"Blair's ready...she's waiting for you."

Todd can only shut his eyes at that. Viki looks back at him again, but he still won't look at her. So she shakes him a little, and finally forces him to turn his head. She sighs again, at the look on his face. Todd certainly had problems with expressing himself out loud; but his face more than made up for that.

"Listen...you can't let him get to you, okay?"

He shakes his head, but says nothing. Viki reaches out and turns his face back to her again.

"Hey...it's obvious he's lying. Think about it...he's just saying whatever he can to rattle you."

Again, he shakes his head, glancing away. Another silence passes before he finally says quietly, "I don't know about that."

His tone makes her sit back a little. It surprises her...and starts to make her nervous.

"Why? What do you mean?" she asks, watching him carefully. But he doesn't answer, his mind clearly elsewhere, and his gaze fixed on something far, far away.

"Todd...come on. Come on now, don't do this...don't let him get to you. That's exactly what he wants."

"Y'know, I...I don't even know where she might be," he suddenly says, like she never said anything.

Viki sighs at that...then starts to stand up, tugging on his arm. Todd looks up at her, then stands up, looking at her directly. She grabs both of his hands, and squeezes them.

"Alright, you gotta stop this right now. Whatever you're thinking, just STOP...because Blair is in there waiting for you...remember, BLAIR? So...just forget about this whole thing, and come back inside," she says, starting to pull him along.

She only takes a few steps before having to stop...because Todd isn't moving. She turns back and sees that same, disconcerting look in his eyes.

"Honey, please...let it go. Nothing is gonna happen to ANYBODY, okay? Just forget about it."

"No, he means it, Viki. He's serious," he replies, as he turns and takes a few steps away.

Again, the tone of his voice surprises her...enough to bring on an awful, sick feeling that he might be right. She shakes her head.

"No...no. Now just...listen to me, okay? The very IDEA that Colin would even TRY to go after Tea is...it's...it's ridiculous, is what it is. It makes no sense...he doesn't even KNOW her."

Todd stands there, with his back to her, listening...thinking. True...it didn't make any sense; and if Colin was serious, he had his work cut out for him. An awful LOT of work just to get back at somebody he hardly knew. It really didn't make any sense...but all the same, Todd was worried...getting more worried as time passed...

And slowly, ever so slowly...he starts to realize why.

"Todd...are you listening to me?" Viki asks, staring at his back. He turns around, looking at her with the realization in his eyes.

"He doesn't have to know her."

Viki hesitates... then she steps toward him. "You really think he's serious."

He nods. She makes a face, confused. "I don't understand why. I mean, I don't think I've ever seen you like this before. You're a lot of things, but...you're not easy to intimidate. You know he's just lashing out at anybody and everybody, because he got caught. So why is he bothering you so much?"

Todd stares at her, silent. And after a moment, Viki's mouth drops open a little, with a realization of her own...the realization that she just answered her own question.

"I guess you would know a little something about lashing out at people, wouldn't you?" she asks, with a knowing look.

He squints at her, stung by the remark. "I know enough," he replies...then he walks away from her, heading inside.

"Todd."

He stops, turning back around. She folds her arms.

"What are you gonna do? You can't just leave Blair...and Starr...what about her?"

He stands there for a moment, trying to come up with an answer...but can't. Finally, he turns and walks back inside, without another word. He stops short when he sees everyone standing around, including Blair, all changed into her traveling clothes...and Starr. Blair steps away from the crowd, walking over to him.

"What happened? Sam told me that McIver guy was here bothering you...what did he want?"

Starr quickly runs over and joins them. "Mommmm...do I HAVE to stay with Kelly? I wanna go with you guys."

Blair lingers on his eyes for a moment, then kneels down. "I know, sweetie...and it's not like we don't want you with us, you know that. But this is the part where your dad and I get some alone-time...remember, like I told you about before?"

Starr looks up at Todd...but with his mind almost completely distracted, he has nothing to say...not about the honeymoon, anyway, which was the last thing he wanted to deal with now. All he can do is reach out and smooth her hair. She sighs heavily, knowing she won't get her way...then she looks back at Blair.

"You're not gonna be gone long, right?"

Blair gives her a kiss and a hug. "We'll be back before you know it."

Starr makes a face at both of them. "You better," she says, lightly punching Todd's leg. He picks her up and hugs her tightly.

"Be good, okay? Don't...y'know, be a pain," he says, then he puts his lips to her ear.

"Tell Kelly you have to use the bathroom...I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

Starr pulls back from him, looking at him strangely. She starts to ask why, but the face he makes stops her. She stares at him for another moment, then nods. He puts her down, and she shuffles off toward Kelly, who waves at them, then walks out with Starr. Todd glances over at Sam, who just wags his eyebrows at him and walks out too, leaving them alone. Blair watches him go, then turns back to Todd.

"So...what happened? What'd he say?" she asks, and waits for the answer...but it doesn't come. Todd just stares at her for a long time, clueless as to how to even begin to tell her...so he decides to put the whole thing off for a little while longer instead, and heads for the door. Blair's mouth falls open.

"Hey...he-LO! Where do you think you're going?"

"I got something I gotta do. Meet me back at the penthouse," he replies, over his shoulder.

"What?! What the hell's going on??" she yells, but he's already gone, leaving her standing there. She looks all around her, at the empty room, and has to laugh in disbelief.

"That's just...great," she mutters, then storms out.

*****

Starr sits on the lounge in the ladies' room, swinging her legs back and forth...she looks up when she hears the knock on the door. Todd pokes his head in.

"You alone in here?"

She nods, getting up. "What's wrong?" she asks, as he slips inside, locking the door behind him.

"Why are you locking the door?"

"I gotta talk to you. I don't want anybody bothering us," he says, sitting down on the lounge and pulling her over to him. Todd takes a deep breath, clasping her little hands in his; and she looks at him intently, waiting.

"Look, something happened while you and your mom were gone. This man came in...tried to pick a fight with me."

Her brow crinkles. "Who?"

"Well...you don't know him, but...that's not what's important. What's important is what he said to me. He...threatened me. You know what a threat is, right?"

Starr glances away for a second, thinking...then she looks back at him, and shrugs. Todd takes another deep breath.

"Okay...you know when your mom says, 'do your homework right now, or else'?"

She nods...he nods back. "Right. Well, that's what I mean. But there's all kinds of threats...there's little ones, like that, or there's...bigger ones. And then there's the REALLY big ones."

She nods again, slowly, trying to understand. "So...was it a little one or a big one?"

"Big...big as in, he said he was gonna do something really bad."

Her eyes widen. "To you?"

Todd shakes his head. Starr's eyes get bigger. "To Mommy??"

He shakes his head again, more emphatically. "No...no, not your mom."

"Well then...who?" she asks, confused. The question brings on a sudden pang of dread...and guilt in Todd that makes him drop his head for a moment. The question also forced him to think about Tea, something he didn't allow himself to do anymore...because it hurt too much. When he looks back up at her, his eyes have misted up.

"Tea."

Starr does a take at that, not having heard that name in a while. "He said he was gonna do something bad to Tee? Why? Why would anybody wanna hurt her? She's nice."

Again, Todd has to avoid her eyes...her innocent questions making him feel guiltier and guiltier.

"Because...because of me...something I did."

She makes a face, even more confused now. "Well...that's not fair."

He looks back up at her, suddenly...struck by her directness. It was almost enough to provoke an angry comeback; but as he looks at her, he remembers that this was the main reason why he wanted to talk to her...because she would be honest. Really honest. She would tell the truth that no one else would; and more importantly, she was really the only one he could handle hearing it from. Because he knew that she had no intention of hurting him or making him feel bad. She had nothing to gain from it...and if he did feel that way, it was because he deserved it.

"No...it's not," he whispers. Starr sighs heavily.

"So...what're you gonna do?"

He can only shrug at that. "I really don't know. I don't even know where she is."

Tired of standing, Starr sits down on the floor. She leans back on her hands, looking up at him.

"Well, if YOU don't even know where she is, how can this other guy know?"

"He probably doesn't."

Her brow wrinkles up again, as she takes that in. Then she nods. "Ohhh...I get it. He's just saying that to scare you, then. He doesn't really mean it."

Todd shrugs again. "Yeah, maybe...but I can't be sure. I don't know what to do, Starr...I really don't."

A long silence passes between them...then finally, Starr looks up at him again. "Dad?"

"What?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah...what?"

She hesitates for a moment, thinking she might get yelled at for this one. So she swallows hard before asking, "You don't really love Mommy, do you?"

The question blindsides him...he gapes at her, speechless. Starr makes a face, nodding.

"I didn't think so."

"What the hell made you say that?" he says, then he rolls his eyes, realizing he just cursed.

Starr shrugs...then she leans forward, bending her legs under her. "I don't know...just...the way you're talking...you're all sad. You've been like that all day," she says, then catches herself.

"Actually, you've been like that ever since you came back."

All Todd can do is stare at her, too stunned to say anything. Starr sighs again, a long and heavy one.

"I was hoping that getting back together with Mommy would make YOU happy too. But I guess not."

He makes a face at that, not believing what he's hearing. "Wait a minute...I thought...I thought that's what YOU wanted."

She makes a face right back. "Well, yeah, I DID...because I thought everybody would be happy then."

"Ohhhh, god," Todd moans, as he buries his face in his hands, half-laughing to himself. Starr slides toward him, up to his knees. He drops his hands, looking down at her.

"Can I ask YOU something now?"

"Sure," she says, resting her chin on his knee.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Why, 'cause you don't wanna be with Mommy?"

He nods, dreading the answer. She just sighs again, thinking it over...and shakes her head no. Todd is suddenly overcome with an urge to cry...he bites the inside of his lip, trying to push it down, but the tears have already formed. Starr smiles up at him, sympathetically.

"It's okay, Dad...really. I know you still love Tee."

He lets out a short, surprised breath at that...then he sniffs, wiping his face roughly. "You do, huh?"

She nods. "And that's okay. I mean, I know she's not Mommy, but...she's really cool...and I know she really loves you, too."

More tears form in his eyes, despite all his efforts. He half-laughs again, staring at her in shock as she gets up, and starts wiping his face with her skirt hem. He takes a moment to gaze at her...in awe, and admiration...before wrapping his arms around her. He buries his face in her hair, hugging her tightly.

"You're the one who makes me happy," he whispers, then holds her away to look at her again. She smiles at him, wiping his wet eyes some more.

A loud knock at the door breaks up the moment. "Starr? You okay in there?" Kelly's muffled voice asks.

"Yeah, I'll be right out," she yells, then looks back at Todd. "So...are you gonna leave again?"

He nods. "I gotta go find her, Starr. If that guy gets to her, he could really hurt her."

She nods back, in complete understanding...then she kisses his cheek. "I love you, Dad...be careful," she says quietly, then backs away, and slowly turns toward the door. Todd watches her go for a moment, then clears his throat.

"You, uh...take care of your mom, okay?"

Starr turns back around, and gives him a little smile. "I will. You take care of Tee."

He nods. "I'll see ya."

She smiles again, then unlocks the door, opening it only slightly so no one will see him...then she turns back to look at him one more time. She waves, then disappears through the door, closing it behind her. Todd sits there for a while afterward, reeling from her honesty...and support. How does she do it...how can she still love me...after everything I've done...? he asks himself...and then wonders when it was, in his own life, that he lost that ability to love, unconditionally...without question, suspicion or fear.

And then...he wonders if he'll ever be able to get it back. Because if he was going to do what he was planning, if it was really going to work this time, he would have to. Anything less, and the whole thing would just fall apart, all over again. And he wasn't sure of most things, but he was sure of one: after this, there would be no more chances.

Don't screw it up this time...get it back.

*****

The phone rings. Lazing on his living room couch, Colin picks up the phone, a bottle of wine in his other hand.

"McIver."

"Yeah, uh...Mr. McIver, I got that info for ya," a deep, New York-accented voice says.

Colin sits up, trying to shake off the alcoholic haze for a moment. "Oh...uh...yeah, great, just, uh...hold on a sec," he stutters, looking for a pen amidst the mess of papers on the coffee table.

"So...was she very hard to find?" he asks, still looking around.

"Well, it's a big-ass city, man...but it coulda been a lot harder."

"Yeah, I bet."

"It was a good thing you told me about that Manning guy...droppin' his name led me right to her. People ALWAYS remember rich assholes like him, throwin' their money around."

Colin cracks up at that, finally finding a pen. He grabs one of the many Xeroxed news articles strewn about.

"Okay, go," he says, writing down the information as quickly as the man on the other end can talk. Then he grins, sitting back.

"So...she's definitely there, every night."

"Yeah, man...tracked her a couple nights in a row. I'm gonna stake the place out again tonight, just to make sure, but...she'll show, guarantee it."

"Perfect. That's all I need, thanks."

"Pleasure doin' business with ya...y'know where to find me if you need anything else," the man says, then hangs up.

Colin tosses the phone aside, getting up and making a fist...and pulling it in toward him in a "YES!" gesture. Then he picks up the news article with his scribble on it, looking at the muddy, grayish photo of Tea...a slow, malicious grin spreading across his face.

"Get ready, Tea...the game's about to begin."