Title: This Brilliant Dance
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Author's note: So it seems that I am falling behind on my updating. I'm in the middle of classes (yes, I am taking class during the summer) and it isn't leaving me too much time to write. So this next chapter is probably going to be it for the next three weeks or so. Hopefully my next update will be early August, and at that point I should be able to handle the chapter-a-week schedule.
Chapter Thirty-Six: The Tangled Webs We Weave
Liz watched silently as Max paced back and forth across the floor of his room. She was sitting on his bed, her knees drawn into her chest, her eyes following his every step. The air was filled with a charged silence, a silence so loud Liz could barely hear herself think. She knew was Max was thinking, knew his thoughts were with the orb. She wished she could help him, wished she could send him on right track, point him towards the answers.
Max, for his part, was nervous and excited and frustrated and scared, all wrapped into one jumbled mess of emotion. He knew the orb was important, knew that they were close to finding out something about their past, about who they were and where they came from. And that excited him, filled him with a fierce apprehension. And yet, even though the clue was so close, it was still so far away because he didn't know what the orb meant, and it frustrated him to no end. And even if they did find an answer, a little voice in the back of his head kept asking him over and over whether or not they would find an answer they liked. What if they didn't? What if, once they found the truth, it was not want they wanted to hear?
Wasn't it enough that they had a home here on Earth? What did it matter where they lived before?
Max sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Turning to Liz, he gave her a small smile and apologized, "You're probably bored, aren't you?"
"No," Liz said swiftly. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but he wasn't looking at her anymore, instead his eyes were strained on the orb sitting next to her on the bed.
They needed a place to hide it. Max's room had seemed the safest, but with the knowledge that the FBI was definitely investigating them, now they weren't so sure. Where could they put it where it would be safe from prying eyes?
Liz reached her hand out to touch it, her fingertips trailing the smooth surface. It was cold and hard, like polished steel. To her, it looked and felt like a simple sphere, a metal ball someone might use as a paper weight.
To Max, it hummed. It throbbed as though pulsating some strange form of faint energy that he could only feel if he was close enough.
Liz let her fingers drop from the orb and glanced up at Max again. "What do we do now?" she asked curiously.
Max shook his head. "Nothing," he said simply. "We keep our eyes and ears open, and try to pretend like nothing happened."
"Are you sure hiding in plain sight is going to work?" Liz questioned, somewhat skeptical.
Max shook his head. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "It worked in the past, but given everything that's happened…" He let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I just don't know what else to do."
Liz opened her mouth to say something, but her phone rang abruptly, and she reached over to her purse to grab it. Sorting through the contents of the bag, she pulled out the small cell phone, saw that it was Maria's number, and answered cheerfully, "Hey. What's up?" Max watched in concern as the color drained from Liz's face, as her eyes widened in astonishment. "Wh-what?" she managed to gasp out. She listened for a few more moments, then said, "I'll be there in a few minutes, 'kay?" And she hung up.
"Everything alright?" Max asked worriedly.
Liz gave him a brilliant grin and a quick nod. "Better than okay," she said enthusiastically. "Amy's awake." And she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, shoving her phone into her purse and heading to the door. Max followed her, pausing long enough to push the orb under his bed, praying it would be safe until they had a better place to keep it.
The knock on his window caused Michael to look up in surprise. He crossed over to the dirty glass and pulled and frowned as he saw Isabel standing there, staring at him. Yanking the window open, he asked sharply, "Ever here of doors?"
Isabel gave him a hesitant smile and said, "You use our windows all the time." Michael just glowered at her and her smile faltered. "Look, Michael, I'm sorry, ok? I just… I never wanted to put you in this position."
"What position?" Michael snapped. "The position of having your mother think I'm dating someone who is going to Homecoming with another guy? Or the position of possibly being forced to leave Roswell?"
Isabel took another step towards the window, leaning against the frame and staring through the gap at her friend. "Michael…"
"Did you even think about how this would affect me before you said anything?" Michael ground out.
Isabel's temper flared. "Did you think about how your road trip would affect us before you took off?" Her tawny eyes blazed with anger. "You just left, and I had to clean up all the loose ends you hadn't bothered to think about. This isn't my fault."
Michael bristled at the accusation. "You couldn't have just made up a different story to tell your mother?" he asked angrily, although his voice was slightly softer, as though recognizing the truth in Isabel's words.
"I tried," Isabel replied wearily. "I really tried…" She shook her head slowly and looked down at the ground, partially frustrated, partially guilty. "You're going to have to say something to Child Protection…"
"Don't," Michael cut her off with a sharp retort and another glare. "Don't even say that. I'm not telling them anything."
"Then my mother will," Isabel argued.
Michael shrugged. "Figure out a way to make her stop interfering," he ordered coolly, as though it was the obvious answer.
Isabel rolled her pretty eyes and replied, "Well, don't you think I've tried to figure out how to do that?" She met his gaze for a moment, then continued, "My Mom won't budge on the issue, Michael. She thinks you're in danger…" Isabel held his gaze for a beat, and they both knew she didn't have to finish the sentence, because Michael understood the silent implication.
And I think so also.
"I can take care of myself," Michael said simply.
"But you shouldn't have to," Isabel objected.
Michael gave a dark laugh. "If I talk to Child Protection Services, they'll ship me off to some other city, where I'll be by myself, dealing with all this alien stuff by myself." He gave her a sardonic smile. "Either way, I'm taking care of myself."
Isabel didn't say anything, and the anger and frustration crackled in the air between the two. The silence was long and tense, so tense Isabel couldn't even hear herself think. Finally, she said softly, her voice choked, "I don't want you to be mad at me."
Michael remained silent for a moment, just studying her, while she looked back at him hopefully, waiting for him to reassure her. As the silence wore on, her face fell, and she turned to leave.
"You want to go to Homecoming with me?"
Isabel turned around and stared at Michael in complete and utter shock. "Wh-what?" she asked, not entirely sure she had heard his question correctly.
Michael gave an uncomfortable shrug. "Well, Max and Liz are going, and Maria and Alex are going…" his voice stuttered slightly as he said Maria's name, "…and I thought it would be…" He didn't finish the sentence.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew agreeing to go was a bad idea. She knew it would probably backfire. She knew it would only end up making things worse, and causing problems for the group. But…
"Um… sure," Isabel replied quietly, thinking. She knew the real reason Michael was asking her to go, and she knew that he knew the real reason she was agreeing.
Maria and Alex.
But it remained unspoken between them, each pretending that they actually wanted to go with the other, and it was not simply a case of trying to make someone else jealous.
Then Isabel smiled, a genuine smile that lit up her face. Michael might be mad at her, but at least she knew that he was still speaking to her. He couldn't be that mad at her, right?
"About the… um… Child Protection Services…" Michael glared, at Isabel's voice faltered, but then she pushed on, "I'll see if I can talk to Mom, but…"
But it wouldn't be enough, they both knew that. When Mrs. Evans set her mind to something, she rarely changed it.
Michael kept his face unreadable as he gave her a short nod. "Do that," he said, and she swallowed and nodded, turning away.
"You asked Pam Troy to Homecoming?"
Kyle glanced over at his incredulous sister and gave her a brief nod. "Yes," he said simply. "I did." Then he turned his attention back to his homework.
Tess stared at him in complete disbelief. Kyle and Pam Troy? She looked down at her own homework, then back at her brother, then shook her head in frustration. She knew perfectly well that Trudy's opinion of Pam was no higher than Kyle's opinion of Jason, and that was the sole reason that Kyle would have invited her to the dance.
Kyle was smirking as he did his work, and Tess said nothing as she played with her pencil. Kyle was her brother, but Trudy was one of her best friends, and she had no idea where her loyalties were supposed to lie.
"So… you're coming with us before the dance?" Tess asked. Kyle nodded, and the blonde closed her eyes, wondering vaguely whether or not they would make it through that night without any bloodshed.
The front door swung open, and Jim walked into the house. He gave both teenagers a brief smile, but his mind was clearly elsewhere.
"Hey, Dad."
"Hi, Jim."
Tess eyed him for a moment, curious. He was obviously preoccupied with something else, but it didn't interest her that much, so she dismissed it. Then her eyes traveled down from the Sheriff's distracted expression to the files in his hands, to the name printed across the top of the file, and her blood turned to ice.
Michael Guerin.
Kyle had apparently noticed the file as well, because he frowned and asked, "Why are you carrying a file about Guerin's around?"
Jim glanced down at the manila file folder, then up at his son, and shrugged. "Just some stuff for work," he replied in a would-be casual tone.
Kyle seemed to believe the statement, or, at least, had very little interest in any of it, and turned back to his work. Tess glanced down at her work as well, but a thousand questions ran through her mind.
Why Michael? Why now? Did something happen? Did Jim know about the road trip? Did Michael do anything stupid enough to get himself in to trouble today? Or was this all some big coincidence, and meant nothing?
Tess shook her head slightly, dismissing that last thought.
She didn't believe in coincidences.
Jim walked past them into the kitchen, and commented over his shoulder, "I met your guidance counselor today. Ms. Topolski. She seems nice."
Kyle made no comment, but Tess glanced up briefly, before averting her eyes and trying to calm her frantically beating heart.
She stood up and walked towards her bedroom, stepping inside and closing the door firmly behind her. She grabbed her cell phone from the desk and dialed a number, listening to the rings. When the voice picked up at the other end of the line, she didn't even wait long enough for him to finish his greeting before she had started speaking.
"Max, we might have a problem."
Maria poked her head back into her mother's hospital room and gave Amy a weak smile. Amy shifted slightly on the bed so that she could get a better view of her daughter. The doctors had been in only moments before to run some tests, and Amy was slowly starting to fade back into the sleep, the events of the day having drained her of what little energy she had.
"I just called Liz," Maria said. "She's coming over." She took a seat next to her mother and reached out to take Amy's hand. "Max might be also," she continued, "because I think Liz was with him when I called."
Amy frowned. "Max Evans?" she asked, and Maria blinked, remembering with surprise that her mother had no idea how serious that relationship had gotten.
"Um, yeah…" Maria frowned, shifting uncomfortably as she nodded, not wanting to delve into the issue. "And I called and left a message for Alex." She bit her lip, cast a side long look at her mother, and murmured, "And Dad."
Amy closed her eyes briefly, as though resigning herself to some sort of fate. When she opened her eyes again, Maria was staring at her questioningly, and Amy said, "Maria, things between your father and I… well, they aren't what you think."
"I know," Maria replied honestly. "Sheriff Valenti told me that you didn't get divorced."
Amy smiled sadly and switched the subject, "How is Jim?"
Maria ran a hand through her hair and thought about the question. "Alright, I guess. He was really upset when you got hurt." She smiled faintly, laughter appearing in her eyes, "and Tess and Kyle were shocked to find out you two were dating."
Amy gave a weak chuckle. She knew perfectly well how social cliques and popularity worked in a small town like Roswell, and Tess and Kyle were probably not thrilled to be tied so closely to Maria. Anger bubbled in her stomach for a moment, Maria was a perfectly nice girl and Tess and Kyle should be happy to have her as a maybe-one-day sister.
If things with Jim ever got that far.
But Amy dismissed the thought. Maria was happy with her friends, and probably was just as displeased as Tess and Kyle to be linked to them in this way.
"So what have you been doing since I was in the accident?" Amy asked.
Discovering the existence of aliens, traveling across state lines to break into a dead man's house, nearly getting into trouble with the FBI…
"Not much," Maria said with a shrug. "Just school work and hanging out with Liz and Alex."
Amy opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the sound of a knock on the door. She and Maria both turned in time to see the door slide slowly forward, and a man step into the room.
Amy felt as though the air was suddenly knocked out of her chest, and her vision blurred briefly. Quickly getting a handle on her shock and tumultuous emotions, she said impassively, "Hello, Sean."
Maria stood up. "I'm going to go outside and see if Liz or Alex are here yet," she said. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She quickly excused herself from the room, closing the door softly behind her, and finally pausing to take a few deep breaths.
"Are you alright?" a concerned voice asked, and Maria turned to see Alex standing there. She hurried over to him and hugged him quickly, her body shaking.
"My Dad just went in there," she said simply, gesturing back towards the room. Alex gave her a sympathetic smile and lead her over to the benches outside her mother's hospital room. The two sat down, and Maria bit her lip anxiously, continuing to send nervous glances back towards the closed door.
"It's going to be alright," Alex reassured her. "Your mother is awake, and she is going to be alright, and that is what matters."
Maria nodded, giving him a grateful look. "You're right," she said firmly, pushing away her other concerns. Having Sean back in her life would definitely mean that some things would change around, but it didn't matter. Her mother was going to live, and every other issue was secondary to that.
"Maria?"
Maria and Alex turned to see Liz and Max hurrying towards them. Liz ran straight to her friend and hugged her tightly, relief flooding her features at the smile on Maria's face.
"She's awake?" Liz asked. "This is great. Oh, I am so happy for you," she babbled, taking the seat next to Maria.
"Me, too," Max said with a nod.
Maria glanced around at all her friends and couldn't help the large grin that was spreading across her face. The truth was slowly sinking in, her mother was going to be fine, and her entire body was simultaneously going weak and giddy with relief.
The sound of a cell phone ringing caused Max to pull his phone out of his coat and look at the caller ID. Frowning, he said, "It's Tess."
"Tell her to tell the Sheriff that my mother is awake," Maria instructed.
Max nodded, and moved away to answer his phone.
Liz glanced over at Max for a moment, watching his expression as he spoke. She could tell by the worry in his eyes and the way he continually ran a hand through his hair, that something was wrong. She hoped it was nothing big, but if Tess was calling them…
Turning back to Maria, Liz asked, "Why are you out here? I thought you'd be in with your Mom?"
Maria frowned and explained, "My father is in their right now."
"Oh…" Liz folded her hands in her lap and stared at the floor. She had intended to meet Sean when he first arrived, but with everything that had come up, she had not had the chance to do so. She found she was suddenly nervous, not because she didn't want to meet Sean, but she was worried that when she did meet him, he would ask her what kind of friend would wait so long before going to meet her best friend's long lost parent? She should have been there for Maria more, especially since her mother was in the hospital.
Maria stood up abruptly, jolting Liz from her thoughts, and said, "I'm going to see if my Mom and Dad can be interrupted. I think my Mom would like to see you guys." Liz and Alex nodded, and Maria walked away.
And awkward silence fell over Liz and Alex as the two friends stared at each other, unsure of what to say. Liz could only meet Alex's eyes for a moment, before she looked away in embarrassment and frustration.
Finally, Liz said diffidently, "I didn't want to ruin our friendship."
Alex gave her a searching look, then replied, "You didn't ruin it, Liz. It's just… it's just going to take a while."
"Why?" Liz demanded suddenly. "It didn't with Maria. She and I are right back to being best friends without any problems. I know that I ignored her and you, but I apologized, and I made an effort to change it, and Maria forgave me. It's only with you where we sit in silence forever because we can't think of what to say."
Alex rubbed the back of his head absently as he thought about this, then said, "I don't know, Liz. I guess things are just… different between you and I. I mean, I'm not Maria, I don't… we don't have the same…" Unable to finish the sentence, he lapsed into silence.
It was Liz's turn to give him a searching stare, and she found, in a sudden burst of clarity, that she knew why things were different. Maria angered easily, but she forgave just as quickly. It was different with Alex. In all the years that they had been friends, she could remember only a very few occasions where he had actually raised his voice, shouted, or been mad. It took a lot to get him angry.
But once he was angry, it took a lot to get him to forgive.
"Okay," Liz said at last. "I guess I can wait a while then."
Alex looked as though he was about to say something, but Max walked over to them at that point, worry etched into his face.
"We might have a problem," he said grimly.
Tess hung up the phone and sunk onto her bed. Part of her was relieved that Amy DeLuca was alright, part of her was terrified about what Jim might find if he continued looking into Michael's past. She had thought that they had managed to avoid that particular hurdle, that she had successfully mind-warped her father into not caring about the investigation. But as she had pointed out to the others, even the smallest thing could cause someone to break out of a mind-warp.
And something had obviously triggered a relapse in the Sheriff.
Was it Ms. Topolski's visit? That seemed the most likely.
Which meant that the guidance counselor was turning into a real threat.
But why? Was she just a nosy counselor trying to look out for her students, or was she something else, something worse?
"Tess? Dinner," Kyle's voice floated to her through the closed door.
She sighed and stood up, dropping the cell phone onto the bed and walking out into the hallway. She paused for a moment in the doorway to the living room, then took a slow breath and closed her eyes, willing herself to think straight. After a moment, she opened her eyes and walked into the kitchen.
"Maria DeLuca just called," Tess said, entering the room and taking a seat across from Kyle. She was relieved to see that they had ordered takeout, she did not want to subject herself to Kyle or Jim's cooking. "Amy's awake."
Kyle and Jim looked at her sharply. "What?" Jim demanded, scarcely daring to believe what Tess said was true.
"I didn't hear the phone ring," Kyle said in confusion.
Tess ignored Kyle's comment and said to Jim, "Maria's over there right now, with Liz, Max Evans, and Alex Whitman. And… her father."
Jim nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly at the last of Tess' words. Although he had never said anything to either of his children about Maria's father, they both knew he was not pleased that the man had shown up now. What problems would his presence create?
Tess stared down at her own plate, wondering how much of a risk she could take at the moment. She desperately wanted to know, needed to know, why Ms. Topolski had gone to see Jim, but asking too many questions might just make the situation worse.
Still…
She had to risk it.
Silently praying that she knew what she was doing, Tess asked casually, "Why'd Ms. Topolski come to see you?" She shot a sidelong smirk at Kyle. "We aren't in trouble, are we?"
Jim, still preoccupied with the news that his girlfriend was awake, answered distractedly, "No, she was just asking general questions about some things."
It wasn't enough of an answer for Tess, so she took another chance. "About Michael Guerin?"
Jim and Kyle both looked at her in surprise, and Kyle asked, "Why are you so interested in that? If we aren't in trouble, I say drop the subject before Dad gets suspicious and starts to wonder why we're worried about being in trouble."
Tess blinked for a moment, then shrugged and said, "She asked me some questions a while ago about my…um, home life." Tess rolled her sapphire eyes. "Apparently she likes to keep an eye on all of her students from… I think she called it 'a rough past.'" She rolled her eyes again.
Jim didn't say anything for a moment, and Tess had the sudden thought that things would be so much easier if she could read minds.
"I'd hardly put you in the same category as Guerin," Kyle objected as he took a drink of orange juice and dished some rice onto his plate.
"Yeah, me neither," Tess murmured. "But she might." She glanced at Jim out of the corner of her eye, then lapsed into silence. She didn't want to ask too many other questions, didn't want to get Jim suspicious. The less things to link her to the others, the better, especially if Jim really was reopening the investigation.
She prayed he wasn't. She prayed that this was just some detour, and that he would drop it all soon enough. She prayed the mind-warp will hold, that Ms. Topolski's questions wouldn't cause Jim to start asking questions of his own.
She prayed that her family wouldn't become her enemy yet again.
But she had never believed in God, and even as she prayed, she knew the prayers weren't going to be answered.
Maria pushed the door of her mother's hospital room partially open, but paused at the sound of her mother's voice. Neither of her parents had noticed her yet, and, although under normal circumstance she would balk at the idea of eavesdropping, she wanted to know what her mother and father had to talk about. So she held her breath, and listened.
"…wasn't my place," Sean was saying.
"What do you mean?" Amy's voice replied.
"Well, you were in the hospital, and I didn't want to tell Maria the full story until you were awake to answer any questions that she might have for you. Besides, I wanted to see how you wanted to present the issue to her."
"You're much more considerate than I remember you being, Sean."
There was a pause, then Sean said, "Thank you."
"Should we tell Maria together?"
"No, I think it would be better if you told her. She is more likely to want to hear it from you since I am, for all intents and purposes, and complete stranger."
"Are you sure you aren't just saying that because you don't want to talk to her about this?"
"You know me better than that, Amy."
"I thought I did."
Again, there was a silence.
"I don't know how to tell her, Sean. I don't know what to say."
"Start at the beginning and tell her the truth until you reach the end."
"If only it were that easy. She thinks you got me pregnant and skipped town. How do I tell her that that isn't true? How do I tell her that she isn't your daughter?"
Author's note: Sorry to leave you with this cliffhanger, I know it isn't that nice of me. But I really don't have time to write any more right now. Hopefully I will see you all again in three weeks or so.