| No one in Roswell was sad to see the demise of Johnny Eagle, least of all the police department. A quick survey of the scene verified Maria's story that he had tripped and hit his head, small bits of gravel were imbedded in his forehead, surrounding a cut that had bled a puddle onto the ground. The police also examined the cut on his hand and, satisfied that it explained the presence of blood on the otherwise uninjured Michael, they were glad to let the teens go home. "We may have some more questions for you so don't leave town, okay?" Sheriff Valenti told them. Smiling a little he said, "We have to say that to everyone." Maria was unresponsive, sitting on the ground with her knees pulled into her chest, a vacant look in her eyes. Michael took note of this and answered for both of them, "We won't Sheriff. Can I take her home now?" "Sure," kneeling down to stare into Maria's eyes he continued, "it's okay miss, he won't be able to bother you anymore." Maria turned her eyes towards Jim Valenti's, he put on a good act of playing the innocent Sheriff but Maria knew it was just that; an act. He had found about her, Liz, and Alex being aliens about two years ago when a rogue FBI agent had tracked them to Roswell. The Sheriff's son, Kyle, had been dating Liz at the time and the four of them were together in the Crashdown one evening when the FBI agent cornered them at gunpoint. Jim had been suspicious that something wasn't right about Kyle's girlfriend and had stopped by the restaurant just to set his mind at ease when he found them being held against their will. He had burst in, drawing fire from the agent. The agent died but not before Kyle was shot in the crossfire. Alex had healed him and both Sheriff and son had been indebted to the three teens ever since, and helped them keep their cover. Maria knew that Jim Valenti recognized what had happened here tonight; the drug dealer was dead by her hands. She also knew that he would cover for her as much as possible but she was still filled with an overwhelming sense of shame. She was wordlessly asking him to put his career on the line to cover for her actions, actions born of her idiocy at getting involved with Johnny Eagle in the first place. It was all just too much for her to bear. Maria stood up quickly, swaying at the sudden rush of blood to her head. Michael grabbed for her arm to steady her but she pulled away from him. "I've got to�" her voice caught as fresh tears poured from her eyes. "I've got to go. I'm sorry," her last words were a mere whisper as she turned and ran from the alley. She gained a little ground on Michael but he quickly ran after her, only a few paces behind her when she reached the park just down the street. He stretched his arm out to grab at her jacket, causing her to stumble to the ground and sending his body flying through the air beside her. He landed face down on top of her, his arms supporting his weight from crushing her tiny frame beneath him. She looked up at him for a second, her eyes full of a hesitant confession. Telling herself that she couldn't admit anything to him she rolled to her side to get away, finding that she was trapped in a cage of his arms. "Let me up," she demanded. "Promise you won't run," Michael asked. Maria stared at him for a full minute, before nodding slightly. He rolled onto one arm, freeing her from his clutches. She sat up but didn't get to her feet. Turning to look at him lying beside her she shook her head ever so slowly, lowering her eyes to stare at her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Michael sat up, sitting cross-legged opposite her. "For what?" he questioned. "For tonight," her voice was so quiet that it was difficult to discern. "Why? Cause you were high?" Michael scoffed at her admission, "Forget it, you've got to hit the bottom before you can come up the other side." Maria snapped her head up to looked at him, "What did you say? Michael swallowed hard but a determination grew inside of him and he pressed on, "I said, you have to hit the bottom�" "I heard you," she impatiently interrupted. "What did you mean by it?" "Just that I've been where you are and I know what it's like to be hooked." "You've been�" her voiced trailed off as the visions from her connection with him flooded back and she remembered seeing him smoking up. "I told you that you weren't the only one who had a fucked up life," he reminded her. "You and Johnny?" she asked. Michael raised a hand to reveal two fingers crossed over each other, "Like that." "When? Why?" Michael sighed and stretched back on the grass so that he was sideways to her, his legs sticking out in front of him. He wasn't proud of the life he had led up until the age of 16 but he had been able to turn it around and now it was something he was finally able to view with a little perspective. He told Maria of how social services had taken him from his parents when he was five and placed him in foster care. He had jumped from family to family, always having to move before ever getting comfortable in one place. Finally when he was 10 he had settled with Hank, his last foster father. "Oh, you should have met him, he was up for father of the year," Michael said with a wry grin on his face. Maria was listening intently, ashamed to think of her problems as insurmountable as she heard this boy recount experiences that no adult should have to go through. He continued, explaining how Hank had abused him but would always put on this great show whenever the social worker would drop by. He had a friend of a friend that would let him know whenever the "surprise" visits were scheduled so that they never caught him drunk or saw the bruises that peppered Michael's body. "So, I started going out more and more. Just to get away from him. And when I was fourteen, I met Johnny. He was 16 and I just thought he was the coolest thing since sliced bread. And he seemed like he really liked me, you know? Like I finally 'fit' somewhere. Before I knew it I was hooked," he finished sadly. "So how did you get out?" she asked timidly. "Max and Isabel." "Who?" "My saviours," Michael responded. "Max and Isabel Evans, you probably know them from school?" "Oh, yeah sure. I think I have a couple of classes with them." "Well, anyway, we've been friends since grade school. They always let me stay over there whenever Hank would go on a binge, covered for me at school if I didn't want to go in with a black eye, just whatever." Michael paused; fascinated by the neat circle of ground he had cleared of grass while he relayed his story. "When I was 16 they finally decided that they had seen enough of my devil-may-care lifestyle and basically tied me up for the whole weekend," he laughed as he remembered it. "You should have seen them, so sure that they were doing the right thing but terrified that I would get out of the ropes and kick their ass." Maria had to join in his laughter. She knew who Max was and could see how he could fear Michael's obvious strength. "Isabel too?" she asked, still giggling. Michael smiled, "Well, she just basically told me off a lot. Max was scared though; I think he almost wet himself!" "Ha ha ha," Maria fell back on the grass, clutching her sides in pain from laughing so much. "Then when they finally untied me, I actually felt good about what they had done but I would still go over to Max's bedroom every night for a week and just stand outside staring in at him. It totally creeped him out, he slept with his baseball bat in his arms." "Oh, stop it," Maria gasped, struggling to get back into a sitting position. Michael smiled at her, "Glad to see you find my pain so amusing." Her face suddenly took on a sober expression, "No, it's just�" "Kidding," Michael teased, reaching over to push her back onto the grass. "It's good to laugh about it sometimes. It makes it seem controllable, like I finally have the upper hand." Maria was lying beside him now, looking up at the stars in the midnight sky. Michael raised himself up on his elbow so lean over her, "Penny for your thoughts." She smiled, "I feel like I owe you an equal explanation." "You don't owe me anything," he replied. "No, but you've been so open with me, you hardly know me, why?" Michael stared down into her eyes for a few seconds. He leaned in closer, before whispering, "Because I want to get to know the real you, the one you've buried." Maria took him into her. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to rest on top of her. Michael rolled over, pulling her with him so that she now rested on top. She kissed him again then pushed back a little, "So you really want to know who Maria Deluca is?" "Absolutely." TBC |
| Part 10 |
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