Todd Manning Descent Into Madness Part 3

Right before Todd proposed to Blair for the second time in his airplane, Todd said to Blair, "I need a home, someone to love who will love me, and a family...I want a life Blair, a real life and I want it with you." 

Ever since then Todd has been going through a vicious cycle of obtaining that dream, only to lose it by doing something foolish. After 8 years of imprisonment and torture by his own mother, Todd thought he might finally have that life with Blair and his family, only once again he manage to lose it.  Why  is Todd in self imposed exile in Port Charles?  After all when Todd saw Blair in Port Charles after Starr was hospitalized, he told her:

Todd: Everything that I have in my life that is positive, everything that I have in my life that I love, I have because I've loved you. Our son, our daughter, our granddaughter. I am sorry for your loss, Mrs. Manning. I am never going stop trying to put us back together.

Why is Todd not trying to put Blair and his family back together, what has happen to his need for a home, Blair and family?

Sam, his nephew

Todd: There's a grand total of one person that can stand me in Llanview. He's this big. And he thinks I'm spider-man.

Todd: Everybody that I know turned their back on me except for Sam. I was in jail, I'm not even sure I remember for what,  and he sent me letters. And he's only 7, so he's not much of a correspondent, but still, I very much appreciated that. Even ran away from his nanny so that he could kind of watch me in the court the last time I was on trial.... 

Viki, his sister
Todd: My own sister, Viki, she can't stand me right now. She might come around.


Blair
Todd: Blair, she would forgive everything that I've ever done if I were the last man on earth, but right now she is punishing me by saying she's in love with my ex-wife's brother, who has a funny name.

Carly: Oh, so there's no chance that she could actually really like this guy.

Todd: Oh, no way. But for the moment, Blair's like everybody else in Llanview and hates me.

Carly: Well, I can see why you need a change of scenery

Todd: Had to leave that town. If nothing else, because of the kissy faces and the hand-holding.


Jack, his son
Todd: I never hear from Jack. He hates me. He gets that from his mom.

Todd: My twin brother, Victor, the guy that I killed, he borrowed my life for like eight years, pretended to be me, lived my life. And Jack was too little to know any different. And so, when I returned, Jack didn't accept me. He kept calling Victor "dad," and he'd call me Scarface. Kind of funny. Developmentally appropriate, you know. The angry adolescent, his whole life is turned upside down

Todd: I could have done better, you know. I could have tried to bond with the kid instead of killing the guy that he called "father" for eight years first chance I got. 


And then there is Todd's first born child with Blair, his daughter Starr.

Todd: And Starr,  after everything she's lost, I feel like I want to be close.

Todd: All the more reason to stay in town. If the only one of them that can stand the sight of me is Starr, I should never let her out of my sight.

Todd does try and stay close, but Starr is not a little girl anymore, she is an adult who wants to live her own independent life.

Todd: I invite you to stay at the Metro Court, and you turn me down to live here?

Starr: Dad, I appreciate everything that you have done, but you cannot tell me who my friends are or where I'm supposed to live.

Starr: Look, Dad, just please stop. Stop. I appreciate it. I really, really do. But you, me as roommates, just not happening.

Todd: Why not?

Starr: Because unlike the Buchanans, I don't want to live with my family my whole life. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

It looks as though Todd has chosen to live in Port Charles, and stay close to Starr, the one person he loves who does not hate him, and has not turned his back on him. leaving Blair and the rest of his family in Llanview.

Does this seem like Todd Manning?  The Todd Manning who helped Blair cover up shooting Max in order to help Starr get her family back. The Todd Manning who told Blair her newborn son was dead, so that he, Blair and Starr could be a family again. The Todd Manning who staged an elaborate scheme to make Blair think Starr's nanny had been killed by the mob, and Blair was their next target in order to get Blair and his family back. Where is the Todd Manning who would pull any far out scheme to get back Blair and his family?

Does his P.T.S.D. play any role in this?  Is Todd just taking the easy way out, since he still has Starr in his corner, and waiting for the rest of his family to make the first move towards him?

Todd: I may be a despicable human being, but my children have trust funds. You think they're ever going to soften toward me?

Heather: And you don't care if your family writes you off forever.

Todd: They will come around eventually. They always do.

Todd: Oh, you know how many people are through with me? Everybody's through with me. Starr's through with me, Blair. My sister is always through with me. People being through with me is kind of my specialty. It's kind of what I do. They all forgive me sooner or later...

So what does Todd do when he thinks Blair has come around and soften towards him, or forgiven him? 

Stay tuned.

In His Corner-Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Buoyed by his talk with Spencer, Scott Baldwin stepped into the interrogation room at the PCPD and felt a fresh wave of good fortune wash over him.  Standing in the back of the room was his client engulfed in the embrace of his ex-wife and daughter.  He knew from the dinner last night that they were totally on Todd’s side.

“That’s the image I’m looking to project with a jury, if it gets that far.  Todd Manning, family man,” Scotty said, an all-too-pleased-with-himself smile on his face.  “Maybe we can get your son and nephew up here too, as character witnesses.”   

“Absolutely not.”  Todd’s voice rang with the warning of not being overruled on this.  He wiped the tears on his shirtsleeve and composed himself.  “Sam’s too young and Jack’s more likely to testify for the prosecution.”

Scotty looked towards Blair and her expression was the same as her ex’s.  The attorney decided to move on.  “The arraignment isn’t until this afternoon so someone needs to get back to the hotel and get him a change of clothes.”

“I asked at the front desk if we could clear Todd’s belongs out, but I was informed it was still a crime scene and nothing can be removed,” Viki told them.  “I’ll head over to Wyndham’s and get you a new suit right now.”  She walked over to Todd and kissed him on the cheek.  “You will get through this.  It will be rough, but you will.  See you in a bit.”

Todd looked to Blair.  “At least she’s not buying my underwear this time.  I just hope she knows to look in the men’s department,” he remarked snidely.

Scott didn’t get the whole meaning but found the banter amusing.  “Now, being that you’re a media mogul, that takes a good chunk of the press out of play.  The Sun’s circulation here in Port Charles is the best I’ve ever seen for a PC rag.  That works to our advantage.”

“Speaking of the Sun,” Todd brought up to lighten his mood, “who’s keeping an eye on my paper?”

Blair looked at Starr then back at Todd.  “I’m sure you’ll get bail, so it shouldn’t be alone for too much longer.”

Todd let out with a cross between a laugh and a snort.  “Bail, right.  What judge in their right mind would grant me bail?  Seriously, after my last stay in custody, I really don’t see that happening.” 

“Dad, come on, it could happen,” Starr said to him, trying to cheer him up.  She could see how his mood was turning.

“Starr, you didn’t get bail even with your clean record.  Me?  Convicted rapist, arrested for the murder of my brother and a laundry list of other crimes.  Chances of bail: slim to none.”  He sat back.  “In all honesty, the paper is the least of my concerns.”

“I’ll run it for you, if they deny the bail,” Blair offered.  When Todd looked at her, she reminded him, “I’ve run the paper in the past.  And to paraphrase someone we both know, if you started when you were barely an adult, it can’t be that hard.”

Todd looked at her agog.  “Really?  You’re quoting Tina at this moment?”  Then he softened.  “But you have done it in the past and you’re the only one I really trust with it.”  He nodded to her in agreement.

“Alright, there really isn’t much more we can do know.  I just need a few minutes alone with my client, ladies, if you’d please. 

Blair and Starr looked from Baldwin to Todd, understanding that there may be other things they needed to talk about.  Starr gave her father another hug and Blair kissed him full on the lips. 

When they had cleared out of the room, Scott turned to Todd.  “There are some things I need to talk to you about.  Some of it is about this case and some of it is about me personally.  I guess I’d better get it out of the way now.”

Todd got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

******

Viki decided to kill time waiting for the tailor to work on Todd’s suite by looking around Wyndham’s.  It had the same homey feel of Logan’s Department Store back in Llanview.  She wasn’t exactly looking where she was going when she walked into another woman.  “Oh, I am so sorry.  I wasn’t paying attention.”

“No, that is perfectly okay,” the other woman said as she looked up.  She was stunned speechless, but Viki had no reason to know why.

“I’m sorry, do we know each other?” she asked politely.

The woman blinked a few times but shook her head.  “We’ve never met but I know who you are.  Victoria Lord Carpenter, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Yes, though I haven’t been Carpenter for a number of years.”  Even after her divorce from Charlie, she had reverted back to Ben’s name and with her engagement to Clint on hold that was how she was still known professionally.

 

“I know about you from a court case.”  She held out her hand.  “I’m sorry, Alexis Davis.”

Viki had a sneaking suspicion she knew which case it was, if she was being referred to by Sloan’s last name.  “Commonwealth vs. Carpenter?”

Alexis looked rather sheepish for some reason.  “I’m guessing you’re here because of your brother,” she asked, dropping the line of inquiry.

While it was not much better of a topic, Viki was relieved at the change in subject.  “Yes, his arraignment is this afternoon.  We can’t get into his suite to get him clothes so I offered to get him something.”

“If you do manage to get back into his room, tell me if you find a manuscript there,” Alexis remarked.  When Viki gave her a quizzed look, Alexis expounded.  “Your brother and his associate, Connie Falconeri, conspired to steal a manuscript written by my teenage daughter.  Add to that the fact that he kidnapped my grandson.”

Viki took a deep breath.  She had found more victims of Todd’s lies.  “I am very sorry for the time you lost with your grandson.  I know what Todd’s intentions were but they were never done out of spite.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Mrs. Davidson, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  Excuse me.”  With that, Alexis left.

And once again, Todd had left a path of almost unbearable destruction. 

******

Blair walked into the offices of Manning Enterprises.   Looking around, they were Todd’s typical minimalist décor.  She walked into his office, touching the nameplate on the door.  TODD MANNING, PUBLISHER.  It was what she had felt he had been born for.  She only hoped she could keep things going until the mess was over. 

She sat down and opened his computer.  Password protected, of course.  She tried the kids’ names, then Sam’s then Hope’s, but it wouldn’t budge.  She even tried hers but still nothing.  It then offered her a clue, saying ‘mother of my children’.  She typed in her name than added another word.  BLAIR MANNING worked and the computer booted up.

“Oh, Todd, don’t change,” she said to no one in particular. 

“Don’t worry, he assured me people don’t change,” voice said from the doorway.

Blair looked up and saw Carly standing there.  “Can I help you, Mrs. Jacks?” she asked.

Carly moved towards her and handed her a bunch of papers.  One was a restraining order, another was an eviction order.  “Just in case that rapist gets out on bail,” she informed Blair.

“Well, as luck would have it, I found a place for him to come home to when he does get out on bail.”  It wasn’t a lie.  Blair had contacted a realtor first thing in the morning and found a furnished two-bedroom.  Viki would be staying at the MetroCourt but Blair wanted to get herself, Starr and Todd out of there as soon as possible.  “As for the eviction notice, I know how Todd tends to operate in a business capacity.  He would have all his bases covered with regards to leases, so something tells me that one has no legs to stand on.”

Carly only responded with, “See that he’s out of here by tomorrow.”

Blair stood up as she turned.  “I will be contacting Todd’s lawyers on this.  And Carly,” the other woman turned back to her, “next time, knock before you enter this office while I’m here.”

    

Carly just huffed before she turned around and left.

Blair sat back down and began to seek out anything she could find on his computer.  Going through each of the files, she found what she was looking for.  Again, she said, “Don’t ever change” with a smile on her face.

In His Corner-Chapter 7

Chapter 7

John had been up all night reviewing the notes for the rape of Carly Jacks.  At first glance, it looked like an open and shut case, despite the lack of physical evidence.  It was something that Todd Manning had done before.  Given the right circumstances, John could see him doing it again.

And yet, that fact was what bothered him the most.  From all he knew of the man, this man, his gut was telling him it was a false accusation.  The truth was, John didn’t know much about Carly Jacks.  He knew she didn’t like him, blaming him for breaking up Jason and Sam’s marriage.  That alone set them on opposite sides in their first meetings.  But Carly herself?  He would need to get more information on her.

That was why he had found himself at Sam’s penthouse first thing the next morning.  John knew Sam and Carly had a connection because of Jason, so he figured she could give him some insight into the blonde. 

Sam opened the door right away with Daniel in her arms.  The baby smiled at him and he couldn’t help return it.

“John, what are you doing here this early?” Sam asked.

“I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.  Can I come in?”  Sam stepped aside and let John in.  She put her son in his playpen and went to get them coffee.  John accepted it and took a sip.     

“What do you need to know?” Sam asked

“Whatever you know about Carly Jacks,” John replied directly.  Sam raised her eyebrows and John continued.  “I’ll tell you, Sam, what I know about Todd Manning, something about this just doesn’t fit.”

“How so?” Sam asked, genuinely curious.

John took a deep breath, as he was about to launch into one of the most convoluted cases of his career.  “Nearly ten years ago, Todd Manning vanished from Llanview after trying to take on a cult leader who went after his sister, his nieces and then Starr and Blair.  A few months later, he ‘returned’ with a new face claiming he had been beaten so severely he needed the major plastic surgery.  For the next eight years, he lived the life of Todd Manning, married Blair a few times and became father to a son when he himself was raped by a woman obsessed with him.”  

“In August of 2011 the man you know as Todd Manning returned to town saying he had been kidnapped and tortured for eight years.  It was a fantastic story to begin with.  He came to me for help, fearing for his life.  I ran a DNA test on him and obtained DNA on the man we all knew as Todd.  On the night the results came in, we all gathered at Todd’s house, but before we could read the results, it came out how Todd had come into possession of it.”

“A few years beforehand, the woman Todd had raped in college, Marty Saybrooke, had been presumed dead in Ireland.  She had, in fact, been found alive but suffering from amnesia.  Todd had rescued her from the care of a corrupt FBI agent who had found her.  He brought her back to a residence he had purchased for her and saw that she was nursed back to health.  He slowly revealed who he was, but not a thing about their past.  And slowly, Marty fell in love with him.”

“Okay, that’s kind of sick,” Sam said.

“His rationale was that he was trying to make amends for all he had done years ago,” John explained.  “But it had all blown up.  Todd had gotten off on any charges and life went on.  Eventually, he had married his lawyer, Tea Delgado, who had been his lawyer and wife after he had first married Blair years before he disappeared.”

“I don’t know if I see what you’re saying, John,” Sam said.

“This was all revealed to the Todd Manning currently here in Port Charles.  I was there and I saw his reaction to the story of those events.  He was appalled by the thought of anyone doing something like that to anyone, much less Marty.  He excoriated his family for not questioning the other man’s identity after that incident.  He said it was something he would never do.”

“Sam, something tells me that if that held true then, it holds true now.  I don’t think he raped Carly.”

******

When Blair, Viki and Starr arrived at the PCPD, they found Todd sitting in the interrogation room alone.  Blair could tell he was in full self-loathing mode by his posture and body language.  A part of her wanted to run up to him and kiss him in front of everyone.  She had to practice a measure of self-control, though, so she went at him from another angle.

“You really know how to pick ’em, don’t you Todd?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

Todd looked up at her, confused.  “What are you talking about?”

“I had a conversation with your ‘friend’ Carly Jacks this morning.  She’s a piece of work!  Whatever did you see in her?” Blair retorted.

“She didn’t look at me with disappointment in her eyes,” Todd informed her, looking from Blair to Viki to Starr.  “Yep, that’s the look.”

“But she’s more than willing to throw our family history at us,” Starr replied.  Viki turned to her, but she ignored her aunt’s look, choosing instead to plow on with what she had heard earlier.  “She compared you…to your father.”

Todd’s eyes slid to Viki and crinkled up in pain.  The last thing he wanted was for his crimes to be thrown back in his sister’s face.  “I’m sorry,” he said, his mouth dry.

“Don’t worry.  I defended the Lord family name,” Blair said as she sat across from him.  She placed her hand over his as a shot of memory surged through her.  She was again in the LPD from the time of the hospital rapist’s rampage.

“What did you do?” he asked, his voice cautious.

“I punched her, squarely in the jaw.  She went down like a sack of potatoes,” Blair said with a small measure of glee.

“Dorian may disown you for that, standing up for Viki,” Todd responded, trying to inject some levity into the room.

Blair merely shrugged her shoulders. 

Todd heaved out a sigh.  “Look, I do appreciate you all being here.  But, I made my bed, now I have to face up to all of it.”  Todd got up from his chair and walked to the back wall, his arms tucked over his chest.

“Todd, you said you didn’t do this, and we believe you.  We are going to stay and stand by you,” Viki told him in a firm voice. 

“Viki, you have two kids and two grandkids at home.  I really think you need to be there to stem any more Buchanan influence on them,” he replied.  Turning to Blair, he continued, “I’m sure Sam and Jack are wondering where you are.  And if I know Jack, he won’t be pleased with any of the turns this has taken.”  He nodded with his chin towards her ringless hand.  Then he turned to Starr, the sorrow evident on his face.  “I can’t ever make up for what I knew and never told you.  I tried to rationalize it, say I was only doing it to protect you so you wouldn’t go over the edge like you did with Sonny.  I tried to say I was exacting justice on Johnny by making his life miserable with Connie.  But I wouldn’t face the fact that I…I had screwed up with Tea and the baby.  I couldn’t hurt her any more by admitting the truth.”  Todd turned his gaze straight over his daughter’s head, willing himself not to look at her as his emotions overtook them.  “And in doing so…I hurt you.  My little Starr.”  The sob broke loose from him.

Starr walked over to him and pried his arms away from his chest.  Then she placed them around her and was shocked by the ferocity of the hug her gave her.  The top of her hair was growing damp as the sobs continued to wrack through him.

Then she felt another body close in from behind.  Her mother was whispering to him, trying to stem his pain.  The last time the three of them had been this close, she was preparing to leave for Los Angeles with Hope.  Then, it had been her mother that was an emotional mess.  Her father had remained strong and stoic in her presence.  But now, it was only fitting that the roles were reversed.  They needed to be there for him like he had always been for them.  Even for great distances, and time Todd Manning had always been there.

******

Time changed a lot of things, but not Kelly’s.  Scott Baldwin found that comforting.  He had seated himself at the counter and was enjoying a dish of pancakes when a familiar voice actually made him smile. 

“Look what the cat dragged in,” Luke Spencer said, a wary eye trained on the lawyer.

“Shouldn’t I be saying that to you?” Scott replied as he turned toward his longtime nemesis.

Luke approached him slowly.  “Why did you come back, Baldwin?”

“I have a client I’m representing here in my hometown.  Thought I’d also use the time to walk down memory lane,” Scotty informed him.

“What nut you have you as his lawyer?”

Scotty smiled at Luke’s jab.  As much as he enjoyed some of Todd Manning’s antics, Spencer had no idea he wasn’t that far off.  And Scott had a Pennsylvania jury to back him on that one.  “The same one I got an acquittal for this past spring.”

“You’re representing Manning in the rape case?” Luke asked.  “Peach of a client you got there.  He’s already a convicted sex offender.”

Scotty eyed Luke and took a step closer, coming almost toe to toe with the other man.  In a low growl, he opined, “Let’s not have you and me talk about rape cases, alright Spencer?  Still a touchy subject, even after all these years, and my client actually has paid in some way for his long-ago crime.”  Then Scotty took a step back.  “Besides, if memory serves, you and your niece aren’t exactly close.  Or has that changed in the years I’ve been gone?”

Luke took in a deep breath.  “No, but I don’t think even sweet Caroline would falsely accuse someone of that.”

“Why not?  She’s used people’s pasts against them before.  Ask AJ Quartermaine…or your own sister.”  Scott looked at his watch.  “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go meet with my client.”  Scott left Kelly’s without a backwards glance at Luke.

But he had planted a seed of doubt in the scoundrel’s mind.  

Todd Manning Descent Into Madness Part 2

Diane: "Your honor, my client, Todd Manning, suffers from severe P.T.S.D."

And with those words on January 18th, 2013, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is brought back front and center to the story of Todd Manning, where it should have been all along. During Todd's first month in Port Charles last year, Todd mentions it to three different women, who all share one thing in common. Unlike Blair Cramer, all of these women bring out the worst in Todd Manning.

Todd - Tea Scene 5/10/12

Tea: How dare you talk about my husband that way. You murdered Victor in cold blood.

Todd: No. I didn't. You were at the trial. You heard the expert witness.

Todd: I was not responsible for my actions.

Tea: Oh, when are you ever responsible for your actions? Parade as many experts as you want in front of me. You knew exactly what you were doing when you broke into my home, pointed a gun at my husband, and shot him dead.

Todd: Post-traumatic stress disorder does not just happen to soldiers in war. Sometimes it happens to people whose mothers kidnap them, and torture them, and hold them captive for eight, long years.


Todd - Carly Scene 5/11/12

Carly: Because you killed him.

Todd: I did, but I was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time, and I don't really even remember shooting the guy.

Todd: I've hurt everyone who's ever said that they cared about me. Especially Blair, but hey, you know, I was a certifiable lunatic. I have an expert witness to prove it.


Todd- Heather Scene 6/4/12

Todd: What am I going to tell Tea?

Heather: Tell her the truth, that you did everything you could. and so did I.

Todd: I promised her that I would save this kid. I promised her that I would save him.

Heather: You tried, It's not your fault. You didn't kill this baby.

Todd: I killed his father. Took Tea's husband away from her. Can I tell her I took away her son, too?

Heather: You killed this baby's father?

Todd: Shot him, point blank.

Heather: Just curious, why aren't you in prison?

Todd: Because I convinced the courts that I was **non compos mentis** because I
didn't remember doing it. And you think I would have. He was my twin.

Heather: There must have been some bad blood between you.

Todd: Oh, I wanted him dead, if that's what you're asking. And then when I did remember, I tried to cover it up.


So Todd speaks freely to three different women about P.T.S.D. Does he really believe he has it? Does he have it? Todd never mentions getting any treatment for it. Outwardly when he first shows up in Port Charles he seems well, confident even. Todd is a free man. There are no more converstations with his dead mother, all his secrets are out in the open. Todd fearlessly blackmails Sonny, Port Charles resident mobster, then gets Starr clear of all of the criminal charges, without the help of her so called amazing lawyer. So what has happen to Todd's P.T.S.D., and what would cause it to resurface?

Stay tuned.

**non compos mentis** is Latin for "not of sound mind". It is also so legal definition that refers to someone insane.

Todd Manning's Descent Into Madness Part 1

When Todd arrived in Port Charles last May to see Starr who had been arrested for trying to kill Sonny, it was quickly established in their conversation, the state of Todd's mental health.

Starr: So you murdered your own brother, and they just find you innocent?

Todd: No, not innocent, just not guilty by reason of insanity.

Starr: You're not insane.

Todd: Well, that remains to be seen. But my attorney was able to establish that I was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, on account of my mother never loved me and held me captive and tortured me.

Interesting response from Todd to Starr's "you're not insane", Todd’s "that remains to be seen" as if Todd is saying that there is a possibility that he could be, or that it could happen.

When Diane is trying to prove to the judge that Todd needs psychiatric help, she mentions twice that his stress disorder has resurfaced again.

Diane: Your honor, when Tea Delgado's baby died, my client was so traumatized that his stress disorder resurfaced.

Diane: Your honor, when my client found himself imprisoned for a kidnapping he did not commit, trapped again in a jail cell as he had been for those eight long years by his mother, he snapped. His stress disorder resurfaced again. That is why he attempted to bribe detective McBain. That is why he attempted to flee the hospital after being beaten half to death by his cell mate. He is in the grip of severe P.T.S.D., Your honor. He does not need more prison time. He needs psychiatric help.

So my question is, was it the baby switch, or being imprisoned again that has caused Todd's stress disorder to resurface? Or could it be something or someone else, that has caused Todd Manning to begin his decent into insanity. When did it begin, and could it have anything to do with Blair Cramer? Stay tuned.

Tod Manning's Descent into Madness

Welcome to the newest feature here at "Todd and Blair--Against the World".  There has been some discussion around the message boards about Todd's mental state.  With him pleading not guilty by reason of insanity (alright to get himself out of trouble...again) he looked to be headed to Ferncliff the the near future.

But there has been mounting evidence that all is really not right in Todd's mind.  He has been doing a number of things that those around him, those that know him and even those that love him (and a few that really don't know him) have been asking themselves "What is wrong with Todd?"  From wrapping himself in duct tape, to standing on his head chanting, he's been more off the wall than usual.

"Todd Manning's Decent into Madness" is going to be an archive of transcripts that got to illustrate the fact that Todd, as he said in court, is really going insane.  Starrfan68, my newest contributor, will be making posts here that will get to the point that, in his infuriating, annoying, convoluted way, Ron Carlivati is writing this story and will get to the point to eventually show there is only one thing that stops the madness for Todd, one thing that, as he said in July in his room at the Metrocourt Hotel, calms him down, always--Blair Cramer. 

In His Corner-Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was late by time they had gotten back to the suite.  Scott had laid out what sounded like a good plan for Todd.  Blair only hoped her plans could help.

The fruits of those plans seemed to have landed at their front door while they had been out.  Stuffed under it was a fat manila envelope.  It seemed Rex had made quick work of information on Carly. 

“What is that, Mom?” Starr asked.

Blair looked at her daughter.  “I called Rex Balsom earlier today to find out anything on Carly.”  She looked apologetically at Viki.  “I am sorry, but I figured we needed all the information we could get on her.”  Blair opened up the envelope and sifted through the pages with Viki and Starr.   

A lot of the file was repeating some of what she had learned from AJ in the bar.  There were other things though.  The most glaring was her and a Dr. Tony Jones.  He must have been the boyfriend she was with when she had slept with AJ.  He had suffered a nervous breakdown, kidnapped Michael when he was still a baby and held another woman as a prisoner before being caught.  However, he got off on an insanity defense.  As a result, Carly shot him in open court and landed in a mental institution for a time. 

There was much more, but it was Rex’s conclusion that gave Blair pause.  He had written “Blair Cramer without the heart.”  Rereading everything, she sadly agreed.  It was those thoughts that she went to sleep with.  Unfortunately, sleep would not take her.  For some reason, she was remembering of another night she had laid in bed, awake with worry.  The difference was, Todd had been there with her.

A knock at the bedroom door startled her.  It opened and Starr crept in.  She noticed her mother was wide awake, even in the darkness.

“You couldn’t sleep either, huh?” Blair asked.  She turned down the other side of the bed and her grown daughter crawled in next to her.

“What was keeping you awake?” Starr asked.

“Rex’s comment about Carly,” Blair answered.

“Mom, from what I read in that file, you are nothing like Carly Jacks,” her daughter assured her.

“But I might have been,” she whispered, thinking of all the ways she could have turned into that woman.

“Really?” Starr asked, unconvinced.  “And just how do you figure that?”

“Starr, I initially married your daddy for the money I knew was coming to him.  It was not some grand romance,” Blair explained gently.  But as she looked back on their years, that was what it had turned into.

“But you and Dad started out as friends, right?”  Her mother nodded.  “And it all worked out in the end.  You two fell in love.”  Then she took her mother’s left hand.  “And by the state of this finger, I’d say you two were still in that state.”  A knowing glint appeared in Starr’s eyes. 

Blair bit her lip, unable to answer.  Thankfully Starr didn’t go looking for one.  She took her mother’s silence as confirmation.  Starr lay back down, her head on her mother’s chest like she had done when she was a child.  “Tell me a story.”

Blair didn’t even have to think about it.  “Once upon a time there was this great dragon.  He had a duty to protect this beautiful princess and her equally beautiful daughter.  And he did that, for years and years.  He protected them from all the bad people in the village who wanted to hurt them.  The princess loved the way the dragon defended her and loved the dragon for it, even if he was big and mean and fire-breathing.  But one day, the dragon disappeared and the princess went on a great quest to search for him.  It took so long, and at last, she believed the dragon had abandoned her and her daughter.  They went on with their lives.  Others hurt them and they tried to defend themselves but they had lost heart.”

“Then, one day, out of nowhere, the dragon returned.  But the years of separation from the princess and her daughter had changed him and they didn’t notice.  The dragon still tried to defend them, but feared that in doing so, he would only hurt them more and the last thing the dragon wanted to do was hurt the princess and her daughter.  So he left the village and them.  He went to another town, but the people there feared him and trapped him and tried to hurt him. The princess and her daughter heard of this and went to that village and fought the villagers on the dragon’s behalf.”

Starr smiled in her mother’s embrace.  She had remembered, vaguely, her father telling her about telling this story to her mother after he had returned to Llanview when she was young.  She loved how her mother had updated it.  “And did the princess and her daughter defeat the villagers?”

“I don’t know the answer to that yet, sweetheart,” she replied, turning to face Starr.  “But I have a feeling they will win in the end.  With the dragon, they always seem to win.”

******

AJ Quartermaine had left the MetroCourt’s bar hours ago and was sitting in the living room of the mansion in the dark.  Before him was a file he had been gathering on Todd Manning since he had first met the man’s daughter the day his grandfather had died. 

The man did not have a great reputation, to say the least.  And AJ knew a thing or two about bad reputations.  In a lot of ways, though, he saw a kindred spirit in Todd Manning.  Both tried to prove themselves to their families, whom they were often estranged from at times.  Both had tried to take their children away from their mothers, though Todd had never gone to the same lengths AJ had. 

The one marked difference between AJ and Todd was, he had a woman who seemed to stay by his side, through good times and bad.  AJ had never had a relationship like that.  Women had never devoted themselves to his defense.  Carly had stood by Jason countless times; Courtney had chosen his brother over him, so the thought of having a ‘stand by your man’ type of woman was foreign to him.  And he so envied Todd Manning for that. 

There was something that Blair Cramer had said at the bar that had stuck with AJ into the wee hours that was the here and now.  Using a rapist’s past against him.  That was what Carly had done to AJ; used his alcoholism against him for her own ends.  But there was something so twisted about crying rape that AJ didn’t even think Carly had the gall to do it.

And yet, everything had happened so quickly.  Johnny Zacchara had confessed to the death of Starr’s boyfriend and daughter and in her anger, Starr had confessed to Todd’s switching of Daniel with his ex-wife’s son.  All this took place in front of Carly.  She had learned that a man she had called friend had betrayed her, and Jason.  No matter how close Carly would get to any man, Jason would always be first in her heart and mind. 

Could Carly have set him up as revenge for what he did to Jason?  A part of AJ didn’t want to believe that she would sink that low, but it fit a pattern. 

There was also something nagging him about Michael.  When the accusation had come out, his son had a horrified expression on his face.  He hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Michael about it, but it looked like a gut shot.  What was behind his son’s reaction?  Was it just disgust on Carly’s behalf or was there something else? 

There was more to this story and AJ was determined to figure it out.

******

It seemed that telling her daughter that fairy tale was like a shot of adrenaline for Blair when she woke the next morning.  She knew she could face anything, especially when that anything was a blond, brusque hotelier headed straight for her in the lobby.

“I heard you were in town,” Carly said immediately.  “Hope you’ll be joining me in hanging that bastard out to dry.”

Blair only gave her a cool gaze.

Carly didn’t even seem to notice.  “You warned me.  I should never have trusted him.  I thought he was my friend.  But he betrayed me in the worst way.”  Blair didn’t say it, but what Carly was talking about didn’t sound like rape.  She decided to let Carly continue to ramble.  It had worked to her advantage the night before.  “He knew how important Jason was to me.  He knew what Danny meant to Jason.  And he did nothing.  Worse than nothing.  He took away Jason’s chance at fatherhood.”

Loathe as she was to defend Todd’s actions, Blair had to point out the other side of the equation.  “He took away his own brother’s chance at fatherhood and then tragically fate took that away from Tea.  Todd was doing what he thought he could to spare Tea any more pain.”           

“You’re taking his side?!” Carly yelled, startling a number of people milling about.

Blair remained calm.  “Todd shows is loyalty to a very very select few, mostly his family.  His actions were absolutely wrong, but they were in keeping with the Todd Manning I know.”  

“And what about rape?  Is that in keeping with knowing ‘the real Todd Manning’?” she snarked.

The bar had been raised and Blair intended to meet it.  “No, actually, that isn’t.  Too much has happened to him to go back to being that man he was in college.”

“Obviously not.  But what else should we expect from the son of a pedophile?”

Blair’s mouth dropped open, not because of Carly’s comment, but because of who else heard it.  Viki Davidson seemed to have appeared if by magic at just the wrong time.  Concern coursed through Blair for Todd’s sister. 

For her part, Viki’s face was wiped of any emotions.  What her father had done to her still had an impact on her, but she would not allow it to be used against her brother.  “If that’s what you think, Mrs. Jacks, then I can assure you, you do not know a thing about my brother.”

Carly reared her head, intent on aiming both barrels at the other woman.  “That’s some high and mighty talk coming from a murderess.  Or was it Nikki?  Or Jean?  It was ‘one of your alters’, right?”

Off to the side, Starr seethed on her aunt’s behalf.

But it was Blair, whose voice was heard next.  “Carly?”  The woman turned and quickly hit the floor.

It wasn’t an open-handed slap, like the one Blair had done on Irene Manning ages ago.  It was the full force of her fist that made contact with Carly.  Say what you will about her, her family or Todd.  But you do not get to make remarks about one of the most disgusting acts ever perpetrated on anyone, much less Viki. 

Then, Blair just turned her heels and walked out of the hotel, intent on going to her meeting with Todd and Scott at the PCPD.

In His Corner-Chapter 5

Blair walked into the lobby of the MetroCourt and caught sight of Carly Jacks.  From the distance, she studied the other woman.  For all appearances, she certainly was no Marty Saybrooke.  She was not one to play the victim card.  Despite all the years that had past, Marty still cowered the slightest bit in the presence of Todd and ‘Todd’.  She still sometimes had that haunted look in her face, even when she tried to cover it. 

Not Carly.  The other woman went about her day as if nothing had even happened.  Blair was debating whether to approach her or not, but in the end, she chose not to.  Now was not the time.  She was still too raw from having seen Todd.  She headed towards the elevator and got on when it arrived. 

When she entered the room, no one else was there.  She took the emptiness in for a minute, deciding her next move.  She had read up a little bit on Carly when Starr had told her she was seeing his son.  Married to Sonny Corinthos a number of times, then to Jasper Jacks, whom she was separated from, she had had just as hard-scrabbled of a life as Blair herself.  Hell, there were a number of times that, even in interacting with her, Blair saw a bit of herself in the other woman.  Todd had called her his friend.  Had that been what had attracted him to Carly in the first place?

Selfishly, she didn’t want to think of Todd attracted to another woman.  But she had berated him in the courtroom in front of Carly, turn down his proposal a few door away in her hotel and slapped him in her presence.  She could only guess what Carly must have thought about their relationship.

Blair needed more information about Carly before she proceeded with anything.  She looked at a clock.  It was late in London, but not obscenely so.  She picked up her phone and found the number she was looking for.  The other end picked up surprisingly quickly.  “Rex, I need you to look into someone for me.  Her name is Carly Jacks and she’s in Port Charles, New York.”

******

After the call was done and Rex had begrudgingly agreed to investigate her, Blair headed for the bar.  She prayed she wouldn’t run into Carly there.  Getting to the floor, she saw that the coast was clear.  Sitting at the bar, she saw only one other man there.  It was about Todd’s age, blond hair and bright blue eyes looking down a glass of clear liquid.  For a moment, she was stunned to see how much he resembled Michael Corinthos.  Then she had remembered something Starr had told her.  Sonny had adopted Michael when the boy was young.  The whole story was rather sordid, but she remembered that Starr had hurried back to Port Charles after Thanksgiving because of his great-grandfather’s funeral.  Blair figured this was Michael’s biological father.  Maybe he would have some insight into Carly.

She approached the other man.  “Excuse me, but you don’t happen to have a son named Michael, do you?”

The other man turned and looked at her.  “Is it that obvious?” he asked.

Blair was actually quite surprised how much Michael looked like this man upon closer examination.  “Yes it is.  But then again, I’ve had ample opportunity to look at your picture, as my daughter has been sending me shots of him and her for months.”  Blair held out her hand.  “Blair Cramer.  Starr Manning is my daughter.”

The man shook it.  “AJ Quartermaine.  Your daughter is…quite feisty.  She’s made me put both feet into one shoe a number of times.”

“It’s the Cramer in her,” Blair said with a touch of pride.

“I’m guessing you’re here for her, then?  I read about the accusation her father has against him,” AJ inquired. 

“Starr needs her Momma and of course I came.  I’m guessing that Carly needs her son’s support in this time too,” Blair replied, shrugging her shoulders. 

AJ let out a snort in response.

“You don’t have that great of a relationship with Carly, I take it?”

“Oh, you could say that.  We fell into bed together and it went downhill since then.  Things only got worse after I learned Michael was my son,” AJ told her.

Bingo! Blair thought.  “That’s kind of funny.  Todd, Starr’s father, we fell into bed and it only cemented a relationship that, while having its ups and downs, has been the best one we’ve ever had.”       

AJ eyed her enviously.  “What did you do?” he asked, his curiosity piqued.

“It’s a long story.  The shortest one I can think of is, after we slept together, I found out he was heir to $30 million dollars and, instead of being truthful with him, I told him our one night stand had ended up getting me pregnant and we got married immediately.  Then he learned about his inheritance and we had a few good months.  I even did wind up pregnant.  But after I suffered a miscarriage, he learned the pregnancy wasn’t as far along as he had thought.  The marriage blew up after that.”  Blair offered him a smirk.

“Sort of the opposite of me.  I came from money to start with.  But I’m a recovering alcoholic,” he offered, holding up his drink.  “It’s seltzer.  Anyway, one night, I fell off the wagon and into bed with Carly.  She had a fight with her boyfriend, who was actually her step-father and thought they were over.  Then she learned she was pregnant, tried to pass off the child as the boyfriend’s and when he started getting suspicious, said it was my brother’s.  All the while, I was coming out of my booze-fueled fog and remembering being with her, so she drugged me, dumped me in an alley and poured vodka all over me.  Then she called my parents who were disappointed and I forgot I was remembering anything.  By time I did remember, she had gotten involved with the local mobster, who hung me on a meat hook to convince me to give up my parental rights.

If AJ Quartermaine divulged this much sober, Blair couldn’t imagine what he was like with a few drinks, not that she was willing to tip him off the wagon to get her way.  It seemed Carly had already pulled that number on him.  Then his words hit her.  “So, she used your past against you for her own ends.”

AJ offered her a wicked smile.  “That’s our Carly.”

“Kind of like using a rapist’s past against him,” she mused aloud. 

AJ caught what she had said.  “How’s that?”

Blair caught his expression and was about to answer when Viki and Starr approached.  She noticed her daughter’s weary gaze at her boyfriend’s father.  “Blair, Todd’s attorney just arrived.  I told him to meet us here,” Viki said.

Blair noticed the man who came off the elevator.  He looked around and his gaze fell on AJ.  When he came towards them he said, “It’s true.  The reports of your death have been exaggerated, AJ.”

“Scotty Baldwin.  Another one to add to the Port Charles rogues’ gallery.  What brings you back here?”  AJ asked.

“I represented Todd Manning this past spring in the trial for the murder of his brother and he seems to have gotten into another spot of trouble, so he hired me back to get him out,” the attorney said.

“This is who you have representing Todd?”  AJ smirked, imagining the fireworks what were about to go off in Port Charles.

“Is that a problem?” Starr asked in a voice that sounded much like her father’s. 

“No, not with the histories that I’m sure will play out.”  AJ got up off the stool.  “Ms. Cramer, Starr, this is without a doubt the best man for the job.  Good luck to you Scott.”  Then he turned to Blair.  “If you need anything, please feel free to call.  I may be of some help.”

The women and Baldwin watched him go.  Then Blair turned to the lawyer and demanded, “What does he mean by that?  Full disclosure, Mr. Baldwin.”

They were seated around a table.  “Alright, in the interest of full disclosure, I have a bit of history with Carly Jacks’ family. I was involved with her mother a number of times and her uncle stole my wife from me.”  Then he turned to look at each of the women.  “But that will not interfere with my defense of Todd.  In fact, it can aid me, as I have a measure of experience with the Spencers.”

Blair and Starr both looked at Viki.  They would take their lead from her.  Viki took a deep breath and asked, “Alright, Mr. Baldwin, what is your plan for my brother’s defense?”

Scotty flashed them his best smile.