| Maria let Michael drive again right before they reached Fresno. They switched drivers in the drive-thru lane of a fast food restaurant not too long before the dinner rush was ready to begin. Michael bought dinner for everyone and they stayed in the car to eat. "What's going to happen to me?" Liz asked interrupting a comfortable silence. Michael and Maria looked at each other, then Maria answered. "You're going to go to jail." "That�s it?" Liz's eyes were wide. "Isn't that enough?" Michael looked over his shoulder at her with raised eyebrows. "Do you think they would consider the Witness Protection Program? I mean, if I have the evidence to put away my old bosses?" Michael looked at Maria and gave her the go-ahead to answer that one. It was out of his league. He regretted that he didn't have the answers, but he was just a small time bounty hunter from a small town. The only thing he knew about the Witness Protection Program, he had learned from movies. Maria sighed before answering. "Maybe, I don't know. Since apparently they are indeed out to get you, then it might be a good idea. At least until this blows over and they go to jail. I'm sure the Marshal's will consider it if you ask." "So I have a chance for a new life?" Liz's voice held hope. A quick glance at Max and the hope turned to sympathy. "Max, I don't know what else to do." Max took her hand in his. "It'd be the best for you Liz," he smiled. "Talk to the Marshal's and see if you can't make a deal." "Which she should have done before she bolted out of custody," Maria snipped. "God, didn't you think anything through all the way?" "I'm not an experienced criminal," Liz said. "I didn't know what to do. I was put into a situation that I didn't know how to get out of. So I did what I thought was best at the time. I can see now that it wasn't the best idea." "No shit," Michael murmured earning him a smile from Maria. "I didn't mean to drag Max into anything, I just didn't know who else to call." "Don't you have any friends?" Maria cursed herself for asking. She didn't really care if Liz Parker had friends or not. Liz shook her head slowly. "No, not really. No one that I trust implicitly. That's why I went home, to Roswell, it's the last place that I had friends," she looked at Max and smiled as she squeezed his hand. "I knew my mom would help and Max� Well, I hoped Max would still be the same sweet guy that he was when I knew him in high school." Michael opened his mouth to speak, then shook his head as he changed his mind. "I still can't believe how stupid you two were," Maria shook her head slightly feeling more at ease than she expected. "You kidnapped me! You actually kidnapped me!" "I'm really sorry about that," Liz said. "Me too," Max chimed in. "It was a stupid mistake and I hope none of that will be a hindrance between us when you move to Roswell." "You're moving to Roswell?" Liz asked with something that sounded like excitement in her voice. "Really?" Maria nodded and caught the smirk on Michael's lips. "Yeah, I'm moving to one of the circles of hell." "That's great," Liz sighed. "You'll really like living in Roswell, I did." Maria looked out the passenger window and grinned. She was seriously moving to Roswell to be with a man that she barely knew. Although she felt like he was the missing half of her, she had known him only a few short days and she was giving up everything for him. No, she corrected herself; she was giving up her life in San Francisco for herself, not for Michael. This was for her. Period. Michael Guerin was just an extreme bonus. Michael called Isabel and kept her posted on their progress and asked if the mysterious men from the woods had appeared again. After she promised they hadn't and assured Michael she was perfectly safe he hung up and turned up the radio to drown out the chitchat from the back seat. He looked to Maria and then reached for her hand. "You're going to love living in Roswell," he confirmed what Liz had said. "Really?" She asked as the first inkling of doubt crept into her mind. "Yeah," he nodded. "You're going to love it." Maria smiled as the doubt sifted away and knew he was right. She was going to love it. * * * Maria called Marco, the man she worked for, when they were about a hundred miles outside of San Francisco. After a few minutes of heated swearing followed by laughter, Maria told Marco where they were and exactly what she wanted. She didn't bother to look in the backseat at Liz, she knew she'd be staring at her with those almond shaped brown eyes full of wonder and Maria thought she might gag if she looked back at her. She hung up with Marco and stretched out her legs in front of her. "You know, I do want to go to my apartment when we get there, right?" "To see your fish?" Max asked from the backseat. "Yeah, to see my fish," she smiled and then added to herself, so I can tell them we're relocating. Michael shook his head and smiled to himself. He had laughed at Isabel a few days earlier when she told him they were after Liz Parker. Scrawny Liz from high school. He laughed even harder when she told him a chick bounty hunter was already on her tail. Now Liz Parker was in the backseat being hand delivered and then Maria was going to return to Roswell with him. He just smiled thinking about how fast and hard he had fallen for that chick bounty hunter. No doubt. No fear. "Penny for your thoughts?" Maria said and then shifted her eyes away wondering when in the hell she had ever talked like that. "A penny?" Michael snorted. "Hell, after we get the bounty for her," he pointed his thumb into the backseat, "it'll cost you more than a penny!" "You're an ass," she grinned and flung a shiny penny at him that she had found on the floorboard. "No, "Michael corrected her. "According to Isabel I am King of the Jackasses." "I always knew my sister was a pretty sharp woman," Max leaned forward and placed his hand on Michael's shoulder. "Hey, are we cool?" Michael seemed to think about it for a few seconds before nodding slowly. "Yeah Max, I think we're cool. But could you do me a favor?" He waited until he saw Max nod in the rearview mirror. "Quit fucking analyzing me and your sister." Max laughed and eventually the rest of the car joined in. TBC |
| Part 35 |
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