Hi, Evie! I just wanted to let you (and anyone else who didn't know) know that as much as I have given some background to Aphasia, she actually is not of my creation. Aphasia was a minor character in Glee (only having a short scene, in which she steals Mr. Schuester's wallet when he visits Grace Hitchens, the Glee director at the Jane Addams Academy. But, I am glad that you like the way I've written her, as on the show, she had no personality that we knew of. The only actual OCs that I've used for this story were the Rutherfords in the Rendezvous chapter. Everyone else has been a real Glee minor character or main character.
To the anonymous reviewers, I love you all! I simply have no way of responding to your questions, because you're anonymous and I don't like to answer readers questions in the A/N, because then everyone has to read the answer. My inbox is always open to those of you with profiles. Ask any of my regular reviewers – I am great about replying to reviews and PMs. I love it! But, I wanted the anons to know that I am not ignoring your questions, I just prefer to answer questions about the future of the story or concerns in a PM.
The Rat
Sam was only kept two nights and on the third day, he was released…
Mercedes slept for hours! When she finally woke up to the sound of opera music playing softly and the scent of what had to be Kurt's cooking, she was completely refreshed and felt energized. Santana would be running the shop, with Lauren and Becky working. It was doable – as she, Santana and Quinn were the only staff for weeks after Rachel left, and the four of them were the regular staff for a few years, only hiring a couple of temps at their busiest seasons. The building could typically function with two or three people working.
The woman climbed out of bed, suddenly very worried about her dogs! She rushed towards the kitchen and Blaine called out, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where are you running to?"
"I haven't fed the dogs," she said, seriously.
"Lauren's doing her job, Mercedes!" Kurt fussed, "Your job for today is to rest. Here, Queen," he said, cheerily. Mercedes opened her hand and Kurt scampered over to place a couple of pills in it and gave her a cup of tea. "The police have finally finished with Emma's, so Joe, Artie, Brittany, and Shane are there, cleaning up and trying to put it back in order. Brittany gave your in-laws rooms, so you don't have to worry about trying to entertain guests."
Mercedes asked, "What time is it? I have to go visit Sam."
"Sam wants you to get some rest," Blaine told her.
"I've gotten some," Mercedes commented. "He and Matt are going to be going over their information, and I don't want to miss it."
"They aren't going over anything, because after all of Sam's movements and stress last night, he was in a load of pain and completely unable to move without agony, by Midnight last night. The nurse gave him more pain medicine and Phai says that he's been sleep most of the day," Blaine said. Kurt's head snapped towards Blaine at the comment and Blaine looked confused back at him.
"Excuse… Aphasia is at the hospital and if I'm hearing correctly has been there most of the day and you think that I'm staying here?" Mercedes asked. She snapped her fingers and went into her bedroom to get ready to leave. "Kurt – I'll need a Magic Mirror Miracle!"
Kurt frowned at his boyfriend and asked, "Seriously, Blaine. Why the hell would you tell her that?"
"…To try to keep her from going to the hospital. There's literally no reason that she should leave the comfort of her home to go up there. She's going to go do what, to listen to Sam sleep?" Blaine asked.
"Whatever she does there, now there's no stopping her. You just told a sensitive, romantically insecure woman that a beautiful girl who saved her boyfriend's life yesterday is at the hospital with him, while he's asleep and Mercedes herself is at home," Kurt said and shook his head. Realization finally crossed Blaine's features. He may have misspoken. Kurt declared, "I know one thing - she better eat this brunch that I've slaved over."
Mercedes walked into the hospital room, wearing one of her most sexy casual outfits, arranged by Kurt, brilliantly decorated with just the perfect touch of makeup and smelling like cocoa butter and white jasmine. She almost broke her stride when she heard Sam and Aphasia laughing softly, together. But, she took a swallow and a deep breath, while following the sound of his laughter to his bed. She heard a choke noise and smiled brightly, "Sam, are you awake?" She asked as she slowed down, only to make sure that she was not going to walk into the bed or anything else in the room. Kurt had even put a pair of her hottest shades on her, to add to her pizzazz. They matched her high heels.
"Yes," he mumbled, "Lucky me. I'd be so upset if I slept through you visiting." She felt her fingers being taken in his hand and he guided her to his side and kissed her. "You look beautiful and I LOVE how different your demeanor is from yesterday."
"Well, I had a chance to get some sleep, I haven't missed any pills, and Kurt dressed me and made me up. Thank you so much for last night. I appreciate how much you care about me, Sam." She leaned towards him to finally give him a longing hello kiss and Sam pulled her tightly to himself, stroking her skin, as he did. After the kiss, Mercedes turned around in the room, with her back to Sam, hoping that Aphasia would see Sam checking her out (because she could feel his eyes tracing her up and down), listening for a sign of the woman and asked, "Didn't I hear someone here, when I first arrived?"
"Hi, Mercedes," Aphasia said, feigning happiness. Mercedes forced a smile. She knew fake excitement when she heard it. The fact that her entrance made the other woman unhappy did bring a bit of satisfaction to Mercedes, though.
Sam did the grabby hands at Mercedes, even though she couldn't see him, and he leaned forward and pulled her to him, to wrap his arms around her from behind. Last night had been the first night that he had slept without her next to him or in his arms in almost two months. God, he missed the feel of her, so much, in that one night. "Babydoll, you have to sleep here tonight. I don't think I can do another night without you. When I started having nightmares, the drugs kept me sleep, so I couldn't get up to escape them and I didn't have your soft cuddly embrace to soothe me out of it." Sam inhaled her neck and kissed her on it, "You smell so good. I really missed you, last night." Mercedes giggled softly and Matt looked up at Aphasia's reaction.
Aphasia frowned and said, "I think that I need to go ahead and dip out. I just wanted to make sure that my heroics didn't end yesterday, by checking on you and making sure you were alright. That was a very fun chat, too. I'll see you later. I'm going to head to Matt's office and see if Andrea needs my help with anything before I have to go into the bookstore to work. Bye, Mercedes… Sam. See you, Matt." Matt didn't reply to her. He simply lifted an eyebrow at her and suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.
Mercedes said, "Oh, hi, Matt. I didn't realize that you were here."
"Hello," Matt said from the corner.
"Have you two gotten anything done today?" Mercedes asked.
Matt sucked his teeth and said, "I've gotten much accomplished. Sam on the other hand has been talking about camping, hunting and guns with Aphasia, for the past hour that he's been awake."
"I love hunting," Sam said.
"Yes, I noticed that when you and Aphasia were speaking so fondly of it," Matt said. "Now that she isn't here to distract you with all of your common interests, hopefully you can contribute to the very thing that you asked me to assist you with."
"Common interests, like what?" Mercedes asked. And why didn't he call me when he got up, or at least called Kurt or Blaine and checked on me? Was the "chat" that damned interesting?
"Guns and hunting," Matt said, "But, please – don't get him back on that conversation. I'd prefer productivity while he has some coherence. Fortunately, I was able to get him to tell me virtually everything that he knows about Will Schuester while he was under the influence of pain medicine. Andrea could work with some of it, but she's such an expert that she's probably found out a lot of that stuff, anyway. She was able to tap into the tap," he said, proudly. "So, she might be able to go back and see or hear whatever they did. It's too bad that she can't go in there to see what they're doing."
Sam stroked his hands up and down Mercy's sides, eyeing her backside in the black skirt. This would not work out. He removed his hands and opened his journal, "What has she found out, so far?" Sam asked, trying to focus on business and not the soft round backside that he should have been spooned around last night, but better be spooned against tonight.
Matt said, "Well, for one thing, she knows who the rat is."
Sam asked, "What do you mean who the rat is?"
"Well, a rat is slang for someone who tells on their friends when these friends have done something wrong, or gives information to an enemy or authority figure," Matt said. "Andrea has discovered who in your camp has done that."
"So… Emma lied about not knowing about the surveillance?" Mercedes asked.
"I am quite confident that Emma Pillsbury is lying on her death bed," Matt said. "If she was of any use to them, she wouldn't be. Of course, they have been known to dispose of tools, after the expiration of their warranties, but our information indicates that Emma Pillsbury has been on the up and up with all you pups. The rat that Andrea has smoked out is the safest, most unharmed person in the group," he said.
Mercedes thought for a moment, scrunched her face up, and told them, "I'm the most unharmed person in the group."
"Actually, you aren't, but," Sam said, frowning. "I need the proof," Sam said, to Matt.
"Who are we talking about, here?" Mercedes asked. Everyone had been hurt, deeply and severely.
Sam said, "Don't even plant that seed, Matt, until there is some actual proof." Mercedes took a deep breath and folded her arms.
Matt asked, "Sam Evans, do you have anyone that you can trust? Really, truly trust?"
"I have several people that I trust," Sam said.
"That's your problem. Do you know who I really and truly trust? His name is Matthew Rutherford and he is me," Matt told him. "He has never hurt me, nor betrayed me." He smirked and said, "But all of the others have, in some way. Hopefully, this will teach you not to trust several people. That goes triple for you, Miss Jones," Matt said…
When Aphasia came back to the hospital, Matt was not there, but Mercedes was there with Dwight, Stevie and Stacie Evans. She knocked gently and greeted everyone. "Sam, I picked up something for you at the bookstore," she said and handed him something. "We have this rack where failed books go to die, so I rummaged through it and after our talk earlier, this seemed meant to be," she chuckled. Mercedes tensed up and Stacie watched her, curiously.
Sam erupted into laughter and said, "This is probably the best get well gift that I've ever gotten! Wow. It's almost like they made it up based off of the talk we had earlier."
"What is this wonderful gift?" Mercedes asked, with a tinge of annoyance in her tone.
"It's a graphic novel called 'Adventures of Outdoorsman' – he lives alone in the woods and stuff, but he also fights crime," Sam said, unable to keep a straight face. He placed it on the table and returned his hands to Mercedes' waist. Aphasia's eyes focused on that little gesture and saw him squeeze his Babydoll two times on the sides as he told his friend,"Matt went to his office, since my family was coming in. We'll meet up here, later though."
"Sounds like a plan," Aphasia commented and sat down in an empty chair. "I guess I can just wait here. I only had to work a half shift, so I've got nothing to do."
"It's kind of family time," Stacie said, with her face scrunched up in an awkward smile. Sam glanced at her and she nudged her head towards a very frustrated looking Mercy. Of course, Aphasia saw her do this. Mercedes' lips were pouted, but she kept her silence.
"Yeah…" Sam said, to Aphasia, "But, we can call you when they're gone, so the four of us can have our meeting."
"No problem," Aphasia said and got up. "I'll bring you some cool ranch Doritos when I come back." Mercedes chuckled, shook her head, and began to anxiously bounce her leg against the side of the bed. Aphasia paused and looked at her, but decided to leave without saying anything, but goodnight to everyone.
Stacie asked, "What's going on with that, Sammy?"
Sam said, "Nothing." Stacie gave him an untrusting look, while Mercedes scoffed, under her breath. Sam expounded, "We have a lot in common. We like the same stuff. We've gone through some of the same stuff and I don't think that she has very many friends, so… she kinda I guess clings on. But, nothing's going to happen. We've already discussed that."
"Oh!" Mercedes said, in surprise. "You discussed it," she said, with very little emotion in her tone.
He went on to explain, "Yes, she told me that she's not a homewrecker and that if her behavior seems weird or uncomfortable for me to just trust that she wouldn't try to come between us, and I told her that she couldn't if she tried. Is that a problem?" Sam stared at her for a moment.
"It's a problem that the two of you are talking about her feelings for you, in the first place. Whether she acts on them or whether it would prove pointless is besides the point. Why even bring it up if you don't expect it to go anywhere. Somebody involved is lying to themselves," Mercedes commented, before she stood up and said, "I'll be back. I need to get some water." She removed Sam's hands and climbed off of the bed. "Stacie, could you walk me, please?"
Aphasia pretended to forget about the chips, as she really didn't want things to be any more awkward than they already were. "Someone was following us," she said when she and Matt entered the place. Mercedes was on her phone, not seated on Sam's bed, but quickly got off when she heard the other voices.
"Read over this information, to let me know if I've left anything out. I don't know what the unholy trinity plans to do, but I would prefer to be able to convene with Tina Cohen Chang and Quinn Fabray for any information that they may be able to provide concerning Russell Fabray and Paul Karofsky," Matt said, handing Sam some paperwork.
"They will be back, soon," Mercedes said. "Quinn is actually already back in town and Tina says that she will be back tomorrow."
"Good. Sam's getting out tomorrow, so the four of us, present, can meet up and go over the information that Andrea has been coming up with. Then, we can meet with your other friends and get some answers out of somebody." Matt pointed to the seat next to Mercedes and said, "Take a sit, Phai. I have the floor." She grimaced, but didn't feel like arguing. Hell, they had just been followed from his office. Sure, it was a big complex and the follower probably didn't know which apartment he was in, but the fact that someone was following them, apparently everywhere, just made her timid.
"Mercedes, when things start to jump off, I think it's best if you go away with my family. Dad and I talked about it and the best thing is to keep you out of the physical stuff. It's gotten as bad as Santana once warned you. Now, they're shooting and following and I don't know what they'll do when they're this desperate," Sam said.
Mercedes sighed and said, shortly, "Matt has the floor, am I right?" No one replied, but Sam looked hurt and confused at her tone with him. What the hell? Aphasia looked from Mercedes' angered expression to Sam's hurt one, then at Matt. "You were saying, Matt?"
Matt began talking, "I am going to do something that I have not done once since my father died – I'm going after Will Schuester." Matt folded his arms as he continued to talk. "I've called him a racist, many times and attacked his politics, but I am going in on him and I won't rest until he's destroyed or I'm dead." The room was silent and Matt continued to talk, "It has been found out through Andrea, that my flier was the pebble that began Schuester's most recent avalanche. I will apologize for that. I honestly did that to make your lives uncomfortable, not to put anybody in the center of a Nazi's warpath."
"Apology accepted, Matt," Mercedes said sweetly. Sam threw a frustrated look her way, but simply huffed out a breath and continued to listen. How the hell did Matt get that tone, but he got the other one – the one that he could not ever remember hearing her use with him before?
"I made a mistake. They had been waiting for me to make a move against Sam, to give them an excuse to make moves against Mercedes. Ultimately, according to Andrea's reports, things were supposed to get so bad for Miss Jones that she was either going to end up hurt or dead, kill herself, or back in an institution for losing it. What do you think Sam would have done then?"
"Killed you," Sam, Mercedes and Aphasia all said in one voice, though with different expressions and tones.
"That's exactly what they were counting on and they would have hit two birds with one stone. They want me dead and Sam too, for that matter. But, even better it would be for them to not have to do it themselves. So, they turned up the heat on Miss Jones, not expecting the two of you to skip town, not expecting you to be as stable of an emotional support system to her as you are, Sam and definitely not expecting us to ever make any peace with each other. But, they fired too late. They didn't start shooting until after you'd already spilled the beans about Jesse and Will, to me. They were probably going to shoot me and plant the gun somewhere in your stuff. There aren't cameras at the graveyard and the witnesses were afar off."
Sam exhaled and shuddered. Using Mercedes' life as a trigger to make him kill somebody for them… they were trying to use him as a pawn again! Mercedes asked gently, "You alright, Sam?" She was still upset with him, but she also still loved him.
"Yeah," he said, then, "So, now that their plan has failed, what do you think that they'll do?"
"What did they do the last time their plan failed?" Matt asked. Sam began having flashbacks of the Rutherfords, but his mind was trying to replace the women with Tina and Quinn, the guys with Mike and Joe, the kid with Mercedes… He groaned and shut his eyes tightly, shaking his head. "Yeah, you don't want that for your family," Matt said. "We have to act quickly and efficiently. I have been trying to figure out where my dad would have left something on Schuester and drawing blanks. My dad only officially left me a couple of things. A lot of the rest of it was left to other family members (but, as you know – none of them made it, but me. So, I was granted everything, because there's not really anyone who'd fight me for it."
"What's something that he left you that might only be special to you? My parents were both killed, accidentally," Mercedes said. Sam flinched, not knowing whether that was fully the truth, now seeing exactly how sneaky the enemy could be. "When my dad died, my mom didn't want to give me anything of his, but she did give me one thing. She gave me this chest that she said he'd wanted me to have. It was beaten up and old, an antique, actually – but it was decorated with jewels and had so many little compartments in it that it was sort of like my own little puzzle box. Inside of it, a few years later, I found a note that he'd written to me. Tina and Quinn read it to me until I memorized it. But, he wanted me to have that box FOR the letter. Although he had bought the box with his own money and never sold it, even when times got hard, because it was meant for me, the most important thing for me to get out of it was that letter, and he placed it inside of what he knew would be the most sentimental gift for me – that box."
Sam tilted his head. She'd never told him about that. Well, he'd seen the box and she said it was from her father, but that was the end. She didn't say very much about her family life. When she did, it was about how she got a second chance at having a family with her friends. Matt said, "The most sentimental gift that he left me is his record collection. He had been collecting them since he was a teenager and always intended to pass them on to his firstborn son. But, this collection is literally thousands of records…"
"Then we shouldn't waste any time searching them!" Mercedes said.
"We'll be followed," Matt warned.
"Aphasia has a gun and I hear that she's a very good shot," Mercedes said. "We could get Shane, the community center guys, and Anthony to meet up with us and help out, which adds to our numbers, plus – they might be reluctant to attack with so many of us there."
"Or, they might think to themselves, 'What's a room full of dead niggers to us?' and send in some of their savage thugs, guns blazing to cut us all down," Matt told her.
"Then, when you meet your family on the other side, you get to not only see them again, but be able to let them know that you died trying to bring justice to the men who had them killed!" Mercedes argued, getting up and making her way towards Matt. "Matt, the fact that you are even able to not only have tried to see to Sam's wound when he was shot, but to have been here almost the entire time that he's been in the hospital says a lot about who you truly are inside. My friends think that you're a hateful person, but I don't think that's it at all. I think that you just had so much love stolen from you that you've been afraid to let your heart love again, even though you have love inside of you. Let that lead you to not be afraid."
"And, what's to be said about you, if you get yourself shot down or worse while trying to do this?" Sam asked Mercedes.
Her head snapped in his direction and the honey sweet tone she just had with Matt was out of the window as she said, "Hopefully, they'll say – she was just as strong and helpful and heroic as Tina or Aphasia!"
"No one expects you to be Tina or Aphasia!" Sam fussed, back, now – finally pissed off at her.
"No – that's just my point! Everyone expects me to be the blind girl that pats her boyfriend on the back when he gets shot for somebody, but please – don't let her do any real work in this war. Tina fights off a psycho killer single handedly with a knife, no one blinks twice. Aphasia shoots the hell out of assassins gunning for you and Matt and not only does that make her not regarded as a psycho, but she's given a free pass after slapping the taste out of your mother's mouth and slamming the woman into a wall! I want to try to help someone sift through old records, and that's too dangerous for me?" Sam opened his mouth and shut it. When she said it like that, "You're acting just like a part of the family, now – aren't you. Poor little Mercy, she can't see, therefore, she can't do!"
"That is unfair and untrue!" Sam practically squealed.
Mercedes wasn't quite done, though, "Do you know how hard it was for me to walk on eggshells around Mary Evans for more than a month, wanting to slap her on several occasions, but not wanting to cross that line out of my love and respect for you? And on the day after Aphasia actually does it, there's nice little chats of hunting and outdoorsmen?"
"Mercedes…" Sam started, exhausted already.
"I am not weak, Sam! Just because you saw me at a bad moment doesn't mean that I'm not capable of the same strength and valor as your two favorite sister-friends!"
"My favorite sister-friends are Tina and Lauren," Sam corrected her, in a light tone. "Aphasia saved Matt and me. I can't help but feel some gratitude for her."
"I know all about how grateful you can be to the person that saved you. I understand it more than you obviously think. I also know how attached you can be to somebody that you've had the chance to save. I can SEE what is happening here, Sam. I'm sorry that I can't ignore it, but I won't be replaced right in front of my face, ever again. It starts with someone else having something that I don't. So, I don't care what it takes, I'm fighting just as hard as anyone else, especially her." Mercedes began to head for the door and bumped into one of the machines, "Damn it!" She hissed and shoved the thing aside to leave.
Mercedes rode with Matt and remained quiet, the entire time that they went to the house, two hours away. Now, it was about 9 pm when they got there, and it didn't seem like anyone had followed them, from what he observed, but they could have simply been very good at what they do.
The group perused through many albums, not knowing where to start or anything of the sort, for about half an hour when Matt said, "Oh my God!" Everyone turned in his direction. "Everyone is about to be so upset with me for this," he said. "Hell, I'm upset with myself!"
"Just tell us, Matt," Aphasia said, tired.
"In the will, my dad left me something else. He called them words to remember him by, but I always got the feeling that they were song lyrics," Matt said, rushing to his laptop to pull up the words that he remembered. "If I can google a phrase from the song that he left (because he didn't include the title or artist, which just makes me that much more confident that this is the one)…!" Matt keyed as everyone else stayed still, watching him. "Aha! It's the lyrics to a song called the Living Years, by a group called Mike and the Mechanics."
Mercedes chuckled a little and said, "Was even written by a guy with the last name Rutherford." She called out, "Anyone see that vinyl?"
"How can we know where to look?" Anthony asked.
"Well, we at least know that we don't have to look inside of every single case. We're looking for Mike and the Mechanics, right?" Aphasia asked.
Joe asked, "Are we looking for the album it was on, or is this a single?"
"Just look inside of any Mike and the Mechanics that you may happen to see and if the vinyl isn't that group, push it aside and move on to the next…" Aphasia said, until she was distracted by Matt shuddering as he read his computer screen. She went to check on him, while the others continued to search. Mercedes couldn't see, so she simply continued to carefully removed the vinyl from its case, dump it over and rub her hands inside and replace the vinyl when she found nothing else in the case. "You alright, Matt?" Aphasia asked.
"I don't need your substitution pity, Aphasia. I'm fine, just like I have been for the past two days that you've been acting like I don't exist because Sam was so important," he said. His voice was not nearly as bitter as his words were. In fact, he said it in that emotionless, casual tone that he would say everything in when she first began talking to him. Oh no, things have regressed. Matt said, "I was just re-reading the lyrics of the song that he put in the will." He shut his laptop and made his way to the vinyls near Mercedes, to be sure that nothing was accidentally skipped. As they continued to search, Mercedes began to sing the song, out loud:
The Living Years:
Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door
I know that I'm a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thoughts
Stilted conversations
I'm afraid that's all we've got
You say you just don't see it
He says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talkin' in defense
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts
So Don't yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different date
And if you don't give up, and don't give in
You may just be O.K.
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
I wasn't there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn't get to tell him
All the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo
In my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
Say it loud, say it clear
Say it loud
Don't give up
Don't give in
And don't know what you can do next
It took about two hours more before Aphasia said, "Mike and the Mechanics!" Everyone rushed to where she was. Joe helped Mercedes to get there, too. Matt snatched the record and opened the pocket that it was inside of. It looked almost brand new, except for a little slit at the top, where his father obviously must have slipped something inside. Matt felt like he was going to have a panic attack as he tore the plastic off of the record and reached into the pocket. There was a disk in a small sleeve and the sleeve read: To Matt, please do the right thing.
Mercedes had washed up and found her way back to Sam's hospital bed. He snuggled against her and squeezed her tightly. It was 2 am, by this time. "I was worried literally the entire time that you were away. The nurse had to give me something for my nerves," he said, burying his face in her neck.
Hearing the love mingled with fear in his voice tore her core apart. God, she felt guilty. It wasn't his fault that Aphasia seemed to be falling for him, but she did honestly feel like he should have set boundaries and put more distance between himself and the woman after she confirmed her feelings. Yet, she said, "Sam, I'm sorry that I was so mean to you earlier. I just didn't like the way that Aphasia was getting so much time and attention from you and it felt like it was only because she'd saved your life and showed how you know, how tough she could be. I wanted to be appreciated like that, too."
"Mercedes… I do appreciate you. I love you. I don't have these kinds of feelings for anyone else, and I think that you know that I believe that you're strong. I think you are strong and tough and heroic. You always have been, to me. But, you also are able to flawlessly combine that with gentleness and sincerity and femininity. You are perfect how you are and you never have to prove anything to me. But, if something had happened to you and I had lost you; I would be lost forever. I can't take that. So, please – not because I think you're weak or incapable of it, please stay out of all of this and just leave with my dad and them tomorrow."
"I can't do that to you. Sam, you said that you sleep better with me there. You cope better with me near you and I feel like it would hurt more than help for me to go," she said. "So, please, don't ask me again." Sam sighed and nodded. He couldn't lie – he did feel like he needed her near him, but he didn't want it to be at the expense of her comfort and self worth. So, he hoped and prayed that it wouldn't be at the expense of her life, either.
Sam was only kept two nights and on the third day, he was released…
Matt held on to the disk, making copies of it the first night that he had it, from the waiting room of the hospital. It was very possible that things would take a turn for the worse and someone would get to him before he had the chance to expose whatever secrets were there. He and Aphasia were in the waiting room, as Sam was supposed to be getting out today and they were going to be going to Matt's office to go over everything that Andrea had come up with.
Aphasia tensed up when Matt answered an incoming call with, "Giselle, now is not particularly a good time…" but then he stopped talking as the women on the other line began to frantically say something to him. "Okay, alright. I'll be right there, okay?" He put his phone in his pocket, began to pack away his things and headed for the door.
"Where are you going, right now?" Aphasia asked.
"Giselle's having some emotional issues and I gotta check on her," he said and continued.
Aphasia leaped up and followed him, protesting, "You've just uncovered the most important piece of information in your life and you're about to risk it by actually going out right now? Matt, what in the actual f*ck could be so troubling that you would do this?"
"My friend needs a friend and I'm going to be it," Matt said.
"She's still got you wrapped around her finger, I see," Aphasia snorted.
Matt stopped and faced her, directly, "Aphasia, I don't remember saying a GODDAMNED thing when I saw you running to and from Sam Evans' bedside each and every time that you had a chance, gazing at him while he loved on his lover and made such an obvious routine of it, that not to even be facetious, even a blind woman saw it. So, while you think you have reason to tell me how I should or shouldn't feel about a woman that I have been friends with for the past six years, why don't you examine that unhealthy shit that I have had exposure to for the past few days. You know the shit I'm talking about – this obsession that you seem to have developed for Sam Evans, despite the fact that not only does he not want you, but you shouldn't even be looking at him like that, considering your past with him and I think you need some counseling." Matt turned again and left, slamming the door behind him.
Aphasia grabbed her purse and was out of the door, just as quickly.
Giselle was crying when she opened the door and she threw her arms around Matt's neck. "Oh my God, Matt! They know about Jesse and me. They have videos and photos. They have old videos from his high school days. They know that you're on to them and they're willing to throw Jesse under the bus and release his bad side to the world, to try to do it before you and they're going to ruin his legacy!" She shook with tears.
"What the hell? Are you serious, right now? Get off of me!" Matt snapped and removed her from his person. "I've iscovere dthat a man who was supposed to be my friend was really my enemy, and you're upset because that very same man, Jesse's going to be exposed as a rapist? Then, you have the nerve to call me to cry about it?"
"If they release that, do you know what it will introduce into my experience, Matt?" She gave him a moment, then answered, sadly, "Motive." Giselle ran her fingers through her perfect hair and asked the sky, "Why did I let him die? Why didn't I fight that bastard Sam harder, or die trying? My life has literally gone to hell every since Jesse left it!" She covered her face and cried, "This is my punishment for not helping him."
"I do not think that there is any force in the universe that would punish you for letting something like him die. However, unless they have something that indicates that you purposefully let Jesse die, their plots are not going to be more than hearsay and speculation," Matt told her. "Stop crying. This needs to be out in the open. Now, you'll be able to deal with it, instead of dancing to pretend it never happened."
"They… they told me that I could do something to avoid it all. Jesse doesn't have to be shamed after all of his years of hard work and charity. Motive doesn't have to be established for me, and even my in-laws will leave me the hell alone about all of it and let me live in peace!" Giselle cried and shook her head, "But, I don't think that I can do it!"
"I would advise you not to do anything that they request," Matt said.
"But, I want a life. I want my life back and I don't want to be remembered as the woman whose husband raped her all of the time. I don't want Jesse remembered as that person! You and Sam Evans look like you're possibly around the same size. I mean, if you were dressed in all black and had on a mask…" She sniffled and faced him, holding a gun that he had not seen her withdraw. "So… they're content with pinning Jesse's murder on you, and I'm not positive of the full story, but it obviously involves you doing something to make me have to kill you," she cried. "I'm really sorry, Matt." She shook her head and said, "I just… I don't know how to get myself out of this mess."
Matt nodded his head and told her, "Do what you have to." Giselle's fingers were shaking as she prepared to shoot the gun and it was obvious to Matt that she did not have much experience with the thing. She wasn't pointing it at his head, either – so that was a good sign, because it meant she would hit the vest. But, before she had the chance to fire, she heard a loud noise and her window break. She screamed and dropped her gun, and heard the loud noise again, before she fell. Matt looked towards the window and saw Aphasia, with her gun, turn and take off running. He checked on Giselle. Aphasia had shot her in the arm and she was crying harder.
"They're going to kill me for failing. They'll kill me!" She said, crying. "Maybe I'll see Jesse again."
"Plan on going to hell?" Matt asked and got up to call an ambulance for her.
"Maybe," she told him. While Matt was on the phone with 911, another shot was fired and he jumped at the sound of it. When he looked at Giselle, she was sprawled out on the floor, with blood and fragments spilled from her face. "Oh, God!" He yelled and turned away from the sight. He had not gotten used to excess blood and the fact that it was Giselle made things even harder for him. He covered his mouth and said, quietly, "She just shot herself."
Matt heard struggling and grunting outside, and he could have sworn that he also heard cussing. Oh God, not Phai! Matt rushed out of the house to see his friend being strangled so hard by a masked man from behind, that she was lifted off the ground. e
Her legs were kicking and she managed to even break the window of her car as she fought with her assailant. Matt ran over to him and pulled him off of her. The guy had a rope or string or chord… it wasn't a gun or a knife. Matt wouldn't have cared, either way. He attacked, with rationale, without warning and without contemplation of any of his former hesitations.
The man was not a fighter, but he had just watched one of his closest, albeit maybe not the best of friends die a bloody tragic death. There was no way that whoever this was going to take Phai away from him, too and he punched that sucker in the face and continued to pound him. "That's how you live? By the fist? By the sword? By the gun?" Matt was asking, punching the masked man repeatedly in the face.
Aphasia pulled him off and said, "Yes, Matt! That's how he lives, but you don't have to! Don't stop to they level, Matt. You better than this!" She could hardly talk for her breathing and strained voice. Matt yanked the young man from the ground and snatched the mask off of him, then slammed him into the car as Aphasia gasped and shook her head, with her hand on her throat. They could hear the sirens and Aphasia said, "You could run, but you know how they handle failures where you were sent from? They kill your ass," she choked out.
"Enemies are handled the same way," He said.
"At least with us, you know that somebody on this side actually loves you," she said and shrugged her shoulders.
"He's not going anywhere," Matt said. "If he does, we lose the information that he can and will provide."
When the police arrived, he asked Matt all of the questions and turned to the young man and asked, "And who are you?"
"Steven Evans," he replied.
"What happened to your face?" The cop asked.
"He was attacked," Matt interjected.
"So basically – Mrs. St. James shot herself, you came outside to see this one being attacked and then, this one was attacked, what – as well, or afterwards?"
"I'm fuzzy on that much, Officer…" Matt looked at his badge and finished, "Goolsby. It's dark and I just witnessed something very troubling."
Goolsby looked at Stevie and asked, "How do you remember it?"
"I got the shit punched out of me," Stevie said.
"How do you know these people?" He asked.
"We're friends with his brother," Aphasia said.
"And is the brother here?" Goolsby asked Stevie.
Matt interjected with, "Officer Goolsby, I thought that I told you when you first arrived that this is a kid. You cannot question him; because he's sixteen. If you have questions, direct them at myself and my partner. If we need to take this someplace else, I will need to contact my team of lawyers as representation for everyone you see here." There were more questions before Goolsby told Stevie that he needed to contact his legal guardian. Stevie didn't have his phone on him, so Aphasia called Sam.
Sam jumped at the loud ringing of the hospital room phone, and shuffled to try to answer it over Mercedes' soft, sleeping body. He picked it up and glanced at the clock. "Hello?" He answered, hoping that this wasn't a tragic call. It was 4:00 in the morning, after all.
Matt snatched the phone out of Aphasia's hand and said, "Sam, we need your dad's phone number. There's been a situation that I can't discuss, right now and Stevie's here with myself and one Officer Goolsby, if you can believe that," Matt said, recognizing the name from his obsessive studies of Sam prison life, during his quest to pin him for Jesse's murder.
"Sam Evans?" Officer Goolsby repeated and shook his head with a laugh. "Have him meet you all at the station."
"He can't, Officer. He's in the hospital, after having been shot, but I am contacting the teenager's father. Sam – have Dwight meet us at the police station. Just tell him that Stevie's with us, I've instructed him not to say anything and I'll have a lawyer in place for whenever he wants to talk."
"Oh my God, Matt. What did Stevie do?" Sam asked, getting up out of the hospital bed.
"As I said, I can't discuss it right now," Matt said. He didn't tell him that Giselle was dead. That would make Sam jump to the conclusion that Stevie did it. Right now, he needed to find his center and take charge of this issue. Stevie Evans could not go to jail or be put into the enemy's hands. He might have some valuable information that could help with things, and Matt was done with playtime. All damned bets were off.
Dwight had picked Sam and Mercedes up from the hospital and took them back to Emma's with him. Mary had been staying there, in a separate room than Dwight and Brittany had been running everything in the place, except for cooking. Mary helped with that, because quite frankly, Brittany was not much of a cook. Dwight admitted that he and Mary had not been talking, but she had been communicating with the kids. "We're going to let them decide who they want to live with for the next couple of years," Dwight said, sadly. Mercedes reached over and rubbed his shoulder, and he patted the hand that touched him.
Upon coming back to Emma's, Mercedes was greeted by a concerned and excited Tina and Quinn. The two of them quickly snatched her away from Sam and Dwight, Sam noted – hardly even seeming to realize that this was their first time seeing him after he had been shot. He sighed and glanced at his father. "How has everything been, though? What's been up with Stevie?" Sam asked.
"He had an occurrence at the school, just after the two of you left. Luckily, they were at the end of the school year and it didn't affect his grades or acceleration, but we had to pay a fine for him fighting. His friends were bothering him about looking at some black girl, and were teasing him, telling him that he'd grow up to be like his brother and he snapped… But, this thing this morning – with whatever he did out there… Your friends weren't being straight up with me about his being at that house. I know there was more to it than they were leading on."
Sam sighed and said, "I'll talk to him." The two men came into the house and Sam saw balloons and smelled food. "What's all of this?" He wondered.
Tina cheered, "It's the welcome home, so glad that you didn't die party!" She rushed to give him a big hug and he winced. Tina quickly backed away and frowned, "Sorry." Sam smiled and nodded. Others gave him handshakes and pats on the back.
Lauren said, "It's kind of like a family gathering in which both sides of the family are here." Sam looked around and that was exactly what it was. The people that Mercy loved and cared for and the people that he loved and cared for, all here for him… and he loved all of them.
Stevie and Mary were sitting a little set aside from everyone else and after Sam had spoken to everyone and eaten, he made his way to them. He sighed and said, "Hi, Mom." But, he quickly moved on to say, "Hey, Stevie, can you come outside with me for a moment?" Stevie shrugged and got up to come with Sam. When they got outside, Stevie watched as Mercedes ran around in the yard with her dogs for the first time in days. Sam saw all of the bruises on Stevie's face and was saddened that his brother was getting into fights, probably because of his influence in his life. But, he didn't know that Stevie even knew anyone in Lima, still. They had not lived in Ohio since Stevie was thirteen, and that was only after they had come back after leaving Tennessee, trying to safely fall back into society without notice. "So, dad told me that you got into a fight about a girl…"
"The fight was not about the girl. I really didn't give a damn about the girl. I was just trying to read her shirt. She had on a shirt that had a really cool, long movie line on it," Stevie defended. "It was the opening and closing of Trainspotting – this really awesome movie…"
"I've seen it," Sam said.
Stevie added, "I love movies – so I remember thinking, that's a cool ass shirt, after I realized what was on it and I guess that I seemed to be looking too hard, so they started to give me crap."
"Stevie, even if you were looking at the girl, there wouldn't be anything wrong with that," Sam said.
"Like there's not anything wrong with those homos that were at the hospital to see you?" He asked. Sam didn't answer and Stevie kept talking, "I'm not like you, Sam. I never was, but I always wanted to be. I have recently realized that I never will be and I'm never going to try to be, again."
"Good, because I'm sure that the real Stevie Evans is far more interesting than a Sam Evans impersonator." Sam offered the teenager one of his trademark smiles, but Stevie clearly was not here for that.
"I tried to be like you, but really, you were supposed to try to be like me," Stevie said, thoughtfully. "Instead, you broke ranks and you ruined everything. There was a masterpiece in the making and you ripped it to shreds."
"What masterpiece is that?" Sam asked, wondering what in the world kind of propaganda and foolishness Stevie was about to grace him with.
"One friend was supposed to be destroyed by the life, unable to handle it, because of his horrible past. One friend was supposed to be exactly what the life is intended to be. And one friend was supposed to be the one who shouldn't have made it, but had the heart and the talent to rise in ranks, even though he wasn't expected to by normal standards. That should've been you!" Stevie fussed.
Sam's green eyes were widened in confusion and he admitted, "I genuinely have no idea what you mean."
"Hank's memoirs. Hank is going to be the most influential rook to come out of this place, and you were supposed to be with him!" Stevie said.
"Hank? Hank Saunders?" Sam asked. "Have you talked to Hank, or something?"
"Of course I've talked to Hank. Unlike you, Hank thought that it was nice to keep in touch with us after you were locked up. He's a writer and a speaker. He goes to different conventions and gatherings to speak with brotherhood members about uniting the forces and to help understand there advancement options."
"That sounds like Jesse St. James," Sam said, irritated.
"Yeah – he and Jesse did the same thing. They were both Schuester's rooks. You and Rick seemed like you would just drag Hank down, so he transferred to Dalton, where he could make the most of himself, without either of his futureless childhood friends ruining things for him. Jesse was supposed to handle you, to help you remain on the path of greatness. You were one of Schuester's knights, but you could have been so much more. You could have been great!"
An unsettling feeling rumbled in the pit of Sam's stomach as he looked at his younger brother. He knew that look. He understood it. Hank obviously had inducted, or at the very least tried to induct Stevie into the life. "Stevie… what happened to your face?"
"That nigger Matt punched me," Stevie said.
Instead of harping on Stevie's usage of the word, Sam merely asked, "Why would he do that?"
"I was trying to strangle the other one. The cunt with the foul attitude that slapped Mom," Stevie answered, fearlessly.
Sam took a deep breath, shut his eyes and asked, "Why would you do that?"
"It was my assignment," he said and smirked at his brother. Sam opened his eyes and stared at Stevie in horror. Stevie shook his head and said, "I may have been delayed. But, I'm not going to fail." Stevie began to walk away, but Sam caught him by the shoulder.
"Stevie, if you try to continue down this path, these people will destroy you. I know, from experience. That is what I have been trying to get through to you!" Sam stressed.
Stevie shook his brother's hand off of him and said, "What you know from experience is not to break ranks. You bit the hand that was feeding you and you got disciplined. You don't have anybody to blame but yourself."
"So, you would side with the people that are trying to ruin me. You hate me so much for how much Mom and Dad loved me that you actually can live with seeing them try to and possibly succeed at killing me?"
"When you came to Kentucky, I was so excited. I thought – oh God, my brother has returned from the dead! Then, I saw her and how you were looking at her and touching her and the things that you were saying about her and I had to mourn all over, because it was like you were gone, all over again. I just had to finally accept that my brother died a long time ago. You were dead to me when you broke ranks and messed everything up," Stevie said, trying to ignore the tears forming in his former hero's eyes.
"How can you say something like that to me?" Sam asked, sniffling. "How could you look at me and tell me that I'm dead to you?" Sam began to full-out cry and Stevie took a guilty swallow, biting his lip to keep himself from reacting to the man in front of him.
"You're a ghost, Sammy. You are the ghost of someone that I used to know and love and I can hardly stand to look at you, because all I can think of is how you could have been so great…" Stevie was saying, when Sam gathered him into his arms and held him tightly. "Sam.."
"Please, don't do this. Don't do this, for yourself. They don't care about you, Stevie and they'll let you die! You are too young to throw your life away, like I did, for these people!" Stevie cried now too and hugged Sam in response.
"You just can't imagine how confusing everything is when the person who taught you so much is the same one to try to undo it all. I feel like you're trying to break me. They're at least giving me stability." Stevie moved away from Sam and finished his thought with, "And I'm going to live with Mom." He backed up and walked away, to go find his mother again, wiping the hot tears off of his face as he did. Sam simply crumpled to the grass and held his face in his hands.
Mercedes had her arm wrapped around Sam as they made their way to the apartment that was Matt's office. He had been highly upset for most of the day, starting with the alarming call he'd gotten from Matt at 4 am. Then, there was the hour long wait to be given the details, and even then, all he knew was that no one was being charged with anything and that no one was seriously injured. She went back to sleep, he couldn't and after they left the hospital at around 11 am, his joy lasted for about half an hour of the party – then, he talked to Stevie and had been miserable, ever since. He wouldn't tell her what the problem was, though.
Now, they were about to find out something that was supposed to be life-changing and some other such stuff. When Matt let them into the apartment, Andrea turned from a desk with several computers in front of her and said, "I am so glad that we're moving our office. I can't even stomach Sam Evans being in this room."
"Do I know you?" He asked.
"As Lez-bitch Sammich," she said. Sam chuckled and nodded, then straightened his face. That wasn't funny. It had simply been a laugh of realization. Jesse had coined it in school but, everyone but Jesse actually called her that, especially Sam – who she was in synchronized swimming with for a while, when Jesse had convinced him that he needed to try to build up his transcript. She picked up a pair of headphones and said, "Come hither. Matt said that you demanded some proof of my findings, and I have worked extremely hard to ensure that I give you just that, Lips Tyler."
He chuckled again, "Sounds like something Santana would say," he mused. Andrea did not find it remotely entertaining as she offered a pair to Mercedes, as well.
Sam pulled Mercedes over and handed her the headphones. There was an adapter with several jacks and when both Sam and Mercedes put on the headphones, Andrea warned, "Please try not to throw a fit or have a psychotic episode in this place." Mercedes tilted her head and blinked, confused. Sam simply nodded and took his woman's hand in his. If this was what Matt suggested it was proof of a rat and of one close to her…
Mercedes and Sam listened to the phone call. "What's wrong?" Emma was asking someone.
"This wasn't supposed to happen. It was never supposed to be like this," she said. Mercedes recognized the voice right away and her heart sank. Surely, there would be no proof against her. That was impossible! "I just wanted them to leave Mercedes alone and so I tried to make a deal with them…"
"Please explain to me what you mean, Sweetie. You're scaring me," Emma said.
"The phone's not a good place to talk. They have your house phones bugged. They have your house bugged. It wasn't supposed to lead to all of this!" She was crying, hard.
"Who has the house bugged?" Emma asked, "Will?"
"Yes," she sniffled. (Mercedes began to tremble and tried not to cry, but tremors were taking over her entire form. Sam rubbed her arm to try to soothe her as they listened on.)
Emma tried to speak sternly, but gently to her, "Honey, come over and talk to me, then, alright? I need you to tall me exactly what's what."
"We can't do it there. We have to meet outside. They can't hear us outside."
"Just tell me this – why do you know all of this?" Emma asked.
She cried, "Because, I wanted to make sure that Cedes was okay, and… I made a terrible mistake."
"What did you do?" Emma asked.
"I told my father everything that I knew about Sam Evans. I let someone in to tap the place, to find out any secrets that he was keeping and all of this is because I did that!" She screeched.
"Calm down, okay? Come over and I'll meet you outside, Quinn." Mercedes took the headphones off and dropped them. Andrea quickly darted for them to catch them from hitting the ground.
"We have to go," Mercedes said. "We all have to go, right now." She shook her head and bit her lip as tears welled up in her eyes, "She owes every damned body in this room an explanation and an apology."
"And we owe her an ass whipping," Aphasia said.
"I owe her one," Mercedes corrected.