A/N: Sorry the update has been so long in coming...The evil plot bunny has reared its ugly head again and forced me into another venture. It's posted up now too.. lol However, now that I've gotten the first couple chapters of it out of my head I can come back and get going on the rest of these again. As always, THANK YOU for the reviews...They really keep me writing. I get so down on myself and it's you guys that make me think what I'm doing might not be total crap. lol Enjoy!


Mark paced across his living room for what seemed like the eight hundredth time. Since he left Denny's Place he'd been so on edge he didn't know what to do with himself. He'd been to the barn and taken both horses out for exercise and even trying to keep the very spirited Thanatos under control didn't scratch the surface of his anxiety.

"C'mon girl." He muttered and glanced out the front windows as if he could see the gate from there. Shaking his head he stalked into the kitchen. He grumbled under his breath and yanked open the fridge to grab another beer, his seventh since he'd gotten back from the barn. Funny, it didn't seem to help his discomfiture either.

Wandering back into his living room, Mark flopped down on his couch sighing and fished behind him for the remote control. Television was good for distraction. "Come on…" He grumbled again and even sounded like a petulant child to himself.

What the hell had gotten into him? Mooning around over some chick was not in his make up but every time he thought about Cassie his stomach tightened and his heart rate jumped. He wanted to kick himself.

Mark wrinkled his nose at the thought and downed his beer, setting the bottle aside with the rest. As he flipped channels, the alcohol finally began to do its thing. The big man found himself sliding further into his couch and took a deep breath to clear his mind. It didn't clear much but he did suddenly feel better. As a matter of fact, he felt pretty damn good.

"Alright…" He chuckled and leaned back trying to stare at the flickering box in front of him. Albeit slower, his eyes still found their way back to the windows. He cursed himself inwardly and did his damnedest to stop but as his thumb clicked on without him, he stared at the front door, willing the little intercom beside it to squawk.

When it finally did, he about jumped out of his skin. The remote went flying as he leapt up, hit the button to open the gates, and cracked open the front door. His heart was nearly pounding out of his chest but he tried to look nonchalant as he leaned his hip against the back of the couch. He was still focused on the television but he could see headlights in front of the house. This was it. Maybe he could get something out of her.

"Just stop it old man…" He grumbled to himself and dug his fingernails into his palm. "This is ridiculous." No matter how much he said it, it didn't do much to calm him. Mark was so wound up he was listening for footsteps crunching over the gravel that led to the porch.

He closed his eyes as he heard them and took a deep breath, willing the door to open quicker. He turned as he heard it.

"What the fuck are you doin here?" He blurted.

"I came to see you Taker." Kristy answered smiling sweetly as she walked, hips swaying, over to him. Mark grimaced.

"First off, I thought I told you to get out of here. Second, stop callin me that." He growled and shifted himself away from her reaching hands. Kristy chuckled to herself and kept coming.

"C'mon Taker, I know you didn't mean it." She purred and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Look, you need to leave…now." He growled as he dislodged himself from her grip and stalked over to the door to hold it open. Kristy sighed contentedly and sat down on the couch, gazing at him with her blue eyes. It made his skin crawl.

"You don't really want me to leave." She scolded like he was a disobedient, yet over indulged child and patted the couch next to her. "C'mere big man."

"Get out Kristy." He persisted. She had to go. If Cassie showed up and saw her there all hell would break loose. "I thought I made myself perfectly clear when I told you to stop being a skank and to get out of my house." Kristy laughed good-naturedly and lifted herself from the couch.

"You see? I know you don't mean that. If you did, you would've changed the gate code sooner." She went on, running her hands down his chest as she said it. Mark growled low in his throat and did his best to keep from throwing her out bodily. True, he hated the bitch. She was a moneygrubber and in it for the prestige. Too bad he hadn't figured that out before his loneliness got the better of him and he'd moved her in.

"I did change the code ya goofy bitch." He snapped and swatted her hand away. As a rule, Mark didn't hit women. His size alone was enough to make him think twice about it but the little blonde in front of him was pushing her luck. She always had and now that he had no vested interest in her he was quite nearly willing to shake the hell out of her just to make her go away.

"But only when you were sure I wasn't coming back." She continued pressing herself against him, her face plastered to his chest.

"I believe I told you not to come back." He grumbled and wormed his way out of her grasp. "So what are you doing here?"

Kristy giggled coquettishly and took a giant step toward him. "I told you, I wanted to see you."

Mark shook his head and pushed past her out his front door and onto the porch. "Go." He commanded with a hand on his hip and his eyes cast down to the cement beneath his feet. "Now."

"Taker…" She began her hands held out in front of her as she followed him. Her tone had changed slightly. There was a tension in her that wasn't there when she was so sure he hadn't meant what he said. "Look…"

"No. Abso-fucking-lutely not." Mark said definitively and it was all he could do to keep from grinning.

"Come on now big guy." She softened her tone and pressed on, reaching gingerly out to stroke his hand. "Let's talk about this. I can forgive you the brunette…"

Mark's head snapped up, his eyes going dark as she kept talking. The blood pounding through his head dulled out the rest of her tirade. "Shut up. You shut the fuck up." He growled and resisted the urge to shove her back. "You don't know anything girl."

Kristy's eyes nearly popped out of her head at the venom in his words. "C'mon baby…I know why you brought her back here. You knew I'd come back and find her here." She went on keeping her voice as level as possible and peeled his hand off of his hip to wrap her small manicured fingers around it. Mark couldn't even protest. He was so dumbfounded! She was serious; the goofy broad was dead serious. "I'll admit it, it worked. I got jealous." She grinned and brought his fingers up to her lips.

Mark's eyebrows pulled into a disgusted frown and he pulled his hand away. Kristy immediately grabbed for it again, hugging it hard to her chest. "No!" Mark spat in irritation and shook his head. "Get it through your head woman, I don't want you here!"

"But Taker…" Kristy blubbered; her eyes brimming over with unshed tears. "Mark I don't want to…"

"Kristy, I don't care." He said calmly. "You ruined anything I had for you when I found our vacation pictures on the Internet." The blonde's mouth snapped shut and all the color drained from her face.

"You…I didn't…someone…stole those…" She stammered shaking her head.

Mark wiped his hand on his thigh and bit back a laugh. Stole them his ass. "Submitted by bikiniblonde for Taker at hotmail dot com." He smiled as she shriveled in on herself. "Yeah, they post that stuff on those fan sites."

"Taker…Mark…I…" She continued, her mascara running freely down her face.

"Get out of my sight." Mark ordered her and stepped back his eyes cold as she turned to leave.


Cassie's heart was pounding as she turned toward Mark's huge iron gate. She hadn't called. She wasn't going to show up but after she closed the bar, she couldn't figure out what to do with herself. Yes, she owed Mark an apology. She knew that but for some reason she couldn't make herself dial the numbers.

Instead, she'd gone out on her borrowed bike and wasted a tank of gas. Well, perhaps wasted was the wrong word, riding at night always helped her think and the only conclusion she could come to was that she had to face him and tell him how very wrong she was.

"Damn it…" She muttered looking up. The gate was open. He'd known she would come.

Taking a deep breath she eased onto the throttle and headed up the long driveway.

As Cassie rounded a gentle curve and sighted the house a set of headlights flashed on and nearly blinded her. "Son of a bitch!" She cursed and swerved into the grass. Looking up, she could see Mark's massive form silhouetted in the porch lights and swore. If he was watching, who was leaving?

"Oh hell no…" She growled and trained her eyes on the passing car. The blonde hair was enough to set her teeth on edge and her blood to boiling. "I THOUGHT SHE WAS GONE TAKER!" Cassie screamed and flashed him a choice finger. She didn't know if he saw it or not but he damn sure heard her. A grim satisfaction passed through her as she saw his head swivel in her direction.

For good measure, she stuck up her middle finger again and turned her bike around, gunning the engine as she tore back toward the street.


"Cassie?" Mark whispered to himself in disbelief. "Damn it!" He barked as realization set in, digging his keys from his pocket as he leapt off the porch and swung his leg over his bike.

He had to catch her and explain! If he didn't find her now, he never would. That much he knew for certain. She was as skittish as a field mouse and if he didn't let her know exactly what went on, she'd go to ground and disappear from his life forever.

As he made it to the street, he caught her taillight flash around a corner to his left. Gunning the throttle, Mark followed suit tearing around the same curve.

God she was in a hurry! Now that they were on a straight shot the brunette was hauling ass. The big man glanced down at his speedometer and let out a breath. He was going eight-five easy and she was still pulling away.

"C'mon little girl. Don't be like this." He said to her even though she knew he couldn't hear him. Of all the stupid luck… Murphy sure did have some sort of vested interest in him and Mark for the life of him couldn't figure out what he'd done to deserve it. Must've been Hitler in my past life or something... He thought and fishtailed himself around another corner after her.

Where the hell was she going? Mark couldn't figure out what she thought she was doing but he followed suit anyway. She'd taken him on one hell of a wild goose chase and all he could figure is that she was heading back to Denny's. She worked for him maybe she was using the back room. Growling, Mark glanced back down at his speedometer. He was edging closer to 90 and still he couldn't catch her.

Damn her! Why did she have show up right at that moment? Couldn't she have waited five minutes? Shaking his head Mark cursed under his breath and made a hard right behind Cassie. His brain was already turning it around to make it her fault… It wasn't. If it was anyone's it was his. He should've changed the code on his gate sooner. He should've been firmer with Kristy…"Not that it'd make a difference." He groaned and lay hard on his brakes. "Damn it!" Mark watched Cassie fly over a set of railroad tracks just in time to miss being creamed by the cattle guard. "You crazy fuckin…" Mark's words trailed off into a frustrated scream.

Hopping off his bike, Mark picked up a rock and through it as hard as he could into the night venting all his pent up rage and frustration with it. "Stupid…" He admonished himself as well as Cassie's antics and narrowed his eyes on the train.

At least it was going by at a good clip. Maybe he could catch her. How far could she get in five minutes? With the thought, the big man's head dropped. Chuckling ruefully, he climbed back onto his bike to wait.


Glancing over her shoulder, all Cassie could see was the train trundling across the tracks as she put some more distance between herself and it. What the hell could Mark be thinking chasing her? What could he possibly have to say? Just how naïve did he think she was? God! The whole night was ridiculous! Hell, if it were possible, since she got to Texas her already odd life had taken one giant turn toward the bizarre and it was all because of the big freak that was following her.

Growling softly under her breath, the brunette hit her brakes and eased up a long gravel driveway to her left. If there was one place she was nearly positive he wouldn't find her it was at home. Cassie wasn't even sure Mark knew where she'd settled and that was a plus. All she wanted to do was grab the few things that meant anything to her and get back on the road. Maybe on the way out she'd stick a note to the bar and let Denny know things hadn't quite turned out the way she wanted them to. It was the least she could do, the old man had done nothing but be kind to her.

"God damn it…" Cassie sighed and stopped halfway between the road and her trailer. She was starting to love Texas. She didn't want to leave but how the hell could she possibly stay? Mark and Denny were the only people she could claim as friends and one of them had proven to be one hell of a son-of-a-bitch. A job in a hole in the wall bar wasn't exactly a resounding reason to stay but it had made her feel normal again if only for a minute.

Besides, it was only a matter of time…

Cassie shivered and cut off the thought. "Time to go…" She breathed and looked up at the stars. There were so many…the sky was so big there. A slight wrenching in her heart brought her attention back to the here and now. She could hear Mark's engine coming closer. Apparently the train had been shorter than she'd hoped. No big deal.

With a heavy sigh, Cassie dug in her feet and started walking her bike the rest of the way.


As Mark continued down the deserted road, his heart was plummeting further toward his feet. There was nothing in front of him but his own headlight and endless miles of asphalt.

"Cassie…" He sighed. "Where'd you go girl?" There was no sign of her taillight in the distance, there was nothing.

As his mood bottomed out, Mark slowed to a crawl and started into a U-turn. As his headlight passed over the shoulder a small red reflector caught his eye. Immediately, his heart set to pounding again. Her house…it was right near by.

His eyes focused on the side of the road, Mark scoured the darkness for a break in the scrub, anything that would signify a driveway and before long he had it.

Swinging his bike onto the small gravel path, his breath caught in his throat. Chrome was flashing in the beam of his headlight.

"Cassie!" He called over his rumbling engine. She didn't stop. In fact, it looked like she started moving faster.

"Go away Mark!" She snapped back once she realized he was following her again. "Just…go away! I've got nothing to say to you!

From behind her, she heard him grumble something she was sure wasn't terribly flattering. Against her better judgment, the big man's foul mood made her smile. If she was sure of anything, she knew that Mark deserved to suffer a bit for deceiving her.

"Cassie, c'mon now." Mark tried again gunning the engine softly to try and gain on her. The brunette had already dropped her kickstand and was heading for the door of the trailer. "Talk to me woman! Don't I get to explain?"

"I don't hear you…" She countered jogging up the steps.

Swearing, Mark set his own kickstand and stumbled climbing off his bike after her. "Damn it girl…" He began and started after her then stopped as a red blinking light caught his attention from under the steps. "CASSIE STOP!" He screamed and took off at a dead run.

"God damn you!" Cassie barked as her hand was wrenched off the doorknob, Mark's massive weight pulling her backward off the little porch. "LET ME GO!" She went on fighting and watched her front door creak open slowly. As she hit the ground with Mark's incredible bulk crashing down beside her, Cassie made out a minute beeping in the distance. It started slow but got faster and faster until it was one long irritating trill in her ears and all hell broke loose.

As she watched, a massive fireball seemed to appear where her trailer had been. For a moment that seemed to go on forever she stared at it marveling at the magnitude and beauty of it. It was so bright she had to squint and then everything went black. A weight on her back kept her pinned to the dirt. Mark was covering her with himself, but it didn't stop the wave of blistering heat from rolling over her like a freight train that roared so loud she thought her eardrums might burst.

Then, as quick as it had started, it was gone and the cold desert night was silent again. She could hear nothing but her own frantic heartbeat and Mark's labored breathing above her.

"Oh my god…" She gasped and pushed up, trying to move. Suddenly she knew what'd happened but she had to see. "Oh my god…Oh my god…Oh my god…"

"Cassie? You okay?" Mark whispered and shifted to get a look at her. "Cassie?"

"My house…" She gasped and rolled toward the dark scorch mark littered with burning debris that had been her home. "Oh my god my house…"

"Cassie…C'mon girl, look at me." Mark ordered and grabbed for her arm as she stood up and attempted to stagger toward the chaos. The brunette shook out of his grasp and kept going. "Don't go over there. It's not safe."

Mark's words barely registered in her mind as she stared ahead. Nothing around her mattered but what was in front of her…or what had been. Her new life was gone. He'd done it again. He'd found her again and this time he'd upped the ante. "I was supposed to be in there." She croaked and felt the tears working their way down her cheeks against her will. "I was supposed to…"

"I know darlin, but you weren't." Mark's voice was soft and soothing behind her but it did little to calm her nerves. It must've been shock. The longer Cassie stared at the hole in the ground the less she felt. "I'm gonna call this in." Mark went on when she didn't acknowledge him and turned away punching numbers into his cell phone.

How the hell did this happen? How could she not have seen the signs? The truck on the road, the stranger asking about her in the diner… Jesus! She knew it was him but she didn't do anything! How fucking stupid was she? Houston was no different! He'd found her in Mesa, he'd found her in Albuquerque and before that it was Knoxville and Dayton and Kansas City and Boston. What part of her had thought Texas would be safe?

"Baby girl?" Cassie gasped as Mark's voice shook her out of her dark thoughts and whirled toward him.

"Uh…yeah?" She sniffed and did her best to wipe the wetness off her face nonchalantly.

"Sheriff's on his way. He wants us to stay put for statements." He hoped getting down to business might bring back a semblance of normalcy. Cassie nodded but her eyes weren't focused. She was shaking so hard, Mark thought she was going to chatter her teeth out of her skull. Sighing heavily, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her trembling shoulders.

At first, she stiffened and then collapsed into him, sobs wracking her body as her world disintegrated from under her. "Shhh…" The big man cooed and gently stroked her long dark hair. "You're alright angel. You're alright."