Michael didn't waste any time striding over to the window to check if he could still see her climbing down the fire escape. He wasn't surprised when he didn't see anyone or anything.
"I don't understand how this happened," Kyle was saying behind him to Maria, "I was in here with her, and she was tied up fine. And we weren't even out in the hall that long!"
Michael turned around, "That's not important right now. All we have to do is worry about finding her."
Maria gave him a dry look, "How are we supposed to do that brainiac? She can change into anyone, and for all we know, anything. We'll never find her."
Michael accepted her words without getting angry. "Fine. We'll wait for her to come to us, you know she will eventually."
"And in the meantime?" Kyle asked, raising his eyebrows.
Michael sighed, "We will be very, very, careful. And I mean, extremely careful. Don't be alone with anyone unless you're sure it's them. Ask them something that only they would know. Even if you're in a group, do the same thing before you tell them anything or say anything. We should probably consider getting some self-protection."
"Like a gun?" Maria said dubiously. "Guns make me nervous."
Kyle shook his head, "She's right. Besides, she can heal gunshot wounds, right?"
Michael sighed, "Yeah, I suppose. A well placed shot would kill her automatically, but none of us are exactly expert marksmen. I just want to be able to do something to make us feel safer. I wish we had one of those damn ray guns."
"It would help," Maria said in a melancholy tone, going over to Michael. He wrapped one arm around her waist and held her close, wanting to assure himself she was allright and here with him.
Kyle nodded, "But there's nothing we can do about it now. We'll just have to be very cautious. If she told the truth and she's the only one left, I'm sure all of us together can take her."
"As long as she doesn't shoot us through the heart first," Maria said under her breath as Michael nodded.
"We will beat her," he said firmly to convince himself as well as them. "We'll get rid of all of them, for good."
Kyle sighed, "I sure hope so Michael. But, if you don't mind, I'm going back to the hospital to be with my dad. I want to make sure she hasn't gone back already to knock him off."
Maria spoke, "You go Kyle, we'll call you if anything comes up. Remember though, she could be anybody."
Kyle nodded silently and slipped quietly out of the apartment. Maria turned in Michael's arms to face him. "We'll get her," she said quietly. "We won't let them hurt us anymore. She's as good as gone."
Michael sighed. "If what she told us is true, that's not all we have to worry about. Not that we can trust her or anything, but I don't see why she'd lie. If she truly did kill Nasedo who was posing as Pierce, we've got a huge problem on our hands again. The notorious FBI."
"Maybe the new agent in charge of the unit won't be as evil and malicious," Maria tried to sound hopeful as she ran her hand over Michael's spikey hair. "Nobody's going to take you away from me Michael, not aliens, not a government agency."
Michael didn't say anything, just kissed her gratefully in response. When they pulled apart he said with a smile, "And what if we have to move to Mexico to escape the agents?"
Maria smiled, "I'll learn Spanish and buy a sombrero."
Michael gave a snort of laughter, and pulled her back onto the couch with him. Maria leaned against his chest as he wrapped an arm around her. "Mom left this afternoon to pick up new products to sell," Maria said suddenly, "I came home after Kyle found me at the hospital, and she told me she was going. She won't be home till tomorrow morning. Of course, she doesn't know I spent half the afternoon tied up in a hospital room."
"I don't want to go home alone Michael," she continued, running her hand along his arm. "I don't want to have to look over my shoulder every second, scared she'll appear."
"You know you can stay here with me," Michael said, squeezing her affectionately.
"That's what I was hoping," she said with a smile.
"I'll even be a reasonably nice guy," Michael said dryly. "You can have my bed, and I'll sleep on the couch. You are, after all, my guest."
Maria shook her head, biting her bottom lip nervously. "I was....wondering. Do you think we could....share the bed?" the last words came out in the rush.
Michael looked at her in disbelief. Did she mean what he thought she meant? He took a deep breath, "You mean...?"
She nodded frantically before he could finish. Michael shook his head. "You don't have to do this Maria. I know you weren't ready. Don't feel pressured to do something you don't want to."
Maria shook her head, "I want to Michael. A lot. I wouldn't agree to it otherwise. The only issue is, do you want me too?"
Michael gave a hoarse laugh. "Maria, you have no idea how much I want you, or for how long. I just want to know that you're absolutely positive you want to do this."
"I'm sure," she said firmly, smiling as she kissed him on the lips.
It was a few minutes later as they lay on his bed together, and Maria was undoing the fly on his jeans when he was struck by a sense of deja vu. Michael froze and grabbed her hand.
"Maria," he said. kissing her fingers. He had to be sure, he just had to be. "Remember that time we doubled with Max and Liz? And it was such a big disaster?"
She nodded impatiently, "Of course I remember, why the hell are you bringing it up at a time like this?"
Michael didn't answer the question, just said, "He got her bubble bath, what did I get you?"
"Shampoo," Maria replied, a quizzical tone in her voice, "And conditioner in one. I told you it was a real time saver. Don't you remember?"
"Of course," Michael said with smile, "I just wanted to know that you....uh remembered too."
Maria normally would have grilled him on the issue, but right now she had more important matters on her mind as she tugged the shirt over his head.
TBC......
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