
PrologueWhen I woke up I had no idea what to do except scream, but this time I didn't. I didn't know where I was for a few seconds, but I figured it out. I was home. I was in the cute little townhouse that I lived in with my husband. Of course, he was no where to be found, but I was kind of getting kind of used to that lately. I stretched and felt the mans tank shirt I was sleeping in ride up my abdomen, the cool air hitting my skin and making me suddenly cold.I looked around the room and was filled with a sense of belonging. This is a real home and I love it here. It's different from the beach, besides the fact that there's no half-naked Michael on the sand, it feels real. We even have our name on the mailbox out front; it says 'The Guerins'. Very cool. That and the fact we're not looking over our shoulders all the time makes it even better. All we need now is a freakin' dog named Rover and we'd be an all-American family, well, all Alien-American family that is.But I still want to get back to the beach. Michael promises me over and over that we're going to get there soon, but something always comes up and we can't go. And it just wouldn't be the same if I went without him.Three months have passed since Michael and I have been back at Section. It's not so bad. I mean, I have my friends here with me in DC and that makes it a good; but if I had my way, I'd still be back on the beaches with naked Michael chest. Instead I'm trapped within the sterile walls of Section when I want to see Michael. It's not as bad as it was before, but it still needs work. I was thinking a few Warhol prints, but I was vetoed by the man in charge. Oh yeah, the man in black is back in full force. I miss my beachy Michael...I still have nightmares, but they're not as severe and less frequent which is a big good. I can actually bear to be away from Michael for extended amounts of time without having the major freakouts. Minor ones I still have.Michael and I live about two miles away from Section in our little townhouse, which is conveniently close to where Isabel and Alex Whitman took up their residence. Kyle and Tess are still in their apartment, which is within walking distance to us. Another big good. I always have friends around to play with.Isabel took over Rena's old job. She gets the new Operatives in shape for assignments in the real world and she is great at it; it probably helps that she loves doing it. Molding all those minds. She lets me sit in and watch sometimes, but I'm not allowed to talk, only observe. Life just isn't fair.Alex works a lot too; several times a week it's just Isabel and me for dinner. He loves his job and apparently is top notch at it. All of Sections computer stuff has been changed and he even taught me how to do a few things besides scanning my tits and emailing them to Michael. Gotta love the man for that.Tess works in a little beauty salon and is actually quite good at what she does. About a month ago she got me back to my blond hair and shaped it up. I really do look much better as a blond. She also does my nails for me. But she's got this added advantage that most cosmetologists don't have. If she makes a mistake, she can fix it with a slight wave of her hand.Kyle is Kyle and I still love him to death. He doesn't really do all that much; he's a professional job hunter. He didn't want to work at Section even though I had totally secured him a job there. I guess I can't blame him, I don't want to work there either. Right now he's temping for some company a few days a week. The rest of his free time, we play.We sightsee and hang out. He really is the brother I never had. I don't know what I'd do without him.Max Evans showed up here a little over a month ago; I knew it was just a matter of time. He got a job doing pretty much the same thing he was doing in Roswell, he's an investigator for a law firm. But he's still the head titty-watcher to me, though. He has a new girlfriend too; her name is Marcy. They've been dating for about two weeks and after I played interrogator with her, I deemed her okay. I mean I know I've been wrong before but...All is good in the Maria-verse except for one thing, I can't get Liz Parker or what she did out of my mind. I can't get past the fact that she turned over Michael and Tess to people she knew were going to kill them. I'll make her pay. Someday I'll see those big brown eyes and knock her ass on the ground.She's been gone from our lives, all of our lives, for three months now. Personally? I say good riddance to bad rubbish, or something like that. Okay, I'd probably say something more like: good thing the little bitch is gone or I really would kill her. Yeah, that sounds more like the Maria Guerin I know.Well, actually there are two things that aren't that great for me right now. The second is that I'm incredibly bored. So bored I would do almost anything for a little excitement. Too bad I never took those mind-reading classes because if I knew what I was asking for, I would just shut the fuck up!Okay, three things. I am running out of condiments to use on Michael.
Chapter OneToday seemed like it would be like any other day, really. After my momentary freak out when I woke up of course, I'm sure the rest of my morning will be normal. Make coffee, watch bad morning TV talk shows and wonder what the hell Michael is doing.I miss Michael.I mean, he's here a lot with me and I go visit Section often enough to get on everyone's nerves; but it's not the same. I knew it would be different. From the moment he told me he had to "fix" Section, I knew it would all change. I don't really expect it to be like the beach where we had all the time in the world to play, but still... I miss just hanging out with him. I won't ever admit it out loud, but there's a little distance thing going on with us. The sex is still amazing and my boy learns new tricks everyday, but there's just something... He hasn't even called me Sweet Maria in weeks. I miss that.Maybe it's because we got into this routine. I stay home or hang out with my friends and he goes to Section and does Sectiony things. He comes home, usually; we have amazing sex and devote our souls to each other and then in the morning he's gone. It's really a big good that my nightmares aren't as bad because this arrangement would drive me completely over the deep end.I knew when the whole thing went down and me and my trusty sidekick Kyle reclaimed the people we loved and took down Section, that things would change, but I never imagined how much.It wasn't exactly all that long ago that I was in the pokey awaiting certain death and now here I am, all Suzie-homemaker. I don't think I was cut out to be this person that I've become over the last few months. In some sick way, I miss all the mystery and intrigue. I miss the action. I guess I'm just terribly bored.Sometimes my mind wanders to the person I used to be, not the new me, but the still in the pokey me and sometimes I miss her. The Maria that didn't give a shit. The Maria that resurfaced to save Michael and Tess. But she's gone and now I'm just plain old Maria Guerin: Wife.I took a quick shower and dressed in my new favorite black leather pants and black baby Tee. The pants being a present from Isabel and Alex after my other ones were mutilated in the showdown a few months before. Bra? Nope, still refuse to wear one. I may be just a wife, but I am one hell of a sexy one. At least that's what Michael tells me.With my black boots I'm ready to take on the day. I'm ready to take on whatever happens during my exciting life of going to the grocery store and the cleaners. You never know when those counter clerks are going to get ugly. I might have to turn all girl-gang on them.I know I should go running or something constructive like that. I used to work out all the time in the gym at Section, Kyle even came with me sometimes. But lately I haven't had any motivation to do anything. But I do want to stay in shape; you never know when I might have to be a superhero again. I want to always be ready to kick some major ass. My theory? Better to kick ass than get your ass kicked.But there's just something missing. Maybe my life is too normal; besides the fact that I'm married to an alien and I know three other ones and consider them my friends. I don't want normal, I want adventure. I want the crazy adrenaline pumping shit that I've had with Michael since the day I met him. Granted I don't want to go through anything like I did when I almost died inside Section. Maybe I need a job. Maybe I need a job at Section. I could be Operative DeLuca-- Guerin. I could be her again. I could be someone again. Someone besides 'Wife'.When I stepped into the kitchen I almost let out a little yelp. Michael, in all his blackness was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of him. He looked up at me and I fell in love all over again. Again. I tended to do that a lot."Maria," he smiled and I swooned.I wish I had the nerve to ask him to call me Sweet Maria, but I don't. Of all the things I've lost from myself in the last few months, apparently my backbone was one of them and I think I miss it the most."You look beautiful."My nipples hardened as they always do for him. "What are you doing home? Shouldn't you be at Section?" Bitter?"I'm going in a little late," he cocked his head to one side and had that wicked little smile on his face. "Do you want me to leave?"I answered him with my body on his lap and my tongue down his throat. I felt those warm soft callousy hands underneath my shirt and on my skin and damned myself for getting dressed already.I shimmied out of my shirt and tossed it in back of me before I started tugging on his black tailored T-shirt. I still don't know where the hell he gets those from. Without breaking our kiss again, I stood up and kicked my boots off, which was not exactly an easy thing to do. The leather came next and then I was straddling Michael while I fought with his pants.I won the fight and the pants ended up on the floor in a pile. My hands roamed over his body as if exploring it for the very first time. Although I knew every inch of it like I knew my own, I savored it. His chest...Oh God, his chest will always get me. So perfect and smooth. Flawless. Where a bullet hole scar should be there is nothing.He murmured something into my mouth but unless he was telling to me stop I didn't care what it was. My mouth was hungry for his. Hungry with a passion that couldn't be quenched."Maria," he backed away from me, his hands in my hair holding my face still."What?" I got that sick feeling in my stomach and wanted to throw up."I was thinking, maybe we could take a little trip to the beach sometime soon?"Woo hoo! I giggled uncontrollably and squirmed around on his lap like a little kid. Okay, not exactly like a little kid."When can we go?" I knew my eyes just turned about a thousand shades lighter with all the hope that was in them. Going back to the beach with Michael? Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"In a few weeks, maybe." He must have sensed the downfall in my face because he added quickly. "Maybe sooner, I just want to get a few things wrapped up."I nodded and rested my head against his chest. I could almost feel the sand in places it had no business being. The beaches with naked Michael chest. What the hell could be better than that?"Thank you," I nuzzled the words against him and then kissed his nipple. I saw the gooseflesh break out on that perfect chest and grinned. I will always know how to get to him."Anything for you," he said and lifted me up allowing himself to slide into me.I think I purred.I stayed on his hips and braced myself by holding onto his shoulders. Every once in awhile I had to look down to see the non-existent bullet hole in my thigh. That was very cool, yet very creepy if I let myself think too much about it. I tend not to think about the creepy too much.I rocked back and forth on him and knew in that second that I would never tire of having Michael inside of me. I ran my hands through his cropped hair until he faced me. I swear I could fall into his eyes, they were so clear and so deep. But something wasn't quite right. Something was off and he wasn't spilling. Damn! I hate it when he does that. Like I'm not going to know by now when something's up. I may be blond, but dense? Not usually.He came before I did, but nothing new there. I didn't really want to get off him, I liked, no, make that loved the fact that he stayed home with me for a little while. Maybe he was sensing some of the distancy things I was. Or maybe it was because something was going down and he wasn't letting me in on it. Shit, that was probably it.I kissed his nose and it was cold, I guess if he was a dog he'd be healthy, at least it wasn't wet. "Are you going to be home all morning?"He shook his head and pulled me against him. "I should be gone by now, I waited forever for you to come down here."Waited for me? If I would have known I would have been down here in seconds with bells on. Nothing else; just bells. "Will you be home tonight?"I watched as he seemed to ponder my question. A simple yes or no would have done without all the dramatics. God, when did I get so impatient? That's right, I think it was around birth."I'll be late," he kissed my forehead and eased me up off of him. "I should go."I guess that was my fucking cue to get off of him, so I did. We dressed in that awkward silence that I hated. With a chaste kiss to my lips and an 'I love you' he was gone and I had that sinking feeling I might never see him again. Of course I've had that feeling before and I am occasionally wrong about some things. Occasionally. Fuck!\*Chapter TwoSo Michael was gone again, back at Section. Again. By now I should be used to it, but I'm not. Maybe its because things aren't exactly turning out the way I thought they would.I put my boots back on and sit in the chair where Michael and I have just had our lust filled morning playtime. My head hurts. I don't know if it's because I have a headache or because I'm scared to death that something big and bad is going down and have no fucking idea what it is.Fuck it. I started pacing, I think better when I'm moving.I hate the darkness I saw in his eyes when I was on top of him. I also hate the feeling that my husband, my Sweet Michael, may be keeping something from me. Doesn't he know by now that shit never works out?"What are you doing?"I spun around at the voice and smiled. Kyle. In all his cuteness, Kyle Valenti was standing at the kitchen door. Good thing he hadn't shown up a few minutes earlier otherwise...I can't even go there."Seriously," he stepped closer to me into the kitchen. "What are you doing? You look like you're thinking way too much and your head's going to explode. What gives?"I sunk back down into the kitchen chair and sighed. He sat next to me and sighed. After a quick kick underneath the table I laughed. "I'm bored."He sighed for real and I knew why. He'd heard this from me at least a billion times in the last couple of months."What do you want Maria?" I wasn't sure I liked that tone. "Seriously. Do you want to look over your shoulder every time you blink? Do you want to worry about every little thing, every move you make?""Every breath I take?" We still play our silly games.Kyle smiled but not the full Valenti grin I was I expecting. "Seriously Maria, what do you want?"I shrugged and if I were him I would have left or maybe kicked my ass. Morning conversationalist, I will never be. Pain in the ass? Always. "I think I want a job."He laughed and that alone always makes me smile. "A job? What kind of job?"I shrugged again and thought about kicking my own ass. "I was thinking...""Oh no," he shook his head and I wondered when he had taken those telepathy classes. "Forget it. Are you high?""What?" I stood up and began the pacing I've been known to do. "What's so wrong about it? I've been trained.""To find aliens!" He pointed out. "You found them! Move on!""I want to feel like I'm..." Damn! I hate it when I feel all full of self pity. "Like I'm useful.""You saved everyone's asses Maria! That counts as big time useful in my book for a very long time!"Kyle had a book too? Hmmm... I think we were going to have compare books. I bet mine was better."It doesn't matter what I say, does it?" Kyle stood and I really didn't like the look on his face.I shrugged for what seemed like the hundredth time. "I just have to do something. I hate doing nothing." I sighed and sat back down; Kyle followed like I knew he would."But why in the hell would you want to put yourself back in danger of any kind?" He held up a hand before I could answer with some smartass remark. "I know you're bored, but Maria, I think we've all been through enough to last us a lifetime. Why don't you just sit back and enjoy the calmness?""Because it's like the calm before a storm." I thought about telling him that I suspected Michael was hiding something but decided against it. I didn't know anything for sure. For all I knew Michael could have been thinking about that pod thing that he knows I want nothing to do with. Riiiight."Will you just relax?" Kyle put his arm around my shoulders. "Try to enjoy life for a change, okay? You deserve it."Did I? I don't know what I deserved. I nodded but if Kyle knew me as well as he thought he did, then he knew that I didn't mean that nod. Ha!A knock at the front door sent me reeling. Paranoid? Not me. I jumped up with Kyle at my side, just where I liked him. I reached for the gun that I didn't own as we walked from the kitchen to the living room and approached the front door with caution. I wouldn't say I was the really paranoid type, but ever since we took down Section I've had a tingling at the back of my neck that said there was some unfinished business. Everything always seemed wrapped up too nice and neat for me.Kyle stayed on my guard. We were funny together. Sometimes we'd sink right back into the motions of fighters. Anyone else would think I was crazy...Well, Kyle does remind me all the time that I need professional mental help. But he's still here so maybe we could get a group discount.I looked out the peephole and didn't see anyone. Great. I took a deep breath and opened the door a little and looked out the slit, Kyle was over my shoulder and I could feel his hot breath on my neck. No one. Maybe it was neighborhood kids playing "Ring 'N Run." They still do that, right? Or maybe it was someone who dropped off the mailing envelope that was sitting in the center of my welcome mat.I opened the door a little wider and reached for the envelope and brought it into the house. Kyle grinned and I know it was at our paranoia. Like I said, we were funny. You don't go through what we did and not come out a little... Different. Demented? Whatever."What'd you get?" He asked looking at the envelope in my hand.I shrugged and immediately noticed there was no return address. Hell it hadn't even been stamped at the post office. Fuck! The only words on it were "Maria DeLuca." Must be from someone who didn't know I got hitched. Someone who dropped this by knowing I was here. This didn't look like it was going to be a good. Not even fucking close.My hands began to shake as I slid a perfectly manicured fingernail, thank you Tess, underneath the sealed flap."Maria?"Man, I heard that voice before I didn't like it any better then. Kyle was nervous.I opened it up while walking to the dining room. I poured the contents out. A blank CD and a folded piece of paper. I looked at Kyle and I know my eyes were as wide as his were. I had that funny feeling I was going to have to get out my super hero cape again.I reached for the paper and opened it, and then my world fell apart."Fuck," Kyle whispered.I second that whisper.\*
Chapter ThreeIt was one of those moments when time seems to stand still. Already in my young life I've had way too many of these particular moments. I remember when I'd stand on the beach, the tide washing my feet, and I'd watch the water roll away back to wherever it had come from. Time stood still. Of course that never lasted for more than a few seconds and it didn't this time either.I felt my eyes well up with those stupid tears and my knees go weak as I looked at the paper in my hands."Maria?" Kyle gripped my elbow but I don't know if it was to steady me or himself. "What the hell is going on?"I shook my head. I had no clue was what going on but it had nothing but bad written all over it. Not the paper, just the whole damn situation. Deep breath. It could mean anything, right? Riiiight.Kyle snatched the paper out of my hands and it was my turn to look over his shoulder. I think I saw this in a bad movie awhile back, maybe in the pokey-I'm not sure anymore.Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe there was no reason for me to get upset and cry over it. A joke, right? A practical joke. People play them all the time."Maria?" Kyle shook the paper in my face and I was forced to come back to reality. "Tell me this doesn't mean what I think it means." He laid the paper down face-up."How the fuck am I supposed to know what it means?" I snapped at him. I hated getting mad at Kyle, but I was freaking out and he was, well, he was there. Thank God."You don't have to be a bitch about it," Kyle smiled and it made my heart weak. Always Valenti."Kyle," I wiped my damp eyes and read the two words out loud. Only two words, but they were scary as shit. "'I know'.""What do they know?"I shrugged in a completely over exaggerated way. "I don't know what they know. I don't know who they are. I don't know!""It could be anything, right?" He looked over his shoulder and I got goosebumps.I nodded; it could be anything in the world. 'I know' was as about abstract as it got. Maybe it was the grocery clerk who saw me popping a few grapes in the store. Or maybe it was the next door neighbor lady that I flashed my tits at least once a day just to piss her off for being nosy. It could be anything. No need to jump the gun on it just because my husband was a freaking alien! Oh shit."Do you think it's..." Kyle waved his hands in the air as he did many times when discussing the alien thing.Probably, I thought it but I sure as hell didn't say it out loud. Once you say something out loud, you give it strength. "I should call Michael." Right?Kyle shook his head but I wasn't quite sure why. Wait, I did have that feeling that Michael was hiding something, right? Maybe the two were connected and this actually a threat of knowledge with some international spy shit that Michael was into. Okay, then why did it come to me?I was falling fast into a one-sided conversation with myself, so when Kyle picked up the CD and flashed it in my face I was relieved. Sun from the window hit the silver side and almost blinded me, but I was still good. I snatched it out of his hand and bolted out of the dining room and straight to the DVD player. With unexplained dexterity, I managed to get the player on and the tray out. I slid the disc in, hit play and waited. The TV screen stayed dark.Kyle was beside me again and I knew that's where he'd always stay. He looped his arm through mine and we waited for...Anything. I reached out and jacked the volume up until there was a hum. Nothing."What the fuck?" I swore and hit the play button again. I think I might have hit it about a hundred times real fast, but who's counting.Kyle stepped towards the player and pointed at the read out. "It says 'no disc'.""There's disc in there, I just put it in there." Rational went right out the window. "What the fuck is wrong with this stupid piece of crap? I. Put. The. Disc. In. There.""Maybe it's like a music CD?" Kyle offered and popped the CD out of the player and turned off the TV."Okay." I nodded glad to see that one of us wasn't going to lose their mind. "So put it in the stereo. Shouldn't the DVD player play it, though?"He shrugged and I wondered who in the hell would ever imagine that we, Kyle and me, were the masterminds behind taking down Section? We couldn't even figure out how to play a CD.I watched him slide the disc in the stereo part and turn everything on. I damned Michael for the elaborate entertainment system and the complexity of trying to play a CD."Did you hit play?" I asked."No Maria, I just tried to send a mental signal to it, I thought maybe it could pick up on my vibes.""Jackass." I bet Kyle was rolling his eyes at that one.He turned the volume up until we had the same hum as on the TV. Then a break and a deep silence. I felt the goosebumps on my arms and stomach. I clutched Kyle's arm for support." Wait." The CD stopped playing. That was it. It could have been male or female or a fucking robot as far as I could tell. It reality it didn't matter who it was, they made their point pretty damn clear."Wait for what?" Kyle asked me. I know he wasn't really looking for an answer, but I shrugged anyway."Play it again." I closed my eyes thinking I would get a better handle on the voice if there weren't any distractions, like vision. "Play it.""I did."Oh shit. I opened my eyes and saw Kyle hitting the play button over and over just as I had with the DVD player. Nothing was happening."Maria?" Damn."I don't know."I popped the disc out and looked at then tried it again. Nothing. Good thing we had the volume up the first time we played it the first time. I looked at Kyle and I bet I saw in his eyes the same thing I saw in my own: Confusion.Self erasing CD? If I had my own theme music I bet I'd hear it now."Well, that was interesting," Kyle nodded. "Those were some pretty big clues there.""Clues?" I laughed. "We're not detectives.""You're right, we're not detectives," he gave me that Valenti smile. "You're a superhero and I'm your trusty sidekick."I laughed again but it felt forced. This was nothing, right?\*Chapter FourI didn't want to play superhero again, that was final. It wasn't that I didn't have the most bad ass sidekick in the world, but I only wanted a job, not a fucking adventure."Are you going to call Michael?" Kyle asked me.Was I? Of course he was the first person I thought to call, but now I wasn't sure. What was I going to tell him? Telling him what we, excuse me, what I got in the mail wasn't exactly groundbreaking. It really could be anything."Well?" Kyle tapped me on the shoulder."No." There I said it. I was going to leave Michael in the dark about this one just as I was sure he was leaving me in the dark about other shit. All's fair in love and...Whatever."Okay," he managed to stretch the word out into three syllables. "Well, what do we do now?""Go out to lunch? Somewhere downtown?" I raised my eyebrows."Lunch?" Shit, I heard it in his voice. Kyle thought I was nuts."What else can we do? The CD said to wait, so I guess we wait.""Well, that's a freaking brilliant idea Maria," Kyle clapped. "I wonder why I didn't think of it."I rolled my eyes as I've been known to do. "I thought we might go to lunch somewhere downtown. Maybe somewhere near Rogers and Mill?""Rogers and Mill?" Kyle repeated as it became clear. "Oh, I get it. You want to interrogate Max, dontcha?"Duh. Sometimes I wonder about him. Okay, sometimes I wonder about us. "Yeah, I want to ask him a few questions, you know, off the cuff?""Maria, you're about as off the cuff as a bullet train," he laughed and took the CD from me. "We should see if the voice can be retrieved."Voice retrieval? Is that even a real thing? I was beginning to feel like I just stepped into a spy novel that I haven't read and probably wouldn't understand or like too much.I looped my arm through his and turned us towards the door. I tucked the mysterious note in my back pocket and probably ruined any chance of fingerprints."Do you want to drive?" I asked."You know I do!" Kyle grinned and we walked outside to where his pretty black Mustang convertible was parked.I sighed. I really missed that car. Michael tried to make it up to me about a month ago when he had one almost identical to it delivered for me. It was original yellow and I loved it, but I still missed the old Pony. I was just glad that Kyle ended up with her.I got in and put on my sunglasses and checked myself out in the side mirror, I looked good. I liked that. I turned my head to see Kyle smiling at me."Are you checking yourself out?" He asked and I think there was a little giggle attached to it."So what if I am?" I retorted and folded my arms over my chest. "Can we just go?" Like I was really excited to talk to the head titty-watcher.I was never too excited to talk to Max about anything. It's not that I didn't like him, okay, I didn't really. He's rubbed me wrong since day one. Then the whole Liz debacle made me leery of him. Do I trust him at my back? Most of the time. Do I ever want him there again? Nope.My little cell phone rang and nearly scared the crap out of me. I wasn't used to it and I didn't really like it, but Michael insisted that I have one. I don't know if it was because of the alien conspiracy or so he could tabs on me on his long absences away from me. I bet it was both. I sighed before I answered wondering how I was going to keep the 'I know a secret' out of my voice.I didn't have to; it was Isabel. Yay! She talked fast and furious and I barely got everything she was saying. She was working all day training some belligerent new female Operative, that sounds vaguely familiar, and invited me and Kyle and Tess to dinner at her house. I relayed the message to Kyle and he nodded."Did you mention it to Michael?" I asked.She informed me that he said he'd be there as long as, and I quote, 'the little woman says it's okay'. Sweet man who keeps secrets. I ignored her questions about where we were going and asked if Max and Marcy would be there. They would. Woo hoo. I hung up with her as Kyle sped down the expressway.The ride was short with Kyle driving, how he manages not to get more tickets than he does amazes me. He valet parked because trying to find a parking spot downtown was nearly impossible.We walked in the monstrous brick building that housed Rogers and Mill along with about a billion other things and proceeded to the elevator bank. People stared at us, but I was used to that. Find a girl with a little bit of self-confidence and a cutie guy like Kyle and people stared.I punched the button for the seventh floor and sighed. "I hate this, you know?""I know," Kyle squeezed my hand. "I hate it too.""I mean really, how am I even going to approach the subject with him? No one has even mentioned her name in so long.""I'm sure you'll think of a way," he smirked. "You always think of something. Did I ever tell you that you're my hero? You're the wind beneath-"I whacked him in the stomach as the elevator doors opened. It was a stereotypical law office complete with a tiny receptionist behind a really big desk where we walked in. I had only been here once before, maybe we should have called first. Nah, the element of surprise always works better for me.Kyle leaned over the giant desk and smiled at the young woman. He told her we were here to see Max Evans and she blushed. I fought the incredible urge to roll my eyes at both of them.She informed us he'd be out to get us in a few moments, exactly how long is a few moments? We sat in the most comfortable chairs I think my ass has ever been in and waited. Our wait wasn't long; Max came barreling out of a door behind the receptionist within the minute. He was dressed for work complete with suit coat and tie on. Yeah, the tie so did not match the suit but I wouldn't expect anything less from him.He motioned for us to follow and after he got an eyeful of my tits, we did. We followed him through a complex maze of offices and cubicles that made me feel like a mouse waiting for my cheesy reward. He escorted us into his office and stood behind the desk that took up most of the small room."What are you two doing here?" Max sighed and looked at us."Where's Liz?" I placed my hands on my hips and decided to play nice.He swallowed audibly and I saw the surprise wash over him. Damn. If it would have been shock I would have been more suspicious. Even if it was alarm, but surprise? He couldn't hide his feelings that well."I don't know. Why?" He looked rapidly between me and Kyle waiting for an answer. Of course I didn't have one for him. "What's going on?""Just checking Max," I sighed and shook my head slightly at Kyle. I didn't want him spilling the beans about the mysterious delivery to Max. He was the last one on my list to know anything."Have you heard something?"I watched as he got increasingly nervous. He didn't have a clue. Damn. "Nope, just doing a routine Liz Parker examination." If he bought that then I think I'll lose all respect for him.He didn't buy it. "That's crap. Is there something going on?"Kyle answered and it was a good one. "No Max, it's just that its been a few months and we wanted to make sure that everything was still cool around here.""She won't come here," Max shook his head. "She knows you'll kill her, Maria."Damn, Max was right. This wasn't from Liz at all. She does know that I'd kick her ass into next week; she's selfish and immoral, but not stupid. This wasn't Liz. This was something new. Fuck.\*Chapter FiveWe left the law offices of Rogers and Mill after eluding another round of questions from Max. Kyle and I lied tremendously well and then told him we'd see him at his sister's for dinner. We also made him promise that he wouldn't mention our little drop by to anyone. No need to get anyone else upset yet, I was plenty upset enough for everyone.We walked back to the pretty pony in silence, which was a rarity for us. It wasn't until we were on the road going back towards home that Kyle finally broke that irritating silence."You're not going to tell Michael, are you?""I don't know," I answered with complete honesty."Why not?""I don't know, I mean this is probably... Fuck Kyle, I don't know. I just don't want to bother Michael with it until I know something more.""It's got to be alien related, Maria." He said in that calm voice he can sometimes have. "Michael and the other's should know."Oh shit. If Kyle and I were at odds about this then I was screwed. "Can we wait a little while? Maybe until we know something else?""What if it's too late by then?"I looked at him and saw the nervousness he tried to hide. He had almost lost Tess before she was truly his and he was worried about losing her again. I wonder if it had anything to do with that freaking huge-ass engagement ring that was sitting in the bottom of his sock drawer."It won't be too late," I chucked him on the shoulder and wondered when I had become so fond of chucking. "It's okay Kyle, I-""Haven't let me down before, I know," he shook his head. "I swear Maria, someday we're all going to have to pay you back for being...For being who you are. I don't know what any of us would do without you.""You're just saying that," I think I blushed and that always pissed me off. "Just remember, paybacks are a bitch."\*Kyle hung out with me at home for a few hours; we watched a silly action movie with the volume down and made up our own dialogue. When Kyle left I felt alone. I was alone a good chunk of the time, but today I was feeling extra lonely. I wasn't sure if it was because of all the mystery mail or the way Michael made me feel this morning. Either way, I wasn't completely happy with anything.Sure I was hiding a few things; but what I told Kyle was the truth. It really might not be anything. Although secretly, I totally agreed with him that it was probably alien related. Even though I've been around these aliens for like a year, it still freaks me out a little. I try not to dwell on it, but when I'm alone it hits me the hardest. I am married to an alien. My friends are aliens. Actual outer space E.T.'s. It's strange no matter how I look at it.I still don't want to know a lot and that will probably end up biting me in the ass at some point. But I just can't. I heard enough already. I know my Michael was the one who was supposed to lead with Isabel at his back. Tess was his freaking bride and Max, I still can't put my finger on what Max was supposed to do. Or did. Or whatever. He seemed like he just got sent along for the ride. Maybe I'll make a New Year's resolution to lighten up on Max a little. It shouldn't matter that it's not even close to the end of the year.All this time I spend alone I totally reflect. I hate it, but for some reason I can't seem to stop. When I look in the mirror at myself I see someone that I'm proud to be. I'm more than perky tits and great hair. I am somebody. I saved some serious ass and I felt good doing it. I'm in love with my husband and I have friends that I would lay my life down for, and almost did. I actually like my life again, although it's not exactly the conventional normal, it's still mine and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Or any other world.My life hasn't been normal since my dad died. I slipped the necklace and locket out of my shirt and opened up the little heart to see my dad. A gift from Michael before, well, before all the other stuff. I miss my dad. God, I miss him. Sometimes it hits me out of nowhere and I'll just start bawling. I hope he's looking down on me and is proud as hell. I did it, I pulled a woman that I never knew I could be out of my hat. Sure I had some serious help, but in the end, it was mostly Maria.Dinner should be interesting tonight. I wonder how long I can go before I spill everything I know. Hopefully all night, but knowing Michael, he'll see right through me and I'll get so busted. I hate it that he knows me so well, I hate the fact that I don't think I'll be able to keep anything from him. That is so not fair.Maybe tonight I can just hang out with Isabel and talk about girl things. Or maybe Tess can fill me in on all the new fashion colors or maybe Marcy will say more than three words to me without looking like she might cry. I hate all the maybes. Maybe I should stay at home and wait.Wait.Damn that was irritating the hell out of me. Wait for what? Wait for the new big bad in town to come storming in and make my life hell? Wait for something to happen to Michael and my friends? God, the waiting was going to kill me. I know patience is a virtue, too bad I'm not a big fan of virtues.The phone rang and I jumped up, my heart pounding uncontrollably. After convincing myself to clam down I answered on the second ring. It was Michael. My sweet Michael."Did Isabel call you?"I nodded then rolled my eyes before I answered him verbally. "Yeah, she did. Dinner at the Whitman's.""Should I meet you there?""You're not coming home?" Damn."I don't think I can leave too early, so it might be better if we just meet there.""Fine," I hope he heard the disappointment in my voice because I was laying it on thick as hell."You're upset." A-ha! He is paying attention."I just want to see you Michael, I miss you." Damn, I really didn't want to have this conversation over the phone. I heard him sigh. "Never mind, forget I said anything, I'll meet you there and have a kick ass day.""I miss you too, Sweet Maria." He said the magic words and all was good in my world.I closed my eyes and pictured his face. His short-again hair, his strong jaw line and full lips. His eyes that conveyed his emotions to me when his words failed. My husband. My love. "Michael.""There's a few problems here and I'm sorry if you've been feeling neglected," he was sorry, I could hear it in his voice. "What I said this morning? About the beach? Start packing, I think I'll have this all wrapped up here within the week."Woo hoo! I hung up and bolted upstairs to start packing. Okay, I wasn't really packing all that much so technically it wouldn't take me more than two minutes. And those two minutes I would spend trying to find my black bikini because it was the only thing going with me.All the thoughts about mysterious mail and cryptic messages scattered. I was on a new high, thoughts of naked Michael chest were prominent. I couldn't wait to get back to the beach and screw everything else. Besides, he called me Sweet Maria again and that made everything okay.It ended up taking me about a half-hour to find the bottoms to my bikini and I was ready to go. I noticed my nosy neighbor peering into my bedroom from her window across the driveway and it didn't even bother me. Okay, I did take off my shirt and flash her, but I was getting ready to change it anyway.I kept the leather pants on because, hell, I could live in these, and I put on a white button down shirt of Michael's. I didn't button it, but tied the shirttails in a knot under my breasts. I pulled my hair up on top of my head and secured it with a few bobby pins and some killer hair spray that Tess gave me and I was ready to go. I was a little early, but ready nonetheless.I remembered the paper in my back pocket and pulled it out hoping the words would still be there and it wasn't like disappearing ink or anything. Oh yeah, they were still there. I know. Crap. I shoved the paper in my nightstand, which Mr. Bear guards with his stuffed life, and underneath some magazines. I decided I'd tell Michael about everything tonight, when we were back home. After a nice dinner with friends I'd come clean. Okay, I may model my bikini while coming clean.Before I left, I looked around the house for anything suspicious. Finding nothing, I hopped in my own yellow pony and made the short drive to Isabel's. Michael's black SUV was already out front and now I was little pissed. I was early, which meant he had been earlier, which meant that he had plenty of time to come home first and get me. Me thinks I don't like what's going on around here very much.\*Chapter SixI got out of the Pony and walked slowly up the concrete walkway towards the front door. I had no idea what I was going to say when I got inside but I assumed I wouldn't have to use too many words, that my look would be enough. I set my shoulders back and then heard the honk of a familiar horn. It was Kyle and Tess and the state of pissedoffness I had began to evaporate. I waved at them and smiled when they waved back. Tess was out of the car before Kyle even had it turned off. I saw her running towards me and knew she was going to hug me. I was right. She did."Maria!" She gushed and I thought I knew why. "Look!" She held out her left hand and showed me the rock on her finger that I had helped Kyle pick out. "I'm getting married!"I laughed and congratulated her as Kyle walked up to us, his hands in his pockets and a sheepish smile on his face. "Congrat's Kyle." I hugged him and kissed the corner of his mouth.We walked to the front door together and I guess that some of Tess's happiness was spilling over on me because I was no longer nearly as pissed off as I was a few minutes ago. Isabel opened the door and I could tell that something was wrong from the not so well hidden expression on her face. I looked past her and saw Michael sitting at the empty dining room table. I guess I was wrong this morning about never seeing him again because there he was in all of his blackness. I almost got wet just looking at him.Before I could even respond to Isabel, Tess burst past me waving her hand in the air. "I'm engaged!"And so with that announcement Isabel changed from somber to excited and I knew where this night was headed, straight down the happy trail. I walked inside to Michael and immediately he stood up and took me in his arms. I felt his hands roam the bare skin of my exposed lower back and belly. I'll never tire of those warm callousy soft hands on me. He nuzzled into my neck and then kissed it."You look amazing," he mumbled."So do you," I sighed and I meant it. Then again, Michael always looked amazing."Did Kyle give Tess the ring?" He whispered as he looked over my shoulder.I nodded. "Yeah, she's thrilled." I remembered that I was indeed pissed and stepped away from him. "I thought you'd be working late and that's why you'd meet me here, but I'm early so that means that you were earlier. If I go outside and feel your hood will it be warm or cool?" I placed my hands on my hips and hoped I looked as defiant as I felt."I thought I'd be late," he tilted his head to one side and licked his lips. He was trying to make me forget I was pissed and it was almost working. Almost."Bullshit," I stated and thought this might be the first real fight Michael and I had ever gotten into. Okay, the first real fight would have been back at Section but that was when I only thought about screwing him, before I fell in love with him."I don't want to argue with you Maria," his eyes said more than that. Uh-oh."I don't care," I hissed at him. I actually hissed. "This is crap, if something is going on then you better damn well tell me right fucking now!" I got a sudden swell of bitchiness running through me and I wasn't about ready to let it go to waste. "We're in this together Michael, or did you forget?" I felt eyes on my back but at that point in time I didn't give a flying fuck."Maria," his tone was soft but his eyes were warning."Michael." I shot his name back at him and let him know I was playing. When it came to playing games, I was a fucking Queen."We'll discuss this later. At home." That was not a request, it was an order and I didn't take orders all that well. As far as I was concerned I was still fucking Captain!"No," I shook my head and felt hands on my shoulders. I knew it was Kyle. Damn, why does he calm me?"Not now," he whispered in my ear.I spun on him and narrowed my eyes. Oh God. He was right. This was his night. His and Tess's. They were engaged. Damn it to hell. Not too nice to have a knockdown drag out fight in front of the newly engaged. Not too polite either. I nodded and smiled to let him know I was done before I turned back around to Michael. "The only reason I'm dropping this now is because of Kyle and Tess, not because you ordered me to. When we get home? Get out your body armor, okay?"He grinned at me and I suddenly wanted to throw him down on the table and lick him; good thing I have a little self control. The front door opened again and Max and Marcy strolled in. Marcy was okay. I mean she was pretty in a natural kind of way, which was a good, but I guess she just looked kind of plain. I smiled at them and waved and I swear it looked like she was going to cry. A crying Marcy I could do without. It's not like I tortured her or anything. I just asked her a few questions. I wasn't a monster. My eyes flicked to Max and I conveyed a telepathic message to him to shut the hell up about our afternoon visit. Of course his eyes were on my tits so I telepathied a quick 'Fuck You' to him instead.Max finally met my eyes and I hoped he saw the warning in them. Things were not going as smooth here as I would have hoped, a slip up from Max and my plans would be shot. Yeah, I really didn't have any plans but I still needed Mr. Evans to keep his big trap shut."Well," Isabel swooped into the dining room and Alex appeared out of nowhere behind her. He was dressed in all black; he had been doing that a lot lately. Don't get me wrong, he looked great, I'm just afraid that a little Michael was rubbing off on him. "Dinner's ready so..." She looked around the room until her eyes fell on me. "Okay, it's catered food."I smiled but there wasn't any heart behind it and I could tell that Isabel knew that. She knew that I knew she was keeping something from me and neither of us was happy about it."Well," Alex clapped his hands together. "Then let's eat!"I helped Isabel in the kitchen getting everything together; she was nervous, jittery. I set down the stack of plates in my hands and looked at her. I saw the Isabel that I had met in Roswell. The woman who befriended me without question. The woman I trusted at my back in any situation. The woman who was an alien and my husbands second in command. "What the hell is going on?""What do you mean?" She asked quickly."I know you Isabel and something's up," I placed my hands on my hips. "You're acting strange. Michael's acting strange. What was he doing here so early?"She shrugged. "He was just early."Riiiight. "Isabel, is something going on that I should know about?"I watched her as she thought about the question. I know I had my mysterious note tucked away in my nightstand and I guess Kyle had the CD, but I wasn't showing my secrets, Isabel was."Talk to Michael," she picked up a bowl with something that smelled like Curry in it and darted out of the kitchen.Great. I didn't want to talk to Michael right now. I followed Isabel back into the dining room. All through dinner it made me kind of sad that Isabel, my friend Isabel, was keeping something from me. I glared at Michael as much as I could without being too obvious. Every time he caught me, he smiled. He even reached underneath the table to hold my hand. Damn, I may be pissed at him but I love him more than anything else in the world. The thought that he's keeping shit from me does more than makes me mad, it breaks my heart. I gave him a halfhearted smile and returned the table conversation about the upcoming nuptials of Kyle Valenti and Tess Harding.I found myself thinking about the black bikini that was waiting for me at home and the upcoming beach trip. I guess whatever it was Michael was hiding couldn't be too bad if he thought we'd be at the beach soon. Right?I got a tingling at the back of my neck as I looked around the table, completely oblivious to the conversation. Michael. Isabel. Alex. Kyle. Tess. Max. Marcy. I suddenly felt very alone at a crowded table.\*Chapter SevenI tried to come back to the conversation and abandon my feeling of loneliness. These were my friends I was with, my family, and I had no right feeling sorry for myself. Not tonight. I chanced a glance at Michael; he was looking directly at me. I saw the concern in his eyes; he was worried about something. Holy shit! He was worried about me. That was never a good. I gave him an award-winning smile and turned to Isabel who was sitting across from me. She still had the worried look. I hate that."Isabel," Tess's entirely too chirpy of a voice broke the conversation and all eyes fell on the overly excited blonde. "Uh...Well...I...I was wondering if you'd be my maid of honor!""Really?" Isabel stood up and walked around the table to hug the newly engaged. "Of course I will."Max clapped and we all joined in. This was Americana at it's best and through all the smiles and happiness, I think we were all hiding something."Maria?" I heard Kyle say my name and I looked directly at him. If he was going to spill about the mysterious mail I was going to have to get up and seriously kick his ass. "I'd like to ask you something.""Shoot," I narrowed my eyes at him. So I was a little apprehensive."I know that this wouldn't really be very traditional, but I have to ask anyway," he smiled and I felt weak. "Maria, would you consider being my best man?"Me? I pointed to myself stupidly. A best man? Kyle's best man? Oh, hell yeah! "Serious?""Dead," Kyle winked."Damn straight I'll be your best man!" I followed Isabel's lead and got up to hug him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered wetly in his ear. "You're insane.""Right back at 'ya," he laughed and kissed my cheek. "Thank you."So there, it was settled. My second favorite man in the world and his blonde alien were getting married; Isabel, another alien, was going to be the maid of honor and I was going to be the best man. Only in my world.Dinner went on without a hitch. I started to forget I was so pissed off and even laughed and poked fun at the newly betrothed. I drank with Kyle and Alex and even forgot about all that mysterious mail I had received. Well, at least I forgot about it until Kyle pulled me into the kitchen with him on the pretense of more beer."What are we going to do about..." He raised his eyebrows up and down at me and I giggled. "Damn it Maria, this is serious!"Shit. "I know Kyle, I know it's serious. But I don't know what to do. Maybe tonight I'll mention it to Michael." I looked around the kitchen nervously. "Did you happen to notice that Michael and Isabel are acting a little strange?""More than usual?"My eyes rolled before I could stop them, sometimes I think they have a mind of their own. "Yeah, more than usual. They're hiding something.""So we all have something in common," he whispered and leaned in closer to me. "Maybe the mysteries are related but we shouldn't say anything since Michael and Isabel aren't, right?""Don't be such a smart ass Valenti," I pushed him away from me. "Where is the CD?""In my car."Great."In the glove box," Kyle shook his head. "Locked."Better."Tell him tonight Maria," he slipped his arm around my waist and then hugged me.I promised I would and we went back to the party. I mingled and was even overly nice to Marcy, I guess someday I'll have to ask her last name. I almost bet its something like Jones. Or Smith. Or wait, even better Doe. That's it, Marcy Doe. When I smiled at myself and my own amusement, I felt Michael behind me and my blood temperature rose to about nine hundred."You really look amazing," his lips are at my ear and I shiver.He walked around me and knelt on the floor in front of the ottoman I was perched on. "Are you in danger?" Damn! I let the words slip out without thinking.He gave me that wicked little grin. "No, I'm not in danger.""Am I?" Damn! I did it again. He didn't answer me right away and now I was scared. I felt the goosebumps on my arms and my nipples tighten. I looked over and saw Max looking at me. I wonder if titty-radar is part of his alien genes."No," he ran the back of his hand over my cheek and my eyes closed. "No Sweet Maria. You know I'd never let anything happen to you."I nodded but for some reason I didn't feel as confident as I should have. I kissed the back of his hand as the newly hatches butterflies in my stomach turned into bats. "I love you Michael."His eyes met mine and I could see how much he loved me in them. He had been the one to pull me out of my doomed life and give me a new one; and at the same time I had given him a real life. We had a life together and so help God no one was going to take that away from us.His lips were soft as they touched my forehead. "My wife." He whispered and let out a deep breath. "My Sweet Maria."I crumbled. Sometimes all it took was just a few words and I was good. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Kyle and saw him smiling at Tess. I turned my head slightly and saw Isabel and Alex holding hands. Next was Max, he wasn't staring at my tits anymore, he had his arm draped around Marcy's shoulders and seemed to be having a good time."Tonight?" Michael said softly. "We have to talk. When we get home."The bats in my stomach died and sank to the bottom like a ton of bricks. Fuck.\*Chapter EightMy mind began to wander entirely too far away from me. I couldn't imagine what the hell was going on. I mean, I knew it had to be alien related otherwise Michael and Isabel wouldn't be acting so...Alien. And I guess they hadn't let Max in the loop yet because he wasn't doing anything out of character. He was still staring at my tits when he wasn't gazing at Marcy. And Tess? Well, Tess was acting like a newly engaged woman.I scooted over and let Michael sit next to me on the ottoman; I clutched his hand. Not amorously, but for security. I felt like my world had been rocked but I didn't know why. Usually I have some idea of what the hell is going on. I know who I'm up against, but this time, I didn't. I didn't have a clue what was going on and that, more than anything else, scared the crap outta me."So, are you going to wear a tux, Maria?"I snapped my head towards Kyle. "Do you want me to?"He nodded slowly knowing full well that I would wear a tuxedo if he wanted me to. Okay, so I was going to wear a tux. No big. I'm sure I'll find a way to Maria-it-up a little."You'll look beautiful in a tuxedo," Michael whispered hotly in my ear.I turned to face him and ran the back of my hand across his cheek. There was stubble where this morning there hadn't been. Our eyes met and something familiar passed between us. I felt my heart swell and I was flooded with all the emotions of belonging. As he took my hand I knew without question that we would always belong to each other.We were just like any other couple in the world, there were going to be ups and downs and I was just going to have to deal with them. We were kind of in a down right now with all the secrets, but that was going to change tonight when we got home. I was going to tell him mine and even if I had to beat it out of him he was going to tell me his.I caught Isabel staring at me and smiled. When she smiled back without that pinched worried look she had going on earlier, I felt a little better."Well, I think we might hit the road here pretty soon," Kyle stretched and yawned, I could tell he was faking it. He just wanted to get home and play around with his new fiancée."You just want to go home and get some!" Alex laughed with his bottle of beer held tight against him, the slurring in his voice was a dead giveaway that young Mr. Whitman had indeed imbibed too much of Mr. Wiser. Maybe you know him? First name Bud?"Alex," Isabel's hushed, yet warning, whisper echoed through the room."C'mon Iz!" Alex smiled that smile that I know Isabel loves and pulled her into him. "It's all I could think about when we got engaged too!"I laughed, probably a little too loud, but it seemed to break the tension that was suddenly suffocating the room. Michael laughed a little and Isabel smiled at me, it was a big thank you smile. I winked back at her."Seriously," Kyle raised his hands chest level. "We're going to get going here in a minute." His eyes fell on me and I knew we were going to have a little tete-a-tete before he left. "Maria? You want to get that CD out of my car before we leave?"If I would've had a gun I would have shot him. "Yeah." I managed to spit out with a nod."What CD?" Michael asked and I wondered how in the hell I was going to lie to him."One I made for her," Kyle stepped in and saved my ass from lying to Michael. "You know, one of those crazy mix CD's. Your wife isn't exactly competent about downloading and burning."I shrugged and wondered exactly how red my chest was getting."Oh, right." Michael said the words to Kyle but he was looking at me. "You'll be right back?"I nodded. "Of course I'll be right back." I leaned into him and kissed his lips. I could taste the chocolate from dessert and I wanted desperately to throw him down and cover him in one of my favorite condiments. Maybe later. Maybe tonight.I followed Kyle out of the house and cast a quick glance over my shoulder at the rest of the gang while they were still in my sight."I saved your ass in there," Kyle stopped walking and waited for me to catch up. "You're welcome.""I'm sorry Mr. Valenti," I shook my head. "You think that was saving my ass? That was helping me out of a little pickle. You'll know when you're truly saving my ass." I looped my arm through his and we walked to his Pony.I let him go long enough for him to unlock the glove box and retrieve the seemingly blank CD from it. He handed it to me and as I held it up in front of me, the beam from the streetlight hit it and temporarily blinded him."Damn it Maria!" he shielded his eyes and I smiled.As the light reflected I saw something on the disc. I motioned for Kyle to come around next to me and once he got done grumbling about being blind for life, he did. "What the hell?"He saw the same thing I did. Almost like a watermark on a dollar bill. As my eyes narrowed I could make out what seemed to be a symbol of some kind. "Brand name?""Could be," Kyle was becoming disinterested and I realized so was I."I'm going to talk to Michael tonight, I promise." I nodded and looked over my shoulder at the Whitman house. "We'll get everything all cleared up and then you can start planning your wedding."He nodded but not in the confidant way. "Promise?""I promise," I clipped him on the shoulder and once again wondered when I had become so tomboyish. "I'm going to put this in my car and then we'll go back in so you can gather your little blond number and I can get Michael. We'll have this whole thing sorted out by morning, okay?" I turned away from him and heard the heels of my boots click on the street as I walked to my car. I slipped the CD in the glove box and turned back around. "Kyle?"My heart began to pound as my eyes scanned the street in front of me. Kyle was gone. He was standing there a second ago and now he was gone."Kyle!" I shouted and heard the tremble in my voice. "This isn't fucking funny! Where are you?"Silence. Oh fuck."Kyle!" I shouted louder and felt the sweat forming on the back of my neck. In the Maria-verse this is what I would call a big bad. Damn!\*Chapter NineI had one of those moments when my heart felt like it was in my throat. I couldn't swallow. I don't think I could barely breath. The night was closing in on me and I started to gag."Kyle!" My scream was muffled in my throat as rationality seized me. Kyle Valenti was gone. Tess had been gone once but we had gotten her back. But this was different. I don't know how I knew that, I just did. This time there was something else going on and it was scaring the hell out of me. Kyle. I closed my eyes and counted to three. I couldn't even get to five anymore; my patience was wearing too thin these days.I wished on the stars I was sure that were still above me that when I opened my eyes Kyle would be standing in front of me with that classic Valenti smile. I opened my eyes. No Kyle. My feet felt like they were made of lead. I couldn't move. I couldn't scream. I couldn't do anything because there was no way in hell this could be happening."Maria?" I knew that voice and it wasn't Kyle's. Michael."Kyle's gone and I can't find him and he's not answering and I'm scared and-" I let the words tumble from my mouth and the tears slid down my cheeks as my husband ran to me in giant strides. "Michael...""Tell me what happened," he said in that low, sexy voice he has as he took me into his arms.I told him. Okay, I didn't tell him about the CD or note. That seemed inappropriate. No... More like irrelevant. Kyle wasn't involved in anything. He wasn't an alien. He wasn't getting strange packages in the mail. He wasn't an ex-con who got a second chance. He was human. He was just Kyle Valenti. One of the best men I've ever known."What's going on?"I heard the timid voice of Tess from behind me. Damn! I turned around slowly and wiggled out of Michael's clasp so I could face her. Before I could speak I saw the tears in her eyes. "Tess...""What happened? Where is Kyle?" Her voice quivered and I wanted to hug her. So I did.I looked over my shoulder at Michael and hoped he could read my mind. The others were still inside; the others including Marcy who was as oblivious to the freakish world we lived in as I was to anything happening to Kyle. Michael must have read my mind because he did an about face and bolted inside the Whitman's. I swear it was only seconds later that Max and Marcy came outside and drove off. I assumed Max would be back because if this was something alien related then all the damn aliens should be accounted for!"Maria?" Tess whimpered. I forgot I was still hugging her. My how things can change. I let her go and looked into the wetness that covered her pretty blue eyes. "Where's Kyle?"I didn't want to lie to her and I didn't want to scare her. She had been engaged for like ten seconds and then all of a sudden her fiancé was gone. "I don't know." Ha! Didn't have to lie at all."What do you mean you don't know?" She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand; they were not replaced. Oh, shit."Tess," Isabel was there now and touching the smaller woman's shoulder.The little blond swung around and I saw, no, I felt the fury that was becoming loose in her. "What?" She snapped and I broke out into goosebumps. "Tell me Isabel, what the hell is going on? Where. Is. Kyle?""Tess," Michael with that sexy voice said her name and I watched in amazement as the sharpness of Tess's demeanor dissipated. I thought his voice only affected me like that. I guess I was wrong. Not too sure how I feel about that one."What the hell is going on?" Alex had somehow very stealthily joined our small group outside and no longer appeared to be as buzzed as he had been inside. He swayed and I retract the last statement."Kyle is gone." Tess said the words slowly and deliberately. Her eyes landed on mine and I felt the anger ripple through me. She may play the part of bouncy blonde beautician to perfection, but in that instant I knew that Tess wasn't to be reckoned with. And damn it to hell, she was trying to reckon with me."I don't know where he is." I said and felt proud that my eyes didn't roll. I didn't know where he was but I would walk through fire to find out. Hell, I'd even listen to descriptions of the pod chamber if it meant I could get Kyle back."Maria?" Isabel whispered and I wondered if she was going to spill what her and Michael were keeping from me.I cocked my head to one side and waited. If I would have been a little less perceptive I wouldn't have noticed the quick glance between Isabel and Michael. Okay, so now another question popped in my head.Was the thing that I knew they were both hiding from me something to do with Section and they couldn't talk about it? Was it a matter of National security? Or was this something that a leader and his second in command are sharing thus making it completely alien related? Me thinks I need answers."What the fuck is going on?" I placed my hands on my hips and faced both Michael and Isabel which put Tess at my back, not exactly where I wanted her right then, but I'll recover."What do you mean?" Michael sidestepped a little closer to Isabel and all that did was piss me off just a little bit more."I mean exactly what I said! What the fuck is going on?""What's she talking about?" Tess stood next to me and I felt better."Isabel?" Alex stepped up next to his wife. Great, he didn't seem to know anything either."Do you know where Kyle is?" Tess asked. I noticed the returned tremor in her voice and now I was super pissed."No." Isabel answered without looking at Michael first. "But we should look for him instead of standing around bickering, shouldn't we?"Damn. My friend Isabel had a point. I conceded with a nod. "Let's scour the streets. Someone call Max and tell him where to go after dropping Marcy off."I didn't wait for an answer; I just started walking quickly away from the crowd. Maybe I didn't want to say anything I was going to regret. Maybe I didn't want to hear the only people in the world I trusted lie to me.I rounded the corner and wiped at my tears hearing Michael and Tess call me back. I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings, but instead I was wallowing somewhere between upset and pissed off, still. If I would have been paying more attention then I would have known I wasn't alone long before I felt a hand on my mouth."Fu..." My word was lost against flesh before the lights went out on me.\*Chapter TenI saw myself floating above my old house. The house I lived in with my dad. The house he died in. I looked down and saw myself playing ball in the backyard with my daddy and it made me want to cry. I saw myself smile and my dad laugh.The images of childhood were slowly being replaced with a dull ache in my head. My eyelids seemed to have gained about a hundred pounds each and I had to argue with them to open. When they listened I kind of wish they hadn't. Stupid eyes.I had no idea where I was. I mean, I was in a room, I could tell that because there were four walls around me and an apparent floor and ceiling. Besides the basics I was clueless. I was sitting in a chair and I was bound to it somehow. I didn't feel any ropes or tape or anything, but I couldn't move my arms or legs. I actually had to look down to make sure they were still there. Thank God, they are. Next problem?The room was dim, like the time outside right before dark when Michael and I used to make love on the beaches. When we used to talk on the phone while he was at Section and I was at home. I felt myself slipping away again and wondered what they hell they had given me. I kind of wondered who 'they' were as well. I wondered about a lot of things.Most of all, though, I wondered if I should have told Michael I loved him before just stomping off into the night.\*"They're nowhere!" Isabel Whitman screamed into the face of her superior, both in this world and the other."We'll find them," Michael took her in his arms and let her cry the tears for him that he couldn't. "We'll find them."\*My head began to tingle as I swam back into whatever the fuck was going on. I still couldn't move my appendages but I checked again, still there. Still a good. The room was a little lighter now and I couldn't see anything binding my wrists to the chair. I didn't see any windows but the dimness had been replaced with a warmer, softer glow like the time right before the sun would rise and Michael and I used to make love on the beach. When we used to talk on the phone when he was already at Section and I wasn't out of bed yet. Holy shit! Was it morning? Was it afternoon? Was there a window in here that I can crawl out of and run home into my lover's arms?I opened my mouth and screamed like I've never screamed before. I felt like my lungs were going to explode out of my mouth and flop on the floor like dead fish. Luckily that didn't happen. However it didn't seem like anything else was either.I didn't want to scream again because that was futile and it gave me a slightly sore throat. I thanked my lucky stars that I hadn't started smoking again because I know I would be gagging right about now.Deep breath. This wasn't so bad. I'd been trapped in places before and always managed to get out, right? Hell, I took down Section. I had help. Kyle! Oh shit! I started to remember what the fuck was going on and now I was scared. I had that tingling thing going on at the base of my neck and knew that every single fucking thing was connected. It had to be. The wacky CD and the could-it-be-more-vague note. The hidden innuendo between Michael and Isabel. The apparent kidnapping of one Maria DeLuca, damn, Guerin, and the strange disappearance of Kyle Valenti. In reality I guess it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out everything was relative. Or was it?This was probably not a good time to start to second-guess myself. Here I was trapped in a fucking chair in a fucking room and I was second-guessing myself? Fuck that."Where the fuck am I?" I screamed and waited.Nothing. Imagine that."Fuck!"I cocked my head to one side and got the goosebumps when I heard a muffled breathing sound coming from somewhere really fucking close to me."Who's there?" I demanded in my most authoritative voice. I was met with silence and began to wonder if I had heard the sound only in my head.That kind of thing happens and it scares me more than any other big bad in the universe. My mind began to slide back to a time when I was alone and I heard things. I heard voices and whispers that weren't mine even though I was the only one in the room. In a small room. Alone.As I tried to halt them, my memories skittered uncontrollably back to my time in the pokey. Back to the time I was completely alone. I clenched my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut trying to block it out, but I couldn't. I couldn't not see myself the way Michael saw me on the tape from my Section dossier. My shirt hanging open, crawling on the ground. Trying to cut my wrist by scraping it against the floor."No!" The word flew from my mouth as I shook my head. The showers in the prison. The way I was raped... "No!"I wanted to keep screaming the word over and over until I made the memories run away again; but something stopped me. I controlled my breathing as any good alien hunter would and counted to four before letting out a slow deep breath.I heard the noise again and it wasn't from me. Woo hoo! I wasn't fucking crazy! I tried to turn my head as far as I could to look in back of me and realized that the back of my chair was just entirely too high. I heard the breathing noise again and my heart began to pound. I knew that breathing noise. I knew it well.I rocked back in my chair until I felt the legs of it move a little off the ground. Chair? Not bolted down. With a giant push off from my toes I closed my eyes and went sailing backwards, the chair landed on its back with a giant bang, with me still trapped in it.I opened my eyes and almost cried. Or maybe I almost wet myself. Either way I was just so fucking happy. Hovering above me in a chair identical to mine was a familiar face. Of course the face was attached to a head which was hanging down with his chin almost on his chest. I found Kyle! Woo hoo!"Kyle!" I shouted his name and waited for a response as fear struck me. He'd been in this place with me the whole time and I had been screaming and he never said a word. Fuck me. "Kyle!"My head was almost to the tips of his toes and I waited with something like bated breath and an Eagle-eyed stare until I saw those pretty long eyelashes of his flutter just a bit.His eyes opened to barely a squint and I was beaming up at him with one of my big toothy grins. His pitch was low and his voice was crackling; but it was still classic Valenti. "Why did I know you'd be here?"\*Chapter ElevenI laughed which earned me a slight smile from Kyle. "Are you okay?"He nodded and closed his eyes for an extended blink. "At least I think so, my throat's a little sore though.""Mine too.""Were you screaming?"I nodded and laughed again. He knew me entirely too well. "So, what's going on?" I raised my eyebrows at him and got the response I was looking for. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Kyle was going to be fine. We both were."How did you get here?" He asked looking down at me. "And why are you on the floor?"I explained that I ran off in a huff trying to find him and next thing I knew, I was here. Wherever the fuck here was. "Then I heard you making this heavy breathing/snorting noise and knew I had to get to you.""So you fell over backwards in your chair?" He asked as a smile crept across his face.If I could have put my hands on my hips, I would have. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay.""How long have I been here?"I shrugged. I had no idea how long we had been here. There was no window like I expected. The lights on the ceiling were the deciding factors if it was day or night. It could have been an hour or it could have been a day. I was almost banking on it being more than an hour because I was suddenly hit with panic. I had to pee. "Oh shit.""What's wrong?" His voice was full of alarm."I have to pee," I admitted and tried to think of anything else in the world besides peeing. I came up with oceans, water fountains, babbling brooks and rivers. Not a good. "Damn!""Hey," Kyle was trying to lift his arms up from the chair. "What the hell? What the hell is holding my arms down?"Riiiight. I forgot about that. I turned my head and looked at where his ankles met the chair legs and saw nothing binding them. "There's nothing there.""No shit," he said and I heard the exasperation in his voice."Okay," I said the word slowly. I was stalling. I'd had time to look at my arms and even a few minutes to stare at Kyle's ankles but the thought never really crossed my mind why we couldn't move from the chairs. Maybe we were super-glued in. You know, just like the guy who used to hang by his hardhat in the commercials? "Well, we have to find a way to get out of these chairs and then get out of...""Wherever the fuck we are?" Kyle supplied and I nodded. "I imagine this has something to do with...""Don't even say it, Valenti." I warned him. "I was going to tell Michael about the care package, you know I was.""Just not in time." He shook his head and I had enough guilt inside of me to guilt-out a nation.Damn! I hoped this wasn't my fault for actually keeping my mouth shut. That in itself was a freaking miracle. "Kyle. I'm sorry."He let out a deep breath and then met my eyes. "I'm not mad at you Maria. I'm actually happy to see you.""Really?" I think my heart did a little flutter.He rolled his eyes and I knew everything was really going to be okay. "If there is anyone in the entire world I'd want to be looking at right now, it's you. You know why?" He had me on that one. If I were him I'd want to shoot me right about now. "Because I know you'll find a way to get us out of this little..."I saw him struggling for a word and supplied one for him. "Predicament?""Yeah, out of this predicament."Predicament. That was a good choice of a word, but I was wondering exactly how I was going to accomplish getting us out of said word. As far as I could tell, we were screwed. We were tied down somehow to these freaking chairs with nothing...Oh shit. Nothing of this world. This day was rapidly deteriorating from bad to worse.\*Every available light was blazing in the Whitman residence. The small group of people were stationed around the dining room table where they had met only minutes earlier after canvassing the neighborhood looking for a sign of Maria or Kyle. They had each come back empty handed."It's been almost five hours, Michael!" Alarm rang through Isabel's voice. "And...""What's going on?" Tess demanded and stood up placing her hands on her slim hips. "What the fuck is going on and are they in danger?"Michael looked slowly across the table to Isabel and nodded.\*
Chapter TwelveClose to a million things were running through my head, none of which were actually all that good. They didn't make sense either. I knew in my heart that this was something completely different than anything else I'd ever been through. This was something I wasn't prepared to fight back against. Sure, I've kicked some serious ass in my life, but I had some clue about what was going on. It was always human and the knot in my stomach let me know this was nothing even close to human.I'm a, wait, I was an alien hunter. I was trained by the freaking top Operative how to track aliens. Okay, I guess I could say that I really sucked at it because I was falling in love with Michael and he's an alien and I had no clue whatsoever! Other than that, I was pretty good. I was trained to track them, but it appeared in this case that I didn't have to find them, they found me instead. Crap.And Kyle. Double crap."Maria!" Kyle shouted my name and I snapped back into the predicament at hand."This is alien." I said softly. No shit."No shit." Kyle was reading my mind again. I don't know who should be more scared about that. I think it should be Kyle. "Oh, for crying out loud!" His voice got louder and I heard the annoyance in it. "Does someone else think I'm one them too? What is the freaking deal? Seriously, do I give off alien vibes?""Kyle and I are the humans," I ignored Kyle and started thinking out loud. "This doesn't make sense. There's not supposed to be any other aliens out there except for our aliens, right? But if there are...Then why do they want us? They can't possibly think that we're aliens if they are-""Damn it Maria!" Kyle was getting seriously agitated. Damn!"Sorry, I'm just trying to make some sense of what's going on." I looked up at him and realized we must look incredibly stupid. Well, Kyle looked kinda cute in his jeans and polo shirt and I knew I looked pretty good in black... Damn it! I think black leather pants must be a big old jinx for me. Damn! Okay, we looked good, but how we were positioned, we looked stupid. "First things first, we have to get out of these chairs."Holy shit! No sooner were the words out of my mouth than I felt the release on my arms and legs. I lifted my legs in the air and then waved my arms. Woo hoo! I wonder if everything was going to be this easy. Riiiight."How'd you do that?" Kyle's eyes were wide as he lifted his hands up and then leapt out of his chair and directly over me.I smiled at his enthusiasm and then got off the floor. "Are you okay?"He faced me with wild eyes and nodded before scooping me up into his arms and swinging me around. "See, I knew you could do it! Now get us out of here and lets go home!"I laughed and hugged him. While my arms were tight around him I began to look around the room and it wasn't looking very good at all. Door? Nope. Window? Nope. Fucked? Yup."You're tensing," he breathed into my ear. "What's wrong? Is there a big green monster in back of me and you just don't want to tell me he's getting ready to stick huge alien claws into my back and then eat my head?"I laughed entirely too loud and let go of him. "Yeah, that's it Valenti. God, don't you think I'd at least give you a heads up if there was a monster in back of you?"He laughed and any tension that had been lingering between us disappeared. I had my Kyle back and he had his...Me. All was good."Seriously Maria," there was that tone I didn't like again. "What was with the tension?""Well, as I look around the room that we got into somehow I can't see a way to get out."Kyle's head swiveled around so fast I thought he might get whiplash. "Holy shit! There's no door!"I rolled my eyes. "I know.""Oh my God," Kyle paled. "Are we still on Earth?"I smiled and nodded. We were, right? Of course we were."Okay, well, get us out of here!"I just looked at him. I didn't know what else to do except scream but for some reason I didn't think that was going to do any good. So I decided to see if the second time was a charm. "Okay, first things first, we have to get out of this room."I waited. What I was waiting for I have no idea but it didn't happen like the freaky restraints. No magic door appeared. No red carpet rolled out. We were stuck."That was a very nice try," Kyle clapped. "Any other ideas?"Nope. Fresh out of ideas. But the momentarily forgotten urge to pee was back. Damn!Then I heard something from the other side of the wall. No, not just something. I heard voices. I heard voices I knew. What the fuck?\*"Tell me Michael!" Tess demanded. "Tell me what 's going on!"Michael stood and paced the room while running his hands through his short hair. He cast one glance at Isabel who nodded in return."Quit stalling and tell me where my fiancé is!" Tess's eyes became moist. The bravado was wavering. "Please, even if you don't care-""I care!" Michael's voice resonated through the room. "My wife is gone too, Tess!""Then tell me...""We're not alone." He turned away from the others and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.\*
Chapter Thirteen"Mar-"I shushed Kyle and walked towards the wall. If my dog ears were correct, then we were screwed. Big time. My mind clouded as I listened with my ear against the wall. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but I knew who they were and my world ended.Kyle joined me at the wall and he was saying something, but I couldn't hear him over my newfound sobbing. This couldn't be happening! Could it?"Maria!" Kyle started shaking me but I didn't care.I was done. My life was over. It was time to check out. The Maria has left the building."Damn it! What the hell is wrong with you?"I couldn't quit crying. I didn't want to quit. My heart ached and my head felt like it was going to explode and fly right off my shoulders. But none of that mattered anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. I began to slide down the wall and didn't stop until I was on the floor. Kyle was next to me in an instant; I didn't even care."What is going on Maria?" He wrapped his arms around me. "You're scaring me."I shook my head and continued my wailing. The life I've had since I came out of the pokey was nothing but a lie. I should have stayed there and faced the music because it couldn't have hurt as much as what I was feeling right now. I felt like my heart had been ripped out and someone played Ping-Pong with it right before they set it on fire.Kyle held me against him and let me sob away my pain without him having a clue to what was going on. Okay, I take back the part about being left in the pokey. If I was still there I would have never met Kyle Valenti and frankly I don't think my life would be half as good without him in it. I love the Kyle.I finally controlled my breathing enough to look at him. Of course I was making those horrendous hiccuping noises and felt like I couldn't breath. I knew my face and eyes were all red and any mascara I had on was probably long gone; or maybe it was still hanging around my face in big fat lines. Damn!"Are you okay?" He asked in the quiet voice and stroked my hair as he helped me stand back on my own two feet.I shook my head; completely unable to talk because of all the racket I was still making. This is why I hated to cry; it was never a pretty sight. My body was limp in Kyle's arms and suddenly I had an epiphany, the first of many to come, I'm sure. Kyle was so affected by this too."I..." Stupid hiccups. "I heard something out there.""Out there?" Kyle pointed to the wall. "What, someone have a dog whistle?" He smiled.I started to laugh, which only brought on more hiccuping and eventual gagging. When I was able to regain my composure, I looked into the deep and concerned eyes of Kyle Valenti and immediately started crying again."I'm sorry," he murmured and kissed the top of my head.Who would have ever thought such a simple gesture would mean so much. I trusted Kyle with my life. And right now he was the only one.I hugged him and made that solemn promise again that I'll name each of my children Kyle. Of course my secret dreams of having children were fading faster than the speed of light at the present time."So, are you going to tell me what the hell is wrong or am I going to have to guess?"I backed out of his arms and pulled myself together. I straightened my hair with my fingers and smoothed out non-existent wrinkles on my leather pants. With a deep breath I lied. "I don't know, I just freaked out there for a minute."I could tell from the way Kyle was looking at me that he knew I was full of shit. He didn't need to know what was going on. I mean, I didn't have a clue but the ideas were forming and they all looked like shit."You are so lying to me. What did you hear out there?"It was one of those times where the truth would really suck and a lie wouldn't suck quite as much. I didn't want to lie to Kyle, but I had to. "I just heard noises and I got scared."I cleared my throat and felt the super-bitch rear her head. I wasn't going down into the hole of feeling sorry for myself. No fucking way. I was stronger and better than that and I had to stay in top form if for no other reason than the man next to me. The man who deserved to know the truth. Fuck!\*"And you're just now telling us?" Max stood up and walked towards Michael. His dark eyes shown with anger. "Don't you think we should have known about this, Captain?"Michael counted to three. "Nothing was affirmative until today." He nodded at Isabel. "We were going to explain what we knew tonight but then with Tess's news, we decided to wait.""This is crap!" Max's voice rose."Nothing is positive." Michael stood and faced Max. The tension was thickening with each passing second."They could be in danger!" Max stepped forward causing Michael to take a step backwards. "Don't you even care?"With another step, Max had Michael backed up to the wall.Michael reacted and in a blur he had Max's arm pinned in back of him and his face pressed against the wall. He leaned down until his mouth was even with Max's ear. His voice was barely above a whisper. "This is my wife we're talking about and I'll kill anyone or anything that tries to hurt her. Don't you ever think that I don't care because I'm trying to keep my cool when all I want to do is something irrational that won't help anyone. We have to figure out what to do and then do it calmly, okay?" He waited until Max nodded before letting him go."Michael, what do they want?" Tess asked in the timid voice she had hidden earlier."We don't know," he faced Tess and reached for her. In a fluid movement he held her in his arms as they shared something on this planet. Loss.\*I took another deep breath and faced Kyle. He looked at me with those puppy dog eyes and I knew I was going to break his heart. Sometimes I hated being me."Maria!" Kyle was not playing the part of happy camper with my stalling. I couldn't blame him."I heard voices behind the wall.""Voices?" His brow knitted together. "What were they saying? Oh shit, they're going to mutilate us, aren't they?" I don't know if he was joking or not. "You heard all about our demise, that's it, right?"I shook my head. "No, I didn't hear what they were saying exactly.""Well then, what?""I recognized the voices Kyle. I know who's on the other side of the wall." I felt sick as he leaned forward to hear me better.Without a warning light or buzzer, the wall shifted and opened and I almost wet myself. I jumped in front of Kyle and we watched as three people strode into the room.I blinked. Then again. "What the...Fuck?!?"\*
Chapter FourteenFor a minute I thought I was on candid camera but I realized this wouldn't be funny to anyone, especially me and Kyle; then I immediately went to the Twilight Zone. This wasn't real. Period. I was actually waiting for Rod Serling or a good living facsimile of him to pop up. When he didn't I knew I was fucked."Maria..." Kyle grabbed my arm tightly. I was glad because I think he might have been holding me up.Oh yeah, he was holding me up; my knees went weak when I tried to move. My heart was pounding so fucking loud that I couldn't hear anything but that in my head. I wanted to throw up or faint or scream but I couldn't do anything. There was nothing right about what was going on around here. Nope. Nothing at all."You up?"Somehow I heard the voice over my heart beating; but that didn't make it better. It was the same voice I had heard on the other side of the wall/door."I think they are." The sarcasm was heavy with that little remark. Something I wasn't used to at all.No, this is all wrong. I couldn't believe my eyes or my ears; they had to be playing tricks on me. This wasn't possible. If what was in front of me is real, then everything else had been a lie. If what I was seeing was real then I was pissed. No, I was beyond pissed at this point. You can try to break my body and mind; you can use me until I think I'm going to break. But you can't hurt my feelings and not think I'm going to retaliate the only way I knew how.I stood strong on my own and actually pushed Kyle's arm off of me. I could face this down and kick its ass on my own two feet! I opened my mouth to spit out some smartass remark but came up empty. Damn. All the bravado was seeping through me and all I wanted to do was curl up with Mr. Bear and hide out in a closet.Fuck that.So everything I've believed in has been a lie. Big fucking deal. So my life is a crock of shit. So what? I can handle it. After all, I am Maria DeLuca and I don't give up so easily. I set my shoulders back and chest out."Fuck you." Not exactly the most imaginative thing I've ever said, but it was exactly how I felt.They laughed at me and I wanted to cry. I felt Kyle step in closer to me and it made it a little better. I knew I'd always have Kyle."Maria," Kyle whispered in my ear. I shrugged."So, you sleep okay?" The voice was real and it was infuriating.How could this all have been a lie? How could I have imagined that what I had was real? It had felt real, every single fucking lying second of it."Again, fuck you." Find something you like and stick with it!They walked towards us and I felt Kyle take a step back. I reached for him and grabbed his arm. He was staying right next to me. It was obvious at this point that all we had was each other and I wasn't about to let him go anywhere."I guess you're trying to figure out what exactly is going on, aren't you Maria?" Her words dripped with sarcasm and sweetness. I hated her."I guess you forgot that I don't give a fuck."They all laughed again and I was getting hot. I felt the sweat break out in between my breasts and briefly thought about Max. I wondered where the fuck he was. Not that I really needed my tits to be watched right now, just curious."Maria," Kyle stood tall next to me. Okay, not exactly tall, but between the two of us we definitely gave off the aura of severe authority. Riiiight."Maybe we should explain." His voice was so familiar and at the same time so foreign.I couldn't think straight. I wish he wouldn't have said anything more at all. All I wanted to do was lunge at him and pull his hair out. I wanted to scratch his face and spit in the wounds."Or maybe we should just walk away and let her worry," the voice was high pitched and irritating."Or maybe you could go fuck yourselves," that was Kyle and I was proud. He had been hanging around with me entirely too much. I was rubbing off on him, but who knows, it could end up saving his life or quite possibly get him killed. Either way, Kyle rocked!"That's not very nice," the one on the end spoke again and I saw it rake Kyle. It was my turn to be the rock. I felt more like a pebble, but I could do the rock thing."Maria, I'm surprised you're so quiet." The one in the middle offered. I wasn't biting.I tried to think of something monumental to say to her, but I came up empty. My mind was reeling with scenarios, none of which were good."Maybe we should leave them alone for a bit longer and see if they feel like talking then."They were looking at each other now and I knew Kyle and I were not invited into the conversation. Fuck them. And the horse they rode in on."Maybe we should put them back in their chairs."Oh crap, not the chairs again."Should we feed them? They probably need to eat."Oh shit. I still had to pee. I raised my hand like a schoolgirl and interrupted their private tete-a-tete. "Is there a restroom near by?"The one on the end nodded and motioned for me to follow. Okay, so we all followed. I heard a muffled grunt from in back of me and when I turned around I saw Kyle on his knees holding his stomach. I looked to the bitch next to him and I didn't think, I reacted.With a swift kick to the knee and a fist in her gut, she fell to the ground. As I got smug and reached for Kyle I felt her foot as it barreled into my chest. I fell to the ground and realized that fucking hurt! I whirled on them and stared in amazement as the bitch got yanked back. That was weird. I helped Kyle to his feet and stared in awe as the woman who I thought was dead tried to fight off the only man I'd ever loved while Kyle's fiancée watched with a smug expression on her face.When I said I was bored, I think I was lying. I would much rather be bored right now than where we were. I would give anything to go back just twenty-four hours and make all of this go away.\*
Chapter FifteenThe fighting stopped and turned into bickering. Then the bickering stopped. I didn't really care; they could have bickered for the rest of the night, or day whichever it was, as far as I was concerned. They could have bickered each other to death and I would have been so fine with that.I grabbed Kyle's hand and couldn't tell if it was my palm that was sweating or his. Maybe it was both of us. I turned slowly and it was one of those slow motion things; our eyes met and in the most desperate of situations, we smiled at each other. If I wasn't so damn pissed off, I would have been bawling. Again.I felt someone touch my hand and I turned and stared into the eyes that I had grown to trust. Pretty blue eyes that I would now willingly scoop out with a spoon if I had one. "Follow me."Kyle stiffened, but came along. I knew how he was feeling because I was feeling the same way. The ultimate betrayal.We followed the perky blonde through the mysterious door/wall with the other two behind us. I always thought I'd want Michael at my back but now, everything has changed. I didn't want him at my back, my front or my side. I didn't want him anywhere near me. All the good times were nothing but a sick fucking joke and I wasn't laughing. I did have that feeling that in the end, I would be the last one laughing but there was no need to get cocky about it. Yet.I fought the urge to turn around and see what Michael and the wicked bitch of the East were doing. I wanted to turn around and look in his eyes and see if I could tell if anything he had ever told me was the truth. Shit! I couldn't help myself, I turned around and looked into the eyes that I had confessed my soul to and smirked. "I never loved you."He laughed and it killed me. But I didn't show it. Michael Guerin would never get the best of me again. Fuck. Him."Fuck him," Kyle whispered in my ear. Thank God I still had Kyle."In here," Tess opened another one of those door/wall things and I looked inside. It was a bathroom. Woo hoo!"He's coming with me," I motioned to Kyle. No matter what, he was not leaving my side.Tess shrugged. "Fine. So am I."My turn to shrug. "Fine. Whatever." I guess they all forgot I was the queen of quick comebacks. Ha!The three of us walked in and the door/wall closed behind us. There was a toilet in the center of the small room with a wash basin next to it. With a wink at Kyle I pulled down the leather and peed. Damn! I needed that.As I washed my hands, I noticed my breasts were soaked in sweat and my shirt was plastered to them. So I decided on a white shirt today of all days. Just fucking great. Not only am I being held hostage, my tits are right there for everyone to see. Now I really was wondering where Max was. Damn!"Ready?" Tess tilted her head to one side and I nodded.I noticed Kyle wasn't looking at her, I couldn't blame him. If I wasn't so bullheaded I don't think I would have been either.We followed her back out of the washroom and met up with Michael and I can barely say her name without gagging, Rena.I swear, I knew I was lucky for the reprieve I got; but then to take it all away from me? So not fair.We walked down this eerily silent cement hallway until we reached another wall. Of course, it was a fucking door, as Michael demonstrated by waving his fucking hand in front of it. I looked at his hand and knew the contours of it. It's warm callousy feeling. I forced away the thoughts of the way those hands felt on my bare skin and what they did to me. I tried to forget the way I clung to those hands and knew my life was going to be okay as long as I was with him.This next room we went into was kind of nice. I mean, there were chairs and a table. A King-sized bed in the corner with a mosquito netting canopy over it. Carpeting. It looked more like a lodge room than this wacky prison I thought we were in. The wall closed behind us and I looked to Kyle. He was looking around the room so I focused on the floor. Anything to not look at Michael. Some things just hurt too damn bad!I didn't get it.This day started out with me being incredibly bored and it has turned completely upside down. I'm not bored and I'm not happy. I'm confused and a confused Maria is generally a pissed off Maria."So," I heard myself speak. What the...? I wonder where I was going with this. I had to go somewhere because they all looked at me. "So, you going to tell us what the fuck is going on or are we going to keep playing this sick fucking game?"Michael looked at me and licked his lips. I used to think it was sexy now it made me want to throw up. "I think we might play this sick fucking game for awhile longer," he turned to the two bitches. "Ladies?"Ladies? My ass!They nodded like the good obedient puppies they were."Well," Michael clapped his hands together. "I think we'll let you and your little friend unwind here for awhile and stew over..." He paused and I tried to remember when I'd ever heard him talk so...wrong. "Hmmm... Life, how about you think about life?"The three of them laughed and that was getting old. None of this was funny, they weren't funny. I laughed entirely too hard and loud and the three of them looked shocked. Didn't they know me well enough by now to know that I didn't like to play games? Didn't they know that I was going to be the same obstinate woman I've always been? It was almost as if they didn't know me at all.I kept laughing and smiling. The smile was real because Kyle joined me with the laughing. We looked at each other and continued laughing. But at this point we were the only ones laughing. The others had stopped.Why did they all look surprised?Hmmm... Strange things were afoot.Why was something feeling just a little bit off?\*Chapter SixteenI kept laughing while every single fucking wheel in my head was spinning out of control. I nudged Kyle in the ribcage and made sure he kept laughing as well. I figured what the hell? If the people we loved were going to kill us, then we weren't going to give them the satisfaction of going down crying."Shut up." That was Rena. Damn! I was really happy when she was dead.When she was dead.When Max told me she was dead. Or taken care of or something like that. Rat bastard. I knew he had to be laying in wait around here somewhere.I stopped laughing as abruptly as I had started. Kyle stopped with me. I wonder if he was getting the feeling that something wasn't right too. I mean I know something was wrong, fuck me, everything was wrong, but there was something that just felt a little more off.It was like Michael and Tess didn't know me. Or Kyle. It was almost like we were meeting for the first time. Hell, even Rena in all her bitchiness was acting just a little bit off. I think I might go back to my theory that we stepped into the Twilight Zone. I was hit with the urge to sing the Golden Earring song, but I refrained. There would be time for that later. Hopefully.I looked at Michael. I mean I really looked at him. He was wearing black jeans. Okay, that was wrong. He's only worn jeans like three times. When he was pretending to be my brother and maybe a couple of times after that. Michael just wasn't a jean kind of guy. The black T-shirt was wrong too. It wasn't tailored so it didn't fit him quite right. It fit, just not as good as they normally do. Black boots? Yeah, those must be new. Well fuck, nothing else was making sense, why the wardrobe bothered me so much I have no idea."Are you hungry?" Tess asked.I just looked at her. No I wasn't fucking hungry and I doubt Kyle was either. I would gag if I ate anything. I was about to gag now as it was."No," Kyle said loudly with hate in his eyes. "No Tess, I'm not hungry. I'm so not hungry that I don't know if I will ever actually eat again."Oh shit."As a matter of fact Tess, I can think of a million things I want to do and eating is not one of them, Tess."Double shit. He was using her name to try to get to her. I hope that didn't backfire because I don't know how well I could comfort an upset Kyle right now."And another thing Tess, how the fuck could you say you'd marry me when this...This little... Whatever the fuck you're doing, was in the works? Do you not have a heart, Tess? Was everything just a lie, Tess?"I almost started clapping. I would have but I could almost feel Rena's hand on my face if I did and I had a funny feeling that my knight in black leather wasn't going to do bumpkis about it this time.I watched Tess and I didn't know her. The sweet little cosmetologist was gone. Her warm pretty blue eyes had been replaced with something icy. Me thinks I don't like the new Tess very much.I looked back to Michael. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Period. I tried but it was a no go. There was something so wrong that if I didn't know it was him I would have never believed it. My warm and loving husband was gone. If he was ever really there at all, he wasn't anymore. When I looked at him I didn't see the deep eyes I used to stare into. I didn't see the love that I used to. I didn't see shit. I saw a stranger that looked like my Michael.But his hair was a little different.And so was his gait.And so was everything.I got a chill right up my spine.It was right in front of me but I couldn't see it.I remembered an old saying about a forest and trees but then I started throwing bears in there and got confused. Damn!\*Dusk was passing in DC. Maria Guerin and Kyle Valenti had been missing for almost twenty-four hours.Max Evans paced the same way he had been for the entire day. When his sister had tried to talk to him, he ignored her."Are they alive?" Tess asked through a tear stained face. The ferocity of sadness and despair had taken her over hours earlier.Michael couldn't answer her. He didn't want to answer her. She had asked the same question several times throughout the day and he could only look at her."Answer me!" Tess stood and yelled clenching her hands into tight fists."I don't know, Tess." Michael heard the crack in his voice and he damned it. "We don't know who they are or what they want.""Why didn't you tell us before? Why didn't you tell us, Max and I, when you found out?"Isabel stood beside Michael. "We decided against it, together."Tess laughed but it was a bitter sound. "That shit might have worked in another lifetime but it doesn't fly here! I don't care about hierarchy or royalty or any of that bullshit. You both withheld information, important information, and look where it got you! Kyle and Maria are gone.""We'll get them back," Michael wiped dry eyes."How? Can you tell her that, Michael?" Max stood behind Tess in a sense of figurative reinforcement. "You still haven't told us anything and we've been sitting here for almost an entire day."Isabel and Michael exchanged glances before Isabel answered. "I saw something.""What?" Max snapped to attention at his sister's admission."It was about a week ago and I was at work, I was in Michael's office," she looked at Michael who nodded for her to continue. "I guess it was like a vision.""A vision?" Tess snapped.Isabel shrugged. "Kind of, but it was more like an instant memory. I knew without a doubt that we weren't alone and they were close.""You just knew?" Max shook his head and glanced from Michael to Isabel, she nodded. Sudden hurt became evident. "And you went to him, not me?"Isabel closed her eyes and nodded."Now what, Michael?" Max snapped. "Now what do we do?"\*Chapter SeventeenI turned my eyes away from Michael, I had to. Again, my bravado was slipping fast. My eyes traveled so insanely slow to Rena. I figured Kyle had the Tess angle going on so I might as well deal with my own personal nightmare.She glanced at me.Those were so not her eyes.I mean they were her eyes in the fact that they were in her head; but otherwise, they were so not hers. Familiar? Yes. Rena's? Not a chance.Oh shit.There's no way.What the fuck?Isabel?My knees were going weak again and I fought the urge to vomit. I knew those eyes and they belonged to Isabel Whitman. My best girl friend. Talk about a double fucking whammy. I didn't understand it but I think I was too pissed to care.I bit back stupid tears and crossed my arms over my chest. I can do this. I can totally do this. I was alone before and I managed just fine. I can do it again. No big. I knew I should have never let my guard down. I should have never trusted anyone besides my sidekick and myself."Fuck you." Again with the creativity."No Maria," that was Michael and I didn't care for his tone too much. "Fuck you!"That wasn't Michael. Not the Michael that I fell in love with. This was someone new. Someone foreign. Someone alien. That made me giggle. The alien shit always did one of two things to me. It either made me laugh or made me scared. Tonight, it made me laugh. Today. Whatever.I could tell Michael was angry. I didn't give a flying fuck. He stormed over to me and grabbed my hair. I froze. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't believe that this was happening.I let him pull my hair. But only for a second. No one was pulling my hair. I pulled a move on him that I must have picked up watching one those Kung Fu movies with Kyle. I felt like Jackie Chan with tits. I have no idea what I did, but it worked out beautifully. Michael was on his back and I was straddling him. Normally I would have thought of something mischievous and/or totally lewd. Right now all I could think of was how to hurt him.I knew he was stronger than I was. That was a given. I knew he could blast me off of him, but I didn't care. I held his wrists with my hands and I had one of those Vulcan death grips on them. He wasn't budging. Period. I peered down into his eyes and wondered how long he had been fucking Tess. I could smell her on him and it made me sick.He licked his lips and stared right back at me."Whatcha going to do now, Maria?"Michael didn't talk like this."Scared Maria?"I ground my pelvis into his and felt an obnoxious belt buckle. It was silver. It wasn't black on black like it should have been."Scared Michael?" I wonder if I sounded as evil as I felt. I wanted him to hurt the way I did. I wanted him to feel the betrayal that I did. I doubt he would since I hadn't done anything wrong, but it was worth a shot. "How long have you been fucking Tess?" Damn. Didn't want to just blurt that out that way.He laughed underneath me and ground himself into me, his hips lifting off the ground. Before today, I would have ripped his clothes off. Today, I only wanted to rip his head off."Stop it." That was Rena.I looked up to her fire engine red hair and eyes that didn't belong to her. "Fuck you too, Isabel." Damn. Didn't want to blurt that out either. Not so good with the secret keeping today."Maria?" Kyle said my name slowly.Damn! Forgot about Kyle standing right there. I got off of Michael and stood to face Kyle. Michael stood up too. I could hear him breathing in back of me. Kyle looked from Michael to Tess and back again; anger obviously rising in him.He surprised me. Without a second to prepare for what he was going to do, he flew by me and tackled Michael. I couldn't believe it. I stood in shock as Kyle proceeded to pummel Michael's face with angry fists. Go Kyle!I should have known it wasn't going to last long. Michael fought off Kyle and Kyle landed on his ass on the floor. I was at his side in seconds, my hands on his arms."Let me go Maria," he seethed. Yes, he actually seethed."No," I pressed myself into him and held him tight. "He'll kill you!" I hissed that into his ear."He already has."Shit.Kyle fought me to get up. He didn't win. "Stay down Kyle.""How could they do this?" His voice cracked along with my heart.I didn't have an answer for him. I didn't have an answer for me. I had no fucking answers for anything. I did, however, have a boatload of questions.I felt Michael's breath on my neck and it sent shivers down my spine. "Maria."I lost it. I let go of Kyle and spun around. My foot came up and made contact with his chest. I didn't knock the wind out of him, but close. He was on me in an instant. He grabbed my arms and I fought like hell to get away but he was stronger. I felt the buttons on my shirt pop off one by one. My shirt hung open, sweaty tits exposed to the world. He was in back of me, holding me tight against him. I tried to kick backwards but it wasn't hard enough to do any damage. He just laughed. I tried to remember every tactical movement I had ever learned and came up with nothing. His hands loosed on my arms but before I could react, he crossed them over my chest, cupping my bare breasts forcefully."Let go of me." I said the words slowly and calculated.He answered me with a nipple tweak. Not good."Let her go." Tess stood in front of us.I raised one eyebrow at her as Michael slid one arm around my chest. I felt his other one on my abdomen. Uh-oh. I felt his fingertips underneath the waistband of my leather pants for a nanosecond before his hand slid into my pants. I fought like hell to get away. I bit his arm and he released me. I turned on him, I should have run, but I wanted to fight.Rage blinded me as I charged him. We both went sailing and landed on the ground. My fists had a mind of their own as they battered his face. He was pushing me off of him without success. I briefly thought about that old phrase "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." I'd like to paraphrase that a little. "Hell doesn't hold a candle to a Maria scorned." Ha!"Maria!" Kyle was trying to pull me off of Michael, but I wasn't done beating him yet."Stop!" The scream sent shivers down my spine. It was Isabel.I turned around and wearing Rena clothes was Isabel. I was right. I didn't understand it and I sure as hell didn't like it, but I was right. I knew those eyes and they looked right at home on the face of Isabel Whitman. Bitch."Get up," she ordered and for some reason, I listened. So did Michael. She turned to Michael. "Stop it, you might hurt the baby."Baby?\*Chapter Eighteen"I just can't believe you didn't tell us!" Max snapped in his sister's face. "How could you not?""I didn't..." Isabel threw her hands in the air, her voice rose with each word. "I don't know, Max. I'm sorry, okay? I screwed up and I can barely keep myself together because of it, okay? I would do anything to change what happened. Maria and Kyle are gone. I will kill to get them back."Max nodded slowly and looked at Michael. "You?"Michael laughed bitterly. "You know how I feel. No one will stand in my way of finding my wife. And Kyle.""Or mine," Tess chimed in wiping bitter tears away with the back of her hand. A casual glance at the engagement ring on her finger was not lost on anyone in the room."Ditto." Alex yawned somewhat waking from a sitting catnap."Then are we going to do something about it?" Max asked with ferocity and looked around at each of them. "Are we going to do something to get back the two people who have managed to save all of our asses? Or are we going to just sit around and wait for the bodies to surface?"Michael cringed at the image. "We're going to get them back safe and sound.""I'll lay my life down for either of them," Tess sniffled. "They risked their lives for me," she glanced at Michael. "For us."Michael crooked his arm towards the small blonde inviting her next to him. He kissed the top of her head. "We love them. And we owe them."Isabel nodded. "We all owe them."Max finally smiled and clapped his hands together. "Alright then. Let's go get our Captain back!"\*Again. Baby?I knew she wasn't talking about me. I doubt she would be calling me 'the baby' and I sure as hell wasn't pregnant so I didn't know what she was talking about. I didn't even want to think about that remark right now...And then the unthinkable happened. I watched it with my own two eyes, but I couldn't fucking believe what I was seeing.I think my mouth dropped about a foot as they eyes of my friend started to match the face. It was completely Isabel now without a doubt. Her hair, her jaw line, her smile. I think she waved her hand over herself or I could have made that part up, I'm not sure. Didn't matter because she was no longer my worse nightmare but my friend. My friend whose ass I was going to severely kick. Now I had too many questions about what happened outside of that bar in Roswell. I think my brain might explode.So she could change into someone else. I shrugged to myself. I didn't think there was anything else that could surprise me right now. My world was flipped upside down. Bring it on. I was ready.Isabel walked closer to me and I got the same feeling from her that I had from Michael. There was something off just a little bit.I fell into an abyss of my own mind as I began to reevaluate things. Nothing was right. Nothing was normal. I remembered meeting Isabel and calling her Barbie for awhile. I remember running with her and Kyle and that really big fucking dip in the park. I remember the way she stood by my side and helped us take down Section. Then why...?Why befriend me for over a year if all she was going to do is kidnap me, belittle me and fight me? Why dress up as Rena? Why did this make even less sense?My attention went back to Michael. I looked at him, I mean I looked through him. This wasn't right. My Sweet Michael could have never fought me. He would have never laid a violent hand on me. He loved me."Maria?"I heard Kyle but I was getting closer to the tree and forest analogy I had been trying to think of earlier. I shot the fucking bears and it was much clearer. I just needed another minute or two."Maria!" Kyle was adamant."What?" I snapped at him and then realized that he had just seen the same thing I had. The whole she was Rena and is now Isabel show.He pulled me away from the others, his hand tight on mine. "What the hell was that?"I shrugged. I had no idea. "Some weird alien shit."He looked like he was going to slap me; I would have if I were him. Good thing the shoes weren't on the other feet because I would be so black and blue by now."That's the best you can give me?" He shook his head. "Some weird alien shit?""Do you have a better answer?"Kyle seemed to think about it before shaking his head. I didn't think so. Some weird alien shit seemed to work for me. I took a deep breath and remembered my shirt was still hanging open. Nice. I tied the shirttails together underneath my breasts. Better."No, I don't have a better answer," he let out a deep breath and I realized he was in dire need of a tic-tac. "So again, I guess yours will do. So, do you have an answer as to what the fuck is going on yet? I keep thinking Rod Serling is going to walk in the room and announce that we've just stepped into the Twilight Zone."Were we separated at birth?At that particular moment in time I swear there was a light bulb burning brightly over my head. I turned around slowly and looked at each of the three aliens in question.I smiled without caring if it was going to earn me a bitch-slap or not. My brain was starting to absorb what was going on around here. There was a reason that everything was off a bit. I remembered that old saying now; you can't see the forest through the trees. Not only did I shoot the bears; I chopped down the fucking trees.With my hands on my hips and my chest out, where it should be, I cocked my head to one side with my famous confused dog look."Okay, so, who the fuck are you people?" I asked and was answered with three surprised stares back at me.Ha! And you can put that in your pipe and smoke it!\*Chapter NineteenKyle stiffened next to me. I really wanted to hear a collective gasp, but the chances of that were slim. So, I blew the lid off this charade. Now what?The three people in front of me who looked like people I loved, were strangers. I should have seen it right away, they were almost identical. Duplicates to Michael, Isabel and Tess. But they weren't them. They were so not anyone I knew. Maybe it was the Rena thing that threw me off. Maybe it was because I didn't think before I reacted, imagine that, or maybe I was scared, heartbroken and pissed off.I glanced sideways at Kyle to make sure he was still breathing. He was. He also had switched from the pissed off look to one of relief. Hallelujah!The Michael clone and the Isabel clone turned to each other before they looked back at us. Talk about getting the willies. But it was all much clearer now. I mean, not exactly like a glass of water clear, more like a frosty mug of beer clearer. I think I would actually give my right arm for a beer right now. Yum."I guess the dumb blonde isn't really so dumb, huh?" The Isabel-alike grinned. I hated her."No," I shook my head. "I'm not really blonde, I just play one on TV."That little quip earned me a smile from the Tess-alike. Not a real smile, but close enough. I guess I'll have to kill her last. Always good to have a plan. Not exactly my best plan, but it was a start. I was secretly waiting for the real Michael to show up and rescue us. I mean, he did totally owe us."So," The Isabel-alike walked to me and it made me kind of nervous.I was used to the Isabel who was my friend, not this freak who had been Rena a few minutes ago. I think the weirdness of that was finally settling in. I was officially weireded out."What's wrong Maria?"Damn! That was Isabel's voice but there was something a hell of a lot more icy about it. I didn't like it. I didn't like it all. Frankly, this Isabel-alike scared the bejesus out of me. It took every bit of strength in me not to fall down or run away when she stood directly in front of me. We stood like eye to chin and I felt the vibrations running through me. I really hoped I didn't shake or do anything stupid like kick her in the shin. That would probably not be in my best interest. I took a step backwards and she laughed."So, you're really not all that tough, are you?"Hate was not strong enough. Damn! I clenched my fists and felt a nice cool breeze on my skin that was peeking through my tied together shirt."I thought you'd be a little bit tougher."Was she asking for tough?"But you look like a deer caught in headlights," she laughed again."She looks okay to me," the Michael-alike stepped up next to her and eyed me.That was not a good. He had already had his hands on me once; I wasn't about to let that be a repeat performance. I took another step back and that earned me more laughter."I heard you were pretty difficult, Maria. You really don't seem that bad to me," the Isabel-alike reached to me and I froze. She tucked some loose strands of hair behind my ear and licked her lips. Her hand lingered on my cheek.Fuck me.I slapped her hand away and backed up bumping into Kyle who had somehow positioned himself almost in back of me. At least it was a familiar bump. She started laughing."I thought you liked girls. I mean, you were in prison, right?" The smile that was on her face was pure evil.So these wannabe's knew way too much about me. I didn't like that. I remembered the CD and letter that apparently started all of this. I know. So they didn't lie. They did know. What exactly they knew and how much was yet to be determined. But I knew something too. I know that I'm getting really pissed."Again," I cleared my throat. "Who. The. Fuck. Are. You?" I could see this whole situation going nowhere fast. I needed answers and I needed them right fucking now.The Tess-alike stepped forward so now all three of them were directly in front of me and Kyle was at my back."I guess we couldn't fool you for too long, could we?" The Tess-alike smiled sweetly. I hated her too.I didn't answer. I think the answer was obvious."My name is Ava." So the Tess-alike had a name. She pointed to the other two and introduced them. "This is Lonnie and that is Rath."Rath? What the fuck kind of name was Rath? I grinned. My Michael was so un-Rath-like it wasn't even funny. I almost stared laughing. I just imagined me murmuring the name Rath in ecstasy and it did nothing but make me laugh harder!"Something funny?" Lonnie asked.I nodded. "Oh my God! Did you pick those names out by yourself?"Ava answered. "Those were our names on our other planet."Oh. That shut me up. Talk of other planets and lifetimes always made me shut up. I always go by the old adage what I didn't know wouldn't hurt me. I guess I should have paid more attention..."You seem kind of clueless, Maria." Lonnie smiled at me and I wondered how I could have ever thought she was Isabel."I guess I kind of am," I admitted. It was the truth. I needed information and I needed it fast.What to do in an emergency situation? Stall. Keep them talking and try to formulate a real plan to get our asses out of here. Kyle was still at my back and I tried to mentally send him a message to stay quiet and listen."Maybe we should explain a little." Ava motioned to the back of the room.I looked over my shoulder and then turned around and walked further into the room. I plopped my ass down on the bed and grabbed Kyle's hand pulling him down next to me.The others sat at that little table, well Rath, still makes me giggle, stood. Here we go. Explainationville here I come!Lonnie started. "We need you to get us home."Home?"Well, we don't really need you." Rath licked his lips. "We just need your baby."There was that baby thing... Holy Shit! My baby? I don't have a baby. I think I got the confused dog look on my face."Ohhh..." Lonnie laughed. "We were wrong. She doesn't know! Congratulations Maria, you're going to be a mother!""For a minute maybe," Ava said. "Then you'll be dead."No quick comeback was waiting on my lips. I was going to be a mommy? But only for a minute then I was going to be dead? Fuck. That.\*Chapter TwentyMichael, Max and Tess arrived at the Guerin townhouse after leaving Alex and Isabel at home, just in case. Michael went straight to the bedroom with the other two in tow."What are you looking for?" Tess demanded."I know my wife. She was acting a little strange tonight, I think she knew something was going on..." He trailed off as he reached for the nightstand drawer."So she would hide it...There?" Max shook his head in confusion.Michael nodded and produced a folded piece of paper. He touched the top of Mr. Bear's head. "She keeps things safe with Mr. Bear."Tess and Max both smiled. They each thought of the strong and vivacious woman they knew and how even the strong can have a soft spot."Well?" Max grew impatient.Michael was already studying the paper in his hand, his eyebrows knitting together. He held it up for the other two to see. "This doesn't make sense... Why would they? It's too...Human.""'I know'?" Tess shrugged. "And that means...?""Who knows? What do they know?" Max shook his head again. "Who are they?" He finally asked the most important question."We think they're just like us."Max and Tess looked at each other then back at Michael."What do you mean?" Tess paused. "Exactly?"\*Kyle was holding my hand but I wasn't exactly sure when he had picked it up.I. Am. Pregnant? Oh. My. God!"Maria?" Kyle had his arm around me now.Baby?"Maria?"I looked down at my belly and wanted to cry. All the birth control issues I've had and sure as shit, I get pregnant. What the fuck? I looked back to the clones in front of me."I'm sorry," I cleared my throat and found my backbone. "Did you really just tell me that I was pregnant and that you needed my baby to get home?"They nodded and I laughed. Oh God, I laughed! This was entirely too insane to be real. Again, I was laughing alone, but I didn't give a fuck."You do understand that once we have your baby-- You're dead. Right?" Rath shook his head ever so slightly."And you think this is the way to do it?" I asked and looked at Kyle. He shrugged. "By the way, I got a question for you freaks."LonnieBitch nodded at me so I guess that meant for me to go ahead and ask."If you need this baby," I made little quotation marks in the air with my fingers. Still not convinced I was pregnant. "Wait...I need to get this straight. You say that I'm pregnant and you need my baby to get home, right? I assume when you mean home you mean like another planet somewhere far, far away, right?" I didn't wait for an answer but just kept talking. "Well, that all sounds like a plan but I'm a bit confused on a few things." I nodded at Kyle next to me. "If you needed me so bad, well, this baby, then why did you take Kyle? What does he have to do with anything?"LonnieBitch said, "First I think you need a little history lesson, Maria."Great. I always sucked at history."From what we've gathered, you really don't know all that much. Kind of stupid, actually."I so did not like the way this was going. "Fuck you." Damn. I swear it just slips out when I'm not expecting it.I didn't see Ava move but I felt her hand on my face. The little bitch slapped me!"I suggest you shut up." Ava's words were cold and calculating.Maybe I would have to bump her up on the "to kill" list. Regardless, I shut up and turned my attention back to LonnieBitch. Stall Maria..."Anyway," LonnieBitch didn't seem the least bit disturbed with the interruption of her spiel. "You are obviously clueless as to what is going on with your husband and the rest of them."Crap."Let's go back to last year sometime when the big secret was let out of the bag. When you found out about the others. Michael, Isabel, Tess and Max. Do you remember that night?"Gee, uh...Yeah, I remember that night. It was the single freakiest night of my life. Of course I remember. Outside of the bar. I thought Michael was dead. Isabel saved him, cured him, and Rena... My eyes flew wide open. The light bulb above my head turned on high voltage."It was you," I pointed at LonnieBitch. "It was you there that night, wasn't it?"She clapped slowly. "Brava for Maria.""You were Rena that night, she was already dead wasn't she?" Damn!"Nicely done. I disposed of her that day and took her form. I had to see what this other set could or would do. We needed to know how powerful they were.""But..." Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. "You already knew... About them? You've known about them but they didn;t know about you?"The three of them exchanged a look that I didn't like. They knew a hell of a lot more than they were ever going to tell me. Enough with the pussyfooting around. I stood and looked at Kyle. I was ready to go."Ready?"Kyle stood and I took his hand that I apparently had let go of at some time in the last minute. That's when I realized why they took Kyle.With a movement like nothing I had ever seen before, Ava was in-between Kyle and me. She had her hands around his throat in like a nanosecond."Leaving Maria?" LonnieBitch asked and stood next to Ava. I watched as Ava squeezed Kyle's throat."Let him go, bitch."She squeezed tighter. "Sit down."I sat. Damn! They knew exactly what they were doing. They used the one person who didn't have a chance alone against them that they knew I would do anything to protect. I would do anything to keep Kyle safe and they knew it. Fuck me!Ava released Kyle and he collapsed next to me on the bed. He was rubbing his throat and his eyes were watery. Great.Change of plans. Kyle and I were not going to be able to stroll out of here. So I might, and I use this term extremely loosely, be knocked up and they need this baby to get back to wherever. They thought, not so loose on that term, they had me over the proverbial barrel by using Kyle as a pawn. Well, I have got severe news for these freaks. I'll listen and I'll play along for a little bit until I figure out exactly what the hell is going on, then watch the fuck out. They won't know what hit them when I lay the Maria-Smackdown on them!\*
hapter Twenty OneWith my adrenaline in check, I listened. A quick glance to Kyle let me know that he was going to back me in whatever I decided to do."Okay," LonnieBitch rested her foot on the bed beside me and I had to fight myself not to rip it off of her. She grinned. Fuck. I hope she's not a mind reader. "This is the story. You now know it was me that night when the true alien identities were exposed. I was there to see what they were capable of and frankly, not all that impressed. You however, Maria, have impressed us all."And that's exactly what I was shooting for. Riiiight."You are a human. A very simple human and yet you seem to possess a will to live and save far beyond any other human we've had contact with. I see now why the other leader chose you as his bride." She glanced quickly to Rath. "But now here is the problem we have. I don't know how much you know..."I tried to wipe the blank stare from my face and cursed myself for all the ignorance is bliss shit I was so fond of spouting."But we're from another planet, all of us. There were two sets made and we're one and the people you know are one. Obviously, they don't know about us. Well, they might by now if Isabel is receiving the same kind of communications that I have I have been."Say what? The secret. Damn!"We're being summoned home because there is a new heir."I glanced down at my belly and felt incredibly ill."That's right," LonnieBitch leaned into me so close I could smell the peppermint on her breath. "Your baby. How it happened like this, I don't know."That makes two of us. Wait a minute, did she say heir?"We found out about the others a long time ago, but we never knew where they were because they weren't together. The four of us, we stayed together."Four? I was pretty sure there were only three in front of me. "Uh, yeah. There's only three of you here."Rath slung his arm over Lonnie and licked her earlobe. I was so going to vomit."Yeah, there's Lonnie's brother around here somewhere." Rath grinned and reached around her and squeezed her breast.Okay. I exchanged a quick look with Kyle and saw the same confusion.Lonnie pushed Rath away before she spoke again. "We thought we'd never even have to deal with the others. Then a little more than a year ago, right after we found them, I got this killer vision and I knew how we could get home." She looked at Rath. "With his child. His child would be the heir to rule our home planet and once the child was born we would be able to get home.""Call-A-Spaceship?" I shrugged.LonnieBitch smiled and I didn't like it too much. "Something like that. But for some reason we think Rath here is shooting blanks.""Or maybe I was just fucking the wrong women," Rath added with a look first at Lonnie and then at Ava."Either way, it wasn't going to happen. So we were screwed," she laughed, "literally. Then low and behold about a week ago I got this killer headache and with this headache came the message that our ticket home had been conceived."Ava walked over to them and stood on the other side of Rath. "And it's in your belly."Okay. I nodded. This all sounded reasonable enough. I mean, they wanted to get home and apparently my baby was the only way. I still had a boatload of questions but I didn't think these... These dupes were going to answer them. Well, maybe a few."Okay," I smiled and licked my lips. "So you're going to keep us here until I have this baby, right?" They all nodded. "For nine months you're going..." They were all smiling at me now. Didn't like that too much. "What?""It's not nine months," Rath raised his eyebrows. "It's more like two months and in reality, we can cut it out of you in about three weeks."Oh shit. I was going to have a baby in less than two months?"In a..." What? I think I heard him right, they were going to cut it out of me in three weeks?!"I think she gets it now," Ava grinned and looped her arms through Rath's.Oh yeah, I got it. Fear coursed through me. I was suddenly struck with the notion that I was really going to be a mother and I had to make damn sure that I got this baby to safety before the terrible trio hurt her. Her?They backed up a little and that was a good. Gave me a little space to breathe. Or maybe to put a little distance between us. Enough distance that I didn't do anything foolish. Not like I would have anyway. Riiiight."We're going to leave you alone for a bit, make yourselves at home." Lonnie smiled. She was evil. Pure evil. "But don't try anything stupid."Who? Us?"I have a question," I stood up and my hands found their way to my hips in that defiant pose I sometimes got. "Now that I kind of know who you are in some freaky alien way, could you please tell us where we are?"They looked at each other and then Ava spoke. "Somewhere close to home."I wanted to ask if it was their home or mine but didn't. I didn't want to push it too far right now. The element of surprise was always better. Without a word LonnieBitch stalked over to me. Damn! She took my shirttails and ripped my shirt right off me. She left me standing there with my tits exposed to the world and walked out of the room with her entourage in back of her.Kyle was trying to hand me his shirt before I could even realize what was going on. He slipped it on over my head and then I started to cry. The Smackdown was on hold.Temporarily."You're going to be a mother," Kyle was smiling at me.Through the tears I saw his face and I smiled back. Of course it was accompanied by some horrendous snorting noises. Kyle was right. Maria Guerin was going to be a mother. A strong, fighting, never giving up mother. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand and nodded. With one hand over my belly, I wiped my eyes with the other one.I listened to what these freaks had to say. Didn't like what I heard."Ready to blow this taco stand?" The Valenti charm was oozing off of Kyle."You got that right, partner." I smiled and felt the electricity running through my veins."So, what's the plan?"Plan? I nodded once as every Maria I've ever been soared through me. They all melted into this new me, Mommy Maria. And they were all pissed. No way in hell was anyone taking my baby from me. I'd lay my life down for this baby, but I have a feeling it won't come to that!I looked around the room as a plan began to slowly form in my head.\*
Chapter Twenty TwoMichael Guerin tried to organize his thoughts as the trio left his townhouse. He hoped Isabel was explaining the situation further to Alex while they waited at home. With a longing look over his shoulder at the home he shared with the woman he loved, he got into the car and closed his eyes for an extended blink.Max drove with Michael in the front seat and Tess hanging over from the back. Michael fingered the paper in his hands and read it over and over and over."It's not going to change no matter how many times you read it," Tess smiled sadly and gripped Michael's shoulder."It doesn't feel right," he said in a voice he wasn't comfortable with."What doesn't feel right?" Max snapped as he cornered the car just a little too fast. "None of this feels right."Michael nodded slowly. "Maybe it was supposed to be you.""Me what?" Max's tone was sharp."You were supposed to be the leader, I'm not a leader."Max let out a deep breath before speaking. "I don't care about that anymore, Michael. I've accepted the fact that you are in charge and my sister is your back-up and that's all fine with me. But here's where the problem with it comes in. You and Isabel kept this from me and Tess and Maria and Kyle and now we have no idea what's happened to them. We could have helped Michael!" Max slammed his palm down on the steering wheel. "Maybe we would have seen something you and Iz didn't!""Max is right," Tess said slowly. "I know you feel the same pain I do Michael, but maybe this could have been avoided if you would have come to us. Why didn't you?"Michael licked his lips and glanced out the window before speaking. "We were going to, I already told you that. We were trying to make sense of it and we couldn't.""So, there are people like us. Exactly." Tess recounted what Michael had already told them. "From what you said at Isabel's you don't know who they are or what they want and so far they are our best guess at to what happened to Kyle and Maria. Right?"Michael turned his head to look at the strong blonde with the fiery blue eyes and nodded."Start at the beginning Michael. Tell us about Isabel's vision, or what did she call it? An instant memory? ""She saw another set of people who looked just like us, but different." Michael ran his hands through his hair. "She saw them and we were all together, but she didn't recognize where we were. She said it had an eerie glow to it, like we were all in a purple haze.""Like Jimi Hendrix," Max smiled and knew that Maria would have beaten him to it had she been there.Michael smiled and thought that his wife would have said the same thing. "All Isabel could tell for sure was that they were looking for something and they thought we had it. They wanted to be somewhere else and thought we could get them there.""Somewhere else?" Tess whispered. "Like where we came from?"Michael shrugged. "That's all that Isabel and I could come up with, but we're not sure about anything. We've been beating ourselves up for the last week trying to figure out what it meant if it meant anything at all, then we got some kind of confirmation that we weren't alone. That her vision could have been dead on.""What kind of confirmation?" Max parked the car in front of the Whitman residence and killed the engine."I saw myself," Michael faced the other two aliens in the car and tilted his head to one side. "I saw myself walking down the street outside of Section."\*The plan wasn't thought out and it probably wasn't very good but it was the best I could come up with in the few minutes I gave myself. I knew that Michael was working on finding us, and technically we had three weeks before they could do any cutting on me, yet I found no comfort in that. There was some more ass saving to do and this time it was our own.I looked down at the shirt I was wearing and gave one of those half-assed smiles to Kyle. I don't know what I would do without him. Without warning I clutched my stomach and screamed. I saw Kyle jump towards me and I winked at him. The plan was set in motion. I kept screaming and fell to the ground and kept my figurative fingers crossed that I wasn't going to end up getting us all killed. Or seriously injured.\*Chapter Twenty ThreeI kept screaming and writhing on the floor. I imagined I looked like a freaked out breakdancer, but hey, if it got the job done then so be it. I opened my eyes long enough to look at Kyle. I could almost see the hamster running on the wheel inside his head."Hey!" Kyle yelled. God love him. "She needs help! Hey!"I didn't want to turn around or even open my eyes again, but I could hear Kyle banging on what I assumed was the wacky wall/door. My throat was getting sore from the screaming but I had to keep it up, couldn't let the plan fail before it got kicked into motion.I heard the slide of the door thing and my heart began to pound. I didn't really like the idea of starting out on the floor, but beggars can't be choosers and Maria doesn't give a shit because she is so getting the fuck outta here and taking the posse with her. When I start to think in third person I do get a little worried. When I call Kyle Valenti and my unborn baby the posse-- I should be scared. But for some reason I was comforted."What the fuck is going on?" That was Lonnie.As shrill as Isabel's voice got when she was pissed off about something, her voice would never capture the sheer evilness that I heard in Lonnie's.I looked up at her though slit eyes and let out one last scream. That was about two seconds before she jabbed me in the throat with the toe of her ultra unstylish black boot. Yet another thing her and Isabel did not have in common. Isabel would not be caught dead in those boots.Fuck! That hurt. I gagged, a little exaggeratedly, and clutched my stomach. I rolled over on my side and saw Kyle's feet in the distance. Only Kyle's feet. No one else had come in with Lonnie. With a smile, I groaned and reached outwards with those wicked superhero reflexes I sometimes get. I grabbed Lonnie by the ankle and hauled her ass down on the floor with me."What the..." Those were the only words out of her mouth before my fist met it.Damn! She had me by the wrist in a half a heartbeat. It was fast and I know my heart was fucking racing so half a heartbeat is pretty damn accurate! But she was on the floor where she didn't expect she'd be. Bully for me! She may be faster and stronger but she was also surprised.I saw Kyle flash by out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn't worry about him right now. I hoped he was going to go play look out for the others. Or maybe just sticking his foot in-between the actual door and the wall to keep it open. I was ready to run like a bat outta hell out of this funhouse that was not even close to fun."What do you think you're doing?" Lonnie sneered at me and spit out blood. Fortunately, she didn't know how to spit that well and the spitty blood just dribbled down her chin making her look kind of stupid."Getting the fuck out of here!" I said the words with conviction and freed my wrist from her grasp.Technically I had the upper hand because she was still on the floor and she was on her back. I was barely above her, but from where I was at I thought my kneecap would connect nicely with her already swollen jaw. Ha! It did."Bitch!" Lonnie tried to scream but I covered her mouth with the same knee.Hallelujah for leather pants! I felt her trying to bite my knee but the leather was keeping me safe. I swear I will never again wear anything except leather pants."Maria!" Kyle's voice was urgent coming from the open door.I looked over at him and secured Lonnie's other wrist with my other knee; if anyone would have walked in they probably would have thought we were involved in a very bizarre game of twister. Or they could walk in and zap me out of this world."Can we go?" Kyle raised his hands up and shrugged."Can you give me a minute here Valenti," I sighed and with a mental eye roll I looked down at Lonnie. Fuck, she was pissed! I leaned in a little closer to my prisoner, which was mistake number one. The only one I'm sure I'll make. Riiiight.I wasn't paying attention to her legs; she swiveled at the waist and got me in the side with the toe of one of those ugly boots. It hurt like a mother and I let out a little yelp. I saw Kyle move towards me and that was a bad."No!" I shouted at him. "Stay there." I looked back down at Lonnie and smiled as evilly as I could. "I'm almost done here."My knee was off her mouth by now and I saw the corners of her lips turn up into something some might call a smile. Me? I'll just refer to it as the last face she'll ever make."You won't get out of here alive," Lonnie seethed.Yeah, I'd heard that before, yet, here I am. "Wanna bet?""Your baby will get us home and you and your little friend will be nothing but dust."Dust? I didn't really look all that good in dust color. I nodded and saw that fucking foot coming at me again. This time I was ready, the pain in my side reminding me to always be ready for another attack of the ugly boots. I had to move over her a little to dodge the boot and my attention broke away from her face, when I looked back at her, I lost my grip. For a second.She wasn't evil Lonnie anymore. She was Isabel."Maria!" That was Isabel's voice. "What are you doing?"I shook my head once letting my breath out slow. That was not Isabel. That was not Isabel."Maria! Let me up!" The voice... The diction...It was all Isabel.I closed my eyes for an extended blink and tried to stop my heart from pounding out of my chest. It wasn't Isabel. It was LonnieBitch. It was not Isabel Whitman. It was not my friend Isabel."Please Maria," the voice was pleading."Fuck you," I stammered the words out and that pissed me off.She had me on this one. I couldn't kill my friend. But this wasn't Isabel. Or was it? Is it live or is it Memorex? Not Isabel. Lonnie. Lonnie who wants to cut my baby out of me. I closed my eyes again. Think Maria! Think!!My eyes flew open and I faced her. I saw this indescribable evilness slink through her eyes and I was good. I could kill her. She may be a big bad alien with powers that I'll never be able to match, but fuck it, I was Maria Guerin and I was seriously pissed."Mar-""Shut the fuck up," I found my backbone. Since I was still in control, I let go of her wrist and pulled her up by her hair until she was facing me. I leaned in close and straddled her; I wanted nothing to do with those boots coming at me again. My breath was hot against her face. "Hey Lonnie, you know what I have for you? I have your very own theme song for you."I saw the confusion on her face and it made me stronger."I fought the Maria and the Maria won..." I sang the words and with a motion Jackie Chan would be proud of, I cupped her chin and snapped her neck.I dropped her lifeless body and stood up on weak knees. I looked down at her and tears streamed down my cheeks. I cried not because I killed someone, I've done that to save the ones I love before. I cried because it was actually sinking in that I was going to be a mother. I, Maria Guerin, was going to have a baby. Oh. My. God.\*Chapter Twenty FourThrough teary vision I saw that Kyle was still manning his post at the door. That made me proud. Of course he had that worried old man look thing going on, but I'll let that slide."Is she...?" Kyle was speaking softly. "Are you...?""She is," I nodded. "And I'm fine."I walked towards him and glanced over my shoulder at LonnieBitch's dead body crumpled on the floor. Disgust filled my mouth. Then my hands flew protectively to my stomach. Oh shit. I wonder if that was going to happen all the time now?"Hey," Kyle called from the door. I looked up at him and saw him smiling. "You are so going to be the best mommy on the block."Somehow in this mess that has become my life, Kyle Valenti made me laugh. I wiped away the stupid tears and strode, yes I strode, towards him."So," Kyle touched my stomach with his palm. "Mom. How do we get out of here?"Good question. I was fuzzy on exactly where we were anyway so thinking of a way out seemed inappropriate. Good thing Inappropriate was my middle name."Well young Mr. Valenti, me thinks we should walk out that door and see what the other wannabe's are up to. Then we should kill them and go home. Sound good?" Kyle nodded but a grim thing was going on behind his eyes. I sighed. "What?""I...You...You're going to be a mother, Maria," he smiled but it wasn't one of those full-blown Valenti grins. "Did you have any idea?"I shook my head. I didn't have a fucking clue. Shit.I didn't have a darn clue. Shoot.Fuck. Not today."Is everything...Okay?"Okay? I knew where this was going. Kyle was worried about the alien part of the baby. That was something I didn't even want to think about. I didn't have time to think about that right now. All I had time to do was think about how in the hell we were going to get past the others and get home."Everything's cool, Valenti." I chucked him on the shoulder. "However, everything will be cooler once we get the fuck outta Dodge.""You're going to have to quit swearing," he grinned.No shit. "I know, but today just isn't going to be the day. So, crazy alien hideout?" I raised my eyebrows."Fuck'em."That's my boy.\*"You saw yourself?" Tess asked quietly as her attention was drawn to the Whitman's front door. "Alex?"Both Michael and Max turned towards the house. The conversation about Michael seeing himself walking down the street was momentarily forgotten as they saw Alex Whitman barreling to the car. Within a second, both men were outside of the car with Tess in back of them."Isabel!" The urgency in his voice was extreme.Without hesitation, Michael and Max ran to the house and burst through the front door with Max on top of Michael's heels. Tess and Alex pulled up the rear.Isabel Whitman's hair was slicked back against her head with sweat; her complexion was ashen as she lay on the couch in the Whitman living room. Michael and Max were kneeling at her side immediately."Iz?" Max's voice was heavy with concern. "What happened? Are you okay?"Isabel nodded weakly and cleared her throat. "My head hurts.""She saw something," Alex supplied as he knelt down at the head of the couch. He smoothed his wife's hair and then kissed the top of her head."You had another...Vision?" Michael's eyes narrowed."Yes," Isabel managed to sit up straight, clutching the sides of her head as she did. A slight smile crossed over her lips. "I saw myself, well her, I saw her.""The one who looks like you?" Tess asked from in back of Michael.Isabel nodded slightly. "This was clearer than before. I almost felt like I was there. She's dead." She looked at Michael and then added quickly, "The one who looks like me. She's dead.""Are you sure?" Max asked. "How do you know?"Another nod. "I'm sure. It was almost like I was there, or like a part of me died too. I think I saw through her eyes as she died.""What did you see?" Tess placed her hands on Michael's shoulders for support and comfort.Isabel licked her lips and smiled at Michael. "I saw Maria."With a deep sigh and a growing smile, Michael leaned back against Tess' legs. "Sweet Maria.""Did you see anyone else? Anything else?" Hope filled the small blondes voice."I didn't see Kyle, I'm so sorry Tess. But that doesn't mean anything." Isabel met her friend's eyes then the other two aliens. "But I think I know where they are."\*Kyle and I skulked out of the room like two teenagers afraid of getting caught sneaking a smoke behind the house. If things were only that simple. We were back in the hall but it looked different to me. I glanced at Kyle and knew we were on the same page. Everything was smaller. Much, much smaller. And oddly wrong."Is this...?" Kyle trailed off and touched the wall.I watched in fascination as he tapped what had seemed like a sturdy wall, and it swayed. It was fucking drywall!"Strange things are afoot in the alien hideaway," I whispered and stood next to Kyle at the wall."I don't think things are exactly what they seem to be." Kyle looked at me.No shit. "How did it look so different before? How could it change so fast?""Mind warp." Kyle answered.Mind warp? Oh shit, that was one of those alien things that I never paid attention to, right?"Mind warp," I nodded and tried to think if I had ever heard that phrase before. My blond head was empty."You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?" Kyle raised his eyebrows at me and shook his head. "You really should pay more attention to these things.""Are you going to lecture me or explain what the fuck is going on?" I rolled my eyes and stood with my hands on my hips."Tess can do a mind warp," he looked down the empty hall in both directions before continuing. "Its like she can make you see something differently than the way it really is.""No shit?""No shit. She doesn't use it, but she can do it.""We were mind warped?" Fury stormed through me.He nodded slowly and pointed back to the door of the room we had just come from. I turned and what had been a wacky sliding door/wall was now just a door. A plain old door. One I could have easily kicked my way out of. Damn!"So Ava...?" I paused and closed my eyes for an extended blink.Kyle snapped and I opened my eyes. I looked at him and I think I actually saw the light bulb blink on over his head. "They don't know! They let their guard down because they thought Lonnie could deal with us. Tess can't hold a mind warp for too long, so I guess that maybe Ava can't either?"This was making sense in that freaky alien kind of way."They don't know we're out of the room Maria," Kyle grinned."Then what the fuck are we waiting for?" I grabbed Kyle's hand in mine and we lurked down the drywall hall in the opposite direction of the holding room.About ten feet down the hall I saw a crack in the drywall and my curiosity got the best of me. I stopped Kyle and we peeked through. They say curiosity killed the cat. However curiosity only made the Maria want to hurl.\*Chapter Twenty FiveWithin minutes of Isabel's announcement that she thought she knew where Maria and Kyle were, the small group was on their way to the airport. Michael rode shotgun with Tess on his lap and Alex driving, a cell phone against his ear making hurried orders to an unseen minion."We have a plane waiting," Michael announced after ending the call."Are you sure that's where they are, Iz?" Tess asked turning around to face the other female alien.Isabel shook her head. "No, I'm not one hundred percent sure, but it seemed so clear. It kinda makes sense, doesn't it?""Nothing around here makes sense," Max murmured from beside his sister."I have to agree with Max," Alex chimed in shifting his eyes to the rearview mirror to acknowledge his brother-in-law. "This is all crazy. I mean, Maria and Kyle are gone. My wife is somehow a clairvoyant of sorts and there are another set of you guys out there somewhere?""It's not a complete set," Isabel smiled."No, not anymore." Michael grinned as pride rushed through him.Although the fear was evident with each passing second, the only recourse Michael could take against it was knowing that his wife wasn't stupid. She was brilliant and he knew she'd do everything she could to keep her cool and make sure that her and Kyle were safe.\*I felt the bile rise up in my throat. I was so going to hurl."Is that...?" Kyle whispered in my ear.I halfway nodded and halfway shrugged. Words were not going to come out of my mouth without projectile vomiting as well. I backed away from the crack and pulled Kyle with me. A few deep breaths and I thought I could talk."That is...""Nasty." Kyle filled in for me.I nodded. He was right, it was nasty. But at least I knew where we were. Not exactly, but close enough. Of course since I had never been here before I didn't really know which way to turn next.A few more deep breaths and I felt like I could hold a conversation."Have you ever been here before?"Kyle shook his head and I tried not to show the disappointment I felt. I wasn't disappointed in Kyle, more in myself. If I only would have paid attention and not been grossed out. If I only would have gone on the trip with Michael and the others then I might have a better idea of our chances of getting out of here.I cocked my head to one side in that confused dog stance I get every once in a blue moon. I heard voices. Fuck. Not now. They were coming from behind the drywall but since I didn't have superhero hearing I was shit outta luck on pinpointing exactly where they were coming from.Kyle nodded and I knew he heard them. A male and a female. I guess the female was Ava since Lonnie wouldn't be saying anything again. Ever. The male voice was softer and I couldn't hear it as well. So unless they had a whole community of people in here with us I could narrow it down to Rath or the MaxClone we had yet to meet.A crash behind the drywall made me jump and let out a little noise. Fuck! I looked at Kyle and we grabbed hands and ran down the hall as quietly as we could. My other hand was on my stomach protecting my unborn child.We ended up at a dead end. Great."Now what?" Kyle asked, panic in his eyes.I didn't know. This was different than Section. This was much, much scarier. At Section we knew we were up against humans, sure they had guns, but they were still human. Here we were up against aliens. Freakin' aliens!I shrugged and felt the bile rise again. I had to think. I had to get past what was behind the drywall and think. I didn't want to think about what I saw. There was a reason that I tuned out all the alien talk. I didn't like to think about my husband being hatched out of a fucking pod and now, here we were right smack dab in the middle of this freak show called the Pod Chamber. Again, maybe I should rethink the whole 'what I don't know won't hurt me' thing. I didn't know and it was seriously hurting me."How far are we away from Roswell?"Roswell. I couldn't believe I was actually saying that name knowing we were so close to where it all began. It felt good. I missed the dusty town. I really wanted to go to the Crashdown and laugh at the tacky decorations. I wanted to go see Kyle's dad. I wanted to drive by my old apartment. I wanted to snoop around and see if there was any sign of that Liz; I still owed her a serious ass kicking. I wanted to be anywhere except right here."We're in the desert," Kyle whispered. "Maybe twenty miles away from town.""So if I screamed no one would hear me," I was thinking out loud."They might, you do scream quite well.""Smart ass," I rolled my eyes."But honestly, no. We're in a big rock."Rock? This just keeps getting better and better."I was never inside, I only saw it from the outside. But from what Tess said, there's a bunch of caverns that run through these big rocks, boulders, and what we just saw is somewhere in the middle. I think."Of course it was in the middle. Why would it be anywhere except the middle?"So the..." I waved in the direction of where we just came from."Pods?" Kyle smirked."Yeah, the pods," I grimaced. "That was where they were all...Born?"Kyle nodded. "Yup."I needed a drink. A really big fucking drink. As hard as I tried, I couldn't get past the vision of the pods. Four capsule-type things stacked two high next to each other. Wacky tendril looking mossy things were hanging out them. Nasty. They seemed to be bolted to the wall, or I guess stuck to the wall, is a better description. The wall was nasty too. All shiny and wet looking. I think I shuddered."Lonnie!" The scream from the room where we had been held, or at least that's where I bet it came from. It was a man and he sounded pissed. "No!!"Kyle and I looked at each other and then bolted back the way we came. We got to the crack we were peeking through at the pods and pulled back the drywall. Great. Not only were we running from some pissed off aliens, but now we were face to face with my biggest gross out. The pods.\*Chapter Twenty SixThe pods. I rolled my eyes. I think I would almost rather take on the pissed off alien than be in this...Place. But yet, I couldn't turn away, I wanted to, but I couldn't. All the times that Michael had tried to tell me about his 'other' side and I blew it off was now biting me in the figurative ass.Chin up Guerin, this is where your husband came from. This is where he was born. Or hatched. Or whatever. This is it. This is the part of Michael that I refused and now I don't have a choice except to embrace it.I don't know if I let go of Kyle's hand or if he let go of mine, but suddenly I was in front of the pods, my face inches away. I reached out, convinced I was now under some mind control because I don't think I would do this on my own, and touched the edge of the pod on the top left. It was Michael's. I don't know how I knew that, maybe I could feel his essence, or maybe I was just going fucking nuts."Maria," Kyle touched my arm, but for some reason I couldn't stop fingering the edge of the pod. "Maria!" His voice was sterner now."I'm okay," I don't think I was lying. I felt a huge comfort touching that nasty pod. Knowing that Michael, my Michael, was born here was unnerving in a good way. I felt a little closer to him. Now if he would just show up and save me..."Are you sure?" Kyle looked over his shoulder obviously nervous. With good reason."I'm good," I smiled at him. "This is where they were born." It wasn't a question; it was a total statement."Uh...Yeah, I know." Kyle shrugged.I looked back to the pod and then promptly hurled. Fuck.A few seconds of coughing behind my hand and I was good. So much for the warm fuzzy stuff. This was a fucking pod! Michael was hatched from the nasty thing in front of me. I shuddered.I looked at Kyle, behind all that concern, he was about ready to laugh his ass off. One wise crack and I will beat him.I raised one finger up and whispered. "Not one word Valenti, not one word."I looked around frantically for something to drink or eat and was offered a roll of lifesavers from Kyle's pocket. Lifesavers. How fucking appropriate was that? I took one and savored the cherry goodness."We have to get out of here. Fast." Kyle the Observant."No shit," I looked back at the pods and closed my eyes for extended blink.Pounding footsteps coming from the other side of the drywall made us both swivel and stare. This was what I called a bad. A big fucking bad. I grabbed Kyle's hand and we trekked further into the freakish chamber-type place. Unfortunately, we hit a wall."So, you're the Leader's bitch?" The voice came from behind us.We turned around slowly and low and behold, we found the MaxClone. He looked like Max, but his hair was slicked back against his head and the kindness that Max had in his smile was no where to be found. He did glance at my tits for longer than necessary, but I wouldn't have expected anything else."He talking to me or you?" Kyle whispered in my ear making me smile.MaxClone didn't think it was very funny. Fortunately, I didn't give a rat's ass what he thought about anything."So, do you have a catchy little name too?" I asked. Why? Dunno."I'm Zan."Zan? It didn't make me giggle like Rath, but it still brought a little bit of a bigger smile to my face."My sister," Zan said slowly, nothing but meanness leaking through him. "What happened to my sister?""She fought the Maria," I placed my hands on my hips and tilted my head to one side."And the Maria won," Kyle stepped up and mocked my stance.\*The rescue group sat in the round on the small private jet that had been waiting for them at the airport."You know, you two really fucked up." Max pointed at first his sister and then Michael."We know," Isabel answered for them both. "We were just trying to figure it out and then Michael saw his double. Then Tess and Kyle announced their engagement-""This is not my fault!" Tess fought back while absently touching her engagement ring."I know," Isabel words were soft. "I didn't mean it like that. We were wrong; we should have come to you both when I first got the vision-thing. I didn't understand it and neither did Michael. Nothing really fit together until he saw his double outside of Section.""Then we understood that there were two sets of us and one set of us wanted to get home," Michael pointed to the window. "That home.""Why didn't you tell us? You put us all at risk." Alex joined the conversation with disdain.Michael turned to him quickly. "Do you honestly think that if we thought anyone was in danger that we wouldn't have tried to prevent it? I don't know why they have Maria and Kyle. I don't know what they need them for. They haven't contacted us for anything." Michael's thought process began to drift. "They know us, about us. But they took Maria and Kyle.Why would they need them besides to get to us?"A silence fell over the group as each person tried to find the answer they were all looking for."What could Maria and/or Kyle have that they need?" Alex asked absently in a quiet voice.Michael's eyes widened. There was only one thing that Maria could have that no one else in the world could."How long until we land?" Michael asked the pilot via the speakerphone next to his chair. He was answered and Michael faced the confused passengers. "I gotta go save my family."\*Chapter Twenty SevenI didn't see it coming. Zan reached out and clocked Kyle in the face sending him reeling backwards."Kyle!" I screamed his name and realized that Zan wasn't like his counterpart at all. He was nothing but evil. E-vil.I watched with nothing short of pure fear on my face as Zan raised his hand and using alien mojo threw Kyle into the wall and then made him ride up it; Kyle was already at least ten feet off the ground. This was going from bad to badder really fucking fast."Stop!" I screamed and lunged at Zan. I knocked him to the ground, which forced him to drop his hold on Kyle. I heard the thud and knew Kyle had hit the ground.Zan had me by the arms and I couldn't fight him. He was strong. Damn he was strong. I said some final words followed by prayers in my head for my husband and my unborn baby and then gave it all I had. I threw myself backwards and pulled Zan down with me. He landed on top of me and I prayed like I never have before that my baby was as strong as I was. So help me God, if this alien fucker hurt my baby...Fuck it. I was going to kill him anyway."Asshole!" I grunted the word and kicked out with both of my feet.I connected, the only reason I knew that was because I felt vibrations run through my legs, Zan sure as hell didn't mutter a word. Damn. I kicked out again and knew I wouldn't be able to stop until one of us was dead. I was banking on it being him, but today just didn't seem to be my day."You'll be able to visit your sister soon," I smiled, our faces inches apart. I could feel his breath on my face."Not likely," he pushed me away.I went sailing about five feet away from him and landed on my ass. As far as I could tell nothing was broken but I may have to sit on one of those inflatable donuts for a while if, no, when we get out of here. I wanted to check on Kyle, but I didn't have time. Damn if Kyle was hurt...Zan was back on me, I mean literally on me. His body was pressing me into the ground, his face about an inch away from mine. His forearm was across my neck cutting off my air.More praying and talking. I tried to explain to the baby inside of me how sorry I was not being able to save her. I tried to convey how much I already loved her. And how sorry I was that she had the unfortunate luck to be assigned me for a mother and an alien leader for a father.Then I changed my mind. She was damn lucky to have me for a mother because like everyone else I loved, I'd die for her. And to have Michael for a father was more than anyone could ask for. I quit apologizing and started promising that things would calm down before she was born. Once all the bad guys were gone.I couldn't let Zan just kill me. Or maim me. I knew they had to keep me alive because of the baby. Or did they just have to make sure my baby was alive? Technically they could just keep my body alive just long enough until they could take her from me. Shit. None of these scenarios was sounding too good right about now.I gasped and pulled some strength from somewhere and kneed him in the balls. With a grunt he pulled away from me but it wasn't long enough for me to make any headway on him. In seconds, he had me pinned down with his arms crossed over my chest. He was still in control but at least I could breathe now. So if I could breathe, I could talk. Ha!"So, why do you all have a hard-on for getting home?" Might as well find out what's going on."Home." He said the word almost wistfully.I took a good look at him and the identicalness between him and Max was just as scary as the others. I missed Max. I didn't give him enough credit, but I made another promise to myself that when we got out of here I would appreciate him just a little bit more.We. I hadn't heard a sound coming from the direction of Kyle and now I was scared. My heart began to pound just a little bit faster. Kyle. I promised that no one was getting out of here except in pieces if Kyle was... I couldn't even say it. He would have said something by now; if he could. Fuck!I tried to not think about Kyle for a minute and concentrated on getting away from Zan. "Yeah, home. Why do you want to go so bad?"I caught him off guard with my blatancy. Good."From the way I understand it, you're just along for the ride. Rath," I bit back a smile, "Rath is in charge, Lonnie is, excuse me, was his second in command. Ava is his mate and you are...?" I shrugged as well as I could underneath him. I watched the wheels turning in his head and wondered if the hamster was getting tired yet."I'm part of the family, my life there will be good.""Oh, okay." I wanted to smile but at that same second is when I realized my plan to piss him off enough to let me go had backfired.He tightened his grip on me and lowered his head until his mouth was even with my ear. "Maybe you're right Maria. Maybe I don't have anything to go home to. I guess that means that I can kill you right here, right now and it won't really matter."Fuck me. I shook my head as his hand closed over my neck. I wondered if he was going to strangle me or snap my neck."Tell my sister I said 'hi'."I closed my eyes and said my goodbyes. This was not how the life and times of Maria DeLuca-Guerin was supposed to end. I wasn't supposed to die at the hands of a psycho-alien.I waited for my final breath but instead I felt Zan collapse on top of me. When I opened my eyes I saw the most beautiful thing in the world. Kyle. And he was holding a really big fucking rock in his hands. One that had a pretty shade of crimson on the corner."Tell her yourself. Asshole." Kyle dropped the rock and pulled Zan off of me.I did a wacky ninja jump to a standing position and hurled myself into Kyle's arms.\*Chapter Twenty EightI didn't want to let go of the Kyle. I never wanted to let go of Kyle. But I did so I wouldn't smother him. I took a step back and held his hands; he smiled. I had been sure that I would never see that Valenti grin again. Thank God I'm occasionally wrong. I noticed something on his neck, running down his neck. It was blood. Shit."You're bleeding," I stated the obvious."I was dropped on a rock floor from like fifteen feet in the air!" Kyle gave me the look that stated I was a complete dumbass. I'm quite familiar with that look by now."Are you okay?""I'll be better once we get out of here and go home," he looked at my stomach. "Are you okay? You guys?"I grinned. "I think so. You saved my ass Kyle," I shook my head with admiration in my eyes. "He was going to kill me. Us. I thought he had already killed you and I was next. We were next." Those stupid tears were balancing on my eyelids but I was determined not to let them fall. "I thought you were dead, Kyle."He pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead. I let my tears soak into his shirt. "Good thing I'm not, huh?""Yeah Valenti, it's a good thing." I laughed."So, I thought they had to have your baby to get home somehow, why was he going to kill you?"I opened my mouth to speak but Kyle interrupted me."You had a plan and it backfired didn't it?"I nodded. So Kyle knew me just a little bit too well. "We'll talk about it later, right now we need to go back to what we were doing before we were so rudely interrupted by that," I nodded down at the motionless body of Zan before I looked at Kyle again. "Thank you, Kyle."He shrugged. "Hey, I don't know how many times you've saved my ass Maria, turnabout is fair play."That it was. Now where the fuck was the rest of my team?\*Tess leaned in a little bit closer to Michael after his announcement about saving his family. She noticed there was something different about him, something lighter, more alive and animated. Michael Guerin knew something.With a completely obvious motion, she cocked her head to one side and invited Michael to join her in the other part of the plane, right in back of the cockpit. Far enough way from the others to not be overhead, but close enough to feel their presence."You know something," Tess whispered after the two aliens had taken seats on a bench that backed the cockpit wall."I may," Michael smiled."Share?""It was what Alex said. What could Maria and Kyle have that they could possibly want?" He received a shrug for an answer. "There is only one thing in the world that Maria, and she alone, could have."Tess narrowed her eyes before widening them. "You mean...?"Michael nodded. "I think she's pregnant.""Oh!" Tess squealed and threw her arms around Michael's neck. "Congratulations!" She laughed and then drew away from him, concern weighing heavily in her eyes. "But...""I know," Michael joviality was replaced with an overcast aura. "I guess I don't know. If I'm right and she is pregnant, that brings about a whole new set of questions that we don't have answers to. Can we mix? I mean, genetically combine and produce a healthy normal child? Can Maria carry this baby? Why would the others want her?""Her?" Tess grinned."Oh, I don't know where that came from.""You're going to be an awesome daddy," Tess reassured him. "But it's not the time for secrets right now, go tell the others.""I was going to, I just had to take a few minutes to let it seep in." With an honesty that he wasn't accustomed to sharing with anyone except for Maria he added, "I never thought I'd be a father. For a long time I never thought I'd be a husband or a part of a family. But now...""You are," Tess squeezed his arm. "And it's an apparently growing family, but there's a few members missing and we have to concentrate on how to get them back safely." Darkness clouded her eyes. "Then why Kyle, Michael? Why would they take Kyle?""Because they did their homework. Kyle is the one human who Maria would lay her life down to save."Tess was silent as she let the information filter through her somewhat disallowing brain. "So, they have Maria under their control because of her feelings for Kyle. She'd do whatever they wanted just to keep him safe."Michael nodded. "She would."Tess smiled and wiped her cheek as a new tear slid down her alabaster skin. "I hope to hell that everyone realizes how lucky we are to know Maria Guerin."Michael couldn't speak. And he couldn't agree more."Come on," Tess rose and outstretched to her hand. "Let's go share your news."Michael followed the petite blond back to the others; all attention was on pale-faced Max."What's wrong?" Tess looked from Max to Isabel."I felt him die," Max smiled.Michael met Isabel's eyes and nodded. "Two down.""Two to go." Isabel smiled at him.\*Chapter Twenty NineThe hallway was silent and I think that was more eerie than if I would have heard one of the others screaming they were going to kill me. Not that I wanted to hear anyone scream that they wanted to kill me, but the silence was...Silent. I wondered why."Why is it so quiet in here?" Kyle asked I wondered when he had managed to sneak in the mind reading classes I wanted to take.I shrugged and noticed my hands were securely flattened over my belly. This was it. This was the way my life was going to be from now on, my number one priority had shifted from everyone else to my baby."Do you think the others just...left?" Kyle asked with that hopeful innocence I thought he had abandoned a long time ago.I bet 'laying in wait' was probably more accurate.My eyes flew around the room. Room was too nice of a word, it wasn't a room, it was more like a cavern. Since I was alien-history dumb and was only going on bits of conversation that I had accidentally heard, the most I knew about this freak show was that we were in, like, big rocks. So yeah, I think cavern was adequate. Now, how to get the fuck out of the cavern...I looked around the hallway we had backed ourselves into. Then I looked at dead Zan on the floor."They're going to kill us." I stated blankly."No, they're going to kill me," Kyle smiled as much as I guess he could. "They need you Maria, they need your baby."I wasn't about to let anything happen to Kyle and he knew that, but the stakes had shifted and he knew that as well. We were now fighting for a new life, one that hadn't taken her first breath yet. One that didn't know about the horrors of the world."Well, they aren't getting her. And they're not getting you either." There I said it and I meant it. "You know the drill, Valenti. We both walk out of here alive.""Does one of us being carried out count as walking?""Smart ass," I whapped him on the chest and straightened out the invisible wrinkles in my leather pants. That's when I saw it. "Damn!""What?" Kyle was alarmed. Oops."I got a tear in my pants, probably from wrestling around with stupid here," I kicked Zan in the shoulder and felt morbid. Morbid, yet oddly good at the same time. I kicked him again."Stop kicking the dead alien," Kyle said solemnly.Kyle was right; I shouldn't kick the dead alien. But it just felt so damn good. I bet Kyle would think so too, but I didn't mention that. After all, he was the one who killed him. Yay Kyle!"So," he cleared his throat and brought me back to the problem at hand. "Do you think the others have any idea of what's going on?"I didn't know. I had no fucking idea so I shrugged. "Beat's me. I can't even imagine how we got from DC to Roswell, you know? Is there a fucking spaceship parked out back?"I was bugging my eyes because I was scared. I was scared because I kept myself in the dark about all this alien shit and I now felt very stupid. Of course, Kyle just smiled at me."I was thinking that Ava did a mind warp and we flew on a commercial airplane here. But hey, there could be spaceship outside." He shrugged and if I didn't love him so much I would have decked him.I was going to have to remember the mindwarpping thing. I wonder if Tess ever mindwarpped me, like when she was doing my nails or something? Probably not."Maria? You said Michael was acting strange, do you think he knew about..." He nudged Zan in the shoulder with the toe of his shoe, "About them?"Well, there was going to be some serious hell to pay if Michael actually knew about everything and didn't tell. Of course, I guess one might also say that turnabout is fair play. I was keeping secrets too. However I was beginning to wonder if my secrets and Michael's secrets were the same secrets after all. I knew without a doubt that he would have found the note by now; I think I'm slick with him, but the truth of the matter is that sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself. Of course that could be due in part that he studied the hell outta me before he met me. Honestly, I hardly even remember life before him anymore."Do you think we should try to make our escape now, or wait until the wrath of Rath comes down on us?""Do you think they'll just give up?" I cocked my head to one side as another pesky plan sneaked into my thinking. "Do you think if we make our escape that they won't come after us again? They'll just hang out and be all like 'Oh, man, whew! They got away. Wanna go to the mall?' Or do you think they'll keep coming after my baby until they have her and secure their ride home? I can't leave until it's over, Kyle. You have to get out, but I have to see this through to the end."Kyle seemed to mull it over. I knew what he was going to say and as much as I wanted to get him the hell out of here and go for help, I needed him to stay. He was my right hand man. My vice-president. My assistant coach. He was my trusty sidekick Kyle Valenti and I wasn't sure if I could do this alone. I had a feeling that Lonnie and Zan weren't nearly as dangerous as the other two.Well Lonnie seemed dangerous enough to me, but for some reason I was able to overtake her without much of a struggle. That thought alone sent chills down my spine. Why? Why did that happen? I had a few ideas, but I wasn't ready to share them yet, frankly, because they scared the shit out of me.Zan on the other hand, seemed kind of lost. I almost felt sorry for him, if he wouldn't have tried to kill me, I would have. Again, must give Max some more credit when we get back home."So, I see the wheels spinning," Kyle shoved his hands in his pocket and nodded at the floor before looking at me. "You know the drill, Guerin." He cocked his head to one side in the perfect Maria imitation. "What's the plan?"Ahhhh...\*"Pregnant?" Isabel's expression was mixed between elation and surprise with a little apprehension thrown in as well.Michael nodded, an unabashed grin on his face. "It makes sense. It seems like a plausible reason for Maria being taken. And Kyle.""Why Kyle?" Alex asked with a faint head shake."Like I explained to Tess, Kyle is the one human that Maria would do anything to keep safe. They have her over a barrel, so to speak. They did their homework and they know what Maria would do to protect the people she loves.""So,'" Isabel ran her hands through her hair, "When I saw the other ones, and I got the feeling that they were looking for something that we had, it's not us that has it, it's Maria. They need your child."Michael nodded and licked his lips. "I can't think of anything else that would make sense. They didn't come after us, they went straight for her.""How would they know she was pregnant?" Max asked. "You didn't know, do you think she does?"Michael shook his head. "Well, I bet she knows by now, but I doubt she knew before. She couldn't have kept that a secret form me."The unasked question of why they needed the child was left as that, unasked.The pilot made a brief announcement that landing would commence within minutes and for all passengers to fasten their seatbelts. The sound of metal clicking broke the silence as they each buckled in."I'm going to be a father," Michael bit his bottom lip and fought back the wetness that was threatening to fall from his eyelids.\*Chapter ThirtyThe discussion over who was driving was minimal. Michael handed over the keys to the black SUV that had been waiting for their arrival at the airport without argument.The ride was anything but smooth, but Max Evans handled the vehicle with ease over the familiar rocky landscape."How long, Max?" Michael asked from the passenger seat."Twenty minutes," Max smiled. "We'll get there, Michael. And we'll get there in time. Nothing is going to happen to either of them. I promise you that much.""We don't know what we're up against," Michael said absently looking out the window."Yeah, we do. We're up against ourselves, no, a fraction of ourselves. Maria and Kyle already took care of part of them. I just keep waiting for you and Tess to feel what Isabel and I already have."Michael smiled and faced his once adversary. "Thank you Max," he looked over his shoulder into the backseat. "And Tess.""Don't thank me for anything, Michael," Tess smiled at him from her position in-between Alex and the door. "Maria and Kyle saved us all, turnabout is fair play."Michael nodded and faced forward. A new look set firmly on his face. A look of determination.\*My plan was weak. Even by Maria plan making standards, it was weak. Not really a plan at all. More like a suicide mission.Kyle knew it too, although he wouldn't say it, the look on his face was enough to let me know he thought it wouldn't work."I don't think it's going to work," he said and I stand corrected."Got a better one?" With my hands now defiantly on my hips, I was nothing but authority.He shook his head. Ha! That's why I'm the fucking captain!"Then so be it, but I think it's stupid." Kyle kicked at some rocks. "And dangerous."I wanted to tell him my middle name was Dangerous, but he'd probably have a smart comeback and I wasn't in the mood."And no," he grinned, "Your middle name is not Dangerous."I rolled my eyes. "Do you want to get out of here or what?""No Maria, I want to stay here forever. I love this place. I love it so much I want to marry it and have its children."I laughed and covered my mouth with my hand. After a few seconds I felt better. We could do this, Kyle and I can do anything we want because we're fuckin' superheroes. First thing I'm doing when I get home is finding us some theme music.I reached to him and waited for him to place his hand in mine, I squeezed. I didn't know what I'd do without Kyle; he was the brother I never had, the best friend I would die to save.Kyle was pretty damn close to my everything. I wondered if I ever told him that if I ever had alien children I was going to name them all Kyle? That might turn out to be a bad since I knew the baby inside of me was a girl. And I'm sorry, the name Kylie is out of the question, all I would ever think about was a washed up 80's pop star. I guess this was technically something I could figure out after we were safe. After we got home and I told Michael we were having a baby. After I hand dipped him in marshmallow cream...I nodded once and we backtracked the way we came, within minutes we were back at the pods. I managed to not shudder too much and keep my hurling at bay. This was something I should be embracing. Something that is a part of the man I love more than anything. Technically, it was a part of me now too, since I was carrying around this little... What's the right word? Right, this little baby inside of me.Standing in front of the pods, I placed one hand on my stomach and my heart ached. Michael would never know who his true parents were. He would never have the chance to get mad at them or buy them presents. He was borne from this thing; this egg shaped carrier that was in front of me. This broken shell that I can only imagine was filled with some nasty fluid. This is where my husband was born while our child was coming from inside of me.I was a pod. Okay, I can't go there again. Ever.I dropped Kyle's hand and leaned in closer to the pod. I waited for it to stink, but it didn't. I felt fear and confusion but I wasn't sure if it was mine or the leftover essence of Michael. I was willing to wager it was both.I know I had that wild dog look in my eye when I swung around and faced Kyle. "Lift me up.""What you talkin' about, Willis?"I held back on the eye roll this time. "Lift me up Valenti." I pointed to the pod."You want to go into the pod?"I nodded. I had to go in there. I don't know why, but I had to. I gave him the look and he grabbed me around my thighs and hoisted me up. I scraped my hands on the sides of the pod and tried to remember the last time I got a tetanus shot. I guess it didn't matter, that probably wouldn't really cover otherworldly germs anyway.So now I was in the pod. I had to scrunch up to fit in it, but I did. I felt along the sides of it, rough and uncaring, dried. I don't think I've ever felt closer to Michael. I leaned against the back of it and promptly fell through it."Fuck!" I screamed as I landed on my ass."Maria!"I heard Kyle scrambling on the other side as I just lay there, completely stunned. I propped myself up and then stood, my eye level was just high enough to see Kyle as he was headed over face first through the pod."Jesus," he panted when he saw me. "Are you okay?"I nodded. "I think so, just surprised me.""What is this place?" He asked looking past me into the new room I had fallen into.I shrugged and turned around. It was still part of the cavern, nothing special about it. Nothing except that I was sure as shit that there was a ray of light coming from behind a jutting rock. Sunlight? My heart raced. This could be a way out, or at least a way to get Kyle out to find the others.As soon as we got through Rath.Fuck me! Nothing ever goes my way."Hi," Rath whispered and smiled but it was anything but friendly.I looked away from the alien who could have been my husband and towards Kyle as he came through the pod and landed on his feet next to me. He saw Rath and took in a deep breath. This was not exactly part of the plan. Fuck the plan. New plan was needed ASAP.It turned into one of those slow motion movie moments. I looked at Kyle and smiled, he smiled back at me, and our eyes met with complete understanding. There was a long road in front of us, but together, we could do it, we could do anything. The force of the bond between us grew as the fear for our lives intensified. Fear ravaged me.I didn't see her.Without warning, Ava was in back of Kyle. I could see blond hair peeking over his shoulder. Then I watched in horror as a silver blade raced across Kyle's neck."No!" Someone screamed. I think it was me; right before I fell to the ground.\*Chapter Thirty OneI felt the rocky surface underneath me as sharp points bit through the leather on my knees. My head was pounding so hard and so loud I wished, no, I prayed that it would just explode and I'd float away.Kyle. Not Kyle.My throat began to hurt and I realized that I was screaming. I was screaming and tears burned my eyes. Nothing was important now.I quit screaming but only for a few seconds, then I started again. I was going deaf and hoarse, but I didn't give a shit. I was done.This was my fault."Shut up!" That was Rath. The shout was louder than my screaming and I wondered how that was possible. What? Did he have a megaphone in his pocket?I shut up and glared up at him forcing myself to not look in Kyle's direction."Don't you ever shut the fuck up?" Rath was running his hands through his hair just like my husband does.That was a very leading question, under normal circumstances I would have smartassed an answer six ways to Sunday, but right now I wasn't feeling too punny."Maria?"Holy shit. That was Kyle's voice. But it couldn't be because I saw Ava slit his throat. It was a trick."Maria?"I didn't turn around, it was just a sick fucking joke and I refused to be the punchline. Fuck. That."What's wrong?" Rath leaned into me and sneered.What's wrong? I can't believe he actually just said that. My best friend was dead. That was what was fucking wrong! I met his eyes and gave him my best attitude face. "You want to know what's wrong?"I could see I took him by surprise as his eyes widened. "Yeah, tell me.""I'm having a dilemma. I was just trying to figure out exactly how I was going to kill you. There's so many options and I'm just trying to figure out the one that would hurt the most."I waited for the shocked stare but instead I got laughter. Oh man, I was so going to rip his tongue out and shove it down his fucking throat."Maria!" That was Kyle's voice again."Shut up!" I screamed."What are you doing? Are you high?" That really was Kyle.I looked over my shoulder and made a yelping sound as I scrambled to my feet. I was in Kyle's arms within seconds. I hugged him and then ran my hands over his neck. He wasn't cut. He was whole. He was Kyle, my best friend, and he was alive."What is wrong with you?" He pushed me away just far enough to look at me.I looked past him to Ava and got a blank stare from her. Not that I expected any help, but still... "I saw her," I pointed at the blonde bitch, "slit your throat."Kyle reached for his throat, his eyes wide. "Say what?"I shook my head. What the fuck?"I was just standing here, Maria." Kyle looked alarmed. "You started screaming and fell to your knees. Or maybe it was the other way around."Again, what the fuck?I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and knew right then and there that I needed to remember who, or should I say what, we were dealing with. Of course, it was a second too late because that husband impersonating fucker had me around the waist in a death grip. I tried to fight him but it was useless. He was stronger than me, plus he had the added bonuses of alien powers. Me? I only had me. And Kyle.He pulled me against him and forced me look straight ahead at Kyle. I watched in sheer horror as Ava stepped in front of him and plunged a really big fucking knife into his heart.My jaw dropped as I watched Kyle fall to the floor, blood pooled from his mouth; a blood bubble formed in his open mouth and then popped."No!" I fought like crazy to get away from Rath and all he did was laugh."Maria!" That was Kyle again.I looked straight ahead and Kyle was just standing there. This was so not good. I didn't like this one fucking bit, but at least I had an idea what was going on. I was being mindwarped by that little bitch and I was so going to kick her ass!"Okay," I cleared my throat as Rath released me after a quick feel of my tits. I stepped back and faced the room. "That is enough of that. I know what you're doing and now it's over. Okay?""No," Ava giggled and she seemed so much like Tess it was insane. "It's not over until I say it's over."I felt a surge of heated anger ripple through me and then something cool replaced it. Cool like in Michael. Cool like in the way my knight in black leather always seems to be. I was taking that as a sign that he was nearby.I must have started grinning because suddenly Rath was glaring at me."What the fuck is so funny?" He demanded.I didn't answer, frankly, it wasn't any of his damn business."You know what I think is funny?" He asked. I didn't answer, I didn't care. "This!" He raised his hand and the next thing I knew, Kyle was about five feet up and plastered to the rock wall in back of where he had been standing."Stop!" I screamed as Rath turned his hand to me and suddenly I was on the opposite wall. Stuck to it like a mouse to a glue trap. "Let me the fuck down!"Rath and Ava met in the corner of the room, they were looking back and forth between Kyle and I and laughing. I saw absolutely nothing funny about it at all."Well," Rath lowered his hands and I realized he was powerful. He didn't need to keep his attention completely on us and still be able to use his powers. "Now, this is what I call comedy."I looked across the room and met Kyle's eyes. I saw the fear pass through him quickly, it was replaced with nothing but sheer anger. I smiled at him and winked. Then I hit the floor landing on my already sore ass.My eyes flew to Rath and I saw the disbelief on his face. He raised his hand to me again. Nothing. I stayed on my ass."Something's not right here," I mumbled in that annoying singsong voice under my breath.Rath's eyes were bulging and his hand was waving like crazy, and here I sat, on the ground. Oh, shit."What's wrong with you?" Ava demanded in a very high-pitched squeal."Nothing!" Rath shouted and continued his frenzied hand waving. "Fuck!"I stood up and dusted my ass off. With raised eyebrows, I grinned. "It's okay, it happens to all men. Or so I hear."I heard Kyle chuckle from his position on the wall and without thinking, I looked over my shoulder. Not my sharpest moment."Maria!" Kyle screamed my name and I knew what was coming.I braced myself as I was taken down to the floor. Familiar hands were on me, pulling my shirt up while I fought like the devil."I think," Rath whispered in my ear, "I think we should be able to take the kid now. Yeah?"Ava was at my side holding me down.Kyle was yelling from the wall.Rath was leering in my face.I was ready to open up a can of whoop ass.\*"There!" Michael shouted and pointed to the exposed fender of 1972 black Caprice convertible from behind the base of the rocks that housed the pod chamber."Nice ride," Alex whispered from the back seat."We have to get in and fast," Michael was reaching for the door handle as Max slowed."What's going on Michael?" Alarm rang through Isabel's voice."I can feel her heat." Michael left it at that.\*
Chapter Thirty TwoMax and Michael raced from the car with the others on their trail, sand kicked up in back of them."Wait!" Max grabbed Michael's arm and pulled him to a stop."What?" Michael demanded more harshly than necessary."What do you think you're going to do? Just barge right in there and step into an ambush?""We are here to help, to fight with you!" Tess placed her hands on her hips after another subtle touch of her engagement ring."Yeah, I didn't come back to Roswell for the nightlife," Alex smirked."What do you suggest?" Michael's tone lightened."We need a plan," Isabel stepped forward and smiled. "Maria always has a plan."Michael smiled and glanced at each of them around him. They were all right. In their own way, they were all right. He needed them and they needed a plan. Just like Maria."What would Maria do?" Max grinned. "Hey, that could make an awesome T-shirt, you know, WWMD? But that would be wrong...""Nice thought bro," Isabel smiled and glanced at the rocks in front of her. Her birthplace. "Maria would survey the situation, say something smart, and go in with her fists in front of her ready to take down anyone and anything in her path.""So, that's the plan?" Michael tilted his head to one side in a movement highly reminiscent of his wife."Sounds like one that would make our Captain proud," Max nodded towards the boulders. "Let Isabel and I go first, we're more familiar with the layout.""But none of us have ever been through all of the caverns..." Tess shook her head slowly.Michael looked from the group to the rocks and then back. "We have to go...""Alex," Isabel turned to her husband. "Would you stay out here without complaint?" She grasped her husband's hand and brought it to her lips. "We may need you out here."Alex nodded solemnly. "I think you worry too much..." He released her hand. "Be careful..."With Max and Isabel in the lead, Tess and Michael behind them, the four aliens made their way up the rocky slope to the hidden entrance of the pod chamber. Max took the complete lead and placed his hand on a seemingly nondescript stretch of rock as he had many times before.A previously unseen panel slid open and allowed the foursome to enter.\*I took a deep breath and felt the coolness ride me. The coolness was tangled with a new sensation, a little tingle followed. I felt rejuvenated, I felt invincible. I felt like I had the power of an army inside of me. Albeit an alien army. Alien?"Yeah," Rath licked his lips, "I think it's high time we gut the mouthy bitch and yank the kid out.""The sooner we get it, the sooner our ride comes." Ava smiled down at me with wide Tess-eyes."Are they sending a spaceship?" I asked right before Rath crushed his forearm down on my windpipe. Damn."You really don't shut up, do you?" Rath shook his head.I swallowed and found it hard to do, but not as hard as it should have been. I tried to clear my throat and Rath loosened his grip a little. Maybe he did want to here me talk after all."Since you want to gut me and steal my baby, I think I have a right to know how exactly you plan on getting home." That's it Guerin, get him talking."Let's just say, when we have the heir in our possession, we'll be able to contact them," he raised his eyebrows up for a second. "They'll beam us, or zap us or something home."Okay. "What happens when you get there?""They get the kid and we're treated like the freakin' royalty we are."I didn't want to hear anymore. This was already more than enough for me. I didn't want to hear my baby called an heir. I didn't want to hear about alien royalty. I didn't want to imagine who was waiting for my baby or what they were going to do with her."Why do you guys get all the special treatment? Why didn't these holy alien powers contact the others? My aliens."Rath shrugged and it was so obvious he wasn't prepared to answer any questions. Maybe I was just asking the wrong questions."Why'd you send the note and CD?" Let's try a different approach."What is she talking about?" Ava looked over me to Rath. Something on her face said she didn't know what I was talking about."I don't fucking know," Rath shook his head."You sent me a CD and a note," I reiterated. I chanced a look through the tops of my eyes to Kyle. He was still on the wall, his arms were folded and he now looked nothing but annoyed."I didn't send you shit!" Rath said and I believed him.Well, this threw a whole new monkey wrench into the mix. Before I even had a chance to dwell on the package anymore, I felt the cool and tingles again. I knew Michael was close, God, he was so close I could almost taste him.Taste him? Smothered in marshmallow cream with candy sprinkles and caramel..."Are you even listening to me?" Rath used his newly free hand to turn my chin towards him.Hell no I wasn't listening to him, I was daydreaming about my husband dressed up like a dessert."Hold her down Ava, I'll get a knife." Rath stood with Ava and I felt my heart pounding in my throat.Ava held her hands out and in front of me. I felt pressure, like I was supposed to be being held down. But I wasn't. I could move off the ground. I raised my knees so my feet were flat and saw the look of shock on Ava's face.I watched her close her eyes, her lips pursed in concentration. Of course, I watched her as I stood and stepped in close to her. When she opened her eyes, my face, up close and personal, was the first thing she saw."Boo!"Ava jumped back and I pounced on her with lightning-fast speed. Speed that I shouldn't have. Speed I never had before. My hands were around her neck before I even had time to blink."Maria!"I swung around and there he was. My knight in black leather. I think I swooned. I did swoon and that gave the little blonde bitch enough time to push me away and raise her hands to the entourage that had filed in from the opposite side of which way Rath went."Michael!" I screamed his name as a cloud of blue and gold blanketed the room. I can only assume that the magic cloud came from Ava. It actually only blanketed the cavalry and Kyle. I wasn't affected by it, but the others were frozen within the blue-gold mist. This was not looking good."What the fuck...?" Rath reappeared with a fucking huge serrated knife in his hand."We have company," Ava shrugged and then looked back at me. "Why aren't you...?"I placed my hands on my stomach and got the cool tingles back. I was right in my original thought. This was too easy for me. I killed Lonnie like she was less than human. It was sinking in that it wasn't that Rath couldn't use his powers, he was still doing a bang up job keeping Kyle plastered to the wall, it was just that he couldn't use them on me.I looked down at my hands and knew I wasn't alone. Even if the rest of my posse was locked up in some alien mojo, I wasn't alone. I had my number one girl looking out for me.\*Chapter Thirty Three"What the fuck is going on?" Rath's voice echoed through the cavern and I think I heard rocks crumbling down to the ground.I swear if he causes a cave-in..."I told you to hold her down!" Rath screamed at Ava."She's not affected by anything!" Ava spat back at him."You windwarped her before!" Rath retorted.While all of their bickering was going on, I edged closer to the mist that encompassed everyone else. I peered in and to me, it looked like a freaking movie. Each person was frozen exactly how they had been when Ava did her thing.Michael's lips were parted; one hand reached towards me. Isabel was on his side in mid-step. Her face was scrunchy and if she knew it, it'd really piss her off. Max and Tess were directly in back of them. Tess' eyes were wide and turned towards Kyle while Max was staring in the direction I had been. I turned and looked at Kyle and smiled. I knew there wasn't anything funny about the entire situation, but to see Kyle Valenti, plastered against the wall, arms folded over his chest and the look of sheer indignation on his face, that was comical."I can mindwarp for a minute, but nothing else!" Ava was in Rath's face, her hands on her hips. "Which is more than you can do!""I'm getting ready to slice her open with a fucking knife and now," Rath took a deep breath, "And now I need you to hold her down!"I reached towards the mist, towards Michael, then I was pulled back. Damn. I guess my invisibility shield was down. Ava's hands were on my arms and she was pulling me back, away from the mist. Away from Michael."No!" I screamed and reached as far as I could in front of me, until my fingertips were inside the mist. It burned, but then was replaced by the cool tingles. I screamed and struggled away from her. I felt her hands slip, I wasn't completely free, but I was close and my hands were now inside the mist. It was hot, but it didn't burn, my skin still felt cool. "Michael!"I screamed again and heard Ava yelling in back of me. Her fingers tightened around my upper arms, but it didn't hurt as much as it should have. My fingertips grazed Michael's and I felt electricity shoot through me. Oh shit!"What the fuck?" Rath was yelling again. And he had the nerve to ask me if I ever shut the fuck up?"I can't hold her!" That was Ava.She couldn't hold me. That was comforting. I reached into the mist a little further and interlaced my fingers with Michaels.My scream reached down to my soul as I felt Michael grasp my hand back. Through squinted eyes, I saw him blink. Oh yeah, things were turning my way. It's about fucking time.I tightened my grip on him and let Ava pull me, thus pulling Michael. Michael came out of the mist and fell towards me, knocking both Ava and myself to the ground."What the...?" Rath stood over us with that big fucking knife still in his hand.I pushed off of Michael and turned on Ava. "You little bitch!"I looked to my husband as I stood and watched as blood poured from his eyes as he knelt on the ground."Michael!" I was back on my knees, cradling my husband's head as blood poured from every orifice. "No..." I sobbed and immediately thought of our child, the one who would never know her father and what a wonderful man he was.I heard snickering in back of me and turned on Rath. I raised my hand to him, mimicking the action I'd seen the aliens do many times before, but nothing happened. Whatever my girl was doing to help did not include bestowing me with alien powers. I could live with that."Sweet Maria."My head swung back around to Michael and he was fine. Fuck me. Another mindwarp. "Michael?" I whispered his name and brought my lips down to his. "Michael..." I felt new tears stream down my cheeks.I heard clapping in back of me and broke away from my husband to look at his clone."What a happy fucking reunion!" Rath grinned with nothing but pure evil as he continued to clap."Fuck. You." I said the words slowly and with conviction. After all, I was speaking to the man who wanted to gut me like a fish and steal my child."You couldn't handle it," Rath tilted his head to one side and I felt the anger rise off my husband."Honey," I turned back to Michael and smiled. "Are you almost ready to go home?""Yes, Maria. I think I may be past ready." He stood and held his hands down to me to help me up. "Ready?"I was so fucking ready and I knew he wasn't talking about going home. He was talking about us kicking some alien ass! Woo hoo!I went straight for Ava while Michael turned towards his duplicate. It was just me and Michael and so help me, we were going to obliterate them! I couldn't wait.As I stood in front of Ava, I tried to remember every fighting move I've ever known and came up with nothing except "wax on, wax off" and I knew that wasn't going to cut it."Scared?" Ava giggled and motioned towards the fight that was ensuing between Michael and Rath.I glanced over and saw the knife on the floor. That was a good. It wasn't a battle of strength going on over there; it was a battle of powers. That was not a good. It was very obvious that Rath out-powered Michael. I watched in disbelief as Rath levitated Michael about two feet in the air and threw what I can only assume was some sort of wicked energy balls at him. I winced with every blow."He's not as strong as Rath," Ava giggled again and that was getting on my nerves.I watched as Rath blew a hole through Michael's chest, then I turned back to Ava. "Mindwarp." See, I was catching on."How can you break through our powers?" She pouted and rested her hands on her hips.I didn't have a real answer for her. I knew it had to be from my daughter, all the extras I was riding on. She was so strong, I smiled and placed my hands on my belly."The baby..." Ava whispered as her piercing blue eyes lit up with excitement. "Rath! It's the baby! The baby is helping her!""Time to deliver!" With a sudden thrust of power, he tossed my Michael into the wall. His body hit with such impact, he crumbled as he fell to the ground."No!" I screamed and went after the person closest to me, Ava. "You bitch!"I tackled her and forced her to the ground. "Wait! Look!" she yelled and pointed to Kyle.I had to look. She knew I had to look. I looked and saw another mindwarp. Kyle's head was hanging down, his chin resting on his chest, his previously folded arms were now hanging at his sides. I saw through the mist at the blood that dripped from his ears."Right." I nodded at Ava right before my fist connected with that perfect, petite little chin. "I'll show you a fucking mindwarp!"I continued to pound on her face until there was real blood. Her blood. The strength I felt was amazing. I felt like I could beat on her all fucking day!"Wait! I can help you!" She whispered frantically as I crunched her nose against my knuckles. "I can help..."I pushed her forward and slammed her into one of the rocky walls. "And how can you do plan on doing that?" I pressed my forearm into her larynx."Just let me live and I'll keep Rath away," Ava nodded as much as she could with me crushing her windpipe. "I'll keep him away from you and your child. It's not so bad here, on Earth, we'll go away and never come back."Riiight. I nodded once and saw the fear flash through her eyes. I was willing to wager that she was someone who was rarely scared and here was me, little Maria DeLuca Guerin, alien hunter and ex-con, scaring the crap out of her. Life was good.And I was just about done with this game. I was tired and wanted to go home and cover my husband in desserts. I wanted to change my clothes and take a shower. And I had an uncontrollable urge for a tall glass of ice-cold milk with a splash of Tabasco. The thought of that made me shudder."I thought about it," I smiled. "I don't think it's such a good idea."I stepped into her and used all of my strength to push down on her windpipe. I saw her struggle to breathe, her hands tried to push me away, but for some reason, I wasn't budging. I felt hate rage through me; hate that I had never felt before. It was so strong; it scared me.I kept pushing down on her with my arm, while my knee found its new home in her abdomen."You fucked with the wrong people, you know that, right?" I leaned in as close to her as I could so I could hear her struggle to breathe. I watched her nod as much as she could. As long as she knew...I was going to kill her, there was no doubt about it. I was going to kill her with the same hands that had killed Lonnie not all that long ago. I was going to kill her to save my child and myself. I paused, for reflection, I think. This wasn't me. This wasn't the Maria I had become. The one who went to the dry cleaners and the grocery store. However, I was still the Maria who wanted to save everyone, not the one who wanted to be saved. I wanted to be the superhero, not the damsel in distress, although my knight in black leather was a bonus.I turned and looked at the fight of the twins as Michael flew through the air towards us. I didn't think; I reacted. I snapped Ava's neck a split second before Michael slammed into me, bringing me down to the ground on top of him.I smiled at his beaten face and brushed his cheek with the back of my hand. "Hi honey, guess who's pregnant?"\*Chapter Thirty Four"My Sweet Maria..." Michael returned my smile. "A baby..."Something was wrong. Something wasn't fucking right at all. I saw Rath and he was catching his breath. The wacky blue-gold mist was still there. I had snapped Ava's neck thinking it would free the others, but they were all still contained."No!" I screamed the word and grabbed Michael's hand and raised it towards the mist. Whatever kind of mojo the baby was working on me, I hoped it held just as tight for her daddy. I was beginning to feel like we were seriously fucked.I kept screaming and felt something course through me that I can't even explain. It was kinda like the cool tingles I got before but they were magnified by like a bazillion. I felt every nerve in my body react and knew it could only be one thing. Baby, meet your daddy. Michael, meet your baby.The mist evaporated and my friends were free. I laughed out loud, but only for a second. Max and Tess were rushing towards us, their hands raised in the air. What the...?Tess screamed and I thought I may have a rival for best scream. I barely had time to turn my head, just enough time to see Ava in back of me, neck obviously not broken, with Rath's knife poised at my neck. Before I could even move out of the way, Ava went flying backwards and hit the wall in back of her before bursting into flames."Holy shit!" That was me. I didn't snap her neck. Ava and that fucking mind warping. Damn."Are you okay?" Michael asked and he was totally alarmed. I nodded before he took me into his arms, his hand rested on my belly. "Did you feel his power rush through you?"His? I think he meant her. I nodded and let it go."Rath!" I perked my head up and looked around the cavern. Rath was gone. In another ninja like move, I was on my feet stalking around the room looking for my husbands clone. He was so going to die."Kyle!" Tess yelled as Kyle Valenti fell to the ground. She hovered over him, tears streaming down her face. "Oh God...""It's a mind warp..." I said as the realization that it wasn't a mind warp hit me like a ton of bricks.I fell on the floor on the other side of Kyle from Tess and cried with her. I grabbed Kyle's wrist and couldn't feel a pulse, but that could have been because my heart was beating so fucking loud I thought it may explode.Blood was trickling from his ears, and I swear he wasn't breathing. That hadn't been a mind warp after all and now Kyle was going to pay for it."Isabel!" I yelled and looked frantically around the room.Isabel was at my side within seconds. "What happened?""I thought it was a mind warp," I cried as guilt rushed through me faster than anything else ever could. "Help him...""Stay back," Isabel ordered and pushed me away. Just a look to Tess sent the petite blond reeling away.I watched in utter horror and fascination as Isabel placed her hands on either side of Kyle's head and then looked to the ceiling. I settled on her other side and kept my eyes wide. Isabel's eyes were closed but I could tell she was drawing strength from somewhere."Can you save him?" I heard myself whisper and didn't expect an answer, which was a good since I didn't get one. I looked over from Kyle's limp and broken body to Tess and my heart broke again.Red splotches appeared on Tess' cheeks that matched the red in her eyes. Tears rolled down her face and she clutched her hands together underneath her chin. She was rocking back and forth overcome with grief. I knew that feeling."Kyle," Tess whispered his name and it made my heart weep.My attention went back to Isabel and watched as her hands roamed over Kyle's head and then his body. Her brow was scrunched up and for some reason that bothered the shit out of me. She wasn't the calm and collected Isabel Whitman that I was used to. She was worried."Isabel..." I said her name softly.Her hands moved over Kyle's body again and then settled on his head. I watched as the power that Isabel was harnessing released itself into the body of Kyle Valenti.I watched his chest rise and then fall before Isabel backed away and fell backwards landing on her ass. She pulled her knees up against her and rested her forehead against them. She was drained. And Kyle was alive. Woo hoo!"Oh, Kyle!" Tess shouted through her tears and leaned towards him, cradling his head in her hands. "Are you okay?"Kyle nodded and I felt the relief shatter the grief. He rolled his head over in my direction and smiled. Almost."You left me hanging on the wall...": His voice was thick but that Valenti charm still managed to ooze through.I laughed and nodded while placing my hand on Isabel's back. "Are you okay?"She nodded and turned into me, hugging me. I hugged her tight but kept my eyes roaming the room over her shoulder. Michael and Max were gone, I could only assume that they were in the pursuit of Rath. But I had a funny feeling that they weren't going to find him. If I was Rath and there were four very pissed off aliens and one Maria with a super-baby after me, I'd haul ass out of town and fast."I'm sorry," Isabel wept the words into my neck.I wasn't quite sure what she was sorry for so I just murmured that it was okay and continued to rub her back. I watched the joyful reunion of Tess and Kyle and had the feeling that everything was going to be okay."Are you..." Isabel lifted her head up to face me; tears glistened in her eyes. "Are you really pregnant?"I nodded and wondered how the hell she knew that. She smiled and rested her head back on my shoulder."It made sense, they needed your baby. The baby of the leader to get back... To wherever." Isabel snuffled on my shoulder."Nothing makes sense to me, Isabel." I snorted. "None of it."She raised her head again and faced me. "I saw some visions, I guess you could call them that. I saw another set of us and they were looking for something that we had to get them somewhere they wanted to go.""Right," I nodded. "They needed my baby to get them home, like to another planet home. They were going to cut her out of me." I shuddered as the realization whacked me in the head that they, these clones of my aliens, were going to slice me open and take my baby. Tears stilled on my eyelids. "But they didn't. Any idea how they were going to use her?""Her?" Isabel shook her head and smiled that brilliant smile that only she has. "You're going to have a girl?"I nodded, then shrugged. "I don't know. Fuck Isabel, I don't know anything. I've been too fucking worried about getting the fuck out of here that I didn't have time to even worry about having a half-alien baby. Oh my God, do you think everything will be okay? I mean..." I was getting out of breath as the emotions of a pregnant woman swam through and over me. "They said they could take the baby in a few weeks. Does that mean I could actually deliver this baby then? Isabel!" I said her name with urgency. "What the fuck am I going to do?"Then the tears fell.It was her turn to take me in her arms and soothe me. "We're all here for you, Maria. You and Michael both. We'll make sure everything's okay."I nodded and tried to believe her, but frankly, this was uncharted territory. It wasn't like I could look it up on the Internet. This was a learn-as-you-go kind of thing. But it was reassuring to know that I had my friends to support me and help me when I delivered a twelve pound purple baby with fins. That was a good."We'll all make sure that this special baby is just fine," she touched my stomach and I felt the tingles.This was going to be a wild ride. I heard something to my right and jumped to my feet pulling Isabel along with me. I was ready to kick some more ass; but then I was relieved to see it was Michael and Max with Alex in tow."Alex!" Isabel let go of me and stood. She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. That's when I noticed he looked a little worse for wear."What happened?" I asked and smoothed down my hair, tucking it behind my ears."Rath," Michael said the name with hate. "Alex tried to stop him and they got into it for a minute.""More like a second," Alex smiled and kissed his wife. "Then he pushed me down and drove away."I looked around the cavern. Michael and Max. Standing tall and united. Isabel and Alex. She was tending to the scrapes on his face. Tess and Kyle. Two lovers who felt the urgency to never take any day for granted.I watched as Tess helped Kyle to his feet before I walked over to them. Immediately, I was in Kyle's arms."Are you okay?" He pushed back from me just enough to see my face.I nodded. I was okay. I didn't understand everything, but I was okay and so was everyone I loved. I hoped this would be the last alien encounter and since three of the four duplicates were dead, I imagined it would be. Besides, at this point I was pretty confident I could handle anything. Well, I could handle anything that involved me kicking some ass, but the whole motherhood thing was starting to make me shudder."So," Kyle nodded and kissed the corner of my mouth. "Are you ready to go?""Yeah Valenti," I laughed. "I'm ready to go.""How about the rest of you?" Kyle looked around the cavern. "I know you just got here and all, but are you ready?""I think I can speak for all of us when I say fuck yes, let's go!" Max laughed and then looked around the cavern. He pointed to the backs of the pods, more specifically to the pod I had fallen through. "Hey Captain, you do realize that those are the p-o-d-s don't you?"Before I could reply, Kyle stepped in front of me. "Not only does she know it, she was in them! Why do you think there's a huge gaping hole in that one?" He was laughing harder but I'll be damned if he still wasn't able to talk. "Because she fell through it!"I felt the blush creep up my neck as the others laughed with Kyle. I eventually smiled but I was still a little bitter about the whole pod thing."So," I cleared my throat. "How did you know we were here?""Isabel," Michael said the name as he stepped closer to me. "Isabel knew. You could say she saw it."I waited for Isabel to explain because as much as I wanted out of the freak show, I wanted some damn answers first!"When you killed the one who looked like me-""Lonnie." I supplied."Lonnie," Isabel repeated the name then shook her head slightly. "When Lonnie died, I felt it. It was almost like I was seeing through her eyes. I saw you, Maria. What I also saw was what I can only guess were her thoughts. I saw what I thought was the outside of the pod chamber, the rocks.""So you came here," I smiled."So we came here." Max stepped up next to his sister and nodded. "And here you were."Okay. I could deal with that. Another adventure over. I swear I was promising the hell out of myself that I would never complain about being bored again. Ever. And I guess I was going to have to spill about the note and CD as well. Damn.With battle wounds healed, and a sense of what happened understood, the four aliens and us three humans stumbled out of the place where my husband was hatched. I got the willies as I thought about the pods, but I knew I'd get over it. Someday. Maybe.With my first breath of fresh air, I smiled and looked at Kyle who seemed to be enjoying the same air."Wacky duplicate alien freaks?" I raised my eyebrows at him."We fucked'em!" He winked.\*Chapter Thirty FiveI didn't ask any more questions. I didn't want to hear any more explanations. I just wanted to go home. I just wanted to go somewhere away from here. I wasn't asking for a lot, just for the things I wanted!I spied the big black SUV and knew it had been commandeered by Michael. No doubt there was a Section plane waiting at the airport. We arrived at the SUV and I crawled into the backseat and closed my eyes, I was followed by Michael. I think Tess and Kyle were next. I heard the back open and figured Alex would ride back there leaving Isabel the front seat with Max driving. I didn't even have to open my eyes to know I was right.I felt Michael's hand on my shoulder and I turned into him. I didn't face him; I didn't want to look at anyone. "I fell out of your pod." I sniffled. I felt his body tremble as he tried not to laugh."And it was so funny!" Kyle laughed obviously eavesdropping on my whine."Kyle!" Tess chastised him and he quit laughing. I didn't even want to know what was going on over there."Are you okay?" Michael whispered in my ear and held me tight against him.I nodded but I didn't know for sure if I was lying or not. This was too much alien for me. This was too much of what I didn't want to know. This was just too damn much, period. "No." I sat up and faced my husband. "I'm not okay."He tried to soothe me by running the back of his hand over my cheek, but that just wasn't going to cut it. Not this time."You were hiding this from me, Michael." I accused as the SUV was set in motion. "You knew about them but you didn't tell me!" I knew my voice was getting higher but I couldn't seem to care. I was hurt. "You let this happen to me! They were going to kill me! They were going to kill Kyle!""I didn't know, not really." He said the words quietly, laced with guilt."But you knew something!" I shook my head. "Damn it! We aren't supposed to have any secrets between us Michael, none. And lo and behold, you were keeping a mountain of alien shit from me." I saw his lips part but I wasn't done yet. "And don't tell me it was because I don't want to hear about the alien shit, because you're right, I don't. But damn it, if you had an idea of what was going to happen, you should have let me know!""I didn't know, Maria." Damn, I hated that calm voice. "Isabel and I knew there was something going on, but you are mistaken if you think we knew more than that. Do you honestly think that I would have put you in danger?"He had me on that one. No. I didn't think he would ever put me in danger. But that didn't mean I wasn't still pissed."But you knew something!""We knew there was another set of us, but we didn't know anything else." Michael sighed. "I had no idea that you were pregnant. I had no idea that keeping this from you would endanger you-""I thought he was you!" I spat out at him as more stupid tears slid down my cheeks. "I thought everything had been a lie! I thought it was you..." I began to hiccup, cough and make a nasty gurgling noise and when Michael drew me into his arms, I went willingly. I may be a hardass, but even hardasses need some hugs now and then.I cried myself to sleep against Michael. I can only assume he carried me onto the plane because when I woke up, my ears were stopping up and we were starting our final descent."Where are we?" I mumbled and made that awful gaping mouth face trying to pop my ears."Almost home," Michael leaned into me and kissed the corner of my mouth. "Are you feeling better?"Was I? I was carrying an alien baby, I had just gone through my own personal hell and I was scared to death about everything. Yeah, I was better. I nodded."Liar," he smiled.I shrugged. I was better. Everyone was safe and we were on our way home so that made me better. All the other shit was still making me a nervous wreck."I am sorry I kept secrets from you," Michael whispered low in my ear.I felt my nipples harden with that whisper. It had been awhile."But I wasn't the only one keeping secrets." That whisper did nothing for me. He handed me a folded piece of paper and raised his eyebrows.I took the paper from him and opened it up. Busted. I was so going to gut Mr. Bear when we got home. Some guard he was..."Would you care to explain?"I looked across to Kyle and saw him quickly close his eyes. Chicken shit. With a deep sigh I told my story."Kyle was there and it came in an envelope on the porch along with a CD," I saw his interest pique and knew he never looked in the glove box of the Pony. "The CD is blank. Well, it is now. When we played it, all it said was 'Wait' and then it erased itself. We were going to tell you..."Instead of the dubious glare I was expecting, I got a smile and then a full robust laugh. I stared at my husband as he laughed so hard and so loud that he had tears rolling down his cheeks. Okay. Not exactly what I had been expecting.I waited for him to finish laughing and noticed he had everyone's attention."I'm sorry," Michael wiped his eyes and cleared his throat. "I can just imagine you and Kyle sneaking around the house trying to figure it out!"Damn.\*We landed smoothly which is always a good and the ride to the Whitman's was cramped. But we made it and it felt good to be close to home."So, I guess this means I'm kind of going to be an aunt, huh?" Isabel hugged me outside of her house. "I promise I'll be a good one. No secrets.""Yeah," I nodded and tried to get an angry face with her but failed. "I'm not happy with you or Michael. You know that, right?""I know. We were going to tell you, everyone, that night... Goodness, it seems like years ago now, but then there was the Kyle and Tess announcement and we didn't want to rain on anyone's parade, so to speak, so...""Excuses, excuses..." I grinned and looked over my shoulder at Michael. "Just don't let it happen again. By the way, your evil twin? What a bitch!"I said goodbye to Isabel and Alex after planning a meeting to talk baby with Isabel for the next day. Yeah, I think Iz will make a damn good aunt. I saw that Kyle and Tess were eager to leave so they got hugs. Of course Kyle's was a little tighter and a little longer."We did good, Mom." Kyle kissed my cheek. "I think we would have gotten out of it even if they wouldn't have shown up, don't you?"I nodded. "I think we were doing a bang-up job. Me about to be gutted and you hanging out nicely on the wall.""Stupid aliens..." Kyle muttered underneath his breath as he walked away towards his Pony where his bouncy blonde fiancée was waiting for him."I guess you two are ready to get going." Max kicked at pebbles in the street and I felt a whole new respect for him.Without warning, I took the few steps to Max and embraced him. I pulled him tight against me. Too tight for him to cop a feel. Too tight for him to gape down at my tits."I was scared for you," Max admitted in my ear. "I mean, I was pissed at Isabel and Michael, but I was scared for you. Anything alien related puts you completely out of your element."You can say that again."I heard you tell Isabel that her evil twin was a bitch. How was mine?""Oh," I remembered the similarities I had made as Zan had been kicking my ass. "He was a complete motherfucker. Completely stupid, nothing like you at all. Plus," I chucked him on the shoulder, "he didn't have your great smile, either."I got that great smile in return as we separated. Then I got a little tit leering, but hey, it's all good. I was suddenly hit with the thought that since I was pregnant I wondered if my tits would get bigger. I don't know if Max Evans could handle it.Michael and I watched as Max walked to his car with a new confidence in his gait."Are you ready to go home, or what?" Michael snaked his arm around my waist."Yeah, I think so." I nodded and turned towards my Pony. "I need to make a stop, then I'll see you at home?"He nodded and drew me into him for one of those long, wet kisses that seem to last a lifetime."See you soon, mother-to-be, my Sweet Maria."I nodded and walked to my Pony. I waited for him to get inside his car and then I floored it to the grocery store. I power-walked to get what I needed and then hauled ass back to the townhouse.I grabbed the CD from the glove box and my bag from the front seat and ran in the house. I heard some music from upstairs and I bolted. It was that soft romantic music, not anything at all like what I wanted for my theme music. But for wild condiment sex, it was perfect.I pushed open the bedroom door and there he was in all his naked glory. I think I heard the heaven's singing.\*Chapter Thirty Six"Hi," Michael waved from his place in the middle of the bed."Well hello Mr. Guerin!" I waved back and set my bag down. Then I set a new world record stripping down to my birthday suit.As much as I hated to, I darted into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I didn't even wait for the right temperature; I just hopped on in. As much as I wanted to make love to my husband, after a full day of battling evil aliens, a girl needs a shower.I scrubbed pod shit off of me and washed my hair at a rate somewhere close to the speed of light. As I rinsed the conditioner out, I ran my hand over my belly and tried to fell my daughter. That was strange for me. I mean, everything in my life is strange, but being a mother seemed to be the strangest of all.With both hands on my belly I wondered what she'd look like. Would she have dirty blonde hair like me? My attitude? Or would her hair be the soft chestnut brown like her daddy's and would she have his coolness? Would she look like me and have his temperament or would she look like Michael and have mine?Anything was possible.I shook my head like a dog and didn't even bother towel drying my hair. I needed to be with Michael and I needed to be with him right fucking now! I dried myself a little and dropped the towel to the floor as I opened the bathroom door.Again, the heavens sang.I took a deep breath and kept my eyes glued to my husband. I marveled at the way his chin was so strong, his jaw so powerful, and yet his words were so calming and melodic.I remembered why I loved him. I remembered how I had fallen in love with him. I knew that he held my heart in his hand and his was in mine. He was my knight in black leather and I was his Sweet Maria. Nothing was ever going to change that."You will make an amazing mother," his voice was low, his eyes were lower, lingering on my bare abdomen."Think so?" I touched my belly and felt the first shooting vibration of fear of the unknown race through me.The fear was replaced with excitement."No, I know so." He reached to me and I raced into his arms. He kissed my face as I positioned myself to straddle his thigh, pressing my bare sex into his skin. "You are going to be amazing... Even more amazing than you are now. You're glowing, you know?"My eyes grew super wide and I looked down in a whiplash motion. I felt Michael's hand under my chin, gently forcing me to look back at him."It's a figure of speech," he smiled. Damn, he knew me too well. "You're not really glowing."Right, I knew that."C'mere Sweet Maria...."He pulled me closer to him until our chests were flush. I felt his hard nipples against the fleshiness of my breasts and wondered if he could feel mine. I heard a moan and realized it was mine."I was so scared," he murmured into my ear as he captured one of my hard nipples in between his thumb and forefinger. I swayed as he rolled it. "I tried to stay brave, but it was so hard thinking something happened to you because of me."I didn't know what to say. In a sense, I was almost speechless."When Isabel saw you in her vision as you killed...""Lonnie.""Lonnie, right. I knew when she saw you there that you were going to be okay. You were fighting back, not that I expected anything less from you, but it was reassuring.""I couldn't give up, not after they told me I was pregnant."I watched as the melancholia seeped from Michael's eyes and was replaced with animation. My heart swelled while I watched my husband swallow the idea that we were going to be parents."I think it really just hit me," he laughed and touched my belly with the palm of his hand. "I knew, but just now..." He shook his head and smiled brilliantly."Hit you like a ton of bricks?" I laughed and felt the wetness in my eyes."Exactly," he nodded and I noticed the same wetness in his own eyes. "We're having a baby, Sweet Maria."I nodded. "Can you believe it?" I finally laughed. "Did you ever see this happening? When you picked me out of the pokey, did you ever imagine that we'd be having a family?""Honestly?" He shook his head for an answer. "But you continue to surprise me Maria Guerin, something you've been doing since the day you woke up in Section screaming. Ever since then you've kept me on my toes. But you know what? I wouldn't change one second of it for anything."Me either. I backed off of his leg and crawled down the bed giving him a primo view of my sashaying ass as I went. I grabbed the bag I had dropped before bolting into the bathroom and pulled it up on the bed next to me. Sitting with my legs crossed Indian style, I retrieved the contents. My husband, the father of my baby, watched with an amused expression. Surprises? I will always be full of surprises.I pulled out two jars of marshmallow cream, one jar of Carmel topping and a shaker bottle of candy sprinkles."Are you making a sundae?" Michael raised his eyebrows while that wicked grin snaked over his lips.I nodded and opened up the jars letting my sweet tooth prevail. With the jars pressed into my chest, I shimmied up the bed until I was settled in-between his legs. He was ready for me; I could see that. Literally. I held out one jar of marshmallow cream and motioned to it. Michael knew me so well it was almost scary. He raised his hand over the jar and I felt it warm in my hand.I couldn't keep from grinning as I scooped out more than half of the damn jar with three fingers. With my hand full of a mound of white creaminess, I couldn't resist, I had to taste it. I sucked the tip of my finger before I fell forward and lathered Michael's hard, throbbing length with the sweetness.I moved up his body just a little bit and covered his nipples. Then I reached back for the Carmel and held the jar out to Michael. He did his alien mojo and I poured almost half of the jar on him from his nipples to his thighs. I was almost done. Without looking, I reached next to me and grabbed the plastic jar of sprinkles. I shook the hell out of the jar until Michael was covered in colors."Sprinkles?" He laughed looking down at his dessert-ridden body.I shrugged. "Reminds me of our first date."Okay, it hadn't really been a date when Michael had taken me out of Section to dinner and the ice-cream parlor, but at the time, it was the best date I had ever had. One more memory I would cherish. Always."So," Michael liked his lips and I knew he couldn't wait for his turn to play dessert artist.I shrugged again and bent my head forward taking him in my mouth. The sweetness rocked me. If I didn't have a cavity by morning, it would be a miracle. I heard him moan as I straddled his leg again, this time I was pressing down right above his kneecap. I rubbed myself against him and I kept the rhythm going with my mouth. I saw out of the corner of my eye as Michael's hands clenched the comforter. I could tell he was fighting not to raise himself off the bed to meet my mouth and I totally appreciated that.I smiled around him as I noticed the cream covering the hair extending down from his navel had seemed to stiffen."My turn," Michael whispered the words right before he scooted out from underneath me and turned me over on my back.My legs spread for him, maybe it was eagerness or maybe it was habit. I watched with anticipation as Michael went straight to the second jar of cream and heated it. He was a little more artistic than I was, he poured it over me and for a brief second I thanked the powers that be that I let Isabel talk me into getting a Brazilian waxing done last week.I felt his fingers roam through my folds, my slickness mixed with the cream and the sweet smell was almost enough for me right there. But not quite. I closed my eyes and felt heated Carmel on my breasts. I arched my back as high as I could as the heat hit my already stimulated nipples. I felt the warm syrup run down the sides of my breasts and I almost orgasmed right there."Feel good?" Michael whispered.I nodded, words escaped me. I opened my eyes just in time to see Michael shake a handful of candy sprinkles into his marshmallow cream covered palm. Whereas I sprinkle like a mad person, Michael is calm and cool and calculating. Whereas I covered him in sprinkles, he placed small piles of them on me purposefully.I saw my Carmel covered breasts with bright sprinkles right on the tip of my entirely too hard nipples. I raised my head up to watch Michael work his magic with ice-cream toppings.With an artists touch and a soldier's strategy, he placed a path of candy leading down from over my heart down in between my legs. I let a small yelp escape past my lips as his mouth began the journey of the sprinkle route. When his lips met the marshmallow caverns I screamed. Nothing had ever felt so good.I savored the feel of his mouth on me and waited for the moment that he would slide into me. I didn't have to wait long. I gasped as I felt Michael's length inside of me.He lowered his body down onto mine and our toppings meshed into syrupy glue. And I thought the cotton candy was a bitch...He looked down intro my eyes and rested his body on his elbows, hovering above me. "I am so proud of you, Maria."Proud?"You are just an amazing woman. I can't even imagine what my life would be like if you weren't in it. I thank God everyday for you and now I can thank him for our son."There he was going with that son thing again. I knew I was having a girl, no doubt about it. Oh shit. My eyes got wide and I think my blood pressure topped out around seven hundred."Why do you say a son?" I tried to keep my voice calm but my panicked frenzy was shining through."You didn't feel his coolness?"His coolness? Oh fuck me. It wasn't Michael's coolness that I had felt; it was my sons. And the tingles of electricity no doubt had to be my daughter. That's right, I laughed, of course it was going to be like that. Why did I even think it would be easy?"And also remember to thank him for a daughter," I smiled up into the face of my adoring husband and saw the look of shock that melted into one of joy."Really? Twins?"I nodded with confidence. Without a doubt I knew that Michael and I were having a girl and a boy. I could do this. No sweat. Riiight."Are you going to be okay?" Michael rested next to me after a quick lick of my still syrupy nipple."Yeah, I think we're all going to be just fine."In a moment of true happiness, my husband slid back into me through the toppings. We connected in a way that made time stand still. We were complete in our circle of love. From a road of decay I was given the chance to change my life and I did. I seized the opportunity and now I was complete. We were complete."I love you Michael," I whispered as he thrust into me."I know Sweet Maria, I love you too."\*
Chapter Thirty Seven -- EpilogueAfter Michael and I accepted the fact that we were going to be parents to twins, things kind of went back to the way they were before our adventure in Podville. He stayed home with me for a few days and then it was back to business. I didn't bitch about being bored anymore; I had a ton of stuff to plan for the babies. I consulted with Isabel on a daily basis and she assured me that my babies were going to be just fine. I trusted her; I didn't have a choice. It wasn't like I could pop into a doctor's office and spread'em like any other mother-to-be. I sure as hell wasn't like any other expecting mother that I knew.I relinquished the CD to Michael and he took it to Section where the world's top computer dorks went to work on it. Of course they came up with next to nothing. It was an ordinary CD-R that a person could purchase in about a trillion different stores across the entire country. And I wasn't surprised that the only fingerprints on it were Kyle's and mine. Maybe some things were meant to stay a mystery. Maybe some things were meant to not mean what they appeared to mean. Maybe some things were meant to... I stopped there, confusion is a lovely place to visit.I knew there was something obviously obvious with that CD and note. 'I know' and 'Wait'. Whatever. It was too vague. Too abstract. There was too much that anyone could know. Too much to wait for. Did I still think those mutant twins were behind it? No. I had a feeling I knew where it had come from. But for now, that feeling was going to remain with me and me alone. I had more important things to deal with now.The important things were that we were all home and we were all safe. The imminent threat of alien invasion was over. There was only one of them left and I didn't think we'd be hearing from him anytime soon. He sure as hell wasn't hitching a ride home with my babies. Ever.When Michael went back to Section in the fulltime capacity that I knew he would, it wasn't so bad. It gave me a chance to reflect, something I hated doing, but found relaxing and important.When I looked into the mirror, I didn't see who I used to be. I didn't see the drugged out slut. I didn't see the woman who didn't give a shit. I saw someone I had first begun to recognize during my first trip to Roswell. When I remember wearing that awful yellow nightgown in Roswell before I knew the truth about everything, I saw someone I had wanted to become. Now I was her. I saw the woman in the mirror fulltime. I saw a woman who was proud of who she was.And I was proud of myself. When Michael had mentioned he was proud of me, I was confused. Now I understood.Everything had been different this time around. When I fell in love with Michael, no, when I found out exactly what Michael was, I knew my life would never be normal. There was no way that being married to an alien was going to be normal and I totally accepted that.I joked around a lot that I was always saving the world. Well, me and my trusty sidekick, that is. I liked to save people, it made me feel like I was giving back a little. It didn't matter if it was true or not, but damn it, I wanted to be a superhero! I wanted to save everyone's asses. I wanted to be the light at the end of the tunnel. I wanted to be the one who took control.But like I said, this time it was different. I wasn't battling evil Section baddies, it was fucking aliens! And I wasn't able to swoop in and save anyone. I had to learn to save myself. I had to put myself first. Well, me and my babies. And I realized that I wasn't a superhero. I wasn't able to save myself. I had needed help and it had arrived just in the nick of time.So maybe all of this alien mojo was really there as a lesson to me. The lesson being that I wasn't indestructible and I did need help. I understood that I was human and I wasn't alone.I've come a long way, baby. \*The picture window faced the Rocky Mountains. Fog engulfed their heights, hiding the peaks behind puffs of whiteness."So," He reached around her waist, his hand sliding underneath the thin T-shirt she had slept in. He cupped her bare breast and then tweaked her nipple. "Did you miss me?"She nodded and sighed pushing away from the desk that faced the window."I missed you too, baby," he barely got the words out before his mouth crashed against hers. His tongue forcibly probed the inside of her mouth.She wrapped her thin arms around his neck and pulled him down onto her lap absorbing his weight with grace. She giggled as his hands toyed with her dark brown hair that reached just past her waist."So, you know you're all I got now, right?" He breathed the words into her ear and then faced her."Aren't I enough?" She asked with perfected innocence.He seemed to think about it for a second and then nodded slowly. "Yeah baby, I guess you are. Even though the rest of my family is dead.""You'll get over them," she arched her back forcing him to slide off of her lap.He knelt on the floor and looked up at her. "You say it so easily...""It is easy, baby." She caressed his unshaven cheeks with the backs of her hands. "You didn't need them-""You don't know-""Come on baby, I know exactly what you need." She giggled with her best girlish tone."You don't know shit!" He interrupted and grabbed her hand in his with a crushing force."I know more than you ever will, my love. You didn't even know what to if you had gotten the baby." Her smile was laced with criticism.He didn't answer her but dropped her hand. With a half-jump, he was on his feet. "I would have figured it out. You know, you would have been my Queen, right?""I still will be, baby, I still will be. It's not over yet."He reached behind her neck and grabbed a handful of her hair in his fist, pulling her head backwards. "You been holding back on me, baby?""What do you mean?" She couldn't keep the pleasure from having her hair pulled off of her face."You know something about a CD?"She smiled broader before laughing. "Just a little something to keep them on their toes. Nothing big."He nodded and loosened his grip on her hair. "Yeah? You know, it's funny how life works out, huh?""What are you talking about?""Here it was just a few months ago when you saw us walking down the street and hunted us down, man, I swear I was going to kill you. I was going to rip your fuckin' head off."She smiled thinking of the day when she knew she could tell someone her secrets. The day that she came back to life with a vengeance.He grinned. "Man, you really do have a hard on for them, baby, you ever going to tell me why?"Liz Parker smiled coyly and shrugged. "Maybe Rath, maybe someday." \*Kyle and Tess are going full steam ahead with their wedding plans, although they haven't quite set a date yet. They're waiting on me and my alien birth. But it all looks good. They're happy and I couldn't be happier for them. I am still going to be Kyle's best man. Wouldn't have it any other way.Isabel and Alex are still living their happy life together. Alex spends long hours at Section while Isabel spends her fair share of time there as well. They both love what they do and I don't foresee that changing anytime soon. As long as Isabel always has time for me too, it's a good.I still have a little while to go until I deliver these babies and I'm getting kind of nervous. I never pictured myself a mother, really. Then again, I never pictured the last couple of years of my life either.It's funny how life works out.When the front door opened and my knight in black leather strolled in I felt my heart do little flip-flops. I stood and he came to me. He placed his hands on my belly and I felt the cool tingles race through me. The babies were saying 'hi' to their daddy.He took me in his arms and I resigned myself to him. I leaned against him and I knew we were all safe. Safe from what and for how long? I couldn't answer that. I knew there was evil lurking around every corner and I was sure as hell ready to kick its ass whenever I needed to. I may only be a human, but I was also one not to fuck around with. I think I've proved myself by now. You don't fuck with the Maria and expect nothing to happen. I don't play fair and I don't forget.Michael still feels guilty about what happened. He doesn't say it, but I can see it in his eyes. I don't blame him. Hell, I don't blame anyone. But I know it will never happen again, we're too close for secrets. So, while we wait for the arrival of our babies, which is going to be another story altogether, Michael and I grow even closer.It's all good here in the Guerin house. I am excited about the twins, so is Michael. I'm excited about the next chapter in our already wacky lives to begin. I can hold my head up high with confidence that no matter what we come across in our lives that we will always be together.I will always tell Michael my secrets and I know without a doubt that he will always surrender to me.The End

