Author's Notes: This story is set in the 4th Season. Warning! Romance ahead! Angst ahead! You have been forewarned. And no, I am not a Maggie-hater. We just wanted to try something a little fun and different.

Disclaimer: We don't own Sliders or its characters. Duh! They belong to the Universal and the Sci-Fi channel who obviously didn't know what a prize they had on their hands. (Damn you evil Peckinpah!)

Is that why they call me a sullen girl -- sullen girl
They don't know I used to sail the deep and tranquil sea
But he washed me shore and he took my pearl --
And left an empty shell of me

-- Fiona Apple, Sullen Girl

Part 1

"Wade Stiles," she said softly, staring at her reflection in the mirror. The wedding dress she wore shone softly in the bedroom's pinkish light. She tried again. "Wade Welles-Stiles."

Wade sighed. Somehow she couldn't get her head around the name.

"C'mon Wade...get over these pre-wedding jitters already," she thought ruefully to herself. "You love Ryan."

She did love him. She did. So what if it wasn't the gut wrenching, soul searching, all encompassing kind of love that she'd had for Quinn Mallory? Ryan was here. And Ryan was safe.

Wade sighed again and smoothed out the folds in her dress.

"You're doing the right thing," she said softly. "Ryan was the one who cared enough to save you...not Quinn." She still felt the pain of that betrayal.

There she was, stuck in the Kromagg holding camp, so terrified...and so alone. She'd been dragged away from Remmy a few hours before, but she knew where she was headed -- a Kromagg breeding facility. And she knew something else too. This time, Quinn Mallory wasn't going to be there to rescue her.

Then she'd seen him, stuck in one of the other isolated cells awaiting transport. He'd been bruised and battered, but she knew him.

"Ryan?" she called out.

To her surprise, he'd responded. It was him...Ryan Stiles, the man she abandoned to the multiverse, something she'd always regretted doing. Apparently the 'Maggs had invaded the world he'd been left on, and he'd been captured too.

She was surprised he didn't hate her. They talked, each knowing that it might be their last conversation with a friend. She told him of Quinn's betrayal...he didn't hold it against her.

That was when the rebels attacked.

In the confusion, they escaped, but not before the 'Maggs shot Ryan in the leg. He had a limp and a scar to this day.

And now they were engaged. Scheduled to say "I do" in two weeks. And she was happy. But still...she wondered. Wondered about the fate of her friends.

That night, she dreamt again. Not a night had passed since she and Ryan had gotten engaged that she didn't dream. In this dream, she was surrounded by fog, and cold. She stood there, along and shivering, calling out to anyone who might hear her through the veil of mist. Then she felt arms wrap around her from behind.

"Hello," a voice said. One that she only heard in her memories, these days at least. She turned around in the strong arms that held her, coming face to face with Quinn Mallory and his soul penetrating blue eyes.

"Quinn! What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised.

"Saving you, love, what else?" he asked. She snorted, trying to act indignant when in reality, she was valiantly trying not to melt in his embrace.

"I'm not in love with you anymore, Quinn. Whatever we had was just an illusion," she said, her voice insanely reasonable. He raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Oh really. What about Meteor World?" Well, he thinks he's so smart, doesn't he? Wade thought to herself.

"Quinn, it was the end of the world! People do things when it's the end of the world!" Wade protested.

"You're lying to me, angel," he said, and then he kissed her. And though Wade knew she was dreaming, as much as she tried to steer herself away from this part of the dream, she always ended up melting in Quinn's embrace, allowing him to drown her senses. And just as the kiss passed the line of being decent, a bright white light dissolved the mist and Wade awoke with a start.

She looked at her husband to be, Ryan, who slept on beside her, blissfully unaware of his fiancee's suffering. She felt dirty, as though she had betrayed him.

"But of course I haven't," she said softly as she padded to the bathroom, "I didn't REALLY kiss Quinn," she informed her reflection. The Wade in the mirror looked somewhat dubious, so she turned away in disgust.

And the dream-Quinn was wrong, she WASN'T in love with Quinn.

Of course not.

She loved Ryan.

He was her choice.

Then why was she sitting on the bathroom floor crying?

"3...2...1, It's time guys!" shouted Quinn Mallory over the deafening roar of the vortex. It had been one hell of a slide, he thought ruefully. This last world, where they'd been stuck for six weeks considered Star Wars a religion -- and he and his friends had had the "force" crammed down their throats the whole time because when they'd slid in, they'd landed in a Jedi Knight church.

"Man," he thought as he jumped in the vortex after his friends, "I will NEVER watch THAT trilogy again."

As always the vortex was a mass of shimmering colors, too beautiful for description. And as always, Quinn found his mind wandering back to his first slide -- and to the fate of his lost friends.

He thought he could hear Wade's laughter in the shimmering tunnel, thought he could see her smile as he hitchhiked his way through space time.

But as always, it was an illusion.

She was gone.

He knew that too.

He was pitched out into a patch of soft grass, which unfortunately also held his brother Colin. "Oooph!" he said as they collided.

"Ugghh...brother," remarked Colin, his voice rather muffled by Quinn's weight. "I don't think you have been utilizing the force properly."

Quinn grinned in spite of himself. Colin hadn't quite been able to grasp that Star Wars was a fictional movie on Earth Prime, and he'd bought into a lot of the Jedi Knight's theories...much to the others' amusement.

"As long as he's not your father, eh Q-ball?" chuckled Remmy, and Quinn smiled.

He glanced around. They were in Golden Gate Park.

"It looks pretty peaceful," he said, watching some children playing a game of softball across the way.

"Looks can be deceiving," said a suspicious voice behind him. Quinn looked at Maggie Beckett and sighed. Was she going to contradict his every move from now on? He knew she was angry and hurt about his decision, but he also knew it was the right thing for both of them.

He fingered the necklace that he kept like a talisman in his pocket. "If only Wade were here..." he thought sadly.

"Morning sweetie," said Ryan, as he walked into the room where Wade was yawning as she tried to make coffee.

She hadn't slept very well after the dream she'd had, she'd felt too disturbed.

"Mornin' Ry," she half spoke, half yawned, as he came over to her and nuzzled her cheek.

She hugged him fiercely.

"Hey!" he said, laughing a little, but a bit alarmed at her sudden squeeze. "Give a guy some room to breathe!"

"Sorry," Wade said, loosening the grip on her hug. "It's just that with the wedding plans and all, we haven't spent much time together lately." And I've been dreaming about the wrong things, she added silently to herself, filled with a sense of guilt.

Ryan looked at her, adoration filling his eyes. She found she couldn't quite meet his gaze. "Wade.." he said seriously. "You know how much I love you," he said tenderly. "We're going to be man and wife."

Wade hugged him again. "I know," she said softly. "I love you too." Ah...such a safe feeling, to be in his arms.

Comforted, she let him go.

Part 4

It started out innocently enough, Wade was walking down the street, grocery bags in hand as she hurried home. She'd been trying to keep her mind busy lately, and the only way to do that was to keep her hands busy. So, more often than not, it was she who offered to do chores and run errands. It was a marvelous day for walking in the small town of San Francisco she now called home, and since the grocery store was very close by, she'd decided to hoof it. Now she walked through Gold Gate park, or its smaller version anyway, watching as the wind playfully blew a few golden leaves in her path.

She felt free now, nightmares and insecurities forgotten and yet.... she felt like she was standing on the edge of something. Something was about to happen... something life altering.

"Wade?"

The grocery bags fell to the ground.

"So, should we go find the Dominion?" Quinn asked. Remmy laughed and took a breath of the cool autumn air.

"Sure thing, Q-ball. It'll be nice to see the old place," he replied. Quinn nodded, they'd been landing in L.A. for the past eight or so slides. It made him wonder why they'd suddenly landed in his home town.

"Sure is pretty here," Maggie said, almost to herself.

"Yeah, well, looks can be deceiving," Quinn threw back. She shot him a murderous look, but he really didn't care. She was starting to try his patience.

Suddenly, across the way, a figure caught his eye. It was a woman,with red-brown hair, dressed in a red jacket. She was walking towards them, but it didn't look like she'd seem them yet. Remmy must have noticed her too, for he said; "Is that who I think it is?"

Quinn shook his head, not knowing whether or not to trust his own eyes.

"Wade?" he called out as she came nearer.

Shaken from her daydreams, the woman looked directly at the little group, and dropped the grocery bags she'd been carrying.

"Quinn? Remmy?" she asked, as if she didn't quite believe that they were real, or she didn't WANT to believe it.

"Come on, Quinn, she's probably a double," Maggie said, incredibly bored.

"Who's Wade?" Colin asked.

"Sweetheart, is that you?" Rembrandt asked.

Wade's eyes filled with tears and she nodded, allowing Rembrandt to give her a hug.

"Is that really you Remmy?" she asked through happy tears.

"Sure thing, girl, it's us all right," the Cry'n man stepped back, and Wade's brown eyes met with Quinn's. The young man thought he saw something written behind her brown gaze, but he couldn't quite understand the emotions he saw. So instead he embraced her, blinking back the tears in his own eyes.

It hurt, but he noticed how she stiffened, barely returning the hug, as if she was holding herself back.

Only when he released her did he notice the little diamond right adorning her left hand, gleaming in the sun.

Quinn's mind was reeling. He didn't know what to think. He just kept staring at Wade's hand like somehow it was going to offer up an explanation.

Wade bit her lip nervously as she saw where Quinn's gaze lay. "I think..." she said in a voice that sounded almost forcefully bright and cheerful, "that we all have tons of catching up to do. Why don't you guys come back with me to the house?"

Remmy smiled exuberantly, and reached over to grab her in a hug again. "Anything sweetheart," he said. "I'm just so happy to know..." He didn't finish the sentence, but he didn't really need to. He knew she understood what he was trying to say.

Quinn stared at her, but she avoided his gaze expertly.

Alone, at Wade's kitchen table, Quinn tried to process the news he'd just been told. The others had gone for a walk around the neighborhood, but Quinn had begged off.

His heart felt like it was ripped in two. Ryan had rescued Wade...and it was Ryan who Wade loved. He curled his hand into a fist and smacked the table so hard it shuddered. Then he put his head in his hands.

What was it she'd said while telling the story?

"Ryan was there for me." That was it. "And you weren't," thought Quinn reproachfully. Those were the unspoken words her eyes had said.

"God!" he thought. "I sent her straight into his arms!"

And fate mocked him further. They were set to slide out right after the wedding was scheduled to take place, and both Wade and Ryan had insisted they all come.

"Maggie of course, was eager enough," thought Quinn sardonically. "I bet she's really enjoying this."

"You okay with all this?" she heard Ryan say gently, as they walked, slightly ahead of Rembrandt and Maggie around the small neighborhood they called home.

Wade smiled tightly. "I'm fine," she said. He'd taken her friends' presence wonderfully -- even Quinn. She supposed that was because he felt so secure about their relationship. If only she had the same assurance on her own feelings...

She reproached herself sharply. "What are you on about Wade? So Quinn's here. So what? He left you. And Maggie's still around right?" She bit back down the bile that came up in her throat at that thought.

But truthfully, she had to admit that her mind was aflounder.

"Ryan?" said Remmy politely from behind her. "Can I borrow Wade for a bit?"

Ryan relinquished his hold on her with a smile. "Sure," he said. "Maggie, why don't you and I head back to the house. I'm sure Quinn's up and about by now."

"Oh...of course Ryan," Maggie cooed. She was truly loving this. "Serves the bastard right," she thought. "Now he'll get what's coming to him for breaking my heart."

Remmy shook his head.

Then he turned and looked at Wade. "Now," he said seriously. "You wanna tell me what's really going on?"

Wade avoided his gaze. "Nothing Remmy."

Remmy placed his hands on her small shoulders. "Nothing?"

"I said nothing!" she shot back forcefully. Then she took a trembling step back. "Oh god Remmy...I'm sorry."

"Ssssh...it's all right sweetheart," Remmy said, and took her in his arms.

Without warning...without even having a reason for doing it that she could explain to herself, Wade began to sob.

"I....never....thought....you'd....come ....back," she managed to get out.

Remmy stroked her hair softly.

"There there," he said. "That's right. Get it all out."

Wade was washing her tear stained face in the bathroom sink when she heard him come in behind her.

"Do you love him Wade?" came the sound of a pained voice behind her. "I mean...do you really love him?"

Wade sighed, and turned to face Quinn.

"Why should you care?" she asked bitterly.

Part 6

"Do you love him, Wade?" Quinn asked.

"Why should you care?" she bit back harshly, turning from him so he couldn't see the tears that formed in her eyes, just waiting to be released.

There was a pause, a rather long one, in which Wade wondered if her guilty conscience had merely generated the question for her. But finally, the silence was broken.

"Because I still love you, Wade," Quinn said softly. Something inside of Wade shattered, the visage of perfect calm that always personified the young woman slipped to the ground and she knew true rage.

"Damn it, Quinn, you NEVER loved me!" she said. She didn't shout it, but merely spoke intense, reproachful, angry words that were much more painful than any blasted at full volume, "I don't even think you're *capable* of love," she went on, shaking her head, "You can create a rip in time and space, and you can single handily put your friends in danger, but I'll be damned if you could ever truly love." She turned towards him, tears gone.

"Is that what you think of me?" he asked, hurt, "As some monstrous genius who isn't really human? You of all people, Wade....I *do* love you. I always have. Don't you think these last few months have been hell for me? I didn't know where you were, how to find you or even..." he paused with a shudder, "if you were still alive." Now he took a few steps towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking into her deep brown eyes, "I do love you Wade."

"Stop lying to me Quinn, you love Maggie and we both know it!" Wade said, brushing past him.

"Wade, I need..." he paused as turned around grabbing her wrist.

"What you need, is to let go of my fiancée."

The couple formerly arguing in the bathroom stopped, and looked up to see Ryan standing in the doorway.

Maggie wandered around in the park, watching the leaves fall from the trees, and occasional group of children playing. It was peaceful here... it reminded her of home almost, the little house she and Steve had shared after the accident. In fact, Wade's house even reminded her a bit of the one she had shared with her late husband. Jealousy flared through Maggie, hot and quick. Wade had peace, she had a little house to call home, she had a man who loved her, and, most importantly, she had Quinn. It wasn't fair.

Everyone always laid everything out for sweet little Wade, where as poor, misunderstood Margaret Beckett always had to work so hard for any little simple thing she wanted. Maggie stopped her leisurely stroll as an idea formed in her mind. Wade did not DESERVE her happiness, her peace, or Quinn.

She didn't have the right to it.

And Maggie would be just the one to take all that from her.

Part 7

Wade looked from Quinn to Ryan, then back to Quinn with an agonized expression. Then without a word, she wrenched her wrist from Quinn's pleading grasp, and took off, past a bewildered Remmy and Colin in the living room, straight out the door. She didn't know what she felt, but she knew she had to get away.

Quinn looked past Ryan's angry face, and blinked back the tears that threatened to rush out of his eyes. "She hates me," he mumbled incoherently.

If Ryan heard him, he didn't show it. He stepped up to Quinn and placed an accusatory finger on Quinn's chest.

"Haven't you hurt her enough?" Ryan said heatedly. "You damn near got her killed in the first place."

Quinn blinked again, and looked at Ryan in surprise. "That wasn't my faul-" he began.

"Bullshit Mallory," Ryan interrupted. His face was dark and flushed with emotion. "You took her for granted. You left her in those god damn camps!" Ryan took a deep breath, and his next words were threatening. "Mallory, I don't like you. I let you in this house because I respect the fact that you were ONCE," here he emphasized the word, "Wade's friend. That's the ONLY reason."

Quinn was getting angry now. He looked at Ryan stonily, his face a stubborn mask."Just go away," he whispered tensely. His heart was pounding in agony.

"Stay out of her life Mallory," warned Ryan, his hand curling into a none too friendly fist. Then he turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

"I can't," Quinn whispered after he was alone. "I love her." Then he sank onto the toilet seat, his hands muffling the sound of the sobs that shook his body.

Maggie arrived back at Ryan and Wade's place just in time to see Wade rush out the door. She smiled to herself. "Looks like little miss high and mighty is sabotaging herself," she thought. But outwardly, she put on a look of concerned support, and turned tail to follow after Wade.

Wade ran blindly down her street, not paying attention to passersby in her path. Fresh tears were streaming out of her eyes, and her mind was in a tumult.

"Why!" she thought angrily. "Why now...after all he's done, after I finally made some peace for myself.....why!"

"Wade!" Maggie called out, and ran up to catch up with her.

Wade eyed the Maggie warily. She'd never liked Maggie, and she really didn't feel in the mood for one of the older girl's sarcastic barbs now.

But to her surprise the look on Maggie's face was of concern. "He said something to you didn't he?" she said, her lip wavering just a bit.

Wade sighed. "Yeah, he did."

"That bastard," Maggie said, smiling inwardly as she squeezed two tears out of her eyes. "Abandoning me...and," here her voice dropped to a whisper, "our baby..."

Wade stared at at Maggie, her mouth open in shock. "You're...you're...PREGNANT?"

Her mind flew to the dreams she used to have of settling down...of having a baby -- Quinn's baby. The memories were painful and she pushed them away quickly.

Maggie nodded with a sniff. "He told me we'd be happy y'know? Have a little family, maybe settle down on some nice world..." she gestured around her. "Like this." Maggie let out a dramatic sob.

"Oh my god," Wade said softly. She felt like a knife had just been stabbed in her back, and was twisting her guts around. She was gonna throw up.

"How...how far along?" she heard herself say faintly.

"Two months," said Maggie, choking up. "I thought we had what you and Ryan have...he...he...told me he LOVED me!"

Wade felt a wall slam itself over her confused feelings for Quinn Mallory. A wall of hatred. And a wall of disbelief.

"Do you want to me to talk to him?" said Wade as sympathetically as she could manage, touching Maggie's shoulder.

Maggie almost flinched in disgust, but kept her outward composure. "No...I mean he slept with me last night....that must mean something right?" She smiled as she measured Wade's reaction.

Again Wade felt like she had been punched in the gut. She struggled not to let the emotions she felt show in her face or her voice. "Um...yeah...it must."

She forgot her own problems as she looked at Maggie's teary face. "Don't worry Maggie. We'll get him to live up to his responsibilities." Her heart twisted in pain, as she said it, but she meant it. "How dare he!" she fumed.

"I should'a been an actress," Maggie thought, as she nodded tearfully.

She was alone in her bedroom, watching the play of street lights dancing from the window that overlooked the bed that she and Ryan shared. Her thoughts were morose...and confused.

But it had been an awful night. Of that, she was sure.

"Please don't say anything to Quinn," Maggie said tearfully as they stepped from the darkening twilight lit street into the house.

Wade looked at her sharply. "Why not? I think he needs to be called on his actions. They're reprehensible." And so unlike the man I once knew...she added silently to herself.

Maggie clutched Wade's arm beseechingly. "Please," she said. "Promise me...I want him to be with me because he loves me...not because you told him to raise our child."

Wade sucked in her breath. Her heart was pounding in her ears. How...after all this time, could the thought of Quinn and Maggie still hurt her? She was over him! She was getting married to a wonderful man! And HOW could Quinn do this? He'd lied to her again! And evidently to Maggie too.

She rubbed her eyes wearily. "Fine," she said shortly. "I won't bring your pregnancy up." Saying the word almost made her choke. It sounded so...final.

"That's a good girl," thought Maggie, with an outwardly grateful smile.

Remmy and Colin were in the living room watching tv. Wade went and sat down next to Remmy, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

He eyed her with concern. Something was obviously bothering her.

"You all right sweetheart?" he said softly.

Wade sighed. "I don't want to talk about it," she said.

Remmy's eyes narrowed. "Let me guess. It has to do with that little spat you and Q-ball had in the bathroom right?"

Wade looked down. "That's not the half of it," she said quietly.

"Well he's in the guest room if you want to talk to him," Remmy suggested.

Wade bit her lip, and a flurry of nervous anger surged through her. Looking at Remmy gratefully, she rose from the couch and made her way to the guest room.

Quinn was sitting facing out the window, lost in thought. A cold angry voice interrupted the machinations of his mind.

"How dare you Quinn. I will not be the casualty of your screwed up emotions," Wade said sharply. The look of surprised hurt on his face made her blood boil all the more.

"Wha...what?" stuttered Quinn, in shock from her sudden anger. "Wade, I love you....please, you have to believe that..."

"You're a god damn liar!" said Wade, her anger seething now and out of control. She raised a hand...and before she knew it, the slap had left a red mark on Quinn's face.

Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh god..." she said, anger receding a bit.

Quinn rubbed his sore cheek in shock. Wade had hit him! His blue eyes went hollow.

"Wade please," he whispered.

The utter desperation of the whisper struck a chord in Wade. She was frozen, glued to the spot, her gaze riveted on Quinn's.

He took hold of her wrists and pulled her to him. She allowed him the embrace, but refused to let herself melt in it. "What are you doing?" her mind screamed at her. "You love Ryan! He's sleeping with Maggie!"

Hope rose in Quinn's heart. Softly he bent down.

Wade saw him coming...closer...closer...until his lips touched hers. Feather light was the kiss, but it set her heart aflame.

That was when rationality kicked in, and the hurt she'd endured at Quinn's hands exploded. "Get away from me!" she said, pushing Quinn away. "Don't you ever touch me again! God! You lied to me! You left me alone! I..." her voice wavered a bit, but the then came back full force in the face of her anger. "I don't love you Quinn Mallory!" Her heart was pounding a mile a minute. "I mean it! I do! It meant nothing! It meant nothing!" repeated like a mantra in her brain.

Leaving a distraught Quinn, she stormed out of the room, wiping the tears that fell unwanted from her eyes.

She was snuggled in bed when Ryan came in and softly closed the door behind him. Looking at him normally made Wade feel peaceful. But tonight her mind burned with guilt. "No," she thought, trying to rationalize with herself. "Quinn kissed you...NOT the other way around."

"Hey sweetie," Ryan said, climbing next to her in bed.

Wade felt a sudden need to purge Quinn's offending kiss from her lips. She pulled Ryan towards her and kissed him fiercely.

He pulled back chuckling, and gasping a bit from breath. "Well that's one way to say hello," he said tenderly. He began kissing her again, his hand tracing the curves of her body. Wade felt passion rising within her. She returned Ryan's embraces and held him to her as their kisses intensified.

"Oh Wade," Ryan mumbled as he kissed the nape of her throat. "I love you so much."

Wade closed her eyes, carried away by the sensations. "I love you too Quinn," she said tenderly.

And opened her eyes in shock as she realized what she'd just said.

Ryan pulled back, his face angry. "What!" he said.

"I didn't mean it Ry," said Wade, frightened at the look on his face.

Ryan got off the bed, and looked at her accusingly. "What the hell is going on here Wade?"

"Nothing!" said Wade pleadingly. "Quinn's with Maggie...I'm with you...I don't know why I said his name. I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!"

"Yeah well maybe you need to do some thinking. ALONE. I'm going for a walk," Ryan said angrily, and stalked out of the room.

Wade lay back in her pillow. What the hell had just happened?

Yeah, thought Wade sourly , as she looked at the clock for the millionth time. It had been one hell of a night.

Maggie Beckett smiled, her perfectly straight white teeth glistening. Everything was going perfectly, she thought as she looked at herself in the mirror.

It had been 4 days since her little confession to Wade. Wade and Quinn weren't speaking (much to Quinn's dismay), and Wade and Ryan were barely speaking. And the wedding, well it was still PLANNED for 10 days from now, but Maggie would soon fix that.

"Now for the last few touches," she thought, pulling her snugly fitting shirt a little lower. "Perfect," she thought appreciatively.

Quinn was sitting at the kitchen table in a funk. Why wouldn't Wade talk to him? When he'd kissed her, he could've sworn the old glow had lit her eyes for a moment. But ever since that fateful evening, she'd given him the cold shoulder. It was killing him.

He rested his head on his palm, elbow balancing off the table. Maggie entered the room then, her eyes glancing at Quinn's obviously depressed expression irritably. However she quickly swallowed the feeling down. Quinn was going to require some doing, and she couldn't screw it up.

She sat down at the table next to him, and put a comforting hand on his arm.

"Been a hard couple of days hasn't it?" she said in a soft voice.

Quinn sighed, and blew out a breath. He looked at Maggie and saw concern in her gaze. "Maybe she's finally forgiven me," he thought.

"Yeah," he finally said. "Wade won't even talk to me."

Maggie bit down the seething revulsion that coursed through her. "I'm sorry," she said.

"I just..." said Quinn hesitantly. "I really love her, and to see her in the arms of Ryan, to see her avoid my gaze even, it's the worst feeling I think I could have."

"Hmmph," thought Maggie. "You have no idea."

"Quinn..." she said in a softly ministrating voice. "Have you ever considered the possibility that Wade just never loved you?"

Quinn turned on her, her eyes wide. "She did! I know she did..."

Maggie phrased her words carefully. "Did she? Didn't you once tell me it was her idea that you two not be together?"

Quinn stuttered, "Well yes, but there was an understanding..."

"Uh huh," continued Maggie in the same soft voice. "And didn't she go straight into Ryan's arms right after that little conversation? Isn't that what you told me?"

Quinn started to look defeated. "Yes...yes...she did."

"Well then," said Maggie, taking a moment to glance at the clock. She had maybe 1 minute before Wade made it downstairs for her morning coffee. She took Quinn's hands in her own and faced him. "Don't you think that maybe Wade really does love Ryan? And that you running around like this is really doing her more harm than good?"

Quinn stared at Maggie intensely, his blue eyes swimming with doubt and fear. Could Maggie be right? Maybe Wade should be with Ryan. After all, he'd left to the mercy of the Kromaggs. Maybe he didn't deserve her.

"Maybe you're right," he said sadly.

Maggie pulled herself closer to Quinn and felt his breath fluttering on her face. She looked down demurely.

"I know," she said pensively. "That you said we couldn't be together anymore because you loved Wade and needed to find her."

Tears began to well up in her eyes, and concerned, Quinn brushed them away. "Maggie has never been so open with her feelings before," he thought. He liked seeing this softer side of her character.

"But...now you have found her," said Maggie, inwardly smiling at Quinn's obvious concern. "And she loves someone else."

Quinn was at a loss for words. "Maggie, I don't...I"

Out of the corner of her eye, Maggie saw Wade coming down the stairs. Quickly she grabbed Quinn's face and pulled him to her. "Don't say anything now Quinn...just kiss me!"

She rammed her mouth against his, and began kissing him.

Stunned at the sudden display, Quinn allowed the embrace.

And Wade, walking in to see the two kissing, felt her stomach lurch, all thoughts of breakfast flying out the window. Unwanted tears in her eyes, she turned tail, and fled back upstairs.

"Don't say anything now Quinn...just kiss me!"

She rammed her mouth against his, and began kissing him.

Quinn pushed Maggie away.

"Maggie," he said, turning beet red, as she continued to try and kiss him, "Maggie stop!"

Maggie looked up at him, her eyes questioning, her lips pouty. "What?" she said petulantly.

Quinn's face grew an even deeper red. "Look I just....I can't do this with you. I love Wade. I told you that two months ago."

"Now's the time to drive in the stake," thought Maggie with a smile. "Damn you Quinn Mallory," she said, turning from him with tears leaking out of her eyes.

"Maggie," he began. "Look, I'm sorry if I hurt you..."

Maggie shook her head. "It's not that," she said, her voice quavering just a bit.

Quinn put a hand on her shoulder. "What is it?"

"I...I didn't want to tell you this...but Wade told me I should," Maggie said, inwardly amused at his evident distress.

Quinn frowned. Since when had Wade given Maggie advice? Was he missing something here?

And then she said the three words that made his stomach drop like a stone.

"Quinn, I'm pregnant."

Wade hugged her pillow to her chest. The tears were flowing openly now. Wiping her wet face, she brought out her journal. It was the one activity that might put her troubled heart to rest.

Taking up her pen, and gulping down her sobs, she began to write.

"Dear Diary,

I don't know what's wrong with me. Here I am, in a fulfilling relationship with a man who loves me, and yet so unhappy. I never thought it was possible to love two men at once. In fact, I've always been someone who is offended by women who have lovers...who lie. But I can't deny my feelings any more diary. What I just saw brings into all too clear of a focus. Despite Quinn's relationship with Maggie...despite my relationship with Ryan...I do still love him."

Wade stared at the incriminating words on the page. She'd admitted it.

"Oh god..." she whispered softly. "What am I going to do?"

She continued to write.

"I can't get in the way of Quinn and Maggie. I can't deny her baby his father! I hate Quinn even as I love him for the lies he's spun. For telling me he loved me when I know that's untrue. He never did love me...no matter what he thinks. It was always Maggie...when I think of all the times I hurt because of that...when I think of how he so callously left me in the camps. I want to forgive him for the camps...but I don't know if I'll ever be able too.

Quinn belongs with Maggie. Someday he'll see it was right for me to go away. Because I can't do it diary. I won't fight for a man who isn't mine heart and soul. Ryan is a good man. Quinn will own my heart forever...but it is Ryan that will own me."

The pen scratched furiously on the page as Wade continued to write, pouring out her soul in the form of the written words.

The sound of the bedroom door creaking roused her from her reverie.

Surprisingly enough it was Colin at her door. Awkwardly he smiled at her.

Wade frowned. She didn't know Colin very well, though she did like him. Belatedly she realized her face was still wet with tears.She wiped it hastily with her sleeve.

"Pre-wedding jitters," she begged off, rather lamely. And she knew he didn't buy it.

"Wade," he said hesitantly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Wade closed her diary with resounding thwack and motioned to the corner of the bed.

Colin looked awkwardly around the room. How was he supposed to phrase this delicately?

"Look Wade," he began, watching her intense brown eyes. "I don't know what's going on with you and my brother..."

"Nothing," she interrupted flatly, looking away from him.

"Yes, well maybe this is none of this is none of my business," said Colin slowly. "But it doesn't look like nothing to an outsider."

Wade didn't answer him. Instead she stood up and turned away from him, her arms crossed as if to protect herself from his words.

"Look Wade," said Colin. "He's talked about you constantly for the past two months. He was obsessed with finding you."

Wade's eyes flashed with anger. "Oh yeah?" she said bitterly. "He wasn't so obsessed when he left me with the 'Maggs was he? He wasn't so obsessed just now when I saw him and Maggie locking lips! So pardon me if I don't fall at the great Quinn Mallory's feet."

Colin was at a loss. Quinn was kissing Maggie? "Wade, I..."

"And you were right," continued Wade. "This is none of your business."

Chastised, Colin backed out of the room. "I...I'm sorry Wade. I guess I was wrong about his feelings for you," he said, shutting the door behind him.

"Oh god," she whispered at the empty room. "I didn't mean all that...I was wrong about him too." Her tears began anew and she threw a pillow at the closed door, angrily.

"Damn you Quinn Mallory. I hate you!" she whispered. And then after a moment, "because I love you..."

Quinn was stunned, his mind reeling. Maggie? Pregnant?

"How is that possible?" he said slowly, sounding out the words as if they came from an alien mouth. "I don't remember sleeping with her!" he thought desperately to himself. "I couldn't...because of Wade!"

Then he recanted the story that Maggie had told him earlier.

"You remember when we found that Kromagg camp, but we couldn't break into the prisoners' codes?" she'd said sadly.

"Yeah," he'd answered. "I was upset that we'd come so close to finding Wade, but hadn't been able to locate her. I had a few too many beers."

"You were drunk Quinn," she'd responded. "Really drunk. I went to my bedroom, and you went to yours. But at about 3 am you knocked on my door. I thought you needed to talk to someone, you know how you were feeling back then."

"I don't remember much from that night," he'd said, thinking back. "I blacked out after I went to my room."

"Well you did!" she'd said. "You came in and things got physical very quickly. We made love Quinn."

He'd been too stunned to respond.

"You're my baby's father," she'd said. "If you wait for Wade, you'll wait for an eternity. She doesn't love you. Think about it! She loves Ryan! But I do love you Quinn. And I'm having your child."

She'd walked to the doorway and looked at him sorrowfully. "We could have a family, you and I."

Quinn sat very still. "I've already possibly abandoned one child to the multiverse," he thought quickly. "I can't abandon another. I can't! How can I sentence my child to grow up with it's father? I know too much about what that is like."

That was when Wade entered the room.

He sucked in his breath. It hurt just to look at her...his heart was shattering into little pieces.

"So.." she said, breaking the silence. Her voice sounded strained. "Maggie told me that she finally told you."

He looked at her, his gaze stunned. "She knew!" he thought frantically. It explained her coldness of the last few days. "I...I...yeah...she told me," he finally managed to blurt out.

Wade's eyes filled with tears, which she managed to hold back with an effort. Concerned, he stood up and walked over to her. He held her tightly in a hug. "I do still love you Wade," he said, and could have sworn he felt her tremble. "Don't," she said quietly. Too quietly. "I'm engaged. And even if I wasn't, I don't like liars."

"Wade...I'm not..." he began wearily, and then gave up. The feel of her in his arms was almost too much for him to bear. "Please, let's not argue," he said. "I really need your support right now."

Could he choose between the woman he loved and the baby he'd sired?

She pulled back from him, and her eyes were distant. "Maggie needs your support right now." she said.

"Don't do this Wade," he said softly, but so desperately that she wanted to rush back into his arms and hold him, kiss him and tell him everything was going to be okay. She took a deep breath. "I need to meet with caterer for the wedding," she said quickly. "And then I'm meeting Ryan for dinner."

He winced as she brought Ryan up. Why couldn't things be simple? Why these horribly hurtful choices? These sacrifices that he wasn't sure he had the strength to make?

Wade evidently was going to make his choice for him. She felt he belonged with Maggie. "But I don't!" he thought fiercely. "I don't! How can she not see that?" Then his thoughts turned remorseful. He was being selfish...not thinking of his baby. Of course Wade was making the right choice. She was selfless. She knew he would never be happy knowing he had abandoning a child.

"You're right," he said. Wade knew what was best, no matter how much it hurt him to say so. He couldn't abandon Maggie. He knew he would love Wade forever, but he could not bear to hurt his child, who was just an innocent pawn in all of this.

When he said those two words she thought she would die inside. Despite her bravado, she'd almost hoped he'd fight her. "Well," she said softly. "That's that."

He held his hand out as if to caress her face, but stopped himself mere inches from her skin. The hand stayed in midair, as she walked away from him, until slowly he let it drop.

Maggie Beckett hummed a little tune to herself as she sat in the manicurist's shop, while the fresh paint glided onto her nails. Part one of her plan had been executed perfectly. She examined her freshly painted fingers. "A shiny bright red," she thought. "The color of love. And the color of blood. How very, very ironic."

She smiled to herself. "Poor little Wade," she thought. " Better get some black clothes sweetie. There won't be a wedding...but there might just be a funeral."

To the casual observer, they looked like your average couple in love. They talked and laughed in the firelight of the candles on the restaurant table. Wine glasses clinked, and the food was delicious. Really, it was a scene lifted from the pages of a romance novel.

But Wade's heart felt cold as a lump of ice. With every bite of food she felt pain ripping through her, with every laugh a knife twisting in her side. She was a falsity...and the worst thing was, she knew it. It was Ryan sitting across the table from her, and she would have given anything for it to have been Quinn.

Ryan was especially possessive of her now, ever since that dreadful night when she'd spoken Quinn's name. He'd been hurt, but she'd finally managed to get him to forgive the transgression, begging off with an excuse about how it was the strain of the wedding plans and the sliders' sudden arrival that had caused her awful mistake.

Wade sighed. She was a mess. "How did this all happen?" she thought. "Everything was fine until they showed up," she thought to herself, instantly regretting the statement. How could she not want Quinn and Remmy back in her life? Of course she did...it had almost killed her to lose them in the first place.

Wade found herself half listening to Ryan. "...and the Bachelor party will be..." he was saying.

"Huh?" she said, snapping to attention. "What about the Bachelor party?"

Ryan looked at her with a wry grin. "It's tomorrow night remember? Don't worry honey, it won't get too out of control," he said, mistaking the look on her face for one of concern about his fidelity.

"Oh," said Wade, flushing uncomfortably.

"I invited Rembrandt, Colin and Quinn you know," he said.

Wade smiled at Ryan, distracted. "That was good of you," she said softly. Her mind was still on Quinn's pleading voice...and Maggie's teary face. Images of babies flashed before her eyes...and Wade shook her head.

Ryan put a hand over hers. "You better not get too rowdy either," he said, smirking. If he noticed her distraction, he was choosing to ignore it.

Wade was confused. "What do you mean?" she said.

"Oh," said Ryan, putting a hand over his mouth. "It was surprise...Maggie didn't tell me that!"

Wade's eyes narrowed. "Surprise?" she questioned.

"Mmm hmmm...the bachelorette party. Can't let me have all the fun you know," he said, winking.

"Great," thought Wade. "Just great."

"You sure you're up for this party tonight Q-ball?" said Remmy, concern on his face as he looked at his friend. He still couldn't believe the events that had unfolded in the last few days. Maggie was pregnant, Wade was getting married. It didn't make any sense!

Remmy was troubled. Somehow he knew things just weren't right with this picture. Wade and Quinn loved each other...he was sure of it! "Well," he thought ruefully, as Quinn looked stone faced into the mirror where he was straightening his tie, "at least I was sure of it."

"I'm fine Remmy," said Quinn quietly. He was resigned to his fate...and he was miserable. But he didn't dare ask Wade to forgive him now. He'd failed her...and on so many levels. "She'll be better off after we slide out of here," he thought sadly.

He ran a hand through his tousled hair and sighed softly.

Remmy eyed him shrewdly. "You don't look too fine to me," he said as he held up his hands in a placating gesture. "No offense."

Quinn sat down on the bed. He didn't speak for a few minutes. He thought of Wade in a wedding dress and he felt his heart shredding. "You're right," he said quietly, while avoiding Remmy's eyes. "I'm not fine."

He shook his head. "I love her Rem," he finally admitted. "And Wade, she...she doesn't love me. And now there's Maggie's condition to think about." he hung his head. "For the first time in my life, I'm at a total loss," he said quietly.

"Quinn, Wade loves you," began Remmy.

Quinn shook his head slowly. "No," he said. "She doesn't. She told me so...and anyway I have responsibilities. I won't abandon my child."

"So you're going to be with a woman you don't love?" Remmy said intensely. "Q-ball, you can be there for your baby without a relationship with Maggie."

"Wade loves Ryan," said Quinn flatly. "She said as much, and Maggie has helped me to see that as well. And I owe Maggie a least a fighting chance. I'm the one who put her in this position in the first place."

"Takes two to tango Q-ball," said Remmy darkly. Quinn's defeatist attitude didn't sit well with him. he sensed way too much of Maggie's influence.

Rembrandt shook his head. Something wasn't right with this situation. He could feel it. And somehow, he was going to find out what it was.

It was 7p.m. Maggie was late. But she had a good reason. She was on the hunt for a killer.

Military training had taught Maggie quite a few things. One was how to fight. Another was how to win.

And the last...

The last was how to find the dregs of the earth -- and use them to her advantage.

Downtown Oakland was no fun picnic even in Wade's smaller version of San Francisco. Maggie crept silently as a cat down a dark alleyway where her contact at the bar had told her to meet the assassin. Shadows cut across the walls and police sirens could be heard shattering the night sky.

Another woman might have been frightened...might have clutched her purse and scurried to the haphazard safety of the street lamps. But not Maggie Beckett. She was on a mission. A deadly mission. And nothing on God's green earth was going to keep her from it.

Wade sat outside the front door of her home and swung her legs from the porch. It was a warm evening and the breeze blew softly, rustling the long skirt she wore. She held a glass of wine that she sipped slowly. It was her fourth glass. She was rather drunk. But it was better than focusing on reality.

Maggie was late. She was supposed to meet Wade here at 6:30 to take her out for the "Bachelorette" party. Wade was glad. The last thing she felt like doing was celebrating. No...being alone here was just fine. She sighed and her mind was flooded with the image of Quinn's face. Maybe being alone wasn't so good.

Maggie fingered the plastic baggy filled with white powder in her pocket. That little bag had cost her every cent she had. And Maggie knew it wouldn't be enough. But it would be enough to get the attention of the kind of man she needed. And there were other ways to pay.

A man stepped from the shadows. Burly, bushy brown eyebrows and a toothless grin. His eyes darted over every inch of her body laviciously and with purpose.

Maggie smiled, white teeth glistening. Swinging her hips suggestively, she approached him.

"You're Machado...right?" she breathed, licking her lips.

"Who wants to know?" he shot back, his hungry eyes belying the uninterested tone of his voice.

"Just a little girl in need of some rescuing," said Maggie, sweetly as any southern belle. She brushed a finger across the man's scarred cheek. "'Specially by a big, strong man like you."

"Really," said Machado. "Little girl like you wants somebody dead huh? What you willing to pay? Killing don't come cheap."

Maggie pulled the baggy out. "I've got this," she said throatily.

Machado took the bag and examined it. "Not too much lady," he snorted.

"I've also got...this," said Maggie. She grabbed his hand and placed it on her inner thigh, just beneath her skirt. She leaned close enough to smell his foul breath. "Now will you do this little job for me?"

Machado stroked her thigh eagerly and pulled her close to him. He grinned. "Now that's more like it," he said, taking a moment to lick her earlobe. "I'll kill whoever you want lady. But first you and I..we'll do some formal...ah...terms of agreement."

Maggie pulled him down on top of her as she sank to her knees and smiled. It would all be worth it. Ryan would die tonight...Wade would pay...and Quinn would be hers.

Wade was feeling a little dizzy. "Ugh," she said softly. "Too muuuuch wineeee." She turned to get up and go back into a house when a familiar voice made her heart hurt.

"Wade?" said Quinn, jogging up towards the house. He simply couldn't do it. He couldn't go out and celebrate at Ryan's bachelor party when Ryan was taking away the one woman he truly loved. So he'd come back to be alone. But Wade was still here. And Maggie was nowhere in sight.

Wade watched Quinn with blurred vision. "Quiinnn," she slurred.

Quinn walked over to steady her with concern. "You're drunk," he said. His voice held no disappointment, only worry.

"Nooot drunk," she said turning to face him, but losing her balance she fell towards him instead.

"Oof! Wade," said Quinn as he caught her. She wrapped her arms around him and smiled sloppily. He stared at her and her eyes caught his own. It was a dangerous moment. Anything could happen. He knew that. He fought to control the fire in his eyes...fire that was burning in Wade's eyes too. He could see it.

"Wade?" he said hesitantly. "I should put you to bed."

Wade nodded and licked her lips. She felt logic flying out the window.

"I don't care!" she thought suddenly.

She didn't care! She didn't care that he was with Maggie! Not right now. She didn't care about Ryan! She didn't care that Maggie was pregnant! She wanted Quinn! She loved him! That was all that mattered for this second. This microcosm of time. And so she did the unthinkable. She pulled him down towards her and before she even realized what she was doing, she was kissing him ardently.

Quinn was shocked when her lips touched his own, but his surprise was soon consumed with an all encroaching fire.

It was a fire that would not be quenched. Not this time. Lips locked to each other, hands touching and exploring, feelings burning with pent up passion, Quinn and Wade made their way into the house, and then into the bedroom. And as both of them exploded into ecstasy, neither one thought of the consequences of their action. This moment was all that mattered...and this moment would not be denied.

She woke in the middle of the night to the feel of arms around her. Arms that were strangely familiar yet not. They felt right yet...something was wrong. Wade felt it in her bones.

Disoriented, she turned to face the man holding her -- and bit back a gasp as she saw who it was. The events of the evening were a blur. She remembered drinking some wine...the bachelorette party that had never happened...and then she remembered. Remembered the feel of crushing herself against Quinn's lips, the utter disregard for everyone and everything.

"Oh god," she said getting up, pulling on her robe and flipping on her light. The watch dial showed it was a little after 2a.m.

Quinn opened his eyes at the bright glare, only to see Wade standing by the light switch like a lost child who was unsure of what to do, or where to go.

He cracked out a "Wade?"

Wade shut her eyes at the voice. "What have I done!" she thought. "God! I love him but...how could have done this to Ryan...and to Maggie!"

She opened her eyes again. Quinn was now siting up in the bed, his blue eyes pleading with her silently.

"What have we done Quinn?" she said in a hoarse voice, her hand flying involuntarily to her mouth.

Quinn's look grew determined. He was not going to let her get away! The guilt he felt over Maggie was nothing compared to the wondrous sensation of having Wade in his arms.

"Don't do this Wade," he said, with a steely sort of quiet resolve. "We made love...and it was right because damn it Wade, I love you, and no matter what you say, I know that you feel that way too."

Wade trembled at his tone, and she felt her resolve crumble under his admission. She flew back onto the bed, wrapping herself in his arms with a sort of quiet desperation.

"You're right," she whispered, tears wetting his chest where her face was pressed tightly. "God! I do love you Quinn. So much!"

Quinn felt like the sun had just risen over the stars as he heard her say the words he had longed to hear for so long. He wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Then we'll get through this," he said fiercely. "We'll get through it all together okay? The baby...telling Ryan...all of it," He kissed the top of her head tenderly and Wade nodded.

He gently pulled back from her tear stained grip and took hold of her small hand, where the diamond still gleamed like a beacon. Gently, she watched him as he pulled the little ring off her fourth finger.

"The only ring I ever want to see on this finger again is one that I give you," he said seriously.

"Oh Quinn," breathed Wade, "How are we going to tell them? He'll be so hurt....and Maggie..." Suddenly a flash of a memory caught her like a jolt in the jaw. Maggie's face, sadly saying "Well he slept with me last night, so...that has to mean something right?" Something didn't add up with this picture. Not with the way Quinn was holding her. She felt it in her bones -- he couldn't have slept with Maggie such a short time ago!

She was afraid to ask, but she had to. "Quinn...did you...make love to Maggie last week?"

Quinn frowned. "Where did she get that idea," he wondered. "Of course not," he said in a confused voice. "Wade I *did* start something with Maggie before we were separated," he said with a sigh. "I felt lost, and everyone dear to me reminded me of the Professor. That's why I cut you guys off."

Wade nodded, his words hurt her, but she understood what he meant.

"After we got back to Earth Prime, and I realized what had happened to you, I wanted to die. I realized that I had just let the woman I dearly loved out of my grasp and into danger because of my own selfish self pity. I ended things with Maggie then and there, and told her that I was dead set on finding you. That was two months ago. Remmy knew about it, I told him too."

Wade's eyes narrowed. "Maggie lied to me," she said in a sort of whisper.

Quinn looked at her worriedly. "What?"

Wade took a deep breath. "Maggie told me she slept with you last week...the same day she told me she was..." Her hand flew to her mouth. "My god Quinn!"

Quinn was stunned. Maggie had lied? "Why would she lie?" he said, with a disturbing feeling he already knew the answer.

"Just answer me this Quinn," Wade said, a strange glint in her eyes. "When you broke things off with Maggie, how did she take it?"

"Well, she wasn't happy about it at all," said Quinn, reflecting quietly. "She pretty angry, now that I think about it." He could see where Wade's train of thought was leading. "But you don't think she'd lie just to get me back, when she knows I don't love her do you?"

Wade shrugged. "I don't know." She kissed him lightly on the lips. "But I do know that I almost let you go...and what a mistake that would be."

"Yeah...I'm a pretty good catch huh," Quinn joked lightly.

Wade rolled her eyes. "Before you getting all high and mighty on me, we'd better figure out what's really going on with this Maggie situation..." she sighed regretfully, "and I'd better have a talk with Ryan."

In a crowded bar, group of men were laughing, drinking and carousing. Their guest of honor was getting married in a few days. Jokes about balls and chains spewed forth as did raucous good humor.

Out of nowhere, a shot rang out, breaking the night sky with it's deadly blaze.

The guest of honor sank and crumbled, his white shirt smearing with blood.

Only seconds separated the laughter from the screams of horror which now filled the room.

Colin's eyes were wide and staring as a scantily clad woman weaved her way though the crowd of men who were celebrating Ryan's bachelor party.

"Is this really how men sanctify the right of marriage?" he said incredulously to Remmy, who just laughed.

"Sure is Farm boy," said Remmy with a smirk. "But...uh...we try not to let the ladies know about it...it's kinda a male thing."

Colin's brow furrowed. "Like a secret pact," he said finally.

Remmy began to disagree but then shook his head. "Sure...I guess you might call it that. But it's more like a...a...rite of passage I guess."

"You mean I will have to do this?" said Colin, looking a little frightened at the prospect.

"Not for some time yet Farm boy," laughed Remmy.

Colin looked relieved.

"I wish Quinn would have stayed with us," he remarked.

Rembrandt looked thoughtful for a moment. "Your brother has some serious issues to work out right now," he said. "I think he just wanted to be alone."

Colin nodded and his gaze once again rested on Ryan. "Because he can not marry the woman he loves," he said simply, remembering his own pain at being denied Susannah.

"Yeah," said Remmy. "It's a shame really." He shook his head ruefully. "if only the both of them weren't so damn stubborn..."

Maggie shook her dark hair and combed a hand through it angrily. She was too late to get home and torture Wade with a Bachelorette party. It was almost 1 a.m. "Damn!" she muttered. "It was the perfect alibi, and now I'm too late! That stupid hit man...he'd better get the job done right!"

She thought for a moment, as her heels clicked on the cold, dank pavement. "The job...that's it!" she cried out. "The perfect alibi!" And with that, she took off, soon vanishing into the all consuming darkness.

Remmy was laughing good naturedly as Ryan took another tequila shot. and then stumbled around the bar He glanced at his watch. "A little after two," he thought. "Time sure does fly."

"Remmy," called out a feminine voice from behind him. Remmy turned to see Maggie standing at the doorway to the bar.

Remmy's eyes narrowed. Maggie hadn't been acting like herself lately, and he wasn't about to give up on finding out why. "What are you doing here girl? No women allowed at a bachelor party!"

Maggie sashayed over to him and fluttered her eyes beseechingly. "Pleeeaaaasssse can I stay? Wade went to sleep and I was so bored at home!"

Remmy shrugged, grinned and nodded towards Ryan. "I don't think he'll much care," he said laughing a bit, as he watched Ryan stumble again among his friends. "He's pretty much out for the night anyway."

"Out hmmm? Oh he will be soon," thought Maggie with a wicked grin. But all she said was "Thanks Rem."

As if reading her thought, a loud thundering crack filled the night sky and the glass window in the front of the bar shattered in mere seconds.

"Get down!" somebody yelled. But it was too late.

Screams filled the air as Ryan slumped, a hole stained his chest. It was leaking fresh blood.

Voices filled the air with mass confusion.

"Somebody call the police!"

"Call 911!"

"We need an ambulance!"

"Right on time," thought Maggie. She watched as everyone crowded around Ryan's bloodied, still form. The sound of sirens could be heard approaching in the distance. Maggie watched it all with a cold heartlessness. "Welcome to my hell Wade," she whispered.

Wade and Quinn were lying together in Wade's bed when the phone broke the quiet sounds of their new contentment.

"Hello?" said Wade, looking at Quinn with a puzzled expression. Quinn watched her tenderly and stroked her free arm.

"Yes this is his...fiance," said Wade, her face growing flushed, then worried. Quinn watched her curiously. "What happened?" he wondered, beginning to worry a bit himself.

But Quinn didn't really fear the worst until Wade's face went white. "He's been what? Oh dear God..."

She nodded frantically into the phone. "Yes...yes...right away. Tha...Thank you."

As she hung up the phone, she burst into tears. She was shaking.

"Wade," said Quinn anxiously wrapping his arms around her."What is it Wade?" She wouldn't look at him. She simply cried.

Finally, she managed to get the words out in between wracking sobs. "It's Ryan! He's been...shot! We...we have to go to the hospital right away."

"My god," whispered Quinn. "C'mon Wade, I'll take you right now."

They left in a frenzy, not caring that Wade's ring still glittered from it's new home on the bedside table.

Part 16

The ride to the hospital felt like hours instead of minutes. Wade sat silently in the car, Quinn driving with one hand, the other tightly grasping her own. Wade felt dirty. She had betrayed Ryan, not once, but twice...and now...now it was so much worse.

Her heart chilled at the very thought that he might be dead. Because despite the overpowering emotion she felt for Quinn, Wade cared for Ryan. It wasn't the kind of love that could grow, she knew that. But the feelings were still there. And the thought that Ryan might die tore at her very soul.

Quinn wrestled with his own feelings of guilt as they drove. He and Wade had been making love as Ryan lay bleeding. He loved her so much, but he felt angry that that love was compromising someone else's feelings. Especially now...now that that man might not live. His thoughts flew to Maggie. He and Wade were compromising her as well. But the lie she had told Wade. That lie bothered him to the extreme. What could she have possibly hoped to gain by hurting Wade like that? And, a little voice nagged him, if she lied about that, maybe she had lied about some other things too.

They pulled up to the hospital, and Wade practically flew in. The nurse behind the front desk of the emergency room looked up with a pleasant smile as they approached. Wade's voice was shaky, and her eyes welled up with tears as she spoke. Quinn put a reassuring arm on her shoulder. "I need to see Ryan Stiles," she said. She took in a deep shuddery breath.

The nurse glanced at her paper work. "He's in intensive care," she said. "Are you family?"

Wade didn't hesitate. "I'm Wade Welles, his fiancé," she said.

Quinn winced. But luckily the nurse didn't seem to notice or care. "And you?" she asked him.

"Just a friend," he responded. His thoughts were dark and guilty. "Some friend," he thought.

"Well, you'll have to wait in the waiting room down the hall."

Quinn nodded and pulled Wade aside. "You gonna be okay to see him alone?"

Wade nodded, her tears spilling over. "Don't you understand?" she said softly. "I have to!"

Quinn nodded. "I know," he said, "just remember...I'll be right down the hall okay?"

Wade nodded, and followed the nurse into intensive care. With a heavy sigh, Quinn walked down the hall into the waiting room.

He found Maggie and Rembrandt and Colin there, along with two police officers. Rembrandt looked haggard and withdrawn.

"Q-ball man, am I glad to see you," he said, giving his friend a hug. He motioned to the two officers standing a respectful distance away. "It's been a hell of a night."Quinn looked at them, and nodded wearily. "You can say that again."

"Oh Quinn," cried out Maggie as she burst into tears. "This whole thing...it's just terrible!"

Quinn frowned at her. Something fishy was going on with her. But he wasn't really in the mood to deal with her at the moment with Ryan's life in the balance. He knew, however he was going to have to confront her at some point.

The first police officer stepped forward and brought put a pad of paper. "Quinn Mallory?" he said. He was a short burlesque man that looked like he had broken up his share of bar fights. The was a slight scare along his upper jaw line, and his blue uniform looked a bit too tight in places.

"I'm Quinn Mallory," said Quinn.

"If you don't mind sir, we just need to ask you a few questions. We've already questioned your friends."

Quinn nodded. "Go ahead," he said.

"Well, as far as we have been able to tell, the crime was committed at approximately 2:13 a.m. this morning. Can you tell me where you were at that time?"

Quinn looked at his friends and flushed. "I was...at the house."

Maggie's eyes narrowed. "Why did he go back to the house?" she thought furiously. "It better not be for that little tart..."

"I assume you mean the home of Mr. Stiles and his fiancé Miss Welles?"

Quinn's blush grew deeper. "Yes," he said softly. "We," he said indicating the others in the small room, " have all been staying there for a few days."

"For the wedding?" inquired the cop.

This startled Quinn. "Um..no...uh..I mean *yes*," he said. "We're old friends here for the wedding." He was so blinded by his own guilt that he failed to notice Maggie's eyes glinting with hidden pleasure as he said the words.

However Rembrandt did notice Maggie's small smile, and it made him shiver. "Something's going on in that girl's head," he thought to himself. "I don't like it. I don't like it one bit."

The cop wrote down something else in his notepad.

"And do you have an alibi for your location?" he continued.

Quinn looked at Rembrandt in desperation. He felt sure if he said Wade Remmy was going to figure everything out. But it couldn't be helped.

"I was...I was with Wade," he admitted softly.

Maggie's heart stood still. "Damn that bitch!" she thought angrily. She fought to control the expression on her face. Despite the effort, she turned several shades of purple. But luckily for her, everyone was too distracted to notice.

"I see," said the cop with a knowing expression. He closed the notepad. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Mallory if you will excuse us, we need to speak to Miss Welles for a few moments."

After the cops left, Quinn turned to Rembrandt who had an enlightened look on his face. "What was that all about?" asked Quinn.

Rembrandt motioned for Quinn to step outside with him for a moment, leaving Colin and Maggie in the waiting room. "They think it was an inside job Quinn," he said softly.

"What?" said Quinn. His head was reeling.

"The cops. They don't think it was a random shooting," continued Rembrandt. "There was no robbery. No one was held up. This guy was targeting Ryan for some reason. They've been questioning all of us all night."

"Who would want to kill Ryan?" asked Quinn worriedly. He didn't like how this conversation was going.

Rembrandt took a deep breath. "Well...not that I think you or Wade did it or anything...but..."

"Remmy!" said Quinn in protest. "You know Wade and I wouldn't kill anyone! Especially not Ryan!"

Remmy nodded. "I know Q-ball! I know. I'm not accusing you. But these cops don't know. And they were real interested in your history with Wade. I didn't want to say anything...but Maggie spilled it. So just...watch yourself. We still have four days before we can slide out of here."

Wade stood looking at Ryan's limp form with a defeated expression. "I failed you Ryan," she said softly. "I failed you on so many levels."

The bullet hadn't killed Ryan, but it may as well have. The nurses had informed her that he would probably never be able to breathe on his own again. He was, for all intents and purposes, a vegetable, brain dead, hooked to a respirator for life...if you could call it life. Which left her with an incredibly difficult decision. And Wade didn't know if she would have the strength to make it.

Slowly, she clasped his hand, and sobs shook her small form.

Part 17

"Take him off," said Wade quietly to the doctor who had come to ask her what she wanted to do. Tears silently rolled down her cheeks. She felt dirty. She had betrayed Ryan in his last hours of life.

Remmy, Colin, Maggie and Quinn stood just behind Wade, watching as the doctor nodded silently. Quinn watched Wade cry helplessly. He wanted to cry too, but he felt he had to be strong. Wade would need him to get through this. He only hoped she wouldn't blame him for what had occurred. Like he blamed himself, he silently amended.

The monitors registering Ryan's heartbeat, slowed to a crawl as the doctor unhooked the respirator. After a few more moments, his heartbeat stopped completely.

Wade clasped his cold hand and sobbed silently. "So sorry Ryan...so sorry....I did love you...so sorry." she mumbled between her tears.

Rembrandt slowly clasped her by the shoulders and led her away from Ryan's limp form. She fell into his arms with a small sigh, and let him remove her from the room.

Maggie and Colin solemnly followed.

Quinn lingered for a moment in the room. He felt he had to amends to this man who he had wronged so horribly. "I'll take care of her for you Ryan," he said. "And I'm gonna find out who caused this. I promise you that. I owe you everything."

Sighing, he shut the door to the room and followed the others.

The two policemen came calling not a half an hour after they got back to the house. Quinn answered the door, and grimaced. He knew the questions they wanted to ask, and he wasn't sure if Wade was up to it.

"We've come to speak with Miss Welles please. She said for us to come at this time," the first cop said.

Quinn sighed heavily. "I'll get her," he said.

He found a tearstained Wade in the bedroom, staring at the ring she had so casually taken off the night before.

"Wade?" he said gently.

Wade looked up at him, and the grief in her face made him want to rush over there and tell her everything was going to be okay. But he knew that wasn't what she needed. Much as it pained him, Wade had to work through her grief...he knew that. If she didn't, she might never forgive him -- or herself.

"Yes," she said softly.

"There are some cops here to..." he hesitated at the word question, "investigate the murder. They need to speak with you."

Wade nodded, and she slowly got up. As she passed him, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. She opened the door.

"I love you, you know," he said, helplessly watching her steel herself for the inquisition to come. "I'm never going to leave you."

She glanced back at him, and her eyes welled up with tears again. "I love you too Quinn. Nothing will ever change that."

Maggie had opened the doorway to the guest room just in time to hear the last two pieces of conversation. Rage bubbled inside of her like a fuse. After all her careful planning, after all the time and energy she had spent to break Quinn and Wade apart -- to make Wade's life as miserable and unhappy as her own. All of it had come to nothing! Wade and Quinn were obviously together. It made Maggie want to twist the little bitch's neck.

Unfortunately, the police couldn't convict Wade, Maggie thought darkly. Not with Quinn as her alibi. An alibi she was never meant to have. It made Maggie sick with hatred just to think about it. "Things would be so much easier if they would just lock her in jail and throw away the key," she thought. She clenched her fists. No. It was time to take things to the next level. "Quinn WILL be mine!" she thought angrily. "Wade's grieving over Ryan so hell fire much. Maybe she'll just have to join him."

Part 18

The little ring sparkles so brightly, thought Maggie with a twisted smile as she picked it up from Wade's dresser and looked at it. Kind of like a life. But you couldn't crush a diamond with steel or wood. No...a diamond was forever. That was the whole symbolism right? But a life. Now a life was another story. She slipped the ring onto her own fourth finger and imagined the wedding vows she was determined to have some day.

'I Quinn Mallory, take Maggie Beckett for my lawfully wedded wife....'

She could almost see what his smiling expression would be as he bent to kiss her...

Maggie blinked as the phone rang loud and harshly though the empty house. Wade was at the police station with Quinn. Rembrandt and Colin had decided to "recheck" the murder scene.

"But they won't find anything," thought Maggie. Machado had been the actual killer after all.

Maggie let the ringing continue until the answering machine picked up.

"Hi! You've reached Ryan and Wade. We're not in right now, but please leave a message at the tone!" Maggie cringed as she heard the masculine inflection echo strangely through the house. Ryan's voice still said the message. Wade had not bothered to change it as she had decided to slide tomorrow with them. The very thought of that...Maggie clenched her fists so tightly, her nails drew blood from her palms.

For a moment a stream of guilt lit Maggie's heart, and angrily, she threw the ring on her finger carelessly onto the floor and stomped away. But the one second of rationality and conscience was soon replaced by Maggie's crazed, devious plans.

Wade was gonna leave this earth all right, she thought, as a maniacal smile lit her deranged features. But it wasn't gonna be through a vortex.

"Look I don't know what else to tell you Sergeant Anderson!" Wade said as she paced up and down the police officer's office. "Ryan didn't have any enemies at all..."

She shook her head as tears threatened to spring from her eyes. "We weren't even on this world that long..." she thought to herself.

Quinn stared stonily at the police officer. They'd been at the station for three hours already. Wasn't that enough time to figure out that they didn't know anything about Ryan's death? Quinn sighed softly, as the officer began another barrage of questions.

"Anything Farm boy?" he called out as he examined the area with a sweeping glance.

Colin stood up. He'd noticed an area of the scene where the grass appeared to be partially flattened. Someone less trained in agriculture probably wouldn't have noticed, but Colin did. "Over here Remmy." he called out in a low tone.

Remmy walked over to where Colin was pointing and saw something glittering softly. A plastic baggie...with traces of white powder...

Remmy picked up the bag with a knowing glance and looked at Colin. "Looks like there might be more to this than we thought," he remarked.

The door slid open with a small creaking sound.

Inside, the house was dark and silent. "Everyone must still be out," she thought to herself. She stepped in slowly, and closed the door behind her.

A prickly feeling crept up the back of her neck. She felt like she was being watched. And as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting in the house she saw a figure sitting in her armchair, directly opposite the entryway. The face was shrouded from her view and Wade blinked. "Hey..." she said hesitantly as the person rose.

Maggie Beckett laughed shrilly in the stillness. Wade jumped, a little startled at the sound. "Oh...Maggie," she said, trying to keep the disdain out of her voice. "It's you..." She was feeling exceedingly suspicious of Maggie lately.Something was wierd about her lately. Wade thought about the plan that she and Quinn had decided on that afternoon at the station. They needed to confront her...

Maggie walked closer and to Wade's horror she saw the other woman was brandishing a small pistol in her direction. "I didn't want to kill him," Maggie said suddenly, with a strange look in her eyes. "You forced me to do it."

Wade gasped in shock. "You...it was you?" she said in horror, her eyes darting between Maggie's face and the gun.

"You have everything Wade," Maggie continued in the same cold voice. "Everyone always liked you better...you had a home...a life with Ryan...and yet you still had QUINN!"

"Oh god," thought Wade frantically. "I've got to keep her distracted." She flattened herself against the wall and tried to make herself as small as she could. "Maggie...you have something of Quinn's I don't have," she said as calmly as she could.

Maggie's eyes darkened slightly. "What?" she said.

"His baby..." Wade said shakily. "Please guys come back!" she thought.

Maggie laughed again, and this time it was chokingly bitter. "You stupid bitch," she snarled. "Don't you realize that was all a lie? I'm not pregnant! Hell...Quinn and I never even slept together...I just told him that to get him away from you!"

Wade's eyes widened. "It was all a lie?" she said. "Oh my God..." She found it unbelievable that anyone was capable of that kind of deception, despite the fact that she had figured out some of Maggie's lies already. Her cheeks burned. "How could she!"

"A lie that was supposed to work," said Maggie as she casually cocked the gun again. "But it didn't. Because of you. Which is why, dear Wade, you are about to join your beloved Ryan."

To be continued...