A/N I do not own John McBain or any of the other OLTL characters. All others are my own creation. Please don't sue cause I am broke and have nothing to be sued for anyway.

Chapter 5

Shelly stood in the hallway outside Herbie's history class knowing that she shouldn't be there. She was skipping school so she could get an explanation from him about last night. Apparently she hadn't been the only one to witness his acts. Chris had seen him to while walking her dog. That's what she had wanted to talk to Shelly about this morning.

As she waited she became more and more unsure of how to approach this situation. She had planned to just come right out with it and demand to know what the hell was going on but the more she thought about it the more she unsure she became. Before she could talk herself into leaving the classroom door opened and students began filing out. Several boys did a double take and then whistled at her but she ignored them, she was focused on Herbie. As he reached her and before he could even utter a word she said, "We need to talk!"

John was in the kitchen getting yet another cup of coffee. Rubbing his temples he mentally swore at his boss. This case was getting out of hand. Now he had a lead that somehow the mob, the Carpelli family to be exact, was involved in the baby selling/kidnapping ring. Interestingly enough there were several Carpelli's in this town. But that wasn't what was giving John a headache. What was bothering him was that he had been taken off the case! His boss decided that he was too involved in the case to and that he should take some time off to bond with his sister and help her bond with the rest of his family.

Time off was the last thing he wanted! He wanted to work on this case not cool his heels and let someone else crack the case, his case! To make matters worse Shelly had skipped school today and no one knew where she was. Well some one did know but they weren't talking. Shelly's best friend Christina knew exactly where Shelly was and why she was there but she wouldn't say a word. She was supposed to be home from school an hour ago and she still hadn't shown up yet and the Falk's were both furious and scared. They believed she was just skipping school but there was always that possibility that something had happened to her.

"Where could she be?" Anna asked for the 20th time as she paced the floor. Gerald on the other hand sat in his chair calmly. He was worried but he was more angry then he was anything else. He knew that Shelly didn't like to be at school, that she skipped often. This was the last straw for him. "I love my daughter but she has gone too far this time," Gerald said.

"Jerry..." Anna said to her husband.

"What?" Gerald said.

"Don't jump to conclusions. She might not have skipped school. Something might have happened to her!" Anna said and began to wring her hands. John watched silently, not knowing if he should say anything.

"NO!" Gerald said loudly, "Shelly might not be our daughter by blood but we would know if something happened to her!"

"What?" Shelly gasped from the doorway. She had entered with out anyone noticing just in time to hear her father's declaration.

"Oh thank god you're ok!" Anna said, rushing to hug Shelly. She didn't notice that Shelly didn't hug her back or that Shelly had her gaze firmly fixed on her father's face.

Gerald stood up and looked at Shelly, "Where have you been? Do you know how worried your mother and I have been?" he demanded.

"I had something I had to do." Shelly said dismissively. "What did you mean that I am not your daughter by blood?"

"That's not what I said. I just meant that if something happened to you I would know." Gerald said, sliding a look over to John.

Shelly saw the look and was angered by it. "I heard you! What did you mean? Am or am I not your daughter?" Shelly demanded. She didn't understand what was happening. It was like her whole world was crumbling around her, first Herbie and now this. She prayed she had heard wrong but knew she hadn't.

"Of course you're our daughter!" Anna cried.

Gerald looked away from Shelly's eyes and that's when she knew. "But... What aren't you telling me? I can tell you're hiding something." Turning to John she said, "You know what it is. Tell me!"

Gerald stood up and went to her, "Calm down. Its ok." He tried to hug her and was shocked when she brought her arms up warding off his touch.

"No don't touch me! You aren't my father are you?" She asked beginning to get hysterical. "You're lying to me about something. I can tell!"

Gerald sighed and looked at John and then Anna. "You're our daughter Shelly, just not biologically. You're adopted."

"I'm adopted? And you never told me? You lied to me?" Shelly cried out. "Why didn't you tell me?" Seeing her father again exchange a look with John she knew there was something else. Something that they weren't telling her. "What else? There's something else isn't there?"

John was amazed that she knew that. She was very perceptive, she had to be to notice that they were keeping something from her. He looked at Gerald who nodded at him. Giving him permission to tell her more, though not all. "You're right there is more."

"What?" Shelly asked. She knew, she felt it in her gut, that what was said next would forever alter her life and nothing would ever be the same.

"You're adoption wasn't legal." Gerald said softly feeling as though he had already lost her.

"What? What does that mean? Why wasn't it legal?"

"Because you were kidnapped at birth." It was John who answered this time. "Your mother didn't want to give you up for adoption you were taken from her."

"So you're not a friend of my dad's you're really here working a case?" Shelly asked coldly. She had thought that she and John could become friends, that he liked her. That was obviously not the case. "You're here to take me back to them. My real parents!"

"Yes I'm here because of a case but..." John began but Shelly didn't let him finish.

"I don't want to go anywhere! I am not going anywhere with you!" Shelly yelled at him. She was freaking out. He whole life was a lie. People weren't who they said they were and she didn't know how to deal with that. "How did you even find me anyway?" She asked suddenly

"When you applied for a job you're fingerprints were entered into the system." John said, not mentioning that the job had been for the FBI.

Shelly nodded. She understood, it was her fault this was happening to an extent. If She hadn't applied for that internship none of this would be happening. "So it's my fault you're here destroying my life!" She cried.

"Look Shelly," Gerald said, "I know you're upset but..."

"You know? What do you really know about me Dad? Tell me, please!" Shelly yelled as suddenly her confusion and hurt turned to rage. "You lie to me my entire life. You tell me that I'm your daughter, that I'm special, and I find out that its all a lie! So tell me what do you know about me. I don't even know who I am! How can you?"

"Shelly calm down. Just listen." Anna said frantically trying to get Shelly to calm down.

"NO! You can't just drop something like this on me and tell me to calm down!" Shelly yelled. "I...I...I can't think. I need to go." Shelly stammered out. Turning on her heel she ran out the door and away from everything that was overwhelming her.

John stared after her, for the second time in as many days. He knew that it was a lot to take in and that she needed time to deal but he also needed to know that she was safe. Contrary to what Shelly believed she was more then just a case to him, she was his sister and he needed to make sure she was safe. He also knew that she wasn't ready to know that she was his sister or to meet their mother or Michael.

"Where would she go?" John asked.

Anna just looked at him. "There is an underpass just a mile out of town she likes to go to. She might be there." Gerald said choking up. "Make sure she is safe." He told John.

John nodded and headed for the door. They all knew that it was John who needed to go. Shelly was too angry at them to listen but John might be able to get through to her because he had lied to her the least.