(AN: I'm dropping the rest of this arch in here, so this is lengthy. The second half is also very snippety, and I just want to clarify beforehand, does not all take place on the same day. But I'm waaaay too lazy to go back and add anything like context to make that clear. Forgive me?)

Marco’s wife was named Ann, and they’d actually met on one of his official jobs. Or rather, she’d been the job. It was actually kind of a romantic story, because there he was protecting her, and one thing led to another and within a couple years they were married. Adam, now seven years old, had been the icing on the cake.

Marco had been grateful for a second chance to have a family. He’d never gotten over how badly he missed his cousins. And being a husband and father was actually more amazing than he’d ever dreamed.

Even so, he was kind of nervous when Ann brought Adam to visit. It was mostly just to see them—the university Ann taught at was on spring break, and Adam’s second-grade class was, too—but he also wanted Ann to meet Izzy since, after all, she’d just bought the company that was his livelihood. It seemed like a good idea to introduce his wife and his employer.

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Marco made his appearance the next morning. It was just him and a few guys in suits; if they’d still been in the mob, they’d have been ‘casing the joint.’ Instead, they were discussing strategic check-points and security protocols and, well, Sean was actually pretty inwardly pleased that they really were taking Michael’s safety this seriously.

Marco still looked like a model. Of course, he was genuinely middle-aged now, and his hair was starting to gray pretty noticeably. And yet somehow, the phrase ‘devilishly handsome’ came to mind. And when he smiled—well. Sean glowered in his general direction. It still pissed him off that a guy that hot was so impossible on every level.

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    Consciousness came back to Michael slowly. He realized that he still couldn’t really move, but that he was lying down on a firm bed with a pillow under his head. He ached all over, but especially his chest. The air was cool but comfortable. A steady, slow beeping kept time like a metronome.

    He opened his eyes. Light flooded them and he squinted for a moment before opening them again. All he could see was an ugly textured ceiling. He tried to breathe deeply but discovered some kind of tube in his nose. His mouth, though, was free.

    “Ryan?”

    Dutchy called Isabella at almost four o’clock—the surgery had been in-progress for not quite three hours.

    “You okay?” she asked softly.

    “Yeah. I just…you guys aren’t watching TV?”

    “You are?”

    “No, but someone in the crowd has a radio. We’re listening.”

    “What crowd?”

    “Iz, there’s a whole…like, an encampment of supporters…prayer groups and stuff…everyone is waiting for news…Anyway, you’re not watching the news?”

    “No. What’s going on?”

    “The Supreme Court.”

Michael couldn’t move. A shock of crimson heat ran through is body. He heard screams. He heard Ryan scream his name. Then he felt ice, moving from his core outwards. He couldn’t see anything and he lost the sound of Ryan’s voice in the sea of screaming. He had sensations, slight ones that penetrated the ice coma; he felt tremors and inertia carried him forward. He struggled against it and tried not to hear the shrieking.

The noise, the inertia, the trembling all faded…everything faded…

He saw an angel. He heard a distinct word – “Clear!” – and saw the angel was luminescent, a glowing white that faded to green.

He was struck by lightning.

A/N: I did my best with the legalese and the medical stuff in this arch, but god knows it's not my strong point. So, um, there's that. This is one of the major archs of the non-sequel, though (thus it gets lyrics!), so...enjoy?

I'll hold you if you feel you'll fall
I'll hold your hand if you just need a friend
I'll hold the line so you can call
I'll hold the feelings you don't want to end

You know that it's true
When I hold you
There'll be no secrets
I believe it

I'll hold your tears if you must cry
I'll hold your breath if that won't make you blue
I'll hold the truth if you must lie
And I'll hold off choice till you know what to do

You know that it's true
When I hold you
There are no secrets
I believe it

So I will hold on
And if that's not what you're used to
Then I may refuse to
Hold off
Well, maybe that's not what you're used to
How can I refuse you?

"I don't like it here."

Skittery blinked and glanced down at Race. "Pardon?"

"Here. I hate it."

Skittery laughed. "It's a grocery store!"

"Yeah, well," Race said, shuffling his feet a little. "You should just get your groceries delivered."

Skittery made a face. "Tony, I usually go along with most of your suggestions, but I am not lazy enough to have my groceries delivered."

"I'm not lazy!" Race snapped.

"You're rich," Skittery said, glancing at the ingredients in a can of tomato soup. "And a little lazy. Is there even tomato in this?"

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Funkie created Tom on a whim for this piece, but he was just so incredibly adorable that he comes back a couple times. More with him soon. :)

I was asked if there could possibly be a little fluff. And while there's not really any in the timeline proper for awhile (not for Spot and Race, anyway...) there's enough at other times in their lives to keep this place from getting too depressing. I mean, of course, they fight even when they're happy; but they enjoy it.

This one is set near the end of Tony's senior year of college. In the last thing I posted, Tony drunkenly rambled about how Sean had pawned the ring he'd bought. This is where the rings come from, and why Tony is so hurt later on.

( It was a nice spring day. Tony and Sean were lying naked on Tony's bed... )

Sean found himself standing in front of Tony's apartment building, and felt the urge to puke. Not so much because of where he was, but because it was his birthday, and he knew that no matter how long ago things had happened, his birthday was something he'd never be able to cope with alone. His birthday and Christmas made him weak. And he hated that he was weak.

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I was going to go to bed, but then this happened. So. Race and Skittery started going out a couple of months before the Sean album was released. Sean has not yet quit his job nor met Guy, just to keep the timeline straight. (Or... as straight as it gets, considering it's hugely inconsistant and varies with the phases of the moon, the tides, and my mood. Yeah, it would be nice if I would post things in order, too. That probably won't ever happen, though.)

( They're really quite cute together. Warning: contains references to male genetalia. Several times. )