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Chicago

Todd's eyes flutter open. He presses his lips together. Dry. His whole mouth is dry...fuzzy. He lifts his head, but the throbbing pain quickly makes him rethink his decision and he quickly rests it back on the floor. He lifts his hand, scratching his now uneven, scruffy beard. Where is he?

His eyes glance around the room, and with a sickening sense of dread, he realizes he's laying on the floor of Peter's old room. He frantically searches his mind for how he got here...but he can't remember. Damn. It happened again.

Closing his eyes, he tries to think about the last thing he remembers. The gun...thinking about the gun. Then Peter....a vision of him floating through his mind. That's it.

Despite the throbbing, he sits up. He looks next to him and sees a half empty bottle of scotch. No wonder he was hungover....all that scotch on a basically empty stomach. For the first time, he really looks at the room. Trashed. Completely.

Pete was out. The angry one. Tom wouldn't have done this. He was thinking about his father...and out came Pete.

A pit forms in Todd's stomach. What the hell was happening to him? Tears fill his eyes at his confusion, at his loneliness. He felt like the people he loved were so far away...almost part of another life. He had sent the key months ago to Téa..hoping she'd come for him. But part of him didn't really expect it. She probably hated him...and given that she thought he was faking...he couldn't really blame her.

She's not coming because the bitch doesn't give a damn about you Todd...she never did...it was the money pal...only you were dumb enough to think it was anything more...

A sharp pain adds to the throbbing as the hateful words rip through Todd's head.

"Shut up," he whispers, holding his head in his hands. He slowly, waveringly gets to his feet, walking almost as if in a trance towards the door. He stops at a large cup on a table in the hallway and grabs a handful of change. He walks down stairs and out into the summer night. His appearance, straggly long hair, scruffy beard, clothes he hadn't changed in days, was that of someone completely strung out. He walks around the corner from the house...the usual route. Finally, he gets to the phone booth.

He picks it up and dials a number. The operator instructs him to put in more money. He reaches into his pocket and digs it out. He waits while the phone rings.

"Hello?"

Todd is silent as he hears Viki's voice...wanting to speak...but can't.

"Hello?"

Suddenly, he hangs up the phone. He couldn't face her yet. His sister...who he had hurt so badly.

He picks up the phone again, dialing another number. A number he had dialed many times since he had come here. The last he had heard, she had been at the ADA's office. It had become sort of a crutch for him, calling to hear her recorded message on her voicemail. He put in the right amount of change and waited.

You have reached the office of ADA Julie Thompson...

Todd tuned out....Thompson? He put down the phone. No. Where was she? Panic fills him. Did she leave town? What if he couldn't find her? He could feel the throbbing pain worsen and a wave of nausea overcome him as he slumps against the phone booth. Racking his brain, he tries to remember her cell phone number. He wasn't sure where she was living, so her cell phone was probably his best bet. His shaking hand deposits the money in the phone, and dials what he thinks is the number.

In her car, Téa hears the phone. She reaches over and fumbles around in her purse. Taking her eyes off the road for a second, she presses the "call" button.

"Hello?" she says, a vaguely annoyed tone reflecting her current state of anger.

Todd closes his eyes at the sound of her voice.

Téa rolls her eyes. Just what she needed tonight. A joker.

"Hello?" she says again, sound more annoyed. No response. She presses the "off" button and tosses the phone onto the passenger seat.

Todd hears the dial tone.

"Delgado?" he says softly. Gone.

He slowly puts the reciever back on the phone. He leaves the phone booth, his panic at not being able to find her quelled. His eyes mist up at the remembrance of her voice. And Viki's. Bringing up both hands and rubbing his eyes...he begins his walk back to his lonely exile.