Michael's lips quirked at Maria's humor but he remained silent as he waited for some kind of reply to his revelation. Everything hung in the balance. Originally, he hadn't intended on telling them, but he knew that these were exceptional people whom he could trust. Now all they needed to do was believe him and he would be one step closer to his sister.
Catherine gaped. "Aliens? Like 'little green men' aliens?"
Michael pretended to be affronted. "That's actually a stereotype. I personally don't think I was ever green or little."
Maria couldn't contain herself and burst out laughing. "I don't think you would have taken being short very well."
"Yeah, the world's a little different from down there isn't it, Maria?" He cracked a grin.
"Michael, you're such an ass."
"I know, but you love me anyway."
"God knows why." Maria rolled her eyes.
"You know it's because I'm so good in bed." The grin exploded into a full-blow smile.
"Please." Sarcasm practically dripped from her voice.
They laughed with each other for a moment before turning back to Catherine and Vincent, smiles still on their faces.
Again, Catherine's shocked brain rebelled against the new information. "You, you two had sex?!"
The smile melted off of Maria's face and was replaced with indignation. "How can you even question us?! You, more than anyone, should understand that love is love and nothing can stand in the way. Damn you! You dare to question my decision when you've made choices that put you in danger to be with the one you want I'm not afraid of Michael or what could happen to me. Don't ever question me or my thoughts, and never question my love!"
Catherine was quite taken aback by Maria's harsh words. Never before had a young person spoken to her with such faith in her tone, such belief in her words, or such anger in her eyes. Catherine realized her mistake. She had spoken before thinking how alike she and Maria's situations were. They were practically the same. Sure, there was a significant age difference but it hardly mattered. They had made the same decisions for their loved ones and she shouldn't have been angered at Maria for having the courage to do it sooner.
She bowed her head in shame. "I'm sorry. That was low and I was wrong. You just caught me by surprise and I spoke harshly before thinking."
Maria touched Catherine's arm. "It's okay. I'm sorry I lost it, too. It's just that, for so long we weren't together because of what we thought was right and we find ourselves and people are already questioning it. You should know how that feels. When you two started sleeping together, didn't people question you? How did you take it?" Maria looked to Catherine for an answer to her challenge.
"How did you know that? You can't read my mind, can you?" The question was only half-serious.
"Oh God no! I'm not green around the gills like spaceboy over there." Again with the chuckle.
"Hey! Don't mess with me, short girl!" The return of their friendly banter was evidence that the tension was disintegrating.
She flipped around her hand and bowed slightly. "Yes, oh mighty second-in-command, Honorable general to the great armies of Maximus Evansis."
"You are such a dork."
"Yeah but you love it." They both burst out laughing.
Vincent spoke up in confusion. "Who are you two speaking of? Who is this Maximus Evansis?"
Michael looked at the older couple apologetically. "Sorry, it's a super long story. Okay, Cathy, I know you're a little freaked but just listen, okay? This is it. Max, Isabel, my sister, and I came to Earth in 1947 in the spacecraft that crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. We were in incubation pods until we emerged in '88 looking like 6 years olds. Max and Isabel were taken and adopted by the Evans' and I was put in the foster care of Hank Guerin. We didn't meet again until fourth grade, but we all knew who the other was. Since then we've been trying to keep people from finding out, but that was all blown to hell when Max fell intensely in love with Liz Parker, Maria's best friend."
Maria cut in. "Yeah, that's when all the trouble started. Liz and I used to joke all the time about how he was forever watching her."
"You guys knew?"
"Dude, we always knew! Even Alex knew!"
"God, he was so obvious! Anyway, one day in tenth grade, Liz and Maria were working in the Crashdown…"
"That's the restaurant Liz's dad owns." Maria interjected.
"…They were in the Crashdown when there was a fight between these two dudes and Liz accidentally got shot. Max was in there eating and he ran up to her and saved her. Later, Liz wanted to know what the hell he'd done to her, and he, naturally, told her everything. So Liz took it upon herself to tell Maria, then Alex, and eventually Sheriff Valenti."
Maria punched him in the arm. "Hey, don't lay Valenti on Liz. She didn't tell him everything. Just enough to find Max and rescue him."
"Rescue? What happened?" Catherine wondered aloud.
Michael grew serious. "This part, okay, it was a very hard time for all of us."
"Will you tell us please?" Vincent asked.
Maria took over. "Max was found out by an Agent Topolsky from the FBI. She was killed and an Agent Pierce took her info. They got Max and locked him in a tiny little white room in an abandoned military facility in the middle of the desert and did tests on him."
"Oh my God!" horror was clear in Catherine's voice.
"Yeah, just because he wasn't human, they started to take him apart a piece at a time to get information out of him that Max didn't have at the time. Isabel, Tess, and I went in and broke him out and Liz got Sheriff Valenti so he came and got us."
"That's when everything really went down hill."
"Maria, I'm sorry." Michael sounded real sincere.
"I know, Michael. And it's in the past so we can't change it."
"Okay. Now I'll explain about Tess." He took a deep breath, then continued. "This is long, too. See, there were four pods and only three of us so one day this girl, Tess, shows up and starts playing mind games with the rest of us. She's messin' around in Max's head so bad that him and Liz almost break up, and that's really saying something 'cause just about a week earlier, they were just about as close as a couple can be without being married. They're just two very intense people with seriously deep feelings for each other. So anyway, she says she's my sister and that in our other life, she was married to Max. She goes on to say how back on our planet, Max Evans was a king, she was his queen, Isabel was his sister, and I was his faithful second, Isabel's fiancée. Naturally none of us have believe any of the shit she's sprouting until she gets Max, takes him to the desert where the pods are hidden, and forces him to remember."
"Okay, to make a long story extremely shorter, Pierce comes back after them, Michael ends up killing him, Max, Michael, Isabel, and Tess get a revelation of their past lives, Michael breaks up with me, Liz breaks up with Max, and Tess proceeds to make everyone's life miserable." Maria finished her mouthful in one breath, with a talent gathered over years of experience. "All clear?"
"Okay, I've got a question." Catherine said. "When you said Max saved Liz's life, what exactly did he do?"
"He dissolved the bullet and stitched her back up." Michael responded.
"How?" Vincent wanted to know.
"With his mind, I think. It's something we all can do, heal each other."
"What else can you do?"
"Well, okay don't use me as your example 'cause I'm just now getting the hang of it, but we can manipulate the molecular structure of things. We all have specialties, though. I blow up stuff and kill people…"
Maria looked furious. "Damn it, Michael, we talked about this…!"
He just looked regretful. "I know. Anyway, Max can heal, Tess makes people see things, and Isabel dream walks."
"What's dream walking?"
"It's going into other people's dreams, interacting with them. All she needs is a picture of you, be it in her head or her hand, and she's in there in a second. It's kinda creepy what she can learn without you ever knowing she's there."
Something just wasn't clicking in Vincent's mind. "Why are you looking for Taja if this girl, Tess says she is your sister?"
"There's something funny about Tess that I can't quite explain except for the fact that I know she's not my sister. I don't know how or why she would lie, only that she did."
"Catherine, do you think Father would be peticularly angry if we escorted them Below?"
"Father trusts your judgement, Vincent. He won't be happy, but he won't be fearful, either. Do you think we should?"
"Yes, I do. I think they should meet her. Maybe this Michael is her someone."
"Alright. We'll leave immediately after I change. This is no outfit to wear down there." Catherine spoke to the group.
Maria jumped at the opportunity. "Okay, um, question?" I need to make a call. Can I use your phone, please? I know it's long distance but it's important!"
"Go ahead, it's on the desk."
*****