Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 247,899 times)

[André DiMera]

Glad that both Kate and Rafe agree that the FBI shouldn’t be locking her up because she defended her grandson. Wonder wha5 her plan is, and if Rafe will go along with it.

Sounds like Judge Hildebrand has a crush.

Can we please have previews, heroicmuse?

[heroicmuse]

Thank you André DiMera, Kpatch, and krw627 for your comments this week!

Super excited for next week! We have some "regular" drama mixed in with moving forwrd with the legal cases... read on!


Coming up on Breaking Ties...

Wedding bells are in the air! Eve finally gets her shopping trip with her bridal party, which she laments being so small. But Marlena's determination to hide her condition might not work out so well for her when she is too low-energy to be able to keep up with the others in Barrons and Paige notices they are leaving her behind.

Meanwhile, Kenneth has a decision to make when Rubin asks him if he would be willing to testify. She thinks that could strengthen the case against Nat, but it also means everyone staying in the safe house longer, and he's not sure Hannah can handle that. What will she say when he brings it up to her?

Neither Rafe nor Justin is too happy with Kate or her idea. Does Justin need to do damage control? And can he?

Finally, Alison and Emily must be getting closer to the truth, as they are confronted by local police over a non-issue, while in Salem, the mood is more lighthearted as JJ has a moment to play with his daughter.

[Kpatch]

Marlena is significantly older than the others, so low energy or not, it would be harder for her to keep up. I'm sure Eve is too self centered to notice but at least Paige is there.

[André DiMera]

Glad Eve gets to shop for her wedding. Hope Marlena will be okay.

Hopefully Kenneth will agree to testify. Yes, it would suck if they had to stay in the safe house longer, but the more people testifying against Nat, the better.

I’m not sure anything can stop Kate when she’s determined.

Wonder what the police try to accuse Alison and Emily of. Glad J.J. gets time with his daughter!

Thanks for the previews, heroicmuse!

[heroicmuse]

Week 509 - 1
“No harebrained schemes, I promise,” Kate said. “It’s just that I happen to know that Nicole is looking for dirt on Sloan Petersen to make her back off, and it so happens that I have some, or at least, that I can get it easily.”

“Yeah?” Rafe said. “And then what, Kate? Pull a Melinda Trask and threaten to expose her if she doesn’t drop the charges against me? How you think that’s gonna work out?”

“I wouldn’t be quite so obvious as that,” Kate said coolly. “I know how to be persuasive without crossing the line into blackmail. Trask was so clumsy in how she approached you, don’t you think? I mean, threatening you outside the very courtroom where your sister was about to ask for her freedom back? Anyone with half a brain, which clearly excludes her and that blond groupie she has trying cases for her, would know that was doomed to failure.”

“Thanks for the lesson in how to extort people without getting caught. The answer’s still no. I’m not doing anything they can actually get me for. I want to actually stay free and get my job back while I’m at it, all right?”

“Fine.” Kate sighed. “We’ll just have to go for Plan B then.”

“What is that, and do I want to know?”

“Plan B,” Kate said, “Is I turn myself in and make a deal with them. I will sign whatever confession they want as long as they let you go.”

Rafe said, “I thought you didn’t want to go to jail for protecting Johnny from a pervert.”

“Oh, I don’t, and I won’t. You see, I also know how to work the press. Which you should too because your girlfriend is one of Salem’s top reporters, at least when she’s not letting Miles Malone call the shots. By the time the ink’s dry on my confession, they’re going to be begging me to agree to a slap on the wrist, 100 hours of demeaning myself throwing away trash in the Square, which of course I will pay someone to do in my place, so we all win and this goes away.”

“I don’t know. You’re takin’ an awfully big risk cause if you’re not as good at manipulating the system as you think…”

“Oh, I am that good. I’m better.”

“Yeah, well there’s a chance you’re going away for a long time, and that’s not any better a solution than them throwing the book at me.”

Kate pouted. “Sometimes I think you are the most stubborn man I’ve ever met, that is, except for my son, who is still with Sami all these years after I first warned him about her…”

“Could have been me, so watch it.”

“That could still be arranged.” Kate’s eyes lit up. “If you let me take the blame for this shooitng or whatever it is, I can see what I can do about getting Sami to leave you for Lucas.”

The front door opened as Rafe said, “That’s an even worse deal than your first idea. Why on Earth would I want to break up Lucas and Sami?”

“Something going on I should know about?” Nicole asked, coming in.


Alison and Emily had gone to lunch at a little cafe near the police station where Prescott’s brother worked. “So?” Alison said, cutting into a piece of cheesecake, “did my brother have any wordß of wisdom that he’s letting you share with me?”

“Al…,” Emily said.

Alison let her breath out slowly. “Sorry. Sorry. It just hurts that after all these years, he doesn’t trust me, especially when I’ve been fighting so hard for him. It kind of makes me wonder why I bother, you know?”

“That’s what someone wanted you to feel.” Emily leaned forward. “Alison, Josh never told them he didn’t want to see you. When I brought it up to him, he had no idea what I was talking about.”

Alison picked at the strawberry on top of her cheesecake. “If that’s true, why didn’t you guys come get me?”

“Josh said the guards won’t allow that. He has to check whether somehow you got dropped off his visitor’s list and fix it and then you can try again.”

Alison shook her head. “This whole thing makes no sense. So some guard is making it so I can’t talk to my brother?” She sipped her root beer. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

Emily nodded. “We’re getting too close to the truth. And someone powerful doesn’t like that and is trying to stop us.”

“Yep,” Alison said. “I got this text that I’m sure is fake too.” She showed it to Emily:

Text from --unknown number--
I heard u were digging into Josh McCarthy’s case. I have some info. Interested? Meet me @ Millennium Park 9 PM

[André DiMera]

Kate’s plan is interesting. What a time for Nicole to walk in!

Glad Emily told Alison what’s going on. Wonder who the text is from.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

I think Kate meant to say "leave Lucas for you." But Rafe is no longer interested in Sami. I'm glad Nicole overheard. This next scene should be fun.

[heroicmuse]

Week 509 - 2
John frowned as Marlena checked her purse. “You sure you’re up for this, Doc?”

“I’m not feeble, you know,” Marlena said, zipping the purse tighter. “I still have some life in me.”

“I know that, and I”m not trying to suggest otherwise, believe me.” John rubbed his temple. “But goin’ dress shopping with Eve, that’s gonna be a lot of walking, and you said yourself, you tire easily.”

“I could always get a wheelchair if it’s too much for me,” Marlena said. “There’s no shame in that, though I’d rather it not come to that. Besides, I need to get out of the house so I don’t sit around waiting for Kayla’s call, and what better way to do it than to go dress shopping with my future daughter-in-law.” John’s eyes narrowed and Marlena said, “I know you still don’t like the idea of her marrying Eric, but she makes him happy, and she hasn’t done anything egregiously wrong lately. Besides, how would you like it if someone made faces about Sami? Eve’s not any more impulsive than she is, and is just as good-hearted.”

“That’s a fact,” John said. “But you know what else is a fact? Eve’s not the one I’m worryin’ about, at least not right this second. Uh uh. My concern is you, and I just think you’re pushin’ yourself too hard when your energy level’s low.”

“John,” Marlena said, keeping her voice even, “I appreciate your concern, but really, I’m fine. I’mm not going to push myself past the point of exhaustion. Besides, I won’t be by myself.”

“You trust Eve Donovan to cut the trip short if you’re on the brink of collapse? Cause seems to me all she cares about is she gets the outing she’s been dreaming of all these months.”

“I do, actually. She’s not nearly the monster you’re painting her out to be, Besides, Paige will be there, and even if you don’t trust Eve, you can trust her daughter.”

“That’s a fact.” John’s voice was flat. He sighed deeply. “All right, Doc, I guess there’s no talking you out of it.”

“Was there ever any with you when you wanted to go on an ISA mission and I wanted you to stay home?” Marlena pointed out.

“Guess you got a point there. Just… don’t push yourself too hard and call me if you need me to come get you, all right?” John put his arms on Marlena’s shoulders.

“Of course,” Marlena said, “but I’ll be fine. You’ll see.” She kissed John goodbye and then she left.

John shook his head sadly as the door closed behind her.

In the hall, Marlena said to herself, “This is why I didn’t want anyone to know about my issues unless they had to. Especially John. The last thing I need is to be babied when I’m trying to live as fully as possible for as long as I’m lucky enough to have good health.” She hurried down the hall, annoyed.


Andrew had set up a secure video call for Kenneth so that he could talk to Rubin.

“You really need me to testify?” Kenneth asked her. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll do it if that’s what it takes to put Natalie Simmons away for good, but I thought I was just along for the ride, giving Hannah some support while she was stuck here.”

“I know, and I apologize for waiting ntil the last minute. It’s just that even though I think our case is strong, both of the star witnesses have criminal records. But if the jury could hear from you, how Natalie was an accomplice to your abduction, to the terror she and Marcel attempted to induce in you… and what it felt like when she framed you for her brother’s murder… I think that would hold a lot of weight with the jury.”

“Yeah, but some weird stuff’ll come out too,” Kenneth said. “For one thing, half the reason she was able to set me up like that was cause I was dumb enough to buy an illegal gun from some shady shop that didn’t check IDs or anything. If the cops wanted to be assholes, they could have held me on gun charges while they got the rest of it in place. And for another, I’m related to one of your star witnesses and dating the other, so how’s that gonna look?”

“Let me worry about that,” Rubin said. “Please, Kenneth, if you decide not to testify and then she walks…”

“Is that likely?” Kenneth asked. “Cause Hannah, she can’t take much more of being locked up in this safe house and if I testify too, it’s just gonna delay us going home.”

“I understand that,” Rubin said. She sighed. “The case is going well, I think. But you just never know with juries, so your testimony couldn’t hur† and oould actually really help.” Rubin crossed her arms. “Tell you what. I’ll put Abe Carver on the stand first and after he’s done, I’ll check back with you and see if I need to add you to the witness list.”

“Cool,” Kenneth said. “Thanks.”

He hung up and flopped back on the bed, not sure what he should do.

[André DiMera]

While I understand John’s concern to a point, I’m glad Marlena didn’t let him talk her out of going.

Whether it means having to stay in the safe house longer or not, I hope Kenneth agrees to testify.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

Marlena has a point. Still, John is her husband and he needs to know what she's going through. She can ask him not to baby her.

[heroicmuse]

JJ was sitting on the floor with Mariposa, playing with her with her puzzles. “WHich one do you want, Mari?” he said. “Music or alphabet?”

“Moosic,” Mari said, giving him a toothy grin. She looked just like Paige when she smiled, especially since her hair was wavy and dark like Paige’s too.

“That’s my girl,” JJ said. “We’ll do the music puzzle and then we’ll play some real music, how’s that.”

“Yeetar?” Mari asked hopefully.

JJ thought about correcting her pronunciation. She was almost three now, so she had to start learning the right way to say words. But the way she said “guitar” was so adorable that he couldn’t bear to tell her it wasn’t the right way to speak. Besides, soon enough she’d be talking properly and going to kindergarten, and then in the blink of an eye middle school and high school, and before he knew it, he and Paige would be middle-aged and their daughter would be grown up.

“There any other instrument you’d rather play ?” he asked, smiling and trying to ignore the sudden panic he had that time was flying by way too fast for his liking.

“Mari has cym-balls!” Mari said, taking two of the puzzle pieces and hitting them together.

JJ couldn’t help laughing at that. “Before you know it you’ll be playing real cymbals,” he said, “and maybe a real guitar too. Grandpa Jack got me my first one when I was six.” He sighed deeply, thinking about his dad. “I sure wish he could have met you,” he said wistfully. “He’d have loved being a grandpa.”

Mari touched his cheek. “Daddy sad.”

“I’m okay,” JJ said, pulling her onto his lap. “Come on, let’s do this puzzle. He gently took the two music notes she’d been banging together out of her hands. “Maybe by the time we’re done, Mama will be back from her shopping trip with Grandma Eve.” He kissed the top of Mari’s head.



Meanwhile, Eve had met Paige at the entrance to the Salem Mall. “We’re just waiting for your Aunt Theresa and one other person,” she said. “Oh, how I wish I was the kind of woman who had more friends than she knew what to do with, but the best I can do is two bridesmaids, and you as my maid of honor, of course.” She squeezed Paige’s shoulder, affectionately. “And my sweet little granddaughter, of course. She and Ari Horton are going to make such beautiful flower girls. I so wish you had brought her, though.”
“It would have been too much for her,” Paige said. “She’s not even three, Mom, she doesn’t have the patience for shopping, and she has to take a nap still. Gosh, I hope JJ doesn’t forget to put her down for it. He’s so excited to have a Daddy/daughter day while we’re shopping and you know how he is when he’s having fun, he completely loses track of time.” She pulled out her phone. “I’d better text him and remind him.”

“No, don’t.” Eve touched her wrist. “You know how men are, if they think you don’t trust them it’ll just cause an argument for no good reason. Besides, it won’t hurt Mariposa a bit to stay up a little longer, just this once.”

Paige frowned. “Somehow I don’t remember you having that attitude when I was little and wanted to stay up ‘just this once.’”

“Of course not. I was your mother. But now that I’m a grandmother, I see it differently.”

Paige’s eyes narrowed. “I still think…” But Theresa was running toward them, so she cut herself off and threw her phone into her purse again.

“I was going to apologize for being late,” Theresa said, “but it doesn’t look like I am, so…” She gasped for breath. “I got a workout for no reason, huh?”

“I suppose so,” Eve said. “Now where is…”

“Here I am,” Marlena said, coming slowly toward them. “I hope I didn’t hold you all up.”

Paige noticed that Marlena looked worn out from the short walk from the parking lot. She bit her lip so she wouldn’t say anything.


“Well?” Nicole said, looking back and forth from Rafe to Kate. “Don’t both talk at once, or I might get the idea that this was something ocmpletely innocent.”

“Innocent,” Rafe said, “is not a word I would ever apply to Kate, even if she does think she’s helping, in her twisted way.” He turned toward Kate. “Let me introduce you to — ”

“Nicole and I are very familiar with each other,” Kate said dryly.

“If that were true, you’d know she was my girlfriend,” Rafe said, “and her name is not Sami Brady.”

“Horton,” Nicole said. “Sami Horton. See, she’s actually not a threat to us anymore, because she’s married… to your son, Kate! You know, the one you once tricked me into a loveless marriage with because I was young and evil enough to have dollar signs in my eyes instead of hearts. But that won’t work this time. I don’t know what Lucas sees in Sami, but I’m glad he sees it because he keeps her out of the way and her scheming little heart away from Rafe.”

Kate’s eyes narrowed. “I was only trying to make Rafe see reason.”

“Reason?” Nicole’s voice rose. “If Rafe wasn’t already on trial for covering up your crime, I’d show you reason and let him cover up mine! As it is, don’t tempt me.”

“Nicole,” Rafe said quietly. “Don’t. There is zero chance I’m gonna leave you for Sami and even less that Kate’s gonna break up Sami and Lucas this time around. So there’s no need for you to do anything crazy, all right? Kate is just leaving now that she knows the answer to this crazy scheme is no, and you and I are gonna talking and cuddle and watch a movie to get our minds off this nonsense. Okay?”

“Fine,” Nicole said, “but be glad I have to report the news cause otherwise I’d be making some.”

Kate said, “He won’t be any good to you in jail either, you know, so you might as well…”

Nicole took a step toward her. Rafe said, “Kate, you made your point. Now go.”

“FIne,” Kate said. “Think about what I said, Rafe. You don’t deserve to be locked up just because Melinda Trask has the same bug up her but as your girlfriend.” She turned and walked away, closing the door behind her.

“Do I want to know what that was about?” Nicole asked. “Besides trying to torpedo us?” She reached for Rafe’s hand. “If Sami came to you in your hour of need, I’m right in thinking you wouldn’t fall for it, aren’t I?”

“You really have to ask? Didn’t I kick Kate out of here over that?” Rafe squeezed Nicole’s hand. “You’re the one I want, Nicole, not Sami, not Kate, not anyone else.” He stroked her hair. “And don’t you worry. The only thing I got out of Kate’s visit is I gotta see Justin tomorrow to find out what damage control we gotta do so she doesn’t get me locked up trying to help.”

“After the way she got you into this mess, she’d better not…”

“Nah. I did that to myself. I still think I was right to let her go at the scene, but at the same time, if she keeps this up, she’s gonna make me regret it.” Rafe kissed the top of Nicole’s head. “Now how about we forget all this and put on a movie?”

“All right,” Nicole said, “as long as you made it clear what she can do with those plans of hers.”

“You doubt it for a second?” Rafe said, turning on the TV. “Here. You choose. Just no movies about killing ex-girlfriends.”

“You take away all my fun,” Nicole joked. She turned on a movie and leaned against Rafe. He put his arm around her.

[André DiMera]

Cute scene between J.J. and Mari. Bittersweet that Jack isn’t there.

Hope the dress shopping goes well and Paige doesn’t worry too much about if J.J. puts Mari down for a nap.

Glad Rafe eventually got Nicole to calm down, and told Nicole that he’s not interested in Sami anymore.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

I figured Nicole and Kate would get into it.

I wonder if Mari has a speech issue that his parents haven't detected yet.

[heroicmuse]

Week 509 - 4
At his office, Justin shook hands with Rafe. “You said you had some questions about your case?”

“Just one.” Rafe pulled out a chair and sat down. “Kate Roberts came to see me yesterday.”

“Oh, no,” Justin said. “Please tell me she hasn’t done anything else crazy that’ll tank our case.”

“I sure as hell hope not.” Rafe crossed his arms. “She was talking about turning herself in in exchange for them dropping all charges against me. Is that something that’s even possible?”

Justin raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening with surprise.



“So?” Kenneth said to Hannah after he’d finished telling her what Rubin had said. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Hannah said, crossing her arms. “I want Nat locked up so deep in that jail she can never get out, but at the same time…”

“It would mean us being stuck here longer,” Kenneth said. He ran his hand through Hannah’s hair. “I don’t want to do that to you, baby. I know how hard it’s been on you to be locked up here, feeling all the time like you’re back in jail.”

“I don’t have my freedom here, that’s for sure,” Hannah said, “but I wasn’t even thinking about me. I was thinking about you.” She grabbed Kenneth’s hands. “What Marcel did to you… you’d have to relive it up there on the stand, with that joke of a defense attorney asking all sorts of questions to try to confuse you and make you think it didn’t happen that way.”

“I don’t care,” Kenneth said. “I know what happened to me. I’ll never forget being marched into my own house at gunpoint and having to watch while he tied Uncle Malcolm… I mean my dad… up. And Vicki… she was hiding in her closet and if he’d found her… you know he heard a noise and left us tied up downstairs while he went to see what’s what and the whole time I was sitting on that stool unable to move, in my head all I could see was him coming downstairs with her slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes or worse, what he could have done to her in her bedroom if he’d found her.”

Hannah shuddered. “He would have, too,” she said. “Thank God Vicki stayed far enough back in the shadows he didn’t have a chance to get his hands on her.”

“Yeah,” Kenneth said flatly. “I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.”

“I know that feeling.” Hannah squeezed Kenneth’s hands. “You know the defense’ll try to make you out to be the bad guy, though. They’ll poke at you over buying that gun and everything, try to make it like Brianna only beat you to shooting Marcel and like none of it’s Nat’s fault.”

“I’m aware. But it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“You’re braver than me.” Hannah’s voice was soft. “I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to trial, and I had nightmares the whole time.”

“Doesn’t make you weak.” Kenneth put his hand on top of Hannah’s. “Being locked up here would give anyone nightmares. But for you after doing a year behind Nat’s nonsense…” He squeezed Hannah’s hand. “She deserved to be locked up for that beer, not you.”

“Yeah, well, I did plenty I should have been arrested for.” Hannah got up and looked out the window at nothing. “So sure seems like you want to testify.”

“I do,” Kenneth said, “but only if you’re gonna be okay.”

“I am, but we gotta call a family meeting.” Hannah played with the blinds. “Never thought I’d be saying this when Brianna was just Chanel the ex-gang member who shot at Marcel, but she’s affected too and she deserves to have a say in what she can and can’t handle.”


Meanwhile, Mr. Woods leaned on his phone. “This is excellent news. I’m sure the children will be very excited, and it will be a good experience for them. Thank you for all your help.” He hung up and walked into the kitchen, where Vicki was doing something on her phone.

“Oh good, you’re here,” he said.

“Where else would I be?” Vicki asked. “My friends are either working as camp counselors, got another summer job, or are away on vacation with their families. Which we never are.”

“Your mother does not have money for such things,” Uncle Malcolm told her, “and anyway, with Kenneth away it doesn’t seem right to go on vacation.”

“Why? He’s a grown man and I’m still a child for two more years.”

“I remember when you couldn’t wait to be seen as an adult.” Uncle Malcolm smiled. “Anyway, I’d like you to put your phone aside for a moment, please.”

Vicki pushed the phone away, rolling her eyes. “Fine. What is it?”

“I think I could do with a little less negative attitude,” Uncle Malcolm said, “but it is no matter. There is a new program I have just secured funds for at the high school, and I have no doubt you will love it once you hear about it.”



Emily frowned. “You’re not actually going to meet him, are you?”

“Probably not,” Alison said. “I mean, if I wanted to shut up some reporters, that would be exactly how to lure them to somewhere where I could kidnap them, or worse.”

“Yeah,” Emily agreed. “So why did you say ‘probably?’”

“Cause there’s a little part of me that wonders if it could be for real.” Alison held up her hand. “I’m not acting on it, at least not alone. But I thought after we talk to Officer Prescott, we could go back to the hotel and I could call Sally and see what she thinks.”

“She’ll tell you the same thing I just did,” Emily said. “Don’t go meeting random men alone if you hope to live to tell the tale.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Alison sighed. “Come on. Let’s go talk to the cops.”

They picked up their trash, but as they approached the trash can a wrapper fell out of Alison’s hand.

Alison hurried to to pick it up. A shadow fell over her as she did.

As she straightened up after throwing it away, she looked up to see she was surrounded by cops.

Swallowing hard, she said, “Officers. What can I do for you?”

“Littering’s against the law,” one of the cops said. He put his hand on his gun. “Now, we can give you a ticket or we can take you in, either way. So I suggest you cooperate so we don’t have to waste time hauling you guys to jail.”

Another cop added, “Turn around, both of you, and put your hands behind your backs. We want to see what you have on you.”

Alison swallowed hard as she and Emily complied. This isn’t a coincidence, she thought as a cops fingers tightened around her wrists, stopping her from moving, and the cop robotically ordered her to spread her legs. Someone doesn’t want us talking to Prescott and doesn’t like that Emily talked to Josh. They’re trying to intimidate us.

She bit her lip, determined not to let them get away with it, as the cop began patting her down.

[André DiMera]

Wonder what Justin will say.

Glad Hannah and Kenneth are talking about this.

Interested to hear more about this new program Mr. Woods is working on.

Threatening to take someone in for littering? That’s pretty extreme! Alison’s right, these guys don’t want her talking to Josh or Prescott’s brother.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!