CHAPTER 21
"I'm not sure I like this," Maria heard as she approached the Evanses' family room. "We still don't know enough. It could be dangerous."
"You don't know that, Max," his sister pointed out evenly. "Maria, Alex and I agree it's the right thing to do. Even Michael agreed to it. We're going to do it so why don't you stop coming up with reasons we shouldn't, and help? Maria and I can do this. Trust us."
"It's not that," Max said with a frown. "I do trust you. I just don't like taking foolish risks. I don't want you to get hurt. Any of you."
"We won't," Isabel assured him. "I won't let it happen."
"I can't believe Michael actually agreed to it. He was so adamant about it before," mused Liz. "How on earth did you talk him into it, Alex?"
"Yes, Alex, how did you?" asked Maria from the doorway.
"Oh, let's just say that he fell victim to my powers of persuasion," replied Alex glibly. He could tell by looking at her that this answer wasn't enough. "Seriously, we just talked about the situation, and he decided to go ahead with it." Maria gave him a stern look, and he continued, "That's all you're getting from me. You want more, you'll have to get Michael to tell you."
Maria let out a huff of exasperation. "Like I could get him to do anything he didn't want to. Some of us don't have your 'powers of persuasion'," she mocked.
Isabel turned a considering eye upon her. "So was he asleep?" she asked.
"How did you..." Maria flushed. "Okay, so I checked on him. No. He wasn't."
"Uh-huh."
"But he will be soon, I'm sure of it. He wants our help. Anyway, he promised Alex," Maria said. She didn't really convince anyone.
Alex spoke, his voice soothing. "That he did."
"Then all we need to do is wait," put in Liz.
"We can do that," said Alex cheerfully. "Got a deck of cards?"
Liz crowed as she laid down her three of a kind and swept up the pile of M&Ms with which they'd been wagering. "It's a good thing we're not playing for money," Isabel told her. "Who knew you were such a card shark?"
"I did," said Alex, who'd long since folded. "But it passed the time, didn't it?"
"Sure it did," said Isabel, motioning with a small nod of the head to Maria, who was tensely pacing in the corner. "Maybe we should try the dreamwalk now."
Alex considered the situation. "Well, since he's right here in the house, it'll be easy enough to tell if he's asleep. Does he snore?"
"No," said Max and Maria simultaneously. Maria turned red as four very interested pairs of eyes focused on her. "It was just the one night," she protested. "Before he was emancipated. All we did was sleep."
Max went on smoothly, "But he gets nightmares. He doesn't exactly sleep easy. It shouldn't be too difficult to tell if he's out or not."
"You check on him," suggested Isabel. "You're used to his sleep patterns. The rest of us will head into my room and get ready." The humans and an alien quietly moved into Isabel's bedroom. Maria immediately went to lie stiffly down on the bed, in the same spot from which she'd dreamwalked the last time.
Alex grinned and took his place on Isabel's desk chair. "You're not at all impatient, are you?"
Maria gave him a disgruntled look and settled deeper into the pillow. "I'm just ready, that's all." She sat upright, however, when they heard voices coming from outside Isabel's room. "What now?" she said, getting up and stalking to the doorway. Max was standing in the doorway of his bedroom, talking in a low voice to...Michael? She pushed past Max in a fury.
"You! Why are you not asleep?" she shouted at Michael, who was sitting up on the bed. "It's been hours! The rest of us are tired; why aren't you?"
He refused to look at her. "I've been trying."
"You have not tried! If you had, you would have done it!" She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back down onto the bed. He sat back up the moment she let go of him.
"It's not that easy," he complained.
"It never is with you, is it?" she hissed. "So tell me why, Michael. Why isn't it easy? I know you're tired. You look like hell, and I know you've been up at night hanging around my house all week, so why can't you fall asleep? And exactly why were you hanging around, anyway, you stalker?"
From the hall, Alex began, "Maria, if you--"
"You're one to talk, Alex! If it's not Michael nearby, it's you. Do you two think I'm stupid? That I wouldn't notice? I want answers!" she raged, once again pushing Michael into a reclining position. "And I want you to go to sleep, dammit, and I want things to be right!" With that, the tension and pent-up emotion she'd been feeling came to a crest and she burst into angry tears, collapsing onto his chest. Liz began to move towards her, but stopped as Max put a hand up and motioned for the others to leave. Michael, looking completely trapped, raised his head off the pillow to stare helplessly at Max, who shrugged.
"You did it," he said calmly. "You fix it. This is one mess I'm not cleaning up for you, Michael. You can handle this one on your own."
"Do you think that was a good idea?" asked Liz in the safety of Isabel's room.
"We had to do something. Maria was so tense it hurt to look at her. She's got to relax, or Isabel won't be able to pull her into the dreamwalk," Max explained. "If Maria can get through to him, she'll calm down. Or they'll kill each other. Either way, it's got to be better than having them constantly at loggerheads."
Alex let out an amazed whistle. "Very sneaky, Max. I never knew you had it in you."
"Well, someone's got to take charge of these things," Max replied with a slow smile.
Inside Max's room, things were not going too well for Michael. He lay still for a moment, wishing he were someplace, anyplace, else, where he didn't have to hear Maria's sobs. Where for once he hadn't hurt her. Finally he put his arms up and awkwardly patted her back. "Hey," he said. "Don't. It's not worth it."
"It is to me," she managed to get out, her cheek pressed to his chest. He continued to hold her, one hand gingerly making gentle circles on her back, all the while heaping mental curses on himself.
"It shouldn't be," he insisted softly.
Maria raised her head and wiped the back of her hand across her reddened eyes. "Well, it is. You can't arbitrarily change the way I feel about you. It doesn't work that way. If you could, I never would have fallen in love with you in the first place."
"You didn't."
"I think I can be trusted to know my own feelings!" she said angrily, sitting up.
"No, the guy you think you're in love with isn't me. He's someone else." His hands fell back to the bed. "I'm not even a real person. I don't know what I am."
Maria scooted closer, leaning over him. "You are real," she said firmly. "You're part of him, or he's part of you, or something. Whichever way it is doesn't matter. If I love him, then I love you. It's one and the same." She peered into his dark unfathomable eyes, wishing she could make him understand. "You drive me absolutely insane, but it doesn't change things. I love you," she repeated, and pressed a gentle kiss on his lips.
She pulled back and watched the doubt and confusion in his eyes. Feeling very uncomfortable, he broke their gaze and unconsciously dropped his eyes to linger on her lips, which began to twitch in amusement. Her amusement faded into something quite different as his eyes darkened and he reached up a tentative hand to stroke the tearstains from her cheek. His other hand came up to frame the other side of her face, and looking into her eyes he began to slowly pull her down to him...
...only to stop with a muffled curse, her lips scant inches from his.
"Michael?" she questioned.
He took her by the shoulders and set her gently but firmly aside, then rose from the bed and padded over to the window. He stared out at the night, unseeing.
"Tease," she muttered. He didn't appear to hear her.
Maria watched, wide-eyed, as he fought an inner struggle with himself. Finally something seemed to come over him, and he straightened up to his full height. Not knowing who or what had won, she braced herself for whatever would happen.
What did happen was that he turned and strode out of the room. Anger mixed with panic rose in Maria. He wasn't leaving, was he? Then she realized that his worn boots were still on the floor at the foot of Max's bed, and she breathed more easily. She scurried out of the room, following Michael's path.
"It's not working," she heard him say gruffly. "I can't do it." She walked into Isabel's room to see Liz sharing a concerned glance with the others.
"Of course you can," the petite brunette assured him. "You just need the right circumstances. Is the room too dark? Too warm?"
"No," he said ungraciously.
"Have you tried counting sheep? Or spaceships? How about giant man-eating plant puppets?" asked Alex irrepressibly. The alien gave him a disgusted look and didn't deign to answer.
"What about some sort of relaxation technique?" suggested Liz. "Meditation or something." Alex chuckled at the mental image this created, but cut it short at Michael's terse reply.
"It doesn't matter. None of that will work."
"You mean you don't want it to work," Maria accused from the doorway. He turned to look at her.
"No, I don't. But I said I'd do it, and I'm trying."
"This is not trying! This is lying in the dark and sulking, that's what this is!" she shot back.
"Okay, I guess we're going for the 'killing each other' scenario," Alex heard Max say under his breath.
Maria looked wildly about the room before focusing on its owner. "Isabel! Does he have to be asleep for you to dreamwalk him? Does unconscious count? Because right now I would be more than happy to personally knock him into oblivion!"
"Maria," Liz said warningly, but was ignored by the two combatants.
"Go right ahead," challenged Michael in an icy voice. "I'd rather be unconscious than have to deal with this."
"Don't tempt me!" hissed Maria.
"Stop it!"
Five pairs of eyes turned to an infuriated Isabel. "You," she said, pointing at Maria, "over there. Sit. And you," turning to Michael, "stop telling us what won't work and help us figure out what will." Maria abashedly took a seat on the bed and Michael ducked his head and stared at the floor. Alex was impressed.
"Okay," said Isabel into the quiet, "Now let's work together, shall we? Michael." He raised his head. "You're having trouble getting to sleep, even though you're tired. You are tired, right?" A nod. "I thought so. Then we have something to work with. How did you fall asleep last night?"
"Didn't," he muttered.
She gave him an appraising look. That explained a lot. "Well then, the night before." No answer except a shake of the head. "Before that?" She looked around the room and then back at the scowling figure by the door. "Michael, when was the last time you slept?"
"I don't know. A week, a week and a half," he answered in a low voice.
A concerned furrow appeared in Isabel's forehead. "Michael! You can't function without sleep."
"I'm not human. I don't need sleep," he insisted obstinately. Isabel turned to the others in frustration.
"Somebody help me out here!" she said. Alex, who had a pretty fair idea of what Michael had been doing instead of sleeping, kept his mouth shut.
Liz spoke up. "Why haven't you been sleeping? Because you can't?"
He shifted uncomfortably, but answered. "I've got things to do."
"What could be so important that you would go without sleep for so long?" Isabel cried in distress. "For that matter, how are you still on your feet? Why haven't you collapsed? Passed out?"
Michael gave her a disgusted look wordlessly making it quite clear that guys, even human-alien hybrid guys, do not pass out. Isabel rolled her eyes in frustration.
Liz continued the questioning. "What's keeping you so busy? How can we help?"
He looked at her in mild surprise for a moment. "You can't."
"Why don't you let us be the judge of that?" asked Max. "You've got school, and the gas station. Can't cut down on those. Knowing you, I doubt you're spending much time on homework. So what else is there?"
Michael looked around uneasily and clamped his mouth shut. Deciding to try and help him out, Alex said, "There's the whole plant thing. For the show."
"So speed up the building process by using your powers," suggested Isabel.
Michael swallowed. "I can't."
"Yes, you can," she said in support. "You can do a lot more than you think you can."
"No. I can't," he pronounced decidedly.
From her position on the bed, Maria spoke. "Does this have to do with the whole napkin holder thing? It's okay, Michael. Forget what I said then, you can cheat on this one. Wave your hand and make the problem go away. We give you blanket permission."
Michael ran an unsteady hand through his already tousled hair. "What part of 'I can't' do you people not understand?" Putting his right hand out, he closed his eyes in concentration. Not wanting to be fried to a crisp, the five ducked out of the path his hand delineated. They watched as he struggled to use his powers, to do something, anything, even if only to blow up part of Isabel's room. A sweat broke out on his forehead. Nothing. Finally he let his hand drop back to his side and opened his eyes. "Do you get it now? No powers. They're gone. I can't do anything."
There was silence in the room as the others tried to absorb this news. Finally, Liz spoke. "I'm sorry, Michael." He shrugged and tried to look like he didn't care. None of them were fooled.
Alex cleared his throat. "Well, your powers may not be an option, but your friends are. We can help. Granted, some of us aren't very artistic--" Maria snorted. "But we'll do what we can."
Maria piped up. "Tell Mark Blumenthal you need help. He said he'd round some guys up."
Michael stiffened. "I don't need help. I can do it myself."
"Yes, at the expense of sleep, health and sanity!" she shot back. "Oh, I forgot, you only had two of those to begin with. God, Michael, what are you trying to prove?"
Trying to diffuse the situation, Max said, "Okay, you won't ask for help with the plants. But still, school, work and building them can't possibly be taking twenty-four hours a day. What else are you doing?"
Once again, Michael clamped his mouth shut. "He's stalking me, that's what," Maria burst out.
He looked up at the ceiling and refused to respond.
"Go on, admit it!" she said. "You know I can tell when you're around. Which is practically all the time, you...you stalker."
His jaw clenched. "I am not stalking you."
"Oh yeah? Well, what do you call it then?"
"Maria," Alex began.
"Oh no, don't you start with me, Alex. You're just as bad. If E.T. here isn't around, you are. And I want to know why. Right now."
Alex looked at Michael, a question in his eyes. Michael, stony-faced, did not assent. Alex sighed. "I'd explain it to you if I could, Maria. I would. But I made a promise not to, and I can't break it."
"That's just great. Like we can't guess who made you promise." Maria crossed over and stood directly in front of Michael. She looked up at him defiantly. "And I suppose you're too busy building your relatives to explain?"
His hands clenched and he said through gritted teeth, "Be very grateful I can't use my powers any more."
Isabel, who had watched the argument escalate, said suddenly, "But you can. Or at least you did, when we went into Maria's dream. You and the other Michael used your powers to break a hole in the invisible wall."
"Well, I can't do it now," he said bitterly.
Maria caught her breath. "Of course you can't. And the other Michael--when he tried to use his powers, they backfired on him, and he got hurt. It took the two of you together to make them work. You need each other."
"Max, do you think--?" Michael asked hesitantly.
"Maybe. It makes sense, anyway," he answered.
"So there's yet another reason to dreamwalk you and help you pull yourself together!" cried Maria triumphantly. "You want your powers back, don't you? You'll need them to fight off the evil aliens and all that. Well, suck it up, Michael Guerin, and go to sleep already."
She turned to the people around her and began issuing orders. "Isabel, go heat some milk. We'll give my mom's remedy a try. Max, go turn the TV off; we need quiet. Liz, fluff up his pillow. I want it nice and plump. Alex, you're the musician, start thinking up lullabies." Nobody moved. "Let's get hopping, people! We're on a mission. Operation 'Get Michael Back Now' is underway."
Michael looked down at her, a disgruntled look on his face. "And just what are you going to do?"
She smiled saucily back up at him. "Why, tuck you back in, of course."
He groaned. "Max? Be a buddy and clock me one, will you? Unconsciousness is sounding better all the time."
TBC...