57TH PRECINCT - 20 MINUTES LATER

DESK SERGEANT PHIPPS

“So you and you were Mirandized?” I demand.

“Wha...what?” Debbie mutters, her face is streaked with tears and she looks shell-shocked. But at least she isn’t broken, bruised and cut like Brian was for all those years!

“Did you understand your rights?!” I snarl at them. As for him, he is mercifully quiet.

“Yea, I get it.” She replies before turning to her son and punching him in the face. “What I don’t get is you!” She shouts as he sprawls on the floor. “When I said I would stop, I didn’t mean for you to fucking continue!” She kicks him in his side. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Why? Why would you…”

“Oh, don’t play the sainted fucking mother now!” He screams as he backs up. “Remember what you said outside the loft!”

“And of course there is the little matter of the twisted Munchausen by Proxy that you are most likely going to blame your behaviour on!” All of us look at the door where there is a very fiery eyed blonde standing in the doorway. “Want me to spell it for you?”

“What are…”

“There were at least three fights in this notebook, where Brian was on his own. He wasn’t fighting to protect Michael, he was fighting to protect himself! He was...no is a brawler...and when he came to you unscathed, you were pissed! So you told on him anyway, and when he got home he got a kicking. You did that so when he came to you...you could make it all better again!”

“So you are just as bad as me!” Her spawn shouts from the refuge of under a chair.

“No! Not as bad…” She babbles. “...it was only three times. Only…”

“Three times too many!” The blonde shouts, and when she starts to move I flick the switch.

DINER - SAME TIME

WOLVERINE

“Kinney, you aren’t serious?” I plead.

“About what?” He asks rubbing his face tiredly.

“Being in love...in love with...that!” I point to the window where the mercifuly departed sacks of shit once stood.

He sneers the trademark Kinney Sneer. “Of course fucking not! But it was oh so good to give him a kernel of hope and then destroy it. Like he destroyed my childhood. Alright, my parents would still have been what they were, but it wouldn’t haven’t been so bad.” He sighs and looks around, then starts to walk around. “Where’s Cyn?”

“We’ll be right there!” Ted is shouting in his phone and pulling a laughing Emmett behind him.

“I’m going to go with 57th precinct.” I chuckle as he heads to get his jacket.

“No Brian...” Carl calls out. “...she needs to do this! Like I said, it’s handled!” He turns and looks at, who now is, his dad and nods.

CARL

“Now, this party needs to start! They are fucking miserable where they are and they say that misery loves company, I call bullshit because we are never going to be that miserable again!”

“Oooh do I see me some decks?!” Gladys bustles over and soon there is Earth, Wind and Fire blaring out and people are dancing and helping themselves to the cold canapés. It is my son that I am worried about, but don’t want to toe-step with Vic.

“Get him out to get himself together.” Vic’s voice startles me. “Do it now.”

I stride across the room and stand behind him. “With me.” He follows without a word.

PARKING LOT BEHIND THE DINER - 10 MINUTES LATER

CARL

“I am fucking sweating in here!” Brian grumbles.

“Shut up and accept the group hug for what it is!” Ben orders from behind his head.

“I am wearing Armani and…”

“Kinney!” Ben snipes.

“Can you at least let some air in?! Someone has just farted!”

“Sorry about that!” Darren shouts out. “Couldn’t resist the crab puffs!”

“The crab…” Brian begins before there is a snort, then a titter, a chuckle, a cough clear, another snort and he starts to laugh. “...get hi...hi...hi…s...ou...for fuck sake how many did you have?!”

“Three!” Darren yells as he runs out of slapping distance and within minutes we are all roaring with laughter and fanning the air to clear it.

“Let’s go back inside. We have a party to enjoy!” I order, but I make sure that Darren is the last one in so I can clip him around his ear.

57TH PRECINCT - AN HOUR LATER

TED

Wow! I am never ever crossing Cynthia! I mean, I know she has always had Brian’s back, but this...Mrs Novotny looks like she’s gone a round with Tyson, and as for him he is standing in a wet patch. I look at Desk Sergeant Phipps. “What happened?”

“The bloody nose is from his Mom.” He smiles. “The black eye was when he fell over the chair and caught his face. The water he is standing in is piss...she reamed him so bad that he pissed himself.”

“Oh my…” Emmett murmurs.

“So she’s not hit anybody?” I ask.

“Physically no she hasn’t. She just gave them the bitch slapping from hell. I think they would rather have taken the punches, they would’ve hurt less!”

“I see. So we can take her away now?”

“Yes absolutely. She’s…”

“Ted.” Mrs Novotny interrupts us. “Please listen, I didn’t…”

“You did, Mrs Novotny, now be quiet!” Emmett snaps.

“Ems…”

“Mr Honeycutt!” He whirls around and I just about catch the back of his pants to hold him to me. “Only my friends call me Ems, and you are not one of them! Or didn’t you pick up on that?”

“Why don’t people understand that he could take what he took…” She asks.

“Exactly. Everyone is behaving like he was this…” Michael interjects.

“CHILD!” Desk Sergeant Phipps explodes. “He was a child! What you did was child abuse! By sending him home time and time again, knowing what was waiting for him, you are as guilty as his father! It doesn’t matter that his father was going to do what he did anyway, before you say that fucking crap, you gave him fuel to his fire!”

“Enough with this bullshit!” Michael snaps. “We haven’t done anything wrong. This was his dad’s fault and…stay the fuck away from me you freak!” He screams as Emmett gets out of my grip.

“HONEYCUTT, DOWN!” Cynthia yells bringing him to a screeching halt. “Go to the car. Go to the car now. They are completely right, they did nothing wrong. What they did was something evil, and the Avenue knows. Now let’s go. We have a friend to fix after his mother and wannabe lover broke him.”

DE CAPIO ESTATE - TWO DAYS LATER

LOUNGE

BRIAN

Here I am again in Tuscany! The memories I have are incredible. Sadly it seems that these memories will be the only ones I will get. I will have to treasure them in my heart, but right now I don't think I can stay together with Justin. I almost hit him, goddamnit! I can't allow myself to be around him when there is the tiniest chance to become him! To…

“Brian?”

I turn around and look into two warm brown eyes.

“Mrs De Capio...”

“Ma no dire sciocchezze! Stop it! It’s Nonna!”

“Nonna it is then. It is a pleasure seeing you again. How are you?”

“Sto bene! But you aren't, Nonna can see that! What's wrong, mio caro?”

I am having trouble breathing and feel the burn of tears. Suddenly, I am in warm arms and hearing soothing words. For a woman so short she is amazingly strong and has managed to manoeuvre us to the sofa.

“Please tell me what has happened. I mean what has happened in your head. I have been told some things, do not be angry, they are your friends and your family and they love you. I want to know one thing. Do you still love him?”

“Yes of course I do!”

“Then why are you not fighting for him?”

“I don’t understand the question?”

“Why are you not fighting and telling yourself you are good enough. He loved you the moment he saw you, is this not correct?” I nod. “So when did you love him?”

“Here. I loved him here.”

“No. Do not bullshit a bullshitter. Isn’t that what they say? You loved him before or he would not have been here, so when?”

I look at her and don’t know how to answer that. She waits, then suddenly she sighs and smiles at me.

“Let’s start with something easy then, si? Tell me how you met him.”

“I didn’t meet him as such. I only met him officially after he started working at Kinnetic but…”

“You are the owner of the business, how is it you didn’t interview him?”

I can feel my face start to heat up so I look away but she pulls my face back to her. “I couldn’t.”

“Because?”

“I was afraid he would say he didn't want to work for us, so Cynthia had him interviewed and he said yes, I still can’t believe he did.”

“He wanted to work for Kinnetic because it is the best. He would have fallen in love with you regardless. Love always finds a way.”

“But sometimes you must let go of what you love. Justin will find someone else, someone who isn't broken and a danger to him.”

“Stop right there! Stupido ragazzo! Don’t be so silly! He doesn't want anybody else! He wants you, warts and all! That's what they say, si? And another things...thing! You are his dormouse, Carlo told me about how he found you, the look on your face when you looked down at him. Go home, Brian, go home to him!”

“You don’t understand!” Finally I can't hold back the tears anymore. “It’s not that I don’t know that he loves me or that I am not in love with him! I love him so much! Enough to let him go! Because I am a danger to him!”

“Tu smetti di dire merda! Stop saying crap! You are not a danger to anyone but yourself! Stop this martyrdom and bullsitting...bullshitting...you almost did but you stopped! And you will always stop! Because all of this, your visit here and your struggle makes it clear, you would rather hurt yourself than hurt him! How much more evidence do you need? You are not your father! When did you last hit Gus?”

“I have never hit Gus!” I explode.

“You are not your father.”

“I have to let him go. I have to.”

“You do what you think is right, but I am begging you! Please, Brian, mio caro, think it over again, si? For me! Your Nonna.” I nod and take the tissue she offers. “Now go and wash your face, we will eat in 20 minutes. Luigi will bring your stuff to the main house, you are not staying here alone.”

KINNETIC - A WEEK LATER

BRIAN’S OFFICE

JUSTIN

He looks so wretched and I understand, but we haven’t slept with or touched each other since the party...he’s avoided me like the plague.

“I’m busy.” He clips out without even looking at me.

Sighing, I take the pen out if his hand causing him to, at last, look at me. “I know. These are the boards you asked me to change.”

“Fine. Just leave them there.” He indicates towards the easels and takes another pen out of his drawer.

I put them on the easels and start to walk out, but enough is enough. I turn back to his desk. “So, Mr Iceman, are you thinking of thawing up anytime soon or should we say they have won, fuck it and have done with it? I mean, they have haven’t they? They won, for they wanted you to be miserable and here you are miserable as hell. But so am I. I miss you Brian, I miss us. The us in Tuscany, the us before that. You are treating me like a stranger, and I love you too much not to fight for you. To fight to make you stop that.”

His head comes up and he glares at me. “He said he loved me.” He finally spits out.

Now I am officially pissed! “Don’t ever fucking compare us again! Don’t ever compare what we feel, you and me, for each other to what you felt for that! You said it yourself at the party...what we have is so very different. I transfixed you, you said that to all of Liberty Avenue...”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” He says quietly.

Immediately calming down, I sigh and rub my eyes. “But you are hurting me.”

“No. I mean literally hurt you. I am so angry that, I...I can’t touch you.”

I am confused. “I don’t understand, please don’t! Don’t shut down again, just tell me what you...”

“I am afraid I will get carried away.” His voice is quieter and laced with fear, he looks me dead in the eye. “An...and if you say stop, I might not. I mean look what happened when I found out, I almost hit you, the man I love more than myself, and I almost hit you!”

I rush round to his side of the desk and fling myself into his lap.

“Listen! Are you listening?” He nods. “You would never, and I mean never fucking ever do that! And if you ever think that shit again, I will make you a eunuch! You had just found out what had happened, and you needed to lash out. You are still hurting now, your world has been destroyed! But me and my peachy bubble butt, big blue eyes and pouty pink lips are going to make you all better...whenever you are ready for us to do that. Understand?” He is quiet for a while before he gives a tremulous smile. “Good. So, since we are taking baby pigeon steps, I am going to go back to my desk and wait for the critiquing from my taskmaster.” I am about to kiss him on his forehead but think better of it, so with one gentle kiss to his resist finger I get up.

“Will you sit down, please?” He asks quietly. I nod and start to walk to the other side of the desk, but barely made it two steps. “I just want to hold you. Please, can I hold…” His voice breaks and I quickly get back in his lap and when our arms go around each other we both cry. Me for the pain he is in, and him for the family he has lost.