Chapter 3a
Maria sighed as she swiped back a long lock of blonde hair; she went to Isabel and asked to her to lengthen it for her. Maria stared at the counter, wondering when everything had gone to hell and pinpointed it immediately.
When Tess Harding came to Roswell.
Maria moved round the counter so she was behind it and thought back to when Tess came to Roswell. Tess knew of Max, Michael and Isabel, after all, she had pictures of them so why go through the mind warp? A part of her knew that Tess was trying to get them to realise their destiny but a large part of her told her that Tess could have easily revealed herself to them then let them know. Not mind warp, no, mind rape Max into kissing her where Liz could see them and basically strip Max of every control he had.
An idea formed in her head, maybe that's what Tess wanted, to strip Max of his control so she would basically have a puppy, maybe she wanted to be in control of what Max did but his love for Liz helped him to be strong.
Her thoughts turned to Naesco again, she didn't understand why he didn't approach them and let them know, he knew what they would look like thanks to the book so why all the dancing about and why bother kidnapping Liz, he must have known that Max wasn't going to sit back and let anything happen to her, so why?
She scoffed as another answer came to her mind. To get rid of Liz. Liz had told her about what she had been through at the hands of Naesco, how Naseco was happy about handing her over to the F.B.I, it was so he could clear the way for Tess to take up her place beside Max but didn't bank on Max going after him. Another thought came to her mind, why leave Max behind? Was it punishment for Max because he risked everything to save Liz? Because she was a human being and was 'destroying' everything he worked for? To show Max he was to blame Liz for his capture? She knew Naesco and Tess wouldn't have bothered saving Liz if it were her who was captured by the F.B.I so why leave Max?
Maria clutched her head in her hands, there were so many questions and no answers and it was beginning to drive her up the walls. She couldn't trust Tess and Naseco because there were so many holes in what they were saying. It was like they held all the cards and dealt each one at a time so that they could control the game.
She looked up when she heard the bell jingle and smiled when she saw Alex step through.
"Hey Alex," she greeted as Alex moved closer to her and sat at the counter.
"Hey Maria, headache?" he asked and she nodded.
"Just trying to figure out Tess and Naesco," she told him and he looked at her, puzzled.
"How do you mean?" he asked and she sighed.
"Don't you think it's a little weird they didn't introduced themselves?" Maria asked. "I mean, Tess just mind warped Max into her kissing her and having fantasies of her without a thought for Max or Liz. She basically violated him and thinks it's alright!" Maria told her. "And Naesco kidnapping Liz, how could he not know that Max would go after him? The guy risked exposing himself to save her life, he was more than willing to risk his life for hers so why take her? And why leave Max to the F.B.I when he is suppose to protect him, he obviously wanted Liz out of the way so why leave Max?" she asked and Alex thought about it.
"Maybe they knew that Max would have never accepted them if they had left Liz behind," Alex suggested and Maria shrugged.
"It's just a little uncomfortable, beside, why couldn't he get them both out? It would have been very easy to use his powers, didn't seem to have problems doing it before," she finished, bitterly.
"Probably because Max and Liz kept running about, making it harder for him to track them," he told her and Maria shook her head and leaned in.
"Do you think Naseco wanted Max to blame Liz?" she asked and Alex looked at her, not having an answer for her.
Meanwhile at Michael's apartment, Michael was concentrating on blowing up the rocks by looking at them with Tess standing next to him, coaching him as he did so. The door opened, revealing Isabel, looking harassed.
"Hey, did you managed to get a hold of Max?" Michael asked and Isabel shook her head.
"Nope, either he's not sleeping at all or he's too far away for me to contact him," Isabel admitted and Michael swore.
"Damnit, he better come back soon, he doesn't time to be missing with Parker," Michael stated and Isabel nodded in agreement.
"No problem there, mom and dad is furious with Max, they want to know why he ran off, I told them that he just probably wanted to be with Liz and get away from everything," Isabel stated.
"Naesco did say that we have to start practicing our powers to help us defeat any enemies that will come to Roswell," Tess told her and Isabel nodded.
"Cool, call me and let me know when you want us to practice, I got me a mutt to put down," Isabel stated before leaving the apartment, leaving two confused people behind.
Meanwhile back at the Crashdown, Maria was thinking up more questions she wanted answers to. She stopped by Alex's table as he ate his fries.
"What about the F.B.I?" Maria asked and Alex looked up at her.
"What about them?" Alex asked.
"Well, we have reasons to believe that the camera had been there in Michael's apartment since he moved in right?" Maria asked and Alex nodded, confused to where it was going. "Well, Liz told me that Max healed her hickey, you know, made it go away then he used his powers to leave a glowing trail down her arms, basically, they had proof of Max being different since then, why not grab him then?" Maria asked.
"Because there would have been questions on why they bugged Michael's apartment, they had no reason to suspect Michael being different," Alex told her and she sighed, obviously annoyed at the questions.
"They didn't seem to mind when they picked Max off the street," she muttered and shook her head and sat down across from Alex. "Alex, my gut is telling me that there's more than we actually understand. They had all that evidence of Max since the shooting basically so why bother waiting all that time? Why make Max hang in the balance?" she asked and Alex shrugged.
"To make him look over his shoulder and just when he thinks things are beginning to calm down, they go in," Alex suggested and Maria shook her head.
"They went after Liz and Naesco because Naesco was leaving messages behind for Pierce, do you think that's the sign that they were waiting for? They had Max using his powers on Liz to heal the hickey and didn't do anything but they went straight after Naesco because he was leaving handprints behind?" Maria demanded.
"What, you think that Pierce and Naesco were working together?" he asked and Maria sighed.
"I don't know, we know that Naesco hated Pierce because of what Pierce did to Naesco when he was captured, which brings me to another point, Naesco has been free for like 50 years or so?" Maria asked and Alex thought about it and nodded.
"Yeah because of the handprint Liz saw from Valenti's office," Alex reminded and Maria nodded.
"Pierce was like 20/30 years old, why go after Pierce? It wasn't like Pierce did the experiment on Naesco," Maria pointed out and Alex thought about and nodded.
"Maybe it was Pierce's father?" Alex suggested and Maria sagged back in her seat.
"This is getting me nowhere, it's just too confusing," she muttered as she shook her head and got up and moved over to the counter while Alex sat there, watching his best friend with a thoughtful look when all of a sudden the door bell rang out, signalling a new customer.
Alex looked up and saw Isabel making her way over to him.
"Hey Isabel," Alex greeted and Isabel stood in front of him and glared at him.
"Listen here Whitman, I'm going to say this once and only once," Isabel told him. "Quit following me about! I don't need a puppy. If I needed one, I would go to a pet shop and get one, and it's less likely to irritate the hell out of me. And while we are still on that topic, god, can you say stalker much? You hang outside my house and stare at me all the time. Get over it! We are not going to get together; we were never going to get together. All you were a mean to an end, we had fun and you were just practice. Now stay the hell away from me!" Isabel snapped out before turning on her heels and walked out of the Crashdown, leaving everyone stunned at what just happened.
"Oh that bitch!" Maria exclaimed as she slammed down the plates and was about to go after when Jose grabbed her around the waist.
"Leave her, Alex needs you," Jose told her and she looked at Alex and felt her heart break at his devastated look and felt determinedness rise up in her, she was going to make sure that Alex forget all about the ice bitch and find someone who deserves him more than anyone else.
She turned to the drinks and poured Alex his favourite drink he drank whenever he was down, orange soda on the rocks. She moved over to the table and sat it down in front of him.
"Ignore her, you deserve better than her," Maria told him as she leaned down and kissed Alex on the cheek before walking back over to the counter, hoping to hurry up her shift so she could go and spend time with Alex and make sure that he wasn't going to depress himself over Isabel 'ice bitch' Evans anymore, not while she's still alive.
Michael sighed when he finally got his powers under control and he turned to face Tess, who nodded in approval.
"You got it down to pact," Tess told him as he grabbed a cherry coke and handed it to her, she grabbed it and added lime to her drink before they moved over to the couch and Tess curled her legs up under her body and she turned her body to face Michael. "So, do you think Max will come back?" she asked, curious and she needed to get a move on if she wanted Michael to fulfil the deal.
"Yeah, he will," Michael, stated with confidence. "Max needs to responsibilities of looking after us, he loves it," Michael told her and Tess nodded.
"Good," Tess stated. "So, how are things going with you and Maria?" she asked and Michael shook his head.
"Nothing is going between Maria and I, it's over and for good. I knew that we shouldn't form attachment as we have our planet to go back to and to save our people, Maria has nothing to do with it," Michael stated and Tess smiled, inwardly.
"That's good, I'm glad to see that one of you have your priorities straight, I hope Isabel will see the same way," Tess told him and he nodded.
"She does, she is going to Alex that they can't see each other, romantically, anymore," he explained and Tess nodded.
"What about you two? Are you planning on getting together?" Tess asked and Michael shook his head.
"No, I know our destinies says we have to get together but Isabel and I have grown up like Brothers and Sisters, it's hard for us to see beyond that," he admitted and Tess nodded.
"Of course, but what if I wanted to be with you?" she asked and Michael looked at her.
"What?" he asked and Tess smiled shyly.
"Working with you made me realise that I'm not attracted to Max," she admitted while digging her nails into the palm of her hands as she lied through her teeth. "I was wondering if we could date?" she asked and Michael looked at her, stunned at what was happening.
Meanwhile at the Crashdown, Maria was, nervously tapping her nails on the counter as she watched the clock tick slowly, she wanted to get to Alex's side and help him through what had just happened when Alex appeared at the counter, startling her.
"You do realise that a watched clock never ticks?" Alex asked and Maria grinned.
"What is it that they have different sayings for that? For example, a watched phone never rings, a watched kettle never boils, a watched door never opens?" Maria listed off and Alex laughed.
"So you don't waste time watching them so it can go faster," he told her and she laughed. "So, do you want to tell me why you were watching the clock?" he asked and she grimaced.
"Just waiting for my shift to be over and done with soon so I can spend time with my best buddy," she told him and he arched an eyebrow.
"Maria, you don't have to baby-sit me, I'm okay," he told her and she arched an eyebrow in return, causing him to duck his head slightly and nod in return. "Okay, so I'm not totally fine but I will be," Alex promised when the doorbell rang once more and they both turned to look only for Alex's jaw to drop when he saw the newcomer. "Oh wow," Alex, stated when he saw the girl walking toward him, she had long red hair that stopped mid-back and sparkling blue eyes. She was wearing a black mini skirt and a white halter-top with sandals. Maria hid her grin as she watched the scene in front of her and watched as the new girl made her way over to the counter.
"Hi, do you know a Alex Whitman?" she asked and Maria nodded as she pointed to Alex.
"That's him," Maria told her.
"Alexander Charles Whitman at your service," Alex stated and the girl laughed.
"I'm Sarah Johnson, I'm the new girl, I spoke to my teachers today and they said you were the best person to help me with computing," she told him and Alex nodded.
"Sure, when do you want help?" He asked.
"Erm, can we start tomorrow? I'm still unpacking," she explained.
"Sure," Alex told her as he grabbed a napkin, took Maria's pencil and scribbled his phone number on it and handed it to her. "Call me and let me know when," he told her and she took the napkin with a smile.
"Sure will," she told him before leaving the Crashdown and Alex stared at her retreating back as Maria watched in stunned amusement.
"Okay, who are you and what was that?" Maria asked and Alex shook his head.
"I have no idea," Alex replied then smiled. "But I like it."
TBC