PART TWO Author’s Note: This part has a brief allusion to Whiteotter’s spectacular Polar Novel, a must read for any Roswell fan. You’re the best Whiteotter! The story takes an hour to tell. Half the time Michael argued with me about ‘That couldn’t have happened!’ or ‘How did you know he wasn’t a shape shifter?’ But I got through the story finally. Well, excluding some minor and personal details. And I think he believes me. He’s stubborn and he’s denying it, but he saw my memories. Besides, everyone knows I’m a horrible liar. We’ve been sitting silently in my room for about 10 minutes now, Michael by the window and me on the bed. I’m physically and emotionally drained, but as tired as I am, I know sleep won’t come. "Why’d you do it?" he asks quietly. I look at him, thinking for a moment. "Because it had to be done." And after a long moment I added, "Because he asked." He nodded and looked at a picture on the wall for a moment. A picture of Grandma Claudia and I by an ash tree we’d planted in the park. I continue to study him, wondering what he’s thinking. "I …" he cleared his throat and looked at his hands before continuing, "I know you always said you’d do whatever you had to for us … but I can’t believe you did that." He looked over at me and our eyes locked. "You gave up everything you were going to have." I look down, feeling a little flustered. Michael was complimenting me in his own way. "Any normal person would’ve given up," he added. "I almost did," I said quietly, remembering that horrible night I used the great romance of Romeo and Juliet against Max. "The night you went to his room," he finished for me. I nodded. "What stopped you? From saying "to hell with it"?" I looked at him, and saw sincere curiosity. How could I ever keep anything from him? "You." I hardly breathed it, but I know he heard me when he cocked his head to the side and questioned me with his eyes. I’d only told him that Future Max had convinced me to try again. I hadn’t told him what it was that had convinced me. "After I told Max I wouldn’t die for him, I was ready to give up." I swallowed and pulled my knees up to my chest. "But then Future Max told me about … you and Isabel. And how you had died right before he went to the granolith to come back. And … I knew I had to stop that. I knew I had to try and prevent it." I looked at him warily. I’d basically admitted that I cared for him and I couldn’t help but wonder how he’d respond. He looked down at his hands, playing with his rings again. My heart fell and I gave an inward sigh. My eyes started to water and I turned my head so he wouldn’t see. What was I thinking? That he’d return the sentiment? He’d seen my innermost thoughts when he read my diary. Why can’t he see what I feel now? Or maybe he knows how I feel and just doesn’t care. I heard him get up and move closer and then I felt his hand on mine, tentative at first. I turned my face towards him, and our eyes locked again. "Thank you," he whispered. I saw genuine appreciation, and looked down at his hand on mine. I slowly turned my palm over, so we were holding hands and squeezed a little. I couldn’t resist. And he squeezed back. Such a small gesture, but it was then that I was sure he knew I cared. And he was thanking me for it. We were interrupted by a scream from the alley. We both jumped up and he was out of the window before the feeling of his hand leaving mine had registered. I faltered a moment before following. He was already down the ladder, and I scrambled down after him. He reached the side of the screaming girl, just as I reached the ground and turned around. It was Ava, Tess’s dupe, and she was having some kind of nightmare. "WAKE UP! GET UP!" Michael was shaking her shoulders and screaming at her. Her eyes snapped open, inches from his face. "NO!" She screamed and suddenly Michael was flung into the air and against the opposing brick wall. He hit about 6 feet above the ground before sliding down in a heap. He was hurt but still conscious. Ava was still panting, and her hand rose towards me, ready to defend herself. "Ava, it’s me, Liz." I held my hands up, showing that I was defenseless. My name didn’t register a reply, so I tried again. "Remember, I’m one of Max’s friends. We met the other night at the UFO center. And that’s Michael, remember?" Please remember, I prayed silently. Recognition crossed her face and her hand lowered a little, turning in Michael’s direction. He was in pain, I could tell. And he was angry. I was scared he was going to retaliate. Finally she lowered her hand completely and sat up, moving farther away from us. I went to Michael and ran my hands over him, trying to see if he had any bad wounds. He pushed me away some but was too disoriented to fight much. "Michael, look at me." I was trying to get his face in my hands, trying to look in his eyes to see if he’d had a concussion. Why does he insist on fighting me? "Michael!" I said a little louder. He finally stopped struggling and let me look at him. He had a large cut on the back of his head and neck. I touched the wound gently and he winced at the contact. "Can you fix it?" I asked. He should his head angrily in reply. I helped him up, but he was weak and had to lean heavily on me. She’d put a lot of power behind that hit of hers. Not only did it throw him, but it also seemed to effect his energy. We faced Ava, and saw her crouching against the dumpster, looking angrily down the alley. "What are you doing here?" Michael demanded. "Sleeping", she mumbled. "By the dumpster?" I asked. Her eyes snapped to me and, full of New York attitude, she said, "Yeah, you gotta problem with that?" "No…" I shook my head numbly. "Why the hell were you screaming?" Michael asked, angrily. He’d come out here to help and instead had been knocked against the wall. I can see why he’s a little pissed. She looked away and clenched her eyes shut. "It … it was nothin." "Don’t pull that crap with me!" Michael yelled, taking a step towards her. Shit, if Ava’s screams hadn’t already wakened my parents up, these two yelling sure would. "Shut up!" I hiss. They look at me, Michael annoyed and Ava a little intrigued. "Listen, let’s lower the volume and move this inside." I looked at Ava. "Both of you." "Fine." Michael quipped. I turned him towards the fire escape. We both turned to Ava when we noticed she hadn’t moved. She looked uncomfortable. "Come on, Ava, we’re not going to hurt you," I said quietly, hoping that she wouldn’t put up a fight. She gathered her things and slowly followed us. ----------------------- Once we were in my room, I sat Michael on my bed. "Lie down, Michael." "Liz, I’m fine," he insisted, still eyeing Ava. It was pretty obvious he didn’t want to put his guard down around her. "Well, just stay there while I go get the First Aid kit." I started to my bathroom, and then turned to Ava. "You can sit down if you’d like." She nodded and sat on my chair by the window. When I returned, Michael was still staring at Ava through those squinty eyes he gets and Ava was looking around the room, looking very nonchalant but taking in every detail nonetheless. I sat myself next to Michael between him and Ava, my back facing her. Instantly he grabbed my hips and moved me, so that he remained between Ava and I. He continued to face her and threaten her with his eyes. It took me a second to recover from the warmth and force of his hands on my hips. My eyes were locked on his face and he glanced at me. "What?" he asked. "Nothing." How could I tell him that his concern moved me? Not to mention that his touch sent shockwaves through my body. I set to work on the cut Michael had gotten from Ava’s blow and began glancing between the two. How the hell do I handle this? I finished my work and packed up the kit before turning back to them. "So…" I started. "What are you doing here, Ava? We know that the others left for New York so why did you stay?" She tensed and for a moment I thought I saw tears glistening her eyes. "I didn’t wanna go." Then she looked straight at us, and said with a little spite, "It’s not like they need me anyway. It’s not like anyone has ever needed me." Michael continued glaring and I looked at her sympathetically. The poor girl! Has she ever felt loved? Needed? I was tempted to go to her, but Michael’s hand on my arm stopped me. So I stayed standing next to him. He didn’t bother to remove his hand. "But Max went with them, didn’t he? And Tess. To the summit," Michael added. Ava nodded. "What exactly is happening at this summit? Why is it so important that Max be there?" I couldn’t help but ask. It’s not like I’m in the loop much anymore. When she didn’t answer, Michael began to get agitated. "Tell us!" I winced at his tone. She’s never going to tell us if Michael doesn’t stop raising his voice. I grabbed his hand and he looked at me. "Let me handle this," I whispered. When he started to open his mouth to object, I gave him a stern look. He sighed and motioned me to go for it. I walked to Ava and sat next to her. She looked at me and I started. "We know that it’s some kind of meeting, between the powers of your worlds." She nodded. "But what exactly is it about? Please Ava, tell us." "It’s about strikin’ a deal to go home, to Antar." My head turned to Michael. His eyes were as wide as mine. "How?" Michael breathed. She sighed. "There has to be some negotiations. They gotta make a deal. End the war and all that." "What kind of deal?" he pressed. "There’s this thing, called a granolith or somethin’ like that." Michael and I glanced at each other. Ava didn’t notice. "You see, Khivar wants it. And rumor is your man Max can get it to him somehow. Once we do, we got a ticket home." "Who’s Khivar?" I didn’t know. And I figured it was a good question to ask. "He’s the guy who took the throne from Zan. The war started because of him. He’s, a … not exactly a nice guy. In fact, he’s as bad as they get." Ava shuddered. "What’s he want with the granolith?" Michael asked. "They say it’s a religious statue. But the truth is it can be really powerful. Khivar wants to use it as a weapon. He wants to take over our neighboring planets." She looked away and leaned back in her seat. I nodded. She had a point. It was powerful. It had to be to create a rip in time and defy physics. And if Khivar was as bad as Ava thought, then I knew he shouldn’t have it. "Do Lonnie and Rath know about its powers?" She tensed at my question. Her eyes turned cold at their names. "Yeah, but all they want is to get home. They’ll do whatever is takes." She looked at us both. "And I mean whatever it takes. They don’t care who gets in their way." I looked at Michael, more than a little worried. "Max doesn’t know, Michael. He doesn’t know how powerful it is. What if he makes a deal? What if Khivar gets it?" He looked at me, thinking for a minute. I started to get a little frantic. "Michael! He doesn’t know! What if he hands it over to Khivar? There has to be a reason it was sent with you four. It’s your responsibility to make sure it stays safe. I mean, just think about it. If it can send Max back, it has to be pretty damn powerful. We can’t let anyone else have it!" My voice was rising and I was pacing around my room, gesturing wildly. Michael jumped up and grabbed both my arms, pulling me against him. "I’ll take care of it, Liz. We won’t let anything happen. Everything will be fine." My body was pressed against his and his words soothed my nerves. His arms wrapped around me and he rubbed my back gently. "The granolith. You know where it is?" We turned our heads to Ava, and Michael eventually nodded. He released me and sighed. Damn it! I’d let two secrets slip that night. And now Michael was gonna be pissed at me. "They gave it to you," Ava said, envy creeping into her voice. "They trusted your set with it." "Yeah, there a problem with that?" Michael replied defensively. "No," she said snidely to him. "No problem at all." "Good." Michael returned to my bed. We all sat quietly, musing over everything. After a few moments, I started to worry again. "How do we get word to Max?" Michael sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. "I don’t know. He hasn’t called. Tess didn’t take her phone." He turned to Ava with a condescending look and said, " I don’t suppose you all have a number we could call." She returned his look with a bitchy one of her own and said, " So sorry we didn’t think ahead of time to make things convenient for ya." Their glaring contest continued as a thought occurred to me. "We’ll use Isabel. Tell her to go in his dream. Maybe send him a message that way." Michael nodded. "And if that doesn’t work?" I hesitated a second. "Then we go to New York." "New York." There’s Michael for you. Repeats what you say. I nodded, a determined look on my face. "How do you expect to pull that off?" he asked. Oh yeah, minor detail. I shook my head slightly and answered, "We’ll figure that out if it gets to that point. For now, we just need to get Isabel to try." He nodded. "I’ll stop by her place. Catch her up on everything." He stood up, getting ready to leave. My heart jumped. "Wait, Michael! You can’t tell her everything." It dawned on him what I was talking about. "Don’t worry. No one will know. I promise not to tell anyone." I bite my lip, something I always do when I’m nervous and he walks towards me, trying to calm me. "Liz, I promise. It’ll be our secret. You can trust me." One look in his eyes and knew I could. I nodded, and whispered, "Thank you." "You two want some time alone?" Ava looked a little uncomfortable. Michael stepped away from me quickly and glared at her. I blushed and looked at her, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "I should get going," Michael replied, avoiding her question. "So should you," he said looking at Ava. "Ava can stay," I said. They both looked at me. Ava surprised, and a little suspicious. Michael obviously didn’t agree with me. "I don’t want her out in the streets," I said quickly before Michael could object. Then I looked at Ava and said, "You can stay with me as long as you’d like." "That’s a bad idea, Liz," Michael began. "You saw how she threw me across that alley. She’s dangerous." "I only threw you because I thought you were Rath," Ava said, defending herself. Michael and I looked at her, understanding dawning on both of us. "I don’t got a reason to hurt either of you. Unless you give me reason." Her eyes burned with anger at the accusation. "Ok. I’ll be here first thing in the morning to check on you two." We nodded and he started for the window. When he was halfway out, he turned back to me. "Call if you need anything. I’m only a few blocks away." Then he was gone. -------- Ava and I were very fidgety and uncomfortable after Michael left. She yawned and my manners came back. "You can take the bed if you’d like. And you can borrow something to sleep in," I said, standing and heading to my closet. I stood on tiptoe and pulled down my sleeping bag. "I’ll just take the floor. Toss me the bag." I urged her to take the bed, but in the end she insisted on the floor. So we went to bed. Ava slept, I’m pretty sure. She tossed quietly most of the night though. I don’t think I got more than a few hours sleep. My thoughts were chaotic and overflowing. Thoughts of Max and the danger he could be in, of Ava’s fear of Lonnie and Rath … and thoughts of Michael. Despite all my worry over the night’s revelations I couldn’t help but smile a little when I thought of him. The concern he was showing. And the way he was protective when Ava was near. But most of all, I was smiling because I was finally able to share my secret with someone. And I’m glad it was Michael. |