Broken Pieces

[Red Ranger 1]

Glad you've updated.Good that Ric's all right and now Matilda knows what happened to him...Hope that everyone keeps digging and all the secrets come to life, this is really interesting.

[Sabrina]

Great update!

I'm glad Ric is awake and that Matilda knows the truth.

Hopefully Jack will be able to figure things out since reading the letter.

More please.

[Barbara]

I understand Brett wants to make Lucas and his wife's murderer pay but he shouldn't think like that. If he ends up in prison because this time, he really killed someone, he'll never get the chance to meet his children.

It looks like Roy and Jack are slowly getting closer. They've both found some new clues. And Roy's mentor is the one who's in charge of Ric's attack? That's not good at all.

I'm glad Mattie found out what happened. I'm scared for her safety though. If Lucas finds out she knows, I think she'll be in trouble. Would she go and tell the police what she heard? I feel sorry for Aden. Of course, he'll be the one who will be punished because he doesn't come from a rich family, which is so unfair. I despise Drew.

Robbie and Tasha seem to be a very sweet couple. Who knows? Their relationship might bring Robbie and Jack closer.

Thankfully, Ric woke up.

I hope your exams went well. Looking forward to the next chapter!

[pamy]

I'm really sorry for not updating, there are no excuses. But it is summer vacation over here.

Chapter 17

‘So can you tell us what happened?’

Roy had gotten the call from Martha less then thirty minutes ago, he was glad to hear that Ric was back awake. He was also hoping that Ric had seen who attacked him, or at least knew something. Hoping that he was wrong, that this was just a random attack; that nothing in all of this was actually connected, of course he couldn’t interview Ric, technically seen he couldn’t even work it. But nothing said he couldn’t visit them, nothing said he couldn’t be in the room when his old partner interviewed him. He didn’t want to feel like this, didn’t want to feel like he had to check up on him; like he had to be there to make sure. He has no idea what is going on anymore, of what actually happened years ago; but he promises himself (promises Martha and Ric) that he will discover the whole truth, even the things he would prefer to never know.

‘I can’t remember much…just bits and pieces really…’

‘Just tell us what you do know.’

He sits in the corner simply watching the conversation, not saying a word; just keeping an eye on everything, storing it all in his memory. He’s glad that Ric came trough this alive, but in some way he’s almost grateful that something like this happened. Because now the last thing on Martha’s mind is her mother’s case and that damn ring, which he still hasn’t quite figured out. As long as her mind is somewhere else she won’t come looking for answers, answers to questions he does not yet have. Some he doesn’t want to know, others he doesn’t want to tell. He needs more time, more time to discover the whole truth; to know everything he needs to know, to be able to tell her the full truth. The truth he knows she deserves, and if he is right then Brett deserves the truth to; if he is right he has just spend fifteen years in jail, for a crime he didn’t commit.

‘I was walking…and I remember thinking that I had to get to Martha…She was waiting for me, they were suddenly there.’

‘They? There was more than one.’

‘Yeah, they were with two. They jumped me from behind I think and they just began hitting me.’

‘Did you see who they were?’

‘No, at least I don’t think I did.’

‘Did they say something?’

‘One of them kept saying ‘stay away from her.’

‘Her? Who’s her?’

‘I don’t know. They weren’t specific.’

Roy sighs, he was hoping, praying that he knew something; that he had actually seen who had attacked him or at least knew why. The sentence ‘stay away from her’ could mean almost anything; though he does suppose that that rules out a random attack. Maybe they wanted them to stay away from the case, but that doesn’t really make sense either. Who is her? Some girl that Ric met in town? Or is it perhaps from before they returned to Summer Bay; maybe it was simply a mistake and they meant to attack someone else.

‘I can’t remember anything else, I’m sorry.’

~*~

Ric can’t understand why they need to ask all these questions now.

He hasn’t been awake for that long and he’s still extremely tired, sometimes the world still goes in and out of focus. The worst of it all is that he has no answers; he has no idea why this happened to him or who did this to him. All he has is that one sentence and it doesn’t make anymore sense to him then it does to anyone else. He doesn’t understand the purpose of beating him up and telling him to stay away from someone if they won’t tell him who that someone is. For a second, a brief second, while he is telling the agent (whose name he has forgotten), he wonders if it perhaps is Matilda. He hadn’t like the way Luke looked at him, but he dismissed the thought almost immediately. It was wrong to accuse somebody if you didn’t know the person and you weren’t really sure of what happened.

He thinks they might be disappointed because he doesn’t know, but he can’t quite tell. He hears Martha say that he is tired and ask if they could perhaps talk about this later. The police officer leaves, but he doesn’t quite notice because he’s already falling asleep. He’s almost afraid to go to sleep; afraid he will have nightmares about this, like Martha has nightmares about his mother’s murder. They’re always awful and he doesn’t feel like going trough that, but he can’t quite help it. He’s to tired to stay awake and also to tired to actually care about anything anymore, he feels Martha place a kiss against his forehead whispering that he should go to sleep.

~*~

He placed the letter among the others, trying to make sense of what he read.

So if he understood what happened correctly his father and Martha’s mother knew each other, after his mom died (he’s not quite sure how long) they began having an affair. He doesn’t actually blame his father for that, it was his live; besides he had quite gotten used to having someone else being in his father’s live, after he married Luke’s mother. Of course Martha’s mother was married, but it’s not actually the first time it happened; he has no idea what actually happened, so he can’t really judge now can he (even though he does). And then after a while she had broken up with him and attempted to get things batter with her husband. His father hadn’t taken it well and thought that her son might be his, that Ric might be his brother.

Tony didn’t take being dumped well and then Ruth died.

He doesn’t like where his thoughts have taken him, doesn’t want to think this kind of things. It makes no sense to him anyway, he shouldn’t be thinking about this; everyone already knows what happened. Something had made Brett Macklin snap and he had murdered his wife, even confessed to it. Murdered her while his two children slept in the house, he heard the story before. Now he thinks he might know what made him snap, if his father was really having an affair with his wife that might have been enough. He doesn’t think it’s a reason to kill, but people have snapped over lesser things. What he thought before was crazy; of course his father had nothing to do with this. He knows the man; he wouldn’t do something like that.

He should have left those letters in his father’s study, should have never read the words.

Why did he feel compelled to read them?

~*~

Tasha found him sitting in the living room staring at the wall.

She remained in the doorway for a few seconds, simply staring at the back of her best friend, her brother; she’s never felt more distant from him than in that moment. That second in which she realizes she can’t really tell him about Robbie, because Jack doesn’t actually like him; she never quite understood and he never really wanted to explain, though now she’s not sure if she wants him to tell her. She knows Jack wouldn’t just hate some guy for no reason, whatever happened must have been something big; she’s afraid to find out whatever it was that was done before she arrived in Summer Bay.

She’s scared of finding out Robbie did something; she’s scared of finding out that he didn’t.

She wants to talk to Jack, wants to assure him that no matter what he’ll always be her big brother; but she knows that now is not the time, after all Martha’s brother just go attacked. ‘Hey there, trying to burn a hole in the wall?’ ‘Oh hey Tash, I didn’t hear you come in.’ ‘How is Ric doing? What about Martha, she alright? Do they need anything?’ ‘They’re fine; Ric apparently woke up a little while ago.’ ‘That’s a good thing right?’ ‘Yeah, I don’t think they really need anything right now though, I’ll let you know if they do.’ His eyes wonder away from her again and Tash ends up wondering what it is that he is hiding from her, maybe she is just being to hard on him after all it has been a long day for him.

She doesn’t know whether she should ask questions or let it go.

‘So what’s going on? What is it that is causing you to stare at that wall?’ The silence that follows stretches out long enough for Tasha to wonder whether he doesn’t want to share it with her (like she doesn’t want to share Robbie) or if he doesn’t know how to word it; things are slowly beginning to change, she can feel it, and she’s not sure whether she really likes it. ‘Do you remember that picture I found, you know the one with my dad and Martha’s mom?’ ‘Yeah, you found it in your dad’s desk along with some letters, why?’ ‘I read them and now I’m thinking I really shouldn’t have, because my mind is going in circles and it’s driving me crazy. I don’t like what I’m thinking, but the worse is that I can’t figure out if it is just my imagination or the truth.’ ‘What do you mean?’

Tasha listens as Jack explains everything, from the letters he found until his conclusions.

She doesn’t know what’s worse that Jack actually beliefs his father might have something to do with this, or the fact that she thinks he’s actually right.

~*~

Mac covered her eyes the minute she left the room.

She just needed a couple of seconds to get her strength back up; just a couple of seconds to calm down. She’s not quite sure how many hours she sat by his bed, she doesn’t know how many hours she waited for him before that; vaguely she remembers Jack promising he would come back, just like Roy had promised. For a brief second her mind wanders over to the ring and her mom’s case, for a second she wonders if Roy has found something interesting; then she forgets about it, because this really isn’t the time to be thinking about things like that. This is the time to take care of her brother, so she’ll take a couple of more seconds to breath; then she’ll go back in there, she’ll be the strong big sister, the one who will take care of him.

‘Mac? You alright?’ The soft question coming from her brothers lips breaks the dam.

Suddenly all that she has been feeling for the last couple of hours simply come out, she leans on the bed; hiding her head in her arms and she simply cries. She feels her brother place an arm around her, attempting to south her; it only makes her feel worse, she’s the one who’s supposed to take care of him now, not the other way around. But Ric doesn’t really seem to mind and Martha really does need to cry, she doesn’t know how long they sit there him trying to calm her down, her crying all over him, but eventually the tears run out.

‘You can’t do that to me again you hear me? I can’t lose you, I need you to much. You’re all I’ve got.’

‘I know, I know, I’m sorry.’

‘Just promise me you’ll be careful in the future, promise me I won’t lose you to.’

‘I promise sis, I promise. Just as long as you promise me to.’

~*~

Roy stares at the papers in front of him, trying to make sense of it all.

Ric’s case seems to have hit a dead end, he hadn’t seen anything nor had he been able to identify the persons that almost killed him; not that Roy had really suspected he could. It’s just that before he talked to Ric he thought it all had something to do with his mother’s case, the case he has been investigating at Martha’s request (well sort of); but now he’s not that sure anymore, none of it makes sense. Ric said they talked about a her, that they kept saying she should stay away from her; but he had no idea who they were talking about. For a second Roy thought 'her' might mean his mom, but why would they ask him to stay away from her as if she was alive, no it had to be someone else but who?

And if it was someone else then that destroys his entire theory.

The only thing that seemed to link the two cases was the detective working on it, and it was the only reason that it really bothered Roy. If it was someone else, anyone else, or if he didn’t know what he knew then he might be able to forget about it for now, might be able to belief that they would catch whoever had done this to Ric. Except that he now knows that evidence was hidden and that an innocent man might be sitting in jail, he should really work harder on finding out the truth if he really was innocent he should already be out, an he knows that it was all because of his mentor, so he doesn’t belief he’ll do a good job. As his eyes wander over the papers in front of him a question suddenly jumps in his head, one that he knows will be haunting him for a long time.

How many innocent people were sitting in jail or dead because of him?

~*~

She had thought about brining him flowers, but in the end decided against the idea.

She had spend a long time wondering if she should go and visit him, at first she had thought it was a bad idea; after all it was her blossoming friendship with him that had brought him to the hospital, though she still doesn’t understand what exactly got into Lucas to do something like that. He definitely was not the boy she had once fallen in love with, he had been so kind and gentle back then, and now look at him. Still she found herself standing outside RIc’s hospital room, she just couldn’t seem to stay away; she wasn’t sure exactly what she felt for him, but she did know that it was quickly turning into something more than simple friendship.

She wasn’t sure exactly what she felt, but she did know she would never cheat on Luke.

The door opened before she could knock on it, Martha seemed just as surprised as she felt; ‘How’s Ric?’ ‘He’s doing better; I was just going to get something to eat. Do you mind staying with him for a while?’ ‘No, I’ll stay. Of course.’ She walked into the room and sat beside him, he seemed to be sleeping or resting but whatever he was doing she wasn’t going to wake him; for the first time she could actually see all of his injuries, she could see what Ric and Drew had done to him. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, she didn’t want to see what her boyfriend had caused; she felt somebody take her hand and instantly she knew it was Ric.

‘Hey there, you coming to see me? Miss me already?’ ‘Not really no, but I think Colleen does.’

~*~

Jack walked across the beach, slowly trying to figure out what to do next.

He couldn’t talk to his dad, despite the fact that Tasha had opted that maybe he should just ask him what it all meant; but he couldn’t, because he was afraid of what the answer would be. He was afraid his father would look him in the eye and tell him some lie, he was afraid about thinking his father was lying while telling the truth, he was just afraid. It was moments like this, when something happened with his father, that he missed talking to Robbie; Robbie had always been there, trough all the years and trough everything that his father had put him trough, and Tasha while she loved him and wanted to help him, she simply couldn’t understand.

There was a time when the ocean could calm his raging thoughts.

Before that there was always basketball, when he was on the basketball court he was alive; everything that was wrong with his life didn’t matter, for a while he could forget the world. But he didn’t have that anymore, he couldn’t go out on that courts; when he had gotten hat injury he had given it up for life, he never wanted to go back to that time, didn’t want to remind himself of what he had lost. But he had come to realize, in those first months after it all happened, that there were times that the ocean had the same effect on him. He could stare at it for hours and somehow it would calm him down, at least for a while.

Today, however, no matter how long he stared at the ocean, he couldn’t calm himself down.

~*~

Robbie smiled when he saw Tasha walk into the shop.

He was still surprised that a girl like Tasha could actually like him; he was shocked that someone out there still believed he deserved someone as beautiful and gentle as Tasha, even after everything he had done. And he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that somehow Jack seemed to be okay with it all and that they were definitely making their way back towards a friendship, maybe not the one they had before (Robbie was smart enough to acknowledge that he had probably lost that one forever) but any kind of friendship with Jack was good enough for Robbie, and it was definitely more than he deserved.

He smiled at her and leaned towards her to kiss her lips.

Every time he gets a chance to kiss her he feels like he’s in heaven, and for a while it seems like he almost deserves to be in heaven. Except that a part of him always knows that he really doesn’t, a part of him is terrified of her finding out what happened between him and Jack; it would after all be the ultimate revenge, if Jack told her she would leave him; still Robbie doesn’t think that Jack would do something like that. At least he hopes he doesn’t, the Jack eh knew a long time ago would not have done something like that, but the Robbie he had known so many years ago probably wouldn’t have hurt him either. He hugged Tasha close to him clinging to her body as if she was already leaving him.

A part of him thought that perhaps he should tell her maybe that would be better.

It won’t matter how she finds out, the end result would not be pretty; but for now he got to hold her, and that was enough.

~*~

Luke slammed his fist against the wall.

He thought he had been pretty clear, the kid should stay away from Matilda; she was his girl, she belonged to him. Ric didn’t have the right to go near her, especially not the way he looked at her; he was supposed to stay far away from her, that’s the message he gave him. And now he finds out that Matilda went to visit him, and she stayed with him for a while; he tried to get himself to calm down, it wouldn’t do him any good if people saw him this agitated. Still RIc choose to ignore what he has specifically told him, and after everything he and Mattie had gone trough she just didn’t seem to understand that she belonged to him and was supposed to stay away from guys like Ric, guys that would fill her head with lies about her boyfriend, guys that would try to steal her from him.

He would have to remind her of who she belonged to.

~*~

Jack closed the door behind him as he re-entered the house.

In an instant he was presented with the one person he had been avoiding all day, attempting to figure out what to do now. ‘Hey boy how are you?’ ‘I’m fine.’ ‘How’s that boy they beat up, he doing any better?’ ‘Yeah, Martha called me earlier; he seems to have woken up. The doctors say he’s going to be fine.’ ‘Did they find out who did it yet?’ ‘No but Roy is working on it so it shouldn’t be to long.’ Jack watched his father more closely than he did before, his eyes wandered over his face; did he seem relieved (more than he should for a complete stranger) when Jack told him that Ric would be alright? Was it a little bit of nervousness that flashed across his face when he told him it wouldn’t be long that the attacker would be caught? Where those feelings there or was he imagining things?

Jack wanted to ask his dad a million questions.

Not just about the case, but about everything else; he had wanted to ask him questions ever since he was a kid. But right now all those questions were on the tip of his tongue and yet he did not ask them, he didn’t want to be ignored, didn’t’ want to be lied to, but something told him that that was exactly what was going to happen. If he wanted the truth about his father he would have to go somewhere else to find it. He remembered suddenly what his first day had been like; Roy had treated him so indifferently almost afraid of him; now he thinks that might have something to do with his father. If anyone could help him with this it was Roy, all he had to do was go and ask him.

And pray that his father had nothing to do with this, because if he did Jack was pretty sure he’d never be able to look Martha in the eye again.

~*~

He is sitting with his face in his hands, leaning against the wall.

He hasn’t found the strength to move all day, the words his once best friends spoke keep going around in his head; this couldn’t be happening to him. Just when he thought he had his life on the right path again, just when he thought things might be going his way, Luke decided to lose his mind completely, and over something so stupid. He felt a presence before he actually saw the person. ‘Aden, I need to talk to you.’ ‘Matilda, listen I don’t know where Luke is, I haven’t seen him all day. So you’re going to have to look for him somewhere else alright.’ ‘Aden! I heard you talking to Drew this morning.’

And there it was the one thing he really didn’t want to hear.

He had wanted to keep that information from Matilda, would have preferred if she had never known how crazy her boyfriend had actually gotten. Then again at the same time it was perhaps better that she did know that way she could get away from him before he got angry at her. ‘I wish you hadn’t heard us talk, you weren’t supposed to hear any of that.’ ‘Why didn’t you do something? If you knew they were going to do something why didn’t you warn him or the police?’ ‘Matte, who would believe me? You know the problems I’ve had with the police, nobody would listen to me. I mean Luke is the model kid, he’s nice and he’s got a rich father, I don’t even have a family. And his brother is a cop Mattie, who would listen to me?’ ‘You could have warned Ric.’ ‘Right because he would really listen to a kid he’s never seen before, especially about something like this.’

‘Then we have to tell now.’ ‘And who will believe us? You heard Drew, I’m going to be blamed, and why wouldn’t they believe Luke and Drew? Why believe me. I’m stuck Mattie.’

The worst thing, Matilda thinks, is not that he thinks so little of the people in this town. It’s the fact that he’s probably right.

~*~

Robbie rolled under the car and began to work again.

He didn’t hear the costumer walk into the store, it wasn’t the first time it happened; still when he thought about it later he would find it troubling that he didn’t’ hear her come in. in retrospect he should have known something like this was going to happen, something was going to destroy his happiness with Tasha, something was going to shatter the fragile friendship he and Jack had began to build up again. After all he didn’t deserve any of those things; he should be punished for what he did.

‘Anyone here?’

Robbie literally froze the second he heard that voice, he had never thought he’d actually hear it again. He’s out from under the car in a second and he just sits there staring at her, he should have seen this coming he really should have, but he didn’t. For a while, just a little while, he actually believed things might work out for the best, turns out he had been wrong yet again.

‘Katie.’

Spoilers: Jack and Roy talk about the case, Katie cause trouble between Tash and Rob and Jack and Rob, Luke gets angry at Matilda, Aden tells someone else and someone is getting very close to the truth

[Red Ranger 1]

Yay!Update.Glad Matilda visited Ric and tried to talk to Aden but I'm worried what Lucas might do to her.Hope they'll eventually find everything out.Ending is...slightly worrying.

[Barbara]

You're forgiven because it was a great and long chapter!

Poor Martha! She's been through so much in her life already.

I can understand why Jack wants to ask all his questions to his dad and why he is scared of finding out the truth at the same time. I wonder how he will react when he finds out the truth.

I really don't like Lucas and I'm scared he is going to hurt Matilda. He may love her but I have a feeling he is close to hurting her. He is way too jealous.

I know the police will find it hard to believe Aden but maybe Matilda could go with him. The police might believe them then. It was good of her to try and talk to him.

Oh no Katie is back! And I don't like the sound of the next chapter! She should just go away and never come back.

Please update soon.

[Sabrina]

Great update!

I'm glad Matilda visited Ric and talked to Aden.

I'm worried for Matilda. I hope Lucas doesn't hurt her.

Katie is back! She better not cause any trouble.

Looking forward to the next chapter.

[pamy]

Chapter 18

‘Katie.’

There was once a time in his life he would have given everything up for this girl, that he would have done anything she would have asked for. And in the end he had, he had given up a lot for her, way more then she was ever worth it, though at the moment he really had believed she was worth it all. Now, years later as he sits here on the floor, he can’t believe he ever really thought that, that he ever gave his best friend up for just a girl. But at that time in his life he had been nothing more than a stupid teenager, one who knew nothing of the world, and he had lost it all for her.

Now that he’s older, now that he knows more of the world, he knows it wasn’t worth it.

But now it’s to late.

‘Hey Robbie.’

There are a thousand different answers going around in his brain, but none of them seem good enough, none of them seem like something he should be saying now (something he could be saying). Because when his eyes meet hers, for a second (just a split second) he feels like that stupid teenager that fell in love with her, and he can’t actually say a word (it only lasts for a second, it feels like an eternity). He shouldn’t feel like this, he knows that, he has Tasha in his live (he’ll never need Katie again) and he has Jack back (at least partly, but he wouldn’t sacrifice him again for her), but he really can’t help feeling this way. It’s just such a big shock, he had never expected her to walk back into his life, he hadn’t expected to see her ever again.

‘What…What are you doing here?’

‘What’s the matter Robbie, your not happy to see me?’

He’s quite sure that at this moment he is feeling a thousand different things, and he can’t quite find a word for all of them, but he does know that happy is definitely not one of them. He knows he has to get rid of her, knows that he should make sure she is gone before someone comes by; someone like Tasha or worse even Jack. He has to get rid of her before someone finds out she was here with him, before she destroys everything again.

‘No. No I am definitely not happy to see you. You need to leave Katie. Get out.’

‘What, you don’t even want to know why I’m here? Why I came to see you?’

‘No, not really no. I just want you to go, sooner rather than later.’

‘I came here for a reason and it’s important Robbie.’

‘I don’t care.’

Really he should have seen the next thing coming, should have known what would go wrong. He just thought that he could get Katie to leave before someone dropped by and then no had to know. Except that this morning nothing is going this way, he knows everything is a mess.

‘Hey Robbie, I need to talk to you man.’

~*~

He had almost arrived at his work when he changed his mind.

He knew he needed to talk to Roy, really talk to him, tell him everything he had found out and let him figure out what to do next. He just had no idea what to say to him, talking to Tasha was one thing, telling Roy was something else all together. The more he actually thought about it, the crazier everything sounded; he could barely believe his own thoughts, how could he expect someone else to believe them? To come to the same conclusions? He really just needed to talk to someone, someone that would simply listen to him, someone that was his best friend. Really he just missed Robbie and it wasn’t the first time. Which is why he turned around and walked to Robbie’s shop instead, thinking he could just talk to him; after all they were trying to be friends again.

He really should have know that some people never change.

‘Hey Robbie, I need to talk to you man.’

He should have looked at the cars parked outside, maybe if he had he might have seen that Robbie had a costumer; if he had he might not have gone in, might have waited. Except of course that he thought his father might have (somehow) murdered his girlfriend’s mother so he didn’t actually care about other costumers, he just needed to talk to his (once) best friend. Really, after everything that had happened, after all the conversations he and Robbie had over the last couple of days, after everything Robbie had said about trying to safe their friendship, he really thought Robbie had changed.

And yet here they were again, the three of them, as if no time had passed.

‘What…Katie…I don’t…’

Jack’s unfinished sentences hang in the air, the silence that follows is more painful then any answers that could have been uttered; there they were, back again where they started. Jack just stands there looking from Katie to Robbie, taking in the still form of the best friend he had actually decided to give a second chance, seemed like some things never change. It wasn’t that long ago that he and Robbie stood in this same shop talking about silly stuff, and Jack had believed him when he told him he’d never hurt Tasha, that he actually loved her; he had believed him when he told him he’d never hurt him again. He believed him when he said he was sorry.

‘You…You are unbelievable. I can’t believe I actually listened to you, can’t believe I thought you’d changed. God, I can’t believe I fell for it, again.’

His eyes rest on Katie for a second, but she doesn’t look at him; he remembers how it was the first time it all went down, he remembers that she couldn’t look at him back then either. He doesn’t know if that actually matters, or if she just doesn’t care at all. He shook his head in complete disbelieve, then turned around and walked away.

‘Jack, wait. Please just listen to me, okay.’

‘I don’t want to listen to you. I listened to you when you said you loved Tasha, I listened when you told me you wouldn’t do anything like this again. I listened when you said you were sorry. I was an idiot.’

‘No, it’s not what you think. I know this looks bad and I know this probably brings back a lot of memories, but it’s not what you think, I swear to God. I didn’t know she was coming, I didn’t even realize she was in the store, I didn’t plan any of this. I would never hurt Tasha, I would never hurt you again, just believe me.’

‘No, no I already believed you once. I believed you back then when you said you would never do something like that to me, I felt guilty for ever even thinking it was you, you made me feel guilty when it wasn’t even my fault. And I believed you when you said you loved Tasha and that things would be different this time. I believed you back then and I believed you now, because I swear I’m the biggest idiot on the planet. I guess I should have realized this would happen again.’

‘No, no Jack listen to me man, you’re not an idiot. If anyone is the idiot in all of this it’s me, not you. But you have to believe me, I would never do something like that to you…’

‘You mean again? Cause if memory serves that’s exactly what you said the last time. You know what, never come near me again, okay. This is the absolute last time you mess with me, this is the last time I let you. Stay away from me and while you’re at it you stay away from Tasha as well.’

‘No, Jack please just let me…’

Jack punched him without really thinking about it, which was really something he had been wanting to do for years but never really did; then he just walks away, like he did years ago, walks away and ignores Robbie as he screams after him, ignores him like he should have done before.

‘Jack please! Just wait…’

~*~

He had to find out what the truth was.

He had to find out because he promised Brett, who was still sitting in jail. He had to admit though that at first he had found it hard to believe he was innocent, but after getting to know him he knew it was truth; he couldn’t explain it and he had no prove for it, but he knew it to be truth. Which is why he’s sitting here staring at the collection of names and files in front of him, trying to figure out the truth; all he needed was some prove, not for the police, but for Brett.

He had to find out for the children that were left without both parents.

He had to find out for the man that spend 15 years in jail for a crime he did not commit, he had to find out because there was a man out there that had murdered a woman; and instead of being punished, he had been set free. There were really only three families left, but only two of them lived in Summer Bay; for some reason he didn’t think the guy would actually move away, he’d stay behind in the place where he had destroyed a family, living in a victory that wasn’t his own.

That left two families still in town, but really only one man.

~*~

He stayed on the ground, in the exact spot he’d fallen in.

Robbie wished he’d had the strength to get up and run after him, to make him listen to the truth; to make him understand that he really hadn’t planned this. But he had not strength to go after him, no words to use that could possibly explain it; he had no idea how he would explain it anyway. What was worse, what was the absolute worst, was that Jack had actually come to see him; he’d searched him out to talk to, he almost had his best friend back.

‘Are you alright Robbie?’

‘What are you still doing here? Didn’t you understand when I told you before? Did the conversation I had with Jack tell you nothing? Go away. Now.’

‘Robbie I really need to talk to you…’

‘I don’t care. I don’t, just go, please.’

Katie walks away and Robbie just stands there in the wreckage, he wishes he knew how to fix it.

He wishes he’d send Katie away years ago.

~*~

Jack ran past Tasha without truly noticing that she was there.

Tasha stood there for a second, contemplating whether she should go after him; he had been upset before, maybe he just wanted to be alone. Except that in all the years she had known him he had never truly ignored her, which she found odd; that and the fact that he came from the opposite direction he came from. ‘Jack, hold on. Wait for me.’ She was thankful that he slowed down for her, thankful that he waited for her to catch up.

‘Hey, you okay? What…Oh my God, Jack what happened to your hand? Who’d you hit?’

‘Robbie.’

‘Why would you do that? Jack what the hell is wrong with you? I mean I know you don’t get along with him, but I thought you would at least try, you know, for me.’

Tasha turned her back to him as she shook her head.

‘Why? What happened between you two Jack? What happened to make you hate him so much?’

For a second, just a second, he wanted to tell Tasha everything; to make her as angry as he was, to make sure she understood. But he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t because if he were to tell the story now he’d make it worse then it actually was, and he didn’t want to make it worse.

‘Why don’t you go and ask him. Ask him what he did. Ask him about Katie, ask him what she was doing in his shop today. Go on Tasha, ask him.’

~*~

Mattie sat down beside him and sighed.

She wanted to tell Aden he was wrong, that if he were to go to the police they would believe him; that nobody would ever doubt him, but she couldn’t. She knew that Lucas seemed like the perfect son, seemed like a very good person, she had certainly fallen for it. Aden on the other hand was always in some sort of trouble, though she is beginning to wonder whether he was really to blame for all the things he was blamed for. She wanted to convince him to go to the cops; except that it wouldn’t do any good; all she had after all was a conversation she overheard.

‘This isn’t fair. There has to be a way, I mean what they did is wrong. They could have killed him.’

‘I know, but what do you want me to do about it. You know I didn’t think they’d do it, it’s why I didn’t try to say anything. But listen Mattie, you have to get away from him, and I mean far away. If he’s capable of doing this to somebody he doesn’t know, imagine what he could do to you. Just get away from him and when you talk to him, make sure one of your brothers is home. Do not talk to him alone.’

Mattie nodded in ascent, she knew that it could be dangerous to talk to Luke.

Except that she had to talk to him, if only to end things.

~*~

Luke had just walked trough her door.

Her mother had let him in, told him that Mattie would be home any minute now from the hospital; told him to make himself at home. Luke wished he could calm himself down, but he really couldn’t; a part of him, a small par, thinks he should go home and calm down. But he can’t, he can’t because he has to remind Matilda of the truth, he has to remind her to stay away from Ric. He’s glad neither of her brother’s is home, he’s glad they’ll be alone; she’ll understand once he explains, she’ll understand she belongs to him, she’ll understand he loves her.

The door opened suddenly and there she was.

‘Luke.’ Mattie remained frozen in the doorway for a second, contemplating what to do next. She could try running, except that she didn’t think she’d be in that much danger; besides it’s not like she could just run away like that, she had to end things. ‘I’m sorry did we have plans?’ ‘No, Mattie, I just decided to come by. I mean can’t I visit my girlfriend.’ ‘Of course you can, it’s just if I had known you’d be hear I would have come home sooner. Have you been waiting long?’ ‘Long enough. Your mother said you went to visit RIc.’ ‘Yeah, I just went to make sure they were alright, I went to see whether Martha needed anything you know.’

Luke got up and stood before her, the look in his eyes was terrifying.

Suddenly she wished she had run away.

~*~

Aden felt guilty about letting Mattie go of on her own.

He understood that she wanted to end things as soon as possible, but he didn’t want her to go alone; he should have insisted that she didn’t go alone. But she was sure her brother was home and so Aden found himself walking around in circles, trying to figure out what to do next; he could go to the caravan park and make sure that Mattie was alright. He’d just decided to do that when he saw Henry walking towards him, Aden took a deep breath as he decided to try and tell someone, after all if only one person believed him that had to be a good thing right?

‘Hey Aden I’m looking for Matilda, you seen her?’

‘Yeah I just saw her, she was going home, she thought she’d find you there.’

‘Alright, bye.’

Aden stood there for a second, trying to decide whether he was going to say something; he remembered how it felt when Luke hit him, he remembered how badly he and Drew had beaten up Ric. Despite the fact that he feared no one would believe him he couldn’t let Henry walk away without knowing the danger, Luke could snap and hurt Matilda, he could hurt Henry as well; and he would never know what was coming.

‘Henry! Hang on man, I have to tell you something.’

‘What?’

‘It’s about Luke …’

~*~

‘You want something to drink?’

Mattie pushed past him towards the kitchen, trying to act as normal as she could; maybe if she would pretend that nothing was wrong he’d calm down. She hoped that her brother was home, either one, or her mother. Surely he wouldn’t hurt her if someone was nearby? ‘Hey have you seen Henry, cause I was looking for him before and I couldn’t find him.’ ‘No, your mom said he left this morning and hasn’t come back, she went shopping by the way.’ Matilda grabbed the glass and try to make sure she wasn’t shaking, it was going to be alright, her brother would be home any minute now.

‘Why did you go to see him? You should stay away from him.’

‘Why, I mean he’s my friend.’

Luke grabbed her arm forcefully and turned her around, the glass slipped from her hand and shattered on the ground. ‘Luke you’re hurting my arm, can you please let me go.’ Instead of letting her go Luke grabbed her tighter, shaking her slightly. ‘You listen to me and you listen carefully, you stay away from that guy, you hear me? You’re mine and he should know that as well.’ ‘No I’m not. I’m not an object, I belong to nobody, but myself. Let go of me!’ Matilda tried to move her arm from his grasp, but he was holding to tightly. ‘You are mine!’ ‘No!’ Luke moved so fast that Mattie never actually saw his hand coming her way, but she felt his hand as it connected with her face.

He let her go at the same time he hit her, she fell backwards on the ground.

Her hands landed in the glass shreds on the ground.

I was originally going to add the backstory of Katie/Robbie/Jack in this chapter as well as the conversationg between Roy and Jack, but it was already pretty long so i decided to post this chapter.

[Red Ranger 1]

Wow.It's a shame that Jack came in at that moment and that he didn't listen to Robbie.Wonder if Katie did actually have something important to say.Hope Matilda's all right and that Henry listens to Aden.

[Sabrina]

I wonder what Katie has to say to Robbie?

Poor Robbie - I wish Jack had've listened to him.

I can't believe Lucas hit Matilda again - I hope she's ok. I really can't stand Lucas.

Looking forward to the next chapter.