And
Galatea, by the sea, with her arms unfurled and hands wide open…
For
Arimi and Vin
Day
One: Tuesday, 7:30
am
“Michael!”
Michael
Guerin stopped pouring his morning coffee and looked at their damn
kleptomaniac, sometimes calico, sometimes black cat who was staring at him
almost innocently. “Our mistress bellows, and she ain’t sounding happy.
What did you do?”
Maria
Deluca appeared at the top of the stairs and tossed a shoe down at him, just
barely missing his head as he ducked.
“What
is this?”
Michael
looked at the footwear as it lay on the floor next to him, after having
bounced off the refrigerator. “A shoe?”
“A
shoe? Bastard! Of course it’s a shoe!!! Dammit, Michael, it’s not
one of mine!”
Michael
looked at it again. “It is too one of yours. I know. I bought it for you.”
“It’s
a flat...a slipper. I don’t own
slip-on shoes. It’s...oh god! It’s ugly!”
Maria’s voice echoed in horror. “And there are more of them in my
closet.”
“I
bought you thirteen pairs in different colors to go with all your clothes.”
Michael thought the damn shoes were perfect. He had found one style that
looked filled the bill and ordered all the color combinations available. She
could be a little more grateful, maybe say thank you…or offer him a quick
roll in the sack in appreciation...
“Where
are they? Where are my babies?”
Michael
looked at her as if she was insane. The 'baby' was in that cute little tight
basketball in front of her, all snug and fed for now.
“My
shoes, Michael! Where are my shoes?
The leather pumps, the sliders, the strappy-heeled sandals...the entire
tribute to the House of Choo!”
Michael
ducked again as another shoe came hurtling towards his head. He knew he
shouldn’t have let her join the co-ed PD baseball team this last summer. Her
aim was deadly.
“Now,
Maria.... Those shoes are lethal. Not a single pair had under a three-inch
heel. They’re murder on your feet, bad for your legs, even make them
cramp...and you could fall off them and hurt yourself or the baby!”
“My
shoes! You stole my shoes! All of
them! You...you...bastard!” Maria
was shaking so hard she could feel the baby moving in distress. Resting her
hand on her pregnant tummy in comfort, she tried to reassure her child that
she wasn’t going to murder his father, just maim the sneaky, no good,
no-account…
“If
you’d just calm down. This can’t be good for the baby, and...” That was
obviously the wrong thing to say as another shoe came whizzing past his head.
“First
my clothes. Nothing too revealing, too low cut...nothing too tight or
confining, nothing above the knees...” Maria’s voice was rising in anger
and frustration. “You bought me an ugly dress for my birthday! It was ugly,
and it was...gray!”
“It
cost a small fortune.” Michael
winced as he heard more items falling from the upper landing. She was getting
more and more agitated. Maybe he should’ve talked to her about the shoes
before stealing them from her closet.
“Great!
A Versace, gray prison gown! It was still ugly!”
Maria felt tired, spent. Sinking to the ground by the upper banister,
she laid her head against the wood. “Get out! Max is here, so just leave.
Please.”
Michael
frowned and walked around the kitchen bar towards the stairs, but as he did
so, Maria suddenly stood up and walked away. The bathroom door slammed behind
her.
Max
was stunned at how fast Michael was vacating the loft. Usually he had to wait
for his partner for what seemed like hours. This was not good. Trouble in
paradise.
“What
happened?”
Michael
just shrugged when he got into the car. “Nothing. Let's go.”
Max
turned off the engine and put his hands on the steering wheel.
“Michael...”
“Fine!
We had a fight. Actually Maria had the fight. I just did lots of ducking.”
Max
threw Michael a measured look. “What did you do?”
“Nothing!”
Michael cussed at his partner’s grimace of disbelief. Why the fuck did Max
always assume he was in the wrong? “I boxed away all of Maria’s shoes and
replaced them with some nice, orthopedic, arch-support, flat slip-ons that
don’t need to be buckled or even tied.”
“You
stole her shoes?” Max looked at Michael in disbelief. “You stole the shoes
of a woman who gets a pink fuzzy feeling from each new pair, and walks on air
whenever she goes shopping for them? Whose entire side
of her dressing room closet houses a wall of shoes?”
“It
took me eight trips to get them all.” Michael looked at his partner and
tossed up his hands. “What? I replaced them! With a style more appropriate
and safe.”
“Michael.”
Max just shook his head. “What were you thinking? Maria’s over six months
pregnant. She has had you hounding her twenty-four/seven, putting her on a
feeding schedule every three hours. You cancelled your on-calls. You don’t
do stakeouts. You dictate her clothes and her schedule. You nagged her until
she stopped working at the museum. Now she puts up with you almost every
moment of the day as you watch her and scrutinize her. As you carry on being
psychotically neurotic and territorial...”
“She’s
having an alien baby!”
“You’re
smothering her! We don’t even know what the fuck having an alien baby even
means! There’s no one to tell us.” Max rubbed his face. “What do you
think she’s doing now? Right now?”
Crying.
She was crying. Michael just sat back and closed his eyes.
“Take
off. Tell Cap I’ll be in as soon as I can.” Michael got out of the car and
went back inside, turning as he did so, to look at his partner’s new car. A
Volvo...a Volvo sedan no less.
Damn. Nothing like chasing the bad guys in a family car with a childseat in
the back.
The
loft was quiet. He went upstairs and the first thing he noticed was that the
bathroom door was open and the lights were out. Stopping, he looked around for
her. It was the sound of sniffling coming from her closet that drew him into
their bedroom.
She
was lying on the floor in front of her empty shoe racks, clad only in her
dressing gown. Curled up in a small ball, she was crying as she stared at the
place where her shoes should have been and weren't. Mr. Boo was worriedly in
attendance. The cat saw Michael first and growled his displeasure.
Michael
went to Maria and reached down to cup her face, making look at him. The
sadness there, the utter unhappiness, was more than he could take. Picking her
up, he took her back into the bedroom and laid her on the bed, then joining
her there.
“I’m
sorry. I’ll bring them back.”
She
just shook her head, not saying anything.
“I
didn't do this right. I should’ve told you I was worried. I should have
talked to you and then took you shopping for new shoes, instead of taking
control.”
“I
understand.” He hated her small voice with its lack of enthusiasm and real
conviction. The two of them were having hard times. It wasn’t just the baby,
the blood and the creeping tiredness that seemed to take over more and more
each day. It was the Thing.
The
alien thing.
Ever since that day when all of them connected, things had changed. Michael
couldn't stop melting things, or blowing them up or picking up visions from
objects at crime scenes. He had always been different, an outsider, but
somehow he had always found ways to deal with it before. This was something
new. He was no longer human, and because of him Maria was changing too.
The
connection she had made with the group through the baby had altered her. She
was too sensitive to touch, too sensitive to heat and cold, along with other
things they had yet to understand. Life kept changing, and changing fast. She
was scared. Tess was blissfully free of any problems except an increase in
powers, but Maria was suffering.
“Maria.”
“You
should go to work.” Her voice was cold and emotionless.
He
turned her face again, forcing her to not ignore him. Framing her temples, he
leaned in as she shut her eyes and he kissed away her tears. Rubbing his face
into hers, he murmured, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you unhappy or
to make you cry.”
“I
know. It’s just...” Maria’s voice faltered.
“Just
what?”
Maria’s
fingers gripped his arms hard. “I need to feel...normal
or at least settled, and everything's been so hard lately. Finding my shoes
gone was just the last straw.”
“I
know. I wish I could find out more without exposing us.” Michael leaned into
her, kissing her neck. “I can’t take a chance some 'Men in Black' types in
suits will kidnap you and the baby. That they’ll want to study you, poke and
prod you...and maybe harm you.”
Maria
just sighed and pulled her courage back together. “Michael...I feel
strange.”
Michael
looked at her, saw the seriousness of her face, and pulled back from her a
little. “Strange? How?” His faced clouded. “Are you in pain?”
“No.
Yes. No...not really.” Maria reached down and opened her robe. Michael
followed her glance.
Color
was streaking over her skin, moving at an alarming rate of speed. Her hands
shook and she looked up to meet his eyes. She was luminescent, glowing.
“How
long?”
“Since
yesterday. It doesn’t last long, and not all the time. Just when I get
emotional. I can feel it start.”
Michael
framed her face. “Does it hurt?”
Maria
paused before shaking her head. “Not in the sense of pain. I just feel jumpy
inside, like a live wire. And there are these flashes - not really pain, just
like flashes of light. White and brilliant.”
Michael
rubbed his hand down her body to touch her skin. He watched as the color
streak followed his hand, seeming to concentrate under it. It was her response
that startled him. She tossed her head back and moaned. At first he was afraid
she had moaned in pain, but then he felt it too.
He
cleared his throat. That was...okay. “Did you just...”
“Orgasm?
Oh yeah!” It was the too sensitive to touch thing again. “It just
prickles, but your touch pushed it over the edge. Thank you.” Maria laughed
at that. Kissing him deeply, she pulled him even closer. “If you’d bring
back my shoes, we could explore this new and interesting development.”
“I’ll
bring them back immediately.” Michael kept kissing her. His attraction to
her had remained constant, but this was recent. It seemed like when they
connected they also connected to their child, very much like an imprint.
“Michael?”
Maria had to confess. She wasn’t certain, but somehow it became more
apparent each day…
“Hmm?”
He was nuzzling her head with his nose.
“The
baby.”
He
stilled...“Yeah?”
“There
are two.”
~~~
He
entered the room, worried. He waited as the man slowly turned in his seat,
rotating around to face him. Pierce.
“What?”
“The
outside committee from Atlantic City wants to know if you can move more money
through the Operation. Their laundering service was shut down.”
Pierce
smiled without humor. “How much more?”
“A
few million a week.”
“Tell
them it is possible, but the percentage points will go up by three. If that is
agreeable then...it will be done.”
His
assistant nodded and started to leave, but hesitated at the door.
“Yes?”
“The
Westside gaming numbers were shut down last night.”
Pierce
stood up and then walked over to his assistant, his eyes like dark pits of
burning fire.
“Where
was our protection, the safety net?”
“It
didn’t activate.”
“Who
took the bust?”
“Major
Crimes...Guerin and Evans.”
His
anger exploded and his assistant was tossed a few feet back against the wall.
The man slowly tried to find his feet, feeling the blood in his mouth.
Coughing, he met his boss's eyes.
“Kill
our inside man’s family pet. Deliver it in pieces, and tell him that next
time it will be one of his children or his wife. When I pay for a service, I
expect results.”
The
cowering man wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. “Wouldn’t it be
easier to just take out Guerin and Evans, or even DeLuca and Valenti?”
Pierce
turned and walked back to his desk and looked at his assistant with an evil
smile. “I told you. They are protected. All of them. Make their lives
uncomfortable,
even hard, but not a one of them is to be harmed.” DeLuca could die, but the
far reaching effects would be devastating. No. Actually DeLuca needed to be
protected too.
“But,
Sir...”
“You
have my orders.” He turned his back to door looking out over his small
domain. Roswell.
His
private line rang. He reached over, not even bothering to see if his assistant
still remained.
“Yes.”
Pierce said as the young voice came over the line.
“There’s
a new faction in town. The deaths are piling up and getting harder to
hide...we should meet.”
Pierce
frowned. “A meet? I don’t think so. If the man himself wants a deal then
he has my number, but things aren’t so unstable that we need to push. If I
find any of your dried skin rejects in my areas, you’ll need to collect the
dust.”
He
hung up the phone. They all wanted something from him. It was a mistake to
leave the silver handprint so close to them. It had brought the others, and at
one look, the Royals had been exposed. They didn’t even know it. In the last
four months, they were still struggling to just understand what it meant.
Maybe it was time to plant some bread crumbs…
He
would be needing them soon. Alive...or at least at first. He smiled a real
smile for once, full of genuine amusement. The smile faded as other thoughts
took over. He couldn’t afford for anything to interrupt the flow of Destiny.
That meant all of them, regardless how much of an inconvenience they were,
needed to be kept safe. Especially the commander’s children and his mate.
Laughing,
he sat back and stared off at the sky lost in his own thoughts. Time to get
back to his other life before he was missed. It was coming near. The King was
awakening.
~~~
“Jim,
honey? Did you want to meet me at the restaurant tonight or should I just come
home so we can go together?”
Jim
turned to look at his wife and smiled. Amy was standing by the open door of
his car. She looked the perfect picture. After over four months of marriage,
he still couldn’t stop being amazed over the fact that she had finally
married him.
Today
she had talked him out of his car, since she had a delivery scheduled and
needed more room than was available in her Jetta, which matched Maria’s. He
was standing at the curb looking down the street, wondering when the hell his
son was going to get there. He needed to get to work.
With
the pregnancies and the other thing...the alien thing, Kyle was reluctant to
leave Tess alone. She was fast moving into her eighth month of pregnancy, and
Kyle ran through a whole checklist of things every morning with her just in
case she went into labor. Now that they knew the child was special because of
alien genetics, papas Kyle and Max were like demented mother hens.
“Just
meet me at the restaurant, honey. At this rate I’m never getting to work, so
I’ll need the extra time to clear my desk.”
Amy
nodded and chuckled at her husband and his irritated gestures as he paced in
front of their house. Catching her husband’s eyes she mouthed an ‘I love
you’ as she got into the car.
The
engine choked. She attempted to start it again. Jim turned to look at his car
in puzzlement. He just had it serviced yesterday and they had delivered it for
him. She turned the key in the ignition again as the engine struggled to turn
over. It was like a rush of electricity as the flywheel engaged, and the
engine finally caught…
Amy?
“Amy! No!”
Jim
rushed towards his car, trying to reach the door and her in time. It was as if
the distance was too long, too far to run, and the door separating her from
him was too heavy to move as time seemed to sluggishly pass into endless
frames of slow motion...
Kyle
came around the corner, already practicing his excuse for being tardy when his
father’s car blew…
~~~
Julia
gathered her bag and everything she needed for a day in court. She was up
twice on the docket and had three depositions. Drowning Sean out in her own
mind, she continued to get dressed, ignoring him.
“Stop
that!”
Julia
continued her preparations to leave. He had already made her late three times
in the last week. It was the same argument. Sean grabbed her arm to keep her
from getting away from him.
“Dammit,
Julia. Stop shutting me out!”
Sighing,
Julia looked at him, and against her will her eyes softened. “I’m sorry. I
don’t mean to do that.”
She
was lying. She did want him on the outside. Over the last four months their
lives kept entangling both personally and professionally, and six weeks ago he
had moved into her house. Since then they had fought almost constantly, mostly
about Pierce. Julia and her department had started a new taskforce for
shutting down organized crime, and Pierce was at the top of the list. In the
last two months the death threats and warnings had increased, along with
Sean’s anger and paranoia.
“Look,
Guerin and Evans took out Pierce’s numbers racket on the Westside before the
leaks in the department could alert him, thanks to you and a speedy warrant.
Don’t think he doesn’t know who's doing all the legwork by greasing the
legal wheels.”
“I
know. I know that he knows it’s me.” Julia sighed again. It was never
easy. It never would be. Sean was who he was, and she was who she was. The
same. It made them strange bedfellows at the very least. She didn’t want to
lose him, but she couldn’t stop being her own person either. Michael and
Maria had found a way to make it work with some pushing and pulling, but Sean
wasn’t a man to be pushed or pulled unless he wanted to be.
Sean
recognized that stubborn look on her face. They had fought about it last night
while they were over at Michael and Maria’s for dinner, and it only made
things tenser as they were getting ready for bed. He was steadily working on
the shortest relationship of his life with his constant nagging, but Pierce
wasn’t something to take lightly.
“I’m
sorry. I know it’s your job. But I can’t keep thinking that one day I’ll
walk in here and I’ll be too late. That Pierce’s men would’ve found you
hiding in the closet, or it’ll be your body in the bed.” Sean rubbed his
neck. “Tell me how to stop worrying, how to just shut it off.”
Julia
went to him, her hand moving up his arm to his shoulder and then circling his
neck. Leaning into him, she met his mouth in a full long kiss. Aaaaah....this
man. He pissed her off most of the time. He was irritatingly charming, bold,
brash, and his humor was only surpassed by his ability to cook. He was
everything she had ever wanted and everything she usually avoided. Perfect.
Stroking
his cheek she couldn’t just let him get away with it. “I can’t tell you
how. I can’t. It's the same thing I have to do every time you strap on your
holster and load your gun. Every day you walk out of here and I know you could
die this day. I know that I might open my door to Michael, Max, or Kyle
telling me that you were taken again and beaten almost to death, or that you
took a bullet. Do you honestly think that knowing you died in the line of duty
would in any way compensate me for your loss?”
“Julia...”
“Any
spouse or significant other involved with a police officer has to learn to
cope with harsh realities. So my world touches yours more than just in the
bedroom. I cope with your job. You need to learn to cope with mine.”
Julia
pulled away to grab her jacket. Sean pulled her back. “It’s not the
same!”
She
kissed him softly. “It is the
same. We’re the same. You need to figure that out.”
“You’re
a lawyer, dammit. Courtrooms, briefs, and being a royal thorn in my side. You
don’t need to always concern yourself with high profile cases, like Pierce,
and taking down his operation.”
“He
left a freakin' body in my bed!”
“That
wasn’t a damn invitation, Mac! It wasn’t a ‘Come play with me, I’ll be
your bitch, come on’.” Sean grabbed her other arm and forced her to look
at him. “It was a warning.”
“I
know. I know what it was. And who and what would I be to back off, scared and
shaking? How can I do my job that way, when the likes of Pierce can send me
scurrying at the first hint of violence? He warns me and I run? Is that what
you want from me? What am I? Pierce’s puppet?”
Sean
watched as her eyes darkened. Her breathing became short and fast, and her
skin took on a healthy glow. ADA Julia in her anger was an awesome creature to
behold.
“I’m
no man’s puppet! Not Pierce’s,
and the sure as hell not yours! So you fuckin' back
off, Sean! You decide. This is who I am. Can you take me as I am, or is
this over?”
Over?
Fuck
that. Sean was so aroused at the moment he could hardly get his eyes to
straighten the images. He loved her all hot and in control. His favorite
thing. Crowding her into the counter, he kissed her hard. And he actually was
unbuttoning her blouse before she knew it.
“You’re
trying to make me late again.”
“Uh
huh. Are you going to make me wear your high heels?” Sean asked with a
naughty grin.
“Later.”
Julia kissed him again and her hand found its way up under his t-shirt to his
shoulders. Ready to pull it off over his head, she was forestalled by the
ringing of his cell phone.
“Ignore
it. Continue undressing me, Counselor.”
Julia
nipped the side of his neck. “It might be important.”
“It
might be Kyle wanting to know what type of donut I want...”
“Or
it could be something else.” Sean met her eyes and reluctantly answered his
phone.
“Yeah!”
his gruff voice speaking his displeasure. Julia watched as his irritation was
quickly replaced with a seriousness and alarm. He swore under his breath, and
quickly spoke into the phone grabbing his jacket and gun.
“Sean?”
Sean
looked at her on his way out the door. “Cap’s car was bombed this morning.
Kyle had just arrived when it happened.”
“Oh
God! Was he hurt?”
Sean
nodded. “Both him and Amy. They took them to the hospital. It doesn’t look
good.”
Julia
grabbed her bag and followed him. “I’m coming with you!”
~~~
Max
walked into the bullpen and smiled at the baby pacifier on his desk. Since his
imminent parenthood had become public knowledge people had been leaving gifts
of a baby nature on both his and Kyle’s desks. Actually Max tended to get
more condoms with detailed instructions, but he took it all in stride.
Michael’s desk was already a display of baby junk and books all put
there by Michael himself. He wasn’t a target. Max suspected that this was
because most people were afraid of Michael.
Since
they discovered what they were four months ago, Max actually wondered whether
people didn’t have cause to worry. Michael had changed drastically. He was
still Michael, but whatever special talents that Michael had had before, were
no comparison to what he had now. Michael now picked up actual flashes and
images from objects. This left him confused and almost neurotic, so he went on
a one-man quest to decipher his visions. In the process he solved some
incredible crimes. It didn’t seem fair. Michael hadn't needed any boost in
his detective abilities, but he sure got one.
It
took them a long time to pin Alex down on the alien thing, and most of it
still remained hidden from them. Alex Whitman wasn’t the most forthcoming
individual in giving out information, but from what they could extract from
him, it appeared there were more aliens walking the earth. Aliens not like the
four of them. Alex called them Skins. There were also Shapeshifters and
Walkers.
Since
that day, all of them starting displaying powers they never knew they had.
They could alter matter, rearranging the molecules almost like child’s play.
All of them found they could unlock door and start cars, and numerous other
tasks along the way.
Isabel
was practicing the most. She altered her hair, her nail polish and her clothes
several times a day. She and Liz had finally moved into their loft, and Liz
being Parker, took it upon herself to scientifically investigate the changes
in everyone, especially Isabel. Together they devised experiments and the two
were thicker than thieves, with Isabel discovering another power as they went
along, that being dreamwalking. Isabel wasn’t that discreet about her powers
either, but one thing remained constant. She couldn’t dreamwalk Alex or
Michael. They were closed books, or ones she was too afraid to open. Sean?
Isabel woke up screaming from a Sean dream. It was that disturbing. For
reasons she wouldn’t divulge, she didn't dreamwalk Maria either.
Max
spent a lot of time with Isabel and Liz. When he wasn’t with them, he was
over at Kyle and Tess’s doing baby things. Living alone, really alone for
the first time in his life, except for the year Isabel was gone, Max was
discovering himself. Actually the year Isabel was gone didn’t count because
he kept expecting her, waiting for her. Now his space was his own and
everything he surveyed was his. His time no longer was relegated to many. But
one day he suddenly woke up alone, and he was afraid. Afraid of not having a
purpose, a chore other than himself. Once he calmed down and looked, really
looked, he found his life wasn’t empty, just rearranged.
Isabel
was there, across town with Liz, next to Michael and Maria. There was always
Michael and Maria. Max’s fascination with Maria was still there, but he was
seeing it for what it was. She represented his hope that if she could find
Michael Guerin and give him everything he wanted, then someday he, Max, would
find the same thing. She was a touch of his soul. Max also had Tess and Kyle.
The three of them went to Lamaze, to parenting classes, to doctor
appointments, and sometimes he actually spent the night at their house just to
be close to his son. He was having a son.
Max
had spent weeks helping them prepare the nursery, and after they finished the
three went to his apartment and created another nursery in his home. Baby Jack
was always going to have a place in the hearts of all three of his parents.
And then there was Jonathan. He had Jonathan. Four months of dating a man, Max
was still amazed at his daring. Jonathan wanted Max to move in with him, but
Max refused. He needed his space, some time to really collect himself, think,
and finally just be quiet inside. He had spent too many years hiding from
himself, not even knowing his own nature, hiding behind a tree. He had covered
up his isolation with women, lots of women. He was still unsure of his
relationship with Jonathan except that he felt a need for the man, a draw that
was undeniable, along with an unshakeable excitement. The problem was
Jonathan.
“Max?”
Max startled from his thoughts.
“Yeah,
Rhonda? What is it?”
“Dispatch
has a call for you. It’s urgent. Line three.” Max nodded down at his
phone. He hadn’t registered the ringing phone or the blinking light.
“Evans.”
Max suddenly went still, and then his entire body moved. “On my way!”
Max
took off in a run, already hitting his speed dial as he waited for the
elevator. “Rhonda, call dispatch. Tell them to roll extra support units, and
I want Forensics on the scene immediately. Call Simon, tell him to get his
butt there.”
Rhonda
nodded and then paused as Max
rushed in to the elevator. “Max, what scene? What is the location?”
Max
stuck his head out of the elevator. “Cap’s house. His car was bombed this
morning with Amy inside. We’ve got an officer down. Now
move!”
Rhonda
nodded her head immediately as she picked up the phone and started moving
Roswell’s finest to 101 W. Sycamore Street. Philips looked at his partner
Waters, and they were immediately up and heading for the scene. As their
elevator arrived, out exited Hanson and Courtney.
“Hey,
what’s the rush, boys? How about letting us get out with our guest?”
Courtney shoved them back as Hanson struggled to get a hardened criminal out
of the elevator. They weren’t booking him. He was just in for interrogation,
but the queer cross-dresser wasn’t too chipper about being rousted in a
middle of a john.
“We’ve
got an officer down!”
Courtney
reached out a hand noticing the empty desks of Evans and especially Guerin.
“Who?”
“Cap.”
Courtney
breathed a silent sigh of relief, but then realized what they were saying.
Captain Valenti was down. “What
happened?”
“Car
bomb this morning. His house.” They jumped on the elevator and pushed the
button before she could ask anything else. Courtney frowned. Valenti. That was
one step too close to the Commander.
“Hey,
Carl, can you take care of Princess Dick while I make a call?”
Hanson
smiled and nodded. Oh yeah! He’d been observing Guerin’s interrogation
techniques, and reading up on the process. His pleasure. Kicking the evil
cross-dresser with a off the rack rag down in a chair in interrogation room
three, Sam Hanson sneered at him.
“Sit
down and shut up!” he growled and then quickly changed paces, “You want a
glass of water or something to eat?”
Courtney
rolled her eyes. Once again, she was going to have to explain that Good Cop
and Bad Cop were actually two cops playing a role, and not one cop playing
both. Courtney shut the interrogation room door deciding to let Hanson confuse
the poor man into a confession.
“This
is Courtney. We’ve got a situation.”
~~~
“Don’t
you have to go to work?”
Michael
laughed. “Trying to get rid of me?”
Maria
appeared to be thinking about the situation, and then solemnly nodded.
“Absolutely, Detective. I can’t sneak out to do what I do all day if
you're hawking over me.” She played with the button on his shirt. “I know
that you’re taking too much time off for me.”
Michael
kissed her, and moved his hand up over her stomach. “For us. All of us.”
Michael reached down and kissed her stomach and he felt it. Damn. Her entire
stomach decided to shift under his mouth. “Twins? Maria, are you sure?”
“I
don’t know. I can’t explain it. I just know. It’s like this...awareness.
Just like I knew the moment I set eyes on you that you were an impregnator.”
Michael
laughed at that. If they were looking at twins, then yep, that he was!
“Okay, let’s have DocJim look at you. When is your next appointment?”
“I
refuse to let you pretend you don’t know.”
Michael
tried to look innocent, but failed and then just shrugged. Thursday. It was
Thursday. Two days away. She wasn’t supposed to be going every two weeks
until the twenty-eighth week, but because of the problems she had early in the
pregnancy, Maria went to bimonthly health checks. Michael was convinced DocJim
was going to change it to weekly. Maria hated feeling watched, prodded and
pampered to the point of being smothered. “I’ll move it to tomorrow.”
“Damn.”
Michael
stopped as he picked up the phone and looked at her. Curious reaction.
“What?”
Maria
just shrugged. “I’ve got that glucose tolerance test, and that stuff I’m
supposed to drink makes me sick to my stomach. The babies don’t like it.”
Michael
was about to make some soothing comment, but the phone under his hand rang.
“Yeah? Max, look...” Michael went still, and Maria frowned at his
reaction.
“I’m
on my way!” Michael slammed the phone down. Looking at Maria, he kissed her
quickly. “Maria, get dressed. Now.”
“Michael?”
She watched him roll out of their bed and rush down the stairs. He went
through the garden to the other glass door across the way. Banging hard, he
waited as Liz Parker came to the door confused, still in her dressing gown and
holding a cup of coffee.
“Michael?”
“Liz,
is Izzy home?”
“Yeah,
she’s in the shower. She has a morning class.” Michael’s jaw clenched.
“What is it? Maria? Is she...”
“Maria
is fine for now.” Michael rubbed his face. “I don’t have time to
explain. I need to go. Cap’s car was just blown up at his house this
morning.” Michael ignored Liz’s sound of distress. “Amy was inside.”
“Oh
God! Maria...”
“Doesn’t
know yet. Look. They took Amy and Cap to the hospital, and I would take Maria,
but I need to go to the scene first, before everything is gone. You
understand?”
Liz
nodded. Of course. Michael would want to see if he could get a flash before
too many hands picked over the remains. Whoever had targeted Jim would pay and
they would pay hard, because they had harmed Amy too. Family. They had hurt
Michael’s family.
“What
can I do?”
“Tell
Isabel and get dressed. I need the two of you to take Maria to the hospital
and stay with her. She needs to keep calm until I can come to her. You got
that?”
Liz
nodded as Michael took off to tell Maria the bad news. “Iz!”
When
Isabel and Liz entered the loft from the garden they came upon a wild scene as
Maria bolted past them, pacing around the room in a frenzy. She was crying and
highly agitated. Isabel cringed when a vase on the sideboard exploded. Michael
was watching her to make sure she didn't hurt herself. A terrified Mr. Boo had
taken refuge under the couch.
“Michael,
calm down!” Isabel couldn't believe her eyes.
“That
wasn’t me.” The three watched as Maria’s agitated state continued. The
pictures on the wall started to shake. “Maria! Maria, listen to me. You need
to calm down! Now. I can’t let you go to hospital in this condition.”
Michael tried to catch her around the center.
“Stop
me!” She grabbed her coat and headed for the door and her car. She had just
opened the door to the garage when it immediately slammed shut with Maria
still inside the loft. Standing there, shaking in fear, anger and rage, she
tried to take deep calming breaths. “Michael, open the fucking door!”
“Not
until you calm down and listen to me.” Michael moved behind her, his hands
coming around her center, resting on the babies, stroking them so they knew he
was there. The power in Maria seemed to drain, as the babies realized that
their mother was protected. “Isabel and Liz are going to drive you to the
hospital...”
“Why
not you?” Maria looked at him over her shoulder.
“I
would, Professor. I would. But I need to look at the scene first, just in case
I can pick up something about who did this. The longer I wait, the more the
area is contaminated.”
Maria
closed her eyes and tried to calm down. Turning, she leaned into Michael
feeling his arms coming up to hold her tight. She just nodded.
“I’ll
be there as soon as I can. I promise. I just need you to stay calm. I won’t
tell you not to worry, because I’m worried too. But if you get too agitated
the twins will think you're afraid and they’ll give you their power.”
Liz
and Isabel looked at each other in shock. Twins?
Maria
nodded. “I’ll be okay.”
Michael
kissed her forehead, and closing his eyes, he rubbed his face against hers.
“I love you. Just stay calm.” He registered what he had just said and
sighed, “Or at least try to stay calm.”
Maria
pulled away and motioned to Isabel and Liz for them to come with her. She
needed to go. Michael released the door, but before Maria could step through,
she turned and pulled him into a strong hug kissing him deeply.
“Michael,
when you find the person or persons who hurt our family...” she said softly
against him.
“Yeah?”
“Kill
them.” Maria released him and walked through the door with Liz and Isabel
following. Isabel looked back at him in compassion knowing it was killing
Michael not to be staying at Maria’s side.
Michael
face hardened and shut down. He watched the women get into Liz’s car and
drive away. Kill them? No problem there.
~~~
Michael
took his bike. He made the scene in record time with only a half dozen moving
violations along the way. He saw Kyle immediately in the distance. The man
looked haggard. His clothes were covered in soot. There were pieces of ripped
sheet metal everywhere.
Approaching
the scene slowly, and moving to the side, he came up on the opened area. It
was the blowout section. The bomb was designed to blow from the inside out,
and the force of impact wasn’t from the center of the car, but rather out
though the engine. Michael slowly circled inward.
“Michael…”
Simon paused when Michael held up his hand for quiet. Squatting down, next to
the wreckage he picked up a piece of debris.
“Incendiary
plastique. C-4 or higher. I’m smelling more than a sulfur base igniter.”
Michael said, smelling it and then putting his tongue to the residue.
“Model
plastique with a dual mix igniter.”
“Compounds?”
“Liquid.
They’re hoping to pick up residual effects from the remains. The components
were inert until mixed. Best I can tell the initial mixing occurred when Amy
first tried to start the car. The second time she provided the spark and was
pushed from the car by blowback. If Cap hadn’t opened the door, she
wouldn’t have made it.”
“That
still remains to be seen. I checked. She's still in surgery.” Michael stood
up and rubbed his face hard. “God! Maria...me and Maria, Sean, Kyle, Cap...dammit,
all of us. We can’t lose Amy.”