It rushed into the church, the figure dressed in black and wearing a baseball cap. In front, the pews on both sides of the aisle had been filled with elegantly dressed men and women sitting there, several fanning their faces with their programs because it had been quite warm inside, what with the wedding of the month being held on a midsummer night.

She looked down the aisle where the couple stood at the end, the bride dressed in white, with cascading train that most likely had its own attendant and the veil ornamented by beads of diamonds. The groom dressed simply in a black tux, the jacket covering his muscular build.

A minister stood before the couple, thumbing through the Bible which lay on a podium in front of them. His brow intent on finding just the right passage to send the two of them into marital bliss.

Or barring that marital contentment.

The figure at the other hand put its hand on its hip, just watching the ceremony get rolling. The procession had likely been very lovely, the bridesmaids dressed in soft lavender carrying bouquets, the two little flower girls who stood there with their baskets looking aimlessly towards the audience.

The organist quit playing the march and the minister with his stoll around him cleared his throat.

"All right everyone…we are gathered here today to celebrate the entrance of these two individuals into the holiness of matrimony."

The figure watched and sighed, there wasn't anything holy about this proposed merger disguised as matrimony. And one of the parties entering into it was about to make a terrible mistake.

One that was about one minute away from being rectified, as the figure looked at its watch.

Julian just stood there dressed in his penguin suit in front of a crowded church filled with people, some of which he knew, many he didn't as the minister prepared to begun the ceremony. He looked over at his bride who stood there waiting coolly, her icy blonde hair coiffed neatly above the nape of her neck and a diamond necklace bordered by sapphires around her neck. The dress had been tailored by Vera Wang based on a design which had been passed along by her mother from her own ceremony and she wore the engagement ring that Julian had given her when he had proposed after their whirlwind courtship of a month since they'd hooked up in one of the suites of the Metro Court for reasons he still didn't quite understand.

Well except for his business associate Ava of course who was not standing beside him at the altar and in fact, had decided not to even sit in the audience of his wedding. A big deal because it actually looked like he was getting married this time.

She had stood before him earlier in the week, her hand on her hip and rolling her eyes at him.

"I can't believe this Julian…you're marrying a woman you've known what…a few months? Though that's quite an improvement on the one night stand in the back seat of the car woman, this is Carly we're talking about here.

"Ava I would really like it if you would support me here."

She sighed, running her hand through her crisp bob of hair, that looked a lot like…Carly's and when she looked back up at him, her icy blue eyes almost looked weary underneath all that fire.

"I…can't…this woman is not who you think she is," she said, "though that might not matter to you…maybe it's this aura of mystery…no Carly has none…she's one step up from trailer trash. Dressed up of course in designer threads but still…"

He sighed.

"I know her enough to know I want to marry her."

She just shook her head.

"Okay…fine…then marry her," she said, "but I'm not going to sit in some church and watch this train wreck…I'll be…away and hoping that somehow you'll come to your senses. Olivia was the one you were supposed to seduce you know the one that's actually bedding Sonny right now?"

Julian remembered that she had been angry but he realized she had also been concerned and why was that? Carly was a beautiful lady who had been suspicious of him from the start and he'd been suspicious of her so they'd fallen into bed with each other to figure out who was who on the canvas of PC's mobster scene. It's not the first time he'd used sex as a diversionary tactic. Okay there weren't any major sparks between them but they were certainly compatible. Marrying Carly fit in with some sort of master plan didn't it?

And then with one look Ava had walked out on him and hadn't been seen since.

That had bothered him a lot that his sister couldn't stand by him on the most important day of his life. Carly had been trying to get Julian to finance her hotel and the art gallery she'd just bought and Julian had agreed to look at it after they returned from their honeymoon.

Now he stood here at the altar scarcely believing it, trying to restrain himself from pulling on his tie and from thinking about another woman who had walked away from him.

The figure crept up the side aisle without being seen because everyone's attention remained focused on the ceremony which had just gotten started. Suddenly, it reached into its bag that it had slung over the shoulder after it walked fairly close to the front. It looked around while palming a round device that had been activated with a simple flick of a small switch.

Then the time began to count down.

"Mr. Jerome…do you take this woman here to be your lawfully…"

The round object went flying in the air after the figure tossed it and hit the cobbled floor with a clatter. Eyes focused on it, puzzled at first as it hissed on the ground and then…BOOOM, a cloud of thick smoke shrouded the front part of the church and another object of similar size landed nearby and did the same, sending more smoke and the guests began to wonder if it wasn't a good time to vacate the church.

Julian stared out in the smoke after shielding his bride who looked awfully piqued at what had happened.

"Julian…what is this?"

He seriously didn't know so he couldn't really answer. Could this be some kind of organized hit involving Sonny's family, the Rivera branch for example who had shown up with all their Rolls Royce and were clearly packing when they had attended the wedding rehearsal last night. It could also be the Vegas group who had been trying to resist an overthrow by the Miami group of their gambling operations before being bailed out by him. They had it in with Sonny and maybe his Mafia molls by extension. He hadn't really been knowing what he had chosen to marry into because he had been so caught up in the haze of proposing to Carly because it just made so much sense that they get married. Or it had but now…it puzzled him. No matter, he just had to go through with it…because for some reason.

But a figure came toward him just when he had stood up again, wondering why he hadn't worn his own gun. Yeah it was his wedding day but you would think he would have learned over what had happened when he attended the wedding of another family dom where a shootout had broken out once the wedding party left the church. The figure looked into his eyes, its hair hidden by the baseball cap and something familiar…never mind what did this person want with him?

"Come with me…"

"But you just threw a bunch of stun grenades…"

It shrugged.

"They won't hurt anyone, they're just noisy and the smoke's pretty noxious."

The minister had begun calling for calm in the chaotic environment but no one really listened and people started panicking pushing out of the pews into the narrow aisles. Julian guessed the wedding was off for now. Dante, PC's only cop had been sitting out in the audience and had remained unperturbed by the uproar, but Julian caught a trace of what looked like relief on his face beneath his no nonsense demeanor. What was it with those who were close to him that they all seemed to be against this marriage? But he was a grown man and he could make his own decisions.

"Why should I go with you?"

The figure pulled out another stun grenade.

"Because I have one left and I have half the mind to stuff it down your pants."

He looked perplexed.

"What the…"

The figure gestured, its svelte build looked wait a minute here…female? No doubt about it, and Julian thought a profile view would clinch it.

"Julian…"

That would be his bride who still lay on the ground wondering why her wedding day had gone up in smoke. Julian didn't know that either but maybe there was one way to find out.

He put up his hands.

"Okay, okay…I'll go with you," he said, "Just don't hurt anyone."

The figure tilted her head.

"No one's hurt here…and now one person won't be."

Hmm, that sounded a bit enigmatic to Julian but he finally followed the figure as they weaved their way through the throngs which still packed the twin aisles. They headed through the alcove in the back and then out the double doors, into the warmness of night.

"Get in the car," the figure said as they reached a convertible.

He turned to face her.

"No…and who the hell are you anyway?"

The figure just shook her head and looked at him seriously.

"Those men in the audience are not who you think," she said, "They're after your company…"

"What…"

"No time to explain now," she said, "Just get into the car and I'll tell you later."

Julian grabbed her arm.

"You'll tell me now."

The figure wrenched her arm away.

"Don't…I'm saving your ass here and it will become clear enough to you soon. Marrying Carly I should have let them shoot it off of you."

Julian just stood there suddenly speechless.

"But my fiancée…"

"Has a role to play in the script too…now get in the car."

He finally did, sitting shotgun while the figure got on the driver's side and started up the engine which screamed to life. She looked over and saw men coming out with guns drawn.

They sped away just as the men reached the car and Julian braced for the gunshots which thankfully didn't come. They raced down the city streets until they reached a bluff over a sandy beach where the glistening water caressed the edges of the shore. They just sat in the car looking out there and Julian didn't know what to think and he looked over at the figure which sat there with him, dressed in black jeans, a sweater and a jacket. Mahogany hair began to slip from beneath the cap betraying the figure's identity and recognition struck him.

"I know you…"

The figure removed her hat and the hair fell around her shoulders and her mouth curved into a smile.

"Of course you do…you've always known…"

Julian found himself looking at the mother of his daughter, Alexis Davis.

They hid out in a beach house that she had broken into with a credit card like Luke Spencer had taught her because he knew that the Rivera's not to mention Sonny's crew would come after them for what just happened. Maybe Ava had seen this coming and just decided to get her nails done instead of deal with another bloody mess.

"I had no idea…"

She rolled her eyes at him again.

"That's because you men don't always think with your brains Julian."

He frowned, tearing off that hated tie.

"That's not fair…"

She sighed as she looked out the windows.

"Okay, you met up with her at the hotel and then jumped in the sack with her because hey, she's Carly after all and no man can resist her brand of poison but marrying her…"

"That's not quite how it went," Julian said, "We spent some time at the Waterfront first."

Alexis looked at him.

"Yeah right…well I'm here just to save your mobster ass and after that…you're on your own."

"So you back together with Shawn?"

"Shawn who?"

He thought, he could be married now and leaving the church with Carly and people throwing rice at them. People who could pretend to be happy for them. Marriage had been in the cards for him at this point in his plan and it had to be Carly or Olivia, someone close to Sonny.

Not the woman in front of him that had told him that day her relationship with Sonny had been complicated but only a one night stand. He'd been relieved for two reasons and disappointed for one. But he had his game plan to follow to the letter, though his heart hadn't been in it. Not even during the rehearsal dinner when Sonny had shown up breaking the Faberge eggs on the shelves of the dining room in a jealous rant. Olivia and some woman named Brenda had trailed him apologizing profusely for his antics.

He woke up that morning wishing he could stay in bed and not get married but he forced himself up anyway. Got into his tuxedo…met with his best men Michael and Morgan who'd gotten in a fist fight after getting out of their respective limos. It all looked like it'd proceed as they prepared to say their vows.

Only he hadn't been able to get there, not if this woman had to burst into some church like some Ninja something lobbing smoke bombs to get him out of there.

Julian just stared at her, sitting there on the edge of the king sized bed with the 500 thread sheets underneath, dressed in a form fitting outfit meant to conceal her in the shadows and wearing an irritated expression on her face.

"Julian…that family of your friend, the Riveras you sent after Sonny…when I went to set things straight with one of your future brother in laws, he threatened not so nicely to put a bomb in my car."

"A what?"

"You heard me…a bomb in my car…is that what you really want, to marry a woman who might rock your boots off and then have a bunch of mobsters making threats? I might not be the love of your life like Sonny's leftovers in that church but I'm the mother of your daughter who's spent some time on the wrong side of the interrogation table at PCPD myself."

Julian's heart plunged at that revelation, that anyone would threaten to harm the woman…well the woman who was very important to him in all ways but one…and that had been through a mutually agreed upon decision.

"Alexis, Carly, she didn't really rock my boots," he said, "This is business that even I don't quite understand. Carly…I…no sparks there not like you and me but this was my marching orders."

Now Alexis looked at him dumbfounded.

"Then why did you want to marry her then? You don't have sparks with her though those are highly overrated. Did you marry her just to hurt Sonny? Or did you marry her when the other woman you wanted to use Sonny, Olivia turned you down?"

Julian struggled in his mind to find the answers but now they proved to be somewhat more elusive than they had been even yesterday.

"I don't…"

"Of course you don't…because you didn't think it through first," she said, shaking her head, "and because guys like you always go for women like…well maybe Olivia had one of her visions warning her all about you that only she can understand."

He held up his hand.

"Wait a minute here, why are you telling me what I like…and assume there's a type of woman?"

She shrugged.

"Because I've watched you and you always go for the women who are young, vapid but women that every guy including bad guys gravitate to when coming to PC. I guess they should bottle what Carly has and sell it. Olivia? I never took you to be interested in hysterical co-dependent women so that one's lost on me."

Julian really hadn't noticed amid the explosions and mayhem earlier but he did now that Alexis looked especially lovely in form fitting black. The woman had a figure that had muscle but also curved in some really nice places. Wait a minute, what was going on here, he had just been standing at the altar with someone who Alexis had just described as a mafia moll and he…well he wasn't thinking of her right now.

"You really need to…where are you right now…"

Because he had appeared to be in a daze, oh well maybe some of the smoke from those grenades had gotten to him. The instructions had said they were harmless but maybe…

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Soft music began to play in the background from where, he had no idea and the room had become bathed in luminance.

"Julian…"

He walked over to her and pulled her off from where she sat on the bed, into his arms, wrapping them around her waist.

"What…is this…"

His eyes bore directly into her own.

"What does it look like," he said, before his lips swept over hers and he ran his hands through that luscious mane of hair he had wanted to touch…well for the past six months at least…strange how something had changed, the room, the lighting and his focus. His hands left her hair and ran down her body where the fabric hugged her frame. She sighed and then she let him explore her mouth with her own…just a second ago she had been fed up with him and now…well obviously not.

"It's you I want…."

She blinked as he swept her off of her feet and carried her.

"Julian, this makes no sense…is this real or is this a dream?"

Julian didn't care at that point as he moved them closer to the bed…but yeah it did seem a bit funny that he had been standing at the altar with someone else and now…

"We'll make it real…"

Okay, she thought, that works for me as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

Then the squeal of tires outside the beach house interrupted them and he hastily put her down when they heard voices and footsteps loudly just outside.

"Julian…they found us."

His heart beat quickly as he looked around for a place to hide but suddenly, gunshots rang out and the glass from windows splintered and exploded towards them, showering them with a fine mist of ground sand.

"We can't just stand here…"

So they collapsed behind the bed, while bullets flew around them.

"Maybe they'll go away," he said, but wondered if that were true.

"Julian…"

Her breath had become jagged and he gazed down and his eyes widened as he saw a stain widening on her shirt, one shade darker than its material. Julian put his hand on it and it felt damp, his fingers laced with blood when he removed them.

His heart froze as he realized what had been happen…the bullets kept coming like crescendos in his ears…the blood streamed down his fingers onto the carpet. Her face became ashen, draining of its life and her eyes fluttered.

"Nooooo…."

But no one could hear him over the whistling of bullets and the pounding of the walls getting struck and penetrated by multiple rounds. Suddenly, as he embraced the woman in his arms, the colors began to blur and fade and whirl around him, again and again and again.

And then the darkness of the room around him.

Julian found himself drenched in sweat in the bed of the Metro Court that he had been staying because he hadn't bought his own bachelor pad yet. What plan to put in action for the tomorrows that had just become today.

He gazed over at the wedding announcement, the ceremony that was going to take place today between the woman who meant everything to him and the man that had swept her off of her feet a month…again earlier…the man who Julian knew was not what he appeared to be.

If he had only responded when she had told him she loved him…that yes she did want to be a family with him despite finally learning the truth about what had happened with that young boy on a cold winter night in New Hampshire a long time ago.

As that thought hit him, he got out of bed to get ready to get going, to get to the church in time. Looking at his watch, he could see time was not on his side but he had the most important act of his life to take.

He had a wedding to stop.