The End of The World: February 14, 2016

by SanJohn

The Ghostbusters are back to battle their old enemies for the end of the world is at hand. Will Professor Spengler's daughter get married? Will Ray lose his daughter and wife? Are Dana and Oscar lost to Peter forever? And what about Winston and the new Ghostbuster team, what is going to happen to them?

40. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Melody wrung her hands together as she watched Dana standing below her. She needed to talk to her, but in private. Right now Dana was talking to her husband.

Melody walked down the stairs of the Metropolitan Opera. She had come here with Raymond to see what should have been Echo and Daniel's concert, but that hadn't happened.

It had been two weeks since Echo had tried to commit suicide. Because of Doctor Spengler's absence and Mr. McQuarrie's relocation to Scotland, Echo's cousin Joseph Parnell had been called to fill in. Dana Barrett-Venkman had filled in for Echo's absence. Even though the music had been changed the concert had gone on.

Melody had sat next to Egon, on the parterre level of the theater. Usually Egon enjoyed himself at the opera or orchestra, but tonight hadn't been so.

Melody had looked to her left to see Egon's salt and pepper hair pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck. His hair had grown longer, since she had seen him last November, and he was sporting a mustache and beard too.

Melody thought it a little odd that her husband's friend would try to grow a beard because Egon's facial hair grew-in a different color than his regular hair.

Egon's mustache was brown in color, like the hair on his head use to be when Melody had first met him. But his beard had come in white on his chin, while near his ears it was light brown.

"That's why Egon is always clean shaven," Ray had told Melody when she had asked about it.

But what concerned Melody the most was the absence of any kind of expression on Egon's face. He was a quiet man, whenever he had been around her, but his eyes spoke volumes. Those sparkling, inquisitive eyes that never missed out on the smallest detail, were now dead before her.

Egon's mouth was in a frown all through the performance and his eyes stared at nothing. Even when Joseph preformed his Victor Borge routine, during the second half of the concert and the audience had laughed, Egon didn't even crack a smile.

"That was a wonderful performance," Verdie had said, "Don't you think so Egon?"

Egon hadn't replied or acknowledged that he had heard Verdie. He had simply risen from his seat, excused himself, took Verdie by the hand, and had left the theater.

"He's probably gone to find Kane," Ray had said to her when Melody had asked.

Kane Parnell had accompanied his son Joseph on the trip to New York City. In two days Joseph was to be in Washington D.C. to play with the National Symphony Orchestra. It was also good to have Eden's family around for Egon, Melody thought.

Egon's Uncle Cyrus, and Cyrus' son Cy, had come out right after Emrick had died. Callista's daughter was in the last few days of her pregnancy, with her first child, and Callista didn't want to leave her. Callista had sent her condolences and a card with her father and brother.

Uncle Cyrus and Cy had returned to Cleveland, the Sunday after Emrick's funeral, leaving the family to grieve in peace.

"Not now," Melody said stopping halfway down the red carpeted staircase and placing a hand on her extremely large belly.

A Braxton hick contraction racked her body and Melody grabbed the gold colored railing to her right holding onto it for support. She looked down below her to see Dana turn away from Peter and start down the red stairs to the orchestra level.

"Wait!" Melody hollered out as she worked her way down the stairs, weaving around the other patrons, trying to get to Dana.

Dana had reached the landing and was heading into the theater.

"Dana!" Melody called again as she reached the top of the stairs leading down to the orchestra level.

This time Melody caught Dana's attention. Dana looked around her trying to see who had called her name. Soon she saw Melody working her way down the stairs, towards her through the crowded lobby.

"Melody, are you okay?" Dana asked when the woman approached her.

"I'm fine," Melody replied as she held her left hand on top of her belly.

"You don't look fine," Dana replied as she placed a hand on Melody's arm and pulled her over to the side of the lobby.

Dana could see that Melody's face was strained and she frowned.

"You shouldn't be on your feet," Dana said as she saw Peter approaching them out of the corner of her eye.

"I need to talk to you," Melody replied as Peter came up and stopped by her side.

"Now?" Dana questioned as she watched Melody let out a grasp and close her eyes in pain.

"You better not be in labor," Peter said as he reached out to help support Melody, "I don't know anything about 'birthing' babies."

"Peter!" Dana said sternly, gazing his way, "Not now!" She hissed.

Peter caught Dana's look and muttered an apology.

"Melody," Dana said gently, "you aren't due for another month, right?"

"Three weeks," Melody said opening up her eyes, but knowing what she had said was a lie.

That was the reason that she needed to talk to Dana.

"Look let's get you to lie down for a minute while I go look for Ray," Peter said.

"There's a bench outside the men's and ladies restrooms," Dana said steering Melody and Peter to her left, "You can lie down there."

Melody nodded her head in agreement as she let Peter and Dana help her down the sloping passageway leading to the restrooms. Peter released Melody's arm when they reached the red covered bench.

As Melody slowly sat down Peter said, "Good choice Dana. If she gives birth here the blood will match the color of the décor."

Dana released Melody, stood up, and playfully hit Peter on the left side of his head with the palm of her opened hand.

"Wise up," she said, "go find Ray."

Turning back to Melody's side, Dana finished, "And call the paramedics."

"Alright," Peter replied.

"At your service," he said as he bowed and gestured with his right hand before turning around and leaving.

"Jerk," Dana muttered under her breath as she helped Melody to lie down on her left side.

"I think Peter and Raymond are carved from the same mold," Melody said placing her feet up on the bench.

"No way," Dana said sitting down on the floor by Melody's head, "when God made Peter he broke the mold."

Melody stifled a laugh before another Braxton hick contraction hit her.

"Breathe," Dana said placing her left hand onto Melody's right shoulder as she sat facing the woman. "The paramedics and Ray will be here soon. They'll take you to the hospital and stop your contractions."

"No," Melody hissed out between clenched teeth. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What?" Dana questioned removing her hand. "Having children?"

"It's been twenty-seven years for me," Dana replied sadly, not wanting to bring up the subject of her son that had disappeared.

Peter had called her from Rome to tell her that Oscar had found his birth certificate, had confronted him about his real father, and had disappeared. Peter had told her not to worry.

"Oscar can take care of himself," Peter had told Dana over the phone. "He's just upset about finding out the truth. He'll come home when he's ready or when he runs out of money."

"He has his canvas travel bag with him, his cell phone, driver's license, and credit cards," Peter went on. "He'll be fine."

But even though Peter had placed her mind at ease it hadn't lasted.

Dana had received a phone call from Mr. David Claringbold, director of theatre and events of the Sydney Opera House, in August of last year. Oscar was supposed to be the guest conductor for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's production of Romeo and Juliet on August 20-24th. Dana and Peter had just assumed that Oscar would show up for his job and hadn't told anyone about his disappearance.

"Is Maestro Venkman at home?" Mr. Claringbold had asked Dana. "He was supposed to be on a flight from JFK to Sydney, to arrive an hour ago today. But when I went to pick him up at the airport the airline told me he never got on the plane at JFK and they gave his seat away to a 'stand-by' passenger."

"No," Dana had replied, "I haven't seen Oscar since he went to Rome in July. I'm sorry I can't help you."

That's when Dana and Peter had filed a missing person's report. But it had become complicated, because Oscar had gone missing in another country.

"I'll do what I can," the detective told Dana and Peter as he looked at a recent photograph of Oscar that she had given him.

"Good looking kid," the detective said. "I'll contact the police in Rome and get a translator to help me with the language barrier."

"But know this," the detective went on, "if your son's actions were voluntary and he doesn't want to let you know where he is or what he's doing, my hands are tied. Filing a missing person's report for an adult of sound mind, doesn't entitle you to know where they are, only that they are safe."

Dana sighed. The detective had come up with nothing by the end of the year. No use of credit cards to trace Oscar. No cell phone calls. No money transfers from Oscar's bank. Nothing. Only missed concerts that he was to conduct.

She had become upset at Peter and had stopped talking to him. The last conversation that she had had with him had been after Egon's Christmas party at Echo and Daniel's new home.

"It's like Oscar's dropped off the face of the earth," Dana had told Peter after Christmas.

"Dana," Peter had replied, "look I can't tell you how sorry I am that this happened, but Oscar asked me about Andre. What was I supposed to say? He was holding his birth certificate there in his hands. Did you want me to lie to him?"

"No," Dana had replied, "I knew that this would happen someday. I just hadn't figured that Oscar would confront you first."

"He didn't," Peter had said back, "he went to you first."

"He did?" Dana had questioned. "I don't remember him coming to me."

"Oscar told me that he questioned you about who Andre Wallance was," Peter had told Dana.

"Oscar came to me with a question about an old program that he had come across while storing his stuff in our storage unit," Dana had replied suddenly realizing her mistake.

"Oh hell!" Dana had said to Peter. "I didn't realize that he was asking about his father at the time. I thought he was just curious about my cello career."

"It's okay Dana," Peter had replied placing a hand on her arm. "Now the cats out of the bag and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Oscar has a right to know what Andre had done to you and Hope," Peter had finished.

Dana had become bitterly angry at Peter. This was a secret that he was supposed to carry with him to his grave. She stormed out of the apartment that day, but had stopped before she closed the front door.

"You know Peter," Dana had said with hatred in her voice, "this is the second child that you have lost."

"That wasn't my fault," Peter had pleaded with her.

"Tell that to Janine," Dana had spat back.

"You're just like your father!" Dana had finished as she slammed the door in Peter's face.

"Look Melody," Dana said sighing, "having a baby is like riding a bike. Your body will remember what to do."

"No that's not it," Melody said, "Dana I've made a huge mistake."

"What are you talking about?" Dana asked narrowing her eyes at Melody.

Melody bit her lip. How could she tell Dana that she had made the biggest mistake of her life? She wanted Dana's guidance but Melody hadn't even been able to breach the subject with Raymond yet. Should Dana know before her husband what she had done? This mistake had been plaguing her for months now and she still didn't know how to approach the subject without hurting everyone that she knew. It had all started when Melody had gone in for her monthly pregnancy exam.

"Hum," the doctor had said as she measured from the top of Melody's pubic bone to the top of her growing stomach, "are you sure about your conception date?"

"Yes," Melody had replied sitting up on the exam table. "It was the night my husband injured his knee. You don't forget a thing like that."

"That was June 5th correct?" The doctor had asked making notes into Melody's chart.

"Yes," Melody had replied.

The doctor looked up. "What did you do the week before?" She had asked.

"I …," Melody had trailed off.

How did the doctor know what she had done? "No," Melody had said to herself, "she doesn't know."

"I was packing for China," Melody had replied out loud.

"No going away presents?" The doctor had asked.

Melody gulped. Somehow the doctor did know.

"On Memorial Day," Melody had replied. "But we used protection," she had hurriedly put in.

"Birth control pills?" The doctor had asked.

"No," Melody had replied, "I stopped taking those in April."

"Condoms or…," the doctor had said trailing off as she flipped through Melody's chart. "I don't remember fitting you for a diaphragm," she had finished.

"We used a condom," Melody had said, "but it didn't break."

"Condoms alone are only 98% effective," the doctor had said closing Melody's chart, "but it's important to use another type of birth control along with condoms."

"Condoms can be weakened if used with baby oil, petroleum jelly, hand cream, or other oil-based lubricants," the doctor had said. "You know that Melody."

"Yes," Melody had replied softly, "I do."

"So," the doctor had asked prodding on, "what was it?"

"Massage oil," Melody had replied after a moment of silence.

"Like I always say," the doctor had said pulling out a gestation calculator from her labcoat's pocket, "water based KY jelly every time."

"So let's see," the doctor had muttered turning the outside green wheel to the month of May.

"Memorial Day was Monday May 25th, so you are due to have your baby on February 15th and not the 25th like we thought."

"But just to be sure I'm ordering an ultrasound," the doctor had said putting her gestation calculator back into her labcoat's pocket.

"You should measure at nineteen centimeters or nineteen weeks pregnant," the doctor had told Melody.

"I'm concerned Melody," the doctor had went on, "because you have been measuring larger than what I had expected these past couple of visits. I just want to rule out a few things."

"Twins?" Melody had asked.

"That and I want to measure the amniotic fluid," the doctor had replied.

"I know for sure that I didn't get pregnant in May," Melody had replied trying to convince herself that it was true.

"I don't plan on finding anything out of the ordinary Melody," the doctor had said with a smile on her face. "But as we get older we tend to forget when we are intimate with those we love."

Melody closed her eyes as she felt another Braxton hick contraction.

"Breathe," Dana said placing her hand onto Melody's shoulder again.

Melody remembered her doctor placing a hand onto her shoulder during the ultrasound the next day.

"See there," the doctor had said excitedly taking her hand away from Melody's shoulder and pointing to the screen, "it's a single boy."

"And I'm right about May 25th as your conception date," the doctor had went on.

"But we weren't planning on having a child," Melody had said sadly, a tear coming to her eye.

"Well," the doctor had replied as she placed the ultrasound probe back onto the machine and wiped the KY jelly from Melody's stomach, "maybe I should have a talk with your husband about condom use since you stopped taking your birth control pills."

"No," Melody had said sitting up, "I'll talk to him."

But Melody hadn't said a word to Raymond and here she was in the last trimester of her pregnancy trying to get advice on how to talk to her husband when Dana was mad at her own.

Melody opened up her eyes as her contraction passed. Dana took her hand away as Melody sat up slowly on the bench.

"Are you sure you want to sit up?" Dana asked as she stood up from the floor.

"For now," Melody replied.

"Look Dana," she continued as Dana sat down next to her on the bench, "I'm sorry I'm such a pain."

"You aren't a pain," Dana replied. "Peter once told me that we're born alone, but we do need each other."

"It's lonely to really effectively live your life with no one. Anyone you can get help from, or give help to, is part of our obligation."

"Peter's pretty smart," Melody replied.

Dana snorted, "When he wants to be."

"So," Dana said placing a hand on Melody's leg, "what can I help you with today?"

Melody didn't know whether to tell Dana what she had done or not. She needed to talk to someone but didn't have the heart to bring the subject up with her husband. She was afraid that Raymond would yell at her or hurt her physically. She had made the situation worse by not telling Ray that she was due before the 25th of February also. Melody knew that if she told him now that he would immediately know what she had done.

"Well," Melody said trying to think of how to breach the subject.

"There is something I've done," she finally said, "that if my husband found out he would disown me."

"I see," Dana said removing her hand from Melody's leg. "Is it a secret that you have been keeping?" She asked.

"Yes," Melody replied.

"And," Dana asked going on, "are you afraid that Ray would divorce you if you told him this 'big secret' that you are keeping?"

Melody nodded her head yes.

Dana didn't know what to say as she looked into Melody's face. It held fear, but also buried in there was guilt. She reached out and took Melody's hands into hers.

"Look Melody," Dana said, "I don't know all the answers in life but I do know this."

"That the beauty of life is that while we can not undo what is done, we can see it, understand it, learn from it, and change. So that every new moment is spent not in regret, guilt, fear, or anger, but in wisdom, understanding, and love."

Dana could see tears flowing from Melody's eyes. Something was upsetting the woman before her.

"Dana," Melody choked out between tears, "I …,"

Melody never finished her sentence as the floor started to shake beneath her feet. Trying to stand up she found she could not and grabbed onto Dana for support.

Melody felt like she was going to pass out, like before when she had collapsed into Ethan's arms, but she didn't feel light-headed. The ground and the walls moving around her told her something else was happening.

"Hold on," Dana said as the lights went out and they were plummeted into darkness.

People around them started to scream and panic. Grabbing onto the wall behind her it came into Melody's mind that she was experiencing an earthquake.

"We need to get outside," Melody said out loud in the darkness hoping Dana could hear her above the screams of people still inside the theater.

Dana's pulling on her arm indicated that she had indeed heard her. Melody tried to follow as Dana led the way around the familiar floor plan of the 'Met'.

"This way Melody," Dana said as something dropped from the ceiling severing her hold on Melody's arm.

"Dana!" Melody cried out as the ground opened up and swallowed the two terrified women.

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Peter rubbed the left side of his head where Dana had hit him just moments ago. He didn't deserve to be hit but hadn't complained.

"At least Dana talked to me," Peter said to himself as he walked back up the red carpeted stairs towards the outside doors of the Metropolitan Opera.

Right after Christmas Dana had moved out. Peter sighed and dropped his hand down to his side. He had been the cause of her leaving. Dana had entrusted him with a secret. A secret that he wasn't supposed to talk to anyone but her about. A secret that he had released to the one person that she never wanted to have, her son.

"My fault," Peter muttered as he worked his way up the stairs to the parterre level.

He shouldn't have told Oscar about his real father being abusive, but Peter didn't want to lie either. He looked through the doors of the theater to see that the seat Ray had been sitting in was empty. Turning around Peter looked out over the opened foyer of the opera house.

It was a beautiful design with five tall arched windows that stood in front of him. Eleven crystal chandeliers, resembling constellations or starbursts, hung suspended from the ceiling. Peter walked up to the railing and looked down below him. Ray wasn't to been seen.

"Must have gone outside," Peter muttered as he worked his way around the rest of the people who had come to see Dana and Joseph.

Joseph Dean Parnell had entertained the patrons, with Dana's help, with a concert that could have come from Victor Borge's life.

No one had known that Joseph was blind when he had strolled out to the concert grand piano and had sat down. His first piece was Ludwig van Beethoven's, Fur Elise.

After that Joseph had stood up, bowed, and had gestured with his right hand towards the wings. Dana had come out, onto the stage, carrying her Amtani cello. She had bowed and had sat down in a chair that a stage hand had brought out for her.

Joseph had sat back down at the piano and after a moment nodded his head to tell Dana that he was ready. The pair then proceeded to play David Popper's "The Spinning Song".

This short piece highlighted the unique sound and style native to the cello. The piece was a vehicle for fiery virtuosity which Dana exploited with consummate ease. Her agile finger-work was sustained throughout the piece and at the end Joseph stayed seated white Dana enjoyed an outstanding round of applause.

Peter reached the landing and proceeded to the front doors. He pushed open the nearest one and went outside. He stopped, just outside the doors, and looked around for Ray.

As Dana left the stage, Joseph had pulled a while handkerchief out of his jacket's pocket. As he proceeded to dust off the keys the stage's backdrop rose up to reveal an orchestra behind it.

Putting his handkerchief back into his jacket's pocket Joseph then played Claude-Debussy's "Clair De Lune". Upon finishing Joseph had stood up, bowed, and boldly walked over to the conductor. He stopped, shook hands with the man, and then turning walked over to the first violin's chair. Here he had stopped again, shook the woman's hand, and turning back to the audience, bowed once again, and had boldly left the stage.

Moments later Joseph had come back in, with Dana's hand in his. Stopping at the piano, he released Dana's hand so that she could walk over to where her chair was. Dana took a bow and sat back down. Joseph nodded to the conductor that they were ready.

The pair then performed Vittorio Monti's "Czardas" arranged by Joseph for piano, cello, and orchestra. While Dana played what was written Joseph improvised an accompaniment for her. Standing up at times and looking her way, when she went from a slow to fast tempo, he would smile and sit back down as she continued to play.

This went on for a while where Dana would slow her tempo down or speed it up. Joseph had the whole audience laughing as he made faces, smiled, and tried to keep up with Dana. At one point he had the audience clapping along in time to the music.

After four minutes of this the orchestra came in with a jazz theme while a solo trumpet player took over. Towards the end Dana came back in playing a cadance alone, until she nodded her head and the orchestra played the last few bars together with her.

Peter moved towards the fountain in the Josie Robertson Plaza. Many people had gathered here to have their pictures taken in front of the fountain, but this wasn't the same fountain where he had met Dana back in 1984.

The fountain's rim, a ring of black granite, formerly acted as a container for a raised pool of water. Now the water had been lowered to the level of the plaza after renovations were done back in 2009. The rim, still at seat height so as to serve as a bench, was now just a thin granite band resting on slim supports.

It was here, one night, that Peter had gotten down on one knee and had proposed to Dana long ago. He stopped, as he was cut off by a couple passing in front of him holding hands. He sighed as he remembered Joseph holding Dana's hand and leading her off of the stage. That was when the audience had learned that Joseph was blind.

Joseph had come back in carrying a few pages of music. He had stopped at the piano, placed the music onto the music stand, and then had sat down. He had then played a strange-sounding tune looking at the sheet music and then down at his hands. He had stopped, crossed his hands, and then started playing again. Looking increasingly confused, he had stopped, uncrossed his hands, reached up and turned the sheet music sideways. Placing his hands back on the keys, Joseph had played 'chopsticks' having the whole audience roaring with laughter.

Stopping Joseph had then turned the sheet music upside down and finally played the actual tune, flashing a joyful smile of accomplishment to the audience.

When he had played a few bars of the all too familiar tune of "William Tell", Joseph had stopped playing and had taken the sheet music off of the piano. Walking up to the edge of the stage he had asked the audience members, who were sitting in the front row, if they liked music.

When someone had said yes to him, he had asked them to come forward and get the music from him. When they had taken the music from him, he had then asked them for $1.99. The audience had laughed at his joke.

Peter saw out of the corner of his eye a stock of short white hair. Turning his head he spied Kane Parnell and hurried through the crowd towards the man who was talking to Egon, Verdie, and Ray.

"And the best part," Peter overheard Verdie saying as he approached the group, "was that when Joseph asked if the person he had given the sheet music to could actually read the music, he'd up the price."

"Then Joseph would ask if the person could read the notes to him because he couldn't see them," Ray interjected.

"That's when Joseph went into this short story about his life," Verdie replied. "No one in the audience knew that he was blind except those that knew him personally."

"Why didn't Joseph publish in his biography that he was born blind?" Ray asked Kane.

"Because," Kane replied as Peter stopped by his side, "he doesn't want people to pity him."

"He wants the world to see that just because a person is disabled doesn't mean that they are a handicap to society."

"Excuse me Kane," Peter said interrupting. "Ray, Melody needs you."

Ray rolled his eyes. Melody had been nothing but trouble for him lately. Try as hard as he could to be polite and understanding, there had been times that he had lost his temper with her. He knew that was the reason that Nokomis had left again. Ray couldn't blame her. If he could leave he would go too, but where?

Nokomis had a new boyfriend named Jin. Ray knew that Jin was kind to her, helpful to her, and was teaching her how to speak Japanese. Something that Ray had always wanted to learn.

When Nokomis was home Ray had spent time with her, trying to understand where he went wrong in her upbringing. When he found out that Nokomis was interested in motorcycles, he had bought an old one. They had worked in the garage, on the motorcycle, fixing it up until the day came at Christmas time when he had given her the motorcycle as a gift.

"Well it had really been the day after Christmas, but who was counting," Ray said to himself.

"What does Melody need now?" Ray asked Peter, a heavy sigh in his voice.

Peter jerked a thumb over his right shoulder. "I think Melody's in labor," Peter said.

"Dana has her laying down on a bench outside the restrooms, right off of the orchestra level," Peter finished.

"Oh!" Peter said as he quickly pulled his cell phone from his pocket, "Damn it! I was supposed to call 911!"

"Nice move," Ray said angrily to Peter. "But Melody's not due for a couple of weeks."

"False labor?" Kane supplied as Ray moved past him towards the opera house.

Ray didn't get very far before the ground under his feet started to move. It felt like a subway train underneath him, but the subway line was closer to Broadway. Holding out his hands to steady himself he heard people crying and running away from the opera house in front of him.

"Earthquake!" Someone yelled out as they passed Ray.

"Melody," Ray said under his breath.

He needed to get to his wife even though she wanted nothing to do with him, Nokomis, or the new baby that she carried. Melody was still loved and he needed to show her that she wasn't alone in the world. Especially now when she was probably scared, inside the theater, and in false labor.

Ray went to take a step forward when a big cloud of dark smoke appeared before him surrounding the theater. Ray shielded his eyes with his right hand as a loud boom was heard and then silence. When he removed his hand he saw the dark cloud of smoke suddenly stop, stand still for a moment, and then fall straight to the ground. Before his eyes was a large hole were the Metropolitan Opera had once stood. Silence was only heard for a moment before screams and crying took over the shocked people standing around the plaza.

"What the hell?" Ray heard Egon say.

Peter called out Dana's name before he hurried past Ray, who stood there shocked as everyone else.

"Lord, I know you said you'd never give me more than I can handle," Ray heard Kane say, "but sometimes I wish you didn't have so much confidence in me."

"Come on!" Kane said as he linked Ray's arm into his and guided the startled man towards where his son Joseph had been just moments ago.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Echo stood looking out over the Hudson River to the south. The wind that blew around her was cold sending shivers down her spine. She zippered up the black North Face jacket that she had borrowed but knew that it wouldn't keep her warm for very long. But that wouldn't matter in a few minutes.

She let a tear fall from her eye and watched it as it fell to the concrete at her feet. All she wanted was for the pain to stop. Her heart was broken. Emrick was gone, never to return to her unless she did what she had decided was the only way to see him again. But could she?

Echo closed her eyes as the sky opened up and started dropping large fluffy snowflakes upon her. She didn't know that a Nor'easter was on its way to the tri-state area. All she knew was that last night she had been rousted out of J. Hood Wright Park where she had tried to take shelter for the night.

A police officer from the 33rd precinct, who was patrolling the park with his partner, had seen her trying to sleep on a park bench after the park was closed at 11:00pm.

"Hey," the officer had said tapping her feet with his baton, "you can't sleep here. The park's closed."

"I have no where to go," Echo had replied as she slowly rose up into a sitting position.

"Tonight is a Code Blue so you don't have to go through the usual intake process." The police officer had told Echo.

"I don't understand," Echo had replied.

The police officer had looked at her with narrowed eyes before he answered her back.

"I take it you haven't been living on the streets for very long. Look, there's a homeless shelter on 120 East 32nd Street. You can go there."

Echo shivered as the cold wind blew around her tired body and she opened up her eyes to stare out over the Hudson River once again.

The police officer had escorted Echo to the park's entrance on Fort Washington Avenue and West 175th Street. Helping her across the street the officer had told her how to get to the shelter.

"I'm going to let you in for free," he had told her as they walked down the steps into the subway station.

"Take the A train downtown to Columbus Circle. Transfer to the 1, 2, or 3 train and take that downtown to Times Square. Then you can catch the S or 7 train crosstown to Grand Central Station. From there you finally take the 6 train downtown to 33rd Street. You'll have to walk from there."

The police officer had held the metal gate open for Echo to allow her access to the subway.

"You got that?" He had asked her, "or do I have to repeat any of it?"

"No," Echo had said sarcastically as she walked past the officer, "I've been riding these subway lines for twenty-four years now."

Echo had stopped inside the gate and turned towards the officer. "I don't need your help or anyone else's," she spat back.

Echo had tried to walk away, but she had caught the attention of a commuter who was traveling home from work.

Echo reached forward and placed her elbows on the railing of the George Washington Bridge. The railing was cold and secretly she wished that she was back in the penthouse bedroom she had just come from.

"Echo?" The commuter had questioned her.

When she had ignored him and had walked on he had reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Doctor Spengler?" He had questioned her again coming closer to her dirt covered face.

"Echo," he had said as his eyes lit up in surprise, "it is you! What have you done to your beautiful hair?"

"I'm sorry," Echo had replied to the commuter, "you have obviously mistaken me for someone else."

"Now let me go," she had said trying to break away from the old man's grip.

"Echo," the commuter had said pushing away the scarf that he had been wearing around his mouth and taking off his winter hat, "it's me, Charlie. Doctor Charlie Levine. Don't you recognize me?"

Echo looked over the railing and down into the Hudson River below. Her short hair blowing in the wind. Even though she didn't have her glasses on that day, she had recognized Doctor Levine, after he had taken off his scarf and hat, and had come closer to her face. He had changed since she had seen him last.

The last time she had seen Charlie was when she had come home from the hospital in January. He had come over for Emrick's funeral, talked to her privately, and had placed her on Cymbalta for her depression. Charlie had been clean shaven with his hair neatly trimmed, but now he was sporting unkempt hair and at least three weeks worth of a beard and mustache.

"You look old," Echo had said to Charlie as he held her at arms length in the subway station that night.

"You try raising a bunch of boys," Charlie had said as he smiled at her.

Charlie had told the police officer that he personally knew Doctor Spengler and would take responsibility for her. Echo had followed Charlie back to his penthouse on 176th Street and Haven Avenue, where she had been greeted by Charlie's youngest son Eric, when he had come home from work.

As Echo stared down at the water of the Hudson River below her she smiled slightly.

"Oh my good lord!" Eric had exclaimed as Charlie helped Echo out of her dirty clothes in the master bathroom, having fed her in the kitchen just moments ago. "What the hell did you roll in, fish-guts?"

Charlie had drawn a hot bath for Echo and she had soaked in the large jet tub enjoying the water as it bubbled up to the surface. She hadn't bathed in weeks and when Charlie came back with soap, shampoo, and a razor he had found out why.

"You've been living on the streets for how long?" Charlie questioned her as he carefully washed and shaved her legs.

Echo's hands had become chapped, dried, and a couple of her fingertips had started to turn black from exposure to the elements. It was hard for her to hold anything and she had been grateful to Charlie for his help.

When she was clean, dried, and dressed, Charlie had led her over to his eldest son's, Jack's room. Three of the windows in Jack's room faced west and the view was breathtaking of the George Washington Bridge lit up at night.

"You can stay here," Charlie said turning down the sheets to the full size bed. "Jack's away at college right now. I'll call your father and let him know that you're safe and to come get you."

Echo reached out a hand and grabbed Charlie's arm, as she sat down on the bed.

"Please don't," she pleaded, "I don't want him to know where I'm at."

"Echo," Charlie said taking her hand off of his arm and sitting down next to her.

"Egon is worried to death about you. He believes that you didn't get out of the hospital in time when the fire broke out because the staff had you in restraints."

Echo nodded her head sadly and closed her eyes.

The night before she was to be transferred to Parkview Medical Hospital there had been a fire. The hospital had been evacuated and in the confusion she had grabbed a pair of scrubs, changed into them, and had calmly walked out the front doors and kept on walking.

Echo felt Charlie rubbing her left wrist with his right hand.

"How did you get out of your restraints?" Charlie asked.

Echo opened up her eyes and looked down at her hands. Her wrists still bore the faintest markings from the leather restraints that she had been placed in at the hospital in New Jersey.

"Hospital policy," Echo had heard the ER doctor telling her father as she was transferred to a private room, "because of her attempted suicide."

"When the fire alarm went off," Echo said to Charlie, "one of the nurses came into my room and removed them. But she got distracted with everything that was going on. She was trying to get a wheelchair for me, even though I told her that I could walk on my own. But you know the saying...,"

"Hospital policy," Charlie and Echo said together.

Echo smiled for the first time since her attempted suicide as she listened to Charlie.

"Someone really needs to take that 'hospital policy' and stick it where the sun don't shine," he said.

"So," Charlie said as he released Echo's wrist and gave her hand a squeeze, "you ditched your nurse and slipped out the back door."

"Actually," Echo replied, "I found a pair of scrubs, changed into them, and calmly walked out the front door."

Charlie smiled at Echo. Only she would take advantage of a negative situation and turn it around to suit her needs.

"Alright," Charlie said as he stood up, "I won't call Egon."

"But," he said as he crossed to the bedroom door, "we are going to sit down and talk in the morning. Deal?"

"If I have to," Echo said as she laid down on the bed and pulled the covers up and over her head.

Echo pulled her head back and took her elbows off of the railing of the George Washington Bridge. She let out a sigh, turned, and moved on. She wanted to get to the middle of the bridge before she was stopped by Charlie or anyone else that came after her.

As she walked through the large fluffy snow that was falling she thought back to when she had been awakened early that morning to someone talking outside her bedroom door.

"No," Charlie's voice could be heard, "she's fine. A few areas of frostbite on her fingers, but nothing Paul can't fix. Echo is also a little bit dehydrated and malnourished, but a couple of good meals will be able to fix that."

There was a pause as Charlie stopped talking and Echo slowly opened her eyes.

"If that is what you still want to do I can arrange it," Charlie's voice said, "but I think that it would be in Echo's best interest if she were an outpatient instead."

That caught Echo's attention and she sat up in bed, straining to hear Charlie's voice as he walked away from outside her door. Echo leaned forward trying to catch what was going on.

"Are you sure I can't change your mind," Charlie's voice asked.

"Alright," Charlie's voice sounded like he had just lost a losing battle. "Then be here in the morning at seven."

Another pause, as Echo felt that something was going to change in her immediate future.

"We can fill out the paperwork to have Echo committed to Parkview Medical Hospital then," Charlie's voice said with just the slightest bit of resentment in it.

Another pause as her body started to shake.

"No," Charlie's voice said again. "I won't tell her until you get here. I just hope you know what you are doing. I'll see you in the morning Egon. Goodbye."

Echo felt another tear come to her eye as she continued to walk. After Charlie's phone conversation with her father she had been angry. Charlie had promised not to tell Egon where she was and yet he hadn't kept that promise.

Echo had fumed at everyone that she had ever known, as she sat in bed. After being mad Echo had become sad. She had thought back through her life and only two people came into her mind that truly cared about her. Daniel and her father. Yet each one of them had deserted her in their own way. Daniel by leaving her, going back home to Scotland, and basically breaking off their engagement and upcoming wedding. A wedding that should have been taking place in February.

Then there was her father. He was more interested in keeping his reputation intact and Verdie happy these days then her well-being. He had just proven it again. The first time in New Jersey, in a hospital, where he had told the doctors taking care of her to have her transferred to Parkview Medical Hospital. And then again with his recent phone conversation with Charlie.

Nothing around Echo made sense. The people that she thought she had loved, had shattered her heart. They had left her soul longing for that non-existence feeling of being wanted that she sought after.

Then there were the people that she worked with. Especially Doctor D'Artagnan and his constant lies about her and Emrick. Echo really didn't like Doctor D'Artagnan when she had been paired with him during her internship, but now her distaste for him had grown worse.

In Echo's eyes everything and everyone had turned against her. There was no hope left in her life. What had been given to her had been cruelly ripped out of her hands and she didn't understand why.

Echo stopped walking and turned towards the Hudson River once again.

After a short time of being sad and crying in bed she had gotten up, quietly rummaged through Jack's closet for something to wear, dressed quickly, opened the window, and made her way down the fire escape.

She placed a hand on the steel beam that made up one of the supports of the bridge. Somehow the perfect life that she had was gone. Work, her fiance, loving family and friends, her place in the tabloids and newspapers all praising her, encouraging her. This wasn't what she was facing each day when she opened her eyes now.

Everyday, since the day that Emrick had been born, was filled with belittling remarks from the tabloids, newspapers, even family and friends. There was only so much that she could take before she had felt her spirit start to crumble from the weight of it all. Reducing the fire in her eyes to a spark that had finally been extinguished this morning by her father signing her death warrant and having her committed. Echo just wanted it all to go away. She wanted to end the pain in her heart and death had become appealing to her.

She had died once before and had been transported to a beautiful world. She remembered that there was no pain there only love. And the best part about being dead was that Echo had seen her mother once again, even if it was for only a short period of time.

"And," Echo said out loud as she placed a foot onto the metal railing and started to climb to the top, "I can see Emrick again."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Charlie woke up with a start and sat straight up in bed. There at the foot of his bed stood a tall, thinly built man in his late twenties. He wore white dress shoes, socks and pants, along with a long sleeve white shirt and jacket. His tie was even white and Charlie thought for a moment that it was Egon in his white tuxedo that he owned, but there was something different about him.

"Egon," Charlie said as he tossed back the covers, "it's early."

"Did Eric let you in?" Charlie asked as he placed his bare feet onto the wooden floor.

"Echo's asleep in Jack's room," Charlie started to say as he looked away from his friend for just a moment, so that he could grab his robe from the lounge chair that was next to the bed.

"I don't recommend waking her up just yet," Charlie said as he turned his head back towards Egon.

"What the hell...," Charlie said fading off.

Where Egon had been standing moments ago, at the foot of the bed, was no one.

Charlie shook his head as he stood up. Putting on his robe he crossed to his bedroom door and opened it up. Something wasn't sitting right in his heart. He had had this feeling before and hadn't acted on it. Now..., Charlie once again shook his head to clear it and quietly knocked on Jack's bedroom door.

"Echo," Charlie called out softly.

He didn't want to disturb Echo if she was still sleeping, so he quietly opened the door. He was greeted to a blast of cold air as he pushed the door open all the way.

Charlie reached to his left and turned on the light-switch on the wall. The lamp on the nightstand, that sat on the right hand side of the bed, flickered on to his left. Instantly aroused Charlie noticed that the bed was empty.

"Echo," Charlie called out looking to his right to where the bathroom was.

As Charlie stepped into his son's bedroom he realized that the window that faced 177th Street was wide open. Quickly he crossed to the window and leaned outside.

"Echo!" Charlie's voice rang out in the deserted street below.

The only answer he got back was the screech of a cat, the barking of a stray dog, and a trash can being overturned.

"She must have heard me talking to Egon," Charlie muttered to himself as he pulled his head inside and closed the window against the cold.

Turning around he leaned against the window's sill and sighed. Egon was going to be upset at him, but Charlie didn't really care about that right now. All he cared about was Echo and her well-being and how he had let her down.

Charlie had heard about the brutality that had occurred to Echo in New Jersey. The hospital care that she had received had been cold and harsh. The same care that he had eradicated from Parkview Medical Hospital when he had been made Chief Resident back in 1989. The brutality had occurred in a system controlled by providers. Once Charlie had weeded through and exposed the 'troublemakers', so to speak, Parkview Medical Hospital had risen to the status where it was at now. The number one mental hospital in the tri-state area for treating and healing people with mental disorders.

But Echo didn't need to be committed for her to get better. She just wanted the pain in her life to end. She didn't really want to end her life. The overdose of Cymbalta, aspirin, and alcohol was her cry of help to her father. And now she had disappeared again. "Where did she go this time?" Charlie wondered to himself.

Charlie looked to his right. The sun was just starting to shine yet the sky was overcast. A Nor'easter was coming today. As he watched the dots of car lights on the George Washington Bridge he knew something wasn't right. Charlie pulled himself away from the window sill that he had just been sitting on. As he walked closer to the window that faced Haven Avenue and the George Washington Bridge he could see why.

The lower deck was fine, but the upper deck had come to a stop. Charlie wondered if it was just gridlock, but the closer he got to the window he could see that wasn't the case. Red and blue lights from police cars were stopped on the bridge.

"Must be an accident," Charlie thought to himself as he heard a knock on his front door.

Turning away from the window, Charlie crossed the bedroom to the door. As he exited the bedroom, and started down the hallway towards the living-room, the knocking intensified.

"Hold on Egon!" Charlie shouted as he turned right at the end of the hall.

Charlie crossed the living-room and stopped at the front door as the knocking continued.

"You're early," Charlie said as he released the dead bolt and opened the door.

"I told you seven...," Charlie's voice trailed off as he opened the door on two police officers.

"Sorry," one of the officers said, "were you expecting us?"

"No," Charlie said with a wave of his hand. "A friend was coming by. How can I help you?"

"Are you Doctor Charlie Levine?" The same police officer asked.

"Yes," Charlie said narrowing his eyes, "Why?"

"It's your patient," the officer said looking down at a notebook that he held in his hand, "a Doctor Echo E. Spengler."

Charlie's heart stopped. "What about her?" He whispered.

"Well...," the office went to say and then trailed off.

"It's better that you see," the other office spoke up. "Please hurry, there's not much time."

Charlie thought for a moment and then realization dawned on his face. Now he knew why the police cars were stopped on the bridge.

"Let me get dressed," Charlie said turning around and hurrying across the living-room.

He past his youngest son Eric as he rounded the corner to the hallway.

"Who told you that my dad was Doctor Spengler's physician?" Eric asked standing in front of the kitchen in his pajama bottoms and a tank top.

"Her family member," the officer replied. "He's with her now."

"So," Charlie said to himself as he quickly dressed, "Egon found his daughter after all."

"What's his name?" Charlie heard Eric asking.

"Emrick Spengler," the reply came.

Charlie nearly tripped on his way out of his bedroom and caught himself on the wall. Quickly he straightened up and hurried to where the two police officers were waiting for him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Charlie stepped out of the police car and closed the door, assessing the scene in front of him. He raised a hand to his face and rubbed the beard that had grown in since he had last stood on this bridge, a little over seven days ago. That hadn't ended well and he pushed the thought from his mind.

Charlie had had his share of talking to people in a crisis situation and today was going to be no different. The police cars and lone ambulance were too close and that hadn't sat well with Charlie's last attempt at talking someone out of committing suicide. Taking his hand away from his face he waved it towards the car he had just been in.

"Pull these cars back," Charlie said as he started to walk through the snow and over to where the inner cement block of the George Washington Bridge was.

"At least another five feet and don't make a move until I give you permission," he finished.

Echo was sitting on the railing of the bridge with her arms wrapped around a steel beam that made up one of the supports of the bridge to her right. Her feet dangled over the waters far below. Standing at arms length next to Echo's left side was the same man that Charlie had seen at the foot of his bed that morning, but this time he was dressed in blue jeans and a heavy green jacket.

Charlie had been told by the police that the man had identified himself as a family member. But Charlie knew that Emrick Spengler was dead, buried downtown in a grave shared by Egon's and Eden's stillborn child. And yet, somehow the young man before him looked like Egon Spengler, when Charlie had first taken classes from him, as a freshman in college.

Charlie stopped and placed his left hand on the cement block that separated the road from the walking path on the George Washington Bridge. Carefully he climbed over the snow covered block that divided the roadway and walking path. Charlie walked over and stopped a couple of feet behind the man. He knew from experience that he should never approach someone who was about to jump. Or startle them by coming up from behind either.

"Echo," Charlie called out gently, "it's me. Charlie. Doctor Charlie Levine."

The man standing next to Echo turned his head behind him to look to where the voice had come from. His face lit up into a smile and he turned back towards Echo.

"See," the man said, "I told you I could get Charlie to come to you mom."

Charlie narrowed his eyes at the young man as he kept on talking to Echo.

"Everything's going to be alright," the young man went on, "you'll see. Charlie can help you mom."

Again the reference to mother was used by the young man and Charlie got concerned that some passersby had seen Echo about to jump and had stepped in to help. In Echo's state of mind she was probably associating the man as a grown-up version of her son and the man had gone along with it. But how did the young man know that Echo and Charlie were friends, let alone where he lived?

"Who are you?" Charlie asked the young man.

The young man turned towards Charlie.

"Don't you recognize me?" He asked. "I remember you. I'm Emrick."

"Emrick's dead," Charlie said hoping he wasn't going to have to deal with two possible suicidal people. "It's been all over the news for weeks."

"Yes," the Emrick impersonator replied, "I know. But I had to come back for my mother. She doesn't belong with me yet."

Charlie just shook his head as he took a step forward.

"Echo," Charlie called out again to her, "Please, whoever this guy is he's not you're son. Don't listen to him."

"Charlie," Echo said for the first time since he had approached her, "have you ever wondered if you could fly?"

Charlie's heart leapt into his throat. The last time he had stood on this bridge trying to talk someone else out of ending their life, they had said the same thing to him. He had rushed at the woman trying to grab her, but he had been too late as she flung herself off of the bridge. Charlie stood stock still as Echo went on.

"Would you feel the wind in your hair or would God reach out and stop your fall?" Echo asked.

"Echo," Charlie pleaded, "please don't do this. There are other ways to deal with your pain."

"Charlie's right," the Emrick impersonator went on. "You can't do this mom."

Echo turned to look at Emrick and Charlie. She sadly shook her head and tuned away as she heard the noise of a helicopter.

"Welcome to the world's greatest entertainment since the fall of Rome!" Echo shouted out loud as the helicopter came into view and started coming towards them.

"This will make the front page," Echo said as she slowly stood up on the railing.

"The best of society's famous people," she said as she wrapped her arms tighter around the steel beam and balanced on the railing in the over-sized sneakers that she had borrowed.

"Doctor Echo Spengler embracing the Hudson River as she ends her life," Echo went on.

Turning her face towards Charlie she spoke softly with a tear in her eye. "I wonder if I'll blink before the moment I die."

Charlie shot a glace at the police officers and nodded his head towards the helicopter. They understood and hurried away towards their police cars. Charlie turned his attention back to Echo.

"Echo," Charlie pleaded with her, "please come down."

Charlie held his right hand out to her and ever so slowly walked towards her. He stopped just behind the young man who called himself Emrick Spengler. Charlie watched out of the corner of his eye as the helicopter slowly turned and made its way south down the Hudson River.

This was a crucial point in Echo's life and Charlie needed to handle it very delicately. He could make suggestions to her, help her in anyway possible, but she needed to make the first move. Either towards him, and off of the railing of the bridge, or towards what she was thinking could end her pain.

But the pain wouldn't end with her life. Those she left behind would have to deal with her decision and it would hurt them. Sometimes tearing them apart inside, as well as their family. Suicide wouldn't take away the person's pain, it would only give the pain to someone else. Something that Charlie knew only too well.

"Mom," the Emrick impersonator said, "please listen to Charlie."

"I can't go back," Echo cried.

"You don't have to go back," Charlie said, "you only have to go forward."

"Please mom," the Emrick impersonator pleaded, "His mercies are new every morning. Trust me, I know."

Charlie shook his head ever so slightly. Echo wasn't a religious person. She wasn't going to respond to preaching from the Bible.

"Echo," Charlie tried again, "when you focus on problems, you will have more problems. When you focus on possibilities you'll have more opportunities."

"Please Echo," Charlie went on, "one day someone will walk into your life and make you see why it never worked out with anyone else."

That got Echo's attention and she slid down to sit on the railing again, but Charlie knew that she wasn't out of the danger until she was safely on the ground of the George Washington Bridge.

Echo turned her face towards the Emrick impersonator.

"I love your father," Echo cried to the young man. "How can I go on without him?"

The young man frowned at Echo.

"You have to have faith mom," the Emrick impersonator told her. "There are things in your future that I can't tell you about."

"If you saw the size of the blessing coming, you would understand the magnitude of the battle you are fighting."

Charlie pushed past the Emrick impersonator his right hand still outstretched towards Echo. There was no way that she would respond to anything spiritually at this point in her life. Science and music was all that Echo knew.

"Echo," Charlie called softly to her, "Good things are coming down the road. Let me help you find them."

"Like what?" Echo asked as she turned her face towards the south and lower Manhattan. "Doctor D'Artagnan's accusations of fathering Emrick."

"Doctor D'Artagnan is not my father," Emrick said with disdain in his voice, "you know that mom."

"Why don't you tell that to your father!" Echo yelled at the young man.

"Daniel's not my father either," the Emrick impersonator replied.

Charlie bit his tongue. This was something that had been plaguing Echo and if they weren't careful she would end it all right in front of them.

"Then who is?" Echo asked turning her head to look at the young man who stood behind Charlie now.

Charlie slowly dropped his hand as he saw Echo's face turn into a scowl. She narrowed her eyes at the young man.

"You know who the father is?" Echo asked. "Don't you?"

"Yes," the young man replied softly.

"Who," Echo asked, "is it?"

Echo watched as the young man, who had claimed to be her son, dropped his head to the ground.

"I'm forbidden to tell you," he muttered softly.

"Why!?" Echo cried.

"Because if I say his name," the young man said raising his head ever-so-slightly, "he will bring his wrath upon you and those you hold dear. Killing you where you stand. I can't allow that to happen."

"I allowed myself to die," the Emrick impersonator went on, "to prevent a greater disaster from happening."

"What?" Echo questioned.

"I can't say," the young man went on. "Just trust me on this one."

"Tell me who your father is!" Echo shouted at the young man.

"Echo," Charlie tried again, "there is a way to find out."

"How?" Echo questioned turning her face towards Charlie now. "I've taken every test on this planet and none of them have pointed to Emrick's father!"

"There is one test that you haven't taken," Charlie replied.

"What," Echo snorted, "that stupid lie detector test? Daniel and Doctor D'Artagnan have already taken that test. What would my results prove? That I'm a liar. Father would gloat over that one!"

Echo turned her head back towards the river and her voice came down a notch in tone.

"Charlie," Echo said quietly, "I only want to sleep and have it all be over. All the pain, torment, and fear."

"I know Echo," Charlie said.

Sighing he continued, "Look Echo, there is something that you don't know about me. I've been walked on, used, and forgotten too, but I don't regret one moment of it. Do you know why?"

"No," Echo replied as she turned back to look at Charlie.

"Because," Charlie went on, "in those moments I've learned a lot."

"I've learned who I can trust and who I can't trust."

"I've learned the meaning of true friendship. I've learned how to tell when people are lying and when they're sincere."

"And," Charlie finished, "I've learned how to be myself and appreciate the truly great people in my life, like you Echo."

Charlie watched as Echo started to cry. He had gotten through to her, but he still needed to get her down off of the railing.

"So," Charlie said extending his right hand towards her, "what do you say? Will you let me help you?"

"What do I have to do?" Echo asked.

"Let's try one more test," Charlie said, "before you decide to chuck it all."

"What test?"

"Hypnoses," Charlie said calmly.

Echo frowned and turned her face away from him.

"That's not going to work," she replied, "And it's not a test that will hold up in a court of law."

"So," Charlie said taking another step towards her, "Who cares?"

"You said so yourself, that you can only remember parts and pieces of that night. It's in there," Charlie said pointing towards Echo's head.

"Let me help recover that repressed memory for you," Charlie said.

"Like I said before," Echo said as she made to stand up again, "it will never work."

Charlie quickly closed the gap between them. He wasn't about to lose someone else that he loved to suicide.

"Forget all the reasons why it won't work and believe in the one reason why it will," Charlie pleaded.

"What's that?" Echo asked.

"Finding out who Emrick's father is once and for all," Charlie replied.

"Please mom," the Emrick impersonator said, "Trust Charlie. This will work. My father's inside your mind. Hidden from your memory for a reason."

"Let Charlie help you," the young man went on, "He can end your nightmares that have been plaguing you since before I was born."

Echo stopped in mid-stand. Crouching, holding onto the steel beam she tried to keep her balance.

"Will you visit me Emrick?" She asked.

"If I can," the young man replied.

Echo nodded her head and slowly reached out to Charlie. Grabbing her hand firmly, he helped Echo off of the railing and placed his left arm around her waist. He shook his head at the police officers who were poised to rush in. That would only make things worse. He slowly, gently, led Echo over to the inner cement block. He helped her over the block and walked with her over to the waiting ambulance.

When he arrived the paramedics took over, wrapping Echo up in a wool blanket and helping her up into the back of the ambulance. After the paramedics had closed the doors, he told them which hospital to take her to and that he would follow shortly. Charlie stood in the middle of the eastbound lane watching the ambulance pull away and released a breath.

"Great job Doctor Levine," a police officer said patting him on the back, startling Charlie.

"Thanks," Charlie muttered back rubbing his beard.

"We'll need a statement from you," the police officer said, "if you don't mind."

Charlie turned to his right to face the officer and saw that the young man was still by the spot where Echo had tried to kill herself.

"Can you give me a minute?" Charlie asked as he walked away from the officer and towards the young man.

"So," Charlie said as he reached the inner cement block and stopped, "I want to thank you for your help stranger."

"Stranger?" The young man questioned, "Charlie I'm no stranger."

"What's your real name then?" Charlie asked.

"I told you my name. It's Emrick Spengler."

Charlie shook his head at the young man.

"We've been through this before," Charlie said, "Emrick is dead."

"Only my body. My spirit lives on," the young man replied.

"I'm sorry," Charlie said, "It's obvious that you know a lot about Doctor Echo Spengler. Probably a fan of hers if I had to guess, but there is no way that you are her son Emrick."

Charlie held up both hands stopping the young man from speaking.

"Look," Charlie said going on, "I'll give you points for looking like Echo's father, Professor Spengler, but that's all."

"In Echo's state of mind," Charlie finished, "she perceived you as her grown-up son. That's all."

"Why do you have such a hard time believing that I'm Emrick?" The young man questioned. "Ask me anything."

"No," Charlie replied dropping his hands down to the top of the cement block. "Emrick's been in the news these past few weeks. Everyone knows the story."

"Fine," the Emrick impersonator said turning towards the river and placing his hands upon the railing of the George Washington Bridge.

"Then I'll tell you something about yourself," the young man said.

"You're Doctor Charlie Levine, graduate of Columbia University class of 1989."

"On December 30, 1989 you saved Egon Spengler's life because of a phone call earlier in the day requiring you to come into work that night."

"That's not a secret," Charlie replied.

"Fine you want secrets," the young man said taking his hands off of the railing and turning towards Charlie.

"Tell me," the young man went on, "how many people know that you stood on this bridge just a little over seven days ago and tried to stop another suicidal person?"

"Every police officer in the 33rd precinct," Charlie replied.

"But," the young man went on walking up to Charlie, "do they know the person's name or their relationship to you?"

Charlie sucked in a breath as the Emrick impersonator went on.

"Charlie, your greatest test was that you were still able to bless Echo while you were going through your own storm."

"How did you know?" Charlie asked softly.

"The maker knows all," the young man smiled.

Carefully the young man reached out and took a hold of Charlie's shoulders with both of his hands.

"Please Charlie," the young man said, "release her. Let Trixie go."

Tears came to Charlie's eyes. "I can't," he choked out.

The young man smiled wider and released Charlie's shoulders.

"It's not your fault Charlie," the young man said, "Trixie was sick. She wasn't in control of her body. But you are keeping her trapped."

"Earth is just a stopover. A kind of game. What Trixie has achieved here is only a small part of her life. She now needs to move on to bigger and better things. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Charlie said nodding his head ever so slightly, "but it hurts."

The young man frowned. "I know," he said.

"The path that we are required to walk on earth is narrow. Along the way are challenges that will require our faith in the maker to get us through."

"There is always hope in a world that seems so lost. And the answer is love. Do you love Trixie?"

"Yes," came Charlie's quick reply.

"Then release her," the young man said.

"How?"

The young man smiled.

"You know the answer to that one," he replied taking a step away from Charlie.

"Who are you?" Charlie asked again as the young man turned and started walking away.

The young man stopped and turned towards Charlie. Suddenly he started to change. His blue jeans and heavy green jacket started to sparkle and dance with light. His clothing changed in the blink of an eye to white dress shoes, socks, and pants complete with a long sleeve white shirt, jacket, and tie.

"I told you. I'm Emrick Spengler," he said and then he was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is she going to be okay?" Egon asked as he followed Charlie down the all too familiar corridor inside of Parkview Medical Hospital.

The last time Egon had been here was when he had died of a drug reaction in December of 1989. He didn't want to be here, much like Echo didn't want to ever step foot where the World Trade Center had been. Too many bad memories. But Echo was the reason that he was here.

"Physically Echo is fine," Charlie said as they rounded a corner, "mentally...well that's another story."

"Will she have to be on medication for the rest of her life?" Kane asked as he trailed alongside his son-in-law.

"I'm hoping not," Charlie replied as he pulled a set of keys out of his labcoat's pocket.

Charlie looked up at Kane as they walked. He didn't understand how the man was even coping right now. He had lost his wife last year. And this year the man had not only lost a grandson, but his own son as well. And now his granddaughter was in a mental institution, all within a short period of time.

"At first yes," Charlie replied to Kane's question as he stopped at a closed door.

"But as time goes on," Charlie said as he unlocked the door and pushed it in, "I like to reduce my patients medication to the lowest amount that they need."

Charlie held the door open as Egon and Kane stepped through. Charlie closed and locked the door as Egon spoke to him.

"Was your hypnosis with Echo successful?" He asked.

"Yes," Charlie replied as he led the way to the isolation room. "I got her to recover the repressed memory from the night that Emrick was conceived."

"Now Echo knows who the father of her child is," Charlie said stopping outside of Echo's room.

"It's Doctor D'Artagnan," Egon said with disdain in his voice, "I knew it."

"No," Charlie said softly as he searched through the keys in his hand for the right one.

"What!?" Egon said with surprise in his voice.

"Daniel then," Kane offered.

"He's not the father either," Charlie replied as he found the key that he wanted and looked up at the two surprised men.

"I'm sorry Egon," Charlie said softly looking into Egon's brown eyes.

"Kane," Charlie stated as he moved his head to where the older man stood.

Lowering his voice Charlie spoke the words he never wanted to repeat again in his lifetime.

"Echo was assaulted."

Shocked Egon took a step back, only to have Kane stop him by placing a hand on his back.

"Who did this?" Kane asked placing his right hand onto Egon's right arm.

Charlie sadly shook his head. "That's just it," he said. "The memory is there, but it's been reformed."

"Reformed?" Kane asked.

"Charlie," Egon said, "are you saying that Echo has been brainwashed?"

"Yes," Charlie replied, "but I'm calling it source amnesia."

"I know what amnesia is," Kane stated, "but what is source amnesia?"

"Source amnesia," Charlie said, "is the inability to remember where, when, or how previously learned information has been acquired, while retaining the factual knowledge."

"I don't understand," Kane replied.

"Kane," Egon said turning around to face his father-in-law. "What is a wolverine?"

"That's easy," Kane replied. "A wolverine is a member of the weasel family. It is a powerful animal that resembles a small bear. They travel about 15 miles in a day in search of food. They eat plants and berries, but have a tendency for meat."

"Do you want me to go on?" Kane asked stopping.

"No," Egon said, "that will do. And where did you learn that?"

"I don't know," Kane said shrugging his shoulders, "School perhaps. Maybe college, or I read it in a book when I was a teenager."

"That's exactly what source amnesia is," Charlie said. "Your brain has limited storage, so it stores just the important things and usually discards the trivial context."

"So if I understand you correctly," Kane replied, "I know that a wolverine is a small, ferocious animal, but I don't remember when and where I learned about it."

"Correct," Egon said.

"So," Egon said turning back to Charlie. "What have you done to improve Echo's memory?"

"I haven't started yet," Charlie replied. "I need to know the cause of Echo's source amnesia so that I know how to treat it. And with that I need more information."

"What do you need?" Egon asked.

"Well for starters, what happened on July 4th of 2015 that started all of this," Charlie replied. "Who was Echo with? What was she doing before she was attacked? Where was she?"

"Everyone knows the answers to those questions," Egon said to Charlie.

"Echo was with Daniel in Washington D.C.," Egon went on, "they were on tour."

"Yes I know that," Charlie interrupted, "but I need the details no matter how small."

"Echo remembers going with some members of the National Symphony Orchestra to a local bar to celebrate Daniel's and hers engagement," Charlie stated.

"So I placed a phone call to the director of the National Symphony Orchestra to find out which members went with Daniel and Echo," Charlie went on.

"And?" Kane asked.

"And I found them," Charlie said, "but here the story gets confusing."

"All the members stated that Daniel and Echo were drinking heavily and Echo got a little out of hand."

"Echo doesn't drink," Egon said defensively.

"I know," Charlie said trying to calm Egon down, "but every member told me the same thing independently of each other."

"Echo was drinking a lot of Pina Coladas. She got up to go the the bathroom and was gone for an hour before Daniel went after her," Charlie said.

"After that Echo started dancing with strangers in the bar. She was uncoordinated and louder than usual, each member told me."

"They also told me that she climbed up on one of the four pillars that surrounded the dance floor. When two bouncers came to get her down Echo flipped them off and told them to go 'F' themselves."

"That's not Echo," Kane said.

Charlie nodded his head in agreement and went on.

"The bouncers escorted Echo out of the bar. Daniel followed, but came back a few minutes later. He thanked the members of the orchestra and said that he had to leave with Echo."

"The members told me that Daniel retrieved Echo's handbag and left."

"Now Echo," Charlie said, "remembers a different story."

"The waitress that served them that night was heavily pregnant. Echo was concerned that the waitress was going to go into labor and went to check on her when she ran out the front door crying."

"Echo found the waitress in a darkened alleyway, sitting on a cement step, outside a door to another store. When she went to approach the waitress, the girl fled down the alleyway."

"Echo remembers a cold, dark, menacing feeling coming over her, paralyzing her, as she watched the waitress run away."

"Echo felt as though she was being watched and felt a presence come up from behind her. She remembers feeling something or someone breathing on the back of her neck. Echo told me that she wanted to get away but she was unable to move."

"Then just as suddenly as the presence had appeared it disappeared when Daniel grabbed her left arm. And that's all Echo remembers."

"This may be when she was assaulted, but I need to talk to Daniel and get his side of the story. However he's not answering my phone calls."

"He went back to Scotland," Egon said, "and he hasn't talked to anyone of us since Echo delivered Emrick."

"I understand," Charlie said dropping his face to the ground, "I just wish I knew what happened after that."

"I do," Kane said.

Charlie raised his face up and Egon turned around towards the older man. Realizing that he knew something that they didn't, Kane struggled with his conscious about whether he should spill Daniel's secret that had been entrusted to his keeping.

"What?" Egon asked. "You never told me you spoke to Daniel recently."

"No," Kane said shaking his head back and forth, "not recently. Daniel confided in me when the two passed through on their tour last year."

"What did he say?" Charlie asked.

"That's just it," Kane replied, "Daniel confided in me to keep this to myself, but given the circumstances...," Kane trailed off.

He looked into the troubled faces of the other two men. One he had recently met and the other one that he had known for years. What would Daniel say if Kane told them? Daniel's secret was to remain with Kane until he died, but could Kane do that given what he had just learned? Kane was sure that Daniel would forgive him. Releasing a breath Kane spoke.

"Daniel told me that the first thing he remembered after getting Echo's handbag was waking up in their hotel room together in bed."

"That would make sense," Egon said, "After all Echo believed that Daniel was the father of her child up until now."

"But that's just it Egon," Kane went on. "Daniel remembers drinking at the bar, but not enough to have gotten drunk. He also remembered that Echo had gotten a hold of an alcoholic beverage."

"That would explain Echo's behavior," Charlie said. "It also corresponds with the orchestra members account of that night too."

"But it doesn't explain why Echo thought Daniel was the father," Egon jumped in, "if neither one remembers the actual act."

"Daniel told me," Kane said, "that he had been intimate with Echo and regretted what he had done. The only problem being was that when I asked Daniel if he had physically hurt Echo, in any way during their time together, he said that he couldn't remember."

"That doesn't make sense," Egon replied. "Daniel got amnesia after the car crash in Pennsylvania."

"Yes it does," Charlie said snapping his fingers together.

Egon turned back and faced Charlie once again.

"I'd give my last dollar that Daniel had source amnesia also on July 4th," Charlie said. "When Daniel hit his head on the driver's side door post that night he received a frontal lobe injury. His hospital records state so. Following a frontal lobe injury an individual's ability to make good choices and recognize consequences are often impaired. But what happened with Daniel was opposite."

"Yes, Daniel had memory loss associated with a frontal lobe injury," Charlie continued, "but that was all."

"Whatever was keeping him from remembering his time with Echo that night got erased with his new injury."

"What can do that?" Kane asked.

"My bet is some kind of drug," Charlie answered. "Someone may have slipped something into Daniel's and Echo's drinks."

"Maybe flunitrazepam," Charlie muttered to himself. "That gives the effect of being drunk, confusion, and memory loss."

"I'd like to talk to that bartender and waitress. I also want to run background checks on the orchestra members who were there," Charlie said as he placed a key into the lock on the door in front of him.

Opening the door Charlie caught Egon's arm before he let the man enter the room.

"Remember what I told you about Echo the last time she was molested?" Charlie asked.

"Yes," Egon lied, his eyes upon his daughter inside the room.

Egon didn't remember what Charlie had told him when Echo was 5 ¾ years old, nor did it matter to him. He stepped inside the white padded room and slowly made his way over to where his daughter was.

The last time he had seen Echo was at the hospital before the fire. He didn't know what had happened to her after the hospital had been evacuated. No one had seen her since the nurse had gone to find a wheelchair for her. Egon had thought that she had perished in the fire, but her body was never found.

Living in uncertainty for weeks had put a strain on his relationship with Verdie. Finally Verdie had let her feelings be known that she was worried about him. That was when he had called up his former student early in the morning. That was when he had found out that Echo was alive!

Egon remembered being angry at Echo and ordering Charlie to have her committed to Parkview Medical Hospital that day. He had thought that he knew what was best for her as he stopped before his daughter and dropped to his knees. But he had been wrong.

Lying before him, on her left side, was a person that he didn't recognize. Echo was asleep and every so often her hands would move slightly. She had cut her long hair because it was now short, right above her shoulders. Her face was sadden, dark circles hung under her eyes, and her glasses were missing. She was dressed in white, but she wasn't radiant looking. The hospital scrubs that she wore were one size to large for her frame.

"No," Egon thought to himself, "she's thin. Echo has lost a lot of weight."

"How did she survive?" Egon asked quietly as Charlie came up to his side.

"How does anyone survive on the street of New York?" Charlie replied. "By soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and pan-handling."

"In Echo's case she unloaded a farm truck once a week because no one was there to help the driver," Charlie said sadly. "The driver gave her some fruit each time."

"She'd sweep a pavement outside a restaurant in the morning and again at night where the owner gave her hot soup and a slice of bread."

"But most of the time she went hungry, with the occasional kind person buying her a cup of coffee and a bagel."

"What about shelter?" Kane asked as he came up to Egon's right side and sat down beside the man.

"Echo told me she 'camped' in wooded areas throughout the city," Charlie replied. "She tried to stay below the radar of the police and used whatever she could find to stay out of the elements. Cardboard boxes, old tarps. Newspaper became her new best friend."

"Newspaper?" Egon questioned.

"Yes," Charlie replied, "Echo would place sheets of it next to her body, under her clothes, to stay warm."

"Echo," Charlie called out to the sleeping woman. "You have visitors."

Egon watched as Echo's eyes fluttered and then finally opened. She stared sadly ahead of her until she squinted her eyes trying to focus them.

"Father?" Echo questioned, "Is that you?"

"Yes sweetheart," Egon said as his heart went out to her.

Echo sat up slightly on her left elbow. "Father, where's Daniel?"

"He's in Scotland Echo," Egon replied, "don't you remember."

"I need to talk to him," Echo muttered, " I need to tell him it wasn't his fault. It was mine. He may be gone from my sight, but he's not gone from my heart. I still love him."

Egon watched as his daughter closed her eyes and laid back down again on her side. Echo started to rock herself from side to side, crying, and instinctively Egon reached his right hand out to her.

"NO!" Charlie shouted, but was too late as Egon's hand made contact with Echo's right arm.

The next few minutes became a blur for Egon as Echo's body lashed out in fear. Egon remembered his daughter clawing at his face as Charlie and Kane jumped into separate the pair. It was only then, in the commotion, that Egon remembered what Charlie had told him when Echo was 5 ¾.

"Don't touch Echo unless you tell her you are going to do so," Charlie had said to Egon and Eden.

"Why?" Eden had asked.

"Echo will go into a flight or fight state of mind," Charlie had explained. "And you might get hurt unintentionally."

"Don't worry Eden," Charlie had replied, "with unconditional love and time Echo will outgrow this."

And Echo had, until today.

Soon Echo retreated into a corner of the white padded room where she sat on the ground, her back to the wall, arms wrapped around her legs that were pulled up to her chest, and her eyes wide open in fear. Kane helped Egon to his feet as Charlie went over to talk to Echo.

"You okay?" Kane asked.

"I guess," Egon replied still shaken up after what had just happened to him.

Egon felt something running down the side of his face and he reached his hand up and touched his left cheek. As he pulled his hand away he found blood on his fingers.

"It's just a couple of scratches," Kane told Egon as he dabbed at the man's face with a handkerchief that he had pulled out of his pocket.

"She scratched me?" Egon stammered in disbelief.

"It's nothing," Kane replied.

"Echo scratched me," Egon repeated.

"Egon," Kane said shaking the man ever so gently to jar him out of his trance.

Suddenly Eden's face loomed before him.

"Words have great power," she said. "The power to help, the power to heal, and the power to hurt."

Egon knew that he had hurt Echo and Daniel with his unkind words. Now he had to right that wrong.

"Kane," Egon said after a few minutes, finally back to his old self. "How long does it take to get to Scotland?"

"About six to seven hours by plane," Kane replied. "But with this Nor'easter I don't think anything will be flying today. Why?"

"I have to get Daniel back," Egon said as he turned towards the door to the room.

"Charlie!" Egon shouted as he pulled on the door finding it locked.

"Why?" Kane asked watching as Charlie hurried over to let the two men out.

Egon hurried out the door as soon as Charlie had it opened.

"Because," Egon replied, "Echo needs him."

"What if he won't come?" Kane asked.

"I'll make him come back with me," Egon muttered as he stopped before another locked door.

As soon as Charlie had unlocked the door Kane spoke again. "Then I'm coming with you."

"Why?" Egon asked stopping just outside the second door and turning around to face the older man.

"So you don't break Daniel's nose again," Kane replied stopping in front of Egon.

Egon just nodded his head in agreement before turning to walk out of the hospital, with Kane on his heels.

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Daniel raised the tall oblong brown bottle to his lips. As he swallowed the caramel colored liquor he heard the phone ringing down the hall. He made no attempt to get up from the corner of the room and eventually he heard his father's voice answering the call.

Daniel stopped mid swallow straining to listen to what his father was saying in Gaelic. Relief flowed through his body when he realized it wasn't someone from the press trying to get a statement out of him.

For two days Daniel had been inundated with phone calls about Echo's attempted suicide. He didn't want to talk to anyone. Not now or back when she had given birth either. He was done with her lies, deceptions. How dare she sleep with another man while they were courting each other! How dare she try and make him believe that the baby was his!

Becoming angry Daniel took the bottle away from his lips and threw it across the room. The brandy bottle made contact with the closed bedroom door and shattered upon impact.

"Daniel?" Allen's voice questioned from down the hall.

Slowly the door to Daniel's room opened and Allen stepped inside and onto the broken pieces of the bottle.

"Whit's this?" Allen questioned pointing to the floor.

"Sairy," Daniel slurred out, clearly drunk.

Allen frowned. Ever since Daniel had returned from the United States he had sequestered himself from the world. Refusing to talk to anyone, including his family and close friends.

"You know your Mum is right," Allen said stepping over the broken pieces of glass.

"About what?"

"About you being a wee beastie."

"Away an raffle yersel," Daniel said with disdain in his voice, waving a hand at his father.

"Ho ye?" Allen asked, quickly crossing to where Daniel sat. "Cummin' the cunt?" He asked stopping before his son.

"Don't think for one minute that I can't give you one good wham," Allen said pointing his finger at Daniel.

"Sairy Pop," Daniel slurred out as he slowly stood up.

He only got halfway up before his stomach churned and he stopped. He felt as if he was going to be sick.

"Are you okay?" Allen asked, as he watched the color drain from Daniel's face.

"Nae," Daniel slurred out trying to keep his balance.

Quickly Allen was by Daniel's side helping to support him. He helped Daniel over to his bed and sat him down on its edge.

"Lie down," Allen told Daniel as he bent down and lifted the young man's feet up and onto the bed.

Daniel did as he was told, holding his head with his right hand, as he lay back onto the pillow.

"Daniel," Allen said as he sat down on the side of the bed next to him, "what's going on?"

"Nothing," Daniel muttered closing his eyes against the spinning room.

"Don't lie to me," Allen replied. "You haven't bathed in days, let alone shaved in at least a month."

"You don't have supper anymore with your Mum and me. And you don't even talk to us or your friends. How can I help you if you don't tell me what is going on."

"You can't help me," Daniel said softly. "No one can."

Allen frowned again. He knew that Daniel was crushed by Echo's life decision. A decision that had put his son at a crossroad. Now the action of Daniel's own decision, that he had made in anger, was leading his son where?

Overwhelmed by the situation, Daniel had turned to the one thing that he thought would give him peace, brandy. But all he found was an empty bottle when he was done drinking. Just like his dreams.

Allen knew that if Daniel would only talk to someone he would feel better. But getting the young man to talk these days was next to impossible.

"Daniel," Allen said gently, "In all the places of space and time, in all the realms of light and darkness, guiding lights have the power to bring you to the feet of the Creator."

"Give him your burdens. Let him take your troubles and fears away."

"I wish I knew how," Daniel replied. "I don't believe that God even wants me anymore."

Allen sighed.

"Look Daniel," he said placing a hand on his son's right leg. "You fall, you rise, you live, you learn. You've been hurt, but you're alive."

"You're human, you make mistakes."

"Sometimes there is sadness in our journey, but there is also lots of beauty."

"We must keep putting one foot in front of the other even when we hurt, for we will never know what is waiting for us just around the bend."

"Pop," Daniel said opening up his eyes, "I know you mean well, but I just want to be left alone."

"Alright son," Allen said patting Daniel's leg before he stood up, "I'll leave you alone."

Allen crossed to the bedroom door, bent down and picked up the broken pieces of the brandy bottle before he left.

Watching Allen close his bedroom door, Daniel closed his eyes once again. He was now alone in his room and that's what he had wanted since he had come home.

Each night he had sat in his room thinking about what had happened to him. He had stared into the darkness contemplating what had gone wrong. Was it the moment that Echo had become pregnant, when he had lost his way? Or was it the act of Echo sleeping with someone else, because he didn't want to sleep with her before they were married, that had driven Echo into the arms of another man?

Late in the night his mind would wander and these thoughts would fill Daniel's head.

Daniel pondered on the dreams that he had had as a child, of becoming a world-class rider and trainer of horses until the accident. Then he had turned to music full-time and had met Echo. His dreams had then turned towards becoming a world-class musician in the states. And he had almost achieved that dream! Until Echo had betrayed him.

Lately though his thoughts had turned to thoughts of suicide. Daniel felt caught, courted by death. But was death the answer? Echo felt it was. She had tried twice, to kill herself, since he had left. Every paper he came across was running the story. Every news program ran a segment on the couple. Daniel had figured that their story would have died out after Emrick was buried, but it had not.

Sure Daniel had done things that he was now regretting. Choices in his life that he had selected. But no matter what happened to him now, there was no way he was going back to that woman.

Daniel felt a tear slide down his face. What kind of man had he become? A bitter angry man afraid of being judged by his Creator? He liked the man that he had been when he was with Echo. A kind, caring man calling to God to have mercy upon his soul.

And yet this twisted road, on which he had wandered, had brought him only dreams and visions smashed before his feet. He had given his whole life to Echo and now no one would remember him.

"What good is life," Daniel said out loud, "if it leaves nothing behind. Not a thought or a dream that might echo in time."

Daniel opened up his eyes and let the tears fall freely.

"Echo," he said quietly up to the ceiling.

How could he forget the wonderful years he had spent with her? The many hours that they had been together in orchestra practices and concerts. But in only a few short minutes, maybe seconds, he had thrown it all away.

"She betrayed you!" A voice said inside his head.

But all Daniel could see right now, in his mind, was a young eighteen year old girl laughing. Her hair blowing in the wind the first day that he had met her in Central Park. The smile upon her face as she sat next to her Aunt Dana. The way that she moved her head to the music. He had been infatuated with her that day, and yet he held back.

She was the reason that he had stayed on in the states, watched her grow up, slowly developed a friendship with her, until he could court her. Because after all was said and done, he was afraid of losing her to another man. She was his, no matter what others said. Daniel knew that every woman deserved to have a man who was willing to say to the whole world, "Yeah she's my one and only. She is beautiful and she is mine!" And from the first moment that he had seen her he knew this to be true.

And the places that they had gone together! Most of the fifty states, Canada, Mexico City, and even Greenland. He never would have gotten to see any of these places on his own, without her.

Daniel wondered, "Would these moments still survive after I am gone?"

And who would remember them? Certainly not his children.

"She had a child by another man!" The voice inside his head said louder.

Daniel closed his eyes. Could he believe the press? The test results had come back that neither Doctor D'Artagnan nor him were the father. But Doctor D'Artagnan was insistent that he was the father. So was Echo and the test results lying? And the big question still remained. If Doctor D'Artagnan was lying, then who had fathered Echo's child?

Daniel couldn't think of anyone that Echo was close to but him. In fact he had noticed over the years that she was uncomfortable with anyone, who was male in gender, until she got to know them better.

"You know son," Allen said to Daniel when he was a young boy and had hit his sister. "You can't fix yourself by breaking someone else."

"Oh," Daniel moaned and rolled onto his left side.

Opening up his eyes he saw Angus' side of the room. Since his older brother's untimely death, his parents had left Angus' stuff alone. Daniel had carefully dusted the football trophies each week, hoping in his young age, that Angus would wake up and come home.

Daniel had been devastated when the family had first buried Angus and then Jane Havens. He had tried to dig up the dirt, that covered Angus' brown box, before his father had stopped him and carried him home crying.

Daniel had lost two people that he had loved dearly, looked up to everyday, and he had felt responsible for their deaths. "But Echo has lost people she loved too," Daniel thought to himself. He wondered if his actions of leaving Echo were a result of her son dying? Would it have made a difference if he had stayed? Would Emrick have lived?

Daniel shook his head to clear it. What he wouldn't give to find someone who had been down the same path he had just traveled. "What had they done and where are they now?" He wondered. Should he go back and talk to Echo, or should he just turn his back on everything that he ever wanted? Daniel didn't know what to do.

A soft knocking on Daniel's door brought him back to the present.

"Daniel," Allen's voice said, "you have visitors."

Daniel carefully sat up as he heard Allen opening the door to his bedroom. When Daniel turned to face the opened door he stopped. There standing next to his father were two men that he never wanted to see again in his life.

"What are you white settler's doing here?" Daniel asked bitterly.

"Now Daniel," Allen said, "that's uncalled for. Kane and Egon only want to talk to you."

"Easy ma cunt," Daniel replied as he got up off of his bed.

Daniel could see that Egon's face had been cut up, under his mustache and beard, but he refused to ask what had happened as he pushed past the two men. Allen placed a hand onto Egon's arm as the young man stormed past them and out into the hallway.

"Let him go," Allen said.

"But I've come all this way to talk to him," Egon pleaded. "I can't let him get away."

"Where is he going to go?" Allen asked releasing Egon's arm and turning around just in time to see Daniel collide into the wall.

"That boy is oot yer face," Allen said pointing down the hallway to where Daniel was disappearing clumsily around a corner.

"We're on an island with only one way off and that's by ferry," Allen said dropping his hand back down to his side. "There is no way that the ferryman will let Daniel off 'Mull' acting like that."

"There's only one place that he's going."

"Where's that?" Kane asked.

"The stables," Allen replied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kane walked down the graveled access road between two post and rail fenced pastures. In the distance was an arena with large white wooden letters set around the arena's perimeter. Beyond the dressage arena was another arena with colorful jumps inside.

Kane whistled softly as he approached the stables. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that Daniel had grown up here. He could see the two barns, that held the horse stall's, faced east and west, while the office barn faced longways between them, its doors opening to the south.

Kane walked up to the right-hand side of the office barn and pushed aside one of the double doors. Inside was a beautifully laid brick floor. Kane went inside and turned to his right. Along the walls were pictures of Allen's prized horses that had won in their respectable events. At the end of the short hallway Kane came to a stop.

To his left were a set of wash stalls and across from these was a tack room. There was an outside double door on either end of the long aisle-way, with the same brick floor laid down at his feet. Four 14 X 14 stalls stood in front of Kane as well as two to his right, so that this barn contained six stalls in all.

Allen had told Kane that there was a hay and feed area at the end of the aisle-way, to Kane's right, and that Daniel would most likely be in stall number four.

"What I wouldn't give to have something like this back home," Kane thought as he turned towards the stalls on his right and started down the long aisle-way.

Before him were European high-rise stall fronts. These were a grill top front, much like a gate, with a vertical wood bottom. There were latches fit into the middle of the stall's front door with rounded poles where brass fittings sat on top of each of the sides of the door. Much different from the 12 X 12 simple wooden stalls and metal chain hung across the open door, to keep the horses inside, that Kane had back home.

On each stall's door sat a semi-rounded name plate with a metal hook; where a halter and lead-rope hung. The first stall read Quantum Mechanics, the next Quantum Channel. To his right were Quantum Leap and Quantum Realm.

Right before stall number four was Quantum Theory. Kane slowed his pace as he approached the last stall on the left. Looking through the bars, on the top, he could see a beautiful blood bay, Dutch Warmblood stallion with his nose in the corner of the stall.

This stallion lacked the lion-rampant brand on his left hip due to Dutch law making it illegal. The stallion was no doubt microchipped and stood 16 hands high at his withers. Allen's breeding goals for this stallion called for perfection in dressage and showjumping at the Grand Prix level.

Daniel sat with his back towards Kane in the corner of the stall. He didn't hear Kane approaching, but the stallion had. Raising his head up, the stallion laid his ears back at the sight of Kane and barred his teeth.

Allen had forewarned Kane about Quantum Physics, but seeing the stallion in person Kane wondered if he would be able to get past the horse. He personally didn't breed stallions or mare that were bad-tempered, but he also knew that the Dutch Warmblood Association was more about performance test results, then how the horse actually acted at home. And that is where Quantum Physics shined.

Kane had certainly gotten past Hawkeye's mean streak when the stallion had first come to him. The first thing that Kane had done was to geld Hawkeye, but he couldn't do that with this horse. Kane's horses had to be uncomplicated to handle and ride because of the many people that he took on trail rides each day. But Quantum Physics was Allen's breading stallion and the horse answered to no one but Allen and Daniel.

Quantum Physics had a level of courage and reflexivity that was required to effectively navigate a course in jumping. And yet the horse could be just as subtle and quiet in the dressage ring the next day. Since the turn of the millennium, Dutch Warmblood breeding had shifted from breeding a "riding horse" to specialization into dressage and jumper type horses.

Quantum Physics was a model horse for the Dutch Warmblood breed. He was long-legged, but had a smooth topline and dry, expressive head. A lone, white star sat in the center of his forehead. He was built level, in a rectangular frame, and as such "balanced proportions" and attractiveness were his to claim. Here was a horse that Kane could only dream of owning in his lifetime.

"Whoa," Kane said softly as the stallion reared up and kicked at the stall's door with his front hooves.

Kane heard Daniel take a swallow of something before he spoke.

"Good luck getting past Pie," Daniel slurred out.

"Nice nickname," Kane replied as he held his right hand up against the metal grate. "It's okay Pie. I only want to talk to Daniel."

"I don't want to talk to you!" Daniel shouted back.

This made the stallion rise up on his hind legs once again. Kane held his ground, his hand still on the metal grate, softly talking to the horse. Slowly the stallion started to calm down and stopped rearing. The horse was still agitated and he pawed the ground with his front left hoof.

"Pie it's okay," Kane said softly, "I'm not going to hurt you."

Eventually the stallion stopped pawing and turned his head towards Kane. The stallion took a step forward and placed his nose on the grate, where Kane's hand was. After a moment of smelling Kane, Pie decided that the man was not a threat and tossed his head up and down in greeting.

Slowly Kane lowered his hand and slid the latch open. Slowly he pushed the door into the stall. He was ready to flee at a moments notice should the stallion turn on him. But Pie only acknowledged Kane with curiosity as Kane slowly closed the stall's door and latched it. Kane carefully walked over to where Daniel sat in the corner drinking.

Daniel was sporting a mustache and beard now and it looked like he hadn't bathed in days.

"Yep," Kane thought to himself as Daniel's body odor assaulted his nostrils. "Daniel hasn't bathed."

"What you got?" Kane asked as he slowly slid down the wall to sit next to Daniel.

Kane kept the comment about the young man's bathing and body odor to himself. He didn't want to make Daniel any angrier then he might be right now.

"Brandy," Daniel replied as he watched Pie sniffing Kane's pants.

"Mind if I have some?" Kane asked as the stallion smelt his hat now.

"You don't drink," Daniel pointed out amazed at how Kane had gotten by the horse.

"I do now," Kane said as he carefully took the bottle from Daniel's hand.

Careful, so as not to spook Pie, Kane lifted the bottle to his lips and took a swallow. No sooner then he had done so then he turned to his right and spit the liquid out into the shavings by his side. Handing the bottle back to Daniel, Kane wiped his mouth with his right sleeve.

"Now I remember why I gave that firewater up," Kane stated.

"You used to drink?" Daniel asked taking the bottle back from Kane. "I didn't know that."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," Kane replied. "Or Echo for that matter."

"She betrayed me!" Daniel shouted.

Kane watched out of the corner of his eye to make sure that Pie wasn't going to spook. The stallion was happily playing in his water bucket and ignored the two men inside his stall.

"Echo was betrayed herself," Kane said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not the father of Emrick," Kane replied.

"I knew it," Daniel said raising the bottle to his lips. "Bet it's Doctor D'Artagnan."

"Neither is Doctor D'Artagnan the father," Kane said.

"Alright," Daniel said after swallowing some brandy, "then who is? Has Echo finally decided to tell the truth and come clean. Who has she been sleeping with?"

"She doesn't know," Kane replied.

"Typical," Daniel muttered shaking his head. "Leave it to her to hang onto the slim chance that I could be a father."

Daniel raised the bottle to his lips again, "Stupid broad," he muttered, "serves her...,"

"Echo was raped," Kane said interrupting Daniel.

Stunned Daniel brought the bottle down from his mouth.

"Cummin' the cunt?" Daniel questioned.

"Yes," Kane replied, "I'm serious."

Daniel's heart went out to Echo, but his head told him to stay away from her.

"No," Daniel said shaking his head back and forth. "I can't go back to her. She slept with another man and is just saying that she was raped so people will feel sorry for her."

"Daniel," Kane replied, "It's easy for us to judge someone. It's more difficult to understand. Understanding requires compassion, patience, and a willingness to believe that good hearts sometimes choose poor methods. Through judging we separate. Through understanding we grow."

"Yeah," Daniel said, "only you can say that. You have never made a poor choice in your life."

"Want to bet?"

"When I was eighteen years old I raped a sixteen year old girl," Kane said sadly.

"Before you married your wife?" Daniel asked.

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"She became pregnant with my child."

"So somewhere out there is another child of yours," Daniel said. "Did your wife know about this."

"Yes," Kane replied.

"What did she do?"

Kane laughed softly. "Lizzie let loose with everything that she could think of to say to me. And how did I answer her back? I couldn't."

"What became of the birth mother?" Daniel asked.

"She was thrown out of her home by her parents and went to live with her older sister."

"What did you do?" Daniel questioned.

"I had an obligation to take care of her and her child, so I did."

"What did the birth mother have?" Daniel asked.

"A boy," Kane replied, "a beautiful healthy fun loving baby she named Benjamin."

"I bet your wife just loved that," Daniel snorted. "Reusing someone else's baby's name that you fathered."

"She was good with it."

"How could your wife be good with you supporting her and another woman?" Daniel asked.

"Lizzie is the only woman I have ever supported," Kane said proudly.

"But what about the girl you raped?" Daniel asked. "You said that you supported...,"

Daniel trailed off as he looked towards Kane. Pie had his head down and Kane was scratching the stallion on his poll between his ears. Daniel watched as a tear fell from the older man's eye and onto the floor of the stall.

"Daniel," Kane whispered, "I traded my soul for a moment of glory and it cost me my principles that I had grown up with."

"I live with the weight of my sin everyday of my life."

"There were days when I thought that it would have been better if my life had ended with my birth, like Emrick's. Then I would have nothing to be held accountable for."

"I know that my soul will be judged on a scale that will be heavily weighted against me. And all I can do is try to tip the scale in my favor with every good deed that I do from now on."

"I wonder," Kane said looking up at the ceiling of the barn, "if God will forgive every sin that I've forgotten."

"Please," Kane pleaded turning to face the young man. "Don't follow in my footsteps."

"Echo loves you. She needs you. She doesn't care what you have said about her."

"Life has many paths. Only one leads to no regrets at death's door."

"I can't!" Daniel cried out dropping his bottle into the shavings and placing his hands onto either side of his head.

"Look Daniel," Kane said, "I'm not asking you to pick up where you two dropped off. That's going to take a lot of time and counseling."

"I'm just asking you to go back and talk to Echo," Kane finished. "That's all."

"NO!" Daniel shouted pressing the palms of his hands into his ears.

"Daniel," Kane said reaching out and touching the confused young man on his arm. "In the moment of our decision, our destiny is shaped."

Without warning Daniel sprang up from where he was sitting and bolted for the stall's door. He quickly unlatched that door before Kane could get to his feet. Daniel pulled the door inward before he ran to Pie's side. Grabbing a handful of mane, he swung himself up and onto the stallion's back. The horse reared once and bolted out the part-way opened door.

Kane got to his feet just in time to see Daniel open the outside door and disappear.

"Lord," Kane said as he hurried over to the stall that contained Quantum Theory.

"Please keep your arm around my shoulder," Kane said as he took the halter and lead-rope off of the hook.

"And your hand over my mouth," he finished as he lifted the latch and went inside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Pie grazed quietly nearby as Daniel lie in the heather at the base of Dun Ara. He hadn't been back here since Angus had died.

When he had fled his father's barn he had turned his horse north. Jumping the stone wall past Glengorm Castle, Daniel had given Quantum Physics his head. The horse hadn't been set free to run in a very longtime, and he took advantage of it. Galloping faster and faster in the open fields.

When Daniel had left home only Allen had been able to get near the stallion, but not ride him. Pie had been Daniel's horse until that fateful day when Pie had misjudged the 'joker' fence, tossing Daniel over his head.

Daniel remembered his right foot getting caught in the stirrup and Pie taking off at a dead gallop. Twice the stallion had stepped on Daniel's groin area until his father had caught the horse.

After that day Pie had been placed out to stud, while Daniel healed from his surgery. It had taken Daniel a really long time to forgive Pie for what he had done. And even longer for him to get on the stallion's back again.

Could he forgive Echo for what she had done? Sighing Daniel looked away from Pie and up towards the cloudy sky. It looked like rain was on its way, but he didn't care. Sadly he began humming the tune of Ar Hyd y Nos. When he reached the end someone clapped. Quickly Daniel sat up.

Sitting before him in the heather just a few feet away was his brother, dressed all in white.

"Awrite," Angus said.

"Angus?" Daniel questioned before he backed away from his brother and into the rock face of Dun Ara.

"It's okay brither," Angus said, "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Are you here to take me away?" Daniel asked.

"Do you want to go?" Angus questioned.

"Aye!" Daniel replied quickly before he realized what he had said. Changing his mind Daniel quickly replied no.

"Well," Angus said crossing his arms. "Which is it? Yes or no."

"Ah dinnae ken," Daniel replied weakly.

"What don't you know?" Angus questioned uncrossing his arms.

"Why did you and stoatin grandmother have to die?" Daniel asked.

Angus frowned. He knew the answer to the question. But Daniel, in his drunken state, wasn't going to be able to understand it. Angus had been surprised to see that his brother hadn't fallen off of Quantum Physics with the way that he had been ridding just a few minutes ago. Angus knew about the world beyond and the wonders that it held, but Daniel wasn't allowed to know about any of it; at least not yet.

"Daniel," Angus said, "there are many things that we don't understand here on earth. Like Jane Havens and my death. But know this, there is something greater beyond this life. And we are all waiting for you to return to us in due time."

"You lie!" Daniel said loudly.

"No," Angus said shaking his head sadly. "I wish you could see that what you are going through now is only temporary."

"The maker does not waste our circumstances. Especially the difficult ones."

Daniel just shook his head at his brother. He had been brought up to believe in the same things that Angus believed in. But things were different now. Daniel had left home, encountered other people. Some good, some bad. He had fallen in love and had vowed to take Echo as his wife until he had been betrayed.

"No," Daniel's brain said, "Kane said that she had been betrayed too."

Now here Daniel sat. Unable to go back and yet not willing to go forward.

"There is no life for me to go back to," Daniel said sadly, the brandy having finally worked it's way into his system making him tired.

"A full heart never lied," Angus stated.

Daniel was pulled from his tired brain and stared at Angus. His brother was telling him that deep down in the bottom of Daniel's heart lie the truth. But what was the truth?

Suddenly Daniel saw his father standing before the family for Bible study one night.

"So," Allen said to those gathered around him. "What is truth?"

"I know," Daniel's sister's hand shot up.

"Yes Mary," Allen said.

"Truth," Mary said sitting up taller, "is that immovable, indestructible force that brings an end to sin, heartache, sickness, and degradation."

"Correct," Allen replied.

"It's also what Pilot asked of Jesus," Daniel's brother interrupted.

"You are also correct Robert," Allen said.

"And through that one question," Allen went on, "we all want to know what truth is and who is right."

"If we are to know the truth today, we must go to the source. Then we will know what is right and who is right."

Daniel thought for a moment. Did he still care for Echo?

"Yes," Daniel's heart said.

Did he care about what the press was saying about her?

"Yes," Daniel's heart said again.

Could he love her again?

"Yes," his heart said, but Daniel's head said no.

"Angus," Daniel said.

"Yes," his brother replied.

"My heart says one thing but my head says another."

"I know," Angus said. "But know this. If you are on the right path it will always be uphill."

"You know what path that is, don't you?" Angus questioned his brother.

"Aye," Daniel replied.

"And?" Angus asked.

"And it leads back across the pond," Daniel said softly, "to Echo."

"So," Angus asked, "What's holding you back?"

"Everything," Daniel sighed, "and nothing."

"Daniel are you still blaming yourself for my death?" Angus asked.

"Partly," Daniel replied. "Pop told me what happened when I was older. How you apparently lost your grip on the rocks and fell to your death. And how stoatin grandmother died of pneumonia from the cold rain that day."

"Daniel," Angus said rising up from the ground and coming over to sit next to his brother. "Death is nothing."

"Just think of me as slipping away into the next room," Angus said. "Nothing has happened."

"Everything remains the same. I am I and you are you. The old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other is still the same."

"I'm here, just out of sight, watching you. Waiting for you, to one day laugh as we always laughed at our little jokes. To play together, once again, as we always did."

"Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was," Angus finished.

"Not for me," Daniel said sadly.

"Yes," Angus said touching Daniel's right shoulder with his left hand, "even for you."

Angus waved his right hand out in front of him. He knew that he wasn't allowed to do this and would be reprimanded when he returned, but Daniel needed a glimpse. Even the slightest glimpse into what lie ahead for him.

Daniel looked to where his brother had waved his hand. He saw before him an old man and woman walking hand in hand together towards him. Their children walked behind them, as the old couple's grandchildren ran ahead of them; playing games and chasing each other.

As Daniel looked at the couple he saw that they were happy. The man wore a kilt complete with jacket, vest, tie, socks, shoes, kilt pin, sporran, and sgian-dubh. The woman wore a ankle length kilt, known as a hostess kilt, complete with sash, black low healed boots, and a white blouse. Daniel recognized the design on the kilts as the McQuarrie clan and wondered who the couple was.

The woman was laughing at something that the man had said and stopped in front of Daniel, her back to him. She pulled her snow white, waist length hair over her left shoulder, tucking it into her sash.

Daniel watched as the older man leaned into the woman and gently kissed her on the lips. The man turned the woman around until her right side was facing where Daniel sat. There on the woman's right-hand side of her head was a bald spot. A bald spot that Daniel knew only too well.

Suddenly he realized that the couple was Echo and him. Before Daniel could call out to the couple the scene faded away. All Daniel could see now was a beautiful warmblood stallion rolling around in the tall heather.

"Is that my future?" Daniel asked turning his head towards Angus.

"Yes," his brother replied.

"And those are all my children and grandchildren?"

"Yes."

"So we adopted a large family after all," Daniel said to himself turning his head back.

"No," Angus said, "you and Echo don't adopt."

"Those children you saw will all be your biological children."

"No Angus," Daniel said sadly, "You weren't there when Quantum Physics injured me. The doctors told me I couldn't have any children."

"They weren't talking about you," Angus replied as he stood up. "And yes I was there."

"Who do you think held onto your body as you were being dragged all over God's green earth?"

"You came out of that ordeal with only two scrapes on your whole body, besides the injury to your groin area," Angus stated.

"My riding helmet protected me," Daniel said, "As well as my body protector."

But Daniel also knew that wasn't the full truth. He had indeed felt something wrap its arms around him that day, but had chalked it up to an angel protecting him.

Suddenly something hit Daniel. "Was Angus his guardian angel?" Daniel wondered to himself. Was that the reason that Angus had died when Daniel was young. Was it so that Angus could come back and protect him?

Daniel shook his head to clear it. "That couldn't be right," Daniel thought to himself, "and yet..."

"If you say so," Angus replied as he turned to walk away, interrupting Daniel's thoughts. "But I know the truth. So does Pop. And Echo."

"Great men are forged in fire," Angus said walking away from his brother. "It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame, whatever the cost."

As Angus faded from view Daniel saw Kane riding up on Quantum Theory and heard his brother's voice inside his head.

"We're all just stories in the end. Make yours a good one."

Daniel nodded his head in agreement and stood up, waving his hands in the air to attract Kane's attention. The least that he could do was talk to his father and Echo. He needed truth and it seemed that they had the answers.