Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me, but to the writers and
producers of Roswell
Spoilers: After Chant Down Babylon, changes happening where Max is
successfully rescued,
and Michael was the one who broke up
with Maria.
***
Security is the mother of danger and the
grandmother of destruction.
-
Thomas Fuller
***
“So what is happening Jesse?” a strong angry voice demanded
from the hallway of the empty apartment building.
Jesse walked up the final couple of steps and into the
hallway. He knew this had to be done,
but Jesse couldn’t help but think how much Isabel would feel betrayed by
him. Jesse swallowed and laughed to
himself. Wasn’t he the one who was
betrayed first?
Jesse shook his head, as he was only a few feet from the
tall man, clothed in a black trench coat.
How original? Jesse thought to himself.
“Let’s go inside. I don’t want
anyone to hear us,” Jesse said in hushed tones.
“And there’s so many people hanging out in an abandoned
apartment,” the man said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Jesse motioned for the man to enter the dark
apartment. It was dimly lit with a few
candles. Jesse watched as the man sat
down on one of the two lone chairs in the apartment. “Look, let’s get to the point.
There’s a lot of things we need to discuss.”
They’d met twice before and in the same location. Once Jesse had found out the shocking news
about Isabel, Max and Michael he was at wits end. He’d even moved out of their house for a few days. And in those few days, Jesse had done some
investigating on the trio. He’d used
his connections within the F.B.I. to find out all about what they knew and who
was hunting them.
Jesse knew how dangerous it was for Isabel, Max and Michael,
so he contacted his friend in the Bureau.
He knew he could trust him.
Jesse would have staked his life on this man. “Cal, I need you to tell me if anyone at the Bureau has been
keeping an eye on Isabel,” Jesse said anxiously. “A lot of things have been happening and I think that they might
come down on her.”
The tall stocky man lifted the fedora off his head,
revealing his unsettling green eyes.
His face was etched with apprehension.
He left the question unanswered and asked one of his own. “Jesse, tell me first about a fourth?”
Jesse swallowed, remembering his utter confusion and
surprise at the sudden appearance of a stunning blonde woman in the empty
chamber. “Yeah, there’s a fourth. I don’t know where she came from but
everyone seemed to know her.”
“What did it look like?”
Jesse began to pace slowly back and forth in disbelief at
what had all happened. “It was a she
for your information and she was a blonde, blue eyes and short,” Jesse replied
cautiously.
“And how did she get here? By ship?” Cal sat
inquisitively on the edge of his seat.
Jesse frowned and shook his head, his mind blurred with
mixed images from that night. “She just
appeared out of nowhere.”
“How?”
“I don’t know!” Jesse exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the
air. “It just happened. I mean Max was dead and then she appeared.”
“Max?” Cal said tentatively. “What has Max got to do with it?”
Jesse turned around to face Cal, whose face was illuminated
by the orange glow of the candlelight.
“You know that I told you Max was sick and that Isabel was coming back
to Roswell because of that right?” Jesse sighed, grabbing the chair that was
positioned in front of him and straddling it.
“Well, I guess they had him hidden in some cave and were trying to
figure out a way to heal him.” The more
he explained, the more abnormal it sounded.
It was as if he was spinning some fantasy novel or something, instead of
telling him the facts.
Then suddenly Jesse frowned and wondered why they hadn’t
known that Max was sick in the weeks prior to their conversation. But when he was about to ask, Cal
interrupted his thoughts. “Why didn’t
they take him to the hospital?” Cal asked, confused.
“Because apparently it was brought on because of the alien
genetics in him,” Jesse explained dismissively. Even he didn’t know the full explanation or reasoning behind the
madness. “I think they didn’t want the
doctors to find out that he wasn’t human either.”
Jesse looked up to see if what he’d been explaining, telling
his friend, seemed to make sense to him.
Cal was nodding his head and looking quite intent on his story. “Yes.
They would be able to tell by his blood work,” Cal murmured, somewhat to
himself.
“Well, this woman arrived and they called her by name. Tess
I think is what they said,” Jesse said, wracking his brain for the name. He ran his fingers through his hair.
“Why was she there?”
“I think from what I heard, was that she was the only
one who could save Max from whatever was killing him,” Jesse explained.
“Okay, so Tess, which I think I have seen in our files, came
to heal him. Did you see it happen?”
Jesse nodded. “Yeah,
it was like something out of a dream.
It was like I was standing there, watching a special effects movie.”
“What happened?” Cal asked, grabbing his seat underneath him
and pulling it closer to Jesse.
“Well she put her hands on him and then there was this
amazing…energy,” Jesse said excitedly.
He pushed his chair back and stood up, remembering what had occurred
that night. “It was like you could feel
it pushing against you. And it seemed
to come from within her.”
Jesse turned on his heel and looked bewildered at Cal. “I’ve never seen anything like it. You hear stories from crazy UFO junkies, but
you don’t’ think people could do stuff like that!”
“Well, apparently they can,” Cal sighed uneasily. “And there are people who would like to get
their hands on someone like that.”
Jesse frowned. He
didn’t quite understand what Cal meant.
“What would they do if they had proof of Isabel’s…” Jesse searched for
the words. “Genetics.”
“Our people would hunt her down.”
He closed his eyes and leaned against the chair he had been
momentarily sitting on. Jesse would
never let that happen. He couldn’t. “What do I have to do Cal?” Jesse asked
gravely. “I know that you guys have
been monitoring Michael and Max since we left.
Have you been monitoring Isabel too now?”
“Jesse,” Cal said hesitantly. “You know I would do anything for you…”
Jesse knew that they had.
“Cut the crap Cal! You have been, haven’t you?”
Cal pushed himself to his feet and stood only a few inches
away from Jesse. He looked at him
seriously and pressed his index finger into Jesse’s chest. “Look Jesse, we had a deal and I made good
on it.”
“But?” Jesse said through clenched teeth.
“But you broke it when you let your wife came
prancing back to Roswell,” Cal said unapologetically. “I told you, hands off if you ever came back here.”
Jesse narrowed his gaze and was also pressing his index
finger into Cal’s chest. “Now look here
Cal, I trusted you enough to tell you everything,” he growled. “You were going to look after them, not
track them.”
Every bone in his body was filled with regret now. He knew he shouldn’t have relied an agent in
the Bureau, even if he was a trusted friend to understand about aliens. And now he had put his wife and her ‘family’
in danger. She wouldn’t understand about
this. “I haven’t seen them, but I know
the Bureau. You probably have them in
every nook and cranny of this town,” Jesse groaned. “Damn it. I should never
have trusted you.”
Cal smirked. “Look
Vasquez, I’m sorry. I told you to stay
away from Roswell.”
“Well, it’s kind of hard when her parents live here!” Jesse
exclaimed frustratingly.
“Not the Bureau’s problem.
You made the deal that if I stayed away from you wife, that you would
give us information on strange activities in Roswell,” Cal chided. “And to tell you the truth, we really didn’t
have anything on your wife or her brother and her friend. Oh, we had our suspicions, but all evidence,
except a few photos and standard files on them, were destroyed or lost by
previous directors.”
Cal tilted his head and looked sympathetically at him. “I was quite excited when you called
me. I didn’t really believe all that
you were babbling about, but I figured it showed initiative on my part to my
Superiors. Now when I found out that
there was a sect of the Bureau quite interested in this information, I made the
best of it. I went all out Jesse,” Cal
explained meticulously. “I had the
green light to do whatever surveillance work I needed to, to get the goods on
your Michael and Max.”
Jesse felt a lump grow in his throat and his knees begin to
shake. What had he done? And he’d just spilt his guts to Cal about
everything that happened tonight. What
a complete idiot he had been! Now Jesse
knew exactly what Isabel, Max and Michael had meant about it being dangerous
for them, for anyone to know about them.
“But you didn’t do anything to them?” Jesse asked, morosely. “Why?”
Unexpectedly, Jesse noticed that Cal’s expression had turned
from one of delight to irritation.
“Well what you had given me led the Bureau nowhere. This Max and Michael have shown no signs of
alien activity. And that didn’t make my
Superiors’ day,” Cal replied acidly, locking gazes with Jesse.
Jesse remained silent and stared at him grimly. “So?”
“So, now I’m going to have to prove to them that I didn’t
let a schmoe like you work me over,” Cal’s eyes gleamed in the moonlight that
had suddenly appeared from under the cloudy night sky. He walked away from Jesse, his hands clasped
behind his back and looked out the dusty apartment window.
“I thought I would have to hurt you tonight Jesse.” Cal looked at Jesse over his shoulder. “But it was a pleasant surprise that you
willingly gave out all of this information.”
Jesse swallowed and licked his dry lips. “You’re not getting anything more from me
Cal,” he spat. “I can’t believe I ever
thought a greedy suit like you could be human.”
Cal strode quietly over to Jesse, the traitor’s face inches
away from his. “You know what Ramierez,
I thought you were a pussy when I first met you in the Bureau. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but now
I see that you don’t understand what it is to be loyal. You made a deal,” he spat in disgust, “to
save an alien whom you had made your wife.”
“She’s half human,” Jesse growled. “And she’s shown more signs of humanity than you ever have!”
Jesse stalked out of the dusty apartment building. He had to get Isabel away, or they’d track
them down. As he jumped into the jeep,
Jesse realized he didn’t know how he was going to explain all of this to
Isabel. He closed his eyes and prayed
that she didn’t hate him for it. He was
just trying to protect her from those that would hurt her.
Jesse slammed his fist against the wheel. Who was he kidding? He’d put her in more jeopardy now, than
she’d ever been in before.
~~~
Michael closed the door behind him as he watched Tess slowly drag her feet to the couch. She turned around and looked at him blankly. “So I get the couch?” she asked.
Michael snorted softly and flung the keys on the
counter. He didn’t know why he did it,
but he heard him say the words out loud.
“You can have the bed,” he grunted.
Tess tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, studying
him. It made him uncomfortable. “What?” he muttered. She remained silent, her gaze still on
him. “If you don’t stop looking at me
like that I’ll take back the bed!”
At that, a slow lazy grin crept across her face and she
yawned, stretching her arms up above her head.
“Thanks,” she replied shortly.
Michael watched her out of the corner of his eye, as she
shuffled into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. He shook his head and groaned. “Thanks,” Michael mimicked in a high-pitched
feminine voice. He ambled over to his
closet and pulled a couple of blankets and an extra pillow from the top shelf
and hunkered down for the night.
~ * ~
As the morning approached, Michael awoke to the smell of
bacon and eggs frying on the stove. As
he struggled to rub the sleep from his eyes, Michael grabbed his pillow and
placed it on top of him. He swallowed
as the smell of the greasy food awoke the taste buds in his mouth and began to
salivate. “What time is it?” he asked
out loud.
“It’s 7a.m.” Tess answered.
Michael sat up quickly and frowned. He hadn’t expected an answer. As he turned around and found Tess standing
in front of the stove with a red apron around her waist, slowly sliding
scrambled eggs onto an empty plate, Michael groaned and sat still for a
moment. Finally when he found enough
energy, Michael dragged himself from the couch and over to the counter. “I forgot you were here,” he grumbled.
Tess looked up at him pleasantly and smiled. “That’s all right.”
Michael scratched his head and looked at her through heavy
lids. “You didn’t have to do this you
know?” He motioned to the plates of eggs, bacon and toast.
Tess pushed an empty plate towards him and shrugged. “I know,” she replied casually. “I just woke up early this morning and
didn’t know what to do with myself, so I cooked.”
Michael picked up the plate of scrambled eggs and scraped
some onto his plate. Then he picked up
a couple strips of bacon with his fingers and began to eat. He could feel Tess’ watchful eyes on him and
he smiled briefly.
Tess apparently got the hint because she reached behind her
and untied her apron. Michael watched
as she grabbed the other empty plate that sat on the kitchen counter and placed
small amounts of food on the porcelain flatware. “What time do you usually get up for school?” Tess asked quietly.
“I don’t know. A
quarter to?” Michael replied gruffly, with a mouthful of bacon, eggs and toast
in his mouth. “Why?”
Tess shook her head.
“Oh, I don’t know. Just
wondering,” she said non-chalantly. “I
just didn’t think you would wake up if I hadn’t been cooking this
morning.” She walked over to the living
room and out onto the balcony.
Michael watched as she slowly ate her breakfast, staring out
at the neighborhood below. As he pulled
his eyes away from the balcony, Michael stole a quick glance at the clock and
realized he had enough time to take a quick shower before school. He shoveled the remainder of his food into
his mouth and made his way into the bathroom for a shower.
When he stepped out of the small steaming room, Michael
quickly ran into his bedroom. He’d
forgotten to grab some clean clothes before jumping into the shower. Normally it wouldn’t have mattered, but Tess
was staying there and he didn’t want to ‘run’ into her, half naked.
“Hey Michael?” Tess called from the living room.
Michael quickly pulled a dark blue t-shirt over his head and
pulled up his khaki cargo pants, buttoning them before exiting his
bedroom. “What?” he yelled.
As his eyes scanned his living room for a pen and his
Chemistry binder, Michael felt a tap on his shoulder. “Are you looking for these?” Tess asked.
When Michael turned around, he found Tess holding his blue
Chemistry binder and a chewed up Bic.
He grabbed them out of her waiting hand and looked down at the
floor. “Thanks,” he muttered.
Tess leaned back on the kitchen counter, which had already
been cleared of its dishes. “What am I
supposed to do while you guys are in school?” she asked matter-of-factly.
Michael frowned.
“You’re going to stay here,” he said obviously. “What did you think?”
“Well, I’m just surprised that you’d let me stay here all by
myself!”
Michael rolled his eyes.
“Well, I’m sure Isabel and Max will be over here soon.”
“Soooo,” Tess drawled.
“I can’t go anywhere then, huh?”
Michael didn’t know where she would go. Everyone in town who knew her well enough
hated her. Michael didn’t know where
she would go. “Look, you’re going to
stay here,” Michael growled.
“Well, I guess I could talk to Andaria and find out what’s
going to happen next,” Tess mumbled to herself.
Michael’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “You aren’t going to contact anyone unless
someone’s here,” he declared. “Look, just wait until…”
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Michael frowned and looked out of the
peephole. It was Sheriff Valenti. It was an unexpected visit and Michael was
taken aback for a moment. “Just a
second.” Michael mouthed, ‘It’s
Valenti’.
Michael motioned for Tess to go hide in the bedroom. Tess frowned and shook her head. “No!” she whispered. “It’s not like people will find it weird
that I’m here! Especially Valenti.”
“Except the fact that you killed Alex and mind warped his
son!” Michael shook his hand in the air;
frustrated that Tess wouldn’t listen to him.
“Will you just get…in…?”
“Michael? What’s going on in there?” Valenti called from behind the door.
“Uh nothing!” Michael grunted.
“Well if it’s nothing, then let me in!”
Michael glared at Tess, trying to drag her into the bedroom,
but she pulled away from him and ran to the door. As Michael lunged at her, she had slowly opened the door and he
came to a screeching halt with Valenti only a few inches from his face. “Uh, hi?” Michael waved, as he stood up.
“What is going on?” Valenti frowned as he entered the
apartment.
Michael opened his mouth to explain but then Valenti spotted
Tess. “You!”
The cat was out of the bag.
~~~
Isabel awoke to an empty bed that morning. Jesse’s disappearance had gone unnoticed by
everyone last night, including Isabel.
It was only when she had went to bed that Isabel realized that Jesse
wasn’t home and she hadn’t seen their car.
She assumed he might have gone to get some air after last night’s
events, but now she knew something was wrong.
Jesse hadn’t come home all night.
As she stumbled into Max’s room, Isabel found Max still fast
asleep. Isabel reached down and shook
him on the shoulder. “Max,” she
whispered. “Max.”
Max hadn’t realized how tired he was until his head hit the
pillow. He’d been running on adrenaline
since his healing and after the emotionally draining reunion with their parents
and Isabel, he was only running on fumes.
Max sat up groggily as Isabel continued to shake him awake from his
dreams. “What Isabel?” he said raspily.
“Jesse didn’t come home last night.”
Max rubbed his eyes.
“What do you mean he didn’t come home?”
Isabel felt a lump develop in her throat and she couldn’t
help but feel nauseous. “He hasn’t been
home all night Max,” she whispered.
Suddenly there was a gentle knock on the door. Max and Isabel sat on the bed and watched as
their mother peeked her head in the door.
“Is anyone awake?” she chirped.
“Mom,” Max laughed.
“I’m awake.”
Their mother grinned widely and opened the door until she
was in full view. “Isabel?” Mrs. Evans
frowned curiously. “I didn’t know you
were awake?”
Isabel smiled and waved weakly. “Uh, yup.”
Mrs. Evans folded her arms across her chest and her eyes seemed
to get misty. “I remember when I used
to find you two here whispering and giggling about who knows what, at all hours
of the night and day,” she sighed. Then
as quickly as it came, Mrs. Evans snapped out of the trance and smiled. “Breakfast is ready. Come down when you’re ready.”
Max and Isabel waited until their mother had closed the door
behind her before continuing their conversation. “Do you think I should have asked Mom if he came home and then
maybe left?” Isabel asked worriedly.
Max rubbed his face.
He needed a shave. When he
looked over at Isabel, he smiled and shook his head. “I’m sure he’s all right.
He’s probably holed up at Dad’s office making calls or something,” Max
reassured. He didn’t believe his story,
but Max didn’t want Isabel to worry over nothing. “I’m sure he’ll come back this morning for breakfast.”
~~~
Jesse didn’t know what was going on, but the last thing he
remembered was a bright flash of light from above and then blackness. As he tried to lift his head, Jesse felt a
sharp jagged pain shoot up the back of his neck. He swallowed and found his mouth was dry and lips chapped.
He tried to move his hands, but Jesse found that they were
tied behind his back. Then Jesse realized
he was blindfolded and not even in his car.
“What the heck is going on?” he muttered to himself. “Hello?
Anyone there?”
There was silence.
He couldn’t believe this was happening.
Actually he didn’t have a clue what was happening. He was on his way home to admit to Isabel
that he’d made a deal with the FBI, so that they could have a clean slate in
New York, but he never made it.
Suddenly Jesse felt a chill run down his spine. Was it the FBI who was detaining him? Was it those same FBI agents who had tried
to hunt down Isabel, Max and Michael?
Jesse felt very anxious and nervous. He didn’t know where he was and no one knew where
he had gone. So if someone wanted to hurt
him, or torture him, no one would even begin to know where to look. Jesse closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “What the heck have I gotten myself into?” he
cried out, struggling against the tight confining bonds that rubbed against his
wrists and ankles.
Then unexpectedly, Jesse heard the scratching of gravel against
pavement. There were several footsteps approaching.
“Who’s there?” he shouted out angrily.
Jesse felt the warm breath of a person against his ear. “No need to shout Mr. Vasquez.” Suddenly he felt a man’s fingers at the back of
his head, working at the blindfold, which kept him in a state of perpetual darkness. “All will be explained in due time.” The stranger laughed menacingly.
The blindfold fell away and Jesse tried to adjust himself to
the blinding light that hovered above him.
Once his eyes had adjusted to the brightness above him, Jesse found
himself in a dark abandoned building, sitting in a lone chair. There were two men standing in front of him
dressed in black and had this unsettling gleam in their eyes. Jesse also noticed there were a couple of
men with guns in their hands, guarding the exits.
One was short and stocky and the other tall and
muscular. The short man approached him,
leaning in, the man’s nose almost touching his. “So Mr. Ramierez,” he smirked.
“What can you tell me about these aliens living in Roswell?”