Title: With friends like these

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Author: Sarah (Sezza)

Rating: Strong R

Pairing: M&M and all CC's

Summary: In the aftermath of Destiny, Michael and Maria have one unforgettable night that later leads to secrets, lies and heartache.

Distribution: Ally's site, Belit's site, Candy is Dandy, Fanfiction.net. If anyone else wants it all you have to do is ask.

Author's note: This idea has some from yet another challenge over at Belit's site. I saw the challenge and had to write it as so many ideas popped into my head and wouldn't leave me alone until I finished it. I want to thank Sherry who beta'd it and the gals over at RCWW, without them this fic would not have seen the light of day. I also want to send a special thanks to Teresa who came up with the title. Feedback is appreciated, as is honesty. You can find the challenge here:

Email: sezza43@hotmail.com

Chapter 1 (The night that started it all)

Lying on her bed, Maria looked at the glowing stars on the ceiling trying to work out exactly what had happened that night. Max had been captured by the government but was saved by them all. Then Agent Pierce came after him and Michael killed him in the process. After that Michael claimed he was destined to be a solider and wanted her safe and being safe, according to Michael, meant being away from him. She remembered being so happy yet sad at the same time. Maria sighed and rolled onto her side, burying her face into her pillow. He had told her he loved her, but she doubted that he even meant it.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a light tapping on her window. Rolling off her bed, she slowly made her way over thinking that it was probably Alex, coming to check up on her. "Alex, I really don't want to talk--" She opened the curtains and gasped in shock when it was not Alex at her window, but Michael. Getting over the shock of seeing the man that only hours ago had broken her heart, she opened her window and glared at him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Michael ignored her question and crawled through the window. He wasn't sure why he was there, maybe to check up on her? After walking away from her at the UFO centre, he hadn't been able to get her hurt look out of his mind. He had sat in his apartment for a few hours berating himself for his actions. Not just for killing Pierce, but also for hurting the only human who really meant anything to him. He decided only half an hour ago that he needed to see her and apologise for ruining her life. While walking closer to her window he could hear her loud sobs through the window and cursed himself for being the one to do that to her. He needed to fix this, he needed to make her get over him and fast. She didn't deserve someone like him, no… she deserved better. As he tapped on the window he could hear her moving around and walking closer, but as soon as she mentioned Alex, a spurt of jealousy ran though his body. Why would Alex be tapping at her window at night?

"Why the hell would you think I was Alex?"

Stepping back a little at his harsh tone, she crossed her hands over her chest. "Why do you care?" she spat as many reasons to his being here ran though her head. Did he want to rub more salt into the wound?

Michael ran a hand though his hair, making it even messier than before. Maria would have thought it was cute if she wasn't so hurt. "Is your mother here?" he asked, trying to calm himself down.

Maria cocked her head to the side. "Why?"

Taking a seat on the end of her bed, Michael closed his eyes and sighed. "Because we need to talk and I have no doubt that we will end up yelling at each other so I would really appreciate not having your mother come in here, hitting me with her newspaper."

After a few seconds of just looking at him she finally shook her head. "No she's not here. She left for a two week convention in Las Cruses."

"Good," he replied, nodding slightly. Without looking at her, he patted the space beside him in a silent invitation for her to sit. She did so hesitantly and waited. Maria heard him take a deep breath before slowly turning to face her. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Maria scoffed, "Yeah well you did buddy. I mean, you don't just tell a girl that you love her then leave. It doesn't work that way."

"I know and I'm sorry," he said in a soft voice. "I just don't want you to get hurt, physically I mean, because of what and who I am. Face it Maria, I'm a killer. I killed Pierce and there's no reason to believe that I won't accidentally kill you."

Maria turned to face him and took one of his larger hands into hers. "Michael, you wouldn't physically hurt me, I know you wouldn't."

Taking his hand back, Michael stood and started pacing the room. "No Maria, you don't know that. Look at how many arguments we get into. After each and every one I feel like blowing something up, but what if, instead of thinking about it, I actually do and you are standing there. Then what? Maria you could get killed being with someone like me. I can't control my powers and am not going to put you in danger like that. I won't do it."

"Why?" she yelled and jumped off the bed. "Michael it's my choice, my choice not yours. If I want to endanger my life by being with you then it's my decision, you don't have the right to take that from me."

"Yes I do!" he shouted while facing her. "I love you too much to see you hurt because of me." He watched as a single tear slipped down her cheek and his heart clenched at the sight. It wasn't supposed to be this way; he wasn't supposed to fall for a human. But he did, and now he had to let her go. "It's probably best if we see as little of each other as possible. I'm going to the Crashdown tomorrow to change my shifts so we're not rostered together."

Maria sniffed and took a step forward, looking at him with pleading eyes. "Don't do this Michael," she whispered. "Please don't do this."

Lifting his hand, he wiped away a few tears that had escaped along with the first. "I have to," he whispered, trying to hold back tears of his own. Dropping his hand, he turned around and headed for the window.

"Just like my father," he heard her mumble from behind him and froze.

"What?" He asked, turning back to face her. He spotted her sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at the far wall.

Another tear fell down her cheek and she hastily wiped it away with the back of her hand. "I said you're just like my father. He told me he loved me then left too. Just like you're doing now. He didn't love me enough to stay either."

Michael shook his head and walked over to kneel in front of her. "Maria, I am not like your father. He left you because he was an idiot who couldn't hack having a family. His reason for leaving was a poor one. My reason will save you Maria. I have to do this. You have to let me go. Trust me, you'll find someone new."

Holding back a sob she shook her head. "No Michael, I'll never love anyone as much as I love you," she whispered and captured his lips with hers.

"Maria we can't," Michael said as he pulled back.

"Yes we can Michael, we can make this work," she whispered, mating their foreheads together.

Michael gazed into her eyes and all his reasons for having to leave left his brain as he captured her lips in a searing kiss unlike any other they experienced together. He wasn't sure what possessed him to kiss her or what possessed him to slowly stand without breaking the kiss and crawl up her body until he was lying half on her while caressing her cheek. The conscious part of his brain told him to stop before it went any further but the other part, the irrational part, must have killed it because all he could think of now was how smooth the exposed skin from her midriff was.

Maria moaned into his mouth as their tongues duelled for dominance and hiked her leg up to wrap around his thigh. She wanted this, she wanted him and tonight she was going to have him.

He slid his hand up to caress her thigh. He loved her legs, always did. They were perfect for him, the way they wrapped around his body, and he couldn't get enough. He smiled proudly into her mouth when she moaned. Getting boulder, he moved his hand from her thigh and rested it between their bodies and over the top of the buttons on her pants. Pulling away from her mouth he asked the silent question to which she nodded and he undid her jeans slowly. Michael put his hand in her jeans and cupped his hand over her panties.

Maria arched her bottom half off the bed, wanting him to feel more of her. When she felt Michael push her panties to one side, she pulled his head up and captured his lips for a hungry kiss and whimpered in pleasure when he started to stroke and tease her pulsating core. She was thrown into a place of pleasure she had never been before and hoped to never leave. She climaxed around his fingers and a strangled cry tore from her lips. Maria smiled and opened her eyes only to be greeted by the chocolate brown ones of her…well whatever Michael was to her. Right now she didn't care, right now she just wanted him to feel the pleasure that he had just given her.

With the energy left in her body, she managed to flip them over so she now lay half on top of him. Maria ran her hands over his shirt clad chest and smiled when she saw his muscles twitch under her touch. Wriggling around a little on his stomach, she heard him groan then felt him harden. Grinning proudly in the knowledge that she could provoke such a reaction from him, she slid down his legs until she could reach the zipper of his pants and slowly pulled it down. She motioned for him to rise a little to which he compiled and pulled his pants down until they reached his ankles. Instead of going back to her original position, she laid down on his legs until her face was parallel to his manhood.

Maria took a brief moment to glance at him and smiled when she saw that his breathing had shortened and that he was watching her intently. Turing back to the task that lay before her, she grabbed his throbbing manhood in her hands and gently started to caress it. Knowing that she needed to taste him, she covered his swollen flesh with her mouth and started to slowly move up and down.

Michael knew that he wouldn't last very long and moaned when he felt himself hit the back of her throat. She was killing him and he loved every minute of it. He grabbed the back of her head, tangled his hand in her hair and brought her up for a passionate, bruising kiss before rolling them over. Pulling back, he sat up a bit and pulled his shirt off and watched, mesmerised as she did the same. He leaned closer and nipped at her lace-covered breasts as she played with the hairs on the back of his head. She was making the most erotic sounds and he never wanted her to stop. Maria pushed him back a little and he groaned from disappointment but then stopped when she started to pull off her pants. Touching her was one thing, but actually being able to see her, well that was something beyond words. She was beautiful.

The way he was looking at her made her start to feel self-conscious so she attempted to cover herself up until he kissed her tenderly and mumbled a soft 'beautiful' into her mouth. Maria couldn't believe that this was the same Michael who was only a while ago breaking her heart. She felt him unclasp her bra and cup a breast in each hand. She loved the way his skin felt on hers. His touch was soft yet at times rough and couldn't imagine how she had lived without it for so long. Why had they waited so long to do this?

Michael laid them back on the bed, him covering her body as he looked into her eyes. He slowly guided himself into her wet, heated centre and waited a moment for her to get used to him being inside her. Both smiled knowing that they were each others first and secretly hoped in the back of their minds, each others last. Michael knew when she was ready as she started to move her hips. He trust slowly into her to start, then sped up as he felt his release getting closer. He once again moved his hand between their sweat covered bodies and sought out her bundle of nerves so that when he climaxed, she would be right there along with him.

Both felt their release hit at the same time and screamed each other's name in pleasure. As they came down from their high, Michael rolled them over so they were lying on their sides, him still within her. Maria felt him kiss her forehead as she lay on his chest and fell into a light sleep. When he heard her breathing even out he too decided to take a small nap before he had to leave. He didn't want to but knew he had to. Maria deserved better than him. He wrapped his hands around her middle wanting to live in the moment for as long as he possibly could. While slowly drifting into the land of dreams, the thought struck him that neither had bothered to remember to use a condom but dismissed it. He was an alien; there was no way he could get her pregnant. No way at all.

*~*~*~*

As she became aware of the sunlight hitting her face, Maria moaned with a sense of satisfaction. Last night she had experienced something so true and pure with the man she loved and couldn't think of a time when she had been happier. With her eyes still closed, she stretched and groaned at the slight pain that coursed through her body not only from her muscles, but also from between her legs. With a happy sigh, she rolled over, slowly opening her eyes and prepared to greet her alien lover, but was shocked to see his side of the bed empty.

Taking a deep breath and deciding not to panic, she rose from the bed, grabbed a top and some sweat pants and pulled them on hoping that Michael would still be in the house, just in a different part of it. She walked out of her room and headed down the stairs. "Michael?" she called out. On receiving no answer she sat on the last step as the realisation hit her—Michael had left; just like her father, he had left her. She didn't bother to wipe the tears away as they splashed over her cheeks. How could she have been so stupid as to believe it? While she cried, she didn't hear the soft knock at the front door and didn't notice that the person had entered.

TBC…