I'm a bit short of time tonight so I'll have to leave more decent responses to your great FB next time. Sorry to be so brief but...I hope you enjoy the next parts! Disclaimer: The characters of "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, WB, and UPN. They are not mine and no infringement is intended.
Chapter 21: Rendezvous in Arizona
Later that evening, an exhausted group of parents pulled into the Arizona Trails Resort. The guards had stopped them just outside of Hondo and told them that the kids were OK, while quickly altering the appearance of their cars. The parents had spent hours on the road, driving in loops and doubling back in an effort to make sure the skins hadn’t followed them. The only thing that had kept them going was the knowledge that their kids made it out of Las Cruces unharmed.
Isabel was sitting outside a family sized tent, nervously prodding a small campfire with a stick. She had been sitting in the same spot for hours, waiting for her parents to arrive. The others had gone off in search of some food but Isabel, Liz, and Maria had refused to move until their parents arrived.
When Isabel spotted her mother approaching from the parking lot, she let out a whoop of relief. Isabel ran over and enveloped her mom in a tight hug.
Dianne smiled in relief. “Thank God you’re alright. We were so worried about you guys…”
The rest of the gang was just coming back with supper when they heard Isabel’s heart wrenching sobs. “I’m so sorry mom…I’m so sorry…” She sobbed.
When the others spotted their parents trudging in from the parking lot, they rushed over to greet them. Max lost all of his usual composure and threw his arms around his father as though it was the first time he’d seen him in years.
There were relieved hugs all around and for a moment no one said a word. Michael and Ava stood off to the side alone until Amy Deluca spotted them and squished them both into a group hug with Maria. Even the Valenti men dropped their usual macho acts and embraced each other for a moment.
After a few minutes, they all regained their composure and gathered around the campfire. Food was passed around while they discussed their adventures.
“Courtney knew about the skins? I knew there was something off about her!” Maria gasped.
“I have no idea where she fits in with all of this but she did save Jeff’s life today so…” Nancy trailed off with a confused shrug.
Liz spoke up. “How did you guys end up together?” She asked, looking back and forth between her parents and Max’s.
“After the thing at the Crashdown, your mom and I ran straight out to the car and took off. Nancy tried to call the others to let them know what was going on. She got through to Jim and the Whitmans but we couldn’t reach either Philip or Dianne. We drove out toward their house to see if they’d already left and they ended up catching a ride with us.” Jeff said, leaving out his role in the Evans’ escape.
Dianne gaped at Jeff. “You’re being way too modest Jeff! If you hadn’t helped us, we might not be here right now.”
There were gasps all around. “What happened dad?” Max asked in shock.
Philip quickly explained the scene that unfolded at the house. He emphasized the point that Jeff had rushed out of the car to help armed with nothing but a crowbar and then finished with the tale of them driving off in the Parker’s car. “We couldn’t get to our car keys anyway…if Jeff and Nancy hadn’t gotten there when they did, we would’ve been sitting ducks.” He concluded.
Liz threw her arms around her father. “Oh dad! You’re a hero!” She gushed.
Jeff blushed and fumbled for something to say. Before he got even two words out, Max marched over and stuck his hand out to Jeff. Liz stepped aside and watched with pride as the two men shook hands.
“I will never be able to thank you enough for what you did today. I just wish…I’m sorry we put you in that position.” Max said quietly. Jeff pulled him into a manly hug.
“I have no doubt that you and your parents would’ve done exactly the same thing for us, Max.” Jeff said.
Amy had been uncharacteristically quiet during the whole discussion and it worried Maria. Delucas were notoriously loud and her mother was no exception to that rule.
“Mom? Are you OK?” Maria asked hesitantly.
Amy glanced nervously at the others. “I’m just a little bit overwhelmed right now. I mean…today I killed a man.” She whispered.
Ava took her hand in reassurance. “I’m sorry we put you in danger Amy. You did what you had to though. He was there to hurt you…you were just defending yourself.”
Amy shook her head in denial. “That’s the thing though…I was scared and I wasn’t thinking straight. What if he had been one of the good guys? What if he came in blasting because he thought I was a danger to you guys or something? He easily could’ve been one of your missing protectors and I just went and killed him because I was scared.” Amy said sadly.
“That man was not one of the protectors and you did the right thing. You didn’t know hitting him would kill him. You just knew that someone broke into your house and attacked you…you were trying to fend him off, not kill him mom.” Maria insisted.
Jim and Michael locked eyes from across the campfire. Amy was feeling the same thing as Michael had after killing Pierce and they both knew it. Neither one of them meant to hurt anybody but it had happened anyway and it was terrifying.
“Remember when we told you about what happened with Agent Pierce?” Michael asked quietly. Amy nodded.
“When Max told you guys about that, I was so sure that you’d think I was this terrible monster. I was afraid that you’d think I betrayed all of you because I accidentally killed a human. You knew I didn’t mean to though…you all understood.” Michael stared at his shoes, struggling to find the right words.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is…you didn’t betray anyone today Amy. Just like you knew I didn’t mean to kill Pierce, we know that you didn’t mean to kill that skin. He tried to blast you. He wanted you dead and he didn’t even know you. He was the monster…not you.” Michael finished, looking up to see Amy’s reaction.
Amy relaxed a little. “Thank you for telling me that Michael. It really means a lot to me.”
Philip cleared his throat nervously. “I think we all did a few things today that we aren’t necessarily proud of. I’m not thrilled that I shot a gun for the first time today. I’m not happy that my children had to run for their lives or that my wife had to jump out a window. I think we just have to accept that this is the way things are going to be for a while.”
Max and Isabel looked stricken. They were immediately convinced that they’d ruined their parents’ lives forever. “I’m so sorry dad…” They murmured in unison.
“This is absolutely not your fault. I know what you’re thinking…you think we would have been better off if we had never met you, right?” Philip asked. Off their shameful nods he continued.
“The happiest times in my life were spent with you guys…as a family. I can’t imagine any life without the two of you in it, being a good life. All I’m saying is that things might be a little dangerous for a little while but we’re going to be OK. We can all get through this together.” Philip explained.
Max still felt horribly guilty about the situation they were all in now. “If any of you feel like you want to go your own way…maybe find a quiet little town to settle down in, we’ll understand…” He said sadly. He couldn’t even look any of them in the eye.
“You guys told us you were stronger together. I’d like to think that includes us too. Whether you want to admit it or not, you need us…and we need you. There is no way I’m going to abandon my own son just because things got scary today. On the contrary, I’d much rather be there and try to help in whatever way I can.” Gloria Whitman said, fixing the others with an intense stare.
Jim nodded in agreement. “I made my choice a long time ago. I’m not going to turn back now.”
Amy sat up straight and put on her best sassy grin. “Do you honestly think that I’m going to let my daughter traipse around the country with her boyfriend, unsupervised? Nope…absolutely not. You can’t make me.” She said, boldly trying to accept this new situation.
Dianne didn’t even need to add her two cents on the situation. The others had already said it all. Instead, she tried to change the subject to relieve a bit of the tension. “So are we going to see the Grand Canyon tomorrow?” She asked.
“We’re not anywhere if we don’t figure out a way to come up with more money. We barely had $200 between the eight of us when we took off and the $1000 that Mr. Whitman gave us last weekend won’t last very long. Since we probably can’t use our credit cards, we’re going to have to come up with a plan…” Isabel pointed out.
“I think we’ll be OK for a little while.” Charles Whitman began. “Gloria and I hit the ATM just outside of Hondo. We withdrew as much cash as the machine would let us…$1000.”
“Amy and I stopped at an ATM just before we passed through Albuquerque. Between the two of us we managed to get almost $600.” Jim said.
“We stopped in Albuquerque too. Nancy and I can chip in another $1000.” Jeff Parker added.
“I had maybe $100 in my wallet and then we got $1000 on the way here. It sounds like we all opted for the maximum withdrawal. That should help, but I’m concerned that all those large cash transactions in one day will raise red flags with the FBI.” Philip pointed out.
“The FBI was on campus dad. They’ve got to know we took off by now.” Isabel said.
Kyle shrugged helplessly. “It’s better that you guys did your banking before you left New Mexico anyway, right? They won’t be able to track us so easily that way. If we’re careful about how we spend the money, we should be OK.”
Michael shifted uncomfortably. “We can get jobs along the way. You don’t need to give up all your money…”
Gloria waved a hand in dismissal. “Of course. We’ll probably have to lay low for a little while but eventually we’ll find a place where we can settle for a bit longer. We’ll worry about getting jobs then. For now, let’s just worry about keeping each other safe.”
“So if we stick to a reasonable budget, we should be OK for now. We’ll probably have to forgo hotels altogether because camping is much cheaper. It’s more private too, so that will work to our advantage.” Liz added, slightly relieved that they wouldn’t have to add financial worries to all the rest of their problems…yet.
“OK, well then I vote that we go see the Grand Canyon tomorrow. Since we’re planning on playing up the whole ‘tourist’ image, we might as well do it right.” Alex said with a shrug. There was little else they could do at this point but stick to the original plans.
“Should we split up for the day or stay together? There are a lot of us…a group this size might stick out.” Maria asked, mildly annoyed that every little step they made had to be carefully planned in advance.
Ava shook her head. “I think we should stick together. I don’t think we should risk getting separated just yet.”
“We’re going to have to split up at least temporarily though because there’s no way all of us will fit in one vehicle.” Jim pointed out.
“We’ll have the guards with us so it won’t hurt to split up for a little bit I guess. We didn’t stick together all the time at Las Cruces and we’re probably safer out here anyway.” Maria mused.
“Right now, we don’t know how many skins Kivar sent here or where Tess, Rath and Lonnie went so we can’t afford to split up the foursquares. We need to be safe, even if we’re going to play tourists.” Max added.
“What if we have Liz, Maria, Kyle and Alex go in one car and then Max, Michael, Ava and Isabel take another…The rest of us can just head out there in our own cars.” Jim suggested.
Michael shook his head. “The soldiers can’t really sense you guys like they can with us so they wouldn’t know if you were in danger right away. We’ll have to ask a few of the soldiers to ride along with you to the Canyon.” He said, addressing the parents.
“Alright guys. I’m exhausted so why don’t we just go with that plan and then call it a night. I could really use some shuteye.” Nancy said.
The others nodded in agreement. The next morning they would all get up early enough to catch a quick breakfast before heading out to the South Entrance of Grand Canyon National Park. None of them really felt festive enough to be planning some grand tourist adventure but there was really nothing else they could do at this point. They had to stick with their plans and play tourist for a while until things settled down.
