"Michael," Liz managed before she launched herself into his arms. Momentarily stunned, Michael cautiously put his arms around her.
"She's OK?"
"She's fine, sleeping."
"Thank you for taking care of her."
"No problem Liz, thanks for coming, I know she wants to see you." She finally released him and stood back.
"What happened?"
"It's a long story. Why don't you go in the living room and say hello to Moondoggie, and we'll explain."
"Max is here?"
"Yeah, he's been a big help." Max chose this moment to saunter into the foyer area, his eyes so intent on Liz that Michael thought momentarily that she had somehow hypnotized him. She ran without hesitation directly into his outstretched arms. Max was surprised at Liz's public display of affection, but he certainly didn't discourage her.
"Hey baby, where you been all my life?"
"I love you Max." He smiled over Liz's shoulder and winked at Michael.
"I love you too Liz."
"Thank you for healing Maria, I know that had to be weird."
"Yeah, it definitely was," he agreed, but Michael did a lot too." Liz glanced over at Michael in surprise.
"Michael?" He grinned. "I thought you didn't use that part of your powers too well."
"I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. It was Maria, I think the protective part of me went into overdrive, and I just did what I had to do."
"That's amazing, I'm glad you could do that for her."
"Yeah, me too."
"Let's sit," Max suggested. He took Liz's hands and led her to the couch. Michael took the chair across the room from them. He took a deep breath, not sure how he was going to sit across the room and recount what had happened without breaking something, or himself.
"What happened Michael?" At Liz's gentle but anxious question, he reminded himself to breathe again and started.
"I woke up about 2 this morning 'cause I heard someone at my door. Maria was curled up on the steps..." He shut his eyes tightly as the images of the previous night came flooding back to his head. "Every inch of her was bruised and bleeding, I'm not kidding...every visible part of her body...and everything that wasn't visible too. She had a long gash on her forehead. The worst part though was her back- her calves, thighs, and the back of her neck and everything in between. God...she screamed when I picked her up, she was in so much pain...So I took her back to the bedroom, got her an ice pack, cleaned up the gash, and called Max." Max took this as his cue and continued where Michael had left off.
"I got here as fast as I could. She was such a good sport Liz, I could tell how much pain she was in, and it was obvious that she didn't want me to touch her. I felt so bad for her, I mean, she's your best friend! And she's my best friend's girlfriend! But she let me, and I tried to be as discreet about it as I possibly could." Liz interjected, picking up on the guys' discomfort.
"You're so good Max, and it's OK- this isn't about me, this is about Maria...whatever you had to do is what you had to do, but it's over, and the important thing is that Maria is OK now, right?" They nodded in agreement, both looking relieved that she had taken it so well. A thought occurred to her, and her face suddenly paled. Her eyes darted between the two of them. "She wasn't...she wasn't...raped...was she?"
"NO, no Liz," Michael was quick to reassure her. "I checked her over, sort of a scanning thing, anyway, no, I didn't find anything other than the external bruising, but some of that was pretty bad. She wasn't raped though."
"Oh, thank God...then...who did this to her Michael?" He met her troubled gaze, trying to keep his voice steady as he answered.
"Her mother."
"WHAT?" Max thought Liz had looked pale before, now she looked like paper. In her shock, she had jumped off of the couch, and had almost made it to Michael before Max reached out, encircling her waist to pull her down beside him. She collapsed into his side and he put a comforting arm around her. "Are you sure?" Michael had tears in his eyes.
"She told me."
"Oh God...oh Michael...I can't believe it. Mrs. Deluca was always so nice, and so protective of Maria...I don't get it."
"That's when she wasn't drunk, apparently."
"Oh my God...Mrs. Deluca? Drinking? I've known Maria my whole life, and I never knew that! Some best friend I am, huh?"
"It's not your fault Liz, none of us knew," Max reminded her.
"So she got drunk and beat Maria within an inch of her life?"
"Basically."
"What are we gonna do? We've got to get her out of there."
"There's more," Max continued. Liz looked at him, horrified.
"Do I want to know how this could get worse?"
"Mrs. Deluca showed up here this morning. Michael had gone to get milk, and he called me to come stay with Maria." Michael interjected.
"I just had this hunch that I couldn't leave her alone."
"Maria hid from her, and I just said that I didn't know where she was, and that Michael wasn't home. She seemed OK with it, then she turned on me and started saying how she knew someone here knew something and she'd be back. I shut the door in her face."
"Oh Max, I'm glad you were here."
"Me too," Michael agreed.
"Maria was pretty hysterical. I took her back to bed and called Michael."
"I got back here so fast, I'm pretty sure there are cops everywhere looking for my license plate." He left out the part about his confrontation with Mrs. Deluca, he wasn't sure if it had been a wise move, but it definitely made him feel better. He figured he'd tell them separately. Liz grinned slightly at the mental picture of Michael breaking every traffic law in existence to get to Maria. "It took a while, but I got her to relax, and she's sleeping. She didn't sleep too well last night, kept waking up. She panicked if I moved away at all.
"She trusts you Michael." He looked up at Liz, shocked at actually hearing the words coming from someone else's mouth.
"Yeah, well that makes one person in the world." Liz left Max's side to go to him.
"That's not true, I trust you." If Michael had looked shocked before, he now looked astounded. She put her arms around him again, and this time, Michael returned the hug in full force "Thanks Liz." They stood locked in a comfortable embrace for a few moments while Max looked on adoringly at his sweet, understanding, and incredibly selfless Liz. When Michael finally released her, she sat back on the couch next to Max.
"So she's asleep."
"Yeah."
"So what are we going to do?"
"Well..." Michael inhaled sharply before he continued. "I want Maria to come live with me." Liz sat stunned for a beat, studying him carefully. She was glad to see that he looked her in the eye when he spoke, and in his eyes she saw honesty, concern, respect, conviction, and something else, was it...love? Yes, she may be naive in some things, but her heart leapt for joy when she saw the look of pure adoration in Michael's eyes when he thought of or discussed Maria. And in Liz's mind, it was settled. Stonewall Michael Guerin had officially fallen head over heels in love with her best friend. And she knew from countless sleepovers and girl-chats that the feelings were mutual.
"You love her don't you?" Michael looked at her again.
"Very much," he whispered, but his eyes didn't waiver from hers.
"Have you talked about this?"
"What?!" Liz grinned at his obvious discomfort.
"Living with you. Although I'm sure she wouldn't mind hearing the other part too."
"Oh," his heartbeat returned to normal. "Yeah, we've talked about...wait, did you just say she wouldn't mind...?" By this time, Max and Liz were trying very hard not to embarrass Michael further by bursting out laughing at his cluelessness. Max bit his lip. Liz had to hold a hand over her mouth before she confirmed his theory.
"Take it from a girl who has known her since sperm. She's been in love with you for years. Do you know how many times I've had to listen to her rant and rave about "that asshole pigheaded alien creep?" Michael winced, knowing that in part at least, Maria's feelings were warranted.
"Yeah, that sounds like true love to me," he quipped.
"Of course, the next day she runs into the Crashdown telling me how your kisses made her weak in the knees." Michael had lowered his head like a beaten puppy, but slowly, he looked up at her and grinned.
"They do, huh?"
"Yeah, they do!"
"So she loves me."
"I think she'd like to tell you that herself."
Michael raised his eyes past Liz to Max, who nodded in agreement. He was unaware of the beaming expression he wore on his face as Liz continued.
"So what did she say?"
"Well, it was kinda hard to get her to agree at first, you know her, she hates to be helped in any way." Liz nodded knowingly.
"So do you."
"Good point. Anyway, she was all freaked out about not having anyone or anywhere to go. I just told her that we're all here, you know? You and me, Max, Isabel and Alex, we're her family, right?" Liz nodded, smiling. So I told her, if she wanted, she could stay here with me. And of course, she goes all defensive, and says stuff like "won't it inconvenience you and stuff." Well, you know the answer to that question- no, it won't. And if Valenti gives us the green light, she said she'd do it."
"Well, if it's all right with her, then it's all right with me. Just be careful Michael."
"You know I will." Max, who had been silent for a few minutes, finally spoke up.
"I wonder what Mrs. Deluca will say about all this." Michael decided it was time to come clean.
"She almost killed her Maxwell. If this country's justice system is worth its salt- which is still debatable as far as I'm concerned, then she won't have a damn thing to say about it."
"I hope you're right."
"I saw her this morning. I drove to Maria's house and knocked on the door and told her in plain English that if she ever laid a finger on Maria again, I would personally see to her slow, painful death." Max and Liz looked at him, stunned into silence. Finally, Liz spoke.
"You didn't!"
"Oh, yes I did Liz, and I'm not ashamed of it either. That bitch deserves what she gets. I warned her to stay away from us or I'd call the cops. You have no idea how hard it was for me to stand there and remain non-violent while she methodically reminded me of all my past indiscretions, and then accused me of some that weren't even mine. I'm not sure how well it worked, but I'm fairly certain that it got to her on some level. She was obviously still hung over. She looked slightly intimidated by the time I left." Max smiled slightly.
"I should be ranting and raving about how irresponsible and impulsive that was, but we all know it wouldn't do any good. And after I saw Maria's reaction to her mother this morning, I'm not altogether sorry you did it."
"Thanks...I think."
"MIIICHAAAEL!!!" He was on his feet and sprinting toward the bedroom before Max or Liz had completely registered what they were hearing. "NOOOOO! PLEASE, MICHAEL, MICHAEL, MICHAEL ." He ran to the side of the bed, sitting on the edge and drawing her sweating, convulsing body towards him in a tight embrace. He held her head to his chest and kissed it, rocking back and forth. She sobbed openly, but was still very much asleep.
"Shhh, it's OK, it's OK, I'm right here baby, it's OK, it's OK, it's all right." She struggled to get away from him, but he held her tighter, realizing that she thought the person holding her back was going to hurt her. "No, no, no, no, no, no."
"I'm right here, it's me, it's me, you're OK." She stopped struggling, but he wasn't sure if she was awake or asleep. She nuzzled his chest, still sobbing. Michael reclined on the bed, gently coaxing her down with him. Her eyes remained closed. He held her trembling frame against his chest.
Max and Liz had followed him as fast as they could, and now stood outside of the doorway, watching with concern.
"Oh my God," Liz said finally, putting her hand to her mouth. "Is that how she was last night?"
"Yeah, basically. She's been asleep for about an hour now. I guess she still is." Michael bent his head to look at her face. Her head rested on his chest. Her eyes were completely closed and she was now breathing deeply. He stroked her soothingly as he looked up at them. "I'm gonna stay till she wakes up." They nodded in agreement. Liz moved into the room to look at Maria more closely, it was the first time she'd seen her friend in two weeks.
"She looks so pale," she whispered.
"She's been through a lot."
"Yeah, I guess that explains it, we'll have to get her eating more. I know she gets all stressed and forgets to eat. Are you going to see Valenti?"
"Yeah, in a little bit, I want her to come with me."
"Good idea."
"I'm just hoping Amy doesn't decide to hang around waiting for us to show up."
"Well, if Valenti has any common sense in him whatsoever, he won't let Amy anywhere near Maria after you tell him the story."
"I hope you're right."
"I know I am." She squeezed Maria's limp hand comfortingly and surprised Michael by planting a gentle, friendly kiss on his cheek. "Tell us when she wakes up."
"OK." He watched Liz leave, pulling the door closed behind her.
