Destiny…..
Michael and Valenti reached the gate around the compound
with Max leaning heavily on them. Michael paused when he saw everyone waiting
for them.
“What the fuck? Why didn’t you bring the entire city of
“I know somewhere safe. It's an old silver mine in
Galitas off
Liz ran to Max as Michael pushed him into the backseat of
the Jetta. Maria stood at the door holding it open. Liz leaned into the car,
“Max, are you alright?”
Tess grabbed Michael’s arm. “Where's Nasedo?”
Michael didn’t have time for this. “Just get in the
jeep.” Michael looked over at Alex. “Take the girls to safety now!”
“Come on! Let's go.” Valenti urged them getting into
his SUV.
“I don't know about this.” Michael said, his eyes
meeting Maria’s.
“I trust him.” Max said weakly.
“Come on.” Jim urged them again, impatient to get out
of there before it was too late.
Isabel pushed Liz out of the way reaching into the backseat
to hand Max a bundle. “Clothes.”
“Iz,” Michael urged. “Get in the jeep, now! We
can’t all go in the same car. If they catch us, they get all four. You go with
Tess. I’ll take Max to protect him.”
“What about Valenti?” Isabel asked. “He has a gun.”
“Yeah, so did Pierce! Get in the damn jeep!”
Liz started to get into the driver’s seat of the Jetta.
Michael nabbed the back of her shirt, pulling her back.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Driving.”
“Uh uh.” Michael looked at a quiet Maria. She handed
him the keys. Michael nodded to the Jetta. “Get in, Maria. We don’t have all
day. Liz, go in the jeep with the others. Three and three.”
Liz ignored Michael, quickly scrambling into the back with
Max.
“Typical,” said Michael under his breath. No one ever
listened to him anyway.
The Jetta, the
SUV and the Jeep all took off, taking different directions at the first
crossroad. Maria glanced at the silent Michael whose face was harsh and angular
in the dim light of the dash.
Max was dressing in the back, his eyes occasionally meeting
Michael’s in the rearview mirror.
“Max, what did they do to you?” Liz asked.
“It's over.” Max said for Michael’s benefit.
“Listen, Liz, if we ever get out of this…” Max didn’t get to finish as
Michael swore and the rear window of the Jetta exploded.
“Michael!”
“Maria, get down!” Michael swore as the car swerved.
The Jetta’s engine stalled as another barrage of bullets hit the back of the
Jetta.
Michael opened the driver’s door and bailed out, pulling
Maria with him. They moved to the front of the Jetta. “Maxwell?”
“Here!” Max and Liz joined them.
“We can’t stay here,” said Maria. Michael pointed to
the trees and the four teens took off running, Michael helping Max with his
shoulder under Max’s arm.
The FBI chased them.
“Let's go. Let's go.” Liz said trying to help Max.
“Come here.”
“Back off, Liz,” said Michael. He was having a hard
enough time dragging Max. Liz was adding to the drag. “You and Maria run. Now!
Max and I will be close behind.”
“I’m not leaving you!” Maria and Liz said at the same
time.
“Go!”
Max said.
Liz pulled on Max’s arm, while he was still supported by
Michael. “Come on, come on, Max.”
Max tried to get her to leave him, to go ahead. “Go.
Go.” The teens doubled back onto the road. The agents followed, surrounding
them. They were on a bridge. Maria stopped running as agents entered at the end
of the bridge. She walked backwards into Michael who had left Max to Liz who
refused to let him go.
“Come on.” Liz told Max dragging him onto a guard rail.
They looked at each other, and holding hands, they jumped into the river
together. Michael came up behind Maria. Picking her up, he dumped her over the
railing into the river, jumping over the railing after her.
Liz and Max made their way downstream. Leaving the river,
they came to a junkyard, of sorts. There were abandoned cars and vans, all
turned over and rusting out.
“We've got to hide,” said Liz breathing hard. “Come
on, in here. Come on, Max! Come on, in here. Come on!” They entered an
overturned delivery truck. “I think we'll be safe in here for a while. They
don't know how far down river we got.” They kissed. Liz got flashes of some of
the things that happened to Max in the White room. “Max.” She breathed, her
voice full of horror.
Max couldn’t talk about it, think about it, and he
definitely didn’t want Liz knowing it. “Where are Michael and Maria?”
“I don’t know.” Liz said glancing outside, pushing
the heavy wet hair off her face.
~~~
Maria sputtered in the water. Hate Michael Guerin. Hate.
Him. She sputtered evil revenge, slowly drowning when two hands grabbed her and
hauled her ass out of the water.
Maria lay on the bank with Michael, both of them breathing
hard, wheezing at the water they had swallowed.
“I hate you.”
Michael kissed her forehead rolling to his feet. “Good. I
can only get worse, believe me.” He would tell her about Nasedo later, but
right now, they needed to find Max. “C’mon. We got to find Max. He’s
defenseless. His powers don’t work.”
It didn’t take long to locate the same junked out cars.
They stood in the doorway of the van, and Liz caught unaware, screamed. Maria
went to her immediately, and while the girls hugged Michael checked out Max.
“Powers?” Michael asked Max.
“None.”
Michael lifted Max’s shirt and looked at the incision on
his chest. It was still bleeding. “I don’t think I can heal this, Max.”
“It’s okay. I’ll heal it later.” Max looked down at
this chest. “Thanks, Michael. Thanks for coming for me.”
Michael stared at the cut. “Sorry I didn’t get there
sooner.” He rubbed his face. He was emotionally tired.
“Nasedo?”
Michael glanced at the two girls lowering his voice. “I
don’t know. I heard shots. He was alone with all those agents. He wasn’t
able to alter the metal in the place or open the security gates. I had to do
it.” Michael didn’t know how to feel. “He’s not our father, Max. He was
just a protector. He taught me to alter my fingerprints so I could use the
scanner.”
“How did you do that?”
“I’ll tell you later.” Michael glanced at Maria, and
finally at Liz. “Why was Valenti there?” Maria bit her lip, her eyes met
Michael begging him to keep his cool. “Liz?”
“You needed help, and…”
Michael shook his head. Max put a hand on his arm to
restrain him. “Michael, don’t. Valenti helped. He shot Pierce, and…”
“I better go check the area. I’ll be back.” Michael
went to walk off his anger.
“I didn’t tell him anything,” said Liz. “I only
told him where Max was…where they took him.”
“He was suspicious enough before. Now he feels he has
confirmation of some sort.” Michael looked at Max. “You better be right that
he’s trustworthy. Now who’s being reckless with our lives?” Michael looked
at Liz when he said it. Yeah, Liz again. It was all about her and about Max, and
the safety of the rest of them didn’t matter. Michael left the van.
“Michael!” called Maria. She looked at Liz and Max.
“I’ll go after him.”
Liz pushed her wet hair out of her face. “Max, I…I’m
sorry. I had to trust him. And…”
“It’s okay, Liz. I wanted to do the same for you.”
Max lay back, so tired. The events pulled at what he had left. “What Michael
doesn’t understand is I would’ve done the same for him. If it had been
Michael, I would’ve felt it was worth the risk.” Max looked at her. “I
know you would too.”
Liz looked out the van wondering where Maria and Michael
went. They were alone, and Max had no powers. Max had fallen asleep. Glancing at
the gash on his chest, Liz closed her eyes. Max gave her more credit than she
deserved. If it had been Michael who was taken, she wasn’t sure she would’ve
told Valenti if it meant exposing Max. Maria would have. To save Michael, she
would have.
~~~
“Are you going to stay out here all night?” Maria asked
Michael quietly.
“Better advantage point. I can see the access road.”
“You’re angry.” Maria didn’t bother to add the word
‘again’, but it was in her voice.
“I don’t know what I am.”
Sighing, Maria took a seat next to him on an old bench seat
from a van or some other vehicle. “Wanna talk?”
“No.” Michael’s jaw flexed, stiffening.
“Of course not.” Maria leaned back resting her head
against the seat.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know what it means.” Maria folded her arms .
Michael stared at her. He didn’t need to egg her on. She would do it on her
own. Maria’s saturation time for bullshit was exceedingly low, especially when
she was under stress. Being shot at was highly stressful.
“Maria…” Michael didn’t want to wait all night, so
he gave her a little push.
“Fine! Whatever. You know exactly what I mean, so don’t
even pretend! You are the most exasperating of men! I swear. You shut down all
the time. You are the most closemouthed…”
“I tell you everything!”
“Yeah, only after I apply the proven DeLuca water torture
treatment.”
“Are we going to fight?” Michael asked, his eyes taking
on an unusual glint to them.
“You bet, buddy! You are one spoiled individual!”
“Spoiled? Me?” Michael snorted in disbelief. Maria
poked a finger hard into his chest. “Ouch! Cut it out, Maria!”
“Spoiled. You stiff-necked, hard jawed, mouth breathing
brat!”
Michael bit back a smirk. “Oh, classy, DeLuca. Only two
minutes into the fight, and you’re resorting to name calling.”
“And your hair sucks!”
That did it. The glint in Michael’s eyes took on a new
aspect, a mean one. “What is wrong with my hair?”
“Nothing. Just knew it would hit you in the chops.”
Michael was quiet for a moment. “How am I spoiled?”
Maria didn’t think he really wanted to know. He equated
bratty behavior with being overprivileged. Not
with overindulged. “You demand everyone tell you everything. Everything down
to the minutest of details. Max holds out on you, and you’re like a colicky
baby. I don’t tell you something Liz told me in confidence, you start
interviewing firing squad members.”
“That is not true. I tell you everything. Almost
always.”
“Uh huh. Not without duress, not without effort on my
part. Damn you, Michael Guerin! Getting you to tell a secret or even what
you’re feeling is like prying open industrial strength steel traps. You hold
everything close to your chest, only sharing information reluctantly. Then you
parade around, like some big wounded bear, growling at shadows because someone
didn’t share with you or they misjudge you, or maybe just don’t get you.”
“There are things I need to know, Maria. It’s my
life!”
“It’s our lives too! You are my life…” Maria bit
that back inside. She quickly amended. “You are a large part of my life. You
are upset that there is something between Max and Liz…something you can’t
understand or believe in. Not believing or understanding it, Michael, doesn’t
make it not real. Liz did what she had to do, to save you.”
Michael snorted. “Max.”
“Okay, fine. Be that way!”
“I am that way!”
Maria rubbed her eyes. “I know. I know you are. So she
did what she had to do, what she thought was necessary to save Max. He was
prepared to do the same for her. They trust, because they have to.”
“Stop making it some big romantic gesture, Maria! It is
once again, Liz Parker deciding what is best for my life…Isabel’s and now
Tess’s all based on this ‘romantic’ notion that she’s responsible for
Max’s life, a huge part of it. She sacrifices us for Max…hell, she would
probably turn us over for him.”
“That is so unfair! She would not do that!” Michael
shrugged. He didn’t know that. He suspected even Maria was uncertain. “She
is a huge part of his life…his soulmate.”
“No she’s not. Max is destined to be with Tess,
engineered that way. Liz can fight it all she wants, but she is fighting
biological programming.”
“Like you’re destined to be with Isabel?”
Michael frowned. “Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t…I
don’t get any vibes from Isabel, not like Max does from Tess. I don’t know.
I just know we were programmed to be what we are. Nasedo told me that. I think a
person can fight against their nature, but a leopard can’t change his spots.
Max might be fighting a battle he can’t win.”
“So you’re going to go through with this whole destiny
thing then?”
Michael’s stomach hurt. “I don’t even know what it
is. Maybe. I don’t know. All I know is that if it’s just some alien breeding
project, that you so colorfully call the Alien’s Noah Ark, then…no. I
can’t do that. There has to be more, Maria! I need there to be more of a
reason that I exist, not some alien sperm donor.”
Maria stared at him, at the passion in his voice. “What
happened?”
“Bad things, Maria. Really bad things.” Michael hated
it, hated admitting it more than anything. “They were right. Max and Isabel
were right. Nasedo is a killer. He kills humans like they’re nothing.”
Michael turned bleak eyes on Maria. “He’s not my father. We aren’t the
same. He says I’m actually human, designed to be human.”
Thank god! Maria didn’t voice it, but she could feel it.
Michael wouldn’t survive having a father who was a murderer. “So he knows
things…he can tell you, and…”
“No,” Michael said quietly. “I had to leave him
behind. There were shots. I think he’s dead.”
Maria moved closer to Michael. Another avenue lost, another
dream destroyed. How long could he hold on hoping? “I’m truly sorry, you
know that, right?”
“I know.” Michael looked at his hand, it was holding
one of Maria’s. “I changed my fingerprints to match a dead agent’s. It was
the agent Nasedo killed. He killed another agent right before my eyes, and he
only stayed behind because he wanted to kill Pierce.” Michael shook his head.
“I can understand him killing for need, to survive or protect, but it’s the
lack of conscience I can’t get over.”
“He’s not your father. You don’t have to be like him,
Michael.”
Michael pulled Maria closer into his arms, settling back to
rest. Closing his eyes, he sighed in relief at the physical weight of her body.
He never knew he felt so alone, not until he found Maria and she taught him what
it felt like not to be alone.
“My powers…Nasedo said they’re human powers, ones
that will evolve among humans over the next millennium or so.” Maria glanced
at him, only beginning to understand what he was saying. “The most unique
thing I always considered to be a sign of my alieness was my powers, and now I
find that they aren’t even alien…they’re human. I do them badly…so not
only do I suck at being an alien, but apparently as a human too.”
“I could’ve told you that,” said Maria lightly, but
her hands tightened on him in comfort.
“I know. You often tell me how lacking I am as a
pseudo-human.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Maria sat up. “If I didn’t
think you’d hate it so much, or just hate me, I’d confess that I think
you’re more human than most humans. Now how much would you hate that?”
“It’s official. My life sucks.”
Maria smiled slightly patting his cheek before lying
against him again. Playing with a button on his shirt, she glanced up at him.
“So if the powers are actually human, and I know your passion and heart are
human…what exactly do you get from being alien?”
Michael hated her. In that moment, he really hated how she
found the way to ferret through all the bullshit straight to the crux of his
despair. What did he get from his alien side? All Michael could see in his mind
was Nasedo killing humans without remorse, without a care. God help him.
“I don’t know.” Michael couldn’t talk about it
anymore. “At least tell me what the hell you think you were doing out there?
At the Military base, late night with rogue FBI agents shooting first, not
bother to ask questions later?”
“You took a long time. I was worried.
I came to get you out.”
“Maria…I told you.”
“Yeah, well guess what? We aren’t together in that way,
so you don’t get that luxury. Okay? Hope we’re clear on that.” Maria
reached up and kissed him gently on the lips. “I get to choose who I care
about, and what I would do. Michael, if it had been you in there, I would’ve
gone to Valenti too, so I thought you should know that. So there, I said it. You
can start hating me anytime you want.”
“The Jetta is trashed.” Michael pointed out, unsure how
to respond to her confession. He had never been important to anyone before. She
had risked her life, her relationship with her mother…now that the Jetta was
defunct, hosting a severe case of lead poisoning, and she was wet, cold, and a
fugitive from evil FBI agents.
“Yeah, I noticed that. I was thinking of just killing
myself before my mom finds out.”
Michael hated it. He hated that every time something
happened, it was always Maria who took the brunt of the fallout, and it was
usually the Jetta.
Michael pulled her closer. He never had a real friend
before. Max and Isabel, they were his friends because of the alien things, but
in a different world, a normal life, would they have ever talked to him? In the
past few months, he spent more time in Maria’s home and even with her mother.
Amy DeLuca knew more about him in a few months than the Evans did after ten
years of him befriending their children and sleeping on Max’s floor.
Michael used his body to keep her warm. “Thank you,” he
said softly in the dark. Her only response was to tighten her arms around his
waist, holding him tighter.
~~~
A car engine woke the teens. As Max and Liz emerged from
the overturned van, Michael and Maria joined them.
Michael saw the car. “We’ve got to go.”.
Max grabbed Liz’s hand.
Michael stopped Max. “The girls need to go in a different
direction from us. They want us…or specifically you. They can get away.”
Liz shook her head. “I’m staying with Max,” Liz said
stubbornly.
Maria grabbed Michael’s hand. “We don’t have time to
argue! Let’s go!”
They ran off together. At the crossroad of two roads, there
were agent cars coming from different directions. Michael pulled Maria with him
off the road, through the woods. He looked behind them. Max and Liz were gone.
“Where did they go?”
“Michael,” Maria looked behind them. “Michael…not
now! We have to get to the mine. Liz knows where they have to go. We have to get
help…get Valenti!”
Maria and Michael went crosscountry. They jumped out on a
road almost being hit by a SUV. Sheriff Valenti got out the SUV.
“Michael! Maria!”
They ran to him. Maria quickly getting into the back of the
car as Michael took the passenger’s seat.
“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been searching most
of the night.”
Michael pointed in the direction where they last saw Max
and Liz. “We ran into trouble, had to hole up. The Jetta got shot up with
bullets.”
Valenti looked at Michael sharply. “Did any of you get
hurt?”
“No,” said Maria tragically. “Just the Jetta. I’m
grounded until I’m seventy.”
Jim looked at Maria in the rearview. “I’ll take care of
it. Let’s get Max and Liz first. One problem at a time.”
“Why are you helping us?” Michael asked him.
Jim shrugged. It seemed easy to him, obvious. “There's a
right side here and a wrong side. I don't think Pierce is on the right side.”
Jim glanced at Michael. “Besides, I like to think that if my son were in
trouble somewhere and I wasn't around to help, that somebody would be there for
him.”
In a washout, an FBI Hummer suddenly appeared with Max and
Liz running in front of it trying to get away. Michael swore. Why the hell did
they stay in the open? They should’ve taken off across country on rougher
terrain.
“There they are.” Michael said pointing them out to
Jim. “Stop the car.”
Michael opened his door. He extended his hand, exerting his
powers outward, targeting the Hummer. A flash of light exploded from the palm of
his hand, and the FBI Hummer turned over, disabled. Michael missed Valenti’s
shocked look. Max and Liz continue running until they get to the SUV. “Get in.
Let's go.”
“What did you do?” Max asked Michael.
“I don't know.”
“What do you mean you don't know?” Max asked
credulously.
“I don't know, just go!” Michael got back into the SUV.
“Come on, go. Go! Go, or get out!”
Jim put the patrol car into gear taking off away from the
FBI. He drove to the copper mine. The teens in the car were quiet, Maria staring
at Michael’s forbidding profile. Her hands gripped themselves removing all
circulation. Michael had exposed himself to save Max and Liz.
“We'll be safe here for awhile.”
Michael’s jaw flexed at Jim assertion. “There is no
safe anymore.” Michael left the patrol car. Maria scrambled out quickly
following him.
Max looked at Liz and nodded toward the mine opening. “Go
ahead. I'll be right in.” Liz looked between the two men reluctantly leaving
them alone.
Inside the mine, Liz paused before joining the others. She
listened to Michael telling the others what happened.
“I don't know how I did it. I don't even know what I was
trying to do. It just happened.” Michael stared at his open hands.
“It's just your own energy, Michael, and how you focus
it. That's what Nasedo was trying to teach you.”
Isabel bit on a nail, worry lining her face. “So you did
this in front of Valenti?”
Michael winced. He did the one thing he thought he never
would do. “Well I couldn't let them get caught.”
“This changes everything.” Isabel said, pacing the
room, unable to sit still.
“Yeah, don't you think I know that?” Michael had a bite
to his voice, and Maria put a soothing hand on his back.
“So what is Valenti going to do?” Alex asked as Max
joined them. Isabel saw him and quickly hugged him in relief. “What are we all
going to do?”
“We're going to think this through,” Max said, “and
we're not going to panic.”
Isabel was still hugging her brother. “So, you think we
should trust Valenti?”
“We have no choice.” Max said. Maria looked at him with
her mouth open. He made it sound like it wasn’t a choice he made, or that Liz
made. Somehow, it was now Michael’s fault again that they were exposed.
“Yes we do.” Tess told them. “We can go to the
chamber and be safe, just the four of us. Nasedo will rescue us, and Pierce
doesn't want the rest of you.”
“There is no Nasedo.” Michael told Tess. “I heard
gunfire.”
“How could you leave him?” Tess paced, her agitation
increasing. “Without him, we’re alone! We have nothing to protect us.”
“Well, Nasedo isn't here.” Max pointed out. “And
Pierce will do anything to anybody if he thinks he can get to us.” Max knew
that for a fact since Pierce threatened Liz’s life and the others, all of
them.
“Well we sure as hell can't stay here the rest of our
lives.” Michael said, turning to lean against a wall.
“What do you mean?” Isabel asked, her eyes not leaving
Michael’s stiff back. “Leave
Michael nodded, he looked at Maria who was standing next to
him. “Maybe Tess is right. If the four of us leave, maybe the rest of you
could…”
“No.” Maria refused to let this happen. God, they were
just teenagers, human ones at that, with gifts they couldn’t even control.
“I'm staying with you.”
Alex agreed. “So am I.”
Liz glanced at Max who was still standing with Isabel.
“Yeah, we all are.”
Six of them, all only sixteen, Michael frowned. “So where
do we go?”
“We go to the pod chamber,” Tess said. “Nasedo said
to return there if anything happened. That is where we should go. Alone.” Tess
added looking at the humans.
“We're not going anywhere.” Max told the others.
“We're taking our lives back.”
“What?” Michael couldn’t believe it. After all this,
and Max wanted to return to
“When Pierce told me the things they had done to the
other alien… I'll die before I let that happen to any of you.”
Isabel hated it, but for once, she had to agree with
Michael. It was time to leave. “Then we have to run.”
“If we run, then he'll just keep hunting us and there's
no coming back. Are you willing to never see home again?” Max asked Isabel who
shook her head, and then the others. “Any of you?” They were all silent.
“Then we have to fight.”
Alex made a face. “Fight the most elite unit in the
FBI.”
“Who now knows who we are and everything about us.”
Isabel pointed out.
“Pierce does know who we are. But we also know who he
is,” Max told them, “and we're stronger than he thinks. We may be even
stronger than we think.” Michael glanced at Maria. They shared a common
thought. Max was living in a dream world. Nasedo knew more about their powers
then they ever would, or could learn in mere moments, and he had spent fifty
years running from capture.
“Oh, god,” whispered Maria. Michael leaned into her,
pulling her head to his shoulder. Yeah. They were toast.
~~~
The plan was elaborate. Nothing could be simple. They used
Tess’s powers of mindwarping to send Pierce’s men off on a wild alien chase
to Hondo. The only problem was a run-in that Max had with Kyle who took his
father’s gun and followed Max.
Valenti convinced Pierce that he was on Pierce’s side,
that he was afraid of the aliens. Offering to lead Pierce to them, he took
Pierce to the
At the
“Soon as we see them all, shoot to kill, Sheriff.”
“What about the civilians?” Jim asked. It was
Pierce’s last chance to prove himself not to be a monster.
“There's always a price to pay for freedom.” Pierce
told Jim, he smiled while saying it. Sheriff Valenti’s blood ran cold. Liz,
Maria and Alex…and more than likely, himself, were all expendable. Jim
fingered the safety on his gun, but before he could act the lights went out.
“Pierce!” Jim yelled, unable to locate Pierce. So
close. He had been so close to ending it right then.
When the lights came back on, Valenti and Pierce were lying
on the ground. Max and Michael were there, pointing Pierce’s and Valenti’s
guns at them. They moved the two men to the auditorium tying Pierce to a chair.
Valenti was handcuffed.
“I can't believe I trusted you.” Max told Valenti
bitterly. He nodded to Michael who led Jim away.
“I always thought you were out to get us.” Once they
were in the other room behind the stage, in the storage and prop area, Michael
released Valenti. “And I'm glad I was wrong.” He handed Jim his gun.
“I'll take care of Pierce as soon as Max gets what he
needs.”
Michael couldn’t just accept help without question.
“What are you going to do?”
“There's this guy I know at the Attorney General's
office. I already put in the call.”
“You think the government's going to do something about
Pierce? He’s part of it.”
“He's not the good part of it. See, we don't tolerate
secret government action in this country.” Jim checked his gun. “At least
not once the press gets ahold of it.”
Michael wasn’t convinced, but he had to start trusting
somewhere. “I hope you're right.”
“It's time for this to be over.” Michael and Jim went
to watch the show. Max and Pierce were in the auditorium still, and Max was
playing a reversed role with Pierce from the White Room.
“Good evening, Agent Pierce. You know who I am. I know
who you are.” Max tried to simulate Pierce’s interrogation technique as
closely as he could. “And now you're going to tell me everything.”
“I've got nothing to say.”
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's up to
you.” Max fingered Agent Pierce’s gun. “What happened to the shapshifter?
Did you capture him? Did you kill him? Tell me?”
The others were in the office. Alex was keeping on eye,
listening to what was going on in the auditorium.
“Max is pounding him with questions.”
Maria made a face. “He isn't going to answer them.”
Pierce was an expert. He wouldn’t break.
Alex nodded agreeing with Maria. She was right. Pierce was
trained to resist questioning. Alex squeezed Isabel’s hand. “That's why we
have Isabel.”
“I've never dreamwalked anyone who wasn't asleep
before.”
Tess wasn’t happy with the involvement of the humans, but
she wanted to know where her protector was. “But you did it to Max when he was
captured.”
“He was drugged. He didn't fight it. Pierce isn't going
to do that.”
“If you can just get in, even a little, you'll see his
answers.” Tess couldn’t give up that Nasedo was alive.
Isabel concentrated while Max was questioning Pierce about
Nasedo. He refused to let up. Isabel began a dream-walk. She saw Pierce zipping
Nasedo into a body bag. He told his offices to hold Nasedo’s body at Jeffords
Airstrip out by Hobson. She saw Nasedo’s body placed in an armored truck.
Isabel startled awake from the dream-walk.
Alex held her hand. “What did you see?”
“I'm sorry.” Isabel told Tess. “It looks like he's
dead.”
“He's not dead. He can't die.”
Liz frowned at the certainty in Tess’s voice. “Tess,
what do you mean he can't die?”
“He said that if this ever happened,” Tess licked her
lips, nervous, “that we had the power to bring him back.”
Alex was suspicious, and Isabel was holding his hand hard.
“How?”
“He told me to find this Indian called RiverDog. He has
these stones.”
“The healing stones.” Isabel told the others. They all
knew them well.
“You know about them?” Tess was in disbelief that the
others found truths without help, and the extent of the human involvement.
“Yeah, we already have them.” Maria said nonchalantly
as if it was an everyday occurrence.
“Then all we need is Nasedo.” Tess felt a renew spark
of hope. “You did see where they took him?”
“Yes.”
~~~
In the backstage storage prop area, Michael eyed the
Sheriff. He couldn’t get over his natural suspicion of people in authority.
Thinking of his earlier discussion with Jim, he tried to piece together what
would happen.
“So, this guy at the Attorney General's… Sheriff?”
“Hm?” The Sheriff looked confused.
“The one you called?” Michael’s eyes narrowed. “Is
he coming here, or are you taking Pierce to him?”
“I haven't decided yet.”
The Sheriff hadn’t been prepared to answer detailed
questions. Michael immediately picked up on the inconsistencies. “There is no
guy, is there?”
“If I turn him in, I turn all of you in.” Jim had
thought it through. He understood what the teens couldn’t. “He kills people,
Michael. It's what the guy does. He killed Topolsky, and Stevens, and six
innocent people in that hospital, and who knows how many others. And he was just
about to kill all of you.”
While Michael and Jim were talking, Jim’s son, Kyle was
sneaking into the auditorium. He was worried about his dad, and he still was
suspicious and distrustful of Max Evans. Having a bunch of FBI guys looking
closely at Max was enough for Kyle. Max had left Pierce to go talk to the
others, to see what Isabel had learned. Pierce saw Kyle, he called to the young
man.
Telling Kyle what Kyle wanted to hear, Pierce convinced
Kyle to that Max Evans and the others had his father. Pierce promised to help
Kyle’s father if Kyle untied him. Pierce takes Jim’s load service revolver
that Kyle had and told Kyle to go hide.
Sitting back in the chair, Pierce pretended to be still
restrained. When Max, Michael and Valenti walked by, Pierce stood up and shot at
them. He missed. Valenti returned fire in the direction that Pierce fled. Jim
was reloading his gun when Pierce came back.
Michael saw Pierce take aim on Jim who was still trying to
load his gun.
“No!” Michael used his powers to knock Pierce backwards
into the wall. Stunned, Michael and Max watched as Valenti checked Pierce.
“He's dead.” Jim picked up the gun next to Pierce.
Frowning, he recognized it. “It's one of mine.” Horror flushed over Jim’s
body. He went to look behind the curtain. “No. Oh no.” Jim found his son.
Kyle was on the ground. He had a bullet in his chest. He took one of Jim’s own
rounds. “No. Aw, no, Kyle! Aw, geez, no! No Kyle! Agh!” Jim looked over at
Max and Michael helplessly. “Help.
Help me. Somebody, help me! Agh. Save my son, please.”
Max quickly knelt beside Kyle. Max put his hand over the
bullet hole and healed Kyle.
Kyle’s eyes fluttered awake, confused, he looked at Max
and his father. “What the hell just happened to me?”
Jim grabbed his son in a relieved hug, tears streaming his
face. “I don't care who you are, or what you are. I'll be here for you. I need
a moment alone with my son.”
~~~
Max and Michael went to the side leaving Jim alone with his
son. Michael had been quiet since killing Pierce. Maria stood off to the side,
not wanting to interrupt, but hoping Max could for once actually help Michael.
“You were just trying to stop him. I know you didn't mean
to kill him.”
“But that's just it. I wanted to kill him.” Michael
admitted. “I mean, that's all that I could think about. I wanted him dead.
Knowing that, I just did it. It just happened. What kind of person does that
make me?”
Max could feel Michael receding ever further. “We would
have been dead if you didn't help us.”
“No!” Michael moved away from Max. “The bottom line
Maxwell, I kill people. I kill people, you heal them.” Maria heard Michael’s
voice as it rose in anger. It was more than the anger, it was the despair in his
voice that made her go to him. “You're good, and I'm bad.”
“It's not true, Michael.” Max said desperate to get
through to Michael.
Michael turned away from Max. He glanced over at Maria.
“Just get out of here.”
“What are you talking about?” Maria asked. He was cold.
He was receding fast behind those stonewalls, the same ones she spent so long
knocking down.
“It's not safe.” Michael couldn’t look at her. Her
damn car had bullet holes in it, and it took this to make her see how dangerous
his life was, how much danger she was in to really finally sink in. She had more
to fear from him then from the FBI.
“It's never been safe.” Maria put a hand on his arm.
“What difference does it make now?”
“No, I'm not safe.” God, they always looked outside for
danger, but it was living in him. Living large in him. “All right, I mean, I
can do these things that I can't control. Look at what I did to Pierce.”
Michael glanced over at the dead body. “I'm not going to take that chance with
you. I don't want you to be around for what's going to happen.”
“Wait. Don't do this to us, Michael, please.” Maria
searched his face. He was already alone. She couldn’t leave him alone. “You
need me now, more than you have before, alright?”
“No, I don't need anyone.”
Maria shook her head. “Yes you do. You need me.”
Michael turned away, but Maria pulled him back. “Well, maybe I do. Did you
ever think of that? Maybe I need you!” Maria held his face forcing him to look
at her. “You’ll be alone.”
“I’ve always been alone.” Michael told her. His hand
unconsciously went to her cheek. “I’ve never had a real friend, Maria. Maybe
I can’t risk you.”
“Michael, why? Why do you have to be alone? I can help
you.”
“I can’t take a chance, Maria. I can’t! I love you
too much.” Michael kissed her forehead. “Goodbye.”
“Michael!” Maria swore as he walked away. Damn him.
Michael Guerin. He got an idea in his head, and he was like a pit bull refusing
to let it go. “Damn you! You can run, Michael Guerin. You can run, but you
can’t hide.” Maria rejoined the others. Michael was there, but on the edge
of the group, refusing to be part of them.
Tess was agitated by the time they were taking leave. “We
have to get Nasedo.”
Isabel nodded looking at the others. “I know where he
is.”
“We've got to go.” Max looked at Liz. “Now. I can't
make you do this.”
“Max, you're not making me do anything. We choose our own
destinies, remember?” She wasn’t letting him go without her.
Maria took one last opportunity. She grabbed Michael. “I
know you don’t want to hear this, but I have to make sure you’re okay.”
Maria hugged him quickly. “If you get Nasedo back…if you get him back and he
wants all of you to leave…immediately. Promise me that somehow, somewhere
you’ll find a way to contact me. That you’ll let me know that you’re
okay.” Maria kissed his cheek. “It’s important to me because I love you
too.”
Maria walked away. She went to stand next to Alex who
hugged her to his side. They watched the aliens and Liz walk away.
~~~
Maria lay there in the dark. She listened closely as the
tapping came again. Sighing, she beat her pillow fluffing it. The tap came
again. Giving up, she got out of bed and went to answer the tap.
“Something?”
Michael almost had given up. “Hey.”
“Brilliant. I’m all out of hay. How about some crow?”
Michael scratched his brow. “I’m sorry, okay?”
Maria leaned out the window. “I’m sorry, it’s been so
long. I seemed to be going deaf in this ear. Try the other one and louder.”
“Maria…”
She backed up to let him in. “It’s been a month. I
call. You don’t call back. I should’ve moved my bedroom window across town
or something.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“You did. I was just savoring the concept.”
“Are you finished?”
“Yeah, sure, but be warned, I am prone to relapses.”
Michael closed the window to keep the cool air in. “You
are a pain in the ass, you know that right?”
“I like to think of it as a calling.” Maria looked him
over critically. He looked like shit. “So you run out of hair gel money or
something?”
“Thanks, I’m afraid I forgot how charming you can
be.”
Maria pushed his longer hair out of his eyes. “When was
the last time you slept?”
“Last night.”
“Michael.”
Michael sighed. “It’s been awhile.” About a month,
but he didn’t want to admit to that. He had tried to stay away. It was for the
best, but he couldn’t sleep. He was lonely, and his place was empty.
Maria glanced at the time. Locking her door, she crawled
back into bed. “C’mon. I have the morning shift.”
“I know. I work the evening.”
“Yeah, I noticed the opposite shifts.”
“Sorry about that too.” Michael took off his shirt and
his shoes.”
“Uh uh. Shed the denim too. It’s scratchy.”
“If I leave my jeans on, it’s a better getaway from
your mom’s wicked newspaper hand.”
“She’s out of town.”
Michael snorted. “Really? Why did you lock the bedroom
door?”
“To keep you from getting away when I question you.”
Michael crawled into the bed, sighing in relief when she
moved into her usual position. He was so tired. Yawning, he let his bones melt
into the bed.
“I have a destiny to be a soldier…to go home and free
my people.” Michael whispered in the dark. So, he found that more important
destiny, one that was better than being an alien sperm factory. Maria made a
face. Trust Michael to pick the destiny that involved more work, less pleasure.
Typical.
“I heard.”
“How?”
“Liz.”
“Right.” Michael went quiet. A month after hearing
about his destiny and he never gave a thought about Liz. After they recovered
Nasedo’s body and used the healing stones to bring him back, they used the
orbs to activate a message from Max and Isabel’s mother. After they learned of
their destiny, Liz ran away to leave Max to follow it. Michael hadn’t given
her a thought since. “How is she?”
“I don’t know. She left. Liz is in
“Entire summer?”
“I suppose. She doesn’t talk to me or Alex right
now.” Maria rubbed her face in his back. “Hard to be dumped by both my best
friends all at once.”
“Did I mention that I was sorry?”
“Yeah.” Maria moved her hand around his body to hold
him closer getting comfortable. “So are you still screwed up over the Pierce
thing?”
“Yeah. I’m trying to get past it, but…”
“It’s hard.” Maria pushed him onto his back. Sitting
up a little, she searched his face. “I would be more concerned about you,
Michael if you accepted it easily, and it didn’t bother you.”
Michael was quiet for a moment. She was right. He missed
that. He did care about what it said about him. “I’m afraid, Maria. What if
this is what I inherited from my alien side? Stone cold killer? Emotionless and
accepting to be assigned to a life lacking in love or real warmth?”
“You didn’t want to feel human, remember?”
“Then once again, the joke is on me. I am human. More
than I realized.”
Maria lay down on his chest, her arm going around his
waist, the late hour, and a month of tiredness finally catching up with her.
“I always knew that.”
Michael once told her, a person could fight their nature,
but even a leopard couldn’t change their spots. Michael was discovering he was
more human than he ever imagined. Maria wondered how long he would struggle to
be an alien, denying his humanity, and when exactly he would learn to accept an
essential part of his own makeup.