JP - Finally Seeing Esther

As for Riley, he was taken to the room where Esther waited, sitting in her chair alone as she gazed out a window.

Riley slowly opened his eyes, noticing he was in a bed. Looking around the room his eyes stopped on a familiar figure "Esther?" He choked out tears forming in his eyes.

Esther was silent as she got up, her back to him. “Yes, Riley, it’s me…” She said and stepped around the chair, turning to him. She still looked the same age as when she had left, but there were years seen within her eyes. “I told you not to come looking for me.”

Riley couldn't take it anymore and pulled her into a hugging crying. "You idiot what kind of father would I be if I didn't try to find you and make sure you're ok" he sobbed as he held her. It was clear that Riley wasn't alright at the moment. "I've missed you so much my daughter my little Esther."

Esther did not stop him, even hugged him back, but she did not reply. Rubbing his back gently, she eventually made him lie back down. “Rest,” She told him. “You need it.”

Riley held her tightly he felt as if he was drowning and she was a life preserver in the middle of a raging ocean. "You'll disappear again if I do" he sobbed it was clear the speedster was having a mental breakdown."He had been keeping it together for 5 years and after everything that happened recently he couldn't anymore.

“Papa, please, we’re in my home. I’m not going anywhere…” Esther said as she sat down and kept him close. “I’m just not…out there.” She wasn’t sure how to respond to all of this and hated seeing tears on Riley’s face. She hated upsetting him, but she couldn’t be in the human world anymore. It was too painful, especially after Shimo left her. “You’ve overdone yourself…”

Riley held onto her his body shaking before laying back down "promise you'll be here when I wake up" he whispered before falling asleep. Esther would be able to see the electrical burns around his neck from the collar as well as some Coral's markings peeking out of his shirt.

“I promise,” She answered and while he slept, she looked over him, taking in all the injuries and marks. With a single call, she had one of her shadows arrive that began to heal Riley, making sure not to leave any scarring. As she waited, sitting in her chair again, but facing him, she worried about what he had been through. “River would never do this…what happened to you, papa?” She whispered.

It would be awhile before Riley would wake up again in a sweat as he looked around reaching to his neck he felt the burns gone before checking the rest of his injuries. Even Coral’s name that she had carved into his chest was missing. Riley sighed in relief but it was short lived it didn’t change what had happened or that Coral was pregnant. He felt ashamed of himself “what will River think? Will she leave me for this?” were some of the intrusive thoughts racing in his head.

“Talk to me, Papa…” Esther’s voice would come from the chair she sat in. Her hands were working on an odd swirling mist within her grasp. “Who hurt you like that?”

Riley looked down in shame and informed her of what had happen to him and Anastasia since he had found her on the side of the road. As he talked he felt ashamed and couldn’t look her in the eye.

“You realize what happened to you was rape, right, papa?” Esther told him. “Despite being metas we are all still human. Our bodies run on instinct…She used you in a horrible way and will pay for it once that child is born.” There was a dangerous gleam in her blue eyes as she got up and walked over to him. “Do not be ashamed of yourself. Be ashamed of Coral. River will understand. She loves you.”

“I should have been able to stop her,” Riley whispered, “maybe then I could have saved Anastasia.”

“You were stuck in a collar, papa,” Esther reminded him. “You had no means of escape until Cook helped you. In the rooms of metas they obviously take precautions and they forced you into a room with a very powerful one…stop blaming yourself.”

Riley nodded and held her close like he used to when she was kid, before her first disappearance. “Thank you Esther, I'm just not used to feeling powerless.”

“You need to remember that it never hurts to ask for help,” Esther said as he held her. It was a little uncomfortable, considering her age now, but she did not fight it. She just wanted him to feel comfortable.

“I’ve missed you so much” Riley whispered “I understand why you left but you didn’t say goodbye just a letter. Everyone misses you.” As they sat there he filled her in on everything that had happen over the past five years.

“It’s only been five years?” Esther asked, blinking. “It’s been over sixty years here…” She sighed heavily and hugged herself. “I just couldn’t face anyone with the pain I felt back then…Shimo was the one person I gave everything for…and he just…left me. I couldn’t deal with it and did not wish to make anyone else endure it with me. I wasn’t going to put that misery upon anyone else.”

“I understand I would have done the same if River left me” He replied still worried she would. He hated Shimo with every fiber of his being for what he did to Esther. It was why he had Lyle take care of it, something the two of them would take to the grave.

“River won’t ever leave you, Papa.” Esther told him. “You never saw how she looked at you when you didn’t notice…you are her entire world. You and Amber.”