Maria looked around. They were trapped. "Michael, what are we gonna do?" she asked.
"Don't worry Maria, we'll make it."
Michael held out his hand focusing his energy at the agent who stood in front of them blocking their escape. Nothing happened. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. We put a serum in the tip of that bullet so you wouldn't be able to use your powers."
Maria looked at Michael, her face showed her fear and although Michael was keeping a strong face, his feelings mirrored the look on her face.
*5 Years Ago *
"How is this possible?" Liz asked from her place on the couch next to Max.
"I don't know, but the things I saw inside her head…she's one of us. I saw her come out of the pod."
"Maybe the skins implanted that memory to make us believe she is one of us," Isabel said frightened by the new obstacle.
"I don't think so," Michael said, "There's something about her. I feel a connection. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is but…I know her."
Just then the 7 teens heard a noise coming from the bedroom. "Please no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll never do it again I swear. No."
Michael was the first one up and into his bedroom. Maria was thrashing in the bed obviously in the midst of a nightmare. He sat down on the bed next to her and began to shake her lightly trying to wake her from the dream. "Shh…it's okay. You're okay." He whispered tenderly into her ear urging her back to consciousness.
Maria's eyes fluttered open and for a second she forgot where she was, then she remembered. "You okay?" Michael asked concerned.
"I'm fine, I'm sorry I bothered you. It was just a bad dream."
He nodded in understanding. "I know what that can be like. I grew up jumping from foster home to foster home too."
Maria looked at him in a different light all of a sudden. She had thought that he had had a childhood with smiles and laughter, a loving family. But he hadn't, he understood her. She threw her arms around him. She felt a connection. Something she had never felt with another human being in her whole life. Maybe it was because she wasn't a human being.
****
He hadn't expected it but all of a sudden Maria was in his arms and it felt so good. He held her tight and ran his hands through her hair trying to calm her down. He slowly pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Are you okay now?"
She gave him a little smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you."
"No problem. You okay to go back to sleep of do you want to come and talk about your true origin with us."
"I think I'll be okay, but do you think you could stay with me? Just till I fall asleep?"
"Sure."
***
"What is taking so long in there. I haven't heard anything in half an hour and Michael still hasn't come out," Isabel said getting upset.
"I'm sure its nothing Izzy, do you want me to get check on them?" Max asked.
"No, don't worry about it. Why don't we just continue our discussion without him."
Everyone nodded. "So you think she can really be one of you?" Kyle asked.
"Yeah, but if she is, why was she sent and why wasn't her pod with ours? Why doesn't she remember coming out of the pod? There are a lot of questions and no answers."
"Yeah, but that's the way things have always been," Liz reminded them.
"Maybe if we take her down to the pod chamber tomorrow we can make her remember something," Alex suggested.
"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. So we'll come back in the morning and we'll head out to the pod chamber and see if we can jog her memory."
The group of 7 left leaving Michael a note that they would be back at 10 to go up to the pod chamber. Michael and Maria slept on.