Codename: TABASCO: MG

The Awesome Background And Secret Chronicles Of... Michael Guerin)

Episode 115, Part 2

Strong, Dangerous, and Undeniable

(Sexual Healing)

I was anxious to find Nasedo, and I had no doubt that the strange occurrences out on Highway 42 near the old radio tower were his doing. But as much as I was dying to get out there, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to just take off without drawing Max and Isabel's attention, and I didn't want them tagging along this time. Call it a hunch, a suspicion, insight, whatever, but I had a feeling that Nasedo's hanging around out there waiting for us to find him wasn't entirely a philanthropic gesture. There was an element of danger involved, somehow, and I didn't want to expose Max or Isabel to it before I knew what it was. Meanwhile, I continued to encourage Max to listen to his urges and make out with Liz in hopes that she would see something in his head that would tell us something about our planet. But I don't think he needed my encouragement. Something in both of them was drawing them together like two magnets, and every time they touched, there seemed to be sparks. In fact, they were attracting a lot of unwanted attention, especially in school.

Maria and I were feeling something new, too, but we weren't sparking all over the place like broken live electric wires the way Max and Liz were, at least not on the outside, and this caused both of us to start exaggerating what we were seeing when we made out. But if we exaggerated a bit, we weren't being totally untruthful. When we kissed, I saw her trying to tie her red sneakers when she was a little girl. Our sparks were there, they just hadn't started popping out all over the place like Max and Liz's were doing. I guess we had thicker covers to hold them in.

Even though Maria wanted me to believe that she was having the same reactions and seeing the same flashes as Liz, she was actually very concerned for Liz. It was taking a noticeable toll on Liz's life, though she wasn't exactly complaining. Maria was genuinely worried that she might not survive it, and after walking in on them making out and seeing Liz looking like she was 'somewhere else' (that's the best way she could describe it) she had to say something when they were alone again.

"Liz, you did not look normal."

"I didn't feel normal, Maria. I… it was the most amazing, incredible… This was different."

"Different how?"

"Um… like beyond."

"Wait… You guys didn't go… beyond?"

"No, no, no!!!"

"Gonna say… you were only out for five minutes."

"I know. Listen, Maria, if I… when… when… when I actually do it, it is not going to be in between a plate of Kielbasa and a deep fryer."

Okay, like I said, it was getting pretty serious, but this was still just the 'lite' stuff… seeing stars and all. The heavy stuff was about to come. Already they were building up to it… emotionally, you know. In a lot of ways, it was affecting me and Maria, too, seeing what was going on with them. And on top of that we had our own issues, thank you. Okay, maybe I did exaggerate it to Max… just a bit…

"Maxwell, let me assure you, you have not experienced anything I have not experienced many times or caused to be experienced."

But as I said before, Maria couldn't stop worrying about Liz… or talking about what was happening.

"Alex, if they actually do it, she'll probably explode."

"Or maybe she'll explode if they don't do it. So this was like the kiss of the millennium, huh?"

"I have never seen her like this."

Later, in Astrology class, Liz dropped her pencil, and Max picked it up and passed it back to her with a note asking her to meet him in the eraser room during 6th period. When their hands touched, Liz got this really big jolt of alien electricity or something from him and saw a flood of images of a spaceship traveling through space. She kind of moaned when it happened, and Mr. Seligman stopped talking and turned around…

"Ms. Parker! Have you had an insight you wish to share with the rest of the class?"

"No."

"Mister Evans?"

"I was just returning her pencil."

"I'd like to see both of you immediately after last period today in my classroom. The primordial experience known as… detention."

Maria told me about it later, but I already knew… So did just about the whole school… about Liz and Max, I mean, and the moaning. That kind of thing gets around. I knew Liz had had another vision.

Did you hear, Michael?

The Max-Liz thing… with the flashes? She's your friend, what do you think?

That Max and Liz have discovered some new sensation? It seems somewhat unlikely.

Extremely unlikely.

Little did I know, or Maria either, what lay in store for us! I think we were just saving it all up for the real blow out, 'cause when it happened it was like an A-bomb was dropped on us… even for me. I'm surprised she didn't explode, because I thought I might!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. At the moment, it was Liz who was having the freak-outs every time she touched Max, and it was what she was seeing that I was interested in. The two of them finally managed to make it into the eraser room together, and while they were making out, Liz saw the spaceship traveling towards earth again, and this time she saw it crash into the desert. Unfortunately, they made so much noise that someone checked the eraser room, and their moms got called. I remember thinking if they'd just been quieter we might have found out something really useful about our planet. I was actually upset that they got caught, and, for a change, it wasn't because Max was getting 'involved.' I wanted them to make out! I wanted to know what else she could pull out of Max's head while she was in there.

Actually, I'm kind of surprised she didn't get sucked in and disappear forever… black holes and all, you know.

(Michael turned sideways and grinned as a handful of sand pelted him, then he resumed telling his story.)

While all this was going on, I finally managed to sneak away and make a trip out to the old radio tower on Highway 42 for Jim. I don't know what I thought I would do with Nasedo when I found him. I don't think I really thought about it. I was too obsessed with just finding him. I certainly had no intention of turning him over to Jim if I did find him, and I think Jim knew it. He was just hoping I would get a handle on what was going on and maybe this guy would go away again. But I knew it was Nasedo and he wasn't going to just go away. Not until he got what he had come for.

When I got there, everything looked pretty normal around the tower. I didn't see anything unusual or out of place at all. I looked for footprints, but I knew there wouldn't be any. Nasedo didn't leave footprints. He was a professional. Well, a professional something. I wasn't sure what. But I knew instinctively that he was not someone to be toyed with. If I did find him, it wasn't going to be because I was some great tracker, it was going to be because he wanted to be found.

And that, I decided, was the best strategy for finding him!

"Okay, you wanted me… Here I am!"

I waited, but the only sound was the wind blowing through the sagebrush and whispering through the metal braces of the old tower. It was sort of mournful, almost spooky, in a way.

"What are you waiting for? Are you afraid to show yourself?"

Again I waited for an answer, any answer, and again there was only the mournful sound of the wind as it blew over the desert floor and up through the old metal struts of the tower. I took a deep breath and let it back out slowly. If he had been there, he would have showed himself. I was pretty sure of it. I would have to try again later. But if he returned in the meantime I wanted him to know that I had been there…

I held out my hand and carefully burned a figure in the sand… the symbol I kept seeing in my mind… the one from the cave. Then, I started to leave. But before I could turn around, something vise-like gripped my shoulder from behind. Piston-like fingers dug mercilessly into flesh and muscle causing every nerve to scream out in pain. The grip tightened, and I wondered how much my shoulder could withstand without coming apart or the bones breaking, but I was determined not to give him any pleasure. I would bear it, in silence if need be, whatever happened.

~~~~~~~~~~Elsewhere: Alex & Isabel~~~~~~~~~~

"Ow, hot!"

"You okay?"

"Mm-hmm. Now I have that little piece of skin hanging down from when the pizza's too hot."

"Yeah, well, um, speaking of hot… this whole Liz-Max thing…"

"Mm-hmm?"

"Well, I was just wondering, you know, in the interest of science, kissing being purported to provoke these certain insights, I wanted to, you know, offer myself as a… as a human subject available for experimentation."

"It's not gonna happen, Alex."

"Right… right… right. Thought I'd give it a shot."

"Yeah. You want some pizza?"

"Uh, yeah. Pizza's always good."

~~~~~~~~~~Return to Michael~~~~~~~~~~

'This can't be good,' I thought to myself. Nasedo had my shoulder in a vise-like grip, and he seemed to actually be enjoying the pain I was experiencing. Of course, it could have just been his way of asserting his dominance… showing who's in control.

"What are you doing out here? Were you hoping that I would tell you where you came from… who you really are?"

"I thought I'd give it a shot."

"Hmm."

He released my shoulder, and the sudden relief that flooded through my body was almost overwhelming. Just for a moment, I became lightheaded, and I guess I staggered, and that brought an odd sort of smile to his face. I couldn't tell if it was sadism or something else.

"You were always the impatient one, Rath… had to have all the answers… and had to have them now."

~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~

"We need answers, Max… and at the moment, Liz seems to be our best hope of getting them!"

Max shrugged. "She said it was as if she was inside the ship looking out… when it came crashing toward Earth."

"Did she see anyone else on the ship? Like our parents?"

Isabel smirked. "Yeah, or Captain Kirk and the Klingons? You got a paper-towel holder, Michael?"

"No! What if what she saw was real?"

"It's not real. What's wrong with you guys? Max?"

"I see things from inside her head. Maybe she's seeing things stored deep inside me."

"What do you see inside her head?"

"I can't tell you, Michael. It's private."

"Since when do we keep secrets from each other, Maxwell? Come on!"

"They're Liz's personal thoughts, Michael… not secrets."

"Maxwell, if this is real… if there's any chance this is real… you owe it to us and to yourself to find out. And in the meantime, I'm gonna pursue my own avenues."

~~~~~~~~~~Return to Present~~~~~~~~~~

I looked Nasedo in the eyes, pretending to be unaffected by his bravado.

"I pursue my own avenues. I don't wait for others. That always takes too long. But you seem to know that about me already."

"That's why I knew you'd come, because you most of all want what I know. You need it… and you want it now!"

"Yeah, well, that depends on what you're offering."

"Your lives. Is that enough?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that this meeting is for one purpose only."

"To tell me about our planet? Our people?"

"No. To see if I can let you live… or if you must all die."

(I have to admit, that comment took me by surprise, though I realize now that it shouldn't have.)

"What do you mean?"

"Come on! You're smarter than that! What does your intuition tell you? You've already guessed that I'm one of you. I can tell just by looking at you that you've guessed that much."

"I thought… maybe… you might be our father."

"In a way, I am… or was supposed to be. I'm a protector, but not for you, for someone else. Your protector is dead."

"You killed him?"

"No. They did that. The barbarians that infest this backward rock."

"If your job is to protect us why would you be deciding whether or not to let us live?"

"You still don't get it, do you? You and the others were supposed to return to Antar one day… to rule. Each of you had a protector assigned to you. But the job of the protector was not only to protect, it was to bring back a functional royal family, especially the King… and you, his Chief in Arms."

"I consider myself pretty functional. And I'm pretty sure Max and Isabel do, too."

"The very fact that you cannot recall even the smallest minutia about your former lives or your real selves tells me that you are not ready to rule Antar. You may never be. You don't even know your real names. My duty… if I cannot bring back a functional ruling family… is to destroy you. I cannot allow malfunctioning hybrids to run around the universe."

"Now I think I'm offended."

"That can be remedied."

I stepped back quickly, as he reached out toward me. "Uh, no thank you. I don't think I would like your remedy."

"I doubt you would."

"What would we have to do to convince you that we are… 'functional,' as you put it?"

"I would have to see some evidence that Rath does indeed exist in you… and that the King, Zan, still exists in the one you call Max. If I saw that, I could, perhaps, let you live. As it stands right now, the only one that I know for certain is functional is Ava, and that's because I raised her. It is unfortunate that the other protectors never had a chance to mold the rest of you…"

"This Ava… she's one of us?"

Nasedo nodded. "She is all that you are not."

I don't know what happened, but at that moment, a surge of confidence flooded through me like I had never felt before. Well, that's not exactly true, I had felt it before, but it had always been tinged with a healthy dose of bluff before. Now it was 100% real, and it surprised even me. Maybe me most of all! I'm honestly not sure to this day where it came from. I smirked and started to pace around Nasedo, checking him out…

"No! it is not that you CAN let us live, is it? If you see that we are who you think we may be, you MUST let us live. Not only that, if the other protectors have all perished, then you must continue to protect all of us. You are still bound by your honor to the King, and since I am the King's Chief in Arms, you are bound to me. I command you!"

For the first time, I actually saw his defenses show signs of crumbling. It wasn't a total collapse, not by a long shot, but I had seen what I had seen.

"I'm right, aren't I? Tell me I'm not! Say it if you can!"

"I… I… cannot. You are Zan's General. I must…" Nasedo stammered, before quickly recomposing himself.

"You must obey me!" I said for him, sensing the truth.

"Yes. No! I must first be sure that you're not flawed."

"You've seen enough, Nasedo! Leave us! But be ready. When the time comes, we will need you and your knowledge in order to overcome the odds at home. Do you believe now that I am real?"

Nasedo nodded. "Yes, Rath!"

~~~~~~~~~~Flashback: Max & Liz~~~~~~~~~~

"I had to know if something was real, Liz."

"If what was real, Max?"

"Well, just like you seeing things… I've seen things. And… one of those… things…"

"You saw my fantasy?"

"I had to know if… if… what I saw was… really from you or if it was just my imagination, which it definitely… definitely could've been. Except… I've never been in the girls' locker room. And now that I see it, and… well, it… it is the same room… I know I didn't make it up."

"This is really horrible."

"No, Liz. It's incredible, really."

"This is NOT incredible."

"Wait… Please! Listen… Please… Liz! The main thing is… I didn't just see what you saw. I felt… what you felt… when you saw me. And I never thought anyone could really… ever feel that way about me."

"Really?"

"PARKER!"

"It's the coach!" Liz motioned to Max to follow her, and they hid in one of the shower stalls.

"PARKER!"

Not seeing Liz, the coach left.

"Uh… Liz?"

"What?"

"You have a hickey… and it's glowing."

Max touched the glowing hickey and they saw a rush of images of military personnel running towards something that was beeping.

"This is getting really weird, Max."

~~~~~~~~~~Return to Present~~~~~~~~~~

I decided not to tell Max or Isabel about my meeting with Nasedo. If they knew, Isabel would be all over me for taking such a risk, and Max would be furious that I went without him. Besides, it had all been kind of weird, and I wasn't entirely sure if Nasedo's acceptance of me extended to Max and Isabel. I didn't want them to go looking for him and, you know, not come back. I would have to tell them, of course… just not yet. At a more appropriate time.

I went back to my apartment and found Isabel there, and we started discussing Liz and Max's visions and how they might have come about…

"That would mean each of us has this information in some part of us we're just not conscious of."

I nodded. "Or she's getting messages from somewhere or someone else."

"Nasedo?"

"I don't know. I mean, why did she see the crash, the soldiers? Maybe it was all planned this way… that this is how we'd find out who we really are… by connecting with humans."

"Connecting?"

"The more they connect, the more we find out!"

As we were speaking, Max came in…

Uh, listen… Liz is on her way over."

"Okay, we'll leave."

"You guys don't have to leave."

"Go for it Maxwell," I said, "For the good of all mankind, you lucky undeserving dog!"

"Michael, that's not what this is about for me."

"Don't make me beg you to do what you and Liz obviously want to do anyway. I really don't see a problem with it."

"The problem is treating someone I care about like a thing… to be used."

"What? And that's what I'm about? Is that what you're saying?"

"The words are coming from your mouth, Michael."

"Listen, Maxwell… you are a sensitive guy. And you have available to you one of the top three seduction lines in history with, 'It's gonna help me find my home planet.' And you're refusing to use it. No guy is that sensitive. Use it!"

Isabel turned off the lights and snapped her fingers, making the candles in the room light up to form a romantic atmosphere just as Liz came in.

"Hi!"

"Hi!"

"How's it goin', Liz?"

"Strange."

Isabel smiled. "I'll bet!"

I motioned toward the door. "Alright, we're leaving now, but I got some Chaka Khan cued up in the CD player."

"We're leaving. Bye," Isabel said again, moving toward the door.

Liz looked at Max. "So you told 'em, huh."

"Yeah."

"And now everyone's just sort of cheering you on… like at a football game."

"No! No, it's… it's not like that. I mean… yes, they want us to keep going so we can find out where all this leads. But… that's not…"

"Max, I need to find out where all this leads, too. Look…"

Liz showed Max a strange rash that had appeared on her shoulder. Max put his hand over it and it disappeared. Then he moved his hand down Liz's arm, and a glowing light followed his hand.

"Max… do you understand any of this?"

"No."

"Can you take your shirt off?"

"Can I? Yeah."

Liz tried to create a glowing light on Max's body by running her hand over his chest.

"I can't do it."

"I'm glowing everywhere… my toes, my heart… You can't see it, it's on the inside!"

"…Max …you know things… about me that you, um… that you shouldn't know. And my mother… my mother, who I love, is just gonna kill me… if I don't die from this."

"You're right."

"I… can't stop."

As Liz and Max began to make out again, they saw another series of images… soldiers… running towards some beeping object being buried near a radio tower.

But at that moment, Maria walked in, interrupting them…

"My God! I was looking for Michael. Um, something tells me he isn't here."

~~~~~~~~~~Later~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't think he's here anymore… in Roswell, I mean."

Jim nodded and seemed to think about it. "Did he say anything to you?"

"Just that he was watching us… me. He was watching me."

"Why?"

"I think he was evaluating me… to see if I was… worthy or something."

"Um… and what was his decision?"

"I'm still alive."

"Oh. He expects high standards, huh?"

"Very."

"Michael, I wouldn't have sent you if I'd thought…"

"I know. Don't worry about it. I've been looking for him, too… for some time now. I would've gone even if you'd told me not to."

"Well, at least you're honest. I'm glad you're back… and okay."

"Yeah. I'm fine."

~~~~~~~~~~Flasback: Liz~~~~~~~~~~

"You're not fine! You're burning up, Liz!"

"Mom! Just stop it, okay? This is my body! I don't have to tell you every single thing about it!"

~~~~~~~~~~Return to Present~~~~~~~~~~

It was our bodies. These new feelings we were having… especially Liz… were causing us all to seek a greater measure of privacy… and sometimes, to deceive those we cared about the most. Liz couldn't explain what was going on between her and Max to her mother… and didn't want to. Max didn't even like talking to me or to Isabel about it. Maria and I exaggerated what we were seeing when we made out… in the mistaken idea that we had to be like Max and Liz. We were us. We weren't Max and Liz. They had their physiology; we had ours. It wasn't less, just different. It was like there's this cork in two bottles of soda and you shake them both up. One cork blows off quick; the other one holds on until the pressure is greater before it goes off. But they both do in the end. And I deceived Max. I didn't tell him I had met with Nasedo. But that was for his protection.

When she got back home, Liz climbed onto her roof and started sketching something in her journal, something she had seen in her flashes, and Max showed up while she was sketching.

"Liz."

"Hi."

"I couldn't sleep."

"Yeah, neither could I."

Max climbed up onto the roof with her.

"Hey, Max."

"Hey."

"Uh, look, Max, I saw something when we were… it was something being buried, and it felt like it was something… something important. It was here."

She showed him the drawing she was sketching.

"I know this, Liz! This is the old radio tower by Highway 42."

"Max, Highway 42… Isn't that…"

"Yeah. Just a couple miles from the crash."

"Well, there's something buried there."

"I should go there… with Michael."

"Is that what you really want to do, Max?"

"No."

"Look, all I know is… if we're gonna do this… we've got to do it tonight."

"Are we…?"

"Come on, let's go."

Them heading off into the desert together was something I had not counted on. If I had, I would have told Max to stay away, because, to tell the truth, I wasn't sure that Nasedo didn't still want to test Max.

"It should be around here somewhere, Liz…

"I guess we could just start… digging."

"Or, uh…"

"Or, um… we could look for the next clue."

"Yeah. The clue idea seems more, uh…"

"More efficient."

"Yeah. Right this minute… I can't… not touch you…"

"Let's just lie down, Max."

Max unfolded a blanket he had brought with him and spread it out on the ground.

"Are you scared, Liz?"

"Well, I know I'm supposed to be, but… I'm just gonna put myself in your hands."

As they were getting settled onto the blanket, something howled in the distance.

"What's that, Max?"

"It's a coyote."

They began to kiss, and Liz wound up lying down on the blanket. But suddenly, she became aware of a beeping sound.

"Omigod, Max, that's it! …That's the sound I heard in my vision."

They started to dig where Liz had heard the beeping and quickly struck something with the shovel. Instantly, a bright blue light shot upward into the sky. Max dropped the shovel and lifted a glowing rock with an alien symbol on it out of the ground.

It's the symbol from the cave painting.

"Is this from your home?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe it's a signal for…"

"Maybe."

"Whatever it is, Max, it must have been missing all these years… and it's been right here in the ground ever since the crash."

~~~~~~~~~~Elsewhere: Isabel & Alex~~~~~~~~~~

"Max and Liz are missing."

"Missing… Okay, let me, um… let me get the keys to my car, alright? We can go and find them."

"That's okay, Alex…"

Isabel stood there for a moment, as though waiting for something from Alex…

"Okay."

"Okay… what?"

"Okay… and kiss me."

"K- K- Kiss you?"

"My brother's missing. I need to find him. Maybe we can generate some information."

"Right."

"Maybe I'll get a flash of their location or something, so… go ahead."

"Oh… Yes! Yes, Ma'am!"

Probably wondering if he was dreaming, Alex kissed Isabel. Then she shook her head.

"Nothing."

"Oh."

"Nothing relevant to the current crisis."

"Sorry."

"Okay."

Isabel turned and started to walk away.

"You know, I'm… I'm available for further experiments… you know… when… whenever."

~~~~~~~~~~Return to Liz & Max~~~~~~~~~~

In the morning, Liz and Max awakened on the blanket to find someone looking at them.

"This is private property. You two better get home."

Max grabbed the alien rock and stuffed it into his bag, then he and Liz left. When they had disappeared from view, Nasedo turned around to leave, too, but found someone standing behind him.

"Where did you come from?"

"Apparently, the same place as you. Isn't that what you told me?"

"That's not what I meant."

"I was staying out of sight… until they left."

Nasedo nodded. "You thought that I might consider the King… flawed. And you were here to defend him. Well, I'm not surprised. You are his General. That was your job on Antar, to protect him… and to protect the royal family. It is still your responsibility, even here."

"He's not flawed."

"I knew that as soon as the stone responded. If he had been flawed… even in the slightest degree… the light would not have shone. He is the King. He is Zan. For now, there is nothing more for us to talk about."

~~~~~~~~~~Later: Maria & Me~~~~~~~~~~

"…Can we talk about what happened, Michael?"

"Talk on."

"I want you to know that what I said about you being all shut down and that's why I had to fake the flashes, that was… wrong… and very unfair. If something went wrong it was because of me. I'm the one who's scared. I mean, I fake all kinds of things all the time with everybody. It's just you were the first person I actually ever admitted it to."

"Well, thanks for sayin' that, but it's not really true."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not true about you being shut down all the time. I happen to know that for a fact."

"Really? How?"

"Because you let me see you. The red sneakers, Maria… One had a Kermit patch on it, and the shoelaces were blue, and you had your Dalmatian dog with you there, licking off your tears. And I saw a whole bunch of other stuff as well. Was I right?"

"Yeah, um… that dog died when I was like seven, right after my father left."

"Kinda rough?"

"Yeah. I'd say so. I really didn't care about the stupid flashes. I just wanted us to be close."

"Thanks."

I kissed Maria on the forehead and pulled her close. What the future had in store for us, neither of us could have guessed back then. We were surviving… one day at a time. We both had issues to work through. We had feelings… strong feelings… for each other, but we barely understood them. Sometimes we tried to deny them. Then destiny would slap us in the face and bring us back to our senses. When I look at Maria now, I wonder what my life would have been like without her… if things had gone differently back then… if any one of a million little things had happened differently… if we hadn't kept coming back to each other against all the odds… or if I hadn't returned to earth's past to find her after the explosion… I would still be as lost now as I was back then. Without her in my life… I would still be nothing. These beautiful children wouldn't exist. Sometimes I think the sun would have disappeared forever and nothing could have ever brought it back. But it shines now! Oh, yes, it shines!

Look at us now!

=End=

of Episode 115

tbc…