Primary Characters:	Michael, Maria, Max, Isabel, Liz, Kyle
Rating:	M
Spoilers:	Not really
Warning:	m/m sex implied,m/m kiss, f/f kiss
Description:	Michael finds out something disturbing about Maria. Then Max acts out of character. From then on things progress from bad to worse. Liz too, is having a really bad night. First with Isabel, then with Max and Kyle.

---

Michael knew he should have called and let Maria know he was going to be late. It was just that he wasn’t really big on that kind of thing. Anyway, he’d only been down at the UFO center with the guys. He’d have expected to find the house dark and quiet, but when he unlocked the door, he was surprised to find all the lights on and though the kitchen was empty, he thought he could hear an odd mewling sound from upstairs.

This was a bit creepy, but Michael guessed that Maria and her mom were having a bit of a seance or something. Once he’d walked in on them, doing that weird stuff and been totally mortified, but Amy had merely smiled as if what they were doing was no more different than helping out with the dishes after dinner.

So he walked upstairs to go to bed, half expecting his wife to give him a piece of her mind for arriving so late. It was, he noted, as he opened the door to their bedroom, just about midnight. He hadn’t thought it was that late, but neither one of them were working the next day, and the next semester didn’t start until January.

In the doorway, he stopped and stared. The scene he walked into wasn’t one he could ever have imagined. His wife, Maria, was lying on the bed. She was the one making those odd mewling sounds. What was this? Had she eaten too much and was feeling sick or – But Michael found his eyes irresistibly drawn towards her upraised legs. She was lying, the way you’d expect – no, this couldn’t be happening – a woman giving birth would be.

He knew she wasn’t pregnant. She certainly hadn’t told him about it, and only this morning when they’d made love, he’d had his hand on her abdomen and felt nothing. Or had he? He was frowning in concentration, trying to remember. But he was getting distracted by the panting and mewling. Now Maria caught sight of him and looked into his eyes. He’d never noticed her eyes were that color. Sort of yellow, and slanted.

“Michael. I’m glad you came. Just in time to watch your offspring being born.”

‘Offspring’? Wouldn’t baby be a more suitable word? But as he watched in horror, about a dozen or more tiny tadpole-like creatures were slithering out of Maria’s – This wasn’t happening. He put his hands up to his face and covered his eyes.

“Look, Michael. They’re beautiful. And so healthy.”

He had to look again. Now there were hundreds, all slithering about on the floor, apparently already developed enough to move about.

“Michael. It’s time for you to change. Look, it’s happening to me already.”

And in a ghastly gesture, Maria pointed at her face which was losing its color, turning a horrid grey. Her eyes were even more slitted than before, and her nose and mouth – No. No. No. Michael let out a screech and turned and ran down the stairs and outside.

He only had one thought in his mind. To run to Max and Isabel and tell them all about it. Maybe they would know a way to stop this changing process. But what they could do about the – babies – Michael hesitated to call his offspring that, but couldn’t think of anything else that didn’t terrify him more – he didn’t know.

He got into the jeep – he was sure Maria wouldn’t have any use for it right now – and drove off in the direction of Max’ place. Liz would be there. Maybe she could – at least Michael hoped so – come up with a scientific explanation, and anyway, she and Maria were best friends. She could come and – something. Michael wasn’t particularly coherent at this point.

When he got to Max’ place Michael was too agitated to bother to ring the doorbell, so he just put his hand on the door, used his powers and pushed it open.

To his astonishment, Max was still up, and Liz was nowhere to be seen.

“Michael?”

“Max, you have to help me. It’s Maria – she’s -“

Not until now did he stop to consider how he would explain what was going on at home.

“Slow down. Here. Sit.”

Max pulled out a chair, and pushed Michael towards it.

“Ok, I’m listening.”

“When I got back, Maria was in bed and -“

Max was staring into Michael’s face in rather an intense way, but at the moment, Michael was too deep in shock to pay much attention.

“Go on.”

“She was giving birth to these – aliens. You know, looking like sort of frogs or snakes. And she was turning into one of those little grey aliens, like the ones down at the UFO center. She said, it was time for me to change -“

This last word came out more like a sob.

“I’m sorry. But forget about her now. Things like that happen. You sleep with them, they change. Nothing to get worked up about.”

“What?”

“Michael. They’re just girls. They can’t love you like we can. Like I can.”

“Max? You’re kidding, right?”

“I’ve never been more serious in my life. It’s time you realized something. What it really means to be the king’s right hand man. It means you belong to me.”

Michael felt as if his head was spinning. He managed to get out of the chair, and back off, but Max followed him and he still felt trapped.

“Michael, stop fighting it. If you think about it, you’ll find that it makes sense. Sure we need females to breed, but can they can’t love you like I do.”

Max moved closer still and now Michael felt his lips brush against his neck. Michael didn’t at first understand what was going on. This evening had been too much for him already, but slowly it began to dawn on him that Max was really trying to – NO. He tensed up and pulled away, or at least he tried to.

Before he’d managed to get more than a few feet away from Max, he felt himself running into a sort of force field. This wasn’t real. Max, his best friend, his brother, wouldn’t do this. Not to him. But the force field felt real, and completely impenetrable. Trapped, Michael whirled around, hoping against hope that he might be able to plead with Max.

There was no mistake about it. Max’ hands were in the air, and even if Michael hadn’t been able to sense the power crackling between them, he’d know from the pose what Max was doing.

“Max, you can’t do this.”

Michael never ever cried, at least not when anyone else was present, but tonight the tears weren’t far away. He knew his voice sounded brittle and high pitched as it had when he was much younger.

“I just did.”

And before Michael could think of anything else to say or do, Max did something different. His hands never moved, but Michael suddenly felt paralysed. He couldn’t move his legs, or even his arms.

As in a fast forwarded video, Michael could see Max coming towards him. He still couldn’t move an inch, and helplessly he watched Max approaching, then catching up with him.

“Max, please.”

“Relax. Don’t try to fight it. You know you want it.”

“No, I don’t. How can you -“

“I’m your king. I can do anything I want. And now, I want you.”

Max’ fingers began to move across Michael’s face, brushing his lips, travelling towards his ears, then back again. Next, Max leaned over and kissed Michael lightly on the lips. Michael shut his eyes and in his mind he kept begging Max over and over again to stop.

No. This might be Max, but there was no way Michael was going to let him do this. No way. In his desperation, Michael could only think of one more thing to try, and though it pained him to do it, he bit down hard on Max’ lower lip.

He could feel the sudden pain as if it was his own. Max withdrew and though Michael was still in shock, he noticed that the force field that was holding him in place wavered and vanished. That was all he needed. He turned and ran for the door. Max was calling his name, but he ignored it.

Isabel. She’d understand. Whenever something had been wrong, Isabel had fixed it.

The key was still in the ignition, and the jeep started up right away. At this time of night, with practically no traffic, it didn’t take him long to get to Isabel’s and Alex’ place.

Again, Michael used his powers to get inside, and he ran upstairs, wildly, to find Isabel and tell her all about the things that had gone wrong tonight.

At the door, he stopped, hoping he wouldn’t catch Izz and Alex doing something embarrassing in there. This time, he wasn’t quite as hopeful, but he still thought Isabel would be there for him. Hadn’t she always been?

He knocked, but there was no reply. One more time he knocked but when he still couldn’t hear anything, he couldn’t wait any longer. He opened the door anyway and went inside.

Isabel was lying on the bed, her face on a level with Alex’ neck. Oh, no, how extremely embarrassing. Still, Michael felt he had come too far to back down, so he called her name.

“Izz. I’m sorry to -“

He broke off in mid-sentence, when he saw her face, as she turned to look at him. There was something dark on her lips, and dripping down her chin. It looked a whole lot like – Michael’s eyes were drawn to Alex’ neck where there was more of that dark stuff. That couldn’t be what it looked like, could it?

“Michael. Come and taste this. It’s delicious. I want you to have some. Come on.”

Impatiently, she got up and moved across the floor towards him. Only now did Michael notice that she was wearing nothing more than a very revealing negligee.

“Michael.”

Now she was so close he could smell the blood on her breath. An insane laughter bubbled up from her throat, and she grabbed him hard, pulling him closer. Before he had time to pull back, he felt something sharp nick the sensitive skin on his neck.

This simply couldn’t be happening. What was wrong? For the third time that night, Michael found himself madly running for his life. He didn’t get far before he ran into another invisible wall. Before he even had time to turn and face his pursuer, he felt Isabel’s arms grab him and pull him around to look into her eyes.

“What’s the matter, Michael?”

“Izz, please. What are you doing?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Come on. You’ll love it.”

Michael found himself being dragged towards the bed.

“Look.”

Isabel sounded ecstatic as she indicated what was lying on the bed. Alex didn’t seem to be breathing anymore. He was deathly pale and his eyes were closed. To Michael’s horror, Isabel now placed a hand on his neck and pushed.

“Go on. Try it.”

“No. Izz, that’s Alex.”

“Yes. It’s delicious. Don’t be a baby.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Alright.”

Again, he could see her face closing in on him, but he wasn’t going to let her. The small puncture wound on his neck still hurt, but right now, all he cared about was getting away.

He raised his hands and gathered up all his power, then let it all out, in one big blast. This was Isabel, but she wasn’t herself and he was scared. If she came one step closer he didn’t know what would happen. Michael felt sick when he heard the thud Isabel made as she hit the wall beside the bed.

Not waiting to find out if she was still conscious, Michael turned and ran outside. He got into the jeep and drove off blindly. This time, he didn’t care where he ended up, just as long as it was away from everyone he had once cared about.

He must have picked the desert road because very soon he had left all the houses of Roswell behind. There was a full moon, and it lit up the road ahead. Suddenly, the light seemed much brighter, and he realized that it couldn’t be moonlight. While trying to keep his eyes on the road, he stole a glance upward, towards the sky.

The light was so bright, it blinded him. He was too startled to think of braking, but the car pulled to a stop anyway, and the engine died. For a second, Michael remained sitting in the driver’s seat, too scared to have one single coherent thought in his mind.

Long before he had pulled himself together, he felt himself floating through the air, higher and higher. After what he’d already been through tonight, he didn’t think he could get much more frightened. He retreated inside his own mind, cowering like a terrified child in a corner.

Above him, getting closer, he could see what looked like a UFO. An alien spacecraft. A door in the side of the ship opened up and swallowed him. Still, he was floating, until he was lowered down onto a flat surface.

For a while, nothing else happened, and he was beginning to think that this was it. As bad as it got. Then he heard an odd clinking sound, like metal on metal. Underlying that, was a softer, less distinct noise, like fabric rustling.

A creature covered by a sort of cape or hood, padded closer. It reached out an arm, holding something shiny and pointed. A knife? A pair of scissors? Michael opened his mouth to scream out his terror.

“Michael? What’s wrong?”

Maria? What was she doing up here? Michael tried to open his eyes, but for a second he couldn’t see, couldn’t even breathe.

He heard a click and the room was suddenly much lighter, but he still couldn’t see.

“You’re all tangled up in the sheets. Hold on a sec.”

Michael began to scream again, and tried to get away from those alien hands.

“Don’t be such a baby. Lie still so I can get you out of that sheet.”

Who was it who had used those very same words only a few minutes ago? A female voice, just like this one, but not the same. The effort of trying to remember helped Michael calm down a little.

“There.”

The sheet was pulled away from his face, and he saw –

“No.”

“What’s the matter now? I told you not to eat so much pumpkin pie but did you listen to me?”

Pumpkin pie? What was Maria talking about?

“Mom’s pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving dinner last night. Did you have a bad dream or something?”

A dream? Yes, it had to be a dream. Maria was looking the same as always. No yellow eyes, no alien grey face. A intense relief flooded over Michael. Maria wasn’t turning into an alien. She wasn’t pregnant. It had all been a dream. That had to mean that Isabel hadn’t – Where had that awful image sprung from anyway? A vampire? Well, he had fallen asleep in front of Buffy The Vampire Slayer recently, during the Halloween special, but surely –

Michael suddenly felt his face blush a hot, brick red. Vampires were one thing, but how on earth could he ever have imagined that Max would –

“What was it about anyway -“

“I -“

“Oh, come on. The way you were screaming it sounded like someone was trying to eat you alive, at the very least.”

Remembering that Maria and Isabel didn’t like each other very much anyway, Michael decided to tell his wife that part of the dream.

“Well, alright. I dreamt that Isabel was a vampire. She had just drunk Alex’ blood and was after mine.”

Maria’s face split into an amused grin.

“Oh, Michael. You didn’t. I mean, it must have been terrifying, but right now it just sounds hilarious.”

“Well -“

“I guess you won’t eat that much pie any time soon though.”

“No, I guess not.”

***

Liz looked up from her diary. Wasn’t that a knock on her window? A hot blush stole across Liz’ features. She’d just finished a very intimate entry, one that involved Max. He was just in time to – Putting the diary away, Liz skipped across the floor to let her lover inside. When she got to the window, she froze. That wasn’t Max. It was Isabel. Shamefacedly, Liz hoped that the blush wouldn’t show. After taking a deep breath, she opened the window.

“Isabel? Is anything wrong?”

“Why should anything be wrong?”

“Well – this was unexpected.”

“Yes, I suppose it is. Can I come in?”

It seemed an unnecessary question, but Liz remembered her manners and tried to smile invitingly.

“Of course.”

She tried not to be too obvious about sneaking a glance at her wrist watch. Wasn’t it awfully late for Isabel to come visiting like this? She had barely finished that thought, when Isabel walked closer. Uncomfortably close. Liz could smell Isabel’s expensive cologne and something that had to be her hair spray. Nervously, Liz shrank back a step, but Isabel followed her and ended up trapping her against the wall.

“Isabel? What are you doing?”

“I’ve been thinking.”

“Yes?”

Isabel just kept staring into Liz’ eyes, increasing the girl’s uneasiness further, but she seemed oblivious to the effect she appeared to be having on her brother’s girlfriend.

“Thinking about what?”

“About you and me.”

Liz couldn’t understand where this was leading, but she was sure of one thing: if Isabel didn’t get to the point soon, she’d have to tell her to get out.

“I see.”

But of course, she actually saw nothing at all. Other than Isabel’s eyes, staring into her own in a very disquieting way. Liz was wondering if she’d somehow offended Max’ sister without being aware of it. For a second, she had an alarming thought. What if this wasn’t Isabel at all. What if it was really Lonnie?

Again, Liz tried to take another step away, but she found that she was still trapped, and Isabel felt closer than ever.

“Your eyes.”

“What about my eyes?

“They’re beautiful. And your hair – I never really noticed before, but you’re really sexy.”

Was this some kind of joke? Liz wished she could just brush past Isabel and find a better position from which to politely tell her uninvited guest that it was late and that she really wanted to go to bed. In fact, why shouldn’t she? This was her room. Her house.

“Listen, Isabel. I don’t know what you want, but it’s getting late and I’d really like to got to bed now. We can talk some other time. Maybe tomorrow, but for now -“

“Ok.”

“Ok, what?”

“Let’s go to bed. I thought you’d never ask. You’re supposed to be so smart, but for a while there, I thought you were really thick. Kind of like Kyle – or Maria.”

“Hey. Don’t talk like that about them.”

“Why not? You and me, baby, we’re smart. We’re sexy. They’re just losers.”

To Liz’ horror, Isabel began to brush the hair out of her face. Just like that. As if it had been Isabel’s hair, not Liz’.

“Hey.”

“What? Ok, is this better?

Liz couldn’t believe what Isabel just did. Without pausing, Isabel let her hands trail down to Liz’ shoulders and from there – This really was going way too far. No girl, Max’ sister or not, grabbed her –

“Stop. Let me go. Are you out of your mind?”

Isabel didn’t seem to take this at all the way it was intended. Instead of being offended, the blonde girl began to laugh.

“Yes, you could say that. Totally out of my mind. I’m married. You’re sleeping with my brother and that loser Kyle. But here we are. I guess you have that effect on me.”

Isabel stopped laughing and dipped her face down to kiss Liz, full on the lips. Just like that. Liz tensed up and pushed Isabel away.

“Don’t do that. I wasn’t finished.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want you to kiss me. Just like you said, I’m in love with your brother Max. And even if I wasn’t, I’m not into girls.”

“Yeah? Neither am I. Not just any girl. You think I’ve done this before? With Tess maybe? Yeah, right. As if I’d do that. Anyway, you’ve got nothing to worry about. I won’t tell Max – or Kyle, if you won’t. As long as you won’t tell Alex. Not that it would matter. The guys won’t mind. You know how guys love this sort of thing. That’s the best part. They’d never guess it was because we wanted it. Now shut up and let me finish. I can’t stay all night. Alex would worry. And you did say something about bed.”

Now Isabel grabbed Liz and began to lead her towards the bed. Liz’ head was spinning from this shock. She’d never in a million years suspected Isabel was like this. Maybe Tess, but never Isabel. Liz had always suspected Isabel disliked her as much as she disliked Isabel. Obviously, she’d been wrong. But there was no way she was going to let Isabel – No way in the world. She had to think of something. Anything to get Isabel to back off.

“Listen, I’d really like to brush my teeth first. Ok? And shower.”

“You don’t have time to shower.”

“Ok. Brush my teeth then. Really quickly.”

“Oh, I suppose so. If you hurry. I’ll get into bed while I’m waiting. It’s a little chilly in here. You shouldn’t have left that window open.”

Before Liz had time to react, Isabel raised a hand in the air, and with a crash, the window closed.

“Great.”

Liz fled into the bathroom. Fortunately, she could get out through that window and then onto the roof, and from there, she could get to the fire escape. She closed the door behind her, but didn’t dare to lock it. The last thing she saw was Isabel slipping into her bed, after pulling off her top. Ugh. Unbelievable.

Leaving the tap running, Liz climbed onto the toilet and from there managed to sneak out through the window. It was tricky, trying to ease the window down, so it wouldn’t make too loud a noise and warn Isabel of what was going on. But she managed it. After many years of practice, Liz knew every inch of that roof and it didn’t take her long to reach the edge, and then to climb down the ladder.

Scared that Isabel would guess which way she’d taken, Liz decided to go a different route, even if it would be slightly longer. At least at this time of night, she knew she’d be over at Max’ place in fifteen minutes or so. Fear added to her speed and it felt like a lot less than a quarter of an hour before she was outside Max’ place. She hadn’t brought the key, but to her relief, she found the front door open.

Silently, she ran up to his bedroom door. At last, a safe haven. Max would know what to do. Max would keep her safe. With Max near her, Isabel wouldn’t dare to try anything. With unsteady hands, Liz turned the doorknob, and opened the door. Max was lying on the bed – At this point, her breath caught in her throat. Max wasn’t alone. Kyle was there. They weren’t wearing any clothes and they were –

A strangled noise escaped Liz’ throat, and made both guys turn in her direction. Their reaction wasn’t one Liz could have anticipated. No sign of guilt or embarrassment.

“Darling. We kind of started without you, but that’s ok, right? You’re here now. Come on. You don’t want to miss out on the fun, do you?”

Kyle stayed on the bed, but Max moved off his friend and walked over to welcome Liz. He tried to kiss her, but she pulled her face away. This – How could they do this to her? Tears filled her eyes, but Max didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he was focusing on Kyle.

“Hey, baby. Look what I found for us. Dessert.”

Without looking into Liz’ face, Max pulled her down onto the bed, and without hesitation, he moved on top of her. Kyle moved in on the other side, and normally this would only produce a warm feeling inside her. After tonight’s shocks, however, Liz didn’t think she’d ever felt this tense.

“No. No.”

She was sobbing openly now, and didn’t bother hiding her tears.

“Liz?”

She didn’t want to listen to him. Not after what he’d done to her. But Max’ voice sounded completely different than it had only seconds before. Gentle. Concerned.

“Are you ok? Liz -“

He had a nerve, acting like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Liz was going to tell him exactly how she felt, as soon as she’d calmed down a bit. She opened her eyes to orient herself again, but was stunned to find Max alone.

“Where’s Kyle?”

Max looked a little surprised. Kyle had left hours ago. Was Liz worried about him suddenly?

“Kyle went home. Don’t you remember?”

“But – I thought -“

“What? Did you have a bad dream? I’m sure he’s ok. Would you like to call and make sure?”

“I don’t know. He was -“

“In your dream?”

“I guess so.”

“Nothing’s wrong. I heard you crying so I -“

Gently, Max brushed away the tears and pulled her closer. When he felt Liz was feeling better, Max let go of her and anxiously scanned her face.

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?

“In your dream. It was a dream, right? Not one of those visions?”

She sincerely hoped not, because if that was in her future, she didn’t think she’d want to find out. But it had to be a dream. Just an ordinary nightmare. Nothing to get so worked up about. Where had she gotten that absurd idea about Isabel? Or for that matter about Max and Kyle? How silly of her. She shook her head, as much at her own stupidity as in reply to Max’ question.

“Never mind. It was just a dream.”

“I’d never let anything happen to you. Not to Kyle either.”

“I know. Max?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Do you think you could go back to sleep now?”

No. She didn’t even want to try. Not tonight. If another of those dreams were waiting for her, it was just as well that she didn’t even bother.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Go ahead.”

Max did look tired, so he had no objections to her suggestion. Soon she could hear his calm breathing, and she knew he was fast asleep again.

FIN

© Tonica