Michael frowned at the hint of panic underlying Isabel's carefully controlled voice and decided to test the waters. She was strong and independent and nothing pissed her off faster than someone assuming she needed help. Any situation where her emotions were involved had to be handled carefully or it could backfire and she'd refuse any help that was offered.

"We had a slight change in plans on our end and we're gonna be able to join you a little sooner than we had anticipated," he said, holding his breath as he waited for her response. There was a tiny hitch in her breathing before she started to speak and he nodded at Maria, knowing she would be on the phone with Diego before Isabel had finished what she was saying.

They talked for a little while but avoided the reason for her present emotional state and when his wife came back he handed the phone off to her and let her handle it from there.

"Hey, Isabel, did Michael tell you we can be there tomorrow?"

He smirked at the question and knew that his sister wouldn't think twice about Maria going over the exact same things they had just talked about.

"Good. How does Alex seem to be taking the change in his routine?" She paused to listen and flopped back on the pillows, sitting up a moment later and taking all of the pillows including his before lying back on them. "Well, I guess that's not too bad. Michael and I were thinking about just coming straight there if you think Alex would be okay with it." She nodded at whatever the response to her statement was. "Cool. We'll see ya in the mornin' then. Be careful, Iz, we love you."

Maria looked at her husband when he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his bare chest, a deep scowl on his face.

"We knew she was gonna have a hard time with this, Michael."

"We shouldn't have let her go up there with him on her own. What'd he do to her? Did she say? He must've said or done somethin' to get her so upset."

"Hey, we're gonna be up there before noon tomorrow so you need to relax; you're not gonna be any good to her if we get there and you've got yourself all worked up too. She asked me to remind you to call Max to see if he's heard anything about the vitamins she sent back to be checked."

He started to say something but the phone rang, cutting him off. Maria picked it up and glanced at the caller's identity before tossing it to him. "Speak of the devil."

She listened to his side of the conversation, concerned when he remained completely serious throughout the call. He snapped the phone shut and threw it on the dresser beside him and ran a hand through his hair before looking at her.

"They've identified the drug in his system; it's a new memory suppressant that several different agencies have been testing but it hasn't been approved yet."

"Were they able to tell how long he's been taking it?"

"Six weeks or so; long enough that the withdrawal is not gonna be somethin' he'll enjoy. They said he could expect to start experiencing withdrawal symptoms anywhere between thirty-six and forty-eight hours after he's been taken off of the drug."

"So it was in the vitamins; Isabel said the last time he took them was around ten o'clock this morning." She mentally calculated the time. "Which means it could start anytime after ten o'clock tomorrow night."

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Alex stared at the ceiling in his room and felt regret and guilt eating away at him. He knew he had hurt her with the question he had asked so callously and with so little regard for her feelings. He couldn't define the feelings that rushed through him every time she looked at him but he could easily identify the anger that just exploded within him every time she snapped at him or got defensive. What he didn't understand was why her moods and reactions to him seemed to affect him on a level he couldn't seem to comprehend.

There had to be an explanation for her behavior but he was fairly certain that he had blown his chance to find out what it was. He hadn't missed the fact that she stared at him a lot or that she touched him as often as possible but he had chalked it up to her suddenly finding out that he was alive after years of believing he was dead. What had surprised him was his own reluctance to demand an end to both. Since his release from the hospital after more than a year of being poked and prodded, being studied by doctors and specialists, and living in a constant state of humiliation he had no tolerance for being touched or stared at but he couldn't find it in himself to tell her to stop.

He carefully eased over onto his side and threw the covers back when his mind registered that he was too hot. After a few minutes he got up and changed into a pair of shorts before lying down once more. He shifted around in an effort to find a comfortable position but after years of having the pain as a constant companion he knew it wasn't going to happen. He had spent too long bent over the computer and he knew it would probably be hours before he would be able to sleep.

He forced himself to relax as much as possible when he heard Isabel's quiet footsteps in the hall, holding his breath when they paused outside his room. He forced his breathing into a normal rhythm when she stepped inside the darkened room and he had to remind himself to keep breathing when she stopped beside the bed.

He could feel the weight of her gaze even in the dark and he wondered what she was thinking as she stood there. The mattress suddenly dipped beside him and he could feel the heat from her body when she leaned over him and brushed against him as she reached for something. It wasn't until she gently eased him over onto his stomach that he realized why she had come into his room; she had waited until she was sure he was asleep and she had come to him with the intention of easing his pain. His remorse for his harsh words only increased as she worked the knots out of the tight muscles, her touch firm but gentle, and he was trying to form the words for an apology when exhaustion pulled him into the comforting arms of a painless sleep.

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Michael and Maria stopped bickering the minute they stepped into the kitchen and heard the raised voices coming from the next room. They exchanged a surprised look and hurried to find out what was going on.

"I'm twenty-eight years old," Alex snapped. "I don't need a babysitter."

"What were you doing outside?"

"Go to hell."

"First warning."

Michael grabbed Maria's arm before she could move into the combatant's line of sight and motioned for silence. He had never seen his sister use this tactic with a client before; Isabel was normally distant and aloof, doing her job without getting personally involved but it looked like Alex was pushing all of her buttons. The angry red mark on the left side of the man's face indicated that he had already pushed her too far at least once that morning. He had to give Alex credit though, he mused with a smile. The man hadn't crawled into a corner to hide from her and lick his wounds.

"I can't protect you if you insist on wandering around outside when I'm not looking."

"Fine, I'll interrupt your shower next time."

"There won't be a next time. You don't go outside – "

"Like hell." Alex shifted his weight to his left side and glared at her as he fought the panic clawing at him. "I am not spending God only knows how long caged up like some animal."

Michael winced when Alex closed the distance between himself and Isabel and her expression switched from angry to furious in the space of a heartbeat. Barely half a second passed before she recovered and she quickly took two steps, crowding him and forcing him to take a step back.

"Let's get one thing straight; you do not leave this house unless I am with you. Until we know who is targeting you and that threat has been removed your life is in danger. If you don't – "

"I'm sure you'll get paid either way," he snarled.

"Consider that your second warning."

"It just got considerably colder in here," Michael muttered at her icy tone.

"Why didn't you tell me my directions were right, Isabel?" Maria asked, announcing their arrival as she crossed the room and interrupted their staring contest. "I could've given Michael hell over it the whole way up here. Not to mention," she added in a conspiratorial tone, "we wouldn't have taken the wrong turn back there."

"Get over it, DeLuca," Michael groaned.

"And give up a chance to gloat because I was right and you were wrong? I don't think so, Guerin."

"You're early," Isabel said, wondering much they had heard. "I didn't think you'd be here until this afternoon."

"Are you kiddin'? She was draggin' me outta bed before the sun came up this mornin'."

"I had incentive."

Alex was glad he had just taken a deep breath because the short blond suddenly attacked him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging the stuffing out of him. He wasn't sure what to do with his own hands; certain that no matter where he put them her husband wasn't going to approve. He could feel the intensity of the man's predatory gaze from clear across the room and it made him uncomfortable.

"You can hug me back, Alex," Maria whispered. "I promise he'll behave himself."

He relaxed at the reassuring tone in her voice and found himself wrapping his arms around her without further thought. Her easy acceptance calmed him in a way that nothing else would have at that moment.

Michael nodded at his sister and she followed him out onto the deck, closing the door behind her.

"Things seem to be a little… tense between you and Alex."

Isabel sat down on the porch swing and leaned back. "When his father said he's been having mood swings he wasn't exaggerating."

"Uh-huh," Michael said, his tone disbelieving. "Is that all it is?"

Resentment flashed in her dark eyes at his perceptive question. "It's none of your business, Michael," she snapped. "Stay out of my personal – "

"So, it is personal."

"Michael, leave it alone."

"I don't think he went outside earlier to piss you off," he said, changing topics. "He obviously has a problem with confinement." He shrugged. "There's probably some anxiety over his routine bein' changed as well as some nervous tension but he doesn't like feelin' trapped." He dropped down beside her and pushed off with his right foot, putting the swing in motion. "He's also intrigued by you but at the same time you intimidate the hell outta him." He held a hand up before she could protest. "He's runnin' hot an' cold on you because of the mood swings and you're runnin' hot an' cold on him because you're scared to follow your heart."

"I think I liked you better when you were surly and unsympathetic," she grumbled.

"Are you still attracted to him?"

"Don't you need to go pester your wife?"

Recognizing the question for what it was he stood and stretched. "You had lunch yet?"

"No."

"How's lasagna sound?"

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Alex couldn't help but stare at the woman standing in the middle of the room, fascinated by her ability to talk endlessly without stopping to take a breath. He had been forced to sit down a while ago when his knee had started to ache but he knew he would have to move soon. He could feel the knotting sensation in his back, the only warning he had before the pain began in earnest.

Maria paused when his face twisted in a grimace of pain and he tried to push himself to his feet without success. She reached out to help him and he shoved her hand away.

"Don't touch me," he bit out angrily. "If I needed your damn help I'd – "

"Stop."

He responded to the softly spoken command and looked up at her. She was still watching him but her hand was outstretched behind her and he realized the command hadn't been meant for him. Michael was standing just inside the room and while he had automatically stopped where he was at her bidding the scowl on his face expressed his displeasure. His hands were clenched at his sides and it was obvious that she was the only reason he wasn't pounding Alex into the ground at that very second.

He turned his gaze back to her. "How did you know…?"

"That he was about to go ballistic and come after you?" She smiled and shook her head, her green eyes dancing with amusement. "Eleven years together."

"So, we were good friends?"

She rolled her eyes. "The best."

Michael visibly relaxed when she lowered her hand but he continued to glare at Alex as he shrugged out of his leather jacket and draped it over the back of the closest chair. He made a show of removing the shoulder harness that supported two handguns and settled it on top of his jacket.

"Okay, can you make him stop staring at me?"

"There's nothin' I can do about that; it's an alpha male thing." She cleared her throat quietly. "Stop staring back at him or we could be here all night."

His gaze dropped to meet hers. "Are you serious?"

"He's already stopped staring hasn't he?"

Alex turned to look at the other man but Michael was already on his way out of the room, humming to himself.

"Does he do that a lot?"

"Often enough."

"I can't really see myself hanging out with him. No offense," he hurried to add, "but while I might not remember much from before the accident I can't imagine we ever ran in the same circles."

"No. Michael's circle was pretty small; it consisted of him and… well… him. Believe it or not though the two of you were friends." She grinned. "Isabel and I kind of insisted on it but of course you were much easier to convince than he was."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

"I think you really earned his respect the night you showed up at his apartment and punched him."

"I punched him? And lived to tell about it?"

"Yeah, but you never said anything. He told me one night after you… after your accident."

"Huh." He hobbled over to the wall beside the fireplace where he had left his cane, wrapping his right hand around it. "Are you guys gonna be hanging around here for a while?"

"Unless we get called back for some reason."

"Can we maybe talk later… about the way things were before the accident?"

"I'm not sure what I can tell you, Alex; we were told that – "

"I understand," he said quietly. "Nevermind."

She watched his slow progression as he made his way to the doorway that led to the kitchen before joining her sister-in-law on the deck.

"How're you doin', Isabel?" she asked, trying to gauge the tall blonde's mood by her expression.

"Well, according to your husband I'm scared to follow my heart."

"And what do you say?"

Isabel made a face and Maria nodded.

"I can't have him being right too often; it'll make him impossible to live with." She sat on the railing that ran around the perimeter of the deck and leaned back to brace her back against a support post. "Alex has changed a lot."

"I thought so too at first but the truth is, there's a lot about him that hasn't changed." She smiled. "There have been quite a few times over the past few days that I've seen the old Alex… his mannerisms, some of the things he says, and God, he's still got that goofy grin." She drew in a shaky breath and stood, walking to the railing several feet from where Maria had perched. "I should probably have my head examined for insisting that I would handle his security myself."

Maria stayed silent, well aware that if she spoke and interrupted the flow of words that Isabel would withdraw and never finish what she had to say.

"He understood me in a way that no one else ever had, y'know? He looked past the face I showed the world and saw who I really was and he stayed." She risked a quick glance at Maria. "How many men would've done that? Knowing the truth would've scared most men off in a heartbeat… but not Alex." She shook her head. "Even when I got scared and tried to run him off he wouldn't budge." She slammed the flat of her hand down against the railing. "How could his father lie to him for ten years? I can't even find it in me to sympathize with his reasoning… ten years of lies. Ten years of being used by his own father to create programs that only furthered the man's company and success. He hated the work his father did; do you remember that? They used to get into arguments because he didn't want to spend his life creating programs that would be used for weapons that would ultimately take lives. His father knew that, he knew Alex had no interest in following the same career path, and he's pushed him into doing the very thing he didn't want to do."

The anger and resentment were clear in her voice and Maria couldn't help but empathize with the other woman's feelings. She watched as Isabel started to pace around the deck and bit her tongue to control the urge to speak.

"How am I supposed to know if my feelings are valid or if they're just surfacing because I know he's alive?"

"Follow your heart, Isabel; it'll show you the way."

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"So, I punched you, huh?" Alex asked as he hobbled into the kitchen and leaned against the island, shifting to keep his weight on his left side.

Michael turned away from the pan where he was layering the ingredients he had assembled for the lasagna and glanced at the man who had spoken. "Maybe." He slid the pan into the oven and shut the door, wiping his hands on a dishtowel before slinging it over his shoulder.

"Maria says I walked away from it; why didn't you kick my ass?"

"Well," he said, picking up a stalk of celery and snapping it in half, "I guess I let it go because I deserved it." He opened the refrigerator and lifted out a bottle of ranch dressing, shaking it and pouring some into a small bowl.

Alex made a face when the other man mixed Tabasco sauce into the dressing and mixed the two together with his celery stick.

"I had hurt Maria pretty bad and you found out about it; it wasn't one of my finer moments." He dipped his celery in the dressing mixture and bit into it before glancing at Alex again. "You were always very protective of the girls despite being Roswell High's reigning dodge ball champion. And you always treated my sister with the respect she deserved; she was happy with you." He nodded suddenly. "You wanna get outta the house for a while?" He pushed away from the counter and left the room without waiting for an answer. He returned a moment later, shoulder holster already in place as he shrugged into his jacket. He shoved his right hand through the sleeve and dropped his celery stick on the floor. "Three second rule," he muttered as he snatched it up, dragged it through the dressing and popped it in his mouth.

"You did not just do that."

He glanced over his shoulder at his wife as he rinsed out the bowl he had used for the dressing. "What? The floor's clean and the three second rule applies." He turned the faucets off and dried his hands on a dishtowel before tossing it on the counter.

"That's disgusting."

"And?" He started to walk past her but at the last second he turned and pulled her into his arms, planting a big kiss on her lips.

"Ungh!" She swiped her hand over her mouth when he released her. "Michael, there are germs on the floor!" she griped.

"Three second rule."

"Germs do not wait three seconds before – "

"You're such a girl sometimes, DeLuca," he grumbled, but his words were laced with amusement.

"Yeah? Well, I didn't hear you complaining last night, Guerin."

Alex glanced at Isabel when she leaned against the opposite end of the island, immediately noticing that she was more relaxed than she had been the entire time they had been together. "Are they like this all the time?"

"Um-hmm."

"I thought you said they were married?"

"They are. Why would… oh, he's calling her by her maiden name. They've been calling each other by their last names since high school."

"Why?"

"Foreplay," she explained, rolling her eyes.

"All right, let's get this show on the road before I get myself in serious trouble, Alex."

"What?"

Michael glanced at his sister before motioning for Alex to leave the room ahead of him. "We're gonna take a walk and check out the local wildlife."

Isabel turned her head and realized that Alex had already made it out of the room. "I don't think – "

"What'd I tell you when we were talkin' earlier? He needs to get out in the fresh air for a little while. He'll be fine; I won't let anything happen to him." He checked his watch. "We'll be back before dinner's ready."

He ducked out of the kitchen and hurried to join Alex before either of the women had a chance to start talking again. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed the other man wasn't wearing a jacket.

"You might wanna grab a jacket; it's a bit cooler up here than it was in the city."

"Apparently I didn't bring one."

"No problem; I've got another one."

Alex rolled his shoulders in an attempt to settle the leather jacket that was heavier than the one he normally wore as he made his way along the path Michael had pointed out.

"You'll get used to the weight," Michael said. He was walking beside the other man, his stride shortened to keep pace with Alex's stilted gait. "So, what'd you do to make her slap you?"

"Pissed her off." Alex snorted. "And she wasn't playin' around when she slapped me either. I think my ears rang for a solid minute afterwards."

"What's with the warnings?" he asked, deciding not to comment on the fact that Alex hadn't actually answered his last question.

"Your sister has made it clear that she's not gonna put up with my attitude and she was very quick to lay out the ground rules. I get out of line three times and I get to meet her hand up close and personal."

Michael smirked. "And you're already on your second warnin', huh?"

"You heard that?" Alex winced as he recalled what he had said to make it to his second warning of the day. He didn't bother mentioning that it was his second warning the third time around.

"Yeah, that remark about getting paid either way… not a smart thing to say." He led the way along a well-worn path, carefully watching the terrain for any uneven or unstable areas. "I understand that you needed to get out but next time, do yourself a favor and talk to her; I know it doesn't seem like it but she can be reasoned with."

"I keep getting all these jumbled up feelings around her," Alex confessed. "I don't even know her but I'll be watching her or she'll touch me and… I can't explain it; it's like I can almost remember something but I just can't get a grip on it. She told me that we used to…" He trailed off, afraid that if he revealed that she had readily talked with him about his life before the accident that Michael would put a stop to it.

Michael didn't question him when he suddenly stopped speaking, certain that he already knew what hadn't been said.

"You got any suggestions for dealin' with her?"

He grinned. "First, stop pissin' her off. You're doin' fine otherwise. My advice? Don't back down; you seem to be holdin' your own pretty good although you faltered when you got in her face earlier. She came back at you and you took a step back." He shook his head. "Don't do that. People like Isabel need someone who not only understands them but who won't back down when the situation calls for a level head or just some rational options. It's especially important that you don't back down when they're wrong. She's a hard person to stand up to but she won't respect anything less from you. I can understand that because I'm the exact same way. We're intense and we're intimidating and it takes a very special type of person to be able to deal with us."

"How long did you intimidate your wife?"

Michael snorted and shook his head as he leaned back against a tree. "The intimidation factor wore off surprisingly fast with Maria and that's what I'm talkin' about. My wife and I have what I'm tellin' you about; her personality balances mine out, she keeps me sane, and she's never once backed down. We're loud and when we get into it people run for cover and I know I've given her plenty of reasons to file for divorce but she won't do it. She'll fight with me and she'll fight for me but she'll never fight against me. I'm about to blow your mind here, Alex. You wanna know something about your past? Get her to open up to you and I'd be willin' to bet it'll come back."

"I thought you were gonna blow my mind?"

"The thing I've got with my wife?" He paused for effect. "Isabel had that with you."

Alex stared at the other man and shook his head in disbelief. "That's ridiculous. Women like your sister have guys like me for friends; they don't get involved with them on the level you're implying."

"I know the last few days have been pretty insane but have you noticed that she's been a little… temperamental?"

Alex leaned his right hip against a large boulder and let his cane rest against his thigh. "I just figured she was reacting to the mood swings."

"Huh-uh. I've seen my sister react to hundreds of different situations and I can honestly say that I've never seen her use this particular tactic before. She changed the second we were told that you had been killed in the accident; she pushed the people closest to her away and she kept everyone at a distance." He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "She let us back in eventually but no one else has ever made it past her defenses. She's doin' her damnedest to keep you from doin' that very thing and she hasn't been as successful as she'd like to be."

"I don't understand."

Michael rolled his eyes and exhaled impatiently. "You were always good with the touchy-feely stuff, Alex; I'm not supposed to have to explain this to you."

"Forgive me for having amnesia and forgetting protocol," he snapped.

"All I'm sayin' is she's havin' a hard time keepin' you at a distance and it's makin' her act out of character. She wants to keep you at arms' length because she's scared of bein' hurt again but at the same time she wants to let you in and tryin' to do both is throwin' her emotions into a tailspin."

"That's why you came up here today instead of waiting until next week."

"We had concerns about her handlin' your protection because of the history there and Max did everything short of getting on his knees and beggin' her to let us handle it ourselves for that very reason. It took a lot of time for her to pick up the pieces after she lost you and it wasn't until she came to us with the idea for the business that she really started to take an interest in life again."

"She came up with the idea?"

"The idea was yours actually." Michael pushed away from the tree and took a couple of steps back towards the trail they had taken earlier. "We should probably head back; if I keep you out too long I'll have both of 'em on my ass."

"That's it? You've gotta give me more than what you've given me."

"We'll talk more but you don't need to tell Maria or Isabel what we talked about out here. Got it?"

"Yeah, I've – " His hand shot up to cover his mouth as he sneezed loudly. "I've got it."

"Let's go. I don't even wanna think about what they'll do to me if you come down with a cold." His gaze swept over the wooded landscape, scanning for any threats lurking there. "Isabel said you remembered somethin' the other night."

"Just that she alphabetizes things." He shrugged. "I didn't even realize that it was a memory until I noticed that she really had alphabetized my pills. But that was it… I tried to remember something else but… nothing."

"Based on everything I read tryin' to force the memories doesn't work." Michael ducked under a low-hanging branch and turned to push it up so Alex could pass without hitting it. "Your father told us he thought you had started to remember some things about a month before we came into the picture."

"I thought I was but it wasn't like what happened with the pills… I started having these really weird dreams and I thought maybe they were disjointed memories but before I could make heads or tails of them the mood swings started and the dreams stopped. My father thought I was being drugged but no one's been able to prove that theory."

"Your father was right about that; one of our contacts was able to identify the drug. It's a memory suppressant that hasn't been approved for use but there are some agencies that have been using it regardless. We don't know yet who gave it to you but we know the withdrawal isn't gonna be pleasant and if our calculations are correct you'll start feelin' the effects of it anytime after ten o'clock tonight."

"Withdrawal," Alex said slowly. "So, she was right about the vitamins."

"Yeah. We haven't been able to find out how they were being tampered with but we have people workin' on it."

"What exactly are we talkin' about?"

"Severe muscle cramps, hot and cold flashes, insomnia, restlessness, anxiety, and agitation. Their best guess is that you've been takin' the drug for a month, maybe longer, and due to the length of time it'll probably take five to seven days for it to completely work out of your system. The worst of the effects will be over after the first forty-eight hours but it's probably gonna feel like a lot longer."

"Well, I guess I can count myself lucky then."

"How's that?"

"Well, that list didn't include some of the more unpleasant physical effects that drug withdrawal can have. Honestly, the medications they've got me on cause most of those symptoms now."

Michael winced. "You're tellin' me you've been on these meds for ten years and the whole time you've been dealin' with side effects that are similar to the ones I just described?"

"Yeah. Are we very far from the house?"

"Nah, couple minutes. Why?"

"Nothin'. I just need to lay down; my back feels like it's about to split in two and sometimes layin' down helps."

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"Where's Alex?"

Michael looked at his sister when she fired the question off as soon as he entered the kitchen. "He said he was gonna go lay down for a bit."

"Did you tell him about the withdrawal?" Maria asked.

"Was his back bothering him?" Isabel wasn't following their conversation, her own thoughts on what the next forty-eight hours held in store for the man who still held her heart.

"Yeah, he said layin' down might help." He opened the oven door and folded the dishtowel over so he could grab the rack and pull it out to check the lasagna. "Uh, why is there a corner missin' here, DeLuca?"

"No idea." Maria glared at him. "Why do you automatically assume that I took a bite out of your precious lasagna?"

"Did you?"

"That's not the point."

Michael glanced over his shoulder before sliding the pan back in the oven and closing the door. Straightening up again he turned the knob, lowering the temperature and shifting around to lean against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. Isabel had left the room sometime during their conversation, presumably to check on Alex.

"How'd she take it when you told her about the withdrawal?"

"She's concerned but she kept her cool."

"Yeah, Alex took it about the same. Do you know the medication he's on causes the same side effects that the withdrawal will cause? Not to the same extreme maybe, but he's been dealin' with this crap since the accident."

"That's what Isabel was sayin'." Maria watched him, quickly picking up on the fact that he wasn't looking at her directly while he was talking. "Michael, what'd you and Alex talk about while you were gone?"

"Well," he hedged, "the withdrawal… oh, and the fact that she had obviously slapped him before we got here…"

"Uh-huh, that's all you talked about for an hour and a half?"

"We might've talked about some other stuff." He moved to the refrigerator and busied himself with locating everything needed for the salad in the hopes that she would lose interest in the conversation and drop it. "You want – "

Maria grabbed hold of the leather strap that ran across his back and provided support for the shoulder holsters and pulled him back up so she could see him. "Tell me you didn't tell him anything about his life before the accident."

"I could tell you that…"

"Would it be the truth?"

He closed his eyes briefly and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "No."

"Michael, you heard what the doctors we consulted said."

"And if our positions were reversed and I was the one with amnesia I'd want someone to help me get my memory back."

"Are you doing this for him? Or for Isabel?"

"It's the same thing isn't it?"

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Isabel knocked on the doorframe since Alex hadn't bothered to close the door, watching him as he paced around the room with an unsteady gait. He obviously hadn't been able to find a comfortable position and his expression told her he was in an excessive amount of pain.

"Alex?"

"I don't think the withdrawal's gonna wait until tonight to start. I kept goin' from too hot to too cold last night but I just thought I was comin' down with a cold or somethin'." He made another circuit of the room and nearly lost his balance when the muscles in his left thigh knotted up and he overcompensated by putting all of his weight on his right leg. He bit his tongue to keep from snapping at her when she quickly crossed the room and wrapped her hand around his upper arm to help him stay upright.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked, feeling completely out of her depth and

unsure of how to proceed.

"Maybe you could just talk to me… keep my mind off of the pain."

"Tell me what you want to talk about." She led him over to the bed and helped him to lie down, situating herself beside him and using her fingers to work the knots out of the

cramped muscles.

"How'd you get in the bodyguard business?"

"First, it's personal protection, and second, it was your idea. You came up with it our junior year."

Alex tipped his head to one side as he studied her features and after several minutes of silence she looked up at him. "What?"

"Were you this beautiful in high school?" He nodded when she didn't answer, turning her attention back to his leg instead. "You were. Why would I suggest this line of work for a woman with your beauty, obvious intelligence, and caring nature? I can't understand why I would recommend a career that would put you in danger on a daily basis."

"There were reasons that I'd rather not go into right now that prompted you to come up with this line of work," she answered honestly. "It keeps us in the spotlight and being in the public eye provides a certain amount of safety."

He wondered at the odd answer but decided that he was probably reading more into what she was saying than what was actually being said because the pain was messing with his head.

"I must've been a complete geek in high school." His leg jerked under her hands and he hissed in pain. "Sorry, it's moving down." He shifted restlessly when he felt the tightening sensation in his stomach. "And up. Maybe I should just ride this out on my own, Isabel." He reached out and grabbed her hand, gently removing it from his leg. "Please… before I say something else to you that I know I'm gonna regret. The muscle cramps are bad enough but I can feel the rage building and it's gonna boil over at any minute. Every time my muscles spasm it gets closer to the surface and I don't wanna deal with the humiliation so please let me do this on my own."

Isabel stared at him as she considered his plea and after a minute she stood and moved to the door. "I'll go but I'll be back in a little while."

"Hey, Isabel?"

She turned and looked at him, her hand on the doorknob.

"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday… I had no right to say it."

Isabel shrugged. "It's not the first time I've heard it."

"Maybe not," he said, shaking his head. "But I got the feelin' that it was the first time you had ever heard it from me." He nodded when she averted her gaze. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for sayin' it."

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Michael rolled out of bed and grabbed his gun as soon as the sound of a slamming door and raised voices penetrated the fog of deep sleep. Snatching up a pair of discarded jeans he pulled them on and turned to check on Maria, not surprised to see her right behind him, already dressed with her weapon drawn and ready. It never failed to amaze him that she could be so alert in an instant if there was danger but when it came to mornings it nearly took an act of God to get her out of bed.

They slipped out of their room and crept along the wall to the stairs, scanning the first floor before cautiously making their way down the stairs. As soon as their feet landed on the hardwood floor and Michael took one look outside he slid the safety back in place and cursed out loud. The yard close to the house was equipped with motion-sensored lights, showing the two people arguing out front plain as day.

Alex stopped mid-rant as his muscles locked up again and he hissed in pain when the weight he was putting on his leg made those cramps worse and it wasn't really helping the rest of them either. His entire body felt like one giant knotted muscle and it wasn't doing anything to help his mood.

He had woken up feeling like he was in a furnace despite the moderate temperature inside the house. He had come out of his room with the intention of stepping outside for some cool air only to find his way blocked by his beautiful bodyguard. Her refusal to let him outside combined with the suffocating heat had only fueled the flames of his rage and he had shoved her out of his way and barreled out through the front door.

Isabel had ordered him back inside but the light breeze that was blowing had felt blessedly cool against his overheated skin and he had ignored her. Moving further out into the yard had only caused her to shadow his every move, issuing orders that he continued to ignore. The restlessness kept him from being still when his body wanted nothing more than to be curled up in a motionless little ball and his nerves felt like they were exposed to the elements.

He had lost it when she had taken hold of his arm and tried to force him back inside, jerking away and shouting at her to leave him alone.

"It's not safe for you to be out here," Isabel said, attempting to rein her own temper in. "You need to – "

"Stop telling me what I need to do! Just leave me the hell alone!" He straightened as much as his agonized body would allow him and took several shaky steps. "God, at least with the pills I wasn't in this much pain." His angry gaze was leveled at her. "Get them back… I can deal with the mood swings but this is inhuman!"

Isabel winced at his choice of words and contemplated the best way to get him back inside without making any more of a scene than they already had.

"Alex, you should really come back inside. Maybe you can work on your program or something to keep your mind occupied."

"My program," he snorted, flexing his fingers when they started to cramp up. "Now all of the sudden you approve of my murderous program?"

"I never said I didn't approve of the program itself," she denied. "I don't approve of the way your father encouraged you to create something that you always hated."

"Now you have a problem with my father too? He didn't make me do anything that I do for his company; every single program that I created was done of my own free will."

"Because he let you believe that you intended to create those programs all along. Did he ever once tell you that before the accident the two of you fought over – "

"It doesn't matter! Nothing about my life before that damned accident matters! Don't you get it? I don't remember any of it! I feel like my life is unraveling at the seams; I'm losing control and I don't know what's true anymore… I don't know who I am… I don't even know what I'm talkin' about." His hands came up to rub his temples. "Everything hurts and I can't think straight."

A twig snapped in two somewhere in the darkness as an animal moved through the woods and Alex whirled around at the sound. The sudden movement twisted his damaged knee and he cried out as his leg crumpled beneath him and his body fell backwards. A pair of hands caught him under his arms before he hit the ground, lifting him back up. He kept his weight braced on his left leg and looked up when his arms were pulled across two pairs of shoulders and he was lifted up off of the ground. Every touch was pure agony and set his skin on fire but before he could protest the sensation suddenly disappeared and he stopped fighting them.

"Keep his right leg as straight as possible," Michael instructed as he shifted to take most of his not inconsiderable weight.

Alex glanced at Maria when the arm that wasn't supporting him stretched out and her hand wrapped around his calf, keeping his leg from bending.

"Alex, I know your fingers are cramping up but I want you to hold onto Maria's shoulder as well as you can so she can keep that leg straight."

"I can't go back inside; I can't breathe in there."

"You'll be fine, buddy." Michael nodded at his wife and together they started the slow walk back inside the house.

Isabel watched them, amazed at the gentleness Michael was exhibiting. If any other client had pulled the stunt Alex had just pulled he wouldn't have been gentle with them; he would've read them the riot act while he tossed them back inside and quite possibly locked them in their assigned room. But Alex isn't any other client, she reminded herself. He had been her world, Maria's friend and confidant, and Michael's friend at one time.

She sat on the top step and after a minute the yard lights switched off and she was surrounded by a darkness that was broken only by the millions of pinpoints of light that dotted the sky above. She leaned against the column closest to her, resting her head against the smooth wood and staring at the stars. She didn't bother looking up a while later when the screen door closed quietly behind her; she knew it was Michael by the sound of his footsteps.

"He's sleepin'," he said as he sat down beside her. "He twisted that knee pretty good though; we may have to get him back to have it looked at."

"How'd you get him to sleep?"

"As far as he'll know it was the couple shots of whiskey Maria gave him." He shrugged. "Either way he'll sleep for a few hours at least."

That got her attention. "You keep whiskey in the house?"

"Can't do body shots without it."

She stared at him for almost a full minute as she tried to decide if he was serious or not. "You can't be serious."

Michael leaned back on his elbows and grinned at her. "Maybe… maybe not."

"You're not serious." She shoved his shoulder. "We can't drink, Michael; we have no tolerance whatsoever for alcohol." She decided not to mention her own preference for a glass or two of wine on occasion.

"It's still fun." He rolled his eyes at her disbelieving look. "Okay, the truth is intimate contact tends to diminish the affect that alcohol has on us."

"Body shots, huh?"

"Don't even get him started, Isabel," Maria said as she stepped out of the house and sat down on the step in front of her husband. "He's completely incorrigible." She leaned back against his chest and rested her forearms on his knees, linking her fingers through his when his arms came around her.

"And you love it," he teased, leaning forward to nip at her neck.

"Absolutely." She lifted his left hand and pressed a kiss to the flesh above his wedding band. "Alex will probably sleep for a while; hopefully he's relaxed enough that his body will rest at least a little bit. We turned the air conditioner down but we should probably keep an eye on him so we can cut it back if he starts getting chills."

"I'll go check on him," Isabel said, standing up and going inside. She eased the door closed behind her, pulled her phone out of her pocket, and punched in her younger brother's number.

"We should stay up with her, Michael; she's not gonna get any sleep tonight."

He nodded and rested his chin on her shoulder, wondering how much longer his sister would be able to stay within the boundaries of the rules she had agreed to before taking this assignment on.