CHAPTER 3
Maria woke up out in the desert, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She turned slightly to peer at the angelic face that slept beside her. 'Like he could ever look this peaceful when he was awake' she thought.
She ran her fingers through his light brown her making it stand on end. She loved his hair. It was always so soft…softer than hers. She would have to ask him his secret sometime. His eyes fluttered open as he woke up.
"Hey," he whispered.
"Hey," she said as their lips met for a kiss. It was soft and loving.
They lay there in each other's arms until the heat of the desert started to get to them. Slowly, they climbed out of the cave and made their way over to the little red car that was parked outside.
"Well, back to civilization," Maria murmured unhappily as they began to make the trip back into town. Michael leaned into her ear and whispered,
"There's always the night." As he planted a soft kiss on her cheek.
As they neared the small town, the problems of their lives began to return as their bliss began to ebb away. Instead of going home, Maria went to Michael's apartment with him. There, she took a shower and changed into the clothes she kept there for after their late night trysts.
Afterwards they got back into the car and went over to the house where the new secret was revealed. They were anxious to know more about the demons and the Slayer.
"Are you ready?" Michael asked as they pulled up in front of the house.
"As I'll ever be."
"Then let's go," he said. He held her hand as they walked up to the door and knocked. It was a few seconds before the door opened revealing a dusty Willow.
"Hey guys!" she greeted cheerfully.
"Hey," they answered.
"Well, come in." she said stepping away from the door, "Giles wanted to start the training right away so we set up the training room first."
"Training?"
"Yeah, he wanted to assess your skills."
"But training entails exercise which is a hell no."
"You're a Slayer, he's a watcher. It's what you do," she replied as they walked into the newly built training room set up in the basement.
The room was huge. There was a big maroon gymnastics mat in the middle of the floor. In the left corner, there was a maroon punching bag and a cabinet that they could only assume had weapons. On the right there was a dummy with yellow eyes and fangs. Near the back of the room there was a cobble horse.
"Wow." Was all that Maria could say.
"The Council is always prepared."
Michael and Maria exchanged a glance, 'Council?'
"Welcome to the training room," Giles said from behind them.
"Cool," they said.
"Are you ready to begin, Maria?"
"Sure. Let's start with that dummy thing."
"Uh, okay. Take this stake. You must hit all the targets and then stick it through the hole," he explained, "it's a bit like target practice," he continued, "you don't have to be gentle."
"Okay."
She walked up to the dummy and smacked it in the head. The head flew across the room and broke on the wall at the far end of the room.
"Uh…he's dead," she stated quietly.
"Uh…yes, I suppose he is…. Um…not to worry, we'll just start with the punching bag."
"Um, okay," she said uneasily as she approached the bag.
"Okay, I want you to just…punch and kick at random so that I can observe your technique."
She back kicked it and it flew off the wall taking part of the ceiling with it.
"Uh, perhaps we should wait until the room is, um, stronger. Let's just go get some tea and discuss your duties."
"I am so sorry. I-I'll pay the damages."
"It's okay, I'm sure the council could afford it," Buffy said from her seat in the corner. She watched the whole thing and was amazed by her strength.
Michael, Maria, Buffy and Giles all walked up the basement stairs and went into the kitchen where Xander and Anya were making breakfast and Spike was drinking a cup of blood. They greeted the newcomers and then went back to what they were doing.
"Would you like some breakfast?" Giles asked.
"Sure," they said.
"How about some eggos?"
"Yeah. Do you have any tobasco sauce?" Giles looked at them oddly.
"Uh…sure."
After Buffy showed off her amazing culinary skills (putting the Eggos in the toaster) they all sat down at the kitchen table. The California crew watched in disgust as Michael drowned the waffles in maple syrup and Tobasco sauce. Then as he poured Tobasco into his coffee, making it an odd shade of red.
"You want some?" Michael asked when he caught them staring.
"Uh…how does it taste?" Xander ventured.
"Like waffles with maple syrup and Tobasco sauce."
"Believe me, you wouldn't like it," Maria said.
"So, what's the Council?" asked Michael.
"The Watcher's council is an organization that has been around about as long as Slayers," Giles explained, "We Watchers are there to help the Slayer train and inform her about demons and such."
"How long have you been the Slayer, Buffy?"
"About five years."
"You've been fighting ugly things for five years?" Maria asked
"Yeah, and she only died twice," Anya said.
"Died?!!" Michael exclaimed.
"Yes. That is why we have three Slayers now."
"Maria, Buffy and…?"
"Faith. She went bad and I had to put her in a coma. Then when she woke up she switched bodies with me and tried to screw up my life," Buffy listed, "Then she went to LA where my ex boyfriend and her watcher are. She kidnapped Wesley and tortured him until Angel came and convinced her to turn herself in to the police."
"Angel is her vampire ex-boyfriend," Anya filled in.
"Aren't you supposed to kill vampires?"
"This is a long story," Buffy said getting a wistful look on her face. She explained to them her relationship with Angel.
Michael nudged Maria, "Sound familiar?" he whispered. She nodded.
"Why don't you tell us about yourselves?" said Giles.
"Um, okay. I'm Maria and I live with my mom. My boyfriend's name is Michael, my best friend's name is Liz," she listed, "her boyfriend's name is Max, his sister's name is Isabel…yep, that's my circle of friends."
"Okay, thanks for telling us stuff we already know," Anya replied.
"You're wel…wait, what do you mean stuff you already know?"
"The Council knows the basics on you and they sent us that information to help us gain your trust to get you here to tell you your destiny, but since it found you, we didn't really need it."
"So, what else do you know?" Michael asked concerned that they already knew his secret.
"Just what you just told us."
"Okay."
"This is freaky! Liz'll think I'm crazy for sure," Maria said.
"No! You mustn't tell anyone else. It is very dangerous for a slayer let alone humans."
Michael and Maria shared a knowing smirk.
"This sure looks like a whole lot of nobody," they said gesturing to the room full of friends Buffy told.
"Yes well…"
"Then I'm at least telling Liz."
"Okay, I just thought it fair to warn you about the dangers."
They spent the next hour discussing the demons and training. They picked out training times and strategies.
"So, we'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, bye!" Maria called as she and Michael pulled out of the driveway.
Next Day at School…
"Stupid piece of crap!" Maria yelled. Her locker was stuck, again. She yanked on the handle and the whole door ripped off.
"Damn it!"
"Hey Maria…what happened to your locker?" Liz asked.
"It got stuck, now it's unstuck," she said as she pulled her books out.
"How did you do that? It's made of iron."
"Cheap thing."
"Okay, so I have to get to class but I'll see you at lunch, okay?"
"Yeah sure." Maria grumbled as Liz walked off. Maria turned and stalked off to Chemistry or the class from hell, as she liked to refer to it. Thank God it was the period before lunch or she might have to stake somebody.
After staring at the clock for an hour and wishing for Mr. Davidson to drop dead, the bell finally rang. Maria ran out of the classroom as soon as she got the chance.
Michael was waiting for her out in the Quad. He had the period before free, or so he says, so he was just drawing outside and humming to himself. Maria wrapped her arms around him from behind.
"Hey spaceboy." He turned around.
"Hey earthgirl," he whispered before pulling her in for a kiss. They were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
"Go away, Izzy," they mumbled, not even bothering to look at the offender.
"Yeah right," she said as she sat on the bench across from them, "You know, people are staring."
"So? Charge admission," Michael mumbled sucking on Maria's neck. Isabel rolled her eyes.
"Could you stop sucking face for one minute?" she asked getting annoyed.
"Fine. What do you want?" Michael asked finally looking in her direction.
"Max wants us to meet behind the bleachers now."
"Why?"
"He said Liz wanted to tell us something."
"Okay," they groaned getting up off the bench and heading over to the football field behind Isabel. When they got there, they saw that Liz, Kyle and Max were already there.
"Okay, what's the emergency," Michael asked in his once perpetually annoyed voice.
"I, uh, have to tell you guys something."
"What is it Liz?" Max asked.
"Max, do you remember when you came over to my balcony with the mariachi band?"
"Yeah," Max said, blushing lightly at the amused gaze Michael sent his way.
"That night, a future version of you came to me. He told me the world would end if we were together."
"How?" Max asked.
"He said that because we were together, Tess left and she was vital to your survival. He said that I had to make you fall out of love with me so Tess would stay but…she left anyway," Liz said, tears coming to her eyes. Everyone stood there in silence absorbing this information. Finally Michael broke the silence.
"How did he get here?" he asked.
"The granolith."
"And now it's gone," Isabel cried, "we can't even use it to save Alex."
"This is all my fault," Liz whispered as she started to cry.
"It isn't your fault," Maria said.
"Tess was probably a traitor then too…"Michael continued.
"She probably turned them over in that life."
"And they killed us 'cause they knew our weaknesses," Michael finished.
"You're right," Max said hugging Liz close, "it's not your fault, Liz."
"Thanks guys, I feel a lot better now."
"De nada," Michael and Maria said in unison.
"Okay, that is seriously creeping me out," Kyle said.
"What is?" they asked in unison.
"That! The talking in unison thing. What the hell is that about?"
"We don't know."
"Maybe we should discuss that at the Crashdown later."
"We can't. There's a dinner party there tonight."
"Okay, Michael, your place?"
"Sure."
"Okay, we'll meet at Michael's at eight."
"Oh crap, I can't," Maria said, "How about three?"
"Okay. That good with everybody?"
They all agreed and then went their separate ways.
"So what do you have now?" Maria asked Michael.
"Music, you?"
"Art."
"Well, I'll see you in English?"
"Sure. Are you coming with me to Giles'?"
"You know it."
"Bye baby.
"Bye." They kissed and went to their separate classes as the bell rang.
Michael walked down the hall to room 345 where the music room was situated. He never really liked that class. He couldn't sing and he couldn't play any instruments. He only went because it was the second easiest class next to art, well, when Ms. Hanson didn't try to teach them theory.
"Good afternoon class, today we will all be singing," she said cheerfully as she entered the class. There was a series of groans from the people in class who knew they couldn't sing and those who just didn't want to, "And I mean everybody. No lip-synching."
Michael leaned over to Kyle who was also stuck in this class, "What the hell is her problem?"
"Who knows. She probably doesn't value her ears," he snickered as she handed out the song sheets.
"My Favorite things. The irony of it all," Michael remarked.
"Oh my favorite song in the world," Kyle said sarcastically.
"And since Mr. Guerin and Mr. Valenti enjoy the selection so much, perhaps they would like to demonstrate to the class how it goes."
The class snickered as the two teens slowly made their way to the front of the class. Ms. Hanson played the familiar introduction as they stood there uncomfortably. Kyle was a mediocre singer and he was pretty sure Michael couldn't sing a note.
"Ready Guerin?"
"After you Valenti."
"Now!"
"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things," Kyle sang, without the help of Michael.
"Mr. Guerin, you must sing this verse alone since you failed to sing the other," Ms. Hanson said, not missing a beat on the piano. Kyle smirked at the alien. There was no way he would live this down.
"Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels, doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles, wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings, these are a few of my favorite things," Michael sang surprisingly well.
"Skip to the end!"
"When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad. I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad," Michael finished. Kyle was too busy watching him in shock. The rest of the class was in equal shock, including Ms. Hanson.
"Bravo, Mr. Guerin," she finally exclaimed when she got over the initial shock. The rest of the class started applauding the now very embarrassed, seriously confused alien.
"Didn't know you could sing Guerin," Kyle said after they returned to their seats.
"I can't," Michael said, shocked by his own voice.
"Don't got to be modest with me."
"I wouldn't. I know I can't sing. Ask Max and Izzy."
Maria sat in the Art room on a stool in front of her easel. Mr. Browning, the Art teacher instructed them to draw their favorite memory. Maria hated Art. It was more Michael's subject. He could draw unlike her. Her greatest masterpiece was in sixth grade when they were doing abstract art. All she had to do was draw squiggly lines and she got marks. Now they actually wanted the squiggly lines to resemble something.
'Oh well,' she thought, 'might as well try.'
She closed her eyes and tried to come up with her favorite memory. There wasn't really a wide range of choices. The winner hands down was the day Michael stayed on Earth to be with her. When she, Liz and Kyle were banging on the cave wall, thinking they were too late, when all of a sudden the wall opens and out comes Michael into the early morning light.
'Hope I do you justice, Spaceboy,' she thought as she began to draw. She started slowly, first starting with the cave where the love of her life was born. The black pencil strokes making no sense to anyone as of yet.
She didn't notice when Mr. Browning came over to stand behind her. She just continued to sketch and paint Michael standing at the entrance of that cave. The only thing she thought of was Michael. After a half-hour of painting, the scene began to look more and more lifelike.
By then, Mr. Browning was standing there mesmerized by the passion with which she painted the image. He had only seen one other student paint with such love and determination. He never thought he would come across such talent twice in one school year. Now that he thought of it, the image before him looked like that young artist.
'Teen infatuation,' he thought as he continued to watch.
After finishing her mediocre painting of Alex, Isabel became extremely bored. She wasn't as good at art as Michael; but then again, she wasn't as bad as Maria was. She looked over her shoulder and saw Mr. Browning staring at someone's easel. She couldn't see who it was because the easel blocked her view of the person's head.
She got up and walked over to the painter that had Mr. Browning so entranced. To her shock, it was Maria. And her painting was great! She didn't recognize the scene, but she knew the setting well. It was the pod cave and Michael was just coming out of the darkness into the light of day. The colors, the lighting, the expression were perfect. It was of Michael quality, but she could have sworn that Maria couldn't draw, let alone paint to save her life.
"Weird," she mumbled, examining the painting closely. It was an exact replica of Michael.
Maria stared at her painting with awe and confusion. She was sure she couldn't paint. She didn't have an artistic bone in her body, and she had the grades to prove it. She was pulled out of her reverie by a sigh behind her.
"This," said Mr. Browning, "is a wonderful piece."
"Uh, thanks."
"Where have you been hiding this talent all this time, Maria?" he asked, amazed at the craftsmanship, "this is a beautiful portrait of Michael. I have not seen paintings of such… quality from anyone but Mr. Guerin," he continued.
"Uh…thanks," she repeated as the bell rang, "well, I've gotta go, English…Uh bye."
She ran out of there as fast as she could. Where the hell did that come from? She couldn't draw, Michael drew!
Michael sat in room 129 in a daze. He couldn't figure out where his sudden singing ability came from. How do you go from musically impaired to 'best singer in class' in ten minutes? It was impossible. He knew he couldn't sing. Singing was Maria's thing. He stared off into space as some blonde cheerleader from his class was trying to flirt with him. He looked to the door just as Maria walked in. she looked as confused as he felt.
"Get up," he grunted.
"What?" the cheerleader asked.
"Get up, you're in Maria's seat." He said gruffly.
"Whatever," she said. She got up and went to another seat in the corner. Maria sat in her seat and stared off into space with Michael, identical looks of confusion etched on their faces.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Max asked as he took his seat in front of Michael.
"Weirdness," they said in unison.
"Okay," Max said and turned around when the teacher walked in the room.
"Okay, what was this meeting for? I forgot," Kyle asked.
"The reason Michael and Maria are creeping the hell out of us," Isabel answered.
"Oh, yeah."
The six teens were crammed in Michael's small apartment yet again. It was the second meeting for the week…and it was still Monday!
"Maxwell," Maria said.
"We gotta have less meetings," Michael finished. They both crossed their arms and stared at Max. Max looked between the two of them.
"Oh god," Kyle groaned.
"What?"
"Now there's two Guerins…"
"Oh my God! Maria, are you pregnant?"
"NO!"
"I didn't mean that, Isabel," Kyle said, "I mean, look at them. They are both taking up the defensive Michael stance."
"Huh?" Liz asked looking between her friends, then back at Kyle.
"So they've been hanging around each other too much, so what?" said Isabel.
"Haven't you noticed?"
"What?"
"That we are starting to become the same person," they finally spoke, tired of staring down Max. It was way too easy.
"Has anything weirder than the speaking together and finishing each other's sentences happened?" Max finally asked.
"Well, today I actually drew Michael…and it looked like him," Maria said, proud of herself.
"To you, or to everyone else too?" Liz asked.
"I saw it, it looked exactly like him, even Mr. Browning recognized him."
"So?"
"Maria can't draw crap! She could barely draw stick people," Liz exclaimed.
"It was…Michael quality."
"Weird, how could that happen?"
"Who knows," Isabel said, "what about you, Michael?"
"Yeah, am I the only one who noticed that every girl in school was trying to flirt with you?" Max asked.
"Yeah, I was wondering why myself," said Michael, "It's like they like to be ignored or something."
"That, or they heard about Music class," said Kyle smirking.
"What happened?" asked Liz.
"We got called up to sing in front of the class by Ms. Hanson."
Max and Isabel looked at each other trying to hide their smiles but to no avail. They burst into fits of small giggles, which escalated into full on scandalous laughter.
"What's so funny?" asked Liz, ever the clueless one.
"Mi…Michael…singing," Max choked out.
"Last time I checked, he sounded worst than a cat in the middle of the highway," Isabel giggled, "trapped in hot tar."
"That ain't what I heard," Kyle said.
"Better or worse?" Max asked wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Can't be worse," Isabel giggled.
"Lots better," Kyle said, "guy's damn boyband material. Would chicks be chasin' him if he sounded like crap?"
"But…Michael has never been able to sing," said Isabel, "Remember that Christmas, Max?"
"Yeah, he refused to sing carols with us, so Mom and Dad said that if he wanted tobasco sauce on anything for dinner, he had to sing."
"So, what happened?" Kyle asked.
"He sang," said Isabel, trying to hold back the giggles, "the neighbors' dogs refused to stop howling until he stopped."
The whole room burst into laughter, well, except for Michael who was scowling at the memory.
"Dad gave him fifty bucks to never sing again," Max laughed.
"Like I was planning to anyway," Michael grumbled.
"Ooh, show me, Spaceboy," Maria said, excited.
"No."
"Aw come on."
"Nuh uh."
"Please?"
"Hell no."
"Pretty pretty please? Or I'll beat the crap out of you."
"Fine, come here," he acquiesced. Maria came to stand in front of him and he touched her face and closed his eyes. He thought of that night eight years ago.
Maria saw flashes of his memories of that night. It was hilarious just as Max and Izzy had said, but they left out one important detail. Maria laughed out loud as the visions ended. The others stood there watching her.
"That good huh?" Kyle joked.
"You guys left out part," she choked out.
"What?"
"The part where he got revenge."
"He turned our hair green, not that funny," said Isabel.
"That's the part he told you about. He told you it was paint."
"It was, it washed right out."
"Where the hell would I get green paint, I used my powers, just made it washable."
"Why?"
"For the second part of my revenge," he said with a mischievous grin as he remembered his revenge.
"Which was…?"
"He took dog crap from outside and melted it in your shampoo," Maria said before she burst into a fit of laughter.
"YOU WHAT?!" Isabel screeched putting her hand on her head. Liz struggled to keep from laughing. Kyle rolled on the floor laughing hysterically.
"Brilliant!" Kyle exclaimed high fiving Michael, "that was the prank of all pranks."
"I can't believe you!" Isabel screamed hitting him on the arm.
"Duh! Why'd you think dogs followed you around for a month straight?"
"Oh my God!" Maria exclaimed, "You didn't show me that!"
"Can't spoil the story babe."
By now, Liz was laughing so hard she had tears running down her cheeks and she could barely breathe. Kyle was hunched over holding his sides, his imagination running away from him as he tried to imagine the dogs following Isabel everywhere.
"Hail Queen Isabel, the dog queen!" Kyle laughed. Isabel tapped him upside the head. The rest of the group laughed.
"That was mean Michael," Max said.
"But oh so fun," said Michael.
"Okay, I think we're a little off topic here," Max said, "When did you notice this…change?"
"About two weeks ago," they said.
"Okay, did you do anything…unusual back then?"
They both blushed and studied the floor.
"What did you do?"
"Man are y'all dense," Kyle exclaimed, "They got some, duh!"
"Got wha…oh my God, Michael!" Isabel shouted, "how could you?"
"What do you care what I do?"
"We don't know what could happen!"
"If we all recall, we weren't the first to go all the way," Maria stated.
"Same and interspecies mating are two different things."
"Everybody calm down," said Liz, "We all knew it would happen eventually."
"Fine," Isabel agreed reluctantly, "but I'm not baby-sitting any of their spawn."
"I'm not preggers Izzy," Maria reassured, "Just…lending Spaceboy some of my brain."
And so they continued for the next hour, discussing without getting anywhere as they often did.
Later that evening, the sky was clear and the air that surrounded the sleepy town began to cool. Most of the teenagers drained the boredom left over from a full day at school at their usual haunts. Having fun after the worst day of the week, Monday. Everyone in their right mind hated Monday. It was the end of two days of fun and the beginning of five days of torture.
That day, three teens, three college students, two townies and two old British guys met at a large modern house on Maple Avenue.
"Okay, since the training room is not yet up to par, we shall start with some yoga exercises."
"Do I have to do it too?" Buffy groaned.
"Um, no, it's quite all right," Giles said, "Buffy, you can train Michael in the fighting area."
"Sparring? Sweet."
"I don't hit girls," Michael stated.
"It's okay, I can handle it," Buffy said, semi-sarcastically, "and I promise I won't beat you down too hard."
"Go ahead, Spaceboy," Maria urged, "Just…pretend it's Lonnie."
"Okay," he acquiesced. They made their way to the center of the mat and stood facing each other.
"Okay," Buffy began, "I want you to counter whatever I do. Whenever I expand, you contract."
Michael nodded like he knew what she was talking about and then imitated a fighting stance he saw on TV. Xander, Anya and Spike sat on the sidelines to watch the show.
"Are you ready?"
"Bring it on."
Buffy took a deep breath, then fired a punch at his gut. He grabbed her arm before it could reach its destination and twisted it. She tried to back kick him but he ducked and kicked her feet out from under her. She gave a surprised yelp and landed flat on her back.
She jumped up and began using half strength on the alien. He countered every kick, blocked every punch and tried to avoid hitting her as much as possible. Eventually, he flipped her over his back and pinned her on the mat.
"Are we done yet?" he asked.
"Not even close," she growled as she pushed him off and started on him at full strength. The fighting continued for another half-hour until Michael got fed up and flung her across the room. She slammed into the wall and stared at him with wide surprised eyes.
There was a lone pair of hands clapping as Michael helped her to her feet and her friends stood there in shock. Everyone turned to Anya who was still the only one clapping.
"That was a good show!" she exclaimed, "We should tape them and sell it. Then I can count all the money."
"The last time I had a fight like that was with Faith."
"That was amazing," said Giles, obviously in shock, "Buffy, were you holding out?"
"At first, but after the second time he took me out, I started using full strength."
"Have you had combat training, Michael?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"Never in my twelve years of existence," he answered.
"You're twelve?" Xander exclaimed.
"No."
"He, uh, just doesn't remember the first six years."
"So I just count it as twelve."
"Oh, okay," Xander said. An alarm went off from upstairs.
"Patrol time. You guys want to come?" They glanced at each other, then shrugged.
"Might as well," they said. Giles handed them all stakes and led them out the door.
They walked to the Roswell Cemetery in silence, letting the cool desert breeze wash over them. Michael shifted his gaze to the stars that shone brightly in the clear night sky. He looked at his constellation, the five star formation that sat in the clear blackness of space, where his people lived. Then he looked back down at the blond pixie that walked beside him, the one who saved his-their- lives from the execution that awaited at 'home'. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she leaned into him.
Buffy looked on in pain and envy. Why couldn't she find a love like theirs? Her love life sucked. Everyone left her.
"We know what it is like to feel left behind, unloved," they said, as if sensing her train of thought.
"How do you know that? What I was thinking."
"We can sense your loneliness. We've felt it ourselves."
"Okay, y'all are really creeping me out."
"Okay, we'll stop," they said.
"Could you stop doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"That. Talking in unison."
"We'll…"
"Try."
They finally arrived at the Cemetery and made their way to the center of the newly dug graves.
"So, what do we do now?" Maria asked as she perched herself on a headstone.
"We wait."
"Oh what fun." There was five minutes of silence.
"This is really boring," Maria said.
"It's like…watching the life of Max on a loop," Michael said.
"With no food to occupy you."
"Before he got with Liz last year."
"God, I would not subject even my worst enemies to that kind of torture," Maria exclaimed.
"So, who's Max?" Buffy asked.
"My best friend."
"My best friend's…are they together or no?" Maria asked.
"Don't know…hasn't been PMSing in a awhile so I guess they're together."
"Okay then, my best friend's boyfriend…most likely."
"What's he like?"
"Controlling…"
"Power trippy…"
"Lovesick…"
"Puppy doggish…"
"Stalker like when he's ready…"
"Almost as stubborn as Spaceboy…"
"Chick flick worthy…"
"Okay okay, I get it!"
"That's Maxwell for you, not much to get." There was another five minutes of awkward silence before Michael and Maria could take it no longer. They inched closer to each other until they were once again attached at the mouth. Buffy had gone to survey the area and they had nothing better to do.
"Good thing you teenagers never want to get a room," a voice said from behind. They detached from each other and turned to stare at the owner.
It was a big, ugly, slimy thing with ooze dripping out of its head from an unidentifiable place and sharp yellow teeth sticking out from beneath his snarling purple lips. His red face covered in bumps and spikes. He was about twice the size of Michael.
"Oh my God," Maria whispered.
"What the hell is that?" Michael whispered.
"Your death." Michael raised an eyebrow at the demon.
"Very original," he said sarcastically.
"Oh, so you're gonna be rude sacrifices are you?"
"Oh, smart ugly thing," Maria said.
"Enough of this crap," the demon said as he started to advance on the 'unsuspecting teenagers'. He grabbed Michael and put him in a headlock. Michael flung his head backward into the demon's chin trying to loosen his grasp on his neck. Maria watched Michael's struggle, the rage building.
"Run!" he gasped.
"No!" she screamed. She jumped up onto a headstone and launched herself onto his head. She dug at his eyes with her nails. The demon screamed in pain, but didn't let Michael go. He instead just backed into a tree to knock Maria off. She let go of his neck and rammed her foot into his backside. Michael stamped on his toe and kicked him in his shin. The demon loosened his grip enough for Michael to get one of his hands free. Meanwhile, Maria was smacking the demon upside the head as hard as she could and was slowly knocking it out. Michael bent over and flipped the demon onto the ground. Maria stamped her foot on his nuts and was pleased to hear the sickening crack. Michael put his hand on his chest and concentrated. Suddenly, the demon started thrashing and then went limp. Michael looked up just in time to see Maria faint.
"Holy crap! Maria?" Michael called, "come on baby, wake up."
He put her head in his lap and shook her gently. He smoothed the hair back from her face. He rested his hand on her cheek and closed his eyes wishing he could heal her like Max. His eyes jolted open when he heard a small groan.
"Michael?" she groaned.
"I'm right here, baby, it'll be okay," he whispered, stroking her hair, "what happened?"
"I-I was fighting and, um, I started to feel drained or something. Then I blacked out and was…floating, kind of, like there was no energy for me to move any other way," she said softly, enjoying the feel of his gentle touch, "then, it was like I was getting more energy, like…"
"Your energy was regenerating?"
"No, like I got some more, from…somewhere."
"Must be a slayer thing," he said.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Can you stand?"
"Yeah, I feel fine."
"You sure? You just fainted."
"I'm good…hey, where's Buffy?"
"I don't know, let's go look."
They stood up slowly and walked side by side to the part of the cemetery where they saw Buffy last. There was no moon out, making the cemetery eerier than usual. The trees cast long shadows across the death stricken ground. All was silent save the grunting among the trees.
They rushed into the brush to see what was disturbing the peace. The noises became louder as they came upon a clearing. There they saw Buffy fighting off a hoard of vampires.
"Oh my God, Michael, do you have a stake?"
"No, hold on." He bent down and grabbed a thick tree branch. He used his powers to break it in half and sharpen it into stake perfection. With weapons in hand, they went onwards into the fray. They started fighting just as Buffy was thrown into a tree by one of the bigger vampire. Maria ran behind him and staked the bastard while Michael fought off two others. Three more vampires went after Maria. She punched one in the nose and back kicked another in the gut. She spun around and staked the other through the heart. Then she kicked one in the nuts and launched herself over his back and kicked off his partner's head while he was still hunched over in pain. She dropped to the ground, grabbed her stake and rammed it through his heart. She looked around for more victims, but only saw Michael standing over a moaning, crumpled form.
"Is she okay?" was the last thing Maria thought before she fell to the ground in a heap. Michael rushed to her side and rested her against the tree next to Buffy.
"Come on, Maria, wake up," he whispered stroking her cheek as he did before. His fingers began to glow and she slowly began to wake up. Buffy also began to stir next to her.
"Come on, we should go home," he whispered. Maria and Buffy nodded and slowly got to their feet.
"Man, do I have a headache," Buffy exclaimed, "I feel like an elephant did a tap-dance on my head."
"Really?" Maria said, "it's more like a rhinoceros playing doctor on my head while Mariah Carey sang all her singles in my ear from a megaphone."
The two slayers were lying on couches in the living room with ice packs on their heads. Michael sat on the floor next to Maria's head.
"I feel fine," Michael said.
"You would," Maria mumbled.
"Why is that?" Buffy asked sitting up to face Michael, "We should feel better than you, we're slayers, you're human."
Maria snorted.
"Space boy's got a hard head."
"So, Giles, any leads on the demon?"
"Yeah, is this it?" he asked showing them a picture in the book. They both nodded. He turned the book back towards himself and skimmed the paragraph.
"It's an Argora demon…" he started.
"Like the sweater?" Xander asked.
"No, Argora not Angora."
"Well, what do you think he wanted," Michael asked, "He said something about needing sacrifices."
"He probably wants to end human life, right?" Buffy asked.
"Actually, it says here that the Argora is often the catalyst of most revolutions," he explained.
"What do you mean?"
"Prophesies," he stated, "are not possible to be made. Very few life forms can predict the future. Most prophets are fakes. The most interesting prophecies are acted upon by the Argora demons. They make spells to make them come true. It's their form of entertainment."
"So they make the fake prophecies come true?" Willow asked.
"Yes."
"But then doesn't that make them real?" Michael asked.
"Well…yes, I suppose," said Giles.
"Then what's the point in there having real and fake prophesies if they all come true anyway because of the demons," Maria asked.
"Um…I'm not quite sure," said Giles.
"That doesn't matter right now," Buffy said, "We need to find out what they're up to. What's the new prophesy that's going around these days?"
"We'll have to do some research."
"Well, let's get it started," Xander said.
Everyone grabbed a couple of Giles' big stinky books and went into different corners of the room. Michael and Maria went to one side near the window under the stars. Willow, Tara and Buffy sat on the floor in front of the couch. Anya sat on Xander's lap in front of the unlit fireplace. Giles and Dawn sat at the table with the rest of the books.
After going through his two books at a speed that was not humanly possible, Michael began to nibble on Maria's neck. She was settled between his legs with her back resting against his chest. Her eyes drifted shut and she rolled her neck to give him better access. She moaned softly at the feel of his soft lips against her warm neck. She slammed her book shut and turned to kiss him full on the lips. Their kisses grew passionate as they became absorbed in each other and basically forgot about the mission at hand.
"Well that's real considerate," Willow grumbled when she saw the heavy make out session that was at one end of the room.
"Ahem," Buffy said as she walked up to the couple. They ignored her. "Hello!" They continued to make out like nobody's business. Buffy finally gave up on doing it the nice way. She went into the kitchen and returned with a jug of ice water.
"I think you guys need a cold shower," she said as she poured the water on their heads.
"What the hell!" they yelped. They both turned and gave Buffy identical glares.
"We have prophecies to find! Save the making out for the janitor's closet at school. Did you even read the book?"
"Yeah. They mentioned three prophecies but they're all in Latin and I can't read that," said Michael.
"I found another one in some other language," said Maria.
"And you didn't tell us because…"
"You guys look like you enjoy research," they said in unison.
Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes, "Well, I guess Giles and Willow enjoy that crap."
"Well, bring the prophecies here," Giles said, "Let me see if I can translate them."
"Well, anything?" Buffy asked after he finished looking at them.
"These are just partial prophecies which, as far as I can tell, have been fulfilled already."
"You mean I read that boring book for nothing?" Maria whined.
"Holy crap! Look at the time. Your mom is gonna freak," Michael said.
"Yeah, we better go," Maria said as she got her jacket.
"Yes, I suppose you're right," Giles said, "We can meet here tomorrow to train. The room should be ready by then."
"Okay. See you then."
"Bye."
They walked out of the house and got in the Jetta. Michael turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the curb.
"So, want to come to my place? My mom's out of town."
Maria woke up out in the desert, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She turned slightly to peer at the angelic face that slept beside her. 'Like he could ever look this peaceful when he was awake' she thought.
She ran her fingers through his light brown her making it stand on end. She loved his hair. It was always so soft…softer than hers. She would have to ask him his secret sometime. His eyes fluttered open as he woke up.
"Hey," he whispered.
"Hey," she said as their lips met for a kiss. It was soft and loving.
They lay there in each other's arms until the heat of the desert started to get to them. Slowly, they climbed out of the cave and made their way over to the little red car that was parked outside.
"Well, back to civilization," Maria murmured unhappily as they began to make the trip back into town. Michael leaned into her ear and whispered,
"There's always the night." As he planted a soft kiss on her cheek.
As they neared the small town, the problems of their lives began to return as their bliss began to ebb away. Instead of going home, Maria went to Michael's apartment with him. There, she took a shower and changed into the clothes she kept there for after their late night trysts.
Afterwards they got back into the car and went over to the house where the new secret was revealed. They were anxious to know more about the demons and the Slayer.
"Are you ready?" Michael asked as they pulled up in front of the house.
"As I'll ever be."
"Then let's go," he said. He held her hand as they walked up to the door and knocked. It was a few seconds before the door opened revealing a dusty Willow.
"Hey guys!" she greeted cheerfully.
"Hey," they answered.
"Well, come in." she said stepping away from the door, "Giles wanted to start the training right away so we set up the training room first."
"Training?"
"Yeah, he wanted to assess your skills."
"But training entails exercise which is a hell no."
"You're a Slayer, he's a watcher. It's what you do," she replied as they walked into the newly built training room set up in the basement.
The room was huge. There was a big maroon gymnastics mat in the middle of the floor. In the left corner, there was a maroon punching bag and a cabinet that they could only assume had weapons. On the right there was a dummy with yellow eyes and fangs. Near the back of the room there was a cobble horse.
"Wow." Was all that Maria could say.
"The Council is always prepared."
Michael and Maria exchanged a glance, 'Council?'
"Welcome to the training room," Giles said from behind them.
"Cool," they said.
"Are you ready to begin, Maria?"
"Sure. Let's start with that dummy thing."
"Uh, okay. Take this stake. You must hit all the targets and then stick it through the hole," he explained, "it's a bit like target practice," he continued, "you don't have to be gentle."
"Okay."
She walked up to the dummy and smacked it in the head. The head flew across the room and broke on the wall at the far end of the room.
"Uh…he's dead," she stated quietly.
"Uh…yes, I suppose he is…. Um…not to worry, we'll just start with the punching bag."
"Um, okay," she said uneasily as she approached the bag.
"Okay, I want you to just…punch and kick at random so that I can observe your technique."
She back kicked it and it flew off the wall taking part of the ceiling with it.
"Uh, perhaps we should wait until the room is, um, stronger. Let's just go get some tea and discuss your duties."
"I am so sorry. I-I'll pay the damages."
"It's okay, I'm sure the council could afford it," Buffy said from her seat in the corner. She watched the whole thing and was amazed by her strength.
Michael, Maria, Buffy and Giles all walked up the basement stairs and went into the kitchen where Xander and Anya were making breakfast and Spike was drinking a cup of blood. They greeted the newcomers and then went back to what they were doing.
"Would you like some breakfast?" Giles asked.
"Sure," they said.
"How about some eggos?"
"Yeah. Do you have any tobasco sauce?" Giles looked at them oddly.
"Uh…sure."
After Buffy showed off her amazing culinary skills (putting the Eggos in the toaster) they all sat down at the kitchen table. The California crew watched in disgust as Michael drowned the waffles in maple syrup and Tobasco sauce. Then as he poured Tobasco into his coffee, making it an odd shade of red.
"You want some?" Michael asked when he caught them staring.
"Uh…how does it taste?" Xander ventured.
"Like waffles with maple syrup and Tobasco sauce."
"Believe me, you wouldn't like it," Maria said.
"So, what's the Council?" asked Michael.
"The Watcher's council is an organization that has been around about as long as Slayers," Giles explained, "We Watchers are there to help the Slayer train and inform her about demons and such."
"How long have you been the Slayer, Buffy?"
"About five years."
"You've been fighting ugly things for five years?" Maria asked
"Yeah, and she only died twice," Anya said.
"Died?!!" Michael exclaimed.
"Yes. That is why we have three Slayers now."
"Maria, Buffy and…?"
"Faith. She went bad and I had to put her in a coma. Then when she woke up she switched bodies with me and tried to screw up my life," Buffy listed, "Then she went to LA where my ex boyfriend and her watcher are. She kidnapped Wesley and tortured him until Angel came and convinced her to turn herself in to the police."
"Angel is her vampire ex-boyfriend," Anya filled in.
"Aren't you supposed to kill vampires?"
"This is a long story," Buffy said getting a wistful look on her face. She explained to them her relationship with Angel.
Michael nudged Maria, "Sound familiar?" he whispered. She nodded.
"Why don't you tell us about yourselves?" said Giles.
"Um, okay. I'm Maria and I live with my mom. My boyfriend's name is Michael, my best friend's name is Liz," she listed, "her boyfriend's name is Max, his sister's name is Isabel…yep, that's my circle of friends."
"Okay, thanks for telling us stuff we already know," Anya replied.
"You're wel…wait, what do you mean stuff you already know?"
"The Council knows the basics on you and they sent us that information to help us gain your trust to get you here to tell you your destiny, but since it found you, we didn't really need it."
"So, what else do you know?" Michael asked concerned that they already knew his secret.
"Just what you just told us."
"Okay."
"This is freaky! Liz'll think I'm crazy for sure," Maria said.
"No! You mustn't tell anyone else. It is very dangerous for a slayer let alone humans."
Michael and Maria shared a knowing smirk.
"This sure looks like a whole lot of nobody," they said gesturing to the room full of friends Buffy told.
"Yes well…"
"Then I'm at least telling Liz."
"Okay, I just thought it fair to warn you about the dangers."
They spent the next hour discussing the demons and training. They picked out training times and strategies.
"So, we'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, bye!" Maria called as she and Michael pulled out of the driveway.
Next Day at School…
"Stupid piece of crap!" Maria yelled. Her locker was stuck, again. She yanked on the handle and the whole door ripped off.
"Damn it!"
"Hey Maria…what happened to your locker?" Liz asked.
"It got stuck, now it's unstuck," she said as she pulled her books out.
"How did you do that? It's made of iron."
"Cheap thing."
"Okay, so I have to get to class but I'll see you at lunch, okay?"
"Yeah sure." Maria grumbled as Liz walked off. Maria turned and stalked off to Chemistry or the class from hell, as she liked to refer to it. Thank God it was the period before lunch or she might have to stake somebody.
After staring at the clock for an hour and wishing for Mr. Davidson to drop dead, the bell finally rang. Maria ran out of the classroom as soon as she got the chance.
Michael was waiting for her out in the Quad. He had the period before free, or so he says, so he was just drawing outside and humming to himself. Maria wrapped her arms around him from behind.
"Hey spaceboy." He turned around.
"Hey earthgirl," he whispered before pulling her in for a kiss. They were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
"Go away, Izzy," they mumbled, not even bothering to look at the offender.
"Yeah right," she said as she sat on the bench across from them, "You know, people are staring."
"So? Charge admission," Michael mumbled sucking on Maria's neck. Isabel rolled her eyes.
"Could you stop sucking face for one minute?" she asked getting annoyed.
"Fine. What do you want?" Michael asked finally looking in her direction.
"Max wants us to meet behind the bleachers now."
"Why?"
"He said Liz wanted to tell us something."
"Okay," they groaned getting up off the bench and heading over to the football field behind Isabel. When they got there, they saw that Liz, Kyle and Max were already there.
"Okay, what's the emergency," Michael asked in his once perpetually annoyed voice.
"I, uh, have to tell you guys something."
"What is it Liz?" Max asked.
"Max, do you remember when you came over to my balcony with the mariachi band?"
"Yeah," Max said, blushing lightly at the amused gaze Michael sent his way.
"That night, a future version of you came to me. He told me the world would end if we were together."
"How?" Max asked.
"He said that because we were together, Tess left and she was vital to your survival. He said that I had to make you fall out of love with me so Tess would stay but…she left anyway," Liz said, tears coming to her eyes. Everyone stood there in silence absorbing this information. Finally Michael broke the silence.
"How did he get here?" he asked.
"The granolith."
"And now it's gone," Isabel cried, "we can't even use it to save Alex."
"This is all my fault," Liz whispered as she started to cry.
"It isn't your fault," Maria said.
"Tess was probably a traitor then too…"Michael continued.
"She probably turned them over in that life."
"And they killed us 'cause they knew our weaknesses," Michael finished.
"You're right," Max said hugging Liz close, "it's not your fault, Liz."
"Thanks guys, I feel a lot better now."
"De nada," Michael and Maria said in unison.
"Okay, that is seriously creeping me out," Kyle said.
"What is?" they asked in unison.
"That! The talking in unison thing. What the hell is that about?"
"We don't know."
"Maybe we should discuss that at the Crashdown later."
"We can't. There's a dinner party there tonight."
"Okay, Michael, your place?"
"Sure."
"Okay, we'll meet at Michael's at eight."
"Oh crap, I can't," Maria said, "How about three?"
"Okay. That good with everybody?"
They all agreed and then went their separate ways.
"So what do you have now?" Maria asked Michael.
"Music, you?"
"Art."
"Well, I'll see you in English?"
"Sure. Are you coming with me to Giles'?"
"You know it."
"Bye baby.
"Bye." They kissed and went to their separate classes as the bell rang.
Michael walked down the hall to room 345 where the music room was situated. He never really liked that class. He couldn't sing and he couldn't play any instruments. He only went because it was the second easiest class next to art, well, when Ms. Hanson didn't try to teach them theory.
"Good afternoon class, today we will all be singing," she said cheerfully as she entered the class. There was a series of groans from the people in class who knew they couldn't sing and those who just didn't want to, "And I mean everybody. No lip-synching."
Michael leaned over to Kyle who was also stuck in this class, "What the hell is her problem?"
"Who knows. She probably doesn't value her ears," he snickered as she handed out the song sheets.
"My Favorite things. The irony of it all," Michael remarked.
"Oh my favorite song in the world," Kyle said sarcastically.
"And since Mr. Guerin and Mr. Valenti enjoy the selection so much, perhaps they would like to demonstrate to the class how it goes."
The class snickered as the two teens slowly made their way to the front of the class. Ms. Hanson played the familiar introduction as they stood there uncomfortably. Kyle was a mediocre singer and he was pretty sure Michael couldn't sing a note.
"Ready Guerin?"
"After you Valenti."
"Now!"
"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things," Kyle sang, without the help of Michael.
"Mr. Guerin, you must sing this verse alone since you failed to sing the other," Ms. Hanson said, not missing a beat on the piano. Kyle smirked at the alien. There was no way he would live this down.
"Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels, doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles, wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings, these are a few of my favorite things," Michael sang surprisingly well.
"Skip to the end!"
"When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad. I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad," Michael finished. Kyle was too busy watching him in shock. The rest of the class was in equal shock, including Ms. Hanson.
"Bravo, Mr. Guerin," she finally exclaimed when she got over the initial shock. The rest of the class started applauding the now very embarrassed, seriously confused alien.
"Didn't know you could sing Guerin," Kyle said after they returned to their seats.
"I can't," Michael said, shocked by his own voice.
"Don't got to be modest with me."
"I wouldn't. I know I can't sing. Ask Max and Izzy."
Maria sat in the Art room on a stool in front of her easel. Mr. Browning, the Art teacher instructed them to draw their favorite memory. Maria hated Art. It was more Michael's subject. He could draw unlike her. Her greatest masterpiece was in sixth grade when they were doing abstract art. All she had to do was draw squiggly lines and she got marks. Now they actually wanted the squiggly lines to resemble something.
'Oh well,' she thought, 'might as well try.'
She closed her eyes and tried to come up with her favorite memory. There wasn't really a wide range of choices. The winner hands down was the day Michael stayed on Earth to be with her. When she, Liz and Kyle were banging on the cave wall, thinking they were too late, when all of a sudden the wall opens and out comes Michael into the early morning light.
'Hope I do you justice, Spaceboy,' she thought as she began to draw. She started slowly, first starting with the cave where the love of her life was born. The black pencil strokes making no sense to anyone as of yet.
She didn't notice when Mr. Browning came over to stand behind her. She just continued to sketch and paint Michael standing at the entrance of that cave. The only thing she thought of was Michael. After a half-hour of painting, the scene began to look more and more lifelike.
By then, Mr. Browning was standing there mesmerized by the passion with which she painted the image. He had only seen one other student paint with such love and determination. He never thought he would come across such talent twice in one school year. Now that he thought of it, the image before him looked like that young artist.
'Teen infatuation,' he thought as he continued to watch.
After finishing her mediocre painting of Alex, Isabel became extremely bored. She wasn't as good at art as Michael; but then again, she wasn't as bad as Maria was. She looked over her shoulder and saw Mr. Browning staring at someone's easel. She couldn't see who it was because the easel blocked her view of the person's head.
She got up and walked over to the painter that had Mr. Browning so entranced. To her shock, it was Maria. And her painting was great! She didn't recognize the scene, but she knew the setting well. It was the pod cave and Michael was just coming out of the darkness into the light of day. The colors, the lighting, the expression were perfect. It was of Michael quality, but she could have sworn that Maria couldn't draw, let alone paint to save her life.
"Weird," she mumbled, examining the painting closely. It was an exact replica of Michael.
Maria stared at her painting with awe and confusion. She was sure she couldn't paint. She didn't have an artistic bone in her body, and she had the grades to prove it. She was pulled out of her reverie by a sigh behind her.
"This," said Mr. Browning, "is a wonderful piece."
"Uh, thanks."
"Where have you been hiding this talent all this time, Maria?" he asked, amazed at the craftsmanship, "this is a beautiful portrait of Michael. I have not seen paintings of such… quality from anyone but Mr. Guerin," he continued.
"Uh…thanks," she repeated as the bell rang, "well, I've gotta go, English…Uh bye."
She ran out of there as fast as she could. Where the hell did that come from? She couldn't draw, Michael drew!
Michael sat in room 129 in a daze. He couldn't figure out where his sudden singing ability came from. How do you go from musically impaired to 'best singer in class' in ten minutes? It was impossible. He knew he couldn't sing. Singing was Maria's thing. He stared off into space as some blonde cheerleader from his class was trying to flirt with him. He looked to the door just as Maria walked in. she looked as confused as he felt.
"Get up," he grunted.
"What?" the cheerleader asked.
"Get up, you're in Maria's seat." He said gruffly.
"Whatever," she said. She got up and went to another seat in the corner. Maria sat in her seat and stared off into space with Michael, identical looks of confusion etched on their faces.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Max asked as he took his seat in front of Michael.
"Weirdness," they said in unison.
"Okay," Max said and turned around when the teacher walked in the room.
"Okay, what was this meeting for? I forgot," Kyle asked.
"The reason Michael and Maria are creeping the hell out of us," Isabel answered.
"Oh, yeah."
The six teens were crammed in Michael's small apartment yet again. It was the second meeting for the week…and it was still Monday!
"Maxwell," Maria said.
"We gotta have less meetings," Michael finished. They both crossed their arms and stared at Max. Max looked between the two of them.
"Oh god," Kyle groaned.
"What?"
"Now there's two Guerins…"
"Oh my God! Maria, are you pregnant?"
"NO!"
"I didn't mean that, Isabel," Kyle said, "I mean, look at them. They are both taking up the defensive Michael stance."
"Huh?" Liz asked looking between her friends, then back at Kyle.
"So they've been hanging around each other too much, so what?" said Isabel.
"Haven't you noticed?"
"What?"
"That we are starting to become the same person," they finally spoke, tired of staring down Max. It was way too easy.
"Has anything weirder than the speaking together and finishing each other's sentences happened?" Max finally asked.
"Well, today I actually drew Michael…and it looked like him," Maria said, proud of herself.
"To you, or to everyone else too?" Liz asked.
"I saw it, it looked exactly like him, even Mr. Browning recognized him."
"So?"
"Maria can't draw crap! She could barely draw stick people," Liz exclaimed.
"It was…Michael quality."
"Weird, how could that happen?"
"Who knows," Isabel said, "what about you, Michael?"
"Yeah, am I the only one who noticed that every girl in school was trying to flirt with you?" Max asked.
"Yeah, I was wondering why myself," said Michael, "It's like they like to be ignored or something."
"That, or they heard about Music class," said Kyle smirking.
"What happened?" asked Liz.
"We got called up to sing in front of the class by Ms. Hanson."
Max and Isabel looked at each other trying to hide their smiles but to no avail. They burst into fits of small giggles, which escalated into full on scandalous laughter.
"What's so funny?" asked Liz, ever the clueless one.
"Mi…Michael…singing," Max choked out.
"Last time I checked, he sounded worst than a cat in the middle of the highway," Isabel giggled, "trapped in hot tar."
"That ain't what I heard," Kyle said.
"Better or worse?" Max asked wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Can't be worse," Isabel giggled.
"Lots better," Kyle said, "guy's damn boyband material. Would chicks be chasin' him if he sounded like crap?"
"But…Michael has never been able to sing," said Isabel, "Remember that Christmas, Max?"
"Yeah, he refused to sing carols with us, so Mom and Dad said that if he wanted tobasco sauce on anything for dinner, he had to sing."
"So, what happened?" Kyle asked.
"He sang," said Isabel, trying to hold back the giggles, "the neighbors' dogs refused to stop howling until he stopped."
The whole room burst into laughter, well, except for Michael who was scowling at the memory.
"Dad gave him fifty bucks to never sing again," Max laughed.
"Like I was planning to anyway," Michael grumbled.
"Ooh, show me, Spaceboy," Maria said, excited.
"No."
"Aw come on."
"Nuh uh."
"Please?"
"Hell no."
"Pretty pretty please? Or I'll beat the crap out of you."
"Fine, come here," he acquiesced. Maria came to stand in front of him and he touched her face and closed his eyes. He thought of that night eight years ago.
Maria saw flashes of his memories of that night. It was hilarious just as Max and Izzy had said, but they left out one important detail. Maria laughed out loud as the visions ended. The others stood there watching her.
"That good huh?" Kyle joked.
"You guys left out part," she choked out.
"What?"
"The part where he got revenge."
"He turned our hair green, not that funny," said Isabel.
"That's the part he told you about. He told you it was paint."
"It was, it washed right out."
"Where the hell would I get green paint, I used my powers, just made it washable."
"Why?"
"For the second part of my revenge," he said with a mischievous grin as he remembered his revenge.
"Which was…?"
"He took dog crap from outside and melted it in your shampoo," Maria said before she burst into a fit of laughter.
"YOU WHAT?!" Isabel screeched putting her hand on her head. Liz struggled to keep from laughing. Kyle rolled on the floor laughing hysterically.
"Brilliant!" Kyle exclaimed high fiving Michael, "that was the prank of all pranks."
"I can't believe you!" Isabel screamed hitting him on the arm.
"Duh! Why'd you think dogs followed you around for a month straight?"
"Oh my God!" Maria exclaimed, "You didn't show me that!"
"Can't spoil the story babe."
By now, Liz was laughing so hard she had tears running down her cheeks and she could barely breathe. Kyle was hunched over holding his sides, his imagination running away from him as he tried to imagine the dogs following Isabel everywhere.
"Hail Queen Isabel, the dog queen!" Kyle laughed. Isabel tapped him upside the head. The rest of the group laughed.
"That was mean Michael," Max said.
"But oh so fun," said Michael.
"Okay, I think we're a little off topic here," Max said, "When did you notice this…change?"
"About two weeks ago," they said.
"Okay, did you do anything…unusual back then?"
They both blushed and studied the floor.
"What did you do?"
"Man are y'all dense," Kyle exclaimed, "They got some, duh!"
"Got wha…oh my God, Michael!" Isabel shouted, "how could you?"
"What do you care what I do?"
"We don't know what could happen!"
"If we all recall, we weren't the first to go all the way," Maria stated.
"Same and interspecies mating are two different things."
"Everybody calm down," said Liz, "We all knew it would happen eventually."
"Fine," Isabel agreed reluctantly, "but I'm not baby-sitting any of their spawn."
"I'm not preggers Izzy," Maria reassured, "Just…lending Spaceboy some of my brain."
And so they continued for the next hour, discussing without getting anywhere as they often did.
Later that evening, the sky was clear and the air that surrounded the sleepy town began to cool. Most of the teenagers drained the boredom left over from a full day at school at their usual haunts. Having fun after the worst day of the week, Monday. Everyone in their right mind hated Monday. It was the end of two days of fun and the beginning of five days of torture.
That day, three teens, three college students, two townies and two old British guys met at a large modern house on Maple Avenue.
"Okay, since the training room is not yet up to par, we shall start with some yoga exercises."
"Do I have to do it too?" Buffy groaned.
"Um, no, it's quite all right," Giles said, "Buffy, you can train Michael in the fighting area."
"Sparring? Sweet."
"I don't hit girls," Michael stated.
"It's okay, I can handle it," Buffy said, semi-sarcastically, "and I promise I won't beat you down too hard."
"Go ahead, Spaceboy," Maria urged, "Just…pretend it's Lonnie."
"Okay," he acquiesced. They made their way to the center of the mat and stood facing each other.
"Okay," Buffy began, "I want you to counter whatever I do. Whenever I expand, you contract."
Michael nodded like he knew what she was talking about and then imitated a fighting stance he saw on TV. Xander, Anya and Spike sat on the sidelines to watch the show.
"Are you ready?"
"Bring it on."
Buffy took a deep breath, then fired a punch at his gut. He grabbed her arm before it could reach its destination and twisted it. She tried to back kick him but he ducked and kicked her feet out from under her. She gave a surprised yelp and landed flat on her back.
She jumped up and began using half strength on the alien. He countered every kick, blocked every punch and tried to avoid hitting her as much as possible. Eventually, he flipped her over his back and pinned her on the mat.
"Are we done yet?" he asked.
"Not even close," she growled as she pushed him off and started on him at full strength. The fighting continued for another half-hour until Michael got fed up and flung her across the room. She slammed into the wall and stared at him with wide surprised eyes.
There was a lone pair of hands clapping as Michael helped her to her feet and her friends stood there in shock. Everyone turned to Anya who was still the only one clapping.
"That was a good show!" she exclaimed, "We should tape them and sell it. Then I can count all the money."
"The last time I had a fight like that was with Faith."
"That was amazing," said Giles, obviously in shock, "Buffy, were you holding out?"
"At first, but after the second time he took me out, I started using full strength."
"Have you had combat training, Michael?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"Never in my twelve years of existence," he answered.
"You're twelve?" Xander exclaimed.
"No."
"He, uh, just doesn't remember the first six years."
"So I just count it as twelve."
"Oh, okay," Xander said. An alarm went off from upstairs.
"Patrol time. You guys want to come?" They glanced at each other, then shrugged.
"Might as well," they said. Giles handed them all stakes and led them out the door.
They walked to the Roswell Cemetery in silence, letting the cool desert breeze wash over them. Michael shifted his gaze to the stars that shone brightly in the clear night sky. He looked at his constellation, the five star formation that sat in the clear blackness of space, where his people lived. Then he looked back down at the blond pixie that walked beside him, the one who saved his-their- lives from the execution that awaited at 'home'. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she leaned into him.
Buffy looked on in pain and envy. Why couldn't she find a love like theirs? Her love life sucked. Everyone left her.
"We know what it is like to feel left behind, unloved," they said, as if sensing her train of thought.
"How do you know that? What I was thinking."
"We can sense your loneliness. We've felt it ourselves."
"Okay, y'all are really creeping me out."
"Okay, we'll stop," they said.
"Could you stop doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"That. Talking in unison."
"We'll…"
"Try."
They finally arrived at the Cemetery and made their way to the center of the newly dug graves.
"So, what do we do now?" Maria asked as she perched herself on a headstone.
"We wait."
"Oh what fun." There was five minutes of silence.
"This is really boring," Maria said.
"It's like…watching the life of Max on a loop," Michael said.
"With no food to occupy you."
"Before he got with Liz last year."
"God, I would not subject even my worst enemies to that kind of torture," Maria exclaimed.
"So, who's Max?" Buffy asked.
"My best friend."
"My best friend's…are they together or no?" Maria asked.
"Don't know…hasn't been PMSing in a awhile so I guess they're together."
"Okay then, my best friend's boyfriend…most likely."
"What's he like?"
"Controlling…"
"Power trippy…"
"Lovesick…"
"Puppy doggish…"
"Stalker like when he's ready…"
"Almost as stubborn as Spaceboy…"
"Chick flick worthy…"
"Okay okay, I get it!"
"That's Maxwell for you, not much to get." There was another five minutes of awkward silence before Michael and Maria could take it no longer. They inched closer to each other until they were once again attached at the mouth. Buffy had gone to survey the area and they had nothing better to do.
"Good thing you teenagers never want to get a room," a voice said from behind. They detached from each other and turned to stare at the owner.
It was a big, ugly, slimy thing with ooze dripping out of its head from an unidentifiable place and sharp yellow teeth sticking out from beneath his snarling purple lips. His red face covered in bumps and spikes. He was about twice the size of Michael.
"Oh my God," Maria whispered.
"What the hell is that?" Michael whispered.
"Your death." Michael raised an eyebrow at the demon.
"Very original," he said sarcastically.
"Oh, so you're gonna be rude sacrifices are you?"
"Oh, smart ugly thing," Maria said.
"Enough of this crap," the demon said as he started to advance on the 'unsuspecting teenagers'. He grabbed Michael and put him in a headlock. Michael flung his head backward into the demon's chin trying to loosen his grasp on his neck. Maria watched Michael's struggle, the rage building.
"Run!" he gasped.
"No!" she screamed. She jumped up onto a headstone and launched herself onto his head. She dug at his eyes with her nails. The demon screamed in pain, but didn't let Michael go. He instead just backed into a tree to knock Maria off. She let go of his neck and rammed her foot into his backside. Michael stamped on his toe and kicked him in his shin. The demon loosened his grip enough for Michael to get one of his hands free. Meanwhile, Maria was smacking the demon upside the head as hard as she could and was slowly knocking it out. Michael bent over and flipped the demon onto the ground. Maria stamped her foot on his nuts and was pleased to hear the sickening crack. Michael put his hand on his chest and concentrated. Suddenly, the demon started thrashing and then went limp. Michael looked up just in time to see Maria faint.
"Holy crap! Maria?" Michael called, "come on baby, wake up."
He put her head in his lap and shook her gently. He smoothed the hair back from her face. He rested his hand on her cheek and closed his eyes wishing he could heal her like Max. His eyes jolted open when he heard a small groan.
"Michael?" she groaned.
"I'm right here, baby, it'll be okay," he whispered, stroking her hair, "what happened?"
"I-I was fighting and, um, I started to feel drained or something. Then I blacked out and was…floating, kind of, like there was no energy for me to move any other way," she said softly, enjoying the feel of his gentle touch, "then, it was like I was getting more energy, like…"
"Your energy was regenerating?"
"No, like I got some more, from…somewhere."
"Must be a slayer thing," he said.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Can you stand?"
"Yeah, I feel fine."
"You sure? You just fainted."
"I'm good…hey, where's Buffy?"
"I don't know, let's go look."
They stood up slowly and walked side by side to the part of the cemetery where they saw Buffy last. There was no moon out, making the cemetery eerier than usual. The trees cast long shadows across the death stricken ground. All was silent save the grunting among the trees.
They rushed into the brush to see what was disturbing the peace. The noises became louder as they came upon a clearing. There they saw Buffy fighting off a hoard of vampires.
"Oh my God, Michael, do you have a stake?"
"No, hold on." He bent down and grabbed a thick tree branch. He used his powers to break it in half and sharpen it into stake perfection. With weapons in hand, they went onwards into the fray. They started fighting just as Buffy was thrown into a tree by one of the bigger vampire. Maria ran behind him and staked the bastard while Michael fought off two others. Three more vampires went after Maria. She punched one in the nose and back kicked another in the gut. She spun around and staked the other through the heart. Then she kicked one in the nuts and launched herself over his back and kicked off his partner's head while he was still hunched over in pain. She dropped to the ground, grabbed her stake and rammed it through his heart. She looked around for more victims, but only saw Michael standing over a moaning, crumpled form.
"Is she okay?" was the last thing Maria thought before she fell to the ground in a heap. Michael rushed to her side and rested her against the tree next to Buffy.
"Come on, Maria, wake up," he whispered stroking her cheek as he did before. His fingers began to glow and she slowly began to wake up. Buffy also began to stir next to her.
"Come on, we should go home," he whispered. Maria and Buffy nodded and slowly got to their feet.
"Man, do I have a headache," Buffy exclaimed, "I feel like an elephant did a tap-dance on my head."
"Really?" Maria said, "it's more like a rhinoceros playing doctor on my head while Mariah Carey sang all her singles in my ear from a megaphone."
The two slayers were lying on couches in the living room with ice packs on their heads. Michael sat on the floor next to Maria's head.
"I feel fine," Michael said.
"You would," Maria mumbled.
"Why is that?" Buffy asked sitting up to face Michael, "We should feel better than you, we're slayers, you're human."
Maria snorted.
"Space boy's got a hard head."
"So, Giles, any leads on the demon?"
"Yeah, is this it?" he asked showing them a picture in the book. They both nodded. He turned the book back towards himself and skimmed the paragraph.
"It's an Argora demon…" he started.
"Like the sweater?" Xander asked.
"No, Argora not Angora."
"Well, what do you think he wanted," Michael asked, "He said something about needing sacrifices."
"He probably wants to end human life, right?" Buffy asked.
"Actually, it says here that the Argora is often the catalyst of most revolutions," he explained.
"What do you mean?"
"Prophesies," he stated, "are not possible to be made. Very few life forms can predict the future. Most prophets are fakes. The most interesting prophecies are acted upon by the Argora demons. They make spells to make them come true. It's their form of entertainment."
"So they make the fake prophecies come true?" Willow asked.
"Yes."
"But then doesn't that make them real?" Michael asked.
"Well…yes, I suppose," said Giles.
"Then what's the point in there having real and fake prophesies if they all come true anyway because of the demons," Maria asked.
"Um…I'm not quite sure," said Giles.
"That doesn't matter right now," Buffy said, "We need to find out what they're up to. What's the new prophesy that's going around these days?"
"We'll have to do some research."
"Well, let's get it started," Xander said.
Everyone grabbed a couple of Giles' big stinky books and went into different corners of the room. Michael and Maria went to one side near the window under the stars. Willow, Tara and Buffy sat on the floor in front of the couch. Anya sat on Xander's lap in front of the unlit fireplace. Giles and Dawn sat at the table with the rest of the books.
After going through his two books at a speed that was not humanly possible, Michael began to nibble on Maria's neck. She was settled between his legs with her back resting against his chest. Her eyes drifted shut and she rolled her neck to give him better access. She moaned softly at the feel of his soft lips against her warm neck. She slammed her book shut and turned to kiss him full on the lips. Their kisses grew passionate as they became absorbed in each other and basically forgot about the mission at hand.
"Well that's real considerate," Willow grumbled when she saw the heavy make out session that was at one end of the room.
"Ahem," Buffy said as she walked up to the couple. They ignored her. "Hello!" They continued to make out like nobody's business. Buffy finally gave up on doing it the nice way. She went into the kitchen and returned with a jug of ice water.
"I think you guys need a cold shower," she said as she poured the water on their heads.
"What the hell!" they yelped. They both turned and gave Buffy identical glares.
"We have prophecies to find! Save the making out for the janitor's closet at school. Did you even read the book?"
"Yeah. They mentioned three prophecies but they're all in Latin and I can't read that," said Michael.
"I found another one in some other language," said Maria.
"And you didn't tell us because…"
"You guys look like you enjoy research," they said in unison.
Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes, "Well, I guess Giles and Willow enjoy that crap."
"Well, bring the prophecies here," Giles said, "Let me see if I can translate them."
"Well, anything?" Buffy asked after he finished looking at them.
"These are just partial prophecies which, as far as I can tell, have been fulfilled already."
"You mean I read that boring book for nothing?" Maria whined.
"Holy crap! Look at the time. Your mom is gonna freak," Michael said.
"Yeah, we better go," Maria said as she got her jacket.
"Yes, I suppose you're right," Giles said, "We can meet here tomorrow to train. The room should be ready by then."
"Okay. See you then."
"Bye."
They walked out of the house and got in the Jetta. Michael turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the curb.
"So, want to come to my place? My mom's out of town."
