Amy's Shop

"Maria I love it here. I swear that I'm going to buy one of everything!" Sera said, her eyes

scanning the shelves.

"You need to tell my mom that. She loves hearing that people like her crazy inventions."

Maria said, cashing out the register. "Hey do me a favor, lock the front will ya?"

"Well I would, but I think you might want to take this last customer."

"Huh?"

Sera held the door open. "Hey Michael!"

"Hey."

"Hi!" Maria said stepping from behind the counter and into Michael's arms.



"So what are you two up to? Yakking?"

"Yeah, about you." Maria said smiling at her boyfriend before taking the moneybag to the back.

"Hey Michael. I have to present a report on Ulysses, think you could help me with it?" Sera

asked as she sniffed some of the aromatherapy oil testers

"Uh yeah, sure. How did."

"I mentioned it to Maria and she said it was your favorite book. She said you could even

quote pages! So I figured I'd ask the expert for help."

"Can you ask me this in front of Max? I want to see his face when someone asks me for

homework help!"

Sera giggled and put the cap back on the tester she was holding.

"So where's Valenti?"

"He called my cell not too long after I got here and said that he'd be a little late. He's with

Isabel working on her Communications project."

"Is she still doing that? She cornered me for a Q and A earlier this week."

"I think she knew that was all she was getting out of you. She's got Kyle doing on-camera

stuff!"

"Better him than me!" Michael said checking his watch and turning toward the bead covered

door where Maria disappeared.

"Maria, are you coming out of there any time soon?" He bellowed in the general direction of

the back room.

"I'm coming Spaceboy, hold your horses."

"Spaceboy?" Sera asked with a raised eyebrow.

"She thinks I'm spacey." Michael said covering.

Sera nodded and smiled. "Pot! Kettle!"

"Tell me about it." He forced a laugh, pleased that Sera bought the lie.

Maria appeared wide-eyed through the beads.

"Sorry, Spaceboy is one of those bedroom things. I really should remember what company

I'm in before I go tossing the pet names around."

Sera looked from Michael to Maria.

"Can I pretend she didn't just tell me that and go with your explanation for the name?"

"Be my guest!" Michael said glaring at his girlfriend.

Suddenly the glass front door shattered, sending shards of glass flying into the store.

"GET DOWN!" Michael yelled to the girls.

Maria pushed Sera to the floor as a group of men attacked the teens.

Michael flung one assailant back into the parking lot, before being taken down by another. Sera

jumped to her feet and Buffy-kicked the figure advancing on her and Maria.

The man pitched into the wall before quickly rebounding and barrel rolling Sera. Her head struck

the counter with a thud. Her attacker stood and raised his hand toward her.

Sera cringed behind her raised hands to ward off the blow she expected to feel.

Hearing the man grunt, she looked up and was shocked to see him across the room flat on his

back. Michael who had his hands full with his own attackers turned when he noticed the man

flying across the room.

"What the hell?" Michael exclaimed looking from Sera to Maria.

Sera freaked by what just occurred pressed into the corner and whimpered.

Michael's attacker yelled, "There are two of them, take the one with dark

hair, kill the blonde."

As soon as the order left his mouth, Michael made him a pile of dust.

"Leave her alone." Sera shouted throwing herself on the man, moving towards Maria. He raised

his hand and Sera went careening into the stockroom.

//Guess he's recovering from Michael tossing him into the parking lot.//

She thought as she quickly rolled over and leapt to her feet, hand raised. Nothing happened. Sera

looked at her hand confused. She heard Maria yell as one of the guys roughly grabbed her arm.

Hearing her friend cry out Sera raised her hand again and the man suddenly exploded as both

Michael and Sera hit him with a blast.

Sera turned to face Michael, her blue eyes wide with shock and fear before collapsing next to

Maria.

"MICHAEL!!" Maria shouted.

"We have to get out of here." Michael said sending another blast to Sera's original attacker,

who was running out of the shop. His aim was off in his rush to check on Maria, and the man

escaped easily.

"You OK?" he asked crouching down and taking her face in his hands.

Maria nodded her head and looked at her friend. "Sera's out cold."

Michael stood and reached for Maria.

"We have to go."

"Pick her up."

"What?"

"She can't exactly walk in that condition. You have to carry her!"

"No!"

"Michael, we can't just leave her here."

"The hell we can't! Maria, she's an alien. She's probably a skin."

"She saved my life Michael."

"So did Tess."

"She's not Tess. Now pick her up!"

Michael took one look at Maria's face and realized that resistance was futile.

He threw Sera over his shoulder and pushed Maria out the back door and to the Jetta.

Sera was still out when they reached Michael's apartment. Maria burst through the door. Max and

Liz, who were cuddling on the couch, jumped to their feet.

"Where have you been? I thought you said 8:00 its 8:35.." Max's voice trailed off as

Michael entered the room with Sera in his arms.

"Oh My God!" Liz cried.

"What happened?" Max demanded as he helped Michael put Sera on the couch.

"We were attacked at the shop."

"What." Max and Liz asked together.

"I was closing up, Sera was waiting for Kyle.Oh My God. Kyle he'll freak if he sees the

mess and we're not there."

"Maria, he's with Iz. She knows to come here if something like this happens." Max tried to

calm his friend.

"Max are you sure. I mean."

"Maria. Trust me. Now please, tell me what happened."

"So there we were and suddenly these people just burst in and started for Michael."

"Skins?" Max asked, his jaw set.

Michael nodded his head. "I'm guessing. I disposed of two; one on my own and Sera helped

with the other one."

"Sera? She hit the disabling mechanism?" Liz asked.

"No." Michael said staring straight at his best friend.

Suddenly reality dawned on Max. "She's an alien."

"She can't be." Liz said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"She is pumpkin. She warded off the guys coming after us with a flick of her wrist."

"Is she a skin?" Liz asked looking at Michael.

"One way to find out. he disappeared into his bedroom and returned with a hockey stick.

Turn her over!"

"What the hell are you doing?" Maria asked.

"Skins have a switch in their back, if she turns to dust she's a skin."

"And if she doesn't!"

Then she can explain her side of the story and maybe I'll give her a Tylenol for the pain."

"Michael we need answers, we need to know who she is and why she's here." Max reasoned.

"I don't think she knows." Maria said quietly.

"What?" Michael questioned.

"You saw her face when that guy went sailing across the room. She was panicked. She

didn't know what she was doing."

"She was upset because she used her powers in front of us and that probably wasn't part of

the plan."

Sera stirred and Michael raised the hockey stick toward her.

She slowly opened her eyes, saw Maria next to her on the couch and reached out to her friend.

"Maria, you're OK!"

Michael's hockey stick swung in front of her blocking her path to Maria.

Sera looked up at him, "Michael?"

"What are you?"

What are you talking about?"

"Don't play games with me Sera, if that's even your real name!"

"Michael..."

"Answer him." Max commanded moving into Sera's eye line.

"Max, I don't."

"Are you a skin?" Michael asked cutting her off.

"A what?"

"We want answers!" Michael shouted, dropping the hockey stick and grabbing her arms.

"I can't tell you what I don't know."

Max flinched at her words. Remembering speaking that same phrase while Pierce was

interrogating and torturing him.

"Michael! STOP!" Maria shouted, alarmed by his vehemence.

"Are you working for Khivar?" Max asked in a low tone.

"I.is that a person?"

"The truth Sera!"

"Michael."

Suddenly the door flew open as Kyle and Isabel rushed in.

"You're OK!" Is said looking at Michael and Maria. "We saw the mess at the store, we were

so worried."

"What's this?" Kyle asked taking in the terrified look on Sera's face and the iron grip Michael

had on her arms. "Michael, you wanna let go of Sera?"

"Keep out of this, it doesn't concern you!"

"The hell it doesn't!" Kyle raised his voice as he crossed to the couch and started to remove

Michael's hands from Sera's arms. Michael jerked Sera away from Kyle

"I mean it Valenti, back off!" he warned.

"Get your hands off her!!"

Michael roughly released Sera and she collapsed against Kyle.

"What happened?" he asked, drawing her into his arms and glaring at Michael.

"Tell him!" Michael challenged.

Sera remained silent.

"We were attacked in the shop." Maria disclosed, "Skins we think, Michael and Sera took

care of them."

"You told her?" Isabel asked looking at her friends.

Max shook his head. "She has powers."

"What?" Kyle asked certain he misunderstood what Max just said.

"She has powers." Max repeated.

"That's impossible!" Kyle shook his head.

"Is she one of us?" Iz asked in a quiet voice.

"That hasn't been determined. We're not going to make the same mistake twice." Max

cautioned looking pointedly at Liz and Kyle.

Kyle averted his eyes and nudged Sera. "Is this true?"

"Kyle I don't know what's going on."

"Show him. Show him what you did at Amy's shop."

"I don't know what I did, I just have these powers. I don't know where they came from or

why I have them but I do, and you do too Michael. How can that be?"

"We're asking the questions now." Michael said glaring at her.

"I don't know much. After my father died was the first time I found out. I somehow

managed to blow up my lava lamp as I reached out for it. Mom said it had to be faulty

wiring or something. But later on that night I took off for the playground. I could change

the color of the equipment with just a touch. I can't explain it anymore than that."

Kyle got off the couch and paced the room.

"I'll ask you again, are you working for Khivar?" Max demanded.

"Max I told you everything I know, I don't know that name."

Liz was sitting at the kitchen counter trying to wrap her brain around this latest development. She

looked down at Sera's cell phone that tumbled out of her purse when Maria tossed on the counter.

She turned it over in her hands and looked at the LED display: SERA & KYLE

S-E-R-A was such an unusual spelling of that name.

Suddenly something tracked; she walked to Sera and knelt down in front of the girl.



"Serena?"

TBC