Don't Wake Me, I'm Not Dreaming

37

When Clark and Spike finally get to the trailer park, Spike winces.

"Please tell me we took a wrong turn somewhere." He begs.

"Nope." Clark says, walking towards the house, while Spike's hit with a flashback.

A younger Spike's crying as he sits by the side of the road, when a car pulls up.

The window rolls down, and a woman's voice calls out, "Kid? Are you okay?"

"I scraped my knee." Spike sniffs. "There's gravel in it and I can't afford to go to the doctor. We don't have health insurance."

"Hey, don't worry about that." The woman reaches into her purse, pulling out some bills. "Take this, buy some peroxide and rubbing alcohol. That'll get some of it out."

"Really?" Spike has a small smile now. "Wow, that's...really nice of you."

The woman says, "If you still need to see a doctor, I'm right down the road at the blue house. Knock on the door, I'll take you myself."

Spike's smile gets bigger, as he waves goodbye, watching the car drive away.

The moment it's out of sight, Spike laughs, "Stupid bitch.", pulls the fake scraped knee off his knee, and starts counting his money.

Which is interrupted promptly when he sees a cop car headed straight for his house.

"No no no no no!" Spike makes a run for it, and only just arrives to see a cop place Max under arrest.

Spike shakes his head to clear the flashback from his mind and follows Clark to the house.

"Hollie Magnus?" Spike calls just in time to see her stand up from her garden.

"I'm Detective Clark. I work with a secret agency that's looking into the Cornell admissions scandal." Clark tells her. "I want to talk to you about Irene Masterson."

"Oh God, what did she do now?" Hollie rolls her eyes.

"We don't know." Clark replies.

"Shame." Hollie says as she keeps trimming her bushes. "I owe her the biggest thanks."

"Excuse me?" Spike says. "Aren't you still paying your fines because of her?"

"I am." Hollie says happily. "Before everything went down, all I cared about was my kids not making me look bad."

"Okay, regardless." Spike says. "But when you were found out, you had to have wanted revenge, no?"

"Of course I did." Hollie agrees. "But remember, it takes two to tango. My kids didn't even want to go to Cornell. Sure, Masterson did it, but I chose to get wrapped up in it instead of turning her in. That's no one else's fault but mine. Moved to Staten Island, retired here, and now my kids are the proud owners of degrees from NYU and FIT. We couldn't be happier."

"Thank you." Clark says. "Sorry for the interruption."

As they stand by the car, well out of earshot, Spike says, "Tell me I'm not the only one that smelled bullshit back there."

"I believe her." Clark says. "She doesn't seem too put out by the hand she's been dealt."

"The trailer park life puts everyone out." Spike argues.

"There's no way she'd have enough money to pay her fine and Pearson's medical bills." Clark says logically. "She may be a Magnus, but not the Magnus we're looking for. Back to the drawing board."

"You wanted to talk to me?" Pauline asks Snoozemore, knocking on his door.

"Mm, yes. Come in." Snoozemore gestures.

"Am I in trouble?" Pauline asks nervously as she takes a seat.

"Not quite." Snoozemore says. "How is your friendship with Marilyn coming along?"

"I thought outside the lab was my business and no one else's." Pauline says.

"That's what you think." Snoozemore says. "I know she's helped us before."

"Look, I know you have no reason to trust--"

"May I continue?" Snoozemore interrupts. "I'm thinking of asking her to join the team."

Pauline's eyes widen, "You are?"

"Naturally, she'd have to be vetted and make sure no red flags pop up." Snoozemore says. "I can't promise anything, but I'm going to get the ball rolling. Thought you should be the first to know."

"Thank you." Pauline smiles warmly, then stands and exits the office.

She completely misses Snoozemore watching her text Marilyn, nodding once.