When the preteen girl behind the window nodded, Liz continued. «And a Men in Blackberry Shake.» She turned to Max and grinned. «I feel like I'm back at the Crashdown. Except in some parallel universe.» He smiled and stepped up to the window. A few minutes later, after Maria had returned and ordered, they all sat down at tables shaded by a canopy and waited for their food.
Michael walked over, holding multiple parts of a newspaper in his hands. «We aren't in here,' he said with an uncharacteristic uplift to his voice. «I'll check again, but I couldn't find any articles about our misadventures at all.» «No news is good news,' Maria said. Then, looking at the others, she added, «Right?» «Not necessarily,' Liz said. «It could be that the papers didn't get any pictures of us before they went to press. Or it could be that it wasn't big enough to make the news way out here in Nebraska. But that doesn't mean the local police might not have gotten a report about us.» «Spoilsport,' Maria said, pouting a bit.
«Well, at least we probably don't have to worry about John Q. Sixpack ratting us out to America's Most Wanted,' Kyle said.
Isabel ate an onion ring. «It could be that the Special Unit clamped down on the news coverage. The pictures they showed on the news last night couldn't have been the only footage they had of our daring escape from Cheyenne.» Max had continued to wonder about that as well. Yesterday, they had been trapped at a shopping mall in Cheyenne, Wyoming, by the FBI Special Unit's agents and local law enforcement people. He and Michael had been forced to use their powers in a very public fashion, in view not only of civilians but of the mall's security cameras as well. From what Kyle had said about the footage aired on the news, some of the security camera images had been broadcast, though their faces had been nearly unrecognizable.
«I think Isabel is right,' Max said, and he was pleased to see that Michael nodded in agreement as well. «The Special Unit isn't going to want everyone else coming after us.
I'd imagine they think a lot of lives might be at risk if they got us really angry in public.» «We can thank Tess for that,' Maria said, her tone grumbly. «Driving a car bomb into an air force base isn't exactly subtle:' Max ignored the comment. «Beyond that, everything they've done has been under a cloak of secrecy. They want a cover-up. If there's anything I learned while working at the UFO Museum, it's that the federal government has been hiding alien-related things since 1947, and probably even before that. So, it wouldn't serve their agenda for the world to learn that we really exist.» «Yeah,' Michael said. «They want us all to themselves so they can dissect us and find out ' He stopped abruptly.
All eyes turned to Isabel, whose face had suddenly drained of all color. Yesterday, Liz had seen a future flash of Isabel being cut apart by Special Unit doctors.
Max broke the silence. «He didn't mean anything by it, Iz.» Isabel waved a hand dismissively. «It's okay. We need to deal with this sooner or later. And the sooner we find a way to stop Liz's premonition from coming true, the better.» «That's actually why we came here today,' Max said, realizing the time had come to announce yet another critical decision. «I think it's best that you split up from the rest of us, Isabel. Liz says that whatever was supposed to happen to you might happen in California. So, let's keep you as far away from there as possible.» «You want to send me off alone?» Isabel's voice raised almost a full octave. «Yeah, that will protect me! We decided early on to stick together; that's how we'll be strongest.» «I never said alone,' Max said, putting down his burger.
«I think Kyle and Maria should go with you. And I think you should go to ' «What, so I'm a liability now, Maxwell?» Maria asked, interrupting him. He could tell that she was truly angry; Michael was the only one who ever called him by his full name. «I don't have alien superpowers, so I get carted out of here so I don't get hurt?» «That's not what I meant. If you'd just ' Now it was Michael's turn to interrupt. «She stays with us.» His tone was adamant, his expression stony. «Just because we aren't married doesn't mean that she should get shipped off. Ill protect her.» Maria's eyes flashed anger again, this time in Michael's direction. «Goddess! Like I'm so helpless! Fine, you know, Justine!» She got up from her seat. «Why did you even want me on this trip if all I am to you is a potential damselin-distress? Maybe I should get myself shot so Max can heal me and give me crazy superpowers so I can finally be somebody important.» She stalked away, clutching her soda cup.
Michael started to get up to go after her, but Max caught his arm. «Michael, let her go for now. Fine, she stays with us.» He turned to Kyle. «But I want you to go with Isabel.» Kyle stopped mid- chew of his veggie burger. «Okay by me.» As Michael sat again, Max continued. «Isabel, what I was going to suggest is that you make your way to Boston.
If Jesse can't help you, he should know enough about the town now to hide you.» Isabel's eyes widened, and a smile lit her features. «Do you mean it?» She was obviously looking forward to a long-overdue reunion with her husband. «I think you can both catch a train here to Chicago,' Max said, nodding. «Then another train can get you to Boston.» «And what about the rest of us?» Liz asked.
«I think we should make our way to Los Angeles,' Max said. «Kal Langley may not have been able to make my ship fly, but he's got money and power. He'll be able to help us somehow. He can protect us if nothing else.» Michael nodded. «Sounds like a plan.» Kyle looked worried. «How do we know that Isabel will be out of harm's way just because we're splitting up?» «He's right about that, Maxwell,' Michael said. «We really don't know if your plan will head Isabel away from Liz's vision or toward it.» Max stared at them both blankly. He hadn't thought of it that way.
«Let me try again,' Liz said. «I mean, I can't really control when I get these flashes, but maybe since Isabel already has powers, it will kick-start things.» Max knew that she had avoided touching Isabel at all since the second time she had the vision.
Isabel's face clouded over. «Are you sure? You said you saw some pretty gruesome stuff.» Liz smiled wanly. «Yeah. What's the worst that could happen? I'll yak up my Starship Chicken Burger?» «We shouldn't do this outside,' Max said, remembering how Liz's earlier flashes of prescience had made her cry out and fall temporarily unconscious. He gestured with his head over toward the van, where Maria was sipping her drink and glaring daggers his way. «Michael, you want to make sure it's safe back at the bus?» Michael gulped and stood, brushing crumbs off his Tshirt. «Sure thing, Maxwell.» Michael sauntered over toward the VW, licking the frenchfry grease off of his fingers. Sometimes it seemed he just couldn't do anything right with Maria. He had tried to stick up for her and she had turned it into an attack.
It was par for the course of their relationship. Ever since the beginning it had been rocky, although he couldn't really blame her at the start; their first lengthy interaction had been when he'd hijacked her mother's car with her in it and forced her to drive to a place he'd thought held the secrets of his alien origins.
Despite all of their romantic ups and downs, Michael loved Maria fiercely. They had tried to be apart many times over the past several years, and yet they were always pulled back together, as if they were magnetically charged.
Their relationship didn't have the star-crossed Romeo and Juliet nature that Max and Liz's had, or the domestic bliss that Isabel and Jesse had enjoyed. Michael realized that he and Maria thrived on conflict, as if overcoming adversity fueled the fires of love. But every now and then, he wished their romance could be simpler.
«Hey,' he said, reaching out for her hand. She didn't take his, so he forced the issue. He took hers and crouched to look at her eyes, since she was refusing to look up.
«You're staying with me, Maria.» «Oh, so Max caved in, huh?» she asked, her voice still whiny.
«It didn't take much.» He caught her gaze and looked deeply into her eyes. «I was trying to stick up for you back there. In my own twisted way, I was saying that my love for you is as important as his love is for Liz.» «I know. I just…» Maria's lip quivered, and she began to cry.
Michael stood up and hugged her close. «Hey, it's okay.» Very gently, he patted her hair.
She finally pulled away and looked up at him, disengaging her hand from his to wipe the back of it under her eyes. «I'm not crying because of what happened before.
Well, maybe because of that. But also because you just said how much you love me.» «I tell you I love you a lot,' Michael said. At least it felt like he did.
«Yeah, but you compared your love to theirs. Liz and Max are like this cosmic Romeo and Juliet that's so different from us. We're more like Sandy and Danny in Grease.» Michael laughed hard. It seemed like it was the first time he had laughed in ages.
