Roswell Fanatics

Winner - Round 8








Serena

Title: 24
Author: Annie
Email: anniepoo98@hotmail.com
Couples: This is a Serena-centered fic.
Rating: Mature (language/intense situations)
Summary: Something else went wrong, and Serena (yes, the infamous Serena) is the only one who can fix it. The clock is ticking. Will she have enough time to complete her mission.
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Just have the habit of borrowing them. The song quoted at the beginning of each part is "24" by Jem... hence the title.

Author's Note (please read): Okay all, this fic is a real departure for me. It is not a happy fic... at all. What it is... is intense. Not everyone survives. Know that before you begin. Big ole warning here.

Any feedback is apperciated... like I said... this is a new kind of story for me, and I always welcome constructive criticism. So bring it on... LOL!!!!




Prologue:

Been given 24 hours
to tie up loose ends, to make amends
His eyes said it all, I started to fall
and the silence deafened
Head spinning round, no time to sit down
just wanted to run and run and run
Be careful they say, don’t wish life away,
now I’ve one day


March 15, 2012 - 1:00 am


She woke to the sensation of a needle sliding under her arm. Barely having time to register what was going on, she shifted in bed as a flash of heat seared her veins as force of the plunger injected the serum into her system. For a moment, the pain was immense. Then it was gone.

“Intense, isn’t it.” She felt warm, soft lips press a kiss against the spot where the needle had been only moments before, almost like a mother kissing hurts. Only this was much more sinister. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring into the blinding, beautiful blue gaze of the man she consider the most evil being in the universe.

“Good morning to you to, lover.”

He smiled, and that arresting face nearly caused a shiver to rush down her spine. “It’s not quite that late.” He gestured towards the clock beside the bed. Sure enough, it was just after one o’clock in the morning. “You went to bed quite early.”

Somehow, though she will never know how she managed it, her voice turned coy, seductive even. “You wore me out.”

She should have expected the backhand. Still, it managed to catch her off-guard. Kivar could strike with the skill and precision of a snake. Pain exploded across her cheek.

“Bitch.” He hissed the word in her ear as he leaned forward, grabbed a chuck of her hair. The sheet that had been covering her naked body slid away, and she could feel the soft cotton of his shirt against her bare skin. It went that much further to show she was the vulnerable one in this little game between them. “I know that it was you. I’ve known it all along, and used it.”

His grip on her hair tighten, so that now it was her the hissed. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“The intel you fed to your friends, to your cause.”

She felt an icy lick of fear. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was now pressed fully against her, and aroused. She expected that. Violence was some twisted turn on to him. No, what fueled her fear was the possibility that he was actually telling the truth. Had she led her friends to the enemy instead of giving them the key to succeed in their mission?

“You’re thinking about it,” he said, almost cheerfully. All traces of his earlier anger began to fade into a sort of glee about his victory. She could see it in his eyes. “It’s always entertained me to watch your mind work. And what are you thinking, Serena? Are you wondering if they are alive? If there might be a way to still warn them?”

He yanked her head back, and fit his mouth over hers. The kiss was vicious. He sucked the air away from her, used his teeth to draw a trace of blood. Then, he shifted, pulled back slightly, leaving his lips a whisper away from hers. And spoke the words that destroyed her. “No survivors.”

With that, he let go, and she fell back against the bed. Serena drew in air, exhaled it on a sob. Yet, even as the tears started to fall from her eyes, she felt the rage grow in her belly. Without a thought to the consequences, she lunged for him. Her hands torn at any flesh she found, and with a scream, she sank her teeth into his shoulder. Kivar howled, in rage or pain. Serena didn’t care. Her only goal was to damage him in anyway she could.

So intent on this, she didn’t even feel his hands grip her arms, or register that she was being pushed away until there was nothing surrounding her but air. Seconds later, her back collided hard with the wall, and she slid to the ground, already working up the steam for another attack.

“That’s right, Serena,” he spit out as he wiped a trickle of blood from his lip. “They’re all dead. Would you like all the details? How they screamed and pleaded?” He moved over to her, shoved her back to the ground as she attempted to stand. Leaning over, Kivar grabbed her shoulders, pressed them roughly against the wall. “Would you to know that I took your beloved sister before I killed her?” That she cried her husband’s name and yours before I broke her neck.”

Serena lifted her head, met his gaze directly. “I will kill you.”

He threw his head back, let out a bellow of laughter that caused her blood to boil even further. And that’s when she noticed it, the burn. He’d drugged her before, but this was different.

“You won’t live though the day,” he told her. “I’ve grown tired of our games, and you have outlived any other usefulness.”

“T47,” she gasped.

“Precisely.” Kivar let go of her and stood. “Can you feel it in your veins yet? Smoldering there, just waiting for you to fan the flames. 24 hours. That’s all the time you have left.”

“Well then,” she said as she managed to push herself up. “Let’s get the show started.” With all of the rage and horror she felt, Serena lifted her arm and shot out an energy blast straight at Kivar’s chest. This time, it was he that went flying across the room. With a groan, he slumped to the floor.

Ignoring the burst of heat that nearly stole all the air from her lungs, Serena quickly grabbed the backpack she’d shoved under her bed earlier that night and jumped on the bed. She dissolved the lock on the window, felt another flare, and hosted herself out the window.

She had only one chance now. One chance, and less than 24 hours to execute it.

Howdy all~

Thank you for the feedback!

Well, I've come to drop off part one. Part two should follow in the next day or two. I hope you enjoy.

Annie:)


Part One:

In 24 hours they’ll be laying flowers
on my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
need your blessing
and your promise to live free
please do it for me


March 15, 2012 - 2:17 am (22 hours: 43 minutes left)

The ATV made its way through the New Mexico desert, kicking up sand in all directions as Serena pushed it to go faster. After she pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt behind a cluster of bushes just south of Kivar’s quarters, Serena confiscated the vehicle from an unsuspecting guard. That little burst of power caused such a backlash of heat that she’d barely kept from passing out to escape it.

Trying to escape the pain was useless now that T47 was in her system. She was dying, her body slowly heating to the point where her body’s various systems would simply disintegrate. Not a pleasant process, which was part of the reason why Kivar liked to use it. A sort of ‘if you burn me, I’ll burn you’ mentality he had. The fact she’d helped create it ate away at her like acid. For a time, finding a way to destroy it had consumed her, caused her to push away the only man she’d ever loved, and led her straight back to Kivar’s clutches. Now, T47 was going to destroy her, but hopefully not before she could stop it and it’s counterpart from every coming into being.

That goal was all she had left. Everything else, everyone else, was gone. Tears streamed down her face, stinging the cut on her lip. Absentmindedly, she brushed them away with the back of her hand. It wouldn’t do any good to dwell on that. Not when she was going to stop it from happening again.

Finally, she saw the outline of pod chamber looming ahead of her. Around the base, she saw various lights moving about. Kivar’s men, she thought. It was another indication of what he had done to those she loved. There was no way any of the others would have given up the location of the Granolith. Kivar had to take it by force by mindraping them. Easing her foot off the gas pedal, Serena took a deep breath. It was now or never.

She reached into the backpack laying on the seat beside her and pulled out a piece of paper. Another lance pierced her heart when she read the codes lining the sheet. Michael had made up the code when transmissions started getting intercepted. The code was so simple that it genius. Hockey teams and their scores equaled people, places, and coordinates.

She’d been dubbed the Dallas Star.

God, how her heart ached.

With a deep breath, she pushed it aside and read the code. In about a hundred yards, behind a small outcropping of rocks, should be the back entrance to the pod chamber. That had been Isabel’s idea. It had taken nearly two years to complete, but right now Serena couldn’t have been more grateful for all the work it took.

Ten minutes later, she found herself groping at the rock, half-angry that she couldn’t remember where the trigger point was, and half-praying that the outcropping was large enough to hide her stolen vehicle from Kivar’s men. “Come on,” she murmured harshly as the rough edges scrapped against her palm. “I know that you’re here somewhere. I don’t have a lot of time here.”

As if answering her, Serena felt a piece of the rock give way. Applying a bit more pressure, she heard the click of the latch and the pop of the hatch giving, rusty from lack of use.

Suddenly, light broke through the unsealed hatch, and Serena swore. Instantly, she was moving, tossing her bag down the tunnel, then sliding in herself and grabbing onto the first rung of the metal ladder. When she was clear, the door swung back and relocked. Once again, she silently thanked Isabel and hoped that none of the troops saw the little light show.

She made it to the bottom only moments later, and began feeling around for her pack. Once she found it, grabbed the flashlight out of it, she began the trek down the corridor that would lead her to the central chamber where the Granolith was located.

Knowing that she only had one shot, Serena ran and reran her calculations over in her mind. The numbers she fed the Granolith had to be precise or who knew where and when she would end up.

The chamber was clear when she entered, but not trusting her luck, Serena pulled two small silver canisters from her pack. She tossed one through the panel that lead to the front cavern of the cave, the other went through the panel that led to the back. She saw the vapor beginning to rise as the doors slid back into place. That would put anyone, alien, human, or hybrid, to sleep within moments.

When she heard nothing except the occasional thud of a body dropping to the ground, Serena turned her attention to the large, conical object behind her. Kneeling, she located a button at the base of the Granolith by touch, and pressing it, a small panel slid open to reveal a number of buttons and wires. Symbols that represented her heritage were etched alongside each device. Withdrawing a slim box of tools from her back, Serena went to work.

It took longer than she expected, but when she finished, Serena stood, stretched, and sighed. It was now or never. She extended her hand, stopping just shy of touching the cool, smooth surface. “I need this to work,” she whispered. “I’ve never asked for anything, for any of this, so please… make this work.”

Pushing aside all thoughts of the consequences, Serena took deep breath and empty all thought from her mind except for the equations that were need. Exhaling, slid the crystal into the base of the Granolith and pressed her palm against it.

She felt the pulsing of the Granolith’s power beneath her hand, saw the light within grow brighter. Then she was inside. The essences of the Granolith swirled around her, trying to connect to her mind. Closing her eyes, Serena braced for the pain, and opened the connection.

Heat flared within her body. She felt it flare in her stomach, moving upwards. Stop, she wanted to scream, but as she opened her mouth, the world around her faded.

~~~~

December 3, 2000 - 4:12 am (20 hours: 48 minutes left)

With a groan, Kyle sat up on the couching, giving up pretenses of sleeping. His mind just wouldn’t shut off. Lying there in the dark, all he could think about was how there was just too much happening in his life, in the lives of those he cared about. His brain wasn’t able to get wrapped around all of it.

First, there had been evil aliens. Oh yeah, Kyle thought. The skins had been scary enough with their human vanishing tricks and peeling flesh. Now, they had to deal with... well, evil aliens. Two rogue hybrids and a little midget that just wouldn’t die. Buddha knew that not even the worst science fiction writer in the world could have come up with this crap, yet here he was, living it.

Wasn’t that a kick in the head?

What Tess had told him about the summit freaked Kyle out on a whole new level. Just how many enemies did Max make there? Where were the psycho-brids and twerpy-the-kid? How safe could they possible be with everyone and their uncle knowing exactly where they lived? Were they watching him now?

Rolling his shoulders, Kyle tried to ignore the little shiver of apprehension that tricked down his spine. There was no point in psyching himself out. Especially when there was no one else in the house. Of all the nights for Tess to want spend the night with Isabel and his father a booty call with Amy Deluca.

Okay, maybe Tess had needed the time with others like her. This past week she been edgy. Hell, one time he swore she would have blasted him though when he accidently startled her in the kitchen. He suspected what happened in New York had shaken her more than anyone. If she needed time with Isabel to help deal, he could understand.

As for his father... oh no, he wasn’t going there. Some mental pictures were just as damaging as actually seeing it live.

To keep his mind off of it, and everything else, Kyle got up and headed for the kitchen in the dark. He’d just grab himself something to munch on, a cool beverage, and watch some mind-numbing television. Not a cure-all, but the best he could come up with at the moment.

Only nothing in the fridge appealed. Grumbling, Kyle shut the refrigerator door, plunging the room back into darkness. Maybe that was why the sudden flash of bright light had him yelping like a little girl. Or maybe he simply too on edge. Either way, yelp he did and jumped back so far that he crashed roughly into the counter.

Another sound, much louder, filled the room. In front of him, a body dropped from the light, falling squarely on the coffee table. The wood creaked and groaned under the weight before giving. In seconds, both the body and table were laying on the living room floor.

“What the hell?” Kyle shouted before he could stop himself. The light vanished, but even in the blackness, Kyle could see the body move, heard a groan that was riddled with pain. As his eyes readjusted further, he noticed the jaw dropping, the vague shape of eyes widening.

Then his ears were pierced by her scream.

Howdy all~

Here is part two. I hope that you all enjoy it.

Annie:)



Part Two:

Is there a heaven a hell
and will I come back , who can tell
Now I can see
what matters to me
it’s as clear as crystal
The places I’ve been
the people I’ve seen
plans that I made
start to fade
The sun’s setting gold
thought I would grow old, it wasn’t to be


March 15, 2012 - 4:35 am (20 hours: 25 minutes left)

Kivar glanced at the object in his hand and smiled. In all her haste, his wonderful little Serena had forgotten one very important step. Cover your tracks.

He’d known the instant he returned to consciousness where she had gone. Even knowing it was futile, she would have ran to the Granolith, tried to plot a way to bring him down. But never, in a million years, would Kivar have expected what he found. Clever girl, he thought to himself.

The sound of steps behind him had smile on his face fading away. “It’s been confirmed, sir. The canisters contained the re-formulated sleeping gas.”

Glancing over at his second-in-command, Kivar nodded. Gone was the facade of an innocent little boy. Nicholas was now an intimidating six foot. His host form had come from an Hispanic runaway, which his second had honed into an impressive figure befitting a solder. And if he didn’t fail again, Kivar just might let him keep it.

“Is their anyway of tracing where she went?”

He held up the object in his hand, the corners of his mouth twist in satisfaction. “One thing I’ve always admired about Serena is her sharp, linear way of thinking. She left a road map that even the simplest fool could follow.”

Nicholas took the notebook from him, and as he flipped through the notes a dumbfounded expression crossed his face. “The past? I thought all of our research indicated it couldn’t be done.”

“Apparently, it was easy.” He kicked the case of tools at his feet. It shot across the room and slammed into the wall. “Any kid a screwdriver and a little time could’ve managed it. Now, tell me why it is that we’ve never been able to figure that out?”

Taking a step back, Nicholas shook his head. “I don’t know. She must have sabotaged the research. And if she was working with the idiot rebels, she would of had direct access to the Granolith. None of our simulations or diagrams can come close to hands-on.”

Kivar reached out, took back the book. “I’ll accept that for now. At this moment, it is more important to figure out why she chose this particular date. It doesn’t stick out as substantial in my mind, so why did she pick it?”

“That was the day Tess delivered the human to us.”

“Ahhh.” Kivar ran a finger over the surface of the one thing he’d coveted his entire life. “Mr. Whitman proved very useful, didn’t he. A true master of a science few understand, and at such a young age. What a waste. It would have been interesting to see what other uses the boy had.”

Watching as his second gritted his teeth, Kivar let out a short chuckle. “But punishments for that were dealt a long time ago.”

“The consequences were unavoidable,” Nicholas growled.

“And you’re lucky I had other uses for you.” Kivar’s voice was deceptively calm. “Don’t test my patience now.”

Obviously sensing it was time to back down, Nicholas relaxed his tense stance. He, like everyone else familiar with Kivar, knew there was a time and place to wage their battles. This wasn’t one of them. “ What is our course of action? If she succeeded, there is no tell what damage she can do to the past.”

“Oh, I have no doubt that our Serena is in the past. Once she sets a goal, she becomes very determined to succeed.” He couldn’t help but admire that about her. Now, it was his turn to make a move in this little game of theirs, and she wasn’t the only one obsessed with winning.

Crouching down beside the base of the Granolith, Kivar slipped a hand inside the pocket of his jacket. When it withdrew, he was palming a slim crystal. “Some just have to learn how to accept defeat.”

~~~~

December 3, 2000 - 5:02 am (19 hours: 58 minutes left)

To say she was in pain was an understatement.

The Granolith had demanded a total connection to complete the task she asked of it. Mind, body, and soul… it had to all be handed over to that higher power. And the spark all power contained ignited the T47 in her system. The part of her cellular make-up that was alien, genetically advanced, was being called to action … to respond to the Granolith, and the serum attacked.

Serena saw flashes of her life, of the lives of others. Even when her mind was begging for it all to stop, she saw and felt. And the Granolith continued on with her requested task.

Serena didn’t feel the collision with the table, or the fall when it collapsed under her weight. Nothing external matter, only the battle within her body did. The heat was unbearable. A scream ripped from her throat as she tried to shut down her powers, hoping that would counter the effects of the serum.

As it began to reside, slowly, she registered the sound of feet moving, shuffling around behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure approach, hand outstretched. “Don’t touch me,” she shouted.

The hand dropped, but the figure didn’t move away. “Again, I ask, what the hell?”

At the sound of his voice, Serena’s whole body began to tremble for a different reason. What have I done, she thought. Tears started to form in her eyes, and unable to deal with this new form of pain, she curled into a fetal position. "Kyle?"

“How did you know my name?” He was approaching her again, reaching out again. Serena knew she had get past this last shock fast and pull herself together. It didn’t matter what happened between them before, what she allowed to happen. She only had one job here, and he wasn’t part of it. Couldn’t be.

“I said don’t touch me.”

“How did you know my name?” he repeated.

“I know a lot about you.” More than he could possibly imagine. The irony of it hit Serena hard. “Now, stay away from me.” She bit off the words, using the anger to override control her emotions. Her brain was able to focus on that since the pain was beginning to ease off… slowly.

“Excuse me.” Now it was Kyle’s turn to sound pissed. “It’s my living room you decided to crash down into. I think that gives me a right to bark out orders, not you. And what I want right now is for you to answer some questions, like who you are for starters.”

This time, he moved quickly, took hold of her arm just below the sleeve of her t-shirt. And let out a hiss when skin met skin.

Damn, Kyle thought. She was burning up, literally. Her skin was hot to the touch, and from this close, he was able to make out a faint sheen of sweat dampening it.

That wasn’t the Kyle noticed. He’d noticed her, every aspect about her. Older. Probably in her mid to late twenties. And dark. Dark hair and eyes, dark jeans and t-shirt, dark bruises blooming on the right side of her face. Beyond that, she was sporting a vicious split lip that was swollen and tender looking. All of that, combined with the fact she looked like she was about to pass out any moment, triggered an ingrained need to help. Before he knew it, part of him was sliding past fear and anger, straight into concern. “Are you okay?”

She jerked out of his grasp. “Just peachy,” she managed and moved to get to her feet. That’s when Kyle noticed them. Two sections of the carpet held scorch marks… in the shape of handprints. Without thinking, he jumped back.

Serena followed his line of sight, saw the scorch marks, and simply stared for a moment. She knew that was just the beginning. A sign of the serum’s progress in her system. Checking to see if the symptom had retreated for the moment, she touched her own arm, and to her relief, felt warmth not heat. Soon, her touch would burn whether or not she’d used her powers.

Needing to push aside the fear and worry, Serena managed a wry grin. “I told you not to touch me.”

He was stepping behind a chair. “Sorry, I didn’t see the CAUTION – HOT sign.”

Ignoring his comment, Serena glanced around the room. It was almost exactly the way it had been when she first saw it. Slight differences, a lamp here or a chair there, but basically the same. She pressed a hand to her stomach as the raw knot of emotions formed there.

Why did the Granolith send her here? Why did it send her to Kyle? She had expected to arrive at the Pod Chamber, hadn’t known to expect any else. Nothing out of the little Liz told her about her experience with Future Max led her to believe otherwise.

Her mind worked rapidly. It didn’t matter what went wrong, only that she was here now and had to get on with her mission. Going over her mental notes about the time and place she’d traveled too, Serena remembered that this was the period where Tess had been living with the Valenti’s. It was obvious that the little demon was here at the moment, but her belongings were.

“Tess’s room,” she demanded. “Where is it?”

Kyle’s gaze narrowed. “Why?”

In response, she rolled her own eyes and started stalking towards the back of the house. Kyle followed not more than two steps behind. “What are you looking for? For that matter, who are you? At this point, one little answer would go a long way into easing my mind about you.”

“I’m not here to ease your mind.”

“You’re not here to hurt me either.” And for some reason, Kyle knew he was speaking the absolute truth. Maybe it had something to do with the marks on her face, or the horror that had been written on it when she saw the scorch marks, but he knew deep down in soul that she was on the side of good.

That scared the shit out of him.

He didn’t trust, not easily anyway. Even then, there were usually conditions on that trust. Granted, over the past few months, he’d felt himself easing on that front, letting more people in, but it was still hard. This stranger invoked those feelings within him instantly. Damn right, he was scared of it.

Was one answer from her too much to ask?

“Listen,” Kyle began, hoping a different approach would work. He saw her hand stop as it reached out for a doorknob. “I’ll help you if you just tell me something, anything, about yourself.”

She turned, faced him, and he thought he caught a brief glimpse of a smile. “You never give up.”

It wasn’t the words, but the way she said them that had Kyle’s heart skipping a beat. It was more of a statement than a question, as if she knew the answer... knew him. Still, he managed to keep his answer light. “Nope. I just wear you down until I get what I want, so you might as well just give up now.”

She sighed. “Serena. My name is Serena.”

“Nice to meet you, Serena.”

Now, she laughed, a full-belly one that he just had to smile at. “There is nothing nice about it, kid. I’m here for one thing, and one thing only. I won’t let you get in my way. Tell me,” she said, pointing at the door she’d been about to open. “Is this were Tess Harding sleeps?”

The smile on his face vanished. She spat out Tess’s name as if it were vile as she opened the door, stepped into the room. “What do you have against Tess?” he asked, moving with her.

Serena didn’t even look back at him when she spoke, only began methodically searching the room. “Everything. And I’ve come back to stop her.”

Kyle sprung into action. He grabbed her arm, but she was quicker. Before he could blink, she twisted his arm behind his back and had him shoved face first against the wall.

“I told you not to touch me.” She could hardly handle the two times he’d done it so far. It was just too much know what she knew, understanding that he didn’t. That only little thing wasn’t a lot to ask. “I don’t want to hurt you, Kyle, please don’t make me.”

He heard the plea in her voice and forced the tension in his shoulders to ease. Her grip on his loosened, and he turned. “I don’t think that you're evil,” he argued. “And I know Tess isn’t. So why are you here to hurt her?” When she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off... “I that’s what you want to do. I can hear it in your voice.”

“I wasn’t going to deny it,” she countered. “Tess isn’t what you think she is, Kyle. She’s manipulative, vengeful, and selfish. And she will hurt you in more ways than you ever knew possible. I want to prevent that.”

“Then tell me what you think she’s doing, or going to do, because I just don’t believe you right now.”

Serena scoffed. “Big surprise,” she murmured. At his dumbfound stare, she cleared her throat. It was just so hard not to mix the boy with the man. “I can’t tell you anything else. No matter how much I wish I could, the less you know, the better.”

“And you ‘know.’” he said, making quotation marks with his fingers, “that Tess is evil.”

“Yes.” She moved to the closet, drew down a box. “Now, you said that you would help me. I need to find a book. It’s small, made out of a metal alloy, with strange markings on it...”

“It’s not here,” Kyle blurted out, than slapped his hands over his mouth.

“What?” Serena demanded. If the book wasn’t here, that could only mean one thing. And she had to move fast.

“I den saaa onany ding,” Kyle said, his hands muffling the words.

She grabbed him by the shoulders, gave him a hard shake. “Tell me where she is. I need to know where Tess went.”

Kyle dropped his hands. “A friend’s house. That’s all I know.”

“You can’t lie worth a damn,” she told him, a faint smile twisting her lips. “A friend’s house. The only friend she really might consider spending time with is Isabel, and that would be because she could keep a closer eye on Max.”

“I still don’t believe that Tess is out to harm us.” He closed his eyes, as if blocking his mind from considering the possibility.

“Call Isabel,” Serena told him. “See if Tess is actually with her, if she ever had plans to be. Trust you instincts when you find out the answer.”

She turned to leave the room, but Kyle stepped in front of her. “Do you know how strange this all is?” he asked, but she knew he was talking to no one in particular.

Giving in to the urge, the need, Serena gently laid her lips to his. A jolt went through the both of them before she drew back. They stared at each other, neither moving one muscle. The sudden sound of the front door slamming made Serena jerk. With an oath, she was racing for the window, slamming her fist against the lock. It gave way, and she shoved the window open, jumped out. She was out of sight before Kyle got his bearings back.

“Kyle,” his father called out. “Kyle, what happened out here? Where are you, son?”

Still a bit dazed, Kyle ran a hand through his hair. “In here, Dad.”

A second later, Jim was by his side, gripping him in a harsh hug. “What happened in the living room?”

“The coffee table is broken,” he replied stupidly.

“Did someone come here, did they hurt you?”

Kyle shook his head. “No Dad, it’s nothing, but...” he trailed off, thinking.

“But?” Jim urged his son to continue.

Spotting the keys that were still in his father’s hand, Kyle snatched them away and started toward the front door. “I gotta borrow the car, Dad. I’ll explain,” he looked at the mess in the living room, “something when I get back.”

He was out the door and in the truck before his father could stop him. In his mind, that kiss played over and over, along with... whatever it was he saw when she a pressed those swollen lips against his. Another scene had played in his mind that involved the two of them in a much more intimate setting. Together they held each other while she wept and he comforted, their bodies joined and warm. Then, she smiled, and he could feel his heart tremble.

He’d be damn if that woman would just kiss him, leave him with mental picture like that, and just take off. No, he was going to find Serena, where ever the hell she was, and get to the bottom of what was going on.

Howdy all~

I've got part three with me. Enjoy!

Annie:)



Part Three:

In 18 hours they’ll be laying flowers
on my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
need your blessing
and your promise to live free
please do it for me


December 3, 2000 - 7:20 am (17 hours: 40 minutes left)

The Whitman house was a split-level ranch dwelling with white siding and a whole mess of bushes along the base. Most importantly, it was homey. At least that was how it had always stuck Serena.

There had been a few times where Liz would stop by, pay a call to Alex’s parents. Once or twice Serena had been with her. She remembered that Mrs. Whitman, Shelia as she insisted being called, had opened the door to her. Here was a woman who welcomed a complete stranger into her house without any qualms. She’d even fed her cookies. They were best chocolate chip cookies in the universe in Serena’s opinion. Mr. Whitman had shared her opinion on books and sciences, which led to long conversations.

Deep down, they were the family that she’d secretly longed to have, warm, loving, and normal. So blissfully normal, despite the large chuck missing at the center of their hearts. For all the love in the home, there was also a hint of sadness. Serena knew all too well that grief could linger just as long as the memory of a loved one existed.

Alex Whitman had been the luckiest unfortunate boy. Because of it, the tragedy of his death struck Serena hard, even if she was removed from it. She had never known him, but she always wished she could have. To have touched that many lives, enriched them so greatly by just being, was an incredible gift.

Maybe her’s was the opportunity to save him.

That thought was enough to give her hope. She wanted to save him, needed to save him; not only for the greater good, but for the people she loved. And the possibility that the person she was in this reality would get the chance to know him.

So she sat outside the Whitman household in a car she’d hot-wired, watching and waiting. Tess would make her move soon. That much Serena was sure of. Waiting was her only option, even if she could feel the seconds ticking by.

It made her edgy. Her brain and body were geared toward the fight, ready for action in order to prevent the disaster the future became. And there was only so much time for her to complete her goal. Serena glanced over at the clock on the car dashboard. Less than 18 hours now before she ceased to exist.

There hadn’t been enough time to be selfish. As hard as it was, she resisted the urge to run by the Crashdown, to catch a glimpse of her father, another man she never got the chance to meet. Only the possiblity of seeing Liz had deterred her from the briefest drive-by. The grief for her sister's future-self was still too raw and new that Serena couldn’t predict how she would act at the sight of seeing her alive and well.

So she waited for the move on Alex. Waited while…

The passenger side door opened. Serena’s head whipped around and her eyes met those of one furious Kyle. “What the hell….”

He pressed a finger to his lips as he slid into the seat beside her. “Shhhhh.” The door slammed shut. “People pay attention to raised voices. It’s not a way to keep a low profile.” He looked around the car. “You could have done better than taking Mr. Lamm’s old Celebrity though. This thing has to be 20 years old. Now, if I were going to steal a car…”

“It was handy,” Serena cut him off.

“Well, you at least changed the color from bird crap yellow to this lovely grayish-blue. Big improvement.”

There was just enough sarcasm in his voice to have Serena yearning to deck him. The new paint job and little tweaking of license plate numbers caused another wave of heat to overtake her system. It had taken nearly fifteen minutes to get over the pain, and the shaky sweats a half an hour longer than that. And this little smart ass had the nerve to joke. “Listen buddy...”

“Kyle,” he pointed out. “But you knew that already.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” she bit out though grinding teeth.

The cockiest of grins stretched across his lips. “I followed you.”

“And showed up over an hour later?” Serena shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Kyle shrugged. “Fine, I did a process of elimination. Figured you were heading to someone’s house, this was the one I found you at. Now, a bit of quid-pro-quo. Tell me what you’re looking for? Cause if you think Tess….”

Now, it was her turn to cut him off. An SUV turned the corner and was heading toward them. Serena placed a hand on Kyle’s back and shoved him forward in the seat as she ducked down herself. A screech of brakes, a slamming door, the sound of shoes slapping against pavement, Serena listened and paid close attention to every noise, with the exception of Kyle muttering beside her. That she ignored. Voices soon joined the mix, to low to hear clearly.

At the risk of being seen, Serena peered out the driver’s side window and saw two people standing on the lawn talking. The short blond was Tess, and the boy with the deep brown hair could only be Alex. Part of her heart skipped with joy at seeing him alive. Another worried because it was up to her to keep him that way.

She eased her hand away from Kyle’s back. “Look at this and tell me what you think.”

Slowly, he sat up, aimed one sharp glare in her direction, than noticed the scene taking place just beyond her window. Possible reasons to explain it jumped into his mind quickly, even if he couldn’t quite believe them himself. “She could be dropping by to wish him a happy trip,” he murmured.

“Are they the best of friends?” Serena questioned, hating that she had to make him face this. Maybe it was better for him to find out this way than he had in the other timeline. Still, she understood that it would be hard for him, because he was Kyle, and he cared for Tess.

He shook his head.

They both watched as Alex drew out some money from his pocket, passed the bills to Tess. Serena took a deep breath. “Does he owe her money for anything? A bet or lunch or something?"

Again, Kyle shook his head, than stared stupefied out the door. “I don’t want to believe it,” he told her. “I can’t. We took her in. My dad and I had started to…”

“Care,” she finished for him. “I understand, Kyle.”

“No you don't,” he shouted. Taking a deep breath, than another, he managed to lower his voice to a low growl. “Does everyone betray us in the end? Is that just part of my destiny?”

Serena ran a hand up her face, into her hair. “No Kyle,” she sighed. “Not everyone.” Serena swallowed against the bile in her throat, but managed to spit out the next part. “And she does care, Kyle. Tess just doesn’t know what to do with it. Never has. So she ignores it, and continues to do what she thinks will suit her best.”

“Now you defend her,” he bit out. “Why?”

Groaning, she laid her head back against the seat. There was not enough time to deal with this shit. Still, because it was Kyle sitting next to her letting off wave after wave of frustration, anger, and hurt, she tried. “Because to say differently is unfair to either of you. While I don’t mind being unfair from time to time, I hate to do it when it causes someone pain.”

“But you’re telling me Tess’s feelings as if you can see straight into her head,” Kyle returned, his mind working through the possibilities. “You’re here like you knew she would be here now, like you know what she’s planning. How? Do you read minds?”

A snort of laughter escaped. Serena had to press a hand against her nose and mouth to ward off another. “Nothing like that,” she finally managed. “I do parlor tricks. Nothing special.”

She felt him studying her. The scrutiny made her uneasy, so Serena turned to face out the window once more. “Is that why you haven’t healed your face?” Kyle asked. “Because you can’t.”

Not wanting to lie and unable to tell him the truth, Serena simply shrugged her shoulders, leaving it at that.

Only that didn’t seem to be enough for Kyle. “Still, you knew Tess would be here, not at Isabel’s. Granted, I haven’t called to see if she’d been there at all. I was a little preoccupied with finding you. Must have something to do with that little vision you gave me, but I can call her now if you’d like.”

Even as he was reaching into his pocket to grab his cell, Serena was whipping around to face him. “What are you talking about? What vision?”

“You and I together,” he muttered, flipping the cell phone open. “I guess you could say getting to know each other in a biblical sense. Tell me, is that a little fantasy of yours? Do you like your men on the young side?”

He should have expected the slap. He’d meant to leave her stinging a little, instead they both were. His hand covered the imprint of her’s on his cheek. When he met her gaze, he could see she was furious, which only made the tears gathering in her eyes more staggering. Stupid, he lectured himself. Lash out at her just because you’re upset. Now, we both are. Great going, moron.

“Listen,” he began, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

Serena looked away. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does.” A groan of frustration escaped his lips as his free hand worked in and out of a fist. The other, which was currently clenching the cell, dropped to his side. “I’m pissed at the situation and I took a swipe at you. It’s not your fault.”

“I put you in the situation you’re pissed at.” A depressing sigh filled the car. “Drop it, Kyle. I don’t have the energy or the desire to argue with you.” She gestured towards the his door. “Now go.”

“Can’t.” His tipped his head towards the scene out her window. “Those two out there, they’re my friends. I have to see this one through. So tell me what’s going on.”

Now it was her turn to groan in frustration. It would be a waste of time to fight him on this. Serena knew all too well that once Kyle dug his heals in, you couldn’t shove him in any direction. Add to that, she couldn’t risk using her powers to leave him behind. God only knew what might happen to either of them if she did.

No, for the time being, she was stuck with him.

“Alex thinks he’s going to Sweden,” she finally said. “It’s a set up. Tess is going to deliver him to the enemy. They are planning to use him to decode the book...”

“The one you were looking for in Tess’s room,” Kyle jumped in.

Serena nodded. “It holds information that is dangerous, especially in the wrong hands. You can’t imagine the consequences if that happens.”

“How do you know this?” Kyle questioned. “You’re speaking like you know what’s going to happen. You said you don’t read minds. Do you tell the future?”

That earned him another shrug. Kyle’s eyes narrowed. He was finding a pattern with her. Shrugging meant she didn’t want to answer, but he be damned if he was letting this question slide. “Can you tell the future?” he repeated more forcefully.

“No.” He watched as her jaw tightened. “I don’t have to tell the future when I’m from it.”

“Oh shit!” The exclamation burst from his mouth before he even thought about it. “You’re from the future. No way. You can’t be. How could that even possible?”

“You, who knows that aliens walk among us, can seriously doubt that something like time-travel exists?”

Kyle rolled his eyes, even as the gears in his head were turning. Finally, he nodded. “The future,” he said, almost reverently. “That’s... well, mind-boggling.” The gears kept going. “Wait a second, that vision. That was like one of Max and Liz’s flashy things. They have that whole relationship... does that mean you and me...”

“At this point it means nothing.”

The expression on her face, going from shock to sadness than to anger, told Kyle she was lying, but he let it go because of the same look. What had happened, he wondered. To her, to him, to cause that much pain?

Switching gears, Kyle turned his attention back out the window. There he saw Alex toss a couple of bags into the back of Tess’s SUV. “So, what about Alex? What happened to him the in future?”

She bit on the uninjured corner of her lip. “They get careless and kill him.”

Kyle jerked forward. “And you’re not out there stopping this? Look,” he said, pointing at the other vehicle. “Alex is getting in. I have to stop him.”

Her hand was clamped on his arm before he turned fully. “Look around,” she told him, her voice mild. “There are people all around. It doesn’t matter if is early in morning, an alien smackdown will draw attention. That can’t happen.”

“So we just watch while Alex goes off to his death.”

“We follow,” she corrected. “To where they take him, and get both him and the book. It’s the only way. Timing is critical,” she murmured. In the background, he could hear SUV’s engine start up. “If you can’t follow my directions completely, I will leave you here. “

“Then I’ll follow you,” Kyle retorted.

“You don’t know where they’re going, I do. You won’t have a chance to keep up.” To reiterate her point, Serena turned the key in the ignition, shift the gear into drive.

Kyle paused and pondered his options. The weight of the cell phone in his right hand gave him some reassurance. He only hoped the others got the message. If he’d hit the wrong button on his speed dial... no, he wasn’t going to consider that.

Reaching for his seatbelt, Kyle gave her a wide grin. “Guess what, Serena. I’m in.”

~~~~

December 3, 2000 - 7:44 am (17 hours: 16 minutes left)

Liz groaned when the phone beside her bed rang. Didn’t whoever-the-hell-it-was know that it was Saturday morning? Her only Saturday morning off this month.

Muttering curses, her hand fumbled across the nightstand for the cell that was perky chirping Nelly Furtado’s “I’m Like a Bird”. Finally, she got a hold of the stupid little thing, and she pressed the call button. “‘ello,” she grumbled against the pillow.

“... don’t read minds. Do you tell the future?”

Liz turned to her side, pushed the hair out of her eyes. “Kyle? Is that you?”

“Can you tell the future?”

Hearing the tone, registering what he was saying, Liz pushed herself up. “What’s going on? Kyle where are you?”

“No.” Though it was faint, Liz could hear a female voice, one she didn’t recognize. She began kicking at the covers tangled around her feet.

“I don’t have to tell the future when I’m from it.”

It felt like someone aimed a short jab to her stomach. Liz tried to breath only to have it come out in small gasps. “Oh God, oh God...”


~~~~~~


December 3, 2000 - 7:52 am (17 hours: 8 minutes left)


He felt the man’s airway constrict under the power of his hand. Constrict to the point where there was no air passing or escaping.

He had reappeared in the Granolith chamber. For a moment, while he’d gathered his bearings, Kivar had wondered if his plan had actually worked. The last thing he’d expected was to land where he’d began. Yet, there were differences in the room, changes that existed in the future that obvious had been added.

Because he was alone, he took another minute to once again admire the object of his desires. Pure power harnessed. That’s what the Granolith was. His whole life had been spent in pursuit of it. Now, all he had to do was dispose of a little pest, then he could possess it.

So, he started to walk. The mile or so to the main road, than beyond, all along waiting for the right moment.

Now, an engine hummed behind him, and it’s owner’s eyes bulged in fear and pain as Kivar tighten his grip. Want it, take it. It was that simple for him. The car was necessary to his plan, and this human being was stupid enough to offer a stranger a ride.

It often did not pay to play Good Samaritan. This man just had to learn it the hard way.

As the last visages of life fade from the man’s eyes, Kivar let the body fall to the ground, not caring about the faint silver markings on the man’s throat. There were more important matters to take care of.

Slipping himself behind the wheel, Kivar mentally ran thought the timeline Nicholas had given him. According to the car’s little clock, Tess had the Whitman boy in her clutches, therefore, it was too late to intercept Serena there. He would just have to meet them at Las Cruces.

Putting the car into gear, he drove off, the body of the man he killed lay cooling on the side of the road.

Howdy all~

Sorry it took me so long to get this next part posted. All I can say is what a week.

In any case, here it is. I hope you all enjoy!

Annie:)

Part Four:

In 13 hours they’ll be laying flowers
on my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
need your blessing
and your promise to live free
please do it for me


December 3, 2000 - 11:49 am (13 hours: 11 minutes)

The sun-baked desert drifted by as the Celebrity made its way down I-70. Kyle wondered if he ever knew how vast it was, or how boring. They had been on the road for most four hours now, and Lord knew that queen of the future wasn’t saying anything to break the monotony. Okay, every once and awhile she mutter something that had to do with directions, but that was completely one-sided.

Kyle needed something more. A conversation, which included facts and figures, possibly a little diagram on whatever the plan was for when they reached wherever it was they were headed. Damn it, if he was going to risk his life, he wanted a few of the blanks filled in.

“You don’t believe in God,” Serena’s voice broke the silence.

Jolting, Kyle shifted to look at her. “What are you talking about?”

A trace of a smile crossed her lips. “I heard you mumbling to yourself. You said ‘Lord’ once or twice. You don’t believe in God.”

Perilously close to pouting, Kyle tried for a scowl and folded his arms across his chest. “I’m studying Buddhism, yes.”

When she only nodded in response, Kyle finally lost it. The first time she engages in a conversation and it’s over his religious preferences. Forget that.

“Where are we going?” he demanded. Even as she opened her mouth to speak, Kyle kept going in a rant that had been building for hours. “And don’t say you can’t tell me for my own good and all that, because it’s bullshit. I’m the one barreling down a lone desert road at 75 miles an hour with a strange alien from the future. Cluing me in might keep me from freaking out.”

Serena groaned. “I thought you were past freaking out.”

“About you,” Kyle told her. “I’m pretty much over freaking out about you… at least about the fact that you’re from the future. I get that you’re not going to hurt me or anything. But in our previous conversation, you said the word ‘enemy.’ Enemy, as in bad guys, as in person or persons unknown that won’t be crushed if I get killed. In fact, they might volunteer for the job. Now that freaks me out. Especially when I have no idea who or what or where they are. Care to help me out?”

“They are dupes,” she said, giving in. “And Nicholas. We should find them on the far side of Las Cruces in a little abandoned house.”

“Dupes,” Kyle repeated. “Like duplicates… you mean the wannabes.” She started laughing. “I guess so.”

“Wannabes,” Serena giggled. “God, I’ve never heard them called that before. But yeah, you’re right. Lonnie and Rath, the wannabes. Man, I love your sense of humor.”

The words caught him right in the gut. There was so much… emotion in those words, and intimacy, that being seventeen, he wasn’t sure he could handle. Instantly, his mind returned to the flash, and Kyle knew he had experienced both with the woman sitting beside him. Okay, maybe not him him, but some version of himself. What was it like?

Obviously uncomfortable with her slip up, Serena returned to silence again. That was the one thing Kyle couldn’t take right now, not after she’d opened that door.

“Did you love me… the me in the flash?”

Her reply was so soft, so sad, it tore at his heart. “Yes.”

“Were we happy?”

“Yes.”

“Then why don’t you want to talk about it?” Kyle blurted out. “Happy people like to brag about being happy. They can’t keep their mouths shut about it.”

A tear slip down her swollen cheek. Staring straight ahead, Serena swiped at it with the back of her hand. “Kyle, I’m here to change what happens. Whatever was in my timeline won’t be in this one, therefore, it doesn’t matter what occurred between us. The point is moot.”

“If it hurts you so much, then it’s not as moot as you think,” Kyle murmured.

He heard her swallow hard, as if choke back the tears that were starting to flow freely down her face. “You thought I betrayed you.”

“Did you?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head as if re-enforcing her word by the action. “I never did, but you didn’t believe me. You had your reasons. And in the end, you ended up betraying me instead.”

“So,” Kyle muttered, “it was my fault.”

Her head shook even harder. “Yes… no… Kyle it’s complicated. There was something lacking between the two of us, and that led us to hurt each other. The fault lies with me and the Kyle I knew. Not you. You’re just a kid who hasn’t made any of the mistakes we did.”

There was another pause between them, a long one, before Kyle was able to ask the next question. “What did we lack, Serena? What caused us to hurt each other?”

“Trust,” she sighed. “We just didn’t trust each other enough.”

There it was again, Kyle thought, rubbing a hand over his stomach in hopes of easing the ache there. He wanted to comfort her, to draw her into his arms and offer some solace. Granted, he understood that was the last thing she would let him do, but it didn’t diminish the need. If he could just tell her…

“I trust you.” The words came out before he could stop then and, boy, could that have sounded any lamer? Jeez, sometimes there just weren’t words.

A wistful smile tugged at her lips. “Thank you.”

When silence crept back in between them, Kyle used it to allow his mind time to process what she’d told him. They were going to Las Cruces for one thing. He knew enough about the area due to his many football camps at the university, but how could that possibly help them on this particular alien mission? He didn’t have any superpowers. In fact, his only useful contribution up to this point was alerting the other troops, and only the higher powers knew if he’d actually accomplished that. What had he gotten himself it?

“When we get there, what am I suppose to do?”

Serena, either startled by his question or by the suddenness of him asking, jumped slightly. “You stay in the car.”

Kyle shook his head. “No. There’s gotta be something I can do.”

He watched as her hands clenched on the wheel. “What was our agreement, Kyle? You get to come only if you follow my orders. My orders are for you to stay in the car.”

“Think about it,” he countered, shifting in his seat to face her. “I can help. You know that they say two heads are better than one. The same idea applies here. Two people to take them down has got to be better than one.”

“Not when one of them has no way to protect himself.” She took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm down. “I’m not going to lead you to your death just because you want to help, Kyle. You stay in the car. I will send Alex and the book out to you. The second they are in the car, you guys take off.”

“And leave you behind,” Kyle shouted. “Not a chance in hell. Who knows what could happen to you if…”

“I don’t matter,” Serena shouted right back at him. “Get that through your head. I don’t matter, what happens to me doesn’t matter. You get Alex and the book, than you get gone. Understood?”

He knew what would happen if he did just that. She’d die, plain and simple. “Nobody likes a martyr, Serena. Way too much of that goes on in our group. I can tell you from personal experience that it never works out as planned. So, we’ll both go in, get Alex and the book... ”

“It’s not a matter of self-sacrifice,” she ground out through her teeth. “It’s just the way it has to be.”

All thoughts stopped when Kyle finally took a moment to look at her. Hands were gripping the wheel, her breath coming out in pants, and her face was pale and damp with perspiration. “I can help.” Maybe it was useless to keep arguing this point, but Kyle felt he had to try. “If nothing else, I can handle Tess. Even you said she cares about me. Maybe I could talk her out of whatever it is she’s doing.” He reached out to Serena. “I have to try. Please let me.”

The second his hand made contact with her shoulder, the wheel jerked. Horns honked as the car veered into the other lane. Swearing, Kyle made a grab for the wheel, hissed as the plastic seared his hand. “Damn it,” he growled.

“Don’t touch me,” Serena gasped harshly. “Stay away from my hands.” With that, Kyle felt her body give, her head landing against his shoulder.

Ignoring the honks and the semi heading straight toward them, Kyle tighten his grip. “Shit, shit, shitshit...” He was practically chanting it as he yanked at the hot steering wheel. The car drifted back into the correct lane, than off into the sand.

“Apply the brake. Apply the brake,” he told himself, his leg stretching over to the driver’s side. His foot slammed against the peddle and the car jerked once more, only this time skidding to a stop instead of out of control. When all motion ceased, Kyle shoved the car into park. “Serena,” he said, the word barely audible over the sound of his heart pounding.

She said nothing.

He shifted, swore again when she collapsed against him fully. She was burning up, Kyle thought when he brought his hand to her uninjured cheek. Was she sick? He remembered the way she’d screamed in his living room, as if in the throes of terrible pain. Taking a deep breath, he stretched her the seat, head in his lap. And because he also recalled the palm scorch marks on the carpet, he heeded the warning about avoided her hands.

“Please wake up,” he whispered, lightly stroking his hands over her hair. Without her, he was lost and completely screwed. He couldn’t save Alex, or get the book, or confront Tess. And Buddha knew, he certainly didn’t know what to do for a sick alien.

Things just kept going from bad to worse.

~~~~

December 3, 2000 - 11:58 am (13 hours: 2 minutes)

Liz felt the chilly winter breeze down to her very bones. Maybe it was because the old jeep did little to ward off the outside weather. Or it could be that the weather had been colder this year than others. Then again, it just might be because her world had come crashing down again with a few little words.

From the future, the whispery voice had said. Kyle had called her Serena. They both conceded that Alex was in danger. Now, everyone else who remained in Roswell was crammed into the jeep, flying down the highway.

“How do we know we are even on the right track?”

Liz watched as Max shifted gears, bumping up the jeep’s speed, which was already bypassing the legal limit. His eyes shifted in the rearview, aiming in Michael’s direction. “The Sheriff said that the last signal they traced came from I-70 Southwest. This is all we have to go on, Michael.”

“But they could have gotten off anywhere, Maxwell,” Michael pointed out. “Right now, we are just running around like chickens with our heads cut off.”

“Then we run around,” Isabel snapped. She’d shifted in front passenger seat to face him, and Liz could see her red-rimmed eyes filled with anger. “This is Alex we’re talking about. Kyle. Tess won’t answer her cell. This girl is probably holding them captive... We damn well will run around until we find them.”

Liz watched as Max reached out to his sister, placed a hand on her shoulder. “The Sheriff is working on getting us more.” His gaze shifted and stared straight back at Liz. “You did the right thing by getting him to trace Kyle’s call first.”

She swallowed hard. There was no right here. Not when she was keeping vital information from everyone that would help them understand, that would just help. Still, she managed to murmur a thanks, glancing out the window.

A hand gently touched her shoulder, and Liz knew it was Maria offering what comfort she could. It only went further to strengthen the guilt churning in Liz’s stomach. While her best friend knew the basics of what happened when Future Max appeared, there had still been things she’d held back. Serena was one of them.

Serena... her existence, her alliance, it was something Liz couldn’t bring herself to tell anyone, not even Maria. For some reason or another was completely personal.

“I want to know why would you believe anyone when they say they’re from the future,” Michael tossed out. “That’s just... bogus is the only word I can think of. I don’t think we can trust this Serena.”

Yes, you can, Liz wanted to scream. She’s our friend, our ally. She’s here to help, she’s here to save us. To correct whatever mistake I made and...

The revelation hit like a lightening bolt. It was time. Time for the truth. “I believe her,” Liz said calmly, though nothing inside felt calm. “I know Serena is telling the truth.”

Now, Max wasn’t the only one staring at her. They all were. Brushing her clammy hands against her jeans, Liz turned and faced them. “Time travel is possible.”

“How in the hell would you know?” Isabel bit off. “You want to believe this whole convoluted story because you don’t like Tess. You’ve never liked her, but she’s one of us...”

The hand on Liz’s shoulder tightened. “Don’t push that on Liz,” Maria jumped in. “She’s done nothing but help all of you, including Tess.”

“Maria,” Liz started, but Isabel’s voice went right over hers.

“But she doesn’t trust her,” Isabel countered. “Never has.”

With a snort, Maria leaned forward, her face stopping only inches from Isabel’s. “And why should she. Tess may be one of you, but she isn’t the most trustworthy of beings on this planet. Has everyone forgotten how she mindwarped the hell out of the three of you went she first showed up?”

A scowled twisted Isabel’s lips. “That was different.”

“It’s always different for you guys. Why is it that...”

“Enough,” Liz shouted. “My trusting Tess isn’t the issue right now. Finding Kyle and Alex, figuring out what kind of situation they are in is. Serena is on our side. If Kyle is with her, he’s safe... at least for the moment.”

“How do you know that, Liz?” Michael asked, his voice barely skimming calm tones. “What do you know that we don’t?”

“Months ago, I had a visitor.” Liz took a deep breath, and forced herself to push the words out. “He was from the future. And before you ask,” she said when Michael opened his mouth, “I knew I could trust him. I... knew him. He needed help to change the future. Apparently, Tess left and when your enemies came to Earth, there was nothing we could do to stop them.”

Ignoring the now dropped jaws of her friends, with the exception of Maria, Liz pushed on. “He mentioned Serena. He said that she was a friend, my friend.” She glanced up, met Max’s reflected gaze. “He wouldn’t lie.”

“Liz,” Maria gasped. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“You knew about this,” Michael and Isabel said simultaneously.

Wincing, Maria shifted in her seat, scooting closer to Liz. “Some.”

Michael aimed a pointed look at her. “You and I are going to have a talk about communication.” Before Maria could counter that, his attention turned to Liz. “You said this happened a few months ago. Was this before all that shit with the skins...”

“Michael.” Max’s voice was low, warning.

“Maxwell, we have a right to know when all this went down. She has all this information and she doesn’t bother to tell...”

“It was the night of the Gomez concert.”

Liz turned to Max. He focus was back on the road, but out of the corner of the mirror, she could see the hint of hurt in his eyes. Everything added up in his mind: the timing, her comments, things that had happened afterward, like the way she knew about the Granolith. “Wasn’t it?”

For a moment, all she could do was nod. “I kept it from you because I he told me I had to.”

“But you’re telling us now.” It was more of a statement than a question Isabel was asking.

“It’s the only way you might trust me.”

That hung in the air between the five of them, slightly bitter and kind of sad, until Liz’s cell phone began humming. Jumping just a bit, her hand dove into her pocket, flipped it. She was talking before it even reached her ear. “Sheriff?”

“Alex’s neighbors said they saw... lue Chevy or Buick sedan ... tan Celebrity ... stolen.” There was a pause, and Liz’s breath caught on a prayer, hoping her cell didn’t cut out. “Reports just came in ... car out of control ... I-70 about 20 miles from Las Cruces ... a blue Celebrity ... Liz...” The phone went dead.

“What did he say?” Isabel demanded when Liz’s hand dropped from her ear.

“He thinks they’re in a blue Celebrity heading towards Las Cruces.”

Max nodded. “Then we’re going to Las Cruces.”

Howdy everyone~

Thank you for all the feedback. I am glad that everyone is enjoying this story.

And what about that sister... I have a feeling it has something to do with Liz.

Yup... Liz is Serena's sister. It's just the how part that the question right now.

Also, thank you for your comments about the FM part. I was really worried about it because Liz doesn't actually come out and say that it was Max who came back from the future. While this Max has come to that conclusion... everyone else (except Maria) is still in the dark about it. It was all kinda confusing, and I just wasn't sure it came out right... so thank you for letting me know it did.

Well, without much more ado, I've got a new part with me. Just a little warning... this part kinda reaches into ADULT territory here. It hadn't been planned when I started the story, but when I came to this part, it needed to be written. Granted, we are talking tippy toes dipping lightly into the water here... but it's there... Be forewarned.

Annie:)

Part Five:

I’m not alone, I sense it, I sense it
All that I said, I meant it, I meant it
And I can’t believe
How much I’ve wasted my time


December 3, 2000 - 12:10 pm (12 hours: 50 minutes)


He watched them from the backdoor, amused to see them scrambling around like mice. Amused because that was the emotion he decided to give into rather then the slight irritation he initially felt. After all, it was disappointing to learn that those who served you were slightly more evolved than vermin.

His eyes lingered momentarily as the occupants of the house tried to set a disheveled room to rights. Tess, the beautiful little queen, looked particularly tense. Sweat trickled down her brow, matting the curls that escaped from her ponytail against her cheeks. And it seemed like every little sound startled her. This, of course, only enticed Lonnie, the room’s other occupant, to make as much noise a possible.

It was sad to see his once feisty Vilondra reduced to gutter trash trapped in a human shell, even if that shell was interestingly display in tight jean shorts and a tank. It was still pitiful. In his timeline, Lonnie had been nothing more than a tool... a thing to be used and discarded when needed. Kivar remembered he had done soon not long after he emerged. He could do so now, impatient with the her petty display, but decided it was best to wait on that occasion. He hadn’t come for Lonnie, but Serena. She was his current goal, making it a lucky day for the others.

Kivar decided it was magnanimous to let the lighter feeling to take over, knowing full well that his second would pay for all annoyances the moment he returned to his own time. Once upon a time, Nicholas had lauded the months of preparation that went into this particular operation. Seeing first hand how unprepared and unaware they actually had been told Kivar that had been a lie. It was particularly disconcerting to find he could get this close without being noticed.

Hands, which had been relaxed, tightened into fists as his amusement slid past annoyance and into anger. The last thing Kivar would tolerate was his second lying to him.

There was an ever grown sensation of a presence behind him. Great, Kivar thought. Someone finally managed to discover a fox in the hen house. His body tensed the tiniest bit, but he remained where he was, until a hand dropped roughly onto his shoulder. “Yo fool…”

That was all Kivar allowed the other man to say before his elbow rammed into the man’s gut. At the same time, he reached up with his free hand, grabbing his attacker’s wrist. With a little forward momentum, Kivar sent the man flying over his shoulders, where he skidded across the room and slammed into the far wall.

Tess gasped as she jumped around to face him, while Lonnie simply turned as she let out a string of curses. Kivar ignored them both as he crossed the room. He grabbed the man… well, boy that he identified as Rath by neck, hauling him to his feet. “I am to be treated with respect,” he growled, his hand squeezing tightly. “Blink if you understand.”

It took a moment for that to register, but eventually Rath blinked. “Good,” Kivar said, easing his grip.

As he drew in air, Rath coughed and collapsed to the floor. “Fuck the what, dude...”

Kivar eyes narrowed. “Respect.”

The word had Rath scrambling on his hands and knees towards Lonnie. With the most vulgar language possible, she informed him of her disapproval even as she helped him to his feet. That is when his second decided to make his grand entrance.

“Who the hell is making all the noise?”

Still in the body of an adolescent child, Nicholas stalked into the room, a vile in one hand, syringe in the other. “I did,” Kivar said calmly.

Nicholas’s head whipped around, his eyes widening with surprise when they landed on Kivar. “My... my lord, how is it possible. You weren’t suppose... the pod was scheduled to open...”

“Next year,” Kivar completed for him. “And it will. I am not from this time. Instead, I’ve come back from mine to help you eliminate a small problem." His eyes focused on the vial. “So that was how you managed to sustain the warp. You kept giving him injections of resistance inhibitors.”

Nicholas stiffened. “Tess has to keep up her appearance with the others, my lord. Have her disappear for weeks would make that kind of hard. This way, his brain is more susceptible to the warp. All she has to do is plant the warp, and his brain will keep it going for at least a week.”

“You imbecile. You took that serum from the labs, knowing full well that it was still in it’s experimental stages.” Kivar stalked over to his second and grabbed the vile. Examining it for a moment, he felt his anger grow to explosive proportions. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the tiny container flying across the room. The bottle smashed against the wall just above Tess’s head. She gave a short shriek, quickly shuffling towards the other wall.

“Because you used that serum over and over again for weeks, his resistance not only lower, but disappeared completely. The warps added more fuel to that particular fire, until his brain couldn’t take anymore and shut down, effectively killing him.”

He reached down, grabbed Nicholas by the collar and tossed him across the room, much like he had the vile. “You’ve disappointed me greatly, Niko.”

Struggling to his feet, Nicholas searched for an excuse to placate Kivar. Understanding that was how his second’s mind worked, Kivar cut him off before the words could come pouring out. “I don’t want excuses. From this point on, I am in charge of this little mission. Assuming that Mr. Whitman is properly contained for the moment, I have a job for you all to focus on. One that takes priority for the moment.”

He met each on of their gazes as they stared at him. Already his mind was formulating a plan... the perfect surprise for his Serena. “We have company coming.”


December 3, 2000 - 12:34 pm (12 hours: 26 minutes)

Nightmares plagued her as Serena struggled to wake. Old and familiar, she fought against them. Yet, they overtook her as they always had.

She dreamt of his hands, slightly rough from manual labor, skimming over her body, causing wave after wave of pleasure to rise within her. Gently, lovingly, they stroked as she sighed and found contentment like she’d never known before. Only there in the darkened room, under his tender attention, did it exist. Then, it all changed. The hands that touched her now no longer hardened from work, but pampered.

She knew that the pampered ones bruised her flesh as they took what they wanted. Tenderness shifted to possession, and Serena no longer sighed but screamed.

I loved you. It was Kyle voice, his face she saw when she turned her gaze at the far corner of the room. He stood there watching as Kivar took her. I gave you everything I had. Loved and accepted you with every part of my being, and you betrayed me like this.

Even has she shook her head, Kivar thrust into her deeply, his hand moving up her torso until it closed around her throat. Tell him the truth, lover. You’re mine, have been since the moment I laid eyes on you.

No, Serena tried to scream. The word barely eeked out against the pressure on her throat. Her eyes shot straight to Kyle’s, pleading for him to believe her. Never, I swear. You’d died before...

That’s right, Kyle shouted. I died, for you... for a cause that took everything I ever cared about away from me. Besides, does it matter if I was dead when you went to him. My body was barely in the ground before you gave him yours.

It was the only way to get intel. She was practically begging him now. I wanted him to pay for what he did...

So you fucked him.

Serena flinched against the bitterness in his voice. It wasn’t like that, she insisted. Please believe me. Please, Kyle...

Please Kyle, he mimicked. The light in the room changed, washed over him from a different direction. Now, Serena saw the scorch marks along his skin, sections were flesh had burned away to the bone just as it had been when she discovered his body in the wreck of the explosion. Go to hell.

Kivar groan in triumph as he reached completion. He leaned closer to her, his breath tickling along her cheek. She’s already there.

Serena struggled against him. No, she cried. No...

She ripped herself away from the nightmare and into consciousness. With a soft cry, Serena pressed her face into the fabric of the seat, and prayed for the images to go away. But they didn’t. Instead, behind closed eyes, they played like a horror movie she couldn’t escape from.

Tears escaped out the corners of her eyes, trickling down her cheeks. Serena didn’t hear the sound of gravel crunching under footsteps, or the crinkle of a paperbag as it was shifted. Too caught up in her grief, she didn’t even register the passenger door opening.

“Hey,” Kyle said, falsely cheerful. “You’re awake. I’ve got some...”

Serena jerked in the seat at the sound of his voice. Shooting up in the seat, her hands instantly went to her face to wipe away the residue of her crying jag, but it was too late. Kyle trailed off when he saw the tears, honed in on them directly. He was crouching down beside her instantly, the bag he’d been carrying dropped and forgotten beside the car.

“What’s the matter?” he demanded. Lightly, his hands ran over her face, gently searching for the origin of her pain. “Are you going to be sick again? Is there something I can do?”

All Serena could do was stare at his face. Little did he know that his words shot directly to source, allowing it to heal the tiniest bit. Needing to show him, to thank him, Serena pressed her hands together, testing for the burn. When she only felt the slightest bit of heat, she part them, brought them to his face, and cupped it between them. “Kyle...”

His eyes went wide for a second, than deepened. He drew in a breath, exhaled it on her name, then leaned in.

Their lips met in a soft kiss. Emotions lingering close to the surface opened up and poured from her to him. The hands that had been resting on his face drifted down along side of his throat to curved around his neck. Serena drew him closer, sighed against his mouth when he deepened the kiss.

Love me, her heart cried out to him. Forgive me.

Her Kyle had died before either of them had the chance to offer forgiveness. If her gift was the chance to save Alex Whitman, maybe her salvation was this last chance at absolution.

He felt the change in her. She all but melted against him, warm, loving, and open. The ache that had been balling in his stomach since she first appeared, grew. For the first time in his life, Kyle needed beyond comprehension, beyond reason. No one had ever made him felt this way. Not Vicki, or Liz, or even Tess. Just Serena.

When she sighed against his mouth, Kyle had no resistance left. He opened to her completely.

For the second time that day, images emerged from her mind and flew into his. Flashes of them holding each other, kissing, fighting. He saw himself standing beside her as she knelt by the grave of Jeff Parker, tracing the word father etched into the marble marker lightly with her finger. Kyle understood in that moment that Mr. Parker was Serena’s father... which made Liz her sister. Yet, before he could filtrate that any further, more images passed into his mind, growing stronger each time.

He felt her agony when she saw him touching an older version of Tess. Only it wasn’t Tess. Because she knew it at the time, he knew it now. It was Ava. In the next, Ava was touching her stomach, explaining the baby growing inside. His child.

An explosion rocked his mind next. He saw the flames, than his face as he dragged rubble away from Serena, and lifted her into his arms. They struggle to the outside, where he deposited her on the grass. I have to go back, he explained. Ava’s still in there... the baby... Then he was gone, disappearing into the emerging flames. Kyle heard Serena’s cry for him...

It all slipped into darkness, but Kyle could still feel. And he felt a needle sliding underneath his skin.

Tearing his mouth from her’s, Kyle gulped at the air. The cool freshness of it rushed into his lungs, but couldn’t purge the sickness welling inside him. Stumbling away from the car and her, Kyle managed to get a few steps before he became violently ill. Yet, as the last of it passed from him, he felt a hand on the small of his back.

Kyle pressed a hand to his mouth, wiped. “How,” he managed to say. “How could you survive that?”

“I didn’t.” Her voice was tight. “And I won’t. But there are things I have to do before I’m gone.”

He glanced over his should at her, saw that new tears had joined the others glistening on her cheeks. “Don’t say that. I know he injected you with something, but we’ll find a cure, or an antidote... whatever it takes.”

A sad smile graced her lips. “It doesn’t work that way. That serum was from my time. It doesn’t exist here. Neither does the cure.”

“Then we’ll get Max,” Kyle countered. “Superevans heals everything. He’s better than a band-aid.”

“It might kill him, Kyle.” Her hand dropped from his back, went to her stomach. She began rubbing it there as if to ease an ache. “And I’d be dead either way. That’s the way the serum works. It’s designed to kill a hybrid by attacking the cells that are alien. It gets worse when powers are used, that increases the burn. I should know. After all, I had a hand in creating it.”

Kyle straightened, stared at her. “You created this?”

“I played my part in it,” Serena told him. “I was just a stupid kid who wanted to prove herself in the world of science. I wanted to find cures that would save people from any kind of sickness, and rushed head first into an agreement with the devil. I ignored the signs, and created my own death in the process.”

Tears were now pouring from her eyes as she stood tall in front of him. He thought about what she said, they way she said it. And he filtered in the visions. This was a challenge. She wanted him to hate her, to strike out at her in someway because that’s what he’d done before. And she thought she deserved it, even as she was desperate for forgiveness.

Swallowing hard, wincing at the taste in his mouth, Kyle moved toward her. She stiffened, but didn’t moved away. He reached out to her, wrapped her in his arms and drew her close. For a moment, she stood stalk still, before her arms banded around him. The first sob escaped as she buried her face against his throat. He felt the warm tears as he ran a hand over her hair. “I’m here,” he said softly.

“I sorry,” she cried against him. “Oh God, I am so sorry.”

“Shhhh.” Kyle pressed his lips to her temple, than her neck. “It’s okay. I know. He knows. We’ll find a way, I promise.”

He felt the shudders as she continued to cry, purging in her own way. How could anyone be so strong, he wondered. So strong and stoic that the could survive all this guilt and pain for so long. But, deep down, he knew she’d already told him the answer. She hadn’t survived, and she wouldn’t. He was going to lose her.

His own eyes began to burn with tears that he refused to shed. She’d had enough pain that she didn’t need his own. Running his hand soothingly over her back, Kyle continued to whisper comforts to her until the sobs began to ease.

Still, she clung to him. “I should have never involved you in this,” she sighed. “I should’ve never told you what I have or kissed you or...”

“You needed me.”

His words had her easing back, staring at him. “I always needed you, even when I was too stupid to realize it.”

“Then don’t beat yourself up about it.” He drew back, but took her hand. “How much time do we have?”

Serena knew what he was asking. How much time before the serum killed her. She thought about that, feeling the weight of her own mortality crushing down, and took a deep breath. “Somewhere around twelve hours, give or take a few minutes.” She glanced down at her own wrist, felt silly for it. It would do no good to see the minutes and hours pass. “I don’t have a watch,” she whispered.

He tugged at her hand, and she fell into step beside him. “There’s a clock in the car,” he offered, as if he understood her meaning.

For the first time, Serena glanced at their surrounds and truly noticed them. “Where are we?”

“The first exit outside of Las Cruces. You passed out in the car, so I had to pull over. When I stopped freaking out that you were...” he stopped, decided to rephrase. “Well, I noticed that we were almost out of gas. I also thought that you might need something to eat or drink when you woke up. So, here we are.”

They’d reached the car. Kyle dropped her hand and bent down to retrieve the bag lying on the ground. He pulled out a wrapped sandwich. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got turkey. Almost everyone likes turkey...”

She took the sandwich from him, offered him a smile. “Turkey’s great.”

He nodded. “Good, great. We can eat on the road.”

Unwrapping the sandwich, Serena took a small bite, ignored the fact it tasted like dust in her mouth. The serum had spread far enough in her system that even the most human parts of her makeup were succumbing. Now it was taste, but soon she’d lose her ability to smell or hear. Last would be touch. Anything she touched in the hour before her death would disintegrate.

Serena intended to be gone before that happened. If she didn’t die trying to change the future, the Granolith would absorb her once it had been altered. She could become a intricate part of the connection. As she slipped into the seat beside Kyle, more guilt assaulted her for keeping these details from him, but she felt she had to. After all she’d thrown at him, this last little bit might prove to be too much, and he was right. She needed him.

“Let’s go save the day,” she murmured.

Howdy all~

Wow, you all are wonderful. Thank you so much for the feedback. I can't believe the response this fic is getting... so thank you!!!!

I've got a new part with me. I had planned on getting it out yesterday... but cleaning completely wiped me out. But I have it with me now.... and we are get towards the final count down. Two more parts left and an epilogue.

So without further ado...


Part Six:

In 8 hours they’ll be laying flowers
on my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
need your blessing
and your promise to live free
please do it for me


December 3, 2000 - 2:25 pm (11 hours: 35 minutes)


“On ward to Las Cruces…” Michael grumbled as he folded his arms across his chest. “Well, we’re here. Now what? Drive around for awhile, pray we see their car.”

Maria began to shift around in the hope of getting comfortable again. In the cramped backseat of the jeep, that was nearly impossible. All that she managed was to jab her elbow into Liz side.

Fed up, Liz leaned forward, turning her head to glare a Michael. “We are doing the best we can with what we have. Okay, Michael. If you have any better ideas, by all means, share it with the rest of us. Otherwise, just keep your mouth shut and your eyes open.”

“Liz…” Maria’s voice was soft, but carried a hint of warning.

There was one problem though. At this point, Liz was beyond caring. There had been nothing but tension since she made her announcement. Most of it was aimed in her direction, but Liz expected that. However, she didn’t factor in the possibility that the may not believe her. She was almost certain that Michael and Isabel were skeptical about her confession. She had let them in on the most painful secret of her life and they didn’t believe her. And she didn’t have much of a chance to convince them. The Sheriff’s phone call effectively cut off that conversation, leaving so much left unsaid.

Liz could feel the pressure of frustration was building up inside her. People she cared about were in danger, she had a secret that might save their lives, and her friends wouldn’t believe her. For the past two hours, she managed to keep her mind focused on search for any sign or Alex or Kyle as they wandered the streets of Las Cruces, but Michael’s comment pushed her over the top. Now, it was time for the frustration to come spuing out.

“No Maria,” she cried out. “Making wisecracks isn’t helping us any, but Michael would rather make those instead of coming up with something useful.” Her breaths were coming out as pants. Yet, Liz ignored it, and the ever growing weight pressing down on her chest. “It might help if you believed me. God, why would I lie about something like this? Is something you think I’m doing for kicks? Alex … and, and Kyle are in danger, but you’d think I’d play a joke…”

Her eyes widened when she tried to draw in air and found she couldn’t. ‘I…” she gasped. “I…” Her voice trailed off she continued to struggle. “I can’t breathe.” Her gaze wandered from face to face, taking in their shocked expressions. Then, her eyes locked on Max’s in the rearview. “Please…”

Instantly, he was jerking the wheel, aiming the car at the side of the road. Liz heard the breaks screech to a halt, but she was already yanking at the door handle. The cool December air hit in her the face as she stumbled from the car, away from the guilt, lies, and speculation. Her brain didn’t register where she was running, only the fact that she needed to get away.

Then her legs gave, and Liz felt the ground come to meet her. Cold blades of grass abraded her cheek, but she turned into icy texture, allowing the chill to shock her system. Tears ran bitterly down her cheeks as she was finally able to draw air, exhaling it on a sob.

“Liz.” She heard Max’s voice, felt a hand against her shoulder. She turned away from it.

For some reason she couldn’t fathom, he didn’t let that stop him. She’d lied to him, said all those horrible things, pretended to sleep with Kyle, yet here he was, pulling her gently into his arms. Lightly, Max lifted her chin, so Liz had no choice but to look at him. Still, she tried to worm out of his arms. “Liz,” he said. “Stop.”

“I can’t change it,” she cried, giving up and slumping against him. “I didn’t want to do it, but I can’t change it, Max. What if I did something wrong? If Serena had to come back, I must have screwed up somehow. I knew when I heard her name that I would have to tell you… but part of me didn’t want to. I couldn’t take it if you hated me.”

Liz felt his hand move, brush down the length of her hair. His lips placed a whisper of a kiss against her temple. “I don’t, Liz. I couldn’t… not even after…”

Her arms went around him, clung. “Do you believe what I said? About the future, about Serena, all of it?”

She heard his voice catch. “Yes.”

“Michael and Isabel don’t...”

“I believe you.”

Liz twisted to see Isabel crouching down beside her. “I did believe you, Liz. I just didn’t want to.” A tear tricked down her cheek. “Because if I did, it meant we let Tess into the group, gave her the opportunity to hurt us… to hurt Alex. If something’s happened to him, it’s our fault, and I don’t know if I could…”

When Isabel broke off, Liz wrapped her arms around her. “We’ll find him, Isabel. We have to.”

In the background, there was a gruff sound of someone clearing their throat. “I just might have an idea after all.”

Liz looked up to see Michael standing there, shuffling back and forth from one foot to another. “Michael…”

He held up a hand. “You were right about that. So I took your advice. Isabel should try to dreamwalk Alex.”

“Michael...” Isabel started, “I don’t know if I can. He might not be asleep, or…”

“You did it to Pierce,” he commented, cutting her off too. “He was wide awake and you were able to get into his mind. Plus, this is Alex. If there is anybody he’d let it, it’d be you, Iz.”

Max shifted, laid a hand over his sister’s resting on the ground. “What do you say?”

To Liz’s… well everyone’s, surprise, Isabel let out a low laugh. Something lit her eyes, and Liz decided it must have been determination. “I need a picture.”

~~~~


December 3, 2000 - 4:11 pm (8 hours: 49 minutes)


Not able to take his mind off of what was about to happen, Kyle watched Serena watch the house off in the distance. Alex was in there, possibly suffering some unspeakable horror, while they waited for the right opportunity to bust him out. Okay, ‘they’ wasn’t really the right word to use in this situation. Serena was the one who was about to go jumping into the fray. Kyle’s job was to sit in the car. Not a lot of good it would do, in his opinion, to sit while the woman he… cared about risked her life to save his friend.

She could die, was all he could think. It didn’t matter to him that she said she already was. His mind was going to wrap around that idea anytime in the near future. In fact, he had deliberately refused to process it while they drove around Las Cruces. Kyle wouldn’t even let it cross his mind when they stopped at the sports store to pick up what Serena deemed necessary supplies. That particular shopping list was a pair of binoculars, length of rope, and a hunting knife.

The hunting knife disturbed him the most. Knowing what she had planned…

“I still think this plan sucks,” Kyle grumbled.

Lowering the binoculars, she simply turned and gave him a look. “Yes, I know. Doesn’t mean I’m changing my mind about this. I go in the house, and you…”

“I keep my manly self in the car and wait,” Kyle finished for her.

The hint of a smile tugged at her lips. “That will keep your manly self alive, which is one of my main priorities right now.”

He folded his arms across his chest, trying to look tough. “I can help, Serena. I can talk to Tess…”

“And while she might not kill you, the others won’t hesitate.” Gone was the grin, replaced by a look of pure annoyance. “We’ve been over this, but let me reiterated… Nicholas, Lonnie, and Rath are in that house besides Tess. Plus, from what I can see through the wonderful binoculars, there is another, yet unidentified, goon prowling around as well. If you charge in there, you might get yourself or Alex killed.”

“But it’s different for you?” he countered. “You can go charging in there and they won’t kill you or Alex?”

Her eyes fired with anger as she scowled at him. “First, I’m not going to charge in there. Second, I plan on getting Alex and the book out of there before I take the others on. And last, I’m going to die anyway.”

Just hearing her say it had emotion welling inside him. “Serena…”

“Kyle.” Her voice had softened.

“I don’t want to hear about you dying, Serena.” Didn’t she realize that idea was so horrible to him he couldn’t bare the thought. “Sue me, but I don’t think I can deal. It’s just so... unfair.” He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to speak. “And, yes, I understand that life’s not fair in the best of circumstances, and this situation is less than ideal, but…” He trailed off, thinking.

Thinking about how much she’d come to mean to him. In less than a day, she’d managed to get a stronghold on his heart. One might say, he’d fallen, and fallen hard. Yet, when she was gone, there would nothing to cushion his landing.

She laid a hand over his, sighed loudly. Since they’d left the gas station, Serena had made a habit of touching him. Sometimes it was as simple as brush against his arm at the sporting store register, or holding his hand while he drove through the streets of Las Cruces. Kyle thought he understood why. Touching, having some form of contact, was a way to validate she was still here. There were times when the lightest contact could contain the most comfort.

Yet, to Kyle, it was torture because he knew at the end of the day, she wouldn’t be there. She was suffering, and there was nothing he could do but allow her to take the comfort, and endure it silently.

“Let me tell you a story, Kyle,” she said out of the blue. “There once was a girl who longed for a family. Some kind of home or place to belong to. It was hard because she, like her mother, was different, and if somebody ever found out about those differences, they would get hurt... or worse. Still, she was always hoping. One day, she met a man, and he opened so many doors to her. He gave her the gift of belonging. He gave her back her sister.”

Kyle turned, shocked to hear it allowed, though he had his own suspicions.

Serena nodded. “Yes. Liz is my sister. Jeff Parker is my father. He and my mom dated. One day, she found out she was pregnant, which shocked the hell out of her. It was one thing she thought she’d never had to worry about because…”

“Because they were two different species.”

Again there was a nod. “My mother came on a ship during the seventies. Over the years, as the Antarians failed to hear from the Protectors, more Rebels were sent to find and guard the pods. When my mother arrived, she did the math, followed logic, and wound up in Roswell. She blended in, searched, and fell in love.”

“But how…” he trailed off, gesturing at her.

“Well, as you may have learned in your health class, when a the sperm meets an egg...”

Kyle groaned his lack of amusement, but secretly reveled in the fact that the little joke on him brought a light back into her eyes.

“There’s a gene,” she told him, laughing just a little bit. “The how’s and why’s of its origin are more complicated than we have time for, but it was passed down to Jeff Parker. That one little gene made the human and alien DNA’s compatible for conception… hence me.”

“Does Liz have this gene?” Kyle asked, now complete curious. How complicated was complicated? What kind of origins was she talking about?

“Yes.” Serena turned back to look out the window, but Kyle could tell she hadn’t finished was she was saying. “But that’s not the point of my story, Kyle. You are. My Kyle was the man who gave me those gifts. He told me about Liz, and together we figured out the rest. Right now, there is a version of me out there who doesn’t know about any of this.”

There was a pause as Serena took a deep breath. Kyle watched a flicker of pain run over her face. Knowing he could do no more, he turned his hand and linked his fingers with her. They were so hot the contact was almost unbearable.

Her eyes met his, went wet. “She deserves to find out in her own time,” she said finally, tugging her hand free. “To make those choices that will lead her to... wherever. Just because I’m here now doesn’t change that. It’s her time… and it’s yours.”

“How much pain will you be in?” Kyle couldn’t keep himself from asking. “I know that it hurts you now, but will it get much worse?”

She shrugged, a gesture he realized was as good as a verbal confirmation. Wincing, he turned to look out the window at the house looming in the distance. “Is there anyway to make it easier?” he murmured.

“Some things just can’t be easy.”

Kyle pondered that while he studied the current bane of his existence. The stucco sided house was small. Heck, it was even smaller than his house, but it was threatening. How could something small be that threatening? Did it make him a coward to be scared of it, of what it held inside its doors? Or did it make Serena that much braver for facing it head on?

He was leaning toward the latter. “You’ll send Alex out?”

She nodded. “With the book.”

“And Tess,” he wondered aloud. “Will you kill her?”

She ran her tongue over her lips, attempting to moisten them. Her body gave the slightly of shudders when the gesture cause the lower one to split slightly. She touched it lightly with the tips of her fingers, let out a sigh of acceptance. “Not if I don’t have to. But to be honest, Kyle, I might have to.”

“I understand.”

“Do you?” she questioned. “Whatever happens to her is not your fault, Kyle. I’m not even sure its completely hers either. From what I’ve gathered over the years, Nasedo was a bastard. He trained that girl to be a pawn. All she knows is how to bounce back and forth between sides, hoping to fall on the winning one. It won’t keep me from stopping her if she get’s in my way, but my hope is that I won’t have too.”

Obviously thinking about it, he watched her draw the hunting knife out of the bag. She unsheathed it, tested the blade with the tip of her finger. “Just remember one thing. If she makes it out alive, you still can’t trust her.” Serena shifted, reached for the door handle. “Tess is a wild card no one can afford to take a risk on.”

“It’s not like I’m planning on being buddy-buddy with her after this.” Still, he offered Serena a small smile. “I know you don’t care, but I do, so be careful. Please.”

Kyle watched her hesitated. As if fleeing with the moment, she twisted back toward him, leaned in, and touched her lips to his. “Bye Kyle.”

With that, she was moving. Raising the binoculars to his eyes, Kyle watched her make way toward the house, doing her best to keep low against the uneven terrain. The winter sun was already started to set, casting shadows. She slipped in and out of them until he finally lost sight of her as she slipped around the side of the building.

And he wanted to give into the urge to cry. Holding back the tears, he focused on watching out for Alex instead. Still, his eyes lingered on the last place he’d seen her for one last moment. “Good luck.”

~~~~

December 3, 2000 - 4:37 pm (8 hours: 23 minutes)

Something was off. Serena could sense it deep down in her bones. The feeling disturbed her so much, she began to question if she was going about this the right way. In another hour it would be completely dark. Should she have waited?

No, Serena firmly decided. If she waited too long, the serum might have prevented her from doing anything. Already, the pain was pushing her threshold. Her skin was starting to dry out, her lips cracking from the lack of moisture. A couple of times now, her vision had wavered. Waiting would have only made all of this worse.

Dusk was beginning to fall, so that was in her favor. Using it, she crept in the shadows of the building, working her way towards the back of the house. The windows were darkened here. Testing them, she found the first pair open. The nagging uncertainty kicked up a little bit, but Serena continued, hoisted herself over the sill. With a noiseless tumble, she landed in a crouch, just inside the small bedroom.

Her eyes scanned the room, and lingered over the still form of a young boy. Alex Whitman sat, tied to a chair no more than five feet away from her, and the only thing Serena could manage at the moment was staring.

She’d seen pictures of him. Of course she did. After all, she knew Liz and Maria. They were both fanatics about pictures. But you know what the problem was with pictures? They were flat imitations of reality. The boy in front of her was real… and that was something she’d never seen.

“Alex,” she whispered, barely able to hear the sound over the own knocking of her own heart. He didn’t stir.

Keeping as quiet as she could, Serena crept closer. “Alex.” She crouched down beside the chair, reached forward to undo the binds on his arms. “Can you hear me, Alex?”

“I don’t know about him,” a voice trickled in from the doorway, “but I can hear ya loud and clear.”

Judging from the silhouette, the figure was female, and the voice was familiar. Not Isabel, but Lonnie. There was just enough an accent to make that clear. Without even thinking, Serena’s hand went to the knife resting against her back. Quickly, she withdrew it, shed the sheath, and flung it at the dupe.

Lucky for the other girl, she shifted just as the blade came at her. Instead of hitting the center of her chest, the knife pierced her arm. “Son of a bitch.”

Making use of the distraction, Serena grabbed the rope around Alex’s hands, used her powers to unravel it. The burn was immense. The air in her lungs singed, and black dots swam in front of her eyes. She didn’t see the bat or swinger, only felt the crack along her spine. Crumbling under it, Serena cracked her uninjured cheek against the chair.

“Shit,” she hissed, rolling.

A foot stopped her progress. “Yous suppose ta be da big threat. I don’t see it.”

“Cuz you ain’t the one with a fucking knife in your arm.”

The black was easing away, and Serena found herself staring up at Lonnie and Rath, looks of disgust and amusement warring between them. “That’s what you get for eavesdropping.”

That earned her a sharp kick to the ribs. “Boss wants you in one piece.” Lonnie crouched down, and with her good hand, got a death grip on Serena’s hair, yanked her up. “Meanin’ yous one lucky bitch. On your feet.”

Not that she had much choice. Between the hair pulling Lonnie was subjecting her too, and Rath, who’d grabbed her arm, they were both forcing her to stand. Still, not willing to make it easy for them, Serena dragged her feet.

They took her into the living room, deposited her in the center of the room. Serena looked around, spotted Tess in the furthest corner of the room. The little blond was doing her best to look tough, standing there, a blaster in one hand. But the edges were fraying. Serena could see the alien weapon shaking, as the hand holding it was. And her eyes weren’t focused on the newest captive.

Following there line of sight, Serena twisted around, saw what they were directed at. And felt her heart stop. “Kivar.”

Howdy all~

Okay... I thought that I would have this part out by yesterday, so I have to apologize that it didn't work out that way. But I do have it with me now... if that helps.

Catalyst~ I swear that I am not trying to kill you. As for Serena... I hate to say that you just kinda have to wait and see.

Only one more part and a epilogue to go.

Big howdy to paper, Serephinah, and Galliard. Thank you for reading!!!

On to the next part... bit of violence here, so be warned!

Annie:)

Part Seven:

Is there a heaven a hell
and will I come back , who can tell
Now I can see
what matters to me
it’s as clear as crystal
The places I’ve been
the people I’ve seen
plans that I made
start to fade
The sun’s setting gold
thought I would grow old,
it wasn’t to be


December 3, 2000 - 5:02 pm (7 hours: 58 minutes)


Kyle scanned the house again with the binoculars. The sun was gone now, darkness replacing it. Faint lights glowed in the windows, the occasional shadow against the shades. None of it meant a damn thing. Not when there wasn’t one sign of Alex or Serena. How long had she been in there? Five minutes? Ten? It seemed like hours. Hell, for all he knew, it had been.

He wanted to turn on the car. Kyle knew it was a stupid idea, but that didn’t stop the wanting. Car not on, clock not on. Kyle sitting alone, in the dark, worried sick. And still... nothing.

Kyle slammed his free hand against the steering wheel in frustration. All he was doing was just sitting, waiting, like an idiot. He should go in there. Yeah, Kyle decided. He was going to get out of this car, stalk over to the house, and...

...get them all killed the process. Not to mention breaking his promise to Serena. Letting out a low groan, he laid his head against the back of the seat. He wasn’t going anywhere. At least not until someone showed up.

And there was a great... very great chance, that person wouldn’t be Serena.

He allowed his eyes to close for a moment in hope of countering the headache beginning to pound just behind them. He might not have any idea how long he’d been sitting there, but Kyle did know it was long enough to think over everything that had happened that day... hence the ache in his brain.

He’d gone from fretting over icky parental images invading his mind to an alien from the future invading his heart. At the beginning of the day, he’d trusted Tess. Now, he wasn’t sure how he felt about her. Kyle had been an accessory after the fact in a car theft, nearly been in a car accident, and seen snippets of a future where he died. And he could only think the same thought he’d had that morning.

Wasn’t that a kick in the head?

Rubbing a the heal of his hand against a throbbing temple, Kyle nodded. Yup... it was.

Added to that was an equal feeling that he’d been kicked in the stomach. Kyle felt absolutely sick to it at the idea of losing Serena. She would be gone... he would lose her, and yet, she would still be out there somewhere. Would he find her? The answer was yes, because he had to.

That slightly hint of hope had Kyle straighten in the seat, opening his eyes. There was a job he needed to do. Once this night was behind him, with all of this terrifying and horrible aspects, he would have to deal with what came next. But not until then.

So he lifted the binoculars to his eyes once more, focused on the lit windows of the house, and spied to shapes warring with each other. The sickness in his belly turned to lead, hard and knotting. The shadow of a hand stuck out, and hit with precision from what he could tell. Another shadow fell against the window. It rustled the curtain enough to give him a peek. And he saw Serena, a trick of blood down her cheek, eyes wide with hurt.

It didn’t even take him two seconds to consider the consequences or his promise. Kyle was out of the car like a shot. “Can’t go in unarmed,” he murmured to himself. And the only weapon they’d bought was the one hunting knife... a lot of good it did him now.

Thinking for a moment, Kyle grabbed the keys from the ignition and moved towards the rear of the car. If nothing else, there had to be a tire iron in the trunk, maybe a crowbar. Sliding the key into the lock, he lifted the lid, and found neither.

“Come on,” he groaned through gritted teeth. “There is no way I’d pissed off the higher beings for my luck to be this bad.” He started shifting the musty boxes around, lifted the tarps. And hit the mother load. Never, in the whole of his life, would Kyle have guess that old Mr. Lamm was packin’ heat in the back of his Chevy.

Lifting the shotgun, an uneasy smile tugged lightly at his lips. “That should do.”

~~~~

December 3, 2000 - 5:11 pm (7 hours: 49 minutes)


The soft sound of weeping came from the backseat. Liz, who was now sitting in the front, tried to steel herself against it. Hell, she was trying to steel herself against a lot of things at this point.

They’re hurting him. That had been the first thing Isabel cried out when she’d woken from the dreamwalk. Even before then, Liz had suspicions. The longer Iz was under, the paler, more translucent she skin grew. Tears had pushed passed her tightly closed lid, and her breath… when it came, came in pants.

They’re hurting him, Liz thought. And despite everything the others told her or did to reassure, Liz still felt part of the blame landing on her doorstep. What had gone wrong? Future Max had vanished, the future had changed, and so far, Tess had stayed in Roswell. Was that the problem? Had Tess been the problem all along?

Even as she pondered the questions, Liz doubted she would ever get a complete answer. Hearing Isabel cry softly behind her, Liz suddenly realized that it didn’t matter. They couldn’t change what happened, they could only effect what might become. And what an epiphany that was.

So, taking a deep breath, Liz turned in her seat, her gazing meeting Isabel’s. “We’re going to find him.”

“He’s so confused, Liz,” Isabel whispered, her head resting against Michael’s shoulder. Maria, who always shifted into the role of nurturer in times of need, was gently running a hand over Isabel’s hair, offering quiet comfort. “I think they gave him something,” she continued. “It’s hurting him.”

Staring into the big brown eyes of her friend, now red-rimmed with tears, Liz had to fight back her own. “We’ll find him.” They had to. “Is there anything else you can tell us? Anything else you saw?”

The had been on the wrong side of Las Cruces. At least that much they were almost certain of. According to Isabel, Alex’s captors had talked of the University... that the location was hidden out in the middle of nowhere, but still close enough to the campus. However, they had no more to go on. So Max drove around, and every kept there eyes peeled for anything... any sign.

Isabel took a deep breath and sat up. Her eyes scanned around the jeep, than focused beyond the windows, searching for anything that might trigger a detail she’d left out. “There might have been a sign. It was all running around in his mind so fast. It wasn’t anything like...” She trailed off, and Liz saw her gaze linger on the back of Max’s head.

Now it was Max taking a deep breath. “It’s okay, Iz,” he exhaled. “Just tell us what it was like. The more we know, the better chance we have.”

“He wasn’t disorientated as much as it seemed like his mind was on overdrive. Images, thoughts,... well, everything was on rapid speed racing around. It was hard to pick up on much, but there was a sign. It flashed everytime I called out to him or tried to calm him down.”

Michael was now holding Isabel’s other hand. “What do you think it said? I know you, you’re a stickler for detail. You had to catch something... a letter or a number...”

As Isabel closed her eyes, everyone held their breath. Silence came crashing down, and those few seconds seemed, at least to Liz, to last hours.

“A tree,” Isabel exclaimed. “I think it was some kind of tree.”

At once, everyone was listing off tree names. Isabel shook her head against each suggestion as she seemed to search her own mind for some. Then, it suddenly hit Liz. “Sycamore? Was it Sycamore?”

Isabel stopped moving, than swallowed hard. “I think that’s it.”

Liz’s attention instantly when to Max. “We have to turn around. We passed Sycamore a couple of streets ago.”

Max begin looking for a place to turn. “Liz, how...”

“There is a restaurant supplier just off a Sycamore. He gives my father a discount on take-out containers, so he’s like his best friend. I’ve had to run out here to pick them up before. The place is just on the edge of town, but the road seems to go on forever.”

He took her hand in his, placed a light kiss against the palm. “Works for me,” he told her... then pulled a u-turn.

Within in minutes, the jeep had cleared the outskirts of Las Cruces, speeding down a road growing more rural by the mile. Then, in a distance the spotted it. A lone house, three cars in the driveway. And one off in the distance. Liz squinted, hoped. And gasped when she saw a figure crossing between the two. “That’s Kyle.”

She watched him as he edged towards the front door. “What the hell’s he doing?”

~~~~

December 3, 2000 - 5:15 pm (7 hours: 45 minutes)


Serena wiped at the blood trickling down her cheek, twisting her head to glare at Kivar. “Some great leader you are,” she spat. “Need to get you kicks by beating up a woman.”

“By punishing someone who was disloyal,” he corrected, taking a step towards her.

Using the wall as support, Serena straightened as much as she could. She wouldn’t show weakness now. Not when the serum he’d injected her with was boiling through her veins, beginning to accelerate into the final stages of the her death. Her throat was parched, and her eyes could no longer tear to dampen the dryness there. The black dots that appeared in her vision after the last time she’d used her powers, now waved in and out constantly. Soon all would be dark.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t bluff, buy herself sometime. After all, she hadn’t come this far to fail now. There had to be someway to get Alex out of here, to get the book. She just had to think of it.

“Loyal,” she scoffed. “What the hell do you know about loyalty? You don’t care about anything or anyone about yourself.” She turned, aimed her gaze in the vague direction where she remember Lonnie’d been standing. “He killed you, you know? He’d only been out of the pod for a matter of weeks before he decided you weren’t worth his loyalty, and snapped your neck. Granted, in those two weeks, he used you as much as he could, but then he went for your throat.”

She felt hands gripped her hair, tug on it, until her own neck was exposed. Then came the sharp bite of the knife. Serena mentally berated herself. He was going to use the knife she bought to kill her. Just great.

“What is it, Kivar, about that particular part of the anatomy that intrigues you?” she wondered aloud.

Fingers replaced the blade, stroking over the flesh where her pulse was beating. “It’s life.” His breath whispered across her ear. “You can feel it here. It throbs just beneath the skin. And with just one move, a little force or cut, and you can feel it end. Powerful.”

“And you love power.”

“Everyone loves power,” he told her.

“Then why didn’t you kill me in the future?” His hand clenched around her throat, but Serena pushed on. “Because you didn’t, I’ve changed the future. You risked everything by letting me live this long, so why did you?”

“It’s more satisfying to see you scramble.” The grip loosened. “Serena of the lost causes. Even now, when you are dying as you deserve, you fight. Now that is what I call fascinating.”

Shifting, Serena managed to stumble out of his grasp, only to fall against the wall, using it for support once more. “I’m not the only one who deserves to die.”

“You can say that again.”

All eyes turned towards the door, including hers. She could make out the shape of the person, identify it as male, but she didn’t need to see him to know who it was. “Kyle,” she gasped. “Get out of here.”

Tess, who was equally surprised, said the same thing at the same time. Which Kivar heard, it didn’t matter. The chill Serena that ran down her spine when he spoke next did. “The white knight.” He all but laughed it. “Come to save the day?”

Serena heard the sound a gun caulking, the echo of footsteps against the wood floor. “What do you think?”

Hands gripped her shoulders now. Serena felt her back slam against Kivar’s chest as he used her like a shield. “Will you shoot her just to kill me?” he asked conversationally. “I think you future self might have. By the time I had him killed, I’m pretty sure he hated the both of us. After all, he knew the truth by then, but I bet you don’t have the first clue, do you, boy?”

A hand slipped up her arm, than neck, and finally fingers played across her cheek. “She was mine, from the first moment I saw her.”

“I don’t believe you,” Kyle shouted.

She felt a tug on her sleeve. The material gave as the sound of ripping echoed in her ears. “No,” she cried, struggling against Kivar, to no avail. His hold was too strong. Soon, he last, and most shameful secret would be revealed.

“Look here,” he order, tapping a finger against her arm. The brand on her arm he’d given her after she first offered herself to him was now barred for all to see. For Kyle to see. “The Xorona, a mark of a whore...

“Shut up,” Kyle ordered, taking a step forward. He knew part of this, understood that part of the reason they’d broken up in the future was Kivar, and her dealing with him. He had gotten that much from the flashes. But the rest, the idea that she been touched... but it was true. Kyle could see the pain of it in her eyes. The shock had him shifting the gun resting against his shoulder, and all hell broke.

Rath made the first move. Kyle felt the crack of a bat against his arm. Losing his balance, he fell to the floor, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The energy blast Nicholas aimed in his direction missed completely, slamming into the wall instead, inches away from where Tess stood. She fell to her knees, shaking.

With his brain switching into survival mode, Kyle rolled away from the spot where he’d fallen, coming to lay on his injured arm. Even as he hissed out a breath, he was aim the gun at his original attacker. Willing his eyes to stay open, Kyle held the gun tighter, and pulled the trigger.

He would never forget the look on the dupe’s face when he understood that he was going to die.

In the distance, Kyle could hear the sounds of a struggle, grunts and hisses, but the onset of pure shock had him frozen to the ground. Then Lonnie attacked. She leapt on him, all fists and fury. He saw the face of someone he considered a friend twisted with anger and hate. They rolled as he tried to free himself, but, being as vicious as she was, Lonnie slammed an elbow into his hurt arm. Kyle let out a grunt of pain. If the bone hadn’t been broken before, it was now.

“My father taught me never to hit a girl,” he hissed. “So, since I am going to get in big trouble for this, I hope you don’t mind if I make it count.” With that, he brought the butt of the gun down on the side of her head. The angle made the move awkward, so the impact was minimal. Still, it stunned Lonnie enough so he could shift.

Then, she was gone. Kyle saw Isabel standing over him, attention focused on her dupe, the hint of a fierce smile curving her lips. “This is for Alex,” she said, bringing her fist up. Kyle had never seen a more beautifully executed right hook in his life. It connected with the other girl’s jaw, and to his satisfaction, sent Lonnie sprawling on her ass.

Even before she landed, Isabel was off, shouting for Alex. Kyle’s gaze followed her for a moment before he spotted Michael and Max huddling behind the good king’s alien shield as Nicholas pelt it with blasts. He had to do something... anything to help, but shifting his injured arm, knew he couldn’t risk aiming the gun.

Inching back towards the corner of the room, he scanned the floor looking for any kind of weapon. Then, he bumped into something. Something that wasn’t a wall. Twisting to get a better look, Kyle found himself staring directly into Tess’s eyes. Pain shot into him as he came face to face with what she really was. “How could you?” His voice was low, vehement. “After everything...”

She shook her head. “Take it from me,” she hissed. Kyle felt something cold and metal brush his hand. “Make it look like we’re struggling, but take it. You can shoot it one handed.”

Pain when straight into confusion. “What?”

He felt a hand slam against the side of his head, than she was lunging forward. “Take it from me,” she hissed once more in his ear.

They grappled for a moment, and Kyle noted Tess was doing everything she could to avoid his bad arm. Then, his fingers were wrapping around metal. She rolled off him a moment later, shrinking back against the wall. Again, there eyes met for a moment, held. And Kyle, replaying every Serena had said to him about her... visualizing every good moment they had shared... forgave her.

She might of noticed it, maybe even gave him a faint smile, he just couldn’t be sure. Tess was up in the next moment, streaking across the room. She grabbed Nicholas’s arm, must have said something. Whatever it was, they were both suddenly taking off, vanishing into the kitchen and out a backdoor, Kyle assumed.

A crash had Kyle’s attention tearing away from where they disappeared. He turned to the direction of the noise and saw Serena crumpled on the ground, breathing coming in harsh pants. Kivar brought his foot down on her stomach, stomping on her as one would a bug.

“NO,” he screamed, flinging up the hand that held the blaster. The stream that admitted from the end shot directed into Kivar’s leg, sending him to the floor with a thud.

Hearing the scream and the thud, Serena opened her eyes, fighting against the pain, and tried to see what was happening around her. For one brief moment, her vision cleared, and she saw Kyle. He was bleeding, one arm clutched to his chest, and breathing heavily, but he was alive. He was whole. She was determined he was going to stay that way.

Struggling to her knees, Serena crawled along the floor to where Kivar laid. “I said I’d kill you, you bastard. So how does it feel to know that I was right?”

His eyes widened as she placed her hands against his chest, focused her power their. Heat engulfed her... and him in the process. Someone let out a bellow of pain, but she wasn’t sure which one of them it was. Then, all was dark.

Howdy everyone~

Thank you so, so much for the feedback... and the support with this fic. Like I said at the very beginning, it's different than anything I've ever done, and the comments you've left me have really give me the confidence to keep posting it.

Well, I have part eight with me. Fair warning... it is sad. Good news is that the epilogue is about 85% done, so I should have it up in the next couple of days.

Until then, enjoy...

Annie:)


Part Eight:


In just 1 hour they’ll be
laying flowers
on my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
need your blessing
and your promise to live free
please do it for me


December 3, 2000 - 11:42 pm (1 hour: 18 minutes)

She didn’t disappear.

For a few moments, or what passed as a few moments, she was allowed to hope that everything had finally worked out as she’d planned. In that time, there was nothing… not hurt or light or even coherent thoughts. Just hope. Then the pain came back in sharp, burning tidal waves. Serena hissed out a breath, stunned by the fact that she could still breathe. Was this part of the process, she wondered. Was this what it was like when the Granolith absorbed her… incorporated her essence into the collective?

Then, she heard voices. God, there were so many of them. It was the sounds of the ones she loved that broke though the pain, shouting at her that she hadn’t faded away. For a second as she started to surface, Serena didn’t know where she was. Past, present, and the yet-to-be all collided in her mind, causing confusion. And still, she couldn’t quite break into consciousness.

“It’s okay, baby,” someone murmured. There was a pressure against her lips, than something wonderfully cool dripped on to them. “Come all the way out. There are some people who would like to meet you, Serena.”

She sighed. “Kyle.” The name breezed past her lips just before the past 24 hours came rushing back. Serena remembered Kivar, remembered trying to kill him. Images of what happened flashed in her mind, and she pictured Kyle as he’d been before she’d passed out. “Kyle, are you hurt…”

She reached out for him instinctively. Her fingers made contact with his skin, causing him to hiss at the heat that jolted through him. Instantly, Serena retracted them. “God, Kyle, I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be. This just confirms that you’re a hottie, that’s all.”

His voice was light, jokingly so. For him, Serena tried to laugh, even a little bit, but the only sounds that came out were sobs. Tearless, body -racking, gut-wrenching sobs. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

She was curling into herself on the cot, as if trying to become as small as possible. It broke Kyle’s heart to watch. He shifted closer and, ignoring her attempt to move away from him, ran a hand lightly over her hair. It was drenched with sweat and the water he’d used to bathe her face when she was out. And it was hot, scaldingly so. He ignored that too.

“Shhhhh.” What else could he say to her but that. Right now, any words of comfort would be empty. There were no illusions here. Swallowing back the emotion he felt, Kyle kept the tone tender. “It’ll be over soon.”

“I was supposed to vanish,” she cried. “Once everything had changed, I was going to just fade away. Why didn’t that happen?”

He had no answer for her. This was far beyond his realm of understanding. Hell, even Liz, the science wiz that she was, had no explanations. The only thing that they could say with some certainty was that Kivar had vanished right under Serena’s hands. God, if he lived another hundred years, Kyle knew that he would never forget how she had leapt on him, hands burning what some sort of red-ish glow. Burning, he thought, because of the smell of heated flesh that filled his nostrils and the inhuman screams the bastard had bellowed just before he went poof.

Poof wasn’t a scientific term, granted, or even a very descriptive one, but it seemed to fit. One minute he was there, the next, he was gone. Poof!

Serena collapsed to the floor an instant later. Kyle could remember the abject terror he felt in the ten seconds it took him to cross the floor. He didn’t give a damn about his broken arm, or the cut on his cheek. He only cared about her. That she was going to go on breathing. But she wouldn’t wake up.

Seconds had turned into minutes. Then, minutes advanced into hours, and Serena remained unconscious. They’d carried into the room where Alex’d been held, stretched her out on the dingy cot, and watched over her. It had taken twenty minutes, the longest of his life, but she finally made a sound, something caught between a whimper and a moan. Over the past six or more hours, that’s all she’d done.

In those six hours, plans had been made, secrets revealed. Kyle was sure that sometime later he was going to be flabbergasted that this wasn’t the first time someone from the future had paid a little visit, but he just shoved that into the back of his mind. It didn’t matter at this point. Only Serena did. She was his sole focus.

So while the others handled the clean up, Kyle kept vigil over her. He even managed to dissuade his father from driving to Las Cruces. Kyle wasn’t sure if he could handle what he needed to do if his father was there, worried and concerned. There would be time for concern after...

When everything else was done, they all took turns sitting with him, watching over her. After all, they each now owed her something... whether it be their lives or their futures or their very happiness. Maybe, Kyle decided, I owe her a bit of all three. And there wasn’t enough time for any of them to show her their gratitude.

The end was close. Kyle had watched as Serena’s condition rapidly worsened over the last few hours. Her skin was drying out and cracking. A fever was rapid leeching her body of it’s remaining moisture. Occasionally, her breath would catch, then even out.

And now, hurt and confused, she cried on the cot beside him.

“Is he… Did I at least...”

“Shhhhh,” he whispered again. He ran a hand lightly down the side of her face, brushing stray tendrils of hair away from her eyes. “He vanished. One minute you both were…” He stopped. “Then he was gone.”

“The Granolith,” she sighed. “It must have absorbed him.” Another shudder wracked her body. “It was supposed to take me too. I was suppose to go away before this. Kyle,” she whispered, “I don’t know if I can take much more of this. It hurts so bad. I can’t see...”

Tears welled in his own eyes. One even managed to escape, and trickled down his cheek unnoticed. “Then I’ll just have to keep talking to you. So you know that you’re not alone in the dark.” Only, he couldn’t think of anything to say.

For a few minutes, there was silence between them. Finally, Serena turned, shifted into him, and rested her head against his leg. Kyle felt the slightest change in her, in what Maria might refer to as the aura around her. She was steeling herself up again, preparing for the final battle. “How long have I been out?”

Kyle leaned down, pressed his lips against her forehead lightly. “A little over six hours, I think. I really should get a watch.”

Serena let out a little snort, than swallowed hard. She should have known. The evidence was there, right within her own body. Soon, the serum’s effects to her it would be lethal, not only to her, but everyone around her. She wouldn’t allow that to happen. A plan began working in the recess of her mind on how to handle it when the time came. She would do what she had to. The only think Serena hoped was that Kyle would understand why.

“What happened to Nicholas, the others,” she wondered aloud, trying to her mind, and his, occupied. “Did you get them?”

“I saw Tess and Nicholas run out of the house. Max and Michael tried to go after them, but they got away. Isabel said Lonnie took off too. She’d followed her into the bedroom when Iz went after Alex, but the second she heard an engine, she ran. As for... I killed Rath.”

His voice was rough now, filled with the anguish a good person felt when the took a life. She understood the feeling, knew the guilt he would feel no matter how justified his actions were. “You had no choice. If you didn’t, he would have killed you instead.”

“I know.” She could hear the emotion he was trying to keep in control, the tears wanting to burst free. But Kyle continued. “I still killed him. I have to feel regret or guilt.... something. If I didn’t, I’d be a monster.”

“Is Alex okay?” She changed the subject because he needed it. When he was ready, really ready, he would have people there that could help him. Now, he needed to think about something else, something a little more on the positive side.

“He’s fine... everyone is. There were a couple bumps and bruises, but Max healed those right up. Our hero might be a little tired now, but everything else is fine.”

Panic swelled within her at the mention of Max healing abilities. “He didn’t try...”

“No.” They both knew what she was talking about. Kyle had remembered her warning. And while the others had fought him, viciously actually, he’d stood firm. “I wouldn’t let him try. He’s safe, I promise.”

Serena took a deep breath, let it out slowly, than took another. “Good,” she exhaled. “That’s good.”

Each breath was starting to hurt more, like trying to find air on the most humid day of the year. The more you tried to inhale, the more it seemed to suck the breath away from you. And while part of her was dying to know what they all had figured out together, what Kyle might have told him, she didn’t have the breath to waste.

She was here for a reason, given this little bit of extra time, she would use it to give Kyle what information she could. There were so many things that might help them all in the future.

“I have another story to tell you,” she said softly, nuzzling her cheek against the rough material of the jeans he was wearing. His hand was still in her hair. It was so gentle, loving. Deep inside her soul, Serena wished she could look at his face just one more time, made her wish she could cry. But she knew not all wishes came true. “It kind of goes back to that complex origin I didn’t have time to explain before.”

“You can tell me anything.”

Those words made her want to weep even more. “Long ago...”

“In a galaxy far, far away...”

She chuckled as he wanted. “Something like that.” Serena took another breath, struggled against the need gasp at the pain. “Anyway, there was a planet. The beings that lived there called it Leondar... the good land. On Leondar, there was a perfect blend of the scientific and the mystic. One coincided with the other in everyday life. At the core, the very heart of the planet, was what they called the Collective. They believe that when one of them died, their soul or essence became part of this. The power it gave off was what sustained planet.”

“Okay,” Kyle said, trying to take it all in. “That’s... well that’s... I’m going to go with wow.”

“Yeah, I guess it was wow. Until they screwed it up. Any race of beings with cognitive process seems to use their brains to try and gain more power. Only this time, while they were trying to find a way to harness it, they destroyed the core and the planet started to die. They fled with what they had managed to contain in the hopes of starting colonies on other planets. Several of them settle in the galaxy Max and the other are from, and some...”

“Came here,” Kyle finished. “That’s how Jeff had the gene. He’s descended from one of these guys.”

She nodded. “So is Liz. So am I, in more than one way. My mother told me the story of how these people settled on their new planets, most mixing their bloodlines with the natives, and evolving or pushing the evolution of the other races. However, back on the galaxy where the royal four are from, there were six families of purebloods. They began building up a government, a government where they ruled over the others.”

“I’m going to go with wow again.” At the moment, nothing else seemed to fit. Kyle felt his mind churning with questions. Just how much did this have a role in what happened to the others in their past lives? How much did it effect them now?

However, when Kyle opened his mouth to ask, he felt Serena’s body jerk against him. Her breath started hitch, then stopped altogether for a moment. “Serena...” His hands automatically framed her face, trying to keep her steady. Lids clamped down over her unseeing eyes. “Serena, just open your eyes. Please, open them for me.”

She shuddered once, then obeying his plead, began taking one great gulp of air after another. She blinked once, than again, until finally her eyes opened completely. Relief flooding through him, Kyle leaned closer, touched his forehead to hers. “I’m not ready,” he whispered, the last damn on his emotions breaking. The tears that had been threatening to fall now had free reign. “I’m just not ready to lose you.”

Serena felt them drip onto her cheeks, the salty moisture causing the slightest tingle across her skin. She couldn’t touch him, not with her hands. The burn sensation was growing greater by the moment, along with the need to release it. Part of her was desperate to grab ahold of something, to unleash the firestorm of energy welling inside. It was time.
Time for it to end.

Tilting her head, Serena brushed her lips along Kyle’s jaw, up his cheek, and finally to his mouth. She drew him in for the last time, sunk into him. His hands tensed on her face, than relaxed and began to gently stroke. “I think I might love you,” he murmured against her lips.

“Then you won’t lose me,” she sighed. “You just have to find me again. Wherever that is, know that I’ll be waiting for you.”

His grip tightened again. “Tell me where. Please...”

“I can’t.” No matter how much she wanted to. “I’ve already changed too much by doing... by saying... If I go to far, it might trigger something we can’t stop. It’s the chaos theory, Kyle. Change one little piece of the pattern and alter the entire outcome. I can’t risk changing too much.”

“But...” he began to protest. Serena cut him off.

“You need to find Ava. With Tess gone, she’ll complete the four square. It’s the only way everyone might be safe.” She rubbed her cheek against his. “Promise me.”

He head moved up and down in a nod. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. Now came the hard part. She had to let go of him, of everything, and do what was right. “Is there any water around?”

“Yes.” His hold of her loosened, but not completely. “I’ll get you some.” Still, he didn’t let go. Then, with a shudder of his own, Kyle pressed his lips to her forehead, then withdrew.

Serena felt the shift in the mattress, heard the creak when his weight left it. The second she thought his back might be turned to her, Serena clamped her hands together and unleashed her energy on herself.

Kyle knew she was gone before he turned around. Pain ripped at him as he looked back, only to see a pile of dust outlining where she’d been. “Serena...”

His legs gave, and Kyle collapsed to the floor. He didn’t even hear his own cries, or the others as they rushed into the room. A pair of arms came around him, and Kyle turned into them. The light scent of jasmine told him it was Liz, which only made the longing in his gut worse. “She’s gone,” he muttered against her shoulder. “She’s gone.”

With tears trickling down her own cheeks, Liz ran a hand up and down Kyle’s back, trying to offer him something. She, too, felt the loss deep within. “I know.”

Howdy all~

Okay, I know that I said I'd have this part out in a couple of days, but another week went wacky, and I didn't have the chance. I am sorry.

Well, in any case, here is the epilogue. I just want to say thank you to roswellianprincess16, Cardinalgirl, Kath7, Droygn, Timelord31, jbangelo, dreamer destiny, Doublestuf, Galliard, paper, Itzstacie, linliz68, desertskies, mlover25, Luvya, katrina, Serephinah and Catalyst for leaving feedback. It meant so much to me. Thank you.

I also want to say thanks to everyone who just popped in to take a gander. The number of hits this story had just blew me away. I hope, if any of you have time, you might drop me a line... let me know what you think.


So... this is it. The end... or is it?

Annie:)


Epilogue:


Promise to live free
Please do it for me...


Dallas, Texas - October 12, 2006


Life went on.

As hard a lesson as it was to learn, Kyle found he had no choice but to live it. No, easy didn’t have any part in the days that followed Serena’s death. Like she had told him, some things just can’t be easy.

He grieved, pushed away anyone who would have grieved with him. The others allowed themselves to be pushed... not that he could blame any of them. To say his attitude was less-than-pleasant was an understatement. He’d ignore them when he was feel a little generous, or get as rude as possible when he wasn’t. Even his father gave Kyle a wide berth, but deep down, Kyle had always felt this was more because Jim believed that was what his son needed. It’s what he had needed when his mother left.

The only one who broke the mold was Liz. She never said much to him during those weeks, maybe the general ‘if you need to talk’ every now and then. But Kyle could always feel her presence there, that need to comfort him whenever they were in the same room. He didn’t want that comfort, therefore, he’d saved some of his worse moods for her.

Then came Christmas Eve. It was three weeks from the day Serena appeared, and Kyle had been feeling positively vile. Of course, that was when Liz decided to drop by to give him his Christmas present. And he went off on her. Who the did she think she was? Didn’t she realize he was a Buddhist? What the hell was there to celebrate about anyway? He’d wanted to hurt something, someone in the worst way, and she was elected just by being there. Looking back on it now, Kyle still cringed at the things he said.

Still, it was Liz who ended up shocking him. At the height of his ranting and raving, she let out a wail that had the words seizing in his throat. The pretty, little wrapped box she’d been gripping flew out of her hands straight at his face. It only missed his cheek by inch. And instead of letting him unload all over her, she let out her burden on him.

Somehow, he’d forgotten the fact she’d been put through the wringer just as much as he had. Beyond having to tell everyone her most painful secret or the worry she’d felt for him and Alex, Liz had discovered that she had a sister. A sister who she never actually got a chance to meet, but whom she watched die. While she had been offering him comfort, she’d been needing it in return from the one person who actually forged a bond with Serena. After all, she couldn’t go to her father and right out ask about Serena without revealing the whole alien angle. The threads she had managed to tug on for information either weren’t very long, or weren’t willing to share.

Watching Liz stand there, unraveling with all that had been building up inside her, the truth of the situation slammed into Kyle like a ton of bricks. This wasn’t what Serena would have wanted. His being a jackass would have probably pissed her off completely. He had a right to his grief, yes, but so did everyone else. And they all needed each other to deal with it.

He stopped resisting what was going to come that night by choosing to embrace it instead. Because life went on, but not in the same way it had before.

He dropped out of sports, much to the chagrin of many WRH students. Until he graduated, the name Kyle Valenti was as good as mud. Actually, mud might have been valued more. Still, the funny part was, he didn’t care. He had a goal now, and was going to spend as much time as he could try to reach it. He was going to find Ava, just like he promised Serena. Hell, he didn’t even mind the fact that the quest became a group project. They all devoted hour after hour into the search.

Still, it didn’t become their lives. Years passed, high school ended, and real world began calling. Everyone went off to college, even Kyle, who decided after a couple of years that it wasn’t for him. Instead, he took the path he had sworn he never would and became a sheriff’s deputy. Damn school computer profile thing... got the stupid law enforcement idea into his head.

Max and Liz worked things out, dated for a few years, than got married. Big shocker there, right? They were now expecting their first kid, which just blew Kyle out of the water. He was going to be an uncle... okay, honorary uncle, but that was just semantics. Since that Christmas Eve, he and Liz became really close. She was almost like the sister he never had. He’d even gotten to the point where Max didn’t bother him quite so much. Now, with the little one on the way, Kyle might even start to like Evans... in the ‘you’re an okay guy’ kinda way.

Michael and Maria were still going strong too. There hadn’t been any mention of the big M, but it was only a matter of time. Between banter slinging and... well, they were just right for each other. As sappy as it was, Kyle felt that everyone had a soulmate, that one perfect person meant to complete them. Serena had taught him that. Didn’t mean he was going to fess up to the sappy stuff aloud.

Still, there were two he worried about on that front. One was Alex. He’d graduated early from high school, along with Isabel, and the two of them went to the same college. After spending four years studying computers, Alex decided it was time to make a big leap into business. One week he was summa cum laude, the next he was nerd for hire. And he loved it, though it didn’t leave him much time for little else. Still, Alex ran computer search after search for Ava when he wasn’t trying to decode the book. They’d found it, along with a bunch of other papers and scribblings the evil aliens left behind. It was only a matter of time before they deciphered it.

Isabel became a nurse. Over the last six years, she was the person he’d seen the most change in. That night changed her in someway. She’d become softer, maybe just a tad bit more vulnerable. Or maybe it was just that she was letting everyone see it. Kyle didn’t know for sure, but she was completely committed to finding Ava. Twice a month, Isabel attempted a dreamwalk on their missing alien. Some nights she got in, others it was a complete miss.

All of these things would sometimes result in a lead. When that happened, a few of them would pack up and head out to check it over. And they all had turned out to be dead ends. After six years, Kyle could feel his hope started to fade a bit, but he wouldn’t give up. No, when Kyle Valenti made a promise, he kept it.

Hence Dallas. Home of JR, the Cowboys, and apparently a growing number of industries. He didn’t have a clue about the last until the week before. That was when Isabel came bursting into the Sheriff’s Department, all flushed, out of breath, and waving her arms around frantically. For a moment, Kyle thought there had been an invasion, than he saw what was clutched in those hands. The slightly outdated issue of Time contained an article on the growing industries based in Dallas, Texas.

Neither of them cared about the article, or the companies lauded in it. No, their entire focus was on one picture… a building reflecting a statue in its glass windows consisting of four columns with three bells spanning the space between. The caption at the base of the picture read: Vulcan Pharmaceuticals headquarters overlooks Thanksgiving Square in the heart of Dallas.

Ava had dreamed of that statue. Now, he was standing in front of it. Not that he had any idea on what to do next.

One option was to head back to the hotel. After all, it was nearly noon and he’d been scouring the city since nine that morning. However, going back to the hotel meant filling the others in on the big nothing he’d found so far, because that’s all he had at the moment. Not one fricking clue as to where Ava might be. They had all learned too well that just because she’d dreamed of it didn’t mean that was where Ava was. She might have been here at one time or another, but now was a different story. If he went back to the hotel, he’d have to remind the others about that fact, and he didn’t think he could be the bearer of disappointment right this second.

Okay, that wasn’t the only reason he didn’t want to head back right that moment. He couldn’t quite put his finger on the other, just that it was this little nagging sensation in his belly urging him to stay. Call it instinct or a sixth sense, Kyle decided to go along with it.

Somewhere, a clock struck noon. Kyle watched as the bells begin to sway, chiming in the hour. The sound, or maybe something in the air, had the tug in Kyle’s gut eased off a bit. The notion of lunch entered his mind, and going with it, he turned.

And got bulled over.

Landing on his ass, Kyle grunted out a curse as a shower of paper rained down on him. Another string of more inventive curses came out of linebacker that knocked him to the ground in a voice that was surprisingly female. Somewhere in there, he thought there might have been an apology, but Kyle wasn’t really sure. Giving up, he started gathering the papers around him.

Shuffling them into a neat stack, Kyle twisted around to hand them over. Her back was to him, her concentration on another group of papers. Still muttering, she ran a hand through her dark hair, loosening it from the strict bun it was pulled back in. “I think this are yours.”

She shifted, glanced over her shoulder, and knocked him on his ass for the second time that day. There, in the deep brown depths of the eyes staring back at him, Kyle saw what had been, felt the longing for what might be, and thought of one name. Serena.