Title: Dare You To Move
Author: Lys
Category: AU with aliens.
Couples: CC
Rating: MATURE
Summery: Liz, Max, Isabel, Maria, Michael, Alex, Kyle and Tess aren't the group of friends as they in the show. Max, Isabel, Michael and Tess are aliens, Michael doesn't know anything about himself except that he isn't normal. What happens when an alien race attacks Earth? It's up to a small group of people to save the world, or what's left of it.
Author's Note: Liz and Michael go to school together in Socorro, both are complete loners. Max, Isabel, Tess, Alex, Maria and Kyle all go to school in Roswell. Max is 'Mr. Popularity' surrounding himself with plenty of friends, while Isabel and Tess are popular and never really socialize with anyone else. Kyle is West Roswell High School's best football player and is very popular. Alex and Maria are best friends, both are a little on the nerdy side.
Disclaimer: Please, if I owned Roswell, S2 would have gone completely different and S3 wouldn't have even taken place. The UFO in 1964 Socorro is something I discovered online. If anyone wants, this is the site I found it at: Anything that I may mention in my story concerning the event is based on what I found at this site http://www.cufon.org/contributors/chrisl/socorro.htm
Feedback: Please, feel free to leave it. I would also appreciate any constructive criticism as long as it has a nice tone to it. I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 1: An Introduction To The Characters
(Socorro, NM)
It was a warm night in September, and Liz Parker would have rather been upstairs on her balcony enjoying it then working a double shift in her parent's restaurant. Thankfully, her shift was almost over and the dinner rush had ended hours ago. Things were starting to wind down, periodically she would check the clock, silently praying that closing time would soon arrive.
Walking over to gather her tips she grumbled under her breath. A measly seventy-five cent tip for a meal that cost more then twenty-five dollars! She scraped the change up into her pocket as she began busing the table. On one of the napkins she noticed ‘do yourself a favor and end your misery' scribbled next to what was supposed to be a stick figure of herself. Momentarily, tears began to prick her eyes, but she pushed them away before she had a chance to feel anything about it. She supposed that was what she got when she waited on Jessica Stein and other ‘popular' girls at her school.
Her high school was like others, the social scale was equally defined. There was only one difference though, since Socorro was such a small place, the ‘popular' students took pleasure in tormenting those who were beneath them. Unless all small communities were the same way? Liz didn't know though, she'd never lived any other place, then again, she'd never visited another town either. The closest she ever came was picking up restaurant supplies the next town over.
Liz couldn't wait to graduate high school. She wanted to get a scholarship to an excellent college, leave Socorro and never look back. She wanted to do something with her life, she wanted to make a difference...and while she was at it, she wanted to find a man that would love her, even with all her imperfections. Subconsciously, she touched her neck.
"Excuse me?"
Liz looked up and brown eyes met another set of brown eyes. She instantly recognized the person, it was Michael Guerin. Michael had been in school with her for as long as she could remember, and ever since then he had been a loner. He never bothered to socialize with anyone, whenever he was paired with someone on a school assignment he rarely ever spoke. No one tried to even change the fact because of the permanent ‘mad' look that took residence on the guy's face. Rumor was it that his adoptive father was a drunk and would on occasion beat Michael. Liz took the talk with a grain of salt. First, taking into consideration all the enormously wrong rumors floating around about her and then there was also the fact that she'd never seen a bruise on Michael.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if I could speak to the manager?"
"Sure, follow me." She lead him into the back room to her father's office. She knocked on the door before opening the door. She blanched when she saw her parents wrapped in a passionate kiss. At the intrusion they quickly broke apart, both wearing doppy smiles and red faces for being caught as though they were teenagers sneaking around. "Daddy, there's someone here to see you." Liz left the room without another word. It was one thing to endure her parent's sickeningly sweet gestures and actions at home, but to be subject at work as well?!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Yes? I'm Jeffrey Parker how can I help you?" A dark haired gentleman asked when the read head he had just kissed walked out of the small room.
Michael averted his eyes back to the gentleman. "Maybe. I saw a sign that you are hiring for a cook. I was interested in the position." Michael wouldn't have cared if the position entailed him cleaning up bathrooms. He just needed to get out of the house when Hank returned home from the bar drunk and looking for a fight.
"Do you have any experience?"
"My father is rarely ever home so it's up to me to fend for myself. Yes, I know how to cook, but I've never cooked for anyone else."
Jeff studied the teenage boy in front of him. He didn't think he'd ever seen him before. On the outside, he looked like a rebel, he looked like someone that Jeff wouldn't even consider hiring, but there was something nagging him to give the boy a chance. "We are in desperate need of a cook. Why don't we try a trial two week period? That way we can both decide if this is something we both want."
Michael gave a polite smile. "Thank you sir. You won't regret it."
Jeff smiled back. "Fill out this application."
When Michael finished the application he stood up. "Thank you again."
Jeff looked over the paper. "You're welcome...Michael," he replied when he read the teenager's name. ‘You start tomorrow at three o'clock. Why don't we go out front and I'll have my daughter Liz show you around?"
Mr. Parker showed Michael to Liz and introduced the two. It was apparent by their reactions that no introduction was needed. Michael played off an indifferent attitude as Liz offered a small greeting. When he never responded, he immediately noticed the way that Liz pulled back-both physically and emotionally. He knew more about people then they thought, it came with the territory of being his high school's resident loner. He never participated in anything, instead he sat back and watched, studied everyone.
(Roswell, NM)
"Oh my god Isabel, you look fabulous!" Tess Harding shrieked as she looked at her best friend. Isabel Evans was decked out in her best science fiction costume for the Crash Festival that would be taking place that night. The Crash Festival was supposed to be a celebration about the the 1947 Roswell Crash. For Roswell's residents, it didn't matter that the actual crash happened in July, everyone celebrated it in September.
Isabel shyly looked down. "Thanks. You look good too Tess."
Tess didn't pay any mind to her friend's reply. She shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, it was no big deal. Besides, you know I like going to every I event and showing these human boys what they can never have. So, where's Max?" Tess asked referring to Isabel's twin brother. She was hoping that the three of them could have gone to the festival together. It had been ages since she, Isabel and Max had gone out together.
"He went with Mindy Orozco."
Tess nodded, but she didn't allow her feelings known to Isabel. "I don't know why he bothers spending money on these girls to go out on dates. Any one of them would sleep with him if he asked them to," she murmured. It got on her nerves the way that Max acted when it came to the opposite sex. She dated guys, but she never went further then first base with any of them, unlike Max, who had bedded every single one of his girlfriends. It seemed as though he would never run out of women.
Isabel rolled her eyes. She knew better then anyone just how much of a dog her brother was. It was up to her to cover for her brother when he missed curfew or didn't return home until the morning. Isabel couldn't remember a time when her brother hadn't crawled through his bedroom window smelling of sex and perfume. "I know, I don't understand it either. You'd figured that these girls would be upset by being used by him, but they just seem to shrug and get over it. If this is going to be what it's like when we get back home...he already has a harem here. I wonder what it will be like for a woman who's objective is to be a great whore..."
Tess smirked. "Well, I guess he'll never be lonely no matter where we go."
"Yeah, I guess it pays to be the king." Isabel shook her head to clear her thoughts. "You know, I really don't want to go tonight."
"Come on Iz! It'll be fun. When's the last time you went out and did something?" When Tess noticed Isabel was about to interrupt her, Tess finished quickly. "Making trips to the library for study sessions don't count."
Isabel completely disregarded the previous subject. "Excuse me if I don't feel like celebrating the death of our people." Living in Roswell always meant there was a constant factor that repeatedly reminded her just how different she really was, how different they were. The mood in the room changed and both girls became somber.
"I don't particularly like it either, I'm just trying to survive...fit in the best way possible."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Max..." the blonde moaned his name for a final time. For the past five minutes she had tried getting her boyfriend to stop his ministrations so she could fix herself up before they left the Crash Festival.
Max finally pulled away. Mindy was definitely turning out to be a rather confusing woman. One day she was happy and willing to anything...and did anything for him. It was days like those when she was a sexual goddess, but then the rest of the days were spent with her pulling away from him. She practically made him beg to get something and no one had ever before made him act like that.
"Mindy..." Max grunted out in frustration as he rolled over on her bed. He tried to calm his body.
Mindy smirked as she looked at her boyfriend. "I want to make sure I look as good as I can tonight. Having bed head and hickies is not what I call ‘good.'" Besides, she loved having power over the guy before her. When she had first gotten together with Max, she was well aware of his reputation. She made a pact with herself that if she went out with him she wouldn't become one of the many sniveling ninnies he had been with in the past.
"You always look good."
"I know, but I would like to win that costume contest tonight."
"I have no doubt that you will."
"Max, you are like...so sweet."
"Well, I try." Max adjusted his eyes to her alarm clock. "You might want to get ready if you want to leave, otherwise I'm taking you back to bed."
Max stayed on Mindy's bed as she pranced around her bedroom getting ready. He couldn't keep his eyes off her. She was so beautiful, so angelic. She was unlike anyone he had ever known. Mindy was one of the most popular girls at West Roswell High, because of it, she acted a little on the snobby side to those not so fortunate on the social scale. Max was willing to look over that because she was the kind of woman he wanted to marry. When she allowed someone to know her, she was kind and funny and she brought up with money. She had class.
"What?" Mindy asked as she sat at her vanity, applying her make up. She'd noticed him staring at her and she had to stop herself from smirking at the look on Max's face. She'd done something no other girl had ever been able to do, she'd made Max Evans fall in love with her. That alone was enough to announce her the best girl at West Roswell.
"Nothing. You are just...so beautiful."
Mindy looked down and blushed, Max always spoiled her in one way or another, she was so lucky. "I know, but thank you anyway."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Max and Mindy had just arrived to the festival. They gathered near the entrance and began socializing with their friends. The boys began talking about sports as the girls critiqued everyone else for their costumes. Even though both were involved in separate conversations they stood next to each other, hand entwined. Max refused to let go of her.
Max was so deeply involved in his conversation he didn't notice when his sister and Tess saddled up next to him. "Max!" He looked over at the sharp feminine voice.
"Oh, hi guys," he greeted.
"Look, we're going to be around. Meet us later," Tess replied without greeting him. She didn't like being with Max when he was with his friends. He was a completely different person and neither she nor Isabel liked that person.
Max shook his head knowing exactly what Tess meant. "Sure."
"Oh my god, would you look at that?" Mindy said as she pointed over to the entrance. Where Maria Deluca stood with her best friend Alex Whitman.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Alex looked over at his best friend with a pout. "Maria!" He whined. "I don't want to be here."
Maria rolled her eyes. "Would you like some cheese with that WHINE?"
Alex was quiet but stood in his place. "I really don't feel comfortable at these kinds of things. You know that. Why do you insist on dragging me along with you?" He and Maria had been friends for years, ever since first grade. They'd had other friends, but they were constant and never gave each other up for popularity or other people that came into their lives. For that reason, both had earned reputations for that. No one ever paid attention, he was what other peers called ‘a nerd'. Maria, on the other hand, was very popular, but it wasn't in a good way. She was so loud and she wore whatever she wanted. Everyone thought she was a little out there.
Maria rolled her eyes. Sometimes it amazed her that they were still friends. They were both completely different. "To get you out of your house and away from your computer. Besides, you look adorable in that astronaut's outfit." She smiled triumphantly when she saw that he was about to cave in.
Off to the side Alex heard something that broke his resolve. "Oh my god, would you look at that?" He looked over in the direction of the voice and sighed. It was none other then Mindy and she seemed to be focusing on him and Maria.
"Don't pay any mind. Who cares what Mindy thinks? She and friends are a bunch of flakes. They mean no importance to us whatsoever." Maria locked her arm through Alex's and walked through the entrance.
"How original Alex. And Maria, I have to say, that outfit isn't far off from how you look everyday!" Mindy called out referring to Maria's get up. She wasn't dressed in the most beautiful costume, in fact, it was a rather unflattering outfit. Maria got the message clearly, but she refused to acknowledge the other girl.
Once she and Alex were further into the area Maria pulled away. Alex didn't say a word. It was quite easy to see the anger that was radiating off his friend. He knew he had to go about the situation just right. If he said the wrong thing, she would blow up and scream at him. "Maria..."
"Can you believe the nerve of that girl?! I mean who does she think she is?! Just because she's an air head and Max Evans' new sex toy does not make her some sort of goddess! And who is she supposed to be anyway? This isn't a competition for prom queen, why is she decked out in such a formal gown? I mean this is a CRASH FESTIVAL! We are celebrating aliens. What aliens dress so nice? I can't believe we were actually friends with Mindy!"
They were in fact very good friends at one time. They started hanging out in fourth grade and continued being friends up through eighth grade. Every weekend Mindy would invite them over to her house to stay the night...until they got older and her father wouldn't allow Alex to spend the night, but they were always together. Until eighth grade when one of the popular girls in their grade befriended Mindy. Mindy all of a sudden realized just how uncool Maria and Alex were and dropped them immediately. Since then she hadn't had a nice word to say to either of them.
"What makes her so much better then us anyway? Because she's a ditz with those other people that she calls friends? Yeah, I can see how talking in a high voice, making fun of people and becoming anorexic constitutes as being popular."
"Maria, just let it go."
Maria completely broke down then. Tears gathered in her eyes and Alex pulled her into his arms. Maria always made it look as though she was strong, but things got to her very easily. "I don't know why I'm letting this bother me," she said as she sniffed and wiped away her tears. Alex didn't say anything. "You are like the best person. I don't know what I'd do without you," she confessed.
"Right back at ya," he confided.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"And the party has arrived," Kyle Valenti announced loudly as he walked into the festival, his arm around Nadia Montoya, surrounded by his friends.
"Nadia!" Nadia looked over to see one of her friends calling out to her. "You look like a doll!"
"Thank you Mindy. You look really cute too. I suppose we'll be up against each other again this year for the best costume."
When it was apparent to Kyle that Nadia had no intentions of leaving her friends anytime soon he walked over to the guys standing near them. "Hey Kyle. Man that was a great game you played last night."
"Thanks man. What can I say? I'm the best." He looked across from him and found Evans holding Mindy's hand. He tried to keep the anger down as he looked at the couple. Who did Max Evans think he was anyway? He wasn't even anything important to the school. Why did girls always fall all over themselves when it came to him? Why did Mindy have to choose Max over him?
"Valenti," Max said when he noticed Kyle looking at him.
"Evans," Kyle returned in the same unfriendly voice. He and Evans had never been friends. Sometimes they ran in the same circles and were cordial to one another, but it was quite apparent to all around them they weren't fans of the other person. Their sophomore year had changed things drastically between the two. They were the two most popular guys in their class and the girls were always trying to compete for them. Max had seduced one of his ex-girlfriends away while Kyle was still with her. It had brought on an all out war between the two. They went up against each to get attention, they would even stoop so low as to steal the other's girlfriend. It wasn't until Mindy came along though. Kyle had actually felt some genuine feelings for her. Feelings he hadn't ever had, but then Max came along. Kyle still wasn't sure if Max just wanted to hurt him or if he did in fact have feelings for Mindy.
"Now, boys...play nice," Mindy said when she noticed the looks the two were exchanging. She smirked, pleased with herself that she had been able to invoke such a rise from both guys. She had honestly liked Kyle when she first met him. He was so handsome and popular, but there was just something about Max that Kyle didn't have. Max drove her insane.
Kyle pulled his gaze away from Max and turned to Mindy. "Mindy, I must say...you are an absolute beauty."
A sincere smile planted it's self on Mindy's face. That was the one reason why she liked Kyle. He always gave her the most heart warming compliments. "Why thank you Kyle. You look very handsome yourself."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"And the winner tonight is...Nadia Montoya," the spokesman announced. When Nadia walked up on stage in front of everyone, applause could be heard from everywhere in the audience.
Mindy, on the other hand was fuming. This was the second year in a row that Nadia had won! "That bitch!"
None of the other girls standing with Mindy said a word. Mindy glowered at each of them for not saying anything against the brunette in question. She turned around and tried to see if she could spot Max. He had left only minutes earlier to find his sisters. Apparently, they always watched the re-enactment of the Roswell crash together. It was something that Mindy didn't understand, but she never did question her boyfriend on it.
"Where are you?" Mindy asked herself as Nadia helped the announcer countdown from ten before the rest of the audience began naming off numbers as well.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ten."
"Nine."
"Eight."
"Seven."
"Six."
"Five."
"Four."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
The small metal space ship slid down the metal line as though it were going to impact with the dirt below it. Everyone watched as the object did in fact crash into the Earth. Max, Isabel and Tess waited with bated breath as they watched three small aliens jut out of the ship. Around them, the audience cheered, but they couldn't move. It was the same every year. They would get together and watch something so morbid. It wasn't that hard for them to picture what the actual event must have been like, how their own kind had been tossed out carelessly, how the US military had probably captured them where they were experimented on.
Max looked down. There were only a few things that they knew about themselves. They knew that they were survivors. They knew that Mr. Harding...or Nesado was their protector. Nesado had told them constantly that there was another alien out there that belonged with them. Nesado spent so much of his time away trying to find the fourth, but he always ended up empty handed. They knew that they were involved in the 1947 crash, they knew that Nesado and another protector had carried the incubation pods they were inhabiting to safety.
He looked at his sister Isabel and then over to Tess. Both girls wore similar expressions of sadness as they watched the scene before them. Silently he grabbed his sister's hand and squeezed as he brought a hand to Tess' shoulder and flexed it. He tried to offer them what comfort he could.
Dare You To Move (AU,CC,MATURE) Ch 6 - 06/05/04 {WIP}
Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators
Dare You To Move (AU,CC,MATURE) Ch 6 - 06/05/04 {WIP}
Last edited by LysCat on Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:58 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Walter: "I used this to extract information from a corpse once. You can do that if they've been dead up to six hours."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Chapter 2: Just Another Day
"Where were you today at school?" Liz asked as she walked into the back room of the restaurant. "I didn't see you." She walked to her locker to grab her apron and order book. She was so busy getting her belongings that she didn't notice the rushed movements of Michael as he jerked around and kept his face away from her.
It was hard for Liz to believe that she and Michael were friends. Sure, they weren't normal friends that went out together and hung out around school, but they were still friends. In school they never talked, but they did sit together at lunch. Their conversations usually consisted of witty comebacks to each other, and that was usually during work time. Her parents would on occasion invite Michael over for dinner.
Michael winced at the lie he was about to tell. Ever since he and Liz had ‘grown closer', which was all he was willing to say about their budding friendship, she had become a ‘mother hen' to him. She always took care of him and even brought food to school from her parent's restaurant...just for him. "Yeah, I didn't feel much like going."
Liz rolled her eyes. "Since when do you ever? Michael, you're so close to graduating. The last thing you need is to do something to jeopardize that."
"You're not my mother or a family member Liz. You can't tell me what to do. Besides that, it's really irritating," he shot back. She always seemed to get on his case about...anything. He wildly wiped his hands through his hair.
Liz slammed her locker shut as she spun around. "I may not be your family, but I'm the closest thing you have to one!" How dare he get an attitude with her?! After everything she and her parents had done for him over the last few months. Why did he have such a problem with needing someone? Why couldn't he just open up to her...at least let her in? She stalked over to Michael and grabbed him roughly to turn him to face her. "Michael! I can't..." she trailed off as she looked more closely at him. "Michael...why didn't you tell me?"
Michael pulled away. "It doesn't matter."
"Doesn't matter?" Carefully she reached up to his wounded face and looked more closely at him. "Of course it matters Michael! Daddy!"
"Liz don't!"
"Daddy!" Liz called out once more, ignoring her pleading companion.
Jeff walked out of his office. "What is it Lizzie?" When his daughter looked to Michael, he followed her gaze and stopped when he saw the beaten adolescent in front of him. He took a deep breath. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out exactly who was responsible for Michael's current state. He just didn't understand it. He'd gone to school with Hank Guerin. At one time he and Hank were rather good friends. Hank had never been a trouble maker or rebel. It wasn't until Hank's wife passed on that he seemed to change. Everyone around town seemed to notice the difference, but they turned their heads the other way. There had always been talk about Hank beating Michael, but there was never any evidence. Not until then. "Shit."
"It's not that bad," Michael announced as Jeff Parker seemed to inspect him.
Liz nodded mockingly. "Yeah, you're only a walking bruise."
Michael tossed a withering glare to the petite brunette. "Shut it!"
When Jeff Parker finished cleaning the cuts on Michael's face he instructed both Michael and his daughter to get back to work. After Michael left the room, Liz refused to leave her spot. "What?"
"That's it? ‘Get back to work'?! Look at him for crying out loud! He can't go back there!"
"No one said he had to. I know what's going on. I'll give a call to my friend Phillip. He's a lawyer, I'm sure he could give some free advice. Tell Michael he can stay with us if he wants until this is taken care of."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mindy lazily walked over to Max and placed a sloppy kiss on Max's lips before planting herself in his lap. "How come whenever we go to parties like these you never drink or smoke with us?"
"Low tolerance," Max muttered. The only time he'd ever touched a lick of alcohol was when he was a freshman in high school. Due to the event, it was decided that aliens weren't able to handle themselves when they were under the influence. He was thankful his parents were on vacation when he'd done it. He hadn't planned on telling his parents anything about his true heritage, luckily they had never witnessed he or Isabel using their powers.
"Did I just hear that bad ass Max Evans admitted he doesn't have the tolerance for drinking?" Kyle asked as he walked over and sat across from the couple. "What a pussy!"
"Why would I want to drink myself into a coma? So I can end up like you and have barfing binges?"
"Touche!" Kyle slapped Max on his back. "It's cool bro. I'm only messing."
Max refrained from rolling his eyes. He may have been the big man on campus, but sometimes he couldn't stand it. He always made appearances to these parties, he would mingle for a little bit, but he would leave before long. Ever since he'd started dating Mindy though...that had all changed. He went from one extreme to another.
"Hey sweetie, can we leave soon?"
Mindy pouted. "You don't want to stay? I mean it just got started. Come on baby." She kissed him again in hopes of changing his mind so he would stay.
Max broke off the kiss early. "I have some stuff to do tonight. Besides, we go to parties all the time, and they are always the same."
"Max," one of Mindy's friends interrupted, "I can take her home. I don't plan on leaving for a while."
"Are you sure?" Max asked. He'd never left one of dates before, but he just...he needed to get out of there.
"Positive."
After Max left the party, he drove past Roswell's city limits into the surrounding desert. He wasn't sure where he was going, so he let his feet guide him there. During the drive his mind was plagued with thoughts. Things that had been on his mind had finally built up and he couldn't push them away anymore. He knew it was time to try and deal with them.
When he finally stopped the jeep Max took a look at his surroundings. An ironic smile crept over his face and he shook his head. Of course...he would end up there when all of his problems seemed to lead back to it. It was his birth place. It was the same place that they took their first steps into the open air, newly born, but in the form of six year olds. It was the same location that they lost their forth.
Cautiously he made his way up the rocky path that lead to the cave where he and his family had been kept since their ship crashed in 1947. Every so often he would slip on the loose pebbles, but he never took mention of it. How many times had he come out here? When he reached the flat surface he paused staring at the flat side of a large rock. Tentatively, he outstretched his hand and laid it against the cool exterior and looked in wonder at the glowing hand print that showed up under his palm. A second later there was a rumbling and near the hand print the outline of a door appeared before sliding open. Max looked around one more time as he stepped inside so not to announce the location to any on lookers.
Inside, the capacity was dimly lit by what could only be described as pods. It was what held he, Isabel, Tess and their forth safe for all those years. It was almost like being in a human woman's womb. The pod acted as the placenta. He didn't remember being born, but since then he'd had flashes of it. The inside was filled with a watery substance, almost a little jelly like. He could only imagine that was similar to what surrounded human fetuses.
There were four of them, four in the entire world...or so what he'd always been told. In his memories, he was the last of Isabel and their forth to emerge from the pod. Briefly, he'd stopped to look at the remaining alien, a little girth with golden locks. He'd wanted to wait for her, feeling a kinship with her, but Isabel and the other had been so anxious to leave. He hadn't wanted to be left alone so he followed them out the entrance. Their hands locked as they walked along the rocky path. A pair of headlights could be seen, the other boy had run off afraid, but Max and Isabel had remained in place. The same people that stopped were his parents, the ones that adopted him. He and Isabel had been taken and over time they had forgotten about the other little boy.
It wasn't until their first day of fifth grade when he'd run into Tess in the lunch room that things began to fall into place. Tess' ‘daddy' was none other then their protector. Ever since then Max, Isabel and Tess had been inseparable. Max and Isabel hadn't learned too much about themselves, but it was more then they ever thought they would know. Over the years, Nesado had dispersed information, it was the way that Max remembered the little boy. It was also the way he learned that in his past life he was a king, and would be again some day. He'd been king Zan, a prince who'd taken over the title of king after his father unexpectedly died. On Zan's wedding day to princess Ava, there was an attack on their palace. Zan's second in command and best friend had been the first to perish in the battle. Zan's sister Vilandra had been tricked into giving up secret information to Khivar, Zan's nemesis. For years, the people of Antar had put all of their faith in Zan, Ava, Vilandra and Rath that when the news about their deaths had been revealed there was nothing but heartache and despair left on the planet.
Max wasn't sure how it was that he, Isabel, Tess and their forth had come to be on Earth. He supposed that Nesado had no idea as well. Whenever the subject had been approached Nesado would claim that it was what the mother queen had wanted. Nesado had tried to get things to follow the way they had in the last life time. He expected that Max and Tess would get together and become a couple, but thruth was, that was the furthest thing from what had actually happened. Max loved Tess...the same way he loved Isabel. Tess had been his first kiss, but when both had agreed how awkward things had been during it they had settled on being friends. Nesado had been furious with them, still he would try to talk Max and Tess into trying to become a couple. As for Isabel, in her past life, she'd been betrothed to Rath. It was hard for her to follow a destiny when they couldn't even find Rath.
Over the years, Max had accepted that one day he and his family would return to his home planet. He'd never minded because over the years Nesado had always reminded them not get too attached to any one thing and they had all listened. Max, Tess and Isabel had tried to find their own selves in a sea of humans. Tess had become the rebel with a heart. She was basically mean to everyone who messed with her or Isabel, but deep down Tess had a heart of gold. She dated around some, but never too much away. When things became serious, she would end it. Isabel lived her life on the more quiet side. She excelled in school, always studying, claiming she never had time for boys. It had even gone so far that she didn't realize how guys always looked at her. Max, had found the popular life, hanging out with his friends and dating around. It was a life that suited him and he wasn't against casual sex every now and again. His life worked for him. Nesado wasn't against it and as long as he kept the shape shifter off his back all was well. That's what Max would have said months earlier.
Since then though, it seemed as though everything had changed. Mindy was now in his life and he was hiding a huge truth from her. No humans knew about their true origins. His parents certainly had no idea, and he no intention of telling Mindy. Max had a ton of friends, but he seriously doubted that any of them would really care if he were to pack up and leave Roswell suddenly. There were only three humans that loved him, his parents and then Mindy. Deep down Max feared that if they ever learned the truth about him that they wouldn't love him anymore. It was his biggest insecurity and because of it he forbade Isabel from ever telling their parents. Aside from his fear, he still loved them terribly. He couldn't imagine leaving them behind if he had to return to Antar. That thought alone scared him. He knew he would never meet anyone else like Mindy and if he were to be separated from her he was afraid he would be alone for the rest of his life.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Michael tossed the wash rag in the bucket of the remaining dishes from the late customers and sighed. Work had been excruciatingly slow that afternoon. He'd never been so happy to close in his months of working there. He was almost finished, but it still wasn't enough. He'd already lifted the chairs up on the various tables. All he had left to do was mop. As Michael began walking with the mop the dull pain in his right hip began to throb. Michael threw down the mop in frustration.
Never before had he ever felt so helpless! He couldn't help but think back to the night...the night he was with the other two children. If only he had stayed with them instead of running away. His life could be completely different, he'd probably have no problems, at least not like he had in his lifetime. At the orphanage, Michael had known something made him different from all the other little boys and girls. It was the start of his distrust. Even looking back on it now, Michael wasn't sure what it was, but it was almost as though there was something inside of him that warned him not tell a soul.
When Hank and Annie Guerin had come to the orphanage, Michael had seen Hank playing with all the other little boys, not once did he ever look at him. Annie, on the other hand, had seemed to fall in love with Michael at first glance. Annie had Hank wrapped around her finger, it wasn't too long after that Michael had gone to live with them. Hank had never really showed affection for him, but Michael was alright with that because he had Annie. Only a few short months later the Guerins had learned that Annie had colon cancer. It had spread so far already, any chance recovery was depleted. Hank spent so much money trying to help his wife out with the pain that all of their funds had been spent. Annie died not even six months after she discovered the sickness. Hank had long since lost his job, they were evicted from their home and forced to move into a trailer. Then came Hank's drunkenness and the beatings. Michael couldn't remember a time since Annie's death where he wasn't hit.
At school, Michael never let anyone in. The one person that he had wanted to tell his secret to had died. He knew what all the other children around him said, laughed about where he lived, his second hand clothes. The anger that he had always felt towards his peers had made his attitude bearable. It had worked great until he had started working at the Parker's restaurant.
At school he would see Liz and often times she would smile or give him a small wave. He wanted to remain cool and distant, but whenever he saw her his gaze would soften. She seemed to notice the action, and he was thankful that she hadn't ever mentioned it to him. At work, they would talk, sometimes making fun of customers or about things in general, Michael always made sure not to get too close though. Every week either Mr. or Mrs. Parker would invite him to dinner and Michael never declined. He never realized just how thankful he was to Jeff, Nancy and Liz. They all could tell his uneasiness about people and never once had they been confrontational or never pressured him to open up. They had seemed to understand that he needed to solve through whatever it was on is own.
"What are you doing?"
Michael turned around to find Liz standing at the doorway between the restaurant and the back room. "Just thinking."
"Want some help?" Liz gestured to the mop. Minutes earlier she had seen Michael wince in pain and she had felt so bad. It didn't seem fair. Michael had already had a bad enough life, there was no need for him to get beaten.
"Na, I got it."
Liz rolled her eyes. Men! They always had be so strong. "Whatever, I'm helping. Besides, I didn't help do anything else to clean up."Liz grabbed the mop before he could say a word. After she finished, Liz turned to Michael. They finished putting away the buckets and placed the mop back in it's place before they finished the dishes. Liz offered to wash. "Make yourself useful and dry." She tossed a towel at him. There was silence for a few minutes between them.
"I'm sorry," they both mumbled simotaneously. "Why?" Once again, both spoke at the same time. Liz almost giggled, even Michael smirked.
Liz took a deep breath and decided to go first. "I shouldn't have pushed you the way I did earlier. It really is none of my business what happens between you and Hank...but I'm making it. My father's going to talk to a lawyer friend of his and see what he can do to help you. Until then, you're welcome to stay with us."
Michael looked down. He'd never really apologized to anyone else before, not even his elders. The entire affair made him nervous, though he had no idea why. "Thank you," he replied hoping that Liz would understand what he meant.
Liz stared into the hazel eyes and nodded. She could tell that Michael talking about something much deeper then inviting him to stay with them.
"I've never done this before so...don't expect something glorious. I...didn't mean what I said earlier. You were right...you...you're the closest thing I have..." Michael trailed off feeling like a complete jack ass.
His petite companion could tell how sincere Michael was being. Liz could see Michael's hesitation about the entire thing. It was almost funny listening to his broken words and his nervous gestures with his hands. Liz nodded, almost worried that once Michael finished he would pull back into his shell indefinitely, she decided to ease the mood. "Wow, you are really bad at that."
Feeling his heart plummet into his stomach, Michael looked to Liz. When he saw how hard she was fighting to keep a straight face he took the towel in his hand and snapped it at her still bare legs. Liz squealed and ran around the island in the kitchen. They played cat and mouse for a little, but Michael turned out to be victorious in the game. He caught Liz and was getting ready to snap the towel at her again. He grinned at her success.
Liz opened her mouth to say something, instead she closed it. Her eyes seemed to widen and she put a wounded expression on her face. Michael shook his head. It was the same face she put on when tried to get out of trouble or punishment. "Can't we call a truce? You've already hit me plenty of times?" Liz could tell he was about to deny her so she batted her eyes. "Please!" She pleaded in a baby voice. She made sure that his eyes were locked with hers as her hands moved around on the counter behind her searching for the water bottle she had brought down from her apartment.
Michael rolled his eyes and grunted. How was it that Liz was able to get away from everything? "Fine."
Liz gave up a dazzling smile. Michael pulled away slightly getting ready when he saw an evil glint enter Liz's eyes. "Psyche!" Liz pulled the water bottle out from behind her back. Squeezing it as hard as she could she laughed when it squirted out all over Michael. When she couldn't get anymore out from that angle she looked at him.
"You have two seconds to start running, because after that your ass is mine!"
Liz wasted no time in running from him. Michael didn't even wait a breath before he began chasing her. All through the restaurant and in the Parker apartment, squeals and laughter were heard. Liz had surprisingly out run Michael, but he was close behind her. He had her cornered in her bedroom. When Liz tried to step away he scooped her up and slammed her on her bed before getting on top of her and began tickling her.
"Where were you today at school?" Liz asked as she walked into the back room of the restaurant. "I didn't see you." She walked to her locker to grab her apron and order book. She was so busy getting her belongings that she didn't notice the rushed movements of Michael as he jerked around and kept his face away from her.
It was hard for Liz to believe that she and Michael were friends. Sure, they weren't normal friends that went out together and hung out around school, but they were still friends. In school they never talked, but they did sit together at lunch. Their conversations usually consisted of witty comebacks to each other, and that was usually during work time. Her parents would on occasion invite Michael over for dinner.
Michael winced at the lie he was about to tell. Ever since he and Liz had ‘grown closer', which was all he was willing to say about their budding friendship, she had become a ‘mother hen' to him. She always took care of him and even brought food to school from her parent's restaurant...just for him. "Yeah, I didn't feel much like going."
Liz rolled her eyes. "Since when do you ever? Michael, you're so close to graduating. The last thing you need is to do something to jeopardize that."
"You're not my mother or a family member Liz. You can't tell me what to do. Besides that, it's really irritating," he shot back. She always seemed to get on his case about...anything. He wildly wiped his hands through his hair.
Liz slammed her locker shut as she spun around. "I may not be your family, but I'm the closest thing you have to one!" How dare he get an attitude with her?! After everything she and her parents had done for him over the last few months. Why did he have such a problem with needing someone? Why couldn't he just open up to her...at least let her in? She stalked over to Michael and grabbed him roughly to turn him to face her. "Michael! I can't..." she trailed off as she looked more closely at him. "Michael...why didn't you tell me?"
Michael pulled away. "It doesn't matter."
"Doesn't matter?" Carefully she reached up to his wounded face and looked more closely at him. "Of course it matters Michael! Daddy!"
"Liz don't!"
"Daddy!" Liz called out once more, ignoring her pleading companion.
Jeff walked out of his office. "What is it Lizzie?" When his daughter looked to Michael, he followed her gaze and stopped when he saw the beaten adolescent in front of him. He took a deep breath. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out exactly who was responsible for Michael's current state. He just didn't understand it. He'd gone to school with Hank Guerin. At one time he and Hank were rather good friends. Hank had never been a trouble maker or rebel. It wasn't until Hank's wife passed on that he seemed to change. Everyone around town seemed to notice the difference, but they turned their heads the other way. There had always been talk about Hank beating Michael, but there was never any evidence. Not until then. "Shit."
"It's not that bad," Michael announced as Jeff Parker seemed to inspect him.
Liz nodded mockingly. "Yeah, you're only a walking bruise."
Michael tossed a withering glare to the petite brunette. "Shut it!"
When Jeff Parker finished cleaning the cuts on Michael's face he instructed both Michael and his daughter to get back to work. After Michael left the room, Liz refused to leave her spot. "What?"
"That's it? ‘Get back to work'?! Look at him for crying out loud! He can't go back there!"
"No one said he had to. I know what's going on. I'll give a call to my friend Phillip. He's a lawyer, I'm sure he could give some free advice. Tell Michael he can stay with us if he wants until this is taken care of."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mindy lazily walked over to Max and placed a sloppy kiss on Max's lips before planting herself in his lap. "How come whenever we go to parties like these you never drink or smoke with us?"
"Low tolerance," Max muttered. The only time he'd ever touched a lick of alcohol was when he was a freshman in high school. Due to the event, it was decided that aliens weren't able to handle themselves when they were under the influence. He was thankful his parents were on vacation when he'd done it. He hadn't planned on telling his parents anything about his true heritage, luckily they had never witnessed he or Isabel using their powers.
"Did I just hear that bad ass Max Evans admitted he doesn't have the tolerance for drinking?" Kyle asked as he walked over and sat across from the couple. "What a pussy!"
"Why would I want to drink myself into a coma? So I can end up like you and have barfing binges?"
"Touche!" Kyle slapped Max on his back. "It's cool bro. I'm only messing."
Max refrained from rolling his eyes. He may have been the big man on campus, but sometimes he couldn't stand it. He always made appearances to these parties, he would mingle for a little bit, but he would leave before long. Ever since he'd started dating Mindy though...that had all changed. He went from one extreme to another.
"Hey sweetie, can we leave soon?"
Mindy pouted. "You don't want to stay? I mean it just got started. Come on baby." She kissed him again in hopes of changing his mind so he would stay.
Max broke off the kiss early. "I have some stuff to do tonight. Besides, we go to parties all the time, and they are always the same."
"Max," one of Mindy's friends interrupted, "I can take her home. I don't plan on leaving for a while."
"Are you sure?" Max asked. He'd never left one of dates before, but he just...he needed to get out of there.
"Positive."
After Max left the party, he drove past Roswell's city limits into the surrounding desert. He wasn't sure where he was going, so he let his feet guide him there. During the drive his mind was plagued with thoughts. Things that had been on his mind had finally built up and he couldn't push them away anymore. He knew it was time to try and deal with them.
When he finally stopped the jeep Max took a look at his surroundings. An ironic smile crept over his face and he shook his head. Of course...he would end up there when all of his problems seemed to lead back to it. It was his birth place. It was the same place that they took their first steps into the open air, newly born, but in the form of six year olds. It was the same location that they lost their forth.
Cautiously he made his way up the rocky path that lead to the cave where he and his family had been kept since their ship crashed in 1947. Every so often he would slip on the loose pebbles, but he never took mention of it. How many times had he come out here? When he reached the flat surface he paused staring at the flat side of a large rock. Tentatively, he outstretched his hand and laid it against the cool exterior and looked in wonder at the glowing hand print that showed up under his palm. A second later there was a rumbling and near the hand print the outline of a door appeared before sliding open. Max looked around one more time as he stepped inside so not to announce the location to any on lookers.
Inside, the capacity was dimly lit by what could only be described as pods. It was what held he, Isabel, Tess and their forth safe for all those years. It was almost like being in a human woman's womb. The pod acted as the placenta. He didn't remember being born, but since then he'd had flashes of it. The inside was filled with a watery substance, almost a little jelly like. He could only imagine that was similar to what surrounded human fetuses.
There were four of them, four in the entire world...or so what he'd always been told. In his memories, he was the last of Isabel and their forth to emerge from the pod. Briefly, he'd stopped to look at the remaining alien, a little girth with golden locks. He'd wanted to wait for her, feeling a kinship with her, but Isabel and the other had been so anxious to leave. He hadn't wanted to be left alone so he followed them out the entrance. Their hands locked as they walked along the rocky path. A pair of headlights could be seen, the other boy had run off afraid, but Max and Isabel had remained in place. The same people that stopped were his parents, the ones that adopted him. He and Isabel had been taken and over time they had forgotten about the other little boy.
It wasn't until their first day of fifth grade when he'd run into Tess in the lunch room that things began to fall into place. Tess' ‘daddy' was none other then their protector. Ever since then Max, Isabel and Tess had been inseparable. Max and Isabel hadn't learned too much about themselves, but it was more then they ever thought they would know. Over the years, Nesado had dispersed information, it was the way that Max remembered the little boy. It was also the way he learned that in his past life he was a king, and would be again some day. He'd been king Zan, a prince who'd taken over the title of king after his father unexpectedly died. On Zan's wedding day to princess Ava, there was an attack on their palace. Zan's second in command and best friend had been the first to perish in the battle. Zan's sister Vilandra had been tricked into giving up secret information to Khivar, Zan's nemesis. For years, the people of Antar had put all of their faith in Zan, Ava, Vilandra and Rath that when the news about their deaths had been revealed there was nothing but heartache and despair left on the planet.
Max wasn't sure how it was that he, Isabel, Tess and their forth had come to be on Earth. He supposed that Nesado had no idea as well. Whenever the subject had been approached Nesado would claim that it was what the mother queen had wanted. Nesado had tried to get things to follow the way they had in the last life time. He expected that Max and Tess would get together and become a couple, but thruth was, that was the furthest thing from what had actually happened. Max loved Tess...the same way he loved Isabel. Tess had been his first kiss, but when both had agreed how awkward things had been during it they had settled on being friends. Nesado had been furious with them, still he would try to talk Max and Tess into trying to become a couple. As for Isabel, in her past life, she'd been betrothed to Rath. It was hard for her to follow a destiny when they couldn't even find Rath.
Over the years, Max had accepted that one day he and his family would return to his home planet. He'd never minded because over the years Nesado had always reminded them not get too attached to any one thing and they had all listened. Max, Tess and Isabel had tried to find their own selves in a sea of humans. Tess had become the rebel with a heart. She was basically mean to everyone who messed with her or Isabel, but deep down Tess had a heart of gold. She dated around some, but never too much away. When things became serious, she would end it. Isabel lived her life on the more quiet side. She excelled in school, always studying, claiming she never had time for boys. It had even gone so far that she didn't realize how guys always looked at her. Max, had found the popular life, hanging out with his friends and dating around. It was a life that suited him and he wasn't against casual sex every now and again. His life worked for him. Nesado wasn't against it and as long as he kept the shape shifter off his back all was well. That's what Max would have said months earlier.
Since then though, it seemed as though everything had changed. Mindy was now in his life and he was hiding a huge truth from her. No humans knew about their true origins. His parents certainly had no idea, and he no intention of telling Mindy. Max had a ton of friends, but he seriously doubted that any of them would really care if he were to pack up and leave Roswell suddenly. There were only three humans that loved him, his parents and then Mindy. Deep down Max feared that if they ever learned the truth about him that they wouldn't love him anymore. It was his biggest insecurity and because of it he forbade Isabel from ever telling their parents. Aside from his fear, he still loved them terribly. He couldn't imagine leaving them behind if he had to return to Antar. That thought alone scared him. He knew he would never meet anyone else like Mindy and if he were to be separated from her he was afraid he would be alone for the rest of his life.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Michael tossed the wash rag in the bucket of the remaining dishes from the late customers and sighed. Work had been excruciatingly slow that afternoon. He'd never been so happy to close in his months of working there. He was almost finished, but it still wasn't enough. He'd already lifted the chairs up on the various tables. All he had left to do was mop. As Michael began walking with the mop the dull pain in his right hip began to throb. Michael threw down the mop in frustration.
Never before had he ever felt so helpless! He couldn't help but think back to the night...the night he was with the other two children. If only he had stayed with them instead of running away. His life could be completely different, he'd probably have no problems, at least not like he had in his lifetime. At the orphanage, Michael had known something made him different from all the other little boys and girls. It was the start of his distrust. Even looking back on it now, Michael wasn't sure what it was, but it was almost as though there was something inside of him that warned him not tell a soul.
When Hank and Annie Guerin had come to the orphanage, Michael had seen Hank playing with all the other little boys, not once did he ever look at him. Annie, on the other hand, had seemed to fall in love with Michael at first glance. Annie had Hank wrapped around her finger, it wasn't too long after that Michael had gone to live with them. Hank had never really showed affection for him, but Michael was alright with that because he had Annie. Only a few short months later the Guerins had learned that Annie had colon cancer. It had spread so far already, any chance recovery was depleted. Hank spent so much money trying to help his wife out with the pain that all of their funds had been spent. Annie died not even six months after she discovered the sickness. Hank had long since lost his job, they were evicted from their home and forced to move into a trailer. Then came Hank's drunkenness and the beatings. Michael couldn't remember a time since Annie's death where he wasn't hit.
At school, Michael never let anyone in. The one person that he had wanted to tell his secret to had died. He knew what all the other children around him said, laughed about where he lived, his second hand clothes. The anger that he had always felt towards his peers had made his attitude bearable. It had worked great until he had started working at the Parker's restaurant.
At school he would see Liz and often times she would smile or give him a small wave. He wanted to remain cool and distant, but whenever he saw her his gaze would soften. She seemed to notice the action, and he was thankful that she hadn't ever mentioned it to him. At work, they would talk, sometimes making fun of customers or about things in general, Michael always made sure not to get too close though. Every week either Mr. or Mrs. Parker would invite him to dinner and Michael never declined. He never realized just how thankful he was to Jeff, Nancy and Liz. They all could tell his uneasiness about people and never once had they been confrontational or never pressured him to open up. They had seemed to understand that he needed to solve through whatever it was on is own.
"What are you doing?"
Michael turned around to find Liz standing at the doorway between the restaurant and the back room. "Just thinking."
"Want some help?" Liz gestured to the mop. Minutes earlier she had seen Michael wince in pain and she had felt so bad. It didn't seem fair. Michael had already had a bad enough life, there was no need for him to get beaten.
"Na, I got it."
Liz rolled her eyes. Men! They always had be so strong. "Whatever, I'm helping. Besides, I didn't help do anything else to clean up."Liz grabbed the mop before he could say a word. After she finished, Liz turned to Michael. They finished putting away the buckets and placed the mop back in it's place before they finished the dishes. Liz offered to wash. "Make yourself useful and dry." She tossed a towel at him. There was silence for a few minutes between them.
"I'm sorry," they both mumbled simotaneously. "Why?" Once again, both spoke at the same time. Liz almost giggled, even Michael smirked.
Liz took a deep breath and decided to go first. "I shouldn't have pushed you the way I did earlier. It really is none of my business what happens between you and Hank...but I'm making it. My father's going to talk to a lawyer friend of his and see what he can do to help you. Until then, you're welcome to stay with us."
Michael looked down. He'd never really apologized to anyone else before, not even his elders. The entire affair made him nervous, though he had no idea why. "Thank you," he replied hoping that Liz would understand what he meant.
Liz stared into the hazel eyes and nodded. She could tell that Michael talking about something much deeper then inviting him to stay with them.
"I've never done this before so...don't expect something glorious. I...didn't mean what I said earlier. You were right...you...you're the closest thing I have..." Michael trailed off feeling like a complete jack ass.
His petite companion could tell how sincere Michael was being. Liz could see Michael's hesitation about the entire thing. It was almost funny listening to his broken words and his nervous gestures with his hands. Liz nodded, almost worried that once Michael finished he would pull back into his shell indefinitely, she decided to ease the mood. "Wow, you are really bad at that."
Feeling his heart plummet into his stomach, Michael looked to Liz. When he saw how hard she was fighting to keep a straight face he took the towel in his hand and snapped it at her still bare legs. Liz squealed and ran around the island in the kitchen. They played cat and mouse for a little, but Michael turned out to be victorious in the game. He caught Liz and was getting ready to snap the towel at her again. He grinned at her success.
Liz opened her mouth to say something, instead she closed it. Her eyes seemed to widen and she put a wounded expression on her face. Michael shook his head. It was the same face she put on when tried to get out of trouble or punishment. "Can't we call a truce? You've already hit me plenty of times?" Liz could tell he was about to deny her so she batted her eyes. "Please!" She pleaded in a baby voice. She made sure that his eyes were locked with hers as her hands moved around on the counter behind her searching for the water bottle she had brought down from her apartment.
Michael rolled his eyes and grunted. How was it that Liz was able to get away from everything? "Fine."
Liz gave up a dazzling smile. Michael pulled away slightly getting ready when he saw an evil glint enter Liz's eyes. "Psyche!" Liz pulled the water bottle out from behind her back. Squeezing it as hard as she could she laughed when it squirted out all over Michael. When she couldn't get anymore out from that angle she looked at him.
"You have two seconds to start running, because after that your ass is mine!"
Liz wasted no time in running from him. Michael didn't even wait a breath before he began chasing her. All through the restaurant and in the Parker apartment, squeals and laughter were heard. Liz had surprisingly out run Michael, but he was close behind her. He had her cornered in her bedroom. When Liz tried to step away he scooped her up and slammed her on her bed before getting on top of her and began tickling her.
Walter: "I used this to extract information from a corpse once. You can do that if they've been dead up to six hours."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Chapter 3: Getting To Know You better
"Today is going to be so exciting," Maria announced in a sing song voice as she and Alex walked to their class. "I mean we get to take these babies home for the weekend!"
Alex looked at Maria as though she were crazy. She really had no idea what she was excited about. Alex heard about those so called babies. Sure, they were supposed to look and feel real, but he also remembered hearing about the crying and...the crying and the crying the middle of the night! He was not looking forward to it. The only reason why he had even signed up for Child Development was because Maria had begged him the previous year when they were filling out their schedules and what classes they wanted.
"Why the long face? We can be partners and then it will be so much easier."
"Maria, easy? I mean come on! We have to stick a key in it's back to get it to quiet shut up. What babies require a key to ‘fall asleep'?"
Maria rolled her eyes. "Obviously a simulated baby," she answered as though it were the most obvious answer. "Besides, it's only for one weekend. How bad can it be?"
Alex had a feeling that they were both going to learn how bad it was going to get. He figured he might as well save his voice, because Maria was a stubborn one. There was no way she listening to him. As they neared the class room they spotted the usual group of kids standing out in the hall. Alex couldn't believe that he was not the only boy in the class that period! It had been such a relief, but it was short lived when he realized the other guys in his class. Kyle Valenti, Max Evans, which Alex was sure they only joined to meet girls. The only other guy was Tommy Sheridan, and he was a only a younger version of Kyle.
The final bell rang as Maria and Alex walked into the room. The students all walked into the classroom and settled down in their seats. Alex and Maria took their usual seats in the corner of the class room. Alex watched as Max, Kyle and Tommy sat in their usual seats, surrounded by Mindy Orozco, Isabel and Tess Evans.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Isabel and Tess had walked into their Child Development class minutes before anyone else, both having their third hour in the same wing of the school. The two blondes sat silently as other students filed in the room or congregated near the door. Isabel rolled her eyes every time she heard the boys laugh, mostly she could hear her brother's taunting voice, she could imagine what he was saying about the poor students walking past them.
It wasn't her decision to be in the same class as Max, but she didn't have a choice. Their teacher Mrs. Goodell was both a teacher for Child Development and the Fashion class, as such, her classes were split. Her first three classes were Fashion, fourth and fifth period were Child Development and sixth hour was her prep period. Isabel was originally assigned to the fifth hour class, but she still needed to fulfill one of graduation requirements, the only open class was fifth hour.
Every single day, Isabel dreaded coming to class. Over the years, watching her brother change to become popular and please other people had more then ticked her off. Max could be such a jack ass sometimes. On more then one occasion she had stated to Tess how embarrassing it was to be related to Max. Not only had he given up his heritage, he had sold them out to be with other people.
Isabel couldn't understand Max anymore. He had become a stranger to her. All their lives, they struggled to find a way to fit in. Isabel, herself, had chosen to study. She didn't care much about the human boys. She was already too attached to her parents, the thought that she may have to leave them one day terrified her. She didn't want to create anymore attachments that would serve to hurt her in the end. Tess, while she had come off as a snob at times was not true. Isabel could tell that her best friend struggled with the situation. Tess had left everything cordial with other people, unless they made her mad. Isabel wished she had the strength that Tess did. Tess was able to keep herself safe from all attachments. She dated around, but she had enough self control to keep everything under control. Once, Isabel had confessed the same thing to Tess and Tess only hugged her. Isabel could still hear the words that Tess had spoken with as much clarity almost as if it was spoken only days ago. "Sweetie, you could never do that. You're too open and kind that you would never be able to hold yourself back from anyone you might fall for."
As far back as Isabel could remember it was the same. She couldn't count the times she had heard that Max and Tess were supposed to get together while she was supposed to be with their fourth. Nesado had explained that they were to mate with each other, but Isabel didn't think that would ever happen. Max and Tess were dead set against a romantic relationship. She, herself couldn't imagine starting a relationship with their fourth. She may not have had the ability to spend her childhood getting to know him, but something inside her strongly disagreed with the idea that she would mate with someone of her own kind.
There was still so much that she didn't know about herself...where she came from. Nesado had told them the basics, that they were created from alien and human DNA. As far as they knew, Max, Isabel and Tess were built as regular humans. They had passed as such since they had emerged from their pods, but Isabel didn't know very much about her body. All her life she had wondered if her body was in fact as much as a human woman as it could be. It was part of the reason she had signed up for the class.
The other part that determined her for taking that class was a little more personal. Isabel had never considered being an alien a special thing. How could it be when she had to hide what and who she actually was from those around her? There were so many nights that she would lie awake and wonder what it would be like if she were a normal human. Taking into consideration the fact that she was a ‘mother hen' towards Max and Tess proved to her that she would have most likely been a mom. Isabel wanted to have a large family, but she didn't know if her alien life would allow that. Often, she'd imagine herself married to a nice human and raising her family. She wanted to know more about children, about what a woman went through while having a baby and such.
"Settle down class!" The announcer called out after she took roll. "Now, because of our lack of funds, we only have eight babies. I have split four for each class, now...I decided that this first weekend I would pair up eight students as a married couple and issue out a child for each couple." Around the room cheers were heard, the students all excited at the prospect of them getting married.
"Will we be picking the pairs?" Max spoke up before anyone could ask the question that had been on everyone's minds. Isabel rolled her eyes as she watched his eyes immediately swing to Mindy. Isabel snorted, just thinking about her brother and Mindy acting as a married couple...with a child. Max and Mindy were too wrapped into each other to take care of a baby, fake or not.
"No." At the sound of defeated sighs and indifferent groans Mrs. Goodell smiled. "I've taught this class for the past ten years, I know what mistakes not to make. Now, I've devised a list of four different couples. Max, Kyle, Tommy and Alex, please come to the front of the class. You will all be the acting husbands."
Isabel already felt bad for the girls that would end up with Max, Kyle and Tommy. All three were pretty much selfish when it came to certain things, she was more then positive that they would pass the baby on to their ‘wives' so they could go out partying that weekend. Looking at Alex, she narrowed her eyes. He stood further away from the other three, obviously embarrassed at being selected to stand in front of the class. She didn't know Alex very well, but he'd always seemed like a nice guy, nothing like her brother or the other two ding dongs standing in the front.
"In this hat I scraps of paper with every girl's named scrawled on it. When a guy chooses your name, please make your way up to the front." She held up the bowl to Tommy first. Tommy looked around the room full of girls, pleased that he had chosen first. He had pick of the entire class, then again, it wasn't as if he was choosing on his own accord. When he pulled out a piece of paper he looked at the name before looking to the owner of it. Tess, hm....he supposed she wasn't so bad. Besides, she was quite a looker. He could have done worse. The actions repeated three more times with similar results to finding out who would be paired together. It ended up being Kyle and Mindy, something that Max had been furious with. He in turn picked Maria, who both shared annoyed glances as Alex finished up the activity by choosing Isabel.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Welcome, my name is Liz and I will be your waitress. Can I start you off with some drinks?" As her customers took their time ordering drink and food, Liz held a polite smile on her face, but it was something she had to work hard at. It was one thing to wait on actual customers, but these people were insufferable. It didn't seem fair that she had to endure their torture at school while the made fun of her in front of other students. Oh no, they had to mock her in front of the rest of Socorro. When the group had finally made their decisions, Liz read back the orders to make sure that they were correct before passing them off to Michael.
"Problem?" Michael asked as Liz set up the paper. Working so far back made it hard to hear everything that went on, but he'd seen the malicious smiles on their faces before they broke out in laughter, followed along with various chuckles from around the surrounding area. Liz's forced smile had faltered, but he'd seen the valiant way she held off from letting their peers see how much their jest had effected her.
Liz rolled her eyes trying not to let everything get to her. "Just them acting as the shallow people we already know they are." Over the years, Liz had endured a lot of criticism, but it always seemed to hurt more when they were near her home.
"Want me to take care of it?"
Liz let a genuine smile take over. "No, I've dealt with this for years, a few more hours shouldn't kill me."
When their orders were ready to go, Liz steadily lifted them into various places as she carefully maneuvered to their table, avoiding running children. She saw Aaron, one of the guys place his foot out far in hopes of tripping her. She wanted to smirk when she avoided the possible catastrophe. Professionally, she listed off all the orders as she placed them in front of the correct people.
"Uh, I asked for medium, not charred beyond recognition," a snooty girl said as she flipped her hair referring to her cheese burger..
"I see hair in this salad," another girl added. Apologizing, Liz took back the orders as she made her way to Michael telling him what was said. It took a few minutes, but when he had remade the orders she returned them the customers. It was then that someone else pointed out something was wrong their food. It was then that Liz realized there had been nothing wrong in the first place, they were just trying to torture her. Liz held back her words of anger, determined to not let them get the better of her.
"What's wrong this time?" Michael nearly exploded. Ever since he had started working there, he'd never gotten an order wrong.
"They asked for onion rings, not french fries."
"Well, then where are the french fries?"
"I'm assuming he ate them."
"Then I'm not getting him onion rings," he replied with a defiant sigh as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Michael...the customer is always right," she told him, reminding him about their motto.
"In most cases, not this one," he tagged on. "I refuse to cook more food for these people."
Liz looked away. She could only imagine how well that would go over with Sam Nichols. He was one of the most popular guys at their school, his family was rich. Liz knew that he was used to getting everything he wanted. In a word, he was spoiled. Even as a child if he didn't get his way, he could get anyone in trouble. Now, it was even worse. He got his kicks making fun of service people, messing with them and then getting them in trouble or sometimes fired when they refused to take anymore of his banter. Liz knew that her father would fire her, but she didn't want Same saying or doing anything that would mess with the restaurant's business.
"I'm sorry, but my cook refuses to serve you onion rings," Liz said as she looked at Sam.
"Excuse me?"
"If you ordered onion rings instead of french fries you should have let me know when these two...ladies," she said gesturing over to a few of his companions, "did. If you had such a problem with french fries, then you shouldn't have eaten them in the first place."
" Do you know who I am? Do you know who my father is?" He tossed out trying to intimidate her. "Your job is not to lecture me, your job is to serve me," he replied in a loud, harsh voice. Liz looked up to see all the other customers looking at the scene.
"Yes, I know who are. In fact, everyone in this town knows because you keep throwing it out to them. Your parents should have paid to get you some manners, we all know that your family is very well off. If you showed some respect, maybe you would..."
"Excuse me," Jeff Parker said interrupting before his daughter had a chance to finish her statement. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes," Sam replied, taking lead. "It seems as though your daughter's hearing is as screwed up as the rest of her. She didn't take down anyone's order correctly, Genie discovered a hair in her salad. I don't know what kind of establishment you are running here, but you should find some better servers."
Jeff had seen the group when they first walked in, he had watched the entire scene unfold and he was mad. Not only had they tried to make Liz look like a fool, but they put her down. "Get out of my restaurant," the older man answered in a calm voice. "We don't need your money here."
"Can you really afford to lose business? Once I finish with you no one will be eating here."
"Son, slander is a serious offense. I won't hesitate in hiring a lawyer and suing your family." Jeff refused to bow down to this child. "Now, leave my restaurant."
Sam marched off while the rest of his party collected their belongings, each tossing glares towards Jeff and Liz. Genie stopped in front of Liz. "You might want to think about getting a different job. Plastic surgery costs a lot Liz. You're going to need it to be accepted in society."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So..." Alex coughed, he had no idea what to say. Isabel had always been somewhat of an enigma to him. She was brainy, but she was also beautiful. She honestly had no idea how many guys liked her. When he drew her name out was excited, but it came with apprehension, he wasn't quite sure what to say or how to act in front of her.
Isabel smiled at Alex's shy attitude. Guys had come up to her before and tried to strike up a conversation, but they were usually her brother's friends. There wasn't very much that she had in common with any of them. Seeing Alex so shy and almost intimidated was refreshing. It had been such a long time since she had around a guy like that.
"We need to pick a name for her," Isabel replied softly. Since he was the last person to chose, he'd been the first person to chose what baby he wanted. Isabel was sure he would have chosen a boy, most guys always wanted boys, but Alex had surprised her when he picked a girl.
"I'm not very good at names," Alex confessed, almost embarrassed.
"Well, how about after someone you know? Maybe like Maria?" She quieted down as she thought about a possible name. "How about Theresa Marie? Theresa after Tess and I think Marie is pretty self explanatory.
Alex smiled. "I like that. Now, what about keeping her?"
"I already thought about that. Maybe we can spend some time together this weekend. We'll have to split nights, but this way it's fairly worked out."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Name?" Maria asked as she filled out the papers. Of course, strong man Max Evans had to choose a boy. She didn't have the least care for Max and this project was beginning to suck. All he'd done since he'd learned the pairs was sulk.
"Maximus."
Maximus, it sounded like the name of an animal. "Where the hell did you come up with that? It sounds like the name of a pet."
Max tossed his partner a dirty look. "It's a masculine name."
"It's a dog's name," Maria shot back, unfazed by Max's attitude.
"He's named after his father," Max defended.
Maria's eyebrows knit together in confusion. She may not know very much about Max Evans, but she had been in school with him since he moved to Roswell. "Your name isn't even Maximus."
"We're sticking with Maximus."
"Whatever. What about the distribution this weekend?"
"I can't do it this weekend. You take him."
"Excuse me? I have to work tonight and how would it be fair to me to have this child two nights in a row? No, I didn't choose me as a partner, you did."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What do you want to name her?" Kyle asked as he looked at Mindy holding ‘their daughter'. He'd wanted a boy, but one look in Mindy's eyes when he was making the decision and he lost it. How could he deny Mindy?
Mindy smiled and looked at the baby. Hmm, maybe if she'd chosen Kyle, he would have spoiled her more then Max had. "I don't know. I always liked the name Sophia..."
"Then Sophia it is. I have to admit that I wish I could remember how we conceived her."
Mindy giggled at Kyle's words . "You are so silly sometimes."
"It's why you want me," he answered back. "Now, what about who get's to keep her? How do we decide that?"
It was then that a new voice broke in. "Sorry Valenti, but Mindy and I have a date with a bed tonight. Maybe you should take the child."
"Hey buzz off Evans. I'm talking to my wife about our daughter." Kyle smirked when Max pulled away with a stung look on his face. How did he get so lucky? Not only did he get to work with his most desired person, but he got to piss off Evans along the way. Life wasn't too bad at that moment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What do you want to name him?" Tess asked dully. She couldn't believe her misfortune, Tommy. Why did he have to pick her name? The guy was a complete dog.
"What does it matter? No, what I want to know is how she came to be," the younger boy said smoothly. He scooted his chair closer to her and placed an arm around her shoulders. He always thought Tess was attractive, he supposed it wouldn't be too bad working with her.
"You're a dog," Tess retorted as she tossed his arm from her.
Tommy paid no mind to Tess' previous statement and returned his arm to her shoulders. "Come on. Maybe after this project ends we can get together and practice the art of sex."
"Don't touch me!" Tess pushed Tommy away from her so violently that he was thrown out of his chair and he landed on the floor. Around the room laughter rang out looking at him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The restaurant had closed an hour earlier, but Liz and Michael still occupied it. Liz had divided her tip between herself and Michael. Michael had no idea that her father had spoken to a lawyer about his situation. Liz knew that if Michael was in fact emancipated then he would need as much money as possible for his living and what not.
"I can't believe what a jerk that guy is," Michael offered, striking up a new conversation. He had never really talked to Sam Nichols. Actually, Sam pretty much avoided Michael, same as everyone else.
"You're lucky that he never singled you out," Liz replied softly. She, on the other hand, was his main source of entertainment. She always had been.
"That's because he knows I'd kick his ass," Michael replied gruffly.
Liz rolled her eyes. "Because I can see how the name Michael Guerin strikes fear in the hearts of men and women alike." When she realized how Michael's ego was slightly increasing she lost her smile and became serious. "You are not as bad as you think," she reminded him thinking back to the way he acted around her and her parents.
"Well, just don't let it get around. I have a reputation to uphold."
"I better get some sleep. My father expects me to work in the morning. I mean today was supposed to be my day off. I wanted to sleep in," she referred to the staff development day that had occurred. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Michael watched Liz walk away and sighed. Ever since working at the Parker's restaurant he had never seen Liz as miserable as she had been earlier that day. He knew what people said about Liz, both behind her back and brazenly to her face, but it still paled in comparison to what happened earlier that afternoon. The way that those guys just criticized and taunted her in her own family's restaurant...Michael didn't understand why she didn't just stick up for herself. Fact of the matter was, she was loner. He knew that, Liz knew that, everyone did. Michael just wanted her stand up for herself every once in a while. If she was going to be an outcast, she might as well stick up for herself.
As Michael stood up to head to bed himself he knocked over a glass that he'd been drinking out of. He cursed as he heard the glass shatter, shaking his head at his stupidity. He didn't feel like sweeping it up. Instead, he kneeled down to the ground, hovered his hand over the place it broke and concentrated on putting the pieces together. When he opened up his eyes he smiled at seeing the glass in it's original form. He had never really used his powers, so he was still a little shaky at it. His joy was short lived when he heard the small gasp coming from the door leading from the back room.
"Today is going to be so exciting," Maria announced in a sing song voice as she and Alex walked to their class. "I mean we get to take these babies home for the weekend!"
Alex looked at Maria as though she were crazy. She really had no idea what she was excited about. Alex heard about those so called babies. Sure, they were supposed to look and feel real, but he also remembered hearing about the crying and...the crying and the crying the middle of the night! He was not looking forward to it. The only reason why he had even signed up for Child Development was because Maria had begged him the previous year when they were filling out their schedules and what classes they wanted.
"Why the long face? We can be partners and then it will be so much easier."
"Maria, easy? I mean come on! We have to stick a key in it's back to get it to quiet shut up. What babies require a key to ‘fall asleep'?"
Maria rolled her eyes. "Obviously a simulated baby," she answered as though it were the most obvious answer. "Besides, it's only for one weekend. How bad can it be?"
Alex had a feeling that they were both going to learn how bad it was going to get. He figured he might as well save his voice, because Maria was a stubborn one. There was no way she listening to him. As they neared the class room they spotted the usual group of kids standing out in the hall. Alex couldn't believe that he was not the only boy in the class that period! It had been such a relief, but it was short lived when he realized the other guys in his class. Kyle Valenti, Max Evans, which Alex was sure they only joined to meet girls. The only other guy was Tommy Sheridan, and he was a only a younger version of Kyle.
The final bell rang as Maria and Alex walked into the room. The students all walked into the classroom and settled down in their seats. Alex and Maria took their usual seats in the corner of the class room. Alex watched as Max, Kyle and Tommy sat in their usual seats, surrounded by Mindy Orozco, Isabel and Tess Evans.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Isabel and Tess had walked into their Child Development class minutes before anyone else, both having their third hour in the same wing of the school. The two blondes sat silently as other students filed in the room or congregated near the door. Isabel rolled her eyes every time she heard the boys laugh, mostly she could hear her brother's taunting voice, she could imagine what he was saying about the poor students walking past them.
It wasn't her decision to be in the same class as Max, but she didn't have a choice. Their teacher Mrs. Goodell was both a teacher for Child Development and the Fashion class, as such, her classes were split. Her first three classes were Fashion, fourth and fifth period were Child Development and sixth hour was her prep period. Isabel was originally assigned to the fifth hour class, but she still needed to fulfill one of graduation requirements, the only open class was fifth hour.
Every single day, Isabel dreaded coming to class. Over the years, watching her brother change to become popular and please other people had more then ticked her off. Max could be such a jack ass sometimes. On more then one occasion she had stated to Tess how embarrassing it was to be related to Max. Not only had he given up his heritage, he had sold them out to be with other people.
Isabel couldn't understand Max anymore. He had become a stranger to her. All their lives, they struggled to find a way to fit in. Isabel, herself, had chosen to study. She didn't care much about the human boys. She was already too attached to her parents, the thought that she may have to leave them one day terrified her. She didn't want to create anymore attachments that would serve to hurt her in the end. Tess, while she had come off as a snob at times was not true. Isabel could tell that her best friend struggled with the situation. Tess had left everything cordial with other people, unless they made her mad. Isabel wished she had the strength that Tess did. Tess was able to keep herself safe from all attachments. She dated around, but she had enough self control to keep everything under control. Once, Isabel had confessed the same thing to Tess and Tess only hugged her. Isabel could still hear the words that Tess had spoken with as much clarity almost as if it was spoken only days ago. "Sweetie, you could never do that. You're too open and kind that you would never be able to hold yourself back from anyone you might fall for."
As far back as Isabel could remember it was the same. She couldn't count the times she had heard that Max and Tess were supposed to get together while she was supposed to be with their fourth. Nesado had explained that they were to mate with each other, but Isabel didn't think that would ever happen. Max and Tess were dead set against a romantic relationship. She, herself couldn't imagine starting a relationship with their fourth. She may not have had the ability to spend her childhood getting to know him, but something inside her strongly disagreed with the idea that she would mate with someone of her own kind.
There was still so much that she didn't know about herself...where she came from. Nesado had told them the basics, that they were created from alien and human DNA. As far as they knew, Max, Isabel and Tess were built as regular humans. They had passed as such since they had emerged from their pods, but Isabel didn't know very much about her body. All her life she had wondered if her body was in fact as much as a human woman as it could be. It was part of the reason she had signed up for the class.
The other part that determined her for taking that class was a little more personal. Isabel had never considered being an alien a special thing. How could it be when she had to hide what and who she actually was from those around her? There were so many nights that she would lie awake and wonder what it would be like if she were a normal human. Taking into consideration the fact that she was a ‘mother hen' towards Max and Tess proved to her that she would have most likely been a mom. Isabel wanted to have a large family, but she didn't know if her alien life would allow that. Often, she'd imagine herself married to a nice human and raising her family. She wanted to know more about children, about what a woman went through while having a baby and such.
"Settle down class!" The announcer called out after she took roll. "Now, because of our lack of funds, we only have eight babies. I have split four for each class, now...I decided that this first weekend I would pair up eight students as a married couple and issue out a child for each couple." Around the room cheers were heard, the students all excited at the prospect of them getting married.
"Will we be picking the pairs?" Max spoke up before anyone could ask the question that had been on everyone's minds. Isabel rolled her eyes as she watched his eyes immediately swing to Mindy. Isabel snorted, just thinking about her brother and Mindy acting as a married couple...with a child. Max and Mindy were too wrapped into each other to take care of a baby, fake or not.
"No." At the sound of defeated sighs and indifferent groans Mrs. Goodell smiled. "I've taught this class for the past ten years, I know what mistakes not to make. Now, I've devised a list of four different couples. Max, Kyle, Tommy and Alex, please come to the front of the class. You will all be the acting husbands."
Isabel already felt bad for the girls that would end up with Max, Kyle and Tommy. All three were pretty much selfish when it came to certain things, she was more then positive that they would pass the baby on to their ‘wives' so they could go out partying that weekend. Looking at Alex, she narrowed her eyes. He stood further away from the other three, obviously embarrassed at being selected to stand in front of the class. She didn't know Alex very well, but he'd always seemed like a nice guy, nothing like her brother or the other two ding dongs standing in the front.
"In this hat I scraps of paper with every girl's named scrawled on it. When a guy chooses your name, please make your way up to the front." She held up the bowl to Tommy first. Tommy looked around the room full of girls, pleased that he had chosen first. He had pick of the entire class, then again, it wasn't as if he was choosing on his own accord. When he pulled out a piece of paper he looked at the name before looking to the owner of it. Tess, hm....he supposed she wasn't so bad. Besides, she was quite a looker. He could have done worse. The actions repeated three more times with similar results to finding out who would be paired together. It ended up being Kyle and Mindy, something that Max had been furious with. He in turn picked Maria, who both shared annoyed glances as Alex finished up the activity by choosing Isabel.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Welcome, my name is Liz and I will be your waitress. Can I start you off with some drinks?" As her customers took their time ordering drink and food, Liz held a polite smile on her face, but it was something she had to work hard at. It was one thing to wait on actual customers, but these people were insufferable. It didn't seem fair that she had to endure their torture at school while the made fun of her in front of other students. Oh no, they had to mock her in front of the rest of Socorro. When the group had finally made their decisions, Liz read back the orders to make sure that they were correct before passing them off to Michael.
"Problem?" Michael asked as Liz set up the paper. Working so far back made it hard to hear everything that went on, but he'd seen the malicious smiles on their faces before they broke out in laughter, followed along with various chuckles from around the surrounding area. Liz's forced smile had faltered, but he'd seen the valiant way she held off from letting their peers see how much their jest had effected her.
Liz rolled her eyes trying not to let everything get to her. "Just them acting as the shallow people we already know they are." Over the years, Liz had endured a lot of criticism, but it always seemed to hurt more when they were near her home.
"Want me to take care of it?"
Liz let a genuine smile take over. "No, I've dealt with this for years, a few more hours shouldn't kill me."
When their orders were ready to go, Liz steadily lifted them into various places as she carefully maneuvered to their table, avoiding running children. She saw Aaron, one of the guys place his foot out far in hopes of tripping her. She wanted to smirk when she avoided the possible catastrophe. Professionally, she listed off all the orders as she placed them in front of the correct people.
"Uh, I asked for medium, not charred beyond recognition," a snooty girl said as she flipped her hair referring to her cheese burger..
"I see hair in this salad," another girl added. Apologizing, Liz took back the orders as she made her way to Michael telling him what was said. It took a few minutes, but when he had remade the orders she returned them the customers. It was then that someone else pointed out something was wrong their food. It was then that Liz realized there had been nothing wrong in the first place, they were just trying to torture her. Liz held back her words of anger, determined to not let them get the better of her.
"What's wrong this time?" Michael nearly exploded. Ever since he had started working there, he'd never gotten an order wrong.
"They asked for onion rings, not french fries."
"Well, then where are the french fries?"
"I'm assuming he ate them."
"Then I'm not getting him onion rings," he replied with a defiant sigh as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Michael...the customer is always right," she told him, reminding him about their motto.
"In most cases, not this one," he tagged on. "I refuse to cook more food for these people."
Liz looked away. She could only imagine how well that would go over with Sam Nichols. He was one of the most popular guys at their school, his family was rich. Liz knew that he was used to getting everything he wanted. In a word, he was spoiled. Even as a child if he didn't get his way, he could get anyone in trouble. Now, it was even worse. He got his kicks making fun of service people, messing with them and then getting them in trouble or sometimes fired when they refused to take anymore of his banter. Liz knew that her father would fire her, but she didn't want Same saying or doing anything that would mess with the restaurant's business.
"I'm sorry, but my cook refuses to serve you onion rings," Liz said as she looked at Sam.
"Excuse me?"
"If you ordered onion rings instead of french fries you should have let me know when these two...ladies," she said gesturing over to a few of his companions, "did. If you had such a problem with french fries, then you shouldn't have eaten them in the first place."
" Do you know who I am? Do you know who my father is?" He tossed out trying to intimidate her. "Your job is not to lecture me, your job is to serve me," he replied in a loud, harsh voice. Liz looked up to see all the other customers looking at the scene.
"Yes, I know who are. In fact, everyone in this town knows because you keep throwing it out to them. Your parents should have paid to get you some manners, we all know that your family is very well off. If you showed some respect, maybe you would..."
"Excuse me," Jeff Parker said interrupting before his daughter had a chance to finish her statement. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes," Sam replied, taking lead. "It seems as though your daughter's hearing is as screwed up as the rest of her. She didn't take down anyone's order correctly, Genie discovered a hair in her salad. I don't know what kind of establishment you are running here, but you should find some better servers."
Jeff had seen the group when they first walked in, he had watched the entire scene unfold and he was mad. Not only had they tried to make Liz look like a fool, but they put her down. "Get out of my restaurant," the older man answered in a calm voice. "We don't need your money here."
"Can you really afford to lose business? Once I finish with you no one will be eating here."
"Son, slander is a serious offense. I won't hesitate in hiring a lawyer and suing your family." Jeff refused to bow down to this child. "Now, leave my restaurant."
Sam marched off while the rest of his party collected their belongings, each tossing glares towards Jeff and Liz. Genie stopped in front of Liz. "You might want to think about getting a different job. Plastic surgery costs a lot Liz. You're going to need it to be accepted in society."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So..." Alex coughed, he had no idea what to say. Isabel had always been somewhat of an enigma to him. She was brainy, but she was also beautiful. She honestly had no idea how many guys liked her. When he drew her name out was excited, but it came with apprehension, he wasn't quite sure what to say or how to act in front of her.
Isabel smiled at Alex's shy attitude. Guys had come up to her before and tried to strike up a conversation, but they were usually her brother's friends. There wasn't very much that she had in common with any of them. Seeing Alex so shy and almost intimidated was refreshing. It had been such a long time since she had around a guy like that.
"We need to pick a name for her," Isabel replied softly. Since he was the last person to chose, he'd been the first person to chose what baby he wanted. Isabel was sure he would have chosen a boy, most guys always wanted boys, but Alex had surprised her when he picked a girl.
"I'm not very good at names," Alex confessed, almost embarrassed.
"Well, how about after someone you know? Maybe like Maria?" She quieted down as she thought about a possible name. "How about Theresa Marie? Theresa after Tess and I think Marie is pretty self explanatory.
Alex smiled. "I like that. Now, what about keeping her?"
"I already thought about that. Maybe we can spend some time together this weekend. We'll have to split nights, but this way it's fairly worked out."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Name?" Maria asked as she filled out the papers. Of course, strong man Max Evans had to choose a boy. She didn't have the least care for Max and this project was beginning to suck. All he'd done since he'd learned the pairs was sulk.
"Maximus."
Maximus, it sounded like the name of an animal. "Where the hell did you come up with that? It sounds like the name of a pet."
Max tossed his partner a dirty look. "It's a masculine name."
"It's a dog's name," Maria shot back, unfazed by Max's attitude.
"He's named after his father," Max defended.
Maria's eyebrows knit together in confusion. She may not know very much about Max Evans, but she had been in school with him since he moved to Roswell. "Your name isn't even Maximus."
"We're sticking with Maximus."
"Whatever. What about the distribution this weekend?"
"I can't do it this weekend. You take him."
"Excuse me? I have to work tonight and how would it be fair to me to have this child two nights in a row? No, I didn't choose me as a partner, you did."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What do you want to name her?" Kyle asked as he looked at Mindy holding ‘their daughter'. He'd wanted a boy, but one look in Mindy's eyes when he was making the decision and he lost it. How could he deny Mindy?
Mindy smiled and looked at the baby. Hmm, maybe if she'd chosen Kyle, he would have spoiled her more then Max had. "I don't know. I always liked the name Sophia..."
"Then Sophia it is. I have to admit that I wish I could remember how we conceived her."
Mindy giggled at Kyle's words . "You are so silly sometimes."
"It's why you want me," he answered back. "Now, what about who get's to keep her? How do we decide that?"
It was then that a new voice broke in. "Sorry Valenti, but Mindy and I have a date with a bed tonight. Maybe you should take the child."
"Hey buzz off Evans. I'm talking to my wife about our daughter." Kyle smirked when Max pulled away with a stung look on his face. How did he get so lucky? Not only did he get to work with his most desired person, but he got to piss off Evans along the way. Life wasn't too bad at that moment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What do you want to name him?" Tess asked dully. She couldn't believe her misfortune, Tommy. Why did he have to pick her name? The guy was a complete dog.
"What does it matter? No, what I want to know is how she came to be," the younger boy said smoothly. He scooted his chair closer to her and placed an arm around her shoulders. He always thought Tess was attractive, he supposed it wouldn't be too bad working with her.
"You're a dog," Tess retorted as she tossed his arm from her.
Tommy paid no mind to Tess' previous statement and returned his arm to her shoulders. "Come on. Maybe after this project ends we can get together and practice the art of sex."
"Don't touch me!" Tess pushed Tommy away from her so violently that he was thrown out of his chair and he landed on the floor. Around the room laughter rang out looking at him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The restaurant had closed an hour earlier, but Liz and Michael still occupied it. Liz had divided her tip between herself and Michael. Michael had no idea that her father had spoken to a lawyer about his situation. Liz knew that if Michael was in fact emancipated then he would need as much money as possible for his living and what not.
"I can't believe what a jerk that guy is," Michael offered, striking up a new conversation. He had never really talked to Sam Nichols. Actually, Sam pretty much avoided Michael, same as everyone else.
"You're lucky that he never singled you out," Liz replied softly. She, on the other hand, was his main source of entertainment. She always had been.
"That's because he knows I'd kick his ass," Michael replied gruffly.
Liz rolled her eyes. "Because I can see how the name Michael Guerin strikes fear in the hearts of men and women alike." When she realized how Michael's ego was slightly increasing she lost her smile and became serious. "You are not as bad as you think," she reminded him thinking back to the way he acted around her and her parents.
"Well, just don't let it get around. I have a reputation to uphold."
"I better get some sleep. My father expects me to work in the morning. I mean today was supposed to be my day off. I wanted to sleep in," she referred to the staff development day that had occurred. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Michael watched Liz walk away and sighed. Ever since working at the Parker's restaurant he had never seen Liz as miserable as she had been earlier that day. He knew what people said about Liz, both behind her back and brazenly to her face, but it still paled in comparison to what happened earlier that afternoon. The way that those guys just criticized and taunted her in her own family's restaurant...Michael didn't understand why she didn't just stick up for herself. Fact of the matter was, she was loner. He knew that, Liz knew that, everyone did. Michael just wanted her stand up for herself every once in a while. If she was going to be an outcast, she might as well stick up for herself.
As Michael stood up to head to bed himself he knocked over a glass that he'd been drinking out of. He cursed as he heard the glass shatter, shaking his head at his stupidity. He didn't feel like sweeping it up. Instead, he kneeled down to the ground, hovered his hand over the place it broke and concentrated on putting the pieces together. When he opened up his eyes he smiled at seeing the glass in it's original form. He had never really used his powers, so he was still a little shaky at it. His joy was short lived when he heard the small gasp coming from the door leading from the back room.
Walter: "I used this to extract information from a corpse once. You can do that if they've been dead up to six hours."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Chapter 4: When Worlds Collide
“What a self indulgent, selfish little prick! That man is ridiculous. If he thinks he can just pass over this baby because he wants to get laid...then he is seriously mistaken!” Maria exploded to no one in particular. It was late and she was tired. On top of having this ridiculous little toy to tug around all day, she’d had a pop quiz in her sixth hour class, but she’d failed it. The baby started crying, the only way to get it to be quiet was to shove a key in it’s back, an action that required both hands, one to hold the baby and one to hold the key.
Grabbing her notebook, she pulled out the information packet that was to be completed. On the top, was Max’s number. Quickly, Maria grabbed for the phone beside her bed and dialed the number that was scrawled out. She didn’t care if it was late or not or what Max was doing. The one thing she did know was that if she couldn’t sleep then he wouldn’t either.
“Hello?” A woman greeted in a groggy voice.
Maria cringed. She’s been so upset that she didn’t even think about Max’s parents. As bad as she felt about disturbing them, she was determined to make Max talk to her. “Yes, I’m sorry to call at such a late hour, but I was wondering if Max was available? I’m his partner for a school assignment and I needed his help on something.”
“Hold on, I’ll go give the phone to him. What did you say your name was?”
“Maria Deluca.”
“Max didn’t tell me that he had a project,” the older woman confessed.
“It was just assigned today. See, we’re in Child Development together and we were thrown together as partners...or in this case as parents. I have this mechanical baby here and since it’s up and I’m up I figured I’d wake Max up.” When Maria finished talking she heard a laugh from the other end. Maria heard some shuffling before what she heard was a cry of anger. “Hello? Are you all right Mrs. Evans?”
“Maria, Max is not here right now,” Mrs. Evans explained in a controlled voice. “When he gets in I’ll have him give you a call.”
When Maria hung up the phone a large smile made it’s way onto her face. It was only right that he got in trouble. And all she’d wanted was to make him suffer with her, well, this was a much better punishment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Y...you...did...how?” Liz asked stuttering. Goose bumps made their way onto her skin and Liz felt her world tilting. Everything she thought she once knew was completely...wrong. There had to be a plausible explanation. Aha! She’d read studies where people, everyday people had special abilities! Then again, she’d never heard about someone being able to put together a broken object...at least without using glue.
Michael looked down afraid to see the fear and loathing in Liz’s eyes. He knew what a freak he was, what he’d always been, but hid so well from others. His biggest fear besides being caught and turned over to the government to be experimented on was for others to find out about him and make his thoughts come true. It was a fear that he had never touched base on. Up until then, he would just swept it aside, refusing to deal with it, sure that he would never put himself in the position to even have to face that scenario. How could he have been so careless!
“Michael...what did you do? How...is that even possible?”
Liz voice held no panic, no sign of fear, there was nothing malicious or taunting in it. All Michael heard was genuine wonder and...maybe even a little concern? Michael wasn’t exactly sure though, his emotions were wondering so high at that moment. He was stuck in a hard place.
There were only two ways to deal with the situation, neither involved getting out of this. He knew he could toughen up and tell Liz to buzz off, a solution that stuck out immediately, one that sounded easier to him. Just push her away, his mind screamed! You’ve lived how long without letting anyone in, why start now? You don’t need any attachments, besides, do you really think that Liz will stand by your side when she realizes just what a monster you really are? No one’s ever loved you, Liz will turn her back on you the same way Hank did.
Then, there was the most difficult solution...open up and tell Liz everything. Was he really ready to do that? No, but it would be easier to fill Liz in on it anyway. Up until then, she had always showed him support. Liz had been the first to open up, Liz, who had always been too afraid to open herself up to anyone. He knew the difficulties she faced everyday, the names other students taunted her with, she wouldn’t just go right back and toss those words in his direction. Maybe it would be difficult to actually open his world to someone else, but in the end, it could help things...Michael ran a shaky hand through his hair.
“Michael?”
“I’m not...well...normal.” He looked into her face, judging for any signs that may want to lead him to stop.
Her eyebrows arched. “O...kay.” When Michael didn’t bother to say anything else Liz tried to coax him into speaking. “Help me out here Michael...I mean what...what are you, where do you come from?” When her companion lifted his arm up and pointed to the sky Liz shook her head. “Up north? You’re from up north?” When he lifted his head even higher Liz smiled at the audacity of her thoughts. “You’re not...an...an alien...are you?” The laughter was completely evident in her voice.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Have a nice night?” Isabel asked with a secret smile playing on her lips as her brother walked into the kitchen. When her parents had discovered his absence, they had woken Isabel up, asking her if she had any idea where Max might have been. In the past, Isabel had lied to them, but there was an understanding between herself and Max. Usually she would cover for him, but she had told him that if he was ever caught she wouldn’t lie for him then. Having her parents finally catch him, as bad as she felt for feeling happy at the thought, she was glad. Max had been so screwed up for the past few years. All he cared about was popularity, girls and sex, she wanted her brother. Isabel wasn’t exactly sure if this was the way to get him, but nothing else had worked so far.
Max smirked. Of course it had been nice, he’d been alone with Mindy all night. “It was all right.”
Isabel rolled her eyes. Eww! Gross much! She’d seen her brother’s look. Just thinking about Max’s sex life...ick. “Well, I hope it was.”
Max narrowed his eyes as he looked at his sister. “Isabel? Do...you know something that I don’t?” Why was she acting so different?
“Max?” Mrs. Evans called from the living room. “Is that you honey?”
“Yeah.”
“Will you come in her for a moment?”
Isabel only smiled as her brother walked towards their mother’s voice.
“Yeah ma?” Max asked. He noticed that as he walked in his father turned off the television before both of his parents sat straighter in their seats.
“Come sit with us,” Phillip Evans requested. Uneasily, Max edged himself in a seat across from his parents. Why was everyone in the house acting so weird?
Clearing his throat, Max asked the question that had been on his mind. “What’s going on?”
“We just thought it was time that we all sit down and talk,” Mrs. Evans replied. “So...how’s school? Is it going all right for you?”
“It’s going fine ma,” Max replied slowly...almost cautiously.
“How’s Mindy doing? She’s such a sweet girl Max. I really like her.”
Max nodded. He knew how fond of Mindy his parents were. They liked her much better then any of the other girls Max had brought home in the past. “Mindy’s fine. We’re doing good.”
“That’s good,” his mother added. She had been very happy that Max had met Mindy. She had always thought Mindy was a very polite and respectful young woman. Knowing that her son was ‘with’ the girl the night before, she was a little put off. Dianne had been a teenager once and she knew what kids did. As much as she hated it, her son was out having sex. Up until the night before she had turned a blind eye to all the signs, but she couldn’t do that anymore. If Max was going to be having sex she at least wanted to make sure he was prepared, but first, it was time to set him up...see if they could catch his lie. “We received a phone call from your teacher this morning. She was asking us how you were adjusting to being a parent?”
Max looked down, he’d hoped that he would have gotten out of all responsibility for the project. Spending time with DeLuca was not what he considered fun. “Uh, yeah...in Child Development we were issued these babies for the weekend.”
“Really? I didn’t see it.”
Max looked at his mother. “He’s at Mindy’s. We were assigned as a married couple. I was over there for a while last night.” Max watched as his parents spared looks at one another before focusing back on him.
“I answered the phone last night Max, and guess who it was?” Dianne asked in her best motherly voice. When her son only shrugged, she continued. “From a Maria. I thought she said she was your partner?”
Max closed his eyes. Of course! FAT MOUTH MARIA! He’d heard Maria rant about certain things, it was times when her nerdy friend Alex would call her ‘Hurricane DeLuca’, but Max had never really bothered to pay attention to her when she was in that mode. He couldn’t believe that with one phone call she’d managed to ruin it all!
“Tell me Max, where were you last night? The truth this time please.”
Max looked down, knowing that he was already in trouble, there was no point in even lying. “I spent the night with Mindy.”
“Oh, and was this the first time?” Dianne asked. She hadn’t expected Max to confess the truth in such a short amount of time.
“No.” Max felt horrible, like he had let them down. He’d used their trust and snuck out and now his mother knew he was out having sex. He didn’t know which one he felt worse for.
“We kind of figured you were no longer a virgin Max,” Phillip confessed to his son. He’d seen the look on Max’s face, almost like he knew what Max had been thinking.
“I suppose I’m in trouble huh?” Max ventured, assuming they would in fact, ground him.
His parents didn’t disappoint him. “You’re grounded," his father announced in a light hearted tone.
“Starting this morning,” his mom added. “I had a lovely talk with Maria. I offered you to take over the baby for the rest of the weekend. Your father and I figured you haven’t anything better to do. She’ll be here shortly.” Dianne patted Max on his knee before she got up to leave the room.
“Now, son...are you...being careful?”
“DAD!” Max exclaimed, horrified at the new topic of conversation. In the background, he heard his sister break out into a fit of laughter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sunday afternoon, Alex had gone over to the Evans’. Early on, he and Isabel decided that they would share the baby responsibilities equally. The day before, she had gone over to his house, where they had spent the entire day together.
“Thank you for the sandwich Mrs. Evans,” Alex said after his finished his lunch.
Mrs. Evans smiled warmly at the young man in front of her. “You’re welcome Alex, and please call me Dianne.” Dianne was a little excited, this was the first boy that Isabel had ever had over. She knew it was only for a school project, but Mrs. Evans could definately see them becoming closer in time.
“Thanks for coming over Alex,” Isabel added as her mother left the room. She knew that they’d been the only ones to have an easy time of the project. “I’m glad that you were my partner.” Isabel only talked to Tess briefly that weekend. She’d been so annoyed by Tommy that she accepted full responsibility of the baby so she would have to put up with him that weekend.
“Me too.” Alex was sure that had Max never been caught sneaking out, the baby would still be with Maria. Yesterday afternoon, Alex had run to the store for him mom and he had seen Valenti walked around the store with his baby. He assumed that Mindy had worked her magic on Kyle, because he hadn’t seen her with the baby at all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“What?” Michael asked his companion. Ever since Friday night when Liz learned the truth about him, he would always catch her staring at him. Up until then he just ignored it, but he couldn’t anymore.
“I just can’t get over it,” Liz replied softly. “I can’t get over that I’m sitting here with an alien!” She always thought there was another race of beings out there. Sometimes people were silly, to think that they were the only race in the entire universe!? What a waste of space! It was just phenomenal that there was a different species out there and she was sitting with one!
At the word ‘alien’, Michael’s eyes widened and her cried out her name, he couldn’t remember the last time that word had been used to much. “Liz! How many times have I told you not to use that?” Telling Liz was hard enough, afraid that she might cast him aside or turn him in, but if something other then her were to hear...there’s no telling what that person may do.
“Sorry,” she replied sheepishly. “I mean for as long as we’ve had the technology humans have sent out signals for other...beings. Do you think that’s why you’re here?” Her talk with Michael on Friday night hadn’t last very long. There was still so much that Michel didn’t know about himself, about his past.
“I don’t know,” Michael replied monotonously. Chances were he’d already thought about everything Liz was questioning.
“Haven’t you ever gone looking in books about this stuff?” Liz asked, there had to be something that would help Michael find out who he really was, where he came from...something.
“You don’t think I’ve researched this shit Liz? Where exactly would I find this? Do you honestly believe that government would allow someone to publish a story where aliens landed and now integrated with humans?”
Liz looked down, she must have sounded so naive to Michael’s ears. Of course he would have taken all of that into consideration! Liz couldn’t imagine how it would be to completely be different from everyone and not be able to talk to anyone else about it. Michael lived such a segregated life, there wasn’t anyone else like him, or so he thought.
"I think I'm all 'talked' out." Truth was, he talked more that weekend then he ever imagined he could. He wasn't in the mood for anymore talking. He walked to the kitchen in search for something to snack. "You hungry?"
“What a self indulgent, selfish little prick! That man is ridiculous. If he thinks he can just pass over this baby because he wants to get laid...then he is seriously mistaken!” Maria exploded to no one in particular. It was late and she was tired. On top of having this ridiculous little toy to tug around all day, she’d had a pop quiz in her sixth hour class, but she’d failed it. The baby started crying, the only way to get it to be quiet was to shove a key in it’s back, an action that required both hands, one to hold the baby and one to hold the key.
Grabbing her notebook, she pulled out the information packet that was to be completed. On the top, was Max’s number. Quickly, Maria grabbed for the phone beside her bed and dialed the number that was scrawled out. She didn’t care if it was late or not or what Max was doing. The one thing she did know was that if she couldn’t sleep then he wouldn’t either.
“Hello?” A woman greeted in a groggy voice.
Maria cringed. She’s been so upset that she didn’t even think about Max’s parents. As bad as she felt about disturbing them, she was determined to make Max talk to her. “Yes, I’m sorry to call at such a late hour, but I was wondering if Max was available? I’m his partner for a school assignment and I needed his help on something.”
“Hold on, I’ll go give the phone to him. What did you say your name was?”
“Maria Deluca.”
“Max didn’t tell me that he had a project,” the older woman confessed.
“It was just assigned today. See, we’re in Child Development together and we were thrown together as partners...or in this case as parents. I have this mechanical baby here and since it’s up and I’m up I figured I’d wake Max up.” When Maria finished talking she heard a laugh from the other end. Maria heard some shuffling before what she heard was a cry of anger. “Hello? Are you all right Mrs. Evans?”
“Maria, Max is not here right now,” Mrs. Evans explained in a controlled voice. “When he gets in I’ll have him give you a call.”
When Maria hung up the phone a large smile made it’s way onto her face. It was only right that he got in trouble. And all she’d wanted was to make him suffer with her, well, this was a much better punishment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Y...you...did...how?” Liz asked stuttering. Goose bumps made their way onto her skin and Liz felt her world tilting. Everything she thought she once knew was completely...wrong. There had to be a plausible explanation. Aha! She’d read studies where people, everyday people had special abilities! Then again, she’d never heard about someone being able to put together a broken object...at least without using glue.
Michael looked down afraid to see the fear and loathing in Liz’s eyes. He knew what a freak he was, what he’d always been, but hid so well from others. His biggest fear besides being caught and turned over to the government to be experimented on was for others to find out about him and make his thoughts come true. It was a fear that he had never touched base on. Up until then, he would just swept it aside, refusing to deal with it, sure that he would never put himself in the position to even have to face that scenario. How could he have been so careless!
“Michael...what did you do? How...is that even possible?”
Liz voice held no panic, no sign of fear, there was nothing malicious or taunting in it. All Michael heard was genuine wonder and...maybe even a little concern? Michael wasn’t exactly sure though, his emotions were wondering so high at that moment. He was stuck in a hard place.
There were only two ways to deal with the situation, neither involved getting out of this. He knew he could toughen up and tell Liz to buzz off, a solution that stuck out immediately, one that sounded easier to him. Just push her away, his mind screamed! You’ve lived how long without letting anyone in, why start now? You don’t need any attachments, besides, do you really think that Liz will stand by your side when she realizes just what a monster you really are? No one’s ever loved you, Liz will turn her back on you the same way Hank did.
Then, there was the most difficult solution...open up and tell Liz everything. Was he really ready to do that? No, but it would be easier to fill Liz in on it anyway. Up until then, she had always showed him support. Liz had been the first to open up, Liz, who had always been too afraid to open herself up to anyone. He knew the difficulties she faced everyday, the names other students taunted her with, she wouldn’t just go right back and toss those words in his direction. Maybe it would be difficult to actually open his world to someone else, but in the end, it could help things...Michael ran a shaky hand through his hair.
“Michael?”
“I’m not...well...normal.” He looked into her face, judging for any signs that may want to lead him to stop.
Her eyebrows arched. “O...kay.” When Michael didn’t bother to say anything else Liz tried to coax him into speaking. “Help me out here Michael...I mean what...what are you, where do you come from?” When her companion lifted his arm up and pointed to the sky Liz shook her head. “Up north? You’re from up north?” When he lifted his head even higher Liz smiled at the audacity of her thoughts. “You’re not...an...an alien...are you?” The laughter was completely evident in her voice.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Have a nice night?” Isabel asked with a secret smile playing on her lips as her brother walked into the kitchen. When her parents had discovered his absence, they had woken Isabel up, asking her if she had any idea where Max might have been. In the past, Isabel had lied to them, but there was an understanding between herself and Max. Usually she would cover for him, but she had told him that if he was ever caught she wouldn’t lie for him then. Having her parents finally catch him, as bad as she felt for feeling happy at the thought, she was glad. Max had been so screwed up for the past few years. All he cared about was popularity, girls and sex, she wanted her brother. Isabel wasn’t exactly sure if this was the way to get him, but nothing else had worked so far.
Max smirked. Of course it had been nice, he’d been alone with Mindy all night. “It was all right.”
Isabel rolled her eyes. Eww! Gross much! She’d seen her brother’s look. Just thinking about Max’s sex life...ick. “Well, I hope it was.”
Max narrowed his eyes as he looked at his sister. “Isabel? Do...you know something that I don’t?” Why was she acting so different?
“Max?” Mrs. Evans called from the living room. “Is that you honey?”
“Yeah.”
“Will you come in her for a moment?”
Isabel only smiled as her brother walked towards their mother’s voice.
“Yeah ma?” Max asked. He noticed that as he walked in his father turned off the television before both of his parents sat straighter in their seats.
“Come sit with us,” Phillip Evans requested. Uneasily, Max edged himself in a seat across from his parents. Why was everyone in the house acting so weird?
Clearing his throat, Max asked the question that had been on his mind. “What’s going on?”
“We just thought it was time that we all sit down and talk,” Mrs. Evans replied. “So...how’s school? Is it going all right for you?”
“It’s going fine ma,” Max replied slowly...almost cautiously.
“How’s Mindy doing? She’s such a sweet girl Max. I really like her.”
Max nodded. He knew how fond of Mindy his parents were. They liked her much better then any of the other girls Max had brought home in the past. “Mindy’s fine. We’re doing good.”
“That’s good,” his mother added. She had been very happy that Max had met Mindy. She had always thought Mindy was a very polite and respectful young woman. Knowing that her son was ‘with’ the girl the night before, she was a little put off. Dianne had been a teenager once and she knew what kids did. As much as she hated it, her son was out having sex. Up until the night before she had turned a blind eye to all the signs, but she couldn’t do that anymore. If Max was going to be having sex she at least wanted to make sure he was prepared, but first, it was time to set him up...see if they could catch his lie. “We received a phone call from your teacher this morning. She was asking us how you were adjusting to being a parent?”
Max looked down, he’d hoped that he would have gotten out of all responsibility for the project. Spending time with DeLuca was not what he considered fun. “Uh, yeah...in Child Development we were issued these babies for the weekend.”
“Really? I didn’t see it.”
Max looked at his mother. “He’s at Mindy’s. We were assigned as a married couple. I was over there for a while last night.” Max watched as his parents spared looks at one another before focusing back on him.
“I answered the phone last night Max, and guess who it was?” Dianne asked in her best motherly voice. When her son only shrugged, she continued. “From a Maria. I thought she said she was your partner?”
Max closed his eyes. Of course! FAT MOUTH MARIA! He’d heard Maria rant about certain things, it was times when her nerdy friend Alex would call her ‘Hurricane DeLuca’, but Max had never really bothered to pay attention to her when she was in that mode. He couldn’t believe that with one phone call she’d managed to ruin it all!
“Tell me Max, where were you last night? The truth this time please.”
Max looked down, knowing that he was already in trouble, there was no point in even lying. “I spent the night with Mindy.”
“Oh, and was this the first time?” Dianne asked. She hadn’t expected Max to confess the truth in such a short amount of time.
“No.” Max felt horrible, like he had let them down. He’d used their trust and snuck out and now his mother knew he was out having sex. He didn’t know which one he felt worse for.
“We kind of figured you were no longer a virgin Max,” Phillip confessed to his son. He’d seen the look on Max’s face, almost like he knew what Max had been thinking.
“I suppose I’m in trouble huh?” Max ventured, assuming they would in fact, ground him.
His parents didn’t disappoint him. “You’re grounded," his father announced in a light hearted tone.
“Starting this morning,” his mom added. “I had a lovely talk with Maria. I offered you to take over the baby for the rest of the weekend. Your father and I figured you haven’t anything better to do. She’ll be here shortly.” Dianne patted Max on his knee before she got up to leave the room.
“Now, son...are you...being careful?”
“DAD!” Max exclaimed, horrified at the new topic of conversation. In the background, he heard his sister break out into a fit of laughter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sunday afternoon, Alex had gone over to the Evans’. Early on, he and Isabel decided that they would share the baby responsibilities equally. The day before, she had gone over to his house, where they had spent the entire day together.
“Thank you for the sandwich Mrs. Evans,” Alex said after his finished his lunch.
Mrs. Evans smiled warmly at the young man in front of her. “You’re welcome Alex, and please call me Dianne.” Dianne was a little excited, this was the first boy that Isabel had ever had over. She knew it was only for a school project, but Mrs. Evans could definately see them becoming closer in time.
“Thanks for coming over Alex,” Isabel added as her mother left the room. She knew that they’d been the only ones to have an easy time of the project. “I’m glad that you were my partner.” Isabel only talked to Tess briefly that weekend. She’d been so annoyed by Tommy that she accepted full responsibility of the baby so she would have to put up with him that weekend.
“Me too.” Alex was sure that had Max never been caught sneaking out, the baby would still be with Maria. Yesterday afternoon, Alex had run to the store for him mom and he had seen Valenti walked around the store with his baby. He assumed that Mindy had worked her magic on Kyle, because he hadn’t seen her with the baby at all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“What?” Michael asked his companion. Ever since Friday night when Liz learned the truth about him, he would always catch her staring at him. Up until then he just ignored it, but he couldn’t anymore.
“I just can’t get over it,” Liz replied softly. “I can’t get over that I’m sitting here with an alien!” She always thought there was another race of beings out there. Sometimes people were silly, to think that they were the only race in the entire universe!? What a waste of space! It was just phenomenal that there was a different species out there and she was sitting with one!
At the word ‘alien’, Michael’s eyes widened and her cried out her name, he couldn’t remember the last time that word had been used to much. “Liz! How many times have I told you not to use that?” Telling Liz was hard enough, afraid that she might cast him aside or turn him in, but if something other then her were to hear...there’s no telling what that person may do.
“Sorry,” she replied sheepishly. “I mean for as long as we’ve had the technology humans have sent out signals for other...beings. Do you think that’s why you’re here?” Her talk with Michael on Friday night hadn’t last very long. There was still so much that Michel didn’t know about himself, about his past.
“I don’t know,” Michael replied monotonously. Chances were he’d already thought about everything Liz was questioning.
“Haven’t you ever gone looking in books about this stuff?” Liz asked, there had to be something that would help Michael find out who he really was, where he came from...something.
“You don’t think I’ve researched this shit Liz? Where exactly would I find this? Do you honestly believe that government would allow someone to publish a story where aliens landed and now integrated with humans?”
Liz looked down, she must have sounded so naive to Michael’s ears. Of course he would have taken all of that into consideration! Liz couldn’t imagine how it would be to completely be different from everyone and not be able to talk to anyone else about it. Michael lived such a segregated life, there wasn’t anyone else like him, or so he thought.
"I think I'm all 'talked' out." Truth was, he talked more that weekend then he ever imagined he could. He wasn't in the mood for anymore talking. He walked to the kitchen in search for something to snack. "You hungry?"
Walter: "I used this to extract information from a corpse once. You can do that if they've been dead up to six hours."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Chapter 4: When Worlds Collide
“What a self indulgent, selfish little prick! That man is ridiculous. If he thinks he can just pass over this baby because he wants to get laid...then he is seriously mistaken!” Maria exploded to no one in particular. It was late and she was tired. On top of having this ridiculous little toy to tug around all day, she’d had a pop quiz in her sixth hour class, but she’d failed it. The baby started crying, the only way to get it to be quiet was to shove a key in it’s back, an action that required both hands, one to hold the baby and one to hold the key.
Grabbing her notebook, she pulled out the information packet that was to be completed. On the top, was Max’s number. Quickly, Maria grabbed for the phone beside her bed and dialed the number that was scrawled out. She didn’t care if it was late or not or what Max was doing. The one thing she did know was that if she couldn’t sleep then he wouldn’t either.
“Hello?” A woman greeted in a groggy voice.
Maria cringed. She’s been so upset that she didn’t even think about Max’s parents. As bad as she felt about disturbing them, she was determined to make Max talk to her. “Yes, I’m sorry to call at such a late hour, but I was wondering if Max was available? I’m his partner for a school assignment and I needed his help on something.”
“Hold on, I’ll go give the phone to him. What did you say your name was?”
“Maria Deluca.”
“Max didn’t tell me that he had a project,” the older woman confessed.
“It was just assigned today. See, we’re in Child Development together and we were thrown together as partners...or in this case as parents. I have this mechanical baby here and since it’s up and I’m up I figured I’d wake Max up.” When Maria finished talking she heard a laugh from the other end. Maria heard some shuffling before what she heard was a cry of anger. “Hello? Are you all right Mrs. Evans?”
“Maria, Max is not here right now,” Mrs. Evans explained in a controlled voice. “When he gets in I’ll have him give you a call.”
When Maria hung up the phone a large smile made it’s way onto her face. It was only right that he got in trouble. And all she’d wanted was to make him suffer with her, well, this was a much better punishment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Y...you...did...how?” Liz asked stuttering. Goose bumps made their way onto her skin and Liz felt her world tilting. Everything she thought she once knew was completely...wrong. There had to be a plausible explanation. Aha! She’d read studies where people, everyday people had special abilities! Then again, she’d never heard about someone being able to put together a broken object...at least without using glue.
Michael looked down afraid to see the fear and loathing in Liz’s eyes. He knew what a freak he was, what he’d always been, but hid so well from others. His biggest fear besides being caught and turned over to the government to be experimented on was for others to find out about him and make his thoughts come true. It was a fear that he had never touched base on. Up until then, he would just swept it aside, refusing to deal with it, sure that he would never put himself in the position to even have to face that scenario. How could he have been so careless!
“Michael...what did you do? How...is that even possible?”
Liz voice held no panic, no sign of fear, there was nothing malicious or taunting in it. All Michael heard was genuine wonder and...maybe even a little concern? Michael wasn’t exactly sure though, his emotions were wondering so high at that moment. He was stuck in a hard place.
There were only two ways to deal with the situation, neither involved getting out of this. He knew he could toughen up and tell Liz to buzz off, a solution that stuck out immediately, one that sounded easier to him. Just push her away, his mind screamed! You’ve lived how long without letting anyone in, why start now? You don’t need any attachments, besides, do you really think that Liz will stand by your side when she realizes just what a monster you really are? No one’s ever loved you, Liz will turn her back on you the same way Hank did.
Then, there was the most difficult solution...open up and tell Liz everything. Was he really ready to do that? No, but it would be easier to fill Liz in on it anyway. Up until then, she had always showed him support. Liz had been the first to open up, Liz, who had always been too afraid to open herself up to anyone. He knew the difficulties she faced everyday, the names other students taunted her with, she wouldn’t just go right back and toss those words in his direction. Maybe it would be difficult to actually open his world to someone else, but in the end, it could help things...Michael ran a shaky hand through his hair.
“Michael?”
“I’m not...well...normal.” He looked into her face, judging for any signs that may want to lead him to stop.
Her eyebrows arched. “O...kay.” When Michael didn’t bother to say anything else Liz tried to coax him into speaking. “Help me out here Michael...I mean what...what are you, where do you come from?” When her companion lifted his arm up and pointed to the sky Liz shook her head. “Up north? You’re from up north?” When he lifted his head even higher Liz smiled at the audacity of her thoughts. “You’re not...an...an alien...are you?” The laughter was completely evident in her voice.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Have a nice night?” Isabel asked with a secret smile playing on her lips as her brother walked into the kitchen. When her parents had discovered his absence, they had woken Isabel up, asking her if she had any idea where Max might have been. In the past, Isabel had lied to them, but there was an understanding between herself and Max. Usually she would cover for him, but she had told him that if he was ever caught she wouldn’t lie for him then. Having her parents finally catch him, as bad as she felt for feeling happy at the thought, she was glad. Max had been so screwed up for the past few years. All he cared about was popularity, girls and sex, she wanted her brother. Isabel wasn’t exactly sure if this was the way to get him, but nothing else had worked so far.
Max smirked. Of course it had been nice, he’d been alone with Mindy all night. “It was all right.”
Isabel rolled her eyes. Eww! Gross much! She’d seen her brother’s look. Just thinking about Max’s sex life...ick. “Well, I hope it was.”
Max narrowed his eyes as he looked at his sister. “Isabel? Do...you know something that I don’t?” Why was she acting so different?
“Max?” Mrs. Evans called from the living room. “Is that you honey?”
“Yeah.”
“Will you come in her for a moment?”
Isabel only smiled as her brother walked towards their mother’s voice.
“Yeah ma?” Max asked. He noticed that as he walked in his father turned off the television before both of his parents sat straighter in their seats.
“Come sit with us,” Phillip Evans requested. Uneasily, Max edged himself in a seat across from his parents. Why was everyone in the house acting so weird?
Clearing his throat, Max asked the question that had been on his mind. “What’s going on?”
“We just thought it was time that we all sit down and talk,” Mrs. Evans replied. “So...how’s school? Is it going all right for you?”
“It’s going fine ma,” Max replied slowly...almost cautiously.
“How’s Mindy doing? She’s such a sweet girl Max. I really like her.”
Max nodded. He knew how fond of Mindy his parents were. They liked her much better then any of the other girls Max had brought home in the past. “Mindy’s fine. We’re doing good.”
“That’s good,” his mother added. She had been very happy that Max had met Mindy. She had always thought Mindy was a very polite and respectful young woman. Knowing that her son was ‘with’ the girl the night before, she was a little put off. Dianne had been a teenager once and she knew what kids did. As much as she hated it, her son was out having sex. Up until the night before she had turned a blind eye to all the signs, but she couldn’t do that anymore. If Max was going to be having sex she at least wanted to make sure he was prepared, but first, it was time to set him up...see if they could catch his lie. “We received a phone call from your teacher this morning. She was asking us how you were adjusting to being a parent?”
Max looked down, he’d hoped that he would have gotten out of all responsibility for the project. Spending time with DeLuca was not what he considered fun. “Uh, yeah...in Child Development we were issued these babies for the weekend.”
“Really? I didn’t see it.”
Max looked at his mother. “He’s at Mindy’s. We were assigned as a married couple. I was over there for a while last night.” Max watched as his parents spared looks at one another before focusing back on him.
“I answered the phone last night Max, and guess who it was?” Dianne asked in her best motherly voice. When her son only shrugged, she continued. “From a Maria. I thought she said she was your partner?”
Max closed his eyes. Of course! FAT MOUTH MARIA! He’d heard Maria rant about certain things, it was times when her nerdy friend Alex would call her ‘Hurricane DeLuca’, but Max had never really bothered to pay attention to her when she was in that mode. He couldn’t believe that with one phone call she’d managed to ruin it all!
“Tell me Max, where were you last night? The truth this time please.”
Max looked down, knowing that he was already in trouble, there was no point in even lying. “I spent the night with Mindy.”
“Oh, and was this the first time?” Dianne asked. She hadn’t expected Max to confess the truth in such a short amount of time.
“No.” Max felt horrible, like he had let them down. He’d used their trust and snuck out and now his mother knew he was out having sex. He didn’t know which one he felt worse for.
“We kind of figured you were no longer a virgin Max,” Phillip confessed to his son. He’d seen the look on Max’s face, almost like he knew what Max had been thinking.
“I suppose I’m in trouble huh?” Max ventured, assuming they would in fact, ground him.
His parents didn’t disappoint him. “You’re grounded," his father announced in a light hearted tone.
“Starting this morning,” his mom added. “I had a lovely talk with Maria. I offered you to take over the baby for the rest of the weekend. Your father and I figured you haven’t anything better to do. She’ll be here shortly.” Dianne patted Max on his knee before she got up to leave the room.
“Now, son...are you...being careful?”
“DAD!” Max exclaimed, horrified at the new topic of conversation. In the background, he heard his sister break out into a fit of laughter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sunday afternoon, Alex had gone over to the Evans’. Early on, he and Isabel decided that they would share the baby responsibilities equally. The day before, she had gone over to his house, where they had spent the entire day together.
“Thank you for the sandwich Mrs. Evans,” Alex said after his finished his lunch.
Mrs. Evans smiled warmly at the young man in front of her. “You’re welcome Alex, and please call me Dianne.” Dianne was a little excited, this was the first boy that Isabel had ever had over. She knew it was only for a school project, but Mrs. Evans could definately see them becoming closer in time.
“Thanks for coming over Alex,” Isabel added as her mother left the room. She knew that they’d been the only ones to have an easy time of the project. “I’m glad that you were my partner.” Isabel only talked to Tess briefly that weekend. She’d been so annoyed by Tommy that she accepted full responsibility of the baby so she would have to put up with him that weekend.
“Me too.” Alex was sure that had Max never been caught sneaking out, the baby would still be with Maria. Yesterday afternoon, Alex had run to the store for him mom and he had seen Valenti walked around the store with his baby. He assumed that Mindy had worked her magic on Kyle, because he hadn’t seen her with the baby at all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“What?” Michael asked his companion. Ever since Friday night when Liz learned the truth about him, he would always catch her staring at him. Up until then he just ignored it, but he couldn’t anymore.
“I just can’t get over it,” Liz replied softly. “I can’t get over that I’m sitting here with an alien!” She always thought there was another race of beings out there. Sometimes people were silly, to think that they were the only race in the entire universe!? What a waste of space! It was just phenomenal that there was a different species out there and she was sitting with one!
At the word ‘alien’, Michael’s eyes widened and her cried out her name, he couldn’t remember the last time that word had been used to much. “Liz! How many times have I told you not to use that?” Telling Liz was hard enough, afraid that she might cast him aside or turn him in, but if something other then her were to hear...there’s no telling what that person may do.
“Sorry,” she replied sheepishly. “I mean for as long as we’ve had the technology humans have sent out signals for other...beings. Do you think that’s why you’re here?” Her talk with Michael on Friday night hadn’t last very long. There was still so much that Michel didn’t know about himself, about his past.
“I don’t know,” Michael replied monotonously. Chances were he’d already thought about everything Liz was questioning.
“Haven’t you ever gone looking in books about this stuff?” Liz asked, there had to be something that would help Michael find out who he really was, where he came from...something.
“You don’t think I’ve researched this shit Liz? Where exactly would I find this? Do you honestly believe that government would allow someone to publish a story where aliens landed and now integrated with humans?”
Liz looked down, she must have sounded so naive to Michael’s ears. Of course he would have taken all of that into consideration! Liz couldn’t imagine how it would be to completely be different from everyone and not be able to talk to anyone else about it. Michael lived such a segregated life, there wasn’t anyone else like him, or so he thought.
"I think I'm all 'talked' out." Truth was, he talked more that weekend then he ever imagined he could. He wasn't in the mood for anymore talking. He walked to the kitchen in search for something to snack. "You hungry?"
“What a self indulgent, selfish little prick! That man is ridiculous. If he thinks he can just pass over this baby because he wants to get laid...then he is seriously mistaken!” Maria exploded to no one in particular. It was late and she was tired. On top of having this ridiculous little toy to tug around all day, she’d had a pop quiz in her sixth hour class, but she’d failed it. The baby started crying, the only way to get it to be quiet was to shove a key in it’s back, an action that required both hands, one to hold the baby and one to hold the key.
Grabbing her notebook, she pulled out the information packet that was to be completed. On the top, was Max’s number. Quickly, Maria grabbed for the phone beside her bed and dialed the number that was scrawled out. She didn’t care if it was late or not or what Max was doing. The one thing she did know was that if she couldn’t sleep then he wouldn’t either.
“Hello?” A woman greeted in a groggy voice.
Maria cringed. She’s been so upset that she didn’t even think about Max’s parents. As bad as she felt about disturbing them, she was determined to make Max talk to her. “Yes, I’m sorry to call at such a late hour, but I was wondering if Max was available? I’m his partner for a school assignment and I needed his help on something.”
“Hold on, I’ll go give the phone to him. What did you say your name was?”
“Maria Deluca.”
“Max didn’t tell me that he had a project,” the older woman confessed.
“It was just assigned today. See, we’re in Child Development together and we were thrown together as partners...or in this case as parents. I have this mechanical baby here and since it’s up and I’m up I figured I’d wake Max up.” When Maria finished talking she heard a laugh from the other end. Maria heard some shuffling before what she heard was a cry of anger. “Hello? Are you all right Mrs. Evans?”
“Maria, Max is not here right now,” Mrs. Evans explained in a controlled voice. “When he gets in I’ll have him give you a call.”
When Maria hung up the phone a large smile made it’s way onto her face. It was only right that he got in trouble. And all she’d wanted was to make him suffer with her, well, this was a much better punishment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Y...you...did...how?” Liz asked stuttering. Goose bumps made their way onto her skin and Liz felt her world tilting. Everything she thought she once knew was completely...wrong. There had to be a plausible explanation. Aha! She’d read studies where people, everyday people had special abilities! Then again, she’d never heard about someone being able to put together a broken object...at least without using glue.
Michael looked down afraid to see the fear and loathing in Liz’s eyes. He knew what a freak he was, what he’d always been, but hid so well from others. His biggest fear besides being caught and turned over to the government to be experimented on was for others to find out about him and make his thoughts come true. It was a fear that he had never touched base on. Up until then, he would just swept it aside, refusing to deal with it, sure that he would never put himself in the position to even have to face that scenario. How could he have been so careless!
“Michael...what did you do? How...is that even possible?”
Liz voice held no panic, no sign of fear, there was nothing malicious or taunting in it. All Michael heard was genuine wonder and...maybe even a little concern? Michael wasn’t exactly sure though, his emotions were wondering so high at that moment. He was stuck in a hard place.
There were only two ways to deal with the situation, neither involved getting out of this. He knew he could toughen up and tell Liz to buzz off, a solution that stuck out immediately, one that sounded easier to him. Just push her away, his mind screamed! You’ve lived how long without letting anyone in, why start now? You don’t need any attachments, besides, do you really think that Liz will stand by your side when she realizes just what a monster you really are? No one’s ever loved you, Liz will turn her back on you the same way Hank did.
Then, there was the most difficult solution...open up and tell Liz everything. Was he really ready to do that? No, but it would be easier to fill Liz in on it anyway. Up until then, she had always showed him support. Liz had been the first to open up, Liz, who had always been too afraid to open herself up to anyone. He knew the difficulties she faced everyday, the names other students taunted her with, she wouldn’t just go right back and toss those words in his direction. Maybe it would be difficult to actually open his world to someone else, but in the end, it could help things...Michael ran a shaky hand through his hair.
“Michael?”
“I’m not...well...normal.” He looked into her face, judging for any signs that may want to lead him to stop.
Her eyebrows arched. “O...kay.” When Michael didn’t bother to say anything else Liz tried to coax him into speaking. “Help me out here Michael...I mean what...what are you, where do you come from?” When her companion lifted his arm up and pointed to the sky Liz shook her head. “Up north? You’re from up north?” When he lifted his head even higher Liz smiled at the audacity of her thoughts. “You’re not...an...an alien...are you?” The laughter was completely evident in her voice.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Have a nice night?” Isabel asked with a secret smile playing on her lips as her brother walked into the kitchen. When her parents had discovered his absence, they had woken Isabel up, asking her if she had any idea where Max might have been. In the past, Isabel had lied to them, but there was an understanding between herself and Max. Usually she would cover for him, but she had told him that if he was ever caught she wouldn’t lie for him then. Having her parents finally catch him, as bad as she felt for feeling happy at the thought, she was glad. Max had been so screwed up for the past few years. All he cared about was popularity, girls and sex, she wanted her brother. Isabel wasn’t exactly sure if this was the way to get him, but nothing else had worked so far.
Max smirked. Of course it had been nice, he’d been alone with Mindy all night. “It was all right.”
Isabel rolled her eyes. Eww! Gross much! She’d seen her brother’s look. Just thinking about Max’s sex life...ick. “Well, I hope it was.”
Max narrowed his eyes as he looked at his sister. “Isabel? Do...you know something that I don’t?” Why was she acting so different?
“Max?” Mrs. Evans called from the living room. “Is that you honey?”
“Yeah.”
“Will you come in her for a moment?”
Isabel only smiled as her brother walked towards their mother’s voice.
“Yeah ma?” Max asked. He noticed that as he walked in his father turned off the television before both of his parents sat straighter in their seats.
“Come sit with us,” Phillip Evans requested. Uneasily, Max edged himself in a seat across from his parents. Why was everyone in the house acting so weird?
Clearing his throat, Max asked the question that had been on his mind. “What’s going on?”
“We just thought it was time that we all sit down and talk,” Mrs. Evans replied. “So...how’s school? Is it going all right for you?”
“It’s going fine ma,” Max replied slowly...almost cautiously.
“How’s Mindy doing? She’s such a sweet girl Max. I really like her.”
Max nodded. He knew how fond of Mindy his parents were. They liked her much better then any of the other girls Max had brought home in the past. “Mindy’s fine. We’re doing good.”
“That’s good,” his mother added. She had been very happy that Max had met Mindy. She had always thought Mindy was a very polite and respectful young woman. Knowing that her son was ‘with’ the girl the night before, she was a little put off. Dianne had been a teenager once and she knew what kids did. As much as she hated it, her son was out having sex. Up until the night before she had turned a blind eye to all the signs, but she couldn’t do that anymore. If Max was going to be having sex she at least wanted to make sure he was prepared, but first, it was time to set him up...see if they could catch his lie. “We received a phone call from your teacher this morning. She was asking us how you were adjusting to being a parent?”
Max looked down, he’d hoped that he would have gotten out of all responsibility for the project. Spending time with DeLuca was not what he considered fun. “Uh, yeah...in Child Development we were issued these babies for the weekend.”
“Really? I didn’t see it.”
Max looked at his mother. “He’s at Mindy’s. We were assigned as a married couple. I was over there for a while last night.” Max watched as his parents spared looks at one another before focusing back on him.
“I answered the phone last night Max, and guess who it was?” Dianne asked in her best motherly voice. When her son only shrugged, she continued. “From a Maria. I thought she said she was your partner?”
Max closed his eyes. Of course! FAT MOUTH MARIA! He’d heard Maria rant about certain things, it was times when her nerdy friend Alex would call her ‘Hurricane DeLuca’, but Max had never really bothered to pay attention to her when she was in that mode. He couldn’t believe that with one phone call she’d managed to ruin it all!
“Tell me Max, where were you last night? The truth this time please.”
Max looked down, knowing that he was already in trouble, there was no point in even lying. “I spent the night with Mindy.”
“Oh, and was this the first time?” Dianne asked. She hadn’t expected Max to confess the truth in such a short amount of time.
“No.” Max felt horrible, like he had let them down. He’d used their trust and snuck out and now his mother knew he was out having sex. He didn’t know which one he felt worse for.
“We kind of figured you were no longer a virgin Max,” Phillip confessed to his son. He’d seen the look on Max’s face, almost like he knew what Max had been thinking.
“I suppose I’m in trouble huh?” Max ventured, assuming they would in fact, ground him.
His parents didn’t disappoint him. “You’re grounded," his father announced in a light hearted tone.
“Starting this morning,” his mom added. “I had a lovely talk with Maria. I offered you to take over the baby for the rest of the weekend. Your father and I figured you haven’t anything better to do. She’ll be here shortly.” Dianne patted Max on his knee before she got up to leave the room.
“Now, son...are you...being careful?”
“DAD!” Max exclaimed, horrified at the new topic of conversation. In the background, he heard his sister break out into a fit of laughter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sunday afternoon, Alex had gone over to the Evans’. Early on, he and Isabel decided that they would share the baby responsibilities equally. The day before, she had gone over to his house, where they had spent the entire day together.
“Thank you for the sandwich Mrs. Evans,” Alex said after his finished his lunch.
Mrs. Evans smiled warmly at the young man in front of her. “You’re welcome Alex, and please call me Dianne.” Dianne was a little excited, this was the first boy that Isabel had ever had over. She knew it was only for a school project, but Mrs. Evans could definately see them becoming closer in time.
“Thanks for coming over Alex,” Isabel added as her mother left the room. She knew that they’d been the only ones to have an easy time of the project. “I’m glad that you were my partner.” Isabel only talked to Tess briefly that weekend. She’d been so annoyed by Tommy that she accepted full responsibility of the baby so she would have to put up with him that weekend.
“Me too.” Alex was sure that had Max never been caught sneaking out, the baby would still be with Maria. Yesterday afternoon, Alex had run to the store for him mom and he had seen Valenti walked around the store with his baby. He assumed that Mindy had worked her magic on Kyle, because he hadn’t seen her with the baby at all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“What?” Michael asked his companion. Ever since Friday night when Liz learned the truth about him, he would always catch her staring at him. Up until then he just ignored it, but he couldn’t anymore.
“I just can’t get over it,” Liz replied softly. “I can’t get over that I’m sitting here with an alien!” She always thought there was another race of beings out there. Sometimes people were silly, to think that they were the only race in the entire universe!? What a waste of space! It was just phenomenal that there was a different species out there and she was sitting with one!
At the word ‘alien’, Michael’s eyes widened and her cried out her name, he couldn’t remember the last time that word had been used to much. “Liz! How many times have I told you not to use that?” Telling Liz was hard enough, afraid that she might cast him aside or turn him in, but if something other then her were to hear...there’s no telling what that person may do.
“Sorry,” she replied sheepishly. “I mean for as long as we’ve had the technology humans have sent out signals for other...beings. Do you think that’s why you’re here?” Her talk with Michael on Friday night hadn’t last very long. There was still so much that Michel didn’t know about himself, about his past.
“I don’t know,” Michael replied monotonously. Chances were he’d already thought about everything Liz was questioning.
“Haven’t you ever gone looking in books about this stuff?” Liz asked, there had to be something that would help Michael find out who he really was, where he came from...something.
“You don’t think I’ve researched this shit Liz? Where exactly would I find this? Do you honestly believe that government would allow someone to publish a story where aliens landed and now integrated with humans?”
Liz looked down, she must have sounded so naive to Michael’s ears. Of course he would have taken all of that into consideration! Liz couldn’t imagine how it would be to completely be different from everyone and not be able to talk to anyone else about it. Michael lived such a segregated life, there wasn’t anyone else like him, or so he thought.
"I think I'm all 'talked' out." Truth was, he talked more that weekend then he ever imagined he could. He wasn't in the mood for anymore talking. He walked to the kitchen in search for something to snack. "You hungry?"
Walter: "I used this to extract information from a corpse once. You can do that if they've been dead up to six hours."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Chapter 5 Close, but not close enough
(In Roswell)
Max grunted as he lifted up the alien body and fixed the various items under it. As he laid it down he continued fixing the rest of the layout, his mind not on the task at hand. He'd worked there for a few months, but already he knew all of the scenes like the back of his hand.
"Max," Mindy said softly as she approached her boyfriend. She'd been dreading talking to him since she found out…
Max turned around, a smile lighting his face. It seemed as though since Tuesday, Mindy had been avoiding him. At school whenever he tried to approach her, it seemed as though she surrounded herself with her friends. Whenever he would call her for a little 'one on one' time she always gave him excuses. Max was starting to worry, Mindy had never blown him off…hell, no one had ever blown him off before.
"Hey honey!" He hugged his girlfriend, placing a soft kiss on her lips.
Mindy tried to offer a smile, but it wouldn't quite reach her face. Her heart began thudding, as she started playing with her hands. "Can we talk?"
Max looked at his girlfriend. Was she serious? How long had she lived in Roswell? Didn't she know what the UFO Convention meant, especially to him since he was working at the UFO Center? "Mindy…as happy as I am that you are finally talking to me, now's really not a good time. The Convention is in a few days and I have to be ready. How about we meet up later?"
Looking at him, Mindy bit her lip. She couldn't come back, she couldn't! It had taken all her strength to even go to him, she didn't know if she could leave and come back again. "Max, this is really important."
Max was about to deny her again, but the words died on his lips as he looked at the desperation written on Mindy's face. Max looked around the room, spotting a co-worker a few feet away. "Hey John! I'm taking my break now!" After John nodded his head at understanding Max's words, Max laced his hand with Mindy's as he led her to the back room.
The moment the door was shut, Max backed Mindy up against the door, his hands embracing her, his mouth plundering hers. It had been days since they had been together. He hadn't even had a chance to really kiss her, he'd been dying to. Now that he had her in his arms, he wasn't willing to let it go.
"Max…" Mindy wasn't sure if it was a plea for him to continue or stop. His hands felt wonderful! Max managed to make her feel something she had never felt before with anyone else. What would she do after him? As her thoughts drifted to that unwelcome direction she slowly pushed Max away, kissing him once more. "Max, stop. We need to talk."
Max advanced on Mindy once more. "We will," he said, dismissing her words. That kiss was amazing. It had been so long since he was alone with her. He didn't want it to end.
"No Max," she pushed him once again. Mindy ran her hands down her clothes, smoothing them out. "Now. I have to tell you before I lose my nerve." She made her way over the worn out couch and sat down. "I owe you an apology. I've been avoiding you, and I'm sorry. It's just what we have is…so much more then…anything I've ever felt before with anyone. I guess," she bit her lip, "I just didn't want it to end."
Max smiled, honored by her words. As much as he liked Mindy the way she normally was, he never thought she would open up to him the way she just had. He knew the way that Mindy felt for him, but she had never poured her heart out like that. He reached out and caressed her face. "I don't want it to end either."
Mindy grabbed Max's hand and held it in her own. "Please don't say that. It only makes things harder."
"Mindy, what is this about?"
Taking a deep breath, Mindy prepared herself once more. "My dad was transferred."
"Well, how long does it take to move? I mean they give you at least a a few months to pack before you actually leave right?" He knew that Mindy's father worked on top secret projects, but he wasn't in a great demand…was he?
"We're leaving tonight." Mindy closed her eyes, afraid to see how her words would effect Max.
"Tonight?" No! That couldn't be. They had to give some notice. "Well, when did you find out?"
"A few months ago," she answered meekly.
Max shot a look over at Mindy. "A few months! You never told me?" His statement was more of an accusation then question. How could she? He'd always been honest with her-well, ignoring the alien factor of it all. He may not have been openly honest with her about everything, but it wasn't only his life that depended on keeping the secret. How could Mindy lie to him? How could she keep something like that from him?
As if seeing the betrayal flittering across his face Mindy spoke up. "I just didn't want this to end. I tried to live this dream world as long as I could. I'm sorry Max."
Max searched for a way to get out of this. He couldn't deal with this, not then. Mindy. “I uh…I have to…work to do. I'll see you later."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(somewhere between Roswell and Socorro)
"This was a wonderful idea Nancy," Jeff Parker praised as he drove down the old high way. Ever since he talked to Phillip Evans a few weeks back he'd been wanting to see his old friend. When his wife approached him with the idea of visiting Roswell he jumped at the opportunity. He left the restaurant up to his very capable assistant manager. Before his wife could say anything, he turned up the volume of the car radio.
From his position in the back seat, Michael rolled his eyes at the sound of oldies blaring out of the speakers. "When I asked you to come to Roswell with me, this isn't exactly what I had in mind." He had no problem spending time with the Parkers, but this was beyond anything he had ever planned on doing. He wasn't much for family moments and a road trip with one wasn't exactly his style.
Liz rolled her eyes, having already heard that. "You wanted me to come with you, this is how it happened." Having her parents come along wasn't exactly her idea either. Liz knew that in order to approach her father on the subject she would need someone on her side. Her mother always had her father eating out of the palm of her hand. He never said 'no' to her.
"This makes our objective harder," he continued on. How were they supposed to look into alien phenomena with Liz's parents looking over their shoulders.
"Our objective?" Liz asked. "What are we going into battle?" Where had he come up with that word?
Michael grunted. "You know what I mean."
"Relax General," she amended, not able to hold back from the cut. "My parents have old friends in Roswell. I'm sure they will be busy visiting them. Our objective is still on line."
"Funny Parker."
Jeff shot a glance to the back sat of the car. "I've mapped out our days in Roswell. When we arrive we will be eating at the Crashdown Café before we head over to the hotel. Now, I have to warn you both, it's going to be a little crazy this weekend due to the convention. We will relax the rest of the night. Tomorrow morning we will be doing some sight seeing. I talked my buddy and he invited us over for dinner…"
"Wow, Mr. Parker," Michael started awkwardly. "It sounds like it's going to be a busy weekend." He waited until the older man's gaze shifted to the front before he pinched Liz's leg. She squeaked and shot him a nasty glare.
"Actually dad," Liz began, she cleared her throat. "Since Michael and I learned we were going to Roswell we made up our own plans…"
"What did you two have in mind?"
"We…were kind of looking forward to going to the convention. I mean, it looks interesting and we've never done something like that before."
Jeff decided no to say anything about their decision about going to the convention. He didn't agree with it, but he didn't want to make them feel bad. "We'll see." He heard Liz grumble something under her breath. "What was that Lizzie?"
"That's usually what you say when you don't plan on letting me get what I want," she repeated, louder that time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Roswell)
“Liz!” Michael exclaimed after Mr. Parker left their hotel room. As soon as they hit city limits they decided to check into their rooms before snagging a bite to eat. As soon as they drove into Roswell they were bombarded by several places containing alien themes. Michael had known that Roswell was the known as the capitol of UFO’s, but he never even thought to imagine the town was so insane. Her father had reserved two bedrooms at the Spaceship Inn. “There was nothing on his itinerary about what I need to do!”
Liz bit her lip. She know how important the trip was to Michael. “Okay, I’ll do some damage control.” Of course, the only way she would accomplish that would be to negotiate her wants and needs to free Michael.
“Thanks Liz.” When he noticed the sullen look in her eyes he sat on the bed next to heron the lumpy bed. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just...I wanted to help you,” she confessed softly. She was the only person in the world who knew anything about him. Liz felt bonded with Michael because of the secret. While she hadn’t located any information, she had tried to help him as much as she could.
“I know...me too,” he agreed. Michael placed an arm around Liz’s shoulder. “You are helping though.”
Liz sighed. “I know, but it’s just not the way I wanted to. I wanted to be by your side when you discover something.”
“That should be ‘if I discover something’. Who’s to say I’ll find anything at all. This convention could just be a place where all the quacks meet.”
Liz heard the underlying tone in Michael’s voice. Beneath the joking exterior lay a hopeful tone. “I hope not,” she replied. ‘At least for your sake,’ she tagged on in silence. It didn’t seem fair that Michael was forced to live his life never know where he came from, hell, not knowing anything about himself other then what was painfully obvious.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As Michael walked down the stairs he couldn’t hide the look of discontent. He wasn’t very sure of what to expect out of the UFO Center, but he thought it would be better then what it was. All around, there were layouts of various scenes, ones that were just a little disturbing to him.
“What the hell?” A voice from behind him asked. Michael turned around to find Liz standing there.
“What are you doing here?”
The petite brunette shrugged her shoulders. “Mom worked her magic on dad.” She resumed her current action and eyed the rest of the building. Shaking her head at the stupidity that was human hypothesis, she looked back to Michael.
“It doesn’t seem so credible anymore does it?” Michael ran his hands through his spiky hair in frustrated manner.
Liz tried to offer a smile, but she knew she couldn’t say anything to offer to help. She knew that Michael had placed his hopes on their trip. “Maybe there’s something here. I mean there must be the worlds top experts on alien paraphernalia here....maybe we can talk to someone?” As soon as she finished, the pair watched as a gentleman wearing t-shirts exclaiming that they were abductees walk past them. They wore funny hats and were quite enthused in al they were seeing.
“Don’t you mean the world’s craziest people?” Michael shot back. He glanced around the room again before deciding to leave. The only thing stopping him was Liz’s hand on his arm.
“Michael...” Liz trailed off. She knew she didn’t need to remind him of what they were looking for. She knew that if he left, for years he would always think back to that time, wondering if he would have ever found anything.
Michael let her hold him back. “I know,” he conceded softly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Max laid on his bed staring into nothing as his stereo blared. He felt listless, he felt incomplete, all he wanted to do was die. Mindy. How could he live without her? He never did imagine sharing his life with someone, not thinking he would ever be one to get married. Instead, he would share his body with girls and find what comfort and feeling he could. That all worked for him, but the moment Mindy walked into his life, it changed.
How the hell could Mindy not tell him she was leaving? Sure, he wasn’t truthful with her, but the only reason why was because he was scared to tell anyone the truth about himself. Not only was there himself to worry about, but his sister and Tess. Their lives depended on keeping secrets. When it came to the really important things though, he was always honest and open with Mindy.
“MAX!”
Max rolled his eyes at his sister’s loud voice. Isabel was the most proper person he’d ever known, she rarely ever raised her voice. When she did though, she was loud and obnoxious. “GO AWAY ISABEL!” Rolling his eyes he went back to sulking. The door swung open, Max tossed a withering glare at his sister. She paid no mind, flicked her wrist and the music turned off. “I thought I locked the door?”
“You did, but I got tired of listening to that noise you call music,” she replied haughtily.
Ever the princess, he wondered how it was that everything in the house seemed to revolve around Isabel’s wants. “Go away Isabel, I’m not in the mood to deal with you.”
Her eyes narrowed at his words. He often teased her about acting alike a princess and that sometimes he hated to talk to her. “Too bad, we’ve got something to deal with.”
“GO AWAY ISABEL!” Max exclaimed once more.
“What the hell is your problem?” Isabel asked, his words not phasing her.
“Mindy’s moving.”
Isabel sat down on her brother’s bed. “Oh.” Personally, she didn’t care. She’d never liked Mindy. Mindy wasn’t always popular, she remembered a time when Mindy was close friends with Maria and Alex. Isabel watched the way that Mindy traded them in, treated them like crap. In fact, she treated everyone like crap at one time or another. Mindy stepped over many people to get to where she was. Max was always bad when it came to popularity, but it seemed as though he reached an all time low once he got together with Mindy.
“You don’t have to act sad Isabel. I know the moment she leaves you will be rejoicing,” Max barked out bitterly. He couldn’t stand the way his sister and Tess looked down on him for dating Mindy. There was more then one occasion where all they did was complain about his girlfriend.
“I’m not acting sad Max. I hate the girl and I could care less if I ever see her again,” Isabel told him, once again reiterating her feelings for the girl. She continued in a softer tone, “I still don’t like to see you hurt.” She looked away, Tess’ phone conversation playing her head. “Tess just called, Nesado’s back in town. He wants us to come over right away, something important is going on.”
“No! I won’t go!” For as long as he could remember, Nesado was always calling ‘important’ meetings, which in the scheme of things, didn’t hold much relevance. Usually it was concerning their destinies, Nesado would try to talk Max and Tess into following their’s.
“Max, I don’t know how you feel right now,” Isabel confessed. “I do know that mother and father have some old friends of their’s coming by tonight for dinner. You know if you are here, mom will force you to join them...can you just imagine it now?”
Max rolled his eyes, he actually could picture it. The only thing worse then dealing with Nesdao when he was in a crummy mood was dealing with his parents. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“This sucks!” Michael exclaimed as he and Liz walked across the street to the Crashdown. His head hurt. He learned a few more things he never discovered in his research into UFO’s, but he was having a hard time processing it all. He knew that some of it was real, but how could he believe it. What if the true facts were turned around and someone had added their own lies to it?
Liz looked down, not able to come up with anything to say. She was just as confused as him, if not more so. “Well, what about the 1969 occurance in Socorro?”
“What about it?”
“Well, what if...someone got off that ship and integrated into human society and you were the result of that?” Liz knew she was grasping at straws, but there had to be something tied into that incident. Michael lived in Socorro and for there to be a UFO sighting there...it could be coincidence, but there could be something that tied them together.
“Then why wasn’t that person there when I was born? Where have they been?” That thought hurt him more then anything, that someone like him had abandoned him, left to him to fend for himself.
As they opened the door to the Crashdown, Liz lowered her voice. “I don’t know, it was just a thought Michael.”
“Can we not talk about this right now?” He gestured to the almost full restaurant. Liz didn’t say another word as they headed over to an open booth.
“Hello and welcome to the Crashdown I’ll be...” her voice trailed off as she looked at the couple. “Oh, it’s you,” she pointed out as she offered an obviously sarcastic smile.
Liz looked up at the female waitress, it was the same one they had when they had gone to the restaurant the previous afternoon. Maria, it was a name she would never forget, she was sure Michael would remember it as well. Looking across the table she tried to gauge Michael’s reaction. He was already staring that the blonde. One of her eyebrows lifted as the couple stayed locked in their stare down.
“Blondie,” Michael said, finally breaking free from the staring contest.
The nerve! Maria silently fumed. It wasn’t so much what he said as apposed to the tone of his voice when he said it. He acted superior to her, talking in an almost mocking tone. “Spiky,” she returned the same unpleasant hardiness. She took delight in the way his eyes narrowed. She looked across the table to the brunette, her demeanor much more polite. “What can I get you guys to eat?”
“Um, actually could we have a few minutes?” Liz asked as she scanned over the menu.
“Sure, before I go, how about I take your drink orders?”
Liz looked to the menu to see what selection the Crashdown had, but Michael just folded his hands on the table and looked at Maria. “Well, Marion why don’t you tell me what you have to offer?” As she listed off the various beverages Michael smirked, he could hear the barely contained temper that was itching to let loose. He liked this girl, she was fun to mess around with. “Wait, you said you had Cherry Cola?
“Yes.”
“I’ll have that,” Liz told the waitress, oblivious to what was going on between Michael and Maria.
“Make that two.”
Maria scribbled down on her order pad. “Okay, we have one Cherry Cola and one Cherry Cola with arsenic.” She offered a large smile. “I’ll be right back with your those.”
Michael turned around to watch Maria walk away. As he turned back around he paid no mind to Liz’s raised eyebrows. He looked over his shoulder once again, only to find Maria offering him a nasty smile. “She’s going to spit in my drink isn’t she?”
Liz giggled. “I wouldn’t blame her if she did. I never knew you could be so annoying Michael.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“So...what’s the big deal?” Max asked as he and Isabel walked into Nesado’s house. He and Tess were already sitting in the living room.
Tess raked her eyes over Max’s form. His hair wasn’t done, it messy at best. His clothes were wrinkled and faded, his face was pale and his eyes were red. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen him so messy. “Geez Max, you look like shit.”
Max rolled his eyes as he and Isabel made their was to vacant seats. “Thank you sweetie,” he replied cuttingly. “Can we just to business?” He looked over to the older gentleman, his protector.
At Max’s brisk tone, Tess cut a glance at Isabel in silent question. There were a few times in the past when Max acted like a spoiled brat, but he had never neglected to care for himself. Isabel didn’t say a word, but the roll of her eyes was enough to share her feelings about her brother’s moods. “Let’s get this over with so Max can spend the rest of the night in his own little pity party.”
Nesado spoke up for the first time since Max and Isabel’s arrival. What did these three think? Did they think everything was a joke? Max was so much more self involved, more so then he could remember Zan ever being. “Sorry to disappoint you princess, but we have dire news to discuss.” He eyes automatically moved to Max’s. “Now’s the time to start looking at the big picture. We’re going to need our king...you have to aside all your own feelings.”
Nesado had always been able to manage to get the most trivial things become important, but there was something about tonight’s meeting that caused goose bumps to develop. “What’s going on Nesado?” She looked to Tess, wondering if the small blonde knew anything about the matter. At the confused look her confidant wore, Isabel could tell she was also in the dark.
“Something’s come up,” the oldest alien announced.
(In Roswell)
Max grunted as he lifted up the alien body and fixed the various items under it. As he laid it down he continued fixing the rest of the layout, his mind not on the task at hand. He'd worked there for a few months, but already he knew all of the scenes like the back of his hand.
"Max," Mindy said softly as she approached her boyfriend. She'd been dreading talking to him since she found out…
Max turned around, a smile lighting his face. It seemed as though since Tuesday, Mindy had been avoiding him. At school whenever he tried to approach her, it seemed as though she surrounded herself with her friends. Whenever he would call her for a little 'one on one' time she always gave him excuses. Max was starting to worry, Mindy had never blown him off…hell, no one had ever blown him off before.
"Hey honey!" He hugged his girlfriend, placing a soft kiss on her lips.
Mindy tried to offer a smile, but it wouldn't quite reach her face. Her heart began thudding, as she started playing with her hands. "Can we talk?"
Max looked at his girlfriend. Was she serious? How long had she lived in Roswell? Didn't she know what the UFO Convention meant, especially to him since he was working at the UFO Center? "Mindy…as happy as I am that you are finally talking to me, now's really not a good time. The Convention is in a few days and I have to be ready. How about we meet up later?"
Looking at him, Mindy bit her lip. She couldn't come back, she couldn't! It had taken all her strength to even go to him, she didn't know if she could leave and come back again. "Max, this is really important."
Max was about to deny her again, but the words died on his lips as he looked at the desperation written on Mindy's face. Max looked around the room, spotting a co-worker a few feet away. "Hey John! I'm taking my break now!" After John nodded his head at understanding Max's words, Max laced his hand with Mindy's as he led her to the back room.
The moment the door was shut, Max backed Mindy up against the door, his hands embracing her, his mouth plundering hers. It had been days since they had been together. He hadn't even had a chance to really kiss her, he'd been dying to. Now that he had her in his arms, he wasn't willing to let it go.
"Max…" Mindy wasn't sure if it was a plea for him to continue or stop. His hands felt wonderful! Max managed to make her feel something she had never felt before with anyone else. What would she do after him? As her thoughts drifted to that unwelcome direction she slowly pushed Max away, kissing him once more. "Max, stop. We need to talk."
Max advanced on Mindy once more. "We will," he said, dismissing her words. That kiss was amazing. It had been so long since he was alone with her. He didn't want it to end.
"No Max," she pushed him once again. Mindy ran her hands down her clothes, smoothing them out. "Now. I have to tell you before I lose my nerve." She made her way over the worn out couch and sat down. "I owe you an apology. I've been avoiding you, and I'm sorry. It's just what we have is…so much more then…anything I've ever felt before with anyone. I guess," she bit her lip, "I just didn't want it to end."
Max smiled, honored by her words. As much as he liked Mindy the way she normally was, he never thought she would open up to him the way she just had. He knew the way that Mindy felt for him, but she had never poured her heart out like that. He reached out and caressed her face. "I don't want it to end either."
Mindy grabbed Max's hand and held it in her own. "Please don't say that. It only makes things harder."
"Mindy, what is this about?"
Taking a deep breath, Mindy prepared herself once more. "My dad was transferred."
"Well, how long does it take to move? I mean they give you at least a a few months to pack before you actually leave right?" He knew that Mindy's father worked on top secret projects, but he wasn't in a great demand…was he?
"We're leaving tonight." Mindy closed her eyes, afraid to see how her words would effect Max.
"Tonight?" No! That couldn't be. They had to give some notice. "Well, when did you find out?"
"A few months ago," she answered meekly.
Max shot a look over at Mindy. "A few months! You never told me?" His statement was more of an accusation then question. How could she? He'd always been honest with her-well, ignoring the alien factor of it all. He may not have been openly honest with her about everything, but it wasn't only his life that depended on keeping the secret. How could Mindy lie to him? How could she keep something like that from him?
As if seeing the betrayal flittering across his face Mindy spoke up. "I just didn't want this to end. I tried to live this dream world as long as I could. I'm sorry Max."
Max searched for a way to get out of this. He couldn't deal with this, not then. Mindy. “I uh…I have to…work to do. I'll see you later."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(somewhere between Roswell and Socorro)
"This was a wonderful idea Nancy," Jeff Parker praised as he drove down the old high way. Ever since he talked to Phillip Evans a few weeks back he'd been wanting to see his old friend. When his wife approached him with the idea of visiting Roswell he jumped at the opportunity. He left the restaurant up to his very capable assistant manager. Before his wife could say anything, he turned up the volume of the car radio.
From his position in the back seat, Michael rolled his eyes at the sound of oldies blaring out of the speakers. "When I asked you to come to Roswell with me, this isn't exactly what I had in mind." He had no problem spending time with the Parkers, but this was beyond anything he had ever planned on doing. He wasn't much for family moments and a road trip with one wasn't exactly his style.
Liz rolled her eyes, having already heard that. "You wanted me to come with you, this is how it happened." Having her parents come along wasn't exactly her idea either. Liz knew that in order to approach her father on the subject she would need someone on her side. Her mother always had her father eating out of the palm of her hand. He never said 'no' to her.
"This makes our objective harder," he continued on. How were they supposed to look into alien phenomena with Liz's parents looking over their shoulders.
"Our objective?" Liz asked. "What are we going into battle?" Where had he come up with that word?
Michael grunted. "You know what I mean."
"Relax General," she amended, not able to hold back from the cut. "My parents have old friends in Roswell. I'm sure they will be busy visiting them. Our objective is still on line."
"Funny Parker."
Jeff shot a glance to the back sat of the car. "I've mapped out our days in Roswell. When we arrive we will be eating at the Crashdown Café before we head over to the hotel. Now, I have to warn you both, it's going to be a little crazy this weekend due to the convention. We will relax the rest of the night. Tomorrow morning we will be doing some sight seeing. I talked my buddy and he invited us over for dinner…"
"Wow, Mr. Parker," Michael started awkwardly. "It sounds like it's going to be a busy weekend." He waited until the older man's gaze shifted to the front before he pinched Liz's leg. She squeaked and shot him a nasty glare.
"Actually dad," Liz began, she cleared her throat. "Since Michael and I learned we were going to Roswell we made up our own plans…"
"What did you two have in mind?"
"We…were kind of looking forward to going to the convention. I mean, it looks interesting and we've never done something like that before."
Jeff decided no to say anything about their decision about going to the convention. He didn't agree with it, but he didn't want to make them feel bad. "We'll see." He heard Liz grumble something under her breath. "What was that Lizzie?"
"That's usually what you say when you don't plan on letting me get what I want," she repeated, louder that time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Roswell)
“Liz!” Michael exclaimed after Mr. Parker left their hotel room. As soon as they hit city limits they decided to check into their rooms before snagging a bite to eat. As soon as they drove into Roswell they were bombarded by several places containing alien themes. Michael had known that Roswell was the known as the capitol of UFO’s, but he never even thought to imagine the town was so insane. Her father had reserved two bedrooms at the Spaceship Inn. “There was nothing on his itinerary about what I need to do!”
Liz bit her lip. She know how important the trip was to Michael. “Okay, I’ll do some damage control.” Of course, the only way she would accomplish that would be to negotiate her wants and needs to free Michael.
“Thanks Liz.” When he noticed the sullen look in her eyes he sat on the bed next to heron the lumpy bed. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just...I wanted to help you,” she confessed softly. She was the only person in the world who knew anything about him. Liz felt bonded with Michael because of the secret. While she hadn’t located any information, she had tried to help him as much as she could.
“I know...me too,” he agreed. Michael placed an arm around Liz’s shoulder. “You are helping though.”
Liz sighed. “I know, but it’s just not the way I wanted to. I wanted to be by your side when you discover something.”
“That should be ‘if I discover something’. Who’s to say I’ll find anything at all. This convention could just be a place where all the quacks meet.”
Liz heard the underlying tone in Michael’s voice. Beneath the joking exterior lay a hopeful tone. “I hope not,” she replied. ‘At least for your sake,’ she tagged on in silence. It didn’t seem fair that Michael was forced to live his life never know where he came from, hell, not knowing anything about himself other then what was painfully obvious.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As Michael walked down the stairs he couldn’t hide the look of discontent. He wasn’t very sure of what to expect out of the UFO Center, but he thought it would be better then what it was. All around, there were layouts of various scenes, ones that were just a little disturbing to him.
“What the hell?” A voice from behind him asked. Michael turned around to find Liz standing there.
“What are you doing here?”
The petite brunette shrugged her shoulders. “Mom worked her magic on dad.” She resumed her current action and eyed the rest of the building. Shaking her head at the stupidity that was human hypothesis, she looked back to Michael.
“It doesn’t seem so credible anymore does it?” Michael ran his hands through his spiky hair in frustrated manner.
Liz tried to offer a smile, but she knew she couldn’t say anything to offer to help. She knew that Michael had placed his hopes on their trip. “Maybe there’s something here. I mean there must be the worlds top experts on alien paraphernalia here....maybe we can talk to someone?” As soon as she finished, the pair watched as a gentleman wearing t-shirts exclaiming that they were abductees walk past them. They wore funny hats and were quite enthused in al they were seeing.
“Don’t you mean the world’s craziest people?” Michael shot back. He glanced around the room again before deciding to leave. The only thing stopping him was Liz’s hand on his arm.
“Michael...” Liz trailed off. She knew she didn’t need to remind him of what they were looking for. She knew that if he left, for years he would always think back to that time, wondering if he would have ever found anything.
Michael let her hold him back. “I know,” he conceded softly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Max laid on his bed staring into nothing as his stereo blared. He felt listless, he felt incomplete, all he wanted to do was die. Mindy. How could he live without her? He never did imagine sharing his life with someone, not thinking he would ever be one to get married. Instead, he would share his body with girls and find what comfort and feeling he could. That all worked for him, but the moment Mindy walked into his life, it changed.
How the hell could Mindy not tell him she was leaving? Sure, he wasn’t truthful with her, but the only reason why was because he was scared to tell anyone the truth about himself. Not only was there himself to worry about, but his sister and Tess. Their lives depended on keeping secrets. When it came to the really important things though, he was always honest and open with Mindy.
“MAX!”
Max rolled his eyes at his sister’s loud voice. Isabel was the most proper person he’d ever known, she rarely ever raised her voice. When she did though, she was loud and obnoxious. “GO AWAY ISABEL!” Rolling his eyes he went back to sulking. The door swung open, Max tossed a withering glare at his sister. She paid no mind, flicked her wrist and the music turned off. “I thought I locked the door?”
“You did, but I got tired of listening to that noise you call music,” she replied haughtily.
Ever the princess, he wondered how it was that everything in the house seemed to revolve around Isabel’s wants. “Go away Isabel, I’m not in the mood to deal with you.”
Her eyes narrowed at his words. He often teased her about acting alike a princess and that sometimes he hated to talk to her. “Too bad, we’ve got something to deal with.”
“GO AWAY ISABEL!” Max exclaimed once more.
“What the hell is your problem?” Isabel asked, his words not phasing her.
“Mindy’s moving.”
Isabel sat down on her brother’s bed. “Oh.” Personally, she didn’t care. She’d never liked Mindy. Mindy wasn’t always popular, she remembered a time when Mindy was close friends with Maria and Alex. Isabel watched the way that Mindy traded them in, treated them like crap. In fact, she treated everyone like crap at one time or another. Mindy stepped over many people to get to where she was. Max was always bad when it came to popularity, but it seemed as though he reached an all time low once he got together with Mindy.
“You don’t have to act sad Isabel. I know the moment she leaves you will be rejoicing,” Max barked out bitterly. He couldn’t stand the way his sister and Tess looked down on him for dating Mindy. There was more then one occasion where all they did was complain about his girlfriend.
“I’m not acting sad Max. I hate the girl and I could care less if I ever see her again,” Isabel told him, once again reiterating her feelings for the girl. She continued in a softer tone, “I still don’t like to see you hurt.” She looked away, Tess’ phone conversation playing her head. “Tess just called, Nesado’s back in town. He wants us to come over right away, something important is going on.”
“No! I won’t go!” For as long as he could remember, Nesado was always calling ‘important’ meetings, which in the scheme of things, didn’t hold much relevance. Usually it was concerning their destinies, Nesado would try to talk Max and Tess into following their’s.
“Max, I don’t know how you feel right now,” Isabel confessed. “I do know that mother and father have some old friends of their’s coming by tonight for dinner. You know if you are here, mom will force you to join them...can you just imagine it now?”
Max rolled his eyes, he actually could picture it. The only thing worse then dealing with Nesdao when he was in a crummy mood was dealing with his parents. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“This sucks!” Michael exclaimed as he and Liz walked across the street to the Crashdown. His head hurt. He learned a few more things he never discovered in his research into UFO’s, but he was having a hard time processing it all. He knew that some of it was real, but how could he believe it. What if the true facts were turned around and someone had added their own lies to it?
Liz looked down, not able to come up with anything to say. She was just as confused as him, if not more so. “Well, what about the 1969 occurance in Socorro?”
“What about it?”
“Well, what if...someone got off that ship and integrated into human society and you were the result of that?” Liz knew she was grasping at straws, but there had to be something tied into that incident. Michael lived in Socorro and for there to be a UFO sighting there...it could be coincidence, but there could be something that tied them together.
“Then why wasn’t that person there when I was born? Where have they been?” That thought hurt him more then anything, that someone like him had abandoned him, left to him to fend for himself.
As they opened the door to the Crashdown, Liz lowered her voice. “I don’t know, it was just a thought Michael.”
“Can we not talk about this right now?” He gestured to the almost full restaurant. Liz didn’t say another word as they headed over to an open booth.
“Hello and welcome to the Crashdown I’ll be...” her voice trailed off as she looked at the couple. “Oh, it’s you,” she pointed out as she offered an obviously sarcastic smile.
Liz looked up at the female waitress, it was the same one they had when they had gone to the restaurant the previous afternoon. Maria, it was a name she would never forget, she was sure Michael would remember it as well. Looking across the table she tried to gauge Michael’s reaction. He was already staring that the blonde. One of her eyebrows lifted as the couple stayed locked in their stare down.
“Blondie,” Michael said, finally breaking free from the staring contest.
The nerve! Maria silently fumed. It wasn’t so much what he said as apposed to the tone of his voice when he said it. He acted superior to her, talking in an almost mocking tone. “Spiky,” she returned the same unpleasant hardiness. She took delight in the way his eyes narrowed. She looked across the table to the brunette, her demeanor much more polite. “What can I get you guys to eat?”
“Um, actually could we have a few minutes?” Liz asked as she scanned over the menu.
“Sure, before I go, how about I take your drink orders?”
Liz looked to the menu to see what selection the Crashdown had, but Michael just folded his hands on the table and looked at Maria. “Well, Marion why don’t you tell me what you have to offer?” As she listed off the various beverages Michael smirked, he could hear the barely contained temper that was itching to let loose. He liked this girl, she was fun to mess around with. “Wait, you said you had Cherry Cola?
“Yes.”
“I’ll have that,” Liz told the waitress, oblivious to what was going on between Michael and Maria.
“Make that two.”
Maria scribbled down on her order pad. “Okay, we have one Cherry Cola and one Cherry Cola with arsenic.” She offered a large smile. “I’ll be right back with your those.”
Michael turned around to watch Maria walk away. As he turned back around he paid no mind to Liz’s raised eyebrows. He looked over his shoulder once again, only to find Maria offering him a nasty smile. “She’s going to spit in my drink isn’t she?”
Liz giggled. “I wouldn’t blame her if she did. I never knew you could be so annoying Michael.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“So...what’s the big deal?” Max asked as he and Isabel walked into Nesado’s house. He and Tess were already sitting in the living room.
Tess raked her eyes over Max’s form. His hair wasn’t done, it messy at best. His clothes were wrinkled and faded, his face was pale and his eyes were red. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen him so messy. “Geez Max, you look like shit.”
Max rolled his eyes as he and Isabel made their was to vacant seats. “Thank you sweetie,” he replied cuttingly. “Can we just to business?” He looked over to the older gentleman, his protector.
At Max’s brisk tone, Tess cut a glance at Isabel in silent question. There were a few times in the past when Max acted like a spoiled brat, but he had never neglected to care for himself. Isabel didn’t say a word, but the roll of her eyes was enough to share her feelings about her brother’s moods. “Let’s get this over with so Max can spend the rest of the night in his own little pity party.”
Nesado spoke up for the first time since Max and Isabel’s arrival. What did these three think? Did they think everything was a joke? Max was so much more self involved, more so then he could remember Zan ever being. “Sorry to disappoint you princess, but we have dire news to discuss.” He eyes automatically moved to Max’s. “Now’s the time to start looking at the big picture. We’re going to need our king...you have to aside all your own feelings.”
Nesado had always been able to manage to get the most trivial things become important, but there was something about tonight’s meeting that caused goose bumps to develop. “What’s going on Nesado?” She looked to Tess, wondering if the small blonde knew anything about the matter. At the confused look her confidant wore, Isabel could tell she was also in the dark.
“Something’s come up,” the oldest alien announced.
Walter: "I used this to extract information from a corpse once. You can do that if they've been dead up to six hours."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Chapter 6
(A month or so later)
In Roswell
One very tired Liz Parker grumbled as she looked to the person sitting to her right at the same black table. When she looked over the answers on Michael’s work sheet she was in a state of awe. Michael ‘slacker’ Guerin had actually completed an assignment? He completed an assignment before her? Was she really so tired that she was beginning to slack off? It was a completely ridiculous thought, Liz knew that for certain, but she couldn’t help but compare her scholastic records to his. There wasn’t very much in her life she was proud of, her grades were her one attribute. Gently shaking her head, she grasped for another reason as to why he finished before her.
As she finished looking around to make sure she wasn’t the focus of any attention, she nudged Michael softly. As he gave her his attention she opened her mouth. “How did you finish so quickly? Did you...” Liz cleared her throat for clarification of what she meant, incase anyone were to hear her words.
“The answers were on the desk,” he answered. He loved it when the student teacher would take over. Not only was she hot, but she conveniently left out the answers to which ever work sheet was distributed that day.
“Oh.” Knowing about Michael’s alien abilities made it easier for her to understand him better. She knew why he was managed to stay in school so long without being failed. Michael barely ever applied himself to anything, he showed up and did the minimum amount of work to pass, however, he always seemed to excel at tests. She had learned that he had a ‘scanning’ technique built in. Liz couldn’t deny it’s usefulness for Michael, but to her...it didn’t seem fair! She studied hard to achieve her excellent marks, and he used a little cheating to go along.
Liz pouted, she wished she was an alien with alien powers. She had been afraid at first when she had seen Michael use his powers. Part of her had felt bad, but the rational part of her brain kicked in and Liz couldn’t help but think that anyone would feel that way when they first learned the truth. Things had changed since then, the more Michael opened up about his powers, the more bedazzled Liz became. There were so many extraordinary things he could do. He could heal slight cuts and bruises, that in it’s self was amazing. He could scan a book and remember every thing word for word. He could change the color or material of several objects. His most powerful gift though, he could blast rocks from many different views.
“You all right?” Michael asked after a beat, having noticed the way she had been lagging all day.
“Yeah, I just didn’t sleep so well.” Liz tried to play her statement off as though it was nothing important, but the little nagging voice in her mind told her it was anything but that. Liz had been having dreams lately, horrifying and disturbing dreams.
They weren’t always the same, but she could tell by what little she remembered that it concerned the same fact due to same red smoke and debris that was constantly afresh in her mind. Along with that, she would experience feelings, of what seemed to be entangled with the dreams. There was an overwhelming sense of loneliness and despair. She would wake up, her heart racing, gasping for breath as though she was actually experiencing it.
Michael frowned. The first time Liz had mentioned her dreams, he laughed it off as to her overactive imagination, but after the second time she experienced it, he began to get a little worried. Out loud, he would play it off to corrupting her with all the war movies, but inside...he was frightened. Whenever Liz would describe what she remembered about them, an eerie silence would settle over them both, goose bumps would tickle their skin, the air in the room seeming as if it dropped a few degrees cooler... “What was this one about?” Michael asked.
Liz looked around, not wanting to get into it when they were surrounded by the rest of the students in the class room, she shrugged her shoulders. “Not much different then the ones I’ve had before, the same fragments. I always see...” Liz closed her eyes. “I see damaged buildings crumbling down around me...battered people lying the among the lifeless. There’s red smoke, or maybe it’s just debris from the collapsing buildings. It’s cold, but I don’t seem to feel the bitter wind sting my skin. My senses are deadened due to my...” what could she say? There were so many feelings, things she didn’t think she could even put into words at the time. Liz opened her eyes and looked at Michael.
Judging by the way Liz trailed off, Michael guessed there wasn’t much else to be told but doom and gloom. “There’s a way to get someone to want to kill themself” he replied with smile, hoping that he could break her out of the funk she seemed to have settled in. At Liz’s shake of her head and her amused smile he winked at her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Max walked down the hall with a slight bounce to his step. After Mindy’s departure, he had been a mess. The unfortunate smell of himself without taking showers had finally become too much for even him to bear. He began showering once again regularly. He finally began returning to school after two weeks. Staying home alone during the day left time for him to wallow in his self pity. He thought of nothing but Mindy, and then a desperate feeling would enter his body. His sister had finally talked him into returning to school, although since then, his work had been suffering.
“Hi Max,” Nadia purred as he approached him in the hall.
Max turned around to find the reason for his extra good mood and tossed her a handsome smile. “Why Nadia, what can I do for you?”
Nadia returned the smile with her own playful grin. She lifted a hand up to stroke up and down his chest. “Hmm...I was thinking of a repeat of our um, earlier performance.”
Max chuckled. He still missed Mindy, but he was a lady’s man before her, and he knew that he would be one after her. He refused to stop living his life just because the woman he loved was gone. “I think I can arrange it.” Hell yeah he would! It felt so amazing being with Nadia. Max didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t been with anyone in a month, or if it was just Nadia, but it had been fan-fucking-tastic!
“So, when did you want to meet up?” Nadia asked, jumping at the chance. She was practically salivating already.
He was about to answer when a thought popped into his head. “You still with Kyle?”
Nadia looked at him, with a confused look on her face. Where had Max been the last two weeks. It was like he was physically in school, but he always seemed off in his own little world? Shaking her head at what a shame it was that Mindy did such a number on the guy in front of her. “Yes I am...is that a problem?” She hadn’t been blind to Max and Kyle’s little competition. They had always been chasing after each other’s girls.
Max placed an arm around her and led her towards the parking lot. “Not at all.” Besides, Kyle was still busy with his football, he wouldn’t have the time to notice that Nadia was getting her sexual needs elsewhere.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“It’s so nice to know that this news hasn’t phased Max,” Tess grated out between ground teeth to Isabel. Ever since their meeting with Nesado, Tess had been on the edge...she could tell that Isabel was too. Was Max? No, Max was too busy feeling sorry for himself. He had finally returned to the land of the living, at least physically. He hadn’t been happy or sad, he just existed. Earlier that day though, she had been able to spot Max’s ‘good’ mood or so you would call it. It was a hell of a lot better then the way he had been acting previously.
Isabel only shook her head. “It’s disgusting isn’t it. It’s the end of the world as we know it and he’s off trying to get laid.”
Tess shook her head in disappointment at her king. When she heard Isabel mutter something under her breath about her brother being a selfish dog, Tess smirked. “It doesn’t seem fair. He was always there for us and now...he’s like completely ignoring us. What does he think? That if he ignores this problem then it will go away? If this was how his predecessor acted on Antar I can understand why he was killed.”
“Maybe we could sit down and talk to my brother?” Isabel suggested. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she felt the exact same way that Tess did, the only difference was that she refused to say so.
“And say what?” Tess retorted. Getting Max to open up about certain subjects or forcing him into a conversation had never gone over well in the past. She didn’t see how they would be successful in their next attempt, especially when it was such a dire emergency. Tess shook her head. No matter even if they did somehow force Max into talking, none of them would be prepared for what was in store.
“Has Nesado contacted you yet?” It was a repetitive question, one that Isabel asked at least once every other day.
Tess looked down. It was always the same response, and this time the answer wouldn’t be different. “No.” She and Isabel made their way into the parking lot. “I’m getting kind of worried,” Tess admitted.
Isabel gave the girl a look of confusion with her eyebrows furrowed together. Nesado was the most capable alien she had ever known, hell, he’d even killed in the past to protect them. “Tess, I think that he is more then capable of taking care of himself.”
“I know, I just can’t help worrying. I mean he leaves days after he drops this bomb on us. I haven’t heard from him since, we have no idea about any new developments, and the one person who should be in charge and help us has his head up his ass!” Through out her declaration, Tess’ voice had gradually risen.
Isabel cautioned a look around them to see how many people were around to possibly hear her friend’s charade. Thank fully the school was now almost empty. “Feel better?” Her voice held no accusation, just a soothing tone.
Tess thought about Isabel’s question for a moment and small smile made it’s way on to her face. “Actually, yes I do. I feel much better.”
“Good.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“I’m going to the library to study,” Liz explained as she stood up and her made her way to Michael’s door. “Is there anything you want me to look up?” During the previous weeks, whenever Liz had gone to the library, she would usually bring back a book that was associated with alien paraphernalia by either his request or on her own. She and Michael would sit down together and examine it from cover to cover to find anything. They hadn’t had any luck.
Ever since their unsuccessful trip to Roswell, Michael had holed up about the entire situation. He pretended that nothing ever happened, that he hadn’t gotten his hopes up. “Actually, I have a few book to return. Hold on.” When he emerged from his bedroom carrying three books, Liz inwardly shook her head. As he handed them to her, Liz read the name of each title. By the time she got to the last book, she was trying to balance them.
“Among Us.” She didn’t remember reading that one. As if sensing her internal question, Michael ran his hand through his hair.
“I uh, I started reading it a while before you found out.”
“Well, I should get going then.” Liz closed the book and began walking back towards the door. She didn’t pay attention to where she had left her back pack, but she soon realized as she tripped over it. The books flew out of her hands and he held her hands out to catch her from the fall. Immediately, her face flushed hot. She knew that she had no reason to feel embarrassed around Michael, but she still couldn’t believe how big of a klutz she could be.
“You all right?” Michael asked. He was concerned about her, but he couldn’t keep the grin that spread over his face. He knew it wasn’t funny, but Liz was just so adorable when her face would flame in embarrassment.
Liz nodded, ready to pull herself up, when something caught her eye. One of the books had landed so it was open to the back inside flap. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to remember where she had seen that picture before. “Michael, come here.”
“What? You need help?”
Liz didn’t even bother to toss him a rude remark. “No, look at this.” She waited until she scooted behind her. “Does that look familiar to you?”
Michael stared at the picture for a moment, confused as to what Liz was trying to tell him. He stared harder at the image, the man blurred away as he concentrated on the pentagonal house in the back ground. “I know that place! Remember all those drawings I did? I wasn’t sure why I was drawing it, but I’d had a vision and I couldn’t get this building out of my head! Where is it located?”
“Marathon, Texas.”
Michael looked over at Liz, seemingly trying to think of how long it would take for things to fall into place so he could leave for Texas as soon as possible. “I suppose you’ll be joining me?”
Liz nodded, “What else would you expect?”
“So I take it that you will want to leave this next weekend...no chance of missing school?” Michael already knew the answer to that, he just wanted to hear it. Maybe it would have been different then what he thought.
Liz smirked. “Good guess.”
Nope, it was the same reply he had been looking for, he smirked. “Well, at least we have time to map out a course,” he suggested weakly.
(A month or so later)
In Roswell
One very tired Liz Parker grumbled as she looked to the person sitting to her right at the same black table. When she looked over the answers on Michael’s work sheet she was in a state of awe. Michael ‘slacker’ Guerin had actually completed an assignment? He completed an assignment before her? Was she really so tired that she was beginning to slack off? It was a completely ridiculous thought, Liz knew that for certain, but she couldn’t help but compare her scholastic records to his. There wasn’t very much in her life she was proud of, her grades were her one attribute. Gently shaking her head, she grasped for another reason as to why he finished before her.
As she finished looking around to make sure she wasn’t the focus of any attention, she nudged Michael softly. As he gave her his attention she opened her mouth. “How did you finish so quickly? Did you...” Liz cleared her throat for clarification of what she meant, incase anyone were to hear her words.
“The answers were on the desk,” he answered. He loved it when the student teacher would take over. Not only was she hot, but she conveniently left out the answers to which ever work sheet was distributed that day.
“Oh.” Knowing about Michael’s alien abilities made it easier for her to understand him better. She knew why he was managed to stay in school so long without being failed. Michael barely ever applied himself to anything, he showed up and did the minimum amount of work to pass, however, he always seemed to excel at tests. She had learned that he had a ‘scanning’ technique built in. Liz couldn’t deny it’s usefulness for Michael, but to her...it didn’t seem fair! She studied hard to achieve her excellent marks, and he used a little cheating to go along.
Liz pouted, she wished she was an alien with alien powers. She had been afraid at first when she had seen Michael use his powers. Part of her had felt bad, but the rational part of her brain kicked in and Liz couldn’t help but think that anyone would feel that way when they first learned the truth. Things had changed since then, the more Michael opened up about his powers, the more bedazzled Liz became. There were so many extraordinary things he could do. He could heal slight cuts and bruises, that in it’s self was amazing. He could scan a book and remember every thing word for word. He could change the color or material of several objects. His most powerful gift though, he could blast rocks from many different views.
“You all right?” Michael asked after a beat, having noticed the way she had been lagging all day.
“Yeah, I just didn’t sleep so well.” Liz tried to play her statement off as though it was nothing important, but the little nagging voice in her mind told her it was anything but that. Liz had been having dreams lately, horrifying and disturbing dreams.
They weren’t always the same, but she could tell by what little she remembered that it concerned the same fact due to same red smoke and debris that was constantly afresh in her mind. Along with that, she would experience feelings, of what seemed to be entangled with the dreams. There was an overwhelming sense of loneliness and despair. She would wake up, her heart racing, gasping for breath as though she was actually experiencing it.
Michael frowned. The first time Liz had mentioned her dreams, he laughed it off as to her overactive imagination, but after the second time she experienced it, he began to get a little worried. Out loud, he would play it off to corrupting her with all the war movies, but inside...he was frightened. Whenever Liz would describe what she remembered about them, an eerie silence would settle over them both, goose bumps would tickle their skin, the air in the room seeming as if it dropped a few degrees cooler... “What was this one about?” Michael asked.
Liz looked around, not wanting to get into it when they were surrounded by the rest of the students in the class room, she shrugged her shoulders. “Not much different then the ones I’ve had before, the same fragments. I always see...” Liz closed her eyes. “I see damaged buildings crumbling down around me...battered people lying the among the lifeless. There’s red smoke, or maybe it’s just debris from the collapsing buildings. It’s cold, but I don’t seem to feel the bitter wind sting my skin. My senses are deadened due to my...” what could she say? There were so many feelings, things she didn’t think she could even put into words at the time. Liz opened her eyes and looked at Michael.
Judging by the way Liz trailed off, Michael guessed there wasn’t much else to be told but doom and gloom. “There’s a way to get someone to want to kill themself” he replied with smile, hoping that he could break her out of the funk she seemed to have settled in. At Liz’s shake of her head and her amused smile he winked at her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Max walked down the hall with a slight bounce to his step. After Mindy’s departure, he had been a mess. The unfortunate smell of himself without taking showers had finally become too much for even him to bear. He began showering once again regularly. He finally began returning to school after two weeks. Staying home alone during the day left time for him to wallow in his self pity. He thought of nothing but Mindy, and then a desperate feeling would enter his body. His sister had finally talked him into returning to school, although since then, his work had been suffering.
“Hi Max,” Nadia purred as he approached him in the hall.
Max turned around to find the reason for his extra good mood and tossed her a handsome smile. “Why Nadia, what can I do for you?”
Nadia returned the smile with her own playful grin. She lifted a hand up to stroke up and down his chest. “Hmm...I was thinking of a repeat of our um, earlier performance.”
Max chuckled. He still missed Mindy, but he was a lady’s man before her, and he knew that he would be one after her. He refused to stop living his life just because the woman he loved was gone. “I think I can arrange it.” Hell yeah he would! It felt so amazing being with Nadia. Max didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t been with anyone in a month, or if it was just Nadia, but it had been fan-fucking-tastic!
“So, when did you want to meet up?” Nadia asked, jumping at the chance. She was practically salivating already.
He was about to answer when a thought popped into his head. “You still with Kyle?”
Nadia looked at him, with a confused look on her face. Where had Max been the last two weeks. It was like he was physically in school, but he always seemed off in his own little world? Shaking her head at what a shame it was that Mindy did such a number on the guy in front of her. “Yes I am...is that a problem?” She hadn’t been blind to Max and Kyle’s little competition. They had always been chasing after each other’s girls.
Max placed an arm around her and led her towards the parking lot. “Not at all.” Besides, Kyle was still busy with his football, he wouldn’t have the time to notice that Nadia was getting her sexual needs elsewhere.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“It’s so nice to know that this news hasn’t phased Max,” Tess grated out between ground teeth to Isabel. Ever since their meeting with Nesado, Tess had been on the edge...she could tell that Isabel was too. Was Max? No, Max was too busy feeling sorry for himself. He had finally returned to the land of the living, at least physically. He hadn’t been happy or sad, he just existed. Earlier that day though, she had been able to spot Max’s ‘good’ mood or so you would call it. It was a hell of a lot better then the way he had been acting previously.
Isabel only shook her head. “It’s disgusting isn’t it. It’s the end of the world as we know it and he’s off trying to get laid.”
Tess shook her head in disappointment at her king. When she heard Isabel mutter something under her breath about her brother being a selfish dog, Tess smirked. “It doesn’t seem fair. He was always there for us and now...he’s like completely ignoring us. What does he think? That if he ignores this problem then it will go away? If this was how his predecessor acted on Antar I can understand why he was killed.”
“Maybe we could sit down and talk to my brother?” Isabel suggested. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she felt the exact same way that Tess did, the only difference was that she refused to say so.
“And say what?” Tess retorted. Getting Max to open up about certain subjects or forcing him into a conversation had never gone over well in the past. She didn’t see how they would be successful in their next attempt, especially when it was such a dire emergency. Tess shook her head. No matter even if they did somehow force Max into talking, none of them would be prepared for what was in store.
“Has Nesado contacted you yet?” It was a repetitive question, one that Isabel asked at least once every other day.
Tess looked down. It was always the same response, and this time the answer wouldn’t be different. “No.” She and Isabel made their way into the parking lot. “I’m getting kind of worried,” Tess admitted.
Isabel gave the girl a look of confusion with her eyebrows furrowed together. Nesado was the most capable alien she had ever known, hell, he’d even killed in the past to protect them. “Tess, I think that he is more then capable of taking care of himself.”
“I know, I just can’t help worrying. I mean he leaves days after he drops this bomb on us. I haven’t heard from him since, we have no idea about any new developments, and the one person who should be in charge and help us has his head up his ass!” Through out her declaration, Tess’ voice had gradually risen.
Isabel cautioned a look around them to see how many people were around to possibly hear her friend’s charade. Thank fully the school was now almost empty. “Feel better?” Her voice held no accusation, just a soothing tone.
Tess thought about Isabel’s question for a moment and small smile made it’s way on to her face. “Actually, yes I do. I feel much better.”
“Good.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“I’m going to the library to study,” Liz explained as she stood up and her made her way to Michael’s door. “Is there anything you want me to look up?” During the previous weeks, whenever Liz had gone to the library, she would usually bring back a book that was associated with alien paraphernalia by either his request or on her own. She and Michael would sit down together and examine it from cover to cover to find anything. They hadn’t had any luck.
Ever since their unsuccessful trip to Roswell, Michael had holed up about the entire situation. He pretended that nothing ever happened, that he hadn’t gotten his hopes up. “Actually, I have a few book to return. Hold on.” When he emerged from his bedroom carrying three books, Liz inwardly shook her head. As he handed them to her, Liz read the name of each title. By the time she got to the last book, she was trying to balance them.
“Among Us.” She didn’t remember reading that one. As if sensing her internal question, Michael ran his hand through his hair.
“I uh, I started reading it a while before you found out.”
“Well, I should get going then.” Liz closed the book and began walking back towards the door. She didn’t pay attention to where she had left her back pack, but she soon realized as she tripped over it. The books flew out of her hands and he held her hands out to catch her from the fall. Immediately, her face flushed hot. She knew that she had no reason to feel embarrassed around Michael, but she still couldn’t believe how big of a klutz she could be.
“You all right?” Michael asked. He was concerned about her, but he couldn’t keep the grin that spread over his face. He knew it wasn’t funny, but Liz was just so adorable when her face would flame in embarrassment.
Liz nodded, ready to pull herself up, when something caught her eye. One of the books had landed so it was open to the back inside flap. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to remember where she had seen that picture before. “Michael, come here.”
“What? You need help?”
Liz didn’t even bother to toss him a rude remark. “No, look at this.” She waited until she scooted behind her. “Does that look familiar to you?”
Michael stared at the picture for a moment, confused as to what Liz was trying to tell him. He stared harder at the image, the man blurred away as he concentrated on the pentagonal house in the back ground. “I know that place! Remember all those drawings I did? I wasn’t sure why I was drawing it, but I’d had a vision and I couldn’t get this building out of my head! Where is it located?”
“Marathon, Texas.”
Michael looked over at Liz, seemingly trying to think of how long it would take for things to fall into place so he could leave for Texas as soon as possible. “I suppose you’ll be joining me?”
Liz nodded, “What else would you expect?”
“So I take it that you will want to leave this next weekend...no chance of missing school?” Michael already knew the answer to that, he just wanted to hear it. Maybe it would have been different then what he thought.
Liz smirked. “Good guess.”
Nope, it was the same reply he had been looking for, he smirked. “Well, at least we have time to map out a course,” he suggested weakly.
Walter: "I used this to extract information from a corpse once. You can do that if they've been dead up to six hours."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."
Peter: "Yeah, cause after six hours they're REALLY dead."