Have mercy.

Antonio hadn't slipped out of Gabi's sight the whole way down the hectic boulevard. He was stuck in the middle of her field of vision. Once and a while, the dimming city sky, a towering building or two would distract her from him....but never for long. She looked at him like a mystery, a Houdini's box....trying to figure out what she was feeling for him right now. He could feel the weight of her gaze on him, he could sense that there was something she wanted to say......

But she couldn't quite explain this flicker of a thought....and it was just as stinging as sweet. She tried to convince herself it was only confusion.....wanting to be closer to him.....it was only because he had saved her life just a few moments ago. She couldn't confuse gratitude with..........

Funny. When she looked at him, it sure as hell didn't feel like confusion.

Deep inside, she knew that she was desperate to escape New York and flee back to Sunset Beach because she was afraid. Afraid of what would happen....afraid of what Ricardo would say....afraid. How long had she lived like this...with her love for Ricardo beneath layers and layers of fear? It was almost as if Mrs. Ricardo Torres was the tiniest miniature doll inside all the bigger dolls...that was how far away she was. But when she and Antonio were together....there was nothing between them. He was her shelter, her rind, the outer edges of her soul. And what was that feeling....of every part of you visible to another person....was it love? Would the whole damn world end if it was? Maybe it was.

Imagine that.

And there were times....like when he had just pulled her away from certain doom in the city street, clinging to her trembling shoulders .....there were times when their emotions were so connected, when they looked into the dark mirrors of each others' eyes and saw their own thoughts....when they almost became a single person.

Just like.........

Alright. And maybe it was only natural to think of "that," being trapped, thrown together by fate again like this. But if anything did happen while they were stranded here....a momentary kiss.....or a lingering one...or..........would they say the same things all over again...."We were confused....we were weak." Things that the rescued souls had once said, on the outside looking into that enclosed space. But the ones inside that place had never been stronger....they gave strength to each other, they knew.

Maybe that was what she really wanted....needed....to know this man....she knew him better than anyone in this world...and she still needed more. She eyed him furtively.....wanting to reach out to his hand that swung loosely by her side..... but the hand she wanted to touch him with was branded with a heavy band of gold.

But there were always those little accidents…those awful little slips she dreaded so much…

The ones that made her start to think that even gravity was trying to tell her something her heart refused to hear.

Her brows raised slyly…...she whipped up a momentary loss of balance, and steadied herself with a tugging of his warm hand....and another hand pressing against his chest.

Antonio: Whoa! Y’alright?

Gabi: Yeah….sorry about that….I’m just feeling kinda tired, I guess…..

Antonio: (sadly) I know…..I know how you feel…

Gabi: (softly, aside) I know how you feel too, Antonio….

Antonio: Hm?

Gabi: I, said, we’re going home real soon, Antonio!

Antonio: Just like I promised you.

But as they approached the address of the rectory, Gabi’s eyes narrowed. She counted the building numbers, and her eyes ended on a terrible sight…..

Maria: Aw, you sunk my Battleship, Ricardo!

Ricardo smiled faintly at his sister over the plastic wall of pegs between them on the kitchen table. He didn't even know how he'd managed to win, the way he'd nearly fallen out of his chair every time the phone rang!

He hoped it would be them....begging and whimpering for wired cash. And then?

*Click.* "Hmm, must've been a wrong number, Maria! Well, back to Yahtzee!" Snicker, snicker.

But as time ticked by, and they hadn't called....hadn't tried to weasel their way back to Sunset Beach, Ricardo started to panic. What if nothing was wrong....if everything was just damn peachy??

He shuddered to think. But then again...what if something had happened to them....something serious....awful??

((((((( A meteor shower hits the Empire State Building, sending the top chunk of it hurtling towards the earth below!!!

((((((((A huge shadow creeps over them.......

((((((((( Gabi and Antonio: (looking up) AaaaaaaaaaahhHHH!!!!! )))))))))))))

Oh, get a grip on yourself, Ric! This ain't a movie. I hope they're doin' even worse. And I hope they figure out that I had everything to do with their little disappearance.

Just hope Maria doesn't.

I think....I'm in a hell of a lot of trouble.

Maria was already wearing an "OK, I Wanna Leave Now" smile. Ricardo had dragged out every old board game in the loft trying to stall her..most of all, from wondering where the hell they were.

Maria: Well, this has been a wonderful brotherly-sisterly bonding day! But I think I'm gonna head out now, honey. Actually, I'm starting to worry.

Ricardo: Bout what?

Maria: Ricardo! About what else? I'm really getting nervous--it's as if Gabi and Antonio just...vanished! No sign of them, all day? Something's just not right....

Oh no. The inevitable questions! What was he thinking? Why had he chosen such a momentary sugar high of a revenge plot??

Ricardo: Aw, c'mon, Maria. We're just gettin' started. Please stay? I haven't gotten to annihilate ya' at Uno yet!

Maria: Annihilate me at Uno??? Ricardo, your wife and your brother are practically missing!! Aren't you even worried?? What in the world's gotten into you??

Ricardo: The FUN bug, sis! (pushes the cards to her) Deal?

Maria: (bewildered) I really think I'd better tell Tyus to switch your medications, Ricardo! You're really scaring me! I'm going, OK? I'm going to look for them!

Ricardo: Wait, wait, Maria....I-I'll go with you. Lemme just get my jacket.....

Let the wild goose chase begin.

Ricardo wheeled towards the bed, grimacing...and banged right into it, sending credit cards fluttering to the floor from the underneath the mattress.

Maria: (looking over at him, puzzled) What's that on the floor?

Ricardo: Whoops! Dropped the Uno cards!

Maria: Um, you mean the ones on the table?? (starts to walk over) And since when do Uno cards have the Visa logo on them???

Ricardo: Stay back, Maria!!! (covers his face and reaches for them frantically) I'm hideous!!!!

Maria: What is the MATTER with you???? (kneels) What IS...???....all of Gabi and Antonio's credit cards??? What are you doing with these???

Ricardo: They...they asked me to hold on to 'em.

Maria: Then you know where they are?

Ricardo: Yeah. No!!!! Well--

The phone rang.

Ricardo & Maria: I'll get it!!!!!

Maria: Uh-uh, NO way!

Ricardo: I really, really think I should--

Maria: (grabs phone) Hello?

*This is L.A.X. Security Central. I'd like to speak to Detective Torres?*

She glanced at Ricardo with raised eyebrows while he nodded fiercely with an outstretched wiggling hand.

Maria: Ahem...he's not in right now. (Ricardo makes a face) Can I take a message?

*Of course. Please just tell him that the officer that was supposedly escorting the convicts to New York never informed us of their arrival. We have reason to believe that Gabi and Antonio Torres reached their destination unguarded.*

Maria's eyes went blank, her face contorted in horror....

Maria: Y-es....I'll tell him. Thank you....

She hung up the phone, and all the pieces started to fit....

Maria: (hesitantly) Ricardo....please....tell me it isn't true......?

Ricardo: (dangerously grim).......What do you want to hear, Maria? That I don't know....that I don't know that Gabi and Antonio are liars...cheats....who ain't worth their weight in circus peanuts??............

Maria: (shaky voice) Oh my God.....oh no.......

Ricardo: Oh yeah. Guess ya' found me out. See...Mrs. Torres and the Priest are on a little trip....a no-expenses paid trip to MY world, Maria........the inferno........

Gabi bit her lip and slipped her elbow around Antonio's, quickly shifting him in the direction of a newspaper kiosk.

Gabi: Hey, check this out! “Jacko to Wed Virgin Mary.” Bet that’s the talk of the Mission back home, huh?

Antonio: Hey, if something like this could happen to us, you never….

He glanced at her in puzzlement as he tried to keep walking, and she blockaded him apprehensively, smack dab in his path.

Antonio:…..know. Gabi, what’s wrong?

Gabi: Wrong? Nothing!! Nothing’s wrong, I just……

Antonio: Well, (he moves to the right, so does she) I, ( both to the left)….I get the feeling that you don’t (both to the right)….(laughs) ...what’re you doing? What don’t you want me to see?

Gabi: Antonio….please just—

Antonio: (touches her shoulders) Hey, hey, I think I can handle it, OK? After all we’ve been through today, I think I can handle the sight of a rec—

Gabi made a clenched face..

Antonio: ……..---tory???

His eyes stared unmoving at the sight for a second or two…..the hopeless sight of a pile of bricks and an empty lot, the sign still standing beside it—“The Rectory of Our Lady of the Most Imminent Destiny.”

Antonio: ...It’s gone. Demolished. (Nervous laughter) Our only way home is a leveled building…..isn’t that ironic?? Guess I should've figured that things might’ve changed in this little town since the Bush administration. But no-ho-ho…I knew what I was doing…..

He started to pace around with a dangerous sparkle in his eyes.

Gabi: (worriedly) Antonio…hey.....come on…keep it together now…..

Antonio: I don't believe it. I just lead us both to our doom. Father Lemming. Father, the Great Dimwitted One…..ggrggh!!! (buries his hands in his hair) I failed you Gabi….even more miserably than usual this time….when I told you to trust me, you should’ve run screaming in the other direction!!

Gabi: No! That’s not true! You’ve been incredible, Antonio, you’ve been here for me…we’ve been here for each other. Siegfried and Roy , remember? (he turns away) We can do anything, OK? Hey…..hey……look at me….I know you can’t look at me and be angry.

He accepted her dare, his sad eyes falling over her like melted candy.

Antonio: You’re right. I can’t look at you. I can’t look at you and think about how much you don’t deserve this. You deserve to be back home…with Ricardo……oh God….(covers his eyes) he’s gonna find out about this…..that we’re stranded here….together……he's gonna find out.

Gabi: Find out what, Antonio? That you psyched out a gun-toting maniac?? That you pulled me out of the way of a truck and saved my life?? Hmh. "Ricardo will find out. " You know, Antonio….maybe I’ll tell him. Maybe I’ll tell him that you held me and I liked it. That I needed you.

Antonio: (turns away) I'm the last thing you need. If you hated my guts forever....I wouldn't stop you.

Gabi: I tried to hate you when we ended up stuck here, Antonio. I thought if I tried hard enough, I could pretend you didn't mean anything to me. I guess I failed at that. I'm failing now.....and I fail everytime I look at you....everytime you look at me......

Antonio: (whispers) Even when I'm not looking...every second of every day, Gabi...I see you.....

Gabi: (softly) I want to tell the world I see you, Antonio....I want to make them understand all these "awful," "unthinkable" things. We're all we've got now, you and me. Just two people lost in the world........with broken wings. But I'm not gonna break you down anymore. Just once, just once, Antonio….I’d like to do something in my life without hurting a man who’d die for me. No matter who we are, Antonio……I don’t want to hurt you anymore!!

But just then, she leaned against a Keep Out sign beside the disheveled lot, and it unearthed itself and went hurtling backwards, hitting him in the head with a resonating gonging sound as he fell to the sidewalk.

Antonio: Oof!

Gabi: (gasps) Oh my God!! I am so sorry, Antonio! Antonio?? C'mon...focus on me....how many fingers am I holding up???

Antonio: (squinting) Twenty four......??

Gabi: (winces) OH God...NOT good!

People passing by began to gawk at them, chuckling, as lights began to light up the city, almost blanketed in the aftermath of sunset.

Gabi: It's alright, folks........he's fine.....yep.... just Yankee fever! Oh yeah!! New York Pride!!......He-heh......(Aside) OH that sounded stupid....

After a sudden vision jolted him...numb to the aching of his head, he looked up at her and felt drained of self-loathing. She really meant what she said........she really....cared? He almost wanted to laugh at how crazy it all was...and felt a little crazy himself....

Gabi: Antonio.....what's the matter? Why are you looking at me like that......don't you recognize me??

Antonio: I....I don't know.....can you give me a hint?

Gabi: Oh no!! It's me, Antonio, Gabi! I'm your........(caresses his hair) nevermind. C'mon, snap out of it, Antonio.... please don't leave me now...I need you....come back to me, please....

Antonio: (grins) Gotcha.

Gabi: Ugggggh!!! (swats him) You jerk! You just scared the hell out of me!!

Antonio: (sighs) You're very beautiful when you're gullible.

She felt her heart throbbing in her throat and smiled weakly, blushing like mad.

Gabi: Hey....the last thing I needed was an amnesiac on my hands. We have enough memory problems as it is. (helps him up)

Antonio: Speaking of which.....Gabi, the weirdest thing happened. When the sign hit me, I think I had some kind of...flash.

Gabi: OH no. Don't tell me you're going psychic on me now. I don't think I even want to know what could happen to us next!

Antonio: No...it was like a deja vu feeling...I think I remembered something....something that happened to us before JFK....I was running, and you were with me....and I ran headfirst into ...a door, I think.....it said... Gate G ?....

Gabi: Oh my God...we must have been at an airport in L.A. But why?? Think, Antonio. C'mon....what were we running away from? Or....who?

Antonio: I.....ugh. (opens his eyes) I can't remember anything else.

Gabi: (touches his arm gently) It's alright. We'll piece it all together.

Antonio stared at the cloudy night sky and sighed heavily.

Antonio: I don't know if it'll do us much good. What are we gonna do now? Eventually, we're just gonna collapse from exhaustion....with no place to go.....I can't put you in danger like that.

Gabi: Don't worry about me.

Antonio: Congratulations. You just found the grammatical equivalent of saying "Don't breathe."

Gabi: I'm not afraid of anything, alright? I'll sleep in Grand Central Station if I have to. I'll do anything for you, Antonio....just like you would for me....

Antonio: (sadly) I just want to take you away from all this.....

Gabi: Away from you?

Antonio: Away from this whole day.

Gabi: Well, look at it this way. Things couldn't get any worse, right?

That was when they heard the thunder.

Suddenly, they were surrounded by drops, plunging fiercely at them from the sky…their hair becoming darker and heavier as they stared at each other in the midst of the storm. He moved a wet piece of her hair that had fallen across her eye, her dark lashes sad and sullen against the falling water. His hand….detached from the voice in his head…he stroked her cheek with a heavy sigh…..her eyes never moving from his.

Antonio: Come on……let's get out of here. Here, take my coat….

Gabi: No, no, you’re already shivering like crazy!

Antonio: I won’t notice if you’re warm.

He wrapped the coat around her tightly, using the gesture as an excuse to hold her for a few seconds. She stopped ingoring the tingles his hands sent down her back....and for once, let them run their fiery course through her body......

Antonio: You see? I feel better already.

They trudged on through the drenched city.....with no idea of what their destination was....lost.....alone.....while the NSA agents watched the two heated souls’ every move....as they unknowingly carried the secret disk into the night.

Agent 1: We've got them under full surveillance. The incriminating evidence will be back in our hands before you know it.

Agent 2: And the supsects?

Agent 1: They messed with the wrong agency. Our best operative is after them. They'll erase their very existence tonight.

Words escaped Maria as Ricardo's confession came to life. His voice like knives, he told her everything.....her eyes became heavy with sadness amidst this strange tale of bitterness and pain. But at the same time, the shock of the desperate actions the tortured man had taken to ease his rage....and the side of the story that only she knew were haunting her.

Ricardo: Well, that's it. There's VH1's Ricardo Torres "Behind the Maniac" special. Don't even look at me that way, Maria. Don't even say, "Ohhh, Ricardo, I had no idea." You knew IT ALL.

Maria: (looks down) Yes. I knew....

Ricardo: Then why?? Why'd you let me marry her??

Maria: Why did you let yourself marry her, Ricardo??

Ricardo: Oh, don't worry. I can get this crock of a nuptial annulled in the blink of an eye. Heh. Kinda the same way I said "I do." Yeah, there's no way to prove I was sane at the time....but I knew. Knew exactly what I was doin'. I went through with that touching ceremony so I could have a cover. So I could exact my revenge as the jolly crippled husband, and they wouldn't suspect a thing. And after I pulled that off....then came my greatest trick of all.....

.....makin' Gabi and Antonio disappear.

Maria shifted uncomfortably in her chair as his intense speech went on.

Ricardo: Yeah, I did it. I sent the hellians to Hell's Kitchen with nothing. So they'd know what it was like to be left with nothing. To turn their stupid little feeeelings for each other into nothing. To make them hate each other... as much as I hate them.

Maria: (solemnly)...Will you at least answer me this? Did it ever once occur to you that what you've done might make them closer than ever?

Ricardo: Believe me, Maria. I've had my fair share of ghastly visions of them Mary Tyler Moorin' down the boulevards in a nauseating glee. But the hope....the hope that I've destroyed them is enough.

Maria: Can't you see? That's the difference between you and me, Ricardo! I did what I did so no one would be hurt, so no one would be destroyed--

Ricardo: Save it, sis!!! As far as I'm concerned....you're just as guilty....of aiding and abetting Judas Priest!

Maria: Maybe you're right. I did aid Antonio, all of this! I was the reason he gave himself to the priesthood, Ricardo, me! I always knew how skeptical Antonio was about finding love....and how desperately he wanted to love someone. I took that away from him after I was gone. He wanted to heal, to use that love he wanted to give to someone so badly to help people. But he didn't know, Ricardo......he, he didn't bargain on Gabi ever coming into he life--

Ricardo: (abruptly) Regardless....of the ill-planned, Dixie Cup vows, Maria....Gabi was mine. My girl!!

Maria: I wish we could stake claims on people's hearts, Ricardo. Don't you think I would if I could? I'm married to someone who doesn't love me!

Ricardo: Heh. Guess we're in the same boat after all.

Maria: I don't believe that. We might not know what Gabi's reasons were for marrying you, but I know that she has to--

Ricardo: What, love me?? Antonio can HAVE her kinda love. Hmph. The love of people who gotta take extra tickets at the deli counter for each two-faced personality. Now that's MY goal in life. The guy she thinks she loves is a ghost, Maria! This is the new and improved Ricardo. But you know...heh. (pauses) The old Ric was pretty cool. I was that type o' dude who'd leave a big bowl of Halloween candy out on my front porch that said "Take One," and never even think that anybody'd dump the whole damn thing in their bag. "Everything's cool, man. Everything's cool." Course she loves that guy. Who wouldn't love an ignorant buffoon like that? Ain't it a lot easier to love him than to admit you want a Clergy Boy in the same damn family? Nah, not Gabi. She's done with the hard road. So she chose me. But she'll never give up visiting him in La-La Land. And he'll never give her up either!

Maria: Never give her up?? Don't you understand? He stepped aside for you, Ricardo! He sacrificed his love for her for you!

Ricardo: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I figured out the whole puke-worthy scenario. Gag me, Maria. The forbidden longing from afar....how she was this unnattainable prize on a pedestal to him. Well, he attained her, alright....he attained her all night long, while I was busting my ass with a pick-ax. Hey, get a load'a that--I was breaking rocks, he was rocking her world. Ain't that justice?

Maria: I know, Ricardo....it's horrible to think about it that way...but it wasn't that black and white! You know deep down it wasn't like that at all. You know Antonio didn't set out to, to just "rock Gabi's world" behind your back!

Ricardo: Oh no? I saw the damn euphoric grins on their faces. Hell, I never knew makin' love could be so much fun while you were asphyxiating. Guess there just ain't enough Co2 in the loft to get her to look at me that way. How bout it Maria? Did he fill you in on some of the juicy details that aren't already available on home video???

Maria: Do you think it was all a big joke, Ricardo?? That they were having a laugh riot at your expense when they were trapped in there? They thought they'd lost the world! They already had strong feelings for each other...they were their only sanctuary---

Ricardo: Ohhh, gimme a--

Maria: No! If you're ever going to move past this, you can't pretend it was just a cheap thrill! They loved each other. I'm sorry....with everthing I am, I'm sorry....but it's the truth! I can't debase what they felt, Ricardo! I can't give it a name, like "betrayal," or "mistake." The only two people who know what they mean to each other are lost somewhere in New York right now. And THAT'S the truth!!!

He was speechless....dumfounded. His sister looked at him with empathic eyes....she understood his rage and pain....

But she couldn't slander what her little brother had felt in his heart, either.

It was a while before he spoke again....she walked behind him and nestled her arms around him.

Ricardo: ....So what now, little sister?

Maria: I really don't know. It's a hell of a mess. Someday, I hope we'll know who those two really are....and who they've kept hidden for all our sakes.

Ricardo: But she tries. She tries real hard not to love that damn fool. Wonder how hard she's tryin now.

Maria: What we have to try to do is get them back. (he rolls his eyes) You know it was wrong! And don't you feed me that flack about the "new and improved Ricardo." C'mon...you know still know what's right...you're still an officer....you're still my brother!

Ricardo: So you don't hate me for Fed-Exing them to the Big Apple?

Maria: I love you, unconditionally, Ricardo! (He starts to say something) Ah, ah ah--we won't discuss that word in regards to Antonio right now. That'll be your battle to face, Ricardo, not mine. (Smiles a little) But can I at least say that your behavior has forced me to abdicate your rights to boss me around?

Ricardo: (sighs) Well, I'd step down....but since I can't walk....

She raised a brow.

Ricardo: Alright, alright. I hereby surrender for being a complete jackass and make you honorary big sister for the day.

Maria: OK. My first ruling as eldest Torres is to find Antonio and Gabi. But....being the sharp detective you are.....you left us with no way of tracing them, of course.....

Ricardo: (mumbles) I can get around that.

Maria: (slyly) Ahem.... what was that, McGyver?

Ricardo: I pulled a few strings to get them there....I can pull a few to get'em back.

He sighed and took her hand....as the plan went into the next phase........reluctantly, but surely................

...but was it too late?

To Be Continued.....:-)

Next....the final chapter.....fate works its magic again....evening gowns...a little Italian restaurant....a way home...and an unimaginable threat..... Will Gabi and Antonio be lost.....forever? :-)