Part 15-Turnaround

The first thing Lucas noticed when he entered Allie's room was that it was freezing. Both windows were open, and the November wind whistled in through one and out through the other.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked as he slammed the windows shut without permission. The heating bill was going to be ridiculous—not that he minded, but if Allie really needed her room to be this temperature, there were more practical ways of going about it.

"Not really," said Allie, though she was shivering a bit in the heavy pink sweater Belle had chosen for her the day before.

Lucas spared a moment to wonder if Allie had been smoking and tried to cover the smell by opening the window, then vetoed the idea; she hadn't had the time to get her hands on anything forbidden. Either way, this wasn't the time for that discussion.

"You and I need to have a conversation, and I don't think it will be easy for either of us."

"Worse than talking about EJ raping my mum and Johnny being my twin?" asked Allie, not unreasonably.

"Different. But still hard." Allie nodded with a wisdom beyond her years, and Lucas knew that he would never have a better opportunity. He couldn't chicken out now, anyway. Allie needed help, and she wasn't going to ask for it. She shouldn't have to ask for it. "I don't think that your mother was the only one EJ hurt like that. I know you told Abby that he didn't rape you."

Allie's feet had been curled underneath her; now they hit the floor simultaneously and she stood with her arms wrapped around herself. "This is none of your business," she told Lucas.

"You're my daughter. I'm not saying that you can't have any privacy, but if something is hurting you—"

"He's not even here!" Allie interrupted.

"But sometimes it feels like he is, doesn't it?" Lucas asked quietly. He hadn't planned what to say; he hadn't been able to. Now he let the moment take over and hoped he was going in the right direction. "When you went shopping yesterday, it wasn't as much fun for you as it would have been if he'd never touched you, right? He's still affecting your life. Wouldn't it be better if he wasn't?"

"I'm working on it."

"I'd like it if you had someone to help you. Help you in ways your family can't."

Allie looked at him blankly.

"You're not the first person this ever happened to. There are therapists who went to school to learn how to help girls in your situation. If you had one, you could say anything. It would be private. You wouldn't have to worry about hurting anyone, or who you could trust, or having to see the person you talked to at dinner."

Allie pulled a blue sweater on over the pink one. Lucas couldn't see her face when she said, "I don't want to talk about it. I want to forget about it."

"Rotten things have a way of not letting themselves be forgotten. Sometimes it's easier to learn how to work around them."

Allie looked him square in the eye. "What if I don't like the therapist?"

"We'll fire ones you don't like until we find one you do like."

"Did you already pick one?"

"Will did. He works at the hospital and he chose the one he thought would be best for you."

"Who else knows, besides Will and you?"

"None of us know anything, Allie, because you haven't told us. Abby suspected, and Claire suspected and told her mother, and Belle told Philip. Philip told me and I told Will. I don't know anything other than that Abby and Claire came up with the same theory, but I notice that you haven't denied anything."

"So people can tell by looking." Allie's voice had a horrible ring of resignation.

"No. Abby guessed because she worked in a hospital in Africa where she saw women who had been sexually assaulted fifty times a week and then you showed up with bruises on your arms and mouth. I don't know how Claire guessed, but I do know that her parents haven't told her that she was right. Was she right?" Allie had already confirmed everything in a roundabout way, but Lucas had to be sure that she wasn't omitting crucial facts the way Sami would have at her age—or any age.

"It wasn't that—he only kissed me once. But he was always making excuses to touch me on my legs and my…" Allie gestured at her chest. "I hated it. But I never really told him to stop, I never fought until the last time."

"You never should have had to fight. And if you don't believe me, I hope you believe this doctor. Are you willing to give it a try?"

"Will the doctor make it so people can't tell by looking?"

"People can't tell now. I didn't know until you told me, and telling me was brave, Allie. It was the right thing to do, because so many people want to help you. Abby does. Claire does. Will and I want it more than anything in the world. Maybe the doctor can help you believe that."

Allie shrugged.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

Lucas reached to hug his daughter, but stopped himself at the last minute. Now that he knew what the last man who had purported to be Allie's father had done, he wasn't sure that he would ever feel right about touching her without an engraved invitation.

To Lucas' utter surprise and delight, Allie didn't reopen the subject after her first session with Dr. Medy, or her second, or her third. If anything, she seemed to enjoy her appointments—though Lucas didn't pry.

The only information Allie volunteered was that she and Dr. Medy had discussed the reaction of some of her classmates at Salem Middle School to Allie's accent, and that Allie had decided that she wanted to adopt an American accent. It wasn't, Allie assured Lucas, that she was going to let the opinions of other girls run her life, but rather that she didn't want to talk like her captor when she could talk like her new family instead.

It turned out that Ciara had worked with a dialect coach when she'd acted in a commercial two years before. Hope provided the phone number; the coach promptly made room in her schedule for Allie. Lucas didn't like to admit that he was thrilled to hear Allie sounding less and less like the man who had destroyed his family thirteen years before.

When Allie had been in Salem for three weeks, Lucas received an email from Dr. Medy asking if he and Will would join Allie at her appointment. Lucas happily cut short his meeting with Marianne of Vieux Carre. (Marianne was in town on other business, but she and Lucas had managed a thoroughly enjoyable get-together in her hotel room. Lucas was really enjoying working with Titan again. It had perks he hadn't imagined.)

Will, though, looked anything but happy when their paths intersected near Dr. Medy's office.

"Rough day, Bud?" Lucas asked.

Will sighed, put-upon, like he had when he'd been Allie's age and his parents had been summoned to a meeting at his school. "No worse than usual."

Lucas glanced around to assure himself that they were safe from prying ears. "You always seemed to love working here."

"I like it here just fine!" Will snapped, and then shook his head as if trying to rid himself of his irritation. "Sorry, Dad. You know I don't like talking things to death, and I *really* don't like talking things to death with some kind of facilitator who is doing it as a favor to me."

"A favor to you?"

"Dr. Medy doesn't take on new patients."

Lucas raised his eyebrows, impressed by the pull his son had in the hospital. Will always played down the extent of his success and popularity. Since Will didn't seem comfortable with this topic, Lucas searched for a new one. "Things go well with your patients today?"

Will nodded at a sign which reminded health care professionals not to discuss patients in public areas. "Fine."

"Do you have many more today?"

"No."

"Do you have plans tonight, or do you want to go to Buddy's Burger Barn with Allie and me?"

"At least it's burgers and not Indian," said Will, making a face at the thought. "The house still smells like it from the last time you and Allie got it. Makes me want to throw up every time I come in the front door."

Allie turned the corner with her backpack over one shoulder and a folder of papers in her hand. "You don't like Indian food?" she asked. A worried look crossed her round face.

"He doesn't, but that's his problem, not ours," Lucas said. He started to drape an arm around Allie's shoulder, like he would have done with Will while winding Sami up, but stopped himself at the last moment.

Allie's eyes shifted between Lucas and Will.

"It's a running joke," Will said, but he didn't sound amused. "Mom hated it, Dad loves it, so when they were fighting—this is when I was younger than you—Dad would eat it to annoy her. It doesn't really make me sick."

Allie looked unconvinced, but led the way through the reception area to a smiling receptionist who waved them into Dr. Medy's office.

Allie greeted Dr. Medy familiarly; Lucas warmly; Will stiffly.

"It's not going to be that bad, Dr. Horton," Dr. Medy informed Will.

Will murmured something polite and professional, but the expression on his face didn't change.

"I've asked you both to come here today because Allie needs to say some things to you, and she isn't sure how to do it."

"You can tell us anything," Lucas said hastily, leaning toward Allie as if ready to defend her from unseen attackers.

"See what I mean?" Allie asked Dr. Medy.

Lucas looked back and forth between his daughter and her doctor. "What do you mean? What does she mean?"

Dr. Medy smiled, and Lucas relaxed slightly. That the doctor found this somehow entertaining probably meant that Allie's therapy was progressing as well as he'd hoped it would.

"Allie," said Dr. Medy, "your dad expressed concern for your well-being and wants you to know that you can trust him to help you with any kind of problem. Is that something that upsets you?"

For the first time, Lucas noticed that Allie had a way of rolling her eyes without actually rolling them. Boy, are you all idiots, her face seemed to say. I only put up with you out of pity.

Lucas recognized the look. Will had worn it for all of his adolescence.

It was a relief to see Allie behaving like a typical teenager for once.

"Answer the question please, Allie," Dr. Medy prompted.

"It does not upset me that he wants me to know that I can trust him," Allie answered flatly.

Lucas made to assure Allie that she could, really, always, but Dr. Medy held up a hand for silence. "Now, Allie, why did you ask me if I saw what you meant just now?"

Allie smirked. "Why did you stop him," she nodded at Lucas, "from talking just now?"

Dr. Medy did not take whatever bait Allie was offering. "Because we asked him here to have a very specific conversation, and I don't want to go off on a tangent. Now, tell us why you reacted as you did when your dad promised that you can tell him anything?"

A shrug. "It's all he ever says. One way or another, everything he says comes back to that. Will, too."

"And why does that bother you?"

"Because I wish they'd treat me like a real person, not like I'm made of glass! I wish Will would tell me that he hates Indian food and doesn't want me eating it in his house. I wish my… dad… wouldn't jump away from me like I'm poisonous every time he starts to touch me and changes his mind. I wish we could talk without everyone thinking about how fragile I am."

"Dr. Horton, why don't you respond to that first?" said Dr. Medy.

Will looked at his sister as if he had never seen her before. "I hate Indian food, but I want you to eat it in my house, which is your house, too."

Will was not inclined to touch the less concrete issues Allie had raised, so Dr. Medy moved on to Lucas.

"Oh, I'm allowed to talk now?" asked Lucas, but his almost shaky tone undercut the sarcasm of his words.

Will felt his blood pressure shoot up at the barely perceptible tremor in Lucas' voice. His intense dislike for talking everything to death was suddenly overwhelmed by the instinct to protect his father.

"No," he interrupted Lucas. "You can't talk now, because first we need to discuss why you would encourage Allie's delusion that Indian food isn't disgusting. I just hope that taking her to Buddy's Burger Barn tonight helps her develop more appropriate tastes. It should be a good start, at least."

Lucas and Allie both laughed, to Will's immense relief. Their laughter was fake and forced, but it would do.

"And Allie," Will added in the same breath, before he lost his nerve, "You can't expect Dad and I to already be over finding out that you spent your whole life locked up with the man who raped Mom and that we didn't do anything to help you. We don't know you very well and we don't want to hurt you, so we overcompensate. You look so much like Mom—I know you're tired of hearing about that—and she was… you kind of had to walk on eggshells around her when she was upset, or she would freak out. And when she freaked out, she did dumb things, like divorcing Dad to marry EJ and letting him get his hands on you and Johnny."

"I don't like it when you talk about your mother that way," said Lucas automatically. He seemed to have recovered from the blow of Allie's complaint.

Will shrugged. "Why? I didn't say I hate her. I didn't say she hurt us on purpose. I said she did stupid things when she was upset, and she did!" He glanced at Allie, who was listening with rapt attention. "When I was about your age, she came to my class's Halloween party and started a food fight."

"Really?" asked Allie, her face alight with interest. "Why?"

"It's almost impossible to tell who started a food fight," Lucas defended.

Will stared hard at his father.

"Not like you weren't throwing food, too, Bud," Lucas added. Then he sighed. "Okay, she might have had a lot to do with it escalating as much as it did. But to answer your question, Allie, our family was in the newspaper a lot at the time because there had been a series of… attacks. They thought a serial killer was out there, and your mother was accused. Wrongly, of course. Some of the other parents in Will's class brought it up.

"And to answer your other question, I don't entirely agree with what Will said about your mother, but he's right that knowing that someone hurt you like EJ DiMera did makes it hard for me to say or do anything that might cause you more pain. Sometimes when I look at you, I don't see your mother, but I see the baby you were the first time I saw you. I remember when I held you on the day you were born, and when you looked at me I felt like you were warning me that this wasn't going to be easy. I wanted you to be wrong. I was only 19 when Will was born, and by the time he was five he was more mature than I was. I let him be a partner, or a parent, instead of a kid. I didn't want to do that to you, too."

"I don't feel like you did anything to me," said Will quietly. "You didn't take anything from me. If EJ had never showed up…"

"You don't feel that way, but I do. Which is no excuse to go to the other extreme with Allie." With effort, he switched his attention from his son to his daughter. "I'll try to shelter you less, but you have to promise to let me know when it's getting to be too much."

"I promise," said Allie. "Can we start with you being honest about whether or not you're looking for Johnny?"

"You don't waste time."

Allie shrugged.

"Yes, we're looking for Johnny. Getting closer, too."

"Are you going to chloroform him and drag him here like you did me?"

"The chloroform will be a last resort. I had no idea they were planning to do that with you."

"Can I write him a note telling him not to worry?"

Lucas' throat tightened for the second time that day. "Yes," he told her. "That's a great idea."

Theo Carver was leaning against the wall not far from Dr. Medy's office when Allie, Lucas, and Will exited. Will assumed that Theo must have charmed some nursing assistant or clerical worker into telling him where Will had gone; Theo was too talented for his own good that way.

It only took a second for Will to realize that Theo was awaiting someone else.

"Theo!" Allie squealed, and jumped into Theo's arms. Theo gave her a big hug.

"How are things going?"

"Good!" Allie started to chatter so fast that Will couldn't properly make out what she was saying. He narrowed his eyes at Theo, who eventually noticed and detached himself from Allie.

"Hey, Will." Theo held out his hand to Will, as he had a thousand times before, but this time Will brushed it aside.

"Allie, can you give me a minute with Theo?" His voice was colder than he had meant it to be, but hadn't Allie just gotten through explaining that she didn't want to be handled with kid gloves?

Allie eyed them suspiciously, but obediently moved closer to Lucas as Will pulled Theo around the corner. "For God's sake, Theo, she's thirteen years old!" Will snarled. "She's thirteen years old and she was held captive by a sociopath sex offender for most of her life!"

Theo crossed his arms over his chest. "The only reason I don't kick your ass for saying that is because I know how much you worry about her."

"Sorry," Will muttered begrudgingly.

"You should be. I'm not a good guy—not like my dad—but I'm not a pedophile. I just like to check up on the children I rescue from time to time."

"You know she has a crush on you?" Will prompted, not offering a real apology even though he knew he should.

"I'm not gonna hurt her. I just want her to have as many people in her corner as she can. That's it."

Will nodded, feeling deflated, but pleasantly so. Snapping at Theo had released some of the tension that had been building for days. The tension returned as quickly as it had gone, though, when he caught sight of a red ponytail out of the corner of his eye.

Theo followed Will's gaze. "That's Dr. Wesley's daughter?"

"That's her."

"How're things going with you improving her," and here Theo's tone became suggestive "bedside manner?"

"I think I liked it better when it wasn't going so well. We had a real conversation a few weeks ago and now she smiles at me." Will admitted before he could stop himself. The therapy session must have lowered his defenses. Will liked Theo a lot and he knew that the feeling was mutual. Still, he wasn't up for talking about Joy with anyone. He was almost certain that Theo's assessment of the situation would be similar to Lucas' assessment.

"Damn," said Theo with mock sympathy. "I hate it when hot redheads smile at me."

Will didn't bother explaining why, exactly, it was so unnerving to see Joy looking at him the way she suddenly did, or how he wasn't sure he could train her properly. Instead, he changed the subject. "Want to come to Buddy's Burger Barn with Dad and Allie and me? You know Allie would love it if you came."

"Can't. Another time?"

"Sure." Again, Will's mouth spoke without his brain's consent. "You think Joy is hot?"

Theo didn't answer, which was just as well.

They were still debating the merits of Buddy's three-cheese classic with mushrooms versus onions when Allie produced a letter which she announced should be delivered to Johnny should Philip's men track him down.

The letter was written in a still-childish scrawl on pale blue paper decorated with sparkling stickers. "Johnny probably won't like the stickers," Allie admitted. "But at least he'll know it's from me."

Will read the letter over Lucas' shoulder.

Dear Johnny,

I know that when you get this, you will be scared, even though you won't admit it, not even to yourself.

I want you to know that I am okay, and you will be okay, too. These men work for my mother's family. They won't hurt you, but they will do whatever they have to do to get you to come with them. They're going to bring you to me, but you won't have to stay if you don't want to.

I would tell you this some other way, so you would know that this is real, but I don't know your email address or your mobile number, or even where you are.

I can't wait to see you.

Love,

Allie

"Do you think it's all right?" Allie asked anxiously.

"I think it's perfect," said Lucas, and he wrapped his arm around Allie as Will tugged playfully on her long hair.

TBC