A/N- I'm not sure how to use the italics...because everytime I try to make something italic the scroll bar goes crazy. There is one flashback in this chapter...before it I put 'flashbook' and after 'end flashback'. I hope it's not too confusing! 
Part 7
Alex’s entire body tensed, the first few rays of sunshine peering through the blinds of his window. He ran a hand through his hair making it even more unruly. That dream. It was…wow. So realistic, too realistic to have been just a dream. And Maria…she had been hurt. Michael had hurt her, and Max had offered to heal it.
They weren’t human, but they are. They have to be. He was going crazy, after Liz’s death nothing made sense. He became frustrated when he failed to put all the pieces of his dream together. He remembered only tidbits, but that was enough to make him suspicious of his own sanity, and of the actual origins of Max, Michael, and Isabel. Especially Michael.
“Maria,” he murmured, and reached for his phone.
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Maria suppressed a yawn, and faked a smile when Alex entered the Crashdown.
“What was so important, Alex?” She questioned “Don’t tell me you’re worried, because let me assure you I am worried enough for the both of us! But, I thought about it…you know, like really thought about…and…”
“Hey Alex,” Isabel greeted, scooting into the booth next to Maria, who gave her a questioning look.
Isabel ignored the pixie blond, and smiled sweetly at the teenage boy. “You don’t mind do you…?” She asked, motioning down towards his coke.
He watched as the cool glass met her full lips. “I thought…” he trailed off. Be reasonable, he chastised himself. Here was this gorgeous blond sitting within touching range, a blond who he would have done anything to be acknowledged by, and he was about to ask her why she didn’t want Tabasco.
Maria looked over at Isabel, and seemed to catch on to what she was trying to do. Did she really think Alex was that stupid?
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“Michael, You can’t just act on impulse. What you did effects Isabel and me too. And now Maria.”
Michael shrugged, and threw a rock and watched as it disappeared into the vastness of the desert.
“You can’t control your powers. You could have killed him!”
Again, Michael shrugged. “Yeah, well now he won’t talk.”
Max shook his head in disapproval. “What did you do to him exactly?”
flashback
Michael stood in the shadows, and observed the exchange between the two measly humans standing in Max’s driveway. The sun was in the midst of setting, and the golden colors provided enough light to watch them, but enough darkness for him to hide.
Maria giggled, the sound was so forced he actually cringed at the pathetic sound. He watched as she reached up and hugged Alex, babbled for a few minutes before finally taking off in the jetta.
Alex was about to do the same, and Michael looked around to make sure Maxwell and Izzy were both still inside. When he was sure they were he cleared his throat.
“Whitman,” he barked, his cold voice making the other boy jump.
“What do you want?”
Michael took a few menacing steps toward him, stopping when he was directly in front of him. He smirked and shrugged. Then he sent a silent prayer, to whoever might be listening, for him to not fuck this up. He brushed his forefinger across the lanky boy’s temple, and focused all his energy…
end flashback
“So, you just focused your powers on his mind, and prayed you wouldn’t kill him or make him even more scared.”
Michael shrugged. “Pretty much,” he offered.
“Michael, you could have killed him, and this thing you did…how did you even know how?”
Michael scratched his eyebrow. “I didn’t. I guess I did…I don’t know.”
Max scoffed. “You don’t know? You risked Alex’s life for something you aren’t even sure you knew how to do. You can’t just go into other people’s minds and play around. How do we even know it worked, Michael? He already thinks you are a danger to Maria, and now you force yourself into his mind!”
Michael didn’t respond, and Max forced a deep breath into his protesting lungs. “Alright. Let’s just go meet Izzy at the Crashdown. She called and said she saw Alex and Maria together, and Alex seemed to be acting strange, and mumbling to himself incoherently.”
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Isabel let out a counterfeit giggle, and silently rewarded herself for the false genuine sound. Alex seemed to buy it, and kept on jabbering on about nonsense.
She snuck a glance over at Maria, who seemed dazed and confused as she watched them talk. Thankfully, she must have gotten the signal to remain silent, except for a few quirky remarks here and there.
Alex smiled at her, actually smiled a real smile full of warmth and acceptance. What if Michael’s plan hadn’t worked and he did remember? Was it possible that he would still smile like that, and still act so natural around her except for the occasional nervous stutters if he did remember?
She shook her head, and returned his smile when she heard the bell above the door jingle. Wordlessly, Max slid in next to Alex. Michael glared down at him, and Max returned it just as intensely.
Isabel grunted to herself. Didn’t Michael realize he needed to act normal and like any other teenager casually join his two best friends to socialize with a couple acquaintances? Obviously, he didn’t.
“Michael, are you going to join us?” Isabel invited through gritted teeth, making sure her smile never faltered.
Alex’s attention immediately left her, and she cursed to herself when his green eyes darkened with anger and suspicion. His attention fixed on Maria, and he reached over the table and clasped her wrist.
“Roll your left sleeve up,” he demanded gently.
Helplessly, Maria looked at Max, who just nodded quickly. Maria did as asked, and Alex’s eyebrows drew together in confusion when he didn’t see a bruise.
Isabel let out a long breath when she saw the silver handprint had faded. The lanky boy ran a stressed hand through his hazardless combed hair, and sighed.
“I’m going crazy,” he mumbled. He released his friend’s wrist, and apologized quietly.
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Michael, Max, Isabel, and after much babbling from a certain blond pixie, Maria stood in the middle of Maria’s living room.
Michael grunted to himself. “Why are we here…with her?” He hissed to no one in particular.
The short blond placed her hands on her hips, and quirked an eyebrow. Max was quick to jump in before a fight could erupt.
“Michael, our parents,” he motioned towards Isabel “are having a game night…”
Before he could continue, Maria’s shrill voice interrupted. “You know what, forget it! If you guys want to go discuss your outwordlyness somewhere else…somewhere more public, go ahead. I just thought I’d be nice, and ignore my extreme paranoia and offer up my home for use, and seeing as though porcupine here basically butt raped my best friend I thought it was very kind of me to do so.”
Michael glared at her, which was returned with a simple tongue stick out.
“I didn’t butt rape your best friend. I just did what needed to be done,” he stated gruffly.
“Oh, I see. So you HAD to force yourself into Alex’s mind, and take the risk of killing him…” she trailed off, her voice wavering.
Her green eyes became vast, her next statement coming out harsher than it should of from such a delicate, hyper girl. “You could have killed him!” She screamed, moving towards him and rising onto her tiptoes to be face to face with him.
“You could have killed him! Not that it would matter to you. As long as you remain safe who cares about anyone else. Who cares that what you do affects Max and Isabel too? Or that Miss. Plain Parker died. I can assure you that you just made things worse. I know Alex, and I know he suspects something. At least for the few minutes he actually knew he accepted it, and wasn’t a major threat. Now, he is just confused…damn you are stupid!
You could have killed him!” Her voice quieted as she repeated the statement for the third time.
Max placed a gently hand on her shoulder, and her green eyes slowly became moist. She allowed him to pull her away from Michael, and be pulled down onto to the couch beside him.
Isabel shook her head, before burying it into her hands. “Damn! Everything is so out of control! Michael, why did you do it? Not that I like agreeing with Maria, but you could have killed him! You did something…I don’t even know what you did. You don’t know! You just decided it would be fun to test drive your powers on poor Alex. Is that it?”
Michael shook his head. “I’m not going to talk about this. I did this for us!” He yelled. “For the three of us! Instead of saying thank you, you scold me like I’m a child!”
Isabel scoffed. “You are acting like one, Michael. Alex and Maria aren’t just toys.”
Max stood from the couch, and looked Michael directly in the eye. “I never thought I would have to say this…but stay away from Maria! She has been through enough, and I swear if you do the same to her…”
“What Max, what are you going to do? Hit me! Well then hit me!”
Max growled, his fists clenching. Then he did just that.
“Max!” Isabel shrieked, grabbing her brother by the shoulders before he could strike again. She looked down at her other brother in shock. Michael was on the ground, and wiping blood from his now swollen lip.
Michael sprung to his feet, and shoved Max warningly. “You hit me! You asshole!”
Maria grabbed his shoulder, her tiny nails digging into the thin material of his shirt. “Stop it! All of you just get out of my house! You are all afraid I’m gonna betray you, but look at you and the way you treat each other. You don’t need to worry about me when you are clearly so peaceful with each other. I invited you into my home against my natural human instincts. I prepared myself for color changing, even spike head maybe blowing a few things up. But, this…I don’t need this. None of us need this! If you guys keep fighting over who’s more manly, well you aren’t exactly laying low are you?”
She paused for a quick breath. “Liz died. Okay. She is the reason we are all here. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand why Max did what he did. The point is that he did do it. Trust me, this isn’t exactly my idea of fun, but I have managed to keep from panicking. Well maybe not completely managed, but I’ve controlled it…a little.”
“Maria,” Max’s calm voice stopped her mid-rant. “I’m sorry.”
Michael snorted. “That’s great! This is all just freakin awesome!”
Max moved in front of Maria, separating her from the other two. “Shut up, Michael!” He took a deep, cleansing breath. “Now, exactly what do you think you did to Alex?”
Michael huffed, and fell back onto the couch.
“Did I say you could sit there?” Maria asked, her nose scrunched up in distaste at the idea of having his alien identity on her belongings.
He began to stand, prepared to engage in another sparring match, but Isabel stopped him when she sat next to him, and pulled him against her side in a silent gesture of comfort.
Michael scratched his eyebrow. “I don’t know.”
Maria’s threw her hands up. “This is just wonderful. Glad to know everything is just so peachy. I know that you don’t know, but hearing you say it again…UGH!” Her voice cracked, a tear spilling onto her cheek. “You could have killed him…and you don‘t even care enough to apologize.”
Max pulled her towards him, but she wrenched away. “And you, Max! I don’t need this…especially from you. You are, like, the only one keeping me from completely panicking over your new alien status. I need to think you are sane…but seeing you yell…and…maybe I should just tell Valenti….not for me, but for you guys. You are a danger to yourselves and each other. One minute you are all like ‘we come in peace‘ and then next you are throwing punches in my living room. Not to mention, if you would have broken anything…my mom, oh god, she would have killed me!”
“Would you stop babbling already! We need to talk about this, not your damn mom,” Michael seethed.
Maria laughed to herself. “Now, porcupine agrees. Finally we are getting somewhere. Now, if you would excuse me I need some serious Mt. Dew.”
Unexpectedly, her entire body began to trembled, and she clutched her stomach. “I can’t do this! I just can’t!” She turned towards Michael. “You suck! You suck at being an alien and a human! You don’t have any emotions, and you can’t even control your powers.”
She allowed herself to be pulled into Max’s arms. “She’s right. Michael, you are like a brother to me, but she doesn’t need this. Not now. Just leave.”
Michael jumped to his feet, and grabbed his jacket. “I don’t need this shit anyway. Blondie, if you so much as breath in the direction of the sheriff…”
“Michael, leave!” Isabel ordered, and cringed at her own words when he gave her a defeated look. “Please, just leave.”
His eyes glazed over and he was once again closed off from the world, before he left.
The slamming of the door caused Maria to jump, and then shiver. Isabel pressed her head into the back of the sofa, and ran a hand through her hair.
“Is he gonna hurt Alex again?” Maria asked quietly.
Max shook his head, and Isabel verbalized an answer for both of them. “No, but we should probably follow him. Max?”
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“Maria, honey are you home?” Amy’s voice filled the silent home, and Maria cursed the interruption. She just wanted to curl up on the couch, forget about the day’s events and maybe take a nap. She didn’t need her mom pestering her to eat, or talk about how she was feeling.
“Yeah, mom I’m in the living room!” She called back.
Her mom must have run to get to her, because one second she wasn’t there, and the next she was beside her on the couch. “I saw Max and Isabel Evans leaving the house.”
Maria opened her mouth to explain, but was silenced with a quick kiss on her forehead.
“Sweetie, its fine. I think its wonderful you are making new friends. I’m sorry I haven’t been home. I know it’s been hard for you…”
Maria shook her head. “Mom, I don’t want to talk about it.”
Amy nodded to herself. “At least eat something. I brought home some of my left over pumpkin pie.”
Maria looked at her suspiciously. “You made pie?”
The older woman shifted. “Yeah…I stopped by Jim’s earlier just to chat.”
Maria leaned forward, resting her head in the palms of her hands. Another worry to add to the list, and something else to tell Max. Life must hate her. There was so much she could take, and much more she was sure she would break, she was already cracking.
She didn’t have the energy to interrogate her mom about her new relationship. Not now, maybe later. But, now she just wanted to be a little girl.
“Maria, talk to me…what’s wrong? What can I do to help? There has to be something…”
The young blond shook her head, before peering up at her mom. “Just hold me, and don’t ask any questions.”
Her mother’s slender arms wrapped around her shoulders, and pulled her into her tiny lap.
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Alex drove around, telling himself over and over that he was being irrational. That it was all just a dream. But, he needed to be certain…even if it meant questioning his own common sense.
He turned onto the street, and slammed on his breaks at the sight. All the street lights were busted, and work crew were in the process of fixing them.
