Tess stepped outside the small house into a clear night complete with a full moon to illuminate the possibilities. Her mind ran ahead and tirelessly explored the situation from various angles. Vicious scenarios filled her mind in fantasy form. All of them would prove crippling to her prey . . . A few might even prove deadly. She let her mind wander over the endless spectrum of devastation as a smile graced the mouth that no longer resembled her own.

Her new face and body felt somewhat awkward, but not so much so that it would even slow her down . . .

Adaptation was deeply embedded into the scraps of genetic code that meshed into being, one Tess Harding. She smiled evilly as she recounted the children's story about the Grinch and his heart that was three sizes too small . . . She thoroughly enjoyed that particular story . . . until the end.

Too bad about his growth of conscience and ultimate demise. She would never have to worry about growing a heart at the last minute. It simply wasn't in the code . . .

And, I walk in the air,
between the rain,
through myself and back again.
Where, I don't know.

She made her way quickly and silently across the same wilderness, where just a day before, her entire purpose in this life had been shaken to the foundation. They had slipped across this same terrain and out of her grasp. Remembered rage bloomed in pink blotches across the skin that felt just a bit too tight.

And, she walks along the edge
of where the ocean meets the land
just like she's walking on a wire,
in a circus . . .

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Liz opened her eyes as she became aware of Max's steady heart beat sounding in her ear where it lay pressed against his chest. She picked up her head slowly to find him wide awake and staring at her. Her mind quickly reminded her of what she'd done just before collapsing in this very position. The memory flitted through her mind like an old movie flickering in shades of black and white on the screen.

His face was full of questions that she couldn't answer, and insecurity began it's insidious journey through her emotions. But, before the traitorous feelings could take root, she noticed the other more important aspects of his countenance. Passion. Desire. Overwhelming acceptance and love. But, it was the all-consuming need that most caught her attention. Gratefully, she realized that he didn't expect her to have answers to the questions, and the passion she was more than prepared to deal with.

As she continued to unbend from her sleeping position, other memories assailed her awareness. Disturbing visions. Haunting images. Almost a foretelling of the future . . . their future.

Liz: (stretching out until she could look down into his face and feel his heartbeat under her own) "How long have you been awake?"

Max: (hesitating) "Not long."

Liz: (knowingly) "Why didn't you wake me up? This can't be comfortable for you."

Max: (nuzzling her neck) "You were tired and I'm not uncomfortable. In fact, I can't remember the last time I felt this good."

Liz: (smiling) "Really?"

Max: (eyes lightening as he looked into her hers) "Yeah."

Liz: (beginning to move away before a strong arm pinned her in place) "Don't we have to get up?"

Max: (pulling her face close to his with one hand on the back of her neck) "Not today."

Liz: (distracted but fighting it) "But, it's not today anymore."

Max: (against her lips) "Not tonight, either."

Liz felt the answering response to him rising up steadily against any reasonable thought.

His mouth was so warm, and wet, and . . . what was it she was thinking they should be doing anyway? She just couldn't . . . quite . . . remember . . .

Max felt every move she made as if raw nerves were exposed to her skin, sliding, and her hands, seeking, and her mouth pushing them both further into each other . . .

It wasn't so much what she did, as the way she did it. She was so completely graceful . . .

On the other hand, what she was doing now almost caused him to lose his breath . . .

She slid down slightly, drawing her knees up, and dragging her open mouth over his chin and down his neck . . .

Unable to stop it and not even wanting to, he forced his hips up in a desperate attempt to be inside her.

Liz reached for control and hung on tight. Just a few more minutes was all she needed. And, he'd almost completely knocked her off course with that one touch. Her body ached and tried in vain to talk her mind out of this delay . . .

If it hadn't been so important to her, she might've listened to her body, but she needed this. She needed to know what part in reality her dreams played . . .

She moved lower, dragging her mouth down his stomach now, and smiling, as the muscles under her tongue jumped. His breath rushed in sharply as she descended.

Max just knew he was not going to survive this. His hands twisted in her hair, but were careful not to hurt her in any way. Short, shallow breathing really did sound an awful lot like panting but he was beyond caring at this point.

Flattening her tongue against the skin on his belly, she risked a peek at his face and couldn't miss the tension in his muscles or the slight arch in his lower back that came with the view.

Her hand finally slid down his thigh and in between until she held the answers to her questions in the palm of her hand . . .

Rubbing gently, she briefly thought about the definition of making love and realized that this was probably it. Not the act itself, but the intense need to touch another person in such an intimate way.

Max knew she was asking him something . . . he could hear it. But, her hands . . . and her mouth . . . and the roaring in his ears deafened him to all else . . .

Questions would have to wait . . .

---------------------------------------------

Alex opened his eyes, and as tired as he was, wanted to never shut them again as long as Isabel was the view. He could scarcely believe he was with her . . . wherever the hell they were. He'd been so exhausted last night when they arrived, he would've slept standing up if necessary. As it was, he was fairly comfortable . . . on the ground? Was he crazy? Nobody was ever comfortable on the ground without an air mattress. It was her. She did this to him. She made impossible situations completely credible . . .

------------------------------------------

Maria slowly opened her eyes to bare slits, giving the appearance that she was still asleep. Unbeknownst to her, however, Michael was watching her carefully and knew the moment she had awakened. Giving up the futile pretense, she squinted against the minimal light and tried to sort out dreams and reality, and whether or not she was really here. If they were really together. Could it be?

Michael watched the questions play across her expressive face and revelled in the knowledge that she hadn't even tried to hide them from him. For the first time in a very long time, her expression was unguarded, candid. Some of her defenses had dissolved, but the few that remained were still firmly in place.

Maria slid her eyes open despite their protest to better see the man by her side, watching her with such . . . compassion? When had *that* happened?

Michael: (as if hearing her unspoken question) "Six months is a long time to live like this."

Maria: (confusion clouding her mind) "Like what? In a tent? On the run?"

Michael: (eyes filled with pain) "Without you."

Maria tried so hard to hold on to that last shred of caution, but bid it good riddance as the truth of his feelings washed over her heart in waves. There was no longer any reason to be afraid . . .

Maria: (voice filled with decision and more than a little wonder) "Michael . . . "

Holding out his hand palm up with an eloquence that was only natural, Maria reached out and slid her fingers across the palm of his hand until they intertwined with his . . .

He rolled onto his back and she followed until she lay half across him, staring down into eyes that were at once familiar and so brand new . . .

Her hands cradled his face just before sliding further into his hair and the kiss that was almost involuntary . . .

-------------------------------------------------

Tess felt the ever present nuisance of pain in her extremities, but ignored it as the purpose for this journey burned a path across her brain . . .

So much depended on her success . . .

Her existence, for example . . .

------------------------------------------------

Liz wandered back up her husband's body in a leisurely fashion that almost drove him out of his mind . . .

Dragging her tongue along ribs that expanded and compressed with the force of labored breathing, she thought about those questions that had plagued her dreams with an intensity that had left her beyond disturbed . . .

Her husband. No ceremony. No rings. Not even legal. But no less real . . .

So real, in fact, that her dreams had been scattered with faces that she'd never known of people that she'd never seen, but they were real, too . . .

Faces that were small and adoring, . . . innocent . . .

Liz stretched out full length over him once more and thought about the visions that had plagued her dreams and the questions that now consumed her waking moments.

Max felt more than saw her settle over him and an odd peace stole through his mind with perplexing timing. Their bodies stilled as the thoughts and visions, along with the fear and hopes, found their way across an invisible connection between souls. Those fine lines shimmered with energy, and were incredibly strong despite their delicate appearance. In that moment, Max understood the meaning behind her questions, and the connection between them became an almost visible web with the force of their emotions storming across the finely spun strands. He opened his eyes slowly to find Liz's wide open and searching . . .

There were two. They were so small . . . just infants really . . . girls? Boys? He couldn't tell . . . But, what he could tell was that they were his . . .

Liz: "Max?"

Max: (voice barely above a whisper) "I saw them."

Liz: (closing her eyes and taking a deep breath) "Do you want children, Max?"

Silence.

An absolute lack of sound.

How could it be so deafening?

Max continued to stare into her eyes, refusing to look away but unwilling to be anything less than honest.

Max: (feeling the doubt in her heart prodding him into speech) "Yes! God. Don't think I don't want them!"

Liz felt the assurance of his words and waited quietly for him to finish.

Max: "I didn't expect . . . I mean, I didn't know it was possible. I should've . . . "

Liz: (unable to bear the obvious conclusion, she gently sealed his lips with her fingertips) "Please don't say that. Don't tell me you would have prevented this if you could have. (eyes filled with tears)

Max felt the pain of her distorted perception of his feelings and wrestled to contain the chaos in his mind. Unable to hide the full spectrum of his emotions from her, Liz immediately picked up on the things he wasn't saying.

Liz: "What's wrong, Max?"

Max: (silent for a few moments as fear found it's way into words) "I can't . . . lose you."

Liz: (surprise widening her eyes) "Why would you?"

Max: (searching madly through words that couldn't express his feelings) "I can't explain it." (frustration taking hold)

Liz: (her heart aching) "Shhh. Baby, it's o.k. You don't have to explain."

Max: (determined) "Yes. Yes, I do. I won't have you thinking what I know you're thinking. I love you, Liz. I want our children. It's just not safe. Until this fighting is over, none of us are safe. I'm afraid of what could happen to you, if they find out."

Liz (a peaceful smile lighting up her face in spite of her own worries): "Well, we just won't tell them . . . yet. In fact, not until it's just plain obvious."

Her words slammed through his already reeling mind with vivid images of her body changing to accommodate pregnancy. This was real. They were going to have a baby. Or was it babies? Oh God. The erotic images clashed with the almost desperate fear coursing through his mind . . .

But, then . . . as quickly as rain falls, understanding changed the direction of his scattered thoughts into one steady, motion. The indisputable truth. The victory would always lie in the undeniable identity of her soul, his mate. She was the one. They were meant for this. It was their destiny . . .

Liz felt the pieces falling into place for Max, one by one, removing all the doubts.

Max reached up to gently take hold of her face in both hands, bringing her mouth slowly closer to his, sealing with a kiss their future, with all it's hopes and dreams.

Liz responded to the pressure of his lips opening hers, and creating something much more than just a kiss. Max couldn't get enough of her. His body was on fire with a combination of unsatisfied lust, and the most overwhelming sense of love that he could actually get lost in it. It was terrifying to need someone this much, but there was no going back. No safe ledge from which to ponder the situation. The leap had been made long ago, and he wouldn't return to that colorless existence no matter how scared he was.

His open mouth travelled along her jaw to just under her ear before sliding down the sensitive skin on her neck. Liz felt her muscles go slack as her body responded to the intense pleasure. The contrast between his warm breath against her skin and the chill that moved across her nerves, rushed his name from her lungs in an audible gasp.

Max held her tightly to him with one arm across her lower back and hip and the other around her shoulders. Liz felt powerful muscles tighten and flex as he rolled over until she was on her back. Max felt the furious crashing need for her crawling all along his spine. He couldn't stop or even slow down . . .

His arm insistently arched her back, allowing him more access to her throat. His tongue traced her collarbone and the small hollow just above it, sending more chills chasing each other over her skin. The relentless urgency in his body transferred quickly to his mind and simultaneously to hers, as his hips rocked forward sending shock waves in the form of a shudder through his body. Liz forced her lower body upward and her legs further apart in anticipation . . .

Max groaned as her actions brought his painfully sensitive sex into the first stages of contact with her hot, wet, very wet, center. Shifting his weight to his elbows, and with his eyes still closed, he laced her fingers together with his. He opened his eyes then to find hers still closed and her skin flushed with a feverish glow. The entrance to her body tightened and released, and she arched her back with a tiny whimper, silently begging him to hurry.

"Oh God, Liz," he whispered against her neck just before surging over her and burying himself in her body that still felt impossibly tiny and tight. He prayed he wasn't hurting her, and felt from inside her own mind that he wasn't. Max tried to wait longer to let her adjust, but as her back arched a little higher and her heels dug into the ground, all sense of temperance was lost. Their bodies worked tirelessly together to hand the other one up one more level. , she breathed as the tension increased to unbearable proportions.

Max heard her words inside his mind, as well as, in the physical, and as he continued to push them both beyond what either one thought they could endure, his mind filled and overflowed to hers. Liz immediately brought her legs up around his waist, bringing him deeper inside and closer . . .

Max trembled violently both from the change in position and the strain on his body. But, he couldn't stop yet. They were so close . . .

His hands gripped hers almost painfully, as the punishing pace slackened not one bit. Closing his eyes and concentrating on her body, Max imagined all the ways he'd love to touch her right now, but couldn't . . .

He'd love to gently hold her breast in his mouth, sucking occasionally and exploring every part of her with his hands and mouth until they were both brinking insanity. As his thoughts painted erotic pictures in Liz's mind, her body found it hard to distinguish between reality and fantasy . . . She felt his mouth on her everywhere as if it wasn't suspended above her. She felt his hands touching her in ways he never had, as if they weren't intertwined with hers . . .

And the soul shattering scream that tore from her chest exploded in Max's mind, just as he captured it in his mouth, sealing his lips over hers to prevent it from escaping. And, as if it had been waiting for that very catalyst, his body exploded into hers, pulsing and released at last.