#573 QG 11-6-17

BODY AND SOUL CLINIC, BRADY'S ROOM, BOSTON MA
*Brady is standing by the window, on the phone. “So, I hear Club Aqua’s opening is in a few hours. You excited to be getting back into the night club business, Dad?...I know what you told me before, but now that the grand reopening is getting closer, I figured this would be getting a lot more real for you.” Brady notes. Someone knocks on the door. “Sorry Dad, I’m gonna have to call you back. Someone is here. I’ll talk to you later.” Brady says, before hanging up. “Come in!” Brady calls out. Maria walks in. “Good afternoon, Brady, how are you feeling today?” Maria asks. “It was a tough night, to be honest with you.” Brady says. “I assume you must’ve experienced detox, then.” Maria notes. Brady nods. “God, it was horrible. Thankfully, its over now.” Brady says. “It won’t be over until we are able to make sure that you overcome your addiction. That’s actually why I’m here.” Maria says. “Really? Go on.” Brady says. “I’m here to take you to an AA meeting.” Maria reveals. “Sorry, I’m not too familiar with them. What’s an AA meeting?” Brady asks. “Basically, you and several other recovering alcoholics will gather in a room, and you will discuss your experiences, and what drove you to drink, as well as your hopes to get better and get your life back together.” Maria says. “Wait, so you want me to go to some meeting with a bunch of other people?” Brady asks. “There’s nothing to worry about, Brady. All of these people have the same problem that you do, and they are all patients at this clinic, as a result. You don’t have to worry about any of them judging you.” Maria says. “Will you be there?” Brady asks. “Yes, I’d be more than happy to accompany you to the meeting. Also, for the record, the meeting takes place right here at the clinic. Its in the conference room down the hall. Now, just to be clear, I’m not forcing you to go, however, I do think that it would be beneficial for your recovery if you did.” Maria says. “You’re right. Alright, I’ll do it.” Brady says. “That’s the spirit. So, do you need to do anything before we go? Or are you all set?” Maria asks. “Ain’t much to do here, Doc, I think I’m all set.” Brady says. “Very good. Come on.” Maria says. Maria opens the door, and she and Brady walk out.

BODY AND SOUL CLINIC, KRISTINA'S ROOM
*Kristina is standing at the window, looking out it. “Where are you, Brady?” Kristina wonders. Kristina walks away from the window, and then opens up the drawer to her dresser, to see what is inside. She notices a brochure, which she pulls out. “Body and Soul Clinic.” Kristina reads. Kristina sits down on the bed, and opens up the brochure. “Here at the Body and Soul Clinic, we pride ourselves in helping people reach their full potential. We provide rehab for alcoholics and drug addicts, as well as for people recovering from terrible accidents, and are in need of physical therapy. Our job is to heal, and our record shows that we are handling that job exceptionally well.” Kristina reads. “Funny, it doesn’t mention anything about bringing back the dead.” Kristina notes. Kristina turns the page. “Also located at this clinic is a state of the art research wing, dedicated to trying to make life better for all people. We use this special wing to work on experimental drugs that could someday beat horrible diseases, such as cancer. We can only hope that one day, a cure would have been invented for every possible illness imaginable.” Kristina reads. “Well, I guess I’m probably hidden away in the research wing, but why would Brady know to bring me here? It doesn’t make any sense.” Kristina notes.

GRAVEYARD
*Lydia kneels down by Dylan’s grave. “I’ve been thinking a lot about you, lately. I hope you know that...” Lydia says. Lydia wipes away tears. “I ran into your daughter earlier...Sabrina has grown up so much, since the last time I saw her. I even hear that she’s a lawyer now, she must’ve got that from her grandfather. She...she isn’t too happy over me being married to Lucas, and she seems to think that you aren’t, either. I hope that isn’t true. I hope that you are smiling down on me, wherever you are.” Lydia says.

BODY AND SOUL CLINIC, MYSTERY PATIENT'S ROOM
*The mystery patient is revealed to be restrained to the bed. He angrily tries to pull the restraints off, but doesn’t have any luck. As the patient continues, the door opens, and an orderly comes in. “Nice try, buddy, but there is no way you’re getting out of here.” The orderly tells him.

ITALIAN BANK
*Alexios, Andy, and Serena are shocked to see Franco on the monitor. “No, it cant be.” Serena says. “It is. Franco was at this very bank on the same day that payment was made to Brody.” Rebecca says. “So much for Franco being a changed man. He’s been playing all of us all along.” Andy notes. “Wait a minute, just because Franco was here the day that payment was made to Brody, doesn’t mean that he was the one who hired him to kidnap Silvia.” Alexios notes. “I agree, but don’t you think that its a bit too much of a coincidence? That Franco was here on the exact date? At the exact time that the payment was made to Brody?” Rebecca asks. “It was the exact time too?” Alexios asks. Rebecca nods. “I don’t know. This all seems a little too convenient.” Alexios says. “Why are you defending that freak? He probably is guilty.” Serena says. “What reason would he have to target Silvia? Its not like he’d be doing it to hurt me! Franco and I don’t have any bad blood between us!” Alexios notes. “There is bad blood between Franco and every member of our family.” Rebecca says. “As the only person here that was around during Franco’s original reign of terror, I can vouch for what a monster he was. He shot my cousin Brady, who he didn’t even know, just so that he could frame Andre for the crime and take over Stanpatos Enterprises after Andre went to jail for the crime. Then, he publicly announced at Club Aqua that he was the one who shot Brady, right before he blew the place up, nearly killing himself, and killing an innocent woman who I cared about a lot!” Andy says. “Nicole, right?” Rebecca asks. “Right.” Andy says. “If I know my history right, I’m pretty sure that Franco spent several years in a mental institution before coming to Fantastic City, too.” Rebecca notes. “I heard that too, around the time Franco originally showed up in town.” Andy says. “Okay, but this was all a LONG time ago!” Alexios notes. “Four years isn’t that long, Alexios.” Andy says. “I...I don’t know. I just don’t see Franco doing all of this.” Alexios says. “I understand that, because you didn’t know Franco when he committed all of these crimes.” Rebecca says. “Neither did you! Rebecca, I gave Franco a job as a high powered attorney at my company, which happens to be my baby! And ever since I hired him, Franco has been nothing but loyal to the company. Why would he all of a sudden turn on the man who gave him a job after our father cut him out of the family?” Alexios asks. “Maybe that’s just it, jealousy. Michael cut Franco out of the will, the son that he raised, but he didn’t cut you out, the son that he didn’t raise. Maybe Franco was mad that Father left you more of the family estate than he left him, which was nothing.” Rebecca suggests. “Maybe, but why would he wait so long to come after me? Father died a little over a year before Brody kidnapped Silvia.” Alexios notes. “Maybe he was biding his time, waiting for the perfect time to strike.” Rebecca says. “And how do you explain him hiring Brody? Did Franco and Brody even know each other?” Alexios asks. “I know that they were in town at the same time, but I’m not sure if they ever met. But, even if they didn’t, Franco could’ve found out about Brody’s hatred towards you. That could’ve been why he hired Brody, so that we wouldn’t suspect that Brody was working for someone else. We would automatically assume that Brody was acting alone.” Rebecca says. “She has a good point.” Serena notes. “Since Franco works for you, I’m assuming you probably know where he lives, right?” Rebecca asks. “Yeah, I know.” Alexios says. “Where is he?” Rebecca asks. “His house is probably a two hour drive from here.” Alexios notes. “Great. I’ll take a drive down there, and interrogate him.” Rebecca says. “Not alone you aren’t. I’m coming to. The last thing I want is for you to be in a room alone with that psycho.” Andy says. “I’ve got a better idea.” Serena says. “What?” Andy asks. “Honestly? I don’t think either one of you would be able to get answers out of Franco, because he wont want to talk to either one of you. But, I am an entirely different story.” Serena says!

BODY AND SOUL CLINIC, CONFERENCE ROOM
*Brady is sitting in a circle of chairs, with a bunch of other men and women. Maria is standing in the middle. “Brady, its your turn. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. But, if you do, it’ll probably help.” Maria notes. Brady stands up, and sighs. “First, I’d like to start my saying that my name is Brady Goo, and I’m an alcoholic. I started drinking about three months ago, probably. It was right after my wife died. I’m sure a lot of you know this, but a few months ago, a madman named Joe Fish poisoned the city’s air supply, and my wife was one of the many casualties. My god, we...we were so happy together. We were planning our future together, we were gonna have a baby together, and now...all of that was taken away from us, because some sick freak decided to kill half of a city’s population because he wanted to get revenge on a single person who thwarted one of his other sick plans! So, I wasn’t just hurt, I was angry! But most of all, I was broken inside. I felt like my life was ruined, so I turned to drinking. It seemed to have made me feel better, but, what I didn’t realize was the effect it was having on my life. Not only did I become dependent on alcohol, but I was alienating my family members because of my addiction. Thanks to some pushing from my Dad, I finally decided to get help, and here I am.” Brady says. “Well done, Brady.” Maria says. Everyone claps, as Brady sits down.

BODY AND SOUL CLINIC, KRISTINA'S ROOM
*”Why would Brady bring me to some random clinic in Boston? How would he even know that this place existed? It just doesn’t seem like him...maybe Victor knew of it somehow? He has connections to a lot of people, but why wouldn’t he have brought Queen Goo here after she died? Something isn’t adding up here. If the Goo family knew that this clinic existed, and that they could bring back the dead, you would think they would’ve used it a long time ago. If they knew this place existed, maybe they could’ve brought Queen Goo back to life, or Peter...unless, somehow, they were beyond being brought back. Maria DID say that before they started giving me the regimen to bring me back, they needed to cure me of Joe Fish’s poison first. Queen Goo had a terminal disease, and Peter was killed by an earthquake, so I guess it would make sense that it would be too late to bring either one of them here. Still, that doesn’t explain why Brady hasn’t come to visit me, yet. I hope nothing has happened to him…” Kristina says.

GRAVEYARD
*”Sabrina thinks that by marrying Lucas, I’m dishonoring you, and I cant say that I blame her. She has every right to be upset with Lucas, after he allowed Quinn to impersonate you. But, I truly believe that Lucas is a changed man, and that he regrets what he did to you. Look at everything he has done over the past few months? He bought Justin Shaw Media to prove to me that he is no longer in the mob. He gave up his father’s business just so that he and I could build a life together. That is the man that I fell in love with, the one who is willing to put his loved ones above everyone else. Not the man that Sabrina was describing! I just want you to know that in no way, would I EVER do anything that would be dishonoring your memory. You mean WAY too much to me for that. But, I can understand why Sabrina would be upset, and for a brief moment there, I even began to question my decision to take Lucas back. But, then I remembered the kind of man Lucas is now, not the kind he was back then. And despite what he did to you, I know that you would be happy that I found someone that makes me happy. You wouldn’t hold it against me, because that’s how wonderful you are. Anyway...I’m going to go home now, to my current husband. But don’t worry, I’ll be back to see you, soon. I love you, Dylan.” Lydia says. She kisses her finger tips, and then touches the gravestone. Lydia then stands up, and leaves the cemetery.

BODY AND SOUL CLINIC, MYSTERY PATIENT'S ROOM
*”You can try all you want to escape, but those restraints are top quality. Not even the hulk would be able to get out of them. Anyway, Doctor Murphy asked me to come see you. I guess its time for you to be fed, and the one downside of your restraints is the fact that you aren’t capable of feeding yourself. So, open wide.” The orderly says. He takes a spoon full of the food, and aims it towards the patient’s mouth. The orderly gets the food into the patient’s mouth, but before he can take the spoon back, the patient bites his fingers. “OW!” The orderly yells out in pain, as he pulls his hand back. “That was a stupid move, buddy! Thanks to your little stunt, that one spoon of food is all you’re getting!” The orderly yells. The orderly tosses the bowl of food into the trash, before storming out of the room. The patient returns to trying to break lose from his restraints…

ITALIAN BANK
*”You want to go question Franco?” Andy asks. “Why not? Franco and I have a history, so I have a better chance of getting answers from him than any of you do.” Serena notes. “You do remember that the reason you and Franco aren’t together anymore is because he decided to ditch you for a job out of the country, right?” Alexios asks. “Gee, Alexios, thanks for the reminder. I completely forgotten about that.” Serena sarcastically says. “I’m just bringing it up because it is a good reason as to why Franco might not be willing to talk to you.” Alexios notes. “Believe whatever you want, but Franco did care about me, and I bet that if I went to Italy with him, he wouldn’t have broken up with me. So, I might be able to use our relationship to manipulate him into giving me answers.” Serena says. “What’s your plan exactly?” Rebecca asks. “Easy. I am going to tell Franco about how much I miss our relationship, and I am going to convince him that I want to get back with him.” Serena explains. “So, you are going to seduce Franco, and try to manipulate him for answers all in one visit?” Alexios asks. “Don’t underestimate my charm, and just so you know, I’m not going to seduce Franco. Maybe, MAYBE, I’’ll resort to kissing him, for the sake of the mission, but I don’t plan on going any further.” Serena says. “You’re not doing this at all! I’m not gonna let you.” Alexios says. “Excuse me?! Are you seriously going to try and FORBID me from questioning Franco?” Serena asks. “Look, I don’t know if I believe that Franco hired Brody to kidnap Silvia, but if he did, I don’t want you anywhere near the psycho!” Alexios says. “Andy and Rebecca would be in more danger from Franco than me! Rebecca is family, which, Franco apparently isn’t big on, and Andy is an old enemy from Fantastic.” Serena notes. “And what do you call yourself? From what I hear, your breakup with Franco wasn’t exactly a clean one.” Alexios says. “That’s nothing that a little rewriting history won’t fix. I’ll just tell Franco that I was really worked up when he told me he was leaving the country, and that since then, I haven’t been able to get him out of my system. So, I came ALL the way here to Italy, hoping to win him back.” Serena says. “I don’t like this.” Alexios says. “Sorry to hear that. Look, if it’ll make you feel any better, you guys can sit outside, and I’ll go in wearing a wire. I’m assuming you guys brought spy equipment with you.” Serena says. “Yeah, I’d be able to set you up with a wire. That way, if Franco does grow suspicious, we’ll be able to rush in there, and hopefully stop him before he can do any harm to you.” Rebecca says. “See Alexios? Your sister is on board.” Serena notes. “I’m not necessarily on board with sending in a civilian. However, its the best option we have at getting Franco to confess.” Rebecca says. “Are you in agreement, Alexios?” Andy asks. “Does it matter?” Alexios asks. “Not really.” Serena says. “In that case, I’m in. Besides, with the wire, at least we’ll be able to rush in and help Serena if Franco gets violent.” Alexios notes. “I knew you’d come around. Well, we should get going. We want to get to Franco’s place before the day is over. Do you have the equipment in the car?” Serena asks. “Yeah, in my trunk.” Rebecca says. “Great. Lets go flush that bastard out.” Serena says!