Collateral Damage (Read 56,470 times)

[jwsel]

As we said, if anyone has questions about the time period, we're happy to provide details. Cruise of Deception was summer 1990, so it was about a year before this. That happened just as Shane and Kim were splitting for the final time (until 2010 in canon or the events of the story in our AU). He had just learned Kim was pregnant with Jeannie, and everyone accused Shane of going to Italy as a way of avoiding dealing with the situation with Kim. Meanwhile, Steve and Kayla had just rescued Stephanie from Australia, where she had been taken while kidnapped. Right after COD, they remarried. Then everything erupted with the Jencon/Riverfront Raider case, which led to Steve's death.

[jwsel]

Chapter 51

As Andrew looked glumly at the plate in front of him, Shane set Stephanie in her high chair. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's see what Worthington has for your lunch." He picked up the plate of food for her and carried it over to the chair.

"What is this?" Andrew asked as he poked at the food in front of him with his fork.

Shane laughed. "That, Sport, is a true British lunch. Shepherd's pie. And that recipe was from your Grandma Jeannie, my mum."

Andrew looked dubious. "It looks weird."

"Think of it as hamburger and mashed potatoes all mushed together," Shane said. That seemed to work. Andrew picked up a fork-full and, after close examination, took a bite and then another. Meanwhile, Shane turned to trying to feed Stephanie some chicken and vegetables without wearing half her meal.

"Ah, Master Donovan, I was looking for the children." Shane turned to see Mrs. Batson in the entryway to the kitchen. He wiped away some of the mashed carrot on his shirt and gratefully surrendered Stephanie's spoon to her.

"I'll let you take over from here," he said, then looked over to Andrew, who was shoveling shepherd's pie into his mouth. "Andrew, when you're done with lunch, why don't we go into the village? I bet we can find some people over on the cricket pitch and you can practice your bowling."

"Can we?" Andrew asked excitedly.

"Absolutely, Sport. I just have to go take care of something for work first." Shane wanted to be out of the kitchen when Kayla and Steve came in to get Stephanie, so he headed out of the kitchen toward the entrance of the communications room.

"Shane." He stopped when he heard Kayla's voice. She had turned down the hallway toward him. She had a very determined look on her face.

"Um . . . Kayla." He knew he sounded nervous. "Stephanie's in the kitchen with Mrs. Batson. I was just . . . um . . . heading to my study to do some work."

"Stop," she said. "You've been avoiding me. Steve's upstairs now, so he won't hear us. We need to talk."

"Do we?" he asked in an even tone. He had conquered his nerves and reminded himself that he was supposed to be making this easy for her. Calmly, he added, "I think you said everything you needed to say the other day."

Kayla shoved her hands into her jeans pockets and shifted from side to side, uncomfortably. She did not look at him. He knew she would probably try to apologize for her comment about Steve being the only man who meant anything to her, but Shane cut her off.

"You don't need to say anything more, Kay."

"Yes, I do," she said. She pulled her right hand out of her pocket and Shane saw the ring he had given her. The ring his father had given his mother. "I have to tell Steve the truth, but I wanted you to know first and . . . I wanted to return this."

Shane shook his head. "I gave that to you. It's yours." He pushed past her and headed down the hallway. Don't say anything, he told himself. Don't let her see. He could hear her footsteps behind him as he turned down the front corridor toward the foyer.

"Shane, don't walk away from me," Kayla said, her voice rising.

He spun around to face her. She still had the ring out and was holding it out to him. "I told you," he snapped, more harshly than he intended. "That's yours. Do what you want with it. Keep it for yourself, put it away for Stephanie, or just throw it away. I don't care."

"I know you're hurting," Kayla said. "I'm sorry."

Shane had managed to recover control of himself. "You've nothing to be sorry for. You don't think I knew the consequences of the operation."

"The operation?" Kayla said, incredulously. "How can you call it that? You're talking about bringing Steve back to me and Stephanie. And I know how hard it had to be for you to do that."

Shane took a deep breath. "If you think that, then you don't know me at all," he said, his tone even. "The decision to take the mission was easy. Steve's family."

"That's not what I mean and you know it." Kayla stepped close to him. "I know you loved me, Shane, and I loved you, but this. . . ." She held up the ring. "It's a symbol of something that can't happen. When you gave it to me, you said your father gave it to your mother on the day he decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He wanted a future with her. That's what this ring represents -- the future -- and we don't have one."

"It's still yours," Shane said. He was struggling again. That dam of emotion, the pain, was threatening to burst. "I gave it to you because I loved you. That's how I felt -- and how I felt can't be taken back." He looked down at the ring in her hand. "Neither can that."

[jwsel]

I also thought I would add an embed that will give you an idea of the downstairs of Donovan Manor. This has the foyer and the sitting room.

[MrsM]

Poor Shane. He is really struggling with all of this and it is only going to get worse.

[fluffysmom]

Shane is trying so hard to suppress his emotions. It must be really awkward for Kayla to be in this situation. She has to be dreading telling Steve the truth.

[jwsel]

Chapter 52

After they returned to the house, Steve had left Kayla in the foyer and headed up the stairs to their room. Kayla had told him again that she would be up soon and they would talk about everything. Everything. As he walked down the hall to the bedroom, he couldn't help but wonder what that meant. As determined as he had been to get the full story out of Kayla earlier, he was now filled with uncertainty.

He entered the room and sat down on the bed. The news that Kayla had sold the house had been a shock. Although they had not talked about it, he had pictured returning to Salem and to their home many times. It had never occurred to him that Kayla would have sold it. That had been the plan before his accident, when they had planned their trip around the world, but he had just assumed that Kayla would have stayed in their house after he was gone.

He could not blame her for selling it though. Whatever secrets were being kept, there had been nothing but truth in her eyes when she told him how she couldn't go back to their house without him. What was it she had said? "It wasn't my life anymore." What did your life become, Sweetness? As much as he believed she loved him, he could not help feeling those old insecurities creeping up. What if the life she had built without him was the life she really wanted? What if she was here with him because she felt sorry for him or simply out of loyalty?

Stop being an idiot, Johnson, Steve told himself. He had seen the love in Kayla's eyes the moment she saw him on the stairs and he had seen it and felt it numerous times over the last week or so that they had been at Donovan Manor. She loves you. Yes, she loved him. But was there somebody else in her heart? That was the question he couldn't shake and the question that caused him to start pacing around the room.

He thought back to his conversation with Shane. He knew he should be grateful to Shane for making sure that Kayla and Stephanie were safe, but he hated that his family had been forced to rely on somebody else when protecting them was his job, his responsibility. Logically, Steve knew his resentment of Shane was unwarranted. The man had protected his family and then saved Steve's life and given him his life back. But Steve could not help how he felt. He owed everything to Shane, and he hated owing anything to anybody. The fact that Shane seemed to know more about Kayla's life than Steve did certainly did not help matters.

Steve looked at the clock on the bedside table and realized it had been at least 15 minutes since he had left Kayla downstairs. The gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach increased. Had Kayla found another reason not to come talk to him? He knew he could not take the delay much longer. Did it really matter where they talked as long as they finally did? He knew he could not wait around any longer without going insane, so he headed for the door.

Steve had just reached the top of the stairway when he heard their voices. It was Shane and Kayla. He could see Shane standing just inside the foyer. He could not see Kayla, but he heard her voice.

"That's not what I mean and you know it," Steve heard her say, as she stepped into view, standing very close to Shane. "I know you loved me, Shane, and I loved you, but this. . . ." Steve's breath caught as Kayla held up a ring, the ring she had been wearing that first day.

"It's a symbol of something that can't happen. When you gave it to me, you said your father gave it to your mother on the day he decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He wanted a future with her. That's what this ring represents -- the future -- and we don't have one."

Steve felt the bile rise in his throat. He felt paralyzed as he watched the scene play out before him.

"It's still yours," he heard Shane say. "I gave it to you because I loved you. That's how I felt -- and how I felt can't be taken back." Steve watched as Shane looked down at the ring Kayla held in her hand. "Neither can that."

Steve willed himself to breathe. His mind flashed to all those moments that had felt wrong. The way Shane had avoided calling Kayla. The picture of Stephanie he carried. Kayla holding Shane's hand when she had first arrived. The ring. That damned ring. The tension he had felt when he had walked in on them in the stables. Kayla's evasiveness. Kim's evasiveness. Shane's angry comment about Kayla not being honest with him. Kayla living at Shane's house.

How could I have been so stupid? It all made sense now. He had been right; Kayla had been involved with somebody. But not just some stranger back in Salem. No, it was Shane. His friend. Kimberly's ex-husband. The dashing spy with all the money. Shane and Kayla had played Steve for a fool this whole time and he had let them.

That ends now. Steve started down the stairs towards his wife and his friend. "Well, well, well," he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm and anger. "What do we have here? And I thought that ring was just a piece of junk. Wasn't that what you said, Sweetness? You should have told me it was from loverboy over here."

[Kpatch]

Oh wow! What great drama. When I read the previous chapter I was thinking that Steve should overhear Shane and Kayla's conversation, and lo and behold, he did! Love it.

[gapeach]

That is probably the best way he could have found out! Loving this story, can't wait to read more!

[fluffysmom]

This is how you write a soap. Love it! That was the perfect way for Steve to find out. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[MrsM]

Here comes the Kaboom!! Oh boy, I think we are really in for it!

[DancingDays]

*GASP* I wasn't expecting that. I mean, I guess I should have been, it's fantastically soapy, but ouch! Poor Steve!!!

[jwsel]

Thanks so much. It's great to read that you liked the way the truth was revealed. It is soapy, but we definitely want to keep the soap opera feel in this fic. Otherwise, it wouldn't really feel like Days, would it?

[jwsel]

Chapter 52

"Well, well, well . . . . What do we have here? And I thought that ring was just a piece of junk. Wasn't that what you said, Sweetness? You should've told me it was from loverboy over here."

Shane bristled at Steve's sarcastic comment about his mother's ring, but Kayla reached out and grasped Shane's arm. She spoke first. "Steve, it's not what you think."

"No? Did I suddenly go deaf or didn't you just say you loved him?" Steve had reached the bottom of the stairs and glared at Shane. "I can't really blame you, Donovan. The Bradys are a nice family." He gave a sarcastic grin. "Did you at least wait for the dirt to settle on the coffin?"

"Steve," Shane said, as he stepped forward, but Kayla was still holding his arm. "Like Kayla said, it wasn't like that."

"Yeah, I really believe that." Steve's voice was rising. "All that BS about Kayla moving into your house for protection. What a crock. You just wanted her close, didn't you? Made it easier to get into her pants, right?"

"Steve!!" Kayla cried out. "You're wrong. That's not how it was. It just kind of happened. . . ."

"Nothing 'kind of happens' with Double-0-Donovan here," Steve snapped. "Isn't that what the ISA teaches you? To always be prepared. To have plans for every contingency." He shook his head angrily. "And you, baby. . . . You fell for it."

Shane pulled his arm free and stepped between Steve and Kayla. He had no idea what Steve was going to do, but Shane did not want Kayla to get hurt. "Listen to me, Steve. You don't understand what happened."

"Oh, I understand!" Steve yelled. "I understand perfectly. Kim dumped your ass and you turned around and put the moves on my wife, you son-of-a-bitch. She was weak and hurting, and you put the moves on her." He looked past Shane at Kayla, and his voice dropped into a harsh growl. "So how was ol' Donovan in bed? Did he recite poetry while he--"

Shane had been pushed too far and cut Steve off. "That's enough, Steve," he cautioned. "Stop it now and listen. You don't have a clue what it was like for Kay after you died."

"No, I don't," Steve said, the sarcasm back in his voice. "But I think I've got a pretty good idea. The poor, suffering widow and her baby taken in by the rich guy with the big house and the fancy accent. I think I saw it in a movie -- probably did pretty good at the box office." Steve circled them, like a predator circling its prey. "But this isn't a movie, Donovan. That's my wife."

Shane moved as well, keeping himself between Steve and Kayla. Steve was not about to calm down and listen to reason. Behind him, Kayla spoke again. Even though Shane could not see her, he could tell she was crying.

"Steve, please. Just listen to me. It's not like you think. You were dead, and I was hurting. Shane . . . Shane just helped me."

"Helped you?" Steve quirked an eyebrow. "Helped himself to you, more like it."

"Cut it out," Shane warned. "Either listen to Kay explain or get the hell out of here until you calm down. She'll tell you everything."

"'Kay'? Isn't that nice? He's got a nickname for you, Sweetness." Steve had moved slightly closer and Shane saw the punch coming well before it was thrown. Reaching back with his right hand, he pulled Kayla out of the way as he sidestepped Steve's wild swing.

"Steve!" Kayla yelled.

"Get back, Kayla," Shane said. He continued to block Steve's path to her.

"Yeah, Kayla, listen to loverboy. I bet he's been giving you lots of orders the past year." Steve turned his attention back to Shane. "Good thing I don't have my knife or I'd cut your balls off." He threw another punch, but Shane ducked under it.

"Steve, I don't want to hurt you." Shane rose back up. "You're confused and emotional, and you're not thinking."

"Oh, that's right. The big ISA agent doesn't have emotions. He doesn't know what it's like to find out your wife's been screwing around." Steve swung again, but Shane stepped back and it missed.

"Don't you get it, Steve?" Shane made an effort to sound calm as he tried to explain. "Whatever happened is over. Kayla wants you."

"Don't play me for a fool, Donovan," Steve growled. He pulled back with his right hand and punched again. Again, Shane stepped out of the way.

"I don't want to hurt you," Shane repeated, though he doubted this could end without anyone getting hurt.

"Please, Steve," Kayla begged. "Stop it and let me explain."

"I don't want explanations!" Steve roared. "It's all a bunch of words -- meaningless words. And don't you know? Donovan here's a master at double-talk. Wasn't that the whole BS about her living at your house? I've heard enough lies already."

"I didn't lie," Shane said.

"No, but you just held back most of the truth, didn't you?" Steve's fists remained clenched.

"Please, Steve. Listen to us. Nobody lied to you," Kayla cried. "I was going to tell you. I just needed time to figure out how. Please . . . please stop."

Shane knew that was never going to happen. Steve was out of control and, as much as Shane did not want to hurt him, the only way Steve would stop is if he were unable to fight. Shane just needed to incapacitate him, ideally without causing any lasting damage. In his mind, he ran through several options, but none seemed particularly palatable. Then, as Shane watched, Steve lowered his head. Giving up the punches now, Shane thought, as Steve charged forward. With a sigh, Shane decided what to do.

He stepped to his left and swung his left fist into Steve's side as he rushed by -- a perfect shot to the liver. Steve cried out in pain, grasped his side, and fell forward, just as Shane expected. What he did not anticipate was that Steve would land face first. He rolled over, exposing a red welt on his jaw and blood running from a cut lip. Kayla rushed past Shane and knelt down next to Steve. She cupped his face and then looked back at Shane.

"What did you do?" she cried out, angrily. "How could you hit him like that?" She did not say it out loud, but from her accusatory gaze, Shane knew she thought that Steve was too weak to pose any harm.

Dammit, Shane thought. He stepped back and ran his hands through his hair. He had tried not to hurt Steve, but that was exactly what he had done. Finally, Shane's own frustration came to a boil.

"Blast it, Steve!" he yelled. "Why can't you get it through your bloody head that what's past is past? If you heard anything, you heard Kay say she doesn't want me. I knew it was over the minute I took the mission. So what more do you want for me? What more can I give up for you? Don't you have every bloody thing you want? Or is a wife who loves you and a baby girl not enough?"

You have everything, Shane added silently. Everything I want.

Kayla had turned back and was tending to Steve's wounds as he continued to writhe around on the floor in pain from Shane's punch. She looked back up, with an accusatory look in her eyes. Dammit, Shane thought again. All he had wanted to do was stop Steve before anyone got seriously hurt, but she wouldn't understand. Angrily, Shane spun around and stormed out of the foyer toward the estate grounds. I've got to get out of here, he thought. I just can't take this anymore. I just have to get out of here.

[fluffysmom]

Great confrontation scene.

[MrsM]

I hate when men won't listen. They just throw accusations and words around and never listen to anybody, but it so soapy good!!!