Las Vegas Police Department Holding Cell – 2001

I took a quick glance across our meager cell to the other small cot where Maxwell was sitting, head in his hands. Typical Maxwell, always worrying about everything. I mean, I knew that they were just keeping us in here until we “cooled off.” Just a couple of hours to sit and wait. Waiting didn’t bother me, hell, I’d waited eleven years to get out of fucking Roswell, I could wait a few more hours to get out of this cell.

Okay, so spending time in a Las Vegas Hotel “time out” cell wasn’t exactly how I originally planned on spending some quality time with Maxwell. It seemed lately that every time I attempted to do something for someone else, it just got thrown back in my face. A constant reminder that Michael the fuck-up couldn’t do anything right except for blow shit up.

“Are we having fun yet, Michael?”

Gee, thanks for the pick-me-up, Maxwell. “No thanks to you.”

“You know, this isn’t MY fault Michael. You were the one who just had to be an insensitive jerk about Liz.”

“Well, you know, a good solider always follows the lead of his King.”

I briefly enjoyed the expressions on Maxwell’s face as he took a moment to figure out my last comment. Only Max could be so dense about how he’s acted towards Liz.

“We wouldn’t even be in this situation if it wasn’t for you showing off…”

“Fucking wonderful, another fucking lecture!” I jumped up from my seat on the cot and leaned against the cool steel bars of the cell. “Hey, everyone! Gather ‘round, because it’s time for another one of the Amazing Maxwell’s lectures!”

“Lecture this, motherfucker.”

“What the hell is wrong with you faggots?”

“Piss off!”

Apparently our rough looking friends in the other holding cells weren’t impressed. I waved my hands at Max. “It seems that, I, as usual, will be the only recipient of this fantastic lecture. So, spill it, Maxwell. What’s wrong with poor, fucked up Mikey now?”

Max sighed, as if he was dealing with a cranky three year old that had missed his nap time, “Michael, I only went on this Las Vegas trip because of you. I didn’t want to leave Roswell, I’m still trying to mend my relationship with Liz…”

“Well, hoo-fucking-ray, Maxwell. Out of the goodness of your big, fat, bleeding heart, you skipped out on sixth period, and you went to Vegas for poor screwed up Michael. Yeah, big hand Max.” I clapped a few times in his face before Max angrily batted my hands away and moving to the far corner of our cell.

“Whatever. You might as well talk to yourself now, Michael, because I’m not listening.”

News flash, Maxwell. You never listened. Hell, you never listened, noticed anything, or even paid attention to the people you ‘supposedly’ loved. I could prance around in front of you, wearing a pink tutu, green face paint and an extra eyeball glued to my forehead shouting, ‘I’m an ALIEN!’ and you wouldn’t notice. Talking to myself? It was too much of a golden opportunity to pass up. “And now, I’m talking to myself. Gee, Michael… Why would you ask Maxwell to go to Vegas with you in the first place? It’s Las Vegas, Sin City and Max is a straight edge, up tight guy. You would be miserable with him in Las Vegas. It sounds like a stupid idea to me.”

I deepened my voice for my answer, “No no, you don’t understand. We’re two good-looking guys looking for a good time. Fuck, we should be able to go and tear shit up without any reason. It’s no big deal that we go out and have some fun in Las Vegas to blow off some steam… It’s too good of an opportunity to pass up.”

I shot a glance at Maxwell and then went back to my regular voice, “No no. Maxwell is a responsible guy. He’s no fun.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

I raised an eyebrow to Maxwell. “I’m sorry sir, but you’re interrupting a private conversation here.” I shook my head and made a continuing motion in the air as I turned my back to Maxwell. “See, Max and I, we used to be really tight. We grew up together, experienced the same things. He’s basically my brother, but for some reason lately, he’s been preoccupied with other things.”

I lowered my voice, “Ahhh. Chicks.”

“Correction. One chick. A chick that doesn’t want to be with him anymore, but he refuses to listen to her. Typical Maxwell M.O. actually, if you don’t listen they’re not really saying anything, kinda like if a tree falls in the forest—”

“Aw, fuck YOU, Michael,” Max muttered from the other side of our cell.

I ignored his whiny comment. “I’ve tried to be a good friend to him, despite all of it… but he’s got his head too far up his ass to notice.”

“Bullshit, Michael! This has nothing to do with our friendship!” Max shouted as he stomped to my side of the cell and stood in front of me angrily. Oooh. I had finally reached King Maxwell’s breaking point. I could see that small vein on the side of his neck start to throb again.

“It’s all about your irresponsible behavior and you know it! You constantly do the stupidest shit, getting all of us into trouble and then you want to come to Vegas and just goof off for no reason!” He leaned forward, right into my face. “I’m sick of cleaning up your mess, Michael.”

I shot to my feet and forced Maxwell to back up as I fixed him with a pissed off glare. “Message to Maxwell. I’ve been going through some pretty heavy shit in the past couple of months. My ass was fucking SHOT in Arizona!”

“I know! I healed…”

“Whatever!” I yelled as I cut him off. Damn, he was stupid. In his anger at me, Maxwell was going to let it be known to everyone he had healed me. Slick. “You did your little trick like a robot, Maxwell,” I hissed at him. “You don’t know what it takes to really help me.”

“Listen you two. Knock this shit off right now, or else you’re going to be in that jail cell for a long damned time.” The guard had suddenly appeared on the other side of the bars and was giving both of us a menacing glare until we backed away from each other reluctantly.

Max stared at me for a long moment before turning around to sulk on his cot. “I’m not going to bother to fight with you, Michael. It’s just not worth it.”

I flopped back down on my own cot in disgust. Moments ticked by in silence as we both attempted to cool off. Somehow, his comment didn’t surprise me, I was never worth it. Story of my fucking life. But I had to try anyway, this needed to be talked about. Focusing on a crack in the ceiling I said aloud, “I know that it doesn’t mean much, but there is some weird shit happening that we need to discuss it when we get home.”

“What type of weird shit, Michael?”

C’mon Maxwell – what other type of fucking weird shit do we deal with here? I took a deep breath and channeled my energy into not strangling him on the spot. “The kind we can’t discuss in such a public place. I’ll tell you everything once we get back to Roswell, you have to promise that you’ll listen though.”

“Does this have anything to do with Liz?”

I sighed. Yes Maxwell, it’s about Liz, it’s always about Liz, even when she doesn’t want it to be. “Talk to her and find out, but let’s just wait until we get home.”

The silence between us stretched on, and I focused my mind on the creaks and groans of the cots, and the muttered conversations between the other prisoners. We’d left a message at the hotel, and someone would be coming by to bail us out. Maria was a compulsive message checker, so it would probably be soon. Maybe it would be best to just avoid mending bridges with Maxwell until after the trip was over…

“Michael?”

“Yeah, Max?” I clenched my jaw against the fear that we were about to enter round two of the alien vs. alien death match.

“I am sorry you got shot…”


 

* * * * *

“Oh my God! I can’t believe them,” I heard Maria screech from the suite’s living room. I finished carefully putting away the dreaded red dress that she and Isabel had practically forced me to buy. Five…Four….Three…Two…

“Liz! You would never believe…Only Spaceboy could…When I see them I’m…” Normally I could decipher Maria sputtering, but today I didn’t have a clue. She was so mad that her face had turned the unflattering color of a tomato, and she stomped across the floor with total disregard for the outfit she was wearing. The same outfit that she’d refused to wrinkle by sitting down on the tram. Normally I would wait until she blew off some steam, but it looked like something important had taken place.

“Maria?” I approached her with the same caution one would a wild animal, you never knew what a Deluca would do in a temper. “Maria, what’s wrong?”

“Michael and Max are in jail,” she gritted out, whirling away from me to pace across the room in the other direction. “They’re in jail and they want us to come bail them out!”

“Why are they in jail?” I asked in shock. How could they do this? They were the ones that were so worried about someone finding out about them and they end up getting themselves thrown in jail! They were practically sitting ducks in there for the special unit if they decided to come after them. It took me a second to realize that I was now pacing back and forth, in step with Maria.

“Apparently, they took Michael’s suggestion to tear up the town literally. They got in a fight.” She angrily swiped a blonde curl out of her face. “Well I have an audition, and I’m sure as hell not missing it just because Girlfriend got his ass thrown in the slammer with Spaceboy. You’d almost think that the Czechs plan catastrophic events to coincide with any goodness that happens in our lives.”

Oh lord, I was guilty of the same thing. I had completely forgotten about her audition with the announcement of our jailhouse rockers. “Well you shouldn’t miss it, this means the world to you. I’ll get them out.”

Maria stopped so abruptly that I stumbled into her. “Really Liz? Really?”

She grabbed me up in a big hug, squealing in my ear, “Oh my God, you are the bestest friend in world!” Her euphoria seemed to fade a little as she pulled away though, “Are you sure you want to though? Max and Michael have both been giving you a hard time recently. Maybe you should just wait until Isabel gets back from her extended shopping tour and send her after them, let the Czechs take care of their own.”

When she got all concerned and serious, Maria looked so much like her mother. I hid my smile. It really wasn’t going to be so bad. “Don’t worry, I’ll take Kyle with me.”

“Kyle?” she giggled, “Oh that’ll be classic. Suddenly I’m not so concerned about a broken heart as much as you dying from laughter.”

Mirth bubbled up the back of my throat, “I know, can’t you just hear him now.” I lowered my voice, “Mullet Man and the Morose King in jail! What happened? Their powers not include bending steel?”

“Oh wait, wait…I got one.” Maria deepened her voice also, “All I wanna know is who dropped the soap.”

“Ewww, Maria,” I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “Let’s go find the others.”

After catching the hotel elevator down to the ground floor, we left a message for Tess who had apparently been out rounding up suits for the guys to wear to dinner tonight, before sneaking into the casino. Well actually Maria just breezed by the guard in her designer clothes and three hundred dollar shoes, while I, the Versace wearing teen Lolita, tried to avoid being seen. It took us a moment to spot Alex and Kyle at the Blackjack table

“Time to cash out gentlemen,” Maria announced as she came up behind them. “You need to help those less intelligent than you.”

“Hey,” Alex sputtered as I pushed his chips towards the dealer. “We don’t need to leave for another ten minutes, and I was proving a point.”

Kyle’s snorted, “Right, that point being that it is possible to lose all your money in just a couple of hands?”

Maria rolled her eyes, and grabbed Alex by the ear to pull him off his stool, “Come on you gambling fiend, you need to come to my audition and Liz needs to take your money to go bail out Michael and Max.”

“What did the unambiguously gay duo do this time, hold up a convenience store because they ran out of Tabasco?” Kyle laughed, his eyes alight with possible torturous comebacks.

“No Funnyman,” I said grabbing the cash and pulling him with me towards the casino entrance. “Apparently they got in a fight…”

“A lover’s quarrel. How passionate,” Kyle sniffed dramatically as we exited into the bright sunshine. He raised his hand to hail a taxi. “Don’t worry, I’ll be real good Liz.”

“Right, and if I believed that,” I began.

“I have some nice beachfront property to sell you in Roswell,” Kyle finished. I giggled, for a moment forgetting about the dreams, the danger, the alien world. Kyle always could make me laugh.

Ten minutes later we emerged from the cab onto the steps of the Las Vegas Police Department. “Okay, they were registered under Dr. Love and Rob Roy, and I would like to get them out quickly before someone thinks to check their IDs too closely. So please get any of your quips and jokes out of your system now. That includes any references to who was the Bitch, sex slave, who got traded to Big Poppa for two cigs and some porn…”

“Hey! That’s a good one,” Kyle chuckled, “I didn’t even think of that.”

“Kyle,” I warned, “I don’t need all three of you getting thrown in jail for recklessness, okay?”

“I’ll be good,” he promised as we turned to head up the stairs. Just as we opened the doors, a man in a newsy cap came flying out, knocking me into Kyle.

“Watch where you’re going kid,” he growled as he flew by, trailing cigar smoke in his wake.


 

* * * * *

244…

…Cracks in the ceiling of our cell, that is. I had no idea that time in jail cells, oh excuse me, ‘holding cells’ could pass by this slowly. After Max’s surprising apology, we had just lapsed into complete silence as we each stared at various points in our ten foot by ten foot space. All the important issues that needed to be discussed we couldn’t talk about and I had discovered as the minutes ticked by, that Maxwell and I had nothing un-alien related to really to say to each other.

Besides, counting the cracks in the ceiling could keep my mind off of Liz and my…oh fuck, I could admit it, our dreams. The solider in me was simply screaming that I needed to focus on this problem and figure out what our next strategy should be to combat it. Hell, the solider side of me and Liz would probably get along nicely, since she never stopped asking questions and staring at you with those doe-eyes of hers.

I growled in frustration as my eyes searched the ceiling for any possible cracks that I might have missed, anything, anything to get my mind away from Liz. I was pretty sure that Maxwell over there was thinking of her enough for the both of us.

“Ah-hem, Love, Roy,” a guard called out as he approached the door keys clinking, “You’re free to go.”

He smirked, “Mr. and Mrs. Wallbanger have promised to keep you out of trouble.”

“I can’t believe you picked that one for Kyle,” Maxwell commented as we made our way out of the Las Vegas Police Department’s cell block, carefully avoiding getting too close to any of the other inmates.

I shrugged. “Hey, that was the most appropriate name I could come up with.”

“I agree with you there, however, I think the big question is who would actually consent to be Mrs. Wallbanger?”

“I’m sure that the 30-second wonder couldn’t keep her happy…” I smirked.

“Maybe I should introduce Mrs. Wallbanger to Doctor Love’s techniques.” I added to Maxwell over my shoulder as we walked out into the main Police Department hallway.

“Really, Daddy Love, and here I see him as an upgrade,” Liz said to me fuming, hands placed on her hips.

Oh fuck me. I opened my mouth to apologize, but words failed me. I started to inwardly cringe because I could almost feel Liz ready to rip me a new one for this morning’s debacle, but her furious expression became suddenly contrite as she noticed Maxwell standing behind me.

“So, how was the prison life? I really wanna know if you guys played ‘Big Poppa and the Prison Bitch…’” Kyle cut in suddenly, probably knowing that the tension between Maxwell, Liz and myself could erupt into something that would put us all back in that same holding cell.

Liz turned to Kyle and lightly slapped him on the shoulder. “I told you! No prison jokes!” she said with a strained smile on her face. Her eyes glanced over to the front desk and she bit her lip for a moment before continuing. “We better hurry if we’re going to make dinner.”

Our unlikely quartet trooped to the main doors quietly and headed outside into the bright desert sunshine and fresh air before Maxwell asked the very same question I had been thinking about. “Dinner?”

Kyle sighed melodramatically.

“Yeah, Maria and Isabel have planned a very expensive, fancy dinner tonight for all of us. In fact, I think you two will both have suits waiting for you at the hotel,” Liz pointed out to us.

“Hmmm,” Kyle mused. “It was amazing how Isabel and Tess found the matching orange jumpsuits for our Alien Jailbitch duo.”

Liz turned and glared, but Kyle just grinned, “What? We’re not in the jail anymore.”

“Keep pushing it, Valenti,” I growled, “and you’re going to be going to that stupid dinner all green with a third eye.”

Kyle laughed. “Sure, sure,” he mocked with his hands held in the air. “I’m sure that both of you are just very tired from your harrowing ordeal in prison, but I just gotta know who got more action. I mean Mikey you’ve got the flowing hair thing goin’ on, but Maxie’s got the tits.”

I glanced over to Max, who gave me a small grin. For once we were on the same wavelength. “Let’s get him.”

We both lunged at Kyle, who shrieked like a little girl and started to run down the street, with us hot on his heels. If we managed to catch Little Buddah, he was going to be very sorry. No one made fun of the mullet.
       

 

* * * * *

I watched them take off down the street. Kyle definitely lost masculinity points with that last shriek. Truthfully part of me was a little relieved that they’d all taken off. The look on Max’s face when I made the comment about Kyle made me feel queasy. It was like I had stabbed him in the back again. Not that I would ever tell Kyle, but I thanked God when he started mouthing off. Buried deep down underneath the bullshit there really was a chivalrous guy, I just had to remind myself he was there sometimes. Besides I had enough to worry about. The desk sergeant had been real shifty in his explanation about why there was no fine. It made absolutely no sense. I had read the Monte Carlo policy, it was posted on the bathroom door. It specifically stated a fine would be issued for reckless and abusive behavior.

As I slid inside the taxi that would take me back to the hotel, I couldn’t stop my mind from returning to the man that ran into us on the stairs. I wouldn’t swear to it in court, but I was pretty damn sure it had been Kal Langley. His presence added to the flash that Michael received just didn’t bode well. What was he? Who was he? A Skin? Something else? He didn’t seem dangerous, so much as scared. He was famous for God sakes, there was no way an alien could hide in plain sight that long, right? I desperately tried not to think about Vanessa Whitaker, she was merely the exception that proved the rule.

“Miss, we’re here,” the cabbie said his hound dog eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright? You don’t look too happy.”

Briefly I entertained the notion of just telling him to keep on driving, just avoiding this whole confrontation that would have to happen at some point. I sighed, running would be easier only for a little while, I needed to deal. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

I slipped him a twenty. “Please keep the change.”

In the elevator I took a couple of deep breaths to cleanse my mind. I could do this. I could corner Michael and make him understand how this could not possibly wait until we got home. The doors dinged open and I couldn’t help the slight shiver of fear that coursed down my spine. If we talked about this, if we actually got this out in the open, there would be no going back. No hiding behind old shields and stereotypes. And the tone of the dreams made it all the more important that we talked about it now.

Sliding my card into the lock, I turned the handle slowly as the light flashed green. Here it was. All I needed to do was—

“Oh Liz,” Maria sobbed throwing herself into my arms, moisture tracking mascara down her face. “It was so horrible…”

Behind her, Isabel and Tess stood looking apologetic and uncomfortable.

“She’s been like this for the last twenty minutes,” the taller blonde told me, already impeccably wrapped in her Xena dress.

“Tell me what happened?” I demanded stroking my friends blonde ringlets as her tears soaked the strap of my tank top.

“Alex said it wasn’t a singing audition but a stripping audition,” Tess murmured with a helpless shrug. “Every time we ask her about it, she just gets worse.”

“He sa-aid that I didn’t have the chest for either,” Maria choked out burrowing further into my shoulder. “God, I don’t even know why I’m crying, but-but I can’t seem to stop.”

“It’s okay,” I whispered soothingly. So much for talking with Michael and figuring out what the hell was going on. Maria needed me now. I looked at the other two girls, “Why don’t you check on the guys and the restaurant and I’ll take care of Maria and myself.”

Tess immediately fled the living room in relief, but Isabel lingered unconsciously echoing the cabby’s words, “Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

“I’ll be fine, you don’t need to worry about me.”


 

* * * * *

I couldn’t believe I was doing this.

Taking a deep breath, I forced my legs to start moving, past the cheesy red curtain, out onto the stage. Squinting against the harsh lights, I leaned down into the microphone and quickly said the line I had rehearsed over and over again. “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight you’re in for a rare treat—a dream coming true. You’re gonna love listening to this performer, and even though she’ll never believe it, I love listening to her too.”

Deep breaths, Michael.

“Please welcome to the stage... Miss Margarita Salt…”

I stepped back from the microphone and retreated to the safe haven of the backstage dark while Maria gracefully made her way to the microphone, beaming straight at me the entire time. As she started singing, I couldn’t help but notice the way that she possessed a natural talent for all of this. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she really loved singing more than she loved me. She definitely seemed more happy with it.

Funny, that didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. Maybe Maria and I were never really meant to be.

Maria? Damn, I had my head up my ass when I was kid. You’ll find out what it’s like to really have a woman love you, and vice versa.

I closed my eyes and sighed. This day had just been out of control from the very moment that I opened my eyes this morning. It felt like the responsibilities that I had earlier ignored were just piling up and I felt so overwhelmed. Liz and I needed to talk, but I just didn’t know how to talk to her about this. What the fuck was I supposed to say to her? Hey Liz, I had this dream warning that the world goes to shit in the future and we’re the only ones who could stop it. This warning made it sound like everyone’s dead, or almost there, I felt like I had been running for years, and the world wasn’t a kind place to any of us anymore... Then there’s the added bonus that I’m getting flashes from you and I sure as fuck didn’t miss out that whatever visited you the night before was wearing that same damned dress you’re wearing now. Oh yeah and my future self was hinting that I’m in love with someone who’s not Maria and I have this feeling that he didn’t mean Kyle.

Yeah, that would be real slick, Michael. I’m sure she would run for the hills if I told her that.

“Michael?”

I opened my eyes and looked down to find Liz who had suddenly appeared in the backstage area. “Liz.”

She gestured to Maria on stage. “That was really thoughtful of you, Michael. Especially with what happened earlier... I know that she’ll cherish this moment forever.”

I shrugged, “I had been an ass to her all trip. I knew that this would make her happy.”

She smiled as we both looked to see Maria still caught up in her song. “It’s what she’s always wanted to do. It’s always been her dream to sing in a smoky club, she just never specified the town.”

I looked back over to Liz. “Just like Harvard’s been yours?”

She stared at me confused for a moment before remembering. “It’s been a long time since you ‘borrowed’ my journal Michael. I’m really surprised you’d remember something like that.”

“I remember a lot of what you wrote Liz. I mean, sure you’re not Joyce but…” I sighed again rubbing a hand across my face. “I know that I act like a jerk most of the time to you, but I don’t really mean it. I’m sorry about that whole Daddy Love thing this morning...”

Liz laughed and waved a hand to shush me. “Apology accepted. Although, I don’t understand why no one will believe I’m 21, but somehow I can easily pass for a Teen Lolita with no problem.”

I chuckled as I looked back out to Maria for a moment. C’mon Michael. Can’t let your responsibilities to the group slip. I moved further into the enveloping darkness backstage and looked at Liz. “We’re going to have to sit down and talk about the dreams.” Her eyes widened at my comment, I guess she wasn’t expecting me to come out and say it. Maybe she thought she was going to have to push and push me to make me realize it.

Her eyes flashed as she quickly bridged the gap between us, so no one could overhear anything that they shouldn’t. “Michael. I’m so glad that you said that because I think I saw Kal Langley again at the Police...”

“Uh, Liz?”

Liz and I both looked over to the backstage entrance where Maxwell was standing, nervously fidgeting with his tie. “Do you want to go and dance, or did you want to wait for Maria to finish?”

Liz’s eyes met mine and I nodded. As she turned to leave, I knew that our talk was only on hold until we got back to the hotel tonight.


 

* * * * *

Max.

Max was asking me to dance. Max was standing there with that hopefully little half grin lighting up his big dark, asking me to dance. Dammit. Two days ago I would have said this was exactly what I wanted, hell two hours ago even, but as I stood there in the dark staring at my “soul mate” all I could think was that he had horrible timing. Michael and I were talking! Actually talking, not sniping or fighting, or ignoring each other’s presence. More importantly we were starting to talk about the dreams. As I glanced back at Michael, part of me hoped that he’d want to continue our conversation, tell Max to go away, all the while a little voice whispered inside me, Go with him, this is what you wanted, this is what you’ve dreamed of. Tell him… The voice sounded suspiciously like Maria’s, and I was once again struck with the realization that we spent far too much time together.

In the end Maria’s voice won though, accompanied by Michael’s nod, a silent consent to go, a promise that we would finally talk about this back in the room. I had told him about Kal, there would be no more waiting for Roswell, and there was no reason for me to stay hidden in the darkness with Michael.

As I walked towards him, Max reached out and grabbed my hand, his skin smooth against mine. I was struck by the thought that his palm was softer than Michael’s, not as rough and worn, almost as if their hands reflected the lives they led. I didn’t let my mind linger on the comparison for too long though, there were so many memories that I had to catalogue and take in: the melodic waves of Maria’s voice, the smell of Max’s cologne, the way his breath moved the tendrils of hair that lay against my cheek. This was the moment I’d been waiting for wasn’t it?

Suddenly it wasn’t his breath against my cheek but his lips, slowly sliding across my skin to linger along the corner of my mouth, my lower lip. My lungs stopped working, burning from the air trapped inside, and my eyes fluttered shut as his hands came up to cradle the sides of my face. He knew! He finally understood that I hadn’t slept with Kyle, that I would never have done something like that. He realized that there had to be another reason, why else would he be tasting me with those long slow kisses? Tears prickled at the edge of my eyes, Future Max was wrong, we’d make this work, we’d make everything okay.

He pulled back, his forehead against mine, and I opened my lashes to look up into his black irises. This was it, he was going to tell me he still loved me…

“Liz, I forgive you and Kyle. I know it won’t happen again.”

It felt like everything inside me froze with his words. Won’t happen again? Of course it won’t happen again, nothing happened in the first place. I slowly pulled away until I was just standing there staring at him in the middle of the dance floor. I wondered if anyone else could see the dreams shattered at my feet. I wondered if this time I would bother putting them back together. “There’s nothing to forgive Max.”

I walked back to the dinner table before he could say anymore.

“Oh my God Liz! Did you see me up there, wasn’t it just classic…like something you’d see in a movie from the forties or something,” Maria bubbled as she dropped into the seat next to me. I turned my dry eyes towards her and tried to smile, “You sounded great.”

“It felt so real, so right with the lights on my face and the microphone. It totally made up for all that shit I went through today. God, even the slight screech of the feedback in the beginning was perfect,” she sighed longingly before a giggle escaped her. “Man, I sound cheesy, how was your dance with Max?”

I opened my mouth to lie, to not ruin her evening, but something in my face must have given me away. “Oh Chica, tell Mama Maria what happened.”

“I don’t want to talk about it here,” I whispered. Public scenes weren’t my thing.

Immediately Maria took action. “Hey,” she announced in a carrying voice to our friends on the dance floor. “Liz and I are going back to the room.”

“Thank God,” Kyle whooped dragging Tess away from the other couples. “I didn’t want to be the first to go back.”

“Well, if you’re going we might as well join you,” Isabel added. I noticed that she was holding Alex’s hand. At least some couples were living their dreams tonight.

“No point in Michael and I staying down here if you are all going up,” Max said.

“But I thought you were saving a slow one for me,” Michael whined mockingly causing Max to roll his eyes. Michael’s attention, I noticed, wasn’t focused on his king, but on me. He looked concerned.

As we piled into the elevator, we were joined by two older couples, making the small space even smaller and causing me to press up against Michael’s side. I felt the exhalation of his quiet words against the top of my head as he spoke, “What’s wrong Liz? What did he do?”

Funny how he immediately knew the root of the problem. “Nothing…Max was just being Max.”

“So he was being an asshole, that’s not unusual.” I felt his body shift against mine as he nodded. “There’s something more though isn’t there.”

The smirk that twisted my lips felt wrong, but I couldn’t stop it. “Oh no Michael, he truly is the benevolent ruler. He gifted me with his forgiveness.”

I pushed through the crowded elevator to the front, leading the pack of my friends as we spilled out into the hallway and started towards the room. Sliding in the key, I wrenched the door open, desperate to have just a few moments to myself. A few moments to find some control. The sight that greeted me however proved that it was not to be.

“Well I hope you had a good time,” Jim Valenti announced as he pushed free of the plush couch to make eye contact with everyone as they came through the door, “because you scared me to death. I have plane tickets for all of you for the next flight out to New Mexico. It leaves in two and a half hours, so you better go pack. You all have a lot of explaining to do.”


 

* * * * *

I-5 South, Somewhere Between Sacramento and Stockton California, 2009

Serena was dead.

Serena was dead.

We’re royally screwed now.

What are we going to do?

Liz took a deep shuddering breath and made an attempt to focus her thoughts. Serena was dead along with their last hope of using the Granolith, their last agreed upon guarantee that they could change things. Now, everything was up in the air.

“How the hell could they find her when we couldn’t,” Max growled from the front passenger seat. Liz saw Michael’s hands tighten on the wheel, knuckles white, his eyes meeting her own in the review told her it was time. Still…

“We don’t know that it was a Skin Max,” she sighed, stroking Isabel’s hair off her pale face. Cradled around her body, the healing stones glowed an eerie blue, but her peaceful sleep assured them all that Lonnie was being kept at bay. For now at least. Serena couldn’t have been killed by the Skins, they didn’t even know who she was. Liz had never told anyone outside of the group.

“Jesus, Liz, it sounded exactly like what happened to Laurie,” Max spit out. “And we all remember what she looked like afterward.”

Smell of burnt skin, urine, pain…

She desperately yanked her mind away from the memories, but the dead girl’s terror filled features and dead eyes were burned onto the back of her eyelids. The message had been simple: those who help are those who die. She had just been one in a very long line: Maria, her parents… Liz fought down the bile that had been rising in her throat and turned her attention to Michael and Max.

“Liz and I have an idea,” Michael interjected, the flex of his jaw telling her that he was trying to fight the flood of memories too. Laurie had been like a sister to him.

“Please, lets hear it,” Max said spreading his arms to encompass the confines of the moving van. “Your audience awaits.”

“We’ve been able to astral project into the past and contact our younger selves in dreams.”

“You’ve what?” Max roared. Isabel jerked and whimpered, and Liz hummed soothingly to keep her from waking up. They had just gotten the last of the caffeine out of her system an hour ago. “You’ve been wasting fucking time and energy that could have been spent trying to save Kyle and Jim doing what?”

His voice was quieter as if he was trying to temper the noise for his sister, but it was otherwise no less intense. He turned in his seat so he could take in both Michael and Liz. “What could possibly cause you to try such a thing in the first place?”

“Oh, I don’t know Maxwell, the fear that we wouldn’t find Serena, that something might go wrong, the need of a back up plan if we couldn’t work the Granolith. It seems to me we’d be stupid not to try it, or even keep trying it now that we’ve managed to make contact.” The van swerved jerkily on the road as Michael tried to get his anger in check. Liz sent him the same soothing feeling she was channeling towards Isabel. This was not the time to be angry. They needed to explain, they needed to make Max understand how important this was.

“We were able to contact ourselves at the point when we all took the Vegas trip.” She licked her lips, choosing her next words carefully, “The close proximity we all had to each other then allowed Michael and I to utilize our connection. We managed to insert ourselves into our dreams the first night in.”

...only we couldn’t control our anger...

“What did you accomplish?” Max leaned forward, suddenly all business. “I mean we haven’t faded away so…”

“We were so surprised that it worked the first time out we had nothing prepared to say,” Michael told him. “We’ll be more prepared next time.”

...this time we need to make sure we keep our temper while giving only the essential information...

“What makes you think that I’ll allow a next time?” Max frowned at them both, “We don’t even know how dangerous this is.”

“I don’t think we have much of a choice, Maxwell,” Michael gritted out, his gaze in the mirror shifting from Liz to stare at Isabel. “With Lonnie getting stronger and the entirety of the Skin army after us, we don’t have a lot of hope some other option will mysteriously appear. No manna from Heaven for aliens.”

“We’re not one on God’s creatures, remember?” Max remarked bitterly rubbing his hand back through his hair. “We’re not from around here.”

“Max, if we can do it again, we’ll be able to stop Alex from dying, maybe stop everyone from dying,” Liz pleaded gently. She wanted to yell and scream and make him understand, but it wasn’t the time and this was wasn’t the place. “This is the only option that makes sense anymore.”

“I’m not such a prick that I don’t realize that Liz,” Max murmured pinching the bridge of his nose. “However, I want to be there when you do it again.”

Her eyes met Michael’s shocked ones in the mirror once again. Max was admitting he was wrong? He was giving in easy with out too much of a fight? He wasn’t harping on them about going behind his back, yelling about being kept out of the loop?

A humorless laugh was issued from the front passenger seat, “Don’t act so shocked. I understand how precarious our position is, what’s the point of fighting about it?”

Silenced reigned in the van, broken only by the sound of the tires on the cracked cement.

Both Michael and Liz flinched at the unexpected sound of her husband’s voice when he finally chose to speak again, “Of course knowing that doesn’t shake the feeling I have that this won’t work out like you’ve planned.”

The hair rose on Liz’s arms as a chill descended about her body. She couldn’t stop herself from praying to that God who didn’t listen, hoping that just this once he would prove Max wrong.