Roswell Fanatics

Part 21

Max was leaning on the counter, nursing a hot cup of tea when he looked up to see his wife standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

For a moment all he could do was look at her. She was standing there, just inside the brightness of the kitchen light, looking like an angel stepping out of the darkness. She was wearing a long white negligee with blue embroidery that always reminded him of fine china, and her hair fell down around her shoulders, dark and disheveled from sleep.

“Liz, what are you doing up?”

She shrugged and smiled at him drowsily. “Well, I woke up and my husband was missing from his side of the bed, so I thought I’d come to investigate,” she teased.

He laughed. It still wasn’t something he did extensively or often, but sometimes for Liz he would laugh. “Afraid I might be sleeping around?”

Liz only rolled her eyes, smiling. She walked towards him and he moved so that she could stand behind him, wrapping her arms around his stomach and leaning on his back. They stood that way in silence for a moment or two before speaking. It was still something Max and Liz could never get enough of, simply being together.

Finally Max turned, setting his cup down. “Do you want some tea? I could make some more hot water…”

She smiled softly and shook her head, though she did take a sip from his cup. As she set it down again she allowed her eyes to meet his. “Max, you’ve got to talk to me. You can’t keep holding this in… that’s not what we’re about.”

He swallowed. “It’s nothing, Liz…”

She shook her head. “It’s not nothing. You’re barely sleeping anymore, Max…” she ran a hand down his arm, then encircled his hand with her two smaller ones. She was staring at their hands, and when she lifted her gaze back to his she was frowning. “You can talk to me about him, you know, Max… It’s okay.”

He looked at her for a moment, almost sad that he was no longer amazed when she read him so clearly.

He didn’t doubt her, of course, but he couldn’t help but feel like holding back. He didn’t even want the possibility of hurting her over this ever again… Liz wasn’t about to take no for an answer, though, and Max knew it. She was right, after all. This wasn’t like them.

Finally he sighed, thinking of Zac. “He’s been calling me ‘Uncle Max.’ I mean… I should have expected something like that… but… I don’t know, Liz, I guess hoped things could be a little different.”

Liz sighed, too. “Max, he’s just a kid… This is confusing for him…”

Max nodded. “I know… it’s just… I keep thinking…”

Liz smiled sadly. Her poor, sweet Max. He was so upset at what he was thinking that he could barely bring himself to say it. “You’re wondering how different it would be if you’d kept him,” she said, speaking his thoughts softly, unobtrusively. “You’re wondering what would have happened to him if Ava hadn’t found him… You’re wondering why you didn’t know that he would be like us… that he would have powers too.”

Max ran a hand through his hair, annoyed at himself. “What did I think I was doing there, Liz? I mean no matter what Tess said, I should have had some idea that he would have powers… I mean, how could I do that to him? Send him off when there was even a possibility of him developing powers? He was just a baby, Liz, anything could have happened to him!”

“You had no idea, Max. You thought you were giving him a chance at a normal life. Something that you’ve always wanted. You can’t blame yourself for that. And it’s pointless to get upset about it now. It’s over. He’s safe.”

“Which is a miracle. Liz, when I think of the things that could have happened to him… if he’d been discovered…” He shuddered. He swallowed. “I know things are complicated… but he’s my son. I should have been protecting him… Instead I sent him off to complete strangers.”

Liz shook her head. “Max, it wasn’t like that. You know that. You thought you were protecting him. And he loved his adoptive parents. And what happened to them… that was an accident. That was just life. You can’t focus on that. You have to look at the positive in this situation, Max. Ava found him. She found him and then she found us, somehow… Max, that is a miracle. It’s fate, Max.”

Max let her words wash over him, let her meaning sink in. She was right. Of course she was right…

“I just… I wish I could give him what we’ve given Alex, you know? I wish I could be there for him like that.”

Liz nodded. “I know you do, honey, but you’ve got to try and see this through his point of view, too, you know? He just recently went from being all alone to getting a mom, to meeting his father and being introduced to this whole family… he’s going to take some time to adjust.”

“I know that. I do. I just… I wish I how I was supposed to act around him, you know?”

She smiled at him encouragingly, her eyes serious. “Max, someday he’s going to need you… someday you guys are going to have an amazing relationship. But for now you’re going to have to take what you can get. Start things slow… you can’t just jump into his life and expect things to be great with him. But you can build a relationship with him. Just talk to him, Max.”

“I’m trying, Liz, it’s just… it’s hard…”

Liz sighed softly. “Well, maybe you’re trying the wrong tact here, Max. I mean… I think in some ways you’re having trouble looking at him without seeing the little baby that you put up for adoption. But he’s his own person now. This whole time you’ve been trying to reach out to your son Zan, Max. But you’ve got to try to get to know Zac.”

He wanted to argue, wanted to say she was wrong. But she wasn’t. It was something he had to change…

“But you don’t need all the answers right now, Max,” Liz said, interrupting his thoughts. She smiled, and kissed him on the cheek. “It’s two in the morning… let’s go to bed.”

Max couldn’t help but smile that Liz knew him so well, and after kissing her and thanking her for just being her… he complied.

*************

“Isabel.”

Someone shook her, and the dream she’d been in collapsed into nothing. She’d been woken up too abruptly. That dream… it had been important… she had to get back to it, it was already slipping away from her…

Without opening her eyes she grabbed the small digital clock on her nightstand and held it in front of her face, blinking open just enough to see the red glaring numbers that read 4:02. If there was anything Isabel hated, it was being woken up in the middle of the night, at say, four in the morning.

“I’m going back to sleep,” she declared in a groggy but firm voice, not even bothering to adjust her eyes in order to see who had awoken her. Though if it was Kyle, wanting to go running around in somebody’s dream because of one of his insomniatic moods, she was going to have to kill him.

Suddenly the lights in her room were on and she was being pulled to a sitting position.

“What, what?” she asked grumpily, as she rubbed her eyes. She finally looked around, and when she saw who’d woken her, the breath left her body.

Part 22

“What, what?” she asked grumpily, as she rubbed her eyes. She finally looked around, and when she saw who’d woken her, the breath left her body.

There, sitting at the edge of her bed was none other than Alex Charles Whitman, wearing his best grin. She frowned at his clothing. She was really getting sick of him in the black and blue. And then the events of the dream came slamming into her.

The wedding. The mystery groom. His disappearance.

Isabel’s shoulders slumped. She was supremely confused.

“Alex, what is going on? Why did you wake me up? It’s four in the morning, I’m having this bizarre dream and then you just pull me out of it? And who was that guy in the dream? I didn’t even get a chance to see his face. But I know it wasn’t Jesse, and I don’t know who else it could have been…”

Alex blinked, looked as if he didn‘t quite know where to start. “Um, can I ask a question?”

She sighed. “Why not?”

Alex nodded, still attempting to process what he’d heard. After shaking his head, he looked up at her. “Who’s Jesse?”

Isabel rolled her eyes, extremely annoyed by that point. “Alex, you’re the one who told me that you’re actually just a part of me, and I know my subconscious thinks it knows me better than I do, but I highly doubt that it would forget who my husband was.”

Alex blanched at that. “Husband?!”

“Ex, I guess,” she muttered.

Alex gave her an unsure look. “Well… I guess that’s an improvement.”

“Alex, what are you talking about? What do you want? Just give me your words of wisdom and let me get back to sleep!”

“Isabel, what year is it?” Alex asked, having gotten up. He was pacing.

She stared at him then, blinking off the last bits of sleep that clung to her. “It’s 2012.”

His eyes widened considerably, and he fell to sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from her. He was rubbing his face with his hands, shaking his head. She moved forward to hear what he was saying. “…not possible. Then again they said that it had taken time… Eleven years? It can’t be…”

And Isabel started to understand. He was right, it couldn’t be. Hesitantly, she reached a hand towards his back…and felt solid flesh. He didn’t seem to notice, however. Still, that didn’t mean anything, she told herself, since she’d been able to feel him before. Heck, she’d danced with him over his own gravesite. But there was a spark there that hadn’t been there in years.

In fact the whole room was humming with an energy that she hadn’t felt since the night of the prom.

“I’m dreaming,” she whispered, quietly. She looked out the window and willed daylight, with no avail, but she nodded. “I’m dreaming.” In a dream she usually can change anything she wants, even the time of day. Not so in the real world. She tried again to make the sun appear, and decided that she’d lost control of the dreamworld. That made more sense to her than the other possibility.

“I have to be dreaming,” she said, for a third time, and more forcefully, as if that would make it true.

Then Alex swung around on her, standing up again. “You’re not dreaming anything. I know I was supposed to have died, but—” Looking around the room he stopped, staring at her. “This is not your room. Where are we?”

“You don’t know where you are?” The disbelief was slipping back into her voice. “How do you not know where you are?”

“Lemme explain later, just—Where are we?”

Isabel sighed, deciding to go along with her subconscious for now. There had to be a reason for all of this. “We’re in my apartment in Manhattan.”

Again Alex’s eyes widened. “Manhattan. New York? What happened to 6025 Murray Lane? What happened to Roswell?”

“We left Roswell. About a year after you died.”

He nodded. “And that’s another thing. Why is it that you’re so nonchalant about a supposedly-dead guy walking around in your apartment?”

She shrugged. “It’s happened a hundred times before. Only usually you don’t wake me up if I’m asleep, you just come into my dream.”

He grinned. “So you’ve been dreaming about me?”

“I thought I’d stopped,” she said sarcastically, even though she knew it was a lie.

He ignored her and started pacing and thinking out loud. “Well I guess that’s a pretty good excuse. Then again I was hoping for more of an exciting reaction. You throwing your arms around me was the preferable scenario, though apparently that wasn’t very likely. Of course I half-expected you to scream at the mere sight of me, one of those ‘You’re dead, get away from me’ bits. I’ve got to say the whole ‘Lemme go back to sleep’ line was really anticlimactic for me.”

“Alex, you’d better start explaining things right now before I physically throw you out of here myself. I still have my powers, you know, even if you’re not really here.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “You don’t get it, do you? I’m not dead. I never was. I mean yeah, I got really, really close to it, but I never actually died.”

Isabel shivered, sensing something wasn’t right here. “What are you talking about? Max saw you. He tried to heal you, but—” A sob caught in her throat, she swallowed harshly and went on. That had been a long time ago. “He couldn’t heal you because you’d been killed by an alien. Tess killed you.”

He shook his head again. “No, she didn’t. She got close to it, she drained me of pretty much everything that made me function, but I never literally died. I was saved.”

“Oh please. Didn’t you hear me? Max tried saving you. He couldn’t.”

Coming closer to her, Alex forced her to look him in the eye. “Your people saved me, Isabel. The Antarians. I’ve been up there, Iz,” he said, pointing out the window at the stars, at the shining V constellation.

Isabel shook her head. “No. No. It’s impossible.”

“They took me up there, Isabel. They healed me. Took eleven years, but what can I complain? I haven’t even noticed more than a few days of it. Do I look older, Isabel?”

And it was then that she realized he did. He’d lost that high-school awkwardness and he looked more… able than he ever had before. “You can’t be real.”

He held her gaze patiently. She hadn’t really experienced that look in so many years… Could she really trust this person?

“I don’t know if I can describe exactly what they did to me… I know they changed me.”

“Changed you? What do you mean?”

He smiled, then turned to the vase sitting on her nightstand. It held one single daisy, drooping its head. He waved his hand over it, and before her eyes the flower transformed into a red rose, bright and full. He picked it up and as he did the stem lengthened. He handed the rose to her, and she took it, breathless and very much afraid.

“Get out.”

Alex’s smile turned to a confused frown. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t know who you are or what you want from me but get out,” Isabel repeated, iron entering her soul. This person—this alien, she reminded herself—was taking her old feelings for Alex and warping them, using them to make her vulnerable.

“Isabel, it’s me.”

“I don’t believe you. Alex Whitman died eleven years ago.”

“And if I can prove to you that he didn’t? That he’s right here in front of you?”

“Just try it,” she spat, but before the last word was out of her mouth, his mouth was on hers, and her eyes were opened to Alex Whitman.

*****Isabel looking at him much the way she was looking at him now. “This has to stop, Alex.”
“Yes, yes it does… What does?”
“This… obsession.”

Seeing a fourteen-year-old Isabel across the quad at lunch, just watching her laughing with her friends, Maria whacking him on the arm to get his attention, teasing him with an almost jealous look about his crush on the Ice Queen.

“Thanks for bringing me home, Alex.”
“Well, that’s what boyfriends are for.”

“I don’t wanna suffocate anyone.”

Punching Michael in the face after he’d broken Maria’s heart once again.

The two of them staring up at the stars on the Father’s Day Campout.

An unwanted interlude with Max. “I’m just trying to protect you.”
“I didn’t know so many people cared.”

Waking up in an extravagant room with the name ‘Isabel’ on his lips, an attendant running to tell someone that the convalescent was awake.

Fighting against hurt at her stand-offish ways as she sat across from him at the Crashdown. “I just can’t be with a guy right now. Any guy.”

Trepidation and a here-we-go-again feeling. “Isabel Evans? Go to prom with me?”

Irritation and fear and love as he stared at his possibly-pregnant-and-definitely-not-by-him girlfriend at the counter of the Crashdown. “Don’t you think I’ve known that from the start? That if I decided to go forward with this that things might get weird? …I’ll be here when you need me.”*****

Isabel pulled away from the kiss gasping for breath, the suffusion of images was almost too much for her to take in. She recognized almost every one of them, and the emotions they brought with them overwhelmed her. She’d been reliving many of her own memories through Alex’s shoes. It had been oddly beautiful, and at the same time painfully tragic. She’d hurt him so many times…

She took a deep breath to steady herself. “Alex.”

“I asked you to wait for me, Isabel. You said you would if it were possible. You said you would.”

She could barely process his words, though. He was here. Alive! How was it possible?

“I had no idea…” she finally mumbled… “I thought it was a dream… I thought…”

He laughed. “Did you, really?” he asked, as if he didn’t believe her. She nodded and he laughed at her again. She stared at him, confused, and watched dumbly as he reached over to her nightstand. “I um… I saw this before I woke you up,” he explained, picking up a CD and that was laying on its cover there. He held it up. “New Beginning, Tracy Chapman?” he asked. “Doesn’t this have that… um… that ‘Promise’ song on it?” he smiled.

Isabel blushed. He was right. She’d been listening to it almost every night, just that song… “Well, I thought it was a really good dream…” she explained.

He set the CD down and smiled at her but the smile faded, too quickly. “I’m sorry about Jesse.” He shook his head. “Isabel Ramirez. I can’t quite get used to that.”

“I’m just Isabel Evans again now.” She shook her head, tears blurring her vision. “No, this still isn’t real. I’m going to wake up tomorrow and you’ll have never been here.”

“Is anyone else here? Max, Michael? Liz, Maria?”

“They’re all here.”

Alex blinked. “All?”

“They all live in this building.”

He shrugged. “So call one of them. Bring them in here.”

Isabel raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”

“Of course I’m serious, why wouldn’t I be?”

Isabel just looked at him. She couldn’t stop looking at him. She would wake up in a few hours. She knew that this dream would hurt her for years, and yet she wanted to experience every second of it. She glanced at the clock again. 4:27.

“In a few hours everyone will be awake, Alex. And if you’re really real—”

“I am.”

She smiled, but wasn’t quite ready to believe it yet. “If you’re really real then I want this time with you. To myself.”

He sat down next to her automatically. “As you wish,” he smiled, and she knew that it wasn’t the old, simply infatuated Alex sitting next to her. She wasn’t sure how he’d managed to mature so much by spending ten years asleep, but then there he was.

Isabel turned so that she was facing him rather than sitting next to him, and when she did he got his first chance to really look at her. “Wow,” he sighed under his breath.

“What?” Isabel asked, slightly confused.

He was looking at her with awe. That was the Alex she remembered…still, she could tell he was different. Or maybe she was different.

“The last time I saw you I could have sworn that I would never in my life see anything more beautiful.” He grinned. “You just broke your own record.”

Isabel blushed softly, shaking her head. “Alex, it’s the middle of the night… my hair’s a mess, I don’t have any makeup on…”

He shook his head, staring deeply into her eyes. “I could care less about any of that, Iz. You know that. That has nothing to do with any of it.” He swallowed, then, and Isabel’s heart twisted delightfully as she was reminded of his old awkwardness. “I mean… you’re here. You’re here, Isabel, and so you’re beautiful.”

Isabel couldn’t even respond to that at first. Finally she shook her head. “No one’s said anything like that to me in so long, Alex…” She was going to go on, but then she remembered something that had been bothering her. “Wait. How did you find us? How did you even know where to look?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t.”

Her eyebrows crunched in confusion. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “They just asked me where I wanted to go back to.”

“They?”

He sighed. “The Antarians, Iz. I’ve got to say, I never really expected it to be real, somehow. But I’ve been there. Anyhow, I’d rather go over all that stuff later when we’ve got everybody together. There’s a lot to tell, and I’d rather only do it once.”

She nodded, but that still didn’t explain anything. “So what did you tell them? When they asked you, what did you say?”

He look up at her with a slightly bashful, but completely open face. “I told them to take me back to Isabel. And so they did.”

Again, tears were in her eyes. This was real. This was really, truly Alex Whitman facing her. She wasn’t dreaming. He was alive. After all these years…

He saw the tears forming and concern etched itself on his face. “Iz?” he asked, moving her hair and touching her face softly.

She swallowed and willed the tears to stop, but they couldn’t, and then she was touching his face too, and even that wasn’t enough. She flung her arms around his neck and sobbed and laughed into his shirt.

He was petting her back lightly, just waiting for her to calm down. “You stopped dreaming about me, Isabel, but I never stopped dreaming of you,” he told her as she lay her head on his chest. “I’ve dreamt a hundred dreams of you, a thousand really, since I’ve last seen you, and finally I’m here and I realized that my brain could never in a thousand years recreate how beautiful you are.”

She was holding his shirt in her hands, holding onto it as tightly as she possibly could. “You’re here. You’re really here. No one’s going to believe this. We all thought… I mean, how could we not think it—know you were dead?” And then an idea came to her mind and she pulled away from him abruptly. “Wait. If you’re here, then who did they—I mean they buried…” she trailed off, she couldn’t say it. The funeral had been closed-casket because of how badly injured he’d been by the accident, but there was still someone inside it.

Alex smiled at her reassuringly. “It was just a double of me. A wax dummy, if you will. I was told that they made the switch right before the car accident was supposed to kill me.”

Isabel blinked, starting to understand. “So Max couldn’t heal you because—”

“Because that wasn’t me,” Alex nodded, agreeing with her. “Even if it had been me Max probably could have put me into a coma-like state at best… Tess really pulled a number on me,” he grinned.

Isabel winced, and he realized that it would probably be a lot harder for everybody else to have a sense of humor about what had happened to him. He was just glad that he was home. Even if it wasn’t Roswell, with Isabel he was home.

“So you’re honestly telling me that the whole gang is here right now? All in this building?”

She nodded. “I live here with Michael, Maria and Kyle. Max and Liz are next door. They’re married, by the way.”

Alex grinned. “Didn’t see that one coming,” he said, and Isabel laughed, feeling the tension that had hit her at hearing Tess’ name ease away from her again. She wiped away what was left of her tears, then realized that she must look like a nightmare.

“Um, just a second,” she mumbled, as she stood up, hands almost covering her face, and walked quickly into her bathroom. Staring at the wreck in the mirror she splashed some water on her face, then passed her hand over it a few times until she looked perfect.

When she came out she headed towards her phone on the nightstand. Forget letting them sleep, they had to know that Alex was alive!

He remained sitting on her bed, content to watch her bustling around, content to just look at her. He would never get tired of just seeing her.

“Yes, I know what time it is… No, you have to come right now… Just believe me, okay?… No, it can’t wait until morning, it’s important!”

After finishing her phone call to the Evans‘, Isabel made her way out to wake up the others. Alex made to follow her, but she stopped him, pushing him back into her room.

“What?” he asked, slightly confused.

“They have to all see you at once!” she explained as she shut the door on him.

Laughingly, he obeyed, seeing that some things about Princess Isabel would never change. She would have her way sometimes, it was as simple as that.

She woke Michael and Maria first, which resulted in more than one profanity, and questions she wouldn’t answer, “I have to wait until everyone is here.”

She then pushed Kyle’s door open and shook him, and he rolled over, rubbing his eyes and staring at her. “Isabel? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just come with me.”

He sighed. “You realize this is the first night I’ve been able to sleep in weeks?”

“I’m sorry, Kyle, it’s really important.”

There was a knock at the door, and Isabel opened the door to a curious Liz and a slightly grumpy-looking Max. “Isabel, what is going on?” Max asked, in his best leader voice.

Following his cue, Liz turned on the concern as well. “Yeah, is everything okay? You sounded really strange on the phone.”

“When you see what I have to show you, I think you’ll understand why it was so urgent,” Isabel said, barely managing to contain her excitement.

Once Isabel had all assembled in the living room of her apartment, she asked them to wait as she went to her own bedroom door and slipped inside. Brows furrowed across the group as they looked around at each other. Nobody knew what to expect.

In a moment Isabel came back into the room, dragging—Alex Whitman behind her.

Author's Note: Like any of you really thought I was going to keep him away! Anyhow, this this is one of those technicalities/back-story bits... long, but necessary. I hope all of this makes sense...


In a moment Isabel came back into the room, dragging—Alex Whitman behind her.

Part 23

Suddenly the entire group lost its interest in going back to sleep. Eyes widened in disbelief, and Michael and Max both looked ready to attack.

Michael jumped in front of the rest of the group and held his hand up. “Isabel, get away from that thing. I don’t care what he told you, I don’t care who he is, I’m gonna blast him.”

Rather than follow his order, Isabel stood more firmly in front of Alex. “Don’t you dare, Michael Guerin. It’s Alex.” She looked at Kyle. “He told me he was going to come, remember? I told you. In my dream. He played that song ‘The Promise’ for me and asked me to wait for him.”

Kyle didn’t know how to respond, was staring at Alex. Luckily for him Maria spoke instead. “He played you what?” she exclaimed.

From behind Isabel, Alex laughed. “See, Iz, this is more the type of reaction I was looking for.”

Isabel was going to smack him for that, but she caught the look in Max’s eye first, and the thought left her mind. Her dear brother did not look amused. “That’s not Alex, Isabel. Alex is dead. He’s using you, trying to gain your trust.”

“No,” Isabel argued. “Trust me, don’t you think I thought of that myself? Don’t you think if he’d wanted to do that he would have come to me as Jesse?”

“Yeah, you’d be proud, Max, she almost blasted me herself,” Alex cut in again. This time Isabel glared at him, effectively silencing him.

She turned back to her brother. “It is Alex, Max. He proved it to me.”

“How?” Liz demanded suddenly, fiercely, looking like she felt this was all a cruel joke.

Isabel glanced back at Alex and remembered the kiss and she blushed again. “He showed me,” she said, looking at Liz significantly.

But Liz was shaking her head. “That’s impossible.”

But Isabel shook her head insistently. “Try it. Just touch him on the hand. Connect to him. You and Maria have known him forever. He can show you things only you know.”

Liz shook her head, staring at the manifestation of her dead friend across the room from her.

And then Alex smiled softly at her. “Come on, Parker. I’m not gonna hurt you, you know that. Heck, you‘ve beaten me in arm-wrestling since like, the fifth grade. You nearly broke my pinky that one time.”

Liz’s face lost its brutal look, and she looked floored instead. Slowly, she took a step forward, but Max put an arm out to hold her back. “I don’t trust him.”

And then Liz surprised Max, along with the rest of them by pushing Max away from her. “I do,” she said, and she looked as if she’d even surprised herself.

Before Max could stop her Liz had stepped past Isabel and taken Alex’s outstretched hand.

The group watched tensely as the two friends looked into each other’s souls, sharing old and new memories. When tears started slipping down Liz’s cheeks Max stepped forward, but Maria grabbed onto him, silently stopping him. Tears were streaming down her face, also, and Max realized then that she knew it was Alex, that she was holding him back as much as she was holding herself back.

When the connection broke Liz threw her arms around Alex. “I can’t believe it’s you!” she was screaming, and suddenly Maria was with them too.

“I knew it, I knew it as soon as she mentioned that stupid song,” Maria cried.

Alex laughed, hugging his girls close to him. “Yeah, thanks for forcing me learn it, Maria.”

The rest of the group watched this assembly in amazement, Max, Michael and Kyle looking at each other and blinking, as Isabel just glowed at the sight of the reunion.

Suddenly Liz looked up at Alex. “That’s not true, is it?” she asked. “You can’t really do all the crazy alien things, can you?”

Maria’s head snapped up. “What?”

Alex smiled and looked around for a minute for something to do. With no better idea, he touched Maria’s blue tank top, and she could see tendrils of a soft yellow spreading from where his hand was, until the entire shirt was the color of daffodils.

“What the—” then she poked him in the ribs, laughing nervously. “Change it back!”

“Okay,” Max said, stepping forward from where he stood. “I think we all need an explanation. Now.”

*************

Standing in front of his group of friends, Alex almost felt like he was facing a firing squad. A hundred questions were shot at him after his simple, “Where do you want me to begin?” and he was barely able to hear half of them, much less process and answer them.

He held up his hands at the barrage of voices coming at him. “Okay, okay… maybe I’ll just tell things like I know them and—wait, no. How about you tell me what you know first… give me a place to jump off from.”

Alex jumped slightly as the noise level in the room again exploded as everyone tried to explain things at once. “Hey, hey, stop,” he yelled holding his hands up yet again. When the voices finally stopped Alex pointed to Liz, who was usually the most sane. “You. Go.”

Now that all eyes were directed at Liz, she didn’t quite know where to start. Liz swallowed. “Um… well… the sheriff tried to declare it as a suicide… but I didn’t believe that, and eventually we found out that you didn’t go to Sweden, that you were really at the university in Las Cruces, working with the supercomputers there. We found Jennifer Coleman…”

Alex stared at her for a moment, but then nodded as understanding struck him. “Leanna…” he almost smiled at the fake memory. Real or not, Leanna had been a sweet girl.

“Yeah… We knew you’d been killed by an alien… or rather, that’s what we figured since Max couldn’t heal you, and we thought that maybe somehow she was the alien.”

“She wasn’t involved, though, was she? I really don’t know anything about her…” Alex shrugged. “Just assumed that she was just another pawn like me.”

Liz nodded. “Yeah, she didn’t really know anything, but Tess was using her as Leanna and also using her name to rent out an old house, where we found the translation of the destiny book that you had translated.”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, my memories from then are still kind of fuzzy. It’s like… I remember what really happened, but I also really remember remembering what didn’t happen…” He shook his head, looking for a better way to explain. “Things get a little muddled… like I can remember what really happened and I can remember the mindwarp, but I have to remind myself which is which.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyhow. Continue.”

Liz smiled, watching Alex’s antics… she’d missed them… “Um… yeah… Well, Tess had us all believing that if she didn’t get back to Antar her baby was going to die…” Liz could feel the sarcasm beginning to enter her voice, and she took a deep breath. “Which we all know now was a complete lie because the baby was human. But anyway, Max, Michael and Isabel were all just about to follow her back to Antar and into a trap set up by Khivar and Nesado when Kyle broke Tess’ mindwarp and remembered seeing Tess… seeing Tess…”

“‘Kill’ me,” Alex finished. Liz nodded. Alex nodded, looking around the silent and much less cheerful group surrounding him. “Okay, yeah. That was… about ninety percent right.”

Liz frowned at him. “Ninety percent?” She shook her head. “Alex, what are you talking about?”

Alex smiled. “Well, what Nasedo didn’t know is that Khivar was overthrown and captured about thirty—excuse me, forty years ago.”

Isabel shook his head. “That’s impossible. He was here… I mean, Khivar…”

Alex turned to the gorgeous woman beside him and held her lips together with his fingers, smiling. “His essence, yes I know, but there’s more to it than that. You didn’t let me finish.”

Isabel raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent, and Alex turned back to his audience.

“It turns out Khivar wasn’t quite the hotshot he made himself out to be. He had a pretty good following, but from what I understand eventually even the majority of his followers realized that he was nothing more than a power-hungry weasel who talked a lot. Anyhow, as his troops dwindled, the resistance was able to overthrow him, like I said. The Antarians aren’t big on capital punishment, but the guy committed pretty much every crime in the books, so they planned on executing him, but they put it off as long as possible, and pretty much stuck him in a cell.”

Liz frowned at that. “So you’re saying Khivar came after Isabel when he was imprisoned on Antar?”

Alex shook his head. “Actually, that’s just the thing. Things like that… projecting your essence half-way across the universe, that takes a lot of power. More power than he had access to in that cell, but he thought that if he could get here and bring Vilandra back with him he’d still have a chance at winning, so with the help of the last of his followers he escaped… Apparently the Antarians were really worried about that, but they didn’t have to worry for long, since my beautiful Vilandra here sent him back almost immediately, and Khivar was finally executed,” he finished, smiling at Isabel.

The group sat taking in that information for a moment, and finally Max, still a little dubious, spoke up. “But I don’t get it. Tess came back. She said that she was refused when they found out the baby was human, and she was sent back to Earth.”

Alex laughed. “I think if you’ve learned anything out of all of this, Max, it’s to never trust anything Tess said. Ever.” Alex was rubbing his face then, his weariness apparent. “Tess was captured once she landed on Antar. The only reason she wasn’t treated as a prisoner was because she was pregnant with your son.” Alex paused and shot a glance at Liz to see how she was taking this, but she seemed okay, so he continued on. “As soon as the baby was born, though, she stole a ship and came back here.” He sighed. “I really don’t know anything more than that, except that she died…”

“Yeah,” Liz spoke up. “She… she actually died kind of protecting us. Mostly protecting her son, but anyhow. She walked straight into the government agency that was hunting down Max and the others and she blew it up.”

Alex raised an eyebrow, almost impressed. “Huh… Well, that was… dramatic…”

“Alex, you’re still not telling us the most important part.” Alex looked over at Maria questioningly, and she continued. “What the hell does any of this have to do with you?”

One side of Alex’s mouth went up in a smile. “I am… the last gift to the Royals,” he said, bowing slightly in Max’s direction for effect. “You see… nobody up there expected the ship they sent to Earth in 1947 to crash. Therefore no one expected that the crash would cause your guys’ pods to malfunction… you weren’t supposed to take almost fifty years to come out of the pods… you guys were supposed to come out in the mid 1950’s or so, be trained by your protectors and return to Antar.” Alex rolled his eyes. “The best-laid plans…”

Alex had a feeling he was losing his audience. This was a lot of information to take in, after all. “Anyhow,” he said, a bit louder than he had been speaking, hoping that would rouse his friends. “Basically, by the time you guys set off the communicators the Antarian conflict that had you guys running ‘round in circles was over and done with. Actually, most people had forgotten that pods were even sent to Earth… all of the people who were actually involved in sending you guys here were long gone.”

“But… what about… what about our mother?” Isabel asked tentatively, thinking of the beautiful woman who had appeared to them so long ago.

Alex turned to her, obviously sad for her. “I’m sorry, Isabel… It was actually Khivar’s public execution of the queen that turned so many of his followers against him.”

The news hit Isabel harder than she expected. She didn’t really expect anything different, and Diane Evans had always been her mother in her heart, but it still made her sad. Max, seeing her reaction, moved to put an arm around his sister, and she smiled at him gratefully.

Maria shook her head. “Hate to sound like a broken-record here, Alex, but that still doesn’t explain anything about why you’re here.”

He smiled at her. “I’m getting to that, Maria, I promise.” He took a deep breath. “Now where was I? Oh yeah, as I was saying, everybody involved in sending you guys here were gone, and with the crash and all, nobody even knew where you guys were until you set off that communication orb. There were Antarians here looking for you, actually, but until then nobody could find you, except of course for Nesado who had a much better idea about where to look than any of the others, since he was in the crash… Anyhow, they’ve actually been keeping a pretty good eye on you since then. Had people watching you and reporting what was going on, but since they realized that you were living mostly normal lives—”

“Whoa, normal? What the hell?” Michael cut in.

Alex shrugged. “Think about it, Michael, you’ve got friends, you’ve got good relationships. You haven’t been locked away in little rooms and dissected…” Alex shook his head. “Anyhow, they decided not to interfere too much. So instead they just…”

“Spied on us,” Maria supplied.

“Yeah, actually. But in a good way, you know? Anyhow, the point is, now everybody in Antar knows about you guys. I mean, not everything, but they know a lot. And, this is gonna sound kind of weird, but… we’re like… celebrities up there or something. I mean, people all over the planet know about the majority of what goes on in our lives… not like they’ve got hidden cameras on you guys or anything, they just get these reports from their agents here, and they find out if anything major happens… They just want to protect you guys…” Alex frowned, trying to think of another way to say what he was trying to say, but was distracted when he heard Kyle laughing. The whole group turned to see what was so funny.

“So basically, you’re saying that we’re some kind of highly-rated TV show up there? Like Dallas or something?”

Alex grinned. “Yeah, but they knew exactly who shot ‘J.R.’” he said, pointing towards himself, “and they decided to do something about it.”

Liz was shaking her head, not finding the humor in it. “But why didn’t they stop Tess if they knew what she was doing? If they knew the Destiny book basically didn’t mean anything anymore anyhow, why didn’t they just stop her?”

Alex shrugged. “I don’t think they really knew exactly what she was doing. Like I said, they didn’t know everything… but they found me before that car accident was supposed to kill me. That’s the important part, Liz. The Antarians aren’t perfect either, but they did what they could.”

Liz nodded, not completely satisfied, but agreeing that Alex being alive was the important thing. She was still waiting to wake up in a lot of ways.

“So why did it take eleven years for them to get you back to us?” Max asked. “Why didn’t they just heal you here? Or let me heal you?”

Alex shook his head. “Like I said to Isabel earlier, you wouldn’t have been enough, Max. Tess had been mindwarping me almost constantly for months. I couldn’t just be healed… I needed a lot more than that.”

“What do you mean?”

Alex sighed. This was going to be the difficult part to explain. “Well, you know obviously that Antarians have the technology of cloning on their hands.”

“You’re not saying…” Maria started, looking highly disturbed.

“No, Maria, I’m not a clone,” Alex rolled his eyes, grinning. “But they had to use their cloning technology to basically rebuild my brain from scratch, and then they had to use healers to basically fix my nervous system and rehabilitate my muscles and everything… Anyhow, it’s really complicated, but suffice it to say that it was a really long process… I don’t think even the Antarians knew how long it had taken… I’m guessing time’s a little different up there.” He shrugged. “I didn’t even know how long it had been until Isabel told me…” He shook his head, suddenly seeming overwhelmed. “Believe me, if there’s anybody who’s amazed that I’ve been gone for more than a decade, it’s me.”

Simultaneously, Liz and Maria went over to him, wrapping him in hugs, and he laughed, before remembering what else Isabel had told him. “Hey, Liz, congrats on the marriage, by the way. Sorry I wasn’t here to dance at the wedding.”

Liz smiled at him, knowing that in another universe he’d been able to, at least. “That’s okay, Alex.”

“Exactly how long have you two been married, anyhow? Tell me there aren’t any baby aliens that I should know about.”

Suddenly Liz raised her hand to her mouth, realizing she’d forgotten about her son. “Alex!” she said, then looking embarrassed, she looked up at her old friend. “We, uh, we named him after you.”

Alex smiled his surprise, while Liz checked her watch. It was after six in the morning. Giving Alex a quick squeeze around the neck and a peck on the cheek, she pulled away from him and towards the door. “He’ll be waking up soon, if he’s not up already. I should go and check on him. I’m sorry, Alex—”

But Alex just smiled at her. “Let me go with you. I’d like to see my namesake.”

At the announcement that Alex was going, it was silently decided that they all would go. After all, it was Monday morning, and most of them had to be off to work soon, and none of them wanted to lose a minute with their long-lost friend.

Author's Note: Kath, I now understand why you complained about the Jaxon/young Jaxon scenes in Legacy... Thanks to Ethan, for distracting my mini writer's-blocks out of me.


Part 24

“Mommy, where were you?”

Max grinned at Alex, trying to accept that this was his old friend. “Doesn’t care where his father was, just so long as Mommy is back.”

Alex smiled, but didn’t really process what Max had said. He was busy staring at the little boy who was now telling Liz all about the dream he’d had. “It was like the biggest bear I’d ever seen, Mom, like three times the size of the bears at the zoo and…”

Alex Evans trailed off as his eyes landed on the tall man staring at him. The boy’s first reaction was to hide, but he’d seen that man’s picture before. Alexander’s jaw dropped open and he hid behind his mother, pulling at her clothes frantically. “Mom, it’s a… there’s a ghost back there!” He’d meant to whisper, but in his enthusiasm he forgot. “It’s Aunt Izzy’s Alex, he’s a ghost!”

Liz smiled at him and shook her head, “No, he’s not a ghost, sweetie, I promise. We got a surprise last night, and found out that your Uncle Alex wasn’t dead like we thought. He came back to us, sweetie, it’s a miracle.”

Alexander frowned. “But where was he?”

“Well, honey, he was actually with our family in the stars.”

The boy’s eyes widened again, and he suddenly lost interest in his mother, walking up to Alex and looking at him. “You were up there?” he asked in awe, his curiosity overshadowing his timidity as he looked up at the figuring towering over him.

Alex squatted down in front of the little boy. This was his first tangible proof of how long he’d been away, and the realization hadn’t hit him until just then. Fighting past his amazement in order to answer Alex’s question, he smiled at the boy. “Yeah, I was up there, but I don’t remember too much of it… I was asleep for a long time…” He trailed off as he got a better look of the boy. He was struck by how much he looked like Max. He had his eyes and his dark hair. Liz’s genes were a little harder to recognize, but the child definitely didn’t have his father’s ears, which was one thing… He smiled.

Liz, following her son, introduced them formally. “Alexander Evans, meet Alex Whitman.” Heart bursting, she watched as the two shared a solemn handshake. The sight of her son with the man she’d named him for was almost too much for her, and she had to blink away her tears of joy.

“I’ve heard lots and lots of stories about you,” Alexander was saying, “Is it true you electrified a teacher’s desk?”

Liz laughed nervously. Her son had really been spending too much time with his Uncle Kyle. Before her friend could answer him, Liz took hold of her son's hand. “Okay, honey, how about we go get you dressed?”

Across the room, Kyle yawned. “Hey, since we’re all up, how about Guerin treats us all to a celebration breakfast in Alex’s honor?”

Michael glared at Kyle. “Why me?”

Kyle grinned. “Because Max can’t cook.”

Max frowned at him. “Hey, I can too.”

Kyle gestured towards the kitchen area. “Be my guest to prove me wrong.”

“Aw, Kyle, thanks so much for volunteering you guys so that us girls could sit here and be with Alex,” Maria smiled. Kyle was about to object, but Max and Michael each grabbed an arm, dragging him into the kitchen area with them.

With all three of them working, breakfast didn’t take long to prepare, and soon the seven friends and little Alex were scattered around the Evans living room, eating eggs and pancakes.

Kyle set his plate down first. “So, Alex, those ‘crazy alien things’ of yours… did you just get the basic package, or is there something else you can do?”

Alex frowned. “Something else? Like what?”

Maria shrugged. “Healing, mindwarping, dreamwalking, blowing stuff up…” she smiled at Michael, who rolled his eyes.

Alex’s eyebrows rose, and he shrugged. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “You really think I’ll have one?”

Maria nodded. “You’ve got to. I mean, Liz and Kyle both have special powers.”

Alex turned to look at the two in question. “Oh yeah?”

Maria smiled. “Liz gets premonitions every now and then, you know, a little hint at the soon-to-be future if we need it… mostly when things get intense, you know. And Kyle, well,” she glanced at Kyle. “He can show you what he does.”

“Please tell me he doesn’t have x-ray vision or something that could help him at gambling or anything like that.”

Kyle frowned at him. “Thanks a lot, Whitman.”

Liz laughed, shaking her head. “It’s nothing so fancy as that.”

Kyle looked at Alex, and suddenly there were thoughts in his head that weren’t his own. Great to know my friends think so much of me, huh Alex?

Alex blinked, then looked at Kyle. “That wasn’t… was that you?”

I can also hear thoughts that I’m supposed to. I mean, if someone concentrates on sending me a thought I can pretty much get it.

Alex looked at him and concentrated, imagining his thoughts flying from him and into Kyle’s brain. I don’t know what Liz is talking about, that’s about as fancy as they come.

Kyle grinned. “Thanks Alex, nice to know somebody appreciates me.”

Liz rolled her eyes, and Alex just let his gaze wander around the room. An irrepressible grin spread across his face. “So you’re telling me this room is literally full of alien hybrids.”

“Well, except for Maria,” Liz said.

Maria nodded, a smile playing on her lips, “Yep, I’m the only one left without some ‘snap, crackle, pop’ in me.”

Alex raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you telling me after all you guys have been through you’ve gotten through unscathed? You know sometime you might want to get shot just so you can join the alien league around you.”

Maria just laughed, but Michael had heard the comment and turned to glare at both of them. “Just for that you’re not invited to the wedding, Whitman.”

Alex and Maria both turned to stare at him as the rest of the room went silent. Alex found his voice rather quickly, and seeing that Maria seemed to have lost hers completely for the moment, he was pretty sure that this was the first she’d heard Michael utter the “w” word.

“So I guess you do have honorable intentions for my friend, then?” he asked, ignoring the spur, but Michael wasn’t even paying attention to him anymore, he was eyeing Maria expectantly.

“Michael, I…” she mumbled at long last, but she stopped. Her eyes were filling with tears, and Alex heard Michael swear under his breath before crossing the distance between the two of them and standing before Maria, touching her face.

Alex backed away, but he couldn’t help but hear the conversation the two had. Everyone else was breathless, trying to hear as well.

“I’m sorry Maria, I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. I was going to ask you this morning anyways. I had it all planned out, even, but your friend over there had to go and ruin all of that by showing up.” Michael glanced an affectionate half-smile at Alex, who was awed at Michael’s tenderness when it came to Maria. Was this really the same alien he’d punched in the face for hurting his girl?

Because the truth was, if they’d never gotten sucked into the alien abyss, he and Maria could have ended up together. It would never have been about the passionate, hopeless way they loved their alien counterparts, but it would have been just as good, in a different sense, since they had always been supremely comfortable around each other. Now he was just grateful that they had both found their true loves, and that they still had each other, too.

And as he watched, Maria was going from tears to laughter. Michael had a slightly confused, amused look on his face as she feigned anger, slapping him on the arm. “Michael Guerin, honestly. We’ve been together for fourteen some-odd years and you’re just now getting around to thinking that maybe we should get married?” But then her face softened and her eyes shined at him with love and hope and she smiled. “I thought you’d never ask me,” she said, before answering him with a kiss.

*************

“So… you’re telling me that Tess’ double lives down the street and she has Max and Tess’ son with her.”

Alex was sprawled out on Liz and Max’s couch, looking at Liz, who sat in the chair nearby, her feet tucked beneath her legs. She’d dropped the boys off at school an hour before, and everyone else was at work. This was usually time she used writing, but today she was just savoring the company of her friend. She couldn’t help but think back to the last time they’d had a moment like this, when he’d been showing her his slides of the things he’d never really seen…

“Yeah,” Liz answered him finally, pushing away the memory and focusing on the present, wrapping it around her like a shawl. She smiled at Alex. “You should see her, Alex, she looks amazing. I mean… well, actually she looks just like Tess did, but you know… I’m just... I'm really proud of her.” She took a deep breath. “I know it’s going to be weird for you, but you’ll like her, I know you will. She’s nothing like Tess, really. She’s really kind, loving…”

Alex laughed at her, softly, and held up his hands for her to stop. “You don’t have to sell me on her, Liz. I’m sure Ava is a good person. I was just thinking what that must be like for you… seeing Zac all the time…” he trailed off, not wanting to intrude, but opening it up if she wanted to talk about it.

Liz bit her lip, staring into her cup of tea. “It’s getting better.” She shook her head at her own shallowness. “He’s a sweet kid, and he and Alex are the best of friends, which is really good. I was afraid that they wouldn’t get along, but they’re both so temperate, and they just, they love each other. ” She shrugged, sighing. “I know it’s not right, but I almost think of him as Zan’s son instead of Max’s…” She looked at her friend, frowning. “Is that really bad of me?”

Alex shook his head. “It’s understandable, Liz. I mean… it’s a really complicated situation.”

Liz smiled. She had told herself the same thing, but for some reason she felt better hearing somebody else say it, and the fact that that somebody was Alex Whitman made it all the better. While she and Maria had always had their obvious girl bond, Alex had always been her strength, her conscience. For the hundredth time that day she felt the loss of eleven years of their friendship. After missing the comfort of Alex's presence for so long, simply noticing that she had it back was enough to bring her to tears.

“I missed you so much, Alex,” she choked, tears blurring her view of him. “There were so many times I needed you… so many things you missed that you should’ve seen…”

“Hey, hey,” Alex said, sitting upright then, and inviting her to sit next to him with a gesture. Setting down her cup, she complied, and he wrapped an arm around her, hugging her to him closely. “I’m here now,” he said into her hair, running his other hand up and down her arm comfortingly. “I’m so sorry that I had to leave you guys for so long, but I’m here now, and I’m not going away again. And as to the things I missed... that just gives us more of an excuse to make new memories.”

When she pulled away from him she was nodding, and her smile was shining brighter than her tears. “I know… I know it.”

He smiled, soothing her hair and kissing the top of her head once, satisfied now that she was okay. After she took a deep breath, signifying that she’d calmed down, he grinned at her. “So… what are the chances of a guy getting an orange soda around here?”

Author's Note: Glad you're enjoying it. I'm glad you're all liking Alex so much, he's probably my favorite character to write... Anyhow, here you go, enjoy...


Part 25

Kyle was tapping his pencil in a constant, if not steady rhythm. His right leg was moving just as quickly as the pencil, and he glanced at the clock, even though it was less than minute since the last time he’d checked.

He was mentally slapping himself every few minutes. He didn’t have anything to be nervous about, after all. In fact, for the first time in a long time, everything in his life was going right. There was absolutely no reason for the things he was feeling—his stomach was knotting, his palms were sweating… but still he knew without a doubt that he was fine, that he had nothing to worry about. And he’d been like this all day. It was almost as if—

He froze as the thought crossed his mind. It was almost as if he was channeling somebody else’s emotions.

He was surprised at himself. He’d gotten so used to feeling Ava on the edge of his consciousness that he’d started taking it for granted, and since he’d stopped resenting her presence there, he’d almost completely forgotten about it.

But now that he’d bothered to question it, he had no doubt that the feelings were coming from her. Wherever Ava was, she was nervous as hell about something… more than nervous. She was almost terrified. Kyle took a deep breath. Now that he knew where the problem was coming from, he had to do something about it.

Concentrating, he reached out to her… it wasn’t hard, of course. He found her almost instantly.

Ava? Are you busy?

She shouldn’t be, of course. It was the end of the day, things should be slowing down at the museum.

Her reply was hesitant, however. Um… not really… what do you need?

I just wanted to check on you… Are you okay?

Again her response took a moment, but this time it was full of false bravado. Of course. I’m fine, Kyle, why would you think—

Oh, cut it out, Ava. I know you’re worried about something. Is it Michael? Did he say something to you?

Her confusion was evident. Michael? Why would he?

At her question, Kyle wanted to hit himself. He hadn’t told her. Ava, I’m sorry… but I told him about you. I wasn’t going to, but I had to.

Kyle was amazed when her tension seemed to double as she took in what he was telling her. He hadn’t thought it was possible. You told him? Kyle, why would you do that?

He sighed. I knew you wouldn’t, I guess… He rubbed his face, attempting to send her comforting vibes, though he didn’t know if she was getting them or not. Well, then, if it wasn’t him, what is it? Is Zac okay?

He’s fine… I’m fine too, really.

He shook his head, even though she couldn’t see him. You’re not fine, Ava, you’ve been freaking out all day. What’s going on?

Shock was mixed into her emotional cocktail then, and she didn’t even try to hide it. How did you know that?

Kyle groaned in frustration. He wanted to shake her. Oh come on, Ava, I can feel you. I haven’t been able to concentrate all day because of you.

Her response was faint, and he had a feeling that if she were speaking to him, he’d have to strain to hear it. You can feel me?

He swallowed. He hadn’t been expecting that. Yeah… I mean… you can’t feel me?

Again her reply was soft, and he felt something like awe begin to fill her. Not like that…

He was surprised at how much that disappointed him. Shouldn’t he be happy that she wasn’t privy to his innermost feelings? But he wasn’t. He felt cheated somehow. But this wasn’t the time. Something was bothering her and he needed to know what it was. So just tell me. What’s wrong? What’s got you so worked up?

Liz… said that Alex was back… That he’s alive…

Kyle waited, expecting more, but that was it. He almost laughed at her. You’re afraid of Alex? he asked, trying to be gentle, but finding it a little ridiculous.

How can I even look at him, Kyle? With everything Tess took away from him…

That had him straightening in his chair. She was almost on the verge of tears just thinking about it. Her desperation was cutting into him, and at that moment he wanted to be there… wanted to… wanted to hold her…

It’s gonna be fine, Ava, I promise.

He’s going to want somebody to pay for that, Kyle. Anyone would.

Again he found himself shaking his head. One or two office people were staring at him, but he didn’t even notice. Ava, he’s not like that. I promise you. You don’t know Alex. He didn’t even sound like he was mad at Tess. And he’d never hold that against you anyhow. He’s not that kind of person.

She was still unsure, though, he knew, and her answer confirmed it. I don’t know if I can meet him yet… Maybe if I waited a bit…

But you have to come tonight, he thought, without meaning to. It was true, though. He wanted her there, if for no other reason. We’re having a big joint celebration dinner…

Joint?

He smiled. Yeah, you’re brother’s getting married. Did Liz not tell you that?

She must have forgotten…

Hey, listen, how about you wait at the museum, I’ll come there and we can go back together, would that be better?

You don’t have to do that.

I know. I want to. He smiled. It’s a date, then.

*************

“Are you sure when you talked to that Future Max guy that he said the world would end in 2014? Are you sure he didn’t say it would happen a little bit earlier than that? Like I don’t know, tomorrow or something?”

Liz glanced at Maria an almost worried expression on her face. Maria had been the first one home from work, and the pair of them had been watching as Alex entertained his two nephews, and suddenly Maria had grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the bedroom. Liz hadn’t even been able to ask what was going on, before Maria had started, and Liz was confused at the question.

“First of all, you’re right, I was having way too good of a day. Thank you for spoiling it by mentioning one of the worst experiences of my life,” she said sarcastically, but Maria only waved a hand and shushed her.

“Oh come on, Liz, get over it and answer the question.”

Liz stared at her friend, no idea where she was going with her line of logic, but seeing that she was serious, so she answered her seriously. “No, Maria, he definitely said 2014.”

“You’re sure? Of course you’re sure. Well, you guys did change the future, so maybe it’ll happen earlier, you know.”

Liz was trying to process what her friend was saying, but her rambling wasn’t translating at the moment. Grabbing hold of Maria’s hands, she forced her to stand still and look at her. “Maria, why are you talking about the end of the world? What’s gotten into you?”

Maria was looking back at her like she was slow. “What’s gotten into me? Liz, take a look at my life right now!”

Liz stared at the familiar face opposite her, trying to think of something really bad or stressful in Maria’s life that she’d been overlooking somehow.

Maria was watching her, too, knowing what she was doing, and at Liz’s confused, questioning look, she nodded. “Exactly, Liz. Think about it. Everything is perfect.” She shook her head, looking astounded. “My best friend in the world, excepting you, of course, came back from the dead after more than eleven years. And to add on top of that, Michael Guerin, Mr. Stonewall Spaceboy himself asked me to marry him. All within twenty-four hours. The world is going to end.”

Liz was looking at her friend’s somber face and she couldn’t help it. She giggled.

Maria did not look amused. “Liz, I’m serious,” she said, getting annoyed when Liz’s laughter didn’t stop.

Liz wrapped her stoic friend in a hug, trying and failing to contain her laughter. “I know you’re serious, Maria…” she said, finally looking at her friend in earnest as she pulled away, holding Maria’s hands in her own. “Really, though, nothing is going to happen, you know that. This is just a case of the DeLuca hysterics… everything is going to be fine.”

“DeLuca hysterics? Liz, you’re the one laughing like an insane woman here. I’m being perfectly rational.”

Liz smiled. “Perfectly rational? Maria, you’re predicting that the world is going to end because you’ve been having a good day.”

Maria tried to argue against that one, but she found an obnoxious smile tugging at her lips instead. “Okay… so maybe I’m going a little over-the-top here…”

Liz shrugged. “It’s your way of dealing with things, Maria, it always has been.”

Maria sighed. “Yeah, I guess so…”

“Better now?” Liz smiled.

Maria nodded, and Liz turned to return to the main room. Before she could do so, though, Maria grabbed her arm. Looking back, Liz saw an incredibly silly grin on her friend’s face. A pre-happy dance, giddy kind of grin. “Liz… I’m getting married!”

Author's Note: Thanks to everybody who voted for me in the awards. I still can't believe I got runner-up for Isabel, so thanks Anyhow... without further ado...


Part 26

Ava raised her hand to knock on the door in front of her, but she stopped just before her hand made contact. The door looked the same as it always did, but for the first time she was terrified of passing through it. Even the first time Kyle had brought her here she hadn’t been scared—she hadn’t had time. But now she was petrified.

“Could you please just go in and tell Zac that I’m waiting for him?” she pleaded.

Kyle rolled his eyes. “You’re going to have to meet him eventually,” he said, and before she could object he was reaching in front of her and knocking soundly on the door, pushing the door open and consequently pushing her into the room, his hand on the small of her back.

The apartment was all but crowded as she and Kyle were the last there, and they had barely stepped inside when Zac had run up to her, grinning. “Mom, you won’t believe it, Uncle Alex said that when he gets one he’s gonna teach Alex and me to play the guitar! Isn’t that cool?” he asked excitedly, but then Zac looked past her, and his smile fell. “Why are you with him?” Zac asked flatly, frowning at Kyle.

Ava’s eyes widened, surprised. “Zachary! Honey, that wasn’t very nice,” she glanced back to Kyle, apologetically. She was still floored at exactly how perceptive Kyle had been towards her earlier that day, and she was equally stunned by how thoughtful he’d been in trying to calm her down. She couldn’t afford for him to be scared away now, even by her son.

Zac shrugged. “He’s not nice either,” he said sullenly. “He’s not nice to you. He never has been.”

“Kyle apologized to me, though, and we’re friends now,” Ava said, wondering what had gotten into Zac. He’d never particularly liked Kyle, but since he’d seen the flowers Kyle had given her he’d been much more vocal about it. Zac just shrugged, and went back to where he’d been playing with Alexander.

Ava turned to apologize to Kyle, but he held up a hand. “It’s okay, Ava, really,” he said. “He’s right, after all. Flowers and a ride home don’t make up for everything—”

She held a hand up. “We’re not going to have this conversation every day, Kyle. I’ve forgiven you, okay? It’s over.” She realized that the two of them were still standing in the doorway, only halfway in the apartment, and she gave him a nervous smile. “Well, I guess it’s now or never…”

When they stepped into the room and closed the door behind them, Liz was right there, smiling and ready to greet them, giving Ava a hug and smiling at Kyle. “Hi, guys. Ava, I hope you and Zachary are staying for dinner.”

Ava swallowed, trying not to stare at the tall man standing behind Liz, and smiled at her friend. “Yeah, that would be wonderful, thank you, Liz.”

Liz turned, moving so that Ava was now facing Alex instead. “Ava, this is our Alex.”

Ava knew that Liz was watching her, an almost concerned expression on her face, but she was watching Alex carefully for some sign of what he was thinking. She was surprised that there was no anger, no hate in his face. Instead, he simply looked interested, and maybe a little nervous.

“Lizzie said you looked like her,” Alex said without preamble, “but I had no idea how much…”

She tried to smile politely, but that statement wasn’t exactly encouraging, and she still had no idea what he was thinking. She must have also stiffened slightly, without noticing, because Kyle’s hand went to her shoulder, and he was whispering in her mind encouragingly, You’re okay. You can do this.

She wondered if Kyle was also speaking to Alex, because he glanced behind her for quickly before shaking his head, as if clearing it. “Forgive my staring. I’ve been in a coma since April of 2001, so as far as I’m concerned I only met you a couple months ago… I have to keep reminding myself that so many years have passed…” He shook his head again, this time seeming annoyed at himself for babbling.

That was a little more encouraging. “You want I should talk with the accent?” she said, managing a smile this time as she easily slipped into the tongue she had trained herself out of years ago.

He shook his head. “No, that won’t be necessary,” he smiled, holding out his hand. “We were never properly introduced back then. I’m Alex Whitman.”

Ava took his hand. “Ava Spencer. And I just want to say that I’m sorry for anything Tess did,” she finished in a rush.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Oh you are, huh?” he asked, folding his arms over his chest, and straightening up to reach his full height. “Well you should be.”

Ava felt her mouth drop open, but before she could say anything, Maria, who had been edging closer to the little group, suddenly reached up and whacked Alex upside the head—hard. “Jeez, Maria! I was only kidding.”

“I know that,” she snapped. “But Ava didn’t. You’re gonna scare the girl half to death.”

Alex, still rubbing his head, then turned a good-natured, apologetic smile to Ava. “Sorry. I really was only kidding.

Ava managed to mumble a “That’s okay,” but only barely. What had just happened here? Not only did it seem that Alex was not holding anything against her, but Maria, who had up until now treated her civilly at best, was jumping to her defense. And to be honest, she was confused.

Her confusion started to clear a moment later, though, when Maria turned to her, smiling the DeLuca smile. “I suppose you heard that your brother and I are getting hitched?”

Ava had heard from Kyle, of course, but she couldn’t help but blink. “Your brother.” Maria had said it so casually, as if it was a given, although Liz’s audible gasp told her that it wasn’t a well-known fact. Ava nodded hesitantly. “Kyle told me.”

“Good. The girls and I are all meeting next Saturday to get the planning started,” Maria grinned in anticipation. “You’ll be there, right?”

Again, Ava blinked. “Are—Are you sure?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Maria asked gently, and as Ava locked eyes with the other woman, she saw the sincerity there, the unspoken apology in the blue-green eyes.

Ava smiled then, knowing how hard Maria was trying, and that she needed her to accept this. “Of course I’ll be there.”

Maria smiled. “Good,” she said, pulling Ava into an impromptu hug. “You should go talk to Michael,” she whispered, as she pulled away, giving her an encouraging look.

Ava nodded before extricating herself from the small grouping there, and making her way over to where Michael was sitting alone, acting as if he hadn’t been watching her since she’d walked in the door. It took her a moment before she could speak. In a lot of ways her relationship with Rath had damaged her as much as Zan’s. While she had loved her brother once, she had always been intimidated by him, and because of that he’d thought her to be weak. She had been weak. Facing Michael as her brother now brought all that weakness back to her, and her voice shook slightly as she spoke. “Michael… congratulations about you and Maria. That’s wonderful.”

He gave a gruff nod. “Thanks.”

She swallowed, knowing that his brusqueness was only to keep his emotions in-check. It had always been Sedrath’s way. But that didn’t make it easier. “And about the other… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you myself.”

Again he simply nodded, not quite looking her in the eye. “Me too.”

She waited for a long moment for him to say more, but he didn’t, and when she felt the tears pricking her eyes she gave a soft nod of acceptance and turned to walk away.

“Hey,” he said, grabbing her arm and turning her around. She was surprised to see that not only was he looking directly at her, but he was smiling. “Come here,” he said, standing up, and pulling her into a bear hug, holding her tightly for several seconds. “I know I’m not really your brother,” he said as he pulled away from her, “And… uh… I screw up a lot, so I don’t know if you even want me as a brother. But I’m here if you need me.” He was mumbling by the time he was finished, his eyes roaming the floor, so he didn’t see her wiping a tear away.

She took a cleansing breath and smiled at him before she surprised him by hugging him tightly again. “Michael… of course I need you. Thank you.”

*************

The rest of the evening was much more lighthearted, the conversation generally going back and forth between everyone teasing Michael about his tardy commitment skills and everybody fighting to tell Alex all about the things he’d missed over the years.

It didn’t surprise Alex that the majority of the storytelling was being done by Liz and Maria, each of them telling stories about each other, ranging from Lizzie’s brush with the law to Maria’s noble refusal of a strings-attached stardom. And as much as Alex loved listening to his two best friends, he had to admit that there was someone else he wanted a word with.

Finally, after Ava had left with Zac and Liz had had to put her son to sleep, Alex found himself following Isabel back into her room.

Alex shook his head as he sat down on her bed. “Thanks for getting me out of there. This whole being the center of attention thing is exhausting,” he grinned.

Isabel acted as if she didn’t hear him. “Get up,” she said shortly coming to stand in front of him.

Slightly confused, Alex did as he was told, but he couldn’t help wondering what had brought on her sudden terseness. “Isabel?”

She was staring at his clothes distastefully. “If I have to see you in this outfit for ten more seconds I’ll scream,” she said, and before he could say a word she was waving his hand over his clothes, turning his black jeans to khakis and his blue shirt to a green t-shirt. When she was finished she smiled at him, relieved. “That’s better.”

“Um… I’m confused,” he admitted.

Isabel sighed. “You are never wearing that combination of clothes again.”

He smiled slightly. “Okay. Do I get to know why?”

She swallowed. “You know how when you asked me why I wasn’t surprised to see you I said I’d seen you a hundred times before?”

He nodded.

“I… I had,” she said simply, letting her eyes wander to the floor. “I would talk to you and tell you things… dream about you… and every time I saw you, you were wearing that same outfit. Knowing that you’ve been wearing it all day today too… It was making it really hard to believe that this wasn’t a dream,” she said, her voice quiet by the time she finished.

“Well… I never liked that shirt anyhow,” he said, once he’d let her words sink in. “I was only wearing it because it was laundry day,” he grinned, then, letting her know he was joking, and she smiled, feeling incredibly silly all of a sudden.

“Alex… I know what I just said sounds crazy…”

But he wouldn’t let her go on. “No, Isabel, it sounds… amazing. I would have expected you to have gotten over me years ago,” he admitted, and this time it was his eyes wandering the floor.

Isabel sat down then, looking up at him. “Alex… I don’t even know where to begin…”

He sat down next to her. “I know. Listen, I’m sorry about the kiss… I never would have done it if I’d really realized how much time had passed.”

She was staring at him, then, sadly. “As far as you’re concerned Prom was just the other day, wasn’t it?”

He sighed, deeply. “Yeah.”

She grabbed his hand, then, holding it in hers, needing to have that closeness. “I wish we could go back to then,” she said, marveling at how real his hand felt. How warm, how alive. “I wish we could just close our eyes and be back there. That it were as simple as that.”

He pulled his hand away slowly, sensing a “but.” “But it’s not, is it, Isabel?” He was surprised when she turned hurt eyes to his, and he shrugged. “That’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it?”

She shook her head, watching him. “I just… I just wanted to explain some things to you…”

“What, you mean Jesse? Isabel, I obviously wouldn’t have expected—”

But she cut him off. “Just let me talk for a minute, okay?” He stopped, nodded, and she took a deep breath, determined to do this right. “Alex, ever since you di—” she cut herself off abruptly. “Ever since you left us,” she corrected, “I went back to how I was before. To shutting people out and closing myself off… For a long time I’ve been afraid that I would never find anyone to love me again.” She took another breath, took a peak at his reaction to what was in reality a pretty common admission.

She was surprised to realize that he looked confused. His features almost made her smile with glee despite the uncertain way she was feeling at the moment. That befuddled look of his had always been one of her favorite Alex expressions.

He was frowning as if trying to put some puzzle together. “But what about Jesse?” he asked carefully, forming each word slowly. “I’m sure—”

“I loved Jesse,” Isabel inserted automatically. “Really I did. He was interesting and a little exotic and he was older and so smart… He went to Harvard for Law School.”

Alex’s confused look confounded. “You were infatuated with Jesse?” he asked, almost disbelieving.

Isabel cocked her head, thoughtfully. “They all told me I was rushing into it, that I didn’t know what I wanted, it was so soon after I’d lost you…” He grimaced slightly at this last piece of information, grateful that she wasn’t looking at him, watching her as she continued. “I knew exactly what I was doing.” She glanced at him sidelong. “I was clinging. I’d found someone to cling to and so I clung. I did it all on purpose. I knew it was rash, but…”

“Isabel, I don’t quite understand what you’re getting at,” Alex admitted. “I mean, I’m not going to stop you from telling me that you weren’t in love with Jesse, but—”

Again she cut him off. “That’s not it. It’s just… It’s just, no one’s ever accepted me the way that you did from the very beginning.”

The perplexity didn’t leave Alex’s face. “Iz, if Jesse asked you to marry him I’m sure he accepted you.”

A guilty smile lit her face then. “Well actually, another thing he could have divorced me for was marrying under false pretenses...” The way she grinned about it reminded him of an eleven-year-old Maria admitting to mischief.

Alex raised an eyebrow at Isabel. “Are you saying…”

Isabel laughed lightly. “When we were married, as far as Jesse was concerned the strangest thing about my life was that I was adopted when I was six.” Suddenly her expression darkened. “My secret was always pushing people away from me in one way or another. I just wanted somebody to love me who didn’t have to be involved in all of the alien abyss. But that didn’t work, of course.”

“How did he find out?” Alex questioned, still treading unknown waters with a little trepidation.

Isabel suddenly realized just how much of their history he’d missed. She felt like mourning him all over again, but differently this time. Instead she told the story of Michael and Metachem and the eccentric millionaire who’d owned it.

“Wait a second, you got shot?” Alex demanded, instantly concerned, even though it had happened years ago.

She nodded. “Right in front of Jesse. That was the problem. I started, um, reacting strangely… Jesse demanded that I be taken to a hospital and when he threatened Michael and Valenti, they had to tell him the truth.”

Alex frowned. “But you said that Max had been killed—which I don’t get by the way—transferring himself into some old guy and then resurrecting himself?—how did you possibly survive if he couldn’t heal you?”

Isabel looked at him oddly. “I almost didn’t,” she admitted. “But they had a doctor—a friend of Jesse’s—take the bullet out—” she paused as he winced at her words “and somehow Michael healed me. Since Max had kind of died Michael sort of adopted Max’s powers for a while.”

Alex sat back for a moment, absorbing what he’d heard, until he remembered the original line of conversation. “So you’re saying Jesse couldn’t deal with the alien thing?”

Isabel bit her lip. “Jesse loved me,” she said clearly, as if she was trying to convince both Alex and herself. “He did love me, and he tried to accept me, but it was just hard for him. I’d lied to him for so long that he said he didn’t even know who I was. He almost left me…”

Alex frowned at that. “You’re not telling me that you were barely off your deathbed and all your husband could think about was the fact that you hadn’t been completely honest with him.” He said it as a statement, but she knew that it was a question, and she nodded.

“Yeah, it went something like that.” Isabel felt a shiver down her spine when Alex’s eyes flashed and he looked as if he would hunt Jesse down and clobber him for having casually hurt her so many years ago. “It’s over now, though,” she said calmly, bringing Alex back to her. “It’s been over for a long time. I’ve been pretty much over Jesse for a few years, really, and now that you’re back, well I can let him go completely.”

Alex suddenly felt as if it was his turn. “Isabel… I don’t want you to just accept me because I’m back and I want you to, or because I already know your secrets either. I want you to want me.” He flashed a grin, thinking of the song. “I need you to need me, Iz.”

Isabel smiled. “Well, I’d love you to love me, Alex Whitman. I mean… it’s going to take some time, but that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you this whole time. And don’t ever think that I’m just accepting you.” She shook her head, looking at her hands again. “Since you’ve been gone I haven’t really been me. I tried to be me again with Jesse, and that lasted for a while, but ever since we left Roswell I’ve been losing myself. I’ve been slipping away, and no one’s been able to stop me. But you’re my rock, Alex,” she said, taking his hand again. “You keep me grounded and anchored and safe. I told Max once that he was my home, and he is, in a way, but having you back is really like going home, Alex.” She looked up at him, nervously. “And I don’t ever want to leave home again.”

Alex stared at her, amazed, and kissed her gently. “I don’t think that’ll ever be a problem, Isabel.”

Author's Note: This is short, and sap at my best, so be warned...


Part 27

“Well I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m tired,” Michael announced a few minutes after Alex and Isabel had left to talk. One glance around the room confirmed that everyone was pretty tired, though, and rightfully, too. They had all been woken up extremely early, after all, and by now the Alex-induced energy high was beginning to wear off.

“If you do anything to interrupt those two when you go in there, you’ll pay for it, mister,” Maria warned her new fiancé as he headed towards the door.

He turned towards her, and rolled his eyes. “Believe me, I’ve had enough drama for today. I think those two would put me over the edge,” he said, but he smirked to let her know he was mostly kidding, not that she wouldn’t have known otherwise.

Maria rolled her eyes but smiled, and reached up on her tiptoes to give him a gentle kiss before he left the room.

When the door closed Liz looked at her friend. “You’re not going with him?”

Maria laughed. “Trying to get rid of me, Parker?”

“Of course not,” Liz quipped, pulling an arm around her oldest and best friend. “I was just curious.”

Maria sighed. “Michael’s had a long day… he needs a few minutes alone.”

Liz nodded. “I think we’ve all had a long day…” She looked at Maria seriously. “I’m really proud of you, you know. For Ava.”

Maria shrugged slightly. “I don’t have a choice, Liz. I was being stupid anyway. I mean, after all that’s happened… it just seems so petty, you know? And Michael’s wanted this so long… he doesn’t even know if he deserves it… You know how he gets.”

“I’m happy for him,” Liz said softly. She and Michael had never been the closest, per say, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t care a great deal about one another. They were all family, really.

“Besides… if even Alex is willing to trust Ava, not that I would have ever expected any different from him, but still… if even he can trust her I have no right to hold anything against her.”

“Alex did handle that very well,” Liz agreed.

Maria simply shrugged. “He’s Alex.” Liz nodded in agreement, and just as she was about to sidle away from her friend, Maria touched her arm. “You know it wasn’t just about Alex and Tess, right?”

Liz frowned. “What wasn’t?”

Maria sighed. “Ava. How I was treating her. I mean… that had a lot to do with it, but it was more than that. We’d finally been getting settled, Liz. Everything was working out right… and I was happy. Finally it seemed like all of the Czechoslovakian stuff was over. For good. I was even thinking that maybe we wouldn’t have to keep moving, you know? This really seemed like maybe we’d be able to really settle…” she sighed.

“And then this really vivid reminder of the past shows up and you realized again that our lives are always going to be different,” Liz said softly, pulling a comforting arm around her friend.

Maria nodded, wiping at the tears that suddenly threatened to spill. “I didn’t even want to give her a chance, Liz. I didn’t even think about the fact that it might hurt her.”

“Maria, you had a right to feel that way, though. It gets tough sometimes. It gets hard to remember that the alien abyss is a blessing more than a curse sometimes.” Liz’s mind ran through all the things her friends and family had been through ever since high school… It really was a lot.

“The good always outweighs the bad, though, doesn’t it,” Maria said then, smiling. “I mean… having Alex back is more than enough proof for that, and he’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

Liz nodded in agreement. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.” And she wouldn’t, of course. None of them ever would.

*************

After they’d gotten home from the Evans’ and Ava made sure that Zac got to bed, she found herself sitting on her couch, letting the silence seep into her, simply trying to catch her breath.

So many things had happened in the past twenty-four hours she didn’t even know where to begin.

Michael had found out the truth. And he’d accepted it. More than accepted it, he seemed even more eager than herself to try to build a relationship between them.

Maria was finally accepting her, also, which likely had to do with her fiancé’s new attachment to her, but Maria’s reasons really didn’t matter to Ava, she was just grateful for the opportunity to finally get to know the other woman.

And then there was Kyle. She didn’t even know what to think. She was still trying to get her head around the fact that he had been able to feel her, even halfway across town. That alone was… monumental. She’d been so sure up until now that she’d been more open to their connection, as he’d made so sure to not even acknowledge it until the other day when he’d apologized. Of course now that theory was entirely thrown off.

And as glad as she was that he was now on her side rather than against her, it was all going a little too fast for her. She simply didn’t know how to deal with it. He’d gone from avoiding her like the plague to treating her like… She shook her head as the thought occurred to her, almost laughing.

It wasn’t like he was in love with her. Hello. They barely even knew each other, really.

And besides… she wasn’t cut out for love. Not like that. Hadn’t Zan been proof enough of that? She had been his “destiny,” and yet he had never wanted her. She couldn’t even hold any of it against him. What would be the point? It wasn’t his fault he didn’t love her, after all. It wasn’t his fault that she hadn’t been enough for him.

She had been made to love, but not to be loved. It was that simple. In that light, she could almost understand the things Tess, her other self, really, had done. Or at least the drive behind them. She had been raised into an obsession with Max Evans, had been forced into this unrequited love since she was a child. She must have just gotten sick of it all. Combine that with devastating powers and a belief that you were more important than humans anyhow… Ava shuddered.

Had their situations been switched, had she been placed with the other set of pods in the first place, could she have ended up like that? Deceitful, bitter, dangerous? Had it really only been a matter of circumstance that she was what she was instead of what Tess had been?

She had loved Zan, it was true, but it had never been a love of desperation, really. While he had never really reciprocated her feelings, he had always been there, had always cared for her and taken care of her. She hadn’t been told, like Tess, that Zan was the only reason for her being, that he was her sole purpose for existing. While she had felt something similar to those things herself, they had been the result of her memories, her dreams. Tess had been literally taught these things by Nasedo, the man who was supposedly their “protector.”

Ava bit her lip, though, as she allowed herself to face the one thing that contradicted her theory that their situations had formed them. Because Tess had been loved. She knew it. She’d seen it in Kyle’s face when he’d told her he was finally ready to let her go.

It was another reason for her to question what exactly Kyle felt about her. Because even now it was likely that it had nothing to do with her at all. Kyle had loved and hated Tess, presumably for good reasons on both sides. Now he was giving her a chance, but did he even see her as herself? She knew he said he did, that he was trying to, but things were going so fast she didn’t know what to think.

Still, something in her heart really wanted to believe that this was really just about her and Kyle. That he’d been telling her the truth when he’d said he didn’t want her to be Tess. Something in her heart wanted to believe that that flash of emotion she felt when she saw him had a right to be.

She wanted to believe that she and Kyle could make a fresh start. She wanted to believe it all. But she didn't know if she could.

Part 28

When Max got home from work the next day, he was greeted by the sight of Alex Whitman drowning in a sea of newspapers.

“Hey Alex.”

Alex glanced up distractedly. “Oh, hey Max, have a nice day?”

Max nodded. “Yeah, sure… great.” But Alex barely seemed to hear him, and was already frantically back at his task. Whatever his task was… Max raised a questioning eyebrow at Liz who’d just entered the room, obviously having heard the door. She simply shrugged at him, a slightly resigned look on her pretty face.

Max crossed the room to her, hugging her and kissing her forehead. “What’s going on?” he asked her quietly.

She shrugged. “He’s been at this all day… I should have seen it coming but after all these years I almost forgot,” she whispered, glancing past her husband at the image of her friend once again bent over the coffee table.

“Forgot what?”

She turned her gaze back to Max and smiled. “I forgot that the only thing even comparable to a DeLuca freak-out is a Whitman one,” she murmured affectionately.

“Anything I can do?” Max asked.

Liz shook her head. “I doubt it. He just found out he was gone for eleven years, Max. he’s gonna need some time to adjust.”

“I’m gonna try to talk to him.”

“Max…”

But Max had already gone to sit near Alex, leaning in to see what he was looking at. “You know,” he started after a moment. “I have a feeling that if my sister hears you were looking at the Classifieds you’re going to be in trouble.”

Alex didn’t even look at him, but Max saw him roll his eyes. “You’re funny, Max, funny. I’m sitting here trying to deal with the fact that I’m hopelessly unemployable and you’re cracking jokes.”

Max blinked, but thought back to what he remembered about “Whitman freak-outs,” as Liz would call them. There were only two words to describe Alex when he was stressed out. Babbling and annoyed. Max glanced up at Liz and he could almost feel her telling him not to take him too seriously. “Alex, you know… there’s no rush into you finding a job or anything… You barely got back. Take a couple weeks, you know… get adjusted.”

“Max, before you get all set and ready to give me a heart-to-heart, I just want to let you know that I’m still trying to adjust to the fact that you actually impregnated one of my best friends. Don’t take it personally, but you’re not my favorite person right now.” Alex gave Max a weak smile, as if to let him know he knew he was being irrational, but couldn’t help it at the moment.

Max cleared his throat. “Does… does it help that I was married to her for almost five years before that?”

Alex snorted. “Maybe if I’d been around to witness those five years, but then I wasn’t, was I?”

Max frowned. “Um… I guess not…”

“Well, you’d guess right, my friend,” Alex quipped, unable to get the sarcastic note out of his voice.

Max glanced helplessly at Liz, who was watching, from the other end of the room, and she shrugged, trying not to smile, as she knew Max was trying so hard to help. She was obviously more amused at the situation than anything.

“So… is that bedroom okay?”

Alex turned in his seat and looked at Liz. “Did you put him up to this?”

Liz just smiled sweetly at him. “No, Alex, I did not put him up to this, my husband chose to speak to you on his own.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “See, there you go, using that word again… Lizzie, you’re going to give me a complex.”

Liz joined them, setting herself on Max’s lap and pulling her arms around him. “Alex, I hate to tell you this, but you're just going to have to get used to it.”

Alex threw his hands up in defeat. “Okay, okay… I can see your guys’ PDA ratio hasn’t gone down at all. I’m… I’m just gonna go into the other room…”

Before he got to “his room,” though, Liz called after him. “Hey, Alex, we’re ordering in for food tonight. Any requests?”

He shrugged. “Anything but Thai food,” he said, thinking back to his mind-warped food of choice. “If I never have Thai food again it will be too soon.”

*************

Zac sat on the edge of his friend’s bed, swinging his legs. “So Aunt Maria and Uncle Michael are getting married?”

Alexander nodded solemnly. “Yep, and Aunt Maria said we’re gonna be really important in it. We get to be ring-bears.”

Zac laughed. “That’s ring-bearers, Alex.” He stuck his tongue out. “Weddings are boring, though.”

Alex shrugged. “Uncle Michael said it would be fun. We get to wear penguin suits!”

Zachary just laughed, not bothering to correct the other boy.

“And Uncle Kyle said that it’s a good thing Uncle Alex is back to distract Aunt Izzy, or otherwise she’ll go crazy planning the wedding for Aunt Maria.”

“Yeah, well what does he know?” Zac demanded, his entire demeanor having changed at the mention of Kyle, something which was not lost on little Alex.

Alex frowned. “Uncle Kyle knows a lot. He knows almost as much as Daddy, and Daddy knows more than anybody—except for Mom.”

Zac shrugged. “I still don’t think he knows anything. He definitely doesn’t know anything about me or my mom, even if he thinks he does.”

“Maybe he wants to get to know you.”

Zac shook his head. “He doesn’t care about me. He just wants my mom.”

“I think your mom might like him, too.”

Zac stared at Alex, wanting to argue that that wasn’t true, but he knew it probably was. “Yeah, but… he’s hurt her before. He might just hurt her again.”

Alex shrugged again, looking at his friend sadly. “Uncle Kyle’s not perfect, but he tries really hard. That’s better than a lot of people. And he didn’t mean to hurt her before, he told me.”

Zachary sighed, not quite believing Alex, but not wanting to think about it any longer. “So Aunt Izzy likes to plan things, huh?”

Alex’s eyes lit up at the topic change. “Oh, yeah. You should see her at Christmas…”

*************

Meanwhile, the other Alex was lying on the bed in the spare room—he couldn’t rightfully think of it as his room—and frowning at the ceiling when a light knock came on the door. He rolled his eyes and sat up, sure that Liz was coming in to do damage control. She may be married with a kid, but in eleven years Liz Parker had not changed one bit.

“Come in,” he said, sitting up, and then shook his head, annoyed at how… well, annoyed his voice sounded. He loved Lizzie to death, but he really needed some time to think here.

The door didn’t move for a long moment, and Alex was about to repeat himself louder when he finally saw the handle move, and the door opened slowly, and he was surprised when he saw that it wasn’t Liz who was entering the room.

“Isabel! What are you doing here?” he asked as he straightened, standing up to greet her, as she glanced into the room uncertainly.

“Is it okay if I come in for a minute? Liz said you kind of wanted to be left alone…”

“Oh, no. Come in. Don’t worry about it,” he said, waving her in with his hands and sitting back down on the bed.

After shutting the door behind her, Isabel sat down lightly next to him. It struck him once again that she still smelled exactly the same. Her hair, her perfume… everything. When everything else had changed so much, it had all stayed exactly the same. A little floral, a little spicy… just Isabel Evans.

“You look like you’ve had a long day,” she said quietly, picking up his hand and pulling it into her own.

He sighed. “More like Liz has had a long day of putting up with me,” he said.

She laughed lightly. “Well, luckily Liz knows you better than just about anyone. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, she’ll be okay… I said some really dense stuff to Max, though.”

Isabel raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

Alex looked away from her, abashed. “Well for one, I yelled at him for getting Liz pregnant.”

Isabel jumped slightly at that. “Liz is pregnant?”

He shook his head, running his free hand through his hair. “No, I mean about before.”

She stared at him. “You mean Alexander?”

Alex nodded miserably, and Isabel laughed. He thought about taking offense at her obvious merriment over his ridiculous behavior but he didn’t bother. “The fact that he was well-named does make up for a lot,” Alex mused.

Isabel nodded, an amused expression on her face. “It most certainly does.” She waited for a moment before changing the topic. “So… what’s this I hear about you rummaging through the classified ads?”

Alex rolled his eyes. “That’s it, I’m going to kill your brother.”

“No seriously,” she said, tugging at his hand so that he would look at her. “I mean, you just got back, Alex. You don’t have to rush anything.”

He rolled his eyes. “Is this the Evans mantra today, or what?” he demanded.

“Alex, just tell me what’s going on. What’s got you so worked-up? You seemed fine yesterday.” And then she stopped, figuring out the answer on her own. When she spoke again, her voice was soft. “It’s finally hitting you, isn’t it?”

Alex sighed, leaning back on the bed, tired all of a sudden. “You know, that night, after the Prom… my entire world was perfect. For once in my whole life everything was going right. I had my friends, my family. I had you. I could’ve gotten into MIT or any other computer program in the country without barely lifting a finger.” He paused for a minute. “And then the next thing I know I’m waking up in this completely foreign room on a planet with three suns and green clouds… and I’m sent back here and I find out that one of my best friends is engaged, the other one is married, with a kid… and I don’t even have a high school diploma. I’ll never see my parents again, I’ll never even see my home again… and to add on top of all of that, I really, really miss my guitar.”

Isabel couldn’t help but laugh at this last one, smiling at Alex sadly. “Well, I’m sure we can replace your guitar.” She frowned then. “As to the rest… I’m so sorry, Alex. You have no idea how sorry I am. I mean, eleven years of your life were stolen all because we trusted the wrong person…” She shook her head.

Alex pulled himself into a sitting position again and pulled an arm around Isabel, not even noticing that he was switching from comforted to comforter. “Hey… price of admission to the I-Know-an-Alien Club, Iz. It’s not your fault, you know?”

She sighed. “I know… I just wish this weren’t so hard for you. I mean, for the rest of us… for me… the hard part is over because you’re back with us. We have adjusting to do too, but it’s nothing in comparison to what you must be going through. I keep thinking… if we hadn’t dragged you into all of this alien mess to begin with—” Alex started shaking his head, but before he could say anything Isabel continued, “—none of this would ever have happened to you. You would be somewhere else, right now, living a successful, happy life.”

“Maybe,” Alex allowed. “Or maybe I’d be somewhere all alone and completely miserable. Either way, I wouldn’t be sitting here with my arm around the most beautiful woman on earth.” Isabel rolled her eyes, but this time it was Alex who wouldn’t let her interrupt. “Isabel, don’t you dare even think that just because I need a little time to get used to how things are now that I would ever even think of giving any of it up. I mean… knowing you alone, Isabel. It’s worth it. It’s worth all of it.”

And Isabel smiled, her heart letting go of the half-formed doubts in her mind. Because somehow, she believed him. She believed him more fully than she had ever believed anyone in her life.

Author's Note: Aw, thanks, David, you're a sweetheart. Anyhow, I finished my book today, which kind of left me in a literary high, the result of which being the majority of this part, so this part really is thanks to Jasper Fforde, a brilliant author. Thanks so much for the feedback, guys, and thanks again for your patience.


Part 29

When Kyle got to work the next morning there was one message on his voicemail. Listening to it, he went from smiling at the voice to frowning about the message before the few sentences were over.

“Hi, Kyle? It’s Ava. I’m dropping by for lunch, alright? If you’ve already got plans let me know, but I think we really need to talk… I mean… things have been a little crazy between us, and I think we need to figure a few things out. So anyhow, I’ll see you then.”

Despite the short length of the message, he was musing on it all morning. He could hardly believe that he was getting the “we need to talk” bit already, seeing as how they hadn’t even started a relationship really, but the thought hardly even sank in. What had him frowning was her voice. Her tone throughout the message had been somber, and she’d sounded almost worried, as if she was nervous about something.

He couldn’t blame her, really. Saying things had been “a little crazy” between them was an understatement, to say the least. Things had been complicated, confusing and, at least on his side…cathartic. But that was his side. There was no doubt that Ava had had the harder time of the two of them—he’d made sure of that after all, hadn’t he?

Sure he had rushed in and played the hero the other day when she’d been nervous about meeting Alex, but that really hadn’t been necessary—Alex obviously wouldn’t have treated her any differently, even if he hadn’t been there at her side. She would have been fine with or without him.

Still, she’d barely had time to catch her breath with everything that had been happening lately. She was barely given time to adjust before something else large and life-changing occurred.

And he couldn’t have been helping that. He was practically forcing a relationship on her all of a sudden, after deliberately forcing her away from himself, as well. She may have forgiven him for his imbecilic acts, but he had not.

She was right, they needed to talk. More than that, they needed a real chance to try and build something up… they needed to get to know each other. Get accustomed to each other’s habits, figure out each other’s pet peeves… learn how to order each other’s coffee. For the rest of their lives.

He shook his head slightly at the thought. Maybe it was something to do with the alien mumbo-jumbo involved… but either way, he couldn’t deny it. Ava Spencer had put a force on him, and he wasn’t about to let her go.

“So is this the small hometown you always told me about?”

The voice that cut into Kyle’s musings was sarcastic, scornful, and he froze, frowning. He knew that voice. There was no way that voice was in New York City.

Spinning around in his chair he was met with a five-foot-eight beauty with dark curls and darker eyes in a navy blue business outfit. Kyle felt his jaw literally drop open. Standing before him was Los Angeles’ very own Sara Wilkins.

“Sara,” he managed, when he found his voice. “What are you doing here?”

She shook her head. “No, Valenti, the question is, what are you doing here? I thought you were going back home to ‘sort out some family stuff.’”

He swallowed. “Yeah… well, I did.”

“In your little hometown of New York City?” she asked scoffing, obviously not believing a word he said.

“Sara… I can explain…” he muttered, knowing full-well that he couldn’t really… it was just an automatic response.

“Well you can certainly try,” she said, looking him up and down, appraisingly. There was a hint of a smile behind her eyes… As mad as she might be at him, she was glad to see him, after all. “Get up,” she commanded him.

He stood obediently, but was surprised when she nodded towards the door. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?”

She raised an eyebrow. “When in the big city do as the big-city folk do, right?” she asked. “So we are going to do lunch.”

“No,” Kyle said, automatically, his mind replaying Ava’s phone message once again. “I’ve got plans.”

She glanced past him. “Not according to your desk-planner,” she said, raising an eyebrow at him.

He looked, and sure enough, the desk-planner was empty. “Come on, Sara… this is me we’re talking about.” He picked up the planner—a gift from Liz—and flipped through the pages. All of them were empty. “Am I really the type to write stuff in a planner?”

She frowned at him, then. “Come on, Kyle. I fly out tomorrow morning. It’d be kind of nice to just talk… you know, for old times?”

Kyle closed his eyes briefly. If there was one thing he hated, it was being stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he went with Sara when Ava was already apparently upset about something, things with her might just get worse again before they got better, as he hoped. But this was his last real chance to set things right with an old friend, even if he never saw her again.

While he knew he might be making a mistake by doing it, he reached out to Ava with his mind, apologizing to her the minute he found her. Ava, I’m sorry… something’s just come up. I can’t meet you today.

He was surprised when he felt her slight incredulity. Something, or someone? she asked wryly.

He frowned, turning slightly away from Sara. Why would she jump to that? Unless… He did a quick scan around the office, and sure enough, there on the other side of the room, standing just inside the door was a less-than-pleased Ava. When their eyes met she arched one eyebrow, shook her head slightly, and left.

Ava, you don’t understand…

He felt her sigh. It really doesn’t matter, does it, Kyle? It's none of my business anyhow. I’ll see you later.

He jolted slightly where he stood when she mentally pushed whatever part of him had reached out to her away from her again, making it clear that she didn’t particularly want to hear his side of the story at the moment.

Sara touched his shoulder, then. “Kyle, come on, let’s go… are you okay?”

He glanced at her. “What? Oh, yeah, fine. Yeah… let’s go.”

*************

Isabel stood in the middle of an empty church hall and looked around herself, surprised. She really hadn’t expected to be able to do it, after all, but she’d somehow managed to find her way into her own subconscious. Kyle was right after all, it was possible to dreamwalk herself.

The church looked no different than it had in her last dream here, except of course for the fact that she was the only person there. Tonight there were no masses of people, no priest in white robes, no mystery groom.

She almost felt guilty for being here, as if it were a betrayal or something, but she couldn’t really do anything about that now, could she? Besides, Alex would understand.

She ran a hand across the top of the mahogany pew closest to her as she looked around the room once again. She bit her lip. He had to be here somewhere.

“Come on, Alex,” she whispered, staring down at the polished wood now. “I’m not leaving until I get to talk to you.” She took a deep breath, then, prepared to wait.

It didn’t take long, though. Alex was nothing if not courteous, after all.

“You shouldn’t be here,” a soft voice behind her answered, and she turned, smiling, to the seventeen-year-old boy who was leaning on the end of a pew a few rows behind her.

“Alex,” she said, walking towards him and pulling him into a hug.

He squeezed her back for a second, but pulled away almost automatically. “You shouldn’t be here, Iz,” he said, frowning at her worriedly. “I shouldn’t even be here.”

“You can’t even pretend to be happy to see me?” Isabel questioned teasingly.

But he wasn’t buying it. “Isabel, I’m serious. This is dangerous. You know you can get lost in a subconscious if you’re not careful, even your own.”

“I think I know my way around my own mind, thank you very much,” she snapped back at him.

He shook his head, though. “No, Isabel, you don’t. Believe me, I’ve been here a lot longer than you have, it’s not as easy as it looks.”

She took a deep breath, not really wanting to listen to him, so she changed the subject. “Why didn’t you let me say goodbye to you?” she asked.

He sighed. “Isabel, you don’t need to say goodbye to me. I don’t exist, remember?”

She turned away from him though. “I know that. That’s not the point. The point is that that was the second time I lost you without getting to say goodbye.”

“Not me, Isabel,” he corrected her. “Him. Besides, I’ve tried letting you say goodbye to me before. It didn’t work. Remember that dream in the Crashdown? Right after I died. I wasn’t supposed to come back after that night.”

“But you did,” she pointed out. “Why did you?”

“You mean it’s not obvious?” he asked.

Confused at that, she looked at him, shaking her head.

He sighed. “Come on, Iz. The connection. It’s still not strong, of course—nothing like Max and Liz’s or anything—but it was there. And because of it, you knew somewhere inside that Alex Whitman was not dead… that you would find him again. I was just the embodiment of that hope for you.”

She stared at him. “Are you saying… that you’re from the connection, too?”

He surprised her then with the trademark Whitman grin. “Come on, Izzy. You didn’t really believe I was one-hundred percent Isabel-Evans made, did you?” he asked, waving a hand up and down himself. “I mean, not even you know me that well.” He smiled. “Yet.”

Isabel gaped at him for a moment, not sure what he was saying, but when the meaning did make itself clear to her, she couldn’t believe she’d never thought of it before. “You mean… you’re part of Alex’s subconscious too?” she asked, amazed.

He smiled. “Something like that. More precisely, I’m a representation of the connection between you. When Alex couldn’t take care of you personally, his connection to you tried to make up for it.”

“So… he really has been watching over me all this time…” she frowned then. “But why did you try to get me over him, then? Why did you let me marry Jesse?”

“I did what Alex would have. He wouldn’t have wanted you alone all that time. He knows you, Isabel. He knows that you need people to share with, to love. He knows it better than you do.”

She looked over at the podium then. “The bridegroom in that dream the other night… that was him, wasn’t it?” she asked softly.

Alex smiled at her. “You already know the answer to that.”

Isabel smiled, too. She did. “Will we ever have the kind of connection Max and Liz do?” she asked, turning her attention back to him. She was surprised and more than a little disappointed when he just shook his head. “Why not?” she demanded, frowning. He could not tell her that they wouldn’t love each other enough, that they wouldn’t be close enough—she already knew they would be.

He smiled at her reassuringly, though. “Connections are different between different people, Isabel. You won’t have the kind of connection that Max and Liz have had. You wouldn’t want it. It’s just… not you.”

“Oh,” she said, simply. Because he was right, after all. She thought back to the thousand times she’d made fun of Max, or simply complained about his lovesick antics back in high school especially.

He glanced around the church then, the worried expression back on his face, and she could see that the light coming through the windows had muted considerably since she’d been there, as if it were getting cloudy outside. “You’ve really got to go now, Isabel. You can’t stay her much longer.”

“Alright, I will, I just have a few more things…” He looked at her uncertainly, but nodded, allowing her to continue. “If you’re part of the connection, why doesn’t Alex know about you?”

He shrugged. “He didn’t have to.”

Isabel took a breath. “Did he… I mean… did it work the other way, too?” she asked, softly. “While he was gone… did he have me there with him?”

Alex smiled at her then. “Alex was never without you, Isabel. Rest assured of that. He told you so himself, didn’t he? ‘Dreamt a thousand dreams…’ ring a bell?”

Isabel smiled at the memory, but the smile vanished as the room darkened again, even more noticeably. “You have to go now, Isabel,” Alex said, coming to give her a tight hug. “And I need you to promise me that you’ll never come looking for me again. You don’t need me anymore, and it’s not fair… to him, to you, to any of us.”

She nodded against his chest as she held onto him. “I know. I promise.” As she pulled away from him, she wiped a tear from her eyes. “I need you to promise me something, too.”

“What?”

She swallowed. “Promise me that I won’t forget about you.”

He smiled sadly at her. “That’s really not up to me,” he said.

She frowned at his answer, but knew he was telling her the truth. She would make sure she remembered him, some way. Feeling that her time there was at an end, Isabel pulled Alex into a hug again, and then, before she could argue with herself, before he could protest, she kissed him, pouring all her love and gratitude into the contact.

“Thank you. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

He smiled at her. “Thank you, Isabel,” he said, kissing her forehead. Then he pushed her away from him slightly. “Now go.”

She nodded, as she prepared to wake herself up. “I love you,” she said, as she felt herself start to pull away.

He smiled at her, and she only barely managed to hear his response before she woke up. “I love you too, Isabel.”

Author's Note: Okay, this is an annoyingly short chapter, as I've already been told once, but I've been on a serious dry-spell lately... I seriously barely wrote anything while RF was down... I'm punching through it, though, and I think I'm getting back on track, knock on wood! Thanks for the feedback, like always.


Part 30

Ava got back to the museum and threw herself into her work, refusing to think about her disastrous encounter with Kyle. Unfortunately, though, there’s not much work a museum curator cab throw herself into, as there were no major tours for her to be worrying about and no new exhibits going up or anything… And so, despite herself, she found herself replaying the scene in her mind whenever she got a free moment, which was too often for her tastes.

She was so extremely annoyed at herself that she wanted to scream. Had she honestly flipped out just because Kyle Valenti had a lunch date? She told herself that that couldn’t possibly be it—she was just annoyed that he hadn’t bothered to tell her about it until the last minute. Because, honestly, what business of it was hers if Kyle had himself a girl? She didn’t even have a right to resent him for not telling her about it. They really were barely friends, after all. Even if they’d promised to be good friends… that didn’t really mean anything, now did it?

But all that talk about worrying about her, about feeling her through the connection… She couldn’t forget the feel of his hand on her back as he’d led her into the apartment the other night, how he’d told her stories about Alex’s dorkiness to calm her nerves on the ride over to meet him. That night especially she’d felt… protected, watched over. It had almost overwhelmed her—which is why she’d planned on meeting him in the first place. She’d wanted to explain how she wasn’t used to this… She’d never been treated like that in her life.

She thought of Zan. Zan had protected her, but he had never been particularly protective of her. To Zan she had been a possession, guarded but not necessarily prized. She’d been an obligation, after all, and no one really liked obligations when it got down to it.

Kyle’s actions towards her had obviously been out of obligation also. He still couldn’t forgive himself for the way he’d treated her when they’d first met, and so he was trying to make up for it by being overly nice to her. As nice as the sentimentality was, she didn’t want it that way. She was tired of being an obligation.

It was more than that, really. She couldn’t be an obligation anymore. Having that kind of knowledge… the knowledge that you were more of a duty than a pleasure to someone—even if it was a welcome duty—it was exhausting.

It was too much.

She even considered running for a moment. Hadn’t that been how she’d solved her problems before? But it wasn’t an option now, of course. First of all, there was Zac to think about. She couldn’t take him away from his family. Max and the others did technically have more claim to him than she ever could, despite the fact that she was his legal guardian. But she couldn’t leave him, either. She’d promised that she wouldn’t, and she would not break her promise to him.

Besides, she’d learned long ago that running from her problems didn’t mean you could separate yourself from them. No matter where she ran to, how far she went, she’d still remember. She’d remember everything. Memory—or at least her memory—was indeed persistent. There was no way running would solve anything for her.

*************

Sara Wilkins had been in town on business, and running into Kyle Valenti had definitely been a shock to her, but if she thought that going to lunch with him was going to remind him of what he’d walked out on when he’d left her… well, she was sadly mistaken.

She wasn’t vindictive really, but she’d been hurt when he left. They’d been friends, after all, good friends, long before they’d gone out.

Kyle had tried to show her a good time at lunch, tried to keep the conversation going, but she could tell that his mind was somewhere else. When she’d asked him if there was anyone new in his life, his answer had been a hesitant “maybe,” but his look had been enough. She’d seen that wisp of a blonde at the office who’d vanished at the sight of her, after all. Kyle used to stay away from blondes, she remembered. It had been his cardinal rule for some reason, but he seemed to have broken it now.

This girl was different, she could tell. As much as it had stung when he’d left, she wasn’t exactly surprised. Kyle Valenti wasn’t exactly a long-term relationship kind of guy. He was like a big kid, somebody to have a little fun with and then… well then to forget. And the time to forget him had obviously come and gone. He’d forgotten her, after all.

Kyle had paid for her cab and gone back to work, off and on trying to get a hold of Ava, both telepathically and by phone, with no luck.

He couldn’t really blame Sara, of course. It wasn’t her fault that she’d run into him on the day that could very well decide his entire fate with Ava… ever.

Oh, lord. What if that was it? What if she never let him explain and they’d be stuck at friends for the rest of their lives? What had she said? She’d said that it hadn’t mattered that she didn’t understand, that it wasn’t any of her business.

Like hell.

As much as he didn’t blame Sara, that didn’t mean he didn’t resent her bad timing. Kyle had experienced some shotty luck in his time, but this was just about the shottiest luck he’d ever had.

Seeing Sara reminded him of the conversation he’d had with Maria back in L.A. About being the good guy. The one who does things right. And now, when he was pretty sure that it mattered the most, Kyle had been doing everything possible wrong since the very beginning.

If he’d been told a year ago that this was where he’d be—clumsily trying to hand his heart over to Tess’s “dupe”—he would have simply laughed in disbelief. No, that wasn’t quite true. He’d be angry at the absurdity of the idea.

It reminded him of back in high school—when he’d been so sure that Max Evans was doing something to Liz… making her fall for him. He understood what Liz had felt all too well now. Those connections, they were powerful.

“Connection” was such an odd term for it… It just seemed unfitting to him that a word that was used to describe something like a link to the internet could also describe his… bond with Ava. It didn’t seem intense enough… didn’t seem to have the warmth, the familiarity of it. The… intimacy.

Liz had told him once that Max had “put a force” on her. And that’s exactly how it felt. He didn’t have an option about his feelings for Ava anymore, not that he would want one. He didn’t even know exactly when it had happened, it didn’t matter. He’d fallen in love with Ava. Now all he had to do was convince her of it.

He had a feeling it wasn’t going to be an easy task.