Notes (PLEASE READ THESE!): I've de-SORASed Ethan; we'll just pretend he was very articulate for a two-year-old at the time he was trapped in the sinkhole, and that they said "two" instead of "four" when Mike and Chris inquired about his age. So he's three now. Natalie's seven according to Wikipedia. I'll keep the SORASing of Faith, Aaron, and Abigail, making them sixteen, twenty-five, and twenty-eight, respectively. (Abigail might show up at some point, considering her foster family moved to Saudi Arabia.) As for Luke, he's twenty this year. (Same as me!)

Speaking of Aaron, I can't find out where the hell he is! The last I know of him is that he and Alison got divorced; I wasn't watching the show last year, so I don't know where he got off to after that. So for this story, you can assume he either stayed in Oakdale, or left and came back off-screen.

The Grimaldi family descends from a Genovese statesman, and through politics, war, and maritime expeditions, it became one of the most powerful families in Genoa. The family seized the castle of Monaco in 1297, and is still the ruling family of Monaco. A branch of the family sprung up in Sicily in the 1300s, so let's pretend that in 1734, when Spain took over Sicily, part of that branch moved to Malta. To prevent any problems regarding liability, and to be deliciously ironic, let's pretend that Damian's branch of the family started when a Grimaldi woman slept with a Spanish soldier and got pregnant. She was punished by having her child cut off from any business ventures (hence why Damian doesn't deal in the real-life Grimaldi Industri AB) and sent to Malta, but was still considered family and given inheritance money. We'll say that the new family bought land and got itself involved in trade, and after World War II (when Malta's economy slumped), they grew wealthier by forming Kingsley-Malta and trading limestone (Malta's prime export) for food and water (Malta can't produce most of its food and freshwater supplies). Then Kingsley-Malta grew into a conglomeration dealing with tourism, manufactured goods, and machinery/transport equipment (Malta's other industries).

Malta is comprised of three main islands and several smaller ones. Let's say that Damian's family's home base is on Manoel Island; that's a ritzy area close to the capitol. Let's also say that they own one VERY small cottage on Cominotto Island (which is 328 feet away from Comino, and has an area of 820 feet and a population of 0). Hit up Wikipedia and Yahoo Images for maps of these places.

Whilst we're talking about location, I'm placing Oakdale about thirty minutes north of Chicago, on Lake Michigan. I figure shipping on Lake Michigan brings them into Lake Huron (Huron and Michigan are technically the same lake), which eventually takes them to Ontario, Canada. Damian already has a shipping business set up here, as his little adventure in clearing Lucy's name showed us.

And speaking of names, I use "Romilly" as Emma's maiden name. Soap Central says the farm actually belongs to Emma's family, not her husband's.

Oh, and I imagine "Luke's Theme" to be "Your Blue Room" by U2, from the Beyond The Clouds soundtrack, and "It's Casey" to be "Going Away to College" by blink-182, but feel free to come up with your own.

The current date is Thursday, June 4th, 2009. For the sake of keeping focus let's pretend Eliza came home on June 2nd, 2009, the day before Adam's memorial.

Part I – Chapter II

"The bastard's back?!"

Luke cringed, covering Natalie's ears. "Not back, Dad. Just alive."

"How could this happen?" Lily bounced Ethan on her knees, calming and distracting him after Holden's outburst and hoping the catharsis would rub off on herself as well. When Luke announced over breakfast that he needed to call a family meeting later that day, the possibility of this had been the furthest thing from her mind. "Noah told us he was confirmed deceased."

"He was declared deceased," Luke corrected. "There never was a body to back up that claim."

"Oh my God." Lily stood, too nervous to sit and clutching Ethan to her chest.

"Mom, don't panic," Luke pleaded, watching her pace behind the recliner. "The good news is that he's not in the country. According to Sergeant Morgan he's somewhere in southern Europe. Noah and I just thought that we should let you know in case the worst happens and he turns back up."

"Well, now's as good a time as any to start home-schooling the kids," Holden said, only half-joking, looking over to Lily.

"Dad—"

"No!" Holden snapped, turning to face his son again. "You're asking us not to panic; Luke, the man almost killed you!"

"I don't want him to disrupt our lives, especially if he's not even on the same continent!"

"We just want to be cautious, Luke," Lily chimed in, changing locations to behind the sofa.

"And I'm all for that, but it's not like the man has just sprung back to life. He's been alive for a year and we haven't heard a peep from him."

"Maybe not directly, but what about that hate mail?" Holden demanded. "And the hit-and-run? We never found out who was behind those."

"The world is full of bigots, Dad. They don't all have to be related to Noah."

"Where is Noah?" Faith piped up from her seat on the couch, looking worried.

"He went to Lakeview to warn Damian."

"Alone?" Holden asked.

Luke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "He's panicky over the idea of me leaving the house."

"Good. He's got his head screwed on straight."

"No, he's paranoid, like you guys are getting."

"Luke? Have six kids. Then talk to me about paranoia."

Natalie shifted nervously against Luke's stomach. Holden and Lily watched with some satisfaction as Luke instinctively moved to hold her in a more protective stance. Luke caught their almost smug expressions and bristled.

"Okay, all right, fine. I apologize for that. But I mean it. I'm not going to let his non-omnipresent threat dictate how we live our lives."

"And we won't allow that to happen, Luke," Lily assured, patting Ethan's back. "We just want to be safe."

Noah was surprised the speed of his heartbeat didn't influence how quickly he knocked on the door to Damian's hotel room.

"Who is it?"

"It's Noah."

The door was open in an instant. "Luke's not with you?"

"Ah, no…he had something important to discuss his family. It's the same thing I have to discuss with you. Can I come in?"

"Oh, of course, of course." Damian stepped back, holding the door open for Noah. "Would you like something to drink? I had Room Service bring up breakfast a few minutes ago."

"No thank you."

Damian closed the door. "Very well, then. Please, sit." Damian seated himself in the chair at the desk Lakeview provided; Noah sat down on the bed; his fingers loosely weaved themselves together and verves made his foot tap the floor. "What's this all about?"

"It's about my father." Noah inhaled deeply. "Has Luke told you anything about my dad? Colonel Winston Mayer?"

"No." Damian cocked his head. "Why?"

"My father…didn't take the news of my sexuality terribly well."

Damian paused in his slight movements. "Neither did Lily and I, as I'm sure you've been informed."

"Yeah, but what you did…kinda pales in comparison to his reaction."

"What happened?" Damian felt a pit forming in his belly.

"When he found out about me, he blamed Luke for "influencing" me. And my father is…trigger-happy, when he's angry."

For a moment Damian thought he felt every function in his body cease. "He shot Luciano?"

Noah nodded, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Luke was partially paralyzed for a few months two years ago."

"While I was in Malta…dear God." Damian clenched his fist and struggled not to slam it against something. "Of course I was not told."

"It's not something we talk about much, to anyone," Noah said hurriedly. "That's not the issue at the moment, anyway. The problem is that my father escaped from prison last year. He took a hostage with him to Brooklyn, and we followed him. I…watched him dive into the Hudson River, and when he didn't come up…he was presumed dead."

"And that was not the case," Damian guessed flatly.

"We found out yesterday that he's still alive and kicking and trafficking humans."

"I beg pardon?" Damian blinked, leaning forward.

Noah spit out the words like sour milk. "My father's been implicated in a slavery ring that operates out of the Middle East."

"Is he there now?"

"No. The, ah, latest intelligence is that he's somewhere between Tunisia and Greece."

"Tu—…you said Tunisia and Greece?"

"Yeah." Noah suddenly saw an ear-splitting grin on Damian's lips. "Damian? What is it?"

"Do you happen to know what lies between Tunisia and Greece, Noah?" Noah shook his head, slowly. "Malta." A look of pure glee radiated from Damian's face as he leaned back in his chair.

"Well, we don't know exactly where he is," Noah said quickly. "For all we know he's just between those longitudinal lines. It's just an estimation."

"The Grimaldi family has branches all over the area, from Malta to Monaco to our birthplace in Genoa. If he is anywhere near Italy, my family can find him." Damian rose with a sudden, subtle burst of energy. "What was your father's name again, Noah?"

"Winston Mayer, but…Damian, what are you planning?" Noah stood as well, as Damian went for his cell phone.

"I'm merely making a call to my Uncle Clemente." Damian quickly punched in the phone number. "If the Colonel shows up, I'd like to know about it."

"And if he does?" Noah felt his heart drop into his intestines at the sadly sympathetic look Damian sent him. "Are you putting a hit on my father?"

"Understand this, Noah," Damian snapped, the growl of a bear taking over his voice. "No one hurts my Luciano, and gets away with it. No one." Damian flipped his phone closed to Noah's shocked silence. "Odd. Clemente always picks up; the man never leaves Cominotto."

"Would you seriously have him killed?"

"The last person who tried to kill my son, I let walk free."

"Dante?" Luke's biography felt permanently etched into Noah's brain.

"Were it not for Holden's cousin, my son might have died. I can't rely on that luck again. Since he is your father, if we find him in Malta, I will simply have him turned over to the proper authorities. But let him set foot on American soil, and I will not hesitate to break his neck."

Noah struggled to put the image out of his mind. He took a shaky step backwards.

"One moment." Noah felt as if Damian's cold stare reached out like vines, tendrils holding him rooted in place. "Obviously there is a conflict of interest here. I'm curious as to your plans should we find the Colonel."

"If I just find out where he is, I'll make sure the cops know." Noah swallowed, feeling his nerves set. "But if he comes after Luke, or Luke's family…I won't allow them to be hurt."

Damian assessed Noah with his gaze. Against his will and genetic logic, Damian saw elements of Holden—elements he would never admit to admiring and moreover envying—thriving in his son's boyfriend.

"Do you love your father, Noah?"

"I…" The door of memory stayed defiantly cracked open in Noah's mind, dim colored lights just barely illuminating the floor. "I don't know."

"Forgive my rudeness," Damian said after a moment of silence.

"It's fine," Noah mumbled. "Luke's your son."

"And Winston Mayer is your father. Of course you wouldn't want to see him killed. Not in cold blood, at least. I didn't want to see my brother dead, either." The paternal glint in Damian's eye changed from aggressive to concerned. "Are you sure you don't want something? You look shaken."

"No, I…I should be getting back to Luke."

"I'll go with you."

Noah rested his hand on the doorknob. "Luke's not going to be happy with that. The Snyders are probably taping themselves together right now, and last thing he wants is a change in routine."

"You forget, changing the routine between myself and my son is the point of my being in Oakdale," Damian said, a sad shadow of the grin from before sitting on his face. "And perhaps everyone will be distracted by the inevitable fisticuffs between myself and Holden," he added, allowing himself amusement. "Surely that would be normal enough."

A corner of Noah's lip turned up in spite of himself, but before Damian could see it, the ring tone Noah had dubbed "Luke's Theme" had Noah immediately reaching for the phone. "Hi, how'd it go?"

"Dad's probably on the computer right now looking for tutors for the girls, and we'll all be drinking out of hip flasks soon enough."

"I bet they appreciate the sarcasm."

"Haha. The irony; it is so clever. Anyway, I wanted to tell you to come to the farm when you're done there."

"Why?"

"Mom called Grandma to tell her about this, and Grandma wanted us to come over and talk about it in person." Again Noah noted Luke's nonchalance fighting back anxiety. "Since your father might think we're still living at the farm."

"Okay, we'll meet you there."

""We"? Damian's coming with you?"

"He said he wanted to see you…do you not want him to?" Noah glanced back at Damian, whose face seemed purposely blank.

"Damian at the farm? That should go over well…yeesh… Aunt Meg would probably be happy to see him, and no one wants to upset her right now…as long as he knows it's at his own risk, I'm not going to stop him."

"I'm sure he's fully aware of that anyway. Okay, we'll be leaving in a couple seconds."

"K…" Noah heard muffled sounds, and then a sigh. "Natalie instructs me to tell you that if you see the Colonel, run him over. Twice."

Noah's lip twitched. "That's morbid."

"Yeah, well…she loves you."

"I love her too. And I'm glad you guys are sticking together. I know," Noah said before Luke could object, "that this feels like him "winning" to you. But as far as I'm concerned he can have his empty victories. I win by keeping all of you alive."

"…Argh. Your stubborn practicality is eroding my plucky idealism."

Noah allowed himself to laugh. "It's about time. All right, we'll meet you in a bit."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. See you there. I love you."

"Same here." Noah flipped his phone shut and looked back at Damian. "They're at the farm." He thought he saw Damian's face light up for a moment.

"Then let's not waste time."

They were halfway down the stairs when another ring tone known to Noah as "It's Casey" sang out from within the recesses of Noah's pocket. "Hey."

"Hey, man. Uh…where are you right now?"

"Lakeview." Noah noticed Dusty and Bonnie sitting at the bar and gave them an acknowledging wave. "Why?"

"Is there any possible way you could get to my house? Like, now?"

"Actually I'm heading over to the farm…what's the matter?"

"The farm?" Noah heard Casey put his hand over the receiver and stifled sounds before Casey returned. "That's…that's cool, man. That will probably work out better, actually."

"Casey, what are you talking about?"

Noah heard a sharp exhalation. "This really isn't something to do over the phone…" Intuitively hearing Noah's anxious silence, Casey rushed in with reassurance. "It's got nothing to do with your father! Mom told me about that last night. We haven't heard anything about him. But there are people here who…oh, man…look, I'll just take them up to the farm and they can explain everything there, okay?"

"Casey, you're freaking me out. What's going on?"

"Nothing, there's just…just people you need to talk to. Look, I promise it's not bad. Just important."

"Ok" slipped reluctantly out of Noah's mouth.

"I'll see you there, man."

"Yeah…see you there." Noah hung up and glanced over to Damian. "We're going to have company at the farm."

"Trouble?"

"I don't know. Casey doesn't think so, but—"

"Call the farm. Let them know."

"Way ahead of you," Noah said, thumb flying across the keypad on his cell phone.

Emma looked up, smiling tightly, as she heard the hinges of the front door creak and her youngest son's family entered. "Noah just called," she said as Natalie presented herself for a hug and kiss.

"Is there a problem?" Luke asked, a little too quickly for his taste.

"He said that your friend Casey called, and that there were people Noah had to meet. Who are apparently on the way here."

"Did he say who they were?" Holden demanded before Luke or Lily could.

"No." Emma bit her lip. "He told me that Casey said there was no danger, but he's afraid of the possibility that Casey was being forced to speak."

"Is Jack home?"

"Right here," Jack said from the bottom of the staircase, and Luke noticed the flash of light against the black steel of Jack's gun, hidden behind his belt.

"Natalie, sweetie?" Lily reached forward and pulled her youngest daughter towards her, Ethan held firmly in her other arm. "Let's go out to the barn, okay? Faith, come with us."

"Janet and Sage are already out there," Jack said. "Liberty's with Brad; Meg took Eliza to the pediatrician."

"Luke, maybe you should join them," Holden said as Lily glanced back at him from the entranceway to the parlor.

"Absolutely not."

"Luke, if it's Mayer then you're gonna be the first one he goes after."

"I'm not going anywhere until I see Noah."

"Luke," Jack said, interrupting the futile argument he sensed coming. "At least stay out of sight."

"Mama, you too," Holden said, turning from his son to his mother.

"No." Emma's face was pale but set. "If they're not a threat, then I have to welcome them to my home. If they are…this farmhouse has belonged to the Romillys for years. I will not be chased from it."

"Mama—"

The sounds of the screen door to the vestibule opening and slamming shut silenced the group of four. Before Luke could protest Holden grabbed his arm and pulled him against the counter as Holden slammed against the refrigerator. Jack hung back, one hand on the knob to the staircase doors; the other holding onto his gun.

"Who's there?" Emma called, almost hiding the shake in her voice.

"It's Casey…with some people," a recognizable male voice called back, and Casey's face appeared behind the screen. "Can we come in?"

"Who's with you?" Holden said, voice stronger than his mother's.

"Well…there's someone you guys know pretty well," Casey said, and Luke felt Holden's grip on him tighten.

The Snyders felt an eternity pass until a woman's voice, slow and small and familiar, replaced Casey's. "Luke? It's…it's Amira."

Another woman's voice floated through the screen. "Amira, how do you know—"

Finally managing to see the group congregated around Casey, Jack's tense frame relaxed and he reached to open the door, though one hand remained steadfastly on his gun. Luke's shocked eyes took in the sight of Amira walking first through the doorway. Riley followed her, nodding a greeting to Luke. Holding on maternally to Riley's elbow was a brown-haired, blue-eyed woman Luke would have guessed was Lily's age had Amira's appearance allowed abstract thought.

"—the people who…" The woman cut herself off as she looked around the room. "Is Noah here?"

"Oh, well, can we first have your name, please?" Emma said, nervously running a hand towel plucked from the table through her fingers. Her gaze darted back and forth between Jack and the visitors.

"Oh, I apologize," the woman said. "My name is Ruth Mason. I'm Noah's—"

Jack jerked forward suddenly, pulling his gun completely out, causing Emma to release a small shriek. Instinct made Riley pull Ruth and Amira close to his body while Jack trained his gun on the doorway.

"Officer Snyder, what the…it's just Noah and Damian!" Casey yelped, planting his hand over his heart as Noah and Damian entered the kitchen.

"Luke, what's…" Noah stopped suddenly, eyes finally fully taking in the scene before him. "Amira, what…?"

Any noise anyone could have made was suddenly cut off by a cry halfway between regret and unmitigated joy erupting from Ruth's throat. Extricating herself from Riley's grasp she almost tripped on her way towards Noah.

"It's really you. Char's little boy…" Her eyes were bright; Noah's hands disappeared between hers. "Oh, God, seventeen years..."

"Who are—"

"Aunt Ruth." The shine in her eyes disappeared behind a mask of lid and lash. "I'm your Aunt Ruth."