flyawayraven - thank you & yes, things are going smoothly for now, aren't they? As for the Nicolas - its hard to think that the people you've known for many years - the people you trust - could betray you.
natalie36 - thank you - yes there will be much more Kal and Liz moments to come - she's going to need him!
Wench on a Leash - thanks for you comments - yep - Max's whole world is about to become one big struggle. As for tess, its hard to tell how the future events will affect her - we all have good and evil within us - maybe her more then most b/c she's had Nasedo as her example
katydid - we'll just have to wait and see what the scion has to say. As for Michael and Isabel - unfortunately, they will begin to resemble more of their characters from the show. i think Liz always brought out a kind of jealousy - us or them mentality - for them. that won't change too much here - although they are older and should be wiser.
Thanks to all of you for reading! I'm having a blast writing this - here's the new part - hope you like!
Chapter 21
Liz knocked softly on Kal’s door. “Yeah?” she heard him answer from inside. She opened the door, and stood in the doorway, watching him.
He was sitting at the desk, a cigar burning next to him, hunched over a stack of papers, jotting down notes here and there. It was the picure of her earliest memory of him - working at his desk. It warmed her to see it - something recognizable from her life - something that was unchanged, when every other part of it seemed to have been turned upside down recently.
“Evans gone?” he asked, not looking up.
“Yes. We’re…we’re going to get together tomorrow night.”
Kal pushed his chair away from his desk, tossed his pen down, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why was she doing this? Of all the things she had to be stubborn about - why did she have to fight him about this?
“I’m sorry.” He looked up quickly at her apology - saw the regret on her face. “For how I’ve been acting - for how I’ve been treating you. You didn’t deserve it and I’m really sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Liz.”
She walked into the room, stood beside the large desk and asked, “So…we’re going to be okay, Kalvin?”
“Of course - we’re going to be…we are fine.” Kal assurd her, the heaviness in his chest finally lifting, now that she was no longer angry with him.
That, however did not mean he wasn’t still angry with himself.
“He’s not like you said he would be, you know.” When Kal just looked at her, she continued. “Max. He is…closed off - but i don't think he even realizes he's doing it - he doesn't even know how lost he is."
“He’s exactly like I said.” Kal responded harshly. “You just haven’t seen it yet. People - aliens - no one changes Liz. Max Evans is what he was - period.”
“He said this was his third life - what was he like…before,” Her finger pointed to the ceiling, “Up there?”
Kal shrugged, “He was royalty - selfish, ungrateful - blind to the hardships of others, to everything that didn’t benefit him. That’s why it was so easy for Kivar. Zan…never even saw him coming.”
“Well he wasn’t anything like that tonight. He defended you - said I shouldn’t be too hard on you.”
Kal was unimpressed, “He defended me because he is me. There‘s no boundaries with him Liz, believe me. He will do anything - hurt anyone to protect his secret and get home. Trust me - I know - I was him once.”
When Liz saw Kal’s eyes cloud over she couldn’t help but ask, “Kal, why are you so afraid of Roswell? I mean, I know what you said - what he told you about keeping me away, but - is that it or are there other reasons?”
Kal licked his lip, unable to tell her everything. So he said simply, “I’ve done things Liz, horrible things - things I’m ashamed of. Before…before you… I was different - like them. That’s how I know how dangerous they are.”
“But you changed - you’re not that person anymore. How do you know Max Evans isn’t a different man too?”
“Because you changed me - knowing you, raising you. Having you in my life - someone - a human - who was more important to me then me. That’s what changed me. And maybe - maybe having you in his life would have changed him too - but you weren’t. He made sure you weren’t. Remember that - there is a reason that man - a man who loved you - came back to keep you away from Roswell. I believe it was to save the world - but I think it was to save you too - from him and his life - this whole world.” Kal finished passionately.
“I can’t just leave, Kal” Liz explained, willing him to understand. “I promised I’d help him - I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for him. And…I don’t want this following us the rest of our lives. I don’t want to look behind me, wondering if some being from another planet is finally catching up. This is the only way.” She paused and saw Max Evans’ face before her - his intense gaze, “It won’t be so bad. I’ll get to know him, I’ll learn to trust him, he’ll take the scion - and then we’ll go home, back to our lives - our world.”
Kal was quiet for a moment and then asked, “Remember when you were six, and you found that stray German Shepard? And I said you couldn’t keep it - that he was too wild -too dangerous?” Liz nodded her head, remembering the dog, “But you begged and bargained and cried - there was lots of crying. And eventually, I gave in. Do you remember what happened after that?”
“The dog bit me, and I had to get nineteen stiches.”
“And I wanted to shoot the god damn thing. But more then that - I wanted to shoot myself - because I knew it wasn't safe but I let you have your way. I should have said no - tears and all. And now…” Kal swallowed, “I feel like its happeninig all over again - like I’m just here, waiting for you to get bit.”
“But I’m not six years old anymore.” Liz answered him sympathetically. “I’m a big girl now - and I‘m going into this with my eyes wide open. Everything will be alright - I promise. Before you know it we’ll be leaving here - together.” And then she hugged him, trying to give him some reassurance.
Kal knew she believed what she said, but he knew it may not be a promise she could keep.
Despite his misgivings, Kal changed the subject, knowing it was pointless to discuss it further now, “So, how about dinner? Pizza again?”
“Yuck, no - one more slice and I’ll O.D. Hey - how about sushi?”
Kal looked at her like she had grown a second head, “Are you crazy? Do you know where we are? Sushi in New Mexico - you have a death wish?”
Liz just laughed at his comment - happy that he seemed less stressed, less worried - glad that they were back to normal again.
**************************************************************
The next day, Maria Deluca pulled up to the motel where her friend, and “godfather” were staying. She’d talked to Liz several times since she’d left the hospital, but this would be the first time she’d come to visit. Liz had sounded terrible on the phone, and Maria assumed she needed more time to recuperate - and having company wouldn’t help that. But when she’d talked to Liz that morning, she’d sounded so much better, she had told her she’d be by that afternoon.
Taking the large bouquet of daisies off the passenger side seat, Maria turned to walk to her friend’s room, and that’s when she saw him - and for her the world stood still. At the other end of the parking lot, at its edge, was an inmistakable black motorcycle. Despite the helmet, she’d recognize the wild brown hair peeking out, anywhere. She could see his piercing brown eyes in her mind - eyes that held so much, though he said so very little.
Michael Guerin.
She’d had the biggest crush on him, one that she’d never confessed to anyone - even Alex - ever since the semester they’d had wood shop together. He’d never noticed her, but he, with the bad boy attitude and the sexy motor cycle had been impossible to miss.
It was that class that had born her feelings for him - or his final project - as crazy as it sounded. He’d made a wooden box, with an intricately carved lid of detailed stars and planets, and a whirlwind symbol in the center. It had been mahogany, sanded smooth and shiny with polish. It had been magnificent.
And Maria had been fascinated - wanting to know more about a boy who was so abrasive on the outside but who held such a beauty within him to create something so lovely. They’d barely spoken a word to each other, they didn’t have the same friends, and he rarely attended school to begin with, but she’d always kept an eye and an ear out - for some glimpse, some piece of gossip, about him.
Although she’d tried not to, as the years went by, she lost track of him, busy with her band and their music. She’d told herself her interest in him had been silly - part of her teenage rebellion - him being everything her mother had always warned her about. But still she’d never forgotten him. And now here he was right in front of her.
She wondered how he was - what he did for a living? An artist perhaps? Was he married? Did he have children? What was he doing at a motel in the middle of the afternoon? Was he just passing through town? Would this be the last time she ever saw him?
Maria sighed as she saw him drive away, and the world began to move once more. She mentally shook herself, determined not to dwell on things that could never be, and Michael Guerin was simply out of her reach.
**************************************************************
Michael looked around the parking lot and surrounding area - looking for skins. Despite Max’s assurances that Langley was protecting Liz, he didn’t trust that the shape shifter wouldn’t be ambushed and over taken by a group. And so he’d been patroling the area, a few times each day, since Liz had gotten out of the hospital, looking for anything unusual. It was definitely in their best interest to keep Nicolas away from Liz Parker, and he would do everything in his power to make sure that was how it stayed.
Doing one last scan of the area, his eyes froze on the petite blond, standing next to a red Jetta. A green eyed siren who occupied a permanent space in his fantasies.
Maria Deluca.
She hadn’t seen him in almost ten years, but he had seen her. When her band had had their first real gig in town, he couldn’t help but slip in the back to watch. Just as she’d been in high school - there was a fire, a light in Maria that drew him in. After the first time he’d heard her sing, he’d been hooked - addicted - and although she never knew, he’d gone to see at least part of every local show she’d had since.
But as always, Michael stayed in the back - hidden - distant. The way it needed to be.
Turning his attention back to his task, and seeing nothing unusual, he started his bike and drove away from the motel and the girl in the parking lot.
She was everything he could never have - the less he saw of her, the better.
**************************************************************
“Holy crap! Would you look at this place!” Maria exclaimed as Liz let her into the motel suite.
“I’ve been looking at it! For five days, Maria - I’ve looked.” Liz joked, so glad that her friend was here.
“So, you think Kal would like, adopt me?” Maria asked, straight faced, fingering the granite countertop in the kitchen.
“Umm, I think one daughter is aging him prematurely - he probably wouldn’t survive two.” Liz answered.
“Where is Kal by the way?”
“In the shower.”
“Oh. Okay - well since he’s not ready and you’ve been trapped inside long enough - what do you say we head into town for the grand tour and I’ll show you all the cheesiness Roswell has to offer?” Maria suggested.
Caught slightly off guard, knowing Kal would freak out if she went anywhere unprotected, Liz answered, “I don’t think that’s a great idea. Kal - umm - he’s been really protective - you know - since the shooting and he doesn’t want me wandering around.”
“Who’s wandering? There will be no wandering - I know exactly where we’re going. I grew up here - I wish it was big enough to “wander” in - but sadly its just one strip of tacky stores. And Alex’s cast is going to be off in just four more weeks. Then we’ll all be off to the wonderful world of LA , right? These days could be your only chance to see THE Roswell, New Mexico. You don’t want to waste that, do you?” Maria ranted.
“Still, I don’t want to worry Kal.”
“I understand. Let’s just go for a quick drive then. There’s an ice cream stop like three miles down the road. We’ll get you out for a minute - get you some fresh air - and be back before Kal’s out of the shower.” Maria offered.
Liz bit her bottom lip in indecision. She was going stir crazy stuck inside the motel all week. And they were just talking about a few miles. “Okay, I’ll leave Kal a note, just in case - and then we’ll go!”
She wouldn’t even get out of the car, she promised herself. They would be back in five minutes.
What could possibly happen?
You're the best!
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