"All right. I, I want to say that...um...that I won't split on you the way your mother did..."

Tea is looking up at him, waiting for an answer. She sees Todd staring back at her ,but somehow he is far away. He gently wipes a tear away from her cheek and begins to speak.

"I wanted to take you with me. You have to believe that. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, leaving you and Shorty behind. I don't know, it's..uh...it's just hard to explain. I knew if I came for you right away, you'd have that idiot Sykes and the whole Llanview P.D. swarming around you and I'd get caught and they'd send me right back to the psycho ward. And I didn't want to put you in danger, I mean if anything ever happened to you..." his voice trails off as he looks into her big, brown eyes,losing himself for a moment,"..I don't know what I would do, I don't even want to think about it. But Tea, you have to know, you were with me, here," he takes her hand and places it on his heart. "The only way I got thru this nightmare was seeing your face in my head, knowing you were out there and safe. Knowing that one day soon, I would come back and get you and make things right. And believe me, I always intended to come back, because there is no way I could leave you forever."

Tea stares at him, her hand still on his heart. The tears in his eyes and emotion in his voice told her clearly that their separation had been as hard on him as it was on her. As his words hung between them, one phrase kept hitting Tea over and over.

"...I would come back and get you..."

Tea finally broke the silence. "Wait, come back and get me? You want me to go with you?"
"Of course, Delgado, why the hell do you think I'm here?" he answered, with a little grin. "Don't you want to?"
"Well, yeah," she answered, "but what about Starr?"
She sees pain fill Todd's face as he thinks about his precious daughter.
"Look, it's not a good life for her. It's not the kind of life you deserve either, but we can handle it together." Tea is silent. Todd looks at her worriedly.
What if she doesn't want to come? he thinks, panic running through every part of his body.
Tea's mind is working furiously. She reaches up and strokes Todd's cheek.
"What if it doesn't have to be that way? What if we didn't have to run anymore?"
"Delgado, I realize it's early and you didn't get a whole lot of sleep, but are you nuts? If the morons at the police department know I'm here, it's back to the straitjackets and looney tunes and you know it."
"Relax, I am not going to tell anyone you're here. Look, something has always bothered me about the way this all went down, it was just a little too fast neat for me. I have a deal for you."
Todd smiles, "Where have I heard those words before?"
Tea giggles and smiles at him adoringly, thinking back to his very first proposal. "Well, hopefully this deal will work out as well as that one did. Give me one week. One week to go over your case again, look for any loophole or angle I can find to get you out of this, so we can stay here, together, and you can be a father to Starr again. And I promise, if in one week, I haven't come up with anything, I will go with wherever you want." Tea finishes her proposal, and looks at him hopefully.
Todd thinks about her offer. It sounds good, being able to stay here and have a life with his wife AND daughter. He truly believes Tea deserves better than a life on the run, and he wants to give her everything she has ever wanted.
Todd takes her hand. "OK, Delgado, you got one week. But answer me this. What the hell am I supposed to do in the meantime?" he asks in teasing way.
Tea, relieved, teases right back,"Oh, I don't know, help me maybe? Order room service, watch TV, just stay out of sight?"
Todd pulls her close, so that there is no space between them.
"Delgado," he whispers,"I promise whatever happens, I will do everything in my power to give you the life you deserve."
Tea smiles, almost unable to speak. Being this close to him always has this effect on her. "Just promise you won't ever leave me again."
Todd gently kisses her. He pulls away, looking straight into her eyes. "I promise I will never leave you, ever." As he finishes his heartfelt promise, he kisses her again, this time passionately. Tea wraps her arms around him, knowing in her heart that she will never apart from him again.

***************

A knock on the door startles Todd and Tea. Todd reluctantly pulls himself from Tea's lips and looks into her eyes.
"Ignore it," he whispers, and begins raining kisses down her neck.
"Tea, are you in there?"
Tea sits straight up at the sound of Viki's concerned voice.
Todd looks at her. "What is Viki doing here?"
Tea shrugs and yells, "Yeah, Viki, I uh, I'll be right there."
She whispers to Todd as she hurriedly puts on her robe. "Viki's been really good to me since you left. We've become really close." She leans over and kisses him. "I'll be back in a few. Don't move," she says seductively.

Tea rushes to the front door and opens it. "Viki, hi, come in!"
Tea greets her sister in law with a kiss on the cheek and closes the door. "What's up?" Tea asks.
"Well, I would have called before coming over but your phone's been busy since yesterday afternoon," Viki says,"Is everything ok, I was worried."
Tea turns from Viki, trying to hide her secret smile. Todd had knocked the phone off her night table when he had blindly reached up to turn off the light. Tea was momentarily lost in the memory of Todd's warm insistent lips against her own when Viki's voice brought her back to reality.
"Tea?"
"Oh, yeah..um you know I was kind of busy last night, you know work and everything, so I took the phone off the hook. I'm sorry if I worried you," Tea says, feeling overwhelmingly guilty about lying to Viki.
"It's ok, I just thought I'd check and make sure. I have to admit though, that's not the only reason for my coming here. I guess I was kind of hoping, with yesterday being Valentine's Day that you might have heard from Todd."
Tea turns from Viki's trusting eyes, trying to hide her guilt.
"I mean, I guess I was just hoping for word that he is ok Tea."
Tea doesn't know what to do. She knows she can absolutely trust Viki with anything, especially Todd's life. She wants desperately to tell her Todd is ok, he's here, but she's not sure how Todd will react. Before she has a chance to make a decision, she hears the bedroom door open and looks to see Todd, dressed in his previous day's clothes.
"I'm fine, Sis," he says, with his typical Todd grin.