Unbreakable - A Beautiful Lie (AU M/L ADULT) COMPLETE 5/5/17 + A/N 5/5/19

[keepsmiling7]

Good question........why would the set Max up with this crazy person???
This arranged marriage is doomed......for both parties.
And some idiot let her out of the institution....???
Can't wait for more,
Carolyn

[begonia9508]

After a Computer total brakdown, I have a new one and finally could read These two amazing parts!

But I was horrified at seeing Tess too in this Story... even if I was wondering why she wasn't in the Story and I was happy too as I thought that maybe, you hated her too much to do that! I can say now that I was wrong and I wonder what she will do... because she hasn't come to Liz just for the fun...

Thanks

LOL EVE

[Jull_ana]

Okay - so I am up to chapter 9, and I am so intrigued.
There are so many theories running around in my head, and I just want to keep reading, but I have things to do and a friend to meet, and I actually regret making plans for this weekend.

Here's my latest theory - which I am sure will be disproven as I continue reading, but I kind wanted to share.

- Roswell is a sort of hub for aliens on Earth. All of the 'well-off' people Liz remarked upon a couple of chapters back are actually aliens
- At this point, I don't think there is anything special about Max, Michael and Isabel - they're just regular aliens living in Roswell
- However, secrecy is very important to this secret society of aliens, so when Liz saw what she saw at the party, or trio screwed up big time
- When Max wiped Liz's memory to cover up his tracks, he somehow marked her with a big bold red X for other aliens - either like she's fair game for something (though I have no idea what) or that she knows something and needs to be stopped
- I think Sean is part of this alien society (a rival family to Max's maybe) and is acting upon this big red X on Li's back
- I also think Liz's mother's illness has something to do with the aliens and that's why Max got punished/beat up - he went to confront whoever did something to her and lost - and my guess is his father was pretty pissed at him for stirring up a fight between their 'family' and Sean's
- Also, Sean is obviously mind controlling Liz at this point, I just don't know to what end

I just can't wait to read more and hate myself for having a life.

I am so glad you brought me back here! Thanks for the amazing writing!!

[max and liz believer]

Okay - so I am up to chapter 9, and I am so intrigued.
There are so many theories running around in my head, and I just want to keep reading, but I have things to do and a friend to meet, and I actually regret making plans for this weekend.

Here's my latest theory - which I am sure will be disproven as I continue reading, but I kind wanted to share.

- Roswell is a sort of hub for aliens on Earth. All of the 'well-off' people Liz remarked upon a couple of chapters back are actually aliens
- At this point, I don't think there is anything special about Max, Michael and Isabel - they're just regular aliens living in Roswell
- However, secrecy is very important to this secret society of aliens, so when Liz saw what she saw at the party, or trio screwed up big time
- When Max wiped Liz's memory to cover up his tracks, he somehow marked her with a big bold red X for other aliens - either like she's fair game for something (though I have no idea what) or that she knows something and needs to be stopped
- I think Sean is part of this alien society (a rival family to Max's maybe) and is acting upon this big red X on Li's back
- I also think Liz's mother's illness has something to do with the aliens and that's why Max got punished/beat up - he went to confront whoever did something to her and lost - and my guess is his father was pretty pissed at him for stirring up a fight between their 'family' and Sean's
- Also, Sean is obviously mind controlling Liz at this point, I just don't know to what end

I just can't wait to read more and hate myself for having a life.

I am so glad you brought me back here! Thanks for the amazing writing!!

Thank you so so so much for posting your thoughts, even though you're not really all the way through the story. It's always fun to read your theories, especially when the answers are in the chapters to come. And thank you so much for your beautiful words; it means a lot. I'm so happy to see you here again. It's always great to see an old friend.

- Jo

[Jull_ana]

Meh... it was raining today so my plans got cancelled and I ended up marathon reading this story as well! I have had the worst couple of weeks at work and laying around reading this has been the best thing that could have ever happened to make me forget about the stupid 2017 budget.

Right now I'm up to chapter 57 (by the way, there were no posts for about 3 months - did something happen to the board?), and I have been having so much fun reading not only the story, but also the remarkably insightful feedback your readers have left you. I'm stopping by to drop in my 2 cents, but really don't expect too much out of me. I'm not nearly as eloquent as they are.

So at this point in the story, Max and Liz are preparing to go and defend their bond before the high council.
I'm surprised at how I wasn't nearly as far off with my theories as I was expecting to be.

First of all, I love that the main characters aren't royalty. It's refreshing to see Max and Liz try and work against the system. That they have someone very real and very close to answer to and that they need to try and work from within the system to try and challenge it just brings so much nuance to the story. There is this entire retrograde alien society that has ruled a certain way for decades and you can see how it is used to simply annihilating anyone that stands in its way. Power hungry people using dated laws to justify their atrocities. The conflict is real and it is current. And I think it translates to real life in so many ways.

I actually don't think the Romeo and Juliet-style love story - Max and Liz not being allowed to be together - is the big issue at all here. I see the problem stemming from a place much more structural and systemic. You can see a power struggle that puts some members of society above others: the way they place gaea above regular humans, because they are useful whilst other humans are not. Then aliens are clearly above all humans, clearly portrayed by Michael's amusement at shocking, scaring and exercising his power over humans. Then you have some aliens ranked above others, be it based on their abilities, or who their families are. You have on single power who delegates to a power hungry man and lets him do as he pleases (I haven't met Command yet, but he is at best clueless and incompetent, at worst ruthless and with no regard to his people). The Sergeant is left as judge and executioner - with no one to control him, free to bend the law as he pleases to fulfil his needs. And an entitled youth who believes they are above it all, and have the right to possess people. Women are beneath them, lower aliens are beneath them, humans are beneath them, gaea are weapons, if you happen to be more than one, then you are definitely an object and have no right to free will. And that is not even to touch on the issues of the culture of rape, which is clearly reinforced in this alien society.

So you have created quite the dystopian fantasy world here, my dear Jo. And I am looking forward to see how exactly you are going to shake it all up.

I have so much more to say, really, about the characters, and the story, and everything, but I feel like you've heard it all from the others, and I really want to read a couple more chapters! So I'm stopping here for now, but I'll be back to leave some more comments before I go to sleep!

Cheers! Ju

[Jull_ana]

So I'm still slowly but surely making my way through this brilliant story, and sometimes I want to kill you, and sometimes I want to kiss you.

But you know what? Even after all the horrible torture, and the almost rape, and the almost killing Max and the terrible, terrible things you did to us, your darling readers, this was the passage that made me actually physically cry.

"Is my dad still here?"

"I'm here," my dad responded, his voice sounding a bit distant.

"Can you stay?"

You cruel, wonderful woman.
I'll continue reading now.

[max and liz believer]

Meh... it was raining today so my plans got cancelled and I ended up marathon reading this story as well! I have had the worst couple of weeks at work and laying around reading this has been the best thing that could have ever happened to make me forget about the stupid 2017 budget.

Well, that kinda worked out pretty well for both of us then Unbreakable happened to save you from thinking about the stupid 2017 budget and I got some lovely feedback from you

Right now I'm up to chapter 57 (by the way, there were no posts for about 3 months - did something happen to the board?), and I have been having so much fun reading not only the story, but also the remarkably insightful feedback your readers have left you.

The board completely disappeared for about 3 months. It was horrible. They eventually changed server, so I guess it all worked out. There's too much stuff on this board, the board was crashing/disappearing a lot just before it completely disappeared. But it's all good now

And yes, I have the best readers! So smart and analytic Couldn't hide anything from them really; they just figure it all out anyway

First of all, I love that the main characters aren't royalty. It's refreshing to see Max and Liz try and work against the system.

Thanks!

I actually don't think the Romeo and Juliet-style love story - Max and Liz not being allowed to be together - is the big issue at all here. I see the problem stemming from a place much more structural and systemic. You can see a power struggle that puts some members of society above others: the way they place gaea above regular humans, because they are useful whilst other humans are not. Then aliens are clearly above all humans, clearly portrayed by Michael's amusement at shocking, scaring and exercising his power over humans. Then you have some aliens ranked above others, be it based on their abilities, or who their families are. You have on single power who delegates to a power hungry man and lets him do as he pleases (I haven't met Command yet, but he is at best clueless and incompetent, at worst ruthless and with no regard to his people). The Sergeant is left as judge and executioner - with no one to control him, free to bend the law as he pleases to fulfil his needs. And an entitled youth who believes they are above it all, and have the right to possess people. Women are beneath them, lower aliens are beneath them, humans are beneath them, gaea are weapons, if you happen to be more than one, then you are definitely an object and have no right to free will. And that is not even to touch on the issues of the culture of rape, which is clearly reinforced in this alien society.

And speaking of smart readers... So good. Head on the nail kind of good.

So you have created quite the dystopian fantasy world here, my dear Jo. And I am looking forward to see how exactly you are going to shake it all up.

Well... I have a tendency to shake things up, so I hope I won't disappoint

So I'm still slowly but surely making my way through this brilliant story, and sometimes I want to kill you, and sometimes I want to kiss you.

But you know what? Even after all the horrible torture, and the almost rape, and the almost killing Max and the terrible, terrible things you did to us, your darling readers, this was the passage that made me actually physically cry.

"Is my dad still here?"

"I'm here," my dad responded, his voice sounding a bit distant.

"Can you stay?"

You cruel, wonderful woman.
I'll continue reading now.

You're so beautiful. Thank you so much! I kinda live to put you all through emotional rollercoasters. That's what life is all about, right?

[max and liz believer]

Ashley (Morning Dreamgirl)

Another update already??

*Squeal! Happy dance, happy dance*

Off to read.

I know. I'm shocked too. And here I am again

Thank you dear <3


L-J-L 76

Oh no Tess is lose and is trying to find Max. Max and others better figure out what to do now.

It's definitely not a good thing...

Poor Max and Liz now they got a crazy person after them.

They just can't seem to catch a break, those two


Helen (Roswelllostcause)

Hell no! Someone better find that phyco bitch!

Natalie36

THEY DID WHAT??!!!!????

Ahum...Yeah


Carolyn (keepsmiling7)

Good question........why would the set Max up with this crazy person???

Because that gives them a guarantee that the healing trait will be carried on. And makes the offspring stronger because Tess is full alien and Max is at least half. That she's also crazy seems to be of a smaller issue to the men in charge

And some idiot let her out of the institution....???

Probably completely intentionally too.

Thank you so much for the feedback!


Eve (begonia9508)

After a Computer total brakdown, I have a new one and finally could read These two amazing parts!

Computer problems *sigh* . I'm with you on that one. Glad to hear that you got a new one and is back on track

But I was horrified at seeing Tess too in this Story... even if I was wondering why she wasn't in the Story and I was happy too as I thought that maybe, you hated her too much to do that!

I hadn't actively planned to have her in the story. But suddenly, she was just there. She broke into my story somehow...

Thank you for the feedback and welcome back!


From NINETY-EIGHT:

”She’s dangerous,” I realized gravely.

Max nodded. ”She might not be all there, but don’t underestimate her. She’s still cunning and manipulative. Although highly unpredictable. Think of her as Joker in Batman.”

”Raving mad,” I mumbled under my breath while I tried to process this information.

Max’s voice was gentle and relatively tentative, ”We did kiss.”

I froze and held my breath while waiting for him to continue.

”It was nothing. Not even to a pubertal teenage boy who had barely touch a girl before that day did she do anything to my system. No sparks. No tingles. Not even a sensation. It was just wet and cold and-”

I quickly put my hands up, ”Okay okay okay,” to stop him from saying anything more.

Max wrapped his hands around my protesting hands and pressed them against his chest. Leaning forward, he brought our mouths within an inch of each other. ”I wish it had never happened. At the time, I was relieved to have made it out of there alive.”

I swallowed heavily. ”Tell me. How did she end up in my dream? Has she gotten stronger? Can she access me through you somehow?”

Max slowly shook his head, his eyes going black with crippling worry. ”No. That wouldn’t be possible. Her room at the Institute was built to stop her from accessing people even just outside of the facility.”

”Then how-?” I stuttered.

Tenderly, he brushed his lips with mine, instantly spreading tingles (and sparks) through my body. The kiss was slow, gentle, heavy with emotion while the touch was as light as a feather.

He pulled back just enough so that he could form words, which meant that his soft lips still brushed mine with every paralyzing word. ”I think they let her out.”

____________________________________

NINETY-NINE

I think they let her out.

My heart chilled and I froze. Was Max right? Had they - our enemies - let a psychotic person out of her confinement? A person that seemed to have her eyes set on Max? A person that would not exactly be rooting for my involvement in Max’s life?

What would this mean for the battle? For the rebellion? She was basically a loose cannon, from what I could gather.

”I might be wrong,” Max said quietly, as he silently traced my line of thought.

I slowly shook my head, my thoughts miles away. ”No… No…” It sounded right. If that girl hadn’t been able to contact us - or at least Max - earlier, why was she suddenly able to contact us now? Even with our connection supposedly protecting us?

She was going to be used as a weapon by the opposition. It was perfect, really. Most likely, no one valued her life, since she was so messed up. Consequently, her eventual (accidental) death would not be a great loss. Nevertheless, she had the chance to do great damage before she died, serving our enemies in taking out some of our people.

Like letting a rabid tiger out of its cage to see how many individuals it would kill before it could be stopped.

Max’s eyes were worried as he looked at me, his pupils dilated and dark. I could read his thoughts, feel his emotions, and we were reaching the same conclusions.

The addition of Tess Carter to the war would twist the battle into unpredictability. And that was dangerous.

My voice was breaking with tension when I asked, ”Is there a way to find out for sure? If she’s out or not?”

”I’m gonna talk to my father and Dresden about this.”

I nodded, feeling the weight of my new reality hang heavily on my shoulders.

”Hey.” The warm pad of his finger pressed underneath my chin, gently urging my eyes up to his. His light brown eyes spoke directly into my heart when he tenderly said, ”This is why I’ve kept so much from you before.” He let out a tired, although light, sigh. ”My world is just too much. It’s one thing after the other. It’s extreme now, but it’s always been something. Even before this rebellion.”

He shook his head slowly, his eyes never diverting from my face. ”I wanted to protect you from all of this crap. At least I’m born into this and have always expected the shit to the fan.” He brushed the side of his thumb like a feather over my cheekbone. ”But you weren’t. The Antarians just granted themselves the right to rule over your life.”

He slowly licked his lips, looking increasingly plagued. My eyes went to his well-detailed lips, focusing on my memories of how those lips felt against mine. How they tasted. How soft and warm they were. How they sent thrills right into every cell of my body.

”We have ruined your life to prepare our own people for a potential conflict.”

I reached up and pressed a finger to those soft lips, fiercely shaking my head in negative. ”Not you. Them.” He dropped his eyes, but I continued, addressing the back of his eyelids, ”You have always tried to shield me from that reality. To make my life normal.”

He pulled his head backwards slightly, giving him the chance to protest, ”And what good did that do?” The bitterness to his voice was clawing against the internal lining of my stomach. ”You’re in more danger than you have ever been. I’ve completely failed at protecting you. Instead I just brought you deeper.”

I wasn’t really prepared for this turn of the conversation. We had just been discussing the deranged girl that he was supposed to procreate with and spend his life with, and now he was quickly tumbling down this deep murky pit of self-loathing.

I frowned. ”We have been over this, Max. I don’t blame you for anything. All you’re guilty of is trying to protect me. You’ve been stuck between a rock and a hard place. What were you supposed to do?”

His eyes were dark as he interpreted my question as rhetorical. So I asked again, ”No, seriously. What else were you supposed to have done? How would you have acted differently if you could do this all over again?”

His eyes narrowed, his gaze turning skeptical. ”I wouldn’t have gone along with those sessions at your place when you were growing up. I never wanted anything to do with that. I couldn’t stand watching that fear in your eyes when they held you down, and I hated to see the memory blink out from your eyes when they erased it.”

”But those sessions would have happened even without you there, right?” I hinted, the tone of my voice insistent.

”Of course,” Max said darkly.

”Wasn’t it for the best that you were there then? To help me through that?”

”I didn’t help you at all,” Max objected, his face turning darker with anger. Anger at himself. Anger for not standing up for me. For failing at giving me a normal childhood and youth.

”You must have done something,” I pressed, my voice growing softer the harder his got. ”Otherwise I would never have trusted you later on. If I had viewed you as one of my enemies, even if it was only a blurry detail from my subconscious, I would have a lot of trouble trusting you.”

”No, you-”

I interrupted him with a, ”I still have a problem trusting your father. Even though he’s proven to be on our side lately. It must be because something deep inside of me is still warning me about him. Because he wasn’t that nice to me when I was younger.”

Max’s jaw clenched, his teeth almost blocking the words as he bit out, ”No, he wasn’t.”

I swallowed slowly, the inquisitive part of my personality wanting to dig further and have Max reveal what I had been forced to forget from those visits when I was younger, but the majority of me decided to move on.

Clearing my throat, I prompted, ”What else? What else could you have done differently?”

His reply was instant. He had thought about this a lot. Mulled it over in his head. Back and forth. Over and over. Like some evil game of self-torture.

”I would have checked my bedroom before healing Isabel. That way you never would have seen me use my powers and I never would have to remove memories from your mind.”

I softened. ”I would have preferred you not messing with my mind. I think you know by now how I feel about you aliens manipulating human minds.” I hurried to continue when Max looked like he was about to start talking, ”But, again, it was to protect me from information that maybe I wasn’t ready to hear yet.” I quickly added, in mumbled afterthought, ”If one can ever be ready for that type of information…”

I tried to smile, tried to lighten the situation, but Max wasn’t having any of it. He was in a funk. Probably brought on by the reminder of Tess. Yet another person that threatened to come between us. In the most deadly of ways.

”I would have found out sooner or later anyway, Max,” I tried. ”This way I found out before I ended up being bonded to Sean.”

”I could have handled it another way-”

”The connection protected me from Sean’s advances.”

”I know-”

”Do you?” I asked tightly. ”Do you actually realize that it was for the best? Because there was no way in hell that you could have stopped Sean from bonding with me. Unless you killed him that is. And for that, the Sergeant would most likely have killed you. The only way to interfere with Sean’s plans was to provide me with an internal protection system. The connection.”

He looked clearly bothered. Annoyed, bordering on angry. His eyebrows were so closely pulled together that a deep groove the depth of Grand Canyon was forming above the straight line of his nose.

I cradled his face in my palm, demanding his full attention. ”Don’t you see? Everything had to happen this way. Or else we wouldn’t have been here right now. This idea you have that I might have ever been free to lead a normal life is just bullshit. As soon as the Antarians landed on Earth, my fate was decided. Being born a gaea, there was no way - except changing the laws - that would give me a normal human life. You could not change that. Not you alone.”

His eyes were blank. I knew that he was listening. I knew that the information was reaching him. But he appeared frozen while I tried to convince him of his self-worth.

”You and Alex have always fought to keep me safe. You have even broken laws. You have gone behind the backs of dangerous superiors. Even when you knew that I could not be saved. You wanted to let me have a normal life for as long as possible. I’m convinced that even if I were to have bonded with Sean, you still would have been there, looking after me. Healing me from whatever damage Sean might have caused. Even with the risk of going under for having to witness me with Sean.”

The darkest of emotions were creeping into his eyes. The scenario I was painting was one he was uncomfortably familiar with. It was the scenario that had been his future up until that Halloween party.

The tips of my fingers pressed harder into the stubble covering his cheeks, emphasizing what I needed to say, ”Thank you, Max. For keeping me safe. For caring for me, even when I was treating you like air. Even treating you like a monster.”

”Your memories were continuously erased, you had no reason to treat me as anything but air,” Max protested, speaking for the first time in a minute.

I ignored his input, a silent tear running down my cheek. ”Thank you for giving me a shot at life. Even if it’s an interesting type of life…” I tried to smile again, but he was still not amused. ”You gave me a life with you and that’s the best life I could have.”

”Liz…” he shook his head, looking really sad. ”Don’t say that-”

His protest angered me, because of what it insinuated. ”This is not pity, Max. It’s not me settling for the better alternative or being forced to choose you in a situation where I’m given bad options. I choose you despite that. We belong together. Even if we had both been human or both been alien. We were meant for each other. The strength of our connection should tell you that. The fact that we seem to have connected even as young kids should tell you that.”

I bent forward and pressed my lips to his, just letting our lips rest against each other. Letting the energy of my love flow into his being through that small seemingly insignificant touch, lasting barely two seconds.

Pulling back, I whispered, ”You need to let go of your guilt. You’re an amazing person, Max. You’re so caring and protective. You’re incredibly unselfish. You put up with other people’s pain just to be able to heal them and make them feel better.”

My heart squeezed when I saw the sheen of tears gathering in his eyes. He did so much, yet people rarely complimented him for it. Because it was considered his job. ”You believe in our connection. I know you do. You showed me as much just a couple of hours ago. But you have to see that you are just as much worth as I am. That we are equal.”

He dropped his eyes. He was struggling to keep his mask up.

With a whispered, ”Hey,” I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled his head down towards me. I pressed my face into the curve of his neck and held him close.

At first he was quiet, his arms strong as they wrapped them around my middle and returned my hug. After a couple of seconds his body started shaking. The trembles were small at first but gradually they reached greater magnitude until a sob broke through and took the steam out of the impending earthquake.

They were not sniffles and it was not the soft sound of quiet sobs. This was the sound of a man letting go of the iron control he usually had over his emotions. This was the sound of a man rarely hearing a nice word about himself and having put up a shield around his emotions to not let the more frequent bad comments get to him.

These were the sounds of a man I loved with my whole being. Who trusted me enough to let his guard down. At a time when he felt like he had to be the most on his toes. At a time when war was raging outside of his borders. At a time when he had to be the strongest.

My arms tightened around his shoulders. It felt oddly humbling to comfort someone that had the power to end someone’s life with blasts of concentrated energy but who also had the power to remove cancer and life threatening injuries.

I placed occasionally kisses along the side of his throat while he cried. I felt the wetness of his tears against the top of my shoulder, where the collar of my shirt started.

He didn’t cry for long. He wouldn’t allow himself that reprieve.

Tears were running down my own cheeks by the time he loosened his grip around my middle and I let him go.

Brushing at my tears with my palms, I peeked up at him, feeling worried that I might have upset him too much. ”You okay?”

I had expected him to avoid meeting my searching eyes, but he surprised me by looking at me straight on, with reddened shiny eyes, and offering me a courageous smile. ”Yeah, I’m fine.”

I lovingly brushed the tears off his cheeks with my thumb, the movement slow and thorough. He kept looking at me the entire time.

”We’re gonna get through this, you know,” he mumbled. ”There’s nothing stopping us as long as we support each other.”

It was the best he had said in a long time. I immediately felt the relief spread through me like a cool breeze.

He believed in us. That made us unstoppable.

”Max.”

We both jumped, Max instinctively angling me behind him and raising his arm towards the interrupting voice, prepared to defend us.

But it was only Dresden. Looking very relaxed with a weapon (which Max’s arm practically was) pointed at him.

Max inhaled sharply, lowered his arm and said, ”Yes?”

”I think it’s time I inform the group of the history of the rebellion.”

Max’s eyes flickered to my face, to gauge my reaction. I hadn’t had time to react yet.

Before I came up with a reaction, Max gave Dresden a nod, took my hand and we started walking towards Dresden.

”About time,” Max grumbled under his breath, squeezing my hand.

I guess no one had been able to go back to sleep after I had woken them all up with my dream about Tess.

Isabel was discussing something with her father. Diane was talking to my father. Michael was standing at the door as we walked in, his features hard and unreadable.

To my surprise, Maria was talking quietly to Alex, their heads bent close together, immersed in their own little bubble. For some reason, this made me very happy. Because Maria didn’t seem upset. The scene depicted a private conversation between friends. A confidential, comfortable conversation.

”Okay, everyone,” Dresden boomed, making everyone jump in their spot. ”Let’s sit in a circle.”

The reactions to Dresden’s order were not filled with excited joy or positive anticipation of what the leader of the rebellion might have to say.

Instead the members of the group reacted as would a wary group of students when faced with a daunting assignment. Carefully, they got to their feet, exchanged looks of uncertainty tinged with fear, and shuffled towards the tall black-haired man.

With some hesitation, Alex was the first one to take a seat - crosslegged - on the cold floor. Maria looked down at her friend, before looking towards Dresden and then at the rest of the group. Her face was screaming fear and ambivalence.

Maria was the last one to sit down. I knew because I watched her the whole time. I watched her as she observed Isabel sitting down, pulling Michael down next to her, Maria’s eyes lingering cautiously on the tall alien that had proclaimed himself her personal protector. I watched her studying the way my father rather gingerly took a place, looking stiff and out of place sitting on the floor. Next her gaze flickered to Max’s parents, who sat down simultaneously, with almost eerie fluidity and ease.

Her eyes met mine when Max - by a tug on our interlocked fingers - pulled me down in front of his quickly crossing legs. I was acutely aware of him as he quickly rearranged his legs once I had sat down in front of him, to instead have them flank my sides, pulling my back up against his chest and hugging his arms around my middle while his knees pressed up against the sides of mine.

I never took my eyes off Maria’s face.

She was the last one to sit down. In a hesitant, worried manner. As if sitting down on the floor in this unceremonious circle signaled the beginning to the trial of her survival.

”I’ll try to keep this short,” Dresden said, making me finally look away from Maria.

”We all need to get more sleep than this,” Dresden continued pragmatically.

Except for Michael’s grunted ”No kidding”, the room was silent, awaiting the information that they had been promised.

I realized then that it was not only humans that were oblivious to whatever knowledge might be provided at this impromptu meeting. A lot of things had been kept secret even from the Antarians.

”Reports have been spilling in from our men around the area, confirming that Theresa Carter, also known as Tess, has been released from her custody. I wanted to keep the information overload to a minimum for some time still, instead having you focus on training, but the unfortunate release of Miss Carter warrants for some more hasty briefing.” Without breaking speed, Dresden interrupted himself and prompted questioningly, ”Yes?”

Surprised, I looked in the direction of his gaze and saw Maria slowly lowering her hand. The feeling of being in a circle of school kids reappeared as Maria’s recently raised hand had asked permission to ask a question.

Her voice was surprisingly strong when she spoke, but it lacked stability and volume signaling her insecurity about her role in this situation. ”What do you mean by custody? And if she’s our age, why hasn’t she attended school? Why don’t we know of her?”

My eyes flickered back to Dresden, afraid that he might be upset about the interruption. I didn’t know him that well yet.

But, to my relief, Dresden’s face softened and there was a small curve of understanding to his mouth. ”I know that you’re confused, Ms. DeLuca. You are not alone. A large part of the information I’m about to give you have been withheld even from our own people. But I’ll try and answer all your questions. Okay?”

Maria nodded mutely. She almost looked surprised. I think I had the same expression on my face. Surprise at how nice Dresden actually seemed.

”Okay,” Dresden repeated in agreement and let his gaze move around the circle. ”Right. Let’s try and take this from the beginning, shall we?”


TBC...

[Morning Dreamgirl]

You mean... We're actually going to get some answers? Like a lot of them? *Starts to hyperventilate.*

Oh.

My.

Lord.

Ahem. Definitely going to get caught up on FB now. Otherwise I'll forget it all when my brain exploded with possibilities, new theories and/or 'aha's!'.

You're amazing!

Off to read again. Nothing better to do at almost 5:00 AM.

[Roswelllostcause]

Real answers? If this is true then it's about time!


Helen