This story is told through Hank's point of view but it deals with Beth's break from mental reality and tries to establish a motivation for that break. One of the ideas featured in this story is based on a theory posted on the mainboard quite some time ago. I have no idea who posted it but it is them I credit here. I hope whoever you are, you don't mind my borrowing your idea for the purposes of this story. And I really hope I did it justice in the way it was revealed. :-)
I started this story last night while listening to Dido's new album, Life For Rent. Rachel (PassionAngel) once told me Dido's music really lent itself to writing Beth and Hank. I have to agree with her. As soon as I heard the new album last night, I immediately thought of Beth. But when I thought of Beth it wasn't through her eyes I was looking but instead through the eyes of Hank, a man who has always loved her and can't bear the sight of her so broken and lost. This story is the end result of that glimpse into Hank's mind.

The story is kind of dark and angst-ridden. I've written angst before, but nothing quite like this. I'm very pleased with this story and I hope you enjoy reading it. It definitely gives Shuis fans some resolution to the present storyline even if I don't go into how that resolution came about. :-) This is an aftermath type story...but that aftermath comes with a few bombshells.

Deanna

Fallen Angel
By: OKDeanna
Email: ASJFan@cox.net

“What are you saying, Eve?” Sheridan looked down at the infant sleeping in her arms, released a barely audible breath, and tightened her arms around the baby before turning cold eyes on the fractured woman kneeling on the ground, nestled in his arms. “That Beth doesn’t know what she did? That she isn’t responsible for what happened to me? That she isn’t the woman who kidnapped me and stole my baby?” Sheridan shook her head, pure hatred shooting from her eyes. “I know what she did. And the proof is in my arms. She tried to kill me; she stole my son.”

Eve sighed, followed her gaze, met his eyes. “Beth is very sick, Sheridan. I don’t know why I didn’t see it sooner, but… I think she may be suffering from dissociative identity disorder. I can’t be sure since I’m not a trained psychologist, but…it would definitely explain her behavior this past year.” Eve shook her head, sadness and regret mingling in her eyes. “She wasn’t herself, Sheridan.”

Hank broke his eye contact with Eve and glanced down at the shattered woman in his arms. Dissociative identity disorder? Wasn’t that the politically correct term for multiple personality disorder? It would definitely explain some things, but… How could he have not known she wasn’t herself? He thought he knew her. Better than anyone else ever could. How could he have missed this? “I don’t understand. How can she be someone else and none of us have known?”

“Maybe we did know and just didn’t face facts.”

Hank looked up, and his eyes collided with those of his best friend. “If we had known, we would’ve got her help, Luis. I would’ve got her help. I would’ve…” his voice cracked, he paused, closed his eyes as the truth stared him in the face. “ I failed her. We failed her.”

“Failed her?” Sheridan laughed, but the sound held little humor. “She’s the one to blame here not you…and certainly not Luis.”

Hank shook his head, glared at the woman he once tried to convince himself he loved. “How can she be to blame for something she couldn’t control? You heard Eve…she wasn’t herself, Sheridan. She… Beth—the Beth we knew and grew up with—would never do something like this… Never. Something must’ve happened to—“

“Something caused her to snap, you mean.” Luis anchored an arm around Sheridan’s waist, whispered something in her ear. Whatever it was did little to assuage her temper. “I refuse to let you people try and turn this into some pity party for Beth. She stole my child. And won’t let her get away with it. I will use whatever power I have as a Crane to make sure she spends the rest of her life behind bars.”

Hank opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the woman in his arms did it for him. “I’m a wicked, wicked girl. No one will ever love me.”

A chill ran up his spine as he recognized the words she spoke. “Beth—“

“Daddy’s gone…” she whispered, gently rocking back and forth. “She killed him. Daddy’s gone. He’s gone.”

He glanced at Luis but a gasp from Sheridan drew his attention toward her. “Sheridan…? Do you…do you know what she’s talking about? How could she—“

Sheridan shook her head, her eyes wide, frightened. “No…she wasn’t there that night. She couldn’t have been. I would’ve… I would’ve seen her.” Her eyes focused on the woman in his arms, holding none of the censure they had mere moments ago. “It’s impossible. She couldn’t have… No,” she said, shaking her head again, her eyes clearing of their confusion. “This is another trick. She trying to play mind games, that’s all. She couldn’t possibly have been…“

“Been where?” Hank questioned when Sheridan’s voice trailed off. ” Where would you have seen her?” He had a pretty good idea all ready but he wouldn’t know for sure unless Sheridan confirmed it. “At the mansion? Is that where she heard those words? Is that where—“

“I didn’t mean to…” Sheridan whispered, her eyes trained on Beth. “I didn’t mean to…”

“Yes, you did…” Beth said, raising her head for the first time and looking the woman in the eye. “You killed him. You killed my father.”

Her father?

Hank looked at Luis. “What the hell is going on? What is Beth talking about? Her step dad died when we were…”he paused, looked at Sheridan. “When we were kids.”

Luis reached for the baby in Sheridan’s arms and Hank was glad she didn’t struggle to keep him. She wasn’t in any condition to hold a baby. She could barely hold herself up. In fact, right now, she reminded him a lot of the woman in his arms.

“Luis,” Hank said, drawing in a shaky breath, “Do you remember when Beth’s dad died? Wasn’t it…wasn’t it around the same time your father disappeared? Right before Beth and her mom…” left town for a while. “My God…”

“This is crazy,” Luis said, adjusting the baby against his chest. “There is no way those events could be connected. It doesn’t make sense.” He shook his head. “What would Beth and her parents be doing at the Crane mansion?”

Sheridan stepped out of Luis’s arms and bent down to meet Beth’s eyes. “You’re not faking this, are you? You were really there, weren’t you?”

Beth nodded. “I saw you…I saw you stab him. Why…why did you hurt him?”

“I…I don’t know.” Moisture gathered in Sheridan’s eyes, trailed down her cheek. “Do you…do you remember everything that happened that night?” Sheridan swiped her cheek. “Can you…tell me what happened, Beth? Can you tell me why you were there?”

Beth shook her head. “It’s a secret. Daddy won’t like it if I tell.”

Hank tightened his arms. “It’s okay, baby. You can tell. No one will hurt you. I won’t let them.”

“He will,” she whispered softly,” He’ll send me away again. Like he did Sheridan.”

That didn’t make sense. Her father was dead. How could he…? “You’re talking about, Alistair, aren’t you? He’s the man that sent you and Sheridan away, isn’t he?”

“Yes…”

Stunned silence filled the air. But it shattered seconds later when an enraged Beth broke free of his hold and rushed Sheridan like a tiger fighting for its freedom. “You did this. You did this to me. You took him away. You took him away…”

Hank’s eyes widened as Beth landed a punch against Sheridan’s jaw then he sprung into action, grabbing Beth around the waist and yanking her away from the shocked blond laying on the ground. Beth struggled against him, but her strength was no match for his. “Baby…calm down. I’m not trying to hurt you. I…I’m trying to help you.”

“I don’t want your help. I want Luis. She can’t take him from me. I won’t let her. I won’t her take him from me again.”

Hank met Luis’s eyes, shook his head. “Maybe… Maybe you should take Sheridan and the baby home.”

Luis nodded. “I think that’s probably a good idea. Us being here isn’t helping anyone.” His eyes landed on Beth. “How could we have missed this, Hank? How could we have—“

“I don’t know, man. But we’ll have plenty of time to figure it out later. Right now, we’ve got to focus on getting her help. Getting her well.”

Luis briefly closed his eyes. “She’s going to need you, Hank. I can’t…I can’t be there for her now.”

“No one expects you to be, Luis.” Hank helped Beth to her feet, watched as Luis and Eve did the same for Sheridan. “Eve…will the doctors be able to help Beth? Will I…be able to see her?”

Eve shook her head. “Not at first. She’ll need a lot of therapy, Hank. Seeing you won’t make it easier for her.”

He nodded. “I figured as much.” Tilting his head back, he found the cluster of stars that had always reminded him of Beth. – The Pleiades, or as Beth had once called them, The Seven Sisters. Sisters. Was it possible? After everything he’d heard tonight, he’d have to say it was. Maybe one day they’d even find out how. He dropped his head, looked at Eve. “I’d sure like to know what happened to trigger this thing. If Beth had it in high school, I don’t remember it. She never seemed to be someone other than who she was.”

“Sometimes we don’t see things we don’t understand, Hank. Maybe this is one of those times.”

Luis cleared his throat. “I’m taking Sheridan and the baby home. Will you…will you come by and check on them later, Eve?”

“Of course. I want to make sure Beth gets settled first, but yes, I’ll be by later to check on them for you.”

“Thanks.” Luis turned, looked at him. “I never meant to hurt her, Hank. I—“

“I know, buddy. And she knows that, too. She just…she just can’t remember right now.”

Luis nodded and ushered Sheridan and the baby toward his police cruiser parked by the curb.

Hank sighed, looked at the woman in his arms. Instinctively, he tightened his hold around her waist, knowing even before she tried she’d rush after the man fading into the distance. “Baby, don’t.” He laid his head against her cheek, felt her tears burn his skin. “Let him go. You have to let him go.”

“I…I don’t know how.“

He heard her draw a shallow breath, prayed she wouldn’t pass out on him. He needed her to focus. She had to focus… He couldn’t take it if she… “No, baby, don’t close your eyes.”

Loosening his hold around her waist, he twisted her around until he could see her face, meet those fog-covered eyes head on and at least try to clear the blur. “Stay with me, baby. Don’t…don’t leave me standing here alone.”

“I’m a wicked, wicked girl,” she whispered, her voice more childlike than a woman of twenty-nine. Her eyes held a far away, glassy look, shattered, pained…and more heartbreaking than death. “No one will ever love me.”

With a shaky breath, Hank cupped her pale face with his hands, wiped her tears with the pad of his thumb. “You’re not wicked, Beth. You’re just a fallen angel, that’s all. But you’ll get those wings back. You will fly again, baby. I promise you. You will fly again.” Leaning forward, he placed a soft, brief kiss against her lips. “And I’ll be right here, waiting to see you soar.”

Bringing her head to his chest, praying she found her focus through the beating of his heart, he dropped an arm, gently rubbed his hand across her back. “I’m here for you, Beth. I’m right here.”

Someone—Eve? He couldn’t be sure.—tapped him on the shoulder, motioned toward a car a few feet away. He fought back tears as he recognized the vehicle and its significance. He nodded once and pulled the woman in arms further into his embrace. “Give us another minute.”

He dropped his chin, braced it against the top of Beth’s head. “Baby, there are some people here… People that want to help you. Get you better. Make you well,“ he paused, drew in a deep breath, “I wish I could take care of you myself but…but I can’t. You need…you need someone…” his throat clogged, tears burned his eyes “God, how can I make you understand what I don’t even understand myself? How do I tell you—“

“I already know,” she said interrupting him, her slender arms tightening around his waist. “I have to go away for a while. But I won’t forget you. I promise. I love you, Hank Bennett. I’ve always loved you.”

Hank closed his eyes, returned her hug, committing the once-in-a-lifetime moment to memory. He inhaled the soft, sweet scent of gardenia and, despite being scared beyond reason the woman that wore it would remain forever out of his reach, his faith in her ability to fight the demons that held her heart and mind prisoner gave him the strength to swallow the baseball in his throat. “I’ve always loved you, too, Elizabeth.” More than you will ever know.
 
 

THE END