Part 4

Michael swung the pick ax and welcomed the burning sensation running up through his arms when the ax head struck rock. He was so pissed off that everyone had cleared a wide path when he had arrived with a dark look on his face. His temper was volatile on a good day and the others had immediately known that it wasn't one of his good days.

Small bits and pieces of rock flew in all directions as the head of the pick ax bit through another layer of rock. He couldn't believe that he had fallen for a pretty face, a sweet voice, and an admittedly hot little body. He was smarter than that, he thought angrily. He knew better and he had allowed himself to be led on and smacked down. Sweat poured off of him as he worked in the unrelenting heat, punishing himself for being such a fool, and shaking off every attempt Eddie made to intervene.

"Back off," he snarled when Eddie's shadow fell over him again.

"River Dog says to take a break."

Michael started to argue but one glance at the weathered face of his grandfather had him hauling himself up out of the pit he had been digging and walking over to the old man.

"Stop punishing yourself," the old man advised, his intelligent eyes boring into the younger man. "All you'll achieve at this rate is heatstroke."

"And you think I'm punishin' myself for what?" he asked, reaching for one of the canteens lying in the bed of the truck behind his grandfather.

River Dog snatched the canteen up and held it out of Michael's reach. "For being foolish and allowing yourself to be led by your heart."

Michael scoffed at the ridiculous notion and pulled his tee shirt over his head, using it to mop the sweat from his face and neck. "The heart is nothin' more than an organ; humans are the only species to come up with such an idiotic way of describing somethin' as base and primal as lust."

"You trivialize something that you know nothing about." River Dog shook his head in disgust and his sharp gaze raked over the younger man in disapproval. "If this is the way you intended to treat this young woman that I have been hearing about, maybe it is best that she did not show up."

"Whatever. Doesn't really matter one way or the other, does it?"

River Dog's gaze shifted when the sound of loud music announced the arrival of his granddaughter and her friends and he watched his grandson for a reaction when the girls climbed out of the vehicle with an extra passenger.

"I suppose that is up to you."

Michael stared at the four girls in disbelief but within moments his gaze had zeroed in on the blond with them. He wasn't sure what was up with her choice of clothes but she was still hot in spite of them. Her gaze raked over him and he was suddenly conscious of the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt, but before he could pull his tee shirt back on, he was doused with cold water – and a lot of it. He sputtered indignantly and turned to look at his grandfather, his eyes immediately going to the now-empty bucket in the old man's hand.

"You looked like you needed to cool down."

"I'm soakin' wet now!" Michael roared. "I look like a – "

"Not that it matters though, right? You're not trying to impress her." River Dog smiled complacently and glanced down at Michael's hands, smiling at the way he held them out away from his body. "You don't need to impress anyone, do you, Magnum?"

"Okay, so I can explain what happened," Maria started right in just as soon as Michael turned to look at her. "See, I left in plenty of time to meet you at eight like we planned, which is actually pretty good for me because I'm usually late for everything."

She giggled nervously. "Well, I guess I was late for this too, huh? But, it really wasn't my fault. See, I got about… well, about halfway here, maybe a little more? Anyway, I started hearing this sound and at first I thought it was nothing, but then the tire started to feel funny, like it was, I don't know, continuously running over something maybe? So, I had to pull over, and of course I don't know if you've ever been to Roswell or not, but there really isn't much of anything between here and there. Well, it turns out I had a flat tire, and I had a spare one, y'know, one of those little ones that you use temporarily? I mean, you wouldn't wanna use it for long because it's… well, that's not really the point. Anyway, so while I'm trying to get the jack and stuff pulled out this guy stops, which I thought was pretty cool because, I mean, who stops and helps anybody these days? Only, he apparently thought he'd just help himself to me because he was like an octopus and the only thing I could do was kick him in the family jewels, y'know? I mean, then he cussed me out and left, which was fine with me because I am a modern woman and I am capable of changing a tire myself."

Michael opened his mouth to speak but she was off and running again before he could form the first word.

"Well, I finally got it changed but it took longer than I thought it would, and I had my cell phone but the battery was low. Not that it mattered because you never did give me a number where I could reach you so I had no way of contacting you anyway and then I had to stop at this crappy little gas station so I could change clothes because… well, seriously, I hope you don't think this is what I intended to wear out here."

She looked down at herself disparagingly and shook her head as she took in the purple shirt and patchwork skirt. "I realize I look like a hippie that got trapped in the wrong year or something, but my mom left them in the car and between that octopus and changing the tire, my clothes got ruined and – "

Michael reached out and covered Maria's mouth with his right hand, stopping the rapid flow of words. "Did he hurt you?"

Maggie and her friends were watching the girl with matching expressions of sheer amazement that quickly turned to shock when Michael silenced her and asked a question in the gentlest tone any of them had ever heard come from him.

Maria stared into his piercing, dark eyes and shook her head. "I kicked him hard enough that his future children probably felt it," she murmured against the palm of his hand.

He nodded in approval and lowered his hand. "You're okay then?"

"Other than looking like a refugee from a bad seventies movie, I'm fine."

River Dog muttered something under his breath in his native tongue and turned to walk away, shaking his head. He paused several steps away and looked at his grandson. "Just an organ, hmm? You're only fooling yourself if you believe that, Magnum."

Maria tilted her head to the side and looked at Michael curiously. "Magnum? Like the guy on the TV show?"

Michael couldn't help the grin that slipped onto his face. "No, nothin' like that."

She studied him, intrigued by the teasing glint in his dark eyes. "But you're not gonna tell me, are you?"

"Stick around and figure it out if you think you can." He smirked as he issued the challenge and pulled his shirt back on, enjoying the way her eyes followed every movement he made. He was tugging his shirt the rest of the way down when it registered that his sister and her friends were still there. "Don't the three of you have somewhere to be?"

Maggie's smirk resembled his own as she stared him down, and he rolled his eyes when she crossed her arms over her chest and mimicked his pose. "I really think spending the afternoon right here would be much more entertaining."

"Goodbye, Maggie."

"You know I'll find out what I wanna know one way or the other."

Michael opened his mouth to argue, but quickly decided on an alternative method of persuasion. "Linda, you like that stereo system, right?" he asked without looking away from his sister.

"Okay, we're leaving now." Linda ignored Maggie's protests as she grabbed her arm and pulled her along behind her.

"What're you doing?"

"It took me a week of begging to get him to hook the stereo up in the jeep; I'm not about to risk losing it because you wanna be stubborn. C'mon, Maggie, you know how he is and if he takes it back out because you wanna hang around, I'm sooo not gonna forgive you."

Christina batted her eyelashes at Michael as she turned to follow her friends, running to catch up with the other girls and laughing when he groaned aloud.

"That one's trouble," Michael confided in Maria once the jeep pulled away. "Really they're all trouble, but that one is especially difficult."

Maria smiled. "So, Maggie's your sister?"

"I hate to admit, but, yeah."

"And the guy with the water bucket?"

"My grandfather."

Sensing the tension that had suddenly settled over him when she started asking questions, Maria hopped up to sit on the tailgate and changed the subject. "How far down will you be digging today?"

Michael's shoulders relaxed as the tension eased and he glanced back over at the well they had been working on for the past couple of hours. "We're hopin' to get at least half of the necessary depth dug and outta the way today; the pump was supposed to be here before we got started but when we went to pick it up yesterday they said there was a hold up. Not much of a shock, but…" He shrugged. "Anyway, I need to get back over there and give 'em a hand."

"You're stabilizing the sides as you dig, aren't you?"

"Yeah." He smiled slightly. "Know much about wells, do you?"

"I may have done some research last night." Her smile was flirtatious.

Michael had to remind himself to breathe as he backed away from her. "We're stabilizing as we go," he assured her. "This probably wasn't a very good idea… you're gonna be bored outta your skull just sittin' here."

"Nah, I brought some homework that's due Monday and if I recall you said you had somethin' you wanted to show me after you were finished." Her smile faltered. "Unless you've changed your mind?"

"Huh-uh." He grinned. "Gimme a couple hours and I'll be ready."

Alex followed the path that wound through the park, his destination pre-determined. He had called Liz but her mother had said she wasn't home, so after considering where she could have gone he had headed for the park. It was where she had always gone after a fight with Maria and he was counting on her predictable behavior. He smiled when he reached the playground at the center of the park and spotted Liz at the swings.

"I thought I might find you here," he said as he dropped down to sit in the swing next to hers.

Liz glanced at him and her eyebrows lifted in question. "Why?"

He just shook his head, knowing she had no idea just how predictable she was. "Your mom said you had gone for a walk; I thought we were gonna catch a movie this afternoon?"

"Did Maria tell you where she was going today?" she asked, oblivious to his question.

"No, she just said she had plans, why?"

"Don't you think it's weird that she didn't tell either of us what her plans were? Alex, you know how Maria is; don't you think it's weird that she's suddenly being secretive?"

"We're the ones bein' secretive, Liz." He glanced at her and shrugged. "I think Maria's just not offering any information."

"You think it's hypocritical, right?"

"Yeah. I know we can't tell her about Max and Isabel because they're havin' a difficult enough time tryin' to deal with us knowin' the truth about them, and I know Maria can be a little… dramatic and excitable, but we're gonna convince them that it'll be okay if she knows."

Not far away Isabel stood out of sight and listened to their conversation. Running across them at the park had been purely accidental, but eavesdropping on their conversation had been completely intentional. Max wanted to believe that Liz and Alex could be trusted, but Isabel knew better. It was time to handle things herself. Maybe she would visit them on the dream plane, she thought as she walked away.