Crazy…..

Michael hated his job. Flipping a burger at the Crashdown, he pushed on it hard removing some of the grease. Taking two plates, he put it up in the window.

“Ladies, food doesn't taste better cold, all right? Push the special. I'm tired of flipping burgers.”

Maria and Liz were ignoring him. Michael rolled his eyes. Typical. He groaned when Max and Isabel entered the Crashdown. God, another Max and Liz mating session. He moved back into the kitchen, more willing to cover himself in grease than have to watch them ooze all over each other.

“Would you?” Liz asked Maria gesturing to her order that was up. Maria nodded. “Thanks. Table five.” Maria nodded again giving a little curtsey.

“Max and Liz warning alert,” said Maria kindly to Michael.

“Yeah, I already got the nauseating vibe.”

“I think they’re sweet.”

Michael glanced over at Max and Liz. “Overrated. You’re just relieved it’s them and not you.” Maria made a face at Michael. “We still on for tonight?”

“Yeah. This place is a drag. Are we closing?”

“Looks that way. Too bad. The great spots will be gone.” Maria watched her friend leaning back against the order window, with Michael leaning over by her shoulder.

“Look, if we leave right now, we can make the 7:35 .” Liz said. “I won't even change.”

Isabel was confused. “Leave? We just got here.”

“We kind of planned on seeing a movie.” Max informed his sister.

Liz sent a pleading look over at the order window. “Maria, would you mind?”

“Go ahead.” Maria waved them off. Liz would be worthless otherwise. The place was dead anyway.

“Thank you.”

Maria looked at Michael. “See, we need to work on cultivating a life. A real life. Here we are, stuck working the closing shift when we have pressing plans.”

“It's kind of immature, really.” Michael observed.

“Really. Oh please tell? They go off on a date, you and I get left to clean, and we have that thing…”

“Just a couple of horndogs looking for a place to make out.” Michael rolled his eyes. “They have to search for privacy, and nothing like being pushed in a tight backseat. I mean, we don't need that. We got my apartment, you know? We’re free spirits away from prying eyes.” Maria looked at him, lifting an eyebrow. She was so sick of work, and they had places to go. Michael smiled wickedly. Their supervisor had just left.

Isabel, put out because Max had deserted her, finally made a selection  “I guess I'll just have the special.”

Michael and Maria looked over at Isabel, saying it at the same time, “Uhh...we're closing early.”

~~~

Max and the others let themselves into Michael’s apartment. It was dark in the living room, and there was a light coming from the bedroom. They could hear Maria and Michael’s voices.

“Maria. Maria. I’m not….it’s too tight!”

“Stop whining! It looks perfect! Here try to bend over…the other way.”

Michael swore. “That’s it, I’m going in my normal clothes.”

“They’ll spot you! Michael….here just try…” Maria glanced at the door. “Max.”

“What?” Looked up from were he was trying to belt up a pair of boots, unable to bend in the tight leather pants.

Maria gestured to the bedroom door. “Look.”

Michael glanced over, his face clouding when he saw Max and the others. “What the hell are you guys doing here?” He looked at Maria. She was wearing a leather micro-mini and a tiny red lace camisole. He quickly tossed her his shirt.

Liz’s eyes were wide taking in Maria’s outfit, or lack of it, Michael in tight black leather pants, no shirt, and boots. It looked like they walked in on an interesting scene. Liz cleared her throat, the other people in the room unable to speak. “Topolsky.”

“She's back.” Isabel said sourly. Michael and Maria shared a look. They had always expected her to return, but months after she left, they had relaxed their watch.

“She practically just attacked us in the car at Buckley Point.”

Maria lifted a brow at Liz. “Buckley Point? I thought you went to the movies.”

“It had bad reviews.”

“She said we were in danger,” Max told Michael, “...all of us. And to just act normal until she contacts us again.”

Alex rubbed his face. “Would that be, you know, alien normal, or just plain "we're the subjects of an FBI manhunt" normal?”

Michael reached in his drawer for another shirt. Sliding into it, he shook his head. “This sounds wrong, like some sort of trap.” Maria had to agree with him. That Topolsky was a slick character.

“No, Michael.” Liz was certain that Topolsky was telling the truth. “She was really scared. I believed her.”

“Yeah. Let me remind you, Liz, that you believed her the first time, too.”

Alex at the end of his tether got into Michael’s mocking face. “Hey, you want to know what? Where would you be if Liz and I didn't stick our necks out to expose her?”

Isabel pulled Alex back. “Ok. Just calm down, all right?”

Alex asked Liz. “Do you really think she's here to warn us?”

“She wasn't the same person she was before.” Liz told the others. “You know, and the way that she was talking, she seemed like she was just as scared for herself as she is for us.”

“Then I say we listen.” Alex voted.

“I say we don't!” Michael couldn’t believe it. It was all starting again. “All right, it's just a new tactic. She scares us, makes us think we need help, and all we're really doing is admitting who we are. All right?” Maria frowned at Michael. She could feel it, his barely concealed panic. “I don't trust her, and none of us should.”

“Whether we trust her or not, it doesn't hurt to take her advice. We're normal teenage kids. No one says the word "alien" or talks about this in public. Anybody could be watching. And I think we should keep this here.” Max passed Michael the smooth orb he and Liz had found in the desert during their out of control phase. “It's the safest place we've got right now.”

“I can't believe she's back. I thought this was all over with.” Maria said. Michael hugged her to his side, but he knew what she meant. She had hoped it was all over.

~~~

Michael and Max entered the Evans’ home. Michael reached for orange juice from the refrigerator as Max quickly grabbed glasses before Michael drank out of the carton. Passing him the glass he looked at Michael critically.

“You want to tell me about it?” Max asked.

Michael shrugged. Max had been hounding him all day. “Nothing to tell.”

“Maria is half naked in your bedroom shoving you into a pair of leather pants two sizes too small, with a bare chest, and there is nothing to tell?”

“Look, we were going out. The group of you ruined that, so what’s to tell? Drop it, okay?”

“Out? On a date?”

“Max,” Michael warned. Drinking his orange juice, he sighed. What was so hard with ‘none of your business’? Seeing Max’s interest, Michael figured a lot. “Look, Maria wanted to do something more than our usual theatre hopping, so…”

“More? You mean she wants to…” Max lifted an eyebrow.

“Would I be here with you if that was what she wanted? Hell, Max, I’m a guy. Give me a break! No she wanted to get out of the usual teenage rut. We were crashing a fraternity party with live music. The operative word is ‘were’, but those plans fell through.”

“So,” Max said causally, “you two spend a lot of time together. I can’t remember you ever changing in front of me, and Maria pulled some of her clothing out of your drawer.”

“She has a few things at my place. So?”

“She has a key to your apartment.”

“Yeah, and technically so do you! Maria can’t pop a lock like you and Isabel…she needs a key. Personally, I’d appreciate a little forewarning before people just enter my place. Think you can master that knocking thing?”

Max’s eyes narrowed. There was more going on here than Michael was admitting. They had to be a couple. “You know, Liz keeps mentioning how she never sees much of Maria anymore, you know…since we started dating. I think it’s making her unhappy. So how about you and Maria come out with us to dinner?”

“Like a date? You want us to double date with you and Liz?”

“Yeah. What’s so hard about that?”

Michael ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. A date? I really don’t date. I wouldn’t know where to begin. I mean I generally hang with Maria, but this makes it feel like something…I don’t know, formal?”

“I’m sure it would make Maria happy.” Michael lifted a brow at that. “She probably misses Liz too. Girls like those kind of things, double dates. They like flowers in the middle of the day and messages left in their lockers. You should…”

“How do you know women so well?” Michael and Max spun around in shock at the voice in the doorway. There was a petite blonde girl with startling blue eyes resting against the door jamb. “Don't let me stop you. This is fascinating.”

“Who are you?” Max asked, frowning at the stranger in his kitchen.

Isabel came through the door. “She's my friend.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “How come we've never met her before?”

“God, Michael, could you be any more rude?” Isabel asked in irritation. What was he doing here anyway?

“Actually, it's kind of refreshing.” Tess said reassuring Isabel that she wasn’t offended. Tess smiled at Max. “I'm Tess.”

Isabel waved off the two irritating males. “This is my brother Max and our friend Michael.” She quickly introduced them, wanting them gone.

“Nice to meet you.”

Isabel grabbed two bottles of orange soda. “Here you go. I'll meet you back in my room.”

“Don't forget the extra sugar.” Tess smiled again at Max before going through the kitchen door.

Isabel turned on the two males. “Ok. What's wrong with you guys? She just moved here. I'm helping her catch up.”

“She looked pretty caught up to me.” Michael observed his suspicious gene on full alert. “Topolsky was a plant when she showed up at school. This girl could be, too.”

“She's a transfer student, Michael.”

Max agreed with Michael. Things were too risky. “She's a stranger, Isabel.”

Isabel rolled her eyes. Typical. “Well, it's not like I'm going to fall in love with her and tell her our secret and compromise our very existence.” she said, hitting a mark on Max and the risk he took with saving Liz. “I thought we were supposed to be acting normal, right? Heck of a job you two just did.”

Isabel left the room, grabbing additional sugar on her way out. Michael shook his head. “I don’t trust her.”

“You don’t trust anyone.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m still alive, thank you. I’ll check her out.”

~~~

The group of six friends met at the quarry to discuss Topolsky again. Liz had received a message from Max, or who she thought was Max, to meet her at Senior Chow’s. It hadn’t been Max. Topolsky slid into her booth, warning Liz that a special unit of the FBI had their names. All of their names, and they were watching the six of them and Valenti.

Alex’s hand moved nervously as he paced the entire circuit around their group. “So, she wore a wig, huh?”

“Alex, I mean, she was so scared! I've never seen anyone that scared before.”

Alex laughed sarcastically as he continued his pacing, “Taken a look at me lately?”

“Don't you get it? This is exactly what she wants. She’s spooked the three of you.” Michael told Liz and Alex, including Maria in the group. “And now she's waiting for you to deliver the three of us straight to the FBI.”

“No, Michael.” Liz couldn’t let them, the aliens. get away with that anymore. “It's not three and three anymore. It's the six of us now.” Liz looked at Max. “We need to start making our decisions that way.”

“There's no decision to be made. We trust no one. We never have, and we never will.” Isabel said, at the end of her limits. She was so sick of this, so sick of being afraid, and thanks to Max saving Liz, it had been nothing but fear since that day. “God, if you think you can even begin to understand what it's like to be us in this...” The unbelievable gall of Liz, to think she understood anything, that she could be a part of this.

Max interrupted Isabel before she went off on Liz. “I think we're all a little on edge right now, Isabel.”

“Max, if there's a hunter out there, who do you think he's coming for first?” Isabel turned away, upset that Max was siding with Liz…always Liz.

“There is no hunter out there, ok?” Michael couldn’t believe how easily they were all letting this one FBI agent push them to mass hysteria. They were going to do something stupid. “This is insane. Can't you people smell a set-up, or am I the only one thinking straight here?”

Maria folded her arms in front of her chest, looking off across the quarry. She hated this, the dissention, the factions of humans versus aliens. All this discussion was doing was breaking them apart. “Why don't we put it to a vote? Do we meet Topolsky again or not?”

Alex was the first, his feelings strong. He remembered Topolsky very well, and despite everything, he trusted that she was a straight shooter. “I say we meet, hear what she has to say.”

Isabel shook her head. “I say we stay away.”

“I have to agree with Isabel.” Max said shooting Liz an apologetic look.

“You know my vote.” Michael said walking away from the group a little.

“But if anything happens to any of you, I...,” Liz looked helplessly at Max, “...I think that's why we need to meet her. I think we need protection, Max.”

Michael tossed his hands in irritation. “Great. It's a tie. Hell of a lot of good that did us.”

“No,” said Maria. Hers was the last vote, the deciding one, and looking at the rest of them, she sighed, hating this more than anything.  “I...I don't think we should go. I mean, if you guys feel that strongly about it, who are we to tell Topolsky anything about you?”

Michael looked at Maria in shock and in gratitude. He had assumed that she would follow her two best friends of a lifetime. Her support was unexpected.  “Four to two, we stay away.”

Alex walked off visibly frustrated, and slowly everyone else followed him except Maria and Michael. Maria stood looking over the quarry. Michael studied at the lines of her back, the stiffness.

“Thanks for seeing it my way.”

Maria nodded hugging herself tighter, unusually cold. “I just really want this to be over with.”

Michael came up behind her, he put his hands on her shoulders, pulling her back against him in comfort. “It will be. We do what we’ve always done. We deny. We hide.”

“It’s not just you anymore, Michael.” Maria glanced back at him over her shoulder. “I’m trusting you, and your instincts. You’ve had a lifetime of surviving, but this time…it’s not just about you, Max and Isabel. I’m trusting my friends lives on you, and you better not let me down.” Michael shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Drawing her closer, he hugged her from behind, staring out across the quarry in silence with her.

~~~

Maria waited impatiently at the order window. Michael was behind on the orders, and her tables were getting irritated by the time it was taking.

“How many light-years away is my Eclipse Burger?”

Michael glanced over, rubbing an arm over his forehead. “Depends how they feel about raw.”

“I put that order in ten minutes ago.”

“Well, you can't rush an Eclipse.”

Liz came up behind Maria. “Hey, I need that Chili Rocket Dog, Michael.”

“I got a lot on my mind.” Michael told Maria. He pushed a plate over to Liz. “Here, give 'em an order of Saturn Rings while they're waitin'. That'll shut 'em up.”

Liz took the rings and left in a hurry grabbing a pot of coffee along the way. “What’s going on?” Maria asked.

“What?” Michael tried to concentrate on Maria’s Eclipse Burger, as he pounded on it.

“This preoccupation. You’re flipping burgers, not building rockets. So what gives?”

“What's that supposed to mean? This takes some concentration!”

“Michael.”

“Okay…okay. Max is bugging me.”

Liz came up again. “Hey, have you guys noticed that there's a restaurant full of people waiting for actual food?”

Michael ignored that observation. “What are you and Max doing tonight?”

“Oh, we're just gonna stay at home. Try and keep a low profile.”

Michael pushed Maria’s order across the counter. “Act like we got nothing to hide, remember?”

Maria took the plate, adding the essentials to the order. “What do you mean?”

“We should go out tonight. The four of us.”

Maria and Liz both stopped what they were doing responding at the same time. “What?!?”

“That way, if someone is really watching us, we won't give 'em anything to be suspicious about.” Michael added chili to a hot dog, passing it to Liz. “Hot dog.” Liz took the order and scurried off, looking back at the other two in confusion.

“I thought you didn't believe Topolsky.”

“I don’t. Not without more evidence. This is Max’s idea. He’s curious about our relationship. I think he wants a closer view.”

“Relationship? We have a relationship?”

“Evidently, or so Max suspects.” Michael finished another plate. Setting it under the heater, he leaned closer to her. “Look, we can kill two birds with one stone. Prove to Max that he’s reading more into our hanging out than there is, and we come off as nice innocent teenagers out on a double date…eating, having fun.”

“Well, yeah. Yeah. I just thought we'd try it on our own. You know…the making you look like a normal teenager. You realize that we’ll be with Max and Liz, and they will no doubt spend most of the evening staring into each other’s eyes and giggling.”

“One step at a time,” said Michael. She was right. He better eat beforehand, chance of him getting any food down later was slim. Seeing Liz walking towards the order wheel with a handful of new orders, Michael sighed. “I hate this job.”

~~~

Alex walked into the employee area of the Crashdown looking for Liz and Maria. He stopped when he saw them in the bathroom, Maria standing there in nothing but a bra and short skirt, and Liz trying to button up her shirt.

Alex quickly turned around. “Oh, whoa! Peep shows!”

“Ooh, Alex.” Maria quickly pulled on her top. “Don't worry. It's nothing you haven't seen before.”

“Ah, yeah, me and everyone else.” Alex said remembering Maria’s attire the night they walked in on her and Michael. “So, um, in this bag I have tonight's entertainment. I got a box of raisinettes and Scream 2.”

“Hated it.” Maria and Liz said at the same time.

“Ok, well, that's why my chick flick back-up rental was Notting Hill.”

Liz finished buttoning up her top. “Ok, Alex, you can turn around now.”

“So, my place or yours?”

“Oh, um, neither.” Liz said leaving the bathroom with Maria on her heels.

“We're going for Mexican with Max and Michael.” Maria fussed with the hem of her skirt.

“I thought we decided to stay low, you know, with everything that's been going on?” Alex frowned at their attire. “Oh, great. Everyone's invited but me.”

Liz felt bad at disappointing Alex. “No, I don't think Isabel's coming.”

Alex visibly brightened. “Maybe I can talk some sense into her.” Alex followed them out of the backroom. Max and Michael were just arriving.

“Hi.” Liz said smiling at Max.

“Hi. This is for you.” He handed Liz a small gift bag.

“Oh, thank you.” She looked inside. “It's bubble bath.”

“It's supposed to make your skin soft.” Michael rolled his eyes, and Maria elbowed him in the side.

“Thanks.”

Maria looked at Michael in amusement, lifting her eyebrow in inquiry. “You got anything for me, Spaceboy? You know it’s traditional when going on a date.”

Michael’s eyes gleamed with amusement, he leaned down to talk to Maria directly. “Oh yeah, I’ve got something for you…but I’ll give it to you later.” He lifted a brow suggestively, and Maria laughed taking his hand to lead him out of the Crashdown.

Max and Liz both watched the interlude with their mouths open. Uncertain about  what just happened, or what to say, they watched Michael and Maria leave the Crashdown.

“We should get going.” Max said.

“Ok.” Liz bit her lip. She needed to ask Maria some detailed questions. Michael was going to give her something personally…later. Oh…oh!

~~~

The four teenagers were sharing a table while they waited for their food. The surface was covered in their drinks and salsa and chips, most of which Michael ate. Michael pulled a paper from his back pocket just as the waitress bought their order. The time during ordering and waiting for the food had been filled with mindless chitchat.

Maria smiled at the waitress, moving back so Michael’s plate could be set down. She thanked the woman when her plate was placed in front of her. Continuing to talk to Liz, she checked over her plate, removing the things she didn’t want.

Liz and Max watched as Maria dumped part of her plate into Michael’s, removing part of his food. Michael kept reading, reaching over, he passed Maria his salad grunting when she indicated the extra sour cream.

Michael started reading a listing of movies and music events to Maria. She made comments while eating, both of them oblivious to their companions. Liz’s brow furled as Michael and Maria kept eating off each other’s plate, and Maria requested more chips, to pass them to Michael when they came.

“Dessert?” Michael inquired.

“The chocolate rush with extra whipped cream?” Maria asked. Michael quickly agreed. When the dessert came, Maria quickly sliced it into two pieces and reaching into her bag, she passed Michael the Tabasco for his half.

Liz cleared her throat. “So, this has been really fun.”

Michael shoved almost the entire dessert into his mouth in one bite. “Yeah, it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be.”

“That’s because you’re every girl's dream date, Spaceboy. I think in a few more years, and once you learn to operate that opposable thumb thing, you’ll be ready for Susan.” Michael snorted chewing his dessert loudly and with his mouth open deliberately at her.

The waitress came and picked up some of the plates leaving two bills. “Here you go. You can pay me whenever you're ready.”

Michael glanced at the bill, and shoved it over to Maria. “You're gonna have to get this one 'cause I don't get paid till Tuesday.”

Maria lifted an eyebrow. “If I remember correctly, it was your turn to shell out, buddy.”

“Yeah, I know, but I got a little tight.” Michael smiled very pleased with himself. “Remember that present I own you later?”

“Oh does that cost money now?” Maria asked cryptically for Max and Liz’s benefit.

“No, that’s on the house,” Michael said pushing the fun with Maria, seeing Liz’s mouth open out of the corner of his eye. “Nope, I’m talking about Portishead tickets. I got ours today, and it tapped me.”

Maria gave a happy squeal grabbing Michael by the face, kissing him lightly on the lips. “Tell me they’re good ones!”

“The best. Why do you think I have no money left?”

“You are the man!” Maria picked up the bill. “I’ll pay for this! But, you’re responsible for the next pizza.”

Michael snorted. “I’ve got it covered.” Maria slid out of the bench to go pay, needing to find some breath mints for Michael’s garlic breath. She still had to sit next to him for a movie. Michael saw Max and Liz’s quiet speculating looks, and he quickly slid out to follow Maria. “I, um…I better get her to get me something for the onions and garlic. Um…yeah.” He rushed off coming up close behind Maria, leaning into her, whispering over her shoulder as his arms went around her waist.

Liz watched for a moment, then she looked at Max. “When did they start dating?” Oh, this looked real serious.

“I told you.”

Michael was talking low to Maria. He kept discreetly looking over at Max and Liz. “I told you he was nosy. You know, this whole dating thing really bites. They hardly said a word all night.”

“Well, that would require you letting them get a word in edgewise.” Maria passed over the money grabbing some mints. Thanking the cashier for the change, she sat down in a set in front of the window. “I guess we’ll actually have to pay for the movie, seeing that Max and Liz are with us.”

“Nope. This is the official end of the date with them. The movie is just us. I’ve had enough of this dating thing.”

“You really got us great tickets to the concert?”

“Front row, first admission. They cost too.”

Maria hugged his arm close, wondering what the heck was taking Max and Liz so long. “You know, to get ready for this concert, we’re going to have to do a full week of Portishead retrospectively. Think you can wean off Metallica that long?”

“I’ll cheat for a fix when you’re not around.”

Outside the restaurant they said goodnight to Max and Liz.

“Yeah, it was like fun,” Maria said politely.

“You’re not going home?” Liz asked.

Maria and Michael both shifted on their feet almost guiltily, not wanting to admit they were ditching Max and Liz. “Oh…yeah, sure. But, um…Spaceboy has a present for me, so I think I’ll collect. He’ll make sure I get home.”

They hurried off as the other couple watched them. Liz looked at Max. “This isn’t good. Why didn’t you tell me?”

~~~

When Michael returned home after dumping Maria off at her place, he swore under his breath when the lights in his apartment wouldn’t turn on. Suddenly out of the shadows, Topolsky appeared. She was frantic, and Michael could taste her fear.

“If I give you proof, will you believe me then?” She had the alien orb that Max and Liz had found in the desert.

“Get out of my house!” Michael said, mustering as much threatening tone to his voice as he could, but he could feel a tickling of sweat down his back. Maybe her fear was contagious, but it felt bitter and dry in his mouth.

“I know what this is.” Topolsky said showing Michael the orb she held in her hand.

“That's a paperweight.”

“It's a communicator, and there's another one just like it. I took it from the special unit evidence vault back in Washington .” Topolsky informed him. “Now, I know they only work when they're together, so if I bring you the other one, if I risk my life for you,” her fear was in her eyes, and she was desperate to convince him, to get his protection, “...I need to know that you’ll take me with you when your people come to get you.”

“You're crazy.”

“No, Michael, look.” Topolsky licked her lips, nervous and agitated. “We are all going to die! And it's not going to be pleasant.” She said all the right things, hitting all the fear that lived in Michael all his life. “We only have one chance. I will meet you tomorrow night at Buckley Point with the other communicator.” Topolsky shoved the orb into Michael’s hand. “If you ignore me this time, there won't be a next time.”

Michael stood in the dark after she left, his fingers moving over the smooth surface of the orb. He told Maria he wouldn’t believe Topolsky until he had evidence. Now he had it. Liz had been right. Topolsky was more than scared, she was terrified. He promised Maria that she could trust him to protect her friends. Michael looked at the orb in his hand, and he sat down on his sofa staring into the darkness.

~~~

They met at the quarry again. Alex had almost been taken last night, and had Sheriff Valenti not intervened he would’ve been gone. Michael swallowed a rising nausea, knowing that danger had been as close as the back alley of the Crashdown.

“You didn't see his face?” Michael asked. They needed to identify the enemy.

“No.”

“What about his voice?” Liz asked gently. “Did you recognize it?”

“If I knew anything more, don't you think I'd tell you?”

“Just leave him alone.” Isabel said, her fear extending to Alex. He had been afraid before, and they had ignored his concerns. Now she wasn’t so sure. “He's been through enough.”

Max was more concerned that Valenti was in the mix again. “Just tell me what Valenti said to you again.”

“It's not what he said. It's how he said it. And how he knew to be there. It's like he's on our side or something.”

Max couldn’t accept that, not with what happened in the past between him and Valenti. “There are five people in the world that I trust, and they're all standing right here.” Max looked at the entire group. “We can't let anyone else in. Not Valenti. Not Topolsky. Not even a new girl at school. No matter how tempting it is.”

“It's real what she says.” Alex said referring to Topolsky’s warning. “There was something about that guy in that car. It's like our lives are in danger.”

“We don't know what parts of her stories are true.” Liz pointed out. It was easy to hide lies in partial truths.

“That's why we talk to no one.” Max looked at the group. “Agreed?”

“Yeah,” said Alex, the others agreeing. They left, and Michael and Maria remained.

“This is scaring me. I'm sorry.” Maria confessed hating how she felt.

“Why?”

You always told me that your life was hard, that living in fear was something I didn’t want. I listened, but I really didn’t understand.” Maria hugged herself hard. “I can’t imagine what it’s been like, all these years, being you…being a person that had to hide, afraid.” Maria closed her eyes for a moment, pulling back a need to cry. “I want this over. I want you to be safe.”

“Come here.” Michael forced Maria to look at him, his hands on her face. “If anything happens, I mean, to me, I just want you to know that...”

“I know.” Maria said. He didn’t have to say it. She didn’t get flashes, but he never had to tell her how he felt. “Nothing's gonna happen to you.” Maria said, closing her eyes as they hugged, praying that it would be true.

~~~

Maria came into the breakroom to find Michael going through her locker. Her first instinct was to be angry, but the line of his back, his demeanor, made her pause.

“Hey, what are you doing going through my locker?”

“I need to borrow your car.”

“Really?” Her eyes moved over his face. He was hiding something. “For what?”

“Don't ask. I just gotta go somewhere, all right?”

Maria’s chin became stubborn. “Not without telling me.” Maria noticed that Michael had something in his pocket. She pulled it out.

“Maria! Dammit, give me that!” Michael took it back. “Maria, leave it alone, okay? I know what I’m doing.”

“What is that?”

“It's nothing.” Michael looked around, suspecting they could be watched.

“It's that thing...that orb.”

Michael put his hand over her mouth. “Shhh!”

“What are you doing with the orb? Where are you going with it?” There was a hushing silence between them, and Maria held herself stiff, expecting him to lie. “You're supposed to keep it in your apartment for safety, remember?”

“Yeah, so?” Michael meeting her eyes. Damn, if he could’ve gotten the keys without her knowing, it would’ve been better. She had a way of making him tell her the truth.

“Wait a minute. You're going to meet Topolsky, aren't you?” He was. She could see it on his face when she guessed correctly. “After everything you said to the others...”

“Yeah, well...just don't tell them, all right?” Michael took the keys. “I gotta do this thing, but it's safer if I do it alone.”

“I'm going.”

“No!” Michael knew it. She would insist on coming, and it would be dangerous. He couldn’t take a chance on her.

Maria literally stomped her foot, her head tipping to the side. “Hello, Sheriff? Hi. My car's been stolen.”

Michael swore under his breath. She wouldn’t! The hell she wouldn’t. “Fine! You're staying in the car with your head down.”

“Where are we going?” She tossed the rest of her stuff into the lockers, holding her order pad in her hand.

“We're going to Buckley Point.”

“I need a jacket.”

“Hurry up!” Michael turned his back, and Maria quickly left a message on her order pad for Liz and the others.

~~~

“So she was waiting for you in your apartment?”

“She had tossed it. She found the orb.” Michael pushed the speed limit. “She says it’s a communicator.” Michael glanced at Maria. “Whoever these people are, these alien hunters, they are bad, Maria. Real bad. She is afraid enough of them to want our protection, to leave with us.”

“God, Michael! Why didn’t you mention this earlier?” Maria looked at his profile, noticing the clenching of his jaw. “This is because I asked you to take care of my friends?” Michael didn’t respond. Maria couldn’t believe him. To protect everyone else, he was going to take all the risk. “God! Did it ever occur to you that I include you on the list of my friends? Maybe I’m worried about you too?”

“If Topolsky is telling the truth, Maria…I have to know what she knows. I can’t protect us from some unknown enemy. I have to know who there are. You said you would trust my instincts, so trust me on this.”

“I don't think this is such a good idea.” Maria said looking out at the dark area.

“You already mentioned that.”

Maria could quell the nervous feeling in her stomach. Michael was the poster boy for paranoia, and he was accepting Topolsky after one conversation. “Y-you're the one who...who thought that she was gonna trap us.”

“She knew what the orb was.”

“It had the symbol on it. She could've just been guessing. How do you know she is telling the truth? Maybe it is an alien paperweight, or transporter, or something else? How can you know?”

“No, Maria...this is real. We're getting close to something.” Michael hated how much his fear was connected to his excitement. He should be cautious, but Topolsky said if he missed this opportunity, it would be the last. He couldn’t let that pass by. He couldn’t afford to.

“Yeah, our grisly deaths.” Maria said. “Look, Michael, I'm really scared, ok, and I don't think we should do this alone. We should go back for the others.”

“There is no time.” Michael glanced at her. She was scared. “I told you, you can stay in the car.”

“No. This is stupid! Putting our trust in a woman that was hunting you only months ago. We can’t just charge in there, impulsively trusting, because you need and want it to be true.” Maria looked around, desperate. “Pull over. Let me out.”

“I can't leave you out in the middle of nowhere!”

“Fine, then take me back! I'm not kidding.” Maria was desperate. He never trusted immediately, and this felt bad, wrong. They were cut off from the others. “You can’t put us in danger like this! Michael…God, please, don’t do this. Stop and think for just a moment.”

“I thought of nothing else all last night.” Michael pulled over because she asked. “Maria, I have to know!”

“It’s not worth your life!”

“It is my life. It always has been.”

~~~

Liz and the others were in the jeep hurrying to catch up to Michael and Maria. Maria’s note told where they were going, but the couple had a lead on them.

“There's only one road up here.” Max reasoned. They had to be able to find them.

Liz looked at her watch. “They can't be more than 10 minutes ahead of us, Max. Just go fast.”

Alex was in the back seat with Isabel, he leaned forward between the two seats. “Look, I don't get it. Why would he go and do this after we all agreed?”

Isabel made a nasty noise in her throat, her voice brittle and biting. “Because he's Michael.”

Max looked back at his sister in the rearview mirror. “That's no excuse this time!”

~~~

“Hey!” Michael said as Maria got out of the car. She walked away from it in the dark. He quickly followed her. He couldn’t leave her there in the dark, alone.

“Michael, it's a mistake. If you can’t value your own life enough to protect yourself, I’m gonna do it for you.”

“This is not your decision to make! This is mine. I’m not asking you to come with me. I can do this alone.”

“It's not just about you! What you do, it affects me.” Maria grabbed his hand, knowing he was already gone. His determination was making him already two steps beyond her. “I can’t let this end…let you end like this. I need you…I need you to take more care. OK, so go ahead and hate me, but I'm not gonna let you get hurt. I care about you too much.”

“Maria, I have been waiting for this my whole life.”

“So have I!” Maria was breathing hard. “I’ve waited my whole life for something better than Roswell , a relief from the mundane. That has been you! You’re my something better. Knowing you, caring, it has given my life that missing meaning, and I can’t…I can’t let this happen. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

They both turned at the sudden appearance of headlights. Michael took Maria’s arm and pushed her away.

“Run, go on! Run! Get out of here! Go!”

“No, I am not gonna leave you!” Maria held onto his arm, unwilling to leave him, but terrified as well. They both visibly breathed easier when Max and the others got out of the jeep.

Max was the first to catch up to them. He held out his hand. “Give it to me.”

Michael kept the orb. He needed it. “Topolsky says it's a communicator.”

“I said give it to me!” Max’s voice broke in anger. “We trusted you with it, and you blew it.”

Michael held it back, Max couldn’t understand. “It does something when it's with another one, and I gotta find out what it is!” Max and Michael struggled for the orb for a moment.

“No one can know we have that!” Max’s anxiety increased as they struggled, he finally punched Michael in the face. Michael hit the ground hard, dropping the orb as he fell.

Maria’s mouth opened in shock, horror and anger moving over the lines of her body. She moved forward, slapping Max Evans hard, then pushing him back, away from Michael who was on the ground. Going to Michael, she knelt down next to him, helping him up.

“You hit me? You hit me!”

“Somebody had to knock some sense into you!” Max screamed at Michael holding his face where Maria hit him. Michael got up to retaliate as Maria moved into his body, holding him back from charging Max, for hitting Max back.

Isabel joined the fray. “No.”

Maria moved harder into Michael’s body forcing him to take a step back, away from Max. Her body was a mass of misery, as her arms tightened around his waist. “Damn you!” Michael yelled at Max. Before any other words could be said, the entire group went still as more headlights appeared. It was the Sheriff. His SUV and another vehicle stopped beside the Jetta and the jeep. The Sheriff got out of his vehicle and a man who claimed to be Topolsky’s doctor, a Dr. Margolin.

“I'm sorry, but Ms. Topolsky won't be meeting you tonight...or any other night.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “So she wasn't lying. You killed her, and now you're here to kill us?”

“No, Michael. He's not.” Sheriff Valenti stepped into the light from the headlights, facing Michael. “This man is from Bethesda , Maryland . His name is Dr. Malcolm Margolin. He stopped by my office this morning...explained a few things about Ms. Topolsky.”

“I've been treating Kathleen for the last 6 weeks.”

The Sheriff looked at all the kids. “Dr. Margolin is a psychiatric specialist.”

“She had a breakdown. She's paranoid delusional. That means that she's desperately afraid of things that don't exist...to the point that she makes up elaborate scenarios to justify the fears that she has.”

“Doctor tells me that Ms. Topolsky was in a facility in Bethesda until a few days ago when she just took off.”

“We traced her credit card here to Roswell , and when I caught up with her she was hysterical...talking about meeting you around here...something about an orb. The Sheriff said he knew you, and that you'd had trouble with her in the past. I didn't want anything to happen to you out here.”

“I checked it all out. The doctor is who he says he is, and Topolsky spent the last month in a mental hospital. I think it's safe to disregard anything she's been saying,” Valenti stressed the point, not only for the teenagers, but for himself, “...to any of us.”

“I'm sorry to have caused you this inconvenience. And don't worry about Kathleen. She should be back in Bethesda by now under the best care available. So please, no more late-night trips to the middle of nowhere. Anything could be out here, and I'd hate to see any harm come to you on our account.”

“Thank you, Doctor. I'm sure we'll all sleep better.” Jim looked at the teenagers. “So it's over. You can go home now.”

Michael glanced over to where he had dropped the orb, and Max seeing his look whispered to him. “We'll come back for it.” The teenagers went to leave, but Liz looked back.

“Max.” She motioned to the Sheriff. Jim noticed something on the ground, and bending, he picked up the orb. Looking over, his eyes met the teenagers’.

“Nice job, Michael.” Max said nastily.

Taking Michael arm, Maria purposely pushed Max aside. “Drop dead, Max,” she told him under her breath, leading Michael to the Jetta. She put him in the passenger seat, going around to the driver’s side, she drove away, not bothering to look back at the others.

~~~

“Here, put this on your lip.” Maria handed him a towel with ice wrapped inside.

“You don’t have to stay.”

“Do not add to it by saying stupid things.” Maria went into the bedroom, picking up things. She pulled back the bedding. Lighting candles, she turned off the bedroom light.

“C’mon.” Maria pulled Michael into the bedroom. Removing his top shirt, she left him in only his undershirt. Michael stood there as she unfastened his jeans pushing them off, leaving him only in his boxers. Maria pushed him on the bed. He sat down heavily.

“Maria, you don’t have to put me to bed.”

“Shut up, and keep the ice on your mouth, otherwise it will swell.”

Taking off his shoes, she held the covers back so he could slide into bed. Michael waited for her to leave, but instead Maria unbuttoned her uniform.

Michael couldn’t speak. She shimmied down to her slip only, and climbed into bed with him.

“Maria…”

“Shh. Go to sleep.”

“You don’t have to stay and take care of me.”

Maria could feel the shiver in his limbs as she moved close to him. “Yes, I do.” Maria looked at Michael. “He was wrong. I don’t care if you’re wrong, or irresponsible, nothing excuses him for hitting you.”

“Maria…you can get in trouble if you stay.”

“So I get in trouble. I’ll handle it.” Michael settled in the bed, glad not to be alone. “I was really afraid you know.”

“I know.” Michael brushed his mouth against the top of her head. “I’m sorry. You were right. I should’ve thought more about what she was saying…not trust so easily.”

“Why did you?”

Michael shrugged closing his eyes as tiredness made his limbs heavy. “She said what I needed to hear…wanted to hear. She was offering information.” Michael was quiet for a moment. “Now we lost the orb, Valenti is suspicious again, and we lost any chance we had to find out more. Max was right. I was wrong.”

“Max,” Maria practically spit out, “has a lot to beg forgiveness for. Until he and Liz got all hot and bothered, this hasn’t really been his quest. He gets one clue, and suddenly he’s the King of us all? Who exposed you to Topolsky in the first place? Who made Valenti suspicious? Who exposed you enough that FBI’s alien hunters are on your tail?”

“We needed that orb, Maria.”

“We’ll get it back, one way or another.” Maria glanced up at him. “Feel bad if you must, because you were a little out of control. I fault you more for taking risks with your own life. As far as the orb? Well, until recently that was completely your quest, not Max’s, and definitely not Isabel’s, so if it belonged to anyone…it belonged to you. Don’t take on more than your share.”

Michael stared down at her golden hair, remembering how afraid she had been, how she refused to back down, or leave him. “Maria, you’re the only real friend I have.”

Maria ran her hand over his chest in comfort, understanding how alone he felt, how alone he felt all his life. “That’s not true. I know it feels that way right now, but it’s not true. They care too.”

Michael was quiet for a moment, he reached down and took Maria’s hand where it lay curled on his chest. Holding it in his hand for a moment, he kissed her palm. “Thank you.”

Maria nodded. They laid there in the bed, both of them tired, but unable to sleep. Maria was as quiet as she could be, but something was bothering her.

“Michael?”

“Hmm?”

Maria bit her lip. “Michael, what kind of doctor tells a bunch of teenagers his patient’s diagnosis and medical information?”

Michael’s eyes opened, he stared at the ceiling. “They don’t. Dr. Margolin was a fake.”

“Oh God!” Maria said as Michael held her closer.

~~~

It was late. The apartment was quiet with only the soft flickering sounds of the candles slowly burning down. He paused in the doorway, struck by the scene. They were asleep. Maria was curled on Michael’s chest, her hands holding him as his one arm was bent behind his head, and the other held her close. Michael’s mouth was swollen from the cut, a red insult…a break in a friendship.

Max quietly walked over to the bed, careful not to wake them. Reaching down, he moved his hand over Michael’s sleeping form, removing the traces of the fight.

Max stepped back, his eyes staring at them for a moment. Turning at the door, he used his powers to put out the candles, darkening the room while they slept. The door never made a sound as he closed and locked it on his way out.