This fan fiction story deals with what never was and what could've been. In this saga, Melissa Agretti does not die in the fire that almost destroyed Falcon Crest, But, poor Pilar Ortega was struck with a burning limber from the second floor, and was killed instantly.

Lance is happy that Melissa is alright, but not so thrilled about what happened to Pilar and their burgeoning romance. Melissa gets a good lawyer, who gets her off on the murder and destruction of property charges. Lance leaves for Europe to think.

Melissa, seeing this as a second chance at life, decides she needs peace. And peace for her will come by leaving the Napa Valley and her obsession with Falcon Crest behind. She goes to Australia to be with her son and Cole. They soon reunite and move back to the States, where they settle in a small, middle class suburb in California, called Knots Landing. They live in the house formerly lived in by Gary, Val, Bobby and Betsy Ewing(in this re-mix, Gary never lost the ranch, and they all live there).

Cole and Melissa make plans to remarry and raise Joseph, who is now ten. But little things are beginning to happen again for Melissa, that cause her to have doubts about remarrying Cole. One of them being that Cole has a real problem with Melissa's new job at the Sumner Group, when she is promoted after her former boss, Paige Mathison, takes off for parts unknown.

Meanwhile Lance wants Melissa back, and thinks that the life she's living with Cole, is boring and almost obscenely middle class. When Lance and Frank Agretti come up with a business proposition that appears to interest the Sumner Group, Greg Sumner puts Melissa in charge of the project, which also puts her in direct contact with Lance.

Lance steps up his desire to be with Melissa again, by temporarily moving out of FC and living in the house that former KL residents, Kenny and Ginger Ward lived in. Cole is not happy with this development.

But what Melissa does not realize, is that a secret, unbeknownst to her, could rock her whole world when Maggie(yes, she is alive!), is asked to write an unauthorized biography of Greg Sumner. Her husband Richard, is none too happy about it, having thought that his wife was writing a book about Falcon Crest itself. Maggie discovers information, that ties Greg Sumner and Melissa together in an unusual way, and is afraid of what the revelation could do to Cole and Melissa's marriage.

And yes, Angela is still around...

Episode 1: Knarled Vines

Melissa Agretti struggled for what seemed like the fiftieth time, with the hair pins she was using. She had her suit for the day laid out on the bed and if she could just get going...

"Mom! Mom!" she heard Joseph calling. Melissa was still in her slip, when she finally got her hair to go the way she wanted it. She turned from the bathroom mirror and hurried into the bedroom. Joseph stood there with his backpack.

"Mom, Meg is downstairs waiting. And we have to pick up the others."

Meg was Meg McKenzie, their neighbor's daughter. Melissa suspected that Joseph had a crush on the red headed girl.

Melissa blinked as she looked for stockings. She glanced over at Joseph.

"'We'? Honey, get your father to take you all."

Joseph sighed and tossed his backpack onto the bed.

"Mom, you know he won't."

"Joseph...get that backpack off of my suit!"

"Sorry, Mom. Please!"

"Honey, I'm late!"

"You promised to do the carpool thing today!"

This was one of the many things, that Melissa swore she would get used to. Carpooling. Listening to a lot of children run on and on about things. Telling kids to stop hitting one another...

Melissa turned to Joseph.

"I know. I'll be right down. Meg and you go and wait by the car, okay?"

Joseph smiled, grabbed his backpack and left the room. Melissa finished getting ready for the day. Once dressed, she grabbed her purse and inspected herself in front of the mirror.

She saw Melissa Agretti, soon to be Mrs. Cole Giobertti again. Mother of a wonderful son named Joseph...head of New Acquisitions at the Sumner Group.

Gone was 'Melissa Agretti: Grape Queen'. And she meant for it to stay that way.

Melissa looked away from the mirror and spotted her keys on the dresser. She grabbed them and left the bedroom.

Cole Giobertti was wearing a t-shirt and shorts as he read the morning paper in the kitchen. He looked up and smiled when Melissa swept into the room.

"Joseph had breakfast." was all he said, as his eyes went back to the paper.

Melissa took a deep breath. She had left her briefcase on the counter. She walked by Cole to get it then turned to face him.

"You could take Joseph to school."

Cole set his paper down calmly.

"Lissa, we have talked about this. I want our son to learn about conservation and pollution. I don't drive. I ride a bike now. Joseph can do the same. School is not that far."

"Cole, I'm really, really running late today. Couldn't you break this rule of not driving and the environment and all of that, just for today?"

"If you weren't working for that corporate polluter sonofabitch, Sumner, then maybe you'd have time to take Joseph to school."

Melissa put a hand up. This was part of being the 'New Melissa'. She wasn't going to freak out. She would just take a calming breath.

"Fine. I'll pick up all of the kids, take them to school and be late. You don't respect my job or my feelings at all, do you?"

Cole stood up.

"Lissa, we don't need the money. Combined, we both have enough to live comfortably on. I don't care if you work. But the Sumner Group is just bad news. Paige Mathison, from what I hear, wasn't much better. Now you have her job."

"I didn't know she wouldn't be be coming back! What was I supposed to do!" Melissa snapped. She hadn't cared for Paige much anyway. That and there were rampant rumors that she only got where she did, because she was screwing Greg Sumner.

"You should've turned Sumner down when he offered you that job. Look, honey...I know that it seems like I'm just hanging around and not working here. But I'm trying to find direction. Honey...I'm afraid that this job is too much stress on you, that's all. I'm worried. We're doing well here."

Melissa knew that that was Cole's way of alluding to the past. Her suicide attempt that night at Falcon Crest. Pilar Ortega's death. Maybe he was afraid she would burn down their house?

Melissa touched Cole's hand.

"I'm fine. This job...I'm not doing anything with the environment, okay? Look, I don't want to fight about this. I want to go to work, then come home and plan my wedding with the man I love."

Cole smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"That sounds like a plan." he murmured into her mouth. Melissa dropped her briefcase as she got more into the kiss.

That was when both Melissa and Cole, heard someone clear their throat! They pulled away abruptly to find Karen McKenzie, smiling and waving. Melissa wiped her mouth, knowing she would have to check her lipstick later.

Cole smiled at Karen first.

"Karen...we didn't see you there."

Karen put a hand up in a halting motion.

"It's alright, really. I'm sorry to interrupt, but Melissa the kids really are running late." Karen reminded her. She then looked around. They hadn't changed that much of the decor since Val and the kids had moved out.

Melissa kissed Cole one last time, then hurried out with Karen. Once Melissa closed the door, she grabbed Karen's arm.

"Karen, I really hate to ask, but could you do the carpool today? I am really running late and I thought Cole would help."

Karen smiled softly at her.

"Oh, alright. Though I must say with Cole riding his bike everywhere, I don't see why you thought he would help."

"Neither do I, believe me."

"Then again," Karen continued, "Cole does have a lot on his mind. With your wedding and that senate run. Okay, well I'll take the kids to school and I'll see you tonight over at my house. Val and Gary might stop by, and we would love to help you with your wedding plans."

Melissa just stared at her.

"Could you go back a beat?"

Karen looked confused.

"Okay."

"What did you just say?"

"That Val and I would love to help you with your wedding?"

"Before that."

"I'll take the kids to school?"

"Before that." Melissa urged.

"Cole's senate run."

"Yes...I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

Karen could see that. And now she was sorry she had brought it up. She looked at her watch.

"Wow! Look at the time! I have to run if Meg and Joseph are going to get to school on time. See you later!"

Melissa said nothing and watched as Karen ushered the kids over towards her house. Joseph turned and waved at her. Melissa blew him a kiss, then glanced back at the front door. If she wasn't so late, she'd have gone back inside to ask Cole what this business was all about. It was probably all a mistake. She pulled out her sunglasses and moved swiftly towards her car.

THE CHANNING HOME-SAME DAY

Maggie Channing sighed and sipped a cup of green tea.

The boys would soon be coming home from boarding school in a few days. She still didn't know how she felt about this whole idea of sending the kids abroad.

But surprisingly, she found that the boys seemed to like it. Maggie set her tea down and dedicated herself to the mounds of files she had on the coffee table.

Richard came into the room, turned her face to his, and gave her a long, lingering kiss, before joining her on the sofa with the paper. Maggie eyed him.

"I thought you were going over to see your mother today?" she asked.

"You mean Angela."

Maggie gave him a wry smile.

"Why do I get the feeling, that that's about as close to affection that you can show the woman?"

Richard shrugged and delved into the business section. Maggie yawned, then reached for a folder. She did not realize that her husband had been watching her.

"You were restless all night." he noted. Maggie looked up from a folder and stared at him.

"What did you say?"

Richard set down his paper.

"Maggie, I don't like this book you're writing. It's sapping your energy, you're not sleeping well...and who knew there was so much information about Falcon Crest out there." he said, eyeing the folders. He picked up one before Maggie could get to it!

"Richard! Give that back to me! That information is confidential!"

Richard could hear the panic in his wife's voice, but could not resist peeking! His sly smile then turned into a frown.

"Since when does Paul Galveston have anything to do with Falcon Crest?"

Maggie rubbed the back of her neck and held out her hand. Richard slowly put the file into it. Maggie snatched it back.

"Maggie? Answer me. What's going on here? What does Paul Galveston have to do with Falcon Crest?"

Maggie set the folder on top of the others.

"He doesn't."

"Thank God!"

"You knew of him?"

"Well yes, who hasn't. You remember that Empire Valley deal, some years back. And Greg Sumner turning out to be Galveston's son and all of that hoopla. I mean I never met the man, but I had heard plenty about him in business. He was about as ruthless as they come."

"Some would say that about you, my dear." Maggie said patting his cheek. But Richard reached for her hand.

"This book is not about Falcon Crest, is it?"

Maggie slowly pulled her hand away.

"No. No it isn't. Look, I didn't want to tell you because...I don't know, I just felt odd about it."

"About what, Maggie?"

"This book that I'm writing is a biography of Greg Sumner."

There was a long silence. Maggie knew her husband was displeased. By how much, was hard to gauge.

"Okay...say something, please?"

Richard folded his arms.

"I think Greg Sumner has a dangerous past."

"So do you."

"But you're not writing a book about me. And you'll have to ask questions about things that people would rather not have brought up again. Throw Galveston into the mix and there's no telling what could happen. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd react like this. Richard, let's not talk about it now, okay? We need to get over to Angela's."

"Maggie, does this book on Sumner have anything to do with this family?" he asked, sensing something was amiss.

Maggie cupped his face in her hands.

"I don't know yet. There is someone I need to talk to to confirm some things."

Maggie slowly let go of his face. But Richard was not through yet.

"You're worried. Clearly you're worried because you haven't slept in days. And the only time that you get like this, is when you're worried about one of the children. Michael and Kevin are safe at boarding school. Vicki and Dan are living in Georgia and Cole is getting ready to make the same mistake he made before with Melissa. Some would say that was dangerous in itself. You're worried about one of them, aren't you? Who is it?"

"I'm going to freshen up and then we're leaving." Maggie said. She then struggled to pick up all of the folders, and left the room. Richard rolled his tongue around in his mouth. Maybe Angela knew how Paul Galveston was connected to Falcon Crest. He would ask her.

Lance Cumson came down the stairs, just as his grandmother, Angela Channing, crossed his path. The look she was giving him was proof that he should've waited a bit longer before coming down the stairs!

"Grandmother..."

"Lance, I'm glad that you finally came home after bumming around Europe. But now you need to prove your worth again."

Lance lifted a brow.

"So is it your intention to pit me against Richard?"

"Richard has proved to be invaluable to me. We actually get on quite well. You could learn from watching your uncle."

"Oh please, Grandmother! Please spare me." Lance said, moving past her.

"Lance, I know what your plans are. And I must say, I approve."

Lance turned to stare at her.

"What?"

"You do plan on making Melissa a member of this family again, don't you?"

Lance folded his arms.

"Yes...I actually was looking for Frank. I know he went to visit her and Cole recently."

"Well, you'll get quite an earful. He didn't say it in so many words, but I don't think he feels Cole and Melissa will make it back to the altar."

"They won't." Lance said firmly. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Well good luck."

"Okay, Grandmother! What the hell is going on? You hate Melissa's guts."

"No, now that is such a strong phrase. I don't hate her. I never did. If she were of sound mind, she would be the first person I would leave Falcon Crest to."

"She can't give me any children." Lance reminded her.

Angela waved a hand.

"I have two grandson's I'm very proud of. They will be fine heirs. Now, we need to discuss something else. My husband is down in your mother's lab again. I want you to get him to stop this foolish idea of his, about marketing Falcon Crest beer."

Lance shrugged.

"Actually, it's not a bad idea."

Angela gave him a dirty look.

"You would think so. Richard agrees with me."

"Of course." Lance sighed.

"Now get going. I don't want to spend another dinner hearing about this distasteful plan." Angela said stoutly. She then turned and walked off. Lance stared at her back. His grandmother was up to something. If she wanted Melissa back in this family, then Melissa had something that his grandmother wanted.

Lance knew that Melissa had left to find peace. And the last thing she probably wanted was to be dragged back into all that was Falcon Crest. But, he knew her. And he also knew Cole Giobertti, sanctimonious prig that he was. Melissa would never be able to measure up to his high standards. That and that middle class existence that Cole insisted on living in, was probably stressing Melissa out as it was.

Lance stopped staring after his grandmother. He was sorry to disappoint the old woman, but Frank's beer idea, was just the ticket he needed to get back into Melissa's life...at the Sumner Group.

When Lance reached the lab, he stopped short. Maggie was already there, talking in ernest to Frank. He looked around. He wondered if Richard was around anywhere.

Lance paused outside of the door to eavesdrop.

"I need to know what you know, Frank?"

"Maggie, don't write this book." Frank answered.

"I can't just ignore this! Look, my son and grandson could be affected too. If Melissa takes this information wrong..."

"Or if she takes it right, then she could end up half owner of the Sumner Group."

Lance's eyes widened! What?

"Frank, I'm going to get my information from someone else, if not you. I don't know yet if I'm going to include this in the book."

Lance heard Frank sigh.

"Alright, alright. But this stays between us. And God help you, Maggie, if you do decide to print this, then we have to be prepared as to how to tell Melissa."

"Frank, I care about Melissa. I haven't always been thrilled with her, but I do care, if for no other reason, because Cole loves her."

There was a silence. Then Frank finally spoke.

"My brother's late wife, Rosalia, Melissa's mother, was a good soul. Salt of the earth, so to speak. But that did not keep Carlo from running wild in his youth. He had an affair. With a wild, young, married woman."

"Ruth Sumner." Maggie filled in.

"Yes. Carlo broke it off, as soon as Rosalia found out about it, but he and Ruth remained good friends. When Ruth became pregnant by Paul Galveston a second time, Ruth just, well, didn't want the baby. She had two children, one of them being Galveston's that she had pawned off on her husband."

Maggie nodded slowly.

"Ruth Sumner's husband had been dead awhile, when she got pregnant again, hadn't he?"

Frank nodded.

"Ruth, at heart, was all about image. She just didn't know how she would've explained the child. And Galveston, well, he knew, but was content with Ruth's decision. I don't believe her other children even knew she was pregnant."

"Carlo took Melissa off of Ruth's hands, didn't he?"

Frank nodded again. "Many of the problems Carlo and Rosalia had, were due to her inability to give him a child. They loved Melissa with all of their hearts..."

"Frank...I'm not here to question that. I found this out when a maid, who was quite senile, let me into one of Galveston's houses to look around. All of this information was in a strong box...an unlocked one at that. There was another will there too."

Frank paled.

"Please don't tell me that if divided up his fortune between Greg and Melissa?"

Maggie nodded somberly.

"Melissa is doing well. The last thing she needs is to lose the only identity she has ever known, and get into a powerplay with Greg Sumner."

"Do you think Sumner knows?"

Maggie shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I just find it more than a bit ironic, that Melissa is working for the man, when she should be working side by side with him."

Lance had heard enough. He slipped away and mulled over what he had just learned. Was it possible that Grandmother knew all of this? Is this why she was pushing him to reunite with Melissa?

Melissa was Head of New Acquisitions over at the Sumner Group, and she should really be running the company. Lance sighed, thinking about the small things he had already done himself, to put a crimp in her life with Cole. Like throwing Cole's name around to the right people, so he could run for Greg Sumner's former senate seat...