Chapter Seventeen

It had been exactly three and a half hours since Wesley had spoken. Judging by the excessive amount of that dreadful smelling liquid, Illyria figured it had probably only taken him a few minutes to fall into an unconscious state. As little as she liked listening to the bold speech of humans, especially when it is used to try and insult her, she much preferred it to the peculiar noise Wesley was making with his nose.

For some reason, it disturbed her. And she did not like standing in the some spot for so long a time. She had gotten used to it while she was confined in her coffin, but once she was capable of walking in the world again, she disliked having that taken away from her. She disliked anything being taken from her.

Thinking about her destroyed temple caused Illyria to flinch and clench her fists. She glared at the back of Wesley's head, as if it were his fault. He was supposed to help her adjust to this world and all he did was drink that poison and grieve for a single life. The life that had inhabited this shell that she wore.

Winifred Burkle. Wesley had made it clear that having or giving names is important, at least to him. Just one of the many things about this place that Illyria did not quite understand.

Wesley suddenly gasped and seemed to become conscious again.

"You have been motionless in that chair for a long time," Illyria stated coldly.

"Dozed off. I was dreaming," Wesley replied in the same tone. Not liking being talked to that way, Illyria raised her chin a fraction of an inch even though Wesley couldn't see her.

"Do all humans make that snorting noise with their noses when they are dreaming?" Wesley grunted in response and rubbed his forehead, pained. "You sounded like a wounded pig at some moments."

"As much as I love these little chats of ours, what exactly are you still doing here?" Wesley snapped. Illyria cocked her head to the side, studying him.

"You agreed to help me, if I do not kill your kind. I have not betrayed that agreement but you seem to have forgotten it."

"I haven't forgotten," Wesley replied, sighing heavily. "But I already told you I'm not the most qualified person to be teaching you the ways of this world."

"Yet you still agreed. Because I look like her."

"True," Wesley's voice was barely above a whisper. "But I'm sure it won't matter what I show you. This world will continue to be a disappointment to you, won't it?" Illyria gave a slight nod of her head.

"Perhaps."

"I'm not that impressed with it either." Wesley took another swig of whiskey.

A beat of silence passed before Illyria asked, "Then why don't you leave?"


Faith and Alec sat across from each other in silence. They wanted to give Max and Spike some privacy and so were waiting down in the hotel lobby. Both seemed to be deep in thought until Alec broke the silence.

"So where'd you go?" he asked. Faith almost jumped but succeeded in hiding her surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"When we were looking for Max, you disappeared." Faith averted her gaze.

"So you noticed that after all..." she muttered. Alec stared at her with his brow furrowed in confusion.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just saw something in the alley across the street. I couldn't tell if it was Max and I didn't want to bother you if it wasn't." Alec continued to stare at her incredulously but Faith ignored him. "I didn't want to just sneak up on the person so I knocked over a trashcan and waited for them to come out."

"That was you?" Faith just nodded. "Well it worked." Faith gave him a very fake smile.

"Obviously."

"Are you alright?"

"Me? I'm five by five. Not even an impending apocalypse could dampen this dandy, free-loving attitude of mine." Alec raised both of his eyebrows. Faith rolled her eyes as she got up from her seat and began pacing. Confused and concerned at the same time, Alec stood up and reached out to hold her hand.

"Hey..." he began but stopped when Faith flinched away from him. He let out a short chuckle of disbelief. "I just went through something eerily identical to this with Max. Except I knew what was bothering her..."

"Of course you did," Faith snapped.

"I don't...What's going on?" Alec asked, his confusion intensifying.

"Oh, that's right. I have to explain everything about how I'm feeling to you. But when it comes to Max, you can guess her inner-most thoughts at the drop of a hat."

"I know this much: You're obviously pissed at me for something and that something has to do with Max." Off Faith's look Alec added, "See? I'm not completely incompetent."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Faith retorted.

"Are we gonna play Twenty Questions til I figure it out alone or are you gonna cut me some slack?" Alec asked, his temper rising. Faith let out a bark of derisive laughter.

"You think I owe you anything after the way you've been acting?"

"I was worried about Max!"

"Believe me, I got the memo. And the free live show. Being worried about Max is one thing, but you were bordering on obsessive."

"You think any time someone worries about a person they care a whole hell of a lot about automatically means they're obsessed with them?" Alec asked incredulously.

"There!" Faith cried out, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Key words: care a whole hell of lot! Max is all you think about! You 'care' more about her than anyone!"

"What's wrong with you? Why are you jealous of Max?" Faith made a frustrated noise and threw her hands up.

"You don't get it," she said simply. "That's...that's fine. You're completely dense and can't see what's going on right in front of you. Just forget it. I don't care anymore." She turned around and started walking away. Alec got a sinking feeling and called out to her, but she didn't stop.


Max stood opposite of Spike with her hands clasped behind her, eyes fixed on the floor, trying to come up with something to say. Spike just watched her with his arms folded across his chest. His eyes were still empty and Max couldn't bring herself to look at them. Yet.

"Are we going to actually speak in this conversation or what?" Spike suddenly asked coldly. Knowing it was now or never, Max took a deep breath and locked her eyes onto his. A flicker of something appeared for a brief second before disappearing again. It was so faint Max wasn't sure if she had actually seen it.

"I'm sorry," she said. Spike's mouth twisted into a sardonic smirk.

"For what? Not talking for three minutes?"

"For everything," Max replied. His smirk faltered slightly, but he didn't respond. "I'm sorry I let myself get breathed on by Illyria. I'm sorry I turned evil. I'm sorry I beat you up. I'm sorry I almost unleashed hell on Earth. I'm sorry I didn't try talking to you about what I was going through. I'm sorry I left. I'm just...sorry..." Throughout this Spike's smirk had left his face completely and was staring at Max with an unreadable expression.

"I know I hurt you," Max continued, not sure if she actually wanted him to respond yet. "Even before the whole thing with Illyria. I distanced myself from you. And even I'm not sure why. Which actually isn't that big of a surprise considering my history with men..."

"Is Alec one of 'em?" Spike asked abruptly. Max's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Is Alec one of what?" Spike rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Don't play that reaction. You know what I meant."

"Obviously I don't because I wouldn't try to lie to you after everything I've already done."

"What about what you said a few nights ago? About Alec and me. Was that you lying?"

"About Alec and...?" Max trailed off as she realized what he meant and closed her eyes, wincing. "That was me lying. Alec and I were never together and never will be."

"Really? Cuz to the casual observer it would seem you've got enough chemistry to become your own bloody science experiments." Max's jaw tightened.

"Well then that casual observer should get their so-called 'enhanced' eyesight checked because what Alec and I have will never build up to the kind of relationship I want with you." This statement seemed to catch Spike off guard and rendered him temporarily speechless. "And I don't want it to. Neither does Alec. We love and care about each other like all close friends do. But that's as far as it goes. Okay?"

A few beats of silence passed before Spike finally replied, "Okay." He didn't say anything else and Max felt the need to explain more.

"I really do love you. And I know what we have is too good to give up. But from my recent actions, I understand if you need some time to think." She waited for Spike to show if he did before continuing. When he finally nodded his head, Max sighed heavily. "Then let me just say again how sorry I am. And if it helps, know that I will do everything I can to make it up to you." Spike nodded again and averted his gaze.

Taking this as her cue to leave, Max stepped towards the door. Her hand was touching the knob when she sighed again and turned back to face Spike.

"One more thing..." Shecrossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye and gently placed both hands on either side of his face. She stood on tip toe andcovered his lips with hers.

It was a simple, sweet kiss that only lasted for a few seconds, but when Max pulled away, Spike's blue eyes had already regained some of their sparkle.

Before he could say anything, Max gave him a small smile and left.


When Max reached the lobby of the hotel, she saw Alec sitting in a chair with his head in his hands. Concern suddenly replacing her relief at how well her conversation had gone with Spike, she walked towards him. He looked up before she had gotten with a few yards from him. The desperate look in his eyes disturbed her.

"Alec, what's wrong?" she asked as she sat down next to him.

"I don't...Faith...She...She thinks...You and me..." he couldn't form a complete sentence and finally gave up, dropping his head back into his hands. If Max hadn't just had a similar talk with Spike, she probably wouldn't have had any idea what he was trying to say.

"She thinks you love me more than her?" Max guessed accurately. Alec looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah, that's what she said." Max nodded. "How did you know?"

"Kinda had a situation like it with Spike." Alec groaned. "But I was able to explain it in a way to make him understand we're just friends."

"How did you explain it?" Before she could stop herself, a giggle of disbelief escaped Max's lips. Alec's eyes darkened. "Why are you laughing? This whole thing is far from funny."

"Sorry," Max apologized, trying to control her laughter. "But that desperate look thing you're doing just got a little comical." She took a deep breath when Alec's frustrated look didn't go away. "Alright I'm done. How can you not know how to explain to Faith that you care more about her? What did you say?" Alec winced. "You insulted her didn't you?"

"In a way...not right out, but I don't think it was much of a difference..."

"Well, you never were a very smooth talker with women," Max teased sarcastically. Off Alec's horrified look she added, "Oh please, you know I'm kidding. The whole thing just caught you off guard. Even though apparently they've been thinking about this for a while...we're just a little dense sometimes." Alec nodded numbly. "No worries. Just suck up to her for as long as it takes and then you should be able to convince her. Easy as pie." She gave him a wide grin and an affectionate slap on the back. "Now come on, time to get back to Wolfram & Hart. I figure I got a lot of stuff to pay off. If I remember correctly, I basically demolished the science lab, among other things. Hey, has Angel found a new secretary yet?"


"You sure you know what you're doing?"

Jondy rolled her eyes.

"Please. I've done plenty of crap like this. And I can always use the extra money," she assured Angel. He eyed her warily but nodded. "You do realize you will not be capable of bossing me around and I will of course be involved in everything?" Angel just stared at her. "Good. Want some blood before I get to work?" He nodded and Jondy gave him a bright smile. "Be back in a jiffy, 'Boss'." A split second later, she was gone.

"Smarter and quicker than Harmony...that's a plus," Angel muttered before walking into the conference room.

He had just sat down at the table when Jondy blurred in, carrying his drink. She set it down in front of him without a word.

"Thanks." She just nodded and left, passing Buffy, Spike, Gunn, Krit, Willow, Kennedy, Max, and Alec as they walked in. She gave Krit a quick kiss on the cheek before continuing to her desk.

As the others settled in, Angel quickly noticed the absence of Wesley, Lorne, and Faith. He knew Wes was probably with Illyria, and Lorne was still MIA, but he didn't know where Faith was and asked the others aloud. He watched Alec shift uncomfortably and automatically knew it was a relationship thing.

"Well, when someone sees her later, just tell her what we talked about. It's very important."

"What did we talk about?" Spike asked. Angel rolled his eyes.

"I'm getting to it. First of all...Max?" Max's head shot up at the mention of her name and she eyed him uncomfortably.

"Yeah?"Angel gave her asmall smile.

"The whole thing with Illyria was complicated, I know. But I also know you're dealing with it, and we're prepared to help in any way we can. Right?" The others quickly voiced their agreement. Max seemed to blush a little but she maintained eye contact with everyone.

"Thanks," she replied softly. "And I'd like to help repair any damage I've done..."

"Don't worry about it," Angel retorted immediately. Max stared at him with wide eyes and opened her mouth to argue. "No. The only thing you can do to help us is get better. The senior partners are planning something and we're going to need all the help we can get." Almost everyone in the conference room rolled their eyes.

"When are the senior partners not planning something?" Gunn commented bitterly. Spike scoffed.

"It's that prophecy thing you keep going on about. 'Nother apocalypse."

"Which one? Last year's? The year before that? No, they're up to something now. And I hate operating in the dark. We need to find out what it is."

"Might help if we knew someone who had a direct link to 'em," Buffy replied. Angel stared at her for a moment before he suddenly got an idea.


"No way. I'm done helping you people."

Angel rolled his eyes. Even though Eve was putting on a big show of self-confidence, he, Spike, and Buffy could see her eyes dart over to Max nervously every few seconds.

"Eve," Angel began, his tone making it sound like he was bored with the situation, but he leaned in all the same,invading her personal space. "You've been hiding in this place for weeks. The instant you walk out that door, where these nifty little symbols can no longer protect you, the senior partners will see you." He leaned back abruptly and folded his arms across his chest. "But then, if you don't tell me what I want to know, I might just tell them how to get through your little security system."

Eve blanched.

"You wouldn't..."

"Tell us what we need to know, and you can continue hiding under the covers like a beady little smelly rat snake," Spike stated.

"It's not that hard of a decision," Buffy snapped impatiently. Eve looked carefully at all their faces, staying perhaps a little too long on Max's, who was deathly silent. Eve opened her mouth to say something when suddenly the apartment started shaking violently and a deep rumbling sound could be heard from outside the door. Eve turned her horrified stare at Angel.

"Wasn't him," Max stated coldly before she could accuse him of anything. "Come with us now and tell us everything, or we let the big bad partners fillet you." It didn't take long for Eve to come to a decision and they quickly left through an open window.


Gunn hated feeling this guilty. He hated knowing that he had had a part, however small, in Fred's death. Everyone except Wesley seemed to be dealing with it. They welcomed Max back with basically open arms. And he couldn't help feeling a little jealousy pile on top of his guilt. He knew she didn't have anything to do with Fred's dying, but he couldn't help wondering if Max was such a genetically enhanced super-soldier...why didn't she push Fred out of the way? Why did she stand and let herself get breathed on, too? She could've saved everyone a bunch of trouble and heartbreak.

Maybe he was just being superficial by worrying too much about what could've been done. He didn't know how Wesley felt about it. He had been too busy babysitting the Blue Smurf to actually talk to anyone about what he was feeling. That alone also piled onto Gunn's guilt. Knowing he was partly responsible for Wes's misery because he was partly responsible for Illyria being resurrected inside Fred. If only he didn't sign that stupid paper...Gunn sighed heavily. The Guilt-Go-Round just kept on turning.

Before yesterday, Gunn didn't have any clue how to make it stop. But with the re-arrival of Eve, new ideas began forming in his head. Angel and Spike were planning on breaking Lindsey out of some supposed hell dimension that the senior partners had stuck him in. According to Eve, the ex-Golden Boy had some info on Angel and the partners that the partners weren't willing to let him share. She sang for Lorne (who finally decided to come back and help) to prove that she wasn't lying. So rescuing Lindsey became the immediate plan.

Gunn researched the place Lindsey was in, which turned out to be a kind of holding cell, not a hell dimension, and realized this might be the key to freeing his guilt. But they actually had to get there first.

They left when it was still nighttime in Los Angeles in a classic Camaro that was built to get them to where Lindsey was being held. When they went through a tunnel they emerged in a whole other day. It was beautifully sunny with clear blue skies.

Looking out the windows also showed Spike, Angel, and Gunn that they were now in a Suburban neighborhood. The Camaro kept driving itself until stopping in front of a house that they assumed was Lindsey's.

Spike stared pointedly out the window at the sunny front lawn between the car and Lindsey's front door.

"So we open with bursting into flame," he stated lamely. "Brilliant."

"We can just put our coats over our heads and make a run for it," Angel suggested. Gunn rolled his eyes. Weren't old vampires supposed to be smarter than the young ones?

"Alternate dimension remember?" Gunn replied, giving them a matter-of-fact look as he opened the car door. "Sun's the non-frying variety." Spike and Angel both instinctively flinched when the rays flooded onto their bodies, but quickly recovered, barely hiding their sheepish looks, and followed Gunn out of the car.


Sitting in an overstuffed chair with her legs propped up on an ottoman and her head leaned back, looking at the ceiling, Max was obviously too absorbed in her own thoughts and comfort to hear Buffy enter the room.

"Does Angel know you're up here?" Buffy asked as she sat in the chair opposite Max's. Quickly getting over her initial surprise, Max nodded. "Then we'll just say you invited me to come along." Max raised an eyebrow at her. Buffy grinned in return. "Well his place is just so much more spacey than that hotel room. Not that I'm planning to sleep here or anything, I just wanted to get away from all the stuff going on downstairs." She blew out a sigh and crinkled her nose. "Eve sure is a pain in the ass, huh?" Max laughed. "I have this tendency to carry on conversations by myself. Feel free to add your opinion."

"I just did," Max argued good-naturally. Buffy pretended to look at her disapprovingly. Max rolled her eyes. "Yes, Eve's a pain in the ass and if Angel didn't think we needed her for information I'd have been happy to never see her again." Buffy's brow furrowed as she realized something.

"Well...we don't really need her. All we found out is her connection with the senior partners was severed and that this Lindsey guy, her 'Pookie Bear' according to Spike, apparently has some useful information." Max nodded in agreement but her facial expression had turned dark. "Not a fun guy to have around?"

"Not exactly. If he hadn't duped Spike for so long and tried to kill Angel I'd probably like him better. But I doubt I'm in the right position for judging anyone right now..." Buffy opened her mouth to comment but Max quickly silenced her with a raised hand. "Sorry. I didn't mean to start another Pityathon. Let's just pretend I didn't say anything." Buffy shrugged.

"It's your call. Personally, if it was me in your situation and I kept letting statements like that slip out, I'd try to talk it out with someone. Might help you deal better." Max shifted uncomfortably and Buffy realized Max thought she had meant for her to be the one she talked to and quickly added, "But it's best it'd be someone who knows completely what you're going through. We've got plenty of people around here for that. Angel, Spike, Willow, Faith, Alec..."

"Thanks, but I think I've talked enough to people about my problems. I'd rather just find out how other people are dealing," Max explained. Buffy gave her a brief smile.

"That works too," she replied. Then she held out both hands and shrugged. "If that doesn't work and you've got a little pent up aggression, kicking the crap out of some random evil demon is the perfect solution. We've got a lot of those around here, too." Max laughed and nodded.

"Sounds good," she said, standing up. She glanced back at Buffy and gave an almost shy gesture towards the elevator. "Wanna come with?" The smile Buffy gave her in response seemed to set her at ease.

"Sure. I know the perfect place..."


Jondy, Krit, and Lorne seemed to have their eyes permanently stuck at staring at the ceiling as Eve paced back and forth across Angel's office. Max and Buffy only caught the end of what she was saying as they stepped out of the elevator.

"...be here by now."

"I assume you're talking about Spike, Angel, Gunn, and Lindsey," Max commented. Eve eyed her warily and nodded.

"They should be here by now," she repeated.

"Well they're not. Don't get your panties in wad."

"I'm not. I just want him back. And I don't want to die," Eve whined, rubbing her arms as if she suddenly felt cold.

"Oh calm down, chicken little. No one can lay a finger on you without Angel's permission," Lorne stated before muttering under his breath, "Which I hope he'll give soon..." The corners of Max's mouth twitched but no one else noticed.

"Well Max and I were just about..." Buffy's words were cut off when the security alarm started blaring. She exchanged looks with the others. "To help stop whatever beastie is coming to attack Eve apparently..."

"We don't even know if it's a beastie yet," Krit commented lamely. He clearly didn't agree with his own statement.

"Then what is it?" Jondy asked, looking pointedly at Eve, who only began to whimper as she looked out the window into the lobby.

A man wearing a fine, tailored gray pinstriped suit with a white silk tie and a white shirt walked off the elevator. Eve's whimpers turned into crying. The others looked at her in disgust.

"That's the guy you're running from? He's just a suit," Jondy commented, almost laughingly. They all watched when a guard rushed forward, pointing a gun at the oncoming man. The man remained unfazed and simply punched the guard so hard through the stomach, his fist came out his back covered in blood.

All previous heedless attitude towards the 'suit' vanished as Eve and Lorne suddenly let loose high-pitched screams of terror while Max, Buffy, Jondy, and Krit simply stared in horrified amazement. As the man reached Angel's office and began to open the double-doors, Max and Buffy finally rushed forward, closing the doors before he could get them fully open. Krit and Jondy joined them but they quickly realized, among the pounding, that the guy could just as easily crash through the windows. Which he did a few seconds later just as Max and Buffy were ushering Jondy, Krit, Lorne, and Eve inside Angel's private elevator.

"Go!" Buffy yelled before turning and backhanding the man across the face. He staggered to the side a few inches but was otherwise unaffected. Buffy blew out a sigh as her face contorted in disgruntled realization. "Oh crap."

The man reared back and seemed about to smack Buffy in retaliation. Just as his hand got within an inch of her face, his arm was grasped in a vise-like grip and tugged backward. He looked down at his side to see who was doing it and saw Max. Just as his eyes locked onto hers she scowled and popped his nose with a hard right hook. The man only grunted when blood began streaming from his nose and was about to hit her back with his free arm when that too was grabbed.

Buffy and Max hauled him away from the elevator just as it closed, sending Jondy, Krit, Eve, and Lorne down to the garage. Since neither woman had a hold on his legs, the man lashed out with a side kick to Max's knee. She raised her leg to block it and immediately regretted doing so when it sent unbelievably sharp pains up her leg, but she maintained her grasp on his arm and retaliated with a kick of her own to his stomach. He only leaned over a little and Buffy twisted his other arm behind him and then thrust her elbow into his lower-back.

Max released her hold on his arm and reached up with both hands to bring his head down to meet her knee. As soon as the impact sent the man staggering back, he wrapped his released arm around Max and began to squeeze. Max let out a gasp of pain and in her rush to get free, simply began swinging her legs in hope of connecting with something useful. As she was doing this, Buffy released her hold on the man as well, tried to ignore the fact that he quickly wrapped that arm around Max and intensified her pain and she swept the stuff off of Angel's desk. Max's mouth was open in a silent scream and her swinging legs were beginning to slow.

Buffy made sure she had a good grip on Angel's desk and then met Max's eyes behind the guy's back. An understanding passed between them and Max's swinging completely stopped. Then Buffy hurtled the desk at the man at the same time Max swung her legs as hard as she could, connecting with the place Xander had once labeled 'where God only meant to be treated nicely'.

The man's eyes bulged and he quickly let go of Max as he doubled over in pain. Max blurred out of the way just as Angel's desk slammed into his back. The man gave a single shout before collapsing under the broken wood, unconscious.

Both breathing heavily as they stared at him, Max and Buffy exchanged looks.

"Angel's gonna need a new desk," Buffy stated calmly. Max only nodded, clutching her side. Buffy's expression turned to one of concern. "Did he break any of your ribs?" Max shook her head.

"Might've cracked some...but I'll be fine in a little bit," she replied. Then her gaze went back to the unconscious guy. "Wanna try tying him up before we catch up with Eve, Jondy, Krit, and Lorne?" Her answer was a small groan from the 'suit'. She and Buffy exchanged an alarmed look.

"Garage now?" Buffy asked. Max nodded and they rushed over to the private elevator.

"Garage now."


"Gunn, no! What the hell are you doing?"

Gunn ignored Angel as he put Lindsey's necklace on. He raised his chin defiantly and met Angel and Spike's shocked gaze with a decidedly cold one.

"What needs to be done," he replied tonelessly.

"We're not leaving you here, Charlie-boy," Spike stated. Angel nodded. Gunn briefly closed his eyes and then glanced over at the gate in front of the fire. It opened.

"You have to.Another has to stay here if one leaves. A void is impossible," he explained, his voice still without emotion. Gunn could see realization began to dawn on Angel.

"You knew..." he began softly.

"The door will close when I forget. Now get Lindsey and get out of here. You have to."

"We'll come..." Angel began as Spike began to lead Lindsey into the fire.

"No!" Gunn exclaimed, ignoring Angel's look of dismay. "Don't think...I mean...just get Lindsey out of here. He'll be more helpful than I was."

"Gunn..."

"Go!" Gunn shoved Angelthrough the fire and then turned back to face the room. Strange contentment began to flood inside him.

Finally. I don't have to live with the never-ending guilt. Fred's death will no longer haunt my thoughts. I won't even remember Fred or Wes...

His face contorted in confusion.

Wait...Fred...Wesley...Who are...?

The gate in front of the fire closed with a soft clank and Gunn's previous train of thought vanished.

"What was I doing?" he asked aloud. "Why am I down here?"

A woman's voice rang out from the top of the stairs, "Honey, what are you doing down there?"

She must be my wife...of course.

Gunn looked up the stairs with a small smile on his face as he replied jokingly, "I don't know. Must be losing my mind."

A/N-I know I said there would be more Wesley and Illyria but I only managed to get one little part with them. I'll try to add more in the next chapter, along with Lindsey. At least there was more Gunn...hehe. Connor will also be coming soon...Bet you're all gonna love that ;o) Review please!

LadyV77-Thanks ;o) I'm sure there are many more with the same opinion about Harmony. That girl just doesn't have any friends does she? Eh, too bad, so sad...hehe.

rabid squirrel-Thanks ;o) Your question about Faith is answered earlier in this chapter.

Delauro-Thanks ;o)

CharmingAngel-Lol, thanks ;o) Yep, that whole relationship thing is going to get a bit more interesting before it's resolved...I hope this was updated soon enough for you to get some sleep now :o)

meri24-Thanks ;o) You're not the only one loving the jealousy...hehe. There was only a small action scene in this chapter but I guarantee bigger and better ones in the future.

screaminheathen69-Thanks ;o) It's almost time but not quite :o) I can't guarantee anything regarding Max slapping Connor around a little but I kind of like that idea so we'll just have to wait and see...