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Chapter 10: One Last 'I love you'

Mark and Piper spent a week at the manor. As much as Piper enjoyed spending time with her sisters, she was grateful when she and Mark moved back into the peacefulness of his apartment. They hadn't made sense of the robbery yet, and the police were just as confused.

It was a bleak Tuesday morning, skies overcast and gray. It was like this when Piper and Mark woke up, and it seemed as if it were going to persist all day.

But Piper didn't care. She got up this morning, threw on some clothes, and began to make breakfast for Mark as he took his shower.

Today was special; today was Mark's birthday. He had a special dinner planned for them at a fancy restaurant across town. Mark had a surprise planned, and no matter how much she pestered him, he refused to tell her what it was. The only thing he told her was not to get him a present. His surprise was for both of them.

So as Piper made breakfast, a smile lit up her face. Mark, coming in from his shower, his hair still wet, saw her smile. "Well someone's in a good mood today," he commented.

"Well, you should be," she said, planting him a kiss on the lips. "It's your birthday."

"I know," he said, returning her kiss. "Something smells good," he commented and Piper served him breakfast.

Half an hour later, Mark was ready to leave for work. At the door to the apartment, he gave Piper a kiss. "I'll see you tonight. I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied and closed the door after kissing him again.

After he was gone, Piper grabbed her cup of tea and walked to the balcony. It was a little chilly, but the air was crisp and fresh and made Piper feel good. She watched as Mark headed out of the apartment build and towards work. As if he sensed her watching him, he turned around and waved. Piper waved back and smiled. She watched as his retreating back became a small dot in the distance.

Little did she know it would be the last time she saw him.

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Piper left an hour after Mark for work. Quake was full of people, but Piper didn't care. She just wanted her day to end as quickly as possible so she could get home to Mark.

She opened the door to the apartment and put her keys on the table. "Hello?" she called out, but received no answer. That was a little odd. Mark usually arrived home before her, unless something happened at the lab.

Piper began getting dressed for dinner, figuring Mark would be home before she finished. She took a relaxing shower and donned a slender, form-fitting, black dress. She pinned up her hair and finished her makeup.

Piper was finished dressing and she looked at her watch. Mark was an hour and a half late. That wasn't like him. He hadn't called and there were no messages on the machine. Piper was suddenly gripped by fear. What if something happened to him?

Piper tried calling his cell phone, but it went directly to voice mail. After that, Piper called Mark's work, and an angry boss answered the phone.

"What?" he barked into the phone.

"Is Mark there?" Piper asked meekly.

"No!" his boss yelled. "And when you see him, tell him if he pulls another stunt like that again, he's fired!"

"Excuse me?" Piper asked.

"Next time he doesn't show up for work, he's fired!" The boss slammed down the phone.

Piper stared at the phone, dial tone ringing loudly. Piper's feeling of dread grew worse as she hung up the phone and called her sisters. After explaining the situation, they promised to come right over.

In the mean time, Piper tried calling his cell again without result. Piper was worried now. Mark never showed up to work, didn't tell anybody where he was going. It just wasn't like him.

Piper called his mother next. Ming-na seemed just upset as Piper about the disappearance of her son. Piper hung up, promising to keep her updated.

Her sisters arrived soon. Piper opened the door and let them in. Prue let out a low whistle and Phoebe said, "Looking spiffy there, sis."

Piper looked down at the dress she was still wearing. "Oh. Let me change really quick." Piper ran into the bedroom and slipped on some pants and a blouse. As she left the bedroom, she looked at the picture of her and Mark sitting on the bedside table. She had her arms wrapped around him and both of them were smiling.

With one last look at the picture, Piper turned off the light.

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Mark waved good-bye to Piper and continued on his route to work. He walked through the streets of Chinatown, taking in the familiar sights and scents.

Today was his birthday, not an occasion he would normally celebrate with such enthusiasm if it hadn't been for Piper. He had a surprise for her this evening, a surprise they would both benefit greatly from.

Just thinking of Piper and how much he loved her put a smile on his face. He was still smiling as he turned onto one of his shortcuts, an alley between two restaurants that led him to the next street over, allowing him to avoid heavy foot traffic.

Mark was walking down the alley when he heard someone call out to him.

"Yes?" he said and three men walked up to him.

"Can you…" the guy in the middle said and Mark watched in horror as he pulled out a gun.

To Mark, it seemed as if time slowed down as the man pulled the trigger. Mark didn't know if the gun had a silencer of if he had gone temporarily deaf.

In the three seconds it took for the bullet to leave the gun and to enter his chest, Mark had thousands of thoughts fly through his head. Thoughts of his mother, so loving and kind, thoughts of his dead father, who he had a sinking suspicion he would be joining soon.

But not least of all, thoughts of Piper. Lovely, beautiful Piper. Piper, the love of his life.

As the bullet ripped a hole in his chest, Mark's last thought was a silent 'I love you' to Piper.