Roswell Fanatics

A/N: So I didn't originally have this scene written, but was inspired by the comments about Michael and Nick so here's a little drabble to tide you over until saturday





Nick was loitering in the park, leaning against an abandoned jungle gym as he avoided going back to his cousin’s where cold silence was all that awaited him. Just two more days and then he’d be back in Florida and could forget this little Roswell adventure even existed. Liz was wrong; he did care, about her and Tess and about Lyn, but not enough to stay in this tiny little town with its alien believing nut-jobs.

Someone cleared their throat behind him and he jumped, startled out of his reverie as he whipped around to see an ice cold pair of brown eyes boring into him with all the intensity of a laser. The other boy’s fists were clenched tightly and the muscles in his arms were taut with tension.

Nick swallowed, hard. So much for Liz’s teddy bear theory. “Hey man.” He said, voice cracking as he slowly straightened, trying not to provoke Michael into sudden violence.

“Hello Nick.” Michael replied calmly, his pleasant smile and menacing voice eerily reminiscent of the first time they had spoken and Nick swallowed again, wondering distantly why this small town punk was somehow scarier than all the bullies at the Military Academy.

Nick wracked his brain for something to say, anything that would make the other boy leave him alone, when suddenly two hands shot out and grabbed the edges of his shirt, slamming him against the metal bars of the jungle gym with bruising force. “Fuck!” He swore violently, hands raised defensively in front of him as the other boy loomed into his personal space, the one inch height difference suddenly seeming much larger.

“I was interrupted before I got to explicitly warn you against hurting my sister, but I believe the implicit message came through loud and clear.” Michael stated mockingly, his voice even and face calm despite the rage boiling in his blood and demanding that he beat this boy into a bloody pulp.

The other boy paled, his eyes darting from side to side searching for rescue, and Michael bared his teeth in a disturbing parody of a grin. He felt his powers rush through him and casually slammed his fist against the underside of Nick’s chin, sending energy spreading into the other boy along with the pain.

“Consider yourself lucky that I’m not as big a bastard as you are.” He whispered viciously into the other boy’s ear before letting him drop to the ground and walking away, wishing that he was that much of a bastard.

Nick cradled his aching jaw and stared at the receding figure, thanking the guardian angel he had never believed in before that he was still alive. Reaching down he scratched a slight itch on his elbow, then another on his nose, and another on his ribs, each irritation increasing in intensity as he scratched them.

Great, he was allergic to something in this town. He could not get out of Roswell soon enough.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, my laptop is currently refusing to turn on so I'm posting for work where I luckily had the story saved. I'm not sure if it's fixable so next week's chapter may be late too. Thank you all for your fabulous feedback!! Totally makes my day each and every comment

This chapter will contain scenes referencing child abuse including references to attempted sexual abuse. If that bothers you please do not read further.











July 13th, 1999

It was summer again, the best three months of most teenagers’ lives, and the worst three for Michael and his sister. Something had happened yesterday when he was out with Max. When he had come home Hank was gone and Lyn had locked herself in their room and was dead white and shaking, curled up in the corner of her bed as she stared at the door with haunted, unseeing eyes.

He had begged her out loud and mentally to tell him what was wrong but she would not speak, just stared at the door and trembled, ignoring everything he did and said to try and get her to snap out of it.

The only time she reacted at all was when he said he was going to ask Isabel over, and then she shook her head violently and glared at him with tears in her eyes.

So instead he just sat next to her, arm around her shoulders, worrying. He ended up sleeping like that, nodding off after it got dark and waking once at three in the morning to see that she had fallen asleep too, although even in sleep she was tense, arms still locked around her knees.

Hank was still not home, if he had been the TV would have been blaring and he had a feeling Lyn would have been wide awake and staring at the door again.

When he did get home Michael was going to throw away years of caution and slam the potbellied man against a wall until he told him what he did or said to turn his sister catatonic.

Depending on the answer he might do a lot worse to the man who no longer seemed as tall and menacing as he had when they were six.

He tucked a pillow between Lyn’s head and the wall and leaned back, trying to will himself back asleep. If only he had mastered dreamwalking was his last thought before he drifted off again.


July 14th, 1999

Alex raised his hand to knock on the metal door of the trailer when he heard a thud and a soft feminine cry of distress followed by angry male voices. He lowered his hand and, after debating with himself for a moment, darted around to the back of the trailer, halting suddenly as he saw Michael kneeling down beside Rae, his hand glowing as it touched the finger shaped bruises on her arm.

Rae raised her face to meet his, knowing he was there just as she always did, and for the first time he saw terror in the crystalline depths of her eyes. Michael spun as he involuntarily gasped, hand raised defensively towards him. “Michael, no!” She cried, grabbing his arm as she too rose to her feet.

Tension charged the air until finally Michael let out a breath and lowered his hand, though his eyes still bored into his face. “Are you going to tell?”

Alex stared back, not willing to back down until he knew who exactly had placed those bruises on Rae’s arm. “Tell what? That apparently you can make your hand glow?”

Rae tightened her grip on her brother’s arm as his face darkened and then placed herself between the two young men. “Think about where we live Alex.” A brief and sad smile crossed her lips. “What else could there possibly be to tell?”

He remained silent for a moment, knowing exactly what she meant but unable to repress the logical side of his mind that said it was an impossibility despite the many tiny clues he was just then piecing together. “You’re an alien.” He finally stated, looking at Michael over Rae’s head, only faintly surprised by the small nod.

“And you?” He asked, looking back down at the girl he considered to be one of his best friends, a girl he would like to be more.

“I’m human, or at least I used to be.”

He raised an eyebrow at that but his priorities at that moment did not include finding out every detail of their apparent alien status. He reached out and lightly touched the bruise beginning to darken her cheekbone.

“Who hit you?” She bit her lip and glanced at the trailer before looking back at him, the vulnerability in her eyes tearing at his heart. He glared at the brooding young man behind her, “And you let him?”

Rae gasped and opened her mouth to protest but Michael’s guilt stricken voice prevented her, “Yes, I didn’t think he would hit her.” The emphasis on the last word was not lost on Alex.

He glanced down as Michael spoke and saw Rae’s own guilt shining from her eyes.

“It’s not the first time is it?” He said softly, holding her chin so she could not look away. She hesitated, clearly afraid.

“No.”

He heard Michael begin swearing but did not look back at him yet, “Has he touched you?” A sudden shocked silence fell and he realized that Michael had never even considered the possibility.

She tried to dodge his gaze before closing her eyes briefly when he tightened his hold. When she opened them again he could see tears glittering like blue diamonds, “He’s tried, but I, I always stopped him. Made him...” She trailed off and half turned towards her brother. “When he touched me I read him, I could see, see what he wanted.” She paused and he could feel her trembling beneath his hand.

“I wanted it to stop, I wanted him to go away and he did. It was like I made him want something else, made him forget what he was doing.” She turned back towards Alex, tears streaming down her face. “I didn’t like it. I felt dirty, like I was using him like...like he wanted to use me.” She raised her eyes to meet his, “I’m not a bad person. I’m not.” Her voice caught as she choked back a sob.

Alex pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as tightly as he could while she cried into his chest. He looked at Michael, seeing the clenched fists and the suspicious glitter in his eyes. “You both need to leave, permanently.”

Michael nodded slowly, “Now, we’ll take her to the Evans.”

Alex nodded back in silent agreement, Rae had told him of the Mr. Evans offer of help and he knew they both stayed there frequently. A thought struck him. “Are they?”

Michael stared at him warily for a moment before answering with a short “Yes.”

He filed it away for later thought and began to guide Rae towards his car, opening the door and settling her into the front passenger seat before hopping into the driver’s seat and turning the key in the ignition, not bothering to ask if there were any belongings they needed to grab.

The ride was spent in silence once Rae’s sobs quieted, each of them brooding on past mistakes, what if’s, and what was going to happen to them in the future. He pulled up against the curb and was about to open the door when Michael stopped him, turning to his sister.

“You should let me heal the rest of them, before anyone sees.” Alex frowned a moment in puzzlement until he realized the bruises on her arm were gone, that was the purpose of the glowing he had seen.

Rae reached up to touch her face, wincing slightly, and then shook her head. “No, we might need evidence, proof.” He saw the disagreement written on her brother’s abnormally expressive face and privately felt the same, not wanting her to be in pain any longer than necessary. But she was right and he could tell by the stubborn set of her chin that she was not going to be persuaded to change her mind.

“Fine.” Michael growled out before shoving his way out of the car and forcefully shutting the door. Alex bit back a reprimand and tucked the keys in his pocket before he too exited the vehicle, Rae joining them on the sidewalk as they walked towards the house.

Isabel met them at the door, opening it before they even reached the steps, her eyes going directly towards Rae’s bruised face before angrily raising to meet Michael’s. “Are you here to talk to my dad or Max?”

Alex did not quite understand the question but he saw the anger building in Michael’s already tense frame and answered for him, “Your dad, they’re getting out of that house.”

Isabel looked at him in surprise, not expecting the sudden ally. Her beautiful brown eyes widened further in shock and fear when Rae blurted out, “He knows; everything...” but she shook it off and pulled them into the house, arm going around Rae as she silently led them towards her father’s office, eyes darting toward him every now and then, the caution in her eyes finally understood. The reason behind the ice made clear.

A/N: So sorry for the delay and here we go, this is the last chapter in this story and then we move on to Book Two, which fair warning, will not pick up where this one left off but instead will go back in time again. You’ll see what I mean Thank you all for your wonderful feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed the story and I think you'll like the next one even more since I and my betas did . Anyways, enjoy, and I will post the first chapter of Tread the Brink of Dreams not this Saturday, but next Saturday.










Still July 14th, 1999

Philip looked up in surprise when both of his children, Michael and his sister, and another boy he did not know; all came trooping into his home office. Then he noticed the bruise marring Raelyn’s cheek, and the furious expression on Michael’s face, and realized why they were here. If only they had come to him sooner.

Standing up he came around the desk and lightly touched Raelyn’s chin, tilting it so he could see the black eye forming under the yellow glow from his desk lamp. He turned to give Michael his best intimidating lawyer glare and ignored the way the boy was growling under his breath at seeing him touch his sister. “Hank did this?” He said, more statement than question, and at Michael’s nod he continued. “You’re not going back there.” That time there was not even a hint of a question in his flat tone.

“No.” It was Raelyn and she stepped back away from him slightly, trying to smile and failing as she took her brother’s hand. “We’re not.”

“You can stay with us.” He started to say, Isabel nodding fiercely and wrapping her arm around the shorter girl, looking sad and happy at the same time, but Michael shook his head.

“We want to try the emancipation thing you suggested, get our own place.”

Philip opened his mouth to protest, wanting to help them, feeling guilty for not stepping in sooner, and knowing how hard it would be on their own, but the look on Raelyn’s face stopped him.

“We’ll come to you if we need anything, I promise.” The girl said softly and he ignored the protest on his own daughter’s face to nod his acquiescence. Maybe they needed the independence, to move on from whatever that sorry excuse for a man put them through.


Later that night…


Diane walked into her husband’s office after ordering pizza for the kids and found him leaning on the desk, head in his hands and his shoulders stiff with tension. When she started to rub them he shuddered lightly and spoke, his voice muffled. “I should have got them out years ago. They didn’t say anything but this wasn’t the first time. As soon as Max and Izzy started talking about them in the third grade we should have just paid Hank off and adopted them too.”

“Yes we should have.” Diane said pragmatically as her thumbs dug in to work out the knots of tension just above his shoulder blades. “But we didn’t and we can help them now, better than anyone else could. You get the appointment with the judge and I’ll talk to our accountant about setting aside some monthly funds. They’ll never accept help from us outright but if we say its financial assistance from the state for emancipated minors I think they’ll take it.”

For the first time since he had seen the bruise on Raelyn’s face Philip felt his spirits lift and he turned in his chair to pull Diane onto his lap and kiss her soundly. “You are brilliant.”

Diane laughed and kissed him back. “I know. Now put a smile on and go get some pizza.”

“Yes ma’am.”


July 22nd, 1999

The appointment with the judge had gone smoothly. Both Lyn and Michael already had sources of income, she through her tutoring at the school and him through his job at the grocery store, so they could mostly prove financial independence although Lyn was searching for a job that would make steadier money.

The abuse was all the reason they needed to leave without the consent of their guardian, and Philip and Diane’s standing in the community made them perfect advocates. The official paperwork would not come through for another week and they were staying with the Evan’s until then, but they could start apartment hunting right away.

There were not many housing options in Roswell that they could afford and they quickly found and signed for a small two bedroom apartment in the heart of town. Until they turned eighteen Diane had told them that their rent would be partially paid for by the government, and that they would each receive a monthly allowance though they were expected to obtain employment.

The Evan’s had given them an advance on their first checks as they waited for the paperwork to go through and Lyn used hers to purchase furnishings for the apartment; Isabel, Alex, and her making the rounds of the few thrift stores in town and in nearby Albuquerque. They managed to find a few things that with the help of a little alien magic would do quite nicely.

Michael was not too keen on the idea of letting Isabel help with decorating but Lyn had made it quite clear he had no say in anything but his bedroom, and that she would not let the other girl do anything too damaging to his manly image.

In the end Michael quite liked the deep chocolate carpet, cream walls, and the alien repaired coffee colored leather couch. He used his money to pay for the TV and some groceries, since they knew better than to accept Diane’s offer to cook for them and had foisted her off with the protestation that she had already helped them too much.

The feeling of independence was heady and despite the cost, he found himself glad that they had gotten out when they did. If they had lived with Hank longer someone would have ended up dead; it was better that way.

It would be harder to balance school and work, even taking into consideration the fact that they needed less sleep than most people, but seeing the fear fade from Lyn’s eyes and feeling his own constant tension start to dissipate was entirely worth it.


August 1st, 1999

Isabel threw them a celebration party when they officially moved into their new apartment. Alex was the only guest who was not family but it still felt like too many people in one small space for Michael although he could tell Raelyn loved it. A tiny, highly repressed part of him had briefly wished that he could have told Isabel or Alex to invite Liz and maybe her sister, but the rest of him knew that it would have caused more issues than he wanted to deal with right then.

Just because he had stubbornly decided that he would talk to the girl, Max be hanged, did not mean he had to get all sappy and invite her to his housewarming party. Just the thought of those words made him shudder and he quickly turned his thoughts in another, if less happier direction.

He was still reeling from finding out that Hank had been hitting Raelyn for years, and that she had been hiding it from him so he would not do anything to the creep. The thought of him doing to her some of the things he had done to Michael, or worse, woke him every night with nightmares he could not hide from his telepathic sister.

The fact that she would not talk to him about them, just gave him fresh hot coffee in the morning, proved more than anything that his nightmares were probably close enough to the truth to make him want to go hunt Hank down and bury him, preferably alive.

Philip had told him that he called the Sheriff the night after they showed up but Hank had taken the trailer and left. The Sheriff had not wanted to pursue him, saying it was good riddance of bad trash.

It made Michael glad that he had snuck out the night before and grabbed his sketchbook and Lyn’s camera along with whatever personal belongings he could carry. It also made him furious that Hank had not been there so he had not had a chance to give the man a taste of his own medicine before he left.

Max was helping Isabel hang some of Raelyn’s photos that she had bought frames for, and Lyn was curled up on the couch with Alex, talking in low tones. The boy had a million questions about what they could do and where they came from.

It would have bothered Michael more if he was not so aware of just how much more Lyn smiled when Alex was around. He had a feeling he would need to talk with the other boy soon about not breaking his sister’s heart when he finally got around to telling her how he felt.

Michael scratched his eyebrow and turned to grab another soda from the fridge, he must be getting soft.


September 18th, 1999

Summer was almost over and Isabel had dragged Lyn shopping for new outfits, Alex was hanging out with Liz and her sister, and her brother was with Max somewhere. Raelyn was getting very sick of the mall and when Isabel gestured to one more shop despite the multiple bags dangling from both of their arms she dug in her heels.

“Enough Isabel, I’m tired and hungry, can we at least get lunch before we go…” She glanced at the very pink shop and blushed, “Lingerie shopping?”

Isabel gave a long suffering sigh but nodded, “Fine, let’s eat, but we are getting you some sexy under things missy.” She said with a warm glare, and then her lips turned up into a smirk, “I’m sure Alex would appreciate you shopping there.”

“Izzy!” Lyn gasped and blushed furiously.

The statuesque blond just laughed and linked her arm through the petite redhead’s. “Like I haven’t noticed the way you look at him. Now come on, I want some egg rolls.”

Raelyn just sputtered for a moment but let herself be dragged along and by the time they reached the food court had managed to convince herself that Isabel was insane because there was no way she could feel that way about Alex; Alex who only saw her as one of his girls.

Then all thoughts of anything were pushed away when they sat down at one of the faintly sticky red tables and felt a wash of power flow through them. Their eyes met as the bond crackled with energy and they could both feel each other’s dread, something had just happened, something huge.


Across Town…


Michael watched Liz whisper and giggle with her sister and their friend Maria after scamming a customer and his gut clenched when he realized that Max was staring at her too, the other boy completely oblivious to his companion’s shared fascination for the brunette.

He dragged his eyes away when he heard the arguing in the corner, the sounds of two men yelling grating on his nerves as something he had not had to listen to since they left the trailer park. When the gun came out he froze, time slowing down as they struggled, and then a bullet flew through the air to hit the tender flesh of Liz Parker’s stomach.

His heart stopped.

Frantic thoughts of healing, of calling 911, of doing anything but sitting there, unable to move flashed through his mind, and then Max leapt to his feet, ready to charge in like a white knight on his damn stallion.

Michael grabbed his arm but let go a moment later, not because of Max’s frantic words or the passion in his eyes, but because he could not bear the thought of Liz Parker not being there for him to watch.

Max placed his hand on her stomach and he held back the customers, unable to look behind him for fear that his brother succeeded as well as fear that he did not. Everything was going to change.






A/N: The state of New Mexico does not actually provide any financial aid for emancipated minors; if you can’t prove you can make it on your own you don’t get emancipated. They could have applied for welfare or food stamps but I thought what the Evans’ did fit a little better.