Rachel, John, Danny and Mark, Mark in his chair squashed up to the end of the sofa so he could be as close to Danny as possible, waited nervously in the modern office of Harry Hunter-Moore, a tense silence hanging over the room as Harry flicked through some paperwork, checking his watch, almost 10am, Danny was about to see his 'sister' again, the little skank he'd last seen with an evil grin plastered on her face as she was being fucked into his sofa, by Dylan Cross.

Finally the call came through from Harrys secretary, that Connie and Mr Ambrose had arrived.

"You alright?" Mark fussed as he squeezed Dannys hand hard, the blonde was spacing out a bit, not knowing whether to stay or run, now his choice had been made for him when a knock came at the door.

"Y-yeah, I'm alright" Danny smiled weakly, huffing and pulling his shoulders back, "I can do this".

"WE, can do this", Mark kissed his hand and straightened himself up to his full height, as much as he could in his chair, while Danny smiled widely at him, feeling Rachels hand the other side reach for his, taking it in her warm grip.

Harry, getting up to open the door smiled apologetically at Danny, he really did feel bad for the blonde, and angry at Dannys birth mother, if she'd just let the family take him on, none of this would be happening, but that was history, this was the here and now, and he'd support his new found nephew in any way he could.

"Mr Ambrose, Miss Taylor, come in".

Danny watched as in through the door walked a stout man with a ruddy pink face, tallish but shorter than Harry, tidy suit and close cropped grey hair, hazel eyes and a soft roundish face, followed by a woman that didn't look anything like the pretty flowing haired Connie he remembered.

"It's M-miss A-a-ambrose now", the woman stuttered, Danny could tell by the slight lisp that she had at least one broken tooth, she'd always been given the best of everything as a child, excellent dental care included, there's only one way she could've acquired a broken tooth, she'd been punched.

When her face came properly into view Danny gasped as his eyes met hers, her deep brown orbs were dull, holding a pain inside not unlike the one he'd felt when all this business started happening around him, only hers was still raw.

Her beautiful long flowing wavy dark locks were gone, it was cropped close to her head, visible bruises on her neck in the yellowing phase, almost healed.

Simply dressed in jeans, trainers and a warm pink jumper, she was not the Connie he once knew, she was a broken Connie, a beaten Connie.

"D-Danny?", the woman looked over at the blonde with wide eyes, taking in his healthy face, his fuller body, his smart casual clothes and shoes, and the twinkle in the blue eyes that shone with the love bestowed on him by the Chandlers.

"Oh my god, Danny, you look so different", Connies eyes regained a little light as she looked straight at her brother, Dannys direct gaze hiding a multitude of feelings.

"How, how are you getting on Danny?", she looked at Mark, Rachel and John in turn, smiling as she caught the sight of the joined hands of the family sat the other side of the room.

"I'm good Connie, I'm very good" Danny spoke clearly, feeling the confidence he needed through the hands in his.

"That's good, um, this-this is Gerald, Gerald Ambrose, he.......took me on when mum and d.......", she stopped there, welling up with tears, wiping them away with her hands, "the-the Taylors threw me out, um, he's been so kind and-and he's helping me get back on my feet, and find a job and a place to live", the woman looked at the floor.

"That's good, I'm glad, he seems a decent man", Dannys eyes turned to Gerald who was sitting quietly, with a hand placed on Connies back in support.

"He's, he's been so nice.....to me, I don't deserve anything after what I did to.....you", Connie looked up straight into Dannys blue eyes.

"I know all about your story Danny, I know what those people" she spat, "did to you, I found out a lot" she sighed heavily.

"I can't say the word sorry, because sorry isn't enough, I j-just wanted you to know that I've.....been to the police and everything is out in the open" she said with a small smile, Danny guessed she was just relieved to be out of there.

"That was brave Connie, really brave and......I can't accept your apology right now, but maybe, if we can talk, alone for a while I can try to understand better", Danny looked up at Harry, who nodded, and at Gerald who gave his consent, then at the Chandlers, who also smiled, and then Mark, who clenched his hand tightly and affirmed that yes, he should talk to the woman alone.

"We'll leave you to it for a while then" Harry deflated as if sighing in relief that he could finally get out of that sticky heavy atmosphere, as the others stood up, John taking Marks chair, Connie moved and sat beside Danny.

"Mark Chandler?!, is he your....... partner?" she began.

"Yes, yes he is" Danny said firmly.

"What-what happened to him?, how-how long has he been....like that?" Connie looked over, genuinely concerned it seemed.

"A couple of weeks" Danny said, "Dylan hired a man to run him off the road on his motorbike, kill him, but the man got drunk and Mark.....ended up.....like that!" Dannys face fell for a bit, then he felt the soft warmth of Mark by his side, even though he wasn't there, and his face returned to a small smile.

"Dylan?", Connies face morphed into one of disbelief, "Dylan, tried to kill Mark?".

Danny nodded.

"But why?".

Danny explained everything, from the day he left Dylans, the gloomy flat, the dead end job, the failed relationships, the night of Marks crash, every detail, leaving out anything personal to the Chandlers of course, right up until that day, that morning where he'd paced the bedroom, Mark looking on, worried that Danny may pass out again he was getting so stressed.

"Wow, what a story, that must've been.....hard, I can't believe Dylan actually came back for you, you must've been so relieved when the Chandlers came?", Connie looked genuinely concerned, her demeanor was one of a broken person, her whole personality had changed.

Danny simply nodded, it was pure luck that he'd been on the phone to Mark when Dylan Cross turned up.....otherwise.....he didn't want to think about that.

"So tell me" Danny began, "what happened to you?".

"Well it started the day you left.........".

Connie told Danny all about how Dylan was fine for a year or so after Danny left, but he was so cold and Connie felt abandoned, so she'd started an affair with one of the Investigators, she didn't know that's what he was at the time, but when Mark, and Lee Sim had blown Dylans life apart, they'd obviously twigged who these men were.

How she'd hung on with the beatings and the kickings from Dylan, on through the mess that ensued, the loss of his millions, living here and there, at one of his rich friends houses now and again, being used for their entertainment, Dylan would visit she said, and beat her again.

Eventually she'd found one person, a friend of a friend, whose girlfriend was nice and looked after her, then just a few months back Dylan had come, forced her out of the house, driven her to the Taylors and dumped her out, bag and baggage.

How the Taylors had at first taken her in, then as the realisation came that Dylans assets being frozen was affecting their fortunes, and they were going down whether they liked it or not, they'd decided to basically auction Connie off, to the highest bidder, in a last ditch attempt to save their sorry backsides.
One of their ex business associates that had heard of this through the grapevine, had contacted them and offered a healthy sum.

That person.....was Gerald Ambrose.

But Gerald didn't want the woman to use and abuse, he'd wanted to save her.

He'd long since stopped having any dealings with the Taylors, not agreeing with their practices, so when he'd heard about Connie, he'd leapt in to take her away from them.

"He's been so good to me Danny, he's kind, he's thoughtful, he helped me go to the police and report everything those..... those people have done, what they did to you, and to......Teddy".

Danny was shocked that Connie knew about that.

"Dylan told me during one of his beatings, he told me that he blamed all the Taylors for that".

"So here I am now, broken" Connie sighed, "I deserved some of that for what I did to you, the way I treated you, the way I stole Dylan from you" she sobbed quietly, "but I didn't deserve what they did to me when I was dumped back there, no one would deserve that" the woman sniffled.

"I am sorry Danny, I just wanted to say that, and Gerald, he's supporting me in getting a job and a place to live, he said I can stay with him as long as I want, but.........I want to be independent, I know he'll support me and help me, that's why I'm an Ambrose now" she smiled a little wider.

"He's been more of a father to me than Michael Taylor will ever be".

Danny let her finish then added a few words of his own.

"Connie, both of us are victims, but, as a very good friend of mine once said to me, when I was beating myself up over being useless and worthless, 'stop being a victim, be a survivor, because if you keep looking back and letting your past rule you, the users win, they got what they wanted, they beat you down", Danny took her small hand in his.

"John and Rachel have been better parents to me in less than a month than the Taylors were in my whole miserable life" he smiled, "I owe them so much, keep going Connie, one day you'll find peace, like I have, well...... almost have" he laughed.

When Connie and Gerald Ambrose had left, Danny felt lighter, better, clearer in his head, he knew the Taylors were going down and they were going to hit the ground bloody hard, and he could do nothing but grin and celebrate that fact.

Finding that pub on the way home was the added bonus, the pub where he'd learned who he really was, not that long ago, the pub with the sizzling melt in the mouth steak, and the heavenly lasagna that John was now devouring like a starving man, much to Marks amusement.

His face a picture as his father moaned and sighed as he ate, then the satisfied 'aaaaaah' as he finished his huge plateful by sinking a pint of beer, almost in one go.

"Good lasagna Dad?" Mark quipped as John lay back in his seat, Rachel and Danny laughing at his slightly dreamy smile.

"Very good lasagna son".