"Did we just make a big mistake?"
Those were the words that Maria awoke to the next morning as she lay contented in Michael's arms. She felt the words hit her in the stomach like a punch.
"Excuse me?" she managed to choke out. That was not what she wanted to hear. Not after what they did, what they shared. But, Michael was adept at ruining the most tender moments.
"Do you regret what happened last night?" he persisted, his words losing there meaning since his arm was still tight around her.
Maria didn't want to risk revealing what she felt, not if he was going to pull the rug out from underneath her. Why admit it was the most wonderful night of her life if he was going to call it a goddamn mistake? "Do you regret it?" she countered.
When Michael didn't answer, she felt her heart begin to stop. What she didn't realize is that he didn't regret it at all. He was just covering himself in case she didn't feel the same way she did. He didn't know that every moment of his silence was killing her. "Not a bit," he finally replied softly, hoping he wasn't making a mistake.
"Me neither," Maria said, allowing herself to breath again as she snuggled closer to him.
"We should get up," Michael said reluctantly as he stroked her tussled hair. "It's nearly noon already. We should do something productive."
"Like what?" Maria said, running her hand over his chest.
"Oh, I don't know," Michael said in a sarcastic voice with a shrug, "Try and find evil aliens, try to awake the sheriff from his coma, think of ways to prevent capture by the malicious FBI."
"I suppose those would be a good idea," Maria said, standing up off the bed, dragging the blanket with her. She was covered, but she left a very naked Michael stretched out on the bed.
"Hey!" he exclaimed as he scrambled to get into a pair of boxers that lay on the floor.
Maria just laughed as she sauntered to the bathroom.
***************
"Liz, Is, Alex and Max don't know about the escapee alien right?" Maria questioned as she and Michael walked into the hospital.
Michael shrugged, "I didn't call them, and neither did you."
"Maybe Kyle called," Maria said with a sigh, happily preoccupied as she thought of why she and Michael had been to distracted to call the rest of the gang.
Michael pushed open the door to the sheriff's hospital room. Kyle was sitting in a chair by the bed, gulping down a cup of black coffee.
"You should really go home," Maria said gently walking over, and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Get some sleep."
Kyle shook his head, "I'll go home when he wakes up. And I know that will happen soon enough."
Maria opened her mouth to say something else, but Michael put a hand on her shoulder and quickly asked Kyle. "Won't your mom be worried that you haven't called?"
Kyle looked at him surprise, everyone had known that shortly after Kyle was born the sheriff's young beautiful wife had split town, leaving behind a devastated husband and young son. Then, understanding dawned in Kyle's eyes. Michael wanted to make sure he wasn't the alien.
"Mom took off years ago," Kyle responded softly, but added bitterly, "it would never occur to her that she should be worried about us."
"Did you talk you talk to anyone since last night?" Maria asked, grabbing the chair beside him.
Kyle nodded. "I stopped by Liz's. Told her the whole story. She was going to talk to the others."
"You made sure she was really Liz?" Maria asked cautiously.
Kyle laughed. "Yeah. You said to ask something only the person would know. Liz was surprised as hell when I asked her how far she had let me go that time she was over at my place when my dad was out of town. I had to explain quickly before she slapped me."
Maria made a mental note to grill Liz about that. She had never mentioned the fact that she and Kyle had gone farther than hand holding and rather chaste kisses.
Isabel walked into the hospital room, dragging a rather reluctant Max behind her. "I suppose it's too much to hope that she's been caught already?" she asked dryly in reference to the evil alien.
Michael didn't respond instantly, just asked wickedly, "Isabel, how old were you when you got your first training bra?"
Isabel turned a bright shade of red, but managed to choke out, "I know you needed to find out if I'm really me or not, but for God's sake Michael, did you have to ask that. I was 9 for crying out loud." Max had found out and told Michael, who had teased her endlessly when they were young.
He turned to Max, "Let's see Max, when did you use your powers to help your mother?"
"When she had a grease fire in the kitchen," Max responded shortly, apparently ticked that they thought he might be an enemy alien.
Michael nodded, "Good, we're all real. So, when do we think she'll show up?"
"Hopefully soon," Isabel said wearily, collapsing on one of the few chairs in the little room. "I just want this over with. As soon as possible."
Maria nodded in agreement. "After shape-shifting aliens with many other powers, the FBI will seem like a piece of cake to deal with."
Kyle tossed his empty coffee cup in the trash bin and turned to the others just as Liz and Alex walked in. He grinned, "Hey Liz, if it is really you, how far did you let me go on...?"
He was cut off by a terse, "Shut up you jerk," from Liz, who continued as she turned to Maria. "Maria, best friend all my life, you ask me a personal question instead of this ass."
Maria smiled, "So Liz, how far did you let Kyle go that night his dad was out of town? We all really would like to know." Liz looked like she was about to burst, so Maria took pity on her, knowing she would never answer with Max in the room. "Allright, allright. Liz, who was the first boy you had a crush on him? You even sent him an anonymous valentine in grade one."
Liz turned a dark shade of scarlet. "Max," she mumbled quietly under her breath. "It was Max." Maria nodded, remembering. One quick glance at Max confirmed he was nearly as red as Liz.
Maria turned to Alex, "Okay buddy boy, remember that time......."
She was cut off by Isabel, "Alex, remember when Max and Liz were missing, and I wanted to find info on where they were? How did I ask you to hep me?"
"How?" Alex asked. Isabel nodded the affirmative. He ducked his head, but his words, "You asked me to kiss you," were still audible. The look he and Isabel shared afterward was as intimate as any kiss Maria had given Michael.
"Well, we're all who we're supposed to be," Kyle said cheerfully, interrupting. "So, since we're all gathered here....."
Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the door to the room opening yet again. A nurse sashayed in, pulling a new IV stand. They had seen her here before, but when the alien could shape-shift, that meant absolutely nothing. Kyle watched nervously as she walked over to his father. He turned to Michael and mouthed, how can we test if she's for real or not?. Michael sighed. He sure didn't know.
"Excuse me," Maria was saying as he conferred with Kyle. "I was just wondering, where did you go to college? You see, I'm planning to be a nurse when I grow up."
Liz nearly laughed at that. A nurse was the last occupation Maria wanted. She always said if she was going into the medical profession she would at least be a damn doctor.
However, when the nurse stalled and wildly tried to think of the name of a university, they knew she wasn't for real.
back to homepage
back to fanfiction
to part 15
send feedback, reports of broken links etc to [email protected]