"Max, what are we going to do? I mean, I've never seen her crying. Not like that."

"I think we need to call Liz or Alex. They know her for years, Izzy. They'll know what to do."

Isabel said nothing. There was nothing to say, because what Max was proposing was just the worst idea known to men.

"Max, she came to us. Not to Liz, or Alex. To us. That means something. Maybe she wants to talk to someone who doesn't have the urge to be by her side every single time just to make sure she's ok. Maybe she just needs space."

Max nodded and look at the back door when he saw Michael coming through it.

"Michael? What are you doing here?"

Michael seemed awfully disturbed. His now not spiky hair was disheveled, his eyes huge and his clothes torn.

"Maria came to see me a couple of hours ago and..."

Max looked at Isabel with knowledge on his eyes.

"Shit!"

Isabel whispered, looking from Max to Michael and back again. Michael seemed totally confused.

"What?"

"Michael, what happened at your apartment?"

To Max surprise, Michael blushed and looked down.

"I opened the door, and she was there, shivering. I was harsh and when she was about to tell me what she was doing there Victoria came out of the bedroom naked except for a sheet around her. Maria apologized and left."

Isabel studied Michael carefully until he felt uncomfortable.

"There's something else, isn't it?"

Michael gulped down and nodded.

"I called Victoria sweetie and told her to go back to bed that I would be there in a minute."

Isabel's eyes widened and she slammed the cup down on the table.

"You did WHAT?"

Max put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it softly.

"SHH, Izzy you're gonna wake her."

Isabel groaned, trying so hard to suppress her anger that her body was trembling. She had gotten much softer after Liz and Maria joined the squad. They were sweet and they treated her normally. But she wouldn't admit that to anyone. Not even under death threat.

"Wake who?"

Michael asked, clearly confused.

"Maria. She's sleeping in the living room."

Michael's breath oozed out of him on a long, shuddering line and he looked at them with something close to panic on his eyes.

"She's HERE? What the hell is she doing here?"

Isabel sighed and looked up at him, getting up.

"You're going to lose her. And when you do, you'll know why she came to us. And you'll hate yourself."

And she left. Max just looked at him and pointed a finger to a nearby chair, walking slowly to the coffee machine. He needed coffee. Badly.

"Want anything?"

Michael shook his head and waited for Maxwell to put the machine to work. After he did it, Max sat down in front of him and linked his fingers together, looking Michael straight in the eyes.

"I do not need to tell you what you did was extremely stupid, do I?"

Michael shook his head and covered his face with his hands, sighing.

"It's just that.... god, Maxwell! She came to me all vulnerable and I was afraid to let her in. To show her I care and later have to tell her I don't."

Max said nothing. He had nothing to say, to make Michael and Maria's situation better.

* * *

Scully sighed and rubbed her lower back in small circles. Mulder was out, buying them dinner and not only her back, but also her feet were killing her. Walking slowly through the room, she gathered a few things and went to the bathroom. Maybe a hot, soothing bath would make that miserable pain go away.

Wincing when a distracted movement made tinny stars appear on her eyelids, Scully closed the door, wishing Mulder would come back soon. She needed a backrub.

* * *

EVANS RESIDENCE
8:32 AM

Maria opened her eyes slowly and blinked several times. The sunlight was shinning brightly, on her face. Her body felt like it weighed 100 pounds more than its usual weight. And most of that weight was now on her head.

"Shit!"

Maria cursed when her head started spinning madly the minute she tried to get up and covered her stinging eyes with her hand. The other one traveled to her neck, where her mother's necklace hung proudly on the spot above her heart. With unsure steps, Maria walked to the kitchen, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Good morning."

She turned around quickly and smiled when she saw Izzy, leaning against the sink, sipping something out of a blue cup. The blond smiled back, but soon returned to her 'I give a shit about the world' attitude.

"Sleep well?"

Maria nodded, still smiling.

"What? What's the smile for?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking about your pjs."

Isabel looked down at the red silk pj and then up again.

"What about it?"

"Alex would love it."

The whole cold attitude left Isabel on a whoosh and she smiled so brightly, Maria thought she was going to be blinded.

"He really likes you, you know?"

Isabel's smile faded and she looked down at the cup on her hands, fingering the edges.

"I know. But after the things I did to him, I don't think he likes me like THAT anymore."

Maria snickered and couldn't stop the laugh from bubbling out of her. All the stress from the past days left her on high pitched laughs. Holding the table to keep from falling, Maria laughed until tears were streaming down her face. And Isabel couldn't help but laugh along, thinking maybe the girl had finally lost it completely. When the laughter finally died away, Isabel wiped the tears off her eyes and looked up at Maria, who was now sitting in front of her.

"So, what's so funny."

Maria smiled, shook her head and grabbed Isabel's hand.

"Isabel, Alex could not stop loving you. It's as impossible as Max stop loving Liz. For Christ's sake, he has pictures of you hidden on his closet! And when I say pictures, I mean a LOT of pictures. A box. He talks about you all the time. He would do anything for you."

"I..."

Maria squeezed Isabel's hand tightly and nodded.

"He loves you. Believe me, I've known him for too long, and since and I quote 'I saw her coming out of that bus, holding Max's hand, I knew that I would be forever in love with her.'"

Isabel's smile reappeared and she squeezed Maria's hand back.

"Thank you."

"No problema." * * *

CRASHDOWN
8:32 AM

Mulder brushed a kiss against Scully's lips and pulled her softly towards the diner in front of them. Grinning at the big blinking UFO on top of it, he entered it, a bell dinging when he opened the door.

"This is on top of my list for favorite restaurant, Scully."

Dana groaned and sighed, rolling her eyes. She was tired, she was hungry and her feet and back hurt. Mulder helped her to a booth and they both sat down on it.

"Maria! Get those two, I'm busy!"

Mulder raised his eyes to see a beautiful blonde coming towards them, notepad in hand, her eyes tired as eyes of a girl that age should never be. That was when he noticed the pendant. His eyes widened and he gasped, drawing Scully's attention. As soon as she saw the pendent, she sighed in relief. FINALLY the search was over. They were looking for that thing for almost a week.

"Hello, I'm Maria Deluca, what it will be?"

Mulder cleared his throat and studied the girl carefully. Her eyes were as green as Amy's were, and she was all her mother in features. Even the hair was the same.

"Your mother was Amy Deluca, am I right?"

Maria's eyes gleamed with tears and she nodded.

"Yes...but my mother she....passed away."

Mulder felt a chill running up his spine and locked gazes with her.

"Listen, Maria. I need to talk to you. When is your shift over."

Maria looked at him and fingered the pendant lightly.

"We'll close at 9:30, mister..."

"Mulder. Call me Mulder. This is Dana, my wife."

Maria stretched her hand to the red head lady and smiled warmingly.

"Hello, Dana. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Maria. Your hair is beautiful."

Maria blushed and smiled.

"Thank you. Well, Mulder...We close at 9:30. You two can pass by at this time. I'll open the door for you."

She shouldn't be doing this. Trusting this guy so openly. She didn't know why, but she did. She trusted him without understanding why, but she did.

"Now, what's it gonna be?"

Mulder chuckled at the names on the menu and closed it, placing it on Maria's open palm.

"Ok, how about two hamburgers and a chocolate shake for me and ...Scully?"

Scully also placed her menu on Maria's hand and smiled at her.

"I want hot dogs. Three. And a glass of coke. A big one. And a piece of chocolate cake."

Maria wrote it down and smiled.

"Oh, and fries."

"Wow, seems the kid is hungry. When are you due?"

Scully laughed and smiled at Mulder.

"Two more months to go."

"Good luck, then. I'll bring your order shortly, ok? Going to make sure it's done first."