PART 17


Maria sat on her bed and watched Lei play with her doll. She was a cutie with her red curls and freckles. She was fourteen months old which was the perfect age of sweetness and charm for a baby.


Maria had never been too good with kids till the day she found out that she was going to have one herself… Fate had robbed her off from her baby but the feeling had stayed. Now she couldn’t help but love every little kid she had set eyes on.


She had been singing at the bar every night for the last week but that night was an exception. Lucy and Kyle had a date. And it was her duty as a friend and a sister to babysit Lei. Not that she was complaining…


She was a little worried about Liz. She had no way to contact them and they were supposed to arrive a couple of days ago. Isabel and Alex were coming the next day, so she had decided to wait till they came and not alarm everyone with her worries.


“Lei, baby, give that to me…”


The little girl was trying to eat one of Maria’s lipsticks. She must have left it on the bed. She tried to take it from her hands but ended up helping her get the cap off.


“Oh, God, baby let it go. That’s really expensive and Luce wouldn’t like it if your poop looks pink!”


They were struggling but Lei seemed to like the struggle and the little girl did have her mother’s strength. God!


“Baby give it to Maria…”


Lei’s eyes opened big and she squeaked. “Mars!”


“Oh God! You just said my name! That’s so sweet. Now give me back my lipstick!”


The doorbell rang just as they were about to fall off the bed. Maria raised her head to the sound victoriously. “Huh! Mommy’s here. Now we’ll see who gets the lipstick!”


She took the little girl in her arms and made her way to the door, still ranting about how she would win eventually.


- - -


Michael felt his heart beat faster with every step he took in the direction of her apartment. Breathing was something he had to focus on in order to do right. He felt like he was about to collapse, his knees weren't obeying him anymore.


Max threw him anxious glances over his shoulder. He probably was scared that he would run away. Michael snorted at that. If only he knew…


True, one part of him did want to run away but the other part, the undeniably strong one, wanted to pass Max and Liz, run towards her door, hold her tight in his arms and never let her leave. It was that same part which could feel her presence behind that door clearly now.


Liz was practically jumping up and down with anticipation before him. Michael would have found it funny that a woman her size could look so much like a little girl in a toy store if his brain worked properly.


Liz rang the bell as soon as they reached the door. Michael was shifting his weight from foot to foot. He felt an overwhelming urge to run away but his body had a mind of its own. He heard -or maybe imagined- her walking towards the door and she was talking. No she was arguing.


He could hear her faint voice ranting. “Why are you being such a nasty girl tonight, huh? No, no, no… Look, baby that thing cost me a fortune! No, stop… Don’t… God! You just know how cute you are and you're using it against me, aren't you? Look what you did to your face………”


She flung opened the door still talking to the baby in her arms. “Now, you’ll see, mommy’s here!” Her voice died when she saw who were behind the door.


“Oh my God! Liz?”


She hugged Liz as tight as she could with Liz’s huge belly and Lei between them. She looked her friend up and down, taking in her appearance.


“God, Liz, you look great!”


Okay, to be honest, she didn’t look that great. But it was apparent that she needed to hear it. She looked tired. And big. Really big. Liz was a petite girl and that huge belly was just too contrary to her figure.


She was pale and had circles under her eyes. She looked like she was about to cry. Maria thought she would too if she was in the same situation.


Lei’s squeak made them pull apart from each other. “Liz!” She shouted, still fondling the lipstick. Maria laughed. “Oh, now you can talk, huh?”


Liz looked at the little girl with tears shining in her eyes. Those stupid hormones! Maria had a feeling that she would see Liz crying often til she gave birth. She put the baby in Liz’s arms and ushered Max and Michael inside without once glancing at Michael’s side.


“Max.” She hugged the uncomfortable man as friendly as she could manage. She was lost over what to think of him. All she knew was that she had to at least tolerate him for Liz’s sake even if he turned out to be a prick.


“Thanks for bringing her.” She whispered, looking in his eyes and hoping that he would know how much this meant for her. But she could see there, this meant even more for him. And she visibly relaxed. That was good, they were in the same wavelength. She really didn’t have any more strength to fight.


“Thanks for inviting us.” He muttered blushing. This blushing thing had to be something about Roswell. She had never seen any blushing guys at that age in LA.


She let go of Max and her eyes caught the deep brown ones she longed so much to see. Then she thought she’d never seen him blush, so it couldn’t be a Roswell thing. He was always c-ocky or angry, always on guard, never letting any emotion show on his face. But she couldn’t really blame him for it, now that she knew his reasons.


He didn’t look angry or c-ocky at that particular moment though. He wasn’t sure if his face muscles would comply if he tried to move them. So he let them be.


He stood there, in front of her, not moving or speaking, barely managing to breathe. Maria tore her gaze away from his eyes to look at him thoroughly. He looked older. He had an unruly beard that made him look tougher and somehow sexier. But then she saw something that made her blood boil.


“What did you do to your hair?” she yelled at him, making him feel like he was in grade school again.


His hair was longer. He didn’t have any reason to care enough to cut it. It was encircling his face in gentle curls. He had thought that she probably would hate the beard but the hair thing caught him off guard.


“What?” he snapped, happy to face her anger than the awkwardness he expected.


She was fuming. How could he just change his hair like that? She loved his stupid spikes. Just like Bobo’s… “You will go to the bathroom right now mister and fix yourself!”


She grabbed his bag and pushed him towards the bathroom. She went in before him, put the bag down, grabbed new towels for him, took out Kyle’s shaving stuff, careful to always keep her eyes away and her hands busy.


When she was finished, she turned to leave but he was towering over her, blocking her way. She raised a threatening finger “I want that stupid hair fixed when you leave the bathroom.”


He gazed in her eyes and smirked. She really was serious. “You know you’re nuts, right?” he asked, relieved to find her just like she used to be. Just like he loved her to be.


She threw her arms in the air. “Huh! Look who’s talking!” she said and left him alone in the bathroom.


He sighed and leaned against the door. He wondered when exactly his life had gotten so damn complicated. So infuriating. So confusing. Oh yeah, that would be the day she’d crashed in his life… literally…


- - -


Maria gave her room to Max and Liz against all protests. It had the only big bed in the house and after months on the road, she figured they would need privacy.


It was the day after they had arrived that Maria finally found some time to talk to Liz in private. Max had just left to meet Iz and Alex at the airport, Kyle was shopping -alone this time- and Michael was watching TV. They were finally alone.


“So, Liz, what is with all the running?” she asked, while folding the clothes she just washed.


Liz was pouting in her place in Maria’s bed. She wasn’t allowed to move or help her with anything. “I think Max or Michael could explain this better. I don’t really understand it myself.”


Seeing Maria’s raised eyebrow, she continued. “It’s the baby. They say he’s sending out some kind of vibes. I don’t know. I can't feel it. But obviously the other aliens do. They have been tracking the baby and…” Tears were running down her cheeks but Maria suspected this was more than hormones.


“I’m scared. I don’t know what to do. What if it never stops? Those things want something from my baby… And they just keep coming. I’m so scared…”


Maria hugged her friend tight but she knew nothing would ever make her feel better in that situation. She promised herself that she would keep her safe no matter what and decided to keep her distracted for now.


“Did I show you the books I bought?”


- - -


On their second night, the small apartment was packed. She had placed Isabel and Alex in the guest room and Kyle, Maria and Michael were sleeping in the living room.


She had strategically arranged it that she could see Michael as she lay. They haven't been really talking since the hair incident. She smiled as she watched his new spikes. He had changed it back. She felt really grateful for that. She wasn’t sure if she could handle it if he hadn’t.


She knew she needed to be angry. She should have been fuming for what he had done and making him pay. But she was in a pathetic state that she couldn’t even feel anger. All she could do was stop herself from running to his arms. And that was just because she knew for sure that she wouldn’t be able to handle another rejection from him.


The surprising thing was he wasn’t angry either. Not that he had any right to be, but she had expected him to be. He was sarcastic as hell and guarded and closed off as always, but he wasn’t rude to her, or to anyone else for that matter. She didn’t know for sure how to take this.


She took one last look at his sleeping face and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think. She didn’t want to decide. He was near. And he was safe. That was all it matter at that moment. That was all she cared.


- - -


It had been four days without any attacks… Michael was on edge. The attacks were more frequent even when they had kept moving. This was unusual and suspicious and he hated it.


He was in the guest room, checking Kyle’s weapons. They were impressive. The guy was really ready for a battle. Michael had no doubt that he was sleeping with a gun under his pillow. He had always appreciated a little paranoia.


“You got silencers for those?”


“You gotta be kidding me! Of course I do. What do you think I am? An amateur?”


Michael raised his hands in surrender and chuckled softly. “Just checking!”


“You got good stuff here.” Michael said after a minute’s silence.


“Yeah, and I won't hesitate to use them on you if you ever hurt her again.” Kyle’s voice didn’t waver and his gaze never left his face.


Michael’s eyes met Kyle’s insistent gaze and he didn’t doubt him for one moment. Hell, he wanted to kill himself that night when he’d sat outside Amy’s door and listened to her sobbing, why shouldn’t Kyle feel the same? And Michael actually felt better that she had someone to protect her when he failed. He had been right to trust Kyle with her.


“You do that.” He said and turned his eyes back to the guns.


There was something about Guerin. Kyle was positive that he wanted to kill him, but something in his look right then and his voice on the phone that night made him uncertain. He sighed and rubbed his face. It was all Tom’s fault. He was going to kick his ass the next time he saw him.


“Why the hell did you send me here?” he asked, hating himself for even caring.


“To protect her.” Michael said firmly without raising his eyes.


“From what? There wasn’t anybody after her.”


Michael looked at him with a grim expression and didn’t say anything. But Kyle understood. He wasn’t an insightful guy like Tom, but even he could see the pain in Michael’s eyes. His eyes were so much older than he really was when he didn’t pretend not to care.


“From you?”


Michael didn’t answer but Kyle wasn’t expecting him to anyway. Michael wasn’t the verbal kind of guy but sometimes his actions gave away more than any words could.


Kyle shook his head and left the room, not knowing what else he could do. They were both just so damn impossible.


- - -


“Max?”


“Hey…”


Maria was used to catching Max alone on the balcony at night by now. He was sad and worried. His family was on the line and waiting was killing him. Maria knew he wasn’t sleeping unless he passed out. He was always watching over them.


“Wanna tell me about that vibes thing?”


Max looked at his new almost-friend. There was something about that girl that made him want to talk about all his troubles. She was compassionate, that had to be it. She had a surprisingly maternal side.


“It… It’s driving me insane.” He chuckled bitterly. “I hear it all the time… Izzy and Michael too. He… the baby… he’s like trying to make his presence known. I don’t know how far he sends those signals. He might be sending them across the universe… I don’t know.”


“And these other aliens are coming for him?”


“Yeah…” He took a deep breath. “They know he is my son. They can tell. And, I'm not sure but it’s like they are trying to absorb his powers or energy or something…” he shook his head.


Maria nodded, remembering the big guy with the glowing hand.


“I don’t know how far they come from. Are they from Earth or coming from somewhere else for him… I don’t know why he’s sending those vibes. I don’t know if it’s a normal Antarian thing… I don’t know anything… And it scares the s-hit out of me…”


Maria held his hand and squeezed it to let him know he’s not alone. But there was no way she could help him. And it hurt to know that.


When he spoke again, Maria could see the tears in his eyes. “It’s like he’s crying. Like he needs something. He might be scared or hurting… But I can't help him. I can hear him but…”


His voice trailed off and he started sobbing in his hands. He was finally breaking apart. Maria held him to her chest and let him cry himself to sleep, unable to help him any other way.

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