CHAPTER 10

Peering cautiously out from behind a neighboring house--and thankful that no one had seen him lurking and called the cops--Michael kept an eagle eye on the front door of Tess Harding's place. He tried to force himself to relax his taut muscles, but didn't get very far. He had to face it--he was completely on edge.

His hand went towards Maria's cell phone, tucked into his jacket pocket, but he forced himself to stop. No use calling anyone. He'd hear from Max on Liz's cell once Nasedo had arrived at their appointed meeting place, and there was no point in calling Isabel and the others until the coast was clear for them to break in. The only one left was Liz, who was running a sort of 'command central' from her room at home, and frankly, he really didn't have anything to say to her.

Who was he kidding? He really didn't have anything to say to anyone. And yet, here he was, about to try and sweet-talk Tess Harding into telling him everything she knew. Or at least into leaving the house for a while.

He used to be better at this stuff. He'd been able to distract that nurse long enough to switch Alex's blood for Max's when the other alien had been in a car accident. It had been easy. And he'd pulled off a successful front of selling candies for charity when he was scoping out the Sheriff's station last year. Of course, either time he hadn't taken much time to think about it; he'd just come up with the scheme and carried it out. But nowadays it seemed like he had a lot more riding on what he did. Things were more important to him now, so he couldn't just rush headlong into action. And he had more time for second, third and fourth thoughts.

Maria's cell phone rang twice, and he jumped, glad there was no one around to notice his startlement. After a brief silence, it rang once more and then stopped. The signal to go.

Frantically trying to remember everything Maria had said in her little 'coaching' session earlier that evening, he ran both hands through his hair, purposely disheveling it even more than usual. Having decided that a friendly approach wasn't going to cut it, and soundly vetoing any action that seemed likely to end up getting Michael hurt, his girlfriend had decided that 'desperation' was the direction to go in. So he'd sat there, listening to her go on and on about what he should do to be convincing, and idly wondering if acting in one school play made everyone want to direct.

As far as he was concerned, how he approached Tess didn't matter. Nothing he did was going to work. Well, maybe chloroform, but he had no idea where to get any. And no idea if it worked on alien-human hybrids either. He certainly wasn't going to ask Max or Isabel to play test subject to find out.

Suddenly realizing he was wasting time, Michael gritted his teeth and headed across the street and up the front walkway. Standing at the front door, he braced himself, and then raised one hand to knock sharply on the door.

He had no idea what he was going to say.

But there was no response to his knock, and his spirits brightened. Maybe he wasn't going to have to say anything. Maybe she wasn't even home. The others could come over and do their bugging thing, and he could keep on the lookout in case either alien returned--

The door swung open and Tess looked up, her blue eyes gazing coolly at him.

Oh, hell. Okay, okay. What had Maria said? Oh yeah, 'Play dumb.' He could manage that. "Is...uh, is he here?"

"He's told me not to talk to you," the small blonde hybrid said.

Dammit. Now what? "I...uh..." he stammered as he tried to come up with something--anything--to convince her to talk with him. When the hell had he become so tongue-tied? Here he was, acting like a total idiot, taking the 'playing dumb' idea way too far.

Without warning, Tess nodded. "I hoped you'd come. Let me get a jacket; we can take a walk, and talk or something."

As she turned to the nearby coat closet, all Michael could do was stare, gape-jawed. How the hell had he managed that?


*****

"Shhhhh! Careful," Maria cautioned loudly as Isabel stepped up to the back door of the Harding house. The statuesque alien gave her a pointed look before placing a hand over the lock and silently turning the tumblers. Maria had the grace to look ashamed. "Oops. Sorry. I'm just nervous, that's all."

"You're only breaking into the home of an untrustworthy, shape-shifting alien. Why worry?" quipped the third member of their breaking-and-entering party as he followed the two girls into the kitchen. Maria gave a disbelieving snort, and Alex continued, "So how do you think Michael got Tess away from the house?"

"Must've laid some of the ol' Michael Guerin charm on her," Maria said absently, eyes scanning the room for anything clue-like. She didn't see anything, other than a suspiciously neat kitchen. Didn't they ever eat? Muffled snickers brought her head back around, and she said defensively, "What? Michael can be charming. Well...sometimes. When he wants to be."

Isabel gave her a wide smile. "You're hung up on him worse than I thought. You're practically besotted."

"Just because I love him doesn't mean I can't see him clearly. I mean he has plenty of faults, but he has all sorts of wonderful qualities, too," Maria pointed out.

"Well, I know that," Isabel returned, smiling again. "I've known him practically forever. And I love him too. He's like my brother."

"Hey, he's like my boyfr--he is my boyfriend!" said Maria with a happy little jig. Isabel's smile turned into a full-fledged grin.

"Ladies, ladies," Alex interrupted, fingering the strap on his backpack. "Can we save this for later? We'll get some ice cream, and you two can bond over the perfection of Michael Guerin. You can go all teenybopper over his 'wonderful qualities' and chant his praises until your vocal chords rupture. I'll even help you. At least with the ice cream. But right now, we have spy stuff to take care of."

Maria let out a giggle. "Oh, yeah."

"Right," added Isabel, her tone more businesslike. "Where do you want to set up the camera?"

"Someplace inconspicuous," Alex decided. "But someplace where there will be a lot of activity."

"Not the kitchen, then. It looks like it's never even been used," commented Maria.

"Let's try the living room, where it was before. Since we're not as rushed as Liz was, we should be able to camouflage it a little better," suggested the alien.

The three trooped out of the kitchen and studied the living room. Maria eyed the buddha statue sitting serenely on the grand piano. It had given them the clue that Tess was an alien. "There's always the statue," she commented. "That's where Liz put it before Nasedo startled her into breaking it."

Alex and Isabel looked at each other; he shrugged and fished in his backpack for the FBI equipment. After carefully inserting it in an opening in the carved wooden base that held the statue, he stood back and studied it. "It's still visible," he complained.

"That's because you know it's there," Maria told him.

Isabel ignored both of them. Placing one finger on the camera, she changed its black casing to a satiny shade of rich brown, to match the wooden base. "There," she said in satisfaction. "Take another look, Alex."

"Good work," he responded, nodding his approval. "If I didn't know it was there, I'd never see it."

"Okay, then. Now for the fun part!" Maria said cheerfully. Taking in their expressions, she asked, "What? You've never snooped around in somebody's house before?" She shook her head. "Well, I'm obviously going to have to take charge of this operation, then. Alex, you start down here; Isabel and I will take the upstairs. Keep your eyes open for anything out of place. And watch for hidden drawers and secret passages and stuff like that," she instructed.

"Somebody's been watching too many old movies," Alex whispered to Isabel, who managed to keep a straight face. "Hopefully we're more Abbott & Costello than Bela Lugosi." Louder, he snapped out briskly, "Sir! Yes Sir, Captain DeLuca, Sir! Any other instructions?"

Maria grinned at him as she added, "Yes. Don't forget to look carefully through the trash. You can usually come across something revealing."

"That's what Michael says," Isabel agreed.

The look on the other girl's face changed from good humor to suspicion. "What? Michael says? Michael says? Just when did he come up with this brilliant observation?" she demanded.

Isabel was taken aback by this response. "Sometime last year, I think. I don't even know why I remember him saying it. Wait--it was after Max's accident, remember? We staked out the FBI agent's motel room, and Michael found Topolsky's phone number in the trash can."

"He found--he--" Maria sputtered. "What exactly did he tell you, Isabel?" Not giving the startled alien a chance to answer her, she seethed, "He took the credit for it didn't he? He didn't bother to mention that searching the trash was my idea, or that I was the one who dialed the number in the first place, did he? God, he wouldn't have found his own butt if he hadn't sat on it! I had to show him everything. Wait'll I get my hands on him...boy, is he going to be sorry!"

Isabel, sorry she'd opened her mouth in the first place, was grateful as Alex chimed in over Maria's rant. "Hello, there--Spy stuff, remember?"

With a growl, Maria stalked over to the stairway, muttering under her breath. Gesturing awkwardly, Alex stood back to allow Isabel--rolling her eyes--to follow the angry girl up the stairs. At that particular moment, he was profoundly grateful that he wasn't Michael.


*****

The object of Maria's ire wasn't having all that great a time, either. He and Tess had started off briskly from her house, an uncomfortable silence between them. They had almost reached the high school when they both turned and began to speak.

"I don't--"

"Did Nasedo--"

Almost in unison, the two aliens stopped and eyed each other warily.

"Go ahead," Michael said roughly.

"No, it's all right. You first."

They stood in the dim recesses of a streetlight, each waiting for the other to start. Finally, Michael bit the bullet.

"So how come you're willing to talk to me?"

"What's going on...it doesn't seem right," Tess said gravely. "I don't understand why Nasedo has changed all of a sudden."

Michael grimaced. Great. So she didn't know either. But he had to keep her away from the house long enough for the others to do their thing. "You...uh, you don't know what's going on either?"

Tess shook her head.

"But you went against your orders, just to speak with someone who's considered to be an enemy."

No reaction from the other alien. Shit. He had known this whole thing was a waste of time.

"Well, as far as you are concerned, I am the enemy. Realize that I think your whole 'Destiny' manifesto is bullshit. I don't care what you were brought up to believe; it ain't gonna happen." All of a sudden the words were pouring out of him. "What you did to Max, and all the trouble it's caused us...well, it really pisses me off. You didn't have any right to come in and screw things up for the rest of us just so we could live up to your version of some fairy tale bedtime story Nasedo told you." He could hear the harshness in his voice, but it didn't bother him in the least. Because this tiny blonde thing--even smaller than Maria or Liz--was the enemy, right? She'd loused things up for everyone he'd cared about, and he didn't trust her or her agenda in the least. "And that doesn't even begin to cover what Nasedo did. Kidnapping Liz, luring Pierce to the Carnival...Max could have died because of him. And where would your precious 'Destiny' even be without Max, huh? Answer me that!"

She was silent for a moment. Then softly, without looking at him, she said, "Nasedo didn't tell bedtime stories."

"What?" he bit out.

"We don't need anything as foolish as that. Only enough to hide what we are, to keep us safe. Anything else would be a waste of time." She met his eyes directly. "What good did your bedtime stories do you?"

He gave a rough laugh. "Boy, are you asking the wrong person. Being. Whatever. Don't get the idea that just because I was raised as a human that everything was all happiness and light. Because that's another fairy tale for you."

She blinked and looked away again. Michael's eyes narrowed. For some reason, this seemed to have surprised her.

"So why the hell are you out here, talking to someone who hates everything you stand for?" he snapped, his frustration really kicking in.

Again with the blinking. But all she said was, "Don't."

"Don't what? Don't talk to you? Or don't hate you? Give me one reason why I shouldn't!"

"Because we're the same. We..."

Michael shook his head vehemently. "We are not the same. We may be the same species, but that's as far as it goes. And that's as far as I want it to go." Part of him was aware that this was not the best way to keep Tess out of the way, but the rest of him, the part that was burning with the anger and injustice he'd managed to suppress for the last several weeks--ever since his last visit to the caves--that part didn't care.

For the first time that evening, a very human expression crossed Tess's face. "I'm sorry if it messed up your perfect little life to have me come along," she cried out, ignoring his bitter reaction. "But everything I told Max, everything in the message from home...that was all true. We were sent here to escape our enemies--our real enemies--until we could go back and rescue our people, Max was the leader, and Isabel his sister. I was his wife, I was, and you--"

"All this is bullshit!" Michael shouted back, interrupting her. "All you've got is what Nasedo has told you!"

"I can prove it. The book."

"Nasedo could have made it. Or even you. Wonderful things, those alien powers," he sniped, not caring that he was standing on a public sidewalk.

"The message from home--" Tess began desperately.

"Isabel told us all about your ability to put visions in people's heads, make them see things that aren't there. You did it to Max, didn't you? And to Isabel and me? So why not a whole mass hallucination, with a loving message from Mommy?"

"You have to trust me," Tess whispered.

His response was swift and cold. "Why should I?"

"Then read me."

He stilled his agitated movements, struck by her quiet desperation. "What?"

"You can do that, can't you? Touch someone, and get a sense of them? You can't lie in that, you can only show the truth."

"The truth--" He'd seen Maria's red sneakers, and that had been true. And Maria had seen some of his horrors--more than he would have liked. And from the one she'd described last night, that was spot on, too. If only there was a way to be sure that it wasn't a trick...He couldn't control what he'd shown Maria; if Tess couldn't control it either, maybe he could learn something from her after all...Michael wavered, tempted.

"Just do it. I won't block you, I promise," Tess assured him, her gaze direct and open.

Years of not trusting anyone made it hard for him to just acquiesce. What if it was a plot, and she would make him think he saw something that really wasn't there? Or what if she got things from him at the same time as he did from her? She could be on an information hunt. After all, that's what he was doing, wasn't it? And what if she saw too much, and found out what the others were up to? He couldn't risk it, not with the others' safety on the line. No matter how much he wanted to know what was really going on...

As he was coming to this decision, Tess was seemingly making one of her own. She took matters--and Michael's clenched fists--into her own hands and began to raise them to her face.

"No." Michael pulled his hands away from her, ignoring the crestfallen look that washed over her face.

"Michael...please."

"Well, well, well. Michael Guerin and Tess Harding," said a dry voice beside them. Turning abruptly, Michael took in the red convertible that had pulled up at the curb next to them.

"Valenti," he said, giving an abrupt nod to its driver.

"Hmmm...Saturday night and the two of you together. Is there something we should know?" Kyle asked acerbically. "Is this a meeting of uh...intergalactic proportions, or did you dump Maria?"

"It's not--" Michael began, only to be interrupted by a horrified Tess.

"He knows?" she gasped.

Turning towards her, the sheriff's son answered. "What, about the whole outer space thing? It's hard to miss the alien activity when you get shot and one of them heals you. You were there, remember?"

"I didn't...I thought you were unconscious," she said, obviously flustered. Michael watched her skeptically.

Kyle grinned. "It's been six months. I've been awake some since then. Plus I've had a few chats with my father, and even Guerin here." He turned to Michael, and his manner became a little less friendly. "So is this something Maria should know about?"

Damn. He couldn't actually say that she already knew about it because it was a plot to remove Tess while they searched her house for clues...And why did Valenti care, anyway? "It doesn't mean anything," he managed, folding his arms across his chest.

"Uh-huh," Kyle said unconvincingly.

Michael watched Tess as she looked back and forth between Kyle and him. She gave a nonchalant smile. "It's nothing. I can talk to Michael anytime I want," she said bravely.

Michael's radar started sending out warning signs. What was going on now? Was she going to try and make trouble between him and Maria? Before he could begin to protest, he caught her next words.

"He's my brother. I think."

His stomach suddenly fell towards his feet. What?