Author's Note 1 (xmag): Voila, this is the final post, no more after that, it's the end, la fin. It's been a good five years but we finally reach the end. We hope you liked the story and the angst, and the character's journeys.
Author's Note 2 (ArchAngel): Almost six years and we come to the end. The Man Who Didn't Belong is a story we hold close to our hearts and we've enjoyed every moment. There was so much potential for a story of this magnitude and it gave us the opportunity to explore two very different endings for these characters. For a while real life got in the way and kept us from working on it at the pace we would've liked, but it finally let up and allowed us to complete this story. We appreciate all of the feedback from our readers and we're glad you've hung on to the end. Thank you all!
Ending Two – Epilogue Part 2 (or Part 98)
Maria DeLuca paused in the middle of putting her clothes into the dresser drawers to grin at Michael, not the least bit put off by his less than warm greeting or his surly tone. She didn't flinch at the sight of the gun, used to seeing him with it, and knowing it was necessary in his line of work. His reaction was to be expected. She was in his home, uninvited, and she knew he'd been out of the country on one of his missions. She knew he was exhausted even though he managed to hide it so well, and coming home to find an unexpected guest wasn't something he ever enjoyed.
"I'm moving in." She was tired of waiting for him to wake up and realize she wasn't just one of his little soldiers or one of the kids he was responsible for training and protecting. She was nineteen years old and it was time he learned a thing or two.
His mouth dropped open for a second before he caught himself and it snapped shut again. She waited for it, counting down the seconds before that little muscle in his jaw started to jump erratically. Oh, he would fight it, she expected no less from him, but she would win this time.
He wasn't going to argue with her. He turned to leave the room. "I'm callin' your mother." Her dad had passed away a couple of years back and now it was just her and Amy.
"Mom knows where I am." She bit her lips as she watched his taut back and waited for his next move.
She had become part of the group when she was ten years old, but the true weight of what it all meant had been revealed to her at sixteen when she had fallen ill and been rushed to the hospital. She had seen the truth in the eyes of her doctors and her parents; had known that they hadn't thought she was going to survive without a miracle. She could still remember the vague feeling that something had changed and forcing her eyes open to see Michael Guerin sitting next to her bed.
He had been dressed in desert camo fatigues, his short hair standing up in every direction, and his forehead resting on his fisted hand. Warmth had drawn her fevered gaze to his other hand that was wrapped so securely around hers and feelings she had no name for at the time had leapt to life. Oh, she'd had the biggest crush on him for years and she'd never really understood why he wanted to hang out with her and the others because he was so much older, but she had easily accepted it because being around him was better than just about anything else.
He had lifted his head and she had seen hope flare to life in his dark concerned eyes when he realized she was awake. "Hey, blondie," he whispered hoarsely.
"I don't feel so good." The words had rasped painfully in her dry throat and as much as she wanted to say something brilliant it was all she could think to say at the moment.
"You will soon," he promised. "Max is on his way." He had known the exact date she would be struck ill but it had happened just a few days earlier than expected and he'd been out of the country. He had been called back for a family emergency and as soon as he'd gotten the call he'd known what was happening. He'd called Philip, but it had been unnecessary because Maria's parents had already contacted him and he'd assured him they were on their way.
She hadn't understood what Max had to do with making her feel better. Not until later and then she'd learned that her parents had known for some time that she was part of something so big it was almost incomprehensible. She had slept off and on, her fevered mind assaulted by strange dreams that continued to startle her awake. But each time he had been there, gruffly assuring her that he'd never leave her.
And somewhere between her waking up and finding him there with her and his assurances that he wasn't going anywhere she had fallen in love with him. Later, she'd tried telling him about it but each time he'd insisted what she was feeling was gratitude and he'd done his best to downplay the situation. After a while she'd realized that she was going to have to wait until the time was right and she'd allowed him to think that she believed him, that it was gratitude she felt.
Michael sighed at her statement and he studied her features, seeing the truth in her words. "You should be in school," he grated out. "All of the others are starting classes soon."
"Maybe I will." She shrugged. "Maybe I won't. I need time to figure out what I wanna do with my life and you're so close to L.A. I thought I could try out some different things." She turned back to the clothes she had been putting away so she could play her ace in the hole. "I guess if you really don't want me here I can find a place in the city."
"Good. Find a place and I'll put a bodyguard on you."
It was her turn for her mouth to drop open and she whirled around to tell him something but he was already gone. She stormed out of the room and went after him, finding him in the kitchen. Where else, she wondered with a roll of her eyes. "You're only gonna find decent food in there because I had the foresight to go shopping before I did anything else."
He slammed the refrigerator door and jerked around to face her. "You can't stay here!" He shook his head. "We can't just hang out and be roommates! Why can't you get that through your thick head?"
"I never said a word about wanting to be your roommate, Michael."
He knew where she was going with that comment. "Are you on that again?"
She just looked at him and after a moment smiled secretively and turned to leave the room. "I'll start dinner after my shower," she called over her shoulder.
He growled in frustration as his well-ordered existence suddenly turned upside down. Even with a bodyguard he wouldn't be comfortable with her living in downtown L.A. Thankfully her mother's abilities in the kitchen had been passed down to her and she could cook like no one else. And of course, she was always experimenting, trying out new ingredients and recipes that might tempt him. Unfortunately he had a weakness for her food. It wasn't the weakness in his stomach that concerned him though. He'd experienced an odd pull towards her over the past couple of years and it took a concentrated effort to resist it. He knew the exact moment he had realized that she was a temptation he was going to have difficulty avoiding.
Her seventeenth birthday.
She had resisted everyone's efforts to try and cajole her into participating in her own birthday party. Her father had passed away barely two months before and she'd had a difficult time dealing with the loss. The party had been in full swing and she'd been in the backyard, sitting on the rope swing her father had strung up in the old tree.
Her back had been to the house as she pushed herself with the toe of her shoe, her posture expressing her utter dejection. He had stepped out of the house, pausing on the back porch to rest his right hand on the column next to the steps that led down into the yard. He had turned his head to look at her mother when she came to stand next to him.
"She still isn't showin' any interest in anything?" he asked.
"No, and she didn't want to have the party but I insisted," Amy said quietly.
"Smart move." He could see the lines of sadness in Maria's body, the weight of loss that caused her shoulders to slump. "I'll talk to her."
She had rested her hand on his arm for a moment before nodding. "She was very close to her dad, Michael. These things take time."
He had waited for her to leave them alone before he rolled his shoulders and took the three steps down into the backyard. He had watched her spine stiffen when she heard someone approaching and he reached out, his hands grasping the ropes on either side of her body. He smirked when her head jerked around to see who was intruding on her space.
"A birthday party without the birthday girl isn't much of a party."
She had shrugged. "Didn't feel much like a party but Mom wouldn't listen."
"Richard wouldn't have wanted you to mourn for him this long, Maria."
"I can't just turn it off, Michael." She had sighed and got to her feet, moving away from him to stand next to the tree. "Dad was always so full of life. He shouldn't be dead. You know things about the future, how could you not know about that?"
In retrospect he should've expected the question. "Don't you think if I'd known about that I would've found a way to prevent it?" He hadn't meant for his voice to be so harsh, but how could she think he'd ever let her suffer if it was in his power to keep it from happening?
Her eyes burned but she didn't seem to be able to find anymore tears. "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair. I just miss him so much."
"I know you do." He reached up to cradle her cheek in his hand. "Nothin' anyone can say will stop that and as much as he meant to you you'll probably never stop missing him. Give it time though, and that pain won't be so close to the surface. But to get to that point you've gotta let him go, Maria. You've gotta start livin' again."
She had thrown herself into his arms, feeling that dull ache of loss ease briefly when his arms came around her in a crushing embrace and his lips pressed against her forehead for a moment.
He had finally convinced her to join the party and for a few hours she'd let her friends and family keep her thoughts occupied. Usually when he came back to town he stayed in a hotel, but after everyone else had gone home and Amy had gone to bed – with a warning for him to stay on the couch – he'd sat up late into the night talking to Maria. He didn't care for talking for hours on end. As a rule he didn't have that much to say. But Maria somehow drew him out and even at seventeen she'd been an engaging conversationalist.
"Michael?"
"Hmm?" He'd been getting tired, having flown in from a mission on the other side of the world to be here for her birthday. He probably would've missed it if not for her father's recent passing.
"I'm glad you're here." At some point she'd taken possession of one of his hands and she stroked the back of it as she spoke. "I just wish you didn't have to go so soon."
"It's the job, Maria."
"I know, it's just nice to have you around." She reached up to finger the gift he'd brought for her; a necklace he'd found on one of his missions. It was a pendant featuring a tiny cluster of stars that hung from a thin gold chain.
He'd given her a tired smile. "Told you I'm never gonna leave you. Even if I'm on the other side of the world, you're never gonna be alone."
"I love you." She had thrown herself into his arms, taking him by surprise when her lips landed on his.
He had responded. Hell, he had been twenty-three years old and he wasn't made of stone, but before it had gotten any further than that one heated kiss he had pulled away and held her at arms' length. Her lips were slightly swollen, her face flushed, and he'd known he was in trouble. "We can't do this. You're seventeen, Maria, and I'm not a guy who's gonna settle down and be the man you need."
He hadn't wasted any time getting his things together and making tracks for the hotel he usually frequented when he was in town. He'd thrown himself into his work, taking on more missions that kept him out of the country for longer periods of time. But it hadn't kept her out of his thoughts. One kiss was all it had taken to keep her at the forefront of his thoughts more often than not.
He'd tried to shove down the attraction he felt for her and he knew if she stayed under his roof that would be next to impossible to ignore. He grabbed a nonalcoholic beer and headed out to the shop behind the house, prepared to dig in and work on one of his motorcycles for a few hours in an attempt to put his thoughts in order. But no matter how long or how hard he worked, no matter how much distance he put between them, there was a reality that he couldn't outrun. In that other timeline his older self had met with his counterpart from that other universe and he'd put it about as succinctly as possible.
Michael Guerin is meant to fall in love with Maria Deluca. That's just how it works.