Puzzling Pieces
By -TempestRaces
Ch. 42 –The Drunken Cheerleader
And even though the battle was won I feel like we lost it. –Eminem
"I want her moved." Storm walked out of Tabitha's room a half hour later and breezed into the waiting room where the team all sat. The guys all looked haggard and drawn. All had several days' worth of stubble, for Dom this included the beginnings of an obviously fro-y head of hair and for Vince this meant he had an honest to god beard, and everyone had bags under their eyes from lack of sleep. Everyone's clothes were obviously days old and had been slept in more then once. Letty's eyes had dark circles and her hair was limp. She looked like she had lost some weight in the days that Stacey had been missing and then in the hospital. In short, everyone looked like shit. Everyone but Mia, Storm noted with a narrowing of her eyes. Mia who was still fresh and looking pretty well rested.
What if Stacey had been quite coherent when she'd made her claims against Mia? Why was Brian's girl looking so fresh when Brian looked like death warmed over? Shouldn't Mia have been by his side the whole time? So in short shouldn't she look just as ragged as the rest of the team?
"You want who moved?" Brian asked.
"Stacey. I want her moved into Tabitha's private room. There's another bed in there and I want Stacey in it within the hour. I'm putting 24/7 guard on both girls and it'll be easier to do if they're both in one room with only one way in."
"Why are you putting them under guard? You killed Carter and Teddy." Matty asked, curious what his sister saw as a threat now. "What are you guarding them from now?"
"I used my powers of persuasion to force the hospital to do a blood test on Stacey with a full work up for all kinds of drugs and poisons. She didn't go into this coma because of her injuries. It was drug induced. They just gave me the results. Someone poisoned her with an overdose of some drugs that are only available to doctors and people in the healthcare profession."
"What!?" Brian jumped up out of his seat. "Who would want to do that?" Brian started to cry. It just about broke Storm's heart. One thing was for sure, she was not letting him pull the plug on Stacey, no matter how much his broken heart told him it was the only thing to do. She walked up to Brian and put an arm around his shoulders since it was obvious that Mia wasn't going to comfort him. She was still sitting in her chair with a slightly shocked look on her face.
"I don't know Brian. I really don't know who'd be sick and demented enough to want to do this to a 16 year old child but I make this promise to you. When I know who it was she," Storm recovered quickly, "or he is as good as dead. I promise you."
"No one poisoned Stacey." Mia said, looking nervous to Storm, who was use to looking for the signs. She simply looked upset to the rest of the team. "She was drugged by that Carter Verone guy before you found her. The tracks were on her arms when she was first brought here. He was drugging her."
"Yeah, the tracks were there and he was drugging her. But there was no fresh track for this shot. It was given to her via her already in place intravenous drip. Plus Carter was using assorted tranquilizers and psychotropic drugs on her, not drugs that would be poisons outside the proper medical settings. Teddy knew that Stacey had to be coherent in some way when they tried to bargain with me or any deal would be off. Medical scientists can tell now how long the human body has been metabolizing drugs and these ones were only in her body for about 5 minutes before she passed out. You'd think someone with your medical background would know this stuff." Storm cocked an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation of why Mia didn't seem to know things a premed student should.
"Well, I did know but those kinds of tests are expensive and they wouldn't normally do them on someone as already in danger as Stacey was. They'd normally just write her coma off as being due to her other injuries."
"Well, money's no problem at this point Mia. My family's got lots of it. Another thing we have lots of is pull. You would think you would've been pointing these tests out to Brian right away so he could decide if he wanted them done on Stacey. I'm sure he knows that since she's like a sister to me I'm not gonna let her go without over him not having the money to get her the best care there is. I've known this girl longer then he has and Brian knows that I'll make sure she gets the same care as Tabitha. But now, who would know how to administer the drugs, and know which drugs to use, and would even be betting on doctors not bothering to run the right tests to find the drugs, and have access to Stacey alone during the time I blacked out?"
Mia's eyes got big. Dom stood up.
"Where are you going with this?" He snarled, incensed that Storm was almost implicating his sister as the person who'd drugged Stacey.
"No place. Just pointing out the inconsistencies. It's just part of how I was raised. Like a reverse cop almost. Look for details, memorize them, and figure out what's out of place and what's out of ordinary, make plans and implement them."
"Well, you better not be thinking that my sister would do this to Brian!" Dom was far from ready to let it go. "She took up for Stacey when no one else would in our house. There was a time that Stacey was acting out so bad we all wanted to send her away. But Mia convinced the rest of us to give her another chance for both Brian's sake and Stacey's own. So don't you try to tell us my sister did this!"
Storm held up her hands in supplication. Everyone could see that it was a mere gesture. The contrition never reached her eyes. "I'm not implicating anyone yet. Just like the cops I don't make accusations until I have concrete proof. But I'll get my proof."
Storm and Vince shared a look. It was hard to discount what Stacey had said when they now knew the girl had been drugged, in the hospital, by someone with the knowledge of what to use and how to give it so it was almost impossible to detect after she'd told them that Mia had been drugging her in Carter's house.
"I hope you do because there's some sick bastard in this hospital that did this to my sister." Brian tried to keep the peace. He couldn't believe that it would be his Mia who would have drugged Stacey but he wasn't willing to get into a fight over it when everyone's emotions were running so high. "Why don't you come with me and we'll get Stacey moved again into your sister's room?"
"Yeah, let's do that." Storm answered and walked away. Brian followed.
Taylor leaned over to Matty. "You know that Storm shouldn't be running around like this yet right? She just signed herself out of this hospital herself from her busted ribs and punctured lung."
"You tell her to sign back in then." Matty's eyes clearly gave away the fact he wouldn't dare.
"Hell no! I'm not getting in a fight with her right now. She's riled enough."
"I'll keep an eye on her." Vince said as he stood up from the uncomfortable hospital chair and cracked his back.
"You think she'll listen to you any better then she would to me you go right ahead." Taylor sneered.
"I don't order her to do what I say, I ask her to listen to me. I express the fact I'm concerned for her and wish she'd slow down and point out facts why. You think you'd know by now that this girl doesn't do orders. But she does listen to logic and as much as she'll never let on she likes knowing people care about her."
Matty looked pleased with the answer Vince provided but Taylor just looked more angry. He watched as Vince left the room.
"I had a better plan to make Miss Arabella slow down." Taylor looked smug.
"Oh yeah, what's that?" Matty asked, curious. The rest of the team looked on, equally curious.
"I called Benny. He's coming down."
"You called my father? Taylor, you idiot." Matty was clearly not happy. "What'dya do that for?"
"In all honesty he was already coming down anyway. He wants to see if Tabitha really looks as much like him as Storm said. But if anyone in the world can control Storm its Benny."
"This is either gonna be really bad or really interesting." Matty sighed and leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed. He loved his father, but the old man and he never saw eye to eye. Matty was far happier seeing Benny on holidays and at family meals then in a business sense. He'd never been so happy as when he'd gotten his job with NBC and had been able to totally turn his back on the family business.
Taylor looked at Mia. He picked up on the same nervous anticipation that Storm had. Interesting, he mused.
xox
"I don't care how inconvenient it is. I want her moved and I want it done now!" Storm informed the duty nurse in her most intimidating tone of voice.
"Honey, I don't know who you think you are but nothing in this hospital happens because some spoiled child wants it to. Um um um." The large, older black woman looked back down at her papers and was clearly sending the message that she considered the matter closed.
"I think I'm Storm Demaret. I'm sure you've heard of my father, Benny." Storm said in one of her nicest, sweetest voices. One of the obviously fake ones. The woman looked up, recognition dawning in her eyes.
"Now Storm, the good nurse is just doing her job." Brian said quickly, not wanting to terrorize the hospital staff.
"I'm sure she is. And now she's just gonna do it and move Stacey. Aren't you," Storm checked the woman's name tag, "Bernice?" The woman still looked shocked and unsure what to do. "Listen, I'll level with you. I had the girl's blood tested after she flat-lined ok, and it wasn't an act of god. It was an act of man. Someone poisoned her. I'm worried they'll try to finish what they started or that they'll try to do something similar to my sister so I'm gonna put the girls under my own personal guard. It'll be easier to do if they're in one room. Plus they're best friends and being together might do both of them the world of good. Ok?"
"How do you know she was poisoned?" Bernice asked, calmer when Storm slipped into her normal personality.
"I have the results of her blood workup here." Storm handed them over.
"Someone gave her a mix of Alpha blockers, Beta blockers, Ace Inhibitors and Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers. This is a cocktail of open heart surgery drugs. Does the doctor know she's been given all these drugs?"
"No, because I didn't know what they were. But can you have her moved and then inform her doctor right away?" Storm asked Bernice. She was playing to the woman's sense of being in control of the situation and was really just glad the woman now seemed to be on their side and willing to help them with Stacey.
"Of course." Bernice pushed her call button and two orderlies and a nurse appeared within seconds. "Miss Stacey O'Connor is being moved to Room 333 right away. Go do it right now please."
"Yes ma'am." The nurse answered and led the orderlies off. Bernice picked up her phone and paged Stacey's doctor. He arrived at the nurse's station a moment later.
"What is it Bernice?" He asked, impatiently. "I was finally getting a bite to eat."
"We're so sorry to interrupt your dinner." Storm said, sounding truly sorry. For that whole second. "I wasn't aware your meal was more important then a person's life." She snarled sarcastically. Bernice shot her a quelling look.
"Now, Dr. Smith had been pulling a 48 hour shift because of a bad car accident on the I90 so let's cut him a small break ok?"
"I'm sorry." Storm answered immediately and meant it. She knew what it was like to see death and destruction all around her so she really felt for the doctor. But that didn't change the fact that in the moment Stacey getting help was more important then Dr. Smith's sandwich.
"It's ok. I do understand families get cranky when loved ones are sick. What's this about?"
"The young lady somehow," Bernice accented somehow just out of her own shock about what Storm had done, "had a complete blood workup done on Miss Stacey O'Connor and the results are very off Doctor."
Doctor Smith took the results of Stacey's test from Bernice and looked them over. "My god, she was given enough of these drugs to stop her heart forever and to severely cripple the blood flow into her brain. It's a wonder she's still as alive as she is. She should have gone into a total state of shutdown by now. We need to start counter measures right away. Who would have drugged her like this?" Dr. Smith was obviously very upset. His eyebrows were drawn together and his eyes flashed fire. His lips were pulled into a tight line. "And how did you get this test done. It's not that I'm not glad about it but this test should never have been done on Miss O'Connor. We just attributed her condition to her severe head trauma and the large amount of tranquilizers in her blood when she was admitted. Turns out all those tranquilizers likely saved her life by keeping her systems slowed down."
"I pulled a few strings to get the test done. I had a hunch is all." Storm shrugged with her answer and looked away, writing off what she'd done as nothing. She looked back at the doctor when he stood staring at her instead of moving. "Don't you have some counter measures to enact?" Storm snapped. Most kinds of emotions that weren't anger related made her uncomfortable. She didn't deal well with gratitude or compliments.
"Yes. In any event, thank you young lady. You might have given us a chance to bring Stacey back around."
"Doc, what are the odds she'll be ok?" Brian asked, trying not to allow his hopes to rise.
"I'll know more when I get her under treatment. I'll hold a conference with you when we've done what we can."
Dr. Smith took off down the hall, calling into offices as he went, assembling a team of the best to work on Stacey.
"I owe you another thank you Storm. I was so upset I never even thought to investigate foul play." Brian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I should go tell the team we might be able to save her."
"I wish you wouldn't." Storm said, hating to do what she had to do to Brian when he was already dealing with so much.
"Why? They need to know. They're just as worried about Stacey as I am."
"Brian." Storm paused and sighed. She looked at her boots and thought for a second, feeling Brian's eyes on her, boring into her. "I'm almost positive I know who did this to Stacey."
"Who?" Brian asked in shock.
"Mia."
"You're crazy. You're fuckin insane. Mia wouldn't do this to Stacey. She loves her. She loves me. Why would she try to kill my sister?"
"Listen to me, ok? When I passed out who was left alone in the room with Stacey?"
"Mia, but…"
"And when did Stacey go into her coma?"
"While she was alone with Mia but…"
"Who has the medical information to mix the drugs, know that they wouldn't be tested for, and to hide the fresh tracks by using the IV?"
"Mia. But she didn't do it."
"Maybe she didn't, but Brian there's something else you should know."
"What?"
"When V and I found Stacey she implicated Mia. She was totally heartbroken over it. It was clear that Mia's breach of trust was one of the worst things that happened to her while Carter had her. Stacey was quite convinced Mia was in the house drugging her."
Brian mussed his hair and swore under his breath. "You want me to believe the woman I plan to marry tried to kill my sister?"
"What I want you to do is just not tell the team that Stacey's condition might be reversible. V was there when Stacey told me about Mia. If you want to talk to someone about this talk to Vince. I'll find concrete evidence who did it, be it Mia or somebody else. If we tell them that Stacey's gonna be fine then the person who did it might decide they have to try again. I'm gonna put one of my men in their room at all times but still, I don't want to take any chances we don't have to."
"Ok. I'll go along with this for now. But I don't believe Mia could do anything like this. She's the nicest, sweetest person I've ever met."
"Ok, ok. I wish it wasn't her too you know. I just don't have any other suspects yet. If Stacey does wake up I can question her further."
"God I hope this works. Storm?"
"Yeah?" Storm asked, preoccupied. Her mind was already running a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out plans and procedures for cracking the rest of the mystery.
"I'm glad Stacey has someone like you on her side. I know I haven't been the nicest to you but I'm really grateful that you keep working for her to get better anyway."
"I can't let anyone else down Brian. I won't let Carter and Teddy win from the grave."
"I sure hope not." Brian gave Storm a tense smile and headed back to the waiting room. Storm headed to room 333 and peaked in.
xox
Benny 'Chains' Demaret inquired at the main desk of an upscale hospital as to which room Tabitha Miles had been admitted to. He was told Room 333 of the Intensive care ward and winced. Taylor had been right to call him. If the doctors had her sister in the ward made for people who still only had slim chances of ever getting better Storm was likely about ready to snap.
Benny boarded the elevator and hit the button for the 10th floor with a sigh. Daughters were both a wonderful blessing and a horrible curse for their fathers. When they did the same thing as your sons you worried about daughters nonstop. When daughters got hurt you fussed over them but when it was sons you told them to suck it up and be a man. No one ever told you what to do when your daughter sucked it up without being told and wouldn't let you fuss over her hurts. When sons dated the wrong women you knew it was just a phase. When daughters dated the wrong men you wanted to start shooting things.
As many times and Benny had railed at fate for giving him the curse of a tomboy daughter who had ended up talking him into letting her train to take over his role in the mob when he was too old to carry on, he really knew that his Storm was a blessing to him. A strong woman who, despite her bad attitude, nearly always had someone else's best interests in mind not her own. Often they were his, even more often her brother's, and a close third her business.
He'd asked her once why she didn't look out for herself with the same zealousness that she did her brother. Her answer had shocked him at the same time as it had been pretty much what he'd expected. She told him that her Karate training had taught her that to be the best warrior she could be she had to rid herself of ego. She hadn't succeeded. But she'd come close enough that when it came to friends and family she did tend to put their interests ahead of her own.
The elevator chimed his floor and the doors swished open. He strode past the nurse's desk like he belonged and the woman there didn't even look up. He walked down the corridor labeled as rooms 300-399 and started reading numbers. When he reached the room with the closed door and his old friend and employee Tony stationed outside the door he knew he'd arrived.
"She in there?" Benny asked Tony, knowing there was no need to name who.
"Yeah. Has been for an hour now."
"Her sister's room?" Benny asked, not ready or willing to call the younger girl his daughter.
"Yeah. That and her friend Stacey from Miami too. Not lookin good for either of the little ones boss."
"What's she doin right now?"
"One of her dancin things last time I checked." Tony frowned, not understanding what he'd seen. He knew it wasn't dancing but he didn't have words for what it really was so he called it dancing. Benny chuckled.
"Ok, I'll take over here for a few, why don't you go grab a bite? Take an hour or two, the girls'll be fine wit me."
"Sure thing boss." Tony left jingling his keys and Benny cracked the door. He found her still doing her 'dance thing' which was really the katas from her Karate. She was doing Tekkie Sandan, the only one to which Benny had ever bothered to learn the name. Storm did it so much he'd gotten use to the movements. She called it a fire kata and it made sense his daughter should like it so much. She'd proudly informed him once upon a time that she was a true Leo, with both her sun and moon sign being Leo. Something that was quite rare but also explained so many of her personality traits. Benny watched Storm do her thing, her eyes closed as she listened to her headphones in her own world.
He settled in for a long haul of just enjoying watching his little girl. No matter what he ever said to her she was his pride. The fact that he'd raised a woman like her mostly on his own filled him with the emotion. All her flaws were his, many of her strengths were his or things he'd given her too. She was the child to carry on the family legacy so many families wished for and never got. He watched as she stood up out of her kata and went over to a seat between the two beds that were pushed closer together then most hospital beds.
Storm sat in the chair that was in the middle of the space between the two girls. First Benny took in the very battered blond girl in the bed closest to the door. She looked nothing like Storm so that wasn't the infamous Tabitha. He allowed his eyes to roam to the other bed.
In that bed was a girl who could be his Storm at 16. It was like stepping into a time warp. There were no outward signs of damage to Tabitha. She looked like she was just in a deep peaceful sleep.
Storm picked up the right hand of Stacey and the left hand of Tabitha after taking off her headphones.
"So here we all are. Together again. Now if you two would just wake up so we could get to the fun. This hospital stuff is pretty boring. They wanted to keep me in longer but I signed myself out. What good is lyin around anyway? I mean my ribs ain't gonna heal better just cause I'm flat on my back instead of walkin around ya know? Bet you guys are gonna wish you were over 21 when you wake up too cause you can't sign yourselves out. Sucks to be you guys."
Storm laughed out loud but Benny saw the tear slip down her cheek.
"But don't be in any rush to grow up girls. Take it from me. Being an adult sucks ass sometimes. Hangin out with you guys was some of the funnest stuff I ever got to do. I mean, growin up in New York as a Demaret ain't all it's cracked up to be. Guys chase ya just cause of what they think you can do for them and girls hate you for having all the advantages and all the guys after ya. You two are lucky to have each other and I'm gonna make sure that when you're both better you get to stay together. I think Mama'd be ok with the idea of living in the big house with me right here in L.A. I'm not so sure I wanna go back to New York now. I can go there for a few weeks at a time to do my thing and then come back here. I'm apart from the people who're important to me too much either way. It's either you guys I'm missin or my pop and Matty."
Benny frowned when his daughter revealed her tentative plans not to return to their home state. He needed her at his right hand side now. He was too use to having her there to count on to go without her now, especially with Teddy dead. He could deal with things while she gadded off to various hot spots to work and play, but it was only because he was always sure of the fact she'd be back.
"And you guys need to get back to cheering. I miss takin yous to games. Remember that one time that the two of you thought it would be a great idea to have a few drinks before the big meet? Vodka in Pepsi, you little freaks. My good Russian vodka that Vanya gave me a few days before wasted in Pepsi. I still can't believe they put that picture of the two of you holding up the Pepsi cups up for the camera with 'the choice of a new generation' underneath in the yearbook. I bet they didn't know the cups had booze in them. But that just makes it even funnier now that I think back on it." Storm smiled softly, lost in her memories.
"It seems like it was so long ago now but it was only really what, 7 or 8 months ago? And then because both of you were more then tipsy Stacey messed up and cradled out of the pyramid too early and that made Tammy fall from her place one level higher. So both of you land wrong and break arms. I couldn't believe that the two of you managed to each break an arm, Stacey her right and Tabitha her left. And in the exact same place at that. But anyway I knew both of your mom's would flip if they found out before you got sobered up so I took you to the hospital."
Benny couldn't help the smile that crossed his face hearing the tale. From the sounds of things both Tabitha and Stacey were just like Storm when she'd been their age.
"And of course you both smelled like booze and the doctor called you guys on it and was gonna call your moms. So I had to say I spilled one of my drinks on you and that was why you smelled so bad. Then I get shit on for driving drunk. If I hadn't somehow convinced him I'd only had the one drink that mostly got spilled on you guys I woulda ended up arrested. Me with the illegal car, daughter of a…Well, we won't go there now will we?"
Benny looked up and saw he was no longer alone at the door. A man with a shaggy beard and equally shaggy head of hair had joined him at the door and was smiling faintly over the scene.
"You know one of them?" Vince asked the older man in a whisper, not knowing who it was.
"You might say that. You?"
"The blond girl lives with my family. Her brother Brian is a…Friend of mine. What about you. How do you know them?"
"I'm the older one's father."
"You're Benny 'Chains'?" Vince asked, slightly under whelmed by Storm's dad. He wasn't exactly what Vince had been expecting.
"How'd you know that?" Benny looked at Vince calculatingly and Vince saw the reason why the man was so feared. It was clear in his eyes.
"Um, Storm and I've been working together."
"You'd be 'the punk' that Taylor bitched about on the phone to me then would you?"
"Is there an answer that won't get me shot?" Vince asked with a sheepish smile.
"If I know anything about my daughter it's that she'll do what she wants if I like it or not. Taylor's always has his own take on Storm and he made her happy for a time so I let it go. I always knew they'd never last but Storm's the kind of person who has to make her own mistakes to learn from them. So I'm more willing to let her go her own way and take her word for things. However the story I hear about you and some booze and Stacey at a certain cabin worried me."
"I'll never forgive myself for that, but Storm's keeping me in line now. I've hardly had anything to drink since that happened." Vince's honest shame was clear to see.
"Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it but it sounds like you've learned your lesson. Storm likes you. I can tell from how she talked about you on the phone. Even if she did just call you someone helping her find Stacey. Do we know why the girls are still in comas?"
"I don't know about Tabitha but someone drugged Stacey again after she got to the hospital. She was doing ok but then Storm passed out and during those five minutes while we were taking care of her someone drugged Stacey. Storm's working on who it was but we have our suspicions."
"Do me a favor?"
"Of course." Grateful for how easy he got off in meeting Storm's dad he was more then willing to grant the man his favor.
"Just go tell her someone is here to see her. I don't want to surprise her in the room."
"No problem." Vince walked into the room and up behind Storm. He could see the trails from her tears across her cheekbones. He'd heard most of her story and it almost made him want to cry for all she'd had and lost. He'd heard about a different woman, one he'd only seen glances of. One who'd known how to play and just have fun for days at a time. He wanted to bring that woman back all the time. "Hey." He said softly and started to kneed her shoulders. She looked up with a tired smile.
"Hey yourself. Took you long enough. Where's my lecture about slowing down and taking care of myself? I've been waiting on it for awhile now."
"You're some smart aren't you?" Vince chuckled. "Your brother and friend did send me to beg you to take some time to take care of yourself. We're all worried about you Storm."
She rested one of her hands on top of Vince's where it still rested on her shoulder and took a moment to enjoy the contrast of the size and texture. "I'll be fine." She stood up out of her chair and came around it to stand in front of him. "But I would be willing to let you take me home for a few hours." Storm raised an eyebrow suggestively. "I'm sure we could find a few ways to relax." She ran her hands up his chest and around his neck. "I have a few ideas for what you could do to relax me I could share with you on the way to my place." She went for his exposed shoulder.
"Um." To say Vince was uncomfortable with knowing Benny was watching was putting it mildly. He had to stop her before she started something they'd both regret. "Your father's waiting on you out in the hall."
"My father? You must be mistaken."
"Nope. He asked me to come in and get you because he didn't want to surprise you in front of the girls. I gather Taylor called him."
"Taylor. I shoulda known." Storm started to plan tortures for Taylor that were painful enough to fulfill her need to hurt him back. Vince leaned down so he could whisper in Storm's ear.
"You given out rain checks?"
Storm laughed at the playful look on his face. It was just what she needed to hear before she went to face her father. "Oh yeah. I'll catch up with you later."
"Ok. Storm, you really do need to take some time off now that you have the girls here safe under trusted watch."
"I know. Soon. I'll take a few days off soon."
"Ok."
"You stay and watch them while I go talk to my dad?"
"There's only one place I'd rather be."
Storm left the room and met her father in the hall. It was obvious from his discomfort he'd heard every word. Unable to help herself Storm threw herself at her father. It was like a humongous weight had been lifted off her now that her father was around. It was proving that no matter how good she was she wasn't ready to fill her father's shoes just yet. She was glad he was around to do what he did best for awhile. Be the boss.
"Daddy!"
Benny caught his daughter in his arms. "Storm! You don't look like shit."
"Who said I did? Wait don't answer that, Taylor of course. I'm gonna string him up by his nuts and rub honey on him and make sure that he's in a bear rich environment." Storm snarled and Benny laughed at her.
"He was right to call me Storm. You're been running yourself foolish over this."
"I had to. Now that I have a crew to guard the girls and they're home I'll be able to slow down."
"When you comin home?"
"You mean to New York?"
"Where else is home?" Benny asked with a smile.
"It's starten to feel like home here pop. The girls, mom." Storm trailed off.
"This Vince punk?" Benny asked softly. Storm actually blushed a little.
"Maybe." She didn't want to be talking about this with her father.
"I haven't seen that look on your face since you were running around with Taylor behind my back and you thought I didn't know."
"Pop!"
"I'm just sayin. I think I like that Vince guy. What's his last name?"
"I don't know." Storm answered honestly. "It never came up."
"He as Italian as he looks?"
"I think so."
"Good. Come and fill me in one what my daughter has been doing."
"I already told you about pretty much everything I've been doing."
"Not you, my other daughter. The drunken cheerleader."
Storm took her father's hand and started to lead him to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. She knew the girls were safe with Vince.
xox
Vince sat down in the chair that Storm had just left empty. He looked from the blond child to the girl with dark hair. Because she'd been too busy to touch her hair up it was plain that Storm's hair would be the same colour as her sister's when it grew out. They were the spitting image of each other. Vince hadn't gotten a good look at the girl when he'd found her in Carter's house.
"God knows I'll never tell you this when your awake Stace but I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you. I know you never really believed me when I said I was sorry the first time and then when I kept trying to get you in shit with Brian I sure wasn't acting sorry. But I really am. It'll kill your brother if you don't get better. Storm too. She needs you to wake up and tell us what happened to make you black out. I think when she takes care of this she might get to be normal again for awhile and we all need that. She's hard to take sometimes in large doses when she gets obsessed about stuff."
Vince leaned very close to Stacey so that if anyone was listening they wouldn't hear what he was about to say.
"We believe you 'bout Mia. Storm and I know you're telling the truth. But Brian won't believe us if you don't wake up and tell him yourself it was her who drugged you when Storm passed out. I know you can do it blue eyes."
He sat back in his chair and sighed. There was a knock on the door a minute later and he looked up. He was looking at a picture of what Storm would look like in her early 40s.
"Hello." The new woman said softly and took a few tentative steps into the room.
"You must be Storm's mom."
"Yes. I remember you from the house. You're the friend of Storm's who found us."
"Yeah, that's me." Vince was clearly uncomfortable. He stood up out of the chair. "Why don't you sit for awhile? I promised Storm I'd stay with them til she got back but I can stand."
"Thank you. I'm Cara Miles-Demaret by the way."
"Vince."
"Has there been any change in the girls?"
"No. Did you see Storm at all today?" Vince asked, wondering if she was going to let her mom in on the issue with Stacey.
"No. She's been so busy since this all happened that I haven't seen her since we put Tabitha in the ambulance. I'm worried to be honest. I never knew she was working for Benny like she is. She seemed so changed when I talked to her on the way here in the ambulance."
"Yeah, it worries everybody but she's really in her element."
"While she looks like me she got her father's personality. Both of them are so sarcastic to hide their true feelings."
"Yeah." Vince agreed with a smile.
"Where is Storm?" Her mother asked.
"Gone with Benny for a cup of coffee."
"Benny is here?" Cara stood up, agitated.
"Yeah, is that a problem?"
"Very much so. He might see Tabitha."
"So?"
"He doesn't know that she's his daughter. I mislead him about it so he wouldn't take her from me. He's going to be so angry."
"He was pretty upset actually. Storm told him by accident on the phone days ago."
"Oh no." Cara started to weep.
"Listen, from what I hear he's mellowed out with age a bit. Why don't you go down to the canteen and meet them. I'll stay here with the girls until one of you comes back."
With a nod Cara left the room with a resigned look on her face. Vince sat back down to wait.
All he could figure was he must have nodded off in his chair. He woke up to someone croaking his name softly over top of crying.
"V." He heard again just when he'd convinced himself he was dreaming. He sat up and looked around. Much to his surprise one of Stacey's eyes was open.
"Stacey!" He stood up.
"Where's Storm?" Stacey asked even as she cried.
"She went for a walk with her dad."
"Did you mean what you told me?"
"Mean what?"
"That you and Storm believe me?"
"Yeah. We do. I'll call your doctor."
"Can you call Storm first? I want to talk to her before they tell Brian I'm awake."
"Sure kid." Vince took out his phone and turned it on. "Not supposed to use this thing in here ya know?" He winked and Stacey giggled. It was a very good sound to hear. He texted Storm, need you upstairs and waited for her to crash through the door. He didn't have to wait long.
"What? What's wrong?!" She cried out as she ran up to Vince.
"It's good news baby. Calm down." The endearment slipped out and he wondered if it was the right thing to say. Since she didn't flip out he figured he was ok.
"Well?"
Vince pointed.
"Hey Storm." Stacey croaked out.
"Oh my god! You woke up." Storm strode over to Stacey's bedside. "You feelin ok? Any pain?"
"Yeah, lots. I have the worst headache and my legs are all tingly."
"I'm getting your doctor."
"Can we talk first? Please?"
"Five minutes."
"Ok. I'm sorry for how I made you feel when you walked outta my room."
"Kid, you don't need to be sorry about that." Storm brushed Stacey's hair back behind her ears.
"I do. And she made me think you died. She told me they pulled a sheet over you before she put the stuff outta the needle into my IV line. All the time I was out I thought you were dead. I wanted to die too cause it was all my fault you even got hurt. And I tried to make you feel bad about," Stacey's good eye flicked over to Vince briefly but he didn't notice. Storm did. "Things."
"Shush kid. I'm too tough and ornery for someone to kill. I'm fine, and everything that was said was said in high emotions. I know that kid. You were never a duty to me. I was here to save you long before I ever found out about Tabitha and mom right?"
"Yeah."
"I tried to keep your ass outta sling with Brian long before any of this shit went down too right?"
"Yeah."
"That's all because I wanted to. Not because I wanted to find Carter."
"Storm, why were you after Carter?"
"Um."
"Did he hurt you? He was always making remarks about how I whimpered just like you and cried just like you."
"Yeah kid, he hurt me once upon a time. You sure he only smacked you around a bit when he had you?"
"Yeah. He did more to you didn't he?"
Storm only nodded.
"I understand why you wanted to kill him then."
"I wanted to kill him first and foremost for messing with my famiglia and that includes you. I got my revenge on him for what he did to me right after he did it."
"How?"
"That's nothin for you to sweat kid. Just know he paid for it over and over and over again. I'm gettin your doctor now."
"Ok." Stacey sighed then yawned, her conversation talking all the strength she'd built up. "Storm?" She called softly.
"What?"
"You believe me about Mia right? Vince said you did but you really do right?"
"Yeah, I do."
"What are you gonna do?"
"I'm gonna trick her into admitting what she did is what I'm gonna do. Again, nothin for you to sweat."
"You won't let her near me will you? I can't really move much and I can't defend myself." Stacey's tears started leaking down her cheeks again.
"I don't intend on letting her know you even woke up. If Brian or someone takes her in here pretend you're still in a coma and just remember she won't ever be alone with you. I have one of my men in the room any time someone visits you guys when either me or Vince isn't in the room too. I'm not gonna let anything else happen to you kid."
"Ok. Night."
"Night kid, get some rest."
Storm and Vince left the room to find Tony back at his post talking to Benny and Cara.
"What is it Storm?"
"Stacey's awake. Keep it on the very low. No one is to know but the doctors and her brother who will be instructed to keep it to himself." Everyone nodded.
They got the doctor, who checked Stacey over. His news wasn't all good. He held a small conference with Brian, Storm and Vince after he was done with his tests.
"Some of her vitals still concern me. The fact that she was so coherent when she was conscious is a very good thing but she's not out of the woods."
"We want you to keep the fact that she woke up at all from everyone who isn't in this room doc." Storm made her request in her no options tone of voice.
"Why?"
"Because the person who drugged her is still at large and I need time to catch them, make them slip up and reveal themselves."
"I can't argue with that logic."
The three left the doctor's office.
"I still can't find it in me to believe it was Mia." Brian sighed.
"Brian, Stacey begged me to keep Mia away from her. She said Mia told her I was dead, that I died when I passed out and then slipped the drug to her while we were all out of the room, while you guys were workin on me. How would she have made that shit up?"
"I don't know but you're gonna have to prove it to me before I'll believe it was Mia. How do we know Stacey wasn't delusional from drugs?"
"She wasn't and this is what we're gonna do…" Storm started to impart her plan to trick Mia into revealing what she'd done.
AN: Go Cheer, it's your birthday! I turn it over to you.