*****

Carlotta comes down from her apartment, entering the dark diner. She opens the inner door, looking out at Todd, standing on the sidewalk, waiting...and hesitates before opening the outer door. She still had no idea what to say to him...except the same thing she'd said earlier. Hoping that that'll be enough to get him to go away, she sighs heavily, putting the key in the lock, and turning it with a sharp click. Todd looks over at the door and sees her...he walks over and opens the door, about to take a step in...but she stands in his way.

"What do you want?" she asks, curtly.

He sighs as she leans against the cigarette vending machine, just staring back at him with her best poker face on. He slouches against the door, holding it open...trying to think of what it was he wanted to say.

"Okay, look..." Carlotta starts, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. "...I already told you. I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS. I can't put it any plainer than that. So if that's what you came here to bug me about, you can just turn around and go right back to Viki's...or wherever you came from."

There's a silence as he studies her face...it has a strange light pattern on it, from the moonlight coming through the blinds. He looks at her face and feels immediately ashamed...as if he were indeed looking at Tea's own mother, like Viki had said. He looks at her face and sees that judgment was passed on him, a long time ago...you're not worthy of her. You never will be.

He looks at her face and sees all this...but he also sees something else...something...

Carlotta bites her lip as he gives her a questioning look.

"What is it you THINK I want?" he asks, quietly.

She looks back at him, confused. "What do you mean...OBVIOUSLY, you wanna know where Tea is."

He shakes his head, standing up straight. "No...that's not what I'm talking about."

"Well then, what ARE you talking about?"

"I mean...what is it you think I'm gonna do to her?"

Carlotta opens her mouth, then closes it again, taken off-guard by the question...which sends a sudden twinge of fear through her for some reason. She starts stuttering, just trying to come up with any answer.

"I, it...it...it doesn't matter what I think, okay? The fact is, I have no idea where she is."

"Yeah, you keep saying that..." Todd replies, his calmness taking on an even more threatening tone. "...but let's just say you did. You said before you wouldn't tell me, even IF you knew, so...you must be afraid of me, right? Afraid I'm gonna...hurt her?"

"Well..." she starts, shrinking back a bit. But as she looks at him...she suddenly realizes she's being played. She squints a little, getting angry at him, and even angrier at herself for allowing him to do it.

"...I dunno, let's see. I guess the answer to that question would be, ummm...YES??" she says, sarcastically.

Todd's eyes widen a bit...a little surprised that she would come back at him like that. Then he flicks his tongue against his teeth, taking the hit. Knowing now that he won't be able to manipulate anything out of her, he shakes his head and looks down. A short silence passes before he speaks again, almost whispering.

"Would it...mean ANYTHING to you if I said that I..." he says, trailing off...not sure he really wants to say what was about to come out, especially to HER. Carlotta tips her head slightly, waiting for the rest...but it doesn't come. After a second, she stands up and takes a half step closer to him, feeling braver now.

"You weren't about to say that you LOVE her, were you?" she asks, with a humorless laugh. "I mean, you'd BETTER not. Don't EVEN insult my intelligence with THAT one."

Stung, he looks up at her, suddenly lashing back. "Oh, and what the hell do YOU know about it, huh?"

"I know TEA...I've known her a helluva lot longer than YOU have..." she snaps, folding her arms as she continues.

"...and you have no idea...how many times she came to me, ready to just about KILL herself over you. She banged her head against the walls YOU put up, trying like hell to get through to you. I always told her I didn't know why she bothered...it seemed pretty clear to me that it just wasn't gonna work... 'cause YOU weren't gonna LET it work."

The look on his face tells her that she's definitely hitting a nerve. She stands back a little.

"Guess I know more than you think I do."

Todd just stands there, at a loss...finally, he sort-of laughs to himself.

"Y'know, I TOLD Viki there was no point in talking to you...but she said you were reasonable," he says, making a face at the word 'reasonable.'

Carlotta sort-of laughs back. "Reasonable? Actually, *I* think I must be a VERY reasonable person... 'cause I'm actually TALKING to you."

He squints back at her, fed up. "Okay, y'know what? Forget it...forget it," he mutters, as he turns to leave.

Carlotta starts to let out a huge sigh of relief as soon as his back is turned...but before she can finish, he turns back around. She closes her mouth quickly, backing up as he gets right in her face.

"Y'know...just tell me something. You REALLY think that your precious little surrogate daughter is totally BLAMELESS in all this? That it's all MY FAULT?? HUH??" he asks loudly, pointing at himself.

She swallows hard at that, getting nervous now...she opens her mouth to say something, but Todd just rolls right over her.

"Well, I'll tell you somethin', and I know you won't believe ME, no, god forbid you should do THAT...but I'll tell you anyway. As much as every busybody in this town likes to think, it's NOT all my fault. Delgado..." he starts...but his voice suddenly falters, as if he just got punched in the gut.

Carlotta notices the change in both his tone and his face...at just the mention of her name. He notices her noticing...and covers up quickly.

"...she's as big a hypocrite as the rest of you," he whispers, barely able to get it all out...

...then he lingers on her face a bit, before turning and storming off. Carlotta stays frozen in place, still trying to process what just happened. She watches him walk away, staring after him as if she had just seen him for the first time. As the seconds pass, and he gets farther away, she feels herself being drawn outside. She takes a few steps out onto the sidewalk, still watching him, feeling a lump in her throat making its way up. She actually opens her mouth to call after him, but catches herself. Finally, he gets far enough away that she can't even see him, and she goes back inside, locking up again.

She sits down in one of the booths, still feeling very much affected by what she saw in his eyes...and she makes a face to herself, wondering why.

*****

In his Manhattan apartment, Del watches from the couch as Tea makes her way over to him...cautiously, like she's afraid to approach. She runs a hand through her wet hair, getting it out of her face.

"What...what is it?" she asks.

He takes a deep, deep breath, sitting back...tapping the phone on his knee. She looks at it.

"Who called?"

"That was...Carlotta," he says, rubbing his clean-shaven head.

Tea's eyes widen at that, and she quickly sits down beside him.

"Oh...oh, god, is everything alright? She okay?"

Del nods, looking at her. "Yeah, SHE'S okay...she wanted to know if YOU were here...and if YOU were alright."

She shrinks back a little. "Oh. I guess...you told her?"

He shrugs. "I figured it'd be okay. Did you not want me to?"

Tea shakes her head. "No, no, it's fine, really. I should have called her before."

He lingers on her face a moment...she looks back, getting that sense of impending doom.

"So...what ELSE did she say?" she asks, warily. Then she squints at him, suddenly realizing.

"...and what made her call here, anyway?"

Del lets out a sigh at that, getting up to put the phone back in its charger...then he turns around and looks at her.

"She wanted me to tell you, that Manning's back in Llanview...and he's looking for you. He was banging on her door when she was talking to me."

Tea's lips part, and her big eyes blink slowly, taking that in. Then she drops her head, looking down at the floor. Del watches her for another moment, then walks over, kneeling in front of her.

"Tea..." he says gently, lifting her chin. "...baby, you've been here for DAYS now, and you haven't said one word to me about anything..."

She glances away, avoiding his eyes...but he keeps himself in front of her, continuing.

"...now, I don't wanna push you, but...WHATEVER is going on, I just know it ain't good."

She looks back at him, her eyes agreeing with him, though she doesn't say anything. Del nods, sitting back on the floor.

"So...you wanna tell me?"

Tea sighs heavily, also sitting back. A long silence passes before she shakes her head, her eyes filling up.

"No...not really," she whispers.

Del makes a face. "Is that asshole stalking you again?"

Tea rolls her eyes a bit, wiping them as she looks back at him. "Del, please...don't call him that..." she starts, quietly.

"Okay...well, what SHOULD I call him? What SHOULD I call somebody who's that sick and that paranoid? Somebody who thinks his mission in life is to make my sister miserable?"

She sighs, shaking her head...then she covers her face with her hands, leaning forward on her elbows. Del just watches her for a moment before speaking again.

"What did he do to you?" he asks...quietly, but firmly...thinking he might already know.

Tea drops her hands away from her face, shaking her head again. "Nothing...nothing."

"Oh, no-no-no," Del says as he moves quickly across the floor, getting right in her face.

"...you came here to get AWAY from him...so don't tell me that."

She looks at him, but still says nothing. He wraps his hands around hers, and just waits, patiently, for her to speak...watching her eyes filling up again, shining with tears. After a moment, Tea squeezes his hands, then lets go to wipe her eyes again.

"I'm sorry, but...I can't do this right now...I just can't," she whispers.

He glances down, sighing...then looks back up, studying her face. Finally, he nods, reaching out to push her hair back behind her ear. She responds, tilting her head so it rests against his hand.

"What can I do...what do you WANT me to do?" he asks, earnestly.

She takes his hand, squeezing it tightly...trying to smile a little, as the tears fall down her cheeks.

"Just...hang with me...don't go anywhere, okay?"

Del's face softens at that, at the fragility in her voice...the pain. It ties his stomach in knots...and all he can think of doing is finding the source of the problem and throttling him. But it was clear that he couldn't leave her alone, not like this. *****

Things are quiet at Llanfair when Kevin walks in, later that night. As he closes the door behind him, he looks around the dark foyer, glancing into the empty living room, then glancing upstairs. He makes a face, the wheels clearly turning in his head as he swings his keys around his finger...then he makes his way up, tiptoeing.

He checks the hallway, seeing light coming from under Jessica's door...and some music playing, softly. He looks across the hall at his mother's room, but it's dark. Then his eyes scan around...wondering which of the other rooms he should check first. He wraps a hand around the knob of the first guest room, turning it cautiously. It clicks, and he pushes it open a crack, peeking in...

...but it's empty. He makes a face, closing it again. Then he tiptoes past Jessica's room, on down to the next guest room. He tries that one...but it's empty too...so is the next one. Finally, he gets to the last one, at the end of the hall. As he approaches it, he hears something...voices, maybe? He puts his ear to the door, listening closely. Sure enough, he hears a little girl's voice, talking to...somebody. Kevin flexes his hand, then wraps it around the knob...grimacing as he turns it.

He pushes the door open, ever so slightly, peeking through the tiny crack. He has to squint to really see anything in the dark room...the only light coming in through the windows. But finally, he recognizes Starr, sitting on the bed with Todd. Instinctively, Kevin almost closes the door again, but then he realizes Todd's back is to him...he can't possibly see. He smirks, turning an ear toward them.

On the bed, Starr sits indian-style, facing her dad. She giggles as they toss Fred the magic frog between them, playing catch with the worn-out stuffed animal. Finally, she catches it again and holds it.

"Where'd you go this time, Dad? I asked Fred, but he didn't know," she says, looking down at it.

Todd lets out a long sigh at that, turning himself around and laying across the bed. He looks at her sideways.

"Lotta places...that's why he didn't know."

Starr lies down on her belly, propping her herself up on her elbow. "Oh...like where?"

"Well...um...I went to California for a little while...saw the ocean."

Her eyes brighten. "Really? Was it pretty?"

He nods, grinning at her. "Yeah, it was. I'll have to take you there sometime."

She nods back. "Mommy took me to Florida, y'know."

"Did she?"

"Mmm-hmm...with Uncle Max. We didn't go to the beach, though...we just went to the pool a lot."

Todd rolls his eyes. Starr cocks an eyebrow, catching him.

"You don't like Uncle Max, do you?"

He looks at her, taken off-guard...then he shrugs. "Do you?"

She looks at him, studying his face carefully...then she shrugs too. "He's okay, I guess. Mommy likes him. A LOT."

He grins at that. "Well...as long as he's nice to you, that's all *I* care about," he says, glancing up at the ceiling...then he looks back at her suddenly.

"He IS nice to you, isn't he?"

She nods. "Yeah..." she says, as if she wanted to add something else, but doesn't.

He squints at her, noticing. "What?"

She shrugs weakly. "Well...he's not mean or anything. But he kind of ignores me."

Todd feels a little sting of pain at that, seeing her disappointment...and it makes him feel even guiltier for leaving her so often. He watches her fiddle with the edge of her pajama shirt for a moment...then he props himself up on his elbow.

"Eh...don't worry about it. It's not you. Max is too busy paying attention to himself."

Outside, Kevin can't help but grin at that remark.

Starr giggles a little. Then Todd reaches out and starts smoothing her hair, getting up the nerve to get serious.

"Starr."

She looks up...he takes a deep breath, sitting up again. "Y'know, you...you're really good about putting up with me..."

She wrinkles her brow. He takes another breath to try and calm his fluttering chest. "...I mean, I can see how disappointed you are that Max doesn't hang out with you, and me...I'm your dad, and *I* don't even hang out with you. I'm never here."

He swallows hard. "...are you...are you really mad at me?"

Starr blinks back at him for just a few seconds...but to him, it feels like forever. Behind the door, Kevin pushes his head in a little bit more, hoping to hear her go off on him.

"No," she says, simply.

Kevin's eyes widen at that...and Todd has to set his jaw hard to keep the tears of relief down.

"You're not?"

She shakes her head, then starts pulling her hair back, brushing it with her fingers. He stares at her in amazement for a moment, then gives her a questioning look.

"Why not? I mean...you have every reason to be."

She shrugs. "I dunno...I'm just not. I know you don't wanna go when you go...but you have to, so..." she shrugs again, not knowing how to complete the thought. He nods, still surprised at how well she understands.

"...can I ask you something, though?"

"Yeah, what...anything," he says, immediately. Starr knots her brow up tightly, trying to find the right words...then she looks at him directly.

"Why do you always HAVE to go?"

Kevin makes an impressed face...suddenly thinking what a great reporter Starr would make. She didn't seem to have a problem asking the really tough questions. He cups a hand by his ear, just waiting to hear the answer. Todd looks down at his lap, guiltily...knowing this moment had been coming for years...the moment when his daughter would finally ask him WHY.

Why...everything. In his mind, he starts to see flashes of every hurtful, petty thing he'd ever done to anyone. His eyes widen a little...it was really quite amazing, the sheer amount of it all. He looks back at Starr, still waiting patiently...and bites his lip, hard.

"Um...that...is a really good question," he finally says, stalling.

Starr waits for more, but it doesn't seem to be forthcoming...she makes a face.

"Is it because people are always mad at you?"

Todd's mouth drops open slightly...boy, she really wanted to get into it...and he was trapped. The manipulative tricks he used with everyone else would not work with her. He had to answer her, and answer truthfully...so he nods...feeling his face getting hot, like someone was shining a bright light at him...an interrogation lamp.

She nods back...then wrinkles her brow again. "Why?"

He takes a deep, deep breath. "Well...I, uh...I've done a lot of...not-so-nice things in my short life."

Her brow knits tighter. "Like what?"

Kevin's grin stretches from ear to ear behind the door, as he bites his own lip to keep from cracking up. Suck it up, Todd...god knows you deserve it.

Todd has to look away from her now, the weight of every terrible thing he'd ever done sitting on him like a ton of bricks. A painful weight that brings tears to his eyes...he bites his lip again, drawing blood this time. Starr watches him carefully, innocently wondering why he looks so sad.

"Y'know, I really don't think we should get into this now, Starr..." he whispers, finally mustering enough nerve to look back at her.

"...but I'll tell you this much. I've...hurt a LOT of people...people who didn't really deserve it, even though I thought they did at the time. And the ones I hurt the most were the ones who were only trying to help me."

Starr blinks back, taking all that in. "Well...why did you hurt them, if they only wanted to help?"

A couple of tears stream down his cheeks, too ashamed now to bother trying to stop them.

"Because..." he starts, but is at a loss. "...because...'cause I was stupid."

She does a take at that. He nods back. "Yeah, I guess that's the best word. Stupid. I was too stupid, and I was too..." he stops himself suddenly, realizing that he shouldn't be using the past tense.

"...and I...AM...too angry."

"Who are you angry at?" Starr asks, moving closer to him.

Todd closes his eyes at that, feeling that question cutting him like a knife. He shrugs weakly.

"Everybody...except you."

Starr sits up on her knees, putting herself at eye-level with her dad. She wipes his face with her shirt.

"Don't be angry, Dad. It doesn't make anything better," she says, simply.

Stunned, he lets out a pent-up breath and a few more tears. He grabs her and hugs her tightly, burying his face in her hair.

"Who told you that?" he whispers.

She rubs his arm, soothingly. "Mommy...she tells me that when I get mad."

Todd laughs a little, at the irony...such wise words about the negativity of anger...coming from Blair. He tightens his grip on her, feeling completely undeserving of her attention, but at the same time, wanting to absorb everything about her...her light, her beauty, the peace inside her that made her view of life so simple. And suddenly, the words just start coming out...the words he could never say to anyone else.

"I love you, Starr...and I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that I'm not a better person...I try, and I try...but I just can't do it, I don't know how. That's why everybody gets angry at me...that's why they all leave me...and I don't know what to do about it. I'm really afraid...that I'm going to have to live the rest of my life like this."

Starr listens to him, not really understanding like an adult would...but getting the general idea. She wraps her arms around his neck, closing her eyes.

Outside, Kevin rolls his eyes...getting nauseous at all the love vibes, and disappointed that Starr was so sympathetic...even SHE fell for it. He starts to close the door, when Starr speaks again.

"You won't have to, Dad...you have me...and Tee. Hey, that rhymed," she says, happily.

Todd can't help but crack up at her, as he holds her away from him, just looking at her. But the lightness doesn't last, and his face sinks again. He shakes his head.

"Well, I have you, that's good. But...I don't have Tee."

Kevin stops in his tracks, his ears pricking up at the mention of Tea. He cranes his neck, trying to hear more.

Starr looks at him strangely. "Why not?" she asks, then suddenly gets worried. "...but I gave her the note...I did."

Todd nods back. "No, no, I know you did... 'cause she came to see me. That's what I asked her in the note. She did come. It took some work, but, we finally kinda made up and she agreed to stay with me."

"Then...why...isn't she here now?" Starr asks, totally confused.

"She...she left me. And I don't know why. I woke up one morning, and she was gone."

Starr makes a concerned face, hesitating...but she asks anyway, meekly.

"Did you...have a fight or something?"

Todd closes his eyes a second, recalling those brief images he'd been seeing every time he thought of her. But it was all so confused, so jumbled...he shakes his head, not sure of anything.

"No, I...I don't THINK so, but...I just don't know, Starr. I can't really remember. But she left, so SOMETHING must've happened...and I'm afraid that..." he stops, having to swallow hard to get the rest out.

"...I'm afraid that I might've done something...something really bad."

Starr takes that in...then her eyes widen. "Something bad...to Tee?"

He looks down, away from her beautiful eyes...nodding. "Yeah."

Kevin's eyes nearly pop out of his head, at that. He puts a hand over his gaping mouth, reeling for a second...then he closes the door, quietly, carefully. He walks back down the hall and down the steps...stopping at the bottom, clenching his fists in frustration.

"God...dammit! I knew it...I KNEW IT, that sonofaBITCH! Ohhhh..." he growls in a loud whisper, to himself, mostly.

He paces around for a few moments, angrily...trying to figure out what to do. His first thought is to call Bo...but as much as he desperately wanted to, he'd promised his mom he wouldn't say anything...at least, not to the cops, anyway.

He stops in his tracks, as the seed of an idea starts to grow in his mind. So he was bound by his word to remain silent...but...that didn't mean he couldn't DO something. But do what? That was the question. He paces a little more, racking his brain...

..come on, think. THINK. There's gotta be SOMETHING I can do. There's no WAY he's getting away with this.

He starts to rub his neck...just as the idea REALLY starts to bloom. His eyes widen, and after a moment, he nods to himself, slowly...and grins. He turns and walks toward the door, the grin a frighteningly evil one now. He glances up into the dark stairway before he leaves.

"Ohhh...oh-ho-ho...I'm gonna GET you, man. I'm gonna get you GOOD."