Roswell Fanatics

April – Funny the way you put it, with “Maria and Liz breaking up”! As if they were a couple.

Flamehair – Your light of the day? Thank you. We hope that you’ll like this next part.

Starcrazed – Max, in the show, was reluctant to tell his parents, and here, it’s similar but with Maria. And with Isabel causing problems on that subject… the options are limited.

Simplyshiny – Really? Max and Liz are quite lovable, in our opinion. Just stuck in a situation where they can’t win, unfortunately, and which makes Liz suffer.

Kalie –

It's interesting to quote socials problems like racism, integration, alcoholism, handicaps...

Thank you so much for saying that. It was our goal to bring to light these social problems, to use this story as a vector to show how many Native Americans live, for real. Without making it too obvious and too present. But if you feel like you have learned or discovered the reality of the Native Americans’ lives, then our job is done.

Well, in the show Michael grow up with Max and Isabel so he thinks of them like his brother and sister but not in your story, so I'm thinking, how Michael 'll deal with Destiny (but will they find of destiny?)

You don’t have to worry about Michael and Isabel in a romantic way. But Michael’s reaction towards Isabel might surprise you.

Cjsl8ne – Michael definitely hasn’t given up on convincing Maria to pose for him. As for Max… he’ll give it his best shot!

Author's Note: The Lost Child will be going on hiatus for just a few weeks while we post our Christmas fic: Michael, Maria, Carradine and Christmas, which will begin posting on December 17h. The Lost Child will return once posting of the Christmas fic is complete.

Part 50

On Thursday evening Michael turned Sundance loose in the corral and carried the saddle and the rest of his gear into the barn to put it away. He had gone for a ride after school to find some peace and quiet because he had known that he didn’t have long before his three tormentors would be arriving. His cousins were staying until the next afternoon so his anticipated freedom had been put on hold for another twenty-four hours.

He shrugged out of his jacket once he entered the house and hung it up before heading into the kitchen for a snack. After fixing a sandwich and grabbing a bottle of water he walked through the suspiciously quiet house to his bedroom, glancing around for the girls. He frowned when he pushed the door to his room open and stepped inside, and his attention was quickly drawn to the open bathroom door. He set his snack down on his desk and crossed the room, turning his head to one side in an effort to hear the whispers that became more pronounced the closer he got to Maggie’s door.

“How’d you manage to keep the bear from finding out about him?”

Maggie winked at her cousins and her two best friends. She had heard Michael come in the house and she knew he was standing in the bathroom, listening to their conversation. “Are you kidding? He’s been so preoccupied with Maria that he hasn’t had time to make threats against potential dates and now it’s too late because the dance is tomorrow night.” She smirked, knowing his blood was probably boiling at the thought that she had gotten over on him and had a date with someone he didn’t approve of. “Besides, even if he knew about my date, what’s he gonna do about it this late in the game?”

Michael mentally kicked himself. How had he forgotten that the stupid dance was tomorrow night? He pushed the door open and glared at all five girls when they turned their heads to look at him. They were sitting in a circle on the floor as if they were there to discuss something of great importance and there were a stack of clothing magazines scattered between them, open to various pages.

“Can I help you, Michael?” Maggie asked sweetly.

“Who’re you goin’ to the dance with?”

“Why? So you can persuade him to find another date? I’m not telling you whose invitation I accepted.” She rolled her eyes as she turned back to the others. “Why don’t you just accept that I’m not going with anyone who happens to be on your list of,” she held her hands up, two fingers on each hand folded over to make air quotes, “guys that your little sister isn’t allowed to date. Why don’t we just leave it like that?”

“That doesn’t leave many options.” His tone was speculative as he considered the few guys at school who weren’t on his list and he finally nodded. “So, you decided on one of the geeks in the chess club or one of the nerds in the comic club.”

“Yes, Michael,” Maggie agreed complacently, forcing her voice to remain calm. “He’s a chess player.”

“Which one?”

“Does it matter? You’ve threatened every guy that I might possibly be interested in and you should be satisfied that he was among them because he was rather hesitant about asking me out.”

“Uh-huh.” He didn’t sound convinced. “And he’ll be comin’ here to pick you up?”

“He’ll be here at six.”

Summer watched them interact and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to avoid smiling at Michael’s expression. He was obviously trying to figure out which one of the guys in the chess club had dared to ask his sister to the dance despite his reputation.

“So, Michael, did you ask Maria to the dance?” Christina asked, leaning back on her elbows and looking up at him innocently.

He hadn’t been expecting that question. “What?”

“Well, it occurs to me that you’ve put a lot of effort into making sure that Maggie doesn’t go to the dance with someone you don’t approve of when you could’ve avoided a lot of that work if you were gonna be there yourself.”

“That’s true,” Summer mused, going along with Christina. “Which means you aren’t planning to attend the dance yourself; there a reason you didn’t ask Maria to the dance?”

“That’s none of your business,” he snapped.

“He sounds defensive,” Linda added helpfully. “She must’ve had other plans.”

Michael shook his head. “What? No, she didn’t have other plans.”

“So, she just didn’t wanna go to the dance with you,” Sierra guessed.

“What?” Michael straightened up and glared at them. “Who said anything about her turnin’ me down? If I had asked her to go to the damned dance you can bet she would’ve said yes; the fact is that I didn’t ask her – “

“And why is that?” Maggie asked, leaning back on her elbows and looking up at her brother. His jaw was clenched as he stared at them, doing his best not to look like he had been cornered by a bunch of girls. “Michael?”

“I’m goin’ to my room,” he snarled. “I’ve got homework and I don’t wanna be disturbed. Do you understand that?” He stalked out of the room and slammed both bathroom doors on his way.

It was hard to ignore the sound of feminine laughter that followed him, but he made the effort as he slammed the bathroom door on his side. “Why didn’t I ask Maria to the dance,” he muttered as he threw himself down on his bed. “Because I can’t dance, I don’t like dancin’, and chances are good that I’ll never like it.” He shook his head and scrubbed his hands through his hair. Why did they have to be so damned nosy? What did it matter anyway? He wasn’t dating any of them, and he had already told Maria that he didn’t dance. She was the one who had to deal with it. He didn’t know why he was wasting his time thinking about this; it wasn’t like it was something that he was going to change his mind about. There was nothing to think about, and besides that, he was hungry. He snorted and shook his head as he rolled off of the bed and got to his feet, going over to his desk and dropping down into his chair.

Grabbing the sandwich that he had made earlier, he bit into it and reached over to place his free hand on the mouse that sat on the right side of his keyboard. He opened up the Internet and clicked on the tab where his favorite sites were listed and he selected the first one on the list. He opened up the drawer on his right side and pulled out a stack of notebooks, placing them on his left side and opening up the one on top. He flipped through it until he found the last entry and folded the cover over before putting it back on top of the stack. For the past couple of years he had been compiling information gathered from different sites, tracking the reliability of their claims, and updating his notes every few days. But, he hadn’t checked his list of sites in several days because the house had been overrun by a bunch of noisy girls whose sole purpose in life was obviously to drive him insane with their constant chatter.

He looked up a while later when someone knocked on his open door. “Hey, what’s up, Dad?” He waved his right hand at his father, motioning for him to come in.

“Thought I’d come get you for dinner before the dining room gets mobbed by the girls.” He sat on the wooden trunk at the foot of Michael’s bed and tipped his head to one side to look at the monitor to see what his son was searching for. It only took a few moments of scanning the screen to know what he was looking at. “Find anything new?”

“No, but I haven’t really been lookin’ very long thanks to that noisy bunch next door.”

“Well, why don’t you go help Mom and set the table while I wash up.” He patted his son’s shoulder as he stood up. “You’ll probably be able to concentrate better on a full stomach and chances are good that the girls will settle down in the den with a movie after they’ve eaten.”

Michael wandered through the house and into the kitchen a few minutes later to do as his father had suggested. He walked slowly, putting off the inevitable as long as possible; things had been strained between him and his mother since their argument the week before and they were still trying to find a way to be comfortable around each other in the aftermath. He paused at the kitchen doorway, taking a deep breath before stepping over the threshold and clearing his throat to get her attention.

Catherine looked up from the roast she was getting ready to take out of the oven and turned to face her son when he cleared his throat. “Michael… dinner’s still a few minutes away from being ready.”

“I thought I’d come see if you needed help with anything.” He shrugged. “Y’know, settin’ the table, or whatever.”

“Sure, why don’t you set the table,” she suggested.

“Okay.” He walked over to the island in the center of the kitchen to pick up the stack of dinner plates and silverware but paused when he noticed how many there were. “Linda an’ Christina are stayin’ for dinner?”

“Yes, the girls are making last-minute adjustments to their dresses for tomorrow night.”

Michael grunted and reached for the plates. Having dinner with his sister and two cousins was bad enough, but to add his sister’s two best friends into the mix was just unfair. The conversation was going to be mind numbing and he was going to be stuck sitting between five teenage girls who had nothing better to discuss than makeup, guys, and their dresses for the dance.

“Hey, Mom, what d’you want me to put in everybody’s glasses?”

“Water or juice for you kids, I’ll have water, and your father will have coffee.”

“Meanin’ I’ve gotta go ask the girls what they want to drink?” He wasn’t whining… he wasn’t. “Can’t they just have water?”

“Michael, go ask those girls what they want to drink.”

“Go ask them what they want to drink,” he muttered under his breath. “Like I’m a friggin’ waiter or somethin’.”

Catherine smiled when he stalked out of the room, grumbling; it was familiar and for the first time in nearly a week things felt normal. She finished putting the serving dishes on the table and was in the process of pulling a pan of cornbread out of the oven when he came back, still fussing about catering to the girls. “Did you tell them dinner’s ready?” she asked when he passed her to get to the refrigerator.

“What, you didn’t hear the herd stampeding through the hall?” He rolled his eyes. “You should’ve just had me set a couple of troughs out for ‘em.” He grabbed the pitchers of water and juice and carried them into the dining room where the girls were taking their places around the table.

“Have you ever considered a career in the field of food service?” Summer asked after he had filled their glasses.

“You do serve very well,” Christina said in a knowledgeable tone. “Although you’d definitely have to do something about your attitude.” She shook her head. “You’d never get any tips unless you were a little more pleasant.”

“This is as pleasant as it’s gonna get,” he growled before taking the pitchers back to the kitchen. “You want me to get anything else, Mom?”

“Take the cornbread and you kids start serving yourselves while I go get your father.”

“Okay, I’ve got it.” He slid the spatula beneath the largest square of cornbread in the baking pan before carrying it out to the dining room and paused to slide it onto his plate before placing the pan on the table. “Dig in.” He took his seat between his cousins, frowning when he rested his forearms on the table and realized how cramped he was. He turned his head from one side to the other, doing a quick visual measurement of the space available on either side of the girls before he turned to Summer and hooked his boot on the bottom rung of her chair and pushed it all the way to the end of the table. While she was busy fussing about him moving her chair, he turned and did the same to Sierra. With more space now available to him, Michael set about filling his plate and ignored the noise they were making.

“Well, I see dinner’s gotten off to the right start,” John commented as he took his seat at the head of the table.

“Yeah, Maggie was just sayin’ that her date’ll be here to pick her up at six tomorrow night,” Michael said, quickly turning the conversation away from anything related to him.

John sat up a little straighter in his chair. “Really?” He ignored the food as it was passed around the table in favor of staring at his daughter. “So, someone finally asked you?”

“Dad!” She was mortified at his implication that her date was a last minute thing. “He asked me weeks ago but I couldn’t very well let Michael ruin it by threatening him.” She shot a glance at her brother and rolled her eyes when she saw his smug expression. “The last thing I need is for Michael to scare my chess-playing date off before the dance.”

“Oh,” John said slowly. “So, he’s in the chess club.” He looked over at his son and nodded in approval. “I’m guessin’ this kid must’ve met all of your requirements if he actually managed to get his foot in the door to ask your sister out.”

“The guys in the chess club are okay.” Michael shrugged one shoulder and helped himself to the roast. “They’re all a little on the odd side, but they’re harmless.”

John nodded and reached for the roast when Summer finished serving herself and passed it to him. “Well, that’s good. So, the five of you are leaving from here tomorrow night?”

“We’re all gonna get ready here, Dad.”

“Yeah, you don’t mind if our dates pick us up here, do you, Uncle John?” Sierra asked.

He paused to consider her question. “Nope, not at all.” He placed the carving knife on the platter beside the roast and motioned to all of them with his right hand. “So, you’ve all got dates comin’ here to pick you up?”

“Well, I don’t,” Linda admitted after an uncomfortable silence. “I thought I did, but it didn’t work out.” She gave a small shrug and smiled. “I’m gonna go anyway though.”

Michael looked up from his plate, surprised by her statements, but his expression remained neutral when he spoke. “I thought you were seein’ what’s-his-name, the other mascot?”

“So did I.” Linda leaned back in her chair and took a bite of the celery stick she was holding. “We went out several times and I thought we had a good time, and I heard that he had picked up a tux and had already decided who he wanted to ask, but I guess it wasn’t me.”

Maggie slouched down just enough to kick her brother under the table. “He’s an idiot for not asking you to go, Linda. We’re all gonna go together and we’re gonna have a great time tomorrow night.”

Michael turned his attention back to his dinner when the conversation suddenly turned mind numbing and the girls began to debate eye shadow with glitter versus eye shadow without glitter. He was reaching for another piece of cornbread when Sierra nudged him and he turned to look at her. “What?” he growled.

“I was just wondering what your plans are for tomorrow night since you didn’t ask Maria to the dance; you guys have a big date planned?”

His gaze momentarily rested on his mother, noticing the way she diverted her own gaze, before he looked at his cousin once more. “No, I don’t have anything planned for tomorrow night.”

“Seriously? No plans on a Friday night?” Summer asked.

“No, no plans.”

“You could always go to the dance,” Linda suggested, her eyes downcast.

Michael snorted and bit back the response that immediately came to mind. “Not happenin’.” He snatched up another piece of cornbread and pushed his chair back. “Do you need any help with anything else, Mom?”

“No, sweetie, the girls already offered to help clean up.” She smiled. “You’re free to go.”

He nodded and grabbed the phone on his way back to his bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him and dialing a number. “Shadow, I need a favor,” he said as soon as his cousin answered the phone.

Shadow was used to Michael’s abrupt manner and simply acted as if they had already moved past the greeting part of the conversation, and not ignored it altogether. “Sure, what’s up?”

“You’re on the yearbook committee, right?”

“Which you already know, so whatcha need?”

“I need a phone number for what’s-his-name, the other school mascot.”

“Cameron Davis?”

“Unless you know of another mascot, yes, Davis. I need his number and I need you to keep it quiet. Can you do that?”

“No problem, lemme just look it up for you. Everything okay?” Shadow asked as he plowed through the contents in his backpack looking for the information Michael was requesting.

“Yeah, I just need to ask him somethin’ and it can’t wait until tomorrow.”

“Okay, here it is.”

Michael snatched a pen up off of his desk and scribbled down the number, repeating it back to his cousin to make sure it was correct. “We didn’t have this conversation, Shadow.”

“What conversation?”

Michael shook his head and grinned. “I’ll see ya at lunch tomorrow.” As soon as they had disconnected he dialed the number Shadow had given him, pacing the floor while he waited for someone to answer. He paused when the ringing was interrupted and he recognized the voice that spoke from the other end. “Cameron?”

“Uh, yeah.” The boy who had answered paused for a heartbeat. “Who wants to know?”

“Michael Guerin. I wanna know what’s up with you an’ Linda.”

“Hey, man, relax. I got the picture, okay?”

“What’re you talkin’ about?”

“I know she’s your sister’s best friend and when the guys on the basketball team found out I was gonna ask her to the dance they warned me that if I did you’d – “

“Did I come to you personally and warn you to stay away from her? Did I threaten you in any way?”

“Well, no, but they said she’s like a sister to you and you’d probably come after me and kick my ass if you found out I had asked her to the dance.”

Michael rolled his eyes and wondered how in the world the girls chose these guys. “Look, Cam, let’s get one thing straight here, okay? If I didn’t warn you about goin’ out with her, or tell you to get lost, then there’s no reason for you to turn tail and hide.” He sighed and threw himself down in his desk chair. “Have you asked someone else to go to the dance?”

“No.”

“So you still wanna go with her?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve been out with Linda a few times so I’d imagine that you’ve got her cell number?”

“Yeah.”

This kid was way too dense. “Then get on the phone and call her and ask her to go with you tomorrow night. Can you do that?” He nodded when the boy gave an affirmative response. “Good. Go call her. And, Cam, do not tell her that we talked, got it?”

“We didn’t talk, got it.”

“Oh, and it’d be wise for you to remember that the idiots on the basketball team weren’t wrong about everything; Linda is like a little sister so I don’t wanna find out that you’ve hurt her in any way, otherwise you and me, we’re gonna have a problem.”

“Right,” Cameron said, relieved. “I really like her a lot, and y’know, we hung out a lot when we were at – “

“Uh, Cam? Really not interested here.” He disconnected and tossed the phone on the bed behind him, shaking his head at the sheer stupidity of people in general and turned his attention back to his computer.

Starcrazed – Michael just couldn’t stand Linda’s pain, especially when he could solve her problems easily.

Ashleyt – You’re right that Liz and Maria’s relationship could be fixed if there was honesty but now isn’t the time.

April – Michael is a big teddy bear, in the show or in this fic. We didn’t change his personality, he has always been like that.

Flamehair – Thanks for reading.

DeDe PR – Hmm, you can expect some tension once Michael meets Max and Isabel. He already has his opinion about them and it’s going to be tough for him to change his mind.


Part 51


Maria scanned over the schedule taped to her locker and frowned when she realized she wasn’t scheduled to work all weekend. She pulled the paper down and walked to the small room Liz’s dad used for his office. He was sitting at his desk, punching buttons on a calculator that was probably older than her and Liz both.

“Hey, Mr. P.”

Jeff Parker looked up from the part of his job that he hated the most, grateful for the interruption. He smiled at his daughter’s best friend and waved her inside, motioning to the chair across from his desk. “I thought you would’ve already been outta here,” he said, nodding at the schedule she held in her right hand.

“That’s kinda why I’m here; I wasn’t expecting to have the entire weekend off.” She shrugged. “Are you cutting back hours?”

“No, not at all. Things have seemed kinda strained between you an’ Liz here recently so I thought maybe some time away from each other would help.”

“Oh.” Well, he is Liz’s dad, she thought. He obviously wasn’t going to cut his daughter’s hours. “So, it’s just temporary then?”

“Maria, it’s not a punishment,” he assured her. “I took both of you off of the schedule this weekend.” He nodded when she relaxed slightly. “Y’know, I tried to get Liz to tell me what’s goin’ on between the two of you but she didn’t wanna talk about it. So? What about you? Wanna tell me what’s goin’ on? I used to be pretty good at helpin’ you two fix things.”

Maria sighed. It was nice of Mr. Parker to try and arrange things, but the entire situation just felt so impossible. “Some things just can’t be fixed, Mr. P.”

Jeff sighed in resignation. This was worse than he had thought it was and he didn’t have any idea how to help them. It had been so much easier when they were little and all it took was a hug, some ice cream, and one of his pep talks to make things right again.

“I’ll see you Monday after school,” Maria said as she stood up.

“Will Amy be home soon?”

Maria shrugged. “Monday or Tuesday probably.”

Jeff watched her, worried about the young woman. Amy definitely had her own way of raising her daughter, but Maria seemed to need her mother right now. “You should at least stop by for dinner, Maria.”

She smiled, touched by his concern. “I’m thinking about spending the weekend with a friend; I’ll have to call and see if they’ve got plans first though.” She smiled. “Thanks anyway, Mr. P, I appreciate the offer.”

*****

Michael was leaning back in his chair almost forty-five minutes later, feet propped up on the corner of his desk, and a pencil clamped between his teeth as he waited for the virus scan to finish running on his computer before he could get started on his search once more. He turned the page in the notebook in his lap and reached up to scratch his eyebrow before glancing at the progress meter on the screen.

The excited screams from down the hall startled him and he jerked, nearly unbalancing himself before he managed to grab the edge of the desk to pull himself upright. He bit the pencil in half and quickly threw the two pieces on the desk and took a drink of his juice to get rid of the taste of lead from the broken pencil.

“Damn it,” he muttered as he dug through his top drawer in search of another pencil. He threw his notebook down in frustration when someone knocked on his door and he yelled an aggravated, “What?” at the unseen person as he leaned over to pick up the stapler that he had knocked off of the desk.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he sat back up and a pair of arms came around his shoulders. “What’ve I been tellin’ you about huggin’ me since you were seven years old, Linda?” he growled, recognizing the cartoon characters on the face of the pink watch on her right wrist.

“I know, it’s against your rules,” she whispered, hugging his shoulders tighter. “And calling Cam and involving yourself in my problem was probably against your rules too, but you just made me so happy. He didn’t tell me you called him, Michael, but I know it was you.”

Michael heard the unshed tears in her voice and he reached up to awkwardly pat her hands where they were linked, fervently hoping that she wouldn’t start crying. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

“I know, because you’d never do something so nice.” Linda smiled as she finally released him and walked back to the door. “Y’know, if I had a dad or a brother I’d want them to be something like you.”

“Get outta here,” he muttered gruffly. “And keep it down, will ya?” Michael turned back to his computer, noticing that the virus scan was finished, and he scanned through the different sites he had bookmarked, looking for anything new or unusual. His eyes narrowed and he leaned in closer to the screen when he saw the newest post on the blog. After reading it he made some notes in his notebook and moved on to the next site, hoping to corroborate the blogger’s post.

He could feel the excitement begin to take hold of him as his pencil filled the sheet of paper with notes from others who were claiming that the sighting in northern New Mexico was credible. On a clean sheet of paper he listed others who believed that the sighting was false and once he was finished he carefully studied both lists.

It was real, he was sure of it. Several of the sites were also claiming that it was more than just a sighting, and that there was possible wreckage in the area. He was suspicious of that particular claim because there was nothing to indicate that there was any evidence besides a few random posts that were unsubstantiated. It was still worth investigating, he thought as he stood and moved to the map tacked to the wall on the left side of his desk.

*****

Maria looked down at her cell phone when it rang and smiled when Michael’s name appeared on the screen. She had been thinking about calling him but she hadn’t wanted to call until she was sure she wouldn’t be interrupting dinner with his family.

“Hi, Michael,” she greeted.

“Hey, Maria. Listen, are you workin’ tomorrow?”

Her eyebrows rose in surprise; his tone was as gruff as it usually was but there was something different about it that she couldn’t quite identify. “No, I’m off all weekend.”

“Feel up to a road trip?”

“What’ve you got in mind?” she asked, intrigued.

“I’ve got a lead… maybe about my biological parents, and I’m gonna go check it out tomorrow after school.” He sighed and she could hear the frustration in his voice. “My parents have this rule about skippin’ school, so I can’t go until after school.”

She didn’t even have to think about it. She had lived in Roswell her entire life and she hadn’t once chased a UFO sighting. Not to mention the possibility that it might help Michael find some of the answers he was looking for. “Okay, I’m in. Should I meet you at your house?”

*****

Catherine leaned against the wall in the hallway not far from Michael’s open bedroom door and eavesdropped on his telephone conversation. She had been in the middle of putting a stack of freshly laundered towels in the hall closet when she had realized what he was talking about and whom he was talking to.

His words were carefully chosen and he didn’t mention aliens or sightings once but the fact that he continued to talk indicated that Maria understood what he wasn’t saying. She could hear the excitement in his voice even though he was trying hard to keep it under control, and it was obvious that the girl wasn’t trying to talk him out of chasing after what would probably only be another disappointment.

Catherine straightened up as she realized that his discovery of the sighting had to be a recent development, and fast on the heels of that realization came the thought that for the first time since he had started searching for the truth about himself he hadn’t come to her and John first. The phone hadn’t rung, which meant that Michael had made a conscious decision to make the call, to share his news with someone outside of his family.

Her eyes widened when she heard him making plans with Maria… plans for a road trip with the intention of investigating the sighting. She had never liked it when he took off on these trips, but he had always gone with Eddie and that had given her some measure of comfort. The thought of her son taking off with Maria was in no way comforting; the trip would undoubtedly end in disappointment and the girl had never dealt with that side of his personality.

The more Catherine thought about Michael and Maria taking off on a road trip together the more certain she was that it was a bad idea.

“Catherine?”

She jumped when her husband called her name unexpectedly and she hurried towards him, motioning for him to be quiet and follow her.

“Were you listenin’ to Michael’s conversation?” he asked, amused.

“This is serious, John,” she snapped. “Do you know what they’re talking about?”

“I’m not the one who was eavesdropping.” He could hear the combination of anger and annoyance in her voice so he motioned for her to continue.

“He’s found another sighting.” She kept her voice pitched low, mindful of their guests who were unaware of Michael’s not-quite-human status.

“Okay.” John shrugged, not understanding what had triggered her anger. “That’s nothin’ new; he’s been chasin’ these things for the past couple of years.”

“He’s planning a road trip with Maria,” she hissed. “And I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to go – “

Not again! John shook his head, wondering when his wife would let the ‘Maria situation’ go. “When are you gonna accept that he’s almost an adult, Catherine? You can’t keep throwin’ your parental weight around.”

Catherine narrowed her eyes at her husband. “Almost an adult, John, and until he’s eighteen we have every right to stop him from doing things that we don’t think he should be doing.”

“And what is it exactly that we don’t think he should be doin’? Searchin’ for his answers, chasin’ down these leads, or datin’ Maria?” Their son was a good boy; he was doing well in school, he helped out around the house or with the ranch, and he wasn’t involved with drugs or alcohol. Why couldn’t Catherine just trust Michael? They had raised him well and he was a responsible young adult. They had done a great job with him and Maria’s presence in his life wasn’t going to change that.

“Yes, all of it,” Catherine snapped.

John nodded. “So, you’re willin’ to sacrifice his happiness? Because that’s exactly what would happen, Cath; Michael’s driven by the need to know where he came from and why he was left the way he was, and he’s never gonna be satisfied until he has those answers. Maria saw that in him and she accepted it without question – “

“That’s your reasoning?”

John thought about it for a minute before nodding. “Yeah, that’s it. What would you suggest?” he asked as he poured coffee into his mug.

“We have to tell him he can’t go,” she stated firmly.

He looked at his wife expectantly, speaking once he had surmised that she wasn’t going to give in or see reason. “All that’s gonna accomplish is – “

“Why would you tell me I can’t go?” Michael stood in the doorway, confused by his mother’s statement. “I’m not plannin’ to leave until after school tomorrow.”

“With Eddie?” Catherine asked, trying to hide her anger.

“No.” His chin lifted just a fraction and his dark eyes gleamed defiantly. “Maria’s gonna go with me.”

“No, you’re not going on a road trip to…” She paused, trying to remember if he had mentioned his destination.

“We’re goin’ up to Aztec; it’s just a few miles from the Colorado border.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Absolutely not. With the time you’re anticipating leaving, and the time it’ll take to drive up there you’re looking at an overnight trip and that’s unacceptable.”

Michael could feel his temper rising and he knew he was going to say something he would end up regretting if he stayed any longer.

John reached out to stop Catherine from going after Michael when he backed out of the room and walked away. “Let him go.”

Catherine could feel despair building up inside of her. Was she really the only reasonable and responsible person in the house? “We can’t allow him to take this trip with Maria; have you thought about all of the potential problems that could come from them spending the night together?”

“Catherine, you’re jumpin’ the gun.” He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “I need to get ready for work and you need to let this go for the night; we’ll talk about it when I get home, okay? He’s not gonna do anything until school’s out for the weekend and if the sighting was in Aztec I’d imagine Maria will probably drive out here to meet him. It wouldn’t make any sense for him to drive so far out of the way just to pick her up. You both need to take a step back and calm down, and we can decide how to handle this when I get home.”

Catherine crossed her arms as she stared at her husband. “You’re not thinking about everything that could happen if we allow them to take off and spend the night together. You can’t honestly believe that they’re gonna drive up to Aztec and stay overnight without having sex.”

“I think you’ve forgotten that we were their age once,” John said as he straightened up and kissed her. “And we didn’t have to drive several hours away to be together, did we?” He shook his head. “We managed to sneak around behind our parents’ backs without ever leavin’ the Rez. I’m not sayin’ they’re a couple of little angels, Catherine, but they’re both creative enough to come up with ways to be together without drivin’ five hours away to do it.”

“You’re not taking this seriously,” Catherine complained, annoyed by her husband’s lack of understanding in this situation.

John reached out to take her in his arms, hugging her close in an attempt to soothe her. “Honey, I understand where you’re comin’ from, but in this case I really think you’re overreacting; he’s chasin’ a sighting, somethin’ he’s been doin’ for a long time.” He walked over to the doorway and turned to look at her. “I’m not makin’ light of your concerns, but you know how focused he gets when he takes these trips.”

“We know exactly what Eddie’s told us about their trips; Michael doesn’t say much of anything about them. All I know is that he’s never once come back after one of these trips with any useful information; he comes back angry and hurt, and he won’t talk about it, he just bottles it up.” She could feel her heart breaking at the thought of yet another deception looming on the horizon. These trips never ended well and Michael always ended up getting hurt again.

She shook her head and made a waving motion with her left hand. “Go on or you’re gonna be late for work.” She sighed when John nodded and hurried away. He didn’t understand, she fumed silently. She would just have to come up with some way to convince him that she was right and this trip was a mistake.

*****

Maria hurried home after school the next day, rushing to grab her things and throw them in the backseat of the car. She had been held up at school when one of her teachers had stopped her in the hall to discuss a recent assignment so now she was running late. Once she had locked the house up she stopped at the gas station to fill up before driving out of town. She was sure that her classes that day had been longer than usual and while that was expected due to her anticipation of the road trip, the day had seemed endless.

She had no idea what to expect from the road trip and she wondered if there was any validity to the sighting Michael wanted to investigate. His mother and sister had both warned her about how badly he reacted when one of his trips to investigate sightings ended in disappointment. Neither of them seemed to believe that his pursuit of information was going to lead to a discovery of the truth and they were both worried about the constant disappointments he had dealt with in the past.

At some point one of his leads had to have results. His very existence proved that aliens were real; he had been left on this planet so there had to be others like him somewhere. She didn’t know what his expectations would be if he did find what he was looking for because they had never talked about it, but she knew it was important to him to find the answers to all of his questions.

She glanced at her watch and muttered a curse under her breath; thanks to her teacher and having to stop for gas she was running half an hour late. Michael hadn’t asked her to be there at a specific time but she knew he would be expecting her to arrive earlier than she was going to be there.

*****

Michael ran through the front door and hurried to grab a clean set of clothes, glancing at the time on his way to the shower. He hadn’t expected to have to squeeze a shower into his schedule, but because he was covered in grease from messing around under the hood of Linda’s jeep when it wouldn’t start, it was a necessity.

He rushed through his shower, his mind already busy running through the possibilities that could come from the sighting. What would he find at the ruins? he wondered as he dried off and got dressed. Was it possible after all this time that he would finally find the answers he was looking for? He was running the towel over his hair when the scent of watermelon caught his attention and he lowered the towel, glaring at it for several seconds before bringing it up to his nose and sniffing it suspiciously. Okay, Mom hasn’t changed laundry detergents… His head lifted and he stared at his reflection in disbelief before turning back to the shower and snatching up the bottle of shampoo sitting on the shelf.

His eyes scanned over the familiar label of his preferred brand and he quickly uncapped the bottle and held it under his nose, sniffing it. He replaced the cap and jerked his shirt on before stalking through the house in search of the culprits, certain he knew who had replaced his normal shampoo with the fruity one now residing inside the bottle.

All five girls looked up when Michael stormed into the kitchen and slammed the bottle of shampoo down on the table between them. Their innocent expressions didn’t fool him for a single second and he pointed at them accusingly.

“I assume there’s a reason you want us to see your shampoo?”

“That is not mine,” he snarled.

“No?” Maggie picked the plain bottle up, examining it closely. “Well, it looks like yours; I mean, it’s certainly not anything I’d ever use.”

“Yes, it looks like mine,” he growled as he placed one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the table next to her, and leaned down so they were at eye level. “But it’s not. If you think –“ His attention was pulled away from his sister when the other girls leaned forward, making exaggerated sniffing sounds.

“Do you guys smell… what is that?” Summer leaned back slightly, pondering her question.

“I smell it,” Christina concurred, nodding. “It’s kinda… what’s the word… fruity?”

“Hmmm, I think you guys are right,” Maggie mused, leaning back to look at her brother. “That’s watermelon, isn’t it?” She glanced at the bottle in her hand again. “I didn’t realize they made your shampoo with a watermelon scent.”

“They don’t.” Michael straightened up and snatched the bottle out of her hand. “You were all in on this; I don’t know which one of you actually did it, but you’re all in trouble.” He left the room, barely containing his anger when he heard Maggie and her cohorts laughing at him.

Back in his room he finished getting ready, fervently hoping that the shampoo’s scent would quickly dissipate because he didn’t have time for another shower. He grabbed the bag that he had packed the night before and unzipped it, shoving the notebook with all of the information from the newest sighting inside along with a map of the area. A quick glance at the clock let him know that Maria would be arriving any minute so he zipped the bag up and carried it out and dropped it on the porch swing.

He was pacing the porch restlessly ten minutes later, wondering where Maria was when the screen door opened behind him. He didn’t have to look to know it was his mother; he had long ago learned to identify his family by the sound of their footsteps.

“I told you last night I didn’t approve of this trip,” Catherine said, letting the door shut as she stepped out onto the porch.

“I can’t not go, Mom.” He shook his head and stared into the distance, willing Maria to hurry up. “This could be the one, can’t you understand that? The information has been verified by multiple groups; this could be – “

Catherine could see the excitement building as her son spoke of finding his answers, but she already knew how it would end… badly, as usual. “Michael, I understand what this means to you, but – “

“You don’t understand, Mom!” He started to pace again, his agitation clearly visible. “I need to do this; I can’t just know about it and ignore it.”

Catherine responded by raising her voice, “And I can’t ignore an overnight trip that involves you and your girlfriend.” She shook her head. “You’re not going, Michael. I told you last night that you were not taking this trip with Maria and I wasn’t just talking to hear myself talk. I know you don’t understand and you probably think that I’m being unfair, but one day you’ll understand.”

Michael sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m goin’, Mom, and you can’t stop me.”

“Give me your keys.”

He turned to stare at her. “What?”

“I told you, Michael, you’re not going to Aztec.” She held her right hand out. “I want your keys. Now.”

“Fine.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket and removed the truck keys from the ring. He placed the keys in her outstretched hand and shoved the remaining keys in his pocket. “I’m still goin’; I don’t care if I’ve gotta hitchhike the entire way!”

Catherine turned when John joined them and she knew right away that he wasn’t going to put his foot down in this matter; he intended to let Michael make the trip. She didn’t know what to say or how to make either of them do what she wanted them to do.

“Catherine, we’ve got five girls underfoot that need help getting ready for the dance and I don’t think I’m gonna be much help to ‘em.” He turned to look at their son when she muttered something under her breath and went back inside. “I know you need to chase this sighting, that you’ve got questions you need answers to, and that you’re almost an adult, but that doesn’t give you the right to be disrespectful to your mother.” He shook his head and glanced up when he saw the little red car turning into their driveway. “Your mother’s concerns – “

“I know Mom’s worried that we’re gonna have sex,” Michael interrupted. “But if this was about us lookin’ for a place to have sex we could’ve just done it at her house, Dad; Maria’s mom has been outta town all week.”

John smiled. That much was true; if that was what this was about and Maria’s mother had been gone, they would’ve had more than enough time to have sex, and the trip would be the last thing on Michael’s mind! “You’re old enough to differentiate between right and wrong, and you’ve gotta do what’s right for you, but you’re smart enough to know that your mother’s concerns don’t exist only because Maria’s goin’ with you; that’s a big part of it, but she’s never been happy about you chasin’ these things. You do what you need to do, Son, but think about what I said.” He reached out to pat the younger man’s shoulder before turning to go back inside. “You two be careful and don’t get into trouble.”

Michael grabbed his bag and hurried down the steps as soon as his father stepped back into the house. He stalked past Maria when she stepped out of the car, jerking the back door open and throwing his bag inside.

“I guess we’re taking my car?” Maria asked when he slammed the door.

“Could you have been any later if you had tried?” he snarled as he reached out to take the keys from her. “I told you last night that this was important to me and you said you’d be here – “

“I told you I’d be here and I am here,” Maria snapped, annoyed by his attitude and rude behavior. “I can’t help it if I got sidetracked by a teacher and – “

“I don’t have time for this,” he interrupted. “Get in if you’re goin’,” he ordered as he slid in behind the wheel.

Maria stared at him for several short moments as she digested the fact that he obviously intended to drive and he was telling her what to do. She ran around the car and jerked the door open when he started the car and gunned the engine and she realized that he wasn’t joking; he was leaving with or without her.

Tequathisy – Yep, great start to the journey. Maria is confronted with a different Michael and it won’t be the last time on this trip.

Cjsl8ne – Yes, Michael is upsetting Maria. He will learn that Maria has feelings, too.

April -

She has good intentions, but she's going about it all wrong.

Part of her really has good intentions, but there’s another part which is a typical human mother who can’t accept her “daughter-in-law”.

Starcrazed -

Is it a possibility for Michael and Maria to run into a few people from Roswell who might also be looking into this sighting?

A little spoiler: Michael will meet Max and Isabel at some point. Just not during a UFO-related circumstance.

Flamehair – Catherine can’t be replaced as Michael’s mother. But she has insecurities about that.


Part 52

Maria looked at Michael with incredulity shining in her green eyes. From what she could tell, whatever had happened at home must have been bad for him to be in his current mood, but no way was she going to let him treat her like this! “You can’t just call me and ask me to go out to the middle of nowhere with you and then threaten to steal my car just because you’re pissed off about something. I suggest you start by telling me what the hell happened to put you in this mood; I’m not your personal punching bag and I won’t be treated like one. I’m not here so you can just take your anger out on me.” She rolled her eyes when he ignored her, glancing around when he turned down another street and after a few minutes pulled up in front of a small house. She rolled her eyes when he got out of the car and took the keys with him. As soon as he let himself in the front door she pulled her spare keys out of her purse and climbed over the gearshift to settle into the drivers’ seat.

Michael locked the door behind him and ran back to the car, skidding to a halt when he realized the passengers’ seat was empty. He leaned down to look inside when the engine suddenly came to life and he frowned when he saw Maria sitting behind the wheel.

“We’re not going anywhere until you start talking,” she said when he opened the door and dropped down into the passengers’ seat. “You either tell me what’s got you in such a bad mood or we’ll sit here all day.”

Michael stared down at the handheld GPS navigator in his left hand and forced his grip to relax to avoid crushing it. He knew she was right and he shouldn’t be taking his bad mood out on her, but what was he supposed to say?

“I can drive back home just as easily as I drove out here, Michael.”

He could see from her expression that she wasn’t kidding, and if he didn’t do something she was going to drop him off and go home. C’mon, Guerin, say something before she leaves! “I got into it with my mom,” he blurted out after a heavy silence. “She’s havin’ a fit over us takin’ this trip and when she took my keys I told her I was goin’ even if I had to hitchhike.”

Maria turned to look at him. “So you got into an argument with your mom and you’re taking it out on me?” She shook her head. “Huh-uh, you don’t get to act like that just because you’re pissed at your mom. I didn’t come all the way out here with the intention of going with you on this road trip just so you could have someone to take your anger out on.”

Michael watched the fingers of her right hand as they drummed out an irritated rhythm on the steering wheel. He had no idea what to say to her but she continued while he was still thinking.

“And then you just take my keys and my car and you order me around?”

He had to find a way to calm her down before she worked herself up and they ended up in a shouting match, otherwise they were never going to make it to the ruins. It was becoming obvious that she had no intention of moving the car until she had said what she wanted to say or until he apologized. He didn’t have all day to wait for her to get around to finish having her say and he sucked at apologies so he had to find a way to end her ranting.

“Because if that’s the way you’re gonna act every time you get pissed off about something…” Maria paused when he turned around and dragged his bag between the seats and placed it in his lap. “What’re you doing?” she asked, watching him unzip it and push a notebook and a shirt out of his way.

Michael pulled out a bag of assorted candy bars, reaching inside to remove a handful of the small chocolates and offer them to her.

Okay, Maria thought, staring at his offering, as apologies went it wasn’t the best one she had ever received, but somehow it was so… Michael. She reached out and plucked a couple of the candy bars from his hand and unwrapped one. “I’m gonna let it go,” she said, shaking her head at him. “This time. Next time you get into an argument with your parents or anyone else, don’t take it out on me, Michael,” she warned. “Now, which way do I need to go?”

Michael pointed behind them. “You know where Highway 380 is?”

*****

Catherine stood on the porch, her hands gripping the railing tightly as she watched the taillights disappear into the distance. Circumstances may have been different, but having to stand back, powerless, and having no choice but to let Michael go immediately dragged her mind back into the past and she could feel the emotions rise to the surface as if it had happened yesterday. She could easily remember the day he had been taken by Social Services; he had been with her less than eighteen hours but in that short amount of time he had already taken his place in her heart.

After his introduction to the bath it had taken her and John both to dry the boy off and wrestle him into a clean set of clothes. She had been exhausted by the time they were finished and she just shook her head when he followed John to the refrigerator. He had watched as John filled a small cup with apple juice before snapping the lid on, and Michael had eagerly accepted it when it was offered to him. He had mastered the use of a straw with no problem and had quickly discovered that blowing into the straw produced the most entertaining sounds. It hadn’t taken long for him to tire and he had gone in search of his blanket and the teddy bear that were never far from his sight.

That morning she had watched Michael as he slept underneath the coffee table, his little body covered by the blanket River Dog had given him. She had tried to get him to sleep on the couch but had left him where he was after the third time he had gotten away from her and crawled under the table.

Catherine turned her head when she heard the knock on the front door and she could feel herself tense up. The rational part of her brain knew that they had to turn Michael over to the authorities, but the emotional part was screaming at her to take him and run. She looked up when a hand settled on her shoulder.

“It must be done this way.”

She stared at her father-in-law and shook her head; she had forgotten that John’s sister Skye had dropped the older man off when she had come by to pick Maggie up. “Why?”

“Because they will be able to do things that we wouldn’t be able to do; he’s gonna need a social security number and a birth certificate to – “

“You do know they’re gonna put him in the orphanage, don’t you?” She sighed and her gaze traced over the little boy’s stubborn features again. “Do you know what it’s like there? It’ll scar him for life.”

“Catherine, the boy is strong, and he will eventually move past this event. Imagine how much worse it would be if he were kept here long enough to begin to relax… what would happen if the authorities found out and took him at that point? This way you’ve got…” He had trailed off when his son entered the room with a police officer and a woman from Social Services.

“Catherine, Dad, this is Ms. Seaton and Officer Rojas; they’re here for Michael.”

“The child is able to speak?” Ms. Seaton asked, opening up the oversized leather-bound notebook she held. “I was under the impression he was mute.”

John shook his head as he glanced at his wife. “I never said he was mute; we believe the capability to speak is there but – “

“I’m sure a professional will be better able to assess the child’s capabilities. Was he able to answer any questions or did he only respond when you asked his name?”

Catherine’s eyes narrowed as she watched the woman make notations in her notebook while John gave her the same detailed information he had given the night before over the phone. The woman had all the warmth of an iceberg, and she had the personality to match. Her dislike of the woman grew with each emotionless question and she was grinding her back teeth together in an effort to stay silent.

“Well, I think I have everything I need so we’ll collect the child and – “

That had been the final straw. “The child,” Catherine snapped, “has a name, and he’s not some stray animal that you’re here to collect. I’d like to know what you intend to do with Michael when you leave here.”

“There’s really no reason for you to concern yourself with that,” Ms. Seaton said in what was probably meant to be a reassuring tone but fell short of being sincere.

Catherine met the woman’s cold gaze as she stood to face her. “Well, I’m concerning myself so why don’t you walk me through the process?”

“He’ll be placed at the group home where he’ll undergo testing to determine his mental, emotional, and physical limitations. He will remain under observation while the authorities attempt to locate any relatives. In the case that there are no relatives, or that the relatives found are unable to care for him, he will more than likely remain in the group home. The older a child is the harder it is to adopt them out.” She glanced over her notes once more and shook her head. “Based on the information you’ve provided it’s doubtful we would even find a family to foster him.”

Catherine was well aware that the system was flawed and it allowed too many children to fall through the cracks, and with people like Ms. Seaton involved it wasn’t going to improve. She could tell that the woman had already written him off and there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that the emotionless woman had no intention of making Michael a priority or personally involving herself in his case.

She glanced over her shoulder when she heard movement and she watched Michael crawl out from under the coffee table.

“This is the child?”

His head had snapped up as soon as he heard the new voice and his expression had quickly become one of wariness. He searched the room and as soon as he spotted River Dog he had run to hide behind the man.

“Office Rojas, if you would collect the child so we can wrap this up, please.”

Oscar Rojas had never cared for this part of his job but he knew there were others who could be assigned to work with Social Services, others who could care less about the children involved in these situations. He had crouched down so he wouldn’t appear to be so intimidating and in just a matter of seconds he knew the little boy was going to run from him.

He pushed his hat back and leaned back on his heels when the little boy bolted through to the kitchen and scrambled under the dinner table. “Little fella’s quick, isn’t he?”

“Do you have children, Officer Rojas?”

He stood and smiled at Catherine Two Feathers. “Yes, ma’am, I’ve got three of ‘em.” He read the concern in the woman’s eyes before he glanced back towards the kitchen. “I won’t hurt him,” he promised.

“I don’t have all day, Officer Rojas,” Ms. Seaton said impatiently.

Catherine almost smiled when the police officer rolled his eyes and nodded. She watched him crouch down once more; he tried to coax Michael out from his hiding place under the table and after a while he reached out to physically pull the little boy out. He jerked his arm back seconds later, staring at the teeth marks embedded in his flesh as the little boy escaped again.

His heart went out to the little guy when he hid behind the older man once again. He was clutching a teddy bear in his left arm and his right hand was fisted around a handful of the man’s jeans. His dark gaze was defiant despite the fear and suspicion so obvious there, and Oscar knew right away that he wasn’t going to deal well with the system.

“Maybe we could go with you,” John suggested. “Michael doesn’t care much for ridin’ in cars but it might help if we’re there to calm him down.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Ms. Seaton spoke up. “This will go much smoother if we handle the separation here and now. I’m sure you’ll agree – ”

“No, Ms. Seaton, we don’t agree with you,” John interrupted. “Maybe you can just stand there and remain unaffected by Michael’s situation, but we’re not like that. Obviously you have no problem ignoring the fact that he has no idea what’s happening to him and he’s scared; you haven’t even spoken to him or bothered to ask anything of a personal nature.”

Catherine had nodded when John glanced at her before continuing. They had talked long into the night about their options, considering the adjustments they were going to have to make. Michael was going to need special care; he was going to have to be taught things that children half his age already knew, and there were his abilities to consider too.

“I don’t see a problem if you folks wanna ride in with him.”

Michael had been stressed by the recent events and he had refused to move away from River Dog. Catherine had wanted to take the little boy in her arms and tell him that everything was going to be okay but she knew he wasn’t comfortable with too much physical contact so she settled for kneeling down in front of him and speaking softly as she held her hand out towards him.

He had stared at her outstretched hand, palm facing up, and his fingers had flexed around the handful of denim he was clutching like a lifeline. She could tell that he didn’t understand her words as she talked to him, assuring him that they had no intention of leaving him with Social Services. He had responded to her tone, relaxing slightly, but he hadn’t released his grip on River Dog’s leg.

She hadn’t been able to go with them because she had been scheduled to work and she had watched Michael as River Dog carried him out to the police car waiting in the driveway.

“Hey, you gonna be okay?” John asked, pulling her into his arms and massaging the nape of her neck.

“He’s gonna be so lost there, John, and he’s not used to being around people. He’ll think he’s been abandoned all over again; he isn’t gonna understand – “

“Catherine, we’ve gotta trust my dad’s instincts on this. While I’m there I’ll find out who we need to talk to about getting custody or becoming guardians or foster parents… whatever they wanna call it, okay?”

She hadn’t had any other choice but to agree at that point so she had nodded and stood on the porch, watching the car and its occupants until it was too far away to follow any longer.

“Catherine?”

John’s concerned voice brought her out of her memories and she turned to look at him.

John knew from experience that he wasn’t going to be able to tread carefully enough to avoid her temper. There was no way to get around it so he jumped in with both feet. “You all right?”

Catherine glared at him and it was clear from her expression that he had just uttered the stupidest question she had ever heard. “No, John, I’m not all right. You just sent our son off on this… this… quest, investigation… whatever the hell you wanna call it, knowing that they’re in a relationship I don’t approve of. I realize that it’s entirely possible for them to sneak under our radar right here, but you don’t just send two seventeen-year-olds off on an overnight trip when there’s no supervision whatsoever. You might just as well have paid for some cheap motel room and given him a box of condoms.”

John hurriedly looked away and bit the inside of his cheek. It wasn’t funny, he reminded himself. It wasn’t. He knew if she even suspected that he found her rant funny he would be paying for it for the next week so he did his best to keep it under control. She was still muttering about the stupidity of men in general, and him in particular, by the time he was certain he could face her without laughing.

“And how many times do I have to tell you that she doesn’t know how to deal with him if it ends up like all the other times?”

“Cath, he’s never talked to us in any detail about his previous trips; he comes home and stomps around the house for a few days before he lets it go and moves on to the next one. Obviously we know he’s disappointed, angry, and hurt, but he buries it after a few days.” He leaned against the railing and crossed his arms over his chest. “Maybe this trip will be like all the others; maybe it’ll just be another big disappointment, and maybe when he falls he’ll let her catch him. I’m just sayin’ there’s a bigger picture here, and maybe you’re not seein’ it.”

“John…”

Her tone held a warning and he nodded as he straightened away from the railing. “Why don’t I go make dinner since you’re gonna be busy with the girls.” He paused beside her and nudged her shoulder with hers. “I know I can’t understand this from your point of view, but I do know where your mind is.” He reached out to cradle her cheek, turning her head to meet his gaze as he shook his head. “It’s not the same thing, honey.”

Catherine frowned at his back as he went inside. And that is the problem with marrying your best friend, she thought with a scowl. “It’s not the same thing,” she muttered, repeating his parting words. Well, it sure felt the same.

It had seemed like forever before they had been given permission to take Michael home from the orphanage. As she had expected he had been traumatized by the nearly two-week stay among the adults and children, but as River Dog had predicted the little boy had eventually moved past those events.

Several different specialists had been brought in to assess the little boy and to decide if his condition was reversible; they had made their reports and the only thing they had agreed on was that he wasn’t a good candidate to be placed in a foster situation and it was even less likely that he would ever be adoptable. Despite their warnings that Michael was most likely going to be mentally and emotionally handicapped by his abandonment she and John had gone ahead with their plan to find a way to bring the boy home to live with them.

They had met resistance at first because, despite the fact that Michael was considered to be un-adoptable, the authorities had been reluctant to place him with a Native American family. They had claimed that it was because they were concerned that the placement would only cause more harm, but they had run into racism before and they knew what it looked and sounded like.

Eventually, it had come to the director’s attention that the only time Michael responded or showed interest in his surroundings was when the family came to visit and he started to leave his office and observe their interaction. After several visits he had made a phone call to Oscar Rojas, the police officer who had come to their house to pick Michael up and take him to the orphanage; the interview with the officer along with his observations of the family and the little boy had pushed him to make a decision that hadn’t been popular at the time.

He had finally convinced those who were against the decision to send Michael home with the family that it was the best solution. The little boy responded to them, was happy to see them when they arrived, and once they were gone he quickly retreated into his shell and refused to interact with anyone.

The director had given them the news on their twelfth visit and they had signed the release forms that day. They had taken Michael home that afternoon and little by little he had started to relax and settle into life with his new family.

“Hey, Mom? Sierra’s got a problem with the zipper on her dress.” Maggie stepped out onto the porch, her expression questioning. “Everything okay?”

Catherine glanced over her shoulder, nodding when she saw her daughter’s concerned expression. “Everything’s fine, sweetie.” She turned fully when the girl bit her bottom lip and fidgeted, a sure sign that she had something on her mind besides the dance. “Was there something else, Maggie?”

“Well,” she hedged, “I overheard you and Michael last night and you seem to be pretty upset about him leaving with Maria, and I was just wondering why you have a problem with her?” She went on when her mother remained silent. “It’s just that you seemed like you were okay with her when she first came around and they started hanging out, but now it’s like you guys are fighting about her all the time.”

Catherine sighed quietly as she debated the best way to answer the question.

“I thought maybe you’ve got the same problem I had with her, and if that’s the case, I wanted to tell you something.” Maggie moved closer to her mother, sitting down beside her to share her story. She didn’t like seeing her mother and her brother at each other’s throats; it was unsettling and she had to do something. Maybe her mother had the same problem that she herself had had, accepting that Michael had his own life, and that he had other people in his life that he cared about. Michael was so important to them, he was such an integral part of their lives and now they had to share him with another person, someone who wasn’t in their family.

Maggie had accepted that change but apparently, her mother had not been able to, even though it was something that she claimed to want for Michael. “When Maria first found out about Michael, that he’s, y’know, different, I behaved pretty badly towards both of them. I think she could tell that it was really bothering Michael because she cornered me right away and… well, she’s not trying to come between us and Michael, Mom; I think she really understands how strong his bonds are with his family. But I think she also knows how important it is to him that he find the answers that he’s looking for.” Maggie paused for a moment. “She makes him happy, Mom; there’s something different about him when she’s around and maybe I can’t define it, but I know it’s a good thing.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I just thought you should know that.”

“Why don’t we go see about Sierra’s zipper, sweetie,” Catherine said, hugging her daughter. “And, I’ll think about what you’ve said.” She watched the girl walk back into the house and sighed as she wondered when things had changed and she had started getting advice from her own daughter.

Ashleyt – Yep, a candy roadtrip. It’s a tradition! No way would we have missed this.

Starcrazed – There will be more flashbacks. They are a huge part of this fic.

Cjsl8ne – Michael and UFO fanatics? Getting along??? Not so much!

April – Michael has been loved and a bit spoiled by Catherine. But no way can he go on treating Maria as his emotional punching bag.

Flamehair – Yes, Catherine has insecurities. Understandable ones. But she goes about them the wrong way and risks losing her son over them.

Part 53

Maria glanced over at the bag that was still sitting in Michael’s lap. “So, what makes you think this sighting is credible?” she asked. Her wrists were balanced on top of the steering wheel, her hands busy unwrapping another candy bar.

Michael had been lost in thought, staring at the miles and miles of desert that stretched out on either side of the highway, and he didn’t respond until she reached over and poked him. “What?”

“I asked what makes you think this sighting is credible?”

His eyebrows lifted in surprise; he wasn’t used to anyone other than Eddie asking about the sightings he chased. “Are you askin’ just to make conversation?” he asked.

“No, I’m honestly interested. Despite growing up in Roswell I’ve never done this before so I wanna know what makes this particular sighting worth investigating. There are probably a lot sightings each year, so why is this one special?”

“Seventy thousand sightings each year,” he said as he unzipped his bag once more, pulling out the map and notebook he had brought along for reference. “Worldwide, anyway. I’ve checked out sightings in Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, but that’s as far as my parents have let me go.”

“Have you ever found anything?”

Michael’s fingers traced over the spiral binding of the notebook as he shook his head. “Not yet,” he answered finally. He glanced at her when her hand came to rest over his, stilling his movements.

“Maybe this’ll be the one.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Anyway, there are plenty of UFO sites on the Internet and some are more credible than others.” He opened the notebook and flipped through several pages. “Thing is, on Thursday there were multiple hits on several dozen different sites and the information corresponds, even on the ones that are usually less than reliable. Now, there were a few that claimed that wreckage was found in the area, but I don’t think they hold any water. The sighting itself though, there’re too many similar points between the claims on the different sites for it to be false.”

Maria listened to him as he listed off eyewitness accounts from multiple people, the similarities of the detailed descriptions given, the weather report on the night of the sighting, and even interviews with a sheriff’s deputy and several off-duty military personnel who had been in the area. He was trying to control it, but she could hear the excitement that he was trying so hard to hide.

He unfolded the map in his left hand and held it down against the dashboard so she could see part of it. “See this area right here?” He pointed at a spot near the Colorado border. “This’s where the sighting took place… right above the Aztec Ruins. The West Ruins are open to the public, but the East Ruins are closed off to protect them from further damage, and that’s where the sighting happened.”

“If the sighting happened over a protected Native American site and the sighting is public knowledge, won’t there be park rangers or local police there to make sure that no one gets into the ruins at night?”

“Might be.” He shrugged, unconcerned. “We’ll have to check it out when we get there.” He folded the map up and reached into his bag to pull out several pieces of paper that he had taped together. He leaned over to pick up the map when he dropped it and shoved it back in his bag before carefully opening up the papers held together with scotch tape.

Maria sniffed the air when he straightened up and went back to his papers. “Do you smell that?”

“What?”

“Smells like… watermelon, I think.” She rolled her eyes. “My mom’s always changing the freshener she puts in the car, but you’d think I would’ve noticed that before now.”

Michael silently cursed the girls as he tried to come up with a plausible explanation. “Have you been usin’ the heater?” he asked, motioning towards the vents that were pushing out heated air.

“No, it hasn’t really been cold enough to use it until today.”

“Well, there ya go; it’s probably just one of those scents that reacts to heat or somethin’.” He was relieved when she nodded in agreement and dropped the subject. “You brought a coat, right? This time of year there’s probably gonna be snow on the ground as we go further north and the temperature can drop below twenty degrees at night.”

Maria smiled at Michael’s words. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who cared, but he really did. “Yeah, I brought a coat.”

“Anyway,” he pressed the papers against the dashboard and traced his right forefinger along the border of the printed picture. “It’d be too obvious to go in through the front entrance and that’d be a waste of time anyway because that’s where the West Ruins are. But, if we come in from the backside, somewhere in here,” he tapped his finger against the section he was talking about, “we’ll be closer to the East Ruins and we shouldn’t have any problems runnin’ into anybody.”

“Won’t it be obvious if we just leave the car parked out in the middle of nowhere?”

“It would be if that’s what we were gonna do. See this? There’s a housing development and a trailer park that border the ruins here, so we can leave the car there and hike in.”

“The ruins take up quite a bit of land; how’re we gonna know we’re even in the right area?”

Michael carefully folded the paper up and put it back in his bag before holding out the GPS navigator he had retrieved earlier. “This’s how we’re gonna know we’re in the right place; I picked it up when we stopped at Eddie’s house earlier.” He shrugged. “He’s outta town but he gave me a key to his house, and the last time we went out I forgot to get the navigator back so I had to go get it. The coordinates were listed on several of the sites and with this we’ll be able to go right to the location of the sighting.” He readjusted his seat and stretched his legs out a little more as he slouched down and shifted to lean against the door. “Did you know that nearly every civilization has recorded sightings and encounters throughout their history?”

She nodded. “So, what do you think about all of the abduction claims?” Her eyebrows lifted in question when he snorted disdainfully. “You don’t think there’s any truth to it?”

Michael snorted loudly, expressing his opinion on that subject. “I think it’s been blown way out of proportion. Why would beings that are clearly superior come here to abduct – “

“Wait just a minute, Spaceboy. Clearly superior? What exactly makes aliens so superior?” Maria asked, sending a threatening look in his direction.

Apparently unaware of Maria’s reaction to his little statement, he went on with his speech. “Their ability to master space travel, the fact that despite thousands of sightings every year there’s nothin’ really concrete to prove their existence, the fact that they’ve built ships capable of withstanding long-distance travel, not to mention their maneuvering capabilities. Oh, and the fact that aliens have powers that humans don’t,” Michael said, listing his reasons with a satisfied smile.

“Mastering space travel? I think you’re getting ahead of yourself just a bit. Planet Earth has made some pretty impressive leaps in space travel – “

“Please,” he scoffed. “Your people went to the moon – “

Maria wanted nothing more than to erase that superior tone from Michael’s voice and she launched what she was sure was a killer argument. “That’s right, we went to the moon. Intentionally. And you know what? The humans didn’t crash on the moon.” She paused for the space of a heartbeat. “As I recall it was an alien craft that crash landed back in ’47. So, either your people built an inferior ship or the pilots weren’t very well-trained in landing on foreign planets.” Maria ended her short speech with a smile, quite happy with her answer.

Michael frowned, displeased with Maria’s conclusion about ‘his’ people’s abilities. “Or, your people shot them down. They didn’t waste any time coverin’ it up.”

Maria rolled her eyes as she realized that Michael didn’t want to admit that aliens might not really be that advanced. She wondered why even as she spoke. “Yeah, my inferior people shot your advanced people down and caused them to crash. And how did they accomplish that if my people are so retarded compared to yours?” She paused for a second, not wanting to be dragged much further into this heated debate and decided to ask him about what had been bothering her about their discussion. “Anyway, my people, your people… are you trying to tell me something? Like maybe you’re planning to leave with them when you find them?”

“No. At least I don’t think so.” His gaze followed her as she shifted around and reached back between the seats to grab a bag of chips. “I just need answers; I wanna know why they left me in the desert, so far away from the roads or civilization that it’s a miracle River Dog found me. I just need to know why they never bothered to come back for me.” He shrugged. “If I had grown up differently then I might have a different reason for lookin’ for these answers, but I really just need to know the truth.”

Maria understood that; she wanted answers herself, about her own family. “Your family’s concerned that they’re gonna lose you to this quest. You do know that, don’t you?”

Michael grimaced. He really didn’t like the way his mother had reacted. It seemed to him that she had gotten worse about his quest, here lately. He didn’t want to think too much about it though. The last thing he wanted was to split his family up with his quest. “Yeah. Mom’s never liked me goin’ after the sightings, but this’s the first time she’s ever come right out and told me that I couldn’t go.”

“Is it that you’re investigating the sighting that your mom has a problem with or is it that I’m going with you?”

“Take your pick,” he grumbled.

Maria remained silent for a few seconds, thinking about what Michael had said. So, Catherine did have a problem with her; she had suspected as much but it was the first time he had more or less confirmed it. “So, she objects to both and yet you’re still going. What’d you do, promise her nothing would happen between us?”

“I never make a promise unless I know I can guarantee the outcome.”

“And you don’t think you can do that?”

Michael glanced at her, unable to decipher her neutral tone. “We’re goin’ outta town on an overnight trip without any parental influences to stop us; are you sayin’ it’s completely out of the realm of possibility that we could have sex?”

“No, I’m not saying that at all,” she answered honestly. A happy smile graced her features. Thinking about being with Michael that way was definitely something she had been dreaming about. “I’d be a liar if I said I hadn’t thought about it. I was just wondering how you managed this trip since your mom was set against it.”

“Oh.” Michael was still trying to wrap his mind around her matter-of-fact statement. “My uh, my dad had to get involved; I’ve got a feelin’ that I’m probably gonna be in trouble when we get back though.”

“Why?”

“Dad’s pretty laid-back but he doesn’t tolerate disrespect.” He flipped through the pages of his notebook just to keep his hands busy. “I should’ve kept better control of my temper last night when Mom started tellin’ me I couldn’t go, but I lost it and there was yelling on both sides and she got upset…” He sighed. “Dad’s always been pretty cool about lettin’ me investigate the sightings, and this time really wasn’t any different in that aspect, but the whole argument with Mom…”

“Meaning you’ve gotten yourself in more trouble than usual?”

“Probably.” He reached up to scratch his eyebrow. “Tell me about Roswell; what was it like growin’ up there?”

Growing up in Roswell… Maria smiled. That had been quite a unique experience, and still was, some days. “Well, it’s a tourist trap and there’re new people in and outta town every single day, but it’s home. My mom has a shop there and like most of the places in town it has an alien theme because… well, because that’s what the customer’s are paying for.” She glanced at him sharply. “Not one comment about my mom’s choice of jobs; she did what she had to do to pay the bills.” She continued when he simply shrugged and motioned for her to go on. “One of her friends, Nina, has the shop right next to hers so if there’s anything you wanna know about mysticism that’s the place to go.”

“You’re close to your mom’s friend?”

“Nina? Yeah, she’s kinda like family; she watched me when I was younger and my mom was out of town for conventions or buying trips. You’ll meet her one day and I think you’ll like her. She’s nice and she’s got a very dry sense of humor that I think you’ll probably be able to appreciate.”

“I noticed some uh, museums, when I came through to pick you up last weekend… you ever spent much time there?”

“The UFO museums?” Maria frowned, searching through her memories to see if she had been there. Hmm, maybe once or twice when she was younger, but nothing there had really made an impact on her. Not really. I mean, I’ve been through them of course, but I’ve never really done much more than walk through and glance at the stuff on display. I know they’ve got a lot of information on the ’47 crash if you’re interested in that, but other than that I don’t think it would be of much interest to you.” She slapped his hand away when he reached over to snag the bag of chips. “Get your own.”

“Did you bring anything to drink?”

“There’s a few drinks in that little cooler behind your seat.”

Michael unbuckled his seatbelt and shoved his bag into the backseat before twisting around to get to the drinks. “You want one?” he asked, his voice muffled.

Maria turned her head to glance at him just as he reached down to open the cooler and the movement pulled his shirt up. The material crawled up further since he was practically hanging upside-down over the seat, exposing most of his right side. She briefly wondered where he had gotten the wide scar just below his ribcage before turning her gaze back to the road. Her eyes widened when she realized that while her attention had been focused on him the car had begun to drift into the opposite lane and oncoming traffic so she jerked the wheel back to the right to miss an oncoming truck.

“Hey!” Michael yelled when the sudden movement nearly threw him into the backseat. “What the hell are you doin’ up there?”

“Rabbit. In the road.” She cringed at the lame response and hurried to turn the heater down before he turned back around.

“Well, I’m all for preservin’ the wildlife an’ all, but warn a guy, would ya?” he grumbled as he settled back in his seat. “There’s no need to hold out on the good stuff, y’know.” He opened two cans of soda and set them in the cup holders before debating between the bag of chips in his right hand and the crème-filled chocolate cupcakes in his left. He finally dropped both in his lap and reached for the drink once more.

Michael opened the small bottle of Tabasco sauce he had grabbed from his bag and poured some into the small opening at the top, swirling the can around to mix the contents before taking a long drink.

Maria turned her head when he leaned over to the left to drop the bottle in the console between the seats and she frowned when she caught the scent of watermelon again. She glanced at the heater that was on the lowest setting before looking back at him. It wasn’t possible, she thought. He wasn’t the type of guy that would use a shampoo that smelled like a fruit. “So, Michael, what’s up with the watermelon shampoo?” She jumped back when his head shot up, just barely avoiding a collision with the back of his head.

“What?”

She started to laugh at his look of indignation. “Look, the heater explanation… very quick thinking, but, try the truth this time.”

“I’m gonna kill them,” he muttered under his breath. “Okay, look, sometime between my shower last night and the shower I took when I got home after school the girls switched my shampoo out with this watermelon crap.” He slouched down against the door and shook his head in disgust. “I didn’t have time to take another shower, okay? Trust me, this is not what I normally use.”

“You don’t have to get so defensive,” she laughed. “It’s pretty obvious that the girls enjoy messing with you and I think it’s good that your relationship with them is strong enough that they know what they can get away with.”

Michael scowled while thinking about his sister, their cousins, and her two best friends playing that trick on him. “They’re not getting away with this. Every last one of them is in trouble.”

Maria tried not to laugh at Michael’s expression; he was clearly not letting that go. “Uh-huh, and what’re you gonna do about it?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” He tore open the package of cupcakes and bit into the first one, chewing furiously.

“Want some help with that? I might have some good ideas.” Maria’s smile was positively evil.

Michael turned his head to look at her, impressed that she wanted to help him in his war with the quintuplets from hell. “I’ll get back to you on that. So, what kinda information does the museum have about the crash?” he asked, changing the subject.

“I don’t really know.” She shrugged. “Like I said, I’ve never really paid much attention. Why? Is there something of interest about the crash?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” He finished the second cupcake and contemplated the setting sun through the window on her side of the car.

“Okay,” Maria said after he had been silent for several minutes. “You’ve got that look on your face again.”

“What look?”

“The one that says you’ve got something to say but you’re not sure how I’m gonna take it.” She rested her hand on his arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“What if I told you that I think my existence here on Earth and the ’47 crash are related?”

Maria glanced at him incredulously. “What? How is that possible? The crash happened more than fifty years ago.” Her gaze slid over him in the fading light and she shook her head. “You’re not trying to tell me you were on the ship are you? Because, despite the fact that you’re an alien, that sounds pretty crazy, Michael.” She regretted the words as soon as they were spoken.

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

She felt him tense up and knew he was going to withdraw if she didn’t explain. “Okay, I so didn’t mean that the way it sounded. It’s just… you’re seventeen years old, Michael; how is it possible that your being here and the crash, an event that is three times older than you, could be related?”

“Because without that connection I don’t have any other clue how I would’ve gotten here. I might just as well be some freak or mutant human without it.”

“And the sightings you chase?” She nodded when he shifted around to face forward and he stared at the road before them, illuminated only by the headlights. “You think they’re looking for you… for survivors of the crash.” She felt him shrug. “If you really are a survivor of the ’47 crash, how do you explain your age?”

“Stasis,” he muttered finally. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. They had to have had some sort of protocols in place in the event of a crash, some way to ensure the survival of those on board.”

She nodded, impressed. He had obviously thought a lot about this. “Okay, say you’re right about being kept in stasis for so long; how did you get to be so far from the crash? Your grandfather found you in the desert near the Rez and the crash was discovered 70 miles north of Roswell… you were six years old when he found you, so how’d you get there?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the survivors were ejected from the ship in stasis pods… and maybe I was the only survivor. You wouldn’t think they’d risk sending a six-year-old out like that… on his own, in a hostile environment, without another soul around…” He shrugged again. “I don’t know. That’s the only theory I’ve got that really makes any sense. Because the only other one I’ve got isn’t one I like to contemplate very often.”

Maria wondered what he meant but didn’t feel that he would welcome further questions right then. Did he really think that he had been dumped by aliens, by his own people, in the middle of a hostile desert on an unknown planet, and just… forgotten? It was no wonder that he was so driven to find answers to the mystery of his existence.

Flamehair – The sighting? Hmm, there will be some little revelations, just not what you might expect.

Starcrazed – Oh, Maria will help Michael to get his revenge. She always has great ideas.

DeDe PR – One day, Catherine will have to face the truth about her behavior. It will come, don’t worry.

Cjsl8ne – Michael being raised near Roswell, he knew that his presence on Earth had to do with the crash. He has examined all the possibilities.

April – That part was fun to write, about the humans’ vs aliens’ superiority.


Part 54

Alex was elbow-deep in Calculus homework when he started to feel like someone was watching him. He forced himself to finish the complex equation before giving in to his curiosity and looking for the person responsible for the weird feeling that had settled over him. He really hoped it wasn’t the guys from the football team because he wasn’t ready for another beating. Nah, he thought, if they had come in the restaurant wouldn’t still be fairly quiet.

Most Friday nights were spent sitting in the back booth at the Crashdown, waiting for the girls to get off so they could go hang out. It was an opportunity to load up on food his mother wouldn’t let him eat at home while getting his homework finished so his weekend was left free.

He glanced up when Liz sat down across from him and placed a fresh glass of orange soda and a plate of Saturn rings in front of him.

“How’s your homework coming along?”

“Almost finished.” He shrugged and reached for one of the onion rings, quickly dropping it when it burned his fingertips. “Ow!” He frowned as he examined his fingers for any serious damage. “I thought you were supposed to be off tonight?”

“I am. Well, technically, I am; I’m not on the clock. I was just giving my dad a hand until Alice gets here; she called and said she was running late.”

“Then we’re still hangin’ out tonight?”

“I was gonna ask you the same thing.”

“What?”

“I thought maybe you had made plans with Isabel,” Liz said, sliding the ketchup across the table when he motioned at the bottle. “She came in and sat down at the counter about fifteen minutes ago and she’s been staring at you the whole time.”

Well, that explained the earlier feeling of being watched. “No, I haven’t made any plans with Isabel,” he said, forcing his eyes to obey him and stay focused on the plate of perfectly golden-fried Saturn rings.

“What’s going on with you two?”

Alex shook his head. “No idea. She’s been keepin’ a low profile the past few days.”

“Maybe she feels bad because her friends beat you up.”

He shook his head. “Those people aren’t her friends, Liz, they just run in the same social circle. Bein’ seen with Isabel just gave them another excuse to kick my ass; it didn’t really have anything to do with her.” He picked up an onion ring and broke it in half. “Isabel is probably the loneliest person I’ve ever known and Max is the only one she’s ever been able to really talk to.” He chewed thoughtfully for a few minutes, working his way through several of the large onion rings. “It’s not that surprising that she’s so concerned about us knowin’ what we know or that she comes across the way she does.”

Liz grabbed one of the last two onion rings and bit into it to keep from smiling. She wondered if Alex had any idea that he was falling for Isabel Evans.

*****

From her seat at the counter Isabel watched the two friends as they talked quietly and wondered what they were discussing. She was jealous of their easy camaraderie and she wished she were able to have friendships that were so open and accepting.

If she were honest with herself she would have to admit that Alex was the closest she had ever come to actually having a friend. Max didn’t really count because he was her brother and he had no choice, he had to put up with her. But, Alex had a choice; he didn’t have to put up with her… so why did he?

Isabel shook her head to dislodge the doubts that were starting to creep in. Why was she wasting her time thinking about someone who was clearly too dense to realize that she was waiting for him to come over and speak to her?

“You could’ve just come over and said hi.”

She was startled when Alex suddenly appeared and sat down beside her. “What?” She had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t even seen him move. Not that she had been watching him, she silently denied. No, she definitely hadn’t been doing that.

“I realize the friendship thing is a relatively new concept for you so we’re gonna start at the beginning,” he said with a teasing smile. “When you see someone you know – and especially if it’s a friend – it’s customary on our planet to walk up to said individual and exchange a greeting.”

Isabel quickly glanced around and relaxed when she realized that no one was close enough to have overheard his comment. “Your statement assumes that I had noticed you were even here.”

“Ouch!” If he hadn’t known that she had been watching him earlier or seen the teasing glint in her dark eyes he might have taken her comment personally. “Maybe I should’ve specified that the greeting should also be pleasant. We’ll need to work on your greetings.” He sat up straighter and his expression turned serious. “Lesson one, you have a friend who happens to be without a vehicle for the evening… what do you do?”

“Offer to call him a taxi?”

Alex rolled his eyes at her response. “Try again.”

“Oh, you wanna borrow my phone to call your mom to come and get you?”

“Third time’s the charm, give it another shot.”

“You want me to offer to give you a lift to your house?”

“Well, since you offered so graciously I’d be happy to accept.” He grinned. “I’ll even duck down so no one sees me and none of the football players make either of us a target again.”

“You think I’m a target?”

“I’m sure you’ve had plenty of hassles to deal with because we’ve been seen together.”

“I think it’s safe to say that the guys from the football team will leave you alone. Matter of fact I think they’ll be leaving all of their usual targets alone from now on.”

“You did somethin’ to them,” he guessed. He leaned on the counter when her dark gaze focused on him, wondering what she was going to say.

Isabel glanced around, making sure no one was near enough to overhear what she was about to say. “I may have taken a short tour through their subconscious.”

“You shouldn’t do that,” he said, but he couldn’t help the smile that surfaced.

“Probably not, but they shouldn’t have done what they did to you.” She finished her cherry soda and set the glass aside.

“What makes you think they’re just gonna leave me alone?”

“The fact that they’re bullies who only bother people when they’re together; they never cause a problem unless they’re in their little pack.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that they’ve been maintaining a lot of distance from each other as well as everyone else.” He reached for his glass and took a drink.

“That’s because the three of them are in the process of asking themselves where their sexual preferences lie.”

Alex barely had time to slap his hand over the lower half of his face when her ill-timed response caused him to choke and soda came pouring out through his nose. “Well,” he rasped as he tried to clean himself up with a handful of napkins, “that had to be one of my top ten personal best moments.” His only saving grace was that he hadn’t been facing her when he sprayed soda everywhere.

“Alex, are you all right?” Liz asked, rushing over to him.

“Fine, just uh, just…” He cleared his throat and glanced at Isabel. She was just starting to be a little more at ease around him and he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that or make her uncomfortable so he shook his head. “I somehow managed to breathe in at the same time I swallowed and now I’ve got soda everywhere.”

“You want me to give you a ride home?”

“Nah, I thought I’d impose on Isabel since she was getting ready to leave.”

“Only if you promise that you won’t drink anything in the jeep,” Isabel stated, her tone imperious.

“No problem.” He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder as he stood up. “Liz, I’ll see you in a couple of hours, and don’t forget to bring the movie.”

*****

Maria went through the radio stations several times before she found something she liked. She started to sing along with the singer and only made it through part of the chorus before the station changed from alternative to hard rock. She turned her head to glare at Michael despite knowing he couldn’t really see her expression in the near-darkness inside the car.

“You don’t just change the radio station in someone else’s car,” she snapped, reaching out to change the station once more. “That’s road trip etiquette 101.”

“I don’t give a damn about road trip whatever,” Michael growled as he leaned forward and changed the station once more. “I’m not gonna listen to some chick whinin’ about life bein’ ironic when there’s real music playin’ on another station.”

Maria listened to the lyrics of the current song – if one were to be so generous, she thought – and shook her head. “Cowboy’s From Hell? I’ll assume that’s the name since it’s just about the only phrase I can make out.” She rolled her eyes. “And this is better than Ironic, in your opinion?”

“At least he’s not whinin’ into the mic.”

“Yeah? Well, first, she’s not whining. And second, all he’s doing is screaming into the mic.” She changed the station again and shook her head when she realized the song was over. She smiled in satisfaction when the next song started, certain that he probably hated boy bands.

Michael cringed at the sound coming out of the speakers. She couldn’t honestly expect him to listen to this crap.

Maria slapped his hand away when he reached for the radio again. “Don’t touch that tuner.”

He stared at the lighted face of the radio for several long, painful seconds before he placed his fingers against it and slid them to the left.

Maria watched the numbers on the display change until they stopped at the station he obviously preferred. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what he was doing when he placed the palm of his hand over the radio, but when the music paused for a moment and his hand started to glow she changed her mind.

“What’re you doing?” she demanded.

“Attempting to keep you from torturin’ me any longer,” he said as he settled back into his seat once again.

Maria pressed the tuner button and frowned at it when nothing happened. “What’d you do to it?”

“I’m not listening to angry chick music or a bunch of boy bands and their unrealistic lyrics.”

Maria paused and sorted through her mental lyrics file, searching for the words to the song that had been playing before he messed with the radio. “I’ll never break your heart… I’ll never make you cry?” She waved her right hand in the space between them. “What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s disturbing that you have the lyrics memorized,” he muttered. “Look, it’s unrealistic, that’s all I’m sayin’. How do you promise that you’re never gonna break someone’s heart or make them cry? You can’t promise that.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little cynical?”

“Don’t you think it’s foolish for people to let themselves believe they’re never gonna get hurt by the people they love? It’s the people that love you and care about you that’re most likely to hurt you.”

“Okay, I’m not denying that,” Maria said, her thoughts immediately turning to Liz and Alex.

Michael silently swore when he heard the sadness in her voice. He had not meant to bring that subject up. “What’s your opinion of Native American music?”

“I like some of it. My mom listens to a lot of it, especially at her shop. Matter of fact, there’s a tape in the glove compartment; I can’t remember the guy’s name, but I know he’s local. His stuff’s pretty good.”

Michael opened the glove compartment and pulled out maps, loose papers, and a broken flashlight before finding the tape. “There a reason you’re carryin’ around a flashlight that doesn’t work?” he asked as he shoved everything back inside. He frowned when he pushed the door shut and it wouldn’t lock into place. “Why is it this crap never goes back in the way it came out?” he growled as he shifted the stuff around. As soon as the door closed and locked to his satisfaction he opened the cassette case and dropped the tape into his hand. “How ‘bout a compromise?”

*****

“How’re you doing with the research?”

Alex glanced at Isabel when she parked the jeep in his driveway and he nodded at the house. “You wanna come inside and take a look?”

“Don’t you have plans?”

“Not for a couple of hours. Dad’s away on business and Mom’s at one of her book club meetings, so I’m on my own until Liz gets here.”

“And why is Liz coming over?”

“We hang out and watch movies on Friday nights if neither of us has a date.”

“You have dates?” Isabel winced at how harsh that had sounded and she turned to look at him when he chuckled unexpectedly.

“Believe it or not, I have had dates before.” He opened the door and got out, turning and leaning down to face her. “Anyway, if you wanna come inside and take a look at what I’ve done this past week, you’re more than welcome to do so.”

Isabel stood in Alex’s room several minutes later, looking over the short list that he had compiled over the past few days and frowned. “The closest one lives in Nebraska.” She shook her head and looked at him. “How does this help us?”

“We’re getting closer, aren’t we? The closest we had found last week was in Ohio.” He reached out to take the paper from her. “What happens when we do find a code talker who’s close enough for us to take the next step?”

“What?”

“Well, logically, the next step is to go see the code talker, talk to him one-on-one, and see if he’d be willin’ to decode the letter for us. So, I guess my question is, are you gonna want to take that next step?” He sat on his bed and watched her move around restlessly, straightening up things on his shelves. “I realize Max vetoed any further investigation into the letter and its origin, but you’ve got every right to know where you come from, Isabel. He can do what he thinks is best for you and he can try to protect you, but he can’t live your life for you.”

Isabel pondered what Alex was saying as she found herself staring at the photographs of him with Liz and Maria, his parents, and other people that she didn’t know. She envied the sense of belonging that was so apparent not only in the pictures but also when he was around his family and friends.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to take that next step, Alex,” she admitted finally.

“Okay. Tell me why.”

She motioned at the shelf filled with framed photographs. “Do you know what I see when I look at these pictures?”

“What do you see, Isabel?” he asked, sensing that this was important.

“You belong here, with all of these people, and you don’t have to question that. You know who you are, you know that you belong here, these people accept you for who you are, and they love you unconditionally.”

“You don’t think your parents love you unconditionally?”

“My parents don’t really know me, Alex. I want to believe that they would still love me if they knew, but in a way I’m glad that Max is so damned cautious because I can blame him for them not knowing.” She paused a moment and her fingers brushed along the edge of one of the picture frames. “We don’t know how we got here; neither of us can remember anything from before we were found out in the desert… we don’t know if it was intentional or accidental… I mean, who leaves their children in the desert? What kind of parents abandons their six-year-old children like that?”

Alex moved to stand beside her, daring to reach out and gently pry her fingers off of the shelf she was gripping. He knew she and Max were adopted, but he hadn’t known that they had been abandoned in the desert at the age of six years old. That one small piece of information actually explained a lot about her and why she acted the way she did a lot of the time. It was no wonder she had reacted so badly to them finding out about the secret she shared with her brother; she felt like she had no control over the situation. “Maybe we don’t know the answers to those questions yet, Isabel, but they’re out there somewhere, and if you decide you wanna keep lookin’ that’s what we’ll do; it’s totally up to you.”

“I don’t know what I want to do.” She stared at his hand, holding hers so securely in his own, solid without pressuring her to return the gesture. “What if we find something? What if we find the answers and…”

He heard the slight catch in her voice and his right hand came up to lift her chin so he could meet her shimmering gaze. “I can’t guarantee that the answers will be the ones you want, Isabel, all I can guarantee is that if you decide you wanna pursue this as far as we possibly can that’s what we’ll do.”

Why was he so willing to do this? What did he expect to gain by helping them?

Alex shook his head when her expression changed from confused to suspicious and she pulled her hand free from his loose grasp. He was certain he knew what she was thinking as she backed away from him and moved closer to the door. She was questioning his motives, wondering why he would help them, and what he expected in return.

“I should go,” she said suddenly. “My mom will start to wonder where I am if I’m not home soon.”

His expression turned somber when she practically ran from his room and within moments he heard the front door slam shut. He stood at the window and watched her hurry to the jeep and drive away, his expression pensive. He wasn’t surprised that she had pulled away or that she had run from him, and he wondered what her decision would be. He intended to keep looking for a code talker who lived closer, hoping that if they found one the man would be able to decode the letter… if she chose to pursue that option.

Isabel needed answers, she wanted answers, but she was afraid of them. He could understand that better after her earlier revelation but he hoped she could find the courage he knew she possessed to take that leap of faith. She was obviously torn between wanting to know the truth and leaving things as they were, afraid that the truth might be more than she was ready to deal with. The fear that she and Max had been abandoned in the desert intentionally had to be terrifying and he didn’t want to contribute to that fear. He was hoping that the answers they might find would alleviate her fears and put her mind to rest that they hadn’t been discarded without a second thought by their biological parents.

With a sigh he glanced down at the paper in his hand before sitting down at the computer to start researching again.

*****

Michael listened to Maria as she sang along with the song playing in the background, glad that they had finally found a compromise. Her voice dropped down until she was making a sound somewhere between a hum and a mumble, indicating that she didn’t know all of the lyrics, and he had to smile.

When the song reached its end and the music began to fade she reached out to turn the volume down and he glanced at her.

“I know we’re still about an hour and a half away from where we’re going, but would you mind if we stopped for just a few minutes?”

“Told you not to drink both of those sodas,” he grumbled. “You seen any signs for a rest stop?”

“I know you don’t think I’m using a rest stop bathroom.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Michael smirked at her irritated huff and waited for an explanation. He wasn’t that dense; he had been on enough road trips with his sister, her friends, and their cousins to know that rest stop restrooms were unacceptable except in the most dire of circumstances.

“Have you ever been in one of those bathrooms? Disgusting doesn’t even begin to cover it, and I will not be stopping in any rest area for any other reason than to stretch my legs.” She crumpled up the empty potato chip bag lying on the console between them. “Besides that, we’re outta things to snack on and I want chocolate.”

“Fine, but we’d better not stop for long,” he warned. “Since a rest stop’s not good enough, how close is the next town?”

“I don’t know; I haven’t seen any signs for a while now.”

He reached into the back and pulled his bag to the front, unzipping it and feeling around for the map. “Is it gonna bother you if I turn on the overhead light?”

“Huh-uh, go ahead.”

“Keep an eye out for the next mile marker,” Michael said as he unfolded his map and ran his finger along the road they were on. He slid his finger further along the line that marked the highway when she called out a number. “Okay, we’re about twenty miles from Cuba; it’s not that big but…” he glanced at his watch. “It’s early enough that whatever’s there should still be open.” Hopefully they could get in and out without anything holding them up because he was in a hurry and he didn’t want to be any later than they already were.

Ken r – The two groups will meet, but not in Cuba NM. Sorry.

Cjsl8ne – Alex will find a code talker, but not necessarily one who is linked with Michael.

April – Michael, Maria, roadtrips and music just go well together. It just defines who they are.

Flamehair – Thanks for reading.

Part 55

“Gimme a list of stuff you wanna pick up when we get to the station.”

“What?”

“If you tell me what you want I can pick it up while you’re in the restroom.” He shrugged. “It’s a good plan and it’ll save time.”

It was a good plan until they walked into the gas station and she asked where the restroom was.

“It’s around back,” the man behind the counter answered as he reached under the counter for the key. “You’ll be needin’ this.”

Maria stared at the key dangling from one end of the large wrench he was holding in her direction. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Why don’t I show you where it’s at,” he suggested, standing with the aid of the cane in his other hand.

“We’ve got it under control,” Michael snarled, snatching the wrench out of the older man’s hand and herding Maria outside.

Maria jerked her arm free as soon as they were outside. “Michael, what’s wrong with you?”

“Don’t assume that just because he’s older and uses a cane that he’s harmless.”

“Okay, first, I’m not that naïve. Second, I had no intention of walking to the back of this building with him. And third,” she slapped his right arm, “you didn’t have to be so rude.”

“Don’t expect an apology.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

The light mounted on the wall at the back of the building flickered every few seconds and did absolutely nothing to make the area look any better. Paint was peeling off of the building and trash and weeds littered the poorly maintained path.

Michael inserted the key into the lock and said a quick prayer to any being that happened to be listening to let the restroom be acceptable. He shoved the door open and frowned; apparently all of the AT&Deity lines were busy tonight.

“This is disgusting,” Maria complained as she leaned around him to look into the restroom’s dingy interior. “I need a shower just from looking at it.”

“Maria – “

“Can’t you use your secret powers to make it…” She waved one hand to indicate the grungy floor and walls. The toilet at least looked like it had been cleaned recently but it was still disgusting.

“They’re not secret powers and I’m not Mr. Clean.” He shrugged. “I can blow it up if you want,” he offered, joking.

“I want you to know if this trip wasn’t so important to you I wouldn’t be doing this,” she muttered, pushing past him and shutting the door in his face.

Michael smirked and paced nearby watching for anything or anyone that might approach from either side of the building.

“Okay, on the way home we do not stop here; I don’t care if my bladder is seconds away from bursting.”

He frowned at her when she wrapped a paper towel around one end of the wrench and tugged on it. “What’re you doin’?”

“You touched that doorknob.” She rolled her eyes when he just stared at her, uncomprehending. “Go wash your hands.”

“What am I, five?”

Maria ignored his grumbling and waited while he washed his hands, carefully holding the wrench away from her body. When he was finished he took the wrench from her and they walked back to the front of the station.

“I’ll take the key in; you go wait in the car.”

Maria started to argue with him but changed her mind; she wasn’t going to be paying for anything at this sad excuse for a convenience store anyway so there was no reason to go in. She sat on the hood of the car when he handed the key to the clerk and walked back to the wall where the refrigerated cases stood.

She braced the heels of her shoes on the bumper and leaned back on her hands as her gaze scanned the night sky. Millions of stars dotted the cloudless sky and she wondered if Michael spent much time watching the stars and wondering where he came from.

Michael stepped outside and shoved his change in his pocket before crossing the parking lot, ready to get back on the road. His steps slowed as he approached the car and he felt his pulse speed up when she shifted and her jacket slid several inches down her arms. The heavier material pulled at the shirt she wore, exposing part of her shoulder to his hungry gaze.

He placed his drink on top of the car and moved up next to her, bracing his right hand on the hood next to her hip as he leaned down to brush his lips against the bare skin of her shoulder.

Maria shivered when his lips ghosted over her skin and shifted to give him better access. He growled low in his throat when she turned towards him and her hands settled at his waist. Her left hand slid under his shirt at the same time her right hand curled around the nape of his neck. With just the slightest bit of pressure she redirected his attention and took control of the kiss.

Michael hadn’t expected her to take the lead but he quickly got with the program and let his hands do some wandering of their own. Her soft skin was such a contrast to the rougher skin of his palm and when his fingertips brushed against the edge of her bra his heart started to pound. His fingers paused for the space of a few seconds before his overloaded senses registered the fact that Maria was pressing up against him, urging him to continue.

The realization that she wanted him to take their make-out session up a step was all the encouragement he needed. He took control of the kiss, deepening it as he finally dared to move into previously uncharted territory.

“Hey, you kids wanna move it along?”

The voice was completely out of place and didn’t belong anywhere in a moment Michael felt like he had been waiting for his entire life. The bright beam of light that hit him right in the eyes as soon as he turned his head startled him, but when an unfamiliar hand landed on his left shoulder his right hand flexed in anticipation of a fight.

Maria had barely had time to take into account the fact that someone had interrupted them when she felt Michael tense up. She saw the cop reach out and place a hand on his shoulder at the same moment that his hand flexed against her hip. She knew with the light practically blinding him he couldn’t see who had ruined the moment and she quickly grabbed his wrist, tightening her hand around it in warning.

“We were just about to leave, Officer,” Maria spoke up.

“Um-hmm.” He didn’t sound convinced.

Michael blinked when the light was suddenly lowered and he was forced to rely on Maria’s judgment since all he could see were the spots dancing in front of his eyes. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand, trusting her to let him know if they were in danger or being threatened in any way.

“Don’t let me catch you loitering around here when I get back,” the cop warned as he walked towards the convenience store.

“I can’t stand cops like that,” Maria huffed in annoyance. “Give ‘em a gun and a badge and they think they’ve got a right to hassle everybody.” She slid down off of the hood to stand in front of Michael. “You okay?” she asked, wondering at his silence.

“I’m fine.” His gaze dropped down to her hand where it was still wrapped around his wrist and he shook his head.

Maria watched his eyes and when he glanced back at the convenience store she knew where his thoughts were. “Michael, you didn’t do anything and he doesn’t suspect anything.”

“No, I guess not.” But he couldn’t help wondering if he would’ve caught himself in time if she hadn’t stopped him.

“Hey, let’s get back on the road,” she suggested, nudging him. “And you can tell me how you got that scar under your ribs.”

Michael jumped back when her fingertips brushed against the old scar unexpectedly, her touch on his bare skin effectively distracting him. “I’ll drive,” he muttered, pulling her key ring out of his pocket.

Maria just rolled her eyes and walked around to the passengers’ side. She had forgotten that he still had her keys because he had taken them when she had first arrived at his house and she had been using the spare she kept for emergencies. “Seriously, Michael, tell me how you got the scar,” she insisted when he pulled back out onto the highway.

“I got it in a dirt bike accident when I was fourteen. Colt and Yancey bought a couple of ‘em when they were in high school and they’d take ‘em out in the desert on the weekends and spend the whole day out there ridin’ and goofin’ off. I was allowed to go with ‘em but I wasn’t allowed to ride the bikes.”

“Why do I have a feeling that it didn’t take long before you disregarded that rule?”

Michael laughed quietly. “Probably because you’re getting to know me pretty well. It happened on a weekend when the whole family was together; Shadow and me decided to sneak off while everyone was occupied with lunch and we took the bikes out for a very short, very painful ride. Neither one of us knew what we were doing so we ended up crashin’ into each other, messin’ the bikes up, and earnin’ a few interesting scars.”

Maria winced. That didn’t sound like a fun story; he must have been injured pretty seriously to have such a scar. Had his parents taken him to the hospital? Was it even safe for them to go to one? She didn’t know, but considering his alien status she could only imagine that it wouldn’t have been safe to do that. “How badly were you guys hurt?”

Michael hurried to answer when he heard her worried tone. “Not that bad, although it hurt like hell at the time. Shadow broke his collarbone and I got cut up pretty good when my side collided with the other bike, which is where I got the scar.”

Hmmm. Maria would be willing to bet her entire savings account that Michael’s mother had thrown a fit and she had probably kept him under close surveillance after that. His mother had probably been a major mother hen while he was injured. “How much trouble did you get into?”

“I was grounded for a month and our parents made us work all summer to earn the money to pay for the repairs to the bikes.”

“I have a feeling that didn’t stop you from learning to ride,” Maria commented sarcastically.

Michael’s smirk returned in full force at her remark. Yeah, as if he would stop doing something he really liked to do because someone told him he couldn’t do it. He loved his mother, but she was way too protective of him. “Huh-uh, all that did was make me wanna do it again. I think Dad understood because he talked Mom into letting Colt and Yancey teach me how to ride. I wanna get a motorcycle but I’ve got a feelin’ Mom’s gonna have a fit if I ever get my hands on one.”

“I can imagine.”

Michael turned his head to glance at Maria when she shifted around restlessly. “You okay?”

She groaned. She could easily eat an entire pie right now and she was going to get cranky if she didn’t get something to eat soon. “I just really wanted something to snack on.”

“You’re a bottomless pit,” he mumbled. “There’s some stuff in my bag, but I doubt there’s any chocolate left.” He shook his head when she reached into the back and pulled his bag between the seats, settling it in her lap as she unzipped it. “Does your mom know how much junk food you put away when she’s not around?” He blinked when she turned the overhead light on.

“Does yours?” Maria countered, eyebrows lifting as she counted eight of the crème-filled sponge cakes he favored. She shoved a pair of jeans to one side and ran her hand over the bottom of the bag, hoping to find a few chocolates that had been overlooked. “Look, I love my mom and I appreciate her concern for my health, but I can’t survive without chocolate and my other junk food.”

“So, your mom’s a health food freak too?”

“God, yes!” Maria rolled her eyes. “She makes me eat all this healthy food at home and then she makes all these absolutely decadent pies and cakes that she won’t let me eat. It’s completely unfair.”

“Then why make ‘em?” he asked, bewildered.

“Because she sells them to the restaurants in town. Money’s tight, y’know? And it’s not like my father ever sent money to help pay for education or other little useful things, like, I don’t know… FOOD AND CLOTHES!” Her angry voice rose on the last few words, momentarily showing just how hurt she was that her father hadn’t even helped to pay for things like the basic necessities, like any responsible parent would do.

Michael grimaced. God, that must really be a sore subject for Maria; knowing that her father didn’t even care for her enough to help care for her financially, that he had walked away and turned his back on his role as her father. He wisely decided to redirect the conversation, to pull Maria back from the dark, depressed mood she was going to slip into if he asked more about her absent and uninvolved father. “Uh-huh, including the one you work for?”

Maria glanced up from her search when he reached into the bag and removed one of the cakes. “What is your point?”

“My point is that I doubt you’re suffering from a lack of junk food.”

She couldn’t decide whether or not she had just been insulted. “Did you just call me fat?”

“What?” Michael glanced at her. “What’re you talkin’ about?” How on earth had she made that leap? Had he ever insinuated that she was fat? No! All he was saying was that she wasn’t suffering from a lack of accessibility to junk food. He rolled his eyes. Women! A guy says one word about food and they immediately focus on some weird equation only they knew about. Somehow food equaled weight, which then equaled fat, and bam! A fight was suddenly in play and the guy had no idea what he had said wrong!

“You just said I’m probably not suffering from a lack of junk food.” She stared at him as he used his left knee to keep the steering wheel in place while he opened the wrapper and shook Tabasco sauce into it before taking a bite of the cake. “Do you have any idea how disgusting that is?”

“First, I wasn’t callin’ you fat, I was simply stating the obvious; you like junk food and you work in a place where it’s easily accessible. And second,” he sprinkled more hot sauce on the cake and held it out in her direction. “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.” He waved it under her nose. “Go ahead, I dare you.”

“You’re daring me?”

“Wimp.”

“Wimp?” she repeated incredulously. She was driving through the desert, practically in the middle of the night, to chase a UFO sighting in some ancient ruins with an alien, and he was calling her a wimp? Well, she’d just show him how wrong he was! She snatched the cake from his fingers and took a big bite out of it. The moment the contrasting flavors assaulted her taste buds she regretted her impulsive decision to call his bluff.

Michael took the last of the cake from her, certain she wouldn’t be interested in taking another bite. Judging from her expression he wasn’t in any danger of having to fight with her over his favored snack.

“That is disgusting,” she fussed as she reached for the soda in the cup holder.

“You don’t wanna – “

“Maybe you can keep your suggestions to yourself for a while.” She took a long drink from the can and nearly choked when it burned a trail of fire along her esophagus. It wasn’t until she placed the can back in the cup holder that she realized she hadn’t switched their drinks when they had changed places so Michael could drive, and she had just taken a drink of his soda.

Michael smirked as he twisted the cap off of the drink in his hand and held it out to her. “Here, take a drink of this.” He shook his head when she glared at him. “It’s the one I just bought; I haven’t mixed anything in it yet.”

She debated her options and finally just accepted the bottle he was offering. “How can you drink soda with hot sauce in it?” she asked once the fire in her throat had been put out.

“The same way you drink it without, I guess.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like we’ll ever have to worry about fighting over drinks or snacks.”

“Must be a relief for you,” Michael teased as he reached out to run his fingers through her hair, playing with it.

Maria slapped his hand away and turned off the overhead light before leaning back in her seat to stare out through her window. “I hope you enjoyed yourself back at the gas station because if you’re gonna keep insinuating that I’m overweight then you went about as far as you’re gonna go at that last stop.” Yeah, who was she kidding?

“Uh-huh,” he said, unconvinced. “I might believe that threat if you hadn’t been just as into it as I was.”

“You sound…” She searched for the right word. “Surprised.”

“I guess maybe on some level I am.” He shrugged. “I’ve never… well, y’know…” He cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. “It’s not like I’ve ever been in a position where the girl really knew anything about me, and since I know that I’m not biologically human despite appearances…” Crap, he was not explaining this well!

“Meaning you’ve never had sex because you don’t know what might happen.” Maria turned to lean back against the door to look at him. She wondered what thoughts must have crossed his mind while he was growing up. Had he thought that he’d be alone for the rest of his life, worried that it was too dangerous for him to be with a human girl? That must have been so depressing for him; she had to ease his mind on that subject. “You’re alien, you’ve probably got some biological differences, and while you’re probably not gonna admit it at this point you’ve never trusted anyone enough to get that far.”

“Well, obviously trust is an issue,” he snapped. “Since I have no way of knowin’ how havin’ sex would affect me or you. What if we’re not… compatible? We have no way of knowin’ what could happen until we actually do it; that’s a pretty big risk to take and…” He glanced at her when she chuckled. “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just that you went from talking about sex with a hypothetical girl to suddenly talking about us having sex and how it could potentially affect us. I’m no biology major or anything, but generally there has to be an exchange of bodily fluids for anything to be transmitted – ”

“I don’t have any alien STD’s,” he snarled defensively.

God, he could be so… so, angry and defensive sometimes! She wasn’t going to fall into the same trap and engage in a fight over such an important matter. “I wasn’t implying that you do. What I’m saying is nothing weird happened when we kissed; obviously having sex is more serious and there are risks involved, but that’s why condoms were invented.” She reached for his right hand and massaged the pressure points when she felt the tension in him. “When we reach that point in our relationship we’ll take the necessary precautions to protect both of us.”

“Why aren’t you uncomfortable talkin’ about this?” Michael asked. Sometimes he just didn’t get her, she was so friggin’ strange. But, on the other hand, that strangeness was exactly what attracted him; she was unique. He felt like that most of the time and he was happy to have found someone who could match him in originality. And he liked that he didn’t have all the answers when it came to her. Mysteries were much more intriguing and fascinating to him.

“Should I be?”

Maria’s question brought him back to reality. “Most girls wouldn’t be comfortable with this discussion.”

Uh-oh, time to remind Michael who he was with. Maria didn’t consider herself as being one of those so-called normal girls. Maybe it was due to her parents, her education, or her genes, but she had always known that she wasn’t the kind of girl who could be put in a mould. “I’m not most girls, and you’ve met my mother.”

“So?” What did that have to do with anything?

“Remember me telling you that she’s involved in all kinds of causes and she used to take me with her all the time?” She went on when he nodded. “There is no subject that my mom or her friends feel is taboo and they think it’s important for any woman to be well-informed so she can make the best choices for herself. Sex is natural and healthy – and it’s also a lot of fun – but at the same time people need to realize that it isn’t something that should be treated lightly. It’s a big responsibility and you have to take your health as well as your partner’s health into account. My mom and her friends have been very helpful and informative; they never encouraged me to run out and have sex, but they made sure I was armed with as much information as possible so that when the time comes I’ll know what to do and how to do it. How many girls do you know who can say they’ve been raised with the understanding that sex is fun, who actually knows pretty much everything there is to know, and who can discuss it freely at home, all while still being a virgin?”

She was a virgin too… but not a passive one! When the time presented itself she wasn’t going to just passively wait for him to do what he wanted to do, she was going to be an active participant. He had a feeling she was going to be teaching him a thing or two about sex when their relationship moved to that level. Feeling hot all of the sudden, he turned the heat off and rolled his window down a couple of inches to help him cool off. “So, you spent a lot of time with your mom and her friends when you were growin’ up?” he asked, hoping to change the subject.

Maria smiled when he shifted in his seat, uncomfortable for a completely different reason now. “Um-hmm. Sit-ins, protests, rallies… she pretty much does it all; I don’t even know how many times she’s been arrested or fined for participating in her causes.”

When she mentioned protests he remembered what his grandfather had told him. How weird, that in a way, he had known Maria before she was even born. “Y’know, that reminds me; my grandfather met your mom when she was pregnant with you. Yeah, he said that he met her when she was protesting the government’s intentions to drill for oil on a Rez up in Oklahoma.”

Maria laughed. Yeah, her mother wouldn’t let her pregnancy stop her from protesting. In fact, she probably thought that she was training her unborn child that way. “That sounds like my mom. We spent a summer in San Francisco six or seven years ago and participated in one of the gay pride parades. One of my mom’s best friends is an English woman who lives out there with her partner and they called to see if she’d be interested in being involved with the parade so we stayed there for most of the summer. Have you ever been to San Francisco?”

“Huh-uh.”

“Oh, we’ve gotta go sometime; you’d love it, Michael. The city just has this great atmosphere and it’s such an amazing place for artists of any kind. My mom’s friend, the English one, she’s an architect and her partner’s an interior designer. Marion, that’s her name, she pays a fortune to have this ice cream imported from where she’s from; it’s really good but you can’t get it here…” Maria’s eyes widened as a thought suddenly occurred to her. “Oh, my God! Magnum… ice cream… the gay pride parade!” She tugged on his hand excitedly. “That’s it!”

Michael whipped his head around to look at her at the same time his left hand jerked the steering wheel, shocked that she was associating his nickname with anything gay. “What the hell are you talkin’ about?” he demanded as he straightened the car up.

“Magnum, it’s an ice cream! It’s the kind that Marion has imported from back home and the first time I had it was when we were there for the parade!”

“That’s not where the nickname came from,” he insisted. No way was he going to let her link his nickname with a gay parade. He was going to let her know that in no uncertain terms. Huh-uh, he was the perfect example of the all-American, heterosexual male!

Maria snickered at his offended tone. “So, no association whatsoever with an ice cream brand?”

“None.”

“Okay, I’ll keep working on it then. Speaking of names, where’d your last name come from? Guerin isn’t a Native American name.”

“No, it’s not. I looked it up once to see if it had any significance.” He shrugged as if he didn’t care one way or the other. “According to the Internet, the origin could be French, Irish, or Welsh and it means to watch or to guard, but I don’t think the people at social services really chose it for its meaning. I think it was probably just the next name on the list to give the next kid who came in without a name.”

“And your first name?”

“My mom gave me my first name; she said it’s the name of some patron saint for warriors and soldiers.”

“That’s interesting,” Maria mused.

“Why’s that interesting?”

“Both your first and last names are related to guarding or protecting; I think your name suits you.” She paused, thinking. “So, if you never took your parents’ last name, does that mean you weren’t officially adopted?”

“My parents never pushed for it.” He shrugged. “They were content with simply getting custody of me at that time. My mom was worried that if they petitioned the court for legal adoption they would’ve been denied; my parents weren’t well-off at that point, they were struggling to pay the bills and tryin’ to get the ranch operational, Maggie was sick a lot because of her asthma, and it’s doubtful that they would’ve allowed a Native American couple to adopt a White kid anyway. Plus Social Services would’ve had to carry out an investigation and if they looked too deep into my past they’d discover that I’d never been sick a day in my life and it might’ve thrown up a red flag and they would’ve started to run tests and realized I’m not human.” He glanced at the green sign by the highway, the white, reflective letters and numbers letting travelers know they were still forty miles from Aztec. “My parents have always told me that they never needed a piece of paper from anyone tellin’ them that I was their son, they say I was theirs from the first moment I entered their lives. River Dog says that if I wasn’t supposed to have been their son the Spirits wouldn’t have guided him to me that day in the desert.”

“What do you think?”

“I think I got lucky.”

Talking with Maria about his parents, thinking about Maria’s pain and anger at her father’s abandonment, Michael realized more than ever just how lucky he had been to have been found by River Dog, to have been raised by his family, and most of all, to be loved and wanted. If only he had all of his answers, his life would be perfect. Maybe this trip would provide the elusive answers he had been searching for so long.

He turned his head to look at her. Maria DeLuca was one hell of a girl. He let his thoughts wander back to their ‘name game’ and he mused over several choices before settling on one. Maria Desdemona DeLuca? Hmm, it was weird. He shrugged and tried it anyway.

“Desdemona?” he asked.

Maria threw a surprised glance at him, not understanding his question. “What?”

“Desdemona – is that your middle name?”

Maria burst out laughing. Where on earth had he found that atrocious name? She shook her head, letting him know that it wasn’t her middle name. She was so busy laughing that she didn’t notice the relieved expression on his face.

Whew! Michael really didn’t want his girlfriend to have a middle name like Desdemona!

A comfortable silence fell over them as they each became lost in their own thoughts; the only sound in the car was the music playing quietly in the background.

Flamehair – Mothers generally are the ones who obsess over healthy food. Michael and Maria’s mothers are the same here.

April – Michael being Mr. Clean… can anyone picture it?


Part 56

Michael glanced at Maria when she started singing along with the song on the radio, her head leaning back against the headrest and her eyes closed. He had learned so much about her since his discussion with Eddie, he thought, recalling the conversation where the other man had told him how important it was to find things they had in common. He loved that he never knew what to expect from her; from what she was going to wear, to what she was going to say next, or what her crazy brain was going to come up with next. He knew life would never be dull or boring with her around. She challenged him, she didn’t back down from him or anyone else, she understood him so well that at times it was almost uncomfortable, she hadn’t been scared off by his bad attitude or his bad moods, and she wasn’t afraid to make love with him even though he was an alien.

His mind wandered back to the night she had come over to his house for dinner so his parents could meet her and his mother could question her. She had handled it well despite the fact that his mother had probably asked some pretty embarrassing questions. Maria had never really elaborated on their conversation and he had never asked about it, but he was sure it had been uncomfortable for her.

“Hey, Maria?”

She stopped singing and turned her head to look at him. “Um-hmm.”

“You remember comin’ out to my house for dinner?”

“For your mom’s interrogation? Sure, it’d be kinda hard to forget that.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be your turn one of these days.”

“Huh?” Wait… what? He had to meet her mother officially? What for? He already knew Amy.

“Well, my mom’s eventually gonna wanna spend some time with you; get to know you better, demand an explanation about your plans for the future, threaten to castrate you if you even so much as think of having sex with her baby girl… stuff like that.” Her smile was positively evil and it didn’t help that her features were lit by the green lights from the dashboard.

“Well, there’s somethin’ to look forward to,” he grumbled.

“What about that night?”

Maria’s question brought him back to what he wanted to ask her. “You remember me askin’ you to pose for me?”

“Yeah, I told my mom about that. She’s certain that asking me to pose for you is just a way to get me out of my clothes.” She smirked when he stared at her for several long seconds. “I assured her that wasn’t the case,” she said, reaching out to grasp his chin and turn his head so he was facing the windshield once more. “I’m not sure she believed me, but I didn’t tell her so she could give me her permission.”

“You tell her everything?”

“I tell her everything, but I don’t include all the details. My mom and I have a good relationship and I don’t ever want to jeopardize that so I try to be as honest as possible with her about things.”

“Uh-huh.” He reached up to scratch his eyebrow with his thumb. “So, have you given it any consideration? Lettin’ me photograph you?”

Maria smiled at his question. When he had originally asked her to pose for him she hadn’t committed to anything beyond considering it and she had never gotten back to him with an answer. At the time she hadn’t been certain that he was really serious about it, but she could hear the sincerity in his voice as he asked once more. “Yeah, I’ve thought about it.”

“And?” Why was she draggin’ this out? he wondered, exasperated. It was a simple question, which required a simple answer… yes or no.

Maria smiled at his impatient tone; patience just wasn’t one of Michael’s virtues. “Yes, I’ll pose for you. Just remember, you promised it wouldn’t be anything indecent,” she said, poking his shoulder.

“It’ll be perfectly respectable,” he promised. “Hey, hand me the notebook in my bag.”

“Please,” Maria reminded him as she pulled the requested item out and handed it to him.

“Please what?” he asked, taking it and turning on the overhead light. “You don’t gotta stop again do you?”

Maria shook her head. Typical. He didn’t get it. Maybe the guy was lacking that little gene that carried things like polite behavior. Then again, most human guys seemed to be lacking that gene too. Maybe it was just a guy thing and something that Michael, an alien, had in common with them. Some things were apparently universal. “Nevermind.”

“If you need to stop let me know soon because we’re almost at the ruins and once we get there you’ve only got two options… and neither of them is an actual restroom.” He laughed at the look of disgust on her face before dividing his attention between reading his notes and watching the road ahead.

Maria sat up straighter and rolled the window down to better see the side of the road. “Oh, my God! There’s snow on the ground!”

Michael rolled his eyes. “You’ve never seen snow before?”

Maria hesitated before answering. “Well, yeah, but… don’t you think it’s cool?” She felt bad for lying to him; she had never really seen snow apart from TV or in pictures. She didn’t want to look like a provincial to him. She had traveled with her mother, had seen incredible landscapes, lived moments that were simply out of this world, but she had just never seen actual snow.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” he muttered, squinting to see through the windshield. He slowed the car as he closely watched the road, looking for the turn-off he had indicated in his notes.

“What’re we doing?”

“We’re takin’ a back way in so we won’t be seen goin’ into the ruins, remember?”

Nearly half an hour later they pulled into a trailer park and drove along the small streets, parking at the far end of the residential area. Maria looked around with interest; this trailer park was maintained much better than the one in Roswell. “Why’re we parking back here?”

“See that fence over there?” He nodded at a tall, chain-link fence that bordered one side of the trailer park. “The ruins are on the other side.”

“How far do you think we’ll need to hike?”

Michael looked up from the GPS unit he was programming and shrugged. “About a mile, maybe a mile and a half. You’re okay with that, right?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” she answered, opening her door when he climbed out on his side. Oh, yeah, she just loved hiking in the middle of nowhere. She had nearly failed P.E. her sophomore year for a reason!

He took two heavy duty flashlights out of his bag and offered one to her. “Don’t turn it on yet; wait until we reach the ruins.”

They locked the doors and crept along the fence, Michael tugging on the fence every few feet. When he found a section that had been cut he pulled it away from the pole and nodded in satisfaction.

“Isn’t it kinda deserted around here?” Maria asked, her gaze scanning over the mostly darkened trailers. “There aren’t very many lights on.”

“No,” Michael said absently as he lifted the section of fence and motioned for her to climb through. “It’s Friday night; most people are probably at the local high school football game.”

“Why don’t you go out for any sports, Michael?” With his physique he could be a football player, a soccer player, or practice any kind of sport. She would bet that coaches at his high school had tried to get him to join the teams they coached.

He climbed through the opening behind her and carefully lowered the section back into place so no one would notice that it was out of place. “Not really my thing,” he answered absently. “Why?”

“I was just wondering. Your dad and I were talking about it last weekend.” She shrugged. “He said you’re a lot more athletic than he ever was.”

“Yeah, Dad’s not really… athletic. He competes at some of the local rodeos and he’s really good at that, but put a football or a baseball in his hands and it’s a completely different story.” He chuckled and led the way through the snow-dusted desert, his eyes alternating between scanning the ground in front of him and watching the GPS in his right hand.

“I’m not that great at sports either, apart from judo. Well, not that I was a champion or anything. My poor instructor,” she laughed, remembering the hard times she had given the man because she wasn’t that motivated or because she hadn’t succeeded in learning the moves. “What’s your dad do in the rodeo?” Maria followed along behind him, wondering how long it was going to take to hike a mile and a half. At the rate Michael was going she was going to drop dead before they ever reached the ruins.

Michael heard her breathing take on a labored quality and he deliberately slowed his pace, pausing for a few minutes under the guise of checking the unit and looking around.

“What’re you doing?” Maria asked, leaning over to catch her breath.

“Makin’ a mental map of the area. I like to remember the landmarks so we don’t run the risk of getting lost if we get chased out.”

Maria straightened up and stared at him. “Chased out? By cops?” Despite knowing that there might be security people outside of the ruins, she hadn’t considered that possibility because they were going in the back way. What would she do if she were arrested with Michael in the middle of the night? His parents would have a heart attack and Michael wouldn’t see the light of day for weeks, his mother would make sure of that. Her mother, on the other hand, would be proud that her daughter had been thrown in jail for the first time. It would be like a rite of passage in Amy’s mind, especially if Maria invented a story about wanting to explore a sacred Native American site which was being used as a tourist attraction, showing no respect for a burial site. She would defend her daughter’s right to fight for what she believed in.

He waved his free hand, dismissing her concern. “Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t happen that often and chances are good that since we’re goin’ in the back way and we’re gonna be searchin’ the East ruins no one’ll even notice we’re here. Hopefully, no one else’ll be there either.” He glanced at Maria, trying to read her expression. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She controlled the smile that wanted to surface when she heard his gruff declaration. “I have no doubts about that.”

“Yeah… well, anyway, c’mon, we’ve gotta get goin’.”

Maria smiled and picked up the pace, staying close behind him as they covered a lot of distance in a reasonably short amount of time. When they finally reached the ruins, she paused in awe, her eyes tracing over the moonlit structures. Snow dusted the stones and covered the ground in large patches and the wind blew through the ruins, whistling between the openings in the different buildings.

“Michael, this is amazing,” she breathed, turning her head to look at him. His attention was focused on the small navigational unit he held as he slowly shifted and glanced around the area. She moved closer to him and leaned against his shoulder as she tried to see what he was doing.

“We need to go north,” he said, glancing at her. “The sites had the latitude and longitude of the location of the sighting and other than a couple of degrees difference they all pinpointed the same general area.” He motioned for her to follow him as he took off towards some of the taller buildings, his long stride quickly taking him across the uneven ground.

She hurried to follow him, ducking through a doorway right behind him and pausing to turn around and look at it. The door barely reached five feet in height but the interior was large and roomy. She switched her flashlight on and swept the beam over the walls, trying to watch Michael and study her surroundings at the same time. She went after him when he moved to another room, stopping to look at bits and pieces of pottery shards left untouched on the ground.

There was an atmosphere surrounding the ruins, a feeling that permeated the very air that hadn’t been disturbed by humans in possibly decades. It was so powerful that she had to pause to catch her breath. Something strange was going on here, she could feel it. She stopped walking and listened to the silence. There wasn’t a sound, except for Michael’s footsteps and the wind blowing through the rooms, but she felt the strangest sensation, as if her nerves were being tickled by feathers. It wasn’t unpleasant or scary, it was just an odd feeling. If there really were spirits there, they weren’t dangerous or angry ones. She wondered about the people who had lived there, curious about where they had gone and why they had left their home. It almost felt like the essence of the people had remained behind and she aimed the flashlight at the place where she had last seen Michael. He had moved again while she was looking around and she hurried to catch up with him. She found him a few minutes later, after passing through multiple rooms.

“Michael?”

“Um-hmm…” His tone was distracted as he moved around erratically, running his hands over the crumbling walls.

“Is there a burial ground here?” Maria asked, still caught up in the vibrations she could feel emanating from the room.

“Uh, if I remember correctly they buried their dead inside the walls and floors of these buildings.”

Maria was slightly troubled by Michael’s answer. Was that what she was feeling, dead people trying to communicate with her? She hadn’t been especially interested in that branch of the paranormal realm but she had to admit that the ruins gave off powerful vibes. It was so tangible that it made her light-headed. “Really?”

Her intrigued tone caught his attention and he lowered the GPS navigator to look at her. “That doesn’t creep you out?”

“No, it probably explains the vibes I’ve been picking up since we entered the ruins.”

“The vibes?” he mocked. “From who? The people buried here?” He snorted derisively and went back to checking the area. He stopped after a few minutes, pretending to study something. “Hey, Maria, check this out.”

“What is it?”

He held the flashlight up to his chin and whirled around to face her. “I see dead people,” he whispered hoarsely.

She shoved his shoulder, angry that he was making fun of her. “You’re an alien, are you seriously telling me that you haven’t felt anything weird since we’ve been here?” She shook her head in annoyance. “People have died here, are buried here, and you can’t pick up on any of it?” Why was he making fun of her? Had she called him a liar when he had told her about being an alien? She had been remarkably open-minded when he had revealed that little earth-shattering truth, so why couldn’t he of all people, believe in spirits or ghosts? Or, to put it more simply, why couldn’t he believe in her and what she was feeling about this place?

Michael turned to look closely at Maria. Crap, she was being serious! She really believed that there were spirits in the ruins. Could she be influenced by the isolation of the place? Or, was she really feeling vibes from the place, as she had suggested? He forced himself to stand still in the center of the room, arms relaxed at his sides as he opened his mind up to his surroundings. He had been so focused on the sighting that he had closed his senses off to anything else. He brought his breathing under control and closed his eyes, leaving himself open to the vibes Maria had described. After a few minutes he shook himself and looked at her again. “Okay, yes, I can pick up on the vibes.”

“Really? Like what?”

He frowned as he searched for the words. “Fear, anger, loneliness… this room is at the center of the East ruins.” He scanned the floor, sweeping the light over it. “There’s a room that was hidden below the floor, where they hid the children when they were in danger or threatened.” He shook his head. “There’s no way to check the hiding place out though because it was filled in years ago.”

“Oh, my God, you can sense all that?” Maria was so impressed with Michael’s gifts. How did he do that? Within a few seconds he had been able to focus his energy on the ruins, and he had picked up on the feelings of the people who had lived there on such a deep level. It was amazing, and she looked at him with new respect.

Michael couldn’t help but feel flattered by the awe in Maria’s expression. His family was used to his powers and they had taught him to use them, but they weren’t impressed with them because his abilities were just part of who he was. But Maria was looking at him with such admiration! This was obviously a power that she felt was out of this world. She hadn’t reacted this strongly when he had showed her his levitation and telekinetic abilities. Maybe it was because this time it involved dead people; the fact that he could establish a link with human beings who had lived hundreds of years before. “Yeah, if I concentrate hard enough sometimes I can get flashes of things that have happened.”

Maria studied his expression. “You saw something else though… what?”

“Just some scattered scenes. It looked like maybe a raid by nearby settlers. They found the hidin’ place and one of the Natives was killed trying to keep the invaders from findin’ the kids.”

Maria felt his words like a punch in the stomach. He could see things from the past? What, Michael was like a… a… God, he was like a time travel machine! His gifts allowed him to be the privileged witness to events that had happened centuries before! That was… Holy guacamole! That was an amazing power! Did he even realize what a wonderful gift he had? Wow, and you could actually see that?”

“Yeah. Sometimes I get the flashes by touchin’ things and sometimes it’s just brought on by a feelin’ or a…” he grinned, “vibe.”

Maria was amazed by his ability. She had just felt something, picked up a vibe from the ruins, but Michael could pick up on so much more than that just by concentrating or touching things. Her mind raced with the possibilities. If Michael went to Stonehenge, he could see why the monument was built. Or he could solve some of the most famous mysteries just by touching objects. If he could touch Oswald’s rifle, could he tell what had really happened that day in Dallas? Or, was Anna Anderson really the real princess Anastasia who had escaped the communists who had slaughtered the Russian imperial family in 1918? She had to stop thinking about all of the unsolved mysteries that her mind was feverishly cataloguing and come back down to earth. “You seemed to space out there for a minute or two, is that normal?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, it’s just part of the process I guess.” He watched her as she moved around the room, scanning the floor, and wondered how she’d had such strong feelings about the place; he was an alien and he hadn’t felt anything until he had made himself focus and he had gotten the flash. “Did you really get a feelin’ about this place?” he asked curiously. “Or were you just scared?”

“Are you kidding? Michael, this place is absolutely breathtaking, and I’m with my very own Spaceboy who just happens to have…” she smiled teasingly, “secret powers and he can protect me, so I’m not afraid of anything. I just felt something when we were walking around, like something strange or bad had happened here.” She motioned to the GPS navigator he held, realizing that he hadn’t made his big discovery yet. “You haven’t found anything yet?”

“Just gotta find the right place. They must’ve been off by a few degrees on the sites.” He lifted his right hand and the beam from the flashlight danced across the walls. “I’m gonna go outside and see if maybe I can pick something up out there.”

“Okay. You want me to give you a few minutes?”

Michael quickly covered up his surprise and nodded. “Give me five minutes?” He pointed at the doorway behind him. “I’m just gonna go through here; it leads straight outside.” He walked out of the room when she motioned for him to go on, hurrying out into the cold night air.

He leaned up against a wall staring at the stars above, lost in thought. As an alien he had always been conscious of his abilities, whether it was telekinesis, psychogenesis, or his ability to see the past and/or future by touching things or being affected by his surroundings. He had always associated his powers with being an alien. He knew, of course, that being raised by Native Americans could have also influenced him; they were a very spiritual people, believing in spirits and the paranormal. But he had never believed that White people had such gifts. From everything he had seen on TV or the Internet people who claimed to have them used their so-called ‘gifts’ to exploit others, taking advantage of their misery or misfortune, using it to get money, or to spend their fifteen minutes of fame in front of a camera.

But that wasn’t the case with Maria; she had felt something as soon as they had entered the ruins while his heightened senses hadn’t picked up on anything. Was it a natural talent that had allowed her to sense things or had it simply been an unexpected, accidental occurrence? He would have to discuss it with her later, he decided. He wouldn’t be surprised to find out she had a way with the spiritual world. Not just because she had been raised by a hippie who was open to all kinds of New Age stuff, but because of Maria herself.

He had always been a loner, never interested in girls at school who were too boring for his liking, or too selfish, too assured of their importance and their sex appeal. But he had been drawn to Maria from the moment he had first seen her, before he had ever spoken to her or even known her name. If she could pick up vibes, then chances were she could send them too. Was that what had pushed him to cross the distance separating them and taking a risk by speaking to her that day? The feeling that she was different, strange, just like him?

Now that he knew her, he could see the differences between them. Where she was loving and charming, he was a bear who on his best days ignored people and on his worst he snarled at them. Where she was open and colorful, he was closed off and dark. She was trusting and he was wary. But it was those specific differences that had made him fall for her. She was like a light in his complicated and, at times, terrifying life. Being an alien lost on Earth wasn’t easy, not even when he had the best family he could have ever hoped for. As soon as he had reached his teenage years he had started to believe that he was meant to be alone; the fact was that he had been born on another planet, that he had alien blood and DNA, and that everyone close to him could be exposed to kidnapping, torture, or they could be used to get to him.

He was too intense, too complex, too mean sometimes, and he had never expected any girl to accept him, but Maria had. She wasn’t put off by his explosive temper, she wasn’t afraid of him, and she didn’t run away or give up on him when he had fits, or episodes, as his Aunt Skye called them, when he would take off and spend hours at a time in the desert just to get away from everyone.

Maria wasn’t afraid to fight with him and she didn’t let him get away with stuff that others did just because he had an overwhelming presence and personality. He knew from what his sister, his cousins, and Eddie had told him, that he had a tendency to boss people around, to behave as if everyone was supposed to obey him and not question him, as if it was natural for people to bow in front of him, but Maria didn’t let him do that with her. She also didn’t see him as some kind of monster just because he was an alien and she didn’t expect him to cave and give in to her just to smooth things over. She was his equal.

Maggie would say that Maria was the yin to his yang. He smiled as he thought about his little sister, but before long he came back to his senses. Yes, he was intrigued by Maria because he never knew what to expect from her; what she would wear or say, how she would act, or even what she would do. She was important and things were great between them, but he had things to do, answers to find, and he couldn’t let himself get too caught up in a relationship with a girl, not even if that girl was Maria. He had to get things under control and go back to his priorities. He couldn’t risk losing his dream of finding out who he was, and why he had been dumped in the desert like garbage. He had to find himself, because if he couldn’t discover the truth about his past, how was he ever going to be able to live a happy and full life in the future?

Girlafraid – The last paragraph was a bit worrying, huh? There won’t be a break up, don’t worry. But that doesn’t mean that there won’t be problems in the immediate future.

DeDe PR – Michael got to see Maria in action, while they were searching for answers. And he ended up loving her even more than before.

April -

That's a good point. Michael definitely needs to continue exploring his past, but I hope he doesn't get to the point where he feels he needs to do that without Maria. It doesn't have to be one or the other, alien self or human self. He can have both. I hope.

Michael has always been extreme. So he will continue searching for answers. But really, do you expect Maria to be dumped for that, or to give Michael up because of his quest?

Flamehair – Thanks for reading.


Part 57

Maria looked around the interior of the room, her gaze following the beam as it swept over the walls and ceiling, amazed that something so old was still standing. It was simply fascinating how something like this had been crafted without modern-day tools or machines and she wondered where the people had gone and why they had left their home.

She turned the flashlight off for a minute, standing in the darkness and letting the silence surround her. “Rest in peace,” she whispered to the room and any of its previous occupants who might still be there. After a moment she turned the flashlight back on and made her way outside to find Michael. She had left him on his own long enough; now it was time to go see what he was up to.

“Michael?”

He turned from his contemplation of the sky when Maria joined him. “Hey.”

She nodded in response. “Do you know where to start looking out here?” She looked out at the ruins that surrounded them, extending as far as she could see on three sides.

“Yeah, we’ll look over in that direction,” he answered, pointing to the south. “I’m gonna try addin’ a few degrees to the coordinates and see what happens.” He shrugged. “Might make a difference, might not.”

Maria followed him as he walked to a part of the ruins that were crumbling, noticing that the bricks and mortar seemed recently displaced. She stopped when he stopped and her gaze followed him when he started to pace. He hadn’t found anything and she could see that he was starting to get frustrated with the situation. She thought back to conversations with his sister and mother, remembering their concern for his well-being when the sightings turned out to be nothing more than another disappointing road trip.

When he stopped pacing not far from her, facing the crumbling building nearest to them for several minutes before starting to climb it, she held her breath. His feet slipped a couple of times before he was able to find a strong foothold and he scrambled up to the top, balancing his weight as he carefully walked along the wall.

Why wasn’t he sensing anything? he wondered, annoyed that he hadn’t found a single shred of evidence that there had been a sighting. How was that possible? There were too many pieces of information that had been corroborated between the different sites; eyewitness accounts, the location of the sighting… Why wasn’t he picking up on anything?

“Maybe they just got the location wrong.”

He tossed his flashlight to the ground to free his hands up for the climb back down. He looked down at Maria and shook his head. “It doesn’t make any sense. I know I wrote the coordinates down correctly.” He started to climb back down. “Maybe there’s something wrong with the GPS unit.” He jumped down onto a wide, flat surface that was several feet off of the ground. He bent down to place his hand flat on the rough surface, intending to use it to push himself away from the wall when he jumped down. “I don’t know…”

Maria looked up when he trailed off and frowned when she realized he was crouching on top of part of the wall, unmoving. “Michael?”

Michael froze when he felt the familiar sensation that always accompanied the flashes and he was seeing the scene almost as if he had been there. There was always a muted, slightly skewed feel to the flashes, but it was easy enough to figure out what they were telling him.

Two teenage boys sat on part of the ruins, one of them typing furiously on the keyboard of a laptop while the other hovered over his shoulder.

“Hey, you think anyone’s really gonna buy this crap?”

“Are you kiddin’? You got any idea how many idiots believe in this crap?” He shook his head. “Besides, you got anything better to do in the trailer park?”

“Huh-uh. Just wonderin’ why they’re gonna believe it’s real.”

“Because I’m gonna hack the sites of a bunch of these stupid groups and post the information about the,” he made air quotes, “sighting. The key is to pass the information along on a bunch of sites, including the ones that are considered unreliable.” He laughed. “You have no idea how many morons are gonna buy into this.”

The flash faded into the background and anger surged to the surface, quickly blocking out every other emotion. This was a prank, he realized. Some little punk had been just looking for something to do because he was bored.

“Michael?”

“Let’s go,” he snarled. He jumped down and snatched his flashlight up off of the ground, angry that once again he had chased after nothing.

Maria stared after him when he stalked off, confused by his sudden change in attitude. She chased after him, following the beam of light bouncing over the uneven terrain. He was walking so fast she had to run to catch up to him. She had been warned about this side of his personality, but no one had told her how to deal with him when he was like this. Maybe because no one knew how to deal with him when he was like this, she thought.

“Michael, what’s the big hurry?” she asked as she caught up to him. “We can keep looking to see if there’s – “

“There’s nothin’ to look for.” He stopped suddenly and whirled around to face her. “I don’t need you or your damned encouragement!”

Maria took a step back, unprepared for his hateful words. She didn’t understand his anger or what had caused it, but she knew if she responded in the same manner she would never find out what had happened. “Maybe not,” she countered, her tone holding a hint of irritation, “but you do need my damned car if you wanna get back home.” She shoved him out of the way to get past him, leaving him to chase after her for once.

Michael stared after her in disbelief. What did she have to get all pissy about? He was the one who had been tricked, who had fallen for a scheme concocted by a couple of bored teenagers. He followed after her, cursing under his breath because there was nothing else he could do about her or the situation he had gotten himself into. Now he was gonna have to listen to her talk for the next six hours and she would probably try to get him to talk too. But, as she had pointed out, he needed her car unless he wanted to hitchhike back home. Yeah, and you know how well that would go over with your mother, his mind taunted.

They made it back to the car in less than half the time it had taken to hike out to the ruins and they both reached for the drivers’ side door at the same time.

“I’ll drive.”

“No way.” Maria glanced down at the keys he was pulling out of his pocket and quickly snatched them out of his hand. “You’re pissed off about something and you obviously don’t wanna talk about it, but you’re not driving while you’re like this.” She jerked the door open and slid in behind the wheel before looking back up at him. “Are we going or not?”

“Fine.” He slammed her door shut before stomping around the front of the car and getting inside. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned to glare at her when she didn’t start the car. “What?” he snapped.

“Put your seatbelt on.”

“You’re not my mother, Maria, so stop tellin’ me what to do.”

Maria clenched the steering wheel as her back teeth started to grind. She was not getting into an argument with him no matter how much he tried to provoke one. “And if we get stopped and I get a ticket because you’re not wearing the stupid thing I don’t wanna have to explain it to my mother.” She shook her head when he just slouched down further and turned his head to stare out through the windshield. “Fine,” she muttered, leaning across him to grab the strap.

Michael shifted and used his shoulder to pin the seatbelt to the door. “I told you to stop tellin’ me what to do; that includes beltin’ me into my seat like a five-year-old.”

“Then stop acting like one.” She jerked on the strap until it came loose and leaned back to pull it around his body, but his hand settled over hers before she could lock it into place.

“Leave it alone,” he snapped.

Maria bit back the automatic response that quickly came to mind when she saw the look in his dark eyes. His words and his tone were intended to piss her off, to start a fight, but his eyes held a deeply wounded expression, and she released her grip on the strap. She could feel the tension in him, could feel him pulling away and isolating himself from her, but she decided to back off and give him some time to process his thoughts before trying to talk to him again.

The next hour passed in silence as Michael continued to stare out into the darkness. She gave in to a yawn as she glanced at the sign beside the road for a truck stop with a twenty-four hour restaurant in the next town. She decided to stop and fill the tank and hopefully get her hands on a cup of decent coffee.

Michael barely moved when she took the exit indicated on the sign and pulled into the truck stop. She filled the tank and moved the car into a parking spot closer to the front of the café before looking over at him.

“I’ve gotta go in and pay for the gas and find some coffee. Why don’t you come inside with me and we can get something to eat before we go any further.”

He shrugged carelessly but got out of the car at her urging, following her inside and wandering around aimlessly while she paid for the gas. He didn’t argue when she came after him and pulled him along with her into the diner, he simply sat in the booth she picked out and stared sightlessly at the trucks pulling in and out on the other side of the window.

Maria was worried about Michael’s uncharacteristic behavior. She was used to the silent moods and the angry moods, but this was new. Something had happened at the ruins to put him in his current mood; it was almost as if a switch had been flipped because his mood before and the one he was in now were as different as night and day. When the waitress came by she ordered coffee and sandwiches but she had a feeling that he wasn’t going to eat anything.

Maria sighed and glanced around the diner, listening to various bits and pieces of the conversations that buzzed about. Most of the patrons were truck drivers but there were a few others that looked like they were probably locals. She took a small sip of coffee from the steaming mug the waitress placed in front of her and turned her attention to a conversation between a couple of locals sitting at the counter behind Michael.

“Aliens?” the first man questioned, his tone disbelieving. “You’re pullin’ my leg, Walt.”

The second man, Walt, shook his head. “Nope, I’m as serious as the day is long. Them kids went an’ put this information on that what’s-it-called, that innernet, and we had people comin’ through here like crazy last night. Ever’body wanted to see where the alien spaceship had been seen an’ they had to stop in here to get directions.”

“So, they stuck this information on a computer and people believed it?”

“People believe anything that’s on that innernet, Tom.” He shook his head again. “Even if it’s just a couple dumb kids playin’ a prank.”

Maria’s gaze moved to Michael when he shot to his feet and stalked out of the diner. All of the pieces suddenly fell into place and she realized that he must have had a flash that showed the kids who had planned the prank. And now he probably felt foolish, angry, hurt, and betrayed. She watched him as he crossed the parking lot, paying no attention to where he was going, just walking as fast as he could.

“I had your sandwiches wrapped to go,” the waitress said as she placed a sack on the table. “Your boyfriend didn’t look like he was coming back.”

She smiled at the older woman. “No, he’s had a long day and he’s tired. Do you have a hotel close by?”

“Well, we’ve got only got a couple and there is one close by, but they’re all gonna be booked for the weekend, honey. See, there’s this huge mortician’s convention in town – I know it’s completely morbid – and that’s probably why they meet out here, in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, both of the hotels are booked solid.”

A mortician’s convention? At any other time that would have been funny. “Oh. Is the next town very far away?”

“Almost an hour. The two of you look plum wore out though; we’ve got a sweet little bed and breakfast in town and I’m sure Miss Annie’ll have a room available.”

“But, the convention…?”

“Oh, no, honey, Miss Annie wouldn’t let those dreadful people anywhere near her place.” The waitress drew a small map on the back of a napkin and handed it to Maria. “Just tell her that Wanda from the Broken Spoke sent you and she’ll take care of you.”

Maria nodded. “Thank you, Wanda.” After paying the tab and leaving a sizable tip – she herself was a waitress after all, and she knew that good tips were important – she made her way outside to go after Michael.

Michael stood at the edge of the large parking lot, trying to control the panic he could feel building inside of him. Anger and hurt were battling for dominance inside of him, the emotions clawing their way to the surface to escape. In the end one of the emotions was going to break free and he desperately needed it to be anger.

What the hell had he been thinking when he had asked Maria to go with him? He had to find a way to provoke her, otherwise that other emotion that he preferred to ignore was going to get the upper hand and that couldn’t be allowed to happen.

Eddie was a guy; he understood and he always allowed Michael’s anger to take whatever form was necessary to keep that other emotion buried deep inside. He ranted and Eddie listened, he argued and Eddie argued with him, and every once in a while when verbal sparring wasn’t enough Eddie would allow himself to be goaded into a fistfight.

Well, a fight was obviously out of the question and he didn’t feel like ranting; he wanted an argument that would take his mind off of the hurt that was working itself into an unmanageable knot in his chest. He had to stay pissed off long enough to get control of that other emotion so he could shove it as far down as he possibly could.

He didn’t understand why Maria hadn’t gotten into a fight with him. It was like she was deliberately trying to sabotage his plans by denying him the fight he needed so badly. She probably thought if she kept it up long enough he’d give in and start sharing his feelings. Baiting her hadn’t worked so far, but maybe if he continued to be apathetic she’d finally get pissed off and start yelling at him.

“Michael?”

“What?” he snapped.

Maria refused to back down in the face of his anger and she bit her tongue to keep from responding the way he obviously wanted her to. “We’re gonna stay here for the night; it’s been a very long day, we’re both tired, and there’s no reason for us to push ourselves to make it back home tonight.”

He shrugged to let her know he didn’t care one way or the other as he turned his gaze back to the highway.

Be patient, Maria reminded herself. She reached up to rub his back, feeling him tense up before he jerked away from her.

“I don’t need pity from you,” he snarled. Panic flooded his system once more when the knot in his chest got tighter and he could feel it pushing itself outward.

“You think I pity you?” She shook her head, unable to believe he thought that. “Why would I – “

“I know what you’re thinkin’; dumbass alien, fallin’ for a stupid prank – “

“I don’t think that about you, Michael,” she interrupted him hastily, not wanting him to believe that she pitied him. He would never accept or appreciate pity from anyone.

God, he hoped she didn’t think that, he thought. “I don’t care. I don’t need your reassurance either.”

Maybe he didn’t want reassurance, but with the emotional turmoil he was going through, he needed help and she was willing to do whatever it took to get him out of the painful abyss he had fallen into. “What do you need from me?”

He cursed silently when her soft question went right to that knot in his chest and he could feel it moving up into his throat.

For just a moment Maria thought she had reached him, that he was going to let her in, but he managed to pull himself together once more.

“I don’t need anything from you.” The words were cold, calculated, designed to inflict hurt, and they struck their target with precision.

Okay, well, that was incredibly mean… and it hurt. She swallowed with difficulty and tried her best to keep from showing him how much he had hurt her. Now wasn’t the time to think about her and her feelings. Michael was in pain and he was reacting like an injured animal, striking out at anyone who dared to come close to him. He wasn’t acting this way because of her or anything she had done, but because of the knowledge that he had been duped, fooled, and that he had dragged them out into the middle of nowhere to chase down another useless lead, and his hopes had once more been crushed. She took a deep breath and made her mind up about her next move. “We should get to the bed and breakfast; it’s nearly midnight and I don’t wanna drag this poor woman out of bed any later than necessary.”

Crap, that was cruel even for him, Michael thought as he settled into the car, arms crossed over his chest as he stared out into the night. Well, he wouldn’t have to worry about pissing her off now; she’d probably dump his ass just as soon as they got back home. Damn it, nothing was going right today! He hadn’t wanted to hurt Maria, he just wanted her to back off and let him deal with this on his own terms.

“I got the sandwiches to go, in case you’re hungry.” She sighed when he just shrugged and rested the side of his head against the cold window. She studied the napkin in her hand for several minutes before pulling out onto the service road that led into the small town.

DeDe PR – It’s funny that some are surprised by Maria’s maturity. In the show, she showed that she could forget her drama queen personality, when the ones she loved were living tough moments. Like in ID, in Destiny, in TEOTW, in Departure, or when Liz told Maria about Future Max. Those were moments where Maria didn’t freak out. She had come a long way since the screaming girl in the pilot.

April -

I finally understand why all his relatives called him "Grumpy."

Michael showed his “grumpy” side to his family, so they know him. But it’s the first time that Maria has to deal with him when he is like that.

Flamehair -

I'm sorry for Michael but he's really acting like a jerk.

He is hurt and he reacts like a wounded animal, hurting the ones around him who want to help him.

Stracrazed -

I wanna beat up those stupid teens for pulling the prank and making Michael hurt like this.

Teenagers will always be teenagers. They like to pull pranks like this one. But Michael was really hurt by it, not only because he didn’t get the answers he was looking for, but also because the teenagers made him look like a fool for falling for it.

Maria is so amazing dealing with him hopefully she is able to get through to him. I certainly don't think she's gonna break up with him.

No, she’s not going to break up with him. But the next parts will be angsty.

Cjsl8ne – It will take some time for Michael to calm down.


Part 58

After a couple of wrong turns she found the old Victorian home that had been renovated and transformed into a bed and breakfast. “I’ll run in and see if she’s got a room available.” Another apathetic shrug met her statement and she refrained from commenting any further.

The front door opened as she stepped up on the porch and she smiled at the older woman who ushered her inside.

“C’mon in before you catch pneumonia, sweetie; its cold out tonight.”

“It is cold,” Maria agreed, wiping her feet before crossing the threshold and entering the warm house.

“Wanda called and told me to expect you.” She held her hand out. “I’m Annie by the way.”

Maria shook the woman’s wrinkled hand and introduced herself. “Yes, she was kind enough to tell me about your place. I hope it’s not too late – “

“Too late?” Annie laughed. “I’ve never been one to waste much time sleeping; I figure I’ll get all the sleep I need once I’m dead. Life’s much too precious and way too short, sweetie.” Her smile was filled with joy as she led the way to the registration area. “Now, you’ll be needing one room? Or two?”

For just the briefest moment she considered asking for two rooms just so she could take a break from Michael’s back and forth moods, weary of the constant switch between antagonism and apathy. “Just one,” she said as she accepted a pen and began to fill out the registration card. She had to avoid a fight if she wanted him to let go and let her in. No matter how much she wanted to tell him what she really thought of his current behavior.

If he had been any other guy she would’ve made him sleep in the cold car for being such a jerk. Actually, she mused, if it wasn’t for the fact that she knew he was hurting over the newest disappointment in a long line of disappointments she would’ve made him sleep in the cold car too.

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed across the sky, drawing Michael out of his contemplative mood and he shook his head as rain started to fall. “Great,” he muttered morosely, “the perfect ending to a perfect day.”

Maria paused before signing the form, glancing at the bay window behind the older woman. “Is it raining?”

The woman snorted. “Looks like that weather forecaster finally called it right.”

Well, that probably wasn’t going to improve Michael’s mood one bit, Maria thought as she signed the card and handed it over.

“Would you like me to show you the room before you go get your boyfriend?” She smiled when Maria’s surprised gaze flew to her. “Small town, sweetie.” She winked. “Wanda told me you had your young man with you.”

“Yes, well, my young man isn’t in a good mood so maybe you could show me the room and then I’ll go get him.”

“He’s a difficult one, is he?”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

“The difficult ones are the most interesting though, don’t you think? There’s nothing like a good challenge I always say. I’ve been married to mine for fifty-seven years.”

“What’s the secret?”

Annie chuckled. “Well, with mine it’s patience, lots of patience.”

“And when that runs out?”

“The trick, young lady, is having your own personal space to retreat to when it becomes necessary, and make sure you have a hobby. Being stuck together 24/7 isn’t the way to go when you’re in such an intense relationship,” the old lady assured her.

Maria pondered her words. It was good advice for a couple living together. It might even be helpful in the future because she and Michael both had very strong personalities. They were bound to clash living in close proximity. But here, tonight, they were stuck in the middle of nowhere, at night, and she had the pleasure of sharing a room with her intense boyfriend who was trying his best to goad her into a fight. Maria sighed. It was going to be a long night.

After Annie showed her the room, the bathroom at the end of the hallway, and told her that if they needed anything she shouldn’t hesitate to let her know, she left the key with Maria and retired for the night. A small accent lamp on the dresser threw soft light over the room, enhancing the warmth that radiated out from the comfortable space. The room was decorated with turn of the century furniture that was well cared for, the decorations and wall hangings depicting different nature scenes. The double doors that opened out onto the balcony were draped with burgundy panels made of a thin, wispy material that matched the curtains on the windows. The carpet was an almond color and she could tell that it was thick and would feel good under her bare feet.

A handmade quilt graced the queen-sized bed and the rain tapping out a gentle rhythm on the roof and softly hitting the windows created a relaxing soundtrack. Maria looked around in satisfaction; the room had a wonderful atmosphere and it was the perfect setting for dealing with Michael and his current mood. She glanced around once more before nodding to herself and heading out to get him, hoping that he had calmed down a little while she had been inside.

Michael looked up when Maria knocked on the window and motioned for him to open the door. He huffed in irritation and opened the door. “What now?”

“I’m not enjoying this downpour,” she said as she reached inside and unlocked the back door.

“Then stop standin’ in the rain.” He jerked forward when she elbowed him in the back of the head as she straightened up, certain that it had been intentional when she didn’t offer an apology. He scowled and rubbed the back of his head when she moved away, opening the back door and grabbing their bags before shutting it once more.

“Generally when you pay for a room you sleep inside the room, not in the car.” She dropped his bag in his lap. “It’s your choice, Michael,” she said as she started back up to the house. As soon as the car door slammed, she paused, gritting her teeth and counting to ten before turning around to see if he was still in the car like she suspected. She considered just leaving him and his stubborn self to sleep in the car, but only for a moment. Once more she reminded herself that he was hurting and leaving him alone in this condition would be reprehensible; he didn’t deserve that no matter how badly he was behaving. She turned and stalked back to the car, opening the door and staring at him while she waited for his irritated response.

“I’ve made my choice.”

“You’re not sleeping out here just so you can get sick and blame it on me.”

“I don’t get sick.”

“There’s always a first time, Michael.” She rolled her eyes when that didn’t get a response. “If you don’t get out of that car and go inside I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” he challenged. “Call my mom?”

Maria thought about that for a minute. “Maybe I will; she’d probably be happy to come out here and pick you up.” She reached for her cell phone. “You want me to call her? Or would you like to talk to her?”

Unwilling to risk having her call his mother, Michael followed her inside, throwing his bag on the bed as soon as they were in their room. He barely glanced at his surroundings as he moved around, his wary gaze locked on Maria; he didn’t know what to expect from her and most of the time that was a good thing. Tonight though, that trait was the one that he didn’t want to deal with. She moved around the room, gathering some things from her bag before setting both their bags on the floor by the closet.

“I’m gonna go take a shower before I go to bed.” She paused by the door to look at him, wishing he would just let her in, let her help him deal with this. “You should really try to eat something, Michael. Take your coat off and relax a little bit if you can. I know it’s been a long day and you don’t wanna talk about it, but it wouldn’t hurt if you could do those things before getting some sleep.” When he ignored her and turned to face the balcony doors she decided to leave him alone with his thoughts. No matter how much she wanted him to accept her help and let her shoulder some of his burden, she knew she couldn’t force him to.

Michael paced around the room as he tried in vain to think of anything other than the fears and insecurities that had finally overridden his anger and now demanded attention. They had escaped despite his best efforts to keep them contained and he didn’t know how to deal with them. Even though they were always there, hiding at the back of his mind, he had never examined them very closely.

That dark voice that whispered in his subconscious from time to time had taken on Dakota’s hateful voice over the past few years and normally he could control it, force it back into the little corner of his mind that held those fears and insecurities in check. But they had managed to escape, to slip through his desperate attempts to hold onto them, and they weren’t going to be ignored for much longer. He opened the balcony doors and stood on the threshold, close enough to feel the cold air and the mist from the rain, but far enough back to avoid getting soaked.

The knot in his chest had expanded and moved up into his throat and the lump that was lodged there felt like it was the size of a baseball. Swallowing around it was painful and he blamed his suddenly blurry vision and the stinging sensation in his eyes on the damned lump.

They didn’t want you because you weren’t worth keeping, the voice taunted. When people on earth got lost or disappeared search parties were formed, rewards were offered, pleas were made for their safe return, and families banded together to do whatever they could to bring their loved ones home. He turned his gaze to the sky, wishing the clouds blown in by the thunderstorm weren’t obscuring his view.

Were aliens really so different? Or was it that he wasn’t important enough to matter to them? Why had he been left in the middle of a hostile environment, miles from civilization, with little chance for survival? How much longer would he have survived in the desert without food and water if River Dog hadn’t found him? He hated the questions and doubts that lurked in the shadows of his subconscious and sometimes he felt guilty for searching for a biological family who didn’t want him because he knew how much it worried his family here on earth.

Even if his preferred theory was true, if he was a survivor of the ’47 crash, and everyone else on board had perished, shouldn’t someone from his planet have come looking for him? Maybe no one cared enough to notice you were missing. How many times are you gonna chase these meaningless sightings before you accept that no one’s looking for you? How much longer is it gonna take before you have to face the fact that no one wanted you?

Maria paused just inside the room, quietly closing the door and locking it behind her when she noticed Michael standing inches from the falling rain. He hadn’t taken his boots or his jacket off, changed clothes, eaten, or relaxed. Tension still surrounded him but it had taken another form; the anger was gone and in its place was… She studied him for several minutes before the word despair came to mind.

The wind changed direction and blew cold air into the room, but Michael didn’t so much as flinch. He was either completely unaware of his surroundings or he was simply beyond caring at that point, and both options were reason enough for concern.

She crossed the room and took his arm to pull him back away from the balcony, surprised when she wasn’t met with resistance or another flare-up of his temper. She hurried to pull the doors closed before turning back to him, walking him to the middle of the room and taking advantage of his acquiescent behavior to strip him of his jacket and damp shirt.

Michael followed her with his eyes as she maneuvered his limbs to her satisfaction, removing his jacket and shirt before moving to his boots. She was chastising him for something, but he couldn’t seem to focus on anything but watching her every move. He obeyed her commands to lift his feet and remained silent as she shifted back to set the boots aside. She wasn’t supposed to be fussing over him after everything he had put her through over the past couple of hours. He had been a jerk, yelled at her, tried to pick a fight, he had said mean things and he knew he had hurt her with his callous words, but here she was, worried about him and taking care of him.

Why wasn’t she trying to make him talk? He lost his train of thought when she spoke again and when he heard the concern in her voice, and saw the soft expression in her eyes, he felt his grip on his emotions begin to slip.

“You’re just determined to catch pneumonia,” she scolded as she knelt down to unlace his boots. He kicked them off at her urging and she placed them behind her to avoid tripping over them later. “That’s all I need, to take you home with a cold; your mom already has a…”

The words faded into nothing as Maria straightened up to face him and she took in his broken expression. Tears tracked silently down his cheeks, dripping off of his chin and she reached up to cradle his face in her hands. She could feel the fine tremors racing through his body but she couldn’t tell if it was a reaction to the cold, his emotions, or both. His dark eyes were so full of hurt that it was nearly painful to meet his gaze directly but she couldn’t look away.

He looked so lost, his eyes so full of agony, and she wanted so badly to take his pain away. He was suffering, doubting himself and the importance of his existence, and he needed reassurance but she could tell he wasn’t ready to talk about it, to deal with the emotions battering him from all sides. He needed a port in the storm, a safe haven to let those emotions loose, but he needed to be able to do it on his own terms.

The trembling in his body was getting worse and she could tell that he was nearing the breaking point. His emotions were so close to the surface that she could feel them humming beneath his flesh where they were touching. She dropped her right hand from his cheek and reached down to take his hand where it hung limply at his side. “C’mere,” she whispered. He was almost docile as she led him to the bed and pulled the quilt back before urging him to lie down and crawling in after him.

Michael collapsed on the far side of the bed, facing away from her as he tried to maintain control over his emotions. His grasp on them was rapidly slipping and the knot in his chest and the lump in his throat were going to explode at any moment. His throat was burning from holding everything inside and it was getting more and more difficult to breathe normally. He opened his mouth to breathe when he realized that his nose was stopped up and he cringed when he heard the strangled, choking sound that came from his throat.

Please don’t ask me to talk, he pleaded silently when he felt her settling behind him. Her arms came around him and her lips brushed against his shoulder as she whispered, assuring him that he was going to be okay, that he didn’t have to talk about it.

That was both the best and worst thing she could have said in that moment; the best because it meant she understood, and the worst because the whispered assurances combined with her soft touch proved to be too much and the last thread of his control snapped and the floodgates holding his emotions back burst open.

With every choking sound that he made, every ragged sob that was torn from the depths of his wounded soul, Maria’s heart shattered and she was unable to hold her own tears back in the face of his pain. This was what being in love was, she thought. Being so connected to another person that you felt their pain as deeply as if it were your own.

After a while he began to calm down and he eventually fell into an exhausted sleep. She rested her weight on her left elbow, placing her free hand on his shoulder and resting her chin there as she watched him. She knew instinctively that despite this setback he would be chasing after the next lead before long. Even after so many disappointments behind him and the lack of convincing evidence ahead of him, Michael’s determination to find the truth hadn’t wavered.

Her thoughts shifted to her father and she wondered why she had never looked for him. She had never even made the effort, never looked him up on the Internet or tried to locate him through old friends or family members. It didn’t take a psychologist to know she had abandonment issues that stemmed from her father’s disappearance from her life.

Despite her rants against her father’s abandonment she had never sought him out to discover the truth, to get the closure she knew she needed if she was ever going to be able to move past it. So, what was preventing her from looking for him? Was it because she was afraid that it would hurt her mother? She considered that for several moments before discarding that option. She knew her mother wouldn’t prevent her from seeking her father out if Maria ever decided to take that path. Maybe it was fear of her own disappointment that had stopped her from looking for him. What if he wasn’t the talented artist that she remembered? What if he turned out to be just another loser? What if she discovered that he had cheated on her mother and moved on with some other woman, had other children, and had forgotten all about her?

She had always hoped that he would reappear, come back into her life because she was his daughter and he still loved her. She wanted to matter, to be important enough to him that he would come back for her. That was the real reason for her reluctance to look for her father; taking that step would mean accepting that she wasn’t that important to him and she just wasn’t ready for that.

Her gaze settled on Michael’s shadowed features; his newest disappointment was still evident in the tear tracks that had dried on his cheeks, revealing the vulnerability he normally kept hidden deep beneath the surface. She admired his ability to pursue his quest, to keep searching for the answers he needed, even though it had only led to one disappointment after another.

She wondered if his presence on Earth was accidental or intentional, and if there really was a connection between him and the crash in 1947. Lightening flashed across the sky, momentarily illuminating the room and disturbing Michael’s sleep. She eased out of bed and hurried across the room to pull the curtains closed, shutting out the intermittent flashes of light.

She held one panel away from the window and studied the sky as she wondered if they would ever really know what had happened in 1947. Had his parents been killed in the crash, or had they even been on the ship in the first place? If they hadn’t been on the ship, or if they had survived the crash, why hadn’t they come back for him? What kind of civilization did he come from, that would leave one of their own stranded on an alien planet? Surely he hadn’t been left out in the desert intentionally; how could anyone do something so cruel?

It was incredible that she had met an alien when there were so many other people who actively sought out extraterrestrial forms of life and she herself had never really given it much thought. She wondered how different his planet was from this one and decided that while there must surely be differences, there had to be similarities as well because he had adapted to life here so well.

Maria dropped the panel back into place when she heard the restless movements behind her and she turned to look at Michael. He seemed to be dreaming, but if the tightness in his tensed shoulders was any indication, it wasn’t a pleasant dream. She wondered if nightmares were a common occurrence or if it was simply a reaction to everything that had happened that day.

She frowned when she realized that despite his restless movements he was still clinging to the edge of the mattress. She eased down behind him once more and reached out to run her fingers through his hair before her hand slid down to settle on his shoulder. She rubbed her hand along his arm from elbow to shoulder and back again until she felt him begin to relax.

*****

Michael began to stir when the sounds of people engaging in morning activities began to register in his muddled brain. He was comfortable where he was and would have been happy to stay in bed and sleep late, but his mother would be in to make sure he was up before long. The scent of breakfast cooking caused his stomach to growl and he realized just how hungry he was. He shifted with the intention of stretching and getting up when he realized there was an arm draped over his waist and it didn’t belong to him.

The night before came rushing back and the feeling of peace that had settled over him sometime during the night disappeared in a heartbeat, taking his appetite with it. He shifted slowly and carefully eased out from under Maria’s arm, nearly falling out of bed in the process. He wasn’t ready for her to wake up, for her to ask questions that he wasn’t ready to answer. She’s not gonna have any questions for you, taunted that voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Dakota. You can’t seriously think she’s gonna stick around after that pathetic display last night. She’ll be happy to see you go and you’re not gonna see her again once she drops you off at home. You’re not worth keeping around, and thanks to your invitation to investigate that bogus sighting she knows that now.

Michael hurried to grab a clean tee shirt out of his bag and tug it on over his head before shoving his feet into his boots and grabbing his bag. He closed the door behind him, careful to make sure that it locked, and made his way to the reception area.

“You must be Maria’s young man,” a cheerful voice called out as he approached the desk.

He didn’t know how to respond to the old woman, certain that after last night he wasn’t going to be someone Maria wanted to know any longer. “She already pay for the room?” he asked gruffly.

“No,” Annie answered, sensing that he wasn’t interested in making conversation. “Folks generally settle their bill when they check out.”

Michael reached for his wallet; paying for the room was the least he could do considering everything he had put her through in the past twenty-four hours. “I’ll take care of the bill.”

Flamehair -

great and wonderful update. the situation and the caring Maria reminded me of the episode (don't remember the name) where Michael came to Maria while it was raining.

It was Independence Day, and we wrote that part on purpose, to show that things always happen, no matter what the universe is.

Cjsl8ne – Michael will find a clue some day.

Ashleyt – Thank you. It means a lot that people can see the true essence of the show and of the characters, even in an AU fic.


Part 59

Maria glanced at Michael as she slid in behind the steering wheel, sighing when she saw his defensive posture. She had hoped that sleep would help his disposition but instead it seemed that he had only isolated himself. Arms crossed over his chest, body slouched down in his seat, and his gaze locked on something only he could see… everything about him screamed stay away!

“Did you sleep well?” she asked as she started the car.

He shrugged silently.

“Are you hungry? Do you wanna get something to eat before we get back on the road?”

He shook his head and shifted so that he was staring out through the window on his side.

Maria wondered if it was normal behavior for him to act this way after the sightings turned out to be dead ends. It wasn’t like Michael to go so long without eating and she knew it had to be directly related to the night before.

She turned the car around, heading back towards the highway. It was early enough that most fast food restaurants would still be serving breakfast so she decided to stop for something to eat when she saw one she liked.

*****

Nancy Parker leaned against the doorframe of her daughter’s bedroom, watching her as she fussed over her appearance. It was still early, barely half past nine on a Saturday morning and she knew Liz wasn’t working the weekend shift, so it was unusual for the teenager to be up and about when there was an opportunity to sleep late.

“Big plans today?”

Liz turned away from the mirror to look at her mother. “Hey, Mom. Yeah, I’m spending the day with Max; he’s got something special planned but he won’t tell me what it is.”

Nancy smiled at her daughter’s obvious anticipation of the date. She had met Max and knew he spent a lot of time sitting in the same booth at the back of the restaurant almost every night, pretending to work on his homework, and trying to watch Liz without being conspicuous about it. He was quiet and he seemed smart, responsible, and he was mature for his age, but he was still a normal seventeen-year-old boy.

It was the quiet ones you had to keep an eye on though, she mused. Liz was the quiet type as well and if it weren’t for Maria she would probably spend the majority of her time with her nose buried in a book. She frowned as it occurred to her that she hadn’t seen the excitable blonde around very much lately.

“Where’s Maria?” she asked curiously. “You have a big date this afternoon and she’s not here to help you get ready?”

Liz swallowed hard as she avoided her mother’s probing gaze. Of all days for her mom to notice Maria’s absence, why did it have to be today? she wondered. After that last argument she wasn’t sure if she and Maria would ever be friends again.

Nancy’s gaze turned speculative when her daughter’s expression suddenly changed from excited to pensive. “Have the two of you stopped spending time together because you’re seeing Max?”

Liz shrugged. She couldn’t exactly deny it but there was only so much she could tell her mother. “Well, that’s part of it,” she hedged. “But Maria’s been seeing someone too; some guy named Michael.”

Nancy’s eyebrows lifted in surprise when she heard the irritation in her daughter’s voice. Combined with the dislike on Liz’s face when she spoke the other boy’s name she quickly realized that Liz didn’t like the guy that her best friend was dating.

“Honey, I know you think Max is the love of your life – and maybe he is,” she rushed on when Liz opened her mouth to protest. “But you and Maria have been friends your entire lives. Guys don’t always stick around, especially at this age, with graduation and college coming up so soon. Friendships like the one you have with Maria, they’re strong enough to last your whole life, but you have to take care of them, you have to protect them if they’re gonna last.”

Liz nodded, not knowing what to say.

“Friendships like yours and Maria’s are rare and so precious, honey. You guys have been through so much already, you’ve shared a lifetime of ups and downs and you’ve been there for each other every step of the way; don’t lose that over a couple of boys who may or may not be around in a year.”

Liz sighed in relief when her mother left after imparting her wisdom and advice. She knew her mother meant well, and she was just trying to help but the last thing she wanted to hear about was her fading friendship.

*****

Maria glanced up at the sign posted by the side of the road, not sure whether to be relieved or upset that they would be back at his house in a little more than half an hour. Michael had been completely unresponsive, lost in his thoughts, and silent as the miles flew by. She had even tuned the radio to a station that played the type of music that he hated, hoping to get a reaction out of him.

She knew how to deal with him when he was angry or argumentative, but this was so far out of the realm of her knowledge. He had moved past the anger from the night before; now he was just withdrawn and hurt, and suffering in silence. She didn’t know what else to do or say to convince him to let her in, to let her take some of that weight off of him, and she worried that his inability to accept her help would come between them.

The miles flew by and before long they were pulling onto the reservation. Maria wondered if his family would be home, unsure whether that would be better or worse considering his mood. His mother had admitted that he had a tendency to pull away when the sightings ended in disappointment, refusing to talk to anyone about what had happened.

She was trying to figure out what to say to him as she pulled into his driveway but the words refused to form into sentences of any substance. “Knowing that he’s hurt and there is nothing I can say or do to make him feel better is one of the worst feelings that exist.” Now she understood what his mother had meant because she was in that same position.

Michael grabbed his bag off of the floor between his feet and threw the door open. He held onto the open door and pulled himself up and out, pausing to turn back and lean down to glance inside. “I didn’t mean to waste your time and screw up your weekend.”

Maria opened her mouth to refute his statement but he slammed the door and hurried into the house before she could get a single word out. She leaned back in her seat and stared at the front door, debating the intelligence of going in after him. She couldn’t confront him like this; he was in a lot of pain and she wanted to help him but she didn’t know how or where to start.

River Dog, she realized suddenly. He was the one who would be able to help her find a way to deal with Michael. He loved and respected the old man and they had a special relationship, a bond forged in the heat of the unforgiving desert and strengthened over time. His grandfather had given her advice regarding Michael before, at the ceremony, and she was certain that he would be the best one to talk to now. With her plan of action in place she shifted the car into reverse, but her foot remained on the brake when she realized she had no idea where to find River Dog.

Well, that wasn’t going to stop her, she thought as she eased off of the brake and backed out of the driveway. Someone on the Rez knew where the old man lived and she was going to get that information.

Some time later she realized that her plan was not working. She had driven to the tiny general store situated not far from the Reservation’s entrance, going inside and asking the clerk if she knew where River Dog lived. The woman had seemed almost suspicious of Maria and her question and she had simply shaken her head and gone back to stocking the shelves.

Refusing to be deterred, Maria had stood outside of the store for a while, asking the few people who came by if they could help her, without luck. A couple of them had been just plain rude, ignoring her questions as they brushed past her and the rest had reacted the same way the woman in the store had.

Gabriel Red Eagle watched Maria from the front window of the Tribal Office, smiling at her determined expression. She had been out there for quite a while now, stopping people and asking them something that wasn’t getting a positive response. His eyebrows rose in surprise when she stepped out into the street to stop an oncoming car, obviously intending to pose her question once more.

He sighed when the woman in the car shook her head in denial of possessing an answer to the girl’s question and he straightened away from the window. Most of the Whites seen on the Rez were tourists and he knew many of his people disliked that, but Maria wasn’t a tourist and most of the people she had spoken to were aware of that. Many of them had been at the ceremony recently, and it had quickly gotten around that John and Catherine Two Feathers’ son was dating a White girl. He didn’t understand their reluctance to speak to her since they were sure to recognize her – they weren’t likely to forget her so soon; she was unique, just like her mother.

He smiled as he thought about Amy and he wondered if she would be back from her impromptu trip soon. He knew she had gone away for a few days to sort through some things and he had wisely accepted that without argument. She had a lot of things to weigh and consider, and it had to be difficult for her to suddenly be entertaining the idea of having him as a permanent fixture in her life.

Gabriel glanced around at the room he was in the process of refinishing, satisfied with the work he had put in that day. He set the sander aside and dusted his hands off before crossing to the door and pulling it open.

Movement from the corner of her eye caught Maria’s attention and she turned her head to look at the man jogging across the street. He was tall, probably close to Michael’s height, but he was slimmer with bronzed skin and long, black hair. He called out a greeting as he stepped up on the weathered wooden boards that made up the front stoop of the small store.

“It seems like maybe you’re looking for something… or someone?”

Maria smiled in response to his courteous question. “I’m trying to find out where my boyfriend’s grandfather might be; I figured someone around here might know, but so far no one’s been willing to give me any information. So, if you know River Dog or at least where I can find him that would help me a lot.”

“You’re in luck,” Gabriel said as he reached for the small notebook he always carried around in his back pocket. “His place is a little difficult to find if you’ve never been there.” He glanced at her, nodding when she shook her head to indicate that she had never been to the old man’s home. “Y’know where Shiloh Road intersects with Second Street?”

“I know where Shiloh Road is, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Second Street.”

“Well, if you know where Shiloh is we’ve got a starting point to work from.”

Maria smiled at his positive tone and leaned in closer to watch him sketch out a map, paying attention to the verbal directions he was giving at the same time.

“There’s no guarantee River Dog’s gonna be home, but this’ll get you to his front door,” he said as he ripped the sheet from the spiral binding and handed it to her.

“You think he might not be there?”

Gabriel wondered at the worry that flickered briefly in her green eyes. “There’s a stream near his place, you’ll be able to hear it from his front porch; if he’s not at home, check near the stream. If you’re not used to hiking or being out in the desert I wouldn’t recommend going much farther than that on your own.” As he shoved the notebook back in his pocket, he saw the determined expression that settled over her features. “It’s that important that you find him right away?”

“Yeah, very important.”

He nodded and reached for the piece of paper he had just given to her. “I’ll be working over at the Tribal Office for the rest of the day,” he said as he wrote a telephone number across the top, “so, if he’s not home and you don’t find him close by, call this number and I’ll come out and help you find him.”

“Oh.” Maria accepted the paper once more and glanced up at him, surprised by his sincere offer. “Thank you.”

He watched her rush off then, hurrying to her car so she could go in search of her boyfriend’s grandfather. He returned her wave when she drove past and then walked across the street so he could get back to work.

*****

Max stood up when the swinging door between the back of the restaurant and the front opened and Liz stepped out. He crossed the space between them and leaned down to kiss her before offering her the bunch of wildflowers he held in his right hand.

“These are for you,” he said with a gentle smile.

“They’re beautiful.” Liz accepted them, holding them up to her nose so she could inhale their delicate scent. “Let me just put them in some water before we go.”

Max nodded and stepped back, hands in his pockets while he waited for her to return.

“Okay, are you gonna tell me what you’ve got planned yet?” she asked as she joined him once more and they walked out of the restaurant together.

“I thought we could start with a movie; Moulin Rouge is playing and I know you wanted to see it.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t even talk Alex into that one.” She chuckled as she recalled his refusal to go see the movie. “Are you sure you wanna see it?”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” he said, taking her hand as they walked along the sidewalk. “I’ll have a good time regardless of what we see or do; I’ll be with you and that’s really the most important thing for me.”