Title: DS Challenge Episode 100: Pilot
Author: Ash
Summary: Just a little tag to a Candy free episode.
Rating: Probably just TEEN for language.
Disclaimer: In case you were unaware, I actually don't own Roswell, it's characters or the quotes I used from the episode. Just so we're clear.
"Max, what are you gonna do?"
What the fuck is he doing?
Michael stopped and stared in complete shock as Max went to the fallen Liz Parker. He watched as he took her hand and pressed his hand towards her stomach. Fear crept through his body as he felt it; the end.
Those two crazy tourists started towards the back of the Crash Down, snapping Michael out of his shock.
"Hey, get back!"
He glanced back at Max and knew that Max was healing her, breaking their pact and changing their lives forever. Anger quickly joined his fear; he couldn't comprehend what Max was thinking exposing himself like this. And he was supposed to be the irresponsible one?
Fuck that.
He could feel his temperature rising as his body began to shake, his emotions were all over the place and for once in his life he wasn't sure about what to be sure about. Max was always the sane and stable person he could rely on and trust to do the right thing. Like his homework or other boring activities that made Michael fall asleep. If Max was capable of this- this type of action than what hope did he have?
"Keys! Now!!" He forced himself to say. It was obvious that Max wasn't the one they could all count on, which meant that he needed to step up to the plate and take control before he, Max and Isabel were captured and experimented on by the FBI.
He glanced back at Liz before jumping in Max's jeep and couldn't help but blame her for what was to come. If it meant her death or theirs he was choosing hers.
He looked at Max but quickly looked away and said "Drop me off here" instead. Shit was about to hit the fan and he needed time alone. Max opened his mouth to argue but the cold look in Michael's eyes warned him of the consequences and he stopped by the side of the road.
Jumping out, he started walking. With no direction in mind he turned to the only thing in his life he could control; his thoughts so he could formulate a plan to keep them safe.
In the cafeteria
Alex was reading a newspaper with Maria at his side discussing the events from the day before, "Well, it says right here that shots were fired but no one was injured"
Maria shook her head in disbelief, "Then where's Liz?? I mean, why is she avoiding me??" She knew there was something more going on here, "Okay, first of all, Liz is never late right? She walks into homeroom today, and goes and sits next to Pam Troy. She like, hates Pam Troy and you know like, goes around admitting it openly...and...Alex are you listening to me??
Alex was confused by the Maria babble but nodded instead of letting her know. Hurricane Deluca was scary, "Yea, yea, Maria I'm listening to you. But this is just you being you. All right? Liz is fine, nothing happened it's all right here in black and white"
Maria knowing that Alex was probably tired of hearing her blather let it go.
For now.
The next day at school
Maria watched Liz duck into her class for the third time since the shooting and felt a familiar pang of hurt. Liz, her best friend in the whole wide world for as long as she could remember was avoiding her. Sighing, she turned around and decided outside was a good idea right now. Nature was her friend and the fresh air would help clear her mind of her spiralling thoughts concerning what exactly happened that day in the Crash Down.
She's seen the blood on her order pad, yet Liz was fine.
There was no bullet but a shot had been fired.
Liz fell and stayed down longer than she should have, if she'd really just been frightened.
What did Max do to her?
Why did he leave right afterwards?
Thinking back to her confrontation with Liz, Maria was even surer than ever that Liz was hiding something; and that bothered her most of all. Liz never kept secrets which meant that this was really important and if it involved Max Evans and whatever the hell happened in that day than it could also be dangerous. She knew the Sheriff was watching Liz and had seen him with Liz's book bag.
"Penny for your thoughts"
Maria smiled at Alex who joined her on her stroll, at least she had her other best friend who she could count on to be honest.
"I think it'll cost you more than a penny for my thoughts right now"
"Let me guess- Liz?"
Slipping her hand through his arm she steered him in a new direction before answering. "I know I've been sounding like a horrible broken record that only plays crappy music but I'm really worried Alex. Liz has been acting really weird lately"
"I talked to her, Maria and she says everythings fine"
Snorting she said, "And you believed her? Seriously"
She watched Alex think about it, and he grimaced before saying, "She was really weird about it and then a deputy came to see her. Maybe you're right. Maybe Liz is hiding something about that day. But you gotta respect her decisions Maria. This is Liz we're talking about, it's not like she's involved in anything illegal"
Alex is right. This was Liz. Her Liz. And she was lying to everyone which was totally out of character.
"I think something really serious is going on here Alex and Liz may be over her head with this" Maria said voicing her real concern. "The police are involved and I saw the Sheriff talking to people from out of town and he had her book bag, Alex. I don't think anything good is going on"
"Well what are you going to do about it? Force her to tell you the truth?"
Maria mulled on that for a bit and smiled her famous Deluca smile, "If that's what it takes"
Liz is on her bed studying, Maria comes in and gets in front of her, dressed for the Crash Festival
Maria looked down at Liz and wearing her serious face let Liz know exactly how she felt, "Before I go to this idiotic crash festival I want to know everything. And if you don't tell me the truth right now. I'm going to go to Valenti myself and tell him everything I know"
"What do you know?"
Caught by surprise, Maria's thoughts stumbled a bit before saying, "Well...uh, I-I know that Max was in the diner that day, and I know that he went up to you when you were shot and like, did something to you. And I know that the one person in the world that I thought I could completely trust, is lying to me.
There, she'd laid everything on the line and it was up to Liz to decide where they'd go from here. Maria watched her friend and the conflicted emotions on her face.
Liz sighed and moved her textbook out of the way, "You have to promise me that you are not going to flip out"
Maria scoffed in disbelief, "Flip out? Hey, it's me"
"Okay", Liz began, "There was blood on your order pad because I bleeding. The bullet didn't hit the wall behind me and I didn't hit the ground out of shock or fear"
Maria took a seat on the Liz's bed, waiting to see where she was headed with this.
"The truth is Maria, I was shot that day. And as I lay there bleeding to death, Max made a decision that changed both of our lives"
Leaning forward Maria whispered, "What did Max Evans do to you?"
Looking Maria dead in the eyes Liz told her the truth, "He healed me"
Pulling back in confusion Maria scrunched her face as she thought about what Liz was saying. "So he's what into some weird herbal medicine that works instantaneously? Like the stories of the Native American healers my mom used to tell me about? Max is Native American?"
Taking a deep breath Liz shook her head, "No. Max is not from around here. Think north"
"Uh, Canada? He's like some weird Canadian?"
"No, uh. Look this is hard enough to believe so I'm just going to come out and say it. Max is an alien"
Maria was speechless. She faced her best friend in the world but couldn't find the words to express her disbelief.
"Maria?" Liz asked worried, "You okay?"
Licking her now dry lips Maria attempted to gain some clarity on the subject. "What you're telling me is that Max Evans is an alien. And not in the 'Canadian without legal papers' type of alien?"
Liz shook her head in confirmation.
"Which leave us with the other type of alien. As is 'green , slimy and here to take over the world' alien?"
Without waiting for Liz to respond, Maria stood up abruptly.
"Maria what are you thinking?"
Liz is a freaking nut for one.
But it all made sense. The blood, the mystery behind the missing bullet, the strange behaviour from Liz and Max.
Oh My God! Aliens exist.
"Maria?" She heard Liz ask.
And it got to Liz. What if she's not even Liz anymore? What if Max has already like infected her like in those Sigourney Weaver films or the Animorph novels? What if there's an alien in control of her body right now?
Scared Maria backed away from Liz.
"Maria?" Liz asked again, reaching out to touch her.
Maria couldn't control her response as she jumped back and turned to run screaming out at the images of aliens taking over the world.
One unsuspecting human teen at a time.
"Maria!!"
Max finished his phone call with Liz and turned towards Michael, "Well...".
Michael shook his head, unable to shake the horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, "It won't work"
Regardless he jumped out of Max's jeep and waited for his cue. As he waited he contemplated the simplicity of this plan and knew that whether or not this got Max off the hook right now, there was too much suspicion cast their way for it to be over. Knowing the Sheriff, he wouldn't be able to leave this alone which left them...
Not wanting to dwell on the sad state of what could be, he turned his thoughts back to the now.
This was a stupid plan
Michael went back to his earlier thoughts of Liz's plan and Max's unavoidable arrest. Sighing he pulled his mask over his face and waited for the axe to fall. Waiting for his signal he ran to where that girl with the weird haircut was lying on the floor. Making sure that his hand was still covered with silver paint he placed it over her chest. He could feel her heat beat speed up as his pants started to feel tight.
Now is not the time
Oh God
Maria could feel the heat from his hand and it was...nice.
No, not nice. He was an ALIEN and that meant bad. Bad, bad, bad!
But bad in a warm and comforting way that heated up every cell in her body...
No!
She forced her body to remain still until he removed his hand and only after he was gone could she breathe again. She went through the motions of their plan and it helped her to forget about what had happened before. The heat of his hand, the intensity of his eyes when he glared at her in the alley...
"Maria are you cold?" Liz asked in concern as they waited for the Crash count down.
Shaking her head she refrained from voicing her reaction to Michael Guerin. It was too weird for words.
"10, 9, 8..." The crowd yelled waiting for the finale.
Maria's eyes wandered and she took in the excitement in the air of these people who didn't know the truth. They were allowed to celebrate this night and party it up, without a backward thought to what actually happened that night. She used to be one of them, completely ignorant but so used to the normal events in her town that it all seemed like just another day in Roswell, New Mexico.
"...7, 6, 5..."
Now she knew differently. She knew that aliens were truly amoung them. They'd lived here for years, hiding who they were.
"...4,3,2..."
She looked back into the crowd, her eyes automatically seeking brown familiar eyes. His eyes. And she was lost, unable to pull away from them.
Michael couldn't look away from the enchanting green eyes that held him captive. There was something about Maria Deluca that made him aware of how long he'd been stuck on this planet with humans. He could feel a slight buzz in the air, slight vibrations really, and he knew it was because of her.
Maybe this is what happened to Max. This could be the reason he'd screwed up so horribly and left them in this predicament.
"1!"
The sound of the ship crashing distracted him from his thoughts. With sad eyes, he watched the fake ship crash into the ground and explode. The crowd cheered but he felt nothing but the harsh pain of his past. This is what happened to him, this was the reason he'd been alone and forced to live with Hank.
Pulling on the pain inside of him, he locked it away. He couldn't allow for human emotions, they made you weak and vulnerable. Shaking it off, he took one last look at the crash before turning away to go home.
And even though some part of him wanted too, he quickly vanished the memory of green eyes.
The End.