Part Seventeen C
As usual it was Kyle who broke the silence, "Damn, Ria but you sure do get around. I suppose I shouldn't challenge you to that wrestling match now especially after your Bruce Lee act this morning."
That was enough to get the rest of them going.
Liz stood up and hugged her. Maria put her arms around Liz and held her tight. It was both a plea for forgiveness and an acceptance of the apology Liz was sending.
"I'm sorry…" both of them said at the same time. Then they laughed.
"You go first," Maria said.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you and I just took of," the word came out in a rush from Liz.
"You needed to go. I knew that. So did I. I'm sorry I never told you or Alex or any of the rest of you, especially after we promised no more secrets," Maria still didn't mention Michael by name. And she forced herself not to look in his direction.
Alex got up as well with much difficulty displacing an Isabel and Max who was sitting next to him and joined Liz and Maria in the hug holding both of them in his arms. The group hug had the familiarity of hundreds before in the long threads of their friendship. Maria and Liz buried their faces in his shoulders and grabbed on tight. The others could hear light mumbling from Alex's shoulder as Maria apologised to him again, even if the words were not clear, the meaning was. Small feelings of envy arose in the watching friends, envy for the closeness the three shared and the trust and forgiveness that was so readily given.
It was a while before they let go. The others were all standing around the room except Kyle and Tess who sat on the couch. Michael still hadn't moved both his expression and his position. Maria walked up to Isabel and stood in front of her. She had a special apology to make to Isabel for using her. The two girls looked at each other but before Maria could say anything Isabel smiled and hugged her.
"You're not going to yell at me," Maria asked surprised.
"I promised, didn't I? But you do that again and I will not be responsible for the consequences. Okay?" Isabel replied.
Maria nodded emphatically in agreement.
"Besides I want lessons," Isabel continued. "In particular that move you used a Mr. Hands today at school and I figure you owe me."
"Lessons it is. Deal," Maria agreed.
"Wait I want lesson too," Tess said.
"Me too," Liz put in.
"You guys do realise that a ten mile run every morning is required. No excuses," Maria said.
"Every morning. Can't I do it every second day maybe?" Isabel asked causing everyone to laugh.
"Damn," Alex whispered to Max and Kyle, "Now we are going to have to learn as well."
"Yeah can't have the girls beating us up, can we?" Max sounded amused.
Everyone stopped smiling and all conversation ended when Michael finally moved. Like the Red Sea splitting, the teens all cleared the way for him when he slowly walked toward his sort of/kinda/sometimes ex-girlfriend. No one was talking. Maria sent a desperate look to Alex, Max and Kyle but they all shook their heads. They were not going to get involved in this one. They even took a step backwards just for safety. Liz, Isabel and Tess were even less help.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Michael's first words were only slightly louder than normal. Maria almost felt a sense of relief hearing them. At least the wait was over.
"You know why I did it, Michael." She was proud of herself. She sounded calm and rational.
"Yeah. I do. Obviously living in the desert has caused some sort of meltdown in you brain, either that or your blonde cells were working at higher capacities than normal," Michael's sarcasm was in full gear. His control was shaky and he was torn between wanting to shake her or grabbing her and holding her as tight as possible like he had seen Alex do. Not doing either wasn't really helping his mood.
Maria of course took offence to that. Whether it was the blonde reference or the insult to her intelligence that made her mad wasn't clear to the onlookers. What they did notice with fascination was the calm tones and reasonable sentences that quickly disappeared and the argument that followed
Tess disappeared into the kitchen for a bit at the begin of the discussion that was now in full force, and emerged carrying a bowl. She sat down on the couch when she returned and waited for the fireworks to erupt, every few seconds popping some popcorn into her mouth. Kyle took her lead and sat down next to her leaning over to steal some popcorn and promptly spat it out as the taste of Tabasco sauce filled his mouth.
Tess laughed softly and then felt sorry for him so she waved her hand over half the popcorn and the Tabasco disappeared. Alex pulled up next to Kyle and Isabel helped herself to the popcorn from Tess's side. Their heads moved from side to side as they followed the conversation between their fiery friends, like watching a tennis match their eyes on the ball.
Watching what Maria sometimes referred to as discussions, disagreements, arguments or fights depending on speaking status with her partner in crime was always interesting. Sparks flew and often the spectator felt you could just about see the electricity flow between the two and getting too close will only result in you getting burned. Today was no different if more intense than normal. For Michael and Maria fighting was as natural as breathing and half the time it was just their way of flirting.
The confrontation between the two was a long time coming and as it escalated voices rose and accusations flew back and forth covering sheer stupidity (that was Michael's to Maria) to overprotectiveness and idiocy (Maria's to Michael). The couple forgot that anyone else was in the room and just went at it. In between, as was common between the two, feelings escaped and some "I love you's" were yelled at some point as reasons. Nearer to the end a few apologies may have even been said but these at lower decibel levels than the rest of the exchange.
For the witnesses it was more entertainment than going to the movies. The popcorn didn't last that long but no one was ever going to accuse Tess of not being prepared. She brought extras and because she didn't want to miss anything, popped it the Czechoslovakian way without moving. They split the new packet between the humans and the aliens.
All of them saw the power that was Maria as the argument slowly came to an end. That's not to say Michael didn't give her a run for her money. He was good but she was Maria and sooner or later everyone caved to Maria. It was the fact that she did it for him that won it for her. After she said that in a soft and unsure tone, he just stared at her a for a couple of seconds before opening his arms and enfolding her in them. Then he leaned back slightly and they met in the middle in a kiss. It wasn't a long kiss and she buried her head in his chest and he lightly touched his lips to her forehead before losing his face in her hair.
They stood like that for a while as their friends watched in silence unnoticed until Maria suddenly moved her head back and said, "Oh my God. I totally forgot. I have to tell you what I found out today. Man am I an idiot."
"That's what I have been saying," Michael put in, a smirk on his face now that the storm was over. Maria tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
"This is important, spaceboy. Its about the Congresswoman."
"Okay I personally can not take any more revelations from you. They're too…see what you did to my brain. You shocked it to death. I have no vocab left," Alex said.
"Congresswoman Whittaker?" Liz questioned ignoring Alex.
"Uh huh. Remember when I came to drop of that file today, well I kind of overheard something." Maria answered also ignoring Alex. Then she told them all she heard still standing in the circle of Michael's arms.
"Okay. That's it. I am going to lock you up and not let you out ever again. You are dangerous on your own," Michael said.
"I'll help you," Max added.
"Hey," Maria stated indignantly.
"I'll hold her down. Then we tie her up as well so she definitely can't escape." That came from Kyle.
"And I think we should gag her. It will best for all if she can't speak or argue," Alex put in. All the guys looked at each other in complete agreement. Maria on the other hand didn't look as pleased.
"It's not my fault I heard this. It's Liz's. I wouldn't even be there if it wasn't for her," Maria said.
"Guys, can we please be a little serious about this. This is bad. We have to do something," Isabel's voice had a bit of fear in it.
"We should call Nacedo and tell him," Tess said.
Liz was still looking a little shocked after the new revelations about her boss. She was also a little chagrined that she hadn't discovered it herself. Max was quiet now as he considered the implications of what Maria had overheard and calling Nacedo. The others in the room also grew quiet as the ramifications of this sunk in.
Maria had the whole afternoon to think about it so she didn't say anything as the others did what she had already done, creating and discarding ideas. She had formed a plan to get the files back and she knew it was pointless to call Nacedo without the identity of the contact in the department especially since it was obvious that he didn't already know about it. It was Kyle who answered Tess's question about calling their protector. The others all agreed.
Maria told them her plan to retrieve the information. It was a well thought out and extremely detailed plan involving numerous elements. It took a while to convince Michael to let the plan go through. He objected to anything even slightly dangerous if it involved Maria, ironically he had no problems if he was the one in danger. Max, Kyle and Alex also objected to it but the support of the girls pushed the vote in favour. Isabel, Liz and Tess while not wanting to put anyone in danger recognised that it was the only way to solve the problem and the guys deep down also knew that it was the best way to go, so eventually allowed themselves to be persuaded.
It was a group decision. Max, while designated the leader, had been brought up in a democratic environment and had always made decisions together with Michael and Isabel. With the secret revealed and affecting more people the decision making process had been increased to include the others. Anything important as always they took a group vote and majority ruled except occasionally when a hiccup sometimes arose.
The plan was dissected and everyone assigned roles. It was almost 8 o' clock. It was time to begin. Everyone left to do their part forgetting all and any previous tensions as they slipped into their crisis mode like a well oiled machine with lots of practise.
End Part 17C
As usual it was Kyle who broke the silence, "Damn, Ria but you sure do get around. I suppose I shouldn't challenge you to that wrestling match now especially after your Bruce Lee act this morning."
That was enough to get the rest of them going.
Liz stood up and hugged her. Maria put her arms around Liz and held her tight. It was both a plea for forgiveness and an acceptance of the apology Liz was sending.
"I'm sorry…" both of them said at the same time. Then they laughed.
"You go first," Maria said.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you and I just took of," the word came out in a rush from Liz.
"You needed to go. I knew that. So did I. I'm sorry I never told you or Alex or any of the rest of you, especially after we promised no more secrets," Maria still didn't mention Michael by name. And she forced herself not to look in his direction.
Alex got up as well with much difficulty displacing an Isabel and Max who was sitting next to him and joined Liz and Maria in the hug holding both of them in his arms. The group hug had the familiarity of hundreds before in the long threads of their friendship. Maria and Liz buried their faces in his shoulders and grabbed on tight. The others could hear light mumbling from Alex's shoulder as Maria apologised to him again, even if the words were not clear, the meaning was. Small feelings of envy arose in the watching friends, envy for the closeness the three shared and the trust and forgiveness that was so readily given.
It was a while before they let go. The others were all standing around the room except Kyle and Tess who sat on the couch. Michael still hadn't moved both his expression and his position. Maria walked up to Isabel and stood in front of her. She had a special apology to make to Isabel for using her. The two girls looked at each other but before Maria could say anything Isabel smiled and hugged her.
"You're not going to yell at me," Maria asked surprised.
"I promised, didn't I? But you do that again and I will not be responsible for the consequences. Okay?" Isabel replied.
Maria nodded emphatically in agreement.
"Besides I want lessons," Isabel continued. "In particular that move you used a Mr. Hands today at school and I figure you owe me."
"Lessons it is. Deal," Maria agreed.
"Wait I want lesson too," Tess said.
"Me too," Liz put in.
"You guys do realise that a ten mile run every morning is required. No excuses," Maria said.
"Every morning. Can't I do it every second day maybe?" Isabel asked causing everyone to laugh.
"Damn," Alex whispered to Max and Kyle, "Now we are going to have to learn as well."
"Yeah can't have the girls beating us up, can we?" Max sounded amused.
Everyone stopped smiling and all conversation ended when Michael finally moved. Like the Red Sea splitting, the teens all cleared the way for him when he slowly walked toward his sort of/kinda/sometimes ex-girlfriend. No one was talking. Maria sent a desperate look to Alex, Max and Kyle but they all shook their heads. They were not going to get involved in this one. They even took a step backwards just for safety. Liz, Isabel and Tess were even less help.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Michael's first words were only slightly louder than normal. Maria almost felt a sense of relief hearing them. At least the wait was over.
"You know why I did it, Michael." She was proud of herself. She sounded calm and rational.
"Yeah. I do. Obviously living in the desert has caused some sort of meltdown in you brain, either that or your blonde cells were working at higher capacities than normal," Michael's sarcasm was in full gear. His control was shaky and he was torn between wanting to shake her or grabbing her and holding her as tight as possible like he had seen Alex do. Not doing either wasn't really helping his mood.
Maria of course took offence to that. Whether it was the blonde reference or the insult to her intelligence that made her mad wasn't clear to the onlookers. What they did notice with fascination was the calm tones and reasonable sentences that quickly disappeared and the argument that followed
Tess disappeared into the kitchen for a bit at the begin of the discussion that was now in full force, and emerged carrying a bowl. She sat down on the couch when she returned and waited for the fireworks to erupt, every few seconds popping some popcorn into her mouth. Kyle took her lead and sat down next to her leaning over to steal some popcorn and promptly spat it out as the taste of Tabasco sauce filled his mouth.
Tess laughed softly and then felt sorry for him so she waved her hand over half the popcorn and the Tabasco disappeared. Alex pulled up next to Kyle and Isabel helped herself to the popcorn from Tess's side. Their heads moved from side to side as they followed the conversation between their fiery friends, like watching a tennis match their eyes on the ball.
Watching what Maria sometimes referred to as discussions, disagreements, arguments or fights depending on speaking status with her partner in crime was always interesting. Sparks flew and often the spectator felt you could just about see the electricity flow between the two and getting too close will only result in you getting burned. Today was no different if more intense than normal. For Michael and Maria fighting was as natural as breathing and half the time it was just their way of flirting.
The confrontation between the two was a long time coming and as it escalated voices rose and accusations flew back and forth covering sheer stupidity (that was Michael's to Maria) to overprotectiveness and idiocy (Maria's to Michael). The couple forgot that anyone else was in the room and just went at it. In between, as was common between the two, feelings escaped and some "I love you's" were yelled at some point as reasons. Nearer to the end a few apologies may have even been said but these at lower decibel levels than the rest of the exchange.
For the witnesses it was more entertainment than going to the movies. The popcorn didn't last that long but no one was ever going to accuse Tess of not being prepared. She brought extras and because she didn't want to miss anything, popped it the Czechoslovakian way without moving. They split the new packet between the humans and the aliens.
All of them saw the power that was Maria as the argument slowly came to an end. That's not to say Michael didn't give her a run for her money. He was good but she was Maria and sooner or later everyone caved to Maria. It was the fact that she did it for him that won it for her. After she said that in a soft and unsure tone, he just stared at her a for a couple of seconds before opening his arms and enfolding her in them. Then he leaned back slightly and they met in the middle in a kiss. It wasn't a long kiss and she buried her head in his chest and he lightly touched his lips to her forehead before losing his face in her hair.
They stood like that for a while as their friends watched in silence unnoticed until Maria suddenly moved her head back and said, "Oh my God. I totally forgot. I have to tell you what I found out today. Man am I an idiot."
"That's what I have been saying," Michael put in, a smirk on his face now that the storm was over. Maria tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
"This is important, spaceboy. Its about the Congresswoman."
"Okay I personally can not take any more revelations from you. They're too…see what you did to my brain. You shocked it to death. I have no vocab left," Alex said.
"Congresswoman Whittaker?" Liz questioned ignoring Alex.
"Uh huh. Remember when I came to drop of that file today, well I kind of overheard something." Maria answered also ignoring Alex. Then she told them all she heard still standing in the circle of Michael's arms.
"Okay. That's it. I am going to lock you up and not let you out ever again. You are dangerous on your own," Michael said.
"I'll help you," Max added.
"Hey," Maria stated indignantly.
"I'll hold her down. Then we tie her up as well so she definitely can't escape." That came from Kyle.
"And I think we should gag her. It will best for all if she can't speak or argue," Alex put in. All the guys looked at each other in complete agreement. Maria on the other hand didn't look as pleased.
"It's not my fault I heard this. It's Liz's. I wouldn't even be there if it wasn't for her," Maria said.
"Guys, can we please be a little serious about this. This is bad. We have to do something," Isabel's voice had a bit of fear in it.
"We should call Nacedo and tell him," Tess said.
Liz was still looking a little shocked after the new revelations about her boss. She was also a little chagrined that she hadn't discovered it herself. Max was quiet now as he considered the implications of what Maria had overheard and calling Nacedo. The others in the room also grew quiet as the ramifications of this sunk in.
Maria had the whole afternoon to think about it so she didn't say anything as the others did what she had already done, creating and discarding ideas. She had formed a plan to get the files back and she knew it was pointless to call Nacedo without the identity of the contact in the department especially since it was obvious that he didn't already know about it. It was Kyle who answered Tess's question about calling their protector. The others all agreed.
Maria told them her plan to retrieve the information. It was a well thought out and extremely detailed plan involving numerous elements. It took a while to convince Michael to let the plan go through. He objected to anything even slightly dangerous if it involved Maria, ironically he had no problems if he was the one in danger. Max, Kyle and Alex also objected to it but the support of the girls pushed the vote in favour. Isabel, Liz and Tess while not wanting to put anyone in danger recognised that it was the only way to solve the problem and the guys deep down also knew that it was the best way to go, so eventually allowed themselves to be persuaded.
It was a group decision. Max, while designated the leader, had been brought up in a democratic environment and had always made decisions together with Michael and Isabel. With the secret revealed and affecting more people the decision making process had been increased to include the others. Anything important as always they took a group vote and majority ruled except occasionally when a hiccup sometimes arose.
The plan was dissected and everyone assigned roles. It was almost 8 o' clock. It was time to begin. Everyone left to do their part forgetting all and any previous tensions as they slipped into their crisis mode like a well oiled machine with lots of practise.
End Part 17C