Outside Brenda is talking to Lois and Julia. B: "What have I done? He's really here. Why couldn't I just accept that he was alive and leave it at that? Instead I go get into an argument with him.M
L: "Brenda, it's your fault that he won't tell you anything. He'll tell you when he's ready."
B: "I know, but why is it always on his terms? I can't ever know anything until he lets me know it."
L: "That's just the way he is. Always has been."
J: "Bren, why do you let him do this to you? He either lies to you or won't open up to you and you get all upset. Why do that to your self?"
B: "I used to ask myself that all the time. I don't know Julia, I really don't."
L: "Plain and simple, you love him."
B: Smiles at the thought. "Yeah, I do, but he can make me so angry at times."
L: "That's because he is a man."
J: "He's a man that's no good for you, Bren."
B: "Jules, I know your worried, but Sonny's my problem, not yours. Besides he's still my husband and Jessi's father. I can't forget that, and you can't do anything about it."
J: "I know, but if he does anything to hurt you or Jessi, he'll have to answer to me."
L: "I think he knows that. You gave him a pretty good slap before I left the room."
B: "You slapped him?"
J: "He deserved it. He was upsetting you when you were already upset about Jessi."
B: "I would have loved to see that one. How did he react to Tornado Julia?
J: "He was a bit shocked. I don't think he knows what hit him."
L: "Oh I think he does. He's used to me sticking it to him about he should treat Brenda. Now he's got you and me. With both of us after him, he better behave or he should fear for his life."
B: Laughs at Lois. "Thanks guys. I'm glad someone will stick up for me. I gotta get back to Jessi. If you see Sonny, tell him I don't wan to see him until he's ready to talk to me. Brenda leaves Julia and Lois by themselves and heads for Jessi's room.
J: "If I see him, he better run in the opposite direction."
L: "Wait till I get my hands on him. The nerve of him for making us believe he was dead and deciding to show up ten years later. He better have a good explanation..."
Lois and Julia walk back to the waiting room in silence.

***

Sonny , Clive, and Jason are also outside, but someplace else, conversing.
J: "Am I going to get an explanation of what is going on sometime soon?"
S: "Yes."
C: "First I need Jason to promise me something."
J: "What is ist?"
C: "My assingment with Sonny is over. I can't watch over him anymore. I don't want to leave him here without protection, especially with my niece around."
J: "You want me to protect him?"
S: "I can protect myself."
C: "No you can't Sonny. You haven't been around for ten years. You don't know what's been happening in Jason's territory since he's been gone. You don't know his business associates and enemies are going t react to you being back. Especially since you are now legit and that you helped put some of the biggest crime lords in the West Indies and South America in prison."
J: Eyes get wide. "Sh*t. You did what!? What the h*ll were you thinking!? Lots of money was lost in several organizations when they wer put away. People aren't just going to have a bad reaction, they're going to shoot you on site!"
S: "They don't have to find out."
C: "No, they don't, but that doesn't mean they won't. They'll be wanting to know where you've been. What are you going to tell them? If you tell them the truth you're a dead man. If you lie, they'll find out eventually if they dig around the right places for information and you're still a dead man. And now you have a family that they can go after. You can't do this alone Sonny. You need back up."
S: Thinking about Jessi and Brenda, he feels desparate. What had he gotten them into? "If I'm still in so much danger than why did you let me come back?"
C: "That wasn't my decision. The FBI doesn't have any use for you anymore. I've been taken off your case. I couldn't get funding to go through to keep you in protection any longer especially since your original deal was to be able to go home when everything was over." S: "I wanted to go home if it was safe for my family and friends not if it was convenient for FBI. You're going to leave me in the middle of a war zone! You should have just left me with the madman. I was already dead to everyone else and I was close to death itself there. I t would have saved a lot trouble."
J: "Madman?"
S: "Some cousin of Hernando's had me in a dirty hospital where I kept getting infection after infection and when I was released he kept me in solitary confinement in his basement. It was h*ll."
J: "How did you get involved with him (points to Clive), then?"
C: "We found him when we did a raid on Rivera's house. We offered him a deal to help us get the drug lords out of the rest of the West Indies and South America."
J: "Why would you agree to that? You should have known you would be a dead man."
S: "I was desparate at the time. I wanted revenge on anyone who had ever dealt with the Riveras. Since they dealt with drugs, I knew that other operations that they worked with did to. Anyways what the Clive here left out was that the FBI wanted to arrest me on the spot and throw me in jail for life. It seems that they found the evidence that I used filthy money to pay Sone's bills and that the money had been going into some of my other business ventures. Hernando must have kept it and given it to his cousin My choices were to go to jail and live through more h*ll or to help them and have a possibility to be free again. Obviously I chose the latter. I had no idea it would take so d*mn long!
C: "You're alive aren't you? You still have you wife and beautiful daughter."
S: "I'm alive, but for how long? My wife's angry at me and my daughter is scared of me. I would have been better off if I just stayed dead."
C: "Maybe, but you're here now and we have to discuss what to do in case of an emergency. You going to help Jason?"
J: "Of course I will, but I'm not sure there's much I can do. All h*ll's going to break lose if this hits the fans."
C: "That's exactly why we need to come up with some plans."

***

Later on, when it's about one in the morning, Sonny, Jason, and Clive are done talking at the moment. They head to the waiting room. Everyone's gone home except Mike.
M: "Where did you guys disappear to?"
S: "We had to discuss some things. Where's Brenda and how is Jessi?"
M: "Brenda's sleeping in a chair in Jessi's room. We tried to get her a cot, but she wouldn't take it. Jessi's still doing okay."
S: "Can I go in there?"
M: "Brenda says she doesn't want to talk to you until you explain thngs to her, but she didn't object to Bobbie putting an extra chair in the room for you. So, yeah you can go in there."
S: "Thanks." Heads for the hospital room.
M: "Michael." Sonny turns around. "Don't mess it up like I did. You have a good wife and kid. Talk things through. Please don't be like me."
S: "I don't intend to be like you, Dad. Thanks, though." He goes and walks into the room, thinking if everything runs smoothly, I won't have to."

****

Once in the room he sits in the chair that was in the corner. H e wanted to move it closer to Jessi and Brenda, but he didn't want to ruin his chances with them. He was lucky enough that Brenda allowed him in the room. He watches his girls sleep for hours before he drifted off himself.