Returning Normal (CC,M/L,M/M,I/K,TEEN) CH 11 pt 3 9/30 [WIP]

[chunkmonster2]

Author's Notes:
Alright here is my second post after being back. I feel like I am still getting back into the swing of things a bit.... hope ya'll like it. I am very glad to be back and glad to be writing again - like I said before I am no professional I just find it fun to do -- tell a story that you have imagined or whatever... Anyways as alway....

Like it, Love it, Hate it, Whatever -- JUST COMMENT



Chapter Eight, pt. 4.2 - Oh Mother

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Bar Harbor Ferry - January 21st, 2010 3:12pm

The further north they drove, the more they all had to adapt to the bitter cold. To be quite truthful the crew had very little experience with snow, let alone a lot of it. The ran into a storm as they drove up the east coast so that had held them up a bit longer then they wanted. Finally after driving what seemed like an eternity and ended up in Bar Harbor, Maine. Maria had discovered after looking at a map that it would be in their best interest to stop here and cross into Canada via the ferry. They were heading toward Shag Harbour, which wouldn't be too far to go once the reached Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

"Are you sure about this Maxwell?" Michael questioned from the backseat of their van.

Max looked onward to the ferry terminal in front of them. Their plan was to simply leave the van here and board as walk-on passengers. They had also planned on splitting up in odd couplings to enter the ferry terminal. They didn't want to draw any attention to themselves so it was best they took all the precautions they could at this time.

Max nodded his head, "It's our best bet. I know they have recently amped up security crossing into Canada but they will probably be more slack in a ferry terminal then they would the actual land border..." Max paused a moment, turning his body in the seat to face the back where the majority of the others were seated, "We don't really have much choice - we have come all this way. If any of you want to stay on this side and not cross that's fine."

Collectively everyone shook their heads from side to side. It was as it always had been - they were together in it, everything till the end.

Isabel took a deep breath, raising her eye brows and widening her eyes she spoke, "Alright let's do this."

They all quickly filed out of the van and got into their small groups. Isabel,Michael and Zan went ahead together, they had created Id's for them as a married couple with a child. Maria followed just a few steps behind them, she would be going through on her own. She knew if suspicions arose around her she wasn't necessarily as linked to the whole alien fiasco as the others were - the government knew she was related to the situation, but they also didn't think she was an alien. After the initial four went in Kyle and Max followed in the rear - their cover story would be brothers traveling to Nova Scotia to visit family.

Inside it was a bit awkward for them to attempt not to make eye contact. They each found different posts about the room and every now and then their glances would meet each others for an awkward second before they would ensure to turn their attention away and to something else. The next step was paying for their tickets - this would be the moment of truth, they would have to show ID and this is where it could get tricky. Sometimes at the borders they would randomly pick different individuals to do a search on. Although the Id's looked completely legit there would be absolutely no history about them in the system as American citizens. The gang all filed into different line-ups waiting to be assisted by one of the tellers for the tickets. The first through were Max and Kyle, their line up had been the shortest and to be truthful it didn't even seem like the guy was paying any attention to the Id's as he looked at them.

Next to the counter was Michael,Isabel and Zan. The woman who took their Id's did a good scan over them and even requested a second piece - which fortunately they had been smart enough to create before entering the terminal, in fact they had gotten so technical some of them had additional cards to make it seem more legit. "We are going on a little vacation." Isabel stated trying to distract the woman from anything that would be suspicious, "I've heard Nova Scotia is beautiful this time of year." The woman looked slightly annoyed with the chatty Isabel, only replying, "Yeah if ya like snow." Still, Michael and Isabel had no problems, they were through. The two pairs waited anxiously as Maria slowly made her way up her line-up. They watched from their positions near the loading area.

"We shouldn't have let her go alone..." Michael said nervously, "She rants, she is going to rant I can feel it. Look at her face, she's got rant face going on."

"She'll be fine, she has got this." Isabel turned and watched Maria as she neared closer to the counter. "Can you believe how rude that woman was? She's lucky this wasn't a real family vacation because she just would have put a damper on it."

Michael simply shook his head at Isabel's remarks.

Kyle and Max were standing a distance away from Michael,Isabel and Zan. Max was glancing back and fourth between Michael and Maria, he could tell the decision to let Maria go alone was now beginning to eat away at him.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Kyle asked.

Max nodded his head, "She's got this, she knows what she is doing. Besides we all got through without a kink."

Maria finally reached the counter. She smiled nervously at the woman who was waiting to assist her.

"One ticket, please." Maria said bubbly, "I am travelling alone, all by myself." she blurted nervously.

The woman nodded her head, "Okay.... Can I see some ID please?"

Maria chuckled, "Of course ID! I forgot, it's here somewhere. I swear I am not an illegal alien" Maria realized the double meaning behind the term once she stated it. She chuckled nervously again as she rummaged through her purse for the ID which had been created for her. "Here it is! Right here!" she slid the two pieces of ID across to the woman.

"Have you ever travelled outside of the country before?" the woman asked.

Maria shook her head, "No, I mean Yes. I have never travelled to this country, but I lived near Mexico for a while and I travelled there once."

"Okay, when was the last time you travelled out of the country?" the woman inquired.

Maria began to get very nervous, "Uh... I can't remember. Let me think, I was in high school I think. I don't remember the exact date. Is there something wrong? I mean I can go find out and come back and then we can do this again."

The woman shook her head, "No, standard procedure. Just checking. Do you have an approximate date?"

"I'll go with two-thousand... Yeah two-thousand I think was the year." Maria waited nervously, still feeling like it was an answer she had to get right.

"And when will you be returning?"

"Just a couple days, then I'll be back for good. Back to work, the old grind you know." Maria was babbling, she was trying hard not to but she couldn't help it.

"Okay your good to go, here is your ticket and your return ticket." The woman handed the ticket and recipe to Maria.

Maria began walking toward the others, shooting them a smile in accomplishment. Instantly Michael felt the weight lifted off his shoulders, it was a major relief.

"Excuse me Ma'am" The woman called from behind Maria.

Her face turned to shock as she heard the words - something had gone wrong, she knew she would blow it somehow - it must have been that travel question. The others watched unable to understand the look of shock on Maria's face as she turned and headed back toward the counter.

Michael started to make his way back toward the main area of the terminal after Maria. Isabel reached out with an arm trying to hold him back, "Wait Michael, you can't just go running in there."

"Let me go Isabel," Michael said attempting to dodge her.

Maria arrived back at the counter trying to keep herself composed but she was sure she had a sheer look of terror spread across her face.

"You forgot your ID." the woman handed the two pieces of ID to a very relieved Maria, "Have a good trip Ma'am."

Maria's smiled genuinely widened, "Thank you, you too. Or have a good day I mean!" Maria said turning back toward the group.

Michael stopped in his tracks with Isabel only a couple steps behind him.

"I told you she would be fine... " Isabel said turning around and heading back toward the loading area.

Maria passed by Michael on her journey to the loading area - they stayed in character and made sure not to make too much contact but Michael did manage to speak a couple words as she passed, "You scared the shit out of me."

Maria stayed completely in character and continued heading in the general direction of the others who were distributed in different areas.


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Liz's Bedroom, Roswell - January 21, 2010 4:01pm

Liz and Sean had returned to Roswell the day before. With no leads to where the others went and with Reeves crawling with FBI agents it was the only "safe" place to head. Liz knew it was probably a matter of time before the FBI stopped by Roswell again to check up on old leads - too make sure that they hadn't fled back to their hometown, so there was probably only so much longer it was safe for her to stay at her parents place.

Liz had also kind of hoped in the back of her mind that she would return to Roswell and that the others would have returned there as well. Unfortunately it became quite clear when she arrived back that they hadn't. This time back Liz informed the Evans that she was home and if they were to hear from them to get them to contact her immediately. Liz hadn't gone into details on why she was home or how long she had been home before, it was something she felt would only worry Max's parents. Liz wasn't sure herself whether or not they should be concerned yet - after all she officially had no idea where they had went.

Liz had always had such a connection with Max, it was like they could feel each other no matter how far apart they were. She hadn't felt anything in months and assumed it was simply because she was trying to distance herself from him, but now she wasn't so sure that was the reason. Liz couldn't help but feel that there was something else behind it. After finding out she was pregnant and looking back over the months it seemed quite obvious that the pregnancy was affecting her in some way - almost like something or someone was trying to protect her.

"Knock Knock" Jeff said before entering Liz's room.

Liz snapped out of her trance to turn and face her father.

"Just thought I would check up on you, dinner will be ready very shortly." Jeff stated, it hadn't been the real reason he had come to her room but it gave him an excuse.

Liz nodded simply, followed by a brief smile.

"You know Lizzie, I don't think you need to leave. With you being pregnant and all - you really should be somewhere safe." Jeff started to make his case about his daughters decision. Since she had felt it wouldn't be safe in Roswell at her parents house but had no where else to turn to she had made other arrangements.

"I'll be fine and I won't be far. Sean recently got an apartment and it will be a safe area cause he was never connected with us at all. It's not far from here at all, just on the other side of town." Liz explained to her father. Truthfully Liz felt a little weird about temporarily moving into Sean's apartment but it was the truth - as far as she knew his name had yet to be associated with them, therefore it made it one of the safer places to be in Roswell until she could determine whether or not the FBI would follow up by checking their hometown, "I'll be by to visit nights, I just need to be careful."

Jeff nodded, "I know, I know. It's just hard, knowing all your going through and that you have to go through it alone."

Liz shook her head, "It's fine really, I have been here before. This isn't the first time the FBI has been on my trail and they have been much closer before. Plus Sean will be there and....."

Jeff piped up to inform his daughter of what her was actually referring to, "That's not what I was talking about Liz."

Liz nodded her head once, she had a feeling it hadn't been what he was talking about. Her meant her pregnancy. He was talking about the fact that she had recently learned she was with child and while it should be one of the happiest times in her life she was filled with fear - fear for herself, fear for her husband and fear for her unborn child. Right now should be a time for celebration, not what she was dealing with.

Liz made sure to put on her brave face for her father, there was no need in worrying him anymore, "I'll be fine, I've got this. Besides it will work out, I know it will."

Jeff nodded again, "Alright, see you downstairs in a bit." Jeff exited her room pulling the door just barely closed behind him.

As the door was shutting Liz's face was being relived of her "brave face" she had painted for her father and a more true expression of her feelings was being displayed. Liz looked utterly lost. Normally in a situation like this she would cry, but as of lately she was too numb to even cry. Liz had never been this stuck before - she didn't know how to proceed, she didn't know what her next step should be. It wasn't like she could go scouring the country looking for them, but how could she just sit here and wait.

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Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia - January 21st, 2010 8:58pm

"It's getting dark already, maybe we should head back and find a place to stay for the night?" Kyle suggested.

The group had arrived in Yarmouth around 6 pm and it had only taken them an hour to get to their destination. For near to the past two hours they had been braving the cold on the shores of Shag Harbour looking for the location Isabel had seen in her vision. Maria had decided to book a hotel room and stay back with Zan since they all felt he was far too young and it was too much for him to take in - they had already drug him the length of the country.

"Not yet," Isabel shot back, "We are getting close I know it." Isabel didn't want to give up yet, she didn't want to believe that what she had seen had been incorrect - it couldn't be it seemed all too real.

"Isabel we can come back tomorrow morning, it may be easier to spot in the daylight," Max offered as a suggestion, "We are all tired and cold, it's going to be hard to find anything right now."

Isabel shook her head, "No, we are too close Max. I just.." Isabel paused glancing around, trying to take in the landscape all in once quick scan, "I - I just need a minute or something. I - I..I know I can find it." Isabel was getting flustered and all the pressure was definitely on her to perform - after all no one else really knew the location they were looking for. The group stood in one area and chatted amongst themselves, while Isabel wandered a few meters away. She found a large rock and sat down on it. Isabel leaned forward resting her head in her hands, she spoke softly but aloud as if it would help her, "Where are you?"

Isabel felt the warmth of a hand on her shoulder, assuming it was her brother again she began to speak, "I know Max, we can head back and try again tomorrow.... I just know she is hear." Isabel lifted her head from her hands as she spoke and turned in the direction she expected to see her brother standing in. Instead Isabel once again saw the image of her mother. The woman who was dressed in white did not speak but simply pointed in a direction down the beach. Isabel didn't speak, she stared into the eyes of the woman until the image faded in front of her. Isabel took a second to process it all, her powers had been growing and changing.

"It's this way!" Isabel called to the group as she prematurely began making her way in the direction that had been pointed out to her via a vision. The others turned to see her making her way quickly down the beach. Max was the first to follow after his sister and the two other men followed behind him. When they reached Isabel she was standing just around a bluff and staring at a wall in the large rocky shoreline. Isabel had a smile on her face as she gazed at the large rock wall that didn't appear to be any different then any of the others they had seen.

"This is it Max, she is hear I can feel it. Can't you feel it?" Isabel spoke enthusiastically, glancing to the side to her brother.

Max didn't actually feel anything, but he wasn't the one with the intuitive nature about these things - that was Isabel. Isabel was also the one who had longed to meet their mother so was this wishful thinking or was it something real. Max wasn't really sure what he was hoping for. He had accepted a long time ago he may never meet his birth parents and he had become quite comfortable with that. Now wasn't really the time for him to be excited about anything - he was all to anxious about finding Liz and ensuring she was safe, rather then worrying about the safety of a woman who abandoned him years ago.

Isabel walked up to the wall and placed her hand against the cold rock, turning just her head she looked back at Max, "You've got to come here, we both need to be here."

Max hesitated momentarily before making his way up next to his sister. This would be the moment of truth - this is when they would know if Isabel's vision was correct or not - and if it was this would be the first time they met their mother. Max lifted his hand slowly. He stretched his arm out toward the rock slowly and carefully. The cold of the rock was felt in his hand immediately, but was instantly replaced by a strange heat emitting from the rock. Just like that, as they had done with their own pod chambers years back they unlocked the door to another hidden alien storage room. Isabel made her way in first, Max waited for Michael and Kyle to make their way over before he entered.

Inside the room was much smaller then the pod chamber they were accustomed to and seemed to be ever more modernized. The pod in this chamber wasn't the same as theirs. It appeared as though this pod was for an adult body and not one that was being developed. Isabel stood in front of the pod staring at it, simply taking it all in. "This is what I saw Max, this is what they drug out from under the water...." Isabel paused a moment, not breaking glance with the pod, "This is our mother."

Isabel began to reach outward to touch the strange metal that the pod was made of. Before her flesh could connected with the pod a loud sound was heard come from the foreign object followed by a very blinding bright light. The group attempted at at blocking their eyes until the bright white light faded. It took their eyes a couple seconds to adjust to the dark again and when they finally did they were shocked to see the pod had opened itself. Tucked neatly away in the pod was statuesque beauty that Isabel had seen in her vision and they had seen years ago from the communicators. They all stared in awe at the woman who appeared to be in slumber. A minute passed before anyone spoke. They all stood there in shock not sure what move to make, wondering if she would spring to life anytime soon.

Finally Michael piped up from the back of the group, "Is she... Is she alive?" he asked honestly. There didn't seem to be any movement at all, no signs of life. Max shook his head from side to side, "I don't know he replied."

Just as Max's words stopped the eyes of the woman in front of them shot open. A collective gasp could be heard among the crowd.

[chunkmonster2]

Author's Notes: Okay I may have lied - there may be one more post to chapter 8.... haha. It's funny cause I kind of plan where posts will end - to leave cliffhangers... and sometimes it leaves a bit more to explained afterward. But yeah, there will be one more post for chapter eight! Hope ya'll like this post - it calls into question one of the long running mysteries of this storyline! Make sure to give some feedback!

keepsmiling7 - I agree, Sean's apartment is a bit of an odd arrangemnet but I dont think it would be the safest at her parents necessarily. If you thought last post was intense this one might get a bit more intense... emotions are on the rise

Timelord31 - thanks! I am glad your still stopping by for updates!

begonia9508 - I agree with Liz being easily recognizable in her hometown - my thoughts exactly... she will have to lay low or she will get noticed! Unfortunately I don't think she had much choice :S

nibbles2 - I am glad to be back! Glad your still checkin in.... there is gonna be some Michaelage sceneage coming up some so stay posted.

zaneri1 - haha it's so funny how everyone feels about sean and liz - can't say as I blame the feeling really! I think she needs to try and connect too.... and more will be explored with this either way I swear! I am quite certain in is two chapters left. I have to go back through and ensure I have missed nothing... I think originally I was aiming for 12 chapters and it worked out to eleven.... and for some odd reason I wanted it to be an even number so I merged two to get 1 chapter making it an even ten. There certainly is ALOT to be answered.... and believe it or not still a bit to come!!! If need be it might end up being more chapters... it is really getting into the heart of the matter now!

mary mary - I nearly posted this new part and it forwarned me I had a new post! So you got added into the comments last minute! haha Well I hurried back quicker then you could imagine with this one. They definitely found a friend or foe... you will see in the following post!

k thats all... hope yall like... should be back soon with another.... PS - I think this is the longest single scene I have written thus far
btw I am greatful ya'll still are following along... no more disappearing randomly from me!

Chapter Eight, pt 4.3 - Oh Mother

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Pod Chamber, Nova Scotia - January 21st, 2010

When the pod had first opened it appeared as though the woman inside was still in a deep slumber. It wasn't until the sound of Max's voice seemed to bring her around to reality - had that been the trigger or was it just some sort of coincidence. The collective gasp by the pod squad was followed instantly by silence. They all watched the figure closely waiting for her to make the first move.

She appeared a bit disoriented at first. It seemed as though her eyes took a couple minutes to focus, before she actually seemed to be focusing on anything. She scanned the faces in the room quickly. She paused a moment while looking at Kyle, obviously confused about his identity. Finally her eyes stopped on Max. Mother and son held each others stare for a period of time without speaking any words. The woman's eyes eventually welled with tears that flowed freely down her face.

"My son." She stated simply, reaching outward to touch Max.

Max's first reaction was to jolt backward slightly when she reached in his direction. He reaction either went unnoticed or she simply didn't care because she continued as though it hadn't happened. Her hands cupped the sides of Max's face, her touch was gentle like that of a mother, "It's been so long..." she stated trailing off as her eyes glanced to the side to her daughter, her eldest child.

"Vilandra.... You are just as beautiful in this world as you were in ours."

Isabel smiled happily. She had waited many years to come face to face with her mother - there was so many questions that could probably be answered now. All they had to rely on for information about their home planet before was their enemies. Even the facts that Nasedo provided them with could have been skewed simply to further fortify his and Tess' plot to get back to Antar.

"I knew you would find me, I knew you would come for me. I have been waiting."

The woman paused a moment. It was as though something was clicking in her head about the current situation. She removed her eyes from her daughter and glanced about the small pod chamber - something, or someone was missing. With a look of confusion on her face she turned back to her son to get answers, "Where is she, Where is Ava?"

Max felt tension in his face. He knew who she meant by Ava, it wasn't duplicate Ava she was looking for, it was Tess. Her name at times was enough to anger him - after all she was the reason that most of these events had transpired the way they had. Even if she had done the noble thing in the end it didn't repair the damage she had done to the present and the future. And now again Max found himself confused about an aspect of his life related to Tess, his son. Everything pointed to the obvious conclusion - that Zan was in fact his son. Max had memories to confirm this possibility, he had sex with her, he felt a connection with his son in her womb, and he even held the baby boy before making the hard decision to give him up for adoption hoping one day he would have a better life.

Since her son didn't immediately speak, she spoke again trying to get answers, "Did something happen? Is she alright?" Glancing around the room looking for an answer in anyone of their faces, it became quite apparent things weren't alright - no one was able to make eye contact.

Max looked to his sister, they needed time this was really all happening too fast, "Maybe we should head back? We can talk on the drive right?"

Isabel nodded in agreement, she could tell her brother was uncomfortable with the situation at hand. The pod squad decided it was best to head back, they all remained silent during the walk.

They had a bit of a drive ahead of them to get back to the hotel where Maria and Zan currently were residing. During the trip Isabel took the time to update their mother on the happenings of the past ten years. She started by telling her a bit about them - their names for instance. Eventually the conversation moved onward to Tess - how she had been separated from them when they initially escaped the pods. How she returned as a teenager and helped them find their destiny, one that she tweaked to fit her personal interests. How she used Max in a plot to get herself back to her planet safely and the birth of their child. The conversation ultimately ended with her untimely death. Isabel did her best to catch their mother up on the recent happenings with Khivar and the skins. How they thought it was her that had brought them back here.

***Half Hour Later***

They group pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. Max had opted to drive again - this time he had chosen this so he could focus his attention on something else. He couldn't help but still have a huge amount of resentment for the woman in the backseat, the woman who claimed to be his mother and yet Max didn't even know her real name.... a piece of information that had yet to come up in conversation. The engine to the rent a car shut off quickly and Max stuffed the keys into his coat pocket.

"I can't believe this has all transpired, this was not how it was suppose to be." Their mother spoke honestly on the situation at hand.

Something about what she said hit a nerve with Max. It was probably the fact that she was judging the outcome of a situation that she seemed to have wiped her hands clean of when she sent her children off to a foreign planet without her. Max couldn't help but pipe into the conversation abruptly to give his opinion. There were so many things that were eating away at him that unfortunately she was going to get the brunt of his anger.

"How should it have been?" Max quipped

Their mother was a bit taken by the tone of his voice, rendering her speechless before he picked up the conversation again.

"Cause in my mind, ideally a parent doesn't send their children to a foreign planet alone. She doesn't abandon them when they need her the most. You claim to be our mother and I don't even know your name. I don't know exactly how it works on Antar but on this planet, on earth there is a little something called parenting that you do to earn the right of that title." Max paused long enough to take a break and collect his thoughts, there was so much he had wanted to say for so many years, "You know I always imagined this. When I was a little boy I waited and waited to find my parents.... my REAL parents. Something I came to learn a long time ago was that they were there in front of me the whole time. To be a parent you don't simply father a child - you do what is best for them, which clearly you lack."

Max hastily swung the car door open and exited the car. Instead of walking in the direction of the hotel he headed off in the opposite direction - through the parking lot and toward the edge of the property. Everyone sat silent in the car for a moment before Michael and Kyle decided to call it a night and head in to the hotel - this to them seemed like a family issue. Isabel didn't know what to say, she was a bit embarrassed by her brothers attitude but yet she kind of understood where he was coming from.

"I'll get him, I think it's just been a long trip..." Isabel offered moving toward the car door to exit.

"It's fine - I can handle this, I kind of expected it from him. He may think I know nothing about him, but in another life he was my son and I know more then he chooses to believe."

Isabel remained in the car and watched as her mother exited and headed off toward Max.

Max stood starring blankly off into the distance, his mothers voice broke the silence.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" She questioned politely as she approached.

Max ears perked and his head turned slightly in her direction, but he didn't answer the question.

Taking a deep breath she began to speak again, "You know, when you children were growing up you and I had the closest bond. I loved both my children equally but we always saw eye to eye - we were the same you and I."

Max showed no sign of paying attention, but he was doing just that - listening to every word and analyzing it.

"I know it must have been hard for you, understand it's not the way I meant it to be. It was difficult losing both of my children at once, I had nothing left in my life of value. When the opportunity arose to give you a second chance - another life, I took that opportunity. The plan was devised originally so that you could be restored as King someday, so you could return and be the ruler that all of Antar wanted. The was the plan of the resistance, but it wasn't my plan. I wanted my children back, I wanted them to have the life they deserved and not the one they were dealt."

Max's interest in the conversation was definitely starting to be peaked.

Isabel made her way across the parking lot as well. She stood back taking in the conversation and couldn't help but find herself overwhelmed by emotion. They as children had always considered their own feelings of abandonment and not their mothers feelings of making the choice.

"Your father's name was Zan as well you know. He was a great man, a very noble man who fought for his country for his people - he gave his life. You were merely a boy when you took over for your father. You were only sixteen years old. It was hard watching you make all these decisions that were beyond your age, but you did an undeniably good job. You got so caught up in what was best for your people that you forgot about yourself in the meantime. Everything you did, you did it for your people, for your family. I sat back and watched as you sacrificed everything in your life - even a chance at real love. Your union with Ava..." She paused a moment taking a couple steps closer, "I would be lying if I said there wasn't political influence behind it. You loved her, but not the way you should. There was so much focus on the relationship between her planet and ours and when her interest peaked in you there was this great deal of pressure. As a mother I should have been there for you and not allowed you to sacrifice so much. It all happened so fast, before I knew it you were gone."

She had made her way over next to Max now. Max was still gazing off in the distance but he was listening to the words she spoke, getting answers about his past.

"You lost your life at the age of eighteen. It wasn't right, it wasn't the way it was suppose to be. When We sent you hear, you were to have guardians. They were to raise you in a safe environment away from everything that had endangered you on our planet. I wanted to come along more then anything, but I knew it would only further endanger you. If Khivar had of got wind of me leaving the plane the would have known for sure something was up. I couldn't risk that." She joined Max in gazing off, losing herself in her thoughts as well, "And I feared I would fail you again as a mother, that even if I were to be with you I wouldn't be able to be the person you needed. I know I haven't earned the title of your mother and I certainly don't expect it. I just want you to know I am proud of you either way - you turned out to be the man I hoped you would someday and although I had nothing to do with it.... I am proud."

Max remained silent, but the words were hitting very deep. He knew what it was like to feel as though you wouldn't be able to provide the life for a child they needed - he had felt it with Zan the day he was returned.

Their mother turned and began to walk back toward Isabel who was waiting along the edge of the parking lot.

"Maybe someday you will trust me, maybe you will understand. For now I will settle with whatever it is you find to give me." She took a couple more steps in the direction of Isabel, "And my name is Drea and although I am not your mother in this lifetime you will always be my son and I will always love you." Turning and facing Isabel she restated, "I will always love you both."

Isabel smiled and nodded, the words very comforting.

Max stood cold as stone, facing the harsh wind that blew against his face. The tear that slipped down his cheek quickly disappeared with the wind. The parallels with his and his mother situation and with his son were very similar. Maybe it was time Max took responsibility - real responsibility. Maybe he should be the parent Zan deserved, the parent he had always hoped for as a child.

Max turned to face Isabel and his mother, "When do you think it is too late to begin, to repair a relationship with someone?" It was odd of him to be asking for advice from someone he barely knew but something about it felt right. He of course was speaking of the relationship with Zan - one that he had been denying up until this point.

Drea shrugged her shoulders, "I hope it is never too late." she answered honestly. She of course was speaking of her relationship with her children.

Max nodded his head, accepting what she had said. Although he still wasn't sure how to feel about the current situation, he knew he had a better insight to who she was now and where they all came from.

"Max -- maybe we should go inside now?" Isabel suggested. It was cold outside, it was late and they all had a long day.

Max didn't answer he just followed behind the two women.

They made their into the hotel and outside the door to their room. Before entering Drea turned to her son to ask one last question of him, "Are you alright with this?"

Max scrunched his brow in confusion, he was certain what exactly she was speaking about.

"Meeting him, meeting young Zan. I have long wondered if I would ever have the chance for more family."

Max nodded. He didn't give a vocal response, he felt it wasn't needed. It was inevitable they met anyway - they would be travelling back together. Truthfully there was nothing she could harm in the situation - the real problem at hand for Max was finding a way to tell Zan exactly who Max was to him - his father.

Isabel opened the door and the three of them entered the room. Inside they found Kyle and Zan sitting on the bed watching television and Michael and Maria were noticeably absent.

"Where are the others?" Isabel questioned unsure of the whereabouts as she scanned the small room.

"They went to the vending machines to get snacks - we forgot to have dinner tonight, everyone was kind of getting hungry." Kyle replied.

Max watched his mother closely, interested in her reaction in his son - in her grandson.

She seemed to be scanning the room with a look of confusion. After a moment of awkward silence she turned to Max and questioned, "Where is he, has he gone with the others?"

Isabel smiled and chuckled awkwardly - she assumed her mother would have put the clues together that the small boy on the bed next to Kyle was Max's son. To be sure she was thinking of the correct person Isabel questioned, "Who?"

Drea switched her glance to Isabel, "Zan." she replied simply.

Max brow furrowed, there was something slightly strange about this situation. Something he couldn't put his finger on just yet.

"I'm right here" the small voice perked up. "I am Zan, who are you?", the boy seemed to have a great deal of curiosity.

Drea turned quickly to Max, her face and tone serious she spoke softly, "Can we have a word in private for a moment?"

Max was confused and not sure why she had such a look of concern. Reluctantly Mac stepped off to the side of the room with her while the others watched on straining their ears to here the conversation between mother and son.

"What is it?" Max questioned softly, attempting not to be heard by the others.

"That is not your son, that is not my grandson." Drea stated not so subtlety, but managing to keep her voice low.

"Wha?" Max said trailing off before the word even finished escaping his lips.

Drea decided to clarify herself further, "The boy on the bed over there - he is not your son. He is not of our lineage. He - he isn't your son."

Max could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He glanced over at the bed where the boy sat watching him, attempting to listen to their conversation but was obviously out of earshot. Max's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Could this have been possible, were his initial suspicions correct?"

Isabel's face quickly turned to worry at the sight of her brother's face, "What is it Max, What's wrong?"

[chunkmonster2]

Author's notes: OKAY I LIED.... well not really lied, but changed my mind. haha. I had originally chopped down a chapter because I thought I could fit all of what I wanted to in Chapter 8. Alas, it has not happened. As I started to try and scale back some of my original ideas I really didn't want to cut any of it out. So it's official - there is now chapter 9, 10, 11 left -- three chapters not two! That is what is guaranteed anyways... who knows another might get added in the meantime... depends on how much detail I go into on the last couple chapters....

Anyways -- here is the next part. Chapter Nine really won't be a huge chapter, it will be relatively small. It is going to relate pretty much to the interactions between.... well you will see... you'll get the idea.

comment comment comment - lemme know what ya think!

Timelord31 - Thanks again! The question won't be answered immediately but it is most definitely coming up. There is a little aside to it in the follow post but it won't be solved for a bit longer!

keepsmiling7 - haha, it's what I love doing. I personally am a big fan of cliff-hangers. You are definitely right. Max has suspected something ever since the strange part in his dream sequence that didn't seem to fit where Alex informed him something around the lines of "she never told the truth" to which Max assumed it related to Tess. The initial plan was to find their mother - find out what was going on and whether or not she could possibily help find Liz.... so that is definitely their next objective... but do things always go according to plan??

zaneri1 - haha I love your enthusiam! I knew some people would certainly be excited that the child was not Max's. The paternity of the child is still up in the air for now -- there is a little about it below but it will be explored further soon.... by an unexpected source.... or atleast I think it is unexpected to ya'll right now. I have mentioned the source before but it was a while ago and it's hard to say if anyone remembers. If I decide on a sequel I will definitely let you know! Don't worry!

Natalie36 - logical choice -- but things obviously don't always follow logic here... Can't say Yay or Nay at this point!

Roswellian117 - It really is quite the predicament for them... I think everyone is anxiously awaiting the reunion. Glad you liked the chapters!

Okay -- so I should be back in a couple days with the next post. Hope ya'll like. This post is also mainly focused around one character.



Chapter Nine, pt 1 - Once in a Lifetime


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

Bar Harbor, Maine - January 22nd, 2010 2:46pm

"I don't get it Max, How does she know?"

Max turned his glance from his sister to where his mother was sitting alone at table in the fast food restaurant. Everyone else had been pretty much starving from the lack of food they had had within the past couple days. They finally made a stop, allowing Zan to pick the restaurant of his choice. Everyone else filed in and waited in the line-ups but Drea found a table and simply sat there waiting for the others - it was apparent she was in deep though, she was staring out through the window and into the distance. Although her physical appearance on this earth mimicked closely to that of Isabel - it was her expressions that were disturbingly close to her sons.

"I don't know.... but I trust it." Max shrugged his shoulders, making sure to keep his tone low since Zan was not too far from them.

In Isabel's gut she trusted it now too. It was totally unexplainable how she would have such an intuition - but none of the hybrids truly understood the abilities of even themselves - let alone other aliens.

"I guess your happy now - you were right." Isabel said admitting defeat. She hadn't initially backed her brothers gut feeling.

Max turned to Isabel with a look of complete seriousness on his face, "Right, yes I was - but happy I am not. Isabel it was something I wanted, it was just something I knew. More then anything I wanted to be able to look that boy in the eyes and tell him exactly who he was and where he came from. We are even further away from doing that now then we were a week ago. Either way he is one of us and we need to make sure he is safe."

Isabel nodded her head, glancing over at the boy who she had already begun growing an attachment to, "Well what do we do then? I mean, he seems to be Tess's son right - he is the baby that she brought home from Antar, the one she claimed was yours right?"

Max nodded.

"Well then - who is the father?" Isabel questioned her brother.

Max shook his head, "It's hard to say, I assume it is possible she wasn't pregnant at all when she left earth. That would mean we would never know. But...", Max paused not sure if he wanted to go further and state the rest of the possibilities that were floating around his head.

Isabel waited for her brother to speak, she couldn't fathom what the other possibilities could be. Isabel widened her eyes and shook her head at her brother trying to get him to spill the rest of what he was about to say.

"But." Max repeated stalling, "If she was pregnant when she left earth then I am assuming we know the father."

Isabel furrowed her brow, "Then who is it?"

"That's a good question," Max replied ensuring he was speaking even quieter now, "When Tess was here - the time she spent with us... she really spent with us. I don't think she would have had time to find a random person during the year and I don't think she would have risked it."

It began to click what Max was insinuating, "You mean you think it's one of the guys from our group? Why wouldn't they have said something by now?"

"They may not know. Look," Max took a deep breath before continuing, "Tess was able to essentially mess with all of our brains at some point. She had Alex dream up an entire trip. It is very possible she had sex with any of them and simply erased it from their brains. Maybe nothing has triggered their memory yet. It could be any of them - Michael, Kyle..... Alex..." Max hesitated before stating the final name - but he knew even if he didn't that Isabel would have drawn that conclusion herself.

Isabel kept her eyes fixated on the small boy, "It's not fair for him, you know? We need to figure this out, he deserves to have a good life."

"I know" Max replied

As everyone narrowed in on the counter Michael saw and opportunity and decided to seize it. Since seeing Drea in the chamber Michael had questions of his own for her - questions he was sure she could answer. When Michael was a child and even a teenager he had always wanted to find information on where he was and who he was. Part of that was a longing to find his family - his parents. Although he had given up on this dream long ago after many disappointments he saw this new outlet of information as his opportunity to fulfill an old dream. Michael wanted a couple minutes alone to speak with Drea.

"Just order me a number two." Michael informed Maria as he turned to walk from the line.

"Wait, Michael where are you going?" Maria questioned before he could distance himself.

Michael turned on his heels to face Maria with a slight look of quilt on his face.

It clicked to Maria very quickly where his destination was. They had spoke about it the night before. Maria was supportive and very understanding of his thirst for knowledge of his history but she wasn't sure if it was the right thing for him to do. She had very particular reservations about it. Although Maria informed Michael it was her fear that he would find out what he wanted and would leave the planet without her for his true "home" it was actually the contrary. Maria knew Michael was here to stay - she was quite certain nothing could change that. Her fear was he would find information he didn't want to know, that his history wouldn't be what he had always dreamed it was.

"Are you sure, even after what we talked about?" Maria asked him, making sure not to say too much to let the others onto the scheme Michael had devised.

Michael nodded, "I need too - I just need to know."

Maria smiled warmly and nodded, "Then hurry..."

Michael turned and lightly jogged over to where Drea was sitting. Maria couldn't help but watch over him - she only hoped he would receive the answers he wanted to hear. Maria couldn't seem to curb the nervous feeling in her stomach.

Michael slowed his paced as he approached Drea. She must have caught glance of him approaching because she snapped from her trance immediately and turned to face him.

Michael raised his brow, "Hey - are you sure you don't want anything to eat? We can get you something?" Michael of course was using this as an in for conversation between the two of them.

Shaking her head from side to side she replied, "No I am fine for now thanks. We studied humans on our planet and one of the things I never understood was their eating habits - their food is some bland."

Michael chuckled, "Yeah - that's what this is for." Michael reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out Tabasco sauce and set it on the table in front of her.

"What is this?" she questioned looking at it.

"It's what will get you through life with the food on this planet." Michael added as he took a seat across from Drea.

There was a brief pause in conversation. Michael wanted to continue on and ask her the questions that he set off in her direction with but it was more awkward bringing it up then he expected.

"Can I ask you something?" the words finally shot from Michael's mouth, a bit shaky from his nerves. "I mean - I just, I have had these questions about my past, you know like my history.... I was thinking maybe you had the answers?" It wasn't like Michael to feel awkward being forward - being forward was what he was good at. For some reason he felt a very respective feeling toward this woman he had never met nor had any recollection of.

Drea smiled warmly and nodded, allowing Michael to relax a bit. "I will try my best - there shouldn't be anything I can't answer really."

Michael pressed his lips together and nodded, "Well, ya see here... on earth... I was an orphan. I mean I guess technically we all were but my situation was different from the others. Max and Isabel had their parents who were like real parents you know - treated them no different then they would have if they were truly their own. Tess didn't come into the picture until later, but even she had Nasedo to look after her and really care for her. I didn't have that." Michael paused a moment allowing her to process what he had said already, after a couple seconds he resumed speaking, "I had a couple foster families - nothing that stuck. I was only ever an asset to these people because I was another pay cheque. All I ever really wanted as a child was a real family. I always knew I was different and really I just hoped someday my parents would come down from wherever they were and take me away with them - rescue me from this life I was living."

Drea nodded to show she was truly listening to what he had to say.

"I guess what I am getting at is... I wanted to know about my family. I wanted to know who they were" Michael finished.

Drea had told him there wasn't anything she couldn't answer - and she had been right. Unfortunately this was going to be something that was difficult for her to answer, but something that was most likely necessary to answer to give him the piece of mind he needed. Drea reached across the table and placed her hand on Michael's squeezing gently.

"Ra...Michael..." she begun. It was obvious she was having a hard time adjusting to their human named, "This probably isn't going to be the easiest thing to hear. I just want you to really listen to what I have to say.... all of it."

Michael found it impossible to swallow - this wasn't sounding like it was going to be what he wanted to hear. Even still he nodded agreeing to the terms laid out by Drea.

"I can't tell you about your parents - because I don't know who they were. I wish I could sit here and tell you all the things about them that made them great and give you insight to exactly who they are but I can't. It seems unfortunately your life here on earth mimicked that of your live on Antar closer then you would imagine."

Michael knew in his gut what that meant - he had always been an orphan.

"You were an orphan on our planet as well," Drea confirmed, "You didn't come into my life until you were about seven years old. My husband and I were travelling our country with our children. We stopped in a small town there for a brief time and that is where we found you. Isabel, or Vilandra as she was then, saw you. She saw you sitting all alone and instantly she knew you were truly that - all alone. You see, my daughter she had this passion for protecting people it truly was a beautiful thing. She wouldn't let us leave you there. We brought you back with us and you lived the remainder of your life on Antar with us."

Michael nodded. Feeling he had heard of enough he began to slide toward the edge of the booth to leave but Drea's grip on his hand tightened - an act that cause his attention to return to her face, "Michael - your history isn't easy to hear but it is just as important as you always thought it was. You may have been an orphan but you had a family and your history is what made you who you were, something I am sure hasn't changed in this lifetime."

Drea had caught Michael's attention. Although he hadn't heard what he wanted maybe there was more to knowing who he was then knowing who his family was.

Drea continued, "Michael you were who you were on Antar because of your history. You had an incredible strength about you that couldn't be matched by many and that is why you made such a great second in command. My children grew up of privilege. Sometimes Zan, or Max, had this idealistic idea of what right and wrong should be. You were the balance he needed - the reminder that life wasn't always fair and that sometimes decisions had to made that were just that - unfair or unjust."

Michael glanced over at his friend in the line-up to get their food. At this time he paid particular attention to Max and Isabel while his brain wandered back to many instances that what she said seemed to apply to their current life. Max and Michael really did seem to balance each other - as much as they could disagree at times, their disagreements usually helped make extremely tough decisions.

"And Michael - I said you were an orphan because you had no parents to speak of.... but you did have a family."

Michael turned his attention back to Drea. His attention was quickly diverted back to Isabel and Max. Drea gestured in their direction as she began to speak, "They always have been and always will be your family Michael. Isabel loved you from the day she met you on our planet - not because she took pity, but because she saw something in you she knew was great. You may have been Max's second in command but he always loved you as an equal - as a brother."

Michael nodded and thanked Drea. Michael again slid to the edge of the bench and stood. Before he left Drea added one last bit of information.

"For what it is worth - I loved you as well. You were more then I could have ever hoped for my daughter. I would be lying if I said I didn't wish things had worked out differently between you and Isabel in this lifetime." Drea finished with a warm smile.

Michael took a second to glance over at Maria - who caught his gaze. It was obvious she was anxiously awaiting his return, "I don't know what Iz and I were in another lifetime but in this lifetime I am sure I found my great love." Michael informed Drea, turning to face her again he finished, "but that doesn't mean I don't love Isabel. I would do anything for her - your right she truly is my family and she always has been."

Drea nodded, "I wish you all the happiness Michael, truly."

Michael assumed their conversation was over and began to head in the direction of his friends who were receiving their food, he would need to help Maria carry theirs over. After getting only a couple steps into his journey he was stopped by one last question from Drea.

"He has found her hasn't he?" Drea asked slightly vaguely at first. Michael turned to face her from a couple feet away, Drea elaborated on her question, "I can tell. He is my son and I can see something in him I have never seen before - something he didn't have with Ava or Tess as you call her."

Michael didn't respond with a verbal confirmation, a smile and nod was all Drea needed to confirm her suspicion. As for the details she would have to speak to her son exclusively to get.

[chunkmonster2]

Author`s Notes: Once again -- here is the next part. This chapter is going to be substantially smaller then the other chapters simply because there was almost not even enough to warrant its own chapter... but I thought it would be better this way.

Basically as the post before it is one short scene to kind of jump into the history of the pod squad -- this time paying particular attention to another one of them. Hope you like. As always please leave comments! I love getting the feedback!

Back soon with a new post I promise! Chapter Nine will probably be wrapping before this weekend.

Chapter Nine, pt 2 - Once in a Lifetime.

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

New York State, January 22nd, 2010 9:04pm

Today had a been pretty much an entire day of travelling. After arriving in Maine and then driving for nearly seven hours the pod squad had just broken across the New York border approximately a half hour ago. They had been switching up the drivers the entire time to and from Nova Scotia and it was becoming quite apparent that everyone was beginning to become exhausted. It was still fairly early but nearly everyone was asleep in the vehicle. Zan, being young was one of the first to head off to dream world. Maria and Kyle had followed closely behind and eventually even Michael followed, his head bobbing a couple times before coming to rest on Maria's shoulder. Now the only members of the group still awake was Max, Isabel and Drea.

Max was on his driving shift and was paying close attention to the road. Isabel and Drea were in the back seat of the van. Isabel had been asking small general questions about her mother and their planet and their childhood. Every now and then there would be something interesting said that would catch Max's attention but for the most part he and Isabel weren't curious about the same things. Isabel was interested for the most part in who her parents were. Max by now had little to no interest in them at all. To be quite truthful for the most part Max was planning his next step in finding his wife - as soon as they arrived back. To be quite truthful Max didn't even know where they were headed -- Reeves was no longer even home, it wasn't as though they could go back to their apartments to regroup. There were many decisions to be made and they would have to be made soon.

Isabel had been been bouncing around the same question all night. She would manage to move the conversation in the direction of her question, but when she would arrive near it she never had the nerve to question her mother. One of the things that Isabel had always wondered the most about was her affair with Kivar - which would lead to her famous betrayal of her family and the end of their lives, including her own and the end of her families reign. There was no real easy way to ask her mother if she was aware that Isabel had been the cause - something she was certain of for a fact now.

Isabel paused a moment attempting to work up the courage to ask her mother. She was attempting at masking her feelings - trying not to wear a look of self-disappointment and fear on her face, but it seemed that her true feelings were showing. Before Isabel worked the courage to ask the question she had been longing for answer too it seemed as though Drea was one step ahead of her.

"It's alright..." Drea said warmly, "Don't be afraid Isabel."

The look of fear quickly turned into surprise, Isabel's brow raised as she questioned, "How did you..."

Before she had a chance to finish the sentence Drea cut her off, answering the question before it was entirely proposed to her, "You are my daughter - I have seen this look before. I can remember several instances throughout your younger life when you had this look on your face. The time you injured your brother when he was just a small child, the time you had lost a very valuable piece of jewelry given to you by your father, the time you informed me of your and Michael's pending engagement. Every time you had something to tell me that you feared I would judge you on, you came to me with this exact look on your face. This is something I am accustomed to my dear, no matter how many years it has been since I last seen it."

Isabel smiled nervously. In comparison to the things she mentioned this would be something much more disappointing. It was one thing to injury your little brother as a toddler but it was another to set him up for death as an young adult. The nervous smile remained on Isabel's face until she began to speak again, slowly it faded with every word she spoke, "Well, it's not really easy to say and I am not sure how much you know..." Isabel stated trailing off, watching her mothers expression for any change. Drea's face remained the same, unfaltering as Isabel continued with her story, "You see, We didn't remember anything of our pasts at all. It was like the memories were suppressed, for the longest time we didn't even remember coming out of the pods. Shortly after we got the transmitted message from you I learned something about my history which was kind of hard to handle..."

Drea listened attentively nodding her head allowing Isabel the time to explain herself.

"You see, there was this woman who came for me. She was one of the skins and she was convinced I would help them in their mission to destroy my brother and the others. They were convinced I was the correct candidate but I had no recollection of why this would be." Isabel paused again during her explanation. Her mother still looked unfazed by the direction of the conversation, "It came to my attention I had done some things during my time on Antar - things that led to the unfortunate end. I wasn't who you thought I was, I wasn't a good person.... I was the enemy." Isabel finished. Her head hung slightly in shame as she awaited some sort of response from her mother.

Drea was silent for a few seconds. In an act of comfort she reached out and took her daughter by the hand, gripping firmly to show support of her daughter, "You were a lot of things in your other lifetime Isabel - but you were never the enemy."

Max's attention had been drawn to the current conversation in the back. Several times during Isabel's explanation he had glanced back in the rear view mirror taking in the scene of mother and daughter in the back seat discussing their colored past.

Isabel lifted her head, he eyes meeting with her mothers. There wasn't a look of a disappointment, not even a hint of shame for who her daughter was. If anything the only thing her mothers eyes seemed to convey was a look of pride and love.

"Isabel, you may not know this but you were a very passionate person in your other lifetime. You took things very seriously and wanted things to be as perfect as possible. You were passionate about so many things it was truly inspiring. Unfortunately this is something Kivar took advantage of. What I am sure you weren't informed of when they told you of your past betrayals was that Kivar had that sort of power over people. Kivar is referred to as a charmer - it is what he does. He finds passionate people and he charms them into believing his cause. When you met Kivar he charmed you off your feet - he had you brainwashed into believing that he was better for the thrown, better for everyone."

Isabel hung off every word her mother said, this explanation of her history was extremely important to her.

"After a while you lost yourself, but through no fault of your own. You went into that thinking it was the best thing for your people and even for your family. He had you convinced that things would be better if they were different and you were too brainwashed and blinded to see the difference. You never knew things would go down the way they did - if you had I am certain you would have never done it. Once you found out what happened with your brother and Rath you acted against Kivar in one last attempt to stop him. You went after him knowing you would be sacrificing your life in an attempt to right the wrongs you helped achieve." Drea paused a moment reaching with one hand she cupped the side of her daughters face, "Don't be confused Isabel, mistakes were made, but you couldn't have known the outcome at the time. You can't hate yourself for being passionate about making a better world for everyone. I forgave you a long time ago for what happened.... I think you need to forgive yourself. You loved your brother and you loved your country - this wasn't an act or greed or hatred, it was truly an act of misplaced trust. You trusted Kivar to do the right thing and unfortunately it didn't happen."

Isabel's eyes filled with tears, one single tear from each eye making a trail down her face. Drea used her thumb to wipe away the tear that met with her hand. Her smile and her touch was warm and loving. Isabel hadn't spent the past ten years dwelling on this fact of her history but to really understand what happened help put it in perspective. She had simply placed her faith in the wrong person - something she had never allowed herself to do in this lifetime, something that she had obviously in someway grown from or learned from.

"Thank you." Isabel muttered softly. Isabel stretched out her arms in the direction of her birth mother. Drea followed Isabel's gesture and the two women hugged for the first time in what seemed like an eternity to Drea. Drea's eyes too filled with tears which soon made their journey down her face. The two women pulled from their embrace to wipe the tears from their eyes as they laughed off their emotional state.

Max had been watching and listening from the front seat. Both women were too wrapped up in their moment to realize he had been listening. Max found himself slightly moved by what Drea had to say, just as he had been the first night she explained part of his history to him in the parking lot of their hotel in Nova Scotia. Max didn't want to trust her, he didn't want to forgive her - but he was finding it may be harder then he expected. In a lot of ways he was seeing himself in this woman - a woman who was bound to him simply biologically at this point. It would take time, time before he would be able to trust her fully as he should -- but maybe someday it would happen.

Max glanced from the rear-view mirror back to the road in time to catch the next exit sign. There was a motel listed at the next exit and since he himself was even beginning to get tired he assumed it was time to pull over and call it a night. Max quickly made the exit and headed down the off ramp from the highway. As the speed of the vehicle slowed it seemed to trigger the waking of the others from their previous deep slumber.

"Where are we?" Maria practically moaned her first words after awaking.

"New York State..." Max replied back quickly glancing in the mirror at his mother and sister who had regained their composure quickly before the other awoke.

"Why are we stopping?" Michael questioned, "I am awake now, I can take over for you Maxwell."

Max shook his head before speaking, "No we should take the night and get a good nights rest for once. We need rest so we can clearly make a strategy for our next move."

"You mean to find Liz?" Maria questioned.

Max looked in the rear view mirror again. His initial plan was for his eyes to meet with Maria's and to answer her question but he couldn't help but notice his mother now meeting his stare. He hadn't mentioned Liz to her yet, that was his intention for tonight. Max hoped that since she was giving everyone else such an insight and since she seemed to possess some ability to connect with people that it would be worth a try to see if she would be able to help in locating Liz.

Max nodded, "Yes." he replied to Maria's question simply.

The motel wasn't far off the highway. Max pulled off into the parking lot, lucky the sign still was lit up to reflect vacancy. Everyone quickly piled out of the van and began stretching. Michael and Maria made their way into the motels main office hand-in-hand to book a reservation for a couple of the rooms. Everyone else chatted amongst themselves outside the van waiting for Michael and Maria to return with their room keys. Max hesitated before exiting the van. He sat deep in thought for a moment. His mind wandered to images of his wife, until his mind was filled with images of her. Memories of her danced around in his head, all happy memories for the first time in a long time. Max hoped the time was now, that soon he would be reunited with his wife. More then before he was beginning to think that may involve the help of his estranged mother. Max eventually shook his thoughts and exited the van to meet with the others. Michael and Maria returned with two room keys and the all headed off in the direction of the rooms. Michael, Maria, Zan and Kyle occupied the larger room which included two double beds and a pull out sofa. Max, Isabel and Drea took the second room which obtained two single beds and a regular couch. They all retired to their rooms for the night.

[chunkmonster2]

Author's Notes: Okay so here is the most recent update! Same as the two posts before it is not as long as my usual posts but I forwarned this chapter would be short.... and it only has one more very short part before it wraps up. Timeload31 -- we have my usual cliffhangers back! Back to being myself... haha. Anyways not much to explain... its the same as the prior two posts except this time Max gets his turn to chat with Drea

comment, comment, comment

Roswellian117 - I know I thought it was funny you stated that - since the post coming up had to do with Isabel getting her answers... you were a step ahead of me. I intended on all the pod squad getting some of their answers from Drea! And your right... Kivar=Ass... but just you wait!

mary mary - haha I am glad you found it before you were off to bed. I post at really random times so it's always worth a quick check! hope you liked!

keepsmiling7 - you are right - she really did need the conversation with her mother... it gave her closure!

begonia9508 - She definitely knows the truth. I am glad everyone is pleased with this chapter and the answers from Drea. Originally I planned on it being much smaller and part of chapter 8.... but I am glad I elaborated a bit... I hope it was enough to cover what needed to be covered!

Natalie36 - Thanks Natalie -- I think in someways she has already been quite helpful.... in helping both Michael and Isabel with their pasts

Chapter Nine, pt 3 - Once in a Lifetime

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

Random Motel, New York State - January 22nd, 2010 10:15pm

"I am gonna go grab a couple snacks from the vending machines I saw outside, do you guys want anything?"
Isabel asked as she hoped up from the bed and headed toward the door of the small motel room. Drea replied with a "No" and Max simply shook his head from side to side. "Suit yourselves..." she said with a playful smile as she exited the room leaving mother and son alone for the first time.

It became awkward quite fast. Max thought he was beyond the whole awkward bit with the woman but it seemed as though it hadn't faded yet - besides what did you talk to a woman about who should know everything about you and your life already but you have just met within the past 24 hours. To cure the awkward silence Max reached for the small remote which was located on the bed-side table next to him. Clicking the power button, the television was brought to life. Max flipped through a couple channels. He kept his attention drawn forward at the television but he could tell Drea was watching him - waiting for an opportunity to talk.

"Where will be going next?" she questioned over the sounds emitting from the tv.

Max continued his attention forward, "I am not sure, I mean, I really don't know what our next step is. We kind of do this as a team effort. We will most likely make a decision in the morning."

Drea nodded her head. Her attempt at starting a conversation hadn't really kicked anything off. It was then she decided to be a bit more forward - she had seemed to get through to both Michael and Isabel already but Max was being a bit more stubborn... but truthfully she wouldn't have expected less. Drea pushed herself up from the bed she was resting on and made her way over to become a barrier between Max and the tv. Once she positioned herself between him and the object which had been occupying his attention she spoke again, "Do you mind if we talk Max?"

Max wondered if he really had a choice in the matter. It wasn't that Max was afraid to trust her that bothered him - it was that he was unafraid. Usually it took others a lot longer to get through to him but for some reason Drea was different. Within the past twenty-four hours he found himself following what she said to the others and finding her to be undeniably intelligent and seemingly trustworthy. Max clicked the power button again on the remote killing the television. He quickly decided at least this would be a way for him to get answers out of her as well.

Max nodded his head.

Drea took a seat on the edge of the bed next to him.

"I know your still mad, I can see it in your eyes the way you look at me. I just want you to know I don't blame you." Drea paused a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing, "I guess I will never know if I made the right decision, but sometimes as a parent you have to do things that are extremely difficult and this was one of those choices. It seems that thus far you children have turned out for the better then when I raised you myself - as much as I hate to admit it, it was probably best for you to be raised by others. I am sure your parents are great people."

"I do know..." Max replied vaguely.

Drea furrowed her brow, "What? You know what?" she questioned, not sure what aspect of her speech he was referring to.

"I know what it's like to make hard decisions, not only as a parent but as an individual as well." Max continued to inform his mother on his life, "I fought like hell to get Zan back, I lost him I made choices and I lost what I thought was my only child on this earth. When I got him back I made the decision that he would live a better life in the hands of an actual family. All the fighting I did for him and I gave him up that easily. It turns out he didn't have the life I expected he would have and no I question that very decision." Max still felt the pain of it all, in his memory it was still like giving up a child -- even if it turns out that Zan is not his child. Max was still attached to Zan, he couldn't help but be, "I also had to make other hard decisions - uninformed decisions. My whole entire life I was making decisions to protect myself and the others. Fast forward to when I am nothing but a seventeen year old boy and I am told by some vague message that I am suppose to be some ruler. People started looking to me as some ruler and I didn't know how to make the decisions... I was a boy."

Drea nodded her head, she could feel the resentment he had toward her - it was in his voice. Instead of intersecting the conversation in an attempt to rid herself of blame she allowed her son to continue and get everything off his chest, everything that seemed to have been building up over a period of time.

"I had no one to consult with. I was surrounded in family and friends but I had to stand alone so many times. Do you know how hard that was? To keep this secret from my parents - the people who took me in and raised me as their own, keeping it from them for fear they wouldn't love me the same. Making the decision to let others in on our secret and having Michael and Isabel initially be angry with me for the decision. I have made so many mistakes along the way, it would have been nice to have someone there. It would have been nice to have a mother I could consult on all of this."

"I know. I know none of this was fair. I won't even try and bother to make my case because truthfully you, Michael and Isabel were the innocent ones in this situation. All I can do is tell you how sorry I am, I am very truly sorry Max. Hurting you is the last thing I wanted to do, I was trying to protect you. I don't expect you to ever forget but someday I hope you can forgive. I realize you have a mother in your life now but I would like to be a part of your life someday, in someway." Drea held back tears as she spoke, it truly was hard for her hearing the pain in his words and watching the angst on his face.

Max could feel himself becoming overwhelmed with emotions as well. As much as he resented her for many things, he also couldn't help but have pity for her as well. She didn't make excuses for herself - she simply handled the blame with class, something Max couldn't even say for himself the majority of the time. Max realized that sitting here and hashing out the happenings of the past was like beating a dead horse - it wasn't getting him anywhere. What happened in the past was over now - he should be more focused on the future, what he can do now to make the current situation better.

"I need to know, how did you know - how did you know Zan is not my child." Max questioned trying to get more information on the reliability of the charge before informing the others. The only other person in their group who knew they was a possibility as this time was Isabel and Max intended on keeping it that way until he figured whether or not the information was reliable enough. "I need to know... Before I tell the others."

Drea nodded accepting the change in subject, she attempted to allow the tears that welled in her eyes to dry up naturally without her needing to acknowledge they were there and wipe them away, "Well, it is hard to explain really. I suppose you may know. When you were born you must have knew Isabel was your sister? We have this connection that is kind of unexplainable. You can feel the presence of your family members - it only grows stronger the older you get."

Max nodded, he actually could relate to this feeling. He had the feeling when he first laid eyes on Isabel all those years ago, he had it the day he first laid eyes on Zan and he had it just yesterday when he met his mother, "I don't understand though..." Max said trailing off getting lost in thought before continuing, "Why did I feel that connection with Zan. I felt something when she was first pregnant, then when she was away on Antar and when I first laid eyes on the boy. Why would he feel that way to me and not you?"

Drea scrunched her brow in confusion, something in Max's description of his feelings caught her off guard, "When she was pregnant? How so?" Drea questioned without providing any further details on the matter until she heard his explanation.

Max sat quietly a moment trying to remember the details, he didn't really want to be discussing some of them with his mother but he felt it was necessary, "Well, you see me and Tess were only together once. The following day... you know, after.... she came to me and told me she was pregnant. I guess it was another day or two after hearing the news that she started to become ill - something she admitted to faking when she returned to earth. When I touched her stomach I had a vision of my unborn baby growing inside her at a rapid rate. She explained that pregnancy works much different on Antar."

An obvious look of shock plastered across Drea's face, "How so, How is it different?" she questioned.

Max was now extremely curious of why Drea looked so shocked, "She said it was quicker, the baby was much more developed then it should have been after only a few days.... What is wrong? Is there something I need to know?"

Drea nodded her head, "Pregnancy is not different. Pregnancy on our planet lasts the same term as it does here on earth. That's not even to mention that if it were different it wouldn't have mattered. When we engineered the pods and the offspring to be born in them, they were engineering to function as humans for all aspects. Even if pregnancy was different on Antar, she would have had a normal human term."

To say Max was blown away would have been an understatement. Obviously he had considered the possibility she had lied about other aspects of the whole situation but he never considered that so much of it was a lie - now he didn't know what of it he should believe, "I can't believe this. All these years of not knowing the truth, all these years I have wasted on guilt and I didn't even have the facts in the beginning to handle the situation."

"You can't beat yourself up Max, you couldn't have known. There is more you should know as well. As one of the royal children, your offspring are protected. During the pregnancy the mother and child are sort of unreachable. It's hard to kind of explain -- but it is like a force of power. The mothers powers are always heightened and out of whack. You wouldn't have been able to connect with the baby in the womb - it would have seen it as potentially harmful and blocked any such connection. It is a natural preventative measure that is built within us. Unfortunately in some cases it has worked in detriment to protecting the mother and child, even if you are trying to connect with them for honorable reasons it is still blocked. I remember when I was pregnant with Isabel there was a couple times my powers went out of control and even attacked your father once - it threw him the length of the room." Drea chuckled at the memory of her husband being flung across the room like it were nothing, he wasn't harmed in the incident so it was more of a fond memory then anything.

Max was overloaded with information, "Well then I guess that makes it official. Zan is not mine." Max felt himself becoming overwhelmed again with emotion. Although in someways it was a relief to know that the child hadn't been his he also found himself slightly disappointed. Also this brought them back to square one with the little boy who still knew nothing about who he was. "I guess this means I will have to tell them - more then likely it is one of the others. It must be either Michael, Kyle or Alex's baby..." Max stated, basically just processing his thoughts aloud.

Drea knew the first two people that Max spoke of, but the last name was not familiar. Curiosity got the best of her and she had to ask, "Who is Alex?"

Max shook his head, dropping his thoughts for a moment to reply, "Alex is a friend of our from high school. Unfortunately he passed away in two-thousand one. It... well it was Tess that was responsible for it. Isabel has never been the same since..." Max paused a moment, "I am surprised she hadn't spoken to you about him yet... that reminds me I need to ask you something about..." Max stopped mid sentence.

Max was about to ask Drea bout Liz and if she would be able to help locate her when Drea instantly stood from the bed. Max looked to her in confusion. Drea stood as still as stone before her lips broke to utter the name "Isabel."

Max looked up at her slightly confused, "What?"

All in one instance Drea became frantic as she made her way toward the door, "Isabel is in trouble, I can feel it. She should have been back by now." Drea flung the door open to the motel room and exited quickly followed by Max who was directly on her heels.

Mother and son cornered the side of the motel quickly in the direction of the vending machines they had seen earlier. It felt like time was moving slowly, Max had a feeling of ill-fate as he cornered he building. The first thing eyes eyes laid upon was the seemingly lifeless body of Isabel laying on the cold stone next to the vending machines a few meters away."Isabel" he shouted instinctively, Max felt as though his heart stopped in an instant.. Nicholas was standing near to her body and instantly took off in the opposite direction as Drea and Max narrowed in. Every footstep that hit the concrete sent a shock through Max's body. His heart changed pace and started pounding hard enough in his chest to be heard in his ears. His chest heaved in and out as he made his way toward his sister. Max collapsed to the ground near her body, not paying attention to the pain against his knees as he did so.

Max leaned down toward his sister, "She's not breathing..." Max cried out to Drea who was standing above him.

"Max, heal her - use your gift heal her quickly." Drea didn't waste time. She quickly picked up the pace again to get on Nicholas heels.

Max hovered over his sisters body, gently lifting her head he pleaded with her, "Iz... c'mon Iz. Don't die on me, please Iz" It felt as though the life had been drained out of her. Max laid her head gently back against the hard concrete. His hand moved to her midsection and hovered over before he gently place his hand just over her belly button. Max focused, all his energy flowing toward his right hand to heal his sister. Nothing was happening.

"Iz... cmon" Max pleaded again.

Max continued trying to force more of his energy through her lifeless body.

***

Drea made her way quickly in the direction of Nicholas. He stopped just at the edge of the woods but remained with his back to her.

"You always were a coward Nicholas..." she harshly spit the words in his direction. He may not look the same as he did on Antar but it was obvious who the young boy was - it was actually quite suiting they put just a cowardly man in a young boys skin.

Nicholas turned with a devilish grin on his face, "So nice to see you again Drea."

Drea lifted her hand in Nicholas' direction preparing to blast him with a powerful dose of energy.

"Not so fast there Drea - you don't want to miss all the fun. Besides I have a surprise for you." Nicholas taunted.

Drea only hesitated a second, but it was enough for what they had planned. Drea felt a powerful blast connect with her back, one that drained her of energy and shock every bone in her body. Drea collapsed to the ground in a heap and looked upward at her surprise attacker.

Kivar.

[chunkmonster2]

Author's Notes: The short chapter has officially.... COME TO A CLOSE... with this last post anyways! Um not much to say -- it is self explainable! I hope you all enjoy, it was a fun chapter to write to kind of give them all a little perspective into their history. It could have been much larger and longer but I didn't want to over kill.... onto individual comments!

remember guys... comment, comment, comment -- I love it

keepsmiling7 - things always take a turn for the worse don't they... lol. I can't guarantee anyone will be alright, but you will see below. We definitely know that Tess lied about the baby -- it is a fact now. There is much more in store for our gang -- especially in the next chapter... there is going to be a reappearance!

Roswellian117 -- More below -- you will have to read and see who is alright... if anyone is :O haha just leaving it open!

Begonia9508 - Yep Kivar and Nicholas together again -- figures huh! We will find out who Zan's father is in due time... I promise! Not too long and agreed on the Tess comment -- definate bitch!

nibbles2 - Thanks -- their conversation was needed. Yeah the ending was quite a shock as I think this following post will be -- slightly anyways

mary mary - It wouldn't be like me not to have surprises. I remember when I first started writing this I kept promising it wasn't as boring as it seemed... haha. It got off to a slow start but now there is more then enough to get your blood pumping... more below again hopefully!

zaneri1 - such a LONG comment .... I LOVE it!
I am glad you were that excited to continue reading -- I hope part four of chapter nine suits you as well!
I think it was appropriate for Michael too - I think it is what makes him who he is and I always envisioned him being the same person on Antar.
It was good closure for Isabel -- to know she hadn't been this horrible person who was dead set on overthrowing her family for some man
HAHA It's finally explained... all this time wondering why he couldn't get through to her, all the time wondering why Isabel was being essentially attacked when she attempted to dream walk liz... it all makes sense. I think i confused ya too, I meant we will find out from an unlikely character who Zan's father is... his father isn't necessarily and unlikely candidate.... jsut our source of info will be! The way Nicholas and Kivar found them will be revealed -- I say it like it is some special method, but really they had just been following them. They were waiting to be lead to something or someone which you will see who or what that is in this final part. So basically they were just laying low and following them.
I agree Liz is his center - he needs her back, she completes him.
haha hopefully Max will put 2 and 2 together soon... he had all the information he needs really he just needs to get past his emotions and realize what everything is pointing too! Once again loved the long post... sorry for the rambled long reply. Hope you enjoy part 4....

without further ado......

Chapter Nine, pt 4 - Once in a Lifetime

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Random Motel - January 22nd, 2010 10:48pm

Max began to panic, Isabel was not responding to his healing. Max paused a moment and reached for her wrist. Pressing his index and middle finger tightly against it in the hopes of finding a pulse. A very faint pulse could be felt. Max attempted to clear his mind and focus all his energy again on his sister who still lay against the cold concrete. Placing his hand on her stomach Max closed his eyes and let his mind fixate on images of him and his sister throughout their lives. The images flashed through his head right from the day they exited the pods together and right until just minutes before she left the motel room. Max was pulled back to reality by the voice of a friend.

"Oh my god." Maria screamed as she came around the corner to see Max kneeling next to Isabel on the ground, "What happened? Max -- What happened?" she pleaded for answer.

Max turned to face Maria quickly, his face horrified as he directed her to move, "Maria get back inside... Get Michael and lock the doors."

Maria paused a moment, her eyes stuck on the image of the lifeless Isabel on the ground.

"Go!" Max shouted attempting to snap her out of her daze.

Maria shook off the initial shock and turned to run back to the motel room in which the others were located.

"Is -- Is you've got to look at me. It's me Max, you can't do this to me... you know I need you. I can't Is... I can't do this without you, I never could."

Unfortunately Max's words were falling on deaf ears.

***

It was bright.

Like a summer day in Florida - the ones she used to spend with her family.

Isabel smiled as she stared off in the direction of the source of light.

Isabel laughed. She pictured her and her brother building sand castles and destroying them again -- her parents watching on and laughing as they did so.

Isabel moved toward the memories -- toward the warm and welcoming light.

She felt freed -- it was a new sense of liberation, nothing mattered anymore... nothing.

"Is" a familiar voice called from the distance.

Isabel ignored it at first allowing her mind to let go, continuing down the path to freedom and peace.

"Isabel" the name called again, this time more harshly as to get her attention.

Isabel's ear perked and her neck turned slightly to allow her ear to find the source of the voice -- it was just behind her.

Isabel turned, feeling the warmth that was surrounding her fade ever so slightly.

Her eyes focused.

"Alex!" she said moving in his direction.

Alex Whitman stood a couple meters from her smiling. As she approached him he stretched his arms out to welcome her. Isabel felt herself in the arms of one she loved and had never forgotten.

"Alex, I am so happy to see you. It's been so long, you have no idea how much I have missed you. Let's dance again, one more time."

Alex pulled slightly back from Isabel so he could focus on her eyes.

"We can't, we don't have time." Alex informed her.

"Time? We have all the time in the world..." Isabel said smiling back, "Where would we be going."

Alex quickly replied, "I have come for you."

***

"Max!" Michael called as he quickly made his way around the corner. At the sight of Isabel Michael nearly lost his sanity -- even from the distance she looked so cold, so far away.

Michael made his way to the side of the ones he loved. Michael knelt next to Max, "Hurry Max, heal her. You've got to heal her."

Max looked up, eyes filled with tears but with lack of emotion in his voice, "I can't, I can't -- she won't let me. Michael she is letting go."

Michael shook his head, "No! No!" he exclaimed, "Try again, you need to reach her Max. You can do this, she hasn't left us yet -- I can feel it... I know it"

***

"Leave them alone Kivar - they have no use for you or our planet." Drea shot back at Kivar from the ground.

Kivar laughed, "Why would I do that? That would be a little counter productive now wouldn't it? Waste all those resources to come here to Earth to simply leave them alone." he said mocking her plea for her children's safety.

"You came here for me -- now take me, I give myself willingly." Drea pleaded again, she would be damned if she allowed her children to die again. Isabel had informed her that when they attacked they mentioned that they were looking for a "her", this they assumed was their mother since Isabel had a vision around the exact same time of her mother.

Kivar laughed, "For you?" he continued laughing between sentences, "Now why would I come here for you. I am sorry to disappoint you Drea, but I am not into washed up Queen's, especially when they are as pathetic as you. Is this seriously all you have, one blast and your left nearly crippled on the ground in front of me?"

"Why bother Kivar, why waste all the resources to come here? They have no interest in our planet, they make no claims to it's throne. What is it jealousy? The fact that my daughter would rather be with a human -- or maybe it's that over half of the population of our planet knows you will never be Zan"

Kivar chuckled a moment but was obviously annoyed with her words that seemed to hit a nerve - and hit it dead on. Kivar took a step back and with one swift kick knocked the wind out of Drea. Drea refused to show pain, rolling over on her back she looked up at Kivar. With a smile on her face she forced the words out of her mouth, "You have resorted to beating women now to make yourself feel better?"

Kivar angered further, extending his leg in her direction again connecting again with her stomach.

Kivar squatted next to Drea and spoke directly to her ear, "You know I was going to save it as a surprise but since you won't be around to witness it I feel the need to share." Kivar licked his lips for moisture before continuing, "It seems everyone here is completely oblivious to the fact that your sons lover is carrying his child - his first born and your only grandchild. That child is heir to the throne and although your useless children may not want anything to do with their planet there is a very real possibility that child will make a claim someday. But don't worry, I will take care of that. The child won't live to take it's first breath of air."

Drea couldn't believe what she was hearing - Max must have been completely unaware. Drea fought now, trying to push herself upward. Kivar stood, taking a couple steps back from Drea.

"Finish her - I am not wasting my time here anymore. We need to find that girl before they do." Kivar directed Nicholas.

Nicholas nodded his head and moved in toward Drea.

Drea knew what she had to do, she just had to stall Kivar for a moment.

Drea began focusing her energy - like she had never focused before; simply because it was fatal. Drea closed her eyes and imagined the pain away as she felt her body warming with higher levels of toxic energy.

Nicholas moved in closer to Drea unaware of her attention.

Drea spoke a couple last words, "No Kivar, you won't live to breath Antarian air ever again - and my family shall prosper."

Kivar stopped dead in his tracks. That was a brazen sentence for someone who was about to speak her last words. Kivar turned to face Drea - but Kivar was aware of what was about to happen.

"No!" Kivar shouted aloud, he could feel the anchient energy growing around him.

Nicholas jerked his head up toward Kivar, confused at his sudden reaction. Unfortunately for Nicholas he didn't have time to react.

A warm golden stream of light shot from Drea's body, in every direction.

Michael made his way around the corner just in time to witness the beginning of the selfless act.

Michael held a hand up to try and block the light to be able to witness what was happening but it was very difficult.

Nicholas screamed in pain as his husk was incinerated within seconds.

Kivar had time to react, he had began running but was still clipped by the outstretch of energy, which fortunately for him wasn't as strong as greater distances. The shot of power did however send him air-born and into the woods out-of-sight.

After only seconds the light faded and the body of the seemingly lifeless Drea laid still on the ground. Michael took a second to react, not sure whether to approach her or not. Michael was driven to move toward the woman who had been so kind to him the past day and in another life had taken him into her home. Michael reached her side and knelt next to her. Her eyes were open but she seemed distant, very distant. Michael reached and held her onto her hand, as she had done with him in the diner the day before. His action caught her attention, her eyes moved to lock with his. Michael could tell her journey was over. Instead of trying to deny it, he attempted at comforting her by not leaving her alone.

***

Max had sent Michael in the direction of his mother. Max had tried and tried to pull his sister back but it seemed as though she were fighting it, he could feel her fading, her energy disappearing right in front of him. Max had never felt so helpless before, it appeared as though there was nothing he could do. With tears steaming freely down his cheeks he continued to focus all his energy on his sister. He vowed to sit there and do so until he had no strength left and until she was gone. Max refused to give up, she had never given up on him and he wouldn't give up on her.

***

"You've come for me?" Isabel questioned, "Where are we going?"

Alex shook his head, "Why are you giving up Isabel?"

Isabel tried to force her smile back, "I haven't given up... what are you saying Alex?"

Alex didn't speak, Isabel was entirely aware of what he meant.

"This is the way it is meant to be Alex, I can't help that -- I am simply accepting it. It is unfortunate, but it is no different then you."

Alex shook his head, "No, it is entirely different. Isabel it's not your time."

"I am alone Alex, after all these years I am still alone. I am tired of being alone, we can be together."

"Not like this." Alex replied, "I won't let you throw it all away, you have too much to live for, more then you're even aware of right now"

Isabel shook her head, "I won't leave..."

"What about Max? Michael? Zan? All the others, you're going to leave them?" he questioned.

Isabel's stomach turned at the thought of losing all her friends.

Isabel felt a pain in her chest - a pain that felt excruciatingly real -- something she hadn't been feeling since she arrived here.

"It's time to go back Isabel, It's time for you to go back."

"No Alex!" Isabel pleased as the warm bright light began to distance itself from her.

"You need to tell them Isabel, you need to tell them all that it was my time. Regardless of everything that happened, there was nothing they could have done. Aliens or no aliens, Alex Charles Whitman was fated to live a short life. And most of all you need to forgive yourself and move onward. You have a whole life ahead of you, I will be waiting for you when it is your time"

Isabel shook her head, unable to find words.

"I am happy it ended the way it did Isabel, any other way and it would have been without you. The alien life may have led to my demise but without it I would have never loved... I would have never lived. I'll be waiting for you."

Alex took a couple steps back and faded into the background.

The light was so distance now the room was near to black. Isabel could feel the pain - the pain of the real world, the pain that was inflicted before she ended up hear. She could feeling a pulling sensation, pulling her back toward her brother, toward her friends.

Before the light disappeared and the room went black Isabel distantly saw a bright flash and her a voice that was both familiar and nearly inaudible.

"It was in you the whole time - it is in you to be normal. You just need to believe." the voice of her mother could be heard in the distance.

The lights disappeared and Isabel felt herself being pulled back, a gasp made her transition back to the living world official.

Isabel could feel the warm energy of Max's healing abilities running throw her veins. Her body flung up from the concrete as she gasped for air. Max instinctively wrapped his arms around his sister and held her tight.

"I thought you left me, I thought you were gone for good." he said as he attempted not to sob in the presence of his sister.

"She's gone..." Isabel muttered painfully

Max loosened his grip on his sister, most likely making it easier for her to breath.

"Who?" he questioned.

Isabel looked to him knowing he must have been unaware. Isabel knew because she felt her presence in the room with her before being ripped back to this reality.

"Our mother..... Drea."

Just as the words crossed her lips Michael made his away around the corner. Max looked to his friend for an answer.

Michael hung his head and shook it from side to side.

[chunkmonster2]

Authors Notes;

H'ooky kiddies... I am back... but probably not better than ever cause I have wrote anything in FOREVER. it literally has almost been a year I believe so I am entirely out of shape... in the writing sense anyways. I really never wanted to abandon this story as I always wanted to tell it how I imagined it! I had to abandon it for a period of time for VARIOUS reasons which I stated before and are entirely pointless to repeat. Nevertheless, I am back. I will be finishing this story for certain... especially since there is only this chapter and one other left I believe (not sure how I am going to divide up what I have left to write) Anyway, I hope all the old readers are still around and still interested after ALL this time. I hope for some new readers as well... And yeah.... Hope you enjoy the latest installment!

Cheers!

Chapter Ten, pt 1 - Two is better than one.

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Sean's Apartment - January 25th, 2010 10:49pm

Liz hadn't exactly brought much with her when she came back to Roswell and she had brought even less with her in her move from her parents house to Sean's apartment. Basically she brought the essentials and nothing more. Liz felt terrible about the current situation and what she had drug Sean into, not to mention this was all a little awkward. She hadn't seen Sean in years and now she was going to be living with him temporarily.... in his one bedroom apartment. Liz had been expecting to be crashing on his couch since there was no way she would be sharing a bed with him. Sean of course insisted she take the bedroom, he had made his mind up that he would take the couch as means for sleeping quarters. Liz hesitated taking it and argued with his for a short period of time, until she realized it would be to no avail. She accepted his offer and moved what little things she brought with her into his bedroom.

"How's it coming in there, making it just like home?" Sean questioned Liz through the wall from the other room.

Liz looked about the small bedroom. It certainly didn't feel like home, but it would do for now, "Yeah, I mean I've got everything put away. You know this is temporary right, you don't need to worry about me staying long. I am going to figure this all out and then I will be out of your way in no time." Liz replied in apologetic tone.

Sean's footsteps could be heard narrowing in on the room, obviously something she had said garnered his attention and need to see to speak. The door to the bedroom slowly creaked open and Sean simply peaked his head in the room. He glanced about his bedroom to see it hadn't change for the most part, there was just a few hints of Liz scantly placed about the room. Sean then turned his attention to Liz, "We will figure it out. And we will do whatever we need to together. You need to stop feeling sorry for bringing me into this, I am not sorry myself. You certainly aren't in any state to go out gallivanting alone to find the others -- and remember I have connection to them too, my cousin is with them." Sean paused a moment gathering his thoughts, with a slight nod of his head he confirmed his stubbornness, "We will figure this out and we will do this together."

Liz smiled softly. She had to admit, as much as she felt bad for bringing him into this, she was happy she wasn't alone.

With those words Sean ducked back out of the room and could be heard walking about the apartment. Liz took a deep breath and allowed herself tot collapse on the bed and rest. She wasn't sure if it was pregnancy in general, or pregnancy with an alien baby which was the cause for tiring her out so much -- or maybe it was just her entire current situation. It was hard to tell really with all that was going on in her life. There were so many things in her past she couldn't let go of, why hadn't she simply told Max before, why did she leave in such haste, why, why, why? It was never ending. Right now the future looked pretty grim, she didn't know where her husband was or whether or not he even cared where she was - she held onto hope that he really still loved her from what Serena had told her in Reeves, all her closest friends were gone as well and now she had alerted the FBI to their old whereabouts.

Liz's thoughts were draining in themselves and before long she passed out on the bed. The rest would be much needed.

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

Border of Louisiana, Random Hotel - January 27th 2010 4:44am

Everyone in the group was dealing with the happenings of the last couple days quite differently.

Little Zan was never informed what happened to the woman they had met only days ago. The woman who ultimately helped Max realized there was simply no way that child could be his.

Isabel tried to put on a brave face but it was apparent to most who were around her that it simply wasn't true. Max had caught a glimpse of tears rolling down her cheeks a couple times, while the others weren't looking. She was holding her pain in, which in some ways was quite different from the normal Isabel.

Michael and Maria were attempting to keep they sibling friends in good spirits. Michael himself was feeling pain from the loss, she was the closest thing he ever had to a mother. In some ways he may have actually felt more attached to her than Max did. Max had a mother back home, he had a woman who had raised and loved him. Drea was the first and probably last thing he would ever have that would come close to that. Michael would hold onto her memory.

Kyle obviously didn't know what to say or do about the situation, for the most part her kept Zan busy in the backseat of the van, hoping the child wouldn't notice the change in mood of the others -- trying to shield him from the pain that was happening around him.

And Max.... Max was simply silent.

He hadn't spoken, and it wasn't clear when he would speak again. His face was completely void of emotion, not even Isabel could tell what was running through his mind. Was it pain? Anger? Indifference? It was yet to be told. Michael had attempted talking to him but eventually turned into talking at him, to fill the silence in the front seat of the van.

No one was really sure where they were heading. Michael knew for a fact that Nicholas had been skilled, incinerated actually, by the last blow that Drea managed to give. But Kivar, Michael knew he was injured but a search of the bushes afterwards turned up nothing -- to him that meant he had escaped. It was unclear at this time whether or not he would gather more skins and attack them again. After finding a suitable resting place for Drea, they had hoped right back in the vehicle and started driving with no real destination. Michael had attempted a couple of times to question Max on what was next but as stated before Max never replied.

As of right now they had taken up refuge in a small hotel on the border of Louisiana. Obviously they couldn't head back to Reeves because they were certain the FBI had been there by now. To ensure everyone's safety they had been all staying within in one hotel room, with someone being on watch for the nights. Strangely enough it was usually Max. He hadn't slept much, it was, unnatural. He would do the majority of the driving and then when they took shelter in a hotel somewhere he would do the night watch. It literally seemed like he hadn't slept at all now in days.

Max sat in the chair next to the window, starring out into the darkness. The sun would rise in a couple hours and the others would wake, they would grab something to eat and then be on their way again. Max hadn't spoken because he really didn't know what to say, if he ever felt like a failure as a leader it was definitely now. They had no destination, no plan, truthfully they didn't have much left. People in general associate silence with peace, but for Max his silence was the exact opposite... it was torment. Something needed to happen and that something would need to happen soon... they couldn't keep driving aimlessly around the country. This was no life for anyone to live.

Max's stare into the darkness hadn't even faltered for a minute, he hadn't blinked or even glanced away in what seemed like hours... that was until something caught his attention. Maybe it was from staring into the dark for so long or probably from lack of sleep. Maybe Max had been staring at the same dark and blank canvas for so long his brain had simply decided to make the imagery up, maybe this was the end of his sanity. But as he had been staring only second before he saw a movement in the form of a human body and what looked like a faded outline of a face from his past.

Max lifted himself from his chair silently and side stepped carefully toward the door to their hotel room. His right hand reached down toward the doorknob and with one swift movement he clicked the look to the door and swung it open. A short squeal emitted from the mouth of the body who had just been passing by the door, the familiar face that Max had never expected to see again. She froze still in the darkness and stared up to the man who was considerably bigger than her. Even in the dark her blonde hair and blue eyes seemed to standout as much as they did in the brightness of the day.

Max looked at her puzzled and stayed at a distance for caution.

His silence would finally be broke.

"Tess?" he questioned dumbfounded

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Authors Notes: I am glad to be back ya'll and glad you are all still around and still interested in following my story! Here is the second part to Chapter 9! Its getting close to the end so big plot points are going to start coming together! Just a little fyi

SIDE NOTE: I FINALLY created the new banner for the fic... its located on the first post obviously so I would love for ya'll to check it out and lemme know what you think of it. Tell me if you think it suits what you like or dislike about it! Cheers guys!

nibbles - Thanks for the welcoming back. You should remember I love my cliff hangers!

Natalie36 - haha, no one likes the appearance of Tess.... well I guess some do. I am back with the second part ASAP!

keepsmiling7 - haha I love that "up pops the devil herself" I hope you like the second half and I am glad you are still around!

Roswellian117 - I know Vanessa... I poofed on you before! I am sorry bout that too cause we had such good plans. But I am back in action, are a long long hiatus! Glad your still around too... we will have to chat sometime soon.

Timelord31 - Glad you are still following!

Begonia9508 -Thanks Thanks Eve! I always love your feedback cause you put so much into it... always with your suspicions! I love them. Glad your still around and interested in following... can't wait to hear your comments on this part!


I love all your comments... keep them coming, I look forward to the next set to come through after this update. Missed you all and I am happy to be back!



Chapter Ten, pt 2 - Two Is Better Than One

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

Border of Louisiana, Random Hotel - January 27th 2010 4:44am

Without speaking she denied the claim Max made about who she was simply by shaking her head from side to side.

It was apparent she was very nervous, she continually looked over her shoulder as though she was expecting someone to pop up from behind her.

"It's me, Ava." She replied in a near whisper.

She took a step toward the threshold to cross into the motel room but was stopped in her tracks by Max with an outreached hand.

"Not a step further, I swear." Max shot back at her.

Ava's eyes widened as she looked up at the man who looked so familiar, yet not familiar at all. Her brows raised as she began pleading with Max, still glancing back over her shoulder and still speaking at a whisper, "I need your help."

"Not interested." Max replied simply, with his hand still keeping her at a distance.

"...and you need my help. Zaa..... I mean Max, look I can help you. I know you don't want to trust me but you have to, for the sake of yourself and everyone else." Ava tried reasoning with him but it didn't seem to be working.

"Max... Whats going on?" A groggy voice questioned from the background. Isabel had awoken from her sleep. She glanced about the dark room and it took a couple seconds for her eyes to adjust, rubbing them with her hands seemed to help. After her eyes had focused she found the image of her brother standing next to the open door and the short blonde just in front of him. Isabel couldn't believe her eyes, was this possible?

"Tess?" Isabel questioned in confusion the same way her brother had. Isabel pushed herself up from the bed and started making her way toward her brother. With all the commotion going on in the room the others began to awake as well -- all equally as confused by the sight of the girl standing in the doorway.

"It's not Tess, it's Ava and she was just leaving." Max informed Isabel as she reached his side.

"Max... I am not leaving, I can't. I don't want to be a part of this but I am being drug into it. I just want a normal life, like you want..." she paused a moment and looked around the room, "like all of you want. With Kivar here it's not going to happen. You just need to hear me...."

Ava didn't have time to finish, Max cut her off, "No." his voice was harsh.

"But...." she tried again.

"No. I don't trust you. I won't trust you, I couldn't even if I wanted to... not with the face of a liar, a manipulator. That's what you are right, a manipulator. You enter peoples minds and fuck with their thoughts and feelings. You convince them they are seeing things they aren't even seeing and feeling things they wouldn't even dream of feeling. I see good in the gifts the rest of us were given, now tell me where is the good in yours?"

"Max!" Isabel raised her voice, "Your taking something out on an innocent person." Isabel said as she glanced over to Ava, "Well, maybe innocent... we don't know yet. She isn't Tess, just like you weren't Zan and I am not Loni and Michael, he certainly isn't Rath. Don't you think we should hear her out. The last time we saw Ava she helped us save your life, if it weren't for her you probably wouldn't be standing here right now. We can hear her out, we at least owe her that."

Isabel's words brought Max out of his rage. She had a point. Max didn't know whether or not they could trust her but she hadn't done anything yet to them like the other dupes had. She had been a victim too, she had lost the one she loved because of two people who were suppose to be close to her. She certainly looked genuine but there was really know why of telling.

"Max maybe we should give her a minute, she might know something we don't about getting rid of Kivar" Michael stated.

Max stood in silence again for about a minute pondering the options.

Ava stood in silence awaiting to hear an answer. She maintained eye contact with Max and tried to show him she meant no harm and was as sincere as one could be.

Max took a step to the side unblocking the door granting access to the motel room for Ava.

Ava nodded her head and pressed her lips together in a friendly smile for Max before glancing to Isabel and Michael as well to show them the appreciation.

Max swing the door shut.

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

Random Gas Station - January 27th, 2010 2:59pm

Everyone was inside the gas station getting food for lunch. They had been driving straight for hours now and just stopped long enough to get gas and continue on, everyone was hungry and tired so they were making sure to stock up lots of food since they probably wouldn't be stopping again anytime soon.

Max stayed out and pumped the gas while everyone was inside. Ava came out before everyone else and made her way over next to Max.

Max nodded his head in her direction, "I hope your plan works. Are you sure you really wanna do this, I mean after all they are like your family."

Ava nodded her head in confirmation, "Yes I do want to. They aren't my family. They are killers, they took the man I loved and they would take the lives of anyone who got in their way. I don't want to be a part of that, and so long as their here I will be continually dragged into it."

"I know how you feel about being drug into things" Max replied.

There was a moment of silence where neither of the parties said anything before Max took the opportunity to offer an apology for his initial behavior.

"I want to tell you I am sorry, for the way I acted back at the motel. Seeing you, it just..."

"Brought up bad memories?" Ava offered.

Max nodded his head, "You just look so much like her, especially now that you have ditched all the piercing and hair dye"

"Yeah well the 90's died a long time ago. And so did that part of me. Besides it's hard to keep up with an image that tacky." Ava joked with Max.

Max was able to crack a smile, the first in a while.

"You know I know what it's like. When I see you it brings back memories of him." Ava said referring to Zan, "I miss him. Everyday I miss him."

Max didn't really have words for Ava, he knew how it felt right now since Liz was not here, but there was still hope for them. For Ava there was none.

"Sometimes I wonder if somehow your pod and Tess' pod got switched in all the confusion. You seem to normal to be part of those others." Max finished pumping the gas and returned the nozzle to the pump.

"I've wondered myself... ever since I met you guys all those years ago. I wished I could have been part of something more normal." Ava paused for a minute. She had something else she wanted to say to Max, something about what he had said early this morning when she had shown up, she just didn't know how to bring it up. "You know my gifts aren't all bad either."

Max finished screwing the gas cap back in and the pair of them made their way toward the gas station side by side.

"I know, that was just out of anger I said that." Max admitted.

"If you want I can try and help clear some of those memories for you. I can generally see through the cloudiness that is created in memories when Tess or myself mind-manipulate. I can be like your lens of truth." Ava said with a smile and nod.

The words stopped Max dead in his tracks.

Ava realized Max stopped so she followed suit. She turned and looked back at him as he just stared at her in deep thought.

"Is it something I said, did I say something wrong? Cause we were just getting to a good place and....." Ava trailed off nervously wondering what she had said that cause such a reaction out of him.

Max snapped out of his thoughts and walked up to Ava, "Come with me." he said in a very serious tone as he made his way around the side of the gas station to the back. Max asked her to wait there a moment and Ava didn't object. Nervously she waited to see what was happening.

Max returned moments later with Michael and Kyle, the other two men as confused as Ava was.

"What's going on Max?" Michael questioned looking back and fourth between Ava and Max.

Kyle stood with his eyes brows raised staring at Max awaiting an answer.

"I didn't want to say anything before, just understand that I needed time to figure some things out." Max stated in general to the others with him. "When Drea and I had a chance to talk she informed me she knew for a fact that Zan couldn't be mine.... I was going to ask her to help me find the true father but we never had a chance. There is a possibility Tess may have mind-warped one of you or even Alex into having sex with her."

Michael shook his head, "There is no way, I would know if I had sex with someone."

Ava was less confused now, the pieces were coming together.

"But you wouldn't know, that's just it. She could have your bodies doing one thing and all the while your mind could be somewhere else entirely. She could have had you thinking you were sleeping or watching a movie and you would never know the difference." Ava offered her explanation.

Kyle finally piped up, "So there is a possibility that one of us is the father of your son, or I guess our son? Or..." Kyle trailed off confused by the whole situation.

"So what is this little meeting for in back of the gas station Maxwell?" Michael questioned between bites of his sandwich.

Max looked to Ava who in turn nodded in his direction, she understood his plan now.

"Ava can sort out the cloudiness of the memories. She can remove the smoke and see the true happenings. She will be able to see if by some chance one of you is the father." Max stated his plan aloud for everyone.

"So this is like a supernatural paternity test?" Kyle questioned

Ava nodded.

"Well lets get this over with and back onto the road." Michael said stepping up in front of Ava first still taking large bites of his sandwich.

Ava reached upward, standing on her tip-toes to reach Michael's face. Her hands cupped either side of his face as she closed her eyes. A jolt went through Michael's body strong enough to loosened his grip form his lunch allowing it to fall to the ground. His body twitched slight as Ava searched through his memories to see if there was anything there. She was finished in no time and Michael snapped back out of the trance he was in.

"Aw..... you made me drop my sandwich!" Michael complained.

"What's the verdict?" Max questioned Ava.

"Nothing, there was few minor times she used it on him but there was definitely no sex or baby in there." Ava informed them all.

"I told you, I knew I was invincible to her magics. You just had a hard time Maxwell because you had the hots for her alien self in some other life on some other planet." Michael patted Max on the shoulder, "I am gonna go get another sandwich. Good luck there big boy." Michael said now patting Kyle on the shoulder before making his way around the building.

Kyle stepped up in front of Ava nervously. Before allowing her to place her hands on his face he handed his food over to Max so it wouldn't have the same fate as Michael's. Ava placed her hands on his face as she had done to Michael and continued with the same steps. The jolt was sent through Kyles body as well as she surfed his memories making her way back almost a decade. But this time there was something of interest.

Ava pulled her hands back allowing Kyle to snap out of his trance. Her eyes darted sideways to meet with Max's. Words didn't even need to be spoken, Max could simply tell from her eyes. Their stare was intense and didn't break even when Kyle snapped back to reality.

"What?" Kyle questioned, "What happened guys?" He looked back and fourth between Max and Ava awaiting an answer.

It was time for Ava to deliver the news.

[chunkmonster2]

Author's Notes;

I am actually going to conclude this chapter with only the three parts. This part is actually quite long though, but this chapter was originally going to be a more minor part of the following chapter but I wanted to give it justice. I also wanted a bit of comic relief and I felt this was a scene it could reasonably happen in, even though the mood changes slightly near the end I hope you all like it, give me lots of feedback!!

keepsmiling7 - I didn't keep you waiting too long. Ya'll should know by now I love my cliff hangers. Haha I like you enjoyed the supernatural paternity test. I felt like it was very Kyle to say -- he is usually the one to provide the comic relief.

Timelord31 - Wait no longer, the news is delivered below.


Chapter Ten, pt 3 - Two Is Better Than One

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

Random Gas Station - January 27th, 2010 3:24pm

"You know this for a fact?" Kyle questioned Ava. It was hard to look at her right now, she now reminded him of Tess and right now that wasn't exactly a friendly face.

Kyle turned toward Max to speak directly to him, "Do we even know we can trust what she says? I mean, no offense..." Kyle said glancing to Ava for a second and then back to Max, "This could all be sort of some strange plan right?" Kyle awaited an answer from Max, generally it seemed as though Max was a good judge of these kinds of things.

Max looked to Ava for a moment. Kyle had a point, they still weren't really one hundred percent sure they could trust her but she hadn't done anything to make them think otherwise then. And it just wouldn't make sense, what would they have to gain from making them think Zan was Kyles child. There would just be no motive behind it. Max didn't know what to say to Kyle -- it would be putting it lightly to say he just discovered some big news.

Ava was the next to speak, "Maybe if we help you remember it will help you come to terms with it. You don't trust me because I can play with peoples thoughts, that I understand. But what if we get someone you know to help you, someone you trust?" Ava positioned the question for Kyle to answer.

Kyle pondered her offer for a moment. It seemed reasonable enough. With a nod of his head he accepted the offer.

Ava nodded as well and grabbed Max by the arm and they both made their way around the front of the building. Kyle was left alone waiting for someone to return and lost in his thoughts. There was so much to think about, he could be a father -- scratch that he has been one for quite sometime and had no idea. Kyle thought back to when Zan first came to his and Isabel's apartment, they had got along right from the beginning... they even had similar interests. The more Kyle thought about it, the more it seemed probable.

Kyle could hear footsteps in the gravel making their way toward him. He turned to face whomever was sent back to see him -- he wasn't surprised by their selection.

"Isabel." Kyle murmured as she made her way toward him.

Isabel instinctively wrapped her arms around him holding onto him tightly, "I heard the news. We will sort this out once and for all me and you."

The pair pulled apart from their embrace. "Its not that I am trying to skip out on responsibility. Every boy needs a father. Its just so hard, its so much. How could I not have known. Is it really possible? And if it is true how will I go about repairing this relationship? He has been abandoned now for seven years, I can't fix that." Kyle blurted out several of the thoughts he was having, not allowing Isabel time to reply to any of his questions. "I just wanna know, I wanna know for certain."

Isabel shook her head. She reached both her hands out, palms facing upward. Kyle placed his hands atop of hers and lightly squeezed them.

"So how does this work?" Kyle questioned.

"I'm not even sure myself. Ava said she opened a hole for us to get into by her searching the memories. In a dream like state she said I should be able to help you recall your memories and show you the truth. I've never done anything like this before." Isabel wasn't even certain she would be able to do it. The way Ava described it to her sounded difficult, but she was assured the ability was within her. Isabel scanned their surroundings a moment, "We should sit." she informed Kyle as she slouched down to sit crossed legged in the dirt, Kyle followed her direction.

Isabel attempted at clearing her mind as she always had to do before going into this dream like state. It would be harder to clear her mind with everything that was going on.

"What do you want me to do?" Kyle asked.

"Just focus."

"Okay and I am focusing, focusing." Kyle repeated the word a couple times.

"Can't you focus in silence?" Isabel suggested.

Kyle now mouthed the word rather than speak it out loud. After about a minute he began to get curious about what was happening. He opened one eye and looked around. He was still sitting in the dirt on the ground behind the gas station. Isabel was still sitting in front of his with her eyes closed and their hands joined.

"Is, I don't think its working." Kyle whispered.

"It will work if you just give me time to focus already. You are always so impatient." Isabel snapped back at Kyle, "Just think of the memory of Tess. Picture her or something." Isabel suggested.

Kyle closed his eyes a second time and this time put forth more effort. Kyle could feel a strange pulling sensation but it stopped as quickly as it started. Kyle assumed it was a second failed attempt. Before opening his eyes he began to speak to his good friend who was putting forth effort to help him see the truth,

"Isabel, I don't think its gonna..." he trailed off as he opened his eyes to take in his surroundings. He was now sitting on the floor of a large and entirely white room. Kyles eyes searched the room for Isabel, "Isabel, are you hear somewhere?" Kyle slowly pushed himself up to a standing position and did a 360 degree turn to try and locate his friend, "Okay this is a little freaky now Isabel, you've sent me to entirely white land, I wonder if this is what heaven looks like?"

"This way, Ava was right, she opened up a spot in your mind. Follow my voice." Isabel could not be seen but she certainly could be heard.

Kyle did another 360 in the center of the room before heading off in what he believed was the right direction.

"I said follow my voice, not walk in the opposite direction!" Isabel shot back quickly, stopping Kyle from proceeding the wrong way.

"How am I suppose to know what way that is, I can't see you it's like I'm blinded right now." Kyle turned again and headed in another direction.

"No you are still off, a little more to the right."

Kyle shook his head in frustration, "This isn't working can't you just like, POOF, appear and show me?"

"I don't know how, you are just going to have to trust yourself and follow my voice."

Kyle shook his head again, she would have to continually talk for him to find his way. Then it clicked in his brain, "I've got it! Marco." he replied.

"What?" Isabel asked.

"Traditionally the answer is Polo but that will work too." Kyle turned this time headed in the more correct direction, "Marco" he shouted again.

"Polo?" Isabel replied a little unsure of it all.

Kyle was getting on the right track now. "Look I can close my eyes now and still find you, Marco."

"Polo"

"Marcracko"

"Polo"

"I didn't say Marco" Kyle joked back.

"Kyle quit playing games, we don't have forever" Isabel noted.

"Wait... I think... I think I am here. There is a door, should there be a door?" Kyle questioned looking upward as though he were talking to god.

"Try it, try opening it." Isabel replied more softly this time.

Kyle grabbed at the silver handle and turned the knob. The door didn't budge.

"It won't work, guess its the wrong room" Kyle stated.

"Its the right room. You just need to try harder."

Kyle shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the handle again. He turned the knob but this time used the strength of his body to slam against the door. A couple good shoulder checks and kicks came up with nothing, "Its really jammed Is, I don't think we are getting in."

"I didn't mean use brute strength. This is your mind Kyle, muscle won't work in here you need to use your mind. Focus, I know you can do it. Focus on the goal at hand, use your mind to bust down the mental block."

"Got it!" Kyle replied.

Placing his hand on the door again Kyle followed the instructions given to him by Isabel. He didn't even bother turning the handle rather just focus on the goal at hand. He allowed old memories of Tess to floor his mind, along with current memories of Zan. Closing his eyes he focused even harder, now driving every other thought from his memory other than the picture of the two others involved; Tess and Zan.

A loud clash could be heard as the door way blown down. Kyle opened one eye to look and see the result of what had just happened. Smoke rolled out from the room on the other side. A couple steps in and the smoke died and Kyle was in a very familiar place.

"Is, I'm home. I am at dads house I can't believe this I'm home!" Kyle laughed as he looked around at the home he had left so many years ago.

"We are not done Kyle, look around. Do you recognize this day."

Kyle stopped and looked around. Nothing particular stood out. His father entered the room from the kitchen.

"Dads here, he doesn't see me" Kyle followed his father as he headed toward Kyles room. "He's heading toward my room, I'm gonna follow him." Kyle followed closely behind his father. He walked down the hall and stopped just outside Kyles room. With a tap on the door he opened the door and question, "Hey guys I am just gonna go out and get some chicken for dinner, would you like to come along?"

Kyle peered in the room to see him and Tess sitting side by side on the bed watching TV.

Kyle listened to himself address his father, "No we just started Varsity Blues. Can you believe Tess has never seen it?"

Kyle scrunched his face, "Do I really sound like that?"

"Yes, now focus!"

"Okay, Okay. Its just so whiny sounding."

"We are not here to address how you sound on playback. Do you remember this evening? This is where Ava has brought us."

"Yeah I remember it. We watched Varsity Blues, hang on a second my favourite part is coming up. Its where he goes through all the different words for an erection." Now that his father was out of the way Kyle stepped into the room to catch his favorite scene on the screen. Both Kyle and his memory of himself laughed at the same time in the same way. "Whoa... Did you hear that, can we bring dream Kyle back with us, he seems like a funny guy."

"No, doesn't work that way. One Kyle is enough. Okay, you have a memory of finishing the movie. What did she say at the end of the movie?"

Kyles memory fast forwarded. He listened as him and Tess spoke to one another.

***

"I told you it was an awesome movie right?"

"Yeah" Tess replied simply.

"What did you think about the teachers side job?"

"It was good, she must have been in school a while to be able to do both" Tess blatantly guessed.

"Yeah if there was such thing as stripper school!"

***

"Wait a second, she never seen it right? That's what you mean, she never seen the movie. But I remember watching it, I remember making a joke about how I wished our math teacher was a stripper too.... Mrs Steiman. I know I remember." Kyle found it all a lot to take in.

"Go back, go back and really pay attention. It should fall apart in front of you now."

Kyles memory reversed to the point right after his father left the room and they had the laugh he had seen before. He watched the memory like a movie playing in real life, but from here it began skipping and fading -- like the white noise you hear from a tv. Images flashed from what he remembered to something entirely different. He saw images of himself laying on his back, conscious but not aware. Tess was on top of him, she leaned in closely and whispered something in his ear. Kyle strained to hear her words.

"Kyle you'll never know, I am so truly sorry, but I need to do this. There is no other way to get him to return with me. You'll never know how sorry I am" Tess said in genuine tone.

The images skipped again faded but Kyle could still see the image of him and Tess having sex. Kyles head began to pain as though a headache was coming on. He closed his eyes to ease the pain. When he opened them he witnessed another scene of their actions, clearly having consensual sex he had no memory of before now. It happened again and again until finally she achieved what she wanted...

A baby.

It was from there that she clearly turned Kyles advances down at prom and then her and Max had sex. She used the baby she was already pregnant with to confuse him about the true paternity. It was all there right in front of him.

Kyle couldn't believe it. All these years he had been fooled. The pain grew worse in his head and finally became unbearable. His memories were shifting to the true happenings and it was an overload.

Both Kyle and Isabel were bolted out of their trance with a jolt so powerful it knocked them both a couple feet backward and face down in the dirt.

Coughing from the dust stirred up by the blast they both worked to push themselves upward to regain a standing position.

Kyle walked slightly ahead of Isabel as they made their way from the back of the station. Isabel called to him, "Kyle I'm so sorry. I'm sorry you had to endure this and find out this way."

Kyle shook his head, "Don't apologize, you did nothing wrong. It was her"

Michael and Max were the first that Kyle met when he rounded the building.

"What now Kyle?" Isabel questioned concerned for her friend who was just delivered some indifferent news.

Kyle picked up the pace passing by where Michael and Max were standing. Isabel joined them. Kyle turned his body around to face them and took a couple back steps, "I've got to make it right." was his answer to Isabel's question.

They all watched as he approached the small picnic bench where Zan sat playing the handheld game they had picked up for him to keep him entertained.

Kyle looked down at the boy in front of him. "Can I sit down?" he questioned slightly awkwardly, something he wouldn't have done prior. Zan nodded. Kyle paused trying to find words, how was he going to tell such a young boy this. "Have you ever been fishing?" Kyle stalled.

Zan looked up at him and shook his head from side to side, "No"

"Well we are going to fix that." Kyle replied.

The boy just looked back at him slightly confused.

Kyle could feel his emotions getting the better of him as tears were beginning to well in his eyes. Kyle reached out and pulled the boy into an tight hug.

"I'm going to look after you now, okay?" Kyle stated holding back tears.

Zan's head could be felt nodding against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here before, ill make it right if you let me"

Zan nodded again.

Zan knew what this meant, but he wanted to confirm. It was something he had been waiting for. Now it seemed as though it were here.

"Are you my dad?"

Kyle pulled away from the hug. With his hands on the boys shoulders he nodded his head.

This time Zan reached out to him, hugging him back tightly.

Kyle couldn't hold back tears any longer, a couple strays made their way down his cheeks. The pair just held their embrace.

"Should we..." Michael started.

Max shook his head from side to side but Isabel spoke, "No. We have plenty of time to hit the road. Right now this is more important." The group decided to give father and son a private moment as father and son, which was their first.

[chunkmonster2]

Author's Notes -- H'ookay... Back again already. I know I am going kind of fast... but I just love this story and its getting to the part I have been waiting to write for a long time so I am getting a little excited to write it. haha. Okay couple things to note -- some parts might not be equal in length. I have things I want to show in different stages kind of so the parts for this chaper may be a little different than normal as well. Other than that enjoy!

Timelord31 - Thanks, Thanks

Roswellian117 -- Thanks Vanessa... it is goo to be back! Chat soon!!!

keepsmiling7 - I agree, by the end of the series Kyle had done a near 360. I didnt like him at all at first, but he grows on you. I really wanted to show this side of him as well... it was so fun to write. Especially since I felt it was fun to show the dynamic of him and Isabel.... since they have been the odd couple out they kinda argue like an old married couple.

nibbles2 - Maury Povich "Max you are NOT the father" haha, yep Kyle is dah dad. I love the moment between Zan and Kyle too -- I felt it just fit. Zan was waiting for someone to come for him because of the memory Max planted all those years ago, it just turned out it was different than he expected. I am glad to be back and posting, glad you are still around to give your feedback! Just so you know I haven't forgot your love for M/M and there are some scenes coming up with them very soon... as in this chapter and next!!!

Once again -- anyone out there reading, please leave your feedback be it big or small, i love it all! I don't know if there are some ppl out there that my pace is a little two fast for but if you want you can feel free to comment on parts that have gone by as well! See you all again sooner than later!

Cheers


Chapter Eleven, pt 1 - Starry Eyed Surprise

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Outisde Reeves - January 28th, 2010 4:53pm

The van was pulled just off the road outside the small town they had been calling home for the past year. Before they went any further they decided to have one last meeting to make sure everyone knew the part they would play in their next and hopefully final act.

Max stood next to his sister, Isabel, and the other two aliens with them, Ava and Michael. Across from them were their two remaining human counterparts, Kyle and Maria, who were accompanied with Kyles young son.

Max looked around at everyone, taking care to examine everyone's faces to see if he could find even a hint of confusion. If they were going to pull this off it would have to run absolutely flawless. Max looked to his right to Ava, she had played a large part in the way of planning this whole idea. Without her it probably wouldn't work.

"So that's it..." Max finished clasping his hands together in front of himself, "Everyone knows their parts, everyone knows their places?"

The crowd all nodded with the odd vocal confirmation of "Yes" from a couple of them.

Max nodded his head, "Great, well lets get this show on the road."

Kyle and Maria were the first to turn away, with little Zan in tow. Maria and Kyle made it a few feet away before Michael could be heard coming up behind them calling Maria's name.

"Maria, just a second." Michael shouted to catch her attention.

Maria stopped and turned to face her boyfriend, scratch that, fiance who was making his way in her direction.

"Can I have a minute Kyle?" Michael requested.

Kyle simply nodded and took his son by the hand and continued on their way to the Van.

"What's up?" Maria questioned anxiously. Truthfully she knew what was up. When ever there was grave danger, whenever the pair of them knew the end could be very close by for one of them there was always the talk. The talk. Generally one-sided and coming from Michael, it always upset Maria's stomach, it entailed things she didn't want to think about. The what-ifs of the situation.

Death.

Michael hesitated a minute, as much as she hated hearing it, he really hated giving it. Michael fidgeted with his foot, using his foot to move a rock back and fourth. They knew each other for so long yet this always made him feel like he was speaking to her for the first time, telling her he loved her for the first time. The reality was he was worried it could be the last time.

"You know when thing get...." Michael said slowly.

"I know." Maria confirmed.

"I just wanted to say..." Michael trailed off again, allowing her the opportunity to speak.

"I know Michael, I know. You don't have to tell me because when this is all over and done with you can tell me again in front of our friends and families. I don't need it now, I don't want it now. I don't want to feel like this is the last time." Maria rambled a bit, she couldn't help but let her nerves get the better of her.

Michael reached out and placed both his hands on her shoulders, "I know you don't want it or need it but I do. I need you to know, just in case. I can't go into this without a clear head. I need to tell you for myself."

Maria felt the tears welling in her eyes. It was so rare that Michael got this serious, this sincere. She always knew he meant it when he wasn't serious, she actually preferred it like that. Because when it was so sincere, it meant something dangerous was coming.

Michael pulled the love of his life into his arms before he spoke the words, watching her in pain was killing him. He held onto her tighter than he normally, "I love you Maria Guerin"

Maria chuckled as her tears streamed down her cheeks in a steady flow, "Guerin?" she questioned.

Michael attempted to lighten the situation, for her sake, "I thought I would try it out. You know see how it fits."

Maria smiled and laughed a bit more heartily as he wiped away the tears from her face, "And?"

Michael shook his head from side to side, "Doesn't really suit! I think I'll find someone else." he toyed with her as he let go of her and pretended to turn away.

Maria held on tighter now, "Not that easy." She forced a smile to try and ease his mind. "I love you too Michael Guerin"

Maria and Michael held each other for another minute, it seemed like an eternity really, parting was hard. Maria made her way to the van and hoped in back with Zan. She waved and watched Michael until they were completely out of sight.

Then a rare thing happened. Michael allowed himself to show emotion. A single tear escaped his eye after she was out of sight.

"You ready Michael?" Max called out from behind him.

Michael quickly wiped his eye with his arm and attempted at playing as though he was unaffected by emotion, "Ahh, yeah. Yup I am ready. You guys can head in now."

Max nodded.

Max and Ava turned and headed in toward town on foot.

Michael and Isabel stayed behind at the large red barn they had pulled over next to on the outskirts of Reeves.

*** Forty-seven minutes later ***

Max and Ava had a destination of their own. They had been walking for quite sometime now, not realizing it was gonna take this long. They had lots of time to catch up, just to chat in general like they never had before.

"You trust me. I mean after all you've went through with Tess, you can still look me in the eye and trust me."

Max nodded his head, squinting his eyes as he tried to form sentence to explain it, "Something is different about you. When I first met Tess, something just felt.... off. I won't lie there were times she seemed genuine, it all seemed genuine. But the other times out-weighed the genuine moments."

Ava smiled.

"It's weird. When I was with Tess I got this sense she was trying to force these memories on me, these feelings. But when I am with you they come naturally. I mean I don't have much to compare it to seeing as though Ive only been around you steadily for a day." Max chuckled in between sentences, "But it just seems more genuine. I can feel what Zan loved in you, I feel it."

Ava nodded, "It's strange I feel it in you as well. Something feels right, right?"

Max nodded.

Ava tilted her head, "Do you think it was really meant to be different?"

"How so?" Max questioned.

"Like you said, ya know, like somehow me and Tess got switched. That I really was the one for you?" Ava pondered the situation.

Max shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, I guess we will never know."

"I wonder what it would have been like?" Ava said aloud, still pondering the mystery of all of it.

Max turned to her, "It probably could have been nice, It could have been right."

Ava stopped and turned to face him as well, "It could have been. But it wasn't. We had different paths and different loves."

Max nodded.

There was a moment of intensity between them. Their eyes locked, it was as though they were staring into one another souls -- their old souls, from their past life. There was a spark, a memory. Max could strangely feel his old self wanting to kiss her, just once. But before it could be acted on something else happened.

An old van pulled up next to them and came to a screeching halt and unfortunately it wasn't their van. Out hoped Rath and Loni. Rath grabbed Max quickly and Loni tied his arms behind his back. Ava grabbed a piece of material and wrapped it quickly around his eyes, this way they could be certain he wouldn't be able to attack in any way.

"What the hell is going on?" Max shouted at Ava.

"Sorry baby, your no Zan... and this planet is no Antar. I'm going home baby and your my freaking meal ticket."

Loni laughed, "Can you believe she actually came through this time. I swore this one would get a conscience like she did last time."

Rath chuckled back, "Yeah right. This one is one of us. Besides who wouldn't wanna make a deal with Kivar... he's in the perfect position to reward us. Besides without us she has nothin."

Rath chucked Max in the back of the van.

"You bitch." Max shouted.

"Calm down Maxy-poo!" Loni retorted, "Don't be rude now."

"Where are the others?" Rath questioned.

"DON'T!" Max shouted.

"They are going to be meeting at the red-barn just before dark. They think they are going to get the jump on you." Ava shot a devilish smirk in Raths direction.

"Nice!" he said nodding his head.

Before he shut the van door he addressed Max, "Looks like plans fell through there for you buddy... it's so sad too. So much for a king, you and Zan are equally weak. Time to say night-night to you and yours!"

Rath, Loni and Ava all laughed hysterically as the slammed the back door to the van.

Max could be heard shouting "No" from within and kicking the inside of the van.

"Let's go!"