What You Need

By Aesop

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and don't gain anything by writing this. It's for my own entertainment. That said, this story is the aftermath of the episode "Surprise," and contains spoilers for that episode. Fluff isn't usually my stock in trade, but after watching "Surprise" I knew that something like this would most likely be coming up.

Normally the sight of scantily clad cheerleaders going through their most energetic routines would have had Alex Whitman's full attention. At the moment however he was staring morosely at the field, not seeing anything. He couldn't get the image of Isabel with Grant Sorenson out of his mind.

He wasn't sure which hurt more, the fact that she was dating someone else or that she hadn't even bothered to tell him. He'd found out by accident, two days after her surprise birthday party. He turned red just thinking about that night. How had he let Maria talk him into doing a striptease? At the time it had been worth the embarrassment to see Isabel so happy. She'd smiled and laughed, making it all worthwhile. It had been worth it up until the point her mother walked in. At least now he knew it wasn't actually possible to die of embarrassment.

Finding Isabel out on a date with Sorenson two days later had been a terrible blow, as if the time and trouble he'd put in to that gesture, as if the things they had shared, meant nothing.

***

LAST NIGHT

The Whits club date was over, and the band were going there separate ways. Alex said good night to the others as he closed his guitar case and left by the back entrance. The club, the only one in Roswell, had given them regular work since their performance at the blind date concert. The money wasn't great, but it kept his car running and allowed him to surprise Isabel with gifts occasionally. Isabel liked surprises. Alex enjoyed surprises too, usually.

He'd left his car in a lot about a block from the club, and was almost there when Isabel and Sorenson came out of the small Italian restaurant he was passing. He had his arm around her shoulders, shoulders left bare by the blue dress she was wearing. Alex had always like that dress, and had hoped to see her in it more often. Suddenly it seemed that wouldn't be happening. He stopped and stared. They didn't notice him at first, busy laughing about something.

"Well, what's the verdict? Was this worth doing again?" Isabel gave him a winning smile and nodded.

"Yes, it is. I had fun. You're definitely worth another date." At this point Sorenson noticed Alex watching them. Isabel noticed him focusing on something over her shoulder and turned around.

"Oh! Oh God, Alex. I..." Alex walked past them without a word. "Alex!" He continued to ignore them and made it to his car without wavering. It had been a long drive home.

***

"Alex?" Max' voice pulled him back from his memories. He looked up to see his friend looking down at him, clearly concerned.

"Hi Max," he answered dully.

"What's wrong?"

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Max looked from Alex to the cheerleaders and back again.

"Cheerleader practice is going on right in front of you and you don't even seem to notice. I'd say there's something wrong." Max allowed himself a slight smile, hoping to lift his friend's spirits. No response. This must be serious, he realized. "Come on. Tell me."

"I ran into Isabel last night." Max waited patiently for him to continue. "Out on a date with that geologist. Seemed to be having fun, so..." he shrugged as if it didn't matter to him, but it clearly did. Max had gone very still, an almost angry look on his face.

"I thought I told her not to date him?" he said more to himself than Alex, but Alex' head came up like a shot and he looked at Max incredulously.

"You knew?" Then what Max had said fully sank in. "You told her not to date him?" He wasn't sure which astonished and angered him more. He rose and walked away.

***

Isabel Evans was not happy. In f act she'd been miserable since the previous night when Alex had surprised her outside the restaurant. She wasn't sure what she'd been thinking. When she'd accepted the date she hadn't given Alex a second thought. She'd accepted without hesitation, feeling only a tremendous sense of relief. The date had been fun, right up until the point where Alex had turned up.

He had walked away without speaking to her which, she realized was just as well at that point because she had had no idea what to say to him. She still didn't, but she wanted to try. That had proved difficult though. Alex had avoided her all day. She was determined to corner him now. She knew where he would be. It was just a matter of not letting him walk away. She thought she could do that. If she got the opportunity. That was Max' voice coming from the other side of the fence. The chain link fence at the edge of the field was laced with green plastic strips that served as a windbreak, and it easily concealed her presence from the two young men.

"Alex wait. Talk to me."

"Is that an order?" Alex snapped. Max blinked, surprise by the anger in the normally quiet young man. He was silent for a moment.

"Alex. I..."

"I don't even know where to begin. Okay. First of all you knew she was going out with this guy. A little warning might have been nice. Second. What made you think she would obey an order like that? Or any order for that matter? She's you sister, not your loyal subject." Isabel's jaw dropped. Alex was defending her. Why was he sticking up for her after what she'd done? She hadn't meant to hurt him but... But what?

"You know how dangerous things have gotten. We can't let new people in. We can't trust anyone. I would have thought congresswoman Whitaker proved that." Alex shook his head.

"We can't live like that Max. Trust no one? That's no way to live."

"What choice do we have? If we trust the wrong person we could all be killed. How do you know Sorenson isn't one of them?" Alex nodded reluctantly.

"You have a point, but it's not easy for her, or any of us. She wasn't thinking about alien spies when she went out with him. That had nothing to do with it."

"You're right. She wasn't thinking..." Max stopped and blinked. "Wait. What do you mean? You know why she went out with him?" Isabel was curious too. If Alex knew her reason for dating Grant she'd like to know it. Oddly she felt none of the resentment she would have felt if Max had presumed to know her motives better than she did. She felt only curiosity.

"I've had some time to think about it. I've thought a lot about it today. It has nothing to do with what she needs. It's about what she wants." He broke off and leaned against the fence, seeming to deflate, "and about what I can't give her."

Isabel felt a catch in her throat and struggled to stay silent, although Alex was close enough to touch, to comfort.

"As long as you've had your eyes on Liz, that's almost as long as I've been noticing Isabel. She's perfect. Beautiful. And, I always thought, untouchable. She was always going out with different guys, never getting too close to anyone. The guys were all the best Roswell High had to offer. Jocks of all sorts; guys who could be models or movie stars. I didn't know why she never stuck with one guy. It didn't matter. She always seemed way out of my league. I didn't realize that she was just having a good time, and didn't want to get close to any of them."