PYGMALION

 

by DocPaul

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two: When Apollo kneels to Athena…

 

Day Two: Wednesday, 2:30 am

 

Max sat back and rubbed his face. Everyone was taking turns going in to see Jim. Kyle and Tess stayed with him the longest. He had been in surgery for over twelve hours, and in recovery for almost three. His condition was stable, but he was still unconscious. They finally moved him to the Intensive Care Unit.

 

Jim’s left arm had almost been ripped from his body. Reaching the car, he had pulled the door open to get Amy out of the car, and as the door was opening the car blew. The door and Jim’s left arm almost parted company with Jim’s body as he was blown away from the car along with Amy, who was trying to get out of the car. His left rotator cuff had to be repaired and Orthopedic and Plastic Surgery immediately took him into the O.R. to save the blood supply and neuronal pathways to his arm. He was looking at numerous other reconstructive surgeries along with rehabilitation.

 

Amy was a different story. She had been in surgery for over six hours and during the two hours she was in recovery they almost lost her. Her heart stopped beating as her pressure dropped. They revived her long enough to take her back into surgery to find more internal bleeding. A large piece of shrapnel from the car was lodged close to her spine in the lumbar region. They called for a specialist and did what they could to stabilize her. After another three hours of surgery, Amy was finally in stable condition in the recovery room. At long last the specialist arrived, and for the past seven hours they had been waiting to find out if she would ever walk again.

 

“What time is it?” Michael softly asked, trying not to wake Maria.

 

“After two. It’s late.”

 

Michael nodded and picked up his cold cup of coffee. Drinking some, he grimaced. It was black and dark. Not the worst, but not the best either.

 

“You should take her home, Michael.”

 

“I know. You tell me how to convince her to leave.”

 

There was no way either Maria or Sean was moving from the hospital until they saw Amy. Michael reached down to pull the blanket over Maria, trying to keep her warm. He needed to feed her again. Her skin was cold to the touch and the twins had been quiet since he arrived.

 

“She looks tired. Too tired.”

 

Michael leaned back and closed his eyes. “I know. It’s getting worse. I’m thinking of taking a leave of absence from work and taking Maria to Florida to her family until the babies are born.”

 

“Babies?” Max actually woke up to that. “As in more than one?”

 

“That's usually what plurals mean, Maxwell.”

 

Max actually smiled at that. “Twins, or are there more than that?”

 

“Not sure. Maria thinks twins. I was getting her an earlier appointment when the call came about Amy and Jim. Guess the Thursday appointment stands.”

 

Max was silent for a moment. Aliens. They were aliens and they didn’t even know what that meant. Not for them. Not for their children or the humans they chose to love. In the past four months, Michael was the closemouthed one. Unwilling to talk or discuss what it meant, he kept everything inside and tended to close down when Max and the others tried to talk to him about it.

 

“Maria is getting stronger.” Michael looked over at Max and his face went blank. Dammit. Max ignored Michael’s usual stony-faced regard and continued, “She’s stronger than any of us. Even Tess.”

 

“Maxwell...” Michael warned.

 

“Hiding. Ignoring. Denial. None of it is helping, Michael.”

 

“I’m Mikey’s son. That’s all I know. All I understand. All I want. I don’t want this.”

 

“Why? Because it's scary, uncertain and unknown? Or because of Maria?” Max asked gently. “Not wanting it doesn’t change the fact that this is what we are.”

 

“I know that. You think I don’t know that?” Michael lowered his voice as Maria moved in her sleep. “Do you…can you even imagine what it’s like for me? Knowing...knowing that she’s dying because of me? That being pregnant with my children is killing her? Whatever is in us…whatever makes Tess’s pregnancy a cakewalk and Maria’s a living nightmare is because of me?”

 

“Michael…”

 

Michael feathered his fingers through Maria’s hair. “I can’t…”

 

Michael stopped talking. He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t talk about it. Ever since that day over four months ago he couldn’t talk about it. Not to anyone. Maria understood, but she didn’t ask him or force him to talk. She was having her own problems.

 

“You’re coping. You both are.”

 

“We’re losing. We both know it. Everyday we struggle, hoping to make it to over seven months so the babies can survive on their own. We’re trying to make it to thirty-two weeks, but at this point…we’ll be lucky to make twenty-eight. And now this! I don’t know, Maxwell. I don’t think I can handle this too.”

Max looked at his best friend and the man who felt like a brother to him and shook his head. “You will make it. Not because you have to, but because I’m ordering you to make it. I don’t care what you have to do, Michael. Just do it.”

 

Michael looked at Max and slow smiled moved across his face. “Okay.”

 

Both men laughed, but just as suddenly they both stopped. Uneasy. It was strange how natural that felt. Michael’s hand rested on Maria’s stomach and he gently rubbed.

 

“They are getting stronger.” He said quietly.

 

“They’re more powerful than any of us. How can that be?”

 

Michael shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s the problem. I’ve spent four months just wanting it not to be true, but every time she gets upset…really upset...things happen.”

 

“They’re protecting her.”

 

Michael nodded. “It seems like it. They can’t understand what she’s feeling, but they seem to understand her fear and anxiety. It upsets them.”

 

“They feel you too.” Max didn’t want to tell Michael how much that upset him. His son. His and Tess’s, and now Kyle’s too, didn’t have that degree of a connection with him. It felt unfair that Michael’s children reached out to him, needed him more. It felt like being unnecessary.

 

“They feel me. I think it’s the blood…maybe more. They seem to know that whatever is lacking in Maria to support them, they can find in me. From almost the beginning I felt them, and could sense they felt me.”

 

Envy. It was eating a hole in Max. He needed that same feeling. Wanted it. It wasn’t Tess’s or even Kyle’s fault. They had made him a part of their family, an equal partner in their lives and in all things revolving around the baby. Already they had decided that Kyle’s authority was supreme in all things in the house he shared with Tess, but Max would always be the father and when he had the baby, he made the decisions. All major decisions would be made by the three together, and Kyle and Tess would never move away from Max, making it hard for him to see his son. It was more than most men in his situation would’ve been granted.

 

Max was worried that his past with Tess would be a point of strain in his relationship with Kyle, but it surprisingly brought them closer together in friendship. Together they tag teamed Tess’s pregnancy and literally drove her nuts. Michael was his best friend, but there were so many places in Michael that Max couldn’t understand or even touch. Kyle was different. He was open and willing to share things with Max in ways that Michael wasn’t. This made it easier for him to never feel left out about the birth of his own child, and it was like having a partner in crime with Kyle at his side.

 

“Why do you think Maria's power is so much stronger than ours? Tess is pretty powerful and has more control than the rest of us, but Maria is steps above us.”

 

“I never figured it out until today. Twins. Two of them. They must be more powerful together. It would be like our normal powers magnified. They do seem to be governed by instinct, whereas we have to push every step of the way. Maria doesn’t usually seem to be aware that the power surges are happening until it’s too late. Tess isn’t showing any increase in power from your son. I think that's because Tess has her own power that she can control, and she can channel it when she's upset so she’s doesn’t need help from the baby.”

 

“Maria is different.”

 

Michael nodded and looked down at his sleeping mate. Yes. She certainly was different. “Not a distinction she really appreciates.”

 

Max suddenly stood up as a doctor approached them. Posner. The specialist.

 

“DeLuca-Valenti?”

 

Michael gently stood up, dislodging Maria’s head carefully from his lap. Sean, who had been quietly staring out a window across the room, left a sleeping Julia to join them. Kyle and Tess were still with Jim, and Isabel and Liz had left to go home and check on Mr. B and pick up clean clothes for everyone.

 

“Amy?” Michael asked.

 

“She’s in recovery for the next few hours. If her vitals remain stable we’ll transfer her to the Intensive Care Unit.” Posner stretched a little to relieve the stress in his back from a long surgery. “Prognosis is good. The shrapnel was removed. It was a little tricky. I might have left it in place if it had been any closer, but it was safe enough to remove. Actually I needed to remove it. It was compromising the blood supply and nerves to the lower back. She could’ve been paralyzed. She may still have some loss of mobility and sensation, but all tests currently are showing good reflex responses. We’ll know more in the next twenty-four hours. We need the swelling to decrease before we can determine  the full extent of damage.”

 

Michael sighed his relief. “Anything else?”

 

“Broken leg. And her hip was strained. The broken bone will be set tomorrow. They stabilized it with a temporary, but Orthopedics will come in the morning to x-ray and recast the leg. She has a concussion and some contusions. A few needed stitching, but all in all, she was extremely lucky to have survived.”

 

The doctor talked for a few more minutes and then excused himself. Sean, who remained quiet the entire time suddenly looked too tired to stand. Kneeling next to the sleeping Maria, he put his hand on her face.

 

“Sean?” Michael said softly.

 

“I’m okay.” Sean wiped away the moisture from his eyes. Dammit. “I just been sitting here all night…all day wondering how Maria would survive if…” Sean stood up and bent down to leave a kiss on his cousin’s forehead. “Amy…she seems a little whacked at times, but she’s the glue that holds us together. She always has been. Maria needs her. I need her.”

 

“We all do.” Michael looked at Max, who nodded. “They said two of us could go in to see her at a time. Maria is sleeping. Why don’t we go check on Amy before waking Maria up?”

 

Sean nodded, and Max stood close to Maria while Michael went with Sean. Both men stood at the doorway looking into the large recovery room. Amy was in the second bed. All the others were empty. Michael cussed under his breath, but Sean was a little more vocal.

 

“Son-of-bitch, I’m going to kill somebody.”

 

Michael didn’t say anything to calm the man down. He agreed with him. Someone needed to die.

 

Amy Deluca-Valenti wasn’t a large woman by any imagination. The figure in the bed looked too small for words. Smaller than the woman that she was. Amy was a giant among her family, and seeing her so quiet was more painful than any bleeding wound.

 

“I can’t let Maria see her like this.” Michael said in a hushed tone to Sean who nodded in agreement. Maria was already living on a very sharp edge of control with her emotions. This would be too much stress.

 

“I know. Oh god!” Sean went to stand at Amy’s side. His hand reached for her, but hesitated. She looked so tiny and wounded, and somehow touching her felt like it would cause pain. Kneeling next to the bed, he slid his hand beneath hers and bowed his head to rest it against hers.

 

Michael looked up, swallowing hard. There was so little he could do. No choices. Maria needed to see Amy to reassure herself that her mother was still with them, but…

 

It was the movement of Amy’s hand in Sean’s hair that alerted them to the fact that she was awake. Her eyes met Michael’s and he went to stand next to Sean. Amy blinked owlishly trying to focus her sight. Her boys. Kyle? Jim? They watched as her eyes opened in fright.

 

“He’s okay. Jim’s okay. Kyle and Tess are with him now.” Michael said softly, afraid to talk too loud.

 

“Maria?” Amy’s voice was so low both Michael and Sean leaned forward to hear her voice. It croaked out in a soft sigh almost.

 

“She’s…” Michael never finished.

 

“Here.” Both Michael and Sean turned to see Maria standing in the doorway.

 

~~~

 

“Don’t be mad at him.” Amy said quietly. “He’s afraid too.”

 

“I know.” Maria picked up Amy’s hand and her eyes flooded with tears. “Look at you. Look at what they did.” Maria’s hand moved softly and lightly over Amy’s.

 

“You listen to me.” Amy’s voice became stronger. “Maria. Listen.” Maria looked up from where she was staring to look at her mother. “I’ve lived through worse. You know that. But I’m going to be a grandmother soon, and I can’t live through you losing the baby.”

 

“Babies.”

 

It didn’t register at first, but Amy started to smile until it hurt too much to even do that. “Babies?”

 

Maria nodded. “I’m not sure, but I think so.”

 

Amy’s eyes became moist as she looked at her tired child. “All the more to love. Does Michael know?”

 

“I’m surprised he didn’t know first. He has a way about him.”

 

“He does. A good son. A good man. He’ll make the best of fathers. You need to help him. This isn’t easy for him. He’s on the verge of breaking, and I need you to walk away from me, from the hospital, and go home and get some rest.”

 

“Mom…”

 

“Maria. Please. For me. For Michael. And most importantly, for my grandchildren.” Maria held her mother’s hand. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here tomorrow, the next day, and so many days after that you’ll have to start hiding from me again.”

 

“I never hide.”

 

“Liar.”

 

Maria laughed softly. “I cagily elude when the need arises.” Maria stood up and kissed her mom on the forehead. “I’ll get Sean, but I’m not leaving until you’re asleep.”

 

“Deal. Guess I can’t find a way to convince Sean that this was just a bad dream, huh?”

 

“Sorry. Don’t think so.” Maria went to find Sean and found Michael in the doorway leading out of the recovery room. She patted him softly on the stomach as she went to find her cousin.

 

“Thank you.” Michael said in a heartfelt voice to the woman in the bed. Amy just nodded.

 

Amy lifted her hand for Michael to come to her. “She’s getting weaker.”

 

“I know.” Michael took Maria’s seat. “I’m failing, Amy.”

 

Almost to tired to talk, Amy reached up and stroked his cheek gently.  “No, you’re not. This isn’t your fault, honey. None of it is,” she said softly.

 

“Stop that. I’m supposed to be taking care of you.” Amy just laughed softly. “They’re both a mess. Maria almost melted down the entire hospital.”

 

“Sean?” Amy actually held her breath worrying about her impulsive nephew.

 

Michael just shook his head. Sean was…Sean. “He can’t stand the thought of losing you. I’ll keep a close eye.”

 

Amy stroked Michael’s cheek again. “And you?”

 

Michael didn’t say anything, but the two of them shared a look that said more than words. Amy was the closest thing he had ever had to a mother. Losing her would have been as bad as losing Mikey. Maybe worse. There was something about being a cop. An understanding that dying in the line of duty was always a possibility. It was part of the risk and the package, but not Amy. She was collateral damage.

 

Michael followed Amy’s eyes and saw her looking at Sean standing behind his shoulder. Leaving them, he quickly kissed Amy’s forehead and went to find Maria. Looking back, he saw Sean’s head fall against Amy as her hand came up to stroke the back of his neck.

 

Michael found Maria standing at a window looking out in the night and rubbing the small of her back. Coming behind her, he pulled her back against him and took over rubbing her back. Turning in his arms, she buried her head against him, wrapping her arms around him and then cried.

 

He could still remember a time when she wouldn’t shed a tear, seeing it as a weakness, a symbol of surrendering. Holding her, he could feel the wave of pain wracking her body, and for the first time since the call came, he let himself feel it too.

 

~~~

 

“Maria, you ready?”

 

“No. Michael, where is Mr. Booboo?”

 

“He went out earlier. I think he went to find you a nice juicy mouse or bird.”

 

“Great. That’s what I need. More headless poultry.”

 

Michael was flipping through the mail. “It's his way of trying to help you. You hungry?”

 

“Starving.” Maria looked at the clock. It was after one in the afternoon. They had left the hospital early in the morning after Amy went back to sleep. Sean refused to leave, but Julia went home to check on her cat, Miss Fluffy. Michael watched as fleeting emotions ran across Sean’s face. He was torn between letting Julia out of his sight, and staying with Amy and Jim. Maria solved the problem by having Michael take Julia home and check out her house before they left her.

 

They were heading back to the hospital after waking up from a good eight hours of hard sleep. Michael had woken first, and seeing the time, he frowned at the sleeping woman next to him. She was sleeping too deeply. Her forehead was furled almost as if she was concentrating on nothing but sleep. It was a look he had seen before. That look still had the ability to scare him sick with grief. She was beginning to succumb to the tiredness plaguing her.

 

Sex. A good solution for waking her, but somehow with both Amy and Jim in the hospital it felt wrong. Their schedule was anywhere from three to four hours for feeding. Maria quoted him a statistic that lions in mating season mated every twenty-five minutes for three days, non-stop. They weren’t up to that, but then again nine months was a long haul in itself.

 

Maria took care of his indecision. Without opening her eyes, she reached for him and pulled him close biting him hard on the side of his neck, drawing blood. Sucking for a moment, she pulled back and opened tired eyes with a drop of his blood still on her mouth. Never losing eye contact, she licked the rouge blood away, watching his eyes narrow and darken. It never took much to start it up again. Three times in the hospital the day before, and once when they got home.

 

Sex was the one constant thing in their lives, that and the feeding. It had held Maria stable for a while, but over the last month she was losing ground and sex was starting to hold a tinge of desperation.

 

Maria was slowly losing the battle to an increasing weakening as the babies grew, demanding more and more of her energy reserves. Michael had lost over fifteen pounds since the babies were conceived, and Maria was too thin for her condition, a growing concern for DocJim. Keeping the Maria and the babies alive was taking everything Michael could spare in energy and blood. He could barely eat enough or rest enough to keep up.

 

“I’m going to take a leave of absence from work.”

 

Maria stopped contemplating food long enough to look over at Michael, still flipping through the mail. His matter of fact announcement hit her hard.

 

“Why?” Holding her breath she waited for it to begin.

 

“Maria…”

 

“Because of me and the babies?”

 

Michael just shrugged. With Amy and Jim hurt, Maria upset, and the increasing battle to just survive one more day until the babies were safe, it was the only possible solution. It was only fair. He had forced her to stop working over two months ago, and she was taking a leave of absence from the University for an entire year. She would not return to work until the following Fall semester. Though Maria was keeping herself busy with writing articles and working on her research while occasionally checking in at the museum, she was still taking time off for their children.

 

“Don’t.”

 

“Maria…”

 

“Don’t. I’ll be fine. The babies will be fine.” Maria gave up the fantasy of eating an entire turkey and walked over to him, taking the mail from his hands. “Someone almost killed my mother and Jim. Almost. I need you to find that person before they try again. I need that more than I need you to stay home and watch me get fat.”

 

Fat? Michael circled her waist with his hands. She had a nice pregnant stomach, but everything else about her was too thin. “You’re hardly fat by any imagination. Now Tess is fat.”

 

Maria hit him hard in the gut, ignoring his ‘oomph’. “Don’t you say that to Tess, mister.” Maria ignored the tinge of jealousy she felt at Tess’s hardier pregnancy, the healthy glow, and even her excitement. She and Michael were missing out on that. They were too afraid to start building a nursery in case…just in case something went wrong. Maria had seen the nurseries that Max, Kyle and Tess were putting together, and her heart ached.

 

“I’ll still work on that, but damn, she getting so…”

 

Maria kissed him to shut him up and went to grab her bag. “Who's in charge now that Jim is out of commission?”

 

“They’ll assign a temporary Captain.”

 

“Michael, who’ll be in charge regardless?” Liar.

 

“Me, I suppose. I’m senior detective.” Michael frowned at the thought. He hated the whole idea. He could lead, do a job and fight a campaign, but sitting back and ordering without action wasn’t part of his makeup.

 

“Good, then that is where you need to be right now.”

 

“Where I need to be is here with you.” Michael said simply, holding the door to the garage open for her. “It’s where I belong.”

 

“Oh, you’ll be here, Detective. Just try to get away. But this feels…it feels wrong.”

 

Michael stopped and looked at her. “You sensing something, Professor?”

 

Maria absentmindedly rubbed her stomach. “Yeah, I feel something. Best I can say is ‘Something wicked this way comes.’ You think this is over?”

 

“It’s barely begun.”

 

~~~

 

“They’re going to want to replace me with someone in the Department. It’s too sudden for them to make arrangements outside the city. Last time they brought in someone from Las Cruces when I went on my honeymoon. This time they need someone in quick.”

 

Sean sat on the window sill and he looked over at Michael leaned up against the wall. Both Kyle and Max were seated in chairs in the room. The four men listened to Jim as he outlined what he wanted done. Sean just looked outside and watched people leaving and entering the building.

 

“They'll expect chaos and division within the ranks.” Jim winced as his arm began to throb. He refused his last pain meds so he could have a clear mind. They had taken him to see Amy earlier, but she was still asleep. They were both in the same ICU, but her room was across the floor. Too far away. “Michael, you know what has to be done. All of you do. I expect you to do it regardless of who they assign…whatever it takes. Max,” Jim waited until Max looked up from where he sat staring at the ground. “Michael is in charge of the field, but you are in charge of the entire unit. I want you to direct all the teams. Make your primaries Guerin, DeLuca and Valenti. Hanson and Courtney can cover the foot units. Waters and Philips mobile patrol. Reassign all others to cover all other areas, but use discretion.”

 

“Why me?” Max was confused. Michael should have been assigned the entire unit. He held seniority and had the better record, not to mention more experience. Looking at his partner, he noticed that neither he nor Sean and Kyle made eye contact. They were leaving it to Jim to assign them. They would follow without question.

 

“Michael has his job, as do the others. They’ll do it as they’re assigned, but this is your job. You keep my department in order. Keep them working and the streets clean. Assign them as you see fit, but keep your enforcer arms close. Is that clear?”

 

“Aye, Cap.” Max rubbed the back of his neck. Enforcer arm. He looked at both Michael and Sean, and surprisingly Kyle as well.

 

Michael glanced over at Sean, sharing a look. That would be them and Kyle. Sean just smirked and searched for a cigarette, ignoring Michael’s narrowing eyes and scowl. They had a pact. Sean was trying to stop smoking and Michael was attempting to clean up his language before the baby…babies...came. Both were ongoing battles of futility.

 

“Get going. I’m not dead yet, so I don’t need healthy young men hawking over me like I’m on death’s door. What I do need is to know who hurt my wife, and I expect the four of you to find the answer to that question.” Jim shifted uncomfortably in his bed. “Now go.” Jim watched the four slowly filed out of the room. “Michael, stay for a moment.”

 

Michael nodded at the others and waited until they left waiting patiently for Jim to talk.

 

“Max. You think he’s ready?” Jim asked quietly.

 

Michael seemed to think about it for a moment. “He’s born to it. For Max, it’s never been easy. He spent his young life with strong parents who made his life easy and safe, as did we all. But they grounded him, gave him confidence and ambition. After they died his only ambition was to never see that happen to other people, and he put away his books and became a cop. But in all other areas of his life he was drowning, uncertain and indecisive.”

 

“I thought he was becoming more assertive.”

 

Michael nodded. “He is. Jonathan pushes him, and Max is learning that he can push back or not be pushed. It’s there. He just needs to trust in himself.”

 

“Maybe I’m pushing him sooner than he’s ready for…”

 

“No.” Michael looked out the glass at his partner. “No. He’s more ready than he realizes. Life builds winners and losers, and the full mettle of a man is determined by the gauntlets he runs. Sometimes the losses are more character building than the wins, and Max has lost many along the way. It made him strong without him realizing it.” Michael looked at his Captain. “One thing I know to be true. Max is stronger than most men, and maybe the strongest of all of us. He’ll make the hard decisions regardless of the cost, and he’ll do it for the right reasons. I’d trust him with my life, and have. There’s not a man I trust and respect more than him.”

 

“Good. I trust you to watch over him.” Michael nodded recognizing his dismissal. “Michael,” Jim said quietly. “When the time comes, I expect you to take care of this.”

 

“It’ll be done, don’t worry, Cap. The question will be who will finish it. I have a feeling that Kyle and Sean will be there fighting for the privilege.”

 

“As long as we understand each other.”

 

Michael nodded and left the room. On that one point, all of them were in agreement. No mercy.

 

~~~

 

Michael looked at his watch and frowned. He and Max had left the hospital over three hours ago to check in at the Department. They were both still effectively on family leave, but things needed to be done. It was the itching between his shoulders, almost as if he were being watched, that bothered him the most. He had left Maria with Amy and Jim, but suddenly he was uncomfortable having her so far away.

 

“I’m switching Maria’s Lamaze nights back to Tuesday and Thursday.”

 

Max laughed. “I thought the instructor moved the two of you to Monday and Wednesday to break us up.”

 

Michael just made a face. The group of them in Lamaze had been a heralding experience for the instructor. Somehow having three expectant fathers all carrying guns and being ‘just a little’ over-protective and competitive sort of disrupted the class. The team of Valenti-Evans was racing the team of Guerin-DeLuca in concentrative deep breathing, so much so that the two pregnant women both turned red from the coaching and effort. The water incident had nothing to do with him, but Michael was resigned to take the blame. Typical.

 

“I don’t care. I’m switching us back to the same night. Maria is a little emotional lately and with this whole incident with Amy and Jim, she needs people around her that makes her feel safe and calm.”

 

“Calm? Dammit, Michael, how calm can the woman be with your enforced commando tactics in place?”

 

“Hey, we were doing fine until you and Kyle stepped up the competition. The Professor and I were doing just fine.”

 

“There was no need to shoot the water…”

 

“That wasn’t my fault! Dammit, pull over. I’m going to drive.”

 

Max just ignored his partner and kept driving, undaunted. Boorish prig.

 

“Maxwell…”

 

“You can’t drive and you know it. The Department pulled your insurance, so don’t bitch at me. I told you that using your car to detain a suspect was a bad idea.”

 

“I just cornered him. He was fine!”

 

“Uh huh. Until you have insurance again…no on-duty driving.”

 

Michael just cussed, and Max looked at him sharply. “Pass it over, partner.”

 

“Dammit!” Michael quickly shut his mouth realizing he cussed again. Sighing he reached into an upper pocket and pulled out a candy bar from his stash. The quest of kicking his habit of colorful phrases was an ongoing one, forever increasing in futility. He had tried paying money. He had tried having to forfeit things he liked to do. It was decided that he had too much ready cash and no real care about whether he had it or not to make it effective. But food. His junk food and snacks was something he couldn’t live without.

 

Max ignored Michael’s under breath cussing and calmly ate the candy bar. He was going to gain thirty pounds before Michael stopped cussing…well, stopped trying to stop cussing. Some things never changed.

 

“That was my last Fifth Avenue.”

 

“Tasty.” Max said cruelly making great show of enjoyment for the bar.

 

“Aw! There’s a Whataburger. Pull over. I need food.”

 

Max was on the verge of protesting, but Michael was really getting too thin and most of the food energy went to Maria and the twins. Max tried to avoid looking at Michael as he polished off four large cheeseburgers, two large orders of fries, and an extra thick milkshake. Stealing a glance at his partner he made a face as the man dipped his fries into the thick milk concoction humming happily under his breath. An in-between meal snack. More calories and fats than most people ate in a day, and because of Michael and Maria’s food fetish and Michael’s trying to clean up his language before the babies arrived, Max was sporting an extra twelve pounds he never had before.

 

“So when is Jonathan going to descend on us?”

 

Max looked over and turned his attention back to the road. “Tonight. He’s taking the late evening flight back. I told him he could wait until Friday, but he was concerned.”

 

“Amy and Jim have nothing to do with him.”

 

“He cares, Michael, so give him a break.”

 

Michael just shrugged. He still didn’t like Jonathan. He couldn’t help it. His attentions to both Maria and Max bothered him. Always had, and more than likely always would. Jonathan was nothing if not courteous, but he still bugged Michael.

 

“He didn’t have to cut short his business trip.”

 

“Yes, he did. He felt he did, so just do me a favor and take it for what it is. His concern.”

 

“Fine.” Michael sucked on his shake and looked at his partner. Four months. His partner had been dating a man for four months. It still shocked him at some level, but at another level Jonathan was something Max seemed to need in his life. A stabilizing effect.

 

“He was worried about Maria and the babies.”

 

Michael just swore. “I might not like him much, but I do know he’d protect her. I just don’t know why.”

 

Max just shrugged. “Maybe he loves her too? They were friends for a long time before you showed up. He protected her back then, and he still does,” Max said casually, not hinting how much Jonathan’s regard and care of Maria bothered him. It wasn’t jealousy, not in a classical sense, but suddenly like Michael, he was feeling that Maria was the perfect choice for Jonathan. It was hard feeling that way, especially since neither Maria nor Jonathan did.

 

~~~

 

“You going to eat all that?”

 

Kyle looked at his partner and down at his donut. Handing him half, he grimaced at the taste of the cold coffee. It was impossible, or it should’ve been, that the hospital coffee was worse than the Department's. Of course nothing touched the Anthropology Department’s coffee at the University.

 

“How long is this going to take?”

 

Sean searched his clothes for his usual imaginary cigarette and just shrugged. The orthopedic surgeon was in Jim’s room and Amy was in with them in a wheelchair. She was recovering, but it would take time. She had awakened that morning in pain, and refused all pain medicine until she saw her husband, so the doctors finally agreed to let her visit him. Maria came early, but Michael forced her to go home and nap when he and Max made a trip to the Department.

 

“Sean, how long…?”

 

“I don’t know Kyle. They’re checking his arm. The nurse said that the damage was extensive, but at least he still has an arm.”

 

Kyle nodded and suddenly wanted that imaginary cigarette that Sean seemed to carry in his mind just as much. Kaleidoscope. Their lives were like a moving pattern of order, disorder, and ever rearranging chaos to order. Michael was the most silent. His anger rolled off of him in waves, and the angrier he got, the quieter he got.

 

They waited for what felt like hours, but finally the doctors left the room. Stopping to converse with Kyle, Sean listened as the doctor outlined a long rehab program for Jim. The best they could determine was that he would retain his arm, but that he lost some use of it. Only time would tell. Quietly they stood in the doorway as Amy sat in her chair gazing at her husband.

 

“It doesn’t matter.”

 

“It does to me!” Jim hissed angrily. Seeing her face, his voice softened. “It does to me. I can’t hold you tight, make you feel safe, and god help me, I let this in our lives.”

 

“No, you didn’t. I knew the risks. I lived with them for years. You think I was more protected as your fiancée for six years? I lived in your life. I slept in your bed. I rearranged your damn closet, Jim Valenti! Nothing changed except a piece of paper and my name. Nothing changed. I loved you then, and I love you now.”

 

“I might never be able to use my left arm again, Amy. I’m crippled.”

 

“In your damn brain!” Amy ignored his look. “You look like my husband to me. Whole. Strong. Beautiful. The man I married. If this is all you can see, then I’m sorry. I’m sorry you sacrificed your damn arm for me. You should’ve let me die in that damn car…then you’d at least have your arm.”

 

Jim tried to sit up in bed as Amy tried to move her wheelchair. But her cast on the right leg was too bulky and her one hand was wrapped in a straining brace that extended upward to her shoulder for stabilization.

 

“Dammit, Sean. Get me out of here!”

 

“Amy, honey, don’t go.”

 

“I’ve got nothing more to say to you, Jim Valenti! You’re a horse’s ass! Do I look like I want to talk to a horse’s ass? No.” Amy gave up in frustration and looked at her nephew in pleading. “Sean...”

 

Sean went behind the chair and gave Jim a look of sympathy, leaving Kyle to take care of the man.

 

“Amy, I didn’t mean it that way! I…of course I don’t mind…um, I mean, no sacrifice would be too great.” Kyle quickly shook his head no at the word ‘sacrifice’ but it already left Jim’s mouth, and Amy heard. Her eyes filled with tears, and Sean quickly took her from the room. “Amy, honey?”

 

“Dad. Leave it, please?”

 

“But…”

 

“She’s not going to take this well. You know that. The very idea of you hurt, possibly maimed because of trying to save her, it’s too much right now. And the thought that you regret it is hitting her hard.”

 

“I don’t regret it. I just regret all the times I won’t be able to hold her in the future, being less of the man…”

 

“She married?” Kyle asked quietly. “Maybe all she sees is the man who risked his own life to save her. A man that she trusts and believes in regardless of how many hands he has, or how strong his arm is. Maybe all she sees is the man she loves who for a short span of time she was afraid was lost to her forever.”

 

Jim was thoughtfully listening to his son. His son. More a man than he was. “I remember when your mother left. You were so small then, so young. It was just you and me. I was devastated, and I had to leave you in that dreadful daycare so I could go to work. You never complained. One day I came to pick you up and you gave me a picture you drew. It was me in my cop uniform with a cape with the words ‘My Dad’ under it. I asked you what the cape was for and you told me that all superheroes needed them.” Kyle smiled at the memory. “I never wanted to ever do anything that would make you stop looking at me that way.”

 

“You never have.”

 

Jim laughed. “Liar. Get me a damn wheelchair.” Kyle looked at his arm in traction and… “Just get me the damn chair or I’m walking.”

 

“Maybe you should let her calm down, and…”

 

“Kyle,” Jim warned.

 

“Fine.”

 

Amy was back in her bed, crying, by the time they got to her room. Sean was sitting on the edge of her bed talking quietly. He turned when Kyle and Jim entered the room, his eyes flashing in anger. Jim, for the first time, saw the blood of Sean's ancestors running in his veins, the deep impact of his ire as he protected his family. Squaring his shoulders, or shoulder, Jim met it face on. Amy was his family too, dammit.

 

“Leave us.” Sean stood to protest, but Jim remained firm. “Now.” Kyle and Sean shared a look, and after a kiss to Amy’s brow, Sean followed Kyle out. The last words they heard were from Jim talking to Amy.

 

“I love you. There is no sacrifice too great, because if I lost you, I wouldn’t even want to live.”

 

Sean closed the door and looked at Kyle. “He’s good.”

 

“Yeah, where do you think I get it?”

 

Sean just snorted. “I should write it down so I can remember it.”

 

“You should. It’s got to be better than your standard, ‘Baby, make me your bitch!’ line.”

 

“Hey! That one works too!”

 

~~~

 

“Hey, Blondie. Time to go home.” Michael said from the doorway. He had taken her home three times that day, but every time he turned his back she was back at the hospital.

 

“I want to stay, and…”