You Never Gave Me a Reason

Disclaimer: I don't own Revenge or its characters.

7) Hiding from a Hurricane in the Hamptons

The Graysons had only gotten the warning call ten minutes ago, and by then, the rest of the world had known. When Conrad had walked into the Manor mere hours ago, the weather was merely wind and a little rain. He had never expected it to grow into a tropical storm - if he had, he would have made Charlotte come home from the Stowaway before her intended six o'clock. Unfortunately, he hadn't known, so the whereabouts of their children were questionable when the developing hurricane was announced.

Conrad had never worried over storms before. He happened to have a wife that was terrified of hurricanes, and this fear created in her an unmatched vigilance for this type of weather. When a storm was headed their way, Victoria called her family and warned them before the state did. She was supposed to know about these things; he depended on her for that.

But she was busy this week, setting up the art gallery and worrying over one of her upcoming events, and she hadn't paid attention to the tiny storm developing off the coast. This time, she was the last to know, and the realization had sent her rushing to his study with fear in her eyes. "Conrad!" she had shouted on her way, bursting into the room without precedence. Her face appeared quite childlike in fear as she ordered quietly, "Call one of the children."

Victoria was on the phone with someone in the living room now, and he had just ended his conversation with Charlotte. Although he could hardly hear her over the rain in the background, he knew she was safe - helping Jack usher his customers to safety. After he had collected her promise to remain indoors when the hurricane hit, he told her he loved her and hung up to deliver the news of her safety to his frightened wife.

Conrad found her in the living room, sitting on the couch. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he realized she was still on the phone.

"I'm fine," she informed one of her sons, her voice trembling as thunder rolled outside. She was visibly shivering, even though it was warm enough in the house - it was a habit she developed under stress. The shake was invading her voice as she urged him, "Please be careful, okay? I love you." She inhaled. "All right. Call me later."

He swallowed, watching her hang up the phone, and stepped into the room. "Charlotte's safe," he spoke up, causing her to turn quickly. She seemed to relax somewhat when she heard this, and she stood up. "She's helping Jack prepare, but they're about to go indoors."

"Into the Stowaway?" she asked incredulously.

"Into the library," he corrected her, causing her to settle down once again. Nodding toward the phone in her hand, he asked, "Who was that?"

Victoria sighed, glancing toward the window as rain attacked the glass loudly. "Patrick. He's on his way home right now." Attention back on her phone, she began dialing again. "I hope Daniel's okay..."

Conrad walked closer, watching intently as she held the phone up to her ear. She was silent for what seemed like eternity before her expression went cold. She pulled the phone away and dialed again, but her eyes did not relax nor did she speak into the phone. "He isn't answering," she muttered, wide eyes meeting his in an intense stare. "Conrad, he isn't answering his phone."

Sensing the panic in her voice, he held out a hand of reassurance and pulled out his phone. "I'm sure he's fine. He's probably with Emily," he decided, selecting the name of his son's fiancé in his contacts. He held the phone up to wait for an answer.

Victoria saw that he was calling Emily and she walked over to him, stepping close enough to take the phone from him and hold it between them to listen. While the phone rang, his attention was turned to his wife as she listened to the call anxiously, hand shaking as it moved her hair away from her eyes. He hated to see her so afraid; he felt compelled to comfort her somehow. So he took advantage of her closeness and wrapped his freed hand around her waist, gently drawing her in. She must have been too focused to fight him at the time, because she actually relaxed into his arm without a word.

"Hello?"

He was relieved to hear Emily on the line, and spoke up instantly. "Emily, this is Conrad. Is Daniel with you?"

Emily hesitated to reply, her voice a whisper. "I was hoping he was with you. He isn't answering his phone."

"We know that," Victoria muttered, shivering again. He ran his fingertips along her side gently, surprised when she didn't pull away. "Where did you see him last?"

"We went to lunch," she replied over the thunderous noises outside. "He didn't tell me what he was doing today, and he hasn't called me."

Conrad sighed. "Thank you, Emily," he replied, though there wasn't much she had really done for them. "We'll keep trying to call him."

The instant he hung up the phone, Victoria stepped out of his arms and across the room without a word. Knowing how worried she was, Conrad tried to explain this away. "Victoria, let's stay calm. I'm sure he's all right, wherever he is."

Victoria turned back, eyes shining. "You were 'sure' he was with Emily, but he isn't," she replied shortly, hands shaking noticeably as she picked up her phone and marched in his direction. He reached out, hand managing to graze her elbow before she was past him and rushing into the kitchen. From that room, he heard the jingle of keys and furrowed his brow.

"Where do you think you're going?" he questioned, following her into the kitchen. She was heading toward the hallway, keys and umbrella in hand, without even a coat to brace the weather. He chased her into the hall and halfway down before grabbing her shoulder and turning her around. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to look for my son," she announced without missing a beat, jerking her shoulder away.

His eyes widened. "Are you out of your mind?" he questioned, stepping toward her. "You are not going out there!"

This demand was made out of love, but Victoria took it as an order - and she did not respond well to orders. "And why on earth do you think I'd take orders from you?" she asked sharply before turning back to the door.

He began to follow her again, growing frustrated. "Would you just listen to me for a minute? You could get seriously hurt!"

"Daniel could already be hurt!" she replied over her shoulder, hand reaching for the doorknob. Conrad intercepted her, setting a hand on her elbow, and she jerked away; he saw fire in her eyes as she turned around. "If you grab me again, I swear-"

"I'm trying to save your life!" he argued angrily, wishing she would simply hear him out. "You're going to get yourself killed over something that we aren't sure has even happened."

"Would you leave me alone?" she demanded. "I don't know why you're suddenly pretending to be a husband, but I suggest you cut it out and leave me alone!"

This comment stung him, and it must have been visible on his face, because she froze after saying it. The scale of his conflicting worry for her and anger at her was now tipped in the latter direction, and he stopped fighting her. "Fine," he relented quietly. "I will leave you alone."

And he stepped back, hands up in surrender, as background to his words. She was confused at first, swallowing, until she finally turned back and opened the door. A frightening gust of wind and rain blew into the Manor instantaneously, and Conrad had to stifle any twinge of guilt this caused him as he watched her step out into the storm and pull the door behind her.

Once he was alone, he felt as if a weight should have been lifted. She's gone, he noted inwardly with a sigh. There's nothing else I can do.

But as he tried to walk away from the door, he found each footstep grew heavier, and with them, his heart. He tried to erase from his thoughts the mental image of Victoria fighting the rain and wind outside, goosebumps running up her arms and ankles shaking in her ridiculously-high heels... and she must have been so afraid. He knew she was afraid.

Conrad shoved these worrisome thoughts down. Leave her alone, he reminded himself, stepping into the kitchen. Leave her alone.

The thoughts grew louder, though; he wondered how close the hurricane was, or if the debris already blowing around was enough to hurt someone, or if she was already hurt. He hadn't heard the car start - but it was a far walk from where he had parked it. Maybe there was a chance to catch up with her.

Eventually, he couldn't help himself, no matter how many times he repeated her words in her mind. He plucked her coat from the coatrack, returned to the door, and took off after her.

Victoria was curled into herself as she walked, only ten feet or so from the car, when he managed to reach her. She hadn't heard him over the rain until he spoke. "Victoria!"

Clearly surprised, she turned around quickly and found her husband stepping toward her, panting. He held her damp coat in one hand and gestured for her to take it. Though no words were spoken, she knew that he was still trying to make her come inside.

Though it was difficult to speak over the rain, her annoyed voice managed to carry itself. "What is the matter with you?" she asked loudly, taking a step in his direction. "You just told me you would leave me alone!"

He squinted at her through the wind and continued to hold out her coat. "I can't do that," he admitted, nodding toward his hand. She eyed him stubbornly, not moving toward his hand. "Just take the coat!"

Victoria paused, watching him... and accepted the coat calmly. After examining it for a moment, she opened her mouth to work at some sort of vague thanks, but she was interrupted by her phone ringing.

Pulling it out of her pocket, she answered immediately: "Hello?"

After a moment of listening, Conrad saw her expression relax and she exhaled. "Oh, thank God!"

He watched her eyes as she listened into the phone, all the while hoping this meant she was done with her mother-bear episode.

"Yes! All right. Thank you, Emily." After hanging up, Victoria informed him in relief, "He just showed up at the Stowaway."

Conrad sighed. "Good." He didn't hesitate before nodding toward the house, asking, "Will you come inside now?"

Now that this scare was over, she consented to follow him inside, and they shut the door behind them, blocking out the hurricane and all the damage it was likely to cause. Conrad knew it was going to be another thing entirely to try to keep her in the basement, where they had very little cell phone signal, but he decided to take it one step at a time. He was going to keep her safe - whether she liked it or not.

His care for her that day truly had enlightened Victoria. Though she continuously tried to reason with the memories of his concern, she couldn't find cause for his mania if not love. She never would have considered such an idea before that day, but it was becoming more and more apparent with time. Suddenly, the Conrad she thought she understood was beginning to surprise her.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you'll review, follow, favorite, whatever, to let me know that this story is being enjoyed :)

Ugh, the season finale is going to screw us all up. I can't begin to explain how fearful I am for our ship, but whatever happens, no matter who is behind bars or whatever, I'm gonna write because I'm in a different timeline. It's my only way to handle how much these writers are HURRRTTTTING MEEEEE...

By the way, I'm writing that sequel and I think I'm in love with the idea. It was going to be a bit darker than this story, but since Revenge is getting so dark already, I thought I would write something... fluffier :) But not without a sturdy plot, I solemnly swear. I'd tell you about it, but it would spoil the last chapter of this story, and I just can't do that. Anyway, I just spent two hours writing the first chapter so that's why I'm rambling about it. Forgive me. And bye.