"Behold the hands, how they promise, conjure, appeal, menace, pray, supplicate, refuse, beckon, interrogate, admire, confess, cringe, instruct, command, mock and what not besides, with a variation and multiplication of variation which makes the tongue envious." – Michel de Montaigne

In all the years Daniel had known Emily Thorne - or, Amanda Clarke - she had never been the type to scare easily. She didn't panic, either. It didn't matter whether Daniel had been deceived of her identity for twenty years, what he did know, for a fact, was that his wife did not panic. Period. Yet, her ever-so-brief phone call had rendered Daniel breathless with fear, and he accelerated miles beyond the speed limit to Grayson Manor. Emily's failure to disclose why he needed to return home frazzled his brain, and he didn't bother to lock his car, not bring his briefcase inside. "Emily!"

"We're in here," she answered his call from the den, where a soft lamp flickered gently.

"Soph," Daniel entered the den and quickly surveyed his second eldest for any sign of additional injury, but it was the female opposite her that struck him. The female figure held her back to him, yet it was the same familiar posture and silohuette. His lips moved to open but the words refused to come, not until he had confirmation. Slowly, but surely, the intruder rose to her feet and turned toward him. "M-Mom..."

Gracefully, Victoria opened her arms and threw himself upon him, "Hello, Daniel." His body stiffened beneath her embrace, too shell-shocked by emotion. He immediately searched his wife for an explanation, for further confirmation that it wasn't all a dream, or nightmare. Emily silently guided their daughter out of the room, and Victoria smiled at Daniel. "She's beautiful, Daniel."

Her son nodded his head, "People say she takes after you."

A noble, proud smile flickered upon his mother's face and stepped backward, fearful she would overwhelm him. "I'm sorry. I'm sure this is very difficult for you." Her son remained expressionless, "Daniel, I'm so sorry I didn't attend Charlotte's funeral."

"Well, you weren't there for many important moments when she was alive either so, what the hell?"

"Don't be cruel," his mother scowled, pained by the brutal remark with all too much truth behind it. "If I had known how vulnerable your sister was, I never would have even considered leaving her to testify. As soon as I got off the plane, I insisted Charlotte be notified but news of my death had already been reported, and she had -" She still hadn't forgiven herself the Charlotte's overdose, and probably never would.

"Why did you get off that plane, mom? Did dad warn you?"

"Before I left for the airport, yes." Victoria confirmed, "But I had been too bull-headed to listen, so I boarded the plane, anyway. I received a phone call from a man named Satoshi Takeda, minutes before -"

Daniel's eyes widened, "Takeda."

"He, somehow, had prior knowledge of the plane's fate and arranged to have me escorted off," Victoria divulged, "Daniel, I know who Emily really is and what you don't understand is why he decided to train her to seek revenge." Daniel snatched himself away from her reach, "He falsified the evidence, Daniel. If it weren't for him, your father would have been arrested for the downing of flight 197 all those years ago." Victoria started to pace the room, of the place she had once called home. "For reasons unknown, he turned on the Initiative, your father and I, and he vowed to help Amanda destroy us for her father's misfortune."

The word 'misfortune' didn't settle well with Daniel, but there were heavier questions to be asked. He balanced his weight delicately between two feet, as he were weighing up which one should be answered first. "That doesn't explain why you're here, now." Victoria opened her mouth to reply, but Daniel hopped to the quickest, most logical next step. "Are you responsible for Sophia learning the truth about Emily?"

"I had to see you again, Daniel, and I could never have done so, unless you and your children learnt the truth." Victoria wildly protested, sensing how quickly things were going downhill for her. "It wasn't a malicious act to hurt you, or even Amanda. I did it because I love you. Daniel, I've been hidden away all these years, not because I was afraid of the consequences for my actions, but because I've been so ashamed of how I failed you and Charlotte -"

"You practically destroyed my family. I'm not a fool." Daniel reverted to her previous comment, regarding motivation, "You came back because you hate Emily. You always have. Your suspicions were confirmed, when you discovered who she really was!" Daniel's bitterness couldn't be disguised, nor did he care to. "From day one, you had your suspicions and now that you know for sure, you want to make her pay. The truth is, Victoria, you're the one who ruined the family. You and dad, your constant lies, the whole conspiracy... I'm ashamed to call myself your son or, at least, I was until Emily. She made me proud to be a Grayson, the day she became my wife. She loved me, in spite of my family name, not because of it."

"I would expect nothing more from David's daughter," his mother conceded. "I misinterpreted her intentions because I only desired to protect you, Daniel. She came into your life, when you vulnerable. I would have hated to see her take advantage of you because of the mistakes you made long ago."

Her agreeable nature didn't sit well in Daniel's gut, "Why are you really here?"

Victoria grew resentful of his distrust, "I've told you, Daniel -"

"I know, I know what you've said but I don't believe you, so until you're ready to admit to the truth, Victoria, I don't want you in my home or anywhere near my family." It wasn't the first time Daniel had addressed her by name, but it stabbed her in the heart all the same. The years had withered her ability to disconnect from emotion, she couldn't cut herself cold anymore. "You don't belong here." His apathetic response stirred a loneliness inside Victoria but the acceptance that she deserved little else from the son she had abandoned prompted her into submitting defeat.

The elderly woman quietly departed, and Emily draped her arms around her husband's waist, immensely relieved he had sided with her. Unbeknownst to her parents, Sophia studied the scene before her, and a pang of compassion for her grandmother propelled her to follow Victoria outside. "Victoria, wait!" She pleaded, barely able to walk steadily on her crutches, let alone run.

"Your father has made his feelings clear," Victoria tearfully replied, not bothering to stop, "As have you."

"So, that's it," Sophia's disappointment was prominent, "You're giving up that easily?"

"My heart has been broken one too many times," her grandmother croaked, through merciless tears. "One child is dead, and the other regards me, as if he were better off had I remained so." The harsh realisation had shattered her happily-ever-after dream of the Grayson family reunion, even with Emily Thorne.

"Well..." the teenager's lips formed a persuasive pout, "I'm disappointed in you. After all the stories I've heard, of the powerful, almighty Victoria Grayson; clearly, that woman died a long time ago. You're not even on the same level," Sophia scathingly remarked. "If my father really meant enough for you to return, you wouldn't back down at the first hurdle." In spite of the unkind delivery, Victoria sensed the slightest hint of encouragement from Sophia. "All my life, all I've ever heard is how much I remind everyone of you and it only ever made me sadder that I never got to know you and love you for myself," she confessed. "I've listened to the stories, everything you were capable of, but I'm still drawn to you. Don't go," Sophia petitioned her grandmother, "Together, we can work things out, I promise."

Beyond her irreparable sadness, there was an acceptance Victoria could only have hoped to experience... and Sophia held out her proverbial hand to hold.