Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don’t own Roswell or it’s characters, nor do I own ET, MTV or any of the lyrics written.
Rating: PG/R
Spoilers: None, its AU
Pairing: Michael/Maria with some Kyle/Tess
Summary: A stalker wants her dead. What will she do when she finds out that the killer is actually a close friend? Secrets from the past are revealed and a new love is born.
Distribution: Belit’s site, Kraving Candy, Candy is Dandy, Aliens love and Roses, Second in Command, Fanfiction.net, Roswell Desert Skies, Ally’s site, and if anyone else wants it, all you have to do is ask.
Author’s note: This is in response to a challenge issued at Belit’s planet called Bodyguard. As I was reading it all these thoughts just entered my head so I couldn’t not write it. Remember when reading this that I intend this fic to have a sequel so there will be many questions but all with eventually be answered. This is in no way related to the movie. Feedback is appreciated, as is honesty. Challenge can be found here:
http://pub10.ezboard.com/fbelitsplanetfrm110.showMessage?topicID=54.topic
Email: sezza43@hotmail.com

****

Maria threw a smile at Michael before stalking back into the party. As she walked through the door she spotted Kyle. “What the hell do you want Kyle? I was busy.” Kyle raised an eyebrow at her.

“Busy doing what exactly?” he asked. He had seen Michael and Maria walk off outside and knew he had to interrupt it before they got anywhere. He ignored the slight blush on Maria’s cheeks and shrugged. “I didn’t know where you were so I got worried,” he said in the most sincere tone he could. He smiled internally when Maria’s angered look disappeared. It worked.

“Oh Kyle, you don’t need to worry about me ok, I was fine, go and have fun.” She said using her hands in a ‘shoo’ motion. Even though he had been sweet in looking out for her, she really wanted him to go away so she could finish what she and Michael had started a few minutes before.

Kyle shook his head and smirked at Michael as he entered the room. “No I think that I’ll stick by your side,” he said then was quick to add, “All night.” Maria tried to suppress the groan that wanted to come out, but instead smiled and thanked him for being a great brother. Kyle beamed at Michael who just glared at him. Grabbing Maria’s hand, he started to pull her towards the dance floor. “Come on sis, let’s dance.”

*~*~*~*

Three days later

Michael walked into his room frustrated after doing a sweep of the grounds. So far he and Kyle, were no closer to finding out whom the killer was. The person seemed to have started to back off for a while. He sat on his bed and ran a hand through his hair. He wasn’t frustrated due to not being any closer to finding the killer, no; he was frustrated because of Kyle. Since the night of the party, Kyle had not left Maria’s side once. Michael hadn’t gotten a chance to even talk to her yet. He was pretty certain that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her but needed to be sure.

Sighing, he got up and walked over towards the set of drawers near the door. He opened it to find a new shirt to wear but upon looking into it he was surprised. He was sure that he had brought more than four shirts along with him. Closing the drawer he then glanced over towards the mantle where he kept his wallet. Opening it, he checked to see if all his credit cards were in place. After counting them he concluded that they were there. Before he closed the wallet he checked the photo section and creased his brows in confusion as two of the photos he had were missing, one of him and his sisters, and another of his dog. He scratched his head as he closed the wallet and put it in his pocket. Who would want a picture of a dog?

He made a mental note to talk to Maria about his missing things before heading off into the bathroom. As he prepared himself to go to the toilet he let out a laugh. “Oh you have got to be kidding me,” he said as he pulled his jeans back up. While relieving himself he glanced over at the sink and saw that his toothbrush and hairbrush were missing. “This is just beyond weird now.” He said as he headed out the door. He needed to talk to Maria now.

*~*~*~*

Maria tapped her foot along to the music coming out of her headphones as she lay on a beach chair beside the clear sparkling water in her pool.

Wake me up inside
Wake me up inside
Call my name and save me from the dark
Bid my blood to run before I come undone
Save me from the nothing I’ve become

As she listened to the music, her thoughts kept dragging her back to the party a few nights ago with Michael. When she had first met him a week and a half ago, she never thought that she would ever develop such deep feelings for him in such a short amount of time. But he was different from all the men she had dated before. She felt safe with him, she felt…alive when she was around him. He was what she had been waiting for all this time. She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the phone ring beside her. Taking the headphones off she answered.

“Hello?”

“Soon Maria.”

With that the line went dead. She placed the phone beside her and then glanced at her shaking hand as she felt all the blood rush from her face. She hadn’t heard a thing from this person in a while and just thought that they had given up, obviously she was wrong.

“Maria?” She jumped when someone behind her placed their hand on her shoulder but sighed in relief when she recognised the voice to be Michael’s. Turning her around to face him, a look of concern crossed over his features. She looked pale and obviously shaken up. “Maria what’s wrong?” he asked more urgently.

“I got another phone call, they said ‘Soon Maria’ and hung up,” she said, feeling tears prick her eyes. “Michael I’m scared.”

Michael pulled her body to his in a tight hug. He tried not to groan aloud when she nestled her head into the crook of his neck. ‘Now is not the time to get aroused,’ he berated himself and hugged her tighter. He started rubbing soothing circles on her back to comfort her as he could hear her try to muffle her cries in his shirt.

Maria raised her head off his shoulder to thank him but froze when she looked into his eyes. He looked concerned yet angry, and she was almost certain that she could see desire there as well. Mating their foreheads together, she could feel his breath on her lips and the memory of the party sprung to mind.

Kyle stood in front of the two with his hands on his hips gaping. Michael had his arms around his bikini-clad sister and looked two seconds away from ravishing her right in front of him. “What the hell is going on here?” he yelled and the two jumped, not realising they had company. “I leave you alone for two goddamn minutes and you already…” he trailed off when they pulled apart and he saw the tears tracks on Maria’s cheeks. “Maria?” he asked in a softer tone.

“She got another phone call, they said ‘Soon Maria’ and hung up.” Michael informed him.

Kyle immediately took the shaken girl in his arms and rocked her gently against his body. “I’m sorry sis, I just thought… no don’t worry about what I thought, it’s not important right now.” He continued holding her for a few more minutes before Liz appeared and asked what had happened. Kyle told her and she went to make Maria a cup of tea to settle her down. Kyle finally let Maria go after a few minutes and gave her a kiss on the forehead before standing. “I’m going to go see where Courtney was during this time, I’ll be back shortly.”

As he left, Maria sniffed and turned back to Michael who was staring after Liz. “Courtney?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, Kyle seems to think that Courtney is behind all of this.”

Maria furrowed her brow. “Courtney? No way, she couldn’t be. I mean…she’s just not that smart.” Maria said while wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

Michael couldn’t help but think how adorable she looked when doing that. ‘Adorable?’ he thought. ‘Where did that come from?’ he snapped out of his Maria induced thoughts when she continued.

“Sure she has reason to hate me but kill me? No.”

“Why would she hate you?” Michael asked confused.

Maria laughed as she blew into the tissue that Michael had handed her. “I tend to give her the shitty jobs, but only by accident. She was the last one Liz hired so all the good jobs were taken.”

Michael nodded then suddenly remembered why he had sought Maria out in the first place. “Maria? I sort of have something to tell you,” he said.

"What?"

“It seems that some of my stuff is missing. My shirts, photos… toothbrush,” he said with a chuckle. He still couldn’t understand why someone would steal a toothbrush.

Maria was shocked. She trusted all of her staff, who would want to steal Michael’s things? Didn’t she pay them enough? “Oh, well um…” she trailed off not really knowing what to say. “I guess we could stake out your room to see if anyone goes in,” she suggested after a while.

Michael nodded and as they stood, Kyle reappeared. “I couldn’t find Courtney… where are you two headed?” he asked while Maria put her shorts back on.

Michael explained about his stuff going missing and Maria told him of her plan. Kyle decided to go along with them, in case they needed help, he told them. Help? Yeah right. He just wanted to make sure they kept their paws off each other.

*~*~*~*

“Kyle you’re in my way,” Maria said while trying to push him. Kyle and Michael had decided to walk ahead of her and were now standing at the corner of the hallway trying to see if anyone had yet to go inside Michael’s room.

“Hey it’s not my fault you’re too short,” he smiled, knowing that Maria would get angry over that comment.

He was right. She whacked him over the back of the head with her hand. “Hey, is that anyway to talk to a world famous star?” Kyle rolled his eyes. Sometimes his sister could be a little egotistical. “I deserve better,” she continued.

“Shhh,” Michael whispered as he turned to the bickering pair. ‘Siblings,’ he thought, ‘Go figure.’

Maria’s jaw dropped as she narrowed her eyes at him. “Did you just shush me?” she asked angrily. “I can’t believe you shushed me.”

Michael grabbed her and covered her mouth with his hands, preventing her shriek from giving them away. “Someone’s in the room, just shut up for at least a second, do you think you can do that?” he asked and she glared at him. Kyle chuckled at the two and Maria bit into Michael’s hand. “Ouch, f-uck Maria,” he said nursing his hand as Maria smiled in triumph. She was about to comment when Kyle spotted someone coming out of the door. They stood there and watched as Courtney, walked out of the room with a pair of Michael’s black leather shoes in hand. “Oh so what? My toothbrush wasn’t enough?” Michael yelled out and Courtney gasped from surprise.

Maria walked forward and placed her hands on her hips. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” she asked while tapping her foot, impatiently waiting for an answer.

“Oh…um…I was just…” Courtney started but then stopped. How could she have been so stupid? The plan would have been perfect if she hadn’t been caught. Now Michael would never see her for a hero. “Cleaning his room?” she said after a moment with a shrug.

Rolling her eyes, Maria held out her hand for the shoes which Courtney reluctantly handed over. “Cleaning? Courtney I ordered everyone to stay out of Kyle and Michael’s rooms,” she said and handed the shoes over to Michael. Courtney bowed her head. “Kyle, go with her to pack her stuff. Courtney you’re fired and I want you off my property within the next 30 minutes or I’m calling the police.”

Kyle nodded and started to pull Courtney down the hall. Maria turned back to Michael. “God I’m so sorry, if I had any idea she was capable of that I would have--” Michael interrupted her rant with a laugh and she glared at him. “What is so funny? I don’t find this situation the least bit hilarious.”

“She stole my toothbrush and a picture of my dog, how could you not find that funny. She’s a complete nut case.” Michael said trying to calm himself down.

Maria thought for a moment before letting a small grin break out on her face. “I guess you're right, I just don’t understand why she would want those things, I mean…it’s not as if she could have sold them to anyone.”

Michael stopped laughing and a serious look crossed over his face. “I’m not so sure about that, She could have sold them on ebay, my things would fetch a pretty penny these days, me being the big shot sexy bodyguard and all.”

Maria threw back her head in laughter. “Big shot---sexy---bodyguard?” she gasped out in between laughs. “Yeah right, Guerin, you're not that hot.”

Shooting Maria a pained look, he pouted. “You don’t think I’m hot?”

Maria threw him a grin before once again erupting into giggles, Michael soon following. It was good to just laugh at a time like this and he was glad that he was able to make her laugh. After the call she received today he thought that she needed it. That and she looked absolutely beautiful when she smiled.

After calming down, she stepped forward and pressed her lips to his cheek then up to his ear and whispered, “Thank you,” before walking away from him and down the hall.

Michael raised his hand to his tingling cheek, turned and started banging his head against the wall, willing his erection to go away.

*~*~*~*

Courtney unlocked the door to her room and started gathering her things into bags. Kyle walked to the closet and opened it, cursing when a box fell on his head. The box was labelled ‘Private’ but Kyle opened it anyway and inside he found all of Michael’s missing things. Standing up, he walked over to Courtney and shoved the box in her face. “What the hell is this? What exactly did you expect to accomplish by stealing Michael’s,” he stopped to pick up an item, “toothbrush?”

Remaining silent, Courtney just shrugged. She didn’t want to reveal her plan now that it had failed to work. Now she just felt stupid. Kyle shook his head, tucked the box under his arm and started to help her gather her things. Glancing over at the mirror, something caught his eye. He put the shirt he was holding down and walked towards the dresser and gasped at what he saw. There, on the mirror were Michael’s missing photos as well as a few of Courtney’s. She had glued them all onto a huge piece of cardboard and at the top was written, ‘The Guerin family tree’. Kyle shook his head.

“I’m going to regret asking this, but what the f-uck?”

Courtney turned to what he was pointing at and smiled. “Oh that is a family tree of mine and Michael’s family.” She smiled.

“Hmm, Courtney… I hate too break this to you, but you and Michael don’t have a family.” Kyle told her as if he was speaking to a five-year-old. This girl obviously needed help.

Shaking her head, Courtney just grinned. “I know that, but see,” she pointed to a picture of what looked like a cutout from a magazine of two children, “they are what our children will look like in the future. I think we’ll have two and see,” she said pointing to the picture of Michael’s dog, “This is our dog.”

Kyle pursed his lips while nodding his head. He didn’t want to say anything else in case she went mental on him so he played along with it until they had all her things packed. He somehow knew that she wasn’t the stalker; the stalker was someone who wanted revenge against Maria, not obsessed with Michael. “Were you in Michael’s room that whole time?” he asked. He just had to make sure. Courtney nodded and Kyle sighed. “Ok, you know that guy you described to me before?” she nodded so he continued, “Is there anything else you can tell me about him?”

Courtney thought for a moment then nodded. “He had a tattoo on his arm. It was of a woman but I couldn’t see it clearly.”

Kyle stored the information away for later and helped her take her bags outside. As they neared the gate, Kyle held onto her arm and spoke in an even voice laced with warning. “If I ever see you anywhere near Maria, this house or Michael again, I won’t hesitate to call the police and make sure that you are put away for life, you got that?” Courtney nodded a little frightened. Kyle smiled. “Good, then let’s hope I don’t see you anytime soon.” With that, he left her watching him leave and headed back into the house.

*~*~*~*

“I can’t believe Courtney would do such a thing, she seemed so nice when I hired her.” Liz said as she took a sip of her tea.

Maria nodded. “I know, I could hardly believe it either, but Michael seemed to find it funny. Men!” she huffed and Liz laughed. “Are you looking forward to going home?”

Liz shrugged. “I don’t know. It would be great seeing everyone.”

“Oh, I know. I can’t wait to see Mom and Jim. Max too.” Liz flinched slightly when Maria mentioned Max. Max Evans, a God among men. He was perfect. The sensitive, romantic, cute guy every woman wants. He also happened to be Maria’s ex-boyfriend. “And Tess,” Maria continued. “I can’t wait to see her and the children.” Liz nodded.

“Yeah, I guess,” she sighed. “So, have you heard from Max lately?” she asked holding her cup to her mouth.

Maria shook her head. “No, the last time I did speak to him though he said that he was thinking of asking Laurie to marry him.”

Liz almost spit out her tea but managed to hold it in, thankful that Maria didn’t notice. “I guess we’ll find out all the gossip when we get home though huh?”

*~*~*~*

“Michael, wait up,” Kyle yelled as he ran to catch up with his best friend and partner. “I got all your stuff and let me tell you, that woman belongs in the loony bin.”

“I know, I mean man, my toothbrush.”

Kyle shook his head and laughed. “Dude that’s not all she had. She was actually convinced that you were going to marry her, that picture of your dog was on a piece of cardboard labelled, ‘The Guerin family tree’.” Michael rolled his eyes. It was uncanny the way woman fell for him. “Oh and I have something to report.”

“Yeah? What?” Michael asked as they sat on the porch steps.

“Courtney said that the day that Maria received that letter, she saw a man hanging around who claimed to be the new gardener, but when I asked Maria about him, she said that she didn’t have a gardener. I asked Courtney again to describe him but all she could remember was that the guy had a tattoo on his arm of a woman.”

Michael took all the information and nodded. “So now you think that it’s this guy?” Kyle gave a curt nod. “What happened to Courtney being it?”

“I was wrong,” he said but quickly added, “But I’m still certain it’s not Liz,” after seeing the wide grin that spread over Michael’s face. There was no way in hell he was going to win that bet. Liz was not the killer.

Clapping his hand on Kyle’s back, Michael stood. “Whatever man, so what do you think we should do? This guy could still be around. Think maybe we should head off to Roswell early?”

Kyle nodded and they headed into the house to find Maria. They found her and Liz talking over tea. “Hey girls, what are you doing?” he asked stealing away one of Maria’s cookies. She slapped at his hands.

“Just talking about Roswell and seeing everyone.”

Kyle smiled and looked toward Michael who nodded. “How would you feel about going to Roswell early?”

Maria smiled. “Really? When do we leave?”

TBC

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