When he acted, he did so immediately and without thinking. Reaching Gomer, he reached out with one hand, grabbed the larger man on the shoulder, pulled him back, and then shoved him hard. Michael heard Gomer grunt, then fall backward to the ground.

He was dimly aware of the fact that Kyle was still under the car when Gomer went flying. A moment later, Gomer was sitting on his butt and looking up at Michael in sur- prise. That surprise lasted only an instant and was replaced with fury. Well, Michael knew how that felt.

For someone so tall, Gomer moved quicker than Michael would have guessed. Gomer was on his feet in seconds and was lunging for Michael. Acting on instinct, Michael leaned to one side and grabbed for Gomer's shirt. The larger man hit Michael's hip, and Michael used Gomer's momentum to toss him back to the ground. This time, Gomer went down face first in an awkward dive.

Again, he moved quickly and was soon lurching to his feet.

Too stupid to stay down, Michael thought as a red haze of anger descended on him, drowning out all other thoughts. A moment later, Gomer charged Michael again. This time, Michael met him straight on, launching one punch with each fist. His left hit Gomer low, in the ribs, while his right, then his left hit Gomer squarely in the face.

Gomer staggered back.

A satisfied smile crossed Michael's lips, and he raised his hand almost unconsciously. He felt his powers coalesc- ing and he prepared to…

"Michael," a voice said from next to him.

Michael ignored the distraction; he was dealing with a threat.

Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. The voice shouted this time, "Michael!”

Turning, Michael saw Kyle standing next to him. Then he saw Gomer looking at him, fear clearly on his face.

"Don't hurt him," Kyle said.

It took a moment for Kyle's words to penetrate Michael's red heat. Then he slowly put his hand back down. "He was trying," Michael said, not taking his eyes off Gomer.

"I was just kidding around," Gomer said, raising his hands in a warding-off gesture.

Michael felt himself relax by small degrees… very small degrees. "You think that was funny?" Michael nearly shouted.

Gomer shook his head. "I was just trying to scare him," he said.

Michael balled his right hand into a fist. It was not an act of anger, it was calculated, and by the look in Gomer's eyes, it had the desired effect.

"I'm sorry," Gomer said.

"Don't apologize to me," Michael said, gesturing to Kyle.

"I'm sorry, Kyle… I… was out of line," Gomer said.

"Urn, apology accepted," Kyle said. Michael noted that his friend was out of breath. Kyle must have been pretty scared.

Michael felt his anger rising again and forced it back down.

"Get out of here," Michael said. Gomer immediately turned to go, but not before shooting Kyle a look that Michael didn't like.

"Don't even think about it," Michael said. Then he paused for effect. "Remember, I'm everywhere.”

"Okay, okay," Gomer said, walking away.

Then Michael turned to Kyle and said, "Are you okay? You want Max to take a look at you?”

Kyle shook his head and said, "I'm fine, just a little shaken up.”

That's an understatement, Michael thought, looking at Kyle's face.

"Maybe he was just trying to scare me," Kyle said. Then, catching Michael's questioning expression, he added, "He thinks I'm after the girl in the office.”

"Are you?" Michael asked.

Kyle smiled and said, "Maybe a little.”

Michael shrugged and said, "I don't think he'll bother you either way.”

Kyle gave him a tighter smile and said, "I think you're right. Listen, Michael, were you going to…”

Michael shook his head and said, "No. I was just kid- ding around. You know, trying to scare him.”

That seemed to make Kyle relax. His smile was broader now. "Michael, thanks.”

"Sure," Michael said, giving him an uncomfortable shrug.

"I probably made it worse. It's not smart to bait some- one when you're stuck under a car. I'm just tired of taking it, you know. I feel like I've been taking it for long enough.”

Michael nodded. He knew how that felt. He, Max, and Isabel had been taking it their whole lives. And the group had been taking it pretty hard for the last three years. "Yeah, I know what you mean," he said.

"I'd better get back to work," Kyle said.

Michael turned to go, and Kyle added, "I mean it, Michael, thanks.”

"No problem," Michael said, heading out the door.

Outside, he decided not to go straight back to the oth- ers. Instead, he took a walk in the field behind the garage. Finding a quiet spot, he sat for a moment. He had told Kyle that he wasn't going to really hurt Gomer, but he wasn't sure himself what he was going to do.

In the moment before Kyle stopped him, he felt the same rage he had felt in their final battle with Agent Pierce… a battle that ended when Michael killed the agent. Since then, Michael had told himself a thousand times that he had had no choice. His friends' lives and his own life had depended on him.

And the truth was that he had acted in self-defense.

Yet when he had taken the agent's life, he had not felt scared. He had felt angry… furious, actually. And when it was done, there was a moment… -just a moment… when he had felt pleased with what he had done. Pleased that he had finally paid back the forces that had been dogging him, Max, and Isabel their whole lives. Pleased that he finally felt like he had won a small victory for them and for himself.

That moment had caused Michael more sleepless nights than the act of killing itself.

He had also wondered how much of that moment had been payback for even more, for his previous life and his previous defeats and eventual death. And not just his death, but Max's and Isabels.

He knew Max blamed himself for that failure as well, but Michael knew that it had been his job to protect them all. After all, he was a soldier, a defender… a general, in fact.

In his fight with Agent Pierce, with Gomer, and many other times in his life, he'd felt like something else was taking over. What was it? His training? His nature? Or something that had been programmed into him when he had been re-created and sent to Earth? Michael didn't know, but whatever it was, Michael didn't like it.

And it scared him more than a thousand Agent Pierces ever would.

Kyle's hands shook for several minutes after Michael left. He hoped Michael hadn't seen how scared he had been. At first, he had thought that Gomer was only trying to scare him. Although it was a possibility, the possibility dimmed when the undercarriage of the car had pressed against his nose… and three tons of steel threatened to drop down farther.

But Gomer had looked scared himself when he had left. Michael hadn't really hurt him, but he could have… in fact, he nearly did. Even Gomer wasn't so stupid to miss that.

Kyle had to go back under the car to check the seal on the transmission. He forced himself to do it quickly because he couldn't afford to be afraid in his line of work. It took about ten minutes, and Kyle was glad to be fin- ished. He moved on to the Plymouth and replaced the points and plugs. He finished that quickly, then took both cars for a test drive. An hour later, he parked the second car outside. By then, his heart had stopped racing and he was feeling more or less normal… which was just as well, considering what he now had to do.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the office door and stepped inside.

Dawn flashed him her smile, and Kyle felt the last piece of cold fear melt away.

"Hey, you," she said.

Without thinking, Kyle felt himself smiling back. "Hey," he said.

She stared at him for a moment. Then Kyle remem- bered why he had come inside. "Did Dan leave any instructions for me?" he asked.