A/N – This one is rated T for a naughty word.

#29 – Mistake

Rachel checked the caller ID and couldn't keep the tone of annoyance out of her voice as she answered the phone. "What is it, Marco?"

"Don't do that," he said, and he sounded angry. "You know what it is. And before we have to face the others, we need to talk about it."

Rachel shucked and jived. "What do you mean, face the others? They don't need to know. There's nothing for them to know."

"Quit it," he snapped. "You know what I mean. We aren't going to say anything, for obvious reasons. But I feel like I can't trust you anymore, after what happened -"

"You can't trust me?" she cut him off incredulously. "You manipulated me! You made me feel sorry for you, and -"

"Wait just a damn minute!" he crowed. "I didn't manipulate you, I was honest with you!"

Rachel took a deep breath and tried to count to five. Didn't work – she was very, very close to seeing red. "Don't be stupid. You might have thought you were being honest. But you weren't. And what happened was me reacting out of sympathy."

Her words angered Marco even more, but his cunning mind took him down a different path. "What did happen, Rachel?" he asked silkily.

"You know what happened. It was a mistake."

"That's right. You need to say it out loud, though, because you still haven't accepted it."

Rachel pinched the phone between her head and shoulder and threw up her hands. "You told me you were in love with me. And you looked so pathetically awkward when you said it that I had a moment of weakness and let you kiss me."

Silence at the other end. "Fine. You kissed me, and I didn't stop you. Happy?"

Marco chuckled darkly. "Not in the least."

Rachel sighed, knowing that she had sort of brought it on herself. She should have punched the weasel in the nose when he made his move. Should have. "Look, man. I have feelings for you. I feel the same way about Cassie and Jake and even Ax. I love you, okay? I do. But not like that. Tobias…"

"Tobias is a fucking hawk!" Marco seethed. "He doesn't have the balls to be human for you. He's too scared of being human to give up his wings for you, and you know it."

Now it was Rachel's turn to be silent. Marco realized he'd let his emotions take over completely and sighed. "I didn't mean that. Out of line. It's just…"

"I'm going to let it go, Marco. I'm going to let it go because you're scared and you're alone and it freaks you out that you're the only one that doesn't have somebody."

"There was something in that kiss, Rachel. There was something in it."

Rachel sighed. How could she sort out the different kinds of love she felt for her teammates? How could this ridiculously awkward situation have been avoided, when Marco had bled for her? How could she explain, when she didn't even understand? "Regardless," she whispered. "It was a mistake."