Chapter 49c New problems on the horizont
Maria was still sitting on the ground and tried to calm down her little sister, who had stopped crying a few minutes ago and was now strangly quiet, like she had fallen asleep. That wouldn´t be such a wonder after the night she had behind her. She could be glad that she was alive, because a mind rape could destroy your brain completely and all that would be left was a drooling heap of something. Maria had seen one time what Nicolai was capable of and it hadn´t been a nice sight. He enjoyed killing people and loved it to hear them beg for their lifes. She couldn´t understand how he got that way, because she was the exact opposite from him and that even though she grew up in the same invironment as him.
" Can we go home? I don´t want to be here anymore".
Maria jumped slightly when she heard the question. She had been too deep in her thoughts and hadn´t noticed that her sister wasn´t sleeping, but rather looking at her. " Of course we can go home. Just let me check something first", slowly she released Lindsey and arose in a standing position. Then she walked to the others, who seemed to be ready to go, too.
" Is she alright?", Larek asked as soon as Maria was besides him. He worried about both girls, because one wouldn´t know how close she had been to dying and the other would berate herself for not protecting her sister.
Maria nodded weakly while she felt the arms of Michael encircle her body. He was tenderly stroking her back under her shirt and she detected that it calmed her slightly. " I just came over, because I wanted to know if I should tell my father something about Nicolai in case he will come again or if I should keep my mouth shut".
In that moment Hanson walked back to the group of people. Grinning brightly he put his cellphone back into his pants. " Everything set. The sheriff will be at the hospital in ten minutes".
" What? What is going on? And what are you doing here?", Maria was feeling out of the loop at the moment and she didn´t like it. This evening was getting from bad to worse and she just wanted to crawl in her bed and never wake up again.
Hanson almost forgot that Maria had been too busy with her sister that she hadn´t witnessed his perfect appearing, hence she must be surprised to see him. " I´ll tell you later. But now we have to go to the hospital".
Maria turned to the faces around her to see if they knew what was happening here. Obviously she was the only one not in the knowing. Did she fall asleep and hadn´t noticed it? Or did time stop just for her and everyone had been moving on? " What is going on and I won´t ask again. I want answers and I will beat them out of everybody if I have to".
" We just made up a story for your parents. We told your father that Nicholas had been a little too wild and we heard your sister and well, there was a tiny fight. Hanson heard the ruckus and he chased Nicholas away", Michael knew that it was healthier to let her into the plan. She didn´t say things she didn´t mean. He still had a few scratched on his back from her from when he refused to tell her what he and her brother had been talking on their fishing trip.
Maria thought about the gasket her father would blow. He had been against the idea of sending his youngest daughter on a date with a possible criminal from the beginning and now he would know he was right about his objections. Lindsey would be allowed to go out on a date when she was fifty or older. " That´s really good. Could be coming from me".
Corly saw in Marias face and registere the painful expression there. Worriedly she stepped closer to the other girl and eyed her closer. " You don´t look so good. Are you not feeling well?".
" It´s nothing. It will probably be gone by tomorrow", Maria hissed slightly and moved to the side when Michael found the spot who hurt the most. He just grazed the place and she already thought she had to jump out of her skin.
Michael noticed the reaction and wondered what she had been hiding from him. Curiously he touched the point again and suddenly his fingers felt something wet. Shocked he pulled his hand back and saw it smeared with blood. " Oh shit. Take your jacket off".
Maria glared at him, not only did he continue poking her injury and cause her more pain than she already had, but now he wanted her to make a strip in front of others. Not gonna happen. " We don´t have time for that. We have to get Lindsey to the hospital. My father will be mad when we´re not there".
" I don´t care about that. Take off your jacket or I will do it", Michael wasn´t kidding and everybody knew it. Even Kyle and Tess felt his anger, although they were sitting besides Lindsey and watched the action from afar.
Maria relented, because she knew that he would stick to his guns. God he was like her father. A pitbull who didn´t let go of his victim once he had it. Slowly she stripped off her jacket and threw it on the ground. Then she turned her body around so that Michael could look at her little scratch. But when she heard the intake of breath coming from the others she knew that it probably looked worse than she thought. Confused she tugged the side of her white cardigan forward and saw a large red stain on it. Surprised she looked up at the others. " Ups. It´s bigger than I thought".
Immediately Hanson pulled out a white handkerchief from his jacket and gave it to her in order to stop the blood flow a little. Grateful she took the offered material and pushed it on her wound, while Michael bent down and fetched her jacket before it got dirty. After that he put his hands under his girlfriends feet and lifted her in his arms easily.
" We´re buzzing off now".
Maria would have gladly given her boyfriend a hard time for treating her like some weak little wifey and tell him that she didn´t need his help, she could walk alone. But she knew that it was useless to argue with him, especially when he let the commander out to play. " You know I have two healthy legs I can walk on".
Michael smiled down at her. He liked this position much more. Although he loved her stubborn, bitching and independent character, he had to admit he could get used to this softer side of her. He felt like a normal boy taking care of his injured girlfriend. " I know. But this will look more real in case someone should see us. You know as part of our story".
" In that case forget what I just said", Maria wrapped her arms around Michaels neck and snuggled her head on his chest, all the while trying to forget the pain shooting through her body with every step her boyfriend took. He made an attempt to be careful, but sometimes he moved wrong and his arm would dig on her wound. She was thankful when they finally made it to Hansons police car and she was securely sitting in the backseat with Lindsey.
Hospital
Hanson and Michael were pacing the waiting area while Tess and Kyle had made themself comfortable on the ugly brown seats. Lindsey was just going though the standard check up for rape victims and Maria was being treated because of her injury. Everybody was on edge and looking at the entrance every few seconds, when they weren´t watching the doors in which the girls disappeared or eyeing their watch. Suddenly two person were hastily storming towards them with enough noise to wake the dead.
" Where is my daughter?".
Kyle stood up from his place and released Tess´ hand in the process. She had offered him small comfort with this gesture. But nothing could calm him down at the moment. However it was a relieve to see his parents here " She´s still in the examination room".
Amy put her face in her hands and started to cry violently. Instantly Jim embraced her and caressed her back lovingly. He whispered things in her ear and lead her to the plastic chairs. He sat her down besides Tess, who had probably chewed all her fingernails down to the flesh by now. For a few seconds everybody watched the interaction between the married couple until they thougth it was better to leave them be. Michael and Hanson started to pace again and where taking turns looking at the doors. Kyle leant his body against the white wall and rubbed his face.
" Where is Maria?", Jim finally noticed the missing person. Worried he scanned the corridor for the familiar blonde head. But he couldn´t see his daughter anywhere. Questionely he faced his son, who was guilty watching away, then Michael, who had stopped pacing for a moment and tried to look everywhere just not in his eyes.
Hanson saw that nobody had the guts to tell Jim the truth, so he took the task of doing it. Slowly he stepped besides his boss. " Maria will be treated at the moment, but don´t worry it´s nothing serious".
At that Jim lost his cool. Angrily he grapsed his Deputy at his collar and got in his face. He wanted to hurt somebody and he wanted to do it now. Just like someone tried to hurt his little girls. " I want this boy found and killed. I don´t care how long it is taking but every available man will be looking for this bastard. We´re sending out posters with his photo and search parties".
" Jim. Think about what you´re saying. You could lose your job because of this", Hanson was scared of his boss´ sanity. He could understand his anger, after all his daughters were involved and got hurt in his town. But it wasn´t a justification to get all Rambo on this whole thing.
Jim sat down and shook his head vigorously. Like he cared about his job when his daughters had been caused pain. He wanted punishment and he wanted to be the one causing it. He wouldn´t rest until the culprit was found and he could give him what he deserved. " You don´t have to tell me that. I´m well aware of the law. But when you have children and you get the call from a Deputy telling you that your daughter almost got raped and is on her way to the hospital, then I want to see how rational you will be".
Hanson had to admit that Jim had a point there. If his family was on the line, he wouldn´t care about wrong and right. But before he could tell his boss that, Lindsey stepped out of the examination room. Her eyes were red and her make up all over her face. The moment she noticed her parents she started to cry again while her mother jumped from the chair and stormed to her daughter to embrace her. A doctor walked quietly out of the room and went directly towards Jim, who was again in a standing position.
" What is the verdict Doc?".
The doctor smiled reassuringly at the sheriff. They both knew each other a little. They worked together at a few cases. " Lindsey doesn´t have a scratch on her. There are no indication for a rape, nor traces of a fight in any kind. She´s absolutely healthy. Except for missing memories, which will be coming back in a few days".
Jim breathed out relieved and tried to hide the tears welling up in his eyes. He was so thankful that nothing more had happened and that his youngest daughter was spared the pain that followed after getting attacked from someone they thought was a friend. " I´m glad to hear that, George".
" I´m glad to tell you that", George stared at the record in his hand. He was happy that he finally had the chance to say something good at this day. He already had to explain a young couple that their two year old son died because of a pneumonia, tell a man that he lost his wife and their unborn child and break the news of Leukemia to a young girl, who was exercising for a marathon.
Suddenly another door went open and Maria was making her way towards her friends. She was slightly limping and there was a big patch looking out under her cardigan, which looked worse in the fluorescenting light. Almost the whole right side was blood soaked and a few spots were sporting little holes. Jim gapsed loudly at the sight of his daughter and went instantly to her. Carefully he wrapped his arms around her. " Oh my god! What did that son of a b to you?".
Maria was surprised about the bad word her father just said. He wasn´t someone that used cusses too often. In fact, she could count the few times he uttered them. But she enjoyed the warm embrace and the fact that her parents were worried about her. " It´s nothing Dad. Just a slight laceration, which got sewn up already and a light bruise. Everything will be healing soon".
" I don´t know if I should be mad at you for jumping into a dangerous situation or proud because you saved your sister", Jim was debating with himself what he should do with his daughters. He was already thinking about never letting them out of his sight again and hiring bodyguards to protect them. Maybe he should make a trip to the hardware store and buy the alarm system he always wanted, but his wife told him they didn´t need.
Maria knew that this sentence would be uttered from her father. But she was too wasted to listen to the lecture she would be getting. Besides she was so doped up with pain killers that she probably would only hear the half of it and even forget that part by morning. " Not tonight, please. You can be mad at me tomorrow".
Jim pushed his daughter softly away from him and stared in her eyes. She was right, it had been a pretty long and eventful night. " Okay. Let´s get the others and we can go". With a kiss on Marias forehead he walked to his wife and his youngest daughter.
" How bad is it really?", Michael had shown enough patience already and now he wanted to know the truth. He had been with her emotionally and he had felt her pain. That wasn´t just a little scratch no matter what she was trying to sell him and he had sensed a small amount of panic for a moment, which had him worried.
Maria watched out of the corner of her eyes after her family. She didn´t want them to overhear them, because she didn´t want them to know about her not from this world status. Slowly she bent closer to him and snaked her arms around his middle so that it appeared like they were snuggling. Then she pulled his head down. " We have to come back tomorrow or else we´re fed up".
Michael furrowed his brow confused while he appeared to stroke her head tenderly. What had happened behind those white doors, that had her so worried? " Why? What is going on?".
" I was x-rayed and they saw a broken bone that had pushed through my skin. When the doctor wanted to check the wound he witnessed the said bone mending itself", Maria was scared that the wrong people learned about her secret. She knew that most humans feared what they didn´t know and she had watched enough science fiction movies where aliens had been pictured as the enemy or even as soulless creature to imagine what they would do to her if they should ever hear about her that she was a reincarnation of an alien princess/soldier.
Michael´s eyebrows almost reached to his hairline and his heart seemed to pound against his ribcage. Uh Uh, that wasn´t a good sign. In fact it was worse than worse. It was a nightmare they all tried to avoid as much as possible. " Are you sure that he saw it? Can´t we just tell him that he imagined everything?".
Maria shook her head sadly. If it would have been so easy she would have done it already and not alarmed him instead. They had prove in the form of radiographs and that wasn´t something that they could talk away. " Yeah. How do you want to explain him the difference between my actual wound, which is a laceration and a bruise in all colors of the rainbow and my radiographs where everybody can see a bone piercing through flesh?"
" Well, I didn´t think about that actually", Michael was already thinking about a plan to get the pictures and the papers about her. They couldn´t risk to be exposed at the moment, it wasn´t too good to be exposed at all. Especially in a town like Roswell.
Maria saw over her boyfriends shoulder that her family was waiting for them. They were all standing at the door and staring in their direction. " We can talk more about it later. I think the others want to go home".
Michael released his girlfriend and followed her sight. He catched his sisters eyes and he knew that she noticed something was brewing, he could see it in her glance. Maybe it was finally time to talk to her and Kyle. They should know what had been happening the last two days and that they should prepare themself for the upcoming shock about the appearance of certain people. " I think it´s time to tell your brother and Tess the truth".
" I agree. But now let´s go", Maria was in the process to start walking when she was swept of her feet and felt the strong arms of Michael securely holding her tight at his body. Surprised she looked up at him and gazed in his smiling face. " You just do that to impress my father, don´t you?".
Michael chuckled slighty at the accusation. No he didn´t need to impress Jim any longer, he already had the seal of approval. This carrying her around was just a way to make amends with her, after his failed attempt at protecting her and getting her hurt. Besides he saw Richard Gere doing this in one of his movies and the girls loved it. " Now honey, don´t tell me you don´t like it?".
Maria didn´t say anything, she just bent closer to him and kissed him shortly. She had been glad he came out unharmed out of this whole mess. She wouldn´t have handled it well if he had been hurt because of her. She just hoped that it stayed that way.
Examination room
A middle aged man with dark blonde hair was sitting in front of the radiographs of Maria Valenti. He eyed them with confusion. He had been doctor for the emergency clinic for ten years now and he never had seen such a thing. He never had witness that a bone had mended itself within seconds and even healed the skin around the area. How was it possible? Was this girl an alien? Or did the town finally get to him and he started to fantasize? Maybe he was working too hard and he just needed a little vacation. But then he saw the entry he had done in the hospital file of the mentioned girl and there was just standing that he sewed a laceration and checked the bruise around it. The longer he stared at the evidence of his discovery, the more he was sure that he had to do something about it. Quickly he took his phone and dialed a number. For a few seconds he waited until the lady at the other end had said her line before he spoke.
" I need the number of the FBI building in Washington D.C.".
The next day
Michael, Maria, Tess and Kyle were sitting in the jetta hidden at a curb of a side street near the hospital. The guys sat in the front seasts and watched the entrance while the girls were going though the plan again. They couldn´t allow themself to make a mistake this time, because it could mean that one of their own was in danger and that was the least they needed at the moment. Like it wasn´t already worse enough that they were threatened by aliens, now they would get in trouble with the humans too.
" Are you sure that you want to do that?", Maria was glad that her roommate had agreed to help. But she wasn´t so sure if it was the best solution to let others straighten out her slip. Although she wasn´t at fault at this little incident, because she didn´t have the power to stop her healing process , she had berated herself almost all night for this mess they were in right now.
Tess took the hands of her friend. That girl was worrying too much. After she heard the whole story with Lykus, Nicolai and what really had happened the days before, she was determined to help where she could. Well, as much as her big brother would let her. He was adamant in this things that she couldn´t be mad at him. He was sometimes like a huge teddy bear with an angry face. " Of course. Or I wouldn´t sit here and observe a hospital, cause you know I could be relaxing with your brother and getting my sugar".
Maria shuddered at the thought. She didn´t want to imagine what sugar was implying, but she had a good guess that it wasn´t about candy. First thing she had to do when she got home, she had to wash her brain out and get the nasty picture out of her head. " Be careful. If you think something is going wrong or you have a bad feeling then make a hasty retreat. I don´t want to get anybody else down with me".
" Relax sister dear. God when did you become such a worrywart?", Kyle had enough that Maria was blaming herself for something that she had no control over. All right, he had been angry with her for a moment, but that was just because she had been keeping secrets from him and not trusted him enough to tell him the truth. But it had only lasted a short while. In some way he understood her and why she thought it wasn´t something to worry about.
Maria stuck her tongue out and made a face at her brother. She had a reason for her behaviour and he shouldn´t start to mock her. The last time she had been in contact with her halfbrother, he had been luring Vilandra in his trap and make her a puppet in his strange game. Now he had tried the same with her sister and she just wanted to keep her family save. Even if it meant she had to knock some doctor k.o to get her examination records. " I just don´t want any surprises. If you have a bad feeling, just get out of dodge immediately. Otherwise call me on my cellphone or on Michaels and we´ll be in there saving your asses asap".
Kyle finally saw the soldier she had been in her last life. She had always been a little commanding, but he thought it was a female trait and nothing out of the ordinary. Now he knew better and he could understand the guy choosing her as leading commander. " No need to save our asses. My girl and I are capable of performing a simple assignment without your help".
" Besides I can easily manipulate some minds when the chips are down", Tess tapped on her temple to show the others what she meant. It wasn´t like they were trying to steal the english crown jewels or something. The only problem they would face were observation cameras or at least one guard. Nothing too serious.
Maria hoped that it wasn´t coming to this extreme. She didn´t want anyone harmed, even if it was a mindwarp. She just wanted her file and nothing more. Well it would be nice to get back to the time when her life wasn´t like a movie and her only real problems had been if she had a date for the weekend. God, why didn´t she wake up from this nightmare and start living her real life. " Ok. Don´t take too long. In and out, no stunts or heroics and no funny business. Did I make myself clear?".
Kyle immediately knew that his sister was talking about him and his urge to play the big boy in front of his girls. " Crystal Clear, fearless leader", he made a gun with his hand and clicked with his tongue before he stepped out of the car.
" I´ll be keeping an eye on him, don´t worry", Tess promised while she opened the door and followed her boyfriend. She already knew him and she was afraid he would make more mess than they had. He was sweet, but he was attracting trouble like light a moth.
Maria watched troubled after them both. Why hadn´t she been more careful last night and had forbidden her bones to mend in front of the eyes of a human? Why had she been so stupid to get injured in the first place? Grumpily she threw herself on the backseat and crossed her arms over her chest. She had made so many mistakes during her encounter with the enemy, mistakes a newbie would make, but not someone with her experience and power. She forgot all the things she had learned, such as know your surroundings, size up your enemy, keep your mind open for any noises and be prepared for the unprepared. When did she start abandon her knowledge and just run blindly in a dangerous situation?
" Why don´t you come forward and keep me company", Michael wanted to bring his girlfriend out of her funk she seemed to be in . He had observed her through the rear-view mirror and he instantly saw what was going on with her. For others she was closed off and unreadable, but for him she was like an open book.
Maria looked up and glanced in the rear view mirror where she noticed the amber colored eyes of her boyfriend staring back at her. She was grateful for the distraction and accepted his offer with joy. Thankfully her wound had been healed over night and she had been a cheerleader for years, because she had to bent her body in strange position when she crawled over the front seats to slump besides Michael. " Ugh. Remind me to do that never again".
Michael sniggered behind his hand at her. Nobody had told her she should do a gymnastic exercise just to get forward. She could have opened the door, step out on the pavement, close the door and do the same again at the front. But no she had to choose the hard way, like always. " I´ve got no sympathy for you. You could have used the door".
" And you could have helped me by not taken up the whole front with your big body", it had looked like a good idea and she had done it a lot of times. All right, she had been younger and smaller at that times. But she thought she was still in shape to do that. Now she knew better, but she didn´t need someone to point it out to her.
Michael glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. Was she serious? Sometimes he wondered why he fell in love with a whack job. Granted, she was hot and they had much in common, but her sanity seemed to be none existent in some circumstances, like right now. " Right. I forgot, I´m always at fault, no matter what I do".
Maria would have loved to slap him upside his head for his snide remark, but something at the entrance of the hospital was catching her attention. Two men in black suits and black sunglasses were just in the process to walk into the building. They weren´t looking like they came from Roswell or had been injured. Strange, they were looking like those FBI chaps from the MIB movie. " Shut up for a moment. I think we´ve got more trouble than we thought".
Michael turned around quickly and watched the two men disappearing behind the electric doors. But even from the distance and the backside, he could regnorize the trouble they would be in. He was suddenly feeling like they were a X-File and every moment they got a visit from Scully and Mulder. Damn, like they needed this right now. It was already hard enough to be a young adult without the added alien related problems. " We should give our siblings a heads up".
" And how do you suggest we do that?", Maria knew that they couldn´t just call them, because they would draw attention to themself. So it was out of the question. " I think a ringing cellphone will be too stiking".
Michael rubbed his chin thoughtful while he pondered his options. Well his girl was right in one point, they couldn´t just call them. Which was the reason why he threw the idea from his mind. They also couldn´t just walk in there and warn them, that would take too much time, especially when they didn´t know where the other two were. " You could do this mind thing you did with me. You know talking to me mentally".
Maria thought about the suggestion. It sounded like a feasibility. " Yeah. But I never tried that with a human. It was easy with you, because we´re both the same and we had this connection in our past life".
" That´s right, but you´re a twin now and this bond is even stronger than this of a couple", he should know it. Thankfully Tess had a strong mind and could block him out most of the time. And he was usually so guarded that nothing could make it past his mental walls. But sometimes they had tiny glimpses in the thoughts of the other and that was enough to last for a lifetime.
Maria knew that they didn´t have too much time to now and the men in blacks could already be near their siblings. " Okay. I´ll try it", without waiting for an answer she closed her eyes and breathed evenly in and out. She had to clear her mind and search for the link that would lead her to her brother. But nothing was happening until she felt Michael taking her hand and calming her down. In that moment her body made a jerk forwards and she felt her mind opening for the things around her. Suddenly she heard Kyle´s thoughts, like he would be standing besides her and talking loudly.
´Vace, Vadek, Vagore and Valentine. But no fucking Valenti. Oh stop found it. Shit it´s Dads record. And there´s Mums. Mmmhhh she never told us about the failed tattoo she had to get removed. I have to ask her about it sometime. Focus Valenti, don´t get distracted, you´re here to do a job and not snoop in the records of your parents. Where would I be when I would be a radiograph? On the desk maybe? No too obvious. In the desk? Possibility.
Kyle stop what you´re doing and come out. I think there are FBI Agents on their way to you. Get the hell out of there. Now!
Whoaw! What the hell was that? That sounded like Maria, but I don´t see her. Strange, must be the lack of sleep.
Kyle, here is your sister talking and she tells you to get Tess and walk to the fing car. This instant or I will personally come and kick your ass!
Oh damn, it is really you. Geez, you don´t even have privacy with your own thoughts with you people.
KYLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
´Okay, Okay. We´ll be outside immediately. Don´t fret. Now I have to be careful what I think, too. Like I don´t have enought trouble with all this aliens invading my life and turning it upside down. Great, in my next life I want to be a tree or some kinda wild animal or even a damn flower.
I can still hear you
Do you mind. I want to be alone with my thoughts if you don´t have anything against that. We´ll see each other in a few seconds.
All right. Be careful
Maria´s body fell against the car seat and she was glad to be out of her brothers mind. That had been more straining than she thought. Bloody hell he had more thoughts running through his head than even she could count. No wonder he was often elsewhere when she talked to him. " I warned Kyle. They should be on their way to us".
Michael was glad that she was with him again. It had been scary to see her so lifeless sitting besides him and not to be in a position to help in any kind. He just had been staring at her and observed her chest to see if she was still breathing. " And how was it? Did you finally figure your brother out?".
" Don´t remind me to never get in there. It´s an experience I never want to make again".
Michael chuckled behind his hand and tried to mask it as an cough. Yeah he could imagine better things than rummaging around in Kyle´s mind. Maybe a little trip into Marias thoughts. He would probably finally find out what went though her head sometimes and if he was lucky see a few of her fantasies. " That bad huh?".
Maria knew that she was exaggerating big time. It hadn´t been too bad to hear what was going through her brothers head, after all she could be grateful that he hadn´t thought about sex or imagine her roommate in situation that would probably make her uncomfortable in the others girl presence, but a mind was a private refuge and it should be protected from intruders. " Well it could have been worse. But next time you talk to your sister".
" We have a deal", Michael pulled his girlfriend closer to his body and kissed her head. She had been through so much the last few days and she never faltered or collapsed under the pressure, which was weightening heavily on her right now. He admired her will to withstand every problem no matter how hard. Life always puts obstacles in her way and she easily maneuvered around them. Other girls in her place would have already given up and ducked out of their responsibility. But not Maria, she laughed in the face of danger and then kicked its ass.
Maria closed her eyes and enjoyed the safety of the embrace of her boyfriend. For the first time since last night, she felt like her mind was quiet for a while and didn´t think about anything. She was so sick of acting like an adult and taking responsibility for things that were out of her range. She wished she could be honest with her parents and tell them about her alien side. Then she could talk to them and not have the feeling to lie about certain things. And they could help her by being careful of strangers and protect themself. But how could she tell them to look out, when they would ask for what they should look out. She hated her life right now, it really sucked and she just wanted to turn back the time until she was a naive teenager again and her biggest problems had been if her clothes were matching her purse. Scratch that, actually she didn´t want to be that girl she had been before, no she was glad that she finally learned about herself and meet great people in the process. She wouldn´t want to trade this for everything on this planet. All those things had lead her right to this moment and to the strong arms of a man she loved more than her own life.
Suddenly the back doors flew open and their absent partners in crime jumped on the backseat. According after their expression it had been a touch and go. Tess was white as a ghost, her hair stuck on her forehead and she was breathing heavily. Kyle was trying to help her by talking to her quietly and stroking the hand he was holding.
" What happened?", Michael was alarmed at the state his sister was in. She didn´t look healthy and it worried him. What could possible be the cause that Tess was like that? It hadn´t been an attack, because they would have noticed something or he would have felt something at least.
Kyle had put his girlfriends head on his shoulder and was now stroking her head tenderly. He had been scared when he saw Tess like that and for the first time he really knew what he had admitted to. It wasn´t like he thought it was easy fighting with aliens and everything. But he had noticed how different they were and how little he could help his friends. " She just needs a little rest. I think she used too much energy".
Maria was glad to hear that, because she didn´t want to be the reason that another person was harmed in any way. Even if Tess wasn´t exactly defenseless and could take care of herself. " Should we bring you home?".
" No. Give me a few minutes and I´ll be ready to take up another challenge", Tess had never checked the limits for her powers. Actually she never tested how far she could go without hurting herself in the process. But now she knew the moment when she had to stop. Hell if Kyle hadn´t dragged her out of the hospital, she would have probably crashed her whole body system or commited suicide.
Michael punished her with a raised eyebrow and his stern look. She should be careful with her powers and not strain herself. It wouldn´t be helpful for them when she got hurt or killed, because she gave too much. " Like hell you will! I knew there was a reason why I didn´t wanted to tell you anything. You just get into trouble and I get distracted because I worry about you. The next time you have the urge to help, do it by staying safe somewhere else".
Maria was shocked about his outburst and jumped surprised about the volume of his voice. She had never seen him so angry before, at least in his human form. Rath was another story, because he was born anry at everyone crossing his path. For a strange reason this side of him was pretty hot and she would need to wind down the window before she burned down the interior of the car. " Michael! Don´t start this topic now. We have to be somewhere in", she eyed her watch on her wrist and startled. Holy crap! Was it that late already? Uh Uh, Larek would probably curse them right now. " We should have been there half an hour ago actually".
" This thing is not over, not by a long shot", heatedly he turned back to the steering wheel, started the car and pushed into the first gear with almost enough force to destroy the poor engine. The others in the car had to hold onto something or they would have flung through the damn car despite their seatbelts.
UFO-Center
Larek stomped along his office with a worried expression and an audience watching him move from one point to the other. Hanson, Corly, Max, Isabel, Alex and Liz were sitting scattered around the room on things that looked like it would hold a human being. They were torn between amusement about the state of the walking man or anger because they were waiting for the others of their team. The silence in the office was almost eerie and nobody dared to make too much sound to disturb the quiet. Sometimes a silent curse would flow from Lareks mouth and some of them weren´t even in english. Here and there a antarian word would shoot out of him without him knowing it. Corly and Hanson hid their sniggers behind their hands, because they could understand everything. Isabel and Max were trying to translate it so that the humans could understood it.
" What is keeping them so long? Where are they? And why don´t they have the decency to call at leat if they should be late?", Larek would rip them in pieces when he would learn that they forgot their meeting or had been doing dirty things without paying attention to the time.
Corly stood up from the ugly grey seatbag and put herself in the path of her boyfriend. He was making himself sick with concern and he didn´t need that. They were talking about Rath and Marianna, there weren´t many other people on this planet with their powers. Actually there were none, except for the two of course. " Cut them some slack or are you forgetting what happened last night? It had been a hell of a fight and you saw the many blood on Marias clothes".
Larek glared at her. Like he needed a reminder about the incident. He wouldn´t forget it so easily anymore and he almost lost his food when he saw the blood stain. But Hanson already told him that Maria was fine and nothing was broken or damaged. " Thanks for mentioning it. I´m really glad to have you in my life so that you can point the most obvious things to me".
" Don´t you dare take this tone with my sister", suddenly a female voice boomed through the room. Everybody turned to the door and saw Maria leaning against the frame with Michael, Tess and Kyle behind her. Her eyes were gleaming dangerously at Larek and her face was twisted into an angry mask.
Larek was rivaling her with his pissed of expression and this time he wasn´t scared of her. She wouldn´t hurt him, because they were friends and he knew that. Besides he had a right to be angry, not her. And he could talk to his girlfriend anyway he wanted. " Nice of you to finally join us. What did keep you up so long? Nookie?".
Now Kyle had enough of the fighting for today and the screaming aliens. Did all those males have a short fuse? Or was it just with the two? Thankfully Max was a rather quiet example and despite his geeky characters a pretty comfortable companion. " Hey. We have bigger problems at the moment than this damn meeting alright".
" Would you all finally stop with all this yelling! I´m getting a headache from it", Hanson felt like he was the only adult in this room. Now he knew how it would be when he would have children. Damn, hopefully he got deaf until then or he developed the power to block them out. When he noticed that he had the attention of everybody he faced the other boy. " What problems are you talking about?".
Kyle glanced at his sister and gave her a sign that it was her show. Slowly Maria stepped forward and looked at everyone. She was a little confused why Isabel and Alex where here. Did she come with Max yesterday? And why didn´t she know about it? Shaking her head she turned to the topic at hand. They had much more trouble than that. " My injury last night wasn´t just a little scratch. I was x-rayed and a doctor told me that a bone had broken and pierced through my flesh, but when he wanted to check the wound again, he witnessed the said bone mending itself and by doing that healing part of the hurt skin around it. Today we wanted to get the evidence, because we thought it was safer that way. Unfortunately we had been a little too late for that".
Corly stopped biting her fingernails. That sounded extremely bad and she knew it would be getting worse. Of course it had been bad enought that Maria had been hurt, but this was making everything more difficult. " What do you mean too late?".
" We saw two men in black walking into the hospital today and believe me they hadn´t been there to visit their sick grandma", Maria waited for the verbal explosion she had to expect from the others. She had risked the exposure of them and it wasn´t something to be taken slightly.
Hanson scratched his chin thoughtfully. Now that explained a lot. " That was probably the reason why the sheriff took so hastily his keys and stormed out of the departement when he got the strange phone call from the hospital. He didn´t even took the time to tell us what was going on".
Kyle slumped into the nearest chair and put his head in his hands. Now that was making the whole mess a little more complicated when even their father was involved. " This means we´re royalty fed".
" Don´t say that. We survived much worse situations. We just have to stick together and make a plan about this FBI goons", Tess made herself comfortable on her boyfriends lap and snuggled her head at his shoulder. Not everything was lost, they were just at the beginning. Furthermore, Michael wouldn´t allow that someone, especially some humans would harm Maria in any kind.
All of the sudden they heard the entrance to the museums slam shut with a loud bang. Startled everybody glanced at the door of the office and listened to the steps coming towards them. With bated breath they waited who would be coming next. Surprised they identified Lykus stretching his head though the gap of the doorframe. " Sorry for being so late. Did you already start without me?".
Maria whirled around and pointed a finger at Larek, who counted on this reaction. He had to repress his urge to grin at her, because he was sure it wouldn´t be healthy for him. " What is he doing here? And what is up here?".
" All right. I think it´s time for the truth now", Larek rubbed his face nervously while he thought about bailing through the emergency exit behind him. He had hoped that Nolak would do this conversation. But he had dumped all this responsibility on his shoulders, because he obviously had let him down one time or something like that. " First of all Hanson here is Reshak, my halfbrother", shocked sounds were heard around the room. Nobody had known about that. But not because he had been ashamed of him, it was rather the fact that he found it out himself three years ago. " Secondly Lykus is working for our side now and the most important thing, we´re not the only aliens on earth".
TBC