Roswell Fanatics

Title: Judgement
Author: BeccaBehr
Disclaimer: I own nothing, sadly!
Summary: A one-part fic in Michael's life.

He fixed his glasses on the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply. He was sick of doing temp work. He wanted to be a real professional and help the stars instead of stuck in some deadpan school temping for an AWOL counsellor.
He gave up moping for the time being and looked down at his list of students he had to see. Michael Guerin was next, he looked at the little note opposite his name. Low grades, bad attendance and no real lust for life. He wouldn't be surprised if Michael Guerin wasn’t sat outside waiting for this meeting. Maybe finally he could go home and check his empty message machine?
Dr Hardy stood up from his desk and went around to the door and opened it and grumbled when he saw the anxious teen sat there outside his office.
"Michael, I'm ready for you now" the boy stood up and Hardy saw him properly for the first time. There was confusion and emptiness in his eyes and it was something he didn’t generally see on a troubled teenager.
Michael sat down in the seat opposite Hardy's and waited patiently. He was so nervous about doing this. He had never revealed himself to a human before in his life.
"So what's troubling you?" Hardy asked as he sat down and moved some papers around trying to look official.
"I'm an alien" he blurted out and Hardy froze then dropped his papers, they could wait.
"What makes you believe you're an alien Michael?"
"You're giving me no respect" he replied
"I'm sorry" Hardy apologised
"Anyway I don’t think I know, watch" he lifted his hand and it glowed
"How did you do that?" demanded Hardy as he stood up and stumbled back colliding with his bookshelf.
"I'm an alien, I told you. Now you have to sit down and listen to me because since I attend this school I have a right to a guidance counsellor" Hardy nodded out of curiosity and fear, he returned to his seat and tried to calm himself from the shock of this revelation.
"Why did you want to talk?" he began with all his attention focusing on the young man before him forgetting about the stars because he had got the rarest opportunity of all.
"I killed a man" he replied
"With... with your powers?"
"Yes and that's not all"
"There's more?" asked Hardy quietly in fear. His eyes hid it well but his voice didn’t.
"I guess I should start at the beginning. It's always simpler at the beginning" he laughed at his own words then wiped a tear away from his eye.
"I remember everything and all that happened. A million light-years away from here is a planet called Antar. It lies in the Vex Constellation of the Whirlwind Galaxy, the leader of all the planets was called Zan, King Zan to be in fact, he was married to his young bride Savena and I was his second in command"
"Wait, if you want me to understand then tell me what you mean by was?"
"I'll get to that part just listen for now" Michael snapped letting his old angry emotions show through "I'm sorry, this is why I'm here"
"Don’t be sorry. I asked an irrelevant question" said Hardy not wanting to be zapped by the alien in front of him spilling his life story.
"It wasn’t irrelevant, I snap sometimes it's just who I am. I don’t really mean it. I was once called Rath and I was the Kings General. I was set to marry his sister but there were enemies and we were killed. Scientists from my planet had mastered genetic engineering and we were recreated and sent to earth in pods in hopes that we would return and free the planet and the Galaxy from the tyranny of Kivar, our opposing leader.
It's just none of us want to go home any more the others don’t remember their past lives but I do and this is what makes me cry at night"
"You cry?" Hardy asked with a little humour, he was slightly irritated and had little control of the rush of emotions that were spinning round his head.
"Yeah I know men don’t admit they cry. I guess that makes me alien" he quipped with a grin
"Guess it does doesn’t it" replied Hardy mirth flashing in his eyes. He was connecting with this teen and for the first time in ten years he knew he wanted to really help.
"Our enemy Kivar made a deal with me. He was in love with Vilandra, my betrothed, and I wasn’t. If I gave him Zan and Vilandra then he would let me have the throne to Antar. I agreed and it was a blood bath, Vilandra following my orders as General gave his servants the codes to the city and he gained access. He tried to take Vilandra but she didn’t come willingly so he killed her. He wanted me to prove my allegiance to him so I... I killed Zan" Hardy shoved the little box of tissues towards Michael feeling a little silly.
"Here on Earth Zan's recreation, Max, is like my best friend. The brother I never had growing up. I betrayed him "I killed Zan and his new wife Savena. Then when I turned to Kivar he just laughed and thanked me for doing the dirty work and killed me. I let power and greedy overtake me and when I killed that man again I remembered everything and I knew I had become just like who I was before"
"Surely you can't be like this Rath character! Tell me about your childhood!"
"Hah! What childhood, I'm an emancipated minor"
"That bad?"
"You could say that. After Rath died and we were sent to Earth there was the Crash"
"That actually happened?"
"Yep it did. I know a guy who saved us, some guy called Shuffleboard Hal, his risked everything back in forty seven"
"You look about seventeen how is that?"
"The pods, we were in pods and we spent the last fifty odd years there until 1989 when we "hatched" Max was out first then Isabel then me. Tess was last and her protector was there to collect her.
Max, Isabel and I wandered out into the desert, lost and alone naked and confused. We came across a road and we saw lights, I ran off because the lights reminded me of the blasts I used to kill my family. I hid and the Evanses took the others in. I didn’t meet back up with them again for three years."
"How sad" Hardy surprised himself when he reached for a tissue
"You really care don’t you?" asked Michael in disbelief
"I want to help" he nodded "I believe you so much. You're not this Rath guy you told me about earlier"
"But there's still so much more" Michael protested not wanting to believe his innocence yet
"I'll sit here and listen to every minute of it" assured Hardy as he leaned back in his chair.
"I was found the next morning drinking from a water trough for sheep on a Ranch somewhere outside town. I was dumped into the foster care system and at first it wasn’t so bad. I ended up with this family who had two kids already, a annoying bratty boy and a year old baby girl called Kimberly. I got on with them alright but I was a handful, I didn’t know anything. I had to learn English, they taught me everything but when I kept making mistakes they gave up on me and sent me back. I remember the next home I went to.
It was with old Mrs Guerin who ran the shop on the corner of the street. She lived in a dinky flat above her shop and it would have worked. She loved me to bits and I felt so happy for the first time in my life. I stacked shelves for her because she was getting on. I was really good and she really liked me. I was there for about eighteen months before she died" the was a sombre edge to his voice and he grabbed another tissue.
"You must miss her"
"I do, yes. She was the only one who gave a damn about me. I was put back in the foster system and I guess I deserved it because of my past crimes"
"No one deserves to loose someone they love" said Hardy firmly and Michael just nodded like a puppet.
"I was put into school and then I was sent to live with Hank Whitmore. I took Mrs Guerin's name because she was the only true parent I've known in this life.
Hank was abusive and violent. He never beat me because he was still in a job at the time and then I met Max and Isabel at school. Isabel pushed me off the jungle gym because I put sand down her dress" he chuckled as he remembered the memory "But then Max was there to make it better, like my big and caring brother. He healed my cut and hugged me when I cried and told me things were okay. I became friends with him over the years and that's pretty much how it stayed.
A week before the shooting of Liz Parker my foster dad got fired and he began a drinking binge to end all. I was never around because after Liz was shot and Max healed her everything changed. He had been harbouring this secret love for her over the years and he saved her life. They were in love instantly and he didn’t spend time with Isabel and me anymore. He chosen her over us and that hurt, I should be used to rejection. I've done it often enough to know"
"Did you and Isabel drift together?" Hardy asked rather intrigued
"No, god no. I know we were set to be married but now I see her as my sister and nothing more or less. Maria, Liz's best friend, found out and she told their third best friend Alex. I guess really good friends cant keep secrets? Max and I are doomed then? Isabel spent time with Alex and for a brief time they shared something special. I drifted towards Maria and we argued a lot, it's who we are. We're such wilful people that there was bound to be a clash. I mean she sings and I paint, we're artistic people, except I haven't painted in a while"
"Maybe you should. It could have been an outlet for the things in your life"
"I think it was once upon a time but then I bottled everything up. I think I should get out my paint cans and go all out and flick paint and see what happens there" he nodded before continuing.
"Hank started beating me. I didn’t use my powers on him, I knew I could, but I just didn't want to be that person again. So I just took it and told myself I deserved it for what I had done" Hardy reached for another tissue and shook his head vehemently.
"So I spent more time away. I stayed with Max and slept on the floor in a sleeping bag and when he and I drifted apart I moved to the one person who funnily enough has always been there when I need her?"
"Isabel?"
"Maria" he answered with a all knowing smile warming his features and changing him for the worried punk to calm boy.
"Would you tell me about it?"
"It was raining, isn't it always, and Hank was drunk. He had his empty bottle in his hands and he hit me with it. It smashed and cut my head" absent-mindedly Michael reached up and rubbed the spot above his right eyebrow. I left quickly after he passed out and I got soaked, I went to Maria's house and she saw me standing across the street from her. I went over and she let me in. You'd probably expect us to have slept together? But no not all of us are horny teens" he said with a smile as he shifted in his seat to get comfortable "I wasn’t ready for that she took my jacket and shoes off and we laid down in her bed and she just held me. Only one person cared like Maria does and she died a long time ago"
"Mrs Guerin?"
"Yeah. She loved me just like Maria does now, well I think it's more sexual than parental" he waggled his eyebrows and nodded to get the idea.
"What happened to "not all of us are horny teens"?" asked Hardy and Michael just shrugged.
"Anyway because of Liz's shooting FBI came to town" his features darkened and he went into deep concentration "They watched us for months and we never knew anything about it. Then they acted and kidnapped Max, they put him in the white room because the believed he was an evil alien out to conquer the world. Agent Pierce, the guy in charge, he tortured Max and we got him out. I never really talked to him about it like I am with you but we never got the chance. I should do that sometime, he'll need it. If Max didn’t have the equipment then I'd swear he was a girl with all his Soulmate love crap and his crying and whining. But deep down he's a leader and we look to him to take charge, he found a prize when he fell hook line and sinker for Liz. She's a leader too and when he's not around then she's the one we got to. We're paired off that way Max and Liz and the heroes while Maria and I are the sidekicks and Alex and Isabel are Beauty and the Geek all over.
Anyway when we got Max out of the White Room Pierce followed us and we ended up at the Carnival Festival. The Sheriff has followed us and his son had followed him, we were in the house of Mirrors and we all got separated. Pierce shot at who he thought was Max but it was Kyle, the Sheriff's son, and he took it in the chest. I blasted Pierce and killed him and for a moment I saw my past and I sunk back from it, I was afraid of what I had done. Max healed Kyle and the Sheriff vowed he would protect us and he came through for us. We got rid of Pierce's body and that's about it. Maria and I are barely talking after I pushed her away, I'm afraid I'll betray her and I love her too much for that. Liz is away for the summer and Alex and Isabel are going through the motions after the Destiny revelation. Max and Isabel's mother left a video hologram message for them and told them about Destiny. We're walking on eggshells about it because Isabel had this dream that she had a baby with me but I don’t feel like that for her. I have Maria, at a safe distance, and I'm glad that I've known the people I know now. I wouldn’t change anything about it even thought there was sadness and anger and pain. This is where I want to be, wow talking really helped me sort this out"
"And that’s it? Is that all there is?" Michael stood up and looked at Hardy
"Why do you want more? I've told you all there is to tell, I want to ask you something"
"Yes anything?"
"If you reveal this secret to anyone your life will be in danger. You could be tortured or even killed for this, please one being to another in a crazy time will you keep this?"
"Michael before you came in here I couldn’t be bothered with this school. I think you've rekindled my passion to help, I have never felt such a heartbreaking story such as yours. If you ever need anything I'll be here and I can and will forever keep your secret" he assured him.
"There is something I can do to make you trust me. Do you have a letter opener?" Hardy leaned down, opening a draw and shuffling through it till he found it. He handed it to Michael who cut his palm open
"I know this is a little silly but it's a sacred binding ritual from where I come from" he took Hardy's hand and cut the same palm. Then they pressed their palms together creating the bond.
"We're connected now"
"Whoa I can feel it. I can feel nothing but you and it's incredible"
"I can sense your trust and I know you'll keep this and I wont have to kill you. I'm still the General past life or not and I'm going to protect the people I hold dear and I wouldn’t waste my time killing you if you betrayed me" he nodded then left the room. Hardy just watched in awe as his hand glowed healing itself and then he sat back in his chair and sighed deeply. What a story!

The End