For anyone catching up, this story is an E/T/G (also with a tiny bit of Lancy/hints of Shuis) story that was written back when Ethan and Theresa finally consummated their relationship for the first time since his marriage to Gwen by making love at Crane Industries. In this story, a mystery concerning Sarah's death forces Gwen and Theresa to work together for the first time, and the two of them learn some harsh truths as they fight to find out the truth about what happened to Gwen's daughter. Cat fights and backstabbing ensue, but if they can't make peace for at least a little while, both of them just may end up dead. Meanwhile, Ethan struggles with his feelings for Theresa vs. his marriage to Gwen, knowing he has the hardest decision of his life to make.

This story is long finished, but I'm archiving it here in case the fan sites close after Passions ends its run this summer. I doubt anyone's reading at this point, but if you are and you want faster updates, please let me know via review or email and I'll do a massive uploading spree. :)

I love reviews. If you're enjoying The Ex Factor, please leave me one. :)

The Ex Factor

By Ava Sinclair

Prague: Hotel Moravia

"No sign of them." Luis ran his hand through his dark hair in frustration. "And that uppity clerk won't even tell us what rooms they were staying in."

Ethan's expression was set in a grim mask. "We have got to find them-now!"

Jared cocked an eyebrow. "Hey, I want to find them as much as you do, OK? But I'm a little confused as to why you're bouncing off the walls. According to you, there's nothing to this, right? So all Theresa and Gwen are really doing is running around a foreign city, wasting their time. Where's the danger in that?"

"Shut up, Jared, or I will shut you up." Ethan's hands balled into fists and he stepped towards the other man, fire in his eyes.

"Hey, hey!" Luis stepped between the two men. "You two really need to knock it off, alright? You sound like the male versions of Theresa and Gwen. And Ethan, seriously, what is with you?"

Ethan allowed his fists to unclench. "I'm just worried, that's all."

"Right." Luis looked at him with frank disbelief. "There's more to it than that, and you can believe I'm going to pry it out of you sooner or later. Right now, though, we got to put our heads together and-"

"Check out Gwen and Theresa's suite?" Fancy's voice, with a decidedly smug tone, sounded behind them. The men turned to see her and Paloma grinning from ear to ear, something they seemed to be doing an awful lot of lately.

"What do you mean?" Jared looked at them. "We don't even know where their room is."

"We do now." Paloma dangled a key in front of them. "And we have full access. Thirty seconds with me and Fancy and that clerk would have danced the rhumba naked in the streeets if we asked him to."

"Great!" Luis snatched the key out of Paloma's hand. "Let's go see what the ladies left behind-maybe it will help us find them."

"Don't you have something to say to us?" Fancy's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Alright, alright. Good job, you guys." Luis sighed heavily. "OK, let's go."

A few minutes later, they were inside Gwen and Theresa's suite, looking through suitcases, drawers, and closets, desperately trying to find a clue.

"Any luck?" Jared called from the common room.

"None here!" Luis called as he dumped out the contents of Gwen's suitcase on her bed. "C'mon, there's gotta be something."

Ethan stood by himself in the small room that Theresa had apparently claimed for herself. Her perfume still lingered in the air. He closed his eyes and for a moment it seemed like she was there, right beside him..all he had to do was reach out... He opened his eyes and reality set back in. Gwen and Theresa were gone. He had no idea where they were, what they were doing, and it was his fault. His wife hadn't been able to rely on him when she needed him desperately, and Theresa...well, he'd made a career out of letting her down.

Shaking off his thoughts, he picked up Theresa's suitcase, pulling out clothing and scattering them haphazardly on the floor as he searched. "Nothing...dammit!"'

Ethan kicked the suitcase and it banged into the wall. Standing up, he walked over to the closet and wrenched open the closet door, wanting to tear it off the wall, feeling the desire to tear the entire suite apart and scream his anger and confusion to the sky.

There was nothing in the closet except a garment bag and one of Theresa's sweaters. Reaching out, he caressed the soft material. Here, her scent lingered as well, so strong that it seemed she had just taken off the garment and hung it up. Pulling the sweater off the hanger, Ethan buried his face in it for a moment. "All I want is a chance...just one chance, Theresa, to tell you how sorry I am that I didn't trust you. I just have this feeling in my gut...something is wrong, very wrong. And if anything happens to you, or Gwen, I don't think I can live with myself."

He tossed the sweater on top of Theresa's other possesions, frustration getting the best of him. As the sweater landed, a crumpled ball of paper fell out of the pocked, rolling a few feet and coming to rest right by Ethan's foot. Kneeling down, he unfolded it, surprised to see his own name scrawled at the top. Sitting down on the bed, he began to read.

A few minutes later, Luis walked into the room. "Ethan, we didn't..Ethan?"

Ethan was still sitting on the corner of the bed, the letter clenched in his fists, his hands on the back of his neck as he stared at the ground. He looked up at Luis's words and the other man saw there were tears in his eyes.

"Ethan, what's going on? What's that?" he gestured to the letter in the younger man's fist.

Ethan shook his head, seeming unable to speak for a moment. "Something that changes everything."

The Forest of Jesenik:

"Gwen, could you slow down?" Theresa asked as she stumbled over a tree root. "I can't see a damn thing-I'd rather not break my ankle trying to get to...well, wherever it is that we're going."

Gwen gave Theresa a look that clearly indicated she didn't care what Theresa might break. "I have to get there, Theresa. I need to find my daughter."
Theresa rolled her eyes. "Yes, I got that the first thirty times you said it." she snapped.

"Be quiet, both of you." Fred's voice was suddenly firm, authoriative. Theresa looked at him in surprise. Her mild mannered bodyguard had never spoken to her in such a fashion before. She opened her mouth to question him when she saw the alarm in his eyes. "Fred?" she whispered. "What's going on?"

Fred looked around, his handing reaching for his gun holster. "There's someone here." He listened for a moment and his eyes widened. "More than one someone."
Theresa and Gwen could hear it now too as they stood there, almost too frightened to breathe. It was very subtle but there..the faint crunch of slow footsteps, the occasional snapping of a twig as a foot came down on it.

Fred turned slowly in a circle. "They are all around us. Listen to me. I need you both to follow my every instruction, do you understand?" His voice was barely audible.

Both women nodded. "Alright-" Fred started to say but suddenly there was a shockingly loud crack and something whizzed by them and slammed into a nearby tree. Theresa and Gwen screamed.

"They're shooting at us!" Fred cried. "Both of you, get-" Another loud crack echoed through the woods and Fred staggered, clutching his chest. He stared at them for a moment, his eyes wide with shock, then almost in slow motion, he fell towards the ground.

"Fred!" Theresa cried. Falling to the ground beside him, she and Gwen rolled him over desperately. "Fred?" Her voice shook as she frantically felt for a pulse. Nothing. She waved her hand over his mouth, hoping to feel his breath, but there was nothing there either. She didn't want to believe it, but Fred's eyes, open yet empty, staring up at her, told the tale.

"My God, Gwen...he's dead!"

Gwen was shaking all over from the shock, but she forced herself to her feet. "And we're going to be dead too if we don't keep moving."

"I've-I've got to get his gun." Theresa's teeth chattered in her head as she felt frantically on the ground for the weapon. "Dammit, I can't see-"

BOOM! Another bullet slammed into the tree next to her.

"Theresa! Run!" Gwen screamed. Theresa jumped to her feet and the two women began to move, stumbling over rocks and tree roots, adrenaline coursing through them as they fled for their lives. Bullets followed them through the darkness, but it seemed that either their attackers couldn't see any better than they could, or they were just lousy shots. It seemed like they'd been running forever when suddenly, their tree cover disappeared. They had come to some sort of clearing.

Ducking, the women took cover behind one of the last remaining trees as they tried to get their bearings. "I haven't heard any shots for a few minutes." Theresa whispered. "I think we lost them."

"Look!" Gwen pointed straight ahead.

Theresa looked, and her eyes widened. "That's it-that's where the waitress told us to go!" Across the clearing, the building stood, lit up by moonlight. It was a grand, imposing structure, made of stone, and shockingly out of place in the desolate forest. It looked nothing like any of the buildings they'd seen in the tiny village of Jesenik.

"What the hell is that place?" Theresa whispered.

"I don't know." Gwen shook her head. "I think it's supposed to be a house but it looks more like a small castle."

"Or a fortress. Look!" It was Theresa's turn to point. Several men were emerging from other parts of the forest, and as they came to the building other men emerged from the doorway to meet them. All of them were dressed alike-in some kind of bizarre uniform, the likes of which no woman had ever seen. The pants were dark and billowy, and the brightly colored tunics hung long, down to their hips. The ensemble was topped off with long, filmy scarves and elaborate helmets. The whole effect was as if the costumes from Arabian Nights had mated with the clothing of Medieval Times. If their clothing was old fashioned and outlandish, their weaponry was not. Each man had a strap of ammunition on him, a gun holster-and each was holding a high powered rifle.

"Well, I guess we know who shot at us." Theresa looked at Gwen, her eyes wide. "Gwen, I don't think we're going to make it out of this one."

"OK." Gwen whispered as their eyes watched the gathering men fearfully. "I think it's clear. If we move fast and stay low, I think we can make to the side of the building without anyone seeing us."

"What?" Theresa snapped. "Tell me again why you want to run towards the badly dressed soldiers who are trying to kill us?"

"My daughter could be in there." Gwen muttered through clenched teeth. "Nothing is going to keep me away from her. Now, if you want to take your chances back in the forest, I'd be delighted to be rid of you. But I'm going-now!"

"Fine..I'm going." Theresa sighed. "On the count of three...one, two...go!"

The two women would have made an odd picture to anyone looking, trying to stay as close to the ground as they could, struggling to move as fast as they could in pumps and expensive clothing not meant for extensive physical activity. Luck was on their side though, and they made it to the side of the building before anyone spotted them.

"I can't believe we made it!" Theresa panted as she leaned against the wall.

"Sshh!" Gwen put a warning finger to her lips. "Listen!"

"Imbeciles!" They heard a harsh male voice cry. "My orders were to bring them all back here, unharmed! We don't kill our guests until we find out what they know, remember? Now, not only have you already shot one of them, you can't even find his body so that we may dispose of it...AND you let the women escape! Are you all good for nothing?"

Cautiously, Gwen and Theresa peered around the corner at the speaker. The man's impressively tall frame was dressed identically to the other men, the only difference being the small silver crest attached to his chest. His accent was not of the local region; instead he spoke with a distinctive Irish brogue, which probably explained why he was speaking in English and not one of the more common languages of the area.

"But sir...that forest was pitch black! We got turned around in the dark. The body is insignificant-I'll send some men for it when it becomes light. In the meantime, we are still searching the woods for the women." The other man spoke with a mixture of fear and defiance. Even in the darkness, Theresa and Gwen could see the first man's expression harden.

"We? I see a whole flock of worthless men who are standing around doing nothing! Get back to the forest, all of you and do not return until you find the body-and the women! Bring them back to me unharmed-our master has plans for them and you don't want to displease him, do you?" The man stared coldly at the assembled group.

Again, the second man stepped forward, his face argumentative. "But sir, we are supposed to be guarding the entrances!"

"GO!" Their leader roared, and this time there was no argument. The men backed away nervously, then turning, ran off towards the darkened woods without a backwards glanced. Their leader made an angry, scoffing noise before he turned and walked back into the stone manor.

"Did you hear that?" Gwen turned to Theresa, her face excited. "The entrances are unguarded-this is our chance!"

Theresa opened her mouth to object, then snapped it back shut. As much as she didn't want to go into that terrifying stone deathtrap, there was no other options. The woods were full of trigger happy lackeys, searching for them. There was no way to get past them undetected and get help. Despite the ancient look of the building before them, she had to believe that they had a phone or something inside, some way for them to summon help.

"OK. Let's go for it." Slowly the two of them crept towards the entrance. 'I just hope we're prepared for whatever's inside.' Theresa murmured to herself.

TBC...
coming soon-the Harmony search party finally gets a lead on Gwen and Theresa. Meanwhile, the contents of Theresa's letter sends Ethan into an emotional tailspin.
Theresa and Gwen make it inside the mysterious manor-but when Theresa accidentally makes a revelation to Gwen, the mother of all cat fights ensues. Will they be able to pull it together for Sarah's sake, or will their hatred for each other doom them all?