Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic, except the ones that you don't recognize. Disney and Alliance Atlantis and so forth own them all. I also don't own any place or location that you might recognize.

Realization of Fate

No More Denial

It was a gorgeous day. The sun was bright, and the birds flew overhead, sharing their wonderful music. The garden was decorated, mostly with white flowers, to commemorate a special occasion… the union of two individuals. All their relatives sat in the audience to witness their vows. It was everything a bride could ever dream…

"Do you Tyler Connell take… to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"Do you… take Tyler Connell to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"If anyone has any reason why these two people should not marry, speak up now or forever hold your peace."

"Stop!"

Everyone turned around and looked behind them as a woman burst into the scene.

"Val? What are you doing?"

"You can't marry her."

"Why not?"

"You were wrong about something."

The crowd gasped and its attention to Tyler.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were wrong about something."

"Val, are you all right?"

"Tyler, tell me!"

"Tell you what?"

"You were wrong about something."

"If I tell you, would you let me be and get on with my wedding?"

"Tell me, Tyler. Please."

"I was wrong about…"

The alarm went off. Val sat up from her bed, breathing heavily with beads of sweat on her forehead. It took a few moments before the after effects of the dream settled in.

"This cannot be happening," she told herself as she lay back down on the bed. "The same damn dream."

It was six o'clock. She got up to get ready for work and headed for the mirror. Suddenly, morning sickness took its toll, and she ran for the bathroom. She hadn't had one for a couple of days, which was quite understandable considering that she is about a week away from her third month of pregnancy. After she took a shower and got dressed, Val went downstairs to find something to eat. As usual, Tyler was already there with her own breakfast ready before her.

"Good morning, Val!" he greeted her cheerfully as he looked up from his paper.

"You seem awfully chipper," Val said as she took a seat.

"I do? Well, that's good. How are you this morning?"

"Except for the morning sickness and that ridiculous dream, I'll be fine."

"Well, that's good. Not a bad dream, I hope."

"No, not a bad one… just ridiculous and strange and all things I can't explain."

"Well, if you must know, I had a strange dream as well. You were there."

"I was? What was I doing?"

"Nothing too strange, but you were really persistent."

"Persistent about what?"

"You kept asking me for something. I can't really remember what it was, but like I said, you were very unrelenting about it."

Val looked down at her plate and started to eat. She glanced back at Tyler and then turned her attention somewhere. Apparently, they had a similar, and she was, sort of, the center of attention. Ever since Tyler went home the other night and told her about him being wrong about something and not saying anything more about it, curiosity got to her. Was he wrong about his date? Was he wrong about her? These were just a couple of questions that she asked herself.

"Have you visited the doctor recently?"

"What?" Val looked up as the fork fell from her hand.

"Are you all right? You seem a bit edgy."

"I'm fine. What did you say again?"

"I was asking about you visiting the doctor lately about the baby."

"I have an appointment next week. It's really nothing much to worry about. I work in the hospital after all."

"Are you set to move out tomorrow?"

"We're all packed and ready. It is Friday today, right?"

"Freaky Friday," he smiled. "Are you working today?"

"Isn't that why I'm awake at this hour?"

"Good point. Is Hank coming?"

"He's coming later to give me a ride. He's being so nice about the whole thing. I know that he's busy, but he still offers to help me."

"Well, that's quite understandable. We're talking about Hank here after all. Given your present situation, I wouldn't want you driving by yourself."

"I'm not that far in my pregnancy. Besides, the real problem is me driving again. I got used to that whole driving on the left side of the road thing, and the last thing I need is getting a gazillion billion tickets from the police officer."

"Gazillion billion?"

"You know what I mean."

"You know, I can always drive you to work."

"The hospital is not on your route."

"It's not like I can't afford to be late," he pointed out. "Besides, I'd love to see where you work."

"I thought you've been there already."

"That's true," he paused. "The thing is that I just want to help out."

"You've done so much already, Tyler. I don't even know how to begin to repay you."

"Taking good care of our daughter over these last few years and having her near me now is more than enough."

They stared at each other for a moment before they heard a bark from a distance.

"Is it just me, or did I hear a dog bark?" asked Val.

"I do have a dog after all."

"Oh yea, you do. I haven't seen her in a while."

"I left her with my parents because I was afraid that Alyssa was allergic. I didn't think she was, but I just wanted to be cautious and all."

"Well, she's not allergic to dogs."

"That's why I brought Jessica back. Alyssa mentioned something about Seth's dog, so I assumed she wasn't allergic."

"He had a white Scottish Terrier," Val smiled. "He named the dog Prince Charles because it had a ridiculously big pair of ears."

"Did you talk to him already?"

"Not yet."

"You have to do it some time. The sooner the better."

"I will tell him when the time is right."

"Do you miss him?"

"I guess, maybe, I don't know. I don't really know what I feel about him."

"Do you love him?"

Val stared at him for a moment. Suddenly, the mood in the room has gotten serious. Of all the things he could ask her, it was the one she least expected.

"Yes, but not in the way that I'm supposed to love him."

"Are you saying that you love him, but you're not in love with him?"

"Something like that, and that is the main reason why I'm divorcing him."

"Doesn't he have the right to know about this?"

"Tyler, I'll do what I feel is right. Right now, I really don't feel like telling him, so can we please just drop it?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I promise I won't bring it up again or interfere with what you want to do."

"Thank you," she said as she stood up. "I better get ready."

Val left the table and headed to her room, leaving Tyler alone. He kicked himself for upsetting her. He didn't feel right about the whole situation with her soon to be ex-husband. Anything can happen, and the more she waits to tell him, the bigger chance for things to complicate themselves. Whether he wanted to or not, he was in the middle of it, and he feels guilty for that reason. His train of thought was disrupted by the beep of Hank's car.

"Hey Beecham!" he greeted as he let him in. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. And you?"

"I'm okay."

"I heard that your date went pretty well."

"From whom?"

"I have my sources."

"If you must know, it went well."

"Are you seeing her again?"

"Maybe for lunch or dinner or something."

"Do you like her?"

"Not romantically."

"What do you mean? I thought you're going to see her again."

"As a friend. We talked about our exes the whole night, and she was engaged to hers. We sort of just helped each other with our issues."

"So you're not interested in her?"

"Not a single bit."

"Well, maybe next time."

"No way. No more blind dates for me."

A couple of minutes later, Val finally finished and came down.

"Hi Hank! Thanks once again for doing this for me."

"Anytime. I better start up the car while you say goodbye and all. Don't take too long."

"I won't."

"It was nice talking to you, Connell."

"You, too."

After Hank left, Val turned her attention to Tyler.

"Don't forget to take Alyssa to school."

"Of course, I wont," Tyler laughed. "How could I?"

"Oh yea, you're only the most responsible guy in the world."

"Being a little sarcastic now, aren't we?"

"Well, yes and no. There's sarcasm in it, and then there's also truth to that whole thing."

"You better go."

"I'll see you later."

"I want to tell you that…"

"What?"

"I… Forget it. Just go."

"If you say so."

Tyler watched from the door as the vehicle left. When it was out of sight, he finished his sentence.

"I wanted to tell you that I was wrong about… you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brooke tried to do everything that she could get her hands on. For the past week, it wouldn't be wrong to say that she had finished almost a month load of work. Of course, that wasn't the intended purpose of her sudden enthusiasm for work. She had been avoiding David, and as long as she kept herself busy, he wouldn't be able to bother her. Their night ended… awkwardly. The thought of talking to him again was not something she wished to deal with at the moment. The phone rang.

"Hello, Brooke Lanier speaking."

"Finally, you pick up the phone."

"Val? Is that you?"

"Yes, and where have you been this whole week? I've been trying to call, and you wouldn't answer. When I stopped by for a minute two days ago, you were too busy too see anybody. What's up with you?"

"It's complicated. Why did you call?"

"What have you heard about Tyler's blind date?"

"What?"

"I'm just curious. You know how I am."

"Didn't he tell you?"

"He didn't tell me anything, except that he was wrong about who knows what or whom?"

"Well, as I heard from Dana, it went quite well. They're planning to see each other again."

Val tried to hide her disappointment.

"They are?"

"I suppose he didn't tell you that too."

"Well, what else happened?"

"I don't really know. Dana mentioned something about them having an extensive conversation about their exes."

"So Tyler is still hung up on Andrea?"

"How should I know? Why are you asking me anyway? Go ask him."

"How was your date? Who was it?"

"I don't even want to talk about him."

"Do I know this guy?"

"He turned out to be the class act jerk I was telling you about."

"I guess it went pretty bad."

"We caused a scene at the restaurant before I left."

"You left him there?"

"That was the idea, but he somehow found his way to me into the woods."

"The woods?"

"In the park."

"So what happened?"

"We sort of talked, and he turned about to be… really nice. It was awkward."

"Awkward?"

"He asked me out."

"What did you say?"

"I said 'maybe'."

"Did you go out with him yet? Any plans?"

"None whatsoever."

"He didn't call or anything?"

"I wouldn't know. I've been avoiding him for the past week."

"You've been avoiding me?" someone asked from the door.

Brooke looked up and saw him standing there. How did he get in? Who knows. All she knew was that she had some explaining to do.

"Val, I'll call you back."

She turned her attention back to him. It's been only a week since she last saw him, and yet he appears to be a different person to her now.

"What can I do for you, Collins?" she asked as he closed the door. "As you can see, I'm very busy."

David looked at her desk and saw that she had mostly taken care of everything.

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not avoiding you."

"You just said earlier that you were avoiding me for the past week."

"Who ever said that it was you? Talk about ego."

Before he responded, he realized what was happening to them once again. They were back to their old ways, and as much as he found pleasure in their bickering before, it wasn't what he wanted at the moment.

"Brooke, don't push me away."

"I am not pushing you away."

"We need to talk about what happened this weekend."

"I'm sorry, but I don't find any reason for us to talk about it."

"Well, knowing the events in the past week, I think we do need to talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Did it scare you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Brooke. Just answer the question."

"You want to know the truth? Fine! Yes, it did scare me. For the time that we have worked together, I hated you. You made my each of my day miserable. Up until that night, I thought I knew you and what you're all about, but I was wrong. I don't think I know you at all. The thought of going out with a stranger scares me, and I don't like it."

"What about me? Don't you think it scared me at all? I felt the same way about you. When we had that talk that night, you seemed like a totally different person. Everything I knew about you was wrong. Where's the old Brooke Lanier? Until recently, I didn't know how to explain it, but then I realized that maybe it was the real you all along. The person that I didn't care to see… the side of you that I overlooked. I had trouble accepting it, but the truth of the matter is that I like you. I don't know when or how it happened. All I know is that whatever you did, YOU MADE ME CARE."

Brooke was on the verge of crying. David's words really tugged at her heart. If she spoke at that moment, she would definitely end up crying.

"I'm sorry, David," she sobbed. "I can't do this. It's too hard."

"We have to do something," he said. "We can't go on like this."

"I need time."

"You had five days to think about it."

"David…"

"Brooke…"

"Why are you pushing this so much?"

"Because I don't want to lose you. Every day that passes without us talking to each other pushes you further away from me. Damn it, Brooke! Don't you get it by now?"

"Would you calm down? Stop cursing and stop yelling at me! Damn it, sit down!"

David was taken aback by her response and immediately abided her request.

"I'm sorry about that," Brooke said, followed by a deep breath. "I didn't mean to yell."

"I understand…"

"No, you don't," she said. "Just don't say anything and listen. This is really hard for me. I'm flattered by what you said, and it really means a lot, but I haven't figured out things the way that you have. I'm still confused. You have to understand. Our history was not the best. How do I know if I can trust you?"

"I understand your point. Our history was a rocky one, and as for your question, only you can answer that. I can tell you different reasons of why you can and should trust me, but it wouldn't matter what I say. You have to decide for yourself."

"Great! More decisions to make."

"Do you want to go out tonight?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm asking you out."

"I need more time."

"More time will lead you nowhere. The first step is to do something about it."

"And you think that going out with you tonight is the first thing to do?"

"We'll take it slowly. We'll go watch a movie, eat dinner, the works."

"No strings attached?"

"None. I just want to get to know you better."

"You're very persistent, you know that."

"Only when it's important," he smiled at her, causing Brooke to blush. "I have to leave now, but I'll pick you up around seven-thirty."

"Seven-thirty it is."

"Great! I'll see you then."

After he left, Brooke checked her watch. She has 7 hours, 20 minutes, and 45 seconds left… 44…43… 42… 41…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!" she squealed.

Tyler fought the urge to cover his ears. He did not want to disrespect her, especially in this time of joy. He had a lot of things in his mind during the course of the day, so he called Dana up while he was at work, and they decided to meet at a nearby restaurant. There may be a chance that she could help him. His hope was diminished. For the most part of the meeting, Dana has been gushing about her recent reconciliation with Jonathan McMillan, her beau and once again, fiancé.

"I know you are. You've been telling me that for the last twenty-five minutes."

"I'm so sorry, but I'm just excited. I know we were engaged before that whole mix up, but I feel great right now."

"I'm happy for you. I really am."

Dana looked at him and started to calm down. She remembered the reason of their meeting: he called her, which translates to the fact that he is in desperate need of advice.

"Why did you call me to come here? Is there a problem?"

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about it. I don't want to rain on your parade."

"I've done most of the talking…"

"No kidding."

"I've done most of the talking already," she reiterated. "Tell me what's bothering you."

"Fine! You were right."

"Right about what?"

"You were right about her."

"Is this Val we're talking about?"

"I still have feelings for her. They weren't an issue before people started bringing it up. They were buried deep down inside of me that not even an excavator can help unearth it. All of a sudden, they started to resurface from their graves like the Night of the Living Dead."

"From what you have said, I gather that you're quite an intelligent man, you have a way with words, and you have issues."

"Great! I've become Albert Einstein."

"What's the problem with that?"

"I like my hair the way it is."

"Not him. Val!"

"She's involved… sort of."

"What does that mean?"

"She's still married to this guy, and she's carrying his baby."

"I guess that means she's off limits."

"Well, she is divorcing him..."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?"

"Only he doesn't know about it yet."

"About the divorce?"

"That and the baby."

"Am I sensing guilt here?"

"But should I be guilty?"

"You haven't even done anything."

"But I feel like I'm betraying him, even though he's a jerk."

"I'm sorry, Tyler, but I can't help you on this one."

"Can't you at least try?"

"No, because first, I'm a woman, and second, this problem is way too complicated for me."

"Then where do I go? I need some friendly advice."

"Why don't you go to your guy friends? You do have some, right?"

"I should do that, shouldn't I?" he said as he got up. "Thank you. I know you could help."

"I'm just repaying your advice. Maybe this time, you should follow it yourself."

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I hope you liked it! School is almost here again, but I'll try to follow up sooner :( I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182