Evil Takes a Holiday; M/L+CC; ADULT {COMPLETE}

Finished Canon/Conventional Couple Fics. These stories pick up from events in the show. All complete stories from the main Canon/CC board will eventually be moved here.

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Devil Kitty
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 76
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2002 11:05 am
Location: Painting Michael's tatoo at Fox River State Penitiary

Chapter 11

Post by Devil Kitty »

All Aboard ~ the nookie train is about to roll into Leadville Image


Chapter 11


Michael stomped down the path ignoring Maria’s curses and her hands beating on his back. Finally, he stopped at a scenic area that offered a spectacular view in the daytime, but now was dark and private. He plopped her down on her feet, having to steady her as she wobbled off balance. “Michael, are you insane? Carrying me off like some prehistoric…”

Grasping her arms, he glowered, “Settled, Maria? You told Liz that I settled for you? What in hell has gotten into you?”

“Michael, I just…” Her own feelings of resentment about Courtney began to dissipate in face of his bewildered vehemence. He began to pace, “We find out that Courtney is alive and suddenly you don’t trust me anymore?”

“Michael…” She reached out for him, but he backed away. “No, you’ve said enough, Maria. It’s my turn now. You know damn good and well that I was suspicious of Courtney when she arrived in Roswell, that I was investigating her that night. I was just trying to get her out of the room, when you showed up and jumped to conclusions. I thought that after Copper Summit that you and I… that we…” He stopped and looked at her, “I let you see me, Maria, the real me. And you think I settled?” The disappointment in his voice brought tears to her eyes.

“Michael,” She wiped at her eyes, and stepped closer to him. “I saw her and all those insecurities flooded back.” Looking up she reminded him, “It’s not like we’ve always had smooth sailing, ya know.”

He gave an exasperated sigh, “Maria.” He reached and pulled her into his arms. “I’ve loved you since the day I stole your car and ‘abducted’ you. It just took me a little while to accept it.”

With her head nestled against his chest, she whispered, “I love you, too, Spaceboy.”


~~~~~~~~~~~


As Max began to wake up he was aware of two things, Liz snuggled up against him and the sun shining in his eyes. He started to sit up to pull the curtain across the window when he banged his head into the roof of the overhead compartment in the RV. “Ow! Damn.” He whispered in aggravation. A small giggle caught his attention, and he looked down. “Hey, I’m injured here.”

“Aww, poor baby.” Impish brown eyes, still tinged with sleep enticed him, “Let me kiss it better.” She pulled his head down as she reached for his lips. After the first kiss, Max pulled back, “Uh, that’s not where I’m hurt.” Liz cocked her eye, “And your point is?” Max grinned, “Oh, yeah, what point?” He leaned down to capture her mouth with his.

Feeling Max’s hardness pressing against her thigh, Liz’s blood began to pump faster. As their kisses grew more heated, their moans could be heard beyond the privacy curtain drawn across the bunk.

Suddenly, there was a thump against the bunk, and they heard Kyle’s voice, “Hey! You two better not be naked in there. This RV is currently rated PG.”

With a groan, Max rolled onto his back. “I knew I should have taken him out when I found him in your room that night.”

“Hey, I heard that.” Kyle responded, while Liz giggled, “Now get up, breakfast will be ready soon – Michael’s cooking waffles and bacon.”

Liz slid her hand down Max’s stomach brushing her fingers over the tent in his boxers, and with a playful pout, “Bacon? But I was looking forward to having this ‘sausage’.”

“Aughhh!” came the anguished cry, “I heard that, too.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~


After breakfast, Isabel handed Kyle a bag of garbage and a smile, “Would you mind?” As Kyle started out the RV, Michael called out, “Hold up, Kyle, I’ll walk with you.”

Walking away from the RV, Kyle gave Michael a smirk, “Judging by the smile on Maria’s face this morning, I’m guessing the AntarianCaveMan act was a success.”

Michael grinned, “Let’s just say, she won’t be worrying about Courtney anymore.” Then he asked Kyle, “So, is tonight the night?” Kyle looked confused, “Huh?”

Michael looked exasperated, “Love Camp, man.” Kyle shook his head, “I don’t know, Guerin, you know I suck at that sort of thing.”

Michael thumped his shoulder with a smile, “Just leave it to me. Now, here’s what I thought...”


~~~~~~~~~~~~


When Isabel and Sera announced that they were going into town to do some ‘shopping’, Liz and Maria exchanged knowing glances and stated that they were spending a lazy afternoon around the pool. Alex volunteered to drive them into town while Michael and Kyle claimed to be going fishing again. Not surprising, Max chose to stay behind with Liz.

It wasn’t long until Alex returned to join the group at the pool. Liz looked up at his arrival in his swim trunks, “Thought you were shopping with Isabel?” Plopping down on a chaise, he tilted his sunglasses to look over them at Liz, “Do I look like a masochist?” He looked over just as Max opened his mouth to respond, “That was a rhetorical question, Max. I was just the taxi, dropping the girls off. They’ll call when they want to come back.”

After an afternoon of horsing around in the pool and soaking up the sun, Liz and Maria were about to hit the showers when Kyle and Michael returned to camp. Seeing their fishing equipment, but no fish, Maria just gave them a look. “They weren’t biting today.” Kyle shrugged, “and I couldn’t get Guerin to blast the water again.”

Just then Alex’s cell phone rang. After a brief conversation, Alex turned to Kyle. “Kyle, that was Isabel, she and Sera are ready to come home.” He indicated his swim apparel, “Max and I were about to have a swimming contest, so could you go pick them up for me?”

“Sure, but I was just about to shower, don’t want to smell fishy.” Kyle answered. “That’s fine, I’ll call her back and let her know you’ll be there soon.” As Kyle walked off, Alex called out, “Just ask for Sera.” Max looked at Alex in bewilderment, “Swimming contest?” Alex grinned as he dialed his phone, “No, thanks, Max, but I appreciate you asking. Hey, Isabel, he’s on the way. Is the cab there yet?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~


“Liz.” Maria called out, “I’m going on back to the RV.” “Okay,” Liz answered, “I’ll be along soon.”

As Maria walked up the path, she realized that she had forgotten her beach towel. Turning back, she stopped when she saw a familiar figure sneaking into the ladies showers. Grinning, she knew Liz would be back later than sooner.

Standing under the warm spray, Liz was rinsing the conditioner out of her hair when she felt a slight breeze as someone entered the facility. “Liz?” her eyes popped open when she recognized Max’s whisper. “Max?” She poked her head out of the shower, and saw him looking into other stalls. “What are you doing?”

He grinned, “Just making sure we’re alone.” Then he dropped his towel and her eyes widened at the sight of his erection standing proud. “Impressive.” She pushed the plastic shower curtain aside, her body wet and glistening, “Is that for me?”

Joining her in the shower stall, he pulled her close, “Always,” just before he devoured her lips in a searing kiss that left her gasping for breath as her heart thumped. He spoke softly into her ear, giving her shivers, “Do you have any idea how much torment I was in today, watching you prance about in that tiny bikini? Slathering lotion on your smooth body?” His hands moved over her body as he spoke, leaving Liz weak-kneed. She responded breathily, “I did notice that you kept jumping into the cold pool a lot.” But then he took her breath away when he lifted her up. “I need you now, Liz.” Max murmured, as he impaled her on his length. He braced one arm against the wall as his other arm supported her bottom as he pumped furiously inside her, she clung to him like a limpet her own hips moving in rhythm with his. The reached their peaks quickly, Max felt Liz stiffen in his arms and she screamed in satisfaction as her inner walls clutched his burgeoning member. With a cry of completion, he exploded within her.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


When Alex had driven the girls into town, he learned the true reason Sera was waiting for Kyle at the B & B. Watching Kyle drive off in the Land Rover on the fictitious errand, he shook his head thinking of all the planning and organizing Kyle and Michael had done that afternoon. Maria stuck her head out of the RV and asked if anyone had seen Michael. Alex grinned, “Let me show you.”


~~~~~~~~~~~


When Kyle arrived at the address Alex had given him he was surprised to find it was a bed & breakfast inn. Shrugging, he went inside, but did not see any sign of Sera or Isabel. “Excuse me,” he saw a young woman at a small counter, “I’m here for Sera Thompson?”

“Oh, you must be Mr. Valenti.” The woman smiled and waved her hand over to the stairway. “She’s in the Gold Room. It’s the second door on the right.” Then she gave him a wink.

Feeling more than a little baffled, Kyle reached the indicated room with a little Gold Room plaque on the door. Tapping he heard Sera’s voice, “Come in.” He pushed the door open, “Sera, what’s go…” He came to a dead stop and whispered, “…ing on.”

Sera stood in a richly decorated room, beside as small table set for dinner. She was dressed in a beautiful green dress that was low-cut and clung to all the right places with her hair piled in a stylishly messy upsweep. “Sera. Wow.” He uttered.

“Ky…Kyle.” Her voice was shaky with nervous tension. He looked around at the room, and the roomy four-poster bed caught his eyes. His attention was drawn back to Sera when she cleared her throat. “I… I hope you don’t mind.” She twisted her hands in a nervous gesture. “We haven’t had much chance to be alone on this trip, and …”

He saw how uneasy she appeared, and his heart swelled that she had planned this for them; even as thoughts of how pissed Michael was going to be when they didn’t show up at the clearing crossed his mind. “Sera, this is terrific.” He walked over to take her hand, lifting it up to kiss her palm and he took in her appearance, “and you look incredible.” He glanced at his own black jeans and blue shirt, “I’m definitely lacking in that department.” She shook her head, “You look just fine, Kyle.” To heck with Michael he thought, just as he was leaning over to kiss her, but there was a knock at the door and she jerked back.

“Oh, that should be our dinner.” She smiled as she turned to answer the door. Meanwhile, Kyle almost swallowed his tongue when he saw that her dress was backless and dipped way low. “Oh, Buddha,” he thought, “Give me strength.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~


As Alex led Maria away from the campground she looked uneasy. “Uh, Alex, are you sure Michael is out here?” Alex winked at her, “See that little path? Just follow it until you see Michael.” An uncertain Maria started down the path, turning to look back at Alex. He just smiled and made a shooing motion with his hands. As Maria followed the path, she neared a clearing and she could see that a large tent had been erected. “A tent? What the…” she murmured. Just as she entered the clearing, she saw a quilt on the ground with a makeshift table, which was actually a large cooler with a tablecloth over it, a picnic basket sitting on it. And there was Michael coming out of the tent. “Michael?” She called out curiously.

A startled Michael whirled around, “Maria!”

Maria looked around the area at the quilt on the ground, the roomy tent with the comfortable bedding inside. She walked over to lift the cover from the basket to reveal containers with Chicken Parmigiana on a bed of spaghetti. There was also salad and a basket of bread.

Maria gazed at Michael in confusion, “My favorite?” Then her eyes opened wide. “Omigod, Michael. You didn’t go fishing! You did all this - for me? For us?”

Michael stood in stunned silence, for a few seconds. “Uh, Maria,” Michael started, rubbing at his eyebrow, “I didn’t expect… Ommph.” Maria crashed into him throwing her arms around his neck. “Oh, Michael, you were going to surprise me and I ruined it. But you are just the most wonderful boyfriend ever.” She pulled his head down to pepper kisses on his face.

Still clinging to him she looked around the clearing, a big smile on her face. “How did you… I can’t believe you did all this.” Michael swallowed hard, “Uh, actually Kyle...” Maria grinned, “Of course, Kyle helped you.” She began to laugh, “Oh, how funny. While he was helping you, we were helping Sera.”

Befuddled, Michael repeated, “Helping Sera?” Maria nodded happily, “Right about now, Kyle is with Sera at The Silver Slipper for a ‘romantic evening’ of dinner and…” Maria waggled her eyebrows.

Michael stared. “You mean while we were planning this, Sera was planning… and they’re…” Michael began to laugh as he shook his head, and then he scooped Maria up and started towards the tent. “Michael, what about dinner?” He looked at her with hot eyes, “It’ll keep. Believe me, you’ll need to refuel later.” He lay her down on the bedding and it was a long time before she asked about dinner again.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


After their dinner had been placed on the table, and the staff wished them a nice evening, Kyle excused himself to wash up in the little private washroom. When he returned, he had a nice view of Sera’s silky covered backside as she bent over an old-fashioned cabinet that housed a small stereo system. “Nice view.” He said. Startled Sera straightened up, “Oh, yes, the mountains…” her voice trailed off as she saw that the drapes were pulled shut and Kyle was looking as her. She blushed, “Oh, I was just,” she pointed at the radio where she had dialed in an easy listening station, “looking for some music, uh, for dinner, dinner music.” Oh God, Sera, she thought you’re starting to babble.

Kyle smiled, “Well, then,” he pulled a chair out for her, “how about we have some of that dinner.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~


Since Kyle, Sera, Michael and Maria were all otherwise occupied, Isabel suggested that she, Alex, Max and Liz go into town and meet Tyler and Courtney for dinner. After Max called Tyler, they decided to try the pub again.

The foursome arrived to find Tyler and Courtney already there. As Courtney looked at them, she gave a slight sad smile. “I see that Michael and Maria bowed out, guess that’s my fault.”

“Oh, no.” Liz assured her, “They don’t even know we’re here. They had a little special something going on tonight.”

“What about Sera and Kyle?” Tyler asked and Alex grinned, “Seems to be a night for special some things.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~


As dinner progressed, so did Sera’s apprehension. She loved Kyle, she wanted this, but the anticipation was killing her. She felt like just ripping his clothes off and having her way with him. What she didn’t realize was that as they made their way through butter tender steaks, roasted potatoes and seasoned vegetables, Kyle was feeling the same anxiety. As they finally finished their meal, Sera pointed out the covered dish that had been left on the dresser. “Would you like some dessert? It’s lemon meringue.”

Ever since he saw the romantic setting Sera had laid out, Kyle’s thoughts had been rushing through his mind like a freight train – Okay, Valenti, romance, do something romantic, ah shit, what would Evans do? All Kyle really wanted was to strip Sera naked and toss her on the bed. Think, man!

Her words registering, Kyle put his napkin down beside his plate, “Maybe later.” Standing up, “For now, would… would you like to dance?” He held out his hand to her and they began to move slowly to the strains of Eric Clapton’s You Look Wonderful Tonight.

They turned in a slow circle, Kyle’s fingertips lightly tracing along Sera’s back. He smiled when she slightly trembled. He looked in her emerald eyes, “You do, you know,” he glanced over at the radio, “look wonderful tonight. But then you always do.” She gave him a bashful, “Thank you.” As one song segued into another, they kissed and as they danced, Sera’s fingers trailed down the front of Kyle’s shirt, the buttons magically falling open, her fingers lightly stroked his chest.

“You know,” Kyle whispered, “as beautiful as that dress is, I think it would look better tossed over on that chair over there.” Sera looked up shyly, then she eased back out of his arms and snapped her fingers. The lights in the room dimmed as she stood back reaching behind her neck to release the catch on her dress. When she let go, the dress slid down to puddle around her feet, and Kyle forgot to breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC ~ Image
User avatar
Devil Kitty
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 76
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2002 11:05 am
Location: Painting Michael's tatoo at Fox River State Penitiary

Post by Devil Kitty »

Well, I don't want to get on Chrissy's bad side, or Asabetha's either, Image LOL, so I'm posting a mini-chapter to wrap up Nookie Night Image


Chapter 12


Michael lay on his back with Maria draped lazily across him. He stroked his fingers through her hair, “It’s starting to get long.” He murmured. “Umm, hmm, finally longer than yours.” She teased. She stretched and leaned up on one elbow, “Now, how about some dinner? I’m suddenly famished.” She looked around and reached for Michael’s shirt, slipping it on as Michael pulled on his boxers. “You wait here,” he bent over to place a kiss on her lips, “I’ll bring it to you.”

When he returned, he warned her, “Now, this isn’t my best effort. I had to use a jar sauce and those canned bread crumbs, so…” Maria pushed her fingers against his mouth. “Michael, it will fine, because you made it,” she smiled, “for me.”

Michael felt a pang of guilt, but seeing Maria so happy he couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth. Besides, Kyle hadn’t a clue what to plan, so he had just thought, ‘what would Maria like’? So, technically, this was all planned for Maria, even if it was originally meant for someone else. Brushing that last bit from his mind, he grabbed Maria’s hand in his, “It is all for you, Maria. No matter what alien weirdness happens in our lives, just know that I love you, and you’ll always be the girl for me.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~


Sera stood before Kyle, her dress in a puddle around her feet, all she was left wearing were her high heels. Kyle stood frozen as he took in the sight of her trim figure, displayed just for him. When she reached up to pull the clasp from her hair, the luxurious red locks falling around her shoulders, he came out of his stupor.

He stepped forward slipping a hand behind her neck and rested his forehead on hers, whispering, “Damn, but you’re beautiful.” His lips caught hers and they kissed, “and hot,” he slid a hand down her body, “and sexy.” Sera tugged his shirttails from his jeans. “I want to see you, too.” She smiled, part shy innocent, part bold vixen. Kyle bent to scoop her up and crossed the few steps to the bed, gently dropping her down on it. She rose up to kneel before him as he stood beside the bed; grasping his open shirt she pulled him close as they ardently kissed, their tongues tangling together. He shrugged off his shirt, and she smoothed her hands over his pecs down to the fastening of his pants. Together they quickly stripped off the remainder of his clothing and climbing up to stretch out beside her, he pressed her back onto the bed. His kisses ran from her mouth, down her neck to finally reach her breasts. As his lips pulled on first one rigid nipple, “Mmmmm, you taste delicious," then the other, Sera giggled, “Like pork tenderloin and applesauce?” stating what they had eaten earlier. He smiled against her skin and murmured, “Even better.” Sera’s legs shifted restlessly as Kyle’s hand slid down through the red curls. “Ahhhh,” she moaned in approval as his fingers gently stroked.

“Sera, Sera,” he whispered against her skin, “you feel so good.” She reached for his swollen manhood rubbing her fingers around the sensitive tip, whispering, “So do you.” Her touch sent a shiver down his spine, and he moved to lie between her legs, “I want you, Sera,” rubbing his hardness against her folds, sliding through the moisture from her body. “I want you, too.” She enticed, “I need you now.”

“Let me…” he groaned as she drew her fingernails down his back, “my… my jeans.” She shook her head, and pointed to the night table, “top drawer.” He sat back his heels and felt a bit self-conscious as she watched him roll the condom on. Once in place, she reached to pull him back down on her. “Sera, I don’t want this to hurt you, can you… you know,” he wiggled his fingers, “keep it from hurting?” She brushed his hair back off his forehead, “I could, but I want it to be normal for us, Kyle. I want this to be ‘human’.” Her words touched his heart, and as he moved into position, he promised, “I’ll take it slow.” As he slowly entered her, she knew it would be easier to just breach her barrier in one fell swoop, so she reached to grasp his behind and pulled him hard against her, “Sera!” He felt the membrane give, and Sera couldn’t hold back a cry of pain as he ripped through. Kyle stopped, throbbing deep inside her. Bracing himself on his elbows, he ached at the pain on her face, “Sera…” She shook her head, “It’s okay.” He disagreed, “Sera, I don’t care about this being ‘human’ or ‘normal’, I just care about you. Please, stop the pain.”

Seeing the distress in his eyes, she nodded and moved a hand to the point where they were joined. Kyle felt a warmth surround his manhood, which only added to his stimulation. Seeing his eyes widen, Sera grinned now that that the pain had been relieved, “All better now.” Kissing her passionately, he promised, “Better is yet to come,” as he began to slowly move his body within hers. Sera’s hips undulated in rhythm with Kyle’s, the sweet pressure building, and when he reached down to tweak the little button nestled in her curls, she cried out as her body clenched tightly around Kyle’s erection. Kyle couldn’t hold back any longer and when he felt Sera’s body tighten he called out her name. His entire body began to tingle and as his climax exploded, he could almost swear that the world tilted and colors exploded in his mind. There was a sensation of floating out of his body, but it was the most delicious feeling he’d ever felt.

They collapsed together in a gasping boneless pile of limbs. Sera savored Kyle’s weight pressing her into the bed, “Oh, Kyle, that was… oh my…” Turning his head to capture her mouth with his, his breathing labored, “Psychedelic?” As they laughed softly together, Kyle shifted over on his back, pulling Sera close to his side. Brushing a kiss on her temple, “I love you, Sera.” Floating on an almost spiritual high, Sera tightened her arms around him, “I love you, too, Kyle.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~


As Isabel and Alex danced to a slow tune, she wondered out loud, “I sure would like to know how Kyle and Sera are doing. She was so nervous this afternoon about just surprising Kyle out of the blue.”

“Oh, I think things are probably going just fine.” Alex assured her, “Seems Sera wasn’t the only one with a surprise on her mind.” Isabel gave him a quizzical look and Alex elaborated, “Actually, Kyle and Michael were also working on a plan for Kyle and Sera to have some alone time.” After explaining Kyle and Michael’s ‘Love Camp’ idea, he grinned, “and right about now, I think Maria is probably reaping the benefits of that plan.”

Isabel laughed as he spun her around the little dance floor. Pulling her back to him, Alex glanced over at the table where Max and Liz sat talking with Tyler and Courtney, “Speaking of alone time, and as long as we’re speaking of plans, how about we come up with one to get dibs on the RV tonight?”

“Why, Mr. Whitman, what did you have in mind?” She asked with a sly look. “You’ll have to come up with that plan in order to find out.” He teased.


~~~~~~~~~


A slight clinking sound woke Kyle. As he stretched, he grimaced realizing that he was sore in places he usually wasn’t. Then he grinned as the memories of the night before and early morning flooded his mind, ‘damn, but my girl has stamina’. He reached out ready for more, only to find the space beside him empty. Opening his eyes, he saw Sera, now draped in a silky robe fussing around the table. “Sera?” He mumbled, raising on his elbow, “What are you doing up?”

She glanced over with a shy look, “Oh, there was a knock on the door, and look…” she turned back to the table and pointed out a tray, “coffee and croissants. Are you hungry?”

“Oh, I’m definitely hungry.” Hearing the raspy desire in his voice, she peeked over her shoulder to see that he had pushed the sheets back to sit up on the side of the bed, and oh my, she could see exactly what was hungry. Quickly turning back to the breakfast, she murmured, “Uh, yesterday I picked up a few things,” she pointed towards a chair with a black robe draped across it. “If you want to…”

As she fiddled with silverware, Kyle crossed over to stand behind her, grasping her shoulders. “Sera, is something wrong?” She shook her head, “Of course not, I just…” He spun her around, anxiety on his face and in his voice, “Sera, are you sorry about last night?” She looked up at him in surprise, “Oh, Kyle, not at all.” She assured him, “It was everything I could have imagined.” She lifted a hand to push her hair back, “I guess I just… I don’t know, feel a little awkward… light of day and all.”

“Sera, last night was perfect, you were perfect.” He grasped her chin and rubbed his thumb over her lips, “You know me; there’s no way I could have come up with anything this romantic.” He leaned over to press his mouth softly on hers. She reached her arms up around his neck, and he spoke softly into her ear, “Besides, don’t you know that deep down a man just wants two things from his woman?” She felt a shiver at being referred to as ‘his woman’. Smiling, she asked, “And just what would that be?”

He raised his head and grinned, “Show up naked and bring food.”

Her mouth fell open in surprise, “Ohhh! Kyle Valenti, what a sexist thing to… Ummm.” His mouth closed over hers, smothering her words. As they kissed, he tugged at the tie of her robe and pushed it off. Releasing her lips, he lifted her up and as her legs wrapped around his waist he carried her back to the bed, “Now, about that hunger.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC ~ Image
Last edited by Devil Kitty on Sun Nov 09, 2003 11:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Devil Kitty
Enthusiastic Roswellian
Posts: 76
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2002 11:05 am
Location: Painting Michael's tatoo at Fox River State Penitiary

Post by Devil Kitty »

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Chrissyp47, glad you liked Kyle and Sera’s special night ;)

Sorry this bit is so short, I had hoped to have a full Chapter 13 to post, but between a busy work week and wonky computer problems over the weekend, I just haven't had the opportunity to write. :?

-----------

Chapter 12b


Kyle tucked his plaid shirt into the clean jeans that Sera had packed for him and cut his eyes over to Sera’s trim figure now clad in snug jeans as she packed their things into a duffle. Walking up behind and slipping his arms around her waist, he reminded her. “Don’t forget to take the Rover keys out of those jeans.” Sera shook her head, “Not necessary.” She turned her head to look up at him, “Isabel said they’d pick it up last night, so we have to call them to come pick us up.”

“Picked it up?” Kyle pointed to his jeans from the day before, “but I have the keys.”

“Oh, sweetie,” She gave him a pitying smile, prompting him roll his eyes, “Oh, yeah.” And he held up a hand to wiggle his fingers.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


After calling Isabel, Kyle and Sera had decided to wait in the side garden. They were walking hand in hand around the flowerbeds when Sera heard her name called. Looking around she saw Isabel and Alex crossing the lawn. Isabel ran up to give her a hug, whispering, “I don’t have to ask how things went, you are glowing.” Then grinning, “Well, not literally.” Sera blushed and Kyle looked uncomfortable while Alex grinned at them.

“Come on, Kyle,” Alex reached for the duffle bag, “let’s go toss that bag in the Rover while these two hens cackle.”

Isabel whirled, “Hens? You are so going to pay for that, Alex Whitman.” Unrepentant, Alex just grinned and gave her a wink. “I’ll just consider last night a down payment.”

Now it was Isabel’s turn to blush.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The group, minus Tyler who was out with Courtney for the evening, had gathered around the picnic table. After consuming the supper they had cooked on the grill, they were discussing the next stage of their trip.

“So, we’ll check out of here in the morning, and drive up to the place Tyler, Michael and I scouted out earlier today.” Max informed them. “We can pack up most everything for the hike tomorrow afternoon and be ready to head out the next morning.”

Isabel looked around the campground, “Goodbye, amenities,” she sighed, “I’ll miss you.”

Max grinned, “Well, we do have the batteries charged up, and the water tank is full, so we’ll have power and water at least for tomorrow night.”

Seeing that everyone had finished, Isabel handed Alex a trash bag, “Okay, everyone pass your plates down.” As a stack of paper plates, plastic utensils and table scraps made their way down to Alex, she stood to retrieve a platter of brownies for their dessert. Once everyone had been served, Max looked at Liz and as she gave him a nod and supporting smile, he took a deep breath. “There is one more thing we need to discuss. Before Tyler left this evening, he made a request. He wants Courtney to come with us.”

“Courtney!” Maria exclaimed, “Max, you can’t be serious.”

“It’s not unreasonable.” Max responded calmly in the face of Maria’s annoyance. “Tyler and Courtney have been almost inseparable for days and…”

“Fine, Tyler and Courtney have a thing.” Maria tossed her hands up, “but I can’t believe you are just ready to make her a part of the group. Have you forgotten that she stalked Michael?”

Michael rubbed his face. Things with Maria had been going much too well the last couple of days and he had no intention of rocking the boat. Clearing his throat, “I’m not sure it’s a good idea, Maxwell. Blondie’s right, it’s just seems too soon to bring someone else in.”

“Michael, it’s not like she doesn’t know our secret.” Max reminded him.

Maria looked to Liz and implored, “Lizzie, tell him.” Liz reached over the table to grasp Maria’s hand, “ ’ria, I understand you have some doubts about her, but…” Maria gaped at her and jerked her hand away, “Not you, too?”

Sera looked around the table, “Look, I know that Tyler and I weren’t around last fall, but I do trust Tyler’s judgment. He wouldn’t risk anything happening to any of you. If he feels that Courtney coming along is safe, then I have to support him.”

“Sera, believe me, I trust Tyler, too.” Isabel smiled, “But Tyler is feeling that newness of being ‘in love’ and maybe his judgment isn’t at its best right now.”

Kyle reached over for another brownie, “I didn’t know everything going on last fall either, but I’d have to say that anyone who would think Guerin here is king material is probably delusional…”

“Hey!” Michael protested.

“…however, I doubt Courtney is a threat. After all, she did go with you guys to Copper Summit to rescue the others.” Kyle concluded.

“Because we made her! And speaking of delusional,” Maria asked, derision in her voice, “She had a silly heart and flowers ‘Michael’ alter in her room.”

Sera still wanting to defend Tyler’s wishes responded, “She told us the other night that she just had a bad case of hero worship. It’s like she came to view Michael as sort of a Back Street boy.”

Alex and Kyle laughed at the look of disgusted horror that came over Michael’s face, “Did you just compare me to a boy band!?!”

“Could be worse,” Alex grinned less than sympathetically, “she could have compared you to N’Suck.”

"Oh, yeah," Kyle egged it on, "Cause Justin Timberlake is sooo much more dreamy than Lance Bass."

Alex turned on Kyle, "The fact that you not only know those names, but which band they are in is just disturbing."

Ignoring Alex and Kyle, Maria was not ready to give up and pointed out, “What if she’s just after the ship? Maybe she just happened to," making quote marks, " ‘accidentally’ meet Tyler.”

“But Courtney has been here for months, working as a waitress. How would she have known we were coming here, much less who Tyler was and that he’d parked a space ship up the mountain?” At Alex’s inquiry, Maria’s shoulders sagged as she shrugged, “Okay, so it’s a coincidence that she’s here. That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t like to get hold of that ship and fly away home.”

“Well, she wouldn’t get far.” Sera reminded them, “There’s not enough fuel left to fly it across the state, much less to another galaxy.”

“Maria, you and Michael are together, Courtney is with Tyler.” Liz entreated, “This trip up the mountain might be a good opportunity to put what happened back in Roswell behind you.”

“Besides,” Max informed them, “I know that Tyler plans to ask Courtney to come back to Roswell when we go home.” He looked at Michael and Maria, “You two are going to have to deal with her sooner or later.” Maria and Michael wore similar looks of consternation at that bit of news.

“Perhaps we should just take a vote, see where we all stand.” Isabel offered.

Looking up at the drive running behind the RV, Kyle asked, “Uh, Max, what did you tell Tyler?”

“That I’d have to discuss it with all of you.” Max told them, “And he hasn’t said anything to Courtney. That’s why we need to discuss this before he and Courtney come back here.”

“Then we should have started earlier,” Kyle pointed out the Rover that was pulling up beside the RV.

As all heads turned to look towards the Rover, Maria held her hands up in surrender, “Fine. Invite her.” Then she stood up, “but don’t expect me to welcome her with open arms.” With that she turned and headed into the RV.

“Uh, maybe I’d better…” Michael tilted his head towards Maria’s retreating figure.


~~~~~~~~~~~


As Tyler and Courtney approached the group at the table, the tension was palpable and Courtney felt a shiver of apprehension run down her back. She had noticed Maria and Michael going into the RV, and just as she was thinking of turning and running all the way back into town, Tyler squeezed her hand.

Looking up at him, Tyler gave her a smile. “Don’t worry about Maria right now, that’ll take some time. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Chapter 13


After traversing up a winding mountain road, they had driven out an old logging trail and the RV now sat nestled in a grove of trees with the Rover parked nearby. Max, Kyle and Tyler were in the process of unloading all of the camping equipment from the RV under the supervision of a clipboard wielding Isabel in an effort to determine what they needed to pack for their trip up the mountain and what to leave behind.

Liz had spread a beach towel on the ground and was enjoying the view as Max bent down to retrieve a box, his muscles flexing as he rose with the box when she was joined by Sera and Courtney. “Mind if we share your towel?” Liz grinned up at them, “Pull up a corner.” As the girls sat down, Liz teased, “Come to enjoy the view?” Sera blushed as she watched Kyle hoist a package up on his shoulder.

As Kyle sat down a box of battery run lanterns, he groused, “How did Guerin and Whitman get out of ‘back ache’ duty?”

Isabel didn't bother to look up from where she crouched beside a box marking her lists to inform him, “Michael and Maria are fixing lunch, and Alex is working on the computer.”

Liz grinned, “Come on, Kyle, don’t be a wimp. Lift that barge, tote that bale.”

“Actually,” Max responded dryly, “this is the last of it.” He sat a box down and looked at the pile of equipment spread out on the ground. There were tents, sleeping bags, lanterns, flashlights, batteries, radios, cooking gear, dried packaged food, etc.

Courtney shook her head, “Wow, I can’t believe you guys had all this stuffed in that RV.”

Liz looked doubtfully, “I can’t believe we have to haul all that up the mountain.”

Kyle reached down to pull Sera to her feet, “It’s all yours for now, Isabel, we’re going to see what’s for lunch.” As he started towards the RV, Alex stepped out a frown on his face. “Not so fast, Kyle. We’d better put that all back.”

“Put it back!” Kyle looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “We just spent the last hour pulling all that stuff out.”

“Alex, what’s wrong?” Isabel stood up to walk over to him.

“Just checked the forecast on the web seems there’s an unexpected storm moving this way. Couple of hours from now and we’ll be taking cover from the rain.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~


Inside the RV, Maria sat in the passenger seat and looked out at the gray skies and steady falling rain. Alex had been right, the rains had started and it had been coming down for almost 24 hours. Everyone being cooped up in such close proximity had made it difficult for her to avoid Courtney, but she’d tried her best. Turning to look back into the interior of the RV, she saw that Michael and Kyle were watching The Terminator – again. Tyler, Courtney, Alex and Isabel were sitting around the dinette table playing “Dream Date” of all things. Sera had just announced that she was going to make Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats.

Maria glanced out the window over towards the Rover where Max and Liz had taken advantage of a slack in the rain to dash out to the Rover to supposedly listen to CD’s. Maria smirked and rolled her eyes at that one.


~~~~~~~~~~~


The windows of the Rover were steamed over, clothes were strewn around the interior as the couple snuggled in the back. The strains of a Lifehouse CD came from the stereo system as Liz gazed up at Max, her fingertips lightly stroking his cheek. “Think everyone believed we were just coming out here to listen to CDs?” Max nuzzled her jaw and murmured against her skin, “We are listening to CDs.” Liz giggled, feeling his desire for her press against her thigh, “Without our clothes?” But when he took a delicious little nipple into his mouth, palming the other, Liz moaned in approval.

Moving his hand down her stomach, sliding inside her lacy panties, he caught his breath as his fingers caressed her. Moving his mouth back up to nibble at hers, “Ah, Liz, you feel so damn good.” She whispered, “You do, too,” shivering when he pulled on her lower lip.

He rolled over on his back pulling her across him as he slipped the last garment from her body. She wriggled to help him, then sitting on his stomach leaned forward to kiss him deeply, their tongues twirling together as his fingers traced down her spine, making her shiver. Breathing heavily, she looked into his eyes, “Now, Max.” He lifted her hips and slid inside her. As Max guided her hips, moving in and out, Liz felt the familiar tingling sensation in every cell of her body. Through their connection she sensed that Max was feeling the same.

The rain outside pounded on the roof of the car, seemingly in rhythm with the blood pumping through their veins. “Ohh, Max” Liz softly cried, each thrust of his manhood bringing her closer. Her hands grasped his shoulders as she pumped up and down. When she felt her inner walls clench around him, she moved faster, harder as she called his name. They were so lost in each other that neither had noticed that the rain was falling harder. When Liz’s orgasm ripped through her, she screamed. Max flipped them over and pumped furiously until his own climax shook his body.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


Sera turned from looking in the cabinets and called out, “Hey, we don’t have 9 x 13 pan?” Kyle grinned, “We don’t need one, just bring that bowl over here.” Michael agreed, “Yeah, they’re best when they’re warm and gooey anyway.”

Shaking her head at the guys, Isabel told Alex, “My lasagna pan is on the top shelf, would you get it down for her?”

Soon the treats were in the pan and Michael and Kyle had been threatened not to touch them yet. “So when do we get to eat them?” Kyle whined. With her hand on her hip, Sera looked at the TV screen, “I’d say when that movie is over.”

Kyle grabbed the remote and hit the fast forward button. “Oh, no you don’t,” a laughing Sera grabbed for the remote and Kyle pulled her down on the couch as they wrestled for possession. Sera squealed when Kyle began tickling her. Shaking his head, Michael got up and moved up front, “Hop up, Blondie.” “Why?” He just pulled her to her feet, took her seat and then tugged her back down to sit in his lap. Wrapping his arms around her, “That’s why.” Maria snuggled against him and they sat quietly for several minutes watching the rain, until Maria sat up, “Omigod!”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


As Max and Liz caught their breath, Liz felt something shift. “Max? Did you feel that? Are we moving?” With a soft laugh, he tightened his hold around her and smugly asked, “It was that good, huh?”

Liz shoved at him, “No, Max! The Rover. It’s moving!”

"What?" They both sat up to see that the Rover was indeed sliding down the hill. Seeing they were about to crash into a tree, Max threw his hand up and managed to pop open back window, but before he could extend his shield, the Rover connected, sending both of them tumbling around the back of the vehicle as they heard the crunch of metal and the shatter of glass. “Oomph…” Max groaned as Liz hit her head against the side, “Owww.”

Sitting up, Max reached for Liz, “Liz, baby, are you alright?” She nodded while rubbing the top of her head, “Yeah, you?” Then they heard Maria’s call. “Max! Liz!!”

“Oh God, Max,” Liz looked at him in horror, “we’re naked!”

“Oh shit,” he scrambled around, “where are my pants?”

“Your pants? Where are mine?” Finding Max’s tee, she quickly pulled it over her head and down over her hips just as Maria and Michael reached the Rover - just in time to see Max leaning over the backseat to reach for his pants, his ass up in the air.

“Damn, Maxwell,” he heard Michael’s acerbic tone, “no one wants to see that.” Max whirled to sit down clutching his pants to his front side. Maria grinned, “Woo Hoo, girlfriend, I should have sold tickets.”

“Maria!” Max and Liz exclaimed together.

The rest of the group arrived and Kyle and Alex whooped at seeing Max scrambling behind Liz and clutching his pants to hide his nudity. Kyle teased, “Yet another ‘president’ caught with his pants down.” Looking at the damage to the vehicle, Alex rubbed his face. “Guess the Earth really moved for you guys, huh?” After letting the guys get in a few more digs, Isabel took pity at the sight of Max and Liz’s red faces. “Come on, guys, turn around, let them get dressed.”

“Okay,” Kyle reached down and plucked something from the crumpled bumper. Twirling the lacy scrap around his finger, he looked at Liz. “But you might want these.” “Ohhhh!” Liz grabbed the panties from his grasp.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


Once Max and Liz were decent and had crawled out of the Rover into the light rain, they only found Alex and Kyle still waiting. As Liz looked around, Alex told her, “The others were tired of being wet, so they went back inside to dry off.” Although the rear door was crunched inward, the spare tire had taken the brunt of the impact, but the back window frame was bent, the glass shattered. Kyle gingerly crawled underneath to look for any other damage while Alex walked back up to where the Rover was originally parked.

Walking carefully back down the hill, Alex noted. “That heavy rain washed a lot of dirt away, and what with all the, uh, loco-motion going on, I guess it lost its traction.” He looked into the drivers side, “The parking break wasn’t set, either.”

“Well,” Kyle slid out and stood to look at the crushed back end of the Rover, “that’s what happens when you have a couple of ‘nymphomaniacs’ around.”

“What!” Liz’s mouth fell open, as Max glared at Kyle. Kyle just shrugged, and pointed to the car, “I think the evidence speaks for itself, Liz.”

Seeing Liz’s embarrassment, Max spoke up, “Alright, you’ve had your fun, that’s enough.”

“You can fix it, can’t you, Max?” Liz stood beside him, arm around his waist, his around her shoulders. Hearing the guilt in her voice, he gave her a smile. “Sure,” he then held his hands out and moved them in a circle over the back of the Rover and the metal was once again in perfect shape. Then swirling his hands over the ground, the shards of glass filled the window.

Kyle and Alex just shook their heads in amazement, “That's so cool!" Kyle murmured, "It’s like watching a film in reverse.” Then he looked over at Alex, “Hey, I bet Guerin’s eating up all the krispie treats.” As Alex and Kyle hurried back up to the RV, Max opened the door to the Rover for Liz to get in. Liz turned to him.

“That’s not what we are… are we, Max?” She nibbled at her lower lip, “What Kyle said?”

He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head, “Liz, of course not.” Darn that Kyle, he knew it was their own doing that caused the Rover to crash, and that Kyle loved to tease them, but Max wanted to kick Kyle’s ass for causing Liz to feel any shame. “I love you and you love me, and it’s natural for us to want to be together.” He tilted her face up and dropped a kiss on her lips, “Besides, I’ve got years of wanting you built up, you’re lucky I haven’t locked you in a room and kept you naked 24/7.”

She gave him a smile that was shy and sexy all in one, “That doesn’t sound so bad, provided you’re naked, too.” Wrapping her arms around his neck, she looked up through her lashes, “You know, the Rover looks pretty stable now…”

Maria peeked out the RV door when she heard Max’s laughter, and looking down the hill she heard Liz’s delighted shriek when he scooped her up in his arms and headed around to the back of the Rover. Shutting the door, she turned back to the group eating krispie treats and grinned, “I don’t think we need to save any for Max and Liz. I believe they’ve got all the treats they can handle.”


~~~~~~~~~~~
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Post by Devil Kitty »

Thanks for the feedback :D


Chapter 14


Kyle stepped out of the RV and looking toward the Rover shook his head. “Man, that thing looks like a deformed pack mule.”

The top of the RV was mounded with equipment, stacked and tied down to the luggage rack; and Tyler had affixed some sort of cargo net to hang off the back, which was presently stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey.

Soon everyone was standing around the Rover waiting to head up the mountain. Looking back at the RV, Isabel fretted. “Are you sure it’s safe to leave it here like this? What if someone steals our stuff?”

“Steals our stuff? What stuff?” Kyle looked at her in disbelief. “You mean you actually left something behind?”

With her arms crossed, Isabel glowered at Kyle, “Yes, like clothing, DVDs, CDs, some food items and most of our games.”

“Isabel, we’ve sealed the door, so no one can get in,” Max reminded her, “and Tyler and I talked about how to conceal it.” First Max laid a hand on the RV, turning the light colored vehicle to a dark forest green. Then nodding at Tyler, he and Max used their powers to bend some large branches off the trees to hang down over the RV. Now, it was almost impossible to see it nestled in the woods.

“Okay,” Tyler called out, “men take your positions.” Max, Kyle and Michael settled into the middle seat, while Alex crawled into the space in the back and leaned against some sleeping bags. Grinning, Tyler then decreed, “Women, take your men.”

Isabel crawled into the back with Alex before a laughing Liz, Sera and Maria took their seats in a jumble of arms and legs as they settled onto the laps of their significant others. Lastly, Tyler assisted Courtney into the front passenger seat before running around to hop in the driver’s seat.

“How far up the road can we take the Rover?” Courtney asked, as they began to bounce along the old trail.

Tyler kept his eyes on the ‘road’ which was not much more than a wide path as he answered, “The Rover can go about another ten or twelve miles, so that’s where we’ll set up camp. Then we’ll have to hike another five miles or so on foot to reach the cave.”

“Five miles!” Maria exclaimed. “Ugh, that’ll take days.”

“We’re hiking here, Maria, not out for a leisurely stroll.” Alex teased her.

They had to drive so slowly up the almost indiscernible trail, that it took over an hour to reach their planned campsite. As Tyler parked the Rover, Michael gave a sigh of relief, “Thank God, my legs may never be the same.” Michael groaned as an offended Maria shifted to glare at him, “Are you saying I’m fat, Michael?” Fixing her with a look, “No, I’m saying your butt is bony, ever thought of gaining a few pounds?”

“Oooph,” he groaned as Maria’s elbow connected with his stomach. “Well, I guess my bony butt will just have to sleep by itself tonight.”

Max and Kyle shared a look, neither wanted to be in Michael’s shoes come nightfall.

Finally, they reached as far as the Rover could travel, and they all piled out of the Rover. Bending and stretching to get the kinks out before they started setting up camp. Before too long they had several small tents up, plus a larger tent to use as a communal mess tent where they unpacked and stored their food provisions.

That evening they set up the hibachi to cook the rest of their fresh hamburger and hotdogs for their supper. After they had eaten, Isabel brought out marshmallows, graham crackers and a bag of Hershey’s chocolate bars to make S’mores. Alex looked around, “Where are those sticks we gathered earlier?”

“Uh, sticks?” Kyle asked with a touch of apprehension. Alex rolled his eyes, “Yeah, sticks – a bundle of long, skinny strips made of wood?”

“Uh oh.” Kyle grimaced.

“Uh oh?” Alex repeated and shook his head, “I don’t like the sound of ‘uh oh’, nothing good ever came from an uh oh.”

“Sorry, man,” Kyle shrugged, “I thought those were part of the kindling for the fire.”

“You burnt our S’more sticks?” Isabel looked disbelieving, hands on her hips.

“Geeze, who’d a thunk that a bunch of sticks laying near a campfire weren’t supposed to be burned.” Kyle defended himself. “You’d think they’d be labeled or something.”

Sera gave Kyle a sympathetic smile, “It's okay, Kyle." She stood up and reached out a hand, "Come on, we’re in a forest. Surely, we can find some more sticks.”

“Well, okay,” he scrambled to his feet and grinned, “but don’t call me Shirley.”


~~~~~~~~~~


Max sat with his back propped up against a large rock formation, looked around at his friends, his family and realized how lucky he was. They’d been through a lot, this bunch, and for all their squabbling and teasing they were closer than ever. His musings were broken when Liz returned to settle between his legs, careful not to drop the plate of gooey S’mores. She held one up to his mouth, and his teeth sank into the treat. As he chewed, she popped the rest of the square into her own mouth. “Ummm, delicious.” She murmured as she licked her fingertips. Swallowing, he licked his lips clean, then nuzzled her jaw, “I agree.” She giggled, “I meant the S’mores.” He grinned, “Those, too.”

They both looked up when they heard Maria say, “Michael, there must be a dozen here.” Michael stood in front of Maria as she looked at the paper plate full of treats, “Well, yeah,” Michael said, “I had to make enough for all of us. You know - you, me,” then he grinned, “and your bony butt.” At Maria’s outburst of, “Michael!” he took off running, Maria right after him, pausing long enough to push the goodies into Sera’s hands. “You come back here, Michael Guerin.”

The group around the campfire watched and laughed calling out as Michael darted all around the campground. “Get him, Maria” “Run, Guerin, run” “Go left, Maria.” “She’s right behind you, Michael.”

He kept just out of Maria’s reach until he decided to let her catch him. But before she could lay into him, he grabbed her around the waist and twirled her around backing her against the Rover to kiss her soundly.

Several minutes later they came back to the fire, Maria cutting her eyes over to see Courtney’s reaction to Michael’s kissing her in front of everyone, and was pleased to see her sitting close to Tyler and laughing along with everyone else. Sera handed Maria the plate of S’mores. Maria looked at them and frowned, “They’re all cold now.” Michael waved a hand over them and Maria smiled happily as they resumed their melty goodness.

Alex trotted over to the Rover and soon returned with his acoustic guitar and settled down in front on the fire, “What’s everyone in the mood for?” He looked at Michael before he could speak, “Not Metallica, I just can’t pull it off.”

“Well, I’m partial to Country and Western.” Courtney offered. Seeing Michael’s look of revulsion, Maria smiled inwardly, all doubts now quashed.

“Well, it’s not country,” Alex strummed the instrument, “but how about…” He began to sing.

I like the way your sparkling earrings lay,
against your skin, it's so brown
and I wanna sleep with you
in the desert tonight
with a billion stars all around


Max tightened his arms around Liz as she leaned back against him. Maria moved over beside Alex and joined in the singing.

'cause I gotta peaceful easy feeling
and I know you won't let me down
'cause I'm already standing on the
ground

And I found out a long time ago
what a woman can do to your soul


Alex looked at Isabel with a wink.

Ah, but she can't take you anyway
You don't already know how to go
and I gotta peaceful, easy feeling
and I know you won't let me down
'cause I'm already standing on the ground
yes, I'm already standing...
on the ground
*

As the song ended, they all clapped and called out for more.


~~~~~~~~~~


It was quiet all around the camp, the campers having retired to their respective sleeping quarters. Liz lay snuggled in a sleeping bag, Max spooned against her. Just as she was about to doze off, she felt wandering fingers caressing her.

“Max…” She lightly admonished, “You know we can’t.” Lips nuzzled behind her ear and those fingers, and the hand they were attached to, slid over her breast. “Ummmm, why not?” He murmured.

She turned her head as her lips sought his, then breaking away. “Because everyone will hear us. I don’t want Kyle calling us 'nymphos' again.” She scrunched her face.

“Then you shouldn’t have worn these.” He referred to her nightwear of tiny pink stretch cotton camisole as his finger ran under the band of her matching bikini panties. “Besides, I can put up my shield.” She gave him a look full of skepticism, “Oh, and that worked so well last time.” She reminded him, “We almost electrocuted everyone in Michael’s apartment.”

Max laughed, “Well, we’re aren’t in a confined room with everyone now. You did notice our tent is the farthest from the others?” He wrapped his arms around her, his hardness pressing against her backside. “And speaking of everyone else, don’t you think there’s a little of this going on in their tents, too?”

“Not Tyler and Courtney.” She reminded him. Since the couple hadn't reached the tent-sharing stage, Tyler had given Courtney his tent and had opted to bed down in the ‘mess tent’.

“Uhhhhhhhh,” Max groaned as he rolled over on his back. Despite her objections, Liz immediately missed his warmth against her. She rolled over to snuggle against him and whispered, “Well, maybe if we’re really quiet.” Before the words were completely out of her mouth, Max had rolled her over and throughly kissed her. And with the exception of a few murmurings, sighs, and soft laughter, they were very, very quiet.

*Peaceful, Easy Feeling ~ The Eagles

~~~~~~~~~~~
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Post by Devil Kitty »

Thanks everyone for the feedback and kind words - Welcome, Craig Beatty :D

Sorry this update has been so long in coming, and sorry it's a bit short, but the holidays have really slowed me down. But I love this time of year, so...

Image

============
Chapter 15

Their camp was a hive of activity as the early morning sun rose in the sky. While Michael and Maria worked on putting together a quick breakfast, the rest of the group split into pairs as they broke down the tents or packed and double-checked the backpacks. They expected to reach the cave where the ship was hidden by early afternoon, camp out there overnight and then return the next day.

"I don't see why we have to dismantle all the tents." Kyle complained, "We’re just going to have to put them back up again in two days."

"Well," Sera smiled at his grumpy face, "First of all for safekeeping since we'll lock everything up in the Rover. And also, in case a summer storm brews up, we won't have to scour the mountain looking for our belongings."

At her reasonable and matter of fact response, Kyle just stuck his tongue out at her. Sera moved closer and wagged her finger, "Now, now, don't stick it out unless you're going to use it." She squealed in laughter as he grabbed her close and in a kiss that curled her toes, he used that tongue very well.

"Ewwwwwww, gross. Did I just see tongue?"

They broke apart to see a grinning Alex had moved up next to them. Kyle grinned back, "Awww, you're just jealous 'cause Queen Amidala over there is too busy organizing everything to slip you a little tongue."

Alex slapped him on the back, "Guilty as charged. And if I can't have fun, you can't either. Come on, help me load up these tents."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


After downing a breakfast of pancakes and syrup, Max and Liz were helping to clean up the 'mess tent'. "I think this is all of it." Maria said as she indicated a crate of cooking supplies. "I'll just get Michael to take this to the Rover and then we can take the tent down." Walking out the tent, she lost her balance and grabbed onto Liz. "Sorry, Lizzie." As she walked on out, she never noticed that Liz had gone completely still, a vacant look on her face.

*FLASH*

But Max did. "Liz!" He carefully eased his arm around her so as not to startle her. In just a few seconds, she came to and her knees buckled. Max grabbed her to keep her from falling. "Liz? Honey? Are you alright?"

"No." She shook her head, “Oh, no.” She murmured, then looked up at him, fear on her face. "We have to go home, Max. We have to go now!"

She hadn't noticed that Michael and Maria had returned to the tent, with Alex and Isabel behind them.

"Go home!" Michael exclaimed, "What are you talking about?"

As Liz jerked at Michael's voice, Max tightened his hold on Liz, and gave Michael a look, "Easy, Michael. Liz had a vision. It happened when Maria stumbled and grabbed Liz for balance."

Maria approached Liz and seeing her distraught look, asked in concern and more than a little uneasiness, " 'Chica? What did you see?"

Liz looked away from Maria and up at Michael. She stammered, "I… I saw Michael… holding you and crying. He kept saying over and over - no, no, no – because…" she looked back over at Maria as she gulped out, tears filling her eyes, "because you were dead."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Pandemonium broke out. "Dead?!!" Isabel exclaimed as Maria just stared at Liz open mouthed. “What?” Alex asked. “How?”

By this time, the rest of the group realized that something was wrong and everyone was gathered in and around the tent.

“I don’t know.” Liz shook her head, “That’s all I saw.” She buried her face into Max and he scooped her up and then sank to the ground, legs crossed as he held her. Maria slowly knelt down beside them. Ironically, it was Maria who was trying to comfort Liz as she quietly sat wrapped in Max's arms. “It’ll be okay, Liz." She reached out took Liz’s hand, "Hey, least it wasn’t one of those past visions. I’m still here after all.”

From the moment Liz had said the word “dead” Michael felt as if he'd touched a live wire as fear rushed through him like a current. Now looking down at Maria, he barked out to the room at large, "Everyone pack up, we're going home." He grabbed up the box of cooking supplies.

"Michael, wait." Isabel reasoned, "We’re all upset, but we need to remain calm and try to figure out Liz's vision. We need to discuss this."

"There is nothing to discuss. We are getting the hell off this mountain." And with that he headed out the tent marching to the Rover. Max looked over and said, "Alex?" Alex nodded, and followed Michael, while Isabel sank down beside Maria and laid a comforting arm around her shoulder.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Alex arrived to see Michael throwing things into the Rover. "Michael…" He refused to look at Alex, "Look, if Isabel sent you after me… " Alex shrugged, "Actually, it was Max, and I think he just wanted to make sure you are okay."

Michael turned on him, "Okay?! Hell no, I'm not okay." His voice rising, "Miss Crystal Ball in there just said my girlfriend is going to die and you ask me if I'm okay?” Running his fingers through his hair, he asked, “She’s your best friend, do you feel okay?"

“No,” Alex said with a calm that belied his words, “Actually, I’m just about scared shitless. But we have to be strong here Michael, for Maria… and Liz.”

“Well that’s easy for you to say.” Michael walked over to grab a backpack and slung it on top of the Rover.

“Michael, you may be in love with Maria, but I’ve been best friends with both Maria and Liz since we were little kids. I love both of them like they were my sisters. The way you love Isabel and Max.”

Michael leaned forward resting his forehead on the Rover, his burst of energy flagging, “I know, Alex.” He glanced over at him, “But what I have with Maria is something I’ve never felt before, more than family, it’s more than… she’s…” He shrugged his shoulders, and looked away, “I just can’t lose her.”

They both started when they heard – “You won’t lose me, Michael.” Turning they saw Maria standing just behind them. She walked up and slid her arms around Michael’s waist, “And I love you, too, Spaceboy.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Everyone gathered back in the ‘mess tent’ and pulled up a piece of ground to sit on. Max took charge. “First we need to figure out the where, when and how about Liz’s vision.”

“It happened so fast.” Liz explained, “I really only noticed Michael holding Maria.”

Isabel looked at Liz, “What if I dreamwalk you?” Liz looked back in confusion, “Dreamwalk? Isabel, it wasn’t a dream, I was awake.”

“Come on, Liz, you know you don’t have to be asleep.” Isabel encouraged, “I was able to dreamwalk Pierce that time. We’ll just enter the dreamplane like we’ve been doing and while you concentrate on remembering the vision, maybe together we can pick up on something.” Liz nodded in agreement.

Everyone shifted around so Liz and Isabel were sitting side by side. Isabel reached out and took Liz’s hand in hers. “Now Liz, this is like we’ve done before. Just close your eyes and think of the vision. I’ll follow you in.” In just a few seconds of Liz and Isabel closing their eyes, the others noticed the familiar green streaks appear on Liz’s hand. Momentarily the streaks crossed over onto Isabel’s hand also.

“Wow.” Courtney whispered at the sight. Tyler leaned over to whisper, “I’ll explain later.”

On the dreamplane Liz found herself sitting on the ground holding Isabel’s hand looking at Michael holding Maria and rocking back and forth. “Isabel, this is it! My vision.” Isabel squeezed her hand, “Keep concentrating on it, Liz. Let’s look around.”

“Okay, they’re in a tent, so it’s not after we go home.” Liz noticed. “And it looks like it’s dark outside.” Isabel also noted, “It must be either nighttime or early morning. Michael’s in his boxers,” she looked at Liz with a grimace, “a sight I could have done without.” Liz gave her an apologetic shrug, “And Maria’s wearing one of his shirts, looks like they were laying on a sleeping bag.”

“So whatever happened in my vision, it has to happen on this trip.” Liz looked at Isabel, “Michael’s right, we need to get off this mountain now.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“No, we are not going home.” Maria was adamant.

After hearing the things Isabel and Liz had deciphered during the dream walk, the general consensus had been to bail on the trip and go home, but to their surprise - Maria was refusing. “This is our senior trip, and it’s not going to be ruined because of something that hasn’t even happened.”

“Maria,” Liz reached out and grabbed her hand, “Believe me, I was proud that you didn’t run shrieking off the mountain, but… how can you be so calm? I saw you dead.” Her voice rang with concern, “And we certainly are not waiting until something does happen. This isn’t the time to suddenly become all… I don’t know… Bravado Girl.”

“Bravado Girl?” Maria looked at her sideways, while Kyle asked, “Does that mean she’ll be wearing tights and leather pushup bra?”

Liz cut her eyes over to glower at Kyle, “This isn’t a joke, Kyle.” He had the grace to look embarrassed, but Maria cut him some slack, “Well, I don’t know about the tights, but a leather bustier might be interesting.”

“Damnit, Maria!” Michael exploded, “Liz is right, this is not a joke.”

Maria looked around at all their anxious faces, “Guys, I’m not stupid and I don’t have a death wish, but I know how much seeing that piece of your home world means.”

“Maria, it’s not worth the risk.” Max insisted. “It’s just a hunk of metal that can’t even fly. It’s not more important than you.”

Maria leaned over to hug Max, “Awww, girlfriend, that’s so sweet, but we are still going to see that ship. Now that we know about the vision, you guys can just keep an eye on me.”

Looking at first Liz and Michael’s worried faces, then at Maria’s determined look, Max capitulated. “Alright, but you are never to be alone. Someone is to be with you at all times, even when you… you know.”

Maria grinned at Max’s pink cheeks. “Go potty?”

Kyle gave her an answering smirk, “Like that’ll be a problem, girls can never pee by themselves anyway.”

Within the hour, they had loaded up and with a mixture of anticipation and dread, started up the mountain.

~~~~~~~~~~~
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Post by Devil Kitty »

Hope everyone is having a Happy New Year :mrgreen:

Chapter 16


Alex had started out pulling Isabel’s luggage cart with some of their camping equipment stacked on it as they began their trek up the mountain. But after hiking for just an hour or so, the high altitude was having an affect on everyone, especially those of the human persuasion.

“Sorry, guys, I’ve gotta rest.” Alex stopped setting the cart upright as he shrugged off his pack and collapsed to the ground. “Thank, God.” Maria sank down next to him. “I was afraid to be the first to cry ‘uncle’, because Michael would think something was happening to me.” Maria earned herself a scornful look from Michael.

Much to Alex’s gratitude, Kyle offered to pull the cart for a while after their break. “Dang,” Kyle grumbled as he and Sera removed their backpacks, “I thought we’d adjusted to the altitude. Why are we so breathless?”

Tyler looked around, “I can’t say for sure, but I’d guess because we are moving up higher, plus we haven’t been all that active on this trip.”

“Speak for yourself,” Kyle informed him as he flopped onto his back. “While you were chillin’ in a café making googoo eyes at Courtney, we were being dragged all over Leadville by Isabel.”

Cutting her eyes over at Kyle, Isabel stuck her tongue out and retorted, “Shouldn’t you be saving your breath?”

Grinning at their good-natured grumbling, Liz pulled her pack around, “Who wants some gorp?” She pulled out one of the zip-lock bags containing their homemade trail mix of dry roasted peanuts, golden raisins and Crispy M&Ms. Reaching into her own pack, Isabel pulled out another bag containing the same concoction, but it had been doused with Tabasco and had an addition of red pepper flakes for those with alien taste buds. Soon everyone munched on the treat while washing it down with bottled water.

When Maria gasped and began to cough, Michael panicked. “Max! She’s choking!” He cried out as he pounded on Maria’s back. “Michael! Stop it.” Maria objected, as she continued to cough. “I just swallowed wrong.” She wheezed an assurance to a pale Michael and the others, “Just give me some water.” After recovering, she stood up with resignation, “Now I gotta pee, whose turn is it to baby-sit me?”

“I could go.” Liz joined her and pointed in the opposite direction. “Boys go over that way. Girls this way.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“Maria is driving me nuts.” Michael groused as he ‘watered’ a flat rock. “She keeps darting off from me - she must have looked at every rock, flower and tree on the damn trail.”

“Michael,” Max sympathized from in front of his own rock. “Maria’s just acting normal. Believe me, I understand you want to protect her, but you can’t continue to follow her every step. We’re all here to look after her.”

“Ouch.” Came a cry from around a large boulder. In a moment, Kyle walked gingerly out. “Can’t believe I left the toilet paper in the backpack. Those leaves were darned scratchy.”

“Leaves?” Alex winked over at Max before commenting. “Sure hope you didn’t grab a handful of poison ivy.” Max shook his head, “You better hope you don’t get a rash, Valenti, ‘cause there is no way I’m putting my hand on your ass.”

At Kyle’s look of terror, Alex began to laugh. “I think you’re safe, Kyle. I don’t think it grows at this elevation. But, I’d avoid wiping my ass with leaves if I were you.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Once out of sight of the boys, Maria groaned, “Lizzie, Michael is driving me nuts. He hasn’t taken his eyes of me all morning.” Liz consoled, “Come on, ‘ria, he’s just worried and wants to protect you. Isn’t that better than him acting like nothing’s wrong?”

Maria shrugged, “Well, it would be, but I can’t even get far enough away to fart without him being there to smell it.” As Liz and Sera laughed out loud, Isabel rolled her eyes. “Maria, please,” she said painfully, “ladies do not ‘fart’ – we… we fluff.”

With her hands on her hips, Maria informed her, “Well, Michael’s going to get a face full of ‘fluff’ if he doesn’t back off.” Sending Liz and Sera into a fit of the giggles.


~~~~~~~~~~~


Once back on the trail, Michael eased off on his hovering over Maria, much to her relief. As they hiked further up the mountain, following Tyler’s lead, their excitement grew over reaching the ship cave.

Back in Roswell, during the planning phase for their trip, Tyler had been questioned on how he knew how to return to where the cave was located. Much to their fascination he had showed them all an alien device and explained that it was programmed to home in on the ship, sort of an Antarian GPS system.

“We’re still about two hours away.” Tyler informed them as he looked at the small tracker he held in his hand. “This is a nice spot. How about we break for lunch?”

After deciding to continue on their trip and before leaving out that morning, Michael and Maria made a stack of submarine-sandwiches; and because they contained cold cuts, cheese and were spread with mayo, Isabel had used her powers to freeze them before packing them into their packs. By the time several hours passed, the sandwiches had thawed and were fresh for their lunch.

They all found spots as they paired up to eat their lunches. As Maria sat with Michael munching on their sandwiches, he took a big bite of his sub, just as Maria leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Whaff uz dat fur?” His mouth full.

She smiled as she deciphered his words, “For backing off, giving me some breathing room.” Michael swallowed and reached for the water bottle, “Thank Max. He’s the one who said I needed to back off. If it were up to me, I’d stick you in my backpack.” Maria snuggled up closer, “But you didn’t stick me in your backpack, you actually listened to Max, so you get the thanks.”

Michael draped an arm around her and kissed her temple. “You’re welcome.” He glanced at her half eaten sandwich, “You gonna finish that?”

Across the clearing Liz sat with Max staring towards Michael and Maria. “Liz?” Max whispered, “Aren’t you hungry?” “What?” She looked at her partly eaten sandwich. “Oh, yeah, just not too much. You want some of this?”

“I know what you’re thinking Liz, but we are all watching out for Maria. Whatever happens, we’ll be ready.”

Liz cut her eyes up at Max as she gave him a sad smile, “How can anyone be ready for the unknown, Max?” Glancing back at Maria who was smiling as she gave some of her sandwich to Michael, she leaned against Max, “I know Maria, and this isn’t her. She’s putting on this act, but I know down deep she must be afraid. How could she not be?” Liz shook her head, “I just wish we had gone home.”

“Maria Deluca is a stubborn as they come. When Michael thought he was too dangerous to be around her, she was determined to overcome his resistance, and she won. But she’s not stupid, Liz, she’s making sure that she’s not alone, and she’s being careful. She wouldn’t even cut her own sandwich, she made Isabel do it for her.”

“I know, Max.” She took a bite of the sandwich Max held up to her mouth, and swallowing asked, “We’ll just have to protect her, even if it’s just from herself.”



~~~~~~~~~~


By late afternoon, they finally came around a bend, and found themselves face to face with a rock wall. “Well, there you are.” Tyler announced with a big smile.

Staring up at the rock face, Michael slowly nodded, “Uh… Huh.” Cutting his eyes over at Tyler, “You do realize that there is no ‘there’ there.”

“Not to fear, Michael.” Tyler assured him, holding up the alien device and pressing a series of buttons. He then turned to Max and asked, “Max, would you like to do the honors?”

Max rubbed a hand along the side of his cargo shorts, and reached out for the device. He pressed the button Tyler indicated, and the rock face shimmered before fading into nothing revealing the opening to a cave.

Liz slipped her hand into Max’s giving him a smile, and together they led everyone into the cave.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


With their flashlights and lanterns turned on, they made their way deeper into the large cavern, only to come to a dead stop when they realized that they had reached another wall. They all looked around the empty room.

Turning around in a slow circle, Max questioned, “Uh, Tyler, is this another shimmy thing? I mean, the ship is actually here, isn’t it?”

Sharing a grin with Sera, Tyler advised, “Hang on to your britches, boys.”

Suddenly there was a golden glow illuminating the entire room and appearing before them was a cylindrical shaped craft that was about the size of wingless Lear jet. It was made of a strange seamless metal, reflecting almost iridescent in the lights.

“Now, that’s just not something you see everyday.” Alex murmured.

“Awesome!” Michael declared, as he tentatively reached out to touch the craft.

They turned off their lights with murmurs of awe. “How?” Kyle looked at Sera and Tyler, “How did you guys land this thing and get it into a cave?”

“There was more space out there,” Tyler looked back to the entrance, “when we landed. This was small cave, so I had to… you know, make it bigger.”

“Bigger?” Max looked over at Tyler. Tyler shrugged, “You manipulate bullets, I manipulated a mountain.”

Michael called out from where he was walking from stem to stern, “So where’s the door?”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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Post by Devil Kitty »

Chapter 17


"Well, it's certainly modern." Kyle stated as he stared at the cockpit. There was a smooth black 'dash' and two captain chairs - that was all. The interior of the ship was stark and cold.

"Yes…" Alex agreed, "but with a few flowers, throw pillows,” he flipped out his wrist, “maybe some track lighting…"

Michael glared, "Very funny." Then he looked to Tyler and Sera, "But I have to admit, I was expecting something… more... more…"

”Star Trekkie?” Tyler smiled. When Michael gave him a self-conscious shrug, he instructed, "Just wave your hand over the console, Michael." As Michael did so, a familiar silver handprint appeared on the smooth panel. Looking at Max, Michael tilted his head at the console, "Hey, Fearless Leader, wanna do your thing?"

Liz, Maria, Sera and Courtney hung back while Isabel stepped up beside Max and Michael. Max laid his hand on the print, and in seconds the entire panel came to life as colored lights and symbols appeared all over it. "Just think of it as a touch screen computer monitor." Tyler advised as he reached over and pressed a blue diamond shape with a squiggle on it and the cabin was flooded with light.

As Tyler explained the operation of the craft to the three hybrids, Maria looked over at Liz and softly said, "Don’t you feel it? Like we’re standing inside of a giant dil…” Liz interrupted, "I’m sure I don't know what you mean," hiding a smile.

"Oh, chica, I saw your face when Tyler revealed this sucker, you saw it same as I did."

Liz sighed, "Okay, I did. But you'd better not say it to Michael."

Courtney looked confused and Maria shrugged before informing her, "The shape of this ship. It just adds to my theory that Antarians are fixated with phallic symbols. Seems to be an ongoing theme."

Courtney nodded, "I think you're right. I never thought of it before, but..." She leaned over and conspiringly whispered, "After discovering Earth I think they were a bit envious of the human male form. I must admit, it’s very impressive."

"I knew it!" Maria crowed, drawing the attention of the group up at the front. "Knew what, Blondie?" Michael frowned.

"Oh, nothing, Spaceboy, just a little girl talk." She smiled sweetly. But when his attention was diverted, she leaned over and whispered knowingly to the girls. "Nothing but a little thing I like to call ‘penis envy’."


~~~~~~~~~~~


Continuing the tour of the interior of the spacecraft, Tyler showed them his 'quarters' - a tiny cabin with a small cot and not much else. "This is where I slept when we started out the trip, and subsequently finished in here." Tyler explained. Then turned to open a door revealing a small compartment that contained a contraption similar to a hyperbaric chamber. "Since the trip was so long, I had to spend the majority of it in here in a state of suspended animation."

"Suspended animation?" Alex bemusedly asked, "You mean like Sigourny Weaver in 'Alien'?"

Tyler grinned, "More or less. This," he pointed to the apparatus, "slowed down my heartbeat, pulse, body temperature, and I entered a deep sleep state lasting several months as we hurtled through space."

“How did you keep from starving?” Kyle wondered.

“See those tubes?” Tyler pointed out, “They were attached for nutrients and various bodily functions.”

“Ewwwww,” Maria snerled up her nose, and held up her hands, “TMI.”

Next they were shown Sera’s pod. Max, Michael and Isabel were impressed with the high tech 'pod chamber' with all its bells and whistles. She explained that when it had been time to be 'born', the chamber had emitted a signal to notify Tyler, so that he was there ready and waiting when the unit automatically opened to allow Sera to emerge.

"Wait a minute." Kyle held up a hand and looked at Max, "You guys hatched at age 6 and came out naked, right?" Max nodded. Kyle looked at Sera, "and how old were you?" She shrugged, “We guess around 14 or 15 in human years."

Kyle fixed his eye on Sera, "So you were naked, too?" Sera just lifted her shoulders in bewilderment, "The pod is like a giant womb, Kyle, I was floating in goo. Not much need for clothes; not to mention, I would have rapidly outgrown them anyway.”

Kyle continued, "And Tyler saw you? Just floating there?"

“He’s my protector, of course he saw me.” Sera was becoming a bit perturbed, “Kyle, what are you …”

"For crying out loud," Michael rolled his eyes, "Tyler saw her naked, big flippin’ deal."

"Oh, and I guess you wouldn't think it a big flippin’ deal if he saw Maria naked?" Kyle retorted.

Michael laughed, "Not when she was fourteen. She was skinny as a snake and flatter than a pancake."

Maria’s mouth fell open as she cried out, "Michael!" Michael just glanced over and shrugged, "Sorry, Maria, but I've seen the pictures. Remember the one of you and Liz at the lake in those matching blue bikinis? The two of you looked like the number 11."

“Hey!” Liz objected, “we were only 12!”

Sera ignored the good natured bickering, as she glared at Kyle, "I cannot believe you. Tyler is my protector, my friend, and it was his duty to care for me. And now you are acting like... like some... jealous boyfriend."

"Well, I think that maybe I am." He retorted.

“Have you lost your mind?” Sera looked at him in disbelief.

Tyler felt uncomfortable, "Uh, Kyle, I assure you, I had clothing ready for her. It was all very clinical."

Sera whirled to Tyler, “Don’t you dare apologize to him.”

See Tyler’s discomfort, Kyle’s obstinacy and Sera’s growing anger, Isabel came to the rescue, "You know what? I think we've seen enough of the ship for now. And I don't know about you guys, but I’m getting a little hungry.”

Max jumped in, “I agree, besides we still have to set up camp."

Liz whirled to face Max and Isabel, “No tents!” She called out. Isabel looked confused, but Michael understood immediately and dropped an arm around Maria’s shoulders as he nodded at Liz, “Don’t worry, Shorty. No tents.”

“We can set up everything here in the cave. It's plenty big enough and we won’t need the tents tonight.” Tyler agreed.

That settled, everyone headed out of the ship, but not before Sera cast a death ray glower in Kyle’s direction before she stalked off ahead of him. When Kyle started after her, stubbornness on his face, Alex grabbed his arm and held him back. “A word of advice, Young Grasshopper, tone it down, or it may be a long time before you get to see Sera naked again." It was a silent wide-eyed Kyle that followed him out.


~~~~~~~~~~


After eating a simple supper of beef stew and dumplings made from the prepackaged foods Tyler had bought, Alex and Isabel decided to take a walk. Max warned, “Don’t wander too far. Oh, and you should be back here before it gets dark.” Isabel rolled her eyes, “Yes, Daddy.” Alex grinned, “Don’t worry, Max, if we run into any bears, I’m sure Isabel will protect me.” As the couple exited the cave, hand in hand, Max just shook his head.

The rest of the guys started up a poker game. Meanwhile the girls talked quietly as Maria strummed on Alex’s guitar. Sera kept cutting her eyes over at Kyle. “So, you still pissed at him?” Courtney asked her.

“Not really, but I don’t want him to know that. He’s just such a… guy.’ She answered with her face twisted in a cute little moue.

Maria laughed softly, “That he is. You know it’s kinda sweet in that creepy caveman sort of way.”

Sera shook her head, “Terrific, I traveled a gazillion miles through space to fall in love with the last remaining Neanderthal.”

“Oh, honey, given the right situation, they are all Neanderthals.” Maria informed her.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


“Kyle… Kyle!” Kyle jerked as Michael thumped his shoulder, “It’s your deal, man.” As Kyle shuffled the cards, he cut his eyes over to the giggling group of girls. “I just know they are talking about me.”

As Michael rolled his eyes and groaned, “Of course they are, you moron. They are talking about all of us, they’re girls, its what they do.” Max and Tyler just shared a grin and anted up.

As darkness fell, Isabel and Alex returned to find that Michael had dragged Tyler off to look at the ship again, while Courtney, Maria and Sera sat together around the small fire. Max and Liz were sitting snuggled together off to the side, sharing a Steinbeck novel. Kyle sat apart from everyone else, like an unwanted stepchild.

Alex plopped down beside him, “What’s up, still getting the cold shoulder?” Kyle frowned, “Glacial. And if frostbite weren't enough, I’ve had to listen to Evans read out loud to Liz.”

Alex laughed at Kyle’s put upon expression as Liz gave him a raspberry. “Phttttttttttt.”

As the evening progressed, a combination of altitude and weariness began to catch up with them. Maria declared, “I’m pooped, think I’ll roll out my sleeping bag.” Soon everyone began preparing to turn in.

While the other couples chose their spots for the night, Kyle just stood and looked around hesitantly until Sera called to him in exasperation. “Kyle, will you just come over here and settle down?” As he headed her way, he smiled to himself – ah, out of the doghouse – only to find that Sera had zipped her bag in to a single instead of waiting to put their bags together. Also, she had turned her back to his direction. He sighed, not quite out yet.


~~~~~~~~~~~


It was after a few hours of sleep that Liz was awakened by feather light kisses brushing against her skin. As she stirred, Max pressed his finger against her lips, whispering, “Shhhh, come with me.” He tugged her to her feet and reached down to grasp their joined sleeping bags.

They crept toward the silent ship, careful not to awaken their sleeping companions. “Max,” Liz whispered, “should we be doing this? If Kyle finds out…” she gave an exaggerated shudder. Max just grinned and squeezed her hand gently pulling her along. He leaned down to whisper his response, “Kyle has his own problems to dig out from under, he won’t be thinking about us.” His warm breath teased her and a shiver rushed through her, all thoughts of Kyle faded.

As they reached the side of the ship, Max waved his hand to activate the opening. It slid open silently and they slipped inside. Closing the door behind him, he waved his hand across it. “What are you doing?” Liz asked, he just gave her a wink, and said, “Be careful that you don’t touch anything. Wouldn’t want to wake everyone up.” She gave a quick surprised squeal when Max scooped her up, and quickly moved to Tyler’s ‘quarters’. After entering the cubicle, Max closed the door behind them and used his powers to lock the opening. He turned to set her down on her feet, keeping his arms around her. The tiny compartment was barely large enough for them to stand up in. She looked around before looking up at him, “Sort of a tight fit.” He raised an eyebrow, his mouth quirked, “Just the way I like it,” before capturing her smiling lips with his.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


Michael woke to feel something sharp poking his back, turning he discovered it was Maria’s knee. He rolled over onto his back, but Maria just snuggled in bringing her knee closer to a more vulnerable location. “Woah,” Michael whispered, but before he could shift her leg over, her hand fell on his lap, and he groaned as suddenly his body’s reaction was almost as hard as her knee. He reached to move her hand, but just then she began to massage his growing hardness. Cutting his eyes over at her, and although Maria’s eyes were closed, he saw a smile on her face and knew she was really awake.

Reaching over to grasp her and pull her across him, he warned in a hoarse whisper, “You’re playing with fire there, Blondie.” She wriggled on top of him, her lips pressed to his, “Umm, definitely hot.” He wrapped his arms around and kissed her soundly.

“What the…” she whispered furiously when Michael shoved her off of him, but in the next second he was pulling her to her feet. “Privacy, we need privacy.” But they came to an abrupt halt when they reached the ship, for written in glowing green letters across the doorway was a single word – “Occupied.

“Damn that Maxwell.”


~~~~~~~~~~~
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Devil Kitty
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Post by Devil Kitty »

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone :D

-----------------

Chapter 18


Liz collapsed on top of Max, breathing heavily as her body trembled with tiny aftershocks. Their coming together had been hard, fast and incredibly explosive. Liz smiled in satisfaction, like a match to gasoline. She slowly lifted her head to bestow a languid smile on her lover, “You still alive?” She asked, humor lacing her husky voice. “Oh, yeah…” Max smiled back at her, his voice raspy, “I’ve never felt more alive.” He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, their bodies still joined together as they floated in the afterglow.

Heartbeats returning to a normal, Liz rubbed her cheek along Max’s chest. Looking up, she was surprised to see him just staring at her.

“What?” She asked self-consciously, reaching up to smooth her tousled hair. “Does it look like a rat’s nest?”

Shaking his head, he smiled as he ran his finger down her nose, “You’re beautiful.” She blushed, which amused him considering the fact that she was draped across him completely naked.

“With this nose?” She looked skeptical.

Max slowly rubbed his finger along the slight bump in her slightly crooked nose. “This nose is perfect,” he kissed it, “just like you.” Liz rewarded him with a sweet smile, “You’re biased. You just think so, because you love me.”

Brushing a kiss on her temple, he nodded, “Ummm hmmm, guilty as charged.” Liz shifted to lie by his side, groaning with a pout as Max slipped from her body. Max also felt the sense of loss, “I know,” he whispered, “I wish we could stay that way forever.” When she sighed and nodded, he grinned, “Although, it would probably draw stares as we walked down the street.” They laughed softly.

He reached to brush her hair back, “Remember your shower fantasy? In the girl’s locker room?” Liz cast her eyes down, bringing her hand up to her pink cheek, “Oh, Max, I was so embarrassed that you saw that.”

“Hey… remember what I told you?” He lifted her chin, “That it was incredible, because I could feel what you felt?” She nodded and he rubbed his thumb over her mouth, “Sometimes I still get that incredible feeling… like I still can’t believe that someone could feel that way about me. That you could love me as much as I love you.”

She captured his hand and pressed a kiss into his palm, “I do, Max. I love you with every fiber of my being.”

He rolled her over and settled into the cradle of her thighs. “As I do you - always.” Their eyes locked and as she echoed, “always,” he slid into her warmth, and they began a slow, rocking motion. This time their lovemaking was unhurried, deliberate with gentle caresses and tender kisses, their tongues mimicking the movements of their bodies. The delicious pressure slowly built until Liz pulled her mouth from his as she moaned, “Now, Max… please, now.”

Happy to oblige, he pumped faster, reaching down to press his fingers around her little bud just as he sent a burst of alien energy against her sweet spot, sending her over the edge. Hearing her scream his name as she flew apart, knowing that he was the only one to bring her there filled him with the most unbelievable pride. Macho, yes, but there it was. As her body convulsed and clamped tightly around him, he gave in to his own needs and followed her over into ecstasy.


~~~~~~~~~~~


In the predawn hours, a sated Max and Liz snuck back out of the ship. Liz’s mouth fell open as she saw the green glow on the doorway. “Max!” She whispered in surprise. But Max just grinned as he waved the letters away. “Would you rather that we were interrupted?” She made a face as she shook her head. Max dropped a kiss on her lips before they made way back to their prior sleeping spot. Softly whispering with their arms wrapped around each other, neither noticed the annoyed glare they received from Michael as they crept passed his and Maria’s sleeping bags.

Once everyone was up and about in the morning, Max approached Michael who was working on putting breakfast together. “What bug’s up your butt? You’ve been slinging stuff around, biting heads off.”

Michael carefully sat a frying pan down before turning to fix a look on Max, “It’s a little thing called frustration, Maxwell. Not that you would know anything about that, since you were “occupied” all night.” Michael glowered.

A chagrined Max grimaced, “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~


“What’s eating Michael?” Liz asked Maria. “He sure is grumpy this morning.”

“Oh, he’ll be alright. He’s just feeling a little “occupied”. Maria gave Liz a simpering smile, “Oh, wait, he’s not.”

Liz avoided Maria’s knowing stare as she blushed, “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~


All their gear had been packed up as they planned to leave soon to head back down the mountain to the Rover. The ‘aliens’ had all gone back inside to look around the ship one last time, while Kyle and Alex were double-checking and arranging their gear.

Maria called over to Liz from behind the ship, “Lizzie, check out these crystals in the wall back here.” When Liz joined her, she pointed out some bits of bright blue crystal peeking out of the wall. “Hmmm,” Liz noted, brushing her fingers over one, “looks like some kind of quartz.”

Maria looked excited, “You know what? My mom would love to have some of these to sell in her shop.”

Liz looked doubtful, “I don’t know, Maria. I don’t think we’re supposed to remove ‘souvenirs’ from the area.”

“Liz, you worry too much.” With her hands on her hips, Maria justified, “They’re just going to close this cave back up. So who’s gonna know? I’m going to get some baggies.” With that Maria dashed over to their gear and started poking around while Alex and Kyle objected as she scattered their neat stacks.

A reluctant Liz held a small plastic baggie, while Maria chipped away with a hammer, gathering several chunks of the crystals. As Maria stepped closer for a particularly large piece, Liz noticed a widening crack under Maria’s feet. Just as Liz called out “Maria!” the earth suddenly collapsed and Maria fell with a startled scream. Hearing the girls, Alex and Kyle ran toward them as Kyle called for Max.

Max and Michael both came running out to see Liz lying flat on the ground, cracks running underneath her. Alex stood nearby. “Just don’t move, Liz,” he warned.

Liz lay frozen on the ground, but called out, “Maria? Can you hear me? Are you alright?”

“Liz!” “Maria!” Max and Michael ran towards the now gaping fissure, Alex grabbed at both of them. “Stay back, it’s too unstable.” Michael shook him off, “Maria’s down there!” Alex yelled, “Do you want this entire cave to fall in? You can’t help them if you fall, too.”

The others had followed Max and Michael from the ship and were standing back watching, various expressions of worry on their faces.

“Maria!” Liz called again. It was with relief that they heard a groan and a curse, “Yeah, I think so, but my foot’s caught. Owww, it hurts.”

“Maria,” Michael called to her, “Don’t try to move, we’re going to get you out.” But before she could respond, the ground trembled and the guys hit the deck. Max turned his head towards Kyle, “Get us some rope.” He and Tyler hurried over to the stack of equipment.

Michael slid backwards as Max slowly regained his feet, meeting Liz’s eyes. “Liz, honey, I’m going to toss you the rope, just grab tight and we’ll pull you over.” She nodded, but when the rope was tossed it was just out of her reach. She slightly shifted to reach for it and the ground underneath her crumbled. Max watched in disbelief as she too fell from sight.

Max and the others called Liz’s name. He sighed with relief as she called back, “I’m okay. Maria’s foot is lodged against something and covered with debris. I’m going to try and free it.”

Michael winced when he heard Maria cry out in pain, “Nooo, Liz, stop.” Liz called up, “Maria’s not so okay. I can’t move her foot, it might be broken.”

The rest of the group stood by worrying as Max crawled as close to the hole as he safely could. “How far down are you?” “About 10 or 12 feet, it looks like we’re in another small cave.” Liz answered.

“Hang tight, soon as we can stabilize the ground, we’re coming down for you.” Max assured them.


~~~~~~~~~~~


Getting to her feet, Liz looked around the small cave and noticed that it was covered in the bright blue crystals. She tried to cheer up Maria, who was quietly crying at the pain in her ankle. “On the bright side, Maria, looks like you hit the mother-lode.”

Maria sniffed and wiped at her face, “Yeah, this place is covered in them. I landed on some, I think my foot’s wedged in a cluster, and I cut my leg.”

Liz picked up a few of the broken snags and placed them in her pocket.


~~~~~~~~~~~


Once the alien contingent combined their abilities to solidify the cave floor, Max fashioned a harness out of the rope and the others lowered him down into the smaller cave. As soon as his feet touched ground, Liz surrounded him as she threw her arms around him. He hugged her tightly to him and peppered her with kisses.

“Hello…” They heard Maria’s offended voice, “injured party over here.”

Max smiled as he removed the harness, “Sorry, Maria.” He knelt down beside her, “Now, what seems to be the problem?” He asked in a teasing manner as he set about freeing her foot from the rubble.

“Coming down.” They turned their heads to see Michael descending into the cave. Seeing him, Maria’s face crumpled, “Oh, Michael.” Max had freed her foot, so Michael eased down beside her and carefully lifted her into his lap. “Shhh, it’s okay now.” With her face buried in his neck, he glanced at Max, “Why are you just standing there, Maxwell? Do your thing.”

Max knelt back down beside Maria and gently took her ankle in his hands. Maria felt warmth vibrate through her ankle and the pain was suddenly gone. She looked over at Max, “But we didn’t connect.” He smiled, “Not necessary for minor injuries.” As she looked at her ankle and the healed cut on her leg, Max looked over at Michael, “In fact, there’s no reason why Michael couldn’t have done this, after all, he did heal Riverdog’s twisted ankle that time.”

Michael just shrugged, “I just wanted to be sure it was done right.” Looking down at Maria, “Wouldn’t want to risk you not ever dancing again.” As Maria cooed, “Oh, Michael.” Liz looked up at the hole above their heads, “How about we get out of here?”

Michael was the last to be pulled out of the hole, and as he cleared it, no one saw that the crystals behind in the small cave began to pulse.


~~~~~~~~~~~


Standing outside the cave, Tyler pressed a series of buttons on the alien device and they were once again facing a sheer rock wall.

Maria stood beside Michael, “Well, Spaceboy, was it all you hoped?” He nodded, “Yeah,” He draped an armed across her shoulders, “It’s strange though, not once did I wish that it could take us back.”

She wrapped her arm around his waist, “That’s because you have me now.” He glanced down with a raised eyebrow, “Is that so?” Tilting her face up she grinned, “Yep.”

Giving her a kiss, he smiled, “Well, in that case, let’s go home.”


~~~~~~~~~~


It was late afternoon when they arrived back to where they had left the Rover, everything just as they left it. Working together they soon had camp set up. Liz wore a worried expression as she watched the guys erect the tents, but everyone was in such a good mood, she kept her fears to herself.

Later that evening her worries returned when she and Max were awakened as Michael cried out, “Max, Max, wake up.” Startled out of a sound sleep, Max shook his head to clear it gazing at the figure half in, half out of their tent, “Michael? What is it?”

“It’s Maria. She’s sick.”

~~~~~~~~
TBC ~ Image
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Devil Kitty
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Post by Devil Kitty »

I was so surprised to see that I had been nominated in a couple of the fanfic award categories; thank y’all so much for your nominating me. Image
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Previously on “Evil Takes a Holiday” ~ It was late afternoon when they arrived back to where they had left the Rover, everything just as they left it. Working together, they soon had camp set up. Liz wore a worried expression as she watched the guys erect the tents, but everyone was in such a good mood, she kept her fears to herself.

In the early morning hours, her worries returned when she and Max were awakened as Michael cried out, “Max, Max, wake up.” Startled out of a sound sleep, Max shook his head to clear it gazing at the figure half in, half out of their tent, “Michael? What is it?”

“It’s Maria. She’s sick.”



~~~~~~~~


Chapter 19

At Michael’s words, Max jumped up from the sleeping bag, barely taking time to pull on a pair of cargo pants. He and Michael rushed back to Maria with Liz right behind them. She knelt just inside the tent opening - as the small tent barely allowed room for both Max and Michael to maneuver around Maria.

“What happened, Michael?” Max asked, “When did she start to get sick?”

Michael shook his head, “Not sure, she was just fine when we went to sleep.” Michael ran his hands through his hair, “She woke me up moaning, but I couldn’t get her to wake up, so I ran for you.”

Liz’s heart pounded with anxiety seeing a sweat drenched Maria lying on the sleeping bag, her breathing labored. As she watched Max's hands hover a couple of inches over Maria’s body, she heard her name called. "Liz!"

She turned to look out and saw Alex and Isabel rushing up, "We heard Michael calling for Max, what's wrong?"

Liz looked up at Isabel, "It's Maria, she's sick." Liz stood up, her face crumpling, "Oh, Isabel, it's my vision, it's happening."

Alex reached out to pull her into a comforting hug. "Now, don't panic, Liz.” Though there was a touch of panic in his own voice as he tried to reassure her, “Max is in there, let's just wait and see what he finds out."

Isabel kneeled down to stick her head in the opening of the tent. Seeing Michael in his plaid boxers and Maria wearing one of Michael's shirts, her eyes widened as she recognized them from Liz's vision. Nervously, she asked, "Max, can you tell what's wrong?"

Max sat back down on his heels, panting from exertion, “I’m not sure. There's something foreign in her system, but I don’t know what it is.” He shrugged, “It’s something. . . “

"Like a virus?" Isabel asked as she crawled further into the tent. Max shook his head, "No, it's something . . . different."

“What do you mean, different?”

Michael interrupted them, “Max, she’s getting worse. Her skin’s so hot." He looked to Max, his voice laced with worry. "Can't you do something about that?" Max shook his head, "I tried when I scanned her. Whatever this is, it’s resisting my attempts to manipulate its molecular structure.”

"We have to do something, Maxwell, I won't let her die!" Michael was beginning to panic.

Isabel laid a hand on Michael's arm, trying to calm his anxiety. "We won't, Michael. First, we need to ice her down. We can fill some bags with water and freeze them. Maybe that'll keep the fever down until we can figure this out."

Michael nodded, never taking his eyes off of Maria. "Okay."

Isabel looked around the tight quarters, "And we should move her into the larger tent, that way we can move about better."

Max agreed, looking at Michael holding Maria's listless hand, he asked Isabel, "Do you think you could. . . ?"

"Already on it." Isabel backed out of the tent, and began issuing orders to the group standing around outside.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


Within minutes, the ‘mess tent’ had been cleared out and Tyler had set up a small cot. Once the tent was ready, Michael carefully carried Maria into the tent and gently placed her on the cot. Alex and Kyle had filled sandwich bags with water, then Sera used her powers to freeze them. She carried a box full to Isabel and Liz, who wrapped them in tee shirts before placing them around Maria. The ice seemed to be keeping the fever from rising, but Maria’s fever was still too high, and she had lapsed into unconsciousness.

Michael sat beside on her on a camp stool, wiping her face with a cold wet cloth, while Liz sat cross-legged on the ground, holding one of Maria's hands in hers. She looked at Maria, but spoke to Michael, "I feel like I've known her forever. It seems like we’ve always been best friends."

"When did you guys meet?" He asked, rinsing out the cloth, gently dabbing at Maria’s face.

"It was the first day of Kindergarten. I was just about the smallest in the class . . . "

Michael grunted, "No surprise there."

Liz gave a matter of fact nod, "My mom had made me this dress for the first day, it had these cupcakes all over it.” She grinned, “It was her first attempt and it was so bad. This little bully on the playground decided I was the perfect one to pick on. So at recess, he made fun of my dress and pushed me down. I skinned my knee and my ice cream fell in the dirt." Liz reached up to brush a hand along Maria's temple. "There I sat on the ground crying when suddenly this little blond dynamo rushed up yelling for him to leave me alone.” She smiled and leaned closer to Maria, “Do you remember what you said, ‘ria?” She looked back to Michael, “She told me not to cry, that I could share her ice cream and that we could be best friends . . . ” Liz wiped a tear away, “ . . . and we have been ever since."

"Guess that explains the ice cream obsession.” Michael smiled at Liz, “I wish I had those kind of memories." His smile faded as he took Maria’s other hand in his, “If I hadn't been so stubborn, thinking we didn’t belong…” His voice cracked, “We'd have been together... sooner…"

"Michael, you'll have plenty of time to make lots of memories." Liz's lips trembled as she tried not to cry.

He shook his head, “I should have taken her home. As soon as you saw…” He brushed at his eyes, “I just should have taken her home.” His voice was racked with guilt.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


Max and Isabel stood just inside the opening of the tent. Isabel whispered, “Max, if anything happens. . . If Maria. . .” she shook her head, “I’m afraid of what Michael will do. I don’t think he could handle it.”

“I don’t think any of us could.” He stared at the distress on both Michael and Liz’s faces.

“Max, I didn’t mean. . . I know you’re doing your best, we all do.”

“But I’m not God.” He looked at her, sadness on his face, “I told that to Liz once, when I told her that I couldn’t save her grandmother. But this is different, it’s not Maria’s time. I can’t let Liz down again.”

“Max. . .” Isabel started, but he turned and walked over to kneel down behind Liz, placing his hands on Liz's shoulders. As he gave her a comforting squeeze, he looked at Michael. "We'll figure this out." Then he looked at Maria as she lay unconscious. "I promise."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Sera volunteered to sit with Maria, while the others gathered outside the tent, trying to get a handle on the situation. As they sat around the burned out campfire, Max explained what happened when he checked Maria out. "There's definitely something in her blood system.” He looked between Michael and Isabel, "I had the feeling it was familiar. Like I should recognize it from . . . before."

"Before?" Isabel exclaimed, "You mean . . . " She pointed her finger up.

He nodded, “And whatever it is, it's multiplying. It resisted my attempt to destroy it, like it was able to counter whatever I tried."

"You said it felt foreign." Alex sat cross-legged on the ground, looking over towards the tent where Maria lay. "This reminds me of when Michael ran that high fever,” he looked at Isabel, “when he went out to the sweat lodge."

“But that was some kind of alien test from Riverdog.” Isabel reminded him.

“What about the ship?” Kyle looked at Tyler, “Maybe there was something on the ship that got into Maria, like . . . like those things in Alien. They sucked that guy’s face and that thing burst out of his chest.” Kyle speculated.

“Kyyyle. . . ” Isabel glared at him, “if you can’t be serious, then can you be quiet?”

“Hey, I am being serious.” Then he admitted with a shrug, “Okay, the face sucking thing was a little far out, but that is an alien ship. Is it so unreasonable to think that there might have been something in there?”

Tyler responded. “No, Kyle, it’s not unreasonable, it’s just not likely. We have a lot of equipment on the ship to monitor just such a situation.” Tyler looked around the group. “We couldn’t risk anything happening to Sera when she emerged, or to me during the flight, so there was a very sophisticated system in place. Any indication of a breach allowing a foreign substance into the ship and alarms would have sounded.”

Kyle was feeling defensive, “Well, don’t forget, what might be something normal for you and Sera would be foreign to humans.”

“But you and Alex are both fine,” Isabel reminded him, “and both of you were in the ship more than Maria was.”

Liz sat pensively with her arms around her knees, her fingers rubbing a piece of the blue quartz like a worry bead. "Whatever it is, her body is reacting to it like it’s an infection. The fever shows that the body's defense mechanisms have kicked in."

"So just raise her temperature high enough to destroy whatever this is." Kyle suggested.

Liz shook her head, "Maria wouldn't survive a temperature as high as what Michael had. There could be permanent damage to her nervous system."

Alarmed, Alex asked, “Like brain damage?”

Max rubbed his forehead, “If I could just isolate whatever it is, then it couldn’t multiply, and maybe Maria’s own immune system could fight it off.”

“Well, if you can’t stop it from multiplying, can you give her own immune system a boost?” Alex asked.

As the others carried on their discussion, Courtney’s eyes widened as she noticed the blue crystal that Liz was moving around in her hand. "Uh, Liz, what’s that you’ve got there?"

Liz looked at her hand, "Oh, it’s just some quartz or something. There was a bunch of these down in that little cave. Maria was collecting some for her mom’s shop when the floor caved in."

"I've seen those before." Michael looked over at Liz, “Maria had some in a plastic bag in the tent.”

“So have I." Courtney reached out her hand. "May I?" As soon as Liz placed it in Courtney’s hand, it began to glow and pulse.

“Omigod!” Isabel cried out. “What is that thing?”

Courtney glanced over at Tyler, and saw that he too recognized it. She looked over at Isabel. “It’s a Kathanian Crystal. And this one is alive.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC ~ Image

AN: For those who caught it, I changed the time frame at the end of the last chapter to the early morning hours, instead of late evening, so there would be more time to Maria’s illness to develop.
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