"You mean, write up a contract or something?" Angie asked, puzzled because with Rollie, he could mean something totally opposite from what she was thinking. After all, it had taken them all this time and Victor Loubar’s interference to get them to admit their feelings for each other.

He smiled, tightening his grip on her hands, "no love- not a business contract."

"Oh, than you are suggesting something more …" Angie began to stutter, blush and worry. Would he say something now or what?

"I love you- I want you to be with me always, Angela," Rollie spoke from a place he had kept reserved in his heart for some time.

When he had called her ‘Angela’, she knew he was not going to back down and she trusted her heart and took the leap of faith that she felt was between them,

"I want that too, Rollie."

"I’m being fair dinkum here, you know…" he continued, lowering his eyes for a moment, and then flashing them up at her with a connection between them that didn’t need any words.

"ah, I would imagine that you are saying you are being honest here," she said, with a sudden shiver as she deciphered his Australian slang correctly for once.

"I am."

"And"

"And… I see you with our crunchers, you know? I see you holding them, I see our lives together working and at home. Do you understand what I am trying to say?"

"Crunchers? You mean cookie crunchers- as in babies?"

"Marry me…"

"My God!"

Rollie looked astounded as Angie sat up and clutched her heart.

"Don’t have a heart attack about it," he said, frowning slightly.

"No, Rollie- the PDA! I’m getting an incoming message- it’s vibrating!" she said, half-laughing and tearful as well.

"Oh, well, in that case- give it a crack, let’s do first things first," he said, bemoaning the strange things that always seemed to happen with them.

He wondered if she had heard him as she pulled the PDA from under her shirt and out of sight of the monitor. She quickly pulled up the message.

"Um, calvary is coming, Rol," she said with a delighted smile and looked up at him, "Mira is on the way…"

"Great!" Rollie took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. He had never said to any woman what he had just told Angie and she was acting like she didn’t understand him or was ignoring him.

"Angie?"

"Yeah?"

"Well?"

"Crunchers are out for awhile, Rollie- and working together and being at home is good as long as it becomes Tyler/Ramirez F/X and yeah, I’ll marry you," she said rapidly in her rapid fire, Angie way. She put the PDA back in its hiding place, looked up at him, widening her eyes, and made a face at him.

He had an incredible look on his face and she could tell he was holding his breath. She smiled, kissed his slightly opened mouth, and whispered; "breathe."

"Oh my God," he said, taking in air slowly, "I’m having trouble breathing!"

"Well, you can’t take it back now, boss," she said, standing up and put her hands in her jeans pockets, looking down at him.

"No," Rollie told her, shaking his head, and coughing, "there’s something coming in through the vent…" he coughed again and Angie began to cough herself, sinking to her knees beside him.

"What is it?" she asked, the odor overpowering her.

"Dunno, it’s like a gas of some sort…" he said, not being able now to get up off the floor. Angie fell on her side, unable to concentrate as she felt her arms and legs grow numb, paralyzed. She could see Rollie’s face near hers as she felt the overwhelming envelope of darkness take over.