Sean was listening attentively as Isabel went on and on about last night and this morning. Damn, when she backslid, she did it in style! He took in her tumbled appearance and took pity on her.

“Okay, you know it’s obvious that you just got up and left. You've hardly slept and haven’t eaten. So go into the bathroom and take a shower. I’ll leave you some clean clothes outside the door, and then I’ll make you breakfast.”

Isabel looked at him suspiciously. She really didn’t know him. “I don’t know...”

Sean moved closer and leaned into her where she sat in the chair. “You afraid? Of me? You think this is you falling back into the life of gratuitous sex?” Isabel just nodded and gulped. He was crowding her, making her nervous. “Then f-uck me.”

“What?” Isabel tried to push him to the side. But Sean stayed firm.

“You heard me. Come into the bedroom with me, and I’ll continue where loverboy from last night left off. We can roll around until you can’t tell whose dried spunk is on you, his or mine.”

Isabel screamed in rage and pushed him aside, getting up. “You're despicable! I...I come to you because I figure you'll understand. But instead you make suggestions! Rude, nasty, disgusting suggestions! No wonder you like being beaten. You deserve it! You slimmy, wormy two-faced maggot...”

Sean ignored her outrage and grabbed her close, real close, speaking to her in a dark cold voice, “You don’t want to go down on me, Izzy? Don’t want to polish my head? And why the hell not? Would the Isabel Evans of last year taken the opportunity, or would she have walked away? Or maybe given me her number and said, ‘Sorry too tired right now to ball you, but give me a jingle later and I’ll let you plug my ass’?” Isabel's face became even redder, and she reached out trying to slap his cold, mean, hard face. Sean easily stopped her. “Answer me! What would you have done last year?”

Heaving and angry, Isabel sneered at him. “I’d have f-ucked you hard, taken you down, given you something you couldn’t find anywhere else and then after I drained you and used you all up, I’d have walked away.” Isabel poked a hard angry finger into his chest pushing him backwards. “Count yourself lucky, whipping boy, that your worthless, scrawny, maggot- infested ass means nothing to me. It doesn’t even get me wet enough for everyday lubrication. You are Siberian winter to me.”

Sean wished he had a cigarette. Angry Isabel was actually fun to watch. “Would I have gotten you all wet and slick a year ago, Princess? Would that channel of yours just be begging for it?”

“Not anymore!” Sean just laughed and walked away leaving her still taking deep breaths to calm her anger.

“Well then, welcome to recovery.” Sean said, going to find his phone. He needed groceries and if he hurried, he might even get them delivered before Isabel got out of the shower.

Isabel paused in her tirade, “What do you mean?”

Sean just put up his hand as he gave his order and promised a large tip for speedy delivery. “You’re beating yourself up over last night, thinking it’s the nymphomaniac in you coming home to roost. But you don’t want me, and I would hazard a guess that you don’t want anyone else right now either. But do you still want him? The guy with the wicked dick? Right now, right here. If he was standing in front of you with his fly open, would you willingly drop to your knees?”

Isabel closed her eyes and imagined Alex Whitman in front of her, all pierced and tattooed with his long curling dark hair, unshaven face and dark aloof attitude. Her body tensed up at the thought. His long thin body, surprisingly muscular and lean, powerful...

“Save it!” Sean stood there watching her and the emotions rushing across her face. The change in her body language told him what he needed to know. “Whoever this guy is, he gets you hot. So instead of thinking the evil Isabel is back, maybe you should ask yourself what makes him special and why.”

Isabel sat down on the corner of the sofa. “I wanted him for over a year. He was all I dreamt about. Even though I thought he would go on without me, last night he said he waited.” Isabel actually smiled at that, and picked at her clothes. She really, really smelt bad.

“Well, that’s just sweet.” Sean said sarcastically. Damn, if Isabel Evans turned all giddily schoolgirlish and mushy on him, then who was he going to spar with? Interestingly enough, Sean’s thought turned towards a certain Texas chicken-loving firecracker who would love to put his balls in a vice and crush them. Now how was he supposed to recover, with all these perfect women coming out of the woodwork offering him a backhand? At least Isabel was good for his therapy.

“So what would you have done if I did take you up on your offer?” Isabel asked curiously.

“It could’ve been a problem. You might've had your work cut out for you.” Sean said. Isabel didn’t even juice him to tingly.

“Guess I could have offered to beat you.”

“It would’ve taken a two by four to get a rise.” Sean started assembling what he did have available for breakfast. “So you going to go take a shower and get the stink off you? I am sure that what’s his name would be flattered, but still...”

“Flattered? I'm not sure about that. Alex looks a little wild and loose on the outside, but he doesn’t live down. I’m just glad that I didn’t have to find him at Club Hell.” Isabel picked her dirty clothes off her body in disgust. “It’s one thing to look like one of the great unwashed, and another to actually be one.”

“Whitman?” Sean paused in his cooking spitting out the coffee he had just drunk in a full laugh. “You did Whitman? Alex Whitman, owner of Club Hell? He’s your dream guy?”

“What’s so funny?” Isabel could feel her anger rising again.

“We are!” Sean leaned closer and poured Isabel some coffee. “Tell me, did you kiss Alex yesterday?”

“Yeah, of course. I find kissing kind of goes with f-ucking.” Isabel took a drink of the coffee.

Sean couldn't contain his mirth and laughed his ass off. Isabel just stared at him like he was a loon. “Well then, Mizzy Izzy, it looks like we have even more in common than we thought, given that we both kissed Alex Whitman yesterday.”

Isabel’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

~~~

Jim came out of the bedroom smelling breakfast in the air. Weekends were his favorite time. He and Amy usually spent a long late morning eating breakfast, reading the newspaper and planning their day. Amy finally sold her old house six months ago, and they were officially living together.

“What are you doing?” Jim asked as he grabbed his coffee and sat down at the breakfast nook.

“Just going over the wedding preparations. You know, honey, I think I’ve got the whole scheme wrong. Maybe instead of a ‘fairytale’ motif, I should have gone for the 'spring time in the heather', or maybe...”

Jim calmly reached over and took the wedding journal and books away from her, tossing them on the floor next to the table.

“Enough!”

Amy looked at him confused. “Jim?”

“Enough, Amy. I want you happy. It’s all I want. But after six years, it’s enough. The wedding is important to you, but this obsession over it being perfect is getting out of hand. I know you want this to be the perfect harmonious union, but it’s just you and me. That’s all it takes to make it perfect.”

“Jim...”

“I’m tired. This wedding is taking all the joy out of our lives. All I need is a place, a priest, our children and it’s perfect. I don’t care about the color, the clothes, the theme...I just want to marry the woman I love.” Jim rubbed his face. “But it doesn’t look like I’m getting that, so here’s the deal. Next Saturday at four in the afternoon, I’m going to be at the church, our church. I'm going to be in a black tux 'n tails, with my son, your daughter and whoever else in attendance. The children will be there, the choir will be singing and the organist will be playing the wedding march. All you have to do is walk down the aisle at the appropriate moment on Sean’s arm. Can you do that?”

“Jim...” Amy gulped. “What are you saying? That if...”

“I’m saying that the woman I’m going to make love to next Saturday night will be my wife, or it’s over.”

Jim took his coffee with him and grabbed a few slices of bacon on his way to the door. “Wait! Jim, you can’t just leave! You can’t just give me this ultimatum and walk away!” Amy felt tears in her throat. “You don’t want to marry me?”

Jim sighed and turned around. Trapping Amy between his hands, he pulled her into a deep kiss, plastering his body along hers, as he moved them back up against the wall. Amy’s hands were buried in his hair, and she was making those noises in her throat he loved so much. That clearing sound.

“Oh, Amy... I want to marry you so much, it’s not fair. I’ve been patient and waited...waited six years. You’ve been the light of my life and the most infuriating person at the same time. And all I want is to make you happy. I want to marry you. It’s you who doesn’t want to marry me.” Jim sighed and looked her in the eyes, and then pulled away.

Amy clutched him back to her. “That’s not true! I do want to marry you. All of this is about me wanting to marry you.”

“No it’s not. It’s a delay tactic, because you’re unsure. Every time we choose the date, you change something and the delays continue. If all you want from me, Amy DeLuca, is someone to warm your bed, then just be honest.” Jim took her hands off him. “I’m looking for a life partner, someone to love into my old age, not just a bed warmer.”

“Oh Jim, honey...”

Jim stopped and looked down at the floor. “Six years ago we were still young enough to have a baby and make a new family for all of us. But all this time...all the wasted years...and now those possibilities are gone. Now all we have to look forward to is grandchildren. But how the hell are we going to get them? Look at our children! Maria shacking up with Michael, and they seem in no hurry to tie a knot. Kyle and Tess playing best friends when any idiot can see they’re in love. Sean running from intimacy and finding release with strange women in leather bars. What can we say to them when we’re basically doing the same, just biding time together?”

“You wanted a baby? You never told me.” Amy felt a tremor in her hand. He had never said a word. Not once.

“I want grandchildren, but none of our kids are going to marry until we do, and I’m tired of waiting.”

“Jim...”

“Enough, Amy. Next Saturday or never. I’ll be there, and if you’ll do me the honor, I’ll promise to love and protect you 'til my dying day.”

Amy felt unsure and lost for a second. But Jim was right. They were wasting time and her poor children were also stalling, waiting for her to finally make up her mind. Her poor Jim was so devastated that he was unsure she even loved him enough to marry him.

Amy threw herself in his arms and kissed him. Wiping a tear from her cheek she smiled at him bravely. “Okay, okay, I’ll be there. Next Saturday. I promise.”

“Promise?” Jim asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Absolutely.” Amy laughed when he picked her up in a big bear hug. “Oh I love it when you get all ‘The Man’ on me.” Amy reached down and whispered in his ear. “You should wear mirrored glasses and a tight uniform.” Jim laughed at that. Looked like he had the kids to thank for getting him out of the Wedding preparation nightmare. Amy looked up at the clock on the wall and gave a small scream of fright.

“Oh god! I’ve got to go! I’ve got so many things to do and only seven days to do them in!” Jim put her down and she rushed to gather her things. She ran back and knocked him hard up against the wall, running her hand down his front and making him groan. “I’m getting married you know.”

Jim laughed at her mischievous smile and thought of Michael. Man didn’t know how lucky he was to find a DeLuca woman. These creatures didn’t seem to know how to age. Before she could step too far away from him, he pulled her back to him tightly. “And Amy...get me my damn cocktail weenies!”

“Yes, Jim.” And with a quick smile and a kiss, she was out the door to terrorize Roswell. Seven days. God created the Earth in seven days, and he had no doubt that Amy DeLuca could destroy it in less.

“It’s going to be a hell of a ride.”

~~~

Michael watched the chaos of the DeLuca Family household in sheer terror. There were hoards of them. The more that came, the more there were. Maria’s Uncle was sitting at the head of the table and Sean’s mother at the other end. Michael watched the woman in interest. She looked like Sean, or maybe it was that Sean looked like her. But she had the dark Italian brown eyes of her father, and Sean had a lighter hazel of his maternal grandmother’s. And even though Marco ruled the family, it was easy to see that Theresa Fiona DeLuca was the real seat of power.

Her voice was soft and firm with a hint of laughter. “Caro, I told you to put that away. Julian, help your brother serve himself and take off your hat. What are you a ‘ginza'?” Her orders and organization went on and on until everyone was sitting and eating.

Michael just watched it all in wonder and ate one of the most incredible breakfasts of his life. It was more like a brunch with mounds of food, more than even Maria could eat and she was working hard on it. Occasionally he would see her hand wander into his plate to steal something.

“Stuffing your face again?” Michael teased Maria as she had a dispute with one of her cousins over the last of the eggs. Her aunt kissed her brow and went into the kitchen to get her some more. “What is this? Michael asked poking at a dish that tasted incredible, but one he didn’t know.

“Shut up, and pass me some more bread.” Maria looked at him, and pulled him close, kissing him hard. “Hungry. Eating for two.” Michael looked up in time to see the pleased look in Maria’s aunt’s eyes as she put fresh eggs down for Maria. “That's a special Italian flatbread, usually made in Palermo. It's made with sun-dried tomatoes and fresh rosemary, baked in olive oil and then a special egg batter is poured on top with ham, sausage, garlic and cheese. It’s sort of an omelet on bread, like a mixture of the Scottish baker’s egg, and a frittata.”

“Can you make this?” Maria nodded. Of course. Michael leaned down and whispered in Maria’s ear. “Who are all these people?”

Maria stopped eating and looked around. “Family. Sean has two brothers and three sisters. These are their children and spouses, plus a few cousins...oh and a few next door neighbors’ kids.”

After the table was cleared, Maria was pointing out places from the terrace when her Uncle found them. “Maria, did Sid send the papers to you for the house?” Maria just nodded. “Good, and we can close on that while you are here?” Her uncle smiled big. “Then instruct your husband and send him into the library.”

Michael watched Marco walk off and turned to Maria. “What?”

“The house,” Maria pointed to the house across the way where she had been born and raised. “Uncle Marco wishes to purchase it for his son as a wedding present. Sean’s middle brother will inherit after my Uncle dies, so Marco thinks it is a good time to put the larger house back in the family. He made a generous offer to buy it.”

“You own that house?” Michael just sat down. They needed to get their asses back to Roswell because he was totally out of his element here. Maria just nodded.

“It was my father’s, and when he died, it went to Frankie Jr. Unfortunately Frankie never made a will and, as the only surviving immediate family, I inherited everything. Most of the liquid assets I sank into the Foundation, and I just let the investments run. Over the years I've settled some of the physical property, but the house has remained a problem.” Maria looked over at the house she was raised in. “I haven’t set foot in there since I was sixteen, and I never want to again. I'd give it to Uncle Marco for a dollar.”

Michael could understand that. Even though his childhood memories weren’t as painful as Maria’s, he still had had a hard time walking through Mikey Guerin’s house after he died. It was silent as though it was haunted, and that made everything else somehow worse.

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“Well, when I was ‘single’, Uncle Marco would deal with me in the Business, but now that I have you...’my husband’, he will expect you to see to my affairs.” Michael looked at her in horror.

“You’re kidding, right?” Michael looked at the large house and back at Maria, seeing she was serious. “The 'old ways', huh? I can’t...I don’t have a clue.”

“Don’t worry. Just listen to the offer, increase it a little, and let him haggle it back down to a price close to what he originally offered.” Maria grabbed Michael. “But you have to haggle, make him work for it and get all huffy and angry. Otherwise it's a matter of losing face. No relative likes to think he's cheating another, and even though you'll get more than he offered, after you leave he'll tell himself what a good deal he made because he would have given you a few hundred thousand more.”

“Pride?”

“Yeah, and now that you're part of the family, they’ll expect you to understand the games.” Maria looked up when her cousin, Sofia came to the door. “That’s your cue. He’s ready. Now after you do the family thing, he'll be all happy to answer your questions about the case. My cousin, Luis will be in there. Watch his face. He's a soft sell and he can’t hide his reactions. So if you're going too high or too low he'll let you know.”

“Maria…”

“Go. You’ll do fine.” Maria watched him trudge off with a set of doom about his shoulders.

“How do you think he will do, Ria?” Maria turned to look at her aunt and smiled.

“He’s tough. He’ll survive. He always does.”

“I like him. I notice he watches you and keeps his hands near, like he is afraid you will fall. He has beautiful hands.” Theresa looked out over the green and beauty of the gardens. “And you watch him too.”

“I do. This is hard for him. So much family, so many people. He never had that before.” Maria looked at her aunt and smiled. “He hasn’t learned that we are more alike than not, but he will. Then he will understand every thing about Sean.” Maria said her cousin’s name to test the waters.

“Sean, my child. How is he? Well?”

“Not so good all the time. He survives. He survives to bleed.” Maria took Theresa’s hands in hers. “He lives to protect. First me and my mom, and now so many others. God made him a good man, but 'Man' is killing his soul.”

“I light a candle in prayer every day for his continued happiness.” Theresa looked at the children playing. “He was always different. When he was small, he thought with his heart and not his head. In the Business, it is important to detach a little to survive and to do what honor requires. Your cop. Michael. He looks to me like Sean.”

“They are the same in many ways. But Sean is trapped in despair.” Maria searched for words that would not come. “He needs to come home.”

Theresa just shook her head no. “There is no place for him here anymore.”

Maria looked at her aunt in pity and frustration. “The 'old ways'. They steal your children to crime and drugs. And Sean protects in the only way he can, the way that is his nature. The only place he needs is in your heart and if there is no place for him there, then perhaps it is better that he is dead to you.”

Maria got up quickly and angrily walked away. “Maria! Ria...” Theresa looked out at the grounds, but saw nothing. After a time, she went to gather her things to go to pray.

~~~

Sean was finishing up the final touches to breakfast brunch when a knock came to his front door. The grocery store had already delivered so he frowned on his way to the door. It couldn’t be his aunt? Surely Cap could keep her busy for at least a Saturday. Opening the door, he was shocked to see Liz Parker standing on his doorstep.

“Liz...hi!”

“Can I come in?” Sean just nodded and moved aside to let her enter.

Liz took in the apartment and immediately noticed the cooking and the smells. Sean only cooked a large breakfast when he...Oh! Liz looked around hurriedly and felt a blush moving up her face.

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked. “I’m interrupting something...”

Sean caught her before she could flee. “No. No! God, no! Liz, calm down. Yeah, I’ve got company, but not that type of company. La St. Maria, lo protegge. ”

“What?”

“Sorry. I said, ‘St. Maria, protect me.” Sean went back into the kitchen to check on his food while Liz put down her bag and jacket and took a stool at the counter.

“This guest must be some real interesting individual.”

“Hardly, just a walk on the icy side in one of the numerous dimensions of Hell, propagated by Demons of the Gate who offer you the choice of instant death rather than having to face her.” Sean poured Liz a cup of coffee, and smiled. “Other than that, she seems really nice.”

Liz just laughed and tossed her head, rolling her eyes, “and she would be...”

Isabel took that moment to come back from her shower wearing one of Sean’s PD t-shirts and a pair of baggy sweats with her hair up in a ponytail. “That bathroom should be bombed. Hey, Battery Boy, Comet and a little scrubbing action and you too can enter the world of the real humans.” Isabel stopped when she saw Liz, and she quickly looked at Sean. “Sorry, Sean, I didn’t know you had a breakfast date.”

The women sized each other up as Sean poured Isabel another cup of coffee. “I didn’t. It’s my morning to be invaded by women. The only thing that would make it complete would be a certain chicken-eating ADA coming by to fling her chicken bones at me, while offering me a spanking with her shoe.” Sean paused for a moment. “Actually that last one works for me.”

“You are bent.” Isabel took a stool next to Liz. “So...” Isabel looked at Sean and tipped her head towards Liz.

“Oh, sorry. Caught up in a tortuous fantasy. Liz Parker--Isabel Evans, and vice versa. Liz is a friend of the highest caliber, and once held the unfortunate honor of being my girlfriend. Alas she has since paid her dues to society and been released for good behavior.”

Isabel looked at Liz with interest and some amazement. Ex-girlfriend? Interesting. She didn’t look like the black leather, razor blade type, holding a whip in one hand and a man’s balls in the other. Silent waters do run deep.

“And Lizzie, you are seated in the esteemed company of one Isabel Evans, sister to the dynamic duo of Guerin and Evans, but destructive in her own individualistic way. Hell froze over, so they released her back on us, the unsuspecting humans.” Sean took out plates and set them in front of the girls. “You two ready to eat? And,” Sean said looking at Isabel, “my bathroom is fine. Cleaning service doesn’t come until Monday.”

“2004?” Isabel looked at the bread concoction tossed in her plate with some type of potato to the side. “What is this?” Liz just looked over at the woman and shrugged. It was good.

“I didn’t know grape Kool-aid stained. It’s Erbazzone...a sort of herb sandwich from Parma. It’s eggs in a crust.” Isabel poked at it. “Just try it. The pancetta was fresh and I added extra Parmigiano-Reggiano. ” Sean searched until he found some hot sauce. He liked his eggs with a little spice. Isabel reached over and took the hot sauce and added a generous amount to her plate.

“What’s the green stuff added in with the eggs?” Isabel asked as she tasted it. Not bad.

“Spinach. You could just forgo the Erbazzone, and just drink the damn hot sauce straight. You might have tasted it before you doused it.”

“I like things hot and spicy.” Isabel looked over and noticed that Parker was almost through with hers, and quickly looking to see how much Sean had made, Isabel sped up her consumption. Parker was tiny, she didn’t need that much food. Sean just shrugged. Icy cold people probably needed all the heat they could find.

Isabel reached for the pan to get some more when Sean snatched it away. “Uh uh.” Picking up his spatula, he threatened her. Reaching over he served Liz another slice, then Isabel and finally himself. Isabel sneaked a glance over at Parker’s plate and noticed the serving was larger than hers. Pig.

“So Liz, was there something you needed? Other than just some good company?” Sean ignored the snorting Isabel and tossed another piece of food in her plate to distract her.

“No, I just wanted to tell you that I called Maria and we went out.” Liz looked over at the other woman still eating and using lots of Tabasco.

“And...” Sean asked expectantly.

“And, it helped. Maria helped.” Liz moved her empty plate aside and passed her empty cup over for a refill. “I think I want to move out of my parents' house.”

“Really? When?”

“As soon as possible, I think.”

Sean shifted on his feet. “You know you could stay here until you found yourself a place...I mean...”

Liz just smiled at the offer. “No thanks, Sean. I think I’ll stay where I’m at until I find a place. I need a roommate or a cat. I can’t remember the last time I lived alone, and it might take me making theses changes in degrees.” Sean just nodded. That made sense. “I wish you made beignets for breakfast. I love those.”

Sean smiled at her. “I could make those for you, Lizzy.”

“What are they?” Isabel asked. His smile was so fake. Yuck.

They’re a New Orleans specialty that Maria picked up in her life in the cathouse. Fried batter covered in confectioners’ sugar. It’s like a deep-fried donut, but it melts in your mouth and is best eaten hot.”

“Well get to frying. Liz and I don’t have all day.” Isabel turned to Liz and tried a friendly smile. “You know, I'm looking for a place to live as well. Do you have any idea how to start looking?”

“No. Actually, I was going to ask Maria. She sort of just knows things.” Liz looked over at Sean. “Do you know if Maria is working the museum this morning? I might stop there.”

“She’s out of town. She and Michael took a short trip to Florida, but they’ll be back tomorrow.” Sean assembled all the stuff he needed and searched for his deep fryer. “What kind of beignets you want? Peach or plain?” Liz said plain as Isabel said peach. They looked at each other.

“I’ll make both.” Sean halved the batter and kept cooking. It was his favorite pastime, something he used to do with his mother.

“Actually, I told Maria I would love to live in a loft like hers.” Isabel told Liz. “She said she might know of a place, but I would more than likely need a roommate to share the expenses.”

“Oh, I love Maria’s loft. And the location and the stores, and...”

“Yeah, same here. I could live there.” Sean looked at the two women as they kept talking about the up and coming Bricktown Yuppie land.

“I think I know what Maria is talking about.” Sean felt their attention move to him. “The renovated warehouse where Maria’s loft is has five uncompleted loft units just waiting to be finished, I think. Her loft is at one end with the potential for another loft next door, but I think Maria is holding on to it in case she wants to expand, which she does. Her section is like a smaller annex to the larger warehouse, with that small opening between the buildings were the atrium and gardens are. The small section leading to the larger building is where her garages are. So that still leaves the whole larger warehouse open. It currently has room for eight loft units, but only three are occupied.”

Liz was getting excited. “Do you think she can help us get in touch with the landlord? Do you think they’ll be willing to renovate one of the remaining lofts for us?”

“I think Maria can arrange it. If you play your cards right, you might get the one unit that also butts up against the atrium and gardens, and if they put in a sliding glass door, you could share Maria’s garden.” Sean refrained from mentioning that Maria was the owner, and more than likely would do it for these two.

Sean kept cooking while the two talked excitedly over the prospects. Maria was going to have them on her doorstep almost before she landed back in Roswell. This was good. A new project for Maria, a renovation project that might save Michael from having to deal with the loft being torn to pieces for a few months.

Sean served them both some hot beignets, and watched Isabel practically melt on her stool. That good. “So the two of you are planning to be roommates, huh?”

Liz just smiled and nodded. Things were looking up. “Izzy, we should put up a large board or something, seeing how we’re both single, and label it, ‘Things We don’t Want in a Man’ just to keep a running tally. It’s so hard to find ‘Mr. Right’ in this day and age.”

“Good idea. God, do I have a bunch of stuff to add to that list already.” Isabel looked at Sean and then suddenly tapped Liz on the arm lightly. “Let’s put Sean’s name on the top of the list!”

“Yeah!”

“Hey!” Sean took the brunt of their teasing well, and to their chagrin added a few aspects to their list as well.

Liz just laughed at his additions. “Wait, you do all those things, Sean.”

“Yeah, I know. But I hate them in other men.”

~~~

Michael sat back, exhausted after the negotiations. Maria was right. Her cousin, Luis was a dead giveaway, and for a few times he and Marco had stood nose to nose in a deadlock. But finally the deal was sealed and Marco was serving them liquor, something Italian and sweet, designed to knock him on his ass.

“Okay, enough of this business. Michael, you come with me and I’ll show you my lemon trees.” Marco waved the others gone, and took Michael out of the room onto the terrace. They walked down past the gardens and along a small grove of trees.

“These aren’t all lemon?” Michael asked as they walked through. The smell was incredible just from the leaves.

“No, some orange and olive, but the lemon has taken to bloom early this year, and as long as we don’t get a late freeze it should be a nice harvest.” Michael just nodded as the older man stopped and lit his cigar offering Michael one, who refused. “So now we tend to your questions, Cop.”

Michael looked at the man and suddenly saw his son in him. It was the eyes. They weren’t the same color, but they had the same intensity. This man was a member of the Brotherhood, and he understood much.

“This case I have. It has a killer, one who makes people disappear. Sean said...”

Marco made a gesture to dismiss his son’s name. “That our Business is one that specializes in that very task?” Michael nodded. “That is true. There is power in fear and control. To see someone you love just vanish, never to be heard from again. It leaves an impression. So this ‘killer’, is he in the Business?”

Michael frowned at Marco’s low soft tone. He wouldn’t turn in a name of someone connected, but then neither would Sean. “No. Sean...said it was a 'special', a person who shared the Dump and processed the bodies.”

Marco just nodded. He reached up in a tree and took a leaf and crushed it between his fingers, offering it to Michael. Michael took and smelt it. Lemon. “I know this man. He makes them shiny with a coating? Yes?”

“Yes.”

“You’re lucky. This person has only been around for about a decade, and Sean was only just around when he started. But even then, he was impressive. We didn’t find the Dump. This individual, the specialist-he did. It is like he understood where the best place is to throw away the trash in a local area, and we followed his instincts. He used to move around a lot, very seasonal, but over the last few years he has remained stationary with a few runs to surrounding states.”

“He’s in my area?” Michael watched at Marco checked a tree for a mark on its trunk.

“The Southwest mostly, but your region, yes. He is a killer among killers, a real master. We don’t protect him, but we don’t turn him over either. He doesn’t interfere with us, and we don’t touch him. Now if he turned professional, then maybe we would notice.” Marco took a draw of his cigar and looked over the grove. “This one, he has made murder an art.”

Michael had to ask. “Do you know who he is?”

“No. We call him The Collector .” Marco took Michael down another row of trees and around the back gardens.

“His dumping grounds, can you give me that?” Marco stopped and looked at Michael with a frown.

“That is not so easy. Many others follow this Collector to dump with him, because he finds the best locations.” Marco looked at Michael closely. “Why do you want to know?”

“I want to return the lost children to their own. They were taken and their people wait.” Marco just nodded. So many lost children, so many families that wait. It was hard.

”I will contact you when I know.”

“Thank you.” Marco just nodded.

“We are not so different, copper. I see you. I feel you. You are una protezione, un soldato. ” They sat down on the stone benches in the garden. “When the world was younger, we rose. A class of soldiers, un soldato, protectors sworn to defend our Families in a promise of fiefdom. All the large families had people such as we, and we protected with our very blood. That...that is the large trunk from which you stem, Cop. We practice the old way of protecting our Family, and you practice the new way of defending all innocents. Sometimes those lines, they aren’t so clear, no?”

“Sometimes,” Michael admitted, “I dream of things-of places and battles. So many battles, so many campaigns and so much blood.”

Marco looked at Michael with interest. “Tell me, do these dreams make you bleed?”

“They make me feel foreign to myself.” Michael stood and walked a few paces away to look past the hills, past the green, into a world of seas of blood. “The battlement rose to the left,” said Michael gesturing to some unseen land, “and the roars of war were in my ears, and it felt...good. The ground shook with the movement of warriors in the fields, and thirteen battalions were laid to waste. I walked the field in the crush of dawn before the beginning of the next wave. The ground was soaked in blood, the armor coated and green with the bodies piled upon each other so that you had no choice but to walk upon them. I could feel the metal across my back burning into my skin as I climbed the embankment before they came. In a hollowing rush of silence the ground stood still, then a crash of violence and they came, and came, and came. I calmly sent sixteen more battalions to their death and watched the skies rain blood, all for my honor promised to a King.”

Marco stood up and patted Michael on his back, returning him to the present and leading him towards the house. “Was it a good fight?” Michael nodded. “And did you serve and protect?”

“What else is there?”

“For men like us? Only our honor, our families and our duty.” Marco and Michael climbed the stairs to the terrace. “My son is one of these warriors. He was the one . I could feel it in his eyes, that touch of oldness, of knowing. He walked away from it, turned his back.”

“He did not.” Michael said quietly. “The path you have chosen is of your making, not his. He chose the only one he could...his destiny. He still protects. He still serves. And the choices he makes leave him vulnerable to pain.”

“There is a code.”

“I know. I second him.” Michael looked at the older man. “I will kill him for his honor if he breaks the code or fails, but he hasn't. He walks it every day, even though it hurts him, takes from him. It was your mistake to think he was born to your life and not his own. He made his promise or his fief to the innocent, and he has never broken it.” Michael noticed Maria coming out the side door with some of her cousins. “Most men would be so lucky to have such a man to call son.” Michael looked at his future.

~~~

When Tess made it back to the loft, she struggled to get the door open with her key. Normally she would have expected Kyle to rush to help her, but there was no Kyle. Once she saw the loft she knew why. The place was in shambles.

“Oh god, Kyle!” Tess looked around frantically. Thieves, assassins, burglars, or maybe Ninja warriors...Tess’s mind was racing with all the possibilities of where or what could’ve happened to Kyle. “Kyle! Kyle!” Tess left the door open as she entered the room cautiously but frantic to find him.

His broken body would be lying there, all covered in blood...Kyle suddenly walked out of the downstairs bedroom. He did have blood on him from scratches, but otherwise he was perfectly healthy. His sudden appearance startled her so much that she screamed. Her hand went to her breast as she felt her own heart beating so strong it was threatening to break through her chest.

“You bastard!” Tess balled up her fist and slugged him one. She swore as she hurt her hand.

Kyle took it on the chin, hard. “Dammit, Tess! What the hell did I do?” Kyle reached up and wiped a tiny drop of blood from his mouth. Great, more blood. “You’ve still got that good right jab, Tessie. But how many times have I told you not to leave your thumb hanging? Did you jam it?” Kyle went to take her hand, but she tossed it off.

“I can’t believe I was frantically screaming your name, thinking of your poor, bloodied, broken body tossed somewhere as marauders mauled the place, and you calmly walk out... walk out without calling out to reassure me, or letting me know you were alive!”

Kyle frowned. “Marauders? What the hell, Tess? What is this, a remake of the Old West?” Tess picked up a heavy vase that somehow missed being knocked over or destroyed, and was raising it to heft it at Kyle.

“Now honey...”

“Freeze! Put your hands up where I can see them!” Both Kyle and Tess froze at the loud man’s voice coming from the door. They both looked over at the Uniform Officer with his gun trained on them.

“You didn’t leave the door open, did you, Tess?” Kyle asked her calmly, already knowing she did. She had triggered the security alarm.

“What, now this is my fault? I was scared, okay?” He was so f-ucking irritating at times.

Kyle turned to the Officer. “There’s been a mistake. I can explain.” Tess just snorted in derision as Kyle shot her an irritated look. “I’ve got my badge in my back pocket. I’m Detective Kyle Valenti of Major Crimes.”

Kyle kept eye contact with the Officer pointing a gun at him, and slowly removed his wallet to flash his badge. It looked bad, real bad. The place looked like it had been tossed or that the Officer had walked into a really bad domestic dispute. Tess holding a heavy vase over her head wasn’t helping the image.

It took a little while for them to convince the Officers that it wasn’t a break-in or a domestic violence scene, and to find the security password code. Once they had the Officers gone, Kyle turned to watch Tess surveying the damage.

“It was that damn cat. I swear!” Tess just looked at the place and shook her head. She noticed a dark clump and leaned forward to see it clearer. Mr. Booboo’s hair. Oh damn.

“What did you do to him?” Tess got on her knees and looked under the sofa.

“Nothing! Not a damn thing. He just went insane running all over the house, with this loud caterwauling and knocking sh-it over...” Kyle flapped his arms about wildly. “I tried to catch him, and this is the results.”

“I think he’s looking for them.” Tess said. She went over and quickly picked up the food she had brought in and dropped at the front door. Taking it into the kitchen she put away the perishables. “Did you at least feed him?”

“I tried. He wouldn’t come out.” Kyle ran his hands over his head in a helpless gesture. “I feel like an idiot moving around the house on my hands and knees calling ‘Here Mr. Booboo, here Mr. Booboo’. It’s undignified. If my name was Booboo, I’d be neurotic too.” Kyle reached down and began to collect clumps of black fur.

“What are you doing?” Tess asked as she noticed the pile of black fur in Kyle’s hand increasing.

“Maybe we could...superglue it back on?” Tess just groaned in disbelief. Right. Superglue.

“Well, we’re going to have to clean up this mess!” Tess went around and started picking up things and straightening paintings on the walls. She bent down to pick up the vase she had planned to crash over Kyle’s head, when he rushed to help her.

“Let me take that! You shouldn’t be lifting heavy things.” Kyle took it out of her hands and returned it to its normal place.

“Afraid I was still going to chuck it at you, huh?” Tess asked quietly.

“There was that.” Kyle looked at Tess directly and in the eyes. He avoided that most of the time. Actually he trained himself to avoid it as much as possible, but some days he was just weak.

“You scared me, Kyle.” Tess said simply willing him to look at her and see her, really see her.

“I’m sorry.” Kyle said, kneeling down to pick up some things. Tess knelt next to him and lifted his face to look her in the eyes.

“I was afraid I lost you, too. I can’t take that, Kyle. Anything but that.” Tess watched his eyes, watched for that something special he kept hidden. It was there. The spark she recognized from so long ago when they were young, when they were in love, and the moment in time when they were complete.

As fast as that, he dampened it. And the flicker was gone.

“Damn you!” Tess stood up angrily. “You keep doing that to me.”

“Doing what?”

“Don’t play with me, Kyle Valenti. You know what. Damn you!” Tess tried to stomp away.

“Tess wait...”

“Wait?” Tess let her voice rise in anger, her eyes flash as she looked at him. “I’ve waited for you for years. Years, Kyle.” Kyle grabbed her arm, not wanting to talk about it, but Tess pulled her arm away. “How could you? How could you just walk away and leave us and pretend it never happened, that we never happened?” Tess moved in closer to him, her mouth mere inches away. “We waited. We waited as long as we could for you to come back to us, but you didn’t. How could you just walk away and pretend it was nothing?”

“Tess...” Kyle swore at the pain in her eyes, and the feel of her warm breath on his mouth. It was so long ago, over ten years, and he could still feel it.

“Jack, and I, we followed your lead. We let you make the decision for us, and you just walked away.”

“You were my best friends!” Kyle almost stopped breathing. The cutting rush of air in his lungs hurt. “It was Roswell. This small conservative town.”

“That doesn’t matter. It never did. Love matters, Kyle. We let you put us on the track of only being friends, but don’t lie to me. Don’t lie to yourself. You were in love with Jack.” Tess moved away from him.

Kyle yanked her back. “I was in love with you. Both of you.”

They both stood looking at each other, breathing hard. Tess just tossed her head. “Then why did you wake up that morning, walk out the door and pretend it never happened? Why were you suddenly 'Kyle, just our best friend', and not a part of us?”

“You don’t understand.”

“I don’t. We were better when there were three. And then you left and we waited, until finally we knew you were never coming back. Then Jack and I got married.” Tess let an angry tear slip from her eye. “And after Jack died, you stayed away.

“I had to. You chose him. It was you and him, and I was the reason he died, Tess! He pushed me out of the way and saved my life. What was I supposed to tell you? That he died for me?” Kyle voice was dark and husky.

“He died because he never stopped loving you, Kyle. Even though you wanted nothing of a real life with us, he still loved you.” Tess wiped away the tears from her face still angry. “I still loved you. I was all alone in my pain, and you were the only person who could feel it too, and you just left me out there.”

“I said I was sorry.”

“I know. And I forgave you last year. But I don’t think I can take a chance on you again, Kyle. I keep waiting for you, and you keep walking away.” Tess cleared her throat. “You made it so easy for me to go with Max because I stopped waiting and decided to go with my life. Look what a mistake that was! The only good that came out of it was the baby.” Tess ran up the stairs to look for the damn cat and to get away from him. She should have left it alone.

Kyle stomped up the stairs after her. "There isn't an 'us' because I really don't think you would want anything like that. It's inappropriate, and I know how you are…"

She looked a but angry then. "You don't know crap about how I am! Or how Jack and I were. We were incomplete. It was good, but with you it would have been better. Why do you think we took you into our bed that night? I could see you looking at me, and every time I turned around you were watching Jack. Pam broke your heart and we heard you tossing and turning in that bedroom next to ours. We wanted to be there for you and we were-all night until the early morning. When we woke up you were gone. Then you pretended nothing happened, and you should’ve had the guts to say something if…"

She never got to finish her sentence, Kyle simply leaned in and grabbed her by the back of the head, entwining his fingers in her silky blond hair with the curls wrapping around his fingers, and pulled her face to his. He was about done with this wanting and waiting stuff; he was a grown man, and it was about time he acted like one. She was right. He had run away because he never felt he could be more than a third wheel in their relationship, and after being with them, he didn’t know how he could ever survive that. So he distanced himself from them.

The kiss caught her by surprise, not because she never thought he'd kiss her, but because it had been so long that she had given up on it ever happening again. Tess remembered what she had seen in his eyes that night, and it made his leaving that much harder. She remembered every word he had said to her, said to Jack, to the both of them. He had tried to keep them awake for as long as possible. If they had known he would walk away, they would have stayed awake forever. And somewhere in her fogged mind, she remembered he had kissed her face and the side of her neck before he left.

She wasn't in the past at the moment though, and she returned his kiss with more passion than he expected. Her hands went up around his shoulders and pulled him closer to her, crushing herself against him, body to body.

Her breath was ragged here as it was earlier, but for an entirely different reason. The incredible heat of him was driving her crazy, and she pulled her face away from him for just a second. She wanted to look into his eyes again, to see the fear disappear and find her lost lover.

"Love me," she whispered to him, and the words sent him out of control, made his head spin, made his hard c-ock strain forcefully against his clothes.

The clothes had to go. He started pulling hers off, kissing her again and not relinquishing her lips for even a second, while they struggled to be free of anything that could come between them. His hands ran over her body touching her silky skin as she made noises against him. Her mouth...she had the most incredible mouth! They were on the bed by the time they got all the clothes out of the way, and he released her lips reluctantly, replacing them with the rest of her, nuzzling hungrily at her breasts, tasting every part of her.

Tess thought she was insane herself. Here she was, almost in the middle of Maria and Michael’s bed with Kyle! They were all alone, naked and f-ucking like they were starved. She was gasping, and if his c-ock was as good as it had been all those years ago, they were going to be there for a while.

She reached down, wanting to touch the velvet steel of him, and groaned inwardly at the size of it. She pulled him up on top of her, yearning for him to drive her relentlessly into the mattress beneath her. The waves of energy she felt around him came up and caressed them, hot and startling, and still they wouldn't give up to it in an instant, wouldn't move an inch until they had enough.

"You really want this?" Kyle asked her quietly, kissing her face softly, letting some of his weight rest on her, just so she would know he was there. She definitely knew he was there. His hand was moving down her body to stroke the gentle swell of her stomach, his face taking on a hungry look of need.

"I really want this," she told him. "I really want you. I really want us."

He put his mouth on hers and kissed her again, deeply, while he pushed his c-ock inside slowly. He wanted to toss her down hard and rage inside her, pounding away all those years of loss and lust. But he couldn’t. Not with the baby inside. Not with their child resting.

She thought he would have her exploding with want any minute, he was going slowly and she wanted him in . Tess knew what he was doing, but they were fine. She reached down as low as she could and grabbed his hips, pulling insistently. He needed no further urging. He pushed the rest of the way in, grinding against her, still kissing her, his hands roaming everywhere they could reach.

She gasped from the sheer size, loving it, delighting in being filled so completely. She was almost over the edge, and he teased a nipple with his fingers, pounding his c-ock into her, she came moaning into his mouth, driving him into intense spasming with her. Kyle remembered that, remembered the intense orgasm from ten years ago, and how it ended up shaping his life and becoming the thirst he could never quench. The power of it moved over his body like a light and he closed his eyes and rode it with her. Last time it had been centered around Tess and Jack, but not this time. It was all Tess, and yet more. Kyle’s heart stopped as he felt the baby almost like a flushing, a knowing...his son. His and Max’s. He felt the connection and genetics didn’t matter; this baby was his, too.

He dropped his head on her chest trying to catch his breath, and listened to her heart pound and then gradually slowed down to a normal beat against his cheek. He finally raised his head to kiss her softly, a small wave washing over them, reminding them where they were.

Tess closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the bed beneath her, the man above her and the sounds and smell of them together. It felt complete, and yet they were still missing Jack. That hit her for a second, but in a rush it also felt like he was still there. For the first time in two years she felt better, and the first time in almost ten years, complete.

"Is Michael going to kill us for doing this here?" she asked curiously.

Kyle picked his head up once more, amused. "Yes," he replied, "But I'll see what Maria can do to calm him down." Tess laughed and stretched against him.

“You done?” she asked mischievously.

Kyle join his hand to hers, intertwining their fingers, and pinning it above her head, as he looked down their nude sweaty bodies still joined. Her leg came up to run her white silky thigh along the outside of his hips as her foot found the back of his thigh and ran down it.

“Not for a long, long time. I was just letting you get your breath back. If Guerin’s going to kill us, lets make sure our offense is a big one.”

Tess giggled at Kyle’s goofy smile and the light of the devil in his eyes. “In for a penny, in for a pound?"

Kyle quickly scrambled to his knees between her legs and pushed her harder back into the tumbled pillows with her golden curls spread across them. He looked at her swollen mouth and the way her tongue came out to touch her lips as her eyes narrowed, sending his heart racing out of control.

He pulled her hips up higher to him, burying his renewing erection in deeper as she groaned his name. Leaning down, he outlined her mouth with his tongue before sinking it inside. He loved the way she moved her whole body sensually around his, almost like a cat, her nails biting into his skin.

“Definitely, Tessie. Definitely a pound...lots of pounds.”

While they were otherwise engaged, Mr. Booboo had slowly crawled out from behind the armoire, after hearing the heated argument and the sounds of heavy breathing and lovemaking. He finally felt safe enough to come out. Okay, so they weren’t his own pets, but they were curiously similar and familiar. He jumped up in his favorite cushioned lounger and went about the business of personal care. While licking his paw and washing behind his ears, his eyes caught the gleam of a set of keys on the floor.