A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, again. If it weren't for you leaving them, it could have taken (much) longer. I never meant for the story to be more than 200K words. Yikes. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'll upload the alternate (and original) ending after I've retype it. Take care. (Oh, and if you like Janeway/Seven fanfic check out my profile for a link to my fanfiction profile.)

Secrets Like Acid

Epilogue: Part 3

Elise awoke in a shadowed, empty room. She heard the grandfather clock downstairs toll eight times. She rolled out of bed, planting her naked feet on the floor. She had a vague memory of Randi kissing her goodbye before she left for work. That was at five thirty a.m., Elise thought. She promised me I could wake up in her arms, she groused.

"Guess she forgot her duty."

Elise threw on her old clothes and ran to the bathroom for a quick shower. She was going to have to find something of Randi's that fit her. It was a fat chance, she knew. But the thought of facing her lover's parents in yesterday's clothes seemed undignified.

X X X X

At work, Randi was doing muscle curls to the beat of Linkin Park when she heard the cell phone in her gym shorts ring.

"Hello, Elise. Mayor Joe Vargas."

"Your Honor," Randi said politely, pleased she knew how to talk to big muckity-mucks in little ponds. "This isn't actually Elise. It's Randi. Ashman."

"Oh, Randi! How are ya?" His voice was syrupy and too pleased. "Is Elise there?"

"Hello," Randi said slowly. "Um, I'm not sure how, um, you got my number, but Elise is at home."

"You mean in Monterey Beach?"

"Uh, no. I mean at my parents' home. In Belton, Texas."

"Oh, yeah. Of course. She mentioned she was visiting you. I'm really glad you two are together."

"You are?"

"Of course, I am. I'm very open-minded."

"Ah." Randi had learned to grow leery of people who were pathologically drawn to proclaim their open-mindedness. "So, do you want to call her on her cell phone or—?"

"I thought I did." Randi could hear some papers ruffling and then Joe read off the numbers he dialed.

"Yeah, that's her—" Randi pulled the phone back and examined it. It was similar to her cell phone, but with more bells and whistles. When she'd reached for her cell in the dark, she must have grabbed hers by mistake. "Yes, this is definitely her cell phone. I must have grabbed it instead of mine."

"No prob," he said. "Can I just leave a message with you?"

"Sure." Randi had walked into a nearby office and was ready with pen and paper.

"Tell her that the permit she applied for to re-zone her property was approved, along with the building permit for the new house. They look pretty swanky there, Randi."

Randi was quiet trying to absorb the information. "So you're saying..."

"I'm saying her property isn't in the historical district anymore. That gives her a lot more freedom to upgrade and update. Well, I suppose she won't be doing that. She'll just be building a big ol' three-thousand square foot house. What are you going to be doing to the bungalow? Tearing it down?"

"You know, Mayor..." She was going to say she didn't know. Elise had made an independent decision. She never even told Randi it was a possibility. Maybe she really was planning on asking Randi to move to California, after all. She just hadn't gotten around to it. "I think we talked about making it a mother-in-law suite."

He laughed heartily. "Sounds good. Well, when you two get settled, Corinne and I would love to have you over."

"Okay, Mayor. Thanks for the call."

Randi snapped the phone closed. Sonofabitch! Elise just bats her eyes at me and I roll over on my tummy to purr while she strokes my big, fat belly. But damn! I'm just so whipped sometimes.

Her self-recriminations only managed to inflame her more as the day went on. It was going to be a long night, she thought to herself. She actually wished for an emergency call just to have something to do. Sometimes being a paramedic carried a lot of hurry up and wait bullshit along with it.

Later, at dinner in the Fire Station, the cell phone rang, as it had every fifteen minutes. Howard had called at least twelve times. Elise's new assistant Mary had called her at least a thousand times. Randi took out the phone. Now it looked like Riley was calling her. Randi decided against her intuition to answer it.

"Yo." The men at the table stopped their munching to look at her. Randi wrinkled her nose and waved them back to eating.

"Elise?"

"Wrong," Randi said. "Try again."

"Hey, Randi. Long time no see."

"Yeah, I know. How are you? How's the baby?"

"He's just fine, the little stinker."

"Hansel is what? Four months?"

"His name's Ansel. As in the famous photographer. God, you're just like Gramps."

"Oh, that's really hitting below the belt." Randi heard laughter and knew she was being played.

"Ansel is nine months, Randi. Nine months and I still haven't seen Elise's shadow or yours. You're both pathetic."

"You know the score," Randi said quietly.

"Yeah, I know."

"Is that situation any better or are your grandparents, dad and uncle digging in?"

"Well, my grandparents have started calling me Elise. So I'm thinking they are experiencing dementia or—"

"They miss their darling girl."

"Yeah."

"Geez. Why are parents so stupid? I mean, come on! She's their child. She came from their body, for crying out loud." Suddenly Randi realized that the men were staring at her again. It was never a good sign when these big men ignored their chow. "Oh, behave," Randi hissed to them.

"Excuse me?" Riley said.

"Oh, I'm talking to the nutcases I work with."

Riley could hear some baritone voices protest being called nutcases since they had peanut allergies. Randi had hushed them, but their grousing continued until finally they were silenced.

"Move to a new room?"

"Yeah, the ladies room. I've got an entire room and three stalls all to myself. The glories of modern equality laws." Randi jumped onto the vanity counter. "Anyway. Where was I?"

"You were dissing my grandparents."

The matter-of-fact tone from Riley made Randi feel embarrassed that she had done so. "So you were looking for Elise?"

"Yes, is she there?"

"No, I accidentally took her phone and I'm a work."

"Oh. Can you take a message?"

"Sure," she said, sighing. Randi was just planning on memorizing it. "Okay, shoot."

"Tell Elise that Bruno, Ansel and I will definitely be able to make it to Monterey Beach on February 15 to see you both."

"Um," Randi stuttered.

"Elise said it was all planned, Randi. Are you going to be difficult?"

Elise was the difficult one, Randi thought. Calling Randi out for doing something when in fact Elise had done it first. "No, it's fine Riley. We'll see you then. Tell Bruno hi for us and blow some raspberries on Ansel's tummy."

X X X X

At seven-fifteen a.m., Randi stepped into her parents' house. She threw the keys on the hall table and walked to the kitchen, surprised to find her parents chatting quietly with Elise. "Oh, good morning, darling," Elise said, lifting her cheek for a kiss.

Randi ignored the gesture, mumbled a vague greeting and went directly for the cupboard for a cup. As she prepared her coffee, her mother harrumphed loudly. "Bad night?"

"Yes." Randi kept her eyes on the black liquid as she poured some into her cup.

"Traffic accident?" Jude inquired.

"No."

"Fire?" Marissa asked.

"No."

Marissa shook her head, wondering when Randi was going to outgrow her perpetual adolescence. "Well, then what happened, Randi?"

Randi tipped the cup, threw her head back and let the warm liquid slide down her throat. She wished she could feed it to herself intravenously. She hadn't gotten any sleep because of the horrible thoughts about Elise and her controlling nature. After she drained the cup, Randi set it down and then handed Elise's cell phone back to her.

"I picked your phone up by mistake yesterday morning."

"Oh," she said, pushing some buttons. "I thought I had lost it."

"You didn't suspect that maybe I took yours since you had mine."

The harsh tone made Elise drop the phone on the table and stare at her lover. "No," she said icily. "I did not even consider such a possibility, merely that I misplaced it. As for your phone...I never saw it. Heard it or used it."

Marissa always became alarmed at their arguments. She'd witnessed minor ones, mostly. But this one promised to be a major one. "Randi, what is this nonsense with phones about?"

Randi ignored her mother, still focused on Elise, who was sitting back in her chair. Her legs were crossed and one arm was draped along the table top. The casual pose belied the stress Randi knew she felt.

"I got an interesting call today, Elise." Randi watched her lover for any sign of surprise. When she figured that Elise was keeping her hand close, she continued. "Mayor Vargas said your permits were approved."

Elise still remained placid, raising an eyebrow in informal acknowledgement. Her expression was one of boredom and Randi knew exactly what she was trying to say.

Randi straightened and crossed her arms. "It seems your property's zoning was changed. Your house plans were also approved." Randi spoke slowly, measuring the nuance of Elise's reaction. She finally saw an eye twitch. "And Riley said they would see us for the groundbreaking on February 15."

When Elise thanked her for the message and resumed an inane conversation with her parents, Randi picked up the empty coffee mug. Its explosion against the wall brought three pairs of eyes back to her. "So I guess yesterday's discussion about where we were going to live was just for show, since you'd already decided, huh?"

Elise's eyebrows came together and her forehead puckered. "Why are you so angry, Randi?"

"Why am I angry?! Just yesterday you embarrassed me in front of my parents by calling me out about the resignation—"

"So you decided to return the favor?" Elise gestured to Randi's parents, who were in stunned silence.

"Well, if you had been honest with me...because that's what wives do." Randi threw Elise's words right back at her.

Elise realized she had miscalculated, but she was unsure about how to fix it immediately. "Why are you really angry?"

Randi threw her hands up, raked fingers through her hair. When she picked up another cup, her mother jumped to her feet. "Don't even think about it, young lady!"

Randi grimaced at her mother. "I was going to get some water, mom."

"Sure you were. Now step away from the cup."

Randi raised her hands and found a seat at the table. "I'm going to get you plastic cups, for the baby you are," her mother groused. Then Marissa pointed to the hole in the drywall left by the shattered mug. "You're going to pay for that."

Randi looked over at her dad with pleading eyes.

"Marissa," Jude said. "I think they need privacy."

X X X X

After they were alone, Elise laid both of her hands on the table. She had read somewhere that's what a speaker did when she was trying to be perceived as totally honest. If she was lying, she hid her hands. "You were saying, Randi?"

Randi seemed uncomfortable in her own skin. She usually did was when she was forced to admit disagreeable notions. After another gentle prod from Elise, Randi finally inhaled gustily. "I don't want to move to California. Okay?"

Elise fell back, a faint smile on her face. "Now doesn't that feel better? To get it all out in the open?"

Randi blinked several times before she answered. "You're not mad?"

Elise stood up, offering her hand to Randi. "C'mon. Let's take a ride."

X X X X

Randi drove Elise and her parents to a exclusive neighborhood by Lake Belton. The houses were large and meticulously kept.

"Woo wee, Elise," Marissa exclaimed. "I've never sold a house in here. These are so purty though."

When Elise directed Randi to park the Nitro in a circular drive in front of a two-story modern Spanish-style home with brick and masonry façade and a wrap-around porch with arches. There was a landscaping truck in front with several men mowing, wedding or planting purple pansies along the long walk way.

"Who lives here?" Marissa asked. "You never did say."

"A friend," she said quietly. "Let's go up."

They ascended the long sidewalk, Marissa commenting on the breathtaking view of Lake Belton. At the front door, Elise inserted a key. The large oak door with tiffany glass opened to a large living room with vaulted ceilings, a rock fireplace in one corner and a wall of windows open to the lake.

Marissa turned to see the large, open kitchen beyond that opened to the deck, with the same unencumbered view. Marissa turned back, suspicious now because the house smelled of Pine Sol and Febreze. "Who did you say this house belonged to?"

Elise clasped her hands behind her back, smiled sheepishly and then faced Randi. "It's our home, darling."

Randi's mouth dropped as she looked up at the wood beams running the length of the ceiling. Randi turned slowly in a circle, less to look at the beautiful floor plan and more to get some distance from Elise.

Marissa seemed oblivious, so enthralled with the house. She grabbed her husband's hand and made toward the circular staircase near the breakfast nook. "Elise, is it all right to look upstairs?" Before Elise could answer, Marissa stopped and looked back at her daughter-in-law. "I might be able to forgive you for using a different realtor."

Elise gave Marissa a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Marissa. I wanted this to be a surprise for Randi." She glanced back at Randi, who still had her back to Elise. "I was planning on giving it to her for Christmas."

"It's some gift, Elise. You done great." With that, Marissa and Jude ascended the stairs.

Randi remained quiet, pretending to find the rock face of the fireplace fascinating.

"This isn't quite the reaction I had hoped for, Randi."

She stared up at the loft. "I'm a little..." Randi looked at Elise, her eyes squinting. "...confused. I don't understand how it's okay for you to act like a rough rider and go off on your own, but not me."

Elise tugged her ear, her expression a little guilty. "You are totally and completely correct, Randi."

"I am?" Randi's confusion seemed to double.

"Of course, you are. You have every right to be angry with me. I only said what I did to get you to keep your job." Elise blushed as she stepped closer. "It would have been ridiculously ironic to give you a house so you could keep your job when, in fact, you'd already quit."

"Why didn't you just tell me you were going to give in?"

Elise frowned, swept the room with her eyes and then stepped closer to Randi. "I didn't give in, Randi. I want to live here."

"You do?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"Well, yeah. Everyone I know couldn't wait to live Belton for Dallas or Houston or San Antone."

"I lived in places like Dallas and Houston and San Antonio. I've traveled the world. I've made my mark on Wall Street. I couldn't think of another place I'd rather be than here with you."

"But what about Solomon Hoffmeister Barrows Worldwide?"

Elise shrugged, as she gazed out at the placid lake. "I've been wanting a change in careers forever."

"You have?"

"Yes," she said, stepping closer to Randi. "Even dragon ladies get tired of fire breathing and chewing people up for breakfast. It's positively exhausting. Not to mention the long business trips."

Randi's head snapped around at the house and her eyes became like baseballs. "You know I probably can't afford the mortgage on this crib with my salary." With her eyebrows hidden high, Randi faced Elise. "You do know that, right?"

"Yes, you can."

"I make—"

"Darling, we paid cash for the house."

"Cash? Who buys a house with cash?"

"We do."

"But I didn't give you a dime—"

Finally, Elise lost her patience. "Randi Ashman! All the money in the world doesn't make me as happy as you make me. Haven't you figured that out?"

"But your job? What are you going to do here?"

Elise smiled impishly. "You promised I could be your house frau and cook and clean for you."

Randi closed the distance between them, taking the blonde in her arms. "That's the last thing I want from you," she whispered, kissing Elise tenderly. "Unless you take cooking lessons."

Elise smacked Randi's ass. "I buy a castle for my princess—"

"I thought we bought it."

"We did, but it doesn't sound as romantic when I say 'we.'"

Randi rubbed the edge of Elise's collar between a finger and thumb. "How are you going to manage the commute to Japan?"

"I quit."

Randi's horrified expression made Elise feel guilty.

"I mean I retired."

"Retired? But you're so young!"

Elise smiled at the compliment. "Thank you and you can say that as often as you like, you know."

"You are young, Elise. Why should I have to remind you?"

"Because I'll reward you most gloriously."

Randi ignored the innuendo, still discontent with this resolution. "So you retired, huh? What are you going to do? Won't you get bored? I'll still work every three days, you know."

Elise finally gave her a hurt look. "Believe it or not, I had a full, rich life before I met you and I'm perfectly capable of keeping busy. Besides, I do have a job."

"What?"

"Howard hired me as the executive director of the Solomon Hoffmeister Foundation. I'll mostly be a desk jockey giving out money instead of making it. But I won't have to travel unless I want to, all domestic."

"There's no Barrows in Solomon Hoffmeister Foundation?"

"Only you would notice that, Randi. And no, my business partners bought my stake in the company out. And quite handsomely."

"That's how you bought this house? With your money."

"You are such an ass sometimes, you know that?" Elise pulled away and walked to the eastern window, overlooking the property.

"I really did want to be the hero, Elise," she said faintly.

"Why can't we both be the knights, Randi?"

"You are the hero because you gave up a career and a home in California to live here. Not mention your friends, who are going to kill me, by the way. How am I the hero?"

Elise gestured for Randi to come closer. She turned Randi's shoulders to face a smaller dilapidated building with broken windows, exposed siding and weeds lining the perimeter. Elise curled her arms around Randi's waist and leaned her chin on a shoulder. "That's my new office," she said, gesturing to sad building.

"It needs a lot of work."

"Uh huh. It's part of the reason I thought this would be the perfect house for us."

"How's that, Miss Barrows?"

"Well, Miss Ashman, I get a house that's in move-in condition and you get a separate building that desperately needs your tender touch to bring it up to standards. Since I'll need an office in March for my new job, that gives you almost three months to fix that one."

"What about Conn, Carin and Dr. Lockmiller?"

"They can visit anytime they like. We have seven bedrooms and five bathrooms—"

"Geez, Louise that's a lot of cleaning."

"We'll hire a service. But tell me, darling, tell you like this house. It took a lot of planning, not to mention the risk. I thought you would be so angry.

Randi shrugged. "I'm glad you want to stay here. I love my job..." Randi turned in Elise's embrace and kissed her neck, where the muscles were corded tightly. "And I really do love the house," Randi admitted quietly.

"But..."

"I hate the inequity of it. We should have gotten something I could have contributed to—"

"You are the biggest patootie, you know that?"

"Patootie?!"

"Yes. I'm brushing up on my Texan."

"You just have to lose that damn Yankee accent of yours."

"I thought I sounded like a 'rough rider.'"

Randi chuckled, knowing she wasn't going to win this, especially since Elise admitted she'd signed the papers. She kissed the tip of Elise's nose. "I'm sure we could come up with some type of agreement where I can put in my fair share of this mansion."

Elise touched Randi's lips with her own. "What if you paid for the cleaning service? How about that?"

Randi nodded once. "That's a start."

"I also think we can come to an equitable exchange of massages and back rubs equivalent to two-hundred-twenty-five thousand dollars."

"Two-hundred-twenty-five thousand? This place was pricey."

"That's just your share, darling."

"Really?" Randi looked around, amazed that anyone would buy a house for half a million.

"In California, this house would be worth four times that amount or more. So it's a bargain."

"Except for the heat."

"We'll have air conditioning."

"Okay, but I get to buy our bedroom furniture, too."

Elise smiled, a fast satisfying expression. "It's a deal, then."

Just then, they heard Jude and Marissa coming down. "The house is beautiful, Elise. Simply exquisite. It'll be a lovely place to raise my grandchildren."

Elise looked at Randi. Randi looked at Elise and they both laughed. "God grant me patience!" Randi wailed, with a hand stretched heavenward.

"You?! I'm the one who still doesn't have grandchildren and you're practically thirty."

"Mom," Randi said, releasing Elise from the embrace. "I'm twenty-five."

"And childless, don't forget." Marissa pivoted on one foot to view the open downstairs floor plan. "But there's lots of room for growth."

Randi rolled her eyes and turned pleading eyes on Jude. He just shook his head. "Get used to it, baby."

Randi let her eyes wander over Elise's marvelous face, the crinkled blue eyes, the curled lips just hinting at white teeth and the beacon of a dimple shining brightly. Randi finally allowed herself to relax because Elise's joy was her own.

~Fin~