Meg heard a faint knock at her front door and moved to look out the window. She saw Joe walking down her driveway away from the house. She waited until Joe got a few houses down the street and then opened the door. Her breakfast tray, coffee cups, sugar and cream bowl were sitting on the porch, washed and dried. A note with her name on it, laid on top of the plate that had held the blueberry muffins.

Meg looked up and saw Joe looking back at her. He raised his hand, giving her a small wave. Meg waved back and then bent over and picked up the breakfast tray. She carried it into the kitchen, setting it on the counter. She picked up the envelope and tore it open, pulling out a folded piece of paper. "I hope you don't mind; I ate all the muffins. They really were delicious. Take care. Joe."

Meg folded the paper back and set it down on the counter. She put everything away and then looked at the note again. He really was a nice guy. Meg ran her finger over his name. She really wished she felt more for him than she did.

Meg stood in the kitchen looking around. She had no idea what to do with herself. As expected, Principal Haggerty had called her into his office on Monday. He'd told her that he didn't think she was an arsonist, but he obviously couldn't have a teacher who was accused of aggravated assault and arson actively teaching in the school. He'd suggested she take a personal leave, so he didn't have to make any decisions about her future as a teacher at this time. At least he hadn't fired her outright. Meg had agreed a personal leave was a good idea. She'd spent the rest of the day at the cemetery where her mom, dad and sister were buried crying her eyes out.

"Not anymore," she said out loud. She'd decided yesterday that she was done playing the victim. She'd spent all day Tuesday cleaning her apartment from top to bottom. She'd even taken off the vents for the air returns on the wall and scrubbed them clean. The apartment still smelled like Pine Sol. Today she was reorganizing all of her cabinets, dresser drawers and closets. Meg opened up the first set of kitchen cabinets and got to work.

Several hours later, she slid a large box out of her closet and started reorganizing her closet. "If nothing else," she said out loud. "I'll have the cleanest, most organized home in the state." Meg opened the box and found the pictures of her and Mike laying on the top of all the things.

She picked it up and looked at them. Mike's blue eyes were fixed on her, not the camera, in the first shot. Meg was laughing, she remembered that Mike had started to tickle her side when the picture had been snapped. When she turned to look at him, he'd kissed her. The next picture caught their kiss. Mike was a great kisser; her stomach did a little flip flop just thinking about it. "No wonder I'm having such a hard time getting over you," she said, looking at the next picture. Mike was looking at the camera in this one. His blue eyes standing out on the printed strip. His full lips turned up into a smile that made his eyes sparkle, and a 5 O'clock shadow on his face. His hair was thick and luxurious, she remembered running her fingers through his hair as he'd pulled her in for another kiss when the picture was over.

"I need to find a way to put you in my past, Mike," Meg said, looking at the picture. Meg laid the picture back in the box and closed the top. She didn't feel any anger this time, just the sadness of knowing a relationship was over. She'd spent a lot of time of Tuesday trying to blame Mike for her problems, he'd led her on telling her she was beautiful and asking to spend time with her; but the truth was, the problems came because she read what she wanted to hear into what Mike said. It was time to start taking responsibility for her actions and moving on with her life.

Meg looked at the clock, it was only 1:00 PM. What am I going to do with the rest of my day, she thought; then an idea hit her. She grabbed her purse and headed out of the house.

E

Mike pulled up in front of the Gage home and grabbed the bank envelope, shoving it into his back pocket as he got out of the car. He knew they'd told him not to worry about it, but he wanted to give Johnny and Ainsley back the $500 for paying Meg's bail. He'd intended to drop it off on Tuesday, but the appointments with the real estate guy had taken too long.

Mike walked up the driveway toward the gate leading into the backyard; he'd caught a glimpse of Hunter swinging when he pulled up. He assumed Johnny and Ainsley were out in the backyard. Mike stopped when he got to the gate. Meg was holding Grace in one arm and pushing Hunter in the swing with the other. Chief looked over at him, but remained at his spot laying down a few feet from Meg.

Mike looked around, Ainsley and Johnny were nowhere to be seen.

"Hungy," Mike heard Hunter say.

"Ok, are you ready for dinner?" Meg said, starting to slow down the swing.

"Hungy," Hunter repeated.

Meg looked at Grace in her arm, and at Hunter in the swing, trying to figure out how to get Hunter safely out of the swing while holding Grace.

"I'll get him," Mike said, opening the gate.

Meg turned and watched Mike let himself into the backyard. She didn't say anything while Mike picked Hunter up out of the swing. "I came over to see Johnny," Mike said, as an explanation for why he was there.

"I offered to watch the kids so they could have a date," Meg said.

"Shouldn't you be working?" Mike asked, it was only 3:30 PM.

Meg looked away from him. "I'm taking some time off work," was all Meg said.

"Because of the arrest," Mike said, instantly knowing what was wrong. "I'm so sorry, Meg. This is all my fault," Mike felt the crushing guilt.

Meg shook her head. "Don't. This is not your fault."

Meg moved toward the house and Mike followed her.

"Yes, it is. I'm so sorry."

"Can you put Hunter in the booster seat for me?" Meg asked, moving over to put Grace in the baby swing.

Mike put Hunter into his booster seat and sat down to watch Meg.

Meg didn't say anything else as she quickly cut up small pieces of chicken and put them on a plate with some pieces of corn for Hunter. Meg walked over and set the plate in front of Hunter, who immediately started grabbing pieces of food and feeding himself.

Meg turned to look at Mike, but moved back a few feet to lean against the kitchen counter. "You're such a good man, Mike. Your job places a lot of responsibility on your shoulders and you take that on naturally. You're a man that protects others and you take that very seriously. But, don't own what doesn't belong to you."

Mike looked at Meg. "I shouldn't have asked you to train with me. Ainsley had told me you were dating Joe; I was out of line."

"This is not your fault, stop trying to blame yourself for my mistakes. I tell my students that they can't control what other people do, but they are the only one that can control what they do. I took what you said and twisted it to hear what I wanted. You didn't tell me that you wanted to break up with Caroline and get back with me, but that's what I read into it. It was my fault. And I knew it wasn't true. I knew you'd be at Caroline's that night. I was an idiot for going over there and because I chose to do that, I put myself into a situation to be accused of the fire," Meg emphasized the I's in her statement. "Me, not you."

"I feel guilty for what you're going through."

"You shouldn't," Meg shook her head. "I mean it Mike. I don't want your pity, but I get it, you're a very caring person, so you feel bad for me. But, you shouldn't feel guilty. You didn't cause this. You haven't done anything wrong."

Mike stood up and moved across the kitchen. "Even telling you that you're beautiful," Mike looked down at her, his blue eyes locking with hers.

"You didn't say it to be mean," Meg said, feeling her heart accelerate at his closeness.

"I really didn't, Meg. I never meant to cause you any pain."

"I know," Meg moved away from Mike and moved over to get a banana for Hunter, starting to cut it into small pieces. "I'm not mad at you Mike. It would be easy to try to blame you for how I feel, but I'm the one who ended things. I'm the one that's been holding on to what we had and unwilling to move on. I'm the one who should be sorry. I want you to be happy, Mike."

"I want you to be happy too, Meg," Mike said. "I miss our talks. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," Mike wanted to kick himself. He wasn't being fair to Meg.

"I miss our talks too," Meg said. "But, I'm not in a position where I can be your friend, Mike. I just can't. But, that's not your fault either. Stop beating yourself up for things you aren't responsible for," Meg turned to look him in the eye again. "I can see it in your eyes, Mike. You don't look like you've slept and your eyes have a sadness that wasn't there a few months ago."

"I haven't been sleeping very well," Mike admitted, he didn't say he hadn't been happy in a really long time, but Mike knew that was true too.

"Well, if any of that is because of me, I'm okay. Really."

"You've been arrested Meg."

Meg smiled. "But they aren't trying to convict me of stupidity and that's the only thing I'm guilty of."

"It isn't a joke," Mike said.

"It'll all get cleared up, Mike. I gave Kate the information where I bought the iron oxide. They'll confirm the quantity I bought. I hadn't used any of it, so they can see it's all accounted for. Kate seems really good at what she does. She'll find out who's really behind this and you'll be safe and able to move on with your life with Caroline."

Mike looked down at the floor. "So I haven't been leading you on?" Mike asked, remembering Caroline's accusation that he was stringing her along waiting for something better to come along.

"No. I've been leading myself on. But, I have to stop now," Meg said, looking at him. "I need to get over you, so I can get on with my life too."

Mike felt an incredible wave of sadness.

"Meg," Mike realized he didn't know what he wanted to say. He remembered Ainsley's warning, if he wasn't a 100% certain he wanted to be with Meg, he needed to leave her alone.

Meg looked at him, but Mike didn't anything else. The sadness in his eyes was overwhelming, Meg felt bad for him, he looked so miserable. Meg moved forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning in to give him a brief hug. Mike wrapped his arms around Meg and gently rested his cheek against the top of her head. He tightened his grip when he felt her start to move away, but Meg gently pulled away.

"I'll tell Johnny you stopped by," Meg said, moving away from Mike to get the bananas for Hunter.

Mike moved to the backdoor, but didn't leave right away. He watched as Meg set the pieces of banana in front of Hunter, and then picked up Grace to get her a bottle. He realized he wished he wasn't leaving and that he could spend just a few more hours with her.

"Good-bye, Meg." Mike said, knowing he needed to leave before he said something he shouldn't. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, even as he felt a deep sadness in his chest. Meg didn't blame him for anything that had happened. She knew he had never meant to hurt her. She wasn't angry with him. But, he couldn't ignore the fact that he would've really liked to stay and spend the evening with her. Mike sat in the car looking at the house for several minutes. He suddenly knew exactly what he had to do.

E

Mike knocked on Caroline's door, and looked around waiting for her to answer the door. She opened the door and Mike stepped back, shocked by her appearance at the door in lingerie. "I've been waiting for you, "Caroline practically purred. She reached out and took Mike's hand, pulling into the dark apartment.

Before Mike could say anything, Caroline had pulled him into a deep kiss, pressing her body tightly against his. Instead of finding himself pulled into the kiss though, Mike found himself even more determined to do what he'd set out to do.

Mike pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked, looking offended.

"Caroline, we need to talk."

Caroline took Mike's hand and led him to the couch. "I've got something much more fun in mind," she whispered as she got him to sit on the couch and straddled him.

Mike picked her up and moved her off of him, setting her on the couch next to him. "No, we need to talk."

Caroline looked stunned.

"Caroline, this just isn't working for me," Mike began, as he got off the couch and moved to a chair across from her. "You're an incredibly beautiful woman, and really sexy and there are times when you make me feel so incredible."

"That's because you are incredible," Caroline said, batting her eyes at him.

"But, we just aren't compatible in any other way. You deserve someone that appreciates more than your beauty and your sexuality."

"Mike, let's not make a rash decision," Caroline said, starting to feel desperate. She needed him to stay with her tonight.

"This isn't a rash decision, Caroline. In fact, it's one I should've made some time ago."

"So you were just stringing me along until something better came along," Caroline accused. "Who is she?"

Mike shook his head. "Caroline, I'm not going to feel guilty about this. I really did give our relationship everything I could. I wasn't stringing you along as much as I was just trying to see the good and ignoring what wasn't working. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. But, I can't keep seeing you," Mike stood up and moved toward the door.

"Mike, wait, can't we talk about this a bit longer?" Caroline jumped up from the couch, going after Mike and grabbing his arm.

Mike turned to look at her and gently removed her hand from his arm. "I hope you find someone who makes you happy, Caroline. You deserve that," Mike kissed her cheek, then opened the door and let himself out.

Caroline slammed the door and ran to the phone. She quickly dialed Kevin's number.

"Hello."

"That stupid jerk just broke up with me!"

"What?"

"Stoker, he just dumped me. What do we do now?"

"Did you get the tape?"

"Of course, as soon as the Station pulled out on the false alarm, I was in and out in just a few minutes. I had just gotten back here and gotten ready when Mike showed up for our date; but how do we get him now if he isn't staying here?"

"Relax, he's the boy scout, remember? You'll just go over there and lure him out to the car. He's not going to refuse a crying woman. Get dressed; I'll be there in a few minutes," Kevin said, hanging up the phone.

Caroline ran back into her bedroom and threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt.

E

"I thought you guys would be out later," Meg said, as Johnny and Ainsley walked back into the house.

"Without a lot of sleep, your energy to go out and do a lot doesn't last very long," Ainsley said, covering a yawn.

"Well then maybe what I need to do is watch the kids for a night so you guys can get away to a hotel," Meg suggested.

"I'd love to take you up on that," Johnny said. "Any night I'm not on shift the next morning."

"Well, Ainsley and I will talk tomorrow and find a night when I can do that for you. Really, I owe you both so much," Meg said.

"No you don't," Ainsley said. "This is what friends do."

Meg hugged her. "Oh, Johnny, Mike stopped by."

Ainsley and Johnny looked at her. "Are you okay?" Ainsley asked.

Meg gave a small sigh. "I'm fine. None of this is Mike's fault and I need to figure out how to get over him. If we're gonna stay friends, I need to be able to see him without it throwing my life into chaos."

"Do you think you can do that?" Ainsley asked.

"Not yet," Meg answered honestly. "But, someday."

"Mike's doesn't know what he's missing," Johnny said, giving Meg a hug.

"Thank you, but yes, he knows. He's just found someone that he'd rather be with. It's okay, Johnny. It doesn't mean I won't find someone or that there's anything wrong with me. It just means Mike and I weren't right for each other," Meg hugged him back. "But, every once in a while if you could say that, it'd be good for my ego."

"I'll just flat out say Mike's an idiot. You're way better than Caroline," Ainsley said.

"Not better, different. But, again, you can say that every now and then when I'm not feeling so optimistic," Meg laughed.

"Wanna stay for a while?" Ainsley asked.

Meg shook her head. "It's still early. I think I'll go back home and go for a run."

E

Mike walked into Marco's apartment feeling freer than he had in weeks. He had wanted to drive back over to Johnny's and ask Meg out; but he decided it would be best if there was at least a day between when he broke up with Caroline and when he asked Meg out again. He was on shift tomorrow, but he'd call her Friday to see if she was free on Saturday. That would give him time to plan a really spectacular date. Although, he personally would be happy with a night just cuddling on her couch and talking. He wanted to do something really special for her.

Mike began to get his stuff together for the next day, putting the duffel bag near the front door. Marco wasn't going to be home until late, so Mike decided to just make a sandwich for dinner. He had only eaten half of it when there was a soft knock at the door.

Mike opened the door to find a teary Caroline.

"Can we talk?" She sniffed.

"Caroline, there really isn't anything left to say."

Caroline burst into tears, dropping her face into her hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

Mike reached out and pulled her into a hug. "Please don't cry, Caroline. It's not you. You're beautiful and sexy; but I'm just not the right guy for you."

Caroline said nothing, she just continued to cry.

Mike eased her into the apartment, closing the door. "Can I get you something to drink?" Mike asked, turning toward the kitchen.

"No, what you can get is a pen and paper."

"What?" Mike asked, turning back around. Caroline held a small black box in her hand.

"Recognize one of these," Caroline asked, her tears completely evaporated.

"It looks like a detonation switch," Mike said, puzzled.

"Very good Fireman Stoker. Now go look out the window."

Mike just stood there looking at her.

"Go. Look."

Mike moved toward the window and looked down. "What am I looking at?"

"Do you see all those people waiting for the bus," Caroline said.

"Yeah, so."

"There's a bomb under the bench. You will do exactly what I say, or you'll be the reason all of those people die today."

Mike turned around and looked at her like she was crazy. "Caroline, this is really taking a break-up too far."

Caroline snorted. "Give me a break. I'm way out of your league. You were the reason I was separated from my true love, for 6 years, and now is payback time. Get the pen and paper," Caroline ordered.

Mike hesitated.

"If you don't think I'll blow all those people up, you are sadly mistaken," Caroline warned him.

Mike moved over to a small desk and removed a pen and paper.

"Write Marco a note and tell him you're staying the night at my place and you'll see him at the station."

Mike quickly wrote down what she said. Caroline took the note and read it over, convinced there was nothing that would make Marco suspicious she dropped it on the table. "Pick up your work bag," Caroline ordered.

Mike picked up the bag.

"Now we're gonna walk outside and get in your rental car," Caroline said, putting her free hand on the door knob. "But, if you make any sudden moves, I'll detonate that bomb."

Mike just nodded.

He walked down the stairs and moved toward the rental car. Kevin was leaning against Caroline's car waiting for him.

"Put your bag in the trunk," Kevin ordered, walking to the back of Mike's rental car.

Mike opened the trunk and dropped his bag in.

"Now get in, you're driving," Kevin ordered, moving over to take the detonator from Caroline.

Mike inwardly groaned when he saw Meg jogging down the block. He knew he had to keep Caroline from seeing her. "Your never gonna get away with this," Mike said, getting them both to look at him.

"Oh, we will," Caroline said, handing the detonator to Kevin and moving toward her car. "Kevin, that's Meg, that girl Mike was seeing. She'll definitely remember seeing him with us," Caroline said, moving back over toward Mike and Kevin.

"Call her over," Kevin ordered.

"No way!"

"Then watch that beautiful family over there die," Kevin said, using the detonator to point out a mother with three little kids that had just sat down on the bus bench along with at least 5 other people.

Mike swallowed.

"Do it now, Stoker," Kevin hissed.

"Meg!"

Meg had seen Mike standing with Caroline, but had tried to keep her eyes on the road in front of her.

"Meg!"

Meg turned to see Mike, but just lifted her hand in a quick wave. She had no interest in going over there and watching them be a happy couple.

"Tell her to come here," Caroline ordered.

Mike swore under his breath. "Meg, come here," he called out; hoping against hope she'd ignore him.

Meg stopped, but jogged in place for a few seconds before heading in his direction.

Run, Meg, run, Mike thought, trying to will her to keep moving.

Meg looked around and then started to walk toward them. Who was that guy with them, Meg thought as she approached Mike and Caroline? And why does he look so familiar? It was just as she reached the car that Meg connected the face with the picture Kate had shown her. "Kevin Costas," Meg whispered.

"Very good," Kevin said. "My reputation proceeds me. So you know that when I tell you this device will set off a bomb under that bus bench, you know I'm not lying."

Meg looked at the small black device in Kevin's hand and over at the bench full of kids and all the people standing nearby. She looked back at Kevin, her eyes wide with fright.

"Get in the car, Meg," Kevin ordered. "Back seat, behind Stoker. Get in the car and drive where I tell you to," Kevin ordered.

Mike figured the device probably only had the range of about a mile. It'd be risky, but once they were out of range he could crash the car. He just hoped Meg put on her seatbelt, or it would limit his options.

Meg got in the back seat, closed the door and much to Mike's pleasure, buckled her seat belt. Mike climbed into the driver's seat and Kevin got into the passenger seat.

Caroline hurried up and got in her car.

"Pull out and go left," Kevin ordered.

Mike put the car in gear and pulled out onto the road, watching in his mirror as Caroline followed behind them.

Kevin reached into the glove box and pulled out a packet of dynamite, he leaned it over the back seat. "Take it," he ordered Meg.

Meg reached forward and took the dynamite, setting it on her lap. Kevin pulled a second timer out and flipped switch causing the black box on the dynamite he'd just handed Meg to beep and a red light come on.

"This is a motion sensitive trigger," Kevin explained. "If it falls out of my hand because of a car accident, the bomb goes off, so don't get any ideas."

Mike looked at Meg in the rearview mirror; so much for plan A.