Date: ??/??/2001
From: SouthernSlider

The door opened suddenly and slammed against the wall with force.

“I want to know what’s going on, and I want to know now!”  Quinn yelled.

Colin and Remmy looked his way with a jerk.  They had spent the better part of an hour talking, trying to come up with a plan of action.  They were about to head to their rooms for a little shut-eye when Quinn came bursting in.

“Quinn.  Thank goodness you are all right.  I have been looking everywhere for you.”  Colin said.

Quinn glanced at his brother, then bore his riveting gaze on Remmy.  His nostrils flared.  He walked over to the man in only three long, angry strides, and pointed his finger inches from his face.

“What the hell is going on?  Tell me everything, Rembrandt.  Everything!”

Remmy stared at him in disbelief, turned to Colin, then back to Quinn.  “Take it easy, Q-ball.  How about you tell me what you’re referring to.”  He knew what his friend was talking about, but this was too sudden.  He had to stall for time, even if it was only a moment.

Quinn was breathing heavily.  He placed his hands on his hips, worked to steady his breathing, then tried to get a grip on his emotions.  He then returned his finger to point at Remmy’s face.

“What were you doing at Wade’s apartment tonight?  What do you know about her?”  His face grew redder by the second.

“Quinn, I think you should calm down.  You . . .”  Colin said.

“Stay out of this, Colin.  This is between me and Remmy.”

Remmy looked at Colin with ‘help me’ written all over his face.  He was going to have to break his promise to Wade.  Quinn had to know.

“Q-ball, have a seat.  Calm down, and I’ll tell you everything.  But, please, first you have to get control of yourself.”  Remmy finally said.

“Quinn, sit down here.”  Colin gestured toward the sofa, not letting Quinn’s hateful words affect him.  “Remmy just told me what is going on, and he will tell you, too, if you can relax.”

Quinn lowered himself in the chair while Remmy and Colin took the sofa.  “How can I relax when . . .”

“Will someone please tell me what’s going on out here?  What’s all the yelling about?”

Maggie and Kelly bumbled out of the bedroom, both yawning and combing fingers through their hair.  They shuffled over to the sofa, Maggie plopping down next to Remmy, and Kelly placing herself in Colin’s lap.

“What are you guys up to?”  Kelly asked as she ran her knuckles playfully across the top of Colin’s head.  She was warm and soft, with a sweet, dreamy expression on her face.  Colin had to work to keep his mind on the business at hand.

Oh, no.  Remmy groaned, and shook his head.  Not these two.  It’s going to be hard enough to tell Q-ball, but now Kelly, too?  This is too much.

“Ladies, I think you had better wake up and brace yourselves.  Remmy has something to tell you,”  Colin said.  He wrapped his arms around Kelly, wanting to hold her close when the news came.

Quinn’s hands began to shake as Remmy cleared his throat.  He squeezed his eyes shut, and waited to hear Remmy’s words, waited to hear his part in all of this.

“I, uh . . . I’ve been seeing Wade.”  he started.

Maggie rolled her eyes and released a disgusted sigh.  Not little miss Goody-two-shoes again.  “Remmy, please . . .”

“Quiet, girl.  This is important.  If you interrupt, and not let me get it all out, I might lose my courage.”

She growled and flopped back against the sofa.  “Get on with it,”  she said, shaking her head.  Why on earth did I ever get up?

Kelly frowned and looked at Colin with a question in her eyes.  He stroked her back with one hand, and her leg with the other.  Her frown melted, a contented sigh taking its place.  Remmy started again.

“I’ve been seeing Wade.  We took a walk in the park, had lunch together.  I listened to her sing again, and then, went to her apartment tonight.”

“God, Remmy.  Get a grip.  She’s not your Wade.  Please don’t tell us you’re planning on staying here with her,”  Maggie said as she sat up.

Colin noticed Remmy’s agitated glance, and spoke up before the man said something he would regret.

“Maggie, please let Remmy finish.  Stop jumping to conclusions.”  Maggie frowned at Colin’s forceful tone of voice.  Quinn opened his eyes, stared at Remmy, and waited for his next words.

“She is our Wade, Maggie.”  Maggie jerked around to glare at him; Kelly sat up suddenly; Quinn never moved, his fears confirmed.  “She told me so herself,” Remmy continued.

Maggie laughed sourly.  “And you believed her?”  She stood up.  “You are so gullible, Remmy.  Why did she not come running to us when we first saw her in the bar? Why isn’t she here now?  I’ll tell you why.  Because she’s not our Wade, but she has you wrapped around her little finger -- just like the real one did.  Both of you,” -- she waved her hand at Quinn and Remmy --  “don’t have the guts of a fly when it comes to that woman.  She has you brainwashed on all worlds.”

Remmy stood up to meet her face to face.  “That’s not true, Maggie.  You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Colin saw the confusion on Kelly’s face, then looked toward his brother.  He saw Quinn’s blank stare aimed toward the two quarrelers, then noticed his face slowly drain of color.

“Remmy,”  Quinn said softly and calmly.  Remmy stopped his argument with Maggie in mid-sentence and turned toward him; Maggie still had daggers in her eyes. “Did she offer any proof?  Did she tell you how she escaped the Kromaggs, or how she came to be on this earth?”

“No, Q-ball, she didn’t.  We never got around to that.   I was so happy to see her. When I said something about coming here, and telling the rest of you the wonderful news, she . . . she went crazy.  She said I couldn’t tell you guys.  But I know it’s her.  I just know it.  It was the news about Kelly that made her spill the beans in the first place.  You should have seen her reaction.  She fainted right there on the spot.  If it wasn’t the real Wade, she never would have done that.”

“She fainted?”  Kelly stood up.  “Is she okay, Remmy?”

“She’s fine, sweetheart.  She just didn’t want you guys to know yet.  Maybe it was just too much for her to absorb.  She needs time.  She’s been through a lot, you know.”

Quinn stood up, displaying a quiet, calm demeanor, a one-hundred-and-eighty degree turn-around from just moments ago.  He released a relieved breath.  Remmy was an innocent bystander.  He didn’t know the whole truth -- whatever that was. “And she’s still going through a lot, I would imagine.”

Remmy frowned.  “What do you mean by that?”

“You weren’t the only visitor to her apartment tonight, Remmy.”

“What?”

“I’ve been walking around most of the day, trying to convince myself to ignore this Wade.  I happened to be in front of her apartment when you two arrived.  I stayed across the street until you left.  Then I left, trying to clear my head, and make sense of what I had seen.  When I wandered back toward her place, there was someone else headed inside.”

“Someone else?”  Remmy asked.  “Who?”

Quinn swallowed hard.  “Someone that proves she really is our Wade . . . unfortunately.”

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