Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me, but to the writers and producers of Roswell
Spoilers: After Chant Down Babylon, changes happening where Max is successfully rescued,
and it was Michael who broke up with Maria
Loving Destiny Chapter One****
It is in the touching of one with another
That we become most fully ourselves
- Marilyn Sewell
****
"How are you?" Jesse asked, kissing Isabel's neck.
Isabel smiled at him through the reflection of their vanity mirror. She wiped the bottom of her glossy crimson lips and looked at her husband. He looked at her so concerned, so worriedly. "Jesse, honey, I'm fine," Isabel sighed.
~~~
It had taken several days to recover from the near-death injuries sustained from the rescue mission. Through her restless days of bed rest, Isabel couldn't quite help worry over the state of her marriage. Things had been unsettled between herself and Jesse before that night, but now Jesse knew their secret. When Max had held her hand and told her the news, Isabel immediately tried to find Jesse. Unfortunately, Isabel had been weakened by the injuries that Max had little, but to push her down with his pinkie finger to restrain her.
She had been frantic when Jesse never came home. Isabel knew his rage toward people who would lie and betray him. She had found that out when one of his best friends tried to write an expose on Max, Isabel, and Michael. He freaked out and never spoke to him again. This was the reason when Jesse returned, calm and loving, it scared Isabel. She'd never seen him this detached. He felt so distant and then suddenly one night Jesse explained calmly that his several talks and arguments with Max and Michael had just about sorted everything out between the two of them. They had explained to him how she had wanted to tell him. Jesse understood. He had forgiven her.
~~~
"Are you sure? I mean I can stay home from work one more day," Jesse offered.
Isabel shook her head and kissed his inviting lips. "I'll be fine. Liz and Maria are probably dropping by with some more, ugh, chicken soup."
Jesse nodded and took hold of his briefcase, "You know you can call me at work anytime, right?"
Isabel tucked a lock of her auburn hair behind her ear. "I'll be fine!"
After Jesse looked at her skeptically, for at least the millionth time, Isabel managed to convince Jesse to leave. "Dad's probably swamped down a the office. I'll be fine!" Isabel laughed as she pushed him out the door.
Isabel slumped against the wooden frame. She was exhausted. There were so many things running through her mind. First, Isabel didn't know what to make of Jesse's behavior. Isabel didn't understand how Jesse could have just accepted the knowledge that she, his wife, was an alien. Sometimes even Isabel still thought it was just a dream. Secondly, Isabel hadn't quite resolved what to make of Michael's ability to wake her up. Everything within her had changed, or should Isabel say, 'remembered' her strong connection to Michael and her alien roots.
Suddenly Isabel remembered that she had a list of things, errands, to do. She grabbed her purse and the list of undone tasks that Isabel didn't trust Jesse to do. After all, he was a man.
Isabel would just have to put her worrying aside for the moment, until the errands were complete. So many things so little time!
~~~
Michael twisted the cap off his pink lemonade Snapple. It wasn't his favorite, but he'd already drank the ones he liked from the variety pack. He always told himself that 'next time' he would drink the pink lemonade first and save his favorite for last, but that never seemed to happen.
"Michael!" Maria called through his apartment door.
"Yeah what?" he replied.
"Well I'd tell you if you'd unlock this door!" Maria retorted.
He hated when Maria yelled. He hated when Maria would glare at him. He hated when Maria would expect him to read her mind. Michael sighed. He might be an alien, but he was no mind reader. There were a lot of things he hated doing, or being forced into. Sometimes Michael didn't quite understand why he put up with it.
As Michael opened the door, Maria stood in front of him in a pair of black leather pants and a red tank top. Oh yeah. That's why! And Michael smiled. "So it's unlocked. What's up? Is there an alien bounty hunter chasing you around in matching black leather pants? If so, why lead him to me?" Michael grinned.
Maria's eyes rolled. "Ha ha. That was so funny I forgot to laugh," Maria said drolly as she walked into the unkempt and very cluttered apartment.
Michael shook his head and closed the door. "Yeah. So what are you doing here again?"
Maria sat on the couch and grabbed his Snapple. "Ooh! Pink lemonade. My favorite."
Michael gritted his teeth. That was his last Snapple! And his budget didn't allow him another purchase until next week. Michael walked over and pinched it back. "Hey, that's my last one!"
Since he'd started working and actually paying for his Snapple, after the last fiasco, Michael decided he would learn to budget. Now he didn't always stick to it, like he wouldn't tomorrow, after buying another case of Snapple, but it was the idea that he had a budget that counted.
"Well, you don't have to freak out Michael, it's not like I couldn't buy you another one…"
"What are you doing here?" Michael interrupted her.
Ever since they'd broken up, Maria seemed to be around even more than when they'd been dating. It was eerie.
"I wanted to let you know that I'm singing at a club outside Roswell on Friday," Maria explained excitedly.
Michael could only stair. "Okay. I'll be there. Now can you leave me, and my Snapple alone? I just got off work," he pointed to his disheveled uniform, "and was going to take my late afternoon nap."
Maria growled in frustration. "Oh forgive me for wanting to share this with someone I care about."
Michael took a deep breath and put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm happy for you Maria, really. I'm just grouchy when I don't get my beauty sleep," he apologized.
"That happens a lot then, huh?" Maria sighed. "Cause Michael I hate to break it to ya, but you're always grouchy."
Michael smiled. "I guess so. See ya!" Michael waved as he closed the door.
"Friday at 8!" Maria yelled on the closing door.
Michael took a swig of the sour Snapple and then rubbed his tired eyes. He was actually tired. It wasn't just a ploy to get rid of Maria. Not that that was exactly what he wanted.
Michael headed towards his bedroom, stripping off his confining uniform. He still cared for Maria. If he didn't, he wouldn't have broken up with her. Over and over, time and time again; everything seemed like a fight. Michael could never get it right with her. It just didn't seem like being with someone you loved should have been so hard. And every passing day with Maria seemed like work. If he wanted to compare it with other relationships, like Liz and Max, which wasn't exactly a match made in heaven in the first place, even they seemed to be able to have whole conversations where they didn't fight or have to apologize for some dumb thing or another.
In the end, Maria just didn't understand. From the beginning of this entire Maxwell fiasco, Michael always held the opinion that his life didn't fit the human world. He'd always felt like the outsider, not just because he was an alien, although that was a large part of it. Michael wanted a home and it didn't seem possible to find it here with scared humans ready to lynch them.
Now it had been a long time since then, and Michael had found friendships in the oddest and wonderful places. But some part of him continued to whisper, 'You aren't human. You have a destiny. You have a love. Nothing is as it should be…find your destiny.'
Michael fell into his bed and closed his eyes. "Destiny," Michael mumbled as he drifted off into slumber. "What is my destiny?"
~~~
Isabel felt a weight lifted off her shoulders as she checked off her last 'thing to do' on her sheet of paper. "Done!"
Isabel smiled widely as she tucked her list into her tiny black purse. "Now I should go home, because I don't want to over do it." She then smiled to herself, "But I'm feeling fine, so I just a couple more errands."
After convincing herself it was okay to drop by the Crashdown, Isabel ran into Max who was looking a little disheveled and somewhat not like himself. "Hey big brother. What are you doing? You look horrible!"
Max seemed surprised to see Isabel. "Ah, I could ask the same about you. I mean, Jesse let you out of the house?" Max frowned.
Isabel laughed. "Of course! And what do you mean by that? Jesse didn't let me out of the house. God Max, what's gotten into you? You don't have to worry about me. What about you? You're the one whose energy, or spirit got usurped. I mean, if Michael hadn't stunned that guy with a blast, you'd be dead."
Max shook his head, "But he did and in the end, you're the one who almost ended up dead!"
Isabel rolled her eyes. "Max, you know I'm fine. So stop worrying about it!"
"But you're still recovering! I mean, you're looking a little pale right now!"
Isabel pinched his cheek. "Don't worry. I'm fine. Besides I just couldn't stay in that bed one more minute. I had a lot of errands to run." Isabel pointed to the car loaded with groceries and cleaning supplies.
Max shook his head. "I mean it Isabel, you need your rest!"
Isabel waved her hand at him dismissively. "Oh please. If I needed mothering I would have gone to Mom and Dad's."
Max groaned and rubbed his face. "Whatever. Just trying to keep you safe," Max mumbled.
"What did you say?" Isabel asked, distracted by the menu.
"Nothing," Max replied.
"Look I have to go!" Isabel explained. "I just came to pick up some supper. Since we've got nothing in the fridge."
Max smiled. "Then why don't you just get it to stay instead?" Max waved Liz over, who had just arrived.
Isabel shook her head. "Nah, I 've got one more errand to run that wasn't on my list. Besides I know you'd rather just hang out with her." Isabel motioned to Liz's smiling face.
"What's up guys?" Liz chirped as she wrapped her arms around Max. "I'm glad to see your well enough to get out bed. Maria and I dropped by this afternoon with some soup, but you weren't home. So we just left it in your mailbox."
Isabel plastered a fake smile on her face and nodded. Pretending to be pleased at the prospect. "Thanks, but I ordered something already. I guess I'll just have to save it for another day!"
Isabel spotted her order and excused herself. Ugh, soup. If I eat any more soup I'll kill myself. She glanced at the sick display of PDA. Isabel wasn't quite sure why it repulsed her so; to watch Max and Liz snuggling. It had always been like that, but especially now. They just seemed wrong together. But nowadays, everything seemed wrong to her. Or should she say, nothing seemed right?
~~~
Michael woke up to the sounds of clinking and scrunching of paper. He crept silently to the living room/kitchen. As he woke himself from his drowsy state, Michael jumped out from his room ready to use force on the intruder. "What do you want?" Michael screamed at the perpetrator.
"Ahhh!" Isabel screamed, dropping the wet dishcloth in her hand.
Michael's body relaxed at the sight of Isabel. "Isabel?"
"Michael don't you EVER do that to me AGAIN!" Isabel warned menacingly, rubbing her temples. "You scared me half to death!"
Michael bit his lip and walked into the kitchen. "It's not my fault I thought you were a crook!" he mumbled. "Did I really scare you that badly?"
Michael looked worriedly over at Isabel. Isabel hit him on the shoulder. "Not if you don't scream at me again," Isabel grimaced.
Michael didn't know what to do. He knew she'd just barely recovered from the 'healing' and wanted to sit her down on the couch. But Michael knew Isabel better than that. If he even mentioned it, Isabel would have a conniption. :"Fine. What are you doing here anyway?" Michael asked, taking the recovered dishcloth out of her hand.
Isabel finally stopped looking for another dishcloth to clean up the counter, realizing that he only had one. "I just thought I'd drop by," Isabel replied non-chalantly. "Hey, I'm kind of thirsty. Can I have something to drink?"
Michael shook his head. "I'm out of Snapple," Michael apologized.
"Are you sure?" Isabel asked slyly.
Michael nodded his head adamantly. "Yes! I had the last one…" Michael stopped as he went to open the refrigerator door. As the light shone throughout the fridge, it revealed two whole stocked shelves of Snapple. "What the heck?"
Michael looked at a grinning Isabel. "Surprise!"
Michael could have kissed her. "How'd ya know?"
"I just had a feeling," Isabel winked. "And I changed the pink lemonade to raspberry." Isabel grinned proudly.
Michael frowned. "How?"
Isabel shrugged. "What do you mean how?"
"I mean how'd you change all the pink lemonade to raspberry? They all come in complete packs."
Isabel made a funny face, somewhat a pitying look. "Michael, you can switch the kinds at the store, you know?"
Michael seemed stunned by the revelation. "And all this…"
Suddenly Isabel became faint and leaned against the kitchen counter.
"Are you all right?" Michael cried frantically, taking her by the elbow and guiding her to the couch.
Isabel nodded her head. "Don't make a fuss. I'll be fine. I'm probably dehydrated or something."
Michael wasn't so sure of that. "Are you sure it isn't because you're running around and carried at least 3 cases of Snapple up 2 flights of stairs?" Michael chided.
Isabel glared at Michael for being sarcastic. "Don't start. I'm not a baby people need to take care of. I'll be fine if you get me something to drink."
Michael grabbed a grape Snapple and handed it to Isabel who had reclined on the couch with her eyes closed. "Here," Michael whispered.
Isabel opened her eyes cautiously. "Thanks," she smiled as she sat up.
"Are you sure…"
Isabel interrupted him. "Yes, I don't need anyone hovering over me. Now please Michael, please stop asking!"
Michael raised his hands in surrender. "All right. All right. Are you leaving right away? Cause if you are I can drive you home."
Isabel ran her hand through her reddish brown hair. "Yeah," she looked at her watch. "I should probably get going."
"Where's your keys?"
Isabel handed Michael the alien keychain, holding her car keys and followed him out the door.
~~~
Michael had arrived at the Ramirez residence and when he looked over at Isabel she was asleep. He lifted Isabel out of the car and gently carried her to the house. Isabel's head rested lightly against Michael's chest, her hair smelled of lavender and chamomile. He held her tightly as he maneuvered the key into the door lock.
When Michael finally opened the door, he carried Isabel to her bedroom. She began to stir as Michael tucked her into bed. Suddenly Michael found himself running his hand through her hair, which surprisingly sent her back to sleep. The moment was fleeting but Michael couldn't help but smile. It was almost instinct. Michael knew how to calm her, how to make her smile.
He shook his head. What was he thinking?