She stops...it's dark inside too, except for one lamp on the nightstand. She can barely see as she steps in, closing the door behind her. As her eyes adjust to the low light, she can just about see Todd's shape, sitting on the bed, leaning up against the headboard.

She sighs, setting the box down on the table. "I can't believe how far I had to drive to find this. I guess that's the one great thing about cities...you can ALWAYS find pizza."

No response. She looks at him, trying to see, but still can't. She tosses her purse and keys down on the chair, taking her coat off. She walks over to the bed, sitting down on the edge, getting worried.

"Todd? You alright?"

She can hear him breathing...and sniffling a little. Her heart jumps into her throat.

"Oh, God...what? Did Viki call?"

Nothing for a moment...then one soft word. "No."

She sighs, heavily, as Todd starts crawling toward her, slowly. As he comes into the light, she sees his eyes...and her heart drops down from her throat to the pit of her stomach, seeing the tear tracks on his cheeks glistening a little. Her mouth opens slightly.

"Oh..."

He stops and folds his legs under him, sitting indian style in front of her. She turns toward him, reaching a hand out to wipe his face. He looks down at his lap, where the mini-tape recorder sits in his hand. Tea looks down, and sighs, seeing it.

He sniffs. "I thought it might make me feel better to hear her voice, you know?"

She nods, pushing the hair out of his face. He looks up at her.

"But it didn't..." he trails off, a lump in his throat, feeling a wave of tears coming on.

Tea's eyes mist up, and she nods as she pulls him to her, hugging him tightly. He stays stiff for a moment, then gives over, wrapping his arms around her and crying softly into her shoulder. They stay like that for a moment, Tea rocking him gently, back and forth.

Suddenly the cell phone breaks the silence as it chirps loudly. They both look up...then Tea runs over to it, grabbing it and turning to look at Todd.

"...hello?"

A staticky connection. "Hey...it's me."

She sighs, relieved...then mouths the letters "RJ" to Todd, who looks at her anxiously.

"Are you alright?"

RJ stands at a gas station pay phone, on his way back to Llanview. He looks around him at the dark, deserted area.

"Yeah. You guys okay?"

"Fine...for now."

"Hmmm. Well, for what it's worth...I spotted that Starr in the sky tonight."

She holds her breath, closing her eyes as she looks at Todd, who mouths the word "what?" His eyes widen as Tea grabs his arm and nods at him, smiling. He lets out a deep sigh, running a hand through his hair.

She sniffles. "That's...that's so great...h-how does it look?"

RJ smiles on the other end. "Looks okay to me...I'm gonna see what I can do about getting it for you."

Tea busts out into tears of relief as she looks at Todd, laughing and crying at the same time. She barely has the breath to get the words out.

"Th-thank you...thank you so much..."

RJ speaks softly, hearing her wavering voice. "Anything for you. Listen, I gotta go make a call."

Tea nods. "Okay...okay...uh...be careful..."

Todd watches her for a moment, then grabs the phone from her suddenly. He puts it to his ear as Tea looks on, surprised. He clears his throat.

"Hey."

RJ does a take on the other end, hearing the change in voices...and realizing it's Todd. He smirks.

"Say, man...how're the Freemen treating you?"

Despite himself, Todd grins. He looks at Tea, and takes a deep breath.

"Uh...listen...uh..."

RJ smiles, and waits, enjoying the sounds of Todd Manning struggling to express his gratitude.

Todd takes another deep breath and blurts it out. "Thanks...thanks a lot. I-I...uh...I owe you, man."

RJ's smile fades, lowering his tone. "Hmm. Well, you treat that amazing woman like the queen she is...and we'll call it even."

Todd's brow creases. Then he looks at Tea...and nods, understanding. "Mmmm. Yeah...you got it."

RJ points as if Todd were right there in front of him. "But I'm warning you, man...if I EVER see her crying again, because of YOU..."

Todd cuts him off. "Yeah, I hear you. It's not gonna happen, believe me."

"Make SURE of it," RJ says firmly, then presses down on the lever, hanging up.

Todd sits there for a moment, then hands the phone to Tea. She grabs it and puts it to her ear, but there's nothing there. She punches the "end" button, and they sit there in silence for a moment, just looking at each other. Finally, Tea's famous smile takes over her face. Todd lets out a tension-filled breath, then reaches out and grabs her, pulling her to him. She wraps her arms around his neck and sobs loudly, her tears of relief.

RJ stands in the booth, eyes closed for a second. He takes a few deep breaths as he releases the lever, and hears the dial tone.

"Here we go," he says, dialing the number to the Llanview PD.

About a half hour later, Bo Buchanan wakes up suddenly, hearing his phone ringing. He gropes around in the dark blue light of very early morning and pulls the phone over, groaning.

"What the HELL is it?"

He sits up suddenly, rubbing his face. "What?! When? Oh...did they call John? Okay..."

He gets up from the couch, tripping all over the living room.

"Yeah, yeah...you tell Andrews I'm on my way. DON'T let 'em leave before I get there!"