by Kevin Ryan
"Maybe he was just trying to scare me," Kyle said. Then, catching Michael's questioning expression, he added, "He thinks I'm after the girl in the office.”
"Are you?" Michael asked.
Kyle smiled and said, "Maybe a little.”
Michael shrugged and said, "I don't think he'll bother you either way.”
Kyle gave him a tighter smile and said, "I think you're right. Listen, Michael, were you going to…”
Michael shook his head and said, "No. I was just kid- ding around. You know, trying to scare him.”
That seemed to make Kyle relax. His smile was broader now. "Michael, thanks.”
"Sure," Michael said, giving him an uncomfortable shrug.
"I probably made it worse. It's not smart to bait some- one when you're stuck under a car. I'm just tired of taking it, you know. I feel like I've been taking it for long enough.”
Michael nodded. He knew how that felt. He, Max, and Isabel had been taking it their whole lives. And the group had been taking it pretty hard for the last three years. "Yeah, I know what you mean," he said.
"I'd better get back to work," Kyle said.
Michael turned to go, and Kyle added, "I mean it, Michael, thanks.”
"No problem," Michael said, heading out the door.
Outside, he decided not to go straight back to the oth- ers. Instead, he took a walk in the field behind the garage. Finding a quiet spot, he sat for a moment. He had told Kyle that he wasn't going to really hurt Gomer, but he wasn't sure himself what he was going to do.
In the moment before Kyle stopped him, he felt the same rage he had felt in their final battle with Agent Pierce… a battle that ended when Michael killed the agent. Since then, Michael had told himself a thousand times that he had had no choice. His friends' lives and his own life had depended on him.
And the truth was that he had acted in self-defense.
Yet when he had taken the agent's life, he had not felt scared. He had felt angry… furious, actually. And when it was done, there was a moment… -just a moment… when he had felt pleased with what he had done. Pleased that he had finally paid back the forces that had been dogging him, Max, and Isabel their whole lives. Pleased that he finally felt like he had won a small victory for them and for himself.
That moment had caused Michael more sleepless nights than the act of killing itself.
He had also wondered how much of that moment had been payback for even more, for his previous life and his previous defeats and eventual death. And not just his death, but Max's and Isabels.
He knew Max blamed himself for that failure as well, but Michael knew that it had been his job to protect them all. After all, he was a soldier, a defender… a general, in fact.
In his fight with Agent Pierce, with Gomer, and many other times in his life, he'd felt like something else was taking over. What was it? His training? His nature? Or something that had been programmed into him when he had been re-created and sent to Earth? Michael didn't know, but whatever it was, Michael didn't like it.
And it scared him more than a thousand Agent Pierces ever would.
Kyle's hands shook for several minutes after Michael left. He hoped Michael hadn't seen how scared he had been. At first, he had thought that Gomer was only trying to scare him. Although it was a possibility, the possibility dimmed when the undercarriage of the car had pressed against his nose… and three tons of steel threatened to drop down farther.
But Gomer had looked scared himself when he had left. Michael hadn't really hurt him, but he could have… in fact, he nearly did. Even Gomer wasn't so stupid to miss that.
Kyle had to go back under the car to check the seal on the transmission. He forced himself to do it quickly because he couldn't afford to be afraid in his line of work. It took about ten minutes, and Kyle was glad to be fin- ished. He moved on to the Plymouth and replaced the points and plugs. He finished that quickly, then took both cars for a test drive. An hour later, he parked the second car outside. By then, his heart had stopped racing and he was feeling more or less normal… which was just as well, considering what he now had to do.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the office door and stepped inside.
Dawn flashed him her smile, and Kyle felt the last piece of cold fear melt away.
"Hey, you," she said.
Without thinking, Kyle felt himself smiling back. "Hey," he said.
She stared at him for a moment. Then Kyle remem- bered why he had come inside. "Did Dan leave any instructions for me?" he asked.
"Just a note," she said. Though she held the note in her hand, she did not reach out to hand it to him.
As a result, Kyle had to lean over the desk to take it. When his hand reached hers, she pulled the note back and Kyle had to lean over farther.
He lost his balance for a moment and started to fall onto the desk. Reaching out with his other hand, he stead- ied himself and found that he was inches away from Dawn. He could even feel her blond hair tickling his cheek. He felt her hand on his shoulder and Kyle couldn't help taking a deep breath, taking in her scent. Wow, did she smell good.
"Careful there, sugar," Dawn said, not taking her hand off his shoulder.
Kyle got up slowly and returned her smile. Dawn held the note out in front of her again, a teasing smile on her lips.
Just looking at her, Kyle knew immediately that she was trouble. Gomer was jealous and bad-tempered. And Kyle had a responsibility to his friends to make sure they all kept a low profile. Plus, even when he was a Roswell High School star athlete he had never gone out of his way to seek out trouble off the field. That went double for the last two years, when he had become part of the Great Alien Secret Society.
like his friends, he had become adept at avoiding trouble.
Just two days ago, he would have taken one look at Dawn and headed in the other direction. But that was two days ago.
He had changed his life completely in that time. One of the reasons he and his friends had hit the road was so they could stop hiding all the time. They had started running so they could relax a little. It gave them the best chance of a normal life. And there was nothing more normal than a little lighthearted fun with a pretty girl.
Reaching out, he took Dawn's hand and held it for a long moment before taking the note. "Thanks," he said.
"Anytime, sugar," she said.
12
When Michael walked in, Max jumped to his feet. "Where have you been?" he asked sharply… more sharply than he had intended.
Michael didn't answer for a moment. Setting his face, he said, "Gee, Dad, I guess 1 should have called.”
"Michael, this is serious. People are disappearing right and left in this town, and you take off for hours," Max chided.
"Actually, women are disappearing in this town, so I think I'm pretty safe. Plus… news flash… I can take care of myself," Michael said, holding up his hand. "You know, alien-whammy and all that," he added.
His friend was right, Max knew. He immediately regret- ted his tone. And if he knew Michael, things would get worse from here. Some combination of his friend's nature and the difficult childhood he'd spent with a violent drunk named Hank had conditioned Michael's response to disagreemtents.
Max decided to stop the escalating conflict before it got going. "Michael, it's not that…," he began, but his friend waved him off.
"Forget it, Maxwell. I just went for a walk," Michael said. "Next time I'll give you guys a heads up.”
Michael had surprised Max a couple of times in the last two days, but this was the biggest surprise yet. There was something different about Michael, Max thought, consid- ering his friend for a moment. Max saw something in Michael's face, but his friend quickly looked away, study- ing the changes in the room.
Something was bothering Michael. Maybe he and Maria had had a fight. It would not be unusual. In fact, it would be par for the course.
"What happened in here?" Michael asked, before Max could say anything.
Mich
ael surveyed the room and then said, "I mean, what did you guys do in here?”
"Just freshened things up a bit," Isabel said. "It was a little depressing.”
Michael took in the changes. The walls, which had been battered and pitted Sheetrock, were now smooth. Before, the original color had been anybody's guess because of the grime on the faded walls. Now the walls were blue and looked freshly painted. Isabel must have been using her powers.
Looking around the room, Michael took in the rest of the changes. The shelf looked like it had been refinished. The hot plate looked like new, and so did the sink. The beanbag chairs looked new and were no longer held together with duct tape.
Isabel had reattached the television's antenna and cleaned up the set as well.
Michael shook his head. "Way to keep a low profile guys," he said. Then he turned to Max and said, "You allowed this?”
Max was uncomfortable, and it showed on his face.
"Haven't you heard? Max is just a fellow traveler, Michael. He's not making all the rules here," Isabel said.
Michael turned to her and said, "Why did this feel like your work?”
"Oh, lighten up, Michael. We just did something nice for the guy who's letting us stay here," she said.
"Very nice, and we could maybe explain the walls, but how are you going to explain that you reconditioned the appliances?" he asked.
Michael turned back to Max and said, "Well?”
Max put his hands up and said, "I was against it.”
"Well, as long as you lodged a formal protest," Michael said.
"Maybe I went too far on some of it, but we can always change it back before we go," Isabel said.
Michael shrugged and sat down on the floor. He looked at Max and said, "I just want to point out how screwy things have gotten if I am the voice of reason around here.”
Shaking his head, Michael added, "So much for democ- racy. How long before dinner?”
Isabel looked up at the wall, which held a clock with a picture of a cowboy on its face. When they arrived, the clock had been worn and broken. Now it kept perfect time and looked new.
Max knew Michael was right. They had to be more careful.
"Just under an hour and a half," Isabel said.
"What's the game?" Michael asked.
"Fizzbin," Max replied. "Fizz-what?" Michael said.
"We'll explain as we play," Isabel said as she dealt out the cards.
Liz put her last dinner order down in front of the last two of the latecomers. The locals all ate early, Bell explained, but the people who commuted to Pueblo came in later. From what Liz saw, a lot of people commuted to Pueblo. There didn't seem to be much work in this town. She also noted that there wasn't a single woman or girl who came in alone.
They just didn't wander around by themselves in Stonewall. And now Liz knew that it was for a good reason. Someone was preying on the women in town. For a moment, she felt a flash of shame for letting Maria walk to the garage by herself. Liz had been shaken by her vision of Jimmy's future and had been too absorbed in her own thoughts to even think about the danger to Maria. She had felt better when she called Johnny's and the girl who'd answered had said that Maria had arrived fine. Liz had felt even better when Maria had come back with Michael in tow.
Maria came in with a frown on her face, and one look at Michael's face told Liz why. Another fight. Liz had asked, but Maria hadn't wanted to talk about it, and soon enough the dinner rush started.
Jimmy had watched Liz throughout the rest of the shift, but had not said anything to her. Liz was glad for that, then ashamed of herself. She was ashamed that she had avoided looking at him. But she didn't want to see what was in his eyes. She could feel the pain well enough with- out seeing it.
And she didn't want him to see what was in hers.
One of the reasons she had left with Max was so that they could be together and find some semblance of peace. So they could live together without fear… and without shame.
But that was not the only reason. They had also wanted to stop living only for themselves… living only to protect their precious secret. The secret of the alien-ness that had lived inside of Max, Michael, and Isabel. It now lived inside Liz and would probably one day take up residence in Kyle as well. They had left Roswell so they could use their secret and their powers to help other people. Like Tom Joad in The Crapes of Wrath, Liz herself had said. Doing good deeds and avoiding the law.
And she had believed in that idea.
And two days later she was avoiding the gaze of a boy whom she could not help.
Can't or won't? a voice in Liz's head said.
Shame.
There was danger here. Liz could feel it. She had sensed it very clearly when she'd had her vision of Jimmy at his sister's funeral. She had sensed it very strongly when she had seen the room that was not quite a room. And she had heard it in the girl's screams… a lost, terrified sound that she knew would visit her in her dreams for some time.
Whatever had Jessica was going to kill her. And he was very dangerous. No, not he, Liz thought. It's a they. She didn't know how she knew that, but something in the vision told her that it was a they… a very dangerous they.
Liz forced herself to look at Jimmy. He was clearing the last empty table. As if he felt his eyes on her, he turned to return her look a few seconds later. He smiled at her. It was a grim smile that didn't belong on his innocent face.
Liz smiled back. Then she felt something move inside her.
She had been afraid to look at Jimmy before, but she had done it. There was something else Liz was afraid of, very afraid, and it wasn't whoever had Jimmy's sister and the other missing girls in this town.
It was shame. She couldn't face it, and then she knew she didn't have to.
Almost immediately, the cloud started lifting. She walked over to Jimmy and put a hand on his shoulder. Though she was relieved when no visions came, she knew she would face them when they did come… without fear.
Liz knew she had made the right decision.
"Come on, Parker. We've got side work to do," Maria said.
Max saw Liz through the window. He felt a moment of relief when he saw that she was there. He knew his worries were probably baseless. She would be safe inside a crowded diner. He was sure of it. Yet, he was still relieved to see her.
As soon as he did see her, though, he realized that something was wrong. Something was bothering her. Almost as soon as he realized that, she was heading for the door. She was there as he stepped inside.
"Hi," she said, her voice even.
Max leaned down to kiss her and said, "Hi." He couldn't ask her what it was now. That conversation would have to wait until they were alone.
"You guys can sit down over here," Liz said, pointing to a long table near the center of the empty diner.
A woman Max recognized from yesterday came out from the kitchen. A smile appeared on her face, and she said, "Girls, are these your friends?”
Liz and Maria nodded together.
"Well, sit down," the woman said, gesturing to the table.
"I'm Bell," she added when they had all sat.
Liz stepped forward and said, "This is Max, Isabel, Michael, and Kyle," pointing to each one as she spoke their name.
"Pleased to meet you," Bell said.
Then she turned to Liz and Maria and said, "You sit down too.”
Liz started to protest, but Bell shushed her with a wave. Looking at Max, Bell said, "They have been on their feet for nearly twelve hours straight. Best help we've ever had here." As Liz and Maria sat, Bell took out a pad. "Now what can I get you kids?”
After she had taken their order, Bell disappeared into the kitchen. The door shut behind her and drowned out any sounds from the kitchen.
Once Liz was sitting, Max could see that she was tired. Maria, too. They had been working a double shift. Max felt a pang. He had done nothing to help their cause, while Liz and Maria had worked twelve hours in a row. Kyle, too. I'm some leader
, he thought.
Then he noticed that Liz kept glancing at the boy from yesterday, the one with Down's syndrome. He was sitting in a booth next to the window, staring out and down trie street. "Do you want to invite him to sit with us?" Max asked Liz.
She shook her head. "I already did. Bell says that he likes to sit by himself at the end of the day and look for his sister.”
"How long has she been gone?" Max asked.
"Almost a week," Liz said. There was something in her voice and face that told Max there was something else, something she wasn't telling him. Instead, she turned to Kyle and asked, "So how was work at Johnny's?”
Kyle and Michael told the girls the same story Max had heard on the walk over.
"So Gomer is dangerous?" Maria asked, when they were finished.
Kyle shrugged and said, "Since Michael had a talk with him, I think he's mostly in danger of wetting himself.”
Though Kyle smiled when he said that, Max could see that their friend had been shaken up by his experience.
"So you did do something worthwhile today, Michael," Maria said.
Michael shrugged at that, and Max could see that he was uncomfortable. It looked like everyone was on edge today. Max was surprised. Stonewall hadn't looked like much of a town… the fact was, it still didn't look like much. But it was definitely dangerous. Women were missing. Crazed tow truck drivers were thrown into fits of jealous rage. Some- thing was going on here. Up until now, Max had thought the biggest danger they faced in Stonewall was being out of money. Max decided that he, Michael, and Isabel would have to keep an eye on the others.
It looked like there was something for him to do here.
A few minutes after Bell had brought their food out, she and Sam emerged from the kitchen with plates for themselves.
Liz and Maria immediately rose and started moving another table to add to theirs so that everyone would be able to sit together.
Pointing to the now larger table, Liz said, "Join us.”
She didn't have to look to know that Max was giving her a look… probably Michael, too. But there were things she needed to know, things that were more important than avoiding other people to keep their secret.