Title: Slipping Through My Hands
Author: Zia
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Maria leaves, and Michael realizes he missed the signs
Author's Note: I've been wanting to write a fic to the song 'Round Here' for like years now, but never had real inspiration, then heard 'Big yellow Taxi' and it inspired me the rest of the way ;) hope you enjoy!

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Round here we're carving out our names
Round here we all look the same
Round here we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
Round here she's slipping though my hands
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Michael woke up to the sound of the screen door swinging shut. He rolled over, reaching for Maria. She was gone. Sitting up a little, her clothes were gone, and his were folded neatly on the foot of his bed. Getting up he tugged on his boxers and walked over to the window and saw a yellow taxi driving away. Taking his Maria away. He knew that he'd never see her again. He wasn't sure how, but has he thought back on it, he began to realize why he knew.

--

Michael stood in the kitchen of the Crashdown; Maria was up front, sitting at the cash register, she was watching people as they interacted with each other. Boyfriends and girlfriends, friends, husbands and wives, sisters and brothers, parents and children, she seemed to be watching them, awed by it. Her chin rested on her palm. Her hair was falling in her face, and she had a faint smile on her face as she watched a little girl talking to a teenage boy in the next booth. She was giggling, and the boy was smiling at her. Michael's eyes darted back and forth, wondering why Maria found the scene so intriguing.

Michael watched her whole body jerk, as if she was shocked and she looked at him, she must have felt his eyes on her, and blushed and quickly turned her head away, no longer watching the two across the room.

Later he found her sitting on the hood of her car outside; she was laying back on it, staring up at the sky. Michael walked over to her silently and sat down beside her. "I'm so tired of all of this." She sighed, but didn't look at him.

"Tired of what?"

"Life." His ears perked up a little, surprised by her answer.

"How about you come home with me." Michael suggested and she nodded, for the first time meeting his eyes. He saw something there, he wasn't sure what it was, but it scared him. This emptiness. Taking her hand he pulled her off the hood of her car and led her to his motorcycle and drove her back to his place.

Michael sat on his bed, waiting for Maria to come out of the bathroom, she'd told him she was going in to clean up a little bit, but had been in there for almost two hours. Getting up he walked over and knocked softly. He could hear her quiet sobs now. "Maria?" She muttered something he couldn't hear and pushed open the door and found her sitting in the tub, her face in her hands.

Quickly he went to her side and lifted her shivering body out of the ice-cold water. Michael grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her then carried her into his room to finish drying her off. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Her teeth chattered in response and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. "Shhh it's okay." He pulled the blanket up around her and held her in his arms, rocking her gently.

He'd never had a mother to comfort him like this. Not that he ever showed if something was wrong, but still it would have been nice to have someone there to hold him after his run ins with Hank. And that's what Maria did, so it was only fair to return the favor.

Michael held her for hours before she seemed to come back to normal again. And when she did she began kissing him softly, thanking him for taking care of her. Michael let his hands carefully explore her body while hers did the same to his. Soft kisses were exchanged, and gentle caresses. Michael laid on top of her, nuzzling her throat as his hips moved against hers, slipping in and out of her warmth slowly.

Her back was arched beneath his, breasts pressed tight against his chest causing him to groan out her name. Her eyes were closed half way, trying to watch him as he watched her. She came loudly, his name echoing off her lips, in the small room. Seconds later he followed with a cry of his own, as he emptied his seed inside of her.

They laid together quietly, holding onto each other tightly as they drifted off to sleep. Then Michael heard her leaving. And as he watched the cab drive away, he knew where she was going, and everything made sense to him. The flashes he'd gotten from her, that he was too exhausted to take notice of went through his mind again.

He got dressed quickly and walked out of the house to his bike and climbed on. The sun wouldn't be up for another hour or so. He revved the engine and drove out to the quarry. He saw the tire tracks, most likely from the cab, and Maria's purse laying near the edge of the cliff. He walked over to it and picked it up. More flashes hit him.

+Maria watching him sleep.
+Climbing into the cab after casting a last glance at his apartment.
+Walking to the edge of the quarry and setting her purse down

Glancing over the edge he saw nothing, but he knew what happened. Michael walked back to his bike and climbed on before driving down to the lake he saw exactly what he expected to find.

Maria's body was floating in the water so he wadded in, and lifted her body out of the water. She was still warm. He carried her back to the rocky area and sat down with her and calmly stroked her damp hair off her face, and got the flashes that filled in all of the blanks.

+Maria watching her mother talk to the doctor
+Staring at a bottle of pills in her hand
+Watching the little girl and the teenage boy in the Crashdown
+Maria laying on the hood of her car, staring up at the roof of the building, thinking of jumping
+Laying in the bathtub crying, murmuring 'I'm dying' over and over.
+Laying in bed with Michael, tears silently rolling down her cheeks.
+Arms spread, jumping off the edge of the cliff, imagining she was flying.

Michael stared down at her face, eyes were closed, lips were pink, skin was pale, pale white. She was still beautiful. He pressed his lips against her forehead and held her against his chest.


Michael stood in the morgue, beside the metal slab that Maria's body was laying on when Amy walked in. She let out a quiet sob and Michael walked over to her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, and was surprised when she hugged him tightly. "Amy Maria said she was dying" Amy nodded.

"She was We found out yesterday. She had a tumor they said she wouldn't live more than a few months." Michael nodded slightly. The final answer. Now he completely understood everything.


Michael laid in his bed, late at night, thinking about Maria, about earlier that day, at her funeral. God he missed her already. He rolled over and smoothed his hand along the bed, imagining that she was laying beside him. He closed his eyes tightly.

Maria slid onto the bed beside him, her lips pressed against the back of his neck. "Hi lover." She whispered.

"I miss you." He felt her smile against his throat.

"I love you."

"I love you too." He started to cry, his shoulders shook with his sobs. She was really gone.

"Michael." Maria murmured quietly, her arms wrapping around him. "My precious baby look at me." He turned his head and saw her smiling down at him; her hair was no longer blonde, but dark red.

"What's going on?!" He demanded jerking away from her quickly. That couldn't be Maria, she felt real, and he knew she wasn't.

"You saved me" She reached up and touched his cheek and he got a flash of her waking up in the morgue and quickly slipping out and running down the sidewalk.

"Maria? How?!" He cupped her face gently. "What's going on?"

She touched her stomach, then took his hand and moved it to rest on his, letting him see it, rather than explain it.

[I]+Maria woke up with a gasp; quickly looking around she found herself cold and naked in a metal room. It wasn't until she had run out that she realized where she'd been. She found some clothes and started running. Her whole body hurt, but she kept running. She collapsed to the ground, her breathing labored. A hand touched her arm and she looked up and vaguely saw a blur of blonde hair.

She woke up terrified, in the Valenti's house. More specifically Kyle's bed Tess' bed. "Maria? Are you okay?" Tess asked and Maria looked up and saw her standing over her with Kyle beside her.

"I I jumped I'm supposed to be dead."

"I think I have an explanation for that You're pregnant with Michael's baby. It healed you."

"Healed me? But no I " Maria shook her head, trying to let it sink in.

"When you jumped the baby kept you alive barely until it was able to completely heal you. But everyone thinks you're dead you can't just be alive again."

"Then what do I do?"

"You can't stay here." Tess said softly.

"They'll get suspicious when there isn't a body anymore." Kyle interjected and Tess shook her head.

"I can take care of that."

"So I just leave then?"

"After the funeral tell Michael it's his baby." Tess said and Maria nodded. "Just stay in here until then."+[/I]

Michael pulled back and looked at her. "Baby?" She nodded and lifted her shirt a little and saw a tiny little glowing hand low on her belly. "Wow." He whispered. "Then let's go." Michael ran his fingers through her hair before pulling her close and hugging her tight against his chest.

9 Months Later

Maria laid in the bed of their apartment, cradling her daughter, Zoey, against her breast, letting him eat for the first time. Lightly she traced a finger over her forehead, her eyes barely staying open. The labor had been short, and not very painful, with the help of Michael, her husband of eight months.

"Hey." He whispered walking over and sitting on the bed beside Maria. "How do you feel?"

"Sleepy."

"Then sleep."

"I will. Soon." She leaned into his chest and let her eyes close. "I love you Michael."

"I love you too Maria."

The End