Chapter 1

Gaia Moore sat starring at the ceiling, it had been a month since she had been put on vacation from the FBI, it had been a month since she had solved her career-breaking case, it had been a month since a person she cared about died, it had been a month since she had felt betrayed, and it had been a month since she had called Ed Fargo. Gaia felt her stomach churn, nothing was right anymore, nothing would ever be right. She needed someone, she was always alone and she knew from her FBI training that normal life simulation was needed in the line of work. That basically meant that if she kept trailing off by herself, alone, and pretty much be what she pushes herself to be, a loner, then she was going to be alone, always and forever and she would eventually die alone.

The only person she knew that still cared about her was her father, and he could be out there somewhere, thinking about her too. She knew that she was becoming exactly like him, working for agencies that threatened every-day life and kept her from living a normal one. But Gaia knew that even if she left the Bureau she would never be able to do anything that felt right and maybe she realized now that she understood her father, and that re-connecting with him was what her life's work was adding up to, that was the huge climax in her life that she now understood would come. And maybe that's why her father put up with life, because he knew that one day she would understand that they were doing what would only feel right to do.

So that was the reason she had called him…. And by him she meant her father, because after calling Ed Fargo and announcing who she was, Ed hung up the phone and she didn't call back. She knew that he probably hung up because he knew that she was trouble, or maybe he thought she needed help and didn't want anything to do with her anyways. Whatever his brain concluded from her call, he had obviously decided that he didn't want to talk to her even though they had been great friends. So after taking a moment or two to realize that re-connecting with Ed Fargo was a bad idea, she called the CIA and demanded to know where Thomas Moore was. They had denied that such an agent by the name even worked in the agency, which made her get off her butt and go to Langley and find out where her father was, and it turns out that one of her fathers' mentors Agent Rodriguez was still in the agency. When she showed up in the building no doubt that security managed to recognize her as some sort of possible threat because they took her underground and asked her questions that only she would know. She found the test consuming and a little disappointing, if the questions had answers that only she would know, then why did the CIA know them? And if the CIA knew classified information about her, then surely other top secret organizations knew equal information as well, which proved the test of identification a little pointless.

She talked to Agent Rodriguez and he confided to her that her father was taking a break from a consuming case that had stressed him to the point where he had to be terminated from location, which in other terms meant that her father had to be killed and now he was laying low for a while.

"How long until I can see him?" She remembered asking, her voice actually full of concern.

"You know that information is classified Agent Moore," Rodriguez said to her, she nodded in agreement.

"But we'll give you a call when he can emerge," Rodriguez added, she looked in his eyes and knew that he meant it. "You know I've known your father for a long time, he's sacrificed more than the rest of us, and I want you to know that, and I also want to let you know that I feel close to you, because not only do you have your father's eyes, but you're everything he's every worked for."

And with that Rodriguez had left her alone and lost, she appreciated that he thought of her fondly, and she knew that he would help her out. But in her father's best interests he needed to be dead, a visit from Gaia Moore to a strange location could spike the surveillance of unknown terrorists.

But it had been earlier in the day around four o'clock when Agent Rodriguez showed up at her door, and confided in her personally that her father was staying in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Gaia had packed several bags, and was taking a good nights' rest before she began her journey north to Cherry Hill. But it was already eleven thirty and she couldn't sleep, maybe it was the anticipation of meeting with her dad, after all she hadn't spoken to him since graduation which had turned out to be a little overwhelming for everyone. Finally she turned off her light and drifted off to sleep….

Ed Fargo was bored, it was a term that he didn't use often, whether or not he was actually doing anything, his mind was usually at top speed thinking about work, college, his parents, his sister and her current divorce proceedings. Life was tough without him having to think about the strange Gaia Moore call he had received a month before, he had used that term too much already, the Gaia Moore call, it was beginning to consume him. He had once called this type of thinking the Gaia Flu, in which Gaia Moore invoked his thoughts all day everyday and then he wouldn't be able to think of anything else. And what was worse was that he was actually on his way to meet his girlfriend, while he was obsessing about his old ex-girlfriend. Life was becoming extremely elaborate for him.

But he couldn't help it; everywhere he went he thought of Gaia, he was actually going down the stairs of a subway in which he had almost fallen down into (back when his legs didn't work) during a heated argument with Gaia. But then Gaia turned back to save his life from bruises and they both admitted to each other that they loved each other, kind of, as friends of course.

He turned back to look at the top of the stairs, there he had been almost about to trample down with his chair before Gaia pulled him to safety. He turned and jumped inside the doors before they closed, and then he remembered again when he couldn't take the subway, and he remembered when Mary and Gaia ditched him to play truth or dare. He had been really mad then, but now he smiled, he would do anything to have that back again.

But he would never be able to have that back again, but back to the call, Gaia Moore had called him, it had seemed unreal then. He remembered picking up the phone, and hearing her sweet voice again, at first he was confused, then angry, then surprised, and finally he had been scared, so out instinct he hung up the phone, he had done it before he realized what he had actually done. Then he cursed and tried star sixty nine, which failed, because it was so Gaia to call from a private line. And she had not called back again, and he didn't blame her, after all if he called her and she hung up, then it was clear to him that she didn't want to talk to him. But it had been an accident in his situation, he didn't know what he was doing, he wasn't in control. He had called his phone company and demanded the number, but they told him that it was clearly untraceable, which made him kind of appreciate Gaia for being so annoying.

He smiled again, someone might think he was on drugs, he knew that if he were watching himself he'd think he was on drugs. And he hated Gaia for it, he had been free, he had been released from her love-spell, sure it took him 6 months, but later he finally got over it and realized she wasn't coming back, and he had been free. For awhile he had stopped thinking about it, that day she called he was actually worried that Victoria might never move out of the house. But now all he could think of was her voice, and why she had called….

Of course that meant constant thinking regarding Gaia, now she was becoming something more than what she was, since she wasn't actually there with him, she was becoming the goddess that he always imagined she was, untouchable, glorious, and out of this world.

He shook his head and snapped back to reality, Gaia wasn't there, she had called him private, and she was only annoying the shit out of him. He stood up and walked out into the cool night air, it was early September, he felt some sort of adrenaline but it was only his imagination, Gaia was not going to jump out from behind the bushes and hug him hello, she was not going to call him tomorrow, or the day after…. Finally he walked into Washington Square Park and looked for Bailey. Bailey was his new girlfriend; he had been with her for a year and a half, Bailey was almost everything Gaia was not, she was popular, she had many friends, she was always on her phone, and if he called her she was always there. They had started out as friends at first, but Bailey saw something in him that kick started the relationship, first it was just hanging out in class together, then seeing each other at parties, and then it was calling each other and going out together. Before either of them could ask, they were a couple. Bailey was like Heather, well the old Heather, when Heather had many friends and was always on the go. Of course Bailey just was nicer, she didn't pick fights, she didn't have numerous enemies, she was just fun. And another thing that attracted him to Bailey was that Bailey was blonde, and blue eyed. When he first glanced in her direction it was because of that energetic blonde hair, he had to admit that it had reminded him of Gaia, but instead of the serious intense high cheek boned face he expected, it was a happy-smiling-dimples and all face.

"Hey there," He looked to see Bailey sitting on a bench with her best friend Claire.

"Hey you guys," He walked over and sat next to Bailey.

"Hey," He said and kissed her on the forehead. "So what are we doing tonight?"

"Well, we're just going to wait for Mark to get here, so he can pick up Claire, and then you and me can just go do whatever we want," Bailey said with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Nice," He said and kissed her. Kissing Bailey was different than kissing Gaia; Bailey was always wearing lip gloss that tasted good, which made her lips sweet and tasty.

"Yo, there's other people on the planet," Claire giggled, Claire was blonde but green-eyed, she was a pretty girl with freckles surrounding her eyes and nose. Bailey and Claire came from Ocean City, Maryland and naturally took to each other.

Bailey giggled even more and he smiled and held her tight, Bailey and Claire had both come back from their home towns only a couple weeks ago to go back to school. He had visited her in Ocean City during the summer; he then realized that Bailey having a boyfriend from the New York was a huge deal in her house because Bailey had a younger sister who idolized both of them. Apparently he was a golden boy; he had to admit that he often took advantage of who he was.

Ed went to NYU School of Medicine, and he was an active survivor of the experimental surgery that gave him back the use of his legs, even though he was not a million dollar victim from his tragic accident, Ed had made a deal that earned him an immediate 456,000 dollars, and 189,000 dollars in some pending damages that he was to receive soon, whatever that meant. Not a lot of people knew of this, but in the past year and a half, Bailey obviously took note of this. He didn't think that Bailey was with him for money, but since she had found out she always wanted him to go visit her parents. And when a girl wants you to visit the parents, it meant that the girl was getting serious.

"What up?" They turned around and saw Mark coming towards them, Mark was another golden boy, but Mark came all the way from Chicago to go to NYU, they were both in the same classes, so he had been the one to introduce Mark and Claire.

"Hey, sorry I'm late, as it turns out my boss wanted to talk to me, I've been promoted from cashier to waiter," Mark laughed, he worked at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square.

"That's nice, well see you later dude," He said and stood up.

"See you guys!" Bailey waved as Mark & Claire took off.

"So where are we off to tonight, your place or mine?" Ed asked Bailey.

"Well, Claire's got our place for tonight, and I hate being in other people's houses, so I got us a room," Bailey smiled at him.

"What? What's wrong with my place?" He asked her.

"You know… it freaks me out knowing Victoria and your parents are right next door," Bailey said to him.

"Your right, let's get going then." He said to her as he hailed a taxi.

"Ladies first…." He said as he opened the door for her.

While they rode to the Motel they cuddled in the back seat, Gaia would probably never allow that to happen. Bailey was wearing a simple t-shirt over her little shoulders, and she had a body that gave him the feeling that she was too fragile to hold too tight, but he squeezed her anyways.

"So when do your classes start?" Bailey asked him.

"Soon, I'm so glad you got back early, why did you come back so early from home?" He asked her curiously, he knew her mom had problems letting go.

"Because I wanted to, I missed you Eddy," Bailey said to him and kissed his neck, and that was another thing, Gaia would never call him Eddy…..

Finally the cab pulled over and Ed gave him a ten, they walked together and she led the way to room 303. Ed always felt adrenaline before sex. Back in his wheelchair days he didn't have the use of his legs, so even if he got a boner, it would never travel down to his legs. Which he thought was the real disability, because your legs feel a rush starting from your thigh all the way down to your feet, kind of. And to not feel that during sex was such a disadvantage! Bailey opened the room and he kissed her as he shut the door behind them and stumbled their way onto the bed, Bailey always giggled during this part, which fueled him with more adrenaline to prove himself as a man.

Ed usually wasn't the macho type, but he assumed that every guy felt this during sex, the need to satisfy. And he knew that if he didn't satisfy Bailey, then he probably wouldn't be able to do it again without some sort of strategy. He took off his shoes and slipped his shirt off his head as Bailey threw her shirt across the room, and that was also another thing about Bailey, she was always ready and peppy for a smack down. He pushed his hands through her hair and trailed her neck with kisses.

"Help me take my pants off Eddy," Bailey whispered through heavy breaths.

Ed looked down at this exciting task and unbuttoned her pants, he kicked off his jeans as she pulled hers away, he let himself drop back on the bed a little tired, this was what nights were all about, having a good time with your girlfriend. She got on top of him and he knew that she felt the presence from under his boxers.

"Edddyyyyy," Bailey said to him and smiled, she licked his neck and massaged his hips, he couldn't move from her trance and simply closed his eyes, and he knew that he must have a dreamy expression on his face because he felt like he was on a cloud. Bailey traced his body with her hands and moved her fingers over his nipples, and she massaged him with firm pressure and circular movements. He felt his hands reach her back as he undid her bra, and she let it slip off.

Bailey always knew what she was doing, because when Ed wanted her to do something, she did it without a word spoken. She reached down and pulled down his boxers, this was when Bailey knew that he wanted her, because she could see it. Ed felt himself moan and took several breaths, they both needed to take in a little air. The first time they had done it had been exciting, good, of course she had been the first and only girl after Gaia, but each and every time they did it again, they knew each other so well that it was a magnifying experience, the sex was always better than the last time.

"Ed?" Bailey asked him timidly, it wasn't much of a question; it was more of letting him know that she was ready.

"Hmm," He moaned.

He let his fingers trace down to her panties and pushed them out of the way, they were both getting sweaty now, and the smell of her on him was infusing him. Then Bailey pulled the condom from its wrap and slipped it him.

They both began to make noises that only the other heard and moans and gasps escaped from both of them, Bailey laid her head on his chest and he held on to her waist.

"Ohhhh Ed," Bailey said with closed eyes.

He let his eyes close and he felt himself drifting off into climax….

"Gaia."

"What?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."