SLEEP - PART FIVE

PREVIOUSLY
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and all three heads turned to it in apprehension. Todd calmly got up and went to the door. Looking through the peephole, he saw it was Sam. He opened the door, silently, and Sam came into the living room of the penthouse. He said hi to Téa, gave Blair a quick kiss, and looked back at Todd.
"Coach, I've got something kind of funny to tell you."

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Sam nodded at Todd to continue. "Sure, Boom..." The nickname died on his lips as he processed the voice that had just spoken to him. This was not Tom. But it wasn't Rod or Pete either, and it sure as hell wasn't Miss Perkins. For the first time in weeks, Sam was talking to Todd Manning. And for the first time in his life, that thought frightened him.
"You always did catch on fast, Sam." Todd had a momentary thought that this would somehow be easier because Sam knew, but as the lawyer looked at the two Mrs. Mannings with something akin to fear in his eyes, Todd swore under his breath.
At that moment Sam's mind was doing a frantic race to reconcile this new development with what he already knew. If Todd was back, then they could get to the bottom of this. They could see how much he knew and possibly use this to his advantage at the trial. But it could also hinder them. What if the judge took Todd's reappearance as a sign that he was never really gone? Sam didn't want to think the next thing that popped into his head. What if Todd was never really gone? Could he be cruel enough to fake all of this?
Téa looked Sam straight in the eyes and said, with conviction in her voice, "He's not faking." She had watched the changes in Sam's expression and it wasn't that hard to figure out where his thoughts were turning. "I know he's not faking, and you can't help him if you don't believe that."
Seeing that Todd was slightly stunned by her words, and that he was trying to appear unhurt by the conclusions Sam was sure to jump to, Téa quickly took charge of the situation. "Todd, you're not expecting anyone else tonight are you? This place is already turning into Grand Central Station." She shot a look at Blair, who had been staring at Sam.
Todd mumbled weakly, "No one else is coming. Unless Viki gets an urge to do some unexpected family bonding, that is." The thought of Viki there to help was one that just occurred to Todd as the sarcastic comment flew unbidden from his mouth. She could probably help, he decided. She was the one person to whom he wouldn't have to explain this.
Téa was thinking the same thing. If anyone could give her fragile husband moral support, it would be Viki Carpenter. She made a mental note to call her as soon as Sam was debriefed.
"Uh, Boomer, what exactly happened? I mean it's great to see you back, pal, but it's a bit of a surprise. I was just getting used to Rod's accent, and then you pop out from nowhere. It's kinda confusing."
Todd smirked at Sam's attempt at levity, and then tried to explain. "I woke up, and I was back. Just like that. I guess it was safe enough because Blair was away for the night at Dorian's and Téa was the only one here. For some reason, my head doesn't see her as a threat even after the shovel incident."
He chuckled almost humorlessly at his wife. This was hard to explain, but he would get through it. "I guess my head just let me out of hiding. The... alters... had been running things for longer than they ever did before and they probably just got tired or something, so they put me back in control. We just have to try not to upset them, from what I remember of Viki's condition."
Téa piped up when she saw the strain on Todd's face. "So we take things lightly, talk about the trial calmly, and try to figure out which is the lesser of two evils: Todd losing control so we can prove his condition, with the hope that we get him integrated, or Todd staying in control of his head and going to back to jail."
"I told you I'm not going back to jail!" Todd clutched at her hand.
"And Téa, it might not be much of a choice anyway," Sam interjected. "If we don't get Todd integrated now, there's always a chance that he'll lose control anyway. What's the likelihood that nothing will make him angry and push him over the edge? This is Todd we're talking about."
"Thanks, Coach."
Blair, who had been oddly quiet since Sam arrived, looked up dazedly, and suddenly put her two cents in. "What about Max? We have to take care of him, too. What happens if someone finds the tape and thinks that Todd is faking?"
Todd cringed, Téa looked confused, and Sam voiced the question that hung in the air: "Blair, what does Max have to do with this, and what the hell do you mean by 'the tape'?"

TO BE CONTINUED