"Let me guess," I said flatly, my eyes narrowing at the unsettling man that had just claimed he went way back with Hadley. "You and Hadley used to be best friends in high school, right?"

The man flashed an amused smile. "Why, how did you know?"

Okay. That was it.

I'd had enough of this shit today. I didn't need every creep this city had to offer coming up to me, telling me they knew my wife and that they were best friends. This was not normal. Why were things that were not normal following us around like the plague?

"Right," I said slowly. "Whatever. If you don't mind, I have more important things to do than stand around here talking to you."

I made to follow after the group of nurses that had just wheeled Hadley away, but a hand suddenly gripped my forearm and then I was being dragged down a small hallway that lead to the bathrooms.

"Oi! What the - !"

"Listen well, Archer Morales," the man said, shoving me up against the wall, grabbing fistfuls of my shirt. Looking down at the hands gripping my shirt, I noticed with a sinking feeling that he had the same tattoos that the other man and Hadley had. "Things are about to get ten times more complicated for you and for Hadley and for your unborn child. You'd do well to heed my words."

"Look, I don't even know - "

"Listen to me." He gave me a firm shake. "Do you want your wife and child to die?"

"What are you on about?" I demanded, shoving the man away from me. "Can't you just leave me and my wife alone? What did we ever do to you? Or are you in league with that creep with the mismatched eyes?"

The man's unnerving black eyes narrowed, his eyes twisting into a harsh line. "No, you daft idiot. I'm trying to help you. I'm one of the good guys."

Oh, I had a very difficult time believing that.

"Really?" I said harshly. "One of the good guys? Please, tell me more."

The man ignored this comment.

"If you really love Hadley like I think you do, then you'll do what I say. You can't stop what's coming for you, or for her. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your baby, would you?"

I glowered at him, rage boiling in the pit of my stomach.

He just had to hit that soft spot, didn't he?

"No," I snapped. "But I fail to see how this has anything to do with you."

The look that came over the man's face was one I didn't think I would ever know how to describe. He looked regretful, upset, worried, distraught, and so much more. It made him look a thousand years old, as if he had seen more sorrows in the world than anyone else in the world could ever begin to imagine.

"This has everything in the world to do with me," he muttered, not meeting my gaze. "I'm the reason you both are in this position in the first place."

What?

"How did you manage to work that one out?" I asked hesitantly. "I don't even - "

"Excuse me, sir."

The man and I both turned to look to the end of the short hallway where a nurse in purple scrubs was heading our way, a grim look on her face.

Oh, shit. This couldn't be good.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I'd already reached the nurse and was gripping her firmly by the shoulders, practically shaking her.

"Is my wife okay? Is everything alright? Is the - "

The nurse smiled slightly, holding up a hand to stop my rapid babble of words. "Your wife and the baby are just fine."

I breathed a huge sigh of relief, slumping against the wall. "Thank God."

The nurse chuckled. "Yes, well. You can go and see her now. We'll be keeping her for about an hour or so, just to make sure she and the baby get rest. She's very dehydrated and she needs as much rest as she can get. She should probably take a day or two off work. She shouldn't be as exhausted as she is now in her condition."

I nodded, listening intently. "Right. Thank you."

"Of course. Now, if you'll just -"The nurse caught sight of the man standing beside me, and she took an immediate step back, her face paling. I didn't blame her for looking so horrified. This man could probably kill someone by raising an eyebrow alone. "And you are?"

The man flashed another eerie grin. "Her father."

"R-Right," the nurse stammered before scuttling off without waiting for us to follow her.

I did not want to let this man anywhere near Hadley, but I wasn't stupid. I knew he would follow after me with little regard to anything I said or did.

"Come on, dad," I grumbled, giving the man a shove to the shoulder. "Let's go see how Hadley's doing."

"After you, son."

As we traced the nurse's footsteps, I sincerely hoped that this was some sort of hoax and that Hadley really didn't know this man at all. I wasn't sure if I could say the same for the man with the mismatched eyes. You didn't have a reaction like Hadley's about someone you didn't know.

Christ, this day really needed to end already.

The man and I went through the double doors past the ER entrance and down a hallway lined with rooms until she stopped outside the room marked 21R.

"She's in there," she said, gesturing to the door. "Go on in."

She scampered away before the man or I could say anything else.

I cautiously stepped into the room, so anxious to see Hadley, to see that she was okay for myself, I was having trouble walking properly.

Hadley was propped up against a pillow on the narrow bed inside the room. Her eyes were closed, but her breathing was much easier, even, than it had been before. She looked as if she had seen better days, but physically speaking? She was okay. And at this point, that was all I could ask for.

Her eyes opened as I stepped further into the room and a small smile pulled at her lips. "Hey, Archer."

"Hi, miele. How are you feeling?" I asked tentatively, moving to the overstuffed chair beside her bed.

"Okay," she answered tiredly after a moment. "I've been better. I'm just so tired, I - "

Her voice broke off abruptly as the door squeaked open and the man from earlier strolled in.

She stared at the man with her mouth open in surprise and then made this sort of choking noise.

The man gave Hadley a bleak smile. "Long time no see, kid."

"Death? What the hell are you doing here?"

I stared back and forth between the two of them, unsure of what the appropriate reaction was supposed to be.

Hadley had just called this man death. This man's name was death? She wasn't actually serious, was she?

"You're kidding," I said flatly. "Your name is Death."

"Oh, my name isn't just Death," the man said, his grim smile widening. "I am Death."

What was that supposed to mean? And what the hell was I supposed to say to that?

You're a lunatic, stay away from me and my wife?

I looked back at Hadley for help, but she was staring at the man with the same horrified look on her face. She didn't even seem to notice I was sitting next to her.

"What are you doing here, Death?" she asked, her voice growing snippy. "You never show up just for a friendly visit. It's been a decade. Please don't tell me you have another deal on the table."

"Not exactly," Death said, leaning away from the wall. He reached out and shoved the door shut, twisting the lock, before gripping the railing on the edge of the bed. "I'm afraid I have rather disconcerting news. And this isn't just about you this time."

Hadley's hands were clenched into fists and her eyes were narrowed. I'd only seen Hadley mad a fair few times - mostly at me - but she was mad.

"This has something to do with Havoc, doesn't it?" she mumbled through tight lips.

Who the hell was Havoc?

Death nodded. "Correct."

"Well, shit."

And then Hadley let loose with a string of the most creative use of curses words I'd ever heard in my entire life. Considering I was Italian, that was saying something.

This went on for about a good moment while she damned everyone to Hell, and then when she was finished that, she promptly burst into tears.

"Uh..."

I looked over at Death, unsure of what to do. Comfort her in some way or beg her to stop crying? I didn't do crying. But Death looked just as flustered as I felt.

I sincerely hoped she wasn't sobbing because she was pregnant. There was no way I could handle this degree of crying for another nine months.

"Come on, kid," Death said, reaching out to awkwardly pat Hadley's knee. "Stop crying."

"I can sure as hell cry if I want to!" she barked, actually making me duck for fear she was about to chuck something at Death. "I have every right to!"

Death shrugged. "It's not going to make anything easier."

"Why is he waltzing back into our lives now?" she demanded, her voice rising to outrageous heights. "I thought I was done and over with you and that freak and everything else to do with your unnatural world!"

Okay. I was starting to get a little aggravated. Seriously.

It was obvious now that this man and Hadley had some sort of past together, and that was all fine and dandy. I had no control over who she interacted with.

But I had the feeling that this had something to do with me for some reason. Call it crazy, but I wanted to know why that was.

"Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?" I interjected before Death or Hadley could speak again. "Neither of you are making any sense."

They ignored me.

"Look, kid." Death cleared his throat, looking very uncomfortable. "You knew getting into this that it was going to come with some repercussions.

"Yeah, well, that was nine years ago! I was sixteen!" Hadley exclaimed loudly. "That contract didn't exactly cover Havoc, now did it?"

Who was Havoc? What contract? Hadley signed a contract with Death?

My head was starting to throb painfully. This wasn't what any of us needed right now.

"It was worth it, wasn't it?" Death asked Hadley, his voice serious.

"Of course it was!" she shouted back. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I had to! And you just knew I was going to fall in love with him, didn't you? That just sweetened the whole deal, didn't it?"

Him? Who did she fall in love with? Was she talking about me?

Death shrugged again. "Oh, young love, you know. Girls and boys falling in love all the time and - "

"Cut the bullshit, Death!"

"I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean to - "

"Okay, will someone please tell me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

Hadley and Death abruptly stopped talking, looking over at me in shock as if they just realized that I was still in the room.

"Archer." The angered look fell from Hadley's face as she looked at me. "I know this all seems a little..."

"Off the wall," I suggested for her. "That's what this seems like. I get the fact that there's things you haven't told me, and that's fine, okay? Cool. But call me stupid if I'm wrong in thinking this has something to do with me."

Hadley swallowed hard, glancing back over at Death. He held up his hands in a gesture that said you're on your own.

"Look," she said, reaching out to grab my arm. I wanted to shake off her hand. "There are a lot of things about this that seem...confusing. It's not easy to explain, and you're not going to like it."

There were plenty of things I didn't like in this world. If there was one thing I didn't like, though, it was having secrets kept from me.

"Just tell me what this is about," I demanded. "Tell me."

I had no way of knowing if I was going to end up regretting saying that. That's what scared me.

What could Hadley possibly have to say?

"When we were juniors in high school," she began, her lips trembling, "you killed yourself."

I stared at her, my mouth opening in surprise.

That had literally been the last thing I was expecting her to say.

"Excuse me?" I said. "I don't think I heard you correctly."

Hadley's eyes narrowed. "I told you this was going to sound crazy, but this is the God honest truth, Archer."

"Funny. I'm having a hard time believing that."

"Clearly," Death cut in sarcastically.

"Shut up, Death.

There was a time in my life where my major depressive disorder had gotten the better of me. I stopped taking my medicine because I hated the zombie-like feeling that came with it. I didn't like feeling like I wasn't myself.

But in reality, I was a dumbass for weaning myself off the meds. There were reasons why I'd been put on the medicine in the first place. And I'm sure if psychologists knew what I'd been thinking back then I'd been put on even more medication. How else was an eleven year old supposed to react when he found his step-father lying dead on the kitchen floor?

The first time I'd had the thought that maybe it would just be better if I ended my life was when my biological father tried to contact me from prison just after my seventeenth birthday by writing me a letter. I'd tossed the letter into the fireplace without even bothering to open it.

It had just brought back unwanted memories of that night, memories that I didn't want to remember. And then everything had just gone down hill from there.

But despite the fact that there were times when I hadn't wanted to live anymore, I knew that I couldn't do that to my mom or my little sisters. Even if it annoyed the hell out of me sometimes, I knew they needed me.

Yet Hadley was saying that I'd actually done it? In what universe?

"I killed myself," I repeated slowly. "Right."

"And on the night of your funeral," Hadley went on, starting to babble. "Death showed up and offered me a deal. He said I had to go back in time twenty-seven days to stop you from killing yourself, and that if I failed I wasn't going to like the consequences."

I was still having a hard time believing the fact that the other guy in the room claimed to be Death, let alone the fact that I'd killed myself.

What else could I do but at least listen to the story Hadley had to tell?

"And you took the deal?"

Hadley nodded, her face growing even more pale.

"Why the hell did you do that?" I demanded, my anger suddenly spiking.

A stunned look crossed her face. "What do you mean?"

"Jesus, Hadley, you didn't even know me!" I exclaimed. "And you just decided to take a deal from some strange man claiming to be death to save my life and you didn't even know me? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I know I didn't know you," Hadley said, her voice rising to match mine. "But you want to know why I did it?"

"Why? Because you thought you could change me or you thought you - "

"I did it because of your mother. Archer, you have no idea how she looked at your funeral. There was no way I could've just let her son stay dead."

My chest immediately tightened and breathing became difficult at her words.

My mother? My mother had always been a soft spot before. That just made it even worse.

When I looked up at Hadley again, her eyes were wide and shimmering with tears. I sucked in a breath and slid lower in my seat, a hand at my forehead.

Oh, God. She really was telling the truth, wasn't she?

There was a lot you couldn't expect when it came to a woman like Hadley, but if there was one thing she was not it was an actress. I knew my wife.

There was no way on Earth she could bullshit tears like this.

"As much as I hate to intrude on this special moment between the two of you," Death interjected, stepping forward to the foot of the bed, "I'm afraid we have something of a more pressing matter to discuss at the moment, and I really can't afford to waste anymore time."

Hadley and I both shot murderous glares at Death.

I had no idea how this Havoc personally really was, but judging by Death's behavior and Hadley fainting at the mentino of him, he had to be a character of considerable horror.

"Okay," I said. "I get that this Havoc person is bad, but what can he honestly do to make this seem worse than it already is?"

Death leaned across the bed, gripping its handrails, and looked straight at me, making me instinctively lean back from the dark expression in his black eyes.

"That man is going to make you regret the day you were ever born. He's the reason my wife is dead, the reason why Hadley almost died in that car accident, and the reason why you're going to die if you don't play his game."

I stared at Death, not really sure if I was supposed to believe what he just said.

I was going to die? Hadley was going to die? The baby was going to die?

Death sure didn't look like he was joking about this, and Hadley sure didn't look all that chipper either. Glancing back over at her, I was suddenly afraid that she was going to throw up or faint again she was that sickly looking.

"Do you honestly expect me to believe this?" I said after a heavy beat of silence.

"I know it seems impossible, but it's the truth," Hadley said quickly, reaching out to grip my arm again. "I wouldn't lie about something like this."

What wasn't making sense to me was that if this was honestly the truth, then why had she waited nine freaking years to suddenly bring it up?

"Yeah, but not telling me about any of this is just the same as lying."

Hadley flinched, like I'd just slapped her across the face.

I said those words more harshly than I had intended. But they're exactly what I meant. I wasn't the type of person who got easily butt-hurt over something, but I was finding this a little...offensive, maybe. I was included in this whole thing, wasn't I? I should have a right to know about something concerning myself.

"Would you have believed me even if I'd told you?" Hadley asked quietly, not meeting my eye.

I thought about that one for a moment. And she was right.

"No. I wouldn't have. But I would've wanted to know anyway."

"Ahem."

"What?!" both Hadley and I shouted, glaring over at Death.

"I believe we were discussing Havoc," Death said dryly. "Not having couples' therapy."

I wanted to throw the nearest object I could reach at Death, which happened to be a lamp. The guy could at least have enough decency to let my wife and I discuss whatever the hell he'd just brought up that was supposedly going to change our lives.

"Fine," Hadley said, throwing her hands in the air. "Fine! Tell us what it is we need to know about Havoc and then leave. The Lord only knows you've screwed things up enough already, Death."

"Not my fault, kid." Death gripped the edges of the bed's railing and leaned closer towards Hadley and me, lowering his voice to lessen the chances of someone else hearing what was bound to be a very weird conversation. "Hadley. You already know how Havoc works and operates."

"Yeah, he's a sick bastard. I got that part."

Death rolled his eyes at Hadley's words but kept talking. "And you know very well that at the end of your twenty-seven days with Archer he wasn't particularly pleased that you managed to evade him, now was he?"

Hadley flinched again, as if what she was remembering at the moment was something very bad, and I reached out to lace my fingers through hers on an impulse. She squeezed my hand tightly, her eyes locked on Death.

"I know he wasn't happy," she muttered. "He almost killed me, for God's sake."

I slunk a little lower in my seat, massaging my temples. So Death hadn't been kidding about that after all.

I really was going to strangle that sick, twisted son of a bitch as soon as I was able to get my hands on him.

The way Hadley looked after that car accident was something that occasionally crept into my nightmares every now and again, made me wake up with my heart pounding, sweating profusely. She had looked horrible then and it had taken months for her to recover from it. I was still counting my lucky stars that she had actually lived, despite all odds.

But no. That bastard was going to pay for everything he'd done to her.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but you're still the intended target here, Hadley," Death said.

I sat up a little straighter. If Hadley was the intended target, then...

"Why the hell did he come to me, then?" I demanded. "Wouldn't he have gone to - "

Death cut me off before I could finish. "No. That's not the way Havoc operates. He's going to get back at Hadley by going after you. In a way, that's what he did before, but this time it's going to be a little different."

Silence fell, allowing time for the severity of Death's words to sink in.

I was just wondering how this Havoc person had even gone after Hadley in the first place, besides that damn car. When I was first getting to know her, she'd seemed completely fine.

Clearly we both still had much to discuss after this.

"Oh."

I looked over at Hadley and almost groaned when I saw that her eyes were watering with tears again, a hand over her mouth, a completely horrified look on her face.

"Hadley?" I said slowly, cautiously. "Are you - "

"He's going to do what he did to your wife, isn't he?" Hadley said to Death. "He's going to drive him insane and make him - "

"No." Death held up a hand, stopping Hadley's rapid flow of words. "I've told you before that I can't read minds, but I already know that isn't what he's going to do."

"But - "

"I can't be too sure," he continued, glaring down at his clasped hands. "But I know he's going to pick at what bothers you most, Archer. The things you avoid, the things that really make you squirm."

"I don't squirm," I snapped. "There's nothing I - "

"You and I both know that's not true." Death gave me a leveled glare. "You have fears just like everyone else does."

Fears.

Now there was an interesting word.

I didn't look at it as having fears. I looked at it as having things I wanted to avoid entirely. My biological father was one of those things. Telling my mother that I'd weaned myself off of antidepressants a few years too early was another.

Telling Hadley how I really felt about her? Thinking about the night Chris died? A few other things among others.

Of course there were things I didn't like to even think about. But I wouldn't call it having fears. To me, admitting that you had fears was just another blatant way to say that you were weak.

"Ah," Death said, a knowing look in his eyes. "I think you know what I'm talking about."

"What do my fears have to do with anything?" I asked, gritting my teeth.

"Oh, I think they have to do with everything," Death answered.

"That doesn't even - "

"You're not serious, are you?" Hadley broke in. "Havoc is going to make him face his fears?"

"Something of the like," Death said with a nod.

I was going to have to face my fears?

"Well, how on Earth am I supposed to do that?" I asked dumbfoundedly after a moment. "What is he going to do, follow me around until I admit all the things that make me uncomfortable or some shit?"

"No," Hadley said immediately. "Bad things are going to happen if you don't figure out what it is your supposed to do on your own."

"But - "

"You being in that bus accident, your mom having that flashback, your dad requesting that appeal, June splitting open her leg, me being hit by that car," she fired off. "Those weren't just coincidences."

My mind started rushing, thinking of every misfortune thing that had happened during my junior year of high school. Things had been pretty bad then, and I knew bad things.

Yet Hadley was saying that wasn't just chance?

"That was all Havoc?" I asked weakly.

Both Death and Hadley nodded.

Well, shit.

Right now I was at point in my life where I couldn't afford to have any misfortunate things happen. Before today, my life had been at a relative calm of the late and I liked that. I was happy with my life for once. I wasn't all that thrilled to have that change.

But now...

I involuntarily looked towards Hadley, to her pregnant belly that was already starting to show.

I definitely could not afford to have anything happen to her, or to our unborn child.

"Fine." I was speaking before I even knew what I was saying. "Fine. I have to face my fears. Whatever. How long do I have?"

It was several moments before Death answered. Even then he wouldn't meet my eye, his head ducked.

"As soon as possible."

"Right," I said. "Because that's going to be so easy."

Death shrugged, running a hand across his jaw. "Well, unless I'm much mistaken, you do have someone to help you."

"I do?"

That was when I was suddenly whapped upside the head.

"Of course you do, you idiot!" Hadley all but shrieked at me. "What do you think I'm here for? I'm your wife, unless you've forgotten already!"

"Okay, yeah, but - "

"It's the same now as it was back then," Hadley said, reaching out to grip my chin in her hand, forcing me to look at her. "Nothing's changed."

I wasn't quite sure what she was getting at. Unless I was much mistaken, everything had changed.

"What do you mean?" I asked slowly.

She let out an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes. "How much I love you."

Oh. That.

That made sense, if you took the time to think about it.

"Look, you two," Death interjected. "I'm not going to be able to help you at all with this. I hope you know that."

Hadley cut her eyes to Death in a steely glare. "Isn't that always how it is with you, Death?"

Death's eyes narrowed. "That's not true and you know it."

"Well, maybe not, but - "

"So I just have to face my fears," I said loudly for confirmation. "That's it?"

"Don't get too complacent," Death warned. "You have no idea what's capable of happening. This is something you have to work out for yourself. I can only tell you so much. But watch your back, won't you?"

I always watched my back. That was one thing that had never changed about myself.

"And I can't guarantee that you won't be getting anymore visits from Havoc," he added. "It's anybody's guess. My advice would be to work swiftly and silently, get it done with as soon as possible. Don't drag it out."

"Great!" Hadley threw her hands up in the air with a sarcastic snort. "That's just what I need. Knowing there's a chance Havoc might show up when I go into labor."

I slapped a hand to my face.

"Dear God. Please let this be over with by the time the baby is born."

"Amen," Death concurred.

"Thank you," Hadley added awkwardly after a moment. "For coming to warn us."

Death smiled slightly and shrugged. "It's what I do. But just so you know... this will be the last time you'll see me."

I wanted to say good, but Hadley's loud gasp beat me to the punch.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't risk hurting either of you by hanging around for much longer. He'll know I'm helping you, and the last thing you want is for him to take it up a notch."

That was a good enough reason for me. If I had it my way, I'd never see either of these men again.

It was nearing seven in the evening before Hadley was finally discharged from the hospital. She'd been wheeled away shortly after Death had disappeared in a rather cliche manner for an ultrasound. And that had to be one of the weirdest experiences of my life, watching the little life growing inside Hadley flickering on the screen. The little life we'd both helped make.

My brain was having difficulties processing everything that had occured with the short expanse of just a few hours, but seeing the ultrasound of our child only reaffirmed the fact that whether or not I liked it, I was going to have to face my fears or whatever the hell it was that this Havoc person wanted me to do.

I couldn't just let anything like that happen to this baby.

It would've been nice if Death had been a little more explanatory about all of this, but I got the feeling being reclusive was his style. I suppose I had to give him some credit, though, because the warning was a nice one. I didn't exactly know what was coming for us, but I knew something was coming nonetheless.

I just hoped I would be able to handle it all when I finally figured out what fears I was going to have to face. That was going to take some serious consideration.

So how exactly was I supposed to start this whole thing?

"Archer."

I glanced over at Hadley as we stood outside the ER entrance of the hospital, waiting for a cab.

"What?"

"Are you mad?"

After everything that had just transpired, she was asking if I was mad? That would have been the least of my worries.

But was I mad?

No.

That was the last thing in the world that I was feeling at the moment.

"Hadley, I just..." I tipped my head back and sucked in a deep breath. "I don't know if I'm going crazy or if you're crazy or if this is all just a dream or if the world really is flat after all. I just...need time to...think over all of this."

I realized after I had said those words that time was the one thing I wasn't so sure I had anymore.

I felt Hadley rest her head against my chest a moment later, her fingers lacing through mine.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I know I should have told you, but this was definitely not the way I would've planned it. And I know I can't ask you to forgive me."

"Hadley..."

I gently pulled her away from my chest, tilted her head up towards me and kissed her. She made some noise of surprise, but quickly returned the kiss.

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her against me tightly, reveling in the feel of her smooth lips against mine. Hadley and I weren't all that great at sharing our feelings with each other, but kissing seemed to get the point across with us.

And I could've stayed there happily like that for awhile, just kissing her, but now I knew that there were more than just a few reasons to be off the streets at night.

"We should probably go get a cab," Hadley said breathlessly once I pulled away from her.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Cabs are good."

I stepped off the curb and quickly flagged down a taxi, stepped aside and let Hadley slide in first. I gave our address to the cab driver and reached out for Hadley almost the same time she snuggled up against my side.

It was going to take a long time before things were going to go back to normal, if they were going to go back to normal at all.

I still wasn't sure of what to believe, but the facts presented to me earlier were pretty hard to refute. Unless Death was some highly trained magician and had the ability to disappear at will, there was no way in hell he could've disappeared from sight the way he did in the hospital.

When we reached the apartment complex, Hadley and I walked up the stairs to our apartment in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

"Do you want dinner?" Hadley asked as I swung the front door shut behind us, slid the locks home.

"No."

She slid out of my jacket, tossed it on the couch, then turned to me, hands on hips. "Then what do you want?"

"I want..." What did I want? "Answers."

"Oh."

Without really thinking about what I was doing, I took Hadley's hand in my own and led her to the bedroom. We both curled up together on the bed and I buried my face in her hair, trying to figure out what it was I wanted to say to her. Now that we were alone without nurses or Death hovering around, we could talk about everything.

"Hadley," I finally managed to say.

My voice sounded impossibly loud in the quiet room.

"Hmm."

"Was it...I mean...I don't want to know about what happened with your twenty-seven days and everything, but..."

She shifted around in my arms and looked up at me, concern evident on her face. "What?"

"Please tell me you didn't make that deal with Death because you...you felt... - "

I felt stupid for even thinking those words, but it was a nagging thought on my mind that wouldn't go away. I had to know.

"Archer Incitti Morales." Hadley's voice was firm and snippy as she pushed herself up to hover over me. "I did not make the deal because I felt sorry for you. You weren't just some pity case. I wanted to help you."

"But why?" I demanded.

She frowned, absentmindedly running her fingers through my hair. "You know, I'm not really sure. I just knew it was something I had to do."

I really was never going to understand Hadley. She was the living definition of the word enigma.

The only thing I could come up with to say is, "God, you're even weirder than I thought."

Hadley's frown deepened and she pursed her lips, obviously unhappy. "Thanks."

"Hadley."

"Yes, Archer?"

"Do you...I mean, when do you want to..."

"Tell the family about the baby?"

"Bingo."

It took her only a minute to come up with a response.

"Christmas. That way we can tell everyone at once."

"Good look hiding it that long, miele. You're already showing."

"Yeah, well, if you didn't notice for this long I think we'll be okay for another few weeks."

"And what about the other thing?" I asked before I could stop myself.

She couldn't answer that right away. Of course she couldn't.

"I just don't know, Archer. I really don't."