The MST, Firestorm, Ch. 37

Bo sat there looking at the three women in front of him. They had filled him in on everything that they currently knew about Todd. It had been one doozy of a story. Vicki's story of the night following the heart attack in the tomb had been enlightening. They had known that Mitch had somehow orchestrated Sam's death but to hear Vicki and Blair, he had done far worse to Todd. Bo asked. "What's his prognosis?"

"He's still in serious condition, Bo. It's everything we can do to make him stay here, even now. You know how stubborn he is. He wants to charge out there and get the men responsible for this." said Vicki.

"How are you doing Vicki? This has to come as a major shock on top of all that's been happening with Jessica and Natalie. How did you know he wasn't an impostor?" said Bo.

"Bo, I really don't know, maybe it's a family bond. When I saw him that afternoon I just knew he wasn't lying to me. I knew in those brief moments that I was looking at my brother. From the few things he said, I figured out he was going to Victor's tomb. Thank goodness we found him in time. He's my brother and I know you believe it too, but what does that mean?  All these years, we've believed Walker was Todd. Why not? He acted like Todd and had all his memories. How was it possible for Walker to fool us this thoroughly? I'm not sure what Walker's role was in this deception. Why would anyone have wanted to take over Todd's life? The baggage that Todd carries I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Who would willingly want to be Todd?" asked Vicki.

“We don't know if Walker is a willing or unwilling part of this, but it is a powderkeg. Just look at you three, you all have very close ties to Walker. By the way, I guess you've all decided to think of him as Walker. You realize that probably isn't his name either. We have no idea who or where Walker came from at this point. I'll start seeing if we can find anything at all on him. Vicki, did you ever run a DNA test to confirm Walker was Todd?" asked Bo.

"No. We always went with what Kevin had found out about him from the clinic where he was injured so bad and added that to what John McBain told you in confidence. Toss in his memories and we just didn't question it further. He acted like Todd and finally admitted he was Todd, so we accepted it as fact." replied Vicki.

Bo looked at Vicki and said, "You need to get a DNA test on you and this Todd now. It will support his claim down the road. And I know you don't want to hear this, but we have to make sure this time. I need to know which Todd is the real Todd Manning. In the meantime, we'll hope Todd behaves himself and gets on the mend quickly. You three will have to be careful around Walker. If he is a willing participant in all this, you can't let him know you suspect him. We don't want to tip his hand. If he's an unknowing and unwilling participant, it's not fair to him to tear his world apart yet. I take it Tea is not aware of what is truly going on?"

Blair looked at Bo and replied. "Tea believes that Samuel is a distant relative of Vicki's who bears an uncanny resemblance to the old Todd. She came looking for him last night. I managed to intercept her and told her about Samuel. I think she believes the story for now. She's worried about her Todd and Dani, so she decided to not add to her complications. It’s probably for the best if Todd and Tea don't meet right now. Todd has no idea about Dani and I haven't even figured out how to tell Jack yet. Jack adores Walker. He doesn't even know Todd."

Starr came up to her Mom gave her a hug and said. "When the time is right Jack will find out. Until then, you, I and Hope will take care of Dad. I'm going to go home to Hope now, and you should probably get home to Jack and Sam. Bo, thank you for hearing Dad out. It means a lot that you're going to help." She kissed her mom and Aunt Vicki and gave Bo a hug and left.

Bo turned to Blair. "She's right, you need to get home to your sons. They're going to start to wonder where you've been all this time. I'll come by tomorrow and talk some more with Todd. We'll form some sort of plan that might keep the strain off him for the time being. Everyone deserves a little happiness and after what he's been through, I hope he lives long enough to enjoy a little of it. So go on Blair, I think he'll be fine tonight. I hope I gave him a little measure of hope. Maybe it will help him rest." Blair nodded, said goodnight to Vicki and Bo, then headed home to her sons.

Looking at Vicki, Bo said, "You should probably call it a night too. Tomorrow will be soon enough to get things underway. I'll meet you here and we'll get that DNA test completed. After what Clint did recently, I'll send the test to an outside facility to guarantee no one can tamper with the results. Come on, let me walk you out. " Vicki gave her brother a kiss and headed for the door. Bo turned and took one more look at the man on the bed. He shook his head wondering just what he was going to tell Nora. Taking Vicki's arm, he led her out.

The room was quiet, only the sounds of the machines could be heard. The nurse came in and checked on her patient. His vitals were finally improving and he looked liked he was in a deep sleep. She turned off the lights and left. With Bo's word in his head, Todd had finally given into the thing he hated more than anything, he let sleep have him. But that night he slept like a child, unafraid knowing someone was there for him.

****

It had been a couple of weeks since his operative in Paris had reported. Carlo wasn't sure if that was good or not. He knew Alex had successfully departed Paris without a hitch. His Llanview operative had verified that young Vega was keeping an eye on Manning, and he had been assured that Manning's days were numbered. Carlo had decided to wait before pulling out of his interests in Llanview. Both the Sun and BE were lucrative investments and he had been very lucky to find a way to launder his ill-gotten gains through them with no one the wiser. He had lost the latest battle for Samuel's Red Lady, but Tomas had informed him that another painting had been brought in. Carlo felt a little better knowing that Samuel was still in Paris. It was beginning to look like he had been alarmed for nothing. Samuel had only changed a little of his routine it seemed. That wasn't unusual, Samuel had changed his routine before when he had felt a little paranoid. Carlo knew that the longer Samuel remained in the dark, the longer his interests would be secure.

Back in Llanview Christian had spent the day before keeping an eye on Todd Manning. It hadn't taken long to see that Todd was losing it. The night before, he had followed Todd to Blair's house. Manning had stayed for just a short while and had left even more agitated than when he arrived. Christian had his orders but he couldn't help being curious about the change in Todd lately. Manning had always been a little off the wall but recently he had been blowing up at the slightest things one minute and the next he would act all calm and out of it. The biggest problem Christian had was finding the right moment to take Manning out. As unstable as Manning was acting, he might not have to kill him. Manning just might go off the deep end and do it himself. In the meantime, Christian had to maintain his image as an art teacher and club manager.

Manning appeared to be getting paranoid. Blair had mentioned something earlier about how Todd felt everyone was suddenly against him, including Tea. Manning must really be unraveling if he was starting to think his wife was against him. Christian had to figure out a way to make that work for him. Maybe he could begin breaking down Todd by feeding his paranoia. Then it would be a simple matter of suggesting that Tea was meeting someone somewhere and Todd would flip out. In the heat of the moment, Chris might be able to get a clear shot at Todd and no one would be any wiser. Yes, that is what he would do. Manning sometimes came to the club for a drink.  Chris decided to let Manning know that Blair and Tea had been doing an awful lot of talking together. Then he could drop a hint or two about some other guy. Maybe he could bring up the artist Blair had met in Paris. Something told him that would probably get a rise out of Todd. There he had a plan, now to put it in motion.

On the other side of town, Tea was frantic. Dani hadn't come home and neither had Todd. Tea had been trying to find Todd all night. He had left so angrily and she knew he was capable of anything when he was in that state. She had received a call from Blair that very morning. Blair had told her that Todd had shown up extremely upset claiming that everyone was against him. Then Blair mentioned that Todd felt like Tea was trying to hide Dani from him again.

There was something wrong with Todd and Tea couldn't figure out what had started it. For the third time in recent memory, Todd had brought up the fact that she had kept Dani away from him. After Eli tried to kill her, she had felt like everything was finally coming together for her, Todd and Dani. Then Todd had started pulling away. They might be in the middle of a normal conversation when, in an instant, Todd would turn on a dime and bring up the fact that fathers should not be kept from their kids. Now Dani had decided to run off and teach her father a lesson. Tea hadn't told Todd that Dani was ok right away and now he felt like she was hiding Dani. Nothing could be further from the truth. All she knew was that Dani was safe, she didn't know where she was.

What really bothered Tea now, was that Dani had promised to be home and she wasn't. Dani had put Tea between a rock and a hard place. She had told Todd, that Dani would be home. With Dani not at home, it made her seem like a liar in his eyes and now he would truly believe that she was playing him again. It was just going to make him more paranoid than usual. She had to figure out where Dani might have gone and get there before Todd. It was going to take some major damage control to get Todd back to some degree of normalcy. She only hoped he would listen.

Tea's husband sat looking at his portraits of Blair. He hadn't wanted to go home after he had left Blair's. He was just so furious with Dani and Tea. Blair said he was paranoid, but he felt like everyone was against him again even Starr. What was so wrong about wanting to protect your daughter from some horny juvenile delinquent. Nate didn't deserve Dani. The punk had gotten her in trouble once before by stealing money that wasn't his, and now he wanted to steal Dani away from her father. No one took his girls away, not even his wife. Eli had tried to take both Tea and Blair from him and had lost his life instead. The idiots just couldn't get it into their heads that Tea, Dani, Starr, Blair, and Hope were his and no one else could have them.

He stopped and grabbed his head. The headaches were getting worse. He had been taking the pills the doctor had prescribed but nothing was helping. The stupid doctor had been calling endlessly. Why couldn't he leave him alone?  It had been quiet last night just him and Blair. Tomas was shipping his portrait today. Within a week he'd have his New Year in July Portrait. Blair was his too, she couldn't turn on him now, he felt Tea was up to something. Blair would help him find out what. Todd stood up, looked around as if getting his bearings. He headed out locking the door behind him. Only one thing was driving him. He had to find Dani and if Nate was with her, he'd kill him.

****

Bo was on his way to meet with Vicki and Todd. Vicki was going to get the DNA test done and he was hoping Todd was going to explain who had taken his memories. Bo thought back to his conversation with Nora the previous night. He had barely gotten in the door and Nora had wanted to know the details. There had been too many lies and secrets recently so he told her.

"Nora, you better sit down. This is gonna blow your mind." he said, “I've just come from a very interesting visit to the hospital. You know I went there because Blair said an acquaintance wanted to talk to me. You'll never guess who that acquaintance was."

"Don't keep me in suspense, Mister, who was it?" asked Nora as she sat down.

Bo took a seat next to her and said. "I met the man in the newspaper article. The one who looked like Todd before plastic surgery."

"Oh my god, the picture was real? What's his name? Where did he come from and what's he doing here? Is he here to make trouble? Todd's going to blow a gasket. Boy, we don't need Todd going off half-cocked right now.  What with everything with Clint, I don't know if I'm up to Manning histrionics." Nora exclaimed, rambling on a bit.

"Whoa, let me answer one question at a time. Yes, the picture was real. His name is Samuel Toddman, and he was in Victor's tomb a couple of nights ago. He recently moved here from Paris. He's been living there for the last eight years. Blair met him in Paris and this is one of the reasons he is here. Because of her, he discovered he had family here in Llanview. He's a relative of Vicki's. The story gets complicated from here. Samuel is an artist and from what Blair says, he makes a good living at it. Oh yeah, he gave this to me, thought you might like it." Bo handed her the sketch Samuel had done earlier.

"Bo, this is great.  He's very good," said Nora.

"Yes, Samuel is an excellent artist, but that's not all he is. Samuel came here looking for his family because he just recently got his memory back. Until he met Blair, Samuel had no memory of his life before the last eight years. His memories began returning and that's when he decided to come home." Bo replied and then waited for his last words to sink in.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean he decided to come home. That sounds like he used to live here." inquired Nora.

"He did, eight years ago," replied Bo.

"But he looks like Todd. I think we would have noticed two Todd's walking around. You just told me he's an artist. I think he would have been very noticeable as an artist and a double for Todd." stated Nora. "What am I missing?"

"You better take a deep breath, you're not going to believe the answer to that. We didn't notice Samuel eight years ago because Samuel wasn't out at the time. Nora, Todd is home." Bo waited.

"What do you mean Todd is home, I know Todd is here, we just saw him a day ago. What do you mean we didn't notice Samuel because he wasn't out? What are you...." Nora stopped stunned as Bo's words finally sunk in. "Bo, it sounds like you're telling me Samuel is an Alter. A separate personality from his host. You can't mean.. But that's impossible. He was faking. We heard it. All of us heard it. You're sitting here telling me that it wasn't a lie. You're telling me he suffers from the same affliction as his sister and niece. No! I don't believe it. He's pulling the wool over your eyes. How can you believe anything he says? Bo, you're serious. You're telling me that the man you visited tonight, who asked for your help, is none other than Todd Manning!"

Bo nodded. "That's exactly what I'm telling you. The man I just got through talking with is the real Todd Manning. I don't have all the proof in front of me. But Vicki, Blair, and Starr also believe him. He remembered some very private conversations he and I had a long time ago. I believe him and yes Nora, he does have DID.  According to Vicki, Todd has a unique relationship with his alters. He's aware of them and has control of them. I watched last night as Samuel just left and Todd returned. It was extraordinary. It appears that Samuel has been in charge these last eight years because of something that was done to Todd. Blair said Todd only recently took back control. I also found out what happened the night he disappeared. We already knew some of it because of what our current Todd told us, but it appears that Mitch really did a number on the real Todd. That's why Samuel was out. He's been protecting Todd this whole time. Todd wants his life back and has asked for my help, I'm going to give it. He's changed, Nora. Todd needs all the help he can get. Physically he's on shaky ground. He's had four heart attacks since he's been back in town. If he doesn't get my help he probably will kill himself trying it his way. I told him I would help. Are you okay with that?"

Nora was at a loss for words. The Todd Manning of her nightmares was back in town. Not only that but after all these years, it appeared that he had truthfully endured some major trauma in his life. It didn't excuse him but it explained a lot. Then there was the other question. If the real Todd Manning was in the hospital, then who was the other Todd. Another thought came to mind. "Bo, does Tea know?"

"No. Blair told Tea about Samuel, but she has no idea he's really Todd. She believes that Samuel is a distant relative of Vicki's. You know what Tea and Todd have been going through recently with their daughter Dani.  Tea decided not to complicate things. She felt Todd didn't need to know about this possible look-a-like with his old face. That actually works to our advantage right now. We don't know if the current Todd is aware he's an impostor or not. So we're keeping Samuel out of the limelight for the time being. You have to promise me that this stays between you and me. No one else needs to be brought into the loop. After what Clint did I promised myself that I would never let any secrets interfere with us again, so now you know all I know. Are we good?" asked Bo.

"We're good, Mister. but boy, talk about a shocker. I never expected this." replied Nora she reached and hugged her husband.

"Neither did I, Red," Bo gave his wife a kiss and they both leaned back and sank into their own private thoughts for a while.

Pulling his thoughts back to the present, Bo turned into the visitor parking lot at the hospital. Locking the doors, he headed in to see Todd.