Chapter 9

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 screamed as the bullet flew past her head and hit the wall beside her, making the plaster crumble and fall on the cot next to her body. She watched in horror as Kyle wrestled Liz to the ground then slammed his fist into her face, knocking her out cold by the front door.

Michael ran over to the cot and started to untie her hands from their confines. “Maria, are you okay?” he asked hurriedly. He winced when he saw the red marks on her wrists and cursed himself for not piecing the clues together sooner.

Seeing the look on his face, Maria shook her head. “No, don’t you do that Michael. Do not blame yourself for any of this.”

“If I had of…” Maria cut him off as she held her free hand to his lips.

“If you had of nothing, Michael. All that matters now is that I am fine, a little hurt, but fine, and that you and Kyle got here just in time.” A tear slid down her face when Michael caressed the bruise forming on her left cheek. “Ouch,” she said softly and gave a small laugh.

Michael moved his head closer and tenderly kissed the side of her jaw. “Sorry,” he whispered. Maria smiled as he looked into her eyes and pulled her other hand free.

She brought it up and ran her hand through his hair. “How are you feeling?” she glanced at his shoulder then frowned. “Shouldn’t you be in the hospital?”

Rolling his eyes when Kyle smiled smugly at him, Michael shook his head. “Rescuing you was more important.” Maria couldn’t help but smile at that but made a mental note to yell at him for breaking out of hospital later. Michael kissed her forehead lovingly. “I love you,” he whispered.

Maria pulled back a little in shock. “You love me?” she asked.

“Can I be sick?” Kyle asked as he leaned against the wall. Maria glared at her brother then faced Michael again as he nodded.

“Yeah, I love you, and I’ll never let anything or anyone hurt you again,” he promised as he hugged her tightly to his body.

Maria smiled as she fully accepted his hug and snuggled her head into the crook of his neck. “I love you too,” she whispered and Michael couldn’t stop the huge grin that swept over his face.

As the two moved to kiss each other passionately, Kyle turned away. He did not want to see his sister and his partner making out. Listening to the two talk about their feelings for one another was one thing but seeing them kiss…he just wasn’t ready for that.

Because he had turned his back and Michael and Maria were off in there own little world, no one had seen Liz slowly come too and quietly reach for her gun. She sat up off the ground and held it back out in front of her and pointed it at Maria’s back. As her finger found the trigger she smiled. “Die bit--” she fell to the ground before she could finish the sentence.

Maria jumped in shock when she heard another gun go off and all in the room turned to the door where they saw Jim Valenti holding his gun out. Maria looked from Jim to where Liz’s body lay and started to cry. “Oh god,” she sobbed and buried her head in Michael’s chest. Liz was now lying face down while blood poured out of the wound in her back.

Giving his father a curt nod, Kyle wiped the sweat off his brow. “Hey Dad.”

“Hey Son,” Jim said as he and a few of his men walked into the room. “Michael, you should get Maria out of here.” Michael nodded and helped Maria to stand. He thought for a moment how romantic and picturesque it would have been for him to carry her out of the room like a hero but that was out of the question considering he’d been shot and his shoulder was killing him so he had to settle for wrapping his good arm around her shoulder and holding her close as he walked her out of the room and to the awaiting car outside.

Kyle turned to his father. “We don’t have anything on who else was in on this with her do we?” he frowned as he motioned towards Liz. Jim shook his head. “We’ll see what we can get from this place then try to track them down, we can’t let whoever it was get away with this.” Jim agreed and the two headed out of the apartment, making way for the team of officers and paramedics to do away with Liz’s body.

*~*~*~*

He stood behind a tree across the road and watched in horror as Liz was wheeled away in a body bag and put in the back of an ambulance. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, she wasn’t supposed to die. He glared when he saw the object of his affection in the arms of her saviour and vowed that if it were the last thing he’d do, he would kill Michael Guerin. A tear rolled down his face as he walked away from the scene.

*~*~*~*

3 months later

Michael stood nervously by the refreshments as he watched his girlfriend talk with their friends. They were celebrating Maria’s new album that had hit the stands earlier that day. Since the whole ordeal with Liz, Maria had remained in Roswell taking a much-needed break from all the drama that had suddenly found its way into her life. But that one month turned into two, which led to three, and Maria had finally decided just to stay in Roswell.

Roswell had its own recording studio provided by the one Alex Whitman who was now Maria’s new producer and manager so Maria thought that it would be easier if she stayed to finish her album. That way, she could work on her new songs in peace, and be with Michael. If she needed to tour or do any promotional work then she would leave Roswell for that amount of time, but it was decided that Michael would always go with her. Not only as her over protective boyfriend, but as her bodyguard.

Michael watched on as Maria laughed with Max and Laurie. Since Liz’s betrayal, Maria and Max had grown closer. When she had told him about Liz’s obsession, Max couldn’t believe it and blamed himself for everything to which Maria then put him straight with a swift whack upside the head. She had told him that she was sick and tired of people blaming themselves. If she wasn’t allowed to blame herself then no one could either, simply stating that it was no one’s fault, and that Liz was a complete nut.

He was broken out of his thoughts when Kyle clapped him on the back. “Hey Man,” he greeted. “So when are you going to do it?” he asked.

Michael shrugged. “I don’t know, what if she says no?” He was worried that she would turn him down flat and didn’t know what he’d do if she did. The only thing he had come up with so far if that were to happen was to handcuff her to his bed until she finally agreed.

“She won’t say no,” Kyle told him and Michael nodded then a smile crossed his face as he only just remembered something. Kyle looked at Michael, getting a little worried. Whenever Michael smiled like that it was never good. “What?” he asked.

“You know what the good thing that came out of this mess was? Not only did I finally find the woman of my dreams, but I won the bet,” he said smugly.

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Like you’d stay away from her if I had won it anyway.” Michael nodded and Kyle scoffed. “Thought so.”

“Got any new leads yet?” Michael asked as he took a sip of his beer. Since the incident, he, Kyle and Jim had been trying their best to find the other culprit but with hardly any evidence to go by, it was proving difficult. All they had managed to scrape from the apartment they rented were a few stray hairs and the results from the DNA test came back inconclusive.

Kyle shook his head. “No not yet, but we’re interviewing Liz’s father tomorrow, maybe he can help us in finding out who Liz associated with.” So far Liz’s family had been of no help. Her mother and father divorced a few years back and her mother was not that forthcoming with any news of her late daughter while her older brother, Billy, was MIA. Apparently no one had seen or heard from him since he left Roswell the year that Maria and Liz had finished high school.

Michael had been quick to suspect Billy, after all, his name was used to rent the apartment that Liz used, but when showed a photo, the landlord said that it wasn’t the man that Liz had entered with. Maria had also said that it couldn’t have been Billy as she and him were good friends and she would know his voice from anywhere. The man in the room did not sound like him. Michael still had his suspicions but kept them to himself. Until he had concrete evidence, there was nothing much he could do.

“I’m going to find Maria,” Michael said after a while.

“Good luck,” Kyle yelled and then went to find his own wife. Suddenly he felt the need to hold her.

Michael found her over by the counter sitting on one of the stools. Her celebratory dinner was being held in their apartment. After the fiasco with Liz, and while her room at her parents house was being rebuilt, it was decided by all that she should just live with Michael for the time being, but when it came time to move out, she found that she couldn’t so she moved in permanently. Michael slid his arms around her waist and stood behind her as he nuzzled her neck.

“Having fun?” he asked softly and she nodded, leaning into his touch. “Good.”

“Get a room,” Laurie yelled as she walked over towards the couple with her sister. Isabel giggled when Michael threw them both a glare.

“We have a room, a few in fact,” Michael said and went back to what he had been doing, fully intent on ignoring his sisters.

Maria pushed him gently away from his ministrations on her neck and giggled when he growled in frustration. “Later baby,” she told him with a pat on the cheek. “When we don’t have a room full of guests.”

Michael suddenly smiled and decided that now was a good a time as any. “Speaking of a room full of guests,” he said to her then turned towards everyone, raising his voice a few octaves. “May I have everyone’s attention please?” The room quietened down so he continued. “Thank you. The reason we are all gathered here is in celebration of Maria’s new album that hit the stands today.”

Everyone cheered and Maria could feel her cheek redden. She smiled as Michael kissed her forehead and walked in front of her.

“But there is also another reason why I asked you all here. I had actually intended on doing this in private but then thought that if I did it in the company of others, including her mother,” he smiled at Amy who laughed, “and my sisters, that she couldn’t say no.”

The crowd gasped and Maria sat in shock as Michael faced her and got down on one knee. He fished through his pockets until he found the small black velvet box and opened it. In it was a small, silver ring embedded with rows of diamonds, every second stone being an emerald. “Michael,” she whispered as she fingered the ring.

“Maria, since the first day that I saw you at your house I knew that you were the woman for me. You may piss me off to no end sometimes, but I know in my heart that I will always love you and only you forever. Will you marry me?”

The guests all stilled in motion and silence, awaiting her answer. Maria glanced at the ring again then looked into Michael’s eyes and smiled as a tear escaped her eye. “Yes,” she whispered.

Michael gave a relieved burst of laughter as he stood and lifted her into his arms and twirled her around in a circle. Once she was placed on the ground and able to stand, Michael lifted her left hand and placed the ring on her finger. “Do you like it?” he asked worried that she didn’t.

“Of course I do,” she said then kissed him for all she was worth. The guests all cheered as they kissed and started to clap. Jim, Kyle, Alex and Max all held their partners as they cried with joy that the two had finally gotten themselves together.

Maria smiled as she pulled away from his lips. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you too,” he said, mating their foreheads together.

Maria pulled back slightly. “I have a surprise for you too,” she said then walked off towards the far corner of the room where he hadn’t before noticed that a microphone lay as well as a CD player. She stood behind the microphone and breathed deeply as everyone in the room turned to look at her.

“Hi, well I had planned to do this as a thankyou to you all for coming but have decided that instead, I will sing the song that I dedicated to my boy…sorry, fiancé.” She motioned for Alex to turn the music on as she locked eyes with her future husband.

I wake up in the morning
Put on my face
The one that’s gonna get me
Thought another day
Doesn’t really matter
How I feel inside
This life is like a game sometimes

Then you came around me
The walls just disappeared
Nothing to surround me
Keep me from my fears
I’m unprotected
See how I’ve opened up
You’ve made me trust

I’ve never felt like this before
I’m naked around you does it show?
You see right through me
And I can’t hide
I’m naked around you
And it feels so right

Trying to remember
Why I was afraid
To be myself
And let the covers fall away
Guess I never had someone like you
To help me fit inside my skin

I’ve never felt like this before
I’m naked around you does it show?
You see right through me
And I can’t hide
I’m naked around you
And it feels so right

She finished the song and placed the microphone back on its stand then walked towards the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with. “What’d you think?” she asked shyly.

“It was beautiful,” he said truthfully. She smiled as everyone on the room cheered once more for the happy couple that had found love under the strangest of circumstances.

Epilogue

He sat and stared at the scenery that passed swiftly by the window of his cabin on the train. After attending his sister’s funeral, he had decided to leave Roswell and wait a while before starting his plan for revenge against the man who had ruined it all. Michael Guerin. If it weren’t for him, he and Liz would be off somewhere living the high life while he would be making Maria love him on the side.

He fingered the photo that he held in his hand of Maria. He had taken it while they were in high school, before she had gone out with Max, before she had left to pursue her career. He would have her one way or another, but before he could, he had to get rid of Michael Guerin. Michael killed his sister and had taken away the love of his life. For that, he must die.

The End… for now anyway.

The next instalment in the trilogy will be called: ‘Doing it for love’, so look out for it to see what happens next.

I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed this fic. I appreciate it. -Sarah

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