Aliens & Demons Pt. 7: We've Come a Long, Long Way Baby

Author's Note, circa 11/6/05: Following the posting of Part 10 of this story, I have made one minor edit on this chapter to cover up an embarassing lapse in continuity on my part. Now, I suppose I could cook up some roundabout way of explaining this error, but in the interest of my sanity, I've simply gone back and changed it. I've only altered four words, but in the interest of full disclosure, I feel I should admit that in the originally posted version of this chapter, Leo reveals Prue's name to Maria in passing. So move along to the story now. Nothing to see here.

"Well Maria, you've now officially vanquished your first demon. How do you feel?" Phoebe asked once Leo had orbed everyone back to the Halliwell manor. Piper and Leo had orbed right back out again so that Piper could make sure everything was going smoothly at P3, leaving Maria and Phoebe in the attic alone.

"Weirdly enough, I'm kind of hyped. I mean, it wasn't exactly fun, but . . . I don't know, it was sort of exhilarating. Does that make sense?"

"I get it. The job definitely has its pitfalls, but it's nice being able to beat the bad guys." Phoebe said.

"Yeah." Maria replied. "Still, I can't really wrap my mind around doing this. How am I going to make it all work?"

"You'll figure it out." Phoebe said, coming up next to Maria and putting an arm around her shoulder. "It might take a while, but eventually, you'll find a way to balance it all."

"Eventually. Very comforting." Maria said, rolling her eyes.

Phoebe smirked. "Come on downstairs with me. I'm no Piper when it comes to cooking, but I could make some tea or something."

"Actually, I should get back to Roswell. I can think of at least three people who are probably looking for me by now."

"All right. Good luck."

"Kay." Maria nodded. "And Phoebe?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Hey, it's the least I can do." Phoebe smiled and pulled Maria into a one-armed hug.

Maria gave Phoebe an appreciative smile, then turned her head toward the ceiling. "Leo!" she called. He appeared almost immediately. "I'm in need of a lift here, pal."

"Where to?" Leo asked.

Maria paused for a moment before answering. Hmm . . . Mom will probably be home by now, so I can't orb back there, but going straight back to the Crashdown could be risky, and I really don't want to work tonight. But I still have to change out of this stupid uniform, she realized. "How about the alley behind the Crashdown?" she suggested.

Leo nodded agreeably, putting a hand on her shoulder to pull her in as he dissolved into a now familiar orb cloud.

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The alleyway behind the Crashdown was blessedly deserted when Maria and Leo arrived. Maria took a cursory glance at the back door of the building, then turned to face Leo. "So, I guess I should expect to be hearing from you soon."

"Probably." Leo admitted. There was a moment of silence as Maria considered the implications of this and Leo surveyed her for a reaction. Maria stayed quiet until the question she had been asking herself all day finally made its way through her lips.

"Okay, so I kind of get the whole Charmed One thing a little better now, but I still have to ask the obvious. Why am I the one who has to deal with this whole magical destiny or whatever all of a sudden? I'm not stupid. I know I'm, like, the last person on the face of the earth anyone would trust with this much responsibility."

"Well, the Elders obviously disagree with that assessment, or they wouldn't have chosen you." Leo pointed out. "Look, I don't know you all that well, but you seem to be doing a pretty good job so far."

"I completely freaked out." Maria said, smirking. As she spoke, she looked past Leo and began to focus on an old newspaper on the ground nearby. She thought back to the feeling of power she had felt vanquishing Draksyl, and tried her best to channel the feeling again and make the paper move. At first, nothing happened, but then she felt the power spark up inside of her again. She tried as hard as she could to keep the power in a controlled, steady stream, and amazingly enough, when she lifted her right arm and moved it, the paper slid a few feet across the pavement. She flipped her wrist, and the paper flew through the air and fell into a nearby garbage can almost noiselessly. She grinned, barely able to contain her excitement.

Leo smiled too. "See? You're getting it already. Yeah, you flipped out at first, but when it got down to it, you came through. Believe it or not, not everybody would be able to get it together like that. Besides, it's early. It's not like the girls were all experts their first time around. You'll get the hang of it."

"Yeah, as long as I don't die painfully first." Maria said, then continued speaking before Leo could respond. "Anyway, I'm should go inside now and get this over with."

Leo paused. "Are you sure you don't-"

"No, no, you can go on back to San Francisco now." When Leo didn't move, Maria rolled her eyes and waved her hand in an exaggerated goodbye gesture. "Go on now, I can't just stand here arguing with you all night." Reluctantly, Leo orbed out, leaving Maria alone in the alleyway. She turned to face the door to the back of the Crashdown, collecting herself before opening the door and walking inside.

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From his place on the sidewalk fifteen feet away, Max Evans gaped.

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"Nice to see you've finally decided to show your face," Maria heard almost as soon as she walked through the door. Michael had his arms crossed in front of him in an imposing stance, but his eyes conveyed amusement.

"Oh shut up, I came in on time. I would have been able to tell you I was leaving for a while, but since you were late, I couldn't exactly do so."

"Liz is going to kill you when she finds out, you know that." Michael said, leaning against the lockers. "Where were you anyway?"

Maria flinched at the mention of inciting Liz's wrath, but she quickly brushed it off and shoved past Michael to get to her locker. "I just had something I really needed to get done. Besides, I'm here now."

"Yeah, 20 minutes after closing time. Very helpful." Michael retorted.

Maria's eyes darted to the clock on the wall. "Oh God, Liz is going to kill me. I didn't realize I was gone so long."

"Relax, I'll cover for you." Michael said with a shrug.

"You will? But you just said . . ."

"What can I say? I like to see you sweat." Michael said, a smirk crossing his face.

"You know Michael, someday you're going to want me to do you a favor, and if you're surprised when I don't, you can just think back to this day," Maria said, shooting him a look as she pulled her normal clothes out of her locker. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home now."

"In your uniform?" Michael asked.

"I can change when I get home." Maria said airily, pivoting on her feet to face him directly.

Michael raised an eyebrow in puzzlement, but voiced no further questions. Instead, he bent down and gave her a long, slow kiss. Maria let out a small smile as he pulled away, the familiar spicy taste of his mouth on her lips. "See ya tomorrow," he said.

"Bye," she replied, turning reluctantly away from him to walk out the door.

Walking home, Maria's head was full of even more thoughts than usual, as she tried to work through everything that had gone on. Lets see, I got superpowers, vanquished a demon, managed to keep it all secret, and I kept the guy. Maybe this isn't going to suck so much after all.

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Michael left the Crashdown through the front door and was surprised when he saw Max standing on the sidewalk, seemingly staring into nothingness. "Hey Maxwell." Michael said, coming up next to him and looking the same way, trying to focus in on what Max might be staring at, but he couldn't see anything in particular that merited such attention. "What's with you? What did you see?" he asked.

Max seemed to snap out of whatever had been holding his attention, and turned to look at Michael. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I'm not exactly sure," Max admitted.

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Miles away, Phoebe had just finished fixing herself a cup of tea when Leo orbed into the living room with Piper. "I take it Maria got back all right?" she asked Leo.

"Yes, she got back fine. Confused, but fine. I think I might have underestimated her. She has an amazing grip on her powers already."

"She still has a lot to learn," Phoebe pointed out, remembering the earlier incident with Cole. "But she's got good instincts, I'll give her that."

"I still don't know," Piper admitted. "She's still just a teenager. Say what you will, but I think she's a liability. I don't want to risk losing someone else."

"She came through for us with Draksyl today though." Phoebe pointed out. "I think she'll be okay eventually. She just needs time."

"Since when do we have the luxury of time?" Piper pointed out. Piper has a point there, Phoebe had to admit. She took a sip of her tea, then rolled her head back on the couch to stare at the ceiling, enjoying the moment of relaxation while it lasted. Time or no, it would be a long road ahead, of that she was sure.