Vanessa and Michael met while Vanessa, a newspaper reporter for the Sentinel, was doing a story that led her into danger, and into Michael's path. Michael was her knight in shining armor, hiding Vanessa from the villians that were out to get her for a story she was working on. Eventually the story was dropped, but Michael and Vanessa's romance blossomed from there. But, as in any soap, Michael and Vanessa's romance doesn't come without problems - and her name is named Virginia Harrison, whom Michael shared a deep friendship and complicated past with. Unfortunately, to Virginia it's a whole lot more. Virginia wanted Michael all the herself. She would do anything in her power to break Michael and Vanessa up. She interrupted every intimate evening they shared, in hopes that they would never really "bonded", thus making her attempt to break them up much easier. Her plan was working, until Vanessa caught on and became vocal about her disapproval of Virginia's interruptions. Finally, after much planning Michael and Vanessa consumated their relationship. It was a very romantic and intimate moment for the two of them which took their relationship to a new level, but also made Virginia desperate. Her first plot: Use Mrs. Moreau's magic herbs to convince Vanessa she has a disfiguring disease (like her mom) called Martin's Syndrome, and it worked!

Right at the time Vanessa and Michael decided to move-in together, Virginia's plan unfolded and Vanessa skin broke out from the potion. Fearing that she has Martin's Syndrome and not wanting to ruin Michael's life, Vanessa wrote Michael a goodbye note (below) and took off. Although not getting far, as Dr. Tyus Robinson found her and offered to help her. Vanessa stayed with Tyus for months while he worked on a cure for Martin's Syndrome. With many near misses from Michael and same harsh words from Virginia (who discovered Vanessa was still in town), Vanessa wanted to leave town. Tyus wouldn't let her. He was falling in love with her and wanted her to stay. Virginia discovered that Vanessa was staying in town for good and decided on a back-up plan, just in case Michael and Vanessa found each other again. Enter plan #2: She drugged Tyus and Vanessa and posed them in a compromising position and took pictures to use at a later date. Vanessa and Tyus woke up and didn't know what had happened, and decided that they would just leave it alone and not try to find out if they did make love. Time went on and Tyus was close to finding a cure. Meanwhile, Michael was still in a desperate search for his lost love, and started to discover the truth. He discovered that Lena (Vanessa's mom) was sick with Martin's Syndrome and put the pieces together. That's when SHOCKWAVE hit trapping Tyus and Michael together at the hospital. Michael confronted Tyus who confessed that he had been harboring Vanessa while he searched for a cure. The cure had to be tested on someone and so Michael tested it on him out of his love for Vanessa. Tyus and Michael escaped the hospital where finally, Michael was able to reunite with Vanessa. They embraced each other at first site and we knew then, they were going to stay together this time. The made love... and then Michael told Vanessa that he injected himself with Martin's Syndrome. She was devastated as was Virginia who blamed herself for what had happenend. Unfortunately for all of them, the cure to Martin's Syndrome was destroyed in the quake. Tyus had to race to formulate a new one because Michael's condition was getting worse. He was near death. But Tyus came through and Vanessa and Michael were cured... or so they thought. It was discovered by Tyus that because Michael's syndrome was so bad, he had become sterile and was unable to have kids.