James Macdonald Hudson entered the Prime Minister's office. On a chair at the front of the desk was Mr. Gentry. He didn't look pleased. And James 'Mac' knew what all this was about.

"Hello, Dr. Hudson," the P.M. said, gesturing for Mac to sit down. Mac lowered himself into a comfortable chair by the desk.

"Hello, Prime Minister. What can I do for you?" he asked, with as much pleasantry as he could muster.

"I like your attitude. You like to get to the bottom of business. So do I. Gentry has brought to my attention that you have allowed four new members to be on your team which is already in the double digits. This we cannot allow. They will have to be cut from the Alpha team. They may be reserve members but nothing more. I will gladly put them on Beta flight status."

"Beta Flight, sir?"

"Yes, there will be some major changes to Alpha Flight and its ranks. The team of Alpha will consist of you, Guardian, Puck, Aurora, Shaman, Northstar, Sasquatch, and Snowbird. That should be enough for now."

"What about my wife and the others?"

"We are taking away her battlesuit. There is no need for two battlesuit wearing leaders of Alpha Flight. We are also in the process of installing halfway houses, paranormal clinics, and orphanages for the downtrodden paranormals that are residing in Canada. You are going to track down these paranormals and place them in the proper homes. I have also passed a new bill that is called the Canadian Paranormal Recruitment Act. The conditions above apply to this."

"I see. I assume I have no choice in the matter?"

"You are correct. You are dismissed."

As Mac stood up and prepared to leave the room, Gentry also stood up and placed a hand on Mac's shoulder, halting him in his heavy, sorrow ridden footsteps.

"James, I'm sorry about this,' Gentry started to say, apologetically

"Sure you are. I just bet you are."

Mac slammed the door closed.

The apartment shared by Jeffries and Crawley

"I can't believe you!" Madison Jeffries yelled at his wife, Lillian Crawley, about the new guest in their home. "You just don't know when to stop! You're really unbelievable!"

Lil frowned. "Stop, just stop. What was I supposed to do? Just throw him out on the street?! He has no place to live, outside of the Alpha Complex. He lived on complex, just like the new Betans. Even for the Jade Dragon, Heather got him an apartment, albeit a temporary one. But not for my Kamikaze."

"There you said it again. My Kamikaze. You still love him and not me. Why don't you admit that you have fallen in and out of love with me and madly in love with that bastard Harada!!"

It was then that they both heard the door slam and the shuffling of outgoing footsteps. At that very moment, Lillian raced at the sound of the door closing and Madison followed close behind.

"Is he?? Is he gone?" Madison asked, almost glad that temporarily Kamikaze was out of their lives and somehow he could patch their broken marriage together.

"No, not permanently. There's a note and it reads: "I have gone out for a walk. I hope that you can settle this before I get back. Or I might have to live elsewhere. Kamikaze." He makes sense you know. This same argument has to come to an end someday, Madison."

"I know. Maybe I should forgive him for what he did to you and us. Forgive and forget. I'll try, Lillian. For you."

"Thank you. I love you, Maddie."

"I love you back, Lillie."

The two lovers engaged in a kiss that would put Hollywood starlets to shame. It lasted for several minutes and when they parted, they stared into the other's eyes.

"Too bad he had to leave so abruptly for us to come together like this," Lil said.

"I know. It seems that we are only truly happy when he is gone. Fancy that. I'll try, Lil. I promise you, I'll try."

"I know."

The Sarcee Indian Reservation

"I told Guardian that we would be taking a small respite, a vacation, from the core team," Shaman said, as he stopped the jeep at a teepee. "We need one from this whole Llan mess. But I have a strange feeling that it is not over for us. That he could come back from the dead. And I don't feel too easy with Pestilence, the Dream Queen, and Ranark, the Ravager trapped in my pouch."

"I wouldn't worry about it, Michael," Snowbird said, exiting the jeep with Talisman and Shaman. She covered her costume with her blue cape. "You kept Smart Alec in there for a long time until he was freed by Pestilence. Oh. I see what you mean. That means that we will have to be on our watch from now on. I will be there to protect you."

"That's right, Snowbird," Talisman said, changing from her Talisman uniform to Elizabeth Twoyoungman. "The Prime Minister doesn't want a female mystic in the group, only a demigoddess like you, Narya."

"Now that that's settled, Narya and I have to get back to base," Michael said. "We are invited to Sasquatch's wedding to Aurora. I have been invited to his bachelor party."

"And I to the bridal shower," Narya said.

"Well, have fun you two," Liz said.

"What are you going to do in the meanwhile?" Narya asked.

"Nothing, Narrie. Just go back to my dig and see what I can do there."

Michael and Narya waved good-bye, hopped in the jeep, and sped away. Liz watched as the jeep rolled down the dusty and dirty highway back to civilization.

Not far away at the archeological dig, Liz took out the stone carved head that was in her purse. She stared at its glowing eyes.

"I hope you can hear me in there, Llanny," Liz whispered. "Because I hope you rot in hell!"

She could swear that she could feel a tremor in there. As if he was somehow responding to her spoken curse. Maybe it was good that she wasn't in Alpha Flight any more. Maybe now she could concentrate on defeating Llan, this time all by her lonesome.

The Bachelor Party

"Here's to Walter!!" Puck said as he and the other male members of the team raised their glasses of Molson in the air above their heads. "May he never marry again!!"

"Cheers!!"

"To Walter! The most hirsute member of our team."

Walter, Eugene, Mr. Gentry, Mac, Madison, Harada, Michael, Kane, Wyre, Dei Guan drank their beer and toasted the groom.

"So, Mac," Walter started, "You've been married to Heather since forever. What is married life going to be like for me? You can answer too, Madison. But I consider you a newly wed, too."

"Your wife can be your anchor to the real world, outside of Alpha. Other times she can really weigh you down. Madison knows what that is like, right, Harada? Anyway, what I know of Jeanne-Marie she is a very special girl and she will give you a wonderful life full of happiness and joy."

"This is the way I look at it, eh? You too have been crazy about each other since you first met and were both recruited into the Flight. The only thing that has been holding you back from marrying each other is Jeanne-Marie herself."

"Right. She wanted to just stay boyfriend and girlfriend. But I can't stay in that stagnant place forever. I have to move on. And that is why I finally convinced her to marry me."

They all had to agree with that logic.

The Bridal Shower

"Bring on the Chippendales!!" screamed Jeanne-Marie at the top of her lungs, as she turned on the pumping disco music to her left.

She was in her apartment with all the female members of the team, including Heather, Lil, Narya, and Marrina. They all wet their lips as the back door opened and several male erotic dancers walked inside, dancing with the beat.

Jeanne-Marie was seated on a chair in the middle of the room and one healthy stud sat on her lap and started to undress except for his black thong and the bowtie around his neck.

Heather knelt close to whisper in her ear. "Remember, Aurora? After you get married you can have Walter do the same dance for you. He is an ex-football star, you know."

"Shut up, Heather. Let me enjoy this."

Jeanne-Marie stuffed a couple of single dollar bills into his thong.

She would soon forget this man dancing for her.

As well as all of her previous loves before Waltair, like Roger Bochs.

Tomorrow, there would only be Walter Langkowski for the rest of her life. Till death do they part.