Chapter 4

A/N: Yay! You guys ROCK with those reviews! Keep 'em coming, I say! Thankyou so much, once again, you inspire me to keep writing…

On another note, can I just say how much I LOVE the song the used in the finale – This is your life by Switchfoot. It is SO awesome! Christian music is just getting better and better, huh!

And also, on a 4400 music note… did anyone else find the song Jacqueline McKenzie sung kinda… weird? You know, the one that was in the background of the Diana/Marco scene. It just… I dunno. Weird is the only word I can think of… let me know what you guys thought of it.

Anyway, on with the story – no Peter in this chapter – woooo0p! (I don't really like him either guys, so don't stress!) Good things are to come, so hold on!

Right now: I'm floating on 'Nothing But The Sky' by IVY. Check it out…

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Diana and Maia sat at the table eating lunch the following day, Maia reading the paper, and Diana off in her own little dream world. It was usually the other way around, but tonight was Diana's date with Peter, and it was the only thing she could think about.

"Diana?" Maia said.

"Mmm?" Diana replied dreamily.

"Your elbow's in your salad," she pointed out. Diana snapped out of her reverie and looked at her elbow, now with a dab of mayonnaise on the end.

"Oh, damn," she said, quickly getting up and going into the kitchen to wipe it off. At that moment, the doorbell rang, and Diana let out an aggravated sigh.

"Maia, could you get that sweetie? And don't forget what I told you about the chain," Diana called from the kitchen. Maia got up with a smile; she didn't need to worry about the chain, she already knew who was on the other side of the door. She opened it without hesitation.

"Oh hi Maia," Tom said, turning his gaze down, after expecting someone to be at his eye level.

"Hi Tom," she replied with a wide grin.

"Where's Diana?" he asked curiously.

"She's wiping mayonnaise off her elbow," Maia pointed out. Tom let out an amused chuckle, before Maia showed him in.

"Tom, is that you?" Diana said, coming out of the kitchen, wiping her elbow.

"The one and only," he replied, smiling when he spotted her dressed casually again.

"What brings you to my part of town?" she asked flirtatiously.

Tom then remembered the reason for his visit, and his smiled faded. "We've been called in to work. There's been a report of a 4400 rape."

"Oh my god."

"I tried calling your cell, but it was off, and your home line was busy," Tom said.

"Busy?" Diana replied, perplexed. Maia grinned to herself, pleased that she had taken the phone off the hook so Tom would have to come over.

"You must have left it off the hook or something," he said. "Look, I hate to put you on the spot like this, but it's urgent."

"Oh definitely. Umm… I just need to figure something out for Maia," Diana thought out loud.

"I can come with you," Maia proposed.

"Sweetie, I would love that, but we're probably not gonna be in the office, and I don't want you getting bored," Diana replied.

"What about Marco?" Maia asked.

"Yes, excellent. I'll call him. God, I hate to put him out like this, but I suppose it's my only choice," Diana said, picking up the portable phone, which, as it happened, was already turned on. She quickly turned it off then on and dialled Marco's number once she heard the dial tone.

"Hello?"

"Marco, I need you to do me a huge favour," Diana pleaded.

"Anything for you, Skouris," he flirted.

"Can you come over and watch Maia? I have to go in to work and I need someone here," she asked.

"Umm… well, I spose I'll have to cancel my hot date…"

"Marco…"

"I'm joking, that should be fine. How long do you think you're going to be out for?" he asked.

"I don't know…" she replied, turning her attention to Tom, "how long?" she asked.

"Back before morning…?" he said tentatively.

"Looks like it's gonna be another night job Marco," Diana said hesitantly.

"That'll be fine. Just set me up with a good movie and a board game and me and Maia should be fine," he replied.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be ruining your evening," she said.

"Spending time with Maia is a lot better than spending time with my computer. Really, the pleasure will be all mine. I can be over in 10 minutes," he replied.

"Thankyou so much Marco," Diana said gratefully, "thankyou, thankyou, thankyou."

"No problems," he replied before she hung up.

"Looks like you've brightened up another sit-at-home night for Marco again…" Tom said with a bit of a smirk.

"Tom, play nice. He's a sweet guy. Reminds me of my little brother," Diana said thoughtfully.

"You have a brother?" Maia asked curiously.

"Two," Diana replied. Maia smiled sanguinely.

"Well, I suppose you better finish your lunch," Tom said, gesturing towards the half-eaten plate of salad.

"Yeah, Marco's not gonna be here for another 10 minutes anyway," Diana replied, heading over to the table. "You want anything?"

"Oh no, I'm fine," Tom replied.

"Well come and sit with us anyway," Diana said, gesturing to the seat between her and the newly seated Maia. Tom obliged and took a seat between the two most important females in his life. He didn't like to admit it, but he often thought about Maia, and definitely about Diana a lot more than he probably should. They were almost like a second family to him. Well, at least Diana was anyway. But recently, he felt himself forming a bit of a bond with Maia, in fact, he almost found himself loving her as if she were his own.

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Diana and Tom entered the office late that night, both exhausted. Diana slumped into her chair and put her hand over her eyes. Tom looked at his watch.

"It's pretty late, I guess we can pick this up tomorrow," Tom said with a sigh. Diana uncovered her eyes and looked at her watch, then her eyes widened in horror.

"Oh no! Peter!"

"What?"

"Dammit!" Diana cursed, "he was supposed to pick me up five hours ago!"

"Pick you up for what?" Tom asked, confused, as Diana picked up the phone and started dialling Marco's cell number. She then quickly stopped, realising it would be too late to call.

"For a date?" Tom added.

"Yeah," Diana replied distractedly. A pang of jealously immediately struck Tom.

"Oh. So... this your first date with him? Or second, or -"

"First," Diana replied. "Why are you so interested anyway?"

"I was just wondering why you hadn't mentioned him yet, that's all," Tom lied.

"Well we only met yesterday," she said.

"Yesterday? Gee that was fast," Tom said, a little hurt that she had jumped to go out with this guy so quickly, and so far hadn't considered him at all.

"What? Are you passing judgement Tom?" Diana replied defensively.

"No, no, I just… want to make sure this guy is good enough for you, that's all," he said.

Diana scoffed, "Sorry, I wasn't aware you were my father."

"Diana…"

"Tom, I'm a big girl, you don't need to worry about me. And besides, we haven't even gone out on one date yet!"

"Alright. I'm just… looking after my partner, that's all," Tom reasoned. Diana gave him a grateful smile.

"Well, thankyou. It's nice to know you can actually tolerate me now," Diana said with a slightly cheeky smile. Tom rolled his eyes.

"I could always tolerate you. Now, I just don't mind tolerating you," he replied playfully. She flashed him a mischievous grin before gathering her stuff to leave.

"I don't mind tolerating you either," she said compassionately, even while she felt a lot more than just tolerance towards him – though she wasn't quite ready to admit that to herself yet.

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A/N: And there it is! Sorry it was only brief, but the new part sort of moves on, and I wanted to keep that separate. aaanyway, make sure to review and let me know what you think!