Author's note: This chapter was posted last week and I realized on the plane while I was working on some stuff that the timeline in it has some major continuity errors. I've mostly fixed them. Still not sure it works out perfectly, but I figure, this is soap opera-continuity is for people with out imaginations. Fixing the errors entailed inserting a little snippet of a new scene that gives out information which will be important later. So that nobody missed that, I moved the chapter break to just before that scene. So if you've read the earlier version of this chapter, this section is the same except some time references. New stuff is all in chapter 14.

"So where are we headed?" Rex asked as Natalie climbed into his car.

"I don't- I don't know," she stammered, "are you sure you want to do this?"

He shrugged, "Eh, I got nothing going on. Road trip could be fun. Which direction?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Well you only have four to choose from, pick one," he urged her.

"North," she said arbitrarily.

"Anywhere North in particular?"

"Somewhere he won't think to look," she said trying desperately not to cry again.

"Okay," Rex said pulling out of the driveway. When they'd reached the highway he asked, "So you wanna tell me what's going on?"

"No," she said.

"You wanna tell me where you got the shiner?" he asked. Natalie touched the bruise on her cheekbone; with everything that had happened that day she'd forgotten about Tess. Rex added, "If it was McBain you might not want to tell me because I will be obligated to kill him."

"It wasn't John," she said staring out the window. "He'd never hit me. Lie to me, rip out my heart and stomp all over it, he'll do that, but he'd never hit me."

"Well who did?"

"Jessica," she said finally. "Don't ask. It's a long story that I really don't want to go into right now."

"Okay," he said, "What did McBain do to make you run?"

"I can't talk about it right now," she whimpered.

Rex nodded knowing better than to push the issue until she was ready.

John fought to say the words and to say them calmly. "She told me that the baby was yours."

Michael's normally good natured expression slid away and he took a step back as if he'd just been slapped. "She told me it wasn't," he said.

"But for some reason you were in a position to be asking, which means there must be something you forgot to tell me," John said barely keeping himself from shouting.

Michael put his hand on the wall to steady himself. "Look obviously we need to talk-"

"You think?" his brother said running his hand over the back of his head to keep himself from grabbing his brother by the collar.

"John, you were still with Evangeline, how was I supposed to know-?"

"And you didn't think that maybe, at some point, you should have maybe said, 'Hey bro', by the way, I slept with your girlfriend a couple weeks ago'?"

"She asked me not to," Michael tried to explain.

"Yeah, that's right, blame her," he said sarcastically.

Michael held up a hand, "Okay, John, you have every right to yell and scream at me, but we can't do this here. This is a hospital. I'm working."

"Fine. Fine," John said regaining his composure. "When do you get off?"

"Seven," Michael said. "I'll come by your place."

"I'll be there," John said turning around and storming down the hall.

Sometime after dark Rex pulled into a gas station. "Why don't you go in and grab something to eat while I fill up?"

Natalie nodded silently and climbed out of the car. She went inside to use the restroom but returned to the car empty handed as Rex was on his way in.

"Did you want to go someplace else for dinner because-"

"I'm not hungry," she said looking at the ground and opening the passenger side door.

"Natalie," Rex said pleading, "you have to eat-"

"If you say anything about eating for two I'll slug you," she growled.

Rex held up his hands in mock surrender, "I'd be happy if you would just eat for one."

She sat down without responding. Rex returned a few minutes later with a bag bulging with a sampling of everything the convenience store had to offer. He plunked the bag down in his sister's lap. She stared at it blankly, "I told you, Rex-"

"I know," he said, "you're not hungry. Well eat anyway before I break out my Jewish mother imitation. Just pick something. Personally, I recommend the ice cream because if you don't it's going to melt all over my car."

She almost smiled, "Bad strategic move on your part."

"Possibly," he said starting the car.

"Speaking of bad strategy, did you get spoons?" she asked looking in the bag.

"They were out," he explained, "but I got some plastic knives. They work in a pinch."

"You know this from past experience?" she asked.

"Sometimes I really don't want to do dishes," he said. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her smile and shake her head at him. It was almost normal. He still had no idea what was going on, although he was barely controlling the urge to drive back to Llanview and beat the tar out of McBain for whatever he'd done to his sister. He still might, but there would be time for that later. At the moment his concern was keeping Natalie from falling apart.

Michael could have sworn he'd raised his hand but not actually knocked before the door to his brother's room swung open. John glared at him then moved away to let him enter without saying anything. Michael stepped inside uneasily and shut the door behind him; his brother, slouched a comfortable distance away, merely stared at him.

"So what did she tell you, exactly?" Michael finally asked.

"Just that the baby was yours," he replied.

"Is she sure? Did she say anything about why she would think that?" Michael pressed.

"That was all she said, Mikey. And then she climbed in a car and sped away."

"How mad did you make her?" Michael said with a soft whistle.

"Little madder than I am at you right now," John said considering it, "though maybe not by much."

"So she probably wanted to hurt you back," Michael said, trying to figure out what could have been going through Natalie's head, and what John could have done to make her so angry. "Look, Johnny, unless she has some new information there's a much better chance that it's yours-"

"Did you sleep with Natalie?" John finally exploded, trying to force Michael to the actual issue at hand. He knew the answer by now, he just needed to hear his brother admit it.

His younger brother took a deep breath, "Like I said, you were still with Evangeline-"

"Just answer the damn question," he ordered in a voice that was much more "cop" than "big brother."

"Yes," Michael admitted.

John shut his eyes and turned away. "And you've been lying to me all this time."

"I didn't lie, John. She convinced me there was no reason to tell you."

He saw his brother's fists clinch; he waited for one of them to make contact with his head, "You didn't think you owed it to me to tell-"

"What about Natalie? Shouldn't she have been the one to tell you?"

"She was," John pointed out, "but that's not the point. How could you do this?"

"We were drunk, John," Michael explained sinking onto the couch, "it was one time-"

"So that's when it happened," John said suddenly, more to himself than to his brother.

"What?" Michael asked blankly.

John brought a hand to his chin as he sorted through the clues, "I ran into her in the lobby that night- morning. I could tell she'd had too much to drink… she said she was just in the hotel looking for coffee… I knew she was hiding something. Rex implied that- I gotta tell you Mikey, I never figured you for the type."

"What type?" Michael asked suddenly feeling he should be offended.

"The type to get a girl drunk and take advantage of the situation," the older McBain said shaking his head in disbelief. "How could you do that to her?"

"Wait a minute," he protested, "I wasn't taking advantage—I was just as drunk as she was. Not to mention suffering from bloodloss."

"That's right," John said putting another piece on the puzzle, "she hit you with a dart that night."

"Yeah," Michael said, "and she came back here with me to help me bandage it up… and things happened. I swear to God John, we used protection, it never even occurred to me that this would come back like this."

"Right," John said, "you just figured you'd keep lying about it forever."

"I'm sorry!" Michael said raising his voice, "We shouldn't have lied about it. I don't even know why we did, we didn't do anything wrong. You were in a relationship with another woman, it's not like I was sleeping with your wife."

John walked a few steps away then turned quickly back around, "You knew." His voice was soft, but intense. Almost threatening.

"Knew what?"

"You knew how I felt about her, Michael," he said, "you were the one that was always in my face telling me that I needed to own up to my feelings for Natalie. You knew and yet-"

"You were always telling me you didn't have feelings for Natalie," Michael insisted.

"But you knew I was lying," John insisted.

"Well you know what, Johnny?" Michael said standing up and walking closer to his brother, "you don't have anyone to blame but yourself then. If you could have just gotten your shit together rather than waffling between-"

He heard the crunch and hit the floor before he realized what had happened. Dazed and rubbing his chin Michael looked up at his brother, standing over him with his fists still clinched. "That what you needed to do?" Michael asked calmly.

"Get out," John said taking a step back.

"It was wrong, John," Michael conceded, climbing to his feet, "We were drunk, we made a bad decision, we felt terrible about it, and we made another bad decision. I talked to Natalie yesterday and she told me that she was pretty sure the baby was yours and she was so worried about the problems the pregnancy alone was going to cause you two that I agreed to keep quiet unless she found out it was mine. You're right, we shouldn't have kept this from you, we shouldn't have done it in the first place but at this point I don't know what you want me to do."

"Get out," he repeated quietly, almost sadly. The anger seemed to have subsided somewhat, was that good?

Michael decided to try again, "You have to understand-"

"I'm trying real hard to," John said tensely, "but you need to leave right now. I need some time with this."

"Okay," his younger brother said, resigned but still uneasy. "You know where I am."

As the door closed behind him, John let himself fall back upon the bed. The sheets still smelled like her; in spite of his resolution not to, he wondered how long her scent had lingered in Michael's room. He wondered where she was and how she was coping with what had happened. Part of him wanted to call her, but he knew she would never answer if he did. Just like him she was going to need time. But how much time? Would there ever be enough time to make her forgive him for what he'd done?

Rex looked uneasily at his sister as they entered the swank hotel lobby. For a moment there in the car he'd almost made her smile, almost made her relax, just a little. Then she'd grown silent again and curled back into as much of a ball as she could on the passenger side seat. He had no idea what was going on, or what McBain had done to make her shut down like this, but helping her get away seemed the best way to help.

"Are you sure about this place?" she asked looking around.

"Yeah," he said, "it's the last place anyone will look for us. If someone's trying to track us down they're gonna check all the cheap and sleazy places first. Plus, you never know what kind of bacteria is lurking in places like that. I gotta look out for my big sis and my little niece or nephew."

Regardless of how disastrous the situation with her baby was at the moment, Natalie was grateful that Rex was looking out for them. "I guess that makes sense," she said thinking about it carefully.

"Hey," he said handing her a room key, "you go upstairs with the bellhop. I need to check on something real quick." He made his way back to the front desk and leaned over the counter. "I need a favor," he said to the desk clerk.

"How can we help you, sir?" the clerk asked.

"You see that woman over there," he said nodding at Natalie who was waiting for the elevator.

The clerk followed his gaze, "Yes, sir."

"She's my sister," Rex explained, "I'm in the process of helping her get away from her abusive husband." He saw the clerk studying her more carefully; the bruise on her cheek, the frightened expression on her face, she looked the part of the battered wife. The clerk nodded. "The problem is the creep isn't in prison yet. Worse yet, he's a cop. Now I'm worried he might track us down here, start throwing his weight around, waiving a badge and all that. Please, don't tell anyone that we're here."

The clerk nodded sympathetically. "Don't worry, sir," he agreed, "anything we can do to help."

"Great," Rex said, "I'll give you a description. And if you could let me know if anyone comes in asking questions, I'd appreciate it."

He rang the doorbell and tried desperately to figure out what he would say if she answered the door. It had been over a day since Rex's car had peeled out from in front of the prison and he'd heard nothing from or about her since. It should have been time to figure some things out in his head, but it hadn't been really. He was angry—angry at Cristian for putting him in the position of lying to Natalie or breaking her heart; angry at the men who had brainwashed Cristian in the first place; angry at Michael for daring to touch her; and yes, he was angry at her. He had no right to be, not after what he'd done, but he couldn't deny it.

Her car was there, she was probably home, but that didn't mean she would answer. He was actually shocked when the door opened. It wasn't her; it was her mother.

"Mrs. Davidson," he said in surprise, "I didn't realize you were home."

"I just arrived a few hours ago," she explained smiling. "I assume you're looking for Natalie?"

"Yes ma'am," he said.

"She's not here," she said, "I haven't seen her, actually, and she's not answering her phone. Do you want me to give her a message if she does come home?"

He shook his head, what message could he leave? "No, no message. Thank you, Mrs. Davidson."

"John?" she asked as he turned to go, "I don't suppose you'd like to tell me what's going on?"

He turned back to her but didn't say anything. He searched for an explanation, but didn't know how to begin.

"Please, John," she said, "I met with Jessica just before I left London. She has something pretty serious going on and I offered to stay with her in Europe for a while. She told me that Natalie was going to need me back here. Then I come home to find her gone. I assumed she was with you, but that's clearly not the case."

"I don't have any reason to think she's in any danger," he said trying to reassure her. "Natalie's pretty upset with me right now; she's probably just avoiding me and knew I would look for her here."

"Well I suppose that's good news in a way," she said, "but what aren't you telling me?"

"How much do you know?" he asked.

"Come inside and have a seat," she said walking into the living room and motioning for him to follow. When he was seated stiffly on the sofa across from her she finally answered his question. "I know that you and Natalie have a very complicated past. And I know that before I left my daughter wasn't spending very many nights in her own bed, and I suspect that you had something to do with that."

He looked at the floor. Viki was a wonderful lady, but hardly someone that he wanted to discuss his sleeping arrangements with. Particularly when they involved her daughter. "Please don't be embarrassed, John," she said gently, "I've been the mother of grown children for many years now, it's something you get used to."

"Mrs. Davidson," he said, "I care about Natalie, very much-"

"I know that," she assured him.

"No," he fumbled, "I… I'm in love with your daughter, and I think I might have-" He was surprised to find his voice hitching and his eyes watering. "I might have destroyed everything."

Viki tried not to act shocked by his declaration. "What have you done?"

He shook his head, "It's really not my place to tell you. Other people are involved, I can't-" No matter how understanding she was he didn't think he could tell this woman that he had made her daughter into an adulteress and an unwed mother-to-be. Besides it was Natalie's right to tell her about the latter and Cristian hadn't given him permission to disclose his identity. "When Natalie gets back, she'll tell you," he finally decided to tell her.

"And you don't know when that might be?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," he said.

She sighed. "Well, if there's one thing you learn raising as many children as I have, it's patience. I'll tell Natalie you came looking for her."

"Thank you, Mrs. Davidson," he said standing up. "If I hear from her I'll let her know that you're home. Welcome back. I'm glad Natalie has you here."

Natalie stared into space, barely blinking. She was curled up on her side on one of the hotel room beds where she had been since they walked in. "I'm gonna go get some ice," Rex said. He thought she might have nodded slightly, but she didn't say anything. The silence was starting to scare him; he'd seen Natalie go through a lot of things, and he'd heard her talk a lot of times when she probably shouldn't have, but he'd never seen her clam up like this. When he had gotten far enough from the door that he was certain he wouldn't hear him he pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

The other man picked up and mumbled some unintelligible greeting.

"Hey comish! It's me!" Rex said brightly.

"Balsom?" Bo Buchanan said, "It's like three in the morning."

"And ordinarily I wouldn't bother you," he said sounding a bit overly polite, "I just wanted to let you know that Natalie's okay."

"Why wouldn't she be?" Bo asked.

"She skipped town," he explained.

"Why?" Bo asked his alarm growing with his irritation.

"You're gonna have to ask McBain about that," Rex said, "I just wanted to let you know that she's with me and she's okay. Talk to you later."

As he closed the phone he could here Bo asking there where they were. He wouldn't give that away, not unless Natalie told him to, he just didn't figure it would help to have the Buchanans all out looking for them along with John. Not to mention he was kind of starting to like some of Natalie's "other family" and honestly didn't want them worried.

When John arrived at the station the next morning his eyes immediately went to Natalie's desk. It was empty; the computer was off. "I don't think she's coming in today," a voice from behind him said.

He turned around to see Bo standing in his office doorway. "You've talked to her?" John asked.

Bo shook his head, "Balsom called me about 3am. Said they'd left town but that she was all right. He also told me I should ask you if I wanted to know why."

John shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground. "Now I'm not gonna do that," Bo continued, "unless you want to tell me what it is, because I'm your boss and I don't think we should bring our personal lives into the office. As such, I need to make sure that whatever this is, you're still going to be able to do your job."

"I am," he promised.

"John," Bo said as he turned to walk to his office, "this doesn't mean I'm not going to bug you about this outside of work. Or protect you from Viki or Kevin or any of the rest of her family."

John nodded, "Understood."

To be continued.

Author's note: The bit about the ice cream and the knife is dedicated to my roommate who I caught the other day eating yogurt with a fork rather than doing dishes.