Author's Notes
Okay, so this is my just-for-fun piece. I love canon, but come on. Sometimes enough is just enough. I have the barest outline of this story, I won't update it the way I will the other, and I'm not gonna be so obsessive about the details. I like Tess, I AM NOT kill Alex, and by the time this story is done, I want everyone to respect those little candy coated chocolates just a little bit more.
Enjoy.
Oh, and blah blah blah, not my story, not my characters, not making money.
And the "muchness " line (which I love, FYI, is from the newest Alice in Wonderland.)
"Vengence in Violet" (The Remix)
Prom had really gotten her hopes up. After all, what could be sweeter, more loving than hiring a dancing instructor so you could take your girlfriend to her prom? Granted, he had broken up with her the week before, but, all in all, for space boy, it hadn't been too bad. And using the last of his hush money from the Dupree's to arrange for her to sing on stage at Vegas had to fall on the list of top ten most romantic gestures ever. Along with letting Raging Ray kick his ass so her mom's business wouldn't lose half its annual revenue. And she still kept that damned napkin holder on the kitchen table. And just two days ago she had turned the whole house upside down looking for one of the pearl earrings he had given her (it was in her jewelry box. Damn her mother's unpredictable cleaning sprees).
But now there was only one month a school left before summer vacation. Summer vacation which should mean hanging out, road trips, parties, dancing and practically unlimited Michael and Maria time, right?
Not in this universe.
Maria strode into Michaels apartment, not even bothering to keep the screen door from slamming. Michael was at his kitchen counter, facing away from her, a piece of fried chicken halfway to his mouth. When the door slammed, he jumped. She could see his shoulders tensing up. Good, she thought.
Max was standing facing the door, and he had wisely chosen to go into bear-attack survival mode. No sudden movements, eye contact or loud noises. He wasn't above dropping down to the ground and playing dead if necessary. Liz was a sweet, forgiving, understanding kind of girl. Maria wasn't Liz.
She came around the corner, slapping both hands on the counter before leaning down to be eye level with Michael. The slightly panicked look on his face would have been amusing had she been in the mood to be amused.
She wasn't.
"Where were you?" She cried.
"Right here" he said back. "Where was I supposed to be?" Since she was questioning him directly, he couldn't not make any noise, but he made sure to face her calmly, and move only as much as absolutely necessary.
"At school. At lunch. WITH ME!" she cried back.
"Today's Saturday" Ok, now he was confused.
"No! Today's Friday! Michael, where are you?" She couldn't believe this.
"Right here. Wait, where's Saturday?"
"Oh my god." She stood up straight. "Well, what was it? Were you at least, like, saving the world from some kind of alien invasion?"
Michael looked at her "Would that stop you from kicking my ass?" He couldn't keep the hope from his voice.
"Michael!"
"I was right here, ok, Maria. I'm right here!"
"Oh" she said. "Okay" .
Michael swallowed and braced himself.
"So" she took a deep breath. She knew she was gonna need it. "Were you…. sleeping? Or working? Or are you going to bed? Or just getting up? Or going to school? Or chasing a UFO sighting? Or digging up alien objects? Burying alien objects?". She paused, pulled in another breath. "Cause wherever you are? It's not with me." For a moment she just looked at him, and then turned to walk out of the door.
"Maria!" Michael cried. "All of this... The school, the jobs, the ... other stuff, it's not like it's optional. It's important shit, okay?"
"So, what? Your plans with me are optional?" Again, she turned to walk out of the door.
"What exactly do you want from me?" he cried, agitated.
"I want...a moment of your time. No" she corrected, "I want several moments of your time, preferably strung together, several times a week." She sighed. "For instance, I want tomorrow night to be fun. Really fun. I've been practicing all week."
"For date night?" he asked, confused.
"Michael, remember? I'm singing in the second set at the Silver Saucer" she said, naming one of the local bars. She didn't like the look on his face. Not one bit.
"Yeah…about that. See... Max heard something at the UFO center the other day, about some ruins about two hours away that have these really weird paintings on them. He wants to compare them to the destiny book. And we can't exactly do that during normal business hours."
"You're going to miss my show? Everyone is gonna miss my show?" She cried.
"No, no. See its aliens only, so Kyle, Alex and Liz can all still be there, to cheer you on!" Just not my boyfriend, she thought. Then she narrowed her eyes.
"And just why exactly is it VIP-aliens only? Suddenly humans aren't good company? Not enough for you all?" This better not be more of that destiny crap, she thought. It's not like they were so good at it the first time around, anyway. Not only did they lose the war, but, oh yeah, they all DIED in the process.
"We've been over all this before, Maria. You guys don't have any powers, you can't protect yourself. It's too dangerous." He watched her warily.
"We always used to be a team. Max and Liz too! And Alex and Isabel. Why is it suddenly too dangerous now? It wasn't last year."
Last year no crazy gandarium-filled archaeologist had come after you with a gun. Michael knew better than to say it aloud though. She narrowed her eyes.
"Do the others know about this?" She asked. Michael swallowed and nodded.
"Am I the last to know?" Michael nodded again. She seriously creeped him out when her voice got low like that.
"And just how much notice did everyone else get, Mickey G?" At that point Max made a swift escape. A good king knew the value of well-timed retreat.
"Thhhdaysms" Michael muttered.
"What?"
He swallowed. "Three days. I meant to tell you, but I forgot."
"Goodbye Michael".
"No, no! Wait, stop, dammit Maria, come back here, just chill, okay".
He attempted to pull her into her lap, but she wasn't having any of it. She just looked at him.
Agitated, he ran his hand through his hair. "Look, we probably won't have to be out all night. I don't see why I can't make your show."
For a moment he thought she would stay pissed, but then her shoulders sagged a little. Smiling crookedly, she said-
"I can ask them to make it the last set, instead of the second" she offered.
"Deal. I'll be there."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Really promise, Michael?"
"I'll be there".
He wasn't there. Neither was Max, Tess or Isabel.
She watched all night. The table Liz, Alex and Kyle had got was right up front. But the chairs they had saved for the others remained empty.
After her set she walked up to the others. She was so mad she had passed the furious tears stage. She was in a whole new world of mad.
As the others congratulated her, she could tell they were uncomfortable with the empty spaces that should have been filled by their Czech friends.
After the others had finished talking, they all just looked at each.
"The crashdown." Maria stated simply. The other three simply nodded.
An hour later they had all gathered in the darkened diner. By unspoken consent they had all come in various states of pajamas.
"Slumber parties with girls." Kyle muttered. "Not as fun as I imagined".
"Shut up Valenti". Maria said without raising her head from where she was laying on top of the counter, long wavy hair streaming off the edge.
"That can't be hygienic." he replied as he hopped up to sit on the table across from where Liz and Alex were sitting of stools, twirling each other in circles.
After a few minutes of relative silence Alex asked "So Maria, why the emergency meeting at" he checked his watch, "Midnight?"
She sat up abruptly. "Not a meeting people. This is officially a council of war"
Liz scrunched up her nose. "Just who exactly, are we declaring war on, Maria"
"The Czechs, if I had to guess." Alex said, studying Maria's face.
"Sorry guys, but their toys are way better, no offence. Buddha say-No fight for losing side" Kyle replied immediately.
"Shut up Kyle" this time both Alex and Liz were in unison.
"Maria" Liz started, "I know you're pissed at Michael, and you should be. It was a really crappy thing. He deserves to be dumped. But he really does love you." A pause. " I think."
"I know." Maria said.
"Then…why the declaration of war?" Alex asked.
"Because it isn't enough. And it isn't just Michael." She said. Her very calmness demanded her friend's attention. It was like being in the eye of a very large, most likely deadly hurricane.
"Whoa, whoa…Max and I are FINE!" Liz stated.
"So are me and Isabel" Alex said.
"Umm...Yeah. No interspecies dating going on here." Kyle said.
Maria looked at them for a moment. "Then why are they out there, and we are all here?" She said quietly.
"Because we wanted to be there for your show." Liz.
"Because we wanted to support you." Alex.
"Because they had some freaky alien thing to do." Kyle.
"Because they had some IMPORTANT alien thing to do." Liz corrected.
"Because we don't have powers." Alex
"Because not having powers makes us liabilities." Liz said quietly.
"Because they gotta find out what the book says." Alex added
"Because they need to know how to make the granolith work." Liz said, very quietly.
"Because one day, they're gonna use it to go home". She almost looked near tears. Alex took her hand.
"Because…" Maria took a breath, and started listing on her fingers. "They don't think we can keep up with them, that not having power makes us weak, because they know, no matter what, we'll wait until they want us. Or need our cars. Because they think they know everything about us, what we'll do, how we'll react, just how far they can push our love, loyalty and friendship." She looked sadly at the others.
"Because we're known factors, and the unknown is always way more exciting." Maria and the others just sat there for a few moments.
"We are totally unappreciated." Kyle said.
"We are totally underestimated." Alex replied.
"We're not in healthy relationships." Liz agreed.
"I'm not in any relationship, dammit." Kyle muttered.
Liz looked at Maria. "They don't take us along anymore because they don't want to put us in danger."
"Yeah. So they cut us out of all the x-files portions of their lives. Unfortunately, that's like, eighty percent" Maria replied.
"It's for our own safety. They just don't want to see us get hurt. Maybe that's just the cost of being in a relationship with someone who's….different." Liz shrugged.
"Or of giving one your room" Kyle added.
"But I don't know that any of us are in relationships with them. Think about it, our whole lives revolve around them, around that twenty percent of our lives we can share with them, and then they can't even be bothered to show up for that." Maria was fighting back the tears finally.
The boys looked away, while Liz held Maria. Finally Maria calmed down enough to say "And what about when they decide that even twenty percent is too dangerous for us like spaceboy did last summer? What then?"
"That won't happen Maria." Alex said. "Michael was beyond miserable without you."
"It could, though" Maria said. "If Michael decides it's the right thing to do, he will."
She took a deep breath. "And even that's the best case scenario, 'cause one day, they'll get in a spaceship, and they'll leave, and we will have nothing, nothing left." Tears were still falling silently down her cheeks, but she refused to give into them anymore.
"So, what, you think we should dump them en masse to avoid getting hurt more?" Alex asked.
"I couldn't if I wanted to" Liz said.
"Me either." Alex and Maria said in unison.
"Then what do you want to do?" Kyle asked.
"We need to re-take our lives, people. Our relationships. We need to makes plans." Maria said.
Immediately, Liz brightened. Liz loved plans.
"Plans for what?" Alex said..
"That depends on what we want out of this", Maria said. "But I think we need to start by admitting, each of us, just what this is doing to us. We need to admit it, face it. We may as well be addicts at aliens anonymous."
She took a deep breath. "I'll start. I love Michael more than anything in the world. And I've pushed, and pulled, and prayed, and waited, and dealt. But it's always been on his terms." She paused. "And I'm so pissed that he didn't show up tonight. Or the time before that, or the time before that."
She looked at Alex. He sighed. "Isabel treats me like her favorite pet, or her own personal mascot. I'm who she's with until a new, shiny toy catches her eye." He paused. "And yeah. I'm pissed."
He looked at Kyle. After a pause, Kyle said "I'm not even dating one, and I'm pissed. They cost me my dad's job, my bedroom, hell, my peace of mind. And I'm not even good enough to play on their team."
Finally they all turned to look at Liz. Her head was hanging down. "I'm mad" she said, so quietly they all had to lean in to hear her. She looked up. "I love Max. But I'm mad, and scared, and sad. And I want to be a part of his life, and he won't let me. And Maria's right, everything else in our lives have gone to the wayside for them, but when it comes down to it, it's always them over there, and us over here."
"So, do we just let them go?" Alex asked.
"No." Maria replied. "But we need to start dealing with them on our terms."
"So, we really are, like alien addicts anonymous" Liz joked.
"What are our goals?" Kyle asked.
"Revenge." Maria said immediately. "He's gonna wish he'd prioritized differently. It's not fun to be out of the know."
"Respect." Alex said. "I'm not gonna be anyone's backup anymore".
"A girl friend." Kyle said. The other three turned to look at him. "What, what? I want some of my normal back. This time last year I had three dates to choose from. This time all I'm asking for is one!"
"O-k-a-y. So, Kyle wants his mojo back. I can respect that." Then she cracked up, which cracked Alex up, and five minutes later they finally calmed down enough (well, okay, Kyle WAS still fuming, but, whatever) to look at Liz.
"Liz, what do you want?" Maria said it softly. She needed Liz in on this, needed it bad. Liz needed it bad.
"I don't know what I want." Liz said. "I guess, I guess what I really want is options."
Stunned silence met her words.
"NOW you wanna date guys other than Evans!" Kyle cried indignantly.
"No, no, of course not, that isn't what I meant. I'm just tired of feeling like a half. Half of a couple that half of the time is nowhere near the other half!"
"Wow." Was all Kyle said.
Maria nodded. "And Liz wants her muchness back. Doable people, very doable."