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Choices

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Renata stood behind the club, a bottle of water in one hand and the strange photograph in the other. They had taken a twenty-minute break in their performance to allow her voice a rest.

Jordan stepped out into the alley and looked at her quizzically. In the five years that they had been performing, The Tempest never stopped for a break mid-way through a show. Renata always sang right up to the point that she would be begging for hot tea afterward to soothe her throat. Things were definitely getting strange.

"Are you alright, Rena?"

"I just needed a break."

"Well, you've got another fifteen minutes." He stood near her, leaning back against the wall whose graffiti added a rainbow of colors to the otherwise dingy and grimy area. Taking advantage of Renata's distant attitude, he studied her face. He noted the tiny stress lines that outlined her mouth and the tenseness around her eyes, things an outsider would never notice.

She nodded and traded the photograph for a cigarette, rummaging the jacket's pocket for her lighter. After remembering last seeing the blasted thing in their hotel room, she sighed and placed the cigarette to her lips. A moment's concentration brought the end to smoldering life. She was suddenly aware that she was completely exhausted, more tired than she had been in a very long time. All she wanted to do was go back to the hotel and curl up in bed, secure in Jordan's arms.

"I guess we have to go back in and finish up, huh?"

Jordan laughed at her question. "What's become of the performance-addict I fell in love with?" he teased, opening his arms to her.

Dropping the ciagrette and stepping into the circle of warmth, Renata smiled, pressing her face against his shoulder. "I dunno. Maybe she hopped a flight and took off for worlds unknown."

"Never, not without me."

~~~

"So what's the plan?" Michael leaned against the bar, waiting for the bartender to bring back the water he'd promised to get Maria.

"Maybe Liz is right. We don't want to jump to conclusions here, Michael."

Michael couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Listen, Maxwell, that tattoo is not a coincidence. She knows something and we need to find out what it is." He accepted the bottle of water that the bartender handed him, twisting it in his hands.

"We don't know that."

"Then what's the explanation? Tell me, Max, what are the chances of someone with a tattoo of the orb symbol just showing up in Roswell by chance?" He looked off across the club, spotting Maria and the others standing in an anxious group. "I've got to get this to Maria."

Max watched him push through the crowd. He knew it wasn't a coincidence, but he didn't know what it meant and the last thing any of them needed was for Michael to rush off headlong into what would probably end up being a dangerous situation. He kept forgetting that every time he risked his life, he was risking everyone else's lives as well. They needed to get some information on this woman and her band, The Tempest, before they decided on anything.

~~~

Jordan and Renata stood in the alley enjoying the moment's peace. Privacy was something they often lacked and any opportunity was a chance to relax and regroup for a moment.

"Rena, Rena, Rena," Jordan's husky chant fell heavily against her gleaming curls. She had spent the better part of the afternoon, after terrorizing the local citizens and listlessly picking at her lunch, getting her long chocolate colored locks to cooperate and fall in graceful curls around her shoulders. He loved her hair in curls and he suspected that was the reason behind her tedious ministrations and the long list of colorful metaphores he had heard through the bathroom door.

"Hmm," she sighed against his shoulder. "I know. Time to go back." Reluctantly, she pulled out of Jordan's embrace. "I want to close with 'If I Only Had A Brain'."

"An interesting choice. Do you really think this is a good jazz audience?"

"She shrugged. "Don't care. When have I ever?"

~~~

The concert didn't end until just after midnight and Alex watched nervously as the club slowly emptied. Everyone else had left, no need to blow curfew unless it was absolutely necessary, plus they hoped to gather as much information they could before the night was over, hence Alex's presence. They had arranged to meet up at the Crashdown the next morning to find out what he was able to uncover.

The Star Seeds was the only club in town that locked up before the mandatory two o'clock stipulation, they generally closed an hour or so after a performance, allowing the owners a chance to get some rest in their apartment above stairs. He'd met them by chance one day at the Crashdown, one of the few times he truly hadn't minded waiting for the girls who had been his friends for so long to finish getting ready to go out.

The bartender grinned at him as he wiped down the counter. "Gotta love fresh blood, eh buddy?"

"Hey, Chuck?" Alex walked closer to the bar, drawing the older man's attention from his cleaning.

"What's up, Alex?" Chuck had been tending bar at the Star Seeds since the first night it had opened its doors and had gotten to know their regular attendee rather well since then.

"I was just wondering… You don't happen to know anything about Renata do you?"

Chuck raised his eyebrows and suppressed a chuckle. He could have sworn he'd seen Alex enthralled by the blonde bombshell he'd watched the concert with not to mention that Renata was a good ten years older than the high school student. He shrugged off the contradictory thoughts. Alex probably hadn't even noticed Renata's appearance given the attention he'd been paying his date, he'd hung around at the rehearsals all week and it was more than likely just shoptalk he was interested in now. Inside information on the other musician.

"Well, since you brought it up…"

~~~

Max walked Liz to the door of the Crashdown, their fingers entwined. The streetlights shone seductively on her face, dragging Max's thoughts in a million different directions, none of which led him to a desire to drop her off at her front door and go to his own home alone.

"What are you thinking?" She smiled up at him, the light dancing in her eyes.

Rather than answer her, he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her inviting lips.

"Oh," she whispered once he pulled away. "Would you like to come in for something to drink before you go home?" Her voice was whisper soft and full of promise and desire.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," he answered, caressing her cheek with his knuckles.

"Yeah," she admitted, "we've got to get up early to meet anyway."

"Yeah," he sighed, threading his fingers through her hair and gently pulling her head toward his. He bent his head, deeply inhaling the sweet scent, before kissing her hair.

"And I don't think Isabel would appreciate it," she giggled.

As if on cue, a car horn sounded behind them.

"You're probably right."

Liz turned and unlocked the door, pausing on the threshold for one last look before he left. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." Max watched Liz walk through the restaurant and disappear into the back before he returned to the jeep.

"How will your 'soul mate' ever make it through the night without you?" Isabel simpered from the front passenger's seat.

"Let's just get home before Mom and Dad notice we're late." He started the ignition and pulled back onto the road, ignoring his sister's looks.

Isabel smiled and watched the buildings whiz past the window. The night had turned out even better than she had thought it would. She closed her eyes remembering how it had felt to be held, knowing someone loved her other than Max and Michael, even knowing who and what she was. Teasing Max mercilessly about Liz was just a bonus.

~~~

Maria lay in bed watching the shadows from the tree limbs outside her bedroom window dance across her walls. Her mind was in such a furious whirl that even the extended, steaming shower hadn't been able to quell the raging storm of her thoughts and worries. Unable to sleep, she lay in bed wondering what Michael was doing.

She didn't have to wonder for long. Another shadow joined the ones that she had been watching, this one broader and unmoving.

She smiled happily and rolled over to see Michael outside her window, the gusting wind tousling his hair and tugging at his shirt. Half wanting to make him open the lock himself but slightly afraid he'd end up blowing up her window if he tried, she slipped out from beneath her comforter and padded to the window. She chuckled over the sudden thought of having to explain to her mother how the window managed to break itself as she turned the latch and pulled it open.

"Are you lost?" she asked, stepping aside to allow Michael's descent into her room.

"Only when I'm not with you."

"Michael," her sigh was lost in his mouth as it closed down over hers.

He deepened the kiss, catching her easily as her body went limp in his arms. Drawing back enough to look at her face, he motioned toward the bed. "Come on, let's get some sleep."

Maria curled herself into his comforting embrace. It had been a long time since he had last held her while she slept. She knew that when he was with her, his nightmares were kept at bay, and her own worries ceased to exist. Come morning they'd be back at each other's throats, continuing with their sadistic, masochistic courtship ritual. But in the safety and security of her night-filled room, they could drop all pretenses and be at peace in one another's arms.

Rolling thunder and the sound of rain pelting the window woke her in the morning and she rolled over in a drowsy search for Michael. He was gone but only recently; the bed was still warm where he had spent the night sleeping next to her. The realization chased away the last vestiges of sleep and she sat up looking for her alarm clock. 7:15am. Another hour and a half and she would be expected to meet up with everyone at the Crashdown. Another hour and a half and she could start fighting with Michael again. Sighing happily, she snuggled back into her bed to wait in the warmth she found waiting for her there.

***note: The name of the club was taken from the Star Seeds Café in Austin. An interesting little diner on the highway downtown with great food and intriguing atmosphere. Chuck the bartender is also a real person but I think he's in law school now and no longer tending bar.