The Chaos Theory (CC/UC - Mature) Complete 2/4

[Anniepoo98]

Title: The Chaos Theory
Author: Annie
Couples: K/S - M/L - M/M... the rest are up for grabs.
Rating: Mature (language, etc...) for now. This might go Adult later... but there will be warning... trust me!
Summary: This is the sequel to 24. It will help a lot to read that story first as this one starts right where the epilogue left off. After six years, Kyle has found Serena. However, their meeting sets into motion a series of events that might trigger the downfall of the entire group.
Disclaimer: You know that I don’t own them. If they are from Roswell , then they belong to Melinda Metz, Jason Katims and the rest of the powers that be.

Authors Note: Okay.... I've decided to go ahead and post the prologue. I did want to warn ya all that it might take me a little longer to update this than it did with 24. Next few weeks are going to be a little busy for me.... plus I want to get WOTW finished.

Big Thank You to Sel for betaing!






Prologue:

Dallas, Texas - October 12, 2006


Somewhere in Thanksgiving Square a clock struck noon. Kyle watched as the bells of the tall statue in front of him begin to sway, chiming in the hour. The sound, or maybe something in the air, had the tug of nerves building in Kyle’s gut easing off a bit. It was probably just hunger, he thought, remembering that his breakfast that morning consisted of a cup of coffee. The notion of lunch entered his mind, and going with it, Kyle turned.

And got bulled over.

Landing on his ass, Kyle grunted out a curse as a shower of paper rained down on him. Another string of more inventive curses came out of the linebacker that knocked him to the ground in a voice that was surprisingly female. Somewhere in there, he thought there might have been an apology, but Kyle wasn’t really sure. Giving up, he started gathering the papers around him.

Shuffling them into a neat stack, Kyle twisted around to hand them over. Her back was to him, her concentration on another group of papers. Still muttering, she ran a hand through her dark hair, loosening it from the strict bun it was pulled back in. “I think these are yours.”

She shifted, glanced over her shoulder, and knocked him on his ass for the second time that day. There, in the deep brown depths of the eyes staring back at him, Kyle saw what had been, felt the longing for what might be, and thought of one name. Serena.

Kyle completely froze. He couldn’t believe it. There, right in front of him, was Serena. And she had no idea who he was or how much just seeing her meant to him. She was alive and whole, no marks bruising her face or pain in her eyes. The fact was he could see innocence in them, innocence that the jaded version he’d known had lost years before they met.

How in the hell was he suppose to approach this... approach her? For six years, Kyle dreamed of this moment, never did he expect to feel pure panic that rendered him speechless. He had to say something to her, but what? Kyle sincerely doubted that ‘Hi, my name is Kyle. I think I should let you in on the fact I know you’re an alien. By they way, we’re soulmates...’

That would go over real well. He could just picture her running away, shouting at the top of her lungs for the nearest law enforcement official. Okay, that would be him, so she’d probably opt for the next closest. In any case, that idea was out. So then what?

Oblivious to Kyle’s internal battle, Serena took the papers out of his hand, shuffled them into the pile she was holding. “Thank you,” she muttered, quickly thumbing through the stack. The last thing she needed was to lose one of the reports before the meeting with her boss.

Still, it had been her fault and Serena knew that she owed the guy a better apology than oops, damnit, sorry, which had been the only hint of one in her early triad. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to offer him a little bit more formal one. “Listen, I am sorry about running you down like that. I wasn’t looking where I was going, and I was in a hurry...” She trailed off as she took a peak at her watch. Calculating the time had her biting back a groan. She was going to be so late. And on top of that, she was doing a really crappy job of apologizing. “I swear, I’m not usually so klutzy.”

Suddenly, it dawned on Serena that the guy had yet to response to anything she’d said. Risking getting her head chopped off, which would probably just be her luck today, she looked up. He wasn’t moving, wasn’t talking. No, he was just kneeling there... staring.

It was the first time she’d actually gotten a good look at him. He was... attractive. The rich brown hair just a shade lighter than her own was cut short, possibly so it didn’t detract any attention from his eyes. And what a pair of eyes they were. The color fell somewhere in-between blue and gray, with a hint of longing held within their depths.

Serena had no doubt they drew in every female he focused their power on. Well, the eyes on top of the rest of the package. An irrational surge of annoyance welled up within her at the thought. Guys like that just drove her nuts. She’d run into them often enough during her stint as a waitress. Hell, who was she kidding. She still ran into them. Lab or bar, jerks were everywhere.

And what annoyed Serena the most was that she felt the tug herself. She so didn’t have time for this today. Still, he just kept stared at her. That was the final straw. Shifting to stand, Serena gathered the papers against her chest and eyed Kyle for another moment. “Are you okay?” she asked in a last ditch effort to get him to speak. If he didn’t say anything in ten seconds, she was out of there.

Ten... nine... eight... seven...

“I’m fine!”

The words were blurted with such urgency that, for a moment, they both stood there, skeptical. Finally, Kyle got to his feet, hissing a bit as he felt a little twinge in his back. “I swear.”

He watched as a little smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I might’ve believed it to, if you hadn’t done your impression of a snake.” She took a step toward him. “Is it bad?”

Oh, how he wanted to cross the remaining distance between them and wrap his arms around her. Instead, he kept his voice light... well, as light as he could manage. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right?”

“Yeah.” But the smile dimmed as she said it. With a sigh, Serena glanced at her watch for a second time, cursed under her breath. “Again, I am really sorry about knocking you over, but I have to go.”

She was off before he had the chance to respond. “Damnit,” Kyle muttered, and took off after her. She was quick. He had to give her that. Quickly, she dodged other pedestrians, and was making her way across the street as Kyle reached the outskirts of the park. He watched her dart into a building, recognizing it from the Time article. And the queasy feeling from earlier returned.

She was entering the Vulcan Pharmaceuticals headquarters.

~~~~

“You’re late.”

It was a hard thing, but Serena managed not to roll her eyes towards the ceiling. A very hard thing. Still, an image popped into her mind like it always did when she thought about Jocelyn Roberts. The dragon guarding its tower was apt enough as a description of the other woman, with one very large exception. Jocelyn Roberts was just too damn perfect.

She was stereotypically perky and efficient, rounded off by looks that rivaled any supermodel on a runway. Polished and pretty from top to toe, with hair the color of caramels and big green eyes. On top of that, it seemed like she got along with everyone company. Everyone, that is, except for Serena.

“It couldn’t be helped....” Serena started as politely as she could manage. That too was hard as she caught a trace of a smirk on Jocelyn’s face. Still, the last thing she needed right now was to get into a cat fight with an office rival.

However, it seemed like Jocelyn had other plans. “Well, it wasn’t like he re-arranged three important meetings to set up this little appointment for you.” She paused a moment, tapping one perfectly manicured fingernail against her desk calendar. “On second thought, that was exactly what he did. But since it couldn’t be helped...”

I won’t do this, Serena told herself. No good would come from pointing out the fact that she hadn’t been the one to ask for the meeting in the first place. Nor would it serve any purpose to mention the fact she too had re-arranged her day just to make room for it. After all, when the boss says jump, you ask how high... right?

Right?

Fuck it. After the day she had, anger was welling up inside her. Having to deal with Jocelyn was just the final straw. Serena leaned over and slapped both hands down on the desk. “What is it that I’ve done to you, Jocelyn? Why do you dislike me so much? Anytime we come within five feet of each other, you become completely antagonistic. Have I offended you, because I sure don’t remember trying to do so. So, if you could give me just the tiniest hint...”

“You don’t belong here,” Jocelyn said simply before Serena could finish her rant. Shocked by the other woman’s candid response, she stayed completely quiet while Jocelyn continued. “I know several people who have worked harder and longer, yet you’ve surpassed them in position in only a few years. And while you might work hard, I feel that you don’t deserve your position.”

Swallowing against the bile rising in her throat, Serena tried to keep her voice calm and even. “I don’t have any control over promotions.”

“Nor do you question them. Not when they benefit you.” There was a buzz on the phone, a signal that Serena knew meant the boss was ready for her. “Maybe now you will. Mr. Kelley is ready to see you now.”

Without another word, quite possibly because she couldn’t think of a thing to say, Serena walked towards the double doors that lead into Mr. Kelley’s office. The decor of the room was a completely modernistic, from the furniture to the artwork. And, in her opinion, a little cold. Kind of like the man himself.

Even though she had met him a couple of times before, the sight of the man who controlled the vast world of Vulcan Industries always effected Serena. It wasn’t that he was good looking, and there was no denying that he was. But there was a coolness about Ryan Kelley, a hard, cold gleam in his ice blue eyes, that left Serena feeling vulnerable under its gaze. And if Serena hated one thing, it was feeling vulnerable.

He stood, gestured toward a chair. “Come in, Miss Devereaux, and have a seat.”

[cherie]

I simply adore your Kyle and Serena..have I told you that? And it was brilliant overlapping the chapter from 24 to introduce this sequel. Kudos, sweetie.
Vulcan industries, a haughty Jocelyn..(who I already detest) and Serena's boss...Oh, this is going to be so good. Come back when you can. We'll all be here.

[Anniepoo98]

Howdy all~

Thank you for all the feedback. So.... ya all think that the boss is suspicious... LOL! So do I!

Well, I have finally come back with another part. I hope you all enjoy.

Annie:)

PS.... Big, big thank you to Selena for betaing! Ohh... and the songs mentioned are by The Pierces and Keith Urban.



Part One:


Alex clenched his hands at his sides. No, he thought. I will not give into the urge to throw this laptop across the room, no matter how much I want to right now. Instead, he flopped backwards on the bed, groaning out his frustration at the block he’d run into.

Over the last six years, he had spent much of his free time trying to devise a computer program that would translate the book. Even with the samples of alien symbols they’d discover in the house that December long ago, it was a slow process. Hell, he’d already crashed three computers with his attempts. They simply didn’t have enough memory to formulate the information, and his current attempt wasn’t progressing any better.

“I just need to back away from this for a moment,” Alex told himself as he ran a hand thought his disheveled hair. He been at it since nine that morning, right about the time Kyle headed out to explore the city. With a glance at his watch, Alex realized that was nearly 6 hours ago. Did he even eat lunch?

Thinking about it for a moment, Alex vaguely recalled a turkey sandwich somewhere in there. Besides, if he were truly hungry his stomach would’ve let him know. Nope, what he needed now was a break… a music break. He dragged his computer every time they went on these expeditions so he could contribute what he could to the group. He dragged his guitar along for the sake of his sanity.

He pulled his old friend out of its case, his hands lovingly stroking over the wood. Resting the base against his leg, Alex played his fingers over the strings, strumming out one cord after another. A familiar song echoed out, one that he’d been working on rearranging for the Whits next gig.

Slow moving train
Slow moving bus
Slow moving plane
I’ve got to find a way to us

Maria had gotten the tune stuck in his head. The Pierces were just the kind of female singer/songwriter duo she would go in for, and he had to admit they were good. But that wasn’t why the song struck such a cord with him. It was the lyrics, the way the song blended… Oh, who the hell was he kidding? The song reminded him of Isabel.

Over the years, it seemed like it was inevitable that they would become a couple. After all, everyone else was paired of… for the most part. Max and Liz. Michael and Maria. Hell, even Kyle knew who he belonged with. So why shouldn’t he and Isabel become an item.

Because they couldn’t. Any and every time they tried, something went amuck. There just didn’t seem to be a way to ‘us.’

That was why the song struck a chord with him. Each time he heard it, he thought of her, and couldn’t help wondering if that was what he really wanted. Isabel had become his best friend, maybe even more so than Liz or Maria. They’d graduated early together, went to the same school, where she studied nursing and he computers. She was the first one he told about his idea to open a business in Roswell selling computers and networking for local companies. She’d helped him make it a reality. They had shared hard times and good, losses and successes. But that last barrier, the one crossing over into intimacy was one they didn’t seem able to breach.

Okay... there was that one night that had come close, but it was a sore subject for the both of them and best left unmentioned.

And outside is the driving rain
It keeps me in when I know I must
Find a way to get through the pain
I’ve got to find a way to us

Did he want to? That was the question. Part of his brain screamed yes. After all, it was Isabel, and she was beautiful, smart, and wonderful. Why wouldn’t he want to be more, have more with her?

Because there was that nagging voice somewhere in the far corner of his brain that said it was wrong. On some elemental level, it was wrong. It was almost like some part of him could sense that there was someone out there who was meant for him, and it wasn’t Isabel.

But what the hell did he know? That part of his brain could also have been the one that came up with the baked bean incident last 4th of July. Now, that was really something he didn’t want to think about. So he just kept on strumming the guitar, lowly mumbling the lyrics.

It managed to work at taking Alex’s mind off of things, until there was a sudden loud thump on the other side of the wall. It was followed a second later by another thump, then a creak of a mattress suffering from too much weight. After another moment, the creak began to take on rhythm.

“Just perfect,” Alex muttered to himself. “Out of all the vacant rooms in this motel and they stick the horny teenagers in the room next to mine.”

It took him a moment to register that the sounds were coming from the right side of the room. “Wait a minute…” He turned to look at the left wall. “Now that had been the empty room, if I remember right. Michael and Maria had the room on the rig…”

All thought process just stopped for a moment. It just couldn’t be… they couldn’t be…

“Oh my God,” he cried out, moving quickly to the wall. “Hey,” he called out as he banged his fist against it. “There will be no scrumping. No scrumping at all, ever, when Alex is in hearing distance.”

The only reply was a moan. “I mean it. Stop right this instant!”

The noise didn’t subside, but one did pop up to join it. It was his cell phone ringing. With a groan, Alex moved to the nightstand and answered the phone. “What?”

“What kind of greeting is that?” Kyle’s voice came through loud and clear.

“I’m being tortured,” Alex said as way of an explanation. “You would be cranky too if you were being forced to listen to what I am listening to.”

“I don’t have time to talk about Michael and Maria getting it on,” Kyle told him. “The only thing I can say is that the walls in that motel are paper thin.”

“What? Huh…” Again, Alex lost coherent thought. “How did you…”

“Not important,” Kyle interrupted. “What is important is that I’ve found something.”

“Ava,” Alex asked, his spine going ramrod straight.

“No. Not Ava.”

“Come on, Kyle. Spill. What did you find?”

There was a pause. For a moment, Alex worried the cell phone had cut out on them. Then, Kyle’s voice came again, a lot more hushed this time. “It’s Serena.”

“Serena!” The very idea had Alex’s mind running in overdrive. “Are you sure it’s her? Have you approached her yet? What did she say?”

Kyle answered the questions in order. “Yes, not really, and sorry.”

Okay, Alex thought. That made no sense. “Huh?”

“Look, I’ll tell all when I get back, but right now, I’ve gotta follow her. Find out where she’s going.”

Alex started shaking his head automatically. “No, no, no. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go wander around a strange city by yourself.”

That earned him a groan of annoyance. “I know how to handle myself, Alex. Deputy, remember? And I won’t risk the possibility of losing her. Not now.”

“Just be careful,” Alex cautioned. “We came to Dallas to find Ava. Not that I am not ecstatic, but we weren’t expecting Serena. We don’t know what else is out there that we might not expect.”

“Call Max,” Kyle asked. “Tell him to let Liz know we may have found her sister. She’s going to have to make preparations for that.”

“I know.”

“See you in awhile.”

The line went dead before Alex could get another word out. Not that he was sure what he could say… I have a bad feeling so please don’t go after the girl of your dreams. If Kyle really had spotted Serena, no one had a snowball’s chance in hell of talking him out of following her.

Alex sat down hard on the edge of the bed, thinking. What the hell was Serena doing here? First, Isabel finds Ava dreaming of this place so they drove to Dallas to find her, but locate Serena instead. This is the same Serena who is quite possibly one of the biggest mysteries to come out of the Roswellian alien abyss. At least, the biggest that Alex could think of.

Not that he wasn’t happy that they might have found her, because he was. After all, she’d saved his life. Okay… maybe not her her, but it didn’t matter to Alex. At the core, he was sure they were the same, despite whatever differences their lives might have held. And since he never got the chance to show his gratitude to the future version, Alex was damn sure he would with this one.

Gratitude or not, it didn’t mean that something wasn’t off about this whole situation. Getting up again, Alex moved towards the wall separating him and his friends and pounded on it once more. “Play time is over,” he shouted. “We have a situation, so get dressed and get over here, before I come over there.” The idea of it had him shuddering. “Please… please don’t make me come over there.”

With that said, Alex lifted his cell phone again, and prepared to make a phone call he was certain would change all their lives.

~~~~

Dusk had fallen over Dallas by the time Serena left her lab, bringing to an end one of the strangest days she’d had in a long time. Because the whole of it had effected her deeply, Serena ended up boarding a bus heading east instead of west, where her apartment was located. She didn’t want to go home, but to the place that felt most like home to her. And that was La La.

She got off the bus on the third stop, and started heading south. Around her, neon lights were starting to come alive in the early night sky. Even as they comforted her, Serena still felt annoying tug of unease, almost like an itch between the shoulder blades that you couldn’t reach. Her eyes darted from face to face of the people passing by. Was someone watching her?

Quickening her footsteps, Serena wove her way through the crowds beginning to cram the sidewalks. “Don’t you just hate it when your paranoia jumps up and says boo,” she muttered to herself and felt like a fool. But she didn’t slow down. Not until she spotted the bright pink sign that scrolled out the name of the club. Habit had her turning down the alley, towards the side entrance, and still she kept up her pace.

Only the sight of her roommate doing a complicated series of twists and turns, all the while ordering Frank, La La’s owner, to do the same. While that might not sound strange, seeing it was an entirely different matter. Frank happened to be nearly seven feet tall and built like a linebacker. Still, he moved gracefully to the instructions he was given, shuffling into a line dance all to the tune of Where the Blacktop Ends.

They were both dressed in jeans and the black tees with La La written across it in hot pink... the standard uniform for all workers at the bar. She should know. After all, she’d worked there for four years prior to starting at Vulcan. Just like she knew that on the back would be scribbled the nickname for each worker. It was a La La tradition.

That’s what she had needed. That was why she’d come here instead of going home. The comfort of the familiar. Serena knew she could predict what would be when she walked into the bar, with slight variations. In an hour the crowd would pick up, ready to belt their hearts out for the Thursday night karaoke special. That, too, was tradition.

So, Serena took a moment to watch the only two people in the world she actually trusted dancing and laughing their hearts out before she decided to intrude on the moment. “Should I applaud now,” she called out, “or wait until the song ends?”

They both looked up at her, their faces breaking out into huge grins. Frank’s especially. “If Roo thinks she can do better, she better get her skinny butt out here.”

Serena feigned shock, then twisted as if to study her backside. “I think my ass is cute, not skinny.”

Her roommate laughed, gave a toss of her long blond hair. “Maybe it’s both.”

Shrugging, Serena moved towards them. A second later, she found herself surrounded by dark, beefy arms. Frank lifted her off her feet into one of the big bear hugs he was famous for. “Looked like you could use one,” he said softly.

Boy, did she ever. Serena sighed and settled into the hug for a moment. Then, she begun to laugh. “Breathe. I gotta breathe, Frank.”

“Overrated.” But he gave her one last squeeze, than eased her back to the ground. “So Roo, have you finally decided to quit your fancy job and come back to work for me?”

“Not yet, but you’ll be the first to know.”

He studied her for a moment, nodded. “If ya need anything...”

Serena smiled, and for the first time in hours, it was genuine. “It’s nothing like that, Frank. Just one of those run of the mill bad days that suck all of your energy.”

Pulling out a stool, he gestured for her to sit down. “Well, settle your skinny bones, Roo, and I’ll get you something to eat.” Without waiting for her answer, he was off for the kitchen.

Her roommate walked over to the table, leaned against it. “So, that bad, huh?”

“Oh man,” Serena sighed as she sank onto a stool. “Ava, you wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had.”

~~~~~

“Hey Iz, while you’re down there, do you think you could tell her my kidney is not a soccer ball?”

Isabel smiled up at her sister-in-law from her sitting position on the floor. It was completely cliche, but she couldn’t help noticing how Liz just glowed with happiness. The last six years hadn’t been easy, not for any of them, but somehow through all of it, she managed to find and hold on to little pockets of happiness.

It was remarkable. Liz was remarkable. And Isabel... well, she was completely jealous.

It wasn’t that her life was one big pile of misery, but Isabel couldn’t say she was deep-in-the-bone happy either. There were times when she was content with the way things were. After all, she had a job she loved, a family and friends that meant the world to her, and the confidence of a man who supported her without question. In a lot of ways, content just might be better than happy.

But she didn’t glow, not with that pure radiance as Liz did. That left Isabel feeling like a piece of her was missing. Was there someone out there who would complete her as Max did Liz, and vise versa? For a time, Isabel thought that it might have been Alex. Hell, to be honest, part of her still hoped that it might be. There just wasn’t anyone like Alex, not to her.

He was, without a doubt, her best friend. He knew her, understood her, supported her in every way that he could. Alex was the one person with whom she had lowered all of her emotional barriers... all except for one.

A thump against her hand, which was pressed to Liz’s belly, brought Isabel out of her thoughts. She pushed them to the back of her mind and focused instead on her niece. “But mom, she wants to be a center and she’s gotta get all the practice she can, right?”

Liz laughed, then groaned and pressed a hand against the small of her back. “I’ll keep it in mind as long as she remembers that I still need those organs.”

“Deal.” Isabel tapped her fingers against Liz stomach one last time. She stood and let out a groan of her own. God, her feet were killing her. Twelve hour shifts tended to do that, and since they were short staffed at the hospital, she would start another in a little over six hours. All she wanted at this moment was a hot bath, then a soft bed.

Isabel looked down at Liz’s expectant face and was more than willing to postpone both. “Everything is on schedule, Liz. Normal and a-okay, I promise. Juliet Evans will make her grand entrance in about four weeks.”

With a huge sigh, Liz placed both hands on her stomach, rubbed. The gesture struck Isabel as utterly protective and maternal. Before she knew it, tears were starting to burn her eyes.

“Oh,” Liz said as she reached out for Isabel’s hand. “What’s that matter?”

Wiping away the tears, she shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just overtired, I guess. I should probably get going and let you get some rest.”

“Isabel...”

That was it. The damn broke. “You’re having a baby.”

Liz, who was already a sympathetic crier when she wasn’t pregnant, let out a watery laugh. “You just noticed?”

Isabel shook her head. “You’re having a baby... my brother is having a baby. I’m going to be an aunt.”

“Yes. Yes, you are.... All of which are good things. So tell me why are you crying about them.”

“I don’t know.” Isabel dropped on the bed beside Liz. “I’m scared. I know that I shouldn’t be because everything is going great right now, but I can’t help it. I’m just scared.”

“Me too,” Liz said, and laid her head against Isabel’s shoulder. “Things are changing, and that’s always scary. Plus, hey, I’m having an alien baby. That usually adds a little something to the mix.”

“Nothing is going to happen to your baby,” Isabel vowed fiercely. “I swear to you.”

She felt Liz’s head shake in a nodding gesture along her shoulder. “I know that. I trust you completely.”

For a moment, neither of them said anything else. They were each remembering a time when that trust wasn’t there, or when it wasn’t so complete. “I love you, Liz,” Isabel said, breaking the silence. “You know that right. Max healing you that day was probably the best thing that happened to me.... well, any of us. Granted, at the time I was pissed as hell, but now there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t look at it and thank god for my misguided brother. Otherwise, little Miss Scientist would have never become my sister.”

Isabel heard a loud sniffle, followed a moment later by a little sob. “Oh Liz. I’m sorry, that was so stupid. I should have never said that.”

Liz shook her head fiercely. “No... no these are happy, hormonal tears. God, don’t you medical professionals know anything?”

“We’ll find her.” She wrapped her arms around Liz quaking frame. “I know we will.”

“Of course we will,” was the shaky response as Liz hugged Isabel right back. “And when we do, I’ll have two sisters.”

“Oh.” More tears welled in Isabel’s eyes. “That does it.” And she let them flow freely.

Poor Max. When he walked into the room a moment later, he was greeted by the sight of two women enjoying a good cry and clinging to each other. Immediately, he jumped to the worst possible conclusion and was across the room is a second. “What’s the matter? Is it the baby? Are you okay?”

“She’s fine.” Isabel shifted, sniffled, than rose to give Max a hug. “You’ll be a daddy before Thanksgiving. So quit freaking.”

She watched as he tried to look annoyed at her, but she knew he was still lingering on being called daddy. The idea of it would keep him on an euphoric cloud nine just long enough. “So you’ll have all of the food dropped off by 11:00am on Sunday, right?”

“Of course.” A dazed expression came over his face. “Huh? What?”

Expecting this, Isabel quickly switched to her exasperated expression. Many had succumbed to it over the years. Max didn’t have a prayer. “We talked about this a week ago,” she said quickly. “The baby shower starts at 1:00, and I won’t have enough time between my shift at the hospital and getting things set up to pick it up. Besides, the Crashdown has taken to deliver for it catering jobs before. You’re in charge now, you can arrange it.”

“Iz...”

“Mom has been dying to do this. We can’t push it off again. You know that...”

Max reached out and took a hold of her arms. “Isabel, listen to me. Something has just come up. I got a call.”

Isabel felt all the blood drain from her head. “Is it Alex? Is he okay? Michael, Maria, Kyle...”

“They are all fine.” He’d changed his tone to soothe, but Isabel could still feel the tension drawing up her spine. “Alex just called. Kyle found Serena.”

The both jolted as Liz hopped up from the bed with as much grace as she could muster from her heavily pregnant body. “I’m going.”

“NO!” Isabel and Max said at the same time. Simultaneously, they reached out for her, easing her back onto the bed.

Crouching down in front of her, Max ran his hand lightly over her hair, her face. “Liz, you know you can’t.”

“She’s my sister.” The tears falling from her eyes weren’t happy anymore. “I’ve been waiting for six years...”

“Shhhh,” he whispered, laid a kiss on her brow. “But you can’t travel, not with the baby’s due date so close. Besides, we don’t know what kind of situation Serena is in right now. In the last timeline, she’d been working for Kivar by time we all met up with her. At least, that is what Kyle thinks. I’m not taking the chance on any possibility he might be wrong... not when it comes to you and the baby. For now, we are all staying here.”

“But what about the others?” Isabel asked. She had been taking in every word, could feel the underlying tone in them. If there was danger, everyone they cared about who had gone to Dallas, could be in it. “Are they safe?”

Max nodded. “For the moment. I guess Kyle is going to track her and report back. The others are trying to come up with an idea on how to approach her once they know what the situation is.”

“So what do we do now, Max?”

He turned his head to look at her. “We wait.”

[cherie]

I loved this part, Annie. The Liz and isabel talk...Ava being Serena's roomate. I can't wait for Kyle's reaction on that, because I just know he's following her. Poor Alex. He's so frustrated about not being able to decode the book. I always hated that damn book. Somebody should have had the good sense to chuck it in the garbage. Loving this, excellent detail, and your characters are spot on. Hurry back.

[Anniepoo98]

Howdy all~

I am finally back with a new part. I am sorry that it took me so long, but thank you all for the well wishes and patience. And the feedback. I am glad that you all are enjoying this.

So, without further ado, here be the new part!

Have a good one!
Annie:)

PS.... big thank you to Sel for betaing!!!!


Part Two:

“She really said that?”

Serena glanced over at Ava. Things had started to pick up at La La’s before she had finished telling Ava the entire story of her day. Now, she was filling her in with bits and pieces as her roommate managed to stop by the table. Those little breaks were few and far between as the bar was busy. Then again, it always was on Thursday night. For some reason, people just loved to jump up on stage and massacre their favorite songs in front of complete strangers.

The current victim was Shania Twain’s Man, I Feel Like a Woman being belt out at top volume by some guy everyone called Hammer. Nope, Serena decided. She would never understand the appeal of karakoke. Still, those who did had kept her pockets full for enough years that she would always appreciate them. Letting out a little laugh at the man on stage, she gave him a shout of encouragement.

Next to her, Ava cleared her throat. “Yeah,” Serena said in way of an answer.

“Do you think she knew?”

With a shrug, Serena took a sip of her strawberry daiquiri, and wished the drink actually had alcohol in it. But that would have opened up a door to an even bigger mess than she was having right now. To say that she didn’t handle booze well was an understatement. Another lesson she’d learned the hard way.

The memory of her first experience with alcohol fogged her brain for a moment, and Serena remembered how terrified she’d been. It had been almost a decade ago, when she was sixteen edging on seventeen. Her mother had died less than a year before. Anger more than grief had fueled many of her actions during that time, including fleeing from the haven of the people her mother considered friends and using all resources she had to forge a new life. Serena Devereaux was born that year and, through forged documents, started her first year of college.

Having sparks shoot out of your hands at your first college party was not the best of to find out that alcohol and alien DNA did not mix well. One of the things her mother neglected to mention. She had lucked out only because the students around her were a hell of a lot drunker that she had been.

Cringing at the image, Serena took another sip of her drink. “I don’t know if Jocelyn knew about the promotion. I’m betting she did. She is his assistant.”

Ava nodded, and Serena could tell by the expression on her face that she was working things out in her mind. Her brow was slightly crinkled and pensive, the nail of her forefinger caught in her teeth. “Well,” she said with a sigh a second later, “this just confirms what we already knew. She is a bitch and we don’t like her.”

She paused a moment, then continued. “But the promotion is a good thing, right? This is the kind of stuff you’ve always wanted to work on.”

“Yes,” Serena said. “I got to scope some of the preliminaries that they’ve run on the compound. Whatever it is, it has regenerative properties, and is highly adaptive. If we can break down the substance, find out what makes it tick, there is no telling what we might be able to do with it.”

“I hear a ‘but’ lingering in there somewhere.”

Rolling her eyes, Serena laughed. “You know me too damn well. The but is that something feels... I don’t know... off. I can’t put my finger on it, but it is there. There’s my boss, handing me this wonderful opportunity on a platter, and my first gut reaction is to turn him down. What is up with that?”

Behind them, she faintly heard someone shouting out for Queenie. Ava simply raised a finger in the direction of the voice. “Are you sure that it isn’t just Jocelyn and her ill-conceived timing making you unsure?”

“I don’t know,” Serena groaned. With a thud, she plopped her head down on the table. “I really don’t know. I told Kelley that I had to think it over. How stupid is that? Here is the man who holds my entire professional future in the palm of his hand, and I tell him he has to wait for an answer.”

“Was he okay with that?”

She propped her head up on one arm. “Oh, he was polite as could be about it. Said I could take the weekend to ponder the options, which include a raise, more vacation time, and a way to pay for my doctorate. He wants to meet me for drinks after work on Monday.”

Now, Ava goggled. “Drinks. As in date? Your boss wants to date you?”

Bolting in her seat, horrified at the idea, Serena shook her head. “No, God no! It’s just a meeting... with adult beverages.”

“At a nice place...” Ava prompted.

“Yeah, just down Main Street a couple of blocks...” Serena trailed off and paled. “This is a nightmare. My boss might want to date me.”

She felt Ava pat her on the shoulder. “At least he looks good in a suit.”

“It’s Ryan Kelley. He’s the kind of guy that would look good in a McDonald’s uniform.” Again, Serena dropped her head to the table. Unbidden, the image of the guy she’d run down that morning popped into her mind. He would look good... She shoved it away, focused on the situation at hand. “Just because he is good looking doesn’t stop this from being every shade of wrong. What if that is what this promotion is? A way to get me.... and him.... hell no. Not going to happen.”

“Okay,” Ava agreed. “I get that. Completely. But you don’t know for sure. It could be everything it appears to be, which is strictly business.”

She wanted to believe her roommate, but Serena had learned a long time ago not to take things at face value. Still, because she knew that Ava was trying to help, she offered her a little smile. “You’re probably right. I’ll think about it... all of it.”

Once more they heard the guy calling for Queenie. “Alright,” Ava said in a huff. “I’ll be right there.” She turned back to Serena. “Do you need anything?”

“No.” Serena straightened in the chair, than stood. “I’m going to head home. You better help that guy before he decides not to leave you a tip.”

Ava shrugged. “That’s George. He’s a regular and he never tips. Catch you later.” With that, she was off.

Serena watched as Ava easily navigated the people and tables. It was easy to see that her roommate belonged here, just as it was easy to see that she was also meant for more. There was just this innate grace in Ava, something that couldn’t be emulated or taught. It just was. And that made Serena feel lucky to have a friend like her.

The thought went a good way to ease her troubled thoughts for the moment. Serena gathered her purse and made her way toward that door. Opening it, a surprisingly cool burst of air rushed at her, giving Serena just the jolt she needed for the trek home.

“I will be so glad when I get my car back,” she said, preparing to walk. Maybe, she thought, I could catch a cab. A glance at her watch told her it was barely ten, so finding one around would be easy enough. With that in mind, she made her way down the alley, hoping to cut across to diner where most of the cabbies trolled around looking for fares.

However, no more than a minute later, she felt that itch between her shoulder blades. Instantly, both her mind and instincts were shouting out the same conclusion. She was being followed.

Well, she thought. Whoever it is has me alone. My first mistake. But she was determined it would be the last. Opting to draw her stalker deep down the alley, Serena kept walking, even as her hand made its way into her purse. She felt the handle of her weapon, gripped it tightly, and turned to face her stalker.

And she found herself faced with the man that had been haunting her thoughts all day.

Kyle’s first reaction was to throw both his hands up. “Whoa, wait a minute.” The last thing he’d expected was for her to pull a gun on him. Under the faint light of a nearby streetlamp, he saw that she was pointing a small pistol at him. A .22 if he was correct. Little, but definitely enough to do some damage.

“What are you doing?” Serena demanded. Despite the slight look of panic in her eyes, her voice was calm and her hand steady. “Why are you following me?”

“It’s not how it looks,” Kyle said slowly, remaining how he was.

“So you weren’t following me?”

He blew out a breath. “Not exactly.”

One eyebrow raised, and Kyle could tell he was losing ground real fast. “Tell you what,” she began. “Explain to me what you mean by ‘not exactly’ and I just might not shoot you. You’ve got two minutes.”

Instinctively, he started to take a step forward, wanting to just get a bit closer to her. He’d followed her, watched her throughout the day, and longed - for just one moment - to take her in his arms. However, the second he moved, Kyle saw the gun quiver in her hand, and rethought that plan.

She didn’t trust him right now. He was going to have to work on that. Kyle’s eyes shifted to the gun again. A lot. They were going to have to work on that whole ‘trust’ issue thing a lot.

“Okay,” he said, searching his mind for a place to start. “Look, I’m from Roswell. You know, Roswell, New Mexico... home of the...”

Serena rolled her eyes. “I know about Roswell, alien conspiracy, all that jazz. You better come up with something else because you are losing time fast.”

“I know that you’re one of them,” he blurted out. The second the words left his mouth, Kyle wanted to kick himself for being the idiot that he was. “I know others like you. I’m here because I’m looking for someone else like you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Who?”

“The girl you were talking to in there... the waitress.” He saw her posture stiffen even more, and hurry to finish explaining. “She spent sometime in Roswell. Helped my friends out. They need help again. That’s why I’m here. I promise, it’s not to hurt you or her, Serena.”

“I never told you my name.” Now, her voice did tremble, along with the hand holding the gun.

Jesus Valenti, he thought to himself. Do you think you could blow this conversation any more? You would’ve had more luck with the ‘we’re soulmates’ approach.

He had to pull it together, and quick, before she actually shot him. “I didn’t know you were going to be here,” he said softly. “It’s a bit shocking for me. We’ve been looking for you too, but not for the same reason as Ava.”

“And what reason is that?”

“I know your family.”

She shook her head. “You’ve got the wrong girl. I don’t have any family.”

“Does the name Jeff Parker mean anything to you?”

Her face immediately went pale, and the hand holding the gun dropped to her side. Fearing that she might actually pass out, Kyle started forward again. This time, both hands shot out, gripping the gun. “Stay right where you are,” Serena demanded. “One more step, and I swear that I will shoot you.”

“Listen, I’m not handling this well. I know that.” Kyle took a deep breath, heard her mumble something under hers. It sound very close to ‘no kidding,’ but he wasn’t positive. “I know your father. I went to school with your sister. Liz is one of my best friends. And she’s dying to meet you.”

“How would she know about me?”

Kyle shrugged, knowing now was definitely not the time or place to go into that little subject. There would be time later, because he would damn well make it, to talk about pasts, presents, and futures. “She’s married... to his royal-pain-in-the-ass of all people. They’re happy.”

“You mean Zan,” she asked. “The king... king of...”

“Antar,” he finished for her when she trailed off. For a second, he watched her mentally berate herself for revealing too much. “I know about Antar, the royals, all of it. I know about them because of your sister. Your father is still in the dark about all of that, but if you want to meet him, it can be arranged.”

“What if I don’t believe you,” she tossed out. “Come on... aliens and kings and conspiracies....”

Shaking his head, Kyle took a step away from her, figuring she needed the space just as much as he did in that moment. He knew it was stupid, but part of him had fantasized about this going completely different. In that dream, he’d tell her who she was and, understanding instantly, she would rush into his arms. A long shot, but he couldn’t help wishing for it, not after seeing her die, after spending six years searching. The fact that the reality of the situation was completely the opposite made him both angry and sad.

There she stood, the girl of his dreams, barely keeping herself from shaking, her eyes holding a wild look in them like an animal trapped. Part of him wanted to kick his own ass because of how bad he’d handled it. Part of him, the not nice part, was just a bit miffed at her for not giving just bit.

“Don’t, Serena. We both know better.” He took another step back, found himself right next to the wall of the building. An idea formed. “And right now, I understand that you need to think about everything I’ve said.” Using one of the little tricks he had up his sleeve, Kyle waved his hand over the rough surface. When her eyes narrowed again, he gave the brick a little tap, lighting up a series of numbers.

“This is my cell phone number. Give me a call when you want to talk.” With that, he turned to leave. Serena called out after him.

“You are just going to turn your back on someone who is pointing a gun at you?”

It was petty, but Kyle looked over his shoulder at her, gave her a little smile. “Yes, and I’ll give you three reasons why. One, guns make noise. Loud noise brings people. I have a feeling you’d like to avoid that at all costs. Two, you’ve probably figured out that I am unarmed, and you wouldn’t shoot someone who couldn’t defend themselves. And last...” Kyle trailed off, his smile getting just a bit bigger. He knew this one was going to drive her crazy. “I trust you, Serena.”

Kyle felt her eyes burning holes into his back as he walked away. “By the way,” he called out without turned back to her. “You might want to take care of my little light show before someone sees it.”

Her pithy response echoed in his ears as he round the corner.

~~~~~

Her feet were killing her, but that hadn’t stopped Ava from walking home. The air around Dallas had been surprisingly cool for the time of year, and after a long night in a hot club, she’d welcomed the refreshing change. Many, including Frank, told her it was stupid to walk home, alone, at 3 o’clock in the morning.

They didn’t know what she knew.

She’d grown up as a streetwise punk in a city a hell of a lot tougher than Dallas. The skills she’d learned, the survival instincts she’d honed during those years, gave her an edge over anyone looking to take advantage of a petite blond making her way home. Plus, hey, she was an alien. If push ever came to shove, she had secret weapon in reserves.

Maybe it was a false sense of confidence, but she wouldn’t change it. It had taken her years to develop that confidence. And that, added to self-reliance, was how she’d managed to survive.

For some reason, her past… the path that led her to Dallas, was on the forefront of her thoughts tonight. Memories weren’t a pleasant thing for Ava. A majority of the time she was able to ignore them, push them to the back of her mind, except for in dreams. There they haunted her with things that had happened, of things she had done…

Ava shook her head as she tried to shrug the memories back. They did her no good, and the last thing she needed was a bit of alien anxiety written on her face when she walked into the apartment she shared with Serena. If there was one thing she’d learned in years of living with her roommate, it was that Serena would pick up on any vibes.

Maybe that was one of her gifts? It wouldn’t have surprised Ava in the least if one day found out Serena was a little bit empathic. The truth was, they just didn’t discuss it… any of it. Sure, they each knew that the other was different. It was something that could be sensed at a glance, if you’d been trained to notice. They both had been.

Being different initiated the feeling of curiosity and suspicion, which later developed into the first inklings of friendship, and lastly into a type of trust. Where they had been didn’t matter. Neither she nor Serena were big talkers when it came to the past, and that suited Ava just fine.

So why in the hell was she thinking about it?

Cursing herself for it, Ava made her way down the hall to the third floor apartment, key at the ready. And stopped. She could hear a voice behind the door, muttering low enough that she couldn’t make out the words. Did Serena fall asleep watching TV? For some reason, Ava couldn’t chalk it up to that. To quote a pop icon, her spider senses were all tingly.

Hand and mind at the ready, Ava unlocked the door, pushed it open gently, and eased into the living room. Both relief and worry warred within her as she saw Serena pace back and forth in front of the couch. The muttering was coming from her, and without the barrier of a door, Ava could make out some of the words.

“Stupid idiot said he trusts me. Would you have trust someone who point’s a gun at you? I don’t think so. That’s just not sane.”

The tone of Serena’s voice had little tickles of nerves starting to run up and down Ava’s spine. Her roommate looked… well, completely ravished, and not in that freshly frisked kind of way. Her hair tossed around as if she’d yanked at it numerous times over the last several hours and eyes just a little bright with… something. It was pure determination that kept the bile from rising in Ava’s throat.

“What’s going on?” Ava asked, quickly moving towards Serena. “Did someone come after you? Did you have to shoot some drunk…”

For a moment, Serena stopped all movement and just stared at her. Then, suddenly, she reached out, giving Ava a little shove. The shock of it combined with the shove had her tumbling back against the couch, where she sat down hard. “What the hell…”

Serena only shook her head. “What do you know about Roswell, Ava? Are you from there, or did something happen there that you ran from?”

Roswell. That one name had all the color draining out of Ava’s cheeks. It was the home of alien conspiracies and ridiculous tourist traps. A town where several business had stellar-themed names and the high school sports teams were known as the Comets. Before she’d been there, hearing about it has always made Ava laugh at the ridiculousness. But that was before.

Yes, she’d been to Roswell. A couple of times, if you really wanted to get technical. But she’d left for a good reason, and moved on with her life, trying to put the past behind her. The very idea that anything or anyone from there had tracked her down, filled Ava with equal parts dread and wonder. She wondered if someone had come for her, but why they? She dreaded the idea that she might already know that answers to those questions.

Realizing that Serena was still waiting for her answer, Ava opened her mouth. “What?” was all that would come out.

“Roswell,” Serena cried out, collapsing on the chair across from her. “A guy is here. He says that he is from Roswell. He’s looking for you, and I wanna know why!”

Ava swallowed hard. “I don’t know why anyone would be looking for me.” It was a lie, but she had to tell it. She just couldn’t face that part of herself, not when she’d worked so long and hard to escape it.

The anger in Serena’s eyes flared. Despite the fact that she’d trained herself to keep up a calm appearances even when her insides were chaotic, Ava found it hard not to wince. She’d lied before, and often, but never to her roommate. And it was obvious that her roommate wasn’t buying it.

“I can’t believe that you are lying to me,” Serena said, her voice suddenly weary. “I know we’ve never gone into detail about our pasts, but I’ve never lied to you.” She leaned back in the chair, rested her head against the cushion. “Was it that bad?”

Shaking her head, Ava sighed. “It depends on which direction I decided to approach it from. I had a friend… well, I don’t know if that’s exactly right. It’s… difficult to describe what kind of relationship Zan and I had.” She watched as Serena’s head shot up, her posture go stiff. “Yes. That Zan.”

“You’re a royal.” Her eyes went huge. “You’re the queen.”

“Was,” Ava corrected. “I’m just Ava now. That’s all I want to be. I finally got the chance to be me the day I left Roswell.” She took a deep breath at that point, knowing she had to go on, and knowing it would be painful. “Zan was dead, my version of Vilandra and Rath killed him. Then we were on our way to Roswell. I broke away from them there, ran. Someone helped me… hell, I think she went as far as actually caring for me. She was the first person who ever did.”

She watched Serena trying to absorb everything being dumped on her. Ava had more, of course, but she could wait a minute. Pause for dramatic effect, if you will. Serena stopped that with a question. “But you said that you and Zan were friends? He cared then.”

“If it suited him,” Ava murmured, closing her eyes against the sadness and shame. There was more to it than that, of course, but that was hers to know. Her’s alone. “Liz was different. She had every reason not to…” Ava trailed off at the look Serena was giving her. “What?”

“Did you say Liz? As in Liz Parker?”

Ava nodded. “Yeah. The cornball,” she said, a little smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “She helped me, and she didn’t have to.”

Serena sprang to her feet and began pacing again. “The guy mentioned her. He said that she was a friend of his, that she was married to the king.” There was a pause on Serena’s end now, and it worked much more effectively, in Ava’s opinion, than her own. There was a bomb that was just waiting to be dropped. She could feel it. “Her dad owns a restaurant.”

“Yes.”

“Is he… did he mention…” She bit her lower lip, as if trying to gather in her emotions in hopes of holding them in check. “What is he like?”

Though she had no idea where this was going, Ava shrugged as she searched her mind for an image of Liz’s dad, tried to remember her impressions of him. “Nice,” she said finally. “He was nice. Let me sleep on a couch down in the employee lounge, probably cause Liz asked him to. Fed me, a complete stranger, for the same reason. Just your average, decent guy who loved and trusted his daughter.”

To Ava’s surprise, a just a bit of horror, she watched as Serena crumpled to the floor, sobbing. “Oh shit.” She rushed to her friend’s side and wrapped her arms around Serena shoulders. “Was I wrong? Thinking of the wrong guy? Is he supposed to be a bastard? Are we not supposed to like him?”

“He was telling the truth,” Serena cried. “Liz Parker… Jeff Parker’s daughter…. He was right about them.”

“Yeah…” Okay, Ava thought. I have no clue where this is going. “What was he, whoever he is, right about?”

Serena weight shifted away, and she backed into the couch. Ava watched as she swiped at the tears angrily, and felt more lost than before. “Talk to me, Serena? Tell me what’s going on.”

“This guy cornered me in the alley behind La La’s. Said his name was Kyle Valenti, and that he was from Roswell. Does it ring a bell?”

It honestly didn’t, at least not at that moment, so Ava shook her head and Serena continued. “He said that he knew who I was, that he was looking for you, and that we didn’t have to worry… he wasn’t here to harm us. He told me that he knew who my father is, that I have a sister.”

The realization hit Ava like a ton of bricks. “Liz. This guy said Liz is your sister.”

“Yes.” Despite angry swiping, tears were still leaking down Serena’s face. “I…did…” Ava watched her take a deep breath, than another, in the hopes of settling down a bit. “Did you know?” she asked finally.

“No.” Ava crept closer and, mirroring her roommate’s poise by lean against the couch. “I might have kept stuff from you… okay, I did keep stuff from you, but that’s one secret I wouldn’t have.” Now, it was her turn to find her try to find her calm. “Shit,” was the only thing she could say for a moment. “We’ve been living together for like what… five years, and there still a hell of a lot that we don’t know about each other.”

It made her sad to think it, let alone say it aloud. Serena was the best friend that Ava ever had, yet, they were strangers in so many ways. There were things that they didn’t, or couldn’t, trust each other with completely. Would they ever?

As she thought about that, silence fell between them. For those few minutes, Ava felt a void grow between them, one she knew would be really, really hard to close again. Damn it, she thought. The alien abyss… that great sucking void, is screwing up my life again. What right does it have to do that? What right does this guy from Roswell have to come in and screw things up? And when she met him, because she was sure it was going to happen, Ava was doing to demand an answer to that exact question.

“Do you want to run?” she finally asked.

Serena nodded. “Yes. I’m not going to, but I want to. God,” she said, dropping her head to her knees. “I’ve spent years trying to distance myself from this kind of crap. I don’t want anything to do with it… never did. And for ten years, I’ve managed to hide, but it still caught up with me. I don’t think I have any other choice except to deal with it.”

“Did he give you a number where you can reach him?”

“Yeah.”

“So we arranged a meet and greet, or whatever.” Ava reached out, grabbed the portable phone off of the coffee table. “Give him a call. Say we’ll meet him at the club sometime tomorrow. That way it will be on our turf.”

Serena snickered. “Ava, it’s getting on towards four in the morning. I can’t call him now.”

“Sure you can.” To emphasize it, she pressed the talk button, held the phone out. “After all, because of this guy, we’re going to be up all night. It’s only fair to return the favor. Plus, we might just get lucky and wake him up while he’s having some sort of typical male fantasy of some supermodel doing exercises or something.”

Taking the phone, Serena began to dial and Ava watched, waited, to see just how much this phone call was going to change her life. Man, she decided, I hope that I am really right about that dream. It would serve him right.

~~~~~

Tess sat on the edge of the bed, her hands clutched around the only piece of her heritage she had left. The cool metal page reflected the early morning light peeking though the widow of the apartment. Soon, she would be called away to begin her daily routine.

It was strange to think that she’d once been raised to be a queen, that for a time that was all she wanted to be. Now, she cooked and cleaned, washed and tended all for other people. Even stranger to think she loved doing it. Still, when the day ended and the last dish was washed, the last article of clothing folded, it would be for the last time.

Tomorrow would begin a whole new phase in her life, one that was driven by both hope and revenge alike.

Still, she would grieve for what she was giving up. The small farm due south of Billings, Montana had been her refuge for so long. Tess had discovered so many things about herself here, about who she could be. Now, it was time to find out what she could do with that knowledge and put the past to rest once and for all.

“You don’t have to do this.”

Placing the page on the nightstand next to the bed, Tess glanced down at the man lying beside her. If the farm had been her refuge, than he had been her savior. For a moment, she allowed herself to look at the face of the man she cherished more than anything. Dark brown eyes deeply set in a tanned face composed of sharp planes and angles. Carelessly framing that face were waves of brown hair tinted with streaks the sun had teased out during long work days.

“I love you, Cade.”

He shifted, propping himself up on one arm, running his free hand over her bare back. She only stiffened a little bit now when his fingers traced along the puckered skin that marred it. Continuing to trace over her skin, his fingers brushed against the brand on her shoulder and stopped. With his hand covering the Xorona, he leaned forward, brushed a kiss on her arm. “I love you too,” he murmured against her skin.

For a moment, they stayed like that, before the hand on her shoulder tightened for an instant, than relaxed. “We could stay here,” he suggested, as he always did. “Get married, help with the horses and raise ourselves a couple of chubby kids.”

It was an old argument, and in ways that Cade didn’t know, a cruel one because Tess wanted those things too. She probably wanted them more than he did. Each time he brought them up, she’d allow herself to fantasize that it was exactly what they’d do. And each time, the fantasy turned to horror when she imagined them taking it all way from her.

Tess sighed. Yes, she wanted those things, but she wouldn’t be able to enjoy any of it, not in the way she should, if she was always worried about the past coming back to haunt her. “After.”

His eyes darkened, and he just stared at her for a moment, than nodded. “After. But I’m going with you, Tess. There isn’t going to be any arguments about that.”

“We don’t know what will happen…” she started to say, but he sat up, pressed a finger against her lips.

“Anything could,” he said simply. “If it does, I’m going to be there. You and me, that’s the deal.”

Tess closed her eyes, absorbing the feeling of the rough, callused fingers stroke over the bridge of her nose, than over to caress her cheek. The palm of his hand was so warm as it rested to cradle part of her face. She turned into it, placed the lightest of kisses there. “Deal.”

Knowing that they both needed the reaffirmation, he leaned into her, moving to shift her closer. “Be with me,” he mumbled as his mouth descended on hers.

“We’ll be late,” Tess said, but it was a token protest. Already, she was returning his kiss.

He made love to her desperately. Tess understood that it was the uncertainty of the future driving him, almost as if it were the last time. Still, she held a part of herself back as her mind wandered to what might happen in the coming weeks. She wouldn’t let this be the last time.

Soon, Tess Harding would return to Roswell. And when she left this time, her life would be her own.

[cherie]

Annie, I loved the meeting with Kyle and Serena. It was awesome. And when Ava began to remember about Roswell and she and Serena began to talk, I just felt so bad for both of them, so many secrets.

I'm really concerned about Tess. It seems like she's found someone who really cares for her. Cade sounds like a really caring person. and I am praying she's not going back to Roswell to get revenge on Max and Liz and the others.

Great part, as always...I'm glad you're feeling better. Hurry back.

[Anniepoo98]

Howdy all~

First of all, I want to thank everyone for the awards "24" has recieved. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

I also wanted to say thanks to you all for being so patient about wait so long for this next part. But I do finally have it with me, with a huge help from Sel, for betaing. Yet, another huge thanks to her.

Well, without any other ado, here is the new part. I hope you all enjoy it!

Annie:)


Part Three:

As it turned out, Ava got her wish. Well, sort of. Kyle had been asleep when Serena’s call came through, but his dreams hadn’t been model-cuddling ones. No; they had been nightmares.

Since that night six years ago, Kyle had recurring nightmares about the things that happened, the things he’d done. There were times when they were simply reliving a horrible memory and he could see death as it came into Rath’s eyes or recall each second that led to Serena taking her own life. On those nights, he’d wake up in a cold sweat, struggling to drag air into lungs that didn’t want to work.

Those were the easy nights.

The hardest ones came when Kyle would dream about what was or might be. During those nights, his mind became his own personal hell, consisting of a mixture of what he’d seen of Serena’s past during the flashes and his own fears about what the future might bring. They’d drag him down into the dark despair of what-ifs and might-have-beens. In those dreams, she’d suffer... his family and friends would suffer... all because he was too slow or made the wrong decision.

His own screams would wake him up then. Sometimes, (though he would never admit it for fear of his manly pride) his own tears. It really didn’t matter which it was as long as the light of day managed to break through the darkness so he could function through the day.

It was hard to keep up the pretense sometimes that he didn’t struggle. He’d never mentioned the dreams to anyone. Sure, Kyle suspected the others figured he’d had the occasional nightmare about that night, especially right after, but he never confirmed or denied. Once, Max even went so far as to offer to lend an ear if he ever needed to talk. Granted, he wasn’t the only one who had, but it did shock Kyle just the same.

Yet, it was Michael who’d shocked Kyle the most. It had been few months after... he’d been trying hard to put a particularly bad night behind him, but it wasn’t working as well as he would have liked. Knowing that the last strand of restraint keeping his temper in check was on the verge of snapping, Kyle had avoided everyone at school. Michael noticed it, and finally cornered him before last period. Risking the wrath of gym instructor, he’d held Kyle up as the guys made their way out to class. And there he told him about killing Pierce and the nightmare he went through inside afterwards.

The most amazing part about that conversation had been that Michael didn’t actually expect him to talk back. He was perfectly fine with the one-sidedness of the situation... maybe he even preferred it because it was still hard for him to talk about. But he did it anyway. In many ways, it awed Kyle and gave him a bit of what he needed to put the nightmares aside after he had them.

So, that is what he did after Serena called, agreeing to meet him the next afternoon at four. He began tucking them away the second he heard her voice on the other end of the line, using the sound of it to soothe him. Kyle understood she didn’t have a clue about what she meant to him. After all, how could she? But it didn’t diminish what she was, or what her presence did to him... for him.

With plans made, he woke the others and together they worked out a strategy on what to do next. Still, with each passing hour, nerves began to show, so that by the time they were heading out, each of the four of them were as tense as newly tuned piano keys.

They made their way downtown, back towards Deep Ellum and La La’s. It was a strategic move on Serena’s part and made it obvious that it was her turf, a place where she felt comfortable. Kyle had seen a bit of that the night before, not only in her, but in Ava as well. That place was special to them for one reason or another. He wanted to know why.

“What are the chances that this is a trap?”

Kyle looked over his shoulder at Michael, saw both the caution and suspicion in his friends eyes. “It’s Serena,” he said simply.

Michael shrugged. “I know that.” He took deep breath. “I get that. But we have to consider the possibility and be prepared for it.”

For a moment the only sound between the four of them was the resonance of feet against pavement. “He has a point.” Maria reached out, laying a hand on Kyle’s shoulder, causing him to stop moving. “This whole thing has caught us off guard. I mean, were you actually prepared for Serena to pull a gun on you, Kyle?”

Even though the urge to come to her defense was strong, he couldn’t deny that Serena had shocked the hell out of him with that move. “No. I wasn’t. But you didn’t see her, Maria. She was shaking so hard that I could see it from nearly ten feet away in a dark alley. I would bet my life on the fact she felt threatened...”

Maria sent him a look of such complete sympathy that he didn’t even finish his sentence. “Sweetie, I get where you’re coming from, but Michael’s right about being cautious. While there is a chance she’s packin’ for protection, there’s an equal chance that she’s not. Plus, she has ties to Ava...”

It was an old argument of Maria’s, and one that took all of Kyle’s willpower not to fight her on. Out of everyone in the group, she was the one who protested these trips the most, the one who really didn’t seem to want Ava found. He got why. She didn’t want any part of Tess to ever touch them again, and in her mind, having Tess’s dupe around fell under that category.

He couldn’t blame her. There had always been this inherent, instinctive need in Maria to protect the ones that she loved. The only problem was that when that instinct kicked in, the need became so strong she couldn’t see anything beyond that. Tess did a lot of damage to the group six years ago, and this is part of what came out of it. Somehow, they needed to get Maria to believe that Ava was different. Kyle didn’t have a clue how to go about doing that. Six years of discussing this whole situation with her hadn’t changed her mind. Still, he had to try again.

Yet, even as he opened his mouth to do so, it was Alex’s voice that spoke up.

“Ava is not Tess,” he said softly, his eyes focusing on the sidewalk as he started to walk again.

Kyle watched him walk away for a second, turned back to look at Maria, and then followed. Footfalls resumed behind him, and he knew that the other two were behind them. But his attention was on Alex, waiting for what his friend was about to say. Judging by the look on Alex’s face, it wasn’t easy for him either.

“I can’t deny that the idea of finding Ava hasn’t given me a couple of bad moments,” he admitted right off. He glance over his shoulder, and offered Maria a weak smile. “You know it has. Yet, at the same time, I think back to the first time I saw Ava... hell, saw her and Tess side by side. There was a huge difference between the two of them.”

“A little hint of punk doesn’t mean...” Maria started.

Alex only held up a hand to cut her off. “It had nothing to do with punk style versus preppy. It was the eyes. I remember Ava’s,” he said, almost to himself. “They weren’t like Tess’s. You could always see a kind of desperation in Tess’s eyes. Ava’s were... I don’t know, more weary and just a bit sad.”

He stopped, cocked his head to one side as he obviously thought over his next words. “No,” Alex said, shaking his head. “There is no resemblance between them.”

“Besides,” Michael spoke up. “She did help Liz save Max’s life when he was in New York. Without Ava...” He trailed off, and Kyle knew that Michael was thinking about possibilities he hated considering. “When I said trap before, I wasn’t necessarily talking about Serena and Ava. I was thinking of someone a little worse.”

“Kivar.” Kyle all but growled the name.

Michael nodded. “With all that we know about what happened, will happen, did happen...” He stopped for a second, looking perplexed. “Hell, you get what I mean. The point is, the guy has a serious jones for her. If Serena is here, there is a strong possibility that he is too.”

“Perfect,” Maria muttered. “That is just what we need to add to this situation, Mr. Psychopathic Alien Man.”

Despite the seriousness of what was going on, Alex let out a snort of laughter. “Isn’t that what you call Nicholas?”

Maria shook her head. “No. He’s just the psychotic midget.”

Alex’s mouth formed an ‘O’ shape, but he didn’t say another word.

Tension was creeping back in between all of them. La La’s was looming just up ahead, and that had all their nerves on edge.

“We’ll get though this,” Kyle said, hoping he was sounding positive, but even he could hear the doubt in his own voice. “This is just an intro meet. We have to be up front with them, lay out the situation, and figure out where we all stand. The rest... well, it will come soon enough.”

He reached the door to the club first, and stopped. “Here we go,” he said, and opened it.

~~~~~

They weren’t the only ones with nerves straining over the meeting. Both Ava and Serena had arrived early at La La’s to prep for what they were about to do. The thing was, when dealing with aliens, the possibilities were endless, which made factoring for all possible scenarios a little difficult.

Still, they tried. With Frank’s help, the maze that made up the club backrooms was turned into a quiet, private place for meeting unknown characters. And thanks to technology, Frank and the bouncer brigade was only one short buzz away through the intercom.

Ava was pretty sure that it wouldn’t come to that. That guy Kyle gave Serena a rough description of the other three he was planning to bring to this little meeting, and from the sound of it, the fallen king’s second-in-command being one of them was a big possibility. She’d met him before. Mike, Mickey, Michael… something like that. They might not have gotten off on the best foot the last time she was in Roswell, but Ava sincerely doubted that he would be inclined to hurt her either.

She told this to Serena and gave her a vague description of the others that made up the band of misfits she met so long ago. Granted, it had been over six years since she’d seen any of these people, but that was part of the perks of being an alien. One of the very cool parlor tricks was that she had a photographic memory that seemed to store any little detail for later use, no matter how insignificant it might be.

Still, however prepared they might have been, it didn’t waylay their nerves. Butterflies on crack had taken up permanent residence in Ava’s stomach since she woke up from the few hours of sleep she’d managed to snatch the night before. And at the moment, Serena was pacing back and forth in the small room as if trying to wear out a path in the floor. Ava’s eyes followed her movements until she started to feel a little queasy.

“You’re starting to make me nauseous,” she muttered, laying a hand over her stomach.

Serena paused in her pacing, turning to look at Ava. “I’m already there, and if I get to be, you get to be.”

Ava crinkled her face in an annoyed expression. “Thanks so much. Share and share alike, right?”

A hint of a smile crossed Serena’s face. “Something like that.” A few moments of silence passed between them, then Serena sighed. “Are we ready for this?”

Shrugging, Ava let out a sigh to match her friend’s. Ready… no, that’s probably the last thing they were. After all, how ready could you make yourself for a possibly life-changing event. They could prepare… hell, had prepared for the possibilities that they might face, but that didn’t mean that they were ready. Still, she had to say something.

“As much as we’ll ever be,” she managed with what she hoped was a positive smile on her face. “Besides, I’m thinking that these guys are the good guys. I’m not guaranteeing it, but it is what I’m thinking. After all, last I heard, this was the good… complete set of the royals. They’re the whole meaning behind why we are here, but I bet you know all about that stuff.”

Serena simply shook her head negatively. “My training didn’t really extend all that far into the how’s or why’s of the cause. It was pretty much a ‘Destroy Kivar’ battle cry, and it didn’t matter who or what had to be sacrificed to get that done.”

“Nice mentality,” Ava murmured under her breath, but her attention remained focused on her roommate.

Sitting down next to her, Serena stared off at the wall, but wasn’t really looking at it. No, it was more like she was looking beyond the wall, and back to one of those memories that haunted her. “Every once and awhile,” she began finally, “my mother would tell me stories. I don’t know what was true and what was fairytales or folklore, but you could tell by the tone of her voice or the look in her eyes that she missed it. Missed home. Once, she mentioned that when all of this was over we would go back there. I… I…”

Ava watched her struggle against the motion that was building up inside. This was the first time, ever, that Serena had spoken of her mother beyond casual mentions here or there. It didn’t take a fool to know how hard it was for her to do so now. Still, she managed to choke back feelings choking her and continued. “I told her that I wouldn’t go, that I wanted nothing to do with Antar, or their stupid royals…” She trailed off, gave Ava a bit of a sheepish grin. “Sorry.”

“You and me both, darling,” Ava told her. “Those damn royals are a pain in the ass.”

They both laughed, and as it had a habit of doing so, some of the tension eased away.

Then, the door to the backroom opened and bam. The tension was back full force.

“Yo, Roo,” Frank said. “You’re guests are here.”

Even as he spoke, Frank was heading towards Ava. She felt his hand lay over her shoulder gently, giving it a quick, reassuring squeeze as he glared at the newcomers. Now, the glare was intimidating enough, but being determined to protect his girls, Frank stiffened his spine, which brought him up to his full height of six foot five. One of the guys, the one wearing glasses, swallowed visibly. Frank simply glanced down at Ava, gave her a quick wink. “Beep, beep, girly,” he told her, and with one last glare, headed for the door.

There was a pause, a very awkward one, before someone finally spoke up. The same one who swallowed hard was the first one to step forward, offering a hand. “Alex Whitman,” he said as Ava reached out to take his hand.

She recognized the name, but the face… well, she sure has hell hadn’t recognized him. The once tall and lanky teen had filled out. And nicely, Ava added mentally. He’d also gone from clean cut to kind of scruffy with a beard and hair that had grown out to curl around the top part of his collar. For a split-second, no coherent thought was possible, then his hand slip over hers, lightly gripping it. The contact of skin against skin gave Ava just the jolt she needed to get her brain working again.

“We met,” she started lamely.

Alex laughed. “I know, but it’s been awhile, so…”

The corner of her mouth wanted to twitch downwards into a frown at her stupidity and she was barely able to refrain from rolling her eyes in self-disgust. “Ava,” she said softly. “Ava Thomas.”

Over Alex’s shoulder, she saw someone else approach them, but this time she actually recognized the guy. She nodded toward him. “Mike… Mickey…”

His somewhat sour expression didn’t change. “Michael. Nice to see you again, Ava.”

For some strange, unexplainable reason she didn’t believe he was being completely honest. Still, he continued. “We’ve been looking for you.”

Biting back the sigh that longed to escape, Ava shrugged. “It looks like I’m found.”

Michael opened his mouth, and from the vibe she was getting, the next words out of his mouth weren’t going to be something along the lines of ‘you were missed.’ Not that she’d ever know for sure, because before word one left his mouth, somebody else was speaking.

“Look,” the third and last guy began, calling all of their attention to him. “I know that this is… well, weird is the first thing that comes to mind, but we have a lot to talk about and I am guessing not a lot of time to do it.”

Ava watched the new speaker as his attention turned to Serena, as if to gage her face for some sort of reaction. The only one she gave him was a sharp nod, and then gestured towards the seats surrounding the table. As they moved to sit down, Ava tried to put a name to the guy’s face and couldn’t. Using her fabulous powers of deduction, she matched it to the description that Serena gave her and concluded that he was Kyle.

Good looking, she decided, but in a law enforcement official kind of way. God, the guy had cop written all over him, from the short cropped brown hair to the cool, assessing eyes. He just had to have a badge on him somewhere, or Ava would eat her apron.

The bad thing was that the idea that this guy was some sort of cop put her on edge. It was instinctive. All of her life, she’d mistrusted and avoided them to the best of her ability. The joys and consequences of being an alien. Now, here one was, sitting across the table, studying both her and her roommate like they were some fascinating specimens.

Okay, he seemed to be looking at Serena for the most part, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that his very presence had her tensing for battle. Even before the quick round of intros were over, Ava wanted out of the room. Then, when everyone had sat down and all attention seemed to turn in her, the want nearly became desperate.

“Do I have something hanging out of my nose?” she asked the four people sitting across from her. She hoped the attempt for humor would ease some of the tension, or at the very least make her feel a little bit more relaxed. However, it seemed to fail in both aspects. Nothing in the world could ease the feelings in this room, and her comment added stupid to her list of feelings.

“We’ve been looking for you for a long time,” Michael offered in place of an answer.

That baffled Ava. She didn’t make it a secret that she was leaving Roswell when she did, nor did she advertise it, but no one had tried to stop her. So why had they started to look for her? When? She opened her mouth to ask and Serena’s voice was the one everyone heard.

“And are you going to tell us why?” Serena leaned forward, rested her chin on the hand bent upwards to support it. “Or are we going to have a rousting round of twenty questions?”

The girl from the other group, Maria was her name, mirrored the gesture. “What do you know about the four square?”

Ava knew that the very mention of it sent a chill down her spine. The four-square... any thoughts or feelings she had about it and the responsibility that came along with had been pushed to the back of her mind the moment she left Roswell. And with those two little words, it all came rushing back.

Judging by the baffled expression that passed briefly over Serena’s face, she didn’t have any idea what Maria was talking about. Still, she wasn’t about to let them know that. “Do you always answer a question with a question?”

Maria shrugged. “It would be easier to fill in the blanks instead of going over old ground. That’s why I asked.”

Sensing something less than congenial about to come out of her roommate’s mouth, Ava laid a hand on Serena’s arm. She figured it was her turn to field this one. “I know that you need it.” Her gaze moved over each of their faces, pausing briefly on each one to gage their reactions. “If you want to have any hope of defeating Kivar, you need a complete four-square. And I’m guessing by the fact you came looking for me, something has happened to my dupe.”

She stopped there for a moment, her eyes shifting back to Kyle’s face. There was no deny the hint of sadness that flashed in his eyes for a second, or the hurt that came into them just after. Sure, both emotions were instantaneous, there one minute and gone the next, but it was enough for her to have confirmation on her suspicions. Something had happened to her dupe. Now, Ava wanted to know what. “What happened to Tess?” she demanded.

“Your doppelganger pulled a Benedict Arnold,” Maria told her. “She was in league with Nicholas…”

“Which means she was working with Lonnie and Rath by default,” Ava finished for her. “I didn’t know,” she murmured pretty much to herself.

The realization stunned her. I should have known, Ava decided as memories of what had happened around the time of the Summit played like an eerie movie in her mind. She remembered how much they insisted on going to the Summit, killing Zan when he refused to give in, going to Roswell. Hell, looking back on it, Ava could even remember Lonnie disappearing without a word to anyone for long snatches of time, going with more frequency as the Summit approached. She must have been meeting up with Nicholas then.

Ava was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t even register Maria’s little snicker of disbelief. But Serena did. It was the sound of her roommate’s voice that jarred Ava out of her short trip down memory lane.

“Now, just wait one minute,” Serena started, “you can’t think that Ava had anything to do with Nicholas. She would never…”

Maria cut her off, despite the low warning Michael mumbled under his breath. “Tess did.”

“Maria,” Alex censured. “We went over this. Ava is not Tess.”

Everyone fell silent at that, each side doing so for different reasons, but silent nonetheless. Looks of apprehension and worry passed between the six of them, but for several moments, not a word was spoken. Finally, Ava couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up.

“You don’t trust me.” She said it on a sigh, weary and a little sad. As she did, Ava felt the heat of five pairs of eyes staring at her, but she continued. “I can understand that, particularly since you just mention that another person walking around with the same face betrayed you. But now you all have to understand something in return. Without trust, I can’t complete the four-square.”

“Can’t?” Alex asked. “Or won’t?”

Ava shifted to look at him, puzzled by the expression of total sympathy he had on his face. For some very strange reason, she felt like maybe he was on her side, at least in part of this. She liked that. It made this situation just a little more even. “Can’t,” Ava said again. “Completing the four-square requires complete trust for the bond to solidify. Or I’m pretty sure it does. I vaguely remember our protector saying something along those lines. Besides, it makes sense.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Michael nod in agreement. “It does. So, I guess you didn’t have that bond with the others?”

It couldn’t be helped. The little snort of laughter escaped her before she could stop it. “Can you picture anyone trusting Lonnie or Rath?”

“No,” Kyle chimed in. “I really can’t.”

“Neither can I,” Alex added. “Is that why you left Roswell? To get away from them?”

Shrugging, Ava looked away from him. “Part of it. If I’d stuck around, eventually they would have come back for me. I mean, that was a no-brainer. I’d betrayed them after all by helping Liz. Lonnie would’ve connected the dots, so...” She stopped, thought about it for a moment. And her voice turned soft, pensive. “But part of me left because I needed to see what was out there. I wanted to find a place where I belonged, away from all of the alien madness.”

“Did you find that here?”

Again, it was Alex talking to her, his voice compelling her to answer honestly. Ava thought about it. Was Dallas home to her? Was everything she needed, everything she longed for, here? Some, yes, but not everything. While she had Serena, who was probably one of the few people who ever really cared for her, last night drove home the fact that there were still a lot of blanks between them.

It had always been her dream to find people she could be close to, people that she could trust implicitly. Ava longed for a man who would love her completely and accept all the dark places of her past. These were things that, so far, she hadn’t found in Dallas.

At least for now, she could own up to that much. “Not yet.”

“Ava.” Serena turned her head to look at her as if she’d sensed where Ava’s thoughts had headed. “Listen, I know that there have been secrets...”

Ava shook her head. “It’s not that, or not only that. I kept them too, remember. And I am happy here,” she said, glancing over at the others. “Which means I’m in no way certain that a move to Roswell is something I want.”

“Will you think about it?” Michael asked. He leaned forward, crossed both of his arms along the table. “Possibly give us the chance to talk you into it?”

She nodded, but didn’t speak. Instead, the majority of her attention was focused on Serena. She could feel the tension rolling off of her roommate in spades. But it wasn’t only tension she felt. No, there was a heavy dose of confusion, mixed with something Ava couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Serena.” Her tone was questing.

At the sound of her name, Serena pushed away from the table. “I have to go.” The words came out suddenly. She was already gathering up her stuff. “I just have to...” She trailed off, headed for the door.

On her feet an instant later, Ava started off after her, only to be stopped when someone took hold of her arm. She whirled around to see Kyle standing there. “What the hell do you think you are doing?”

“Let me,” he said simply. Ava opened her mouth to protest, but there was something in his eyes imploring her to understand. “Let me,” he repeated. With that, he took off after Serena.

For a minute, all Ava could do was stand there, stunned. Then confused. Then furious. Shifting to face the remaining three people in the room, all of whom had gotten to their feet by this point, she let it out. “What the hell was all that about?”

Maria stepped forward, shrugged when Ava pinned her with a gaze. “He’s just concerned.”

“Oh no.” Ava shook her head. “I’m not an idiot. I know there is something else going on. Now, somebody better spill, or I’m going to be taking a little walk myself.”

“We’re just concerned,” Alex said quickly. She saw him give the others a sideways glance, then bring his attention back to her. “All of us, Kyle included, think that maybe Kivar, or some of his men, might be in the area.” His lips quirked into a little half smile. “There is nothing like the buddy system.”

Ava blinked, paused, then blinked again. “The buddy system? You tell me that you think Kivar might be here, in Dallas, and the best you can come up with is ‘the buddy system.’ You’ve got to be kidding me.” A look passed between him and Michael. It had her eyes narrowing. “How is it that you all know Kivar and/or minions are in the area?”

Michael grinned uncertainly. “Powers of deduction.”

~~~~

It was so easy to slip in and out of the hospital during the change of shift. Amazingly so. She would have laughed about it, if the very thought of hospitals didn’t make her sick.

She hated them. The sharp, pungent smells of antiseptic and cleanser trying to cover over the layer of decay that seemed to seep through the very floors. The sounds of moans and complaints, of weeping and accusations accosted her eardrums and she had to fight back the urge to cringe in disgust. Didn’t the human race have any dignity? If she could have avoided it she would have, but there was a time to pick your battles and a time not to. One lowly, despicable trip to doc box would be a small price to pay in the end, after she got everything she deserved.

Well, she was out of there now, the information she needed obtained.

Everything had gone according to plan. Even the one time so orderly had stopped her, the encounter had been brief and he’d mistaken her for Antar’s precious princess. Now, she was easing her rental into the slot in front of her motel room. The first thing she was going to do was get out of the damn scrubs she was wearing, and soak off the layer of hospital scum on her skin in a hot shower.

That little idea managed to carry her to the door of her room, but before she could unlock it, the cell phone in her pocket was ringing.

“Well?” the smooth tenor said the moment she answered.

She eased the door opened, slipped in side, and didn’t even bother to roll her eyes at his greeting. “Hello to you too, lover.”

“Sorry, but we don’t have time for niceties right now. The time table on our little plan has been upped a bit.”

Now, that had peaked her curiosity. “And why is that?”

There was a little snort of disgust that she dared question the change in plans. Hell, she could practically picture the expression on his face. “There has been a little gathering here in Dallas. Some out-of-towners have made a little visit, stumbled over old acquaintances.”

“I see.” She dropped the motel keys onto the bed, started stripping on her way to the bathroom. “Well, things are going according to plan on my end. According to the data the princess had crunched right before she left the hospital, the blessed event is only a few weeks away, possibly sooner if we play the cards right.”

“Start stacking the deck on your end,” he told her. “I’ll work the angles on mine. And Lonnie,” he trailed off.

“What?” she asked, a hint of impatience in her voice.

“Just remember that the sooner we put all of this into motion, the sooner we can finally show our hand. Can’t you just imagine the looks on everyone’s faces when we do, especially his.”

The grin that crept across her face was every bit as wicked as the tone of his voice. “Yes, I can.”

[Anniepoo98]

Howdy all~


Ellie: The new part to Axis is on the way... I swear by all that is holy, I am going to finish this story... because I just cannot not finish it. Did that make any sense at all? LOL! In any case, thank you for not giving up on that one, and I hope you keep enjoying this one.

Timelord: One Kyle and Serena heartfilled talk coming right now. Also, thanks for the bump!

cardinalgirl: Alex rocks! That's why we love him. He just rocks! Anyway, you will find out why Serena ran in this next part. I know that I kinda left that hanging.

Cherie: The blessed event... Max and Liz's baby... hmmm... I don't know? I can tell you for sure that when it Lonnie and any of her cohorts... it just can't be good.


Anyway, here is the next part. Thanks... big, huge thanks.... to Sel for betaing. Hope you all enjoy.

Have a good one!

Annie:)


Part Four:

It took nearly ten minutes for Kyle to catch up with Serena. Even then, he decided to stay a few feet behind her. The last thing he wanted right now was for her to take off running. Kyle could tell she knew he was behind her. It was in the way her shoulders stiffened if he got just the slightest bit closer, or how she started to turn her head, than stop, giving it just the slightest of shakes.

Kyle was right. Serena could sense his presence behind her. Maybe I should just turn around, she thought. Blast him with all of these damn questions I have because of him. So what if we are in the middle of the sidewalk, where anyone can see and hear...

She was just kidding herself. No matter how much she might want to do that, long to, deep down in her gut, her brain... that damn rational head of hers, would never allow it. After all, how did she know what the answers would be? Were they something she wanted, could stand, to hear? She hadn’t expected Ava’s answers just a few minutes ago.

How could she have not known Ava wasn’t happy? After so many years of being alone, Ava was the first person she’d ever opened up to... maybe the first person in her entire life. The fact that they actually kept such huge chunks of their lives from each other sat in Serena’s stomach like lead. How pathetic was it that she couldn’t even be honest with the person she considered her best friend? That her best friend couldn’t be honest with her?

Now that some of those big secrets were out in the open, running neck and neck with the huge decision Ava had to make sooner or later, was she going to lose the one person she thought of as family?

That’s why she freaked out in there, why she left so quickly. It was like all the air in the room was being sucked out, the walls closing in on her. Serena either had to leave or risk passing out. And now that guy was following her.

Couldn’t he take a hint? She wanted to be alone, to think and sort out this mess that he had heaped on her, by the way. Didn’t he understand that?

She heard the footfalls on the pavement behind her, could almost feel him edging closer. With a sigh, Serena gave up.

Kyle nearly felt the change in her an instant before she stopped and turned around to face him. “You’re not going to go away, are you?”

He gave her a shy little grin. “It’s not part of my current plan, no.”

Because she didn’t have anything to say in response to that, Serena sighed again. Then, with a jerk of her head, gave him the universal sign meaning well... come on. A sign that Kyle recognized and accepted right away. Seconds later, he was beside her as they silently started to walk again.

They fell into a quiet rhythm as they crossed streets, made turns right or left. Before either of they knew it, they’d matched their strides.

“I have questions,” Serena said finally.

Kyle pushed his hands into his pockets, nodded. “I know.”

“Are you going to answer them?”

“As best I can,” he said honestly. “But I need to ask you a question first.”

Serena glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, the expression of her face suspicious. “What’s that?”

“Do you know where we’re going?”

Her head snapped around to look at him, her expression a priceless study of surprise before she closed them off again. Still, a little smile crept across her lips. “Yeah. I figured that this kind of conversation required a bit of privacy. We’re heading back to mine and Ava’s apartment. That okay with you?”

“Sure.” He bit his own tongue to keep a grin of his own at bay. “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

It took another twenty minutes of walking to reach her apartment, but Kyle didn’t mind. They’d reached a smooth and steady pace so that even their strides came into step with one another. Every once and awhile, Serena would point something out as they passed it, give a little antidote about the place whether it was a good restaurant, a club that had a rocking band on the weekends, or just a favorite hangout.

Kyle listened, intently hoping to learn her, to absorb every aspect of her being. The other version of Serena had only been his life for less than 24 hours. Most definitely not enough time to become acquainted with all of her likes or dislikes, quirks or habits. He wanted to know those nuances of her, so he listened, and by the time they’d reached her apartment, he had quite a list of them racked up in his brain.

She liked coffee. There had been at least three café’s pointed out to him along the way. He also came to the conclusion that she liked Chinese food after it was mentioned that a Chinese restaurant was on speed dial in their apartment. And, whenever he asked a question she wasn’t comfortable with, her answer was still a little shrug.

That had been the cause of the last bout of silence between them. He asked her if she was happy in Dallas. She shrugged, and all conversation ceased, until they turned a corner the lead to what seemed like a row of brick buildings. It was then that Serena stopped walking.

“This one is ours,” she said softly.

The building looked like it had been built sometime in the late forties or early fifties, constructed of a deep red brick that was starting to fade with age. The windows on all floors appeared to be fairly large, the ones on the side surrounded by iron balconies with a fire escape running down, as if playing connect the dots. Kyle noticed that one of the windows facing the street was covered by vivid orange drapes. He couldn’t help pointing up at it.

“Let me guess. That one is your’s and Ava’s.”

Serena followed where his finger was pointing, blinked, than turned to stare at him. “How did you know?”

“About four months ago, Liz dragooned me into going shopping for curtains for the baby’s room. Max had to work, and it seemed like everyone had a valid excuse except for me. Anyway, we spent hours and hours search for just the right set. I swear, she must have dragged me into every shop ever imagined.” He couldn’t help but smiling at the memory. “I kind of consider myself an expert in the area of drapery, and I can tell you that I’ve never seen curtains that color. There had to have been a little ‘special’ dye job to get them that orange.”

“Ava found them,” Serena murmured. “There were this hideous shade of green originally, but she knew just what she wanted so…” She stopped there, and without a word moved towards the front door.

Kyle stayed where he was. “Are you going to invite me in?”

He asked so… hell, she couldn’t put a word with the tone of his voice. Sweetly was probably as close as she was going to get, but there was just a hint of something else layered underneath. Something akin, she thought, to longing. Hearing it, Serena knew she didn’t want to deny him.

“I still have those questions to ask,” she said, unlocking the door. “I rather ask them up there than down here.”
So he followed her in and up to the apartment on the third floor. Even as she was shutting the door behind them, Kyle was taking in the rooms surrounding him. It wasn’t huge, judging by the living room, but every inch of space seemed to be carefully arranged and decorated. And homey, Kyle thought. Probably a perfect combination of both of its occupants.

He could see the clash of personalities in the room. Organization warred happily with clutter, bold colors mixed with their softer counterparts. A light yellow sofa and matching chair rested on a woven rug of bright greens, blues, and reds. There were several black and white photographs hanging on the walls, framed in dark gold or brass frames. Even more were crammed on shelves of a rich wood entertainment center, which also held a variety of books, movies, and CDs.

Kyle crossed to the shelves, gave a quick glance at the titles and photos before he turned back to face Serena. Though she was trying to hide it, he could see the nerves doing their jittery dance along the edge of her patience. Her fingers were playing with the keys she still held in her hands, and she was shifting from one foot to another.

“It’s a nice place.”

Her eyes shifted around the room for a second, then came back to rest on his face. “Thank you.” She took a slow turn as she gestured towards the chair. “Do you want to sit?”

He nodded, began to move towards the chair, and stopped. Serena was standing right in front of him now. For the first time, he couldn’t fight back the urge to touch her, to offer that comfort, as he had all the other times before. So, gently, he laid a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to play hostess,” he told her. “Just ask your questions. I know that you have a lot.” He stared into her eyes, lightly drawing his hand down her arm, his fingertips lightly tracing a path along her skin. “I can see it in your eyes.”

It took all of Serena’s willpower to dampen down the urge to shiver at his touch, the sound of his voice, the way his eyes looked into hers. Especially the latter. Every time their eyes met, it seemed to her like it was so much more. Instead of looking at her, it was more like Kyle looked right into her.

Was that even possible?

She swallowed hard, and determined to get this whole thing back on course, tilted her chin up defiantly. “How do you know about me?”

As if he felt her mental retreat, Kyle took a step back. “What do you mean?”

Serena moved around him and took a seat on the sofa. “Jeff Parker thinks that I’m dead. My mother told me that she made sure of it.” She sighed, crossed her arms across her chest. “So how do you know that I’m not? Was she lying?”

Kyle shook his head and, sitting down on chair, he slipped his wallet out of his back pocket. “I don’t think your mother lied to you about that.” But he was about too. “Liz gets flashes. It all has something to do with Max healing her. Anyway, she got one and we sort of put the pieces together. Plus, there was this.”

There was more to it. Serena could just sense it, but even those thoughts died away when she saw what Kyle took out of his wallet. It was an old photograph, worn around the edges, yet still vibrant in its colors. Her mother’s face stared back at Serena with an expression that was almost glowing with a look of pure happiness. Behind her stood a man, dark hair falling into eyes the same shade of brown as Serena’s. His arms were wrapped tightly around her mid-section, a matching smile on his face.

“I’m sorry it’s a bit torn,” Kyle murmured softly. “I had to take it out of the frame Liz gave it to me in. It’s a little hard to travel around with one of those in your back pocket.”

She didn’t smile at his little joke, though she suspected he’d hoped she would. But she couldn’t. Not when all of her attention was focused on the photo in front of her. “My sis…” she trailed off, corrected herself. “Liz gave this to you?”

He nodded. “It was a present.” [/i]A Christmas present[/i], his mind added silently. Even now, Kyle could picture Liz chucking it at his head, screaming at him to get over himself. Thinking back on it almost had him smiling. Kyle was sure that his face had been priceless. “She thought it might help me.”

God, she wanted to touch it. Serena wondered if she had ever wanted anything more than to snatch that photograph from his hands so she could study it, burn it into her memory until, years from now, she would be able to recall the smallest of details. Her hands were actually trembling with the need turning inside of her.

“Take it,” Kyle murmured as if he knew what she was thinking. Serena blinked, looked up at him, than blinked again. The look in his eyes was imploring her to follow his simple request. And why shouldn’t she? Part of her was screaming to do just that. Still, she hesitated.

“Take it,” he repeated in the same soft tone. “It’s yours.”

So she did. Despite the fact that they continued to tremble, her fingers brushed against Kyle’s as Serena snatched the photo from his hands. For an instant, she could only stare down at it, drinking in the sight of two happy people in the photograph. In that instant, she was completely open to it, wanting to absorb.

And the flash started to play in her head.

With a hand resting on her stomach, Darby stared into the bathroom mirror. Realization dawned, both frightening and miraculous. She was pregnant with her baby… Jeff’s baby. The night before when they’d… well, it had been the first time, but it shouldn’t have been possible. Genetically, it shouldn’t have been possible, unless…

Even as her fragmented thoughts consumed her, there was a knock on the door. A second later, Jeff walked inside and over to her. Are you okay? He whispered, his lips brushing against her hair.

Fine, she lied.

He wrapped his arms her waist, laid his hands over hers. Darby, I love you.

Through her reflection in the mirror, Darby watched regret slip into her eyes. All she could do was sigh under the weight of it. I know you do, she told him, wishing she could say the words back. But that was impossible now, even more so than it had been before. Before, Darby had hoped that one day she might be free to live and love him openly. That she might be able to share her biggest secret with him.

She caressed the warm skin of her belly peeking out just below the t-shirt she was wearing. Now, she would have to run, make it so Jeff would never come looking for them. Because, while she might have been willing to risk her life on the chance he would be able to accept her for who she really was, Darby wasn’t going to risk the life of her baby. A baby she already loved…

Kyle watched as silent tears fell from her eyes, which were still focused on the picture. He wondered what was going though her mind. With her face now completely blank of emotion, save the tears, he couldn’t tell. Then, as if breaking out of a trance, she lifted a hand to her mouth and closed her eyes on a sob. Between them, the photo fell onto the little coffee table.

He was beside her in a second.

“Oh God,” she nearly screamed, the words muffled by her hand. “I saw them.”

Reaching out, Kyle lightly took hold of her arm. “You had a flash?”

Leaning in towards him, Serena nodded. “I could feel what she was feeling. She loved him,” she choked out. “I never knew…” She stopped speaking abruptly, pulled herself away from him. “Excuse me.” Serena stood up. “I have to…”

Not able to finished the sentence, she hurried towards what Kyle assumed was the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. He went after her, of course, damning the barrier of wood between them when he heard her become violently ill on the other side. However, he had a feeling that she wouldn’t appreciate it if he barged in there right then.

So, feeling useless, he stayed where he was for another moment, his hand pressed against the door. Then, he turned, and peering though an archway that apparently lead to the kitchen, he came up with a plan. When she reappeared fifteen minutes later, he already had a can of soup simmering on the stove.

“I poked around a bit,” Kyle admitted, slightly sheepish, when he saw standing under the archway. “I thought that you might need something to eat or something,” he finished lamely, his attention focusing back on the pot starting to boil. He gave it a quick stir. “Soup is the universal cure-all, right?”

Serena said nothing.

Kyle glanced up at her again. “What?”

“Why didn’t you leave?” Her voice was urgent, questing. “I thought for sure you would have left.”

Wiping his hand on the dishrag shoved into the waistband of his jeans, Kyle started to move towards her. “Look, I haven’t been Mr. Smooth when it comes to handling all of this. So far, I’ve done nothing but bombard you with so many things that… well shit, I don’t know how you’ve managed to process it all. For those reasons, and a slew of others, I want to help you out now.”

Serena jerked her shoulders in a shrug and moved away from him over to the little kitchen table in the corner of the room. “Soup would be nice.”

Without a word, Kyle turned away, moving towards the stove. He busied himself for the next few minutes stirring, ladling the soup into the bowls he laid out, and getting spoons. Placing the bowl in front of Serena, Kyle shifted so he could sit in the chair closest to her. “We’re not here to pressure you into anything,” he said, leaving his bowl untouched.

Not saying a word, Serena blew over a spoonful of liquid to cool it. Then again, she didn’t have to say anything. The expression of her face was enough. It simply screamed yeah right.

It took all of his willpower to bite back the sigh of impatience will up inside of him. “Persuade maybe, but not pressure. Whether or not you believe me, we are on the same side.”

“I’m not on any side.”

“That may not be always be an option.”

He said it so simply, that it sent a shiver up her spine. Not wanting to think about it, Serena shifted her attention back on her meal, deciding it was time to change the subject. “Tell me about Liz.”

“Liz?” Kyle hadn’t expected her to ask, particularly not after her reaction to the picture.

“Yeah.” She ate another spoonful. “You said she’s my sister and Ava told me that she helped her out once, so call me curious, but I’d like to know a little bit more about her.”

Now this was an interesting turn of events, and she wasn’t the only one who was curious. Figuring on following this though to its end, Kyle leaned forward, resting his arms across the edge of the table. “What would you like to know?”

“How old is she?”

“She turned 26 a couple of months ago.”

The spoon plunked down into the bowl. “26?” The number came out as a choking gasp. “But that would mean…”

“She’s was born about 5 months after you,” he confirmed, knowing that the math had added up.

“He said he loved her!” Serena pushed away from the table. “I saw it in the flash. He told my mother that he loved her, but he sure as hell moved on quickly after she was gone.” She was pacing now. “How could he?”

“I’m not going to defend Jeff to you, Serena.” Kyle stood up, walked over to her, and took her by the shoulders. “I wasn’t there, so I really can’t. But my father was. He’s friends, and was friends, with Jeff. Heck, he even knew your mother, in the way that everyone in a small town knows everyone else. When we found out about you, both Liz and I bombarded him with questions.’

“I don’t want to hear this,” she protested.

“He said that Jeff was heartbroken after your mom ‘died.’ At least, he thought she’d died.” His grip on her shoulders tightened a bit when she started to struggle against them. “You don’t have to actually hear what I’m saying, but I am asking you to listen. According to my Dad, Jeff turned to Nancy, Liz’s mom, because of their friendship. They’d known each other since they were little kids.”

She’d stopped moving now, and was staring up at him intently. Kyle took a deep breath. “I think it might have been grief that drove him then. Like I said, I wasn’t there, so there is no way for me to say if that was a good or bad thing… if it made it right or wrong, but I can tell you that Jeff is a good guy. And I can’t offer up much regret because Liz is probably the best friend I’ve ever had. All I can say for sure is that it was a complicated situation on all sides, and maybe it’s not for us to judge anyone for their actions back then.”

To his surprise, Serena nodded. Then, as if the weight of all this knowledge had grown too heavy for her, she slumped against him, her head against his chest. “I could hear her thoughts. My whole life, the only thing my mother ever told me about my father was that it was best he never knew about us. Nothing about what he felt for her, what she felt for him. Maybe it hurt her too much. But she loved him. I felt how much she loved him.”

“I can take you to meet them, Serena,” he told her. He continued even as she started to shake her head. “When you’re ready.”

“I might never be,” Serena confessed. “That might make me a terrible person, but I don’t know if I want to meet them. I don’t know if I will ever be ready.”

Because each word was laced with such guilt, Kyle brushed a hand under her chin, lifted it so her gaze met his. “I think you will be, someday. But don’t feel guilty about having your doubts. You’re entitled.”

His eyes unconsciously moved over her face, landing on her lips when she drew in a deep breath. And the need he always felt when it came to her flooded him. “Serena…” His voice trailed off.

“You look at me like you know me,” she murmured. “How…”

Suddenly, the need was too strong to fight. “Because I do,” he said, right before he pressed his lips to hers.

He kept the kiss light at first, just a touch of his mouth against hers. Kyle understood that he needed to have enough control to hold flashes at bay. She’d already been bombarded with enough for one day.

Then Serena sighed, a soft whisper of breath against his lips when he started to pull back. Part of his control snapped, and he kissed her again, taking it deeper this time. She trembled against him as her mind opened. Snippets of memories flew behind his eyes, like a movie set at triple speed.

Kyle saw a little girl, dark brown hair woven into twin braids trailing down each side of her head, tears in her eyes, crying out for her mother. There was another of a woman, who was nearly identical to Serena, save the deep green eyes, reaching out to hold a girl of twelve, who struggled against the hug. The girl didn’t want to be placated this time. She wanted to be heard. The woman left the room a moment later.

The last image he could sort was so full of grief and rage all aimed at one man. He heard shouting, but it flickered by so fast that Kyle wasn’t able to make out what was said. Then, the images stopped abruptly as Serena pulled away. There was a flicker of horror in her eyes, a hint of fear.

“Serena...” he managed to say before she started to shake her head.

“Leave.” She drew away from him, her face guarded as she stared at him. “I would like you to leave.”

Kyle nodded, but didn’t move. “It’s not going to change what happened here. What’s happening in general.”

“But I get to choose how I deal with it.” She gestured towards the door. “Now, I would like you to go.”

Passing by Serena, Kyle walked to the door. Opening it, he glanced over his shoulder at her. She was still standing in the kitchen, her back to him, shoulders and spine stiff with tension. “This isn’t over,” he muttered and left.

~~~~~

Tess let the warm water ease away the stress that grew with every mile they gained. Tomorrow, they’d reach Roswell, and she would have no choice but to face the reality she’d run from six years ago.

Part of her wondered what their reaction would be. Would they kill her on sight? Did any of them actually have the stomach for that? Shrugging, Tess decided it was a risk she had to take. Still, knowing that didn’t ease the knot in her belly. So she slid deeper into the tub, and settled more fully into the warmth surrounding her. And, drifting on it, dropped down into her nightmares.

She felt the pain of his mark branding her arm, but was too numb inside to feel the pangs of regret. It was too late for them. She’d already chosen her path. Or maybe it chose her?

Pain. The word whispered across her skin, filled her ears. It’s part of every life.

Flashes of the beatings rushed her, causing Tess to relive every moment. She cried out even as the voice washed over her again. Survival is key.

She remembered each threat she gave, each one she receive, all the lies that had been told throughout her life. Crying out again, she wanted to atone, wanted to change what had been. Then come find us. Free us. The time is now.

“Tess.”

Hands grabbed at her, forcing her from the warmth. Tess struggled against them, not wanting the cold, never wanting to be cold again. Then, she heard him, heard Cade.

“Please, baby, please. Open your eyes. Look at me.”

Her eyes snapped open. “Cade.” She tried to say it, but water choking her lungs kept the words from forming. Half in the tub, half wrapped tight in Cade’s arms, Tess coughed up the liquid onto the tile of the bathroom floor.

“Shhhh...” Tess felt Cade’s fingers tremble as he brushed the sopping strands of hair away from her face. “Just take slow breaths... God,” he expelled the word on a long breath. Lowering his forehead to gently touch hers, his eyes slammed shut. “They’re getting worse.”

Weakly, Tess ran her hands up and down his arms as he held her, hoping to soothe him in some way. “I’m okay.” His arms slid around her, bringing her closer to him. “We have to finish this.”

He pressed his lips to her brow, then eyelids, and finally her lips. “We’ll be in Roswell tomorrow, early afternoon if we push it.”

“Then we’ll get started tomorrow evening.” Using what little energy she had left, Tess sat up and circled her arms around Cade’s neck. “This will all be over soon, one way or another. I promise.”

[Anniepoo98]

Howdy all~

I am finally back with a new part. Sorry that it took so long!

Now, I know that there were a few questions about if Serena recieved flashes from Kyle. Well, she didn't... but she did know that Kyle got them from her, and that was what upset her. Also, as for which group Tess is searching for, you find out in this chapter!

Okay, without anymore ado, here be the next part. I hope you all enjoy.

Annie:)


Part Five:


Despite the fact that the trendy coffee bar was packed, Alex’s eyes instantly picked Ava out of the crowd. Somehow she managed to snag a table in the back corner, and was currently perched on a tall stool beside it, all of her concentration focused on the book in front of her. Her long mass of blond curls was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail that somehow seemed to match the slim fitting jeans and gigantic purple sweater. Her canvas slide covered foot bopped in time with the sound of REM playing softly in the background.

Somewhere in the deepest part of his heart, Alex felt a little tug, one that he couldn’t identify and, therefore, decided to ignore for the moment. Instead, he made his way over to the table, clearing his throat to get her attention. Ava’s head shot up from the book, her eyes narrowing when she saw him.

“So,” she said, dog-earring her page and placing the book aside. “You drew the short straw.”

Alex shook his head. “I volunteered.”

That had her head tilting to the side a bit as she studied him, probably trying to decided if he was being honest or not. Knowing what he said was the complete truth; Alex let her judge as he pulled over a free stool so he could sit down. “Also, just so we get it out in the open, I’m not trying to force you to make a decision about everything we talked about last night. This is just a…”

“Courtesy call,” Ava finished for him, just the hint of a smile curving her lips.

He couldn’t help the little grin that flashed across his face. “Not quite. It’s more like double checking to make sure that we didn’t completely burn down all of our bridges last night. In case you couldn’t tell, it didn’t go exactly according to plan.”

That, of course, was the understatement of the year. After Kyle ran out after Serena, Ava had been furious with them. She contained it well... okay, at least she hadn’t blasted them with her alien powers or something along those lines. No, she wanted and demanded straight forward answers to her questions as opposed to the crypt runaround their conversation had been prior to that point.

He, Michael, and Maria knew then that they needed to give her something, anything to keep her open to their idea. At the same time, they knew it was too soon to get into the whole Future Serena situation. It was going to come out, and Alex figured that it would probably been sooner more than later, but last night had not been the right time.

So, between the three of them, they managed to give a layout of the reasons why they’d started to look for her while glossing over any of the sticky Future Serena parts to the best of their ability. Still, none of them could tell how much Ava actually believed them. That’s why Michael asked Ava to meet one of them this morning.

Feeling like he’d formed a bit more of a connection with her than the others had was why Alex volunteered to go. Or he’d convinced himself that was the case. That it had nothing to do with the little rush he’d felt when they shook hands the night before.

“Ahh.” Ava paused for a moment as if she was thinking it over. “Are you sure there was a plan?”

“Not a very good one, but yes. There was a plan.” Despite wanting, for the twentieth time since their meeting, to give his own ass a little kick, Alex managed to keep some humor in his voice. “Like I said, we wanted to make sure that we haven’t really ticked you off.”

Shaking her head, Ava took a deep breath, then a sip from the drink sitting by her book. “No, I’m not ticked off. Confused, most definitely. A little wigged out, for sure. Not really ticked though.” She set the fancy paper cup back down on the table. “Serena, on the other hand, is pissed off. She didn’t say much to me about it, but all the stomping around the apartment this morning was a big tip off. So, not to go all high school on you, but what did your friend do to my friend?”

Alex fought the urge to swear just a bit. What Ava just described mirrored Kyle’s mood ever since he returned to the motel the night before. He didn’t say a word about what happened between him and Serena, only glared at anyone who tried to pry it from him.

“I have no idea,” he admitted. “He didn’t say anything to us about what happened.” Though he had his suspicions, and if any of them were right, Alex couldn’t help but feel bad for Kyle. Out of all of them, he was the one who had the most to lose if anything went wrong here.

“I hate to see Serena this upset.” Ava leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands. “I hate knowing that I played some part of it.”

“You weren’t even there…” Alex trailed off, remembering what happened just before Serena ran off. “You two had a fight before the meeting. Is that what you’re talking about?”

Ava shook her head. “It wasn’t really a fight. More like confession time. I never told her about,” she glanced around, “you know.”

“About Roswell or about New York?”

“None of it.” She sighed sadly. “Not my past, or my past, if you get my meaning.”

He did. She had never told Serena about growing up in the sewers, or being betrayed by the others in her four-square… hell, that she was part of one pod set. Alex knew it was a lot for Serena to take in, probably for Ava to let out as well. To show that he understood, hoping to ease some of the pain he saw in her eyes just now, Alex reached across the table, took her hand in his, gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Ava jerked back ever so slightly at his touch, staring for a moment at his hand covering hers. “I lied to her.” She sighed sadly. “I lied to my best friend.”

Alex shook his head. “No,” he said firmly. “You edited the truth to save yourself. You had to. There is nothing wrong with doing what you have to do to survive.”

“It doesn’t make me feel less guilty.” With a depreciating laugh, she freed her hand to wipe at tears forming in her eyes. “And this seems to be my week for confessions. I’m sorry about dumping this on you.”

“I don’t mind.”

She scoffed at his statement. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m used to it,” Alex told her. “After years of being best buddies with Isabel, Liz, and Maria, it becomes second nature.”

“Liz,” Ava murmured, took a sip of her drink and sighed again. “I am having a really hard time processing the fact that she is Serena’s sister. Hell, who am I kidding? I’m having a hard time processing everything that happened since Thursday.”

Alex nodded. “Understandable. If it makes you feel better, I can tell you that the rest of us felt the same way. Though we’ve never said it out loud, I think all of us were never expecting to actually find you. I mean, we’ve been looking for six years. We’d started giving up that any of these trips would successful.”

Once again, her head tilted as she studied him. “Then why did you keep going on them?”

“Kyle is a great big nag.” When she laughed as he hoped, Alex shook his head and continued. “Seriously, we all kept searching because we need you. We really do need you, Ava. Besides that, I needed to prove something to myself.”

She pointed to her face. “To see if you could face this… well, face, and be okay?”

“Yeah.” He wiped a hand over his own. “Melodramatic, I know, but part of me wondered. I know that you are nothing like Tess, but…”

Ava held up a hand before he could continue. “You say that like you actually know something about me. You don’t.”

He had to disagree. “It might not be a lot, but I do know stuff about you. For instance, you saved helped to save Max from Lonnie and Rath. Even knowing that you were probably putting yourself at risk, you did it. Liz trusts you. That’s something else I know. And you care about your friend, enough to worry about her and care how all of this is affecting her most likely more than you care about how it is affecting you.” Alex stopped for a moment, judging. Going with instinct, he lifted her hand and moved his to link their fingers together.

Another jolt, this one not so ignored, Alex noted as he watched Ava’s eyes widen, meeting with his over the table. “This is new,” she whispered to herself. Then, she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “I’m not normal, Alex. I never will be, because I can’t forget who I was, what I was.”

She tried to draw her hand out of his. Alex only tightened his grip. “I don’t care about normal, Ava. Normal went out the window the day Max healed Liz. As for the past, I don’t care about that either. It’s just the stepping stones to now, and the one thing I’ve learned from all of this is that the most important moment is the one you’re currently living.”

Ava shook her head again. “You don’t understand.” She looked off as if to collect her thoughts. “Lonnie once said that our group was… well, let’s go with more juiced than the other set. It had nothing to do with abilities as much as it did memories. Both groups were pretty much equal except mine had more memories of the past.”

Pausing, she lifted her cup with her free hand, taking a sip of her drink. “Maybe that’s why your group got the Granolith. You know, the whole ignorance is bliss thing. They couldn’t use it and draw attention to themselves if they couldn’t even remember what the hell it was, right?”

Alex didn’t know where this was coming from. For a moment, just a tiny instant, he’d felt something open between them. It was gone a second later. Now, it seemed like Ava was trying to back away from it, bring up the differences between him and her, between her and the others.

He wasn’t going to let her go far.

“Right,” he agreed cautiously. “I don’t know…”

“I remember Ava,” she blurted out. “I remember Antar, being royal… all of it. And let me tell you, Ava, the original Ava, she wasn’t a picnic. She wanted things, wanted the crown. I don’t think she even cared that her husband didn’t love her. It was just part of deal they were both dealt. If she had to put up with it, so did he.”

She took a deep breath, then another, coming down from her outburst. “It’s in me.” Her voice was soft now. “I come from her, both Tess and I do. From what you told me, Tess wanted the crown and was willing to betray you all for it. What if I am more like them than you think? What if it is just part of my make up?”

How long has she been tormenting herself with this? Alex wondered. How long has this guilt been building inside of her? Almost as soon as his mind asked the question, it came up with the answer. It had been haunting her for as long as she could remember.

Again, he went with his gut reaction. He lifted their still joined hands, drew them closer to him. “You wouldn’t have to ask yourself that question if you were like them.” He placed a light kiss on top of her hand, just below the wrist. Alex heard Ava suck in air through her teeth, making the slightest of hissing sounds. A pleasant little sensation rippled through his belly at her reaction.

Then, what she’d said hit him.

Jerking a bit in his seat, Alex straightened. “Did you just say that you remember what it was like back on Antar? Does that mean that you remember the language? The syntax structure, if certain symbols have more than one meaning and what context belies what meaning, all of sort of thing?”

“I… well yes, some,” Ava managed to say, a dumbfounded expression spreading across her face.

Noticing it, Alex froze. How could he be such an idiot? One minute, they were having a moment, and the next minute he goes all geek on her. An embarrassed flush crawled up his neck, darkening his cheeks. “I’m sorry, Ava. I didn’t mean to do a 180 on you.”

She blinked, then pinked up a little bit. “That’s okay,” she said. “It was interesting.”

He winced. “It’s just…” Stopping mid-sentence, Alex decided on a different approach. He had a feeling that if he pushed right now, it might be just the last straw for her. “I think I need your help. For years, I’ve been trying to write a computer program to translate the Destiny book, to find out… something that might help. But I haven’t been able to find the key needed to convert the book into English. Will you help?”

Ava swallowed hard. “When?”

“Whenever you have time.”

She pulled her hand away, braced both on each side of her cup. After taking a deep drink, Ava put the cup down and sighed. “I work tonight, but I will be off tomorrow.”

Alex had to hold back his own sigh of relief. “Tomorrow will be great.”

Reaching down, Ava hoisted up a large bag, began rummaging through it. A second later, she pulled out a pen and a small notebook. “Give me the address for the motel where you’re staying. I’ll meet you there around 11.”

~~~~~


To buy the microwavable dinner with the chicken nuggets in the shape of little stars or the slightly more expensive one that came with a fudge brownie for dessert. That was the question.

After a moment of internal debate, Isabel decided to hell with it. She was getting the brownie. Working a split shift tonight more than justified the need for a little chocolate pampering.

“I just have to get through tonight,” she sighed wearily, as she plopped her dinner into the supermarket cart. “Then, I get three glorious days off.”

Glancing down at her watch, Isabel noticed that she had a little more than two hours to get her errands down before she had to be back on shift. First on that list was swinging by the bakery to pick up the cake she’d ordered for the shower, then grabbing some cases of soft drinks, which should be the last thing she needed to get. She’d drop all of the stuff off at her parent’s house before heading back to the hospital to heat up her dinner. If she was lucky, she wouldn’t have to inhale it before clocking back in.

With all that in mind, Isabel began to shift her cart around, only to slam full body into someone.

A hand quickly reached out to steady her. She felt the rough palm of someone who was used to manual labor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bump into you like that.”

There was a twang to the voice that was distinctly male. Isabel blinked, than glance up to take in his face. She couldn’t help noticing it was a good face too. Skin obviously darkened by sun was drawn into sharp features topped with dark eyes and hair. “My fault,” she managed to say dumbly as she studied him. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

That teased a smile from his lips. “A lot on your mind?”

She nodded. “Just thinking about what else I might need to get. I only meant to run in here for a couple of things.”

He glanced down at her cart, an eyebrow winging up at the several items piled in the basket. “It never works out that way, does it?”

Chuckling, Isabel shook her head. “No. It never does.”

He ran his hand down her arm, before dropping it back to his side. “Well, since we’ve already had an awkward moment, I figure that I might as well introduce myself.” He offered a hand to shake. “Cade Chadwick.”

“Isabel Evans.”

His eyes deepened, his voice resonating just a bit lower than before as he spoke again. “Nice to meet you, Isabel.”

Unwanted, she felt a little kick of attraction. Damn it, she didn’t have time for this right now. Not with the baby coming, finding both Ava and Serena. Not with everything left unsaid between her and Alex. So, Isabel took a retreating step backwards, barely managing to keep a smile of her face. “Likewise.” She took another step. “ Well, I’ve gotta go, so…”

She was already starting to turn away from him, when Isabel felt his hand touch her arm again. “Listen,” he sighed, the look on his face slightly flustered. “I know how this is probably going to sound like a pick-up line, but I’m new in town. Maybe, if you have time, you might like to go out, possibly give me the low down on Roswell.”

“I can’t,” she blurted out before thinking. And winced at how rude the words sounded. “This is just a pit stop for me,” she said, backtracking. “I have to be back at work in a couple of hours. And right now I have to get all of this stuff done and drop it off before getting back.”

He nodded. “I understand.” There was disappointment in his voice, or so Isabel thought. “Maybe some other time.”

Cade started to walk away, and Isabel bit back a groan. “Wait,” she called out to him. “Look, if you have some time now, I can give you some insight while I finish up here.”

Turning back to look at her, he smiled. “Sure.”

~~~~~

From her hiding spot, Tess peered out the window of the ancient pickup truck. She watched as Cade helped Isabel load groceries into her car. Forcing down a little inkling of jealously, she waited and wondered until she heard footsteps approaching the truck.

It was stupid to feel jealous. Tess knew that. After all, she was the one who asked Cade to do this. But Isabel was just so... well, Isabel. And that was about the furthest thing from what Tess was. Everyday, Cade said he loved her, and everyday she waited for him to realize that he’d made a mistake.

That doesn’t matter now, Tess thought as Cade slid into the truck next to her. They both had more important things to worry about right now.

“Did you get it?” she asked.

Nodding, Cade reached into his pocket, drew out a set of keys. “You were right, she kept a spare set in the front pouch of her purse. I slipped them out when she was putting a bag into the car. We have enough time to go there now. She told me she was working for the rest of the night.”

“Good.” Tess took a deep breath, exhaled it slowly. “We’ll go in tonight, grab the stones. Then, tomorrow we’ll find Liz.”

[Anniepoo98]

Howdy all~

I am back, and with a new part. Sorry that it took me so long. Thanks to Sel for betaing this part.

<b>Welcome Lillie</b>. I'm glad that you're enjoying the story.

Have a good one all!

Annie:)



Part Six:


Kyle was wallowing in self-pity. It was selfish and pointless, but at the moment, he couldn’t drum up the energy to care.

It was lowering to admit, even if it was just to himself, that he was a bumbling idiot. For him, the whole dating game had been a piece of cake. At the beginning of high school, he’d been a jock… a popular one, so finding a girl to go with on Friday night wasn’t an issue. Even after things went south with him and Liz, he could still get dates. Serena, well her future self, changed all that.

When she dropped, literally, into his life, the course of his future took a turn, one that didn’t include relationships with other women. From that day on, he only wanted Serena. Sure, he had occasionally went on dates, very platonic ones. Kyle would never allow them to develop into anything beyond that. Why bother? He belonged to Serena.

The problem was he knew it and she didn’t. And Kyle didn’t have the first clue how to convince her.

“Are you gonna quit moping around here and call her?”

Lying with his head near the foot of his bed, Kyle caught the tennis ball he’d been throwing at the wall one-handed, and shot Alex an annoyed look. “She threw me out of her apartment. I say that’s a pretty good sign that she doesn’t want to talk. Hence, the moping.”

“She had a lot to take in right then,” Alex said as he smoothed out the comforter on his bed. “And a whole day has passed. If she is anything like Liz, she may have moved past the shocked stage into the I have a few questions stage. She’ll need someone to give her the low-down.”

Kyle couldn’t help snickering. “Don’t say low-down, Whitman. It’s disturbing.”

A second later, a pillow landed on his head. Kyle simply, lifted his head and shoved it underneath, fully laughing. “If you can’t handle the truth…” He trailed off, sobered again. “Then, you’re as pitiful as me.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alex shift, sitting down on the edge of the other bed. “Serena’s the one you want, right?”

“Right.”

“Then you have to do whatever it takes to get her.” Picking up the laptop beside him, Alex booted it up. While it was doing so, he grabbed a case off of the nightstand, took out a disc. “She loved you once, Kyle. You loved her then, and you love her now, you just have to show her.”

“It got screwed up before,” Kyle mumbled under his breath.

Alex slipped the disc into a drive. “Yeah. But you know that, and have a pretty good idea how it got screwed up. You can keep it from happening again. After all, that’s why they make us learn history, so it doesn’t repeat itself.”

He thought about that advice. Serena had come back from the future to make sure the same mistakes didn’t happen in this one, and it was up to him to make sure her wish came true. The largest part of that was her wish for them. And all the damn moping in the world wasn’t going to accomplish that. So their first… and second and third meeting didn’t go quite as planned.

The next one would be better. As the determination filled him, Kyle felt something drop onto his stomach. Picking up the square piece of plastic, he gave Alex a curious look. “What the hell is this?”

Placing the laptop alongside him, Alex shrugged. “It’s some pictures I took at Liz’s birthday party last month. I thought since we’ve kinda put our worst foot forward on this, maybe it’s time to show Serena our best. Just some of the more fun and goofy pics, that’s all.”

Kyle sat up, studied the disc, then his friend. “When did you get so wise, Whitman?”

“I just was born this way.” Getting up, Alex tossed a pair of dirty socks that had been on the bed into his duffle. “Luck of the draw, you could say.”

Narrowing his eyes, Kyle glanced around the room. “You cleaned?”

“Straightened,” Alex corrected.

“Whatever.” He got up from the bed, tossed spare pillow back on the other bed. “The point is, you’re doing it. Why?”

“I’m not a slob?” It came out as more of a question than a statement, which only caught Kyle’s attention more.

For a minute, he watched as Alex shifted from one foot to another, occasionally running a hand through his hair. Nervous, Kyle realized. Then, it hit him why. “You like Ava.”

The words sounded more accusatory then Kyle meant them too. He knew that the blond was coming over to help with the translation. He also remembered that there had been a bit of a connection between the two of them during the group meeting. But this… well, Kyle was just a bit shocked.

Still, at the tone of his voice, Alex’s eyes narrowed a bit, just a little heat behind the expression in them. “And if I do?”

Kyle held up his hands in a gesture of peace. “It caught me off guard, that’s all.”

With a groan, Alex dropped into the lone chair in the room. “Look, I haven’t figured out if there is anything going on with Ava. I do know that when I get around her I feel a little tug.” He tapped his chest, right over his heart. “Right here.” Another groan escaped, and he dropped his head in his hands. “I have got to be losing my mind.”

“Because it’s someone who isn’t Isabel or because it’s Ava?”

Alex shot him a exasperated look. “Because it’s completely new, smart ass.”

Nodding, Kyle turned and started for the door. “Then you better give it some time and see where it leads.” He reached out, turned the knob to open the door, and saw Ava standing right there. Her hand was lifted as if she was prepared to knock.

She jumped backwards about three whole steps. “Holy shit.”

The only thing Kyle could do was laugh. “Fate,” he murmured under his breath, before he waved Ava to step inside. “Is your roommate at home?” he asked as she stepped around him.

“Depends.” Ava looked at him, then around the room. “Are you planning on pissing her off again?”

He shook his head. “No, not really.”

“Then yup, she’s home.” She moved towards Alex, offered him a little smile and dropped her purse down on the table beside him. “Be nice.”

“Will do.” With that, Kyle headed out.

~~~~


Kyle wasn’t the only one who was wallowing. For the past two days, Serena had done much of the same, stomping around the apartment and taking out her bad mood on Ava.

Her roommate, who should be nominated for sainthood in Serena’s opinion, put up with it patiently. Yesterday, Ava even relinquished three of her favorite paperback romance novels so Serena could spend the day holed up in her room, which is exactly what she did. Curled up in bed, she tried to read the books, and ended up replaying the whole scene between her and Kyle over and over again in her mind.

He kissed her. So what?

The so what came in the form of a little ball of… something welling up in her stomach, tension tightening between her shoulder blades. The so what was the fact that even two days after he’d kissed her, Serena was still reacting to it.

Fuming at the thought, she got up from the sofa, started pacing in front of it. Damn it, she’d been kissed before and kissed well, but not one of those kisses had ever pulled anything from her other than the slight feeling of interest. One smooch and Kyle Valenti had reached into her memories, drawing them to him like a magnet.

Never, in her life, had she’d formed that kind of connection with someone. It had been intense and intrusive and… completely honest.

It hit Serena like a ton of bricks. So much so that she dropped back down on the sofa with a loud thud. She’d never been completely honest with anyone in her life, not even her mother. After all, she’d been trained to lie and hide almost from birth. But the connection, raw and brutal, left no room for lies, no place to hide. Kyle had been able to invoke that bond with her. Hell, he’d even gotten flashes from her.

Damn him.

Frustrated, she stood again, this time rolling her shoulders to relieve the tension between her shoulder blades. “It’s time to stop wallowing and deal with this,” she muttered. Glancing down at the coffee table, she noticed the little sheet of paper, the address for the hotel their out of town guests were staying at scribbled over it. Reaching down, she picked it up, and decided just what she had to do next. “I’m just going to go over there and get this whole thing set straight.”

Dashing into her room, she managed to dress in record time. Now that she had a plan, there was no wasting a second. When she emerged ten minutes later, she wore the first pair of jeans she grabbed, a faded grey sweater, and old sneakers. Like a whirlwind, she raced over the living room, grabbing her purse, trying to find her keys.

And the doorbell rang.

The sudden noise interrupted her frantic search. Cautiously, she studied the door as her heart sped up just a little bit. “It can’t be,” Serena muttered to herself as she approached the door slowly. One peek out the peep told her that, yes it was.

With a few choice curses, she undid the the lock, and pulled the door open as much as the chain still latched would allow. “What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded.

Kyle blinked. “I was just dropping by to see how you were.”

“I’m fine.” There was a bite of annoyance in her voice. Serena couldn’t stop it from escaping. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I was just wondering.”

And looking totally nervous, she noticed. For some reason, knowing he had nerves, maybe just as many as were bouncing around inside her right now, had her relaxing a bit. A sigh escaped as she leaned against the door jam. “What are you really doing here, Kyle?”

His blue eyes met hers, direct and frank. She felt the jolt of it deep in her belly, and the words she’d spoke to him a couple nights ago echoed in her mind. Kyle looked at her like he already knew her.

“I wanted to see you,” he said, his voice low. Husky.

Desire dried up her throat, so not even basic words would form. Why, she wondered. Why does he make me feel this way? No one ever had before.

Since an answer wasn’t forthcoming, Serena did the only thing she could. Easing the door closed, she undid the latch, and opened it wide. Kyle walked in.

She turned away from him to close the door, and could feel the heat of his gaze against her back. Swallowing hard, she slowly moved to face him. She had to know, to understand what was happening. “You got flashes from me,” she said, keeping a good amount of distance between them.

“Yes,” Kyle said, simply. “I did.”

“Why did you get them from me, but I didn’t get any from you?”

He shrugged. “I was blocking you so you wouldn’t get any from me.”

“Well,” Serena whispered. “That’s your right.” Even if it made her feel like she’d taken a short punch to the gut. Unconsciously, she took a couple of steps away from him as she thought that through. And, she felt her temper beginning to grow.

He’d seen into her head, into her heart, and she wasn’t allowed to do the same. Oh no, she thought. That’s not how this works.

“To hell with that,” she exclaimed, her temper boiling over. She stalked over to him, placed her hands squarely on his chest and shoved. Kyle stumbled back two full steps. “Quid pro quo, buddy. If you see into my head, I see into yours. Got it.”

Frustration washed over his face, and she watched as he dragged his hands roughly through his hair. “Damn it, there were things I didn’t want you to see. Things that were too painful...”

Some of that pain showed in his eyes as his voice trailed off. Serena studied him for a moment, measuring up what she though his feelings were, tried to figure out her own. Then, she took a deep breath, exhaled, and felt some of her anger dissipate. “Were all the memories you got from me happy ones, Kyle? Was I laughing, running carefree, or simply smiling in them?”

Kyle shook his head, took a step towards her. “In one, you were crying, just a little girl in pigtails.” Slowly, he lifted a hand and slowly, as if waiting for her to react, touched her cheek with his fingertip, tracing the path of long dried tears. “You just wanted to be with you mother, to have her hold you.”

Serena bit her lip, trying to stay in the now instead of falling back into the horrible memories. His simple description could have been any number of times. “When I was about eight, my mother started going out on missions regularly. Up until then, it had just been a once and awhile thing. But I always knew what it meant when I woke up and she wasn’t there. It meant that she might not come back. When I was fifteen, she didn’t.”

“Baby.”

They way he said the endearment, the way his arms started to move around her, offering their comfort to soothe the old wounds, had her nerves skittering. Serena shook her head and tried to take a step away, hoping that a little distance would allow her to calm down a bit. She’d never been very good at accepting comfort. Only Kyle stopped and, while he didn’t draw her any closer, he didn’t let her go either.

“This intense… whatever it is we’ve got going between us… freaks me out,” she confessed.

Without moving her any closer, he leaned over, rested his forehead against her. “Me too.”

She could feel his breath rush over her lips as he breathed, found her eyes drawn down to look at his. Then they curled into the same slightly wicked grin he’d used the first night they met.

“And what’s going on between us is called a relationship,” he told her, his tone just a bit cocky.

Serena didn’t even focus on that. No, her mind was trying to wrap itself around the word relationship. Nothing he could have said would have freaked her out more.

“Oh God,” she whispered, her eyes snapping up to meet his gaze. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Why not?”

Trying again to move away from, his embrace not budging an inch, Serena took a deep breath. “I’m no good at them, Kyle. No good at them whatsoever. Now, if we look at this logically…”

Nodding his head, she could feel his skin, his hair, as it brushed against hers. “Yeah,” he said gruffly. “Let’s look at this logically.”

He shifted so smoothly, that she didn’t have time to counter. In one move, the space between their bodies became non-existent. Then his mouth was on hers. She could taste the impatience flowing through him, the heat, and the anger that he’d managed to keep hidden until now. Serena wondered which of those emotions were what drove the kiss more. Then, his right hand slid down her spine, around and under her shirt, lightly trailing along the skin of her belly, and she thought of nothing at all.

Deeper, this kiss spun out, until they had to separate or stop breathing completely. Panting softly, she laid her head against his shoulder. For the first time, she noticed that he smelled woodsy, like forest after a rain shower.

Kyle’s head shifted, and she felt lips press a kiss along the side of her neck. “I want you, Serena,” he said softly. “I don’t care about what happens next, or how long I have to wait for you to become comfortable with this, my wanting you isn’t going to change.”

“I’ve never…” she trailed off, shocked that even that much escaped before she had the chance to think. When he started to draw her back, she let him because she was too horrified, too embarrassed, to do anything else.

“It’s okay.” He shrugged when she just stared at him with what had to be a baffled expression written all over her face. “I mean it. I’m not going to push you into anything, but I want to see you, spend time with you. I want to see where this relationship is going to go because we have to face it. That’s what this intense thing between us is going to be.”

Feelings, too many to name, warred inside her as she listened to his little speech. Part of her wanted to hit him and run fast in the other direction. That word relationship still scared the hell out of her. The other part of her wanted to draw him close, to follow impulse and let whenever was growing between them to simply grow, unencumbered. To let it take over.

Before she could decide which to act on, Kyle spoke again. “Just spend the day with me. We’ll go out, get something to eat, talk, whatever you want to do. Please, just let me spend time with you.

And her decision was made, for the moment at least. Turning into him, Serena brushed a light kiss against his lips. “Okay.”


~~~~~

Isabel sighed as she grabbed her keys out of her pocket. She’d decided to stay over at her parents’ house the night before, so she could actually get some sleep and not sleepwalk through the whole baby shower. But it had been a long couple of days, and all she wanted right now was to be by herself for a little bit.

At her place, there were no demands on her. No, it was simply home, where the shower was hot and the sweats were comfy.

Sighing, she made her way up the little staircase that led to her door, smiling at little when she thought about the baby shower. It had gone off without a hitch.

Okay, that wasn’t completely true, she thought, her smile dimming a bit. Liz had been distracted. Granted, Isabel understood why. Hell, she was too. There was no way not to be with everything going on, but it had shown. And showing, caused both their mothers to worry.

They had managed to chalk it up to nerves about the baby and birth. After a little while, Liz let them think they’d bribed her out of her dark mood by opening gifts, until she actually started to get into the party mood. Soon, there had been oooh’s and ahhh’s over the tiny clothes, stories about the weird cravings pregnancy induced, and some good-natured bragging from Liz about the baby’s room.

Isabel could admit that she’d gotten caught up too. It was kind of hard not to, but the thought of her friends was never far from her mind. Oh, she was going along with Max’s advice by waiting patiently for the others to return, for more news about Ava and Serena. However, her patience had a time limit, and that limit was going to expire really soon.

I’ll give it the rest of the night, she thought as she stuck her key in the door. See what else happens, if we get anymore information. Then I’m going.

She opened the door into chaos. Nearly everything had been tossed or turned over. Papers were strewn about the room, and at least two of her lamps had been knocked over. Isabel’s first thought was that it was just a plain burglary. It pissed her off, but taking a deep breath, she moved into the room, mentally preparing for what she was going to have to do.

Then she noticed that her television was still there. So was her stereo. “That’s what a burglar would go for first,” she muttered to herself. Irritation and anger faded as another realization set in. Racing from the living room, Isabel went into her bedroom closet. The moment she touched the handle, a flash ran through her mind.

Tess was standing in the same spot where Isabel stood now. Beside her, there was a man. As Tess looked up at him, Isabel saw that it was Cade, the man she’d met in grocery store. Between them, the both were holding a bag. Seeing the amber glow of the healing stones, Isabel gasped and broke from the vision.

Stumbling back, she fell against her bed. Tess was back, kept running through her head, shock filtering in, and she’d brought someone with her. They’d gone through her things. Hell, he had even flirted with her. She’d flirted back.

“Oh God,” she whispered. “They have the stones. God knows what they are planning to do with them.”

She needed to get help, needed to get Max.

With a calm she didn’t know she possessed, Isabel reached out, fumbling only slightly as she picked up the cordless phone on the nightstand. Without looking she dialed, pressed the phone to her ear. And she nearly cried when the voice on the other end said hello.

“Max.” Her voice was flat and even. She needed it to be. The last thing she wanted was to alarm her brother, which would alarm Liz in turn. Her sister-in-law didn’t need the stress, not with the baby’s due date being so close. “I could really use your help with something. Do you think you could come by… now.”