BRIAN

Instead of going ahead with my lawsuit, we went a different route. We called the DA in Oregon to find out whether he was interested in the case, since it was now about more than showing Michael he couldn’t get away with what he did. The DA told us to just send what we had and he would look into it, sounding disinterested. After he received it he called back quickly, wanting to meet with us because he needed all he could get to take on one of the biggest medical practices in Oregon.

David could throw all the money he wanted at me, but helping Michael wasn’t going to help him. After discussing the case with the DA, Thomas, it was actually in my interest to bow out of the individual lawsuit, since Michael would be prosecuted with David and the other doctors. I called Ted to join me when Thomas arrived. Ted brought all the information he was able to gather.

“We can add restitution for you to the case, but with what is likely to happen, you'll be just one of the many on the list. With a practice this size, we’ll be combing through the records back to the start of the practice, and with the file you provided, we know where to look.” Thomas tells me.

“David Cameron tried to involve his son. Everything his ex-wife provided was in hopes of keeping Hank from ending up in the middle of this,” Ted tells him.

“It's lucky the kid is still a minor, otherwise he'd be considered guilty because his name was on the account. As long as he doesn’t warn his father that his mother gave you the information, we should be able to keep him out of this. We just need to figure out a way to get them to meet with you without either of them worrying about why you’re changing your mind,” He tells me.

“It would be easier to get both of them to agree to come to the loft. Michael wouldn’t think it was unusual,” I tell them.

“He wouldn’t find it strange even with you suing him?” Thomas asks, incredulous.

“If Michael can get to Brian, it doesn’t matter what’s going on,” Ted tell him, shaking his head.

JUSTIN

I left Mom and Grandfather to go over the seating chart, and decided to see if Brian wanted to come to lunch with me. I walked in as Ted and the DA were walking out. Cynthia waved me in, as Brian sat looking at his phone.

“Everything go okay?” I ask.

“Thomas said there was enough evidence to arrest David and Michael. We agreed to get them to come to my loft, by making them think that I’m willing to talk about David paying back the money.” He tells me, pulling me onto his lap.

“I’m sorry.” I tell him, kissing him.

“What are you sorry for?” He asks.

“That you have to do this to someone you once considered your best friend.” I tell him.

“We haven’t been that since the accident. I don’t think we’d still be best friends even if none of this came up.” He tells me.

“Why not?” I ask.

“The person I knew hasn’t existed since he came back once he’d moved away. He wanted everything to be the same. The night of the accident, we’d been arguing the whole night because he expected me to stick by his side all night. I ended up drinking more than usual just to keep from saying that while he was gone I didn’t miss having him up my ass. After the accident, I felt like a shit for the way I felt about Michael. It got worse as he started to recover, he started acting like I didn’t have a right to a life of my own. The vacation I took was in hopes that with me away, Michael would see he didn’t need me there day and night. Then I met you and for a week I felt free again. When we left I couldn’t let you go, but didn’t want you to see who I was in Pittsburgh. You didn’t have any preconceived notions of who I was, to you I was just, Brian. It's why I never talked about Pittsburgh. Because for once I wasn’t all the labels that everyone assumed, in your eyes. When I would come back to Pittsburgh, you gave me the strength to deal with Michael. You became everything to me, my best friend, the love of my life, and soon, my husband. He's my past, you're my future.” He tells me.

“I love you, and know if you need me I'm always there for you.” I tell him.

“I need you, but tonight I need to deal with the past so the future can be what we want. It's time to get rid of all the secrets that could hurt our future.” He tells me.

BRIAN

Justin understood, coming with me tonight wouldn't get Thomas what he wanted. We needed Michael to think everything was normal. Thomas turned a little green when we figured out how to allow him to be there, but he needed more to be able to go after the whole practice. To him, David and Michael were the small fish.

Michael came in, smirking when he saw Thomas half dressed and me with my fly undone, pointing Thomas to wait in the bedroom.

“Be ready after I finish with this,” I tell Thomas.

Michael looked relieved when Thomas nodded and went into the bedroom. I'm sure he thought I was once again back to my old ways and proved it with the next words that came out of his mouth.

“I hope you sent Justin packing now that you remember who you are,” He tells me.

“Where’s David?” I ask.

“I asked him to give us a few minutes, we need to talk,” He tells me, getting comfortable on my couch.

“Right now I’m not sure what we have to talk about after the bullshit you and David pulled. Why did you two involve Hank in this?” I ask.

“Brian, I know I should have just asked you to help me out, it’s not like I couldn’t expect that from you. It’s just David made the comment that one of the reasons you didn’t want more from me was because you didn’t see me as an equal, and asking you to support me wasn’t going to change how you view me. I called him to ask him for the money, but then he suggested the way we did it,” He tells me.

“So, I supported you anyway, but in a way you thought would get me to respect you?” I ask, trying to control the anger.

“He’s going to pay you back, so why is it a big deal now?” He asks.

“Paying it back doesn’t change that you betrayed my trust in you,” I tell him, turning when David cleared his throat.

“Can we just get this over with?” David asks, putting a briefcase down.

“How nice of you to bring the money,” I sneered.

“I didn’t bring it. For that you have to sign an agreement with me that once your funds are returned you’ll never bring this up again.” He tells me.

“It’s decent of you to want to protect Hank, but I get the feeling that’s not what has you wanting me to sign anything. Who else are you worried about?” I ask.

“No one, I just don’t need anyone to hear about what happened. They would question not just me but the entire practice. I don’t need the practice being tarred with the same brush when it was a mistake that my son and Michael made,” He tells me.

“This whole time the one thing that’s bothered me is that a sixteen year old kid figured out how to do this, but Michael just told me it was you and Michael. Which leads to the question of where you got the idea from. If you want me not to sue, how about the truth for once,” I tell him. It was true, I wasn’t going to sue. What Thomas wanted was better.

“Fuck Michael. Learn to keep your mouth shut,” David tells him.

“You have two minutes to get to the truth, or you can leave and I’ll make sure the lawyer Cole hired digs into everything,” I tell him.

“Look, when I started the new practice I wasn’t making what I was here. People don’t just change doctors. They wait until you get a reputation. When I wasn’t keeping up my end of the practice, the other partners pulled me in and told me what to do. It wasn’t hurting anyone but the insurance companies, because we didn’t bill the patients, just the insurance,” He tells me.

“You really believe the patients weren’t hurt?” I ask.

“Please. You didn’t even question the bills,” He laughs.

“True, I didn’t, but then I thought Michael was trustworthy." I tell him.

“I didn’t do it to hurt you, but because I needed the money. David wouldn’t help unless I went back to him. I didn’t want to leave you, I did it to stay with you,” Michael tells me.

“Michael, he’s not going to want you. He has Justin now,” David tells him.

“I’m sure that will be over when I tell Justin what Brian is up to tonight. I knew Brian wouldn’t get married to the little shit. I mean, why would he want the blond when he has all of Pittsburgh and me,” Michael tells him.

“What are you talking about?” David asks, looking angry.

“I think he’s talking about me.” Thomas comes out of the room, fully dressed and nodding for me to open the door. “I wanted to see if you and Michael could help me out, and you did. Thanks for letting us know that I get to not only arrest you, but your partners, for insurance fraud,” He tells a shocked David.

“This isn’t funny Brian. Tell the trick to go,” Michael tells me, looking worried when the police came into the loft.

“This ‘trick’ is the DA of Oregon.” Thomas tells Michael, showing him his ID.

“Brian, I thought you agreed?” David asks, trying to figure out what was going on.

“I’m sure you did, but you know, I just couldn’t when you let your kid take the blame. Your ex-wife couldn’t either,” I tell him, smiling when the cops handcuffed him and Michael.

“But I thought…” Michael started stammering when they hauled him up.

“Don’t think, you tend to do unfortunate things when you do,” I tell him, smiling at David.

“Oh, before you go Michael, for his help, I gave Hank the comic collection from Vic’s storage unit. I thought he should get something for finding out you and his father weren’t worth the devotion he gave either of you,” I tell Michael.

“I don’t know what Brian was telling you, but it was Michael who did this. Michael told me he needed me to invest his money for him. The only reason I came here was to tell Brian what Michael was doing,” David tells Thomas, as he was being taken out.

“Is he serious?” Thomas asks.

“I think he’s figured out that saving himself is better than saving Michael,” I tell him.