“MICHAEL!” Maria screamed while starting to charge the man with her own vengeance.

“NO! Maria! Don’t do anything! He can hit me all he wants. Just as long as he doesn’t hurt you!” Maria looked into his eyes, and they both shared a sad, worried look. They were both scared. Scared to death. Mostly for each other and what the man was going to do to them.

“Aw, how very noble of you Michael. But you can’t protect her forever. Remember, she’s with me while your not sleeping. Oh, the fun we’ve had together. Isn’t that right Maria?”Maria started to back away. She forgot how close she was to the man while running up to help Michael. Michael looked into her eyes and saw that she was crying. He felt terrible. He had to protect her no matter what! How could he go the rest of the day not sleeping now? “But sadly, we can’t have you joining our little party. We had others in mind...but they got away. But no, we can’t have you ruining the fun. Although this is kind of fun for me...” The man started the think. “No, I’m afraid I’m just going to have to kill you.” The man said as he approached Michael who was still on the floor.

“NO! Leave him alone!” Maria said while running up to the man again, hitting him furiously. But the man just chuckled at Maria’s attempt to hurt him and he threw her onto the ground also. Then the man kicked Michael hard in the stomach. Michael and Maria looked into each others eyes as they laid on the floor. Maria reached out to him with her arm as the man continued to kick Michael. They both still couldn’t tell who the man was. It was always to dark. But never dark enough for them not to see each other. Michael lay there, helpless on the ground as the man continued to kick him in the stomach. He had always taken beatings from Hank. But this man was a lot stronger. It was like he couldn’t move. The man saw Maria reaching out to Michael and turned his attention to her. And then Michael reached out to Maria too.

“Aw. How sweet. What did you want some of this too?” He said while kicking her in the stomach. Michael saw the pain on Maria’s face. It look excruciating. Suddenly he felt like he could move again. He was after all, raged with fury.

“NO! Leave her alone you son of a bitch!” He said as he lunged for the man, but got thrown back down once again. That was becoming to much of a habit. He didn’t realize that he could get any more scared, until the man pulled out a knife.

“Oh, that was a bad idea Michael. I told you to stay out of this and go away. But no! You had to be Mr. Hero. Now your gonna pay.” The man started to approach Michael and drew back his knife. While he was about to stab Michael, Maria pushed him so the knife only cut him, instead of being a fatal wound. The knife entered his side slightly. If Maria hadn’t pushed him...

Maria pushed him so hard, he fell onto the ground himself too. Michael and Maria quickly held onto each other tightly. It was the first time they had been able to. They looked into each other’s eyes again with an intense loving stare. Michael’s head turned slightly.

“I hear them. Max. Isabel. They’re calling for me. Are they here too?”

“Your leaving me again...they’re waking you up.” she said sadly. “I’ll be back. I won’t let him hurt you again. Do you hear me? I would die for you. I love you to much.”

“I love you.” And they hugged each other tightly once more before Michael left, as if they would never be able to hold each other again. “Come back for me. Please.” Maria said as a tear went down her cheek.”

“Always.” And with that, Michael was gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They had all been sleeping soundly after a very long worrisome day. Until that is, Michael started screaming.

“NO! LEAVE HER ALONE!” It scared the shit out of Max. Him and Alex suddenly sat up startled to see Michael on the floor on the other side of Max’s bed, screaming bloody murder. He was shaking too. He wouldn’t lay still. Michael just kept tossing and turning.

“Oh my God! Max! What are we gonna do?? Look at him!” They both went to Michael’s side trying to calm him down.

“Michael! It’s Max. Your going to be ok. Snap out of it.”

“NO! Maria! Don’t do anything! He can hit me all he wants. Just as long as he doesn’t hurt you!” Michael screamed. But thankfully not as loud as before. Max and Alex turned their heads to see Isabel and Liz standing in the doorway. Liz had her mouth dropped.

“Oh my God...” she said softly. Her and Isabel quickly joined Max and Alex at Michael’s side.

“We can’t control him. He won’t stop moving.”

“What is happening to him?? He’s like flinching or something. Is he hitting him??” Isabel said with concern.

“I don’t know Is. I just don’t know.” They looked at Michael reach out his one arm to no one.

“What is he doing Max?” Liz said.

“I don’t know. Michael. Snap out of it. It’s gonna be ok. Come back to us!”

“NO LEAVE HER ALONE YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

“Woah.” Alex said.

“If he keeps that up, he’s going to wake up mom and dad!”

“Is he...is he hurting Maria now??” Liz said turning to Alex.

“Oh my God. Guys, he’s hurting them. We have to do something!” Isabel said. Michael then winced and touched his side. “Look at his side! Is that blood?!?”

“Alex, go get some towels or something.” Alex nodded and left the room. “Isabel, help me with Michael. Michael. It’s us. Come back to us.”

“Michael I’m really worried. Come back. Please! I don’t know what we’d do without you.” Michael started to stop moving around so much and began to look somewhat calm. He was waking up. Michael rolled over onto his side and slowly opened his eyes. Yup. He was still in Max’s room, away from Maria. Michael suddenly realized how much his stomach hurt. He felt like he was going to puck. That man sure was stronger than Hank was. Then Michael remembered that he tried to stab him. He felt his side and brought his hand up to his face. Blood. He tried to remember what happened. Maria. She pushed him out of the way so he missed. Then he remembered the worst of the dream. Maria. He left Maria with that man. And he said he was going to kill her. To make things worse, he had left her again. Who knows what he’d do to her. Michael then saw everyone’s eyes glued onto him.

“Why the hell did you wake me up?!?!?” Max was startled by this. Not expecting Michael to want to stay there.

“You were screaming, and you wouldn’t stop moving. I’ve never seen you like that before. We were all afraid. And you were hurt. We had to get you out of there.”

“Great job Maxwell. Did it ever occur to you that I was protecting Maria?? He was hurting her! Who knows what he’ll do to her now!” Michael felt a chill go up his spine. “And he had a knife. But it’s not like he needs it. Hell, he can throw you across the room like that.”

“Well, let us at least fix you up. Your bleeding pretty bad and your eye is starting to get a bruise.” Isabel said with care.

“Fine.” Max and Isabel started to do their handiwork. Michael didn’t care about himself. He was safe. Maria wasn’t. “He said he...” Michael let out a sigh. “He said he was going to kill Maria. And me.”

“Oh, my God! Max, what are we going to do!?”

“I don’t know. We’ll think of something. We just have to figure out where she is.”

“How are we gonna do that?”

“Isabel could dreamwalk.” They all looked at Liz. “She could dreamwalk Maria.”

“I can only do it when they’re asleep. And I doubt Maria’s sleeping right now.”

“Then maybe she could go into Michael’s dream.”

“But what about Isabel?? If Michael can get hurt, Isabel probably would be able too.” “But Alex, what Liz is saying is that maybe he won’t know she’s there. I mean, Is, didn’t you say one time that you couldn’t affect the outcome of the dreams?”

“Yeah, but Max. This isn’t a regular dream. Michael and Maria have a connection. It’s totally different. We don’t know if this guy will know I’m there or not.”

“Well, it’s up to you Is. Your call.” Isabel looked at Michael.

“I’ll do it. What else are we going to do?”

“Is, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. It’s not exactly fun in there.”

“What else are we gonna do? Didn’t you say you could barely ever talk to Maria? Then I could talk to her, maybe get her to remember what happened. Something. Anything. That will give us a clue as to where she is.”

“Well, don’t come in right away. Maybe I can ask her myself. If I start screaming, then you can come in. There’s a chance that you may get hurt if you come in. That way, you’ll be my back up. But I’m warning you Is, It’s not going to be a picnic in there.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Like Michael could fall back asleep after a dream like that. Especially when he wanted to beat the crap out of that man for hitting Maria. And he was afraid for her. He didn’t care if he got beat up, it would keep her safe for a longer time. So, that made him want to go to sleep. But it wouldn’t be easy. That was quite a disturbing dream. And as soon as he fell asleep, he’d be right back there. But then, he could protect Maria. Michael sighed. The others had left the room so he could try to sleep. Eventually when they thought that he would be asleep, they would come back into the room and watch him. See if he needed Isabel’s help. Which he probably would Michael figured. But he couldn’t let Isabel get hurt too. He can’t protect them both and himself. But Maria came first he decided. Michael started to think about Maria as he drifted off into sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Maria? Maria, can you hear me? Where are you?”

“Michael!” Maria ran up to Michael and hugged him tightly, trying to make him stay with her forever. She then joyfully planted kisses everywhere on his face and neck. “You came back for me. You didn’t have to but you did.”

“Of course I did. Did you think I was going to leave you in this horrible place forever? It’s not every day that I mee~” Michael couldn’t get another word out, Maria stopped him by giving him a long deep kiss. “Maria, as much as I want to kiss you for hours on end, and you know I do, but we don’t have much time. Where’s Nasedo?”

“Nasedo? Is that who has me? I can never see him close enough. It’s always to dark.”

“That’s what we think anyways. But we could be wrong.” Michael noticed her left eye starting to develop a bruise. “Maria.” He cupped her face. “Did he do that to you?” She simply nodded and looked down sadly. “Where is he? I’m gonna kill him!”

“I don’t know, after you left, he hit me and went away.”

“Well, let me try to heal you then.”

“No! Don’t do anything! Then he’ll know you came back for me. And this is all I have to hope for Michael. You coming to visit me in your dreams. He said the more often you come back. The more often, he’ll hit me. But it’s worth it.”

“Does he hurt you all the time?”

“No, not much. But I’m still terrified of him.”

“Hey, it’ll be ok.” Michael said while hugging Maria once again. “We’re gonna get you out of here. We’re already working on a plan. But Maria. Think. What happened? Where did he take you?”

“I don’t know. I was sleeping and...and you came into my room. At least I thought it was you...And he had already tied up my feet and hands. By the time I woke up, I saw you.” she said sadly. “And you had a knife and covered up my mouth up with your hand. I tried to get free, I really did. But he got me and took me to wherever we are now.”

“That had to be terrible. I’m so sorry Maria.”

“No, it was terrible, but I knew it wasn’t you. I looked into his eyes and saw nothing. Not my Michael.”

“If you didn’t know about me, you would never be in this place.”

“No, don’t say that. You’ve changed my life forever.” Michael gave her a look. “I mean, in a good way. I care about you. Which is why I’m so happy right now in this horrible place. Because your here. But Michael, I have this weird feeling that we’ve been here before.”

“Where we are now?”

“Yeah, like a few months ago or something. Fairly recently. I don’t know. It’s just some stupid feeling I’m getting right now. This place just seems...familiar. Don’t you feel it?” Michael looked around the darkened room and vaguely saw some rafters hanging from the ceiling.

“Yeah. Your right. Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.”

“I missed you.” she said sweetly.

“I missed you too. You have no idea how much I called your house.”

“I know, you called me. When he left I found my cell phone. And right when I did, it started ringing. I just knew it was you. Just like I know I’ve been here before. But you hung up...”

“Oh that’s right. Max said that we must have made a..connection when we were together when Liz and Max were getting all those flashes. And I called right when Liz and Alex came in frantically after he attacked them.”

“He’s after Liz and Alex too? Oh God..”

“Don’t worry they’re safe. Max and Isabel won’t let them out of their sight again. But do you still have your phone?”

“Not anymore.” she said sadly. “He realized I found it and he..punished me..and then he took it away.”

“Oh, God. Maria. He’s never going to hurt you again. I promise.” Michael said as he held her tighter.

“Just being here with you makes it all better Michael.” They held each other for awhile. Never wanting each other to leave. Maria was afraid he may never come back and then that man may hurt her again. And Michael didn’t want to leave, otherwise, Maria would be alone. They just held each other in silence. They could always communicate best when they didn’t say anything. They were ‘vibrators’ after all. Sending vibes to each other. At the same time, Michael and Maria looked up at each other, into each others soulful eyes, and saw that they were both crying.

“Maria...”

“Michael...”

“What if I can’t come back? What if the best thing that ever happened to me gets hurt? Or goes away...” he said tenderly while cupping her check gently.

“What if you leave me alone forever? What if I never see you again?” she said while looking into his deep brown eyes. They didn’t know the answers to those questions. And frankly, they didn’t want to find out. They sat there, looking into each others eyes for a long moment. “Michael...I really don’t want to talk about it right now...”

“Me either.” Michael and Maria didn’t have to say anything else. They knew what each other was thinking. Michael and Maria kissed each other more passionately then they had ever done before. It might be the last time they ever got a chance to be alone together.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Look at him Max. He looks so peaceful and happy.”

“That’s like the total opposite from before.” Alex said.

“I guess he doesn’t need me for backup. Right Max?” Everyone was crowded around Michael’s resting body. He hadn’t made much movement the entire time.

“I don’t know. He’s been dreaming for awhile. Almost and hour now. He was supposed to just pop in and go. Something may have happened. Maybe you should go check it out Is. That is if you still want to go through with this.”

“Ok. I’ll do it.” Isabel said while lying on Max’s bed. “But Michael’s dreams aren’t the easiest to get into.”

“I know. I know. We’ll pull you out if it starts to look bad. And hey, Is, be careful.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isabel found herself in a dark mysterious room. She looked around for Michael and Maria, and suddenly they were right in front of her. ‘What the?’ Isabel found herself saying. It seemed brighter where Michael and Maria were. Not by much, but it was brighter. When Isabel realized what they were doing, she felt terrible to be walking in on them at this beautiful moment. Isabel smiled. No wonder he didn’t want to wake up. ‘What should I do? Should I just tap Michael on the shoulder or something?’ Isabel approached Michael and Maria as they were kissing. ‘They look so happy’ she thought to herself. ‘Michael’s gonna kill me...’ She continued to approach the kissing couple, still not knowing what to do. But suddenly, she didn’t have to do anything because they knew she was there. They felt her presence. Michael and Maria both stopped kissing and turned their heads at the same time to see a fuzzy version of Isabel.

“Uh..Isabel..hi!” Isabel chuckled slightly at the squeakiness in Maria’s voice as she said ‘hi.’

“Hey Maria...haven’t seen much of you recently.”

“Let me guess. Max sent you? I don’t need backup thank you.”

“We were worried, you looked a little too peaceful. And that was the total opposite from before.” Maria turned to Michael.

“Peaceful huh?” Isabel looked around the room, trying to figure out where they were. She couldn’t see much.

“So, Maria, still think aliens are green and slimy?”

“Ha-ha. Very funny.”

“So, Michael, unless you want to spend forever in dreamworld, and not help us actually get Maria back and you can even the score with him yourself, that’s just fine.”

“I think she’s trying to be subtle and tell me to go.”

“You think?” Michael looked seriously into her eyes.

“I will be back. Don’t worry. We’ll get you out of here as soon as possible. Ok? I love you.” Michael said before giving her a gentle kiss on the lips.

“I love you.” she said, before giving him another longer kiss.

“Ok, you two. Don’t get started again. You both can get a room as soon as this is all over with.” Maria and Michael broke their kiss, and started to laugh a little. They just looked at each other smiling.

“I’ll wait for you. Come soon.”