A/N: I'm baaack! Just watched 13x20. Hmmm, sound familiar? Sort of? Anyway... I hope you had a wonderful Holiday, no matter what you celebrate!

Phyllis's funeral was a dreary affair, and Carolyn bore through it, holding Michael's hand as he stared blankly ahead. Apparently, as much as Michael loved his Grandmother, the rest of his family didn't quite share the same opinion. Thus, she had yet to meet any of the Shepherd clan, except for a few distant relatives.

Liz Merriwick was one of them. Carolyn didn't quite know what to make of her. Perhaps she was jealous, as she had caught Michael and Liz in hushed conversation twice now, of what she didn't know, because they would stop before she could get close. Michael had told her that she'd visited him in New York when they were little and played together, so perhaps they were just catching up...

But wasn't she supposed to be the one he confided in now? Wasn't that the whole 'fiance' thing now? Absently, her hand rested on her abdomen. Right. Carolyn arched a brow, making a decision. It wasn't just about her anymore.

She approached the two, who were seated on the sofa, an empty cushion between them. "Micheal," she smiled. "Liz," she nodded at the other woman. "Can I talk to you?" she asked him.

He looked up at her, his gaze empty and expressionless. It was Liz who answered for him, "Of course," she smiled quickly, tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ears and picking up her glass of water. She patted him on the knee, and he nodded.

Carolyn sat down beside her soon-to-be husband. She opened her mouth to speak- but- he beat her to it.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I've been shutting you out." His warm hand covered hers.

"Mm, I would say so... Are you alright?"

"I don't know... Phyllis... she... I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Well," Carolyn hummed, "In a little while, we'll be married, and have a place of our own... and..." she paused, twisting the engagement ring that he'd saved so hard to give her. "Michael... I'm pregnant." The smile on her lips was quick and hopeful... this could be a good thing.

He blinked. His indigo eyes seeming to turn a deeper blue, if ever it was possible. He swallowed and stood up, his fingertips leaving her hand empty.

"Michael?" Carolyn asked, shocked.

"I can't-" he shook his head, looking like the world fell on his shoulders. "We'll talk about this later." And then he walked away.

Bereft, Carolyn swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched him leave the house. And then her gaze fell on a concerned Liz Merriwick, as she too, watched the scene unfold.

xxx

Meredith rubbed her shoulder as she gazed through the doorway at the man on the bed. Her well trained eyes had caught all the stats on the monitors and besides a slightly below average blood pressure, it seemed Dr. Radford should be well on his way to recovery. Cassie slept in a chair close by, and Nick clutched his father's hand, seeming very much at peace now.

But there at the doorway, she stopped. An invisible barrier prevented her from moving forward, and yet, she could not bring herself to leave. Minutes ticked by but she didn't notice. Her feet refused to obey any command so she just leaned in the doorway instead.

"Hey," Cassie's voice shook her from her reverie.

"Hey," said Meredith, shifting to stand upright.

"How long have you been here?" she asked.

Meredith shrugged, she didn't really know. "Oh- I..." she changed the subject. "He's okay?" she asked instead.

Cassie gazed at the man on the bed, her eyes warm with compassion, and Meredith could see that these two were close. "The doctors said barring any complications, he should be just fine."

"Good," Meredith nodded, "that's good."

"You can come in, if you like," Cassie invited.

"How's Grace?" Meredith's asked, "she's alright isn't she?"

"She was here for awhile, and then the doctors insisted she get some rest."

Meredith nodded, glad to hear that Grace was fine. Sam Radford became blurry in her vision, and when she blinked, she thought she saw Derek lying there. When she blinked again, it became Sam. She sighed.

"It was a fire," Cassie said.

"What?" Meredith asked, regarding Cassie once more.

Cassie pulled up her other leg, wrapping her arms around them, she rested her head there while her attention was turned to the man on the bed. "Jake, my husband... there was a house fire... he got there before the fire trucks..." Cassie paused, and Meredith couldn't help but step into the room now, not sure what to do, not sure if she could be of any help.

Cassie's lips floundered into a broken smile as she continued. "The family inside, they were all sleeping... he broke the door down and went in..."

"Oh Cassie," Meredith approached her, past the point of no return, feeling that all familiar lump of grief rise. But she pushed it down, and her good hand rested on Cassie's shoulder.

"Smoke inhalation..." Cassie murmured, she shook her head, "He couldn't breathe, his lungs-" she sniffed.

"I'm sorry," Meredith said, and she meant it. Cassie's husband had suffocated. That was an awful way to die. She squeezed Cassie's fingers in her best attempt at comfort she could muster. "I'm so sorry."

"It was a few years ago," Cassie replied. "I don't talk about it a lot.. He died a hero, helping people... that's all he ever wanted to do."

"Yeah."

"Today... earlier, I missed him. I kept looking up, wondering if he would be there to help, to tell me what to do, or where to be...I-" she struggled for words.

"Yeah," Meredith knew the feeling. Hovering over Sam's head, she'd closed her eyes and... for a moment, just for a moment...

"I'm scared-" Meredith said, looking up.

"It's alright." Derek replied, his features calm, his eyes loving. "You can do this."

"What if-"

"It's okay, it'll only take a minute."

"Okay," she nodded.

"Okay." he smiled, small and soft. Reassuring.

And that had been enough for her to push through, to save Sam's life. Meredith stepped toward the bed, taking in Sam's still form. Carolyn had given her a cup of tea before heading off to try and be of help around the hospital. Meredith too, wanted to help, but she just had to know if Sam was okay first.

"I'm sorry I doubted you," Cassie said, standing up to come beside her. She rubbed Sam's shoulder.

"Huh?" Meredith asked. Honestly, the whole night had been a blur, and she'd put aside all the arguments over Sam so she could focus and do her job. Looking back on it, she remembered Cassie and Nick's initial resistance to her plan. "Oh." she said, shrugging. "It's okay."

"It's just..." Cassie turned to face her. Light brown eyes met grey green, and Meredith wondered what was bothering her so much. Cassie obviously cared for Sam, of course she'd doubt a crazy dark and twisty widow with a drill. But there was something troublesome in her expression, like she was lost.

She waited.

"I... have this gift," Cassie said. "It's like... a second sight... an instinct... but deeper. People come into my life, and I can sense things... I know things... like when Grace was in the accident, I felt her pain, but I also knew she would be alright. It's like I know what people need and I can guide them there, but..." she swallowed. "With you- I-" she stopped, "When you were suggesting to cut into Sam's skull- I couldn't feel- I didn't know... I usually know-"

Meredith waved her hand, "Wait, you're telling me you're a pyschic?" she asked. She had no opinion either way, but she'd noticed things about Cassie, an eerie peace or calm, like she knew what was to come, even during the earthquake, in the aftermath, she'd known Brandon would be there.

"In a sense, I suppose you could consider it that way," Cassie was saying, "Although I have never classified myself as such. I just... know what people need and am able to point them in the right direction."

"Oh." What did Cassie mean exactly?, Meredith wondered.

"Out there, on the highway, I didn't have that same reassurance. It felt like- well, if... what if you lost all your knowledge and ability to be a surgeon? You're standing there... you know something is seriously wrong, but you have no faith in yourself." Abruptly, Cassie shook her head, "I shouldn't be burdening you with this, obviously it's my problem, not yours, and you... have enough on your plate."

Meredith leaned against Sam's bed, "No, it's okay... I-I get it. I mean- I'm cursed. Of course it would make sense."

"Cursed?" Cassie asked, her eyesbrows shooting up under her bangs.

Oh, Cassie actually believed her? She was just making light- she wasn't actually cursed. At least, she didn't think so... not in the literal sense, right? "No- wait- I-" she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I'm not cursed, it's just... I'm a walking tragedy. My mother had Alzheimers, she died. And I drowned and kinda died. And then, well, lot of people I cared about in the last few years have gone away... or died, so..." Meredith shrugged again, "It's okay to have doubts..."

Cassie sighed and nodded, but she still looked morose.

"Oh," Meredith said, noticing her expression... her utter helplessness. "It's not just doubts," And she really didn't know what more to say or do to help Cassie. What do you do when you've lost that gift that made you... You?

"I only felt like this once before," Cassie whispered. "Just before Jake... died, I felt like the universe detached from me... like it didn't have the answers," she shook her head. "But that was only for a little while... an hour maybe, and then..." she sighed, "he died."

Meredith closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. She stared out the window, she couldn't look at Sam. Her hand dropped from Cassie's shoulder as she clutched her arm closer to her chest. "So... what are you saying? The universe doesn't have answers for me? Doesn't know what to do with me?"

"I... don't know." Cassie answered painfully.

Meredith tapped her foot and bit her lip. "I- I should go, see if I can help out." She managed.

"Mer-" Cassie called after her.

But she shook her head. "No, it's okay. Walking tragedy remember?" she snipped, and then she was out the door, her feet propelling her far, far away from this... whatever.

xxx

Grace squirmed in her bed. She was bored... so very bored. She looked around her room, which before had been semi private, but was now filled with patients and their parents as the hospital had become the one safe haven from the earthquake. With so many people here, she couldn't settle down to sleep, and she kept worrying about all the people who were hurt. Finally she sighed and sat up. She had to do something. She slipped on some sweatpants and threw a hoodie over her gown, she was going to find something to do to help.

She made her way to the first floor where the action was and tried to find someone in charge. A flurry of doctors and nurses scurried by pushing a gurney which carried a bleeding man. Grace pressed against the wall, letting them by. She entered the emergency room and felt her senses overwhelm her. People in pain, everywhere. But, in the center of it all, a stout woman with short, spiky gray hair commanded the room.

With a clipboard and pen, she wrote down names, directed people to different parts of the hospital, pointed to the appropriate staff, and all with a graceful smile.

Grace approached her and cleared her throat. "Excuse me?"

"Yes dear..." the woman said, not even looking up from the clipboard.

"I um... I can help. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Still focused on the clipboard, the woman checked off a few things before replying. "I've run out of blankets, and we need ice and plastic bags for all the broken bones... and perhaps bottles of water or juice..." And then she turned and looked down at Grace over her reading glasses. "Dear Lord!" she exclaimed, "You look just like her!"

Grace swallowed. She didn't know this woman, how did she know her? "Who?" she asked.

"Your Grandmother."

xxx

Standing outside the house, Carolyn stared at the long driveway and the iron fence that separated her from her fiance. She shook her head, she'd been a fool. A fool to believe in this man. She'd thought- she'd thought a lot of things, but she never thought he'd walk away.

Approaching footsteps caught her attention, and she raised her head, but refused to turn around to see who it was. She already knew.

Liz Merriwick came up beside her, her gaze following Carolyn's. "He'll come back, he always does."

"Mmhmm," Carolyn hummed noncommitally. "So you know?"

"That you're pregnant? Yes."

"I know he's scared, I am too. The country is going to be at war, and I am with child. I'm supposed to be a Navy nurse. Without him... without Michael... I don't know what I'm going to do."

"I suppose he doesn't either." Liz said.

"Perhaps." Carolyn conceded. "But aren't we supposed to figure it out together? Isn't that the point when you get married? That you figure these things out together?"

"Yes..." Liz said. "He said... he said he just needed to find some direction." She raised a brow pointedly at Carolyn.

"Direction?" Carolyn huffed. And then she remembered what he once promised, and she knew where to find him.

He had run away, but he hadn't run far.

Just next door. To the Grey house.

xxx

A/N: Aha! So... Liz Merriwick is Cassie's mom... FYI in Good Witch Cannon, Cassie's parents died tragically while they were travelling in Europe. Same applies here... Also, The Good Witch show has not revealed Cassie's Husband Jake's death... so this I made up.

Anyway, please review!

Thanks!