PART 3

When Maria woke a few hours later she was disoriented by the amount of light. Usually she was out of her place and to work before the sun came up, but today she was having a lazy day. The weight pinning her down finally forced her to open her eyes and look. It was Michael’s arm across her body, his head sharing her pillow, and the fact he literally took up almost all of her king sized bed sprawled across it in abandon, made her smile. Stretching and trying not to wake him, she slowly and gently removed herself from under him, and sat on the side of the bed. Reaching for his discarded shirt, she turned off the alarm, and got up. After showering and dressing, Maria picked up his clothing and piled it together in a chair, draping his shoulder holster and gun across the headboard close to him.

On her way downstairs, she looked at him one more time taking in how dead he seemed to the world, how tired. Grabbing the phone while making coffee, she quickly dialed Valenti’s office and increased the amount of coffee she made to leave some for both Michael when he woke up and Sean when he came home. Buttering her bagel and searching the refrigerator for yogurt and fresh preserves she listened to the phone connect to Jim’s office.

“Valenti.” Maria frowned at the anger and sound of Jim’s voice.

“Jim, it’s Maria.” Maria gulped quickly the mouthful of bagel, pouring herself the coffee, and trying to talk at the same time.

“Maria!” She smiled at the warmth in his tone, but it was still subdued. Jim was an easy man to like. He was firm, tough and honest, and literally putty in the hands of her mom. “Are you okay? Did you need something?”

Maria laughed. “I’m fine, actually really fine! Listen, your Detective Guerin stopped by late last night to bring me my Jetta from the University, and he didn’t look in very good shape, so I had him spend the night.” Maria heard the silence on the other end, and before Jim could comment, she quickly finished. “Anyway, I’m on my way out the door, and he’s still sleeping, and Sean isn’t home yet, so I wanted to set an alarm to wake him, and what time would that be?”

“Guerin? Guerin is asleep at your house?” Maria just rolled her eyes at his tone, and quickly looked at the clock. Damn, she needed to get going ten minutes ago! “Um, Maria, honey, I don’t think...”

“Jim, just give me a time that he needs to be in, okay? I’m so late already, and need to leave.”

“Well, he’s scheduled to be back by ten thirty this morning, but...”

Maria smiled as did the calculations quickly in her head. So he needed to be up and out of her apartment no later than ten to make it to work, and quarter to ten to stop at his place for fresh clothes, so if she set the alarm for nine fifteen he could get up, shower, and have some coffee and breakfast before needing to leave. “Thanks, Jim.” Maria quickly hung up the phone on a sputtering Valenti and grabbed a piece of paper to leave Michael a note.

Running upstairs, leaving the note where he could find it, setting the alarm, and gently brushing the hair from his forehead, she bent down and softly kissed his lips before running out of the loft. As she headed for the door with her coffee, book bag, and papers in hand, Maria stopped in her tracks. With a huge smile she reversed course to go out the side door in the kitchen into the garage. Michael moved around in his sleep at the sound of the not so quiet engine of the GTO kicking to life and leaving the garage. The driver was gunning it, and took off down the street at a not so legal speed.

Maria sang happily on her way to the University, loving the smell of the interior, the feel of the conditioned leather, and the look of the soft trim of buckskin heading with the nice pleats. It wasn’t until she was almost to the University that she noticed her speed and quickly realized she should back it off before she picked up a cop needing his morning quota of speeders. But she quickly shrugged off the thought, she was in too good of a mood. The feel of a powerful raging machine under her hands just felt too good to give up. In truth she would love to be riding a different type of powerful raging machine...but he looked so tired!

Maria chuckled to herself, thinking of his reaction if she asked him to fix a speeding ticket for her, what acts and promises she would have to seduce and bribe him with, to get him to do that one little favor for her. Maria completely ignored the fact that she could easily get Sean, Kyle or even Jim to fix a speeding ticket without having to promise sexual compensation, but what was the fun in that?

Dianne turned on her way to the History building from the staff parking lot that was between the Anthropology and History buildings. The speeding GTO was a sight to see, a brush into the past. A happily singing Maria whizzed by to whip into her assigned parking spot.

“Someone looks happy.” Maria turned at the sound of Dianne’s voice and smiled at her friend. “So you want to share some of whatever you’re taking?”

“Sorry, this is something I refuse to share, but if it makes you happy I’ll bring you over a cup of coffee later?” Dianne just snorted at the offer making Maria’s smile even wider.

“The rot gut that destroyed Roswell? Thanks, but no. So come on Maria, what's putting that smile on your face and making you shift uncomfortably on your feet?” Dianne’s eyes narrowed as she spied a mark just barely concealed on Maria’s neck, the darker lips, and the moving around. “Dammit, you did it! You did the totally delectable, totally f*ckable Detective Sweetie!”

“Um, I need to get to my office, so why don’t we...” Maria tried to head off towards her building, but Dianne wouldn’t have it.

“No you don’t missy! We’re talking the dirt, girlygirl, and I’m buying the coffee. I think we’re showcasing Crème Brulle as the coffee of the day stolen from the English Department.” Dianne dragged Maria with her toward the History Building.

It was a while later that Maria finally emerged to go to her office leaving a hot and bothered Dianne fanning herself. Maria just laughed. It was a good thing she didn’t go into any great detail or they’d have needed to call the fire station to come hose Dianne down. They never got past the guessing:

"Ten minutes?"

"Nope."

"Half an hour? A man can do a lot in half an hour!"

"No."

"Oh my god, not an hour?"

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"Longer."

Dianne almost fainted. Ever since Max teased them when leaving the day before, Dianne was a helpless victim of curiosity.

"How was he?”

Maria couldn’t believe Dianne asked that. How was he? He was...Oh boy, he was... Maria stopped on her way down the stairs to the basement. He was raw, cut, without enhancement... Oh god! Latex free, and ala naturale' ! Oh man! Stupid! STUPID!!!

Maria rushed the rest of the way to her office, opening the door and quickly tossing her bags and stuff down in a heap. Grabbing her desk calendar, she flipped back counting the days from the last circled entry. Three days until her next cycle, so that gave her four days on the inside of safe infertility.

Reaching for the phone in relief, Maria called asking someone to please bring her a coffee, and then reaching into her bag, she called her doctor’s office asking them to call in a birth control pill prescription for her. She never bothered to renew them last time, since she was on a sexual hiatus induced by excessive work, stress, and no interesting men in sight. Since her last physical was only six months old, all she had to do was stop at the pharmacy to pick up her prescription.

Maria looked up to see Tess entering the door with a cup of monkeybrain coffee and a paper under her arm. Grabbing some hard cash, and the ten Michael gave her the day before for cussing a blue streak, Maria stood up. “Thank god, Tess! Here’s some cash. I need you run down to the Eckerd’s Drug and pick up my prescription and a box, a huge box of extra large, extra strong, extra protective, durable condoms with the extra spermicide--ribbed if possible and...” Maria said in a muffled tone as she dug in her bag for more money, “ you know you can’t be too careful, so get me some spermicidal gel too, you know the contraceptive type they use with diaphragms, largest tube possible and...”

Maria paused and looked up when Tess didn’t make a sound. The young woman was sheet white, trembling, and swaying on her feet. Tossing the money on the desk with her bag, Maria quickly rounded the desk and grabbed her, holding her firmly, while looking around for a place for her to sit. Giving up, she kicked the stacks of books off a chair and maneuvered Tess into it. “Tess?” Maria was worried. Tess wasn’t talking, and tears were welling up in her eyes.

Maria put the coffee down behind her on the desk, and took the paper that Tess was holding out to her. Leaning back, Maria opened the paper and saw the headline, “Three Officers Down in Drug Bust.”

Maria felt her heart sink as she quickly scanned the story. It was Michael’s bust from last night, the something that went wrong. But it was the information that one officer was declared dead at the scene, and the remaining two were transported to the hospital and were in critical condition--Detective Kyle Valenti’s name jumped off the page, choking Maria and making her look sharply at Tess.

Kyle and Tess knew each other very well, and when Jack Hardy was still alive they used to go everywhere together. But after Jack died, Kyle couldn’t stop blaming himself for Jack’s death so he avoided Tess like the plague. It had been a hard lonely year for both Kyle and Tess, losing Jack and each other’s friendship. Dammit, no wonder Jim’s voice had sounded so different this morning!

“Tess, let me call the hospital and see if there's any news.” Maria reached behind her and took the coffee and handed it back to Tess. “Here, you drink this. I think you need it more than I do.”

Maria reached over and grabbed the phone to make a few phone calls. Keeping an eye on Tess, she talked to the ICU clerk and asked to be transferred to the nurse taking care of Kyle. Normally it would have been hard to get information, but Maria told them she was his stepsister, and wanted to know how he was and if he had a comfortable night. After talking for a while, Maria got the information and visiting hours. Hanging up she settled back and watched Tess for a few moments. The young woman looked shell-shocked.

“Tess?” Maria knelt down beside her lifting her head and looking in her eyes. “We need to go, Tess. Kyle is waiting for us.” Maria slowly got to her feet and grabbed her purse, leading Tess out of her office stopping to lock the door. They stopped to get Tess’s things and leave a message with the secretary to have her classes cancelled for the day.

In the car over to the hospital, Tess was silent. When she finally spoke it was so soft that Maria hardly heard it. “I can’t lose him too. I can’t.”

Maria frowned at the road, and tried to keep the trembling out of her hands as she drove. Kyle was a wonderful man, funny and kind, but somehow he retained that sense of a young man with horrible humor and carefree attitude. He was still in critical condition. They only had him in surgery last night for an hour, but he lost so much blood and shock was a problem. According to the nurse, he had taken a bullet through the shoulder, ripping through arteries and nerves and tearing away muscle. The bullet had come too close to his lungs and heart, and despite being out of surgery fast, his time in the recovery room was over eight hours before he was stable enough to transfer to the ICU.

Maria wasn’t surprised to see Jim at the hospital, and other members of the PD. “Jim?” He turned to see Maria and stopped at the sight of Tess. He hadn’t seen Tess since the day they buried Jack Hardy, and Jim felt bad that he hadn’t checked on the young widow. From the look of her, as she was twisted a Kleenex in her hands, this wasn’t easy for her. Tess stopped and looked into the ICU without entering. It was the same place she sat waiting with Kyle for Jack to come out of surgery and recovery, but he never made it that far.

“Maria.” Jim reached over and kissed her on the cheek, and then took Tess in his arms in a strong hug. He looked at Maria over Tess’s head, and they both seemed to share a common understanding. Tess needed to see Kyle immediately. Jim nodded and led Tess into the ICU room where Kyle was sleeping. Maria followed slowly, waiting and watching from the doorway, as Tess approached the bed, took his hand and then sat at the chair beside the bed and cried.

Looking up from the pillow he knew immediately that he was alone, and a quick glance at the clock told him it was just after nine. Rolling over onto his back, his eyes spied a white piece of paper on the pillow next to him. Grabbing it and lying back, Michael read Maria’s note:
“Michael, according to your Captain you’re to get your worthless butt to work by ten thirty. There’s coffee in the kitchen and food. Feed my cat. This time you get off lucky. Next time I’ll have you arrest yourself for breaking and entering. Maria.”

Michael smirked and looked over noticing his clothes, and his hanging holster. He had taken it off last night walking up the stairs and had dropped it on the floor by the bed when he sat down.

Maria pissed him off last night. When he got to her place he needed to see her. Didn’t know why, just did. So he used the house key on the chain with the car keys to open her door. The house had been quiet, and feeling stupid for even thinking about waking her, he went to get a beer from the refrigerator .

Her voice stopped him before he ever opened the door. “Don’t take the last piece of chicken.”

That pissed him off. Not the chicken, but that she would just say that to an unknown perpetrator, instead of being quiet, hiding, calling 911, or arming herself, she tells them to leave her chicken alone and goes back to sleep. Her fearlessness and reckless devil-may-care attitude pissed him off. Didn’t she understand how devastated people in her life would be if she was murdered in her bed, or physically harmed or raped? Instead, she calmly turned over and went back to sleep. The woman was scary and a menace!

It changed. Something altered from the moment she opened an eye and looked at him, and then told him to leave her alone and come to bed. Everything changed. His life skewed, went off kilter. Or maybe it finally righted itself, he didn’t know. All he knew was her hands on his body, her voice gentle and nonspecific, and the smell of her as he lay across her body, her hands rubbing his back, gentling him to sleep and letting him forget and find rest.

Michael didn’t even want to think about what happened hours later in the early morning, not at that moment. When he finally dissected the scenes of making love to Maria, he wanted to be alone, have lots of time and a beer--and possibly Maria somewhere close by. He needed to get up and go to the hospital on his way to work, but first he needed to call Maxwell and tell him where to pick him up. It was the sound of the door opening below that pulled him out of his thoughts. Not even pausing, he reached for his gun and flipped off the safety standing to train his gun directly at the muzzle of Sean DeLuca’s similarly aimed gun.

The two men stood frozen in time in a Mexican stand-off, neither backing off. Michael realized what it must look like to Sean seeing him roll out of Maria’s bed nude, and in truth, it was what it was. What he saw in Sean’s eyes made him sweat. The man was fingering the trigger, thinking, really thinking about shooting him. Finally Michael released the hammer of his gun, turned it over, and raised his hands, moving his head to the side with his eyebrow raising in question, as if to say, "Whatch'a gonna do?" With a reluctant sigh, Sean released the hammer on his gun and put it away. He just shook his head and walked to the door under the stairs saying, “That’s twice. Next time Guerin, I’ll shoot ya!

Michael put his gun away and went to shower. Before he went downstairs, he looked at the bed and seeing the rumpled sheets, a frown creased his brow. Picking up his stuff, he went down to pour himself a cup of coffee. Not even bothering to look at the door when it opened, he calmly poured Sean a cup, too.

“You used all the hot water.” Sean accused as he picked up the cup and took a sip. It was getting strong since it had been a few hours since Maria made it, but still better than PD coffee. Michael finally looked at Sean, they stared at each other, neither speaking nor saying what was understood. If Michael hurt Maria, Sean would find him, and it wouldn’t be pretty. Michael just nodded his head that he understood.

Sean walked around him and grabbed the bagels, some eggs, and bacon from the refrigerator. He turned and passed Michael the bagels to toast as he pulled out cooking pans to break six eggs in one pan and a pound of bacon in the other. “We need to get some bread. All M seems to insist on having in the house is bagels. I think she thinks it’s a food group, but I like toast.”

Michael just grunted. He wasn’t sure he was necessarily going to be a fixture in the household, but then again Maria’s house was much more comfortable than his, and he wasn’t sure he wanted another female in his home. A man could only replace everything in his life so many times. His last relationship took everything when she left, including the ice trays. What kind of sick bitch took the ice trays? Michael would’ve arrested her for the ice trays alone if he could’ve remembered her damn name! One thing was sure, he wasn’t anywhere near finished with Maria DeLuca, and if she wanted his ice trays? Hell, he would bring them over himself!

Sean poured three eggs into a plate for Michael and half the bacon as Michael passed him two bagels. It was the cell phone in Michael’s jacket that finally broke the deadlock they had over the last cup of coffee, as Sean poured it into his cup while Michael answered his phone.

“Guerin.”

“Yeah, that’s why I called your cell phone hoping it would be you.”

“Evans, loser.” Michael said smiling at his partner’s voice.

“I’m on my way to pick you up so get your crap together.”

Michael quickly interrupted Max before he could hang up the phone. “I’m not at home.”

Michael could hear the pause, and the hesitation in Max’s voice. “Okay. So where do I find ya?”

“Maria’s.”

Sean looked over at Michael as he talked to his partner. Michael seemed to be squirming while talking, like somehow having people know he was at Maria’s made him uncomfortable. “I see. I’ll be there in ten.” Max hung up.

“You go to the hospital last night?” Michael turned to look at Sean and nodded. “It was a bloodbath. The kid, Wilson, he was a good man. He would’ve made a good officer, a real asset. We’ll find Pierce if it kills us.” Michael just nodded. He didn’t want to talk about it, not about Kyle, not about Jim Wilson, a twenty year old rookie, and the patrolman, Karl Irons, a twenty-five year veteran who was not expected to ever walk again. Pierce was still out there, walking, living, and breathing. They would find him, but at what cost, and how long? “Kyle. Any news?”

Michael’s face shuttered and a blank dead look, a stony silence moved over his face. “No. We stayed last night until he was out of surgery, once he was in recovery there was no reason to not go home. We’ll stop on our way in this morning.”

The knock came at the door before Sean could say any more, and Michael was relieved. He didn’t want to talk about it, discuss it. He stood to gather his stuff as Max walked in the door. “Max.” Sean said as he gestured Max into the loft.

“Hey Sean. Thanks for the assistance last night. We were really pinned. You and the others showing up made it possible to get Karl and Kyle to the hospital.” Sean just nodded.

It was a bad deal last night when the place they were staking out was hit by a competitor of Pierce’s who was running other drug shops across town, so before the cops could move in they found themselves pinned down in a fire fight, and the ammo flying around was cop killers, armor piercing rounds that tore through metal and Kevlar like butter.

The young officer, Wilson, Karl Irons’ new trainee, never stood a chance. He took three bullets dead center, with one taking out his aorta. He lay in the street as his heart pumped all his blood out of his body, his arms and legs twitching. Kyle, who watched him go down, tried to stop Karl from going after him and just barely pulled Karl back undercover, but not before a bullet ripped through his lower back severing his sacral spine.

Kyle, seeing the young man in the middle of the street bleeding to death, couldn’t leave him--not after losing Jack, so he went after him. Finally it took Michael going after the two of them to get them out of the street, but by the time he reached Kyle, Jim Wilson was already gone, and Kyle had taken a bullet through his shoulder, ripping through the Kevlar vest like it was nothing thicker than tissue paper.

Max was firing covering rounds to protect Michael while he was out of cover, but it was the arrival of Sean and a few other officers from Vice that finally turned the fight, and the drug runners fled. During the fire fight, Pierce, their main objective slipped away, and by the time everything cleared, he was long gone. All Michael could see was the blood everywhere, a fallen friend and comrades, a few dead drug runners, and the shutdown of a drug lab. But the big man, Pierce, won again because he was still free.

Sean just nodded, his eyes almost as dead as Michael’s. Max quickly looked at his partner putting his shoulder holster on and headed for the door. “Come on partner, we need to stop and get you some fresh clothes, and stop in to check on Kyle before we hit the precinct.” Max opened the door and gave Sean a nod. “Later, DeLuca.”

When Michael saw her she was leaning against the door jamb of the ICU, looking in on Kyle. Coming up behind her, he leaned his body into hers, and was surprised when she seemed to sense his presence and lean back to rest on him. His arm came up to encircle her waist, taking more of her body against his. The sensation of her against him felt so good that he never noticed Max’s shocked look taking in their stance. He wasn’t the only one watching them. Jim Valenti was too.

“Who’s that?” Michael asked Maria.

“Tess Hardy, my assistant. She and Kyle, they’re friends, or at least they were. Tess was married to Jack Hardy.” Maria continued to watch Kyle sleep, and Tess too. She had laid her head down while holding his hand and soon had fallen asleep. Max and Michael looked at each other. They knew Jack, but had never met his wife. Looking at the small body holding tight to Kyle’s hand Michael felt a sense, a touch of knowing, that somehow Tess was something to him. Looking over at Max he saw the same flash come over Max’s face, that and something else, that was soon gone.

Maria looked back at Michael and smiled, and then at Max. “I need to get back to the University. I think I’ll leave her here and check back later. Tess seems to need to know he’ll be okay.” Maria patted Michael on the stomach as she moved away from him and started out of the ICU. Max started to tell Michael to go talk to Maria, but before he could, Michael was already following her.

“Maria!” She turned to see him coming up behind her. She stopped, with her head cocked to one side. He looked better, more rested. Michael didn’t know what he wanted to say, or why he was even running after her, but somehow he owed her for last night. It was just too much for him, knowing he needed to say something, but having no idea what to say. Dammit, she was a menace!

“We need bread.”

What the hell? Damn that Sean for putting that in his head! We need bread. Smooth. Great. Just give her the idea that you are taking over her life, her home, and her body. Okay, the body thing was okay, that he could do.

“Good morning to you too.” Maria grabbed his shirt front and pulled him into the stairwell kissing him on the mouth real slow... When they pulled apart, she pulled him back for a longer more intense kiss, sucking his tongue deep into her mouth, savoring the taste of her toothpaste on him, and feeling the rough rub of his tongue against her own, loving the sound of a groan in his throat when she gently scraped his tongue with her teeth, nipping him. Michael pulled her close and got into the kiss. This was something he could do. Once again she ignored his awkwardness and took their relationship back to physical. It worried him that she seemed happy to just be physical without emotional ties, but it was still early yet to tell.

“What are you doing for lunch?” Michael almost groaned aloud, and would have pulled away in confusion if Maria wasn’t still kissing him, if her hand hadn’t found its way inside his shirt to rest against his skin, and if she didn’t make kissing seem like a sexual act all its own and not just...a kiss. What the hell was wrong with him? What are you doing for lunch? Was he planning on taking her somewhere, come by and share lunch with her? No. So what the hell was it his business anyway?

Maria sort of heard his question. It didn’t register at first. She was busy with him, with his mouth, running her hands up his arms. God he felt wonderful... really, really good! “Oh, lunch...I’ve got a date.” Maria leaned in again to kiss him, when the firmness of his hands stopped her.

“Date?” Michael’s whole body stiffened. Date? None of his business. One night in her bed hardly constituted a commitment, but a date? Michael tried to convince himself that it was normal, that the sense of outrage was a normal condition that any man would feel after having crawled out of her bed mere hours ago and now hearing she was off dating some other man. This wasn’t jealousy, nope just calm rational courtesy, and politeness.

Maria frowned at his keeping her from kissing him until her eyes lit on the skin of his neck, the hollow at his shoulder blade and moving towards it she said, “Yes with Janhie. He's a Professor at the Department, a sweet old man, my favorite. I wish he wasn’t retiring soon.” Michael relaxed enough that Maria was finally able to reach his neck, to run her mouth over his skin, to tongue the hollow at this shoulder blade, and his moan made her want more. He was going to ask about just how old, old Janhie was, but became distracted.

Michael pushed her hard up against the wall beside the door and putting his arm around her waist to hold her tightly to him, his other hand in her hair and curling around her neck, he brought her mouth back to his. He liked the sound coming from her throat, the husky "Yes", as she wrapped an arm around his neck and lifted up to get even closer to him even though there was no more space. Part of him knew he needed to stop, that both of them needed to go to work, but he wanted to stay just a little bit longer. Last night she helped him more than he could say, and the need to thank her but not knowing how, confused him.

When they pulled apart, Michael heard her voice, the sound reaching his ear, but confusing the issue. She said the words that he could not. “Thank you.”

“What? What for?” Michael let her pull farther back so he could see her, and her clear sincere eyes made him wish that he was a different man, a more open one, because he liked how he could see her, understand her in ways he knew he couldn’t let her see him.

“Kyle. Last night. Jim told me.” Maria took his head between her hands and kissed him gently on the lips. “Thank you for risking your life to save him. He’s the closest thing to a brother I’ve got right now, and I don’t want to lose him. My own brother-he was...” Maria paused and for a second Michael saw a shadow pass before her eyes, a memory she refused to let see the light of day. “Just thank you. He and Sean, they’re family to me.”

Michael was shocked to hear her thanking him for what he considered one of the monumental mistakes in his life. That bust had cost lives and for what? But all Maria saw was the results, that Kyle was still alive, that he would survive, and that was all that mattered. “Maria...” He had to tell her the truth, not let her live under the illusion, but she just kissed him again.

“What time do you get off work?” It didn’t seem possible that one person, a small slip of a girl could find so many ways to silence him, to so baffle him. She never acted the way he expected, never said what he thought she would say, and damn near never demanded anything of him but his body. In return she left him sexually aroused, sated or momentarily satisfied, titillated, and amazed! So when Michael stared at her in stony silence once again caught in some Maria web of unknown origin, he didn’t let the confusion paralyze him.

“Why?” Michael continued to hold her, to press her between him and the wall letting her feel his body in hopes she wouldn’t notice how unbalanced she made him. Dammit, he had to win a few rounds with her!

“Well, I was just wondering. I’m coming back here after work to see Kyle and check on Tess, and I was hoping you’d meet me.” Maria moved her hand up his shirt to play with the buttons, and to pluck at the front. “I drove the GTO this morning.” Maria looked up at him and said with a deadpan look and complete honesty, “I felt good and wanted to feel some raw power under my hands.” Her body rubbed up against his, pressing against the thickness that had been making itself known to her since he pushed her against the wall. Michael had no problem catching the double meaning. She was fearless, without inhibition and shame. God he loved it, loved the raw honesty! “So, I was thinking if you weren’t busy and didn’t have to work, maybe, just maybe you would like to come with me to take the GTO out to the desert and give her some room to run?” Michael’s heart sped up at the sensation of her rubbing hard into him, the whole idea of feeling the roar of the car racing fast and furious towards open roads, and Maria trapped under him in the wide comfortable bench front seat of the GTO. God, they didn’t make cars like they used to!

Michael closed his eyes and moved his mouth along her beautiful graceful neck, groaning into the soft skin. “Can I drive?” Maria heard Max walking down the hall calling Michael’s name. Pushing him off her, she reached for the door to lead them out of the stairwell.

With a wicked laugh, she started to walk through the door, and looked back. “Get real! No way!” Looking down the hall she waved at Max. When Michael came to a stop right next to her she whispered, “but I’ll let you drive in other ways, and remember...” Maria leaned in to kiss him quickly before releasing him as Max came up on them, “I swallow.”

Michael laughed noticeably at that. Outrageous as always, that was what she was, and he said, “so do I.”

Maria kissed him quickly. “I know.” They stood looking at each other breathing a little ragged as Max caught up to them. Maria smiled and turned to talk to Max. “I guess you need the Detective back?”

Max looked from one to the other and gulped at the electricity and sexual heat in the air. This was so different from anything he had ever seen, and Michael barely seemed able to withstand the intensity. The man was sinking fast. Max smiled to himself, because it was good to see, and a long time in coming. “Sorry, Maria, I do need him back, as sorry a state as he's in, but we’re needed downtown.” Max liked this woman a lot. She was special in ways that he didn’t even know he could describe. “You ready to go, partner?” Max asked Michael.

“Yeah.” Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out a card passing it to Maria. “This is my personal cell number. Call me when you get back here tonight so I can let you know about the ride.” Michael smirked at the redness on Maria’s cheeks as she looked down at the card. No-no she couldn’t be embarrassed! Michael didn’t want to admit to being intrigued by the thought of what it would take to embarrass Maria. When she looked up at him he saw that he was mistaken. This wasn't embarrassment, but pure unadulterated lust! Michael couldn’t take his eyes off her, stuck in the moment again. It was Max’s clearing of his throat that made him look at his partner and frown, and quickly looking back at Maria he had to know. “Are you still going if I can’t make it?”

Maria smiled at him and walked past, patting him on the stomach. “Of course. I want to blow out the cobwebs. This has been a rotten week--too stressful.” Maria smiled at Max as she walked away. Suddenly a thought occurred to her as she was leaving them, looking back at Michael she asked, “Hey, did you feed my cat?”

Max and Michael had a full load on their plate for the day. Checking up on Chris Delaney and his past and possible connections, interviews with people who knew him, and six of their other cases needed attention. Though both Michael and Max knew that the Delaney murder wasn’t an act of revenge or personal vendetta, they still had to check out all possibilities and until a motive became clear.

“Have you heard from Parker yet?” Michael asked Max. Liz was the senior investigator on the Forensics team working on the Museum material, so she was the person who was supposed to report to them, the primary investigating team.

“No. Maybe we should swing by later today to see how it’s progressing. I think Maria mentioned that they were closing down on Friday to attend Delaney’s funeral.” Michael became quiet and thoughtful. Both he and Max would also attend the funeral, and then another one in a few days for Officer James Wilson, rookie cop barely twenty years old. He left parents, brothers and sisters, and a fiancée. Max looked over at Michael and knew what he was thinking about. “Your dress blues clean?” Michael nodded. He had them cleaned the last time he wore them, the last funeral he attended--Jack Hardy.

The drove in silence for a few moments with Michael watching the scenery pass, hardly aware that he was still thinking about Maria. She was like a puzzle, an enigma in his life. Even though he hardly knew her, she seemed closer to him than even Max and Isabel, and that was just wrong. It was her eyes, the way she quickly saw everything, then making an instinctive guess, she suddenly knew a person or understood something about them. They had only spoken for a few moments, a few times, and most of the time was about murder, and yet he felt he knew her, knew about her.

“Michael, about Maria...” Max never finished as Michael cut him off.

“None of your business, Maxwell.” Michael swore under his breath. Did the woman worm her way into every man’s thoughts?

“Understood.” Max was quiet for a moment, but couldn’t let it go. “I just wanted to say that I like her, I really like her a lot.”

“I like her a lot, too.” Michael said quietly.

Max sighed. Michael was giving small concise responses, putting up "Do Not Trespass" signs everywhere. “I don’t want to live through seeing her crushed under you.”

“Understood.” Michael continued to look out the window as they finally pulled into the PD garage. He didn’t want to crush Maria under his boots either, or hurt her. The though of her being hurt by him bothered him, bothered him more than such a prospect ever bothered him before.

He was always honest in his affairs. He never made promises he couldn’t keep, or gave the impression that he’d stay forever. But in just two days of knowing this woman he was running scared, really worried that for the first time in his life he was the one who was going to be crushed, that he was the one who would want more. Because this was something he never expected to find or feel, it was leaving him unbalanced. He kept wanting to use her cruelly, to shake her awake, say, "This is me! This is what I am!" But then in horror he watched as his arms reached for her, cuddled her close, protected her, and turned to her for comfort. His body was being invaded by an alien, a stranger.

Maria finally made it back to her office after leaving the hospital. Before she left, she had detoured to the Family Med Clinic to look through their brochures about fertility, birth control, and other pamphlets about family planning. Since there were no pamphlets on how to avoid becoming pregnant by a tall, strong, wildly sexy pissy Detective whose sperm looked as though they could impregnate at twenty paces, she took everything they had and stopped at the drug store to pick up her prescription and much needed precautionary supplies.

Maria stopped to talk to Cheryl and check on her classes that were not only given a Reading Day today, but were dismissed tomorrow so she could attend Chris Delaney’s funeral. Her messages were in their usual abundance, so taking them with her with some coffee, Maria went to work. She cleared most of the stuff by almost noon, and picking up the phone called over to Professor Kovitch’s office to see if he was ready for lunch. Janhie loved the faculty dining room, so Maria quickly was scanning her menu sheet they sent out every week while the phone rang. Frowning at the phone when it kept ringing, Maria heard the clicking of the operator exchange system forwarding her call to the secretary’s office.

“Hey, Meg? This is Maria. I was calling to take Professor Kovitch to lunch today. We had a date. Did he leave without me?” Maria waited and listened to Meg, Janhie’s secretary explain how Professor Kovitch never came in today. After hanging up Maria thought about it for a few moments. This disturbed her. Professor Janhie Kovitch hadn’t missed a day of work in over forty years. Worried because of the warning he gave her the day before and the uncharacteristic absence, Maria reluctantly dug through her bag for the card Michael gave her that morning. Maria bit her lip for a moment, and finally reached for the phone. The worst could happen was he’d think she was a hysterical female, and tell her not to worry, or check it out herself.

“Guerin.” She smiled at his pissy, rough voice. Maria was beginning to suspect that Michael had a hate relationship going with his cellular, that it rang when he was busy, or perhaps otherwise engaged.

“Hi, am I interrupting you in the middle of someone? Yeah, got the blackjack out slapping around a suspect or just terrorizing a witness, Copper?” Maria didn’t even bother to identify herself. The sound of his rough voice made her breath shudder in her throat, so the least he could do was pretend she affected him too.

“Yeah, you’re always interrupting something Professor, but I'm beginning to believe you live to do that.” Maria laughed at the smile in his voice, the almost sarcastic drawl. “What can I do for you, Maria?”

Maria’s heart sped up as she thought about it for a second. “Dammit, Detective, I called about something serious and you’ve got me wanting to make lewd and erotic suggestions to you on the phone. Okay, you’ll have to be denied a lewd and lascivious call until later, preferably when I am lying in bed all fresh from the shower, naked, and lonely...” Maria smiled to herself at the audible gulp and groan on the other line. Hmm, Detective Guerin might have to chase her down and arrest her for illegal activities after all! Suddenly Maria’s voice went serious with all the teasing gone. “Michael, I really have a problem, or a concern, and I am hoping you will tell me that I’m just being an alarmist.”

Michael sat up straighter and his demeanor took on a more serious posture. Max who was chuckling at hearing Michael’s side of the conversation, and watching Michael react to whatever Maria was saying. Max thought it was revealing that it had barely been an hour and a half since Maria left them and she was already calling propositioning Michael on the phone. But suddenly this was different. Michael listened and took down information, asking Maria a few questions, and then told her he would check it out and get back to her.

“What is it, Michael?” Max was worried, as Michael quickly dialed a number and sent a black and white unit to check out an address.

“Maria was supposed to have lunch with an old professor in her department. He never came to work today or called. Not even his secretary knows where he is.” Michael moved stuff around on his desk, and searched for the Delaney file. Nope, Professor Kovitch wasn’t on their list of people to question. “The thing is he is old, retiring old, and maybe he had an accident or heart attack last night. I’m having a unit check out his home, look for his car, and if the car isn’t at his house, check out the University parking lot.”

Max’s interested piqued at this much concern over one missing professor. “Is there a reason to chase this man down? Is he part of our investigation?”

Michael scratched his brow above his right eye and leaned back in his chair looking at Max. “The thing is that Maria is concerned, and I’m learning to respect her instincts. But she also told me that Professor Kovitch helped her and the others out at the museum yesterday. When he was leaving he demanded she have lunch with him today, and told her that she must never be alone, and that he had things to tell her, things she needed to know.”

Max sat up even straighter. “He gave her a warning? A warning that she was in danger?”

“Something like that. But with everything going on it made Maria even more concerned when the professor showed up missing.” Michael stood to take some reports from a clerk heading to their work area. “Maria said that the professor has never missed a day of work, not in forty years.” Michael looked over at his partner as he passed him part of their work files and returned lab reports. Max’s eyes took on the same glint of concern and seriousness that Michael’s had.

It was almost an hour before they received a report. Michael listened to the information, and then told the officers to wait on site until he arrived. Max stood up and was putting on his jacket when he heard Michael’s request.

“The Professor?”

“Yeah.” Michael grabbed his jacket too and stopped to quickly report to Valenti that they needed to check something out at the University. “The Professor never came home last night according to his neighbor, his morning paper wasn’t brought in, and his cat was outside. The unit checked his license tags and found his car still parked at the University staff lot. They went to his offices, but no one has answered. They're waiting for us to proceed.”

Max knew what Michael was expecting to find, and with the warning to Maria he was cautious about letting anyone enter another possible crime scene before him. They quickly made the run to the University, and Michael called the Anthropology Department to find Maria. She was already over at the Museum working, so Michael didn’t bother to call her. He didn’t want her anywhere near the Anthropology Department. The officers were waiting in their unit when they arrived, getting out to follow them into the building.

The Professor’s secretary was happy to open up the Professor’s offices since she too was concerned at his absence. It was her horrified gasp as she opened the language lab’s door that had Max reaching in and pulling her back out of the doorway. Michael walked in and swore, not even bothering to pass Max a dollar. Professor Kovitch’s life was drained out on his beloved manuscript with his throat cut clean across.

Max took the secretary, Meg away to calm her down and the officers were ordered to secure the floor, mark off the halls on either side, and check out the rest of the offices on the third floor. Michael called in support teams and reported to Captain Valenti, who also became silent. Finally, standing in the doorway, Michael called over to the Museum.

“Museum of Horror? If it used to talk or walk, we’d love it...” Michael heard the cheerful voice of a man with laughing in the background.

“I need to talk to Professor DeLuca.”

“Sure thing, hold on.” Michael waited as he heard the young man calling out for Maria, some laughter and finally Maria.

“Hello?” She sounded happy, like she was busy doing what she loved with people she liked and nothing could touch her, but he knew that was going to change.

“It’s Michael.” Michael could almost hear her body bristling at the sound of his voice, the lack of emotion, and the cold biting tone telling her that something was wrong, that her concerns had some validation. “I need you to listen to me carefully. I want you to go, right now, get in your car and drive home! Stay there until I come. Do not go to your office, or stop for any reason! Do you understand Maria?”

He could hear her breath catching, and the sounds from her were small and cracking. She didn’t ask, because she knew he didn’t have time to tell her. “Yes, I’m leaving now.” Michael sighed a sense of relief as she hung up the phone. Looking at the executed body of Kovitch, all he knew was whatever the Professor knew was never shared with Maria, but whoever the killer was didn’t know that, and if the Professor thought Maria was in danger then that was enough to remove her from harm's way.

Max came back and watched Michael silently as he disconnected the phone. “Maria?”

“I sent her home. She doesn’t need to be here or around for this.” Both Michael and Max went into the room and circled the corpse, careful not to disturb the scene, keeping it intact for the forensic team. Whoever did this entered the room behind the Professor, either very quietly taking him by surprise, or the Professor was expecting them. There were no signs of struggle or any indication that he was startled. It appeared as if he accepted death and waited quietly. “This is wrong, something here is very wrong.”

Max silently watched as Michael circled the table again and again. This was what made Michael who he was, what made Michael the better detective, the senior partner. He had a sixth sense about events, about how they occurred. It was if he could see the results, and was able to picture in his head what happened, what events had to occur to lead up to this final results. It wasn’t magical or even supernatural. It was just Michael almost as if he had lived a thousand lives and watched a thousand deaths, and he understood what death looked like in its many forms as it was met. Every crime scene seemed to awaken a deeper understanding, a long forgotten memory in Michael, and in that memory was the knowledge of how it had to have been done.

“The killer entered from the doorway, silently, but not trying to be silent. The professor knew that it was coming. He waited patiently for death. Look at his hands, Max. They're folded, almost in prayer, waiting. The killer had to pull the head back to slit the throat, and he didn’t struggle or even try to get away. He knew his killer, and knew that he was going to die.” Max looked at the scene, seeing it the way Michael did, and for once the gravity of the situation hit him. “Do you think the killer knew he was going to talk to Maria?”

“I think the killer knew that the professor outlived his usefulness, that he wasn’t necessary, and was actually a threat.” Michael still circled, stopping to crouch down to see a different angle to the table, to look under it, to understand what was eluding him. “The blood.” Max looked at Michael sharply, and then back at the table covered in blood. It was congealed and it covered the manuscript, and puddled out from where the professor’s head rested in death.

“What about the blood? It seems pretty gruesome to me.” Death was a strange thing, it was frightening and offensive at the same time. It robbed the dead of their dignity and demanded that the injustice be served.

“No, it’s not enough.” Michael said absentmindedly. His voice was cold and emotionless almost originating from somewhere else. Max looked at the table and couldn’t imagine that this blood was less than it should be, because this scene looked nothing short of a slaughterhouse. “There should be more, a lot more. And his shirt is open at the front.” Michael looked around wanting the forensic people here to record the scene so he could turn the body to see the front.

“Michael.” Both Michael and Max turned from where they stood patiently waiting for the crime lab boys to record and gather physical evidence from the scene. Cassie was there in the thick of it, or she would’ve been, but Michael sent her to help keep the police lines firm and talk to the University Security. Liz Parker had arrived from the Museum with Cassie and was talking to the poor distraught secretary and the students who were concerned about the professor. Finally she made her way towards them, stopping as she passed the door to gasp. It was the first time she had really seen a crime scene, and had smelled the smell. Her job has primarily laboratory, working the physical evidence in the lab. This was a job she usually left the CS Investigators.

“Liz?” Michael was surprised that Liz called him by his first name. Usually it was Detective or Guerin, and after two years of knowing her, sort of, finally she took liberties.

“I made sure Maria made it home okay. She just called a few moments ago.” Liz was surprised how worried she was over Michael knowing that, and even more surprised that Maria made her think of Michael as "Michael", and not "Guerin".

Michael looked blank at the information, and then suddenly shocked, and then suddenly grateful. It was like the crime scene took control of him, pushing all noises and other thoughts into the background. But for the first time, as he searched and investigated the scene all he could think of was what unholy mess Maria DeLuca was embroiled in? It was shocking to realize how much he needed Liz’s information about Maria, how relieved he felt, and how much Maria refused to be ignored, taking up space in his mind. “Thank you, Liz.” Michael suddenly walked away as he noticed Simon waving for his attention from across the room. “Excuse me.”

Liz was stunned, so much so that she didn’t even notice that Max standing next to her shared the same blank stare of amazement. Michael Guerin thanked her, really thanked her, and then called her by her real name, and then politely excusing himself! It was an uncommon thing, almost unheard of by either of them. Michael never apologized or was overly polite, not to anyone. Not even Max and Isabel. It wasn’t that he lacked manners as much as he didn’t exert them much, because he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Max looked at Liz, seeing the trembling of her hands, the paleness of her face. It was already early afternoon, and it looked like Michael and Simon and the lab boys were ready to turn the body. “Liz, you don’t need to be here for this.” Liz looked at him and a stubborn look came over her face. She was a cop too, dammit! Granted a lab specialist, but she still had much the same police training as they did.

Max knew he made a mistake to insinuate that she was unable to handle this much reality. Suddenly it looked like he was going to rise up some notches on her list for insensitive men. “I’ve got a more important task I need you to do.” Max saw her eyes narrow and her back stiffen as she prepared herself to feel insulted. “I need you to go to this address. It’s Maria’s. We need someone to go stay with her, to protect her until we can come.” Max saw Liz relax and become more attentive. “The Professor told her yesterday that she should never be alone, and he was going to have lunch with her today, to tell her things. Considering this, I think both Michael and I would be happier knowing she’s not alone.”

Liz looked at Max. It was hard for her to look him in the face at times, but she did it anyway. He seemed sincere enough. “Okay, I’ll do it. Will you call when you’re on your way over?” Max nodded and then watched her leave the scene. He noticed Cassie watching Liz with narrowed eyes.

It wasn’t hard to understand the jealousy that Cassie felt towards Liz Parker because Liz was obviously smarter and more accepted. But the jealousy took a new twist when not only did Michael seem to accept Liz on the scene, but he assigned Liz the job of head forensic investigator. Max just shook his head and returned to his partner’s side. The forensic department had to be a real chuckle fest with all that competition.

“What've we got, Michael?” Max asked his partner who was squatting down by the now turned body. Michael, wearing latex gloves and using forceps, lifted the open shirt away from the body. There was a roughly etched design on the chest. Michael stood up and let the photographer record it.

Simon looked at Guerin in admiration. How did he know that there would be more to the scene than a sliced neck? “I’ll let you know as soon as I can about the blood, Michael. Offhand, I think you’re correct. The amount of blood looks to be a pint low. No bloody footsteps, so no prints to record. The cut in the skin appears to have been done with a knife. A sharp knife. More than likely the same knife that cut the throat.”

Michael nodded. “The killer was cautious and knowledgeable about not leaving evidence.”

Max frowned at Michael. “Why do you say that?”

Michael waved at Simon and motioned for Max to follow. “The cut was done post-mortem, so that means they avoided the dripping blood on purpose, and took the time to collect and take away a pint of blood.”

“How do you know? How do you know the cut was done after the Professor died? There was so much blood covering his chest.” Max wished he could have the knowledge that Michael seemed to just know, but other times he preferred to remain as he was. Michael ability to relive a crime or reconstruct it was part of his problem, part of the reason he lived his life alone. Michael didn’t like being touched, being vulnerable.

“Most of the blood soaked through the shirt from where he rested in the blood on the table, but the crusted blood around the incision suggests that it didn’t bleed much. That means...”

“He was already dead when the killer cut into him.” Michael just nodded yes. Michael pulled off his latex gloves and tossed them in a trash as he left the scene. Seeing Cassie still there he swore outloud, and looking at Max, sighed and dug out a dollar. Max didn’t bother to mention the few other dollars Michael owed him, because after seeing the scene, cussing and profanity seemed justified.

“Welsh.” Cassie turned and scowled at Michael. He was starting to really piss her off. “I need you to take over the primary site for the rest of the day, keep the others working, and shutting it up for the night. Professor DeLuca won’t be back until Saturday at the earliest, and Parker will be back in the morning.” Michael winced at the pleased triumphant look in Cassie’s eyes. “This is just for the remainder of the day. If you don’t think you can handle this let me know now and I'll find someone else.”

“No, I can do it, Michael.” Max saw Michael’s jaw muscles tighten at the use of his name by her. “I’ll report anything we find to Liz in the morning.”

“Good.” And without saying goodbye or anything Michael took off confident that Max would follow close behind.

“That was nice of you,” Michael looked at Max with his head to one side and a questioning brow raised, “letting her primary the museum investigation, even if it’s only for this evening.”

“There was nothing nice about it. You sent Parker to look after Maria, correct?” Max nodded. “Then there was no one else on hand that could do it, except her. Let’s hope she doesn’t screw it up.” Michael snorted his disbelief that Cassie Welsh could do little but f*ck up. Max laughed to himself as they got into the car. For a second he thought Maria DeLuca had changed his partner into a nice caring human in just forty-eight hours. But nope, Mr. Sensitivity was still alive and kicking in Roswell, USA.

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