Todd turns his head slowly to stare at the sliver of light coming through the bottom of the shaded window. Morning. Nothing special about it..except that he was still here. No different than any other morning since he had arrived here in January.

He blinks his eyes slowly, staring up at the ceiling. Another sleepless night. A night in which he had been continually haunted by ghosts from his past. An ironic smile crosses his face. He had always been there to chase the monsters that lurked under Starr's bed. But no one had been there for him when he was little, and certainly no one was here now, chasing away the spectre of a ghost he wanted to forget.

Slowly, he sits up, his body too long for his childhood bed. He pulls his feet up, his eyes glancing painfully around the room. He runs his hand through his hair, still damp with sweat from the night terrors he had experienced when he had been careless enough to close his eyes.

He swings his feet over the side of the bed. Getting up, he makes his way to a large cardboard box. Rummaging through it, he takes out a bag of chips and a soda. Todd rips open the bag, and pops a chip in his mouth, quickly washing it down with the lukewarm soda. He crumples the bag back up and throws it in the box.

"I'm hungry..." a child's whining voice rips through his head.

Todd's head shoots up. He squeezes his eyes shut.

"Oh God, shut up you whiny little brat....there is NO ONE here to make you breakfast...and god knows Todd is useless..." a more sinister voice sneers.

Todd pounds his fist against the floor, tears of frustration popping into his eyes. He crawls over to his spot...where he has spent practically every waking minute since he's arrived here. Leaning up against the wall, he clenches his fists tight. Quiet.

Loosening his fists, he reaches over for his picture frames. He picks up Starr's picture with one hand, and Téa's with the other. Pulling his knees up, he places one photo on each knee, staring intently at them.

"Make them go away," he thinks. His shifting back and forth between the pictures of Téa and Starr, willing their loving eyes to quiet the voices in his head.

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

Llanfair, That Afternoon

Viki leads Téa into the main room, gesturing for her to take a seat on the couch.
"Can I get you some iced tea?" Viki asks.
"Oh, no thank you, I'm fine."
Téa looks around the room, feeling like it's been ages since she's been here. She and Viki had lost touch, the last time they had really spoken was when Téa told her about the annulment.
"It's good to hear Jessica's doing better."
Viki nods. "Yes, not a 100% yet, but getting there. I assume you're here because of something to do with the investigation?"
Téa bows her head. "Actually, no. Hank took me off the case. I actually gave him my letter of resignation this morning."
Viki looks surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah, I'm not an ADA."
"So, what are you going to do now?"
Téa shrugs. "I don't know really."
Viki gives her a strange look. "Téa, you know I'm always glad to see you, but if you're not here about Jessica's case, then I'm a little confused as to what you want."
Téa bites her lip. Probably just best to drop the bombshell.
"Have you heard from Todd, Viki?"
A look of surprise passes over Viki's face. "That's the last thing I expected you to ask."
"I know, it's just ....I've been thinking about him a lot lately. Actually, he's never really been far from my thoughts...if I choose to be honest with myself."
Viki nods. "No, I'm afraid I haven't."
Téa looks at her quizzically. "Don't you think that's kind of strange?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I know Todd was following what was happening in Llanview. I mean, he knew when I was going after Max and Blair for perjury. And I have to believe he would keep up with things here, for Starr's sake."
"Téa, I'm afraid you're losing me."
"Viki, don't you think that it's a little strange that you haven't heard from Todd, especially in light of Jessica's accident?"
Viki ponders this for a moment.
"I mean, Viki, he adores Jessica. If she were in trouble, it wouldn't matter what ANYONE in this town thought of him, he would be here for her, and you...whether you wanted him to be or not. At the very least he would have called to see if she's okay."
Viki stands up, taking a few steps forward. "I have to admit, I never made the connection."
"Well, you've had a lot of things on your mind. You know, I've been thinking a lot about Jessica," her voice breaks a little, "her accident...it ...it brought back some things for me. And of course I have all these thoughts about Todd running around my head...something nagging at me, and last night this just hit me."
"Téa, it's possible he doesn't know."
"Viki, like I said, I know he would be keeping up with happenings here if only for Starr. But even then he would have heard about this. And even if he isn't nearby, you are Victoria Lord Carpenter, you're daughter being involved in this kind of tragedy would surely make the news most places," she pauses, "in my opinion, something would have to be wrong for him not to know....and not knowing is the only explanation I can see for him not contacting you or Jessica in some way."
"What are you saying?"
Téa takes a deep breath. "I'm saying....I think Todd may be in trouble."