Blake Thomas stepped inside the jail cell currently holding his boyfriend, Chris Server, and waited for the police officer behind him to close the cell. When he was sure that he and Chris were alone, Blake turned back to face Chris who was now sitting on the cot in the cell and frowning at Blake.

"How was spending Christmas in a jail cell?" Blake asked. "Pretty glamorous."

"You should know," Chris said. "You're no stranger to a jail cell."

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, Chris," Blake said. "Not after what you did."

"And what did I do exactly?"

"You lied to me and to Kelli for months," Blake replied. "Maybe even longer than that. How long have you been lying to us, Chris?"

"I guess the honeymoon's over," Chris said, rising to his feet. "You're not in love with me anymore, are you?"

Blake sighed. "Of course I'm still in love with you, Chris. But I don't want to be anymore. Not if you're the person responsible for Kelli's shooting."

"I didn't shoot her," Chris insisted.

"I know you didn't shoot her yourself," Blake snapped. "I asked if you were responsible. Are you still in the Vipers, Chris? Are you working for Quentin Blood again?"

Chris didn't respond.

"Answer me, Chris!" Blake cried. "I deserve that much."

"Do you?" Chris demanded. "Do you really, Blake? Because the way I see it, you've been lying to me as well."


SUNNYDALE APARTMENTS
FORDHAM BAY

Sean Moore stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and started toward the phone on the kitchen counter, which was ringing. Once he reached the phone, he answered it and found a familiar voice on the other end.

"Mr. Eastcott," Sean said. "Merry —"

"Simon Price, you will stay at home for New Year's."

Before Sean could respond, he heard a buzzing sound on the end of the line. Sean remained in place, listening to the buzzing sound intently until something was slipped under his door, distracting him.

Sean dropped the phone and walked over to his door, where he found an envelope lying. He picked up the envelope and crossed back over the phone, remembering that Bruce Eastcott, his handler for the Witness Protection Program, was on the other end.

"Bruce?" Sean spoke, picking up the phone.

When there was no responded, Sean shrugged and hung up the phone. He then proceeded to open the envelope, finding an invitation to a New Year's party downtown that one of the people in the apartment complex was throwing.

"Sounds like fun," Sean said.

He set the invitation down on the counter as there was a knock at his door. Sean left the kitchen and walked over to the door to peer through the peephole. He saw one of his neighbors, William Connor, standing in the hallway.

Sean unlocked the door and opened it, greeting William.

"Did I come at a bad time?"

"No, it's fine," Sean said. "Um…come on in, I guess."


MOORE HOME

Leslie Moore stood in the basement of her home, going through boxes that she had yet to unpack from her first stay at the Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center in Fordham Bay. She had been home for nearly a year since then, barring her second trip there due to her brother-in-law Derek, and yet she still hadn't gotten around to unpacking all the way.

Leslie sighed, trying to forget about her relationship with Derek, which took a turn for the worse this year when she found that he was responsible for the death of her husband.

"That bastard," Leslie cried. "I hope he's rotting in hell for what he did to Sean."

Leslie didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt over being glad that Derek was now dead, and had suffered the same fate he inflicted on his own brother. She didn't even have a desire to find out who had done it to Derek. So as long as they were satisfied, she was too.

Leslie bent over to grab another box, when she noticed something lying next to it. It was a needle. Leslie gasped and backed away from the needle, suddenly remembering what it was for.

"Shhh," Derek whispered, attempting to calm Leslie down.

He stood up, walking over to Leslie and crouching down next to her. Before she could react, he grabbed her and pulled her close to him so that she couldn't move.

"Derek…what are you doing?" Leslie demanded. "Let me…let me go!"

"I'm sorry," Derek said. "I'm so sorry."

He took the needle and prepared to inject it into her arm. Once this was all over, she wouldn't be able to tell anyone about his involvement in her husband's murder.

Because chances were…she wouldn't be alive to.

"Oh God," Leslie cried, backing away from the needle and falling onto the floor. As she fell, she saw a frame with a picture of her, Sean, Vince, and Akilah inside. "Sean..."

Leslie wiped tears away from her face and rose to her knees, staring away from the box. "Oh my God, Sean…are you still alive?"


KIMBERLY BLACK & DUNCAN KINCAID'S APARTMENT

Duncan Kincaid awoke with a start and clutched his chest. He was sweating from the nightmare he'd just had, and yet he couldn't remember what had happened in it. Duncan tried sitting up in his bed, but was struck by a shock than ran down his spine.

He cried out and flung his arm away from his chest, accidentally breaking the lamp on his dresser. Duncan stood up and staggered toward the light switch in his room. When he turned it on, he found that his hand was bleeding.

"Dammit," Duncan grumbled.

Thankful that Kimberly was at work so she wouldn't be disturbed, Duncan left his bedroom and walked into the living room to find that it was daylight outside. It was odd, because he usually never slept past eleven, not even when he had a hangover.

Duncan walked into the bathroom and rinsed his hand in the sink, cleaning off the blood. Hearing a knock at the door, Duncan left the bathroom after wrapping his hand in a washcloth. He peered through the door's peephole and saw that his niece was standing outside.

"Hey uncle," Julia Mitchell said, greeting Duncan as he opened the door.

"Julia," Duncan said. "What are you doing here?"

"I stopped by to wish you a merry Christmas," Julia said. "The day after Christmas, but still."

"Well, your father came by yesterday, so that should make up for it."

Julia's eyes widened. "Wow. Really?"

"Yeah, color me shocked," Duncan said. "Come on in."


MARQUETTE COVE POLICE DEPARTMENT

"What are you talking about?" Blake demanded.

"Did you kill Damon Johnson, Blake?" Chris asked. "Because we've been skating around that for months and I'd really love to know the truth."

"I didn't kill Damon," Blake said softly.

"Speak up, honey," Chris said, moving forward to wrap his arms around Blake. "I can't hear you."

"I didn't kill him!" Blake cried, slapping Chris across the face. "I'm not the one on trial here, Chris. I'm not the one who was arraigned this morning and who's going to be sentenced on New Year's Eve, so why don't you go ahead and tell me the truth."

Chris turned away from Blake. "My lawyer isn't going to let me go to jail."

"Where'd you get the money to pay for a lawyer?" Blake asked. "Your parents are out of town. You could very well get the death penalty, you're legally an adult."

"I won't get the death penalty, because I didn't kill anyone," Chris said. "You're the only one of us who has ever faced a death penalty."

"Why did you go back to working for Quentin?"

"That's none of your business," Chris said, refusing to admit that he'd gone to work for Quentin in order to save Blake from dying. He wasn't going to leave that on Blake's conscious. For everything that had happened, he still loved him too much to do that.

"Fine, don't tell me," Blake snapped. "If you can't tell me the truth, then I'm finished."

"What?" Chris turned back around. "What does that mean?"

"We're finished," Blake said. "We're over."


SUNNYDALE APARTMENTS
FORDHAM BAY

Derek Moore walked through the hallway, on his way out from his apartment, when he ran into one of his neighbors, Denise Wallace. "Good morning, Denise."

"Hey William," Denise said, handing him an envelope.

"What's this?"

"I'm throwing a New Year's party down at my new office building," Denise said. "I'm inviting some of our neighbors, it should be fun."

"Planning on inviting Sean?" Derek asked.

"Who?"

Derek frowned. "Oh, I meant to say Simon. Sorry…must have had too much eggnog yesterday or something."

Denise laughed. "I guess so."

"So, you inviting him?"

"Of course," Denise said. "What would a party be without the cutest guy in the building?"

Derek feigned offense. "Ouch, Denise."

"Well, second cutest guy," Denise said, correcting herself.

"That's better," Derek said.

"Okay, I guess I'd better finish passing out these invitations," Denise said. "I'll talk to you later."

As Denise walked past Derek, he stopped at Simon's door and knocked. After a few moments, Simon opened the door with a towel around his waist.

"Did I come at a bad time?" Derek asked.

"No, it's fine," Sean said. "Um…come on in, I guess."

Derek stepped inside the apartment, where had to resist the urge to choke him every time he did so. Most of the time, Derek had no problem pretending that he hadn't known Simon before moved in, let alone that he was really Derek's brother Sean, and somehow didn't remember any of his past. But at some times, Derek wanted to kill his brother and finish the job Michael Hanley had led him to believe he'd finished three years ago.

"I just came by to see if you got your invitation," Derek said. "Denise is really looking forward to you showing up."

"Really?" Sean asked. "She's got a son. I don't think she'd be interested in me and all my baggage."

"No, you should go for it," Derek insisted. "What's the harm in trying?"

"Fine, maybe I'll ask her out at the party," Sean decided.

"Perfect," Derek said. "You two will love each other. Trust me."


KIMBERLY BLACK & DUNCAN KINCAID'S APARTMENT

"That's a pretty nasty cut you've got there," Julia said, noticing her uncle's hand. "Did my dad come bearing weapons?"

"No, I hit a lamp when I woke up," Duncan said. "It's was a thing."

"I guess that's going around," Julia muttered.

"What?"

Julia walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. "I couldn't get to sleep at all last night. I spent the night at my dad's, since it was Christmas and all, but some dog was outside howling all freaking night."

"Huh," Duncan said. "Imagine that."

"Yeah, but forget about that," Julia said. "The real reason I came over was to invite you to New Year's. Everyone's doing the family thing this year, so I don't know why the Kincaids and Mitchells shouldn't do the same."

"I'd love to," Duncan replied. "But I won't."

"Why not?" Julia demanded.

"I know your father didn't invite me," Duncan said. "And I don't want to ring in the new year causing a problem for you and your mother to deal with."

Julia sighed. "Oh well. It's the thought that counts, right?"

"Always," Duncan said, smiling.


MOORE HOME

"Yes, I'm still alive, Leslie," Sean Moore said, standing before his wife. "I'm still alive, and I'm waiting for you."

"Sean?" Leslie asked, rising to her feet. "But you're…you're dead, Sean!"

"No, I'm not," Sean insisted.

He walked around Leslie and picked up the needle that was lying on the floor. He frowned and turned back to Leslie.

"Were you going to use this?"

"No," Leslie replied.

"Hmm…I think you should," Sean said, shoving the needle into his arm. He moaned as he pumped the heroin in the needle into his blood stream. Once he was finished, he took the needle from his arm and tried handing it to Leslie. "Come on. Don't you want to be like me, Leslie?"

"Sean, what are you doing here?" Leslie demanded.

"Come on, what's the worst that could happen?" Sean laughed. "You'd die? Abandon your family? I did too."

"You didn't abandon your family, your brother killed you," Leslie insisted.

"Yeah, and then he left too," Sean said. "Maybe it's you that keeps killing off the father figures in my children's lives."

"Stop it, Sean," Leslie snapped. "I'm not…I'm not going to use that needle."

"Yes you are."

"No, you're dead!" Leslie cried, as Sean advanced on her. "You're dead!"

She screamed as he plunged the needle into the neck. As Leslie flailed her arms and tried to keep from falling, her eyes rolled back in her head and she found herself blacking out. A few moments later, Leslie's eyes flew open and she found that she was lying on the floor next to the box with a picture frame of her family.

Leslie breathed a sigh of relief and turned her head to the other side of the room, where the needle she had found was still lying.

"I'd better get rid of that," Leslie gasped, climbing to her feet.