A/N: I decided not to keep you waiting for the last chapter! I know what I'm like and waiting would kill me, so here it is!

x

At nine o'clock the next morning, the blonde was standing impatiently on the steps of the building, waiting for someone to respond to her persistent knocking on the front door. She had spent the night before refining the story, the web of lies, she would tell in order to get her friend released. Finally, there was a long creak and a harassed looking orderly dressed all in white peered out at her through the gap between the door and the frame.

"Can I help you?"

Greta pushed on the door with strength that surprised the young man and he stumbled backwards, allowing her admittance. She stalked in and looked around at the entrance hall. It was dark and dingy and depressing. There was a large, no doubt religious, statue in the centre of the space and Greta peered at it disdainfully for a moment.

"Ma'am?"

"I've come to collect Pepper." She told him at last, her tone making it clear that she meant business and was not about to leave without getting what she wanted.

"Pepper?" He stuttered, looking alarmed. "Umm… please wait here a moment, Ma'am… I'll see if I can find–"

"Hurry up. I haven't got all day."

Impatiently Greta waited while he rushed away to find someone to deal with her. She watched as several of the residents of the institution walked past her, some on their own and some being led by orderlies. She frowned, hating the idea that Pepper had been forced to endure such a state.

"Hello, my name is Sister Mary Teresa." A quietly spoken, elderly nun walked towards her with small, hurried steps, one hand outstretched in greeting. "I hear you've come to make enquiries about Pepper?"

"Yes."

"And you are…?"

"My name is Lynda… Lynda Saunders." She lied easily, choosing a name she had read in a newspaper report a day or two earlier. "Pepper was… is… like a sister to me."

"Well, Miss Saunders–"

"Mrs."

"Sorry, Mrs Saunders. I'm afraid that at the moment Pepper is receiving hydrotherapy treatment–"

Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, the young woman folded her arms. "What's that?"

"The patient is placed in a hot bath in order to–"

"Get her out." Greta demanded furiously, taking a threatening step closer to the nun. "Get her out, now!"

"I can assure you that–"

"Pepper hates being submerged in water!" She snapped. "Surely you know that. How long has she been under your care?"

The nun bit her lip nervously, apparently not having anticipated their meeting heading in this direction. She motioned towards a door to her left and stared to walk towards it.

"If you'll follow me I'll see what we can do about ending Pepper's treatment early so that you can see her."

"Thank you." Greta replied stiffly. It wasn't enough, but it would do for now, she decided.

They walked into a large common room of some sort. Patients were milling around, completely unattended and unstimulated by the orderlies and nuns who were interspersed around the room. The staff members were, apparently, doing their best to pretend they were anywhere other than the institution. Greta frowned as she passed a jukebox that was blaring out upbeat music that contrasted horribly with the setting.

Her eyes lingered on some of the occupants of Briarcliff. She felt terrible staring at them, but found that she was unable to look away. Some were shuffling around, barefoot, while others sat on old and uncomfortable looking chairs. One woman was rocking a doll in her arms, cooing to it as though it was a real baby. A man in the corner was beating his head against a metal pole, following a steady rhythm.

A blonde woman, staring blankly into space, caught Greta's attention and she gasped loudly, clapping her hands over her mouth. She felt as though ice was running through her veins as she gazed on the face of a ghost. The nun stopped and turned, assuming something had happened. Seeing the direction of the woman's gaze, Mary Teresa frowned lightly.

"Are you alright, Mrs Saunders?"

"That woman… she…"

"Judy Martin?" The nun followed her gaze and smiled weakly. "It's a sad story; she used to be in charge around here for years until she suffered a… a mental break."

Greta gulped as she stared at the woman who was the spitting image of her mother. "She reminds me of someone I used to know."

"It has been remarked upon that she bears an uncanny resemblance to some old, dead actress who used to be a Hollywood star… Elsa Mars?"

"Maybe that's it…" The blonde agreed quietly, clenching her fists at the woman's less than complimentary description of her mother.

Clearly eager to leave, Sister Mary Teresa nodded quickly and continued to lead the young woman through the room. They exited through a door at the other end and followed the corridor round until they came to an office. The nun requested she wait for a moment, while she went in to speak to the Monsignor.

Greta gave her a couple of moments, before opening the door and striding inside. She ignored the indignant exclamation from the other woman and fixed the man behind the desk with a determined frown. He leant forward, steepling his fingers together on the surface in front of him.

"Mrs Saunders, is it?" He asked in what he apparently thought to be a charming tone, but Greta did not. "I am Monsignor Timothy Howard, how may I help you?"

"I want to take Pepper away from this horrific place." She announced bluntly. "She's innocent… her sister lied to get her committed because she didn't want her around anymore."

"I'm afraid that–"

"I don't care what you are afraid of, Monsignor." Greta told him angrily. "This is me asking politely. My husband is a top attorney in New York. We have already applied for a court order for Pepper's release on the grounds of false imprisonment because there has been a severe miscarriage of justice." She leant on his desk, resting both hands flat on the surface and lowered her voice dangerously. "If it comes to that, it'll mean publicity and attention being brought to whatever is going on around here. Do you really want the prying eyes of America focusing in on you in this place?"

The Monsignor shifted uncomfortably in his chair, exchanging a look with the nun standing off to the side. Greta kept her gaze even and fixed on him, showing no sign that she was lying through her teeth at all. Clearing his throat, the man avoided her gaze and stared at his hands.

"I am sorry, madam, but there is nothing I can do." He tried to tell her. "Pepper was convicted and–"

"So you get creative. You pretend she died… write a death certificate and release her body to me. Or you allow her to leave and then report her as missing. I don't really care."

"That is highly immoral, not to mention illegal!"

Greta slammed her hand down on the wooden surface and scowled furiously. "So is what you are doing here." She straightened, taking a step backwards and fixing him with a sweet smile. "You have an hour and then I will be back to hear your decision."

Leaving the office and closing the door with a bang, the young woman inhaled deeply, feeling the adrenaline coursing through her body. She headed back through the recreation room, unable to keep her eyes off the woman who was the double of Elsa, before taking a seat on the base of the statue in the middle of the entrance hall.

Lighting a cigarette she stared coolly at anyone who passed her. She refused to leave the building until she had Pepper with her and knew that if she stepped foot outside, they would almost definitely do their best to prevent her returning. Instead, she would wait where she was until they informed her of their decision.

She was well aware that she was playing a risky game. If the Monsignor called her bluff and demanded the warrant before releasing Pepper, then she would be in trouble. There was no warrant and there was no way she would be able to get hold of one. Officially, she did not exist and neither did Jimmy.

The twins and Desiree had been fine when they left Jupiter to start their new lives. She and Jimmy, however, had not. The police still wanted Jimmy for the murder he hadn't committed and Greta was still on their radar for what had happened in New York. They had needed to create new identities for themselves to avoid their new life being blighted by their old ones. Jimmy had been upset by the prospect of losing the name his mother had given him, but to Greta it was nothing new. Thankfully, Desiree had contacts who had been able to create whole new identities for the pair. Jimmy Darling and Greta Mars had ceased to exist and James Ryder and his younger sister, Grace, had taken their place.

"Mrs Saunders?"

Sister Mary Teresa alerted the young woman to the presence of the nun and the Monsignor and she stood, dropping her cigarette on the floor and stamping on it. She put more force into the action that she normally would have done, before turning to face them. Folding her arms across her chest, she jutted out her jaw determinedly.

"After much consideration we have decided that, considering the progress Pepper has made and how she has been improving, we are able to release her into your care." The Monsignor told her, looking as though it was against his better judgement. "The terms of her conviction say that she is to be held her until 'such time as we believe she is no longer a threat' and I believe that we have reached that point."

"Good." Greta nodded, carefully schooling her features so as not to give away her surprise, unable to believe her luck. "When can we leave?"

"I have sent someone to collect her."

"Thank you."

Now that Pepper was so close to being released to her care, Greta's impatience rose to an almost unbearable level. She tapped her foot irritably on the marble floor, ignoring the aggravated glances of those around her. With shaking hands, she lit up another cigarette, as she paced backwards and forwards around the entrance hall.

"Pepper!" She cried, dropping the cigarette as soon as she saw the other woman, descending the staircase with an orderly beside her.

A bright, hopeful grin split Pepper's face as she realised who was waiting for her. Crossing the floor in a few strides, Greta pulled her friend into her arms holding her tightly. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply feeling as though another tiny part of her soul had started to be repaired, just by being in close proximity to Pepper.

"I told them my name is Lynda Saunders, OK?" She whispered into Pepper's ear. "Don't be surprised when they call me that."

"OK." Pepper readily agreed, nodding against the taller woman's neck.

"Can we leave now?" Greta asked, turning back to the Monsignor but keeping a tight hold on her friend.

"I will just need you to sign here, Mrs Saunders…" He held out a clipboard with official looking paperwork on it. Greta spared it a cursory glance before accepting the pen and drawing an unreadable squiggle where he was pointing. "Here, too… and here."

"Is that it?"

"That's it." He agreed with a nod and a false, forced smile. "You're free to go, Pepper."

Not waiting around for them to change their minds, Greta grabbed Pepper tightly by the hand and strode through the doors and out into the very welcome daylight and fresh air. Beside her, Pepper blinked against the sudden brightness and shivered against the cold.

"Are you alright?" Greta asked gently, shrugging off her coat and draping it over the other woman's shoulders.

"Yes, thank you." Pepper replied, smiling brightly at her. "It's just that this is the first time I've been outside in years. I never thought I'd leave that place… let alone see you again."

Greta blinked at her in astonishment; unable to believe the speech she had just heard from the woman who had known a grand total of ten words the last time they had met. "Pepper…?"

She laughed. "I'll explain everything." She promised. "But can we get out of here first, please?"

"Of course." The blonde nodded, opening the passenger side door and helping Pepper in. She slammed it after her and got into the driver's seat, kicking the engine into gear and speeding away.

"You've almost lost your accent. You sound as American as me."

Greta grinned. "That's what living here for over twenty years will do for you. I've lived here almost twice as long as I lived in Germany."

"Has it really been that long?"

"Mmm… almost fifteen years since we first met. I have so much to tell you… although not all of it's pleasant. Things are very different to how they were when I last saw you."

"In what way?"

Greta sighed tiredly, running one hand through her hair. Pepper looked sideways at the blonde who was resolutely staring at the road ahead, her eyes filling with tears as she told the older woman all about the worst day of her life. There was stiff competition for that title, but Greta had decided it was worthy.

"I hope he suffered." Pepper muttered when her friend had come to the end of her tale, showing more vindictiveness than Greta had even imagined she was capable of.

The blonde smiled weakly. "Oh, he did, we made sure of that."

"And what about you, Greta? Did you ever get married?"

"No."

Pepper looked at her friend carefully, noting how her hands had tightened around the steering wheel and how she was staring stubbornly ahead of her once more. The tears that had been threatening to fall as she talked about the tragedy that had befallen their family had vanished, replaced with a hardened expression. Her eyes, however, were full of pain.

"You and Eve… you were more than just best friends, weren't you?"

"Yeah, we were."

Pepper nodded knowingly and then glanced out of the window. "I know a girl I could introduce you to. She's a journalist, but she's really nice. I think you two would really hit it off. Her name's Lana."

Greta shook her head. "Thanks, Pep, but no thanks. After Evie, I… she was…"

"She was your Salty."

The blonde chuckled softly, glancing over at her friend and nodding. "Yeah. She was my Salty."

"I didn't get married either." Pepper informed her seriously. Then she grinned.

Greta laughed loudly at that, shaking her head in amusement. "I really missed you, Pep."

"I missed you, too."

They drove in silence for a little while. Getting back into the car after stopping at a service station for gas, Greta finally asked the question that had been in her mind since she'd been reunited with her friend.

"Pep… what happened to you in that place? I mean… you can… you are…"

Pepper smiled. "I was abducted by aliens."

Greta laughed loudly. Then she realised that the woman sitting beside her wasn't joining in. Mouth dropping open, she suddenly understood that Pepper was being completely serious. Running a hand though her hair, she chewed her lip, wondering whether she had done the right thing by rescuing the woman from the institution; perhaps Pepper had been in there too long. Perhaps she actually needed to be there.

"I know, it sounds crazy. Hell, if I were you I'd probably be wondering whether to turn the car round and take me back to Briarcliff." Pepper told her, shrugging calmly.

Greta frowned at her. "I would never do that."

"I promise you, it's true, Greta." The woman said earnestly. "Arden, the doctor, was carrying out experiments on the inmates. The aliens took me and blessed me with superior intelligence."

"Do you know something?" The blonde said after digesting Pepper's story for a couple of minutes. "Crazy as your story sounds, it is not the craziest thing I have ever heard. If you say aliens are responsible for your new linguistic ability, then I believe it."

"I have one more question."

"OK?" Greta glanced sideways at her, smirking slightly.

"What happened to Elsa?" Pepper asked. "I saw her on the cover of Life magazine when I first arrived at Briarcliff and you said she sold the freak show… so did she follow her dream?"

"She did." Greta smiled fondly. "Elsa finally made it. She even got a star on the Hollywood walk of fame."

"Can we go and visit her?"

The smile dropped from the other woman's face. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Elsa died…"

"What? When?"

"Halloween 1960… she performed."

Pepper's eyebrows shot up, knowing what that meant. "Why?"

"No idea." Greta told her desolately. "I went to see her that summer… to ask where you were and she seemed fine. I didn't tell her... about the massacre… she didn't know…"

"I'm sorry… I loved Elsa."

"Me too…"

Silence was resumed. They drove until they crossed the line into South Carolina and then Greta suggested looking for a motel. Pepper nodded at once, seeing how tired the younger woman was.

They both slept later than they had intended the next morning and it was nearly ten before they got back on the road. Greta had phoned home to let them know they should be there later that day, beaming when she put Pepper on to speak to Jimmy and heard his surprise, followed by Bette excitedly taking the phone off him to speak to her friend.

Drawing up in the driveway outside the house she shared with her friends and their children, Greta smiled reassuringly at Pepper. She grabbed her bag out of the trunk and led the older woman to the front door. She knocked and then stood back, allowing Pepper to take centre stage, grinning at the excited scream Bette emitted as the twins opened the door and set eyes on their long-lost friend.

A circus had come to town and Jimmy had suggested that, to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Pepper coming home to them, they went to see it. Dot and Bette had been unsure, but their children had pleaded with them until they changed their minds and consented to the outing.

Making their way across town to the showground, Jimmy and the twins' children had chattered excitedly and the eldest, the only girl, had hung onto her aunt's hand tightly. She asked about FräuleinElsa's Cabinet of Curiosities, demanding stories that she had heard countless times before. Greta didn't mind indulging her, only too happy to remember the good times.

The picture on a television set in the window of a store caught her attention and she paused. The little girl, eager to get to the circus, dropped her hand and skipped ahead to hold on to her father's instead. Greta smiled after her, shaking her head at her impatience, before looking back at the image on the screen. It seemed that they were planning a biopic about her mother's life that was due to air soon.

"Hurry up, Aunt Greta!"

"Yeah, hurry up, Aunt Greta!" Jimmy imitated his elder son with a chuckle. They waved at her from the other side of the street, urging her to join them.

Laughing softly, she shook her head and stepped off the sidewalk. There was the sound of screeching breaks, horrified screams, agonising pain and then everything went black.

Greta opened her eyes and blinked several times. Perplexed, she turned in a full circle, her mouth dropping open as she realised where she was standing. The woman thought she must be having a dream – a particularly vivid dream – but a dream nonetheless.

There was no way she could possibly be standing outside the big tent of the freak show, the illustrated banners fluttering lightly in the breeze. It was impossible for Paul and Toulouse to be carrying extra chairs from the storage tent, grinning and winking at her as they passed. She took several shaky steps towards the entrance, passing through the familiar doorway and taking in the scene in front of her in astonishment.

Ma Petite and Penny waved from their perches on the edge of the stage. Barbara smiled warmly at the blonde as she walked past to join Ethel and Suzi who were chatting about something or other over to the left, pausing in their conversation as they spotted the younger woman staring around, wide-eyed with confusion. Meep and Salty ran past, shooting her equally huge smiles before disappearing through the tent flaps and out into the night.

"Hello, mein liebling."

"Mother?" Greta almost whispered as Elsa strode out onto the stage from behind the curtain, stopping beneath the sign that bared her name. "What's happening?"

Taking careful, measured steps, the older blonde walked across the stage, down the steps and along the aisle until she reached her daughter. She stopped directly in front of Greta, smiling broadly. Lifting her hand, she laid it tenderly on the younger woman's cheek.

"Welcome home."

Greta shook her head. "I don't understand."

"I'm afraid you died, my darling." Elsa explained gently. "I am not sure of the details, but that doesn't matter now. You're here, where you belong, that's what's important."

"I missed you… all of you… so much."

"And we missed you, sweetheart." Ethel called from behind her boss. "It's good to have you back."

"We've got so much to catch up on." Penny added.

"But first, the show!" Elsa reminded them. "Come, our audience will be here soon."

They nodded and dispersed slowly, smiling at the blonde who still didn't appear to know what was going on. She watched the familiar pre-show routines taking place, willing herself to move and join in. Taking a breath, Greta started across the floor in the direction of the backstage area.

"You're late. I've been waiting for you."

From behind her, Greta heard the voice that she had been missing for so long. She turned slowly, inhaling sharply and feeling her knees almost buckling at the soft smile that she still saw every time she closed her eyes.

Standing in the entrance to the tent, hands on hips, was Eve. Not caring who was watching or what they thought, the blonde ran at her, wrapping Eve in a tight embrace and burying her face in her neck. She inhaled her familiar scent, not realising that she was crying.

Pressing her lips to her lover's, she kissed her desperately, making up for sixteen years of being apart. Eve chuckled against her mouth, moving her hands around to the small of the younger woman's back and pulling her impossibly closer.

After a moment they broke apart, staring at each other as though they were looking at the best sight in the world. Reaching up, to brush the tears off Eve's cheeks tenderly, Greta started laughing as the older woman copied her actions. Unable to tear their eyes away, as though they thought letting the other out of their sight would cause them to be separated again, the women leant in again.

This time the kiss was chaste and full of promise. Eve sighed and leant her forehead against her lover's. She smiled gently.

"Better late than never."