Title:

Author: Justine M. Benoit

Disclaimer: Monica, Andrew, Tess, Gloria, Adam, Raphael, and Sam belong to Martha Williamson, CBS productions, and Moonwater Productions. All characters from "Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman" belong to Beth Sulivan, CBS productions, and Moonwater Productions. All other characters belong to me.

PG-RATING for violence sequences and some mild language.

PROLOGUE

Monica hung her feet over the skyscraper that she sat upon. The wind picked up and gently whipped her auburn shoulder-length hair in front of her pale face. Her brown eyes studied the large city in front of her as if they were searching for something. Actually, she was searching for someone.

She thought back to that morning when her best friend had made a promise to her. She instinctively knew that he wouldn't break it. He had said he'd meet her here-though about fifteen minutes ago. Now she was starting to worry, considering that the usually prompt angel of death was late. He was never late. Sure, everyone had their days, but him…no, he never had.

She shielded her eyes from the blazing sun that was almost setting behind the tall buildings, painting the horizon purple and pink. It was quite a beautiful sight, Monica thought. She tried to forget about the minutes that ticked by. She finally glanced at her watch and gasped when she realized that a half-hour had passed. She looked back up at the sun and found only a peak of it still revealed. It really had been that long. Maybe he wasn't coming. Maybe he had forgotten about her. No, not Andrew, for he never broke a promise-especially to the ones he loved.

"Oh, Andrew, where are you? You promised…" she sighed as her words trailed off. She almost laughed when she realized how stupid it was to talk to her own self. But sometimes it kept her company. If she were scared, she might hum a hymn, even though no one would be able to tell if she was singing "Jesus Loves Me" or "Jesus Loves the Little Children." It didn't matter what others heard. In her own mind, she sounded as good as the choir. Oh…that brought back awful memories. She started to blush when she thought about how fast she was kicked out of it. It sure hadn't sounded heavenly when she had taken the solo that didn't belong to her.

A few birds chirped and flew overhead. Monica smiled as sight of a white dove landing next to her. It lighted on her shoulder, cooing contently and gave a loving peck at the Irish angel. Monica giggled as it walked around the top of the skyscraper. She peered down, again her eyes searching for her friend. Then, it finally hit her. After almost forty minutes, he wasn't coming.

"Now what, my friend?" she asked the dove. It flew up and landed on her finger as if trying to comfort her. It cooed and then flew up to withhold the sky as its own. Monica slowly shut her eyes and hummed. She was lost in her own little world when an exasperated angel sat beside her.

Andrew's pale face let a smile spread over it when he heard her. She didn't even know she was there. Actually, he was somewhat scared to confront her. He was late, broken his promise, and probably made her very upset.

"Um…Monica?" the angel of death asked. Monica shot open her eyes and turned to look at him with a scared and surprised expression on her flustered face.

"Andrew? Where…" the angel of death cut her off.

"Sorry I'm late. Ran into a few old friends." Andrew laughed. He stopped when he realized that he was the only one. Monica just watched him blankly. "Okay, I know, I know, I should've been here and I wasn't. Sorry. Can you forgive me, Angel Girl?" She nodded and smiled.

"But, Andrew, you're almost an hour late. The sun has set and the birds have finished their night songs."

"So have you," he snickered. She lovingly hit him on the shoulder and rolled her eyes.

"Hey, just because I don't have the most angelic voice of all us angels doesn't mean that I can't sing," the angel spoke in her Irish lilt. She turned away from him, hiding her blush of embarrassment. He reached over and touched her chin, turning it back towards him.

"Yes, I know. God said to make a joyful noise, not a beautiful one," he sighed. His emerald eyes sparkled with compassion. Monica leaned down and set her head in her hands. She gazed out to the city below them.

"Thank you," she whispered. He nodded and put his arm around her shoulder. "I remember when this town was half the size that it is now."

"Probably not even that," Andrew laughed. Colorado Springs was a good size town, people filling the sidewalks, cars zooming down the streets, and the fresh smell of food drowning the wind.

"I remember the assignment that we did together, Andy," Monica said. She looked at him, their eyes meeting. "You know what?"

"What?" he asked curiously.

"I didn't really like you then."

"What?"

"No, seriously, I didn't. I just thought of you as some angel of death who thought he was so important," Monica said. He laughed.

"Times change…I hope," he added. He shot her a friendly wink then elbowed her with a smile.

"There sure do," Monica sighed. She stared off into space, dreaming about that day that brought her back to the colonial ages.

"That was one of the first times we worked with each other, Angel Girl," Andrew told her. He reached over and soothed a violent lock of auburn hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. She let out a gentle smile, though hardly hearing him. Her mind was back to that day, a long time ago.

"Yes," Monica murmured. "It seems like yesterday."

"Maybe while we wait for Tess, we can talk about what happened," Andrew suggested.

"Huh? Oh, I'd rather not…really Andrew," she said with a wince.

"Of course you wouldn't, hun, that's the day that…well…that was the day that you first almost messed up your assignment." He laughed, though quickly turning it into a cough when he felt her glare on him. "Note I said, 'almost'. So, what really happened? I wasn't with you the whole time. Tell me the details."

"Well, if you insist…" Monica began. "Colorado Springs, July 3, 1893…"

Flashbacks are sometimes important to remember and experience, especially for angels. Monica and Andrew were about to be taken back farther than they wanted to go-much. But how far did they need to go? Why did they need to remember this certain date?

Right below the two, a man nailed up a banner, advertising the July 4 festival the next day.