Okay, try not to fall out of your chairs! I've written the next installment! Woo! lol. Thank you all for your support. Many of you already know, but I've been extremely ill an unable to write for awhile. I'm hoping things will get better soon, and meanwhile...Enjoy!
WELCOME to new readers! Thank you so much for you comments! I absolutely adore feedback, lol!
Gin
EYA 111
“Oh God, this place is nasty,” Michael muttered, lip curling in disgust as he walked carefully around a mysterious stain on the hard concrete floor.
“Just ignore it and get the rest of those bugs planted so you can get out of there,” Jim counseled from the end of the alley while he carefully scouted up and down the street for any sign of the dupes return.
Michael snorted under his breath and cautiously reached under the ratty couch to adhere another of the tiny disks to the chipped under-surface. He’d already placed one at the doorway and over by the ‘eating’ area. At least he assumed it was the area they ate in because of the increased amount of decaying food boxes and debris that was piled there. He made a mental note to go back on his way out and grab one of the crusty baby bottles piled by the sink. They looked nasty enough that he didn’t want to consider touching any until he had to.
“I don’t ever want to hear that only guys are slobs again,” Michael griped as he stepped over a pile of smelly clothing and started toward the two partitioned areas in the back. “There are two girls living here and only one guy and it still smells like a sewer. I can’t believe…” Michael cut off suddenly, head swinging quickly in the direction of one of the partitions.
“What?!” Jim questioned in alarm. “What’s happening, Michael?”
Michael’s tone was hushed as he walked slowly and carefully toward the swaying gray fabric that separated him from the shuffling noise he had heard. “I think I hear something moving in the back. Be quiet for a minute.”
Michael’s hand rose cautiously to the rough curtain and he moved close as he twitched it back to the side to investigate. His eyes scanned the room, seeing more piles of clothing and blankets scattered across the floor. He held his breath and listened again. Nothing.
He breathed a careful sigh of relief. “It must have been a rat or som…Holy shit!”
“What?! What is it, Michael?” Jim glanced up and down the street quickly once again before abandoning his post and sprinting toward the door. “I’m coming in!”
Michael’s steady, heartfelt stream of curses cut off abruptly when Valenti’s words registered. “Don’t bother. There’s no danger. Get back to your look-out. I can’t believe those irresponsible sons of bitches. Even they should know better than to…”
“Michael Guerin, what the hell is going on in there?” Jim demanded, turning and trotting back to his post. He’d never heard the boy so pissed before.
“They left him here alone is what happened,” Michael ranted, staring incredulously at the baby kicking and fisting at the nest of sweatshirts and ratty blankets he had been left in.
“Him? Who him?” Jim queried, already pretty sure he knew.
“The baby, Jim! Who else? I can’t believe they all took off and just left a helpless infant here all alone while they went off to party!” Michael was outraged as he knelt close to the whimpering baby. He extended one finger and softly ran it down the baby’s cheek. “Hey, baby. It’s okay. Uncle Mikey’s here.” Michael looked helplessly around the room. “What should I do, Jim? We can’t just leave him here alone…” Michael looked around for something warm enough to wrap the baby in. “I’m taking him with us,” he announced suddenly.
“No! Michael, you can’t do that! Now plant the last two bugs and get out of there quickly. They’re not going to leave him alone for long; he’s too important to them, and we’re not ready to reveal our presence in New York to them yet, so just do your job and get out of there!”
“But what about…”
“No ‘buts’!” Jim declared. “Get it done!” A sense of urgency overcame him and he scanned the streets from his vantage point at the end of the alley more carefully.
Michael scrambled up from where he’d knelt by the child and looked around the room quickly. He peeled the backing off another one of the tiny bugs and affixed it under a wobbly table in the center of the room. He glanced back at the flailing baby who was still watching him intently and cooing softly. ‘Sorry’, he mouthed as he ducked out of the curtained area and made toward the opposite curtain.
The baby, realizing he was being left alone again, started a loud squalling cry that echoed off the walls. Michael winced and thought about turning back.
A sudden wave of heat made him moan and nearly dropped him to his knees. Michael leaned heavily on the wall as he panted quickly, trying to regain his breath.
“Michael! I said leave the baby alone and get the hell out of there. Now! I think I see Ava at the end of the street!”
Michael gulped in air and staggered through the last partition. He shakily peeled the backing off of the final bug and stuck it under a shelf before making his way as quickly as he could toward the front entrance. He glanced quickly toward the ‘kitchen’ area, remembering his need to get a bottle or something of the baby’s so they could attempt to match up DNA. He cursed himself for not getting a swab of the baby’s spit when he had the chance.
“Michael. NOW!” Jim warned, already moving toward the other end of the alley. “It’s her. She’ll be here in less than thirty seconds.” Jim pushed open the door and leaned in, grabbing Michael’s arm.
“I’ve got to get…”
“Later, Michael. We can’t get caught!” Jim dragged a staggering Michael out the door, closing it carefully behind him. Michael leaned against the wall in the alley, still panting for breath and flushed.
Jim grabbed Michael’s arm and pulled it over his shoulders as he directed them toward the opposite end of the alley from where he had seen Ava coming, ready to wait until they were out of danger for an explanation of Michael’s odd behavior. He pulled them back against the hard brick wall behind the dumpster and crouched there with Michael as they waited for Ava to turn the corner into the alley and enter the hide-out.
The door banged shut behind her. Jim could clearly hear the baby still loudly protesting his abandonment as Ava made her way back toward the partitioned area she had left him in. “I’m coming! Shut up already! If you didn’t eat and crap so much I wouldn’t have to leave you here to make diaper and formula runs all the time, now would I?”
Jim felt his stomach roll, thinking of the lack of proper care and attention that poor infant must be enduring.
Michael’s head was propped back against the brick as sweat rolled down his neck. “Bitch,” he whispered softly, unwilling to believe that anyone could be so heartless. “Take him with you to the store, genius!”
“Hey, you okay, Michael?” Jim had turned his attention to the state of his friend crouched beside him in the alley. The boy shook and sweated and looked generally uncomfortable.
“Hey, nothing I haven’t experienced before, right?” Michael tried to blow it off.
“Is this a Max and Liz thing?” Jim asked, bewildered.
“Yeah.” Michael leaned forward and braced himself to stand. “What else is new, right?”
“But…they’re so far away. How can…?”
Michael shook his head pityingly at his friends ignorance. “Distance has nothing to do with it,” he counseled sagely as he staggered toward the street with Jim at his side. A skinny multi-colored cat streaked past them hissing as she ducked under the dumpster to crouch and watch them stumble out of her alley.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“…Mr. Douglas and Mrs. Kaplan! Can you believe it! I mean…ewww!” Maria shuddered delicately. “And then the principal made an announcement that class was going to be let out early because of the heat wave! Heat wave! I’m betting they never felt heat like that in the middle of the school day before! They’re blaming it on the air conditioner and they’re having someone come in to check it out…”
“Breathe, Maria,” Liz cautioned her friend with a smile. Long acquaintance made her very familiar with Maria’s tendency to talk until she was breathless and dizzy.
Maria took a dramatically long breath to satisfy her friend and then burst out laughing again. “Seriously, you guys are going to have to learn to control that. With all the hook-ups and almost-hook-ups that happened today, the entire social order of the school is upside down!”
Liz shook her head and spooned another mouthful of vanilla with raspberries sprinkled on the top. “I don’t know what to do about it,” she mumbled around the cold treat in her mouth, waving with her spoon. “We don’t know how to control it, and frankly, we’re not actually even thinking about it when we’re in the middle of it!”
Maria giggled knowingly and stirred her mocha-almond-fudge around in the bowl. “I bet.”
“Hey!” Liz butted her shoulder playfully against Maria’s and rolled her eyes. “It’s not like you and Michael haven’t had wild moments of mindless passion too, you know!”
Maria nodded, thinking of her wayward boyfriend. “We probably have you and Max to thank for half of them lately!” Maria couldn’t resist ribbing her friend a little more.
“Shut up!” Liz’s face glowed red, embarrassed and laughing at the same time. She settled back into the couch again, relaxing. “Have you heard back from Serena or Michael yet?” Maria had fully filled her in on the details of the conversation between herself and Serena that morning.
“No,” Maria replied glumly. “She said she’d call as soon as they got back, so I guess they’re still out scouting for the location and getting the samples.”
“It’s okay, sweetie, I’m sure he’ll be back soon to enjoy your little practical joke,” Liz comforted with a wide grin. “You’re so evil!”
“I know,” Maria answered matter-of-factly, as a slow grin settled over her face.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“I’m going to take the rest of this equipment into the office and set up the audio feed to record in case we need a play back later,” Jim announced as he disappeared into one of the many rooms in the apartment.
“Lunch is in thirty minutes!” Serena called after him, before turning to Michael. “How’d it go?”
Michael slumped back further into the chair he had crashed in. “It went just swell, thanks for asking. We thought the place was empty so I went in to plant the bugs and I hear a noise in the back. I go back there, and guess what? She left the baby there all by himself while she went off to buy diapers and formula. By himself! Do you believe that shit?” Michael shook him head, still concerned over what he’d seen. “That place is a rat-infested trash-heap, is what it is. I can’t believe they live like that!”
“Did you get the samples?” Serena interjected eagerly. What a perfect opportunity, alone with the baby!
“Well…no,” Michael confessed, staring at his hands on the knees of his worn jeans.
“What do you mean ‘no’?” Serena demanded hotly. “What more perfect opportunity were you waiting for! Do you think they’re going to FedEx the samples to our door for us? Why else are we here, Michael?”
Michael pushed to his feet impatiently and started pacing the room, irritated by Serena’s outburst. “You weren’t there, so just shut up about it already! I was planting the bugs in their cess-pool of a hide-out, found the baby, Jim told me to get out of there pronto, and then I got hit with one of Max and Liz’s patented heat-waves while Jim is yelling at me that Ava’s coming down the street, so EXCUSE me for not stopping to swab your samples this trip, jeez! It’s not like we’re leaving tomorrow, you know. We can always go back!”
Serena sat back in open mouthed shock. “I…I had no idea. Of course we can go back. Sorry for doubting you, I’m just eager to get started.”
“Whatever. What’s for lunch?”
Serena’s quick grin was lost on Michael. “Steak. In fact, I could use your help. I’ve heard you’re quite a cook at the Crash and was wondering if you could help me with the marinade?”
“Sure, whatever, if it gets lunch on the table any time soon.” Michael stalked toward the kitchen and surveyed the glass, marble and copper extravagance. “Where’s the stuff to make it?”
Serena suppressed a giggle and pointed toward the end of the counter while she pulled open a drawer. “I was talking with Maria this morning,” Serena pulled the large plastic baster out of the drawer and held it up for Michael’s startled gaze. “And she assured me that you make your own special sauce and that you’d need to be reminded to use one of these.”
“Hell no…” Michael’s voice trailed off and he knew he’d been had. A dull flush warmed his face. “How much did she tell you?” He had to know how embarrassed he should be. Serena, doubled over and laughing breathlessly, pretty much gave him the answer.
“What’s so funny in here?” Jim stepped up beside a hysterical Serena and raised a puzzled eyebrow as she held out the baster and continued laughing. Jim felt a big grin spreading over his own face. “Serena been talking to Maria?”
Michael’s eyes widened impossibly further. “You too?”
“Oh, way back,” Jim laughed aloud.
“Oh, by the way,” Serena finally grabbed enough breath to speak again. “Maria says you should give her a call on the cell phone as soon as you get back.” Serena tossed Michael the phone and watched his face register his predicament.
“Shit.”
“Pretty much,” Serena agreed. “Next time you might want to consider bringing it with you and avoiding causing her worry. Worry tends to make her pissed.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Michael answered sarcastically.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
They sat around finishing their lunches after Michael called Maria back and they chewed each other out for forgetting phones and sharing intimate secrets (“Who the hell doesn’t already know about the turkey baster, Michael?” “Apparently no one thanks to you, Maria!”) until they both muttered a grudging apology and hung up.
They could hear movement in the background at the dupes place, so they spoke quietly together mapping out their next-steps while they listened for any clues.
“Not long now, baby,” Ava’s voice sounded clearly in the small room they were in. “They’re coming to test you out in two days, and once they’ve verified you’re the son of the king we’re all going home in style! You’re our ticket out of here, baby!”
Michael, Serena, and Jim stared at each other. Two days.
>>>>>>>>>>>
“…so watch Brody and see if he’s acting any different lately. See if he’s noticed any lost time, you know? We’ve got to know who’s coming to verify the kids identity. I figure it’s like that test they did on you, only for your son, you know?”
“Got it. Thanks, Michael. For everything you guys are doing out there. I mean, I know you’re doing it for me, so that you can prove that that baby isn’t mine and…Well, thanks.”
“Hey, you know I’d do more than this if I could. You can’t imagine how they’re living. Totally unsanitary. And that’s coming from me,” Michael laughed. “I can’t believe how they’re treating that kid. I don’t know. I don’t care who’s kid it is, it doesn’t deserve to be treated like that, you know?”
“Yeah,” Max answered softly, trailing his hand over Liz’s stomach as he spoke into the phone. “Every baby deserves a chance.”
>>>>>>>>>>>
Michael sat alone in the room they had designated as the ‘surveillance’ room, listening to the dupes bicker about everything from the weather, to what they would get for dinner, to who had to change the damn baby’s diaper. Michael had to remind himself to stop rolling his eyes or he was going to develop a permanent headache.
“I’m heading out to pick up a pizza,” Rath finally declared. Michael could hear him moving toward the door and shoving it open. “Damn it! What the…get that overgrown rat out of here!”
Michael sat up straighter in his chair. What was going on? Michael could hear them cursing and scrambling around, a couple of chairs over turning and finally a strangled meow gave meaning to the chase.
“Gotcha, you big rat!”
“Rath! Don’t do that in here! You’ll make a mess again.” Lonnie was shouting in the background.
“Fine, I’ll have a little target practice in the alley then,” Rath announced, sounding in a better mood than he’d been in the entire night so far. “What do we have here?” Now he sounded positively gleeful.
Michael leaned forward apprehensively, thinking they had found one of the bugs he’d planted.
“Aww, it’s just a kitten Rath. Leave it alone,” Ava defended.
“Whatever. It won’t live for long after I deal with its mommy here will it?” Michael heard a whizzing pop and then a soft thud.
“Damn it, Rath! I told you not to do that in the house again, now didn’t I?” Lonnie sounded livid. “Now pick it up and throw it in the dumpster on your way out! Jeez! And throw that squalling kitten in there with it!”
Michael could hear the frantic kitten as Rath moved around picking up his mess and slammed out of the place muttering about women.
Michael stood abruptly and wiped his damp palms on his jeans already heading toward the door.
“Jim? Can you take over for awhile? I need to get some air. Rath went out to get pizza, so it’s Lonnie, Ava, and the baby right now.”
“Sure, Michael. You okay?”
“Yeah. They’re just…hard to take.” Michael took another deep breath and headed out the door. However shitty his life had been, he could always be grateful he wasn’t one of the dupes.
TBC
Please tell me what you think! I haven't written in awhile, lol!
Everything You Are (CC,M/L, Mature) AN PG 15 5/3/07 [WIP]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators
EYA 112
Thank you to everyone who has been so hugely supportive! I am feeling better these last few days, and we are cautiously optimistic that we may almost be out of the woods, lol! The new baby niece and her older sister are all settled in and everyone’s happy. Woo! I stole a couple hours today to get some quiet time at the library to finish up this part for y’all. I can’t seem to write unless I have utter silence, and that’s pretty hard to find around here these days! Hope you like the part, again, it’s transition, which I always procrastinate in writing, but it’s also necessary to piece it all together later…so
Here ya go!
EYA 112
Sometimes, contrary to popular belief, not thinking was the best course of action to take. At least in Michael’s, admittedly, not humble opinion. He’d meant to just borrow the motorcycle parked idly in Serena’s garage and drive recklessly and aimlessly until he’d felt that he’d blown off sufficient steam to just…breathe again, but that’s not how it worked out. No, all roads seemed to lead to the dank alley where the dupes were…doing whatever the fuck they did when they weren’t abusing children and torturing helpless animals.
Parking the bike a block down the road, Michael removed his helmet, hooking it over the handlebar and stood for a moment staring toward the entrance to the alley. Taking a fortifying breath he began to walk cautiously toward his real goal. After all that he’d heard, all that it had made him feel…Not even Max could disagree that there was any way, any way in hell they were gonna leave that baby alone to suffer.
The alley was as dark and dirty as he recalled from earlier in the day and only encouraged further caution as he eased along, hugging his back to the bricks uncaring of the filth it was leaving on his jean jacket. Small noises made him stop, frozen in silent concentration, pasted to the wall, until the source was ascertained and catalogued as harmless so he could breathe again and proceed. He still had no real plan; just to wing it really, but it had to work, because his disgust and tolerance levels were off the charts and called for immediate and decisive action no matter what the cost.
He took another cautious step and wondered how many people were still in there after Rath had stormed out earlier. Or had he come back already? He paused and rubbed his right eyebrow with his thumb in a gesture that would have immediately given away his tightly coiled tension to anyone who knew him. Maybe he hadn’t thought this out as well as he should have…
A sudden rattling of the entrance door to the dupes lair had him diving behind the huge metal dumpster that took up half the alley space on the far side of the door. He crouched on his heels as the light flooded a narrow stretch of the alley before being partially obscured by the shadow of the person standing there.
“I can’t take his crying anymore! Make him shut up or I will! Got that, sister?” Lonnie’s voice was angry and shrill with frustration and Michael could just make out the thin wail of a crying infant in the background. He sounded weak, his small voice thin and broken from his continuous cries. Lonnie slammed the door loudly and stalked down the alley toward the street.
Michael let out a breath and cautiously eased up to a standing position once again. Only Ava was left inside, from what he had heard earlier. He could overcome her if she wasn’t prepared to be reasonable. There would never be a better time…
Hands creeping us the sides of the metal dumpster, Michael peered over the half-opened top to make sure Ava hadn’t followed Lonnie out. He took a cautious step to the side, easing his hands over the lip of the large container and his heart almost froze in his chest as a sudden scrabbling, desperate cry came from what sounded like inches away from his hands.
Drawing back so quickly he nearly stumbled before he caught himself panting with his back to the bricks, he dragged in a ragged breath and tried to pull himself together. Probably just a rat…
Rowrrrr
The cry came again, and Michael suddenly flashed on what it was. Stepping up to peer into the black smelly maw of the half-opened dumpster Michael could just make out determined scrabbling movements inching slowly up the piles of garbage. Scanning the remaining contents of the garbage Michael held back from gagging as he found the bloody carcass of the mother cat that Rath had so explosively destroyed earlier.
A tiny face peered up at Michael, not two feet away, eyes glowing green in the darkness. Michael reached in before he could stop himself and lifted out a tiny handful of bloodied kitten. Holding it close to his chest, Michael slid back against the wall again to figure out how much of the blood was from the kitten’s wounds and how much from being thrown in with its mother.
Michael unconsciously made soothing, nonsensical sounds under his breath as he ran his hands over the matted fur and cleaned away the blood and dirt from the multi-colored coat. At first the animal had tried to protest, spitting and hissing, trying to use its too small claws to inflict as much damage as it could. Michael hugged it closer and hummed under his breath. I’m not him. I’m not him. I’m not him. Once the blood and dirt were cleared away, Michael could see that the right front leg was hanging at an awkward angle. He closed his eyes and wrapped his fingers as gently as he could around the hanging limb as he grasped for the power that was so effortless to Max.
Just as the healing current started to flow into the tiny creature Michael was startled again by loud banging noises coming down the alley. He slipped the tiny kitten under the flap of his jacket and held it close to his body as he leaned forward to see what the noise was.
Rath banged a metal pipe against the bricks, dragging it along before taking aim and slamming it against the wall again and again. His walk was crooked and Michael could see he was obviously drunk by the stupid grin and unsteady random nature of his hits. Michael scooted back against the bricks, crouched down on his heels, and tried not to breath.
A brief moment of utter silence was broken by the kitten’s faint protest to the jarring of its broken leg as Michael hugged it too tight to his body. Michael tensed and prepared to run like hell.
“Ha! Still in there?” Rath slurred out, hitting the far side of the dumpster with the pipe. “Here kitty, kitty, kitty,” Rath slurred out in a parody of a child’s voice. Michael recoiled back into the bricks at the sudden, violent vibration and explosion as the contents of the dumpster burst into flames.
Rath’s laughter was cut off as he stumbled back and fell against the door of his dwelling landing hard on the dirt encrusted cement. He pulled himself up, cursing and chuckling as he rubbed his sore tail-bone and slipped into his house. “Shut that kid up already!” He yelled as he slammed the door closed behind him.
Michael eased away from the intense heat of the fire, scanning down the alley before running like hell back toward his bike. He’d lost his chance, but his resolve was stronger than ever to do something about that baby. Soon.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Michael glanced right and left as he re-entered Serena’s luxury apartment only a couple of hours after he had left. Not sure why, he still felt a vague sense of guilt for having been gone for so long, but it was take a break or start breaking thing himself, so all in all, Serena should be glad he’d left when he had. The warm bundle he still held carefully under his jacket wiggled slightly and he jiggled his hand over the small lump it created and looked around almost guiltily.
“Shh, baby, I’ll take care of it in a minute,” Michael promised softly as he walked silently across the broad expanse of the living area.
“Michael! You’re back.”
Michael jumped and then straightened, squeezing too tightly and silently apologizing to his furry, protesting bundle before slowly turning around to face Serena’s curious gaze.
“Um. Yeah. I just…needed some air,” Michael repeated his original reason for leaving. “Do you need me to take over surveillance for awhile?” He kept the squirming bundle under his coat and hoped it wouldn’t make any more noise. He wasn’t sure why he felt like he had to hide his act of kindness, he just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. Besides, he hadn’t done enough, hadn’t finished what he’d really set out to do.
Serena shook her head moving closer to Michael. “Jim’s got it until 2am. I’ll relieve him until eight and then you can take over from there. I figure I need the least amount of sleep and that’s probably going to be the quietest time of the day anyway.”
Michael nodded. “Good. Sounds good. Well,” he turned to walk toward his room, eager to escape, “see you in the morning then.”
“Michael?”
“What?” Michael stopped in his tracks, not turning to face her.
“You might want to take a quick shower. No offense, but you smell like you’ve been dumpster diving!”
Michael sighed in relief, nodding his head as he continued out of the room.
“And, Michael?”
Michael stopped again, back still turned to Serena.
“There’s milk and tuna in the kitchen if you need it. Old newpapers and boxes in the storage room. You know…If you need them.”
Busted
Serena smiled innocently and watched Michael make a quick escape.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“So what are we going to do?” Liz, traced a slow circle with her fingertips over Max’s firmly muscled chest.
Max involuntarily arched up into her touch and tried to concentrate on an answer. “Do?” His voice was raspier than he’d intended.
Liz smiled understandingly. “About the heat, Max,” she gently reminded him. “You know about the heat right?” Liz leaned over his chest and gently bit a taut nipple, nibbling it between her teeth.
Max groaned and threaded his fingers through her dark curtain of silken hair, leaning down to just inhale the scent of her. “I know something that’s hot right now. I have a brilliant idea about what to do about it too,” he teased, way more than half-serious.
“Max…” Liz moaned softly, enjoying her husband’s hands in her hair, massaging over her scalp and neck, pulling softly on the long dark strands. They really needed to resolve this…
“Mnnn.” Max rolled away reluctantly and sat up on the bed facing away from her so he could think coherently. “I know, I know…We need to talk about this. It’s…” Liz leaned up behind him and trailed a light hand over his shoulder and down his back, derailing his train of thought. She leaned up and inhaled the spicy fragrance of his skin and couldn’t resist licking gently over the soft skin behind his ear. “It’s really…” she breathed in again, not able to get enough, “…important.”
“Liz…I know. I just…” Max gave up and leaned back into her embrace as her arms came under his to wrap around his chest. Her fingers moved to tease his hardening nipples and he moved to place his large hands over hers in a vain effort to stop her, but who was he kidding? He wanted it just as much as she did. He interlaced his fingers with hers and let her lead as she explored the smooth, tanned expanse of his chest.
Max’s eyes drifted closed as he lost himself in the sensation of her. There was nothing like her and she was all his. He couldn’t fathom how he had come to deserve her. Her fingertips sent feelings of heated pleasure everywhere she touched, and she wanted to explore all of him, he could feel her intent and it swept him up in the ever heightening sensation of her focused attention.
Their joined hands trailed up over his pecs and across the broad expanse of his shoulders before entangling in the alien necklace that had become so much a part of him that they barely noticed it anymore.
A startled, hurt sound and the clenching of Liz’s fingers around his were the only warning he had before the sudden onslaught of fast moving images ripped through their link, leaving both trembling and panting for breath.
Max turned swiftly when it was over and pulled Liz effortlessly into his lap. He took her chin in his hands and turned her to face him.
“Liz?”
Liz’s eyes were large and bright with fear. “It’s coming, Max. We have to warn Michael.”
TBC
YEP! It’s ON! Things are going to be moving at a faster pace for the next while here!
ETA: Does anyone know the new link to the Roswell Boardello of Fanfiction? I post this story there as well, but they've changed servers and I don't have a link anymore. HELP!! lol!
See you soon!
Here ya go!
EYA 112
Sometimes, contrary to popular belief, not thinking was the best course of action to take. At least in Michael’s, admittedly, not humble opinion. He’d meant to just borrow the motorcycle parked idly in Serena’s garage and drive recklessly and aimlessly until he’d felt that he’d blown off sufficient steam to just…breathe again, but that’s not how it worked out. No, all roads seemed to lead to the dank alley where the dupes were…doing whatever the fuck they did when they weren’t abusing children and torturing helpless animals.
Parking the bike a block down the road, Michael removed his helmet, hooking it over the handlebar and stood for a moment staring toward the entrance to the alley. Taking a fortifying breath he began to walk cautiously toward his real goal. After all that he’d heard, all that it had made him feel…Not even Max could disagree that there was any way, any way in hell they were gonna leave that baby alone to suffer.
The alley was as dark and dirty as he recalled from earlier in the day and only encouraged further caution as he eased along, hugging his back to the bricks uncaring of the filth it was leaving on his jean jacket. Small noises made him stop, frozen in silent concentration, pasted to the wall, until the source was ascertained and catalogued as harmless so he could breathe again and proceed. He still had no real plan; just to wing it really, but it had to work, because his disgust and tolerance levels were off the charts and called for immediate and decisive action no matter what the cost.
He took another cautious step and wondered how many people were still in there after Rath had stormed out earlier. Or had he come back already? He paused and rubbed his right eyebrow with his thumb in a gesture that would have immediately given away his tightly coiled tension to anyone who knew him. Maybe he hadn’t thought this out as well as he should have…
A sudden rattling of the entrance door to the dupes lair had him diving behind the huge metal dumpster that took up half the alley space on the far side of the door. He crouched on his heels as the light flooded a narrow stretch of the alley before being partially obscured by the shadow of the person standing there.
“I can’t take his crying anymore! Make him shut up or I will! Got that, sister?” Lonnie’s voice was angry and shrill with frustration and Michael could just make out the thin wail of a crying infant in the background. He sounded weak, his small voice thin and broken from his continuous cries. Lonnie slammed the door loudly and stalked down the alley toward the street.
Michael let out a breath and cautiously eased up to a standing position once again. Only Ava was left inside, from what he had heard earlier. He could overcome her if she wasn’t prepared to be reasonable. There would never be a better time…
Hands creeping us the sides of the metal dumpster, Michael peered over the half-opened top to make sure Ava hadn’t followed Lonnie out. He took a cautious step to the side, easing his hands over the lip of the large container and his heart almost froze in his chest as a sudden scrabbling, desperate cry came from what sounded like inches away from his hands.
Drawing back so quickly he nearly stumbled before he caught himself panting with his back to the bricks, he dragged in a ragged breath and tried to pull himself together. Probably just a rat…
Rowrrrr
The cry came again, and Michael suddenly flashed on what it was. Stepping up to peer into the black smelly maw of the half-opened dumpster Michael could just make out determined scrabbling movements inching slowly up the piles of garbage. Scanning the remaining contents of the garbage Michael held back from gagging as he found the bloody carcass of the mother cat that Rath had so explosively destroyed earlier.
A tiny face peered up at Michael, not two feet away, eyes glowing green in the darkness. Michael reached in before he could stop himself and lifted out a tiny handful of bloodied kitten. Holding it close to his chest, Michael slid back against the wall again to figure out how much of the blood was from the kitten’s wounds and how much from being thrown in with its mother.
Michael unconsciously made soothing, nonsensical sounds under his breath as he ran his hands over the matted fur and cleaned away the blood and dirt from the multi-colored coat. At first the animal had tried to protest, spitting and hissing, trying to use its too small claws to inflict as much damage as it could. Michael hugged it closer and hummed under his breath. I’m not him. I’m not him. I’m not him. Once the blood and dirt were cleared away, Michael could see that the right front leg was hanging at an awkward angle. He closed his eyes and wrapped his fingers as gently as he could around the hanging limb as he grasped for the power that was so effortless to Max.
Just as the healing current started to flow into the tiny creature Michael was startled again by loud banging noises coming down the alley. He slipped the tiny kitten under the flap of his jacket and held it close to his body as he leaned forward to see what the noise was.
Rath banged a metal pipe against the bricks, dragging it along before taking aim and slamming it against the wall again and again. His walk was crooked and Michael could see he was obviously drunk by the stupid grin and unsteady random nature of his hits. Michael scooted back against the bricks, crouched down on his heels, and tried not to breath.
A brief moment of utter silence was broken by the kitten’s faint protest to the jarring of its broken leg as Michael hugged it too tight to his body. Michael tensed and prepared to run like hell.
“Ha! Still in there?” Rath slurred out, hitting the far side of the dumpster with the pipe. “Here kitty, kitty, kitty,” Rath slurred out in a parody of a child’s voice. Michael recoiled back into the bricks at the sudden, violent vibration and explosion as the contents of the dumpster burst into flames.
Rath’s laughter was cut off as he stumbled back and fell against the door of his dwelling landing hard on the dirt encrusted cement. He pulled himself up, cursing and chuckling as he rubbed his sore tail-bone and slipped into his house. “Shut that kid up already!” He yelled as he slammed the door closed behind him.
Michael eased away from the intense heat of the fire, scanning down the alley before running like hell back toward his bike. He’d lost his chance, but his resolve was stronger than ever to do something about that baby. Soon.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Michael glanced right and left as he re-entered Serena’s luxury apartment only a couple of hours after he had left. Not sure why, he still felt a vague sense of guilt for having been gone for so long, but it was take a break or start breaking thing himself, so all in all, Serena should be glad he’d left when he had. The warm bundle he still held carefully under his jacket wiggled slightly and he jiggled his hand over the small lump it created and looked around almost guiltily.
“Shh, baby, I’ll take care of it in a minute,” Michael promised softly as he walked silently across the broad expanse of the living area.
“Michael! You’re back.”
Michael jumped and then straightened, squeezing too tightly and silently apologizing to his furry, protesting bundle before slowly turning around to face Serena’s curious gaze.
“Um. Yeah. I just…needed some air,” Michael repeated his original reason for leaving. “Do you need me to take over surveillance for awhile?” He kept the squirming bundle under his coat and hoped it wouldn’t make any more noise. He wasn’t sure why he felt like he had to hide his act of kindness, he just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. Besides, he hadn’t done enough, hadn’t finished what he’d really set out to do.
Serena shook her head moving closer to Michael. “Jim’s got it until 2am. I’ll relieve him until eight and then you can take over from there. I figure I need the least amount of sleep and that’s probably going to be the quietest time of the day anyway.”
Michael nodded. “Good. Sounds good. Well,” he turned to walk toward his room, eager to escape, “see you in the morning then.”
“Michael?”
“What?” Michael stopped in his tracks, not turning to face her.
“You might want to take a quick shower. No offense, but you smell like you’ve been dumpster diving!”
Michael sighed in relief, nodding his head as he continued out of the room.
“And, Michael?”
Michael stopped again, back still turned to Serena.
“There’s milk and tuna in the kitchen if you need it. Old newpapers and boxes in the storage room. You know…If you need them.”
Busted
Serena smiled innocently and watched Michael make a quick escape.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“So what are we going to do?” Liz, traced a slow circle with her fingertips over Max’s firmly muscled chest.
Max involuntarily arched up into her touch and tried to concentrate on an answer. “Do?” His voice was raspier than he’d intended.
Liz smiled understandingly. “About the heat, Max,” she gently reminded him. “You know about the heat right?” Liz leaned over his chest and gently bit a taut nipple, nibbling it between her teeth.
Max groaned and threaded his fingers through her dark curtain of silken hair, leaning down to just inhale the scent of her. “I know something that’s hot right now. I have a brilliant idea about what to do about it too,” he teased, way more than half-serious.
“Max…” Liz moaned softly, enjoying her husband’s hands in her hair, massaging over her scalp and neck, pulling softly on the long dark strands. They really needed to resolve this…
“Mnnn.” Max rolled away reluctantly and sat up on the bed facing away from her so he could think coherently. “I know, I know…We need to talk about this. It’s…” Liz leaned up behind him and trailed a light hand over his shoulder and down his back, derailing his train of thought. She leaned up and inhaled the spicy fragrance of his skin and couldn’t resist licking gently over the soft skin behind his ear. “It’s really…” she breathed in again, not able to get enough, “…important.”
“Liz…I know. I just…” Max gave up and leaned back into her embrace as her arms came under his to wrap around his chest. Her fingers moved to tease his hardening nipples and he moved to place his large hands over hers in a vain effort to stop her, but who was he kidding? He wanted it just as much as she did. He interlaced his fingers with hers and let her lead as she explored the smooth, tanned expanse of his chest.
Max’s eyes drifted closed as he lost himself in the sensation of her. There was nothing like her and she was all his. He couldn’t fathom how he had come to deserve her. Her fingertips sent feelings of heated pleasure everywhere she touched, and she wanted to explore all of him, he could feel her intent and it swept him up in the ever heightening sensation of her focused attention.
Their joined hands trailed up over his pecs and across the broad expanse of his shoulders before entangling in the alien necklace that had become so much a part of him that they barely noticed it anymore.
A startled, hurt sound and the clenching of Liz’s fingers around his were the only warning he had before the sudden onslaught of fast moving images ripped through their link, leaving both trembling and panting for breath.
Max turned swiftly when it was over and pulled Liz effortlessly into his lap. He took her chin in his hands and turned her to face him.
“Liz?”
Liz’s eyes were large and bright with fear. “It’s coming, Max. We have to warn Michael.”
TBC
YEP! It’s ON! Things are going to be moving at a faster pace for the next while here!
ETA: Does anyone know the new link to the Roswell Boardello of Fanfiction? I post this story there as well, but they've changed servers and I don't have a link anymore. HELP!! lol!
See you soon!
EYA 113
Here you are! Thanks for the patient waiting. Also, it's been so great to hear from so many of you, and the new people still finding the story are greatly inspiring! Thank you!
EYA 113
Bored. Entire new levels of mind-numbing boredom. Alex tied off the latest in a series of tiny braids he’d created in Maria’s hair and huffed a sigh of the bitterly put-upon before reaching for another length of hair.
“Do I…”
“Yes.”
“But…”
“Hey, buddy, I gave you the choice.” Maria twisted to level The Look at him.
“Fine.” Alex started twining a new length of hair together with minute, practiced precision. To be fair, she had given him a choice, he could be the one getting the tiny braids. It’d happened before. One of the many hazards of being best friends with girls. Many, many hazards.
A loud thumping sound from the kitchen had Maria twisting again, moving up on her knees on the floor from her place in front of the couch to look over Alex’s shoulder and making him lose his grip on her hair.
“Hey! You don’t want to see…” Alex watched with a tiny smirk of satisfaction as Maria curled her lip in disgust and quickly faced forward again. He resumed braiding with a slightly better attitude. “I tried to tell you.”
“Yeah, yeah whatever,” Maria grumbled, flashing on the image of Isabel and Kyle wrapped all around each other in Max and Liz’s kitchen all hands and tongues in inappropriate-for-teenage-viewing places. “People wash dishes in that sink!” She called out snarkily.
There was a small crash that signified a probable location change, possibly in acknowledgment of her point, but Maria wasn’t brave enough to verify the issue. “This is the last time I volunteer to be Max and Liz’s test subject.”
“Control group,” Alex corrected automatically, eying the slightly crooked braid in his hand critically before slowly undoing it to start over. Just a little uneven at the end.
“Control group, my ass,” Maria snarked again. “How are we supposed to even know if Max and Liz are, you know…if the only thing the entire other half of our ‘control group’ is gonna do is make out in there?” And was that a moan? She rolled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that night. “Maybe the heat only affects people if they’re already attracted to each other. Do you think Max and Liz are actually doing it right now and the heat is only affecting them?”
“Maybe,” Alex agreed. “’Cause I’m sure not feelin’ anything right now. You?”
Maria let out an involuntary shudder at the thought, “God no!”
“Well you don’t have to make it sound so insulting, do you?”
“Whatever. I’m calling Michael.” Maria reached for the cordless phone on the coffee table in front of her, making Alex lean forward with her so as not to demolish the braid-in-progress.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“You need a name,” Michael stated in a soothing voice as his hand glowed softly over his kitten’s broken limb. The kitten struggled briefly, but didn’t make a sound. So brave for one so small. Michael gritted his teeth and wished he was better at the healing thing as he tried to distract the squirming bundle with his gentle tone. “Something strong; tough, like you…” Michael trailed off in concentration as he focused on the power running from him to his charge. With a final burst of heat and energy he sagged back with the kitten cuddled to his chest. “Best I can do, buddy,” he half-apologized, turning the kitten to face him and barely resisting the urge to kiss its fuzzy forehead. “Thor,” he decided with a note of finality.
“Thor?” From the doorway.
Michael jumped and managed to look defiant and guilty at the same time. Serena thought it was a good look on him as she leaned into the room and watched him cradle the small creature protectively in his large hands.
“I was just…He was hurt and…” Michael heaved a sigh and turned the kitten to face her. “Serena, meet Thor.”
“Hmm. Cute kitten, Michael.” She moved further into the room, deciding not to embarrass him with her awed amazement after witnessing how he had healed the calico kitten moments ago. She dropped a box and some newspapers onto the bed beside him and produced a shallow dish and a pint of cream from the deep pocket of the white lab coat she was wearing. “Thought you could make use of these,” she murmured as she watched the kitten climb Michael’s chest to rest on his shoulder.
“I…Thanks. How did you know?”
Serena raised an eyebrow as she reached out a hand to touch the little ball of velvety fur, not surprised when the baby batted her hand away and snuggled closer into Michael’s skin. “After you ran out of here so fast we listened to the tape to see what might have set you off. When you came back with that guilty look and bulge in your jacket I kinda put two and two together.” She moved back to the doorway and leaned on the frame. “What made you do it?”
“Nothing. I didn’t mean to…” Michael scratched his eyebrow and unconsciously leaned into the kitten’s insistent burrowing nudges against his neck. “He was all alone, and I couldn’t leave him there. Life is tough enough without having to try to survive alone against those kinds of odds,” he confessed finally. “So…I thought I’d give him a better start than that. He’s a fighter.”
“I think you’re right, and with a name like Thor…” Serena trailed off, prepared to leave.
“Yeah. Thought it’d help him remember to be tough.” Michael smiled whimsically.
Serena nodded and turned, pausing with her back to him before looking over her shoulder at them with a raised eyebrow. “One more thing, Michael….”
“Yeah?”
“Thor’s a girl”
“Son of a…”
The soft chime of his borrowed cell phone cut off the obscenity and allowed him to ignore Serena’s chuckling departure. “What?” He answered gruffly, glaring at his kitten and feeling slightly betrayed.
“Well hello to you too, grouchy pants,” Maria taunted, miffed at the way he answered her phone.
“What do you want, Maria?”
Thor set to purring and pushing her head against Michael’s chin until he gave in and pet her, moving her to his chest and laying back on the bed.
“Well, it’d be nice if my boyfriend called me every once in awhile to let me know how things are going. World peace would be good, and a piece of chocolate pie with lot’s of whipped cream wouldn’t be turned down either, but it looks like I’m not gonna get any of that, now am I?”
“I take if you’re having a bad day?” Michael rolled his eyes and looked to Thor for sympathy. She simply pushed her head harder into his rubbing hand and flopped over onto her side on his chest, purring loudly.
“Well if you call spending the evening hanging out in Max and Liz’s living room with Alex so they can go at in the next room to test out if they can control the heat thingy while Kyle and Isabel are in the kitchen discovering new and apparently fascinating things about each others tonsils having a bad day then, yes, that’s what I’m having. You?”
“I’m good thanks. Exactly how long have you been there, ‘cause Max and Liz haven’t had sex since this morning.”
“I knew it! We’ve been here for almost two hours, and how would you…Never mind. I don’t want to know.” There was a muffled sound of shifting movement and then Michael winced and held the phone away from his ear as Maria shouted triumphantly, “Get off of her Kyle! You can’t blame this on the heat Michael says they haven’t done it since this morning!”
Kyle looked up dazedly, lips reddened and swollen from his recent activities. “What? We never get the chance to be alone together anymore, so we have to take our opportunities when we can!”
Maria snorted. “You need to seriously re-evaluate your definition of alone, buddy!”
Maria plopped back down in front of Alex and leaned back against the couch between his knees while making a concerted effort not to think about what all this meant about their twisted inter-relationships. Definitely time to change the subject.
“Why don’t you ever call me?”
Michael rolled his eyes behind closed lids and stroked his fingers though the silken hair at his kitten’s belly. “Well, I would call you, but I noticed that my home number wasn’t number one on your speed dial so I spent some time trying fix your obvious oversight and reprogram this thing so that…” an evil grin spread over his face as he waited for …three…two…one…
“YOU WHAT?! Tell me you did not mess with the programming of my phone! You can’t even imagine how long it took me to…”
Michael valiantly tried not to laugh out loud at the expected outburst. At least she wasn’t bored anymore. He was such a good boyfriend. And she was so gullible…As if he would ever dare to reprogram her precious phone!
Finally she started to wind down about the phone thing. Time to give her something else to think about. He tickled Thor’s belly as an evil smile spread over his face. “You know, Maria, I’ve met a new girl out here today. She’s tough and beautiful, green eyes and gorgeous hair. And quiet. She really listens to me. You should meet her sometime. Take some notes…”
“Notes? Have you completely lost your mind, Michael? Tell me you’ve gotten in touch with your feminine side and bought yourself a Barbie doll, because if you’ve met some hoochie out there and think she’s gonna accept all the crap from you that I do then we’ve got bigger problems than I ever imagined…”
Michael smiled and settled in for another long rant, wincing only slightly when the decibels started to climb. He was so good at getting her mind off her troubles.
Alex rolled his eyes and continued to braid Maria’s hair, matching his movements to her wild gesticulations as she berated Michael for something or other. Trust Michael to push all her buttons at once. He glanced up at a sound from the bedroom.
Max and Liz appeared suddenly in the doorway of their room looking decidedly uneasy. “What?” Alex asked anxiously, dropping the braid and trying to shake Maria’s shoulder to get her attention. “What’s wrong now?”
Maria shook him off in favor of trying to get more information about the slut Michael had been raving about. “She’s with you right now, isn’t she? Michael, I swear if you touch her even once I’m going to…”
“That’s Michael?” Max interrupted her tirade. “Give me the phone, I have to talk to him.” Max held out his hand insistently.
“Wait just a minute, Max. Michael’s got some slut with him right now and I have to find out…”
“Give me the phone, Maria,” Max demanded again in a no-nonsense tone.
Maria stared up at him wordlessly, handing over the phone without another comment. Looking back and forth between Max and Liz she felt fear creep up her spine. Something big was going on.
“Michael? Max here.”
Michael sat up straight, dumping Thor into an unceremonious heap onto the mattress beside him. Max’s anxiety practically hummed over the phone line.
“What is it, Max?”
“We’ve had another vision. They’re meeting at the same warehouse where they tested me tomorrow at noon. You’ve got to get out of there, they’re going to catch you.”
“What? How do you…”
“We saw it, Michael. They were getting ready to test the baby and you were hiding behind a bunch of crates when your cell phone rang. They chased you and…” Max’s voice choked off with his emotion. “You have to come home now. That’s an order,” Max commanded.
“Max, there’s no way I’m leaving that baby here with them. You don’t know what it’s like out here…”
“Michael! No arguments. We’re not going to lose you over this! Get. Home. NOW!”
“I’m sorry, Max. I can’t do that.” Michael stared at his phone for a second before clicking it completely off and getting up from the bed. He had to make a plan with Jim and Serena.
The penthouse phone started ringing abruptly. Michael darted from the room just in time to stop Serena from answering. “Don’t pick it up,” Michael demanded softly. “Maria’s pretty mad at me right now and I don’t feel like dealing with it.”
Serena arched a delicate brow but let the phone click over to their answering service. “What’s going on, Michael? You seem upset.”
Michael raked a hand through his tousled hair and squeezed his eyes closed, quickly thinking about how to play this one. “I found out that there’s a meeting tomorrow at noon. It’s at the warehouse that they took Max to when they wanted to make sure he was the real king. They’re taking the baby there tomorrow to test him, and I’ve gotta be there too. I want to know if it really is Max’s kid, but either way we can’t let those people keep him. I don’t know what they’re gonna do to him if he’s not Max’s kid and I have to be there to stop them. And if he is Max’s son then…They just can’t keep him. It’s not an option.”
Serena nodded slowly, mind ticking through various scenarios already. “All right. We should go out to the warehouse tonight with Jim and scope out the best hiding places. Then we need to call Max and find out exactly where this warehouse is so we can…”
“I know where it is,” Michael interrupted, not wanting her to continue that line of thought. “I’ve already talked to Max tonight, so we know everything we need to know. They need some time alone now, so don’t interrupt them.” Michael moved toward the hall to fill Jim in on the new plan. “Can you put some newspapers into that box and pour some cream for Thor?” He requested, trying to keep Serena occupied.
“Sure, Michael,” she agreed softly, watching his anxious movements speculatively. “I’ll take care of it right away.”
“Thanks.” Michael rubbed his thumb over his right eyebrow, easing the tension there and disappeared down the hallway.
TBC
EYA 113
Bored. Entire new levels of mind-numbing boredom. Alex tied off the latest in a series of tiny braids he’d created in Maria’s hair and huffed a sigh of the bitterly put-upon before reaching for another length of hair.
“Do I…”
“Yes.”
“But…”
“Hey, buddy, I gave you the choice.” Maria twisted to level The Look at him.
“Fine.” Alex started twining a new length of hair together with minute, practiced precision. To be fair, she had given him a choice, he could be the one getting the tiny braids. It’d happened before. One of the many hazards of being best friends with girls. Many, many hazards.
A loud thumping sound from the kitchen had Maria twisting again, moving up on her knees on the floor from her place in front of the couch to look over Alex’s shoulder and making him lose his grip on her hair.
“Hey! You don’t want to see…” Alex watched with a tiny smirk of satisfaction as Maria curled her lip in disgust and quickly faced forward again. He resumed braiding with a slightly better attitude. “I tried to tell you.”
“Yeah, yeah whatever,” Maria grumbled, flashing on the image of Isabel and Kyle wrapped all around each other in Max and Liz’s kitchen all hands and tongues in inappropriate-for-teenage-viewing places. “People wash dishes in that sink!” She called out snarkily.
There was a small crash that signified a probable location change, possibly in acknowledgment of her point, but Maria wasn’t brave enough to verify the issue. “This is the last time I volunteer to be Max and Liz’s test subject.”
“Control group,” Alex corrected automatically, eying the slightly crooked braid in his hand critically before slowly undoing it to start over. Just a little uneven at the end.
“Control group, my ass,” Maria snarked again. “How are we supposed to even know if Max and Liz are, you know…if the only thing the entire other half of our ‘control group’ is gonna do is make out in there?” And was that a moan? She rolled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that night. “Maybe the heat only affects people if they’re already attracted to each other. Do you think Max and Liz are actually doing it right now and the heat is only affecting them?”
“Maybe,” Alex agreed. “’Cause I’m sure not feelin’ anything right now. You?”
Maria let out an involuntary shudder at the thought, “God no!”
“Well you don’t have to make it sound so insulting, do you?”
“Whatever. I’m calling Michael.” Maria reached for the cordless phone on the coffee table in front of her, making Alex lean forward with her so as not to demolish the braid-in-progress.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“You need a name,” Michael stated in a soothing voice as his hand glowed softly over his kitten’s broken limb. The kitten struggled briefly, but didn’t make a sound. So brave for one so small. Michael gritted his teeth and wished he was better at the healing thing as he tried to distract the squirming bundle with his gentle tone. “Something strong; tough, like you…” Michael trailed off in concentration as he focused on the power running from him to his charge. With a final burst of heat and energy he sagged back with the kitten cuddled to his chest. “Best I can do, buddy,” he half-apologized, turning the kitten to face him and barely resisting the urge to kiss its fuzzy forehead. “Thor,” he decided with a note of finality.
“Thor?” From the doorway.
Michael jumped and managed to look defiant and guilty at the same time. Serena thought it was a good look on him as she leaned into the room and watched him cradle the small creature protectively in his large hands.
“I was just…He was hurt and…” Michael heaved a sigh and turned the kitten to face her. “Serena, meet Thor.”
“Hmm. Cute kitten, Michael.” She moved further into the room, deciding not to embarrass him with her awed amazement after witnessing how he had healed the calico kitten moments ago. She dropped a box and some newspapers onto the bed beside him and produced a shallow dish and a pint of cream from the deep pocket of the white lab coat she was wearing. “Thought you could make use of these,” she murmured as she watched the kitten climb Michael’s chest to rest on his shoulder.
“I…Thanks. How did you know?”
Serena raised an eyebrow as she reached out a hand to touch the little ball of velvety fur, not surprised when the baby batted her hand away and snuggled closer into Michael’s skin. “After you ran out of here so fast we listened to the tape to see what might have set you off. When you came back with that guilty look and bulge in your jacket I kinda put two and two together.” She moved back to the doorway and leaned on the frame. “What made you do it?”
“Nothing. I didn’t mean to…” Michael scratched his eyebrow and unconsciously leaned into the kitten’s insistent burrowing nudges against his neck. “He was all alone, and I couldn’t leave him there. Life is tough enough without having to try to survive alone against those kinds of odds,” he confessed finally. “So…I thought I’d give him a better start than that. He’s a fighter.”
“I think you’re right, and with a name like Thor…” Serena trailed off, prepared to leave.
“Yeah. Thought it’d help him remember to be tough.” Michael smiled whimsically.
Serena nodded and turned, pausing with her back to him before looking over her shoulder at them with a raised eyebrow. “One more thing, Michael….”
“Yeah?”
“Thor’s a girl”
“Son of a…”
The soft chime of his borrowed cell phone cut off the obscenity and allowed him to ignore Serena’s chuckling departure. “What?” He answered gruffly, glaring at his kitten and feeling slightly betrayed.
“Well hello to you too, grouchy pants,” Maria taunted, miffed at the way he answered her phone.
“What do you want, Maria?”
Thor set to purring and pushing her head against Michael’s chin until he gave in and pet her, moving her to his chest and laying back on the bed.
“Well, it’d be nice if my boyfriend called me every once in awhile to let me know how things are going. World peace would be good, and a piece of chocolate pie with lot’s of whipped cream wouldn’t be turned down either, but it looks like I’m not gonna get any of that, now am I?”
“I take if you’re having a bad day?” Michael rolled his eyes and looked to Thor for sympathy. She simply pushed her head harder into his rubbing hand and flopped over onto her side on his chest, purring loudly.
“Well if you call spending the evening hanging out in Max and Liz’s living room with Alex so they can go at in the next room to test out if they can control the heat thingy while Kyle and Isabel are in the kitchen discovering new and apparently fascinating things about each others tonsils having a bad day then, yes, that’s what I’m having. You?”
“I’m good thanks. Exactly how long have you been there, ‘cause Max and Liz haven’t had sex since this morning.”
“I knew it! We’ve been here for almost two hours, and how would you…Never mind. I don’t want to know.” There was a muffled sound of shifting movement and then Michael winced and held the phone away from his ear as Maria shouted triumphantly, “Get off of her Kyle! You can’t blame this on the heat Michael says they haven’t done it since this morning!”
Kyle looked up dazedly, lips reddened and swollen from his recent activities. “What? We never get the chance to be alone together anymore, so we have to take our opportunities when we can!”
Maria snorted. “You need to seriously re-evaluate your definition of alone, buddy!”
Maria plopped back down in front of Alex and leaned back against the couch between his knees while making a concerted effort not to think about what all this meant about their twisted inter-relationships. Definitely time to change the subject.
“Why don’t you ever call me?”
Michael rolled his eyes behind closed lids and stroked his fingers though the silken hair at his kitten’s belly. “Well, I would call you, but I noticed that my home number wasn’t number one on your speed dial so I spent some time trying fix your obvious oversight and reprogram this thing so that…” an evil grin spread over his face as he waited for …three…two…one…
“YOU WHAT?! Tell me you did not mess with the programming of my phone! You can’t even imagine how long it took me to…”
Michael valiantly tried not to laugh out loud at the expected outburst. At least she wasn’t bored anymore. He was such a good boyfriend. And she was so gullible…As if he would ever dare to reprogram her precious phone!
Finally she started to wind down about the phone thing. Time to give her something else to think about. He tickled Thor’s belly as an evil smile spread over his face. “You know, Maria, I’ve met a new girl out here today. She’s tough and beautiful, green eyes and gorgeous hair. And quiet. She really listens to me. You should meet her sometime. Take some notes…”
“Notes? Have you completely lost your mind, Michael? Tell me you’ve gotten in touch with your feminine side and bought yourself a Barbie doll, because if you’ve met some hoochie out there and think she’s gonna accept all the crap from you that I do then we’ve got bigger problems than I ever imagined…”
Michael smiled and settled in for another long rant, wincing only slightly when the decibels started to climb. He was so good at getting her mind off her troubles.
Alex rolled his eyes and continued to braid Maria’s hair, matching his movements to her wild gesticulations as she berated Michael for something or other. Trust Michael to push all her buttons at once. He glanced up at a sound from the bedroom.
Max and Liz appeared suddenly in the doorway of their room looking decidedly uneasy. “What?” Alex asked anxiously, dropping the braid and trying to shake Maria’s shoulder to get her attention. “What’s wrong now?”
Maria shook him off in favor of trying to get more information about the slut Michael had been raving about. “She’s with you right now, isn’t she? Michael, I swear if you touch her even once I’m going to…”
“That’s Michael?” Max interrupted her tirade. “Give me the phone, I have to talk to him.” Max held out his hand insistently.
“Wait just a minute, Max. Michael’s got some slut with him right now and I have to find out…”
“Give me the phone, Maria,” Max demanded again in a no-nonsense tone.
Maria stared up at him wordlessly, handing over the phone without another comment. Looking back and forth between Max and Liz she felt fear creep up her spine. Something big was going on.
“Michael? Max here.”
Michael sat up straight, dumping Thor into an unceremonious heap onto the mattress beside him. Max’s anxiety practically hummed over the phone line.
“What is it, Max?”
“We’ve had another vision. They’re meeting at the same warehouse where they tested me tomorrow at noon. You’ve got to get out of there, they’re going to catch you.”
“What? How do you…”
“We saw it, Michael. They were getting ready to test the baby and you were hiding behind a bunch of crates when your cell phone rang. They chased you and…” Max’s voice choked off with his emotion. “You have to come home now. That’s an order,” Max commanded.
“Max, there’s no way I’m leaving that baby here with them. You don’t know what it’s like out here…”
“Michael! No arguments. We’re not going to lose you over this! Get. Home. NOW!”
“I’m sorry, Max. I can’t do that.” Michael stared at his phone for a second before clicking it completely off and getting up from the bed. He had to make a plan with Jim and Serena.
The penthouse phone started ringing abruptly. Michael darted from the room just in time to stop Serena from answering. “Don’t pick it up,” Michael demanded softly. “Maria’s pretty mad at me right now and I don’t feel like dealing with it.”
Serena arched a delicate brow but let the phone click over to their answering service. “What’s going on, Michael? You seem upset.”
Michael raked a hand through his tousled hair and squeezed his eyes closed, quickly thinking about how to play this one. “I found out that there’s a meeting tomorrow at noon. It’s at the warehouse that they took Max to when they wanted to make sure he was the real king. They’re taking the baby there tomorrow to test him, and I’ve gotta be there too. I want to know if it really is Max’s kid, but either way we can’t let those people keep him. I don’t know what they’re gonna do to him if he’s not Max’s kid and I have to be there to stop them. And if he is Max’s son then…They just can’t keep him. It’s not an option.”
Serena nodded slowly, mind ticking through various scenarios already. “All right. We should go out to the warehouse tonight with Jim and scope out the best hiding places. Then we need to call Max and find out exactly where this warehouse is so we can…”
“I know where it is,” Michael interrupted, not wanting her to continue that line of thought. “I’ve already talked to Max tonight, so we know everything we need to know. They need some time alone now, so don’t interrupt them.” Michael moved toward the hall to fill Jim in on the new plan. “Can you put some newspapers into that box and pour some cream for Thor?” He requested, trying to keep Serena occupied.
“Sure, Michael,” she agreed softly, watching his anxious movements speculatively. “I’ll take care of it right away.”
“Thanks.” Michael rubbed his thumb over his right eyebrow, easing the tension there and disappeared down the hallway.
TBC
Last edited by javagin on Fri Aug 06, 2004 11:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.
EYA 114
Hello!
I've been sitting on this part for weeks. Something was wrong with it, and I couldn't think what it was until recently. Turns out Max and Liz kept trying to run off and do naughty, innappropriate for the scene things, and I had to rein them back in. Back on track now though!
Here you go:
EYA 114
“Okay, so we all know the plan, right?” Jim briefly looked at Serena and Michael for confirmation as he cleared the table in front of him of the debris from their strategy session.
Michael and Serena nodded solemnly. Both knew this was what they had been waiting for; the one thing that could calm Max’s fears and let them all breathe again without guilt eating them away.
“Easy,” Michael assured him. “You and I go stake out the warehouse. I find a good position inside to listen in on what they’re doing and you back me up from the alley behind Third Street while Serena stays here and monitors the listening devices in case the plans change at the last minute. The ringer’s on vibrate on the cell so Serena can let us know if she hears anything vital, and I’ll be up in the old ventilation pipes, so Liz’s vision can’t have a chance to come true.”
“We’ve changed your location and turned off the ringer, but what if there’s something else we need to change now? I still think we should go over this with Max and Liz,” Jim asserted again, watching Michael’s face closely for a reaction.
“No. I already told you,” Michael interjected quickly, obviously tired of repeating it. He rubbed a hard calloused hand over his eyes wearily. “They’re busy. We can’t disturb them right now.”
“Busy?” Jim was skeptical.
“You know. Busy,” Michael reasserted calmly raising and lowering his eyebrows to imply what they might be doing. “As in ‘Can’t be disturbed.’ I told you this already.”
“How can you possibly know if they’re still…I mean they can’t realistically be taking this long, Michael. We’ve been in here for an hour and a half!”
“Are you asking me a serious question here?” Michael demanded in a harsh tone, starting to pace. His hands waved in the air in an impatient gesture of dismissal. “Where have you been the last few months? I always know!” Michael whirled to face Jim, openly daring him to call him a liar. “And if you don’t think it can take over an hour than you’ve been doing it wrong. Besides, this is Max and Liz!”
Jim stared hard into Michael’s eyes, finally admitting defeat. “Fine. I just think someone should know what we’re doing.”
“I’ll call Maria,” Michael offered, too quickly. He grabbed the cell from off the side table and quickly left the room.
Jim turned to Serena, shrugging helplessly. “What do you think is really going on?”
Serena stood motionless, watching the open doorway, head tilted as she assessed the situation. “I’m not sure. I mean, it’s possible he’s telling the truth, but I don’t like that no one knows.” She stood and slowly walked toward the door, leaning on the frame and staring after Michael before turning back to Jim. “He is talking to someone, so maybe he really called Maria to let her know.”
Jim shook his head and studied the warehouse floor plans they’d printed from the internet. “Something doesn’t feel right. Max should know what we’re planning.”
“I agree. I’ll call over there after you two have left to get into position.”
Jim nodded in silent agreement.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Michael paced impatiently in the living room as he held Maria’s cell phone to his ear and waited for the machine to pick up at his apartment in Roswell. He breathed a sigh of relief as his own recorded voice played back to him.
“You know what to do.” BEEEEP
“Hey, listen, Maria. This is for you. I figured I’d leave you a message on my phone since I know you’ll check it eventually in case I…Well, let’s just say I hope you don’t have to have the chance to hear this. I just wanted to let you know that I’m not just running off to do this without thinking it through. I’ve done nothing but think about it since we found out about the kid.
“I just wanted you to understand that I can’t sit back while Max suffers and wonders if this was something else that was taken from him. I can’t do that. We have to know.” He took a deep breath and looked to the ceiling before he could continue. “It’s more than that now too. Either way, Max’s kid or not, they can’t have him. I’ve already decided that. I don’t care what it takes, they can’t raise him. After everything we’ve heard…You’ll understand after you talk to Serena and Jim.
“Anyway. That’s it I guess. I just wanted you to know that no matter what happens, this is my choice and for once, I know I’m doing the right thing.” He paused, carefully considering what he had said before adding softly. “I love you. I hope I see you soon.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it before slowly clicking it off.
“Okay,” he whispered softly to himself. “It’s on.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>
“Nobody’s picking up.” Max slammed the phone down in frustration, having dialed the cell and left four increasingly angry messages and intermittently calling Serena’s land line in New York. It was set to roll straight to the answering service, not allowing the occupants to pick up. “Dammit,” he swore in defeat.
“We have to do something,” Maria insisted wildly, not caring how out of control her voice was sounding. “We can’t just let him…”
“I know that, Maria!” Max rounded on her in exasperation, “but what do you suggest? We’ll never get there in time and…”
“We have to try! Don’t you see? He’s going to do something stupid and get himself killed…” Maria’s breath stuttered out as a sob choked in her throat. “We have to…”
Liz gathered her broken friend into her arms, looking pleadingly over Maria’s shoulder for support from the rest of the room. Alex quickly stepped up and joined them while Kyle and Isabel watched helplessly from the sidelines. “Shh, it’s okay, Maria,” he murmured softly into her temple. “Michael knows what they saw. He’ll be prepared.”
“Yeah, Maria,” Liz added soothingly. “Maybe my vision was just a warning. Maybe we stopped it from happening by telling him about it and he can avoid the pitfalls. He’s not walking in blind this time. I know he’ll be careful, he has a lot to come home to.”
Maria was nodding, sniffling while she tried to believe them. “Yeah, it makes sense, maybe…” but she didn’t really believe it. Michael had some new Barbie Doll hoochie to pant after now. Maybe he didn’t even want to come home anymore.
“You guys need to leave,” Max interrupted abruptly, not noticing the stares of disbelief from all of their friends as he stared hard at Liz.
“What?!” Maria wiped her nose on the Kleenex Liz offered, sure Max didn’t mean it.
“I’m serious,” Max affirmed. “There’s nothing you can do here. I’ll keep calling, keep leaving messages, and we’ll meet up in the morning to figure out what to do. We don’t even know if he’s planning anything, but we have to remember that Jim and Serena are there monitoring the situation and they should be able to contain it if Michael wants to leap before he looks. He’s a good soldier, he’ll do everything he can to make sure this comes out right. We have to have faith in that.” Max pulled Liz down into his lap and leaned his head against her shoulder. “It’s late, we’re all tired and not thinking straight. Go home, get some rest. We need to be fresh tomorrow no matter what is going on.”
Maria shook her head. “There’s no way I can sleep knowing…”
“Nothing’s going to happen until noon tomorrow,” Max interrupted. “We’ll think of something. Someone will call us back after Michael’s calmed down. I know it, okay?”
Maria slowly nodded, wiping her eyes as she stood to go.
“I’ll give you a ride,” Alex volunteered, already at her side making sure she put her shoes on the right feet and gathered her purse.
Kyle and Isabel stood to follow them out the door.
“Is?” Max queried softly.
Isabel turned in the doorway, indicating to Kyle that she would catch up to him in a minute. “Yes, Max?”
Max looked between Liz and Isabel. “We’re going to need you tomorrow.”
Isabel’s eyebrows squinched together becomingly in her confusion. “How do you mean?”
Max’s fingers tightened convulsively over Liz’s arms as he took a deep breath. “We need to be there. In New York, I mean.” Max tilted his head into Liz’s neck and inhaled the fresh citrus scent of her shampoo to calm him. “For Michael.”
“Oh.” Isabel nodded faintly, remembering when she had helped Liz find Max when he’d gone to New York with the dupes. She slanted a gaze at Liz, remembering the brevity of the visit and how draining it had been to maintain. Liz had passed out for hours after it was over. The weight of what Max was asking was not lost on her and the seriousness of Michael’s situation slammed home as it hadn’t before. No way Max would ask that of Liz again unless it was life-or-death. “Of course. When should we…”
“Tomorrow,” Max answered. “Meet us here in the morning and we’ll get started. We have to make sure he doesn’t get himself in any more trouble.”
“Okay.” Isabel agreed as she turned to leave. She needed to try to get some rest, even if she knew sleep was an impossibility.
Max’s hand crept around Liz’s side, fingers curling under the hem of the shirt at her stomach, causing her to inhale deeply and relax back against him.
“Max?” Liz inquired softly, turning her head so she could see his face clearly. “Are we ready for this?”
Max’s jaw set firmly as he slowly nodded. “We have to be.”
TBC
I've been sitting on this part for weeks. Something was wrong with it, and I couldn't think what it was until recently. Turns out Max and Liz kept trying to run off and do naughty, innappropriate for the scene things, and I had to rein them back in. Back on track now though!
Here you go:
EYA 114
“Okay, so we all know the plan, right?” Jim briefly looked at Serena and Michael for confirmation as he cleared the table in front of him of the debris from their strategy session.
Michael and Serena nodded solemnly. Both knew this was what they had been waiting for; the one thing that could calm Max’s fears and let them all breathe again without guilt eating them away.
“Easy,” Michael assured him. “You and I go stake out the warehouse. I find a good position inside to listen in on what they’re doing and you back me up from the alley behind Third Street while Serena stays here and monitors the listening devices in case the plans change at the last minute. The ringer’s on vibrate on the cell so Serena can let us know if she hears anything vital, and I’ll be up in the old ventilation pipes, so Liz’s vision can’t have a chance to come true.”
“We’ve changed your location and turned off the ringer, but what if there’s something else we need to change now? I still think we should go over this with Max and Liz,” Jim asserted again, watching Michael’s face closely for a reaction.
“No. I already told you,” Michael interjected quickly, obviously tired of repeating it. He rubbed a hard calloused hand over his eyes wearily. “They’re busy. We can’t disturb them right now.”
“Busy?” Jim was skeptical.
“You know. Busy,” Michael reasserted calmly raising and lowering his eyebrows to imply what they might be doing. “As in ‘Can’t be disturbed.’ I told you this already.”
“How can you possibly know if they’re still…I mean they can’t realistically be taking this long, Michael. We’ve been in here for an hour and a half!”
“Are you asking me a serious question here?” Michael demanded in a harsh tone, starting to pace. His hands waved in the air in an impatient gesture of dismissal. “Where have you been the last few months? I always know!” Michael whirled to face Jim, openly daring him to call him a liar. “And if you don’t think it can take over an hour than you’ve been doing it wrong. Besides, this is Max and Liz!”
Jim stared hard into Michael’s eyes, finally admitting defeat. “Fine. I just think someone should know what we’re doing.”
“I’ll call Maria,” Michael offered, too quickly. He grabbed the cell from off the side table and quickly left the room.
Jim turned to Serena, shrugging helplessly. “What do you think is really going on?”
Serena stood motionless, watching the open doorway, head tilted as she assessed the situation. “I’m not sure. I mean, it’s possible he’s telling the truth, but I don’t like that no one knows.” She stood and slowly walked toward the door, leaning on the frame and staring after Michael before turning back to Jim. “He is talking to someone, so maybe he really called Maria to let her know.”
Jim shook his head and studied the warehouse floor plans they’d printed from the internet. “Something doesn’t feel right. Max should know what we’re planning.”
“I agree. I’ll call over there after you two have left to get into position.”
Jim nodded in silent agreement.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Michael paced impatiently in the living room as he held Maria’s cell phone to his ear and waited for the machine to pick up at his apartment in Roswell. He breathed a sigh of relief as his own recorded voice played back to him.
“You know what to do.” BEEEEP
“Hey, listen, Maria. This is for you. I figured I’d leave you a message on my phone since I know you’ll check it eventually in case I…Well, let’s just say I hope you don’t have to have the chance to hear this. I just wanted to let you know that I’m not just running off to do this without thinking it through. I’ve done nothing but think about it since we found out about the kid.
“I just wanted you to understand that I can’t sit back while Max suffers and wonders if this was something else that was taken from him. I can’t do that. We have to know.” He took a deep breath and looked to the ceiling before he could continue. “It’s more than that now too. Either way, Max’s kid or not, they can’t have him. I’ve already decided that. I don’t care what it takes, they can’t raise him. After everything we’ve heard…You’ll understand after you talk to Serena and Jim.
“Anyway. That’s it I guess. I just wanted you to know that no matter what happens, this is my choice and for once, I know I’m doing the right thing.” He paused, carefully considering what he had said before adding softly. “I love you. I hope I see you soon.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it before slowly clicking it off.
“Okay,” he whispered softly to himself. “It’s on.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>
“Nobody’s picking up.” Max slammed the phone down in frustration, having dialed the cell and left four increasingly angry messages and intermittently calling Serena’s land line in New York. It was set to roll straight to the answering service, not allowing the occupants to pick up. “Dammit,” he swore in defeat.
“We have to do something,” Maria insisted wildly, not caring how out of control her voice was sounding. “We can’t just let him…”
“I know that, Maria!” Max rounded on her in exasperation, “but what do you suggest? We’ll never get there in time and…”
“We have to try! Don’t you see? He’s going to do something stupid and get himself killed…” Maria’s breath stuttered out as a sob choked in her throat. “We have to…”
Liz gathered her broken friend into her arms, looking pleadingly over Maria’s shoulder for support from the rest of the room. Alex quickly stepped up and joined them while Kyle and Isabel watched helplessly from the sidelines. “Shh, it’s okay, Maria,” he murmured softly into her temple. “Michael knows what they saw. He’ll be prepared.”
“Yeah, Maria,” Liz added soothingly. “Maybe my vision was just a warning. Maybe we stopped it from happening by telling him about it and he can avoid the pitfalls. He’s not walking in blind this time. I know he’ll be careful, he has a lot to come home to.”
Maria was nodding, sniffling while she tried to believe them. “Yeah, it makes sense, maybe…” but she didn’t really believe it. Michael had some new Barbie Doll hoochie to pant after now. Maybe he didn’t even want to come home anymore.
“You guys need to leave,” Max interrupted abruptly, not noticing the stares of disbelief from all of their friends as he stared hard at Liz.
“What?!” Maria wiped her nose on the Kleenex Liz offered, sure Max didn’t mean it.
“I’m serious,” Max affirmed. “There’s nothing you can do here. I’ll keep calling, keep leaving messages, and we’ll meet up in the morning to figure out what to do. We don’t even know if he’s planning anything, but we have to remember that Jim and Serena are there monitoring the situation and they should be able to contain it if Michael wants to leap before he looks. He’s a good soldier, he’ll do everything he can to make sure this comes out right. We have to have faith in that.” Max pulled Liz down into his lap and leaned his head against her shoulder. “It’s late, we’re all tired and not thinking straight. Go home, get some rest. We need to be fresh tomorrow no matter what is going on.”
Maria shook her head. “There’s no way I can sleep knowing…”
“Nothing’s going to happen until noon tomorrow,” Max interrupted. “We’ll think of something. Someone will call us back after Michael’s calmed down. I know it, okay?”
Maria slowly nodded, wiping her eyes as she stood to go.
“I’ll give you a ride,” Alex volunteered, already at her side making sure she put her shoes on the right feet and gathered her purse.
Kyle and Isabel stood to follow them out the door.
“Is?” Max queried softly.
Isabel turned in the doorway, indicating to Kyle that she would catch up to him in a minute. “Yes, Max?”
Max looked between Liz and Isabel. “We’re going to need you tomorrow.”
Isabel’s eyebrows squinched together becomingly in her confusion. “How do you mean?”
Max’s fingers tightened convulsively over Liz’s arms as he took a deep breath. “We need to be there. In New York, I mean.” Max tilted his head into Liz’s neck and inhaled the fresh citrus scent of her shampoo to calm him. “For Michael.”
“Oh.” Isabel nodded faintly, remembering when she had helped Liz find Max when he’d gone to New York with the dupes. She slanted a gaze at Liz, remembering the brevity of the visit and how draining it had been to maintain. Liz had passed out for hours after it was over. The weight of what Max was asking was not lost on her and the seriousness of Michael’s situation slammed home as it hadn’t before. No way Max would ask that of Liz again unless it was life-or-death. “Of course. When should we…”
“Tomorrow,” Max answered. “Meet us here in the morning and we’ll get started. We have to make sure he doesn’t get himself in any more trouble.”
“Okay.” Isabel agreed as she turned to leave. She needed to try to get some rest, even if she knew sleep was an impossibility.
Max’s hand crept around Liz’s side, fingers curling under the hem of the shirt at her stomach, causing her to inhale deeply and relax back against him.
“Max?” Liz inquired softly, turning her head so she could see his face clearly. “Are we ready for this?”
Max’s jaw set firmly as he slowly nodded. “We have to be.”
TBC
EYA 115
EYA Part 115
Michael cursed softly as he attempted to shift his torso once again in the cramped space of the ventilation shaft he was lodged in. His belt buckle dug into the tender skin at his stomach in his new position, but he decided to ignore it for as long as he could. The shaft provided an almost unobstructed view of the entire warehouse floor, and since Michael didn’t know which direction the council would be coming in from that was important.
Jim and Michael had spent the pre-dawn hours of the morning installing listening devices around the vast open space, and Michael nervously tapped his fingers over the control device, silently going over which button activated which receivers. He needed to hear it all.
“Dammit,” he whispered suddenly, shifting again until the belt buckle became less painful. “Get out of my head, Liz.” He shook his head as if he could magically rid himself of the soft buzz of Liz’s call. She was persistent, he had to give her that. Throughout the night and into the morning he had felt the pull of their connection, begging him to let her in. He closed her out mercilessly, not wanting to hear again about how the plan was doomed to fail. He’d adjusted all the parameters that had doomed the plan to failure the first time, and was confident that this new plan would work. It had to.
Maria’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket yet again. Michael ignored it like he had the last seven times and let it roll to voice mail without checking who was calling. He knew what the messages would say without having to hear them.
*******
“Dammit, Michael! Pick up the phone,” Maria fumed again, before leaving another scathing message and hanging up loudly.
“Calm down, Maria,” Alex soothed, rubbing her lower back in slow circles to calm her. “Liz’s plan is going to work.”
Isabel was shaking her head though. “Uh uh. I don’t like the plan! There’s no way I’m gonna sit in there while my brother and his wife go into heat! That’s just…No.”
“Come on, Is. You know Michael is forced into connecting with Liz whether he wants to or not during the heat. It’s the only sure-fire way to make him listen. Hey, I’ll even volunteer to go in there with you,” Kyle cajoled with a sly smile, sifting his fingers through her silky hair. “I’ll be your reinforcement.” He nuzzled the tender skin by her ear and whispered, “Your bodyguard.”
“I bet,” Alex muttered, laughing into Maria’s ear. “He just wants to watch the hottest live action por…”
Maria coughed abruptly, whapping the back of her hand into Alex’s chest to make him stop talking. “Hey, Liz. Max!”
“Hi, guys,” Liz returned wearily.
“No luck?” Kyle questioned, although from the looks of Max and Liz as they stumbled out of their room he already knew the answer.
“Nothing,” Max said, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Michael’s being stubborn and blocking out Liz.”
“Which means the only way to get through is to…” Liz turned beseeching eyes onto Isabel. “Isabel? Have you thought about what…”
“Yes! Fine. I’ll do it, but Michael’s gonna pay for this, I swear.” Isabel’s outburst was not unexpected.
“Don’t worry, Is, I’ll be there for you too,” Kyle soothed eagerly, moving in to buss a light kiss over her pink-tinged cheek.
Isabel pushed Kyle away firmly. “I don’t think so, buddy. You know what happens when couples get too close to the love-fest. I have other things I need to concentrate on and you’re a big enough distraction as it is!”
“But…”
“No.”
“But what if I just…”
“No!”
“I could…”
“Kyle.” The warning note was unmistakable.
“Fine.” Kyle huffed out a disappointed breath.
“Fine.” Isabel nodded in satisfaction.
“So you think I’m distracting, huh?” Kyle pulled Isabel to him by his light grip on her hips, prepared to forgive and forget.
“Kyle!”
Maria sidled up closer to Liz taking her arm and gently steering her away so she could speak with her privately. “Michael’s not answering the phone. Were you able to get through to him at all?”
Liz rubbed her fingertips over her eyelids and shook her head wishing her headache would fade away. It had been a long night, with no real sleep. “Not really, no. Enough to know that he’s deliberately blocking me out. If he could just listen to me for one minute we could settle on a plan, but…”
“But he’s too stubborn for that.” Maria finished for her.
“Yeah. He wouldn’t be Michael if he wasn’t stubborn, I guess.”
“Yeah.” Maria studied her friend for a moment before carefully asking her next question. “Michael…he wasn’t, uh, with anyone, was he? I mean, could you sense what he was doing? Because if that Barbie doll hoochie lays one finger on him I swear I’ll…”
“Maria, no! I mean, I don’t think so. He’s blocking me out, and besides I don’t think Michael would do that to you.”
“You’d be surprised,” Maria muttered sourly, not looking appeased.
Liz rubbed a hand soothingly over Maria’s shoulders and pulled her in close to her side. “It’ll all work out. You’ll see.”
Maria took a deep breath and nodded, trying to blink away impending tears. “I hope so.”
“So!” Kyle clapped his hands together loudly to get everyone’s attention. “How long ‘til…” he fisted his hands in front of himself and rolled his hips obscenely, “boom-chicka-mow-mowww?”
“Kyle!” Four voices admonished him at once, shocked, while Isabel hid her smile behind her hand and shook her head at her audacious boyfriend’s antics.
********
Michael felt the sweat start to trickle down his temple and swiped at it impatiently. It had been a long wait, but he knew the time was getting close. He squirmed slightly more forward and peered through the grate of the vent.
A loud noise made him jump nervously. His pulse pounded so hard he could feel it in his fingertips as his gaze darted in the direction of the noise. “Yes,” he hissed softly. “It’s on,” he directed to Jim through the com unit.
“Got it,” Jim tersely replied. “How many?”
Michael peered around again, doing a headcount. “Two. Wait, no, three. Looks like they’re setting up,” he whispered.
“Let me know when the rest arrive. All clear out here so far, no sign of our group yet,” Jim replied, cutting off the communication.
Michael watched two men and a woman begin pulling chairs and a table across the floor to a location slightly to the right of his vantage point. Perfect.
The taller of the men went back to the entrance they had used and picked up a bulky metal briefcase, taking it to the table and propping it open. With no words exchanged between them, the other two completed the set-up and seated themselves at the table. The tall man removed several odd-looking implements from the briefcase before closing it again.
Michael’s breathing became more labored as the sweat poured down his face. With dawning horror he realized what was happening. ‘No, no, no, no! Liz!’
‘Michael! Thank God! You have to listen to me…’
Michael flinched violently when she appeared in the ventilation shaft beside him. ‘Liz! It’s too late to talk me out of it! They’re here!’
‘What? No! It’s too early!’
‘Look!’ Michael gestured to the front of him. ‘Now get out! Let Max take care of you. I don’t need this to distract me right now!’
He watched with desperate eyes as Liz’s image faded and became strong again. ‘I’ll leave for now, Michael, if you promise to leave the link open. You need me to get you out of here. I’ve seen it!’
‘Fine. Anything. Go!’
Michael watched as Liz’s image faded, but felt the link strong and sure. He should have known that ignoring them wasn’t going to work. He re-directed his attention to the three seated at the rectangular table below him, hoping he hadn’t missed anything. The three still sat there, hands folded on the table top and staring silently straight ahead of themselves. Exciting bunch, he thought derisively to himself.
He squirmed uncomfortably as his hard erection objected to being smashed between the unyielding metal of the vent and his body. He sent bitter thoughts through the link, knowing Liz and Max were too absorbed in their activities to pay any attention to him. He hoped desperately that they would make it quick. His wish was answered five minutes later as his body spasmed with release and he felt the intense heat cool sharply to bearable proportions. He wedged a hand down toward the front of his jeans and waved away the mess he had made. He was going to kill them!
“Incoming,” Jim hissed through the com.
“Got it,” Michael whispered, feeling Liz through the connection listening in. Michael scooted as far forward as the vent would allow and peered toward the entrance.
Ava walked in carrying the crying baby first, while Lonnie and Rath followed noisily, Lonnie whistling to hear the echoes and Rath banging on the metal door and support beams with a length of pipe he had picked up in the alley.
“Yo! We’re here,” Rath announced unnecessarily to the group assembled at the table. “Where’s the fourth?” He turned a chair around and straddled it backwards, staring at the assembled group.
“Larek has not yet arrived,” Kathana answered calmly, not reacting to Rath’s attempts to rattle them. “Sero and Hanar will administer the test while we wait.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever. Bring the kid ova here, Ava,” Rath ordered harshly, snapping his fingers and pointed downward at the table in front of him.
Michael watched as Ava approached the table, attempting to keep a good grip on the squirming child in her arms. The baby’s face was red from crying and his bare arms waived feebly in the air. He suppressed his urge to curse out loud even as he heard Liz’s harsh gasp in the link. He knew if he looked to the side he would once again see Liz’s image beside him. ‘Where’s Max?’
‘The link isn’t strong enough, he’s watching through my eyes,’ Liz responded, not taking her eyes off the action below.
They watched in silence as the group below sorted through the various implements Sero had set out from the briefcase earlier. “Hold up the child,” Sero commanded, sitting straight up in his chair and indicating the baby be held in front of him. Hanar rose and picked up the baby, holding him under the arms with his feet dangling over Sero’s lap. His fingers supported the back of the baby’s head when he realized the boy could not hold it up himself.
Kathana turned to Ava. “You are the mother of this child?”
Ava shook her head. “No. My dupe is. Was. Whatever, she’s dead now, but she told me that Max Evans was the daddy! That makes this the child of the prophecy.”
“And you claim that Max Evans, the rightful king of Antar, is now dead?”
“Yeah. That’s what Tess said. She said she saw it herself in the Granolith chamber. It almost got her too, but she got out!”
“The Granolith chamber!” Kathana stood up, gripping Ava’s arm tightly. “Where is it?” Her voice was an urgent echo in the open room.
Ava stepped back, trying to pull her arm free of the punishing grip. “I don’t know! I was never there,” she cried out desperately. “None of us knows and Max and Isabel are both dead now and so’s Tess! She died givin’ birth to the son of the king! No one knows where the chamber is now. She didn’t tell us nothing, I swear!”
Michael and Liz watched from above with baited breath, waiting to see what would happpen. Kathana finally shook her head, keeping her hold on Ava’s arm. “Proceed with the test and we will deal with this later,” she ordered the men.
“Come on. Come on!” Lonnie muttered impatiently under her breath. She couldn’t wait for the test to be over with so they could negotiate a way back home.
Sero picked up a silvery metal bar and held it up behind the squirming baby’s head. His crying sobs had settled down into exhausted hiccups, his entire body still rosy from the heat of his unhappiness.
Michael and Liz held their breaths unconsciously as a light from the bar began to glow and reach out until it touched the baby’s silky dark hair. The baby became calm and quiet as he dangled there helplessly. Their eyes squinted against the sudden brightness that filled the room as the light shot to the ceiling and forward through the baby’s head until it danced and swirled in an almost nauseating display of twirling light before it settled into a recognizable pattern. Five points of light in a deep V shape, one glowing unmistakably brighter than the others.
Their attention was drawn back to Kathana, whose eyes were as wide as they could go. “The prince,” she mouthed almost silently, her head bowed as her grip tightened on Ava’s arm until she cried out in pain.
“There can be no doubt this is the son of the king of Antar,” Hanan pronounced in awe.
Michael felt the punch of realization as it swept through Liz and winced at the anguish that backlashed into him from Max. ‘Liz. Go. Max needs you. I’ll get out of here on my own.’ he reassured her quickly. He could feel her raw shock and confusion as she was torn between two urgent needs.
‘No. I…I need to warn you. You need to wait here until Larek arrives. Do you understand? I had a vision last night. If you stay too long you’ll be caught. It’s why I’ve been trying to contact you all day. If you wait they’ll capture you. When…’ she gasped as a mental wake of pain washed over her. ‘When he walks in the door they’ll be distracted. Cut off the com’s immediately, he’ll be carrying a device that will pick up feedback if you leave it on. Start moving backwards in the vent until you reach the fork. Go right, it’ll let you out on the alley side and you can meet up with Jim. Do you understand?’ Her voice was urgent in his head and he nodded numbly.
‘Got it. Now go!’
‘Promise, Michael. Promise you’ll do what I said!’
‘I swear! Go!’ He gave her a mental shove and she was suddenly gone. He closed his eyes and tried to shake off the tremors of pain that echoed from the connection. He knew he’d be needed back in Roswell as soon as he could get there. He needed to wrap this up soon.
Re-focusing his attention down below he watched the chaos as Rath and Lonnie vied for Kathana’s attention, demanding to know how soon they could get back to Antar.
Kathana had steered Ava into a chair, leaning over her and demanding to know what she knew about the Granolith. “It’s urgent that we find it,” Kathana insisted. “We need its power to keep you all safe. Khivar will want this child beyond all else…”
“What is going on here?” Larek strode in quickly joining those already at the table.
Michael started moving backwards in the vent quickly, remembering the stark fear in Liz’s face when she had warned him not to hesitate. He fumbled with the com remote, dropping it noisily onto the metal shaft before he found the right button to turn it off and stuffed it into the wide pocket of his jeans. He held his breath and his position, waiting to see if his fumble had been noticed. When the voices below continued without hesitation he resumed his backwards scramble.
“This child is the son of the king of Antar…” Sero’s voice faded when Michael turned to head down the shaft to the right as Liz had directed and kept going without hesitation. He didn’t breathe normally again until he’d dropped heavily into the alley and sprinted out onto Third Street where he knew Jim would be waiting.
He could see all the questions in Jim’s eyes, so he answered the most important one first. “It’s Max’s kid. Liz says we gotta get outta here now. Let’s talk about this later.” He took off running for the car Jim had parked just up the street.
TBC
Michael cursed softly as he attempted to shift his torso once again in the cramped space of the ventilation shaft he was lodged in. His belt buckle dug into the tender skin at his stomach in his new position, but he decided to ignore it for as long as he could. The shaft provided an almost unobstructed view of the entire warehouse floor, and since Michael didn’t know which direction the council would be coming in from that was important.
Jim and Michael had spent the pre-dawn hours of the morning installing listening devices around the vast open space, and Michael nervously tapped his fingers over the control device, silently going over which button activated which receivers. He needed to hear it all.
“Dammit,” he whispered suddenly, shifting again until the belt buckle became less painful. “Get out of my head, Liz.” He shook his head as if he could magically rid himself of the soft buzz of Liz’s call. She was persistent, he had to give her that. Throughout the night and into the morning he had felt the pull of their connection, begging him to let her in. He closed her out mercilessly, not wanting to hear again about how the plan was doomed to fail. He’d adjusted all the parameters that had doomed the plan to failure the first time, and was confident that this new plan would work. It had to.
Maria’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket yet again. Michael ignored it like he had the last seven times and let it roll to voice mail without checking who was calling. He knew what the messages would say without having to hear them.
*******
“Dammit, Michael! Pick up the phone,” Maria fumed again, before leaving another scathing message and hanging up loudly.
“Calm down, Maria,” Alex soothed, rubbing her lower back in slow circles to calm her. “Liz’s plan is going to work.”
Isabel was shaking her head though. “Uh uh. I don’t like the plan! There’s no way I’m gonna sit in there while my brother and his wife go into heat! That’s just…No.”
“Come on, Is. You know Michael is forced into connecting with Liz whether he wants to or not during the heat. It’s the only sure-fire way to make him listen. Hey, I’ll even volunteer to go in there with you,” Kyle cajoled with a sly smile, sifting his fingers through her silky hair. “I’ll be your reinforcement.” He nuzzled the tender skin by her ear and whispered, “Your bodyguard.”
“I bet,” Alex muttered, laughing into Maria’s ear. “He just wants to watch the hottest live action por…”
Maria coughed abruptly, whapping the back of her hand into Alex’s chest to make him stop talking. “Hey, Liz. Max!”
“Hi, guys,” Liz returned wearily.
“No luck?” Kyle questioned, although from the looks of Max and Liz as they stumbled out of their room he already knew the answer.
“Nothing,” Max said, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Michael’s being stubborn and blocking out Liz.”
“Which means the only way to get through is to…” Liz turned beseeching eyes onto Isabel. “Isabel? Have you thought about what…”
“Yes! Fine. I’ll do it, but Michael’s gonna pay for this, I swear.” Isabel’s outburst was not unexpected.
“Don’t worry, Is, I’ll be there for you too,” Kyle soothed eagerly, moving in to buss a light kiss over her pink-tinged cheek.
Isabel pushed Kyle away firmly. “I don’t think so, buddy. You know what happens when couples get too close to the love-fest. I have other things I need to concentrate on and you’re a big enough distraction as it is!”
“But…”
“No.”
“But what if I just…”
“No!”
“I could…”
“Kyle.” The warning note was unmistakable.
“Fine.” Kyle huffed out a disappointed breath.
“Fine.” Isabel nodded in satisfaction.
“So you think I’m distracting, huh?” Kyle pulled Isabel to him by his light grip on her hips, prepared to forgive and forget.
“Kyle!”
Maria sidled up closer to Liz taking her arm and gently steering her away so she could speak with her privately. “Michael’s not answering the phone. Were you able to get through to him at all?”
Liz rubbed her fingertips over her eyelids and shook her head wishing her headache would fade away. It had been a long night, with no real sleep. “Not really, no. Enough to know that he’s deliberately blocking me out. If he could just listen to me for one minute we could settle on a plan, but…”
“But he’s too stubborn for that.” Maria finished for her.
“Yeah. He wouldn’t be Michael if he wasn’t stubborn, I guess.”
“Yeah.” Maria studied her friend for a moment before carefully asking her next question. “Michael…he wasn’t, uh, with anyone, was he? I mean, could you sense what he was doing? Because if that Barbie doll hoochie lays one finger on him I swear I’ll…”
“Maria, no! I mean, I don’t think so. He’s blocking me out, and besides I don’t think Michael would do that to you.”
“You’d be surprised,” Maria muttered sourly, not looking appeased.
Liz rubbed a hand soothingly over Maria’s shoulders and pulled her in close to her side. “It’ll all work out. You’ll see.”
Maria took a deep breath and nodded, trying to blink away impending tears. “I hope so.”
“So!” Kyle clapped his hands together loudly to get everyone’s attention. “How long ‘til…” he fisted his hands in front of himself and rolled his hips obscenely, “boom-chicka-mow-mowww?”
“Kyle!” Four voices admonished him at once, shocked, while Isabel hid her smile behind her hand and shook her head at her audacious boyfriend’s antics.
********
Michael felt the sweat start to trickle down his temple and swiped at it impatiently. It had been a long wait, but he knew the time was getting close. He squirmed slightly more forward and peered through the grate of the vent.
A loud noise made him jump nervously. His pulse pounded so hard he could feel it in his fingertips as his gaze darted in the direction of the noise. “Yes,” he hissed softly. “It’s on,” he directed to Jim through the com unit.
“Got it,” Jim tersely replied. “How many?”
Michael peered around again, doing a headcount. “Two. Wait, no, three. Looks like they’re setting up,” he whispered.
“Let me know when the rest arrive. All clear out here so far, no sign of our group yet,” Jim replied, cutting off the communication.
Michael watched two men and a woman begin pulling chairs and a table across the floor to a location slightly to the right of his vantage point. Perfect.
The taller of the men went back to the entrance they had used and picked up a bulky metal briefcase, taking it to the table and propping it open. With no words exchanged between them, the other two completed the set-up and seated themselves at the table. The tall man removed several odd-looking implements from the briefcase before closing it again.
Michael’s breathing became more labored as the sweat poured down his face. With dawning horror he realized what was happening. ‘No, no, no, no! Liz!’
‘Michael! Thank God! You have to listen to me…’
Michael flinched violently when she appeared in the ventilation shaft beside him. ‘Liz! It’s too late to talk me out of it! They’re here!’
‘What? No! It’s too early!’
‘Look!’ Michael gestured to the front of him. ‘Now get out! Let Max take care of you. I don’t need this to distract me right now!’
He watched with desperate eyes as Liz’s image faded and became strong again. ‘I’ll leave for now, Michael, if you promise to leave the link open. You need me to get you out of here. I’ve seen it!’
‘Fine. Anything. Go!’
Michael watched as Liz’s image faded, but felt the link strong and sure. He should have known that ignoring them wasn’t going to work. He re-directed his attention to the three seated at the rectangular table below him, hoping he hadn’t missed anything. The three still sat there, hands folded on the table top and staring silently straight ahead of themselves. Exciting bunch, he thought derisively to himself.
He squirmed uncomfortably as his hard erection objected to being smashed between the unyielding metal of the vent and his body. He sent bitter thoughts through the link, knowing Liz and Max were too absorbed in their activities to pay any attention to him. He hoped desperately that they would make it quick. His wish was answered five minutes later as his body spasmed with release and he felt the intense heat cool sharply to bearable proportions. He wedged a hand down toward the front of his jeans and waved away the mess he had made. He was going to kill them!
“Incoming,” Jim hissed through the com.
“Got it,” Michael whispered, feeling Liz through the connection listening in. Michael scooted as far forward as the vent would allow and peered toward the entrance.
Ava walked in carrying the crying baby first, while Lonnie and Rath followed noisily, Lonnie whistling to hear the echoes and Rath banging on the metal door and support beams with a length of pipe he had picked up in the alley.
“Yo! We’re here,” Rath announced unnecessarily to the group assembled at the table. “Where’s the fourth?” He turned a chair around and straddled it backwards, staring at the assembled group.
“Larek has not yet arrived,” Kathana answered calmly, not reacting to Rath’s attempts to rattle them. “Sero and Hanar will administer the test while we wait.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever. Bring the kid ova here, Ava,” Rath ordered harshly, snapping his fingers and pointed downward at the table in front of him.
Michael watched as Ava approached the table, attempting to keep a good grip on the squirming child in her arms. The baby’s face was red from crying and his bare arms waived feebly in the air. He suppressed his urge to curse out loud even as he heard Liz’s harsh gasp in the link. He knew if he looked to the side he would once again see Liz’s image beside him. ‘Where’s Max?’
‘The link isn’t strong enough, he’s watching through my eyes,’ Liz responded, not taking her eyes off the action below.
They watched in silence as the group below sorted through the various implements Sero had set out from the briefcase earlier. “Hold up the child,” Sero commanded, sitting straight up in his chair and indicating the baby be held in front of him. Hanar rose and picked up the baby, holding him under the arms with his feet dangling over Sero’s lap. His fingers supported the back of the baby’s head when he realized the boy could not hold it up himself.
Kathana turned to Ava. “You are the mother of this child?”
Ava shook her head. “No. My dupe is. Was. Whatever, she’s dead now, but she told me that Max Evans was the daddy! That makes this the child of the prophecy.”
“And you claim that Max Evans, the rightful king of Antar, is now dead?”
“Yeah. That’s what Tess said. She said she saw it herself in the Granolith chamber. It almost got her too, but she got out!”
“The Granolith chamber!” Kathana stood up, gripping Ava’s arm tightly. “Where is it?” Her voice was an urgent echo in the open room.
Ava stepped back, trying to pull her arm free of the punishing grip. “I don’t know! I was never there,” she cried out desperately. “None of us knows and Max and Isabel are both dead now and so’s Tess! She died givin’ birth to the son of the king! No one knows where the chamber is now. She didn’t tell us nothing, I swear!”
Michael and Liz watched from above with baited breath, waiting to see what would happpen. Kathana finally shook her head, keeping her hold on Ava’s arm. “Proceed with the test and we will deal with this later,” she ordered the men.
“Come on. Come on!” Lonnie muttered impatiently under her breath. She couldn’t wait for the test to be over with so they could negotiate a way back home.
Sero picked up a silvery metal bar and held it up behind the squirming baby’s head. His crying sobs had settled down into exhausted hiccups, his entire body still rosy from the heat of his unhappiness.
Michael and Liz held their breaths unconsciously as a light from the bar began to glow and reach out until it touched the baby’s silky dark hair. The baby became calm and quiet as he dangled there helplessly. Their eyes squinted against the sudden brightness that filled the room as the light shot to the ceiling and forward through the baby’s head until it danced and swirled in an almost nauseating display of twirling light before it settled into a recognizable pattern. Five points of light in a deep V shape, one glowing unmistakably brighter than the others.
Their attention was drawn back to Kathana, whose eyes were as wide as they could go. “The prince,” she mouthed almost silently, her head bowed as her grip tightened on Ava’s arm until she cried out in pain.
“There can be no doubt this is the son of the king of Antar,” Hanan pronounced in awe.
Michael felt the punch of realization as it swept through Liz and winced at the anguish that backlashed into him from Max. ‘Liz. Go. Max needs you. I’ll get out of here on my own.’ he reassured her quickly. He could feel her raw shock and confusion as she was torn between two urgent needs.
‘No. I…I need to warn you. You need to wait here until Larek arrives. Do you understand? I had a vision last night. If you stay too long you’ll be caught. It’s why I’ve been trying to contact you all day. If you wait they’ll capture you. When…’ she gasped as a mental wake of pain washed over her. ‘When he walks in the door they’ll be distracted. Cut off the com’s immediately, he’ll be carrying a device that will pick up feedback if you leave it on. Start moving backwards in the vent until you reach the fork. Go right, it’ll let you out on the alley side and you can meet up with Jim. Do you understand?’ Her voice was urgent in his head and he nodded numbly.
‘Got it. Now go!’
‘Promise, Michael. Promise you’ll do what I said!’
‘I swear! Go!’ He gave her a mental shove and she was suddenly gone. He closed his eyes and tried to shake off the tremors of pain that echoed from the connection. He knew he’d be needed back in Roswell as soon as he could get there. He needed to wrap this up soon.
Re-focusing his attention down below he watched the chaos as Rath and Lonnie vied for Kathana’s attention, demanding to know how soon they could get back to Antar.
Kathana had steered Ava into a chair, leaning over her and demanding to know what she knew about the Granolith. “It’s urgent that we find it,” Kathana insisted. “We need its power to keep you all safe. Khivar will want this child beyond all else…”
“What is going on here?” Larek strode in quickly joining those already at the table.
Michael started moving backwards in the vent quickly, remembering the stark fear in Liz’s face when she had warned him not to hesitate. He fumbled with the com remote, dropping it noisily onto the metal shaft before he found the right button to turn it off and stuffed it into the wide pocket of his jeans. He held his breath and his position, waiting to see if his fumble had been noticed. When the voices below continued without hesitation he resumed his backwards scramble.
“This child is the son of the king of Antar…” Sero’s voice faded when Michael turned to head down the shaft to the right as Liz had directed and kept going without hesitation. He didn’t breathe normally again until he’d dropped heavily into the alley and sprinted out onto Third Street where he knew Jim would be waiting.
He could see all the questions in Jim’s eyes, so he answered the most important one first. “It’s Max’s kid. Liz says we gotta get outta here now. Let’s talk about this later.” He took off running for the car Jim had parked just up the street.
TBC
EYA 116 plus synopsis
For those of you who don’t have hours or days to go back and re-read and remember what the heck is going on in this epic tale, I thought I’d put together a brief recap for you before you read the newest part:
Liz and Max got married in Las Vegas and came back to Roswell to discover that Liz was pregnant and developing alien talents of her own. She can see through Tess’ illusions and get ‘impressions’ off of objects that have been touched by others. She can see into the past, present, and future. One of these visions led the gang to a cave where they found a necklace with a message stone for Max. It was revealed that Liz was genetically made for Max to be his mate and bear a child that would fulfill a prophecy on Antar. The child would have the power of all, and go back to Antar one day to free their people. In order to maintain the alien pregnancy, Liz and Max must copulate frequently so that his alien sperm can transmit the nutrients their child needs to develop his powers. The need to ‘feed the baby’ is felt through a fever that Max and Liz get at the same time, which leads to an unavoidable urge to mate. A backup plan was instilled in Michael as the only other male alien available to ensure the child’s survival in case Max was killed or incapacitated. Tess was revealed to be a villainous manipulator who must be killed.
Isabel and Max took Tess out to the Granolith chamber to kill her, but she turned the tables and escaped severely injured, but thinking that Max and Isabel were dead. In a fit of rage Tess called an old contact of Nacedo’s at the FBI and turned Liz in to them for testing.
The FBI abducted Liz, but she soon succumbed to the fever and Dr. Clark found out that they needed Max’s sperm to ensure the survival of mother and child for further study. Thinking Max was dead from what Tess had told them, they used the samples that had been obtained by agent Pierce when he’d detained Max in the White Room at the end of season 1. They called Tess to find out what she knew about Liz needing Max’s sperm and revealed to her that they had samples of it. She demanded that he send some to her and told him again that Max was dead. When they researched for themselves, they found that Max was alive and captured him as well. They were experimented on and tortured for almost four weeks before Dr. Clark’s daughter Serena helped them to escape. During the escape Dr. Clark and all his associates were killed.
Tess used the alien sperm sample Dr. Clark sent her to trick Ava into having Max’s baby, taking her to Rath and Lonnie in New York to have it. Rath killed Ava and kept the baby, thinking it was the child of the prophecy and their ticket back to Antar. Tess was pretending to be Ava, and Rath thinks that he killed Tess. Max and Liz saw the birth of the baby in a vision and think that Tess is dead and that they are out of danger.
Michael got suspended from school, so he decided to go with Jim and Serena to New York and find out what they could about the baby. They set up surveillance inside Rath and Lonnie’s place and are using Serena’s penthouse apartment as their home base.
Misc facts:
Liz’s pregnancy will last ten months. She’s due the first part of January. The baby will be very small for the first eight months, and then the last two months she will develop rapidly.
Kyle and Isabel are a couple. Alex and Serena are a budding couple. Michael and Maria are a couple.
Michael rescued a kitten and named her Thor.
Rumors are flying around West Roswell High, where they are in their senior year.
Max and Liz are each taking three classes and have enough credits to graduate at the end of the first semester of their senior year, which coincides with Liz’s due date.
Everyone thinks Liz is a slut, because of what supposedly happened with Kyle. They think she tricked Max into marrying her.
Pam Troy is on a campaign to make Max notice her.
Max has nightmares about what happened in the White Room with Agent Pierce.
Max and Liz need to ‘feed the baby’ at least twice a day. Lately the heat has been spiraling out to include everyone around them, causing a few comical moments in the High School.
That’s all I can think of for now!
Here’s the next part! Please enjoy:
EYA 116
“I guess now we know, huh?” Michael slumped back in the passenger seat of the car Jim was driving and closed his eyes. Max’s pain was echoing through his light connection to Liz giving him a pounding headache.
“Yeah,” Jim agreed, carefully negotiating a turn. “But the real question is what do we do now?”
Michael scrubbed his right hand over his eyes and tried to think. “I have to find a way to get that baby away from them and get back to Roswell. The sooner the better.”
“Why the rush?”
Michael slanted a sideways look of disbelief at Valenti before remembering that his friend couldn’t feel the churning emotions battering at him through the link. “Max isn’t doing so hot right now. I don’t know if he’s going to shut Liz out again or not, but I can’t take the chance that they might need me and I’m not there.”
Jim nodded, not taking his eyes off the road. “You’re a good friend, Michael.”
Michael shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Yeah, well, you would be too if you had to pop a fever every time they did.”
“That’s not the only thing you’re poppin’ from what I understand,” Valenti laughed, trying to lighten the moment.
“Uhg! Shut up, old man! I do not need to hear that from you!” Michael flushed red and punched Valenti in the arm playfully.
“Watch it there, Romeo! I’m trying to drive here!” Valenti laughed harder and pulled into the underground parking structure at Serena’s building. “Let’s get inside and listen in at their place. They’ll go home eventually and then we can plot out our best opportunity.” He opened the car door and stepped out, leaning back in to add, “You might want to call Maria and tell the gang what’s going on. I’m sure they’re anxious to know you got out okay.”
“Shit. Yeah, good idea.” Michael hopped out of the car and dug in his pocket for the cell phone. He pulled out the com controller and set it on the roof of the car before digging into his pocket slightly more aggressively. “Um. Hang on a second, Jim.” Michael leaned back into the open car door and did a semi-frantic search of the interior. Giving up finally he leaned forward over the roof of the vehicle and considered banging his head on it.
“I take it there’s a problem?” Jim queried unnecessarily.
“Shoot me now,” Michael begged.
&&&&&
“It’s Max’s baby.” Isabel spoke softly, not looking at any of them directly. She toyed with the frayed end of the afghan that hung over the back of the sofa in Max and Liz’s living room. They all flinched at a sudden loud pounding noise against the wall of the bedroom, followed by urgent murmurs and an anguished cry.
“I can’t believe it.” Alex was pacing in front of her, casting frequent concerned glances toward the bedroom door and rubbing the back of his neck nervously while Kyle and Maria sat on either side of Isabel, staring at her in silent shock.
“Tell us exactly what happened in there,” Alex asked her, hoping for any sign that what she’d said was some kind of misinterpretation of the truth.
Isabel lay her head back against the sofa and stared at the ceiling. Kyle leaned in close to offer his support and she moved into the circle of his arm gratefully. Taking a big breath she began at the beginning.
“I got here early. Liz and Max had been up all night trying to get through to Michael, but apparently he can block her out if he really wants to. Liz had had a vision about Michael’s new plan, and how it was going to fail unless he followed her new instructions to the letter, but she couldn’t break through to him.
“We had to go back to the original plan of waiting for the heat to hit, but we didn’t really know it would take so long, because when it started coming on and I took Liz’s hand and got her through to Michael he was already up in the ventilation shaft watching them set up for the meeting. Liz begged him to keep the connection open and he agreed as long as Max and Liz took care of business quickly so they didn’t keep distracting him. I took off while Max and Liz, um, fed the baby, and came right back after the heat died down. Liz used me as her conduit again and Max stayed connected through her so that he could hear what was going on in the warehouse too.
“Liz had a birds-eye view of the proceedings, and she could hear every word. They did the same kind of test on the baby as they did on Max last year and lights flashed and everyone got all excited. They said he was the son of the king of Antar. No question. They seemed shocked.”
“Join the club,” Maria whispered unhappily, knowing how this would affect their friends. “How did Max take it?”
Isabel shook her head and widened her eyes, trying to hold back tears. “Not good, Maria.” She huddled in closer to Kyle’s comforting warmth. “Not good at all. As soon as he heard he jumped up off the bed and sort of huddled in the corner by the wall. I tried to go to him while Liz wrapped up what she needed to warn Michael about, but he threw up his shield before I could get close to him. I was…I guess I was shocked, but I couldn’t get any closer, so I just waited for Liz. She got right up and walked through the shield like she didn’t even see it! I couldn’t believe it! I tried again to get through again right after her thinking it had lost its strength, but it repelled me right back. They’re still in there.”
“It makes sense,” Kyle stated, thinking out loud while everyone turned to stare at him. “They’re so connected. Like one person. He couldn’t keep her out anymore than he could keep himself out.”
“Yeah,” Maria agreed before sitting up straight in her chair. “What I really want to know though, is why hasn’t anyone called us from New York to let us know they got out safely? It’s been long enough now, hasn’t it?” Maria reached for the phone.
&&&&&
“You should have waited until I arrived to perform the test,” Larek insisted testily. “You could have been discovered.”
Kathana shook her head. “You were late. These bodies don’t last very long. Did you detect any surveillance devices?”
“No,” Larek replied. “But that doesn’t mean we weren’t just lucky this time.”
“That’s besides the point!” Rath interrupted rudely. “What do we gotta do now to get back to Antar? We got the son of the king here and he needs to get home!”
Kathana still held Tess in her seat. “That depends on all of you. What can you tell us about the Granolith?”
“Nothin’! I already told you people!” Tess squirmed in the hard chair, uncomfortable with the close scrutiny.
“Fine,” Sero interjected, removing Kathana’s hand from Tess’ arm, trying to calm the situation. “Who does know?”
“I…well,” Tess hesitated to show her hand.
“Michael,” Lonnie crowed triumphantly. “Anybody’s gonna know it’s gotta be good old Mikey from Roswell!”
“Good!” Sero complimented, turning the information over in his mind. “That’s going to be your new mission. You three need to get Michael to tell you where the Granolith is, so that we can reconfigure it to bring you all home.” No need to tell these idiots that there was only room for two, and one of them had to be the baby.
Tess’ heart leaped in her throat. If they could reconfigure the Granolith that meant she could go home!
“Fine. Good. Let’s get started.” Rath grabbed Lonnie’s arm and started to pull her from the room.
“Hey, hey, hey! Stop grabbin’ on me like that!” Lonnie protested loudly, yanking her arm free.
Tess stood up and reached to take the baby from Sero. Sero turned away slightly, staring into Tess’ eyes. “Take care of this child, girl. He’s very important to our plans. We’d do it ourselves, but these bodies won’t sustain us much longer.”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I got it.” Tess nodded dumbly and reached again, this time managing to pull the baby free of Sero’s arms. She hurried to catch up with Lonnie and Rath who were still arguing as they left.
“Hey, guys! Wait up!” Lonnie and Rath turned to wait for her impatiently. Tess ran up and pushed the baby into Lonnie’s reluctant arms. “Shit! I forgot something! I’ll meet you back at our place.” Tess sprinted back the way she’d come before they could protest.
“Ava! You’d better get back there quick!” Lonnie left the threat hanging in the air while Rath snickered at the way she held the baby away from her body.
&&&&&
Tess eased in through a side door and crouched low behind a stack of crates. She needed more information, and she’d thought she’d heard a noise in the ventilation shafts during the meeting.
“They’re idiots, yes I know,” Sero agreed, turning to face his comrades. “But they don’t know what they’ve got and we need them to find the Granolith.”
“If only these bodies would hold out for more than a couple days we could do this ourselves!” Kathana paced restlessly back and forth in front of the table. “At least they don’t know that there’s only room for one adult holding the infant inside the Granolith. Any more would overload the system.” She shuddered, thinking of the turmoil that revelation would cause.
“Tell me exactly what the test revealed,” Larek demanded brusquely, infuriated that he had missed the actual exam.
Sero turned serious eyes to him. “I don’t know how it’s possible, but that boy is, without question, the son of the king of Antar.” He held up a warning hand as Larek made to interrupt. “The current king of Antar,” he clarified with a raised brow.
Larek sat down abruptly in one of the folding metal chairs. “How is that…The test must be wrong! There’s no way that child could be Khivar’s son!”
Tess pulled in a shocked breath, fury sweeping through her. Dr. Clark had tricked her! How had he gotten access to a sample of Khivar’s sperm? She leaned closer to hear more. Her mind scrambled to find ways to make this new twist work to her advantage.
“We must notify the Elders and decide what to do. Clearly Khivar would do anything to get his hands on this child. He obviously had set some sort of plan in motion long ago to make this happen. We need to turn this to our advantage and find out how much power he is willing to concede to us in order to raise his son,” Kathana stated decisively.
“Exactly right. Let us reconvene through the orbs one day from now. We’ll share what we find and determine a plan of action.” Larek stood quickly, done with them all, and walked to the door followed by his companions.
Tess slumped back on her heels, nearly defeated. What could she do now? How was she going to get back to Khivar if the council members were determined to betray him? One thing was clear. She would have to get rid of Lonnie and Rath to ensure that she would be the only one available to travel back with the child.
She straightened cautiously and glanced around the large space of the warehouse ready to leave. A sudden buzzing, rattling noise filled the air, making her jump and search for the cause of the sound. The air duct! She knew she’d heard something banging up there earlier!
Crawling through the vacant duct system was smelly, dirty work and Tess cursed softly under her breath with every cautious move forward. She must be getting closer by now! The noise had cut off after a few moments, but not before she thought she’d located its position. She turned another corner and there it was, a steady red light led her to its location. A cell phone! Tess grabbed it in her hand and started inching back the way she’d come.
Dropping back to the warehouse floor, Tess turned the phone over in her hand, looking for clues to the identity of the person who had left it. The blinking message light was on and she wasted a few minutes trying to figure out the password before realizing that she could just do last call return. Punching the buttons quickly she held the phone to her ear.
“Michael?!” Maria’s strident voice burst through the receiver. “Where are you and why didn’t you call earlier? You know we’re sitting around here worried sick that…”
The phone died in her hand and Tess stared at it for a moment before dropping the now useless device to the floor. A small grimace curved her lips in a parody of a smile.
Michael. Sweet.
TBC
Liz and Max got married in Las Vegas and came back to Roswell to discover that Liz was pregnant and developing alien talents of her own. She can see through Tess’ illusions and get ‘impressions’ off of objects that have been touched by others. She can see into the past, present, and future. One of these visions led the gang to a cave where they found a necklace with a message stone for Max. It was revealed that Liz was genetically made for Max to be his mate and bear a child that would fulfill a prophecy on Antar. The child would have the power of all, and go back to Antar one day to free their people. In order to maintain the alien pregnancy, Liz and Max must copulate frequently so that his alien sperm can transmit the nutrients their child needs to develop his powers. The need to ‘feed the baby’ is felt through a fever that Max and Liz get at the same time, which leads to an unavoidable urge to mate. A backup plan was instilled in Michael as the only other male alien available to ensure the child’s survival in case Max was killed or incapacitated. Tess was revealed to be a villainous manipulator who must be killed.
Isabel and Max took Tess out to the Granolith chamber to kill her, but she turned the tables and escaped severely injured, but thinking that Max and Isabel were dead. In a fit of rage Tess called an old contact of Nacedo’s at the FBI and turned Liz in to them for testing.
The FBI abducted Liz, but she soon succumbed to the fever and Dr. Clark found out that they needed Max’s sperm to ensure the survival of mother and child for further study. Thinking Max was dead from what Tess had told them, they used the samples that had been obtained by agent Pierce when he’d detained Max in the White Room at the end of season 1. They called Tess to find out what she knew about Liz needing Max’s sperm and revealed to her that they had samples of it. She demanded that he send some to her and told him again that Max was dead. When they researched for themselves, they found that Max was alive and captured him as well. They were experimented on and tortured for almost four weeks before Dr. Clark’s daughter Serena helped them to escape. During the escape Dr. Clark and all his associates were killed.
Tess used the alien sperm sample Dr. Clark sent her to trick Ava into having Max’s baby, taking her to Rath and Lonnie in New York to have it. Rath killed Ava and kept the baby, thinking it was the child of the prophecy and their ticket back to Antar. Tess was pretending to be Ava, and Rath thinks that he killed Tess. Max and Liz saw the birth of the baby in a vision and think that Tess is dead and that they are out of danger.
Michael got suspended from school, so he decided to go with Jim and Serena to New York and find out what they could about the baby. They set up surveillance inside Rath and Lonnie’s place and are using Serena’s penthouse apartment as their home base.
Misc facts:
Liz’s pregnancy will last ten months. She’s due the first part of January. The baby will be very small for the first eight months, and then the last two months she will develop rapidly.
Kyle and Isabel are a couple. Alex and Serena are a budding couple. Michael and Maria are a couple.
Michael rescued a kitten and named her Thor.
Rumors are flying around West Roswell High, where they are in their senior year.
Max and Liz are each taking three classes and have enough credits to graduate at the end of the first semester of their senior year, which coincides with Liz’s due date.
Everyone thinks Liz is a slut, because of what supposedly happened with Kyle. They think she tricked Max into marrying her.
Pam Troy is on a campaign to make Max notice her.
Max has nightmares about what happened in the White Room with Agent Pierce.
Max and Liz need to ‘feed the baby’ at least twice a day. Lately the heat has been spiraling out to include everyone around them, causing a few comical moments in the High School.
That’s all I can think of for now!
Here’s the next part! Please enjoy:
EYA 116
“I guess now we know, huh?” Michael slumped back in the passenger seat of the car Jim was driving and closed his eyes. Max’s pain was echoing through his light connection to Liz giving him a pounding headache.
“Yeah,” Jim agreed, carefully negotiating a turn. “But the real question is what do we do now?”
Michael scrubbed his right hand over his eyes and tried to think. “I have to find a way to get that baby away from them and get back to Roswell. The sooner the better.”
“Why the rush?”
Michael slanted a sideways look of disbelief at Valenti before remembering that his friend couldn’t feel the churning emotions battering at him through the link. “Max isn’t doing so hot right now. I don’t know if he’s going to shut Liz out again or not, but I can’t take the chance that they might need me and I’m not there.”
Jim nodded, not taking his eyes off the road. “You’re a good friend, Michael.”
Michael shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Yeah, well, you would be too if you had to pop a fever every time they did.”
“That’s not the only thing you’re poppin’ from what I understand,” Valenti laughed, trying to lighten the moment.
“Uhg! Shut up, old man! I do not need to hear that from you!” Michael flushed red and punched Valenti in the arm playfully.
“Watch it there, Romeo! I’m trying to drive here!” Valenti laughed harder and pulled into the underground parking structure at Serena’s building. “Let’s get inside and listen in at their place. They’ll go home eventually and then we can plot out our best opportunity.” He opened the car door and stepped out, leaning back in to add, “You might want to call Maria and tell the gang what’s going on. I’m sure they’re anxious to know you got out okay.”
“Shit. Yeah, good idea.” Michael hopped out of the car and dug in his pocket for the cell phone. He pulled out the com controller and set it on the roof of the car before digging into his pocket slightly more aggressively. “Um. Hang on a second, Jim.” Michael leaned back into the open car door and did a semi-frantic search of the interior. Giving up finally he leaned forward over the roof of the vehicle and considered banging his head on it.
“I take it there’s a problem?” Jim queried unnecessarily.
“Shoot me now,” Michael begged.
&&&&&
“It’s Max’s baby.” Isabel spoke softly, not looking at any of them directly. She toyed with the frayed end of the afghan that hung over the back of the sofa in Max and Liz’s living room. They all flinched at a sudden loud pounding noise against the wall of the bedroom, followed by urgent murmurs and an anguished cry.
“I can’t believe it.” Alex was pacing in front of her, casting frequent concerned glances toward the bedroom door and rubbing the back of his neck nervously while Kyle and Maria sat on either side of Isabel, staring at her in silent shock.
“Tell us exactly what happened in there,” Alex asked her, hoping for any sign that what she’d said was some kind of misinterpretation of the truth.
Isabel lay her head back against the sofa and stared at the ceiling. Kyle leaned in close to offer his support and she moved into the circle of his arm gratefully. Taking a big breath she began at the beginning.
“I got here early. Liz and Max had been up all night trying to get through to Michael, but apparently he can block her out if he really wants to. Liz had had a vision about Michael’s new plan, and how it was going to fail unless he followed her new instructions to the letter, but she couldn’t break through to him.
“We had to go back to the original plan of waiting for the heat to hit, but we didn’t really know it would take so long, because when it started coming on and I took Liz’s hand and got her through to Michael he was already up in the ventilation shaft watching them set up for the meeting. Liz begged him to keep the connection open and he agreed as long as Max and Liz took care of business quickly so they didn’t keep distracting him. I took off while Max and Liz, um, fed the baby, and came right back after the heat died down. Liz used me as her conduit again and Max stayed connected through her so that he could hear what was going on in the warehouse too.
“Liz had a birds-eye view of the proceedings, and she could hear every word. They did the same kind of test on the baby as they did on Max last year and lights flashed and everyone got all excited. They said he was the son of the king of Antar. No question. They seemed shocked.”
“Join the club,” Maria whispered unhappily, knowing how this would affect their friends. “How did Max take it?”
Isabel shook her head and widened her eyes, trying to hold back tears. “Not good, Maria.” She huddled in closer to Kyle’s comforting warmth. “Not good at all. As soon as he heard he jumped up off the bed and sort of huddled in the corner by the wall. I tried to go to him while Liz wrapped up what she needed to warn Michael about, but he threw up his shield before I could get close to him. I was…I guess I was shocked, but I couldn’t get any closer, so I just waited for Liz. She got right up and walked through the shield like she didn’t even see it! I couldn’t believe it! I tried again to get through again right after her thinking it had lost its strength, but it repelled me right back. They’re still in there.”
“It makes sense,” Kyle stated, thinking out loud while everyone turned to stare at him. “They’re so connected. Like one person. He couldn’t keep her out anymore than he could keep himself out.”
“Yeah,” Maria agreed before sitting up straight in her chair. “What I really want to know though, is why hasn’t anyone called us from New York to let us know they got out safely? It’s been long enough now, hasn’t it?” Maria reached for the phone.
&&&&&
“You should have waited until I arrived to perform the test,” Larek insisted testily. “You could have been discovered.”
Kathana shook her head. “You were late. These bodies don’t last very long. Did you detect any surveillance devices?”
“No,” Larek replied. “But that doesn’t mean we weren’t just lucky this time.”
“That’s besides the point!” Rath interrupted rudely. “What do we gotta do now to get back to Antar? We got the son of the king here and he needs to get home!”
Kathana still held Tess in her seat. “That depends on all of you. What can you tell us about the Granolith?”
“Nothin’! I already told you people!” Tess squirmed in the hard chair, uncomfortable with the close scrutiny.
“Fine,” Sero interjected, removing Kathana’s hand from Tess’ arm, trying to calm the situation. “Who does know?”
“I…well,” Tess hesitated to show her hand.
“Michael,” Lonnie crowed triumphantly. “Anybody’s gonna know it’s gotta be good old Mikey from Roswell!”
“Good!” Sero complimented, turning the information over in his mind. “That’s going to be your new mission. You three need to get Michael to tell you where the Granolith is, so that we can reconfigure it to bring you all home.” No need to tell these idiots that there was only room for two, and one of them had to be the baby.
Tess’ heart leaped in her throat. If they could reconfigure the Granolith that meant she could go home!
“Fine. Good. Let’s get started.” Rath grabbed Lonnie’s arm and started to pull her from the room.
“Hey, hey, hey! Stop grabbin’ on me like that!” Lonnie protested loudly, yanking her arm free.
Tess stood up and reached to take the baby from Sero. Sero turned away slightly, staring into Tess’ eyes. “Take care of this child, girl. He’s very important to our plans. We’d do it ourselves, but these bodies won’t sustain us much longer.”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I got it.” Tess nodded dumbly and reached again, this time managing to pull the baby free of Sero’s arms. She hurried to catch up with Lonnie and Rath who were still arguing as they left.
“Hey, guys! Wait up!” Lonnie and Rath turned to wait for her impatiently. Tess ran up and pushed the baby into Lonnie’s reluctant arms. “Shit! I forgot something! I’ll meet you back at our place.” Tess sprinted back the way she’d come before they could protest.
“Ava! You’d better get back there quick!” Lonnie left the threat hanging in the air while Rath snickered at the way she held the baby away from her body.
&&&&&
Tess eased in through a side door and crouched low behind a stack of crates. She needed more information, and she’d thought she’d heard a noise in the ventilation shafts during the meeting.
“They’re idiots, yes I know,” Sero agreed, turning to face his comrades. “But they don’t know what they’ve got and we need them to find the Granolith.”
“If only these bodies would hold out for more than a couple days we could do this ourselves!” Kathana paced restlessly back and forth in front of the table. “At least they don’t know that there’s only room for one adult holding the infant inside the Granolith. Any more would overload the system.” She shuddered, thinking of the turmoil that revelation would cause.
“Tell me exactly what the test revealed,” Larek demanded brusquely, infuriated that he had missed the actual exam.
Sero turned serious eyes to him. “I don’t know how it’s possible, but that boy is, without question, the son of the king of Antar.” He held up a warning hand as Larek made to interrupt. “The current king of Antar,” he clarified with a raised brow.
Larek sat down abruptly in one of the folding metal chairs. “How is that…The test must be wrong! There’s no way that child could be Khivar’s son!”
Tess pulled in a shocked breath, fury sweeping through her. Dr. Clark had tricked her! How had he gotten access to a sample of Khivar’s sperm? She leaned closer to hear more. Her mind scrambled to find ways to make this new twist work to her advantage.
“We must notify the Elders and decide what to do. Clearly Khivar would do anything to get his hands on this child. He obviously had set some sort of plan in motion long ago to make this happen. We need to turn this to our advantage and find out how much power he is willing to concede to us in order to raise his son,” Kathana stated decisively.
“Exactly right. Let us reconvene through the orbs one day from now. We’ll share what we find and determine a plan of action.” Larek stood quickly, done with them all, and walked to the door followed by his companions.
Tess slumped back on her heels, nearly defeated. What could she do now? How was she going to get back to Khivar if the council members were determined to betray him? One thing was clear. She would have to get rid of Lonnie and Rath to ensure that she would be the only one available to travel back with the child.
She straightened cautiously and glanced around the large space of the warehouse ready to leave. A sudden buzzing, rattling noise filled the air, making her jump and search for the cause of the sound. The air duct! She knew she’d heard something banging up there earlier!
Crawling through the vacant duct system was smelly, dirty work and Tess cursed softly under her breath with every cautious move forward. She must be getting closer by now! The noise had cut off after a few moments, but not before she thought she’d located its position. She turned another corner and there it was, a steady red light led her to its location. A cell phone! Tess grabbed it in her hand and started inching back the way she’d come.
Dropping back to the warehouse floor, Tess turned the phone over in her hand, looking for clues to the identity of the person who had left it. The blinking message light was on and she wasted a few minutes trying to figure out the password before realizing that she could just do last call return. Punching the buttons quickly she held the phone to her ear.
“Michael?!” Maria’s strident voice burst through the receiver. “Where are you and why didn’t you call earlier? You know we’re sitting around here worried sick that…”
The phone died in her hand and Tess stared at it for a moment before dropping the now useless device to the floor. A small grimace curved her lips in a parody of a smile.
Michael. Sweet.
TBC
Last edited by javagin on Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.
EYA 117
Here is the VERY long-awaited next part of EYA!
Thank you a million times over to my beautiful and wonderfully talented beta isis7777 for the continual cheerleading and wonderful beta-work she is doing for me!
This part is mostly Michael, but I promise Max and Liz next week!
EYA Part 117
Michael carefully stretched one cramping leg out in front of himself, hearing his knee pop he smugly complemented himself on the perfection of his plan. His denim-clad shoulders rested back against the freezing bricks as he readjusted his position crouched down on his heels and peered into the alley across the street.
He could hear the dupes arguing about going out, and knew he may have his opportunity soon. The tiny listening devices had proved invaluable so far, and even without Jim’s help, Michael felt confident he could slip in and take care of the situation as soon as an opportunity presented itself. If they left Max Jr. alone once, there was a high likelihood they would do it again. If that happened, Michael would be able to swoop in and run with Jr.
He poked an impatient finger at the tiny earphone he was wearing and swore under his breath when he realized what they were arguing about. No one wanted to leave without their insurance policy. Ava was yelling at Rath and Lonnie to leave her alone with the baby. She would take care of him. But the dupes weren’t very trusting now that they knew he was their ticket home, and refused to go out without him.
“No, no, no,” Michael chanted softly, watching his words float in front of him in puffs of cold air as he wished he’d thought to wear a warmer coat, and possibly gloves. “Leave him there. This is not the time to develop parental concern!”
He shook his head in defeat as he heard, “Fine! Here! Just take him with you and keep him warm in this.” He heard a rustling of what he assumed was a blanket and Rath and Lonnie arguing over who would have to hold him while they went for dinner.
He leaned back further into the bricks, suppressing a shudder of cold, and watched carefully from across the street while Rath strutted triumphantly out of the alley followed by Lonnie, who was awkwardly holding a red sweatshirt-wrapped bundle. Making a snap-decision, Michael eased himself to a standing position and waited until they’d almost disappeared around the corner before trotting down the street to follow them. Rounding the corner carefully, his attention completely focused on the trio ahead of him, he didn’t see Tess trailing behind him or her smug smile.
Michael watched, appalled, as Lonnie and Rath pushed their way through the crowded streets with no regard to jostling the baby. He nearly rushed forward when Lonnie smirked and tossed the baby toward an unsuspecting Rath, yelling, “Catch, sucker!” …and then took off ahead of him as she laughed over her shoulder, pleased at not having to hold him any longer.
“Bitch!” Rath yelled after her retreating form, as he nearly fumbled the catch. He tucked the bundle under one arm like a football and took off after her, causing Michael to curse under his breath and hurry behind them. They stopped at a booth and snagged two slices of pizza from an unwary vendor and ran off before he could stop them.
Michael allowed himself to blend into the crowd, ducking into the alcove of a doorway when they finally stopped to eat. He watched as they placed the squirming bundle on the dirty cold cement, and stood over him as they ate, arguing again over who would have to carry the brat home. Lonnie finally resolved the issue by sprinting back toward home, leaving Rath to scoop up the baby and take off after her. Michael leaned further back into the shadow of the doorway as they both careened by him. His heart lurched in his chest as he watched the sweatshirt-wrapped figure bob around in Rath’s too-tight grasp.
“No way you’re keeping him,” Michael whispered under his breath, dodging pedestrians until they reached the relatively unpopulated alleys leading to the dupes hideout. Slowing down, Michael eased around corners hugging the walls when he ran out of people to blend with. His eyes widened in disbelief as he witnessed Rath reach out and shove Lonnie hard into the brick wall of an alley, two streets over from their home.
“You think you’re tough, big guy? Huh?” Lonnie screeched back, pushing herself off the wall and launching herself at Rath. “Think that was some kinda funny?”
“Shut up, bitch!” Rath stooped to put down the baby and defend himself against Lonnie’s attack.
Michael could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he scoped the alley up and down and inched closer to the distracted pair. There was no way he was leaving Max Jr. with them and there may not ever be a better opportunity to take care of the situation than now. With one arm extended in front of himself, Michael moved in from the side, and without any warning, let out a blast that hit Rath square in the chest. Michael breathed harshly through his mouth, his eyes wide with shock and adrenaline, as Rath lay still on the ground with a blackened circle in the middle of his chest.
Lonnie spun on her heel, hands extended in front of herself, but she was too late. Michael let out one final blast and watched as Lonnie’s eyes rounded in horror and her mouth hung open in a soundless scream. Her fall to the ground seemed to happen in slow motion, as Michael was already moving forward to scoop up the baby and run.
“What the hell?” Michael stopped in disbelief, crouched over the bundled up sweatshirt on the ground. He reached out a shaky hand and moved aside the material revealing a carton of milk instead of the baby he knew he’d seen. No way could that have been an illusion unless…He spun around on his heels, crouched with his hand in front of himself. Ava!…it had to be.
No one else could have fooled the dupes or himself like that, but to do it, she had to be close. He needed to know if she’d taken the baby with her or left him alone again.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Michael’s eyes darted around, trying to take in every angle of the alleyway as he cautiously stood and moved to the end of the narrow lane. He peered both ways and then took off running toward the dupes home, needing to catch Ava and get the baby. Knowing she could make him see anything she wanted, Michael was cautious as he approached the door, listening for any signs of life inside. Frowning, Michael noticed that the door was hanging open. He slowly stepped inside, scanning the room quickly as he strode to the back alcove they kept the baby in. He took in the signs of hasty packing and shook his head in defeat.
Ava had taken off with the baby.
********
“What part of ‘Wait until I get back from the warehouse so I can back you up' did you not understand, Michael?” Jim was practically vibrating with fury, but Michael barely looked up from hastily shoving clothing into his green duffel bag.
“Look, Jim, I couldn’t wait around any more. They were getting restless and I knew they’d be going out. Now that Rath and Lonnie are dead I’m sure Ava must be heading to Roswell with the baby, and we can’t let her take off with him! She knows I’m here, and she must know that I know what’s going on with the baby or she wouldn’t have been able to include me in her mind-warp.”
“Oh she knows you’re here all right,” Jim agreed grimly, reaching into his pocket. “I was feeling kinda sorry for you until I found out the trouble you caused today because you didn’t wait for me! Now, I sort of feel like you deserve this! Here! I found this on the warehouse floor while I was retrieving the listening devices.” He extended his hand, palm-up, to reveal Maria’s phone in two separate pieces.
Michael’s eyes widened in horror as he reached a shaking hand to gather up the parts. A breathy, “No,” escaped his lips as visions of Maria’s wrath danced in front of his vision, momentarily allowing the rest of Jim’s words to float by him.
“Michael! Snap out of it!” Jim demanded harshly, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and shaking him slightly. “Do you know what this means? You were only up in the ventilation shafts, never on the warehouse floor. Someone found this phone and I’m not taking bets on who anymore. Obviously Ava knows more than we thought, and we’ve got to get you out of here. It’s too dangerous for you here, and if she’s heading to Roswell you need to warn the others and then prepare to protect them. Can you do that, son?”
Michael nodded, numb from the shock of the day, and then shuddered briefly before returning to his frenzied packing.
TBC
Next part will include Max and Liz! I just had to get this done so Michael could head home…
For those who want to know…Yes. It’s been an extremely difficult year for me health-wise. There’s no end in sight, but I want to get this story told so it will stop haunting me, lol! My goal right now is to get something posted every week. It may be really short some weeks, longer in others, but progress each week is the goal. For those who are still here…Wow! And thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued interest. I can’t even tell you how much that means!
Gin
Thank you a million times over to my beautiful and wonderfully talented beta isis7777 for the continual cheerleading and wonderful beta-work she is doing for me!
This part is mostly Michael, but I promise Max and Liz next week!
EYA Part 117
Michael carefully stretched one cramping leg out in front of himself, hearing his knee pop he smugly complemented himself on the perfection of his plan. His denim-clad shoulders rested back against the freezing bricks as he readjusted his position crouched down on his heels and peered into the alley across the street.
He could hear the dupes arguing about going out, and knew he may have his opportunity soon. The tiny listening devices had proved invaluable so far, and even without Jim’s help, Michael felt confident he could slip in and take care of the situation as soon as an opportunity presented itself. If they left Max Jr. alone once, there was a high likelihood they would do it again. If that happened, Michael would be able to swoop in and run with Jr.
He poked an impatient finger at the tiny earphone he was wearing and swore under his breath when he realized what they were arguing about. No one wanted to leave without their insurance policy. Ava was yelling at Rath and Lonnie to leave her alone with the baby. She would take care of him. But the dupes weren’t very trusting now that they knew he was their ticket home, and refused to go out without him.
“No, no, no,” Michael chanted softly, watching his words float in front of him in puffs of cold air as he wished he’d thought to wear a warmer coat, and possibly gloves. “Leave him there. This is not the time to develop parental concern!”
He shook his head in defeat as he heard, “Fine! Here! Just take him with you and keep him warm in this.” He heard a rustling of what he assumed was a blanket and Rath and Lonnie arguing over who would have to hold him while they went for dinner.
He leaned back further into the bricks, suppressing a shudder of cold, and watched carefully from across the street while Rath strutted triumphantly out of the alley followed by Lonnie, who was awkwardly holding a red sweatshirt-wrapped bundle. Making a snap-decision, Michael eased himself to a standing position and waited until they’d almost disappeared around the corner before trotting down the street to follow them. Rounding the corner carefully, his attention completely focused on the trio ahead of him, he didn’t see Tess trailing behind him or her smug smile.
Michael watched, appalled, as Lonnie and Rath pushed their way through the crowded streets with no regard to jostling the baby. He nearly rushed forward when Lonnie smirked and tossed the baby toward an unsuspecting Rath, yelling, “Catch, sucker!” …and then took off ahead of him as she laughed over her shoulder, pleased at not having to hold him any longer.
“Bitch!” Rath yelled after her retreating form, as he nearly fumbled the catch. He tucked the bundle under one arm like a football and took off after her, causing Michael to curse under his breath and hurry behind them. They stopped at a booth and snagged two slices of pizza from an unwary vendor and ran off before he could stop them.
Michael allowed himself to blend into the crowd, ducking into the alcove of a doorway when they finally stopped to eat. He watched as they placed the squirming bundle on the dirty cold cement, and stood over him as they ate, arguing again over who would have to carry the brat home. Lonnie finally resolved the issue by sprinting back toward home, leaving Rath to scoop up the baby and take off after her. Michael leaned further back into the shadow of the doorway as they both careened by him. His heart lurched in his chest as he watched the sweatshirt-wrapped figure bob around in Rath’s too-tight grasp.
“No way you’re keeping him,” Michael whispered under his breath, dodging pedestrians until they reached the relatively unpopulated alleys leading to the dupes hideout. Slowing down, Michael eased around corners hugging the walls when he ran out of people to blend with. His eyes widened in disbelief as he witnessed Rath reach out and shove Lonnie hard into the brick wall of an alley, two streets over from their home.
“You think you’re tough, big guy? Huh?” Lonnie screeched back, pushing herself off the wall and launching herself at Rath. “Think that was some kinda funny?”
“Shut up, bitch!” Rath stooped to put down the baby and defend himself against Lonnie’s attack.
Michael could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he scoped the alley up and down and inched closer to the distracted pair. There was no way he was leaving Max Jr. with them and there may not ever be a better opportunity to take care of the situation than now. With one arm extended in front of himself, Michael moved in from the side, and without any warning, let out a blast that hit Rath square in the chest. Michael breathed harshly through his mouth, his eyes wide with shock and adrenaline, as Rath lay still on the ground with a blackened circle in the middle of his chest.
Lonnie spun on her heel, hands extended in front of herself, but she was too late. Michael let out one final blast and watched as Lonnie’s eyes rounded in horror and her mouth hung open in a soundless scream. Her fall to the ground seemed to happen in slow motion, as Michael was already moving forward to scoop up the baby and run.
“What the hell?” Michael stopped in disbelief, crouched over the bundled up sweatshirt on the ground. He reached out a shaky hand and moved aside the material revealing a carton of milk instead of the baby he knew he’d seen. No way could that have been an illusion unless…He spun around on his heels, crouched with his hand in front of himself. Ava!…it had to be.
No one else could have fooled the dupes or himself like that, but to do it, she had to be close. He needed to know if she’d taken the baby with her or left him alone again.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Michael’s eyes darted around, trying to take in every angle of the alleyway as he cautiously stood and moved to the end of the narrow lane. He peered both ways and then took off running toward the dupes home, needing to catch Ava and get the baby. Knowing she could make him see anything she wanted, Michael was cautious as he approached the door, listening for any signs of life inside. Frowning, Michael noticed that the door was hanging open. He slowly stepped inside, scanning the room quickly as he strode to the back alcove they kept the baby in. He took in the signs of hasty packing and shook his head in defeat.
Ava had taken off with the baby.
********
“What part of ‘Wait until I get back from the warehouse so I can back you up' did you not understand, Michael?” Jim was practically vibrating with fury, but Michael barely looked up from hastily shoving clothing into his green duffel bag.
“Look, Jim, I couldn’t wait around any more. They were getting restless and I knew they’d be going out. Now that Rath and Lonnie are dead I’m sure Ava must be heading to Roswell with the baby, and we can’t let her take off with him! She knows I’m here, and she must know that I know what’s going on with the baby or she wouldn’t have been able to include me in her mind-warp.”
“Oh she knows you’re here all right,” Jim agreed grimly, reaching into his pocket. “I was feeling kinda sorry for you until I found out the trouble you caused today because you didn’t wait for me! Now, I sort of feel like you deserve this! Here! I found this on the warehouse floor while I was retrieving the listening devices.” He extended his hand, palm-up, to reveal Maria’s phone in two separate pieces.
Michael’s eyes widened in horror as he reached a shaking hand to gather up the parts. A breathy, “No,” escaped his lips as visions of Maria’s wrath danced in front of his vision, momentarily allowing the rest of Jim’s words to float by him.
“Michael! Snap out of it!” Jim demanded harshly, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and shaking him slightly. “Do you know what this means? You were only up in the ventilation shafts, never on the warehouse floor. Someone found this phone and I’m not taking bets on who anymore. Obviously Ava knows more than we thought, and we’ve got to get you out of here. It’s too dangerous for you here, and if she’s heading to Roswell you need to warn the others and then prepare to protect them. Can you do that, son?”
Michael nodded, numb from the shock of the day, and then shuddered briefly before returning to his frenzied packing.
TBC
Next part will include Max and Liz! I just had to get this done so Michael could head home…
For those who want to know…Yes. It’s been an extremely difficult year for me health-wise. There’s no end in sight, but I want to get this story told so it will stop haunting me, lol! My goal right now is to get something posted every week. It may be really short some weeks, longer in others, but progress each week is the goal. For those who are still here…Wow! And thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued interest. I can’t even tell you how much that means!
Gin
EYA 118
Hello, all! I’m absolutely floored by the tremendous response to the return of EYA! You all are amazing and wonderfully loyal readers, and I really appreciate you taking the time to read the new parts and in many cases re-read the entire story! Wow!
I want to keep to my weekly posting promise, so here's the part, but I should warn you that this part is un-beta’d right now. My beta is on vacation through Wednesday, but one of her great ideas is incorporated into this next bit, making it better than it would have been! I’ll edit the post when isis7777 gets back and has time to go over it for me. There won’t be any plot changes to the part, but it may read more smoothly once she gets her hands on it, lol!
EYA 118
“Alright, Thor, you’re going to have to be my wingman on this,” Michael stated softly to the multi-colored ball of fluff he was holding in front of his face. “My back up plan. Do you think you can handle that?” Michael took the loud purring as a ‘yes’.
“Now Maria’s going to be pissed.” Michael snorted under his breath. “Well, ‘pissed’ may be putting it mildly, but she can’t resist you. She’d have to be made of stone to look at your tiny little sweet face and not melt. Right? Right.” Michael nodded firmly to himself and settled the kitten back into his lap as he watched the flight attendant perform all the post-flight duties before opening the door to Serena’s private jet.
“Don’t be scared,” he murmured reassuringly, not sure if it was meant for himself or Thor. “You’ll be a great distraction and she’ll forget all about yelling at me.” He couldn’t decide if his accelerated heart rate was from anxiety or excitement at being home at last.
The doors opened and Michael inhaled a deep, cleansing breath before unbuckling his seat-belt and tucking Thor into his denim jacket as he stood up. “Here goes.” He glanced down to ensure Thor was completely hidden and secure before resolutely striding toward the exit doors.
Michael stood blinking in the bright glare of the noon-day sun for a moment before heading down the steps that led to the dark tarmac of Roswell’s private airstrip. He carefully paid attention to who had shown up to greet him, smiling when he saw Alex, Kyle and Isabel, and not surprised that Liz and Max weren’t there. Things were still a little shaky on that front, but Michael knew he’d have to see them later to report in regardless of their emotional state. Too many things were happening that would affect their future, and maybe it would take Max’s mind off of his more personal concerns.
Finally he let his eyes slide to Maria. His stomach flipped in nervous excitement. His lips curved up in a hopeful grin, not overly discouraged by her crossed arms and closed expression. Hind sight being what it is, he reflected that maybe it hadn’t been the wisest course of action to let Maria stew thinking he’d met another girl and then not call her back to clarify before coming home. He approached the small group stopping in front of Maria. “Hey,” he greeted her with a private smile. Her hair shown brightly in the sun and her eyes flashed fire when she returned his look boldly. She was utterly beautiful to him.
“Don’t you try to ‘hey’ me, Spaceboy,” Maria snapped at him irritably. She peered over his shoulder at the open door to the jet. “Did you bring back your new Barbie Doll girlfriend? Don’t worry, I won’t stay and make this uncomfortable for you, I just wanted to collect my phone and get back to Max and Liz.” Maria held out her hand, only slightly unsteady, while she tried to hold back tears.
“Maria…” Michael started, moving toward her. “I don’t…”
“Hey, Michael,” Isabel moved in quickly for a hug. “It’s good that you’re back and safe,” she stated loud enough for the group to hear, and then whispered close to his ear, “She’s been a little on edge. She missed you a lot, okay?”
Michael nodded, giving her a one-armed hug so he could keep Thor from being squished. He wriggled a hand into his denim pocket and fished out the two pieces of Maria’s phone. “Help?” He implored desperately, surreptitiously slipping the broken parts into Isabel’s hand.
Isabel’s eyes widened in shock as she quickly turned to conceal the phone from Maria’s sight. “Michael! You’re gonna be a dead man!”
“Not if you can fix it! Hurry up!”
“Michael! How’s it goin’?” Kyle greeted, thumping his friend on the back. “Any freaky new things happen since last time?”
Michael nodded, smiling a little. “Like you wouldn’t believe. I’ll fill you all in together when we get back to Max and Liz’s.”
“Great, man. Just great,” Kyle muttered, shaking his head and stepping back before turning curiously toward Isabel’s hunched over form . “What’re you doin’ there, Is?”
“Nothing!” Isabel flashed a desperate look to Kyle hoping he could read the ‘Don’t say another word and I’ll tell you later’ in her expression.
“Alrighty then.” Kyle stepped back to let Alex say hi to Michael.
“Missed you, man. Glad you’re back,” Alex greeted.
Michael nodded glancing back to Maria. Time for that distraction.
“Look, Maria, about that other girl…”
“God, Michael, I really don’t want to hear any more about her perfect hair or her fabulous eyes or…or what a great listener she is! I…I…”
Michael reached into his jacket and held out Thor.
“Maria, meet Thor.”
“I…What?” Maria shook her head and blinked back the tears that had threatened. “This is the Barbie Doll hoochie you were talking about on the phone?” She moved closer and plucked the kitten from Michael’s outstretched hand, pulling her in close to her chest and running her fingers through the softest fur she had ever felt.
Thor gazed back at Michael with wide eyes. Michael shrugged helplessly and watched the pair as Maria cooed over the ball of fluff in her arms.
“How did Michael find you, my sweet little baby? Is he treating you right?” She ran her cheek over the soft fur of Thor’s tiny head. “You’re such a sweet little thing aren’t you, Barbie?”
Michael cleared his throat. “Thor,” he corrected firmly. No way was she gonna rename her Barbie.
Maria flashed him an irritated glance. “Thor is a boys name. Barbie,” Maria held out the ball of fluff, “is a girl.”
“I’m aware,” Michael responded grimly. “She’s tough. She earned the name. Believe me.”
Maria stared at Michael, seeing something hard and sad within him before nodding to acknowledge his words. “Thor it is.” She continued to cuddle and coo at the kitten while Michael breathed a sigh of relief and shot a nervous glance toward Isabel.
Isabel moved closer to Michael and hugged his arm as he felt her slip something into his pocket with a small smile.
Michael reached into the pocket and pulled out Maria’s phone. “Oh, by the way, here’s your phone back.” He held it out to Maria all in one piece.
“Oh. Thanks, Michael,” Maria responded, distracted as Thor played with the pendant dangling from her necklace. She took the phone and slipped it into her purse. “Welcome home.” Maria moved in closer and wrapped one arm around Michael as she leaned in for a tender kiss. “I missed you,” she whispered into his lips just before she closed the distance between them. “I was worried about you.” She tried to control the shakiness of her voice.
“Me too,” Michael whispered back, relief and joy flooding him at the contact. He’d missed this. Missed the fire and snap that was his Maria, as well as the tender proof of her love for him manifested by both her jealousy and her sweet kiss. They interrupted the kiss at an uncomfortable cough from Kyle and Michael mouthed a heartfelt “Thank you” to Isabel over Maria’s shoulder before they broke their embrace.
“We should head back to Max and Liz’s.” Michael took Maria’s hand and intertwined their fingers.
“What about your stuff on the plane?” Alex asked curiously. “Don’t you have any luggage?”
“Nah, they said they’d drop it by my apartment tonight. Wait until you see the motorcycle Serena gave to me!”
“Serena gave you a motorcycle?” Maria and Kyle chorused in amazement.
“Yeah, it came in really handy in New York. They had a whole garage full of cars and bikes and stuff and she’s never gonna use it all, so she sent one back with me.”
“Now I wish I’d gone too! Why didn’t I get to go again?” Kyle mourned out loud as Isabel elbowed him in the ribs. “What kind of bike?” He rubbed his tender rib and shot an unrepentant grin at Isabel.
Michael laughed and rolled his eyes at their antics as he rhapsodized over his new ride.
Max and Liz’s Apartment
“You ready for this?” Liz rubbed circles against Max’s back and watched him carefully for his answer.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.” Max tried to smile for Liz, knowing she could feel the lie. “Well maybe not ‘good’ per se,” he chuckled, leaning in to nuzzle against her throat and inhale a deep breath. “But good enough.”
“Okay.” Liz tilted her head down to kiss him softly on the lips. “None of what has happened changes anything for me, okay? Just remember that.”
“Liz,” Max leaned back and looked her in the eyes, “how could it not?”
“We’re gonna make this all work for us, okay? As long as we’re together we can figure everything out.”
Max sighed and rested his head against her chest while she stroked her hands over his back again. He wished he had the same faith as she did, but experience had taught him viciously over and over that events rarely worked out as he would wish.
“Come on,” Liz tugged at Max’s arm to help him stand up from where they had been curled together on the couch. “We should take a shower before everyone gets here.”
Max tugged the elastic of his sleep pants up a little from where the waistband had been dipping low on his hips and quirked a smile down into Liz’s smiling face. “A shower, huh?” He reached out and ran his warm hands over her arms, unable to resist touching her.
“Yep. Just what we need, don’t you think?” Her eyes danced as she tried to hold back a full blown grin as she watched Max’s face lighten up at the distraction.
“Oh yeah. Just what we need.” Max growled low in his throat and, in a surprise move, swept a laughing Liz up into his arms.
The water ran over them, caressing their moving limbs as Liz took time to run the soap over the curves of muscle covering Max’s chest and abs. She walked around him, admiring the firm muscles and defined lines of his hard body. Her hands lingered to shape each nipple as she circled them slowly before lightly pinching and twisting just to hear the low groan from Max as he tilted his head back into the cascading water as the sensation rocked through him.
“Yeah, let me hear what you like, Max,” Liz encouraged softly, her lips against the newly washed skin of his neck. She stood on her toes to lick and suck the tender skin as her hands slipped lower against Max’s body. She moved her fingers through the light amount of coarse hair at his outer thighs, scratching gently as she moved her hands to the front of his thighs and stopped.
“Mnnnf, don’t stop,” Max begged. His hands kneaded the water slick skin at her back while he pulled her in closer to him, not able to contain the rocking motion of his hips into hers.
“Don’t worry,” Liz soothed gently. She caressed over his inner thighs until the muscles trembled under her touch and his hips maintained a steady rhythm against her. His hardness rocked against her belly in urgent motions sliding easily with the warm water and pre-cum that was leaking continuously between them.
“Liz!” Max breath hissed out on a frustrated groan and he moved his hands up swiftly to cradle her face in his palms and kiss her hungrily. He parted her lips with his tongue and sucked hers into his mouth desperately. His thumbs caressed over her cheeks as he angled them together to deepen the kiss until she was moaning into his mouth too, tasting his passion and growing desperation.
His cock bumped between their straining torsos thick and hard and dark with arousal as it strained to find friction against the wet slide of their bodies.
Liz looped her hands over Max’s neck and rose up on her toes when Max reached down to pick her up. Her slender legs wrapped around Max’s thighs tightly as he maneuvered her into position, both crying out harshly when he sank her down onto his straining shaft in one swift thrust.
“Max! Yes!” Liz threw her head back at the sudden sensation of utter fullness that always overwhelmed her when they first joined together.
Max’s hips pumped smoothly, one arm under Liz’s hip to hold her up and the other looped around her torso to support her back. He tangled his fingers in the dark, wet slide of her hair and tugged back to get access to her neck. He could feel her wild pulse rage under his tongue and couldn’t resist sucking a dark bruise into the pale skin just there. His teeth scraped over her gently causing louder moans to erupt from her throat. He growled an acknowledgment of her desperate pleasure and sped the motion of his hips as he turned them to lean Liz back against the tiled wall and moved both hands to her hips to control their motion.
Liz abruptly closed her eyes and arched back hard against the tile as waves of pleasure crashed through her. Her cries of release echoed in the closed space as she writhed in Max’s embrace clenching around him in tight, rhythmic waves, milking his straining cock until his groans of release joined hers.
Boneless, Liz lowered her legs, grateful that Max’s arms still held her steady as she tried to regain her equilibrium. Their panting breaths gradually slowed to normal as they leaned against each other and let the water wash away the evidence of their passion. When she felt steady again she reached up, tilting Max’s face toward her until he was staring into her liquid brown eyes.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise,” she pledged sincerely, begging him with her eyes to believe as she did.
Max lowered his forehead to rest against Liz’s and closed his eyes. She could feel him trying to center and calm the emotions that were never far from the surface for him anymore. The turmoil and anxiety of the newest revelations hadn’t found an easy resting place within him yet, maybe never would, but she felt him forcibly push them down to a manageable place inside himself to examine later. She let out a breath filled with relief and pride when he nodded his head gently against hers and leaned back with a small smile.
“Together, right?”
“Always.”
TBC
I want to keep to my weekly posting promise, so here's the part, but I should warn you that this part is un-beta’d right now. My beta is on vacation through Wednesday, but one of her great ideas is incorporated into this next bit, making it better than it would have been! I’ll edit the post when isis7777 gets back and has time to go over it for me. There won’t be any plot changes to the part, but it may read more smoothly once she gets her hands on it, lol!
EYA 118
“Alright, Thor, you’re going to have to be my wingman on this,” Michael stated softly to the multi-colored ball of fluff he was holding in front of his face. “My back up plan. Do you think you can handle that?” Michael took the loud purring as a ‘yes’.
“Now Maria’s going to be pissed.” Michael snorted under his breath. “Well, ‘pissed’ may be putting it mildly, but she can’t resist you. She’d have to be made of stone to look at your tiny little sweet face and not melt. Right? Right.” Michael nodded firmly to himself and settled the kitten back into his lap as he watched the flight attendant perform all the post-flight duties before opening the door to Serena’s private jet.
“Don’t be scared,” he murmured reassuringly, not sure if it was meant for himself or Thor. “You’ll be a great distraction and she’ll forget all about yelling at me.” He couldn’t decide if his accelerated heart rate was from anxiety or excitement at being home at last.
The doors opened and Michael inhaled a deep, cleansing breath before unbuckling his seat-belt and tucking Thor into his denim jacket as he stood up. “Here goes.” He glanced down to ensure Thor was completely hidden and secure before resolutely striding toward the exit doors.
Michael stood blinking in the bright glare of the noon-day sun for a moment before heading down the steps that led to the dark tarmac of Roswell’s private airstrip. He carefully paid attention to who had shown up to greet him, smiling when he saw Alex, Kyle and Isabel, and not surprised that Liz and Max weren’t there. Things were still a little shaky on that front, but Michael knew he’d have to see them later to report in regardless of their emotional state. Too many things were happening that would affect their future, and maybe it would take Max’s mind off of his more personal concerns.
Finally he let his eyes slide to Maria. His stomach flipped in nervous excitement. His lips curved up in a hopeful grin, not overly discouraged by her crossed arms and closed expression. Hind sight being what it is, he reflected that maybe it hadn’t been the wisest course of action to let Maria stew thinking he’d met another girl and then not call her back to clarify before coming home. He approached the small group stopping in front of Maria. “Hey,” he greeted her with a private smile. Her hair shown brightly in the sun and her eyes flashed fire when she returned his look boldly. She was utterly beautiful to him.
“Don’t you try to ‘hey’ me, Spaceboy,” Maria snapped at him irritably. She peered over his shoulder at the open door to the jet. “Did you bring back your new Barbie Doll girlfriend? Don’t worry, I won’t stay and make this uncomfortable for you, I just wanted to collect my phone and get back to Max and Liz.” Maria held out her hand, only slightly unsteady, while she tried to hold back tears.
“Maria…” Michael started, moving toward her. “I don’t…”
“Hey, Michael,” Isabel moved in quickly for a hug. “It’s good that you’re back and safe,” she stated loud enough for the group to hear, and then whispered close to his ear, “She’s been a little on edge. She missed you a lot, okay?”
Michael nodded, giving her a one-armed hug so he could keep Thor from being squished. He wriggled a hand into his denim pocket and fished out the two pieces of Maria’s phone. “Help?” He implored desperately, surreptitiously slipping the broken parts into Isabel’s hand.
Isabel’s eyes widened in shock as she quickly turned to conceal the phone from Maria’s sight. “Michael! You’re gonna be a dead man!”
“Not if you can fix it! Hurry up!”
“Michael! How’s it goin’?” Kyle greeted, thumping his friend on the back. “Any freaky new things happen since last time?”
Michael nodded, smiling a little. “Like you wouldn’t believe. I’ll fill you all in together when we get back to Max and Liz’s.”
“Great, man. Just great,” Kyle muttered, shaking his head and stepping back before turning curiously toward Isabel’s hunched over form . “What’re you doin’ there, Is?”
“Nothing!” Isabel flashed a desperate look to Kyle hoping he could read the ‘Don’t say another word and I’ll tell you later’ in her expression.
“Alrighty then.” Kyle stepped back to let Alex say hi to Michael.
“Missed you, man. Glad you’re back,” Alex greeted.
Michael nodded glancing back to Maria. Time for that distraction.
“Look, Maria, about that other girl…”
“God, Michael, I really don’t want to hear any more about her perfect hair or her fabulous eyes or…or what a great listener she is! I…I…”
Michael reached into his jacket and held out Thor.
“Maria, meet Thor.”
“I…What?” Maria shook her head and blinked back the tears that had threatened. “This is the Barbie Doll hoochie you were talking about on the phone?” She moved closer and plucked the kitten from Michael’s outstretched hand, pulling her in close to her chest and running her fingers through the softest fur she had ever felt.
Thor gazed back at Michael with wide eyes. Michael shrugged helplessly and watched the pair as Maria cooed over the ball of fluff in her arms.
“How did Michael find you, my sweet little baby? Is he treating you right?” She ran her cheek over the soft fur of Thor’s tiny head. “You’re such a sweet little thing aren’t you, Barbie?”
Michael cleared his throat. “Thor,” he corrected firmly. No way was she gonna rename her Barbie.
Maria flashed him an irritated glance. “Thor is a boys name. Barbie,” Maria held out the ball of fluff, “is a girl.”
“I’m aware,” Michael responded grimly. “She’s tough. She earned the name. Believe me.”
Maria stared at Michael, seeing something hard and sad within him before nodding to acknowledge his words. “Thor it is.” She continued to cuddle and coo at the kitten while Michael breathed a sigh of relief and shot a nervous glance toward Isabel.
Isabel moved closer to Michael and hugged his arm as he felt her slip something into his pocket with a small smile.
Michael reached into the pocket and pulled out Maria’s phone. “Oh, by the way, here’s your phone back.” He held it out to Maria all in one piece.
“Oh. Thanks, Michael,” Maria responded, distracted as Thor played with the pendant dangling from her necklace. She took the phone and slipped it into her purse. “Welcome home.” Maria moved in closer and wrapped one arm around Michael as she leaned in for a tender kiss. “I missed you,” she whispered into his lips just before she closed the distance between them. “I was worried about you.” She tried to control the shakiness of her voice.
“Me too,” Michael whispered back, relief and joy flooding him at the contact. He’d missed this. Missed the fire and snap that was his Maria, as well as the tender proof of her love for him manifested by both her jealousy and her sweet kiss. They interrupted the kiss at an uncomfortable cough from Kyle and Michael mouthed a heartfelt “Thank you” to Isabel over Maria’s shoulder before they broke their embrace.
“We should head back to Max and Liz’s.” Michael took Maria’s hand and intertwined their fingers.
“What about your stuff on the plane?” Alex asked curiously. “Don’t you have any luggage?”
“Nah, they said they’d drop it by my apartment tonight. Wait until you see the motorcycle Serena gave to me!”
“Serena gave you a motorcycle?” Maria and Kyle chorused in amazement.
“Yeah, it came in really handy in New York. They had a whole garage full of cars and bikes and stuff and she’s never gonna use it all, so she sent one back with me.”
“Now I wish I’d gone too! Why didn’t I get to go again?” Kyle mourned out loud as Isabel elbowed him in the ribs. “What kind of bike?” He rubbed his tender rib and shot an unrepentant grin at Isabel.
Michael laughed and rolled his eyes at their antics as he rhapsodized over his new ride.
Max and Liz’s Apartment
“You ready for this?” Liz rubbed circles against Max’s back and watched him carefully for his answer.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.” Max tried to smile for Liz, knowing she could feel the lie. “Well maybe not ‘good’ per se,” he chuckled, leaning in to nuzzle against her throat and inhale a deep breath. “But good enough.”
“Okay.” Liz tilted her head down to kiss him softly on the lips. “None of what has happened changes anything for me, okay? Just remember that.”
“Liz,” Max leaned back and looked her in the eyes, “how could it not?”
“We’re gonna make this all work for us, okay? As long as we’re together we can figure everything out.”
Max sighed and rested his head against her chest while she stroked her hands over his back again. He wished he had the same faith as she did, but experience had taught him viciously over and over that events rarely worked out as he would wish.
“Come on,” Liz tugged at Max’s arm to help him stand up from where they had been curled together on the couch. “We should take a shower before everyone gets here.”
Max tugged the elastic of his sleep pants up a little from where the waistband had been dipping low on his hips and quirked a smile down into Liz’s smiling face. “A shower, huh?” He reached out and ran his warm hands over her arms, unable to resist touching her.
“Yep. Just what we need, don’t you think?” Her eyes danced as she tried to hold back a full blown grin as she watched Max’s face lighten up at the distraction.
“Oh yeah. Just what we need.” Max growled low in his throat and, in a surprise move, swept a laughing Liz up into his arms.
The water ran over them, caressing their moving limbs as Liz took time to run the soap over the curves of muscle covering Max’s chest and abs. She walked around him, admiring the firm muscles and defined lines of his hard body. Her hands lingered to shape each nipple as she circled them slowly before lightly pinching and twisting just to hear the low groan from Max as he tilted his head back into the cascading water as the sensation rocked through him.
“Yeah, let me hear what you like, Max,” Liz encouraged softly, her lips against the newly washed skin of his neck. She stood on her toes to lick and suck the tender skin as her hands slipped lower against Max’s body. She moved her fingers through the light amount of coarse hair at his outer thighs, scratching gently as she moved her hands to the front of his thighs and stopped.
“Mnnnf, don’t stop,” Max begged. His hands kneaded the water slick skin at her back while he pulled her in closer to him, not able to contain the rocking motion of his hips into hers.
“Don’t worry,” Liz soothed gently. She caressed over his inner thighs until the muscles trembled under her touch and his hips maintained a steady rhythm against her. His hardness rocked against her belly in urgent motions sliding easily with the warm water and pre-cum that was leaking continuously between them.
“Liz!” Max breath hissed out on a frustrated groan and he moved his hands up swiftly to cradle her face in his palms and kiss her hungrily. He parted her lips with his tongue and sucked hers into his mouth desperately. His thumbs caressed over her cheeks as he angled them together to deepen the kiss until she was moaning into his mouth too, tasting his passion and growing desperation.
His cock bumped between their straining torsos thick and hard and dark with arousal as it strained to find friction against the wet slide of their bodies.
Liz looped her hands over Max’s neck and rose up on her toes when Max reached down to pick her up. Her slender legs wrapped around Max’s thighs tightly as he maneuvered her into position, both crying out harshly when he sank her down onto his straining shaft in one swift thrust.
“Max! Yes!” Liz threw her head back at the sudden sensation of utter fullness that always overwhelmed her when they first joined together.
Max’s hips pumped smoothly, one arm under Liz’s hip to hold her up and the other looped around her torso to support her back. He tangled his fingers in the dark, wet slide of her hair and tugged back to get access to her neck. He could feel her wild pulse rage under his tongue and couldn’t resist sucking a dark bruise into the pale skin just there. His teeth scraped over her gently causing louder moans to erupt from her throat. He growled an acknowledgment of her desperate pleasure and sped the motion of his hips as he turned them to lean Liz back against the tiled wall and moved both hands to her hips to control their motion.
Liz abruptly closed her eyes and arched back hard against the tile as waves of pleasure crashed through her. Her cries of release echoed in the closed space as she writhed in Max’s embrace clenching around him in tight, rhythmic waves, milking his straining cock until his groans of release joined hers.
Boneless, Liz lowered her legs, grateful that Max’s arms still held her steady as she tried to regain her equilibrium. Their panting breaths gradually slowed to normal as they leaned against each other and let the water wash away the evidence of their passion. When she felt steady again she reached up, tilting Max’s face toward her until he was staring into her liquid brown eyes.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise,” she pledged sincerely, begging him with her eyes to believe as she did.
Max lowered his forehead to rest against Liz’s and closed his eyes. She could feel him trying to center and calm the emotions that were never far from the surface for him anymore. The turmoil and anxiety of the newest revelations hadn’t found an easy resting place within him yet, maybe never would, but she felt him forcibly push them down to a manageable place inside himself to examine later. She let out a breath filled with relief and pride when he nodded his head gently against hers and leaned back with a small smile.
“Together, right?”
“Always.”
TBC
Last edited by javagin on Sun Jan 28, 2007 12:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
EYA 119
Here we are! Another week, another post! I just want to thank isis7777 again for a speedy beta!
Just a note since there seems to be some confusion over the paternity of ‘Max Jr.’ and who knows what about the situation. So far only Larek & Co. plus Tess know that the baby is Khivar’s and not Max’s. All the rest of the gang believe that the baby is Max’s, and only Tess could clarify that for them at this point. Also, I should mention that Tess still believes that Max and Isabel are dead and that Liz is in the custody of the FBI. Max and Liz and the rest of the group believe that Tess died giving birth to the baby, not realizing that Tess had tricked Ava into having the baby and that Ava was the one that actually died, so they think Ava and Max’s son are together in New York. Whew! Sounds like a soap opera!
On to the show…I hope you enjoy!
EYA 119
“You okay now?” Maria was crouched down beside Michael as she slowly rubbed her hand up and down his back as he sat with his elbows on his knees and his head down.
Michael nodded without looking up. “Where is everyone?” His voice was tight with tension and embarrassment. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to know.
“Hey, no worries, alright? They know you can’t control this thing. They’ve been too close a few too many times themselves for them not to know what it feels like when Max and Liz go into heat,” Maria soothed gently. “They went to get some food, said they’d be back in a half hour, so that gives us a few more minutes.” Maria was worried that he wouldn’t look at her. “I didn’t realize it’d gotten this bad for you.”
Michael shook his head, still looking down between his legs at the tiled floor. He scrubbed his hands through his already disordered hair, knowing he couldn’t rub out the memory of the last twenty minutes.
They hadn’t even made it all the way through the airport building on the way to their cars before Michael doubled over and groaned in pained arousal and sudden heat. Kyle and Alex each grabbed an arm to steer him out of the main hall and into the bathroom, still unsure of what was going on with their friend.
Exclamations of “Michael!” “What’s going on?” “This is some freaky new alien thing isn’t it?” filled the room as his friends crowded around him.
“What’s wrong, Michael? Are you in pain?” Alex’s voice was anxious as he maneuvered Michael over to a wall and leaned him against it trying to get his attention.
Michael felt the cold, shiny tile against his heated back and slowly slid down into a crouched position, turning his head until his cheek was pressed to the coolness. An involuntary moan followed by a full body shudder started to clue in the concerned group surrounding him. He couldn’t focus on anyone around him, all he could feel was Liz. Liz’s arousal, Liz’s deep anxiety over Max’s withdrawal, Liz’s fierce, protective love for Max. He was drowning in it and couldn’t make himself surface. His panting breaths grew harsher and he rolled his head back against the unforgiving tile.
Maria figured it out first and started to push everyone toward the exit.
“I told you it was a freaky alien thing!” Kyle crowed to Alex as they were pressed toward the door.
“Here, Mr. Obvious, take Thor and go get something to eat. Give us a half hour before you even think about coming back here and knock before you come in.” Maria thrust the kitten into Kyle’s surprised hands and grabbed Isabel’s arm. “Could you make up an Out of Order sign and put it on the door?” Isabel nodded and rushed out to get what she’d need. Maria turned to Alex. “Guard the door until Isabel gets the sign up, okay?”
“No problem. No one gets in.”
Maria shut the door on the stunned faces of her friends after her whirlwind handling of their departure before turning back to Michael. He’d moved so he was sitting on the floor, knees up and fists clenching and unclenching rhythmically as he tried to control the sensations rocking through him. His hips rocked minutely even as he tried to restrain himself. Maria moved back until she was sitting on her heels beside him and gently pushed the slightly damp hair off his forehead.
“Don’t,” Michael panted, more harshly than he’d intended. “Don’t touch me right now.”
Maria pulled her hand back as if it had been burned.
Michael squeezed his eyes closed and tried to take a deep, controlled breath. “Sorry. I’m sorry,” he squeezed out finally. “I don’t…It’s too much right now.”
“It’s okay. I understand.” And Maria sat back and watched and waited while Michael writhed against the wall until he finally shuddered and came with a barely restrained groan that sounded almost painful. He slumped back, letting the wall support him and took deep, measured breaths until he felt more under control.
Without opening his eyes he asked Maria to turn around until he could clean up the mess he’d made in his pants. When she turned back he was slumped over staring between his knees at the floor. She reached out tentatively, and when he didn’t reject her she began running her hand up and down his back to let him know she was there for him. Which led to their current conversation and the question she had posed.
“Yeah, it’s never been this bad before,” Michael finally answered so softly she had to lean in to hear. “It must be because we’re closer now.”
“‘We’?”
“Liz and me,” Michael confessed, squeezing his eyes closed.
“Liz.” Maria had already known the answer, she just didn’t want to believe it.
“I’m sorry, Maria.” Michael turned his head so his cheek rested on one knee and finally made his eyes meet Maria’s. “We’re connected somehow and it’s getting stronger. I can feel everything she’s feeling and I…I don’t know what to do.” His voice broke and his eyes glistened with unshed tears, but he blinked them back and took in another harsh breath. “I don’t have any control over it.”
“I know, Michael. I don’t blame you for it. We’ll figure it out with Max and Liz. There’s got to be something we can do.” Maria couldn’t hold back any longer and reached to pull Michael’s limp body to her, hugging him fiercely. She nearly sobbed when he finally reached up to hug her back.
“Thank you,” he breathed into her neck, barely a whisper.
“For what?” Maria leaned back until they were staring into each others eyes.
“Being you.”
A knock interrupted, followed by Isabel’s concerned voice. “Everything okay now?”
Maria continued to stare at Michael until he nodded faintly with a chagrinned smile.
“Yeah. We’ll be out in a minute,” Maria called out. She helped Michael stand up and move to the row of shiny white sinks. He ran his hands under the water and stared at his flushed reflection in the mirror before ducking his head and cupping water over his face and hair, slicking it back and standing up straight again. He looked around in sudden worry.
“Hey, where’s Thor?”
“No worries. I gave her to Kyle to take care of until we were done here.”
“Kyle! Why would you give her to Kyle?” Michael yanked the bathroom door open and strode swiftly toward a started Kyle, taking Thor from the awkward hold Kyle had on her.
Michael cradled her to his chest crooning softly, “Hey, baby doll, Daddy’s got you. Don’t be scared of the Zen Master Kyle. He means well. Mostly.”
“Hey!” Kyle protested as he trailed after Michael’s retreating figure. “Are you saying you don’t trust me with your cat?”
“No offense,” Michael answered shortly, continuing his swift walk down the long corridor, not letting Kyle catch up without having to jog to keep up.
“No offense? No offense? I’ll have you know he and I bonded over lunch just now!”
“He’s a she, dumbass,” Michael retorted shortly rolling his eyes.
“Whatever. I knew that! No wonder she loves me!”
Maria shook her head and linked her arm with Alex’s as they and Isabel followed at a more sedate pace.
Just another day in Roswell.
TBC
Just a note since there seems to be some confusion over the paternity of ‘Max Jr.’ and who knows what about the situation. So far only Larek & Co. plus Tess know that the baby is Khivar’s and not Max’s. All the rest of the gang believe that the baby is Max’s, and only Tess could clarify that for them at this point. Also, I should mention that Tess still believes that Max and Isabel are dead and that Liz is in the custody of the FBI. Max and Liz and the rest of the group believe that Tess died giving birth to the baby, not realizing that Tess had tricked Ava into having the baby and that Ava was the one that actually died, so they think Ava and Max’s son are together in New York. Whew! Sounds like a soap opera!
On to the show…I hope you enjoy!
EYA 119
“You okay now?” Maria was crouched down beside Michael as she slowly rubbed her hand up and down his back as he sat with his elbows on his knees and his head down.
Michael nodded without looking up. “Where is everyone?” His voice was tight with tension and embarrassment. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to know.
“Hey, no worries, alright? They know you can’t control this thing. They’ve been too close a few too many times themselves for them not to know what it feels like when Max and Liz go into heat,” Maria soothed gently. “They went to get some food, said they’d be back in a half hour, so that gives us a few more minutes.” Maria was worried that he wouldn’t look at her. “I didn’t realize it’d gotten this bad for you.”
Michael shook his head, still looking down between his legs at the tiled floor. He scrubbed his hands through his already disordered hair, knowing he couldn’t rub out the memory of the last twenty minutes.
They hadn’t even made it all the way through the airport building on the way to their cars before Michael doubled over and groaned in pained arousal and sudden heat. Kyle and Alex each grabbed an arm to steer him out of the main hall and into the bathroom, still unsure of what was going on with their friend.
Exclamations of “Michael!” “What’s going on?” “This is some freaky new alien thing isn’t it?” filled the room as his friends crowded around him.
“What’s wrong, Michael? Are you in pain?” Alex’s voice was anxious as he maneuvered Michael over to a wall and leaned him against it trying to get his attention.
Michael felt the cold, shiny tile against his heated back and slowly slid down into a crouched position, turning his head until his cheek was pressed to the coolness. An involuntary moan followed by a full body shudder started to clue in the concerned group surrounding him. He couldn’t focus on anyone around him, all he could feel was Liz. Liz’s arousal, Liz’s deep anxiety over Max’s withdrawal, Liz’s fierce, protective love for Max. He was drowning in it and couldn’t make himself surface. His panting breaths grew harsher and he rolled his head back against the unforgiving tile.
Maria figured it out first and started to push everyone toward the exit.
“I told you it was a freaky alien thing!” Kyle crowed to Alex as they were pressed toward the door.
“Here, Mr. Obvious, take Thor and go get something to eat. Give us a half hour before you even think about coming back here and knock before you come in.” Maria thrust the kitten into Kyle’s surprised hands and grabbed Isabel’s arm. “Could you make up an Out of Order sign and put it on the door?” Isabel nodded and rushed out to get what she’d need. Maria turned to Alex. “Guard the door until Isabel gets the sign up, okay?”
“No problem. No one gets in.”
Maria shut the door on the stunned faces of her friends after her whirlwind handling of their departure before turning back to Michael. He’d moved so he was sitting on the floor, knees up and fists clenching and unclenching rhythmically as he tried to control the sensations rocking through him. His hips rocked minutely even as he tried to restrain himself. Maria moved back until she was sitting on her heels beside him and gently pushed the slightly damp hair off his forehead.
“Don’t,” Michael panted, more harshly than he’d intended. “Don’t touch me right now.”
Maria pulled her hand back as if it had been burned.
Michael squeezed his eyes closed and tried to take a deep, controlled breath. “Sorry. I’m sorry,” he squeezed out finally. “I don’t…It’s too much right now.”
“It’s okay. I understand.” And Maria sat back and watched and waited while Michael writhed against the wall until he finally shuddered and came with a barely restrained groan that sounded almost painful. He slumped back, letting the wall support him and took deep, measured breaths until he felt more under control.
Without opening his eyes he asked Maria to turn around until he could clean up the mess he’d made in his pants. When she turned back he was slumped over staring between his knees at the floor. She reached out tentatively, and when he didn’t reject her she began running her hand up and down his back to let him know she was there for him. Which led to their current conversation and the question she had posed.
“Yeah, it’s never been this bad before,” Michael finally answered so softly she had to lean in to hear. “It must be because we’re closer now.”
“‘We’?”
“Liz and me,” Michael confessed, squeezing his eyes closed.
“Liz.” Maria had already known the answer, she just didn’t want to believe it.
“I’m sorry, Maria.” Michael turned his head so his cheek rested on one knee and finally made his eyes meet Maria’s. “We’re connected somehow and it’s getting stronger. I can feel everything she’s feeling and I…I don’t know what to do.” His voice broke and his eyes glistened with unshed tears, but he blinked them back and took in another harsh breath. “I don’t have any control over it.”
“I know, Michael. I don’t blame you for it. We’ll figure it out with Max and Liz. There’s got to be something we can do.” Maria couldn’t hold back any longer and reached to pull Michael’s limp body to her, hugging him fiercely. She nearly sobbed when he finally reached up to hug her back.
“Thank you,” he breathed into her neck, barely a whisper.
“For what?” Maria leaned back until they were staring into each others eyes.
“Being you.”
A knock interrupted, followed by Isabel’s concerned voice. “Everything okay now?”
Maria continued to stare at Michael until he nodded faintly with a chagrinned smile.
“Yeah. We’ll be out in a minute,” Maria called out. She helped Michael stand up and move to the row of shiny white sinks. He ran his hands under the water and stared at his flushed reflection in the mirror before ducking his head and cupping water over his face and hair, slicking it back and standing up straight again. He looked around in sudden worry.
“Hey, where’s Thor?”
“No worries. I gave her to Kyle to take care of until we were done here.”
“Kyle! Why would you give her to Kyle?” Michael yanked the bathroom door open and strode swiftly toward a started Kyle, taking Thor from the awkward hold Kyle had on her.
Michael cradled her to his chest crooning softly, “Hey, baby doll, Daddy’s got you. Don’t be scared of the Zen Master Kyle. He means well. Mostly.”
“Hey!” Kyle protested as he trailed after Michael’s retreating figure. “Are you saying you don’t trust me with your cat?”
“No offense,” Michael answered shortly, continuing his swift walk down the long corridor, not letting Kyle catch up without having to jog to keep up.
“No offense? No offense? I’ll have you know he and I bonded over lunch just now!”
“He’s a she, dumbass,” Michael retorted shortly rolling his eyes.
“Whatever. I knew that! No wonder she loves me!”
Maria shook her head and linked her arm with Alex’s as they and Isabel followed at a more sedate pace.
Just another day in Roswell.
TBC
EYA 120
Hello again! I love all of the responses and concern for Michael that everyone is feeling. I hope this explains just what is going on for him right now! Please let me know what you think!
Thank you to isis777 for a lightning-fast beta! Any remaining mistakes are mine all mine...
EYA 120
“Max. Liz. Bedroom. Now.” Michael grabbed Max’s arm at the bicep and started tugging him toward the open bedroom door as Liz trailed behind holding Max’s hand tightly.
Kyle cocked his head to the side as he stared after them bemusedly. “Did he mean that the way it sounded?” He flinched and rubbed his hands over his arms as Maria and Isabel each slapped him simultaneously, not amused. “What? Did you not hear how that came out?” He stepped back quickly and cautiously, hands up in surrender when their expressions didn’t lighten. “Fine.” He looked around the small apartment feeling an urgent need to change the subject quickly. “Whatever. Where’s Thor? Here, kitty, kitty!” He started scanning over the floor, walking around the furniture, ducking to look underneath. “That cat loves me, I know he does. C’mon, cat! Where are you?” He caught a flash of multi-colored tail and dove toward it. “Gotcha!”
Max and Liz’s bedroom
“Which one of you is gonna tell me just what the hell is going on?”
Max and Liz just stared as Michael’s face turned red with the heat of his anger and he paced erratically in front of them where they were seated side by side at the foot of their bed.
“Well?” Michael stopped in front of Max and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for an explanation.
“Gonna need a little more to go on here, Michael,” Max finally responded cautiously, glancing down at an equally puzzled Liz. “I thought you were coming here to tell us what’s going on in New York.”
“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll get to that too. What I want to know is why the hell I’m falling into heat every time you two go at it these days. I thought you two were supposed to get this figured out and fixed by now! I won’t go around springing wood and fucking coming in the middle of Roswell Airport anymore! Got it?!”
“What?” Liz’s shocked whisper came on a shaky inhale, her eyes shimmering brightly with unshed tears. “You…” she gestured vaguely with a weak hand toward Michael’s head and groin. “…every time?”
Michael’s gaze softened as he finally really looked at Liz and he couldn’t seem to stop himself as he dropped to his knees in front of her and engulfed her small hand in both of his. “Hey. Don’t cry, okay? I didn’t mean…Yeah, okay I did mean it, but not to hurt you…I just…dammit! I really don’t want to be a part of the Max and Liz show anymore. Just someone tell me what the hell is going on?” He looked back and forth between them plaintively.
Max’s hand moved soothingly over Liz’s trembling back and he pressed a kiss to her temple. “So it’s getting worse?”
“Hell yeah,” Michael affirmed, fervently nodding his head. “I can feel whatever Liz is feeling inside and out.”
“Oh, God,” Liz turned her head and buried it in Max’s chest and his other arm came around in front of her to pull her half into his lap.
Max stared hard at Michael where he still kneeled on the floor in front of them looking down at his upturned hands in his lap. “We didn’t know. I’m sorry, but we don’t know why it’s happening. I wish I did.”
Michael’s hands clenched into frustrated fists. He looked up at Max and Liz huddled together and almost couldn’t stand the misery in their expressions. “Seriously? No theories? Nothing? You‘ve gotta give me something here. Please!”
“Maybe…” Liz looked up at Max and slowly reached to touch the stone at his neck. “Maybe we should try? They said it could be triggered by need…”
“Yeah,” Michael breathed, latching onto the idea. “See if it does anything!”
Max nodded, locking eyes with Michael. “Of course we’ll try. We don’t know how it works, but…” He curled his hand over Liz’s on the amber stone and closed his eyes in concentration, hardly daring to breathe.
Nothing happened.
Michael watched breathlessly from the floor, gaze darting quickly between the two on the bed. He let out a gust of air when they both released the stone and shook their heads.
“Nothing,” Max told him. “Maybe if you touched it too?”
Michael nodded, willing to try anything, and took Max’s outstretched hand to help him get up from the floor. He stood awkwardly in front of the couple until Max pulled him down to sit beside him. He rubbed his suddenly cold hands over his worn jeans and looked to Max for his next move.
“All together now,” Max instructed softly, hands hovering over the stone.
A flash of white light filled the room, causing all three to blink quickly to adjust to the sudden intensity of illumination.
“This message has been sent because you have triggered the arima tai. This is an effect of the compulsion to aid Elizabeth in times of peril and stress. It cannot be stopped until she is free from danger and strife. Every effort must be made to have you remain as close in proximity as possible to ensure her safety and well being.
“Michael, you, as second in command, must be willing to step in at a moment’s notice to provide protection and nourishment to the child. Elizabeth’s need to nurture and guard her son will compel both of you to experience her protective instincts and emotions as if they were your own. Do not deny her this. The arima tai will release Michael naturally when danger has passed and peace is re-established. Distance will only cause greater anxiety and a stronger pull. Guard her well, we are depending on all of you for the lives of your people.”
The light winked out abruptly leaving them blinking and stunned in the comparative darkness of the room.
Michael felt himself fall back until he was laying on the bed staring at the ceiling. “Shit.” He felt Liz’s tentative hand on his leg and reached down to cover it. “Shit!” He couldn’t think of anything else to say, knowing they were basically screwed for the foreseeable future.
“I’m sorry, Michael,” Liz apologized miserably. “It’s been me all along, pulling you into this.”
Michael shook his head, still staring at the ceiling and clutching her hand like a lifeline. “No. It’s not your fault our people didn’t realize how…disruptive this would be. I have a feeling they didn’t realize what kind of a culture they’d be throwing us into.
“You have no control over the craziness that keeps getting piled on us, and after I tell you what happened in New York…Well, let’s just say I’ll be sleeping on your couch for the next few weeks.” He sat up abruptly, knowing they needed to start making plans for their immediate survival. He stretched his long, lean body to its full height and scrubbed his hand over his face and into his already spiked up hair. “How do you feel about cats?”
TBC
So, I had an idea and wanted to run it by you. There are many scenes that I've wanted to write for EYA, but wouldn't be able to fit into the storyline as it stands, so after EYA is finished I was thinking of posting 'deleted scenes'. These would be scenes that, if they had been posted, would have taken the story in an entirely different direction, but would still assume the basic precepts of this story.
Any interest? Would you read them?
Thank you to isis777 for a lightning-fast beta! Any remaining mistakes are mine all mine...
EYA 120
“Max. Liz. Bedroom. Now.” Michael grabbed Max’s arm at the bicep and started tugging him toward the open bedroom door as Liz trailed behind holding Max’s hand tightly.
Kyle cocked his head to the side as he stared after them bemusedly. “Did he mean that the way it sounded?” He flinched and rubbed his hands over his arms as Maria and Isabel each slapped him simultaneously, not amused. “What? Did you not hear how that came out?” He stepped back quickly and cautiously, hands up in surrender when their expressions didn’t lighten. “Fine.” He looked around the small apartment feeling an urgent need to change the subject quickly. “Whatever. Where’s Thor? Here, kitty, kitty!” He started scanning over the floor, walking around the furniture, ducking to look underneath. “That cat loves me, I know he does. C’mon, cat! Where are you?” He caught a flash of multi-colored tail and dove toward it. “Gotcha!”
Max and Liz’s bedroom
“Which one of you is gonna tell me just what the hell is going on?”
Max and Liz just stared as Michael’s face turned red with the heat of his anger and he paced erratically in front of them where they were seated side by side at the foot of their bed.
“Well?” Michael stopped in front of Max and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for an explanation.
“Gonna need a little more to go on here, Michael,” Max finally responded cautiously, glancing down at an equally puzzled Liz. “I thought you were coming here to tell us what’s going on in New York.”
“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll get to that too. What I want to know is why the hell I’m falling into heat every time you two go at it these days. I thought you two were supposed to get this figured out and fixed by now! I won’t go around springing wood and fucking coming in the middle of Roswell Airport anymore! Got it?!”
“What?” Liz’s shocked whisper came on a shaky inhale, her eyes shimmering brightly with unshed tears. “You…” she gestured vaguely with a weak hand toward Michael’s head and groin. “…every time?”
Michael’s gaze softened as he finally really looked at Liz and he couldn’t seem to stop himself as he dropped to his knees in front of her and engulfed her small hand in both of his. “Hey. Don’t cry, okay? I didn’t mean…Yeah, okay I did mean it, but not to hurt you…I just…dammit! I really don’t want to be a part of the Max and Liz show anymore. Just someone tell me what the hell is going on?” He looked back and forth between them plaintively.
Max’s hand moved soothingly over Liz’s trembling back and he pressed a kiss to her temple. “So it’s getting worse?”
“Hell yeah,” Michael affirmed, fervently nodding his head. “I can feel whatever Liz is feeling inside and out.”
“Oh, God,” Liz turned her head and buried it in Max’s chest and his other arm came around in front of her to pull her half into his lap.
Max stared hard at Michael where he still kneeled on the floor in front of them looking down at his upturned hands in his lap. “We didn’t know. I’m sorry, but we don’t know why it’s happening. I wish I did.”
Michael’s hands clenched into frustrated fists. He looked up at Max and Liz huddled together and almost couldn’t stand the misery in their expressions. “Seriously? No theories? Nothing? You‘ve gotta give me something here. Please!”
“Maybe…” Liz looked up at Max and slowly reached to touch the stone at his neck. “Maybe we should try? They said it could be triggered by need…”
“Yeah,” Michael breathed, latching onto the idea. “See if it does anything!”
Max nodded, locking eyes with Michael. “Of course we’ll try. We don’t know how it works, but…” He curled his hand over Liz’s on the amber stone and closed his eyes in concentration, hardly daring to breathe.
Nothing happened.
Michael watched breathlessly from the floor, gaze darting quickly between the two on the bed. He let out a gust of air when they both released the stone and shook their heads.
“Nothing,” Max told him. “Maybe if you touched it too?”
Michael nodded, willing to try anything, and took Max’s outstretched hand to help him get up from the floor. He stood awkwardly in front of the couple until Max pulled him down to sit beside him. He rubbed his suddenly cold hands over his worn jeans and looked to Max for his next move.
“All together now,” Max instructed softly, hands hovering over the stone.
A flash of white light filled the room, causing all three to blink quickly to adjust to the sudden intensity of illumination.
“This message has been sent because you have triggered the arima tai. This is an effect of the compulsion to aid Elizabeth in times of peril and stress. It cannot be stopped until she is free from danger and strife. Every effort must be made to have you remain as close in proximity as possible to ensure her safety and well being.
“Michael, you, as second in command, must be willing to step in at a moment’s notice to provide protection and nourishment to the child. Elizabeth’s need to nurture and guard her son will compel both of you to experience her protective instincts and emotions as if they were your own. Do not deny her this. The arima tai will release Michael naturally when danger has passed and peace is re-established. Distance will only cause greater anxiety and a stronger pull. Guard her well, we are depending on all of you for the lives of your people.”
The light winked out abruptly leaving them blinking and stunned in the comparative darkness of the room.
Michael felt himself fall back until he was laying on the bed staring at the ceiling. “Shit.” He felt Liz’s tentative hand on his leg and reached down to cover it. “Shit!” He couldn’t think of anything else to say, knowing they were basically screwed for the foreseeable future.
“I’m sorry, Michael,” Liz apologized miserably. “It’s been me all along, pulling you into this.”
Michael shook his head, still staring at the ceiling and clutching her hand like a lifeline. “No. It’s not your fault our people didn’t realize how…disruptive this would be. I have a feeling they didn’t realize what kind of a culture they’d be throwing us into.
“You have no control over the craziness that keeps getting piled on us, and after I tell you what happened in New York…Well, let’s just say I’ll be sleeping on your couch for the next few weeks.” He sat up abruptly, knowing they needed to start making plans for their immediate survival. He stretched his long, lean body to its full height and scrubbed his hand over his face and into his already spiked up hair. “How do you feel about cats?”
TBC
So, I had an idea and wanted to run it by you. There are many scenes that I've wanted to write for EYA, but wouldn't be able to fit into the storyline as it stands, so after EYA is finished I was thinking of posting 'deleted scenes'. These would be scenes that, if they had been posted, would have taken the story in an entirely different direction, but would still assume the basic precepts of this story.
Any interest? Would you read them?
Last edited by javagin on Wed Feb 07, 2007 10:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.