Another Ousting, Another Vote

[Whistling "Another Opening, Another Show," The Big BadAss comes up behind Bob and taps him on his shoulder]

Bob, dear, could you go gather Samantha? She got voted off and after her little encounter with Marlena-slash-Grace, she may need a little help. Tell her she can leave her parting words if she wants to, but she better be on that next ferry.

Oh, and you did finally manage to get Isabella off, didn't you?

[Bob rolls his eyes at BBA's suddenly losted sense of humor, nods, and takes off to find Samantha, none to thrilled with the direction his job has taken as of late]

[Brushing her hands together] Now, with that all taken care of, it's time to vote again. Have your votes in to the Tribal Council E-Mail by Midnight ET on Wednesday night, cool? Cool.
confessed by Your Host, The Big BadAss at 3:59 AM

[She groans inaudibly as she comes to, her head still splitting. Mercifully it's dark and cool and she cracks her eyes open a fraction to see where she is. The late eighties dÈcor of Shane's secret ISA room is the sight that greets her and she freezes as she sees Roman, Shane and John talking in a huddle across the room. When John turns to look back in her direction, she sees concern in his blue eyes and she quickly presses her eyes shut. After a moment she takes another peek. Roman is sitting down now, going over some papers. John and Shane lean over to see something he points to and Grace takes the opportunity to slide out of the narrow cot that she has been lying on and make her way stealthily to the door. The men are too caught up in their manly posturing to notice that she's even gone.

Outside, she shades her eyes in the morning sun and wonders how many days have passed. Not too many she guesses by the state of camp. Looking down, she grimaces as she sees that someone has dressed her in a pair of Marlena's pyjama's. She makes her way swiftly to the tent she shares with Laura and changes into a pair of capri pants and a tank top. Tying a sheer blouse over the top of it, she turns to leave the tent.

However, her eye is caught by the bottle of pills that is sitting on the top of Laura's bag at the end of the tent. Picking them up, Grace eyes them, her headache suddenly piercing again.]

Dammit.... I can't... [She pockets the bottle and sinks down to the bed. A few moments pass before she is lucid enough to think again. Suddenly she leans over and rummages through Laura's bag. Finding a bottle of powerful painkillers, she takes out two of them and tucks the bottle into her empty pocket. She crawls over to her own bed and pulls out the bottle of vodka from her bag. Throwing the pills into her mouth, she washes them down with a slug of vodka straight from the bottle.]

[In a gravely voice.] Oh yeah, that oughta fix it. [Looks over at Laura's empty cot and frowns as she tries to dig back through the cobwebbed memories. Last thing she vaguely remembers is telling Laura to go find John and talk to him.]

[Crawling to the entrance of the tent, she looks out and survey the camp. It seems deserted until Sam comes wandering into view. Grace's eyes narrow as she watches Marlena's sister rustle through the crate of items. Remembering one of the items she still has in her possession, Grace reaches into her bag and removes them. Then she exits the tent and makes her way noiselessly to where Sam is muttering to herself.]

All right, you're coming with me. [She swings her arm around Sam's neck so that she has her in a chokehold and drags her a short distance until she is out of sight of the camp. Then she rapidly snaps the handcuffs around one of Sam's wrists and slams Sam back up against a palm tree. Yanking Sam's arms around behind the tree, she cuffs her other wrist.] Right. *Now* we're gonna talk Samantha.

Sam: I know who you are. And don't think you're going to get away with this. We're going to get my sister back!

[With amusement.] Oh, give it up Sam. Marlena's gone and she's not coming home. Ever. [She looks at Sam in disgust.] Not like she'd want to come home with family like you anyway.

Sam: [Bravely.] My sister knows I'll do anything I can to help her.

[Rolls her eyes.] *Help* her? You're an idiot Samantha.

Sam: Well at least I tried, unlike that bitch Laura Horton. [Smirks.] Well, I showed her.

[Starts as she remembers Laura's pills, the bottle still almost full. Dangerously.] Where is Laura? What have you done to her?

Sam: [Snickers.] Last time I saw her, Looney Tunes was under sedation. But she escaped or something. Don't know where she is now. Good riddance.

[Furiously.] Sedation? [Before Samantha knows it, Grace's hand is gripping her throat and she can't breathe.] What the *hell* did you think you were doing? [Sam's face starts to turn blue before Grace relases her.]

Sam: [Gasping.] She's... been... helping... you...

Of *course* she has. She's not an imbecile like you. [Narrows her golden eyes before she slaps Samantha hard.] How *dare* you hurt her.

Sam: [Tastes the blood on her lip.] I couldn't let her help you...

[Unlocks Samantha's handcuffs, her body shaking with anger. The headache, only slight dulled by the drugs.] She was trying to help *Marlena* you cretin. [The moment Sam is free, Grace backhands her and then for good measure sends a fist into her stomach, doubling her over.] *That* was for hurting Laura.

[Ignores the retching Sam as she looks around her, trying to work out where Laura might have gone. Lord knows what state of mind she might be in. Whatever it is, it's not likely to be any fun. Sighing, she starts off for the woods.]

John: [His voice distant.] Doc! Doc, stop.

[She looks behind her to see John and Shane following her. She lips set in a thin line and she tries to outdistance them. However the headache makes her movements sluggish and despite John's weeks in captivity, he still manages to catch up to her. Catching her wrist, he yanks her around to face him.]

John: Where do you think you're going?

[Wincing.] Away from you.

John: [Shakes his head.] I can't let you do that.

[Acidly.] Oh yeah, and how are you going to stop me? Play caveman and drag me back to your lair?

John: [His face colouring slightly.] If I have to. Grace.

[Glares at him.] You can't stop me. [Her voice lowers to a sibilant hiss.] She's not coming back, you may as well give up on her now.

John: [Determinedly.] You obviously don't have Marlena's intelligence if you think I'm going to give up on her. I will *never* give up on her. Langan may be an ass, and he may not be able to write for crap, but everyone who's ever known the real me knows I will *never* give up on my wife. I'll die first.

[Darkly.] That can be arranged. [The headache is almost blinding now and she staggers back against a tree trunk. John catches her and pulls her into his arms. He can see the pain in her eyes and it gives him hope.]

John: [Softly.] I know you're in there, Doc. Marlena, you have to fight. You have to fight to come back to us. To me.

[Closes her eyes and between gritted teeth.] Shut... up...

John: [As she sags in his arms, he lowers her to the ground.] Marlena. Doc, honey, come back. We need you. Salem needs you. Hell, honey, America needs you. Do you have any idea how sick they are of the dreck Langan has inflicted on them? We need to get back to Salem and take back our rightful place from the pod-us that is inhabiting our home.

[Shakes her head.] No.... please....

Shane: [On reaching them and out of breath.] John, we need to get her back to the room.

John: [Ignoring Shane, he's so focussed on Marlena.] C'mon, baby. We have so much to catch up on. We need to find our sweet little Belle and Brady... Langan replaced them with pods too.... [Draws his palm down the side of her face.] Honey *please*, I need you.

[Moans as she pulls Laura's pills from her pocket.] Laura... need.. to... find... Lau- Auuugh! [Drops the pil bottle and clutches her hands to her head as John holds her tightly.]

John: It's okay baby, we'll find her.

Shane: [His demeanour suddenly fills with concern as he picks up the bottle.] Laura? What's happened to Laura?

[Her voice raw and pained.] Sam... drugged... her.... missing....

Shane: [Looks at John, shocked.] Why didn't anybody tell me this earlier?

John: [Shrugs but he's looking a little concerned himself.] Uh... well Sam and Roman told me she'd been aiding and abetting Grace. And Marlena's been my primary concern.

Shane: [Exasperatedly.] For God's sake man! This is Laura Horton we're talking about. She's a psychiatrist and Marlena is her friend. Don't you think if she was helping this Grace she had a damn good reason for it? Maybe she was trying to gain her trust so that she could reach Marlena. Since you were nowhere to be seen. [Looks around angrily and then at John. Marlena appears to have lapsed back into unconsciousness in his arms.] Take her back to the room. And if you see Bo, tell him to come and find me. We need to find Laura. Quickly.
confessed by Marlena at 3:58 AM