Author's note: This story takes place during season 2.
***
The woman who called herself Amanda Clarke stared dumbfounded at her TV screen, unable to believe what she was hearing. It was true it might mean this nightmare was finally over... or it was just beginning.
It all depended whether Emily Thorne, a.k.a. the real Amanda Clarke had done this, and if she had what precautions she had taken. As the report repeated itself Amanda hoped that Emily had done it, as no one deserved revenge more than her friend.
"Tonight's top story again, in a shocking turn of events Comrade and Victoria Grayson have been murdered. They were shot when exiting a charity auction, as you can see here. Our sources tell us the murderer used a sniper rifle and the police were unable to catch the assailant who is still at large. Some believe this may be connected to the shocking information now circling on the web that it was in fact the Graysons who were responsible for the crash of flight 197 several years ago, not David Clarke, and this is some kind of revenge for framing him and/or the tragic crash itself. We will of course keep you up-to-date as more details become available."
Thanks to 24 hour news Amanda watched that report over and over again until finally she heard the sound of the front door to the beach house opening. Of course Amanda tightened her grip on her gun, pointing it at the sound and advanced, as even with the Graysons finally gone she couldn't be too careful.
Fortunately it was just Emily, Amanda reapplying the safety and quickly hiding her weapon before returning to find a clearly drunk Emily struggling to lock the door behind her.
"Hey, let me help." Amanda offered, slowly approaching.
"I got it!" Emily snapped, finally locking the door and then turning to the other woman, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"You said the Stowaway wasn't safe anymore." Amanda said simply, expecting an ear full.
She got it, Emily obviously furious with her as she practically spat, "You know what I mean."
There was a pause and then becoming angry herself Amanda said, "I told you, I'm not leaving."
"No, you said you weren't leaving until it's done." Emily snapped, "Well congratulations, it's done. You can go now."
"What, so you killed the Graysons just to get rid of me." Amanda darkly joked, but immediately regretted it when she saw the look on Emily's face.
"I'm not having this discussion with you." Emily looked away, walking past the other woman in the living room.
"But you did, right? You killed them?" Amanda pushed as she turned and followed her friend, adding once Emily was actually looking at her again, "Hey, no one deserved it more than them, and there is no wires or anything here Emily, I just... I just want to know you finally got your revenge. Because if I couldn't do it, I'm glad you did, I'm just confused-"
Fuming with anger Emily interrupted, "Well obviously you're confused, the Graysons try to kill you, kill Jack in the process, and you're still not smart enough to do as you're fucking told and get out of town!"
"And go where?" Amanda practically yelled, adding with a sigh, "Where could I, or you, or anyone go to be safe from them, huh? Our only real option was to kill them, but you insisted against it so many times I thought you'd never speak to me again if I gave them what they deserved. But I couldn't just do nothing, not when we had the evidence to bring them down."
"But I told you it wasn't enough." Emily insisted, "We had to bankrupt them first, make sure they didn't have the opportunity to weasel their way out of criminal charges or come after you."
"And I kept telling you it was worth the risk!" Amanda insisted, "But what I don't get is why you wouldn't come to me when you finally changed your mind about killing the Graysons. If you're so against killing anyone, why not ask me to do it? You know I would. I would do anything for you. How many times do I have to say that?"
Lowering her head Emily admitted, "Because there is no difference between ordering someone else to do it and doing it myself."
Taking a gentle step forward Amanda said softly, "That's not true. You should know that now better than anyone."
Gulping softly Emily murmured, "Maybe, but I've had enough of dragging you and other innocent people into my fight."
"I'm hardly innocent." Amanda chuckled, although there wasn't an ounce of humour in it, "And I know we've been fighting a lot lately, but I'm with you until the end."
"And that's what this is." Emily said bitterly, "It's the end of the conspiracy of flight 197, the end of the Graysons and the end of Amanda Clarke. You can have your name back, I'll get Nolan to somehow give you an airtight alibi and arrange for you to disappear. I'll tell the world I'm the real Amanda Clarke and as long as nothing happens to you I'll do my best to stay out of jail."
"Jail?" Amanda queried.
Emily laughed bitterly, "Yeah, jail. Who do you think the cops will try and arrest for the Graysons murder? Who else but Amanda Clarke, and as long as we make clear that's not you we can avoid anyone else paying for my crimes."