A light flickered on, then a moment later, it flickered back off.

Darkness isn't so bad as long as you can't see the shadows. Or at least that was what I thought until I sensed things moving about me.

"Hello?" I called out, wondering where the hell I was.

"Timmy?!?" Suzi's voice called in the distant. "Tim, where are you?"

"Suzi, over here!" I frantically called out.

"Timmy.. I can't find you.." her voice said, fading in the distance.

"SUZI! COME BACK!"

"She can't hear you any more. The link just broke," a VERY familiar voice said.

"How do you know? Who are you?"

"I know because I was the one who broke the link. We need to talk, you and I."

"Bastard. Why did you do that. That was Suzi. The real Suzi. Who the fuck do you think you are to.."

"I'm you, stupid. And that wasn't the real Suzi. It was just an echo of her. Shit don't I know anything?"

"You are me. Er, I am you. Whatever. So what's up, self?"

"You know what's up. This whole mess we've gotten ourself into. And you know why I'm here."

"I do?"

"Okay, fine. I'll start off. Penny was right. You did betray her first."

"How can you say that? I made sure her dad wouldn't mistreat her. She had to get over her fear for her dad somehow. How else could I make her face her fear?"

"Doesn't matter. The fact is you left her there, then never checked up on her. You let her two boyfriends keep an eye on her for you, and you see how much good that did. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, and you know it."

"Oh, I suppose you want to blame me for dad undoing the commands in mom's head too."

"Eventually, yes. Come on. Keep going. What else."

"What, like if I hadn't insisted on letting my dad go home while we took care of wrapping things up, Joey's mom and dad wouldn't have been captured?"

"We're getting warmer."

"And if I had only did the same thing I had done to everyone else who had been at the party, Penny would have never been able to tell Steven anything about me. Then Suzi and Joey wouldn't be like they are, and..."

"And?"

"Oh FUCK! You mean this whole mess.... It is all my FAULT?! Oh MY GOD! If I hadn't of given Penny... If I hadn't.."

"If we hadn't played God by giving Penny the brainwashing knowledge the twins had, Steven's uncle would still be researching for a better drug because Penny wouldn't have perfected the conditioning that went along with it."

"YES, I KNOW! SHIT! I've known for a while, I guess."

"I'm glad you can finally admit it to yourself. But it wasn't completely our fault. We know something that no one else does that has to be taken care of before he discovers it for himself."

"Shit. You're talking about Steven being a telepath, aren't you. Shit. Hey, how come we didn't let ourself think of that until now? I mean we've more or less had it figured out for a while."

"True, but if we had figured it out all the way, how long would it have been before Joey would have fished it out and told Steven. How long would it have been before they realized they didn't need us anymore. All Joey had to do was form a share link with Steven and that would have been it for us."

"So what do we do now? I doubt suicide will help matters any, but if you're game, so am I."

<nothing but silence>

"Hello? Hey... Where did you... I go?.... Hmmm.. I wonder what Freud would say about this. Probably something sexual, knowing him. Heh. Well, if it is sexual, it can't be all that bad. 'Course, here I am thinking to myself like a lost idiot. Now if I was me, where would I put the light switch?"

"TIM! Wake UP!" my mother said, shaking me.

"Wha.. WHA.. WHAT!" I sputtered. "I'm awake, already!"

"What did you do to Suzi?! She threw up all over herself!"

"Shit. I didn't think of that. Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's fine. Joey's helping her clean herself off in the shower. Tim, remember how I had to tell you something after your nap?"

"Yeah. What is it?"

"Now, I don't want you getting upset by this. All right?"

"Shit, mom. Okay."

"While I was examining Penny's mind I found..."

"Oh.. I know. You found that Steven had unconsciously altered her to think the way he wanted her to think. I already know he's a telepath."

"What? When did you find this out?"

"I've sorta known for at least a month. Ever since I talked to Penny, I started to put the pieces together. The way she had talked about how important her family was to her could have only been caused by either him using the drug on her, which he didn't, or someone making her that way telepathically.

"And the way he got his uncle Jake to believe he had drugged Penny. That was another thing. Penny had faked the helpless slave bit around him so he would believe it was Steven who had developed the brainwashing techniques. They knew Jake wouldn't trust Penny since she was basically an outsider."

"I wish you had pointed all this out to me sooner. I was worried half to death yesterday about telling you. I didn't want..."

"I know. You didn't want me to go off the deep end again. A lot of this is all my fault. I even agree with me about that. But I can't just skip out by killing myself and leaving everyone else in this mess. I think I figured out a way to help Joey and Suzi. Oh! Mom! Suzi remember my NAME!"

"She did? That's wonderful!" she said giving me a surprisingly long hug. "I've been very worried about you, especially after I had let myself go and we... you know. I'm sorry for that."

"I know," I said, feeling something peculiar about the way she was acting. "Let's just forget it happened."

"Oh, no, Timmy. We mustn't forget it happened," she said, kissing my shoulder as she laid me back down on my back. "We must remember it as our first of many."

"Mom?" I said, feeling my mother's hand bringing my dick to an erection. "I'm going to count to three. If you can't get a hold of yourself by then, I'm going to put those Cabal commands back where they belong. In your head."

"Now, honey. How would you do something like that? You're too weak to get through my shield right now. And since I've disabled your powers myself, you can't even call for help. Now let me show you what Joey had me do for him this morning..."

"Joey? Had you do for him?" I said finding the implied meaning too horrible to imagine.

"Yes, right before I asked him to be the father of my next child. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Na Na NA NAAA NOOOO!" I said wiggling out from underneath my mom. But before I could get off the bed, she grabbed control of my body and sighed.

"I hoped I could have one last suck, Timmy, before Joseph takes you away from me forever. But he's calling me now... Oh, Timmy! Why did you have to resist! I'm your mother! Couldn't you just have let it happen once?!"

All I could do was stare at her, unable to reply for my body was under her complete control. I was yelling at myself for not bringing those important revelations up sooner, and then kicked my ass across my mental landscape for not noticing the shower hadn't been running at all.

As my body was being led back to the warehouse, my panic was really starting to rise.

"Get a hold of yourself!" I told myself. "We have to stay sharp and look for any chance I get to get out of this mess. Too many people depend on it!"

From what I could see from my eyes locked straight ahead, everything seemed to be as it was. There were slaves still checking out a few prospective slaves at the last minute, and there were at least two Cabal members around who definitely were not under anyone's control.

And then I saw the Inquisitor heading our way. I prayed he was coming to talk to me, and couldn't believe it when he did just that.

"Tim, I'm not sure if I will have time later to go over what we discussed yesterday. If you're mother can spare you a moment, we can go to my office..."

"No, but thanks anyway, Charles. I don't want to take up your time with it. I'm sorry I even bothered you about it."

"I see," he said. "Well, if you change your mind, just let me know. Samantha, you know how to contact me, don't you?"

"Certainly, Charles. How could I forget?"

"Well, just in case we don't get a chance to say good bye later, good luck Tim. I hope everything works out," the Inquisitor said holding his large hand out to me.

Like a traitor, my hand took his and shook, and my unfaithful mouth told him thanks, that I hope he worked out his little problem too. She took that straight from my own subconscious. She had to have done since I hadn't told anyone about his personal troubles.

So as my best hope of rescue walked unhurriedly away, I started screaming inside, banging on the walls, kicking and cussing, trying everything I could to disrupt my leisurely walk to my doom.

The cell where Steven was being held was opened as we walked up, not surprisingly finding Suzi, Joey, Penny, and David there with him.

"Well, look who's here," Joseph's mocking voice said as he walked up to my mom and fondled her crotch. "How's my little woman?"

"Oh, Joey... That feels soo good," my mom cooed.

"MY NAME IS JOSEPH!" he screamed with a surprising amount of venom.

"Your name is Joey," I thought to myself. "Joey Theodore Connor. Joey Joey Joey."

"Joseph," Steven said in a calm voice, "How long now."

"Thirty three minutes," he replied meekly.

"Why don't you have Tim sit down and allow him to speak for now. I want to ask him a few questions."

"Yes, Steven," Joey said as I sat down on the floor.

"Yes, Steven," I immediately mocked when I found myself able to talk.

"You want me to make you bite the tip of your tongue off?!?" Joseph warned angrily.

"That would make it difficult to talk, wouldn't it Joey?"

"Call me that again, and I'll.."

"Joey Theodore Connor. Joey Joey Joey Joey J..." I said as my own hand started to slap me in the face. "Joey Joey Pheoy Joey gah Joey Joey oof Joey Joey.."

"Enough, Joseph," Steven said as he motioned my mother over to him.

"Yes Steven," Joey and I said at the same time. If looks could kill, Joseph's stare would have slain me where I sat.

"While I've been locked up in here, I've had a chance to think things through. All my life my family has been working to find a way to control a telepath to control others. Now that I have done this, I find that I don't trust the results of Joseph's telepathic power as much as my and Penny's skills at using the drug.

"Then when your mother let it slip I WAS a telepath, at first all I could think about was learning how to use it and rebuild my grandfather's dream. But when Joseph managed to get around your mother's controls and take her mind, I realized that the only thing I could depend on was the drug and the method.

"So, I'd like to hear what you thought, not that it matters."

"Fuck you," I said, watching my mother lovingly give him a twenty two.

"I thought as much. Seeing I can not allow you to live once your mother has helped me take back my property along with all the others here... I suppose I've come to respect your ability to keep your hope alive. So I'm going to destroy that hope once and for all."

"Not likely," I said noticing that Suzi's eyes watching me with just a hint of concern.

"Steven," Penny spoke for the first time since I had arrived. "I don't want him to die. Can't we just make him my plaything like we had said earlier?"

"No, Penny. While he lives, he is a threat to the family."

"Oh.." she said, feeling torn in what was right and wrong. I started to hope she might again be my unknowing ally, but then she said, "You're right. Killing him would be best."

"Yes, killing him is best," Joseph said smiling wickedly at me.

My mother paused in her blow job, but then after Joseph had a moment of concentration on his face, she went happily back to her sucking.

"Family," I thought to myself. "That had to be the key to this."

"Joseph, where are your mom and dad?" I asked.

"They will be here. Why? You thinking of having a last fuck with my mom?" he snarled.

"No. I was worried about them. So Steven, how did you get around my little command to make sure you didn't hurt them after you brainwashed Joey into Joseph?"

"Actually, I didn't," he said smiling. "I forgot to thank you for adding such a convenient factor to his psyche. I would have never had broken his loyalty to you without making him forget you if you hadn't have given me that tool. Joseph is my greatest and most trustworthy slave, all thanks to you."

"So you admit in front of Joseph that you brainwashed him into being someone else?" I said, truly surprised.

"Oh, yes. Joseph knows all about what I did to him, don't you Joseph?"

"Yes, Steven."

"Tell him why."

"Yes, Steven. Because Steven is my love, my life, my God. I exist to serve Steven, and nothing else matters. Nothing in my past, nothing in my future."

"You see? He is mine, and nothing you can do can take him from me."

"You want to make a bet?" I said, looking deep into Joseph's hate filled eyes, searching for anything remotely familiar.

But I had to look away to glance at Steven when his surprising response was, "A bet... What kind of a bet?"

I thought to myself, "Think fast, kid," then said out loud, "Like, well, letting me try. I haven't had a chance yet. I was hoping to.. You said you wanted to destroy all my hope? Well here's your chance. Ask Joseph, my mom, or even the real Suzi if you can find her in there what would destroy my hope the most."

"Joseph?"

I felt Joseph scan my mind, seeing I was honestly trying to save my life, but that I also was telling the truth.

"He thinks he has a chance of making me back into Joey. If you let him try and he fails..."

"Samantha, what do you think?" Steven said.

"Timmy would never be happy if he couldn't help Joey. I was worried if he ever gave up on that, he might try and kill himself again."

"You see?" I said, looking back into Joseph's eyes. "Until you let me try at least once, you would simply be murdering me without having the satisfaction of breaking me first."

"What would you need to do?" Steven said, expecting deceit.

"Well, I would have to be able read minds, and to freely ask Joseph and everyone else in the room questions without you or anyone telling them not to answer me. You said you trusted Joseph. I'm asking you to prove your trust and let me try my best to turn him against you."

"Done. Ha! This will be very entertaining."

"There's just one last thing," I said. "I want you to make Joseph command you to not interfere until I've lost my hope."

"How long, Joseph?"

"Twenty six minutes, Steven."

"Joseph, as long as he is not trying to trick us into warning the others, make me unable to interfere in whatever he tries until say.. fifteen minutes after the timer goes off."

"Yes, Steven," Joseph said a little unsure.

"Joseph, this is will be greatest test of your loyalty to me. I am confident you will not fail, so you should be too."

"Yes, Steven," Joseph said happily with tears forming in his eyes.

Just as Joseph finished wiping his eyes, his parents walked in followed by...

"Gordie! RUN!" I screamed.

"Ah, Master Timothy. I see you have been collected. Very good. Here is the pistol you requested Master Steven. Will that be all?"

"Yes, Gordie. You may go on with your duties and forget everything you have done."

"Yes, Master Steven," Gordie said with his eyes glazing over and turning to leave.

"Oh, and Gordie.." Steven called out a moment later. "Please shut the door for us?"

As the wall met the edges of the other two, Penny said, "Whew. Now we're safe."

"Why? What's going to happen in..." I paused, checking my own semi accurate internal clock, "Twenty four minutes?"

"Everyone not sealed inside a cell will be gassed. Everyone but Gordie, that is. They will not awaken until we revive and enslave them one by one."

"Oh. Can we get started?" I said, not really surprised by his plans.

"Joseph, this is what I want you to do. The timer will go off at five till ten, just before the auction starts. At ten thirty you will take this pistol and shoot Tim in a leg, a minute later in the other leg, shoot him in the arms the next two minutes, then finish him off at ten thirty-five by shooting him in the heart. I believe that will break any hope you have left before you die."

Okay, so I couldn't keep my fear from showing after he said that. And I guess because he and Joseph were so confident, I started to doubt I could do it before Joseph carried out Steven's gruesome instructions.

But then I saw Suzi's eyes looking at me with more than just concern. Her conditioning to serve Steven and Joseph was still strong enough to prevent her from defying them, but she was clearly not happy with what could take place.

And when I saw her lips barely whisper, "I love you, Timmy," I regained my confidence and determination, finding Steven's threat only to be one more reason I had to make it work.

"Well? I don't have much time, you know," I said looking Steven in the eyes.

"Do it Joseph," Steven said, closing his eyes to avoid me possibly using my empathic power on him.

"Yes, Steven."

I felt Joseph's mind release some of my telepathic abilities after he had issued the commands to Steven's mind. As soon as I could feel the other's thoughts, I immediately began scanning everyone in the room.

"Shit," I said when I scanned Joey's dad. Tom had been given a new identity, believing he was one of Steven's uncles that I supposedly had taken control of. Steven had brainwashed Tom to use him in making Joey believe they were part of the same family, only to find it worked even better than expected because of my commands to protect his parents. I saw that this had been the key to breaking Joey's trust and loyalty to me. Steven had planted fake memories of me abusing his parents in horrible ways, and this was how he had started forming the hatred Joseph had for me.

His mother had been reconditioned to be a loving suck toy for his father. Even as I scanned their minds, Margaret was busily sucking Tom off while he seemingly ignored her and watched me with suspicion.

My scans turned to my own mother, finding the commands Joseph had used on her to be very straight forward and nothing I couldn't undo if I had the chance. Somehow Joseph had found a way around my mother's commands while she was having him eat her out again late last night. While she was experiencing her orgasm, he used the moment of confusion and tricked her into allowing him to form a share link with her, then disabled her ability to resist him the next instant.

With her mind restricted by his added commands, I felt my mother had been subconsciously trying to warn me by coming on to me. So even under Joseph's control, my mother may still be on my side.

I scanned Penny next, seeking out the commands Steven had unknowingly given her. I found them quickly since I had a pretty good idea what to look for, and I knew that once they came out, Penny would more or less be her old self.

I skipped David's mind since he had pretty much been conditioned like Michael had been, and I couldn't think of any reason scanning him could aid me.

I checked on Suzi's mind next, finding she was very upset, far more than I had guessed before. I smiled at her, knowing I would give away any possibility that Joseph hadn't detected the change in her. But as she smiled back weakly, I was relieved to feel it had comforted her a little and knew it had been worth the sacrifice.

I didn't want to spend much time on Steven's mind since it was filled with sickening thoughts, but I did learn some valuable information, some that I hadn't even guessed at.

Steven was only three when his grandfather made Steven's life long goal to enslave and control everyone outside his family in order to continue his grandfather's dream. That was shortly before his death, and Steven's programming had been incomplete. While he was totally loyal to his family's goals, he wasn't necessarily loyal to his family.

His ambition to become head of the family wasn't limited in any way, so when he awoke on top of his unconscious uncle who had been like a father to him, he didn't even hesitate to inject the rest of the green drug into his blood stream in one big surge, knowing it would burn his mind out when injected too quickly.

The reason he had left me to be found by Joey and my mom that day was to give him time to take over his uncle's project more than any threat my empathic ability posed. His family blindly trusted his word and agreed to his reasoning that they needed to study my hidden talent before attempting to contain me for processing.

I found that they knew a hell of a lot about the limits of telepathy, mostly due to Steven's grandfather foreseeing they would need to know these things. The wall of insanity was only one of the things he had developed over the last few years of his life. The telepathic suppressant drug was one of the key elements leading to his death. He had suffered a stroke while under its influence, and was unable to call for help. The fool had locked himself up in a cell thinking he was safer inside his wall of insanity while his powers were not working, fearing another telepath might be waiting for that moment to strike.

The last thing I found from Steven was that he truly did have some loyalty to his immediate family. When he first learned that Penny had a powerful influence over her two twin boyfriends, he found himself hoping to share the glory of being the head of the family with her. He saw her as someone who shared the same desires and goals, and knew she was a lot like him in other ways just because they were brother and sister. They were both the children of a slave and master, something that his cousins had scorned him for when he was growing up. He saw Penny as a like-soul, and never attempted to deceive her about anything until he processed Suzi without her knowledge.

I felt the ticking of my internal clock, and knew that I couldn't delay scanning Joey's mind any longer. I took a deep breath before attempting to probe him, only to find his mental barrier up.

"Joseph, please lower your shield," I said.

"No. I'll answer your questions truthfully, but I will not do that."

"Steven..." I said.

"Sorry. I can not interfere, remember?" Steven said with a wicked smile.

"Shit. Why won't you lower your shield?"

"Because I know that even though you can't use your telepathy, and neither can Samantha, there are others around that could, and I'm the only protection Steven has against that. Even Steven couldn't make me do it if it meant taking that kind of risk for his safety."

"Then I will do it another way," I said, bracing myself for a huge emotional shock.

When I felt I was ready, I said, "Joseph, look at me."

The moment our eyes made contact and the empathic connection formed, I felt his anger and rage flooding through the link with the same intensity as before. But with so much at risk here, I managed to hold my ground and kept myself from being pushed into the deep caverns of my mind.

Ever since I had come out of that dark place inside my head, my empathic senses seemed to have been considerably stronger and more sensitive. I had been constantly aware of how everyone around me felt and wasn't able to turn it off or block them out. But with all of my worries and troubles, I hadn't really thought about it. It was just another discomfort I had to live with.

But as I started to get some control over deflecting the rage and hatred Joseph was thrusting at me, I realized how much my empathic senses had improved. It must have taken me at least a good ten minutes before I was able to hold his negative emotions off and try feeling around for anything else inside him. Time was still ticking, and I was very aware of it, especially when I found how much Joseph was looking forward to killing me.

Normally that would have crushed me just to know that, but I didn't really care for myself any more. I had to free the others, and if that meant sacrificing myself and taking Joey with me, I knew I would do it if I got the chance.

I was awash with the emotions Joseph had been forced to carry within him. I started to get just a wisp of the source for each emotion I focused on, not able to focus on anything very long without getting nearly overwhelmed by it. I had never experienced such insight to a persons emotions before, and as I spent longer and longer looking for anything I could use, I began to sense where some of the emotions came from.

I tried to follow the sources of the loyalty to Steven, straining like I was pulling myself up a rope a ways, leaping onto another one as the first began to break apart, then climbing up some more, always searching desperately for another rope to grab before the one I was on started to fray.

I of course wasn't climbing ropes, just attempting to back track certain strands of emotion while they flowed outwards from somewhere within Joseph's being. I finally was able to narrow my senses down enough to follow just the sense of loyalty he had for Steven. I traced the 'path' which they were coming from, and suddenly felt Joseph's/Joey's soul.

I struggled to bring his soul into focus just like the twins had done for me with Michael's, Vicki's and Carol's. I quickly realized I couldn't focus on the entire 'object', but there wasn't any reason I couldn't just 'move' closer to the source of the streams of loyalty I was trying to follow.

The closer I came, the harder it was to move closer, and soon I couldn't go any further. Either I was trying to stretch my abilities out too far, or the pressure of the constant outward flow of emotions was preventing me from getting any nearer.

But it was close enough. My 'vision' cleared to the point were I could tell where the emotion was being emitted from, a densely blackened area which seemed to have something else sticking up from underneath.

My heart jumped when I realized it was the command I had used to ensure his mom's and dad's safety. I had a clear overwhelming feeling that if I could remove that command, I would break Steven's hold over him.

I let myself be pushed/pulled away, then quickly closed the empathic link. I had to take a moment to recover from the intense strain I had been under, then found everyone looking at me, waiting to see my reaction.

Seeing Joseph grinning at me stirred up a little cockiness inside me, so I met his grin with my own, causing his to disappear when he probed me and he found I meant it.

I dropped my smile when he did, not wanting to get him riled up when I needed to reason with him rationally.

"Joseph, do you still believe I made your mom and dad my play things?"

"No. Steven told me the truth about what he did and why. I know he altered them. It doesn't matter."

"Do you still love them?"

"Yes, just not as much as Steven."

"What about Suzi? Do you still love her?"

"Yes."

"How important is Penny to you? You are always saying 'Steven', but it actually is 'Steven and Penny' isn't it."

"Steven is the head of the family, Penny is second only to him."

"So you love Penny too."

"Yes."

"Just as much as Steven?"

"... I am not sure. Penny had never tested my loyalty, where Steven has. I don't think I could ever disobey her."

"Even though I was talking about love and not loyalty, I'll accept that as an answer. What would you do if Steven or Penny had been altered by someone else. Like another telepath."

"I would undo whatever they did."

"Even if it was against the wishes of the other?"

"I'm not sure. It depends on what the commands were."

I paused a moment to consider that. I had hoped to get him to undo the commands in Penny's head, but decided to leave that for the moment.

"If Steven asked you to kill Suzi, would you do it?"

"Yes. I already did that once," he said with more than a hint of sorrow.

"What about your mom or dad. Or even all three of them."

"I would do it. I wouldn't like it, but I would do anything he asks me to do."

"Including killing Penny?"

"I.... I would probably kill myself first. I don't know for sure."

"You used to be my friend. By best friend. Do you remember that?"

"Yes. I remember everything from my old life. I loved you, maybe even more than Suzi. But all I want to do now is watch you die. Slowly. Painfully. Miserably."

"Shit," I gasped, trying to keep myself from shaking from the strength of the emotions behind his words. It was hard, but I managed to keep myself from falling into that trap. He truly did remember everything. I mean, he wouldn't have known how badly that would have hurt me any other way.

But Joseph wasn't finished. His goal was to make me lose my hope, and he saw a clear path to do just that.

"You would know if I was lying, so I don't have to prove this to you by letting you in my head. You never knew how I hated being dependent on you for the power you shared with me. I loved you, and that was why I put up with your rules, your over exaggerated sense of right and wrong. And I knew you would never even look to see if I was breaking your damn rules behind your back.

"Yeah, that's right. Sweet lovable Joey, your most trusted buddy, had some fun that you wouldn't have liked him to have while we were share-linked. Remember how I went to my cousin's football game that one Friday night? Well, I only watched enough football so I could think about it while I was talking with you if you mentioned anything. You're so gullible.

"I felt like I was in a candy store with the shopkeeper out to lunch. And with a nice big bottle of drink to keep me going, I must have taken nearly fifty cherries before I was too tired to fuck any more. I even programmed the best looking ones to return to being my fuck sluts whenever they saw me scratch myself. You never even caught on when Lisa Wong saw me while we were at the mall that time with LeAnne and I accidentally scratched while she was watching me. I fucked her in the men's room while you, Suzi, and the twins were busy helping LeAnne load all that shit you bought her."

Stunned by his revelation, I could only stare at him as he grinned at me. He knew I wasn't able to even think straight, much less attempt to somehow undo Steven's hold on him. I couldn't believe it. Joey, the real Joey had...

"NO!" I said, brushing my horror aside. "YOU WILL NOT DISTRACT ME ANY MORE! You hate me, right? You despise me more than anything, right?"

"Yes."

"MORE than you love Steven and/or Penny?"

"Yes."

"Shit. Then WHY do you allow one of MY commands to remain in your head?"

"Because I can't remove it. I've fucking tried."

"You want it out?"

"Yes."

"There is only one person on this planet can do it. And it's ME!"

"It's too late for you," Joseph said, picking up the gun. He turned to me and pinched his nose to say in a high pitched voice, "The time will be ten... thirty... at sound of the gunshot."

"No!," Suzi said standing up, surprising everyone in the room including herself. But seeing she had gone that far, Suzi carefully walked up to Joseph and said, "Please Joseph? Don't? Please?"

"I'm sorry Suzi. I'll make you forget all about him, but now it's..... FUCK!"

"What is it?" Penny asked.

"I was just checking the time again... I've been concentrating on killing Tim so much I just now realized I've been watching the time through someone's eyes that should be asleep. The gas. It didn't go off!"

"That's right," my mom said. "Now put down the gun. They are about to open the door."

"NO!" Joey said, pointing the gun straight at my head. "IF IT OPENS HE DIES! AND STOP TRYING TO TAKE ME OVER! I'LL KILL HIM FASTER THAN YOU CAN STOP MY FINGER!"

I felt another mind scanning mine, and felt the Inquisitor undo the restrictions to my telepathic abilities. The instant he finished, I attempted to take Steven's mind, finding Joey had switched his share link to him the moment my mother had broken the one with her. Joey was shielding both of them, but I still had another idea to try.

With very little effort, I canceled Steven's commands in Penny's head, just as Joseph undid Steven's inability to interfere.

"Joseph, kill him now. We have plenty of hostages here. He's too dangerous alive now."

"With pleasure," Joseph said aiming for my heart.

But Suzi stepped between us, and for a moment I thought Joseph wouldn't go on. But then he said, "Tim, make her move out of the way. I'll kill her too if I have to."

"Suzi, stay right where you are," Penny said, moving to stand in front of her. "Joseph, give me the gun. We can not win here. Killing him would only make things worse."

"Please, Joey," my mom said.

"MY NAME IS JOSEPH!" he cried. "GET OUT OF MY WAY PENNY! I'LL KILL EVER GOD DAMN ONE OF YOU IF I HAVE TO!" then cocked the gun to make his point.

"Joey Theodore Connor!" I made his mother say. "Put that gun down, or you'll be in deep shit!"

"JOEY! Listen to your MOTHER!" his father said.

I was almost as surprised as Joseph since I hadn't been the one to do it. I quickly scanned to find my mom had made him say it, but Joseph also had scanned the pair of them and now was really getting angry.

"FUCK with my FAMILY, WILL YOU!" he said pointing the gun at my mom.

"Joey, stop it!" Suzi said stepping out from behind Penny.

"STOP CALLING ME JOEY!" he said, aiming the gun at her.

"Joey..." my mom called.

"Joey..." I echoed.

"Joey..." Penny continued.

"Joey..." Suzi joined in.

"NO! STOP IT!" Joseph screamed, covering his ears with both hands, still holding the gun but pointed up at the ceiling.

The four of us continued to call his true name, then I had to break off a moment to stop Steven from trying to get the gun from Joseph. I physically wasn't a match for him, but the moment I made eye contact, Steven was temporarily overcome by my anger for what he had done to my loved ones.

I quickly had Joey's parents and David hold him down, then remembered something I had picked up from somebody's head. With a quick chop to the neck, I rendered Steven unconscious along with very nearly breaking my little finger on the edge of his collar bone.

The three females were circling Joseph calling his name in a mocking sing song way, then I suddenly found his eyes looking towards me.

With a look of pure determination, he started to lower the gun towards me, and I knew he would kill me if I didn't stop him. The empathic connection formed instantly, and I had to press hard against the sudden rush of emotions flooding into me, pushing everything I could muster into the chaos he was emitting.

I focused on everything we had done together, felt for each other, meant to each other. I pushed how easily I would sacrifice my life for Joey's or Suzi's, not even noticing the gun continue to be lowered past my heart.

His chaos stormed through both of us, building in intensity and power as I continued giving him every thing I could. I started throwing my feelings for Suzi, my mom, Holly, LeAnne, everyone I could think of in to that hurricane of emotion. We were both straining very hard against the conflicting emotions, and suddenly we both just fell to our knees while the incredible volume of emotions began interfering with everyone else's ability to think.

Our eyes had broken their contact, but the empathic link remained. The gun went off when he fell forward and tried to catch himself, but apart from noticing I hadn't been hit, I ignored everything else afterwards accept for what I started to see happen within Joseph's mind.

His mind. I could see his thoughts. When I realized he had dropped his mental barrier, I immediately went into his mind and started to tug on the command stuck beneath the emotional waste.

Using the power of the emotions swirling within us, I mentally lurched and swayed, attempting to pull this tiny stick out of a slab of cement. I tried and tried, oh how I tried. I was convinced I had to do it now or never have the chance to again.

So I stopped transmitting the feelings I had been sending him for a few moments, and just as Joseph's personality started to reassert himself, I released them all in one giant surge while tugging on the little twig of a command.

When it came out, I fell flat on my face with Joseph's screams in my ears. His mind was falling apart with the sudden void in his mind, and as I looked up, I saw him grab the gun and aim it at his own head.

But Steven's voice weakly said, "Joseph, no.." thankfully diverting his attention from his mind's collapse.

"MY NAME IS JOEY, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Joey cried as he aimed the gun at Steven and fired.

And fired.

And fired.

And fired.

Once in each leg and each arm. Steven's blood was quickly oozing out of all four limbs, and as Steven's mind became aware of what had happened to him, he found Joey wasn't finished yet.

"Joey! NO" I said when I saw him take aim at Steven's chest.

Joey wheeled around at the sound of my voice, and I saw his clearing head was still filled with hatred for me.

"The time is.." he said as he aimed for my head began pulling the trigger.

I closed my eyes waiting for everything to end in a big red flash. The gun went off, and a moment later when the bullet hit me over the right eye, all I felt was a curious burning sensation before everything became distant and black.