Truth

So I've had this idea for a while, basically since I've been spending so much time writing my post "One Wrong Move" stories for Sam and Spike. This is more of two one-shots on the same topic, so I'm putting them together. Sorry if that's confusing, basically one chapter will be Wordy, one chapter will be Ed. By the way, though there are some ideas taken from my other stories, these are independent of them...wow, I'm just being really confusing this morning. Okay, so my Spike story, "Nothing's Broken" and my Sam story "Shooting at Shadows" intersected, that isn't the case for these, they're just one-shots. I'm just going to write it and you'll figure it out. So tell me what you think, I still don't own Flashpoint.

He just wanted to get home, to feel safe again, to see his girls and ground himself in reality...at least in that reality because right now everything hurt too much for him to stay sane in the outside world. He felt like life was caving in on him and as he drove down the quiet suburban streets he half expected to see the things collapsing, the carefully constructed life and the second family that they had built was shattered forever. He nearly jumped out of his car and ran into his home as he locked the door behind him as quietly as possible. It was nearly 2 AM and he didn't want to wake his family and beckon them into this new life so soon.

He didn't take off his shoes or put down his bag as he went directly up the stairs, ignoring the small voice in his head saying that Shelly probably left dinner out for him, he couldn't eat now. He looked at the closed wooden doors in the hallway and slowly opened the one on his far right as he looked in on his two youngest daughters. Danielle was curled up in a little ball under her pink fluffy blankets, her head barely peeking out from under them as she rested, surrounded by stuffed animals. Ally laid similarly in her new 'big girl bed,' the side rails up to keep her safe. Wordy didn't step too far into their room, he knew that if one of them woke up they'd both be awake and then the entire house would be awake and he wasn't ready for that. Better to let them sleep for one more innocent night. He took some calming breaths as he backed out of the room and slowly closed the door.

He walked into the room next door and stood still as he pushed the door in. Claire laid in her bed, her blond hair over her face and her blankets kicked to one side. He entered the room and took stock, as if for the first time, the contrasting elements in the room. She had loved pink and princesses and all things girly when she was young but recently Claire had been wanting to learn more about sports and nature. The room was painted a bright purple color and the blankets were a dull pink but Claire's new, independent personality was beginning to show through as Wordy picked up a basketball that was laying on the floor and put it to the side of the room. He went to her bed and pulled the blankets up to keep her warm on the cool night. He stood over her a moment before brushing the hair from her face with his fingers. She stirred ever so slightly at his touch but quickly fell back into a deep sleep. He stood at her bed looking at his daughter, trying to stop time when Shelly appeared quietly at the doorframe.

"Kev," She whispered as tiptoed into the room. He didn't look away from his daughter as Shelly got close to him and put her hand in his. "Kevin...what's wrong?" She asked worriedly. He took a shaky breath before letting his gaze move from Claire as he shook his head subtly. It was easy to take the sign as he didn't want to wake her from her peaceful sleep but is was more the fact that he didn't want to say it. A silent tear fell from his eye as Shelly started to pull him from the room; Wordy didn't cry. He was emotional and sensitive but crying was an entirely different entity and it worried Shelly. It took a few minutes for her to coerce him out of Claire's room and into their room and as soon as the door was closed she looked at his tired face and sunken eyes.

He dropped his bag and sat on the edge of the bed starring off at the wall in front of him with a hard face. Silent tears still came to his eyes as he took controlled, even breaths. Shelly sat next to him and gently pulled him into a hug, one arm around his broad shoulders the other stroking his arm. She wasn't sure what was wrong, Winnie had called earlier in the day to tell her that the team was held up on a call and would be late but she didn't give any other details. Shelly had waited up as long as she could but 2 AM was pushing it when she needed to have the girls up by 7 in order to get Claire and Danielle ready for school but when she saw Wordy in his condition she knew something was very wrong.

"Kevin...going on?" Shelly whispered softly in his ear. She knew that he was thinking and she didn't want to interrupt but she was really worried about the fact that he hadn't said anything. He took more calm and controlled breaths as he kept his gaze straight ahead, he didn't want to talk about it, he didn't want his wife to feel the pain that he was in. She sat next to him for another few minutes before standing and moving in front of him, kneeling on the floor to find his teary eyes. "Kevin..." She asked as his eyes found her's and the tears came readily. For the first time that night he lost control of his breath and a ragged sob got stuck in his throat. He closed his eyes for a minute before he worked up enough composure to speak.

"You hear about the bomb scares?" He asked in a choked whisper. She nodded but he didn't wait for a response before continuing. "We...there..." He took a deep breath as his breaths became ragged and he was losing his composure. "Lou stepped on a land-mine." He said as the uncontrollable sobs finally escaped. He put his head in his hands and he tried to quietly control his tears. Shelly's hands were stroking his head and back as she tried to comfort him the best she could. Tears were falling from her eyes as she hugged her husband and whispered soothing assurances in his ear. They stayed like that for a long time, the sun was peeking through the blinds before Wordy realized that his tears had slowed. He took a few deep breaths to compose himself before looking up at Shelly's face. He ran a hand down her face gently, brushing a tear from her eye as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. They sat in silence for a moment before Shelly spoke.

"Go to sleep. We'll figure out the rest when you wake up. Sleep." She said as she untied his shoes and gently put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back in bed. He nodded, exhaustion suddenly overcoming him as his head hit the pillow.

"But-" He started to protest. There was so much he needed to do, to think about, to say before a new day came and ushered in, with the new light, a new reality for them to unwillingly live under. Shelly was firm though, she kept her hands resting on his shoulders and leaned over, kissing his forehead before standing.

"Sleep. You need it, Kevin." She said as he eventually relented and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

He woke up to the sounds of quiet laughing by his bed as he slowly opened his eyes against the bright light peeking through the blinds. As he rolled onto his side he saw Danielle and Ally giggling at his bedside, trying and failing to stay quiet.

"Shhhh," Danielle whispered to Alley. "Mommy said not to wake Daddy up." Wordy tapped Danielle's shoulder and she jumped for a minute before turning with a guilty face. "Sorry Daddy." She said with big innocent eyes.

"It's okay sweetie." He said as he looked at the clock beside the bed, it was almost 3 PM. He felt a pang of overwhelming sadness as he remembered his new reality and his face must have shown it because Danielle looked confused.

"Daddy...?" She seemed to ask as she looked at him with those big blue eyes.

"Yeah sweetie?" He said as he held back a tear that threatened to break free from his eye. He sat up in the bed and patted the edge as he helped them climb up. They leaned on him, one on each side as he sat there and stroked their hair.

"Why didn't you get into your pajamas before you went to bed?" Dani asked as she saw that he was still in jeans and a t-shirt. "That was silly." She said as she looked up at his face. He thought for a moment before responding.

"Yeah, that was very silly of me." He said with what he hoped looked like a smile. He heard footsteps on the stairs as Shelly came into the room.

"Girls, I told you not to come in here while Daddy was sleeping." She said with a firm face.

"We're sorry Mommy." Danielle said as Ally tried to say 'sorry,' she still had some trouble with the 's' sound. She nodded and looked carefully at Wordy. Though he still looked haggard and sad he seemed to be in a much better place than the night before. "Alright girls, let's let Daddy take a shower and get dressed." She said as she helped them out of the bed. They ran to their room as Shelly sat on the edge of the bed next to Wordy.

"Are you okay honey?" He asked her as she gave him a slightly exasperated look. She loved Wordy because he cared so much, but it was almost to a fault. He always cared so much for other people's needs and feelings that he disregarded his own to the point of neglect. He would spend so much time trying to help others but when it came to his own needs he wouldn't address them until he reached a point of explosion.

"I'm doing okay." She said she looked at him with a genuine expression. "How are you feeling?" She asked with a sympathetic face. He looked at her for a moment, biting his lip, not sure what to say.

"I...I don't know." He said before shaking his head slightly. "I don't want to move on yet." He said as he looked off a bit over her shoulder. She nodded and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I've got to get Claire off the bus. I'll bring the girls with me." She said as she got up and looked at her husband. "Take a shower and change your clothes, it'll help." She said with a bit of a smile. "Oh, and make sure to call Greg. I get the feeling he's been making the rounds since nine this morning because he's calling pretty much like clockwork every two hours." She said as they both smiled and he nodded. She closed the door and he sat in bed until he heard tiny footsteps running down the stairs and the front door being locked from the outside.

He took deep breaths as he tried to work up the energy and motivation to take the blankets off and swing his legs over the bed. Come on Wordy, He encouraged himself. Let's go, time to move now. He lifted his arms and got himself out of bed before peeling off his shirt and watch. He walked over to the bathroom, kicking off his socks and jeans on the way. He stood in front of the mirror and looked at his face. Though to anyone else he wouldn't have looked much different from the day prior he was able to see a difference. His eyes seemed darker, more defined and sunken in their sockets. The blue iris was exceptionally bright, almost to the point of not looking real, something that only happened when he cried. There were lines around his mouth that he didn't think were usually there, but as he splashed his face with cold water he seemed to awaken to his breath. He looked down and saw his chest rising and falling in rhythm with his heartbeat.

He shook his head and started the water in the shower, stepping into the cool stream. The water beat against his chest, stinging the skin under the firm stream. He stood under the water and took heavy breaths as water dripped down his face. He tried to hold back but the hot, salty tears from his eyes mixed with the cool water as it washed away some of his tension, some, but not nearly enough, of his sadness. He stood under the stream for a bit longer before stepping out of the shower and wrapping himself in a towel. He opened his drawers and didn't really look at what he was taking out. He took the top, black t-shirt from his drawer and a pair of light jeans. He was putting on his belt as he heard the front door open again and three little voices speaking. He took a few deep breaths before opening the door to their room and walking downstairs with a small smile on his face.

"Hey girls!" He said energetically as he walked into the kitchen to be nearly run down by three strong hugs.

"Daddy! Daddy!" They yelled, happy to see him early in the afternoon. He didn't get to spend much time with his family and he loved the precious moments he got to spend with them. Though he was taking solace in the idea of a full week off to live with his family he wasn't looking forward to the inevitable conversation that he was going to be having with them. Wordy sat at the table with Claire and helped her with her homework as Shelly finished making dinner. Wordy kept wanting to put off the talk but Shelly eventually convinced him to gather the girls and sit them on the couch after dinner. They had been playing in Danielle and Ally's room when he interrupted them.

"Hey, what are you guys playing?" He asked as he leaned in the doorframe and looked at the three girls on the floor with legos.

"We're building a castle, Daddy? Do you want to play with us?" Claire asked hopefully, loving the time Wordy had already spent with them.

"I'd love to princess but Mommy and I need to talk to you girls, can you come downstairs for a little while and maybe later we can play?" He asked with a slight smile. Claire and Danielle looked a little confused as they got up and Wordy went over and picked up Ally.

"Are we in trouble?" Claire asked as she sat down on the couch.

"No," Wordy said firmly as he sat and placed Ally on his lap. "no you girls aren't in any trouble at all." He looked up as Shelly came into the room and sat on the couch next to Claire. Wordy took a few deep breaths to calm himself before he started speaking. "I wanted to talk to you girls because," He trailed off for a bit as he tried to think of the right words, all of them sounding too harsh in his mind. "well yesterday when Daddy was at work something very very sad happened." He said as he took a breath to steady himself. Danielle's big blue eyes starred at him as he continued. "We were trying to protect a lot of people from getting hurt but..." he took a deep breath as a tear came to his eye. "but Uncle Lou got hurt really badly and he died." He gave himself a moment to breath as he looked up at Shelly. A tear was in her eye but she nodded to continue. Claire looked like she'd understood the news and was starting to cry. Danielle looked from Wordy to Claire to Shelly with a questioning look on her face.

"What does that mean?" She asked with those big innocent eyes. Wordy bit his lip for a moment before he continued.

"Well..." He thought for a moment, not wanting to rush into this. He knew very well what not to say but he tried to think of a way to not be blunt. "When someone dies they...they don't eat or breath or think or feel anything." Wordy said as a choked sob came out of his mouth. He was bouncing Ally on his knee as tears came more readily to his face. Claire was crying now but trying to stay quiet as Shelly soothed her.

"I...I don't understand." Danielle said as she started to cry also, partly because she saw everyone else crying and partly because she didn't know what was wrong. Wordy rubbed a hand through his short hair as he thought of a new way to approach the topic.

"Honey," He said to get her attention before she started full-fledged bawling. "Do you remember when we had Goldie?" He asked. He thought back to last summer when the girls had begged for a pet. They wanted a dog (he really did also but Shelly was vehemently opposed) but they settled on a goldfish. They were given most of the responsibility, turning on the filter and light and feeding it, but it seemed that all the girls thought it was their job to feed it copious amounts of food. It had died and, though Wordy and Shelly had used the experience to teach the girls about death, they didn't push the issue. She nodded as Wordy wiped a tear from her eye. "And you remember how one day she just stopped swimming and didn't eat or breath?" He asked and she nodded again, beginning to understand the significance of what he was saying. Wordy was trying hard to hold back tears, he wanted to remain strong in front of his girls but he was starting to lose control. Shelly took over, sensing that Wordy needed a moment.

"Dani, sweetie. Uncle Lou isn't alive anymore." She said as renewed tears came to Claire's eyes and Danielle developed fresh tears of understanding. "And it's okay to be sad about that, Daddy and me are very sad," She said as she glanced at Wordy. "but you need to try to remember all the happy times you had with Uncle Lou, okay?" She asked as Danielle nodded in understanding and leaned against Wordy to cry into his shirt.

"Claire, are you okay princess?" He asked in a soft tone. Claire hadn't really said anything but she was obviously very upset. She didn't say anything, she just nodded her head before burying her face into Shelly's stomach and crying. Wordy nodded as he felt another pang of guilt for bringing this pain onto his family. He hugged Ally, who was generally confused sitting on his lap and seeing everyone crying. "You girls don't have to go to school tomorrow if you don't want to." He said as he wiped his face on the sleeve of his shirt. "And on Friday Mommy and I are going to go to Uncle Lou's funeral and you girls can come too if you want. Funerals are when we can say goodbye to people who die." He explained to Danielle. He took a few breaths before making his decision to finish the conversation. "You know, I really want an ice cream sundae." He said as Ally and Danielle looked up at him. "What do you say we go make some?" He asked as he forced a smile on his face.

"With gummy bears?" Dani asked as she sniffled her nose. He grabbed a tissue and held it up to her face.

"Blow," He instructed as he held the tissue. When she finished he looked at her. "I think we can find some gummy bears, but only a few." He added as she gave him a sad smile beyond her years. He put Ally down and gave Dani a hug before lifting her from the couch. "You want a sundae Claire?" He asked as he moved over and rubbed her back for a moment. He heard a muffled 'yes' from Shelly's stomach as she nodded for him to give them a minute. Wordy stood and wiped his face as he went into the kitchen and started to take bowls out of the cabinet. He had just finished Dani's sundae (chocolate ice cream with syrup, gummy bears, and whipped cream) and was moving onto Ally's when the phone rang. The instant he heard the ring he felt his heart drop as he remembered the one thing he was supposed to do after his shower. A glance at the caller ID confirmed his suspicions.

"Greg, I'm so sorry I didn't call. Shelly told me that you'd been calling and it just slipped my mind, I'm so sorry." He said as he held the phone close to his ear.

"It's fine Wordy, I'm sure you had a lot of deal with on the home-front." Greg said genuinely, releasing Wordy from a little bit of his guilt. "How are you doing?" He asked seriously.

"I'm...it's still kind of raw." Wordy said as he scooped out a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

"I hear you." Greg said in an understanding tone. "But it's okay for the emotions to be raw and fresh...it feels like it was a long time ago, I know, but it only happened yesterday." Greg tried to give him a little perspective.

"I know." Wordy said sadly as he sprinkled oreos onto Ally's sundae. "Here you go cupcake. Don't eat too fast or your head will hurt again." He warned as he placed the ice cream in front of Ally. Dani had already turned her entire mouth brown with chocolate. "Sorry Boss," He said as he told Dani to wipe her mouth. "We ah...we just told the girls..." He trailed off but he could almost see Greg nodding at the other end of the line.

"How are they doing?" He asked sympathetically.

"Well, Ally doesn't really understand...two years old, it's tough to explain that sort of thing." He said slightly pained. "Dani didn't really understand at first but I think she gets it now." He said as he ruffled Danielle's hair jokingly. "Claire's taking it kind of hard." He said as he listened to her crying in the family room. "But we're making some ice cream sundaes and then maybe we'll watch a movie." He tried to sound a bit more cheery but there was a hint of pain in his voice.

"Sounds like a good night." Greg said as he paused for a moment. "Well I'll let you go finish your sundaes. Call me if you need anything, Wordy. Anything, I mean if you don't know what to say to Claire or if Shelly wants to talk, especially if you want to talk, anything Wordy." Greg said firmly.

"You got it Boss." He said as he hung up the phone and smiled at Claire came into the room, her eyes still teary. "Perfect timing princess." He said as he went to the freezer. "Chocolate or Vanilla?"

That turned out longer than I thought it would be, I wasn't sure if I'd actually write the conversation with the girls or I would just jump to after. So this is done but I'm debating something and I might come back to this idea after I write my Ed story. Again, this is a series of one-shots on a the same topic of post "One Wrong Move." I don't know why I feel the need to clarify that, but I do. Tell me what you think, I actually had a lot of trouble with this one considering how much I was itching to write it, I just wasn't sure what Wordy would say exactly and I ended up questioning myself a lot. Tell me what you think. I'm going to try to write the Ed/Clark counterpart of this tonight but it might not be posted until tomorrow.