Chapter 1

McPain, he did have to give his loser twin points for that moniker, had showed up on his doorstep to mysteriously proclaim,

"He knew what he'd done last summer."

Christ, he was such a cliche, he HAD actually done his unfortunate niece, Natalie, a favor by freeing her of him. Now that Captain America knew that Victor Jr., (and just WHAT WAS Tea thinking naming that kid Victor Lord Jr? She knew that the original was a monstrous pedophile that had ruined Vicki's life and by extension Jessica's, but oh, her loving fake Todd was Victor for five minutes so, Victor Jr. it HAD to be,) was Sam Morgan's child, John wouldn't stop until Tea knew her baby died the night of the storm. He owed Tea a live healthy baby.

Think, think Todd, THINK! But all he could presently do was feel. He could feel her punch as she lashed out at him last night. He could feel the hot wetness of her tears as they soaked through his shirt. He could feel the silk of her hair, like spun gold. He could still feel the heat of her hand where he'd held it like he had touched a hot stone. He could smell her perfume, something floral, subtle and French, linguring on his couch. Todd had to get out of this suite. He wanted only two things, Tea to have that kid and Carly.

Todd had finally admitted to himself how much he wanted Carly shortly after her "matchmaking" attempt. The realization that as he was licking his wounds from the latest Blair heartbreak he could be knocked off his feet by "a number seven" had shaken him to his core. He could barely process it, what with Crazypants and the Baby Killing Bastard monopolizing most of his time and energy. Then when Carly's lunatic brother in law poisoned the city, he discovered that Starr was safe, and was STILL scared out of his mind, partly out of self preservation but mostly because Carly had been exposed. He wanted to comfort her and to be her hero. He gathered the city's rich and raised the $88 million, which was STILL missing damn his forensic accountants they still couldn't recover it, to get the cure but also, to be her hero. Todd did not like for one second the way she still spoke of her not so ex husband, Jasper Jax, whom had abandoned his family when Corntoes had tried to kill him. If he were worthy of Carly and her children he would have taken Sonny out or with all of his money hired someone to do it for him, say oh, his sociopath big brother, Jerry. He got the distinct impression she felt she wasn't worthy or good enough for Jax, which made Todd hate him.

Todd may have been locked up and tortured for eight years but he still knew when a woman desired him. And since the crisis, Carly wanted him. He wasn't sure if she knew it herself. She had deluded herself into believing she was in love with that baby killer. But when she had helped him clean up the glass during the crisis, and their fingers touched a bit too long, when she leaned into his touch as he wiped her tears. When Todd had asked her to dinner at Johhny's apartment after the shooting, he knew she had wanted to come with him. And last night, when she trembled in his arms, he would bet the Sun that is when it hit her. Carly realized what her body had known all along. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

After his realization he pushed her just to see her reaction. He asked her to sleep on his couch, in his pajamas. It felt so intimate to him. Watching her sleep, in his clothes, in his suite, albeit in her hotel. Speaking to her nanny about her little girl. Ordering her breakfast, the breakfast she eats every morning. Todd felt an amazing sense of peace sitting there sharing breakfast and discussing a little girl on her way to pre school. A peace he hadn't experienced in years. He didn't want her to leave, he wanted the feeling to last. To hell with work and hunting down Heather Webber, he was going to spend every second she would allow with Carly today. They watched a movie. And when she mentioned going home and showering he couldn't help it, his thoughts ran to her, naked in his shower. Todd knew that when he offered to scrub her back (and her front) she was turned on and seriously considering it. She was scared and conflicted about how she felt towards him, he could see that, and needed to deflect by blowing it off as him flirting with her to boost her ego.

Todd's panicked mind couldn't wrap itself around the fact that a day that had started out so well was turning into the day he had dreaded since Heather Webber had convinced him Sam Morgan was abandoning her baby and Tea should raise him. Tea had forgiven him for killing Victor because he gave her that healthy kid, although in fairness she did take him out of his arms. He had to find Heather and that kid and give him back to Tea before John got to Tea and before Carly found out about any of it. He wasn't going to lose what was developing between he and Carly because crazy Heather Webber had a grudge against Sam Morgan. He would tell Tea his private investigators found Heather, he got the kid and returned him to her. John could tell Tea anything but Tea, being a lawyer would demand a DNA test, and he could have those results changed. If Clint Buchanan could do it, he sure could too. See, it was coming together, Heather dead or jail, whatever. Tea with the baby permantly. And Carly, never had to know. Not a bad plan.

As he swung open the door to his suite, she stood there, fire and ice in her eyes. Tears streaming, for the second time in twenty four hours Todd was unexpectedly knocked on his ass.