Author's Note: I hope no one is confused on the whole past flashback thing.
Chapter 9: The Truth Revealed
"So that's how you two really met?" Dave asked startled. Mike and Micky had finished telling how Micky had escaped with Rose and Sarah and Mike had come up with the idea to fake Micky's death. Neither had gone into too much detail about their prior lives, Micky neglecting to talk about his intimate encounter with Sarah and Mike neglecting to talk about how Micky's mother treated him. Micky didn't have a clue any of that had ever happened. "You told us you met here at an audition! You...you lied to us!"
"Davy..." Peter muttered. Micky knew Peter was trying to diffuse the situation before it exploded.
"It's not enough that you kept all this from us, but you flat out lied to us for three years about something as stupid as how you met!" Davy exclaimed. "How could you do that to us?!"
"Do you really think we could tell you the truth, Davy?" Mike asked.
"Three years, Mike!" Davy exclaimed. "You lied to me for three years! We visited your family! What about Aunt Kate? Is she even really your aunt!?"
"Yes," Mike answered. "She's my mothers sister. My father raped her in college, but she was drunk and high at the time so no one believed her. I took my mother's name after I left. Micky changed his entirely."
"Micky changed his name?" Davy asked. "So he's even lying about that?"
"Davy, I'm supposed to be dead!" Micky exclaimed. "Micky's always been my name. I tried changing it, but couldn't get used to it. I had a lot of problems with memory after that nightshade stuff wore off. But we changed my last name at least. We had to. My father's FBI. If I had applied for a drivers license using my real name, it would have red flagged and he'd know I was alive."
"I just can't believe you lied to us," Davy said. "All these years. I thought you trusted us!"
"We do trust you, Davy," Mike answered. "What do you want us to say?"
"You could have told us the truth," Davy said. "If you trusted us, you could have told us the truth!"
"Damnit, Davy, you know it had nothing to do with that!" Micky exclaimed unable to control his anger. He really wanted to because he knew Davy was his friend and he was just in shock. "We couldn't tell you the truth for your own sake!"
"What?" Davy asked. "Our protection? If you're supposed to be dead and you're supposed to be free, what are you protecting us from?"
"Davy, please stop," Peter pled.
"What do you think, Davy?!" Micky exclaimed. "We were trying to protect you from the truth! We didn't want you to know where we came from! We don't want anyone to know!"
"Why?" Davy asked.
"Why do you think, Davy?" Peter yelled standing up and slamming his hands on the table startling them all. Peter never yelled. "They didn't want this to happen. They wanted to move on with their lives and never look back. And they don't want people judging them. People judge others for all sorts of reasons. They take anything and go with it. Any weakness at all. People would have seen their parents instead of them. You can't tell me that if they told you the truth you would have been able to look at them the same."
"You would have," Davy answered.
"We're not talking about me," Peter argued. "Come on, Davy. Just look at the way people look at me. Everyone sees me as stupid. I'm the dumb hippie."
"You're not a dumb hippie," Mike said.
"You guys know that now," Peter said. "But tell me the truth. When you first met me, you thought I was stupid. I get anxious around new people and I never know what to do. So people see that as me being stupid. Can any of you honestly say you didn't think I was at least a little slow when you first met me?"
"We looked past that, Pete," Mike said. "Because we also saw you have a good heart."
"Exactly," Peter said. "And that's what makes this different. People hear about what your parents did and they can't see you for who you really are. It's like a giant scarlet letter. Am I right?"
"I didn't trust Mike at first," Micky said. "And if they hadn't been trying to kill me, I doubt Mike would have ever trusted me."
"Exactly," Peter said. "What were they supposed to say to us, Davy? "By the way, we're on the run from our parents who tried to murder us for saving two girls from being raped?" Do you honestly think you would have been ok with that? If you hadn't known them like you do now, would you have run away?" Micky glanced at Mike who had his face buried in his hands. He knew Mike well enough to know that they were both thinking the same thing. Would Davy run away now? That was the reason neither of them had spoken of their pasts. They were both terrified that people would do just what Peter said they'd do and run away from the two evil children. And they were both terrified those people were right on some level.
"I...I don't know," Davy admitted finally sinking down into the chair and cooling off.
"We'll understand if you guys want to leave," Mike said softly.
"What are you talking about?" Peter asked looking at Mike quizzically. Mike didn't look at him and when Peter turned to Micky for an explanation, Micky stared at the floor unable to answer for him.
"They think you still see them as their parent's sons," Sarah said holding herself up in the doorway.
"Sarah!" Micky exclaimed jumping up and rushing over to her. She still looked very weak, but she did have a bit more color in her face. "What are you doing!? You need to stay in bed!"
"I'm fine, Micky," Sarah answered, though Micky could feel her trembling slightly.
"Uh, why don't you sit down," Davy said jumping up and pulling out a chair for her. "I made you pancakes. You should at least eat." Micky led her over to the table and helped her sit down.
"Is that true?" Peter asked staring down Micky and Mike. "Do you think we want to run away because we think you're evil?"
"Most people would, Pete," Mike admitted.
"We aren't most people," Davy said putting a plate of pancakes in front of Sarah. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone off on you like I did. If I upset you...I'm really sorry. I just got a little overwhelmed with all this"
"It's not that you upset us, Davy," Mike sighed. "We know where we come from. We know who we are."
"Obviously you don't," Peter said angrily. "How dare you think of yourselves as anything like them! How can you think for a second that either of you have a single evil bone in your body!? You two are the kindest, most gentle men I know. You both have two of the most beautiful souls I've ever encountered. Just look at everything you've done, not only for each other, but everyone else! Micky, you saved that baby because you wanted her to have a good life. You knew that baby wasn't going to be anything like your father or anyone else in your family no matter who her father was. So how can you even think that about yourself!? You risked your life to impersonate a mobster just to put the rest of his gang behind bars. You've saved me, Mike and Davy countless times. There's nothing evil about you!"
"And, Mike, you're no different!" Peter continued. "What you did for Micky shows it in and of itself. If your father had caught you, he would have killed you, right? But you stuck your neck out anyway to save him. A stranger. And anytime we've ever been in danger, you've been right there defending us. You've saved us just as many times as Micky has."
"Peter..." Mike started.
"No!" Peter interrupted. "I don't want to hear another word about it! You're nothing like them. Nothing!" The room fell silent for a while. Micky had never seen Peter act like this and it kind of scared him. His words touched Micky's heart and the fact that he had shown more emotion in trying to prove to them they weren't evil than he ever had in the entire time Micky had known him, made Micky smile.
"You have very good friends, Micky," Sarah said after a few minutes.
"Yes," Micky answered. "I guess I do."
"So how do you feel?" Davy asked.
"I'll feel better once I eat more," Sarah said taking a bite.
"Don't eat too fast," Mike cautioned. "Or too much."
"I know," Sarah smiled. "Thank you. Truly. For helping me."
"One thing I don't understand," Davy said. "If Micky helped you escape, how'd you get in this situation?"
"It's complicated," Sarah said shooting Micky a look. He felt a sense of anger boil inside him. More at himself than anything. "But I need to tell at least Micky. I know you're blaming yourself."
"You don't know that," Micky quipped.
"Fine, then tell me I'm wrong," Sarah said.
"You need to eat," Micky answered avoiding the question. He could never lie to her.
"It's not your fault, Micky," Sarah pushed. "After you left, Rose made sure I got home to my parents. Neither of you could have known what was going to happen after that. I was fine for a few weeks, mostly. But then I found out that they had actually sold me to your father. He didn't kidnap me."
"They did what?!" Micky exclaimed feeling some of the anger shift away from himself.
"That's horrible!" Davy cried.
"I always knew they didn't want me," Sarah said. "I was just a mistake they couldn't get rid of. When I found out, I tried to go to the police so I could at least get emancipated. I thought maybe I could find Rose and live with her. But my parents convinced everyone I'd gone crazy from my kidnapping. They locked me up in that place. Got a court order to say I wasn't capable of making decisions for myself when I became an adult and everything."
"Do you think they knew what would happen to you?" Peter asked.
"If they didn't know beforehand, they knew after," Sarah answered. "I tried to tell anyone I could. But I was the crazy girl in the asylum."
"So no one listened to you?" Davy asked.
"That was the idea," Sarah said. "That's why the doctor kept us medicated with pills to make us seem crazy."
"I don't understand why a doctor would hurt someone like that," Davy muttered.
"You mean like my mom?" Micky asked. "Top surgeon. Number one in med school."
"He's crazy," Sarah answered. "He thinks he's helping people. He gives them babies."
"Is that why he took yours?" Mike asked. "To give to another family?"
"Well, that was the intent," Sarah answered. "But..."
"Sarah, you don't have to do this," Micky said placing a hand over hers.
"I'm ok, Micky," Sarah said. "I didn't hear the baby cry. It's dead. Stillborn."
"I'm so sorry," Peter said.
"He got mad at me," Sarah said starting to cry a little. Micky shifted his chair over so he could pull her closer to him. "He said it was my fault the baby died. That's why he left me there to die."
"That's preposterous!" Peter exclaimed. "With how they treated you, what did they honestly expect!?"
"You know it's not your fault, right?" Micky asked softly.
"I know," Sarah answered. "But that doesn't make it any easier."
"I'm sorry, Sarah," Micky whispered. He wished there was something more he could do to help her. He wished he'd tried to track her down. Maybe he could have saved her.
"Was it just the doctor who did this?" Mike asked.
"No, it was the whole staff," Sarah answered. "He hires orderlies and nurses that are criminals. He gives them new identities, so when the state does their background checks, nothing gets flagged. He drugged us to make it so we wouldn't fight back and then he inspected us to see how suitable for childbirth we'd be. Then when we'd get pregnant, he'd sell the babies to desperate couples."
"How does anyone have any healthy babies in that kind of environment?" Mike asked. "I've never seen anyone so emaciated."
"Most of the others were healthier," Sarah said. "I fought back more, so I got punished and drugged more. I'd try to eat, but always got sick. I haven't been able to hold much of anything down for years."
"How are you still alive?" Davy asked.
"Davy," Mike warned.
"We need to tell Rose," Peter said. "If he's doing that to the other patients, someone has to stop him."
"No one is going to believe me," Sarah said. "I already tried to tell whoever would listen."
"Rose said it herself, Peter," Micky said. "Sarah is an escaped mental patient with severe delusions. No one is going to believe her. People like him know how to cover their tracks. Trust me."
"Rose is going to get them off our scent," Mike said. "Maybe we can work something out with her to get evidence against them."
"Wait," Davy muttered. "If you changed your name, how did Rose know who you were before she got here?"
"I sort of ran into her about a year after we got here," Micky said. "I thought about looking for you, Sarah. I don't know why I didn't."
"I know you," Sarah answered. "You didn't want to hurt me. You knew it was hard enough to leave the first time for both of us. You didn't want to stir everything back up by showing up out of the blue. You told me to move on. You wanted me to move on. I don't blame you for any of this, Micky."
"You should eat," Micky said smiling. He knew she was right and it always pleasantly surprised him that she knew him better than he knew himself at times.
"We should do something," Mike agreed. "Try and find evidence. Help those patients and stop that doctor."
"I'll talk to Rose," Micky said. "See what she thinks we should do. She knows the legal system and how people like him work."
"What is Rose's story?" Davy asked. "Sarah was sold to your dad; you and Mike were born into it; what happened to Rose?"
"She was orphaned," Micky answered as Sarah started eating again. "She was 6 when both her parents were murdered. My dad worked the case. The uniformed officers at the scene found her hiding in the closet. They tried to find family for her, but there wasn't anyone to take her. My dad petitioned to adopt her and because of all the ties he has in the legal system, he did. I don't remember much about it. I was 5. But I remember she was terrified. She had nightmares about what happened to her parents for years. I used to sing to her to make her feel better."
"And you did the same for me when your father took me," Sarah smiled. "Your voice has always been calming."
"Is that why he sang to you this morning?" Peter asked.
"He sang that song to me when I first got there," Sarah answered taking another bite of food. "I told him it was my favorite song when I was a kid and even at 14, I still loved it. It was sometimes the only way I would go to sleep at night."
"That's kind of beautiful," Davy said. "I mean, horrible that he needed to, but beautiful that Micky did that."
"It's why I fell in love with him," Sarah smiled.