Broken Ties

A/N: hehe, ok, so like a year ago, since i updated this story. :) uh, sorry. i really am. Things got away from me. I really hope that yall are still reading this. If you are please review and tell me if you liked it or not. If you didn't please tell me why, not just 'it stinks.' and though those do hurt a little it still helps to make me try to write better. so y know. :)

Disclaimer. *insert witty remark* no own.

Maria tried to gather her thoughts as she stared at the phone, Nick had stirred many a questions in her. Made her worried to. She would just have to ask Michael. She smiled at that, she could just go and ask Michael any thing she wanted. At anytime. Because he was here. Hopefully forever. She sighed, she couldn't wait to get off of work and go see him.

She turned to go back to the counter and a coat hit her in the face. She pulled it away to see a smiling Liz. "Come on! I asked daddy if we could go home early sense we haven't asked in a while and he said that we could." Maria blinked and then shot a smile at the closed door of Liz's dads office. Then she and Liz took off out the door. They had a lot to catch up on.

~~~

Tim looked into his fridge and gritted his teeth when he couldn't find what he was looking for. Hadn't that idiot of a boy gone shopping? "Damn kids." The only thing in the fridge was some sandwich stuff and a bottle of Tabasco. Tim was sober for the moment and he was trying to find away to fix it. But no, there wasn't a drop of Beer in the whole god forsaken place!

He slammed the door shut, glaring at the old rusty magnet that fell to the dingy floor. "Michael!" He bellowed. He would just have to send him out to get some. He didn't think about the fact that Michael was to young to buy it.

He banged on the door. "Get your sorry ass out here, if i keep you around here then I'm going to make sure your at least useful for something!" He banged one more time and then twisted the knock as hard as he could, and almost fell in to the room. He had expected the door to be locked. It was rare that Michael forgot.

Guess it was one of those times. He looked around the bare room, noting that it seemed more empty the it usually did. And then his eyes slid to the window. Locked. He thought back to the last time he had seen Michael. A while ago, at least two or three days. His thin eye brows shot up, blood creeping in to his face and turning it red in anger. He flew to the closet door and ripped it open. Most of his clean stuff was gone.

"Son of a bitch." He hissed, turning around and ripping the calendar off of the wall in a fit of anger. He was about to rip it to bits when he noticed that a date had been circled in red ink with the words 'home' in it. He knew it! He had run away again!

There went that check. He would have to inform the people at the agency. If he wasn't going to get what was owed to him then they would catch that kid and at least he would be in jail.

As Tim was leaving the room an idea hit him. If he tracked the boy down and brought him back, and then informed the agency, and offered to keep the little trouble maker even after all he had been put though, maybe he could get a little money out of them. Tim smiled.

Home... where had Michael came from? Roswell, New Mexico. That was it. "Well old boy, looks like were going to meet the aliens."

~~~

Isabel, Max, Michael and Alex all sit around the Evens table. Alex had arrived a while ago, asking Isabel why she had hung up on him, and said 'hi Michael.' He had smiled broadly and laughed when he saw the fore mentioned sitting and chatting with Max, and gave him a side armed hug and pat.

"So, Michael. Where are you staying?" Alex asked, he was sitting backwards in a chair, grinning. Michael shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm-" He thought about lying, but saw Max and Isabel's' eyes burning in to him and waiting for a reply, and decided against it. "Uh, to tell he truth i hadn't really thought that far ahead." Max pounced on the opening.

"You can stay here."

/Did it just get hot in here?/ Michael thought. "I dunno Maxwell. I'm not sure if your parents would be cool with that." Max blinked,

"They always were before." Michael rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to tell them why he thought it wouldn't be a good idea but Alex spoke up for him.

"Think Max, that was in what? Seventh Grade? We're in tenth now, and as gross as this might seem, believe me it is-they do have a teenage daughter in the house." He raised his eyebrows in a suggestive way, and the three Aliens all winced.

"Don't go there Alex." Michael said. Alex smiled, he wouldn't have if he thought that there was ever a chance. Before anyone could see him he shot a dazzling smile at Isabel.

"And besides, i would uh-rather no one besides you three and Maria and Liz know i was in town." They frowned but let it pass with a nod. No need to push Michael.... yet.

"While were on the topic," Max said. "What was up with you pulling a Stone Wall Jackson on us? We might have be able to contact you. We really missed you Michael."

"Sorry guys, I dunno, half the time i didn't really think about it, putting up a wall was just a habit i guess." He didn't stop to think about what he said next. "Or maybe it was to hard, to see you in a dream, or call or write, knowing that i could look but not touch." They seemed satisfied with that, though no one said anything. Thankfully Alex wiped a fake tear away and said;

"You guys had me at Stone Wall Jackson." Relieved laughter spread around the table. "But i missed you to man."

"Same here." /Does every thing suddenly seem right with the world?/ Michael thought to himself. Suddenly Isabel let her hands hit the table in an excited manor.

"Have you even seen Maria or Liz yet?" Michael nodded.

"Yeah, i went to the crash down there and i ran into Maria." Isabel smiled. "She said that she would be over later." As the words left his mouth a knock was heard on the door. And then it opened with out some one going to the door. That had to be them. Michael stood up, just in time to catch a very excited Liz in his arms. She kissed him on the cheek twice, still hugging him.

"Ohh! Michael, i missed you!" Max cleared his throat and Liz giggled and gave Michael one more squeeze and then quickly set down in Maxs' lap. "I love you." She said giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Michael smirked. Those two had finally gotten together.

Maria came up to him and gave him a quick hug. He hard her sniff. /Is she smelling me?/ He thought absurdly. She pulled away. "I just missed doing that. But! Now that that's over, i called Nick for you, he says hay-" Max cut her off.

"Nick?"

"Oh, um, Nick is my friend, from back there. I told him I'd call him." He glanced at Maria. Who was staring pointedly at him. Damn. He would have to kill Nick, he must have to Maria. "By the way, Nick-well, he sorta knows."

"Knows?" Isabel asked, then a light came on in her eyes. "Knows knows! You told him." Michael laughed as he took a seat. "Ok, look. It wasn't entirely my fault." Five eyes rolled. "Ok, so it was completely my fault. Look, Nick was my only friend up there, and i didn't tell him till like a day or so ago! We were walking, and we got to the road, I stopped and he didn't. A car came round and there was no way that he could move in time. So i sorta used my powers. To, you know, throw him out of the way. Look, he was fine, and when i finally convinced him that there was three Aliens running around, he thought it was uh, well-cool. There's no way that he's going to be blabbing or turning us in anytime soon." He finished his story, glad to see that there faces had lightened up.

"Ok," Max said, "I guess, since you trust him then its ok-I guess."

"I do."

"Good." Michael was about to change the subject away from Nick when Maria spoke up, from where she was standing next to the stove.

"He also told me that you were on pr-" She didn't get much further then that before Michael shot up out of his seat, knocking it over and telling her with his eyes to shut her trap, and then he had his had over her mouth.

"Be right back." Then he and protesting Maria walked out of the room-ignoring the others bewildered looks-and in to Max's room. Michael Shut the door. "Great, what did he tell you?" Maria glared and placed her hands on her hips. Michael keep his eyes firmly on her face.

"Oh. Not much, just that you ran away and then you go caught and got put on probation and now you've ran away again." He sighed and looked away. Maria absently noticed that his bruises were gone, she figured that Max had healed him. Dang, he looked just as good with out them. She suddenly wondered how he had really gotten them.

"Maria, it's no big deal." She shook her head. "Yes it is Michael. You can go to Juvy if you get caught! Which is bad! And honestly it makes me wonder, just what are you running away from?" She moved closer to him.

"Just got home and your already giving me the third degree." he muttered.

"Do not try to change the subject on me Michael!" She screamed. He took a step back and winced. She instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry space boy, i didn't mean to yell. I just, I haven't seen you in so long and I'm worried about you. Please just tell me what your running from." He looked away. /How can she do that? She makes me feel like can tell her anything./ He sit down in Maxs' computer chair.

"Every thing. I was running away from everything." Maria set down in front of the chair on the floor, she knew that it was out of character for him to be opening up like this, and she was taking her chance with it. "School, home. School was bad, it wasn't like anyone said anything to me. That was the problem. It was weird, I wanted to them to leave me alone, you know- I didn't want them to bother me, but I wanted them to notice me. They didn't, I was the outsider. Besides Nick. Nick didn't seem to care what anyone thought, and hung around me till I talked to him. But I just didn't feel like I belonged there. So I just stopped going, which didn't make Tim happy. I eventually started going some. I skipped allot though." Maria held back a sniffle, though she couldn't hid her large frown. She felt so bad for him. He had stopped talking.

"What about home Michael, what was your foster parent like?" He only shook his head and looked away, an angry frown on his face. She got to her knees, and took his hand. "Come on Michael, if you talk about it then you'll feel better." He said nothing.

"Maria, it's none of your business!" That didn't even phase her.

"Michael, did he hurt you at all." He stood up suddenly, embarrassed.

"Maria, I'm not a child. I can take care of my self." He paused, she had this look on her face. This concerned, caring look that made him want to pour his soul out to her four times over. He turned his back on her.

"He drank allot and he knocked me around some, screamed allot, called me names and junk. Nothing i couldn't handle." There he had told her. Suddenly her tiny hands were on his shoulders, and she spun him around.

"Is that were all those bruises came from?" She asked.

"Not all of them, the first time I ran, the guy was drinking, got in to a accident. I sure know how to pick them huh? Tim had to come and pick me up. But, it wasn't as bad as when i lived with Hank. Though I guess in some ways it was worse, cause i didn't have you guys there." He pulled away from her again. "There are you happy, you know all about me. Are you happy?" He was upset, he hadn't planed on letting any of them know about his life back home. He should have known better.

"No, I'm far form Happy. Believe me. I'm sorry Michael. But your here now. And your safe, i won't let any thing happen to you. Promise." She said, walking closer again. Her voice made him feel like a child who was being promised that nothing would ever go wrong again. And, he trusted her, he really did.

"Thanks." He said. She smiled at him.

"I'll listen to you anytime Michael. You have no idea how much i missed you."

"I missed you to much for words," She smiled. "I missed all of you." Maria sniffled a little. Her eyes tearing up. She had never thought that he would have a bad life, she figured that he would have many friends. She really should have known though, Michael wasn't a easy person to get to know. But once you did, you never wanted to lose him.

Michael reached out and took Maria's hand. Before he knew what he was doing, he had covered the little space between them, and pressed his lips to hers. She didn't protest as she felt her heart sore and she wrapped her arms around him. Pulling him close.

TBC

Ok, so did yall like that? I hope so cause i really had a great time writing it. Didn't know i missed this story so much. :) Please please review! I would really love some feed back on this. What? No, I'm not scared that no one will like it.... :)

And i would also like to think every one who read it way back when. :)