Title: Fallen (13/?)
Author: Chelle Storey-Daniel
RATING: Strong R for heavy emotions
Pairings: Callie/Alex, Mark/Addison, Derek/Meredith, Burke/Cristina
Summary: In Ready For A Fall, Callie's marriage to George ended and she found love and happiness with Alex. Now, it's Addison's turn to get married, Meredith is engaged to Derek, and Cristina and Burke are slowly rebuilding their own life together. There are many ways to fall. Some are good. Some are bad. And when you hit the earth ... you've simply fallen ... and sometimes it hurts too much to stand again.

A/N: You can't possibly read or enjoy this until you've read Ready for a Fall. Of all the fics I've written, that one is the one I'm most proud of. :)



Previously in Fallen... :)

One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve


*~*~*~*~*~

Callie awoke before anyone else in the house, the same horrifying dream still fresh in her mind. It had happened all over again; the carnival, the smaller version of herself, and Alex’s death had been a macabre repeat of the previous night. Tears were still coursing down her cheeks when she dressed in warm pajamas and headed downstairs to the kitchen in search of something cold to drink. Instead of going into the main kitchen, she went to the small respite area near the theater and dug through the under the counter refrigerator there. It reminded her of Goon Docks and she smiled as she pushed cans of soda around, slowly beginning to calm down. She located an orange juice in the back of the fridge and grabbed it, knocking over a row of small alcohol bottles. There was vodka, rum, and gin lined up ... silently begging her to drink it. Her hands shook as she sat them back up. Grey Goose had never looked quite as inviting.

Hating herself for her thoughts, she twisted the lid on the juice and took several swallows. It tasted flat compared to what it *could* taste like. She eyed the vodka and licked her lips, hating that she hesitated over whether or not she should drink at all. She knew that she shouldn’t, that she would regret it and lose everything, but God, she wanted it. Her hand went to the Grey Goose and she pulled it out, gazing down at the familiar label.

Raphael watched from the doorway, his jaw tight. Beside him, Alex was gripping the jamb tight enough to turn his knuckles white. Callie saw neither. Gathering all the bottles into her arms, she got to her feet and set them on the counter. She opened the gin first and tipped it into the sink, exhaling slowly when the smell of it made its way to her. Next, she disposed of the rum and finally, she lifted the vodka, taking another look at her orange juice. Nothing would chase away the ghost of McFry like a screwdriver ... or mess her life up as much. Twisting the lid off, she poured the contents down the drain and turned the water on, forcing the scent away. When it was gone, she shut the water off and held onto the rim of the basin as she closed her eyes. Another battle fought and won, she thought. Lifting her juice, she walked out of the kitchen, still oblivious to her audience and headed into the blue room.

Alex and Raphael stood side by side for a moment. Raph spoke first. In a low, rumbling voice, he said, "You all underestimate her. My methods may have left a lot to be desired, Alex, and maybe she is a mess ... but she’s a *strong* mess."

Alex nodded. "I apologize for what I said to you at dinner. I had no right to-"

"You have every right." Raph clapped him on the shoulder. "You’re a part of this family now, son. You’re a part of her. And Callie wouldn’t tolerate a man who doesn’t take a stand. ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter’. That’s a quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Callie liked it so much that she had it painted on her bedroom wall when she was a teenager. I think she still believes it."

"I can attest to that. She’s got a very, very big penchant for saying exactly what’s on her mind." Alex smiled at his father in law. "How are things with you and Mel?"

With a shake of his head, Raphael sighed. "My wife perfected the art of holding a grudge in the womb, I believe, because she’s able to do it effortlessly. She’s not talking to me. I’d prefer that you not mention that to Callie, though. Melana made it very clear that we will be putting on quite the display for her benefit."

"You’re not gonna fool Callie. It’ll just piss her off if you try to."

"I’d rather deal with Callie’s wraith than Melana’s."

Alex chuckled. "You *are* the wise man I thought you were."

"Then take my advice and go see why my little girl is awake so early." He nodded toward the door. "And, Alex?"

"Yes, sir."

"Endeavor to keep your pants on because I may walk through that room in a while to check on her myself and I can’t guarantee that I’ll take seeing your ... bare ass ... very well for a second time."

Alex’s ears felt hot and he knew he was blushing. "I’ll keep that in mind."

"One more thing." Watching the other man squirm gave Raphael warm fuzzies. "You’re taking the news about the supernatural events around here very well. Why is that? Have you experienced things like this before?"

"No." Shaking his head, Alex shrugged. "You can show me the Devil himself ... and I’d still tell you that love is stronger. If Callie can make me believe *that* then she can make me believe anything."

"I thought I heard voices," Callie said, flipping the light on in the kitchenette. "What are you two doing?"

"You know I can’t sleep without you," Alex told her, joining her. He brushed her hair off her cheek and gave her a kiss. "Are you okay?"

Callie saw his eyes stray to the bottles on the counter. Her heart slammed against her chest. "I didn’t drink that. I swear to God, I didn’t."

He took her hand, kissing it. "You don’t have to tell me that. I know."

She looked at her father, who nodded at her. "I know that, too, mi vida," Raphael said, winking at her. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"Couldn’t sleep." Finishing off her juice, Callie tossed it into the trash, then threw the liquor bottles in as an afterthought. "What about you, Dad?"

"I was watching for our late night visitor. I didn’t see anything, though." Raphael hugged her. "But I’m exhausted so I’m going to go take a nap."

She returned the hug with ferocity and watched him walk away. Leaning back against the counter, she bit her bottom lip. "He’s avoiding my mother."

"Let’s go back to bed," Alex suggested, more to get her mind off her parents than anything else. "The sun’s not even up yet and it’s freezing down here."

Thunder rumbled in the distance, rattling the glasses on the counter. It caused an ominous, foreshadowing feeling in the pit of Callie’s stomach. She wanted nothing more than to burrow under the covers in the safety of her husband’s arms. "Bed’s good."

Hand in hand, they headed back toward their room. In the hallway where her parents were staying, Callie heard a muffled shout and drew up short. Alex tugged her hand to pull her along behind him, but she shook her head. "Wait," she whispered, pressing a finger to her lips.

There was a loud thud and Melana shrieked. Without knocking, Callie rushed into the room in time to see her father wrestling with a person dressed in head to toe black. The intruder was much smaller than Raphael, but the knife in his hand more than made up for the size difference. Callie watched as her mother tried to join the fray, but it was Alex who darted past her and delivered a punch to the stranger’s jaw. The knife clattered to the ground and Callie scrambled for it, elbowing the masked man to the ground. She saw the blood on her father’s stomach at the same time Melana did. Both women cried out in outrage and Callie picked up a jewelry box, smacking the man at her feet in the head with it twice before Alex wrenched it away from her. "You asshole!" she screamed, kicking the man in the gut.

"Raphael, how badly are you wounded?" Mel demanded. "Let me see!"

"I’m fine!" Raphael said, lifting his shirt. "It’s just a flesh wound."

"Bastard," wheezed the intruder. "I hope you bleed to death."

Bending, Callie snatched the mask off the man and staggered backwards, unable to believe her eyes. The entire world had been knocked off its axis and she was falling into Hell. "Uncle Xeno?!"

Melana, who had been pressing a pillowcase to Raphael’s stomach, stepped around Callie. She sucked in her breath and put a hand to her mouth, shaking her head in disbelief. "Xenos, what -"

"I wasn’t going to hurt you," Xenos said, reaching a bloody hand toward his sister. "Melana, please! Never you."

"He’s bleeding." Callie squatted down beside her uncle, tugging his shirt open. The wound on his chest was massive and his blood was spilling at an alarming rate. "Oh my god," she cried, reaching past him. She yanked open a drawer on the bureau and pulled out one of her father’s white undershirts, holding it firmly against the cut. "Alex, get Mark! And tell Addison to get the first aid kit in the kitchen. Hurry!"

"Why?" Melana had begun to cry now and her voice was frantic, frenzied. "Xenos, what are you doing? Why are you here? Why did you attack Raphael? And the snake? Was that you!?"

Xeno looked at Raph with narrowed eyes. "You stay away from my island."

"You’re island!?" Melana yelled. "Yours! Do I need to remind you that mother left everything to *me*? It’s all mine!"

Coughing, Xeno splattered Callie with blood from his mouth. She told him to stop talking, to not move, but he plowed ahead. "In name! In spirit, it’s mine. I understand it. I respect it. Raphael ... he wants to rape and pillage the entire land. He wants to destroy it and he’s doing it again!"

"I haven’t done anything," Raphael said, shaking his head at Melana. "I haven’t been there in years."

"You told them all the secrets," Xeno spluttered. "All of them. Even the strangers. If you’re not reopening it then -"

"Who told you that?" Callie demanded, pulling her uncle forward and banging him back against the wall. "Who!?"

"Calliope, stop it!" Mel screamed, grabbing at her. "He’s wounded."

"He tried to kill my father!" Callie shouted, banging him back again. "You left FMC, Xeno. You left it because you couldn’t stand the truth! So don’t you dare pretend like you know *anything* now."

Melana wrenched Callie backwards with enough force to make her land on her backside. "Stop it! Now!"

Raphael sat back on the bed, lightheaded. "We’re doing nothing, Xenos. Nothing. Melana found out about FMC and we had to expose the truth."

Xenos shook his head. "You liar. I made it my life’s work to watch you. To keep an eye on you. I tried to warn you off the island entirely and -"

"You!" Raphael leaped up, cringing at the pain. "You put the bomb on Kakistos’s yacht! That was you! I’ve always wondered how the person knew that we were there, that we were with family! You would have killed your own *brother* to stop me?! You almost killed my *children*!"

"I didn’t know they’d be on the boat!" Xeno bellowed, coughing again.

"No!" Melana gazed down at her brother through blurry eyes. "No. Nononono. Xeno, say you didn’t! Say you didn’t almost kill my babies!"

Callie pushed herself to her feet, unable to believe her ears. "That was you? Uncle Xeno ... you did that to us?"

"Not to you. To this good for nothing son of a bitch that destroyed us all! It wasn’t until Melana let him into our lives that it all fell apart." Xeno laughed ... he actually laughed. It was a cruel, bruising sound. "He caused my father’s death! He came breezing into town and got Melana pregnant. At sixteen! He planned it! He made it happen! He knew that my father would force them to get married at Talking Rock so he set a trap for him there. Raphael taught us how to wire the place with explosives and he *knew* that my father would die in the wreckage! He wanted him gone so he could take over where Papa left off! And he did!"

"Our *father* was a traitor!" Melana screeched. "He killed hundreds of people. Thousands! He destroyed lives, Xenos! Raphael came here to help us! How quickly you have forgotten that it was Raphael who helped you into the pond, who kneeled down and prayed for your health, and this ... THIS ... is how you repay him!? By almost taking his children ... OUR CHILDREN!? You are the son of a bitch! You are the coward! You are the -"

"LIES! It’s all lies!" Xenos pushed himself further up the wall. "He’s got you brainwashed! He’s a liar, Melana! He lied to you for years! He said he retired! Why do you think he did that!?"

Mark and Alex ran into the room. They both started toward Xenos, but the old man lifted his leg and pulled a gun from a holster on his ankle. He brandished it hysterically, pointing at everyone and no one. "Stay there! I’ll shoot! I will!"

"Have you lost your mind!?" Callie stepped toward her Uncle, but he leveled the gun at her face and cocked it.

"I have nothing left to lose, do I?" He glared at her. "Look at you. You were Daddy’s little helper, trying so hard to stop the island from doing good. You’re evil. You’re all evil."

Melana forced Callie behind her and lifted her chin. "If you feel the need to shoot someone ... you will shoot me. And you will look me in the eye when you do so. You will look me in the eye and remember that I was the one who cared for you when you were ill. I was the one who took you to the orchard when Mama said your lungs were too weak to go. I was your best friend, your only friend and you were mine. So, you think of that ... when you kill me. Because you will *not* hurt my family, you traitorous bastard."

"Mom-" Cambyses stood framed in the doorway, stunned. "What’s happening?"

Melana didn’t look away from her brother. "Your uncle was about to kill me, son. Because he almost killed you and your sister. Because he tried to kill your father tonight."

Xeno looked at Cam, who put a hand to his own heart and shook his head. Next, Xeno looked at Callie, who was regarding him like something dirty, something to be swept away. Finally, he turned his attention to Melana and started to cry. "You don’t know what it’s like. It gets inside you, that place. Athena ... she said I’m a guard. I owe it my loyalty because it saved me, it gave me life. I -"


"*I* gave you life!" Melana corrected, her voice choked with emotion. "*I* am the one who nursed you back to health time and time again. *I* am the one who wrapped your chest in warm cloths and stayed with you when you wretched until it hurt you. I am your blood, Xenos. *We* are your blood. These children ... even my husband ... we are your blood and you spat at us. You would give your loyalty to a piece of land and not to your own family? That’s beyond reproach! That’s sickening!"

"He’s bleeding. He’s bleeding bad," Cam said, hurrying forward.


Xeno turned the gun toward Cambyses, who froze. Melana screamed and lunged forward, but it was too late. Before she could grab the firearm, Xeno had turned it on himself.

One loud shot rang out.

Xeno’s aim was true.

What remained of his head slumped forward and he spoke no more.

*~*~*~*~*~

Melana had required sedation. It took both Mark and Alex to pull her from the room, away from her brother’s body. Addison had dug through the older woman’s purse at Callie’s insistence to locate her bottle of Valium, which she coaxed Melana into taking after fifteen minutes of trying. Inconsolable, Melana eventually allowed Cambyses to help her into the bed in the darkest room, where she clung to him, asking him to find Raphael. It wasn’t until Raph walked into the room that she settled down. He pulled her into his arms and held onto her and eventually ... she slept.

Callie had put seventeen stitches into her father’s abdomen, grateful for the diversion. He had been right ... it was only a flesh wound, but it was a long and jagged flesh wound that she knew was more painful than he let on. She gave him one of her own pain pills that were left over from her attack and stood in the doorway a while later, watching her parents rest. Because the driveway had been washed out the previous day, the wait for a helicopter to come and remove Xeno’s body was a long one. As much as it pained her to do so ... she returned to the room where her uncle lay dead.

Alex was coming out of the room as Callie came around the corner. He reached for her, but she shook her head. "I need to see him."

"No." Alex hugged her. "You saw enough."

Pushing at his chest, she took a step back. "I have to, Alex. I have to check for something."

Confused, he said, "You can’t disturb the body, Callie. This is a police thing now."

"I won’t disturb anything." She stepped around him and opened the door. Someone had put a blanket from the bed over Xeno and she peeled it back, carefully avoiding looking at what was left of his once handsome face. Lifting his pants leg, she pulled his sock down and studied his ankle, where three blue stars had been tattooed, their points all touching. "Son of a fucking bitch!" she cried, pulling his pants leg down. Next, she patted his pockets and pulled out a Blackberry, an old cell phone, and his wallet.

"What is that tattoo?"

"The Niarchos emblem! He gave them his loyalty!"


Rising, she sat down on the bed and flipped open the cell, powering it on. There were several text messages which she scrolled through and then she checked the recent calls. As she had expected, several calls were made to and came from the Niarchos family compound. All of them were in a code that would take hours to break, but she had nothing but time on her hands. Setting aside the phone, she lifted his wallet and dug through it. He had photos of her and her brothers, even Melana and Raphael, though Raph’s face had been scratched off the photograph. With a grimace, she emptied the contents, then bent the expensive leather in her hands. Something hard and rectangular indicated that there was another compartment, one that wasn’t visible to the eye. Studying the seams, she found a small area where the color of thread was lighter, and ripped it open. A disc fell into her lap, covered in a protective plastic case. She slipped it into the pocket of her pajamas and stuffed his belongings back into his wallet, before returning it to the zippered pocket on his pants leg.

Alex watched with interest as she tinkered with the Blackberry. It had obviously been password protected and she gave up after three guesses, shoving it into her pocket with the disc. "You’re not returning it?"

"No," she replied, meeting his eyes for a moment. "You never return anything that holds memories."

"The wallet was full of photos, Cal. You put it back."

"Thos are lies. He can take those straight to Hell with him." Not bothering to cover Xeno again, she walked out of the room without a backward glance.

Alex pulled the blanket back over him and jogged after her, following her down into FMC. She didn’t seem to mind his company because she pulled a sheet of paper from a desk drawer and asked him to type the jumble of numbers, symbols, and letters into the MS-DOS window that she pulled up. Fifteen minutes later, it was done and he looked at her. She was standing in front of the screens, watching a backlog of video from Talking Rock. "What now?"

"Press enter." She glanced his way. "Did it prompt you for a password?"

"Yeah."

"Type in ‘Melana’."

"Okay." He did as she requested, then gasped when the CIA logo filled the computer screen.

"Congratulations," she said, kissing him on the top of the head as she connected a wire to the Blackberry. "You just hacked the Central Intelligence Agency. I’m so proud."

"Holy fuck." He swallowed hard. "Are you serious?"

"It’s a backdoor. Untraceable, thank God, and incredibly useful. Type in ‘traceroute’ and you’re done."

He looked up at her. "What will it do?"

"Watch and learn, Jock Strap." She nodded at the screen. "Go ahead."

His fingers flew across the keyboard and he pressed enter, his eyes widening as a jumble of numbers filled the screen. "What’s it-"

"It will check number combinations first. Those are the most common passwords that people use. Birthdays, anniversaries, deaths. If it doesn’t ping with numbers, it’ll do the alphabet and it won’t stop until it figures out how to get into the phone." Callie pulled the disc out of her pocket. "Let’s see what we have here."

"Callie, wait," Alex told her, taking her hand. He got to his feet and studied her face, which was pale, but impassive. "You just watched your uncle kill himself. Talk to me."

"He’s not my uncle, Alex. You stop being my family when you stab me in the back. Or ... you know ... stab my father in the gut." Nostrils flaring slightly, she added, "I won’t waste one tear on him and I won’t let his death hurt me as much as he wanted his life to."

"Baby, it’s okay to cry."

"I’m not gonna cry."

"Why?"

She ran a hand through her hair. "Do you think I should have cried because Randall McFry died?"

"What? No!"

"Well, what Xenos did to this family is the same thing that Randall did to me. He hurt us. I don’t generally forgive that."

Alex had never seen the blind hatred that was reflected in her eyes. He had never heard the cold, hard way she spoke, either. It was unnerving and hard to handle. "Are you going to go to his funeral, Callie?"

"If my mother needs me there I’ll go. If she doesn’t ... I won’t."

"This isn’t you."

"If you got a phone call right now that your father was dead ... would you cry?"

"No, but-"

"Okay, then." She pointed at the screen behind him. "The password is halfway finished. I’m gonna check this disc."

Addison cleared her throat, standing in the doorway to FMC, which had been left open. "They’re here to take his body, Callie. I don’t think that Cambyses can handle it."

"I’ll do it," Alex said, getting to his feet. "I’ll sign the papers or whatever they need."

Callie nodded at him. "Thank you."

Leaning down, he kissed her on the lips. "I’ll be right back."

Watching him go, Callie sighed and glanced at Addison. "Don’t ask me if I’m okay. Don’t talk to me about *anything* that happened."

"You should talk to someone."

"No."

"You saw it happen."

"I’ve seen a lot of stuff happen. And I don’t want to talk about it. At all. So, don’t try."

Addison sat down in the chair that Alex had vacated. "Can I check my email from here?"

"Check it from this one." Callie pulled up the web browser and motioned for her friend to swap seats with her.

Addison complied and typed the web address in the bar, shooting covert glances at Callie, who was tinkering with an old, clunky cell phone. "Cal?"

"What?"

"You don’t think it’s weird that I could worry about email at a time like this? You’re supposed to -"

"It’s *fine*." Callie assured her, turning back to the phone and jotting down some of the code to manually work on it. They sat in silence for close to five minutes, the only sounds coming from the mouse as Addison clicked through her mail.

Callie walked across the room to locate a bigger pad of paper and as she bent to retrieve it, Addison sobbed. Leaving the paper where it was, Callie hurried back to her friend and squatted down beside her. "I’m sorry, Addison. This is *not* how I wanted you to spend your honeymoon. I mean, I didn’t want to come here and I didn’t want my mother to send you here either. I wanted you to go to the Bahamas or -"

"Shut up," Addison cried, her eyes still on the screen. "I’m glad you’re here."

"You wouldn’t happen to be on your period would you?"

"I can’t have kids," Addy wailed, pointing at the monitor. "My friend Naomi mailed me the test results from that trip I took to see her. I wasn’t just visiting her, Cal, I was getting some tests run. And apparently my eggs are ... bastards. They’ll never have a father."

Taking her hand, Callie scrolled through the email for herself. "No, it says that you only have a twenty percent chance of getting pregnant. It doesn’t say you can’t. There are fertility drugs that will quadruple your chances."

"Mark will leave me." Addison grabbed a box of Kleenex and dug out a few. "He wants kids. He won’t stay with me if I can’t give that to him. I mean, I already took one and he’s forgiven me for that with the disclaimer that we have to try again. And now ... now I can’t give him *any*."

"You’re babbling and I think you are grossly underestimating Mark Sloan. He loves you."

Addison sobbed even harder. "I really, really wanted kids. I wanted to be a mom like yours. I wanted to not make the mistakes my own mother made with me. Callie, all I think about is holding a baby that’s *mine* ... that’s a part of Mark. Every baby I deliver ... I hold it for just a second longer than I should ... and I think about the abortion and I think about the look on the mother’s face when I hand it to her. That could have been me and I got rid of it. Now ... it’ll never be me."

Callie’s eyes filled with tears. Hugging her friend close, she said, "You are going to be a wonderful mother, Addison. And you *will* have a family."

"You can’t know that!" Addison replied, then her eyes widened. "Wait, please don’t tell me that you’re psychic or something because I have really had *all* the paranormal mumbo jumbo that I can stand. Ever."

"I’m no psychic." Callie smiled at her. "But I happen to know for a fact that every couple who has EVER had sex at Talking Rock ... conceives there. And it sounds like you opened a double can of coital bliss when you visited."

Addison’s eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Do you not remember me telling you to keep your pants up?"

"Maybe we should go and do it again."

Callie’s smile faded. "No, you shouldn’t. The island would view that as greed and take more from you than you stood to gain. Or maybe it would view it as lust and take away your sex drive."

"Huh?"

"Don’t ever repeat this," Callie said. "When I was married to George ... Xeno sent me some of the water from the spring. He said that he had me on his mind and thought I could use it. George and I had a fight and he left and as usual, I was miserable. I mixed every drop of that water with alcohol before I realized that I had picked up the wrong bottle. That was gluttony, Addison, and the island knew that. Nothing has really quenched my thirst except alcohol since then."

Addy sniffled. "Are you - you’re telling me that the island made you an alcoholic?"

Callie squeezed her eyes shut. "I hate that word. I’m telling you that the island punishes sin. I don’t really know if what I think is right, but I know that it makes sense based on what I know about the way it all works."

"Well, can’t you undo it?"

"I could be like Xeno and drink the water every day." Callie’s eyes burned again. She pictured her uncle playing hide and go seek with her in the grotto, teaching her to drive, showing her how to take the perfect photograph with his fancy camera. "It kept him healthy, but it turned his heart to stone. He got his body back, but lost his loyalty and his ... love for us."

"I don’t believe that." Addison caught the tear that dropped onto her friend’s cheek. "I think he loved you very much. But I think the same thing that drove you and your father to betray your mother ... drove him, too. And by the way ... I was so homesick for you guys that I felt like my honeymoon didn’t really start until you got here."

"You wanted your honeymoon to be a freak show?"

"Well, I guess I’d take out the scary shit and maybe have a lot more sex, but I’m genuinely glad that you guys came." Addison nodded. "I mean it. I missed you like crazy."

"I missed you like crazy, too."

"And you’re gonna miss your Uncle Xeno. Because he was funny. And charming. And -"

"I know." Callie’s chin trembled. "I really did love him."

Addison hugged her.

They cried together, not pulling apart until Melana waltzed into the room.

"What are you two doing?" Mel asked, staring at the phone and the computer screen. "Answer me, Calliope."

Callie stood. "How’s Daddy?"

"He’s still resting. Why are you down here when you should be helping your brother? He’s devastated." Melana crossed her arms over her chest. "And what are you doing? I won’t ask again."

"Xeno had three stars on his leg," Callie replied. "I checked. So ... I thought I’d go through his phone. Maybe something there will clue us in."

"My heavens," Melana’s tone was light and terrifying. "You jumped right into work mode, didn’t you? Instead of kneeling down to pray for his soul ... you checked for the mark of the beast. Instead of mourning him, you came down here to rifle through his personal effects. He’s not even cold yet, honey, isn’t there a moratorium on how quickly you can plunder a person’s memory?"

"I just thought -"

"You *thought*?" Mel shook her head. "You’re not thinking at all. If you were, you’d have your ass upstairs with your *family* instead of hiding away in this dungeon to pick his bones! Give me the phones, Calliope. They’re not yours and whatever your Uncle was hiding was valuable enough for him to die for ... so, it’s going with him. Do you understand me? There will be no more of this madness."

"But -"

Reaching around her, Melana pulled the wire from the Blackberry and gathered the other cell phone, stowing them in the pocket of her robe. "You will not become your uncle or your father. You won’t be consumed by this or let it dictate your life. Do you understand me? This ends now. FMC is officially over and you’re not a part of this madness any more. I will not allow it."

"Mom-"

"It’s over! It ends now! Before anyone else gets hurt!"

Callie slumped back in the chair when Melana stormed out of the room. "Shit."

"Let’s go upstairs," Addison urged. "Before she comes back down here and kicks both of our asses."

Nodding, Callie got to her feet, covertly pocketing the disc that she had taken from her uncle’s wallet.

It was more important than the phones.

And she would cling to it for dear life.

*~*~*~*~*~

When Derek didn’t arrive for his follow up visit, Burke was concerned. So, he rounded up Cristina at lunch time, bought them both burgers, and headed to Meredith’s house. A heavy rain was falling and he hurried to the passenger side to assist Cristina, keeping his umbrella over her as they made their way up the sidewalk. When they stepped on the porch, they both drew up short. At least twenty cats sat on the floor and railings. As they watched, a large white feline’s ears went back and it began to hiss and cry in the most frightening way imaginable. It sounded demonic, possessed. One large paw came out and scraped at the air near Cristina. Burke pulled her back, putting himself between her and the cat.

"What the hell is going on?" Cristina asked, wrapping her arms around herself. Her feet crunched as she stepped toward the door and she looked down, stunned to see ice. "It’s in the forties. It’s not cold enough to freeze."

Around them, all the cats began to hiss. Burke looked back at the white cat, then followed its gaze. He took a stumbling step backwards when Randall McFry came into view. The man didn’t step up from the side of the house or come out of the house. He simply ... *became*. Cristina appeared to be frozen in one spot, her eyes unwavering as McFry walked ... no ... glided ... toward them. Reaching into his pocket, Burke pulled out his lucky scrub cap, clutching it in both hands. McFry stopped moving and hovered near the front door, swaying slightly as if in a breeze. The cats behind him were visible THROUGH him, but the view was foggy and fragmented. Like looking through a smokescreen. "Our father," Burke said softly. "who art in Heaven ... hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is heaven..."

The front door opened and an arm shot out, grabbing Cristina, who screamed bloody murder. Burke continued to pray as he followed her inside. Meredith slammed the door and stepped away from it. Preston, who had leaned back against it, was startled by her avoidance of the door and quickly followed her, sitting down beside Cristina, who appeared to be holding her breath. "Are you okay?" he asked her, pulling her against him.

"What. The. Hell. Was. That!?" she asked, then pointed at the window beside the door, unable to speak. "Mmmph!"

A face, Randall’s face, was peering in at them. He was grinning, but it wasn’t an inviting smile. It was horrible and leering and Cristina jumped up, pulling the coat rack in front of the pane. "Holy shit."

Derek, who had been upstairs, hurried down when he heard voices. He looked at Meredith, who nodded. "They saw it?"

"We saw it." Worrying his cap between his fingers, Burke’s eyes widened. "What was *it*?"

"That’s the million dollar question." Derek hurried down the stairs and peered outside. "Everyone doesn’t see it. George didn’t see it earlier, but Izzie did."

"And cats, apparently." Meredith jumped when one of the cats outside screeched and something hit the front door. "There were more out there earlier."

"Are there any vans in the neighborhood? You know, for hidden cameras? Because this has to be a practical joke." Cristina moved closer to Burke when Derek shook his head.

"It’s not a joke." With as much detail as possible, Derek told them what Mark had shared in email and on the phone. He wasn’t sure exactly how Callie and her father knew about the paranormal, but they did and so far, everything they had suggested could happen ... was happening. "I’ve tried to call Mark for hours now, but no one’s answering. We’ve tried Callie and Alex ... even Addison ... to no avail."

Burke pulled out his cell phone and dialed Alex. On the fourth ring, he was close to hanging up when the other man answered. "Alex! Hello! It’s Preston! Fine, fine. Listen, I’m at Derek’s and ... what? Oh my God, I’m sorry. When? How is Callie? And her mother?" He paused, looking stricken. "I see. No, no things are fairly bad here as well. Yes, we’ve seen the ... what is it exactly? Did you just say ‘soul’?"

Putting the phone on speaker, Preston shook his head. "Melana’s brother committed suicide earlier today. In front of them all. Alex asked me to hold on."

"Preston?" Alex asked, coming back on the line. "Here’s Raphael."

"Hello?" Raphael said, sounding sleepy.

"Raphael!" Derek moved closer to the phone. "I’m so sorry to hear about Melana’s brother! Can we do anything?"

"No - no, thank you," Raphael replied. "I need you to tell me what’s happening there?"

"The porch is full of cats," Meredith said.

"And it’s frozen over," Cristina interjected. "And what the hell is it?"

With minimal details, Raph explained what they believed to be occurring. He said nothing about FMC or his involvement with the CIA, but he kept his tone matter of fact and was relieved when no one attempted to second guess or argue semantics. "Are any of you religious?" he asked, when he finished the tale.

"I am," Preston replied. "When the ... apparition came toward us on the porch, I prayed. It backed off."

"I’m going to put Callie on the phone. You do exactly what she says, okay?" Raphael said. "It can only work if you do this."

"Okay." Preston looked at Derek, who nodded.

When Callie got on the phone, she sounded congested, but no one asked if she was sick. She had obviously been crying. "Hey," she said softly. "I need you to get a big pitcher and fill it with warm water."

Meredith raced into the kitchen. The others followed behind her. "Callie," Preston began, "I’m so sorry to hear about your uncle. Please let us know if we can -"

"You have bigger problems," Callie cut him off and cleared her throat. "Let me know when the pitcher is full."

"Finished," Meredith called. "Now what?"

"Who will be blessing the water?" Callie asked.

"I will," Burke replied. "I’m not Catholic, though."

"You don’t have to be." Taking a deep breath, Callie added, "Put your hand in the water, Preston, and say what I say."


Doing as she asked, he rolled up his sleeve and put his hand in. "Okay."

They recited the prayer in Latin first. Burke, who had taken three years of Latin, was able to get the full effect. A moment later, they spoke it in English.

"God, who for the salvation of the human race has built your greatest mysteries upon this substance, in your kindness hear our prayers and pour down the power of your blessing into this element, prepared by many purifications." Callie waited until he repeated it back word for word. "May this, your creation, be a vessel of divine grace to dispel demons and sicknesses, so that everything that it is sprinkled on in the homes and buildings of the faithful will be rid of all unclean and harmful things." Pausing again, she listened closely. "Let no pestilent spirit, no corrupting atmosphere, remain in those places: may all the schemes of the hidden enemy be dispelled." Another pause. "Let whatever might trouble the safety and peace of those who live here be put to flight by this water, so that health, gotten by calling Your holy name, may be made secure against all attacks. Through the Lord, amen."

"Amen," Burke repeated. "Do I take my hand out now?"

"Yeah," Callie said, her voice flat. "Take a little of the water in a cup and sit it aside. That water will bless every pitcher that you need from here on out. Preston, take another cup full and draw a cross on every window, every door, and every reflective glass. That includes mirrors, the television screen, anything shiny that can hold an image. Derek?"

"I’m here."

"You take the rest of the water and pour it on the ice on the front porch. Concentrate it around the door. Do the same at the back door and any basement entrances." Callie waited until he promised he would. "Meredith? Do you have any ashes in your house? Dead relatives?"

"My mother kept my grandmother in the attic."

"Get those ashes and sit them in the heart of the house. Sit them in the place that you spend the most time," said Callie. "And don’t go outside. We’ll be home in three days. We’re staying for my Uncle’s funeral and then we’re heading straight to Seattle. Stay inside. This thing gets stronger with every day that passes. It can *not* come into your house as long as you have those ashes, but if you cross that threshold ... all bets are off."

"Why can some of us see it? George can’t see it." Meredith’s voice shook, but not from the cold. "Burke and Cristina saw it. Even Izzie."

"Because they saw him in the flesh." Callie explained. "The only people who can see a torn soul are the ones who saw his physical body. You were the ones who got him off me. You were the ones who were there when he died. If he can’t get to Derek ... he’ll start trying to get to anyone else who was there at the end. Is Izzie there with you?"

"No," Meredith replied. "She’s at work."

"Get her there. Soon. And keep her inside with you. Do you know if she’s still wearing the silver necklace we gave her for Christmas?" Callie asked. "She needs to wear silver. All of you need to wear silver. And if you have white candles, *any* white candles, you can burn those."

"Okay," Derek said. "We’ll do this. Are you okay, Callie? You - you’ve been through a lot and -"

"I’m fine." Callie cut him off. "Call us back tonight and let us know what happens. If you need anything else, please let us know. I - I’m so sorry that this has happened."

Everyone spoke at one to assure her that it was fine, but she had already hung up.

Cristina shook her head. "This is the part where I point out that this is not humanly possible and we’re all hallucinating."

"We’re *all* hallucinating?" Derek looked at her. "We’re all having the same vivid and horrifying vision?"

"I don’t believe in ghosts or goblins or Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy." Yang made a face. "The candid camera angle makes more sense. Or maybe McFry had a twin who is pissed."

"A see through twin?" Burke scooped out water into a cup and drew a cross on the kitchen window. Blood hit the outside a moment later, splattering in a cob web pattern. "Whoa."

"Whoa," Derek agreed. "If we get out of this alive ... I’m gonna go to church."

"Me, too," Meredith nodded.

Cristina stared at the window. "I may move *into* the church."

Burke actually chuckled. "That’s about as believable as this entire mess."

*~*~*~*~*~

"Let me get this straight?" George paced across the living room of Meredith’s house, his hands on his hips. "I’m supposed to tell Chief Webber that *all* of you have the flu? And I’m supposed to do that because there is a ghost on the porch and you can all see it but I can’t?"

No one moved a muscle, much less answered.

George nodded. "Which one of you is cooking the meth because all of you obviously took it?"

"Just ... do it, Bambi," Cristina snapped. "And after you pick up clean clothes ... stop and bring us lots and lots of alcohol because we’re gonna need it."

"And you’ll be staying in this house for three days?" George looked at Burke. "You are supposed to be my Yoda ... and you believe this mess?"

Burke nodded. "I do."

"Izzie?" George pleaded. "Tell me you don’t."

"I’m two seconds away from drinking the cooking sherry, George. Bring tequila," she replied. "And Bibles. Can you bring Bibles?"

"This is unreal." George grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. "You’re *doctors*. You’re *DOCTORS*."

"Bring chocolate, too," Meredith urged. "Lots of it. And ... don’t tell *anyone* the truth."

"Don’t tell anyone that you’ve all lost your minds and this is a loony bin?" George headed for the door. "Don’t worry. They’d commit me for trying to help."


Izzie watched him go and fingered the silver chain around her neck. "I’m not being the fifth wheel. I am *not* sleeping alone."

No one said anything for a moment.

"Iz?" Meredith said quietly. "If you cook something for dinner, you can sleep with us."

"Someone’s coming to the kitchen with me," she said, getting to her feet. "I’ll cook, but I’m not getting terrorized alone. If I see that thing through the window ... I’ll die."

"I’ll help you." Burke stood and led the way.

"God," Cristina flopped back against the cushions. "Three days stuck in the house with ‘Feel My Pain Stevens’. None of us can possibly be suffering as she is suffering."

"Just breathe." Meredith patted her on the arm. "When Callie gets back ... she’ll get rid of it."

"When did Callie become ‘The Ghost Whisper’? I prefer ‘Top Gun Callie’." Cristina pushed herself upright and stretched. "I hate my life."

*~*~*~*~*~

The three days leading up to Xeno’s funeral were wrought with emotion for everyone involved. Melana broke down every time one of her surviving brothers arrived. Demi was the only one who knew the truth about what had happened with Xeno, everyone else, even the authorities, believed that Xeno had been injured while he was trying to kill himself. The story had been Callie’s idea and it covered up her father’s involvement, painting him as the hero who was wounded by Xeno’s knife as he wrestled it away from the man. The coffin was open per Athena’s orders and she seemed to take the story of her husband’s suicide with a grain of salt. Callie caught her shooting malicious glares at Raphael several times, however.

On the third day, at noon, Xeno was laid to rest at the family graveyard. It overlooked the water and afforded a beautiful view of Talking Rock. Callie was the only one who didn’t cry. She stared, unblinking, at the coffin as it was lowered into the ground. She refrained from throwing a flower into the hole or tossing a handful of dirt onto the casket. She simply stood, stock still, watching the assembled crowd for any further signs of malicious intent. Nicky Niarchos stood with his hands stuffed deeply into his pockets and when he felt her eyes on him, he scowled and looked away. She knew that he had probably orchestrated the attempt on her father’s life, but she could not prove that without the information on the phones.

"Callie?" Alex said softly. "It’s over."

"What?" she asked.

"The ceremony," he replied, pointing at the workmen who had picked up shovels, but were waiting for the crowd to disperse.

She let him lead her down the sloping yard and through the orchard. In the dining room, she poured herself a glass of lemonade and sat beside Cambyses, who was solemn. Alex brought her a plate of food, but she let it rest on her lap until the mourners finally left the family alone, then she stood and tossed it into the trash can. "I’ll be back," she said to Alex. "I need some air."

She half ran, half jogged back to the cemetery, where she leaned against her grandfather’s headstone as she watched the workers pile the flower arrangements on top of the fresh dirt. When they were finished, they walked past her and she expressed her gratitude for a job well done in Greek before she walked to her Uncle’s final resting place and kneeled down. "I’m sorry," she whispered, touching a spray of roses. "I know you loved us and I hope you know that we loved you, too. Even now, Zee, I love you and I’ll miss you."

"You would lie to a dead man?"


Callie turned and glared at Nicky. "The funeral’s over, Aniketos. Get off my family’s property."

"I don’t think he’d want this to be his final resting place."

"You shouldn’t think."

"He loved my family, Callie. He was loyal to *my* family."

"There’s a fool born everyday." She pushed herself upright and glared at him. "I’m very loyal to *my* family and Xeno was *my* family no matter how much he misplaced his loyalty."

"You should not speak of loyalty, my love."

"Shut up, Nicky."

"You promised to marry me. You promised to help me rectify our family differences and join the two in ways that Xeno and Athena could not." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Perhaps our night together meant more to me than you."

"There is no perhaps. It clearly did." She tilted her head to one side. "Surely you knew that I used you."

"Would you like to use me again?"

"It wasn’t that memorable for me. I’ll pass."

He chuckled. "Your fire is what I like the most about you."

She regarded him with a stoic expression on her face. "Do you expect me to tell you what I like about you? Because nothing comes to mind."

"Perhaps you will like my brutal honesty," Nicky told her. "Your Uncle Xeno wasn’t wrong to offer his allegiance to the Niarchos family. He knew your father’s secrets. Believe me when I tell you that Raphael Torres is not the man you think he is. I cannot fault you for loving him because we often love things that are destructive, but I assure you that I have proof of his misdeeds and I think you would benefit from knowing."

"If you wrote a book that had everything you *think* inside it ... it would be an epic tome with blank pages."

Nicky looked behind her and nodded. "You know how to reach me if you decide to learn the truth. Good bye, Callie."

She watched him hurry across the lawn and hop into a waiting helicopter. The blades began to turn, causing her hair to lift and her skirt to billow around her legs. Covering her eyes, she watched as it lifted and headed into the clouds then she turned back to her uncle’s grave, righting the flowers that had been blown about by the wind.

"Who was that?" Alex asked, startling her. She had not heard his approach over the thumping of the helicopter.

"Nicky Niarchos." Callie gathered the last of the flowers and got to her feet, rubbing her hands together to wipe away the dirt. "Did my mother say what time we were leaving?"

"In about an hour."

"I can’t wait to get home." She turned and looked at Talking Rock in the distance. "I wish we were there already."

"I don’t. Whatever’s going on with Derek and this restless spirit thing ... I think I’d rather deal with the island."

"It won’t be that bad."

He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Can I do anything?"

Turning, she nodded up at him. "You can promise me that no matter what you see me do in Seattle ... you won’t leave me."

"Baby, I’m not going anywhere."

"You promise?"

"I promised when I said ‘I do’." He grinned at her. "Besides, you just said it won’t be that bad."

She let him hug her and she clung to him, not bothering to remind him that their respective definitions of ‘bad’ were two very different things.

*~*~*~

Callie was stunned when Eros boarded the plane behind Blake. She had assumed that he was tagging along for the ride to the airstrip to help with their luggage, but the bag he carried was tattered and worn out. He caught her looking and smiled at her, causing Alex to stir restlessly in his seat. Flopping down in front of them, Eros said, "I’ve never been to the United States. It took a while to get my paperwork in order. Your father pulled some strings."

"He thinks I’ll need you, doesn’t he?" Callie asked. "He doesn’t think I can do it on my own."

"You’ll need an anchor," Eros replied, glancing at the necklace that Alex wore, at the anchor pendant and the mermaid. "One whose heart isn’t involved quite so much."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "Eros was involved with FMC, too?"

"Very deeply and quite by accident," Eros explained. "I followed her into the fire, so to speak, and never once looked back."

Cambyses leaned across the aisle. "Am I hearing this correctly? Eros, the same Eros who was terrified of the dark, got to be a part of FMC, but I didn’t?"

"Your green eyed monster isn’t very cute, sweety," Blake said, patting Cam on the arm. He leaned forward and winked at Callie. "Eros, I’m pretty sore from all the tension. Do you think you could give me a massage later?"

"Certainly," Eros replied, hiding his smile when Cambyses’s eyes widened.

"My green eyed monster is about to be a homicidal monster, Blake!" Cam snapped. "Don’t tempt me!"

"Perhaps I’ll go and sit with Melana," Eros commented, lifting his bag again. "She could certainly use a massage."

Alex waited until the other man had taken a seat in the back of the plane. "What did he mean? About being your anchor?"

"We’ll need thirteen people for the ritual." Callie took a deep breath, aware that her brother was hanging on her every word. "Whoever acts as my anchor has to stay in one spot and not step out of the circle. You’re too emotionally invested to do that. And if you break the circle ... I’ll die."

"Die?" Alex waited patiently for her to laugh, for her to deliver the punch line. "Literally die?"

"Literally. As in, stick me in a coffin and let me push up daisies. That kind of dead."

"How can it kill you?" Blake asked, leaning across Cam to hang on her every word. "Raphael said it was relatively safe and now you’re talking about dying."

"I don’t want you to do it," Alex told her. "I mean it. Let someone else take care of it."

Callie took his hand in hers, squeezing it reassuringly as the plane took off. "I’m all there is and once you see what this thing is capable of ... you’ll be begging me to take care of it."

"I’m going to be the one who helps you, Callie. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do, but I’m not trusting *anyone* to keep you safe. I’ll do it or you won’t be doing it." Alex gave her a look that forced her to nod.

"Okay."

"Okay."

*~*~

"You’re just gonna ignore that?"

Cristina nodded at Izzie, sipping her coffee as she worked on a cross word puzzle. "I am actively ignoring the ghostly voyeur."

"Why is he hanging upside down?" Izzie asked, gazing at Randall, who appeared to be floating outside the window, his hair standing on end as he peered, upside down, through the window.

"Because it’s creepier?" Cristina glanced at the window and made a face. "They’re coming home today, right?"

"They’re supposed to land in about two hours." Izzie went to the sink, running water into a pan. Randall licked the window and she flipped him a bird, causing him to smash his head against the glass repeatedly. Sticking her hand into what remained of the Holy Water, she drew another cross on the window and watched him vanish. "You could have used the water."

"If I had put my hand in there ... I would have caught fire," Cristina assured her. "I’m not the most religious person alive."

"How did this happen?" Izzie put the water on the stove, turning it on. "I keep thinking that we should wake up from this nightmare, but ... it’s really real, isn’t it?"

"Don’t ask me," Cristina shook her head. "I still maintain that my hamburger the other day was made out of opiates and this entire thing is one big hallucination."

The phone rang, causing both women to jump. Izzie grabbed it and said, "Hello?"

"It’s me," George said. "Webber wanted me to call you guys and see if you’re feeling better. He’s talking about making a house call."

"Tell him we’re fine, but contagious." Izzie looked back at the window in time to see McFry move past it, gazing in at her like a demon. "George?"

"What?"

"Light a candle for us at the chapel, okay?"

"Okay."

"And call us later."

She hung up and sat down beside Cristina at the island. Looking at the crossword puzzle, she offered a few suggestions and listened as Meredith, Burke, and Derek began to laugh in the other room. The fact that anyone could laugh at all was horrible and proof that they were all going crazy as far as Izzie was concerned. Checking her watch again, she made herself a cup of tea and walked into the living room. Picking up Derek’s laptop, she went back to researching the paranormal and hoped that the banishing spell she had just read about was not something she would be partaking in later that night.

A cat screeched on the front porch and she looked at Meredith. "On the plus side," she said softly, "it’s not a rain of toads, plague of locusts, or Armageddon."

"Are you reading about the Bible?" Meredith asked.

"I was reading Buffy fanfiction."

"Spike or Angel?" Derek smiled at the blond.

"Spike, definitely," Izzie and Meredith replied together.

Izzie chuckled and closed the story she had been reading, leaving the Google results for hauntings on the screen. "You know what? When I was sitting in medical school listening to Science ... I never dreamed that I’d be held hostage by an evil spirit one day."

"Let’s make a deal," Meredith suggested. "When all this over and everything’s said and done ... we will *never* speak of it again. Ever."

They all nodded their agreement.

Nearly two and a half hours later, someone knocked at the front door and everyone froze. Izzie had warned them that Webber wanted to make a house call, but no one actually believed he would. Derek finally walked into the foyer and breathed an audible sigh of relief when he saw Raphael on the other side of the door. Wrenching it open, he shook the man’s hand, pulling him inside.

"Derek," Raphael said, one hand on his aching stomach. The flight had not been good to the knife wound he’d received. "This is Eros, he will be helping me ready you all for the transport."

"Transport?" Meredith asked, joining them. She drew up short when she saw the tall, handsome man standing there. "Oh, hi. I’m Meredith."

In the living room, introductions were made all around. Eros shook hands with everyone, but he kissed Izzie’s hand, his eyes never leaving hers. She blushed prettily and smiled up at him. Raphael explained that Eros had prepared a special protection pouch for each of them and quickly handed them out, watching as they all tied them around their necks. "What happens now?" Derek asked.

"Calliope and the others are on your property, Derek. Where your trailer is."

"Why there?" Derek asked. "I thought you would all come here?"

"You’ll understand once you see it," Eros assured him. "If we had done it here ... with all these neighbors ... well, it wouldn’t be pretty."

"Are you sure we should do it tonight?" Burke asked. "All of you must be exhausted from the trip and -"

"It’s the final night of the full moon," Raphael replied. "We do it tonight or you’re stuck for a month. And by then, McFry will be too strong for us to handle."

"Tonight is good," Burke replied. "Very, very good."

"Listen to me closely." Taking a step back, Raphael looked at each of his charges. "What you witness tonight will defy logic, startle you, terrify you, and make no sense. For your sake ... never speak of it again. Never tell another living soul what you experience because the paranormal is not well respected and people who believe it are usually dubbed insane. We’re in this together, folks, and together we’ll beat it. Callie will brief you when we arrive."

"Wait." Cristina held up her hand. "What’s stopping McFry from getting in the car with us or -"

"Me," Eros replied, opening his shirt. There were weird symbols drawn all over his body in what appeared to be blood. "I’m the ward."

"We’ll explain it all in the car," Raphael said, when everyone opened their mouth to speak at once. "We have a time frame to hit. Let’s go. All of you, hang onto someone and run, do not walk, to the limo."

No one had to be told twice.

*~*~*~*~*~