The One Where Everyone Finds Out

THE ONE WHERE EVERYONE FINDS OUT

Continued at: http://promethiad.blogspot.com

Moira smiled to herself as she answered Toby’s email. It was good to hear from him
finally. It felt like forever since they had run into each other at the carnival. She was
afraid to hope that she might run into him in Hawaii. It was a big island. Even if his team
was sent there, it wasn’t likely that they would be able to find each other.

She wondered if she had time to run to the bathroom before takeoff. They had slept in the
car the night before with Adrian driving and she hadn’t gotten a chance to brush her hair
yet. She grabbed a hairbrush out of her bag and stopped a flight attendant, who told her
to go ahead but hurry up. She stood up and headed for where the flight attendant had told
her to go.

Toby was just finishing in the bathroom when he opened the door and ran straight into
her. “M...Moira?” he asked quietly. He almost had to pinch himself because this was
almost too good to be true.

“Oh my God, you’re here!” She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly
without stopping to think. She pulled back quickly and looked around to make sure none
of her teammates had noticed. They were sitting too far back to see. “You’re being sent to
Hawaii too?”

“Yes,” he said, and ran his hands down her arms. “I'm here, with you. We should sneak
and sit in two other seats together! This is a long flight you know.” He winked, being
playfully suggestive of course.

She looked around again. The flight wasn’t full. They might be able to manage it. “Let’s
do it! But do you think we can sneak past everyone?”

He shrugged. “I don't see why not? My team is kind of oblivious and dumb. I don't think
they'll mind. If anything, I'll say you were a random hook up?” Though he did hate that
idea too.

She lifted an eyebrow. “Random hook up, huh?”

He shrugged. “I figured it'd get one of them to sympathize with me and not ask too many
questions. But I can tell them you're my girlfriend? I'm not scared of the truth.”

“Me either.” She hesitated for a moment. “The show seems to know about us anyway.

Who cares if they know, right? Besides maybe it'll keep Lily off my back. She thinks I'm
making you up.” She laughed. “And maybe it'll get Will to stop freaking hitting on me!”

“Oh well in that case, let's make it a show?” He said and smirked. “Just a thought.”

“Sounds good to me. What do you have in mind?”

“Come sit with me.” He said and grabbed her hands in his own. “We'll take it from
there.”

She felt a jolt when he took her hands. It felt so good to be with him again. “I can see the
look on Lily's face already when she sees me with you.”

He laughed. “I mostly just want to kiss you because I missed you so badly.”

She smiled. “Then by all means, let's remedy that.”

He nodded, and took her hand. With slight hesitation, he leaned in to kiss her lips gently.

The 'put on seatbelts' light turned on again and they were being ushered back to seats
so they could get ready for take off. He wasn't going to complain about relocating since
he got stuck next to two loud and annoying kids. He did find a seat nearby all the same
though.

As Moira followed Toby through the plane, she couldn't help but laugh at the shocked
look on Lily's face as they passed her. No doubt she'd be back at their seats harassing
them as soon as the seatbelt light went off.

She sat down next to Toby, still holding his hand. It was going to be a long flight to

Hawaii and she couldn't believe that she got to spend it with him. She buckled her
seatbelt and then hesitantly leaned her head against his shoulder. She didn't think he'd
pull away, but being around him again made her feel nervous--in a good way.

He put his arm around her, obviously staking his claim on her, and a lot of the nerves he
felt last time when they were together were no longer there. The more time he spent with
her in person, the easier it was to have those feelings of them belonging together.

“This is my first plane ride,” he whispered to her.

“Actually, mine too,” she admitted. “I'm sort of scared. I'm glad you're here.”

He nodded and gave her hand a squeeze. “Well, this is the first of many firsts we'll
experience together?”

She smiled and squeezed his hand back. “I like that idea.”

He closed his eyes as they got ready to take off, deciding to think about what he'd
implied, hoping he hadn't just opened up a bad can of worms, instead of thinking about
the plane and how it could easily blow up in mid-air.

She snuggled closer to Toby as the plane began to head down the runway. Her entire
body went tense as the plane lifted off the ground. “We're going to be all right, aren't we?
We're gonna get there okay?” She needed his reassurance.

“Duh,” he said, and soon they were in the air and he could relax a little more. If he didn't
think about it, it wouldn't bother him. The seatbelt sign turned off.

Sure enough, the moment the seatbelt light turned off, Lily came marching down the
aisle. “So, who's this, Moira? Abandoning your team for some random guy?”

Moira rolled her eyes. It was finally the time for truth. “No Lily, this is my boyfriend
Toby.”

He waved, grinning at her. “Hello.” She was right, the girl really was obnoxious.

Lily glared at him. “And here I thought she was making you up.” She looked at

Moira. “So, how did you manage to arrange for your little boyfriend to be on our flight?”
“This wasn't planned. Totally a coincidence,” Moira answered.

Lily frowned. “I don't understand.”

Toby rolled his eyes, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to bother explaining it all. Would
she even understand? “No she's not making me up. We've been dating for what? Six
months? Eight? What do you want to count as our first date? When I saved you from
the troll, or when you fried the warlock in the caves?” He stared at Lily, daring her to
challenge him.

Moira laughed. “The troll works.”

“What are you two talking about?” Lily asked. “You sound crazy.”

Moira sighed. She would have to spell it out for her. “Toby's on the show too. That's why
he's on the plane.”

Lily's eyes grew wide. “The guys are so not going to like this!” She quickly turned and
fled back up the aisle to her seat.

Aloha, Aloha

COTY “T” RANOVER

I sit in the plane as we get ready to depart from LAX. I’ve never been to California before, but this is where the tickets for our flight out of Louisiana took us. Naturally, I’m intrigued by this reward they’re planning on giving us. After the events in the haunted house, everyone is quiet and tired, so I’m hoping it’s even better than Disney World. I don’t remember what happened, but it still left Ryan shaking quite a bit so that had to say something. In fact, I think part of the reason I don’t remember is because of her. Actually, no one remembers much of anything and it’s more or less disturbing.

My seat is between Ryan and Ipod. Toby somehow got stuck in the row behind us, sitting by the aisle next to two kids. He’s not complaining though. I think he prefers it actually. He’s twitching an awful lot and I’m sure he wants to pull out his laptop so he can get straight to gaming on our flight again. I’m kind of surprised he still has a battery but whatever. Ipod curls up and gets comfortable. She puts her head on my shoulder and I don’t complain one bit even if she doesn’t ask me. I can’t help it, even if she does have a boyfriend. She points it out constantly. Cory thinks she’s insecure about her relationship or making it up. I’m not so sure, and I don’t want to get my hopes up anyway. Besides, she might change her mind about me when she finds out what I’m doing here exactly.

I glance over at Ryan and notice she’s looking at a picture, no, she has two pictures. Most of the time, I do my best to stay out of other people’s business, and I didn’t mean to pry, but it’s also hard to not see these kinds of things when you’re in close proximity with people. What I see floors me. One picture is of an ultrasound, a four dimensional one of a baby with lots of details in fact, and the other is of Ryan holding a newborn while wearing a hospital gown. She’s even smiling in a motherly fashion and it’s a tender side of her I’ve never seen before.

Ryan notices me looking and scowls. “What?”

“Nothing,” I say and bite my lip.

“Yes, big secret is out. It’s not a big deal.”

I shrug, “I guess that’s your call to make.”

She sighs, “I had to…because he didn’t want….”

I nod, filling in the blanks. She doesn’t have to elaborate further. I’m not exactly sure what to say to her. “So if we win you….?”

“Get her back.” Ryan whispers. She glances over at Ipod to see if there’s any reaction. As far as I can tell, she’s asleep already. Her breathing is slow and deep, so if she’s not and she’s eavesdropping on our conversation, she’s doing a good job of faking it.

Still biting my lip I reach into my pocket and pull out the picture I had of me and my brother. I figure it’d be fair to trade right? It helps remind me of what I’m working for, even if Cory doesn’t like to look at it. He doesn’t like to see what he once was, because I’m drastically different than him in just about every way imaginable. He’s taller, stronger, and rougher all around. In fact, more often than not people think he’s some kind of Greek god. I’m nothing more than a pretty boy. The only thing we have in common is our eye color. He may want to forget about what he once was, but I don’t. It helps me maintain some form of sanity as well. You know, reminds me that we are in fact two different people.

I show her the picture. “This is what I’m trying to get.”

She takes it and stares. Her eyes go wide for a moment and then she frowns. “Is that…Cory?”

I nod and close my eyes. “Yeah, that’s him in all of his perfect everything glory.”

“I see the resemblance. You have a lot of similar features.”

I think this is the first time I’ve heard this actually, because I tend to look more like Mom and he follows after Dad. If we were to do an entire family portrait, it would make sense, but seeing us individually we’re more often mistaken for friends than brothers. Still frowning, she hands me back the picture.

“Interesting,” She says and closes her eyes.

I’m about to ask her what’s so interesting exactly when the intercom turns on.

“This is your captain speaking. We will be departing soon for Honolulu Hawaii.”

CHALLENGE SIX

"Now that you're gone, feel like myself again. Grieving the things I can't repair and willing.

To let you blame it on me."

SIX - The Past Problems

RYAN

We spend about two days in Orlando. As much as I hate to say it, we needed that extra day to rest and regroup. Toby's been different for one, actually, we all have, and after what happened in the swamp I'm pretty weary of him. Actually, I'm not sure how to feel about any of the members on my team right now. They all are good people, don't get me wrong, but they're also closed off. No, I don't supply a lot of information about myself, but that's not quite the point. What I mean is, we all obviously do not trust one another, and that is not a good sign. In the thick of things, we pull through, but I don't know if it will be enough to make us win.

Our next challenge is waiting by the door of our hotel room. Someone obviously slipped it through the door crack. I pick it up and rip open the envelope, and I'm curious, real curious. Everyone else is still asleep in the other room. Toby is sprawled on the couch. T/Cory are in the bed, and Ipod is in the other. Boys, I don't know why they can't share a bed with each other. The couch doesn't look too comfortable, but Toby insisted. Something about wanting to be up all night playing some stupid video game. Waste of time, but I didn't want to fight him too much on the issue because in the end, I'm not sure it would have been worth it. Irritating, sure, but so long as he continues to function appropriately, I won't be giving him grief over it. Now if that changes, that'll be another story.

Who you going to call? Ghost busters. Enter this address, and be ready to face a new kind of truth. Complete this task, and you'll be one step closer to your goal and your next treat. It’s a doozy.

I stare at the note, thinking about the picture I got as part of our last reward. I keep it close to me, and I don't let anyone else see it - anyone else see her. I don't think the others would understand if I told them after all. I'm sure they don't think much of me to begin with, but to find out that I have a daughter through a one-night-stand might destroy any credibility I have left. If we can win this, then I can be with her, and I can't wait. It was a mistake to have given her up to begin with, but at the time I would have done anything to keep my ex.

The others sleep for another half an hour. I don't want to rush anyone awake, but we should get moving soon. T is the first to wake up. He grabs his glasses and rubs his eyes, before getting up and using the bathroom. He showers and is ready in a decent period of time as well. I like that he's so considerate of time. Cory, not so much, but I suppose that's why T is the one who gets the morning hours and Cory is the night owl. Not to say Cory isn't fun and interesting. His laid back attitude is mildly refreshing, but he's also immature to the point where I want to sock him a lot.

"Stop making so much noise," Toby whines from the couch. He groans, looks at the clock and sees that it's around 9:30 in the morning, and decides to get up so he can use the bathroom next. He doesn't shower, but he gets ready all the same. Gross much? So long as he doesn't smell I suppose. Ipod, per usual, is last to get up. The girl is lazy as all get out.

I show the others the note, each looking it over curiously.

"The address is for some place in New Orleans." T comments. "Looks like we have another fairly long journey ahead of us."

Toby groans a little, he's kind of always complaining I've noticed. "I'm so tired of sitting in a damn car."

"We all are." I say, and start packing up my bag. "I'm not looking forward to this challenge. Let's get it over and done with as soon as possible. Plus I don't know if they've siced the hunters on us yet."

"Can't even eat breakfast first?" I sigh, because as much as I don't want to eat on the go, again, because fast food only does so much good for a person. I also don't want to waste more time. "We'll stop at a grocery store and pick up something? Or maybe a diner."

"Diner sounds divine. I would kill for something at least sort of resembling home cooking. Might be the closest we can get to it." Toby says with a sigh.

"We'll see how much time we have first."

Not too much longer and we're on the road again. We ended up spending more time at the hotel eating the complimentary breakfast it provided and then high tailed it out of there. So far we haven't had any high speed chases, and I'd like to keep it that way. I think our plan to avoid using our credit cards as much as possible is working. Toby is shotgun today, T is in the back curling up and looking miserable, and Ipod is jamming to her music. It's a long drive. It takes us a couple of days even because I don't speed, and because of some traffic issues. Oh and Toby wanted to get up and stretch, a lot.

We pull up in front of a large, abandoned house. I'm not looking forward to this. I always hated movies about hauntings, or scary movies in general. I also never enjoyed going on haunted house rides, despite my ex's insistance that they were 'fun'. I close my eyes and open the door.

"Alright, let's do this." As soon as we enter, hands are grabbing me. It takes me a moment to realize they belong to hunters. I struggle but these guy are strong. Eventually, a blindfold is placed over my eyes, and I'm taken away, shakled down, and then abandoned.

"Hello?" I call out. "Guys?"

"I'm here." I hear T's shakey voice. "Toby? Ipod?"

There's no reply. At least I'm not alone, but the lack of sight is throwing off my entire perception of where I am and the space I'm in. It makes me feel claustrophobic and if there's one thing I'm especially terrified of, it's that.

"Okay, stay calm, and figure out how we can get out of this." I mumble to myself. I try to feel around me, searching for something, anything, that will help me get out. I can move my arms a little and I grasp a hold of something hard and slimey. Gross. Then I realize that this hard and slimey thing is in the shape of fingers and I scream.

"What happened?" T asks. "Are you okay?"

"I think I just touched a dead person." "What? That's disgusting." But I'm not sure if he believes me. T is always so logical and he's still in this mindset that the show producers wouldn't allow for anything to actually hurt us or kill us. I on the other hand am not so sure. Ever since the night in the fun house, I've been skeptical.

"Do you think you can get out?" I ask. "Let me work on it, for a second but I...."

He trails off. "What is that light?"

"What light?" I ask. I can't see anything, not really, but then it appears in my line of vision as well. A light, and in such a way that I can see it perfectly despite my blindfold. It surrounds me, and then when it fades away I find myself sitting in the corner of a living room, completely alone. "T?" But there's no reply.

I slowly stand, curious, scared, but determined to figure out this puzzle and get the hell out of there so we can keep moving forward. I grab the handle of the door in front of me and open it to find my ex. Before I can get a word out, his hands are around my throat and he’s pushing me up against a wall, trying to kill me.

Struggling, I fight, hit, kick, do whatever I can to get him off of me, but it’s no use.

“You should have thought about this better. You know there is no way I’m going to let you bring that brat back into our lives. I never wanted to be a father. Should have just aborted her.”

I’m starting to get dizzy, but I’m able to mouth out three words I’d never once told him before. They’re hard to say. I never wanted to ever admit to him I had betrayed him, but now I suppose it doesn’t matter since he was never loyal to me to begin with.

“She’s not yours.”

His grip loosens on me. “What was that?”

I can speak now at least, and breathe. “She’s not yours.”

He then back hands me and I hit the wall. “Lying whore!”

I fight back, giving him one solid kick into the knees. He falls, and I run for the door. I run through the halls, they’re all blank and desolate. They kind of remind me of a dream. I glance back to see if he’s following me, and I run into a wall. Only when I turn back forward I notice it’s not actually a wall I ran into but a guy. A big, strong, guy because his chest felt like a wall.

He’s familiar, and it takes me a moment to figure out where I know him from. He’s the one I cheated with, my one night stand.

“Ryan, we need to get out of here and get back to the others.” He says.

“What are you…?”

“I need you to focus. You’ve admitted your biggest secret. Now you can get through the door.”

“Get through the…door?”

“Focus.” He whispers, and then disappears into nothing else.

Focus on what? I close my eyes, an idea forming in my mind. If I can go back in time, maybe I can go back to the room as though this never happened. Time passes by and I float back through the hallway, back to the room and then through the light into the blackness.

“STAY OUT OF THE LIGHT T!” I scream.

“Huh?” I hear him say. “What light?”

I’m panting, shivering, and then I feel strong, yet gentle hands on my upper arms. I try to get free but I’m still restrained.

“It’s me,” T says and pulls off my blindfold. “Are you okay?”

I nod. “what happened? I don’t….”

“Creatures of the dark, messing with your head no doubt. They have a tendency to uh, feed off of your biggest fears.”

“Did you see anything?”

“Hmm?” He asks and completely blows off my question. With a small hand gesture, I’m released from my chains. “Let’s see if we can find the others. They can’t be far right?”

FIVE: Fantasies

"When you walk by every night, talking sweet and looking fine, I get kind of hectic inside. Baby, I'm so into you. Darling, if you only knew, all things that flow through my mind.

But it's just a sweet, sweet, fantasy baby."

FIVE

Ipod Walker

“Have you ever been here before?” I sign to Coty.

He nods, “We went about five years ago. You?”

“I was ten the last time I was here.”

Disney World, the most magical place on the Earth. It felt strange to be here without my family, even more so that it was a reward for our rather hectic day. Everything was starting to feel like a dream. Maybe it's better if I keep believing this isn't real. It makes all of the bizarre occurrences tolerable. The fun house, Toby's attack on the alligators, it's all getting intense quickly. Disney felt far too innocent now.

The two of us walk through Epcot Center. Ryan had run off to the Magic Kingdom, and Toby was trying to see everything in one day. Coty wanted to be here, and I didn't want to be alone again. He's nice compared to the other two. Though I'm surprised he's still 'awake'. It's night time, and usually by now he's sleeping and replaced with his brother. Not tonight, and I do like them both, but I'm grateful because I love being able to talk with someone who understands me. I don't like using my thought speech much. It makes me nervous because I can never tell who's listening in. Even if signing gives us weird looks. Sometimes Coty speaks while he does it, like now. It's so normal, and it makes me think of being back home with my family. Not even my boyfriend bothered to do this, but I still love him anyway. He's just kind of a tool sometimes.

“This park is my favorite.” He says and takes in the sights of the world tour.

“I like them all the same. How can you pick favorites?” I tease.

“I love science and culture. Do I have to explain further?”

“Have a thing against fairy tales and fantasy? They're not as cool?”

“I like fantasy, but I stopped living in it a while ago.”

“As in when you and your brother became joined at the hip so to speak?”

He nodded at me and stopped to absorb the sight of the massive glowing ball of light that was the trademark for Epcot. His eyes are sad. I can't imagine what it would be like to share something so personal as your entire being with someone constantly. His love for his brother was a new kind, so devoted and pure. Then again, that's how Coty is in general.

“Exactly, but there's a lot of fantasy here too. I think this place is the most magical one in the world. I like it because everyone is in harmony, like people should be, and it shows just where we could go if we put our mind's to it. It's nice to believe in something again.”

“It's beautiful.” I agree, staring up at the ball known as Space Ship Earth.

“Hungry?”

“No, I'm okay. Did you want to try another ride?”

“I think there are fireworks soon.”

“I like those!”

“Me too, they're fascinating. I tried to build one once.”

I raise an eyebrow, not expecting this. I knew Coty was a nerd and all, but I didn't know he had that bit of adventure in him too. He's always surprising though. Of everyone on our team, I'd have expected him to be the one to buckle under pressure. Really, he's the one who always comes through when we need it. He saved both Toby and I in the swamp from the hunters, and the gators. He also figured out how to turn Toby back into his normal human self. I get this feeling though that he doesn't believe he's anything special. Which is a shame.

“Tried to build one? Did it not work?” I ask.

He laughed. “It didn't lift, only exploded. Timed, thankfully, so we didn't get hit with it. Lots of fire, but we were ready, and in the middle of no where. Never tried again after that. Rockets were never my specialty though.”

I nudge him. “And what is?”

“My specialty?” He looks at me and our eyes meet, and I notice he had pretty eyes that glitter in the lights. A firework goes off, which is good because it distracts me away from staring at him for too long. He's a good looking guy, and nice. He makes me miss Lee, perhaps a little too much.

“Yes, your specialty.”

“I'll save it for another day.” He smiles. “Or rather, I'll tell you when I can think of what it is.”

“It's funny. I can't imagine you doing anything bad to deserve to be here. Ryan, yeah, Toby doesn't surprise me, but you do. Unless it was because of your brother?”

He shifts and shakes his head. “No, it was me. He's here because of me.”

“You don't have to say anything more. I'm sure whatever it was, you had your reasons.”

“Sort of, but I don't want to talk about it. Not here I mean. We're supposed to be living in fantasy right?”

I put an arm around his back and nod. For a moment I pretend we're just like two regular friends, and we've known each other for a long time. Sometimes it feels like we have. He's easy to talk to, and I'm good at listening. I like it. I like our moment.