Title: Happenstance
Author: Angel
Rating: I don’t know yet. PG-13 for language…maybe R for violence later.
Category: M/L & others
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything…no suing please.
Summary: This story is set in the future. It works off the events from the Pilot up until Max, Michael and Isabel decide to leave Roswell after Liz warns Max that Valenti suspects him. Everything after that in the show doesn’t exist in this story. Here, Max, Michael & Isabel actually do leave Roswell. Nasedo and Tess never found them, they never received the message from their mother, they don’t know about Skins or Khivar or anything about their planet. That doesn’t mean these things won’t happen…it just won’t happen in the same time frame as the show. Liz never tells Maria about them, or anyone else…keeping the secret of alien existence to herself.
Part 1
September, 2012 (13 years after the Crashdown shooting)
Liz always loves the fall. Especially in New York City. For the past six years, she’s walked the familiar route that takes her to her lab at NYU where she’s in the department of molecular biology. Not exactly her dream job from her childhood, but after attending Harvard for four years she decided New York was where she wanted to be.
She shares a small apartment with her best friend, Alex. He also works at NYU as a computer science professor. He’s one of the big reasons she decided to move here. Her other best friend, Maria, has been living in California ever since they graduated from high school. She steps up her pace, anxious to get through the day because Maria will be arriving tonight for a two week visit that she and Alex have been looking forward to for months.
Stopping at Starbuck’s for a Latte, Liz looks around at the other people standing in line. Some she recognizes from her daily stop here. A routine she fell into years ago. They don’t even ask her for her order anymore…she knows all the employees here.
As she steps up to the counter, she smiles and says, “Hey Joe. How’s it going?”
“Same old, same old, Liz.” Joe says as he grabs a Venti sized cup and writes her order on the side, handing it down the line.
Liz hands him her money as he rings her up and she glances around the coffee shop with the strange feeling of being watched. She sees a man watching her from the corner but he looks away quickly. Not recognizing him, she shrugs internally and collects her change from Joe. “Thanks Joe. Have a good day.”
“You too, Liz.” Joe says and moves on to the customer behind her.
Liz steps to the side waiting for her Latte to be ready and she picks up a paper from the counter. Glancing over the headlines and not seeing anything interesting, she looks back over to the corner and catches the man looking at her again. There’s something vaguely familiar about him, but she can’t place it. Maybe she’s seen him around campus. She hears her name called with her order and steps forward to grab her cup. When she turns back around, the man in the corner is gone.
She doesn’t think about it much for the rest of the day, her thoughts turning once again to Maria’s visit. She hasn’t seen her friend for over a year and they have a lot to catch up on.
But still, she has a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she knows the man from the coffee shop from somewhere but she just can’t place him. Getting to work on an experiment she’s been struggling with for several weeks, she wonders if she’ll see him again tomorrow. Maybe it’ll come to her later.
Later in the afternoon, there’s a knock on her door before Alex comes in. “Hey, Liz…you about finished here?”
Liz looks up and smiles. “Yup, just give me a second.” She makes a few more notes in her journal before straightening up her desk and leaving with Alex.
They make their way down the street toward the train, both talking excitedly about the places they plan on taking Maria…where they’ll go to dinner…they shows they’ll take her to. On the train, Liz tells Alex about her encounter at Starbuck’s that morning.
“Maybe you just know him from campus.” Alex offers after hearing about it.
“That’s what I thought. I don’t know…it just seemed…wrong. That I know him from somewhere else. I don’t even know why I’m still thinking about it. I mean, if he knew me he would have said something, right?”
Alex nudges her teasingly and says, “He was probably just checking out your sexy ass.”
“Alex!” Liz slaps him playfully and laughs. “I’m not the type of girl that gets her ass checked out.”
“Oh, I beg to differ Miss Parker. Guys are always checking you out…you’re just too oblivious to notice.” Alex laughs with her.
Liz rolls her eyes and says, “Whatever…you’re crazy.”
Their conversation turns back to Maria and before they know it they’re at the airport. They find the gate she’s arriving at and wait for the passengers to start spilling out of the doorway. They quickly spot Maria…one of the first ones off the plane.
Liz runs up to her and nearly topples her over as she hugs her. “Maria! I’m so glad you’re here! How was your trip?”
Maria laughs and says, “It was long…I’m sooo glad to finally be here.” She pulls away from Liz and looks her up and down…at her beige pantsuit and scarf around her neck. “Looks like I got here just in time. You seriously need a new wardrobe.”
Liz laughs and rolls her eyes as Alex comes up and hugs Maria. “Hey superstar. You’re finally here to slum with the little people.”
Maria grabs both their arms as they walk toward baggage claim and she says, “I never slum. I’ve come to rescue you both from your boring lives.” They all laugh as they walk arm in arm down the hallway.
Three hours later, they’re sitting around a small table in a cozy Italian restaurant around the corner from Liz and Alex’s apartment finishing their first bottle of wine.
“I love this place.” Maria says as she picks another piece of garlic bread from the basket.
“I know…I feel like this is my second home. I think we must eat here at least three times a week.” Liz says, sipping her wine and feeling a little light headed.
“So fill us in on the Jason situation.” Alex says to Maria.
Maria rolls her eyes and says, “Don’t get me started. I told him last week it was over.”
“Oh no…I’m sorry, Maria.” Liz says sympathetically.
Maria waves her off and says, “Yah, well, he was just…smothering me. I mean, the guy didn’t have an original thought in his head. He was such a yes man. ‘Yes, Maria’, ‘Whatever you want, Maria’, Anything, Maria’. Ugh…he just agreed with everything I said. I probably could have asked him to throw himself off a bridge and he would.”
Liz smiles and says sarcastically, “Yah, sounds awful.”
“It was!” Maria gets defensive.
“Poor Maria…can’t find someone to fight with.” Alex laughs as she throws a piece of bread at him and pouts.
“Enough of me. Liz, please tell me you’ve gone on at least ONE date since we last talked.” Maria changes the subject and enjoys the way Liz squirms once the focus is on her.
“Maria. I don’t have time to date.” Liz says.
“Right. Alex, why don’t you set her up with someone?”
Alex throws his hands up. “I’ve tried. The girl is just too picky.”
“Picky?! Are you forgetting Bob?” Liz asks Alex.
“So…the guy likes baseball. Is that a crime?”
“Yes, it is. When he’s watching the game over my head throughout dinner…at a sports bar that he took me to…filled with drunk guys…as we eat fried cheese sticks and potato skins.” Liz shakes her head and looks to Maria for support.
Their dinner arrives, ending that conversation…much to Liz’s relief. As the waiter sets their plates down, she glances over at the bar and her breath catches. She looks at Alex quickly and says, “That’s him…he’s here.”
Alex looks confused for a moment before understanding and he looks around.
“Don’t look!” Liz whispers furiously.
Alex looks back at her and says, “Ooookay. Where is he?”
“Where’s who?” Maria asks loudly as she looks around the restaurant.
“Maria…not so loud.” Liz says. “He’s at the bar…black leather jacket…second from the end.”
Alex looks over quickly and sees who she’s talking about…he catches the guy looking their way before he turns around quickly, facing the bar.
“Oh my God. I know that guy!” Maria says, squinting through the darkness.
“You do?” Liz asks, glancing back toward the bar and seeing that he’s turned around with his back to them.
“Yah…hold on.” Maria waits for him to turn back around. When he does, she turns to Liz and Alex and says, “He went to our school…weird guy…moved our sophomore year I think.”
Liz looks back over at him and frowns as he gets up and throws money on the bar. He walks toward the door and sneaks a quick glance at her again before he leaves.
“God, what was his name?” Maria is taking a sip of her wine and her eyes widen. “I remember…Michael…Michael something…”
“Michael Guerin?” Liz asks in a soft voice, still looking toward the door…watching out the front windows as he hurries down the street.
“Yah!” Maria exclaims, pointing her finger at Liz. “That’s it.”
“That’s weird, Liz. Why would you run into him twice in one day. That’s more than coincidence.” Alex says, worried. “Maybe he’s stalking you or something.”
Liz turns back around and says, “No…I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. Maybe he was thinking the same thing I was. That he recognized me but he didn’t know from where. I’m sure it’s not a big deal.” She’s bombarded with a million thoughts as she sobers quickly, trying to change the subject and eating her dinner. “So…what should we do tomorrow?”
Maria looks at Alex and they both exchange a concerned look before Maria follows Liz’s cue. “Shopping. By the looks of that outfit, we’re definitely going shopping.”
Liz smiles and says, “Fine, Maria. But I happen to like this suit. I got it on sale at Casual Corner.”
Maria rolls her eyes and says, “Oh Liz…you need help.”
As the three friends eat their dinner and try to move the conversation forward, Liz glances out the window every once in a while wondering what it means. Why would she run into Michael Guerin after all these years? Why did it seem like he was watching her? But the one prevailing thought circling through her head is, does this mean Max is here, too?
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Michael walks into a fairly large but mostly empty loft and falls onto the couch. He turns the big screen TV on and flips the channels a few times before saying, “You’ll never guess who I ran into today.”
Isabel and Max look up from the kitchen island where they’re eating dinner and look at Michael expectantly as he turns to face them.
“Liz Parker.” Michael says, watching as Max drops his fork on his plate.
~TBC~
