TOMMY - SOMETIME LATER

Oh my god I hurt. Why the hell do I hurt so bad? I swear this is worse than when I was sick on Eltar and woke up in the hospital - and let's not even go there as the last thing I want to think about in addition to my agony is my past with hospitals. I draw a pained breath and freeze. Damn it all. Hospitals smell amazingly the same no matter where you are. That recycled air smell… So why am I in the fucking hospital this time? I shift slightly, noting thankfully that I at least don't seem to be restrained this time. I take another breath, intending to call out for Zedd, trying to open my eyes as I do. Before I can say anything though, he speaks. "I'm here, Thomas."

I can't open my eyes much, but I can see the concerned look on his face. "Zedd." What the hell is wrong with my throat and voice? "What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

I try and think, but everything is so fuzzy. "Throat hurts. Why?"

I can barely see the flash of rage in his eyes, however I don't need to see it to know it's there. The bond alone, despite his best efforts to contain it, is letting me feel just how furious he is, however why he is, is still eluding me. "You've been attacked, love. What do you remember?"

My head is clearing, but slowly. "Was going to go up to the attic for - something. Knock at the door. Opened it and got hit in the face. Went to the floor. Got hit in the back of the head with something." I try to reach up to check my head, but instantly hiss in pain.

Hands moving to gently hold me still, Zedd's next words at least explain the reason for the fresh wave of agony I just experienced. "Easy, Thomas. Your shoulder is broken. What else do you remember?"

I think but shake my head slightly after a minute. "Being in the hospital." Oh man, can't do that again for a while. "How long have I been here?"

"Only a few hours."

"Can I go home?"

"Not just yet, love." Damn.

"I'll feel better at home."

Hearing his faint snicker at my weak attempt to be released from this place, his next words are however not all that surprising. "While I commend your effort, Thomas, it just isn't going to happen at the moment. I'm sorry."

I hear the door open and close and Jason talking softly. "How's he doing, Zedd?"

"He's awake and doesn't remember what happened after the initial attack when he answered the door until waking up here. His throat is still hurting him so I'm sure that Dana would say that his statement can wait."

"Right" Jason agrees. "So are you-"

"Not now!" Zedd hisses. "Right now, my main focus - as yours should be - is dealing with the perpetrator and taking care of Thomas."

I decide to derail the impending argument. "Zedd - how bad am I hurt?"

"It's going to take several days for you to heal, even with powers according to Dana."

Jason cuts in. "You got the crap beat out of you, bro."

My eyes start to feel heavy again. "Dana sedated me, didn't she?"

"Just a little, love. Go ahead and sleep. The kids are cared for and I'll stay right here with you."

My eyes are closing even as I say, "Thanks, mate."

TWO DAYS LATER

Zedd's just brought me home after my refusal to remain in that hospital bed any longer. My memory of the attack still hasn't returned and I swear I feel like everyone else knows something I don't by how they keep asking me about it and then quickly changing the subject. Jason and Hayley are going to bring the kids home in a while. In the meantime- "Zedd?"

"Yes, love?" He looks up from where he's digging in the fridge.

"You did say that they caught the guy who attacked me, right?"

"Yes." He sticks his head back in the fridge that feeling of rage once more leaking through the bond despite his attempts to keep it in check.

"Who was it? And why?"

"What?"

"Who was it? And why did they attack me?"

"It really doesn't matter, does it? I mean, they caught him and there's more than enough physical evidence to prosecute him, not to mention that one of the neighbors was jogging by, saw him strike you and called the police. I'm given to understand that she's already identified him in the - what do you call it - line up so your lack of memory isn't an issue."

He's dodging me, but why? I adjust the sling that's annoying the hell out of me. "Zedd-"

The doorbell rings, interrupting me. "I'll get it." Zedd heads for the door, looking far too relieved at the interruption. What isn't he telling me? I follow him, intent on getting rid of whoever is there so that we can finish this conversation before the kids get home. There's a man and a woman on the front porch and Zedd sounds annoyed when he says, "This really couldn't wait? We've been home all of five minutes."

The woman answers, "As I said, Mr. Oliver, we had intended to talk to your husband at the hospital, but we missed you."

As Zedd starts to respond, I speak first. "Who is it, Zedd?"

Ignoring Zedd's low growl, the woman introduces herself. "I'm District Attorney Shaw and this is Assistant District Attorney Madison. We wanted to talk to you about the attack."

"I don't know what help I'll be. I don't remember much about it."

"Well, given your history with the defendant-"

Confused, I say, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your attacker, John Campbell."

"Who?" I hear Zedd curse under his breath, but my attention is focused on our visitors. "I don't know anybody by that name. Did he confuse me with someone else?" No, wait. They said that I had a history with him. "Wait, what history are you talking about?" The pair on the porch exchange looks before looking to Zedd. "Zedd? Who are they talking about?"

"I swear if my husband wasn't standing here and wouldn't hurt himself trying to stop me, I would kill you both right where you stand."

"And injuries aside I might still kill you if you don't tell me what the hell you're keeping from me. Now who is John Campbell?" Tone leaving no room for argument, I fix him with a look of warning.

He exhales heavily and won't look me in the eye. "They mean Big John."

"Big-" Oh hell. I can feel the blood drain from my face. He got out. He found me. He attacked me. He hurt me. My good hand goes to my throat, suddenly fairly sure why it hurts so much. "Excuse me."

Quickly, I leave the room and go to the nearest bathroom. In a minute, I've lost the hospital breakfast, the violent vomiting hurting everything. Oh god - Big John got me again and Zedd - Zedd knew and kept it from me! He's beside me now. "Easy Thomas."

I push him away. "Get away from me." I pull myself off the floor and rinse my mouth out. I meet his eyes in the mirror. "You and I are going to have a talk later - and I promise you, it won't be pleasant."

"Thomas, please-"

"No. Not now." I leave the bathroom and return to the front door and address the people on the porch. "Look, is this going to take long? Because my children are going to be home soon and they really don't need to hear any of this."

"I doubt it, but if you'd prefer, we can do this another time. Would you rather come to the office or do it here?"

Indicating my shoulder, I sigh. "My vehicle is a stick shift and, while I can still drive this way, I'd rather not. Somehow I don't think you want to wait until I heal enough to drive properly."

"Could your husband-"

My voice hardens. "He's going to be busy for the foreseeable future, I'm afraid. How about you give me your card and as soon as I can make arrangements, I'll call you for an appointment?"

They agree, hand me a card and leave. I shove it in my back pocket, shut the door and, without a word, walk past Zedd into the kitchen. Even one handed I can put together a pot of coffee and I get started on it. I can taste blood and I have no doubt that I've torn my newly healing throat back open. "Thomas-"

"I'm not speaking to you until I can get my temper under control, Zedd. So I suggest you make yourself scarce until I do."

There's a pause and then he speaks again. "Then just listen. Yes, I knew it was him. I stopped him before things got any worse and, had I been home instead of at the damn store, it would never have gotten that far at all. I hadn't told you because I wanted to give you more time to recover before you started having nightmares again and possibly hurt yourself in your sleep. It's really no different than when you held off telling me about having Annwyl as a prisoner until I was well enough to handle it."

He's not serious, is he? This isn't the same thing at all. I lock my jaw to avoid snapping back. I don't want him disregarding anything I say as being temper or heat of the moment. I get the coffee started and walk out of the room.

Twenty minutes later, I have coffee in hand and am leaning on the kitchen counter when the front door pops open. God, I hope the kids don't freak out when they see me. My face is still a mess. I hear them calling for me and Zedd. As loudly as I can manage, I answer, "I'm in the kitchen!"

I can hear Zedd talking to Jason and Hayley as Jimmy, Jacob and Mara Jane all run in the kitchen and stop short. "Holy shit, Uncle Tommy."

From the other room, I hear both parents simultaneously snap out, "James Lee Scott!"

"Sorry, but jeez." He shakes his head. "You are messed up."

"Thanks so much" I respond dryly. I look at my children. Jacob looks a little frightened and Mara Jane has tears in her eyes. Their looks are almost enough to make me wish we'd had them stay at Jason and Hayley's a bit longer as even an extra day or two would have improved some of the bruising on my face. Still, hindsight is twenty twenty as they say. Crouching down to be more of Jacob's level as he seems the most distressed at the moment, very likely due to Mara Jane having seen me after returning from a few small conflicts before, my tones gentle. "I'll be okay, guys. I promise it just looks worse than it really is."

"Your arm is broken" Mara Jane points out firmly, clearly not buying my assurance that it's not that bad.

"Shoulder, actually" I correct, more out of habit than anything else. "However it'll heal the same as everything else in a few days with my powers."

Jacob speaks hesitantly. "Can I - still hug you?"

"Of course you can, son. Just not as hard as you usually do, okay?" I wrap my good arm around him and press a kiss to the top of his head. "Don't worry, okay? They caught the man who did it."

"Too bad" Mara Jane snarls out. Too late, I realize that the tears were not from upset as I'd thought, but of rage. "I'd teach him not to mess with our family."

Her eyes start to darken and Jimmy is quick to intervene. "Deep breaths, MJ. Look at me. You can do this."

Her hands clench into fists even as she follows his directions. Zedd appears in the kitchen door, but stops there as he sees that Jimmy seems to have the situation well in hand. He continues to coax and coach her, tones changing as she regains control of herself. Finally, she looks back at me. "Sorry, Daddy. It just makes me so mad!"

"I know how you feel, baby" Zedd answers. "But don't worry, he'll get what's coming to him, I promise." My eyes narrow at this statement. He'd better not be planning what I think he's planning. My own irritation flares and I glare at him. He ignores me for the moment after a quick glance, instead focusing on our daughter. "He won't ever come after Daddy again."

"You can't be sure of that" she objects. "Unless he's dead…" Her voice trails off for a minute as the implications of her statement sink in for everyone.

Jacob pipes up. "Papa won't do that. He's a good guy! Only bad guys kill."

Shocked at Jacob's statement, it takes Zedd a fair minute to come up with a response and I can feel his confusion and torn desires as he does. Finally, he responds, "That's not the only way, Mara Jane, just the most effective way. As for good or bad guys, when you're older you'll learn it's not always that simple, son. Besides, you'd be surprised what someone can manage to live through."

"Zedd-"

"I warned him, Thomas. I stupidly gave him a chance, mostly to not upset you given the damage he had already inflicted and the need for you to trust me and not be afraid of me at the time."

"I know, and you made the right choice, given that if you had done what you were going to do, what I know you wanted to do, I would have been too terrified to trust you, regardless of you saving me."

"Maybe I did and maybe I didn't." At my lost look, he shakes his head in frustration. "You would have eventually learned to trust me due to the bond, and if not me at the very least Pina would have been able to assure you. I should have finished this back when I had the chance. However, I will finish it now."

Not knowing what to say to this, esspecially when I don't want the kids involved, Mara Jane however spares me the trouble as a quick look at me and she crosses over to him. She reaches up and takes his face in her hands as he did to her many times when she was little to make sure that she was paying attention. She makes him look her in the eye. "Promise me, Papa" she says softly. "Promise me that you won't. I know how much you want to. I can feel your power surging. You aren't him anymore. Don't become him. We need you."

I hold my breath, hoping that our eldest can get through to him. The level of rage I've felt in him these last few days has had me worried - even without knowing what was causing it. I'm still angry at him for keeping it from me, but not enough to let him do a self destructive thing like that.

"Mara Jane-"

"If you do and you go back to that, then I'll have no choice but to follow you because there will be nobody else to teach me to use and control my powers" she threatens quietly. Terror spikes through him, no doubt aware what the Alliance would do to and with her. "As much as you'd like to believe otherwise, you are NOT perfect, Papa. There is nothing you could have done to prevent this. I've seen enough crime shows to know that he would have just waited for an opportunity when Daddy was alone."

"We really need to pay closer attention to what you're watching" he grumbles. Zedd takes a deep breath. "All right. For my family's peace of mind, I promise I won't kill him."

I see Jason and Hayley exchange looks behind his back. They've caught the same loophole that I have. "Zedd." He knows what I mean and sighs.

"Fine. Nor any of our extended family." Still paying close attention to the main word being 'kill' I know I'll have to discuss this with him further later on, but at the very least I'm for the moment satisfied he won't run off tonight to end the bastard's life.

I nod shortly before turning my attention to the children - who are going to be unnecessary ears to the conversation I need to have with the other adults - and Zedd. "Why don't you three go upstairs for a bit before Jimmy has to go?"

They seem to sense the metaphorical storm clouds on the horizon as they hurry out of the room. Hayley says, "You know, we do need to get moving-"

"Sit." My voice might be shot, but they all know that my tone means business. As they reluctantly all take seats at the table, I contemplate how to handle this. I make my decision and take a seat at the table myself as far from the rest of them as I can reasonably get. My grip tightens slightly on my coffee cup as I stare into its depths. "Am I weak?"

Quickly, Hayley steps in. "No, Tommy, you aren't."

"Ah." I nod as if things suddenly make sense. "So it would be far more amusing to let me be blindsided when the memories come back. I see."

"Thomas, no, I swear."

"So it was just fun to betray my trust?"

"Tommy, that's enough" Jason commands. "Zedd suggested - and we all agreed by the way - that it would be best to let you heal as much as possible before telling you what we knew. Okay, maybe it wasn't the greatest idea, but knowing how bad your flashbacks and nightmares and panic attacks can get, it seemed to make the most sense. Again, it's going to take days for you to heal fully and the last thing you need is to keep reinjuring your shoulder from thrashing and your throat by screaming. You don't have to like it and you don't have to be happy about it, but you better not think for one minute that we did it for any reason other than to help you."

"And did anyone consider my opinion about the whole thing? The three of you know me better than anyone, but I'll bet that Goldar would have objected to the plan and told me the truth."

"Because, brat, while you and I have gotten closer over the years, I can still be rather detached and impartial when necessary" Dar says from the doorway. Pina's right behind him. The stocky male stalks across the room, sets his knuckles on the table and leans right in my face. "Now, you want the truth? We still aren't entirely sure what all he did to you. We do know that he didn't take you the way Zedd does. That still belongs to the two of you alone. Pina and Dana's best guesses are that he choked the hell out of you, took your throat - which I'm sure doesn't surprise you - and beat the holy hell out of you. Considering how Zedd found you, I personally have no doubt that he was going to finish what he started in rehab. But he didn't. I get why you're irritated, I really do. I told Zedd this wasn't the same as the whole Annwyl thing, but he disagreed. You want to be mad? Fine, be mad. But make sure that you're mad at the right people for the right reasons."

"I'd be a whole lot less mad if - one, they hadn't kept it from me and - two, they understood why I'm mad!"

"I understand and I agree with you. I get why you feel betrayed. You know damn good and well, though, that nobody would find it amusing when you're caught unaware when the memories return - if they do. According to Pina and Dana, it's entirely possible that - aside from recognizing that asshole when you opened the door, you might not remember another thing since you probably were unconscious for most if not all of it. And finally - you are not weak. I'm pretty tough, but I don't know if I could have pulled through all the crap you have and have any kind of confidence or sense of humor the way you do."

He seems almost embarrassed at the admission once it's out of his mouth. I blink at him, dumbfounded. I almost missed Zedd's quiet admission. "I do know you woke up briefly, Thomas. Just in time to warn me that he was behind me and about to attack. You saved me, but when I moved and he missed, well, that's how your shoulder got broken. The force with which he was wielding the bat could have possibly shattered my skull. Even as broken and damaged as you were, you still saved me. I was just trying to take care of you as you so often seem to do for me - especially right after my accident. Well, and a few other incidents that come to mind."

"I - don't remember that. Even so, Zedd, you can't take care of me the way that I do you."

His hurt is obvious to everyone. "Why not?"

"Because what you need and what I need aren't the same."

"What?"

"You need someone that grounds you and gives you a place to belong and the reassurance that someone cares enough to provide that. I don't need someone to ground me. I need - someone who helps me fly. Someone who reminds me that I am strong enough and that broken wings do mend. When you shelter me like that, I feel like you don't think I can handle anything. I don't always need to be protected. Sometimes I just need support."

I take a quick swallow of coffee and try to speak again, but my voice has given out for the time being, irritating me further. Pina steps in gently. "All right, I think you've made your point. You go lie down and rest for a bit and no talking for the rest of the day. I'll be up in a little while to see how much more damage you've done."

Unable to argue, I shoot her an unhappy look before I rise and go upstairs. Everything still hurts and aches so the climb seems like a long one. Finally, I sink down on the bed, get my shoes off and lie down. It takes a while to find a comfortable position, but once I do I can feel my body wanting to shut down and get some rest. I allow sleep to overcome me but not before I promise myself that this isn't over. I will make sure he understands - that all of them do.