I have to thank tini, the lonly shepherd, raven and fashiongurl3188 for their nice feedback. I hope you all like this chapter as well.
Chapter 12
Maria stared at the man she hadn´t seen in twelve years with mixed feelings, reaching from hate to being happy to confused over disgust back to anger. Still some part of her wanted to throw her arms around him and cry her eyes out, making sure that it was really him. Seconds passed and she hadn´t decided if she should slap him, kick him out and throw the door in his face, embrace him or storm away. She was so torn between her emotions that a few things started to rattle, making obvious that she wasn´t so unemotional like she appeared. She sensed Dean and Sam finally relaxing their fighting stance and glancing at her, trying to wait for a reaction from her to know what they should do.
" Hey honey, are you gonna invite me in or do I have to stand here forever?".
Maria clenched her teeths tightly together to prevent herself from saying something disrespectful in front of her son. Digging her fingernails into her palm she enjoyed the weak pain, making her forgot the pain he had caused her all those years she had waited for him to come and get her. " What are you doing here?".
Jack DeLuca had known that question would arose at that point and he had thought about the many excuses he could tell her. But his daugther had been lied to so much that he was sure that it was better to be honest with her. She deserved that much. " I think it´s time that we´re both talking about a few things and clear the air between us".
" Why should I want that?", Maria snapped angrily, having not been able to keep that sentence from escaping her mouth. Shaking her head she stepped aside to let her father in. Maybe she could finally get all the answers plaquing her all this time and maybe she could find out why her mother had lied to her.
Jack was glad that she seemed more reasonable than Amy had been years ago. Hesitantly he walked into the room, always keeping the two boys in his sight in case they tried to shoot him. He was relieved to know that his daughter was so protected and that she was with people who could give her the protection she needed. " Dean", he nodded at the older one and then turned to the young one. " Sam".
Maria closed the door, keeping herself from slamming it shut like she wanted to do. Breathing deeply in she tried to quell her bad mood, knowing that it could get ugly if she let everything out. Besides she wanted to have answers, answers this man was able to give her. " Okay, spill. I´ve got a really shitty day already and I just want it to be over".
" I think that´s our cue to make a hasty retreat", Sam didn´t want to be in the crossfire from the girl, she was scary enough when she wasn´t angry, he had no desire to see her in a real bad condition. Aside from that they could get something to eat while father and daughter could clear a few things together.
Maria shoot him a look that said she didn´t want to be alone with that man or she would do unthinkable things with him. Unfortunately the look didn´t work with neither of the boys and they kissed her on the cheek before leaving the room, making her wish she would have followed her first instinct and would have thrown the door in her fathers face. Now she had to bite in the sour apple and act like a grown up, although she would have rather acted like a child. Sitting down on the bed and taking her son in her arms she stared at the man she hadn´t seen for a very long time. " So, you wanted to talk. Start talking".
Jack glanced at the small guy on his daughter´s lap and he immediately liked the little boy, even if he wasn´t exactly happy to see that Maria was already a mother and the father wasn´t in the picture right now. Missouri had already told him some details about the visit from the children, so he was prepared for this meeting. But he wasn´t prepared for the hostile greeting. " Can you stop with your childish behaviour? I´m not your enemy, I´m your father!".
" Oh yeah? When have you been my father? Where have you been when Domino died or I had my first broken heart or I got my first driving lesson, hu? Tell me, where have you been?", Maria didn´t want to, but she couldn´t keep her tears in and let them fall from her eyes. Twelve years of pent up emotions were bubbling out of her and now that she had let them out she felt lighter.
Jack knew that she had every right to be angry at him and he had been sure that she would let him feel her anger, she was after all her mother´s daughter and if he knew something about Amy it was the fact that she wasn´t someone to keep her opinion to herself, she had been pretty outspoken. Something his daughter had apparently inherit from Amy. " I know that you think I have left you and your mother because I couldn´t deal with having a family. But that´s not true. I´ve done the best I could for you and your mother, but it had been obviously not enough".
Maria glared at him, wondering if he thought he could win her over with that excuse. But then the words from Missouri flew around her head and she tried to calm down, at least enough to think more rationally. Everyone should have the right to defend themselves and she would give her father that much. " Why did you leave then? What made you abandon your daugther if not for the reason that we hadn´t been enough?".
" Oh honey, that´s not it. You had been even more than I had hoped for, you and your mother. But things happen and bad decisions were made. Even we adults make mistakes. But don´t ever think that you hadn´t been enough or that you have anything to do with me going", although it wasn´t so far from the truth. He had disappeared to hunt the son of a bitch having dared to put a finger on his precious daughter, which he hadn´t liked. He and John Winchester had been after the same demon for almost over 19 years now.
Maria felt some of her darker emotions making a retreat, even though she tried to hold onto them pretty strong. It was hard to let go from something that had been a constant company in her life and she knew that it would probably take longer for her to forgive him. " Is it true what Missouri told me. That mum is the reason why you went away?".
Jack was slightly taken aback from the question, not expecting the palm reader to talk about things that were none of her business. He hadn´t wanted his daughter to ever find that out, still trying to protect his ex wife, something he would surely always do, although he saw her very much in love with Jim Valenti a few weeks ago. " I don´t know how much Missouri had already told you about what happened here in Lawrence".
" She just said that Mary died because of a demon, John told you about the fire and you had been a little overprotective when I was born since then. When I was six months the same demon came again and you chased him away. The next day you packed our things and hailed our asses to Roswell. You and John were after the demon and Mum couldn´t deal with what you did and suggested to keep away from us", she ended with her last breath, amazed about her talent to talk so much in a short period of time, something she had learned from the boys. They could get a whole lot of information out in two seconds flat and she still wondered how they managed that actually.
Jack grunted unamused about the many facts his daughter had and that she had found them out from someone else. He wasn´t exactly comfortable with the knowledge about this demon and he was not in the least happy that she was leading the life he never wanted for his child. " That sums everything up pretty nicely. But what do you still remember?".
Maria thought about the many times he had been coming home, from a hunt as she knew now, with something he had brought for her when he was away. The happy greetings, the hugs and the love. He hadn´t been a bad father, just a bad husband. Everything he had been giving her, he had taken away from her mother, until the love between them was just disappearing. " The fights between Mum and you. The many parent evenings at my school you missed, the many birthdays sitting in front of the window waiting for you to come. The realization that it would never happen and the many tears me and Mum had cried night for night".
" I´m sorry about your pain and if I could take everything back I would do that. But it had been my duty to protect my family, which I did. I had promised your mother to come back as soon as it would be safe again. But the day never came and I´m still searching for this demon", Jack couldn´t stand the thought to cause the two people he loved more than anything any sorrow or made them cry because of him. It had never been his intention to hurt them in any kind, at least not intentionally. He would give his life for his daughter and his ex wife.
Maria shook her head, not wanting to believe these lies. But even in her anger she realized that he was sincere and she was hanging onto something that was over and done with. She had managed to grow up without that man in her life and she had survived it. And still a tiny part of her felt betrayed. " Then why haven´t you even called to let us know that you´re well? Even if you hadn´t wanted to talk to mum, you could have called me. All this years I thought it had been my fault that you disappeared, that I was a bad child or not brave enough or not smart enough. You could have spared me everything with just one call".
Jack saw the tears and he immediately took her in his arms, trying not to squish the little man in their midst. He hated to see her in that condition and then because of him. He had wanted his daughter to live a perfect life, far away from any danger and his family business. Unfortunately they both hadn´t been given a choice in the first place. " Don´t cry. I´m so sorry for everything. I wanted to call you more times I can count. But I didn´t know what I should tell you about why I went away. And as the years passed, I found it harder and harder to pick up the phone to explain some things to you. But don´t think I didn´t love you".
" I missed you so much", Maria wrapped her unoccupied arm around her father and buried her face in his shoulder. For the first time in a long while she felt complete again, like the missing piece of her puzzle was back in its place. And she enjoyed the warmth and the smell hitting her senses.
Jack pressed his face in his daughter´s hair and he tried to prevent himself from crying himself. He had waited such a long time for this moment and he wasn´t disappointed. Squeezing her for a while he pushed her slightly away from him to look at her beautiful face. Something was strange at it, because the last time he had seen her she had been blonde and her eyes were green. " What happened to your hair? And your eyes?".
Maria wiped the tears from her face while she made a fruitless attempt to appear like she hadn´t cried like a child. Giving up, because she couldn´t change it anway, she wondered he meant for a second. But then she remembered that she had changed her appearance. " I wanted to try something new".
" Because you are on the run from some gouverment facility, which is after you and your friends?", Jack had kept up with the route his daughter had taken, following her as much as he could with a little help from his many fellow hunters. It was funny to see all those old men keeping an eye out for his child.
Maria was shocked and very much surprised about that sentence from her father, wondering how he knew what had been going on. Not even her mother knew that and she had been present most of the time. " How, I mean why did you say that?"
Jack saw the mistrust in her glance and he was sure that he had to really think about his next words or she would either run away or threaten him with a weapon he knew the Winchester boys had lying around in this room somewhere. " I´ve kept my ears on the ground and I have people looking after you".
" You have what? You put people to observe me, but you didn´t have time to see for yourself how I was or what I was doing?", Maria stood up from the bed to put as much distance between them as she could before she blew her cover and destroyed something in front of her father´s eyes.
Jack noticed the distressed state of his daughter and he knew that it wouldn´t take too long before the small guy in her arms would pick that up and start crying. He had watched the same happening a few times when Maria had been still a baby. " I was there, a lot of times. But I just didn´t have the gut to approach you".
Maria stopped pacing the length of the room for a moment and stared at her father, having risen from his position and now standing opposite her. His expression was making clear that he believed to tell the truth. " When have you been there?".
" I think you had been ten and you tried to get into the cheerleading squad. Unfortunately you had no talent for synchronized dance, which made you leave the group faster than they could boot you off. Then there was your performance as Juliet when you were thirteen. The day of the shooting, when you put a towel on your best friends bullet wound. Some concert you sang with a band called the whits, prom with the white dress and no date and I think the last time had been christmas when you were deeply in a conversation with that boy you had been hanging around dressed as Santa clause outside your house", Jack could have counted a few more incidents, but he didn´t want to scare her or worse make her more angry, although that seemed to be impossible. Still she was like her mother and that made her pretty unpredictable.
Maria was stunned how much he had seen from her life and how many times he had been in Roswell to look for her. A small part of her was slightly mad about the fact that he had been able to see her while she hadn´t even known he was there. But a huge part was happy that he had cared enough about her to come visit sometimes. " You could have given me a sign that you were there, something that would have given me the chance to get in contact with you. Even if I hadn´t wanted to, you could have at least given me a choice".
Jack grasped her shoulders, careful about the baby and tried to make her calmer. He didn´t want to waste the time he was here with fighting, especially if he had another reason to finally make an appearance in his daughter´s life again. " I know, but we can´t change what happened. I´m here now and Missouri told me that you´ve got a lot of question about a few things".
" Yeah, but let me get freshened up first", Maria was sure to be looking like an idiot right now and she wanted to change her appearance to the girl her father had been expecting. Feeling her son making his presence known she finally registered that she had forgotten to introduce him to his grandfather. " Dad, can you keep an eye on Alex? It will give you time to get to know each other".
Jack was immediately reaching for the small guy in his daughter´s arms, having waited for this moment. He felt happy when the baby didn´t make a fuss or started crying as soon as he was away from his mommy. Smiling down at child, he remembered the time when Maria had been so tiny that she had fitted on his arm. Seeing the light brown eyes staring curiously back at him he finally knew why Missouri had assumed the boy to be Dean´s child. But he knew better, knowing the father from the little man. " Hey Alex, I´m your grandfather and if your mother let´s me you will be seeing a lot more of me in the near future. I will teach you in self defence and handling a weapon".
At that the front door of the room closed with a loud bang, making the older man jump to his feet and trying to protect the child in his arms. Relieved he noted that it was just the brother´s with the food. Dean instantly glowered at Jack. " I´m the one teaching him all that. Maria already agreed".
" Oh sorry, I didn´t want to interfere with that", Jack met the dark glance dead on, not liking the way the young boy was talking to him. He wasn´t some stranger, the small guy in his arms was grandson and he had a right to be in his life. If those boys had a problem with that then, it was their tough luck not his.
Sam rolled his eyes at the macho play deciding this time to keep out of everything. He had been having a real bad day already and all he wanted to do was to eat something before taking a shower and then fall into the nice bed to sleep for two days. " If you want to go at it just say it so I can bring Alex out of here".
Dean put the bag with the italien food on the table, not once letting his gaze wander from the older man. He would play nice for now, but as soon as he noticed that Maria was feeling uncomfortable or was just twitching wrong, he would gladly be the one booting this man out of the door. " Don´t bother. Everything´s fine".
" Guys. Do me a favor and behave nice", Maria stepped out of the bathroom, starting to get annoyed at all the testosterone hanging in the air. She knew that her boys were just trying to protect her in their own twisted way, but in that case they had nothing to worry about.
Dean was just in the process to complain when his eyes landed on her and he forgot for a moment to breath. Almost swallowing his tongue, he let his gaze wander over her. She had changed her appearance and was now looking real hot, well hotter than before. Her hair was straight past her shoulders and blonde while her complexion was a little lighter, which got topped from her clear green eyes and the kissable pink lips. Trying to find his voice again he was surprised to feel his mouth had gotten dry and all he could do was to clear his throat over and over again.
Sam watched amused his brother struggling with forming a complete sentence and failing at it. He was always so stunned when he saw what affect Maria had on his sibling, although she didn´t even try to be sexy or anything like that. She was just like that. " You can shut your cake hole again".
" Ha ha, very funny", Dean felt something that he thought he would never feel again. He felt like a school boy with his first crush. He thought he was passed that stage and usually he was very cool in the presence of beautiful women. But this time it was different, because Maria wasn´t just some conquest on his list, she was the only person he could see a future with.
Jack eyed the older brother with distrust and slight anger, which he had sensed the last time when that alien boy had put the move on his daughter. He intented to keep an eye on Dean for as long as he was there. Turning his attention back to Maria he realized why the young man had been so speechless. " You finally look like the girl your mother showed me a photo from".
Maria was a little confused about the strange behaviour from everyone. But then she let it slide when she heard the last sentence from her father. Immediately her head snapped in his direction. " When did you see Mom?".
" I think it was two or three weeks ago. She lives with Jim Valenti outside a small town in Nebraska. They´re living in some huge ranch house and they´re actually pretty damn adamant that you ran away with your friends", Jack had listened calmly at the stories his ex wife had told him, obviously having being informed about the things happening in Roswell and what really had been going on. He had been pretty much worried about the danger his daughter had been getting put from this boy she had loved and how much bravery she had shown to stand up for the things she believed in. And how much she had given up to protect the people she called her friends, even her own freedom and the life of her unborn son.
Maria was so happy to hear about her mother and that she was still alive, even if that meant she had to accept Jim Valenti as her new step father. She finally knew that everything was alright and that she had to explain a few things as soon as they would meet each other again. " She would. I even wanted to go with them, but I had a slight confrontation with one of this friends and it was decided that I should stay behind".
Dean snorted angrily at that, wondering why she tried to sugar coat that version for her father. These friends had thought her unimportant and had taken the decision out of her hand by just making her feel unwanted. In his opinion that weren´t real friends, but just a bunch of bitches. " Yeah, Michael had forbidden you to come with them, because you were only a human liability".
" Dean!", Maria hissed loudly so that everyone could hear the anger in her voice. She knew that the same sentence had been slipping out of her mouth at one point, but she had been furious with everyone at the time, barely escaping from her prison, losing a good friend in the process and being forced to think about something to do with her life. Now she was sure where her life was heading, Jesse´s dead was still painful but not fresh anymore and she was with people she loved, which meant she had been enough time to think about everything again and she knew that she couldn´t hold anyone for her misery reliable, especially not her friends who had been just as scared that night than she was, maybe even more.
Dean stared at her surprised and slightly pissed for her attack. Hadn´t been she the one cursing that boy and her best friends for weeks? Hadn´t she voiced that she wished they would experience what she had been through for one moment to see what they had done to her? And now she was defending them. " What? I just said what really happened. I wasn´t the one leaving you for the enemy to pick up! I wasn´t the one giving you nightmares that made you afraid to sleep for a long time! And I wasn´t the one inflicting those scars on your body!".
Maria didn´t know why he was always reacting so emotional as soon as she mentioned her friends, especially Michael in general. It was like he was jealous about the fact that she had been with another man before she joined the brothers. Okay, he was thinking about her like a sister, but that didn´t give him the right to treat her like that. " Would you keep your voice down. You´re scaring Alex. And I know all those things. But it´s over and I want to move on. I haven´t forgotten what happened, but I can´t live my life if I stay in the past. I´ll try to forgive, you should do the same".
" Do what you want", Dean glared at her while he took his jacket. It was apparant that he would go outside to take a deep breath of fresh air. " But if I see any of them, they will get a nice bullet from me", opening the door he stepped out and let it slam shut behind him.
Sam glanced worriedly after the retreating back of his brother and then to the stricken looking girl sitting on the bed. He hated when they both forced him to decide between them and make him the bereaved in this game. They either should get it finally over with and sleep with each other or pummel the other senseless. " Ah, I think I will make sure that he doesn´t do anything stupid".
Maria nodded at him, knowing that his loyalty was lying with his brother and she accepted that. Biting her lip to stop herself from crying she watched the other boy leaving the room as well. Turning her attention back to her father, she saw something close to amusement in his eyes. " I´m sorry for him. I don´t know why he reacted like that".
" I know why. He loves you and he can´t stand that you have another man on your mind", Jack had been through that stage when he had been a young boy and his crush had been making eyes at his friend. If he wouldn´t have hooked up John with Mary, Amy would have been the one dead right now.
Maria rolled her eyes while she noticed how cozy her son was snuggled up in the arms of his grandfather and she had to smile at the picture. It was just too cute and she felt happy that her father had taken an instant liking to Alex. " Yeah, he´s taking his big brother act a little to serious for my taste".
Jack shook his head at the naivity of his daughter about men and their more than strange behaviour when love was involved. Dean had the same love struck look he himself had been sporting when he had spotted Amy for the first time. It had nothing to do with sibling feelings, it was even far from it. " Please, don´t tell me you believe that brother garbage. That boy is head over heels in love with you".
" Why is everyone saying that? There isn´t anything besides friendship between us", Maria wasn´t so sure if she wanted to convince herself or her father. Admittedly she was harbouring deep feelings for Dean and she was pretty damn sure that he felt an attraction towards her, which wasn´t so unusual for him. He was drooling after everything female and she was constantly near him, so it was normal that he would think he was in love with her.
Jack knew that he wouldn´t get far with her that way and so he tried to change the topic. Besides he had to catch up on much from his daughter´s life and she was probably full of questions herself. " Okay. If that´s out of the way we can finally come to the part where we´re talking about what we missed in each other´s life".
Maria was content with that suggestion and immediately started to tell him all about the last twelve years. About her first crush Doug Sohn, her first accident with the jetta, the first aqua bra and why she wouldn´t wear that thing when it was cold again, her first boyfriend, her mom´s shop and the things she sold, the strange ufo owner named Brody, her working at the crashdown and the things happening there, about Jim Valenti and the first time she noticed that he was more than just passing by their home. She didn´t leave anything out, well except of course the time in the military base, held prisoner from those FBI goons. Jack was asking a lot of questions and he even knew about the out of this world status from her friends, which made it easier to tell him everything. He even confessed that he and John had been sometimes together in Roswell to look after her and making sure that she wasn´t in too much trouble, which he had to see had been always the case when he came. But it hadn´t been ever like he had to intefere, she had been more than protected most of the time and he had been relieved to see that the Sheriff was watching out for the kids. A few times it had looked like it would be getting to close, but everytime these children had wriggled their way out of every situation. Maria also found out that her father came from a long line of demon hunters, which got just broken through her grandfather who wanted to live a normal life and abandoned his roots as soon as he was old enough to leave his home. Contrary to Jack, he wanted to be like his grandfather and learned all about the hunt. Until he met the love of his life in the form of Amy and although she didn´t seem like some boring person or didn´t make an impression like she was old fashioned, he didn´t want to scare her away with the choice of job. So he started working for the gouverment with people having the sight and together they solved crimes. It had been the perfect job for him, because it meant he could keep his eyes on everything demonic while he appeared to be some simple pencil pusher for his wife. Then Mary died in that fire and the life as he knew it was over, even before John came to tell him everything or Missouri pointed out that evil was brewing in the horizont. He knew that his fate had caught up to him and he took it with open arms, all to protect Amy and later then his daughter. The yellow eyed demon had choosen their kids for something, but even after this huge span of time they hadn´t been able to find out why just them and not someone else, the reason why they were still hunting that thing.
" So that means it wasn´t anything unusual for you to hear about demons and all that creatures from John?", Maria finally realized that Missouri had been right about her statement. It was no accident that made her join this boys just at this time and it scared her, because it meant there was already a plan mapped out for her, something that was bigger than she could imagine right now.
Jack shook his head, knowing that it had to be a lot for her to digest, especially figuring out that that there was more to their family story than it had appeared at the first glance. Strangly she was taking it calmer than he thought, which had probably to do with the fact that she had experienced a lot of weird things with knowing aliens and all that and now with the Winchester. " No, my grandfather told me all about the hunting, showed me everything I would need and he was the one giving me my first gun".
Maria glanced at her sleeping son, deeply snuggled in the chest of her father. The small boy was obviously looking at a life in the family business, which wasn´t exactly a bad thing. But she would make sure that he had other options and maybe he would take a different path. " I think it´s time to get Alex to bed and I need to look after Sam and Dean".
" Oh, before I forget it. Here for you", Jack gave his daughter a small piece of paper with something that looked like a large number on it. He wanted her to have it, so that she couldn´t complain he wasn´t giving her a choice again.
Maria glanced at the paper in her hand and she was touched. It was his cellphone number. Letting her gaze wander a little down she felt tears prickling in her eyes. There was the number of her mother. " Thank you. That means so much to me", embracing her father she felt so happy to have him back in her life and hoped that it wouldn´t take so long for them to see each other again.
Jack smiled a little uncomfortable at her back, knowing that they still had to go a long way before they would be like father and daughter. But they had all the time in the world now, so they didn´t have to start big. " I think it´s time for me to go", standing up he gave the small boy in his arms to his mother. " Call me if you need me or if you still have questions".
" I will do that", she followed the motion of her father and got on her feet, holding Alex tightly in her right arm while she gripped the paper in her left hand, fearing she could lose the only link to her parents with it. " Be careful and don´t wait so long to get in contact with me anymore".
Jack chuckled quietly seeing her mother staring back at him. He was amazed how much he still missed Amy after all those years and the way they had parted. But she had been his first love and maybe it was meant to be to love this person forever. Kissing her forehead and that of his grandson he turned to the door. " Promise and the same applies to you, too. If I hear you get yourself in danger I will come to punish you".
Maria raised an eyebrow at his stern voice, appearing like he couldn´t make her scared. But in the inside she felt giddy to have someone scolding her, even if it wasn´t so effective like the tirades of her mother. " Deal".
" We´re back", Dean stumbled through the door clearly drunk with his brother at his side trying to keep him on his legs. His eyes were glassy and he was slurring the words really bad.
Sam glanced apologistic at the people in the room and immediately pushed his sibling on the couch near the door. Dean would be sleeping there tonight as retribution for the things he had told him at the bar. It had been very apparent that his brother couldn´t contain his jealousy and it had made him put the anger on the wrong person. " I´m sorry for him. We haven´t quite managed to train him into a real human being".
Jack grinned at the sight of the boys, seeing the resembles to their father, especially the oldest. Dean was coming exactly after John while Sam was getting more in the direction of his mother. And yet it was visible that they were brothers. " Sam, can I talk to you outside for a minute. I have to tell you something".
" Yeah, no problem", glancing at his brother to make sure that the guy was comfortable, he followed after the older man. He wasn´t sure what he would find out and part of him hoped it wasn´t something bad.
Maria was slightly confused what they had to talk about and she shook her head as soon as they were outside. Putting her son back in his makeshift bed, she double checked that he couldn´t fall from the bed before she decided to see after Dean, even if he didn´t deserve her care at the moment. Sitting on the edge of the couch he was lying on she eyed him for a few seconds, smiling at the way he was quietly snoring. Touching his cheek she wished she would have met him sooner, before Michael and before the aliens had invaded her life. Maybe then she could be happy with him. Feeling the way he snuggled into her hand in his sleep she wondered if she would ever be ready to be more to him than a friend and if he really had such deep feelings that he was able to wait so long for her.
At the same time at the other end of town
Michael felt giddy and excited and ready to move mountains. Ever since he knew about Maria he finally was sure that he was on the right path. He sensed her nearby and he had never felt so much joy at something so small. The only downside was that he had to wait for Kyle and Max to come back from their investigation while he had to watch over the girls. Isabel was still a little weak after she had been possessed from this guy. But the good thing was that she had been able to get into his mind and find out what he knew about Maria and her whereabouts and what she had to do with anything. And now Michael was minutes away from seeing his family again. His heart was pounding hard against his ribcage, his hands were shaking and his mouth was dry as the sahara. He was pacing the small hotel room, trying to keep his emotions in check. Isabel was sleeping on the bed and Liz was reading a newspaper, more than obvious to his nervous state.
" Would you do me a favour and sit down on your ass!".
Michael was startled from the cursing coming from perfect Parker uhm Evans, a little taken aback that she was using words outside her SAT vocabulary. But she had lasted longer than he had expected. " I can´t sit down when I know I´m so close to be with Maria and my son, seeing them for the first time in months".
Liz understood his feelings and she was excited about this meeting as much as anyone else, the reason why she tried to distract herself with reading the news. The only thing indicating that she was also nervous was the light tapping from her feet on the floor. " Yeah it´s strange to know that we will see each other again today after all this time. I just hope she want´s to see us".
" She wants, even if it´s just to rip my head off", which he was sure would happen as soon as she would lay her eyes on his form. Except of course she was so pissed at him that she ignored his existence, turned around or slapped him before disappearing. But he was hoping that she was raving and ranting at him like he was used from her.
Liz smiled, knowing that it was a possibility with her best friend, well if she could still call the other girl that. She felt really bad for not jumping in for Maria, but at the time she thought it had been a good idea, which she regretted now. If she would have known what happened after they went away, she would have reacted differently. " I hope she´s better. I hate not knowing how she is".
Michael was just in the process to agree to that statement when the door to their room opened and the missing members of their group came in. According to their expression they didn´t have good news. " What did you find out?".
" She´s not here anymore", Max had to look away when the lie left his lips, feeling guilty for crushing his brothers hopes. But he and Kyle had decided, after a loud fight for an hour, that it was better for Michael to not know the truth. They had found Maria in a hotel room. Unfortunately she hadn´t been alone, there had been a man she had glanced at with so much love that it had made them realize that she had shed her old life like a bad habit.
Michael immediately picked up that his friend wasn´t honest with him. Gazing at Kyle he saw the other guy averting his eyes as well. There was something fishy going on and he wanted to know why they thought it was better to lie to him. " And why can I feel her then? She´s near and don´t try to tell me I´m imagine things".
Max exchanged an accusing glance with Kyle, telling the guy with his eyes that it had been a real stupid idea and that he could have said from the start that their plan would fail. Sighing, he noticed from the corner of his eyes that his wife was paying close attention to him, the newspaper lying forgotten on the table. " It doesn´t matter, she´s not the girl we left behind anymore".
" It matters to me, even if she has changed. I just want to see her and my son for one moment to make sure that they´re both all right", Michael had a bad feeling, realizing that maybe the thing in Isabel had been right and she had moved on with another man. But even if that should be the case, he wanted to see that for himself so that he would believe it and could start to live his own life.
Kyle relented this time, witnessing something that he thought would be impossible, the unbreakable Guerin was fighting with tears. Having pity with his friend he turned to Max and stretched his hand in the direction of their leader. " Give me the key´s. I´ll bring him to the motel".
Max wasn´t sure if it was the smartest thing to do, considering Michael and his way with dealing with pain. The last time the other boy had watched Maria with another man a few cars were missing their windows and they had to keep a low profile right now. But then he saw the and he pushed the key´s in Kyle´s hands without a word.
" We´ll be back soon and then we´re thinking about a new plan", Kyle knew that his friend would want to be as far from here as he could when he saw the mother of his child be all giggling and throwing lovingly glancing at another man. Not that anyone could blame Maria for trying to live a new life with normal people. But they all were sure that it would be really hard for Michael to see some man not him taking care of his woman and his son.
The two boys were just in the process to make their way out the door when a knock rang around the room. Confused everyone, outside from Isabel who was still sleeping soundlessly, stared at each other, wondering who would be standing in front of the door. For a few seconds it seemed like no one dared to move, wanting to appear like nobody was in the room. Unfortunately the lights were on and so Max was the only one brave enough to step closer to the entrance. " Yeah! Who´s there".
A small break was heard on the other side and something that sounded like a quiet whispering. And then there came three letters all the occupants in the room feared. " FBI".
Everybody in the room lost their color for a moment, their shock visible etched on their scared faces. Liz even started shaking, which was heard because she had picked up the newspaper at some point and it was rustling. Kyle had stopped breathing all together afraid they could identify him just from the sound of his breathing. Michael was terrified but ready to blast someone if it should come to that while Max was afraid his friend would blow their cover. They were all looking differently and they had other identities now, so they had nothing to fear from this Agents. Glancing at everyone and telling them with his eyes that they should stay calm he opened the door. " Can you show us some ID?".
" Of course", both men, looking like walking cupboards in their black suits, pulled their wallets out of their pockets and pushed their badges forward, showing the teens that their were indeed from the goverment.
Max repressed his instinct to flee and tried to appear unaffected from those agents. Smiling a little shaky at the men he leant cool against the doorframe hiding the fear deep inside himself, although he was two seconds away to wet his pants. " What can we do for you?".
The smaller one with the dark slicked back hair was eyeing the young man with a touch of suspicion and indifference. Then his gaze wandered to the group standing around the room before he declared them unimportant. " We´re looking for a group of fugitives", fetching a piece of paper from the pocket of his jacket he showed them a picture from the people they were searching for. It was one from the troop from Roswell just without Jesse and Maria. " That are the people. Have you seen them?".
" No, can´t say that I have", shaking his head Max turned around to the others and motioned them closer. After a minute where everyone had taken a good glance at the picture and they denied the fact that they knew these people, they all waited if those men had swallowed their lie.
The tall Agent with the light brown hair studied them closer and watched if anyone would twitch or make some indication that everything they said was in fact really the truth. The time ticked away and the silence stretched longer, filling the room with tension. " Okay, thank you for your help".
Max breathed out relieved inwardly and he felt the heavy burden on his shoulder dropping off of him. Forcing a small smile at the two men, he was glad to see them leaving. Closing the door tightly as soon as they were out of sight he slumped against the wood, wiping imagined sweat from his forehead. " Oh shit, I think I´m gonna puke".
" That had been a close call. What is the FBI doing here?", Kyle had to sit down because his legs felt like jello. His heart was still pounding hard under his skin like it wanted to break out from its prison inside him and he couldn´t stop his hands from shaking. He was sure he aged ten years within seconds.
Liz stood up from her spot at the table and walked towards her husband, having the urge to be near him. She knew what was coming next and she wasn´t exactly happy about it, even though she was aware that it was best for them. " Max we have to go right now".
Max stared at his wife and he knew she was right. Putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close, he let his gaze wander around the room. Kyle was already in the process to wake Isabel, who had slept all through the incident and it was apparent that they both would be with them. Contrary to the sad man standing a little aside from everyone. " I´m sorry Michael. Liz is right, we can´t stay here".
" I know, but we can´t just leave without giving Maria a heads up, they´re not only after us", Michael wouldn´t disappear this time before he made sure that she was protected. He wouldn´t make the same mistake again and get her in danger because of his heritage.
Max shoot his wife a look and she immediately went away to help Isabel and Kyle while he stepped to his brother. He just hoped that it wouldn´t end in an argument like it always did with them. " She´s dead, at least according to the article in the newspaper and these agents don´t have a connection with her, so they think she´s out of the picture. We thought she was dead, too. And I have to say the guy´s she´s with are more protection than she needs. Aside from the knowledge that she´s smart enough to take care of herself".
Michael hated him in that moment, because everything was the truth. Maria was the only one he would trust to wriggle her way out of every situation, remembering that she had been the one with the idea to look in the garbage can in the hotel room at their first investigation together or her concern that Topolski might not be who she was making out to be. But that didn´t mean he wouldn´t worry about her. " I just want to see her and my son. I don´t know when I will get the chance to be so close to them again".
" Okay, I think we can get a small break in on our way out of town", Max had pity with his friend, knowing exactly how it felt to have his soulmate out of his sight and knowing how it was the know that his son was out there and he was helpless to do anything.
Michael was a little surprised about that. He had expected that he would hear something about the safety of everyone and that they wouldn´t have time for a stop. But then he remembered that out of all the people in this room, Max was only one knowing how he really felt. " Thanks man".
At that Kyle, Isabel and Liz joined the two men, who had finally reached some sort of understanding. Together the group got their luggage and made their way to their cars, all the while trying not to appear hurried or scared. Not one of them noticed the two Agents standing in the shadows and watching with smiles on their faces after the teens, their eyes so black like their souls.
Other side of town
Michael was standing in front of the window his friends said his Maria was sleeping in with those other boys. Unfortunately he couldn´t see inside because the curtains were closed and there was no light. Glancing back at the two cars and seeing everyone trying to appear like they hadn´t watched him, he made a decision. Turning back to the window he used his powers to open it quietly. Drawing the curtains aside he finally saw his first glimpse of his son, lying in one of the beds with pillows around him and making him almost disappear completely. Smiling at the beautiful boy he had the urge to climb in the room and take his son up in his arms to cuddle him. But that notion stopped as soon as he noticed something moving at the corner of his eyes. Gazing at his right he found Maria, snuggled tightly at a male body. They both looked too cozy for his taste and he realized why Kyle and Max hadn´t wanted him to see that. Swallowing his instinct to kill the guy and kidnap her, he clenched his teeth. In that moment something died inside him and he was sure that he would never open his heart towards another woman again. Repressing a sob he heard a car approaching. Scared someone could witness him in that position he pulled the curtain back at their place, closed the window and welded it shut before walking to the Mustang and getting in. Quietly the two cars drove away in the night.
Seconds later the curtains in the room were pulled apart and Maria glanced outside, having felt some familiar pull and it had felt good. Opening the window she saw the handprint burned into the frame and she knew who it was. Touching the spot she stretched her head outside to see if he was still somewhere. Quickly she realized that no one was there and she got inside again, smiling at the thought that Michael hadn´t lost his stalker act. But then she started to wonder why he hadn´t approached her or woke her up to let her know that he was there. Glancing back at the bed she had been sleeping in, she was sure she knew the reason. Although Michael had nothing to fear with Sam. Yawning loudly she shook her head, deciding to try to find out what everything meant in the morning, when she had gotten a good nights sleep and was more coherent. With that thought she went back to bed, pressing her freezing body close to Sam, her human hotty.
TBC
