The Mission was almost completely dark, except for the glow of candles. Antonio hung his head sadly....en route from the loft, where he couldn't bring himself to knock on the door. As much as it killed him inside, she had left him with no choice. And maybe the part of him that....

"....Is anybody there?"......he called out suddenly, his voice tense, hanging in the air.

Antonio turned around, feeling a ghostly draft...and back to the door.

.....And maybe the part of him that needed so desperately to guard her from the storm he could see twisting in her eyes would have to just....die.

He fumbled with the lock to his office, and as he heard the tiny click, a jolt with the force of a tsunami snapped him backwards as a burning equator of pain seared around his neck. He heard a horrible sound, and realized it was his own scream, but all he could hear was a tiny spasmic squeak.

Derek tightened the cord, amused by the violent screech of Antonio's shoes across the floor as he dragged him backwards into the adjacent room.

Loud footsteps echoed down the hall as the door shut, the woman swinging her purse nervously.

"Antonio? Are you here?"

Gabi looked down and saw the key stuck in his office door.

"That's.....strange....."

Gabi scratched the back of her neck in haste as she walked into an empty room....but felt relieved that she could practice the words she wanted to say.

"Ahem.....Antonio," she began, looking to the empty chair. "There's something I want to tell you.....Ricardo, he......I couldn't stand to keep this from you...."

Suddenly, she felt a twinge of guilt as she caught a glimpse of her hand, nearly massaging the empty chair. Annoyed by the fact that she wished Antonio was in it.

"No.......God, I miss him........no. I can't do this. As much as it hurts.....I can't let him get too close.....he'll get under my skin all over again....already has....I can't. God....even if it kills him?"

Through his stifled agony, Antonio heard the familiar clomp of her shoes pass by the door. Even as he felt his own life twisting away, the only word in his head was Gabi. Gabi. Gabi. His whole body exploding, he managed to somewhat say her name, a shrill, airless sound that chilled him to his very bones. His assailant, still unknown to him, sensed his last-ditch attempt to warn whoever paced the hallways and pulled harder. As Antonio's mind began to brown out slowly, he was accosted by Sentinel headlines.......

LOCAL PRIEST STRANGLED TO DEATH: "WHAT A RELIEF," REMARKS ONE WOMAN.

....no, no, NO! That wasn't true......God, even if it was, he would still save her from this lunatic if he died trying. Even if she hated him, he'd save her.

He suddenly realized that part of the cord was caught on his collar, preventing his assailant from sealing him off completely. Clinging to that fraction of an inch, he let his arms and legs go limp....hoping to fool the strangler.

And without fail.....Derek glanced over the lifeless body and spoke with a thrill in his voice.

"What a pity......no last rites....."

The British accent cut into Antonio's subconcious.....but it wasn't Ben he heard. It was the man he had only heard a horrible account of as he and Gabi bonded in a jail cell......and now, everything fell together.

With the last of his hazy strength, Antonio kicked over a candle holder, and as Derek's shocked hands retracted, he knocked him to the ground, slipped out of his deadly hold and bolted for the door.

Derek hesitated for a second as he disappeared...retreating into a devilish whisper.... "Go ahead, run, you bastard....I'll hear your sickly wheezing all the way across California."

Antonio staggered down the hallway, panting desperately, still unable to use his newfound ability to call out to her. "Ga..........Gabi???" he breathed, looking back every few seconds in dread.

Gabi lit a candle below the altar, and turned around to a horrible sight.....Antonio crumbling towards her, his face pale and terrified.

"Antonio???? You look awful!! What's the matter? What happened to you??"

"Dere..............."

"What??? C'mon, Antonio, c'mon..." she grasped his face with both hands. "Calm down, hon....what are you trying to say??"

He managed to grasp at his collar, Gabi covering her mouth at the sight of the deep magenta stripe across his throat.

"Derek............" Antonio murmured hoarsely.

After her initial fit of violent trembling, she didn't even need an explanation. She threw Antonio's arm over her shoulder.

"He's not coming near you again....I'll kill him myself..." she stammered.

"No, no......I've ......gotta get you out of here."

Still drained, he scooped her up in his arms and stumbled for the doors at the end of the red-carpeted aisle. Tears welled in the back of her throat as she was struck by a deep intuition that her safety had been the only thought in his mind while the life was being choked out of him, too. A wave of fresh guilt poured over her....a different kind this time.....a guilt that was rational and true. He had fought with his dying breath to get to her while she had shut him away, again.

Antonio pulled at the door with all his strength.

Gabi put her hands over his and struggled with him. "Oh God, Antonio!! It won't open!!! Ugggh!!!!! Come on!!! Come on!!!!"

"Hmm.....hmmm...hm. Why don't you let me jimmy it for you?"

Derek appeared from the side door beside the altar as Gabi screamed, shielding Antonio frantically while Derek tightened the cord in his hands, a deadly game of cat's cradle as he strolled down the aisle.

"OH yes......." he grumbled softly.

"Please...." Gabi whispered, full of tears as she buried her face against Antonio's slamming heart. "Please don't hurt him.........."

Derek yanked the cord in his hands teasingly again with a chilling grin.

"No!!!!! I love him!!!!!!!!!!" she cried out, without even thinking twice. The words were a reaction, they ran so deep but could snap to the surface at any moment. She clung to Antonio while he gazed at her with stunned eyes.

"What a touching admission." Derek chuckled. "And now you both die."

"Gabi, go......please.....just run away and don't look back..." Antonio murmured. "I love you."

"Antonio, no---"

He silenced her with a reckless kiss, reminiscent of his urgent embraces inside the dark cave........a kiss goodbye.

The cord flew across Antonio's throat, tearing him from her.... and Gabi let out a scream that threatened to shatter the Mission walls, she screamed from the bottom of her soul as the church walls rippled into the walls of the loft, the walls of the loft surrounded her, and she flew up in bed, beaded with sweat, breathing heavily, shivering.......

"Gab? Gab, Gab, baby, you were havin' a nightmare." a familliar voice beside her said.

Gabi sighed. "I-I guess I was."

Ricardo gave a half-grin with stern eyes. "What was it about?......Losin' your lover?"

"No!" she snapped, almost too quickly. "For your information, Ricardo.....it was about.....you. I had a horrible nightmare that you.....fell."

Ricardo kissed her forehead almost sardonically. "That's a girl." he whispered. "I'll be watching you. Even in your dreams, baby."

Gabi looked into Ricardo's eyes with tremors in her brain, as her husband tightened the cord in his own way.

And as Antonio raced in her blood, she could still heard Derek's words...

And now, and now......you both die.

The End

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