Scene: Michael is walking beside Maria across a bridge. Michael looks at the intricate designs on the emerald railings. Michael never drew again after his phase with the geodesic domes . That he didn't tell Maria. It had gotten too dangerous. Yet, his trip to Europe had resurfaced his craving to draw again. If only to escape the visions he'd been having lately. He glanced at Maria looking off at some unknown spot in the distance. Michael wondered if he would ever tell her the real reason he came to Europe.

"This is a nice bridge," Michael's voice broke into Maria's reverie.

"Yeah, it is." Maria was still reeling from the reality of being with Michael of all people here in Vienna. The guy she had a secret crush on throughout high school. He had changed over the years, she noticed. He had grown taller and had a put on more muscle. But the look in his eyes was different. She remembered in high school his eyes had a restless quality. Now Michael Guerin looked he was trying desperately to hold onto something . . . for one last memory.

Maria caught Michael's eye and laughed.

"This is kind of weird."

"I know it's kinda awkward," Michael agreed.

"But it's okay right?" Maria looked into his eyes.

"Yeah, come on we're in Vienna let's check out some places."

Michael notices two men with glasses talking at the end of the bridge.

"Hello, uh sprechen sie English?"

"Yes, do you speak German for a change?" The tall, thin man asked straightfaced.

"What?"

"No, it was a joke," he smiled to himself.

"We just got into Vienna and we're looking for something fun to do." Maria spoke up.

The thin man's friend was a head shorter than him and a couple of pounds heavier. The short man looked at his watch. In Maria's mind she nicknamed the thin man 'George' and his short friend 'Lennie'.

"They are closing right now," Lennie said. "How long are you going to be here?"

"Only for tonight," Michael replied.

"What did you come to Vienna today what were you expecting?" George asked.

"We're on honeymoon," Michael made up putting his arm around Maria's waist and pulling her closer to him. Maria felt her body immediately respond to the firm hand that rested on her hip.

"Yeah, I got pregnant. We had to get married," Maria embellished.

"She's due anytime." Michael rubbed his palm over Maria's flat stomach. It felt like the whole world had static energy when she was around Michael. Maria never felt this giddy over a person's touch in a long time.

"No, I don't believe you. You should've stopped at honeymoon," George wagged an accusing finger at them.

Michael and Maria both laughed separating from each other.

"Let's give them a flyer," George whispered to Lennie who agreed.

"This is a play we're both in and we'd like to invite you."

"You're actors?" Maria asked taking the flyers Lennie handed to her.

"We're not professional actors just part time actors for fun," George explained.

"What's it about Michael asked.

"It's about a cow and an Indian searching for his cow," Lennie indicated on the flyer. "Russians, Communists, Mexicans . . ."

"So, you have a real cow on stage," Michael smirked.

"It's an actor in a cow costume."

"And he's the cow," Lennie indicated his friend.

"Yes, I am the cow and he's acting a bit weird . . ."

"The cow has a disease."

"He thinks he's a dog when you throw the stick he catches it and brings it back. The cow can smoke with the hooves," George mimed with his fingers.

"So what time does it start ?" Michael inquired.

"21:30," Lennie answered.

"21:30?" Maria asked mystified.

"9:30," Michael answered her. He remembered from the times Hank would yell at him to get the beer by.

"Yes, see the address it's in the second district."

"Near the Parata. You know the Parata?" George asked.

"Oh the ferris wheel!" Maria exclaimed.

"Yes, the ferris wheel everyone knows the ferris wheel," George laughed.

"We should go there," Maria let her hand rest briefly in the inside of Michael's elbow. Michael felt oddly excited by her small gesture.

"You could go there before the show," Lennie suggested.

"What's the name of the play?" Maria asked.

The two men are both looking at the flyer.

"It translates as," Lennie started.

"Bring Me the Horse," George continued.

"Of Wilmington's Cow" they finished together.

"I'm Wilmington's cow," George said proudly.

"Great," Maria smiled taking a step back

"Will you be there?" Lennie inquired. "We'll try," Michael said.

"I'm the cow," George repeated putting his index fingers on both sides of his head to indicated ears.

Scene: Maria and Michael are sitting in the back of a public bus.

"Hey, I got an idea," Maria exclaimed.

"What?"

"It's Q&A time we've known each other a little while. Now it's time for us to ask a few direct questions."

Michael looked a little put off by this.

"Come on, we can pass the time this way. I'll start off easy and then you can ask me your own questions later on."

Michael raised an eyebrow at her still not thrilled by the idea.

"And you have to answer one hundred percent honestly."

Michael nodded yes.

"Favorite tv show?"

"The View," Michael answered straight faced.

"You do not watch The View!"

"Keeps me in touch with my feminine side." Michael was starting to enjoy annoying Maria. She had a way of crinkling her eyes that made her look so sexy.

"Come on you little fruit tart this is not an inquisition. Its me you're talking to. Jeez, the way you act sometimes is like everyone's the enemy or something."

"Okay, okay I'll answer one hundred percent honestly," Michael's voiced tensed a degree.

Maria just smiled at him triumphant.

"Favorite ice cream?"

"Pistachio."

"Favorite book?"

"Ulysses."

"No wonder you knew it so well."

"I have a good memory," Michael explained.

"I'll bet," Maria replied "Hardly in school and you still graduated with honors."

"So you did noticed me in high school," Michael stated putting his arm around Maria. She seemed to be pleased by his move.

"The days that you were actually there I did," Maria cut back her eyes dancing.

"How come we never said anything to each other," Michael wondered out loud. He winced internally having said that. He knew why he couldn't reach out, but he wanted to know why Maria didn't make any moves. She did say she noticed him.

"I guess, because I was kind of afraid of going up to you back then. You never talked to anyone else besides Max and Isabel . . . and you seemed like you didn't want to be known by anyone else."

Maria remembered the time she dropped her books around their usual table in the quad. She'd been so embarrassed with Michael staring at her.

"Are you still afraid now?" Michael asked her softly.

"No, I'm not." Maria replied quietly looking up at Michael.

Scene: We see the sign of a music store. The letters spell out Alt & Neu in bold blue letters. Inside the store Michael is looking through a stack of vinyls. He picks one out of the pile, Metallica's S&M album. Maria glances over at his choice.

"I have this already on cd. "Hero of the Day" is one of my favorites."

Maria nods at this as her eyes fall on a particular one. She picks it out of the pile so Michael could see.

"Have you ever heard of this singer?"

Michael shakes his head no.

"I think she's one of those old singers from like the twenties, a friend of mine told me about her." "Do you want to go and see if the listening booth still works?" Michael pointed towards the listening booth in the back of the store.

"Sure."

Scene: We see Maria put the music on as she settles herself next to Michael. All we can see on the screen is a view of Maria and Michael from the chest up. They stand shoulder to shoulder within the small space of the booth.

Michael and Maria look like they are about to laugh at the tone of the song. Maria locks eyes with Michael and quickly looks away with a shy smile. Michael continues to stare at her profile.

"All this time Guerin and now you're starting to realize who she is. It's like we could've been together in another life." Michael turns away from Maria as Maria sneaks a glance in his direction.

"Maria, Maria, I still can't believe you got off the train with this dude. This has got to be the most irrational choice you have ever made." Maria stares longingly at the outline of Michael's face as her eyes fall unto his lips.

"So why does being here feel like the most sensible thing in the world."

Maria looks away before Michael turns back to her again so he won't catch her staring at him. She can feel his eyes take in her features. The room suddenly grew hot and her knees turned liquid.

Maria looks towards Michael who quickly faces away from her. Even though it was obvious he was staring at Maria a moment before. Michael does a little stretching movement with his body and exhale deeply to get rid of the nervous tension. Maria watches this as Michael is trying to avoid eye contact with her.

"Stonewall, Michael, got to be a stonewall. Impenetrable. God, she smells good," as Michael inhales the smell of Maria's Cyprus oil. If that wasn't enough to break Michael's barrier her touch was. Unexpectedly her bare arm brushed against his providing skin to skin contact. Why did he have to take off his leather jacket? Why did she have to wear that top? White cotton hugging every curve . . . okay he could not let his train of thought go there.

"Mud think of mud. That'll help you."

With this though in mind Michael faces Maria again. Maria is pretending to stare at something else. They are facing each other, but not looking at one another. Finally their eyes meet. Maria is the one to smile first. Michael feels her movements go into slow motion. He feels irrational panic and looks away repeating the word mud over and over in his mind. Maria watches him for a moment.

"Why do I even try. The moment was perfect for him to just lean in and kiss me."

Maria turns away frustrated as Michael finally makes a move towards Maria. He watches her and we see a small smile form on Michael's lips which go unnoticed by a disgruntled Maria.

Scene: Maria and Michael are walking outside in a garden. Maria is walking ahead of Michael. She stops to smell a tangerine tinted orchid. Just then the sun moved out from behind the clouds making her hair shine. A smile plays on Maria's lips as she closes her eyes inhaling the sweet scent.

"I want to draw you." Michael speaks up suddenly.

Maria turns towards him with her mouth slightly open Michael wanted to freeze that picture of her in his mind.

Scene: A close up shot of a pencil drawing the contours of Maria's face. Maria is trying to stay still for Michael.

"Are you almost done yet?" Maria asked antsy.

"Hold still," Michael ordered.

Maria pouted. Michael thought it looked cute.

"I'm almost done . . ." Michael squinted to see Maria a little better. The sunlight was getting extremely bright, but he couldn't let opportunity slip by. Maria was sitting on a fountain. The fountain had a man and a woman facing each other from far away with their hands stretched out. Their fingers looked on the verge of contact.

Michael liked the fountain when he first saw it. He bit his lip and tried to concentrate on the drawing. The mist from the fountain created a mini rainbow in the air behind Maria. Michael made a mistake on the drawing which made him frown. He pretended to wipe something away from the paper, but in reality Michael was erasing his guffaw. He hated those cheap pencils that left smudge marks.

Scene: Maria's pixie face lit up in surprise at the drawing Michael did of her. He managed to capture her every detail.

"You didn't sign it."

Michael signed and dated it for her. Maria looked at his signature and smiled.

"What?"

"Nothing it's just now I have something I can hold in my hand and remember you by."

Scene: A small black and white rabbit scampers across the grass. Michael and Maria walk down a curve of concrete steps.

"Oh look there's a rabbit," Maria coos.

"Hey there rabbit," Michael plays along. The rabbit turns to look at them curiously before running away.

"I remember Liz and I visiting this place when we first came to Europe. The lady we used to live with had relatives in Austria. She showed us this cemetery on day."

"It's tiny," Michael commented as they entered through chest high gates.

"She told us most people buried here had been washed up in the bank of the Danube."

"How old are these?" Michael asked looking around. There no hedgestones. The graves were marked off by ornate iron crucifixes.

"Around the beginning of the century or so. It's called "Cemetery of the No Name" because they often didn't know who these people were. maybe just a first name that's all."

Maria slowed down to touch a flower similar to the one she saw before at the garden. She never figured out he'd surprise her. "Like that drawing," Maria turned the memory over in her mind. Looking at it was like seeing yourself in good lighting. You looked better than you really knew you did. "I was seeing myself through Michael's eyes . . . and he saw me as someone beautiful."

Maria stole a glance at Michael. He was looking at a particular crucifix with a round ebony plaque situated below Jesus' feet. The plaque read in gold letters Elizabeth. Maria instantly recognized it.

"Oh this is the one I remember the most. When I was young I always thought if you dies and no one knew you were dead. It is like not really being dead at all. People can invent the best and the worst for you."

"But what if you had to hide the fact that you were living in the first place?" Michael countered. Maria looked at him confused by the comment.

"I don't think it can be achieved. I think you'd want to feel alive. That you'd want others around you to realize it too." Maria shook her head. "I'm babbling." She smiled at the grave they were in front of. Michael read the girl's name, Elizabeth.

"She was only 18 when she died. You know I was that age when I first saw this. It meant something to me back then." Her exhale came out like melancholy laughter. Michael looked at Maria who was wistful for a moment before she turned to face him again. Her eyes were a little sad.

"Now I'm five years older and she's still 18, I guess. Hmm . . . that's funny," she added as an after thought. She felt something warm take her hand. Maria looked down at Michael's fingers entwined with her own.

"It feels like home," she realized.

Scene: A brief glimpse of a big ferris wheel. Michael and Maria are inside a cabinlike area that has windows on all sides affording a view of the sunset. The ferris wheel has stopped due to some technical difficulties.

"I never should've let you drag me in here." Maria complained agitated.

"I can be very persuasive," Michael smirked at her.

"You are obviously the last person to be around in a crisis."

"I didn't know you'd freak out this much."

"I am not freaking out!" Maria complained.

"You keep taking stuff in and out of you bag. Quit it, it's driving me insane!" Michael's voice was starting to become desperate.

"I just--I wish you would say something." Maria pleaded.

"Say what? What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know what. Just say something, you know, to make me feel calm, to make me feel like it's gonna be all right."

Maria walks towards the window, but can't come too near the ledge. She takes a step back into Michael's arms. Michael holds her shoulders and forces Maria to stay where she is.

"Try to look at the sunset. It's very beautiful," Michael's voice soothed her. "Look at all the oranges, reds, and yellows blending together. Even the clouds, see how they burn at the edges a purple color?"

Maria looked at the sunset and felt a calm wave wash over her everytime she watched a sunset. Then she looked down and realized how high up they were. Maria started freaking out again.

"Okay this isn't helping me."

"What do you want me to do?" Michael exploded letting go of Maria.

"I don't know."

"Shut up, then!" Michael yelled exasperated.

"I--I hate you!" Maria sputtered in anger.

"Ditto!" "You know, all I ask of you is just to try to make me feel better, you know, be a guy or whatever. Forget it. I have obviously tried to bark up the wrong tree." Maria is shaking and wraps her arms around herself. She is facing away from Michael willing not to let tears form on her eyes. Suddenly out of nowhere Michael grabs Maria forcing her to look at him. He gathers Maria's cheek inside his palm and leans into her. At first it was a teasing kiss as Michael toyed with her soft lips. Then the kiss grew deeper and deeper until . . .

Flash: A five year old boy sneaks up behind a girl with long golden hair. He yanks a fistful of it and then runs away.
"Come back here. I'm going to kick your butt to Pluto!!"

Flash: "Oh I'm sorry," Maria apologized for bumping into Michael in the hallways.
"It's okay," Michael said.
Michael and Maria stand there in the middle of a crowded hall staring at each other.
"We'll, I'll see ya," Michael ran off.
"Later," Maria replied to Michael's retreating back.

Flash: The picture in Michael's mind while drawing Maria by the fountain with his heart smiling.

Flash: Maria feeling the world become that one listening booth as their shoulders touch.

Michael could feel himself falling into her black hole until he swore he saw stars in his eyes. He felt her warm tongue slip past his lips. The tips of their tongues flicking against each other deliciously. Her taste was a sweet and spicy combination that made Michael groan.

Maria quite suddenly forgot what she was so afraid of as soon as Michael lips kissed hers. It was as if she suddenly lost her sense of awareness. Nothing else existed except for Michael's breath on her lips and his strong arms that holding her so close it felt like they were one.

Michael was the one to pull away for air first. Their breaths were ragged breathing hard for air. Michael couldn't believe what had just happened. The room, his skin, the air all these things were on fire. Michael felt as if his body had become achingly aware at how alive the world was.

Michael looked down at Maria looking up at him with shock at what had transpired.

"Did you feel that?" Maria gasped.

"Feel what?" Michael was still trying catch his breath.

"Like my life flashed before me . . . I saw you."

"I don't . . ."

Michael stopped what he was about to say when he saw a ghost of a smile in Maria's eyes that signified everything was more than all right. She leans in towards Michael again. He could feel Maria's soft lips brush against his cheek as she purposefully misses his mouth to embrace him. Michael lays his chin on her shoulder and closes his eyes inhaling her scent. His heart torn between regret and desire. He already experienced heart ache once on this European trip. Was he ready to say good-bye again?

"That was only to calm you down," Michael spoke outloud more to himself really as to self-explain theses turn of events.

"Thanks," Maria replies softly.

He really should take a step back and leave. They should go and walk off in their opposite directions, but Michael wasn't going anywhere. This was after all a ferris wheel where everything goes in circles and Michael despite . . . everything felt he was finally getting back a piece of what he left in Roswell.

So what'd you think? I really need feedback from everyone on what they think should happen in the later chapters. Kat