Chapter 1: Reckoning

Author's Note: Welcome to Revenge Revisited, readers! Back by popular demand =) Many of you requested for me to write a new fanfic, so here we go! To begin this new story, the first chapter will deal closely with the events that occur in the last half of the S1 Finale, "Reckoning". I highly recommend re-watching this episode before you read, although you will notice, that my story begins about midway through. (Safe to say, anything that occurred before the opening scene is still canon in the storyline). You will see a LOT of familiar scenes, included for continuity's sake but pay close attention – there are slight changes in each one, allowing for some fresh storylines in S2. Also, different from other "alternate episodes" I have posted before, this story will be written progressively, with the chapters being named for the episode they align to in the actual show, but of course with a different outcome =) So please enjoy and stay tuned for some exciting surprises!

"Where have you been?"

Daniel's distraught voice greeted Emily as she walked through the door of her beach house, reminding her that despite the vigorous day she had endured, resulting in the victory of her own conscience, she still had unfinished ties to sever before her revenge was truly over. She looked up in the eyes of the man she still deeply cared for despite how disappointing his alliance with his wretched family was, and immediately felt pangs of guilt for not being honest with him in the first place.

"Sorry," she replied, setting her keys on the table as she braced herself for the interrogation. "It's been a crazy day."

"It looks like it," Daniel observed, standing to his feet and coming close to inspect the wounds that Emily had on her bottom lip, face and neck. "You all right?" he asked, his concern for her forever trumping the heartbreak behind his words.

"Yeah, I just fell on the ice when I was running," she lied instinctively, still feeling regret for not being able to just tell him the truth. "I didn't want to worry you with everything that's happened." Her clever responses flowed out of her mouth with ease, only angering Daniel more at her ability to quickly sidestep the truth.

"Sure," he tested her. "What's one more secret? It's hardly the biggest one you're keeping, right?"

Emily looked up at him in surprise, not expecting his senses to be so sharpened, and immediately her pity for keeping him in the dark so long weighed her down. Her mission was all but finished and the evidence along with Victoria's testimony would have her father's name cleared by daybreak. Since her encounter with the white-haired man it had only refreshed her senses that all had been accomplished and it was time to minimize the collateral damage as much as possible. And despite his unpredictable loyalties, she knew Daniel's heart would be the greatest casualty of them all, and an innocent one at that. She owed him the truth before she left the Hamptons for good.

"What do you want to know, Daniel?" she responded weakly, surrendering the protective wall she normally kept around her heart. "I'm an open book tonight."

Daniel seized the opportunity, anxious to confirm if what Ashley had told him was really true. "Jack came by here yesterday, didn't he?"

Emily furrowed her brow, expecting a much different response from him than to pursue her relationship with Jack again. "Yeah," she admitted, knowing the reason was a legitimate one. "His dog died." She walked over to face the flames that Daniel had started in the fireplace, sensing the symbolism of the blaze that was clearly burning in his heart.

"Did you kiss him?" he continued, surprising her again, and she turned around to face him, curious at how he had come to learn of her dalliance. "Just give me a straight answer, please," he insisted, fully aware of Emily's skill at rationalizing.

But Emily held to her promise of being an open book, knowing he deserved no less. "Yes," she answered truthfully, knowing how painful it would be for him to hear it from her lips, lips that had betrayed him, lips that had kissed him goodbye only hours before. "We kissed."

Daniel grimaced as Emily bowed her head in guilt. He knew Ashley would have no reason to make up the story but a part of him had still hoped in his heart that it wasn't true. "So all these months- the engagement, standing by me during the trial," he stammered, in shock and confusion by it all as he enumerated the things that just did not make sense. It all seemed to prove her loyalty and now this. "What- What was the point of all that if you just really wanted to be with him?"

Emily paused to think, but knew only the truth would explain her actions, and nothing else would satisfy Daniel's aching emotions. She remained quiet as he continued to rack his brain.

"Or was my mother right? Were you just pretending to love me because you wanted the Grayson name?"

"No," Emily retorted firmly, unwilling to let that particular untruth stand. That alone was motivation enough to come clean with him. After all, he knew about Jack and she had already decided in her heart that Jack was who she truly wanted to be with all along. Daniel would find out soon enough so she might as well explain to him why – it might even soften the blow. "I wanted to be with you despite the Grayson name."

"Then what changed?" Daniel still did not understand.

Emily took a deep breath and let it all come out. "The truth is…" she resisted the urge to look away from him, and instead mustered up the courage to look into his eyes as she prepared to collapse his world. She wasn't even fully sure she could trust him with what she was about to say, but a part of her didn't care – she cared for him enough to take that risk even if she was no longer in love with him. "I'm not really the person that you fell in love with."

Daniel looked at her in confusion and broke her confession with his own desperate attempt at making sense of it all. "Yesterday you were," he exhaled, and the emotion in his voice tugged at Emily's heart. "This morning you were." He continued to stare at the woman he was prepared to spend the rest of his life with, examining her golden blonde locks, her brilliantly brown eyes that reflected the glare of light from the fire. It was hurting him so much to see her do this to him. He reached out to touch her cheek, softly grazing where she had been injured. "You were ready to move with me to Manhattan after that lunatic broke in – what happened?"

Emily couldn't bear the pain of his sincerity and affection any longer, and caught his hand with her own so she could stop him. "He didn't break in, Daniel," she divulged, starting her confession with the topic he had volunteered. "I told you that to distract you so I could look at the evidence myself."

Daniel's heart skipped a beat and he froze in shock. "Wait—what?" His face darkened, zoning in her wording and realized she too had caught him in a lie. She had clearly said 'evidence' when this morning he had told her they were customer files. He took a step back, and glanced around quickly, fearful of how far her betrayal truly went. "How did you know what was in the briefcase?"

Emily let him step away, only continued her admission. "There's a lot of things I know about that would surprise you Daniel," she summarized, seeing no benefit in going into too many details, save for the most important. "Like the fact that the evidence in that briefcase contained the truth about the people who framed David Clarke," she looked at him with a pointed look, and he knew what was coming. "Your father, your mother… and the man who I led you to believe broke in this morning. He murdered him."

Daniel took another step back, aghast as he realized everything Emily was saying to him was the truth. His disbelief at how she had arrived at his family's darkest secret and why she would have reason to even be concerned about it all left him at a loss for words.

Emily took that opportunity to reveal one additional detail. "I went after that man today," she admitted, clearly explaining how she had really gotten her wounds as she gestured to her face. She looked down in slight embarrassment. "I had a chance to destroy him but… I chose not to instead." She looked up at Daniel. "But the government has the evidence now."

Daniel guessed the only reason he could imagine of why she would be involved in any of this. "What are you, working for the SCC? The feds?" He was fresh out of ideas, with only a wretched thought left. "My mother?"

Emily shook her head, exhaling through her nose in disgust. "No."

"Then why?" Daniel pleaded, stepping back closer to her to stress his alarm and disappointment. "Why do this to me—to all of us?"

"Because," Emily again took another deep breath, fully aware that it might be the last time she would see Daniel and wanting him to know her for who she truly was. She looked down at her hands, beginning to loosen the large engagement ring from where it sat on her ring finger.

"David Clarke was my father."

SCENE

Victoria sat at her vanity mirror in her bedroom, applying the final touches before she prepared to board her plane out of the Hamptons. She finished applying lipstick and then palmed her cellphone to make a last attempt at saving her once closest friend. Despite continuing to be revolted by her betrayal, she still felt a sense of loyalty to her, and after all she could care less about who Conrad slept with. If anything it gave her more pleasure to know that he valued the companionship of Lydia, and if nothing else, it would please her to take that last bit away from him before sending him to rot in prison for his crimes.

"Lydia, it's Victoria," she greeted when Lydia answered.

"I have nothing to say to you," Lydia snipped back, growing exhausted of Victoria's conniving ways. She had anticipated this last ditch effort as she knew the deposition approached, with Victoria at its helm.

"Lydia, be sensible." Victoria admonished her with sincerity. "They're not just charging Conrad with framing David Clarke. They're charging him for his murder, too. You have a very small window of opportunity to protect yourself."

"Advice from the self-preservation society? I think I'll pass," Lydia quipped back, impelling Victoria only further to question her future.

"What exactly is your plan, hmm, to live your life on the run with an international fugitive?"

"Conrad's not the enemy, Victoria," Lydia insisted. "You are."

Victoria shook her head at her friend's naiveté. "And who do you think will be the first person he sells out when the money runs dry? And believe me, that day is coming faster than either one of you realizes. Because when I am done with him, it will make your taxi-cab bounce look like a trip to Saint-Tropez!"

Victoria hung up the phone expediently, fully aware that her dramatic ending to the call would likely have a deeper impact on Lydia afterwards. Either way, she could only hope that Lydia would heed her advice because she was not turning back now. After years of stowing away her feelings of guilt over David's demise, this was finally the break she was looking for: a chance to purge her conscience and hopefully have a chance at happiness again – a feeling that had been fleeting ever since the day they took David away.

She stared at her reflection as she paused to reflect on the only remaining semblances of happiness that existed in her life, and decided to visit the main source before she boarded her plane – Daniel.

SCENE

"Good, you're packed."

Conrad observed as he swaggered over to his mistress in the foyer of her apartment, her completing his full entourage for a speedy exit before the charges were levied against him. Just before meeting her, a conversation with a slightly bruised version of his business associate, Gordon Murphy, had resulted in confirmation that the evidence against him was in federal hands, on its way to Washington DC. Leading the presentation would be Victoria, the woman he simply could not seem to rid himself of no matter how hard he had tried. But in spite of it all, Gordon had encouraged him to follow his plans to leave town, leading Conrad to believe not so much that he could trust him, but he could trust the Initiative to prevent the actions that were about to incriminate them all. And while he had an idea that they might just prove devastating, he wasn't about to stay nearby for the fallout. Fortunately, he could rely on Lydia, his next favorite option to Victoria, to accompany him on the way… that is, if she remained loyal to him.

"The plane boards at 8:00 P.M.," Conrad informed her, leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll have our bags taken down to the car." His curiosity peaked as he observed the shaken look on her face. "Oh, who was that on the phone?" he asked, waiting for Lydia to lie to him.

"Uh, my mother," she failed to disappoint.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, and paused, anticipating the last traces of Victoria's manipulation to somehow make themselves manifest.

But to his surprise, Lydia's silence denoted something quite different. She stood in pause, thinking of who she really wanted to trust – the friend she had dearly disappointed despite sharing years together in a close coveted circle? Or, the man she had sacrificed that esteemed position for, who could potentially be behind bars within the week? She struggled with the choice immensely, and nearly carried on with another lie to get away from going with him. But in the end, she realized even if Victoria were right – owing her a favor would be no better a fate than wasting away on the last morsels of Conrad's dwindling fortune. After all, she had been a resourceful woman before – she could find her way back to the top if she needed to.

"Hmm?" she pretended to lose track of his question. "Oh yes, she's fine. Just wanted to hear her voice in case I don't see her for a while."

Conrad exhaled, relieved that Gordon's suspicions about his mistress had been proved false. "That's my girl," he caressed her on the back. Even though he knew she was lying, it mattered more that Victoria's attempt had proved unsuccessful. His thoughts drifted momentarily to his former paramour, and a part of him wanted one last closure before he departed from her forever.

"Shall we?" Lydia smiled back at him nervously, gathering her things as they prepared to leave.

"You go ahead," he instructed her with a smile, wishing to address the nagging in the back of his mind. "I'll meet you at the airport… I just have one last stop."

SCENE

"Your father?"

Daniel's mind was racing to keep up with all of the information that Emily had just unloaded onto him. Not only was she fully aware of his family's betrayal and murder of David Clarke, but she had also gone after the hired man that laid claim to the final deed. And now, despite being completely blindsided by her involvement in all of this, he was shocked to find out the reason – that she was actually the daughter of David Clarke. That admission held even more weight as he realized that also made her Charlotte's half-sister! Her indiscretion with Jack now seemed light years away in comparison to the meteor she had just thrown at him.

Emily nodded, looking down and then back up at him. And when she did, he realized she held out to him in her palm the engagement ring he had given to her. "I told you I'm not the girl you fell in love with," she exhaled, not ashamed of her identity, but rather of her deceit.

Daniel stared at the ring in surprise, amazed at his own naiveté to see who she really was. But how could he have? She had done every single thing he wanted, been the perfect girl, and all along was quite possibly the most tortured victim of his family's wrongdoing. A part of him was deeply angry with her for hiding the truth from him for so long, while another part sympathized with her, after so recently staring in the face of his family's atrocities.

"So, you're that girl?" he continued, as he closed his fist over the ring she had placed into his fingers. He looked up at her, seeing her in a new light. "The girl they took away… the one that lived here?" he suddenly grasped where he stood, and it all came crashing together, making sense but still jolting him with each realization.

"I'm Amanda," Emily breathed, looking off into the distance, surprised at her own ability to divulge and own that which she had guarded the entire summer, her most precious secret.

Daniel just shook his head, unable to process the truth any further. He wanted to ask her so much, as information slowly began to connect in his mind. Had any of their relationship been real? Or had she known all along that she was just going to end things when his family finally got exposed? And furthermore, why had she not revealed their secrets? She certainly had shown how much she knew about them, but as far as he knew, it was his mother alone that was intent on exposing her father's involvement, and Emily had denied any connection to her. So what was her angle? And even more- why had she chosen him to get close?

He knew he would never find all the answers to his questions, especially in the wake of her resolution to end things. But he couldn't help at least making an attempt to understand. "So Emily Thorne… doesn't even exist?"

Emily thought carefully on how to answer that. "She does," she answered Daniel, thinking of the real Emily Thorne but also knowing that despite who she really was, she had changed her name and assimilated a new identity, and Emily Thorne was still hers. "But she's changed." The accusation that seemed to linger in his eyes motivated her to even the scales. "And you're changing too, Daniel. I watched you become everything you said you never wanted to be."

His eyes met hers in question.

"I know you know the truth about what they did to him," she continued, referring to the father he had just learned was hers. "You had a chance to tell the truth…but you didn't."

Daniel nearly laughed at the irony; how painstakingly similar both of their situations were. While he was struggling with alienation and betrayal from her admission, she was feeling exactly the same.

He sighed. "I guess we're more alike than we think," he observed, knowing it didn't matter now. It was too late for reconciliation when they were both barely a shell of what they were when the summer had started – a time that seemed so far away now. What hurt the most was that in spite of all of the lies and deceit – he didn't care. It hurt more to know that he had to let go of her than it did to learn the truth about her, and have her learn the truth about him. He buried his curiosity if only temporarily to accept the reality that lay in front of him.

"Goodbye," he breathed finally, unsure of what to call her, and still hurting inside. He brought himself to at least kiss her goodbye on the cheek, before turning away to leave as a tear rolled swiftly down his own.

With Daniel gone, Emily settled uncomfortably onto the couch across from the fireplace, allowing the brilliance of the flames to mesmerize her as she considered all that had just happened and what was next to come.

SCENE

"Where are you going?"

His mother's voice rang in Daniel's ears like the clang of a bell in a boxing match, setting his already provoked anger into the second round. He responded without turning to face her, throwing clothing into his bags as he cleaned his possessions out of the pool house.

"I broke things off with Emily."

Victoria looked at him in surprise, unable to fathom that her son had the courage to do it. "I don't believe it."

"Sure you do," Daniel challenged her, already growing annoyed with her feigned ignorance. Somehow it angered him even more now that he knew Emily's true identity to hear his mother's constant nagging. Even if she had been partially right, Daniel knew the only reason he had even come to meet Emily was likely because of his mother's own role in David Clarke's demise. And that was one secret he promised himself he would never admit to her, being disgusted at her pious approach to their relationship the entire summer, when she held so much blame for it to begin with. "You've been angling for this since the day Emily and I met," he continued. "So take your victory lap. You got what you wanted."

"Contrary to what you think, I can't bear to see you hurt," Victoria insisted, annoyed that her son always seemed to demonize her sincere attempts at supporting him. Regardless, she was still proud of him, not just for ending things with Emily but also for the information that had been made known to her by the federal agent she was due to meet within the hour. "I knew I could trust you to do the right thing and turn over the evidence."

Daniel laughed to himself. "I didn't turn over anything," he answered honestly. "I was gonna give it to Dad, but someone with a bigger ax to grind than yourself intercepted it," he shared, realizing that unbeknownst to her, his mother's foe had played a part in furthering her plot. That fact in itself was almost ironic enough to share, but again he held his tongue, out of a protective instinct for his former fiancé. Despite understanding Emily's reasoning, he still could not conceive how his mother could play the hero and act as if she had nothing to do with it.

"How can you do this to Dad, Mom?" he pried from her, tossing his packed bag to the side so he could face her. A desperate part of him wanted her to give up the entire thing, if only to save him the embarrassment of having his family's sins open and exposed, along with his own foolish alliance to them. "How you can you be so intent on destroying him and the rest of our family?"

"You're afraid of what's going to happen to your reputation," Victoria assumed, seeing right through him as usual. "But, it's time for the truth to finally come out. I promise; I won't let anything happen to you or Charlotte. "

"Charlotte is already on the edge, this might push her even further – we might never get her back!" Daniel retorted, fearful of losing so much more than he already had in one day. He surprised himself for even pushing the issue, as he regretted not outing his father on his own when he had the chance. But he knew this was the last opportunity he would have to possibly undo his shame at the family he called his own – the one that had quite possibly ruined happiness for him forever.

"I will take care of Charlotte," Victoria asserted confidently.

"Oh, yeah, you've done a great job so far," Daniel finally snapped back at her, earning him a prompt slap in response from his mother. He remained still as the sting wore on his face, only ratifying what had amounted to a day of reckoning from all directions.

Victoria's cold eyes blazed at his disrespect, and she neared him to finally make her point clear, despite all his arguing. She could not understand the source of his sudden opposition but she would not let it stop her. "I have done some heinous things in my life, Daniel. But now I have the chance to right a terrible wrong. And nothing and nobody, not even you, my darling son, will stand in my way. Do you understand?"

Daniel remained where he stood when she stormed away, leaving him to ponder on how similar his mother's determination to reveal the truth seemed to be, to Emily's own commitment to being by his side all summer long in anticipation of it. He thought about the exposure that was to come, and the demise that he was certain awaited. While Emily's father's name would be cleared, it would only cement him and his own father as the despicable people who had either contributed to it, or stood by and done nothing to correct it. Meanwhile, his mother would be glorified for her honesty, regardless of the role she played in causing it to happen. He would be ruined. His sister would be distraught. And Emily… she would likely be gone, probably off somewhere with Jack Porter celebrating her victory and forgetting him forever.

Feeling himself nearing his capacity for what he could possibly stand in a day's time, Daniel turned to the only solace he could think of to drown his sorrows – settling down at the bar in the pool house to pour himself a drink.

SCENE

Emily's trance was broken from staring into the fireplace as she heard a knock at her door. She got up to answer it, meeting her visitor with a look of surprise.

"Victoria."

She opened the door nervously, not knowing what to expect. Had Daniel went to her with the truth? Was she here to gloat over her own knack for knowing something was off with Emily the entire time? Or had her change of heart and intent to expose the truth caused her to turn a new leaf and approach her in sincere regret for her actions? Emily could barely imagine what would come next, but after intercepting a conversation between the white-haired man and Conrad from a camera in his office, she knew that regardless, the evidence was safely with federal agents and her mission would be accomplished either way.

"Come in," she beckoned her, stepping aside but watching her carefully as she walked in.

"I heard you took a nasty spill," Victoria offered immediately, and Emily played coy before assuming it was a signal that she still did not know her identity.

"I'm fine," she answered.

"Daniel told me about your breakup. I wanted to offer you my condolences in person," for all her lies, Victoria's sinister smile had a way of always betraying her true intentions.

"Mm," Emily mumbled, still wondering how much she knew. "I can feel your devastation." She turned to where the boxes she had packed were sitting, as she had prepared to leave this false life behind forever. She began searching for something as Victoria gushed on.

"Maybe now the two of you can move on and find someone more appropriate?"

Emily ignored her and retrieved what she was looking for, the engagement gift Victoria had given her some time ago. She held it out to her. "I suppose you'll be wanting this back?"

"The engagement gift?" Victoria fluttered innocently. "No. Don't be absurd. Why don't you open it?"

Emily braced herself, imagining the worst – a photo of her and her father, or some other item signifying her knowledge of the truth to rub in her face. But as she pried open the wrapping; to her surprise the box was empty. She looked back at Victoria for explanation.

"You see, even long before the day of your engagement party, I knew…" she began, walking towards her and extending her finger to gesture, "that your future with Daniel was as empty as that box."

With that she grinned broadly, to a curt smile in return from Emily. She still didn't know.

"Well, best of luck with your next endeavor," Victoria concluded her matter-of-fact confrontation and promptly left the house, leaving Emily with her own contentment of sorts in knowing that despite Victoria's manipulative ways, she still had not managed to earn full loyalty from her son. Daniel had told her about their breakup but had kept her secret safe, and while she didn't fully understand why, she could only appreciate his discretion. It in itself was a victory of sorts to know she still held a place of respect in his heart.

But as for her next endeavors, well that was all she needed to finally take the next step. It was time to tell Jack the truth and see if he would handle it as nobly as Daniel, and still want to be with her. Emily did not know what to expect but she knew she could not wait another moment to find out.

SCENE

"Hey."

Emily took a breath as she walked into the Stowaway, her hands firmly holding Sammy's collar and her eyes set on Jack, leaning up against the bar. He was like a breath of fresh air after the long day she had to endure, and it was all she could do not to run over and embrace him. But she longed to tell him the truth first; it was all she could think about. She could barely believe this moment was happening, but she wanted it to more than anything.

"Hi," he responded, a bit apprehensively. So much had happened since he had spoken to her earlier, and part of him wished he had gone to see her then, than wait for her to come by.

"Slow night, huh?" she observed, looking around at the empty bar.

"I closed up early," he replied, conscious of the glaring reason why that waited for him in the other room. Before he could glance over, something caught his eye on Emily's face – clear marks on her lip and bruising on her cheek and neck. "Are you okay?" he asked anxiously, immediately concerned. He reached out to move her hair slightly as she came close to him.

"I'm fine," she replied. "You should see the other guy," she tried to laugh, and knew it wouldn't take long for him to start asking questions that she was ready to answer. She started with the most important, extending the collar in her hand. "I think this belongs to you."

His face softened, the collar reminding him eternally of the night before, one that seemed so long away now, a perfect moment of passion that would likely escape them both forever. He took a breath as he looked at the emblem that signified it in his hand. "Actually, it belongs to Amanda."

Emily almost smiled at him – Jack was going to make this so easy for her after all. But with a sudden rush of reality, her excitement was broken.

"Sammy was my dog, after all," a familiar voice replied, coming over to them from the corner of the bar. Emily looked over in shock as she saw the voice's owner, her namesake that she would be forever tied to if not in sisterhood, then in identity.

"Amanda," Emily breathed as she peered closely at the glaring indication underneath Amanda's jacket – a large bump that could only mean one thing. She was pregnant. And she was returned.

"I've missed you so much," Amanda immediately embraced her, and then pulled away so Emily could get a good look at her.

"Oh, my God," was all that Emily could manage. How could this be happening? She had done everything right – abandoned her path of revenge, let go of her intent to kill her father's murderer – even come clean to Daniel when it hurt her so much to ruin his perfect image of her. How could the powers that be not allow her to have this – this one thing that she wanted in Jack?

"I know, right?" Amanda just gushed on, affectionately rubbing her belly with one hand while she slipped the other around Jack's arm and clasped his fingers. "Jack and I are gonna have a baby."

The verbal confirmation hurt just as much as the visual. "Wow," Emily stammered, returning to a steely disposition that she had abandoned since that morning. It was like someone had draped a cold wet blanket around her and refused to remove it, no matter how much she shivered beneath. Despite her attempts to emerge, she was forced back into Emily Thorne, as if she had never been Amanda Clarke, and never existed beyond the Hamptons.

"Congratulations," she continued, conscious that she still was not saying much and concerned her reaction had already betrayed enough. Jack looked at her with a pleading expression, as if to ask her forgiveness and explain his own ignorance all in the same glance. But Emily spared him any further embarrassment. "I'm sure you both have a lot of catching up to do. Just wanted to return the collar."

She handed the collar over to Amanda and turned to leave, but Amanda called out after her.

"Jack told me what you did for Sammy," Amanda continued, making Emily feel stabbed all over. "If it couldn't be me, I'm glad it was you." Emily couldn't bear to hear her any longer and only nodded in response, desperate to run out of the barrage of torture.

"I'll walk you to your car," Jack offered, but Emily would not have it and cut him off quickly.

"No," she insisted, to a look of dismay from him in response. "Don't. Good-bye, Jack."

Jack stood and watched her leave in disappointment as Amanda tightened her grip on him, regretting so much and feeling at such a loss to do anything about it. Meanwhile, Emily stormed outside, catching her balance on the railing that led up the walk as she paused amidst the blustery cold outside, finally crumbling inside and breaking down in tears.

SCENE

Victoria tossed her overcoat on top of her bags as a resounding knock sounded at the door. "Oh, they're a little early," she mumbled to herself as she walked over to answer it. Immediately she retracted, attempting to close the door when she saw who was on the other side.

"Victoria!" Conrad bellowed at her, bursting through. "I'm fully aware that I have squandered any good will that you have ever felt for me. But I implore you; think of our children, of their future. If you refuse to testify, they may still have one!" He leaned closer to his ex-wife, doing his best impression at full-on begging. "Come on. You have a moral obligation as a parent—"

"You come in my house and you preach morality?!" Victoria screamed back at him, furious. "I know that you ordered David Clarke's murder. Do not deny it!" She stepped around him to grab hold of her things, incensed at his presence and hoping that Charlotte did not hear their heated exchange from upstairs. For the life of her, she could not understand why so suddenly both her ex-husband and her son had joined forces to oppose her. It reeked with implication that both of them knew more than they were letting on.

"David Clarke's death was decided by people far above me," Conrad insisted, following her to the door despite her attempts to get away from him. "The very same people who will stop at nothing to destroy the both of us if you decide to testify!"

"Well, then so be it!" Victoria retorted, becoming more and more comfortable with the concept. She had nurtured a death wish for much longer than she could remember and despite wanting only the best for her children she was willing to sacrifice for the sake of their souls, if not her own. "I cannot live these lies anymore, and neither will our children!"

She turned to fling open the door and again Conrad reached out to her, grabbing her by the arm. "Victoria—"

"What?!" she yelled back, her patience completely drained. She glanced over at the car that had just pulled up to the front of the mansion, signaling the arrival of her escort.

Conrad lowered his voice, glancing over at the federal agents that emerged to assist her to the car. "Victoria, if you board that plane it's gonna be the last thing that you do!" his whisper was more threatening than any yell.

Victoria smiled back in kind at his threat. He had confirmed exactly what she expected and would now need to prepare for. Thankfully, her escort would afford her that opportunity, unbeknownst to him. She smirked back at him before walking away with one final response.

"Then I guess I'll see you in hell."

SCENE

"Ems, what are you doing here?"

Nolan nearly burst in the back door of Emily's beach house that she had left surprisingly open. He paused to catch his breath as he looked at the eerie vision of his closest friend in the Hamptons staring straight ahead into the fire.

"I must have called you a hundred times," he continued, holding up his phone. She still didn't budge. "I thought you and Jack might be halfway to the Little White Chapel in Atlantic City, until I called him and he was still at the Stowaway – what happened?"

"I didn't tell him," Emily answered, motionless, keeping her gaze forward.

"What?" Nolan was stunned. Only hours before she had the willingness to share her secret with her adversary's son, against what he expected was her better judgment, but to hold out on Jack? That was unpredictable, even for her. "You told Prince Daniel, but not your true love? Ems, why - what are you waiting for?"

"Amanda's back," Emily answered simply. "She's pregnant."

"O.M.G.," Nolan responded, finally making sense of it all. He could sense she was stunned but still didn't quite understand what else was troubling her until he watched her eyesight. He realized that she was not as focused on the fireplace as he had initially thought, as she was on the news that played on the television above it.

"Ems, what are you looking-?" he cut himself short as he caught sight of what was blaring on the news.

"This can't be real…" she whispered back lowly, and Nolan finally paid attention. He grabbed hold of the remote to turn up the sound and listened in shock.

"We have late-breaking news of a plane crash coming out of East Hampton this evening. Sarah Juarez is live at the scene. The government chartered twin-engine jet exploded shortly after takeoff at approximately 8:15 this evening. On board were two witnesses bound for an unspecified hearing in Washington, D.C. We now have confirmation from the passenger manifest that one of the witnesses on that flight was Victoria Grayson, matriarch of the embattled the billionaire Grayson family…"

Nolan dropped his head into his hands in shock as his eyes averted over to Emily, immediately sympathetic to her devastation.

"All of Conrad's evidence, everything that could have exonerated my father was on that plane," Emily exhaled through choked back cries, and for the first time Nolan noticed the tears streaming down the side of her face.

His heart went out to her immediately, but it was all he could do not to convince her that all was not lost. "Not exactly," he responded, anxious to console her, and she turned to face him, wiping her face.

"What?"

"That's why I've been calling you like crazy," he explained, producing a drive from his pocket and getting up to sit next to Emily on the couch. "I, uh unencrypted and backed up that mysterious hard drive before I gave it to the federal agent. After the Graysons framed your father, Americon Initiative handled the cover-up. This goes so far past the Graysons and so far past what they did to your father."

Emily faced forward in shock, digesting the new revelation as Nolan worked to open the laptop that sat on the table in front of them. She peered closely as he booted up the drive and began to let the recording play.

"Hold on to your hat," he advised her, aware that what he was about to show her was going to change everything, and likely renew the quest for revenge that she thought had ended. But after her devastation from things with Jack, he felt he owed it to her to find out some good news.

The recording depicted an old video of Conrad and Victoria discussing their plot against David with another co-conspirator, likely the district attorney Kingsley that assisted them.

"It'll work because he trusts me," Victoria was saying on screen.

"How can you be so sure?" the attorney asked her.

"Because I know David's deepest secret," Victoria answered. "The wife he had before we met- - the one who died in 1990?"

"Yes?"

"If you look a little deeper, you'll find there's much more to the story," Victoria responded.

Nolan paused the video at that point, prompting Emily to ask the question creeping into her mind. "What is she saying, that they killed my mother, too?" she questioned him.

"No," Nolan answered, already having seen the entire recording. He braced himself for Emily's reaction when he delivered the final blow. "What she's saying is that…Your mother's alive."

Emily stared ahead and all semblance of dismay left her completely, as if being excavated from her identity along with the last traces of Amanda Clarke that she'd left in the Stowaway with Jack. Despite her yearning for it to end, the mission had to continue – it was not over yet.

"Let it play."

END OF CHAPTER

Author's Note: Soooo…what did you think? See some distinct possibilities for a lot of new things to happen? Please stay tuned because I promise you there is a lot more to come and it will be quite interesting! I plan to update each chapter as a parallel version to an episode of Season 2, only with some major changes that will start to quickly mix things up. You'll see some familiar parts and also some different ones. I am also considering not referencing Aiden in this new storyline, as I think the Daniel/Emily/Jack love triangle still contains a lot of possibilities on its own. For all your Demily fans, here's a chance for them to find their way back to each other, this time without the lies that resulted in so much pain during Season 3. So please please please, comment, favorite, follow and let me know what you think! Are you excited that Daniel knows? How do you think he'll react when Emily returns "next summer"? And what else are you looking forward to seeing? Thanks for all your support! ~Love and Reven8e~ MothToANewFlame