Part 7 - Remember

Michael tried to run in to the UFO Center, but stopped when Valenti put up a warning hand. The sheriff quietly took out his gun and held it in front of him as he looked around. After seeing that the coast was clear, he nodded to Michael and the two went quickly down the stairs into the main area of the museum. Running two steps at a time, Michael soon passed the other man. His attention immediately focused on the light coming from the open door of Brody's office. Upon entering the office, Michael saw the strange Skin walking to the desk and picking up the alien artifact. Before he had a chance to do much else than have a sinking feeling of deja vu, a bright light flashed, and Michael found himself flying through the air, hitting the wall of the office and sliding to the floor.

"I really hate that thing," he muttered to himself. He took some small consolation in the fact that the Skin had gone flying at the same time he did, and he seemed ever more disoriented by the fall. Taking advantage of the other alien's confusion, Michael threw himself across the room at him.

Just as the Skin was getting to his feet, he found himself knocked down for the third time that day, only this time it wasn't the alien artifact's fault, but Michael's. Michael hit the pentagon out of his hand and watched in satisfaction as it skidded across the floor, stopping under the table in the far corner. He'd had more than enough close encounters with that particular object. Then he noticed Brody lying on the floor. Great - another innocent bystander caught in their war.

He turned and grabbed the front of the Skin's shirt, hauling him to his feet. "Who are you?" he yelled. "What are you doing here?"

In response, the Skin narrowed his eyes. The next thing Michael knew, his head was knocked to the side as if hit, even though the Skin didn't touch him. Ignoring the pain, Michael smirked. "Is that the best you can do? I hate to break it to you, buddy, but I've been hit much worse before." Michael threw the Skin across the room as hard as he could. The alien went flying out the door and didn't stop until hitting the far wall of the main area. Dimly, Michael was aware that his response was slightly out of character. But he was furious and sick of having to jump at shadows. It was liberating to have a straight-forward confrontation for a change, an enemy right there in front of him who he could fight. He was almost looking forward to it. Plus, there was Maria. If this Skin knew anything about her danger, then he was going to tell.

Michael started to follow the Skin out the door, determined to get some answers. This had been a really long day already, and having some strange Skin trying to knock him out was not improving his mood any. "Let's try that again, okay? Who are you?" The he noticed something he had missed upon entering the room.

Maria was lying on the floor to one side of the room.

There was blood all around her head.

She wasn't moving.

Michael completely forgot that the Skin even existed.

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Valenti had reached the office just in time to duck as the Skin came flying out the door right past him.

"Let's try that again, okay? Who are you?" he heard Michael ask from inside the office.

Valenti didn't believe in wasting time. He saw the Skin get back up and look at him with an expression of total hate. He saw the hand going up in a gesture that he had seen Michael make several times. Valenti dropped to the floor.

He heard the impact the Skin's energy blast made on the wall above him. Looking up, Valenti saw the blackened section of wall where he had been standing a moment earlier. He also noticed that Michael wasn't coming out of the office to help. As his head spun around, he noticed that the Skin was raising his hand again. Time for a diversion.

"Michael, a little help would be nice," he called out. Was he imagining things, or did he notice a flicker of apprehension in the Skin's eyes at Michael's name? No matter. The instant the Skin's attention darted over to the office door, Valenti grabbed a heavy hammer from a nearby display table. A direct hit to the back was required, and the hammer was much more reliable than taking a chance shooting. He ran over to the Skin and slammed the hammer into his back. A second later - no more Skin. Just some ashes that quickly dispersed in the air.

Valenti took a breath. Hard to imagine that he had ever complained about his job as sheriff of a small town being boring. He frowned suddenly. Michael still hadn't come out of the office. What was going on in there?

"Michael?" he asked as he approached the office door with concern.

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"Maria? Maria!" Michael whispered as he knelt down next to her. So much blood, where was all the blood coming from? "Maria, wake up, babe," he cried. That's where - her head. She must have hit her head when she fell. "Maria!" he yelled loudly. He was about to shake her shoulders, when he felt Valenti's arms stopping him again. This time, he did shake them off. Getting Maria to open her eyes and look at him was the only thing that mattered right then.

"Michael!" Valenti called out sharply. "Michael! Listen to me!"

Michael finally turned to look up at him. Valenti's heart ached to see the look on his face. For the first time ever, he could see the little boy he had always suspected still lived in Michael. Distantly, he wondered if this was the look Michael had worn when he had to confront Hank. Pushing aside his thoughts, Valenti focused on making Michael listen. "Michael, we can't move her if she's hurt. We might just make things worse for her." He spoke as he would have to Kyle when he was little, very gently but firmly. He hoped it was getting through to the alien teen.

Michael looked back at Maria, then at Valenti. "She won't wake up. We have to do something," he said, begging him to make things better, to have an idea to help her.

Valenti wished he did. He reached past Michael and gently put his hand on Maria's neck. "She still has a pulse. It's faint, son, but it's there."

Michael nodded eagerly. At least she wasn't dead. He'd been afraid to check for that. "We have to get Max. He'll heal her."

"Do you know where Max is right now?"

Michael's head spun around to look at Valenti. His meaning was obvious - there wasn't time to go looking all over Roswell for Max. "No. I don't." He closed his eyes and whispered. "She's going to die."

"No, she's not!" Valenti cried angrily. He shook Michael until his eyes opened. "She is not going to die. If Max can't help her, then you have to."

"I can't! Max is the healer. All I can do is kill. I can't fix this - it's too much for me."

"Then she will die, because I don't think she'll make it until an ambulance gets here." Valenti's matter-of-fact tone got through Michael's panic.

It was true. He was Maria's only chance. He almost laughed at the irony. She should have called out to Max, not him. He could heal little things, like a sprained ankle or a paper cut, but this? Well, she had no other chance. He took a deep breath and gently touched the cut on her head. There was a huge bump and cut underneath all the blood. Valenti moved over to check on Brody as Michael worked.

Closing his eyes, Michael focused on Maria. He remembered the way she sounded when she was singing in Vegas. He remembered the way she yelled at him when he was trying so hard to keep his distance and not let her in. He remembered the way she had thrown herself into his lap on Christmas when he gave her the earrings. He remembered how Celine Dion CDs somehow magically appeared amidst his Metallica collection in his apartment. He remembered the millions of little moments when Maria had managed to wriggle through the cracks in his stonewall and somehow fill his life until she was the one thing he couldn't imagine living without.

Then he concentrated on the cut. Max had tried to teach him how to heal. Something about picturing the wound, then thinking about how it should look, and pushing, no, nudging the molecules until they went where they were supposed to be. And so Michael thought about the way Maria's head should look, without the cut and the bump.

He was concentrating on healing her so much that he was caught off-guard by the visions, more intense than any he had received from her before.

~Flash~
A little girl cries as she watches a man drive away.

~Flash~
Two little girls, one blond, one brunette, laugh as they play with dolls.

~Flash~
Maria walks through the Crashdown with Liz, laughing. Her laughter trails off as she notices Max and Michael at a nearby booth. Max smiles at them, but Maria feels a pang of disappointment as Michael looks away.

~Flash~
She feels a sharp pain of fear as the gun goes off and she sees Liz go down to the floor. She can't lose her best friend. She rushes over to Liz, but is stopped by Max Evans. She has to trust that he can help.

~Flash~
She tells Michael about her father leaving and wanting to find something better than Roswell. He leans closer with interest. She realizes that this is the first time anyone has ever really listened to her and understood. Maybe she isn't so alone after all.

~Flash~
She tries to control her panic at the thought of Max and Liz in danger. Suddenly, she feels someone grab her from behind. All thoughts of Liz and danger are gone as Michael kisses her. She looks at him in surprise and wonder as he breaks away.

~Flash~
Michael puts his arms around her and pulls her close. He understands and forgives her for lying about the flashes. She feels closer to him at that moment than she ever has to anyone. He's the one person she doesn't have to pretend with or lie to. She closes her eyes in perfect happiness when he kisses her tenderly on the head. She wonders if he has any idea of how beautiful he is.

~Flash~
She feels like she can't breath as Michael walks away from her. The pain is slowly knifing through her shock. She thought he would stay, but he's just like everyone else. Everyone leaves.

~Flash~
She feels that pain again as she sees Michael hugging Isabel. She realizes that she can't hold on to him if he doesn't want to be held.


Michael jerked out of the connection. Valenti caught him as he fell back, overcome with the strength of Maria's feelings for him. He had no idea that anyone could know him, know all of him, and still feel that way about him - that he was safe and beautiful, worthy of being loved. He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. "Is she okay? Did it work?" he asked.

Valenti looked at her. "The wound's closed and the bleeding's stopped." He didn't sound happy, though, which put Michael on alert.

He sat back up slowly (Maxwell never mentioned how much healing drained a person) and looked at Maria. "Why isn't she waking up?" he asked.

The sheriff shook his head. "I'm not sure." He looked at Michael. "There might have been some internal damage to the brain that's keeping her from regaining consciousness." Michael just looked at him blankly. "Let me call for help for her and Brody." Valenti went over to the phone.

Michael sat there stunned for a second. Idiot, he thought to himself in disgust. Did you really think you could heal like Max? You can't do anything right. In the background, blocking out the memories of how Maria saw him, was Hank's voice telling him that he was worthless trash. Michael closed his eyes against the sudden prickling of tears. He was so tired of this fight. It was taking everything he had, and now it was going to take Maria, too. He couldn't save her anymore than he had saved .........

Screw that, he told himself. Maybe I am worthless, but there's no way I'm going to just sit here while she dies. He put his hands very gently on the sides of Maria's head. "Come on, DeLuca," he whispered. "Are you going to just leave? After everything we've been through, are you going to just let some idiot Skin win? Where's the famous DeLuca fight? You going to quit and leave?" As he was talking, he was thinking. Maybe if he could make a deeper connection, he could repair the internal damage, too. "I'm going to try something, Maria. I don't know if it'll work or not, but I'm going to try. I could use some help, though, babe." He took a deep breath, trying to ignore how his hands were shaking. "Okay, here goes. I'm not going to lose you, too." He closed his eyes and concentrated on Maria again. This time he didn't think about any particular memories. This time, he just thought about the essential Maria - her courage, her loyalty, her brains, and especially the way she felt when she saw him.

Then he thought about the way he felt when he saw her. He focused on the very simple, very basic fact that he loved her and that he could not imagine a life without her in it.

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