Ending 1, Part 12 (or Part 74)

The rest of dinner continued under a gloomy silence, something that didn't seem to disturb Kyle or Michael's appetites. The two men made sure there was nothing left over for later while Isabel sat in her chair in a stony silence. Maria had returned to her seat next to Michael, sitting close enough to him to take comfort from his presence. Max was still being the observer, watching everything that was going on, especially where Michael was concerned.

Liz stood up and started clearing the table when everyone was finished, smiling when Max moved to gather the dishes and stack them for easier carrying. She wasn't surprised when he asked his sister if she wanted anything and Isabel snapped at him and she rubbed his arm when he leaned back in his chair.

"You got any beer?" Michael asked as he emptied his glass of lemonade.

"Um, beer?" She shook her head. "No."

"You drink alcohol?" Isabel asked suspiciously.

"It's non-alcoholic," Maria started only to be interrupted once again.

Her tone was cold as she leveled her gaze on Maria. "I don't believe I was talking to you."

"I've already warned you once about the way you're talkin' to her," Michael bit out. "I'm not the Michael you know and he may very well have handled you differently, but I have no issues with kickin' your royal, pampered ass out of this house."

Isabel drew herself up to her full height as she sat across from him and her gaze turned challenging. "I'd like to see you try."

Max could see that things were deteriorating and he knew if someone didn't do something and quickly that it was only going to get worse. "Hey, Michael," he said as he stood up and pushed his chair under the table.

"What?"

His tone was hesitant as he continued. "I was just wondering if you might wanna take a walk?"

Michael looked up at him, realizing that he was trying to diffuse the situation. He studied the dark-haired man for a moment, deciding that he also wanted to talk away from the others. Out of all of these new people, Max was the one he felt the least resistance from and the guy seemed to be genuinely interested in what he had to say. He couldn't deny that he was intrigued by the man; he felt a link, some sort of connection to him, that he didn't understand and it was something he had never felt before.

"Yeah, why not?" he muttered when Maria caught his gaze and nodded.

Maria reached back to take Michael's hand when he stood up next to her. "Michael?"

He leaned down over her chair when he felt the tension in her grip. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

"Don't go near the river. Please."

He squeezed her fingers slightly and nodded. "I won't be gone long."

Kyle looked around once Max and Michael had gone, making a face when he realized he had been left alone with the three women, two that were not easy to deal with at the present time. He looked up when Isabel got up and stalked out of the room and after a few minutes Maria left as well. He sighed in relief and got up to carry the rest of the dishes over to the counter where Liz had already started to run water into the sink. "I think I should've gone with the guys," he grumbled when she tossed a dish towel at him, indicating he should dry the dishes as she washed them. "You know all hell is gonna break loose if Maria and Isabel go off on each other."

Liz laughed at his disgruntled tone. "They're gonna have to get this out in the open and when that happens they might need us here to play referee in case it goes south."

"Yeah, there's a fight I wanna referee," he muttered sarcastically.

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"You don't care to spend a lot of time in the house do you?" Michael asked.

Max shook his head as he walked along beside him as they followed one of the old paths on the property. "No, not really."

"You're the one who removed all of his things from the house."

"The reminder's there even without them," he said quietly. "Can I ask you some questions about your life and what your universe was like?"

Michael shrugged. "You can ask."

As he asked questions and Michael responded, Max began to realize that this man was even tougher than his Michael had been. He listened as the man elaborated on certain questions and refused to answer others. He was unwilling to answer anything that touched on his personal life, something that was so undeniably Michael.

"What was your relationship with your Michael like?"

Max tipped his head to one side as he studied the man standing several feet away. They had finally stopped near an area where several trees stood tall, providing a barrier against the wind as well as cover from anyone driving by. He wondered why Michael would ask that question if, as he claimed, their Michael was inside of him.

"It's not somethin' I can control," Michael said, smirking at the surprised look on the other man's face when his expression revealed that he hadn't realized he had spoken. "It's almost like livin' with a fuckin' ghost. It's not tangible, it's not precise, and I can't just call the memories up because I want to. The damn things come back at random moments; sometimes it's like a sudden flash of memory, sometimes it's a feelin', and sometimes there's just this knowledge, like it's always been there but I'm just now able to access it."

Max nodded, understanding to some extent what Michael was trying to explain. "The way you describe it kind of reminds me of the time I was controlled by Clayton, only his… presence or whatever, tried to take over. Liz was the only thing that kept me alive, the only thing that kept me grounded and fighting against that control. At some point he realized that and he used my own body to try and kill the woman I love… her love was the only that saved me in the end."

Michael snorted. "Fuck, you sound like a chick, Maxwell," he said with just the slightest hint of a smile.

Max grinned and shook his head. He wanted to ask the other man about Maria, about their relationship, but he knew it was too soon for that. This Michael was an enigma, a man who needed to be approached with caution, and a man who wasn't going to suddenly open up about personal and private things. It would take time for that to happen.

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Isabel paced back and forth in the small living room, her attitude resentful as she shot the occasional nasty glare in Maria's direction. The other woman had followed her when she had left the kitchen but she hadn't bothered to acknowledge her, preferring to give her the silent treatment while she tried to sort things out in her own head.

For hours she had sat in the truck, impatiently waiting to see her friend, her 'brother', and allowing hope to build within her. She hated hope; it was a waste of time and she had given up on it until the day that Maria had disappeared through the Granolith and made her believe that just maybe the seemingly impossible was possible. She should've known that the day they had buried Michael there was no going back. Had they been able to bring Alex back?

For eight months she held onto that hope that Michael could be brought back, that the meaningless accident that day could somehow be erased. She had spent all that time holding onto a mirage, refusing to grieve because his death was only temporary. She had never accepted that he was dead and now, eight months later, she was going to have to deal with it as if it had just happened.

Her icy gaze once more sought out Maria and she wondered how she could just accept this situation. How could she go to some other universe, find a copy of their Michael, and involve herself in a relationship with him? The man she had brought back with her wasn't their Michael no matter how much she had convinced herself that they were the same man.

"How can you just accept… all this?" she finally blurted out, unable to contain the angry question any longer.

Maria met her gaze steadily and after several long moments she shook her head. "You ask that like you think it was something I did so easily, Isabel."

"Eight months, Maria… eight months and you're sleeping with this guy! I'm guessing that isn't something that just happened a couple of days ago. In spite of the fact that he's a jerk with a filthy mouth the intimacy between the two of you is obvious and it's a little hard to overlook how protective he is of you."

"I've had months to accept this situation and I don't appreciate your insinuation that I met this man and just jumped into bed with him," Maria snapped, her hands gesturing erratically. That part of our relationship is relatively new and Isabel, you don't know how much I've tortured myself and Michael over getting involved with him. It hasn't been easy and I'm just beginning to get to a place where I'm finding some peace with this entire situation… with Michael and our relationship." She sighed tiredly, feeling exhausted and hating that she had to defend herself. As if it wasn't complicated enough in her own heart and mind, now she had Isabel to contend with as well. "It took months before I started to let my guard down with him and my God, Isabel, even now I still feel guilty at times. That's always gonna be there, but that's the hand I got dealt and I have no choice but to live with it."

"You love him." It was more an accusation than a question.

"Yes, I do. For months I tried to figure out why the Granolith had sent me to that universe, what I was supposed to do to change what had happened or prevent it altogether, and then, the Granolith told me that my actions weren't going to bring him back. At that point I realized that I had another path to follow and with that knowledge came the understanding that it was gonna be painful at times." She shrugged her right shoulder. "But life didn't stop for the rest of us when we buried Michael. At times I wished it had, but it didn't. This universe needs Michael, and to be honest, I need him, and believe me he didn't have to come here. His universe wasn't under the threat of an impending invasion by Khivar and his army, he had a life that allowed him the freedom to do as he pleased, and he gave all of that up to come here and we should be thankful that he came here and he's willing to help prepare all of us for what's to come."

Isabel didn't want to think about that; it was a reality she wasn't ready to face. She leaned one hip against the back of the couch as she stared at Maria. "He came here for you."

Maria nodded. "I know."

She moved to the window and crossed her arms over her chest as she stared outside. There was acceptance and confidence in Maria's tone and no matter how much she might not like the circumstances she couldn't fault her for finding love again. Her thoughts turned to the future and she wondered how she would manage to get along with this Michael who was so different from the man she had known. How was she going to let him train her in military skills that were so vastly different from anything she knew? This man was a soldier, a professional killer, and from everything she had witnessed of his behavior so far, he had no remorse for anything he had done in the line of duty.

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Kyle and Liz glanced at each other from where they were hiding on either side of the doorframe that led into the living room. They had been eavesdropping on the two women carrying on a conversation that at times turned heated. Neither of them knew what to expect or what the outcome would be and it was a situation that was new territory for all of them.

Liz was chewing on her bottom lip, worrying about how Isabel's accusations would affect Maria. She tried not to show it but Maria was still dealing with a lot of pain and guilt over her relationship with this Michael. She didn't know if that would ever fade away, if time could ease those things or if it would always be bittersweet for Maria. It wasn't an easy or enviable position to be in and she only hoped her friend was strong enough to cope with it.

Kyle ran his right hand through his hair and he shot another quick glance at his spying partner as he listened to the words flying back and forth between the two women. "You do know that Isabel is one crazy scary chick when she wants to be, don't you? God, I hope the two of them don't kill each other. I'd hate to be the one who had to explain things to Max or the new Michael… matter of fact," he said after a few seconds, "there's no way I'd even attempt to explain it to that guy. He's just a little bit scary."

Liz snorted delicately. "Ya think?"

"I'm serious, Liz. The guy's like… well, he's Michael Guerin, but he's like the extreme version of him. Would you wanna be the one who told him that anything had happened to Maria?"

"And why would anyone need to tell me anything like that?"

Kyle and Liz both jumped, emitting screams of surprise at being caught eavesdropping by the very man they were discussing.

"Hey, that's not cool, man," Kyle insisted, glaring at the lethal hybrid watching him.

Michael shrugged dismissively. "You're the one who just screamed like a girl."

"I did not," he started.

Max laughed quietly as he shook his head. "You really did, Kyle."

"You try livin' with Isabel for so long and see what it does to your nerves," Kyle defended himself.

Max shook his head. "No thanks. Been there and done that. I'm quite familiar with the hell my sister can put you through." He smiled and took Liz' hand as he pulled her away from the door and back into the kitchen, leaving the others to determine what they were going to do.