough room was made, she threw back the covers in a silent invitation that Maggie was welcome to join her.

Maggie stood and stared for a moment before finally entering the room and closing the door behind her. She walked over to the bed and crawled in so that her back was to Bianca, but still, she was close enough to be touched. Bianca reached down for the covers, and pulled them over her friend.

Once covered, Bianca was unsure of what to do. If this was anyone other than Maggie, she would immediately drape her arm over them and pull them close to be held. But in this particular case, would that be misread? She finally decided to risk it, and slowly, and gently, hooked her arm over the region of Maggie's waist.

Without saying anything, Maggie slid her arm out from under Bianca's and placed it over the taller girls. She moved so her hand covered Bianca's and….she clasped it. She took it into hers and squeezed for all she was worth.

Bianca took this as a good sign and shifted her body closer so they were in full contact, and lowered head so that it rested against Maggie's. Even though they had never discussed it, what vague memories she had, told her this was much like that night in Maggie's dorm room after Bianca's drinking binge, and her inadvertent, divulging of the secret of her rape.

They laid together like this for a long time, when finally, a dry, cracking voice came out of Maggie and said, "Thank you."

Bianca was taken aback for a moment. "For what?" she inquired.

"For letting me spend a day moping. I needed to get it out of my system."

Bianca smiled. "Well…you can partially thank Patrick for that. He told me I needed to leave you alone, and he kept me company all day, I think to make sure I did just that."

Maggie chuckled softly. "Sounds like him….well no matter what it was…thanks for letting me have today."

"Of course."

The girls laid in silence for several minutes before Bianca finally had the nerve to ask a question. "Maggie….I….earlier I heard what sounded like boxes….in your room….are you…"

"I was packing up all the clothes I bought while I was with him. All of the clothes that looked like his influence."

"Ah…I…I thought maybe you were packing to leave."

Maggie finally turned her head at that comment, and looked over her shoulder at Bianca. "Why would I want to leave?"

"I…I don't know…I just heard boxes being moved, and it made me think that maybe you were moving."

Maggie turned her head again to face away from Bianca. "No…no more moving for awhile. I'm done with running from my problems…my fears."

Bianca hugged her tighter, and again, lowered her head to Maggie's.

"I do have one favor to ask…could you find a charity for me to give all those clothes to? Maybe…maybe an abused woman's home? Just some place where maybe some could good could come out of it."

"I will get Aurélia on it first thing in the morning."

"Thanks Bianca. And you can go back to work tomorrow…promise."

"Are you sure? It's no big deal for me to skip another day, and if you need…"

"No…no more time. Sure, there are more things for me to work out, but I think the best thing for me tomorrow would be some Miranda time."

Bianca smiled. "That's my daughter…the go to girl for what ails you."

Maggie chuckled. "Yeah, who needs a shrink when you have a Munchkin?"

Bianca lifted her head up again, and looked down at Maggie. "You know…you could have one if you wanted…I could find you one…and I'll pay for it."

Maggie turned her head and stared up at her friend with a quizzical look. "A Munchkin? Um..Bianca…"

Bianca threw her head back in laughter. "No! I meant if you wanted to see a psychologist."

"Oh! Ok…you had me wondering there for a second." Maggie turned her head back to face the door. "I…I don't know….can I think on it for awhile?"

"Of course you can, but if you decide you want to, the offer is there. Ok?"

"Ok…again…thanks Bianca….for everything."

Bianca laid her head down again so it lightly rested against Maggie's. "I think you are still ahead in the 'whose owed favors' department."

"I'm not keeping score."

"I know…I'm just saying…anything you need, you should ask without hesitation."

"You know what I could use? For breakfast I mean."

Bianca was puzzled by that. "No clue…what?"

"Some spicy chicken pizza with olives…gee…I wonder if we have some in the fridge."

"Um…yeah….well…"

Maggie chuckled. "I give you points for that one. I swear, as strong as the smell was, you must have been standing right next to the door with the box lid open."

Bianca smiled. "Why don't we try getting some sleep….it's been a long day."

"Good night….Pizza Temptress."

"Good night….best friend."