Author: Terri
Email: [email protected]
Crossover: Roswell/ The X-Files
Category: M/S and M/L , a little M/M and I/A
Disclaimer: Don't own em , don't sue
Spoilers: "Heat Wave", for Roswell.
"Millenium" for The X-Files.
Author's Notes: I wrote this before seeing the Roswell episode
"Heat Wave." But I did have prior knowledge of some
event ( eg: Max and Liz's kiss). So some things are consistant
with that ep and some things aren't ( eg: Michael and Maria
didn't break up in mine). So that's that.
Just My Luck (Part Three)
"What time is it?"
"Almost seven."
"You guys should get out of here."
"We're going."
"Wait. Let's go over this one more time."
"What's there to go over, Max?"
He looked at each of the five faces in front of him. They had all
met here at the Crashdown to make sure that if anyone was
questioned by the FBI, everyone's story would corroborate with
everyone else's.
He looked from Liz's calm, steady glare, to Maria's nervous gaze
that couldn't stay on one object very long, to Michael's annoyed
look, to Isabel's upset eyes, to Alex's stunned stare. Alex still
wasn't used to the idea that Max, Isabel, and Michael were not
from around here.
Max tried to remain the calm, confidant leader of the group, even
though he felt just about as nervous as Maria looked.
"We should just make sure that everyone knows what everyone
else will say. Just one more time."
"Come on, " Michael said impatiently while standing up.
"Max," Isabel started, "I think he's right. We've
been over this. We know what we have to do. We've just got to act
normal now. But if the FBI sees us all congregating in here at
this hour, they'll know we're up to something."
"I agree," Maria said. "Besides," she said,
glaring at Michael, "I could use some sleep." She got
up to leave through the back door and Michael followed her.
"It is not my fault you couldn't get back to sleep," he
said as they walked to the back.
"Yeah right!" Maria started.
And the two argued until they became inaudible.
"I don't even want to know what that's all about, "
Isabel said with a roll of her eyes.
"Well," Alex said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
" I guess that's my cue to exit stage left. If you guys need
me, just let me know."
Isabel had to smile. Alex really was a good guy. "Thank you,
Alex," she said thoughtfully.
He nodded slowly. He still couldn't believe that Isabel Evans was
speaking to him, much less sharing her deepest secret with him.
But he just smiled at her. "Not a problem." And then he
left through the back door.
Max and Liz stared at each other for a while, not knowing what to
say with Isabel standing there. Realizing that they were waiting
to have "a moment," Isabel groaned. "I'll go start
the jeep and leave you two alone. But, Max, hurry up." And
then she breezed out the back.
Liz grabbed his hand and held it in her own, as a reassuring
gesture. "It's gonna be fine... Right?"
He looked at his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.
"Yeah," he said, "it's gonna be okay."
"Yeah, " she said while dropping his hand.
He could tell that even though she tried her hardest not to show
it, she was very scared. "Hey," he said while turning
her around to face him with a light touch on her shoulders.
"It's gonna be okay, I promise."
She rested her head on his shoulder and let him wrap his arms
around her. She was so worried, worried about what would happen
if they found out about Max. Worried about what would happen to
her if they took him away from her. "Max, I just-- I am
scared. More scared than I ever have been. What if they take
you--"
She couldn't finish that thought, her voice would betray her.
"Shhhh," he said softly, while rubbing his hands up and
down her back. "It's okay."
She gave a short laugh. "When you say it like that I almost
believe you."
"You should. We can get through this. We've just got to
stick together."
"You're right," she said while pulling away a bit to
look him in the face. "You should probably go."
"Yeah," he said.
Then he impulsively kissed her on the forehead. "Be
brave," he said, and she could still feel his breath on her
face. " Be brave, for me."
She nodded slowly. " I will."
Then he walked out the back, without looking back at her. Because
he knew if he did, he wouldn't be able to let her stay there by
herself unprotected.
Scully had to hide the smile creeping across her face as she
and Mulder walked into The Crashdown Cafe. This was right up
Mulder's alley, she thought. She looked over at him, eyebrows
raised, and she saw the smile in his hazel eyes as he gave her a
small shrug, as if to say "What?"
Liz Parker led them to a booth in the back of the cafe and
politely asked if she could get them anything. Both declined.
Scully thought she had a sweet face, certainly not one that the
FBI should be looking out for. She seemed a little nervous, but
what teenager wouldn't be?
Personally, Scully found this whole thing ridiculous... Yet there
was that dress. She couldn't forget about that, no matter how
sweet and innocent Liz Parker looked.
Mulder smiled at the girl sitting opposite himself and Scully.
She was smart, this much he knew from talking with Agent
Topolski, but he had come across people a lot smarter than this
sixteen year old girl. He seemed overly confident that he would
be able to get her to crack.
"So," he started, "Miss Parker. How long have you
lived in Roswell?"
She gave them a nervous smile. "All my life. I was born
here."
"Really? That must be interesting, considering all of the
alien hoopla that comes along with this place."
Liz shrugged. "I guess."
"So, Miss Parker, what do you think? Have you ever seen an
alien?"
Scully rolled her eyes, "Miss Parker, you'll have to forgive
my partner. He sometimes gets carried away with--"
Mulder turned to look at Scully. "Carried away? I don't
think I'm getting carried away. I'd just like to know what Miss
Parker thinks about the subject. So, do you believe in aliens,
Miss Parker?"
Liz looked at them with raised eyebrows. " Um, no, I don't.
Well, I mean, I've never seen anything to substantiate those
kinds of rumors. I mean, no hard scientific evidence."
Now it was Mulder's turn to raise his eyebrows. "Hard
scientific evidence"? He felt as if he was talking with a
younger Dana Scully. "So," he started, "That's
what you need in order to believe in something? 'Hard scientific
evidence'?"
Liz nodded.
Again, Scully had to hide a smile. She liked this girl.
"Liz," Scully started, "Can I call you Liz?"
Liz looked relieved. "I wish you would."
Scully nodded. "Liz, I'd just like to get to the point, if I
may, so we don't waste any more of your time."
"Okay," Liz said evenly.
"Three months ago, there was a police report filed about a
shooting that occurred in this cafe. Were you here that
day?"
"Yes," Liz said.
"And what happened? What did you witness?"
Liz flinched slightly, but only Mulder picked up on it.
"Well," Liz began, "I was clearing a table. And
then I walked back to the waitress stand. I was talking to my
friend Maria--"
"Talking about what?" Mulder asked, interrupting her.
Liz looked confused. " I-- I really don't remember what we
were talking about."
Scully glared at Mulder. "Please continue, Liz."
"Well, then Maria went to give coffee to a table. I heard
yelling, and I turned around to see what was going on. I saw two
guys fighting with a gun. And I guess I had spun around too fast
because as I heard the gun go off I lost my footing and I grabbed
on to the shelf to steady myself, but I fell anyway, along with a
ketchup bottle that broke all over me."
Mulder nodded. "Some eyewitnesses reported seeing a young
man come over to you after the shot went off. What about
that?"
"That was my friend, Max. He was just making sure I was
okay."
"But an ambulance was called, was it not?"
"Yeah, I guess it was just a precautionary measure, or
something."
Mulder nodded and then looked at Scully. He rose and reached his
hand over the table to Liz. He handed her his card. "If you
have anything else to say, anything you might have forgotten to
tell us, give me a call."
Liz nodded, taking the card. "Thanks, I will."
"Scully?" He nodded towards the door and Scully
followed.
When they were outside, Scully took Mulder aside. "Why
didn't you ask her about the dress?"
"Because, she's prepared for this. She knew exactly what to
say, even before we asked her any questions. She's definitely
hiding something."
"Mulder, this is crazy. I mean, like she said, we have no
real evidence that anything happened here, except for that dress.
And I don't even understand where you're going with that if
you're not going to ask anyone about it."
"I didn't ask her about it because I don't think she knows
we have it. And that's the one thing she's not prepared for. It's
our one tool that we can use to catch her off guard."
Scully didn't reply as she walked towards their car. She got into
the passenger side, slamming the door after she was safely
inside.
Mulder got in the driver's side, but he did not turn the car on.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"What? What?" Scully said, mocking him. "Mulder,
this is not an X-File. This is a young girl who is scared out of
her mind because she has two FBI agents asking her irrelevant
questions."
"You're wrong, Scully, " he said as he turned on the
car.
"Yeah," Scully said under her breath, "That's what
you always say."
Liz hugged herself as she watched them. They just sat across
the street, in their hunter green Ford Taurus, talking heatedly.
The lady seemed to be annoyed with her partner. Liz could tell by
the way she turned to stare blankly out the car window as he
finally pulled out of the parking space and started down the
street.
Liz sat down at a booth, relieved that they were finally gone.
She didn't like the way Agent Mulder had looked at her, like he
knew something that he wasn't going to share with her. Agent
Scully had seemed nice enough. They could probably get by her
somehow, but Agent Mulder...
She wondered what he thought about everything, wondered if he had
contacted Miss-- er, Agent Topolski, and she wondered how much
Topolski had found out about them anyway.
Liz didn't know any of the answers, all she knew was she was
still scared out of her mind...
"Hey."
Liz spun around to find Alex standing in the back doorway.
"Alex," she said with relief in her voice, "I
thought you went home. What are you doing here?"
"I did, " he started. "Go home, I mean. I just-- I
felt bad leaving you here all by yourself with those people. I
just wanted to make sure you were okay."
Liz smiled, "I'm okay, really. I'm just a little freaked
out."
"Freaked out," Alex said with a smile as he sat down
across from her. " Now that's something I can relate
to."
"Yeah. I never did ask you how you took the news that my new
friends are kind of, um..."
"A different species?" Alex offered.
"Yeah, that."
"Well, it took some getting used to, but now I think I'm
okay with it."
Liz eyed him, prodding him for the truth with her gaze.
"Okay," he said, relenting. " It's a little weird.
And it might take, oh, I dunno, a few more days to get used to
it."
Liz giggled. She was so happy that she didn't have to hide
anything from Alex anymore. He was such a good friend, and she
had been so afraid that she would lose him when she couldn't tell
him about Max and Isabel and Michael. But now, he knew, and she
was glad.
Alex looked at her thoughtfully. "Liz, I'm sorry."
Liz gave him a confused look. "Why? Alex, what do you have
to be sorry about?"
"In retrospect, I realize that I was being a bit of a jerk
and you--"
"No, no," Liz protested. "You were anything but a
jerk. I mean, what you did for Max was so selfless and--"
"No, I was being a jerk. It's just that I didn't know what
was going on. I just figured that you guys didn't like me anymore
or whatever. If I had known that you were protecting Max and the
others, well, I can honestly say I wouldn't have been so
mad."
"I'm sorry too, Alex. I wanted to tell you, but... Max saved
my life. I had to make sure that I didn't do anything to endanger
his."
"I know," he said quietly as he looked around the empty
cafe. "So, not opening up today?"
"No, my parents didn't think I'd be able to handle it while
they were gone, so they just closed for the week. It's the slow
season anyway."
"Ah. So," he started, "What did those FBI guys ask
you about?"
"About the day of the shooting. It wasn't as bad as I
thought it might be, but... I think that that guy, Agent Mulder,
I think he might know something. Something I didn't tell
them."
"Like what?"
"I don't know... And that scares me."
Alex stood up suddenly and reached his hand out to Liz.
"What?" she asked, looking at his hand.
"Well, there's only one way to find out what they know,
right?"
Liz's eyes grew wide. "Oh, no. You're not suggesting what I
think you are, are you?"
He grinned, "Oh, but I am."
"You're going to find out what they know, aren't you ?
He nodded.
Liz nodded. "And just how are we going to accomplish this
impossible task? We're mere mortals, remember?"
"Yes," he said, "But I am a mere mortal who can
hack, remember?"
Scully sighed as she continued to pound the keys on her
laptop. She was updating her log, but so far there wasn't much to
tell. Mulder was acting strangely, even for Mulder. He had barely
said a word to her and when he did, it was to tell her how wrong
she was about this case.
Scully couldn't see this going anywhere. There wasn't enough
evidence. There was too much that was left to speculation.
And somehow Scully couldn't figure out what Mulder thought these
kids were involved in. Were they some kind of psychic healers?
Were they part of a cult? Scully didn't know. She just hoped that
he wouldn't come to the conclusion that he usually came to, the
one where he thought that these kids were alie--
"Hey Scully," Mulder said as he opened the door that
joined their rooms.
"What is it, Mulder?"
She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. He had that look in
his eyes again. The one that meant that he was on to something,
or at least he thought he was.
It was odd, that after what had happened, that they could just go
back to normal. Mulder resumed his role as the stubborn believer,
and she resumed the role of the level-headed skeptic. It was
almost as if it hadn't happened at all, like they had never
even--
"Scully, " he said sharply. "Are you
listening?"
"Yes. Sorry, I guess I'm just tired."
"Well, listen to this. I talked with the Sheriff and he said
that he would like to talk to us tomorrow morning. He says he has
some information that could be extremely helpful to our
case."
Scully nodded. " Great." Then she got up and sat down
on her bed, turning on the TV.
Mulder eyed her suspiciously.
"What's wrong with you, Scully?"
She glared at him. " Wrong with me?"
"Yes. I mean, you've been sort of distant. Is there
something wrong?"
Now she was mad. She could not believe that he had the audacity
to ask her what was wrong. He was the one who couldn't even look
her in the eye, he was the one who couldn't talk to her for more
than five seconds at a time, he was the one who had kissed her
and then decided to just forget all about it!
She gave him an acid smile. "You know what, Mulder? There is
something wrong."
He looked at her thoughtfully. "Well, what is it?"
"The problem is that you're in my room and I'm trying to get
some Goddamn sleep!"
After that, she didn't have to ask him to leave.
"I don't think this is such a good idea."
"Don't worry about it."
"Well, what are we gonna tell Max?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?!"
"Nothing."
Maria sat back in her chair, covering her head with her hands.
This was wrong. Sure, she trusted Alex. She was confident that he
knew what he was doing.
But she still thought that it was a bad idea to not tell Max and
Isabel and Micheal what they were doing. And she couldn't believe
that Liz was going along with this.
Liz stood behind Alex, who was sitting at his computer desk,
anxiously watching over his shoulder. Maria felt her stomach
lurch as she heard the sound of the modem connecting.
"Why aren't we telling them again?" Maria asked
nervously.
"Because," Liz said, never looking away from the
computer screen, "He'd never let us go through with it if we
did."
Maria didn't reply. She just made an "O" with her lips,
realizing she could not get them to reconsider.
Liz continued to stare at the screen, trying to follow what Alex
was doing, but he was working at a very fast pace.
"How exactly is this gonna work, Alex?" Liz asked.
"Well, if one of the Agents is using their telephone line to
connect to a database, I can hack into their computer and try to
download the files before they go offline."
"How'd you get the number of their hotel room?" Maria
asked.
"Maria, this is Roswell. Smalltown, USA? They're staying at
my dad's friend's hotel, the one out by the highway? I just asked
him for the number."
Maria groaned. "Oh, this is so illegal. This is something
that Michael would do."
Alex sighed. "Sniff some oil, Maria."
"Don't I wish I had some," she replied.
Liz looked over at her best friend, smiling. " Speaking of
Michael, what is going on with you and him?"
Maria snapped, "What do you mean? Nothing is going on with
us, I mean, why would you even think something's going on?"
Liz and Alex's eyes locked in a confused glare.
"No reason," Liz said. " You guys just seem, I
dunno, closer?"
"Well, we're not," she said. " Besides, what's
going on with you and Max?"
Liz blushed. "Um, nothing. We just went out on a date."
Alex had to smile as he tapped the keys on the keyboard. Everyone's
hooking up with an alien except for me, he thought. Well,
there was always Isabel, but he knew she was so out of his
league--
"I'm in!" he exclaimed.
Maria got up from her chair to look at the computer screen. She
didn't see anything interesting.
"What are you doing now?" she asked Alex.
"I'm trying to cover my tracks, to make sure they can't
trace this line."
"You can do that?" Liz asked.
Alex let the air rush out of his lungs. "I sure hope so,
'cause last time I checked, hacking was still illegal."
Liz watched as he typed, then suddenly something popped up on the
screen.
"Shit," Alex said quietly.
"What?" Maria exclaimed. " What's wrong?"
"They've got a tracking device."
"Omigod," Liz said.
"Calm down," he said as he typed furiously.
"Calm down! Alex--" Maria exclaimed, but he cut her
off.
"I can fix this."
"Alex, get out of there," Liz said in a nervous voice.
"I'm trying!"
"Oh, hurry," Maria said under her breath.
Alex typed, then suddenly...
"I'm out," he said as he leaned back in his chair.
Liz and Maria looked at each other, their faces ghost white.
"Do you think they were able to trace it to this
number?" Liz asked Alex.
"I don't think so, I think I was too fast for them."
"You think?" Maria exclaimed. "So what do we do
now?" she asked Alex.
"Pray, " he said in a shaky voice.
Scully had bags under her eyes when she awoke the next
morning. She had not slept well. She kept tossing and turning all
night long. She was still mad at Mulder, and maybe even at
herself.
She realized that maybe this return to normalcy after their kiss
hadn't been just his fault. She played an active part in the
denial of it all as well by just standing by waiting for him to
say something.
But, as much as she didn't like to admit it, that kiss had scared
her. She couldn't figure out what it all meant. Had he only done
it because it was New Year's Eve? Or because they had both almost
been killed, yet again? Or was it more?
After seven years, was it finally about them? She didn't know,
and she certainly didn't want to think about it.
After splashing her face with cold water, in a futile attempt to
look awake, she sat down at her computer to get some work done.
She tapped her fingers as she hooked up to the FBI's database.
And then it happened ...
Someone was hacking into her computer, downloading files.
Quickly, Scully's fingers flew across the keyboard. She picked up
her cell phone and started a trace, hoping that she was fast
enough to catch whoever was on the other end of that line. She
knew she had to be fast, whoever was at work here knew what they
were doing, and if Scully didn't, they'd have what they wanted
and she'd be left without a way to catch them.
"Come on," she said as she waited for the agent on the
other end to give her an answer.
No matter what Mulder thought, whatever theories he had, he was
right about one thing. Something strange was going on in this
place.
"Agent Scully," the voice said on the other end.
"I'm listening," she said.
"There's something odd here, Agent."
" What is it?"