"Where's Maria?" those were the first words out of Michael's mouth as Kyle walked up the hallway to where he stood. The alien was still tied up inside the apartment. Michael couldn't handle being around it one more minute.
"She went home, primarily to assure her mom she's still alive, even though I'm sure Amy never really noticed. But, she has been stressed out since she found out about all this," Kyle said indifferently to Michael.
Michael nodded, "Are you sure you can handle this?" he asked Kyle, getting straight to the point.
"They put my father in a coma," Kyle pointed out bluntly, "They tried to kill us. I would kill any one of them with a smile on my face."
"It's not that simple," Michael reminded him, "She's an alien with Maria's face."
"An evil alien with any other face is still an evil alien," Kyle pointed out. "Besides, Maria is your girlfriend, not mine."
"God, I wish I could do this," Michael mumbled, "But, I managed to hit her with my power once, and that was more than enough times to see Maria's face staring back at me, hurt."
"I can do enough damage," Kyle said, grinding his fist into his palm. "I'll get it out of her Michael, it will just require more of a hands on approach. I'll close my eyes, picture those bastards in New York, and get this over with."
Michael nodded, and Kyle put his hands on the doorknob to Michael's apartment, "Aren't you coming?" he asked him.
Michael shook his head, hating to show this weakness. Not only had he needed to call Kyle to do his job, he couldn't even stomach being in the same room as what was happening. "I can't," was all he said to Kyle.
"I understand," Kyle said, for one of the first times in his life not being unfeeling. He joked feebly as he closed the door behind him, "I just wish this alien had chosen Max Evans face."
Michael returned the half smile, but just watched as Kyle shut the door and went to work.
**************
It was half an hour later, and Kyle still hadn't come out. Michael paced the hall restlessly, every noise in the room, every cry that sounded like Maria's rang in his ears. Why wouldn't she just tell Kyle what they needed to know? He was in as much torture as Kyle was putting the woman in.
He had to keep reminding himself that it was an alien in there, not his girlfriend.
Michael nearly jumped as he heard Maria's voice behind him say, "Michael?"
He whirled around to find Maria, the real Maria, his Maria, standing behind him. She was looking at him questioningly, wanting to know what was going on. At Michael's request, Kyle hadn't told her much. "Maria," he said in relief, and to her surprise, he gathered her close in his arms.
"Glad to see you too," she said with a surprised laugh, hugging him back.
"I'm glad you're allright," he said, his words muffled by her hair.
She pulled away slightly, "A little stiff and sore from being tied in the same position so long, as well as pissed off. Other than that I'm okay."
Michael's relief was evident on his face. Maria heard a moan of pain from inside Michael's apartment, and raised her eyebrows, "What the hell is going on Michael?"
He sighed, not wanting her to know. "Kyle's inside with the evil alien," he explained reluctantly, "They are uh, having a little discussion."
"Little discussion?" Maria shrieked as another moan of pain came from the room. "It sounds like someone is getting tortured in there."
"Someone is," Michael muttered, almost hoping she wouldn't hear him.
"What!" Maria exclaimed.
Michael shook his head, "We just want information from her, which she isn't too anxious to provide. Like, how many of the aliens there are left on earth and what their plans are etcetera. Kyle's getting it out of her right now."
"Why aren't you?" Maria asked, turning away from staring at the door, and back to him, "Not that I'm upset you're not hurting someone, I just thought you would be the one doing it."
"I was," Michael admitted, "I was going to do it. That was the plan we made up."
"So," Maria prodded him, curious, "Why aren't you?"
Michael sighed, "She still has your face Maria, she refuses to shift back. I hit her once with the power, and when she cried out in pain, all I kept hearing was your voice, and I just couldn't do it."
Maria's eyes watered, but she refused to cry. She knew Michael wouldn't want him fawning over him, despite how happy she was over the reason he couldn't do it. It wasn't a big deal, she just liked that he couldn't stand to see her in pain (even if it wasn't really her). Weird, but true.
"Why Kyle?" she asked finally, clearing her throat.
Michael shrugged, "Why not? Nobody else would have had the stomach for it. Besides, he's angry about what was done to his father, let him get a little revenge."
"That bitch left me tied up for hours," Maria said, eyeing the door, "I'd like a little revenge too."
"Think you could handle hitting a face that looked just like yours?" Michael asked dubiously. Maria just shrugged, suggesting she's like to at least try it. She wasn't a particularly violent person, but in this case she would make an exception. For the good of the group of course. However, it all became a moot point when Kyle stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind him.
"Well?" Michael asked expectantly, raising his eyebrows.
Kyle sighed, "I got answers, I just am not 100% sure how truthful they are."
"Well, it's better than what we had before," Maria said, trying to look on the bright side.
"She said she was the only one," Kyle said, focusing his glance on Michael. "The ones we killed in New York were the only ones they had stationed on earth. They were here to kill the four of you, obviously, and Nasedo."
Michael nodded, "They already killed him, after finding about his placement with the FBI, so now the government is after us too."
Kyle sighed, "She wouldn't tell me anything about what happened to my dad, no matter what I did."
"We'll find a way to cure him without her," Maria said comfortingly, placing a hand on Kyle's arm. "Either that, or we'll make her tell us."
Kyle gave her a grateful smile, then turned back to Michael. "So, what do we do with her now? Kill her?"
Michael sighed and shook his head, "No, not now. We will likely, but not before we check with everyone else."
"And in the meantime?" Maria asked.
"She'll stay tied up in my apartment," Michael said with a wry smile. "We'll meet with everyone in the morning, and decide her fate."
Kyle nodded, "Fine. Let's go try to talk to her one last time, and then I'll go back to the hospital."
Michael pushed open the door to his apartment, and noticed that the window on the opposite side of the room was open. The second thing he noticed was that the chair the alien had been tied in was empty, and the ropes lay in ruins around it.
TBC.......
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