A/N: so I don't know if any one of u guys is reading this or even like this, but this story inspires me to complete it. This chapter jumps form the New Year's Eve to about fifteen days later when as explained in the prologue Marissa rescues Seejay from jail. And it follows from there. Frankly speaking I would rather write Oliver in the past than in the present tense, so this jump.

Guys please review if you like this, it makes a difference.

The present…

I glanced at the boy sitting next to me in the passenger seat of my rover as he stared out the window. He hadn't moved from his position since the time I had picked him up from the prison. No words were exchanged between us and to some extent, I was relieved. I wasn't sure how I would react or what would come out of my mouth. I was still too overwhelmed by what I had done, a part of me still refusing to believe that I had bailed out Oliver Trask's son. Especially after everything that had happened.

The car sped along the highway, the scenery changing from the dank, dark unlit roads to Newport lushness and I allowed my thoughts to drift across to that New Year's night. Looking back, the next few days had been a blur – as if a shadow, a dark cloud had been cast upon us that wasn't too keen to move. For a while there, I had believed that the entire thing from Seejay meeting Jason to that New Year night had been orchestrated by none other than Oliver. How he had come after so many years from somewhere in the pyre's of my hell to torture me, I had no idea. All I knew was that I had never seen Ryan this angry, this hurt or this hell-bent on getting revenge. Jaws locked, the muscles in his arms straining, and that cold fury gracing every part of his wide blue gaze, he had never seemed less like the Ryan Atwood I knew now and more like the Ryan Atwood who had gone after Volchok or the Ryan Atwood who had wanted to kill his only brother, Trey then.

I knew that Ryan wanted nothing more than to go after Oliver.

I knew that Ryan wanted nothing more than to kill him.

And I also knew that I would do anything to stop it.

So would Seth. Initially we had tried to convince him to leave it to the authorities and to some extent it had worked but then Oliver had called and threatened to take Grace away. After that I knew that I had no choice but to take the matter into my own hand. If Ryan came to know...

Best case scenario - He would kill Oliver. Worst case scenario – he would be the one to get hurt.

That thought had me twisted in so many coils, that I knew it was something that I could not… would not allow. He was my whole life. I just couldn't take that chance. So, without letting Ryan know about that particular call, I and Seth had made a plan. I was going to call Oliver and ask him to meet me. After all it was me that he wanted and we figured he would jump at the opportunity. Seth would then alert the authorities so that they could stage a move to catch him. The plan had sounded simple enough, except Oliver had turned out to be smarter than either of us had predicted. He had waited by the house long before we were supposed to meet and had seen Seth leave. Just as I was supposed to leave, he jumped me. The next thing I remembered is waking up in a warehouse, a cool cloth being splayed gently on my forehead. It took sometime for my eyes to adjust to the form in front of me.

It was seejay.

The same Seejay who had been a part of my family for the past month all the while plotting against us.

The same Seejay who was Oliver's son.

An anger like I had never known before gripped me. I wasn't going to allow him to get away with it one more time.

"You bastard." I gritted through clenched teeth. "How could you come into our life, Jason's life and do what you are doing? How could you do this to Ryan? He helped you, he saved you and this is how you repay him?"

"You are getting it all wrong." He tried placing a hand on my lips, tried to quite my struggles but that angered me more and I bit him causing him to yank his hand away and howl in pain. It was enough opportunity for me to scream my head out, wanting escape.

"Ryan! Anybody! Help! Help!"

"Please..." He begged. "I am just trying to save you. Just let me open these for..."

But he never got to complete that sentence. Another voice, Oliver's voice intervened. "Seejay I thought I specifically told you to stay away." He barked.

"Dad…" Seejay whimpered. "Please just let her go. Please." Something about the way he said it caused me to question my earlier impression of him. If he had helped his dad kidnap me, why was he pleading my case? I could fleetingly see it in his eyes that he didn't want any of this, but it disappeared and I so desperately wanted to ask him, but with Oliver there everything else flew out of my mind.

"So the sleeping beauty wakes up." Oliver walked slowly towards me, his eyes raking me from head to foot making me feel vile and naked. A lean finger traced my jaw and it brought that creepy feeling to crawl inside my body. The dislike was so intense that I wanted nothing more than to spit at him. He bent forward, his knees touching the ground and his eyes level with mine.

"So soft…" He lowered his hands as he painfully touched my cheek and I literally shrank away from his touch. "So beautiful…" he brought his lips closer and closer to mine… "You missed me didn't you?" he whispered through yellowing teeth. The sheer revulsion he evoked in me, the sheer repulsion I felt for him and what he was doing had me fighting harder against the tight coils. This seemed to arouse him further and he laughed a hollow mockery of a laugh.

I wanted something, anything to happen now. I wanted this to end. I had never felt so defiled before. All thoughts of Trey and that beach were nothing as compared to now because with my hands tied behind my back I was as helpless as a rag doll, and just as susceptible to the whims and fancies of Oliver Trask.

He seemed to enjoy that more as his hands clutched tightly against my jaw straightening it forcefully from my continued acts of evasion and bringing my lips closer and closer to his.

"You move one step ahead - you are a dead man." I looked up to see Ryan standing in the doorway and a sharp sense of relief flooded me. Ryan was here. Everything was going to be alright.

"Ryan!" I shouted in pure reprieve but the reprieve was short lived. The way Ryan was looking at Oliver right now… his eyes dark with a burning hatred and his facial muscles clenched and standing out, I knew he was just minutes away from killing Oliver.

"Ryan…" I said more softly this time. "Please…"

Oliver turned to where Ryan was standing temporarily forgetting about me as a mad chuckle escaped his lips. "I was wondering when I'd meet you again."

Ryan walked further into the room, his movements economical like a panther caught in the act of pouncing on a prey, his sharp face illuminated in the single overhead light making the cold fury evident in every line of his face, his words short and to the point. "Well I'm here. So let her go."

"I wish it was that simple" Oliver snickered, unaware of the warning in Ryan's gaze, or maybe too aware of it as he removed a piece of cold metal from his back pocket.

Oliver had come prepared.

"Dad." Seejay screamed as surprised by it as I was.

Oliver paid no heed, his eyes trained sharply on every move that Ryan made. He removed the gun from his back pocket, and placed it threateningly between the both of them. "You see, I did that once, listened to you and look where that got me. Barely out of jail, while you enjoy the good life. So, no. I don't think so."

"The police will be here shortly." Ryan answered, his voice deceptively calm even as his eyes widened in surprise and fear. "You don't want to do that… let her go and we can all walk free."

"Free?" Oliver exclaimed incredulously, as the gun in his hands teetered dangerously, his eyes wild. "That's what you think I'll be?"

Ryan slowly inched another step forward, the movement was not unnoticed by Oliver. He trained the gun on Ryan sharply this time.

Be carful… I wanted so desperately to warn. But any sudden movement or a word at this stage was sure to trigger off Oliver and I didn't want to mess further with his mind.

"Dad…" Seejay cried softly, pleadingly, "Please calm down. Like Mr Atwood says, he would let us go if you just let go of that gun. Give it to me dad…" Seejay moved a space ahead trying to maintain eye contact with Oliver, so that he and Ryan now formed a circle around Oliver.

"Back off. Both of you. Now." Oliver warned and I waited with baited breath knowing that he was very close to the edge, knowing that what was going to happen would happen in the next few minutes. I wish the police would hurry up. Where was Seth? Where were the cops?

"Don't move." He threatened.

"And what are you going to do? Shoot me?" Ryan taunted.

"I said, don't move." Oliver backed up another step and as Ryan lunged forward, Oliver's trigger finger closed around the trigger. What happened next, all happened in a blur. Seejay jumped in between, his hands wrestling with that of his fathers, his eyes bordering on crazy as they both scampered for the falling gun on the floor.

A gunshot was fired and it echoed eerily in the suddenly silent room.

A scream echoed dully from my mouth. I had no idea who had fired it and who if anyone was shot.

And the next thing I could se through my own tears was a crying Seejay standing with a gun in his hand while his father bled on the floor.

As like in the movies, the cops came but a shade too late and before I knew it I was in Ryan's arms crying from pure relief and the cops were taking Seejay away.

My thoughts came back to the present and I glanced once again at Seejay. I had had recurrent dreams about that night, waking up in a sweat as Ryan held me, trying to comfort me. He assumed I was just scared because of what I had been through with Oliver. And I had allowed, even encouraged him to believe that. But I had never told him that the eyes that woke me up at night, that haunted me day in and day out were those of Seejay. Somewhere I knew that we had done him wrong. Some basal instinct that I possessed cried out for that boy who could just as well have done all this to save Ryan's life. Those eyes, when they had looked at me as the police car had taken him away were so hauntingly sad that a part of me yearned to take the pain away. And I didn't know how dominant that part was. Or even if any of what I was feeling was justified.

I wished I had some way of knowing if that day he had been aiming for Ryan or for Oliver or if the whole thing had just been an accident. I wished I knew that what I had done was the right thing to do. I hoped I had, but I was working on nothing but instincts here. Instincts that told me that Seejay hadn't meant to do what he did. Instincts that told me, he wasn't involved in what his father had done. Instincts that told me, he was a good person who was just caught in the wrong situation at the wrong time. I didn't want to think of what would happen if I was wrong. I had pulled such stunts before, trusting someone out of the loop, and they had never worked… with Oliver… with Johnny…. With trey… but this time was so different, so much more painful than the last because I knew that I had a lot more to lose. This time I knew that the consequences of what I had done would not only be faced by me, but also by my entire family. And my marriage of seventeen years… my much cherished, happy marriage of seventeen years… could all end in a flash.

I licked my lips as that very real fear gripped me. No matter. What was done was done.

Entering the Newport gates, my decision of where I'd go or what I'd do was done. I had to meet Seth, not only for his legal mind but also because I knew that he was the only person who could understand. I was glad that Seth had shifted base. This would be ten times more difficult without Seth around.

I parked my car briskly in the parking lot of Seth's shiny, new office building. Turning towards Seejay I motioned to him that I was going to get out for a while.

"Are you… will you be okay staying in the car for a while?"

"Sure." He acknowledged me with a slight nod of his head.

I removed the keys from the ignition keeping the keys clutched tightly in my hand. I had already done something stupid. I didn't want to compound the mistake by giving Seejay a chance to bolt. I had bailed him, not cleared his name and if he didn't present himself to the authorities at an appropriate date, I was the one who would be held responsible.

He pointedly looked at the key in my hand for a long moment before correctly interpreting my thoughts, shaking his head ruefully at me.

"You can leave that in the car. I won't run." Shrugging at me nonchalantly, he gave me a sarcastic smile. "Besides, where would I run? My dad's dead, remember?"

"Right. Of course." I muttered awkwardly, leaving the keys in the ignition. "So… you can listen to music or whatever. I'm just going to go in to…"

"You are going in to speak with your lawyer." He answered flatly. "You want to make sure that a deranged lunatic like me does not bring your family down."

I thought of denying the whole thing and lying through my teeth, but he looked at me so honestly that I couldn't. I shrugged, hooking my hands in my skirt pocket. "Can you blame me?"

He levelled his eyes with mine steadily. "No." he answered. "I would advice you to do the same thing."

Something about the way he said it, so openly, so honestly yet with a raw intensity bolstered my confidence in the decision I had made. This kid deserved a chance, whatever or whoever his parents were… "That is the best thing that you could have said in your defence." I gave him a small smile. "Now, let's hope my brother in law feels the same way."

"Wait." He leaned towards the window side, stopping me. "Whatever happens, I just want to say…" he licked his lips fearfully and then gulped, like saying the few words were difficult for him. "I'd understand if you decide that I need to go back. And for whatever you have done so far… thank you. Its more than anyone has ever done for me."

I had to leave. This was more than I could deal.

"You brought him with you?" Seth shouted, clearly exasperated the moment I entered his office door. I had called ahead, so he had cleared everything for me and once I had relayed what had happened, he stared at me like I had lost my mind. I was beginning to think I had too.

"What was I supposed to do?" I defended weakly. "They were killing him in there."

"Marissa-" Seth groaned.

I looked down, biting my lips shakily and wringing my hands like a school girl caught in a forbidden act. "How angry do you think is Ryan going to be?"

He ran a frustrated hand through his brown curls and sighed. "I really don't want to think about it but that's not even the point." He fixed me with a glare that reminded me more of Sandy Cohen. "Have you even considered what happens if he kidnaps Grace and holds her for ransom instead? Or hurts Jason? He is after all, Oliver's son."

"Believe me, that thought has crossed my mind." I answered shakily. "But Seth, I really don't think that he meant to do any of those things. He was forced into them by Oliver… whom we both know is more than capable of doing that."

"'Think', being the operative word here, Marissa." Seth reproached, shaking his head at me disappointingly. "This could so easily go wrong…"

"I know…" I sighed. I stared into his eyes steadily. "He saved Ryan's life that day Seth. You weren't there…" my eyes connected with his, pleading… beseeching, hoping that he would understand. "I was."

He looked heavenwards, bringing his hand to his shoulder and squeezing it. "I don't know Marissa."

"Look, all I am asking is for you to help him. Just like Sandy helped Ryan." I moved towards him as persuasively as I could, my eyes telling a different story. "Me and Ryan – we are both here because someone gave us a chance. Now he deserves one. And I know Ryan. If he can get past the fact that this is Oliver's son, he would want this. He would be the one to campaign for this the strongest. Please Seth… he needs you. We need you."

He bit his lip and pinched the tip of his nose in frustration. "Okay, say for arguments sake, I do help you…"

"Anything you can do." I smiled, kissing his cheek quickly, not giving him the opportunity to argue.

"Oy." He called after me, "I wasn't done deciding yet."

I grinned up at him from the door, knowing very well that the battle was won. "I just want to make sure that Seejay stays out of jail if we decide to withdraw all the charges."

"That's the easy part." He answered. "Convincing Ryan to drop the charges is going to be the tough one."

"I know." I sighed. "But if he does that, I just want to be sure that it'll stick."

"It will." I smiled at his confidant answer and made a move to get out knowing he was busy. I didn't want to take up any of his time further and just the fact that he was on my side bolstered confidence in me. But before I could take another step, his hand on my shoulder stopped me. "But Marissa if you are wrong …"

I looked at him, eyeing him steadfastly. "We are so screwed."

….