Author's Note: Updates may still be slow for a bit. I haven't had as much time to write still and I'm trying to figure out how I want to address some of the elements from the actual show that don't necessarily fit with this story.
"I'm late for an appointment which he's detaining me from," Kellie said, hoping to avoid a confrontation with Kristina, "I will call you later unless you plan on stopping by Dante and Lulu's."
Kellie hugged Kristina and turned to leave.
"If you change your mind," Shiloh said, "My offer to help Alyssa still stands."
"Kellie that's a great idea," Kristina said, "I think you should consider…"
Kellie turned around, "I will say this one more time, the answer is no."
"Just hear Shiloh out," Kristina said.
"It can't hurt what do you have to lose," Shiloh said.
"The last time I checked, Mr. Archer, you were not licensed or specialized in counseling children dealing with traumatic events," Kellie said, "You will not be treating my daughter now or ever."
Kellie turned around, leaving as Johnny trailed behind her.
Kellie and Johnny were standing outside Neil's office.
"Have you ever just wanted to pummel someone, Johnny?" Kellie asked, "Do you have any idea how badly I wanted to wipe that smirk off Shiloh's face?"
""The look on Shiloh's face when you told him he wasn't trained was priceless."" Johnny said.
"I had to leave Kristina with him and not say a word about him being connected to Garrett," Kellie said, "So I don't tip him off."
"You've got this," Johnny said, "I frankly don't understand what all those Dawnies see in him."
Neil opened his office door looking for Kellie.
"Are you Kellie Corinthos-Morgan?" Neil asked.
"Guilty as charged," Kellie said, "I take it you're Dr. Byrne."
"Yes, Come on in," Neil said holding the door open, "Is your uhh guy here joining us?"
"Bodyguard," Kellie said, "And no, he'll stay outside the door."
"Inside Neil's office, Kellie and Neil both took a seat.
"What brings you here today?" Neil asked.
"My daughter," Kellie replied, "Alyssa Scott, She was brought in the other night after being kidnapped and…."
"Seeing you kidnapped," Neil said, "Among other things."
"I was hoping you could you might be able to tell me how I can best help her cope with everything," Kellie said, "Obviously the child psychologists that will work with her will have to something. But since you saw her initially..."
"The truth is is Mrs. Morgan," Neil said, "You can't help your daughter. Not in the way you're asking. The best thing you do is work with the specialists she'll be seeing. They'll let you know if there's anything you need to be doing. Let them do their job while you deal with your own trauma."
"That's not quite what I was expecting," Kellie said.
"Your daughter wasn't the only one that suffered a trauma that day," Neil said, "You did too. You can't help your daughter unless you take of yourself first. Otherwise you risk hindering your daughter's healing and your own."
Kellie didn't respond right away.
"I don't mean to be harsh if it seems that way," Neil said.
"You're not," Kellie said, "Because I know you're right. With everything that's gone on I haven't wanted to think about that part of it. Or keep pretending it doesn't exist so I don't go insane."
"It's understandable given everything you and your daughter have been through.," Neil said. The two continued to talk until it was time for Kellie to leave.
"Thank you," Kellie said, getting up, "Especially for saying what I needed to hear and not what I wanted to hear."
"Your daughter will be just fine," Neil said, "I suspect she'll be better than fine. It sounds like she's got you and plenty of good people in her corner. She'll bounce back eventually. You both will."
Dante and Lulu's
Later, Kellie was at Dante and Lulu's waiting with everyone else to throw Dante a surprise party.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kellie asked Olivia, "Dante just came back from undercover work that…"
"It's not like this is the first time, Dante's done undercover work," Olivia said, "He needs to see his family and know that we support him."
"I just don't know that surprising him is…" Kellie said, she was cut off by the door opening and people cheering.
Kellie watched as Dante looked taken aback and startled, but he quickly recovered
Before Kellie left, she managed to pull Dante off to the side.
"How are you doing, really?" Kellie asked.
"I'm good," Dante said brushing everything off.
"And that's why you looked about ready to jump out of your skin when you showed up to your apartment," Kellie replied, "to unexpected company and loud noises."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Dante said.
"That would probably work on almost everyone else," Kellie said, "But you forget I used to be an undercover agent too. You might have most of our family fooled, but I know you're not okay."
"I've got it handled," Dante said, "You have enough on your plate."
"Dante, I'm just saying I'm here to talk if you need to," Kellie said, "If you don't talk to me, then talk to somebody."
"You're worrying too much," Dante said.
"Just promise me you'll talk to someone," Kellie said, "Take it from someone who's been there."
"Don't you have three, actually now four kids to worry over?" Dante asked, "Speaking of which did you see the doctors since you got back? Make sure you and my new niece or nephew are fine."
"This morning actually," Kellie said, "Everyone's healthy. And I'm glad you're home by the way. But I do have to go home and rescue Charles from whatever shenanigans the kids are up to."
"Give the little munchkins my best," Dante said, hugging, "And you just focus on them and yourself, I've got everything handled."
Kellie looked at Dante skeptically, "I'll just pretend I buy that for now."
The Dawn of Day House
Shiloh was by himself when his phone rang.
"Garrett," Shiloh said, "I'm actually surprised to hear from you. I would have figured that your phone access would be limited."
"I have my ways," Garrett said, "Look the feds raided and froze everything. I need you to enact our emergency plan right away
"It's too risky," Shiloh said, "Let your high-priced attorney get you out of this."
"I don't have that kind of time," Garrett said, "I need to be able to hold up my end of the operations."
"Maybe you should have thought of that before you let your obsession with Kellie Corinthos jeopardize everything we've been working towards," Shiloh said, "I have my hands full enough as it is making sure Dawn of Day can stand on its own without your help. I'm being forced to rely on other means of staying afloat."
"What other means could you possibly have?" Garrett asked, "I remember when I met you."
"My other means are not your concern," Shiloh said, "Look, you're just going to have to sit tight. Maybe reconsider some of your life choices, remember what's important, and quit focusing solely on Kellie Corinthos."
"She ruined my family," Garrett said.
"And Sam McCall did the same to me," Shiloh said, "But you don't see me veering outside the plan."
"That's easy to say when she seems to be walking right into your cult," Garrett said.
"It's not a cult," Shiloh said, "But what I'm saying is maybe if you had stuck to the original plan, you might have actually gotten revenge against Kellie Corinthos instead of these pathetic failing attempts that you've had."
"I'd choose your words carefully," Garrett said, "I'd hate for them to be your last."
"If you hadn't just called me for assistance with your situation," Shiloh said, "I might actually be scared."
Kellie & Jason's house
After Kellie put the kids to bed, she found Jason at the pool table.
"How did things go with Danny and Jake today?" Kellie asked, grabbing a pool cue.
"It went okay," Jason said, racking the balls, "But it could have been worse."
"Let me guess Danny didn't take it well," Kellie said.
"He disappeared upstairs," Jason said, "After telling me since he doesn't ever come here, the baby was of no concern to him."
"I'm sorry," Kellie said, "It's not like we didn't expect him to be happy about it. It's just I know that it's been rough for you with him. Especially when he runs hot and cold with you. You never know if he's going to cancel on you either."
"It was fun spending time with both him and Jake," Jason said, motioning for Kellie to break "And Danny has the right to his feelings."
"I don't begrudge him that all," Kellie said, lining up her shot, "But how long does he get a free pass on his behavior."
Kellie broke the balls, a solid color going into the corner pocket.
"He has been through a lot," Jason said.
"I tried to use that excuse with Alyssa," Kellie said, taking another shot, sinking another ball, "She ran away and ended up kidnapped last year. Danny did runaway to Niagara falls. What if he tries to take off again?"
Kellie missed her third shot. Jason lined up to take his shot.
"You have a very valid point," Jason said, "But I'm at a loss as to what to do about it. When I came back, Danny was rightfully confused considering everyone thought Drew was me. I'm still trying to earn his respect back."
"I have not made that any easier," Kellie said, "I hate that our relationship has made things more difficult for you with Danny."
Jason sunk his second shot.
"You don't have anything to be sorry for," Jason said, "Hopefully he'll realize that life isn't always fair and he'll eventually come around."
"I hope so," Kellie said, moving closer to Jason as he lined up his third shot. She ran her fingers through his hair.
"That's not going to work," Jason said.
"Says the man it's worked on every time I've tried it," Kellie said, leaning against the table, near his arm.
Jason reposition his aim, putting his arms on either side of her. He kissed her, catching her off guard. Jason took the shot and sunk another ball.
"You were saying," Jason said.
"That won't happen again," Kellie said.
"How did things go with Finn and Dr Byrne?" Jason asked, missing his next shot.
Kellie rolled her eyes, knowing he missed on purpose.
"They told me not be so hard on myself," Kellie said, lining up her shot "To let her doctors worry about her trauma and for me focus on mine. It wasn't what I wanted to hear, but he had a point."
Kellie made the next shots and lined up a third shot as Jason leaned over her.
"You're going to miss," Jason said, "You need to move slightly to the left."
Kellie took the shot without adjusting and missed.
"I told you," Jason said, cracking a smile.
"Just wait," Kellie said.
"How did things go with the party for Dante?" Jason asked, lining up the next shot.
"Turns out it was a surprise party," Kellie said, "Which was not a good idea considering Dante just came back from some rough undercover work."
He didn't hurt anyone did he?" Jason asked.
"No, he was pretty startled," Kellie said, "He covered. I don't think anyone else noticed. What made you ask if he hurt someone?"
Jason stopped playing pool and looked at Kellie realizing he'd been busted.
"What aren't you telling me?" Kellie asked.
"At the MetroCourt earlier today, one of the staff dropped and broke something," Jason replied, "It made a loud noise like gunfire or an explosion. Dante was there and he startled. He grabbed a knife. I had to talk him down. I don't even think he knew where he was or what was actually going on."
"And you're just now telling me this," Kellie asked.
"I didn't want to worry you," Jason said, "And I'm glad that party didn't scare Dante too badly. If I'd known it was a surprise party though I'd have said something sooner."
"You can't protect me from everything," Kellie said, "It's not like I don't know something is off with him. He won't talk to me. I can't figure out what bothers me about it."
Jason took Kellie's pool cue and set both cues on the table, "Let's think this through. Dante just came back from an undercover mission where he had to be rescued from. Not mention he went rogue and the WSB couldn't be actively involved in the search for him when he dropped off the radar. Like Dante, you were an undercover agent yourself. I think the question is what did you encounter while you were undercover that makes you think of how your brother is now."
"There were a couple of small busts with other agents in Europe to start with," Kellie said, "After that was the case you and Luke helped me with."
"The stolen brainwashing program," Jason said, "which we later found out belonged to Helena Cassadine and Helena tried to use on you."
"But she couldn't and neither could whoever stole it when they tried it on me," Kellie said, "I had to spend time in one of the WSB facilities where they dealt with that kind of thing. And the people that were in the beginning stages of treatment there, the ones that were brainwashed, they had this hollow look in their eyes. The same look Dante has."
Kellie slammed her hands down on the pool table.
Jason wrapped his arms around Kellie and whispered, "It's okay."
"No it's not, Jason," Kellie said, "Not when I think Dante was exposed to some kind of brainwashing."
"You and the WSB deprogrammed Alexis years ago," Jason said, "Is it possible that.."
"I don't know," Kellie said, "Alexis didn't have that vacant look. I don't know what type of programming could have been used on Dante….and…."
"And what," Jason said.
"The patients at the facility with the vacant look," Kellie said, "They didn't fair well even with treatment. The whole process is brutal. If Dante doesn't think he's brainwashed and it turns out he is, it'll be that much harder."
"Well it's late," Jason said, "And you're not going to solve it tonight. Why don't you sleep on it and figure out what to do in the morning. Maybe call Robert or Anna. They might have an idea."
"Actually I should call Scorpio now," Kellie said, "I promised I would if I came up with something. Sorry to interrupt our game."
"We can finish later," Jason said.
"I'll make it up to you after I call Scorpio," Kellie said, kissing Jason, before leaving the room.