Second Time Around (CC ALL, Teen, Ch.20 AN 9/29} [WIP]

[montee916]

Hey all.

After much debating, I decided to start work on a sequel to my first fic, Third Time Lucky, and this
has been the result. For those that haven't, I would reccomend reading 3TL first (the link is in my sig),
as there is an OC and references to events that took place in it. There are also two new OC's to appear in
this new story.

##WARNING: Although I have a long term plan to fix it all up later, this story will be somewhat darker
for the first ten chapters, and there will be a body count.##


Title: Second Time Around

Disclaimer: I have no ownership or claim of it over the characters in this story that have been created by
Melinda Metz, Jason Katims, et al. I also make no claims of ownership over the opening quote in this
story, which has been borrowed from A Tale Of Two Cities, by Mr Charles Dickens.

Pairings: Mostly CC across the board, except for the OC's I bring into the story.

Rating: Teen.

Summary: This is a sequel to my first fic, Third Time Lucky, which was written as my personal take on
what they could have done in season three. This story would constitute the remainder of season three
and season four in my personal universe.

Author's note: As listed above, there will be fatalities in this story. Also, most of the first eight chapters
is written in a 1st person viewpoint, filling in the back story of what led to that point. Once reached, it will
switch to 3rd person and covers everyone's actions, so it may make for some heavy reading.

Now lets raise the curtains, dim the lights, and start the show....


====================================================================

Prologue

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…”

I remember reading that in one of my English classes, so long ago now. It was as confusing then as it is now.
How could it be the best and worst of times at the same time? Only in a book, apparently; certainly real life
doesn’t work like that. For us, now, the best of times is little more than a fond memory, like a half–remembered
dream. As for the worst, all I need to do is step outside and look at the world around us, and see what it has
become. What we have become.

The Year is 2023.

My name is Liz Parker-Evans.

Welcome to the end of the world.

=================================================================

[montee916]

Ultimate, intrigued is good. I can work with that
Jennifer, thanks for the vote of confidence; I'll do my best.
Gazer, good to see you again! Don't worry about missing me, your aim will get better
Tequathisy, welcome aboard. I hope you enjoy it.

Also, a big thank you to ultimatepickupline, who has offered to serve as Beta for this fic.
I'm much obliged.

Finally, YAY ME! I've been working on my first banner project, and finished it just in time to
kick things off properly. So with all that said and done, lets see what our merry martians have
been up to since the last time we saw them....





================================================================

Chapter One

It has been over twenty years since the first time we encountered Kivar and his followers,
and at the time we were foolish enough to believe it would be the last. After a while, the
memories of what he had done, and what he had almost done, started to fade, as other cares
became priorities. We all had a lot of work to do with graduation coming up, and a rapidly
shrinking amount of time to get it done, but somehow we all pulled together and got
each other through it.

After that day, everything began to change.

Michael and Maria were the first to leave. An old friend who Maria knew from her days at
band camp came back to Roswell, and offered her a shot at going to New York to meet the
agents for the company he had produced an album with. She left, planning to be away
for a week – and she came back at the end of it to say goodbye to us all. The deal they had
offered was too good to pass up, she said, and was her big chance to make something of
herself. Michael decided then and there he was going with her, and he and Max spent the
rest of the few days she had left with us arguing with each other over whether or not he
was doing the right thing. The night before they left, Max, Michael and I met at the Crashdown
so Max could try one last time to talk him around. He even went so far as to say to Michael that
as his King, he was forbidding him to leave.

That was when Michael knocked him out.

I can still to this day remember the look on Michael’s face as he walked out of the Crashdown,
his words ringing in my ears.

“Tell Max he is my brother. Tell him that I would do anything for him and Isabel. Anything. I’d die
for him if I had to.” He paused in the doorway and looked back at me, smiling sadly. “But without
Maria, I’m not alive anyway.”

It was eight weeks before they started speaking again, and things were never the same between them.

A month later, it was Isabel and Nathan who moved on. A photographer was passing through Roswell,
spotted her at the Crashdown, and snapped a couple of shots. Three days later, she got a call from an
LA-based modelling firm wanting her to try out for a shoot, and before long she was appearing on
magazine covers across the country.

As for Max and I, we headed off to college together and found a small apartment off campus for the
two of us. He turned to studies in medicine and politics, and I followed the sciences. It was pretty intense
for both of us at first, and as a result it was nine months before we got to go back home, just in time for
the weddings.

Maria and Michael had decided to tie the knot and settle down, much to Amy’s relief. It made it a lot
easier to explain to Maria about her and Jim Valenti choosing to do the same. They decided to have
a joint ceremony and served as each other’s respective maids of honour, with myself and Isabel as
bridesmaids, while Max was Michael’s best man, and Kyle for his father. It seemed like half the town
turned out for the day, and everyone was so happy. It was also the last time we all got together to
celebrate something good.

================================================================

[montee916]

Hey guys! Back again with a new update for y'all. I'm hoping to stay far enough ahead that I will posting the
next chapter every few days or so, and it seems to be working so far.

Jenn and Ultimate, It's true that they work better together than apart, but I think it's human nature to want to break
free from the groups you grow up in at times and try to establish who you are as an individual.

rie482, welcome to the party, and thanks for the kind words. I started reading Malevolent Wish the other day, and
you saying how good my writing is, is a real compliment.

I'd just like to say for the record, that this chapter is in no way an attack on any government, or a soapbox for my
political viewpoints. It's simply a part of the story I'm trying to tell.

Just before you start reading this portion, a small word of warning - you may want tissues handy....


===========================================================================

Chapter Two

The last time we had been in Roswell was to celebrate Jim Valenti’s wedding. Now, we had returned eight months
later to see him buried. The town council had chosen to re-instate him as a deputy, and his last transmission was that
he had pulled over a speeding driver on the old north road leading out of town. When he didn’t respond on the radio,
they sent a second car to find out what had happened, and they found him face down in the middle of the road, with
three bullet holes in his upper chest.

At the funeral, Amy was inconsolable. I don’t think any of us really realised what Jim had meant to her. Michael
was a rock, waiting on her hand and foot the whole time he was there, and after a talk with Maria the first night they
were there, suggested to Amy that she move to New York to live with them. He explained to Amy it was for Maria’s
sake more than anything, and she would soon be needing all the help she could get, given that she was two months
pregnant. Amy quickly agreed, and Michael and Maria returned to New York to start making preparations for her
arrival, while she stayed in Roswell long enough to close her business and arrange for an agent to take care of the
rentals on her house. It was a dreary Friday morning as she left, clouded over and threatening thunder.

Amy was never seen again.

The police and FBI did a thorough investigation, but no trace of Amy was found. After returning to Roswell to help the
search, Maria was beside herself, sometimes going for days without speaking to anyone, not even Michael. The
one good thing to come out of it was Kyle. He provided Michael with a job at the garage he had taken over from his
former boss, and had walked the same road Maria was on after the loss of his father. He would often sit for hours at
a time, silent, just holding her hand and being by her side. She ended up spending the last three weeks of her
pregnancy in hospital, and after eighteen long hours of labour in which she alternated between begging Michael
to stay with her and cursing the day they met, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl they named Kayla.

That summer also saw Isabel and Nathan back in town, to tell us of their plans to settle down and start a family of their
own. After all the photo shoots and publicity she had been through, Isabel just wanted a simple ceremony with family
and a few select friends which they ended up having in the back yard of the Evans’s house. For the honeymoon, they
spent two months in New Zealand, and although they didn’t know at the time, by the time they got back, their family
was well under way.

Six weeks before she was due to give birth, Isabel provided her folks with an all expenses paid cruise trip to celebrate
their wedding anniversary. They were so thrilled to be going, they were grinning all the way to the airport for the
flight to where the ship was departing from. We went along to see them off, and there were a few tears as Diane
promised Isabel three or four times they would be back in plenty of time before she was due. They were acting like
teenagers as they headed down the corridor to board the plane taking them to San Francisco.

Five minutes after take off, the port side engine erupted in a ball of flame, and it fell to the ground, with the loss of
everyone aboard.

Isabel fell into a deep depression that none of us seemed able to cut through. She continued to blame herself for
what happened to her parents, and nothing could be said to convince her otherwise. We had hoped that the birth of her
baby might be enough to help her snap out of it, but that hope faded when she went into labour three weeks early.
It was one a.m. on a Tuesday morning when Nathan first said hello to his son, Isaac.

Ten minutes later, he was saying goodbye to his wife.

The child had been born breach and too much damage had been done. Try as best they could, there was nothing
the doctors could do, and Isabel passed away. Nathan stuck around until after the funeral before making plans to
return home, saying that the memories of Isabel were too strong for him to be able to stay in a place that reminded
him of her so much, which we could all understand. What none of us anticipated was Max's decision the night
before he left to buy a ticket for London on the same flight. He said he just needed time to get a fresh perspective
on things, and that he would be back with us soon. It turned out to be longer than any of us thought.

That was when things really went to hell.

There had been an increase in the number of terror strikes in the U.S. and in the following eighteen months they
only got worse. Explosions took place at FBI offices, hospitals, schools, movie theatres - nowhere was safe. The
group responsible seemed able to come and go as they pleased, with no amount of security being enough, and no
clue as to who was behind it or what they wanted. Robert Matthews, the senator for Massachusetts, campaigned
long and loud on the need for something to be done, and in November of 2006, he rode it all the way to the White
House with seventy percent of the vote. Not that it did him much good.

The following January, the President stepped up to deliver his State of the Union address. Fifteen minutes after he
began, a 747 crashed into the steps leading up to the main entrance, its momentum carrying it through into the
Senate chamber. The fuel tanks ruptured, and sent a massive fireball through the entire building, incinerating
everyone inside. The next day, we were all gathered around the television, as a videotape was screened
on every channel showing a masked figure claiming responsibility for all the recent atrocities in the name of a
group calling itself the ALF. None of us took it too seriously until he closed his statement with a demand of freedom
for his people.

Freedom for Antar.

The next day, VP John Edwards was sworn in as the new president, having survived the plane crash by being
called back to his hometown for a family emergency. His first act was to effectively declare martial law throughout
the entire country - an “unfortunate but necessary action for the good of the American people” was how he described
it. Further and more extreme steps were taken the longer he remained in power, and almost before people realised the
situation, democracy had become dictatorship.

A week after he had assumed power, those of us that remained met at Michael’s house for an emergency discussion
called by Kyle. He had been talking with Sheriff Hanson, who out of respect for what his father had done for him,
wanted to warn Kyle to steer clear of the rest of our group. He had been contacted by the Special Unit of the FBI and
told to keep an eye on us. The Unit would be arriving the next day to take us all into custody under suspicion of being
involved with the Antar Liberation Front as they were now called. Fifteen minutes later, Kyle and I were in Max’s old
jeep, with Michael’s bike mounted to the back of it. Michael, Maria and Kayla, in the midst of her “terrible two’s“,
followed in an old van dad had used for picking up supplies for the Crashdown, leaving him with the wagon they
had been using. We left Roswell that day with little more than the clothes we were standing up in at the time, and
started running.

That was sixteen years ago, and we’ve been running ever since.

I wasn’t even able to return for my parent’s funeral. A week after we had left town, a huge explosion occurred late
at night. Originally written off as a faulty gas line to one of the cookers in the Crashdown, it was later publicised as
“definitive” proof of our guilt, and the need for the Unit to hunt us all down. After all, if I could kill my own
parents to prevent them aiding the FBI in finding us, we could be capable of anything, couldn’t we? They trotted out
large groups of ‘classmates’, most of whom we had never even seen in Roswell, who said how they knew us so
well, but over the last few years we had all changed so much it was like we were completely different people.

Events continued to worsen. One day just seemed to blur into the next as we tried to stay a move ahead of the
hunters that were after us, and anyone we came into contact with could become their next target. Edwards’
next step was to open “rehabilitation facilities”, which was little more than a polite way of saying concentration
camp. Any groups rising in protest against what was happening were quickly and brutally shut down, with
the leaders hauled off behind the fences, some to never be heard from again. If the rumours about what went
on in there were even half-true, they were the lucky ones.

Constantly looking over our shoulders, we were on the ragged edge and only just hanging on. Something had to
give eventually, and it did. Luckily for us, it went in our favour.

=======================================================================

[montee916]

Might i wish you luck in that? My story had started like that once upon a time, but RL caught
up anyways. BOO LOL

Yeah, I had the same thing happen to me with a star wars story I was writing. I posted it as I wrote
it, up until about chapter ten, then I completely choked and never added another word to it.

I don't like that everyone is dying or disappearing... Waiting here for more.

Well, hopefully this will help ease your waiting.


===================================================================

Chapter Three

We had just celebrated Kayla’s fourth birthday, and when the visions first started appearing, I considered
them nothing more than a strange dream. A young boy, only a few years old, looking for someone he
called Aunty Libby. Watching Kayla grow by the day, I couldn’t help but wonder what might have been if
Max had stayed, and how our children could have turned out. Writing them off as my mind trying to
cope with what had been happening around us, I broke into a chemist and stole a supply of sleeping pills to
help block them out. They seemed to do the trick, and for a few days I slept soundly, without interruption.

Then Michael had the same dream.

We compared notes, and the descriptions of the child were almost identical. In Michael’s dreams,
the boy was upset because Aunty Libby wouldn’t talk to him, so he tried to find Unca Mickey - “just like
the Mouse!”. He said him and his dad were waiting for us to find them at “the special place where you
woke up, but be careful of the dark men chasing you.” After talking things over, the four of us decided to
make the trip, and a year after we had left town with nothing, we found ourselves back in Roswell.
Slipping through the outskirts of town, we made our way to the pod chamber. Leaving the rest of us
in the car with instructions to make a run for it if anything happened to him, Michael made his way up
the incline to the entrance to the pod chamber and with one last cautious look around, placed his hand
against the cliff face and slipped in as the rock slid aside. Thirty seconds later he was back out and
waving frantically for the rest of us to join him, then heading back in as we tore up the hill after him.
As I reached the entrance I could hear two guys laughing at a shared joke, and I entered to find a
makeshift camping site, with Nathan and the young boy from my dreams standing in the middle of it.
Nathan turned to me with a large grin on his face.

“G’day, Sprog!”

I burst into tears and laughter at the same time, and squeezed him as hard as I could. After a few
minutes I managed to catch my breath and turned my attention to the young boy holding on to his
hand, gazing up at me with beautiful blue eyes. I got down on my knees in front of him and smiled.

“Hello Isaac.”

“Are you my Aunty Libby?”

“I sure am.” I reached out and tousled his hair. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you when you were looking
for me. I didn’t know it was you.”

He thought it over for a minute and then smiled back. ”That’s okay. You know who I am now, so we can
talk all the time.”

“We sure can, buddy.” I kissed him on his forehead before standing and turning around, to see Kyle still
standing at the entrance with a gun in his hand. I stepped to the side, placing myself between him and
Nathan.

“Kyle, what are you doing?”

“I want to know who he is.”

I looked at him disbelievingly.

“Kyle? It’s... Nathan. My cousin? The guy Isabel married? You were there, don’t you remember?”

“I remember. All too well. I remember him being human.” The sound of the hammer being cocked back
sounded awfully loud in such a small space. “Just like I remember not being able to open the door to
this place unless you were hatched here. Which he wasn’t. So I want to know who he is!”

“You’re quite right, Kyle.” A tarpaulin covering the entrance to where the Granilith had been kept was slid
to one side, and he stepped into the chamber. “The handprint doesn’t work for a normal human. That’s
why he couldn’t get in here without me.”

I turned at the sound of his voice and he was there. Bulkier than I remembered - he had filled out.
His hair had been grown out, with a beard as well, all of which he had blonded. His eyes, though -
regardless of how he disguised himself, they would never change. I staggered across the short
distance that separated us, silently mouthing his name.

“Hello Liz.” Max said. He smiled slightly. “It’s been a long time.” I couldn’t help myself - I just went with
my first reaction.

I slapped him across the face and ran from the chamber sobbing.

Maria caught up with me a few minutes later trying to get the Jeep started, even though I had
managed to flood the engine. While I sat there cursing and punching the dashboard, she quietly reached
past me and pulled the keys out of the ignition, waiting without a sound until I was ready to talk. I
turned to her, my eyes reddened and starting to puff up.

“It’s not fair, dammit!” I yelled. “Three years it’s been, THREE YEARS, and not once has he been in touch,
and everything we’ve been through, and he hasn’t been here for any of it, and he hasn’t been here for me,
and then he just shows up, and all he can say is it’s been a long time, and look at me with those eyes, and
make me fall in love with him all over again, and now he‘s back, and... and...and...” I looked at her with
an anguished sob while I tried to catch my breath. “Why wasn’t he here for me?? Oh God, Ria, what do I
do now?”

She held me tight, whispering in my ear that things would be alright, that we could get it sorted out. Bless
her heart, I don’t think I had ever needed her more than I did that night, her friendship and strength of
character. People used to think of me as the strong one, but I can’t help but wonder how much of my
strength came from her being there beside me. I miss that so much these days, how we could spend hours
talking about anything or nothing, whatever we needed to get off of our chests. We can’t do that these days,
not anymore, not after what happened to her - just another casualty in this cursed war we find ourselves
fighting in.

Michael came down the hill looking for us twenty minutes later with Kayla riding on his back, tugging at the
shoulders on his shirt like a set of reins, and Kyle not far behind. He gained a sudden fascination with a
chunk of rock on the ground as he spoke.

“Max wants us all back up at the chamber. Apparently he has a bunch of stuff to tell us, and he doesn’t want
to have to do it more than once.” The look in his eye and tone of voice made it pretty clear just what he
thought of Max trying to order us around, but Maria couldn’t help biting.

“Oh really? Max WANTS?? Well, here’s a suggestion. How about you go up there and tell His Highness that he
can take what he wants, and he can stick it straight up his Royal...!!”

“RIA!” I fired a quick look at Kayla. “Remember that sometimes little ears come with big mouths!”

“... sorry, Chica.” She mumbled as she turned to Michael. “Sorry, Space Boy. I guess we’re all having a
time dealing with this.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He said, placing a hand on the small of her back and pulling her in close to kiss her
on the forehead, a smug grin on his face. “Besides, I DID tell him that, right before I came down here
looking for you guys.”

“Look, Liz, the four of us have been going through hell together - as far as I’m concerned I answer to you
guys, not to Senor Presidente up there.” Kyle stepped up and placed a hand on my shoulder. “You say the
word, and we all walk, right now, no questions asked.”

The others nodded their heads in agreement, and I closed my eyes with a sigh. Why did it have to be me that
made this decision for everyone? I took another deep breath and let it out slowly as Kyle ran his hand up and
down my arm. I knew what my decision had to be; I just didn’t want to say it out loud.

“We don’t have a choice.” I said, looking at each of them in turn. “The problem with no questions asked
is that it means no answers are given. If he has got information, or a plan of some kind, we need to hear it
before we can decide what to do about it.”

The others shared a look, then turned and started heading back up to the pod chamber. Maria stepped up
next to me and slid an arm across my back as I leaned my head on her shoulder.

“Besides, Isaac is so adorable, how could I leave him behind? It’s the Parker genes. We always produce
great looking kids.”

“No doubt Max would like to say it’s all because of Isabel being his mother, but who cares what he
thinks anyway. I swear Liz, if he doesn’t give us some real answers, kids or no, I’m gonna kick his ass.”

I laughed, and Maria looked at me sideways.

“You think I’m joking?”

“I know you too well to think that. I was just wondering how much we could charge for tickets to the
match.”

“Oh please, girlfriend. We both know he wouldn’t last long enough to be worth the price of admission.”

==================================================================

[montee916]

So who else would like to find out what is all behind at least some of this? See what you make of this...

====================================================================

Chapter Four

As we went back into the pod chamber, Max was standing in the corner talking with Nathan. He saw us
enter and came over straight away.

“Liz, I...”

“Not now, Max.” I said curtly, cutting him off. “If you have something you think we should hear, then let’s
hear it while we have the time.”

“...okay then. Nathan, could you?”

“Done.” He stood and took Isaac by the hand. “Kayla, you want to come with us? Isaac has some cool toys
to show you.”

Michael gave her a smile and a reassuring squeeze of the hand. “Go ahead honey, it’s okay. Mom and
I will be right here.”

Max waited until the kids had gone into the other chamber and lowered the tarp before taking a seat on
the floor and gestured for us to do the same. “This could take a while.” Once we were comfortable, he
began his story, and what a story it was.

A story of a Skin being in the Presidential Suite of the White House.
A story of a fake terrorist group to serve as a scapegoat for his plans
A story of all our parents being deliberately targeted.
A story of a plan to cut us off from anyone that could support us and taking us out one at a time.
A story of other ships being sent to Earth from Antar, loaded with troops and due to arrive in a few
months.


A story of Kivar.

The war in their home system had been raging for over sixty-five years, and many of the resources of
each world and their main population centres had been destroyed in that time. There was little left that
hadn’t been bombed back to the Stone Age. Up until ten years ago, when the other systems united against
him, and ever since then Kivar had been steadily losing territory and battles. He had set into motion
a plan to conquer Earth, to use as a new base of operations from which to launch a counter-offensive. By
seizing America first, he thought he had removed the biggest military obstacle, and make the defences
his armies would face here that much weaker. We sat there in stunned silence as he went on, explaining
just how far the rabbit hole went on this trip. After he was done, we took a few minutes to absorb everything
he had told us before Michael raised the obvious question.

“So what are we going to do about it?”

Max looked at him with a grim smile.

“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you all about. When you really get down to it, we only
have two options - fight or flight. If we choose to run, we have a safe area in New Zealand. Nathan’s
parents have promised to do anything they can to help us disappear, and it would certainly buy us some
time. The big question is how much.”

“I don’t suppose we could go to the authorities and talk to them.”

“Not without placing our necks on the chopping block. Even if we did make contact with someone who
could do something about it, we can’t reveal what we know without revealing what we are, and once
we do that, we could very well find ourselves number one on their hit list as well. Besides, you’ve heard
the news. This whole planet is staring down the barrel with conflicts everywhere. Do you think anyone
would stop to think about a story of alien invaders?”

Maria snorted. “So you think we should all stick our neck in the noose ourselves? I mean, he’s bringing
in enough troops to conquer the planet, but I just bet they’ll run with their tails between their legs once they
hear the five of us are after them!”

“Actually, there’s six of us.” Nathan rejoined us, standing behind Max with his arms folded. “Oh, and the kids
are asleep, so could we keep the voices down a little?”

“Nate.” Max said warningly, then turned to Maria. “Normally I’d agree with you - the numbers aren’t great,
even when we have Hurricane Deluca on our team.” He winked mischievously, then continued
in a more serious tone. “Truth be known though, we have a lot more support than you think. I’ve been
in contact with some of the Skins who are part of a... a fifth column, if you will. You remember Courtney,
who worked with you guys for a time? She was one of them. According to these guys, there are large
numbers of troops on all sides that just want the fighting to end. If we run, it makes it that much easier
for Kivar to take over. If we make a stand though, it could swing a number of the troops that are
coming to our side. They are also offering the use of their network to help build an armed resistance
movement. Make no mistake though - if you decide to stay and fight, it will be long, and it will be ugly.”

“So why are you staying to fight?” I asked. “Don’t try to deny it, I can see it written on your face.”

“Because I have to. Because they need a leader. Because I feel like it’s my fault he’s even here.” He
shrugged. “Mostly though, because Antar is just a name to me - but this is home. I can’t just walk away and
let him take it. Not if my being here can help stop him.”

“Good enough for me. I’m in.”

“No, Kyle.” Max stood shaking his head. “Something as big as I’m asking can’t be decided that quickly. Look,
it’s been a long time - you guys need sleep more than anything. We should be safe enough here for the
next couple of days before we have to get going. You can give me your decisions then. There are more
sleeping bags in the corner if needed, and Nathan and I will take the watch.” He drifted to the entrance
and stepped outside into the chill night air.

After half an hour of tossing and turning, I gave up on trying to be comfortable and drifted outside.
I hugged myself to ward off the cold and made my way to the topmost point where I came across Max
keeping watch over the main road in. I took a seat next to him and looked at the outline of his face
in the little moonlight available, wondering what to say to him, when he beat me to it.

“You know, there hasn’t been a day go by since I left Roswell where I haven’t thought about what it
would be like seeing you again.” He rubbed a hand across his cheek with a wry grin. “I have to say, I
hadn’t considered this option.”

“Max, I...”

“No Liz, no apologies. Not this time. Truth be told, I’m three quarters convinced I deserved it.”

“Only three quarters?”

“Okay, maybe I can give you eighty five percent.” He looked at me and smiled, then grew more serious
as he studied the toes of his boots. “I tell you something Liz, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, for
better or worse, but I still think the biggest one I made was when I left here.”

“No it wasn’t.” I shook my head. “You had your reasons for going, and I understand them now as much
as I did when you went, even better. The mistake was made when you didn’t ask me to go with you.”

“I couldn’t do that to you. Taking you away from nearly everyone and everything you’d known your
whole life? I couldn’t ask you to make that kind of decision.”

“So instead you made it for me, and look where it got us.” I observed sadly. “I know what you’re saying
about not wanting me to have to make that decision, but at least it would have been MY decision.”

He nodded in agreement, and the silence fell between us as the night seemed to grow colder. After a
few minutes he stood up and turned to leave. “I need to check on the vehicles, and you should really
try to get some sleep. It’s going to be a busy time when we leave here, wherever we end up.” He offered
me his hand and helped me to my feet, my arms finding their way around his neck. “For what it’s worth, I’ve
never stopped loving you.”

“Oh Max, don’t you get it? That’s worth everything to me - that’s why it hurt so much when you left us. I
don’t want to think about having to go through that again. I love you too, I do. I‘m just not sure if that will
be enough this time.”

“So you’re thinking of leaving then?”

“I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do. It’s true what you said to Kyle - this isn’t something we
can make a quick decision about.”

“Well, just know that you have my total support, whatever you choose to do. This time it will be your
decision.” He ran the back of his hand down the side of my face. “C’mon, you should be in bed.”

He walked me back to the entrance to the pod chamber and left me there with a gentle kiss as he headed
down the hill to check where we had parked our vehicles. I sighed as I watched him walk away before I
headed into bed, and was asleep in five minutes. It ended up being the best night’s sleep I’d had in three
years….

====================================================================

[montee916]

Well, it's about that time... lets see which way they are going to lean.


====================================================================

Chapter Five

“So you guys jumped in your dinghy and just rowed to shore?”

“Not quite. The raft we had picked up had an outboard on it, like those surf rescue boats. Besides, is it
really that hard to believe? Illegals from Cuba have been coming across for years on a whole lot less than
we had available.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Kyle observed dryly. “You and your magic bag of never-ending diamonds.”

“You’ll have to ask Max about that side of it.” Nathan retorted. “He provided the finances for it all.
Good luck though - I tried asking him about it, but once he started going on about pressurization levels
and genetic engineering, I gave up.”

“So where did you guys manage to sneak in?” I asked.

“That was the easy part. We aimed for the docks that were busiest so we wouldn’t get into port any time
soon. The captain of the container ship had to drop anchor just off the coast of Florida, and we came in
through the Everglades at midnight. Stashed the boat in an abandoned shack in the swamps and went
looking for some local transport we could boost to get us here.”

It had been three days since we had all met again, and we were preparing to be back on the
road, whatever our destination. Max and Michael were removing the last of the signs we had been there
before sealing the pod chamber, on the chance that Kivar's people might be able to brute force their way
in. The rest of us were by the vehicles, having loaded the last of our packs. They came down to join
us, and Max took a moment to try reading what the expressions on our faces meant before speaking.

“The first night you guys arrived here, I said you all had until this moment to weigh things up and decide
what course of action you all wanted to take. I wish we had more time for it, but the time for that decision
is now. Before you tell me though, I just want to say that I love all you guys, and whatever you choose,
you will have nothing but my total support and respect for it.” He smiled nervously. “So, who wants to be
first?”

“I will.” Kyle said with a vengeful glint in his eye. “If you’re serious about making a stand, I’m serious about
standing with you. I want to see this guy up against a wall, and with any luck I’ll be the one pulling the
trigger. After everything he’s cost us, I want to return the favour.” He looked down at his feet as he
finished. “Besides, he’s the reason Dad is dead. He’s made it personal.”

“Fair enough.” He turned to Michael and Maria. “How about you guys?”

Michael coughed into his hand and looked down at Maria, who smiled and gave his hand a quick squeeze
for encouragement.

“Max, this wasn’t an easy decision to make. I’m not the guy I used to be. Crazy as it sounds, I have
responsibilities, as a husband and a father. I have to put my family first in every choice I make.”

“I know. I didn’t offer the choice lightly. I know all too well what it could cost you if you stay.”

“Good.” Michael grinned. “Then maybe from now on, when you ask for my advice, you could listen to
me for a change. We’re both in.”

He turned to me, and I stepped next to him and gazed up at the cliff top.

“You remember the first night we were here? I joined you up there on the point and we talked about your
mistakes?”

“I remember.”

“Did you think I’d repeat them? I always learned from your screw-ups, Max. That’s why we made such
good lab partners.” He laughed at that, and I hugged him closer. “We’ve lost too much time as it is.
Whatever time I have left I want it to be with you.”

He looked over the top of my head. “Sorry Nate, looks like you and Isaac are heading home alone. When
you get there, though, please tell your folks they have my deepest thanks for all they did, and all they were
willing to do to help us.”

“What are you smoking, Maxwell? Isaac and I are staying with you guys.”

“What?” Max stepped back and grabbed his arm. “What are you talking about? The plan was always for
you and him, at least, to go home!”

“Plans change, son. Besides, you’re one to talk about being responsible for everything. I had this Kivar
clown in my sights and could have put him down for good. Instead I settled for taking out his shoulder.
Do you think there hasn’t been a moment I haven’t been haunted by that decision since we found out what
he’s done? What he plans to do?”

“I know that, but at least you and Isaac could make it away, could be safe. This doesn’t have to...”

“If you even think of finishing that sentence, I’m gonna knock your head off of your shoulders.” His eyes
took on a dangerous glint, and Max swallowed hard. He turned his back on the others and hissed into
Max’s ear so they couldn’t hear - not realising I was close enough to still hear what was said between
them.

“Look, I didn’t like it then and I still don’t now, but you know full well what we did to that kid, and what the
long-term effects could be. Do you honestly think I can teach him everything he’ll need to know
to deal with it? Can you look into my eyes and tell me that he would be safer without all of you being
there to protect him?” Max shut his eyes to try and block it out, but Nathan pressed on. “You said
you would support and respect any decision we make. Are you telling me that only works when we make
the decision you want us to make? Mike and Maria are risking just as much if not more, and you
welcomed them with open arms.”

“All right!” Max sighed and opened his eyes. “Okay, you’re right. It’s your call to make. I just... I wasn’t
able to save her. I was right there, and I couldn’t do a thing. I figured that if I kept you two out of it,
then part of her would still...”

“I know. I feel the same, but I have to believe she would agree with what we did and why. It’s one of
the few things that keep me going.”

I cleared my throat. “Um, guys? Speaking of going...?”

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s make a move.” Max and Nathan climbed into the back of the Jeep and Kyle slid
in behind the wheel. “You can drop us off at the bottom of the cliff; we need to collect Betsy before
we go.”

“Who’s Betsy?” Kyle and I said in unison, looking at Max shake his head as we headed down the road.

“Oh, not this again.”

“Hey, don’t start with me on this, Max. I told you from the first day we found her that her name was Betsy.
For damn sure you can’t talk - not when the best you could ever came up with was Bob. You can drop us off
here.” He said, pointing over Kyle’s shoulder to a point on the side of the road, and we pulled over as they
jumped out. Nathan stood there scratching his chin for a minute before turning to Max.

“Nope, no idea. You’re gonna have to do your whole hand-wavy thing again.”

Max grinned. “You’re hopeless, you know that?”

“Hey, it isn’t my fault.” Nathan protested. “This stretch of road looks totally different now than it does
at two in the morning.”

“Yeah, okay. You keep telling yourself that.” Max closed his eyes for a moment, then raised his hand
and made a wiping motion, as part of the cliff face disappeared to reveal a hidden cavern.

“Perfect! I never get tired of that trick. Be right back.” Nathan walked into the cavern, removing something
from his pocket as he did so. There was a brief silence, interrupted by the sound of a large engine starting
up, and he came rolling out in a ‘78 Ford Bronco. He had a big cheesy grin on his face, and I rolled my
eyes and turned to Max.

“Betsy?”

He nodded. “Betsy.”

We both laughed at the antics, and Max looked at Kyle. “Would you mind riding with Nathan for a while? Liz
and I have some things we need to talk about.”

Kyle looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. “Sure. No problem.”

Max got himself comfortable in the driver’s seat, then eased back on the road, with Michael, Maria and the
two kids in the wagon and Nathan and Kyle in the rear. He focused on the road ahead and I decided to bring
it up myself.

“So what is it we need to talk about?”

“Honestly? Nothing springs to mind. I just thought they needed some time together. Those two have been
sniping at each other since you got here, and with what we’ll be facing, we can’t afford to let it go on for
long. We have to be able to work together and trust each other. If they don’t kill each other first, they
should get it sorted out - either way the problem’s solved.” He looked at me out of the corner of his eye
and smiled. “Besides, it seemed as good a way as any for us to be alone for a while.”

“Well, if that’s the case, then fair enough.” I studied his face as he concentrated on the road ahead,
and smiled. “You’ve changed. You aren’t wound as tightly as you used to be. I think I like it.”

“Well, you can thank that cousin of yours for that. Spending the time I did with him and his family, it was like
I found a side to myself that I didn’t know about.” He grinned cheekily. “Funny how that happens
when I spend time with a Parker.”

“Speaking of you two together, do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“What was Nathan talking about back there?”

His smile faded. “What do you mean?”

“Max, please. I was standing right next to you when he said it. ‘You know full well what we did to that kid’.
It’s Isaac he was talking about, wasn’t it?”

“I can’t say.”

“Can’t or won’t? Wasn’t it you who just told me how we have to trust each other if we’re going to survive out here?”

He sighed, frustrated, and I saw his knuckles turn white with the grip he had on the steering wheel.

“Look, Liz, I do want to tell you, really. But it isn’t my decision to make. It’s not my story to tell.”

I was reminded of when I had to say the same thing to Alex, not long after this crazy ride had first
started, and I had a sudden wish that he was still here, so I could ask his forgiveness one more time for
what I’d put him through. He had one advantage though - at least he could walk away from me. That’s
a bit harder to do when you’re travelling at forty miles an hour. We travelled the next few minutes in
silence before he tried again.

“Look, I can’t tell anyone without discussing it with Nathan first. Let me clear it with him, and then we
can talk.”

“So in the mean time I should just trust you.”

“I can remember there was a time when you could do that without thinking about it.”

“I remember it too, but that was a long time ago. I don’t have the luxury anymore of doing things when
I haven’t thought about what might happen if I do.” I sniffed sadly, and gazed off at the hills in the
distance. “I guess you aren’t the only one that has changed.”

It was a long, quiet and lonely ride after that.

====================================================================

[montee916]

Ohhh... I wonder what Nathan and Max did?

What did they do to the kid? And which kid are they talking about? Isaac? Huh? huh? I need some answers buddy!!

Well, seeing as how you guys asked so nicely (Pfft! Yeah, right! ) this is for you....

===========================================================================

Chapter Six

“So where are we at the moment?”

“About half an hour past Lubbock. Next major stop is Wichita Falls.”

I was in the Bronco, with Nathan in the passenger seat still trying to wake up. We had worked on a roster
of who drove and when, so no one person would spend too much time behind the wheel. We were
aiming to make our way to New York, temporarily using the Dupes haven as a safe spot to operate from.

“I saw you with the kids last night. You’re a real natural at that sort of thing.” He sat there, fidgeting.
“Have you given any thought to having any of your own?”

“I couldn’t do that. I want to, of course, but you know what’s happening these days, the way we have
to live. Even as much as I want to, I don’t have the right to subject a child to that kind of life.” I tried to
keep my voice steady, but it wasn’t easy. “I guess the best I can hope for now is to help raise Isaac and
Kayla as best as I can, and do all I can to protect them from everything.” I looked at Nathan out of the
corner of my eye. “Everything and everyone that would try to hurt them in any way.”

He sat in silence, absorbing what I had said, and it was a few minutes before he could speak again.

“I was talking with Max last night. He told me what you had said to him in the jeep.”

“I see.”

“I can tell you all about it, but only on two conditions.”

I swallowed hard and the sick feeling growing in the pit of my stomach started to crawl up my spine.

“What are your conditions?”

“Firstly, you do not, at any time, under any circumstances, share what I am about to tell you with
anyone unless you clear it with me first. There are only two people alive that know the details, Max
and I, and that’s already two more than I’d like to have knowing about it.”

“Agreed.” It was his secret after all. “And the second?”

“The second is this. In no way, shape or form will you blame Max. The decision to do this was made
by me, and only me. If you feel the need to hold someone accountable over this, mine is the only
name to be put on your list. Clear?”

My mouth went dry and I couldn’t open it for the feeling that my tongue was glued to the roof of my
mouth, so I simply nodded mutely and waited for him to continue. He sat there trying to get his thoughts
together, and for a moment I had thought he had changed his mind about telling me.

“From what Max has told me, he was lost in himself for quite some time after he had left Roswell. He
wandered all around Western Europe, before settling down in a village on the coast, near Trondheim,
working on the deep sea fishing trawlers to pay his bills. They go out for weeks at a time, and when he
got back and heard about this Antar Liberation Front garbage, he tried to get in touch straight away, but
it was too late. He spoke to your folks, only to hear you had all left town two days ago, so he jumped on
the first plane he could find to get to my place.”

“Easier than joining us I suppose.” I observed bitterly.

“And what would you have had him do, Liz? If he did return to the States, he ran the risk of achieving
little more than sharing the same cell with you, especially if he travelled under his own name. Not to
mention that you guys were on the run, and he had no way at the time of contacting any of you or
knowing where you had gone.”

I could hear the logic in his words, but the heart is rarely logical, especially where Max Evans
and I are concerned.

“Anyway, he flew down to my part of the world hoping maybe I had heard from you guys. When he
found out we hadn’t... well, let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. We sat down with my folks and explained
as much as we could to them, and started making plans for getting spaces sorted out for you all
if we were able to get you out of the country. Once things were well underway, the three of us left
and made our way back to the village where Max had been working, to make arrangements for sneaking
back into the country. Boating is mostly a family business over there.” He explained. “The guy Max had
worked under had a brother who was captain on a container ship doing the cross Atlantic run.”

“So why drag Isaac into it? The two of you I can understand, you’re both adults, but why not leave him
with your parents, especially if you were thinking of staying here? Why did he have to be made part of
your mission, crusade, whatever you want to call it.”

“Isaac was the mission. Do you remember his mother’s particular.... genetic quirk?”

“You mean her dreamwalking? That’s crazy - Kayla is six months older than he is, and she hasn’t
shown any sign of any powers so far. Believe me, we would have noticed by now.”

He nodded in agreement. “I’m sure you would have. You’re right, of course, it’s completely crazy.
Almost as crazy as, say, getting up and walking around thirty seconds after being shot at point blank
range.”

I snorted. “That was completely different. Max was there and he put his hand over the wound and he...
he....” My voice trailed off as the final piece fell into place, and I ripped the wheel over and stood on the
brake pedal, skidding to a stop on the side of the road. I killed the motor and turned to face him, my face
rapidly turning grey.

“Please tell me you aren’t saying what I think you’re saying.”

He nodded. “Just before his second birthday, he started talking about seeing me in his dreams, and
what he said he was seeing was too close to be a fluke. I was the only one he could reach at the time
though, which didn’t do us much good in trying to track you down, so I had Max use his abilities to...
accelerate the process in Isaac’s body. In Isaac’s case, it seems to have gone beyond visiting people’s
dreams - it’s closer to full blown telepathy. Combining that with Max’s link to you and Michael made it far
easier than it otherwise would have been to find you guys.”

“But at what cost? I mean, what you’ve done to him, and what could still happen as a result.” I opened
the door and climbed out, one arm through the window frame to hold myself up, as the Jeep pulled
over just in front of us and Max and Maria climbed out. Max looked at Nathan, who nodded but didn’t
move to get out of his seat, as Maria came around an put an arm around me.

“Liz, what’s wrong? You okay?”

I shook my head. “Not at all. I feel like I want to throw up. Can I ride with you?”

“Sure thing, Chica. We’ll get you in the back seat, and...”

“No, we need two in each vehicle. Max will have to ride with Nathan.” I spitted him with my glare.
“They work so well together.”

I climbed into the passenger seat as Maria got behind the wheel, watching me out of the corner of her eye
before she started the motor and pulled out onto the road.

“So, you want to talk about it?”

“Not now ‘Ria. Please, can we just drive?”

She nodded her head. We just drove.

===================================================================

[montee916]

It really stands out in my mind.

Thanks Ultimate. That's something I'll never get tired of hearing.


===================================================================

Chapter Seven

Ten months of back road travels saw us on the East Coast, slipping into New York City two days after
Christmas. We hid the vehicles in an abandoned warehouse and quickly made our way into the subway
system, wanting to be off the streets as soon as possible with night falling. Max took the lead and
guided us quickly to the area that the Dupes had used for their own survival, and found it long
abandoned by everyone but the rats. A few sharp blasts from Michael soon saw them leaving us in
peace, and we settled in for a long-term stay, listening to reports on the radio of strange lights being
reported in the night sky from observatories in Australia. We had seen a few of the usual street walking
doom merchants crying about the end of the world - this time, unfortunately, they were far
closer to the truth than ever before. The ships were first clearly seen in orbit around our world three
weeks later, and with rioting and crime going through the roof and calls for calm from civil leaders
going unheeded, the first landings in the Nevada Basin on January 19th took place almost completely
unopposed. The Visitors, as they were called, were welcomed as ‘our peaceful galactic neighbours’
by the President, and their influence rapidly began to spread. They took a zealous role in using their
technologies to help quell riots, and before long larger numbers of camps were under construction, the
ones they had already built full to bursting with ‘dissident elements.’ They spread across the country like a
plague of locusts, and in May of that year our luck finally ran out.

We had planned to be back on the road and headed towards Cleveland - there had been rumours that
someone in the local resistance cell had been compromised and sold us out. Kyle and Nathan had taken
the kids and gone ahead to get the vehicles ready to go, and the rest of us followed fifteen minutes after
them. We were spotted by a security patrol which gave chase, twelve troops in all opening fire on us,
and as we turned into the alley that lead to the back of the warehouse, Michael paused and ducked back
around the corner to fire off a couple more energy blasts from his hands. He didn’t even turn to face us.

“Max, get them out of here!”

Maria stopped and spun, her mouth hanging open.

“Don’t you dare...!”

He fired a new blast as chips began to fly from the brickwork, and we could see the tears building in
his eyes, as the strain of it began taking its toll on him. There was so much he wanted to say to her,
but simply turned to Max.

“You know I’m right.”

Then he was back around the corner and running across the street, trying to draw them away from us.
Maria’s scream seemed to be torn from her soul, and Max and I had to each grab an arm and drag her
away lest she go out after him. Nathan saw us burst through the door and was on his feet right away.

“What happened? Where’s Michael?”

“He stayed behind to cover us. Told us to get out of here. I‘m going back for him, you take them and go.”

“What?? No, no way, you go down and everything falls apart!”

“And what else am I...”

The argument was broken as Kyle kick started the bike and spun it on a dime.

“I’ll get him out on this and catch up. Now move!”

He hit the release for the door and ripped out as soon as it was open. The rest of us started our vehicles
and took off, trying to put as much distance as possible between us and the troops that were pursuing,
and as we drove on the night seemed to only get darker. We made it as far as Hardwood Ridge before
stopping, the site we had chosen as a meeting site if we ever had an emergency or got separated,
and we settled in to wait for the last two to catch up with us.

A week later, we moved on without any sign of them.

After that awful night fourteen years ago, everything changed for us. Maria chose to stay with us,
but only because, by her own admission, she had nowhere else to go. Gone however was her joy
and upbeat spirit. Even in the worst of times she had always seemed able to smile, but after we lost
Michael, she became hard in body and spirit, barely speaking anymore than absolutely necessary and
when she did it always held a very sharp edge. An edge we have all felt far too often, especially since
Kayla hit her teens and started taking on some of Michael’s more... strong-minded personality traits.

Six months went by, and we had made our way to Grand Rapids. Things were getting worse, with
skirmishes along the border with Canada and pushes being made into Mexico, when we were given
a report that the local resistance had picked up a couple that claimed to know us and wanted to meet
with me, but the female had serious injuries, and wasn‘t expected to make it. Nathan and I went to
meet with them to figure out who they were. Max was concerned about the possibility of another ambush,
and didn’t like it much when I pointed out that the same possibility was the best reason for some of us to
stay behind, in case we didn‘t come back. We were eventually led to a small eight by ten cell with two
cots in it, where the woman was laying, with the male sitting on the edge of her bed holding her hand and
mopping her forehead. He turned to face us as we entered the room, and I would have collapsed had
Nathan not been there to grab me in time.

It was Kyle and Ava.

I started yelling for medical support and cursing that Max hadn’t come with me when Ava simply
smiled weakly and shook her head.

“No time.” she said hoarsely. “Too late... so much to tell you... no time.”

I sat in Kyle’s place and took her hand up as she began her story, changing my life forever in the
process. The things she said to me... it was so outlandish, so unbelievable, but compared to
the rest of my life, it made everything so much clearer, and explained a lot. The biggest regret I had was
that the one person I could think of that could confirm it was already dead. Unfortunately the effort of
telling me all was too much of a toll for her, and not long after she was done talking, she passed away.
I closed her eyes and bowed my head to say a quick prayer on her behalf, but with everything that
had happened to us I was all cried out and the tears just wouldn’t come. I turned my head and the guys were
sitting on the second bed staring at me with their mouths hanging open, having heard everything.

“Not a word of this to anyone. Especially not Max. Is that clear?”

They both nodded mutely, and I sighed.

“Okay Kyle, what happened.”

He swallowed hard, his eyes misting up as he looked at Ava’s body on the bed behind me, before turning
his gaze to his boots and started speaking.

“When I went back for Michael, they were almost on top of him. We managed to beat them back
and he jumped on the bike behind me, but as we took the corner to get out of there, he took a round in
the back and fell off. I lost control of the bike and it went into a lamppost, and before we could recover
they were all over us. They cuffed the two of us and took us to the local lock up, not knowing who we
were, but Michael was fading fast and by the time they realised he was one of the Four they were after,
he was already gone. He never told them a thing.” He noted sadly.

“So how did you and Ava...”

“She had been picked up in a security sweep a few weeks before we arrived in New York and turned
into little more than a lab rat. She had been injected with some sort of retrovirus that suppressed her
abilities and made her... well, normal. She’d been getting worse ever since they injected her. I ended
up in the same lab as her, under the control of Kivar’s head scientist, a woman by the name of Serena.
What he doesn’t know is she’s a Loyalist and one of the Resistance Movement’s best inside sources.
She said she was involved with the program that cloned the royals in the first place.”

“Once she found out who I was and my connection to you guys, she started making plans to get the
both of us out of the facility in Milwaukee. She had been working on a new type of husk for the Skins,
which remain as blanks until they are injected with someone’s DNA pattern. She took blood samples
from the both of us and created duplicates of us, which she planted in the lab and then blew it up to cover
our escape. That way when the fires died down they would find the shells and run a test, thinking it was Ava
and me who had died. In the chaos of the explosion she got us out to a local contact and they arranged for
us to be smuggled across Lake Michigan to here, where you guys found us.”

There was an odd rustling sound from the bed I was sitting on, and I turned to see Ava’s body crumble
to a mound of dust. I jumped up with a start and turned away from the scene, heading for the door and
calling for the guard. When he arrived, I left no room for argument.

“I’ll need you to make preparations. We are leaving, and our friend will be accompanying us.”

“With all due respect Miss Parker…”

“With no due respect, that wasn’t a request. I told you to start making preparations.”

He paused for a moment, then turned on his heels and stalked off, muttering under his breath, and
twenty minutes later the three of us were heading back to what little home we had built with each other.

====================================================================

[montee916]

So who's ready for some good news for a change.

A/N: Bear in mind that there is a switch in viewpoint with this chapter due to us finally getting up to where
(or maybe when) they are.

Please note: any text that appears between two stars and in another colour *like this*
are the respective characters thoughts, not what they are saying out loud.



===================================================================

Chapter Eight

Somewhere in the midst of all the turmoil, Max and I still found time to officially tie the knot, just as we
were meant to. We’ve had our share of victories and defeats since then - battles have been won, but the
war goes on. A year after Kyle returned to us the Canadian government finally fell, and all of South
America quickly followed. More than a few of Kivar’s troops jumped to our side as predicted, but never in
enough numbers to give us the edge we needed to finish him. Shipping lanes across the Atlantic had
been cut for years and since London was firebombed down to the bedrock recently, we’ve heard rumours
that what remains of the European leadership are considering ‘the nuclear option’, to prevent things from
getting any worse. Worse than what, I’m not entirely sure, but we all know we are fast running out
of time. Fortunately, we still have some options available to us.

Yesterday we had gotten together to celebrate Isaac turning eighteen. He and Kayla had become virtually
inseparable, and he was often the only one that could get through to her after she and Maria had one of
their all too frequent arguments. Maria was so determined not to lose any more in our conflicts, especially
since Kyle returned without Michael, she tried to hold on tighter to her daughter and in the process
ended up pushing her further away. Kayla had developed energy-based powers as Michael had, but
instead of discharging the energy as a blast, she was able to focus it in her body, making it
insubstantial along with anyone she was in contact with at the time and allowing them to move through
solid objects. I had lost count of the number of times I had seen an argument between the pair end
with her walking through Maria to get away from her over-protectiveness. Max isn’t much better - it’s as if
they can only see Isaac and Kayla as the children they were rather than the adults they are becoming,
and the situation has become the source of a large amount of constant and growing tension between
Max and Nathan. It seems like they spend half their time arguing with each other, and the other half
ignoring each other, and I get caught in the middle trying to play peacemaker between them.

After dinner, Kyle had headed outside to take the watch. Ten minutes later he came running back in,
calling for us all to join him. As we gathered in the main room three of the local resistance came in, carrying
a young woman with them who Kyle identified as Serena, and she was in bad shape. Max spent the night
by her side, healing as many of her injuries as he could without rushing things and having her go into shock.
She’s been unconscious ever since, and we all can’t help but wonder what information she has for us. For
years we had made offers to pull her out of the situation she was in but she always refused, saying that
the information she was gathering was more important than her safety. For her to show up like this, in
the condition she is in, we just know it’s-

“Liz?”

Max poked his head in around the cloth they were using for a door, as if trying to hide behind it. He knew
how much she hated to be interrupted when she was writing. She finished the sentence she had been working
on and looked up with a smile. All this time they had been together, and it still only took the sight of him or the
sound of his voice to make her heart beat that much faster.

“She’s awake?”

Max nodded. “Ten minutes ago. The others are waiting for us in the main chamber.”

Liz stood and replaced her diary on the shelf behind her, then headed out with Max to hear what Serena had
to say for herself. Everyone else was already there in various positions around the room, with Kyle sitting
behind her to help her stay upright. Liz went to her side and took her hand.

“Serena, it’s so good to finally meet you. After all you’ve done to help us and what it has cost you… thank
you seems so inadequate.”

“Thanks are not required. It has ever been my greatest joy to be of service to the monarchy.”

“We haven’t laid claim to any thrones just yet.”

She turned her gaze to Max briefly. “Perhaps not… my lord.” She looked at Liz with a cryptic smile, and Liz
swallowed hard. “But for such as us, some things always remain true.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s all fascinating.” Maria said dryly. “Now how about we actually get on to what it is
you’re doing here?”

“Of course.” She took a drink of water and settled back to tell her story.

“Kivar has had a new Granilith bought to Earth, and he has had it adjusted to create a vortex that
will allow him to send agents through time to prevent your rising in opposition to him. Unfortunately
for his purposes, the vortexes are still too unstable - without the crystal control rod that activates the
Granilith, he can‘t travel at all and even with it, he can only move back in time. The future hasn’t ‘happened’
yet, so travelling forward isn’t possible. Also, we have been having difficulties transporting more than
one person at a time - any more than that, and the process will not occur. The other problem is what happens
if the person making the jump were to meet their other self in the past - we have no proof, but it is
speculated that such an occurrence would create such a paradox, all of reality could be threatened. Such a
meeting could happen, too - even with the control rod to allow it, the power requirements are incredible
and he isn’t able to travel any further than thirty years at the most.”

“That would still be far enough.” Kyle observed. “Thirty years ago, we were little more than kids. Anyone
going back with today’s technology would have a field day hunting us down.”

“So why go ahead with it then?” Maria snapped. “Why not just destroy it and be done with it?”

“Because destroying the control crystal would aid nobody. If I had done so, I would have found myself
executed as a traitor, and another team of scientists would have rebuilt it. Each pairing of the Granilith and
the control crystal operates on a unique harmonic frequency, which acts as a lock and prevents anyone
else from using another crystal to activate it. It cannot be duplicated, or reset. At least this way we can
make use of it for our own purposes. There can be only one control rod for each Granilith, so as long as
we hold that, we control it.”

“We hold it? You brought it out with you?”

“It’s in the pack I carried with me when I first arrived.”

Nathan looked at Max and they both had the same sly grin on their faces. Nathan spoke first.

“Call me crazy, but I’m getting an idea.”

“I know you’re crazy, but it might just work.”

“What might work?” Maria demanded.

“If we plan it out…”

“With the right team…”

“What are you guys…”

Suddenly the room erupted in babble as everyone started speaking, trying to talk over the top of each
other and not hearing what the others were saying. Isaac reached for the comfort of the psychic link he and
Kayla shared, and felt it wash over him like waves in a pool that was heated to just the right temperature.
He was unsurprised to find her already waiting for him.

*Please tell me you aren’t thinking what I think you’re thinking.*

*Come on, Kay. I’m supposed to be the mind reader around here.*

*Zach, are you crazy?*

*Of course I am, it’s hereditary. I’ve been driving Dad nuts for years.*

He waggled his eyebrows fiercely, and Kayla fought to suppress the laughter building up inside her.

*Besides, you heard what she said about meeting yourself and what could happen. Who would be better to
send than the two in our group that weren’t even born back then?*

*The two, huh? What, you think I’m just going to drop everything and tag along, just like that?? You can be
such a male sometimes, you know that?*

*Not think, just hope. I’m not sure I’d be strong enough to leave you behind and do it on my own.* He
grinned at the blush in her cheeks. Even for as long as they had known each other, and all they had been
through together, she still didn’t really seem to appreciate just how much she meant to him. He glanced over
and saw the expression on Nathan’s face as he studied the two of them. * Look, Dad’s giving me the eye. We’ll
talk about it later, okay?*

“SILENCE!” Max bellowed, and everyone grew quiet. He let out a deep breath slowly and looked at each
person in turn.

“This is a lot of information to take in, and we are not going to make any decisions tonight. Any decision that
is made will be made by me, after I have heard from everyone, one at a time. Is that clear?”

He received a mumbled chorus of assents, and shook his head. *This would be a lot easier if I were still
king* he thought to himself.

“Good. Now, it’s been a long day. I suggest we all get some rack time.”

They all started to drift off to their rooms, and Max joined Nathan in the corner.

“Time travel, eh Boss?”

Max snorted. “I know, it sounds like the punch line for a bad joke. Welcome to my life.”

Nathan grinned and slapped him on the shoulder. “Get to bed. With the last couple of days, you need it
more than any of us. I’ll take the watch tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Nathan looked over to where Isaac and Kayla had chased Kyle out of the room and were
proceeding to make Serena as comfortable as possible, laughing and joking with each other.

“I get the feeling this could be a long night.”

==================================================================

[montee916]

Ohhh time travel... Can't wait to see what happens with this one

That's good to hear, Rie. As I said to my Beta when I sent them these parts, I was worried people
might see it as a bit of a cop out on my part.

Now, what are those crazy kids up to....



===================================================================

Chapter Nine

“So where do you think you’re taking off to?”

It was 3 a.m. before Isaac decided to make his move. He had collected everything he would need in a
small pack and quietly made his way down to the dry creek bed, planning to lose them that way. He
figured nobody could track him if he wasn’t leaving a trail, even as good as his father was at it.

He should have known better.

“How did you know?”

There was a rustle off to one side, and Nathan stepped out between the bushes he was hiding behind.

“Easy. I just asked which way I would go if I was trying to avoid anyone seeing me.” He looked at the
bag Isaac was carrying over one shoulder. “Something you’d like to tell me about, son?”

“I can explain.”

Nathan eased himself to a sitting position on a nearby rock with a groan and a chuckle. “If I had a dollar
for every time I said that to my father…” He shook his head ruefully and gestured for Isaac to
take a seat opposite him. “Okay then, let’s hear your explanation.”

“Well, first of all, the longer we wait to move on this, the longer it gives Kivar to reinforce his position.
If anyone is going to go, they need to go now. Before much longer he’s going to figure out what has really
happened and where Serena has gone, and once he does, he’ll lock it up tighter than ever and no one will
be getting in, assuming he hasn‘t done that already. If he has, you could walk into a trap that’s designed to
lock you all down, but I’m the wild card - he may have no idea I’m even alive, let alone what I’m capable of,
and he can’t counter a threat he knows nothing about. The other thing is what Serena said about what would
happen if we met our past selves - it could mean the end of everything. If I’m the one to go back, there isn’t
a conflict - I’m going back to before I was even born.”

“So why not explain all of that to Max in the morning and see what he says? We could all go together.”

“Which could end up costing us who knows how much time while we wait for him to make that decision, not
to mention what Maria will be like if she hears a word of it. Besides, Max would never go for it, and you know
it. Even now he only sees me as the little kid he needs to protect from what was done to him, despite all
the training I‘ve been given by all of you. Not to mention that the more people that go, the more likely it
is we get burned and never even reach this place, let alone get inside for what we need to do.”

“You realise what that could mean?”

Isaac nodded. “I know all about Mum and what this Alex guy meant to her. If I go back to change things,
I could stop you meeting her, and then I’d never even be born. But how much is my life worth, compared
to all the other lives that have been lost? This could save millions, Dad. I have to believe it’s worth it.”

“So what do you think, Kayla? Do you think it’s worth it?”

“You knew I was here all along.”

Nathan turned with a smile. “I may be old, but I’m not that old. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other;
I used to look at his mother the same way. I thought he would try something like this, and I knew if
he did go, that you would be with him.” He looked at the two of them side by side and shook his head. “So
how do you plan to find this place and get in?”

Isaac tapped a finger against his temple. “It’s all in here. Once Serena got to sleep, I essentially
downloaded her memories. I have the location of the base, the layout, how the crystal works, everything.
I have the crystal in my pack, along with Aunt Liz’s latest diary to back up at least some of what we tell
them. I just got Kay to ‘ghost’ it for me from their room right before we left.”

“Well, you seem to have thought of almost everything, except for what to do if you get sprung on the way
out.”

“I guess so.” Isaac grimaced. “So does this mean that we go back to bed and we’ll talk about it in the
morning?”

Nathan thought it over for a moment before responding, considering what his boy - No, he thought to
himself, his young man- had said. “No, it means that my last lesson for you is that young and enthusiastic
will always lose out to old and sneaky. That’s why I volunteered for look-out tonight - none of the others
would have let you go.”

“Let us go…?”

He nodded and stepped over to Kayla, tipping her head up and kissing her lightly on the forehead.

“Just so you know, I couldn’t be any prouder of the young lady you’ve become if you were my own flesh
and blood. Make sure you take care of yourself out there… and him too, even if he doesn’t deserve you.”

She laughed. “I’ll do that. Thanks, Uncle Nate.”

He turned to face Isaac and they embraced in a backslapping hug, the raw emotion flooding through
the link between them far stronger than any words could convey. After a few minutes they stepped back,
and Nathan sniffled. He reached into his pocket and handed over the keys to the Bronco.

“This should help you get there faster. Do you have room for a couple of extra items?”

“I’ll make the room. What have you got?”

Nathan reached into the lining of his jacket and pulled out an envelope, handing it to Isaac.

“This is for Liz, but not until she has seen the diary you‘re carrying. Like I said, I thought you might try
something like this, so I prepared a little something for her.” he smiled. “The second thing is this.”

He reached up to the back of his neck and untied a simple knot, removing the necklace he had worn for
years. He bundled it up and placed it in Isaac’s hand, wrapping the cord around his fingers.

“This used to belong to your mother, and she gave it to me after we got engaged. I had always planned
to pass it on to you... I just thought it would be under better circumstances.”

Isaac turned it over in his hand and studied it briefly. It was a simple design, black, with a whirlpool type
of pattern to it, and the bottom looking like it had broken off at some point. He lifted it and retied the
knot, securing it around his neck, and smiled at Nathan.

“I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too son, and I’m very proud of the man you’ve become.” He sighed and stepped back. “You
can do it now, Kayla.”

The tips of her fingers appeared in front of his throat as she ghosted her hand through the back of his neck,
effectively short circuiting his central nervous system and causing him to pass out. Isaac caught him and
lowered him gently to the ground, brushing the hair back from his face to take one long last look at his
father’s face. He rose to his feet, lifting his pack and throwing it over his shoulder, before turning to Kayla.

“Let’s go. We have a job to do.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So you just let them go?!”

“You know what it’s like when Kayla cuts someone off like that. It wasn’t like there was much I could do
about it.”

“Well gee, isn’t that convenient? The Great White Hunter finally lets someone get the drop on him at
a time like this.” Maria stalked across the room and thrust a finger in his face. “If anything happens to her,
I swear I’ll see you pay for it. My daughter, my baby girl, and she’s out there facing who knows how much
danger…”

“That’s right, she is, and it’s my son that’s with her! Do you really want to try having a slagging match over
who has the biggest sob story in this room??” Nathan rose to his feet and hurled the ice pack he was using
to cure his headache against the wall, knocking over a lamp that fell to the floor and shattered. “Listen to
yourself. ‘My daughter, my baby’. She’s her own person, and she hasn’t been a baby for years! Hell, at this
point the only thing that surprises me is she waited this long to get away from you!”

“That’s enough!” Max’s voice cracked across the room like a whip, halting everyone in their tracks, and he
had a fierce scowl on his face. “Everyone else get out. Nathan and I need to have a little chat.”

They all left slowly, shutting the door behind them. Max blew out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his
fingers against his temple.

“Please tell me they surprised you and that you had no idea this would happen.”

Nathan lowered himself into a chair and closed his eyes. This wouldn’t be pretty.

“Well, I could, but I’d be lying.”

“You knew from the start? Dammit, why didn’t you say something to me about it!”

“And then what? Isaac was right, coming from them you wouldn’t have given it the time of day. Do you
really not see what that would have done to them?”

“So instead you want to let them take off with some half-assed vision of saving the world and no back up
to get the job done!”

Nathan barked out a laugh. “Pretty much, yeah. Kinda reminds me of a couple of other kids I could name.”

“That wasn’t your decision to make!”

“You’re damn right it wasn’t my decision to make. Or yours for that matter. It was theirs, and I for
one am going to respect that decision.”

Max marched across the room and ripped the door open. “This isn’t over, not by a long shot. I’m going to
find out from Serena where this place is, and then we’ll go after them, we’ll find them, and we’ll drag
them back here by the ankles if we have to.”

“No, we won’t.”

Max turned in the doorway. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. I saw the look in their eyes, Max. I believe them. I believe in them. I have no doubt
in my mind they’ll get the job done for all of us. You want to go after them like this, go ahead, but you
won’t find them. I taught Isaac everything I ever learned about going bush, and he’s a better student
than I ever was. They’ve already got a twelve hour head start on you, and if you do go after them,
you’ll be going without me.”

“Fine, if that’s how you want it.” Max said coldly. “I’ll go after them without you or anyone else if I
have to, and the consequences can rest on your head if you aren’t going to help me.” He stormed out and
slammed the door shut behind him, as Nathan slouched back into his chair.

Well, he thought to himself, at this point what’s one more cross to bear…

===================================================================