The Air Tonight

By Danielle

Disclaimers: All the Roswell Characters belong to people other than me. I am just borrowing them for my own evil machinations. Though I am not making any money, so there is no need to arrest me or anything.

Notes: Okay, I know there have been a bunch of alternate ending and missing scene to "Blind Date". I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in, because I know this is how I wanted it to end. So from the end of the episode, this fic takes off into a kind of Alternate Universe. It's just my imagination running away with me, so please play along.

Part 1

They walked solemnly through the quiet streets of Roswell, Michael kicking stray rocks and Isabel peeking up at her sad friend now and then. "Michael, it'll be okay. We'll find him eventually."

"How do you know that? We could be stuck here forever."

"Don't talk like that Michael. We'll know someday. I promise." She stepped closer to him, throwing an arm around his dejected shoulders. "Why don't we go to the dance? It'll be fun. It'll take our minds off Nacedo."

Michael shrugged in that non-committal way he had. Isabel took that as a yes and led them through the center of town toward the hall where the slow music was emanating from.

As they entered the room, they couldn't help but notice that the entire place was hushed, listening to the music, swaying mindlessly to the beat. The band was good. They were playing an old Phil Collins cover at the moment. Isabel worked her way over to her friend Kim, whom she saw out of the corner of her eye. "Hey Kim."

The girl nearly burst out of her skin at the sight of the tall blond. "Oh my god, Isabel, you missed it!"

"Missed what?"

"Your brother!"

Isabel was stunned. "What did he do?"

"It was so crazy, you wouldn't even believe it! They all came back from the Blind Date thing and Kyle and Max were with Liz and the dream date. And they DJ was saying how Liz needed to pick one of them, so they all got to say something, but then Max just grabbed her and kissed her! I thought I would die- I never knew your brother was such a romantic."

Isabel shook her head to clear it. What the hell was Kim talking about? Max would never do something like that in public. "Where is Max now? I have to talk to him."

"He just left. But he was hanging out with Kyle before. Maybe you can ask him where Max went. If he's done puking. They were so drunk!" Kim chuckled and walked off with another of Is's friends, leaving Isabel standing there dumbfounded. Max drunk? And hanging out with Kyle? This was bad- more than bad. She turned around, scanning the room for Michael. She finally spotted him standing in the exact same position, as he had been when she walked away.

Storming over to him, she grabbed his arm. "Michael, we've got problems. Max was drinking and hanging out with Kyle tonight. He could have told him something- we need to find them both. Michael?"

Even when she had touched him, he hadn't stopped staring at the stage. She shook him, hard. He snapped at her. "What it your problem, Is?"

"Didn't you hear a word I just said?"

"No, I was listening to the band." Her brows knit together as she looked at him in utter confusion. The band was what he was thinking about at a time like this?

She turned and followed his gaze to the stage, and her mouth dropped open. It was Alex. Alex's band was the one that was playing. And they were really good. She looked over at the main microphone and nearly fainted when she saw who was singing. No wonder Michael was transfixed.

He began to mutter. "She's amazing."

Isabel had to agree. "Yeah, she's really good. Did you know that Maria could sing?"

He shook his head. "No. I didn't," was all he could force out of his mouth, since at the moment he was practically holding his breath.

"Well, as much as I would very much like to listen to the rest of the show, we have to find Max. C'mon." She tugged on his arm, but he refused to budge. It was like he was in a trance. Isabel sighed and let go of him. He would be of no use to her right now anyway. And he'd had enough problems for one night- let him have some fun. She turned and walked toward the rear of the building to see if she could spot her brother or Kyle, leaving Michael to listen with baited breath.

When he had walked in the door and looked up at the stage, his breath had caught in his throat. Maria. She looked amazing in that outfit- the tight leather pants and that sequined tube top thing. Wow. And as if looking at her hadn't been enough, the sultry sounds that were coming out of her mouth turned his insides to Jell-O.

When had all this happened? When had she turned into this beautiful siren? He wasn't sure. But he knew he couldn't stay away any longer. Stone wall be damned- he wanted- hell, he needed Maria DeLuca. And he intended to have her.

Part 2

He waited for her after the show, which had lasted a good hour and a half. She had been fantastic- beautiful, amazing, gorgeous voice. He stood outside the back room, waiting for her to emerge. He'd seen all the guys leave to go put their equipment away. He knew she was in there alone, but he was almost afraid to knock. It would be like disturbing the new image he had of her in his mind.

He waited another 5 minutes, and when she still hadn't appeared he decided to go in after her. Knocking quietly, he waited for a response from behind the door.

He heard the scurry of someone getting dressed and the pounding of angry feet on the floor. "Dammit, Alex, I told you guys to give me 10 minutes to change and…" The door flew open, and she stood there in jeans, barefoot, with her shirt only half buttoned. "Oh, Michael. What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" he asked quietly.

She looked perplexed, but nodded her head, opening the door a bit wider to give him access to the room. He stepped past her and turned to face her as she did the same. Her back was to the door, and he reached behind her, slowly pushing it closed. Her eyes widened as she saw what he was doing, and she began to stammer, "Michael, what are you… I mean… why…" She never finished the sentence.

He was moving forward, closer to her, arms straight out on either side of her neck. She stepped back, not knowing what he was up to, but inhaled sharply as her back hit the door. His palms pressed into the wood on both sides of her, trapping her in front of him. She gulped as she noticed the look in his eyes.

"Michael, I… have to finish changing…" His words cut her off.

"Why didn't you tell me you could sing?" he whispered, mouth inches from hers.

"I didn't think you'd care?" was all she could squeak out, as she felt the heat from his body pressing closer to hers.

"But I do care, Maria. I care about you. About us."

She swallowed again, hard, and mumbled, "You do?"

"Yes, I do. I just never realized how much until tonight." He pressed his lips to hers, the feeling familiar and missed.

Her eyes slipped closed as his tongue snaked out and slid into her mouth. She groaned slightly as his hands slipped off the doorframe and came to rest on her waist, slightly caressing the area right above her hips.

She had been too stunned to move at first, but now her hands buried themselves in his hair, pulling him closer, needing the feel of his body pressed against hers. He sucked on her bottom lip as she ran her hands down his neck and across his shoulders. His fingers trickled upwards, under the shirt she had never finished buttoning, until they caressed her stomach, kneading her ribcage.

Michael moved his mouth to her neck, licking and nipping his way across her collarbone to the other side of her throat. Neither of them had felt this way in so long, since the Eraser Room. The tension had been mounting between them for weeks now, and finally they were ready to set it free.

Both sets of hands slipped lower; Maria's sliding under his black tee shirt to feel the skin of his chest and belly. His hands moved to her posterior, pulling upwards until she caught the hint and let him lift her. She curled her legs around his waist, and he leaned her backwards, using the door to support them both. His fingers had just reached the button on her jeans when a loud knock at the door nearly caused him to drop her.

"Maria? Are you done in there? We're ready to leave," called Alex.

Gathering her wits, she blurted out, "No. I'm not finished. Did you need something?" She pressed her finger to Michael's lips to tell him to be quiet.

"No, I don't need anything. I was just saying goodbye. Great job tonight. See you at the garage tomorrow afternoon?"

Michael's lips on her neck made it hard for her to concentrate on her answer, but she managed to say, "Thanks, you too. I'll see you at four. Bye."

They heard his footsteps echo down the corridor and she let out a sigh of relief. Michael grinned. "Where were we?" he asked as he moved to kiss her again.

She held out her hand, pushing it against his chest. "Not so fast Spaceboy."

Part 3

"What's wrong?" he asked breathily. "Did I do something?"

Grabbing her socks and sneakers, and starting to put them on, she huffily replied, "Yes you did something! What the hell was that?"

He looked confused. "What do you mean?"

She stared at him openmouthed and began shoving things into her bag. "What do you mean what do I mean? You just waltz in here and expect me to jump back into your arms without an explanation? What happened to 'I've got to be a stone wall?'"

Sheepishly he looked away. "I just realized some things tonight."

"Things? Care to enlighten me?" She grabbed her keys and walked out the dressing room door, now fully clothed.

Michael followed her. "Where are you going?"

"To my car. I'll give you a ride home if you tell me what these things you realized are. We can talk on the drive over there."

He stopped walking, wondering if he should go with her. But his eyes caught sight of her as she walked away, and he couldn't help noticing how great she looked from behind. He nearly tripped over his own feet to catch up with her.

~~~~~

In the car 10 minutes later, neither had spoken. Maria had been waiting for him to broach the subject, and Michael had been waiting for her. They were nearly to his trailer when she could no longer take the silence.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"No. I mean, yes. I don't know."

"You don't know if you're going to tell me?"

"No, I don't know how to tell you, actually."

"Well you could start by telling me why you decided to lift our no contact rule without telling me."

He shifted nervously in his seat, fidgeting with the seatbelt. This was going to be hard to explain. "I... just...something happened tonight that made me change my mind about some things."

"Could you vague that up for me?"

He rolled his eyes and stared out the window. "Forget it."

Maria slammed her foot on the accelerator, her ire growing steadily. "No, Michael, I won't forget it. What the hell is going on with you? One minute you drag me into the eraser room, the next you're telling me we can't be together. Then you get sick and I help you, for which you try to thank me, but end up informing me that you can't get indebted to anyone. A week later, you wrestle some huge guy to help me & my mom out. Are you schizophrenic?"

He chuckled. Only Maria could get that statement out in one breath. "No. I'm not schizophrenic."

"Then what is it?" She practically shouted the last statement as they pulled up to his house.

He opened the door and was on his way in to the trailer before she could shut off the car. She whipped open the door and stood, loudly asking, "What happened to no more running?"

He froze. He had said that hadn't he. And he meant it. It was just that this was a very difficult situation for him. It was so hard to talk about his emotions. Stiffly he turned and looked back at her. "Do you want to come in and talk about this? Hank's working nights this week."

She stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut, slipping her keys into her front pocket. She strode purposefully toward the trailer where Michael lived and entered as he held the door open for her.

Part 4

Once inside, Maria flopped down on one of their old couches, waiting. Michael opened the refrigerator and asked her if she wanted a drink. She shook her head no, and he grabbed a soda and sat down in an armchair across from her.

"So what happened tonight, besides Max's drunken meltdown?"

Michael studied the floor as he spoke. "Isabel and I tried to send Nacedo a signal."

Maria's eyes widened at that announcement. "Oh my god, Michael! Did it work? Is he coming? Did you get to meet him?" Her enthusiasm on his behalf made him smile.

"No, he didn't show up. It didn't work." He took a sip of his drink and watched as her face fell.

She reached out her hand and placed it over his. "Michael, I'm sorry. I know how much you wanted to find him."

"Thanks." He cleared his throat. "After he didn't show up, I was kind of down, and Isabel dragged me to the dance. When I heard you singing, Maria, it just made me feel better for some reason. Because I thought about it, and I knew that besides Max and Izzy, the only person in this world who cares at all if I live or die is you."

She opened her mouth to speak, but he silenced her with a look. "Maria, I am sorry I've been such a jerk to you. It's just that, well you make me feel things that I don't always understand. I thought I wanted to go home, but when Nacedo didn't come for us, it just made me realize that I should be making more of a life for myself here. I don't have anyone right now. But I want to. I want you to be in my life, Maria."

A tear dropped from her eye, and she looked up at him. She had never heard such an honest declaration from anyone in her life. "Michael, I don't know what to say."

"Just tell me you'll think about it, okay?"

"Okay. I'll think about it." She noticed her hand was still covering his, and he shifted it and brought her palm to his lips for a kiss. She smiled and leaned forward off the couch, kneeling before him and enveloping him in her arms.

He buried his face in the top of her head, smelling her hair and kissing her forehead. Her mouth was at the crook of his neck, and he could feel her warm breath and her wet tears on his skin. Slowly, her lips began to move over his pulse point, and his hands caressed her back.

Dragging her up to sit in his lap, he kissed her earnestly, with all the feeling he had been bottling up for the past 16 years. She felt so warm in his arms, so safe. She wanted nothing more than to have him hold her like this for the rest of her life. He pulled away slightly, his hand coming up to cup her cheek, and he looked into her eyes intensely. Their foreheads pressed together and she lowered her lashes, uncomfortable with his stare. Quietly she whispered, "Yes."

Moving in to kiss her earlobe, he asked, "Yes, what?"

"Yes, I'll be a part of your life. It's all I've ever wanted, Michael. I'm glad you finally decided to let me in."

He smiled. "Me too." He hugged her tightly, holding on to her as if his life depended on it. She grasped him just as fiercely, knowing that from now on, things were going to be much different between them.

Questions, Comments, Feedback to Danielle

Back to Danielle's Roswell Fic Page