Author's Note: This chapter's kind of fluffier than I like to do. It also has a tongue in cheek nod to the fact every story I read right now has Paige pregnant (one of my own included, and many of them are great stories by talented authors don't get me wrong.) I appreciate reviews, but fyi the answer to the "Update?" question is pretty much always "When I get around to it. Generally once a week."

PRESENT DAY

"Hey, you awake?" Mike whispers softly to the sleeping girl curled up beside him. Her breathing doesn't change, and he knows she's not. He lays a soft kiss on her bare shoulder. "Good. Rest. You deserve it."

He lays there watching her sleep, taking in every detail of the way the moonlight highlights the curves of her face. He still can't believe that she's here. He can't believe she wants him, after all he's done that's hurt her. His eyes drift to the scar on her hand that rests beside her sleeping face. That was his fault. He'd forced her to push that drug dealer for more money, even after she'd warned him it was too fast.

There were other injuries as well. The fresh wound on her forehead from where Pedro had beaten her for dancing with Mike. The faint remains of a bruise on her knee from where Sulla had beaten her when Mike couldn't find her in time. All the emotional scars Mike couldn't see, but he knew ran just as deep. Mike takes a deep shaky breath, trying to focus on the good instead. She is here with him. For right now she's safe.

"You are so beautiful." Mike whispers softly to the sleeping girl beside him. "I forgot just how beautiful. You know, the first night we spent together, I was so excited I couldn't sleep. I just stayed awake for hours staring at you. I had to fake sleep when you woke up... I never told you that."

It doesn't matter that Paige is asleep and Mike is essentially talking to himself. At least she's present even if she can't hear him, because Mike has been talking aloud to Paige every night the past few months without her here. He's convinced another month of this self imposed solitary confinement and he'd have drawn her face on a Volleyball, Castaway style.

"There's so much I need to tell you. So much I wish you knew." Mike brushes her hair back from her cheek. "Well lets see. I have no plan. No money. I can't stay in one place for too long because I don't want to attract attention. I can't talk to anyone. I use the local YMCA for showers and food, but I don't go too often, because I don't want anyone to recognize me. I was starting to think Sid succeeded, and he actually did kill me that day, because I've been a ghost, Paige. I feel like I'm no closer to catching him than I was before."

It feels good to confess to her like this. It's definitely easier without those inquisitive eyes staring at him making him tongue tied and stupid. Once Mike starts talking, he finds it difficult to stop.

"I know I shouldn't go near the house, but I just keep finding myself drawn to it. You'd call me an idiot if you knew how reckless I got. I just can't stay away. I need to make sure you're safe. When Sid said it was you who gave me up and not Briggs, I swear to God my heart almost stopped on it's own. I never wanted him to know about you. I keep worrying that if he knew I was still alive, if he even suspected it, he'd try to hurt you to get to me." Mike admits his greatest fear to her.

"I'm surprised he hasn't tried to get to you already. He knows about the house, Paige. I don't know how, but he knows." Mike whispers, half wishing she would wake up, half glad she's still asleep. "I'm going to get him Paige. I don't know how, but I'm going to make sure he rots in jail to the end of his days. I'm going to come back. I'll clear my name, and I'll make it up to you. I promise you."

That future seems so far away Mike can barely picture it anymore. Even if he clears his name, the damage to his reputation out here, the scandal, will always haunt him. He'll probably have to move back to DC where the stigma isn't so bad. After what he's been through a steady desk job doesn't sound so bad anymore. He wonders if she would move with him if he asked.

"I just don't know what my next step is. I thought once I faked my death, got Sid off my back, that it would come to me. All I needed was a little more time to figure things out. But it's been two months, and I have no resources, most of my energy goes into just staying alive and unnoticed. I need something solid before I make my move." Mike is getting more and more agitated as he talks. "Right now Sid's laying low and I don't know how much longer I can survive like this. I can't get back on his radar though until I'm ready to take him down. I'm just running out of angles."

She stirs next to him, the agitation in his voice must be disturbing her slumber, and she snuggles back against his body for warmth. He wraps his arms around her comfortingly, savoring the moment. He breaths deeply, trying to make his breathing match her steady rhythm to calm himself.

"God, I've missed you…" Mike whispers against her neck.

When Paige finally does awaken, Mike is still awake, propped up on his side, watching her sleep. Her eyes flutter open and he is breathless from the sight of her coming back to life. He leans down and tenderly kisses her lips. To his relief, she brings a hand up to the back of his neck and pulls him in to kiss him back.

He finally pulls away, but stares down at her sleepy face with unmasked adoration. "Good morning."

"Hey blue eyes." She smiles back, catching his dangling pendant between her fingers she examines it casually. "Saint Michaels."

She wraps her fingers around the chain and uses it to bring him back down for another quick kiss.

"Did you sleep at all?" She murmurs still sounding tired. He wishes he had coffee or something to offer her.

"Nah, other things seemed more important..." He says softly, brushing her hair back from her face and staring down at her.

"You know it's really creepy when you watch me sleep…" She smiles knowingly.

"Creepy or adorable?" Mike responds playfully to her teasing.

"Creepy. Definitely creepy." Paige laughs at him. "Watching people sleep is creepy. Besides I'm pretty sure I drool, it can't be attractive to watch."

"I could look at other things..." Mike lifts the blanket to playfully ogle her naked body.

"You're such a creeper!" She laughs, pushing him away playfully, and lowering the blanket. The two laugh as he pulls her on top of him, her head resting on his chest. As her laughter fades she traces small circles on his bare chest and whispers, "You need to come back to Graceland…"

"I'm working on it." He kisses the top of her head. "How's the house?"

"It's strange. With both you and Briggs gone it feels kind of empty. Of course once the baby comes it's going to seem crowded. I don't know how we'll work that..."

"Baby? Are you… are you pregnant?" Mike stares up at her in shock. His heart pounds in his chest as he looks at her with wide eyes.

"No!" She smacks him upside the head, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, ok. Good." Mike's heart is still pounding as he rubs his sore head. She raises an eyebrow in his direction, and he quickly clarifies his reaction nervously. "No, I didn't mean good. I just meant y'know... good. Paige you know what I mean."

"Charlie's pregnant. Remember her?" Paige asks sarcastically.

"Oh my God, I completely forgot. How's she doing with that?" Mike groans at his mistake. He must be tired if he forgot Charlie was pregnant. Time just seemed to stop since he's left Graceland. He cannot believe he's been away from the house for so long. Big things were happening and he was missing them as he was holed up here.

"She's good. She's getting very pregnant, and I think with Briggs gone it get's lonely." Paige snuggles against Mike's chest and stares off into space. "I know how that feels."

"What do you mean?" Mike asks, once again his eyes dropping down towards his stomach. He's worried he was disappointed to find out she wasn't pregnant, which was crazy because of all the things Mike has to deal with right now, fatherhood was not something he should be adding to the list. "You're not…"

"I'm not pregnant!" Paige smacks Mike's chest again, "But I'm going on a diet as soon as I get home." Paige mumbles.

"Stop it. I'm sorry… You look great." Mike assures her, pulling her back down to his chest as he runs his fingers through his hair.

The two lay together in silence for a few minutes both lost in their own thoughts, neither wanting to spoil the moment together.

"You should probably get going." Mike finally whispers regretfully. He doesn't want her to leave. He wants to stay like this with her, but this is stolen time they've had together.

"I don't want to." She says, tracing her finger over his chest. "I want to stay here with you."

"Paige, you can't be gone for too long."

"What if we just run away? Pick up and leave. Get new lives." She asks him, burying her face in his bare chest, not wanting to leave to face the day. "I can become a spin instructor. You can fly planes."

"We can't. You know we can't." Mike sighs as he rubs her back gently. "But just the thought that you would want that… That you would want that with me."

"Why? Don't you want those things with me?" Paige asks looking up at him shyly and Mike is once again surprised how she has not realized she's completely out of his league yet.

"I want everything with you." Mike leans down to kiss her again. He pulls away with a groan and finally says, "C'mon, get dressed. There's a bus station at the corner. There's a line that should take you near the house."

"First, I have to go check in with the DEA about last night." Paige says, standing up and searching for her clothes, "Don't worry. I'll leave you out of my version."

"Tell them you went out to the alley with Pedro, and a guy came up to mug you. You didn't get a clear look before he hit your head against the wall. You don't know what happened after that." Mike says, putting on his own pants as he plans.

"What did happen after that?" Paige asks, knowing there's something Mike's not telling her.

Mike hesitates for a moment, and finally admits in a dark voice, "Pedro was killed in a mugging gone bad."

Paige suspected this was the case, but she hadn't allowed herself to think about it. She stands there silently and tries to figure out how she feels about this news.

After a long moment of silence, Mike adds almost sheepishly, "I'm sorry if I screwed up your case."

"You killed him." Paige realizes it's not really a question.

"He hurt you." Mike says, knowing this shouldn't be a justification, but in his mind it was. He watches her trying to process this, and tries to explain. "You once asked me how I felt. That day. At Sulla's. When they hit you… and I lied. I said I made a choice, but I didn't really. My only thought was I needed to keep you safe. When he hit you, God Paige. The only thing that allowed me to keep from killing them right then, was the knowledge that I would put you in more danger."

She still doesn't say anything and Mike fears he's losing her again. Mike doesn't want to bring up the past. He doesn't know when he'll see her again and he doesn't want to leave her with this, but he can't bear the thought of her hating him again. So he keeps trying to explain, his voice getting more and more desperate.

"I know I did the right thing that day, but it killed me. I almost didn't. Paige, if I had been armed, I would have slaughtered all of them. Anyone who ever touched you. Who ever hurt you." Mike's voice breaks.

He feels the same desperate urge creeping up his spine, because she's turned away and he can't see her face. He can't read her.

"I lost sight of you in the club for just a few minutes, and when I looked again you were gone and your purse was still there and I knew. When I got out to that alley, I thought I was too late. You were lying there on the ground and there was so much blood... and I killed him." Mike walks to her, but is still afraid to touch her.

"Do you need money?" Paige asks, and Mike looks down at his feet.

"No. Not right now. I've got enough from Pedro to last me for a little while." Mike is embarrassed that she would even feel the need to offer, though in truth until last night he hadn't had cash in a while.

"Ok."

"Are we… Are we ok?"

"Nothing about this is ok, Mike." Paige says sadly and Mike's heart sinks. "Do what you need to do to get Sid, but don't… don't lose yourself in the process. Come back to me."

Mike nods stiffly at her words. It could have been worse. She grabs her purse and starts to walk towards the door, but he rushes forward to stop her.

"Wait!" Mike pulls her back into his arms to kiss her desperately one last time.

He doesn't want them to part like this. Not with her thinking he's a killer again. Reaching to his neck he ducks out of the chain and puts it over her head instead.

"Mike, no. I can't." Paige whispers, her fingers coming to the chain. She didn't think she'd ever seen him without it with exception of the few nights she'd made him leave it on her nightstand so it wouldn't hit her in the face as he rocked above her.

"Keep it hidden." Mike instructs, as he tucks the chain into her shirt so it falls hidden between her breasts.

"Mike…" Paige looks down at the chain and shakes her head. She's not religious or superstitious, but she knows this charm means something for Mike. "I can't. It's supposed to be protection. You'll need this..."

"Just know, no matter what happens, this is where I chose to be." Mike says touching her heart. "I'm yours Paige."

Paige stares up at him with those big green eyes and Mike can't help but kiss her again.

"How do I find you again?" She pleads.

"You can't. Paige, if Sid finds out. If he even suspects... I've put you in too much danger already." Mike insists. He wants to be selfish and set up a meet, God knows his job would be easier having a contact in the DEA and the resources she could bring, but he refuses to put her in danger.

"Figure this out soon and come back to me." She says, understanding.

"I promise." Mike says with more confidence than he feels. "Be careful out there."

"You too."

And then she's gone and Mike's alone again.