The Other Path ~ Season 1
By Thomas Mc

Authors Note : Once again, I wish to thank those responsible for the Beauty and the Beast Scripts and Transcription Project which saves me from the frustrating days it would take to recreate some of the dialog from this episode. As before the plot alterations are influenced by Vincent and Catherine's marriage.

An Impossible Silence

Catherine shuffled through the small collection of legal documents on her desk and grinned. She had been working very hard at pushing this through the system but had still been surprised at how fast it had finally happened. She suspected that the age of the two children involved probably had a lot to do with it. It was usually very difficult to find people willing to take on children as old as these two. She and Vincent were looking forward to presenting the adoption documents for Eric and Ellie to Bill and Jennifer McCormick tonight when they came over for dinner. Eric and Ellie would also be happy over this as well. With a self satisfied nod she placed the adoption papers back in their envelope and dropped it into her purse.

With a sigh she turned her attention to her pile of new cases. It was still several hours before quitting time and she had a lot of work to get done before then. She pulled the next file from the stack. It was another drug raid case. She would be going over this one very carefully; double checking everything including the contents of the evidence locker. She didn't want another fiasco over missing evidence like what happened last week.

~ o ~

Vincent smiled as Eric and Ellie raced up to him and gave him a quick hug. Then Jennifer stepped up and wrapped her arms around her very unusual eldest son. The two children then rushed over to where little Edward lay in his playpen beside the fireplace. Jennifer released Vincent and gave Catherine a hug as Bill reached out to shake Vincent's hand. A half hour later they were all seated around the dining room table.

Bill looked over at Catherine. "When you called to confirm that we were coming, you said that you had something important to tell us." He remarked, a look of curiosity on his face.

Catherine grinned back at Bill and Jennifer as she pulled the envelope from where she had left it under her seat. "I have some good news for you." She set the envelope on the table in front of Bill. "These are the adoption papers for Eric and Ellie. They are both now yours." She turned toward the two children in question. "Congratulations, Ellie McCormick and Eric McCormick, you are both now officially part of the family."

Eric and Ellie's faces lit up like a sunny day. Ellie turned to Eric. "We've been adopted!" The two children embraced each other.

Jennifer reached over and squeezed her husband's arm as he pulled the papers from the envelope. "Oh Catherine, that is wonderful. Thank-you." She looked down at the documents in Bill's hands as he shifted through them, her eyes shimmering with joy.

The rest of the evening went by in a blur. Documents were examined, tearful hugs were exchanged, and plans were made. Later Dennis came by to welcome his new siblings into the family.

~ o ~

It was well after sundown and Laura moved silently through the dark back alley scrounging for any castoffs that might be useful. Though the tunnels lacked for none of the basic needs there was still the fundamental human desire for the little extras and she had a certain upcoming birthday to deal with.

On an adjacent deserted street two men were leaving a bar. There was a definite air of tension between them as they walked down the street together. Soon they arrived at a car parked close the dark alley.

Tony Perotta opened the door to the car and a bit unsteadily climbed into the driver's seat then looked up at his companion with a worried frown. "Hey, Danny?"

Danny Yates placed one hand on the car door as the other hand went behind his back. "What?"

Perotta, now seated behind the wheel, looked up at Yates. "Everything's gonna be all right, huh?"

Yates nodded. "Don't worry, Tony. Everything's okay." As Tony turned to put the key into the ignition, Yates pulled a gun from behind his back, aimed and fired point blank at Tony.

Laura caught the bright flash out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see what it was and saw Yates standing beside the car. The driver's door was open and she could clearly see the driver slumped over the wheel. The next moment she saw Yates fire two more shots into Perotta. Startled, Laura emitted an inarticulate sound and turned to run, colliding with and knocking over a garbage can.

Startled by the unexpected clatter, Yates looked over in the direction of the noise. In the dark alley across the street he could barely make out a figure scrambling over an overturned trash can. The figure looked back at him as it passed through a pool of light from above a doorway. It was raggedly dressed female street urchin. She took off running up the alley and he took off chasing after her.

Tony fired at her and missed. Muttering in frustration, he fired three more times but she had already ducked around a corner and the three quick shots smashed harmlessly into the wall next to the corner. The girl was moving a lot quicker than Tony had expected for a starving homeless person and he was slowly losing ground. When he reached the corner he spotted her and fired again, but she had fallen and his shot missed. Tony gained a little ground, as the girl scrambled back to her feet, but she continued running around another corner before he could get off another shot.

Glancing back behind her after rounding the corner onto a busy street, Laura tripped and fell against a man knocking him over. She scrambled back to her feet and immediately ran into the arms of a police officer.

The Police officer looked into the panicked eyes of the young woman as he steadied her on her feet. "You okay? What the hell you doing in this part of town anyway? You . . ."

Laura glanced back the way she had come then bolted off down the street. The police officer yelled after her in surprise. "Hey!" Then she had disappeared around another corner.

Hidden from the police officer's view, Tony Yates fumed in frustration as he watched Laura escape up the busy street.

~ BB ~

It was very early in the morning and Vincent and Pascal stood in a large chamber, filled with pipes of every size and dimension imaginable. The chamber was alive with tapping as Pascal, armed with two short lengths of metal rod, sent out a quick message on one of the pipes. Pascal then turned and beamed at Vincent. "See? I worked out some new abbreviations for the express stuff. You wouldn't believe how much we cut down on congestion by using more abbreviations."

Vincent nodded with an amused twinkle in his eye as he commented. "Oh, I believe it. But don't you ever get tired, Pascal?"

Pascal paused, listening intently to one of the pipes, then responded. "Only when I stop."

The two of them were interupted by the sound of crying was heard echoing through the chamber. Vincent turned as Laura rushed into the chamber flung herself into his arms.

~ o ~

Just outside the Courthouse conference room Catherine straightened Joe's off center tie and grinned up at his worried frown. "You look fine, Joe."

Joe shook his head. "Oh, I hate these guys. They travel in packs like sharks."

Catherine chuckled, shook her head and responded. "It's just a room full of reporters."

Joe gave her a half hearted glare and shivered. "Easy for you to say. You don't have to face them."

Catherine grinned. "Relax, you're not running for office." Joe stopped his fidgeting and looked down into her face as she smirked. "Or are you?"

Joe laughed. "Well, let's just say that putting a cop killer away right now wouldn't hurt my career any." He straightened his shoulders and pasted a sober look on his face. "Wish me luck." He stepped up to the lectern in the conference room crowded with reporters and photographers. Joe glanced at the microphones and cameras then pulled a sheet of paper from his inside jacket pocket. "All right, I'm going to read a statement and then after that I'm not at liberty to answer any questions."

One of the reporters called out. "Aw, come on, Joe . . ."

Joe shook his head. "I'm sorry . . . I'm sorry." He cleared his throat. "Last night Curtis Jackson was arrested and charged with the murder of vice squad detective Tony Perotta. Ballistics has confirmed that the hand gun that was found in his car was the murder weapon. The district attorney office has set a preliminary hearing date and we have every reason to believe that justice will be served in a fair, but expeditious, fashion. That's all folks."

Another reporter called out. "Oh, come on, just a question . . ." He glanced at his notes. "Can you at least give us an idea about the hearing date?"

A second reporter piped up. "Are you gonna handle the case yourself?"

Joe again shook his head as he responded. "I'm sorry. I can't . . . I can't answer any more questions at this time."

A third reporter called out. "What has the reaction been to this killing in the precinct?"

This was followed close by the first reporter. "Just one or two more questions?"

Joe ignored the questions and quickly made his way to the back of the room where Catherine is waiting for him. He paused. "Well? How'd I do?"

Catherine smiled at him, her eyes dancing with humor. "Watch out, city hall."

~ o ~

Later that evening in the parlor of their brownstone Catherine and Vincent were faced with a very agitated Laura as she signed at them so fast that her message was hard for Catherine to follow. "I didn't quite get that." Catherine complained. "My sign language skills ar not that good."

Vincent spoke aloud and signed beck at Laura. "{ Slow down. I'm listening . . .}"

Laura continued to sign as Vincent interpreted for Catherine. "The wrong man?"

Laura nodded as she pointed to the news paper showing Vincent the headline "Cop Killer Caught" then she continued signing.

"You saw the killer? Is that what had you so upset last night?" Vincent inquired.

Laura nodded and signed some more.

Vincent's eyebrows rose in surprise. "She says that the killer was a white man?"

Catherine faced Laura in surprise then looked at Vincent. "And she is sure that it was this murder that she saw?"

Laura was nodding as she paced.

Vincent remarked. "The man she saw . . . Was not a black man. It could not be that man pictured in the paper."

Catherine shook her head in frustration then spoke to Laura while signing slowly. "{ But, the evidence they have against him is overwhelming. Are you positive? Where was the man when he was shot?"

Laura sighed back rapidly and Vincent interpreted to Catherine. "She's not mistaken. The man was in his car when the other man shot him."

The skepticism vanished from Catherine's face. "That information was not released to the public. I believe her." Catherine frowned then looked at Vincent. "Is she aware of what it could mean if she came forward to testify?"

Vincent saw her nod solemnly and answered for her. "She knows." He glanced at Laura. ". . . What this might mean . . . Coming forward to tell her story."

Catherine nodded in response. "I'll do everything I can to make that unnecessary but, Vincent; I honestly don't think there's any other way."

Vincent took Laura's hand, halting her nervous pacing. Laura cringed. He forced her to look at his face. "It's good that you came to us." He placed his hands on her shoulders and pronounced his words very carefully. "Don't be afraid. You're not alone, I promise. You will have Catherine there with you."

~ o ~

In the basement of Danny Yates' home the three men, Yates, Davis, and Keller, were discussing the current situation.

Laine Keller was very agitated as he spoke. "He was my partner for eight years, you son-of-a . . ."

"Hey!" Davis interrupted, trying to keep the situation from getting out of hand.

Keller just kept rolling on in full rant. "How the hell could you do it, Danny?"

Danny Yates shot back heatedly. "You ought to thank me for doing your dirty work."

Keller reached out and grabbed Yates who responded by threatening Keller with a pool cue. Keller yelled back aggressively. Come on! Come on!"

By now Davis was getting angry at both of the other men. "Back off! Both of you! Now I'm sorry, Laine, but Danny only did what he had to. Now you know how Tony was, especially the last couple of weeks. He would have blown it for us. All of us. Anyway . . . It's over with. Now if you're going to blame Danny, you might as well blame me, too."

Keller backed down a bit. "What about Jackson?" He looked over at Davis.

Davis grinned evilly. "Oh . . . We got him cold. Murder weapon, motive. All we have to do is sit tight and let the system do its thing. He was a punk. Whatever he gets, he deserves.

Yates took on a more placating tone. "Look, Laine, I want you to know I only did what was necessary. Tony was a good man." He paused dramatically. "But what we are talking about . . ." Yates produced a cellophane wrapped package containing white powder. ". . . Is a hundred-thousand dollars here . . ." He shook the package. "This month and every month, from now on."

Yates' wife entered at that point with beers for the men. Yates took one. "Thanks, hon."

Davis also accepted a beer. "Thank you."

Maggie Yates turned toward Keller. "Drink?" Keller reluctantly took the offered beer and Maggie touched his shoulder sympathetically. "I'm so sorry about Tony."

Keller nodded to her. "Yeah, Maggie . . . Me, too." Then he glared at the two men over her shoulder.

~ BB ~

First thing the next morning Catherine was in the interview room talking to Jackson. Jackson looked suspiciously at Catherine as he remarked sarcastically. "Now, that's a new one on me. Since when does the DA's office go around trying to get people off, hmm? I know . . . That's some kind of new psychology, right?"

Catherine ignored the remarks as she continued keeping a controlled even tone. "How long were you out of prison?"

Jackson shrugged. "Almost a year."

Catherine continued while glancing down at the open folder before her. "Your parole office tells me you were meeting regularly."

Jackson shrugged again still maintaining his sarcastic demeanor. "Every week, ma'am. And I also help little old ladies cross the street. And I go to church every Sunday and repent my sins."

Catherine had finally had enough of his attitude and her face and voice became as cold and hard as steel. "Let's get this straight. A man who sells drugs to kids doesn't deserve to see the light of day . . . Ever." Now her voice dripped sarcasm. "They tell me you're rehabilitated. Congratulations." The cold hard voice returned. "But if it were up to me, I'd have buried you. Now, I am here because I don't believe you killed Detective Perotta, and I want to find out who did, and you are going to help me."

Jackson was taken aback by her sudden shift in demeanor and there was just a bit less attitude in his response. "Yeah, a lot of good that'll do."

Catherine's voice returned to its reasonable tone but the steel did not leave her eyes. "Tell me about the threats you were supposed to have made against Perotta."

Jackson seemed a bit more cowed as he was forced to drop his eyes from her steely gaze. "Look, man, that was a long time ago and it was stupid and he was the cop who busted me. I . . . I was mad and I said some stupid things, you know?"

Catherine kept up the pressure. "How did that gun get in your car?"

Jackson shrugged again in frustration. "How the hell do I know? Somebody put it there."

Catherine pressed on. "Any ideas who?"

Jackson shot back in a combination of frustration and anger. "What do you want . . . A list?"

Catherine nodded with a cold mirthless grin. "Yeah, that's exactly what I want."

~ o ~

An hour and a half later, Catherine entered the 29th precinct reception area and approached the desk officer. "Excuse me; I'm looking for a detective Keller."

The Desk Officer looked up. "Third desk, right back there. Uh, the guy in the striped shirt."

Catherine responded politely. "Thank you." She then turned and approached the detective's desk. "Detective Keller?"

Keller glanced up and responded. "That's me."

Catherine continued. "I'm Catherine Chandler with the District Attorney's Office."

Keller stood up to shake Catherine's hand while giving her the once over. "How ya doing?"

"I'm sorry about Lieutenant Perotta." Catherine remarked.

Keller nodded back to her then looked down at his desk. "Yeah. Me, too. Have a seat." Meanwhile Yates had taken an interest and was watching from his nearby desk. Keller continued talking. "Eight years is a long time. Do you have anything to do with nailing Jackson?"

Catherine replied. "Yes."

Keller nodded mostly to himself then responded. "I appreciate it. We all do. Believe me, it's no small consolation." Yates shifted his position moving to within easy hearing distance.

Catherine forged ahead. "Detective Keller, I don't believe Curtis Jackson killed your partner."

Keller's head shot up and he stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

Catherine dropped the bomb. "We may have an eyewitness."

Keller's eyes opened wide and his Adam's apple bobbed nervously. "What eyewitness? Who? . . . Who says Jackson didn't do it?"

Catherine shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm not at liberty to disclose that at this time."

Keller frowned angrily. "Jackson killed my partner. He had it out for Tony. Everyone knew it. They just about caught him in the act."

Catherine Nodded sympathetically. "Yes, I know. He says he was set up." She shrugged. "My witness however states quite clearly that your partner was killed by a white man, not a black man. That pretty well eliminates Jackson."

Keller shook his head. "Look, um, I'm sorry I flew off. It's just, you know, you come in here and you lay this on me like a ton of bricks. Now I don't know what to think."

Catherine reached out and touched his upper arm. "I understand. If you have a few minutes, I'd like to ask you some questions about recent cases, anybody else who might have had a motive. Just preliminary, but it might give me a place to start looking."

Keller now shrugged. "Sure, I got a few minutes."

Catherine smiled encouragingly at Keller. "Okay, let's start with your most recent cases."

~ o ~

Late in the afternoon Joe poked his head out of his office. "Chandler, you got a second?"

Catherine glanced toward Joe. That did not sound good. Joe rarely called her Chandler unless he was unhappy about something. She turned her attention back to the two co-workers she had been talking to. "Excuse me . . ." She jogged over to Joes office closing the door behind her as she entered. Joe was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Definitely a bad sign.

"Cathy, just what the hell do you think you're doing? Yesterday everything was beautiful. We'd closed a major investigation in record time with textbook perfection and today . . . Today I find out you've been sniffing around behind my back. Questioning Detective Keller and throwing doubt on our case."

Catherine placed her hands on the back of one of the guest chairs as she responded. "Joe, I'm having second thoughts. I wanted to make sure I could bring you something solid before I said anything."

Joe looked at her in surprise. "What?! Why didn't you come to me yesterday with your second thoughts?"

Catherine took a deep calming breath and replied. "Because yesterday I didn't know there was a witness." She paused tilting her head as she continued. "There was a witness, Joe. I just found out last night."

Joe took a few seconds to recover from the shock of her revelation. Like her, he took a deep calming breath (something she had taught him) before continuing. "Can you produce this witness?"

Catherine glanced back at the closed door then responded cautiously. "I can if I have to but I would rather not. The witness is a deaf girl named Laura. She comes from the tunnels below."

Joe nodded. "Yea, I can see where that could pose a problem." He stared thoughtfully at the floor. "You already know about what happened to my father. I want whoever was responsible for that cop's death and I want it to be the right culprit. Do whatever you have to do to find this guy." He sat down at his desk as Catherine opened his door. "And Radcliffe . . ." She paused looking back at him. "Be careful." She nodded and left the office as Joe began flipping through the case file on the Officer Tony Perotta murder. It looked like things weren't quite as cut and dried as they had appeared.

Catherine returned to her desk and began planning out her campaign to find the real killer of Tony Perotta. She didn't want to drag Laura into having to testify if she could avoid it. Maybe she could bring Laura to the police station and have her try to identify the killer from a mug shot without telling the police what case it involved. She could say that Laura was a mugging victim. Then she could look for evidence against the killer once Laura identified him. If she found enough evidence to convict the killer, she could say that she had followed an anonymous tip and Laura could stay out of it. Getting Laura directly involved would be a last resort.

Catherine began going through the records of all of the arrests made by Tony and his partner. This would take the rest of her day.

~ o ~

It had been a long day going through the large stack of arrest records and it was after dark by the time Catherine stepped up to her brownstone. She smiled while rummaging in her bag for her keys. She could feel Vincent approaching from below and despite her fatigue the feel of his approach energized her. She was anxious to be in their home to meet him when he arrived. Little Edward was spending a couple of days with Vincent's mother and stepfather so they would have the place to themselves tonight. She smiled to herself. She had plans for the two of them tonight.

Catherine inserted the key into the lock just as the door was yanked wide open, pulling her inside. A masked thug grabbed her and threw her against the wall, knocking the wind out of her, as another masked thug hastily shut the door. The next instant the second thug grabbed her arms and held them tightly and painfully behind her. This man was definitely an expert. She struggled but was finding it impossible to do anything useful against the man holding her.

The first masked thug spoke. "Turn her around." As she was hauled around the first thug slapped her hard making her head swim. Then he spoke again. "The only thing worse than a cop killer, is somebody who covers up for one. Back off!" He reared back and punched her in the gut causing her to double over from the pain. Then she was thrown to the floor where she laid coughing and puking. The larger thug kicked her where she lay.

In that instant Vincent burst into the room with a roar of pure rage. Both men yelled in terror as the terrifying apparition charged down on them. Vincent grabbed the larger man and threw him against the wall hard enough to leave an impression in the plaster and the man dropped to the ground unconscious. The second man screamed in terror as, the next instant, Vincent turned and swung on him, knocking him down. He hit the floor so hard that he was knocked out as well.

For several seconds Vincent stood there flexing his claws as he fought to regain control of himself. He had come so close to using his claws on those two thugs. He still felt the urge to rip them to shreds for attacking his wife.

Once he was in control he knelt down to check on Catherine. She blinked blearily up at Vincent and gasped out his name. She was doubled up from a lot of pain in her abdomen. Afraid to move her he first made a quick call to Joe to let him know what happened then he called 911 to report the break-in and assault.

~ BB ~

Catherine woke up feeling woozy and slightly disconnected. She weakly called out Vincent's name. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and heard Joe's voice. "Take it easy Cathy. You've just had major surgery but you're safe now." She opened her eyes to see Joe's face looking down sympathetically at her. At the same time she felt Vincent's worried loving presence. He was somewhere below her.

She glanced around and realized that she was in a hospital room. "What . . . ?"

A hint of anger entered Joe's voice. "Those bastards did some serious internal damage to you but the surgeon says that you will be OK."

Catherine inquired weakly. "Vincent . . . He didn't . . ."

Joe glanced over his shoulder before responding in a low voice. "Vincent is just fine. He kept his claws sheathed and those two are alive and in jail. It's a good thing I got to your place before the police and paramedics. It might have been a bit difficult to explain what happened without me to cover for you. As it was you were pretty much out of it."

"Who . . . ?" Catherine asked.

Joe's face hardened. "It was Yates and Davis."

Catherine took a moment to digest this. She was slowly emerging from the fog of the anesthetic. She glanced around at the sterile hospital room once more then asked. "So what happened?"

Joe responded. "Yates, Davis Keller and Perotta had stolen a seized shipment of cocaine from the evidence vault. The two kilos of cocaine we recovered from Yates's basement . . . They're from the Ricardo bust last month . . ." Joe had to stop and take a deep calming breath. There was nothing Joe hated more than a corrupt cop. "Both sets of partners were in on it." He shook his head. "It turns out that Internal Affairs was already looking into the missing cocaine. When the murder of Perotta went down it was only a matter of time before their whole operation would have fallen apart like a house of cards and I.A lowered the boom." He again shook his head at the irony of it all then grinned, half heartedly, at Catherine as he gently squeezed her shoulder. "But you got there first." He paused a moment then continued. "Yates was the leader but Davis was just as bad."

After a moment to digest what she had just been told Catherine asked. "What about Keller."

Joe snorted as he responded. "He's glad it's over. His partner's murder hit him pretty hard." Joe Nodded grimly. "Keller rolled on Yates and Davis. When Perotta got cold feet, Yates killed him and set up Jackson."

Catherin nodded thoughtfully and responded. "Mmm-hmm. Only Yates didn't count on a witness being there."

Joe nodded back. "No he didn't. When you started asking questions, Yates felt trapped and came after you." Another squeeze on her shoulder. "You get some rest. I need to get back to the office. This thing has generated a shit-load of paperwork."

~ BB ~

Two days later at the brownstone Vincent, Catherine and Joe were sitting in the parlor. Catherine had little Edward cradled in her arms as the infant began to drift off to sleep.

Joe was responding to Catherine's worry about the possible exposure of Vincent's existence. "Davis has made a few references to Vincent's appearance but no one believes him. The court psychiatrist says that his macho cop's ego is severely bruised by the encounter and he is compensating by exaggerating the ferocity of his opponent."

Catherine sighed with relief. "That makes me feel a bit better. I was a very worried about how any close scrutiny might impact Vincent and Edward."

Joe smiled momentarily at the infant. He then continued. "With Keller's testimony it looks like we will be able to handle this case without getting your witness involved."

Catherine nodded. "Though Laura says that she is ready and willing to testify, I'm sure she will be relieved that it won't be necessary."

Joe thought a moment then inquired. "I don't visit below as often as I like but I thought I knew everyone by now." He shook his head. "I just don't remember Laura."

Vincent responded to Joe. "Laura tends to be very reclusive. I'm sure you've seen her at Winterfest but you probably didn't notice her. It took a lot of courage on her part to be willing to come forward as a witness.

Catherine jumped in at this point. "When Laura first came to us she was only a child. Alone. Frightened. Based on what we were able to learn from her, it seems that her parents had abandoned her in the park. I supposed they wanted a 'normal' daughter." Catherine paused, frowning at the injustice.

Vincent took over. "There was a friend . . . A helper . . . Who found her and brought her to us where it was safe . . . Where she could know love. In the beginning, she was so incredibly shy." Vincent paused a moment as memories swept through him. "I remember how she used to collect things, things that would make sound . . . Keep them on her bedside table . . . Alarm clocks . . . Bells . . . Buzzers . . . And she would hold them to her ear . . . Feeling the vibrations . . . Trying to hear the stolen sounds. It broke my heart."

Catherine smiled at Vincent. "And you became her teacher."

Vincent looked over at Catherine then gently touched the dozing infant's cheek. "I became her friend."

Joe glanced at both of them, his eyes filled with sympathy, then looked back at Vincent. "Can she speak . . . At all?"

Catherine glanced fondly at Vincent. "She speaks . . . With her hands . . . A beautiful language." She cocked her head slightly and shrugged. "Vincent and I both learned sign when she first came to us but he is so much better at it than I am. When the two of them get into a really animated . . ." She snickered at the unintended pun then continued. "Ah intense conversations I have trouble keeping up."

Vincent smiled indulgently. "You do OK."

Catherine shrugged, smiling back at him. "Not as well as you."

Joe smiled and remarked. "Maybe you can teach me a little bit. I would like to, at least, be able to say hello to her at the next Winterfest when I expect you to introduce me to her."

The End (of episode 11)

'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.