***
The group was assembling into a semi circle outside the van at seven-thirty in the morning. Maria stood in silence, crossing her arms across her chest to contain the edgy feeling bouncing about inside of her. She watched the others. Liz was standing beneath a tree. She leaned into Max's chest, smiling at Max's arms, wrapped around her own. They were too happy to be running for their lives. Isabel was staring out into the distance, an icy frown etched against her face. She was too miserable, even if they were running for their lives….
Maria turned to watch Kyle rummaging through the ice chest and pulling out a dripping wet can of soda. He hopped out of the van and onto the ground. He seemed to be happy-go-lucky about this whole fiasco, and Maria wished she could have that reassurance. They all knew he missed Roswell just as much as the others, but he seemed to find relief from being a part of the group. A relief she and Michael had yet to find. Thinking of the moody Czechoslovakian, she turned to glance at her space boy. As expected, he was leaning against a tree, glaring out into the distance. He reminded her so much of the boy she had yet to get to know three years earlier. Standing tall, dressed in all black, turbulent spikes sprouting from his head.
And then there was her. Maria. She couldn't get rid of the guilt she felt, for she had abandoned her mother. Just like her father did. Just like she had promised never to do. And she had left to be with Michael, and he was distant and cold again. She was aggravated that he refused to discuss the nightmare the night before. He walked in silence back to the van, and she could do nothing but follow him. They returned to the others, and then it was morning. And there they all were. Gathering to discuss their next plan and Liz's latest flash. And to top it all off, Maria was sick to her stomach and couldn't figure out why. She had been so enfolded with her thoughts that she hadn't even realized Max was speaking.
"So, I think we should hold back on any plans to divide up until we figure out what the flash means," Max finished.
"Well, then get cracking, Maxwell. Because we don't have the luxury of time."
"What do you think River Dog has to do with any of this? We're so far from Roswell. From the reservation," Maria questioned. Glancing over at the stoic Michael, she remembered the cave and Michael being sick. It seemed so long ago. But the emotions reemerged as if it had only been yesterday.
"I have no idea," Liz answered.
"We should probably head out. Make some ground," Kyle suggested. "I'll volunteer to drive. Max and Liz can do … whatever they have to in the back."
Maria smiled, and everyone returned to the van.
***
The van droned along the blistering highway as the sun beat down. The heat was extreme and the vehicles on the road scarce. Six people with an epic secret, which would bind them forever, rode in complete silence. A newly married couple. A passionate, troubled couple. A distant, all but broken young woman. A compassionate, endearing friend. Six people who had inadvertently become a family. Each of them knowing deep down how lucky they were to be in that van together, not alone in the larger-than-life journey they had undertaken two months earlier. Somehow, that luck would not emerge in the silence of that van, though. It remained a blurry, faded, all-but-forgotten perception that lingered in the back of their minds as they got further and further away from a place they once called home.
Max and Liz were cuddling in the back of the van. A flash had yet to come. Max's left hand was held out. Liz brought her left hand to meet his as well. Together, they gazed at their rings, just a symbol of the commitment they had made to one another. Silently, Max enveloped Liz's hand and kissed her cheek. He wasn't afraid, and neither was Liz. They both knew it -- knew how lucky they were. As long as they were together, they could find no wrong in the world. Everything was green and fresh and beautiful. Everything was full of hope. For as long as they had one another, they had all they could ever need. And everyone in that van understood that Max and Liz had found an extraordinary place inside each other. Liz rested her head down on Max's shoulder and closed her eyes.
Isabel was asleep on top of a rolled out sleeping bag against the floor. Kyle drove, Michael was in the passenger seat, and Maria was slumping against the bench behind the driver's seat. She kept pressing her forehead against the window, trying to find coolness in the glass, but only warmth seeped from it and into her skin. Her head was spinning, and finally she pushed herself forward, leaning between the two front seats.
"Kyle, can you pull off at the next rest stop?"
"Yeah. No problem. I think the sign said it's a few miles up."
"Thanks."
She noticed that Michael had now turned and was staring back at her as she slumped back into the seat. Maria found comfort in his concern; he hadn't shown it as openly in a long time as he was right at that moment.
"Maria, what's wrong. You look like crap."
Maria closed her eyes to the mild sting from his words. She should have been prepared for a comment like that. It was too typical. Kyle slapped Michael's arm.
"Are you stupid?"
"Shut up, Kyle." Michael looked back at Maria. Her skin was overly pale. She had closed her eyes. Michael reached behind him, extending his arm to let his fingers trace against her skin; it was warm and damp. Her brilliant green eyes snapped open at his touch, but she didn't move. She stared at his face, and his worry went unhidden. Nothing else was said as Kyle drove off the road and into the rest stop area.
Liz took her face away from Max's shoulder as the vehicle pulled to a stop. She immediately caught sight of Maria in the front, looking miserable.
"Are you all right?"
"I feel like crap. Michael says I look like crap. I feel like I'm going to hurl. I don't think I'm all right, Lizzie."
Concern washed over the brunette's face as she got up and went to her best friend. "Let me help you." She latched sturdily onto Maria's slender arm and helped her stand. They stepped over a slumbering Isabel and got out of the car. Max followed. Michael held onto Maria's other arm and led her to the restrooms.
Max and Kyle leaned against the door of the van, waiting. A few other vehicles were scattered throughout the area. Families taking time out to stretch. Teenagers on road trips. A couple other cars filed in. It was a busy rest stop.
"Anything new with the flashes?" Kyle asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Nothing yet."
"Have you talked with Isabel lately?"
"What about?"
"Oh. Nothing. Well, you know. She's just … I don't know. I don't think she's handling this whole thing well. Leaving Jesse and everything."
"I wouldn't expect her not to be upset. Everyone's still coping, Kyle."
"Yeah. I guess."
Michael approached them. "Liz is taking care of her." The three men stood silently for several moments, not knowing what to say. They stood comfortably with this silence, not awkwardly. Just waiting. Just thinking.
Someday. Yes, someday, they would be able to laugh and joke around like they used to. They would be able to feel calm again. Someday. As soon as more time passed. As soon as they got as far away from Roswell as they could. Yeah, someday soon.
***
Maria splashed cool water on her face as Liz hovered over her in the restroom. It was a small area with only two stalls and a single sink. Liz pushed her hair behind her ears before rubbing a comforting hand up and down Maria's back. She ripped off a section of paper towel and pushed it into Maria's now shaking hands. Maria smiled weakly and wiped her wet skin.
"Did it just come on suddenly?"
"I've been feeling weird all day. I don't know where it came from."
Maria stared at her face, almost amazed at the transformation it had undergone in a matter of hours. Her skin was an eerie pale and dark circles clung beneath her tired eyes. She turned and stepped over to the trash can, tossing the paper towel away. As she brought her hand up to do so, she stopped reflexively, shrieking at what she saw.
"What? What happened?" Liz came up behind her, alarm visibly present in her voice.
"My hands. Liz. Look at my hands."
Liz followed Maria's gaze and felt a sickening drop in her stomach. The crackling. Green surges of energy – crackling around her hands.
"I didn't do that. I didn't do that, did I?" Liz asked, looking at her own hands. Nothing.
"I don't know. What's going on?" The panic in both their voices was dominant over any other emotion.
"It's okay. We'll … just go get Max and Michael and see if we can figure this out."
"I wasn't healed, Liz. This shouldn't be happening."
Liz stared solemnly into Maria's frightened green eyes, remembering how terrified she had been when it had all happened to her. The relief when it finally went away. But it was back, and it was even more horrifying, because it was happening to her best friend, and they didn't know why. She was right. Maria hadn't been healed by Max.
A women in a red plaid shirt and simple jeans walked into the bathroom, striding into one of the stalls. Liz quickly pushed Maria's hands down. "I'll go and get them, all right. Just stay in here, all right?"
Maria nodded uncertainly. Liz spun on her heals, rushing to the door, but the woman in plaid stepped hurriedly from the stall to the front. She blocked the exit. Liz stared blankly, a sensation of nausea wiping over her. Before she could react, the woman had clutched Liz's arm and shoved her against the wall. Maria screamed when she pulled out a gun.
"Be quiet," she hissed, aiming it at the trembling blonde, who had her hands hidden behind her.
"Listen very closely, girls. I'm an agent from the FBI. We followed you here. Right now, the boy with the spikes is heading over here. I want you to tell him that everything's fine. If you let him know what's going on and he tries to storm in here, one of three agents waiting in the red jeep outside will shoot him, I assure you."
Liz looked over to Maria with wide brown eyes. The agent gestured with her weapon for the two girls to get into the corner. They both shoved themselves against the wall. Maria edged closer to Liz, and Liz reached her hand to Maria's quivering shoulder. White light engulfed her.
\\ Michael standing on sand. Gunshots and then blackness. Michael screaming. \\
Liz gasped. Maria looked at her. "What?" she whispered. The agent was positioning herself behind the door, her gun ready.
"Someone's going to get shot," she whispered, and her face too went pale.
The two girls clung to each other inside. Liz reliving the few images that had come to her in the flash. Maria trying to hide the green crackling of her hands -- trying to hide her fear. Outside, Max and Kyle were standing beside the van, a red jeep parked directly next to it. Michael walked determinedly up to the door.
…..to be continued!…… I'll write more tonight after work. Sorry I ended it here, but I'm running really late now! =D
The group was assembling into a semi circle outside the van at seven-thirty in the morning. Maria stood in silence, crossing her arms across her chest to contain the edgy feeling bouncing about inside of her. She watched the others. Liz was standing beneath a tree. She leaned into Max's chest, smiling at Max's arms, wrapped around her own. They were too happy to be running for their lives. Isabel was staring out into the distance, an icy frown etched against her face. She was too miserable, even if they were running for their lives….
Maria turned to watch Kyle rummaging through the ice chest and pulling out a dripping wet can of soda. He hopped out of the van and onto the ground. He seemed to be happy-go-lucky about this whole fiasco, and Maria wished she could have that reassurance. They all knew he missed Roswell just as much as the others, but he seemed to find relief from being a part of the group. A relief she and Michael had yet to find. Thinking of the moody Czechoslovakian, she turned to glance at her space boy. As expected, he was leaning against a tree, glaring out into the distance. He reminded her so much of the boy she had yet to get to know three years earlier. Standing tall, dressed in all black, turbulent spikes sprouting from his head.
And then there was her. Maria. She couldn't get rid of the guilt she felt, for she had abandoned her mother. Just like her father did. Just like she had promised never to do. And she had left to be with Michael, and he was distant and cold again. She was aggravated that he refused to discuss the nightmare the night before. He walked in silence back to the van, and she could do nothing but follow him. They returned to the others, and then it was morning. And there they all were. Gathering to discuss their next plan and Liz's latest flash. And to top it all off, Maria was sick to her stomach and couldn't figure out why. She had been so enfolded with her thoughts that she hadn't even realized Max was speaking.
"So, I think we should hold back on any plans to divide up until we figure out what the flash means," Max finished.
"Well, then get cracking, Maxwell. Because we don't have the luxury of time."
"What do you think River Dog has to do with any of this? We're so far from Roswell. From the reservation," Maria questioned. Glancing over at the stoic Michael, she remembered the cave and Michael being sick. It seemed so long ago. But the emotions reemerged as if it had only been yesterday.
"I have no idea," Liz answered.
"We should probably head out. Make some ground," Kyle suggested. "I'll volunteer to drive. Max and Liz can do … whatever they have to in the back."
Maria smiled, and everyone returned to the van.
***
The van droned along the blistering highway as the sun beat down. The heat was extreme and the vehicles on the road scarce. Six people with an epic secret, which would bind them forever, rode in complete silence. A newly married couple. A passionate, troubled couple. A distant, all but broken young woman. A compassionate, endearing friend. Six people who had inadvertently become a family. Each of them knowing deep down how lucky they were to be in that van together, not alone in the larger-than-life journey they had undertaken two months earlier. Somehow, that luck would not emerge in the silence of that van, though. It remained a blurry, faded, all-but-forgotten perception that lingered in the back of their minds as they got further and further away from a place they once called home.
Max and Liz were cuddling in the back of the van. A flash had yet to come. Max's left hand was held out. Liz brought her left hand to meet his as well. Together, they gazed at their rings, just a symbol of the commitment they had made to one another. Silently, Max enveloped Liz's hand and kissed her cheek. He wasn't afraid, and neither was Liz. They both knew it -- knew how lucky they were. As long as they were together, they could find no wrong in the world. Everything was green and fresh and beautiful. Everything was full of hope. For as long as they had one another, they had all they could ever need. And everyone in that van understood that Max and Liz had found an extraordinary place inside each other. Liz rested her head down on Max's shoulder and closed her eyes.
Isabel was asleep on top of a rolled out sleeping bag against the floor. Kyle drove, Michael was in the passenger seat, and Maria was slumping against the bench behind the driver's seat. She kept pressing her forehead against the window, trying to find coolness in the glass, but only warmth seeped from it and into her skin. Her head was spinning, and finally she pushed herself forward, leaning between the two front seats.
"Kyle, can you pull off at the next rest stop?"
"Yeah. No problem. I think the sign said it's a few miles up."
"Thanks."
She noticed that Michael had now turned and was staring back at her as she slumped back into the seat. Maria found comfort in his concern; he hadn't shown it as openly in a long time as he was right at that moment.
"Maria, what's wrong. You look like crap."
Maria closed her eyes to the mild sting from his words. She should have been prepared for a comment like that. It was too typical. Kyle slapped Michael's arm.
"Are you stupid?"
"Shut up, Kyle." Michael looked back at Maria. Her skin was overly pale. She had closed her eyes. Michael reached behind him, extending his arm to let his fingers trace against her skin; it was warm and damp. Her brilliant green eyes snapped open at his touch, but she didn't move. She stared at his face, and his worry went unhidden. Nothing else was said as Kyle drove off the road and into the rest stop area.
Liz took her face away from Max's shoulder as the vehicle pulled to a stop. She immediately caught sight of Maria in the front, looking miserable.
"Are you all right?"
"I feel like crap. Michael says I look like crap. I feel like I'm going to hurl. I don't think I'm all right, Lizzie."
Concern washed over the brunette's face as she got up and went to her best friend. "Let me help you." She latched sturdily onto Maria's slender arm and helped her stand. They stepped over a slumbering Isabel and got out of the car. Max followed. Michael held onto Maria's other arm and led her to the restrooms.
Max and Kyle leaned against the door of the van, waiting. A few other vehicles were scattered throughout the area. Families taking time out to stretch. Teenagers on road trips. A couple other cars filed in. It was a busy rest stop.
"Anything new with the flashes?" Kyle asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Nothing yet."
"Have you talked with Isabel lately?"
"What about?"
"Oh. Nothing. Well, you know. She's just … I don't know. I don't think she's handling this whole thing well. Leaving Jesse and everything."
"I wouldn't expect her not to be upset. Everyone's still coping, Kyle."
"Yeah. I guess."
Michael approached them. "Liz is taking care of her." The three men stood silently for several moments, not knowing what to say. They stood comfortably with this silence, not awkwardly. Just waiting. Just thinking.
Someday. Yes, someday, they would be able to laugh and joke around like they used to. They would be able to feel calm again. Someday. As soon as more time passed. As soon as they got as far away from Roswell as they could. Yeah, someday soon.
***
Maria splashed cool water on her face as Liz hovered over her in the restroom. It was a small area with only two stalls and a single sink. Liz pushed her hair behind her ears before rubbing a comforting hand up and down Maria's back. She ripped off a section of paper towel and pushed it into Maria's now shaking hands. Maria smiled weakly and wiped her wet skin.
"Did it just come on suddenly?"
"I've been feeling weird all day. I don't know where it came from."
Maria stared at her face, almost amazed at the transformation it had undergone in a matter of hours. Her skin was an eerie pale and dark circles clung beneath her tired eyes. She turned and stepped over to the trash can, tossing the paper towel away. As she brought her hand up to do so, she stopped reflexively, shrieking at what she saw.
"What? What happened?" Liz came up behind her, alarm visibly present in her voice.
"My hands. Liz. Look at my hands."
Liz followed Maria's gaze and felt a sickening drop in her stomach. The crackling. Green surges of energy – crackling around her hands.
"I didn't do that. I didn't do that, did I?" Liz asked, looking at her own hands. Nothing.
"I don't know. What's going on?" The panic in both their voices was dominant over any other emotion.
"It's okay. We'll … just go get Max and Michael and see if we can figure this out."
"I wasn't healed, Liz. This shouldn't be happening."
Liz stared solemnly into Maria's frightened green eyes, remembering how terrified she had been when it had all happened to her. The relief when it finally went away. But it was back, and it was even more horrifying, because it was happening to her best friend, and they didn't know why. She was right. Maria hadn't been healed by Max.
A women in a red plaid shirt and simple jeans walked into the bathroom, striding into one of the stalls. Liz quickly pushed Maria's hands down. "I'll go and get them, all right. Just stay in here, all right?"
Maria nodded uncertainly. Liz spun on her heals, rushing to the door, but the woman in plaid stepped hurriedly from the stall to the front. She blocked the exit. Liz stared blankly, a sensation of nausea wiping over her. Before she could react, the woman had clutched Liz's arm and shoved her against the wall. Maria screamed when she pulled out a gun.
"Be quiet," she hissed, aiming it at the trembling blonde, who had her hands hidden behind her.
"Listen very closely, girls. I'm an agent from the FBI. We followed you here. Right now, the boy with the spikes is heading over here. I want you to tell him that everything's fine. If you let him know what's going on and he tries to storm in here, one of three agents waiting in the red jeep outside will shoot him, I assure you."
Liz looked over to Maria with wide brown eyes. The agent gestured with her weapon for the two girls to get into the corner. They both shoved themselves against the wall. Maria edged closer to Liz, and Liz reached her hand to Maria's quivering shoulder. White light engulfed her.
\\ Michael standing on sand. Gunshots and then blackness. Michael screaming. \\
Liz gasped. Maria looked at her. "What?" she whispered. The agent was positioning herself behind the door, her gun ready.
"Someone's going to get shot," she whispered, and her face too went pale.
The two girls clung to each other inside. Liz reliving the few images that had come to her in the flash. Maria trying to hide the green crackling of her hands -- trying to hide her fear. Outside, Max and Kyle were standing beside the van, a red jeep parked directly next to it. Michael walked determinedly up to the door.
…..to be continued!…… I'll write more tonight after work. Sorry I ended it here, but I'm running really late now! =D
