Author: Susan

E-mail: susanandtad@cs.com

Category: M/M, AU(I call it AU because I am writing something in their universe that isn’t going to happen)

Summary: Story comes from Chant’s Down Babylon episode description and a scene from the new promo. Slightly spoilerish. Warning character death.

Improv #12: Unhappy ending

Michael looks out over the Quarry, a place that he and the others have been many times, knowing that this will be the last time he ever sees this place. He is leaving Roswell and he is never coming back.  

This has by far been the worst two weeks of Michael’s life and considering his childhood that is saying a lot. It started with Maria leaving for New York . After she left he punched his hand through the glass pane of the door. He wouldn’t even let Max heal it for him. He wanted to feel the pain. Then his coworker Monk was killed in a robbery. Holding Monk as his life slipped away Michael damned his powers. He wished and not for the first time that he had Max’s power to heal. He would have healed Monk. He wouldn’t have let him die, the consequences be damned. But instead he sat there helpless. He did the only thing he could think of afterwards he went to Valenti hoping to get some help finding the bastards that killed his friend. Michael never expected what would happen next. They found evidence that the lab knew that Michael was an alien and then Valenti disappeared. Max, Isabel and Michael went in to find him. And then the impossible happened. Max died.  

Michael and Isabel found Valenti who told them that Max was made to heal Clayton Wheeler by his wife Merris and something had gone wrong and Max had aged and then disintegrated in front of Valenti’s eyes. Isabel and Michael didn’t have time to register what Valenti told them before Wheeler’s men came after them. They barely made it out of there and even then they didn’t make it out unharmed, Isabel was seriously injured.  

They couldn’t take her to the hospital but without medical help Isabel was surely going to die. Valenti knew a discredited doctor and after a lot of arguing and some not so gentle persuasion Jesse, who had followed Isabel let Michael and Valenti go to the doctor for help. Jesse had a lot of questions, which Isabel finally had to answer. He was furious that she had lied to him but in the end almost losing her made him realize that it didn’t matter to him who she was because most of all she was his wife and he loved her.  

After all was said and done Michael, Isabel, Valenti and Kyle had to come to terms with Max’s death. Michael couldn’t accept that Max was dead. Something else must have happened. He was sure of it but he didn’t know how to prove it. Then before he even had to come up with a plan Liz came home and Max was with her. All of them were thrilled to see Max alive. But he was different.  

Somehow when Max had healed Clayton he had actually transferred his essence into Clayton’s body. Clayton went through this huge transformation and came out looking like Max. Max’s soul was trapped in Clayton’s body. Max was trying to fight to come out but Clayton was winning. Clayton decided that he needed to get rid of the one thing that was keeping Max’s soul alive, Liz Parker. He went to Vermont looking for Liz, to kill her and he nearly succeeded but Max succeeded in taking over and with one soul searing kiss Clayton’s soul was gone. Unfortunately, Max had not beat Clayton soon enough. There had been a casualty in the war. Maria.  

When Max and Liz came home the others were so thrilled to see Max alive that they didn’t notice that Max could not look at any of them in the eyes. He was silent and brooding, more than he had ever been before. And Liz, well she dropped Max off and then left. It took them all a little while to realize that Liz was no longer there. It wasn’t till later that they found out that Liz went to Amy Deluca to tell her that her daughter was dead.  

They had thought that Max’s death was a shock but hearing that Maria was gone was more than any of them could possibly come to grips with especially Michael. Michael was the first one to notice that something was wrong with Max. Kyle noticed that Liz was gone and asked them if they had seen her go. It was then that Max told them that Liz had gone to talk to Amy Deluca. When he told them that Maria was dead they all thought he was joking, except for Michael. He knew that Max would never joke about that and especially not to him. Max knew how much Michael loved Maria. So Michael had asked Max how it happened.  

Michael knew the answer even before Max told them. Clayton Wheeler had killed her because she got in the way of him getting to Liz. The thing they all had a hard time dealing with was that Max had not been able to stop him from killing Maria as he had Liz. Liz had been important but Maria was expendable and this was something that Michael could not deal with. His best friend, his brother had essentially killed the only girl that he would ever love.  

After Max had shocked everyone with the news of Maria’s death and his part in it Michael walked out the door and did not come back for several days. He did not attend Maria’s funeral but the others knew he was back because there was a fresh bouquet of spring flowers on Maria’s grave every morning. He had not come back to his apartment and no one knew exactly where he was staying.  

Two weeks after it all began Michael made the decision to leave Roswell . He could not remain in this town where everything reminded him of Maria. Every reminder was like a dagger stabbing him over and over again. The pain would not end. Over the last few days he had watched his friends from a distance. He knew that Max carried a tremendous amount of guilt for his part in Maria’s death but Michael couldn’t seem to make himself care. He had loved Max as a brother and a friend but all that love was now gone. Michael’s ability to feel love had died with Maria Deluca and Max, even though not intentional, was to blame for it all.  

Michael turned away from the quarry. He couldn’t even come here without thinking about Maria. He remembered a crazy day several years ago when they had been here to discuss Topolsky. He had almost told Maria then that he loved her but she had cut him off telling him that she knew. He wished that he had told her a lot sooner then he had. He couldn’t take back all the time they had been apart. If he had known the short of a time he would have had with her he never would have pushed her away all those times.  

Michael drove back through town he stopped a moment to look at the Crashdown and at the UFO Center and then he went to say goodbye.  

“I won’t be coming back. I’m sorry but I have to leave. I can’t stay here. I know that you of all people understand. I’ll miss you. Goodbye.”  

Michael turned away but then suddenly turned around. “I love you Maria. I always will.”  

Michael got on his bike and drove out of Roswell . Back at the cemetery there was a bouquet of Spring Flowers on Maria Deluca’s grave and one her tombstone under Beloved daughter and friend there was a fresh inscription. It said “The love of Michael Guerin ’s life. She will always be remembered.”

The End