Rollercoaster

by

Domino

Part One

"We have two choices. Destroy them from the inside or from the outside. Obviously the latter was a complete failure. All attempts had disastrous results. The group is too strong together. We need a new strategy, a new plan."

"It has been decided to activate Operation Iago. The subject chosen is a Maria Deluca. All of our studies and surveillance have shown that she is the heart of the group. Destroy her relationship with the group and they will fall apart."

"Easy pickings. Is the husk ready?"

"Yes. It has an extremely limited time factor. Possibly an hour before it will disintegrate. The mission must be complete before that happens. Has a time been chosen yet?"

"The decision has been made. Tomorrow night. Miss Deluca will be home studying alone, leaving the playing field open. All three of the other subjects are working. The timing will be perfect. Who have you fitted to the husk?"

"Santia. Her size is exact. Matches Miss Deluca almost to the letter. The fitting showed no abnormalities."

"And the classes?"

"She has watched every surveillance tape of the subject. Her mannerisms are almost perfect."

"This has to go well. We cant afford any more screw-ups. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly, sir. By this time tomorrow - the eight of them in a group will be a mere memory."

"Alright, then. Notify Courtney that the plan is in effect. Her attempts to destroy Michael Guerin and Maria Deluca's relationship so far has been a dismal defeat. She should abort that immediately and begin observance, starting now."

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, then. Report tomorrow. Dismissed."

The Next Day

Maria had the night of. For a change she wasn't hanging around the Crashdown but instead due to her recent grounding, (she broke curfew again on an alien fact finding mission) she was stuck at home. After feeling sorry for herself for at least half an hour, she finally decided to use the time spent away from her boyfriend and friends to study, a rare occasion for her unless necessary.

At the Crashdown, life without her, was as interesting as Maria's study session. Michael was bored. Flipping burgers on a daily busy wasn't exactly the fun aspect of his life, not that much was, but Maria always made it more interesting. And much as he hated to admit it, he missed her. Liz felt the same way. Without Maria around, the only person serving was Courtney and they were both part of the same mutual hate association. If it was possible, and it was, Courtney was hated even more than Tess was, when she first arrived. The shift passed slowly for both of Michael and Liz. They didn't talk much to each other. Liz never knew quite what to say to Michael - that is small talk that didn't involve some sort of alien crisis, and Michael never said anything that wasn't alien related to anyone besides Maria.

Thirty minutes had been bearable for Liz. This was when Max came in for his break. He was working across the street at the UFO Museum, his job safe again. For that period at least Liz had someone to talk to, even though from Michael's perspective all they did was stare each other. It was good to see them back together again, after all they had been through but only in limited periods as they did have that somewhat nauseating quality to onlookers. Still all it did was make him miss Maria more. Worse he had to suffer through this all alone. Isabel, Alex, Kyle and Tess had gone on a double date. Michael cringed when he heard that - the words double date having bad memories for him.

After Max left, Liz resumed the countdown to the end of the shift. Michael had begun his the second his shift began. Still it was only another hour before Max fetched her for their date. He was supposed to give Michael a lift home and then she would have him all to herself. Time passed.

Outside, Max locked the door of the museum before starting to cross the street. He was smiling. Just before he stepped of the pavement, he ran into his best friend. Inside the café, Courtney made sure both Liz and Michael were positioned in front of the glass door. It had a perfect view of the street across.

The plan went perfectly. Santia performed an Oscar-worthy performance, her timing expert. In full view of two shocked observers and one participant, Santia kissed Max. He was too stunned to even react. Before his voice returned, she had disappeared around the corner. And the damage was done.

Max didn't run after her, his eyes moving to the Crashdown to meet Liz's shocked and betrayed ones. Michael was already out the Crashdown and in one quick motion, his fist shot out and hit Max in the face before he turned and ran away. Liz turned around and ran up the steps to her room and Courtney watched in glee as Max lay on the sidewalk, holding his jaw before getting to his feet and uncertainly standing there, deciding who to go after first.

The plan was a success. Finally they had broken the four up. It was perfect. Sheer brilliance. She couldn't wait to report in. With that last thought Courtney raced to the backroom and dialled her superiors.

End Part One.

Part Two

Maria raced into school, late and rushed to her locker. She looked for her best friend. Last night she had tried to phone her and find out how her date went and give Liz her news but Liz was already sleeping. Max wasn't even home and Michael wasn't answering his phone so she had to wait until today to talk to them, and needless to say Maria wasn't the most patient person in the world.

'Finally, there's Liz,' Maria thought and she raced after her friend to see her disappearing into the class for homeroom. Maria skidded to a halt outside the room and calmly walked in and as usual collapsed down next to Liz. She watched in shock as Liz immediately got up and moved to another seat. Her face, hurt and questioning was ignored by Liz. The others in the class looked on in surprise, Liz's behaviour a shock to them as well. Two seats behind, Alex and Tess who shared homeroom with them exchanged worried glances at Liz's cold face and Maria's hurt one. It was ignored for the moment as school went on.

When the period ended Maria tried to get to Liz but she ran out the room. Maria ran after her before Alex and Tess could get to either one. In the hall, before Maria could reach Liz, an arm grabbed her and pulled her into an empty classroom.

"Max. Not now. Something's wrong with Liz. I have to go after her," Maria said to him turning around to leave.

Max stared at her incredulously before anger covered each features. The previous night had been a nightmare. Liz refused to talk to him at all. No begging had helped. He hadn't had a chance to explain. When he finally given up on her and tried to find Michael - even after hours of searching he had no success. And here, the reason for all this pain, the person he had once trusted more than anyone else with the secrets of his heart and she was pretending like she didn't even know.

Disgust coloured his voice, "How could you? You're what's wrong with her. What's wrong with Michael. Thanks to you both of them are never going to talk to me again. How could you?"

"What are you talking about, Max. What happened. Did something happen to Michael? How is Liz involved. Why are you mad at me?" the questions flew from her lips but Max wasn't listening. He was too furious.

"Stay away from me. Stay away from all of us. Just get out of our lives. You've ruined them enough," he said his tone nasty, a tone she had never heard him use previously, before he stalked out the door. And for the second time that day, a best friend walked away from her. Maria's face fell and for a second she thought about running home and crying but that thought passed as she gathered up her strength and went to find out what the hell it was that was going on with her friends.

In the meantime Alex and Tess caught up with Isabel and Kyle. They were both in the dark as well although Isabel did sat that Max came home late. They finally found Liz, Michael nowhere to be seen. The conversation was one of the weirdest that they had ever encountered.

In a cold voice, devoid of all emotion Liz filled them in. It was a few minutes before any of them found a voice, the story so unbelievable.

"No way. Maria would never to that," Alex said finally shaking his head.

"I know what I saw, what we saw," Liz said, a break in her voice.

"It's just not possible," Isabel added, "I mean we're talking about Maria here, not Tess. No offence, Tess. And Max would never."

"None taken. But I agree, Maria could never… and Max would never," Tess said.

"Definitely not possible. Think about it. No one wanted you and Max to get back together more than Maria," Kyle said.

"And the way she feels about Michael. She couldn't do that to him," Isabel put in.

"She thought he did that to her. Remember Courtney. It was revenge," Liz said.

"For what? The Courtney thing was one big misunderstanding. It's over. They're back together again," Alex said.

"Plus Liz, Maria couldn't do it to you. You're her best friend, for heaven's sake. No one is more loyal than Maria," Kyle defended.

"And Max wants you more than anything. All of us know that," Isabel said.

"I saw them kiss. Now you can believe me or not but I was right the last time."

"But Liz, there was an explanation the last time. I made him kiss me. Maybe there's an explanation this time."

"Unless Maria suddenly became an alien without my knowledge with mindwarping powers she kissed my boyfriend," Liz's voice became cold again, "I have to go," before she turned around and walked away, leaving 4 totally in shock friends.

End Part Two

Part Three

"We need to find Michael, Maria and Max and find out what happened," Alex suggested after attempts to come up with an explanation yielded no results. They didn't have to look far as Max looking for Liz or Michael entered the classroom they were in.

His story matched Liz's except for his claim that Maria kissed him and he did nothing to encourage it. In the middle of his explanation, Liz walked back in, Michael in tow. They overheard his distraught version.

"What are you saying, Maxwell? Maria kissed you and you did nothing. Please," Michael's tone was sarcastic with an undertone of fury beneath it.

"I was in shock. It wasn't exactly something I expected. All I know I was walking across to come get the two of you and she came up to me and kissed me," Max's voice had ring of truth to it and some desperation.

"Please, I'm suppose to believe that," Liz added.

"She walked away before I even had time to react and the next thing I know you punched me and Liz ran away. I didn't do anything. Someone please tell me why these things always happen to me?"

Despite the fury and hurt flowing through them, Michael and Liz were beginning to believe Max. he sounded desperate and truthful. In addition it was hard to believe what they themselves with their own eyes had seen. The two of them exchanged a look of small understanding, before nodding at Max. Max gave a sigh of relief, echoed by their four friends watching.

'Great. One down. One to go. And everything will be fixed,' Alex thought. His optimism was unfounded and even he knew that the second one would be harder to explain. It looked bad for Maria.

At that point the subject of everyone's thoughts opened the door and walked in to 7 accusing faces. Her bewilderment increased. It had taken her a while to find them all and now to see them together... Maria just wished she knew what was wrong with them.

As he caught sight of her, every feeling of betrayal rushed back to the surface. The entire night Michael had spent trying to forget what he saw. The pain in his heart when he saw the one thing he had never expected in his life. He had spent the whole night walking in the darkened streets, through the desert as his life crumbled around him. The one person in the world he trusted above all else and she had... he had trouble saying the words, thinking them.

Maria felt her belief that she could fix the problem, whatever it was, if she just spoke to her friends, disappear before her as she caught sight of his eyes. Liz refused to look at her, Max looked furious and Michael... his eyes bore holes in her. They were filled with pain and anger. Before she could say anything, Michael pushed past her and left. His touch left her shaken from all the emotions she felt from him. Max and Liz followed. Maria watched them leave before turning to face the four remaining.

They might not have left but their faces had closed of. All the evidence was against her, and they had no choice but to believe it.

"Please tell me what's going on?" Maria asked in a small tone.

"I can't believe you would do that, Maria. You of all people?" Isabel said, following her brother out.

"Do what?"

"Please don't tell me you're going to deny it?" Tess asked, moving after Isabel. Maria still had a confused look on her face.

"What reason could you possibly have had for kissing Max. I just don't get it?" Alex said as he followed his girlfriend out. Kyle gave her a disappointed look before he also left.

The silent room was left with a stunned girl, in complete shock at what just happened. In a mere 12 hours she had gone from a girl with a boyfriend that loved her and friends that needed and trusted her to someone all alone accused of something she had no memory of, but believed by all. She couldn't stay here. She needed to think. Maria ran out of the room.

'Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.' She repeated the mantra in her head and forced the tears she had back and she ran through the empty halls. At the parking lot, standing by her Jetta was a triumphant Courtney. Maria ignored her, but the girl wouldn't let her. In a gleeful voice, Courtney proceeded to tell Maria all that occurred in every excruciating detail. It was not part of the plan but Courtney couldn't help it. There was no one she hated more than Maria and this was revenge. She looked to see the destruction on Maria's face but Maria didn't give her the satisfaction. Knowing Michael had taught her at least one thing and that was to let nothing show. Her face as stonewall as it got Maria got in the car and started it, her reversal made Courtney move back in a hurry.

Peeling out of the parking lot Maria raced out. She drove for a while before finding herself in the desert. There she sat, tears pouring down until she had no more. Her worst fear had just come true. Everyone she had ever love walked away from her When she was completely spent, Maria got up and drove home her face set in a new resolution. She buried the hurt and anger, her decisions made, she drove home and started to rebuild her life.

End Part Three

Part Four

The drive back was the hardest thing Maria had ever done. Twice she almost turned the car around and thought about disappearing forever. Two things stopped her - the first was her mother. Amy Deluca didn't have anyone else and Maria was not about to leave her alone. The second one was more difficult to define.

It was a combination of anger, disappointment and sheer stubbornness. Maria was furious with her friends, so angry in fact, it overrode all the hurt and betrayal. To think that they had so little trust in her that they would believe something so ridiculous about her, that they would think she was capable of betraying so many people. It was wrong on so many levels she just didn't know where to begin. In addition to that she refused to leave, to give any of them the satisfaction, the simplicity of never having to see her again.

All that persistence and stubbornness Maria had used when Michael gave them up for three months while Maria clung despite any hope was what she used. Only this time Maria wasn't going to fight for her friends. She was through doing that. This time she was going to fight for herself. If they wanted her back, something she doubted, they would have to fight for her because this time as much as she was dead to them, they were dead to her.

The first thing she did when she got back, was drive to the Crashdown. She did this first for a number of reasons. One - Liz wouldn't be back from school yet. Two - she needed to cut all ties and the CD represented everyone of those. It was the link between them all, where they met, where she grew up, where she and Liz played and cemented their friendship. It was also an important source of income to her, for a family that struggled to cope. Despite all that, or maybe because of it Maria took a deep breathe and walked in to the familiar café. Mr Parker was easy to find and with the familiarity of years of relationship Maria walked up to him and handed in her resignation.

Mr Parker was shocked to say the least. He of all people knew how much she needed the job and her quitting was something he never saw coming.

"Maria are you sure. You need this job. Why?"

"I'm sure Mr P. It's something I have to do. Besides, I'll have more time for after school stuff. It'll be cool, Mr Parker."

"Alright, but I'm not calling it your resignation. We'll call it a leave of absence so that if you want to, you can return anytime," he said.

The cynical part of Maria wondered if he would be so friendly if he believed what his daughter believed. Still she smiled at him, the man that had been more of a father to her than her own, "Thank you.. I appreciate that, sir but I don't think I will be coming back."

"Just in case, then."

Maria turned around to leave but before she did, she went back and hugged him. In a soft tone she said, "You're a good father, Mr P."

Mr Parker ignored the slight panic he felt when he heard her tone. It had a ring of finality to it, like he was never going to see her again. He looked at the girl that had been a second daughter to him and blinked at her eyes - normally so alive and full of happiness, but today they had hardened. He told himself he was imagining it and instead returned the hug tightly, - a part of him aware he might never get to do this again.

"You're a great daughter Maria."

"Bye, Mr Parker." And with those final words Maria walked out of the place that had been her life for so long.

A part of her was terrified and yet at the same time, despite her hurt, her anger, her new jobless state, Maria felt free. With every step she took, a new layer got added to the stonewall so not part of character before. Before the betrayal.

End Part Four

Part Five

Putting all thoughts of her former friends out of her head, Maria jumped into her car and drove down the street to her house. While it may seem that quitting her job was a reckless action, particularly by someone that needed a job, it wasn't totally without a backup plan. Maria had two options, the first was infinitely more desirable and as for the second - if the first failed, Maria could always waitress some place else. She was a good waitress and getting a job like that was not too difficult.

But first, she had an audition to attend. It was one of the reasons she was looking for Liz this morning, to tell her about it. Maria phoned "The Enterprise," Roswell's premier restaurant the day before. They were looking for a new singer to sing at the restaurant on Friday and Saturday nights. The job was perfect. It paid more that the CD did and offered tips. Today was Maria's audition.

Maria ran into the empty house to her room. On her bed lay the three dresses she had taken out for her audition. She was going to call and ask Isabel, Liz, and Tess's opinion on which dress they thought would make the best impression but that was before. Pushing down the pain she felt when she remembered, Maria decisively picked up the first dress. It was one of her favourite, in spite of its simplicity. The dress was black, long and skin tight with a slit to mid thigh. It was elegant but without any trappings, using no decoration and in that lay its appeal. The cleavage shown was limited, low enough to glimpse but too high to see anything before the dress tied around her neck. There was no back to it. Maria bought the dress the second she saw it. For once price was irrelevant but fortunately for her the dress was relatively inexpensive. It could only be worn by someone with the right figure and Maria had that.

So far no one had seen the dress. Maria slipped the dress on. It was a night dress but since the audition was for a singer at night in a restaurant it was appropriate. Bending down she tied the strappy sandals to her feet. A few minutes in front of the mirror had her hair combed back except for two curls which hung down the side. The look made her appear older and slightly more mature. Foregoing her usual lip gloss, Maria took out her red lipstick. She rarely wore red but circumstance sometimes called for it. She did her eyes last. Those she emphasised heavily with dark shades and green. The result left her green eyes slightly slanted with a feline appearance.

Maria didn't waste time studying her look. She picked up her bag, her music and without looking back, her new motto in life strode out the house. She arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early but instead of waiting in the car walked into the restaurant. Maria had never been there before. It was too expensive and required reservations at least a month in advance. When she arrived she looked around curiously. The place was beautiful. Immediately Maria's attention went to the far corner of the room where a piano lay and a small stage. Because it was afternoon the restaurant was empty. It was between the lunch and dinner rushes.

Maria didn't haven't to search for anyone. Her appearance garnered immediate attention and it took only a few seconds before someone appeared at her side. Even Maria had to agree that the audition went well. The piano player knew the songs she had chosen and she sung beautifully. Maria placed all the emotions she had been denying into the song and the result was a song that both amazing and had the ability to bring one to tears.

"You're hired. It will be on probation for this weekend. Only a formality but after…"

"Thank you," Maria's tone was devoid of emotion again. It was one she adopted from Isabel.

"This dress is perfect for today. Do you have one for Saturday?"

"Yes I do. Will I need a lot of them for every weekend?"

"Yes, you will but the job comes with a dress allowance. Here's your schedule. You work every Friday and Saturday night from 7 to 11pm. You can have 10 minute break every hour and a 20 minute one at 9pm. Tips between you and the piano player are shared 60/40. They get divided every night. All clear."

Maria nodded and exchanged a small smile with the guy sitting at the piano. He had already introduced himself as Marc.

"Are you free now?"

"Yes. I am. Why?"

"You can have your first rehearsal now for tonight's performance."

"Alright. Do you have a list of songs you would like me to learn."

"Its all there. Marc will show them to you. Sometimes we also allow requests if the song is known, ok." With that the manger walked away leaving her with Marc.

The rehearsal, like the audition was a success. Marc was a college student making a little extra on the side. The two got along well, and in spite of Maria's new rules of keeping her distance she found herself liking Marc. But the hurt was too fresh for her to let anyone in, and Maria kept it all superficial. The one thing she was glad of was singing kept her sufficiently distracted enough not to think about what happened this morning.

Her rehearsal ended at five. Maria decided against leaving the restaurant when her job started in a couple of hours. Settling into the staff room at the back, she pulled out her homework and for second time that week was up to date, and on a Friday. Her homework completed about fifteen minutes before she was due on stage Maria wondered into the kitchen to meet the rest of the staff. There was a chef and his wife that ran the kitchen. Within seconds of her arrival into the kitchen, Maria found herself surrounded. The chefs were from Spain. And in a mixture of Spanish and English fussed over her.

Maria having spoken Spanish almost before she spoke English conversed back with them in Spanish earning her their undying love and support. She immediately was hugged by the woman and plate of hot food shoved in her face. Her protests had only reclamation's about being too thin tossed at her. Maria not realising how hungry she was, having not eaten all day, to her surprise ate everything. It was delicious as one would expect from a five star restaurant. And with that introduction Maria became their favourite staff member. For Maria just being looked at with trust again, was a welcome change and the relationship between two grandparents who missed their grandchildren and a young girl without grandparents began.

The first day went well. Maria was a complete success. Her tips exceeded what she made during a week at the CD and requests flew in all night long. Every break Maria had, she slipped into the kitchen where her new friends plied her with desserts and stories. They didn't push or ask anything she didn't want to tell , their years of experience recognising the pain in her but instead made her feel safe and welcome.

End Part Five

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