By Steph & Ruth

Rating: PG – 13 (might get to R+ if Steph gets her way!)

Paring: Mi & M, L & M, K & Is

Disclaimer: Apart from in our fantasies we do not own Michael , Max or anything else Roswell based, apart from this story! We also have no money so there is really no point in attempting to sue us!!

Feedback: As this is our first fanfic we would love some nice pleasant feedback, helpful criticism only! Please send any feedback to Peg_the_best@lycos.co.uk

Notes/Summary: This story follows on from Graduation. IIt contains the 6 characters that left Roswell and what we would have liked to have happened to them. The only difference from the show is that Tess did not leave Zan with Max and she did not die when she blew up the FBI unit.

ENJOY!!!!!

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Max glanced in the rear view mirror and checked the road as he took a sharp right turn, he glanced at the clock, it was 3:00am and nine hours since they left Roswell to escape from who they weren’t sure.  They had just narrowly avoided death and were tired of worrying about people following them.  They were leaving all of that life and Roswell behind as they looked toward the future.

“Hey, Max , can we please stop for some food soon?” called a voice from the back of the camper van that would soon become their home.

“As soon as we find somewhere to stop,” Max called back to where Maria, Michael, Isabel and Kyle had given up trying to get some sleep and were playing cards.

“Are you all right?  Max asked Liz who was slipping in and out of sleep in the seat next to him.

“Yes,” she answered him, “Thank you.”  Max looked over at her as she tried to sleep again, hoping against hope that she would never be in danger again. 

15 minutes later, Max pulled over at a roadside café. 

“Hey, if you want food here’s your chance, but remember, only use cash, no credit cards.”

“Yes sir!” Michael answered as he helped Maria out of the van.

“Food!” Kyle cried out, “Food, never thought I’d see the day!!!”

“Now you’re just exaggerating!” Isabel yelled after Kyle as he jumped out of the van and raced Michael to the café.

“Hey, Is, get us something will you?” Max asked Isabel as she left to join the others.

Her answer was lost as she shut the side door. 

Michael and Maria sat in a booth waiting for Kyle and Is to bring some food and drinks to them. Michael was sitting opposite Maria trying not to react as, under the table, her foot made its way up his leg. He glared at her but she took no notice as she innocently looked at the menu. Finally, he gave up and decided to fight fire with fire, he put his hand on her foot and worked it under her jeans and massaged her calf.

Their game continued whilst they and Kyle and Is ate soup and rolls. When they had finished their food the four of them walked into the food store next to the café.  Michael and Maria walked hand in hand down the aisles picking up odds and ends of food and toiletries that Maria thought they would need.

“Come on, do we really need all these beauty products? Honey, you’re already beautiful!” Michael said as Maria continued to pick up anything and everything.

“Aw, how sweet of you, Michael , but stop complaining, I’m almost done.” She replied as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

“Now that’s more like it!” Michael said after their lips eventually parted.

“Hey, are you two ready to go?  Max told us not to be too long.”

“Yeah we’re coming, Isabel ,” Michael called as he went to kiss Maria again.

“ Michael …no Michael …we have to go!” Maria cried as she eventually tore herself away from his embrace.

“Oh, five minutes won’t make any difference,” Michael , giving her puppy eyes as he tried to convince Maria .

“Ok, five minutes.”

Ten minutes later Kyle found Michael and Maria behind the store engaged in a full on session of making out.

Meanwhile, back in the van….

Max looked over at Liz , she had woken up fully when the van had stopped, she was shivering slightly. Max pulled her over to him and hugged her. Liz looked up at him,

“ Max , where are we going?’

“I don’t know. I figured we would just drive for as long as we could, figure the rest out as we go.”

“But what are we going to do about food, money, fuel etc?” Liz couldn’t help but worry about the immediate future. She knew Max would protect her against anything, still she wanted to know the plan.

“Hey, let me worry about it.” Max said. He bent his head and caught her lips in a deep kiss. She leaned into him, her hands going under his T.Shirt. He bought his hands around to her waist and let his fingers drift across her flat stomach and under her shirt.

When the others got back to the van 30 minutes later they found Max and Liz lying in the front of the van minus a few pieces of clothing.

“Um, I think we should leave them alone for a while – what do you reckon?” Kyle said to Isabel .

“I think we’re gonna need another van at this rate” Is replied thinking back to finding Michael and Maria a few minutes previously.

“Maybe, that should be another two!” Michael whispered to Maria as he stood behind her, hands on her waist nibbling at her ear.

As they turned around Is noticed a motel sign on the other side of the road.

“ Well, what do you think?”

“I think I need some sleep and this looks like the best bet” Kyle said in reply.

“Um, just one small issue – MONEY!” Maria nearly yelled the last word as Michael ’s cold hands moved under her shirt.

“No problem, Kyle hand me a twenty” Taking the twenty that Kyle reluctantly handed her she waved her hand over it and suddenly the twenty dollar bill was 100 dollars.

“That should be enough for two rooms, if you don’t mind sharing that is Kyle ” she looked at him.

He shrugged and smiled, “No, that’s no problem.  I sure could use a bed right now.”

“Forget it, Kyle , you get the floor!” Isabel started off towards the motel.

“Wait, Isabel , I’m sure we can come to some arrangement…”

“Hey, Michael , you think we can come to some arrangement?” Maria whispered as she slipped her hands around his waist.

“Well…what did you have in mind?” Michael teased, gently putting his arm around her shoulder and leading her toward the motel.

Maria looked at Michael sleeping next to her and felt so safe.  “God, I love you,” she thought to herself, as she remembered the passionate sex they had just shared. She leaned over and gave him a soft kiss.  He woke up and wrapped his arms around her. 

“You are so beautiful right now,” he whispered in her ear.

As they lay there, Maria knew she could never be with anyone else.

“ Isabel , come on!” cried Kyle , “this floor is hard as rock.”

“ Kyle , stop bugging me, you are not sleeping in the same bed with me!” Isabel replied.

“Well fine, you sleep on the floor then, but I am sleeping on the bed!”  and with that he climbed into the bed, amid much protest.

“Your taking all the covers!”  Isabel shouted to Kyle as she zapped him back to the floor.

“AAAAAHHHHH!” shouted Kyle , “wait till I get my powers! Then it’ll be a fair contest for the cover.  Why can’t you just zapp up another one?”

“What do you think I am? A genie?”

“Well…the next best thing!”

“ Kyle !!!” Isabel cried getting very annoyed.!!

“Ok, let’s compromise. Just let me sleep on the bed…without zapping me out!”

“Alright! But don’t take the cover. There’s an extra blanket in the cupboard.  Now, please, let’s get some sleep!”

“Deal,” Kyle agreed, feeling very pleased with himself!

The next morning the group were on the road by 6. Maria was dozing on next to Michael , who was driving. Every now and then he would turn and look at her, a feeling of amazement growing inside him, she had left her home, her mother her friends for him!

In the back of the van Max and Liz were watching in amusement at the developing argument between Kyle and Isabel .

“Well, if you didn’t keep hogging the duvet I wouldn’t have had to keep kicking you” “Well, if you hadn’t made me sleep on the floor in the first place, I wouldn’t have been so cold that I needed the whole duvet!” Kyle answered, his voice raising.

“Um, guys sorry to ruin your moment but we need to decide where we’re going” Michael said as he pulled over to the side of the road to turn around and look at the others. Sighing, Maria got out of the van and opened the back and climbed in, looking for the hairbrush she knew she had left there.

“I really don’t care, anywhere other than Roswell ” Isabel and Liz said, in unison. Maria laughed “ I agree, so long as we’re safe I don’t care either. Although it ought to be somewhere busy and somewhere we can all get jobs, we can’t keep using fake money”

She then turned to the two other females in the van

“Let’s let the guys play macho and decide. I need to wash my hair, I didn’t get a chance to before we left, also I want to change the colour of it. Can you help Is?” Nodding Isabel followed Maria out of the van. One look at the serious faces of the guys convinced Liz to follow the other two. She couldn’t put up with anymore stress at the moment. She knew she had made the right decision in going with them, but it didn’t mean she didn’t miss her home.

Max watched as Liz left the van, he knew that she was missing her family and wondered whether she really understood this was for the rest of their lives. Turning to Michael and Kyle he said,

“I agree with Maria , we do need to get jobs and find somewhere other than this van to live.”

“Well, how about San Antonio , Texas ?” Michael said

Kyle looked at him for a moment, before nodding.

“Works for me. I mean it’s close enough to Roswell that we’ll be able to know whats happening, yet far enough away not to be tripping over FBI agents and other would be assasins!”

Max agreed “How much longer will it take us to get there?” He asked Michael

“Not too sure, at a guess another 4 hours, have we got a map?”

Max reached under the seat and pulled a road map out. Glancing over it he spoke

“I reckon its about another 6 or 7 hours drive from here, going by the map. I think its too close though, we could have been followed to here and if so we won’t have time to lose them”

“We could always try driving round a bit first?” Michael suggested.

“Sounds good, we can always change plans later if necessary” Max replied, looking to Kyle for some sort of confirmation. Kyle nodded in agreement.

“The only thing is that we won’t be able to use motels, it’ll make us too easy to trace. Also, I think we should drive round for at least 3 days” Again the other two nodded consent to this plan before Kyle realised something, something that scared him

 “One of you can tell Isabel though, cos I don’t want to!” Kyle said, a look of amusement and worry flashed through his eyes.

Michael joined in the worried look at the thought of telling Is that they were going to have to sleep in the camper van together for at least two nights.

“Ok, Max you can tell her, I’m gonna have to put up with Maria ’s wingeing about it!” and before Max could protest Kyle and Michael started talking about missing playstations!

Whilst the guys were discussing the near future the three girls were enjoying playing with hair and eye colour, thanks to Isabels powers.

“I don’t know, I think I preferred the previous one Liz ” Maria said, looking critically at Liz ’s hair, which was now a short bob, the colour of strawberries.

“Yeah, I think I agree with Maria , the same length but the more mahogany colour.” Isabel said, the same critical look in her eyes

Isabel waved her hand over Liz ’s hair again and stepped backwards to stand next to Maria , they both grinned at the same time.

“Perfect!” Maria said.

Suddenly they heard a sharp whistle. “Come on, I guess they’ve decided where we’re headed.”

“God, I hate being like a sheep!” Isabel commented as they walked back to the van.

Michael glanced up as the three approached. His mouth dropped open when he saw Maria , her hair was similar to the way she had worn it before but instead of being blonde it was now a dark brown with red highlights. Her eyes, once green, were now a violet colour. On the whole, the changes weren’t huge but, to Michael at least, the effect was. Whilst Michael was drooling over the new Maria , Max ’s attention was directed at Liz .

“Wow” was the only word he could manage. The shorter hair style highlighted her delicate features and the red bought a shine to her eyes that Max hadn’t noticed before. Liz smiled at him, “I’ll take that as a compliment!”

After a few minutes of staring the guys were just getting themselves back together when Isabel came into view Max and Michael stared whilst Kyle let out a wolf whistle, which he immediately regretted. Max and Michael turned to face him, glares marring their faces. Isabel ’s hair was now in a short wavy bob, the colour was similar but very blonde highlights bought out the blue of her eyes which now seemed to glow.

“I take it they like the new us’s!” Is said, a purely feminine smile crossing her beautiful face.  She turned away from Maria and Liz and turned to Max ,

”So, whats the plan?” she asked.

“ San Antonio ,” Max answered, still staring at Liz .

“You’re joking, don’t you think it’s a bit too obvious?”, Is noticed that her brother wasn’t paying her any attention.

 “Oh for the love of Antar!,” She threw her hands in the air and climbed back into the van. Kyle followed, drooling as he watched her go.

The others followed, Max grabbing Liz’s hand and helping her into the back of the van. Maria and Michael climbed into the front seat, Michael slapping Maria’s backside as she slid into the passengers seat ahead of him, they turned around and looked at the others. Is was busy reheating some of the coffee that they had bought the day before whilst Kyle handed around doughnuts.

Once they were all happily munching and drinking Is turned to Max, “What were you saying about San Antonio ?”

“Well, we kind of figured that it made sense, you know what with it being such a big city, we’re bound to get jobs, find somewhere to live. Plus its close enough to Roswell to keep up with what’s going on” Max said between bites of doughnuts.

“That’s disgusting Max !” Isabel said looking at Max ’s mouth the entire time he was talking.

Liz hit him around the head before turning back to the others, her hand tracing patterns on Max ’s knee.

“I agree with Isabel . The first place they’ll look is San Antonio .”

“So, whats your suggestion?” Michael asked, his voice hard.

“I think we should go further North, maybe Califonia somewhere. God, I don’t know!” Liz said as she threw her hands in the air in exasperation.

“Look, why don’t we simply drive for now? We’ve got enough money and fuel etc to last for quite a while. If we just drive around, stopping at different places for a few weeks when we need to work, we can judge who’s following us and come up with a plan.” Maria ’s suggestion was met with a variety of reactions.

Half an hour later the arguing was dying down, amazingly everyone had agreed with Maria, even Isabel – although the idea of “What sleep out in the van – all of us – like together?!” was met with a great deal of reluctance.

“We can always buy some tents and take it in turns to sleep in the van” Liz suggested.

Michael looked at his watch, midday . Max was sitting next to him, Maria , Liz and Isabel were sleeping and Kyle was pretending to read, but was in reality trying to ignore the hunger making his stomach growl.

“ Max , we need to stop for food and gas soon. We’ll have to get Is to change some more bills, I don’t think we can risk using any money that can be traced to us yet.” He glanced in the mirror at the others, a small smile passed his lips as he saw Maria, she was wearing his jumper and had curled up on one of the ‘sofas’ in the van. Max saw the smile and turned around to see what had caused it, as his own eyes picked up the image of  Liz, asleep next to Isabel a small frown creasing her brow.

“Do you think we can stop without waking them up, I mean I know Liz didn’t get much sleep last night” Max said, his voice low.

At that comment Michael raised his eyebrows, Max saw and blushing stated,

“She had bad dreams!”

“Yeah, right!” Michael said before turning his attention back to driving. Max turned away a smile on his face as he remembered the previous night.

Two hours later Michael slammed on the brakes.

“ That’s it! I can’t drive anymore, I need some food and a walk.” He opened the door and climbed out.  Stretching he yawned as Kyle got out of the back of the camper van and stretched too.

“Hey, you want me to drive for awhile?” he asked Michael .

“Yeah, thanks. I could do with some sleep when we start again. But first I need some food and the van needs gas. The only problem is I have no idea where the nearest gas station is!” As Michael looked up the road Isabel got out of the van.

“God, I hate sleeping cramped up in this thing. Don’t you people realise that I need lots of leg room?!” she whined

Kyle looked at her legs appreciatively as he nodded in agreement, Michael laughed as Isabel hit him around the head for his actions

“HEY! I was agreeing with you!” Kyle protested lightly.

Maria climbed sleepely out of the van, Liz following her

“God, could you guys be any louder?!” she moaned as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes. Michael walked over to her and she leaned against him.

“So, are we going to drive to the next gas station or stay here for a while?” Liz asked, looking more awake than Maria . Max shrugged,

“I guess it doesn’t really matter. Isabel can turn pretty much any liquid into gas for the van, but we do need food. I think the best thing is to carry on to the next rest stop and stock up on food, drink and stuff. Then we can drive as long as we like.” The others nodded and turned to climb wearily back into the van.

“Can’t we change the colour of the van and the licence plates or something – this blue is really boring me!” Isabel complained, before anyone could comment she had waved her hand and the van was now a rich burgundy, the licence plates now stated that the van was registered in Texas .

As Kyle went to get into the drivers seat they all heard an approaching car.

“Let’s go!” Max said as he ushered Liz into the back of the van, Isabel climbed in next to Kyle and Michael and Maria scrambled in after Max . They pulled off onto the road just as the car round the corner. Kyle put his foot down and the van shot off at the first turning they came to he turned off and everyone turned in their seats to see if they were being followed, they were.

“Shit, I thought we had left all this behind us!” Maria said, looking at Michael for some sign of reassurance – he could give her none right then, he, Max and Isabel were focusing on the van’s engine, trying to make it go even faster.

The car kept up with the van and the distance between the two shortened.

“My God, who is it?” Liz whispered to Maria . Maria had turned pale, Liz grabbed her hand.

“It’ll be ok, they won’t let anything bad happen” she held such a strong conviction in her voice that Liz herself began to believe it.

The car pulled up next to the van and Kyle was forced to pull over. As the car door opened and the driver got out it was Liz ’s gasp that broke into the silence of the group in the van.

Tess walked up to the drivers side of the van and peered into the window. Max looked at Liz , who nodded almost imperceptibly, before opening the door and stepping out. Glancing at Tess he inclined his head and walked a little way away from the ears of the group in the van, Tess followed.

Back in the van Isabel let out the breath she hadn’t realised she was holding.

“Well, anyone up for a game of cards?” The others nodded in agreement and Kyle climbed over the seat to join them, landing in Isabel ’s lap. Michael and Maria smirked at the two of them.

“When are you two going to concede to fate?” Maria asked, her amusement obvious. Michael laughed at the evil glare that was thrown in her direction from both Isabel and Kyle , as he threw his arm around Maria ’s shoulder. Liz was ignoring the four as she glanced nervously out the back window. Max was gesturing angrily in the direction of the two vehicles and Tess seemed to be nearly in tears. What worried Liz was the way in which Tess kept looking back up the road, as if she was expecting someone else to drive by – had she been followed?

Liz sighed and reached under the table to pull a jumper out of the box of clothes they had stashed there, from the size of it she decided the jumper had to belong to Michael . 

“Hey, Liz. It’ll  be ok. Max ’ll sort it” Isabel said with conviction. Liz looked at her for a minute before turning to stare out the window again.

“I don’t give a damn what you want Tess !” Max said, hate and anger filling his voice.

“Then think of Zan, think of your son!” Tess pleaded

“I don’t have a son” Max hissed at her. He turned away from her and rubbed his hands across his face, he had regretted those words as soon as he had said them.

“I didn’t mean that.” He whispered. Tess looked at him and sighed.

“I know, it’s ok to be scared Max. But please, don’t use that as a reason to abandon him. Even if you want me to leave that’s ok. He needs to be with you Max !” Max looked at her shocked.

“You’d leave him with me and Liz !?”

“Yes, Max I can’t protect him, you can. Especially with Michael and Is with you. I can’t expect to be welcomed back, so long as I know you at least believe me when I say that I didn’t mean to kill Alex, I don’t mind. I really didn’t mean to.” Tears fell down her face as she tried to convince him of this.

“And what about the others, the government or whoever the hell they were?” Max asked, his tone suddenly harsh. “You meant to kill them. You’re a murderer Tess ”

“They would have killed him, they found him and god knows what they were planning on doing. Max you have to listen to me. I’m leaving Zan here and I’m begging you to take him. He needs protection from the governement and from other’s of our kind. They’re coming for him Max !”

Tess walked over to the car she had arrived in and took a small bundle from the back seat. She handed the baby to Max, she looked at Max for a brief minute, tears in her eyes.

She turned and walked to the drivers side and opened the door. Without looking back she climbed in and started the engine. She pulled back onto the road and drove off, watching in the rearview mirror at her son and his father.

‘God forgive me’ she said to herself as she suddenly turned the car onto the desert and headed straight for the cliff  edge.

Max saw her turn and knew what she was doing, he watched as the car crashed and turned into a ball of fire. He watched the smoke rise and heard his son cry but he couldn’t move. He knew instinctively that Liz was standing behind him, but somehow he couldn’t make himself move to face her. He stood there for nearly an hour, Liz by his side, holding his son and looking at the car which had killed his ‘wife’.

The rest of the group had seen the explosion and had scrambled out of the van. Liz had run over to Max but Maria and Kyle had stopped Is and Michael.

“Leave him, Liz will sort him out” Maria had whispered to Michael as she held his hand. Isabel had just stood in shock looking at her brother until Kyle had led her back to the side of the van.

Now they were resting up against the side of the van, drinks and food spread out next to them untouched. A silence that had started from an unspoken fear then from shock had turned into a silence of respect. Not for Tess , but for Max and his son.

Maria looked up as the sun started to set. Max was lying on the ground his head in Liz’s lap. She was stroking his hair and looking at the bundle lying next to her.

“ Guy ’s we really need to either set up camp or start driving again” She looked up at Michael for some sign of agreement. He looked at her before standing up and holding his hand out to help her.

“I think we should drive on. If someone sees that car wreck and spots us they’ll stop and ask what happened. The fewer people who see us right now the better”

“I agree, we need to keep travelling.” Kyle said as he stood up, brushing sand from his trousers.

“ Max , Liz . We really need to get moving” Michael called them. Liz looked at him and nodded before turning to speak Max . The others left them to it as they picked up the food and climbed back into the van, this time with Isabel in the drivers seat and Maria next to her. The two guys lay down on the floor in the back and promptly fell asleep. Max and Liz finally rejoined the group, Liz carrying the baby that Max was now refusing to look at. He simply lay down and went to sleep. The three girls looked at each other as Isabel put the van into gear and drove off into the coming night.

“ Maria , can you hold the baby? I don’t think I can look at it any longer” Liz said about an hour later.

“Sure” Maria turned around and took the baby from Liz . Liz leant over the front seats to talk to Isabel and Maria .

“What are we going to do? I’m sorry, but I’ve tried for the past hour to look at this child and not think of Tess and everything she did but I can’t. I don’t want Zan here with us.” Maria looked at her.

“I don’t know Liz .” Silence over took the group again as three of them slept and the other three were lost in worlds of their own.

“I think we should stop at the nearest hospital and leave Zan there” Max said the next morning.

His announcement stopped the group in their tracks. Michael and Kyle looked ridiculous with spoons half way to their mouths, cereal sliding back onto the dishes they started on.

“ Kyle , shut your mouth, bees are going to nest in it otherwise!” Isabel ’s comment brought the two back to their senses and they closed their mouths and put the dishes on the ground.

“ Max , are you sure?” Liz asked, concern spreading over her delicate features.

“I think it’s a good decision Maxwell ” Michael said. His voice was harsh and everyone looked at him.

“Look, I know it’s a hard thing to do and think about but we can’t look after a kid, much less a baby right now. It makes all of us vulnerable and that is the last thing we need.”

Maria looked at Michael and Max ’s faces before walking over to Liz and Isabel .

“Hey, I want to go for a walk, you coming?” She asked the two of them. Liz nodded but Isabel just looked at her

“What? How insensitive are you? I’m not going to just leave my brother here to make a decision like this! Especially not if Michael gets an input and I don’t. This is between the three of us!”

“It has nothing to do with you, Isabel , I was trying to give Max some space, but obviously I’m not the only selfish one here!” Maria glared at Isabel and Isabel glared back. Anger and hurt shot through their gazes at one another.

 An uncomfortable silence descended over the group, and it was Kyle who finally broke it.

“Look, I’m sure that we all have an opinion about this but the truth is it’s up to Max, and maybe Liz to decide” He took Isabel’s arm and looked at Michael and Maria.

“I’m going to finish eating and then pack up. Come on.” He met Michaels steel eyes and for once Michael backed down first.

In his heart he knew it was nothing to do with him, but the thought of not being able to help Max hurt. Max nodded a thank you at the group, he knew they only wanted to help in their own ways, he took Liz ’s hand in his and walked a little way away from the group, across the dry sand; Maria , Kyle and Isabel went to finish eating; Michael sat on the ground next to the van.

“ Max , are you sure about this?” Liz asked again.

Max was silent before answering her,

“No, to be honest I don’t know if I’ll be able to go through with this. But I do know it’s the only way for any of us to get on with our lives. Liz , you, Maria and Kyle have given up everything for us. We can’t ever repay you for that, but I can promise to try to keep you safe. As far as I can tell the only way to do that is to give Zan up. Michael ’s right, Zan does make us vulnerable.” He turned away from Liz . He heard her sigh and move to stand behind him, her arms going around his waist, her head resting on his shoulder. While taking comfort from her, in his heart Max was saying goodbye to his son and ‘wife’.

Back at the van Maria was trying her best to clam a screaming baby. As Kyle and Michael struggled to put up the two tents they had bought at their last stop, Isabel stood nearby supervising!

“God, please just shut up!” she said to him, despite the harsh words there was no anger in her voice, just a pleading with the child to be quiet for awhile. Unbeknownst to her Michael was watching as she walked over to the trio.

“Here, you deal with him!” she said as she literary threw the baby at Isabel and stalked back towards the van. After looking at the baby for a few seconds Isabel shoved him at Kyle and started to put the tents up properly! Kyle looked at the baby and smiled, Zan instantly calmed down.

Inside the van Maria threw her hands in the air, “God, it takes Kyle like three seconds to calm a baby that’s been crying for hours. I am so never having kids!”

Michael laughed at her as he climbed into the van  “Oh, honey, you don’t mean that.”

“Oh yes I do!” Maria shot back, turning to peer out the window.  Michael walked up to her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and slowly turned her lips to meet his.  As Michael started to explore Maria ’s mouth with his tongue, he kicked the van door shut with his foot.

“What was that?” Isabel asked turning towards the van at the sound of shattering glass. 

“I don’t want to know!” Kyle answered with an amused smirk and a large wink at Is.

“Oh, gross!” Isabel said, waving a hand toward the van, blacking out the windows.  “This is so not my day,” she complained.

Meanwhile, Max and Liz were sitting side by side, their hands entwined, and staring into the distance.  All of a sudden, they heard a scream coming from the van.

“ Maria …” Liz cried as she and Max raced towards the van, reaching the door at the same time as Isabel and Kyle .  The door swung open almost knocking all four of them over. 

“Max… please… I don’t know what happened…” The words tumbled from Michael ’s lips as his ashen face showed his anguish.  Max climbed quickly into the van where Maria was still screaming.

“NOOOOO… PLEASE NOOOOOOOOO…”

Max didn’t know what to do.  Maria seemed to be in a trance of some kind and did not hear as Max and Michael desperately tried to help her.  As Max put his hand on her chest, he flew back against the side of the van. 

“ MAX !” Liz screamed.  Kyle shoved Zan at Isabel before grabbing Liz and holding her back as she struggled to get to Max ’s side.  Michael knelt down beside Maria ,

“Hey, baby, please snap out of it!” he whispered in her ear, shaking her slightly the others looked on surprised that Michael was able to touch Maria with out being injured.

Suddenly Maria stopped screaming and slowly sat up. Michael wrapped his arms around her tightly

“Don’t scare me like that!” he said, worry and relief pouring into the harsh words. Maria struggled out of his grasp, reluctantly.

“Oh god, my head hurts!” Maria said as she tried to stand up and wobbled. Michael grabbed her again and helped her onto one of the ‘sofas’, whilst Kyle finally released Liz and she rushed to help Max . 

“Oh great! The baby” Isabel said with disgust as looked at the bundle in her arms, although the slight smile gave away her more maternal side.

“ Maria , what was all that about?” Liz was asking as she sat next to Max opposite Michael and Maria; Isabel and Kyle were standing by the van door, peering in as they tried in vain to comfort Zan; the shouting had woken him up and he wasn’t happy!

  Maria looked up at Liz , she was pale and shaken. At the moment she was lying on the sofa, her head in Michael ’s lap as he stroked her hair.

“I saw things about the future.” She whispered, she struggled to sit up and turned to Michael .  “Can you get me some water?” she asked more assertively. Nodding, Michael filled up a cup from the water bottle they had in the van and held it to her lips. Maria drank gratefully.

“ Maria , tell us. Stop avoiding the issue!” Max said

Taking a deep breath and leaning into Michael for support Maria told them what she had seen.

“ Zan. Zan was getting married”

“So? The plan is to give him up, why shouldn’t he? Micahel said, confused.

“ Michael , he was marrying our daughter!” Michael turned to look at her, the expression on his face nearly made her burst out laughing.

“Um, Maria. Can we interrupt this moment of intimacy and ask why that vision made you scream in pain?” Isabel asked, confusion and worry flooding her. Maria wasn’t the one to usually get the visions, the fact that she had this one was concerning Is.

“Well, we were all at the wedding and everyone was happy, but then everything went wrong.  The church was invaded by all these men in black and…” Maria stopped mid-sentence as she noticed the looks everyone was giving her.  “What, what? I’m just telling you what I saw, what?”

“Ok, just tell us what happened!” Isabel said, starting to get impatient.

“Thank-you,” Maria replied, a note of satisfaction in her voice.  “So, as I was saying, after the wedding they went to a hotel for their first night as husband and wife and…and…” Maria ’s voice filled with emotion as she struggled to tell them of the nightmare she had just experienced.  Michael took her hand in his and gave her the strength to contiue.  “They killed her, Michael , they killed Lexie!” The tears that had begun falling down Maria ’s cheeks now turned into sobs as she finally told them what had made her scream.

“Lexie? Who the hell’s Lexie?!” Michael looked at Maria , confusion filling his face.

“Our daughter, Michael , our little girl,” Maria said to him quietly as a small smile coming through the sobs.

Michael looked at her shocked as he wrapped his arms around her and let her sob into his chest.

“We named her Lexie after Alex !” Maria said through sobs. “They didn’t just kill her Michael, they shot her in the arms, then the legs. They did it slowly, they wanted information from her about Zan and you three. She wouldn’t tell them, she just kept crying out ‘daddy’. Zan tried to help her but they injected him with a sedative. God, she was in so much pain, but she still wouldn’t tell them!” Maria started getting hysterical again, her arms moving around as if trying to ward of some evil that only she could see.

Michael could only stare at her.  Liz moved over to sit next to them both and pulled Maria to her.

“Shhh, honey, it’s gonna be ok, we’ll sort it out. I promise.” She hugged maria tightly whilst looking at the others.

Eventually Maria calmed down and sat huddled next to Michael , his arm protectively around her.  Liz was sitting next to Max again and Kyle and Isabel were perched on the step into the van; the baby in question was asleep in Kyles tight embrace. Silence was loud in everyone’s ears but no one was willing to break it, each lost in there own world of unanswered questions.

The sun had set by the time the silence was broking by Isabel . In her mind she knew there had to be something Maria had not yet told them because there seemed an obvious  question that no one had yet asked.

“How do Zan and Lexie meet, Maria ? The plan is to drop Zan off at a hospital tomorrow and never see him again”

“We do that but they meet anyway at university. It’s such a shock when we find out but they are adamant that they love each other, we can’t make them change their minds.”

“Look, its late and I think we all need some time out. We’ve got the two tents and the van so I think we should get some sleep and talk about this in the morning. Plus we will need to move off tomorrow. We’ve been here too long” Kyle ’s suggestion was met with approval all around.

Michael looked at Isabel and Kyle . “You two can have the van if you keep Zan with you!”

“Hey that’s blackmail!” Isabel said. Michael had known there was no way Isabel would pass up the opportunity of having the van, even if it meant having a baby and Kyle as flatmates.

Michael jumped out of the van, Maria following and headed for one of the tents, Max and Liz heading for the other. 

Once in the tent Maria grabbed Michael and pulled him to her, pressing hard into his body as their mouths met. Michael lowered them to the floor, he leaned over Maria , kissing her mouth and feeling every inch of her body with his hands. Maria moaned  into his mouth and leaned further into his touch, in her mind she could see the path his hands were taking down her body, every inch of her was on fire. Michael felt like he couldn’t breath, he was amazed that Maria had the ability to make him forget everything, it didn’t matter what was going on around them when he was with her he felt safe, accepted.

Acceptance was something he had spent his entire life striving to find. At first he had assumed that finding  a way ‘home’ would give him that, it had taken the events of the past week to make him realise that Maria accepted him, she loved him and would protect him. She had given up everything for him and now, lying on the floor in a tent in the middle of a desert making love to Maria , he suddenly realised he was home and that the love he thought he would never have he had in excess.

“Thank you” he whispered into her ear as they lay next to each other a little while later  trying to catch their breath; Maria had her arm over his waist, her head on his chest.

“You’re welcome, Space Boy” she replied, her eyes closed and a loving smile across her face, she knew what he was thanking her for, he was thanking her for accepting him as he was. They drifted into a happy sleep, neither one dreaming about the nightmares of reality.

To Be Continued…………….