*****

Tea felt the warmth of the first rays of the sunrise dancing over her, pulling her from an uneasy night of sleep. Without thinking, she stretched out one arm, reaching for something that in, in her dreams, was always just a little beyond her grasp. Something that she found was never there. It had become almost a ritual, and yet she was always shocked at how deeply the disappointment ran through her each time she found that Todd sharing her bed was only a part of her dream world.

Her fingers, once again, found the bed cold, and yet there was some sense of him…She found the fabric of his coat with her fingertips, and pulled it close to her. He had forgotten to ask for it back the night before. She had held it close to her, needing to feel him near to her, needing to have some sense that he was out there, and that he was all right. Her fear had nearly driven her mad as she had kept her vigil at the window that night…too afraid to close her eyes, petrified to be awake, all at the same time. She sat up slowly, her tired body protesting in a variety of ways.

Everything fights me these days…

Most of the night she had spent gazing out the window into the darkness of Angel Square trying to magically make sense out of the senseless. Nothing came together, her thoughts and emotions all a jumble, but the strange sense of forboding and fear that had overtaken her last night had finally eased, giving way to exhaustion. In the early hours of the morning, she had finally given herself over to sleep.

Now, she reluctantly pulled herself free from the bedcovers in an attempt to gear herself up for all the normal things that needed to be done. It's amazing how the world keeps on turning, expecting you to keep up normal function, when everything about your life seems so out of place. She frowned over at the building pile of briefs and files on the table alongside the guest bed. Something in her had changed. In the past, the more work that built up, the more the fire that came with challenge would burn in her eyes, a feeling of strength and the notion of being "worth something to someone" would flow faster through her veins, and knowing that she was needed for her brain and her legal skills made her feel as close to happy as she had ever been.

It was different now, she thought, as she stood under the shower spray, hoping that the water might shock her back into some sense of her old reality. Work didn't complete her like it used to. Being sought after for the tricks she could pull in a courtroom no longer erased the feelings of lonliness, the desire to love and to be loved, and the growing need for family and closeness, of intimacy and the shared life that comes with finding the part of her that would make her whole again beyond herself. Where money and success had ruled her world in the majority of her life, now she had tapped into another dream. One of love and fairtytale endings…. princes, and happily ever after, she thought… all the things that once upon a time she had stopped believing in, almost overnight. She liked to pretend that she was different, that she never wanted any of those things to begin with, and she worked up a wonderful smoke screen when she sat before those who had found it, her heart aching to be like them but her face as stony as she could make it. She had convinced herself, when her mother left, that no one should base their live and love on another person…in the end, they would only let you down.

"You have only yourself to depend on," she said aloud, repeating the phrase that had become like a personal mantra, "Everything else…love, a cruel hoax that pulls you in with a magical spell and then tears you down….family…what do you know about family….happiness…happiness is security and security is what you make it through work and…." she paused and sighed. "It's not for you, Tea. It was never meant to be for you." She realized she was rubbing her skin so hard with a washcloth it was starting to hurt. Tea braced herself against the shower wall and closed her eyes to all the fear and confusion that coursed through her body…along with something else. Something that would never go away. She missed Todd so much she thought her heart would explode inside her.

Shut down, Tea, shut down!!!

She smiled at the irony.

"And Todd thought he was the only one who lives in a prison of his own making."

*****

Blair stumbled down the stairs, her eyes unwilling to fully open and her hand reaching for some savior to place a cup of coffee in it. She had come home the night before and grabbed hold of Dorian to help her figure out how to follow through with Todd and insure her security at the Sun and with her daughter…security at the very least, total control if she had anything to do with it, was the way she actually hoped to work things. But she knew she needed to pull off quite the siege if she had any hope of coming out on top at all, and she figured that combining her brain with Dorian's was the only way to go.

Dorian had looked at her with pride. Finally Blair was willing to do something about securing the Cramer Legacy and in doing so, she saw a fire in her eyes to bring down that Reptile once and for all. Finally, the time had come to set some things in motion. She had patted her reassuringly on the hand, and smiled the all knowing Cramer smile. She would make it right for her girls…all of them…starting with Blair and Starr, and moving on to the less willing members of the Clan Cramer. She had told Blair to get some sleep as she turned some things over in her mind, and by the morning, she had promised her that things would be looking up, and puzzle pieces would fit where before this there was no opening.

Blair, coffee now firmly in her hand, stopped suddenly by the stairs. She turned to run so fast coffee with milk and sugar flew everywhere. Todd was in the living room! His voice was coming from there, loud and clear, and she wasn't in any frame of mind to deal with him yet. She made a move to scramble up the stairs.

"BLAIR!! Where are you going?" Dorian scoffed at her, appearing in the doorway, with a sudden impatient nature.

"Dorian, what are you thinking inviting Todd over here like this, without telling me? I need time to….pull a rabbit out of a hat and back up my claims with something, or find something on him to ensure that I can have all I promised him I'd take from him!" She whispered in a scathing tone, through clenched teeth, taking care to duck out of sight of anyone in the next room.

Dorian grabbed her arm, and stared hard into her eyes. "Blair…do you think I'm that stupid? Todd's voice is in that room…but he's not. Don't you remember?" Blair squinted at her, trying to guess her game and crossing her fingers behind her back that Dorian hadn't "broken" over night.

"Huh?" she asked, when she couldn't come to an accurate conclusion on either count.

"The TAPE!!! We have Todd's voice on tape…that tape you brought home from the office just the other night…you know…Todd loves Tea…isn't that sweet….the line of bull you recorded and brought home thinking you could be Cupid?…..Hmmmmm? That tape!!!"

Blair nodded slowly, still uncertain as to how Todd's far from Shakespearian words of love for The Queen of Ice Mountain was going to help her cause in any way.

Dorian placed a protective arm around Blair's shoulders and led her into the living room.

"You see, my dear, just as the pen is mightier than the sword…the spoken word caught on tape….words which can be altered to suit whatever need our hearts desire with a little help from Technology….I'd say that's even higher up the ladder in this case, wouldn't you?"

"Ok…I'm following behind you, but…altering all that love junk about Tea….that has nothing to do with the paper, or my daughter. How is that gonna help us here?"

"Well…I've bitten the bullet and listened to his Schtick," she said, pointing in the direction of the running tape. "In order to hit Todd where it hurts, you might have to play with his weaknesses. He has three. Starr…"

"Not Starr!" Blair exclaimed, wanting to keep her daughter clear from this whole mess.

"Exactly," Dorain responded, with raised eyebrow and a knowing smile. "The Sun is number Two. If you mess within the workings of that…."

"I risk losing or destroying the paper…" Blair completed.

"And there you have it. That leaves only one other thing. Use his third weakness. Either go right for it, or use it to bargain…either way, the ends will justify the means here. He doesn't like it when anything touches his Rent-a-Wife. He'd do anything…anything at all, to keep her away from this, just as he would Starr. She's his weak link. The vulnerable part in the armor…."

"And all we have to do is aim for it…with a good eye and a steady hand…" Blair laughed with glee and grabbed Dorian's hands. Then she turned serious again. "She's done all she could to sacrifice me in the past. It's time to fight fire….with fire. And when all is said and done, I'll reclaim everything she stole from me. My daughter, my Legacy, and the pleasure of watching Todd squirm in the gutter, where he belongs." They exchanged a smile of victory, sure that before they even started, they had sure-fire plans that would win the war.

Blair ran over and grabbed the tape from the stereo, and gazed with admiration at her ticket to all she'd ever wanted. She smiled like a cat who had the mouse caught under her paw.

*****

Todd reached up and rubbed at his eyes…gritty from lack of sleep, his mind strained with exhaustion. He had stood for countless hours in front of the window, looking down on Llanview in slumber and now in its waking hours.

Todd wondered if any of them had ever known such fear in the dark. He knew how close it had come to claiming him the night before. He had almost surrendered to it. Something had stopped him. He was unsure of just what it was. In the past, it had been his own strength. Last night, he had none. It was a power outside of himself, something beyond him to grasp. He didn't have much faith in a God, or in fate…he put very little weight on anything or anyone else beyond his immediate control. Something had pulled him from the dark, and he'd spent the night wondering who…and why. The office was a shambles, and he methodically went to work trying to undo the mess he had made.

"If only it were that easy…." he whispered to silent walls. He was a master at picking up the messes he made of tangible objects, but there were so many things that he was sure could never be made right. Things that couldn't be fixed with glue, or duct tape. Things that were so deeply imbedded in him that would continue to destroy everything and everyone he came in contact with. He felt like a magnet for chaos, and had spent the night trying to figure out how he could keep everyone and everything he cared about beyond that field.

He shook his head, as solutions to everything eluded him, and the problems only seemed to grow with each breath.

One thing he knew for sure. He wanted Tea there with him so badly at that moment, despite the conflicting fear he had of having her anywhere near his world, that he felt as if something in his chest would burst. Todd wanted to feel her arms around him…he needed her presence, and yet she needed his absence. The struggle was so intense it took his breath away. He knelt down among the glass and the papers cluttered on the floor, and picked up her photo, attempting to smooth the wrinkles and make her perfect again. He traced the line of her jaw in the photo, and then slipped it into his pocket, wanting to carry her close, but knowing he couldn't have her, he couldn't bear to look at her either.

It was no use. Even when she was beyond the sight of his eyes, she was never beyond the sight of his mind, his heart, or his soul.

He jumped as the phone trilled loudly, breaking into his thoughts and cutting the silence like glass. He picked up the extension, ready to chew out the early bird about waiting at least until the worm was awake.

"The Sun…next time wait until it's up….Todd Manning…." he paused, hoping the person at the other end would just hang up. He wanted to go home and watch his daughter in the last few minutes before she woke up.

"Mr. Manning…I have something important to share with you. Some…information….that could prove very helpful. I'd like a chance to meet with you…" It was a woman's voice, one he didn't recognize and yet oddly familiar in some strange sense. It made him lose some of his edge and captured his interest.

"Noon…be at my office…." One could capture his interest as much as they liked, but they were still going to be treated to his abrupt nature.

"Mr. Manning, I'm afraid that's not possible. I need you to come to NY…in about a days time, perhaps? The trip will be worth your while. The choice is yours. I don't want to pressure you."

Todd was totally thrown by the mysterious invitation. Where there was a scoop, he wanted to be there to grab it, but he felt slightly uneasy. With Blair's threats the night before, he wasn't up to leaving his "Empire" unguarded. Still, there was a certain pull…he chalked it up to Newspaper man's instincts...that told him to look further into this matter.

"Where do I meet you, Ms. ….?

"I'll leave the location with your secretary later today Mr. Manning. I'm so glad you are willing to make the trip. We will talk. Good-bye." She hung up, leaving Todd staring at the receiver…mystified.

"Whatever…" he announced to the walls of the office. He didn't have time to reflect on it. He had to hurry home if he wanted to sit with Starr for a while…settling his fears with her innocence.