Title: Subject: A1
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Summary: Future fic. The aliens never came to Roswell, and Liz is married
to Kyle.
Author Name: Liz
Email: [email protected]
Category: M/L
Author's Note:
Part 4
The plain, white-faced clock that hung on the far wall of the room ticked
loudly, filling the empty space of the room with its steady clicks.
She stared at the computer screen, blinking against the bright glare. It'd
been hours since she'd even looked away from it, and the shapes and words
were beginning to blur together in her vision, nothing but a huge, formless
blob. She sighed and pushed her rolling chair away from the table, spinning
herself around so that she faced the glass cage again.
The room was dark, lit only by the computer's glow, but she could still see
him. He was sleeping, finally, looking like a huge blob of nothing huddled
up underneath his sparse blankets. It was freezing in the room, and she felt
a pang in her heart as she watched him, still shivering even in sleep.
This was what she'd wanted her entire life, but now that she had it,
something just didn't seem right. She felt pity for him, this wonderful
creature that had done nothing wrong, who was being forced to live in such an
environment. She wanted nothing more than to let him free of his glass cage,
to take him someplace warm and comfortable, to feed him and talk to him. To
know him.
She knew that it was not professional, but she felt something for him. For
this alien, that sat before her, so completely exposed and vulnerable. Who
she'd felt a strange connection with from the moment she'd looked into his
eyes.
Everything about him...his body, his face, his features...they were all
human. Every aspect. It was all completely normal, as far as the standard
of normal went for physical appearances. The only thing that set him apart
was the inside of him, his blood and his cells and his molecular structure.
Those...those were foreign. That was what was alien.
And she couldn't help but wonder...if his heart was alien too.
There was an intercom that was connected to the inside of the cage. Anything
that went on inside could be heard, and if you pressed the button you could
talk to the person inside. It was the only connection to be made from the
inside to the outside, or visa versa. There was no door that she knew of,
nothing. Only the intercom.
From the moment she'd found out about it, she'd been longing to press that
button. Just to speak to him, to see if he would talk to her. But she was
afraid. Afraid that if she did, she would discover something about this
being. Something that would break her dreams, shatter the image that she had
created of him in her mind. Perhaps he would speak in another language,
instead of the deep, soft voice that played in her mind. Or maybe he would
be angry, and vindictive. She had expectations, high hopes, and she wasn't
sure if she was quite ready to face the ugly reality of everything.
More tears formed in her eyes as she looked upon him. She wondered what was
wrong with her. Ever since she'd come in here, she hadn't been able to hold
them back. They had just kept coming, spilling from her and dropping like
rain. She could still feel his pain, but now there was something else.
Something that seemed almost like hope.
Turning around again, her eyes swept across the empty surface of the table.
Without even realizing it, she was looking at the button again. Small and
red, it seemed to call out to her. It sat directly below the small speaker
that was set into the tabletop, and below it, in tiny letters it red:
INTERCOM.
Her fingers quivered as she placed one hand on the table, right on the edge.
As the clock seemed to become louder in her ears, she shivered. Her hand
inched forward, very slowly, until the tip of her index finger was right
below the button. She inhaled, and then allowed her finger to slide over the
red, pressing ever so slightly. She felt it give and exhaled, leaning down
slightly.
"Hello?"
She released the button, craning her neck around so that she could see him.
She was shocked to see him sitting up, staring at her and looking frightened.
She felt herself begin to tremble, with excitement and fear.
Pressing the button again, she spoke more loudly this time.
"Hi. I'm Liz Valenti. Do you...have a name?"
For a moment he looked around him, as if searching for the source of the
mysterious voice, then looked back at her. He looked even more confused than
before.
"It's okay. Can you talk?"
He made no movement, and his expression did not change. She sighed in
resignation, her finger slipping from the button. Turning back to her
computer, she fought back another wave of tears. The disappointment ate at
her slowly. She hadn't realized just how much she'd been wanting to hear his
voice.
About 5 minutes later, she was working on some reports from earlier that day,
when she heard it. A very soft, muffled noise.
Startled, she turned around. He was sitting up on his bed, in the same
position as before, still staring at her. His mouth was open.
She felt the smile slipping up on her again as she watched his mouth move.
His soft voice floated over to her, quiet but clear.
"Liz."
She smiled at him, nodding her head.
"My name is Max."
Part 5
Liz tossed her purse down upon the floor the moment she stepped through the
door, discarding her shoes just as quickly. She let the door close behind
her, and slowly padded accross the spacious living room and into the kitchen.
The house was dark, and she was glad. After the night she'd had, all she
wanted to do was pig out on ice cream, curl up in her bed and sleep for days.
But she wouldn't.
She would eat something fairly healthy, wash her face and brush her teeth,
and lie down. Maybe after a few hours of late night television and waiting
up for Kyle, even though he would never arrive, she would finally doze off.
Then she would wake up with her alarm at 4 a.m. the next morning and do it
all over again. She would get dressed, go to the lab, and do her job. Just
as always.
It was exhausting just to think of it, but it was what she'd chosen. It was
her life now, and sometimes it was hard, especially now, but there was no
turning back. There was no alternate path.
At least now she had something to look forward to. Max. Her alien.
It didn't strike her the least bit strange that she had taken to calling him
her alien. After all, he was hers. He was what she'd waited her whole life
for, and she had been picked to take on the challenge of figuring him out.
Learning what made him tick. Learning him. She was the only other person
allowed inside his room, other than Mr. Davies. The only other person in the
entire lab who had seen him.
'Subject A1'. It was his name....at least it was the name he was meant to be
referred to as. But she knew his real name.
Max.
She smiled in remembrance of the events of earlier. Hearing him speak,
knowing that he trusted her enough to speak to her, had made her heart soar.
It had meant everything, and he would probably never know it.
After he'd said those 2 single words to her, there had been nothing else.
She had tried various tactics in order to get something out of him, but he
had remained silent and still, his eyes never leaving her as she finished her
work and as she had left. It was disappointing, yes, but she knew that she
had to be patient. He would come around, in time. One day, he would speak
to her. And she would learn, then. Learn everything that he would teach
her. Everything about him.
Opening the refrigerator door, she searched around for something to eat.
Milk, orange juice, coke, cold cuts, bagels. Sighing, she pulled out the
bagels and orange juice. The junk food that she knew sat waiting for her in
the cabinets and freezer seemed to call out to her, but she resisted
temptation.
Kyle had mentioned to her that she had looked like she'd been losing weight
since she'd started the job with the FBI, and she'd told him that she would
start eating more. But the promise had been hollow, and nothing about her
had changed since. She knew why that was; ever since college, when she'd
gotten a little overweight from all the stress of schoolwork, she'd been
obsessive about eating healthy. It wasn't until now that it had begun to
backfire on her. She just never seemed to have enough time to eat, though.
Grabbing up her food and glass, she headed torwards her room, slipping on her
fuzzy houseshoes as she passed the bathroom, nudging her door open with one
knee.
The room was as dark as the rest of the house, but she didn't bother to turn
the light on. Taking careful steps and stopping when she felt the bed's soft
cushion against her leg, she placed her food down onto where she knew the
bedside table was.
She quickly undressed, stripping down to only her underwear, and flopped onto
the bed.
"Oooommphh.."
A muffled noise came from somewhere below her and she shot up, crossing her
arms across her chest as she fumbled for the lamp switch. Her hands trembled
so badly that it took her what seemed like forever to get the light on, but
she finally did. There was a quiet click and then the room was flooded with
a dim, rosy light.
Kyle sat up in the bed, chin propped up on his hand, glaring at her.
"Hey Liz."
She frowned and dropped her arms, motioning for him to scoot over so that she
could lie down.
"You scared the shit out of me Kyle! What are you doing home anyway? You're
never home earlier than 3 a.m."
Her voice carried a sarcastic tone to it, which only managed to irritate Kyle
further.
"I took off early tonight."
Pulling the covers around her naked body and snuggling down into the soft
mattress, her eyes were already drifting closed.
"Why?"
She could hear his sigh, and her eyes shot open.
"Oh, God, Kyle, I'm so sorry. I...I just got so busy and.."
She watched him as he stood from the bed, pulled on his terry cloth robe and
began to pace.
"Yeah, I'm sure you did."
She sat up again, holding the covers around her shoulders.
"What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"
He stared at her, and she could see the hurt behind all of the anger in his
eyes.
"This is just so typical of you lately, Liz. You're so damn busy working
that you forget everything. Hell, you even forgot our anniversary. Isn't
that the man's job?"
She made a loud snorting noise, and rolled her eyes at him.
"Oh c'mon Kyle. Like you can even talk. Who is it that leaves with me every
morning and comes in at 3? Certainly not me. The most I ever see of you is
when you decide to barge into my office during my job and try to make up for
all of the times when you're gone."
He didn't respond to her words for a moment, only stared hard at her, his
eyes unwavering.
"I'm glad you felt free to tell me how you felt."
He turned and walked away before she had a chance to say anything else, only
stopping when he was just outside the bedroom door.
"I think I'll just go sleep at the office tonight."
The door slammed shut behind him, and the last noise that she heard from him
was the beeping of the alarm system signaling that the front door had
opened...and closed.
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