Thanks to everyone reading this story. Particular thanks to Sternbetrachter and xmag for the feed back.
Sternbetrachter- Thanks again. The weight of their past is part of what drives this story, drives the Destiny they must either fulfill or escape. I really feel for Alex. I mean how many times was he left on the outside of something that the group did? How many times he had to face the unknown, alone?
xmag- Thanks for your kind comments, I hope you continue to enjoy this story. Time really did go crazy, and not everyone survived. (Don't worry our heroes did.) The past and present and future really did mix in part. Rath did see Maria, it was only a hallucination on his part, but it affected him. Particularly as he saw her right after the death of his mistress. There is a part in this chapter which has an effect on Zan, and also to a degree on Vilondra. These were not ordinary flashes.
As to Future Maria, Ana chose her for the same reason she chose Liz. She had knowledge of the Podsquad, and was to a degree separated from them. While that Maria did not have powers, she was able to be 'abducted.' This will affect the future story.
The part about Maria's father will be covered in the future. As will how Tess deals with the world as it is, and not the dream world she desires.
As to the ghost touch on Alex, well Isabel had to make a choice. She chose Truth over Desire. But being Isabel she is going to try to hide it from Alex. To protect him. In fact Alex is going to get a little annoyed with all his female friends trying to protect him in upcoming parts.
Thank you both again.
Disclaimer- Some scenes and ideas may be taken from Wipeout.
Longest day part 31
Max-
Max felt as the world fell apart around him, as whiteness so deep as to be impenetrable stole away the world’s light. He made sure of his hold on Isabel before reaching to Liz. It always amazed him, as did she. She was so wonderful, why did she have to resist the pull? Surely she felt it too, certainly after he healed her. And let her see the real him, to see his thoughts and dreams.
The bond felt different. Liz felt different. She still felt wonderful, still was Liz, but different. Like… like vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup added. Different, but still good. Either way, he still hungered for her.
He felt Isabel rummaging around his mind, felt her pause and retract. Really it did not matter to him; the only secret he truly had from her at the moment was that he knew she was keeping secrets. Maybe if she caught that she would open up to him. They really needed to finish their discussion from earlier. He could tell that Isabel’s mind was on something else. With a mental shrug he turned back to Liz.
How long will it take to win you back I wonder? Why did you do it? At least I know, know that you did not sleep with Kyle. But why, why would you deliberately hurt me so? He reached deeper into the bond. And yet I feel that you have wounded yourself as greatly as you have hurt me. I just don’t understand.
As he tried to think why just when he had felt that he was winning her, he had lost her. Damn it I could feel her weakening. That embarrassing Mariachi band nearly got her. I nearly had her, those Gomez tickets… Do you know how many hours at the UFO Center those tickets cost me? Don’t get me wrong, she is worth every penny and I would give up much more for her. Doesn’t anyone realize that I do not want to be King, that I don’t want this destiny? All I want it Liz.
But even as his focus shifted almost entirely to Liz, he could feel something wrong. Isabel was gone. She was just gone, gone from the connection, gone from his senses. Isabel? Where are you? ISABEL!?!
He opened his eyes and all he could see was white. He could feel himself start to shake and tremble. White. Everywhere was white. He could feel panic race through him, panic and fear. Instinctively he reached again to the one thing that had sustained him. Liz. She was his love, his tormentor, and his life.
His sister had warned him so very long ago. She had told him to be careful of his wishes, that someday his desire might come true. He reached for his sister now, reached far out into the void. He reached-
Zan stared out the window at the splendor of the Palace Gardens. He always had loved watching the Gardens in the rain, somehow the rain brought out a lushness that it normally lacked. The fragrance of the flowers was truly magnificent. For some reason a delicate white flower had caught his attention today, it was one he had passed by many times. It had been quietly ignored, as he usually preferred the brighter colors, but for some reason this flower called to him today. There was a buzz in his mind, one that stirred a wistful longing in him. It spoke of frustrated desire, of uncounted tears, of an awful soul crushing pain. It spoke of love and the hope of completion.
It spoke of Resonance.
He heard the marching of the guard as it entered the room. He turned around and saw General Rath escorting the prisoner. She was tall and beautiful, somehow making the black and tan Archadian scholar’s uniform look fashionable.
“Release the prisoner,” Zan said.
Rath waved his soldiers to comply. He exchanged glances with the Royal Guards. As his soldiers marched out he exchanged a glance with Prince Zan, saluted him, and prepared to leave.
Before he left, Zan called out to him, “Thank you for taking care of my sister, Rath. I will not forget.”
Rath turned back and with a second salute, “My pleasure, your Highness.” He then followed his soldiers.
Zan looked at her again, looked at the sorrow that held sway on her face and in her eyes. “So, Lonnie, I take it Khivar did not agree?”
A look of pain crossed her face. He watched as her composure began to crack and crumble, her resolve depleted. As she began to cry he reached to her, to try and comfort his elder sister. He tried to somehow ease the pain that the loss of the man who had been by her side for almost ten years must be causing her.
As she pushed him back softly. As she tried to regain her famous composure, she softly said, “Please, don’t call me that. He called me that. He would not give up his fight, not even for me. He thinks he may be able to get me back at some point. That I will change my mind,” Her voice firmed. “But I won’t. I will never turn on my family.”
“Father will not spare him if he is caught. He will not hold back now.”
“I…I know. It is hard. And brother, Khivar is not altogether wrong. Things do have to change.”
“And with your help they will, I promise you.” Zan looked back at the Garden. “So what exactly am I supposed to call you now?”
“You can call me Vi”
Zan looked back at his sister. “Hey, you used to hit me for calling you that!”
There were tears in her eyes, but a smile was on her face. “Times have changed and so have I.” She reached out her hand to him.
It felt like he was making a critical decision, one that would change the fate of the world… But it was such a small thing, such a tiny thing. He smiled and clasped her hand. For no matter what she may have done in the past, no matter her crimes, she was his sister. She was his sister and he loved her.
Both of them stared, hands clasped, out into the rain, into the beauty that was the Palace Gardens before the Sixth Interregnum.
And somehow that white flower still called to him.
----
Kyle-
Tess felt so good in his arms. He longed to let his hands roam, to explore. He longed to kiss her and have his wicked way with her.
But she was not his. She was not for him. And although she needed him, and he was there, he would not take advantage of her. It was hard, so very hard to just hold her. He wanted her bad.
But she was not for him.
Why?
Because she was after Evans, in another life she had been married to Evans. But did she really want him? Evans certainly had his eye on Liz, not on Tess. Even after the stunt that Liz and Kyle had pulled, even though Evans seemed broken over Liz, he still did not seem to care for Tess. Not in the way she wanted.
Did she really want Evans anyway, or was she just chasing a memory. Was she trying to live again a life that was over and gone? Maybe, maybe the person she thought she was chasing was different, that Evans was not what she really wanted. He would have to wait and see.
He had a feeling that if he made a move that she would respond. That she would be willing to go as far as he pushed her. And yet… he felt he would then lose her, lose her forever. Because she would be forced to truly face her feelings, truly face what she wanted. And either way, she would run. She just was not ready to face the truth.
So he would wait for her. He would be there for her, be her friend. And maybe one day something more. But it was so very hard.
So all he did was hold her, for she was not his.
Not yet.
----
Maria-
Maria sensed Michael behind her. She opened her eyes and saw that the world was back. She smiled at Courtney, who smiled wanly back at her. She got up and ran into Michael’s waiting arms. It felt so good.
She could still feel his presence, could still feel him. She wished they were in a less public place so she could show her appreciation of him more passionately.
It worried her a little though. She had not been able to feel him like this yesterday, or any day before. Had this day changed her, had nearly dying changed her? Chalk up another thing to discuss with Liz, to compare notes.
The I Know an Alien Club is becoming the I Should be Dead Club. Do you write Thank You notes to someone who used alien powers to save your life?
Maybe, just maybe, Liz was right about Alex. That they should somehow get him to leave the abyss, Isabel certainly wasn’t worth it. But it would leave an Alex sized hole in her life, and she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to live without Alex in her life somehow.
But that was a problem for later. She wasn’t going to worry about it now. For she was alive, they were all alive. The Skins had thrown their worst and she and her friends had lived. She felt a little bubble of joy start at the corner of her heart and expand until it filled her whole being.
They were alive!
----
Liz-
Liz watched Maria and Michael hug. She was happy for Maria, and yet she could not quite shake a sense of jealousy. That it should be her, being held by Max. That instead of unfiltered pain she should be deliriously happy with Max.
That this led somehow to the end of the world, that it led to Future Max returning to destroy her life. Why her? Why did she have to suffer to save the world? But knowing what she knew now; did she actually save the world. Ana was here.
Liz ran through some small portion of Emily’s memories, the propaganda and planning portion as she thought of it. Yes Ana was here, and it boded ill for Earth. This battle was just the beginning, merely a small opening skirmish in the war that would decide the fate of mankind. And if she was right, decide the fate of Antar, too.
But she still did not know why. Why was Tess so important to the effort?
Liz had been naïve in thinking it would be over, that just crushing her and Max’s hearts would solve it all. She glanced over at Courtney, a smile on her face encompassing her friends. But it did not touch her eyes. Courtney knew too. Maybe she would make a useful ally.
Ideas and plans started forming in her head. She had a lot of work ahead, but first to get all of them back together. So they could finish this day.
She looked across the parking lot towards the Tumbleweed’s office, toward where she knew, just knew Max was. She could feel him looking at her. She had to be strong. And so she steeled her heart against the only heart that would ever truly beat in time with hers…
So she helped Courtney up, and started to herd Michael and Maria towards the Tumbleweed. So she led them towards their friends, toward her heart, and towards their destiny.
They had won this battle. And though the enemy did not know it, Liz was going to make damn sure that the Podsquad and company won the war.
She had simply had given up too much to lose.
In Destiny's Shadow (CC ALL, Teen/Mature) Complete- 08/24/07
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Rowedog, ISLANDGIRL5, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, FSU/MSW-94, Forum Moderators
Thanks to everyone reading this story. Special thanks to those who were kind enough to leave feedback, xmag, natalie36, polarvixen, and tequathisy.
xmag- I agree that she should tell everyone about it. The question really is not whether she will but how fast she will be able to bring herself to talk about it. I mean she has quite a story to tell, and how does she justify not telling anyone anything before hand. She also does not know that her secret is leaking like a sieve anyway. It will happen, but don't expect it to be fast.
As to timeline one, in regards to Michael and Maria, their on and off relationship eventually flames out. Michael still wants her, but Maria is tired of all the stuff she had to go through. The good no longer outweighed the bad, and so when a music contract came her way, she took it. (What are the odds? But hey its fan fiction) That was around 2004, by 2008 she is moderately successful and is on tour when she gets abducted. Why you ask, she has above normal psionic capabilities, due in part to the use of various alien artifacts in her high school days.
With her they are able to take their time, unlike Liz in this story. They also do not destroy the original mind, but rather coopt it. Maria becomes one of them, and sometimes is the host for a alien dignitary. While the Podsquad knows her, time and distance have well softened her friendships from back home. The combination of distance, dealing with their own lives, and Maria's acting talent- no one notices. Well that's not true, Michael says that she has changed, but everyone else think that is just due to her celebrity.
By 2014 she was one of the leaders in the force that takes over the planet. And so it went.
Natalie36- Thanks
polarvixen- Thank you very much, I hope you continue to enjoy it.
tequathisy- Thanks
Disclaimer- Some scenes and ideas may be taken from Wipeout.
Longest day part 32
Isabel-
The real world came back in a rush. It was plain old dusty Roswell, God bless it. She felt a hand grasp hers, and the next thing she knew was she was engulfed in a bear hug by Max.
“I almost thought I had lost you,” Max said. “I don’t know what I would have done if you had been lost. You, you have always been there. I love you Iz.”
Isabel hugged her brother tight, “What was that? I mean I saw things and it felt so real…”
“I don’t know, but it’s over and we are safe.” He released his hold on her. “We should see how the others are doing.”
Isabel reluctantly let go of Max and looked around. Kyle was still holding onto Tess like there was no tomorrow. She had calmed down in his arms. But by the look she shot Max, though, she was still after Max. Obviously she either had not noticed how much Kyle wanted her, or was still single-mindedly chasing after Max. Too bad, they make a cute couple.
Richard looked unaffected, seemingly unruffled. But Isabel caught a bit of a tremor in his hand as he used a lighter to light another cigarette.
Their prisoner was nothing more than a drifting set of flakes. She had not heard the detonation, but obviously not everyone made the trip out. She herself almost had not made it.
Alex. Alex saved me and he doesn’t even know. She could feel it still, a tiny gossamer strand stretching off into the distance. She should let it go, should let him fully go. She had never really let him in anyway, not really. But that kiss they had shared on that sunny morning when she had been looking for Max…
It was so easy to let the surface to fool you, to let mere appearances deceive. She was a master at it herself, but she did not think Alex really understood himself yet. There was so much more to him than his somewhat goofy exterior. There was strength of character, perceptiveness, a grand passion for life itself. There was so much under the surface, so much you might never see if you just saw him at school or hanging out at the Crashdown.
He lusted after her, of course, all the boys did. But unlike so many she knew he saw her as more than a body, more than someone make out with, more than a toy. He saw also Isabel the person, and God help them both, he lusted after that too. He loved her, or thought he did anyway. How could he truly love her if he did not really know, not fully and truly know her?
Max patted her softly on the arm and walked toward the office door. When he opened the door, Isabel could hear the wind howl. Obviously the collapse of the bubble didn’t just affect people. Michael is still out there. Liz and Maria are too I guess.
As she began to move towards the door, to help Max find their friends her phone rang. A quick glance at the caller id showed it was her mom. She was safe! Isabel eagerly took the call. “Mom?”
“Isabel where are you? Are you with your brother?” Her mother asked.
“Yeah, sorry we rushed out. We just needed to meet up with friends; we were running a little late.”
“Funny you should mention that, every clock in the house is about six hours off. And do you remember them mentioning anything about thunderstorms on the news last night?”
“It has been a strange morning.”
“Ok honey, I love you. Now let me talk to Max.”
Isabel gripped the phone tightly, “Um mom, could we do something today? I mean could we have lunch together or something. I, I just want to spend some time with you.”
“Sure, I don’t have much to do today at the office. Say I meet you at the mall at one? Catch a bit of a late lunch and do a little shopping?”
“I would love that; I’ll meet you at the food court. Let me get Max for you.” Isabel looked towards the door where Max is standing with her friends who had been outside. They were soaked to the skin. “MAX, mom wants to talk to you.”
Max walked over and grabbed the phone from Isabel. Isabel just looked at Max.
“Yeah. … Um, yeah sorry about that. … I work until eight tonight. … Yeah, I can just drop Iz off at the mall before I go to work or just let her use the Jeep. … Yes, I will make sure the top is up. … Yeah, I will see you then, Mom. Say hi to dad for me. Bye.” He ended the call and handed the phone back to Isabel. “What is the matter Iz?”
Isabel just looked at him. Her eyes were pleading. Please, Max, please. I need someone…
Max just looked at her and sighed. “No Isabel, it is too dangerous. And not just for us. Think of the added worry and danger it would put onto them. We can’t.”
Isabel looked past his shoulder, to look at Maria and Liz. Max turned to look at them too. Isabel raised an eyebrow at Max.
Max just sighed again. “You see they kind of prove my point. Maria was just about killed and Liz was abducted. Do you want that to happen to Mom or Dad? Look I know it is hard. It’s hard for me too.” Max sighed again. “We really need to find some time to just talk, to talk all of this out. I mean maybe, maybe we can tell them someday. But not today, not right now. It is just too dangerous, Iz. I am sorry.” He gave her another hug, which she did not quite fight. Max reached up and brushed one of the tears that slowly moved down her face.
Kyle tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey Isabel, can I use your phone. Tess’s is broken and I, I need to call my dad.”
Why is okay for Kyle’s father to know. Why can’t I let Mom know? She handed him the phone and watched as he dialed the Sheriff. Isabel walked around the Tumbleweed’s lobby, picking up all the trash left over from lunch. Anything to take her mind off of her dilemma.
She brought her mind to bear once more on the tiny filament that connected her to Alex, the slight lifeline that had saved her. It would take but a tiny act of will to brush it aside like the line of spider silk it resembled. Surely he won’t notice if it stayed, if only for a little while.
Maria caught her eye for a moment. Maria had almost died. The only reason Alex did not get pulled in was he was too close to the center of the bubble at the beginning. It could have been Alex. Alex could be dead right now because of her, because of who they were. She should just let him go.
She focused her will to make the cut, to release him from a bond that could in someway endanger him. And stopped. She was so lonely, so very lonely. Max was her brother, and he just wasn’t enough anymore. Michael had Maria now, and well, he might as well be her brother. Tess could not be trusted; she was a friend, but not enough. None of it was enough. And so she paused, caught in uncertainty, she was so very full of fear. Afraid to let go, afraid to not let go, she was stuck in a limbo of her own making.
He’ll never notice. I’ll just hold on for a little while. Just a little while longer.
---
Alex-
Alex could just barely feel that strange haunting sensation. In fact if it had not just wavered, if he had not felt it move he would have chalked it up to just another strange coincident on this really weird day. Now he just wondered if he was losing his mind.
He had been… distracted lately. He usually tried to balance out his life, too not let any one thing completely dominate, to not be obsessed. Well there was Isabel for pointless obsession after all; he did not need to go looking for more. So he had been worried that computer programming seemed to be absorbing him more and more. And not just any type of programming, he was dealing with some pretty heavy algorithms and translation software. He had even written some software that he did not even remember writing. Using features and ideas he had not even thought about. Had not even thought he had come across until he looked at some of the books in his room and some of the downloaded pdf files on his computer. Things he did not remember looking for let alone reading, and yet… he was very familiar with them.
He was missing moments of time too. And not just the last six hours either, apparently everyone had missed those. No his band mates had complained that he would go silent and broody. It had delayed their CD and had cost them extra at the studio for the extra time. What was worst was the fact that his desire to talk to his friends about it would just disappear whenever they were around.
It wasn’t something he was just uncomfortable discussing; it was something he literally could not discuss with them. And he did not know why.
At least he had this trip to Sweden coming up, that should cheer him up. To see new sights, see the world outside Roswell. He had wanted to do something like this for a long time, particularly after the alien abyss started eating up so much time. And Isabel had just blown him off. Yet somehow he felt that this trip was going to be less than he hoped.
Alex was surprised when he felt a touch on his arm. It was the Sheriff.
“Hey Alex, I just wanted you to know. I just got off the phone with Kyle and they are all fine. Your friends should be here in a little bit.”
“Thanks Sheriff.” Alex paused for a few moments and said, “Is there anything I can do to help. I mean it looks like it is a real mess out there.”
“Hmm,” the sheriff turned to Mr. Parker and said, “Hey, Jeff any chance on some coffee?” After he saw Mr. Parker nod he turned back to Alex. “I am sure we can find some way you can help me, at least until help arrives. I am tempted to call in federal help, but I am not sure how bad it is. Most of the people even in the wrecks seem just to be a little bruised. Almost like they weren’t there when the cars hit each other.” He shook his head. “I can’t wait until Max tells me what really happened.”
“Yeah.” I am sure it was quite the adventure.
Mr. Parker handed the Sheriff a large coffee. “Thanks Jeff. Okay Alex let’s go back into the storm.”
Alex got up to follow the Sheriff, to do something, anything to help. He could not help over hearing both too much and not enough from the Agent sitting in one of the booths.
“… I don’t care that it is his day off; he is going to want to speak with me…. Tell him we have a possible Alfa Epsilon, designation Romeo…. Yes, tell him those words exactly…. Special Agent in Charge Samuel Byrnes of the FBI…. “
The rest was cut off by the rain and wind outside. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.
---
Maria-
The joy that had struck her at the convenience store still lingered. Even though she was soaked from the rain, she could not help it, happy thoughts just kept pouring through her brain.
They were all alive! Life was wonderful!
Her eyes kept drifting to Michael, to how beautiful he was. And even though she knew that someday he would leave, she could not help it. She wanted him. She would just glance at him and her mind would scream MINE! Gauging on the looks on his face, he wanted her too. Of course that could partly be due to how her wet uniform was sticking to her.
They had moved from the office to Richard’s room, to gain a measure of privacy. Isabel was going around cleaning and drying all of the clothes the group was wearing. To patch up any of the odds and ends that might have happened over the last few hours. She stopped at Liz.
“Okay, the hair is easy,” Isabel said.
Maria watched in envy as Isabel just waved her glowing hand over Liz’s head. No wonder Isabel’s hair is always perfect!
Isabel then dried Liz’s clothes, but stopped when Liz raised her eyes to look at Isabel, raised her now cobalt blue eyes. Isabel took a step back at the intensity in Liz’s eyes. “I am sorry. I don’t know how to fix those Liz.”
Tess had been withdrawn since they had all gathered together again. So Maria was surprised when she heard Tess’s soft voice say, “But I can. Nasedo showed me how.”
Everyone turned to look at Tess.
She stared back at everyone, tired but defiant. “I can do it, but I will need help. Isabel and Max will have to connect to me. Max should have less of a problem doing this than I would, but he is pretty tired. My powers are just about exhausted. So Isabel, you will be providing a lot of the energy for this.”
Max and Isabel exchanged glances. Isabel raised an eyebrow at Max, who just shrugged. Isabel just rolled her eyes as both of them moved to help Tess. They each grasped one of Tess’s hands.
---
Max-
Tess was sending him flashes, flashes of her training with Nasedo. That man was truly a bastard, but the knowledge was priceless. It should work. He felt the energy pass from Isabel to him as he felt the familiar tingle.
He looked into Liz’s eyes, which although they were the wrong color still stood at the gates of the same person. The girl he loved. Before he began he looked deep into her eyes and noted the sadness and determination. “I am sorry Liz, but this is going to hurt.”
He began the connection and immediately felt a difference. He was only skimming the surface; he could feel her presence, her wonderful warm presence, but the rest she was hiding from him. Aside from a few flashes from her childhood he saw nothing.
He began to change her eye color back. Her screams broke his heart. But he wasn’t sure which hurt him more, her pain or her lack of trust. While he was trying his hardest to shield her from the pain, to take it to himself, he could still feel her eyes fill with agony.
She is hiding from me. Why is she hiding from me? If I could connect deeper it would not hurt so much. He watched her blue eyes turn back to brown.
I need to know, I need to know why she feels the need to hide from me. I will find the truth.
xmag- I agree that she should tell everyone about it. The question really is not whether she will but how fast she will be able to bring herself to talk about it. I mean she has quite a story to tell, and how does she justify not telling anyone anything before hand. She also does not know that her secret is leaking like a sieve anyway. It will happen, but don't expect it to be fast.
As to timeline one, in regards to Michael and Maria, their on and off relationship eventually flames out. Michael still wants her, but Maria is tired of all the stuff she had to go through. The good no longer outweighed the bad, and so when a music contract came her way, she took it. (What are the odds? But hey its fan fiction) That was around 2004, by 2008 she is moderately successful and is on tour when she gets abducted. Why you ask, she has above normal psionic capabilities, due in part to the use of various alien artifacts in her high school days.
With her they are able to take their time, unlike Liz in this story. They also do not destroy the original mind, but rather coopt it. Maria becomes one of them, and sometimes is the host for a alien dignitary. While the Podsquad knows her, time and distance have well softened her friendships from back home. The combination of distance, dealing with their own lives, and Maria's acting talent- no one notices. Well that's not true, Michael says that she has changed, but everyone else think that is just due to her celebrity.
By 2014 she was one of the leaders in the force that takes over the planet. And so it went.
Natalie36- Thanks
polarvixen- Thank you very much, I hope you continue to enjoy it.
tequathisy- Thanks
Disclaimer- Some scenes and ideas may be taken from Wipeout.
Longest day part 32
Isabel-
The real world came back in a rush. It was plain old dusty Roswell, God bless it. She felt a hand grasp hers, and the next thing she knew was she was engulfed in a bear hug by Max.
“I almost thought I had lost you,” Max said. “I don’t know what I would have done if you had been lost. You, you have always been there. I love you Iz.”
Isabel hugged her brother tight, “What was that? I mean I saw things and it felt so real…”
“I don’t know, but it’s over and we are safe.” He released his hold on her. “We should see how the others are doing.”
Isabel reluctantly let go of Max and looked around. Kyle was still holding onto Tess like there was no tomorrow. She had calmed down in his arms. But by the look she shot Max, though, she was still after Max. Obviously she either had not noticed how much Kyle wanted her, or was still single-mindedly chasing after Max. Too bad, they make a cute couple.
Richard looked unaffected, seemingly unruffled. But Isabel caught a bit of a tremor in his hand as he used a lighter to light another cigarette.
Their prisoner was nothing more than a drifting set of flakes. She had not heard the detonation, but obviously not everyone made the trip out. She herself almost had not made it.
Alex. Alex saved me and he doesn’t even know. She could feel it still, a tiny gossamer strand stretching off into the distance. She should let it go, should let him fully go. She had never really let him in anyway, not really. But that kiss they had shared on that sunny morning when she had been looking for Max…
It was so easy to let the surface to fool you, to let mere appearances deceive. She was a master at it herself, but she did not think Alex really understood himself yet. There was so much more to him than his somewhat goofy exterior. There was strength of character, perceptiveness, a grand passion for life itself. There was so much under the surface, so much you might never see if you just saw him at school or hanging out at the Crashdown.
He lusted after her, of course, all the boys did. But unlike so many she knew he saw her as more than a body, more than someone make out with, more than a toy. He saw also Isabel the person, and God help them both, he lusted after that too. He loved her, or thought he did anyway. How could he truly love her if he did not really know, not fully and truly know her?
Max patted her softly on the arm and walked toward the office door. When he opened the door, Isabel could hear the wind howl. Obviously the collapse of the bubble didn’t just affect people. Michael is still out there. Liz and Maria are too I guess.
As she began to move towards the door, to help Max find their friends her phone rang. A quick glance at the caller id showed it was her mom. She was safe! Isabel eagerly took the call. “Mom?”
“Isabel where are you? Are you with your brother?” Her mother asked.
“Yeah, sorry we rushed out. We just needed to meet up with friends; we were running a little late.”
“Funny you should mention that, every clock in the house is about six hours off. And do you remember them mentioning anything about thunderstorms on the news last night?”
“It has been a strange morning.”
“Ok honey, I love you. Now let me talk to Max.”
Isabel gripped the phone tightly, “Um mom, could we do something today? I mean could we have lunch together or something. I, I just want to spend some time with you.”
“Sure, I don’t have much to do today at the office. Say I meet you at the mall at one? Catch a bit of a late lunch and do a little shopping?”
“I would love that; I’ll meet you at the food court. Let me get Max for you.” Isabel looked towards the door where Max is standing with her friends who had been outside. They were soaked to the skin. “MAX, mom wants to talk to you.”
Max walked over and grabbed the phone from Isabel. Isabel just looked at Max.
“Yeah. … Um, yeah sorry about that. … I work until eight tonight. … Yeah, I can just drop Iz off at the mall before I go to work or just let her use the Jeep. … Yes, I will make sure the top is up. … Yeah, I will see you then, Mom. Say hi to dad for me. Bye.” He ended the call and handed the phone back to Isabel. “What is the matter Iz?”
Isabel just looked at him. Her eyes were pleading. Please, Max, please. I need someone…
Max just looked at her and sighed. “No Isabel, it is too dangerous. And not just for us. Think of the added worry and danger it would put onto them. We can’t.”
Isabel looked past his shoulder, to look at Maria and Liz. Max turned to look at them too. Isabel raised an eyebrow at Max.
Max just sighed again. “You see they kind of prove my point. Maria was just about killed and Liz was abducted. Do you want that to happen to Mom or Dad? Look I know it is hard. It’s hard for me too.” Max sighed again. “We really need to find some time to just talk, to talk all of this out. I mean maybe, maybe we can tell them someday. But not today, not right now. It is just too dangerous, Iz. I am sorry.” He gave her another hug, which she did not quite fight. Max reached up and brushed one of the tears that slowly moved down her face.
Kyle tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey Isabel, can I use your phone. Tess’s is broken and I, I need to call my dad.”
Why is okay for Kyle’s father to know. Why can’t I let Mom know? She handed him the phone and watched as he dialed the Sheriff. Isabel walked around the Tumbleweed’s lobby, picking up all the trash left over from lunch. Anything to take her mind off of her dilemma.
She brought her mind to bear once more on the tiny filament that connected her to Alex, the slight lifeline that had saved her. It would take but a tiny act of will to brush it aside like the line of spider silk it resembled. Surely he won’t notice if it stayed, if only for a little while.
Maria caught her eye for a moment. Maria had almost died. The only reason Alex did not get pulled in was he was too close to the center of the bubble at the beginning. It could have been Alex. Alex could be dead right now because of her, because of who they were. She should just let him go.
She focused her will to make the cut, to release him from a bond that could in someway endanger him. And stopped. She was so lonely, so very lonely. Max was her brother, and he just wasn’t enough anymore. Michael had Maria now, and well, he might as well be her brother. Tess could not be trusted; she was a friend, but not enough. None of it was enough. And so she paused, caught in uncertainty, she was so very full of fear. Afraid to let go, afraid to not let go, she was stuck in a limbo of her own making.
He’ll never notice. I’ll just hold on for a little while. Just a little while longer.
---
Alex-
Alex could just barely feel that strange haunting sensation. In fact if it had not just wavered, if he had not felt it move he would have chalked it up to just another strange coincident on this really weird day. Now he just wondered if he was losing his mind.
He had been… distracted lately. He usually tried to balance out his life, too not let any one thing completely dominate, to not be obsessed. Well there was Isabel for pointless obsession after all; he did not need to go looking for more. So he had been worried that computer programming seemed to be absorbing him more and more. And not just any type of programming, he was dealing with some pretty heavy algorithms and translation software. He had even written some software that he did not even remember writing. Using features and ideas he had not even thought about. Had not even thought he had come across until he looked at some of the books in his room and some of the downloaded pdf files on his computer. Things he did not remember looking for let alone reading, and yet… he was very familiar with them.
He was missing moments of time too. And not just the last six hours either, apparently everyone had missed those. No his band mates had complained that he would go silent and broody. It had delayed their CD and had cost them extra at the studio for the extra time. What was worst was the fact that his desire to talk to his friends about it would just disappear whenever they were around.
It wasn’t something he was just uncomfortable discussing; it was something he literally could not discuss with them. And he did not know why.
At least he had this trip to Sweden coming up, that should cheer him up. To see new sights, see the world outside Roswell. He had wanted to do something like this for a long time, particularly after the alien abyss started eating up so much time. And Isabel had just blown him off. Yet somehow he felt that this trip was going to be less than he hoped.
Alex was surprised when he felt a touch on his arm. It was the Sheriff.
“Hey Alex, I just wanted you to know. I just got off the phone with Kyle and they are all fine. Your friends should be here in a little bit.”
“Thanks Sheriff.” Alex paused for a few moments and said, “Is there anything I can do to help. I mean it looks like it is a real mess out there.”
“Hmm,” the sheriff turned to Mr. Parker and said, “Hey, Jeff any chance on some coffee?” After he saw Mr. Parker nod he turned back to Alex. “I am sure we can find some way you can help me, at least until help arrives. I am tempted to call in federal help, but I am not sure how bad it is. Most of the people even in the wrecks seem just to be a little bruised. Almost like they weren’t there when the cars hit each other.” He shook his head. “I can’t wait until Max tells me what really happened.”
“Yeah.” I am sure it was quite the adventure.
Mr. Parker handed the Sheriff a large coffee. “Thanks Jeff. Okay Alex let’s go back into the storm.”
Alex got up to follow the Sheriff, to do something, anything to help. He could not help over hearing both too much and not enough from the Agent sitting in one of the booths.
“… I don’t care that it is his day off; he is going to want to speak with me…. Tell him we have a possible Alfa Epsilon, designation Romeo…. Yes, tell him those words exactly…. Special Agent in Charge Samuel Byrnes of the FBI…. “
The rest was cut off by the rain and wind outside. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.
---
Maria-
The joy that had struck her at the convenience store still lingered. Even though she was soaked from the rain, she could not help it, happy thoughts just kept pouring through her brain.
They were all alive! Life was wonderful!
Her eyes kept drifting to Michael, to how beautiful he was. And even though she knew that someday he would leave, she could not help it. She wanted him. She would just glance at him and her mind would scream MINE! Gauging on the looks on his face, he wanted her too. Of course that could partly be due to how her wet uniform was sticking to her.
They had moved from the office to Richard’s room, to gain a measure of privacy. Isabel was going around cleaning and drying all of the clothes the group was wearing. To patch up any of the odds and ends that might have happened over the last few hours. She stopped at Liz.
“Okay, the hair is easy,” Isabel said.
Maria watched in envy as Isabel just waved her glowing hand over Liz’s head. No wonder Isabel’s hair is always perfect!
Isabel then dried Liz’s clothes, but stopped when Liz raised her eyes to look at Isabel, raised her now cobalt blue eyes. Isabel took a step back at the intensity in Liz’s eyes. “I am sorry. I don’t know how to fix those Liz.”
Tess had been withdrawn since they had all gathered together again. So Maria was surprised when she heard Tess’s soft voice say, “But I can. Nasedo showed me how.”
Everyone turned to look at Tess.
She stared back at everyone, tired but defiant. “I can do it, but I will need help. Isabel and Max will have to connect to me. Max should have less of a problem doing this than I would, but he is pretty tired. My powers are just about exhausted. So Isabel, you will be providing a lot of the energy for this.”
Max and Isabel exchanged glances. Isabel raised an eyebrow at Max, who just shrugged. Isabel just rolled her eyes as both of them moved to help Tess. They each grasped one of Tess’s hands.
---
Max-
Tess was sending him flashes, flashes of her training with Nasedo. That man was truly a bastard, but the knowledge was priceless. It should work. He felt the energy pass from Isabel to him as he felt the familiar tingle.
He looked into Liz’s eyes, which although they were the wrong color still stood at the gates of the same person. The girl he loved. Before he began he looked deep into her eyes and noted the sadness and determination. “I am sorry Liz, but this is going to hurt.”
He began the connection and immediately felt a difference. He was only skimming the surface; he could feel her presence, her wonderful warm presence, but the rest she was hiding from him. Aside from a few flashes from her childhood he saw nothing.
He began to change her eye color back. Her screams broke his heart. But he wasn’t sure which hurt him more, her pain or her lack of trust. While he was trying his hardest to shield her from the pain, to take it to himself, he could still feel her eyes fill with agony.
She is hiding from me. Why is she hiding from me? If I could connect deeper it would not hurt so much. He watched her blue eyes turn back to brown.
I need to know, I need to know why she feels the need to hide from me. I will find the truth.
Thanks to everyone reading this story. Particular thanks to those who left feedback.
tequathisy- Thanks. Isabel is in a hard spot. She feels she has no one to confide in.
xmag-Thanks as always. Alex is being mind warped by Tess. I really was not sure when he was supposed to have taken his trip and so it is earlier in this story. He leaves for 'Sweden' in six days.
Liz is trying to hide not only future Max, but also what she saw in the future. And she is hiding Dorian as well. Poor Lizzie is racking up the secrets.
Did you ever get either of the two pms I sent you about your questions?
Natalie36- Thanks. No Max would not do that unless he had to. And while he desperately wants to find out, he is not willing to do anything that might drive Liz even further away. Yet.
Sternbetrachter- Thanks. You know I haven't really thought what kind of effect that the wipe out would directly have on Alex. There are some indirect things that are already in play. Hmm, something to think about.
Stars in my eyes- Thanks and welcome aboard. As to a multi racial Antar, I had to deal with the skins somehow. Either they are just all Antaran or there is a difference, a basic difference between them. There were a couple of comments by Whitaker about how Isabel's 'race isnt in charge anymore.' That brings us two. Factor in how Ava seemed just as out of place in the dupes group as Tess did for the podsquad, add in a little matter of why she would be married to Max's predecessor in the first place. Bang, the Mitharans were born.
I am glad you like my version of Courtney. I felt that she should have more of a part than just causing havoc between Michael and Maria. They don't really need outside help in that regard. I am surprised that, Karis her name from Antar and yours are the same. I just liked it and had never heard it used before, and so considered it a safe alien name.
Disclaimer- some scenes and ideas may be taken from Wipeout.
Longest day part 33
Liz-
Liz stared into Max’s warm brown eyes. They were a shade that in the right light had almost a golden color. She had always loved looking into those warm pools, but now she felt only guilt and fear.
He will see! He’ll get flashes and he’ll see.
Just as she had for Nicholas, she tried to shield her memories. Only this time she could feel something, reminiscent of a bubble build in her mind. She could feel Max’s presence glide over the bubble, but find no way through. He did not press, did not try to break into her mind like Nicholas had. But something had changed. She did not think she could have blocked him earlier this morning.
What did Ana do to me? How much of me did she change? Am I really Liz Parker like I think I am, or… or am I someone else. I want to protect my friends, but do they need to be protected from me as well?
Pain filled her eyes. She tried to hold back her cries, but first whimpers and then little cries as the pain began to build. Once more the feeling of hot coals being forced into her eyes filled her. She could no longer stop the screams. And yet, somehow it did not hurt as badly as it had before. Somehow the gold glow that had burst from Max’s palm tried to sooth as much as change. Ana had either not cared or been unable to buffer the change.
Just as suddenly as the pain had built it faded away. Liz desperately wanted to run to a mirror to see if the changes had taken, to see if she was indeed herself again. Instead she said, “Thank you Max. Thank you all.”
Kyle said, “Nice to have you back.”
Maria walked over and gave her a huge hug. Maria said quietly to Liz, “Girlfriend we really need to talk. About many things. We’ll make plans at work.”
Liz nodded and hugged her best friend back. She then took a look around at her friends. Kyle had a large smile, one that actually reached his eyes. Something she had not seen in him for a while. She was happy for him.
Maria had pulled back and was back again clinging to Michael. He did not seem to mind. Liz was not happy with what she saw in his eyes, distrust. Something she had not seen there for quite some time, they had not truly been friends, but they had trusted each other. She would have to earn it back again, probably because he was afraid she had been compromised.
Then again maybe she had. Maybe it would be good for someone to watch her, make sure she was indeed on the right side. The memory of Emily, of being Emily still burned in her mind. How someone could do that to another person, destroy who they were for their cause. Ana had to be stopped.
She glanced at Tess, only to meet a cool enigmatic gaze. Why, why do we need you? What makes you so important that my happiness became irrelevant to the one man who truly loved me? Her glimpse into the future that was had left… fragments of memories. Things she needed to sort out.
There was nothing enigmatic about the glares that Isabel was sending her way. Her fury was obvious and all placed on Liz’s slight shoulders. Although a brief glimpse at Kyle showed that he too would bear some of the burden. Obviously she had seen something, had gotten a flash. What did she see?
Then there was Max. She looked again at him, looked again at his beautiful face. His eyes which had so often been downcast in her presence stared deeply into her eyes, searching for something, some gap in her armor. And for a brief moment it slipped. The connection roared wide open, and the feelings expressed where different than expected. Gone was the anger, the contempt, the disgust. Instead she felt exasperation, curiosity, and desire. She also felt something that deeply echoed in her soul, longing. He longed for her as much as she longed to be with him.
For a moment her control wavered and the newly wrought shields protecting her secrets nearly fell. But in an act of will, Liz averted her eyes. She tried to hide in herself, but she could feel his gaze burn.
Tess better hurry and land Max fast. I don’t think I can take much more of this. I am rapidly running into the limits of my nobility and ability to sacrifice myself. Liz looked at Tess and her enigmatic gaze. You do not have forever to win him. Hurry up!
Liz cleared her voice. “Well now that I have my appearance back, and thank you Isabel, Max, and Tess for that; we can proceed to carry on with the rest of the day. And for that, I have a plan.”
---
Isabel-
Isabel was furious at Liz. While they had never been close friends, she had helped the girl in the past. Isabel had even squashed some of the early rumors regarding Liz and Kyle. Now she was not sure why she had bothered. For what she had seen changed her view entirely…
Max’s heart was pounding as he neared the window. His desire to see his precious Liz filled his heart with trepidation. How would she respond to his final overture?
And see her he did. With Kyle. In bed. With Kyle. He saw her laugh at some witticism of Kyle’s. Had he saved both of them for this, to betray him together?
What Pierce had not been able to accomplish through torture, one girl, one girl with chocolate eyes, dark hair, and a beautiful smile succeeded. Max could feel himself break, could feel his heart shatter.
How could that bitch do that to him? He saved her life! He risked everything, lived through torture and suffering all for her… and she sleeps with Kyle? She resisted the desire to blast Liz into oblivion. Barely.
She looked again with disdain at Kyle, only to see him looking at Tess. He has completely fallen for her. Did something happen today to heighten his regard for Tess? She could feel a little of the heat cool. Kyle had been there today, so she supposed she could forgive him for hurting her brother. Eventually.
She looked again at the ‘Perfect’ Miss Parker and saw her shooting longing looks at her brother while discussing how they were going to get her and Maria back to the Crashdown. Something about needing another uniform.
Isabel was confused. This did not make any sense. What confused her even more was that Max was shooting longing looks back at Liz.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! There is something I am not seeing. There is some secret I do not share. How Max was acting this morning, heck how he has been acting since the 2nd of November makes perfect sense. How he is acting now…
Isabel concentrated for a few moments but she could not see what she was missing. She needed to talk to Liz soon.
----
Michael-
Michael held tightly to Maria. They were due to leave in a couple of minutes, leave in different directions. They would be miles apart; would he still be able to feel her? Would he be able to tell if she was okay? He wanted to be there, to protect her, to be there always.
But Courtney needed help too. Richard would drive them to Michael’s apartment, where they would pick up Courtney’s spare husk. Maybe the older one would be able to help her more. She had helped them, had helped Maria.
It was just hard.
“Come on Maria, we have to go.” Max said.
Maria just snuggled tighter into Michael’s chest.
“Maria I will be there later. I will see you when your shift ends at three, okay?” Michael said softly. He nearly gasped when her eyes looked up to him. So very green, so very full of life, how had he ever thought he could live without her?
“You had better be Spaceboy. I will be waiting for you!” Maria then turned to Max, “Don’t worry, I will be right there. I just need to say a couple of things to Courtney.” She then proceeded to talk to Courtney quietly, but highly animatedly. Courtney nodded to Maria and walked towards Michael. Maria’s eyes followed her with a mix of confidence and suspicion.
Michael looked a Courtney, “What was that about?”
Courtney looked back at him, clearly amused, “Nothing important, just clearing some things up between us. Let’s go get Richard.” She walked to where Richard was on the phone. The spring was out of her step and from time to time a tremor would visibly pass through her body. Courtney was still very sick.
Hopefully the old husk would work.
----
Alex-
Alex had been paying so much attention to listening in to the FBI agent’s call that he did not notice the girl he bumped into. She was of middling height with dark hair. She was wearing desert camouflage pants topped with a white blouse.
“I, uh, I am sorry,” said Alex as he reached over to help her up.
“That is alright,” the girl said getting up and brushing herself off. “I don’t suppose an older guy with short cropped grey hair is in that restaurant?”
“Um, I don’t think I saw one. But, um, I am not always very observant. Are you, uh, looking for someone?”
“Yeah, just looking for my dad. Are you a local?” At Alex’s nod, she said, “So do you believe in aliens?”
Alex was saved from that question by a tap on the shoulder.
“Are you Alex Whitman?” Brody Davis asked.
“Uh, yes, why?”
“First do you know where Max Evans is?”
“No haven’t seen him, although there is a good chance he will be dropping by shortly.”
“Too bad. Well I need some help with some time critical experiments, and well I have talked with Maria a lot. She says you have quite a bit of affinity with computers and stuff, I believe she termed it. Will you help me?”
“Well, I was going to help the Sheriff…”
“I will pay you one thousand dollars.”
Alex just stared at Brody flabbergasted.
“Well I don’t know about him, but for that I will help you,” said the dark haired girl. “Sorry, I could not help overhearing.”
Brody looked at her critically, “And you are?”
“Rebecca Williams at your service. I am studying Electrical Engineering, so I suppose I might be able to help you. If you let me of course.” She looked at Alex, “Starving college student, you understand, can’t pass up a chance to make a buck.”
Brody was silent for a moment. “Your father wouldn’t happen to be Richard Williams would it?”
“Yeah, have you seen him lately? He was supposed to meet me here for breakfast.”
“Earlier today. You are most acceptable. And you Alex, do you want to help too?”
Alex could not help but smile. Maybe this day would not be so bad after all. “Yeah, I am in. Just let me make a quick call to my folks.”
Brody smiled back, “Well just follow me then, I have several phone lines open in the UFO Center.” And the three of them walked across the street to the now closed museum.
tequathisy- Thanks. Isabel is in a hard spot. She feels she has no one to confide in.
xmag-Thanks as always. Alex is being mind warped by Tess. I really was not sure when he was supposed to have taken his trip and so it is earlier in this story. He leaves for 'Sweden' in six days.
Liz is trying to hide not only future Max, but also what she saw in the future. And she is hiding Dorian as well. Poor Lizzie is racking up the secrets.
Did you ever get either of the two pms I sent you about your questions?
Natalie36- Thanks. No Max would not do that unless he had to. And while he desperately wants to find out, he is not willing to do anything that might drive Liz even further away. Yet.
Sternbetrachter- Thanks. You know I haven't really thought what kind of effect that the wipe out would directly have on Alex. There are some indirect things that are already in play. Hmm, something to think about.
Stars in my eyes- Thanks and welcome aboard. As to a multi racial Antar, I had to deal with the skins somehow. Either they are just all Antaran or there is a difference, a basic difference between them. There were a couple of comments by Whitaker about how Isabel's 'race isnt in charge anymore.' That brings us two. Factor in how Ava seemed just as out of place in the dupes group as Tess did for the podsquad, add in a little matter of why she would be married to Max's predecessor in the first place. Bang, the Mitharans were born.
I am glad you like my version of Courtney. I felt that she should have more of a part than just causing havoc between Michael and Maria. They don't really need outside help in that regard. I am surprised that, Karis her name from Antar and yours are the same. I just liked it and had never heard it used before, and so considered it a safe alien name.
Disclaimer- some scenes and ideas may be taken from Wipeout.
Longest day part 33
Liz-
Liz stared into Max’s warm brown eyes. They were a shade that in the right light had almost a golden color. She had always loved looking into those warm pools, but now she felt only guilt and fear.
He will see! He’ll get flashes and he’ll see.
Just as she had for Nicholas, she tried to shield her memories. Only this time she could feel something, reminiscent of a bubble build in her mind. She could feel Max’s presence glide over the bubble, but find no way through. He did not press, did not try to break into her mind like Nicholas had. But something had changed. She did not think she could have blocked him earlier this morning.
What did Ana do to me? How much of me did she change? Am I really Liz Parker like I think I am, or… or am I someone else. I want to protect my friends, but do they need to be protected from me as well?
Pain filled her eyes. She tried to hold back her cries, but first whimpers and then little cries as the pain began to build. Once more the feeling of hot coals being forced into her eyes filled her. She could no longer stop the screams. And yet, somehow it did not hurt as badly as it had before. Somehow the gold glow that had burst from Max’s palm tried to sooth as much as change. Ana had either not cared or been unable to buffer the change.
Just as suddenly as the pain had built it faded away. Liz desperately wanted to run to a mirror to see if the changes had taken, to see if she was indeed herself again. Instead she said, “Thank you Max. Thank you all.”
Kyle said, “Nice to have you back.”
Maria walked over and gave her a huge hug. Maria said quietly to Liz, “Girlfriend we really need to talk. About many things. We’ll make plans at work.”
Liz nodded and hugged her best friend back. She then took a look around at her friends. Kyle had a large smile, one that actually reached his eyes. Something she had not seen in him for a while. She was happy for him.
Maria had pulled back and was back again clinging to Michael. He did not seem to mind. Liz was not happy with what she saw in his eyes, distrust. Something she had not seen there for quite some time, they had not truly been friends, but they had trusted each other. She would have to earn it back again, probably because he was afraid she had been compromised.
Then again maybe she had. Maybe it would be good for someone to watch her, make sure she was indeed on the right side. The memory of Emily, of being Emily still burned in her mind. How someone could do that to another person, destroy who they were for their cause. Ana had to be stopped.
She glanced at Tess, only to meet a cool enigmatic gaze. Why, why do we need you? What makes you so important that my happiness became irrelevant to the one man who truly loved me? Her glimpse into the future that was had left… fragments of memories. Things she needed to sort out.
There was nothing enigmatic about the glares that Isabel was sending her way. Her fury was obvious and all placed on Liz’s slight shoulders. Although a brief glimpse at Kyle showed that he too would bear some of the burden. Obviously she had seen something, had gotten a flash. What did she see?
Then there was Max. She looked again at him, looked again at his beautiful face. His eyes which had so often been downcast in her presence stared deeply into her eyes, searching for something, some gap in her armor. And for a brief moment it slipped. The connection roared wide open, and the feelings expressed where different than expected. Gone was the anger, the contempt, the disgust. Instead she felt exasperation, curiosity, and desire. She also felt something that deeply echoed in her soul, longing. He longed for her as much as she longed to be with him.
For a moment her control wavered and the newly wrought shields protecting her secrets nearly fell. But in an act of will, Liz averted her eyes. She tried to hide in herself, but she could feel his gaze burn.
Tess better hurry and land Max fast. I don’t think I can take much more of this. I am rapidly running into the limits of my nobility and ability to sacrifice myself. Liz looked at Tess and her enigmatic gaze. You do not have forever to win him. Hurry up!
Liz cleared her voice. “Well now that I have my appearance back, and thank you Isabel, Max, and Tess for that; we can proceed to carry on with the rest of the day. And for that, I have a plan.”
---
Isabel-
Isabel was furious at Liz. While they had never been close friends, she had helped the girl in the past. Isabel had even squashed some of the early rumors regarding Liz and Kyle. Now she was not sure why she had bothered. For what she had seen changed her view entirely…
Max’s heart was pounding as he neared the window. His desire to see his precious Liz filled his heart with trepidation. How would she respond to his final overture?
And see her he did. With Kyle. In bed. With Kyle. He saw her laugh at some witticism of Kyle’s. Had he saved both of them for this, to betray him together?
What Pierce had not been able to accomplish through torture, one girl, one girl with chocolate eyes, dark hair, and a beautiful smile succeeded. Max could feel himself break, could feel his heart shatter.
How could that bitch do that to him? He saved her life! He risked everything, lived through torture and suffering all for her… and she sleeps with Kyle? She resisted the desire to blast Liz into oblivion. Barely.
She looked again with disdain at Kyle, only to see him looking at Tess. He has completely fallen for her. Did something happen today to heighten his regard for Tess? She could feel a little of the heat cool. Kyle had been there today, so she supposed she could forgive him for hurting her brother. Eventually.
She looked again at the ‘Perfect’ Miss Parker and saw her shooting longing looks at her brother while discussing how they were going to get her and Maria back to the Crashdown. Something about needing another uniform.
Isabel was confused. This did not make any sense. What confused her even more was that Max was shooting longing looks back at Liz.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! There is something I am not seeing. There is some secret I do not share. How Max was acting this morning, heck how he has been acting since the 2nd of November makes perfect sense. How he is acting now…
Isabel concentrated for a few moments but she could not see what she was missing. She needed to talk to Liz soon.
----
Michael-
Michael held tightly to Maria. They were due to leave in a couple of minutes, leave in different directions. They would be miles apart; would he still be able to feel her? Would he be able to tell if she was okay? He wanted to be there, to protect her, to be there always.
But Courtney needed help too. Richard would drive them to Michael’s apartment, where they would pick up Courtney’s spare husk. Maybe the older one would be able to help her more. She had helped them, had helped Maria.
It was just hard.
“Come on Maria, we have to go.” Max said.
Maria just snuggled tighter into Michael’s chest.
“Maria I will be there later. I will see you when your shift ends at three, okay?” Michael said softly. He nearly gasped when her eyes looked up to him. So very green, so very full of life, how had he ever thought he could live without her?
“You had better be Spaceboy. I will be waiting for you!” Maria then turned to Max, “Don’t worry, I will be right there. I just need to say a couple of things to Courtney.” She then proceeded to talk to Courtney quietly, but highly animatedly. Courtney nodded to Maria and walked towards Michael. Maria’s eyes followed her with a mix of confidence and suspicion.
Michael looked a Courtney, “What was that about?”
Courtney looked back at him, clearly amused, “Nothing important, just clearing some things up between us. Let’s go get Richard.” She walked to where Richard was on the phone. The spring was out of her step and from time to time a tremor would visibly pass through her body. Courtney was still very sick.
Hopefully the old husk would work.
----
Alex-
Alex had been paying so much attention to listening in to the FBI agent’s call that he did not notice the girl he bumped into. She was of middling height with dark hair. She was wearing desert camouflage pants topped with a white blouse.
“I, uh, I am sorry,” said Alex as he reached over to help her up.
“That is alright,” the girl said getting up and brushing herself off. “I don’t suppose an older guy with short cropped grey hair is in that restaurant?”
“Um, I don’t think I saw one. But, um, I am not always very observant. Are you, uh, looking for someone?”
“Yeah, just looking for my dad. Are you a local?” At Alex’s nod, she said, “So do you believe in aliens?”
Alex was saved from that question by a tap on the shoulder.
“Are you Alex Whitman?” Brody Davis asked.
“Uh, yes, why?”
“First do you know where Max Evans is?”
“No haven’t seen him, although there is a good chance he will be dropping by shortly.”
“Too bad. Well I need some help with some time critical experiments, and well I have talked with Maria a lot. She says you have quite a bit of affinity with computers and stuff, I believe she termed it. Will you help me?”
“Well, I was going to help the Sheriff…”
“I will pay you one thousand dollars.”
Alex just stared at Brody flabbergasted.
“Well I don’t know about him, but for that I will help you,” said the dark haired girl. “Sorry, I could not help overhearing.”
Brody looked at her critically, “And you are?”
“Rebecca Williams at your service. I am studying Electrical Engineering, so I suppose I might be able to help you. If you let me of course.” She looked at Alex, “Starving college student, you understand, can’t pass up a chance to make a buck.”
Brody was silent for a moment. “Your father wouldn’t happen to be Richard Williams would it?”
“Yeah, have you seen him lately? He was supposed to meet me here for breakfast.”
“Earlier today. You are most acceptable. And you Alex, do you want to help too?”
Alex could not help but smile. Maybe this day would not be so bad after all. “Yeah, I am in. Just let me make a quick call to my folks.”
Brody smiled back, “Well just follow me then, I have several phone lines open in the UFO Center.” And the three of them walked across the street to the now closed museum.
Thanks to everyone reading this story. Particular thanks to TheAntarianKing, xmag, and katydid for their feedback.
Before I get to feedback, I should note that the Longest Day has perhaps only 3-4 parts left to it. So now I am trying to decide whether to break up the story into four seperate fics or to keep the whole monster together. The thing is it is all tightly wrapped together, I mean some aspects of book two- Eidolon are already in play here in the Longest Day. If anyone has an opinion, please let me know.
TheAntarianKing- Yeah, Liz's willpower is fading fast. Unfortunately she has a new reason to be strong against being with him, even if she does cave and tell him the truth. (see answer below) But no matter what, Tess is running out of time.
xmag- The easy stuff first. Yeah, Richard has a daughter. She is mentioned in chapter 10. He also has two more (adult) children that are unlikely to play a part in this story. He is an alien, but only in the same fashion that Larek is when he posesses Brody, the only difference is that the posession is permanent. (A failed experiment to ship troops to Earth without using ships) One important thing to note, Becky goes to school in Los Cruces...
As to Liz, yeah I expect she is going to have a lot of explaining to do. And definately expect angst in regards to timeline 1. Once she realizes it, it will provide yet another reason to not be with Max. (Noble but stupid, hopefully Liz will come to realize that- particularly seeing as she is not stupid. She is however very very noble.) It will also have an effect on just about everyone, including of course the relationship between Liz and Maria. Particularly as Liz begins to understand that the situation was not one sided, and that Maria was not entirely at fault...
katydid- Thanks. I have to say your feedback is leaving red flags waving for me. (Which could be a very good thing by the way, thank you!) Am I over complicating a complicated story? Please if you see something I need to fix, please pm me so I can fix it in the future. This is my first story, so I am trying to learn from experience.
Disclaimer- Some scenes and ideas may be taken from Wipeout.
Longest Day part 34
Tess-
Tess reached over to Kyle. “Kyle, I need to talk with Richard before we go. Is that okay?”
Kyle frowned momentarily and said, “Sure, but could you make it quick, I really need to get the Cruiser to dad. I’ll meet you outside.”
Tess walked over to where Michael and Courtney were waiting for Richard, who was on the phone. She Looked at both of them briefly. While to her eyes Courtney seemed fine, it was merely her husk masking her true state. Courtney was very ill. There was something different about Michael too. She could not quite put her finger on it, but he seemed more… human than he had. Which was a shame because he had been her last semi-ally in the pod squad, Isabel was her friend but not an ally in regards to Tess’s alien agenda. She would have to be on watch for the effects.
She said to them, “Do you two mind if I speak with Richard alone?”
Courtney flashed a knowing smirk at Tess. Which Tess so wanted to smash off of her face, but to do so would alienate Michael completely. She was still under Michael’s protection. Maybe she would just die and save Tess the trouble.
One could hope.
Only she saved my life at the UFO Center and she’s helped us. I won’t feel guilty for hating her! I won’t!
But she did anyway. Tess was confused, very confused. Liz had saved her too. Liz had scared the crap out her, but still… Liz had saved her in the end. And then there was Kyle and Max…
Michael looked at her with suspicion and maybe just a touch of concern. “Didn’t you hear me? Why do you need to speak with him so bad?”
“I…I just wanted to speak to him about Ed. Just for a minute. I promise I will hurry.”
Courtney still had that amused look on her face. Tess was grateful for what she said, however. “We’ll wait out in the Hummer for him. Just hurry, I am sure he wants to see his daughter. That is her on the phone right now I think.” Courtney grabbed one of Michael’s arms and pulled him towards the door. Michael resisted for a moment and then shrugged and let Courtney pull him out the door.
When Tess looked back at Richard she saw him looking back at her.
Richard said, “Tess, I gather you needed to talk to me.”
“Yeah, this might not be the best time, but I have to know. Did you bring the Valerium to Roswell?”
“Yes, although I thought I was bringing it for Ed. I presume it is for the girl, Liz?”
Tess sighed, “Yes, we started dosing her before she came back from Florida.”
“Hence the multivitamin format, you know I am not so sure it will have much effect on her now. The drug will only blunt her abilities, if that. Absolutely fascinating. I wish I had more time to study her.”
“I will take anything at this point. She is much stronger right now than she was yesterday. The Skins must have done something to her. And… and did you bring any extra, because I think I may need some for Kyle or Maria.”
“Hmm, so it affects all of the humans that Max has deep healed. By the way that was amazing, impossible from what I know, but fascinating. I had heard that some Tarans could do that but still I thought it but a rumor. It must change them somehow…” Richard became lost in thought.
“So do you have some extra, I, I have access to some of Ed’s accounts I can pay you extra for it…”
Richard shook his head slightly. “I will give you what I have. In fact I will send it for free if you will let me know how fast they are progressing. I remember talking with some techs before they sent me here, and well they were not sure how long it would be before humans developed, but they were talking centuries maybe millennia… And now I have probably the first developing humans right here in Roswell!”
“Um, okay I guess.” But I don’t want them to develop!
“So we do not have a great deal of time, but quickly tell me how they have gotten to where they are now.”
“I only know about Liz from what I could tell when I first got here. She, she was starting to get flashes, and not just psychic overflow from one of us. Su-supposedly it was her vi-visions that let them find the first orb.” At Richard’s look, “It was one of the communicators that were left from the Crash. When I got here I blunted her abilities with mine, but she kept getting stronger! I mean she was pretty weak when I got here; a flash was probably the limit of what she could do. Ed told me he would deal with the situation… I think he was going to kill her or turn her over to the Special Unit. But his plan went wrong and Max got captured. Something had changed at that point; he couldn’t hurt any of the humans. Which is good, I guess, I not their biggest fan, but I did not realize how ruthless Ed really was. I did not realize he was a killer.”
Tess stopped a second, sighed and continued, “We activated the orbs and got a message from home, one that told us of our destiny. Liz and Max had been close… too close. The message showed her the truth, and she left for Florida to get over Max. But she kept getting stronger… and something happened and we realized we had to stop her developing. And that worked until today. Both Kyle and Maria are about where Liz was right before she went to Florida. Kyle’s developing slowly but for whatever reason, Maria who was normal earlier today has caught up to him. I, I don’t know why.”
Richard scratched his head, “Hmmm, Maria’s development may be my fault. The drug I gave both her and Courtney is cultured from a series of Shapeshifter proteins and chemicals. I got them from Ed by the way. They might have made her more plastic to the changes Max’s healing does. Anyway, thanks for telling me. We should go, I am sure both groups are waiting impatiently for us. I will drop the drugs off before I leave.” Richard walked towards the door.
Tess stood there in thought for a moment. This has to work, it just has to.
----
Kyle-
Kyle watched as Tess left Richard’s motel room and got in the Cruiser. “Ready Tess?”
“Let’s go,” Tess said softly.
Kyle got the Cruiser in gear and started towards his dad’s location, the Crashdown had become an ad hoc command center. Apparently the Mayor’s Office had all of its electronics destroyed, even the lights wouldn’t work. Dad really needed the Cruiser badly, if only for the communications gear. The Sheriff’s station was a little better off, but not by much.
So Kyle hurried. He looked over at his silent passenger. “Are you okay Tess?”
“I guess. A day like today just makes me realize how alone I really am. I mean Ed wasn’t much, but he was all I had for so long.”
Kyle was quiet for a few moments and then said, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not, not right now.”
Kyle looked over and saw Tess’s eyes closed, straining vainly to hold back her tears. He ached to reach over and hold her, to brush away her tears. He wished he could sooth her troubled mind, and for probably the first time he wished he had Alex’s or Max’s sensitivity. He wanted to make her feel better, but he just did not know how. “Um, well, if you need someone to talk to I am always here.” He said somewhat awkwardly.
Tess mumbled, “Thanks Kyle.”
Kyle was silent as they made the rest of the way to the Crashdown. He saw his father talking with Deputy Hanson outside the restaurant and pulled up along side him. Kyle got out of the Cruiser only to be crushed in his dad’s hug.
“Hey dad, I am glad you’re okay.”
Sheriff Valenti pushed his son back gently for a minute, took a look at Hanson and said, “Deputy, give me a minute and I will be right there.”
“Sure thing Sheriff.” Deputy Hanson walked off towards another group of people to get their statement.
Kyle looked over at Tess who was watch him and his father with an unreadable expression. Kyle waved her over and she reluctantly walked towards them. The Sheriff then gave Tess a big hug as well. Kyle noticed that she was a little stiff at first but she hugged the Sheriff back after a second.
Tess looked up at the Sheriff and said, “Thanks d…, thanks Sheriff.”
The Sheriff backed up with a smile. “Okay you kids, it’s great to see you’re safe. But you need to be careful. There are some Federal Agents coming to see about the blast that hit the Central Plaza Hotel’s parking lot. And a media circus can’t be far off either. All of you need to be careful, please pass that along to your friends. When I get home, I would like to hear what actually happened today.”
“Um, dad, about that. There is a party that Vicky is holding; would it be okay if I go? I mean I will tell you everything tomorrow, I, I just need to blow off some steam.”
The Sheriff looked at Kyle, “Okay, your curfew is suspended, but just for today. And Kyle, please try to stay out of trouble.” The Sheriff looked over at Tess, who shook her head.
“Thanks dad.”
“Alright, I will see both of you later. Stay safe.” The Sheriff reached into his Cruiser and grabbed the police radio and started talking over the radio.
Both Tess and Kyle started to walk over to her still trapped SUV. Kyle stopped for a moment, looked at Tess and said, “You know Tess, if you look around and open yourself up there are a lot of us who are pulling for you. If you let us in, you’re not really alone.”
Tess stopped and looked at Kyle for a moment. Then she took a glance at the Sheriff talking into the radio. She then looked away for a moment, before looking back at Kyle. “Maybe, maybe you’re right.”
---
Courtney-
Courtney waited impatiently as Michael unlocked the door. I can not believe I am so eager to get my old husk back. I am probably going to have to layer on the skin cream, baby the poor thing after it has been sitting out so long.
As the door opened Courtney started to unbutton her blouse. It would be good to be back in that old hulk. She smiled as she saw it laying on the couch with a blanket draped over it. They had not had time for dressing it, and Michael did not want to leave it uncovered and naked on the floor.
She heard as Michael began to draw another bath for her to change in. She also heard as Richard closed the door.
Richard said, “The resemblance is uncanny.”
Courtney began to use her powers to begin the husk diagnostics. “We did not expect to be here this long. We were forced to culture the new husks off of the old ones.” Courtney frowned. The diagnostics were reading nothing, which could only mean…
Courtney reached out tentatively to the old husk. When she touched one of the fingers, the whole hand disappeared into dust. It was dead.
And so most likely was she.
She crumpled to the floor in despair. I was so close. I survived so much, only for it to end now.
She heard Richard say softly, “I am sorry Courtney. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know.”
A couple of sharp sarcastic retorts came to her mind, but really what was the point? Besides Richard was okay, even if he was Mitharan. So she contented herself with silently nodding her thanks as she rocked back and forth.
Michael came back into the living room, “Okay the bath should be ready for you. Uh, Courtney are you alright?”
She looked back at Michael, blue green eyes glittering with tears. “We were too late. The husk was left alone for too long and it died.” She closed her eyes. She felt Michael’s arms hug her to him, trying to comfort her. It was ironic that he was starting to care for her now that she was no longer chasing him.
“Is there anything we can do?”
“Yeah, can you guys drop me off at my place? I, I just need to be alone for a bit.”
Michael gave her a little kiss on the forehead and said, “Sure, is it alright if we check on you later. I mean maybe we can think of something else to help you.”
“Sure, and can you let Maria know I want to talk with her?”
“I’ll pass it along.” Michael turned to Richard, “Can we impose on you for a little while longer?”
“No problem, Becky apparently has found something to occupy her morning anyway. And as I told Courtney, if I can help just let me know.”
Michael said, “We may just take you up on that.” He then picked Courtney up and carried her to the Hummer.
Courtney looked at Michael. Life truly is ironic. I am glad I did what I did. Glad I gave Maria those memories. I just hope she holds to her promise. To save the man she loves.
To save the man I love.
----
Max-
After all that had happened today Max counted himself lucky to be riding in his Jeep with three of the four women in the world that he loved. Even if they were all about to drive him insane. Liz was sitting behind him; eyes averted carefully studying the Jeep floor. Isabel shot frosty death glares at both Liz and Maria. And Maria? She was cheerily and extensively listing all the things she planned on doing now that they had escaped the Skins. The list was quite long.
Quite the day.
They had already picked up the dress and now where going to pick up Maria’s car. This was getting to be the kind of day where he was looking forward to work, even repacking the alien autopsy display. He hated that display.
He was just glad that they were all safe. Annoying, but safe. Besides he did love them all.
There was the little church, and voila, there was the Jetta.
Maria turned to Isabel, “My keys please.”
Isabel reached into one of her pockets and handed her the keys. She shook her head and said, “Did you o.d. on sugar or something, Maria?”
“Just happy to be alive, Your Highness.” Maria said with a large smile on her face.
Isabel just glared back and grimly stated, “That may be subject to change.”
Liz kept her eyes averted; still studying the ground, but a large smile was plastered on her face.
Maria just stuck her tongue out at Isabel and proceeded to skip to her broken car.
Isabel just glared at her. She then shot glares at both Max and Liz, both of whom could not keep from laughing. With great dignity she got out of the Jeep. “Let’s get this over with. I have a lunch date with mom.”
Max got out of his Jeep and looked at Maria and tried to figure out the last time he had seen her so happy. Certainly it was before the summer, before Destiny. Quite likely it was before Tess. He had missed it. Now if he could only get Liz to open up again…
Liz stood next to him and watched Maria get into the car. “I just wanted to thank you for saving her. Somehow the world would be a darker place without her.”
“For me as well,” Max paused a moment and looked at Liz. Her eyes were still averted, still avoiding his. “Liz, we need to talk, seriously talk.”
Liz sighed. “Yes Max we do. I just don’t know what to say.”
“How about the truth?”
“It’s not that simple, Max. It has all gotten so complicated. I just don’t know where to start.”
“The beginning is usually the best place, so I hear.”
“Max!”
“Just don’t lie to me anymore. Your last lie nearly broke me.”
“My last lie?”
Max sighed, “Liz you did not sleep with Kyle. Why you had to pretend I don’t know, but I do know you did not sleep with Kyle.” Max watched Liz tense up. “No Liz, don’t even try. I saw a flash when I was healing Kyle.”
“Oh.”
“Why, Liz, why did you do it?”
Liz’s face started to crumple, tears leaking slowly out her eyes. “It is so complicated. I did not want to, but I had to. I just don’t know where to start.”
Max reached over to hold Liz, careful not to open the connection. He did not want her to think he was prying. He did not want to rip it from her; he wanted her to tell him the truth. Even without the connection, holding her was like being in heaven. “Tell me when you’re ready. I’ll be here waiting for you.”
For some reason she stiffened a little at that, but she still felt so good, so right in his arms.
“Will you two get over here and help us, so I can escape this crazed lunatic over here!” Isabel called over to them.
Max sighed and let go of Liz. She reluctantly let go of him. Both of them walked over to help Maria and Isabel move the supplies from the Jetta to the Jeep.
They were at it for around five minutes when the first helicopter flew over. The first of many, all marked with air force designations. They all looked at each other and started to hurry.
Except Maria who all of a sudden started jumping and crying out. “ALEX, OVER HERE ALEX!”
----
Alex-
Brody had told them to leave as soon as they saw the government show up. They were at all costs to try to get all the data back to the UFO Center, something the Feds might not want. Or might not care, it was just it was hard to say which might be the case, so they were to play it safe.
He did not recognize all of the equipment that was in the cart they had, but he had been happy that the Geiger counter had not been too excited about the blast site. It had been a tiny bit above background, but not much. Becky had assured him that they had gotten less than an X-ray’s worth over the course of the time they had been there.
Brody had been happily surprised that Alex knew his way around an SLR Camera. Sure he wasn’t Pam Troy, but he was on the Year Book committee, and had contributed a few shots himself. He had used up almost all of the film that Brody had given them, hopefully he was happy.
All in all it had been fun, more fun than he had had in a while. Becky had regaled him with so many funny stories about the faculty and students at Los Cruces he thought he might want to check them out. Maybe have that as his fall back if he did not get into MIT or Caltech. Certainly would not hurt to have a back up plan.
Becky was telling him another funny story about how her roommate Jennifer had gotten in trouble last Spring Break when he heard a very familiar voice calling him. He looked up, and yep there was Maria. She was hopping and waving her arms. Best of all, Alex could see Max’s Jeep. That would let them get this stuff to the UFO Center even faster.
“Come on Becky, those are my friends.”
“Yeah, good way to be low profile. Is she always this hyper?” Becky asked referring to the still bouncing Maria.
“Sometimes yeah, probably her mom forgot to hide the Fruit Loops again.”
“Right.”
Alex helped Becky move the cart towards his friends. He looked over at his friends. Liz looked tired and depressed, something that had been common for the last couple of weeks. What had not been common were the possessive and protective glances that Max was sending Liz’s way. In truth Max had been acting kind of mean towards Liz, but there were those rumors… Alex had been in a quandary what to do to help Liz, as Max had not been going out of his way to hurt Liz. Unlike Michael had been with regards to Maria. Even if it had been a ploy to smoke out Courtney, he could have done it in a way not seemingly calculated to break Maria.
He loved his girls. They were the sisters he never had.
Alex did not regret his actions.
And given Maria’s exuberance there had been a good break in regards to Michael. Alex was still not sure that the gruff alien was good enough for her, but he would back her up as needed. He just hoped it worked out this time.
Then there was Isabel, beautiful, haughty Isabel. How he wanted her. He introduced Becky to the group, but his mind was still on her. They loaded the equipment up in the Jeep, and his mind was still on her. Alex remembered a conversation with Maria over whether the aliens were addictive. He knew that Isabel was. He wanted her, all of her.
The hell of it was that he had never had her and likely never would. He should move on, should give up this unhealthy obsession. And yet, it was days like this that made it impossible.
It was her eyes. So often they radiated strength, confidence, and arrogance, but from time to time they would show the depths within. They would reveal the loneliness and suffering, reveal the compassion and depth of character that she hid from the world. They were depths he was not sure that even Isabel realized. What she could offer a man…
It sucked him back in, No matter how many times he steeled himself, no matter how badly she treated him, he wanted her. Her looks had drawn him in, but it who she was that trapped him there. He loved her.
He was truly hopeless. Despite it all he loved her.
He watched as the Jeep pulled away with his girls, all of them. It was a surprise when Max clasped his shoulder and shot him an understanding look.
And Alex realized that Max really did understand. Alex nodded back. To which Max smiled.
The two friends walked toward where their girls were waiting.
Before I get to feedback, I should note that the Longest Day has perhaps only 3-4 parts left to it. So now I am trying to decide whether to break up the story into four seperate fics or to keep the whole monster together. The thing is it is all tightly wrapped together, I mean some aspects of book two- Eidolon are already in play here in the Longest Day. If anyone has an opinion, please let me know.
TheAntarianKing- Yeah, Liz's willpower is fading fast. Unfortunately she has a new reason to be strong against being with him, even if she does cave and tell him the truth. (see answer below) But no matter what, Tess is running out of time.
xmag- The easy stuff first. Yeah, Richard has a daughter. She is mentioned in chapter 10. He also has two more (adult) children that are unlikely to play a part in this story. He is an alien, but only in the same fashion that Larek is when he posesses Brody, the only difference is that the posession is permanent. (A failed experiment to ship troops to Earth without using ships) One important thing to note, Becky goes to school in Los Cruces...
As to Liz, yeah I expect she is going to have a lot of explaining to do. And definately expect angst in regards to timeline 1. Once she realizes it, it will provide yet another reason to not be with Max. (Noble but stupid, hopefully Liz will come to realize that- particularly seeing as she is not stupid. She is however very very noble.) It will also have an effect on just about everyone, including of course the relationship between Liz and Maria. Particularly as Liz begins to understand that the situation was not one sided, and that Maria was not entirely at fault...
katydid- Thanks. I have to say your feedback is leaving red flags waving for me. (Which could be a very good thing by the way, thank you!) Am I over complicating a complicated story? Please if you see something I need to fix, please pm me so I can fix it in the future. This is my first story, so I am trying to learn from experience.
Disclaimer- Some scenes and ideas may be taken from Wipeout.
Longest Day part 34
Tess-
Tess reached over to Kyle. “Kyle, I need to talk with Richard before we go. Is that okay?”
Kyle frowned momentarily and said, “Sure, but could you make it quick, I really need to get the Cruiser to dad. I’ll meet you outside.”
Tess walked over to where Michael and Courtney were waiting for Richard, who was on the phone. She Looked at both of them briefly. While to her eyes Courtney seemed fine, it was merely her husk masking her true state. Courtney was very ill. There was something different about Michael too. She could not quite put her finger on it, but he seemed more… human than he had. Which was a shame because he had been her last semi-ally in the pod squad, Isabel was her friend but not an ally in regards to Tess’s alien agenda. She would have to be on watch for the effects.
She said to them, “Do you two mind if I speak with Richard alone?”
Courtney flashed a knowing smirk at Tess. Which Tess so wanted to smash off of her face, but to do so would alienate Michael completely. She was still under Michael’s protection. Maybe she would just die and save Tess the trouble.
One could hope.
Only she saved my life at the UFO Center and she’s helped us. I won’t feel guilty for hating her! I won’t!
But she did anyway. Tess was confused, very confused. Liz had saved her too. Liz had scared the crap out her, but still… Liz had saved her in the end. And then there was Kyle and Max…
Michael looked at her with suspicion and maybe just a touch of concern. “Didn’t you hear me? Why do you need to speak with him so bad?”
“I…I just wanted to speak to him about Ed. Just for a minute. I promise I will hurry.”
Courtney still had that amused look on her face. Tess was grateful for what she said, however. “We’ll wait out in the Hummer for him. Just hurry, I am sure he wants to see his daughter. That is her on the phone right now I think.” Courtney grabbed one of Michael’s arms and pulled him towards the door. Michael resisted for a moment and then shrugged and let Courtney pull him out the door.
When Tess looked back at Richard she saw him looking back at her.
Richard said, “Tess, I gather you needed to talk to me.”
“Yeah, this might not be the best time, but I have to know. Did you bring the Valerium to Roswell?”
“Yes, although I thought I was bringing it for Ed. I presume it is for the girl, Liz?”
Tess sighed, “Yes, we started dosing her before she came back from Florida.”
“Hence the multivitamin format, you know I am not so sure it will have much effect on her now. The drug will only blunt her abilities, if that. Absolutely fascinating. I wish I had more time to study her.”
“I will take anything at this point. She is much stronger right now than she was yesterday. The Skins must have done something to her. And… and did you bring any extra, because I think I may need some for Kyle or Maria.”
“Hmm, so it affects all of the humans that Max has deep healed. By the way that was amazing, impossible from what I know, but fascinating. I had heard that some Tarans could do that but still I thought it but a rumor. It must change them somehow…” Richard became lost in thought.
“So do you have some extra, I, I have access to some of Ed’s accounts I can pay you extra for it…”
Richard shook his head slightly. “I will give you what I have. In fact I will send it for free if you will let me know how fast they are progressing. I remember talking with some techs before they sent me here, and well they were not sure how long it would be before humans developed, but they were talking centuries maybe millennia… And now I have probably the first developing humans right here in Roswell!”
“Um, okay I guess.” But I don’t want them to develop!
“So we do not have a great deal of time, but quickly tell me how they have gotten to where they are now.”
“I only know about Liz from what I could tell when I first got here. She, she was starting to get flashes, and not just psychic overflow from one of us. Su-supposedly it was her vi-visions that let them find the first orb.” At Richard’s look, “It was one of the communicators that were left from the Crash. When I got here I blunted her abilities with mine, but she kept getting stronger! I mean she was pretty weak when I got here; a flash was probably the limit of what she could do. Ed told me he would deal with the situation… I think he was going to kill her or turn her over to the Special Unit. But his plan went wrong and Max got captured. Something had changed at that point; he couldn’t hurt any of the humans. Which is good, I guess, I not their biggest fan, but I did not realize how ruthless Ed really was. I did not realize he was a killer.”
Tess stopped a second, sighed and continued, “We activated the orbs and got a message from home, one that told us of our destiny. Liz and Max had been close… too close. The message showed her the truth, and she left for Florida to get over Max. But she kept getting stronger… and something happened and we realized we had to stop her developing. And that worked until today. Both Kyle and Maria are about where Liz was right before she went to Florida. Kyle’s developing slowly but for whatever reason, Maria who was normal earlier today has caught up to him. I, I don’t know why.”
Richard scratched his head, “Hmmm, Maria’s development may be my fault. The drug I gave both her and Courtney is cultured from a series of Shapeshifter proteins and chemicals. I got them from Ed by the way. They might have made her more plastic to the changes Max’s healing does. Anyway, thanks for telling me. We should go, I am sure both groups are waiting impatiently for us. I will drop the drugs off before I leave.” Richard walked towards the door.
Tess stood there in thought for a moment. This has to work, it just has to.
----
Kyle-
Kyle watched as Tess left Richard’s motel room and got in the Cruiser. “Ready Tess?”
“Let’s go,” Tess said softly.
Kyle got the Cruiser in gear and started towards his dad’s location, the Crashdown had become an ad hoc command center. Apparently the Mayor’s Office had all of its electronics destroyed, even the lights wouldn’t work. Dad really needed the Cruiser badly, if only for the communications gear. The Sheriff’s station was a little better off, but not by much.
So Kyle hurried. He looked over at his silent passenger. “Are you okay Tess?”
“I guess. A day like today just makes me realize how alone I really am. I mean Ed wasn’t much, but he was all I had for so long.”
Kyle was quiet for a few moments and then said, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not, not right now.”
Kyle looked over and saw Tess’s eyes closed, straining vainly to hold back her tears. He ached to reach over and hold her, to brush away her tears. He wished he could sooth her troubled mind, and for probably the first time he wished he had Alex’s or Max’s sensitivity. He wanted to make her feel better, but he just did not know how. “Um, well, if you need someone to talk to I am always here.” He said somewhat awkwardly.
Tess mumbled, “Thanks Kyle.”
Kyle was silent as they made the rest of the way to the Crashdown. He saw his father talking with Deputy Hanson outside the restaurant and pulled up along side him. Kyle got out of the Cruiser only to be crushed in his dad’s hug.
“Hey dad, I am glad you’re okay.”
Sheriff Valenti pushed his son back gently for a minute, took a look at Hanson and said, “Deputy, give me a minute and I will be right there.”
“Sure thing Sheriff.” Deputy Hanson walked off towards another group of people to get their statement.
Kyle looked over at Tess who was watch him and his father with an unreadable expression. Kyle waved her over and she reluctantly walked towards them. The Sheriff then gave Tess a big hug as well. Kyle noticed that she was a little stiff at first but she hugged the Sheriff back after a second.
Tess looked up at the Sheriff and said, “Thanks d…, thanks Sheriff.”
The Sheriff backed up with a smile. “Okay you kids, it’s great to see you’re safe. But you need to be careful. There are some Federal Agents coming to see about the blast that hit the Central Plaza Hotel’s parking lot. And a media circus can’t be far off either. All of you need to be careful, please pass that along to your friends. When I get home, I would like to hear what actually happened today.”
“Um, dad, about that. There is a party that Vicky is holding; would it be okay if I go? I mean I will tell you everything tomorrow, I, I just need to blow off some steam.”
The Sheriff looked at Kyle, “Okay, your curfew is suspended, but just for today. And Kyle, please try to stay out of trouble.” The Sheriff looked over at Tess, who shook her head.
“Thanks dad.”
“Alright, I will see both of you later. Stay safe.” The Sheriff reached into his Cruiser and grabbed the police radio and started talking over the radio.
Both Tess and Kyle started to walk over to her still trapped SUV. Kyle stopped for a moment, looked at Tess and said, “You know Tess, if you look around and open yourself up there are a lot of us who are pulling for you. If you let us in, you’re not really alone.”
Tess stopped and looked at Kyle for a moment. Then she took a glance at the Sheriff talking into the radio. She then looked away for a moment, before looking back at Kyle. “Maybe, maybe you’re right.”
---
Courtney-
Courtney waited impatiently as Michael unlocked the door. I can not believe I am so eager to get my old husk back. I am probably going to have to layer on the skin cream, baby the poor thing after it has been sitting out so long.
As the door opened Courtney started to unbutton her blouse. It would be good to be back in that old hulk. She smiled as she saw it laying on the couch with a blanket draped over it. They had not had time for dressing it, and Michael did not want to leave it uncovered and naked on the floor.
She heard as Michael began to draw another bath for her to change in. She also heard as Richard closed the door.
Richard said, “The resemblance is uncanny.”
Courtney began to use her powers to begin the husk diagnostics. “We did not expect to be here this long. We were forced to culture the new husks off of the old ones.” Courtney frowned. The diagnostics were reading nothing, which could only mean…
Courtney reached out tentatively to the old husk. When she touched one of the fingers, the whole hand disappeared into dust. It was dead.
And so most likely was she.
She crumpled to the floor in despair. I was so close. I survived so much, only for it to end now.
She heard Richard say softly, “I am sorry Courtney. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know.”
A couple of sharp sarcastic retorts came to her mind, but really what was the point? Besides Richard was okay, even if he was Mitharan. So she contented herself with silently nodding her thanks as she rocked back and forth.
Michael came back into the living room, “Okay the bath should be ready for you. Uh, Courtney are you alright?”
She looked back at Michael, blue green eyes glittering with tears. “We were too late. The husk was left alone for too long and it died.” She closed her eyes. She felt Michael’s arms hug her to him, trying to comfort her. It was ironic that he was starting to care for her now that she was no longer chasing him.
“Is there anything we can do?”
“Yeah, can you guys drop me off at my place? I, I just need to be alone for a bit.”
Michael gave her a little kiss on the forehead and said, “Sure, is it alright if we check on you later. I mean maybe we can think of something else to help you.”
“Sure, and can you let Maria know I want to talk with her?”
“I’ll pass it along.” Michael turned to Richard, “Can we impose on you for a little while longer?”
“No problem, Becky apparently has found something to occupy her morning anyway. And as I told Courtney, if I can help just let me know.”
Michael said, “We may just take you up on that.” He then picked Courtney up and carried her to the Hummer.
Courtney looked at Michael. Life truly is ironic. I am glad I did what I did. Glad I gave Maria those memories. I just hope she holds to her promise. To save the man she loves.
To save the man I love.
----
Max-
After all that had happened today Max counted himself lucky to be riding in his Jeep with three of the four women in the world that he loved. Even if they were all about to drive him insane. Liz was sitting behind him; eyes averted carefully studying the Jeep floor. Isabel shot frosty death glares at both Liz and Maria. And Maria? She was cheerily and extensively listing all the things she planned on doing now that they had escaped the Skins. The list was quite long.
Quite the day.
They had already picked up the dress and now where going to pick up Maria’s car. This was getting to be the kind of day where he was looking forward to work, even repacking the alien autopsy display. He hated that display.
He was just glad that they were all safe. Annoying, but safe. Besides he did love them all.
There was the little church, and voila, there was the Jetta.
Maria turned to Isabel, “My keys please.”
Isabel reached into one of her pockets and handed her the keys. She shook her head and said, “Did you o.d. on sugar or something, Maria?”
“Just happy to be alive, Your Highness.” Maria said with a large smile on her face.
Isabel just glared back and grimly stated, “That may be subject to change.”
Liz kept her eyes averted; still studying the ground, but a large smile was plastered on her face.
Maria just stuck her tongue out at Isabel and proceeded to skip to her broken car.
Isabel just glared at her. She then shot glares at both Max and Liz, both of whom could not keep from laughing. With great dignity she got out of the Jeep. “Let’s get this over with. I have a lunch date with mom.”
Max got out of his Jeep and looked at Maria and tried to figure out the last time he had seen her so happy. Certainly it was before the summer, before Destiny. Quite likely it was before Tess. He had missed it. Now if he could only get Liz to open up again…
Liz stood next to him and watched Maria get into the car. “I just wanted to thank you for saving her. Somehow the world would be a darker place without her.”
“For me as well,” Max paused a moment and looked at Liz. Her eyes were still averted, still avoiding his. “Liz, we need to talk, seriously talk.”
Liz sighed. “Yes Max we do. I just don’t know what to say.”
“How about the truth?”
“It’s not that simple, Max. It has all gotten so complicated. I just don’t know where to start.”
“The beginning is usually the best place, so I hear.”
“Max!”
“Just don’t lie to me anymore. Your last lie nearly broke me.”
“My last lie?”
Max sighed, “Liz you did not sleep with Kyle. Why you had to pretend I don’t know, but I do know you did not sleep with Kyle.” Max watched Liz tense up. “No Liz, don’t even try. I saw a flash when I was healing Kyle.”
“Oh.”
“Why, Liz, why did you do it?”
Liz’s face started to crumple, tears leaking slowly out her eyes. “It is so complicated. I did not want to, but I had to. I just don’t know where to start.”
Max reached over to hold Liz, careful not to open the connection. He did not want her to think he was prying. He did not want to rip it from her; he wanted her to tell him the truth. Even without the connection, holding her was like being in heaven. “Tell me when you’re ready. I’ll be here waiting for you.”
For some reason she stiffened a little at that, but she still felt so good, so right in his arms.
“Will you two get over here and help us, so I can escape this crazed lunatic over here!” Isabel called over to them.
Max sighed and let go of Liz. She reluctantly let go of him. Both of them walked over to help Maria and Isabel move the supplies from the Jetta to the Jeep.
They were at it for around five minutes when the first helicopter flew over. The first of many, all marked with air force designations. They all looked at each other and started to hurry.
Except Maria who all of a sudden started jumping and crying out. “ALEX, OVER HERE ALEX!”
----
Alex-
Brody had told them to leave as soon as they saw the government show up. They were at all costs to try to get all the data back to the UFO Center, something the Feds might not want. Or might not care, it was just it was hard to say which might be the case, so they were to play it safe.
He did not recognize all of the equipment that was in the cart they had, but he had been happy that the Geiger counter had not been too excited about the blast site. It had been a tiny bit above background, but not much. Becky had assured him that they had gotten less than an X-ray’s worth over the course of the time they had been there.
Brody had been happily surprised that Alex knew his way around an SLR Camera. Sure he wasn’t Pam Troy, but he was on the Year Book committee, and had contributed a few shots himself. He had used up almost all of the film that Brody had given them, hopefully he was happy.
All in all it had been fun, more fun than he had had in a while. Becky had regaled him with so many funny stories about the faculty and students at Los Cruces he thought he might want to check them out. Maybe have that as his fall back if he did not get into MIT or Caltech. Certainly would not hurt to have a back up plan.
Becky was telling him another funny story about how her roommate Jennifer had gotten in trouble last Spring Break when he heard a very familiar voice calling him. He looked up, and yep there was Maria. She was hopping and waving her arms. Best of all, Alex could see Max’s Jeep. That would let them get this stuff to the UFO Center even faster.
“Come on Becky, those are my friends.”
“Yeah, good way to be low profile. Is she always this hyper?” Becky asked referring to the still bouncing Maria.
“Sometimes yeah, probably her mom forgot to hide the Fruit Loops again.”
“Right.”
Alex helped Becky move the cart towards his friends. He looked over at his friends. Liz looked tired and depressed, something that had been common for the last couple of weeks. What had not been common were the possessive and protective glances that Max was sending Liz’s way. In truth Max had been acting kind of mean towards Liz, but there were those rumors… Alex had been in a quandary what to do to help Liz, as Max had not been going out of his way to hurt Liz. Unlike Michael had been with regards to Maria. Even if it had been a ploy to smoke out Courtney, he could have done it in a way not seemingly calculated to break Maria.
He loved his girls. They were the sisters he never had.
Alex did not regret his actions.
And given Maria’s exuberance there had been a good break in regards to Michael. Alex was still not sure that the gruff alien was good enough for her, but he would back her up as needed. He just hoped it worked out this time.
Then there was Isabel, beautiful, haughty Isabel. How he wanted her. He introduced Becky to the group, but his mind was still on her. They loaded the equipment up in the Jeep, and his mind was still on her. Alex remembered a conversation with Maria over whether the aliens were addictive. He knew that Isabel was. He wanted her, all of her.
The hell of it was that he had never had her and likely never would. He should move on, should give up this unhealthy obsession. And yet, it was days like this that made it impossible.
It was her eyes. So often they radiated strength, confidence, and arrogance, but from time to time they would show the depths within. They would reveal the loneliness and suffering, reveal the compassion and depth of character that she hid from the world. They were depths he was not sure that even Isabel realized. What she could offer a man…
It sucked him back in, No matter how many times he steeled himself, no matter how badly she treated him, he wanted her. Her looks had drawn him in, but it who she was that trapped him there. He loved her.
He was truly hopeless. Despite it all he loved her.
He watched as the Jeep pulled away with his girls, all of them. It was a surprise when Max clasped his shoulder and shot him an understanding look.
And Alex realized that Max really did understand. Alex nodded back. To which Max smiled.
The two friends walked toward where their girls were waiting.
Thanks to everyone reading this story. Particular thanks go out to Sternbetracter, xmag, TheAntarianKing, and Juli ana for their wonderful feedback.
Before I address the feedback, I want to thank everyone who gave me advice regarding how I should continue this story. I think I am going to break it up into four parts, each linked to the other. So in that light expect probably two more parts and an epilogue. The next part should be done by Tuesday as I finally have a bit more free time now that this week is over. As to how long it will take me to get the first part of Eidolon out, I am already story boarding for it, so expect it one week after the epilogue.
Sterbetrachter- When I was writing I tried to picture how Maria would react if she was really happy and full of energy. And in denial of sorts at just how close she had come to death. The answer of course would be really really hyper. Isabel's reaction would be icing on the cake for her, possibly driving Maria to even greater acts of hyperness, if that is even concievable.
xmag- Valerium is a psionic inhibiter drug, basically a time release form of the drug the Special Unit injected into Max when he was in the White Room. The formula is not as strong, but it also lacks the side effects the injections can cause, and is safe to use on a long term basis.
The fact that is weaker is not usually a problem in that it is usually used on suspected human psis. Why does it exist, well in this world psi actually works, the US government had proof in the late forties from the captured aliens and developed the first drug. In the real world both the Soviets and the Americans really spent millions trying to develop remote sensing and other forms of psionics, so with proof that it really does exist...
Richard's company actually makes Valerium, and several other drugs and supliments. It has other uses other than what Tess has used it for. These may come into play later.
Nacedo used some on Tess, to make sure that she could not use her powers when she was very young. The more recent orders were from him to surpress Liz. There is a specific reason why Nasedo did not just kill the humans, one that will be touched in later parts. And while it is true that developing powers can be dangerous and painful, Tess's real reason is to buy time. She does not want them to know that they may actually develop powers. Their potential lack of control would dramatically increase their risk of discovery and would lessen her feelings of racial superiority.
So Tess is helping them, but mostly she is helping herself.
As to Liz and Courtney, this part may clear up some of the questions. Just remember Courtney's real age and all the emotional investment Liz has made in regards to the End of the World.
TheAntarianKing- Tess is running out of time in so many ways. Part of Liz's problem is what I said above, she is emotionally invested in her sacrifice. The other part is that in the first timeline, Maria kills Liz. Liz was so happy with Max, that she let all of her old friends slip away. It can be a natural situation, but in this case it had a nasty consequence. Of course, Liz is still the only one who knows of the potential future at this point, so it is just another secret she is keeping from her friends.
Juli ana- Thanks. Hope you like the story.
Disclaimer- Some scenes and ideas may be taken from Wipeout.
Longest Day part 35
Courtney-
Courtney sat back quietly and watched as the scenery passed by on their way to her apartment. It was funny Roswell had never seemed home, not until now. It was too small, too kitschy, trying so hard to capitalize on a single event in its past. But now, things were different.
It was funny how a single day can completely change your perspective.
For Roswell was home now. It had been so long since she had had a place to call home. Certainly she had never truly felt at home in Copper Summit, where there were so many differences between what she believed and what so many of her fellow Rhyajhaelians believed. The Palace had been the same; even at the Archadian she had felt different. It had been in Drimordjian that she last felt truly at home.
She could still remember that last picnic with her family before she left for school, before she left Drimordjian. It would be the last time that she would see her family.
She missed them; even now over seventy years later she missed them,
But now by some quirk of fate she had a new family. It wasn’t what she had expected when she was growing up, part of the first generation that did not truly worry about overpopulation; she had expected to have a large family like she herself had grown up in. With Outsider technology they were able to reopen some of the older, dying arks and to build new homes on the surface. It truly did seem like a golden age was just on the horizon.
But her home was destroyed, Drimordjian was destroyed. And things changed, her priorities changed. There was no more time for dreaming of a family, no more time for happiness. There was too much work to do. Political rallies, learning how to battle the police, learning how to fight against soldiers sent to stop them. Even when things had calmed down, when she was in the Palace helping Vilandra, there had never seemed to be the time. Always just a little farther away, she had always promised herself she would settle down when things calmed down.
They never did. And now decades later, dying on a primitive backwater planet, she had a family.
Oh, today had changed so much. To think she had been chasing after Michael, seeking only to control his growth. To push and mold him into the image of Rath that she and her compatriots had desired. Who he was and what he desired were unimportant issues, for they had had a plan, she and her cohorts had designed a set destiny that would place him on the road to the throne of Antar. That plan was all over now, and if what Zack had said was true, her fellow conspirators were now all dead.
While she mourned the loss of her friends, this would be good for Michael in the long run. For one of the things she had learned was that Michael was not Rath. They were similar in so many ways, and yet he was himself. None of the reborn Royals were who they had been, you could see echoes of the past, but their brief lives on Earth had shaped them as well. They were themselves, and that was not a bad thing.
She wished she had been more prudent, more cautious when she had come to Roswell. But she had played the part of a teenager for so long; it must have affected her judgment. In her mind it had seemed so much easier to just seduce Michael, to treat him like she had so many other adolescent and older boys before. She had not realized how deep a bond with Maria that Michael had already formed. She doubted that either of them had known either, not until today when Michael had been forced to make a choice.
He had risked his own life to save Maria, had risked everything. Courtney had never really had a chance at actually attaining Michael; all she could have done was ruined his relationship with Maria. A feat she had almost accomplished. She had hurt them badly, all for her devotion to an idea.
It was a shame really. Had I played my cards differently, had I not seen the humans as mere obstacles, I might have made some friends. I might have enjoyed this last fruitless summer…
And as her mind spun pleasant dreams of what could have been, the part of her mind that had made her a survivor made plans. The instincts that had turned Karis from a student activist into a soldier, a politician, a spy; they planned her last days. How to help the two kids she loved, to somehow explain to Maria what Courtney had done to her, and just possibly have a good time while she was at it.
I don’t know how much time I have left. I need to make it count.
----
Michael-
Michael felt keenly the awkward silence as Richard drove Courtney home. The silence was broken only at Courtney’s terse directions to Richard on the route to her apartment. It was this sort of highly charged emotional intensity that made him nervous.
I mean what do you say to someone who is dying? How do I reconcile her actions today, hell her actions for the last couple of weeks; with the Courtney that sought to seduce me, to use me. Is she helping me because she wants to help or is it still just a ploy? Some arcane Skin plot that will one day lead me to betray those whose trust I hold?
Or did she change, did she decide that she wants to help me, rather than the man I may once have been. Who is she doing all this for, for me or for Rath?
She tried to save Maria. That counts for a lot.
The Hummer stopped and Courtney got out. Michael heard her give her thanks to Richard, but he could not quite make out what Richard said back. Courtney merely smiled and clasped his hand. As she walked to the curb she tapped at Michael’s window.
She said, “Hey Michael, give me a call if anything happens, okay?”
“Sure, just get some rest. I am sure Max will be able to think of something to help you.”
Courtney just smiled at that. “Just don’t forget to have Maria call me.” She turned away and started walking toward her apartment. If it were not for the occasional tremor, you would not know that she was ill.
Hopefully Max really will be able to think of something. Or maybe Liz. It really is a shame that as soon as she becomes marginally bearable she starts dying.
Richard started the Hummer up again, to bear Michael to the Crashdown and Richard to his daughter. The vehicle was silent for a moment, both of them lost to their thoughts.
Richard cleared his throat and said, “So how long have you known the girl?”
“Um, Courtney showed up this summer. We did not really know what she was until a few weeks ago.”
“No not the Skin, the girl, Maria. You know the one you saved in the church?”
“Oh. We’ve known each other for a long time, but we were never close. Not until recently.”
It pained him how much that had been true. So many missed opportunities. Sure, a lot of missed aggravation and emotional crap too, but, but he wished he had known her sooner.
Michael sighed and continued, “You see while we all went to the same school, we never really hung out together. It was just us aliens and the humans had their own group. The thing is that Max basically fell for Liz when he first saw her, and she was always with Maria. Always.” Michael paused for a few moments. “After I met back up with Isabel and Max, I always hung out with them. Mostly with Max, as Isabel has always had a social streak. So since Max was always watching Liz, who was always with Maria, and I was always with Max… Yeah, we knew each other; the thing is both of us held the other in contempt. Maria thought of me as a, how did she put it, ‘a loser going nowhere from the wrong side of the tracks,’ I just thought that Maria was nuts.”
“Obviously that has changed.”
“Yeah,” Michael paused. Has it really changed? I mean, what do I have to offer her? Why does she care about me when we all know how what a bad influence on her life I have been? I mean she nearly died today! She would be better off if she had never known me.
“What you did was magnificent. It was something I had only heard of from legends, to see it… You and your friends truly amazing, I wish that I could have seen Isabel in action as well.”
“Hmmph,” Michael’s thoughts began to turn dark. We should leave. We should make a clean break and let the humans just get on with their lives. They would be safer without all the problems we bring.
Richard glanced at Michael, “I need to talk to you. There may be repercussions from what happened today.”
Michael turned and paid attention, something might be wrong with Maria. It was the least he could do to try to protect her after all she had been through.
“First the drug I gave her, the drug that put her in stasis has some side effects. In large amounts it dulls the senses; even small amounts can have an effect. In humans, on the few subjects that I have used it on, sight and hearing came back quickly. Her sense of touch will likely have returned by now too. But humans have such a weak sense of smell, and while important it’s not as high priority as the other senses, at least in regards to overcoming this drug, it will likely be affected for a while. Her sense of taste will be likewise affected.”
Michael just stared at him. Maria is going to freak. What will she do without all her smelly aroma therapy stuff?
“Hopefully it will come back quickly, but I have only used this on people a couple of times. My daughter’s senses sprang back in about a week, but my wife’s never really recovered. Even when her taste buds were working again she still favored heavily spiced foods.”
“What happened?”
“It was an accident about five years ago, the roads were icy and I lost control. My wife would have died; the paramedics would never have gotten there in time. My daughter probably would have survived, but I did not want to take the chance. So I knew that it worked when I needed it today. But it will affect her.”
“Why do I have the feeling there is more?”
“There is. You will need to protect Maria. In truth you will need to protect Liz and Kyle too, but I figure your friends can help you there. If what I suspect is right, you should keep your eyes on Liz. She should not have been able to use that stunner. As far as I am aware of, no human can summon enough power to use most Antaran devices.”
“So Liz isn’t human, are we even sure it is Liz? We need to hurry and get back!”
“Hold on. I never met Liz, but whoever that was, was indeed human. She was psionically active, but she was human. Watching her would be a good idea.”
“How does this tie into Maria?”
Richard sighed. “Liz was captured for a reason. I am uncertain, but I fear that she was a target because she had a high psionic profile, possibly because Max healed her. I know that Kyle has an elevated profile; Liz certainly does now as well. It may be that Maria will develop one as well, and that would make her a target. It is not certain, but it is not a risk I think you should take.”
“Why do you care?”
“Earth is my home. I do not want your friends to become weapons against their home world, to be weapons in the wars of Antar. You must understand, had you been alive on Antar, none of you would have been my friends. I was a devoted Mitharan separatist, but that was then. I don’t care about Antar anymore, my family, my home, my life is here.” Richard shook his head. “If ever you had the opportunity to go back, I would not help you. But as long as you are here, as long as you help protect Earth from them, I want to help you. This world in this time and place is free, primitive, but free. I would have my daughter and my sons live their lives as they would wish, not as some would be galactic overlord would have it.”
Michael nodded his head slightly. “I will watch them.”
“Thanks, if I can do anything to help, let me know.”
The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Michael was lost in thought. For all the bad news, for all the things he now had to watch for, all the new worries, he had one thing to console him. It was too late to withdraw from Maria. For good or ill, she was part of the whole mess. He could no longer justify staying away from her anymore.
Truly, every cloud has its silver lining.
---
Liz-
Liz’s spirits were high as she walked into the Crashdown. Despite the long shift ahead of her, despite a slight feeling of foreboding, she simply could not help it. Maria’s good mood was simply infectious. Only Isabel seemed immune. Isabel was hurriedly helping Becky get the equipment cart out of the Jeep for Brody.
What am I going to do about Max? I can not believe it has all fallen apart so fast. I don’t want to lie to him anymore, and yet I can not tell him the truth. What am I going to do?
So it was, arms laden with cans that Liz walked into the Crashdown with Maria.
To be greeted by the sound of her father calling out, “Liz, Maria, what took you so long? What with everything that’s happening you were making me worried.” He walked over and gave Liz a huge hug, “Are you okay, little Lizzie-bear?”
Liz looked up into her father’s eyes and just nodded. She could see the worry in his eyes, his love for his little girl.
Flash-
She was perfect. From her tiny little toes to the trace of brown hair, his little Elizabeth was perfect. He looked over at Nancy, who was still so exhausted, and pledged that he would protect both of them.
End Flash
Maria said, “Sorry Mr. Parker, we had a bit of trouble with the Jetta. We’ll grab the rest of the stuff after we drop these off. Come on Liz, the sooner we get this done the better.”
Liz let go of her father and followed Maria into the backroom of the restaurant. She watched out of the corner of her eyes as Maria calmly set down the cans she had been carrying. Too calmly.
“Liz did my eyes deceive or did you just get a flash from your dad?”
“Um, what?”
“You get this look on your face… Am I right? I mean how could that happen? And what did you see?”
A denial flashed instantly to her mind. When did it get so easy to lie, even to those she loved? It was not as if she was going to break a confidence, and she needed someone to trust. Maria had always been there.
Her mind still boggled at the thought that things could have gone so wrong in the other timeline. That she would ignore and abandon her best friend, to the point that Maria could be turned and join the enemy. Maria’s voice taunting Liz about her youngest daughter Amy, about abducting her and raising her to be a puppet for Khivar,
And then killing her. My God, how could Maria kill me? How do I stop it from happening again? I have to keep Tess here; I have to make Max understand! But was it enough, Ana is still here. I could recognize traces of her from Maria. What do I have to do?
For one thing she would stop lying to Maria. There had to be one person to whom she could always tell the truth to. She would never have Max, not once he understood. Not once he understood what not following Destiny entailed. Maybe, maybe they could at least stay friends? Still, if she had to give up Max, she was not going to lose Maria this time.
“Yes, I saw him as he was holding me as an infant.”
Maria just stared at Liz, “Wow, so you are getting flashes from more than just Max then?”
“It started this morning after I woke up as Emily, they must have done something to me. This was the first since I remembered who I really am that I got one though. When we have time I have got a lot to tell you.”
“Okay chica, your father is probably about to check up on us anyway. I expect lots of details, particularly about the hug you and Max shared. I have my own little stories to tell I must say.”
Jeff Parker walked back into the room. “Okay ladies, I am not paying you too just to chat. And while I love to hear both your beautiful voices yammering on, I am sure that both Karen and Ashlyn would love some help. I think we are going to be very busy and I am calling in as much help as I can.” Jeff turned to go back into the restaurant, “Oh and Maria, your mother wants you to call her. Go ahead and do that before you hit the floor. And Liz, you have another FBI agent that wants to talk to you about Congresswoman Whitaker. If you could make it quick, we desperately need the help.”
Liz heard a voice calling from the kitchen.
Jeff just smiled and shook his head, “I am coming Jose!” He then walked out the door.
Maria turned back to Liz, “Well I am off to sooth the parental unit. Good luck with the FBI agent.”
Both of them started walking out towards the kitchen. “Yeah, somehow I don’t think this situation is fair.”
“You know my mother; you know how long it is going to be to calm her down. Good thing she doesn’t know the truth or I wouldn’t be able to leave the house.”
“Okay, so maybe I will be the one to get off easy.” Liz stopped when she saw a tall man in a dark suit standing in the break room. “Excuse me, but can I help you?”
The man smiled, “Miss Parker it is a pleasure to see you again. Particularly in such better circumstances. Maybe you don’t remember me; my name is Special Agent Samuel Byrnes from the FBI.”
She recognized him alright. But not dressed as he was, not carrying a badge and gun. In her minds eye she could see an older version sipping a beer wearing a NY Yankees cap. A brave act in Boston.
In her actions against Max, did she really change anything at all?
Before I address the feedback, I want to thank everyone who gave me advice regarding how I should continue this story. I think I am going to break it up into four parts, each linked to the other. So in that light expect probably two more parts and an epilogue. The next part should be done by Tuesday as I finally have a bit more free time now that this week is over. As to how long it will take me to get the first part of Eidolon out, I am already story boarding for it, so expect it one week after the epilogue.
Sterbetrachter- When I was writing I tried to picture how Maria would react if she was really happy and full of energy. And in denial of sorts at just how close she had come to death. The answer of course would be really really hyper. Isabel's reaction would be icing on the cake for her, possibly driving Maria to even greater acts of hyperness, if that is even concievable.
xmag- Valerium is a psionic inhibiter drug, basically a time release form of the drug the Special Unit injected into Max when he was in the White Room. The formula is not as strong, but it also lacks the side effects the injections can cause, and is safe to use on a long term basis.
The fact that is weaker is not usually a problem in that it is usually used on suspected human psis. Why does it exist, well in this world psi actually works, the US government had proof in the late forties from the captured aliens and developed the first drug. In the real world both the Soviets and the Americans really spent millions trying to develop remote sensing and other forms of psionics, so with proof that it really does exist...
Richard's company actually makes Valerium, and several other drugs and supliments. It has other uses other than what Tess has used it for. These may come into play later.
Nacedo used some on Tess, to make sure that she could not use her powers when she was very young. The more recent orders were from him to surpress Liz. There is a specific reason why Nasedo did not just kill the humans, one that will be touched in later parts. And while it is true that developing powers can be dangerous and painful, Tess's real reason is to buy time. She does not want them to know that they may actually develop powers. Their potential lack of control would dramatically increase their risk of discovery and would lessen her feelings of racial superiority.
So Tess is helping them, but mostly she is helping herself.
As to Liz and Courtney, this part may clear up some of the questions. Just remember Courtney's real age and all the emotional investment Liz has made in regards to the End of the World.
TheAntarianKing- Tess is running out of time in so many ways. Part of Liz's problem is what I said above, she is emotionally invested in her sacrifice. The other part is that in the first timeline, Maria kills Liz. Liz was so happy with Max, that she let all of her old friends slip away. It can be a natural situation, but in this case it had a nasty consequence. Of course, Liz is still the only one who knows of the potential future at this point, so it is just another secret she is keeping from her friends.
Juli ana- Thanks. Hope you like the story.
Disclaimer- Some scenes and ideas may be taken from Wipeout.
Longest Day part 35
Courtney-
Courtney sat back quietly and watched as the scenery passed by on their way to her apartment. It was funny Roswell had never seemed home, not until now. It was too small, too kitschy, trying so hard to capitalize on a single event in its past. But now, things were different.
It was funny how a single day can completely change your perspective.
For Roswell was home now. It had been so long since she had had a place to call home. Certainly she had never truly felt at home in Copper Summit, where there were so many differences between what she believed and what so many of her fellow Rhyajhaelians believed. The Palace had been the same; even at the Archadian she had felt different. It had been in Drimordjian that she last felt truly at home.
She could still remember that last picnic with her family before she left for school, before she left Drimordjian. It would be the last time that she would see her family.
She missed them; even now over seventy years later she missed them,
But now by some quirk of fate she had a new family. It wasn’t what she had expected when she was growing up, part of the first generation that did not truly worry about overpopulation; she had expected to have a large family like she herself had grown up in. With Outsider technology they were able to reopen some of the older, dying arks and to build new homes on the surface. It truly did seem like a golden age was just on the horizon.
But her home was destroyed, Drimordjian was destroyed. And things changed, her priorities changed. There was no more time for dreaming of a family, no more time for happiness. There was too much work to do. Political rallies, learning how to battle the police, learning how to fight against soldiers sent to stop them. Even when things had calmed down, when she was in the Palace helping Vilandra, there had never seemed to be the time. Always just a little farther away, she had always promised herself she would settle down when things calmed down.
They never did. And now decades later, dying on a primitive backwater planet, she had a family.
Oh, today had changed so much. To think she had been chasing after Michael, seeking only to control his growth. To push and mold him into the image of Rath that she and her compatriots had desired. Who he was and what he desired were unimportant issues, for they had had a plan, she and her cohorts had designed a set destiny that would place him on the road to the throne of Antar. That plan was all over now, and if what Zack had said was true, her fellow conspirators were now all dead.
While she mourned the loss of her friends, this would be good for Michael in the long run. For one of the things she had learned was that Michael was not Rath. They were similar in so many ways, and yet he was himself. None of the reborn Royals were who they had been, you could see echoes of the past, but their brief lives on Earth had shaped them as well. They were themselves, and that was not a bad thing.
She wished she had been more prudent, more cautious when she had come to Roswell. But she had played the part of a teenager for so long; it must have affected her judgment. In her mind it had seemed so much easier to just seduce Michael, to treat him like she had so many other adolescent and older boys before. She had not realized how deep a bond with Maria that Michael had already formed. She doubted that either of them had known either, not until today when Michael had been forced to make a choice.
He had risked his own life to save Maria, had risked everything. Courtney had never really had a chance at actually attaining Michael; all she could have done was ruined his relationship with Maria. A feat she had almost accomplished. She had hurt them badly, all for her devotion to an idea.
It was a shame really. Had I played my cards differently, had I not seen the humans as mere obstacles, I might have made some friends. I might have enjoyed this last fruitless summer…
And as her mind spun pleasant dreams of what could have been, the part of her mind that had made her a survivor made plans. The instincts that had turned Karis from a student activist into a soldier, a politician, a spy; they planned her last days. How to help the two kids she loved, to somehow explain to Maria what Courtney had done to her, and just possibly have a good time while she was at it.
I don’t know how much time I have left. I need to make it count.
----
Michael-
Michael felt keenly the awkward silence as Richard drove Courtney home. The silence was broken only at Courtney’s terse directions to Richard on the route to her apartment. It was this sort of highly charged emotional intensity that made him nervous.
I mean what do you say to someone who is dying? How do I reconcile her actions today, hell her actions for the last couple of weeks; with the Courtney that sought to seduce me, to use me. Is she helping me because she wants to help or is it still just a ploy? Some arcane Skin plot that will one day lead me to betray those whose trust I hold?
Or did she change, did she decide that she wants to help me, rather than the man I may once have been. Who is she doing all this for, for me or for Rath?
She tried to save Maria. That counts for a lot.
The Hummer stopped and Courtney got out. Michael heard her give her thanks to Richard, but he could not quite make out what Richard said back. Courtney merely smiled and clasped his hand. As she walked to the curb she tapped at Michael’s window.
She said, “Hey Michael, give me a call if anything happens, okay?”
“Sure, just get some rest. I am sure Max will be able to think of something to help you.”
Courtney just smiled at that. “Just don’t forget to have Maria call me.” She turned away and started walking toward her apartment. If it were not for the occasional tremor, you would not know that she was ill.
Hopefully Max really will be able to think of something. Or maybe Liz. It really is a shame that as soon as she becomes marginally bearable she starts dying.
Richard started the Hummer up again, to bear Michael to the Crashdown and Richard to his daughter. The vehicle was silent for a moment, both of them lost to their thoughts.
Richard cleared his throat and said, “So how long have you known the girl?”
“Um, Courtney showed up this summer. We did not really know what she was until a few weeks ago.”
“No not the Skin, the girl, Maria. You know the one you saved in the church?”
“Oh. We’ve known each other for a long time, but we were never close. Not until recently.”
It pained him how much that had been true. So many missed opportunities. Sure, a lot of missed aggravation and emotional crap too, but, but he wished he had known her sooner.
Michael sighed and continued, “You see while we all went to the same school, we never really hung out together. It was just us aliens and the humans had their own group. The thing is that Max basically fell for Liz when he first saw her, and she was always with Maria. Always.” Michael paused for a few moments. “After I met back up with Isabel and Max, I always hung out with them. Mostly with Max, as Isabel has always had a social streak. So since Max was always watching Liz, who was always with Maria, and I was always with Max… Yeah, we knew each other; the thing is both of us held the other in contempt. Maria thought of me as a, how did she put it, ‘a loser going nowhere from the wrong side of the tracks,’ I just thought that Maria was nuts.”
“Obviously that has changed.”
“Yeah,” Michael paused. Has it really changed? I mean, what do I have to offer her? Why does she care about me when we all know how what a bad influence on her life I have been? I mean she nearly died today! She would be better off if she had never known me.
“What you did was magnificent. It was something I had only heard of from legends, to see it… You and your friends truly amazing, I wish that I could have seen Isabel in action as well.”
“Hmmph,” Michael’s thoughts began to turn dark. We should leave. We should make a clean break and let the humans just get on with their lives. They would be safer without all the problems we bring.
Richard glanced at Michael, “I need to talk to you. There may be repercussions from what happened today.”
Michael turned and paid attention, something might be wrong with Maria. It was the least he could do to try to protect her after all she had been through.
“First the drug I gave her, the drug that put her in stasis has some side effects. In large amounts it dulls the senses; even small amounts can have an effect. In humans, on the few subjects that I have used it on, sight and hearing came back quickly. Her sense of touch will likely have returned by now too. But humans have such a weak sense of smell, and while important it’s not as high priority as the other senses, at least in regards to overcoming this drug, it will likely be affected for a while. Her sense of taste will be likewise affected.”
Michael just stared at him. Maria is going to freak. What will she do without all her smelly aroma therapy stuff?
“Hopefully it will come back quickly, but I have only used this on people a couple of times. My daughter’s senses sprang back in about a week, but my wife’s never really recovered. Even when her taste buds were working again she still favored heavily spiced foods.”
“What happened?”
“It was an accident about five years ago, the roads were icy and I lost control. My wife would have died; the paramedics would never have gotten there in time. My daughter probably would have survived, but I did not want to take the chance. So I knew that it worked when I needed it today. But it will affect her.”
“Why do I have the feeling there is more?”
“There is. You will need to protect Maria. In truth you will need to protect Liz and Kyle too, but I figure your friends can help you there. If what I suspect is right, you should keep your eyes on Liz. She should not have been able to use that stunner. As far as I am aware of, no human can summon enough power to use most Antaran devices.”
“So Liz isn’t human, are we even sure it is Liz? We need to hurry and get back!”
“Hold on. I never met Liz, but whoever that was, was indeed human. She was psionically active, but she was human. Watching her would be a good idea.”
“How does this tie into Maria?”
Richard sighed. “Liz was captured for a reason. I am uncertain, but I fear that she was a target because she had a high psionic profile, possibly because Max healed her. I know that Kyle has an elevated profile; Liz certainly does now as well. It may be that Maria will develop one as well, and that would make her a target. It is not certain, but it is not a risk I think you should take.”
“Why do you care?”
“Earth is my home. I do not want your friends to become weapons against their home world, to be weapons in the wars of Antar. You must understand, had you been alive on Antar, none of you would have been my friends. I was a devoted Mitharan separatist, but that was then. I don’t care about Antar anymore, my family, my home, my life is here.” Richard shook his head. “If ever you had the opportunity to go back, I would not help you. But as long as you are here, as long as you help protect Earth from them, I want to help you. This world in this time and place is free, primitive, but free. I would have my daughter and my sons live their lives as they would wish, not as some would be galactic overlord would have it.”
Michael nodded his head slightly. “I will watch them.”
“Thanks, if I can do anything to help, let me know.”
The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Michael was lost in thought. For all the bad news, for all the things he now had to watch for, all the new worries, he had one thing to console him. It was too late to withdraw from Maria. For good or ill, she was part of the whole mess. He could no longer justify staying away from her anymore.
Truly, every cloud has its silver lining.
---
Liz-
Liz’s spirits were high as she walked into the Crashdown. Despite the long shift ahead of her, despite a slight feeling of foreboding, she simply could not help it. Maria’s good mood was simply infectious. Only Isabel seemed immune. Isabel was hurriedly helping Becky get the equipment cart out of the Jeep for Brody.
What am I going to do about Max? I can not believe it has all fallen apart so fast. I don’t want to lie to him anymore, and yet I can not tell him the truth. What am I going to do?
So it was, arms laden with cans that Liz walked into the Crashdown with Maria.
To be greeted by the sound of her father calling out, “Liz, Maria, what took you so long? What with everything that’s happening you were making me worried.” He walked over and gave Liz a huge hug, “Are you okay, little Lizzie-bear?”
Liz looked up into her father’s eyes and just nodded. She could see the worry in his eyes, his love for his little girl.
Flash-
She was perfect. From her tiny little toes to the trace of brown hair, his little Elizabeth was perfect. He looked over at Nancy, who was still so exhausted, and pledged that he would protect both of them.
End Flash
Maria said, “Sorry Mr. Parker, we had a bit of trouble with the Jetta. We’ll grab the rest of the stuff after we drop these off. Come on Liz, the sooner we get this done the better.”
Liz let go of her father and followed Maria into the backroom of the restaurant. She watched out of the corner of her eyes as Maria calmly set down the cans she had been carrying. Too calmly.
“Liz did my eyes deceive or did you just get a flash from your dad?”
“Um, what?”
“You get this look on your face… Am I right? I mean how could that happen? And what did you see?”
A denial flashed instantly to her mind. When did it get so easy to lie, even to those she loved? It was not as if she was going to break a confidence, and she needed someone to trust. Maria had always been there.
Her mind still boggled at the thought that things could have gone so wrong in the other timeline. That she would ignore and abandon her best friend, to the point that Maria could be turned and join the enemy. Maria’s voice taunting Liz about her youngest daughter Amy, about abducting her and raising her to be a puppet for Khivar,
And then killing her. My God, how could Maria kill me? How do I stop it from happening again? I have to keep Tess here; I have to make Max understand! But was it enough, Ana is still here. I could recognize traces of her from Maria. What do I have to do?
For one thing she would stop lying to Maria. There had to be one person to whom she could always tell the truth to. She would never have Max, not once he understood. Not once he understood what not following Destiny entailed. Maybe, maybe they could at least stay friends? Still, if she had to give up Max, she was not going to lose Maria this time.
“Yes, I saw him as he was holding me as an infant.”
Maria just stared at Liz, “Wow, so you are getting flashes from more than just Max then?”
“It started this morning after I woke up as Emily, they must have done something to me. This was the first since I remembered who I really am that I got one though. When we have time I have got a lot to tell you.”
“Okay chica, your father is probably about to check up on us anyway. I expect lots of details, particularly about the hug you and Max shared. I have my own little stories to tell I must say.”
Jeff Parker walked back into the room. “Okay ladies, I am not paying you too just to chat. And while I love to hear both your beautiful voices yammering on, I am sure that both Karen and Ashlyn would love some help. I think we are going to be very busy and I am calling in as much help as I can.” Jeff turned to go back into the restaurant, “Oh and Maria, your mother wants you to call her. Go ahead and do that before you hit the floor. And Liz, you have another FBI agent that wants to talk to you about Congresswoman Whitaker. If you could make it quick, we desperately need the help.”
Liz heard a voice calling from the kitchen.
Jeff just smiled and shook his head, “I am coming Jose!” He then walked out the door.
Maria turned back to Liz, “Well I am off to sooth the parental unit. Good luck with the FBI agent.”
Both of them started walking out towards the kitchen. “Yeah, somehow I don’t think this situation is fair.”
“You know my mother; you know how long it is going to be to calm her down. Good thing she doesn’t know the truth or I wouldn’t be able to leave the house.”
“Okay, so maybe I will be the one to get off easy.” Liz stopped when she saw a tall man in a dark suit standing in the break room. “Excuse me, but can I help you?”
The man smiled, “Miss Parker it is a pleasure to see you again. Particularly in such better circumstances. Maybe you don’t remember me; my name is Special Agent Samuel Byrnes from the FBI.”
She recognized him alright. But not dressed as he was, not carrying a badge and gun. In her minds eye she could see an older version sipping a beer wearing a NY Yankees cap. A brave act in Boston.
In her actions against Max, did she really change anything at all?
Thanks to everyone reading this story. Particular thanks go to RhondaAnn, Natalie36, Sternbetrachter, TheAntarianKing, and xmag.
RhondaAnn- Thanks. Sad, but true, Michael was thinking of withdrawing from Maria. For her own protection of course, and yes it would have hurt both of them badly. I agree that Michael would not have been able to go far or be away from her for long.
As for Liz, she is determined not to lose her friend again. As to whether enough has been changed, well that remains to be seen.
Natalie36- Thanks
Sternbetrachter- Thanks
TheAntarianKing- Thanks. Liz is not thinking clearly at all. To be honest, she wasn't thinking all that clearly on the show either. She should have told someone about Future Max, much sooner than she did. Hopefully Maria will be able to talk sense to her. Liz is very smart, but strong emotions easily cloud her judgement.
xmag- Maria will be much harder to turn if both Michael and Liz support her. In fact it would be well near impossible. So far Michael's bond is much stronger in this timeline, remember in this stories timeline one, everything calmed down after Whitiaker died. The Skins were not desperate, and so did not push for the Granolith as hard. The Harvest was successful, and Courtney disappeared- killed by Zack(parts 17-20 I believe) Tess left, and Alex never left for Sweden. Without an outside threat the group slowly falls apart.
Liz and Max had three children, Amy was the youngest.
Disclaimer- Some scenes and ideas may be taken from Wipeout.
Longest Day part 36
Alex-
Alex was deep in thought. The problem lay in that he wasn’t quite sure what he was thinking about. He was so deep in thought that he almost did not hear Max call his name.
“Alex, where are you going? I thought you were headed to the UFO Center like I am.”
“Um yeah, of course,” Alex thought for a second, finally realizing where he was. Had they walked that fast or had he completely spaced out for nearly ten minutes? He shook his head to clear out the cobwebs that seemed to fill his seemingly cluttered mind. What had he been thinking about?
Sweden. He had been thinking about his upcoming trip. He had been thinking of translating Swedish. Of somehow devising a program to decode Swedish so that he could understand it for his trip.
Max looked at him intently. “Are you okay, Alex? Do you need me to look at you?”
“No, no, I am fine. Really and truly.”
Max still looked at him worriedly, “Are you sure, I mean for a moment there you looked so stressed and tired I thought you might collapse.”
“Just nervous about my trip. I’ve been trying to learn a little bit of Swedish, but I hope that my host family speaks English well. This trip came up so fast; I haven’t really had a lot of time to get ready.” Alex shook his head and chuckled softly, “I really wish I could come up with a real time computer translator, you know like they always use in science fiction. Hey you’re an alien, I don’t suppose you have a spare?”
“Alex! Please not in public, particularly when there are Air Force soldiers probably scattered around Roswell. At least the FBI isn’t here.”
Did I mention to Liz that someone was looking for her? No damn it, I didn’t. Why can’t I focus anymore? “Um, Max, we should hurry to the Crashdown. Hopefully they decided to unload the UFO stuff first.” Alex started walking faster.
“Why, Alex?”
“Because there is an FBI agent waiting for Liz in the Crashdown.”
“WHAT! Alex, why didn’t you mention this before? What does he want?”
“Did I mention I’ve been under a little stress maybe? You know trying to tie up all of the stuff I need to before I miss the latter part of the school quarter? You know maybe try to speak a couple of words in a language that I have never even heard spoken before. Not everything revolves around the Abyss.”
Max sighed, “Okay, Alex, I’ll grant you’re under a bit of stress. But this is kind of important, what did the agent want?”
“Sorry, it’s just…”
“Alex, focus. What does he want?”
“He said he was just here to talk about Whitaker, but he also asked Mr. Parker if he had seen Pierce. But what really worried me is how he acted once he realized something bizarre had happened. As I was walking out to see for myself what was going on and to maybe help the Sheriff, I overheard him talking to someone… Max, those helicopters, the ones bringing in those Air Force guys, I think he called them in.”
“But you are not sure?”
“How can I be? I couldn’t linger or he would know I overheard him, and I certainly couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation.”
Max was silent.
Alex looked over at the former alien king and saw a pensive brooding look cover his face. “Max?”
“It’s too late then. Liz loves her parents, one of the first things she would have done is let them know she is okay. By now, by now the agent has already introduced himself. The last thing we need to do is to draw suspicion now.” Max sighed and rubbed his eyes. “It is never over is it?”
Now it was Alex’s turn to sigh. “No it never seems to end around you guys. I have to admit I am looking forward to a break when I am in Sweden.”
Max stopped. Anguish crossed his face. “Do you ever regret knowing us?”
Obviously something has happened today. Something big, and once again I am on the outside looking in. Why does he care what I think, I mean it’s not like we are close friends. Not really, I am closer to his sister. And that is not that close and getting more distant by the day.
So Alex looked at him, really looked at him. Alex disregarded all the normal filters that he usually saw Max through, Liz’s on and off boyfriend, Isabel’s sister, once and possibly future king. He used the skills and talents that had caused Topolsky, who had known of Alex’s love of music and computers to label his best possible career as a psychologist…
For a brief moment the cobwebs in his mind cleared and he analyzed all he knew of Max. Why would he react so strongly to Alex’s comment?
Fear. Max was afraid of rejection, afraid that anyone who knew his secret would not want to have anything to do with him. And considering what had happened last May, those fears were not entirely misplaced. Still it explained his aloofness, a preemptive strike against rejection.
And now Max thought Alex was going to reject him and all of his kind. Max probably would not care, but that he was such good friends with Liz and Maria. And while Max could live without Alex, losing the girls would just kill him. Max had been on the razors edge this summer just over Liz, and even after applying the Maria filter, Alex had to agree that only Maria’s friendship had kept Max reasonably sane.
“Max, I can not deny the desire for a break. I mean there’s all this stuff that keeps happening and most of it I only find out when I am comforting Liz or Maria. I’m tired of just being there to pick up the pieces, to know enough to get scared for all of you, but never actually there to help. Even Isabel has completely shut me out. I know that she doesn’t care for me like I do her, I accept that. But I just wish I could help, that you all wouldn’t just leave me behind like always.”
Max gave him a puzzled look, placed his hands in his pockets, and started walking toward Main Street. Alex quickly caught up with him. Right as they got to the corner Max turned and grabbed his shoulder. “So Alex what are you saying. Do you want to be out or in?”
Alex looked quickly around, but no one was close by. “I will not abandon my girls to whatever fate they may face. I will be there to support them, no matter the cost.” And the price has been higher than you know Max. “And the secret that we share, Max I am honored to hold it fast. To know that humanity is not alone in the universe, to really and truly know it. Well Max that is a true gift. I just wish…”
Alex would have continued to ramble on, but he felt an odd feeling. It was a little reminiscent of what he had felt earlier, only it felt like someone was staring at him. Alex turned around and saw her. Isabel was standing across the street, just about to get in to the Jeep. She waved and gave him a sad wistful smile. She then got in the Jeep and drove off.
Alex’s hand was still raised from the wave he gave back to Isabel. She looks so wonderful. His heart was pounding as he watched her drive off. Alex could hear Max softly laughing.
Max said, “So I take it, a certain tall blonde would be counted in as one of those girls you would protect at any cost?”
Alex glared back at Max, but he felt as his cheeks burned bright red. How pathetic is it that although she treats me like I’m beneath her consideration, one wave and I am ready to storm the very gates of Hell. And I would if she asked me to, I really would. “Would that be a problem Evans?”
Max was still softly laughing, “Not at all. You are certainly much better than Grant.” Max walked up to the curb and watched traffic in preparation to cross.
“She is still seeing him?”
Max shuddered slightly, “Yeah, she dated the creep just last night. There is something about him that just doesn’t feel right, and not just because he is way too old for my sister.”
Alex just nodded.
A gap appeared in the sporadic Saturday traffic, and they crossed in silence. Alex walked up to the door leading to the Museum and noticed the closed sign. Max stopped him before he tried the door.
“Alex, one thing before we go back to the UFO madness. I just wanted to say that I have not been deliberately trying to keep you out of all of it. We usually don’t plan these things, they just come up. But I will remember your willingness to help, and will try to include you when you come back from your trip. As for Isabel,” Max paused to sigh, “I don’t really know. I think she likes you, I think she likes you a lot. I think it scares her, just like Maria scares Michael. But Iz is more social, she can’t just fade into the woodwork like Michael. I would say just give her some time, but to be honest I don’t really understand her so much any more. She has secrets now…”
Secrets. Well Alex could understand that. He had secrets now too. He just wished he could remember them.
----
Liz-
Liz found it very strange to be dealing with Samuel Byrnes again. Could she even call it ‘again’ when they had not really even met yet?
She had met him, what in 2010? At her 27th birthday party, she had still been carrying Amy at the time. She could still remember Max listening raptly as Serena talked about some of her research. Isabel was playing with the twins, a doting aunt who had never really found anyone she could ever fully trust. Of her friends, only Maria was absent, stuck on some tour out west.
Even paranoid Michael had been there, muttering his conspiracy theories, now including Maria in them. He really had never recovered from their break up all those years before. How Liz wished she had paid attention to him then.
Agent Byrnes, or Sam as Liz had known him as then, had mentioned that they had met before under dire circumstances. Of all of her friends not in the know, he had been the only one not surprised at her hidden gifts when things had all gone wrong. And that had thrown even strange enigmatic Serena for a loop. How had he known? Had the FBI been following them even after the Special Unit had been disbanded?
Are they following us right now?
She motioned the agent over to a near-by couch. She sat herself as she saw him sit down. Liz cleared her throat and said, “So how can I help you Agent Byrnes.”
“You don’t remember me do you? From Florida?”
“Um, no I can not say that I do.”
He looked intently at her face; she remembered that lying to him was usually pointless. Fortunately she wasn’t really lying. She did not remember what he was talking about. He had mentioned it last timeline, too.
Unfortunately she did recognize him, and she feared she could not hide the recognition. But how was she to tell him that she remembered him from a now defunct timeline?
He sighed slightly and said, “Liz I can understand how you would feel grateful to him, but if you know anything about the whereabouts of Daniel Pierce, you have to let me know. He is a very dangerous man, more dangerous than most would believe.”
“The last I saw of him was when he visited Congresswoman Whitaker in late September. Apparently they had been carrying on an affair for some time.”
“Yes a couple of her regular staffers told us that as well. Did you know that as far as we can tell, you may have been one of the last people to see her? The last place we can definitely place her is here at the Crashdown attending a party for one Isabel Evans. Do you know why she would come to this particular party?”
“Um, actually it was a spur of the moment thing for her I believe. I was working late and I told her I was going, Isabel is one of my friends from school.” Liz shrugged. “She said she wanted to meet some of her constituents.”
“Did you know that Isabel’s father had contributed to Vanessa Whitakers reelection campaign? Do you know if that was a factor?”
“Honestly I did not know that.”
Agent Byrnes just nodded slightly, “I see from your original statement that even though you were not certain of the Congresswoman’s location, you did not report her missing. You even told some people asking for her she was on vacation. Is there a reason why?”
“She, she had mentioned that she needed some time away. I did not think anything of it, I mean she had other offices. I was just an intern; I thought she had just gone someplace else without telling me.”
“I see,” If anything his gaze firmed even more, “One last thing, have you ever been to Copper Summit, Arizona?”
“Not that I am aware of.”
“Right. Well thank you for your time Miss Parker. If you remember anything, anything at all regarding what we have talked about please call the number on this card.”
Liz took the card wordlessly.
“I hazard to say that a great deal is riding on this case. They have to be stopped.”
“Okay.”
“Remember; call me with anything, even the smallest seemingly most insignificant detail. Good bye, Miss Parker.” The agent picked up his laptop case and left the break room.
He would be back. She was certain of it, for could tell that her answers had not fully satisfied him, that he suspected she was hiding something. And she was, for she really did know what had happened to Whitaker and Pierce. She was frightened too, by his addition of Copper Summit to his questions. Why did he want to know?
How long she sat there Liz was uncertain, but it wasn’t until Michael came in and went up to his locker that Liz was aware of the passing of time.
“Michael, what are you doing here?”
“Your father drafted me to help through the lunch rush. Jose had some family emergency. Speaking of which, it is nuts out there, Maria and the rest could use your help.”
Liz got up quietly. “Yeah, I should go help them. Thanks for coming in.”
“I can use the overtime. Oh, and what did the FBI guy want, is he going to be a problem?”
Liz thought for a moment and said, “Yes, Michael, I think he will. He is looking for Pierce and Whitaker. And he mentioned something about Copper Summit. Yes, I think he could be a lot of trouble indeed.”
----
Isabel-
Isabel sat quietly at one of the tables in the food court in the Roswell Mall. She was early, but she just did not feel like stopping at home. Somehow the bustle of ordinary shoppers made her feel… safe. They made her feel that her actions earlier on where justified. Those Skins had zapped all of these people; every one of them had been gone. She desperately needed to feel justified, for she had killed… again.
She did not like feeling like a killer. There were still nights that she saw Whitaker right before Isabel had destroyed her. Isabel feared that image would stay with her forever. Her life was starting to feel claustrophobic, she wanted to break out but she just did not know how.
She needed someone to talk to, and for the millionth time she thought of telling her mom the truth. All of the truth. And for the millionth time she discarded it, for even though she constantly argued with Max about it, Isabel feared that what he said was true. Even if her parents did not reject her and Max, their relationship would dramatically change. It would put them at risk. They would want to help, and that would put them even more at risk.
Then there were those sharp words that Becky-creature had said to her. About how she was treating Alex, which by leaving him in Limbo like she was, by not fully letting him go she was hurting him. Isabel regarded again the fragile link that still bound Alex to her, the thin lifeline that Isabel was still too craven to cut. She feared that Becky had been right, but she just could not do it. Fragile as it was it made her feel safe.
She wished she could compare notes with her brother. That she could talk to Liz about it. But they could never know, no one could know. She probably should tell Alex, but she was afraid of what he would say. Would he expect more from her, or would he want it gone, want to be free. Isabel was not certain which would be worse… She personally feared both outcomes.
Her mother walked up, “Isabel, how were your friends?”
“They are good, nothing happened to them today. Even though the Crashdown was close to whatever happened to that hotel.”
“That is good to hear, did you see anything on the news about it.”
“No I just helped my friends and then came over here. You should here some of the crazy outlandish theories that are already cropping up though.”
“Let me guess, they all involve aliens?”
Isabel laughed and her mother did too. Isabel had missed this, for with all the stress that had come with the past year; she had not been as close to her mom. For a moment the desire to tell her was very strong. “So Mom, do you believe in aliens?”
“Well I suppose it’s possible, but nothing I have seen or heard about makes me think they are here. I think I am more a skeptic now than before I moved to Roswell.”
And just like that, Isabel’s desire to tell her mother faded. It would return, as would her resolve to release Alex from a bondage he was currently unaware of. She would have to make a choice at some point.
She just could not bring herself to make a major change right now.
----
Maria-
Somehow despite the horrors of a busy day at the Crashdown, Maria’s spirits remained high. Maybe it was because she had actually gotten better than average tips today. Maybe it was the party that she would hopefully be able to attend, even if Michael wasn’t going.
Ah, Michael. She feared that he had ruined her for anyone but him. For when they kissed she might not get flashes, but there was this incredible feeling that she got coursing through her body. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, and somehow she knew, that she never would when he finally left her. And he would, it was inevitable that his home world, his cause would eventually pull him away from her. But until that sad day, he may not know it yet, but he was hers.
Somehow there had been a development on that front too. For that feeling, that wonderful energy feeling that she got with his kiss, she now could feel just by touching him. Which made her wonder, what would kissing him be like now? While they were not actually going out at the moment, she would have to corner him at some point in the near future and find out.
Hopefully her taste buds would start working soon too. Everything she tried at work had tasted so bland. A worry for another day.
She got out of the Jetta and walked towards her house. She had worked a little later than expected, but she still had plenty of time to get ready. Her mother should definitely be home by now.
“Hey, mom, I am home.”
“You’re late Maria.”
“Yeah, it was totally crazy at work today. How were things at your shop?” Maria walked into the dining room and she was disheartened by what she saw. Her mother was seated at the table with a glass of whisky in one hand, a handful of papers in the other. The table was covered in photos and papers. There even looked something like a red and blue folded cloth lying near where her mom was sitting. “Rough day?”
“Business was a little slow today because of that bizarre disruption near the Mayor’s Office. It has just been a long day. So do you have any plans for the evening?”
“Um, actually there was a party I was thinking of going to, but if you need me here… What is all this stuff?”
Amy sighed, took a sip of her whisky, and said, “You should go to the party. All this is stuff I will have to talk to you about, I just want to go through it first. You have fun at your party. Just remember…”
“Yeah, yeah, no alcohol, drugs, or sex.”
“Trust me Maria; it will save you an immense amount of anguish in the long run. Don’t forget to fix yourself something for dinner and have fun.”
“Okay, well I am going to get ready, my admirers await.”
“Speaking of which, is Michael going.”
“Not that I am aware of, why would that be a problem?”
“I am not sure I trust him, he is male after all. But somehow I have always gotten the feeling that you are safer with him.” Amy shrugged. “So your virtue is probably safe, but only as long as you are physically safe. Don’t forget to take some pepper spray.”
“Mom, I am so leaving this conversation.” Maria walked as fast as she could to get out of voice range and into the shower. Those papers worried her, she wasn’t sure why but they did. Maybe because of how her mom had waved her away.
She shrugged. They would still be there tomorrow. She had a party to go to, and she wanted to get ready early so to try and get Liz to go one last time. Liz needed something to take her mind off of all the craziness of today, and this party should do it.
It was final. Liz was going. She just did not know it yet.
RhondaAnn- Thanks. Sad, but true, Michael was thinking of withdrawing from Maria. For her own protection of course, and yes it would have hurt both of them badly. I agree that Michael would not have been able to go far or be away from her for long.
As for Liz, she is determined not to lose her friend again. As to whether enough has been changed, well that remains to be seen.
Natalie36- Thanks
Sternbetrachter- Thanks
TheAntarianKing- Thanks. Liz is not thinking clearly at all. To be honest, she wasn't thinking all that clearly on the show either. She should have told someone about Future Max, much sooner than she did. Hopefully Maria will be able to talk sense to her. Liz is very smart, but strong emotions easily cloud her judgement.
xmag- Maria will be much harder to turn if both Michael and Liz support her. In fact it would be well near impossible. So far Michael's bond is much stronger in this timeline, remember in this stories timeline one, everything calmed down after Whitiaker died. The Skins were not desperate, and so did not push for the Granolith as hard. The Harvest was successful, and Courtney disappeared- killed by Zack(parts 17-20 I believe) Tess left, and Alex never left for Sweden. Without an outside threat the group slowly falls apart.
Liz and Max had three children, Amy was the youngest.
Disclaimer- Some scenes and ideas may be taken from Wipeout.
Longest Day part 36
Alex-
Alex was deep in thought. The problem lay in that he wasn’t quite sure what he was thinking about. He was so deep in thought that he almost did not hear Max call his name.
“Alex, where are you going? I thought you were headed to the UFO Center like I am.”
“Um yeah, of course,” Alex thought for a second, finally realizing where he was. Had they walked that fast or had he completely spaced out for nearly ten minutes? He shook his head to clear out the cobwebs that seemed to fill his seemingly cluttered mind. What had he been thinking about?
Sweden. He had been thinking about his upcoming trip. He had been thinking of translating Swedish. Of somehow devising a program to decode Swedish so that he could understand it for his trip.
Max looked at him intently. “Are you okay, Alex? Do you need me to look at you?”
“No, no, I am fine. Really and truly.”
Max still looked at him worriedly, “Are you sure, I mean for a moment there you looked so stressed and tired I thought you might collapse.”
“Just nervous about my trip. I’ve been trying to learn a little bit of Swedish, but I hope that my host family speaks English well. This trip came up so fast; I haven’t really had a lot of time to get ready.” Alex shook his head and chuckled softly, “I really wish I could come up with a real time computer translator, you know like they always use in science fiction. Hey you’re an alien, I don’t suppose you have a spare?”
“Alex! Please not in public, particularly when there are Air Force soldiers probably scattered around Roswell. At least the FBI isn’t here.”
Did I mention to Liz that someone was looking for her? No damn it, I didn’t. Why can’t I focus anymore? “Um, Max, we should hurry to the Crashdown. Hopefully they decided to unload the UFO stuff first.” Alex started walking faster.
“Why, Alex?”
“Because there is an FBI agent waiting for Liz in the Crashdown.”
“WHAT! Alex, why didn’t you mention this before? What does he want?”
“Did I mention I’ve been under a little stress maybe? You know trying to tie up all of the stuff I need to before I miss the latter part of the school quarter? You know maybe try to speak a couple of words in a language that I have never even heard spoken before. Not everything revolves around the Abyss.”
Max sighed, “Okay, Alex, I’ll grant you’re under a bit of stress. But this is kind of important, what did the agent want?”
“Sorry, it’s just…”
“Alex, focus. What does he want?”
“He said he was just here to talk about Whitaker, but he also asked Mr. Parker if he had seen Pierce. But what really worried me is how he acted once he realized something bizarre had happened. As I was walking out to see for myself what was going on and to maybe help the Sheriff, I overheard him talking to someone… Max, those helicopters, the ones bringing in those Air Force guys, I think he called them in.”
“But you are not sure?”
“How can I be? I couldn’t linger or he would know I overheard him, and I certainly couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation.”
Max was silent.
Alex looked over at the former alien king and saw a pensive brooding look cover his face. “Max?”
“It’s too late then. Liz loves her parents, one of the first things she would have done is let them know she is okay. By now, by now the agent has already introduced himself. The last thing we need to do is to draw suspicion now.” Max sighed and rubbed his eyes. “It is never over is it?”
Now it was Alex’s turn to sigh. “No it never seems to end around you guys. I have to admit I am looking forward to a break when I am in Sweden.”
Max stopped. Anguish crossed his face. “Do you ever regret knowing us?”
Obviously something has happened today. Something big, and once again I am on the outside looking in. Why does he care what I think, I mean it’s not like we are close friends. Not really, I am closer to his sister. And that is not that close and getting more distant by the day.
So Alex looked at him, really looked at him. Alex disregarded all the normal filters that he usually saw Max through, Liz’s on and off boyfriend, Isabel’s sister, once and possibly future king. He used the skills and talents that had caused Topolsky, who had known of Alex’s love of music and computers to label his best possible career as a psychologist…
For a brief moment the cobwebs in his mind cleared and he analyzed all he knew of Max. Why would he react so strongly to Alex’s comment?
Fear. Max was afraid of rejection, afraid that anyone who knew his secret would not want to have anything to do with him. And considering what had happened last May, those fears were not entirely misplaced. Still it explained his aloofness, a preemptive strike against rejection.
And now Max thought Alex was going to reject him and all of his kind. Max probably would not care, but that he was such good friends with Liz and Maria. And while Max could live without Alex, losing the girls would just kill him. Max had been on the razors edge this summer just over Liz, and even after applying the Maria filter, Alex had to agree that only Maria’s friendship had kept Max reasonably sane.
“Max, I can not deny the desire for a break. I mean there’s all this stuff that keeps happening and most of it I only find out when I am comforting Liz or Maria. I’m tired of just being there to pick up the pieces, to know enough to get scared for all of you, but never actually there to help. Even Isabel has completely shut me out. I know that she doesn’t care for me like I do her, I accept that. But I just wish I could help, that you all wouldn’t just leave me behind like always.”
Max gave him a puzzled look, placed his hands in his pockets, and started walking toward Main Street. Alex quickly caught up with him. Right as they got to the corner Max turned and grabbed his shoulder. “So Alex what are you saying. Do you want to be out or in?”
Alex looked quickly around, but no one was close by. “I will not abandon my girls to whatever fate they may face. I will be there to support them, no matter the cost.” And the price has been higher than you know Max. “And the secret that we share, Max I am honored to hold it fast. To know that humanity is not alone in the universe, to really and truly know it. Well Max that is a true gift. I just wish…”
Alex would have continued to ramble on, but he felt an odd feeling. It was a little reminiscent of what he had felt earlier, only it felt like someone was staring at him. Alex turned around and saw her. Isabel was standing across the street, just about to get in to the Jeep. She waved and gave him a sad wistful smile. She then got in the Jeep and drove off.
Alex’s hand was still raised from the wave he gave back to Isabel. She looks so wonderful. His heart was pounding as he watched her drive off. Alex could hear Max softly laughing.
Max said, “So I take it, a certain tall blonde would be counted in as one of those girls you would protect at any cost?”
Alex glared back at Max, but he felt as his cheeks burned bright red. How pathetic is it that although she treats me like I’m beneath her consideration, one wave and I am ready to storm the very gates of Hell. And I would if she asked me to, I really would. “Would that be a problem Evans?”
Max was still softly laughing, “Not at all. You are certainly much better than Grant.” Max walked up to the curb and watched traffic in preparation to cross.
“She is still seeing him?”
Max shuddered slightly, “Yeah, she dated the creep just last night. There is something about him that just doesn’t feel right, and not just because he is way too old for my sister.”
Alex just nodded.
A gap appeared in the sporadic Saturday traffic, and they crossed in silence. Alex walked up to the door leading to the Museum and noticed the closed sign. Max stopped him before he tried the door.
“Alex, one thing before we go back to the UFO madness. I just wanted to say that I have not been deliberately trying to keep you out of all of it. We usually don’t plan these things, they just come up. But I will remember your willingness to help, and will try to include you when you come back from your trip. As for Isabel,” Max paused to sigh, “I don’t really know. I think she likes you, I think she likes you a lot. I think it scares her, just like Maria scares Michael. But Iz is more social, she can’t just fade into the woodwork like Michael. I would say just give her some time, but to be honest I don’t really understand her so much any more. She has secrets now…”
Secrets. Well Alex could understand that. He had secrets now too. He just wished he could remember them.
----
Liz-
Liz found it very strange to be dealing with Samuel Byrnes again. Could she even call it ‘again’ when they had not really even met yet?
She had met him, what in 2010? At her 27th birthday party, she had still been carrying Amy at the time. She could still remember Max listening raptly as Serena talked about some of her research. Isabel was playing with the twins, a doting aunt who had never really found anyone she could ever fully trust. Of her friends, only Maria was absent, stuck on some tour out west.
Even paranoid Michael had been there, muttering his conspiracy theories, now including Maria in them. He really had never recovered from their break up all those years before. How Liz wished she had paid attention to him then.
Agent Byrnes, or Sam as Liz had known him as then, had mentioned that they had met before under dire circumstances. Of all of her friends not in the know, he had been the only one not surprised at her hidden gifts when things had all gone wrong. And that had thrown even strange enigmatic Serena for a loop. How had he known? Had the FBI been following them even after the Special Unit had been disbanded?
Are they following us right now?
She motioned the agent over to a near-by couch. She sat herself as she saw him sit down. Liz cleared her throat and said, “So how can I help you Agent Byrnes.”
“You don’t remember me do you? From Florida?”
“Um, no I can not say that I do.”
He looked intently at her face; she remembered that lying to him was usually pointless. Fortunately she wasn’t really lying. She did not remember what he was talking about. He had mentioned it last timeline, too.
Unfortunately she did recognize him, and she feared she could not hide the recognition. But how was she to tell him that she remembered him from a now defunct timeline?
He sighed slightly and said, “Liz I can understand how you would feel grateful to him, but if you know anything about the whereabouts of Daniel Pierce, you have to let me know. He is a very dangerous man, more dangerous than most would believe.”
“The last I saw of him was when he visited Congresswoman Whitaker in late September. Apparently they had been carrying on an affair for some time.”
“Yes a couple of her regular staffers told us that as well. Did you know that as far as we can tell, you may have been one of the last people to see her? The last place we can definitely place her is here at the Crashdown attending a party for one Isabel Evans. Do you know why she would come to this particular party?”
“Um, actually it was a spur of the moment thing for her I believe. I was working late and I told her I was going, Isabel is one of my friends from school.” Liz shrugged. “She said she wanted to meet some of her constituents.”
“Did you know that Isabel’s father had contributed to Vanessa Whitakers reelection campaign? Do you know if that was a factor?”
“Honestly I did not know that.”
Agent Byrnes just nodded slightly, “I see from your original statement that even though you were not certain of the Congresswoman’s location, you did not report her missing. You even told some people asking for her she was on vacation. Is there a reason why?”
“She, she had mentioned that she needed some time away. I did not think anything of it, I mean she had other offices. I was just an intern; I thought she had just gone someplace else without telling me.”
“I see,” If anything his gaze firmed even more, “One last thing, have you ever been to Copper Summit, Arizona?”
“Not that I am aware of.”
“Right. Well thank you for your time Miss Parker. If you remember anything, anything at all regarding what we have talked about please call the number on this card.”
Liz took the card wordlessly.
“I hazard to say that a great deal is riding on this case. They have to be stopped.”
“Okay.”
“Remember; call me with anything, even the smallest seemingly most insignificant detail. Good bye, Miss Parker.” The agent picked up his laptop case and left the break room.
He would be back. She was certain of it, for could tell that her answers had not fully satisfied him, that he suspected she was hiding something. And she was, for she really did know what had happened to Whitaker and Pierce. She was frightened too, by his addition of Copper Summit to his questions. Why did he want to know?
How long she sat there Liz was uncertain, but it wasn’t until Michael came in and went up to his locker that Liz was aware of the passing of time.
“Michael, what are you doing here?”
“Your father drafted me to help through the lunch rush. Jose had some family emergency. Speaking of which, it is nuts out there, Maria and the rest could use your help.”
Liz got up quietly. “Yeah, I should go help them. Thanks for coming in.”
“I can use the overtime. Oh, and what did the FBI guy want, is he going to be a problem?”
Liz thought for a moment and said, “Yes, Michael, I think he will. He is looking for Pierce and Whitaker. And he mentioned something about Copper Summit. Yes, I think he could be a lot of trouble indeed.”
----
Isabel-
Isabel sat quietly at one of the tables in the food court in the Roswell Mall. She was early, but she just did not feel like stopping at home. Somehow the bustle of ordinary shoppers made her feel… safe. They made her feel that her actions earlier on where justified. Those Skins had zapped all of these people; every one of them had been gone. She desperately needed to feel justified, for she had killed… again.
She did not like feeling like a killer. There were still nights that she saw Whitaker right before Isabel had destroyed her. Isabel feared that image would stay with her forever. Her life was starting to feel claustrophobic, she wanted to break out but she just did not know how.
She needed someone to talk to, and for the millionth time she thought of telling her mom the truth. All of the truth. And for the millionth time she discarded it, for even though she constantly argued with Max about it, Isabel feared that what he said was true. Even if her parents did not reject her and Max, their relationship would dramatically change. It would put them at risk. They would want to help, and that would put them even more at risk.
Then there were those sharp words that Becky-creature had said to her. About how she was treating Alex, which by leaving him in Limbo like she was, by not fully letting him go she was hurting him. Isabel regarded again the fragile link that still bound Alex to her, the thin lifeline that Isabel was still too craven to cut. She feared that Becky had been right, but she just could not do it. Fragile as it was it made her feel safe.
She wished she could compare notes with her brother. That she could talk to Liz about it. But they could never know, no one could know. She probably should tell Alex, but she was afraid of what he would say. Would he expect more from her, or would he want it gone, want to be free. Isabel was not certain which would be worse… She personally feared both outcomes.
Her mother walked up, “Isabel, how were your friends?”
“They are good, nothing happened to them today. Even though the Crashdown was close to whatever happened to that hotel.”
“That is good to hear, did you see anything on the news about it.”
“No I just helped my friends and then came over here. You should here some of the crazy outlandish theories that are already cropping up though.”
“Let me guess, they all involve aliens?”
Isabel laughed and her mother did too. Isabel had missed this, for with all the stress that had come with the past year; she had not been as close to her mom. For a moment the desire to tell her was very strong. “So Mom, do you believe in aliens?”
“Well I suppose it’s possible, but nothing I have seen or heard about makes me think they are here. I think I am more a skeptic now than before I moved to Roswell.”
And just like that, Isabel’s desire to tell her mother faded. It would return, as would her resolve to release Alex from a bondage he was currently unaware of. She would have to make a choice at some point.
She just could not bring herself to make a major change right now.
----
Maria-
Somehow despite the horrors of a busy day at the Crashdown, Maria’s spirits remained high. Maybe it was because she had actually gotten better than average tips today. Maybe it was the party that she would hopefully be able to attend, even if Michael wasn’t going.
Ah, Michael. She feared that he had ruined her for anyone but him. For when they kissed she might not get flashes, but there was this incredible feeling that she got coursing through her body. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, and somehow she knew, that she never would when he finally left her. And he would, it was inevitable that his home world, his cause would eventually pull him away from her. But until that sad day, he may not know it yet, but he was hers.
Somehow there had been a development on that front too. For that feeling, that wonderful energy feeling that she got with his kiss, she now could feel just by touching him. Which made her wonder, what would kissing him be like now? While they were not actually going out at the moment, she would have to corner him at some point in the near future and find out.
Hopefully her taste buds would start working soon too. Everything she tried at work had tasted so bland. A worry for another day.
She got out of the Jetta and walked towards her house. She had worked a little later than expected, but she still had plenty of time to get ready. Her mother should definitely be home by now.
“Hey, mom, I am home.”
“You’re late Maria.”
“Yeah, it was totally crazy at work today. How were things at your shop?” Maria walked into the dining room and she was disheartened by what she saw. Her mother was seated at the table with a glass of whisky in one hand, a handful of papers in the other. The table was covered in photos and papers. There even looked something like a red and blue folded cloth lying near where her mom was sitting. “Rough day?”
“Business was a little slow today because of that bizarre disruption near the Mayor’s Office. It has just been a long day. So do you have any plans for the evening?”
“Um, actually there was a party I was thinking of going to, but if you need me here… What is all this stuff?”
Amy sighed, took a sip of her whisky, and said, “You should go to the party. All this is stuff I will have to talk to you about, I just want to go through it first. You have fun at your party. Just remember…”
“Yeah, yeah, no alcohol, drugs, or sex.”
“Trust me Maria; it will save you an immense amount of anguish in the long run. Don’t forget to fix yourself something for dinner and have fun.”
“Okay, well I am going to get ready, my admirers await.”
“Speaking of which, is Michael going.”
“Not that I am aware of, why would that be a problem?”
“I am not sure I trust him, he is male after all. But somehow I have always gotten the feeling that you are safer with him.” Amy shrugged. “So your virtue is probably safe, but only as long as you are physically safe. Don’t forget to take some pepper spray.”
“Mom, I am so leaving this conversation.” Maria walked as fast as she could to get out of voice range and into the shower. Those papers worried her, she wasn’t sure why but they did. Maybe because of how her mom had waved her away.
She shrugged. They would still be there tomorrow. She had a party to go to, and she wanted to get ready early so to try and get Liz to go one last time. Liz needed something to take her mind off of all the craziness of today, and this party should do it.
It was final. Liz was going. She just did not know it yet.
Thanks to everyone reading this story. Thanks in particular to Sternbetrachter, TheAntarianKing, RhondaAnn, and xmag.
This will be the last regular chapter of In Destiny's Shadow- The Longest Day. Hopefully I will be able to rattle out the Epilogue sometime this week, and the first chapter of IDS- Eidolon early next week. Thank you all again.
Sternbetrachter- I believe you are right, and considering the personalities involved there should have been.
RhondaAnn- Isabel is confused. Right now, though she is starting to be afraid more of what she is, rather than who she was. The rest of the guys, even Grant, whom she likes, are just interchangable cutouts to her. They don't really fully matter to her, Alex on the other hand, she doesn't know how to deal with.
Liz's view of the future that was can cause as much trouble as it solves, as witness how it affected her interview with Agent Byrnes. It is very much a double edged sword.
You are very close actually. Those papers are going to be a factor in the next book. As to who realizes something is strange going on with Maria, or for that matter Kyle, only Tess and to a limited extent Richard know. Courtney knows something is up, but she really has no clue as to what it is. The rest of the pod squad is clueless about it.
TheAntarianKing- That conversation had to happen in my mind, given how things have gone so far. Unfortunately, while Alex is definately mindwarped by Tess, his friends don't have a lot of time to react. In this timeline, he leaves right after Thanksgiving. They have six days.
Liz is not perfect. Some of the problems she experienced were due to the fact she knows too much, and Agent Byrnes can see she is hiding something. Yeah, for once she actually shared some information. She knows she has to start talking to her friends about a lot of stuff. She just has not figured out what and how much to share.
Isabel is confused, really really confused. She is not sure who she is, who she was, or who she wants to be. Not a comfortable place to be.
Maria's life is about to become really complicated. To get through it she will need Liz (and Michael), just as Liz will need her.
xmag- Enjoy your vacation!
Disclaimer- Some scenes and ideas may come from Wipeout.
Longest Day part 37
Kyle-
Kyle had been watching football since he and Tess had returned home. For some reason he was having a problem focusing on the game. He kept seeing the storm of flakes from the Skins he had killed.
Three. He had killed three people. They were aliens, unlike to him in biology, but still… they were people. It hurt. What was worse he wasn’t sure who he could talk to about it. There was his dad of course, who would definitely understand. But somehow he felt uncomfortable even thinking about talking to his dad about killing people.
Did this make him a murderer? Did the knowledge that should it happen again, that should the Skins ever attack again he would not hesitate to defend his friends? It was something to meditate on.
Kyle shook his head and got up. Life had become so much more complicated since the alien invasion. Last year this time the house would have been full of his friends. He no longer felt like he fit in, like he was no longer just one of the guys. That he was different. Another gift from Evans.
A commercial came on the television. Time to recharge the snacks.
He got up and walked to the kitchen. What should I have? Let’s see, hmm, cola, check. No need to risk parental wrath by snagging one of Dad’s beers. I swear he counts them. Kyle opened the pantry door and surveyed the vast selection of chips and snacks. It was football season, and heaven forbid a need to drive to the store during a possible crisis point in a game. Football wasn’t a game, it was a religion.
One of several that were observed in the Valenti household.
How about some nachos? Sounds good. And what to have with it, hmm... Kyle considered the variety of salsas and dips they had. His eyes glanced at a jar of very hot salsa, something they had originally bought for Tess. Kyle took the jar down and opened it. He popped open the bag of tortilla chips and opened the jar of salsa.
He thought he would test it before he actually poured some into a bowl for easy access. It was his fear that at some point the changes he felt would manifest. Always assuming that they would indeed show up, half the nerve racking part of it was that he simply didn’t know… But how could he tell? Time for a taste test.
And as he felt the acid bite of the strong salsa he knew that his taste buds at the very least were fine. Or would be after applying lots of water. He grabbed some medium hot salsa. That should do.
He carried the chips and dip out to the living room to get ready to enjoy the game. Just as he sat down he remembered his soda. So he waited for the next commercial break and got up to get it.
When he reached the kitchen he noticed the open jar of hot salsa. He sighed, closed it, and put it into the refrigerator. It made him think of Tess. In fact, too many things were making him think of Tess at the moment.
He wondered how she was doing. So instead of heading directly back to the couch he walked back to his old room. He softly knocked on the door. When she did not answer he gently opened it. Tess was sprawled across the bed, slowly tossing and turning. Occasionally she would whimper softly.
Kyle sighed softly and walked over to the bed. Poor Tess, she is having another one of her nightmares. I wish she would talk to me about them, that she would talk to someone about them. She holds too much back and trusts no one. He gently took off her shoes and socks. No one should have to live a life without trust.
Tess was sleeping on top of the covers and Kyle did not want to disturb her, so he grabbed an extra blanket to drape over her. The warmth of the blanket seemed to help some. She stopped shaking quite as much, but still the nightmare had her in its grip.
She did not have them often, but when she did it was pointless trying to wake her. He had tried, had tried many things, none of which worked. So he just looked at her, looked at her lovely face, shadowed as it was from her dream. She was an angel, a tortured angel.
She is so out of my league.
He reached over and pushed a couple of curls that obscured her face. He felt her grow still and all he could do was sigh. The dreams had a pattern to them, he had watched her have them several times before, and usually this was the point he would try to wake her. For soon she would cry out, not usually loud enough to wake Dad, but even though the couch was comfortable he still slept lightly in the living room. The cries were not loud, but the emotions conveyed in them were enough to break a heart of stone. She would then cry, sometimes for almost an hour, softly crying without making more than the smallest sound. Her face would be contorted with so much pain…
He just wished she would talk about it. But always she denied having had a nightmare, claimed she never remembered her dreams. And he thought that sometimes that was true, but others he could see the shadow in her eyes. He would crack a joke or do something outrageous to distract her. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes he found himself walking around the backyard clucking like a chicken or … Yeah, let’s not dwell on it.
Watching her would not help either of them. So he tried to make sure she was as comfortable as she could be. Before he left he softly kissed her temple and said, “I don’t know if you can hear me, but remember there are those of us out here who care for you. I, I care for you.” He paused briefly gathering his thoughts. And said something he would never admit to her awake. “I think, I think I might even...”
Kyle heard a knock at the door. He walked towards the bedroom door, looked back once more at Tess. He heard the knock again, and quietly closed the door. He then proceeded to go to the front door to see who was calling. It was Richard.
Richard had one hand poised to knock once more, while the other held a box. “Good evening, Kyle. Can I talk with Tess?”
“Sorry, but she’s sleeping. Do you want me to take a message?”
“I was hoping to catch her before I left, but I guess I can call her later. I do have a package for her, if you could see that she gets it.”
“Um, yeah sure. Just come in and drop it on the table. I need to return the guns you lent me anyway.”
Richard walked into the house.
Kyle walked into the living room. He came back with the rifle and pistol he had used earlier. He also brought the headsets that both Tess and he had been using. “Here you go.”
“Keep the pistol and the ammo. You never know when it can come in useful. I will send your father the appropriate paperwork. In fact I will probably send more ammunition after I talk to him.”
“Yeah, about that, why do you need that Deleted Uranium anyway?”
“That is Depleted Uranium. It works best because it is too heavy to manipulate. Your friend Max could probably stop a DU bullet with his shield, that type of shield will stop anything. But the ability to raise that kind of shield is rare, and is mostly done with emulators. There are other defensive techniques, and anything heavier than thorium will mostly defeat them. It also makes the wounds harder to heal.”
“Okay, my head is spinning. I will take your word for it.”
“Projectile weapons are rare on Antar, but are occasionally used for those very reasons. What they lack in direct punch they can make up in other factors. Tell your father I will call. Tell Tess the same and give her the package. Take care, Kyle.”
“Um, are you sure I can’t get you something before you go? I mean it’s a long drive to Las Cruces.”
“No thank you. I just need to pick up my daughter. We have a late dinner planned with friends. To be honest I was hoping to already be on the way, but Becky had a few more things to do at the UFO Museum.”
Kyle walked him to the door, watched him as he got into his Hummer, and drove off. I still do not understand that man. Why did he help us? Kyle took Tess’s package and set it on the dinner table and went back to the living room. He sat down on the couch and stared at the screen. He still could not get into the game.
He looked back at the package on the table. What had Richard given her? He looked back at the TV.
For a few minutes he was satisfied, but he kept sneaking glances at the box.
I may as well get up. Maybe a shower and a little meditation after will clear my mind enough to enjoy the second half. Kyle got up again, started walking toward the bathroom, and stopped. I just have got to know.
Kyle stole a glance towards the bedroom where Tess was sleeping, still probably locked in that horrid nightmare. He stopped, his conscience nagging at him. He shook his head for a moment and quietly walked to the table. He opened the box.
Vitamins. The box had six bottles of multivitamins. He opened one of the bottles and saw an innocent looking pill.
What is so special about these vitamins and why did Tess specifically ask Richard to give them to her?
Kyle shrugged and put them back. He had a party to get ready for.
---
Max-
Max had been dreading work today. The idea of spending eight hours answering inane questions just did not appeal to him. It had surprised him to see all the damage that the museum had taken in Courtney’s duel with the unnamed Skin. So many of the displays were damaged that the museum was closed and he spent the day cleaning up. After about an hour Becky and Alex joined him, still earning the nice check Brody had promised them.
Max began to see why Liz liked Alex so much. He was fun to talk to. His jokes were as corny and silly as he had thought, but it was not the jokes which where funny, it was how he told them. Becky was funny too, with a huge store of stories about life in college. It made the day fly by.
Brody was still in his office when the Agent came in. A fairly nondescript man in a dark suit walked up to Max and said, “Good afternoon, my name is Agent Byrnes. I would like to speak to Brody Davis. I believe he is the owner of this establishment?”
Max just stared. He had known there were FBI agents in town, but he had hoped to avoid them. “Yes, hold on and I will get him.”
The agent just nodded.
Max quickly walked to the office. “Brody, there is an FBI Agent out there to speak with you.”
Brody was intently staring at a readout of some sort. “You know I am going to have to call in some experts to take a look at this data. Fascinating stuff. This was not a normal event, not that I thought it was, but this is hard evidence. Evidence of what remains to be seen.” Brody stretched his arms out and yawned. “It was an FBI Agent. Not an Air Force Officer, well this should be interesting.”
Max held the door for his boss. He nearly ran into Brody when he stopped suddenly.
Brody’s face went cold when he saw who was waiting for him. “You well, I hope this has something to do about the Ibanez case and not about today’s unpleasantness.”
Agent Byrnes looked impassively back at Brody. “In part. I am here about both situations. If we could speak privately?”
Brody sighed, “Very well. “ He looked at Max, “Max order us a late lunch from the Crashdown will you, my treat. Just order my usual.” Both he and the agent walked into the office.
A nervous Alex walked up to Max, “He’s the one I was talking about earlier. The one from the Crashdown. What does he want with Brody?”
Max looked up at the office door. “I wish I knew.”
Becky walked over, “Is there something I should know about? I mean is there a reason that Agent dropped by? Was Brody connected to the Special Unit somehow?”
Max looked at Becky with slightly concealed horror. Brody couldn’t be involved with them; I mean Nasedo eliminated all of them didn’t he? “Not that I am aware of. Why?”
“Because now I remember why he looked so familiar. You’re into alien stuff, do you remember those hearings this summer. About a supposed alien hunting Special Unit? Yeah, well he was the head of the FBI task force that helped bring it and Pierce crumbling to the ground. I wonder what kind of deal Pierce got, to help with the investigation.”
Alex chimed in, “Yeah I remember seeing that a little.”
All three of them were staring at the office door. Max cleared his throat, “Well as far as I am aware of Brody doesn’t have any contact with the government at all. So what do you guys want for lunch?” Max took their lunch orders and called it into the Crashdown. It was going to be at least twenty minutes for their order, so they all got back to work.
The atmosphere in the museum had changed. Every couple of minutes one of them would stare at the office marked Authorized Personnel Only. Max knew why he was nervous, and probably why Alex was too. But why did Becky care?
The door opened and the Agent walked out. He turned and asked, “So will you help us?”
“With Pierce, most definitely. With the Air Force,” Brody shook his head, “only if they reciprocate the information exchange.”
“I will let General West know. Good afternoon.” The agent left the building.
Brody stood on the stairs to his office with an enigmatic look, staring after the agent.
Max racked his brain trying to think of how he could get Brody to talk. But Brody was a private man; it would take quite a bit of work to get him to tell him what the agent had wanted.
Secrets, more damnable secrets. How many of them was he going to have to deal with anyway?
----
Isabel-
Isabel followed her mother into the house carrying three bags of clothes. It had been fun, they had not really talked for a while. And while she had not filled her mother on her real life, she had caught her up on her pseudo life. The one she pretended to have at school. Isabel knew that her mother worried for her, worried that she lived a shallow life, consumed with the petty goings-on at school.
Why couldn’t she tell her? Why couldn’t she bring herself to just tell her, no matter what Max had said? It wasn’t like he had conferred with them about Liz. I mean it wasn’t like she wanted Liz to die or anything, she could understand his actions healing her. But why did he have to tell her everything?
And why couldn’t Isabel bring herself to do the same? Mom would understand, she would still love them.
Fear. Isabel was tired of being afraid, tired of fear affecting her every action. And yet the fear did not go away.
Isabel walked into her room and set the bags on her bed. She heard the doorbell ring.
“Isabel honey, can you get that?” her Mom called out to her from her parent’s bedroom.
“Okay, mom,” Isabel said as she briskly walked to the front door. She opened the door to see a pleasant faced black man in a well tailored dark suit.
“Good evening, miss. I am Special Agent Hart with the FBI,” the agent flashed his badge at her. “I am here to see Isabel Evans, I presume that is you?”
Fear, more fear. Why wouldn’t they just leave her and her friends alone? Oh, yeah we’re aliens, they have to protect the Earth by torturing us. To give up secrets we don’t have.
Isabel was surprised at her internal reaction, for in addition to the fear was rage, white hot rage. At this man, at his organization, at every Earth group that sought them out. At everyone who made her so afraid. The desire to blast him was very strong. While her brother had never talked about it, had never really said anything, she remembered her dreamwalks while he had been a captive in the White Room. The desire to be the evil alien, to shoot first and ask questions never, was very strong.
She could kill him. She was a killer, if today had shown her anything it was that. Her hands were stained with the blood of, well actually the flakes of dead Skins she guessed. At this range it would be so very easy. Just raise her hand and let the power flow. Her palms began to itch in anticipation.
Is this how Michael feels, to know that he was so very dangerous, that he could kill at a whim? For the very first time, she was afraid of herself. Not of whom she had been, she was still afraid of her past life as Vilondra too, but she had never truly been afraid of what she was. Until now.
She did not want to be a killer, to be a murderer. Whitaker had been in self defense, as had been the Skins she had killed to today. She thanked God that they had not had to kill Brody Davis. That her brother had stopped them, that he chose life, for she would have done it. She knew that now, knew what she was capable of. It was a sick feeling, the knowledge that she would do it again if needed.
That she was a killer, she reluctantly acknowledged, but she would not be a murderer. She would not kill without cause. And so she let the power fade.
Isabel let the agent in, and answered his questions. They were not really anything she had not said before. She did not know Pierce or Whitaker. Liz was a friend from school, and sometimes her brother’s girlfriend.
After the agent left, she sat there quietly drinking a cup of hot chocolate her mom had made for her. She had chuckled at her mother’s grimace at her adding Tabasco to the drink. Maybe she would go to that party after all. The idea of sitting at home with her thoughts did not seem fun. A little dancing followed by shallow conversations involving clothes, make up, and boys. That might be just what she needed.
----
Liz-
Liz sat on her bed listening to music. Something was wrong with her. Neither the memories or the flashes would stop. She simply knew too much now, and she did not know how to unknow it. How could she tell Mr. Delgado that he would die of lung cancer in a couple of years if he did not stop smoking? How could she explain it, that she had seen the future that was, and that it might not even happen, but why take the risk? How could she look Karen in the eyes again knowing now that she was cheating on her husband, that Karen wasn’t even sure that little Caitlin was his?
How do I make it stop?
One thing she knew was different with the timelines, one good thing. Michael and Maria had a connection. She wasn’t sure how it had formed, but she recognized the signs. It had been amazing to watch as Maria’s face had lit up, had turned to the door when Michael entered. Had she looked like that? When things had been good, had her face filled with wonder and joy?
She wanted it back, she wanted Max back. But the cost, the cost would simply be too high. But how she wanted it anyway, even now she could feel him, could point exactly where he was. Somehow all of her senses had been heightened by whatever Ana had done to her, for it was so sharp now, so very clear.
But it was not to be.
And to see Michael, to see him show as much love to Maria in such a public space, to allow his face to show more than simple lust or anger. The wall was still there, he was still hiding from the world, but there was an open gate now. It was so different from what had been. Had she given up her hope, her love, her future for Maria? Surely she would not turn now, not with Michael. Assuming that they did not hurt each other like Max and I have hurt each other.
Still it hurt. She wanted Max so much, to feel his touch if only for one more time. But seeing Michael walk through that door brought back why she couldn’t have him, brought back why she had done it. For she remembered…
Flash-
Tears shown in her eyes. She really thought she had long since emptied herself of them, but to see the Crashdown, to see her old home destroyed. It was too much.
To see Michael so broken... She looked at the man who had saved two of her children, who had held off so many enemies. She watched as Max held him cradled in his arms, as he held the last of his fellow hybrids. So much death, why did there have to be so much death.
Max looked up from Michael to her, “I can’t heal him, maybe if we still had the healing stones, maybe then. Without them…”
Michael’s eyes opened for what almost certainly would be the last time. “Looks like I screwed up again, huh.”
“Hush now, you need to save your strength.”
“Max, face it, I’m toast. To think it would come to this. I just could not bring myself to stop her.”
“Stop who?” Liz asked.
Michael rambled for a few moments incoherently, but for a moment his speech cleared up. “I just could not stop her. I could not stop Amy from going to her aunt. She’s too young to understand, to understand that Maria is different now. To understand that she’s evil now. But how, how when I couldn’t do it?”
Max looked at his old friend, “You have to tell me, please Michael tell me what happened.”
Michael looked back at Max, “It has all gone wrong. Where did it all go wrong, Max?”
“Please tell us Michael. Please tell me what happened to Amy.”
“Maria has Amy, I couldn’t, I couldn’t stop her. Even after Isabel, I still love her. I think I always will. Where did her love go Max? Where did it go?” Michael muttered a couple other things, not loud enough for her to hear.
And then he stopped. The light had gone out of his eyes, Michael Guerin was dead.
End Flash
Liz started to cry. It was too much. She wanted to run, to find a place where she could think through everything, to a safe calm place. But she could not run from herself. This wasn’t like this summer, this was not someone else’s destiny, and this was all in HER head. She wished she could go to a shrink. That she could believe that none of these last couple of crazy years had happened.
But they had. It was all real, all too real. And she could no longer run away, tied to a man she desperately wanted, but could never have. What was fleeting happiness compared to the fate of the whole damn world? Was Tess worth it, worth her own personal destruction?
Liz heard a knock on the door. “Go away, please just go away.”
She heard as Maria’s cheerful voice said, “I can not do that Liz. I promised you were under my protection, and at least with you I can personally intervene.”
What?
She heard another knock. “Liz, this is silly. If you won’t open the door, I will just have to do it myself.”
Liz heard as the lock disengaged. She watched as Maria let herself into the room. She was dressed as if for a party. She had the same bright perky smile she had had plastered on her face since this afternoon. The only incongruous thing was the backpack; it was the one she had taken from Ana’s trailer.
It wasn’t Maria after all. It was Dorian. She felt her heart calm, the idea that Maria might have powers somehow made her very wary. But Dorian had watched over her friends, and indirectly over her since third grade. If he had wanted to hurt her, he could have. Nasedo had always frightened her. He was like Nasedo, he was a shape shifter, and yet somehow with him she felt… safe.
“So what is up, why the tears?”
“It’s complicated.”
“If people are involved it usually is, you know it’s the one constant I have noticed. Whether Antar or Earth, people always complicate things. So why don’t you, as Maria would say, spill?”
“Why Maria?”
“Huh, my shape? Well it let me get in here without a fuss, you two are basically sisters. Come on, Liz; tell me what has you upset. It really will help you.”
She stared at Dorian. Could she share all this with a comparative stranger, even if he/she/it looked like her best friend? But she could trust him, she did not remember him from the other timeline, but if he had not shown himself how would she know. If they had been infiltrated as closely in timeline one as she feared, the Skins could easily have found him and killed him, without anyone being the wiser. Particularly with his charges scattered like they had been.
It might be a mistake, but she trusted him. And so she told him everything.
----
Maria-
Maria took a long hot shower. Her thoughts were tied up in all she planned to do tomorrow. She had already finished one set of Thank You notes for all the gifts she had received over the past few months. She was still debating on whether to send Max one for saving her life. She already had a thank you ready for Michael, but it involved a lot less paper.
When she had the next opportunity she was going to kiss him senseless. It was too bad he wasn’t going to this party, or she would do it there. Maybe she should skip the party and drop by his apartment. Liz would cover for her, she was sure of it.
Very tempting. But in her current frame of mind she was not sure it would be wise to be completely alone with him. Me with Michael, alone in his apartment. The very idea filled her with a wild tingly feeling. Yep not a good idea. He has no restraint under normal circumstances, and today, I am not sure I do either.
Maybe I should be having a cold shower.
She closed her eyes and tried to banish the image of his hands roaming over her skin, the warm feel of his breath on her neck. She wanted him. Despite all the unpleasantness with Courtney, despite his stonewall routine, he could no longer fully hide from her. It was like a tiny bit of him had taken up permanent residence in her head, that she could feel him. She almost felt that if she wanted to, she could point right to where he was currently.
Just a conceit, right? I mean no one can really do that right? Right?
Chilled by the thought that she might actually be permanently linked to someone, even to someone that she loved. Particularly seeing as it could not possibly last. Nothing good ever did. Her friendships with Liz and Alex were the exceptions that proved the rule. She grabbed the towel and began to vigorously dry herself off.
She stopped for a moment when she thought she caught a glance of a strange iridescent glow under her right breast. She got out of the shower and looked at herself in the mirror.
And saw it. There was a large glowing patch, right where she had been blasted. Overlaying that was a bright silver handprint. She could feel a shriek building inside of her; she knew herself well enough that she could not stifle it. So she grabbed the towel she had been using and placed it over her mouth to muffle the scream.
“Honey, are you okay in there?” Her mother called.
I have to think fast, or Mom will come barreling through that door. I mean how do I explain this. I don’t understand it myself. I need to talk to Liz. “I’m okay, I just ran out of hot water.”
“Next time you want to use that much water take a bath, the water lasts longer.”
“Okay, Mom.” Off the hook for now.
She finished toweling off and hurriedly got ready. It still took her about an hour, but that was fast by her standards, at least for getting ready for a party. If she had been just going to work, she probably would have been able to do it in ten easily.
She walked out to get her mom’s opinion of how she looked. But her mom was asleep on the couch, drunk. Something that had occurred only a handful of times before.
Maria checked to see if she was okay, and grabbed a blanket for her.
I probably should stay, but I have to talk to Liz. I need her. Besides I can get a kiss or two out of Michael while I am there. I think he said he would be there until eight.
She took a quick glance at what her mother had been working on. It’s mostly a lot of boring papers. That cloth though was a folded flag. Huh. I wonder why mom has one and where she got it. How odd. And who is this Marco Ruiz anyway. Huh, I will have to ask mom tomorrow after she gets over her hangover. I should spend a little more time with her. If today has taught me anything, it is that I don’t have forever to take care of things.
She gave her mom a little kiss on the forehead before she left. She did not even remember the trip to the Crashdown. The next thing she really remembered were a set of astonished pair of brown eyes staring at her from the kitchen. She somehow persuaded Mr. Parker to allow her a few minutes to… talk... with Michael.
Several minutes later with seriously mussed hair and the need to straighten the buttons on her blouse, she looked at herself in the mirror. I definitely need a chaperone with Mr. Guerin at the moment, or mom will kill us both. That was, that was wonderful. I think if we had a few more minutes… Yeah, mom would have killed us both.
I need to talk to Liz, to try and figure out exactly what is happening to me. I think, I think I almost saw something. It is like there is a wall, something blocking me. I so want to see the other side. I want to see.
She walked up the stairs leading to the Parker’s apartment. She knocked on the door, and Mrs. Parker answered. “Good evening, Maria. I did not see you step out.”
“I had to get ready. Has Liz already asked you if it was okay to go to the party at the Delany’s?”
“I don’t know, she did not seem well earlier.” Mrs. Parker thought for a moment, “I guess, you two worked really hard for today. If she wants to go, I guess she can. Just she needs to be back by midnight, and I want you both to stay out of trouble.”
“No problem, Mrs. P. Now I just need to convince Liz.” Maria walked toward Liz’s room. She was about to knock, but she heard Liz talking to someone. She was talking about two Max’s, and how one had made her break the others heart. Which made no sense, but much Liz had been doing lately really didn’t.
Who would Liz trust to tell someone something she had not trusted to Maria? Had she been replaced when she wasn’t looking? She wanted to know, she needed to know. The other female voice sounded very familiar to her, very familiar. But how could she get in without letting them know, so that Liz could not hide whoever it was.
Nothing good ever lasts. She felt an irrational stab of jealousy at this other girl. The hair on the back of her arms began to stick up and she could feel a prickling sensation in her palms. She knew how to open the door, even if it was locked. She reached up to the upper door sill for the little key thing and quietly fiddled with the lock. She could feel the little click, she grasped the handle. She then opened the door and looked inside, to see who her replacement was.
She did not see who she expected. Not even close. For sitting on Liz’s bed… was herself. Two pairs of startled eyes glanced in her direction. She looked at Liz’s brown eyes in confusion. She then quickly switched her gaze to the Maria look alike and met her own green eyes.
It was too much for Maria. The world went black.
End of Book One of In Destiny’s Shadow
This will be the last regular chapter of In Destiny's Shadow- The Longest Day. Hopefully I will be able to rattle out the Epilogue sometime this week, and the first chapter of IDS- Eidolon early next week. Thank you all again.
Sternbetrachter- I believe you are right, and considering the personalities involved there should have been.
RhondaAnn- Isabel is confused. Right now, though she is starting to be afraid more of what she is, rather than who she was. The rest of the guys, even Grant, whom she likes, are just interchangable cutouts to her. They don't really fully matter to her, Alex on the other hand, she doesn't know how to deal with.
Liz's view of the future that was can cause as much trouble as it solves, as witness how it affected her interview with Agent Byrnes. It is very much a double edged sword.
You are very close actually. Those papers are going to be a factor in the next book. As to who realizes something is strange going on with Maria, or for that matter Kyle, only Tess and to a limited extent Richard know. Courtney knows something is up, but she really has no clue as to what it is. The rest of the pod squad is clueless about it.
TheAntarianKing- That conversation had to happen in my mind, given how things have gone so far. Unfortunately, while Alex is definately mindwarped by Tess, his friends don't have a lot of time to react. In this timeline, he leaves right after Thanksgiving. They have six days.
Liz is not perfect. Some of the problems she experienced were due to the fact she knows too much, and Agent Byrnes can see she is hiding something. Yeah, for once she actually shared some information. She knows she has to start talking to her friends about a lot of stuff. She just has not figured out what and how much to share.
Isabel is confused, really really confused. She is not sure who she is, who she was, or who she wants to be. Not a comfortable place to be.
Maria's life is about to become really complicated. To get through it she will need Liz (and Michael), just as Liz will need her.
xmag- Enjoy your vacation!
Disclaimer- Some scenes and ideas may come from Wipeout.
Longest Day part 37
Kyle-
Kyle had been watching football since he and Tess had returned home. For some reason he was having a problem focusing on the game. He kept seeing the storm of flakes from the Skins he had killed.
Three. He had killed three people. They were aliens, unlike to him in biology, but still… they were people. It hurt. What was worse he wasn’t sure who he could talk to about it. There was his dad of course, who would definitely understand. But somehow he felt uncomfortable even thinking about talking to his dad about killing people.
Did this make him a murderer? Did the knowledge that should it happen again, that should the Skins ever attack again he would not hesitate to defend his friends? It was something to meditate on.
Kyle shook his head and got up. Life had become so much more complicated since the alien invasion. Last year this time the house would have been full of his friends. He no longer felt like he fit in, like he was no longer just one of the guys. That he was different. Another gift from Evans.
A commercial came on the television. Time to recharge the snacks.
He got up and walked to the kitchen. What should I have? Let’s see, hmm, cola, check. No need to risk parental wrath by snagging one of Dad’s beers. I swear he counts them. Kyle opened the pantry door and surveyed the vast selection of chips and snacks. It was football season, and heaven forbid a need to drive to the store during a possible crisis point in a game. Football wasn’t a game, it was a religion.
One of several that were observed in the Valenti household.
How about some nachos? Sounds good. And what to have with it, hmm... Kyle considered the variety of salsas and dips they had. His eyes glanced at a jar of very hot salsa, something they had originally bought for Tess. Kyle took the jar down and opened it. He popped open the bag of tortilla chips and opened the jar of salsa.
He thought he would test it before he actually poured some into a bowl for easy access. It was his fear that at some point the changes he felt would manifest. Always assuming that they would indeed show up, half the nerve racking part of it was that he simply didn’t know… But how could he tell? Time for a taste test.
And as he felt the acid bite of the strong salsa he knew that his taste buds at the very least were fine. Or would be after applying lots of water. He grabbed some medium hot salsa. That should do.
He carried the chips and dip out to the living room to get ready to enjoy the game. Just as he sat down he remembered his soda. So he waited for the next commercial break and got up to get it.
When he reached the kitchen he noticed the open jar of hot salsa. He sighed, closed it, and put it into the refrigerator. It made him think of Tess. In fact, too many things were making him think of Tess at the moment.
He wondered how she was doing. So instead of heading directly back to the couch he walked back to his old room. He softly knocked on the door. When she did not answer he gently opened it. Tess was sprawled across the bed, slowly tossing and turning. Occasionally she would whimper softly.
Kyle sighed softly and walked over to the bed. Poor Tess, she is having another one of her nightmares. I wish she would talk to me about them, that she would talk to someone about them. She holds too much back and trusts no one. He gently took off her shoes and socks. No one should have to live a life without trust.
Tess was sleeping on top of the covers and Kyle did not want to disturb her, so he grabbed an extra blanket to drape over her. The warmth of the blanket seemed to help some. She stopped shaking quite as much, but still the nightmare had her in its grip.
She did not have them often, but when she did it was pointless trying to wake her. He had tried, had tried many things, none of which worked. So he just looked at her, looked at her lovely face, shadowed as it was from her dream. She was an angel, a tortured angel.
She is so out of my league.
He reached over and pushed a couple of curls that obscured her face. He felt her grow still and all he could do was sigh. The dreams had a pattern to them, he had watched her have them several times before, and usually this was the point he would try to wake her. For soon she would cry out, not usually loud enough to wake Dad, but even though the couch was comfortable he still slept lightly in the living room. The cries were not loud, but the emotions conveyed in them were enough to break a heart of stone. She would then cry, sometimes for almost an hour, softly crying without making more than the smallest sound. Her face would be contorted with so much pain…
He just wished she would talk about it. But always she denied having had a nightmare, claimed she never remembered her dreams. And he thought that sometimes that was true, but others he could see the shadow in her eyes. He would crack a joke or do something outrageous to distract her. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes he found himself walking around the backyard clucking like a chicken or … Yeah, let’s not dwell on it.
Watching her would not help either of them. So he tried to make sure she was as comfortable as she could be. Before he left he softly kissed her temple and said, “I don’t know if you can hear me, but remember there are those of us out here who care for you. I, I care for you.” He paused briefly gathering his thoughts. And said something he would never admit to her awake. “I think, I think I might even...”
Kyle heard a knock at the door. He walked towards the bedroom door, looked back once more at Tess. He heard the knock again, and quietly closed the door. He then proceeded to go to the front door to see who was calling. It was Richard.
Richard had one hand poised to knock once more, while the other held a box. “Good evening, Kyle. Can I talk with Tess?”
“Sorry, but she’s sleeping. Do you want me to take a message?”
“I was hoping to catch her before I left, but I guess I can call her later. I do have a package for her, if you could see that she gets it.”
“Um, yeah sure. Just come in and drop it on the table. I need to return the guns you lent me anyway.”
Richard walked into the house.
Kyle walked into the living room. He came back with the rifle and pistol he had used earlier. He also brought the headsets that both Tess and he had been using. “Here you go.”
“Keep the pistol and the ammo. You never know when it can come in useful. I will send your father the appropriate paperwork. In fact I will probably send more ammunition after I talk to him.”
“Yeah, about that, why do you need that Deleted Uranium anyway?”
“That is Depleted Uranium. It works best because it is too heavy to manipulate. Your friend Max could probably stop a DU bullet with his shield, that type of shield will stop anything. But the ability to raise that kind of shield is rare, and is mostly done with emulators. There are other defensive techniques, and anything heavier than thorium will mostly defeat them. It also makes the wounds harder to heal.”
“Okay, my head is spinning. I will take your word for it.”
“Projectile weapons are rare on Antar, but are occasionally used for those very reasons. What they lack in direct punch they can make up in other factors. Tell your father I will call. Tell Tess the same and give her the package. Take care, Kyle.”
“Um, are you sure I can’t get you something before you go? I mean it’s a long drive to Las Cruces.”
“No thank you. I just need to pick up my daughter. We have a late dinner planned with friends. To be honest I was hoping to already be on the way, but Becky had a few more things to do at the UFO Museum.”
Kyle walked him to the door, watched him as he got into his Hummer, and drove off. I still do not understand that man. Why did he help us? Kyle took Tess’s package and set it on the dinner table and went back to the living room. He sat down on the couch and stared at the screen. He still could not get into the game.
He looked back at the package on the table. What had Richard given her? He looked back at the TV.
For a few minutes he was satisfied, but he kept sneaking glances at the box.
I may as well get up. Maybe a shower and a little meditation after will clear my mind enough to enjoy the second half. Kyle got up again, started walking toward the bathroom, and stopped. I just have got to know.
Kyle stole a glance towards the bedroom where Tess was sleeping, still probably locked in that horrid nightmare. He stopped, his conscience nagging at him. He shook his head for a moment and quietly walked to the table. He opened the box.
Vitamins. The box had six bottles of multivitamins. He opened one of the bottles and saw an innocent looking pill.
What is so special about these vitamins and why did Tess specifically ask Richard to give them to her?
Kyle shrugged and put them back. He had a party to get ready for.
---
Max-
Max had been dreading work today. The idea of spending eight hours answering inane questions just did not appeal to him. It had surprised him to see all the damage that the museum had taken in Courtney’s duel with the unnamed Skin. So many of the displays were damaged that the museum was closed and he spent the day cleaning up. After about an hour Becky and Alex joined him, still earning the nice check Brody had promised them.
Max began to see why Liz liked Alex so much. He was fun to talk to. His jokes were as corny and silly as he had thought, but it was not the jokes which where funny, it was how he told them. Becky was funny too, with a huge store of stories about life in college. It made the day fly by.
Brody was still in his office when the Agent came in. A fairly nondescript man in a dark suit walked up to Max and said, “Good afternoon, my name is Agent Byrnes. I would like to speak to Brody Davis. I believe he is the owner of this establishment?”
Max just stared. He had known there were FBI agents in town, but he had hoped to avoid them. “Yes, hold on and I will get him.”
The agent just nodded.
Max quickly walked to the office. “Brody, there is an FBI Agent out there to speak with you.”
Brody was intently staring at a readout of some sort. “You know I am going to have to call in some experts to take a look at this data. Fascinating stuff. This was not a normal event, not that I thought it was, but this is hard evidence. Evidence of what remains to be seen.” Brody stretched his arms out and yawned. “It was an FBI Agent. Not an Air Force Officer, well this should be interesting.”
Max held the door for his boss. He nearly ran into Brody when he stopped suddenly.
Brody’s face went cold when he saw who was waiting for him. “You well, I hope this has something to do about the Ibanez case and not about today’s unpleasantness.”
Agent Byrnes looked impassively back at Brody. “In part. I am here about both situations. If we could speak privately?”
Brody sighed, “Very well. “ He looked at Max, “Max order us a late lunch from the Crashdown will you, my treat. Just order my usual.” Both he and the agent walked into the office.
A nervous Alex walked up to Max, “He’s the one I was talking about earlier. The one from the Crashdown. What does he want with Brody?”
Max looked up at the office door. “I wish I knew.”
Becky walked over, “Is there something I should know about? I mean is there a reason that Agent dropped by? Was Brody connected to the Special Unit somehow?”
Max looked at Becky with slightly concealed horror. Brody couldn’t be involved with them; I mean Nasedo eliminated all of them didn’t he? “Not that I am aware of. Why?”
“Because now I remember why he looked so familiar. You’re into alien stuff, do you remember those hearings this summer. About a supposed alien hunting Special Unit? Yeah, well he was the head of the FBI task force that helped bring it and Pierce crumbling to the ground. I wonder what kind of deal Pierce got, to help with the investigation.”
Alex chimed in, “Yeah I remember seeing that a little.”
All three of them were staring at the office door. Max cleared his throat, “Well as far as I am aware of Brody doesn’t have any contact with the government at all. So what do you guys want for lunch?” Max took their lunch orders and called it into the Crashdown. It was going to be at least twenty minutes for their order, so they all got back to work.
The atmosphere in the museum had changed. Every couple of minutes one of them would stare at the office marked Authorized Personnel Only. Max knew why he was nervous, and probably why Alex was too. But why did Becky care?
The door opened and the Agent walked out. He turned and asked, “So will you help us?”
“With Pierce, most definitely. With the Air Force,” Brody shook his head, “only if they reciprocate the information exchange.”
“I will let General West know. Good afternoon.” The agent left the building.
Brody stood on the stairs to his office with an enigmatic look, staring after the agent.
Max racked his brain trying to think of how he could get Brody to talk. But Brody was a private man; it would take quite a bit of work to get him to tell him what the agent had wanted.
Secrets, more damnable secrets. How many of them was he going to have to deal with anyway?
----
Isabel-
Isabel followed her mother into the house carrying three bags of clothes. It had been fun, they had not really talked for a while. And while she had not filled her mother on her real life, she had caught her up on her pseudo life. The one she pretended to have at school. Isabel knew that her mother worried for her, worried that she lived a shallow life, consumed with the petty goings-on at school.
Why couldn’t she tell her? Why couldn’t she bring herself to just tell her, no matter what Max had said? It wasn’t like he had conferred with them about Liz. I mean it wasn’t like she wanted Liz to die or anything, she could understand his actions healing her. But why did he have to tell her everything?
And why couldn’t Isabel bring herself to do the same? Mom would understand, she would still love them.
Fear. Isabel was tired of being afraid, tired of fear affecting her every action. And yet the fear did not go away.
Isabel walked into her room and set the bags on her bed. She heard the doorbell ring.
“Isabel honey, can you get that?” her Mom called out to her from her parent’s bedroom.
“Okay, mom,” Isabel said as she briskly walked to the front door. She opened the door to see a pleasant faced black man in a well tailored dark suit.
“Good evening, miss. I am Special Agent Hart with the FBI,” the agent flashed his badge at her. “I am here to see Isabel Evans, I presume that is you?”
Fear, more fear. Why wouldn’t they just leave her and her friends alone? Oh, yeah we’re aliens, they have to protect the Earth by torturing us. To give up secrets we don’t have.
Isabel was surprised at her internal reaction, for in addition to the fear was rage, white hot rage. At this man, at his organization, at every Earth group that sought them out. At everyone who made her so afraid. The desire to blast him was very strong. While her brother had never talked about it, had never really said anything, she remembered her dreamwalks while he had been a captive in the White Room. The desire to be the evil alien, to shoot first and ask questions never, was very strong.
She could kill him. She was a killer, if today had shown her anything it was that. Her hands were stained with the blood of, well actually the flakes of dead Skins she guessed. At this range it would be so very easy. Just raise her hand and let the power flow. Her palms began to itch in anticipation.
Is this how Michael feels, to know that he was so very dangerous, that he could kill at a whim? For the very first time, she was afraid of herself. Not of whom she had been, she was still afraid of her past life as Vilondra too, but she had never truly been afraid of what she was. Until now.
She did not want to be a killer, to be a murderer. Whitaker had been in self defense, as had been the Skins she had killed to today. She thanked God that they had not had to kill Brody Davis. That her brother had stopped them, that he chose life, for she would have done it. She knew that now, knew what she was capable of. It was a sick feeling, the knowledge that she would do it again if needed.
That she was a killer, she reluctantly acknowledged, but she would not be a murderer. She would not kill without cause. And so she let the power fade.
Isabel let the agent in, and answered his questions. They were not really anything she had not said before. She did not know Pierce or Whitaker. Liz was a friend from school, and sometimes her brother’s girlfriend.
After the agent left, she sat there quietly drinking a cup of hot chocolate her mom had made for her. She had chuckled at her mother’s grimace at her adding Tabasco to the drink. Maybe she would go to that party after all. The idea of sitting at home with her thoughts did not seem fun. A little dancing followed by shallow conversations involving clothes, make up, and boys. That might be just what she needed.
----
Liz-
Liz sat on her bed listening to music. Something was wrong with her. Neither the memories or the flashes would stop. She simply knew too much now, and she did not know how to unknow it. How could she tell Mr. Delgado that he would die of lung cancer in a couple of years if he did not stop smoking? How could she explain it, that she had seen the future that was, and that it might not even happen, but why take the risk? How could she look Karen in the eyes again knowing now that she was cheating on her husband, that Karen wasn’t even sure that little Caitlin was his?
How do I make it stop?
One thing she knew was different with the timelines, one good thing. Michael and Maria had a connection. She wasn’t sure how it had formed, but she recognized the signs. It had been amazing to watch as Maria’s face had lit up, had turned to the door when Michael entered. Had she looked like that? When things had been good, had her face filled with wonder and joy?
She wanted it back, she wanted Max back. But the cost, the cost would simply be too high. But how she wanted it anyway, even now she could feel him, could point exactly where he was. Somehow all of her senses had been heightened by whatever Ana had done to her, for it was so sharp now, so very clear.
But it was not to be.
And to see Michael, to see him show as much love to Maria in such a public space, to allow his face to show more than simple lust or anger. The wall was still there, he was still hiding from the world, but there was an open gate now. It was so different from what had been. Had she given up her hope, her love, her future for Maria? Surely she would not turn now, not with Michael. Assuming that they did not hurt each other like Max and I have hurt each other.
Still it hurt. She wanted Max so much, to feel his touch if only for one more time. But seeing Michael walk through that door brought back why she couldn’t have him, brought back why she had done it. For she remembered…
Flash-
Tears shown in her eyes. She really thought she had long since emptied herself of them, but to see the Crashdown, to see her old home destroyed. It was too much.
To see Michael so broken... She looked at the man who had saved two of her children, who had held off so many enemies. She watched as Max held him cradled in his arms, as he held the last of his fellow hybrids. So much death, why did there have to be so much death.
Max looked up from Michael to her, “I can’t heal him, maybe if we still had the healing stones, maybe then. Without them…”
Michael’s eyes opened for what almost certainly would be the last time. “Looks like I screwed up again, huh.”
“Hush now, you need to save your strength.”
“Max, face it, I’m toast. To think it would come to this. I just could not bring myself to stop her.”
“Stop who?” Liz asked.
Michael rambled for a few moments incoherently, but for a moment his speech cleared up. “I just could not stop her. I could not stop Amy from going to her aunt. She’s too young to understand, to understand that Maria is different now. To understand that she’s evil now. But how, how when I couldn’t do it?”
Max looked at his old friend, “You have to tell me, please Michael tell me what happened.”
Michael looked back at Max, “It has all gone wrong. Where did it all go wrong, Max?”
“Please tell us Michael. Please tell me what happened to Amy.”
“Maria has Amy, I couldn’t, I couldn’t stop her. Even after Isabel, I still love her. I think I always will. Where did her love go Max? Where did it go?” Michael muttered a couple other things, not loud enough for her to hear.
And then he stopped. The light had gone out of his eyes, Michael Guerin was dead.
End Flash
Liz started to cry. It was too much. She wanted to run, to find a place where she could think through everything, to a safe calm place. But she could not run from herself. This wasn’t like this summer, this was not someone else’s destiny, and this was all in HER head. She wished she could go to a shrink. That she could believe that none of these last couple of crazy years had happened.
But they had. It was all real, all too real. And she could no longer run away, tied to a man she desperately wanted, but could never have. What was fleeting happiness compared to the fate of the whole damn world? Was Tess worth it, worth her own personal destruction?
Liz heard a knock on the door. “Go away, please just go away.”
She heard as Maria’s cheerful voice said, “I can not do that Liz. I promised you were under my protection, and at least with you I can personally intervene.”
What?
She heard another knock. “Liz, this is silly. If you won’t open the door, I will just have to do it myself.”
Liz heard as the lock disengaged. She watched as Maria let herself into the room. She was dressed as if for a party. She had the same bright perky smile she had had plastered on her face since this afternoon. The only incongruous thing was the backpack; it was the one she had taken from Ana’s trailer.
It wasn’t Maria after all. It was Dorian. She felt her heart calm, the idea that Maria might have powers somehow made her very wary. But Dorian had watched over her friends, and indirectly over her since third grade. If he had wanted to hurt her, he could have. Nasedo had always frightened her. He was like Nasedo, he was a shape shifter, and yet somehow with him she felt… safe.
“So what is up, why the tears?”
“It’s complicated.”
“If people are involved it usually is, you know it’s the one constant I have noticed. Whether Antar or Earth, people always complicate things. So why don’t you, as Maria would say, spill?”
“Why Maria?”
“Huh, my shape? Well it let me get in here without a fuss, you two are basically sisters. Come on, Liz; tell me what has you upset. It really will help you.”
She stared at Dorian. Could she share all this with a comparative stranger, even if he/she/it looked like her best friend? But she could trust him, she did not remember him from the other timeline, but if he had not shown himself how would she know. If they had been infiltrated as closely in timeline one as she feared, the Skins could easily have found him and killed him, without anyone being the wiser. Particularly with his charges scattered like they had been.
It might be a mistake, but she trusted him. And so she told him everything.
----
Maria-
Maria took a long hot shower. Her thoughts were tied up in all she planned to do tomorrow. She had already finished one set of Thank You notes for all the gifts she had received over the past few months. She was still debating on whether to send Max one for saving her life. She already had a thank you ready for Michael, but it involved a lot less paper.
When she had the next opportunity she was going to kiss him senseless. It was too bad he wasn’t going to this party, or she would do it there. Maybe she should skip the party and drop by his apartment. Liz would cover for her, she was sure of it.
Very tempting. But in her current frame of mind she was not sure it would be wise to be completely alone with him. Me with Michael, alone in his apartment. The very idea filled her with a wild tingly feeling. Yep not a good idea. He has no restraint under normal circumstances, and today, I am not sure I do either.
Maybe I should be having a cold shower.
She closed her eyes and tried to banish the image of his hands roaming over her skin, the warm feel of his breath on her neck. She wanted him. Despite all the unpleasantness with Courtney, despite his stonewall routine, he could no longer fully hide from her. It was like a tiny bit of him had taken up permanent residence in her head, that she could feel him. She almost felt that if she wanted to, she could point right to where he was currently.
Just a conceit, right? I mean no one can really do that right? Right?
Chilled by the thought that she might actually be permanently linked to someone, even to someone that she loved. Particularly seeing as it could not possibly last. Nothing good ever did. Her friendships with Liz and Alex were the exceptions that proved the rule. She grabbed the towel and began to vigorously dry herself off.
She stopped for a moment when she thought she caught a glance of a strange iridescent glow under her right breast. She got out of the shower and looked at herself in the mirror.
And saw it. There was a large glowing patch, right where she had been blasted. Overlaying that was a bright silver handprint. She could feel a shriek building inside of her; she knew herself well enough that she could not stifle it. So she grabbed the towel she had been using and placed it over her mouth to muffle the scream.
“Honey, are you okay in there?” Her mother called.
I have to think fast, or Mom will come barreling through that door. I mean how do I explain this. I don’t understand it myself. I need to talk to Liz. “I’m okay, I just ran out of hot water.”
“Next time you want to use that much water take a bath, the water lasts longer.”
“Okay, Mom.” Off the hook for now.
She finished toweling off and hurriedly got ready. It still took her about an hour, but that was fast by her standards, at least for getting ready for a party. If she had been just going to work, she probably would have been able to do it in ten easily.
She walked out to get her mom’s opinion of how she looked. But her mom was asleep on the couch, drunk. Something that had occurred only a handful of times before.
Maria checked to see if she was okay, and grabbed a blanket for her.
I probably should stay, but I have to talk to Liz. I need her. Besides I can get a kiss or two out of Michael while I am there. I think he said he would be there until eight.
She took a quick glance at what her mother had been working on. It’s mostly a lot of boring papers. That cloth though was a folded flag. Huh. I wonder why mom has one and where she got it. How odd. And who is this Marco Ruiz anyway. Huh, I will have to ask mom tomorrow after she gets over her hangover. I should spend a little more time with her. If today has taught me anything, it is that I don’t have forever to take care of things.
She gave her mom a little kiss on the forehead before she left. She did not even remember the trip to the Crashdown. The next thing she really remembered were a set of astonished pair of brown eyes staring at her from the kitchen. She somehow persuaded Mr. Parker to allow her a few minutes to… talk... with Michael.
Several minutes later with seriously mussed hair and the need to straighten the buttons on her blouse, she looked at herself in the mirror. I definitely need a chaperone with Mr. Guerin at the moment, or mom will kill us both. That was, that was wonderful. I think if we had a few more minutes… Yeah, mom would have killed us both.
I need to talk to Liz, to try and figure out exactly what is happening to me. I think, I think I almost saw something. It is like there is a wall, something blocking me. I so want to see the other side. I want to see.
She walked up the stairs leading to the Parker’s apartment. She knocked on the door, and Mrs. Parker answered. “Good evening, Maria. I did not see you step out.”
“I had to get ready. Has Liz already asked you if it was okay to go to the party at the Delany’s?”
“I don’t know, she did not seem well earlier.” Mrs. Parker thought for a moment, “I guess, you two worked really hard for today. If she wants to go, I guess she can. Just she needs to be back by midnight, and I want you both to stay out of trouble.”
“No problem, Mrs. P. Now I just need to convince Liz.” Maria walked toward Liz’s room. She was about to knock, but she heard Liz talking to someone. She was talking about two Max’s, and how one had made her break the others heart. Which made no sense, but much Liz had been doing lately really didn’t.
Who would Liz trust to tell someone something she had not trusted to Maria? Had she been replaced when she wasn’t looking? She wanted to know, she needed to know. The other female voice sounded very familiar to her, very familiar. But how could she get in without letting them know, so that Liz could not hide whoever it was.
Nothing good ever lasts. She felt an irrational stab of jealousy at this other girl. The hair on the back of her arms began to stick up and she could feel a prickling sensation in her palms. She knew how to open the door, even if it was locked. She reached up to the upper door sill for the little key thing and quietly fiddled with the lock. She could feel the little click, she grasped the handle. She then opened the door and looked inside, to see who her replacement was.
She did not see who she expected. Not even close. For sitting on Liz’s bed… was herself. Two pairs of startled eyes glanced in her direction. She looked at Liz’s brown eyes in confusion. She then quickly switched her gaze to the Maria look alike and met her own green eyes.
It was too much for Maria. The world went black.
End of Book One of In Destiny’s Shadow
Thanks to everyone reading this story. Special thanks to RhondaAnn, TheAntarianKing, Sternbetrachter, and xmag.
Epilogues in my story are special. In them I do not give the POV to our main heroes, at least not until the final Epilogue at the end of the full story, but rather to others, whose actions will affect our heroes.
RhondaAnn- Poor Maria, the shock of seeing herself on top of everything was too much. As to her bond with Michael, she loves him, but she does not expect it to last. The idea that she is permanently committed to someone who will leave on the next saucer is not appealing to her. She is afraid it will make it impossible for her ever to recover. The glow under her breast is from the blast, the damage has been repaired but the powerburn remains. Max's hand print is of course on top of it. Michael left a mark too, but it is harder to see. So far only Tess has truly seen it.
As to those papers, lets just say Maria did not know her father's real name. Amy was married to a man who had a bunch of secrets. With all the problems he caused her when he left, she had her and her daughter's name changed to her maiden name. More will be forthcoming as Eidolon progresses.
Richard is helping Tess out over residual family loyalty. Also, he doesn't see how this will harm them, and it gives him an excuse to see how they are doing.
Liz has her plate full, between remnants of Emily and the future, yeah, she's going to have an interesting time. And how much of the future will she tell Maria? She has decided to confide in her, which honestly she should been doing all along anyway, but a lot of what she now knows are going to hurt both of them.
TheAntarianKing- Tess's nightmares are important. Tess is not innately evil in this story. Nasedo was, and his teachings have poisoned Tess to a degree. It is up to her to decide how she will react to upcoming events, to decide whether she is going to be good or evil. She is not off to a good start.
Brody has a lot of money and a lot of contacts in the alien conspiracy arena. Brody hated Pierce, and it all involves the Ibanez case.
Hopefully Liz gets that advice, and better yet takes it. Liz and Maria desperately need each other, to each have a dedicated confidant. I had not fully considered Michael's reaction yet, interesting, I will have to think about that.
Sternbetrachter- Thank you.
xmag- Tess has some unresolved issues that relate to her nightmares. When Tess is awake, she is firmly in control. When she sleeps that control slips, hence the nightmares.
Liz trusts Dorian for two reasons. One she had a series of flashes that he has been watching them for a long time. If he wanted to hurt her, he easily could have. Dorian rescued her from Ana. Second, he is using a low wattage version of mind warping to increase her level of trust. Think how fast Diane Evans was to trust Tess, basically telling her Isabel's life story. Even though Tess had never been introduced to Diane yet!
The Skin you are thinking of is Zachary. He is the Skin that Maria pounded with a baseball bat, not that she knew. However he may have survived, as he was not one of those that Michael and Richard killed.
Maria's view can pretty much be summed in the idea, that nothing good can last. She is always expecting people to leave or betray her, which is why she is always so suspicious. She expects the worst so she often sees the worst. It is a form of psychological preemption against betrayal and abandonment.
Maria is also in denial at how close things actually came during the Longest Day. She is actually in shock at the moment, at the first realization that she really nearly died. (She probably should not be driving at the moment.) And the new feelings, the increased perception brought about by her rapidly developing abilities are not helping. Learning of timeline one won't help much either.
But Maria is tough. This is just my opinion, but Maria is not as strong as Liz. She is however, much tougher. Liz will need her as much as she needs Liz. Michael will help too, albeit in a different fashion.
Brody has his part to play.
Disclaimer- Roswell is not mine, and no infringement is intended.
Longest Day Epilogue-
Special Agent Samuel Byrnes sat staring at his laptop’s screen. Much of what he had read in the last couple of hours disconcerted him. He might have made a mistake, a horrible costly mistake.
One that he would rectify personally if needed.
He heard a knock on the door. He checked the gun in its holster. “Come in.”
Agent Hart walked into the room and handed Byrnes a cup of coffee. “So how did the interviews go?”
“The Parker girl knows something. It is possible that she is shielding Pierce and she definitely knows something about Copper Summit. The rest were predictable.” He took a sip from a cup of coffee. “How were yours?”
“Mostly the same. I did talk to one of Pierce’s local sources. Apparently she had been blackmailed into helping him, something about her ex’s crimes reflecting back on her. He was going to make her an accessory to a crime he had ostensibly committed. It never would have stuck, but apparently she had a young daughter, and he threatened to have Child Protective Services take her.”
“Could he have done that?”
“Probably not, he did have connections, but that would have been stretching it I think. Also she had a major fear of the government. Your basic X-files mentality. She believed he could.”
Byrnes shook his head. “I have some files I want you to read. Agent Toleson sent me his initial report on Copper Summit. I’ll be meeting him tomorrow in Washington, and we’ll be working on a brief about what we found. I need you to …
----
T. Greer looked out the window at the lakeshore. It was so peaceful here. It had the small town feel he had grown to love in Copper Summit. He doubted that would last more than a decade.
On Antar he had been a project manager. Even here on Earth he had spent his time organizing things. He had not been the one to actually do the scientific work necessary to make the failed Harvest, but he had been the one to make it possible. He had even worked the mines long before most of the Skins had relocated and decided the little town was going to be their home. He liked doing things, organizing things. It was stressful, but fun.
He had a large project in front of him now. Moreover, the most recent ship had given him the tools. The destruction of the Harvest shifted some of the timetable, but not by much. He would just have to build some of the living quarters sooner than later.
He would build them a proper home. The rest would take perhaps a decade, after which he was certain that this little town would be less than peaceful...
----
Ana stared at Nicholas. He was still unconscious, still recovering from his surgery. They had needed to remove his husk, to actually manually remove the bullets.
The enemy had been inspired to use Depleted Uranium, but the cost… How had they gotten a hold of such a rare substance?
They had lost so many people. Even Ragar was missing. He would likely catch up to her later, as would hopefully some of the others. Luckily she had cached some back up supplies nearby, as she had lost a lot of her gear when the TSD failed.
She heard her communicator beep. She activated the orb and she saw Khivar seated in his office.
He looked at her and said, “Report.”
“Despite my aid, Nicholas’s raid was less than successful…”
----
Brody moodily stared at his most recent picture of Sydney. It killed him that even with all of his money he could not cure her. But maybe, just maybe, he could find a way. Seven years ago, after he had been abducted his own cancer had disappeared after his abduction.
He had to find them, find them and persuade them to heal his daughter. He would do anything to save her. Anything at all…
TBC in IDS Eidolon
Epilogues in my story are special. In them I do not give the POV to our main heroes, at least not until the final Epilogue at the end of the full story, but rather to others, whose actions will affect our heroes.
RhondaAnn- Poor Maria, the shock of seeing herself on top of everything was too much. As to her bond with Michael, she loves him, but she does not expect it to last. The idea that she is permanently committed to someone who will leave on the next saucer is not appealing to her. She is afraid it will make it impossible for her ever to recover. The glow under her breast is from the blast, the damage has been repaired but the powerburn remains. Max's hand print is of course on top of it. Michael left a mark too, but it is harder to see. So far only Tess has truly seen it.
As to those papers, lets just say Maria did not know her father's real name. Amy was married to a man who had a bunch of secrets. With all the problems he caused her when he left, she had her and her daughter's name changed to her maiden name. More will be forthcoming as Eidolon progresses.
Richard is helping Tess out over residual family loyalty. Also, he doesn't see how this will harm them, and it gives him an excuse to see how they are doing.
Liz has her plate full, between remnants of Emily and the future, yeah, she's going to have an interesting time. And how much of the future will she tell Maria? She has decided to confide in her, which honestly she should been doing all along anyway, but a lot of what she now knows are going to hurt both of them.
TheAntarianKing- Tess's nightmares are important. Tess is not innately evil in this story. Nasedo was, and his teachings have poisoned Tess to a degree. It is up to her to decide how she will react to upcoming events, to decide whether she is going to be good or evil. She is not off to a good start.
Brody has a lot of money and a lot of contacts in the alien conspiracy arena. Brody hated Pierce, and it all involves the Ibanez case.
Hopefully Liz gets that advice, and better yet takes it. Liz and Maria desperately need each other, to each have a dedicated confidant. I had not fully considered Michael's reaction yet, interesting, I will have to think about that.
Sternbetrachter- Thank you.
xmag- Tess has some unresolved issues that relate to her nightmares. When Tess is awake, she is firmly in control. When she sleeps that control slips, hence the nightmares.
Liz trusts Dorian for two reasons. One she had a series of flashes that he has been watching them for a long time. If he wanted to hurt her, he easily could have. Dorian rescued her from Ana. Second, he is using a low wattage version of mind warping to increase her level of trust. Think how fast Diane Evans was to trust Tess, basically telling her Isabel's life story. Even though Tess had never been introduced to Diane yet!
The Skin you are thinking of is Zachary. He is the Skin that Maria pounded with a baseball bat, not that she knew. However he may have survived, as he was not one of those that Michael and Richard killed.
Maria's view can pretty much be summed in the idea, that nothing good can last. She is always expecting people to leave or betray her, which is why she is always so suspicious. She expects the worst so she often sees the worst. It is a form of psychological preemption against betrayal and abandonment.
Maria is also in denial at how close things actually came during the Longest Day. She is actually in shock at the moment, at the first realization that she really nearly died. (She probably should not be driving at the moment.) And the new feelings, the increased perception brought about by her rapidly developing abilities are not helping. Learning of timeline one won't help much either.
But Maria is tough. This is just my opinion, but Maria is not as strong as Liz. She is however, much tougher. Liz will need her as much as she needs Liz. Michael will help too, albeit in a different fashion.
Brody has his part to play.
Disclaimer- Roswell is not mine, and no infringement is intended.
Longest Day Epilogue-
Special Agent Samuel Byrnes sat staring at his laptop’s screen. Much of what he had read in the last couple of hours disconcerted him. He might have made a mistake, a horrible costly mistake.
One that he would rectify personally if needed.
He heard a knock on the door. He checked the gun in its holster. “Come in.”
Agent Hart walked into the room and handed Byrnes a cup of coffee. “So how did the interviews go?”
“The Parker girl knows something. It is possible that she is shielding Pierce and she definitely knows something about Copper Summit. The rest were predictable.” He took a sip from a cup of coffee. “How were yours?”
“Mostly the same. I did talk to one of Pierce’s local sources. Apparently she had been blackmailed into helping him, something about her ex’s crimes reflecting back on her. He was going to make her an accessory to a crime he had ostensibly committed. It never would have stuck, but apparently she had a young daughter, and he threatened to have Child Protective Services take her.”
“Could he have done that?”
“Probably not, he did have connections, but that would have been stretching it I think. Also she had a major fear of the government. Your basic X-files mentality. She believed he could.”
Byrnes shook his head. “I have some files I want you to read. Agent Toleson sent me his initial report on Copper Summit. I’ll be meeting him tomorrow in Washington, and we’ll be working on a brief about what we found. I need you to …
----
T. Greer looked out the window at the lakeshore. It was so peaceful here. It had the small town feel he had grown to love in Copper Summit. He doubted that would last more than a decade.
On Antar he had been a project manager. Even here on Earth he had spent his time organizing things. He had not been the one to actually do the scientific work necessary to make the failed Harvest, but he had been the one to make it possible. He had even worked the mines long before most of the Skins had relocated and decided the little town was going to be their home. He liked doing things, organizing things. It was stressful, but fun.
He had a large project in front of him now. Moreover, the most recent ship had given him the tools. The destruction of the Harvest shifted some of the timetable, but not by much. He would just have to build some of the living quarters sooner than later.
He would build them a proper home. The rest would take perhaps a decade, after which he was certain that this little town would be less than peaceful...
----
Ana stared at Nicholas. He was still unconscious, still recovering from his surgery. They had needed to remove his husk, to actually manually remove the bullets.
The enemy had been inspired to use Depleted Uranium, but the cost… How had they gotten a hold of such a rare substance?
They had lost so many people. Even Ragar was missing. He would likely catch up to her later, as would hopefully some of the others. Luckily she had cached some back up supplies nearby, as she had lost a lot of her gear when the TSD failed.
She heard her communicator beep. She activated the orb and she saw Khivar seated in his office.
He looked at her and said, “Report.”
“Despite my aid, Nicholas’s raid was less than successful…”
----
Brody moodily stared at his most recent picture of Sydney. It killed him that even with all of his money he could not cure her. But maybe, just maybe, he could find a way. Seven years ago, after he had been abducted his own cancer had disappeared after his abduction.
He had to find them, find them and persuade them to heal his daughter. He would do anything to save her. Anything at all…
TBC in IDS Eidolon
Thanks to everyone reading this story. Special thanks to RhondaAnn, TheAntarianKing, Sternbetrachter, and xmag.
Epilogues in my story are special. In them I do not give the POV to our main heroes, at least not until the final Epilogue at the end of the full story, but rather to others, whose actions will affect our heroes.
RhondaAnn- Poor Maria, the shock of seeing herself on top of everything was too much. As to her bond with Michael, she loves him, but she does not expect it to last. The idea that she is permanently committed to someone who will leave on the next saucer is not appealing to her. She is afraid it will make it impossible for her ever to recover. The glow under her breast is from the blast, the damage has been repaired but the powerburn remains. Max's hand print is of course on top of it. Michael left a mark too, but it is harder to see. So far only Tess has truly seen it.
As to those papers, lets just say Maria did not know her father's real name. Amy was married to a man who had a bunch of secrets. With all the problems he caused her when he left, she had her and her daughter's name changed to her maiden name. More will be forthcoming as Eidolon progresses.
Richard is helping Tess out over residual family loyalty. Also, he doesn't see how this will harm them, and it gives him an excuse to see how they are doing.
Liz has her plate full, between remnants of Emily and the future, yeah, she's going to have an interesting time. And how much of the future will she tell Maria? She has decided to confide in her, which honestly she should been doing all along anyway, but a lot of what she now knows are going to hurt both of them.
TheAntarianKing- Tess's nightmares are important. Tess is not innately evil in this story. Nasedo was, and his teachings have poisoned Tess to a degree. It is up to her to decide how she will react to upcoming events, to decide whether she is going to be good or evil. She is not off to a good start.
Brody has a lot of money and a lot of contacts in the alien conspiracy arena. Brody hated Pierce, and it all involves the Ibanez case.
Hopefully Liz gets that advice, and better yet takes it. Liz and Maria desperately need each other, to each have a dedicated confidant. I had not fully considered Michael's reaction yet, interesting, I will have to think about that.
Sternbetrachter- Thank you.
xmag- Tess has some unresolved issues that relate to her nightmares. When Tess is awake, she is firmly in control. When she sleeps that control slips, hence the nightmares.
Liz trusts Dorian for two reasons. One she had a series of flashes that he has been watching them for a long time. If he wanted to hurt her, he easily could have. Dorian rescued her from Ana. Second, he is using a low wattage version of mind warping to increase her level of trust. Think how fast Diane Evans was to trust Tess, basically telling her Isabel's life story. Even though Tess had never been introduced to Diane yet!
The Skin you are thinking of is Zachary. He is the Skin that Maria pounded with a baseball bat, not that she knew. However he may have survived, as he was not one of those that Michael and Richard killed.
Maria's view can pretty much be summed in the idea, that nothing good can last. She is always expecting people to leave or betray her, which is why she is always so suspicious. She expects the worst so she often sees the worst. It is a form of psychological preemption against betrayal and abandonment.
Maria is also in denial at how close things actually came during the Longest Day. She is actually in shock at the moment, at the first realization that she really nearly died. (She probably should not be driving at the moment.) And the new feelings, the increased perception brought about by her rapidly developing abilities are not helping. Learning of timeline one won't help much either.
But Maria is tough. This is just my opinion, but Maria is not as strong as Liz. She is however, much tougher. Liz will need her as much as she needs Liz. Michael will help too, albeit in a different fashion.
Brody has his part to play.
Disclaimer- Roswell is not mine, and no infringement is intended.
Longest Day Epilogue-
Special Agent Samuel Byrnes sat staring at his laptop’s screen. Much of what he had read in the last couple of hours disconcerted him. He might have made a mistake, a horrible costly mistake.
One that he would rectify personally if needed.
He heard a knock on the door. He checked the gun in its holster. “Come in.”
Agent Hart walked into the room and handed Byrnes a cup of coffee. “So how did the interviews go?”
“The Parker girl knows something. It is possible that she is shielding Pierce and she definitely knows something about Copper Summit. The rest were predictable.” He took a sip from a cup of coffee. “How were yours?”
“Mostly the same. I did talk to one of Pierce’s local sources. Apparently she had been blackmailed into helping him, something about her ex’s crimes reflecting back on her. He was going to make her an accessory to a crime he had ostensibly committed. It never would have stuck, but apparently she had a young daughter, and he threatened to have Child Protective Services take her.”
“Could he have done that?”
“Probably not, he did have connections, but that would have been stretching it I think. Also she had a major fear of the government. Your basic X-files mentality. She believed he could.”
Byrnes shook his head. “I have some files I want you to read. Agent Toleson sent me his initial report on Copper Summit. I’ll be meeting him tomorrow in Washington, and we’ll be working on a brief about what we found. I need you to …
----
T. Greer looked out the window at the lakeshore. It was so peaceful here. It had the small town feel he had grown to love in Copper Summit. He doubted that would last more than a decade.
On Antar he had been a project manager. Even here on Earth he had spent his time organizing things. He had not been the one to actually do the scientific work necessary to make the failed Harvest, but he had been the one to make it possible. He had even worked the mines long before most of the Skins had relocated and decided the little town was going to be their home. He liked doing things, organizing things. It was stressful, but fun.
He had a large project in front of him now. Moreover, the most recent ship had given him the tools. The destruction of the Harvest shifted some of the timetable, but not by much. He would just have to build some of the living quarters sooner than later.
He would build them a proper home. The rest would take perhaps a decade, after which he was certain that this little town would be less than peaceful...
----
Ana stared at Nicholas. He was still unconscious, still recovering from his surgery. They had needed to remove his husk, to actually manually remove the bullets.
The enemy had been inspired to use Depleted Uranium, but the cost… How had they gotten a hold of such a rare substance?
They had lost so many people. Even Ragar was missing. He would likely catch up to her later, as would hopefully some of the others. Luckily she had cached some back up supplies nearby, as she had lost a lot of her gear when the TSD failed.
She heard her communicator beep. She activated the orb and she saw Khivar seated in his office.
He looked at her and said, “Report.”
“Despite my aid, Nicholas’s raid was less than successful…”
----
Brody moodily stared at his most recent picture of Sydney. It killed him that even with all of his money he could not cure her. But maybe, just maybe, he could find a way. Seven years ago, after he had been abducted his own cancer had disappeared after his abduction.
He had to find them, find them and persuade them to heal his daughter. He would do anything to save her. Anything at all…
TBC in IDS Eidolon
Epilogues in my story are special. In them I do not give the POV to our main heroes, at least not until the final Epilogue at the end of the full story, but rather to others, whose actions will affect our heroes.
RhondaAnn- Poor Maria, the shock of seeing herself on top of everything was too much. As to her bond with Michael, she loves him, but she does not expect it to last. The idea that she is permanently committed to someone who will leave on the next saucer is not appealing to her. She is afraid it will make it impossible for her ever to recover. The glow under her breast is from the blast, the damage has been repaired but the powerburn remains. Max's hand print is of course on top of it. Michael left a mark too, but it is harder to see. So far only Tess has truly seen it.
As to those papers, lets just say Maria did not know her father's real name. Amy was married to a man who had a bunch of secrets. With all the problems he caused her when he left, she had her and her daughter's name changed to her maiden name. More will be forthcoming as Eidolon progresses.
Richard is helping Tess out over residual family loyalty. Also, he doesn't see how this will harm them, and it gives him an excuse to see how they are doing.
Liz has her plate full, between remnants of Emily and the future, yeah, she's going to have an interesting time. And how much of the future will she tell Maria? She has decided to confide in her, which honestly she should been doing all along anyway, but a lot of what she now knows are going to hurt both of them.
TheAntarianKing- Tess's nightmares are important. Tess is not innately evil in this story. Nasedo was, and his teachings have poisoned Tess to a degree. It is up to her to decide how she will react to upcoming events, to decide whether she is going to be good or evil. She is not off to a good start.
Brody has a lot of money and a lot of contacts in the alien conspiracy arena. Brody hated Pierce, and it all involves the Ibanez case.
Hopefully Liz gets that advice, and better yet takes it. Liz and Maria desperately need each other, to each have a dedicated confidant. I had not fully considered Michael's reaction yet, interesting, I will have to think about that.
Sternbetrachter- Thank you.
xmag- Tess has some unresolved issues that relate to her nightmares. When Tess is awake, she is firmly in control. When she sleeps that control slips, hence the nightmares.
Liz trusts Dorian for two reasons. One she had a series of flashes that he has been watching them for a long time. If he wanted to hurt her, he easily could have. Dorian rescued her from Ana. Second, he is using a low wattage version of mind warping to increase her level of trust. Think how fast Diane Evans was to trust Tess, basically telling her Isabel's life story. Even though Tess had never been introduced to Diane yet!
The Skin you are thinking of is Zachary. He is the Skin that Maria pounded with a baseball bat, not that she knew. However he may have survived, as he was not one of those that Michael and Richard killed.
Maria's view can pretty much be summed in the idea, that nothing good can last. She is always expecting people to leave or betray her, which is why she is always so suspicious. She expects the worst so she often sees the worst. It is a form of psychological preemption against betrayal and abandonment.
Maria is also in denial at how close things actually came during the Longest Day. She is actually in shock at the moment, at the first realization that she really nearly died. (She probably should not be driving at the moment.) And the new feelings, the increased perception brought about by her rapidly developing abilities are not helping. Learning of timeline one won't help much either.
But Maria is tough. This is just my opinion, but Maria is not as strong as Liz. She is however, much tougher. Liz will need her as much as she needs Liz. Michael will help too, albeit in a different fashion.
Brody has his part to play.
Disclaimer- Roswell is not mine, and no infringement is intended.
Longest Day Epilogue-
Special Agent Samuel Byrnes sat staring at his laptop’s screen. Much of what he had read in the last couple of hours disconcerted him. He might have made a mistake, a horrible costly mistake.
One that he would rectify personally if needed.
He heard a knock on the door. He checked the gun in its holster. “Come in.”
Agent Hart walked into the room and handed Byrnes a cup of coffee. “So how did the interviews go?”
“The Parker girl knows something. It is possible that she is shielding Pierce and she definitely knows something about Copper Summit. The rest were predictable.” He took a sip from a cup of coffee. “How were yours?”
“Mostly the same. I did talk to one of Pierce’s local sources. Apparently she had been blackmailed into helping him, something about her ex’s crimes reflecting back on her. He was going to make her an accessory to a crime he had ostensibly committed. It never would have stuck, but apparently she had a young daughter, and he threatened to have Child Protective Services take her.”
“Could he have done that?”
“Probably not, he did have connections, but that would have been stretching it I think. Also she had a major fear of the government. Your basic X-files mentality. She believed he could.”
Byrnes shook his head. “I have some files I want you to read. Agent Toleson sent me his initial report on Copper Summit. I’ll be meeting him tomorrow in Washington, and we’ll be working on a brief about what we found. I need you to …
----
T. Greer looked out the window at the lakeshore. It was so peaceful here. It had the small town feel he had grown to love in Copper Summit. He doubted that would last more than a decade.
On Antar he had been a project manager. Even here on Earth he had spent his time organizing things. He had not been the one to actually do the scientific work necessary to make the failed Harvest, but he had been the one to make it possible. He had even worked the mines long before most of the Skins had relocated and decided the little town was going to be their home. He liked doing things, organizing things. It was stressful, but fun.
He had a large project in front of him now. Moreover, the most recent ship had given him the tools. The destruction of the Harvest shifted some of the timetable, but not by much. He would just have to build some of the living quarters sooner than later.
He would build them a proper home. The rest would take perhaps a decade, after which he was certain that this little town would be less than peaceful...
----
Ana stared at Nicholas. He was still unconscious, still recovering from his surgery. They had needed to remove his husk, to actually manually remove the bullets.
The enemy had been inspired to use Depleted Uranium, but the cost… How had they gotten a hold of such a rare substance?
They had lost so many people. Even Ragar was missing. He would likely catch up to her later, as would hopefully some of the others. Luckily she had cached some back up supplies nearby, as she had lost a lot of her gear when the TSD failed.
She heard her communicator beep. She activated the orb and she saw Khivar seated in his office.
He looked at her and said, “Report.”
“Despite my aid, Nicholas’s raid was less than successful…”
----
Brody moodily stared at his most recent picture of Sydney. It killed him that even with all of his money he could not cure her. But maybe, just maybe, he could find a way. Seven years ago, after he had been abducted his own cancer had disappeared after his abduction.
He had to find them, find them and persuade them to heal his daughter. He would do anything to save her. Anything at all…
TBC in IDS Eidolon