Fan Fic and More

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:04 pm**

There are three finished Roswell fics in this thread:

Mysteries (Mature)
Shattered (Mature)
A Very Valenti Christmas (Teen)

Shattered is the sequel to Mysteries. A Very Valenti Christmas is also set in the same fic universe, after the events of Shattered.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:06 pm**

Alex Whitman got out of his car in front of the Evans household. He took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and walked up to the door. He couldn't believe he was doing this. So much for my decision not to be Isabel's lapdog anymore, he thought wryly. Way to keep your independence and your distance. Recognizing how stupid he was being, he smiled and kept on walking. Like he ever had a hope of keeping his distance from Isabel. Mrs. Evans opened the door and smiled at Alex. "Hello, Alex. Are you here to see Max or Isabel?" "Isabel, actually," he smiled brightly at Mrs. Evans. "Is she home?" "She hasn't been anywhere except home and school for days," she said, her smile faded into a look of motherly concern. "Her father and I have been worried about her, actually. All this isolation isn't like her at all. Maybe you can find out what's the matter and help her, Alex." "Well, I'll certainly try," Alex went on inside and headed to Isabel's room. It looked like Michael had been right - there was definitely something wrong with Isabel. Of course, it might have been helpful if Michael had actually told Alex what that something was, but that was obviously too much to expect from Surly Alien. He supposed that it was progress that Michael suggested Alex come over here at all. When he reached the door to Isabel's room, Alex paused and knocked. "Isabel," he called. "It's Alex. Can I come in?" For a minute, there was no answer. Just as he was preparing to knock again, he heard Isabel's voice. "Go away, Alex. I don't want to see anyone right now." Her voice sounded tiny, not at all the confident Queen of the World voice he was accustomed to hearing from Isabel Evans. He frowned. Now he was starting to get worried himself. "Isabel, I'm coming in," he said, reaching for the doorknob. A part of him was expecting to find the door locked or to be on the receiving end of Isabel's alien powers, but instead he found that the door opened quite easily. He went in, closing the door behind him. He didn't think Isabel was going to want a parental audience for what was coming. The minute he saw her, Alex knew that all his talk about being over Isabel, about avoiding her and not being a love-sick puppy anymore, was foolish self-delusion. Because when he saw her, all huddled up in the chair next to the window, looking more like a lost and lonely little girl than the most popular girl at West Roswell High, he knew that he was just as crazy about her as he had ever been. He wanted to fight her battles and help her smile again. The only problem was, he had no idea what battles she was fighting right now. Okay, he thought resolutely. I'll just have to get her to tell me, that's all. "So, Isabel. What's up?" Isabel kept looking out the window, ignoring him. He went over and looked out to see what was so interesting, but didn't see anything. A few cars and people passed by. Nothing for her to be staring at so intently. From this, he concluded that she simply didn't want to look at him. Fine, but that's not going to get rid of me. "I haven't talked to you since everything that happened last week," he went on. "I thought you might want to talk to someone about what Lonnie and Rath said. You know, someone neutral, who isn't a Czechoslovakian." Aha. A response. He saw her wince when he mentioned Lonnie and Rath. Well, after what they did to Max and Ava, that wasn't too big a surprise. Still, she said nothing. "You know, Isabel, I'm pretty used to being ignored by you. I've had years and years of practice in fact. So if you think the silent treatment is going to make me go away, you are sadly mistaken, my lady. I am not leaving this room until I know what's been making you so miserable lately. So, I will just sit here and talk until you decide to tell me what's up." Alex sat down in the room's other chair, and got himself comfortable. This might take a while. After taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he started talking. For over half an hour, Alex just talked. He let his mind wander from topic to topic, rambling on about anything that came to mind. He told Isabel about the first time he had seen her in fifth grade and how he had thought she was some fairy tale princess come to life (he also told her how much Maria had laughed at him and teased him about his crush). He told her about the time he went skiing and got tangled up while trying to get out of the snowlift, falling down in the snow, but laughing anyway because he had never been in snow before. He described the gig the Whits had the previous week, and the outfits that Maria had forced them to wear. He laughingly explained to her about how he had dared Liz and Maria to climb a tree when they were twelve, and how he had stayed up there for two hours with them until Liz got up the courage to climb back down ("I told her not to look down!"). He told her about how his father was trying to persuade him to go on another camping trip, one where they actually had supplies and tents. And so it went. Alex didn't mind that he was telling her all the personal parts of his life. After all, he already knew her deepest darkest secret. It only seemed fair that she know some of his. He told her about the crush he had on Liz when he was in fourth grade, and how it lasted for a year until they became friends. He shared with her the time that he snuck down in the middle of the night to watch "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" on television and was nervous for a week, watching his parents to see if they had been switched with Pod People. By this point, Alex was starting to run out of breath. But he was determined to keep talking until she did. He decided to think of Maria and take encouragement from her example. Maria could talk for hours if you let her. If she could do it, so could he. However, he did take a brief pause to try and think of the next topic, when he noticed that Isabel had turned and was looking at him. "Why do you care?" she asked. "About what?" he replied in confusion. "About whether my parents were Pod People? Well, it seemed like something to worry about at the time. Of course, in retrospect, maybe not such a strange thing." He smiled at her, but she shook her head. "Why do you care about me?" Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening his eyes, he looked at her directly and answered. "Isabel, I think you already know the answer to that." "No," she said shaking her head again. "It doesn't make sense. You care so much about me. You always have. I've never understood it. You don't even know me." He smiled. "Of course I know you. You're Isabel Evans, the most beautiful girl in West Roswell High, inside and out." He reached over for her hand, but she pulled it away. "You don't really know me," she whispered. "Isabel, why don't you tell me what's going on? Maybe I can help." She looked away. "What did you hear from Rath and Lonnie?" Alex thought back a week. "They called you by another name, something like Vondra or something. I really didn't catch it. We were a little busy at the time," he finished wryly. "Vilandra. That's who I am, or who I was. It's who we both were - Lonnie and I. In our other life." She looked at Alex. The last thing she wanted was to have him hate her, to look away from her in disgust, but she couldn't keep this inside anymore. She had to talk about it with someone, and Alex was the person she trusted most in the world. She would never say it, and couldn't really understand it, but Alex, geeky skinny Alex, had a strength to him that she always felt she could rely on, even more than she could rely on Michael and Max. So, she decided to take the chance and hope that he would still see her the same way, even after she told him. "I found out about Vilandra on my birthday. Congresswoman Whitaker told me. Vilandra betrayed everybody, including her brother, for her love Kivar." At Alex's look of recognition, Isabel nodded. "Yes, the same Kivar who is the leader of the Skins. The one who took over Max's throne back home. Whitaker told me that I belonged with them, the Skins. Nicholas said the same thing, that he had been sent by Kivar to bring me back home." "I see," Alex nodded slowly. "And Lonnie confirmed this?" "Yes. She said she knew about it, too. Michael and Max knew the truth about me, but I didn't want to have to tell the rest of you. But then when Lonnie and Rath made such a big deal of it," she shrugged. "Well, I guess I can't keep it a secret anymore." Alex nodded again absently, deep in thought. Isabel waited for his response for a minute, but then couldn't wait any longer. "Well? What do you think? Do you hate me now?" Alex looked at her in confusion and then laughed. "Why would I hate you? That doesn't even make any sense." "Weren't you listening? I betrayed everyone and got us all killed. Our deaths were my fault. I was a traitor, Alex." Alex shook his head. "Okay, first things first. Have you gotten any of this information about Vilandra's supposed treachery from someone who wasn't trying to kill you?" "Well, no, but......." "Well, maybe the Skins and dupes aren't the most reliable sources of information in the world, Izzy. This might just be Michael's paranoia rubbing off on me, but I'm thinking they might just possibly lie on occasion." Isabel opened her mouth to answer, but Alex cut her off. "But let's say that it's true. That there was an alien princess named Vilandra who betrayed her brother and caused him to get killed by Kivar. Okay. And then the aliens took Vilandra's essence and combined it with human DNA to make you and Lonnie. You aren't Vilandra. You're a different person, different DNA, different life experiences. So whether you believe in nature or nurture, you're different from Vilandra on both counts." Isabel wanted so desperately to believe him. He sounded so sure of himself. "I want to believe that, Alex, but I don't know if I can." "Okay, Isabel. Let's try to approach this logically. When you found out that Rath and Lonnie were going to kill Max, what did you do?" She looked at him as if he were crazy. "You already know what I did. I got Liz and we dreamwalked Max to warn him." Alex smiled triumphantly. "You mean, you saved his life? You didn't grab Michael and start celebrating Max's death? You weren't thrilled at the idea of being an only child and having the Jeep all to yourself?" A little smile formed on Isabel's face. "Of course not." "Well, from what you just told me, that's what Vilandra would have done. So obviously, you're not the same as she was." He saw that she still looked doubtful. "I mean it, Isabel. You're not like her. You would never try to hurt Max and Michael. I've been around you three, remember? You're like a mother bear when you think one of them is in danger. I remember how you acted when Michael was sick, how determined you were to nurse him back to health by sheer strength of will alone. I honestly don't know how he dared to stay sick. I personally would have been too afraid of you to stay sick, the way you were acting." Isabel tried to give him an angry look, but couldn't hide the smile that was spreading. "And I saw how you and Maria dragged his cocoon across the desert to the reservation. You love your family, Iz. You would never betray them." Isabel relaxed for the first time since her reunion with Lonnie a week earlier. Alex sounded so certain of himself. He almost made her believe. Okay, maybe more than almost. She reached over and took his hand. "Thank you for believing in me," she whispered, and then leaned forward to kiss him. For a split second, she thought he was going to pull away, but he didn't. Instead he leaned forward and returned the kiss. Isabel had almost forgotten how good kissing Alex felt. She had done her best to block it out ever since learning about Vilandra. She never wanted to hurt him. But kissing Alex was something that just seemed right. Slowly, she reached up and put her hand behind his neck, deepening the kiss. When she was with Alex, she felt safe. It was the only time when she felt totally and completely safe. Alex tried to convince his body to stop kissing her. He knew where this was leading, and he knew that if he started down this road again, any chance he ever had of being free of Isabel was gone forever. But then he felt her hand on his neck, and all rational thought left. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her as close as possible. He realized that he was never going to be able to stop loving Isabel, so he might as well enjoy the ride. After a while, Isabel pulled away and smiled at him. "So," she said teasingly. "So," he said with a shaky smile. "Is this the part where you tell me that I'm a great friend but you're not ready for a relationship right now?" "You are a great friend," she started. At his groan, she laughed. "But you're more than that. Alex, thank you for giving me space. I needed to get my head straight, to figure out what I wanted. But I know now." She looked him directly in the eyes. He smiled again, loving her pride and self-assurance. "I want you, Alex. If you still want me, that is." He heard the little tremble in her voice as she said the last part. He shook his head in disbelief. Isabel Evans, the goddess of West Roswell, worried that Alex Charles Whitman wouldn't want her. "Isabel, I understood why you needed the time. And I told you that I would always be there to catch you. So, yes. I most definitely still want you." She threw herself into his arms, and they kissed again. This day was definitely going better than Alex had expected. When they finally came up for air, he muttered, "I'm going to owe Michael a big thank-you for this later." "Michael?" she asked in puzzlement. "What does Michael have to do with anything?" "He's the one who suggested that I come over and talk to you," he said, brushing back a loose lock of her blond hair. She really was beautiful. "Well, actually, it was more of an order than a suggestion, but you know Michael." She gave another little laugh. "Oh, yes. I definitely know Michael. So he's been talking about me behind my back, has he? How ....... interesting." Alex knew that look in her eyes. He briefly considered trying to convince her to not be angry with Michael, but then he decided that Michael could take care of himself. Anyway, he had much better things to be doing with his time. With that thought, Alex proceeded to distract Isabel from thoughts of Michael, Vilandra, and anything and everything alien-related.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:08 pm**

Michael opened the door of his apartment to find Isabel standing there. She smiled brightly at him. "Hello, Michael," she said as she pushed by him and entered. She looked around the apartment. "Michael, you have actually heard of the concept of dusting, haven't you?" she asked as she wiped a finger along his countertop. "Isabel, my apartment is perfectly clean and you know it. So, to what do I owe the honor of this visit?" Michael was watching her carefully. Usually when Isabel showed up, she had some sort of household item with her as a gift - baking powder, air fresheners, contact paper for the drawers, an electric bottle opener. Once she had even brought over a plant, but he drew the line at anything alive and made her take it back. But he noticed that her hands were conspicuously empty this time. "Why, Michael, you sound so suspicious," Isabel said with wide-eyed sincerity. Okay, now Michael was getting really nervous. "Can't a girl just want to drop by and say hi to one of her oldest and dearest friends?" "Sure." He looked around the room nervously, finally finding something to distract attention away from himself. "Would you like a drink?" "I would love a drink." Really, the perky cheerleader attitude was starting to scare Michael more than facing the Skins in Copper Summit had. He went over and poured her a glass of cold soda, lacing it with Tabasco sauce. Isabel had walked over to him, still talking. "Especially when that old and dear friend has been so worried about her that he's TOLD THEIR OTHER FRIENDS TO CHECK UP ON HER!" Michael cursed as the temperature of the soda he was holding heated up as Isabel's voice raised. By the time she was finished speaking, the soda was boiling hot and the glass cracked. He dropped the glass to the floor, jumping out of the way of the spilled liquid. Angrily, Michael looked up at her. But he looked away as he saw how she was glaring at him. "You had no right to tell Alex about what was going on, Michael. No right. That was my secret to tell, not yours." "Hey, I didn't tell him any secrets." Isabel raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I didn't. I just told Alex that you were upset and could use a friend right now." Michael carefully kept his distance. She still looked angry. "So, how did things go with the two of you?" Isabel kept glaring at him for a minute, but then went to sit down on the couch. She looked up at him. "You can sit down, Michael. I'm not going to do anything else. I promise." Seeing that he wasn't moving, she rolled her eyes. "Some mighty warrior you're going to be, Michael, if you're too afraid to sit down next to a girl." Michael grimaced. "Somehow I think that's a sign of wisdom in this case, not cowardice." Still, he walked over and sat next to her. "It went really well. Much better than I could have hoped for." She looked off in space for a minute, a small smile on her lips, as if she was remembering something very pleasant. For a minute, he almost asked, but then decided he didn't really need to know the details. She went on. "I was so sure that Alex was going to hear about what Vilandra did and run screaming out of the house and I'd never hear from him again. But he was so calm about everything." She looked at Michael and there was so much pleased surprise on her face. "He honestly doesn't care, Michael. It doesn't change anything in the way he feels about me. I'm not sure he even believes it, but if it is true, it doesn't matter." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "He still thinks I'm beautiful and that I'm a good person. He still wants me." Michael nodded, pleased with himself. Max and he had been trying to make Isabel feel better about the whole Vilandra mess all week. They trusted her and knew that she would never betray them, but she wasn't so sure. Of them all, Michael understood her doubts the best. She needed to have someone whose opinion she trusted totally look at her and tell her that it wasn't important what she may or may not have done on another planet. He was glad that Alex had been up to the task. "Well, then, sounds like you and Alex are back on track, right?" Isabel looked at him with annoyance. "Yes, but that does not make it okay for you to go around talking about me behind my back, Michael. I mean it. How would you like it if I told Maria everything that I know about you?" Michael got up as soon as Maria's name came out of Isabel's mouth. He really didn't want to have to think about her right then. While her response to his confession hadn't surprised him, it had still hurt. He could understand Isabel's fear of what she might see in Alex's eyes when she told him the truth about her, because he lived with that fear himself daily. At least now she knows the truth and she'll stay away. She'll be safe, he tried to convince himself. "You can tell Maria whatever you want, Isabel. We're over. For good this time." He was surprised by the sound of Isabel's laughter. He looked at her in irritation. "Oh, Michael, please," she got out between laughs. "That is so ridiculous. You two are never going to be over." Calming down, she went on in a more serious voice. "I saw the way you were looking at her while she was singing in Vegas, you know. I've never seen that look on your face before. You looked happy, Michael. Totally and completely happy." He took a deep breath. "Maybe I was happy, Iz. But it just doesn't matter. My destiny is to fight and protect the rest of you. I can't be who she wants me to be, and she deserves to be happy, too." "More than you do?" she asked gently. "Yes." The answer came out instantly, stunning Isabel with its quiet sincerity. She got up and walked over to her other brother. "Michael, you both deserve to be happy. Don't let Rath and Lonnie destroy what you have with Maria. When I think that I might have lost Alex......... Just don't take that chance. You deserve to be loved, too." Reaching up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, Isabel turned to leave. She opened the door, and was about to leave, when she turned back. "Michael?" "Yes?" He walked up to her. "Thanks. For caring and for everything." Isabel reached over and hugged him. After a second, he put his arms around her and hugged her back. "You're welcome, Izzy." ------------------------------------------------------- Maria got out of the Jetta and entered Michael's apartment building. Ever since yesterday, she had been mentally reliving her last conversation with Michael, trying to work out her feelings about it. She'd been shocked when he admitted to wanting to kill Rath, but time had given her some perspective. If she was going to be perfectly honest with herself, she wanted Rath and Lonnie dead too. They were a threat to all of them in Roswell. All Rath and Lonnie cared about was power and getting back to their planet. The aliens in Roswell and the humans who knew about them were nothing more than obstacles in that quest. They had tried to kill Max twice, and had succeeded in killing Zan and Ava. Maria had never met Zan, but she had liked Ava. Seeing her killed like that had shocked all of them. and Maria hated the way it had scarred Tess. She seemed so vulnerable now. So, she could understand Michael's decision to remove the threat of Rath once and for all, even if she doubted he could actually kill his dupe in cold blood. Michael could kill in self-defense, in a fight, but Maria honestly didn't think he could murder someone, no matter what he said now. What bothered her the most was the pain she saw in Michael's eyes. It was the same pain she had seen right after Michael killed Pierce. And, just like then, he was pushing her away. Well, no more. She was sick and tired of it. He needed her to help him through this, to listen to him, to comfort him, and maybe to just hold him while he cried. So, she was going to see him and they were going to discuss things, whether he felt like it or not. As Maria walked down the hallway to Michael's apartment, she heard voices. As she looked up, she saw that the door was open. What she saw made her stop in shock. Michael was standing there, arms tight around Isabel. Holding Isabel close to him. Getting comfort from Isabel, not her. She must have made a sound, because suddenly Michael and Isabel broke apart and looked up. Maria turned and ran back down to the car, ignoring Isabel's cries. -------------------------------------------------------- Michael felt frozen inside. He hated seeing that look in Maria's eyes. It was the same look she had when she found him at Courtney's apartment, only more so. He could almost feel what she was feeling, as if she'd been sucker-punched and couldn't breathe. Then he noticed that Isabel was moving away, and he grabbed her arm. "Let me go, Michael. I have to stop her." Michael kept a tight grasp on her arm. "Let her go." He was amazed at how calmly he said this. Nasedo would be proud - he was learning to keep his human emotions in check. Too bad he couldn't convince himself of that. "It's better this way." Isabel looked at him in shock. "Michael, you know what she's thinking, right? That you and I were, you know." He simply nodded. Hearing the sound of the Jetta starting, he let go of Isabel's arm and walked back to the couch. Isabel walked over to look at him speculatively, rubbing her arm. "Michael, what you're doing is just going to end up hurting you both more in the long run. You know that, too, don't you?" "Isabel, thanks for wanting to help. But I know what I'm doing. Honestly." She shook her head slowly. "I don't think you do. Just think about what I said? Please?" When he didn't answer, Isabel walked over to the door and left, closing the door gently after her. The second the door closed, Michael closed his eyes. He was left with only the thought of Maria's eyes, filled with pain and betrayed trust.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:09 pm**

Maria desperately tried to concentrate on the road in front of her, not on what she had just seen in Michael's apartment. No such luck. All she could see was the image of Michael and Isabel locked together in an embrace. In her mind, she kept hearing Michael's words from yesterday. "Rath made me realize a few things, things about who we all are, things about who I am." Rath made Michael realize some things about who he was. And what did they know about Rath? Besides the fact that he had worse taste in hairstyles than Michael and plenty of piercings? He killed Zan and Ava, and he had followed his destiny with Lonnie. That had been clear from the first. Maria could tell that Rath and Lonnie were together from the way they interacted physically with each other, the vibes they sent to each other. There was another thing that Michael and Rath both had - they sent out vibes that seemed to electrify the atmosphere around them. Being around them was like being in the middle of a thunderstorm. So, Rath and Lonnie were together together, although it seemed to be a rather open relationship if one took into consideration the way Rath had made a play for Liz and the way Lonnie had eyed Michael speculatively, almost as if she was comparing him with Rath. Well, it looked like Rath had managed to convince Michael that destiny wasn't all bad. Michael and Isabel finally decided to give it a try. Maria realized that she was crying way too much to be able to keep on driving. At this rate, she was going to end up in an accident, and she had no intention of getting herself hurt because of him. She pulled over and parked. She took out a vial of cypress oil and tried a sniff, but put it back quickly in disgust. Somehow, cypress oil's calming properties seemed to have less effect on her since the entrance of Michael Guerin in her life. After she dried her eyes, she looked about and saw that she had driven by habit to the Crashdown. For a second, she thought about going inside and talking to Liz, but she quickly put that idea aside. The last thing she needed right now was a lecture from Liz on how she had been right to walk away from the aliens in order to let them follow their destinies. Destiny. She had really come to hate that word. Instead, Maria got out of the car and walked across the street to the UFO Center. She needed to talk to someone, and if Liz was out of the question, then that left Max. She just hoped he was still at work. "Max?" she called out as she walked down the stairs. The lights were still on, but there were no tourists around. The place must have just been closing up for the evening. "Maria? Is that you?" Brody Davis walked out of his office. "I'm sorry, but Max has already left for the day. Can I help you?" Maria shook her head in disappointment. She really did like Max's boss, but right then she needed to talk to someone who would at least have a chance of understanding the messed-up love lives of aliens and humans. "Thanks anyway. I just wanted to talk to him, but I'll catch up with him later. It's not important anyway." As she turned to walk back out, Brody thought quickly for a reason to stop her. "Wait, Maria." She stopped and looked back. "Hold on a minute." Brody ran back into his office, reappearing almost immediately, holding a paper in his hands. He held it out to her. "Sidney asked me to give this to you the next time I saw you." Maria took the paper and looked down at it. There was a crayon picture of a woman on the paper. Based on the long yellow hair and the "Maria" written under it in childish script, Maria figured that it was a portrait of her. She looked questioningly at Brody. "She really enjoys the time you spend with her, Maria," he explained quietly. "She wanted to make you a present to thank you for taking her to the zoo last weekend." "I had a great time. She's really an amazing little girl." "Yes, she is. And you're amazing, too. It means a lot to me that you take the time to spend with her." Brody took a deep breath and went on. "Her mother left when she was just a baby, so she's never had a woman around before. I appreciate the fact that you're there for her now." It was the first time Brody had ever mentioned Sidney's mother, and Maria could see how uncomfortable it made him. She thought about Sidney's mother leaving her daughter like that. How could people just leave the ones they were supposed to love? When you loved someone, you were supposed to stay with them. Maria thought of her own father, leaving his wife and daughter and never looking back. And then there was Michael, Mr. I Love You Too Much To Stay. It just hurt too much sometimes. Brody saw the tears that she was trying not to let fall. Worried, he led her over to a chair and sat down next to her. "Maria, what's the matter?" She shook her head. "Nothing." At his look of disbelief, she went on. "Really, it's nothing. Just some stupid relationship stuff. Nothing you need to worry about. I'll be fine." "How many days have you spent listening to me talk about my problems raising Sidney alone? And how many times have you listened to my abduction stories? Without calling for a mental health professional, too? Not to mention the fact that you're the only waitress I've ever had who makes sure I get pepperjack on my sandwiches each and every time." Maria gave an almost-smile at his gently teasing words. Encouraged, he went on. "So, you can definitely tell me what's upsetting you. It can't possibly be stupid if it's hurting you this much." "Okay." Maria felt like she was going to explode if she didn't talk to someone, and she trusted Brody. Maybe not enough to tell him about the Pod Squad, but enough for this. "You know my sometimes-boyfriend Michael Guerin?" Brody nodded. "Big grumpy guy at the Crashdown? The one with the hair?" "Yep, that's pretty much him in a nutshell. Well, I really thought we were working through everything, but it turns out I was wrong. He shot me down and I just caught him with another girl. The thing that really really gets me is that he was honest with me. He told me that it wasn't going to ever work with him. I just didn't listen." Maria turned and looked at Brody. "I'm just so tired of people leaving me. How pathetic is that?" Brody shook his head. "You're not anywhere near pathetic, Maria. Although he is. I mean it, Maria. Any man who was lucky enough to have you is an idiot to want someone else. You're much better off without him." "It just hurts so much, Brody. I always thought I could handle anything, that I was strong enough to be alone and get through anything. I don't like how much I want him and need him in my life. I don't know who I am anymore." Brody smiled at her and shrugged. "You're Maria DeLuca." Maria laughed through her tears. "That simple, huh?" "That simple. You're Maria and he's an idiot. Amazingly simple." Maria brushed away her tears. "Strangely enough, just having someone tell me that Michael's an idiot does make me feel a little better. Not a lot, but a little. Thanks." Maria picked up the picture again and looked at it. "She's a very lucky little girl to have a father like you. She adores you, you know." "Well, the feeling is mutual. I have an idea. How would you like to come over for dinner with us tonight? She would love to see you, and I promise to have an evening of alien-free conversation." "Sounds great. Thanks, Brody." Maria leaned in to give him a hug. "That's settled, then," he said briskly. "Let's just lock up and go." "Can you give me a minute to get myself presentable?" "You are already the most lovely girl in Roswell, but go ahead." Maria walked away, shaking her head and laughing. "Flattery isn't going to get you out of your tips, you know." She went in to the bathroom and looked at her face in the mirror. Definitely flattery. She threw some water on her face and took out her make-up bag to try and repair the damage done by crying over one cheating alien. It really is too bad that you can't like Brody more, she thought as she put on some new make-up. He's rich, he's crazy about you, and he's an absolutely terrific father. Maria paused in putting on the lipstick as she thought back to her own father, what little she could remember. She could never think of him without having that same sick feeling of loneliness that she had on the day he walked out, just like Michael walked away up those steps out there in the museum last May. What good was love if nobody ever stayed? But Brody stayed. He stayed by his daughter even when she was so sick and almost died. Thank God for Max. If Brody had lost Sidney he would have been destroyed. Now that was love. Maria had spent enough time with the Davis family to know that Sidney's smile was the single most important thing in Bride's life. She hoped that someday she would have that sort of unquestioning unconditional love given to her. And let's not forget that Brody has those two most important qualities in a man -- alien-related problems and out-of-control hair. Maria laughed as she put her cosmetics back in her bag and checked herself out in the mirror. Much better. No more puffy eyes. No more tear marks and dirt going down her face. She looked ready to face the world. And who knew? Maybe she should give Brody more of a chance. Too bad that Brody's hugs, while nice and comforting, never made her body tingle the way that just being in the same room with Michael did. Michael made every single cell in her body feel alive, like she had finally found the missing piece to herself. She felt on fire when she was with him, but was also at her most peaceful when she looked in his eyes. She shook her head ruefully. Her life with Michael Guerin was filled with contradictions. It made no sense that when she finally decided to trust a guy and make him vital to her life, it would be an alien who had serious commitment issues and an old girlfriend from fifty years ago. Figured. "Okay, Brody, I'm ready to go," Maria called out as she walked back down to the main room. She noticed that the room was empty. "Oh, Brody?" she called as she turned around slowly. Still no Brody. Great, and I was just thinking about how he wasn't the type to walk out on a girl. "Brody? I didn't take that long. What's up?" She walked over to the door to his private office, and opened it. The first thing she saw was Brody lying unconscious on the floor. The second thing she saw was a strange man, complete with sunglasses and peeling skin, picking something up off Brody's desk. The first thing she thought was that the strange-looking pentagon shaped object he was picking up was an odd choice for a theft. The second thing she thought was, "A Skin. Of course. Great. Just great."

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:12 pm**

Michael Guerin had experienced lots of strange things in his life. First off, he was an alien growing up in Roswell, New Mexico. Roswell was a strange enough place for anyone to grow up, even humans. It was filled with alien memorabilia. Little green men to the right of you, little green men to the left of you. But it was even stranger if you were one of the little green men. Every year, Michael, Max, and Isabel got to go through the experience of watching people dress up as aliens and celebrate the crash - the event which killed their family and left them alone on a strange planet. At least, that's what they had always thought. Then there was the fact that his best friend, also an alien, decided to go to work at a UFO Museum for a man whose life goal was to actually meet an extraterrestrial. Michael's days talking to the lunatics who spent their lives searching for aliens definitely ranked up there among the oddest of his life. Oh, then there was the fact that he had started having visions. He could get them from objects and people. One person in particular, and there was nothing weirder in his life than the fact that he had developed feelings for one very annoying, very loud, very human girl named Maria DeLuca. He spun a cocoon around himself once. That was interesting. Continuing the insanity, they found out that (surprise!) they weren't aliens after all. Or at least not all alien. They were some bizarre combination of human and alien DNA. And he didn't even have parents. So much for all his hopes that they would come rescue him someday. He hadn't been born, he'd been made in some strange science experiment and hatched. His sole purpose for existence was to protect Max and help him make it back to their planet so he could rule and defeat the evil aliens. Maybe he should have watched more sci-fi movies when he was a kid. And then there was the situation with Isabel - not his sister after all, but the girl he was supposed to mate with. Now there was someplace his mind simply refused to go. Those dreams had been disturbing enough. The thought of putting them into practice was simply impossible for his mind to even consider. Topping off the bizarre world of Michael Guerin, he had seen, with his very own eyes, just one month earlier, a giant flying jellyfish burst out of the chest of Isabel's ex-boyfriend. Strange does not even begin to cover a world in which giant flying jellyfish make appearances. All of this to say that Michael was used to strange things happening. They didn't even throw him that much anymore. Strange girl at the Crashdown who's been flirting with him for months turns out to be an alien spy? He could deal. The town sheriff suddenly goes from hunting you to being your strongest ally? Cool. His only human blood relative is buried alive in order to be fed on by blue alien crystals? No problem. Unusual events were normal in his life. He learned not to expect calmness and serenity. Like he would even have a chance at calm with Maria around, anyway. But the most surreal event in his otherwise insane life had happened one week ago, when he met with his evil twin and learned a few things about them both. And that was what Michael was thinking about as he sat on his couch, fighting his instincts which were crying for him to go after Maria. ------------------------------------------------- One Week Earlier "This is a stupid idea," Maria muttered. Seeing that they were ignoring her, she pulled on Michael's arm. "This is a bad idea, Michael." Michael was already feeling on edge as they drove up to the old mine. He wasn't even sure whether or not he should be surprised that Rath had picked the same place for their meeting as they had all used when hiding from Pierce the year before. It made good tactical sense, since it was far away from anything and the surrounding desert left good visibility. Now he turned impatiently to Maria. "It is not a bad idea. Would you rather we just let them kill out Max like they did theirs?" Maria's face went pale and she bit her lip. He sighed. He always did that - got angry and lashed out when it wasn't her fault. Forcing his voice to be calmer, he explained. "We don't have any choice, Maria. Isabel couldn't get through to Max on the dreamwalk, and we have to find where he is. It'll be okay." "You don't know that. What's going to keep Rath from killing you, too?" Michael shook his head and went back to observing the mine. "He won't hurt me. We're too much the same." ------------------------------------------------ Prophetic words, it turned out. Michael shifted on the couch, and finally gave up. He stood and crossed to the window. He felt a tightness in his chest, making it hard to breathe. He knew that it was caused by having hurt Maria again. He was familiar with the feeling. He wanted to go after her like Isabel had suggested. But she was better off without him. That was one fact that he knew with certainty. When he went to see Rath, he thought they would be able to talk, and that maybe he could convince his dupe to tell him where Max was. He'd been telling Maria the truth. He honestly didn't think that he was in any danger from Rath. But if Rath did attack, Michael figured that his powers were just as strong, so he should be okay. That's what he had meant when he told Maria that they were the same - that their powers were equal. His meeting with Rath showed him that they were the same in other ways, too. Too many ways to ever allow Michael to feel the same way about either of them again. -------------------------------------------------- The meeting started off politely enough. When Michael entered the old mine, he found Rath waiting at a table. When Michael refused to sit down, Rath laughed, but didn't seem upset. Much to his surprise, Rath tried to make some small talk, asking about Ava, Liz, Maria, and Isabel. It was bizarre to hear his own voice coming out in that unfamiliar New York accent. Finally, it was too much. "Let's just get to it, okay? Where's Max?" Rath laughed. "Why d'you care so much about him, anyways? Cause he's the king?" "You wouldn't understand," Michael said, voice dripping with contempt. "You sure of that, bro?" He laughed. "Maybe I understand better than you think. But it don't matter. You might as well let us kill him now. It'll just save ya the trouble of havin to do it yourself later." Michael shook his head. "Not going to happen. Not ever." "You sure?" he repeated. He leaned across the table intently. "Ya think I don't know how you feel? I loved Zan, too, you know. We were closer than brothers once, man. It didn't matter, though. Sooner or later, you're going to have to take him out 'fore he takes you out." "You're crazy. Where. Is. Max?" Michael spoke slowly, dragging out the words. Rath leaned back with a smile. "How many you killed?" At Michael's blank look, he went on. "I'm thinkin not too many yet. I know about the FBI fool. Any others?" "How did you know........" Rath cut him off. "Not important. Me, I've gotten rids of plenty already. But I remember the first one. Just like yesterday." For the first time, Michael was genuinely nervous and thinking that Maria was right. This was a bad idea. He had to get out of here. "If you're not going to tell me where Max is......." "Oh, I'll tell you, bro. But first, take a seat and listen to me educate you." Michael's instincts were telling him to get out of there. He hadn't felt this panicky and claustrophobic since Hank left. But this was their best chance to find Max. Rath and Lonnie were the only ones who knew where he was, and she wasn't in the mood to communicate openly with them. That left Rath. Michael walked carefully over to the chair, keeping a close eye on Rath. He sat down carefully. "Fine. Say what you have to say, and then tell me where Max is." "I took out my first four years ago. There was this guy liked to hang on the street corner near where we was livin. He was makin trouble for Ava. Zan tried talkin to him, but he wouldn't listen. So, Zan and me went and took care of him. Dumped the body in the river after. So far's I know, they never found it. I killed some others, before Zan and since. It's not that big a deal, ya know." Michael was just looking at him. "You killed someone to protect Ava?" he asked in surprise. "Sure," he said with a smile. "The only reason I bring it up is 'cause I remember how I felt right after. Thought you could use someone to talk to, since you offed what's his name." "Pierce," he whispered. "Pierce. Okay. Let me guess. You've had nightmares, keep seeing it, keep remembering how it felt?' Michael just nodded. "Thought so. Here's the thing you gotta know, though, Michael." Rath leaned forward again. "All that stuff - it'll pass. You gotta know that's what we're made for." He smiled, remembering. "You get over the fear and the guilt and you remember the rest. The way it felt at the moment when you let loose. Remember that, too?" Michael had to look away. This was too much. He hadn't talked to anyone about that part, not even Valenti. Because the sick truth was, a part of him had liked letting loose on Pierce like he did. "I don't know what you're talking about." Rath shook his head. "No good, bro. You and I can't lie to each other. It don't work. I know how you felt, 'cause I felt it, too. Your blood boils and you just let go. It's better than anythin, better than drugs and booze even. It's the best high you're ever gonna get, Michael. Enjoy it." Rath leaned back and looked at Michael speculatively. "We never feel as alive as when we're the only ones standing. And we will be the ones left standing, Michael, so longs you don't make any dumb mistakes." Michael got up and walked away, not looking at Rath. The thing was, Rath was right. They couldn't lie to each other. Michael knew, without a doubt, that his dupe was telling him the truth. And he remembered how glad he had been, for that one second, to see that he was still alive and Pierce was the one lying on the ground. But he also had to remember that Rath couldn't be trusted, no matter how much he seemed to understand. And there was Max to think about. "Like what, Rath? What dumb mistakes?" He was trying to sound casual, like Rath's words hadn't affected him, but he wasn't even fooling himself. More than anything, he wished he had listened to Maria and never came in here. "Like trusting Max." Michael looked back and laughed. "Trusting Max? Of course, I trust him. I trust him more than anyone." "Why? 'Cause he's the king and we're just the number two?" "Because he's Max," Michael said simply. Rath looked at him in disbelief. "You really are that stupid, ain't ya? Listen up, bro. You're probably thinking all that 'he's good, I'm bad' crap. I went through it, too. But you really need to listen on this one - you can't trust him. He'll turn on you eventually. Trust me on this one." Michael had a momentary memory of Max hitting him and knocking him to the ground, but quickly suppressed it and focused on Rath. "Is that why you killed Zan? Did he do something to you or Lonnie?" "Ain't important. Zan's dead - no problem there. Max is the problem. You and Isabel done it yet?" Michael didn't understand the sudden change in topic, but as uncomfortable as this made him, at least they weren't talking about murder anymore, so he went with it. "No, and we're not going to." Rath nodded absently. "You've got that little human now, right. Now there's someone I wouldn't mind gettin to know a bit better." He looked up at Michael's face and laughed. "Don't worry, bro, I won't go there until you want to share. The point is Lonnie right now. She's great for sex, but I don't trust her anymore. So, I was thinkin of a new partnership, with someone who I can trust." Then he made his offer to Michael. -------------------------------------------------- Michael dragged himself away from his memories. He didn't know why he kept thinking about it over and over again. He said no. Rath was upset, but kept his end of the bargain and told them where Max was. He kept his word about being honest. Of course, he never said it wouldn't be a trap. You keep thinking about it because it was the first time you talked with someone who understood, a little voice spoke in his ear. Because he was right about how you felt when you killed Pierce. There was relief and enjoyment mixed in with the guilt and pain. He understands, and you can't help but wonder what that means. That you and Rath are more alike than you've ever been like Max. And what does that make you? He knew the answer to that of course.  Killer. Murderer. Just like Rath. And so he pushed Maria away again. Distance from him was the only way to keep her safe. The tightness in his chest was getting worse. Maybe some water would help. He walked over to the sink, but stopped and dropped to the ground as a sudden burst of pain raced through his body. Maria. He could see her, surrounded by a bright light. It was her pain he was feeling. When the pain faded, he jumped to his feet and was out the door and on his bike before he even stopped to think. Maria was in danger, and she needed help. As he started the bike, he realized there was one problem. He didn't know where Maria went when she left his apartment. Think, Michael. Her mother was out of town until later tonight, so where would she go when she was upset? Liz. Michael started off in the direction of the Crashdown. He had to get to her before something really bad happened.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:13 pm**

Maria watched in momentary shock as the Skin picked up the alien artifact. She had seen the strange pentagon-shaped object before. Brody had bought it at an alien-related sale a few years ago. Personally, Maria found the concept of anybody outside Roswell having an alien-related sale to be hilarious. As she told Max, it just went to prove that there were wierdos all over. Two years of knowing that aliens were real wasn't enough to wipe out sixteen years of Roswell-bred cynicism. At any rate, Maria had studied the artifact, and even tried to help Max figure out the symbols on it, but no luck. They had no idea what it did, although it was a pretty good guess that it was dangerous, since it had thrown Michael across a room and knocked him out. She watched silently as the Skin picked it up. Apparently, he knew how to use it, because he instantly touched one of the symbols. Next thing she knew, there was a flash of bright light and he was flying backwards through the air, landing in a heap at her feet. She blinked in surprise - somehow, she didn't think that was the intended response. She decided that she had seen enough. The Amazing Flying Skin seemed to be knocked unconscious, so she should use the opportunity to get out of there and get help. As much as she hated leaving Brody, she realized that one unarmed human wasn't going to be much match for an evil alien with a weapon. She turned instantly to leave. The Skin's eyes opened suddenly as his hand reached out and grabbed her ankle. Maria didn't even have time to scream as she fell down. Her head hit the floor hard. She desperately called out, but couldn't find her voice: MICHAEL! Everything went black. --------------------------------------------- Michael pulled up in front of the Crashdown, dropping his bike to the ground in his rush to get into the restaurant and find Maria. He wasn't surprised to find her Jetta parked outside. In fact, the only emotion he was feeling was a growing panic. Every minute since he had the vision had just increased the sense that something was very, very wrong. Something much worse than hurt feelings and a broken heart was going on here. He was so fixated on getting into the Crashdown and finding Maria that he didn't even noticed the man exiting until he ran into him. Even then, all Michael did was growl and push him aside. He was stopped by a strong grasp on his arm. Looking up, he encountered a pair of concerned blue eyes. "Hold on a minute, Michael," Sheriff Valenti asked. "What's your rush?" If it had been anybody else, Michael would have kept on going, either past him or through him. But whether he would admit it or not, Valenti was the closest thing Michael had (or probably ever would have) to a father, and what was more, Michael trusted him. Michael and Valenti had a common bond - they were both willing to go to any lengths to protect the group. So, he took the minute to talk to the older man. "I had a vision. Maria's in trouble. I need to get to her." To Michael's relief, Valenti didn't waste time asking any stupid questions. "She's not inside the restaurant," he said, looking around and noticing the Jetta. "You're sure?" He nodded absently. "Liz mentioned that she hadn't heard from her all day - asked if Amy had mentioned where she was. I just figured she was with you." Valenti started across the street. "Come on." Michael followed instantly. If he hadn't been so focused on Maria, he would have found this amusing. Here he was, the trusty second who couldn't ever seem to follow one of his king's orders without arguing, but he didn't hesitate to do what the town's human sheriff told him. By the time they were halfway across the street, he realized why Valenti was taking them to the UFO Museum. Maria's car was here, and if she wasn't in the Crashdown, then the only other likely place she would be was with Max in the museum. As they approached the door, Michael was overwhelmed by another vision. He barely registered Valenti's arms keeping him from falling. Drowning out everything around him was one word, spoken in Maria's voice. "MICHAEL! Then nothing.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:14 pm**

Michael tried to run in to the UFO Center, but stopped when Valenti put up a warning hand. The sheriff quietly took out his gun and held it in front of him as he looked around. After seeing that the coast was clear, he nodded to Michael and the two went quickly down the stairs into the main area of the museum. Running two steps at a time, Michael saw the strange Skin walking to the desk and picking up the alien artifact. Before he had a chance to do much else than have a sinking feeling of déjà vu, a bright light flashed, and Michael found himself flying through the air, hitting the wall of the office and sliding to the floor. "I really hate that thing," he muttered to himself. He took some small consolation in the fact that the Skin had gone flying at the same time he did, and seemed ever more disoriented by the fall. Taking advantage of the other man's confusion, Michael threw himself across the room at him. Just as the Skin was getting to his feet, he found himself knocked down for the third time that day, only this time it wasn't the alien artifact's fault, but Michael's. Michael hit the pentagon out of his hand and watched in satisfaction as it skidded across the floor, stopping under the table in the far corner. He'd had more than enough close encounters with that particular object. Then he noticed Brody lying on the floor. Great - another innocent bystander caught in their war. He turned and grabbed the front of the Skin's shirt, hauling him to his feet. "Who are you?" he yelled. "What are you doing here?" In response, the Skin narrowed his eyes. The next thing Michael knew, his head was knocked to the side as if hit, even though the Skin didn't touch him. Ignoring the pain, Michael smirked. "Is the the best you can do? I hate to break it to you, buddy, but I've been hit much worse before." Michael threw the Skin across the room as hard as he could. The alien went flying out the door and didn't stop until hitting the far wall of the main area. Dimly, Michael was aware that his response was slightly out of character. But he was furious and sick of having to jump at shadows. It was liberating to have a straightforward confrontation for a change, an enemy right there in front of him who he could fight. He was almost looking forward to it. Plus, there was Maria. If this Skin knew anything about her danger, then he was going to tell. Michael started to follow the Skin out the door, determined to get some answers. This had been a really long day already, and having some strange Skin trying to knock him out was not improving his mood any. "Let's try that again, okay? Who are you?" Then he noticed something he had missed upon entering the room. Maria was lying on the floor to one side of the room. There was blood all around her head. She wasn't moving. Michael completely forgot that the Skin even existed. ----------------------------------------------------------- Valenti reached the office just in time to duck as the Skin came flying out the door right past him. "Let's try that again, okay? Who are you?" he heard Michael ask from inside the office. Valenti didn't believe in wasting time. He saw the Skin get back up and look at him with an expression of total hate. He saw the hand going up in a gesture that he had seen Michael make several times. Valenti dropped to the floor. He heard the impact the Skin's energy blast made on the wall above him. Looking up, Valenti saw the blackened section of wall where he had been standing a moment earlier. He also noticed that Michael wasn't coming out of the office to help. As his head spun around, he noticed that the Skin was raising his hand again. Time for a diversion. "Michael, a little help would be nice," he called out. Was he imagining things, or did he notice a flicker of apprehension in the Skin's eyes at Michael's name? No matter. The instant the Skin's attention darted over to the office door, Valenti grabbed a heavy hammer from a nearby display table. A direct hit to the back was required, and the hammer was much more reliable than taking a chance shooting. He ran over to the Skin and slammed the hammer into his back. A second later - no more Skin. Just some ashes that quickly dispersed in the air. Valenti took a breath. Hard to imagine that he had ever complained about his job as sheriff of a small town being boring. He frowned suddenly. Michael still hadn't come out of the office. What was going on in there? "Michael?" he asked as he approached the office door with concern. ----------------------------------------------------------- "Maria? Maria!" Michael whispered as he knelt down next to her. So much blood, where was all the blood coming from? "Maria, wake up, babe," he cried. That's where - her head. She must have hit her head when she fell. "Maria!" he yelled loudly. He was about to shake her shoulders, when he felt Valenti's arms stopping him again. This time, he did shake them off. Getting Maria to open her eyes and look at him was the only thing that mattered. "Michael!" Valenti called out sharply. "Michael! Listen to me." Michael finally turned to look up at him. Valenti's heart ached to see the look on his face. For the first time ever, he could see the little boy he had always suspected still lived in Michael. The lost little boy who couldn't understand why this was happening. Distantly, he wondered if this was the look Michael had worn when he had to confront Hank. Pushing aside his thoughts, Valenti focused on making Michael listen. "Michael, we can't move her if she's hurt. We might just make things worse for her." He spoke as he would have to Kyle when he was little, very gently but firmly. He hoped it was getting through to the alien teen. Michael looked back at Maria, then at Valenti. "She won't wake up. We have to do something," he said, begging him to make things better, to have an idea to help her. Valenti wished he did. He reached past Michael and gently put his hand on Maria's neck. "She still has a pulse. It's faint, son, but it's there." Michael nodded eagerly. At least she wasn't dead. He'd been afraid to check for that. "We have to get Max. He'll heal her." "Do you know where Max is right now?" Michael's head spun around to look at Valenti. His meaning was obvious - there wasn't time to go looking all over Roswell for Max. "No. I don't." He closed his eyes and whispered. "She's going to die." "No, she's not!" Valenti cried angrily. He shook Michael until his eyes opened. "she is not going to die. If Max can't help her, then you have to." "I can't! Max is the healer. All I can do is kill. I can't fix this - it's too much for me." "Then she will die, because I don't think she'll make it until an ambulance gets here." Valenti's matter-of-fact tone got through Michael's panic. It was true. He was Maria's only chance. He almost laughed at the irony. She should have called out to Max, not him. He could heal little things, like a sprained ankle or a paper cut, but this? Well, she had no other chance. He took a deep breath and gently touched the cut on her head. There was a huge bump and a cut underneath all the blood. Valenti moved over to check on Brody as Michael worked. Closing his eyes, Michael focused on Maria. He remembered the way she sounded when she was singing in Vegas. He remembered the way she yelled at him when he was trying so hard to keep his distance and not let her in. He remembered the way she had thrown herself into his lap on Christmas when he gave her the earrings. He remembered how Celine Dion CDs somehow magically appeared amidst his Metallica collection in his apartment. He remembered the millions of little moments when Maria had managed to wriggle through the cracks in his stonewall and somehow fill his life until she was the one thing he couldn't imagine living without. Then he concentrated on the cut. Max had tried to teach him how to heal. Something about picturing the wound, then thinking about how it should look, and pushing, no, nudging the molecules until they went where they were supposed to be. And so Michael thought about the way Maria's head should look, without the cut and the bump. He was concentrating on healing her so much that he was caught off-guard by the visions, more intense than any he had received from her before. ~Flash~ A little girl cries as she watches a man drive away. ~Flash~ Two little girls, one blond, one brunette, laugh as they play with dolls. ~Flash~ Maria walks through the Crashdown with Liz, laughing. Her laughter trails off as she notices Max and Michael at the nearby booth. Max smiles at them, but Maria feels a pang of disappointment as Michael looks away. ~Flash~ She feels a sharp pain of fear as the gun goes off and she sees Liz go down to the floor. She can't lost her best friend. She rushes over to Liz, but is stopped by Max Evans. She has to trust that he can help. ~Flash~ She tells Michael about her father leaving and wanting to find something better than Roswell. He leans closer with interest. She realizes that this is the first time anyone has ever really listened to her and understood. Maybe she isn't so alone after all. ~Flash~ She tries to control her panic at the thought of Max and Liz in danger. Suddenly, she feels someone grab her from behind. All thoughts of Liz and danger are gone as Michael kisses her. She looks at him in surprise and wonder as he breaks away. ~Flash~ Michael puts his arms around her and pulls her close. He understands and forgives her for lying about the flashes. She feels closer to him at that moment than she ever has to anyone. He's the one person she doesn't have to pretend with or lie to. She closes her eyes in perfect happiness when he kisses her tenderly on the forehead. She wonders if he has any idea of how beautiful he is. ~Flash~ She feels like she can't breathe as Michael walks away from her. The pain is slowly knifing through her shock. She thought he would stay, but he's just like everyone else. Everyone leaves. ~Flash~ She feels that pain again as she sees Michael hugging Isabel. She realizes that she can't hold on to him if he doesn't want to be held. Michael jerked out of the connection. Valenti caught him as he fell back, overcome with the strength of Maria's feelings for him. He had no idea that anyone could know him, know all of him, and still feel like that about him - that he was safe and beautiful, worthy of being loved. He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. "Is she okay? Did it work?" he asked. Valenti looked at her. "The wound's closed and the bleeding's stopped." He didn't sound happy, though, which put Michael on alert. He sat back up slowly (Maxwell never mentioned how much healing drained a person) and looked at Maria. "Why isn't she waking up?" he asked. The sheriff shook his head. "I'm not sure." He looked at Michael. "There might have been some internal damage to the brain that's keeping her from regaining consciousness." Michael just looked at him blankly. "Let me call for help for her and Brody." Valenti went over to the phone. Michael sat there stunned for a second. Idiot, he thought to himself in disgust. Did you really think you could heal like Max? You can't do anything right. In the background, blocking out the memories of how Maria saw him, was Hank's voice telling him that he was worthless trash. Michael closed his eyes against the sudden prickling of tears. He was so tired of this fight. It was taking everything he had, and now it was going to take Maria, too. He couldn't save her anymore than he had saved..... Screw that, he told himself. Maybe I am worthless, but there's no way I'm going to just sit here while she dies. He put his hands very gently on the sides of Maria's head. "Come on, DeLuca," he whispered. "Are you going to just leave? After everything we've been through, are you just going to let some idiot Skin win? Where's the famous DeLuca fight? You going to quit and leave?" As he was talking, he was thinking. Maybe if he could make a deeper connection, he could repair the internal damage, too. "I'm going to try something, Maria. I don't know if it'll work or not, but I'm going to try. I could use some help, though, babe." He took a deep breathe, trying to ignore how his hands were shaking. "Okay, here goes. I'm not going to lose you, too." He closed his eyes, and concentrated on Maria again. This time he didn't think about any particular memories. This time, he just thought about the essential Maria - her courage, her loyalty, her brains, and especially the way she felt when she saw him. Then he thought about the way he felt when he saw her. He focused on the very simple, very basic fact that he loved her and that he could not imagine a life without her in it.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:16 pm**

Darkness. Everything was dark. It was quiet, and so easy to just let go. Then there was light again, and pain. So much pain. And the light blinded her. Then she saw it. She saw him. The memories and feelings came in a flood - a kaleidoscope of emotions and colors that swirled by her, making her dizzy. But she couldn't look away from them, any more than she could look away from him. ~Flash~ He was holding her in his arms, kissing her so gently, afraid to let go because she might run. He couldn't believe that she was there again, and there was no telling how far she might go if he let her have the chance. He didn't ever want to let her get away, even though he knew he would have to eventually. But not right now. She could still be his for this moment. ~Flash~ He watched as she put her arm through Brody's and led him away. For one moment, he felt the same fire burn through him that he had felt the day he killed Pierce. His hands heated up. He wanted to let go, to let his fire out and destroy Brody, but he held back. He had to protect her from himself. ~Flash~ He pulled her closer to him in the eraser room, barely listening to her talk about that party. Why did she insist on asking him for things he couldn't give? All he had was now, not nearly enough, but it would have to do. Putting his mouth over hers, he stopped her talking. ~Flash~ The panic nearly overwhelmed him as he thought of her being gone - vanished like the rest of Roswell. He couldn't even imagine a world without her in it somewhere. He knew that he was dangerous - if it wasn't for them, she'd be safe. Then she walked through the door with Liz, and he couldn't help himself. He ran to her and pulled her close again, in his relief allowing himself one more stolen moment when they could be together. ~Flash~ Standing in the light reflected from the Granolith, he held our his hands to her. Never before had he let himself be so vulnerable to another living soul. But he needed to know - he needed to find out if she could accept his apology and accept him. His heart soared when she took his hands in hers. ~Flash~ He walked down the street with Max and Isabel to the Crashdown. He smiled and gave a rare laugh, enjoying the time with his friends, feeling the safety and belonging he always did when they were together. Knowing that he could never leave them, that he would be empty without them. ~Flash~ A younger him, hiding in the closet from the big man. The man was yelling at him, telling him to come out. The boy huddled in the corner, hoping that he could somehow go unseen. The door swung open, and the man entered. ~Flash~ He closed his eyes and braced himself, waiting for the blow. He reeled back, trying to ignore the pain. Any cries he might make would only make things worse. The man hit him again, causing him to fall back against the wall. Desperately, he tried to think of anything other than his punishment, trying not to think of Max and Isabel, and what they would say if they knew he was this bad that he needed to be hit so often. Ignoring his silent tears, he stood still to take the rest of his punishment. ~Flash~ He watched, terrified, as Hank turned on Isabel. No! Isabel wasn't like him - she didn't deserve to be hurt by Hank. For the first time ever, he felt his hands begin to heat up. He directed his anger at Hank and watched in shock as the gun went off and the refrigerator went flying. Hank looked at him, recognizing him for the monster that he was. ~Flash~ He stood in the rain watching her get ready for bed. On the other side of the glass was everything he had ever dreamed of, everything he knew he wasn't worthy of - safety, love, warmth. A dream. ~Flash~ Somehow he was in the dream. She held him safe throughout the night. He cried for them both - for the girl who didn't deserve what he had brought into her life and for the boy who could never be what she needed. ~Flash~ He saw the punch coming, but didn't duck. Despite all his efforts, Max had finally found him out. As Max's fist hit his face and he went falling, he knew that now his best friend knew the truth about him, too. How long until Maria knew what he was and left him too? ~Flash~ He felt the fire burn through his veins again, but this time he let it out. He watched in satisfaction as Pierce's eyes registered his knowledge of what was coming. For a second, he thought about pulled back a bit, not letting it all loose, but then he remembered how Max had looked in the White Room. He watched as Pierce went flying back like a rag doll and nodded as he heard the noise of his snapping neck. One less enemy to worry about. ~Flash~ He opened the door to see Maria standing there. He saw the shock in her eyes, and the pain that was there too often when she looked at him. Pain mixed with hope, but as Courtney called out from the bathroom, he could see the hope in her eyes die. He watched her arm swing up, and didn't duck. ~Flash~ He was standing alone in the cold desert, looking at the other two children. They held out their hands to him, but he couldn't take them. He was afraid. He knew that he needed to be with them, that he belonged with them, but there was something else. Something holding him back. He was afraid, and as the bright lights came closer, he turned and ran away. ~Flash~ He broke out of the pod and looked around. Through the thin walls, he could see the other three children. He considered waiting, but knew he had to leave. He put out his hand and watched the wall move. Without looking back, he left the cave. ~Flash~ Despite the fact that he could barely breathe, he kept on running. Just a bit more, he told himself as he avoided the dead bodies lying along the way. He ran through the hallways, taking turns at a breakneck speed. He kept running, even though he knew he was too late. He only stopped when he saw the body lying there, and knew that it was his fault. ----------------------------------------------------- With a gasp, Maria opened her eyes. She looked around wildly, half expecting someone to attack her. The fear in her visions had been so overwhelming. She noticed that Michael was holding her. She stared at Michael. Was that what he felt all the time - that overwhelming terror? How could a person live like that? Throughout the visions, the only bright shining of hope she had felt was when he looked at her, and even those moments were tinged with fear - the fear of losing her, of hurting her. "Michael," she started weakly, but her interrupted her. "Keep quiet," he said, his gentle tone going oddly with the gruff words. "You just hit your head hard. You need to rest." "Michael," she insisted. "I saw things." He looked at her blankly. "I saw you - your memories." Realizing what she was saying, Michael looked away. "I'm sorry, Maria. It was the only thing I could think of to do." The truth slowly dawned on Maria. "You saved me, didn't you? You brought me back somehow." Michael didn't answer, but she knew it was true. "Thank you." Michael looked back at her then. "For what? For getting you in a situation where aliens almost got you killed? For causing you even more danger?" Maria reached up and touched his cheek. "When are you going to stop blaming yourself, Michael? None of this was your fault. You were just a little boy, Michael. You didn't deserve Hank." Michael's expression turned from embarrassment to shock. "You didn't deserve any of it." "You saw Hank in my mind?" Michael whispered. "God, Maria." He couldn't say anything else. Hank was something that he had dealt with alone. He hadn't even wanted Max or Isabel to know about him. And now he had put Maria through that, too. "I saw lots of things," she said. Then she took a deep breath. "Michael, I think I saw memories from your past life, too."

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:18 pm**

"Here you go - two Imperial cheeseburgers, one side-order of Saturn rings, a Milky Way milkshake, and one slice of Men-in-Blackberry pie. Enjoy!" As she turned away from the couple at the table, Liz let her pasted-on smile fade. It had been a long day. A tour group had stopped in the cafe on their way to investigate some crop circles, so the place had been jumping all afternoon. She'd thought that Maria might stop by to say hi and grab something to eat, but no such luck. Liz could have used the friendly distraction from the tourists. Well, Maria certainly had the right to spend her day off wherever she wanted, and after everything she'd been through with Michael lately, she deserved a break. Liz just hoped that wherever she was, she was having a good time. Because Liz certainly wasn't. Things can change so quickly. She of all people ought to know that. After all, her life had changed forever two years ago on that afternoon when she died and Max Evans brought her back. Finding out that there really were aliens living in Roswell was life-altering enough. Falling in love with one of them truly took her life beyond any normal borders. Liz accepted that she had left normal. As Max once asked, "What's so great about normal?" It was worth everything, all the risks, the lying to authorities, the secrets to hide, just to be with him. When she looked into Max's eyes or saw him smile, Liz could actually feel sorry for all the people out there who lived safe, sane, normal lives. They didn't know what they were missing - a chance to see the stars and a love that changed her, that changed everything, forever. And now look at the mess her life had become. It had seemed so simple when she walked away last year, leaving Max standing there in the desert. Max had a destiny to lead his people. He needed to concentrate on that purpose. A small-town human girl like Liz didn't exactly fit in. And what did her broken heart matter when compared to the fate of an entire planet? All that simple certainty faded away when she came back from Florida. Max was determined to prevent the "destiny" described in some alien communication from tearing apart the bonds formed by the humans and aliens. Over and over, Max tried to convince Liz that he loved her, not Tess. Liz gradually felt her resistance fading. It was hard to keep her cool detachment when faced with such love and devotion (in such an attractive package). Through it all, Max looked at her with his soul shining through his eyes, telling her how much he felt for her. Then her world came crashing down again. She had a choice - keep Max or doom the world to destruction by evil aliens. Liz made the only decision she could. With Kyle's help, she broke Max's heart into so many tiny pieces that there was no way their love could ever recover. She watched as the light died in his eyes. Seeing her in bed with Kyle did more damage to Max than Pierce's torture ever could. She tried to take some comfort in the fact that Max was free now to follow his destiny, even if that meant being with Tess. Both their planets could be saved now. Only yet again, things didn't work out the way Liz expected. Somehow, Max forgave her and they grew closer again. The trip to Vegas, which started off as the worst trip ever, ended as one of the most wonderful times of her life. Dancing with Max, holding hands, talking - what more could she hope for? They belonged together. Liz let herself begin to hope again. Then snap - everything changed again. Along came Lonnie and Rath. Liz knew that so much pain could have been averted if she had told the others that Rath was back in town, but she'd seen him at such a distance and hadn't been sure it was him. Why panic everybody when she wasn't even sure it was necessary? Max's capture was a repeat of Liz's worst nightmare. When they got him back, things were almost worse because then Ava died, taking the energy blast Rath had intended for Max. Despite her feelings for Tess, Liz had genuinely liked Ava. They were friends. So, Liz grieved for her, but it was nothing compared to Max's response. Max had leapt to Ava's body, cradling her in his arms, begging her not to die, trying to heal her, but it was too late. When he finally looked up at Liz, she was stunned by the amount of anger and grief in eyes that had only looked at her with love before. He hadn't looked her directly in the eyes since. What did it mean? Max barely knew Ava, but he was devastated by her death. Did that support the theory that Max and Tess were meant to be together? Where did that leave Liz? What did it mean to her and Max? She honestly didn't know, and that uncertainty drove her crazy. For two years, Max's love had been the most important part of her life. She wasn't sure how to cope if even Max's friendship was lost to her. Liz noticed the looks she was getting from the other waitress working that shift. She'd taken enough time off obsessing over the Max situation. Time to get back to work. As she returned to work, Liz thought to herself, I just really wish he could at least look at me again. I wish things could be at least that normal. ------------------------------------------------------- Max entered the Crashdown carefully through the back door, looking around quickly to see if Michael or Maria were there. If he was lucky, he could avoid seeing Liz. These days, seeing her hurt way too much. He didn't really blame Liz for Ava's death. He had calmed down enough to recognize that the only one responsible for that was Rath. Yelling at Liz had been a totally irrational response to the pain he felt at watching Ava die in his place, a pain that was way too intense for him to handle rationally. The sense of total loss when she died made no sense considering that he barely knew her. All he could figure out was that there had been some sort of alien connection between them. Whatever the cause, the pain had faded along with his anger at Liz. What was left after those feelings faded was a sense of loneliness, and if he was going to be honest with himself, betrayal. Ever since the third grade, Max had loved Liz. She was everything he wanted in the world. While Michael desperately searched for clues about their origins, Max wanted nothing more from life than Liz. He risked all their lives for her, trusted her with their secret, saved her life, all because the idea of a world without Liz Parker in it was unacceptable. No matter how many times she walked away, Max had faith that their love was strong enough to survive. She was his dream girl. She slept with Kyle Valenti. Max had tried to get beyond that. He honestly had. For a while, he even thought he'd succeeded, which just went to show that aliens have as much talent for self-delusion as humans. He couldn't even look her in the eyes anymore. Each time he did, he saw her lying in bed with Kyle. No matter how many times he remembered it, each time had the same emotional wallop of being hit in the gut with a sledgehammer. With Liz by his side, Max could face anything, from rogue FBI agents to enemy aliens. Without her, he was just going through the motions, trying not to show how much just living hurt. ---------------------------------------------------------- Max looked out into the dining area. No Michael. No Maria. But he did see Liz. His heart skipped a beat as she smiled at the customer she was serving. She still had that effect on him, even after everything they'd been through. Max was so busy watching Liz that he didn't notice the Crashdown's other waitress come speeding through the door - directly at him. Crash! Collision. Max leaped back as the tray's contents spilled all over him. "I am so sorry," the waitress babbled anxiously. "Are you okay?" "I think so," he said, inspecting the damage. "You're Kim, right?" The waitress nodded, trying to blot out the stains on his shirt with a towel. Max grabbed the towel from her with a little laugh. "I'm okay." "Really?" Kim asked dubiously. "I don't usually go around attacking customers - tends to hurt tips and job reviews." "Really," he reassured her with a laugh. Then he tensed as he saw Liz come up to them. So much for avoiding Liz. "What's going on?" she asked with concern. "Nothing," he said quickly. "Just some spilled cold coffee. That's all." Liz looked at him speculatively for a moment. His shirt really was a mess, all covered with coffee stains. She reached a decision. This, at least, was something she could help fix. "Kim, get back to work. I'll clean this up." The waitress gave a smile, one more apology, and returned to the dining area. Max smiled back at her, then turned nervously to Liz, carefully avoiding her eyes. "It's really not that big a deal." "I know," she said, leading him to the employees' area in the back of the restaurant. "But that shirt needs to be cleaned. Take it off." Max tripped over one of the chairs at hearing her order. "What?" Liz almost smiled. "Take off your shirt so that I can wash it, Max." Max looked suspiciously at her back. She was opening one of the employee lockers, her back turned to him. With a shrug, he decided to do what she said. Why not? He pulled the t-shirt up over his head and dropped it to the floor. Liz found what she was looking for, and turned around triumphantly. "Here, you can wear this shirt of Michael's for now. I'm sure he won't..........." her voice trailed off as she saw him. Conscious thought vanished instantly. Liz had almost forgotten how seeing Max like this could affect her. She couldn't keep thoughts of destiny and distance in her mind while looking at Max's bare chest. Maria said he'd been working out, came the distant thought. On legs that were suddenly very unsteady, Liz walked over to him with the shirt. She gently reached out with her free hand and touched his arm. "Max," she whispered. Max looked down at Liz for the first time in what seemed like years. She was gazing up at him, lips parted. He could feel his own heartbeat speed up as he reached out and gently touched her cheek. For a second, it was like nothing had happened. He started to lean down to kiss her. Then, reason and memory overcame attraction. "I can't," he said brokenly. Before she could protest, Max grabbed the shirt from Liz's hand, turned, and left the building. ------------------------------------------------------- Max quickly put on the shirt as he went around the building. He stopped in surprise and looked at the crowd forming in front of the UFO Museum. There was an ambulance and police cars pulling up. What was going on? His heart continued to speed up, only this time it wasn't as a result of teen-age hormones. This time, it was good old-fashioned panic, a feeling he had become fairly well-acquainted with over the last year or so. Run, came his thoughts. Get out of here. There's no way I'm ever going to let myself be captured again. Turning quickly, he was halfway gone when he was able to overcome his instincts, deciding to find out what was going on. The chances of this having something to do with him were very small, but there could be a problem with Brody. Besides, those cars were Roswell police, not feds. Valenti wouldn't let them hurt him. Max gathered his courage and walked across the street.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:20 pm**

Valenti watched as the ambulance pulled away, taking Brody to the hospital. He ran his hand over his face and sighed. What a day. He'd managed to cover for his kids again, though. As far as any outsider knew, Michael and Maria had found Brody unconscious, the apparent victim of an attempted robbery (Michael had been more than happy to trash the museum to make it look more convincing), then contacted him. His people were now looking for the intruder, little dreaming that their sheriff had already disintegrated said criminal. A rueful grin crossed his face. When he promised Max that he'd be there to help the young man, he never dreamt that there would be quite so many opportunities for him to keep his word. "Well, things certainly never get boring around here," he chuckled to himself. He saw Alex and Isabel walk up to the museum, hand-in-hand. Good - they were the last of the group to arrive. "What happened, Sheriff?" Isabel asked with concern as they neared. "We saw the ambulance," Alex added. "Who was hurt?" "Brody Davis, but the paramedics say he's going to be fine," Valenti said, heading back inside. "That's good," Alex muttered as they followed. "I was worried that I'd have to donate some more blood." At Isabel's questioning glance, he quickly added, "Not that I wouldn't be happy to help the Czechoslovakian cause in any way necessary." "Good to know," Isabel murmured as she leaned over to kiss him. Valenti hid his grin. Good to see that at least two of the kids were getting things right. ---------------------------------------------------------- Ten minutes later, Valenti paused in his explanation of that afternoon's events and looked around the room. Kyle, Tess, Alex, and Isabel were sitting together on a row of plastic chairs. Michael had commandeered the only couch for Maria to rest on as he hovered protectively behind her. She was pale and quiet but otherwise none the worst for her near-death experience. Max was anxiously pacing around the room, replacing alien dummies and pictures of crop circles back where they belonged. Putting the museum back in order seemed to be helping him. Liz was in Brody's office, studying the pentagon carefully, while listening to their discussion. "So there are still Skins out there?" Kyle asked. "Seems like," his father answered. "And they're still hanging around Roswell?" he continued. "Seems like." "Right. Just checking." Kyle dropped his head into his hands and groaned. Tess patted his shoulder supportively. "It could be worse," she said. "And that would be how exactly?" Alex asked in an inquiring tone. "Well, we haven't seen Nicholas around," Tess pointed out after a pause. "Just because we haven't seen him doesn't mean he's not around," Isabel disagreed. "Let's focus on what we know," Valenti suggested. "Some Skins are still around and interested in you kids, or they wouldn't still be here in Roswell. Nicholas or no Nicholas, we all have to be more cautious now." "Agreed." Michael's attention was split between watching Maria carefully and keeping an eye on the entrance to Brody's office. "I'm guessing that the Skins aren't going to just sit back and wait for their fifty years to be up." "So, what's our next course of action?" Isabel was suddenly all-business. If Nicholas and his Skins were planning something, she didn't want to be caught off-guard again. "How about total panic?" Alex asked hopefully. "Not terribly helpful, Whitman," came Kyle's muffled voice. Then he looked up. "Although, come to think of it........" "The mighty human male," Tess said, rolling her eyes. "I feel safer already." "Tess," Valenti's voice came sharply across the room. "Sorry," she said meekly, but then stuck her tongue out at Kyle. Valenti took a deep breath. "Can we possibly stay focused for a minute or two? Evil aliens invading Roswell, remember? Once we decide what to do, I can leave, and you can get back to your fascinating conversation. When I don't have to listen." "That works for me," Kyle said. Tess nodded her head in agreement. At Valenti's sigh, Maria started to laugh. It was the first sound she'd made since the meeting started, and Michael smiled down at her. "Okay, here's what we're going to do," Max said. "Nothing," interrupted Michael. Max gave him an angry look. "We're going to stick together, try not to go off anywhere alone, and step up our investigations of newcomers to Roswell. Did you have something to add?" "No." Michael actually didn't seem too interested in Max's decision. "I wasn't arguing. There's not really all that much we can do right now." His voice hardened noticeably. "Once we do find them, that's another story altogether." "Maria, was this the only thing the Skin was interested in?" Liz appeared in the office doorway holding the pentagon. "Liz, could you please be careful with that thing?" Michael burst out. "I've already been thrown across a room by that twice. I'd rather not do any more flying today, if you don't mind." Liz blinked and put the pentagon down. "Sorry, Michael. I wasn't thinking. But I wonder why the Skin would want it? And why did it hurt you but not Max or Isabel?" "More questions, always questions. Turn in next week to As the Alien Turns for all your answers to those pressing mysteries of life," Alex trumpeted out in his best game show voice. "It would have been nice to have an instruction manual," Isabel said agreeably. She was moderately surprised at how much she wasn't panicking. Not that she was thrilled about the idea of Skins in Roswell, but she found that she could think about the situation with some objectivity. A few months ago, she would have been totally out of her mind by now. Looking around the room, she realized that it was because she had her friends with her. It was harder to be terrified with them around. Not impossible, mind you, but harder. Alex smiled at her approvingly. "Actually, we do," Tess reminded them. "We just can't read it." Valenti broke in. "I'll run heavy duty background checks on any and all newcomers to Roswell, but you'll all have to help with keeping an eye on tourists. Any tourist comes through town with sunglasses and peeling skin, notify me right away." He looked over at Max. "Anything else to add, Max?" Max looked up at him guiltily. He apparently hadn't been listening. "No, nothing to add." A slow smile spread across his face. "Are you in a rush to leave, Sheriff?" Now it was Valenti's turn to look uncomfortable, as all eyes turned toward him. "No. I mean, I had somewhere to be tonight, but this is a matter of life and death, so I'll stay as long as it takes to deal with it." "Someplace to be?" Max looked over at Michael, who had an answering smirk on his face. "And where would that be, Sheriff?" Michael asked innocently. Valenti tried to hold on to his dignity. "I'm just meeting someone for dinner, if you must know." "Someone?" "And are we sure this someone isn't a Skin? Because they do tend to turn up when you least expect it." Max and Michael seemed to be enjoying themselves. "You're going out with my mother again, aren't you?" asked Maria. She sighed theatrically. "It's okay, Sheriff. I've accepted it." "Will you be out late?" Kyle asked with interest. "No, you may not stay up late watching pay-per-view. And now that you've approved of my dating life, can we return to the point? Are we done discussing our situation?" Liz called out, "Max, do you think Brody would mind if I borrowed this? I want to study it and see if I can figure out what the Skins wanted it for." "No, I think that'll be fine. Brody's going to be in the hospital for a few days. We'll just make sure to get it back before he's released." "Don't bring that thing out here," Michael warned. "Don't worry," Liz said as she slid the pentagon into her backpack. Zipping the pack shut, she joined the others. Maria looked up at Michael. It was clear she was trying to tell him something with her eyes. Sighing, he said, "All right." Clearing his throat, he turned to the others. "There's one more thing." All eyes were now focused on Michael. "When I healed Maria, she saw some things in the connection. Flashes." This was news that surprised them all. Up until now, only Liz among the humans had seen flashes. Looking more and more uncomfortable with what he had to say, Michael nevertheless went on. "She thinks she may have seen a memory from my past life." --------------------------------------------------------- Well, there went Valenti's hopes for a quick departure to his date. He went off to gather chairs for himself and Liz. Max still seemed to prefer pacing to sitting. "She saw what?" Isabel asked eagerly. "Things from Michael's past life," Maria replied. "Unless he's been involved in a massacre in a castle or mansion somewhere and just hasn't bothered mentioning it to anyone." "A massacre?" Kyle's head went back down with another groan. "Before this conversation goes any further, I'd just like to know, involved in a massacre how?" came Alex's voice. Michael shrugged. "You tell, Maria. You're the one who saw it." "Okay." She took a minute to gather her thoughts, then paused. "Kyle, are you okay? You're not hyperventilating over there or anything, are you?" "No, I'm fine. You just go on with your story." Kyle's voice was muffled. Tess rolled her eyes as Isabel tried to hide her smile. "Okay, if you're sure. I saw some memories of times Michael and I were together, then some other stuff from his childhood, before I knew him." Maria hurried past that. Those memories were private, and nobody else's business. "Then, the last thing I saw, I was running down this really long fancy hallway. I don't know where. There were bodies everywhere. And I had this sensation that I was rushing somewhere, that I had to get to someone, but that I was already too late. Of course, it was Michael running, but it felt like it was me. And then I regained consciousness." Valenti looked at Michael speculatively. "And you don't remember any of that?" "No," he said shortly. "Michael, what about your dreams?" Isabel burst out. "Has anything like that ever been in your nightmares?" Michael looked at her flatly. "And how do you know I have nightmares, Iz?" Now it was Isabel's turn to look uncomfortable. "Come on, you know full well that I've tried to dreamwalk almost everybody in town at one time or another. Not you, Sheriff," she said quickly. "But I haven't tried yours in years, Michael. It wasn't a very pleasant experience," she finished with a shrug. "Great," he said, shaking his head. "No, my nightmares are based squarely in my life on Earth. No alien corpses. No strange hallways." "Maria, could you get any idea of where you were?" asked Max. "Just a long hallway. There was a door at the end of it. That's all. Sorry." "Well, what about who Michael was trying to get to?" Max kept asking. "Nothing more than what I've said." "Try harder, Maria. We need to know more." "Max," Michael said in a warning voice. "She's told you everything she remembers." "Maybe she can remember more if she tries," Max yelled at him. "This is important, Michael. This is the first real hint we've had of what happened to us back then." "Don't you think I know that? But yelling at her isn't going to make her know something she doesn't know." Michael glared at his friend. Liz was surprised by Max's sudden outburst. Everyone was staring at him, but not out of amusement or curiosity. It was more like trepidation, waiting to see if he was going to totally lose it. Before that could happen, Tess stood up and took Max by the arm. "Excuse us just a minute," she said as she dragged him off. Behind her, Tess could hear Maria trying to calm down Michael. She would probably be successful, too. Michael wouldn't want her upset so soon after she nearly died. When they were at the far end of the room, and had some small measure of privacy, Tess turned to Max. "What is your problem?" Max just looked at her sullenly. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was just trying to get some information." "Actually, what you were doing is yelling at your best friend and one of your other friends, who almost died a few hours ago. Have you forgotten that?" Max looked down at the ground. "No, but what if she remembers something else?" Tess sighed. "Then she'll tell us, and you know it. But I don't think she will. I think Maria's already told us everything she knows." She looked at Max for a minute. "You know, Max, we're all pretty worried about you." At his look of surprise, she went on. "Really. You've been acting strange ever since Ava." "Yeah, well none of us was exactly thrilled about her getting killed. I seem to remember that you've had some problems about it, too." "Of course I have. And nobody's saying you shouldn't be sad about it. We all wish we could have saved her. But pushing away the people who love you isn't going to help anyone, Max." She peered into his eyes. "Hello? Are you listening to me?" "I'm listening." "Good. Everyone here in this room is on your side, Max. You need to start trusting us more, and let us in. We can't help you if you keep pushing us away." "I haven't been doing that," he protested weakly. "Please. That's all you've been doing. You've pushed away Liz, put distance between yourself and Isabel, and now you're picking a fight with Michael. This is not helpful behavior, Max. What's next, putting out a restraining order on Alex?" Max found himself smiling. "You know, I think Isabel considered that at one point." "Good, you're smiling. And you're listening. I'm impressed. Now, are you going to keep up this nonsense? Because I feel that I should warn you that Sheriff Valenti's going to be the next one to talk to you if you keep this up." Now he actually laughed. "No, that won't be necessary." He sobered up. "It's just overwhelming at times, Tess. Trying to be the leader, trying to keep things all right for everybody." Tess nodded. "I know. We all understand, Max." She smiled at him brightly. "And just for the record, you're doing a great job. Especially considering the fact that we don't have an instruction book handy." "Thanks." He looked over at the others. "Okay, let's go back and finish this war council so that Valenti can go on his date." Michael watched them suspiciously as they returned. Max walked right over to the couch and knelt down in front of Maria. "I'm sorry, Maria. I didn't mean to imply that you weren't telling us everything." He looked up at Michael. "I just wanted to make sure we learned everything from that memory that we could. It's pretty amazing." "That's okay, Max. Isn't it, Michael?" Maria asked pointedly. "Sure, not a problem." Michael hurried to change the subject. "If that's all, I think I should get Maria back home. She needs to rest." Liz and Maria exchanged pleasantly surprised looks. This was a change from Michael's recent behavior. Valenti nodded. "Good idea. Remember, go home. Don't wander off on your own. And let me know instantly if there's anything suspicious." "Yes, sir," came a chorus of voices. They all left the museum, Michael carrying Maria to her car. Maria noted that Alex and Isabel left together. Very interesting. Maybe she'd overreacted earlier. Liz was the last one out the door, carefully carrying the alien device the Skin had died trying to steal. Maybe it could help provide them with the key to the Skins' return.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:22 pm**

This chapter has spoilers for the ending of the movie "Casablanca". (which is a great movie, and I love it) Just a warning <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"> Part 11 Tess and Kyle entered the living room. Faster than a speeding bullet, Kyle dove on the couch and grabbed the remote. "Aha," he cried. He started searching for any movie or TV show involving women wearing wet bathing suits. Shaking her head with a sigh, Tess went in to the kitchen to get something to eat. She filled a bowl with vanilla ice cream covered with Tabasco sauce. After a pause, she made another bowl, only this time with hot fudge covering. Then she returned to the living room. "Move over, Buddha Boy." Kyle moved over obediently, but watched her suspiciously as he cradled the remote to his chest. "I'm not giving up the remote," he told her. "What is this?" she asked in total confusion as she looked at the television. "This happens to be a great classic of cinema - 'Biker Babes from Venus'." "Ah, no." "I thought you would appreciate it. It's all about the timeless questions of interspecies peace and communication." "I am not watching any movie where the alien women are running around wearing purple sequined bikinis while riding flying motorcycles. It's demeaning. As a woman and as an alien, I am insulted that anyone would think extraterrestrials would come to invade Earth wearing such impractical outfits." Kyle reached for the bowl of ice cream with hot fudge, but she refused to give it to him. "Buddha says that the path to enlightenment is smoother when you learn to share of your material goods." "You know, Kyle, I have a sneaking suspicion that you make up these quotes just to get what you want." Tess blinked at the screen. "Are they actually wearing stiletto heels? How on earth can they operate a motorcycle in heels like that?" Taking advantage of her distraction, he grabbed the ice cream. "Victory!" he cried as he took a big bite. Tess just looked at him in annoyance. "We are not watching this." " We don't have to watch anything. I, however, am engrossed in the plot and have no intention of turning it off." "Give me the remote." "Not happening, Tess." She smiled at him sweetly. "Did Michael ever tell you what happened to his television set, Kyle?" Kyle looked at her suspiciously through narrowed eyes, considering. "Nope. There's no way you'd blow up our television." "Give me one good reason why not." "Think about how Dad would react if he came home to find his television blown up." That made her pause. Tess frowned, deep in thought. Then she put down the bowl of ice cream and leaned towards him. "Kyle," she whispered invitingly, "can't you think of anything you'd like to do better than watching some bimbos on television?" Her hand started moving up his thigh. "I mean, we're all alone in the house. The sheriff won't be back from his date for hours." Kyle stared at her, resembling nothing so much as a deer caught in headlights. "Uh, Tess, what are you doing?" he managed to squeak out as her lips grew closer and closer.... And she broke off as she grabbed the remote. "Aha," she said mockingly. "Hybrid females 1, human males 0." "Not a nice thing to do to a guy, Tess," he muttered as he leaned back against the cushions and concentrated on his ice cream. She just smiled and started flipping through channels, stopping when she reached a channel specializing in classic movies. It was showing "Casablanca". "Have you ever seen this?" she asked him. Kyle looked at the TV dismissively. "'Casablanca'? Nah, it's a chick flick." "I've heard of it, but I've never seen it. Unlike Bimbettes from Venus" "Biker Babes." "This is supposed to actually be a classic." Tess nodded with decision. "We're watching it." Ignoring Kyle's groan, she leaned back to make herself comfortable. Kyle thought briefly about leaving, but decided against it. Watching a corny girl's movie with Tess would be more fun than wandering about alone. Besides, there was his ice cream to consider. Maybe he could sneak a bite of hers, too. And he was mildly curious as to how Tess would react to the movie. By the time Rick found out that the woman he loved was married to another man, Kyle was hooked. He felt for the poor guy, losing his girl to some man who came out of nowhere (Boy, can I sympathize, buddy). And he actually cheered when the French citizens defied their Nazi conquerers by singing their national anthem (and then looked around nervously to make sure that nobody heard him). Tess was staring so fixedly at the TV that she missed that particular opportunity to mock him. As the movie went on, the light from outside grew dimmer and dimmer but neither of the teens reached to turn a light on. They sat there in the growing darkness watching that classic tale of love and courage. Somewhere along the way, Tess leaned over and rested her head on Kyle's shoulder, never breaking her concentration on the screen. They finally reached the end of the movie. Rick watched as Ilsa walked away, going to help her husband fight the Nazis rather than staying with the man she really loved. Kyle watched Tess carefully. Every other girl he knew had claimed to cry at the end of this movie. Tess wasn't crying, but she did look sad. And there was something else on her face, an emotion that Kyle couldn't quite name. As the movie ended, Kyle leaned over and took the remote from her. Tess didn't argue. Hitting the mute button, Kyle looked over. In the flickering light from the television, Tess looked almost eerie and otherworldly. "What's the matter?" he asked in concern. For a minute, he thought that she wasn't going to answer. Just as he was sure of this, she turned to look him directly in the eye. "Do you think Ilsa loved Rick?" He shrugged. "They were the leads of the movie. I think that's required by law or something." When she didn't respond, Kyle took time to think about the question more seriously. "Yes, I'm sure she did. I mean, you can tell from the way they were talking and looking at each other that they were in love." "Then why did she go with her husband?" "Because he was her husband, I guess," Kyle shrugged again. "She thought he was dead when she fell in love with Rick, but she had made promises to him that she didn't want to break. Plus, she thought that she could help him with his fight. He wouldn't have been able to go against the Nazis as well without her. At least, that's what Rick thought." "Do you think they were happy? Ilsa and Victor, I mean? Or do you think she was always waiting and wanting Rick back?" "I would imagine that she and Rick would always wish they were together." Kyle really didn't get why this was so obviously important to her. "Listen, Tess, I'm not much for all this chick movie, romantic junk. My guess is that she and Rick hooked up again after the war, when they didn't have to worry about fighting the Nazis. So they had a happy ending. Does that make you feel any better?" Tess shook her head, then laughed. "You want to know what's stupid, Kyle? I'm watching this movie, and I'm rooting for Rick and Ilsa. I'm sad that she has to leave him and be with her husband. I get why she had to, but I'm sad about it." "I think that's kind of the result they were looking for when they wrote it, Tess. Tragic lost love and all that." "You're not getting it, are you, Kyle?" At his blank look, her eyes got big. "I'm her husband." Seeing that he still wasn't getting it, she rolled her eyes. "I'm her husband, Max is Ilsa, and Liz is Rick." "Oh," he said, finally starting to get her point. "See? Even if Max does decide to follow our destiny and leave Liz to be with me, they'll always love each other. He'll always be hoping that somewhere out there, Liz is waiting for him. He would only be with me to fulfill his obligations." She looked away. "I would be duty and obligation. Liz Parker would always be love and desire." She looked back at him. "And the thing is, I was rooting for love and desire." Kyle thought about for something to say. "You know, Tess, the situation isn't exactly the same." "You're absolutely right. Ilsa and Victor were married. They had vowed to love each other and they had promises to respect. And they really did feel some love for each other. In that case, she probably made the right decision. But, Kyle, Max and I don't even have that much. We've never promised to love each other, at least not in this lifetime. Nasedo wanted us to honor oaths that we didn't make and don't remember." Her voice was getting shriller and shriller. She seemed to be on the verge of a full-fledged screaming fit. Kyle grabbed her and pulled her close to him in a tight hug. At first, she held herself stiffly, but slowly relaxed. Deciding that she wasn't likely to start screaming, he gently asked, "Do you want to honor those oaths, Tess?" He was surprised to find himself holding his breath while waiting for her answer. "I don't know anymore," he heard her muffled reply. Backing away a bit, she went on. "Growing up, I never questioned my destiny. But I'm starting to think that maybe I deserve better than holding Max through a sense of duty while he's always wishing that he was with Liz." "Understandable," Kyle said, pleased with her answer. "And I'm not so sure that Max is worth fighting for anyway. I've never really gotten why you and Liz feel the need to fight over him all the time. He's not exactly the life of the party, is he?" She smacked him lightly on the arm, a small smile forming on her lips. "Be nice." "Why?" he asked in mock confusion. Her smile faded as her expression changed. Suddenly, Kyle found it very hard to breathe. "And maybe I want to have love and desire in my life, too. Maybe I deserve that just as much as anyone else." With that, and before he could reply, Tess leaned over and their lips met. This was their first real kiss, and it definitely made all the months of flirting and teasing worthwhile. When Tess broke away, Kyle's head was still swimming. "Okay, I'm starting to understand all the interest in dating aliens now," he said weakly. "Wow." "Definitely wow," Tess agreed. "Do you think...." She was interrupted by Kyle leaning into her this time, gently pushing her back down on the couch. Tess took a brief minute to think of how strange it was that she was here, leaning back on a couch with a human kissing her, hands gently roaming around her waist. Then she just thought about how good it felt to be held like this. Placing her hand on his chest, she decided that it wouldn't hurt to do some roaming herself. Just as Kyle's hand started on an exploration down her leg, the lights in the living room came on. "Kids, I'm home," came a familiar voice. "Hope there wasn't any trouble while I was...... Kyle, what the hell are you doing?" The sheriff! We didn't hear the door open! she thought desperately as she pushed Kyle away. There was a muffled curse as he landed on the floor. She stood up quickly, adjusting her shirt before looking at the stunned sheriff. "Nothing, sir. We just finished watching a movie." Valenti just stood there, apparently in shock. Kyle stood up. "Hi, Dad," he said with an impressive (although failed) attempt at nonchalance. "Did you have a nice time with Mrs. DeLuca?" This seemed to jolt him out of his shock. "Tess, go to your room. It's late." When it looked like she was about to argue, he went on more forcibly. "Go to bed, Tess. We'll talk about this in the morning." While a part of her was ashamed at her own cowardice, Tess chose to be smart and live to fight another day. "Yes, sir." with one last pitying look at Kyle, she went to her room. Kyle fidgeted as his father just looked at him, almost as if he had never seen him before. Finally, unable to handle the scrutiny anymore, Kyle said, "Well, I guess I'll just be going to my room, too." Oh. The "my son is an idiot" look. Kyle was familiar with that particular look. He hadn't seen it on his father's face since he decided to try and rewire all the cables in the house in an effort to get unscrambled porn. How was I supposed to know that the entire block would lose power? "Kyle, you don't have a room. You sleep on the couch now." "Right." So much for the possibility of escape or retreat. "Sit down, Kyle." Seeing no good way out of this situation, he did as he was told. His father came over and sat down on the couch next to him. And so they sat. Next to each other in silence. Both of them looking down at their hands. Just sitting there. Finally, Kyle dared to glance over at his dad. He's just as nervous about this little talk as I am, he realized in surprise. It wasn't often that Jim Valenti was caught totally off-guard. The realization was both strangely comforting and terrifying. The older man took a deep breath. "Okay, Kyle, here's what we're going to do. We're going to have this conversation once and only once, because quite honestly, I would rather have to face those evil aliens who keep popping up than ever walk in on what I just saw again. Understood?" Kyle nodded. "Good. Here's the thing, Kyle. I know that Tess is a very pretty girl. And I know that you two dated a few times back when she first came to town. But she's also a very vulnerable girl, and she's counting on us to take care of her." Kyle started to laugh. "Tess? Vulnerable?" At his father's look, he held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I get what you're saying about that. She doesn't have many people in her life she can trust. But we're not all she has. There's Michael and Isabel, and as much as I hate to admit it, Max. They can protect her, too." Valenti raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Where did she go when she needed a place to stay to be safe from the Skins? The Evans'? Michael's apartment?" Seeing that his point was sinking in, he went on. "The others care about her, Kyle, but they're kids themselves. Like you. I'm the adult in this situation, and I made a promise to protect all of you. Including Tess. And that means keeping her safe from aliens, alien-hunting FBI agents, and teenage boys who want to take advantage of her confusion and loneliness." "Hold on a minute," he replied angrily. "I'm not trying to take advantage of Tess. I get that you're worried about her, but it wasn't like that." "No? You two weren't participating in the Olympic Undressing Trials? And this isn't just some way to get back at Max Evans for stealing away Liz?" Kyle was stunned. He and his dad had gotten so much closer this year. Did he really have such a low opinion of him? "This has nothing to do with Max Evans," he hissed at his father. He didn't want to take a chance of Tess hearing this. "I like Tess. She's funny, and smart, and doesn't try to change me. Well, not too much. And she cooks my favorite foods for dinner, and, well, yeah, she's gorgeous, but this is not just about my teenage hormones, which by the way don't seem all that different from your adult hormones, or were you and Maria's mother just sitting around eating pie and discussing the growth of tourism this season?" Despite his best intentions, his voice kept rising louder as he talked. Suddenly, Kyle stopped, bracing himself for the inevitable parental explosion. "Buddha, help me," he murmured as he closed his eyes, waiting. Instead of his father's bellows, he heard something else. Something totally strange and unexpected. His father's laughter. He opened his eyes and looked around. Yes, his father was laughing. No, he wasn't just laughing - he was guffawing. He was bent over, clutching his stomach, laughing so hard he was almost crying. Kyle went from fear to anger again. "This is funny to you?" he asked in annoyance. "Sorry," he said between laughs. "It's just the idea of Amy DeLuca and I having a discussion about the tourists. 'Why, Jim, have you noticed the number of tourists buying the Saturn Skin Tan Lotion?' 'No, Amy, can't say that I have. Didn't notice that entire day of lost income from visitors a few months back, either. Maybe the sun's just getting closer to the Earth or something'." Getting a hold on himself, he went on. "And while I admit to not knowing much about Buddha, I'm not sure you should ask his guidance while accusing your father of rampant hormones after he catches you making out with his foster daughter. Not the most spiritual of circumstances, is it?" Kyle tried not to, but he couldn't help the smile spreading across his face. "It's not mentioned in any of the books, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything, does it?" "Nope." Valenti stopped laughing, but kept smiling. "So, I'm guessing that little speech of yours means that you really care about Tess and you don't just want to jump her bones?" "Yeah, I guess that's what it means. Dad, I have no idea what's going on with her. I don't think she does, either. I mean, she's so confused with the whole Max Destiny thing that it's hard for her to even know what she wants sometimes. But I do know that it's more that just physical. I promise that I would never intentionally hurt her." His father nodded, approvingly. "Good. That's what I wanted to hear." He continued briskly. "So here's the ground rules. You can date, you can hang out together, you can kiss. You cannot undress each other of any particles of clothing, you cannot enter her room without keeping the door open, and you cannot run off to any motels together. Understood?" "What about hotels? You know, the really nice ones?" "Like you could afford them. This is non-negotiable, Kyle." "So, basically, you just want to know that I'm treating Tess with respect." "That's about it, yes." Kyle thought for a minute. "Okay, I can do that." "Good. That means I won't have to horsewhip you," Valenti said with a not-very-nice grin. Kyle laughed a bit nervously. He thought his father was just kidding. Still, who knew how far he'd take this father protecting his daughter routine? "This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I suggested you date more, but what else is new?" Valenti stood up, briefly clasping his son on the shoulder. "And Kyle, just so you know, I'm proud of you. I trust that you'll take care of her if anything happens to me." Kyle just nodded, too overcome with a sense of pride and gratitude to say anything. He watched his father walk down the hall, passing by Tess's room. As he walked past it, he pounded on the door. "You can go to sleep now, Tess. Show's over." He entered his own room. Kyle could hear scurrying noises coming from Tess's room. Still chuckling, he lay down on the couch and settled down to sleep.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:24 pm**

Michael finished cleaning up after his shift at the Crashdown. He looked down at his watch. Good - it was only four in the afternoon. Still plenty of time to go over and see Maria. He was out the door and on his bike before he even stopped to wonder about why he was going to see her. Simple, he thought to himself. I just want to make sure she's okay. Nothing more than that. I'd be doing the same thing if it was any of the group injured. A little voice in his head laughed at the idea of his rushing over to see Kyle if he was hurt, but he ignored it. The simple fact was, it had been Maria who had gotten in the way of that Skin yesterday, Maria who had been thrown down on the floor so hard that she almost died, Maria who he saw lying there, blood gushing through her blond hair. Michael sped up his bike, trying to block out that last image. He could still taste his panic as he realized she was dying, and he was the only one available to help her. The fact that he had been able to make the connection was almost enough to make even him believe in a generous God who granted miracles and second chances. He steadily refused to consider what happened after he formed the connection. The images Maria had seen coming from him scared the hell out of him. He didn't even want to think about what all those images of blood and death meant. It didn't help that they'd haunted his nightmares all night. When he woke up, he could just barely remember them. He could remember rushing through strange hallways, hallways he had never been in but which he knew anyway. And somehow he always knew he was going to be too late. Too late for what, was the question Michael didn't know the answer to. Each time the dream ended as he reached a slowly opening door. He awoke before he could see what was waiting for him. Yet, Michael knew that he had been too late. Somehow, he knew that death was waiting for him behind that door, and worse. Pulling up in front of Maria's house, Michael tried again to figure out what could possibly be worse than death. Despite his certainty in his dreams, he hadn't been able to figure out the answer to that simple question. As he walked up to her door and reached out his hand to ring the doorbell, he suddenly knew the answer. Far worse than dying himself would be losing the people he loved. Losing Maria would be a fate far worse than death. ------------------------------------------------------- The door opened and Amy DeLuca looked at him in surprise. Then she smiled at him. "Why, hell, Michael. It's always nice to see my favorite little wrestler." Amy moved aside so that Michael could come inside. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Michael looked around. Maria wasn't home. He was sure of it. Which was ridiculous, of course. How could he possibly know whether she was home or not? He decided to see if he was right. "I'm here to see Maria. She didn't have to work today, and I wanted to make sure she was doing okay." "Well, you know, it takes more than a bump on the head to stop my daughter for long. She's fine. Actually, she's not home." Amy was looking at Michael carefully. "Michael, are you feeling all right?" "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Michael pulled himself together. He didn't know how he had known she wasn't there. That scared him, too. He really didn't like feeling this out of control. "Where can I find her?" "First of all, I want to have your promise that you aren't planning on dragging my daughter and my Jetta off on another one of your glorious lost weekends." "I have work tomorrow. I promise that I just want to make sure Maria's doing okay." Amy looked at him closely. Finally, seeming to approve of what she saw, she answered him. "Maria went to the hospital to see Brody." Suddenly, she stepped back from Michael. He hadn't done anything, but his eyes had changed suddenly. So had his body posture. He seemed tense now, ready to attack. Looking at his eyes, Amy remembered a tiger she had seen once when she took Maria to the zoo. Michael looked like that suddenly - ready to spring. She felt the need to calm him down a bit. "She's worried about him. He was hurt worse than she was when the museum was broken into, and she just wanted to make sure that he's okay. That's all, Michael." Michael realized suddenly that the woman in front of him was slowly backing away. He took a deep breath and tried to relax. It didn't help much. Every instinct he had was telling him to rush over to the hospital and get Maria away from Brody. The intensity of his response scared him even more than his earlier awareness of Maria's absence. He had met Brody several times when he went to the UFO Center to meet Max. The man was weird, yes, and Michael didn't exactly like the way he was always paying so much attention to Maria, but he seemed essentially harmless. So, why did he have this urge all of a sudden to smash his face in? His hands clenched as he almost felt the impact and the feel of shattered bones. Realizing what he was doing, Michael stopped and looked at Amy again. "Thanks, Mrs. DeLuca. Maybe I'll catch up with Maria at the hospital then." He turned to leave. Amy had a sudden urge to stop this young man from going near her daughter right then. "Why don't you wait here for her? I'm sure she'll be back soon, and I have some cookies in the oven." Michael looked back. His eyes traveled across the room, taking in the cookie jar shaped like a green alien head and the stuffed ufos in the corner. "No, thanks." He turned and left, trying to keep from breaking into a run as soon as he was out of the room. Amy watched him get on his bike and leave. She had known Michael since he started seeing her daughter over a year ago. She liked Michael and for some reason trusted him, despite finding him asleep in her then-sixteen year old daughter's bed and knowing that he was responsible for the various pieces of her car strewn along the highways of at least three states. But for a minute there, the boy she saw in front of her didn't look like the Michael Guerin she knew. He was a stranger. And he terrified her. ---------------------------------------------------------- By the time he reached the hospital, Michael had calmed down. Maria was just going to visit an injured friend. It certainly didn't mean she had any romantic-type interest in Brody. She was just like that. She cared about people. Her infinite capacity for forgiveness and love was something that actually awed Michael a little. He couldn't believe that she was able to forgive him for all the times he had hurt her. She always tried to see the good in people. So it made sense that she would worry about Brody, especially since he'd been hurt during one of their alien crises. He didn't know what his problem had been back at the house. What had he been thinking? You were thinking about knocking Brody unconscious and carrying Maria out of there bodily. Michael had to smile at the image as he entered the hospital. Anyone trying to force Maria DeLuca to go anyplace where she didn't want to go had better watch out for a frying pan upside their head. She wasn't exactly the damsel-in-distress type. Michael entered the hospital and walked straight past the nurses' station, heading unerringly for Brody's room. It didn't even occur to the alien boy to wonder how he knew where Brody's room was. He just headed in Maria's direction. Somehow, he just knew where she was. As he got close to the open door of Brody's room, he heard laughter. Two people laughing. Brody and Maria. Michael slowed down as he approached the door. He peered inside the room. Maria was sitting on the edge of Brody's bed. Brody himself was propped up in bed looking at Maria, still laughing. There were cards in their hands and more piled on the bed between them. "You are such a cheater," Maria insisted with a smile. "There is no way you had that king of hearts." "I most certainly did." "You just happened to have the one card you needed to win? Come on." "Well, how could the king of hearts resist showing up when there's such a beautiful girl sitting there smiling?" Brody never took his eyes off Maria's face as he asked. Michael stood there, expecting Maria to make some sarcastic comment about the stupid corny line. Instead, she just laughed again as she looked away from Brody. He was shocked to see that she was actually blushing. Blushing! Several things happened all at once: Michael felt a burning in his palms. It took every single ounce of willpower he had not to jump across the room and pummel Brody through the wall. Images flashed through his mind - he saw Pierce flying through the air, felt that energy flowing through his body and out towards his enemy, heard the sound of the body snapping and breaking as it collided with the wall. He heard his dupe's voice asking, "You want me to kill him for ya?" and remembers how he had turned it into a joke, ignoring the fact that for an instant he had considered the possibility. He imagined that blinding light again, only this time it was Brody flying through the air instead of Pierce. Then, all the lights in the hallway exploded and the building went black. Maria looked up suddenly and saw Michael staring at Brody. His face had a look that she had never seen before. Before she could figure it out, Michael turned and ran away. She got up quickly and went out into the hall. She didn't see him, but she did see nurses and doctors running around, trying to figure out what happened. Realizing that she wasn't going to catch up with Michael if he didn't want to be caught up with, Maria turned to convincing everyone that the hospital had just been the victim of a bizarre power surge. ---------------------------------------------------------- Michael's hands were shaking as he got onto his bike. He refused to think about anything at all as he drove away from the hospital, Maria, and Roswell. He drove for half an hour that way, not stopping until he was far away from town out in the desert. Then he got off his bike and fell to the ground. The shaking had spread to his whole body by that point. He couldn't seem to stop it. He curled up on his side, wrapping his arms around his knees, trying to make himself as small as possible, hoping that would stop the shaking. It didn't. It never helped. It hadn't worked when he was a small boy, hoping that if he made himself really tiny and didn't make any noise, Hank might not notice him and he wouldn't get hit that night. And it didn't work now when the monster he was hiding from was himself. No matter how far he ran, Michael could never escape what he was - what he had become since that day when he killed Pierce. "I'm not him," Michael whispered in a small voice. "I'm not. I'm not him." He kept repeating that mantra over and over again, not even really noticing that he was, and certainly not considering who he was talking about. The words came from deep inside him, and while they made no sense, they also seemed to make perfect sense. "I'm not him." Finally, the shaking stopped. Michael lay there quietly, exhausted. Suddenly his eyes sprang open. He could feel someone watching him. Michael jumped up and looked around. He was out in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't much to hide behind out in that desert area, but he didn't see anyone. Still, he had the feeling of eyes watching him. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, he dismissed his feelings. He was probably just jumpy after what happened in the hospital. Michael walked over to a pile of rocks. This was his favorite place to come and practice his powers, away from everybody. Here he could practice and think. Michael looked at one of the boulders. He studied it, noticing how solid it looked. Then he imagined hundreds of fine lines coursing through the rock, lines that could be used to tear it apart. Picturing those tiny pieces, Michael held up his hand and concentrated. He felt the familiar burning in his hands and then released his energy. The boulder exploded, pieces of rock flying all around. Ignoring the fragments that flew by him, Michael concentrated on the next rock. As he worked, he tried to figure out what had happened. Be honest with yourself, Michael. You wanted Brody dead came a small voice in his head. No, I didn't he argued back. I just wanted him away from Maria. Why? Because he's way too old, with way too much money, and I don't trust him. Now the voice sounded amused. You don't trust him? Let's be real. You're just afraid that Maria won't give you a second glance now that she has someone paying attention who knows how to treat her. This has nothing to do with protecting Maria. Michael stopped blowing up rocks. The voice (himself, he knew) was right. There was no way that he deserved Maria, but he'd been counting on her always being there anyway. Now she had Brody, a man who treated her like she was a princess and who wasn't likely to get her killed. Deep down, Michael knew that if she stayed with him, he would let her down to. He had failed to protect those he loved before and he would do it again. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine a world without Maria. He couldn't do it - the emptiness inside was too much. Why did he have the feeling that he'd experienced that ache before? While he was considering that, he suddenly found himself flying through the air, straight at one of his giant boulders.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:26 pm**

Michael hit the rock hard and slide down to its base. He lay there a moment, disoriented, and then instinctively rolled to the side. Good thing, too, because the next second the boulder exploded right where he had been. Ignoring the pain in his head, Michael looked over to where the attack was coming from. A low noise, almost a growl, came from his throat as he saw who it was. "What's the matter, guy? Weren't expecting anyone to interrupt your lonely rock-breaking?" Nicholas looked at Michael scornfully. "I have to admit, I didn't think you had fallen quite so far as to actually find the need to attack rocks. What's the matter? Can't handle anything that fights back?" "Come and see," he responded, standing up and holding up his hand. Instantly, the white flash of his energy came out and sped toward where the younger-looking alien stood. Nicholas just laughed and held up his hand. A force field formed around him, effectively dissipating Michael's attack. Next thing Michael knew, he was flying through the air again. This time, he didn't run into a rock. He lay there on the ground. Even without looking, he knew that his head was bleeding. He wondered how badly he was hurt, but didn't think it would really matter. He looked up to see Nicholas walk over slowly. "You know, you Royal Four are actually quite a disappointment. I'm almost tempted to keep you alive just so that the people back home can see how pathetic you are." Nicholas sighed. "But no, Kivar wants you dead, so I guess dead you'll have to be. Small loss." Nicholas bent down next to Michael and yanked back his hair so that he had to look up at him. "Does this seem at all familiar, old friend? You were much harder to kill the last time around." "If you're going to kill me just shut up and do it." Michael could barely concentrate with all the dizziness and pain from his head. "Now, I know that you were never exactly the brightest guy on our planet, but surely even you can see that you're not in any position to be giving me orders. It really is sad, though. Your name used to be enough to terrify any of our people. I knew soldiers who would rather take the risk of execution for desertion than face you in battle. They said you could never be defeated. But you were." Nicholas threw Michael's head back. "And now look at you. Pitiful." Nicholas slowly walked around Michael's body. "Well, after you're dead, it should be a clear path to the others. I can't wait for the reunion with the royal couple. Not to mention those cute little Earth girls you seem so fond of." Michael suddenly had a thought of Maria being tied up by the Skins the way Tess and Isabel had been. There was no way he was going to let that happen. His hands glowing again, Michael threw himself to his feet. He held up his hand, and Nicholas's went up to protect himself. Instead of attacking him as he thought, Michael threw his body at the smaller alien. Nicholas was caught completely off-guard. Use the element of surprise, Michael thought. He had known that once. Now that he had Nicholas down, he had no intention of letting him back up again. Michael started punching Nicholas. In the face, in the stomach, everywhere he could reach. And he hit him with his full strength. He heard the sound his fist made in the other's Husk, and was glad. It was good to be able to hit someone finally. When he had Nicholas unconscious, he could go for the vulnerable spot on his back. Michael looked down at the battered face and pulled his fist back for one final blow. Nicholas threw his arm over his face in a protective gesture. Michael froze. How often had he done that himself? Hank would come home drunk, and barge into his room. Michael would awaken, and put his arm over his face, preparing for the coming blow. Now he looked at his hand, covered in Nicholas's blood. He was becoming Hank. What irony. All those years, he could never fight back in his own defense. And now, when he was free of Hank and on his own, he acted just like his father. He was truly following in his footsteps. While Michael hesitated, Nicholas kicked him and then threw him through the air again. This time, he followed up with wave and wave of blasts. Michael couldn't even get up. The pain was too much. He knew that he couldn't get up again, and cursed himself for his weakness and hesitation - luxuries that he couldn't afford. Then suddenly, Nicholas went flying through the air by him. Totally confused, Michael looked away from Nicholas. A strange man was coming towards them. A man who held his hand up in the same way Michael and Nicholas had while fighting. Michael kept his own hand up as he carefully looked at the stranger. He was tanned, with dark hair and eyes, and was wearing clothes similar to what any of the neighboring ranchers might wear - jeans, a flannel shirt, cowboy hat. As the stranger limped ever closer, Michael put his hand down. Although he was certain he had never seen the man before in his life, he seemed familiar anyway, and Michael felt that he was safe. Just as Michael had felt that Maria would never hurt him, he felt that this man would not harm him either. The stranger stopped a few feet from Michael. The two watched each other carefully. The stranger slowly let down his hand. Only then did Michael look over to see how badly Nicholas had been hurt. He was shocked to see that Nicholas had disappeared. Michael frantically looked around, but didn't see the Skin. Cursing under his breath, he turned back to the stranger. The man was watching him with a smile. "I've been waiting a long time for this," he said. Then, completing Michael's shock, he walked over and gave the teen a big hug. Edited by: <A HREF=http://p199.ezboard.com/bmajiklmoonsrea ... lm>Anla</A> at: 7/3/05 4:28 pm

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:29 pm**

Isabel slid into their regular booth at the Crashdown. Alex put his arm around her. She gave him a quick smile and looked across the table at Max and Tess. "Have either of you seen Michael today? He was supposed to meet me an hour ago, but he didn't show up." "No," they said in chorus. "He got off work hours ago," Max said with concern. "But nobody seems to have seen him. He's not at his apartment either." "I've had this feeling all day that something was going to happen," Tess said. "Almost like someone was watching me, but not exactly. I can't really describe it." "Me, too," Max said. "I think we should all stay together until we find out what's going on." "Fine, but we need to find Michael. Who knows what trouble he could be getting into?" Isabel sounded slightly panicked at not knowing where he was. "We'll find him, Isabel," Alex said in a comforting voice. "I'm sure he's fine. After all, how much trouble could he get into in a few hours......." he trailed off at the looks he was receiving, but rallied and tried to sound convincing. "I mean, I'm sure Michael can take care of himself." Isabel nodded, trying not to show how frantic she felt. Ever since she woke up this morning, she'd been feeling anxious, without knowing why. She knew Max felt it, too. He'd been awake even before she was, pacing around the house, snapping at their mother until she threw him out for the day. Isabel shook her head. When Max started to be out-right rude to their mother, then things were bad. Isabel looked up as a shadow fell over the table. Maria was standing there. She looked as nervous as Isabel felt. "Have any of you seen Michael recently?" "We were just about to go look for him," Max said slowly. "Why? Is something wrong?" "I'm not sure," Maria squeezed into the booth next to Max. "I was at the hospital earlier visiting Brody when all the lights exploded. I looked up and saw Michael standing there." "Hold on a minute," Alex interrupted. "The lights exploded? Michael did that?" "So it would seem." Maria sighed. "What type of lights were they?" Alex asked. "I mean, were they individual light bulbs, or were they the long fluorescent ones?" He noticed their looks. "What?" "What possible difference does that make?" Isabel asked in confusion. "I'm just trying to visualize the Mighty Alien Lightbulb Attack." Alex shrugged. "I can't quite picture it. Michael against household appliances and fixtures. It's a bit bizarre, even for him." Isabel thought for a minute, then nodded. He had a point. Maria brought their attention back to the problem. "I'm really worried about him. He looked really weird, guys. It's like he didn't even see me. He was just staring at Brody. I don't think I've ever seen him look so angry." "He was angry with Brody?" Tess asked. Now it was her turn to sound confused. "Why would anyone be angry with Brody?" Maria looked uncomfortable. "I think it was because Brody was kind of flirting with me." The others all stared at her. "What? Is it so unbelievable that someone might want to flirt with me?" "No, of course not," Max said with his first smile all day. "Did Brody see Michael there?" "I don't think so. I managed to convince everybody that the lights exploded because of a power surge. But it was definitely Michael." "His powers have been getting stronger these last months," Isabel mused, "but I don't recall any other instances of his making things explode unless he wanted them to." "I don't know. Maybe he decided that he has something against electric lights. Whatever. All I do know is that something's wrong with him. I'm going out to the Granolith Chamber to look for him. I've looked everywhere else I can think of. And you," Maria turned to Max, "are going with me." "Why?" Max asked. "Because I need someone to open up the chamber for me. If Michael's in there, he needs someone to talk to right now. Not to mention the fact that I have a few things to discuss with him." "Okay, we're all going," Isabel decided. Nobody moved. "Now." They all scrambled up and headed for the door. On their way out, Liz intercepted them. "Where are you going?" "We're going to look for Michael at the Pod Chamber. Want to come?" Alex asked. Liz looked over at Max, and noticed how he was carefully not looking at her. She sighed, then smiled at her friend. "I don't think so, Alex. I have to work. Call me later and tell me what happened, okay?" "Not a problem." Alex smiled at her as he was dragged out the door by a very determined Isabel. Wishing that there was a way to make Max look at her again, Liz went to get ready for her shift. -------------------------------------------------------- The Jeep sped quickly across the desert. Maria was in the front seat, crowded between Max and Isabel. Max kept all his attention focused on the road in front of him, but Isabel seemed determined to find out from Maria what had her so worried. "Okay, let's try to think this out rationally." Isabel was trying to stay calm, despite the fact that she was getting so anxious she was about ready to jump out of the Jeep herself. "You said that you thought there was something wrong with Michael." Maria nodded impatiently. "Do you think you could possibly be more specific than that?" Maria frowned, deep in thought. "It's hard to put into words. He was just wrong." Maria turned around to look at Alex and Tess in the back seat. "You know how Michael gets all stone-wall when he's angry?" They both nodded. "Except for his eyes. When Michael's pissed, he gets very still, but his eyes show what he's feeling. Well, this time it was the opposite." Maria closed her eyes, trying to remember exactly how Michael looked. "His whole body was tense, almost quivering, like he was about to jump. And his eyes." Maria's eyes flew open, and for the first time she looked frightened. "His eyes looked so cold. They looked more like Rath's eyes than Michael's." There was silence in the car for a minute. Isabel turned around and looked at Alex for reassurance. He tried to smile, but wasn't able to. The thought of Michael's dupe was enough to petrify any of them. Finally, Isabel spoke. "Are you sure it was Michael, Maria? Maybe it was Rath. Maybe he's back." "If it was Rath, he would have done more than break a few lightbulbs," Tess spoke up in a small voice. Isabel turned around and took Tess's hand. Of all of them, Tess was the one most terrified of Rath. They sometimes forgot that it was her dupe he had killed while they watched. Tess had stood there and looked at Ava, at herself, while she lay on the floor, broken and battered from Rath's attack. Isabel knew that she still had nightmares from that sight. "Tess is right," Maria said with certainty. "It was Michael, all right. I just don't know what's going on what he laughingly refers to as a brain." "We'll find out," Max said flatly. He kept his eyes on the road ahead of him. Isabel closed her eyes, concentrating on Michael. Her dreamwalking abilities had gotten stronger lately. Her experiences with Max and Pierce had shown that she could sometimes connect with people even when they were awake and get information. If there was anybody in the world she could connect with, it should be Michael. He and Max were the two people she knew the best in the world. Maybe she could get some idea of where he was. They rode in silence for a while, trying not to let their fears for Michael get the better of them. Suddenly, Isabel yelled out, "Turn around, Max." "What?" "We're going in the wrong direction. We need to go that way." Isabel pointed to the east. "The Granolith Chamber is this way," Max pointed out. "But Michael is that way." "Are you sure?" asked Alex. "Yes." Isabel looked at Max pleadingly. "I know that he's that way, Max." Without speaking, Max turned the car in the direction Isabel had pointed. Maria sat back in her seat and tried to get comfortable. She tried not to mind this evidence of Michael's connection with Isabel. Even though she had managed to accept the fact that they were mates in their previous lives, that didn't mean she liked being reminded of it. Looking in the rear view mirror, Maria could see that Alex looked as unhappy as she did. Noticing her watching him, Alex smiled and did his famous thumbs-up. Maria smiled in return and looked back out over the desert. ------------------------------------------------- Liz looked up from wiping the table to see Valenti come striding in. He walked up to her. "Good afternoon, Sheriff. What can I get for you?" "Have you seen Michael lately?" he asked. "Everybody seems to be looking for him today," Liz said, setting down the towel. "No, I haven't, but the others just went searching for him. What's going on?" "I had a call from Amy earlier. Seems she was a bit concerned about Michael and thought he might need someone to talk to." Valenti didn't see any need to tell Liz that Amy had been insistent on someone talking to Michael before he saw her daughter. While Valenti was certain that the boy wouldn't hurt anyone (well, not unless that anyone tried to hurt him first), he couldn't ignore Amy's barely hidden panic. If something had Amy DeLuca that concerned, then it was worth investigating. "Which way did they go looking for him?" Liz frowned, looking at the clock. Making her decision, she started to untie her apron. "If you give me a minute, I'll go with you. I'm starting to get worried about Michael, too." Five minutes later, Liz was in the sheriff's car, guiding him in the direction she thought they might have gone. Liz was just following her instincts as she pointed Valenti in the direction she thought Max had gone across the desert. The sheriff didn't ask any questions; he just drove in the direction she told him to. --------------------------------------------------------- Michael pulled away from the stranger, unsteadily getting to his feet. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded. Then, before the stranger could answer, Michael looked away from him. He felt something. It was like an electric current going through his body. He looked in the direction the current seemed to be coming from and saw the Jeep coming into sight. Maria, he thought. He knew that Maria was in the car. Michael was so focused on watching the Jeep pull up, that he didn't notice the stranger walk away from him a bit. Then the Jeep came to a stop in front of them. Isabel was the first one out of the car, rushing over to Michael. "Michael, what happened?" she started, but then stopped short as she noticed the man standing there quietly. The others climbed out, walking over to stand alongside Michael. Maria was the last one to approach. She noticed how Michael's eyes never left hers, not even when Isabel was talking to him. Now that she had found him, Maria was surprisingly nervous. He seemed to be himself again, but there was something faintly unnerving about the way he watched her so intently. She stopped a few feet away from him. Some part of Michael's brain told him that Izzy was here and that she was asking him something. He supposed that he ought to answer her, but all he could seem to focus on was Maria. She had stopped moving and was just standing there, watching him carefully. She was too far away. But she looked scared, and if he moved any closer it might frighten her off. So he would keep his distance. What are you thinking, Guerin? he thought in dismay. There's a strange alien standing a few feet away, you don't know if he's a friend or an enemy, and all you can think about is grabbing Maria and dragging her away somewhere. Michael forced himself to look away from Maria, and concentrate on the stranger, who was watching them all with a slight smile on his face. Maria was disappointed when he looked away, but also a little relieved. The way he was looking at her was flattering, like she was the only one there, but it was also a bit frightening, a bit too intense. She decided that confronting Michael could wait a while. While this was going on, Max had been looking at the stranger. "I know you," he finally said. "You were there when Liz and I ......." then he stopped in embarrassment. "When you found the orb," the man finished for him. "Yes, I was there." He looked up. "Oh, good, here she is now." Everyone turned and saw Valenti drive up, with Liz next to him. They jumped out of the car, and Valenti started towards the stranger. Michael jumped in front of him. "It's all right, Sheriff." He looked back at the stranger. "I don't think he's going to hurt us." "Quite right, Michael," the man said cheerfully. "Quite the opposite, in fact. Sheriff Valenti, so glad that you could both join us." "Does anyone want to tell me what's going on?" Valenti asked, never taking his hands off the gun in his holster. "Of course," the man said, walking closer to them. Michael moved to stand between him and Maria. No use taking chances, he thought. He heard Maria make a small sound behind him, but didn't dare turn around to see what was wrong. Maria was surprised by the sudden tingling that she felt when Michael came near her. Every nerve in her body seemed to tense up. She stared at his back, wanting to touch him so much that she felt like her chest was constricting and she couldn't breathe. Slowly, her hand reached out and touched his back. She immediately felt better. Then, Michael's hand reached slowly behind his back and took hers. That was even better. Michael tried hard to focus on the man in front of him. Things seemed clearer now that he was touching Maria. For the first time all day, his head had stopped pounding and he felt calm. He watched the man walk up to Max, noticing the limp that destroyed the otherwise fluid effect of his gait. Max kept his eyes on the stranger as he approached. While he felt no threat, he did feel a sense of anticipation. This is what we've been waiting for he thought to himself. The man stopped in front of Max, then hugged him. Quickly releasing Max from the hug, he placed both hands on his heart and bowed to him. Then he turned to Liz. He smiled at her, but then looked closer at her eyes and frowned. Liz had the feeling that he had felt her sadness at being so close to Max, but unable to really be with him. He limped over to Isabel and looked at her eyes, too, but with much more determination. Isabel had the sense that he was looking through her, down into her soul, as if he was searching for something in particular. It wasn't a particularly pleasant feeling for the girl who didn't let anybody in easily. He was apparently pleased with what he saw, because he smiled and hugged her as well. He noticed Maria peering around Michael to look at him, and passed her with a smile. He walked past Valenti and Alex, looking at them carefully, and then stopped in front of Tes. Tess looked up at the man. For the first time, his eyes changed and looked sad. He hugged her as well, but Tess was certain that she had seen the sadness in his eyes. She wondered what it meant. Then he turned back to the group, looking directly at Max, but speaking to them all. "I suppose I should begin by introducing myself. My name is Dagmar. I am your, albeit absentee, guardian." He looked at the eight once more and nodded in satisfaction. "Now we can begin."

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:32 pm**

They all started talking at the same time. Finally, they quieted down enough for Max to be heard. "What do you mean, you're our guardian?" "I was sent down here to guard and guide you." He gave a quick grimace. "Admittedly, I haven't been the ideal guardian, but you really do have to take into account the fact that we hardly expected the ship to crash and to end up being taken into the custody of this planet's military." "And we're supposed to just believe you?" Tess asked. Dagmar looked at her. "I wouldn't expect such suspicion from you, my dear. Didn't your protector tell you about me?" Tess looked slightly uncomfortable, but shook her head. "No, Nasedo didn't tell me anything about another alien guardian." "Nasedo?" Dagmar gave a small laugh, but it didn't sound truly amused. "Is that what you called him?" They nodded. "I see." He sighed. "I suppose a demonstration is necessary." "He's an alien," Michael called out to the group. "Nicholas was here....." "Nicholas?" Isabel yelled out. Alex moved over to her, and put his arms around her. "He was here?" "Yeah." Michael rubbed his head where it still hurt from their little reunion. "Dagmar here blasted him away from me." Realizing that Maria was just as afraid as Isabel from this revelation, Michael gave her hand a squeeze. Then he turned his attention back to Dagmar. "Of course, that doesn't exactly tell us what type of alien he is." Dagmar turned his focus from Max to Michael. "Always the suspicious one, aren't you?" Strangely enough, he didn't seem upset at Michael's doubts, only amused. "Well, that's your way and it's good to see that some things don't change over fifty years and two lifetimes. Here you go." Dagmar held up his hand. Michael stiffened and his own hands started to heat up. He felt Maria drop the hand she had been holding, but he stayed focused on Dagmar. He didn't think Dagmar was a threat, but he wasn't going to take any chances, seeing as how his entire family was out here, vulnerable. Instead of attacking, Dagmar started to glow. His whole body was washed in an almost blinding blue-white light. Then suddenly, standing in front of them was Dr. Margoles, the man who they had met last year when Agent Topolsky had come into their lives, bringing chaos and fear. Then the light shone around him again, and it was Dagmar once more. Max broke the silence. "So you're a shapeshifter," he said flatly. "And you claim to have known Michael in his past life, which I assume means you want us to believe you knew all of us in our past lives." "Oh, yes." He took out some tic tacs and munched on them. Tic tacs? Maria and Liz exchanged surprised glances. "I knew you all quite well. My house isn't far. Why don't we go there and talk?" Max looked at Michael. Michael nodded, and Max turned to their guardian. "All right then. Where is your house?" ----------------------------------------------------------- Fifteen minutes later, they were all inside Dagmar's spacious living room. Turned out that Dagmar lived in a ranch house not far from the Roswell city limits. Maria, Liz, and Tess were seated on the couch, with Max in an armchair right next to it. Isabel was seated in the opposite armchair, with Alex perched on the arm. Michael stood protectively behind Maria. Valenti stood along the wall, eyes never leaving Dagmar, who paced in front of the group like a professor about to start the day's lecture. "Where would you like to start?" he asked agreeably. "Your name is Dagmar?" Max asked. "That's as close as you can get to pronouncing it with human vocal cords," he agreed. "I already know all of your names from watching you these last several months." "Where are we from?" Michael asked. "Our planet's name is Antar. When you were sent to Earth in your pods, I was sent with three others to help guide and guard you." "What happened to the others?" asked Liz. Dagmar stopped pacing and looked at them solemnly. "Apparently, you knew Urza by the name of Nasedo. He's the one who raised you, Tess." "Urza," Tess whispered. "He never told me his real name. I just called him by whatever name he was using that day." "Our teela-meis died in the crash." Maria could sense Michael tensing up behind her, again. "Teela-meis?" he asked. "That sounds familiar. What are they?" Dagmar looked at Michael with interest. "Life-mates," he answered simply. "Our kind mate for life. You select one other to be your partner for life. They are your teela-mei." He took a deep breath and continued. "At any rate, when they died, Urza and I were all that was left. We managed to rescue the pods from the army base." Michael remembered Hal Carver's description of the glowing aliens who came for the pods. Hard to imagine that one of those aliens was now standing in front of him. "One set was for me to watch over, while Urza would watch over the other. Urza planned to take his set to New York, and I placed mine here in Roswell, inside the Granolith Chamber. But things didn't go as planned. "Urza was captured by the army. I had to take his set to New York." He looked at them. "We figured it would be best to hide the two sets in different locations, you see. There was so much depending on the Royal Four," his voice trailed off. Then he started again. "When I returned to Roswell to check on my set of pods, I was pursued by the army. I hid the communication pod you and Liz found, Max, and was eventually captured as well." He looked at Max. "I was very proud to see that you and your teela-mei were able to find the orb." Liz blushed at hearing herself referred to in that way. She glanced at Max, and saw how uncomfortable he looked. She looked away again, realizing that he didn't want to think of her in that way. "Can we get back to the point?" Max asked harshly. "Of course," Dagmar said with some surprise. "I was imprisoned, but Urza managed to escape. I learned later that he arrived too late to be there when you three emerged from your pods, but he was able to be there when Tess came out. He took her with him, and moved around the country, checking in with the children in New York when he could. He dealt with the alien hunters in the FBI as he thought necessary." "You mean, he killed them," Alex said. "He killed them," Dagmar agreed. "It was always what he did best." Dagmar looked at Michael as he said this. Michael returned the look steadily. Dagmar was the first to look away. "I'm not saying I approve of his methods, mind you. I think his time in government custody left him a bit unstable." "You think?" Maria muttered. "Shush, Maria," Michael said absently. Maria looked guiltily at Tess. "Sorry, Tess, but the guy did kidnap Liz. He wasn't exactly Mr. Rogers." "No, I think that was supposed to be my job," Dagmar continued with a smile. "Urza was military. My specialty was education. But, as you say, back to the point. I escaped years later. By the time I caught up with Urza, he had changed so much that I wanted nothing to do with him. We agreed to go our own ways, protecting our charges in the ways we saw fit." Dagmar's voice hardened. "Urza had done many things that I could never accept. You called him Nasedo. That was the name I used while I was living on the Indian Reservation here. I stayed there while hiding from the government. I had a friend, two really, a boy named River Dog and a man named Atherton. When I escaped and found Urza, he told me how he'd killed Atherton using my form. He felt that Atherton was too big a threat, that he knew too much." Dagmar sounded bitter now. "Have any of you read Atherton's book?" "I have," Max volunteered. "Everything in it was wrong." "Exactly. Atherton used his book to spread false information about us, to keep the government from knowing the truth. He was a friend. Urza didn't need to kill him." Dagmar shook his head. "I still get angry over that, even after all these years. "I decided that you three were better off without any alien interference as you were growing up. Less chance of anyone noticing you that way. So, I watched you from a distance. The only reason I've come forward now is because you are, to put it bluntly, screwing everything up." Dagmar looked from Isabel to Max. "You've repeated too many of the same errors." "What errors?" Max asked. "The same errors from before. The ones that got you all killed." There was silence in the room. Maria could tell that the aliens were too afraid to ask any more questions. It's one thing to know in an academic way that you had lived and died before, but quite another to know the details and know that you were doing it all over again. Valenti pushed away from the wall and walked toward Dagmar. "Tell them." Dagmar looked the human in the eye. "I'm not sure they're ready for the truth." Valenti didn't look away or back down. "They need to know if they're going to prevent it from happening again." Dagmar nodded. "In addition to being a very efficient killer, Urza also knew some mental tricks. He taught me one of them, which was the ability to block off memories. I did that for you. I didn't want you to remember your past lives until you were ready to deal with the memories." He looked directly at Michael again. "Although I suspect some of the memories are starting to come back as you approach the time of your Awakening. At any rate, I can release the block now if you wish. Or you can wait for the blocks to deteriorate on their own. It's your choice." The four aliens looked at each other. Tess nodded, as did Michael. "You can do it," Alex whispered to Isabel, who slowly nodded. "All right," Max said. "What do we need to do?" "Nothing," Dagmar answered. "Just try to relax, listen to me, and the memories should return."

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:33 pm**

"How do you start stories here? Of course. Once upon a time, Zandar and Vilandra were born to the king of Antar and his teela-mei. I personally knew the royal children their whole lives. I was your tutor. You were the pride of our people. Zandar was smart, strong, and compassionate. Vilandra was the most beautiful being ever born on Antar, and she charmed the entire court. You were devoted to each other, caring more for each other than for yourselves or for anyone else. "Our people had reached a golden age of art and science. We had achieved travel through space and were starting to colonize the nearby moons." "There were six of them," Isabel broke in. "Five little ones, and then the big one," Michael added. "The largest shone gold in the sky," Max said. Maria fought a shiver. There was something a bit creepy about having this evidence that the aliens were remembering their past lives. She noticed that Tess was just sitting there, quietly listening. "Yes. There were two factions on our planets, and unfortunately the two groups fought more often than we got along. One group, ours, Zandar and Vilandra, was the rulers. The other group was what you call the Skins. In general, the ruling class was stronger physically, while the Skins were more talented in mental powers. There were exceptions to this, of course. There are always exceptions. Tymrath was second only to Zandar in strength in battle. I always suspected that Tymrath could have defeated Zandar if not for the fact that his loyalty prevented him from ever usurping his king's honor. And Vilandra was very strong telepathically. Which ultimately proved to be her undoing." As Dagmar paused, Isabel reached out for Alex's hand. Hearing about Vilandra tore her up inside. She was terrified of what she might learn about herself, but having Alex with her made it slightly easier to face. "Solon Zamaran Eith," Michael whispered. Maria turned around to look at him, but he didn't even notice. He was looking at Dagmar with a frightened look on his face. Dagmar smiled at him. "Yes. You remember." "What does it mean?" Liz asked. "Michael knows, don't you?" he answered. Michael nodded slowly. "I think, yes, it means 'The king's honor first.' " "Exactly. It was the oath sworn by the king's seconds and guards. Most didn't really mean it. You did." Dagmar's smile faded and he looked sad again. "You meant every word," he repeated in a quieter voice. Maria looked at Michael again. She saw the scared look on his face. She hadn't seen him look this scared since the night he came to her after running away from Hank. She reached up and took his hand again. He blinked and looked at her. Then he smiled gently and returned his attention to Dagmar. He didn't let go of her hand, though. Liz noticed the hand-holding going on all around her. She looked over at Max. He was still watching Dagmar, just as intently as Michael was. "Go on," he demanded. "One day, before he reached his Awakening, Zandar was out touring the great city with his father. As he watched, his father was assassinated by a Skin rebel." Max closed his eyes. He could almost see the scene as it replayed in his mind, the screams of the crowd, himself kneeling by his father's body, paying no attention to anything around him but the fact that his father was leaving him. Dagmar went on. "Zandar would have been killed as well, but a stranger threw himself in the way of the blast meant to kill the prince. A young Skin who had seen the assassination, and felt sympathy for the prince who had lost his father that day. A Skin who was also alone, without family, but who found a family that day as he injured himself to save Zandar." Max opened his eyes and looked over at Michael. Michael returned the look. "Zandar had lost his father, but he had gained a friend for life, one whom he loved as a brother. Tymrath became the new king's second." Max nodded slowly. It made sense. He had always felt incomplete without Michael near. He remembered those first years, when he and Isabel had both known there was someone else out there, that they weren't complete yet. He remember Tymrath's spirit. He had always felt stronger with him standing by his side, ready and willing to do whatever he wanted, but giving him advice too. He started to smile for the first time since meeting Dagmar. Things hadn't really changed that much. No matter what, he knew he could trust Michael. But Michael certainly didn't hesitate to tell him what was on his mind. Michael saw the smile on Max's face and relaxed a little. He remembered how the emptiness had filled up when he met Zandar. There was someone who needed him and accepted him as he was. He would have done anything for him. The same was true of his feelings in this life. That day in the schoolyard, when he had looked over and seen the two strange children staring at him, Michael had known that he was home. They were his family. "Things don't change, do they?" Michael asked. "Not the fundamentals, no," answered Dagmar. "You can change some things, but deep down, you are who you always were." Michael's good mood went plummeting and he turned back angrily to Dagmar, letting go of Maria's hand as he did so. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?" "Exactly what I said, Michael. And I was referring to all of you, not just you." Maria sensed there was a confrontation brewing, and moved quickly to stop it. "Maybe you should just go on with the story." "Very well. The Royal Three, Zandar, Vilandra, and Tymrath, quickly became legends on our world. Together, they fought many fights against the Skins and encouraged beauty and art. Never did anyone have cause to accuse Tymrath of disloyalty to his king. He had found himself a cause and never looked back at the life he had before. And the people on our word started to come together - to look beyond their houses and factions and work together to make Antar a better place. Zandar was a good king - honest and fair. However, he was guarded and cold. The only ones he loved were Vilandra and Tymrath. While nobody suffered unfairly, Zandar kept his emotions closely protected. I don't think you ever truly got over the death of your father." "I didn't." Max's words seemed pained, as if he was forcing himself to say them. "I hated them for killing him. But I had to deal with them, didn't I? Killing them all wasn't exactly a workable option." He gave a small laugh and looked at Michael again. "Although I bet you would have done it for me if I'd asked, wouldn't you?" Michael closed his eyes as he whispered, "What did you ask of me? I can't remember that yet, but there's something, isn't there?" Max looked confused. Before he could say anything, Dagmar rushed on. "Tymrath and Vilandra were unbeatable. No one could stand against Tymrath in battle, and Vilandra was always there helping him plan and prepare. Together, they could figure out a way to accomplish any of Zandar's plans. They worked behind the scenes as Zandar struggled to unify Antar. They went through their Awakenings together and selected each other for their teela-meis. Zandar was thrilled with their bethrothal. They continued to deal with the growing Skin dissension and rebellion while planning for their wedding." Michael had opened his eyes again, and was looking at Isabel, who returned his look of curiosity. He smiled at her suddenly. Isabel blushed a little, but then returned his smile. She could remember a little of those days. It had been so exciting. Everyday was a challenge, and she knew they could do anything as long as the three of them were together. It was amazing how much of that feeling had survived into this life. Maria couldn't stand watching them, not after hearing Dagmar talk about their life and love for each other. She started to get up and leave, but the instant she moved, Michael's attention returned to her. He leaned over and pushed her gently back down. "Stay," he whispered, and she nodded. "It sounds like everything was fine and dandy," Alex commented. "Yes," answered Dagmar. "But then Zandar went through his Awakening and met Aveen." He looked at Tess for a moment, then at the others. "Then things got really bad, really fast."

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:36 pm**

Silence met Dagmar's statement. He paused in his pacing. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I'll be right back." Before anyone could say anything, he turned and left the room. "What, the....." Michael started to go after him, but Valenti beat him to the door. "You stay here, Michael. I'll see what's going on." Valenti followed the way Dagmar had gone. Back in the room, Maria noticed how quiet Tess had been. "Are you okay?" Tess looked at her in surprise. Whatever she had been thinking about, she had obviously been a million miles away from them. "What? Yeah, it's just...... never mind. It's nothing." Tess shook her head and looked away. Well, that was informative, Maria thought. She's probably having a hard time dealing with all this. Maria looked at Isabel, her friend and possible rival. After all, I'm not having the easiest time dealing with it myself. She looked over at Michael, still standing in the doorway, looking after Valenti. It was hard to reconcile the Michael she knew and loved with this other being, this alien, Tymrath. What exactly did Dagmar mean when he said that they hadn't changed who they were deep down? And why did it seem that Michael was the one he looked at the most often while telling their story? And why did Maria have a feeling that the events in the story were going to get much, more worse? She shivered. The tightness in her chest had started again. She looked over at Liz. Her best friend was staring at Max, who was busily looking everywhere but at her. Typical. Then she looked back at Michael. God, but he was gorgeous. He's also hurting right now. You know he is. You can feel it. He's scared to death of whatever it is that he can't quite remember yet. Maria just wanted to get up and go to him. But she couldn't do it. Not after what she had just heard. What if Michael remembered loving Isabel and decided that he felt that way about her again? For the first time, Maria could truly understand the fear that Liz had been living with ever since that day in the Pod Chamber. If they really were the same in this life as they were in the last, then how could she compete with Isabel? She looked at the beautiful blond sitting to her right. Alex and Isabel were whispering something to each other. Alex didn't seem too worried. Maybe I shouldn't be worried, either. After all, Michael loves me, not Isabel. No matter what this old alien says, I'm the one he loves. Right? Maria wrapped her arms around herself, feeling worse than ever, and very alone. Michael kept watching to see Dagmar and Valenti come back. He needed to remember the rest of their story. What had Zandar asked of him? He knew that there had been something. Max knew it, too. He had seen it in his eyes. Something terrible had been asked, and he had done it. He was terrified of knowing what it was, but he needed to know. He couldn't go on like this. They all needed to know the truth about who they were. He was just about to go after them, when he had this sudden wave of despair wash over him. Michael turned and saw Maria huddled on the couch staring at him. Her eyes were begging him for something. Even with Liz and Tess on the couch next to her, Maria had never looked more alone. Thoughts of Dagmar and their past lives instantly fled from Michael's mind. Before he even knew what he was doing, he had crossed the room and knelt on the floor in front of Maria. He took her hands. "I'm here, Maria. It's going to be okay." Maria looked down into his eyes and knew that he was trying very hard to forget his own fear in order to help her. If he could do it, then so could she. She smiled down at the alien who she loved, and prayed that she wouldn't lose him to whoever he once was. -------------------------------------------------------- Valenti followed Dagmar to the kitchen. The alien went to the sink and poured himself a glass of water. "Would you like something to drink, Sheriff?" he asked without turning around. "No, thanks." "Ah, of course. You want to stay on guard. You still don't trust me, do you?" With that, Dagmar did turn around. "I'm glad, actually. With you and Tymrath both here, I feel a bit better about my charges' chances for survival." "Michael." Dagmar raised an eyebrow questioningly. "His name is Michael. Not Tymrath. Tymrath died on your home planet over fifty years ago. This is Michael Guerin." "Of course," Dagmar agreed again. "It's hard for me, you see. Their energies are still the same. It truly is amazing how little they've changed." He finished his drink and walked closer to Valenti. "To be quite honest, I wasn't sure this plan would work. It seemed like such a desperate idea. But then again, we were desperate, so I guess that was only fitting." Dagmar was walking past Valenti, when the human's next words stopped him short. "Don't you think we have something to talk about, Hank?" Dagmar turned around slowly. "How did you know?" "That you were the one who came to my office that day pretending to be Hank Guerin? The one who told me that he was leaving town, and that he was leaving the boy behind?" Valenti shook his head. "You were good. I'll give you that much. I never would have guessed that you weren't the real Hank Guerin. Until meeting you today, of course." "How?" For the first time, Dagmar seemed truly off-balance. "Dr. Margoles said something to me when he was leaving that night. He said that he was 'already gone'. I thought that was a strange choice of words. And I remembered that Hank had said those exact same words the last time I saw him. I paid attention to his sudden appearance in my office. It didn't make any sense. I was so sure he was dead. All the witnesses, the physical evidence - everything pointed in that direction. But there he was, just fine. Anyway, when I saw you change, things just clicked. If you were Dr. Margoles, then you must have been that Hank, too." He shrugged. "That meeting with Hank was rather stuck in my memory, you see. I was so sure that Michael had killed him. Back then, I really thought Michael was dangerous." "He is." Dagmar spoke with absolute certainly. "He was then, and he is now." Dagmar leaned even closer to Valenti and spoke quickly and quietly. "You think Urza, Nasedo, was cold-blooded? He was nothing compared to his mentor. Everything Urza did, he learned how to do from Tymrath. Tymrath would have done anything for Zandar. He was unstoppable. At times, he scared even me, and I was on his side." Dagmar leaned back a bit. "And from what I've heard, Michael hasn't managed too badly, either. Like I said, their instincts and memories are coming back. I understand he's already killed once. Nice of you to help them cover that up, by the way." Dagmar looked at the other man carefully. "The only question is whether Michael will learn to control those instincts or whether he'll give in to them. His duplicate has already made his choice. Now Michael will have to make his." "And did you learn from Tymrath's example, too? Did you kill the real Hank Guerin?" Valenti whispered angrily. Dagmar looked tired. "Yes, I killed him. Not as efficiently as Urza or Tymrath would have, of course. As I said, killing isn't my line of work. That's the only time I've ever done it, in fact. But I simply couldn't allow him to go on hurting Michael. He had done enough damage already. And he knew about Michael then. When I confronted him, he made it clear that he was going to hurt them all even more. I needed to protect them." Valenti nodded slowly. He might not be able to totally approve of it, but he could understand why the alien had done what he did. "Are you going to tell Michael?" Dagmar asked. Valenti thought for a moment. "I don't think so," he finally answered. "What good would it do? Hank's out of his life. Why bring him back?" Dagmar nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Sheriff." He took a deep breath. "Should we go back to our charges?" ------------------------------------------------------- What little conversation there was in the living room stopped as the two men returned. Michael jumped up from where he had been kneeling on the floor and walked over to stand by the windows, but otherwise, there was no movement. Everyone just watched Dagmar. "Do you remember Aveen?" he asked Max. Max looked deep in thought. "A little, I think. I remember her spirit, mostly. Someone who was very strong and laughed a lot, but there was sadness, too." "Yes, that's a good description of Aveen." Liz looked at Tess, surprised to see that her rival looked upset, not pleased by the fact that Max was remembering her. Dagmar continued. "Zandar was obsessed with Aveen from the first moment he saw her. He was in love with her at first sight, and never gave up." Liz remembered how she had seen in Max's memories the way that he fell in love with her the first time he saw her. Had he felt that strongly about Tess once? "Aveen was very lovely and strong-willed, but she was also vulnerable enough to appeal to his protective instincts. Zandar liked being able to take care of her. She loved him equally in return. And Aveen was......" "She was a Skin." Michael's voice cut Dagmar off. "Like me." Dagmar nodded. "That wasn't a problem, in and of itself, of course. Tymrath's example had shown that some of the Skins wanted peace and could be trusted. No, the problem was that Aveen was Kivar's sister." At the mention of Kivar's name, Isabel sat up straighter. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to know more about this man, this supposed great love of hers, or not. "Kivar wanted to take Zandar's throne. Zandar was so in love, and so arrogant, that he ignored this complication. He wanted Aveen and ignored everything else around him. Tymrath tried to convince him of the dangers involved in this relationship, but he wouldn't listen. He was willing to risk everything to be with the woman he loved." "You're right. Some things really don't change, do they, Maxwell?" Michael asked. Max ignored him. All his attention was focused on Dagmar. "Tymrath and Vilandra had to take up the slack in rulership, but they didn't mind. They were happy to see Zandar happy. After awhile, even Tymrath let down his guard a bit and accepted Aveen into the family. "Then scout ships discovered this planet, Earth. With some modifications, easily accomplished with the use of the Granolith, this planet could be made suitable for our species to live on. This was rapidly becoming important. Does anyone know why?" For a moment, Dagmar sounded exactly like the teacher he claimed to have been. "Because our sun was about to go nova," Isabel answered. "Very good!" Dagmar beamed at his prize student. "Our world was going to die, and we needed to relocate. However, Earth was already populated, and Zandar was reluctant to conquer and modify the planet, as those modifications would probably kill all native life. Kivar, of course, wonderful chap that he is, didn't see the problem. Tensions between the two groups continued to escalate. "Kivar locked Aveen away in a fortress to keep her from his enemy. Zandar did not allow a little thing like a heavily fortified castle and hundreds of fully trained Skin guards to stop him. He ordered Tymath to bring back his love. As always, Tymrath did as his king asked. By himself, he snuck in, killed scores of Skins, rescued Aveen, and brought her back to Zandar. They had a joyful reunion." Michael could remember that. He had thought Zandar was crazy, but he was willing to do what he was asked. Zandar had been so desperate to get Aveen back. He remembered how excited he had been, sneaking in through the nearby trees and trying to avoid Skin patrols as he crawled towards the castle. And he remembered the rush of power he had always felt in battle. What had Rath said? We never feel as alive as when we're the only ones standing. He remembered the feeling. He also remembered that he had known some of the ones he killed, that they had been friends once. Not that he allowed that to matter - they were between him and his objective. Maria watched Michael's face. He's doing it again, she thought. He was getting that closed-off stonewall look on his face. Whatever he was thinking, it was something he didn't want to get too emotional about. "What happened after Aveen was reunited with Zandar?" Alex asked. Maria couldn't believe how calm and rational he seemed to be staying. "Did they get married right away?" "Very shortly afterwards," Dagmar agreed. "However, Aveen's imprisonment had been a diversion. Kivar had the strongest mental powers on the planet. While Zandar and Tymrath were focused on rescuing Aveen, Kivar was able to get close to Vilandra. He used his powers and Vilandra's own telepathic sensitivity to gain access to her thoughts, to control her and make her believe that she loved him, not Tymrath." Isabel gasped and stood up suddenly. "Oh, no. No," she cried, turning to Max. "I am so sorry, Max. You have no idea how sorry. I remember. I remember." She turned to Michael then. "Please, you have to forgive me. You have to. I never meant it, Tym. I swear." Isabel seemed to realize what she had just said, what she had called Michael, and she fell to the ground crying. Michael and Max stayed where they were, perfectly still, just looking at the crying girl on the floor. Finally, Alex got up from where he had been sitting and gathered her in his arms. He looked at Dagmar angrily. "How much more of this does she had to listen to?" "Not much." Slowly, Isabel's sobs grew quieter, although they didn't stop altogether. Maria couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. She had never imagined that Isabel Evans, the Ice Queen, could fall apart so completely. She had never heard anyone sound so beyond hope in her life. And Michael and Max hadn't even seemed to care. They were still staring at Isabel without expression. It was like her begging for forgiveness meant nothing to them. Thanks goodness Alex was there. He was rocking her in his arms as if she was a frightened child. Dagmar paused. "Maybe we should stop for now." "No." Max got up and walked over to him. He stood right in Dagmar's face. "You brought us this far. Now finish it." "I'm really not sure you're ready for this." Michael joined Max. "You tell us now. Do you understand? I need to know what's behind that door. I need to know exactly whose blood is on my hands." Then he smiled at Dagmar, but it wasn't a happy smile. It wasn't even the usual grimace Michael wore. This was hard and had nothing of warmth in it. "Do you really want to say no to me?" Dagmar took a step back from Michael. It was obvious to everyone that he was frightened. Alex had stopped rocking Isabel and was watching the confrontation. On the couch, the girls were holding their breath. Valenti seemed ready to spring forward and grab Michael if necessary. Everyone understood the threat behind Michael's words. What worried Liz the most was the fact that Max was doing nothing. Usually, he was the one to reign Michael in when he was acting at his most impulsive. But not now. He just stood there, watching Dagmar and waiting. Somehow Liz knew that if Michael followed through on his threat, and forced Dagmar to finish his story, Max wouldn't do a thing to stop him. Finally, Dagmar asked, "Is it your command as my king that I finish the story?" "It is." "Then I will do so." Michael gave a little laugh. "How nice of you." Then he walked back over to the window, passing by Isabel without a look. Max nodded and went back to his place alongside the wall with Valenti. Maria leaned over and whispered, "Liz." When her friend didn't respond, she whispered again, "Liz!" This time the other girl looked over. "Do you notice something?" Liz nodded. "They aren't looking at each other." Max and Michael didn't even glance at each other, or at Isabel. "It's like they can't bear to see each other's faces at the moment." Maria nodded. Whatever it was they were seeing, it wasn't each other, at least not the way they were now. She glanced past Liz to Tess. She wondered why the fourth alien was being so quiet through all this. Then she turned her full attention back to Dagmar as he continued. -------------------------------------------------------- "Vilandra was just as passionate in her love for Kivar as she had been in her love for Tymrath. She was willing to turn her back on everything she loved and believed in, all for Kivar. Nobody suspected anything was wrong." "She always has been a good actress." Michael said bitterly. Alex could feel Isabel flinch, as if she had been hit. He looked up angrily at Michael, but the alien wasn't even looking at them. He was still staring out the window. "The day of Zandar's wedding to Aveen approached. They were wed, to the joy of most of their subjects. After the ceremony, Tymrath saw Vilandra sneak off. He knew that she had been preoccupied that day." "I thought she was thinking about the plans for our wedding," Michael said, still staring out the window. "Tymrath hesitated to follow Vilandra, because his duty was to guard Aveen until her husband came for her. That was the tradition. Then he heard Vilandra call for him in his mind. Ignoring the cautious part of his mind that told him to stay with Aveen, Tymrath left her in order to help his love. When he found Vilandra," Dagmar broke off, shaking his head as if he couldn't continue. "When I found her, she was alone in the chamber. As I entered, terrified something was wrong with her, I was attacked from behind." Michael continued in an even, unemotional voice. "I was stupid, careless. I knew better than to rush into a room without checking it out, but all I could think of was Vilandra." He turned and looked down at Isabel with contempt. "Remember, Vilandra? As I fell, I could hear you laughing and I knew that you had betrayed us. I knew it was a trap." He turned back to the window. "It was easy enough to kill the Skin who attacked me. I couldn't bring myself to kill her though. I still loved her too much. Instead, I left and went back to Aveen." "Michael," Valenti started to say, but he broke off as the other turned to look at him. "Michael," he said, almost as if it was a new word to him. Then he laughed and turned to Dagmar. "Michael Guerin. Tymrath. It doesn't really matter what name I use, does it? Rath knew that. That's what he meant. We are who we've always been." His voice hardened even more. "I was too late." "You couldn't have known," Dagmar offered, but Michael cut him off with a wave of his hand. "I should have known. Like you said, I was supposed to be the cautious one. It was my job to take care of them. Aveen trusted me to protect her, but when I came back she was dead." He thought of her, lying there on the ground. "I might as well have killed her myself. I let her die. And then, I did kill her, didn't I? Just last week." "Okay, that's enough," Maria stood up and walked over to him. "Rath killed Ava. You didn't do anything." "Same difference. Rath and I are the same person. Same soul, different body. He knew it. So did I. I just didn't want to admit it. We let Aveen die on our world, and then we killed her on this one." Michael looked her straight in the eye as he spoke. It was obvious that he believed every word he said. Then he turned to Max. "Do you remember her, my king? Do you remember her death?" Max looked up at Michael. Everybody was stunned to see the amount of anger and hate in both Michael and Max's eyes as they looked at each other. Maria took an instinctive step back and slowly returned to her seat, not taking her eyes off the two. "I remember." Max took a deep breath. "I remember feeling a pain piercing through my heart. I went instantly to our chambers. I remember seeing you, holding Aveen's dead body in your arms." Michael nodded. "You grabbed her from me. You just sat there on the floor, holding her tight. I remember that you didn't cry. Oh, no. The great king never cried. You didn't cry for your father and you didn't cry for Aveen." "SHUT UP!" Max yelled. "How dare you? You have no idea what I felt when I held her!" "Like hell I don't!" Michael responded. "I remember what came next! Don't you?" Max backed away and returned to the wall. Michael nodded like he expected this, and went back to the windows. "Well, we don't," Maria broke in. "Does anyone plan on filling us in?" "Zandar went crazy." Michael said, again in that emotionless voice. "I had never been afraid in my life until then. Can you imagine? I've been afraid ever since, but not then. That was the first moment. When he looked at me, there was nothing in his eyes but fury and madness." He took a deep sigh. "I should have stopped you then." "How? By killing me, too?" Max asked with a bitter laugh. "You would never have been able to do it." "But I should have." -------------------------------------------------------- "Is this little trip down memory lane actually supposed to be helping anyone?" Maria asked angrily. "Because I've gotta tell you, it doesn't seem to be doing an awful lot of good." Dagmar seemed to feel that things between Michael and Max had calmed down enough to continue. The two were back to ignoring each other's eyes as they waited calmly for the rest of the story to continue. "Things on that fateful day moved quickly after that. Kivar's forces were attacking the castle, but Zandar was too overcome by Aveen's death and Vilandra's betrayal to deal with it. Vilandra helped them gain access to the castle. "A group of Skins approached Tymrath. They encouraged him to take control of the government, deal with Kivar and restore order." "I wouldn't do it," Michael offered. "I had already betrayed Zandar enough by letting Aveen die. I couldn't do it again." "Exactly. At any rate, Vilandra was captured while trying to escape the castle and go to Kivar. She was unrepentant. She laughed at her captors, and said she would do it again. Even news of Aveen's death didn't bother her." Max turned suddenly and hit the wall behind him. Plaster went flying everywhere as the others jumped. Max pulled back his fist and looked at it. "Does it hurt?" Michael asked from where he stood. He hadn't even bothered to turn around. Max ignored him and looked at Isabel for the first time in a while. "Do you remember what came next?" Isabel just turned her head to Alex and continued to cry. She obviously wasn't going to be adding much to the discussion. Dagmar went on. "Then the Skins captured the castle. The three of you were killed, and we came up with the plan to send you to Earth." "And they all lived happily ever after," Michael said bitterly. "Nope, don't think so, teach. Seeing as how King Maximillian and I remember what really happened after that, don't you think we ought to share all the glory details?" Valenti interrupted at that point. "I don't think we all need to know anymore, Michael." Michael sighed. "That name again. Yes, Sheriff, we do need to know more. You all have a right to the truth. Don't you agree?" Max gave a little laugh. "All right." Looking Michael right in the eyes, he went on. "What really happened was that I sent you to capture Vilandra, dead or alive. Preferably dead." By this point, Tess was crying, too, just quieter than Isabel. Liz and Maria were too stunned by this revelation to say anything, but Alex wasn't. "You did what?" he yelled at Max. "Ordered me to hunt down the lying traitor," Michael repeated. "After all, why not? Sure, she was your sister and my teela-mei, but she had also betrayed us. Her execution was only fair and appropriate. But why me for her executioner? Answer us that if you will, please." "Why ask questions you already know the answer to?" Max asked. "Because I never had the chance to hear you say it back then. Oh, never mind. I'll answer my own question." Michael started walking around the room himself, then. Maria noticed two things. One, Dagmar very carefully got out of Michael's way and kept his distance. And two, Michael was walking differently than he usually did. She couldn't quite figure out what it was. Maybe it was just that it was more like prowling than walking. "You wanted me to kill her so that you could punish us both. She would be dead, and I would have to kill my teela-mei. You could destroy us both with one move. Am I right?" Max didn't answer. He just watched Michael warily. "Did......" Liz's voice broke off. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Did you do it? I mean, you didn't kill her, did you?" Michael gave that bitter laugh again. "Haven't you been listening, Liz? Solon Zamaran Eith. The only time I didn't keep that oath, Aveen died. Of course I killed her." There was total silence in the room. Maria realized that Tess and Isabel had stopped crying. Everyone was sitting in stunned silence once more. Michael went on calmly. That calmness terrified Maria more than anything else. "It wasn't too hard to hunt her down before she could exit the castle. She attacked first. Even got in a few lucky blows before I was able to stop her." He grimaced. "If I had lived long enough, I would have had some nasty scars. Then I killed her." He turned to Max again. "You were there. You saw it." Max kept his eyes level with Michael's. Neither of them spoke for a minute. Dagmar finally broke the silence. "Right before Tymrath's blast reached her, Kivar released his control on Vilandra. I'm sure he thought it would be fun to let her know what she had done. Vilandra died, begging for their forgiveness, and swearing her love for them both." "I couldn't believe what I had done," Isabel whispered. "You both were looking at me with so much hate." She looked up at them. "Like you are now. And I deserved it. And poor Aveen." She stopped and pulled herself together. "I didn't blame you for what you did, Tym. I deserved to have you both hate me. But I loved you both, and I was so very sorry for what I did." Michael just nodded, still looking at Max. "You watched the whole thing, the fight, her death. You didn't even flinch when I killed her." "I had seen you kill before," Max observed. "This was different!" Michael burst out angrily. Then he seemed to control himself again. "Finish the story," he said to Dagmar. "Vilandra was the last being Tymrath killed with his energy blast. He led the defense of the castle that night, but those he killed died of more conventional weapons. At the end, when the castle was breached, he ran through the halls to reach Zandar." "There were bodies everywhere," Michael said musingly. "That's what Maria saw in the connection. Bodies everywhere. Some of them had died fighting against me, some had died fighting alongside me. But they were all dead. And it didn't matter. All that mattered was reaching my king, my brother," this last was said in a tone of irony, "in time. But I knew I was going to be too late again, just as I had been too late for Aveen." Michael stopped and shrugged. "Then everything went black." "You were killed as you reached the door of the throneroom. From what I was able to gather later, Zandar was sitting on his throne, staring at Vilandra's body when Kivar entered. He put up no fight as Kivar killed him."

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:38 pm**

Silence again. Maria shifted uncomfortably. Michael was way too far away over there by the windows. She wasn't sure when his physical closeness had become so important to her, but she felt like she wasn't going to be able to breathe properly again unless she was closer to him. Moving slowly, she got up and walked over to where he was standing, looking out the window still. She didn't touch him, though every part of her body was aching to do so. In the mood he was in, she didn't think that would be such a good idea. "So they all died," Liz said. "Then what happened?" That's Liz, Maria thought with some amusement. Always the scientist. Always trying to get information and do research. "Then the Resistance Movement managed to come up with the plan to clone the Royal Four, mixing them with human DNA for survival purposes, and send them to Earth. We knew that Kivar's troops would reach here eventually, of course, and we wanted to give Zandar a chance to stop them. And we hoped that here, on Earth, away from Antar, you would have a chance to grow up without the past coming back to haunt you. Obviously, given recent events, that hasn't happened. Who told you about Vilandra?" None of the aliens seemed inclined to answer, so Alex did. "Nicholas and some other Skins told Isabel." Dagmar nodded as if he wasn't surprised by this bit of information. "The Royal Four were heroes - a rallying point for the Resistance. As long as you existed, they had hope that they could fight back against Kivar and win one day." Valenti looked at his alien charges. They were obviously in shock. Alex was still holding Isabel tight and rocking her. Michael was staring intently out the window, ignoring them all, even Maria, who was standing only a few feet away. Max was looking down at the carpeting at his feet. And Tess was just sitting there, staring off into space, completely shell-shocked. It was clear that they weren't going to be asking any more questions right now. He still had a few, though. "I understand why Nasedo killed the FBI agents, and you've explained Atherton's death. What I don't get is why he killed Sheila Hubble." Dagmar looked at him, and started to shake his head in warning, but it was too late for Valenti to stop. "Why did he kill her? She was an innocent woman." "I really don't think we need to get into that tonight," Dagmar replied. "Sheila Hubble?" Tess asked. "Who was that?" "She was a woman Nasedo killed. She was pregnant at the time," answered Valenti. "That's awful," Tess said. "He killed a pregnant woman? I didn't know any of this when I was growing up." She paused, then continued. "Sheila is the name he put down for my mother's on my official records." "He really was one sick alien, wasn't he?" Maria asked. Tess started crying again. "Tess, what is it?" Valenti said as he came over to the couch. Liz moved over so that he could sit down and put his arms around Tess. "I'm sorry," Tess managed to get out between sobs. "I hate crying. He always said it was a human weakness, and I shouldn't lower myself enough to do it." She took a deep breath and tried to collect herself. "I just don't understand why I can't remember any of this. You three can, but I can't." Dagmar sighed. "When the army had the pods in their custody back in 1947, they damaged one - mine. One of the fetuses died." That got everyone's attention again. All eyes were on Dagmar's as he went on. "The one that died was the fetus containing the essence of Aveen, the young bride." Tess started to shake her head in denial. "Yes, Tess. When I escaped and caught up with Urza, I was shocked to learn that he had tried to recreate that clone, using some of his essence, some DNA from the original, and some DNA from an unborn human child. Sheila Hubble's unborn human child. That's why he killed her." "I think I'm going to be sick," Maria muttered. "This was when I knew without a doubt that Urza was insane." "You should have killed him then," Michael remarked calmly. "Perhaps," Dagmar said, exchanging cautious looks with Valenti. "But like I said, that's not my specialty." Michael just shrugged. Dagmar looked at Tess. "You may have the physical appearance and the powers, but you don't have Aveen's essence. Ava did, but you don't." Tess just looked at him in shock again. Liz looked over at Max, who was actually looking at her for a change.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:40 pm**

Dagmar looked at Valenti. "Thank you for helping to protect them, Sheriff. I know how much you've risked and sacrificed to protect them." Valenti shook his head. "They gave me back my son. I owe them more than I can ever repay." "You don't give yourself enough credit, Sheriff. It's made my job much easier, knowing that you were watching over them. I can only imagine that Rath and Lonnie were contacted by the Skins and they convinced them to turn on the others for the power and hopes of going home." "I can't believe I caused all that," Isabel whispered. "I am so sorry." "Enough," said Alex as he held her. "First of all, that was Vilandra, not you. I thought we'd been through all this." Isabel looked at him. "I don't care about all this past life crap. You're Isabel Evans, not some Vilandra. And secondly, it wasn't Vilandra's fault. She didn't have any control over what happened. It was Kivar. Think about it, Izzy. What did Vilandra feel and think when she came out of it?" "My first thought was how sorry I was. I wanted to die if it would bring back Aveen," Isabel whispered. "See," Alex said. "Vilandra was all about love, love for her family. Just like you. She would never have willingly betrayed the people she loved, and neither would you." Isabel looked at Alex gratefully, then saw how Max and Michael were still refusing to look at her. She started crying again. Alex held her close as she let out her tears. Michael looked down at his hands. He closed his eyes, and thought again about killing Pierce. Be honest with yourself, Tymrath. Michael. It was so easy to kill him. You enjoyed being able to end his pathetic miserable life. How dare he try to hurt your family? You can try to tell everybody that you only did what you had to, but you know deep down that you wanted to do it. Just like you wanted to kill....... Maria interrupted his thoughts when she gingerly placed her hand on his arm. "Michael," she said gently. Michael just looked at her for a second, then turned and ran out of the house. Maria stood there for a second. "Oh, no, you don't, buster. Not again." Maria followed him. ------------------------------------------------------- Dagmar came over and crouched down in front of Tess. "How are you?" "Who am I? I'm not one of you," she whispered. "Yes, you are," Dagmar said gently. "You still belong with the others. Max, Michael, and Isabel will need you in the battles to come. And even if you aren't Aveen, you are one of ours. You're from our world and you're one of our people." "And you're part of our family," Valenti said. Tess turned to look at him gratefully. "Kyle and I couldn't manage without you anymore." "In some ways, things will be easier for you now," Dagmar continued, looking at Max. Tess nodded. "What do we do now, Max?" she asked. Max looked at her. "I don't know!" he exploded. "Why are you still asking me what to do?" He looked around desperately. "I'm not worthy to be the leader. I'm not worthy to be the king." He turned and addressed Dagmar. "You know what I did. I had my own sister killed. My actions led to the downfall of our whole planet. Everything I've done has led to more and more deaths." He finished by looking at Liz, who was just staring at him silently. Then he turned and ran out the door. "Well, that's certainly productive," Dagmar muttered. "Liz, go after him." "I can't," she protested. "I have no right to go after him." "Of course you do," he said impatiently. "You're his teela-mei. You have every right." Liz looked at him, then chased after Max. Tess just sat there on the couch, between Dagmar and Valenti.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:42 pm**

Michael finally stopped running. He was out of breath, which was strange, since he was able to run miles without stopping the night when he was trying to reach Max before Hubble killed him. He understood now the strange sense of deja vu he'd felt then. He understood so many things now. No, this pain wasn't so much physical as it was emotional. Well, you got the answers you wanted, didn't you? Now you know who you are. Tymrath. Michael Guerin. Rath. He shook his head and screamed. All his pain and grief poured out. The sound could be heard echoing across the desert. Maria stopped where she was, listening to the sound. She shivered. Maybe going after Michael wasn't such a good idea after all. Don't be stupid, Maria. He needs you now just as much as he did that night in the rain. She kept going. There was no way she was going to let him be alone right now. He crouched down on the ground, looking at his hands. He could feel them burning. They'd been burning ever since he remembered Vilandra's betrayal. He wanted so much to just let go, to start destroying everything around him. Maybe it wouldn't help, but maybe the release would make him feel better. Maybe he could release some of the pain inside him that way. But who is it you really want to hurt? whispered that voice inside him. Yourself? Isabel? Max? Dagmar? Who? "I don't know," he whispered. Then he felt her. He looked up and saw Maria walking slowly towards him. She stopped. Michael jumped to his feet and started towards her. Then he stopped, shocked at himself. For a minute, all he had been able to think about was grabbing her and losing himself in her kisses. But he couldn't do that. He stepped back, ignoring the look of pain in her eyes. After all, he'd seen it before. He continued to back away, whispering hoarsely, "Keep away from me." Maria nodded, unable to take her eyes off his. Inside, she felt so alone. Why was he backing away? Didn't he know that he was too far away, that she needed him? Something had changed between them that day. Everytime she saw him, she had this almost overwhelming desire to run up and touch him. She was used to wanting Michael, but this was different. She could barely keep breathing normally. Not to mention how hard it was to think about anything other than how much she wanted to touch him, to kiss him, to feel his arms around her. Pull yourself together, she told herself angrily. There are more important things going on right now than sucking face. She kept her voice low and soothing. "All right, Michael. I won't come any closer. But you need to talk to me." "Why?" She stopped for a minute, thinking. "Because you can't keep all this inside you. Because it'll tear you up if you do. And because you can tell me anything." He seemed to stop short at that last. "You know you can, Michael." "Don't call me that." "What? Michael?" She took a step forward before she even realized she was doing it. He didn't move back. "It's your name. Michael Guerin. Why shouldn't I call you by your name?" "I don't even know which name I should be called now. I don't know who I am anymore." Even though he was trying to keep his voice level, Maria could hear the little tremble. "You're Michael Guerin. You're the same guy who wore a stupid wrestling costume and let himself get tossed around in order to keep my mom from losing all her money. You're the same guy who risked his life to get Max out of the White Room. You're the same guy who has risked his life more times than I can count to protect us all. You're the same guy who helped save Laurie from the Gendarium and her family. You're the same guy who took us all on a trip to Las Vegas and made my dream come true." With each sentence, Maria took another tentative step forward. His response stopped her cold. "I'm the same guy who killed Agent Pierce." Michael was no longer looking at her. Maria was frightened. As long as he was looking at her, things were okay. The moment they lost eye contact, though, she felt like she was losing him to his past. "You had to kill Pierce. He would have killed us all, Michael. Me, Max, Isabel, Valenti. All of us. You didn't do it because you wanted to." "Yes, I did. That's what you've never understood Maria. I did want to." He took a deep breath. "I saw him pull his gun and start to shoot. I threw myself in front of him. I looked at him and I hated him, Maria. I hated him more than I had ever hated anyone. He was the enemy. Do you understand?" He looked at Maria then, but it didn't make her feel any better. His eyes were cold and dead. "That's how I saw him. The enemy. And I knew that I could kill him. I just knew that I could. I didn't think about disarming him or trying to wound him. I just thought about how much better it would be if he was dead. So much more permanent than trying to lock him away somewhere." He looked at the ground again. "He knew what I was going to do. Right before I raised my hand, he looked at me and mouthed 'no'." And I thought, yes, you bastard. You dared hurt Max and threaten us? There is no way I am ever going to give you a chance near any of us again. "And then I killed him." I listened to the sound his body made as it hit the wall. I felt the release of all my anger and hate. It just flowed out, so easily. So naturally. "It's what I'm good at, after all. I'm the killer, Maria. I'm the one who protects the others. And I protect them by killing the enemy. Just like Nasedo." "Enough!" Maria burst out. "You're nothing like Nasedo. He enjoyed killing. You killed one evil man, and if you hadn't, Valenti and the rest of us would be dead in his place. Stop torturing yourself over Pierce, Michael." Michael shook his head. "Weren't you listening? I can't even remember how many lives I've taken." He held out his hands in front of her. "Do you have any idea of how much blood I have on these hands?" Maria reached out to take his hands, but he jerked them away and stepped back, out of her reach. She tried again. "That wasn't you, Michael. That was someone else, a long time ago. Do you blame Isabel for what Vilandra did?" "No." "Then you shouldn't hold yourself responsible for what Tymrath did. You aren't like him." Michael looked away. "Did you ever wonder why I let Hank hit me all those years? Why I didn't fight back?" When she didn't answer, he went on. "I used to think about it at night when I tried to sleep. I used to fantasize about fighting back, about stopping him from hurting me anymore. I could have, you know. It would have been easy, even then." He took a deep breath. "The reason I never fought back is because I knew that if I did, I would kill him. I used to dream about killing Hank and being free. So I couldn't even try anything, because I knew how it would end." Michael looked down at her as if for understanding. "So I am like him, deep down inside." "Michael, I'm sure that anybody in your position would think that way. But what's important is that you didn't do anything." "No, I let my fear stop me. Besides, I guess I knew that I deserved it. It was my punishment." "No, Michael. You didn't deserve it." "Yes, I did." He held up his hands again. "I killed her, Maria. I killed her." He started to pace back and forth. "Life was so simple back then. If I wanted something, I found a way to get it. What I did didn't bother me at all. I enjoyed winning." He stopped and that chilling smile reappeared on his lips. "Yeah, I enjoyed that. I think I liked the challenge most of all. Zandar would give me these impossible missions to pull off. It was almost like a game for us. And I always found a way to do it." He stopped walking. "I would have given my own life in a heartbeat in order to protect any of them. Zandar. Vilandra. Aveen. But I failed. I failed, Maria. And Aveen died. And Zandar died. And I killed Vilandra myself." Maria just stood there, speechless. What could she say to make him feel any better? "I remember killing her. It's so vivid in my memory. I did it because Zandar ordered it. After what I had cost him, how could I refuse? But I also did it because I wanted to." Maria started to turn away, but Michael moved (so fast, she thought in amazement, he's so fast) and grabbed her arms. "No, you need to listen." "Michael, let go. You're hurting me." She struggled, but his hold didn't lessen even a little. He didn't release her arms. "You need to listen to this. You need to understand. I wanted to kill her. I loved her with everything I had and I hated her with everything I had. And I wanted her dead for betraying us with a laugh." He dropped his hands. Maria took a quick step back, rubbing her arms. "I wanted her dead and she was dead. I wanted the Skins who opposed Zandar dead, and they were. I wanted Pierce dead, and he was dead. All those years, I loved Hank. He was my father. I wanted so much for him to say, just once, that he loved me or that he was proud of me." Maria's eyes started to fill up with tears. She understood that pain so well herself. "But I hated him, too. And I never once fought back or tried to stop the beatings because I knew that I deserved them. I had to atone for my sins. I knew that I must have done something bad to be left with Hank. And I was right." Michael took a deep breath, as if he was gathering his courage, and continued. "This afternoon, I wanted Brody dead. It surprised me how much. I hadn't felt that way since Pierce. I was afraid that he was going to take you away from me, and I wanted him dead before he could do that." He looked at Maria. "Please, listen. What if I ever get angry enough to want you dead? I couldn't bear to hurt you, too." She was caught totally off-guard. "You could never hurt someone you loved, Michael." "I did more than hurt Vilandra." "That wasn't you. That was Tymrath." Now it was Maria's turn to reach out. She put her hands on his head, and made him look her in the eyes as she spoke. She felt that tingle again, but forced herself to ignore it. "You aren't the same person you were. You and Max and Isabel were sent here for a second chance. You were sent here to try and not make the same mistakes again." "Dagmar was right. We're all the same as we always were," Michael whispered. "Maybe that's true. Maybe you are the same at some fundamental level. But let's think about that, spaceboy. What did you learn tonight about Tymrath? He was loyal to his family. He was brave and willing to risk himself to protect those he loved. He was smart and resourceful. These are good things. And you, Michael Guerin, are all of those things, too. And you've learned some wisdom in this life that you didn't have before." She was pleased to see a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes. "What wisdom?" "You've learned that violence isn't always the answer." Maria tried to smile. "While I might hate Hank with everything I have, he did teach you that much." She ran her thumb over his lips. "You're the gentlest soul I know, Michael. You take care of the people you love. I can't recall you ever, ever, lashing out with violence. And no, we're not going to bring up Pierce again. You had no choice. Do we agree on that?" Michael nodded. He felt like he was in a daze. All he could concentrate on was Maria. He had a suspicion that if he looked away from her, he would fall and never land. So he kept looking at her. "Instead, let's think about the fact that you didn't kill Brody. You stopped yourself. Would Tymrath have done that?" Michael shook his head silently. "I didn't think so. Besides, you've been majorly ticked with me lots of times. Have you ever wanted to kill me?" "No," he whispered. He couldn't seem to stop staring at her lips as she was talking. Maria noticed this, and went on quickly, trying to ignore the heat rising in her cheeks. "No. You saved me. If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead right now. You're not him, spaceboy. You're not. You've walked so far in this world, a world he knew nothing about. You've learned lessons that he never learned. You can take the good of Tymrath if you want, but you've learned to discard the stuff you don't want. You're not him." "I'm not him." Michael repeated the words quietly. "I'm not him," he said in a stronger voice, as if he was actually starting to believe them. "Good," Maria said. She was starting to have a hard time thinking straight. It was a good thing that she had already made her point. Did he usually stare at her quite so intently? She didn't think so. Flustered, she took her hands from his face, and tried to step back, but he grabbed her hands in his. His eyes never left hers. "Um, do you feel better now?" "Much better," he agreed in a low voice. He was gently tracing patterns on her palms with his thumbs. His voice sent shivers up and down her spine. Okay, this was getting strange. Since when did she feel this nervous in Michael's presence? Especially when all they were doing was holding hands. Still, she was. "Umm, do you remember everything about your past life?" "Not everything," he said absently. One hand had left hers, and was now pushing back a strand of her hair. "Some of it is still blurry, but I remember the end clearly." His hand had ventured down to her neck by then. Maria felt the same ache she had felt earlier. She needed something then. What, she wasn't sure. But there was something definitely missing. She moved closer to Michael. "Do you think things will be okay with Max and Isabel?" "Definitely." Michael leaned forward and kissed her neck. She closed her eyes. "We're family. We'll work it out." "Good." To be honest, Maria had lost track of what they were talking about. She felt the vibrations his words made against her skin. "Michael, maybe we should be going back inside." One hand went around her waist, while the other tilted her head up for a kiss. Maria relaxed and let herself go. Michael was gentle, but confident. She could feel his hand reaching under her shirt. She pressed closer to him. This was what she needed. She needed to be close to him. The kiss ended. Michael leaned back to whisper. "Shush, Maria." "Okay." She couldn't remember what it was she had been about to say anyway. This time, his kiss was more insistent. She reached up and laced her hands behind his head, pulling him even closer to her. Michael didn't ever want to stop. This was what he had been needing all day - to be close to Maria. He couldn't stop kissing her. His hands found their way to the front of her shirt, and he started to unbutton it. He needed to touch her, not her shirt. It was just in the way. She pushed him away from her. He looked at her in surprise and reached out to pull her back. "Wait," she said, as she pulled his shirt off over his head. Running her hands over his chest, she pulled him back to her. Much better. Michael pulled Maria with him to the ground. With their shirts off, only Maria's bra kept their bodies from touching completely. He pulled her on top of him, and looked up at her face. "Teel-sharan," he whispered. "What does that mean?" "It means, 'beloved'," he said with a smile. He reached out and traced her lips with one finger. She closed her eyes and kissed it. "Meilyas-sivar." "And what does that mean?" she asked smilingly. Michael rolled over so that he was on top of her. "It means, 'Mine'." Maria thought about it, then pulled him down for another kiss. As he leaned into her, she said to him, "Meilyas-sivar." Michael laughed.

Fan Fic and More

Anla - Roswell - Completed

Anla - Roswell - Completed

Chapter 2 - Confrontations

Chapter 3 - Missed Opportunities

Chapter 4 - Regrets

Chapter 5 - Man to Man

Chapter 6 - Bright Light

Chapter 7 - Remember

Chapter 8 - Flashes

Chapter 9 - Never Normal

Chapter 10 - Returning Enemies

Chapter 11 - A Kiss is Still a Kiss

Chapter 12 - The Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 13 - The Calm Breaks

Chapter 14 - Feelings of Transition

Chapter 15 - Secrets and Answers

Chapter 16 - Once Upon a Time on Antar

Chapter 17 - Mysteries Revealed

Chapter 18 - Sheila Hubble

Chapter 19 - Aftershocks

Chapter 20 - Bloody Hands