Sorry for the delay...blame it on RLS, thunder storms and the job hunt. But on the plus side.....i have a new job and I got my purple belt last night in karate go me! Sorry this part is short, but it must seemed like a part that needed to be written.


Disclaimer: You know the drill…the characters aren't mine Roswell and all characters belong to Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox etc. I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: PG-13 – possibly to R

Chapter Forty-Eight Aftermath

"How's Maria?" Liz asked Michael as he opened the door to admit Isabelle and herself to the apartment.

"She says better," said Michael, "But I don't believe her. It's not something you can get over just like that." He took one of the bags from Isabelle's hands and set it on the table. Wordlessly, Liz began to unpack the food while Michael continued to speak. "I just don't know what to do about it."

"Will you please stop talking about me as if I'm not here," said Maria. She stood in the doorway leading from Michael's room, smoothing one of his shirts down on her body to make sure it covered her. "It happened, it's over with, now move on."

"It's not that simple, Maria," said Liz. "I mean, I can't imagine what you're going through right now, but if you want to talk…" her voice trailed off as she saw the look of barely concealed rage on Maria's face.

"That's right," spat Maria, venomously. "You have no idea of what I'm feeling right now. I killed someone today, but he was scum, and he deserved to die. So if I say it's no big deal, it's no big deal."

"It was a big deal," said Isabelle, her voice trembling. "And I DO know how you feel. This isn't something you should keep bottled up inside, Maria."

"Like you know ANYTHING about what I'm feeling!" shouted Maria. "You killed some stupid skin, and she withered into a big fat pile of dust and blew away. What's the matter?" she taunted. "Do you have nightmares about the big bad dust bunnies coming to get you?"

"Maria, that's enough!" yelled Michael.

"No Michael," said Isabelle. "Let her go. You're right Maria. I do have nightmares all the time. I see the hate on her face, the rage in her eyes, and then, I see it all fade away, in a millisecond, when I kill her. THEN and only then, does she turn into dust. But not a day goes by that I don't have a nightmare about what I did. I see Whitakers's face in my mind every single day, and I will for as long as I live."

"She was nothing to you, Isabelle," said Maria. "She was a skin, the enemy. I was looking at Michael, the man I love. I looked right into Michael's eyes, and I killed him." She burst into violent tears. "Oh God, I killed him. What if I had been wrong? What if it wasn't Rath? I could have killed Michael." She turned to Michael. "I could have killed you!"

Michael gathered the sobbing Maria into his arms and held her close. He looked over her head to where Isabelle and Liz sat silently.
"Thank you," he mouthed. He swept Maria up in his arms and carried her back into the bedroom.

Isabelle used her powers to reheat the food. The two girls sat down to eat as the door opened and Kyle, Ava and Max entered the apartment.

"Hey," said Kyle. "Did we miss anything?"

"No, not really," said Liz, passing the Kung Pao chicken to Ava. "It's been pretty quiet, really. How did it go with you guys?"

"Pretty straight forward," said Max, helping himself to the Sweet and Sour pork. "We dropped Rath about a half a mile from the motel, and Ava gave him one more mind warp."

"Yeah," added Ava. "I also tried something new. I tried implanting a suggestion in that cesspool he calls a mind to have him and Lonnie head back to New York."

"Do you think it will work?" asked Isabelle. "Because I for one would be more than happy for both of them to be gone. Seeing Lonnie gives me the creeps. It's like looking in a really defective fun house mirror."

"Well, I won't be sad to see them go either," said Kyle. "Having them here, puts all of us in danger. Tess by herself is bad enough, but when you add them to the mix, look out."

"Hey," said Michael, coming out of the bedroom and closing the door softly behind him. "Maria's asleep finally."

"She okay?" asked Liz.

"Yeah, she's going to be fine. Isabelle really managed to get through to her."

"What do you mean?" asked Max.

"Nothing Max, it's not important," said Liz. "We can talk about it later. Right now, we have something else to talk about, something more important."

"What is it Liz, you sound really serious," said Kyle.

"It is serious," said Liz. "And it effects all of us. So far, we've been on the defensive. I think it's time we go on the offensive. We have to take them down."