((Contains references to addiction.)) ___________________

Some things, Mataya just couldn't ignore. An unfamiliar voice emanating from her sister's bedroom; unfamiliar clothes washing and drying; some of Max's clothes missing for a couple of days; two plates of food, half-eaten, left on the kitchen table; a sheet of paper, written in a hand she didn't recognize, left beside those plates. And more worryingly, an empty bottle of bourbon left in the recycling.

She'd spent a long time staring at it, trying to come up with some explanation other than the one that immediately sprang to mind. Elena was four months sober. Surely she wouldn't be so stupid as to go out, pick up some random guy, and go straight back to the drink, would she" Not now, not when things were beginning to move in the court case. Not when she was doing so well, when she'd come so far. 'Taya hadn't seen her sister for nearly three days, aware that she was in the house only through the sounds that came from the downstairs bedroom, but that in itself wasn't unusual. No, it was the bottle that worried her, frightened her. If Elena was drinking again, the entire De Luca family could kiss goodbye to Earth. Unless Nicoletti's family were brought to justice, just visiting home again would be a death sentence for all of them.

There was nothing for it. She was going to have to talk to her little sister, and try somehow not to make whatever situation had given her this unwholesome array of objects to decipher any worse than it already was. She was glad Max wasn't in the house; he and Elena didn't get on at the best of times, and if he thought she was drinking again, let alone had brought a stranger into their home without mentioning it, there was no telling what might be done or said. Making her way down to the basement, 'Taya knocked on the door lightly.

"Elena" Can I come in?"

Elena jumped, startled out of a light doze by the sound of the knock. Green eyes turned with instinctive concern toward Michael, lying asleep on the bed beside her, wrapped tightly in the blankets to keep him warm against the shakes and shivers that were wracking his body. Part of her wished he was awake, that he was already almost clean, so that Mataya would be able to see that there was some good coming out of this. But she'd known she wouldn't be able to put off the inevitable confrontation forever. Perhaps it was just as well that he was asleep, now that time at come.

Brushing a kiss to his sleeping temple, she murmured soft reassurance to him, gently sliding off the bed to move over to the door, undoing the lock and stepping outside to join her sister. "I'd rather you didn't go in there just yet," she told 'Taya honestly, wincing at the flare of alarm and anger that rose in her big sister's eyes.

'Taya's hand shot out to hold the door back for a moment, her gaze landing firmly on the man huddled on the bed, and her expression solidified into a frown as her dark eyes turned back to Elena. The younger De Luca held her hands up, hoping to forestall an explosion. "This isn't what it looks like, I promise you," she said insistently, taking hold of the door handle and drawing it shut, closing Michael in, away from her sister's judgmental eyes. "If we have to do this, can we do it upstairs?"

"El, this really doesn't look good," Mataya began, before letting her sister's request sink in. Did she really want to wake the stranger and invite his input into a conversation that should be strictly family' No, she didn't. Conceding with a reluctant nod, she turned, leading the way up the stairs and into the kitchen.

As Elena slid onto a stool at the breakfast bar, her fidgeting hands pressed hard to the countertop between them, 'Taya wordlessly placed the empty bottle of bourbon on the surface, fighting not to make the instant accusation. She loved her sister, but Elena was pushing it, bigtime.

"Start explaining."

"I didn't drink it," the youngest De Luca told her truthfully, holding her sister's gaze as steadily as she was able. "Neither did he. I poured it down the drain two days ago." She sighed, scrubbing a hand through her hair. "This is complicated, 'Taya."

"It's always complicated with you, El," Mataya pointed out, leaning heavily on the surface. "Do you have any idea how serious this is" You have to be clean and sober if your testimony is going to stand up at all, if you're gonna even live to thirty. You can't be wasting your time on drunks and druggies, they'll only lead you back to it. And you can't just bring some random guy into our home without at least telling us!"

Elena felt her temper flare at the expected accusations and assumptions, knowing she shouldn't snap back, but not quite able to stop herself from doing so. The strain of being understanding and patient over the past three days was already showing, and unfortunately Mataya had lit the blue touch paper.

"Why do you always assume the worst?" she demanded, pushing herself to stand up. Her sister was only a little taller than her, but everyone in the family was very good at looming if they needed to. "Why can't you just trust me for once" I know I have to stay clean, I know how dangerous it is - hell, I know that better than you, I've had a gun pointed at my head, remember" I'm sober, I'm so sober it makes me sick, I busted a gut pouring that sh*t away, and you're still standing there expecting me to, what, vomit and fall over" Don't you think if I was drinking again, I'd be a little more intelligent than to put the damned bottle into the family recycling" Credit me with being more than a dumb blonde, 'Tay!"

"El, you stink of booze -"

"No, Michael stinks of booze because he's sweating it out," Elena interrupted, not prepared to be accused any further. "Look, your great and ominous Nexus dumped him drunk in my bed three nights ago, and since then, he hasn't had a single drink. I've been with him the whole time, I'd know if he had - hell, ask Juno, I'm sure she knows everything that's been going on down there with us. Only difference is, she's a good kid who knows when to give someone the trust they've earned!"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that, not after all this," Mataya snapped back. "And you leave Juno out of this. She's got nothing to do with your problems, and so help me, if you drag her in, I will kick you out, you got that' You will be on the street, with your new boytoy, if I hear that you've said or done anything that could set my girl down your path, you hear me?"

Elena reeled back as though she'd been slapped. She hadn't realized how on the ropes she was when it came to Mataya's patience. She'd assumed that since it was 'Taya's house she was living in, and 'Taya's help she was getting to stay straight, that 'Taya had more faith in her than the others. Clearly, she'd been wrong.

"Are you gonna listen and let me explain, or have you just made up your mind already?" Elena asked her big sister through a hurt frown. It was typical of her life - she'd begun to reconcile with her big brother, only to open a new rift with her other sister.

The sister stared at each other for a long moment, each hurting, each angry, each a little lost in the conflict of dislike and love for each other that was swirling around them. But Mataya, for all her sense of disappointment and upset, knew when not to push it too much. She sighed, sitting down heavily at the bar. "Tell me."

And so Elena did. She told Mataya everything that had happened since that awakening a few days before that had dropped Michael quite literally into her lap, unaware that as they spoke, Juno had crept from her room above to sit at the top of the basement steps, keeping as close a watch on the sleeping man below as she dared. 'Taya listened, trying to keep herself calm, trying not to grow angrier as the narrative wound to a close. She didn't understand, and it showed.

"Why you, El?" she asked when her sister had finally stopped speaking. "Why do you have to be the one to help him' You could've come to me, we could've found him a place to stay, got him professional help. Why are you risking everything for this guy?"

For a long moment, Elena was silent. She'd been asking herself the same question repeatedly since the moment she'd first made her promise to Michael, searching her soul for the answer. And she'd found the answer, though it wasn't one she dared to embrace. Not yet.

"He needs me, 'Taya," she said finally. "I owe him. He won't say it, but I think I was a big part of him starting to drink in the first place. I've got a chance to set it right by helping him get sober now. I know I shoulda told you, okay' But I was scared to, and look at how you reacted. This is what I was scared of."

Mataya shook her head. "Baby bear, you don't have to be scared of me," she assured her little sister unhappily. "Honestly' It hurts that you didn't trust me enough to tell me what was goin' on before now." She reached over, holding her little sister's hand in gentle fingers. "But you still didn't answer the question. Why you? Why do you have to be there for him all the way' What's stopping you from getting him to a hospital, or a clinic, getting him the help he needs without putting your own recovery at risk doing it this way' Why won't you let go?"

She had her answer before Elena spoke, seeing it written clearly in her sister's large green eyes, and felt her own heart sink in response.

"I can't let go," Elena said very quietly, shaking as her lips found the words she wasn't brave enough to share with the one person to whom they would mean the world. "I love him, 'Taya."

"And when he falls off the wagon, what do you do then?" her sister pressed her. "Do you go through all this again, or do you fall off with him' Are you really gonna let this happen in a house where there's a kid like Juno to protect?"

"He's not gonna fall off," Elena bristled, anger rising again at her sister's lack of understanding. Didn't Mataya know how much it had cost her to even admit to having a heart, much less having lost it again? "And even if he does, I'm gonna pull him back on and tie him there, even if it kills me. And ....and if you don't want us here, then that's fine. Just say so, and we'll be out."

"And where would you go?" 'Taya demanded. "You have to stay with family, it's part of your custody agreement. And don't you dare think for one second that I'm gonna let you move all this in with Mama!"

"That's not your decision to make, Mataya, it's hers," Elena snapped back, shooting up from her seat once again. "So go ahead, call her, tell on me like a good little girl. Tell her all about how I'm being so evil, how I'm helping someone I love deal with a problem that I know intimately, and how you're so stuck on being the saintly sister, you won't even give me a chance to prove I can do it!"

She pulled away violently from her sister's grasp, snatching up the sheet of Michael's words and the armful of his clothes that had been washed and dried again. "You know, I actually thought you were different than Tess, but you're worse," she informed Mataya venomously. "At least she's got the guts to look me in the eye and tell me she doesn't trust me or think I'm worth anything. You're as two-faced as they come, 'Taya."

It was Mataya's turn to react as though she had been physically pushed, her face paling at the unwholesome comparison between herself and their older sister. She'd always thought she was a better person than Tess, but now ...."Wait, El -"

But Elena shook off her hand again, turning to march out of the kitchen without a backward glance. 'Taya listened to her steps down to the basement, and sat down heavily once again on her stool, burying her head in her hands. She'd made a bigger mess than the one she'd been trying to resolve this time, infinitely grateful Max hadn't been there to see her behave so badly toward the little sister she'd been trying to help.

Gentle arms wrapped about her from behind, and she lifted her head to find Juno hugging her, the vibrant red head resting on her shoulder. "It's okay, Matty," the little Sanagi said quietly. "She knows you didn't mean it."

Twisting, 'Taya wrapped her adopted daughter into her arms, holding on tightly as she took the comfort that had been offered to her. "I hope so, baby girl," she murmured unhappily, unable to see a way out of the disaster she and Elena had created between them. "I really hope so."