Chapter 0.4: Betrayal

WARNING: There is some female nudity in this chapter. Viewed discretion advised. (Now consider yourself warned. Hah.)

"I missed you Bea," Ethan whispers quietly while reaching out to stroke her cheek.

As his rough skin brushes against her smooth face, Beatrix feels her heart skip a beat. For years, she's longed for this moment. She's yearned to feel Ethan's touch one more time, to hear his voice again and gaze into his soft blue eyes. She desperately wants to jump into his arms, to kiss him with the passion she's held back all these years, but something stops her.

She closes her eyes and allows the memories of her youth to wash over her. The pain of losing Ethan still feels as fresh as it did when he first left, and the happiness of seeing him again quickly turns to anger.

"How dare you come marching back here acting like you care about me!" Beatrix screams furiously. "You only care about yourself!"

"Beatrix, it's not what you think!" Ethan pleads, his eyes full of hurt. "Please, just let me explain."

"No Ethan. You had your chance," Beatrix tells him, her voice dangerously quiet. "I'm with somebody else now."

Ethan narrows his eyes suspiciously. He doesn't like the sound of that. "Who?" he asks.

"His name is Brian. Brian Locklear. And he's been more of a father to Skylar than you ever were."

Ethan's eyes soften. "Skylar?" he whispers. "You named our baby Skylar?"

Beatrix glares at him defensively. "It's not like I had anyone around to help me pick out baby names..."

"I love it," Ethan says quickly. "I think it's beautiful. I heard we had a son, but no one was able to tell me what his name was."

"Not that it matters to you," Beatrix snaps.

Ethan sighs. "It's killed me that I haven't been able to be there for our son. And for you," he adds, gazing at her tenderly. "Every moment we've been apart has felt like hell. I never stopped thinking about you Bea. I never stopped loving you."

"Just leave me alone Ethan!" Beatrix yells, her frustration boiling over. "Getting over you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, and I can't bear to lose you again."

With tears pouring down her cheeks, Beatrix turns to leave.

Ethan watches as she starts to walk away. He feels overcome by disappointment yet steadfast in his determination. He's not going to let her get away that easily. Not this time.

He grabs Beatrix and pulls her toward him. Fighting her resistance, he wraps his arms around her and kisses her passionately, his body hungering for the feel of her skin next to his.

Beatrix halfheartedly tries to block his advances, but she quickly gives in to his strong embrace. She craves the sweet taste of his lips, the strong touch of his hands, the faint smell of his breath. As he holds her close, their bodies pressed firmly against each other, she feels her mind go numb.

She leads him up to her apartment and shows him to her bedroom. They undress and fall onto the bed, neither one of them thinking about anything more than each other, than this moment.

Afterward, Beatrix falls into a deep sleep almost immediately. Ethan makes sure she's fast asleep before quietly getting out of bed and sneaking out. He hates to leave so abruptly, but he doesn't want to meet his son under such awkward circumstances. He hopes that Bea will understand.

The next morning, Beatrix wakes up feeling sick to her stomach. She knows that Ethan is gone, and she can't help but feel ashamed of herself. She got caught up in the passion of the moment and made a mistake. Her thoughts turn to Brian, and she cringes. Poor, sweet Brian. How could she betray him like that?

For the next few days, Beatrix ignores Brian's calls. She tells herself that she's sick and can't see him, that it has nothing to do with her guilty conscience.

It's early on a Tuesday morning, almost a full week later, when Beatrix finally gets the call she's been dreading.

"Hello? Bea? It's Ethan." His voice sounds small and distant, and she can hear traffic noise in the background.

"Where the hell have you been Ethan?!" Beatrix demands. "You show up on my doorstep and then, poof, you're gone."

"I'm sorry Bea. I wanted to come and see you again, but it was too dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Beatrix frowns. "Ethan, what on earth are you talking about?!"

"There's no time to explain right now. I had to leave town in a hurry, but I'll be back soon. I just didn't want you to worry."

"Ethan, wait!" Beatrix yells.

"I love you, Bea. I'll explain everything later."

"ETHAN!" Beatrix shouts, desperately trying to stop him. But it's too late. He's already hung up.

But she doesn't have much time to dwell on Ethan's sudden disappearance. She's just figured out why she's been so sick lately. She's pregnant.

She calls up Brian and tells him that she needs to see him. Immediately.

Beatrix arrives at his house that afternoon, preparing herself for the worst. She knows very well that this baby could be Ethan's, but she doesn't want to think about that possibility. She figures that Brian never needs to know about her affair.

"You've been ignoring my calls," Brian comments as Beatrix walks in the door. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"Brian, I'm pregnant," she says quickly, trying to avoid eye contact.

Brian stands there silently for a minute, his mouth hanging open in shock. "You're- You're- What?" he asks, dumfounded.

"I'm pregnant," Beatrix repeats. "If you don't want anything to do with me or the baby, I'll understand. I just thought you should know..." she trails off.

As her words slowly sink in, Brian begins to smile.

He pulls Beatrix into his arms and brushes a strand of hair out of her face. "No way," he says, grinning. "You're not getting rid of me that easily. I love you Bea, and I promise I'll never leave you."

As he hold her closely, whispering words of encouragement in her ear, Beatrix feels a pang of guilt. She knows that she should tell him about Ethan, about the possibility that the baby isn't his, but she can't bear to leave his comforting arms.

Brian proves to be everything that Beatrix never had during her first pregnancy. He's a shoulder to lean on, a voice to soothe her fears, a hand to massage away the aches. He reads pregnancy books with her and plays peek-a-boo with her belly. Beatrix couldn't have asked for a more supportive father.

With everything else that's going on at the McKinley household, poor Skylar's birthday passes by almost unnoticed. He ages up into a rebellious teenager and inherits his father's signature trait, becoming a daredevil.

After finding out about Bea's pregnancy, Brian decides that he needs to have a little chat with his boss. She agrees to meet him outside the local pub.

"I'm done," he declares, his face serious. "I want out. Find someone else to do your dirty work."

His boss frowns. "I never thought I'd hear those words from you Brian. I must admit, I'm quite surprised."

"Yes, well my priorities have shifted," he replies.

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept that. You are one of our best agents Brian. We need you."

"You'll make do," he tells her coldly.

"It's not that simple," she responds, her eyes narrowed in distaste. "You can't just quit in the middle of a mission. You must complete the assignment."

Brian gazes at her angrily. "And when I finish this job? Then I can leave?"

She glares at him, trying to gauge his determination. "Yes," she says finally. "Then you can leave."

Heavily pregnant and ready to pop any day now, Beatrix gets a call.

Ethan's voice rings out loud and clear. "Beatrix? It's Ethan. I need to see you. Now. Meet me at the Apple Street Library in an hour." And then he's gone.

Beatrix argues with herself about whether to go. Brian's out of town this weekend, away on a business trip, and Bea feels a strong urge to see Ethan again. Even if it's just to give him a piece of her mind.

She arrives at the library a few minutes late, and sees Ethan standing by a row of bookshelves, nervously pacing. She approaches him slowly, wondering why he seems so anxious.

Ethan takes one look at Beatrix, and his mouth falls open. "You're pregnant?!" he asks, shocked. "Is it mine?"

"No," Bea replies, a little too quickly. "No. It's Brian's."

Ethan scans her face, and Beatrix squirms under his questioning gaze. "You never were able to lie to me Bea," he says. "You don't even know who the father is, do you?"

"Whether or not you are the biological father is irrelevant," she tells him, stubbornly refusing to make eye contact. "I plan to raise the baby as Brian's child, irregardless."

Ethan feels his temper snap. "You'd rather be with that two-faced liar than with me?! You've changed more than I could have imagined!" he yells.

"Don't you dare talk about Brian that way!" Beatrix shrieks. "You don't even know him!"

"I know more about him than you think," Ethan retorts. "I did a little digging while I was away and found out some interesting information about him." He glares at her, feeling tired and frustrated. He knows that he must tell her, that she deserves to know, but he doesn't want to upset her when she's in such a fragile state.

"Whatever 'dirt' you got on him Ethan, I don't care," Beatrix replies firmly. "I love him and he loves me, and that's all that matters."

"He's a secret undercover agent working for the Sim Nation CIA," Ethan blurts out. As Beatrix stares at him blankly, Ethan presses on. "Bea, he's using you to get to me."

"Yeah right," Beatrix laughs. "What could the government possibly want with you?"

Ethan sighs. "I didn't want to bother you with my shit before, but you deserve to know," he says quietly. "Bea, there is a warrant out for my arrest."

Beatrix doesn't know whether she should laugh or scream or cry. "What did you do?" she asks, her voice eerily calm.

Ethan looks down, his face full of shame. "It all started after I was drafted into the army. I worked my ass off, trying to rise through the ranks. I figured that once I reached a certain level, I could afford to look for you and the baby."

He watches her closely, his face full of worry. She nods in understanding, so he continues. "After a while, I was assigned to the special operations unit. My first assignment was to guard a top-secret experiment. Apparently, a team of scientists discovered a cure for vampirism, and they were afraid that if word got out about their findings it would cause an uproar. Somehow, my father heard about the concoction, and he contacted me. He wanted me to steal the potion for him, but I refused."

Beatrix shakes her head in disbelief. That sounds just like Ethan's father, trying to exploit Ethan for his own gain. "So, what happened?" she asks.

"He was furious with me and vowed to get revenge. A few days later, a pile of confidential documents went missing. After receiving an 'anonymous' tip, they were discovered at my house. I don't know how he managed to steal such well-guarded information, but I was left holding the blame."

Before Beatrix can respond, she hears a familiar voice from the shadows.

"What a lovely story, Ethan," Brian smirks as he approaches them. "Too bad it's fiction."

"Beatrix, you better get out of here," Brian says without taking his eyes off Ethan. "This could get ugly."

Bea turns to face Brian, her heart racing. "So it's true?" she asks him incredulously. "You were just using me?"

"No, Bea, it's not like that. I-"

But before he can finish his thought, Ethan jumps on him and tackles him to the ground.

As they battle it out, Beatrix suddenly feels light-headed. The stress of the evening is too much for her, and before she knows it...

She passes out and everything goes black.


Challenge Notes:

I feel bad making Beatrix out to be so, umm, sexual (*cough* slutty), but oh well. It makes for an interesting chapter. I use Twallan's woohooer mod, and whenever I do these oopsie pregnancies I always use the risky woohoo interaction. I set the chance of conception at 10%, so I was really surprised that she got pregnant on her FIRST try. And I wasn't planning on having the baby with this particular character (and no, I'm not going to tell you who... not yet anyway), but I figured what the hell. It's fate.

In case you were wondering about how I got some of those photographs, I cheated. I really struggled to take enough (good) pictures for this chapter, so I ended up taking control of both Ethan and Brian a couple of times. I'm such a rebel. =D

And poor Skylar. I neglect him so badly. Hopefully, I'll get to delve into his character a bit more on my next update.