Chapter 6
Maria was sitting at the back exit of their compound, keeping her surroundings in sight and listening for any indication that she wasn´t alone. Pulling her jacket tighter around her, because the wind had picked up speed and the air was colder in the night, she wondered why she had volunteered to have night watch duty tonight. Glancing at the wide expanse of trees bending to the breeze, she was thinking about her current dilemma, namely the return of Michael, Max and Isabel. Even if the Evan´s siblings weren´t exactly a problem for her, her mind always drifted to her former boyfriend more often than she wanted to admit. Since he was there she felt younger, carefree and able to do anything. It was weird to think that one person could change her mood so drastically and especially one like Michael Guerin. He usually had brought her on the brink to either slug him or bang her head on a hard surface until she could ban her love for him completely and make her life a little less complicated. Unfortunately he wasn´t the main reason for her troubled emotions, there was still Rath to consider. Kyle had been right about one thing, she had to think about him, too. And everything wouldn´t be so complicated if she wouldn´t love him the way she did now. Thinking about all the times he had been there to comfort her or listened to her complains or just was there to hold her, she knew that she wouldn´t have managed everything without him. He had been her rock throughout the bad times, her best friend throughout the good times and her lover inbetween. She didn´t want to imagine a life without him in it and she couldn´t stand the thought to lose him. But that was where her problems began, because she loved both men. Shaking her head she tried to concentrate on her task and not on her emotional well being. Smelling smoke she turned her head around and was stunned to see Rath leaning at the wall behind her, a cigarette in his right hand and taking deep breathes here and there.
" I thought you quit".
Rath gazed at her through the smoke, hating her for making him break his promise he had given to her a long time ago. But he needed to feel the heavy tar staining his lungs and giving him the satisfaction of knowing that every drag was bringing him closer to his death. " Yeah, but I couldn´t resist".
Maria noticed that something had changed between them and she knew why that was. She had never felt this strange in his presence, not even when they had barely knew each other. They were slowly drifting apart, she could feel it in her guts and she had absolutely no clue how she could stop it. " Where have you been at dinner? I´ve missed you".
" Like you noticed my absence", Rath didn´t mean it so harsh like it had sounded and he regretted it the moment he saw her sad eyes staring back at him. He felt like the biggest jerk on this planet and probably on any other planet, too. He couldn´t just let his bad mood out on her, she didn´t deserve his treatment. " I´m sorry I didn´t mean it like that".
Maria was afraid if she didn´t fix this tension between them, she would lose him forever and she wasn´t able to live with the knowledge to have hurt one of the most important person in her life. " Sit down and talk to me. I can´t stand to have you mad at him".
Rath flicked the rest of his cigarette away in the dark night and placed his nice butt besides her, still keeping a little distance from her. He sensed that this conversation would be either breaking his heart or bring them closer together, which the latter was the least possible in his opinion. " I´m not mad at you. I can´t be mad at you, you know that".
" But I feel that something is changing. You´re avoiding me and I don´t like it", Maria brushed her hand through her slightly longer hair, making a few strands falling back in her face and she thought automatically at the long evenings when Rath was playing with her hair while she read a book to him. It was sort of a habit from them, one she didn´t want to stop.
Rath sighed audible and it was even louder in the silence engulfing them. Staring at the darkness, he tried to find the right words to describe what was going on inside him. Even after all this time it was hard for him to open up to her, at least with his feelings. He was afraid she would think he was a wussy or worse that she would laugh at him. But he was making an afford and that was more than anyone could expect from him. " Yeah, it´s just so hard to see you so familiar with HIM".
Maria had suspected that much already, immediately knowing who HIM was. The arrival of Michael had brought too much on the surface they had wanted to forget or had buried so deep that they thought it would never come up again. Sadly they were mistaken and now everything was there, right under their nose. " So, are you intending to avoid me as long as he´s here or what is your solution?".
" I´m giving you up so that you can be with him again", Rath felt his black heart crumbling inside his chest, raging against his decision and making him fight to hold his tears back. He had never thought he would see the day when he would cry because of a woman and yet here he was trying to blink tears away.
Maria noticed her eyes filling with tears at his words, but more out of anger than sadness. She couldn´t believe him that he just made this decision without her, without giving her a chance to defend herself or say something. It wasn´t just him in this relationship, she was part of this, too. Every decision had to be made from both sides. " So that´s it? I don´t have a say in the matter? You´re just giving up on us without hearing my side?".
Rath was stunned about her outburst, having counted on her to be content with his decision. Turning to her confused he tried to read her expression, making sure that he just heard her right. Seeing the tears glistening in the moon light, he wondered if she just had said that because she didn´t want to lose his friendship or him in general. " It´s better. We both know that I just had been the replacement, the rebound, the substitute".
" How dare you say that to me", Maria slapped him so quick that she didn´t even realize what she had done until she saw his cheek with an angry red handprint. Jumping to her feet she didn´t even feel sorry for her violent reaction. Pacing in front of him she tried to cool down before she killed him. " I can´t believe you just said that. Have I ever given you the impression that I wasn´t honest to you? Or that I thought what we had was nothing? Then I´m sorry for making you feel that way".
Rath put his hand on the spot where her open palm had connected with his skin and he was thankful that it just had been her hand and not the weapon she was carrying around in the belt she had around her waist. Standing up he stopped her from making a whole in the ground under them. " I´m sorry for hurting you. Of course you never made me feel like I was feeling more towards you than you´re feeling towards me. But I watched you and Michael, your eyes started to sparkle happily when you saw him, the last time I saw that expression on you had been when Xander started to call you mommy".
Maria rubbed her face, feeling the strain of the last years more than she had ever felt it before. She had enough to worry about, she didn´t need the extra weight of this problem on her shoulders. But she was sure that if she didn´t do anything she would probably hurt someone in the process and she was afraid it would be her. " I´m not denying the fact that I felt happy when I saw him or that I still feel a lot towards him. But that doesn´t necessarily mean what you and I have means nothing to me. I love you just I has loved him".
" And what does that mean exactly now?", he wasn´t about to share her with someone else, even if the guy was like him. But he was a creedy bastard and he would never allow any other male to be so close to her, no matter what she would think about him if she could hear what he was thinking.
Maria shrugged very much clueless than he was. She wished sometimes she would have all the answers to every question in the world. But truthfully she was just a smalltown girl stuck in a war that was so out of her league that she still was in awe how long she had managed to survive. " I don´t know. Maybe we don´t have to worry at all, I mean five years is a long time and we´re not the same people we had been. Maybe Michael doesn´t feel the same for me like he had then".
Rath raised his eyebrow disagreeingly at her, knowing enough about the body language to understand that he wasn´t the only one drawn to her. His dupe may have been gone for a long time but his feelings for her were pretty much the same, maybe even more so. It looked like he had to work hard to keep her at his side from now on. " I wouldn´t count on it".
" You worry too much", Maria stepped closer to him, smelling the familiar scent of sweet mixed with spicy clinging to him with a small touch of smoke. She would never get tired of sniffing his scent and feeling safe and protected. Pulling him down to her level she kissed him, smiling at his eagerness and the way his hands started to wander. Pushing him softly away from her, she remembered that they were in the open and everyone could see them. " I hate you, you´re distracting me from my duty. And now I have to sit out there alone when my body is throbbing painfully".
Rath chuckled satisfied, even though he didn´t feel any different. His pants had shrunk and some body part was squished so bad that he was sure that he would be walking funny. She always made him lose control as soon as she was so close with her clean scent, her beautiful green emeralds glistening mischief in the dark and the tender way she was touching him. " I could help you with the throbbing and with that you take care of my throbbing".
Maria put her forehead on his chest, feeling a flush covering her face. Even after all this time they had been intimate with each other, he made her feel embarrassed about his casualness to talk about sex like that. Sometimes it happened that she blushed in the middle of a meeting when she took a peek in his mind and he was doing naughty things with her, things she wouldn´t have been brave enough to admit openly. " I have to make sure that no one is going to attack tonight"
" I could probably find someone else to do the job if you wanted", Rath brushed her hair away from her neck and started to suck at her pulse point, making sure to apply extra attention on the spot behind her ear that was driving her crazy. Hearing the quiet purring coming from her he was sure that he could get her to agree with him.
Maria had to bite back the moan threaten to escape her at his ministration, cursing him for knowing all her sensitive spots. She was on the brink to forget all of her good intentions and skip this night watch when she sensed another presence near them. Stiffening she stopped Rath in the middle of his seduction. " We´re not alone anymore".
Rath immediately went on alert, stunned that he hadn´t picked that up already. Glancing at her he saw that she wasn´t scared, which meant that whoever it was, wasn´t from Khivar´s men. Turning around he tried to find the intruder, who in return noticed that he had been detected and came out of the dark corner he had been hiding. Rath was more than just pissed about the person interrupting him. " I should have known that you couldn´t keep away from her".
" I´m sorry, I got lost somewhere", Michael knew that his excuse sounded even lame in his ears and he was angry at himself for not coming up with something better. But his blood wasn´t exactly at the place it was supposed to be and it was hard enough to formulate a straight sentence without sounding like a retard.
Rath smiled scornfully at the obvious lie, already pondering if he should let it slide or if he should telling him straight on that he was a liar. Enjoying the discomfort of the other man he decided to let his dupe sweat it out. " Then I have to help you find the way again. Just good that I was on my way back anyway".
Michael scratched his eyebrow, making a nervous impression and appearing like he was trying to find the right words. Letting his eyes wander from Maria to his dupe, he was afraid to provoke more trouble between them. " Well, I wanted to talk to her. Alone".
" That´s fine, Rath was just on the way to check on Xander and Cordelia", Maria knew that this conversation was unavoidable and she would be rather get it out of the way as soon as possible. Throwing her lover a stern glance when she noticed his startled expression, she was two seconds away from stomping her foot. Relieved she noted that he wasn´t fighting her on that and with an angry growl at his dupe he left.
Michael recognized the possessive look in the other man´s eyes and he knew that he should better sleep with one eye open this night if he wanted to wake up at all tomorrow. Waiting until he was sure that he and Maria were the only people present he lent against the wall his dupe had been earlier and glanced at her. " So".
Maria tried to hide her amusement about his attempt to look casual, struggling to find the beginning for the conversation. Sitting down again she motion for him to take the spot besides her. She knew he wasn´t good at small talk and he had never been someone that wanted to talk much aside from things considering their alien heritage or sport, well and maybe to argue with her. " So, do you have slowly acclimated to the different atmosphere?".
" Yeah mostly. But some things I still have to get used to", Michael let his eyes roam over the nature so different and yet so alike like the one he had seen on Antar, well the few things he had been able to see from his prison cell. The only thing he had been allowed to do in the small space.
Maria knew instantly that he wasn´t talking about the change in planets and she felt sorry for him. He had thought he would be coming home to the people he loved and to the town that had been giving him shelter. But now everything was in shambles and the world as he knew it was gone. " You will get used to it. You will see you have intigrated into our family in no time".
Michael wasn´t so sure about that, knowing that he wasn´t someone that fitted everywhere. He out of the three aliens had a hard time to built trust towards people outside their group. And seeing that Isabel had immediately looked like she was belonging to this people for a long time, spending most of her time exchanging sweet glances with her husband while Max was really busy with listening to his son talking about all the things he had missed during the time he had been away hadn´t been helping Michael in any way. " I doubt that. Everyone has its place and I´m the only one feeling left out. But that´s okay, I´m used to that".
" That feels like that now, but believe me it will pass. I´m speaking from experience", Maria had needed a long time to get to the position she held now. The first time she had come here everyone had intimidated her with their ability to defend themself while she was just a scared human girl having barely escaped death. Liz and Kyle at least had been having the advantage of alien powers, Brody and Sean had been men while she was the damsel in mistress.
Michael heard the sad note in her voice and he wondered how much hits she had been receiving to make her so guarded and so unlike the girl he had left all those years. " What happened when were gone?".
Maria shook her head, trying to banish the picture of the many dead bodies lining the streets, the buildings crumbled to a heap on the ground, people screaming after help others crying over dead family members, friends or even lovers. It was still something that haunted her at night and made her afraid to go to sleep sometimes. Usually the only thing helping her sleep was the use of pills Brody gave her.
" I think it was a day after you were all gone. I waited for you at the front porch, excited that we had finally time again to do something together without being too busy with work or your new friends. I stood there like an idiot for a few hours until I stormed angrily in the house again, trying to call you. When I couldn´t reach you I was cursing like a sailor, phoning Liz to complain to her. She tried to calm me down, saying that it wasn´t so unusual for you to forget dates with me. Believe me I had hoped you had been in an accident, because I wouldn´t allow any other excuse. The next day we noticed that neither you or Izzy or Max had been in school and we thought it was probably something alien. But as soon as the sun was getting down I knew that something was wrong. So I went to your aparment to look for some clue and I found the slip of paper on the coffee table, telling that if you wanted to protect your beloved ones you should come to the pod chamber. Naturally I drove there and found the chevelle standing there alone, the key in the ignition. I called Liz, explaining the situation to her and she told me to come to her, because she had news. I knew as soon as I stepped in her room that something had been going down and it got confirmed when she told me that she was pregnant from Max. We talked through the whole night, comforting each other and making plans for her, telling Jim and Kyle about the situation. Jim immediately offered to take her in if her parents should make trouble and that we both could always come to him", she stopped, swallowing to get her throat working. If she would have known how long her speech would be getting she would have taken a glass of water with her.
" The next day we both talked to Mr. Parker about the pregnancy and as soon as the screaming began I walked away, after all I had to work. At some point Liz stormed past me out of the crashdown, her father hot on her trail while I was on my way to get the garbage in the dumpster at the back. I was so worried about my best friend that I threw the bag with too much force and I ended up landing inside the dumpster myself. I tried to climb out of it, the smell making me sick when some explosion hit the dumpster with so much power that it got knocked over and landed on my right leg. I don´t know how long I was trapped under the heavy thing, but in my panic I lifted the thing with no problems and pushed it away from me. Scared I glanced up and saw that the crashdown wasn´t there anymore, just a pile of stones was there. I think I was in shock because I stood up and walked over the mess, trying not to step over someone. Here and there I saw body parts lying around, blood everywhere. But I quickly realized that nobody had survived, aside from me. When I stumbled on the street, Jim stopped with squeaking tires in front of me, immediately coming at my side to support me. He was talking to me, but I didn´t understand a word he said. So he put me in his jeep and searched in the mess that had been the Crash down for any survivors, which he of course didn´t find. Then he drove me to the hospital where a few people already got treated for small injuries from the explosion. But as soon one of the doctors saw me he immediately put me into the next examination room, Jim never leaving my side. Everything was a blur for me, I heard a few bits of the conversation around me, a slight concussion, an outright breach on my right leg, scatches and bruises, but nothing dangerous. I just came out of it when one of the nurses cleaned the wound on my leg and I felt the first stinging of the anticept. Instantly I asked after Liz and her father, Jim told me that he didn´t have the chance to look properly at the crime scene and he already put his deputies to work and as soon as he knew something he would tell me what happened to them. Then I heard Mr. P´s voice outside, screaming for help for his pregnant daughter. Liz just suffered a broken wrist, but her father had been making a ruckus like she was on the brink to die. Then I thought about my mother and that she was probably worried where I was and what happened to me, so I told Jim about it. He said that he already taken care of that and Amy was on her way to the hospital, which we immediately noticed when she went on a rampage outside, demanding to see her daughter instantly or there was hell to pay", quietly chuckling she thought about the fact that her mother had been already pregnant at that point. Nobody had realized that she and the Sheriff had maybe stopped being a couple but sometimes met to have sex. It had been strange to her and Kyle to find that out.
" Are you sure you want to know everything? You´re probably tired and have better things to do".
Michael had been so encrossed in hearing her voice again that he was thrown for a moment when he realized that she was talking to him. Shaking his head he flushed slightly when he noticed that he probably could sit here with her forever just to listen to her. " No no. I want to know all of it. So what happened after that?".
" Well, after I was done recovering and able to use my leg again, Kyle, Liz and Jim told me about their investigations about the attack. They had found out that everyone in the Crashdown had died and that it had been the only place getting destroyed, which meant someone was either after me or Liz. My suspicion was immediately on Liz, seeing as she was the one carrying the next generation of the King. Days later I was on my way to Brody, trying to find out if he could help me with some investigation on my own when some guy grasped my shoulders and told me that we should give the granilith to its rightful owner if we wanted to save our lifes. I told him straight on that I had no clue what he was talking about and that if he wanted to keep his arm he should pull it back. But he warned me that I just made the biggest mistake of my life. A week later Roswell was gone and with that most of the people. It was a miracle that we survived at all, even if we lost Nancy Parker, Charles and Rachel Whitman, Philip Evans and Sydney Davis in the process", Maria had to bite back her tears when she thought about Brody´s reaction to the death of his daughter, the anguish and pain in his voice when he held the small body in his arms crying to violently that everyone around him had been in tears as well. At that point everyone had been willing to fight back, knowing that their chances to survive had been more than impossible. But nobody had wanted to go down without a fight and so a few people had gathered together to kick alien ass.
" We fought back as good as we could, hiding in the basement of UFO-Center by night, which had been relative unharmed. We took everything we could and were building weapons out of it. For weeks we defended our small hideaway from aliens trying to get inside, making my suspicious about them after Liz true, because she and my mother were the only ones staying indoors, seeing as they had been pretty much pregnant. Then one day I got distracted from a presence I thought I would feel nearby. It took me five seconds to realize that it wasn´t you but your dupe. Unfortunately it took the skin three seconds to use my distracted state to strike. Before I knew what was happening I was being flung at the ground, but not from a blast. Instead Rath was lying on me, smiling brightly and telling me that I should be careful. He had been looking so unlike and yet so like you that I was thrown for a moment until my mind finally caught on with my body. Immediately I pushed him away from me, saying that he either should be helpful or piss off, which he found amusing. He kept at my side throughout the battle and we seemed to be really hitting it off together", chuckling she remembered the easy way he had appeared to be using his powers, trying to impress her with his stamina as he had told her. Sadly that had almost cost him his life. Turning her eyes on the dark sky above them she still felt the sticky blood flowing through her fingers which she had pressed on his aorta fighting to keep him from bleeding out. She hadn´t cared about the battle around her, she just had the thought to keep him alive. It was silly but she hadn´t been able to lose someone that had been looking like Michael, not as long as she was breathing.
" Rath got hurt pretty bad and I sat with him for hours, trying to distract him from the blood flowing out of his throat. At some point the army came, taking us with them and giving us a place to stay. Obviously Rath got better and I was almost everyday with him, talking to him or just made sure that he was eating. He wasn´t exactly happy to be pampered and he was sometimes more than rude, but I got used to his nature and treated him with the same respect he treated me. Someday he stopped refering to me as Bitch, because he hadn´t liked the way I was calling him Dick and we built some strange friendship. He was teaching me to be tougher and I was teaching him to be more friendly. And let me tell you that hadn´t been a pleasant matter".
Michael could picture that, inwardly smiling at the patience she had to be having. He didn´t know his dupe as well as she did, but he was pretty sure he wasn´t exactly a good student in that area. The only time he had been having contact was in the UFO-Center and he had been irritated with his twin. " I can see that. But it had worked".
" Yeah now, but it had been a long way to that", shaking her head she was still in awe how long it had been that Rath and her were knowing each other. Despite their first slight dislike towards each other they had found a common ground and that had brought them together in more than one way. He had seen her in her worst days and still was at her side, believing and trusting in her, although there had been times when she wanted to give up.
" But we´re getting off topic here. So Rath and I we were spending a lot of time together, exercising, talking and I felt that something deeper was developing between us and I wasn´t comfortable with that, because I was still hoping that you would be coming back and we would be continue where we left off. Then someone broke into the compound and kidnapped Liz. I had been playing with my one month old sister when I heard that. Immediately I was on my feet and on my way to the armory, arming myself heavily and marching towards the exit to find my best friend, who had been still pregnant at the point. Rath stepped in my way, screaming at me that I couldn´t go out there and without any back up, that I didn´t even know where I had to go. He shook me so hard that I thought he wanted to kill me, I´ve never seen him so angry at me before and it even worked. I calmed down slightly and we instantly planned a rescue mission, which needed more time than we had thought because we found the location where Liz was held a little later. So Rath, me, Sean, Kyle and Ava were on our way there and everything went smoothly. Too smoothly, we found Liz and Xander quickly and took them with us. Rath had held the baby while the other three were making sure that nothing would be in our way. I was holding Liz up and she had been pretty beaten, bruised and scared. We were falling behind the others and I was so busy with concentrating of bringing my best friend to the compound that I realized too late that Liz had snatched my weapon out of my belt and hit the back of my head with it. When I crashed on the ground I saw her smile down at me, her bruisings disappearing and her scared expression changing into a mocking one. She pulled a small dagger out of her clothes, threatening me with it, telling me that I should give up and join Khivar´s side, because we would die either way if we wouldn´t surrender. I told her that this would never happen and we started fighting", breathing evenly she hoped that her anger towards her best friend wasn´t visible on her face. The words Liz had flung at her had been more hurtful than the blows she had dished out. Not even when she felt the dagger going into her flesh had she felt so much pain than the lies she had been forced to listen to.
" I lost the fight against her, but only because she had been having back up in the form of Khivar while I had been alone without weapon or alien powers. Thankfully Rath and the others came back, making Liz and her new friend leave immediately. I vaguely heard Rath when he kneeled at my side, taking my hand and trying to talk to me. The only thing I understood was that he wanted me to look in his eyes and I saw the devastation in his glance, the knowledge that if I should die he would die as well. He built a connection with me to keep me alive until Ava came back with the healing stones. Kyle and Sean were there, too. But I was so focused on Rath that I barely registered their presence. After a while I wasn´t strong enough to battle anymore and I was on the brink to close me eyes. Of course Rath wasn´t having any of that and hissed at me that if I would give up he would follow me to hell and kick my ass. So I held on for a little longer. And Here I am, alive and kicking".
Michael couldn´t believe what she had been through and what his dupe had taken on himself to keep her alive. He promised himself to have a little talk to Rath in the future to thank him for everything he had done. But he would wait until they would like each other more or got to know each other better. " Wow. So how did your Mom and Jim die? You haven´t mention them".
Maria´s face fell at that, making it apparent that it was an off topic and he had crossed a invisible line. Her jaw was moving angrily under her skin and her eyes got glassy all of the sudden. " I can´t talk about that. Not yet".
" Okay, whatever you want. Do you know what happened to make Liz change sides?".
Maria shrugged, having questioned herself that for so long and she wasn´t even close to find the answer to that one. Maybe her friend had been brainwashed, possessed or it had been a shapeshifter and Liz had been already dead. But why did the creature have that much information about things that just both girls knew then? " No, I don´t know", turning her attention back to him she stared at his face. " So what´s your story".
Michael thought about the arrival on their homeplanet, knowing that they didn´t want to be there. Getting treated like a criminal, people looking away, Khivar´s men pushing them into the prison cells. Sitting in the small space, wondering how long they had to live, if their beloved ones would know that they hadn´t been gone willingly from them and if they would ever get the chance to say goodbye forever. The escape, the hiding in the nature from a planet they didn´t know, finding Larek and planning a way to get back to their home. And then the day they managed to find a way to earth, smelling the unique scent from the planet and seeing the familiar places. " Well, we went into the podchamber, got trapped there, sent on Antar, held prisoner for some time. Escaped and hid in the woods or what we called woods, were found from some renegades under the command of Larek, working on a plan to get back and viola, we´re here".
" Great, you´re as tight lipped as I remember you. Care to explain a few things?", Maria tried to make her amusemtent not so apparent, she didn´t want to make him mad. But she told him everything, okay she left a few things out to save time while he told her the outlines. Rolling her eyes she wondered what she had expected, she was after all talking to Michael Guerin.
Michael smiled at her, knowing that she wouldn´t just take his small bits, she wanted to know the full details. But there wasn´t anything interesting to tell, nobody died, nobody had been harmed too bad and nobody was gone from their group. " No, maybe someday when you´re ready to tell me about Jim and Amy".
Maria thought it was a perfect Jack Nicholson Deal, as good as it gets. Nodding at him she was thrown when he took her hand and kissed the back of it softly. Suddenly he was looking up, having heard something in the dark. Seconds later she found the reason for the noise. They weren´t alone any longer.
TBC