**Ex**

Chapter 1

I disclaim.

"It's 5 AM, what the hell do you want?" Sheridan rubbed her eyes.

"Read this." She thrust the note into her friends face, "And what good is a bat going to do if you're half asleep?"

Sheridan ignored the comment and read the note, she gasped and ran into the house. Kay followed, she checked on the rest of the house then found Sheridan. She was in her bedroom, pulling out a huge suitcase when she walked in. "What are you doing?"

Sheridan looked up from her position, "What does it look like? I'm going back."

"You can't go back there Sheridan." Kay said as a matter-of-factly.

"Well, I can and I am. And it's not just I, it's WE. We need to go back. All of us." Sheridan pulled the suitcase onto her bed.

"WE don't need to go back. Any of us. It's too much Sheridan, and we don't even know if that's true." Kay said logically.

"It's a newspaper clipping Kay. It's not going to be a lie. It's not 'The Sun'." Sheridan began ripping open her drawers and throwing things into her huge bag.

"Look, it's your choice to go back. But, if you do. . ."

"When I do." Sheridan corrected her.

"Right, when you do go back, you know that it won't just be affecting you. It's going to affect all of us."

"Kay, I know that. But, it's my job to go back. I have to. I know you're scared. But we have to face our demons sometimes."

"What about Mika [pronounced- Mike-Uh]?"

Sheridan stopped packing, as if it suddenly dawned on her she had a daughter, "I don't know." She admitted.

"Do you want him to know? After everything that happened, can you tell him?" Kay sat down and looked at her friend.

Sighing, Sheridan threw herself on her bed, "I wish I would've told him. If we hadn't of run away. . ."

"We did what we had to do. The father of my child made it clear he wanted nothing to do with me. And, he made it clear to you by marrying that, that, thing. God, I can't even call it a person." Kay cringed.

"He did what he thought was right, and as for the father of your child? Kay, it was a one-night stand and you didn't even tell him."

Kay sighed, "I had good reasoning. And what about Gwen? Do you want to subject her to more pain?"

Sheridan sat up, "She doesn't have to come. Neither do you. I'm going and you can come along if you want. I'm not forcing you."

"They know we left together. Or at least some people do. And if you go back, well they're going to be expecting more than just you." Kay said.

Before Sheridan could argue, they heard a noise. Looking up, they saw a half-sleeping Gwen walk into the room.

"What are you two doing up this early? It's not even daylight! And what happened to you Kay? You're soaked!" Gwen looked over Kay.

"It's snow, I went outside. There was a note on the backdoor and when I went to go get it, well I got locked out. I'm going to go change, Sheridan, fill her in." Kay got up and walked towards her room.

Sheridan handed Gwen the letter, "'I know why you left and why you haven't returned. Heed my warning, if you don't go back to Harmony, there will be hell to pay.' What is this?"

"Look at the back Gwen." Sheridan said.

"Alright, alright, what the hell?!" Gwen turned to Sheridan.

"It's in black and white Gwen. We HAVE to go home." Sheridan said.

"No we don't." They both turned as Kay walked into the room, dry and fully clothed.

"We have to go back Kay. If this gets out. . ." Sheridan stopped, "You know what will happen. We can't afford to not go home."

"Sheridan, we did nothing wrong. We were three women, scared and alone. We needed to get out of there before we suffocated. What we did wasn't wrong." Kay argued.

"What we did WAS wrong. We left because we were too scared, we wanted to get away, run as fast as we could, and we did. We left and now things have changed, we need to go back or things can change for the worst." Sheridan said.

"Sheridan, we-did-nothing-wrong. We know that. And if we go back, you know what will happen to us. They'll be angry and then they'll all find out the truth and then we'll loose them. The only thing in the world that matters to us, and we'll loose it because you wanted to go home and tell everyone the truth." Kay ran her hands through her hair.

"I can't go back there." Gwen said quietly. Sheridan and Kay turned to her, "I was humiliated on what was supposed to be the best day of my life. If I go back now, I don't even want to think of it."

"Gwen." Sheridan put a comforting arm around her.

"My own mother." Gwen sighed, "I hate her."

"I know what you mean." Kay agreed.

Sheridan was silent, she then said suddenly, "But you're a great mother Kay. And Gwen, when you find the right guy you'll be a great mother too."

"Aw, thanks Sher. But, you know Mika is a great girl, she's so beautiful and you're raising her amazingly." Kay said.

"Thanks. But, it's getting harder, you know? I mean it used to be that whole, out of sight, out of mind thing. I can't pretend anymore." Sheridan sighed.

"Well, think of it this way, if we go back, maybe things will be easier and maybe you'll get what you always wanted." Kay said.

"Does that mean you'll come?" Sheridan asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I guess so. We can't hide forever. And think about it, if we go back, then we can finally get what we wanted." Kay said happily.

"Well, have fun in Harmony without me." Gwen said sadly.

"You can't stay behind Gwen. You have to face your fears sometime." Sheridan said.

"No," Gwen shook her head, "After what happened, I can never go back."

"Gwen, what your mother did was disgusting, but aren't you glad you found out sooner, rather than later?" Kay asked.

Gwen was silent for a moment, "Fine, but it's not going to be permanent and I don't have to like it."

"Then it's agreed, we go." The three girls nodded in unison.

" I just hope this isn't a mistake." Kay said quietly.

"It won't be." Sheridan said smiling.

~*~

Well, what do you think so far? I know it's a little offbeat, but I hope that's a reason to read it! Please, please, please, tell me what you think. Like it? Love it? Hate it? I wanna know.