"I want to get rid of her...and I could really use your advice."

Who knows what might have happened if those words hadn't been spoken the night before?

That's rhetorical, of course. Nobody could know that. Not really.

People could know the truth, though, and somehow, they just don't. Not yet, anyway.

But that's about to change.

"I seriously can't believe this, Emma!!" Courtney paced back and forth on the sandy beach in front of her girlfriend of several months, digging her nails into her scalp as she tried and failed to contain her disappointment, rage and outright disgust. "You're the one person I counted on to help us win this challenge, and you ruined it!! Thanks to you, we're both at risk of getting sent home!!"

Emma rolled her eyes as she sat slightly closer to the water, staring out to where the sands met the undoubtedly icy waves. "If one of us could keep our lips to ourselves, none of this would have even happened."

"Alejandro kissed me!! Not the other way around!!" Courtney snapped, turning to shoot daggers into the older girl's back with her eyes as she explained that for what felt like the thousandth time in the past hour. "I was trying to get him off of me!! I told you that!!"

Emma crossed her arms and looked over her shoulder, matching the brunette's fiery glare with the coldest gaze she could muster. It wasn't nearly as easy being on the receiving end of her love's anger as it was watching her unleash it on someone else. Nor was it nearly as erotic. "If you had a better track record of being honest with me, then maybe I would be more inclined to trust you on that."

Listening to those words carefully made Courtney scoff before a cruel chuckle escaped her lips. "... Of course. This doesn't have anything to do with Alejandro, does it?"

"He didn't necessarily help matters, but still..."

"Duncan and I don't have anything going on. I've told you that a hundred times since we got here."

"Which means you shouldn't have felt the need to lie to me about going to talk to him."

"Of course I did! If I told you I went to vent to him about how much of a jealous lunatic you've been recently, we'd have gotten into a fight about that, too!" Courtney sighed and looked at the sand getting into her shoes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Not that we'd need much help in that department anyway..."

Emma's face softened and she reached out to take her love's hands in hers. "... Courtney, why couldn't you have just talked to me about how you've been feeling? You know I would have listened."

"..."

"Courtney?"

The smaller brunette snatched her hands back, refusing to look up at the woman before her. "... You wouldn't have believed me anyway."

"... What?"

"It's like you said, right? 'I'm a lawyer. I can lie with the best of them.'"

Emma winced at being reminded about that before shaking her head. "I shouldn't have said that. I was just really upset. Seeing him around you freaks me out... I know you said I don't have to, but I can't help it. He has no business being around you if he doesn't like you anymore."

"He's my friend, Emma. He's proven to me that that's all it is." Courtney lets go of her hands. "I just wish you'd listen to me... I'm a grown woman. I know what I'm doing."

"It's not you I'm worried about. You're smart. But I can tell something's off about him, Courtney. I don't know what exactly, but every time he's near you, it just--"

"Stop... Please stop."

The near lack of emotion in those words spoke volumes to Emma. She knew exactly where this was going. She sighed heavily, turning to face the sun setting over the water and hugging her knees to her chest. She couldn't even look out there for very long before she had to bury her face in her kneecaps and take deep breaths to force the sobs down so they didn't leave her throat.

Razor sharp pain pierced Courtney's heart as the girl she'd loved sat there in a little ball just a few feet away from her. Why? Why her? She could have hurt anyone else with no regrets, but...Emma... "... L-Look, Emma, I didn't mean--"

"You've got to cast your vote soon. You'd better hurry."

"... You're on the team, too."

"What does it matter? Everyone's going to pick me after what I did, and either way, I lose you, so...it's over now..."

"Emma...i-it might be ok. Maybe--"

"Just leave!!" Emma screamed, finally turning her body around to fully face the brunette as she stared at her with eyes full of resentful tears. "Go on!! Leave me!! That's what you want to do anyway, isn't it?!"

Courtney was taken aback, but regained enough composure to slowly shake her head. "... N-No... I didn't say--"

Emma screamed at the top of her lungs before kicking her shoes off and in the general direction of the brunette's face. "Fine!! I'll go, then!!"

"W-Wait, Emma! ... EMMA!!"

It wouldn't help, though. Emma refused to stop running away. She'd keep running until her feet bled if she had to. At least until she knew she was alone.

Solitude came, but seeing where she'd ended up only made her feel worse. This cliff, which overlooked the beach and had the clearest view of the sunset on the entire island, had become her and Courtney's private retreat since they arrived here. Many a kiss, planning strategy and sleepless night had been spent up here. It was once Emma's favorite place in the world. Knowing she might never share a moment in this place with the woman she loved again...it was enough to make her fall to her knees and softly cry to herself, some part of her hoping she'd never be found.

This is the moment everyone's been talking about. The moment before Emma's "fall from glory" if you will.

What wasn't shown, however, was the shadowy figure hiding among the trees several feet away, just watching on as she broke down in tears. They waited until she curled herself into a ball and rolled onto her side before moving away from the foliage surrounding them.

Emma tried to take some deep breaths and pick herself up, but before she can even make a move to get off the ground, she sees the familiar figure approaching her and is too stunned to do anything other than try to speak. "... What the hell are you do--"

"Shh... Rest now, chica." That's all Alejandro whispered to her before letting his foot push her over the edge of the cliff.

This has all happened around the time night has fallen. The time of the elimination ceremony.

While the scene at the cliff was happening, Courtney, Jasmine, Shawn, Trent, Samey, and one male that wasn't a member of the team, Duncan, were waiting for a verdict from Chris. Despite Courtney, two interns and even Chef trying to point something out to him, he ignored all of them and called out the names of the teammates that would be staying, starting with who got the least votes as always. Only when he was about to announce the loser did he pay attention to the wide hipped elephant in the room...or not in the room as it turned out.

"And so, Courtney and Emma, with the rest of your teammates saved, it's all come down to--" The dark haired man looked up from his notecards, only to slowly glare as he realized Duncan was sitting next to Courtney and not the brunette's girlfriend. "Duncan, you're not even on this team! What are you doing here? And where's Emma?"

"That's what we've been trying to tell you, old man. She's missing." Duncan growled as he rubbed the panicked looking Courtney's back, much like he'd been doing since his arrival to the bonfire.

Chris looks around to see both Chef Hatchet and two interns glaring at him from a few feet away from his podium. Even as it dawns on him that he's ignored them when they were going to tell him something this important, he simply groaned and tossed his notecards into the fire. "Well, I can't deliver the crushing news about her girlfriend being kicked out if she isn't here. Where is she?"

"One of your contestants is missing and possibly dead somewhere, and all you care about is making sure you devastate her?! What kind of host are you?!" Courtney didn't really need to ask that question. She knew the answer. Everyone did. She just needed to yell at somebody.

Duncan's eyes were set ablaze well before the brunette spoke, but he waited for her to speak before standing up and saying his own part. "And what the hell was Courtney voted out for?! She didn't do anything wrong!!"

"Don't shoot the messenger, man. I'm just reading what I have...err...had." Chris said, about to hold up the note cards with the team's votes on them before realizing he'd fed the bonfire with them moments ago.

Courtney screamed before rising to her feet as well. "What is the matter with you people?! None of this matters right now!! Are we not going to do something about the fact that Emma is missing?!" Her yelling didn't stop her from being nervous, though. She was still so anxious, in fact, that she started pacing the ground and muttering to herself in an attempt to retrace her own steps from earlier in the evening. As if doing that would help her think of where Emma could have gone.

Duncan sighed and stepped in front of his friend to stop her dead in her tracks. "Stop that, ok? You're only succeeding in freaking the others out." He said, pointing to Samey in particular as she received comfort from a concerned Jasmine and Trent.

"I can't help it, Duncan!" Courtney bit her lip and started pacing again. "It's not like Emma to be this late for anything, and I haven't seen her since that huge fight we had on the beach. I can't help but be worried sick. What if something--"

"Courtney." Duncan firmly grabs the brunette by the shoulders and looks into her eyes as he speaks to her this time. "I'm sure she's ok. She's probably just looking for her sister so she can vent to her about what's been going on."

"I...I don't know... Maybe?" It didn't really add up in Courtney's head. Emma tried to limit her interactions with Kitty as much as possible since they were on separate teams now, and even if she'd gone looking for her, would she have really been away this long knowing an elimination was tonight? Still...Duncan's voice had soothed her enough to at least give it some thought.

"Just relax, ok? I'm sure Emma's perfectly fi--"

"AAAAHHHH!!!"

Blood curdling screams were already pretty common place on this show. It was recognizing the voice that made Courtney's eyes pop out of her head. "... EMMA!!!"

Then came the part everyone thinks they know all about. The paralyzed Emma being pushed away on a stretcher.

"Well...Emma... Your girlfriend here was the one who was supposed to be sent home, but considering...this..." Chris motioned to the entirely of Emma's body, which had been paralyzed from the hips downwards since she was found where she had fallen down--on the beach just below the cliff she'd been hiding on some time ago. She was supposedly just suffering from spinal shock. At least they hoped so. "Your teammates--and our legal department--have decided that you can't continue like this. So, instead of Courtney leaving, you're gonna get out of here and get yourself checked out. Any questions?"

Emma, who had been strapped down to a black and red stretcher somewhat improperly and, as such, as straps over her mouth, couldn't properly answer the question, but she attempted to do so anyway. "Ahmnhndru... Ahmnhndru!"

"I'm sure you can continue, Emma, but like I said, legal department. I know you'd understand that, right? Good." Chris said, patting Emma on the head and looking only slightly less nonchalant than he should have in a situation this dire.

The full figured lawyer continued screaming through the straps as interns pushed her stretcher onto a boat, but she stopped when she saw her favorite freckled brunette running towards her. The sight of her eased her spirit ever so slightly, but she didn't know whether that was an appropriate reaction at this point.

Seeing a mohawked punk hot on her heels made her decide it wasn't.

"Emma!!" Courtney cried into the older girl's chest for a split second before lifting her head and looking into her eyes. "You'll be ok, right? ... Why am I even asking? You don't know the answer to that anymore than I do..." She wiped her eyes and sniffled as softly as she could, trying not to worry the injured young woman. "... I just can't believe this is happening... I didn't want to make you..."

Emma shook her head, trying to explain herself again. "Nmm, Crnny! Ahmnhndru rrr mrr rff rrr---"

"Courtney, Duncan, make it quick! She's gotta get out of here quick if she's gonna get any better."

Hearing Chris call to her made Courtney roll her eyes before looking into Emma's eyes and running her fingers through her hair. "Get better for me, ok? I want to see my M&M back on her feet as soon as possible." she murmured, kissing her fellow lawyer on the forehead before leaving the boat.

Emma blushed slightly at the kiss on the forehead. Maybe there was some hope to fix this after all.

Duncan made a quick trip onto the boat, his eyes filled with concern. "How you holding up in here, Emma? ... Courtney's worried sick about you, so...hopefully you'll be alright..."

The Asian woman sighed behind the strap stopping her from talking. Why'd he have to be so nice to her right now after she'd spent so much time badmouthing him? It made her feel like crap.

It'd be ok, though, she decided. As soon as she was healed up, she'd speak to Courtney again and apologize for her mistake. Duncan was a good guy. If she gave him another chance, she'd do the same for him.

That's the moment the green haired punk smiled at her, the worry in his eyes shattering like glass under the impact of a baseball. "I mean...Alejandro agreed to make sure you were able to fully recover from whatever he ended up doing, so I hope he kept that promise. Otherwise, I'll have to stop going to him for advice, I guess."

And there went any and all respect Emma had for Courtney's old flame. Her eyes widened in shock for a brief moment, but a raging fired slowly but surely welled inside them as her eyes started overflowing with tears. Had Courtney really loved a monster like this once?

"Duncan, the boat's gonna leave with you on it if you don't move!"

"That's my cue, Almond." Duncan muttered softly, referring to the shape of Emma's eyes. He tugged on the strap over her mouth, just barely freeing it for a moment. "You get better. I'll keep Courtney nice and warm for you."

"You dirty--!!"

Emma's words were cut short when the strap suddenly snapped back in place over mouth, and the hand that had been holding it waved a teasing goodbye to her before the rest of the body hopped off the boat and back onto the dock where his supposed "friend" was waiting for him. She used the functioning muscles in her upper body to try and free herself, but to no avail. Even if she could have freed herself, the nurses on board stopped her from flailing about before she could hurt herself or anyone else. Despite their best efforts, though, they couldn't stop her from sending a muffled scream into the night sky.

Duncan, meanwhile, had just finished hugging a sobbing Courtney as she cried on his shoulder, rubbing her back as she slowly but surely calmed herself down. "It's gonna be ok, Courtney. She'll come back to you. You'll be fine."

"Sh...she... They're saying she was trying to kill herself, Duncan... I-It's my fault..." Courtney sniffed and wiped her eyes as she repeated the lie that so many others would fall for after she said it. In her broken emotional state, she tightened her hold on her ex-boyfriend, hardly paying enough attention to realize what she was doing. "It's...all m-my fault..."

"Hey, don't talk like that. It's not your fault, Princess. Promise." Duncan pulled back just enough to tilt the brunette's chin and look into her eyes with an affectionate smile. "How about I walk you to your cabin, ok? It's late. You need some sleep."

"It'll be a miracle if I can get any..." Courtney murmured, though she still followed Duncan's lead and wandered back toward her cabin with him at her side. She sighed heavily and leaned into him, her mind more on the boat leaving the island and the woman it was taking away from her. "... It's got to be my fault... She wouldn't have jumped if it wasn't for me..."

Fighting to keep a smirk off his face, Duncan rubbed the C.I.T. turned lawyer's shoulder before slowly letting his hand wander down to her waist, hoping she'd enjoy it or be too devastated to notice. "So Emma kind of got...pushed in the wrong direction... I'm sure that wasn't your fault, Princess."

"I hope so, Duncan... I really hope so..."

And there you have it. The full story. No hidden secrets. No attempted suicide B.S. Everything's on the table. Do with it what you will.

Who am I? Oh, just the actually dependable eyes and ears you've been waiting for. The one with the power and desire to give you the uncensored truth. Being behind the scenes has more perks than you'd expect.

But for now, just call me Billy. Let me know if there's any other info a simple intern like me could find for you. I hope we'll meet again someday.