Chapter One

"Tasted the sugar and it was sweet," Rath threw back his head and laughed.

Michael stared at him, confused. Why was he here and was he alone? "What are you doing here?"

"Came to play, Mikey." Rath grinned. "Already been playing, if you know what I mean."

"Did you kill that man on the highway?"

"Does it matter?" Rath watched as Michael unsnapped the holster on his waist. "Gonna shoot me?"

Before Michael could react, he doubled over. He had been sucker punched. He caught his breath and looked up, Rath was gone.

"Damn it!" He looked around. Nothing. He walked back to his cruiser and kicked the wheel. "Fuck!" He got back in and whacked the steering wheel with his palm. He had to talk to Max; he had to tell him who was in town. Were the others with Rath, too?

Fumbling in the glove compartment, he found the cellular phone and dialed his house. Isabel answered, he could hear the television and laughter in the background. "Happy New Year! Guerin and DeLuca residence, how may I direct your call?"

"Please tell me you don’t always answer the phone that way," Michael shook his head. "Max there?"

"Please hold, I will transfer you." Michael heard more laughter and then the phone being handed off.

"Michael?" Max was laughing.

"Rath. Rath’s in town."

"Are you sure?" Max hushed the noise in back of him.

"Face to face. Punched me in the gut and ran away." Michael shook his head, disgusted with himself.

"He alone?"

"I don’t know. I didn’t see anyone else. I’m over by the strip, I’m going to drive around here a little more and see if he turns up again. How is everything there? Maria?"

"She’s in the bedroom still, with Liz. She ate and she played with Leia for awhile, but she didn’t want to come out with everyone else."

"Damn it!" Michael slapped the dashboard. "Will this ever end?"

"We’ll end it, Michael. Don’t worry." Max disconnected.

Michael drove around until the end of his shift, it was almost three in the morning. He got in the Tempo and drove home, surprised to find all the lights on and cars still there. He was greeted with a drink in his hand at the door, noisemakers and streamers.

"Happy New Year!" Isabel kissed his cheek then brushed by him to go outside to smoke.

"Wow," he looked around for Maria, his smile instantly deflating when he didn’t see her. "Wow. Thanks."

"It’s the start of a New Year, Michael," Liz hugged him. "Maria will be okay, she’s strong. She’s a fighter. Whatever has her, she’ll fight it. She’ll kick its ass and tell it off while she’s doing it."

"Do you really believe that?"

"I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t." Liz hugged him again. "She’s my best friend, like a sister to me. I’ll do whatever it takes to help her through this."

"I just want her back," Michael heard his voice crack and cleared his throat.

"You’ll get her back. We’ll all get her back."

* * * * * *

"Why isn’t Maria here?" Amy DeLuca looked at Michael and Liz. "This is her room."

"She’s not feeling good. I think it’s the flu or something," Michael lied and felt guilty about it.

"Well, then I don’t think she should be taking care of Leia. You don’t want her to get sick, too, do you?"

"Isabel’s watching her." Liz volunteered sensing the paranoia bouncing off Michael.

"Well," Amy put her hands on her hips and looked over her shoulder at Sean. "Well, did I get an answer from you yet?"

"Answer?" Sean looked at her curiously. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you staying here or are you moving? You haven’t given me an answer either way. I don’t care if you stay, you’re more than welcome to."

"I want to stay," Sean looked embarrassed. "I kind of enrolled at the JC for next semester."

"Really?" Liz leaned closer hoping the shock wasn’t totally obvious.

"Yeah, really." Sean shook his head. "You didn’t think I was going to spend the rest of my life in the bowling alley, did you?"

"What're you taking?"

"Computer stuff." His face flushed. He shrugged and walked back into the kitchen.

"Wow." Liz looked after him. "Anyway, I guess we can start?" She looked to Amy.

"Sure, go ahead." She waved her hand at them and followed Sean to the kitchen.

"That went well," Michael commented as they reached the room, both of them loaded down with boxes and bags.

Liz agreed and went to work. Maria had managed to bring most of things with her to Michael’s, but left what she had deemed unimportant or that she’d never use again. Liz and Michael both knew better, Maria didn’t like to get rid of anything. If one thing had been thrown away, she’d have freaked. It wasn’t as bad as they had expected and were done with the job in less than two hours. Michael convinced Sean to help him carry the boxes to the car.

"Okay, Ms. DeLuca." Liz stood in front of her. "We’re done."

"Great. Jim and Kyle are moving in the day after tomorrow." She said absently, looking around the room. "Okay, tell Maria to call me and let me know how she’s feeling. I’m still watching Leia tomorrow night, right?"

"Yeah, I have to work." Michael took a deep breath. Him and Liz walked out of the house together and exhaled loudly when they were safely in the confines of the Tempo. "I hate lying to her. She finally trusts me and I lie to her."

"You had too, we both did. We don’t know what’s wrong with Maria and I don’t think a doctor will be able to tell us. You heard Max, it’s mental, not physical." Liz stared out the window. "She’ll talk to someone when she’s ready, we just have to be there for her."

"I know, but it’s frustrating." Michael looked to her. "I just want her back so bad."

Liz reached over to him and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

 * * * * * *

"So, why is it so important that I come over for dinner tonight? It’s not my birthday and I feel really guilty about deserting Leia and Maria," Isabel sat at the card table. "When are you guys going to get some real furniture?"

Liz smiled and was about to answer when she as saved by knocking at the door. She answered and Isabel watched as a man that she’d never seen before entered the apartment. He was tall, not as tall as Alex had been, but still taller than her. His hair was a very nondescript dark brown. He was about average. Nothing spectacular. He was good looking, Isabel had decided that right away. If his hair was darker he could pass for a relative of Richard Greico. She smiled; maybe she had just been watching too many reruns of 21 Jumpstreet during the day while sitting with Leia and Maria. Liz guided him by the arm and stood him in front of Isabel and Max.

"This is Erin Leary, my lab partner. Erin, this is my fiancé Max Evans and his sister, Isabel."

Max stood and shook Erin’s hand. "Nice to meet you, Liz has been talking about you all semester."

"You too," Erin smiled at him. "Isabel." He looked in her direction and flashed his pearly whites.

"Same," she smiled and looked over to Liz who was grinning from ear to ear. Oh shit, Isabel thought, a set up and I never saw it coming.

Liz excused herself to the kitchen and denied Isabel’s offer to help. She had baked lasagna, French bread and mixed vegetables. Nothing fancy, just easy. She called Max in to get the dinnerware to set the table.

"So, how’s it going out there? Do you like him?"

"I do, but I don’t know if I like how much time you spend with him at school," he winked. "You’re staying partners next semester, right?"

"Yeah, we work well together and he’s smart. Anyway, how’s it going with Iz? Are they talking?"

"A little," Max shrugged. "They just met, give it a chance. She did glare at you as you walked in here, I think she figured it out."

"No kidding," she said sarcastically. "Gee, I wonder what gave it away?"

Max retreated and set the card table; he smiled when he heard his sister laugh at something Erin had said. He loved to hear her laugh. Liz served dinner and was complimented it from each of them. By the time the plates had been cleared Erin and Isabel seemed to be in their own private discussion about who was the best bitch; Erin was voting for Heather Locklear on Melrose Place while Isabel was adamant it was Tiffani Amber Theissen on 90210.

"You’re a guy," Isabel crossed her arms over her chest. "You shouldn’t even be watching either of the two shows."

"I have two older sisters, I didn’t have a choice. If I wanted to watch TV, it was what they were watching."

"That’s sad," Isabel laughed.

Before Erin left he asked Isabel if he could see her again. At first she was hesitant and didn’t answer. A nod from Max seemed to be all the encouragement she needed. She agreed to go out to dinner and a movie the following weekend. She scribbled her phone number on a scrap of napkin and handed it to him. She blushed when he held it against his heart. She closed the door and spun around to face Liz, her eyes were dancing.

"Uh oh," Liz stepped behind Max.

"I can not believe you did that!" Isabel nearly shouted.

"I can’t tell if you’re mad or not," Liz called over Max’s shoulder.

"I was," Isabel finally smiled. "I was pissed, but he’s cool. I like him."

"See," Liz whacked Max in the shoulder. "I told you she would."

* * * * * *

Jim Valenti was in the kitchen mixing up a pitcher of Mud Slides when he heard Amy scream. He bolted form the kitchen and saw her standing against the wall, her hand over her mouth. Jim looked to the couch where Leia had been last and saw what had made his girlfriend scream. The stuffed monkey was hovering over Leia and she was giggling.

Jim snatched the monkey out of the air and put it in Leia’s hands. He looked at Amy, she was pale.

"Amy?" He ventured closer to her.

She pointed at Leia. "My granddaughter is possessed."

Jim tried to fight a smile. "No, I don’t think she’s possessed."

"A monkey just flew through the air to her," she looked at him, her eyes wide. "What do you call it?"

"I don’t know," Jim shrugged. "A freaky thing that happens when the moon is full?" He wondered if there was a full moon tonight. "I mean, this is Roswell Amy, strange things happen here."

"Not to my granddaughter!" She chided him. "I should call a priest."

"A priest?"

"I think she needs to be exorcised."

"Oh boy," Jim wrapped his arms around her. "Honey, I think you’re over reacting. She’s not possessed, she’s just a little girl."

"It was a little girl in the Exorcist."

"Do you really believe that there is anything evil in Leia?"

Amy shook her head and then laughed. "You’re right, strange things are always happening around here. One monkey in the air is nothing." She threw her hands in the air and went to pick up her granddaughter. "I’m sorry I screamed, Leia, I was scared."

Jim blew out a sigh of relief and wondered what was going to happen next time and when Michael and Maria were going to break down and tell Amy the truth.

 * * * * * *

Michael cruised the city; part of him as Deputy of Roswell; the other part as Michael I’m-going-to-find-you-Rath. Neither part was doing much good. There was nothing happening on this starry night. No crime, no speeders, no mayhem, no Rath. At the end of his shift he drove to Amy‘s and picked up Leia. He noticed Amy was acting a little strange, but what was new, right? Jim told him at the door he had a good one for him and would share the next day at work. After Leia was securely strapped in her car seat, he drove home. He pulled in front and smiled at Morgan’s beat up VW Bug in the driveway. He liked her. She was tough and kind. She had offered to come over and sit with Maria when she got off work at eight. She told Michael that Isabel was going to Max and Liz’s for dinner, a fix-up, Liz had told her secretly.

He opened the door and was surprised to find both Morgan and Maria on the couch. Morgan smiled at him; Maria looked away. He stared at her and thought she looked better. She had more color in her face and her hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She was dressed in real clothes, not just pajamas like she’d worn every day for the last week.

"Hi," he smiled. "You look nice, Maria."

She barely glanced in his direction. She stood and kissed her daughters cheek before retreating back to the bedroom. Michael winced as he heard the door shut.

"She can’t even look at me," Michael set Leia down in her playpen and took the seat next to Morgan on the couch. "How did you get her out of the bedroom?"

"I told her she was going to get dressed, I was going to fix her hair and we were going to watch TV." Morgan pulled her legs underneath her. "She didn’t argue."

"She talked?"

"Not a word, but I did get her to smile when I was fixing her hair. She liked the French hairdresser routine," Morgan grinned. "Ouí, Monsieur Guerin."

"You’re a nut," Michael ran his hands through his hair. "Thank you for staying with her."

"I’ll be happy to anytime." Morgan looked at the clock on the VCR. "It’s almost midnight, I guess I better go." Somewhat reluctantly she stood up, shoulders sinking.

"You can stay for awhile if you want," Michael sensed the hesitancy in her gait. "If you don’t have to be home."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "That would be great, I don’t want to go home, yet. My mom’s got a date and I can’t…"

"It’s cool." Michael smiled. "Is Kyle all packed? Tomorrow’s the big day, right?"

"He’s been packing all night," her eyes were bright when she talked about him. "Packing for the move and then re-packing for school."

"You guys get along pretty good, don’t you?" Michael was amazed at himself. Only two years ago and he would have never asked that of anyone. He wouldn’t have cared.

"We get along great," she smiled. "That’s why I hate to see him go back to school. I mean, I know it’s good he’s going and all, but I just miss him."

"He’s a good guy," Michael stifled a yawn.

"It’s late, I should go." She nodded. "You look tired, do you want me to get Leia ready for bed before I go?"

"That would be great," he stood up. "Do you mind if I take a shower while you’re still here?"

Morgan shook her head as she picked Leia up out of the playpen and cradled her. She watched Michael go down the hall then went into the nursery.

Michael looked in the bedroom; Maria was lying on top of the blankets facing the opposite direction. "I’m going to take a shower and Morgan’s going to get Leia ready for bed." No response. "I love you Maria, I hope you remember that."

* * * * * *

Chapter Two

As she had for the past several days, Isabel sat in the Guerin/DeLuca home watching yet another re-run of 21 Jumpstreet while Leia was sleeping. She thought about her upcoming date with Erin and got butterflies in her stomach. He seemed nice enough and Liz is usually a pretty good judge of character. She wouldn’t try to set her up with a big freak. One thing that did worry her, is Erin who he says he is? She shook her head telling herself she was being stupid. Not everyone in the world is out to get her. Erin Leary seemed like a nice guy; she’d try him out. She grinned and fiddled in her purse and dug up some lipstick. She put it on and smiled, she was back.

After watching Officer’s Hanson and Penhall go undercover as the McQuiad brothers for the first time, Isabel shut off the TV and looked around at her surroundings. Leia was sleeping peacefully next to her, thumb in mouth. Maria had littered the place with pictures. She walked around the room and smiled at the faces in frames that were smiling back at her. Sometimes everyone could be so happy; sometimes everyone was happy all at the same time. Not usually, but it did happen occasionally. She kept her fingers crossed that those days would be back and soon. Her thoughts drifted to Kyle; he had been genuinely upset that she wasn’t going back to school. She liked him, he had turned out to be an unexpected friend. She’d miss him.

Rath, she shuddered. Why in the hell was Rath in town? He was nothing but bad news. She wondered if her evil twin was here, too. She doubted it; Lonnie would have made herself known by now. Rath was a follower, not a leader. If he was here alone, then Lonnie probably didn’t even know about it. But why was he here and why was he killing? She tiptoed down the hall to the bedroom and knocked softly on the door. No answer. No surprise. She pushed the partially closed door open and peeked her head inside. Maria was sitting up on the bed cross-legged. She looked at Isabel and tilted her head to one side. Isabel stepped into the room and cautiously approached her. She sat and wrapped her arms around Maria’s neck.

"I’m here, okay?" Isabel felt a slight nod and released her. She looked into Maria’s eyes and saw pain. She stood and left the room, a feeling of melancholy washing over her.

Isabel understood Maria’s pain, although she didn’t know the root of it, the pain was so evident. Isabel knew what that felt like. She had been through it; something so horrible that it just closes you up. For Maria, she closed off physically and vocally. Isabel closed herself off emotionally. She checked on Leia as a knock at the door brought her back from the route of grief. She opened the door and smiled at her friend Morgan.

"What are you doing here?"

"I don’t really have anywhere else to go," Morgan shrugged. "I knew you’d be here; so can I come in?"

Isabel let her and watched as she went to Leia and kissed the top of her head. "So, what’s going on?"

Morgan shrugged. "Kyle’s helping his dad get the old house ready to be up for sale, Max is helping them. Liz is working and I don’t have to be anywhere until five, then I go to work. I didn’t want to sit around my house because, well, I hate it there. Do you mind if I hang out for awhile?"

"Is it getting worse at home?" Isabel sat on the other side of Leia.

"Yeah," Morgan nodded. "I guess. My mom quit her job and now she just hangs out at home. She’s not paying bills and I’m actually waiting for the lights to get turned off."

"Morgan, you never told me things were that bad."

"I don’t like to burden people," she smiled. "But sometimes it gets too much and I have to tell someone something. When I was little I used to talk to myself a lot. That’s where I came up with all my impressions. I had to amuse myself somehow with all the fighting going on. That was before my parents got divorced."

"You could have told me all this before," Isabel wrinkled her brow. "We’re friends."

"Even friends have to keep secrets from each other," she winked causing Isabel to frown. "My grandmother actually sends money to take care of my bills. She pays for my school and told me I can go anywhere in the world for college and she’d pay for it. Anything to get away from my stupid parents. But now there’s Kyle and I really love him. I don’t want to go away and leave him. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me."

"You know, you can always stay with me, my parents won’t mind. You can have Max’s room." Her eyes twinkled. "You’ll be out of school in what, May?"

"There’s no way I can move in with you, but thanks for the offer." Morgan laughed. "If it gets worse, I’ll probably reconsider, but for now I just need to escape every once in awhile. So, anyway, how’s Maria?"

"Same."

* * * * * *

Poor Morgan, Maria thought as she lay back on the bed listening to the conversation drifting in from the other room. She’s such a sweet girl and has such a hard life. You’d never know it from looking at her or talking to her. At least she can talk about it, I can’t. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to. Something so horrible has shredded my family; and I don’t know if I can ever go back to the way it used to be. I don’t know if Michael will understand. I don’t know if I understand. My Leia. I can’t even take care of my baby. I miss her. I miss everyone.

I’m so lucky; Maria mused. I have the best friends in the world. Liz and Isabel have spent so much time here, I know I’ve taken time away from their own lives. To help me. Morgan, a girl I don’t know all that well actually got me to watch TV with her and made me smile, Kyle’s a lucky guy. Max and Kyle, she smiled, what a pair. Kyle coming over and trying to be Mr. Mom taking care of Leia, he really is her uncle as far as I’m concerned. And Max, sappy Maxie. Not a clue what to do. He healed me, though, and I’ll always be grateful for that. Otherwise, he’s clueless. When he’s with Leia I can see the regret he has for not knowing what happened to his son. Lantham? Yeah, that’s it. As far as I can see, looking in like an outsider, because that’s how I feel right now, Max will never see anything that isn’t Liz. His world is called Liz and you know what? He’s damn lucky to have her.

Michael, sweet Michael. I can see his heart breaking every time he looks at me. I can hear it in his voice and part of me dies each time. I wish were able to tell him why, but I can’t. Not yet, not until I’m ready. Will I ever be ready? I hope so because I can feel my life sliding through my fingers and it scares the hell out of me. I can say it a thousand times over in my head, but I just can’t bring myself to say it out loud. I want to tell him how much I love him, how much he means to me, but the words elude me. I don’t want to lose him, not now, not ever.

* * * * * * 

For three days Deputy Guerin scoured the streets of Roswell looking for Rath and came back empty handed. It was like he vanished. Michael knew better though, he wasn’t going anywhere. He wouldn’t come all this way to sucker punch him and leave. Rath wasn’t as bad as he thought he was. He was a big loser who was used to hiding behind Lonnie. Now she was bad. Michael pulled into the lot at the sheriff’s department and got out of the cruiser. Jim Valenti was waiting for him outside the door.

"My office, Michael. Now." He walked inside.

Michael took a deep breath and walked in the chilly building, immediately getting goosebumps on his arms. He walked slowly down the hall and pushed Valenti’s door open. He took a step in and closed the door before sitting down across the desk from him. "You wanted to see me?"

"What the hell is going on?" Jim slammed his open palms down on the desk, the pencil holder rattled.

"What do you mean?"

"Don’t play stupid with me Michael, it won’t work." Jim sighed. "I want to know what the hell is going on and what you’re not telling me. I just about had to threaten Kyle to give me a hint."

"I’m taking care of it."

"Taking care of what, exactly?"

"I know who killed Miles Lefton. It’s Rath. He’s in town and I don’t know why, yet."

"Rath." Jim nodded. "Your punk rock counterpart. That’s nice. Were you ever going to tell me about it? Or were you just going to continue to hunt him down while playing Deputy?"

"It’s not like that," Michael sat up straighter growing defensive. "I take pride in this job and you know I’m not going to jeopardize it in any way. I am looking for Rath while I’m on duty, but that’s not all I’m doing." He slapped down his ticket pad. "Look, I’ve given out tickets like crazy."

"You be careful with this Michael. What are you going to do when you find him?"

"Run him out of town?" Michael shrugged. "I don’t know."

"Okay, and what the hell is going on with Maria? Amy is worried sick about her."

Michael let out a deep sigh. "I don’t know. Something happened and she won’t talk about it. I mean, she won’t talk about anything. It was before New Year’s and nothing. She’s not even taking care of Leia."

"Who is?" Jim asked involuntarily leaning further over the desk.

"Everyone." Michael ran his hands through his hair. "When I’m home, I do. When I’m at work, Isabel has been staying during the day most of the time. Liz, Max, Kyle and Morgan all take turns staying. I can’t leave Maria alone with Leia."

"Do you have any idea what happened to her?"

Michael shook his head, anguish and fear prominent on his face. "Can you keep Amy at bay for a little while?"

"Should she be seeing a doctor? Is she sick?"

"Max said the pain was mental."

Jim nodded and stood up. "Go home Michael, take care of your girls. From now on, could you keep me updated on what the hell is going on with you guys? Why didn’t anyone tell me Morgan found out?"

"I guess I figured Kyle would." Michael shrugged. "Did you know Max and Liz set a date for March?"

"Does anyone tell me anything?"

 * * * * * *

Max was looking though a Modern Bride magazine that Liz had brought home earlier. "I think you would look great in something like this." He held up the page for her to see. "What do you think?"

"How much?" She asked casually. "Look at the bottom."

"Holy Shit!" Max exclaimed. "This dress is more than the jeep was. Never mind."

"I really want to keep this whole thing simple Max, okay?"

"Can it still be romantic?"

"Of course. Since you don’t believe in God, I’m going to suggest we not get married in church. I was thinking maybe your parents back yard?"

"Doable," he smiled envisioning white lights strung over a white alter, a judge in front of them. "I don’t care Liz, whatever you want to do is fine. As long as at the end of the day I can call you my wife, I don’t care if we get married in the middle of the street by some guy named Cletus."

"I’m trying to get a visual and yet, I can’t." She roped her arms over his neck. "So, you really want to marry me that bad, huh?"

"More than anything."

"Still want to have all these kids running around?" Liz asked slowly. She had been avoiding that topic for awhile, but felt the urge to bring it up again.

"I want kids if you want kids. You know I want whatever you want." He kissed her cheek. "Sure, I’d love to start off right away with a baby, but I know school is important to you. I can wait."

"Have you thought about the possibility that our baby might not quite turn out like Leia?"

Max looked at her and it was obvious the thought had never crossed his mind. "No, I just assumed."

"Well, it’s something we have to think about before we go jumping the gun, okay?"

 * * * * * *

Chapter Three

The holidays are over and things seemed to be getting back to normal in Roswell, normal in a Roswellian kind of way. Kyle was back at school; Max and Liz were in class and both working part-time. Michael’s schedule varied some days and some nights. Either way, he hated to be away from Maria. Isabel had practically moved in with them. On the few nights that she had plans with her new beau, Michael made sure he was off work or used one of the many volunteers to stay. Amy was becoming a problem and he knew he couldn’t hold her off much longer. Against his better judgement, he had begged Isabel to call her as Maria and promise her everything was okay, she just couldn’t shake a virus.

Michael still hunted Rath, he knew he hadn’t left town. Rath probably knew that by hiding out he was driving Michael and the rest of the Pod Squad crazy. He was right. Max helped Michael search as much as he could but with school and working, it was hard. They had spent many late nights driving around, going into sleazy bars outside of town and never came home with anything to show except aggravation.

Isabel stayed away from the Rath hunting, she devoted her time to Leia and Maria and now a couple nights a week to Erin. She wanted to thank Liz for setting them up, but just couldn’t do it. Some of the ice may be melting, but not all. It was early afternoon when she lay Leia down for her nap and took her regular spot on the couch. She had a clipboard on her lap, a black pen in between her teeth. Over the countless hours sitting on the couch, she had begun to write a story. It was a short story at first, but the more she got into it, the longer it got. She found something that she liked to do something that interested her. Writing. She had barely written a sentence when she felt a presence behind her.

"Michael," Maria stood in the entrance to the living room in shorts and sweatshirt. Her hang hung limply, some in her eyes. She shuffled closer to Isabel in her sock clad feet, standing in front of her she looked into Isabel’s’ eyes. "Michael."

Isabel jumped up and caught her arm as she swayed. She sat her down on the couch. "Do you want me to get Michael?"

Maria shook her head, tears rolled down her cheeks. She rested her head on Isabel’s shoulder, her tears seeping into the fabric. Isabel rubbed her back, unsure of what to do. Was Maria ready to break out of her cocoon? Was she ready to do it to Isabel?

"I couldn’t tell," Maria cleared her throat. Weeks of not talking had made her throat feel thick and sluggish. "I didn’t know, but I should have."

"Known what?" Isabel still rubbed her back, afraid of losing the connection. "What happened Maria?"

"It was early and I was alone," she began to rock back and forth. Isabel steadied her and the rocking deceased. "He was at work."

"Michael was at work?" Isabel narrowed her eyes, her heart rate accelerated.

"He came home," Maria nodded. Ripples of fear seared through her. "He came home."

"What did he do?" Isabel became flush, had Michael done something? No, there was no way it could be him. "Did Michael hurt you?"

"I asked why he was home." Maria sucked in a deep breath. "He said he missed me."

"Okay," Isabel tried to keep from shaking. If Michael was the cause behind this there was going to be hell to pay.

"He came to me, Leia; Leia was sleeping. My beautiful girl was sleeping," she sniffled and then smiled looking at her sleeping daughter on her stomach on the playpen. "Like that. So peaceful."

Isabel waited for Maria to continue but her gaze was still on her sleeping daughter. "Go on." She gently urged.

"Oh," Maria focused on Isabel again. "He was so close, I felt his breath. It was his breath, I knew him. He wanted me. He wanted to make love to me." She looked wistfully to the window. "I thought that was so romantic, coming home to make love to me."

"What happened?" Isabel spoke from behind clenched teeth.

"Here," she pointed to the back of the couch they were sitting on. "I was here and he came to me and then I knew something was wrong." Maria wiped away tears while Isabel hugged her. "He wouldn’t look in my eyes." Isabel wanted to talk but knew she had already interrupted enough; this time she’d wait for Maria. After a couple of minutes, she did continue. "I said his name and he wouldn’t look at me. He always looks at me, that’s part of what we do. We look in each other’s eyes. I got scared and tried to push him away."

Isabel fought the urge to jump up and hunt Michael down. "Then what?"

"Leia. She screamed and I looked to her." She began to tremble. "My baby was screaming, her arm was in the air. She wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at him and screaming. I turned back to Michael." The trembles turned into the shakes, silent tears became weeping.

Isabel held her tight, stroking her hair. "It’s okay Maria, I’m here."

"I looked at him," she said in between sobs. "He changed."

"Changed? What do you mean changed?" An alarm was going off in her head.

"He was the other one," Maria cried. "It was the other one!"

"The other…?" Isabel repeated slowly. "Oh my God. Rath?"

"He changed while Leia screamed at him," Maria whimpered. "I saw him change while he was in me. He was still inside of me! It wasn’t Michael."

Isabel felt the redness creeping up her neck; she was ready to kill. "Rath did this to you?"

Maria nodded unable to look Isabel in the eyes. "I’m embarrassed."

"Embarrassed?" Isabel snorted. "Don’t be embarrassed. Be pissed."

"I should have known," Maria finally looked at her through nearly swollen shut eyes. "I should have been able to tell it wasn’t Michael."

"There is no way you can tell, I can’t tell. He’s an identical to Michael."

Maria shook her head. "I should have known. Leia knew. She was screaming at him."

"This isn’t your fault, you know that, right?"

Maria shook her head. "It is my fault for not knowing. I feel so dirty."

Isabel recalled the skin scrubbing and everything made sense. She wanted to thunk herself on the head for not picking up on it sooner. She had seen the same response to rape in two Lifetime Movies in the past week. "You didn’t do anything wrong. I wish you would have said something before, we’ve all been worried about you."

"I know," Maria smiled faintly. "Thank you for everything. Thank you for taking care of Leia, I couldn’t have done it without you."

"You have to tell Michael."

"No," she shook her head violently. "I don’t want him to know. He’ll think different of me."

"No, he won’t, but you have to tell him. He has to know what happened."

"No."

"He’s lost without you Maria, he deserves to know what happened. You know Michael; he’s not going to think any less of you. He just misses you and wants you back. That’s all he talks about. You’re all he talks about."

"You can’t tell him, promise me."

"Maria."

"Please!" She begged, tears still falling over her red cheeks.

Isabel nodded not knowing if she was going to keep that promise or not. "Think about it, please." Maria nodded. "Are you going to stay around?" Isabel pointed to her head.

Maria laughed. "Do you know how silly that sounded?"

"You know what I mean," Isabel smiled at her. At much as Maria got on her nerves she was actually glad to hear her laugh again.

"I never went away, I heard everything that went on around here. I know when Max healed my skin and when you gave Michael his own New Years. I heard Morgan talking to you about her crappy life. I was here for everything, I just couldn’t bring myself to say anything." She explained. "Don’t you ever get tired of 21 Jumpstreet? I’ve had the theme song in my head for about a week."

"Sorry about that," Isabel blushed. "That Johnny Depp was a hottie back then before the long hair and freak out. So, anyway, how are you? I mean I know we’re sitting here talking about 21 Jumpstreet, but thing’s are still not right."

"I’m okay," she wiped way a stray tear. "Scared. Dirty. Depressed, but I’ll live. I want my life back. As long as Michael doesn’t know, it’ll be okay."

"It won’t be okay if you don’t tell him the truth. You know Michael well enough by now to tell him. He’s only going to want to be there for you. None of this is your fault; he’s going to blame himself."

"It’s not his fault," Maria shook her head.

"Why did Rath come to you? Because of Michael. Because of Michael, Max and myself." She sighed. "All bad things happen because of us."

"That’s not a fair statement."

"Not fair, but true. Please, reconsider and tell him. It’ll be easier in the long run."

"Is he still here? I mean Rath?" She spat his name out.

"We think so," Isabel nodded. "Michael’s been searching for him. He’s the one who killed that man."

"I know," she nodded. "What is he going to do if he finds him?"

Isabel shrugged. She figured after she told Michael about Maria, he’d find Rath and kill him.

 * * * * * *

"Two months," Max rolled over and looked at Liz. She opened one eye. "Only two months and we’ll be married."

"Damn!" Liz threw the blankets back and got out of bed. "I forgot to take my pill tonight!"

"You don’t have to take it, you know." He said quietly.

"Are you high?" she shot him a glare and padded off to the bedroom. She returned within a minute and crawled back under the covers. "I don’t want to get pregnant right away Max, haven’t we been through this before? I really want to finish school and have a career first. We can’t afford a baby right now."

Max nodded in defeat. "I know, but I can’t help how I feel."

Liz sighed. The one topic she didn’t like to discuss weighed so heavy in the room it was almost choking her. "Can you feel him at all?"

"No, nothing anymore." Max shook his head. "He’s gone from me."

"You may never know him."

"I know that and I’ve learned to accept it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it." He let out a deep breath. "He’s gone over to the other side. The dark side with his moth-"

"Don’t say it. Say Tess."

"With her. He’ll never know about the real me and I can live with that. But I do want to be a father Liz; I want to have babies with you. I can wait until you’re ready. I guess until we’re both ready." He picked up her hand and brought it to his mouth. "You know I’ll do anything for you."

"I know," she smiled as he kissed her hand. The brand on her thigh was burning. She covered it with her other hand. "You know, it may be in my head, but I think this grotesque thing on my leg is actually burning."

"What?" Max flung back the covers and pulled up her nightgown to her waist. "Oh God."

"What?" Liz sat up alarmed. She looked and saw the four letters that would haunt her forever as red as blood. "What the hell is happening?"

"How long have they been so red?" Max ran his finger on top of them.

"I don’t know," Liz was panicking. "I guess sometime tonight. They weren’t like that this morning, were they?"

Max shook his head. "No. They were so faded, light in color they were almost white. It looked like they were almost gone. Do you want me to try to heal them again?"

"No," Liz shook her head. It hadn’t worked the previous four times he had tried. "It’ll go away, right?"

"Sure," he nodded totally not knowing if it would.

"I was thinking," Liz pulled her nightgown back down. "What do you think of tattoos? Maybe I should get some flowers or something put over it. Then every time I see I, it won’t make me sick."

"A tattoo?" He smirked. "My wife is going to have a tattoo? That’s a really big turn on."

 * * * * * *

Michael laid his head on the steering wheel of the cruiser. His double shift was over and he was exhausted. Nearly nine o’clock at night and the parking lot in front of the department was deserted. He turned the cruiser off and got out of the car. The next thing he knew he was lying in the dust, a boot was on his throat.

"Yo, Mikey." Rath stepped down a little harder. "What’s shakin’ bro?"

"Let me up," Michael reached for the boot, but Rath swatted his hand away. "Damn it!"

"So, rumor round town is your looking for me. Going into all these dark places flashing your shit around," Rath sneered. "I’ve been making friends here, y’know, they tell me when some dude who looks like me except he has a badge and gun is looking for me. So now you made me a liar!" He shifted his weight slightly and heard Michael gulp in air. "I had to tell all these new friends of mine that we’re brothers and you’re the black sheep of the family."

Michael reached for the boot again, this time Rath kicked his hands away and put his foot back on his throat before Michael could react.

"So, here I am, what’d you want?" He stepped away from Michael and smiled as he watched his doppelganger gasp for air. Michael stood and when he did he was pointing his gun at Rath. "Whoa there! Can’t do that, Deputy Mikey. Shooting an unarmed man? Don’t you read the paper, you’ll go down."

"What are you doing here?"

"Just came for a visit. That’s it. Visit awhile and then go back home. Everyone’s entitled to a vacation, right?"

"Not you, not here. What do you want?" The gun never wavered.

"A little R & R, that too much to handle?" Rath stepped in a half circle around him.

"When are you leaving?"

"Soon," Rath started to walk away. "Oh, yeah, say hi to your daughter for me, she’s got some pretty eyes."

Michael’s jaw dropped, he looked down. When he looked back, once again, Rath was gone. Leia. He had seen Leia. Shit! He raced inside the station and called home. Isabel answered.

"Are you okay?" He asked breathless into the phone.

"Michael, what’s wrong?"

"Is everything there okay? Maria and Leia?" He wiped away the sweat from his face.

"We’re all good."

"Okay, I’ll be home in a minute. Be careful, okay?"

"You going to tell me what’s going on?"

"Rath. He’s seen Leia."

* * * * * *

Chapter Four

Michael made the short drive home in record time. Leaving the keys in the ignition he took the porch steps two steps at time. He pushed the door open and stopped in his tracks at the sight of Isabel on the couch, Maria next to her with Leia on her lap.

"Hi," he looked from Maria to Isabel and back.

"Hi." Isabel raised her eyebrows.

"Michael," Maria said softly and looked away from him. She handed Leia to Isabel and stood. She took three steps towards Michael and threw her arms around his neck. She felt his strength wrap around her body and soul. His head buried in her hair inhaling the scents he had longed for. She pushed him away and looked at him, in his eyes. "Michael."

"I’ve missed you so much," his mouth was dry, his voice cracked.

"I know, I’m sorry." She smiled and stood on her toes to kiss the side of his mouth. ‘"I’m okay."

"What happened?"

She shook her head. "It’s over now, everything’s going to be okay."

"Why-"

"Michael," she put her finger to his lips. "Don’t worry now." She turned back to Isabel and smiled at Leia in her arms. "We’re okay. I’m going to take a shower and then we can hang out and talk, okay?"

Michael shook his head dully and watched as she walked down the hall. He turned to Isabel. "What the hell happened here tonight?"

"She talked," Isabel took a deep breath. She lay Leia down in the rolling bassinet and turned back to Michael. "You said on the phone Rath saw Leia?"

"Yeah," the edge was back in his voice. "He said to say hi to her and she had pretty eyes. When did he see her? When the fuck was he around my daughter?"

Isabel bit her lip. She had promised Maria that she wouldn’t tell Michael, but he had to know. He had to deal with Rath. There was no way around it. Would Maria ever forgive her? Doubtful. Was it worth it? She hoped so. "We have to talk."

"About what? Maria?" Michael followed her out on the front porch and sat in the worn wicker chair. She sat on the railing across from him. "What’s going on Iz?"

"Maria came to me and trusted me and I’m about to break that trust," she took a deep breath. "Rath was here."

"Here? In my house?" He loosened the top few buttons on his Deputy shirt.

Isabel nodded. "Can I have your promise you won’t tell Maria I told you?"

"Fucking tell me Isabel."

"He was here and he was you. He came over that morning as you, in uniform, said he missed Maria."

"Oh fuck," Michael ran his hands through his hair.

"She didn’t know it wasn’t you and he, well, he raped her."

"I’ll fucking kill him!" Michael slammed his hands down ton the arms of the chair. "I should have shot him when I had the chance."

"Leia was in the playpen and she started screaming at him and he changed back to himself while he was…You know."

"She couldn’t tell me."

"No. She feels so guilty that she didn’t know it wasn’t you and that she couldn’t tell. She said he wouldn’t look her in the eye and that’s when she knew something was wrong."

"I should have known."

"No, there’s no way you could have known anything."

"Rath hinted something before, but I didn’t get it," he was breathing heavy. "He said something about tasting the sugar. I should have put two and fucking two together!"

"You had no reason to think-"

"I should have known," he repeated. "The way she scrubbed her skin, how she was afraid of me. It was all there like a fucking After-School Special and I couldn’t see it. I have to talk to her."

"She doesn’t want you to know." Isabel stated.

"Why not?"

"She’s embarrassed and feels dirty. She thinks you’re going to think less of her. Maybe that you won’t love her anymore."

"That’s stupid." He stood and began to pace. "Of course I still love her, I’ll always love her. Her and Leia are the two most important things in my life. I’d die for them. I will kill for them." He glanced at his watch.

"What are you thinking?"

"I’m thinking that I’m going to change my clothes and go on a hunt." He untucked his shirt and unbuttoned it the rest of the way. "I’m going to find him and I’m going to kill him."

"I’ll go with you."

"No. You stay here and keep them safe. Max will go with me." He stormed back in the house and went to the bedroom. He threw his uniform on the floor and changed into jeans and a flannel shirt. He stuck his police issued gun in the back of his jeans safely covered by the shirt. From inside the dresser drawer he pulled an Uncle Mike’s ankle holster with a .22 in it. He fastened the Velcro around his left ankle and pulled his jeans down over it. The shower was still running as he called Max. "Get up. I’ll be by to pick you up in a few minutes."

"What’s wrong?"

"I’ll explain when I get there."

* * * * * *

"Max?" Liz turned away from her paperback book. "Who was that?"

"Michael," he said getting out of bed. "He’s coming to get me."

"Isn’t it kind of late to be going out, you have class in the morning." Liz propped herself up on her shoulder and watched him get dressed.

"It sounded important," he looked back at her. "I have to go."

Liz nodded and snuggled back under the covers. She was asleep before Max left the bedroom. He left the apartment and waited outside by the doors. He saw headlights flash around the corner, engine whining. Max held his hands to his eyes deflecting the harsh glare of halogen aimed at him. When the Tempo came to a halt, Max opened the passenger door and got in.

"What’s the rush?" He asked Michael while buckling his seatbelt. "Where are we going?"

"To find Rath," Michael didn’t look at him.

"And then?"

"Kill him." Michael said bluntly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Help me out on this Max, okay?"

"How can I help you out with something if I have no idea what’s going on? Talk to me Michael."

Michael shook his head once and continued down the road. "He’s dead."

"Michael, pull over and tell me what the hell is going on." Max waited a beat. "Now, Michael."

Michael shook his head and pulled into a convenience market parking lot. He slammed the headlights off and ran his hands through his hair. "I have to find him and then I’m going to kill him."

"What happened? Did he kill again?"

"No. He’s the reason Maria locked herself away. He is the reason behind her pain." Michael didn’t want to say the real words out loud. Saying them out loud made them too real.

"He…?" Max flashed back to when he healed her skin. The last image had been of Michael. It hadn’t been Michael at all; it had been Rath. "Oh Jesus."

"Yeah. He impersonated me," Michael swatted away a stray tear and looked to his friend. "He hurt her and took something from her she’ll never get back. He’s going to die for it."

"I’m with you," Max reached across the vehicle and grabbed Michael’s shoulder and squeezed. "We’ll find him."

"Then I’ll kill him," he turned the headlights back on and pulled out into traffic.

* * * * * *

"Where’d Michael go?" Maria asked stepping back into the living room in a robe,

her hair up in a towel.

"He went out," Isabel swallowed. "He’ll be back soon."

"What do you mean he went out?" Maria couldn’t hide the hurt in her voice. "Where did he go?"

"I don’t know," Isabel couldn’t look her in the eye.

"Isabel?" Maria stepped in front of her. "What’s going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh my God," she stepped back from her. "You told him. I can’t believe you told him!"

"Maria."

"Oh God, and he left." Tears rolled freely down her face. "You had to tell him, didn’t you? You promised you wouldn’t but you did. I should have never trusted you because now Michael’s gone!"

"He’s coming back, Maria." Isabel stood in front of her. "I promise."

"Why?" Maria cried. "Couldn’t you leave it alone? It’s your fault he left me!" She buried her face in her hands.

"He didn’t leave you," Isabel took a step closer to her, tentatively reaching a hand to her. Maria pulled away; anger gleamed in her eyes. "He’s not leaving you, he’ll be back. I promise."

"Yeah," Maria snorted. "Your promises don’t hold much water with me anymore."

"I know and I’m sorry." Isabel sighed. "I shouldn’t have said anything, but I had to. Rath is bad and he needs to be dealt with. If Michael didn’t know what happened, eventually Rath would have left town and stirred up trouble somewhere else. But he might have come back here, for you."

"Me?" Maria began to tremble.

"Yeah, Maria, for you! He hurt you, bad. Michael had to know, he has to take care of it."

"Take care of what?"

"Rath. He has to take care of Rath. He’s going to kill him, Maria." Isabel sighed. "I’m sorry. This is bad, I know."

"He’s going to kill him?"

"When he finds him, I believe so. Max is out with him now."

"So everyone knows what happened, right?"

"I told Michael. I doubt he’s going to put it up on a billboard."

"Why were you here tonight?" Maria raised her voice. "Why couldn’t it have been Liz? She wouldn’t have run to Michael the second I was out of the room and told him. Why are you still here?"

"Michael asked me to stay," Isabel bit back her hurt. "I’m sorry Maria. So sorry."

Maria shook her head and went to pick up Leia. She bundled the sleeping baby next to her chest and walked to the bedroom. Isabel cringed when she heard the door close.

"Shit!" she kicked the side of the couch. Here I am trying to make nice and be friends with everyone and look how far I get? Maria confides in me, I guess because I was the only one here, and I blow it. Way to go Iz.

 * * * * * *

Liz picked up the phone on the first ring expecting Max; she was surprised to hear her best friend on the other end.

"Maria? Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it’s me." In spite of the grief she felt; a smile broke out across her face.

"How are you? Are you okay?"

"I’m better. Is Max there?"

"No," she paused. "Michael came and got him a little while ago. What’s up?"

"Michael left," she sniffled. "Damn it! Why couldn’t it have been you staying here tonight instead of Isabel?"

"What are you talking about Maria? You’re not making any sense."

"I told her a secret and she blabbed to Michael and now he’s gone." She cried.

"Slow down, you’re not making sense."

"Rath raped me." She said and waited a beat for it to soak in. "That’s why I’ve been the way I have lately. I was scared. I still am. I thought it was Michael, but he changed and it wasn’t."

"Oh God. Do you want me to come over?" Liz was getting gout of bed.

"Please," she whimpered.

Liz got dressed and bolted to he parking lot; she hopped in the jeep and took off out of the parking lot. She never saw the man in the stairwell watching her, knowing that she’d be down the steps and to the car tonight, knowing her every move.

* * * * * *

"What are you doing here?" Isabel asked when she opened the door to Liz.

"Maria called me," she walked in past her. "She in the bedroom?"

"Yeah, but wait." Isabel grabbed her arm. "Did she tell you…?"

"Yeah."

"I had to tell Michael," Isabel bit her bottom lip. "He had to know. He’ll be back, she thinks he’s gone for good. He’s not. He’s out looking for Rath. Please, tell her I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt her, I only did what I thought was right."

"I know," Liz nodded. "I might have done the same." Liz nodded and walked to the bedroom, She knocked once and opened the door. She saw Maria and walked to her hugging her. "Maria, are you okay?"

"I’ll never be okay, but I’ll get better." She answered.

"Michael’s coming back, you know that, right?"

"I don’t know anything. I don’t know why he would come back if he knows what happened to me."

"Because he loves you." She rubbed her friends shoulder. "He didn’t go home for you, he stayed. Nothing’s going to come in between you. Have a little faith in him."

* * * * * *

Chapter Five

Isabel waited on the front porch until after one in the morning waiting for Michael to return home. Liz was still in the bedroom with Maria and Isabel was left out to deal with her own actions. She met the Tempo in the driveway and knew the news was bad when Michael got out.

"Liz is here and Maria’s not speaking to me."

"Perfect end to a perfect night," Michael walked past her. "Have Liz take you home, okay? I need to be alone with Maria tonight." He walked down the hall and pushed open the bedroom door. "Liz, go home, Max is there. Please drop Iz off on your way. Thank you for staying."

Liz didn’t question Michael, she hugged Maria and met Isabel on the porch, she was smoking. "You can’t smoke in the jeep."

"Why not?"

"Because Max doesn’t like smoke."

"Whatever," she flicked the butt into the street and climbed in. "How is she? Does she hate me?"

"She’s pissed, but it’ll pass."

* * * * * *

Michael approached Maria and cupped her face in his hands crushing his lips against hers. Cautious at first, she relented and kissed him back. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her into him. "I love you Maria."

"Are you sure you can?" She whispered.

"Yes, more than anything." He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. "All I wanted was you to come back to me. I missed you."

"You know what happened."

"Yeah, I know. Did you really think that I wouldn’t love you anymore?"

"I feel so dirty," she wiped away new tears. "So mortified."

"It wasn’t your fault, Angel."

"How could I not tell? How could I ever think he was you?" She berated herself. "I’m so stupid. I should have known."

"That’s what I keep saying. I should have known what happened. I was blind to it."

"Do you really still love me?" She looked up into his eyes. The eyes that she knew. The eyes that she loved.

"Believe me when I say yes," he kissed her again.

"Will you stay in here with me tonight? Every night?"

"Until the end of time."

"Just hold me?"

Michael put both guns in the dresser drawer and undressed. He pulled a pair of boxers out and out them on. Maria rolled the bassinet into the room and got into bed with Michael. He put his arm round her while she laid her head on his chest.

* * * * * *

Max had the night off and was disappointed when Liz told him she had to work.

"I’m closing tonight, I switched with Morgan, remember?"

"Can you switch back, I’m off tonight."

"That’s like Indian giving, I can’t do it." She said to his reflection in the mirror as she finished getting ready for work. "We’ll have time this week-end. Okay? Besides, aren’t you going out with Michael tonight?"

"Oh, yeah. Take the jeep, I don’t need it."

"How is he?"

"He’s stressing. Big time."

"Wouldn’t you be?"

"Yeah, I would. I hope we find Rath tonight and this can end for everyone. Once he’s gone thing’s can get back to normal."

"You do realize you’re talking about killing someone, don’t you? The taking of a life?" Liz spun around with her hands on her hips.

"It isn’t a life worth saving."

"That’s not a valid argument."

"It’s the best one I have. Rath is nothing. He’s a murderer and now a rapist. Do you really care what happens to him? Remember, what he did to your best friend."

"I know damn well what he did and it makes me sick. Do I care what happens to him personally? No, not really. I just wish you wouldn’t talk so casually about taking another life."

Max apologized.

* * * * * *

Liz locked the door to the Crashdown and sighed. It had been a very long night. Customers were hard to please and nothing was running smooth. One of the new cooks didn’t like to make the items on the menu and was always trying new ideas. She was glad it was over. Tomorrow was her late day for class and she was relieved. She needed sleep. She walked the short distance to the jeep and looked over her shoulder convinced someone was there. She got in and locked the doors before noticing an envelope taped to the steering wheel. She looked at her name scrawled across the front. The handwriting was familiar. She looked around and once she deemed it safe she turned on the light underneath the rearview mirror and opened the envelope. There were a two pages stapled together in the corner:

Liz,

This is going to be strange, but I know you can handle it. Remember when you told me about my future self coming back to talk to you about changing the future?

"Oh God," she said out loud. A sickening feeling was seeping into her stomach.

Well, in so many words, I’m back. It’s not the same me that you told me about. This is confusing. It’s the me of the future that I’ve shared with you. I have to tell you things. Things that are so important now, in my time. I don’t want to tell you everything because I know you wouldn’t want to know. I’ll give you the basics.

First off, I’m here by way of the Granilith. You’ll not believe how much time I’ve spent over the years learning the secrets of this machine. Anyway, I’ll go back to my time in the morning that’s why I have to get this to you tonight. I know the present me is out with Michael and we are hunting Rath. You have time to read this before you get home. If I remember correctly I won’t be home until almost two. I’m here for a reason that is going to be so detrimental to everyone if you don’t listen to what I’m saying. I know you’re busy with school and working and planning our wedding. We had such big plans. There’s something that I’ll keep bugging you about and you have to listen to me.

On our wedding night, you get pregnant. I know you’re not leaning that way now. And that doesn’t matter, all the precautions you take won’t matter. It is imperative that you get pregnant on our wedding night. An entire planet depends on it. This planet. Our planet. Earth. I’ll try to explain without giving too much of the future away.

We get pregnant and have a daughter, I won’t tell you her name, and she is vital. She won’t know it and we certainly didn’t. As it turns out she is a great warrior. For years and years there was nothing from my home planet. Not a vision, not a peep. It was as if they were forgotten. Then one day, all hell breaks loose. There is a war, but they brought it down here. They brought the war to earth to win. There are major plot holes I’m leaving out, but I think you’ll get the idea. Because we had a female child, she is the actual heir to the throne of Antar. There is kind of a loophole that Khivar didn’t know about. The Elders, once our daughter was born, told him. There can only be one true ruler of the planet and it falls to the first born daughter, not son.

I know it sounds out there, trust me, it does eight-teen years from now, too. Khivar and Tess are here on earth and they really know how to hold a grudge. Lantham, my son, is here and we have met. As troubling as it is to say, the only way to stop this war before it escalates to massacres is for our daughter to kill him. Blood kills blood. Once that happens, it’ s over, at least that’s what I’ve been told. You have to understand I don’t know how everything turns out yet, I left in the middle. I left the battle when we, you and I, watched our daughters image begin to fade. It ‘s like she’s disappearing before our eyes. That’s why I’m here.

It’s known on Antar, almost like a legend, when she was conceived and that is in a couple of months. Apparently there are many stories about the Warrior. This has all been planned and there are going to be forces working against the conception of her. They’ve had years to think things up; you only have a couple of months to get through this. They’ll work hard and make things difficult, but you have to conceive that night. Without the conception of our daughter, earth has no future. The fate of the future is landing at your feet.

I know this is a lot to take in, and I know that you might not believe what I’m saying. The handwriting is close to what it used to be, but if you need physical proof, come to the parking lot of the high school, closest to the bleachers. I’ll be there for the next couple of hours.

Forever yours, Max

"Oh God," she said again as she got to the end of the letter. "Not again. Why the fuck does the fate of the future always fall into my lap? Can’t anyone else take responsibility for it?"

She slapped the steering wheel and started the engine. Part of her wanted to drive to the apartment and crawl under the blankets. The investigative part of her knew she had to go the high school.

"Damn it!" She yelled and drove towards the school. She cruised the parking lot and parked close to the bleachers. She rolled down her window and waited. If this was a trick…

"Liz," the voice came from the bleachers. She knew the voice, although it was somewhat different, more gravelly. A figure stepped out from underneath the bleachers but avoided the light. "Don’t be afraid."

"Come out into the light."

"No, I don’t want you to know everything the future holds." He turned his head and Liz saw what she thought was a small ponytail. "I guess you got my letter?"

"Yeah."

"Well, do you believe me?"

"I guess I have to. Can you tell me about this war?"

"I know it’s for the throne of Antar. I know they brought it to Earth because of our daughter and us. That’s the one true way that Khivar can dictate and remain in control is by Lantham. I don’t know everything about it. There are Elders that are like the all-knowing. They’ve sent us several messages telling us what is happening."

"This sounds insane," she strained her eyes trying to see him better. "I mean, I don’t want to have a baby now. I’m on the pill, too."

"I know, the pill will fail."

"Then why the great urgency if you already know that? If it’s already a done deal?"

"Like I said in the letter. Our daughter’s birth became legend; the knowledge of her conception on our wedding night became readily available. Khivar and Tess know this and can work against us. They’ll try everything they can to make sure we don’t make love on our wedding night. Without our daughter, the planet is theirs and one’s not enough. Them and their armies will take over earth, destroying it."

"This is crazy," Liz shook her head. "This doesn’t make any sense."

"I know. The reason I’m here is because I know you, I know you’re strong enough to handle this."

"I don’t know if I can handle anything."

"You can Liz. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known."

"Okay, so let me get this straight." Liz shook her head. "We have a daughter and she grows into this great warrior to defeat Khivar. To keep earth safe."

"Right. See here’s the part that no one knew about. Khivar and Tess always believed because they had Lantham that he would be the true heir to the throne. They were wrong, though. It’s not the first born son, it’s the first born daughter. If there is no daughter, then it goes to the son. But there is a daughter, ours."

"And she’ll have to train to fight?"

"No, everything she needs is within her. We won’t even know this is coming until it happens. The Elders sent us a message, like a warning about the war to come."

"This sounds like a movie."

"I know," he smiled as the clouds shifted over the moon. He stepped back in the shadows. "This is the only way I could think to make sure our daughter is born."

"What happens if they succeed in stopping us?"

"In eighteen years they’ll take over and eventually kill earth."

"And one little girl is going to stop it?"

"They can’t go against the rules, for lack of a better word."

"She kills Lantham?"

"She’ll have to before he kills her. She’s the warrior. The one from your dreams."

"You remember?" She smiled.

"I remember everything Liz."

"Can you tell me anything else?"

"No, that’s all I know. I left in the middle."

"Can you tell me something else? Are we happy? What do we do?"

"We are happy, very happy. We have a wonderful marriage. I’m not telling you anything else, you’ll choose your own path."

"Our parents?"

"Alive and well."

"Maria? Leia? Michael?"

"The Guerin/DeLuca household is still intact and they are fine."

"Isabel?"

"Isabel turns out good, she finds herself before she finds another true love."

"The Valenti’s? Kyle? Can you tell me if him and Morgan stay together? She makes him so happy."

"Man, you ask a lot of questions." He laughed. "Let’s just say she’s still keeping him on his toes."

"Thank you." Liz smiled knowing that her friends and family were going to be okay. "Things change if our daughter isn’t born, though. Right?"

"Right. She’s fading in front of us now, not as strong. They think they’re winning. They’re going to make it hard on you, but you have to. The fate of our world is riding on this."

"Is she okay? Does she know what’s going on?"

"She’s adapted, she knows what she has to do. You’ll be so proud of her."

Liz nodded and wanted to ask about the other framed picture from her dream, but decided against it. He was right, she didn’t need to know everything. "Should I tell you? I mean the Max I’m getting ready to marry?"

"I don’t think so, knowing me, I’ll freak out." He laughed. "Can you keep this to yourself or will you have to unload it on someone? Michael?"

"Why do you say him first and not Maria?"

"Oh, well, over the years you and Michael have acquired this unique relationship that none of the rest of us understand." He looked down and shook his head. "You’ll go to Michael, he’ll get you through this. I think right now Maria has her own issues to work out."

"Will she recover?"

"You know Maria, she’ll recover. I should go, I’m going back as soon as the sun begins to rise, back to time."

"Thank you," Liz wasn’t sure why she was thanking him but did none-the-less.

"Oh, one thing, before I go. There’s going to come a time when you get a new car and you’re going to love it. Try not to get too mad when I crush the front bumper, I swear it was an accident."

Liz opened her mouth to talk, but he was gone. She turned her headlights on and backed up scanning underneath the bleachers for Max; it was like he had disappeared. "Why me?" She asked the skies. "Why does everything always fall onto me?"

She took a deep breath and drove to the apartment. She let herself in and saw a note on the card table from Max. He was telling her he’d be home late, not to worry.

"Yeah, I bet you get home right around two," she clutched the letter against her chest. She wanted to keep it, to read it again and try to understand. She thought she’d also show it to Michael. Michael. So they stay friends. She went to the bedroom and hid the letter in between the pages of one of her old journals. She lay on the bed and closed her eyes. "So, this is how it turns out, huh? I’m going to get pregnant in a couple of months and my baby is going to save the world."

* * * * * *

"Is Maria alone tonight?" Max asked as Michael drove.

"No, I don’t want them alone until this is over. Morgan and Jim are there."

"Do they know what happened?"

"They haven’t been told directly, but I think they know. Jim said Kyle wanted to come home and help kick ass, he told him to stay put."

"That’s probably a good idea." Max nodded. "So, where to now?"

"Back to the bars, he said he had friends who told him we were looking for him." Michael nodded and pulled into a parking lot. "We’ll find him. I’ll end this."

Max got out of the car and followed Michael inside. They scanned the darkened bar and Michael immediately picked out the one man who turned away from them. He approached him and looked in his face.

"Where is he?" Michael breathed into his face.

"I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, man." The man stuttered.

"The guy who looks like me, says he’s my brother." Michael backed away so the man could get a good look at his face. "I remember you in here from the other night. Where is he?"

"He said he’d kill me if I told you," he whimpered.

"I’ll kill you if you don’t."

"Michael," max put a hand on his friend’s arm.

"Tell me." Michael demanded.

"He hasn’t been here yet tonight, I swear. He’s staying somewhere on the strip, one of those motels. I don’t know which one." He shook his head. "I swear. He usually gets here after midnight, oh God, don’t tell him I told you. He’ll kill me, he scares me."

"You should be scared," Michael stood up tall. "Get out of here, don’t come back." The man scurried away and was out the front door within seconds.

"Little harsh?"

"I wasn’t really going to kill him," Michael smiled out of the corner of his mouth. "Let’s wait."

"Inside?"

"No, the next parking lot over. We can see both the front and the back from there." Michael led the way and Max followed. Once that they were in position for the stakeout Michael let out a deep breath. "You don’t have to be here for this, Max, you know that. Right?"

"I know. I’ll stand with you Michael, always."

Michael nodded his appreciation and they waited. At twenty after midnight Michael saw Rath stroll across the street.

* * * * * *

Chapter Six

Michael was out of the car before Max saw Rath. He followed Michael as he pursued the hunted. Before Rath reached the door to the bar, Michael was on top of him. He grabbed his arms and dragged him around the back of the building.

"Yo!" Rath struggled. "What’s new boys?" He looked to Max. "Still a little bitch?"

Michael slammed him against the wall. "Shut up."

"What’s wrong Mikey?" Rath reached in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. "Mind if I smoke?"

"As a last request? Nah, I don’t mind." Michael let him light a cigarette. "Any last words?"

"Whatcha gonna do? Talk me to death?" Rath laughed.

Michael pulled his police issued gun from the back of his jeans and pressed it under Rath’s chin. "This doesn’t say too much. Just a few loud bangs every once in awhile."

Max stood to the side and watched for approaching headlights. A lone yellowed light shown down on Michael and Rath from the building casting a sickly glow upon them.

"Lay off Mikey," Rath’s bravado was slipping. "I’m out of here tomorrow. I’ll be out of your lives and I don’t think I’ll come back here, either. Not much fun."

"Oh," Michael snorted. "See, from what I can tell you’ve been having a blast around here. Killing innocent people and terrorizing my family."

"Your family?" He laughed. "I don’t think I was terrorizing anyone. I think your hunny finally found out what it’s like to have a real man."

Michael swung the gun back and smacked it against Rath’s temple. "Shut up!"

"Truth hurts, bro." Rath stood up straighter, the gun back under his chin. "So, little bitch," he looked in Max’s direction. "You gonna let the number two man do this to me?"

Max looked from Rath to Michael and he felt all of Michael’s hate and rage. "We’re equals, he does what he wants."

Michael knew Rath had been depending on Max to step in; he felt a shudder run through the gun when Rath knew he was screwed. "It’s over."

Rath bowed his head as one hand flew up and knocked the gun out of Michael’s grasp. It clattered on the cement and skittered under a Dumpster. Michael’s concentration broke long enough for Rath to grab him around the neck bringing the backside of him against his front. He whispered into his ear. "Who’s in control now?"

Michael felt a sting as Rath nicked his neck with a knife that appeared out of one of his many pockets. Michael looked to Max who had taken a step forward. The look to Max was obvious: stay away. Max took a step back and waited.

"So, little bitch, you going to try to help him out?" Rath called to Max.

Michael felt the knife move slightly away from his neck and acted on it. He grabbed Rath’s arm and flipped him over his shoulder. He landed flat on his back; knife still clutched in his hand. In a fluid movement, Michael grabbed the .22 from the ankle holster and trained it on Rath’s face. Rath smiled and stood up. He looked at Michael and ran his hand down his body. He changed his appearance and now Michael was pointing a gun at a mirror image of himself.

"Can you do it?" Rath taunted. "Can you shoot yourself?"

Michael swallowed hard; the gun wavered. It had thrown him he wasn’t expecting this. "Don’t move."

Rath grinned. "Maybe I’ll go pay another visit to your bitch. I think she really liked me. But that baby was a pain in my ass! All that screaming, I wanted to slap the shit out of her."

Michael tightened his grip and aimed at Rath’s face and pulled the trigger. Rath stumbled back; the knife fell to the ground with a flash off its metal blade. Michael fired again and Rath fell to the ground. Michael walked to him keeping the gun on him. Rath’s eyes were open, blinking. He focused on Michael; a smile crept across his face. Rath took his last breath and died.

Michael hovered over him, staring down at himself with two bullet holes in his head.

"This is what I’d look like," Michael said quietly as Max stood next to him. Max took the gun from him and led Michael a few feet away.

"We have to get rid of him," Max turned back to the body and stared. Seconds later, the body of Rath was enveloped in a blue flame. Max felt Michael next to him as they watched the body burn to ash.

Michael’s breath was shallow as he waved his arm over the ashes and they scattered in a sudden wind. He walked to the Dumpster getting down on his hands and knees retrieved his gun. He turned to Max and hugged him. "Thank you."

"It’s over now, Michael." Max clapped his back.

* * * * * *

Liz heard the door to the apartment open and looked at the clock, it was a few minutes before two in the morning. She smiled. She knew Max was trying not to wake her by not turning on anymore lights. When she heard him knock over a lawn chair, she giggled.

"I’m not asleep!" She called out. Max appeared in the doorway in a few seconds.

"So I see," he looked at her and smiled. "I’m going to go take a shower, I’ll be in a minute."

"Did you find him?"

"Yeah, we found him. It’s over Liz," he nodded solemnly as he left the room. Max stayed in the shower for twenty minutes, until he felt slightly clean again. He wrapped a towel around his waist and entered the bedroom. Liz was leaning against the headboard; the light on the nightstand next to her was on. "Hi."

"Hi." She smiled. She thought about the older Max she had met earlier. Max would always be Max; she grinned in spite of herself. She looked back to Max and found him staring at her. "Sorry."

"What are you smiling about?"

She shrugged. "I’m just happy to see you. Are you okay?"

"I’m okay. He’s gone." He sat next to her and took her hand. "He won’t be back."

"Oh. Can you tell me what happened?"

"We hunted him, we waited and then it was over. Michael shot him." Max shuddered involuntarily still picturing the image of Rath as Michael lying on the ground. "We disposed of him and it’s over. Maria never has to be afraid of him again. No one does."

"Oh my God," Liz brought her hand to her mouth.

"It wasn’t a bad thing Liz," he squeezed her hand. "It was for the best. He would have hurt again, killed again. If anyone but Michael and Valenti had found that body we all could have been found out. He’s one less thing to worry about."

"I know. I mean, I really know." Liz forced a smile. "It had to be done."

"Exactly," he lay down and wrapped his arm around her waist. "I wish it could have been different, but I didn’t see any other way. Neither did Michael."

"How is he?"

"He’s dealing. When he shot Rath, he was in Michael form, though. Keep that to yourself, I don’t think he wants Maria to know."

"Oh God!" She exclaimed. "I can’t imagine anything worse."

"I don’t want to talk about it anymore, okay?" He kissed her stomach through the thin fabric of her nightgown. He pulled the nightgown up and met her flesh with his lips.

"I love you Max," she whispered and skid down next to him. She helped him slip her nightgown over her head, then slid down her panties. Max undid the towel around his waist and pressed himself against her cool body. She ran her hands through his hair, arching her back crushing herself into him. She didn’t want any space between them.

He straddled her bending down to taste her skin. Suckling her nipples, as they grew hard, he entered her and smiled as a small moan escaped her mouth.

He moved so slowly at first, wanting the moment to never end, he savored the way her body swallowed him and held him tight inside. This is where he felt safe; this is where he longed to be. He could feel her love for him soaking into his pores. This was utopia and Max Evans never wanted to leave it.

"When I’m inside of you I feel like nothing can hurt us, nothing can ever break us apart," he twirled a strand of her hair in his fingers. "I can’t even begin to tell you how I feel. Saying I love you just doesn’t seem like enough."

Liz smiled. She knew he’d always love her. She knew they’d stay together and have a family. Their fate was sealed and it filled her with her emotion. Hearing from the future rocked her at first, but now, as Max was on top of her, knowing that they’d always be together, everything was good.

* * * * * *

Michael sat in the Tempo down the street from his house. He had thrown up twice after taking Max home. He was sweating, his shirt sticking to his skin. He had just killed someone who the duplicate of him. He didn’t feel like part of him had died and he knew that was good. He didn’t feel remorse for killing Rath; he hadn’t deserved to live. Michael rested his head on the steering wheel. It was the image of Rath on the ground; two bullet holes in his face, looking exactly like Michael. If he had been dressed in leather and body piercings, Michael was pretty sure it wouldn’t be so heavy on his brain. The image was burned into Michael’s memory and he wondered if it’s ever go away. Taking a deep breath and wiping the sweat from his eyes, he drove up the street and into the driveway. Jim’s truck and Morgan’s Bug were in front. He turned the car off and got out. He made his descent up the steps and pushed open the front door. Maria and Morgan were both on the couch, asleep. Jim was in an easy chair, Leia asleep on his chest. Jim looked to Michael and knew what he had done.

Jim nodded and got up with Leia. He lay her down in the playpen and motioned Michael back outside. Michael followed obediently.

"You found him." Jim stated instead of asking.

"Yeah. It’s over."

"How?"

"I shot him," Michael pulled up his pants leg exposing the .22 in the holster. "With this."

"You order that?"

"Yeah," Michael nodded.

"Where is he?"

"Dust in the wind." Michael laughed harshly. "He’s gone, no trace of him left anywhere."

"You going to be okay?"

"After what he did to Maria, dust isn’t good enough for him." Michael shook his head. "When I said I’d kill for Maria and Leia, I meant it."

"I know son," Jim put his arm around Michael’s shoulder. "You’ll be okay. It might take awhile, but you’ll get over this and you’ll move on. Just like Maria. You’ll take care of each other." He motioned to the door. "She needs you as much as you need her right now. C’mon, let’s wake up Morgan. You need some time alone with Maria."

Jim led the way back inside. He gently shook Morgan’s arm and her eyes flew open. She stared at Michael and then at Jim. She understood. She gathered her things and followed Jim outside after pausing to give Michael a brief hug.

Michael sat next to Maria on the couch and watched her sleep. Her chest rising and falling, she looked so peaceful he hated to wake her; but Jim was right he needed her right now as much as she needed him. He kissed her cheek and watched her sleepy eyes open. She focused on his face and smiled. She draped her arms over his shoulders and met his eyes with hers.

"Hi."

"Hi," he smiled and leaned in kissing her. "It’s over, baby, all over."

"He’s gone?"

"He’s gone and he’s not coming back, I promise. No one will ever hurt my family again." He buried his face in her hair and cried.

* * * * * *

Liz woke up before the alarm went off, she looked at Max sleeping soundly next to her and beamed. Seeing another version of a future Max, well, not really seeing, but hearing him was making her smile. She knew for sure, after everything they’d been through together, all the heart ache and pain that they really were going to live happily ever after. Nothing was going to come in between them now. At least for not for eight-teen years and only then if they don’t conceive on their wedding night. If that happens then it's the end for everyone. She had never felt so strong and confident of their relationship. They were no longer the star-crossed lovers who couldn’t be together for all kinds of reason. They were together and together they were going to stay. She grimaced and thought about all these evil forces that were going to try to thwart their wedding night that he warned her about. Evil forces? She shook her head, she knew she lived in a sci-fi kind of world, but enough with the evil forces.

Tess. The name came at her like a ton of bricks. She shuddered as she felt the burning on her leg. She looked down; the letters were blazing red.

"Go to hell," she whispered. "I beat you once you bitch, I can do it again. I’ll never let you win."

Max rolled over and looked up at her. "Who are you talking to?"

She covered her burning leg with her hand and smiled at him. "No one Max, no one at all."

He rolled over on his stomach, propping himself up on his elbows and looked at her hand covering her brand. "Hurt again, baby?"

She nodded and looked down, horrified to see blood trickling out from underneath her palm. "Oh God!" She lifted her hand. Each letter was bleeding as if newly cut. "Oh…"

"Shit," Max reached down and picked up his towel from the shower last night and pressed it to her leg. "What happened?"

"I was thinking about-" She broke off. Can’t tell Max about the future. "I don’t know, how happy we are and how nothing can come between us now and it was burning."

He kept his palm flat against the towel. "I won’t try to heal it, because I know it won’t work. But I will hold the towel here until it quits bleeding, that okay?"

* * * * * *

Chapter Seven

In the two weeks since Liz had gotten the letter from the new future Max, she had read it at least a dozen times. Nearly getting caught by Max on several occasions. She had wanted to talk to Michael about it, Max had been right, but wanted to wait until things began to get back to normal with Maria. Liz chided herself in not wanting to discuss it with her best friend first. Sometimes it seemed easier to talk about all the otherworldly things with Michael.

There was only six weeks left until the wedding and she was still busy making simple and inexpensive plans while school and work were wearing her down. All their friends had been helping as much as they could except they all had lives of their own, too. Morgan had been such a big help to her; she’d voluntarily taken a few of Liz’s shifts at work and even offered to make a few phone calls for her stating she didn’t have much of a social life since Kyle was at school.

"Max," Liz entered the living room and found him lounging on the floor watching TV. He looked up at her expectantly; he knew the tone. "I was wondering. Do you think there is anyway that we can have Morgan in our wedding?"

"As what?"

"I don’t know, she’s just been such a big help to me and I do really like her."

"Yeah, I know. But don’t go making special arrangements to try to squeeze her in. You never know, her and Kyle might not even be together after next week."

"Oh, they will be," she smiled to herself. "Okay, never mind. It was worth a shot."

"So, are your maid of honor and bridesmaid speaking yet?"

"Oh, no. That would be too easy wouldn’t it?" Liz rolled her eyes and went back to the bedroom to read the letter again. After Max went to work that afternoon she’d call Michael and see if he could meet her.

* * * * * *

"Oh my God," Maria opened the door. "Michael’s not here, he’s at work." She started to close the door but Isabel held it open with her hand. "Let me shut the door, please."

"You know I came here to talk to you, will you let me in?" Isabel tried to keep her temper under control but sometimes with Maria it was so hard. Maria rolled her eyes and opened the door. Isabel breezed by her and sat on the couch. "You have to talk to me."

"Fine, talk." Maria stood, arms folded over her chest.

"Sit down and talk to me, don’t act like a five year old."

Maria bit her lip and sat on the other end of the couch. "Better?"

"Much. Now I know you’re pissed-"

"Oh yeah."

"Don’t interrupt. I’m sorry, okay? I never meant to break your confidence, but I felt I had to. Not only for you, but also for Michael. He had to know what was going on. You weren’t being fair to him. He was crazy. You have no idea about the things there were running through his mind." Isabel stated. "If there was any way that I thought I could have gotten around telling him, I would have."

"You barely waited until I was out of the room."

"I know, and I apologize for that." Isabel shook her head. "In case you haven’t noticed, sometimes I’m a little blunt."

"No." Maria said sarcastically.

"I’m sorry, Maria. I would never intentionally make you mad at me. As much as I didn’t like you when we really met, I do like you now. You’re part of my life, no matter what because you’re part of Michael’s." She glanced to the empty playpen. "Where’s Leia?"

"Sleeping in her room."

"All that time I spent over here, I really enjoyed."

"Why, because I was comatose in the other room?"

"No," Isabel sighed. "I love Leia and I loved watching her. I miss her."

"She likes you, the way she plays with your hair; she doesn’t do that to anyone else except me." Maria fought a smile. "You’re good with her, I never worried."

"She’s part of my dysfunctional family." She shrugged. "We’re all part of this family and we always will be. I don’t want you to be mad at me, not only because I actually do feel a smidgen of guilt, but because it makes everyone else’s lives easier if we’re back to being friends."

"Okay," she sighed. "Truce. We’ll make nice again."

"Good," Isabel relaxed.

"And," Maria cleared her throat. "You were right. I should have told Michael right away and I might never have. Thank you."

"Whoa. Didn’t see that coming," she beamed. "Now, I want to talk to you about something else."

"Great."

"This isn’t bad, relax. All those hours I logged sitting on this couch, when I wasn’t drooling over pre-grungy Johnny Depp, I was writing."

"Writing what?"

"A story. A story about a little girl with special powers."

"Leia?"

"Well, yeah, she was my muse. Anyway, I wanted you to read it and tell me what you think."

"I didn’t know you were a writer."

"Me either. Would you mind reading it and telling me what you think? Personally, I think it would make a great children’s book."

"You’re not going back to school, are you?"

"I don’t know yet." She shrugged. "Now, here’s the other thing. All that I time I spent with Leia, I was kind of trying to teach her."

"Teach her what?" She asked skeptically.

"In a very informal way, about the powers." Isabel explained the process she had been trying to teach Leia about when to use and when not to use the powers.

"Do you think she understood? Because I still see stuff flying fairly often."

"When I was here she seemed to understand," Isabel glanced at Maria’s expression. "I think she understood me. I know she’s young, but she’s so intelligent."

"I know," Maria flashed briefly on Leia being able to tell the difference between her daddy and Rath.

"Would you mind if I continued to work with her?" She asked hesitantly. "I just think I can help, you know."

"Of course," Maria smiled. "Please!"

"Good, now on to something else. I was talking to Kyle the on the phone the other day and he came up with a great wedding present that can be from all of us."

* * * * * *

Liz watched Max get ready for work; she loved watching him tie his ties in the mirror, he looked so handsome. She wondered if he stayed in the Insurance business or not. She kissed him good bye and waited a few minutes before calling the Sheriff’s Department. Surprised when Michael answered.

"Michael, hi."

"Liz."

"I need a favor," she took an audible breath. "When you get off work, can you come over? I really need to talk to you."

"Please tell me this isn’t another end of the world problem," his smiled bled through the phone.

"Aren’t they all?"

Liz waited and made sandwiches. She waited in silence until she heard footsteps in the hallway. Opening the door, she surprised Michael whose hand was already raised ready to knock. "Come in."

He sat at the card table and looked at the food in front of him. "And you’re going to feed me? This is serious."

"I just thought you might be hungry." Liz answered and smiled when he picked up a sandwich. She sat across from him and took a deep breath. "Do you remember when I told you I had a visitor a couple of years ago?"

"You’ve got to be kidding me." He set the sandwich down and stared at her. "I swear, if you tell me he came back from the future again…"

"He came back." She shrugged. "I know it sounds impossible, but a couple of weeks ago, actually it was the night that you and Max found Rath, I left work and found a letter taped to the steering wheel."

"Doesn’t your boyfriend have anything better to do in the future except come and visit you?" He smiled.

"I don’t know. It wasn’t really as bad this time," she handed him the letter across the table. "Here, you read."

Michael opened the letter and read. When he was done he looked at Liz, his eyebrows raised. "So, you have to get knocked up on the wedding night, huh?"

"Yeah, crazy, huh?"

"Yeah Liz, real fucking crazy. Why did you come to me about this? Why not Maria?"

"Well, that’s interesting too. When I talked to him-"

"You saw him, too?"

"Not really, he stayed in the shadows. Said he didn’t want me to know everything about the future." She shrugged. "So I asked him if I should tell his present self and he said no that he’d freak out."

"He got that right!" Michael laughed.

"So, he said I’ll go to you. He said throughout the years that you and I have a ‘unique relationship’. I think we already have that, but he said no one quite understands it."

"Okay, so in order for this great warrior to be born and stop a war on Earth in eighteen years, you have to conceive on your wedding night. The future baddies know that’s when the warrior is conceived and they’re going to try to prevent it. No warrior, they rule and eventually kill off Earth. Lantham is the supposed heir and Khivar controls him. The only thing that can change that is your daughter, she actually has to kill Lantham and claim the throne that is rightfully hers. Right?"

"In a nutshell, yeah, I think."

"So blood has to kill blood." He leaned back in the lawn chair. "Like ‘Friday the 13th: The Final Friday’, Jason had to be killed by a blood relative for him really to die. I think I get it."

"Great. So what do you think?"

"I think there’s going to be a war brought down here and your daughter is going to save the world," he nodded as if this was an everyday conversation and not one about saving the future world. "Sounds pretty clear to me. All you gotta do is make sure you get pregnant."

"I told him I was on the pill and he said it would fail. Forces are working against the conception."

"Any idea’s how they’re going to try?"

Liz stood and unzipped her jeans avoiding Michael’s confused expression. She pulled them down far enough to expose the word on her thigh; the letters were still blood red.

"Holy shit," Michael leaned forward to get a better look. "I thought it was going away."

"Yeah kind of, until the other night. Now it burns all the time and it bled."

"Well, you’ll just have to take it one step at a time. Apparently Max thought it was important enough to come back to tell you. Did he tell you how he came back, by chance?"

"Granilith. He said he spent years leaning about it."

"I knew he’d turn out to be a dork," Michael leaned forward resting his elbows on the table. "Did he happen to mention me?"

"I asked," Liz blushed. "He wouldn’t tell me much about anything personal. He just said that the Guerin/DeLuca household was intact and fine."

Michael grinned. "Thanks for asking."

"We both already knew the answer to that, though. So, do you think I have anything to worry about?"

"No, we’ll make sure you get yourself some." He laughed and ducked, narrowly missing a pen she threw at him.

* * * * * *

Maria was waiting for Michael when he got home from Liz’s. She was dressed in a new cream slip nightgown. She extended her arms to him and smiled at his shocked expression.

"Hi," he kissed her then looked around her. "Where’s Leia?"

"Staying at my mom’s tonight," she smiled coyly. "That okay with you?"

"Oh yeah," he undid his utility belt and draped it over the back of the couch; he unbuttoned his shirt and threw it along with his undershirt to the floor. He smiled and bent down to unlace his boots. When he stood back up, her hands were unfastening his pants. "Are you okay with this?"

"I’m more than okay," she whispered looking into his eyes as she let his pants fall. He stepped out of them and scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bedroom and laid her gently on the bed. He stood and looked at her, a dim glow from the streetlight filtered in the window casting her in shadows. He fell in love with her all over again.

She slipped the nightgown over her head, laying it down in back of her. She opened her arms to him and welcomed him to her.

"I’ve missed you so much," she whispered in his ear. "It’s been so long."

"I know how long its been," he kissed her cheek. "There’s no rush, I can wait if you’re not ready."

"I’m ready, Michael." She gazed at him.

He swept strands of hair away from her face, stroking her cheek. Running a finger over her lips he stared into her eyes, sinking into her. "I’ll never let you go, Maria. I’d be lost without you. I was lost without you."

"I’ll never leave," a stray tear rolled down the side of her eye and into her hair.

Michael lowered his head kissing down the smoothness of her stretched neck to her shoulder. Going down further, kissing her breasts, his mouth covering her nipples. She ran her hands through his hair and smiled. His mouth journeyed down her silky smooth skin, over the concave of her stomach. He looked up her through the tops of his eyes. Their eyes met and no words were needed.

He parted her legs and kissed the inside of her thighs. His tongue traced her bikini line before he kissed skin back up to her mouth, crushing his against hers. He rose above her, without breaking eye contact plunged himself inside her. She grabbed his biceps and moaned, so soft, so feminine. He rested on one elbow and moved slowly inside of her, feeling every muscle, every texture of her. She caressed his cheeks, feeling the roughness of a full day’s growth. Craning her neck up, she lavished his neck with her mouth.

He moved so slowly almost as if he was afraid he was going to break her. Her hands rested on his ass and pulled him inside of her further. Each time he pulled back from her, she brought him in faster and harder, their pelvic bones crashing into each other.

She placed her hands back on his biceps and halted him. He looked at her and smiled. Lying flat on top of her, he embraced her, his arms holding each other under her. In a graceful movement, he rolled them over landing Maria on top. She bent down and kissed him, their tongues melting into one another. She leaned back up and rocked back and forth on him, her back arched hands on top of her head lifting her hair and letting it fall.

Michael looked at her as she felt the vibrations rolling through his legs. She lay down on top of him and smothered him, his arms splayed at his side, clutching the covers underneath him.

"I’ve really missed you," he whispered as she rose off and curled up next to him. He tilted his head and kissed her hair. She leaned up to him and met his lips for a chaste kiss. "I love you, Maria."

"I know," she smiled and burrowed down next to him.

* * * * * *

Chapter Eight

Preparations had being made, Liz had found a dress of Ivory lace; her bridesmaids would be in lavender. Different styles, but the same color. Max had his tux picked out and after much arguing was voted down on tails. Michael was fitted for his tux and Kyle had come in town a few weeks prior for his fitting. Diane Evans and Nancy Parker had their dresses ready to go.

"I can’t believe you are going to finally marry Max Evans!" Maria hugged her friend. "I mean, it’s tomorrow. Are you nervous?"

"Yeah," Liz nodded slightly. Her nerves weren’t coming from the impending nuptials, but for the night that followed them. "But it’s all good."

"Of course it is!" Maria laughed. "I don’t think Michael and I will ever get married. I don’t think we’re the marrying type."

"I bet your right," she smiled and wondered if she should tell her about the small part of the future that she knows. No, she decided, it was best to keep that between her and Michael. She was relieved to know that Michael didn’t spill anything. "So," she turned around and faced Maria. "What do you think?"

Maria took a step back and admired her. The long flowing Chantilly lace gown dusted the ground, a very short train in back. Cream ballerina slippers graced her feet. "I think you look beautiful. Max is so lucky."

"I think so," she turned to the full-length mirror in the bedroom. "I’m lucky too." She studied her reflection for a moment and noticed something on the front of her. Red was seeping through the dress. "Oh, no!" She pulled the dress up and watched as blood ran from her brand, staining the fabric. She turned to Maria, tears rolling down her face.

"Shit!" Maria rushed to her and bent down, gathering the rest of the gown in her arms. She pulled the lace up to Liz’s waist with one hand, while unzipping the dress with the other. "Shit!" She collected the gown and pulled it over Liz’s head leaving her standing in her underwear, shivering. Maria bolted from the room and into the bathroom. She filled the sink with cold water and Woolite and set the ruined fabric in the basin. She dried her hands and went back to the bedroom. Liz was still standing, her arms clutched over her naked chest. Drops of blood stained the toe shoes. "Liz?"

Liz shook her head. "Is it ruined?"

"Sweetie, I don’t know. Maybe it’s not as bad as it looked." Maria rummaged around in the bureau and found a T-shirt. She held it up and Liz put her hands above her head. "I feel like I’m dressing Leia."

"It’s ruined," Liz felt the gooseflesh on her arms. "I’m getting married tomorrow and I don’t have a dress."

"I’ll go see," Maria trudged off to the bathroom and brought the soiled part of the fabric out from under the bubbles. It was still as red as before. Nothing had come out. It was as if it was permanently stained. "Shit." She came back to the bedroom and sat on the bed. "Lizzie, it’s not coming out."

"I knew it wouldn’t." She looked to the blood on her thigh. It had it had stopped bleeding and now stained her skin.

"Well, we have to get you a new dress," Maria put her hand on her hips. She glanced at the clock radio on the nightstand. "We have twenty hours. That is more than enough time to find you a new dress."

"It took me a month to find that one."

"I don’t care," she reached for her friend’s hand. "C’mon, get up. We must shop."

In spite of the disaster, Liz smiled. Maria had the determined look in her eye; she wouldn’t rest until there was a new dress.

"Is Isabel with Leia?"

"Yeah, let me call her and tell her I have no idea when I’ll be home."

Liz smiled appreciatively.

* * * * *

Max stood in front of the full-length mirror in the tuxedo rental shop. Michael and Kyle were on either side of him.

"I feel so…" Max looked at his reflection.

"James Bond?" Kyle asked.

"Penguin?" from Michael.

"Bruce Wayne?"

"The Penguin," Michael smiled emphasizing ‘the’.

"Thank you," Max rolled his eyes. "I was going more for nervous."

"Oh," Kyle and Michael said together and laughed.

"So, why are you so nervous?" Kyle asked. "I mean, it’s Liz. It’s not like you met her two weeks ago. This is just all the bullshit that you have to get out of the way so you can move on."

"I know," Max sighed and turned to look at them. "I don’t know what’s wrong. I have knots in my stomach, I feel like I’m going to throw up, my hands are shaking."

"Nerves," Michael nodded. "You’ll be fine. Once you see her in that dress nothing else will matter."

"You’ve seen it?" Max cocked his head to one side.

"Well, yeah. I’m not marrying her, it’s allowed."

"Yeah, me too. She looks beautiful," Kyle grinned.

"Do you think she’s as nervous as I am?"

"More so, I’m sure." Michael nodded. So much more because she knows what has to be accomplished. His pager went off and his shoulders sank; he had three days off in a row and so didn’t feel like having to work. He smiled when he saw Max’s number. Must be Maria. He took his cell phone out of his back pocket and called.

"Michael!" Maria sounded panicked.

"What’s wrong?" He asked and got the attention of both Max and Kyle.

"Liz," she spoke softer. "She’s in the shower right now. She was trying on her dress and that hideous name on her leg started bleeding. For no reason! Soaked through the dress and ruined it."

"Oh, no." Michael avoided Max’s questioning eyes. Evil forces at work. Shit. "What are you going to do?"

"Go shopping. We’ll come up with something by tomorrow. I just wanted to let you know that I was going to be late. Isabel said she’ll stay with Leia until one of us gets home."

"Okay, good luck." He turned the phone off and looked to his friends.

"What’s going on?" Max couldn’t hide the nervousness in his voice.

"It’s fixable." He nodded. "Slight accident with the dress."

"What kind of accident?" Kyle asked.

"Her scar started bleeding and ruined the dress." Michael watched as the color drained from Max’s face. "It’s getting taken care of Maxwell, don’t worry. Everything’s going to go without a hitch." Right.

* * * * * *

By nine o’clock that night Liz Parker had found another dress. She didn’t like it as much as the other one, but it would work out just fine. Her and Maria had hit every store and eventually found the dress in Artesia, about forty miles away. It was laying in the backseat of the Jetta in a plastic bag. New slippers were next to it.

"I can’t thank you enough for helping me," Liz smiled and looked at the credit card bill again. "It wasn’t that expensive. My mom shouldn’t freak out too much when she gets the bill."

"You’re still staying over tonight, right?"

"I guess," she looked down. More than anything, she wanted to see Max and be with him tonight. They had made the decision awhile back that one of them would stay elsewhere the night before the wedding.

"God, don’t sound so thrilled about it."

Liz smiled; she was thrilled she was getting married to the man of her dreams in the morning. She was thrilled that she had good friends and a loving family. She was thrilled that she knew her future turns out okay. She wasn’t thrilled about facing a night where there were no rules. By this time tomorrow, everything will be behind them. The info