A/N: You'll only uncover Secrets under clipped knives.

Finally

Rachel had been waiting for this night for what seemed like an eternity. As she put on the white dress and made sure her make-up was just right, she reminisced about the past four years.

Ever since 'Max Steel' had shown up at N-Tek, Rachel always had strong emotions for him. At first, she felt curiosity. Never had an agent come to N-Tek through such odd circumstances, and she was determined to see what made him tick. After the initial period of three months, she had stopped being so curious, and had just felt outright annoyance towards the new agent. He was so damn cocky. Never wanting to train, always complaining about the minor aspects of life.

However, after the first four months, she had started to feel differently about him. She couldn't believe it, but she seemed to be…falling in love with him. At first she had tried to deny it. It couldn't be. She was all business, and employee relationships were off limits. That day, after coaching Max in one of his training sessions, maybe being stricter than usual to cover up her new emotions, she had gone home and listened to herself call Jake Nez and break up with him. He had asked why, and she heard herself say she had found someone else. He wanted to know who it was, and at that point she had slowly put the receiver back into its cradle.

Slowly over the months, she had come to realize that Max felt the same way about her, and the relationship developed. They had grown closer, becoming more obvious in their attraction, and at the same time working harder and harder to deny the truth. Then there had been that fatal kiss, and Rachel knew things were going too far. They couldn't screw up the team just because they felt something for each other. Within a week, she had secretly requested a change of location, and packed her bags.

Over the past two years, Max called her again and again, every night long distance. She would never pick up the phone. They had to let go. They couldn't be together. That didn't stop him, though. He would leave long messages, and she would listen to every one of them, her heart aching for him. He had continued, until the day she realized she couldn't bear the separation. Without a word to anyone back at N-Tek, she boarded the first plane out she could find and flew back to Del Oro. Because of the time difference, she didn't get back until four in the morning. She didn't care. She could've waited; it would've made more sense, but sense didn't matter anymore. She had to see him.

Arriving at his doorstep in the early morning hours, she had stood there debating with herself for twenty minutes before she was able to bring herself to ring the doorbell. The 'ding dong' sound it produced was low, and she knew it wouldn't wake him, but she hadn't counted on his enhanced hearing to pick up the noise. She waited, forcing herself not to bite her nails, but after a few minutes, got no response. Deciding to take that as a sign, she hurried back to the car she had rented from the airport, and was reaching into her handbag for the keys when she realized they weren't there. Looking in the car window confirmed her suspicions. She had left them in the ignition. She must've been more nervous than she had realized. Trying the door resulted in the discovery that, of course, she had locked the door from the inside. Great.

With a loud sigh, she slumped against the car door, burying her head in her arms and banging loudly on the roof with one fist. She had looked forward to seeing him, had needed to see him for so long, and now nothing was going right. In between the metallic pounding noises made by her fist hitting the roof of the car, she picked up a quiet creaking noise, and turned to see the door to the beach house had been opened. And suddenly, there he was, in boxers and an old t-shirt, his hair mussed up, a sleepy look on his face, but to her as attractive as he'd ever been.

"Rachel?" he said, and she could tell from the tone of his voice that he was as surprised to see her as she had been to find herself getting on that plane.

They both stood there staring at each other, not quite knowing what to say, and then she broke the silence by running to him and jumping into his arms. They held each other tight, and in that moment it seemed that all was right with the world. They were together.

With a sigh, Rachel recalled that moment happily as she studied her reflection in the mirror and fixed the veil onto her head. She was supposed to have bridesmaids helping her get ready, but she had sent them away, already too nervous without their noisy flurry of activity. The next few months after that had been wonderful. They had stopped trying to hide their feelings for each other, and Rachel went back to N-Tek to work in a higher position. They would no longer be working together directly, and there was no real risk of missions being compromised because of their relationship. Berto had taken the liberty of using his computer to show them what their children would look like (sometimes using programs to add lobster claws or an extra head on for his own enjoyment), and Jefferson Smith had given them his blessing.

Soon after, Max had taken her to an expensive French restaurant in Los Angeles and asked her to marry him. He got down on one knee right there in the middle of everything and presented her with a medium-sized diamond ring. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

That night they had gone home together, and even though both had to work the next day, they stayed up half the night planning the wedding. Max made sure that the first thing covered was what food would be served.

And now, here they were. Rachel glanced at the clock hanging on the wall to her left, and saw that there were only twenty minutes before the ceremony would begin. Twenty minutes before she would begin that long walk down the aisle and begin the next part of her life. Such a short time before they would be joined together forever. Checking her make-up once more, she jumped a little as she heard a knocking on the door.

"No, Janine," she laughed, "I won't rig it so you'll catch the bouquet." Her little sister had been nagging her to let her catch the arrangement of flowers after the ceremony all week.

"Actually, it's me," she recognized her fiancé's voice through the door, and hurried to let him in.

"Max!" she scolded as she closed the door behind him, "You know you're not supposed to see me before the ceremony! It's bad luck."

"Rachel, we have to talk."

She stepped closer to him and fixed his hair. "You're so cute when you try to be serious."

He gently took hold of her wrist, and looked into her eyes. "Rachel, there's a problem."

"Well, what is it then? Is it the reception hall? Did they decorate the room wrong? I told them to use the orange flowers, but they kept saying pink when they wrote it down, did they decorate the hall with pink flowers?"

Max bit his lip. "Rachel, I'm sure the flowers are fine, but-"

"Look," she said, staring into his blue eyes, "we've both made a lot of sacrifices to get here. You deciding to give up being Josh and stay Max full time, me giving up that promotion that would have me back overseas, and I realize all of that is probably starting to build on you now. Everyone gets cold feet. It's ok. I'm scared now too."

He started to say something, but she kept on going. "What I'm saying is we'll be all right. Everything will be all right. We have the support of our friends and families, and we love each other more than any other couple can. We can face anything together. These are going to be the best years of our lives."

Max stood there silently, staring back into her eyes, still biting his lip.

"What did you want to say, Max?" she pulled him tight to her and she was immediately pulled back to that moment on his porch, as she was every time she hugged him like this. He had said something, but she had been lost in her reverie, and had not heard him.

"Rachel, did you hear me?"

"Hm?" she buried her face in his shoulder, still half-lost in that moment two years ago.

"Rachel, I said there's something I have to tell you."

"Go ahead, I'm listening," she replied, still snuggled against him. She always felt so safe when she was with him. He was so strong, she knew he would always protect her, always be there for her, always-

"Rachel, I'm gay."