Forever With You

Chapter Thirty

          Fifteen minutes later, Franky is on the couch, still passed out. "Your ring is beautiful. How did I not see it before?" Bea asks while holding Bridget's hand for a closer inspection. Bridget blushes. "You were in the middle of an important meeting. We didn't really have a chance to chat." Vera smiles, having shown up just as Bea was placing Franky on the couch. She knew Bridget would need the extra support explaining how Bea was alive and well when telling Franky the news. "That's my fault Bea. I should have told you when Franky bought the ring. I guess I was just so focused on not telling the secret that I forgot I could tell you." Bea smiles and rubs Vera's shoulder. "It's all good." Bridget nods in Franky's direction. "She's coming to."

As Franky was coming to, she heard three voices in the darkness. Bridget, Vera and Bea? 'That can't be. She's dead.' But didn't she swear she saw her after the accident; before the ambo arrived? And isn't that why she passed out in the first place? Wasn't Bea standing right there, in her living room, with Bridget? She slowly opens her eyes, not sure what to expect. "Gidge?" She whispers. Bridget kneels next to her. "I'm right here baby." Franky gathers her bearings and looks around the room. Vera...check. Bridget...check. Bea...what the fuck? Franky sits straight up on the couch. "What the fuck? You're supposed to be dead." Bea chuckles. "Well hello to you too." Franky looks at Bridget, who smiles as she nods. "Yeah, it's really her baby." Franky looks at each of the three women, wheels spinning in her head. "How?"

After getting drinks, and a half glass of whiskey for Franky, at her insistence, they are all sitting in the living room. "I talked Vera into letting me out to face the Freak when she was released. I planned on using my phone to record a confession, therefore sealing her fate in being locked up again. But I had one last twist just in case our plan failed." Vera frowns still upset that it took the turn it did. She didn't want anyone getting hurt, unless it was Joan herself. "I told Vera that I had an identical twin that was currently in a mental institution. She had stage four brain cancer, and it was eating away her mind, and would only get worse until she succumbed. I had spoken to her earlier in the month, and being the protective sister she was, had offered to take my place during any confrontation. This was the only one that we could easily switch places for. She knew she was dying, and if it meant saving innocent people, along with her sister, she was willing to do it." Franky tries to remain calm, but her shock still shows in her eyes. She knew no one could take down the freak on their own, but to be willing to sacrifice oneself... "Vera let Nadia in the same way she let her out to confront the Freak. And, as expected, Joan got the upper hand. We all know the rest." Franky wipes a tear from her eye. "But how did you get out? And where have you been all this time?" Bea and Vera exchange looks. "As the confrontation was going down, I was letting Bea out the same way we bring you in. I had Maxwell pick her up and take her to his "safe house." That is my only regret." Vera wipes her nose. "If I had only been watching the monitors more closely..." Bea leans over and gives her a hug. "It was her choice. There was nothing you could have done." Vera nods as she wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. Franky takes a big sip of her whiskey. "What about the confession?" Bridget takes over while Bea comforts Vera. "They had a mic fastened to her shirt collar. Everything was sent to a recording device inside the prison. Will made sure to remove it before the paramedics took over." Franky looks at her in astonishment. "You all knew Red was alive, and never told me?"

Franky stands up from the couch and starts pacing the room. Her head begins to spin, from rising too quickly, and from the whiskey she insisted on drinking. Anything to help calm her nerves. "Nah. I don't believe it. How do I know it's really you Red?" She stops in front on Bea, eyes fixed in a contemplative glare. Bea nods and raises the hem of her shirt, showing the smooth and unscarred skin of her abdomen. "Nah, not good enough." Franky says and shifts her weight from one foot to the other. Bea nods. "Then what do you want to know?" She asks, challengingly. Franky smiles, knowing Bea will hesitate with her answer because of Bridget or won't know. "How did we first meet?" Without skipping a beat, "You mean when you and Kim were fucking in my bed?" The color drains from Franky's face as she sees the shock on Bridget's face. "I believe you asked if I "like to watch"." Franky blushes as she hears Vera snicker. Bea mouths 'Sorry' to Bridget before seeing her nod. Bea stands an approaches Franky. "Come here you." They embrace and hug tightly, Franky fighting the tears welling in her eyes. Bea leans over and whispers in her ear. "You're right, it doesn't taste like chicken." Franky can't help but to laugh. "Fuck off Red."

After two hours of catching up, Franky has been told about Red, and company, working to get as much dirt on the Freak as possible. She learned that Jess was actually Joan's stepsister, and after taking matters into her own hands by kidnapping Doreen's baby, sealed her own fate. She learned through Bridget's sessions with Joanne that her niece and nephew were named with "Jo" names, at the Freak's insistence. It made it easier for her to brainwash them while they slept, without having to use their full names or be in two places at once. The recordings she made and played at night addressed them all as "Jo" so she could kill two birds with one stone. She had been manipulating them and molding them since they were young. And when her sister mysteriously died, they were hers to do as she pleased.

They told her how getting involved with Fessler was purely a coincidence. When the evidence was growing to be more than they could handle, Maxwell called upon his sister, Fessler, who had just hired Franky as a legal aid. Vera and Will help supply the intel from inside Wentworth. Bea keeps in contact with a select few inmates, all under a disguise and fake name. Allie was, and still is, unaware that Bea is still alive, much to the chagrin of Bea. It is the same for Boomer, for obvious reasons. And Bridget, much to Franky's disappointment, had been meeting with Bea at least once a week to help her cope with hiding the truth from Allie, Franky and Boomer; her family. Maxine, after getting an early parole, joined up with Bea. They therefore had the evidence and the muscle. All they needed was a hot shit lawyer to finish off the plan...to end the reign of the Freak once and for all.

"So, at the scene of the accident...?" Franky asks. Bea blushes. "Yeah, that was me." Franky looks confused. "But why?" Bea finishes her drink. "Fessler called Maxwell after talking with Bridget one night. Apparently, Erica made a reappearance and was causing a few issues." Bridget blushes at the confession. "I never did like her." Bea says with disgust as Vera nods in agreement. "So, she asked us to keep an eye on you two, with documentation. As it turns out, Erica did us all a favor." It's Bridget's turn to be surprised. "If we hadn't been watching you, er, tailing you..." Bea says while blushing. "We wouldn't have found out about Joanne. And with her testimony, our case will be solid." Franky and Bridget let out a sigh. "And for the record Bridget, Maxine and I put Franky in the back of her car at Erica's. She had passed out before getting into the car. We couldn't leave her like that. It ended up being messier than it should have been, but it could have been worse if some asshole happened to walk by..." Bridget holds up a hand. "And Fessler gave us direct orders not to intervene unless it was life threatening." Vera looks up with shock. "You could have been caught Bea." All Bea can do is shrug. "They are family."

By eleven o'clock, they all decide to call it a night. Everyone had work the next day, and the overwhelming amount of info was likely to keep Franky up most of the night as it was. They all hug goodbye, with plans to meet up later in the week. As Franky closes and locks the door, Bridget slides her arms around her waist. Franky turns around to see lust filled blue eyes. She leans in and kisses her gently as she moves her arms around Bridget's waist. "How are you feeling baby?" Bridget asks before kissing her. She shrugs before responding. "Shocked, confused, overwhelmed." Bridget smiles. "All expected." She kisses Franky again, longer than before. "You sure this is a good idea?" Franky asks, feeling the arousal build within her. Bridget nods as she moves a hand up the back of her neck, under brown locks of hair. "I think it's the best way to calm down that racing mind of yours." She pulls her in for a kiss. "Besides, the idea of making love to a hot shit lawyer just turns me on like crazy." Franky blushes as she chuckles. "I haven't even taken the bar exam yet." Bridget kisses the side of her neck, hearing her moan softly. "Technicalities." She says into her neck as she feels Franky lower her arms and lift her legs around her waist.

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Well, that should tie up a few loose ends LOL  

Lots of information to digest....

And that damn Freak....manipulating people, and family, from the beginning.

Again, all comments and feedback are greatly welcomed.  

Stay safe!