Heads up: I just watched episode 14 – Parisian Legend Has It... - and I am beyond words. I wrote this before it aired but had to go back through for edits. Just popping in here to say that I already have all this planned, and it's an AU anyway, so I don't really intend on drawing anything from the episodes unless there's something that fits in. I hope you all enjoyed the return – and that you aren't as upset as I am about there only being episodes through May. Why can't it last all year?! D:

The manor was glowing with all manner of gold, greens and browns, which decorated the entrance and cleared-out living room in an appropriately-themed representation of Steven's foundation. He sat at the piano in the attached study, gazing out at it as Fallon made her way around in a glittering dress reminiscent of the one she wore at her twenty-fifth birthday party. Steven, of course, was less eager, and had merely donned a suit with a green tie and gold mask that he hadn't pulled down over his face yet.

Getting back into the swing of things was proving to be difficult, not half because he was unconvinced that finding out why he had been gone would be very difficult if anybody really wanted to look. And after Fallon's own PR disaster, he wasn't eager to inadvertently talk to the wrong people if he couldn't tell who was who.

Turns out, getting in over your head with the wrong people wasn't just a Culhane issue anymore. Only Steven had wanted out, and they had not taken particularly kindly to that.

"Steven?"

Sam was in the doorway, now, and probably had been for a few long moments without Steven noticing. "Sorry," he offered with a slight sigh, taking in Sam's almost-expected leopard print suit jacket. "Just... lost in thought."

Sam frowned sympathetically, moving to sit next to Steven on the piano bench. He set his hand palm-up on his leg, waiting for Steven to drop his own atop it. "I'm pretty sure Fallon planned this party to make sure you wouldn't have to play nice with the investors more than you want to. It'll be fine. And if anything goes a little weird, I'll come and rescue you."

Steven smiled a little at that. "As usual."

Over in the newly-designated party space, Fallon turned to greet Kirby as she came in from the kitchen. "Ready?"

"Yep," Kirby nodded. "Kitchen and serving staff are good to go. Dad is on top of it, like he always is." An eyebrow lifted curiously. "You think they're going to show?"

"Well, even if he does bring Ashley," Fallon began almost automatically, "I promised I wouldn't do anything about it."

Kirby's smirk had Fallon frowning in confusion. "I meant Michael and Ada."

"... Right. Well, we'll see, won't we?"

Fallon turned and wandered off to pretend she was working on last-minute fixes to the centerpieces in the middle of the scattered high tables that were set out for people to set their drinks and plates on. Watching her go, Kirby just shook her head and made her way over to check on Steven.

The guests showed up appropriately on time or slightly late, as Fallon had expected. But more than half an hour passed and she didn't catch sight of Michael or Liam at all. Maybe neither of them had decided it was worth coming. Fallon continued to try and play hostess when her brother couldn't, and frankly, it wasn't hard to spot her amongst the crowd. Intentionally, of course, on her part.

So when yet another person approached her, tapping gently on her shoulder, Fallon wasn't surprised. But then she looked at them. "You made it," she offered, putting on a falsely easy smile as she realized almost instantly that it was Liam.

"You seem surprised. I thought being late was in fashion?" He joked, but quickly shrugged. "Or whatever the rule is supposed to be. Have you seen them yet?"

"Kirby is playing lookout, but nothing so far."

He nodded, and they fell into heavily awkward silence until Fallon couldn't stand it anymore.

"Did you want to talk to Steven? Or, want a drink or anything? Where's Ashley?"

Fallon stopped short as the question escaped without her really wanting it to. Making things weird would only increase the discomfort, and she had never thought of herself as someone who tended to do that sort of thing. Clearly she had it in her, though.

Liam didn't respond straight away, but when he spoke it was with a sort of calm that Fallon feared was borne out of his frustration with her pushing things. "I'm sure Steven is already sort of overwhelmed. But as for Ashley... We're not together anymore. Not since... you know."

She had to catch herself as the urge to quite literally let her jaw drop came on. They what? She'd brought Ashley up several times, and he'd never said anything. "Oh. I'm sorry."

He shook his head a little. "Everyone knew we weren't going to last."

"Oh?"

"Fallon, can we just... not? It's over, and we have more important things to worry about."

Right. More important than the fact that the man she loved was once again single? Sure. Except it wasn't true, in some ways. A small part of her wanted to rush around to find Kirby and tell her, but Fallon wasn't quite ready to admit that Kirby was slowly becoming her new Monica as time went on. She missed Monica, of course, but they weren't as close as they used to be.

"Of course," she agreed, nodding firmly. While her mind screamed that she now had a chance again if she tried hard enough, the evening was meant for other things. "Well, if you notice anything or see them, come find me or Kirby?"

"Okay."

So they split off, wandering their separate ways throughout the party-goers. Fallon swept past a waitress offering glasses of champagne, picking one up as she looked for Kirby, or any sign of Michael. Just as she was starting to get bored and preparing to finally go tell Kirby what she had learned, Fallon saw him.

She set her drink down almost absentmindedly at a random table, trying to circle around so that she would end up behind him. But Fallon could certainly admit that perhaps it would've been wiser to wear something less, well, obvious, if she intended to be sneaky. She only made it halfway around the entrance hall before her father called out her name, and Fallon cursed under her breath in frustration.

She turned on her heel to face Blake, waiting impatiently for him to reach her. "Yes?"

"You need to get a handle on Alexis," he told her pointing towards the show Fallon's mother was making of herself. The blonde was evidently forcing Steven to walk around the room with her, so she could either introduce him, or herself.

Fallon's mouth tightened with distaste but she nodded. "I'll handle it." But she waited until he walked away before making any motion towards either of her goals. She felt bad for Steven, but needed to keep an eye on Michael. Her hands fell to her hips as she knew in a calming breath, and turned to where Michael had been. Beside him now was a redhead that Fallon instantly doubted wasn't wearing a wig. That had to be Ada.

At least the rooms beyond the party were locked off. Fallon imagined them testing several locks only to be irritated at the fact that nothing opened at all. Perhaps she did have time. Deciding to rescue her brother first, Fallon turned to head towards him, catching Sam's arm as she caught sight of him along the way. He followed her gesture with his eyes before groaning and hurrying over to help his husband.

Fallon smiled a little. Score. She watched Alexis pout and argue with Sam for a moment, but as her mother caved and started wandering off, Fallon spun around to look for everyone else.

Liam had located Kirby with very little trouble, as she was wandering through the room in her green dress and curly red updo. It wasn't quite as statement as Fallon's outfit, but Liam actually figured that was probably on purpose. By the time Michael arrived with his plus one, the pair of them were standing against one wall, talking a little absently.

Kirby saw him first – and saw Fallon try to go for him, then get stopped.

"Should we...?" Liam asked slowly as Fallon walked away instead.

"Probably. But he's definitely going to recognize us." Kirby turned towards him, frowning a little in thought. "Can you change your appearance a little? Like, scruff your hair, change how you stand and talk? With the mask, I can probably pass you off as a friend or something."

"Sure. Give me a minute."

Liam turned down the hall, aiming for the bathroom so he could have a moment of privacy without anyone seeing him run his hands through his hair to mess it up. It didn't seem quite right not being in its usual coif, but he hoped it would work. Playing a character wasn't exactly unfamiliar to him, and if he were telling the truth, Liam kind of enjoyed it. It spoke to that side of him that enjoyed the creative side of writing, beyond his tendency towards truthful journalism.

He walked back out, nodding a little awkwardly to the man who was waiting for the bathroom to open up. Back in the living room, Liam met up with Kirby – and Fallon, who had come over to find them. At first, Fallon didn't seem to notice him. But he lingered close enough that her eyes flicked to him a couple of times in question – only to narrow in confusion.

"What happened to you?" She asked, looking between the two of them.

"We've got this covered, Fallon," Kirby promised, looking thrilled with herself. "Give us a few minutes, okay? We can make multiple plays if we have to."

As much as Liam could sense Fallon's desire to just handle things herself, he could see the moment she gave in. "Okay. I'll go check on Steven, then."

So they split off, Liam walking with Kirby as she led him towards Culhane and the woman they both felt sure was Ada. When they reached him, Liam put on an almost too-friendly smile that wasn't quite like his more polite, normal one. Kirby tapped on Michael's shoulder, smiling at him as well when he turned, bringing his plus one around with him.

"You decided to come!" She said, turning slightly to gesture towards Liam. "This is my friend, Jake."

Michael looked the two of them over, perhaps too distracted to recognize Liam for who he was. Instead, he just nodded politely, extending a hand. "Michael. And this is Lisa," he pointed vaguely at the woman next to him.

Kirby offered a hand for the woman to nod, almost unsurprised by the firm grip that took hold of her in response. "I love your dress," she began excitedly. "Have you ever been to an event thrown by the Carringtons before?"

"I don't think so," Lisa replied, shaking her head. "I met Michael through his sister, though, and was happy to come along."

Liam attempted to distract Michael with lame questions about his career, while Kirby leaned in conspiratorially to warn Lisa that Michael's ex-fiancee was the hostess of the party, so she might wish to be careful. The amused, unconcerned look Kirby got in return was all the validation she needed. This had to be Ada. So she followed it up with, "You don't mind if I ask Michael to dance, do you? I haven't seen him in a long time, considering the breakup. I'm sure Jake would be happy to get you a drink or to dance or something! Right, Jake?"

She smiled widely at Liam, who agreed, offering his arm. Lisa – Ada, surely – looked to Michael in question. He nodded, seemingly apathetic about the whole thing. He even took Kirby's arm, leading her onto the dance floor. Once they began to fall into step with the other pairs around them, though, his expression became one of frustration, even anger.

"What are you trying to do, bringing Fallon up like that?"

Kirby frowned. He actually sounded like he cared what that woman would think. Ada most definitely knew about Fallon, so why he would be bothered was beyond the New Zealander. "I- Well, it was kind of a joke. But," she continued, playing along as innocently as she could, "if she would mind something like that, then she isn't worth your effort, right? I can't say I'm not surprised, though. It hasn't been all that long since you and Fallon broke up."

Michael nodded, though it turned into a shrug. "Yeah, but we weren't exactly good for a long time before that."

Kirby frowned a little, genuinely feeling sorry for both of them at that. "...Have you talked to her about it since the stuff with Atlantix?"

He scoffed. "Absolutely not. I don't want to."

"Sorry," she said quickly, catching sight of someone who was going to pass a little too closely by her – and she pretended to trip, her hand flying to his side as she blurted out another apology. "Oh, hell! Sorry, it's- it's too crowded around here."

"That's okay," he said, not sounding quite certain that it was, in fact, okay.

"I'm going to go grab a drink, I think. Get some space."

She didn't wait for him to respond before dramatically stumbling towards the attached study, where she spotted Fallon mid-spat with Alexis. Kirby came up alongside them, interrupting whatever they were mad about. The brunette looked relieved to have an excuse to step away, and turned to Kirby with an expectant look on her face.

"I think Liam's with her," Kirby said, pointing subtly towards the dance floor. For a moment, she was almost amused to see Fallon's expression darken with distaste once she spotted them, but then Kirby started to wonder if she'd accidentally made her new friend jealous. "For reference, his name tonight is Jake. And she's claiming hers is Lisa."

"Jake?" Fallon asked, looking a little put off by it.

"What?"

"It's a little close to his real name. But I don't think Michael would remember that. I'm not even sure if I ever told him or not." Fallon tried to shrug it off, but then her hand went to her hair as she registered what had happened to Liam's. She let out a quiet hmm under her breath, but then shook her head and tried to brush it off. "Did Michael say anything of interest?"

Kirby frowned slightly. "He just really doesn't want to talk about you. Or to you, it seems."

A slow nod from Fallon was all Kirby needed to tell that she was a little hurt by that. From what Sam had told her, Michael had been Fallon's only real person for nearly five years, between Steven being gone and her fights with Monica. It was a shame that it had to end so badly that they couldn't even make up as friends or casual acquaintances. Instead, they were avoiding each other within the same room.

"Listen," Kirby continued, glancing around to make sure they wouldn't be overheard, "Let's just see what happens with Liam and we'll go from there, okay? I tried to snag Michael's phone but I couldn't get to it."

"And what is Liam supposed to do?" Fallon returned, confused by the plan they had supposedly come up with. Clearly they didn't actually have one! "I don't see any pockets on her dress."

"Have you forgotten how much money your family has? It wasn't hard to convince Sam to buy a tracker for Bo's collar, that we could then repurpose."

Fallon turned completely towards Kirby at that, shocked. "You want to put one of those on a woman like that, and you think she won't notice?! As soon as she does, she'll assume it's from me."

Kirby's face fell, and both women shifted to face the dance floor again, trying to figure how they could either stop him or convince Ada – and Michael, for that matter – that they weren't the ones who did it if they got caught.