As soon as the words had left Michael's mouth, he realized that the way he said it was a mistake. And his suspicions were confirmed not two seconds later when everyone freaked.
He saw Liz put her hands in her face and begin to sob.
Max screamed in outrage and then put his head in his hands and muttered silently to himself. He looked up to see Liz's reaction and felt like he had been punched in the gut by the tears he saw in her eyes. He always knew that being with humans would be dangerous and Michael's declaration had only proven it to be true.
Isabel had leaned forward and screamed "What?" and then began to pace the room. "OH MY GOD!!! This is horrible! Maria can't die. We can't let her die. We have to do something. We have...," she continued to rant and throw her arms all over the place.
Alex was staring at Maria and she saw his eyes were shining with unshed tears. "You can't die Maria," he squeaked out and shook his head frantically.
Maria slapped Michael on the arm and said "Great! Way to scare the shit out of them!" Then she stood up on the seat of the booth and yelled, "WAIT! WAIT! EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!!!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing. Liz looked up at Maria, and Maria saw the tears in her eyes. "You see what you did?" she slapped Michael again. Then to the group she said "Look, I'm not dead. I'm right here and still alive! If you sit down calmly, we'll tell you the entire story. Please, just relax." She sat back down and slowly, everyone took their seats.
To Michael she said, "Now, tell them the story and try not to scare the shit out of them again. You think you can do that?"
He nodded softly, and to her he said, "I'm sorry." Then he said it again, much louder this time so the group would hear him. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'll tell you everything, but I want you guys to promise you're not going to freak out on us again. Much of what I'm going to say will be pretty unbelievable, but it's all true. And if you look at me and Maria, you see we're just fine. So don't worry about the stuff that I'm going to tell you about us, because we came out of it fine. Please remember that. Okay?"
Everyone's eyes were on him, and he saw the nodding of heads around the circle. "Good. Let's see, where was I?"
Isabel's forehead wrinkled and she opened her mouth to yell when he stopped her. "Oh, now I remember. Well, the mans name was Ashtar and the others he took us to see were, Danys, Riorma, Sintama and...and...they're right at the tip of my tongue here. They were...."
Maria sighed and then grinned at him, "They were Lyson, Disora, Kisa and Lana."
"Thank you," Michael said.
"Wow, those are some really interesting names, to say the least," Isabel said.
"Yeah, they're their real names. Their Dilana names," Michael said, holding eye contact with Isabel and then Max.
"Is that the name of our race? Dilana?" Max asked leaning forward, an anxious look on his face.
"Yes, but first, I need to go back. I'm getting ahead of myself. So, we were introduced and they wanted to know about me and my life, and how Maria knew about of us. It was like they were scared of her or something."
"50 years of having to hide out will do that to a person," Isabel muttered.
Michael nodded grimly. "So I told them everything about us three and how we got out of the pods; what life was like for us, being raised by different types of parents. I told them how we were inconspicuous until the day of the shooting, where you saved Liz's life, and how everything went crazy from there. I let them know all about the troubles your actions brought to us three, but I also let them know that Maria, Liz, and Alex have helped us continuously, even to the point of sacrificing themselves, and kept our secret. I knew I had to convince them that there are humans out there that we could trust."
"They finally began to tell me about themselves. About us. First off, they had questions about Nacerro, which I answered to the best of my knowledge. From what I told them, they figured out that he is a different race than us; from the same planet, but not the same. His race is called the Tyrvanas, and they're warriors who took over our planet. They massacred our people in mass and only thirteen ships got away. A few ships came here, and one of them crashed in Roswell. Lyson and his wife, Kisa were both on that ship. The weird thing is that he didn't know who put our pods in the cave, he said all seventeen of the survivors ran for their lives, that there was no time to hide the pods."
Max said, "Someone had to have done it."
Michael shrugged. "Who knows. So anyways, about Nacerro. Huble was right; he is a cold, ruthless murderer. He is a bounty hunter of sorts from our planet and it's possible that he has tracked us down. Oh, and he's a shapeshifter which means we need to be on guard."
Isabel was looking down at the Formica surface of the table, deep in thought. "What is the name of our planet, Michael?" she asked so softly that he almost didn't hear her.
"Pearlan."
"That's pretty," she said, finally looking up. Michael saw that there were tears in her eyes.
"What's wrong, Iz?" he asked, shocked. It was the first time he had ever seen Isabel cry. She was always so rock hard on the outside.
"It's just sad. I've always believed deep down inside that we were going to eventually go back to our planet, and now I'm finding out that it's never going to happen," she said sniffing and wiping a tear that spilled over.
Max moved in to put an arm around her, but she pulled away. Instead, she walked over to Alex and sat on his lap, her legs off to one side. She buried her head in his shoulder. Everyone was amazed; But none more so than Alex. He hadn't really talked to her much since she told him that he was suffocating her. He hesitated for a moment and then wrapped an arm around her and used the other to stroke her hair as she silently sobbed. He could feel her hot tears running down his neck.
No one knew what to do, so they waited. Finally, she pulled back from his neck and told Michael to continue with the story. She didn't, however, leave Alex's lap.
Maria spoke up. "Well, I was right about something, You guys do glow! Your auras glowed when you were on Pearlan." Everyone smiled, slightly impressed.
Michael continued. "So, I don't remember what exactly happened but I screwed up and laughed out loud at something Maria sent me silently and they all found out we were linked."
They called it trance'," Maria added.
"They all seemed really confused about how that could be possible. They asked us to tell them when it started and how it happened. So we told them about...being intimate, which freaked them out. Big time. We also told them about her sweet and spicy craving and my new powers. And we told them about my Cyprus oil incident." Everyone looked at him confused. "Oh yeah. I didn't tell you about that. When we discovered the link, well naturally we freaked out. We were yelling at each other and I cried out in frustration and then dug through her purse for the oil. I didn't realize how odd that was until afterwards."
"Well, they all went twilight zone on us, and started to totally freak." He told them about Lana touching their heads and discovering that they were soulmates and how they were the first Dilana-human soulmates that they had ever heard of.
Liz and Max looked at each other quickly, and both thought to themselves that there were actually two sets of Dilana-human soulmates.
Michael continued. "Well, after the initial shock of finding out we were soulmates...,"
"Grandasa," Maria piped in.
"That we were grandasa, they asked if we did the ritual. We had no clue what they were talking about and they freaked out again and that's when they told us that Maria was going to die if we didn't do the ritual."
"What was the ritual?" Liz asked, glancing at Max.
"It's a Dilana wedding ceremony where soulmates join souls and minds," Maria said as Michael's arms snaked around her waist.
"A wedding ceremony?" Isabel questioned. Then the fire returned to her eyes as she made the connection. "YOU TWO ARE MARRIED?" she yelled.
*Good to see she snapped out of it,* Maria thought and Michael laughed.
"STOP THAT, YOU TWO!" Isabel yelled, not liking their connection thingy one bit.
"Fine," Maria said looking Isabel straight in the eyes. "I said it's good to see that you snapped out of your little stupor so you could yell at us again."
"You're pissing me off, Maria!" Isabel said, giving her a dangerous look.
"You're pissing me off, you bi..." Maria started to stand but Michael held her down.
"Cut it out you two. We have better things to do than watch you argue." he said.
Isabel rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms tighter around Alex's neck. Michael rearranged his body so that he was sitting sideways in the bench and he pulled Maria's back to his chest and wrapped his arms around her waist. Maria closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being so close to Michael.
"But yes, Isabel, to answer your question we are married. Maria is my wife." He kissed Maria on her high cheek bone and squeezed her tight. "But listen, some things happened. Bad things."
"Miraculous things," Maria murmured, her eyes still closed.
"That they were," Michael agreed softly, as though to himself. Then to the group he said, "Now, here's where you have to remember your promise not to freak out."
Maria sat thinking to herself how miraculous her entire life was at the present moment and how wonderful it was to know that Michael was always going to be by her side.
*Always Maria,* she heard his mental voice say and she felt her body warm from head to toe.
Aloud, Michael said, "Maria and I made the connection and we shared everything. We saw images from the past of each other that I couldn't even remember ever happening. There was so much information shared."
Maria opened her eyes and said, "We saw each other as we were growing up and how we always felt about each other. It all came together. Liz. Remember the valentine I got in second grade that wasn't signed? The pretty lacy one?"
Liz nodded and giggled. "Of course, Maria. You still have that thing in you room."
"Well, it was from Michael," she said, and everyone looked at him amused.
"Thanks honey," Michael said with fake cheerfulness, not liking the patronizing glances his friends were giving him.
Maria turned and smiled sweetly at him. "Anytime."
"Will you get on with it, Michael!" Isabel said, back to her own bitchy self. "Nothing you've said so far has been so 'shocking,' she said the last word dramatically, and made air quotations with her fingers.
Michael was fed up with Isabel's attitude and he exploded. "FINE, IZ. HERE'S THE SHOCKING PART THEN. THE IMAGES WERE TOO MUCH FOR MARIA'S BODY AND SHE DIED!!! IS THAT SHOCKING ENOUGH FOR YOU?!!! OR HOW ABOUT THIS? I'LL GO ONE OVER THAT! I STOPPED MY OWN HEART TO TRY AND SAVE HER. IT WAS THE ONLY HOPE I HAD AND I DIDN'T HESITATE! AND WE BOTH ENDED UP DYING! LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU'RE SHOCKED, ISABEL BECAUSE I CAN GO ON AND ON.!!!"
Isabel no longer looked bitchy. Her entire face reflected astonishment. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Then, "You really took the chance of dying to save Maria?"
Michael nodded, his angry edge smoothing away. "I love her, Isabel. I would have done anything to save her."
"That's beautiful," Isabel said. There was no sarcasm in her voice. She really meant it.
"I would do the same thing," Max whispered, staring at Liz. Liz's eyes got watery again and she looked away, trying to suppress the familiar sting of pain inside at his saying they needed to be apart.
"What happened then?" Alex asked, trying to help Liz out by causing a distraction.
Michael sighed and he told them about the room and the impostor Max giving him a second chance and him begging for the impostor Max to save Maria instead. He told them about how the impostor Max was touched by Michael's selflessness and granted him the ability to go back as well. "I know it sounds pretty out there but were telling you the absolute truth," Michael finished.
Everyone was stunned into silence.
"The elders were amazed to say the least when we woke up." Maria said, laughing softly at how ridiculous it all sounded, but was nevertheless the truth.
"I'll bet," Alex agreed, amazed himself.
Maria continued. "We told them about what happened afterwards and agreed that they would give us more information if we came back with Max and Isabel. Then we came home." Maria said.
Michael squeezed her again and said to the group, "The only thing we don't know is whether or not Maria is pregnant. We don't even know if it's even possible."
Everyone sat in silence for a while, reflecting over the crazy tale they had just heard. Maria was getting a little stiff so she stretched her arms above her head, her shirt riding up, and yawned. The sound of Liz's gasps brought them all back to the real world.
"Maria!" Liz said, her forehead puckered in worry.
"What?" Maria and Michael spoke together.
Liz swallowed, her eyes focused just under Maria's face and said, "I might know the answer to your...question."
"What are you talking about, Liz?" Michael demanded.
"Maria, pull up your shirt again," she said, her voice a squeak.
She did and everyone gasped. "OH MY GOD!" Isabel yelled, standing up sharply.
Maria craned her neck down so she could get a look. What she saw made her freeze. There was an extremely small handprint on her stomach.
And it was glowing.
Maria's eyes didn't waver from her tummy for several seconds. She brought one hand up to touch it but then she stopped and shook her head with conviction.
"No Liz, I don't think so! Besides, it's only been a few days and I don't care if we are a human-Dilana mix, I wouldn't be pregnant yet! Right Michael?" she pleaded with him to agree. She dug her Cyprus Oil out of her pocket and sniffed it. She looked over at Michael for reassurance but he didn't look as confident as she would have liked. She handed him the oil and then said, "What do you think?"
Michael opened his mouth and then closed it, an inner struggle evident in his eyes. "I'm not sure," he said. "It does seem too soon, but we really don't know. I think we should call Ashtar and the others and see what they have to say."
*****
"What did they say?" Maria asked Michael after he hung up the phone. The two of them were alone in the break room of the Crashdown. The others were still in the dining room, talking quietly amongst themselves about all of the information Michael and Maria had just given them.
Michael looked up at her and sighed. "They said it would be very unlikely that you would be pregnant already but they really don't know for sure. They've never seen a human-Dilana pair before so they don't know what to tell us. They did say that the usual gestation period for a Dilana woman would be a year, but like I said, they don't know what we should expect if we are pregnant." He smiled and said, "For now, I don't think we should worry until we have a real reason to worry, okay?"
Maria nodded and then smiled. She noticed that he referred to a possible pregnancy as theirs and not just hers and it made her truly believe that even if it were true, if she were pregnant, Michael would be there for her no matter what.
Michael's voice snapped her back to reality. "But, they did say that we should connect again and try to look for any possible signs within ourselves. It is possible that, if there were a child, he/she could join us in the connection."
"Did you want to do it right now?" she asked, thinking that the connection idea was a good thing.
He shook his head. "Not quite yet. I was thinking maybe tonight before we go to bed."
"You can't stay at my house! What about my mother? If she sees you in my bed, she'll freak!"
"We'll be careful, okay? She won't find out," he said, taking her face in his palms.
She nodded. Michael's smile faded from his lips and was replaced by a look of adoration. "Have I told you how beautiful you are, today?" he asked.
She brought her hand up to her mouth and bit on one of her fingers, smiling playfully. "I don't know. Maybe. But you can go ahead and tell me again just to be thorough. I don't mind, "she said.
He surprised her by pulling her in extremely close so that their bodies were pressed up against each other's tightly. His eyes caressed her face lovingly and then he said in a voice raw with emotion, "Maria Deluca, you are the most beautiful woman in the universe."
She blushed and whispered, "Thank you." They embraced and Michael's worries faded away. He saw and felt a change come over Maria, as well. She was no longer worried. She rubbed her body against his, and when he pulled back, he saw her expression was now wicked. It was like a switch had been flipped.
She tightened her arms around him in a firmer embrace and traced his lips with her tongue. "You know, you taste really good right now," she spoke in a sultry voice. "Like sweet and spicy." She licked her lips, savoring his taste and said, "You're positively yummy."
"Oh yeah?" Just the sound of her increased breath was caused him to get dizzy, but mixed with her seductive voice, he almost lost his mind.
"Mmm hmm," she murmured low in her throat. "And you know what? I'm craving sweet and spicy badly at this moment." She leaned in to the side of his head and nibbled on his earlobe. Into his ear, she purred, "In fact, Michael. I think I'll die if I don't get it right now."
He groaned as she grinded her center over his now-throbbing arousal and covered her mouth in a fierce kiss. When she pulled back, gasping for air, he spoke teasingly, "Well Maria. Like I said, I would do anything to save you from dying. Just tell me what you want me to do."
She growled low in her throat like a ferocious jungle cat, and pushed him hard so that he fell back on to the futon behind him. He spread out over it, his head resting on a pillow and he grinned at her, liking her aggressiveness.
She smirked at him and licked her lips as she crawled on top of him. "Don't worry your pretty little head Michael. You don't have to do a thing. In fact, I probably won't let you."
*****
"What if she is really pregnant, Max?" Isabel asked him, her forehead puckered in worry.
Max rubbed his eyes, and sighed. "I don't know. It will obviously cause some suspicion and I bet the FBI would be all too happy to find out that an possible half-alien, half- human child was being born."
"Wow, those are some pretty grim thoughts," Liz said disgusted. "But what I'm worried about right now is my best friend. If she is pregnant, not only does she have to deal with the same problems every teenage mother has to deal with, but she also will have to worry about...we don't even know what! This could be extremely dangerous for her and all you can think about is saving your own asses!! Like always!!!"
*****
Maria laid out on top of Michael and attacked his neck with the intensity of a feral beast. When she was done ravaging his neck, she reached down and undid his pants roughly. Then she got up and slid them off his legs and pulled his boxers down with them.
Recklessly, she pulled off all of her clothes and stretched out on top of him again, her body shaking with raw desire. She kissed him hard and fast. She was so hungry and her kisses left his mouth feeling raw. He loved it.
She reached down in between their bodies and gripped him hard in her hot hand, scratching him slightly with her nails. His body jerked. He couldn't believe she was being so forceful.
He could feel her wet core raining down on him and his thoughts became muddled. She looked him in the eyes and then pulled her lower body back just enough to get him situated near her entrance. She locked eyes with him and then she lowered herself on him fast and hard.
His body quivered uncontrollably when she landed on him, and his eyes glazed. She sat up and started riding him, bucking her hips with at a rapid pace. He lost his mind and began to groan. He didn't know how much more of this he could take.
*****
A furious look crossed Isabel's face and she jumped up, ready to pounce on Liz. Max voice stopped her. "Iz, she's right. Our biggest concern right now should be Maria."
Isabel rolled her eyes and then sat down. "That's just great Max! Always siding with your little scientist even if it means our lives."
Max shot her an angry look but turned his head when he saw Liz stand up. She glanced at him, obviously upset, and she muttered, "I'm going to go see what the elders had to say."
Liz came back not thirty-seconds later, looking a little dazed, a little flushed. She sat down and refused to make eye contact with anybody.
"What did the elders say, Liz?" Alex asked, anxiously. He too was extremely concerned about Maria and wanted to make sure she would be okay.
"What?" she asked and then she shook her head slowly. Very slowly, as though in a trance, she said, "Uh, I don't know. I didn't ask."
"Why not?" Max asked. And then "Liz are you okay? Your acting a little weird."
She looked up at him and said, "You would be too if you just walked-in on your best friend and her boyfriend having sex."
*****
Maria and Michael returned to the dining room a little while later. They sat down and looked around the room. Right away, they noticed that something was off. Liz was red and she refused to look at them. The others were smirking and refusing make eye contact as well.
"What? What's wrong? I don't get it," Maria said, looking between Liz and Alex, the two who looked most embarrassed.
Isabel smiled meanly at Maria and said, "You guys need to learn how to control yourselves. The perfect Elizabeth Parker just walked in on you two having sex."
Maria's and Michael's eyebrows raised and Maria said, "Could you run that by me one more time?"
"She saw you two having sex in the break room, Maria," Isabel said slowly as though she were hard of hearing.
Maria glanced at Michael and then they both looked at Liz. Maria said, "Oh yeah, Uh, okay. Uh Liz, honey? I really want whatever drugs you're on."
Liz looked up at her. "What?"
"Well, you have to be on something to make up such a story about us. Please, I think we both have more tact than to have sex in the breakroom of the Crashdown cafe," Michael scoffed, putting his hands on his hips.
Liz giggled, thinking that they were joking and then looked into Maria's and Michael's faces and realized that they were serious. "You honestly don't remember? You told me to get the hell out of there!"
They shook their heads and Isabel said, "Great. This crazy sex thing followed by complete mind lapse problem is becoming a serious pattern between you two!"
"We'll call Ashtar back in the morning and ask him about these sexual black-outs,," Michael said firmly after realizing that there was no joke.
"And fast!" Maria said, humiliated by her lack of memory. " I don't want to end up attacking you in class tomorrow or something, okay?"