Someone knocked on Tori's door. She went to open and sighed loudly at the sight of Becky there. It had been about a month since Roman, Seth and Dean left. She had lost her job and divided the nation between believing and not believing her. Not once had she thought she'd actually see Becky again.
"You have got to be kidding me," Tori said.
"We need to talk," Becky said.
Becky pushed her way inside Tori's house.
"Why don't you come inside, Becky?" Tori asked sarcastically.
Becky crossed her arms and stared at Tori.
"Where's Seth?" Becky asked.
"How the fuck should I know?" Tori asked. "You saw the footage like everyone else in America. They put a gun to my fucking head, Becky. A gun! I was beaten, kidnapped, and Roman tried to kill me by strangulation. Why are you even here?"
"You were trying to fuck him. Did you? Did you fuck him, you little slut?" Becky asked.
"You realize you're inside my house, right? Calm the fuck down or I will call the police for trespassing," Tori said.
Becky kept standing with her arms crossed. She started tapping her foot as if she was an annoyed customer waiting for the manager.
"I didn't fuck any of them. There's nothing between me and Seth, and from what he told me, there's nothing between him and you either," Tori said.
Becky slapped Tori hard. Before Tori could get a chance at gathering her composure, Becky jumped Tori. How Becky had managed to put a knucklebuster on her hand that fast, Tori would never know. She just knew she saw stars from the very first punch. She didn't remember much after that. Next thing she knew, she woke up in a hospital bed in pain.
"You're awake," a nurse smiled at her.
Tori tried sitting up and groaned in pain.
"Easy, darling. Nice and slowly," the nurse helped her up. "You took an awful beating. The police wanna talk to you about that. I hope you remember who did this to you. Whoever it was needs to be behind bars."
"It was Becky," Tori groaned. "Who are you?"
"Right, I should have introduced myself first. My name is Naomi, and I'm a big fan of your work, Tori. For the record, I always believed your story. You had nothing to do with what those three men did," Naomi said.
"Thanks," Tori said. "Mind calling the station and make them rehire me?"
Naomi grinned at Tori.
"You'll see, darling. Something bigger is waiting for you. Nothing happens in life without a reason. You got fired because there's something better in store for you," Naomi said.
"I wish I had your enthusiasm," Tori said.
"Wait and see. Once you leave here, I'll have you turned into a mini me," Naomi chuckled. "It looks like you have to stay for a little while. It was a nasty beating. Your ribs are bruised. One of your shoulders were out of place. We put it back but it'll hurt for a long time. You're covered in bruises but nothing's broken as far as we can tell. We still need to keep you for a while. At least a day or two."
"It's fine," Tori said. "It's not like I got anywhere else to be."
Two days later Tori stepped out of a cap and looked at her house. The front door was open. No surprise there. They probably had left it open when they found her and brought her to the hospital. From what she had been told, some kids had dared each other to look in through the windows at the scary reporter's place, and they had seen her on the floor and called for help.
"Home sweet hell," she sighed.
She stepped inside and sighed even deeper. The house had been trashed. Someone had used her days away and the unlocked front door to turn her house upside down. Probably someone who thought she had been working with Roman, Seth and Dean all along.
"I hate my life," she said lowly.
She closed the front door and walked over the shards of glass. She needed something to drink. She headed for the kitchen, found the bottle of vodka in a cabinet and filled some in a glass. She leaned against the counter, closed her eyes and emptied the glass. She hissed at the burn. It felt good.
"Are you okay?" Roman asked.
Her eyes flew open. She couldn't believe he was there. He looked concerned.
"Shit, the painkillers they gave me is some of the fun stuff," she grinned.
"No, I'm here," he stepped up to her. "Here, feel me."
He took her hand and placed is on his chest. He really was there.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"I saw what happened on the news. How could I not come back for you?" He asked.
"How the hell did you even get here?" She asked.
"You got your ways, and I got my ways. Funny how they're the same ways nowadays. I made sure to convince your contact to be mine too. He gave me the pet name dog. Big dog even. He's a funny guy," he said.
"So you came back in the way you went out? That sounds risky and even stupid," she said.
"I'm here, aren't I?" He asked. "And I kept covered up for the cameras. They don't know it's me."
"How long are you staying?" She asked.
"Only till tomorrow," he answered.
She placed both hands on his chest and pushed him away with a sigh.
"You can stay the night but we're not sleeping together. I can't believe you came all this way for a fuck just to leave me again," she said.
"I'm not leaving without you," he said. "Not this time."
"I'm still not sleeping with you," she said.
"Yes, you are," he smirked. "Not tonight. Not until you're healed. But once we get there and you're feeling good again, I'm gonna lay you down on my silk sheets and make you see stars."
"Becky made me see stars. It wasn't fun," she said.
He furrowed his brows at that. He knew it was Becky who had beat her up. Tori had given the name to the police right away.
"Sorry, bad joke," she said. "The right kind of stars are good. Silk sheets, huh? I didn't take you for a man who likes that."
"There's a lot about me you don't know," he said.
"I don't doubt that," she said.
He stepped up to her and gently stroked her cheek before leaning down to kiss her.
"I fucked up the first time around," he said.
"You did," she agreed.
"I should have taken you with me. I didn't believe you when you said things would turn out this way. I'm sorry. Let me make this right. Leave with me tomorrow. We've built a nice life. We even opened a beach bar. It's a big hit. We live well. But I need something more in my life. I need you," he said.
"About time you came to your senses," she said.
She pulled him down for another kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and she hissed at the pain in her ribs.
"Sorry, I knew that. I gotta be careful for a while," he said.
"Did you read the injury report?" She asked.
"Of course," he stroked her cheek again. "I read it and called our contact right away. I was out of there an hour later. I arrived this morning. I've been waiting for you to come home. I was scared I'd have to go to the hospital tonight in order to find you."
He pecked her lips and smiled at her.
"Come with me," he said.
"I will," she said.
"I got your passport," he grinned. "I stole it last time and kept it. Maybe I always knew I would come back for you one day."
Roman and Tori kept their hoods up as they ran down the harbor and jumped on board the waiting boat. It started sailing right away.
"You know, Becky will probably go free now when I won't be there to testify against her," she said.
"She still lost," he said. "She lost Seth and her credibility. Her name is all over the news. Everyone knows what she did to you."
"Some people call her a hero," she said.
"And some people call her a coward," he said. "She'll be in your shoes now. Hated by some, loved by others."
"It's no fun," she said.
"I know," he said.
He pulled her in for another kiss as gently as he could. Healing would take some time but he would be there every step of the way.
"Come here," he said.
He took her hand and went to sit in front of the boat so they could watch as they sailed away. He waited until they were out in international waters where no one had the authority to arrest him. Not that it would matter if the people he used to work for knew he was there. They were above the law apparently. Luckily no one was there.
"Let's call the boys," he said.
He stood up and walked inside where a radio was. She followed right after. It made some scratching sounds while he searched for the right channel.
"Seth? Dean?" Roman called.
"We're here," Dean said.
"How is she?" Seth asked.
"She was good all things considering" Roman answered.
Roman winked at Tori and she smiled back in return.
"Fuck, she stayed, didn't she?" Dean asked. "I'm sorry, Roman."
"Me too," Seth said.
"Don't be," Roman said.
"I know how much this meant to you," Seth said.
Roman couldn't stop laughing at that point.
"What the hell are you laughing at?" Dean asked.
"Hi, guys," Tori said.
"Tori! Baby doll!" Dean yelled. "What's your favorite food? Seth's cooking for you tomorrow when you arrive."
"Sure, leave it to me," Seth chuckled. "But he's right. I'll cook whatever you want."
"I kinda liked your campfire roasted chicken," Tori said.
"Yes, we'll make a fire in the garden and roast a big ass chicken. I'll do that for you. Now, Roman, be good to her. She has my permission to throw you overboard if you misbehave," Seth said.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Roman said.
He turned off the radio and grinned at Tori.
"Are you sure you wanna live with us?" He asked.
"Too late to back out," she chuckled.
She grabbed his t-shirt and pulled him down for a kiss.
"I'm sure," she said.
"Me too," he said.
"One day someone's gonna do a documentary on me," she said. "The mystery of Tori Millis. What happened to her? Where did she go? Some says she was killed and buried. Some says she's living on Mount Fuji. Some says she was kidnapped by aliens. Join us tonight as we dive into the mystery and try to figure out what really happened."
"You're crazy!" He laughed. "But a good kind of crazy. We're gonna be sitting on the couch stuffing ourselves with popcorn when that show airs."