strangetrip | [EP] Pies (OTA)

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[EP] Pies (OTA)

Her mother had always made pie making look so easy. Amy DeLuca's pie were the best in Roswell and a selling point in Liz's parents' cafe. Maria decided to try and make some of her mother's famous Keylime pie to stave off the homesickness she was starting to feel. So far her attempts were poor.

"Third time's the charm, right?" She said as she slide a pie slice over to Brad. He had volunteered to help her taste-test and hadn't died from her two previous attempts. "I promise I put less salt in this one."

Brad nodded and dug in. He chewed thoughtfully. He then smiled.

"This isn't half bad," He said. "It tastes like Keylime this time for sure."

Maria took a bite of her own and pumped her arm.

"Yes!" She said. "Not quite as good as my mom's, but it's edible."

"I'll take this one to go," He said, lifting the plate with a nod.

Maria nodded back and watched as Brad walked over to the table he had previously been occupying. There was a series of psychology books strewn about. They all seemed focused on depression or other behavioral illnesses.

Maria took another bite of hers and looked over her hand-written recipe as she tried to decide what to change to make it more like mom's.

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Maria took in Peter as he stood there, then leaned on the counter like a bartender willing to listen to a patron's story.

"Alright," She replied, slight concern in her voice. "If you're okay with it."

"So," Peter starts, not exactly sure how to start. "When I go back, I'm going to end up leaving Earth with Tony to fight this bad guy named Thanos. He wants to wipe out half of all life in the universe."

It seemed like a pretty extreme reaction to Peter, but he's not even sure what his reasons were.

"Quill was there, too. That's how he knows me." Peter stops there for a few long moments.

"Okay..." Maria said, her voice lingering.

Going into space isn't so strange. Some guy wanting to kill half the universe is

She watched Peter, trying to look open to his words.

"We end up in this big fight, but we don't win. He does and he winds up wiping out half the life in the universe." Peter feels something catch in his throat, and it takes considerable effort for him to finish that thought: "Including me."

Maria stared at Peter. She let the news sink in and really process the words. She blinked and for a brief moment looked like she was going to handle the news calmly.

"Holy crap," She said suddenly. "Holy crap!"

Her stare turned more concerned. She opened her mouth and paused.

"Holy crap," She said, unable to think of more words.

Peter has no idea what to say to that. "I mean," he stammers, in response. "It's okay. I mean, it's not actually okay, but there's people here who are trying to stop it from happening and if they can't do that, reverse it. So there's a chance that maybe things -- you know, maybe things will be all right."

Peter's not sure he can believe it, but it does seem like the right thing to say.

And Liz still wants to go home with Peter...

"Yeah, but still... holy crap." She repeated. "That's like, really heavy. No wonder you were acting like a total jerk."

Maria suddenly sucked in a quick breath and her eyes widened as her brain caught up with her mouth.

"Oh my God," She said a notch louder and faster together. "And you didn't want to kiss Liz because she can totally see things sometimes and you were trying to protect her from it."

Peter runs a hand along the back of his neck, face warming with embarrassment, or something close to it. "Yeah," he says softly. She isn't wrong.

"I am so sorry," She said, leaning on the counter toward him. "I said like, a lot of bad things about you. Not like, to you or anything, but like, Liz's track record with guys is pretty terrible and when Christmas happened I sort of just saw it all happening again and I went a little crazy best friend."

Maria straightened.

"So, I apologize." She said. "Not cool of me."

Peter lets his hand fall down to his side. He lets out a laugh weak. "Liz has really had a pretty bad track record with guys." That much they can definitely agree on.

Maria nodded to agree.

"So... what are you going to do?" She asked. "I mean... do you guys know how to time travel?"

She sucked in a breath and her eyes widened as a thought came over her.

"Maybe you could go to Roswell and see if we exist! Or, existed. Or whatever." She said excitedly. "Max and the others have this machine. It can apparently be used for time travel."

Peter shakes his head. "No, not that I know of, but there's this one guy, Dr. Strange, who has an Infinity Stone that allows him to manipulate time, so maybe he can help." Peter's not so sure about that, given his attitude, though.

"I could go and check to see if you guys are there," he says. "But it's gonna be over a decade in the future for you guys. You might --"

Peter pauses there.

"-- already be in New York. Liz said you wanted to go live in New York, right? I could give you my number and we could meet up."

"Sure," She replied honestly. "I mean, I won't have a crazy fancy alien spaceship with me or anything, but we could hang out. If I'm famous, maybe I could even hook you up with tickets to cool stuff."

Maria had it all planned out in her head what life was going to be like when she got home. It felt strange to think Liz wasn't going to be there for the journey, but Maria had already realized before Madonna Inn that if she went to New York City, she wouldn't see her friend a lot.

"... would that mean I might see Liz, but like, I'd be way older than her?" She said, confused.

Peter pauses there.

"I don't know," he says, after some hesitation, though the answer seems more than likely yes. "Do you think Max and the others would even want to help if Liz came back with me?"

Max didn't exactly seem like top tier boyfriend material on his best day. He can't imagine he'd be keen on helping out his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend.

Time travel gives me a headache

"Good question." She said. "If it were up to Michael? Probably not. But Michael can be really stubborn."

She ran fingers through her hair and thought about the implications. What would Max do?

"This bad guy... it'll effect everyone, right?" She said. "Which means not only Earth, but like other planets, right? And considering Max has a baby on the way... I don't know. I think ultimately Max would do anything for Liz and for his kid - which, by the way, is super weird to say and makes me want to punch him for those two not actually being related."

Maria paused and looked to Peter. She winced.

"Sorry. I mean, obviously I like this whole you and Liz scenario the best, but like.. anyway." She said, shaking her head. "I think he'd help if it was the right thing to do. Max might be a lot of things, but he does want to protect people and keep people safe."

It's weird to hear Max talked about like that; Peter had only really thought of him as a bad guy up until now. Maybe he had judged him unfairly.

"Yeah, it's everyone in the universe. Everything living." He takes a breath. "I'm really worried about Liz seeing it. That's part of why I told you."

He hadn't even brought himself to tell Ned yet, and he was Peter's best friend.

Maria frowned as she thought about Liz seeing something like that.

"Yeah... Seeing that will probably suck," she replied. "I mean, I'd definitely freak out. But... I mean, Liz is pretty strong. I've watched her take on some pretty scary stuff."

Maria thought the hardest part for Liz would be seeing Peter die. If she had to watch that happen to Michael she would lose it.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked.

"Just when it happens --" Peter takes a breath. "-- I might need backup."

That's probably the easiest way of describing it. "I just don't want to stop kissing Liz, you know? We can't not do that forever."

"I know. I have a hard time not kissing Liz too." She replied.

She smiled subtly to her small joke, but she knew it was a serious topic. Maria agreed with Peter. It would be hard to keep up not kissing in a relationship. Liz basically communicates in kisses

"I can be good back up," she said. "Whatever you need me to be. If that means distraction or hugs or whatever, count me in."

Peter's lips quirk up slightly at Maria's quip.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." A beat, and then: "Think you can cut me a slice of pie, though?"

"All this talk was to butter me up for pie. Now I get it." She said with a smile.

Maria cut a piece of pie and plated it for Peter. She grabbed a fork and pushed it toward him.

"I kind of wish you went to Roswell," she said suddenly. "Not because that would mean Liz would go back there or anything and it is a super boring town most of the time, but I think we'd have all been friends there, you know? And I know Alex would have really liked you."

"Yeah, that was my plan all along." Peter's smile is genuine. He picks up the fork and digs in.

"Why do you think he'd like me?" he asks, in between his first and second bites.

"You mean other than the fact you both are big nerds?" She replied with a smirk.

Maria shrugged and pushed her hair behind her shoulders.

"I don't know," She said. "You're into the same stuff and he'd definitely be fascinated to hear all about the future. Plus you make Liz happy and he'd have been happy to see that."

Peter smiles at that and takes another bite of his pie.

"I really do love her," he says, feeling embarrassed at the admission. He sets the fork down. "I really do want to enjoy whatever time we have left, even if it's only just here."

She pointed a finger to Peter. It was a little playful, but she meant it too.

"I thought she's going home with you," Maria said. "At least that's what she talks about all the time."

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