FIC: Surrender to Me: Third in series. Follows: Belong to Me & Return to Me
Author: becky rttavi@aol.com
Rating: R
Distribution: Ask first, always.
Pairing: M/M
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Roswell or the characters of Roswell. I don't profit from anything.
Dedication: Damn. To those of you who wanted a third one.  I also dedicate this to myself, because I'm writing it to see what happens next ;)


Prologue

When I woke up I had no idea what to do except scream, but this time I didn't. I didn't know where I was for a few seconds, but I figured it out. I was home. I was in the cute little townhouse that I lived in with my husband. Of course, he was no where to be found, but I was kind of getting kind of used to that lately. I stretched and felt the mans tank shirt I was sleeping in ride up my abdomen, the cool air hitting my skin and making me suddenly cold.

I looked around the room and was filled with a sense of belonging. This is a real home and I love it here. It's different from the beach, besides the fact that there's no half-naked Michael on the sand, it feels real. We even have our name on the mailbox out front; it says 'The Guerins'. Very cool. That and the fact we're not looking over our shoulders all the time makes it even better. All we need now is a freakin' dog named Rover and we'd be an all-American family, well, all Alien-American family that is.

But I still want to get back to the beach. Michael promises me over and over that we're going to get there soon, but something always comes up and we can't go. And it just wouldn't be the same if I went without him.

Three months have passed since Michael and I have been back at Section. It's not so bad. I mean, I have my friends here with me in DC and that makes it a good; but if I had my way, I'd still be back on the beaches with naked Michael chest. Instead I'm trapped within the sterile walls of Section when I want to see Michael. It's not as bad as it was before, but it still needs work. I was thinking a few Warhol prints, but I was vetoed by the man in charge. Oh yeah, the man in black is back in full force. I miss my beachy Michael…

I still have nightmares, but they're not as severe and less frequent which is a big good. I can actually bear to be away from Michael for extended amounts of time without having the major freakouts. Minor ones I still have.
Michael and I live about two miles away from Section in our little townhouse, which is conveniently close to where Isabel and Alex Whitman took up their residence. Kyle and Tess are still in their apartment, which is within walking distance to us. Another big good. I always have friends around to play with.

Isabel took over Rena's old job. She gets the new Operatives in shape for assignments in the real world and she is great at it; it probably helps that she loves doing it. Molding all those minds. She lets me sit in and watch sometimes, but I'm not allowed to talk, only observe. Life just isn't fair.

Alex works a lot too; several times a week it's just Isabel and me for dinner. He loves his job and apparently is top notch at it. All of Sections computer stuff has been changed and he even taught me how to do a few things besides scanning my tits and emailing them to Michael. Gotta love the man for that.

Tess works in a little beauty salon and is actually quite good at what she does. About a month ago she got me back to my blond hair and shaped it up. I really do look much better as a blond. She also does my nails for me. But she's got this added advantage that most cosmetologists don't have. If she makes a mistake, she can fix it with a slight wave of her hand.

Kyle is Kyle and I still love him to death. He doesn't really do all that much; he's a professional job hunter. He didn't want to work at Section even though I had totally secured him a job there. I guess I can't blame him, I don't want to work there either. Right now he's temping for some company a few days a week. The rest of his free time, we play.

We sightsee and hang out. He really is the brother I never had. I don't know what I'd do without him.

Max Evans showed up here a little over a month ago; I knew it was just a matter of time. He got a job doing pretty much the same thing he was doing in Roswell, he's an investigator for a law firm. But he's still the head titty-watcher to me, though. He has a new girlfriend too; her name is Marcy. They've been dating for about two weeks and after I played interrogator with her, I deemed her okay. I mean I know I've been wrong before but…

All is good in the Maria-verse except for one thing, I can't get Liz Parker or what she did out of my mind. I can't get past the fact that she turned over Michael and Tess to people she knew were going to kill them. I'll make her pay. Someday I'll see those big brown eyes and knock her ass on the ground.

She's been gone from our lives, all of our lives, for three months now. Personally? I say good riddance to bad rubbish, or something like that. Okay, I'd probably say something more like: good thing the little bitch is gone or I really would kill her. Yeah, that sounds more like the Maria Guerin I know.

Well, actually there are two things that aren't that great for me right now. The second is that I'm incredibly bored. So bored I would do almost anything for a little excitement. Too bad I never took those mind-reading classes because if I knew what I was asking for, I would just shut the fuck up!

Okay, three things. I am running out of condiments to use on Michael.

Chapter One


Today seemed like it would be like any other day, really. After my momentary freak out when I woke up of course, I'm sure the rest of my morning will be normal. Make coffee, watch bad morning TV talk shows and wonder what the hell Michael is doing.

I miss Michael.

I mean, he's here a lot with me and I go visit Section often enough to get on everyone's nerves; but it's not the same. I knew it would be different. From the moment he told me he had to "fix" Section, I knew it would all change. I don't really expect it to be like the beach where we had all the time in the world to play, but still… I miss just hanging out with him. I won't ever admit it out loud, but there's a little distance thing going on with us. The sex is still amazing and my boy learns new tricks everyday, but there's just something… He hasn’t even called me Sweet Maria in weeks. I miss that.

Maybe it's because we got into this routine. I stay home or hang out with my friends and he goes to Section and does Sectiony things. He comes home, usually; we have amazing sex and devote our souls to each other and then in the morning he's gone. It's really a big good that my nightmares aren't as bad because this arrangement would drive me completely over the deep end.

I knew when the whole thing went down and me and my trusty sidekick Kyle reclaimed the people we loved and took down Section, that things would change, but I never imagined how much.

It wasn't exactly all that long ago that I was in the pokey awaiting certain death and now here I am, all Suzie-homemaker. I don’t think I was cut out to be this person that I've become over the last few months. In some sick way, I miss all the mystery and intrigue. I miss the action. I guess I'm just terribly bored.

Sometimes my mind wanders to the person I used to be, not the new me, but the still in the pokey me and sometimes I miss her. The Maria that didn’t give a shit. The Maria that resurfaced to save Michael and Tess. But she's gone and now I'm just plain old Maria Guerin: Wife.

I took a quick shower and dressed in my new favorite black leather pants and black baby Tee. The pants being a present from Isabel and Alex after my other ones were mutilated in the showdown a few months before. Bra? Nope, still refuse to wear one. I may be just a wife, but I am one hell of a sexy one. At least that's what Michael tells me.

With my black boots I'm ready to take on the day. I'm ready to take on whatever happens during my exciting life of going to the grocery store and the cleaners. You never know when those counter clerks are going to get ugly. I might have to turn all girl-gang on them.

I know I should go running or something constructive like that. I used to work out all the time in the gym at Section, Kyle even came with me sometimes. But lately I haven't had any motivation to do anything. But I do want to stay in shape; you never know when I might have to be a super-hero again. I want to always be ready to kick some major ass. My theory? Better to kick ass than get your ass kicked.

But there's just something missing. Maybe my life is too normal; besides the fact that I'm married to an alien and I know three other ones and consider them my friends. I don't want normal, I want adventure. I want the crazy adrenaline pumping shit that I've had with Michael since the day I met him. Granted I don't want to go through anything like I did when I almost died inside Section. Maybe I need a job. Maybe I need a job at Section. I could be Operative DeLuca-- Guerin. I could be her again. I could be someone again. Someone besides 'Wife'.

When I stepped into the kitchen I almost let out a little yelp. Michael, in all his blackness was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of him. He looked up at me and I fell in love all over again. Again. I tended to do that a lot.

"Maria," he smiled and I swooned.

I wish I had the nerve to ask him to call me Sweet Maria, but I don't. Of all the things I've lost from myself in the last few months, apparently my backbone was one of them and I think I miss it the most.

"You look beautiful."

My nipples hardened as they always do for him. "What are you doing home? Shouldn't you be at Section?" Bitter?

"I'm going in a little late," he cocked his head to one side and had that wicked little smile on his face. "Do you want me to leave?"

I answered him with my body on his lap and my tongue down his throat. I felt those warm soft callousy hands underneath my shirt and on my skin and damned myself for getting dressed already.

I shimmied out of my shirt and tossed it in back of me before I started tugging on his black tailored T-shirt. I still don't know where the hell he gets those from. Without breaking our kiss again, I stood up and kicked my boots off, which was not exactly an easy thing to do. The leather came next and then I was straddling Michael while I fought with his pants.

I won the fight and the pants ended up on the floor in a pile. My hands roamed over his body as if exploring it for the very first time. Although I knew every inch of it like I knew my own, I savored it. His chest…Oh God, his chest will always get me. So perfect and smooth. Flawless. Where a bullet hole scar should be there is nothing.

He murmured something into my mouth but unless he was telling to me stop I didn't care what it was. My mouth was hungry for his. Hungry with a passion that couldn't be quenched.

"Maria," he backed away from me, his hands in my hair holding my face still.

"What?" I got that sick feeling in my stomach and wanted to throw up.

"I was thinking, maybe we could take a little trip to the beach sometime soon?"

Woo hoo! I giggled uncontrollably and squirmed around on his lap like a little kid. Okay, not exactly like a little kid.

"When can we go?" I knew my eyes just turned about a thousand shades lighter with all the hope that was in them. Going back to the beach with Michael? Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

"In a few weeks, maybe." He must have sensed the downfall in my face because he added quickly. "Maybe sooner, I just want to get a few things wrapped up."

I nodded and rested my head against his chest. I could almost feel the sand in places it had no business being. The beaches with naked Michael chest. What the hell could be better than that?

"Thank you," I nuzzled the words against him and then kissed his nipple. I saw the gooseflesh break out on that perfect chest and grinned. I will always know how to get to him.

"Anything for you," he said and lifted me up allowing himself to slide into me.

I think I purred.

I stayed on his hips and braced myself by holding onto his shoulders. Every once in awhile I had to look down to see the non-existent bullet hole in my thigh. That was very cool, yet very creepy if I let myself think too much about it. I tend not to think about the creepy too much.

I rocked back and forth on him and knew in that second that I would never tire of having Michael inside of me. I ran my hands through his cropped hair until he faced me. I swear I could fall into his eyes, they were so clear and so deep. But something wasn't quite right. Something was off and he wasn't spilling. Damn! I hate it when he does that. Like I'm not going to know by now when something's up. I may be blond, but dense? Not usually.

He came before I did, but nothing new there. I didn't really want to get off him, I liked, no, make that loved the fact that he stayed home with me for a little while. Maybe he was sensing some of the distancy things I was. Or maybe it was because something was going down and he wasn't letting me in on it. Shit, that was probably it.

I kissed his nose and it was cold, I guess if he was a dog he'd be healthy, at least it wasn't wet. "Are you going to be home all morning?"

He shook his head and pulled me against him. "I should be gone by now, I waited forever for you to come down here."

Waited for me? If I would have known I would have been down here in seconds with bells on. Nothing else; just bells. "Will you be home tonight?"

I watched as he seemed to ponder my question. A simple yes or no would have done without all the dramatics. God, when did I get so impatient? That's right, I think it was around birth.

"I'll be late," he kissed my forehead and eased me up off of him. "I should go."

I guess that was my fucking cue to get off of him, so I did. We dressed in that awkward silence that I hated. With a chaste kiss to my lips and an 'I love you' he was gone and I had that sinking feeling I might never see him again. Of course I've had that feeling before and I am occasionally wrong about some things. Occasionally. Fuck!
* * *

Chapter Two

So Michael was gone again, back at Section. Again. By now I should be used to it, but I'm not. Maybe its because things aren't exactly turning out the way I thought they would.

I put my boots back on and sit in the chair where Michael and I have just had our lust filled morning playtime. My head hurts. I don't know if it's because I have a headache or because I'm scared to death that something big and bad is going down and have no fucking idea what it is.

Fuck it. I started pacing, I think better when I'm moving.

I hate the darkness I saw in his eyes when I was on top of him. I also hate the feeling that my husband, my Sweet Michael, may be keeping something from me. Doesn't he know by now that shit never works out?

"What are you doing?"

I spun around at the voice and smiled. Kyle. In all his cuteness, Kyle Valenti was standing at the kitchen door. Good thing he hadn't shown up a few minutes earlier otherwise…I can't even go there.

"Seriously," he stepped closer to me into the kitchen. "What are you doing? You look like you're thinking way too much and your head's going to explode. What gives?"

I sunk back down into the kitchen chair and sighed. He sat next to me and sighed. After a quick kick underneath the table I laughed. "I'm bored."

He sighed for real and I knew why. He'd heard this from me at least a billion times in the last couple of months.

"What do you want Maria?" I wasn't sure I liked that tone. "Seriously. Do you want to look over your shoulder every time you blink? Do you want to worry about every little thing, every move you make?"

"Every breath I take?" We still play our silly games.

Kyle smiled but not the full Valenti grin I was I expecting. "Seriously Maria, what do you want?"

I shrugged and if I were him I would have left or maybe kicked my ass. Morning conversationalist, I will never be. Pain in the ass? Always. "I think I want a job."

He laughed and that alone always makes me smile. "A job? What kind of job?"

I shrugged again and thought about kicking my own ass. "I was thinking…"

"Oh no," he shook his head and I wondered when he had taken those telepathy classes. "Forget it. Are you high?"

"What?" I stood up and began the pacing I've been known to do. "What's so wrong about it? I've been trained."

"To find aliens!" He pointed out. "You found them! Move on!"

"I want to feel like I'm…" Damn! I hate it when I feel all full of self pity. "Like I'm useful."

"You saved everyone's asses Maria! That counts as big time useful in my book for a very long time!"

Kyle had a book too? Hmmm… I think we were going to have compare books. I bet mine was better.

"It doesn't matter what I say, does it?" Kyle stood and I really didn't like the look on his face.

I shrugged for what seemed like the hundredth time. "I just have to do something. I hate doing nothing." I sighed and sat back down; Kyle followed like I knew he would.

"But why in the hell would you want to put yourself back in danger of any kind?" He held up a hand before I could answer with some smart-ass remark. "I know you're bored, but Maria, I think we've all been through enough to last us a lifetime. Why don't you just sit back and enjoy the calmness?"

"Because it's like the calm before a storm." I thought about telling him that I suspected Michael was hiding something but decided against it. I didn't know anything for sure. For all I knew Michael could have been thinking about that pod thing that he knows I want nothing to do with. Riiiight.

"Will you just relax?" Kyle put his arm around my shoulders. "Try to enjoy life for a change, okay? You deserve it."

Did I? I don't know what I deserved. I nodded but if Kyle knew me as well as he thought he did, then he knew that I didn't mean that nod. Ha!

A knock at the front door sent me reeling. Paranoid? Not me. I jumped up with Kyle at my side, just where I liked him. I reached for the gun that I didn't own as we walked from the kitchen to the living room and approached the front door with caution. I wouldn't say I was the really paranoid type, but ever since we took down Section I've had a tingling at the back of my neck that said there was some unfinished business. Everything always seemed wrapped up too nice and neat for me.

Kyle stayed on my guard. We were funny together. Sometimes we'd sink right back into the motions of fighters. Anyone else would think I was crazy…Well, Kyle does remind me all the time that I need professional mental help. But he's still here so maybe we could get a group discount.

I looked out the peephole and didn't see anyone. Great. I took a deep breath and opened the door a little and looked out the slit, Kyle was over my shoulder and I could feel his hot breath on my neck. No one. Maybe it was neighborhood kids playing "Ring 'N Run." They still do that, right? Or maybe it was someone who dropped off the mailing envelope that was sitting in the center of my welcome mat.

I opened the door a little wider and reached for the envelope and brought it into the house. Kyle grinned and I know it was at our paranoia. Like I said, we were funny. You don't go through what we did and not come out a little… Different. Demented? Whatever.

"What'd you get?" He asked looking at the envelope in my hand.

I shrugged and immediately noticed there was no return address. Hell it hadn't even been stamped at the post office. Fuck! The only words on it were "Maria DeLuca." Must be from someone who didn't know I got hitched. Someone who dropped this by knowing I was here. This didn't look like it was going to be a good. Not even fucking close.

My hands began to shake as I slid a perfectly manicured fingernail, thank you Tess, underneath the sealed flap.

"Maria?"

Man, I heard that voice before I didn't like it any better then. Kyle was nervous.

I opened it up while walking to the dining room. I poured the contents out. A blank CD and a folded piece of paper. I looked at Kyle and I know my eyes were as wide as his were. I had that funny feeling I was going to have to get out my super hero cape again.

I reached for the paper and opened it, and then my world fell apart.

"Fuck," Kyle whispered.

I second that whisper.

* * *

Chapter Twelve

Close to a million things were running through my head, none of which were actually all that good. They didn't make sense either. I knew in my heart that this was something completely different than anything else I'd ever been through. This was something I wasn't prepared to fight back against. Sure, I've kicked some serious ass in my life, but I had some clue about what was going on. It was always human and the knot in my stomach let me know this was nothing even close to human.

I'm a, wait, I was an alien hunter. I was trained by the freaking top Operative how to track aliens. Okay, I guess I could say that I really sucked at it because I was falling in love with Michael and he's an alien and I had no clue whatsoever! Other than that, I was pretty good. I was trained to track them, but it appeared in this case that I didn't have to find them, they found me instead. Crap.

And Kyle. Double crap.

"Maria!" Kyle shouted my name and I snapped back into the predicament at hand.

"This is alien." I said softly. No shit.

"No shit." Kyle was reading my mind again. I don't know who should be more scared about that. I think it should be Kyle. "Oh, for crying out loud!" His voice got louder and I heard the annoyance in it. "Does someone else think I'm one them too? What is the freaking deal? Seriously, do I give off alien vibes?"

"Kyle and I are the humans," I ignored Kyle and started thinking out loud. "This doesn't make sense. There's not supposed to be any other aliens out there except for our aliens, right? But if there are…Then why do they want us? They can't possibly think that we're aliens if they are-"

"Damn it Maria!" Kyle was getting seriously agitated. Damn!

"Sorry, I'm just trying to make some sense of what's going on." I looked up at him and realized we must look incredibly stupid. Well, Kyle looked kinda cute in his jeans and polo shirt and I knew I looked pretty good in black… Damn it! I think black leather pants must be a big old jinx for me. Damn! Okay, we looked good, but how we were positioned, we looked stupid. "First things first, we have to get out of these chairs."

Holy shit! No sooner were the words out of my mouth than I felt the release on my arms and legs. I lifted my legs in the air and then waved my arms. Woo hoo! I wonder if everything was going to be this easy. Riiiight.

"How'd you do that?" Kyle's eyes were wide as he lifted his hands up and then leapt out of his chair and directly over me.

I smiled at his enthusiasm and then got off the floor. "Are you okay?"

He faced me with wild eyes and nodded before scooping me up into his arms and swinging me around. "See, I knew you could do it! Now get us out of here and lets go home!"

I laughed and hugged him. While my arms were tight around him I began to look around the room and it wasn't looking very good at all. Door? Nope. Window? Nope. Fucked? Yup.

"You're tensing," he breathed into my ear. "What’s wrong? Is there a big green monster in back of me and you just don’t want to tell me he's getting ready to stick huge alien claws into my back and then eat my head?"

I laughed entirely too loud and let go of him. "Yeah, that’s it Valenti. God, don't you think I'd at least give you a heads up if there was a monster in back of you?"

He laughed and any tension that had been lingering between us disappeared. I had my Kyle back and he had his…Me. All was good.

"Seriously Maria," there was that tone I didn’t like again. "What was with the tension?"

"Well, as I look around the room that we got into somehow I can't see a way to get out."

Kyle's head swiveled around so fast I thought he might get whiplash. "Holy shit! There's no door!"

I rolled my eyes. "I know."

"Oh my God," Kyle paled. "Are we still on Earth?"

I smiled and nodded. We were, right? Of course we were.

"Okay, well, get us out of here!"

I just looked at him. I didn't know what else to do except scream but for some reason I didn't think that was going to do any good. So I decided to see if the second time was a charm. "Okay, first things first, we have to get out of this room."

I waited. What I was waiting for I have no idea but it didn't happen like the freaky restraints. No magic door appeared. No red carpet rolled out. We were stuck.

"That was a very nice try," Kyle clapped. "Any other ideas?"
Nope. Fresh out of ideas. But the momentarily forgotten urge to pee was back. Damn!

Then I heard something from the other side of the wall. No, not just something. I heard voices. I heard voices I knew. What the fuck?

* * *

"Tell me Michael!" Tess demanded. "Tell me what 's going on!"

Michael stood and paced the room while running his hands through his short hair. He cast one glance at Isabel who nodded in return.

"Quit stalling and tell me where my fiancé is!" Tess's eyes became moist. The bravado was wavering. "Please, even if you don't care-"

"I care!" Michael's voice resonated through the room. "My wife is gone too, Tess!"

"Then tell me…"

"We're not alone." He turned away from the others and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

"Mar-"

I shushed Kyle and walked towards the wall. If my dog ears were correct, then we were screwed. Big time. My mind clouded as I listened with my ear against the wall. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but I knew who they were and my world ended.

Kyle joined me at the wall and he was saying something, but I couldn't hear him over my newfound sobbing. This couldn't be happening! Could it?

"Maria!" Kyle started shaking me but I didn't care.

I was done. My life was over. It was time to check out. The Maria has left the building.

"Damn it! What the hell is wrong with you?"

I couldn't quit crying. I didn’t want to quit. My heart ached and my head felt like it was going to explode and fly right off my shoulders. But none of that mattered anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. I began to slide down the wall and didn't stop until I was on the floor. Kyle was next to me in an instant; I didn’t even care.

"What is going on Maria?" He wrapped his arms around me. "You're scaring me."

I shook my head and continued my wailing. The life I've had since I came out of the pokey was nothing but a lie. I should have stayed there and faced the music because it couldn't have hurt as much as what I was feeling right now. I felt like my heart had been ripped out and someone played Ping-Pong with it right before they set it on fire.

Kyle held me against him and let me sob away my pain without him having a clue to what was going on. Okay, I take back the part about being left in the pokey. If I was still there I would have never met Kyle Valenti and frankly I don't think my life would be half as good without him in it. I love the Kyle.

I finally controlled my breathing enough to look at him. Of course I was making those horrendous hiccuping noises and felt like I couldn't breath. I knew my face and eyes were all red and any mascara I had on was probably long gone; or maybe it was still hanging around my face in big fat lines. Damn!
"Are you okay?" He asked in the quiet voice and stroked my hair as he helped me stand back on my own two feet.
I shook my head; completely unable to talk because of all the racket I was still making. This is why I hated to cry; it was never a pretty sight. My body was limp in Kyle's arms and suddenly I had an epiphany, the first of many to come, I'm sure. Kyle was so affected by this too.

"I…" Stupid hiccups. "I heard something out there."

"Out there?" Kyle pointed to the wall. "What, someone have a dog whistle?" He smiled.

I started to laugh, which only brought on more hiccuping and eventual gagging. When I was able to regain my composure, I looked into the deep and concerned eyes of Kyle Valenti and immediately started crying again.

"I'm sorry," he murmured and kissed the top of my head.

Who would have ever thought such a simple gesture would mean so much. I trusted Kyle with my life. And right now he was the only one.

I hugged him and made that solemn promise again that I'll name each of my children Kyle. Of course my secret dreams of having children were fading faster than the speed of light at the present time.

"So, are you going to tell me what the hell is wrong or am I going to have to guess?"

I backed out of his arms and pulled myself together. I straightened my hair with my fingers and smoothed out non-existent wrinkles on my leather pants. With a deep breath I lied. "I don't know, I just freaked out there for a minute."

I could tell from the way Kyle was looking at me that he knew I was full of shit. He didn't need to know what was going on. I mean, I didn't have a clue but the ideas were forming and they all looked like shit.

"You are so lying to me. What did you hear out there?"

It was one of those times where the truth would really suck and a lie wouldn't suck quite as much. I didn’t want to lie to Kyle, but I had to. "I just heard noises and I got scared."

I cleared my throat and felt the super-bitch rear her head. I wasn't going down into the hole of feeling sorry for myself. No fucking way. I was stronger and better than that and I had to stay in top form if for no other reason than the man next to me. The man who deserved to know the truth. Fuck!

* * *

"And you're just now telling us?" Max stood up and walked towards Michael. His dark eyes shown with anger. "Don't you think we should have known about this, Captain?"

Michael counted to three. "Nothing was affirmative until today." He nodded at Isabel. "We were going to explain what we knew tonight but then with Tess's news, we decided to wait."

"This is crap!" Max's voice rose.

"Nothing is positive." Michael stood and faced Max. The tension was thickening with each passing second.

"They could be in danger!" Max stepped forward causing Michael to take a step backwards. "Don’t you even care?"

With another step, Max had Michael backed up to the wall.
Michael reacted and in a blur he had Max's arm pinned in back of him and his face pressed against the wall. He leaned down until his mouth was even with Max's ear. His voice was barely above a whisper. "This is my wife we're talking about and I'll kill anyone or anything that tries to hurt her. Don't you ever think that I don’t care because I'm trying to keep my cool when all I want to do is something irrational that won't help anyone. We have to figure out what to do and then do it calmly, okay?" He waited until Max nodded before letting him go.

"Michael, what do they want?" Tess asked in the timid voice she had hidden earlier.

"We don't know," he faced Tess and reached for her. In a fluid movement he held her in his arms as they shared something on this planet. Loss.

* * *
I took another deep breath and faced Kyle. He looked at me with those puppy dog eyes and I knew I was going to break his heart. Sometimes I hated being me.

"Maria!" Kyle was not playing the part of happy camper with my stalling. I couldn’t blame him.

"I heard voices behind the wall."

"Voices?" His brow knitted together. "What were they saying? Oh shit, they're going to mutilate us, aren’t they?" I don't know if he was joking or not. "You heard all about our demise, that's it, right?"

I shook my head. "No, I didn't hear what they were saying exactly."

"Well then, what?"

"I recognized the voices Kyle. I know who's on the other side of the wall." I felt sick as he leaned forward to hear me better.

Without a warning light or buzzer, the wall shifted and opened and I almost wet myself. I jumped in front of Kyle and we watched as three people strode into the room.

I blinked. Then again. "What the…Fuck?!?"

* * *

Chapter Fourteen


For a minute I thought I was on candid camera but I realized this wouldn’t be funny to anyone, especially me and Kyle; then I immediately went to the Twilight Zone. This wasn't real. Period. I was actually waiting for Rod Serling or a good living facsimile of him to pop up. When he didn't I knew I was fucked.

"Maria…" Kyle grabbed my arm tightly. I was glad because I think he might have been holding me up.

Oh yeah, he was holding me up; my knees went weak when I tried to move. My heart was pounding so fucking loud that I couldn’t hear anything but that in my head. I wanted to throw up or faint or scream but I couldn’t do anything. There was nothing right about what was going on around here. Nope. Nothing at all.

"You up?"

Somehow I heard the voice over my heart beating; but that didn’t make it better. It was the same voice I had heard on the other side of the wall/door.

"I think they are." The sarcasm was heavy with that little remark. Something I wasn't used to at all.

No, this is all wrong. I couldn’t believe my eyes or my ears; they had to be playing tricks on me. This wasn't possible. If what was in front of me is real, then everything else had been a lie. If what I was seeing was real then I was pissed. No, I was beyond pissed at this point. You can try to break my body and mind; you can use me until I think I'm going to break. But you can't hurt my feelings and not think I'm going to retaliate the only way I knew how.

I stood strong on my own and actually pushed Kyle's arm off of me. I could face this down and kick its ass on my own two feet! I opened my mouth to spit out some smart-ass remark but came up empty. Damn. All the bravado was seeping through me and all I wanted to do was curl up with Mr. Bear and hide out in a closet.

Fuck that.

So everything I've believed in has been a lie. Big fucking deal. So my life is a crock of shit. So what? I can handle it. After all, I am Maria DeLuca and I don’t give up so easily. I set my shoulders back and chest out.

"Fuck you." Not exactly the most imaginative thing I've ever said, but it was exactly how I felt.

They laughed at me and I wanted to cry. I felt Kyle step in closer to me and it made it a little better. I knew I'd always have Kyle.

"Maria," Kyle whispered in my ear. I shrugged.

"So, you sleep okay?" The voice was real and it was infuriating.

How could this all have been a lie? How could I have imagined that what I had was real? It had felt real, every single fucking lying second of it.

"Again, fuck you." Find something you like and stick with it!

They walked towards us and I felt Kyle take a step back. I reached for him and grabbed his arm. He was staying right next to me. It was obvious at this point that all we had was each other and I wasn't about to let him go anywhere.

"I guess you're trying to figure out what exactly is going on, aren’t you Maria?" Her words dripped with sarcasm and sweetness. I hated her.

"I guess you forgot that I don’t give a fuck."

They all laughed again and I was getting hot. I felt the sweat break out in between my breasts and briefly thought about Max. I wondered where the fuck he was. Not that I really needed my tits to be watched right now, just curious.

"Maria," Kyle stood tall next to me. Okay, not exactly tall, but between the two of us we definitely gave off the aura of severe authority. Riiiight.

"Maybe we should explain." His voice was so familiar and at the same time so foreign.

I couldn't think straight. I wish he wouldn’t have said anything more at all. All I wanted to do was lunge at him and pull his hair out. I wanted to scratch his face and spit in the wounds.
"Or maybe we should just walk away and let her worry," the voice was high pitched and irritating.

"Or maybe you could go fuck yourselves," that was Kyle and I was proud. He had been hanging around with me entirely too much. I was rubbing off on him, but who knows, it could end up saving his life or quite possibly get him killed. Either way, Kyle rocked!

"That's not very nice," the one on the end spoke again and I saw it rake Kyle. It was my turn to be the rock. I felt more like a pebble, but I could do the rock thing.

"Maria, I'm surprised you're so quiet." The one in the middle offered. I wasn't biting.

I tried to think of something monumental to say to her, but I came up empty. My mind was reeling with scenarios, none of which were good.

"Maybe we should leave them alone for a bit longer and see if they feel like talking then."

They were looking at each other now and I knew Kyle and I were not invited into the conversation. Fuck them. And the horse they rode in on.

"Maybe we should put them back in their chairs."

Oh crap, not the chairs again.

"Should we feed them? They probably need to eat."

Oh shit. I still had to pee. I raised my hand like a schoolgirl and interrupted their private tete-a-tete. "Is there a restroom near by?"

The one on the end nodded and motioned for me to follow. Okay, so we all followed. I heard a muffled grunt from in back of me and when I turned around I saw Kyle on his knees holding his stomach. I looked to the bitch next to him and I didn’t think, I reacted.

With a swift kick to the knee and a fist in her gut, she fell to the ground. As I got smug and reached for Kyle I felt her foot as it barreled into my chest. I fell to the ground and realized that fucking hurt! I whirled on them and stared in amazement as the bitch got yanked back. That was weird. I helped Kyle to his feet and stared in awe as the woman who I thought was dead tried to fight off the only man I'd ever loved while Kyle's fiancée watched with a smug expression on her face.

When I said I was bored, I think I was lying. I would much rather be bored right now than where we were. I would give anything to go back just twenty-four hours and make all of this go away.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

The fighting stopped and turned into bickering. Then the bickering stopped. I didn’t really care; they could have bickered for the rest of the night, or day whichever it was, as far as I was concerned. They could have bickered each other to death and I would have been so fine with that.

I grabbed Kyle's hand and couldn’t tell if it was my palm that was sweating or his. Maybe it was both of us. I turned slowly and it was one of those slow motion things; our eyes met and in the most desperate of situations, we smiled at each other. If I wasn't so damn pissed off, I would have been bawling. Again.

I felt someone touch my hand and I turned and stared into the eyes that I had grown to trust. Pretty blue eyes that I would now willingly scoop out with a spoon if I had one. "Follow me."

Kyle stiffened, but came along. I knew how he was feeling because I was feeling the same way. The ultimate betrayal.

We followed the perky blonde through the mysterious door/wall with the other two behind us. I always thought I'd want Michael at my back but now, everything has changed. I didn’t want him at my back, my front or my side. I didn’t want him anywhere near me. All the good times were nothing but a sick fucking joke and I wasn't laughing. I did have that feeling that in the end, I would be the last one laughing but there was no need to get cocky about it. Yet.

I fought the urge to turn around and see what Michael and the wicked bitch of the East were doing. I wanted to turn around and look in his eyes and see if I could tell if anything he had ever told me was the truth. Shit! I couldn’t help myself, I turned around and looked into the eyes that I had confessed my soul to and smirked. "I never loved you."

He laughed and it killed me. But I didn't show it. Michael Guerin would never get the best of me again. Fuck. Him.

"Fuck him," Kyle whispered in my ear. Thank God I still had Kyle.

"In here," Tess opened another one of those door/wall things and I looked inside. It was a bathroom. Woo hoo!

"He's coming with me," I motioned to Kyle. No matter what, he was not leaving my side.

Tess shrugged. "Fine. So am I."

My turn to shrug. "Fine. Whatever." I guess they all forgot I was the queen of quick comebacks. Ha!

The three of us walked in and the door/wall closed behind us. There was a toilet in the center of the small room with a wash basin next to it. With a wink at Kyle I pulled down the leather and peed. Damn! I needed that.

As I washed my hands, I noticed my breasts were soaked in sweat and my shirt was plastered to them. So I decided on a white shirt today of all days. Just fucking great. Not only am I being held hostage, my tits are right there for everyone to see. Now I really was wondering where Max was. Damn!

"Ready?" Tess tilted her head to one side and I nodded.
I noticed Kyle wasn't looking at her, I couldn’t blame him. If I wasn't so bullheaded I don’t think I would have been either.

We followed her back out of the washroom and met up with Michael and I can barely say her name without gagging, Rena.
I swear, I knew I was lucky for the reprieve I got; but then to take it all away from me? So not fair.

We walked down this eerily silent cement hallway until we reached another wall. Of course, it was a fucking door, as Michael demonstrated by waving his fucking hand in front of it. I looked at his hand and knew the contours of it. It's warm callousy feeling. I forced away the thoughts of the way those hands felt on my bare skin and what they did to me. I tried to forget the way I clung to those hands and knew my life was going to be okay as long as I was with him.

This next room we went into was kind of nice. I mean, there were chairs and a table. A King-sized bed in the corner with a mosquito netting canopy over it. Carpeting. It looked more like a lodge room than this wacky prison I thought we were in. The wall closed behind us and I looked to Kyle. He was looking around the room so I focused on the floor. Anything to not look at Michael. Some things just hurt too damn bad!

I didn't get it.

This day started out with me being incredibly bored and it has turned completely upside down. I'm not bored and I'm not happy. I'm confused and a confused Maria is generally a pissed off Maria.

"So," I heard myself speak. What the…? I wonder where I was going with this. I had to go somewhere because they all looked at me. "So, you going to tell us what the fuck is going on or are we going to keep playing this sick fucking game?"

Michael looked at me and licked his lips. I used to think it was sexy now it made me want to throw up. "I think we might play this sick fucking game for awhile longer," he turned to the two bitches. "Ladies?"

Ladies? My ass!

They nodded like the good obedient puppies they were.

"Well," Michael clapped his hands together. "I think we'll let you and your little friend unwind here for awhile and stew over…" He paused and I tried to remember when I'd ever heard him talk so…wrong. "Hmmm… Life, how about you think about life?"

The three of them laughed and that was getting old. None of this was funny, they weren't funny. I laughed entirely too hard and loud and the three of them looked shocked. Didn't they know me well enough by now to know that I didn't like to play games? Didn't they know that I was going to be the same obstinate woman I've always been? It was almost as if they didn’t know me at all.

I kept laughing and smiling. The smile was real because Kyle joined me with the laughing. We looked at each other and continued laughing. But at this point we were the only ones laughing. The others had stopped.

Why did they all look surprised?

Hmmm… Strange things were afoot.

Why was something feeling just a little bit off?
* * *


Chapter Sixteen


I kept laughing while every single fucking wheel in my head was spinning out of control. I nudged Kyle in the ribcage and made sure he kept laughing as well. I figured what the hell? If the people we loved were going to kill us, then we weren't going to give them the satisfaction of going down crying.

"Shut up." That was Rena. Damn! I was really happy when she was dead.

When she was dead.

When Max told me she was dead. Or taken care of or something like that. Rat bastard. I knew he had to be laying in wait around here somewhere.

I stopped laughing as abruptly as I had started. Kyle stopped with me. I wonder if he was getting the feeling that something wasn't right too. I mean I know something was wrong, fuck me, everything was wrong, but there was something that just felt a little more off.

It was like Michael and Tess didn’t know me. Or Kyle. It was almost like we were meeting for the first time. Hell, even Rena in all her bitchiness was acting just a little bit off. I think I might go back to my theory that we stepped into the Twilight Zone. I was hit with the urge to sing the Golden Earring song, but I refrained. There would be time for that later. Hopefully.

I looked at Michael. I mean I really looked at him. He was wearing black jeans. Okay, that was wrong. He's only worn jeans like three times. When he was pretending to be my brother and maybe a couple of times after that. Michael just wasn't a jean kind of guy. The black T-shirt was wrong too. It wasn't tailored so it didn't fit him quite right. It fit, just not as good as they normally do. Black boots? Yeah, those must be new. Well fuck, nothing else was making sense, why the wardrobe bothered me so much I have no idea.

"Are you hungry?" Tess asked.

I just looked at her. No I wasn't fucking hungry and I doubt Kyle was either. I would gag if I ate anything. I was about to gag now as it was.

"No," Kyle said loudly with hate in his eyes. "No Tess, I'm not hungry. I'm so not hungry that I don't know if I will ever actually eat again."

Oh shit.

"As a matter of fact Tess, I can think of a million things I want to do and eating is not one of them, Tess."

Double shit. He was using her name to try to get to her. I hope that didn’t backfire because I don’t know how well I could comfort an upset Kyle right now.

"And another thing Tess, how the fuck could you say you'd marry me when this…This little… Whatever the fuck you're doing, was in the works? Do you not have a heart, Tess? Was everything just a lie, Tess?"

I almost started clapping. I would have but I could almost feel Rena's hand on my face if I did and I had a funny feeling that my knight in black leather wasn't going to do bumpkis about it this time.

I watched Tess and I didn’t know her. The sweet little cosmetologist was gone. Her warm pretty blue eyes had been replaced with something icy. Me thinks I don’t like the new Tess very much.

I looked back to Michael. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. Period. I tried but it was a no go. There was something so wrong that if I didn’t know it was him I would have never believed it. My warm and loving husband was gone. If he was ever really there at all, he wasn't anymore. When I looked at him I didn't see the deep eyes I used to stare into. I didn’t see the love that I used to. I didn't see shit. I saw a stranger that looked like my Michael.

But his hair was a little different.

And so was his gait.

And so was everything.

I got a chill right up my spine.

It was right in front of me but I couldn’t see it.

I remembered an old saying about a forest and trees but then I started throwing bears in there and got confused. Damn!

* * *
Dusk was passing in DC. Maria Guerin and Kyle Valenti had been missing for almost twenty-four hours.

Max Evans paced the same way he had been for the entire day. When his sister had tried to talk to him, he ignored her.

"Are they alive?" Tess asked through a tear stained face. The ferocity of sadness and despair had taken her over hours earlier.

Michael couldn’t answer her. He didn’t want to answer her. She had asked the same question several times throughout the day and he could only look at her.

"Answer me!" Tess stood and yelled clenching her hands into tight fists.

"I don’t know, Tess." Michael heard the crack in his voice and he damned it. "We don’t know who they are or what they want."

"Why didn’t you tell us before? Why didn’t you tell us, Max and I, when you found out?"

Isabel stood beside Michael. "We decided against it, together."

Tess laughed but it was a bitter sound. "That shit might have worked in another lifetime but it doesn’t fly here! I don’t care about hierarchy or royalty or any of that bullshit. You both withheld information, important information, and look where it got you! Kyle and Maria are gone."

"We'll get them back," Michael wiped dry eyes.

"How? Can you tell her that, Michael?" Max stood behind Tess in a sense of figurative reinforcement. "You still haven’t told us anything and we've been sitting here for almost an entire day."

Isabel and Michael exchanged glances before Isabel answered. "I saw something."

"What?" Max snapped to attention at his sister's admission.
"It was about a week ago and I was at work, I was in Michael's office," she looked at Michael who nodded for her to continue. "I guess it was like a vision."

"A vision?" Tess snapped.

Isabel shrugged. "Kind of, but it was more like an instant memory. I knew without a doubt that we weren't alone and they were close."

"You just knew?" Max shook his head and glanced from Michael to Isabel, she nodded. Sudden hurt became evident. "And you went to him, not me?"

Isabel closed her eyes and nodded.

"Now what, Michael?" Max snapped. "Now what do we do?"

* * *
Chapter Seventeen

I turned my eyes away from Michael, I had to. Again, my bravado was slipping fast. My eyes traveled so insanely slow to Rena. I figured Kyle had the Tess angle going on so I might as well deal with my own personal nightmare.

She glanced at me.

Those were so not her eyes.

I mean they were her eyes in the fact that they were in her head; but otherwise, they were so not hers. Familiar? Yes. Rena's? Not a chance.

Oh shit.

There's no way.

What the fuck?

Isabel?

My knees were going weak again and I fought the urge to vomit. I knew those eyes and they belonged to Isabel Whitman. My best girl friend. Talk about a double fucking whammy. I didn’t understand it but I think I was too pissed to care.

I bit back stupid tears and crossed my arms over my chest. I can do this. I can totally do this. I was alone before and I managed just fine. I can do it again. No big. I knew I should have never let my guard down. I should have never trusted anyone besides my sidekick and myself.

"Fuck you." Again with the creativity.

"No Maria," that was Michael and I didn’t care for his tone too much. "Fuck you!"

That wasn't Michael. Not the Michael that I fell in love with. This was someone new. Someone foreign. Someone alien. That made me giggle. The alien shit always did one of two things to me. It either made me laugh or made me scared. Tonight, it made me laugh. Today. Whatever.

I could tell Michael was angry. I didn’t give a flying fuck. He stormed over to me and grabbed my hair. I froze. I didn't know what to do. I couldn’t believe that this was happening.

I let him pull my hair. But only for a second. No one was pulling my hair. I pulled a move on him that I must have picked up watching one those Kung Fu movies with Kyle. I felt like Jackie Chan with tits. I have no idea what I did, but it worked out beautifully. Michael was on his back and I was straddling him. Normally I would have thought of something mischievous and/or totally lewd. Right now all I could think of was how to hurt him.

I knew he was stronger than I was. That was a given. I knew he could blast me off of him, but I didn’t care. I held his wrists with my hands and I had one of those Vulcan death grips on them. He wasn't budging. Period. I peered down into his eyes and wondered how long he had been fucking Tess. I could smell her on him and it made me sick.

He licked his lips and stared right back at me.

"Whatcha going to do now, Maria?"

Michael didn’t talk like this.

"Scared Maria?"

I ground my pelvis into his and felt an obnoxious belt buckle. It was silver. It wasn't black on black like it should have been.

"Scared Michael?" I wonder if I sounded as evil as I felt. I wanted him to hurt the way I did. I wanted him to feel the betrayal that I did. I doubt he would since I hadn’t done anything wrong, but it was worth a shot. "How long have you been fucking Tess?" Damn. Didn’t want to just blurt that out that way.

He laughed underneath me and ground himself into me, his hips lifting off the ground. Before today, I would have ripped his clothes off. Today, I only wanted to rip his head off.

"Stop it." That was Rena.

I looked up to her fire engine red hair and eyes that didn’t belong to her. "Fuck you too, Isabel." Damn. Didn’t want to blurt that out either. Not so good with the secret keeping today.

"Maria?" Kyle said my name slowly.

Damn! Forgot about Kyle standing right there. I got off of Michael and stood to face Kyle. Michael stood up too. I could hear him breathing in back of me. Kyle looked from Michael to Tess and back again; anger obviously rising in him.

He surprised me. Without a second to prepare for what he was going to do, he flew by me and tackled Michael. I couldn’t believe it. I stood in shock as Kyle proceeded to pummel Michael's face with angry fists. Go Kyle!

I should have known it wasn't going to last long. Michael fought off Kyle and Kyle landed on his ass on the floor. I was at his side in seconds, my hands on his arms.

"Let me go Maria," he seethed. Yes, he actually seethed.

"No," I pressed myself into him and held him tight. "He'll kill you!" I hissed that into his ear.

"He already has."

Shit.

Kyle fought me to get up. He didn’t win. "Stay down Kyle."

"How could they do this?" His voice cracked along with my heart.

I didn’t have an answer for him. I didn’t have an answer for me. I had no fucking answers for anything. I did, however, have a boatload of questions.

I felt Michael's breath on my neck and it sent shivers down my spine. "Maria."

I lost it. I let go of Kyle and spun around. My foot came up and made contact with his chest. I didn’t knock the wind out of him, but close. He was on me in an instant. He grabbed my arms and I fought like hell to get away but he was stronger. I felt the buttons on my shirt pop off one by one. My shirt hung open, sweaty tits exposed to the world. He was in back of me, holding me tight against him. I tried to kick backwards but it wasn't hard enough to do any damage. He just laughed. I tried to remember every tactical movement I had ever learned and came up with nothing. His hands loosed on my arms but before I could react, he crossed them over my chest, cupping my bare breasts forcefully.

"Let go of me." I said the words slowly and calculated.

He answered me with a nipple tweak. Not good.

"Let her go." Tess stood in front of us.

I raised one eyebrow at her as Michael slid one arm around my chest. I felt his other one on my abdomen. Uh-oh. I felt his fingertips underneath the waistband of my leather pants for a nano-second before his hand slid into my pants. I fought like hell to get away. I bit his arm and he released me. I turned on him, I should have run, but I wanted to fight.

Rage blinded me as I charged him. We both went sailing and landed on the ground. My fists had a mind of their own as they battered his face. He was pushing me off of him without success. I briefly thought about that old phrase "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." I'd like to paraphrase that a little. "Hell doesn’t hold a candle to a Maria scorned." Ha!

"Maria!" Kyle was trying to pull me off of Michael, but I wasn't done beating him yet.

"Stop!" The scream sent shivers down my spine. It was Isabel.
I turned around and wearing Rena clothes was Isabel. I was right. I didn't understand it and I sure as hell didn’t like it, but I was right. I knew those eyes and they looked right at home on the face of Isabel Whitman. Bitch.

"Get up," she ordered and for some reason, I listened. So did Michael. She turned to Michael. "Stop it, you might hurt the baby."

Baby?
* * *


Chapter Eighteen

"I just can't believe you didn’t tell us!" Max snapped in his sister's face. "How could you not?"

"I didn’t…" Isabel threw her hands in the air, her voice rose with each word. "I don’t know, Max. I'm sorry, okay? I screwed up and I can barely keep myself together because of it, okay? I would do anything to change what happened. Maria and Kyle are gone. I will kill to get them back."

Max nodded slowly and looked at Michael. "You?"

Michael laughed bitterly. "You know how I feel. No one will stand in my way of finding my wife. And Kyle."

"Or mine," Tess chimed in wiping bitter tears away with the back of her hand. A casual glance at the engagement ring on her finger was not lost on anyone in the room.

"Ditto." Alex yawned somewhat waking from a sitting catnap.

"Then are we going to do something about it?" Max asked with ferocity and looked around at each of them. "Are we going to do something to get back the two people who have managed to save all of our asses? Or are we going to just sit around and wait for the bodies to surface?"

Michael cringed at the image. "We're going to get them back safe and sound."

"I'll lay my life down for either of them," Tess sniffled. "They risked their lives for me," she glanced at Michael. "For us."

Michael crooked his arm towards the small blonde inviting her next to him. He kissed the top of her head. "We love them. And we owe them."

Isabel nodded. "We all owe them."

Max finally smiled and clapped his hands together. "Alright then. Let's go get our Captain back!"

* * *

Again. Baby?

I knew she wasn't talking about me. I doubt she would be calling me 'the baby' and I sure as hell wasn't pregnant so I didn’t know what she was talking about. I didn’t even want to think about that remark right now…

And then the unthinkable happened. I watched it with my own two eyes, but I couldn’t fucking believe what I was seeing.

I think my mouth dropped about a foot as they eyes of my friend started to match the face. It was completely Isabel now without a doubt. Her hair, her jaw line, her smile. I think she waved her hand over herself or I could have made that part up, I'm not sure. Didn’t matter because she was no longer my worse nightmare but my friend. My friend whose ass I was going to severely kick. Now I had too many questions about what happened outside of that bar in Roswell. I think my brain might explode.

So she could change into someone else. I shrugged to myself. I didn’t think there was anything else that could surprise me right now. My world was flipped upside down. Bring it on. I was ready.

Isabel walked closer to me and I got the same feeling from her that I had from Michael. There was something off just a little bit.

I fell into an abyss of my own mind as I began to reevaluate things. Nothing was right. Nothing was normal. I remembered meeting Isabel and calling her Barbie for awhile. I remember running with her and Kyle and that really big fucking dip in the park. I remember the way she stood by my side and helped us take down Section. Then why…?

Why befriend me for over a year if all she was going to do is kidnap me, belittle me and fight me? Why dress up as Rena? Why did this make even less sense?

My attention went back to Michael. I looked at him, I mean I looked through him. This wasn't right. My Sweet Michael could have never fought me. He would have never laid a violent hand on me. He loved me.

"Maria?"

I heard Kyle but I was getting closer to the tree and forest analogy I had been trying to think of earlier. I shot the fucking bears and it was much clearer. I just needed another minute or two.

"Maria!" Kyle was adamant.

"What?" I snapped at him and then realized that he had just seen the same thing I had. The whole she was Rena and is now Isabel show.

He pulled me away from the others, his hand tight on mine. "What the hell was that?"

I shrugged. I had no idea. "Some weird alien shit."

He looked like he was going to slap me; I would have if I were him. Good thing the shoes weren't on the other feet because I would be so black and blue by now.

"That's the best you can give me?" He shook his head. "Some weird alien shit?"

"Do you have a better answer?"

Kyle seemed to thi