Episode 14 - Reliving The Future? |
||
Premieres October 3rd, 2002 |
||
Written by: Bill, Daniel and Marianne |
||
| Edited by: Marianne | ||
| Rated: R | ||
| Disclaimer: The authors do not own Roswell or it's characters. No infringement is intended. | ||
| It had been an awkward breakfast for Max Evans as he kept his eyes on his sister looking for any indication that Michael had filled her in on what had happened. He assumed, that as she wasn't stabbing him with her knife and pummelling him with the spoon that she might still be oblivious. Unfortunately, she wouldn't stay that way for long so it would be better for him to just come out with it. He stood up and mumbled a goodbye to his parents and walked out to the jeep to wait on Isabel to come out. You are a complete idiot, Max! How could you think you would get away with something like this? Why didn't you follow your instinct and tell her when you had a chance? He shook his head, if he had told her then it wouldn't have been an issue but he didn't. "Stupid, Max....stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid..." "Tell me something I don't know." He looked up and saw Isabel looking at him with an amused smile. "So? What are you beating yourself up over now? Managed to not score an A in chemistry or did you just decide to be good friends with Liz? Again?" He looked at her and gave a tight smile. "I *am* just good friends with Liz." "Yeah, I've heard that one before - about 10 times before." He flinched slightly. She was in a good mood and he was going to tell her now? "Isabel, I...I did something stupid and you are going to be angry." She looked at him expectantly, but folded her arms over her chest. "How angry is angry?" He winced as he sat on the car hood. "I kept an artefact that Riverdog had secret from you and Michael. I had it since he died and I had it upstairs in my dresser even though I knew it was alien I didn't tell you guys. Michael found it last night. He's slightly pissed..." Her eyes had widened while he spoke and she was now pursing her lips in an attempt to keep her cool, obviously mindful of the fact that their parents were just inside. She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly as she walked over to the jeep and whispered angrily. "Maybe you would like to tell me that again, with some explanation this time? How DARE you do something like that? What gives you the RIGHT? It's our lives as well or did you forget that while you had other things on your mind? Maybe you just didn't care? What would have happened if something happened with it? Who would have known what had caused it? It could have been a tracking thing or anything" "I know! And I'm sorry! Liz...she said I should have told you..." Isabel looked at him and a trace of red flashed over her cream skin. "Liz? Liz is not one of us! Why the hell should she know before me or Michael?" "I didn't tell her, exactly. She...she found it." "Where?" He looked down, this was not going how he expected. "When...when I dropped it on the street..." "Oh, the street? Where anyone could have seen it? What the hell is wrong with you?" "Isabel, you were being all weird, you couldn't talk to me without yelling at me, you were going through some depression about Alex and no one could talk to you! You were unreachable and you wanted me to lay that on you as well? What would that have done? Michael was too busy with Maria and her grandma and I didn't know what to do. It didn't seem like it was anything that couldn't keep until you could both deal with it so I kept it in my dresser where it would be safe. That was why. I had it to tell you about it, but when I came in it was obvious you couldn't deal." She shifted slightly as she thought about what Max had said and how she had felt during those weeks after Riverdog had died. She eventually looked up. "I suppose it couldn't have been too easy for you, trying to find your son alone, deal with the Riverdog stuff and not burden me or Michael. I know we weren't much use, but we're family Max. If we can't trust each other who can we trust? You have to see it from our point of view as well." He nodded his head. "I do, of course I do! You think I don't wish I'd said something sooner? I just forgot. I mean things looked like they were settling then Tess came back, then Alex. Honestly, I just forgot about the whole thing. I know that's not an excuse but..." he looked at her with a sigh, "I would never do anything to deliberately hurt you or Michael..." "My college applications last year aside?" she asked coolly. He looked down guiltily. "Yeah well, you weren't the only one who had a hard time dealing with stuff last year. You had mom you could talk to, and all the others. I was the one that had been blamed, I was the one who saw...saw the husk and couldn't heal it. I'm the one that had to see one of my friends covered in blood every time I closed my eyes. I'm the one that *had* to be strong and I didn't have anyone who cared what I felt apart from Tess. So yeah, I reacted badly then, but I needed us to stay together...not that you cared." "I had other things on my mind. The fact that the guy I loved had just died, you know. That gets to some people, maybe not you but some people." He looked at her and felt his temper rise. It was always about her, how she felt. "I had things on my mind as well! But I couldn't deal with them, I had to deal with the fact that it was my fault! I had to deal with the fact that the humans hated me. I had to deal with the fact that my sister wouldn't let me help and kept shutting me out when I needed her even if she didn't need me!" He turned away and shook his head. He would not argue over the past. It wasn't important anymore anyway. Why did she even bring it up? "So if you want to hold a grudge over that then fine. I don't want to argue about it anymore...I just thought you should know about the medallion." She reached out and touched his shoulder. "I don't hold a grudge. I'm sorry...I shouldn't have brought it up. It was stupid, and insensitive and...and totally irrelevant to anything." He turned and looked at her. "That's when it started I guess, this...rift between us all. We have to fix it. I know I have made a lot of mistakes, and I know I am a pain in the ass. But you are my sister, Michael is my brother and you guys are my family. I...I would like for us to try and move on," he looked down and shook his head as he added quietly, "of course I would like Michael to actually talk to me as well..." She looked at him and smiled. "I'll talk to him. You can fill us both in on everything that has happened." "Thanks, Iz..." She shook her head, "Don't thank me, if you EVER keep anything like this from us again I swear I will never trust you again, brother or no brother. Okay? Start thinking like the Max we all know and love and we'll be fine." "Okay," he nodded his head as he looked up, "that sounds fair. Thanks, Isabel." She sighed as she opened the door to the jeep. "What are sisters for? Okay, I'll go talk to him now. You going to school?" He nodded his head as he got in beside her. "Yeah..." She nodded as she closed the door. "I think I'll drop you off there before I see Michael then, maybe stop him from killing you in the middle of the corridor..." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Isabel stood outside the door to Michael's apartment and chapped again loudly waiting on a reply. As none came she sighed and carefully opened the door with her powers. "Hey, you extending your unsociable streak to include me now?" "Didn't work did it?" She sank down on the chair opposite Michael as music blared in the background. "Never took you as a KROZ person." He shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, well - I felt like a change. What do you want or need I ask?" She nodded her head. "Max told me." "Yeah, only months late. Maybe if he had told you sooner this wouldn't have been a problem." "Michael, could I have a look
at it?" She said with a sigh. She knew she should come say
something to Michael to try and mend bridges with him and Max but
she didn't know what she could say that wouldn't make it worse.
Michael was never usually overly sympathetic when Max was
concerned. Isabel sighed. He was right but, she hated it when the two of them didn't get along. She looked up as he entered the room. "I agree with you Michael. He made mistakes. But we all have. He didn't want to bring it up with us, probably because he took you choosing Maria as a rejection of that side of you. I was in no condition to deal with it, because I never got to tell Alex how I feel about him," she whispered. "He couldn't tell us anything. You had Maria to worry about and I was just not interested in anything." "He's told you that, huh? He said you couldn't handle it and you believed it?" Isabel shook her head. Michael
didn't know how bad it had been. "No, I know it was true.
You don't know how bad it was. You didn't care. Ever since Alex
'died' I just hurt, all the time. The only way I could deal with
losing him was to throw out everything that reminded me of him.
It just hurt so much - it hurt too much." She sat down and
began rubbing her hands together in an effort to distract herself
from what she was saying. "I love him so much; he nearly
died because of me; because of what he was to me, even though I
was with other people. I'm still scared that I'm going to wake up
to find out his return is just a dream," she whispered. She nodded her head. "I know, it's just...don't be too hard on him. Things are finally working out, I don't want us fighting in amongst ourselves. I'm tired of that." He nodded his head. "I'm tired of it as well, but it will take time before I trust him again." He put the medallion in his pocket and looked at her. "Speaking of time, it's time for me to get to school - see if he bothers to apologise." She sighed as he looked at her. "Just don't fight with him. Just try and see it from his point of view, okay? He's Max and when push comes to shove we're all we've got." He nodded his head as he walked towards the door. "Turn off the radio and lock up when you're ready to leave, okay?" She nodded her head as he
disappeared out the door. A slight smile tugging at her lips.
There was no way that he was going to school - she knew him
better than that. "Bye, Michael- have fun at the
desert." "Isabel, hi," Christian's voice began on the other end of the phone. "You want to meet up for lunch? I can't make class this morning so I thought we could meet later instead?" She bit her lip. She would have to start fixing things and this was as good a time as anything. "Sounds good. where?" "How about the park about
2pm? At the bench?" "Great," he said happily
at the other end of the phone. "Bye, Isabel. See you
later." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Max stood next to Michael's locker. Well, stood was perhaps not the right word - he was lurking. He was lurking because he wanted to see Michael but on the other hand he would rather not hear him. Because no doubt he would want to take a swing at him again. Max sighed. He was an idiot - and Michael hated it when he was an idiot. He loved rubbing it in and holding it over Max. It had always been like that - way back when they were twelve, if Max got beat up for being quiet Michael would tell him he deserved it for not being smarter and talking more. He never had a lot of sympathy for Max now that he thought about it. He always enjoyed pulling him up for his mistakes. He sighed and turned around to see Kyle, Maria and Liz talking animatedly at the other end of the corridor. He felt himself smile as he looked at Liz. She always made him feel better even when he was an idiot. He walked over and waved a greeting to her who smiled at him. "I'm telling you, she was actually bouncing. Bouncing! She was so chirpy Sean actually made her sit down and said he thought she'd been abducted and brainwashed. It was scary!" Maria said with a disgusted expression. "He's the same! It's like he's..." Kyle flinched as he leant in closer. "It's like he got lucky." Maria made a disgusted face and hit Kyle repeatedly. "Ugh! Don't say that! God, ugh, that's an image I don't need!" "Oh, and I do?" Max looked at Liz in confusion. "What's this?" "Jim and Amy - they have been 'weird' all day since their date. Needless to say, those two are overreacting." "Hey, if this was Jeff and Nancy you would be in the same state we're in," Kyle said as he shook his head in disgust at Liz who clearly wasn't feeling his pain. Liz began to laugh as she turned and looked at Max. He looked at her, she really was beautiful. You're just good friends, just good friends, just good friends...you can be platonic with her, besides, you have more important things to worry about. "Max, are you all right? You are looking...is something up?" He forced himself to smile as he shook his head. "No, no...you know, everything is good." Liz looked at him probingly and he shifted his weight from foot to foot as he shoved his hands in his pockets. Oh yeah, she bought that. "Max, come here," she said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him into a classroom. "What's wrong, and don't say nothing because I don't, for a second, buy it." "Um, Michael found out that I was hiding the medallion I got from Riverdog in my room and is more than slightly pissed. He took it and stormed out and right about now he's no where to be seen. Izzy said she would talk to him, but well...he's not here..." Liz looked at him in shock. "You didn't tell them? Oh, Max come on. No wonder they are upset. I mean you said..." He nodded his head. "I know what I said to you and I wanted to tell them but they couldn't handle it, I know I'm in the wrong here but..." She shook her head and walked over to him and gave him a smile. "You are in the wrong but your big enough to admit it, so stop beating yourself up over it. Everyone is allowed to make a mistake, even the infallible Max Evans." He gave her an amused look. "I've never been infallible - didn't you know, I'm the definitive screw-up. My best friend hates me, again. My sister can barely stand me and well, I'm standing in the middle of a classroom getting advice from my ex-girlfriend." She gave him a small smile. "Sounds like a scene from Dawson's Creek." "Who would I be then? Is there a screw-up on that show? I thought the kids were all perfect?" "Not perfect, normal." She took a step closer to him and gave him a slow smile. "You're like Dawson - you are basically a nice guy who goes and does things and are full of good intentions but who inadvertently screws up. You made a mistake, Max. If you stopped talking to Michael after he screwed up would you two even be friends?" Max looked down and gave a laugh. If you looked at it like that then no, they wouldn't be friends. "No." She smiled. "Exactly, this is just one of those times when his pride is damaged and he's trying to work out what to do. Trust me, everything will be back to normal this time tomorrow." "We had a long conversation about trust, Liz. We said how we had to trust each other and then he went and found that - how is he going to trust me again?" She took a step back and looked at him for a second, as if she was thinking about what to say. "Because your Max. And he's Michael. And sooner or later you two will work out that the only reason you annoy the hell out of each other is because you are flip sides of the same coin and you will both make it up. Because you always will. Always." He looked at her and smiled. How come she could always do that? Say the right thing? Make him feel better? He opened his mouth to speak when the bell rang. She smiled at him. "I suppose we should get going then?" He nodded his head as he looked at her. "Suppose." She began walking slowly towards the door and he grinned as he looked up at her. "Hey, if I'm Dawson - who does that make you?" She turned and grinned at him. "Hmm, I don't know. I guess I'm unique..." He laughed as he walked out after her. She was certainly that. One of a kind. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ She looked at the group in front of her as they looked over the town of Roswell. She hadn't been here in a while but it looked the same. She turned and looked at the man beside her and smiled happily. It would be a happier trip this time. It would be good to be back. Ava pulled her hood away from her head causing the man to stop and look at her. "I like your hair like that, you know. I wish you wouldn't cover it." She grinned as she looked at him. "I like it like that as well, but'chu know what small towns are like. Don't exactly blend in, you know? And we were goin' for 'stealth' apparently." He reached over and touched her hair tenderly. "We are. Did you get them?" She nodded her head as she reached into her inside pocket and pulled out pictures. "Yeah, here that are," she handed him the first picture of Max and Isabel. "That's Zan and the bitch's other forms." The man glared at the image of Max and looked up at Ava. "What like is he?" She smiled and shrugged her shoulder. "Kinda dull, like the others." "Honestly? Because if he is anything like Zan I will happily..." She reached up and put her fingers on his lips. She felt a warm feeling as she grinned at him. She had never had anyone get jealous because of her before. "Taral, I swear - he's a nothin'." Taral looked down at her, his brown hair falling down across his almost unnaturally green eyes. He nodded his head as she handed him another picture of Alex and Tess. "That's..." He nodded and smiled. "Yes, I know who they are. What about the others?" Ava handed the taller man the last picture and he began to smile, almost proudly. "This him?" She nodded her head and gave him a warm smile. "Can't you see the family resemblance?" He nodded his head as he ran a finger over the picture. "It is almost...surreal. To have come so far and only now be so close - I'm...nervous. Nervous?" She grinned as she looked up at him with nothing but love in her eyes. "You're allowed to be, fam'ly reunions are big deals, apparently. Not that I would know, of course." He looked down and brought a hand up to her face. "You have a family, Ava. We're your family and soon our family will be complete like it always was supposed to be, and we shall get our revenge on our enemies." He turned and looked at the small group standing behind him. "It's now time to make contact again, we shall be complete and we shall be victorious!" Ava looked up at Taral and smiled as he brought his head down and kissed her passionately as he let the other photos fall from his grasp apart from the last one which he clasped tightly almost protectively. She pulled away from him as he put an arm around her shoulders and held the photo up to the sky and gave a cheer. She smiled as she ran her hand up Taral's chest as the others began to cheer - things were finally working out for them all. And soon they would be complete and unstoppable. And they would get their revenge. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Michael sat in the booth at the Crashdown where he had been sitting all day since he came back from the desert in the morning. He found that he actually thought better now when he was in warmth and had food in front of him. He realised he should have went to school to see Max but he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't slug him one so he thought it for the best if he avoided him. He emptied a bottle of Tabasco sauce into the coke he had sitting in front of him. He had to start work in just over an hour and look at him. Sitting here like a good little boy. It was sickening. Sure, say that like you have somewhere else to go, Guerin. The Evans's is off limits, the DeLuca's the same, your apartment or here is about it. He sighed as he took a long drink of his soda. He would have to get a life at some point, he was starting to depress himself - it must be like how Max feels all the time. "Michael, don't you want to go and get some air before you start work?" He looked up and saw Nancy Parker looking at him in concern. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks, Mrs Parker." She smiled at him. "No problem, you want something to eat while you're there then? Can't have our star chef going hungry on us. The usual?" He nodded his head and gave her a smile as she walked away. He liked the Parkers - they were kinda cool for being Liz's parents. Who would have thought that they would have produced such an uptight off spring? Of course, that was no measure of anything. Look at Amy DeLuca. She was a cool person and had gave birth to a flake - of course, Amy was kinda flaky herself depending on the day you got her... He bit his straw, the whole off-spring/parent dynamic was very confusing... "Hey, what are you looking all thoughtful over?" He looked up and saw Maria. "Hey." He looked at his cup. Well, this would be interesting. She sat down opposite him. "You weren't in school today. Max was worried - did you guys have a falling out? You know, your two massive ego's having problems coexisting again?" She laughed and he shrugged his shoulders. He did not want to go into the Max thing with anyone. Not until he had a chance to talk to him. Not to mention the fact that he didn't want to spend an hour explaining it. "You know what he's like." She nodded. "Oh yeah, and your Mr Innocent, right?" He nodded his head and gave her a smirk. "You finally learned that right?" She groaned. "Oh, definitely." Her reply was full of sarcasm causing him to smile. She could do that, make him smile. He inwardly groaned. Get a grip, Guerin! You are not Max - you do not mope! She was about to talk again when her cell phone went off. She rolled her eyes and answered it. "Hello? Oh, hey Mom. No, I'm working. What? Why? Is anything wrong? What do you mean it's important but no life threatening. Why can't you just tell me tonight? Mom? Oh, okay fine - I'll get someone to cover. I'll see you soon." She hung up the phone and looked at him. "Okay, I have to go." He nodded his head, not sure of the reply she was looking for. "Okay." She squinted at this and he shrugged his shoulders. No doubt he was supposed to say something else...he thought and looked at her blankly until she began to talk again. "See, I have to go because my Mom wants me home to talk." He nodded. "I kinda figured that out." She groaned and stood up. "See, this is why men are the most useless species on the planet! They never say the right thing. You are supposed to say that your sure it's nothing." He shrugged his shoulders. She really was a flake, a hot flake but a flake none the less. "I'm sure it's nothing..." She sighed and shook her head. "Thank you for that, I'll see you later." He grinned as she walked away still muttering about insensitive male species. Yup, he missed her. He took a long drink out of his cup and sighed. If only he had the time to dwell on it but he had to deal with Max first. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Liz walked out of the door to the Evans with a sigh. She had so much homework to do and the fact that she hadn't done any like she was supposed to with Max was not a help. She smiled slightly as she readjusted the books and heard Max yell at his mother as he got ready for work. Sometimes he seemed so normal, like a normal kid and other times, he was like a super hero. Like Batman or something, all tortured and brooding and with a scowl on his face that wouldn't shift for love or money. Not that she minded, she just wanted him to smile more, be happier and he was. Ever since Alex had come back he had been happier and that made her happy. What are friends for? Right, Liz? She almost laughed out loud at the word 'friend' - it seemed so inadequate after what her and Max had been through. He had to be so much more than just a 'friend'. She walked up the path trying to come up with a term for her and Max's relationship that she liked before suddenly hitting something that sent her landing to the path in an undignified heap. She looked up to see Serena sitting in a similar heap beside her with a grin on her face. "We have to stop meeting like this, Liz Parker. I'm not sure my ego or my butt can take any more trips onto the sidewalk..." "Oh God, Serena - I am so sorry..." Serena smirked as she got to her feet and extended a hand to help Liz up. "Nah, don't apologise - I was a million miles away in a far off galaxy in the arms of a man with an extremely large and powerful light sabre..." Liz squinted her eyes in confusion. What was she talking about? "Excuse me?" Serena began to laugh as she tossed Liz one of her books. "Dreaming about a certain young stud out Star Wars - why were you worried that I was turning crazy?" Liz gave a laugh as she walked over towards the gate. "Hey, I've heard crazier. You are in Roswell after all, alien capital of the world." Serena shook her head as she walked with Liz to the gate. "Wait, I'll walk you to the bus stop. And your wrong, the alien capital of the world is Las Vegas - apparently ET flies a gazillion miles from his home planet to crash into casinos and watch bad Elvis impersonators perform wedding ceremonies. You guys are just home to the cheesy alien variety..." Liz shook her head with a smile. "Don't I know it?" "You sound like your talking from experience," Serena said with a smile at Liz. "You want to tell me about the cheesy variety?" Liz blushed slightly. "Um, you know - at the UFO convention, everyone comes in an claims to be an alien. We actually had a guy in the Crashdown once a couple of years ago who said that we had stole his spaceship for the sign and wanted to sue my dad. Complete crack pot." Serena looked up at the sky. "My granddad was a big alien guy. He loved the whole mythology of it all. He swore to me that the whole thing was real and told me so many stories..." Liz looked at Serena, knowing she should change the subject but not really wanting to. It was so strange to find someone she trusted so completely without even knowing. "Do...do you believe, in them?" Serena looked down from the sky and looked at Liz. "I do. I don't know if they are little green men with big eyes, floating brains, or Marvin the Martian of if they just look normal - I know they are out there and I don't care if they come here. I don't care where they're from - as long as they don't hurt anyone. I don't give a damn if they decide to live here or if they are living here now. As long as they are good people...or Martians...what would the right term be for aliens? Would they be people?" She looked puzzled as she pursed her lips before shrugging her shoulders. "Whatever. My granddad believed in them, I was brought up knowing they exist and that most of them were good so yes, in answer to your question, I do believe in them." Liz smiled almost unconsciously. "Floating brains and Marvin the Martian like?" Serena began to laugh. "Hey, I was going for imagery - can you think of anything grosser than a floating brain?" Liz bit her lip. "Well, no - floating brain really takes the biscuit. Would the floating brain be able to talk?" Serena gave a mock exasperated sigh. "Obviously not, because it's a brain and brains don't have mouths, seriously don't they teach you guys anything in school?" Liz began to giggle. "Somehow the floating brain concept hasn't come up yet..." Serena grinned. "See, that's why the school system is in the state it's in - they don't teach the important stuff anymore. I have a good mind to voice my displeasure in writing." "Oh don't worry about that, I'll be sure to bring it up in my next biology class..." Serena began to laugh. "You know something, Liz Parker? I like you, I really like you. I think we could be really good friends in the future." //FLASH// "I don't entirely understand it myself, but Serena said...she's gonna be a friend of yours one day. It has something to do with quantum mechanics, but in essence, Max and I would both be destroyed if we actually came into contact." //FLASH// Liz looked up at Serena and smiled. So that was who she was. That was why she knew her? Why hadn't she twigged sooner? "I...agree, totally. I think we could be really good friends." In fact, I know we will. Serena nodded her head and smiled happily. "Excellent, well we shall have to do something to build this friendship that doesn't involve either of us landing on our ass." Liz nodded her head as the bus came behind her. "That sounds like fun. Listen, drop into the Crashdown anytime and we'll arrange something or get my number of Max and give me a call or something." Serena nodded her head as Liz jumped on the bus. "Will do, see you Liz." Liz waved goodbye as she sat on the seat - her mind swimming with thoughts. What had just happened? The whole thing about Max and the future was supposed to be different now. Why had she still met Serena? Relax, Liz - just because you met her doesn't mean it was all for nothing. She bit her lip. He had told her that there was a war because Tess had left, and Tess had left even if it was only for a few months. Maybe that was all the time it took for the sacrifice she had made to be undone. Maybe the war would happen anyway. What if she had given it all up for nothing? She took a deep breath as she stood up and got off at the Crashdown - she had to talk to Maria about this. She walked into the Crashdown and looked around for her best friend. "Kerry, is Maria not on?" The red headed woman shook her head. "She was supposed to be on but has switched shifts. She said she had some family thing to do." Liz nodded her head and walked on until she saw Michael staring off at the door from his booth. "Hey, Michael." "Liz," he said simply. She took a deep breath, he certainly didn't look like he was in a good mood. No doubt still angry about the medallion, and with good cause she guessed. Although she was more inclined to side with Max for no other reason than Michael and Isabel had been preoccupied. She took a deep breath and slid into the booth opposite him. She had to talk to someone and the medallion was as good a place to start as any - maybe it would give her some kind of clue as to what future Max had been talking about. "Michael, can we talk?" Michael looked uncomfortable. "I'm supposed to start work in 10 minutes, can it wait?" She shook her head. "It's important, I know you probably don't want to bring me into your guys business over the whole," she leaned in close to him and lowered her voice. "Medallion thing but I know all about it and I really need to talk to you. Please? We'll go upstairs - I promise, it's really important." He nodded his head reluctantly and she smiled as she walked past him towards the back of the cafe towards the house. She had to be sure and the only way to be sure was to talk to someone. Even if that someone was Michael. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Jim took a deep breath as he looked at the two nervous teenagers sitting on the sofa looking at him expectantly. Jim, you have been in law enforcement for nearly 20 years, you have been shot, you've had guns held at your face and you have seen aliens kill each other. You can do this. "I can do this," he said to himself. "Um, do what?" Kyle said with worry as he looked at Tess and leant in close to her. "He's going crazy, I told you this morning, didn't I?" She nodded her head as she smiled at Jim before turning to Kyle and whispering loudly. "Maybe he got promoted?" "No way, he's at his level." "That's a bit harsh, he could go a bit higher on the career ladder - he's very good at his job." "That's not in dispute but," Kyle looked at her and shook his head as Jim followed their conversation with a smile. "With his career record? Come on, would you trust this man with more power if you didn't know him?" She sighed and nodded her head. "I guess..." "Excuse me!" Jim said loudly. "If you are both finished dissecting my career...I do want to talk to you both. It's...important that you listen to me..." Tess and Kyle both sank back in the sofa with equal looks of dread etched on their face. Kyle looked at Jim as Tess reached over absently and touched Kyle's arm. "I can find a new place to live right away, honestly, it's no problem at all. I'm just glad you let me stay here as long," she whispered but with a forced smile. "I can be packed and ready in about 30 minutes." Kyle looked at Jim horror struck. "There's no way she's leaving! Tell her, Dad! Tess, you aren't going anywhere." Jim looked at them both and brought his hands up to his head. "Enough! God, do you two ever listen to anyone? No one is leaving. Tess, this is your home and I would no sooner throw you out than I would Kyle..." Kyle looked at her with a smile as he took her hand and looked at his dad with an approving nod as he stood up. "Good call, well, that was great, Dad but I'm going to go and call Alex..." Jim shook his head as he let a laugh escape. "Uh uh, nice try, Kyle. But sit. I'm not done yet." Kyle groaned as he sat down again. "So? What's going on?" "You know Amy?" Kyle nodded his head and answered slowly. "I may remember her, vaguely from some point in the past." Jim rolled his eyes at his son's sarcastic tone. "Well, Amy and I have decided to move our relationship...a few steps further forward..." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ At the DeLuca's Sean sat and looked nervously up at his aunt as she poured herself coffee. Amy never drunk coffee in the afternoon. And she had called Maria, who was sitting beside him, home from work. She never did that. He began tapping his foot up and down as Amy babbled incoherently about the shop. Something was wrong and he couldn't put his finger on it. "You okay, Aunt Amy?" he asked finally. "You not want to sit down?" She shook her head and gave him a broad smile. "Nope, I'm good standing. You want coffee?" He shook his head as he looked at Maria. "I could do with something stronger..." Amy gave him a severe look. "Not for another two years you don't, coffee is as strong as you get." Maria gave a laugh as she emptied the contents of her bag on the table. "Where is it?" Sean shook his head. How did they carry so much with them? How did they find anything? "Where's what?" Maria looked up at Amy who was now pacing up and down before turning back to the table and picking up a vial of lavender oil and showed it to Sean. "It relaxes you." "Maybe you should give someone that a way," he said as he indicated with his head towards Amy. Maria sighed and looked at Amy nervously as she opened the vial and began applying the oil to her pulse points before smelling it and breathing deeply. "Mom, will you stop walking up and down, you're making me sick." Sean looked ill at the smell of the oil. "Oh yeah, that stupid oil is making me sick and I don't see you stop doing that." "Shut up! I'm nervous..." Amy turned and looked at them both with a smile a wide smile. "You know when a man and woman are in love..." Sean and Maria shared equally horror stricken expressions as they both said simultaneously. "You're pregnant? At your age?" Amy dropped her cup to the floor with a clatter as Sean grabbed Maria's vial of Lavender and took a deep sniff before turning to Maria. "Huh, this stuff actually works," he handed her the vial and she waved it in front of her nose quickly as Amy looked at them both wide eyed. Amy looked at them both in shock before beginning to laugh. "You think I'm pregnant?" Sean looked at Maria who looked like she was about to faint and the both of them shrugged their shoulders before nodding their heads in unison. Amy sat down and laughed harder. "And what do you mean 'at my age?" Maria shrugged her shoulders and looked at Amy. "Your age, you know - you're Mom age..." She paused before reiterating the last words. "MOM age." Amy looked at him and shook her head. "And what does that mean, I'm dead from the waist down? Because it really doesn't..." Sean dropped his head on the table and covered his head with his hands. He did not need to hear this conversation- it was all fun and games when he was teasing Maria about it but it was starting to disturb him. Maria kicked Sean hard under the table causing him to raise his head. "Hey, if I have to hear this you have to hear it." He shook his head. "You're the daughter, I'm the nephew - I shouldn't even be here." Amy reached over and took his and Maria's hand. "I'm not pregnant okay?" Maria and Sean looked at her and gave a relieved smile. "I knew it, I knew he was overreacting," Maria said as she looked at Amy. Sean squinted his eyes. He had over reacted? "Yes, silly Sean - Maria didn't think anything like that at all." "Shut up," Maria hissed as she stood up. "Okay, that was great, Mom. I should go back to work now - bye." Amy stood up and shook her head. "I'm not pregnant but I am engaged. I'm getting married. To Jim. We're all going to live together - us and the Valenti's! Isn't it great?" Maria immediately sat down. Sean looked at her vacant expression and resisted the urge to laugh as he reached over and took the top of her lavender oil and handed it to her. He looked at Amy and smiled, almost sadly as she watched Maria's non reaction. He was happy for her, she deserved to be happy and Jim was a nice guy. A normal guy and she needed that. He closed his eyes for a second as he felt a dull ache start inside him. Of course, now that they were getting married that kind of made him surplus to requirements. They wouldn't let him stay with them in the new house - not with three other kids. He bit his lip and took a deep breath before forcing a smile on his face and walking over to Amy and hugging her. "Congratulations, Aunt Amy! I'm happy for you, I'm glad he worked up the guts to do it. He seems a nice guy." Amy looked at Sean and gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Sean." He shrugged his shoulders as he pulled back. "Hey, but if he mistreats you - you got to know I'll kick his ass. It will always be fun to beat up a Sheriff with good cause." She smiled at him. "Thank you." He was about to reply when Maria stood up and looked at Amy with a smile. "Wow, I am so happy for you. I can't believe this, it's amazing. I am just so happy for you." Amy began to cry as Maria wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Sean took a step back and watched the scene almost enviously as they both turned their backs to him without even noticing that they had done it. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he watched them both. There went the family he had wanted... Maria suddenly pulled back from Amy with a horror stricken expression. "That means...I'm going to be living with the Valenti's - with Tess!" Amy nodded her head. "Yes, you'll be sharing." Maria looked aghast before shoving a happy smile on her face as she hugged Amy again. She looked up at Sean and mouthed 'kill me now, please' to him. He let out a laugh as he walked over to the sink and picked up the cup that had clattered to the floor. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "Excuse me? You want to explain that again?" Jim looked at Kyle and gave a grin as Tess bounced up and down happily beside him. "I'm getting married? We're moving house? Amy, Maria and Sean will be moving in with us? Which part didn't you get?" Kyle shook his head as he let out a laugh and jumped up off the sofa and stuck his hand out for Jim. "Nothing, I just wanted to make sure I heard right!" Jim grinned as he wrapped his arms around Kyle and Tess. He knew they would take it well, he just hoped Amy was having such an easy time with it. "Yeah, I'm glad you two are happy - I'm sure you'll both be happy. Although it will be weird with you having to share a room with Sean and Maria." Kyle shook his head. "Hey, a bed is a bed, I don't care who's sharing the room..." Tess had stopped and looked at Kyle. "Um, do I have to share with Maria? You know, on account of her hating me it might not be a good idea. I could share with Kyle - he wouldn't mind." Jim shook his head as he looked at Tess with a laugh. "Uh uh, no way. No gender mixing sharing - you and Maria are just going to have to learn to get along. You will be part of the same family - so work it out." Tess looked down at her shoes as Jim gave a happy laugh. This was definitely the life. He was happy, in love and he had his family with him. Life couldn't get much better than this. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Isabel took a deep breath as she saw the bench where he was sitting. She knew what she had to do but it didn't make it any easier to do, no matter how much she knew she was right. It wasn't fair on anyone. Especially him. "Hey, beautiful. You going to stand there all day?" She looked up and saw him looking over at her with an appreciative smile on his face. She forced herself to smile and walked over to him and sat down under the cool shade of the tree. He reached over to kiss her but she turned her cheek and he could only manage to kiss it. He pulled back and looked a little hurt but shrugged it off and gave her a smile. "Sorry I didn't make it to class this morning, my Mom is in town and I wanted to spend some time with her. I told her all about you, she's looking forward to meeting you..." She looked down at her hands. She felt so bad - she'd split up with guys before, hell, she'd split up with Alex more than once. But this was different. This was a guy who didn't see it coming, one she had led on because he was exactly what she had needed - someone different. This was a guy who was never going to work out and she had known it from the start yet let him believe that they could. What did that make her? A horrible person, a user. But you're fixing it now so get it over with. "Isabel? You okay?" he asked with a concerned look as he took a bite of his sandwich. She turned and looked at him, reached for his hand and gave it a small squeeze. "I, I need to talk to you." He sat his sandwich down and took a drink of water before turning back to her. "That doesn't sound good at all." She shook her head. "It's not." He nodded his head and waited on her to explain. She looked away and thought of what was best to say. Somehow saying that she was leaving him because she was in love with someone else didn't exactly sound like it would help soften the blow. "I just...I don't think I'm ready for a relationship with you. It's not your fault, but I don't see us working..." He looked down and took a deep breath. "Why?" She sighed. "Because I'm confused about my feelings, and I don't want to string you along while I sort them out." He nodded his head and looked up at her. "Is this because I scared you off? By telling you I was really starting to care for you?" She shook her head quickly. "Definitely not. I am so honoured that a guy as great as you could care for me..." "Honoured, sure. But you don't really care..." She sighed. "Of course I care, it's just...it's better for you as well this way." "What...what if you had more time?" She looked down guiltily. "It wouldn't matter. I'm not going to change the way I feel, I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. Believe me." He shook his head and looked straight ahead. His eyes pained but his expression cold. "I guess I should have seen it coming with the way you've been acting with me." "What way?" He turned his head and looked at her. "Like you were waiting for a better offer. Like I was the sap who would tide you over until the real deal came along. Like the idiot who you were laughing your head off at because he was falling for something he never had." She shook her head, feeling awful. How could she have done this? "I am so sorry, and I never thought you were an idiot." "But you never saw me as anything other than a bit of fun and you didn't even think to give me a heads up on that. I must have been an idiot because I should have expected it. I mean even Serena told me to take it slowly with you because she didn't think you were after a 'relationship', and did I listen? No, I just ran straight in. And look what's happened? I am an idiot." She reached over and touched his arm. Not sure what to say. "Christian, it was nothing to do with you. I should have said something sooner..." He nodded his head as he shrugged her hand of his arm and stood up. "You should have. I deserved that much, it isn't like I'm a louse - I deserved a bit of consideration." She nodded her head as she looked at him. "I am so sorry, I just...I would like us to still be friends." He looked at her and smiled sadly. "I would like that as well because I don't want to lose Serena's friendship, but...it will be so hard. I know I should be the bigger guy here, Isabel. And I know I'm being petty but, I don't want to be hurt again and it would hurt to see you acting like nothing had went on. You want a piece of advice? Take a break from guys - go work out what you want out of life because it's not fair on us. You once told me that you had never had a guy break up with you - and you know why? You break up with them before they get too close. You don't know who or what you want. Work that out before you drag anyone else down," he said sadly. "I just need time to get my head around this. I hop you're happy one day and you find who you're looking for. I'll see you around and we'll see where we go from there, bye." Christian walked off leaving Isabel watching him retreat. She closed her eyes and rested her head in her hands. What if he was right. Maybe she would just never be happy floating from one guy to the next. Maybe she did need time to be sure. So she didn't hurt anyone again. Especially Alex. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Liz walked into the bedroom and sat her bag and books down on the bed as Michael came in and sat down on a seat. Where could she start? Michael, remember way back last year when I broke Max's heart? Well, funny story - it was all down to a warning from the future about an alien invasion? She shook her head - even in her head it sounded ridiculous. "Liz? You just gonna stand there all day?" She turned and looked at him. The best thing would be just to come out with it. But, he's Michael, you come out and say it and he goes into clam mode. "Would you like something to drink?" "No, what the hell's up with you? Just spit it out. I know you want to lecture me about poor Max who I'm sure you think I'm being too hard on but -" "Let me see the medallion," she interrupted quickly. "It's important." He took a step back. "I don't think so, what do you want to see it for?" She took a step towards her and looked at him. "Please, I need to see it." He shook his head. "You shouldn't even know about it, but what should I expect from Max? He always lets his emotions get in the way of his good sense where your concerned." "He didn't tell me! I found out by accident, now will you please let me see it?" She sounded impatient as she held her hand out. She did not want to fight with him over this. "Please, Michael. You know you can trust me." He shook his head and reached down into his pocket and brought out the medallion before reluctantly handing it over to her. "Fine. What's so important about it to you? It's not exactly got anything to do with you anyway." She shook her head as she felt the smooth surface and looked at every engraving on it. It must refer to something, anything. It couldn't be a coincidence. "Liz? Talk to me, what's wrong?" "It can't be a coincidence," she whispered as she looked at the medallion. "But he swore to me it would be different, but it's all coming true..." "What's coming true? Who swore it would be different?" Michael asked as he walked over to her and took the medallion off her. She looked up at him, her eyes full of fear. "It can't happen, we have to make sure it doesn't happen. It can't have been for nothing - I can't have done it for nothing." "Liz," Michael began as he touched her arm gently. "You're starting to freak me out. What did you do?" She took a deep breath. "You, you are going to yell at me but I couldn't tell you, please believe that. It was too hard." He took a step back. "Okay, go." She bit her lip and sat down on the bed. "Um, last year - you remember when me and Max split up?" "How could I forget, you slept with Kyle," he said harshly. "Max was even more mopey than usual." She looked down. "Did Maria not tell you that I didn't sleep with him?" "Obviously not," he sighed. "She has selective memory sometimes, don't tell me you haven't noticed?" She shook her head. "Okay, well, I didn't sleep with him. What happened was it...this is going to sound weird..." "Liz, your talking to an alien - this whole situation goes down as weird. Just say it." She nodded her head. He was right, nothing had been normal for a while so why should she worry now? "Okay, the reason I lied about that was because Max, from the future, I think it was probably 2015 or something but I can't remember the exact date...anyway, he came back and said that Tess would leave if me and Max, from now, got together. And as soon as she left another race would rise up and they would take over. And there would be a war and everyone would die. You, Isabel..." She took a deep breath as she continued quickly not giving him a chance to cut in. "Anyway, Max got over me - I made him think I didn't love him," she choked the words out, "and tried to get him and Tess together. And I thought it had worked - Tess stayed, and then Alex 'died' and I knew that no matter how bad it was that we really had fixed it because, well, he was 'dead' and wouldn't have made it to Max and mine's wedding when we were all 19 like he was supposed to. But Tess did leave, and Alex is alive and we don't have the Granolith and now we have new artefacts and...Serena...I met Serena, I'm friends with Serena like he said I would be. What, what if that," she pointed to the medallion. "What if that's from a new race? A new species and what if that's the species that goes to war? What if it was all for nothing?" Michael took a deep breath and looked at her in shock before standing up and running a hand through his hair and walking around the room before staring out the window while breathing deeply, trying to calm down. Liz sat down and waited patiently on him to talk to her. She knew he would be angry. "You have known about this for a year and didn't consider mentioning it before?" Michael said in a voice that barely came above a whisper. "You didn't think this might rank high on the 'important scale' you know, somewhere above every other flippin thing that we've had to deal with in the past year? You know, it might have been nice to have a heads up about a potential war that we were going to die in." "I...told Maria," she whispered, feeling guilty. "I didn't have anyone else I could tell." "Oh, you told Maria? The fact that she isn't alien probably was a deciding factor in that?" "No, the fact that I needed a friend was a deciding factor!" She shouted. "Not everything is about you all! I was hurting and I needed a friend, not judgement!" He looked at her and took a deep breath as she wiped her eyes before looking up at him. "I couldn't deal with it on my own and I couldn't risk Max finding out." He nodded his head and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry, I suppose I can see how it must have been hard for you but you should have told us." "I know, I'm sorry." "Okay, tell me why you are so worried about it now?" She took a deep breath. "Serena, Max told me we would become friends and I am. I am friends with her. She was the one who fixed the Granolith so he could go back to talk to me." "But we don't have the Granolith, Tess took it and it crashed..." He stopped as he let out a groan and brought his to hands up to his head. "And it landed in New York with Nicholas, who now has it like he always wanted. Dammit!" "But, if he has it, it means that we would have to take it back?" He turned and looked at her. "Well, we can't leave it with him. It's a weapon, what if he uses it on someone? On the planet - never mind a war it could be an apocalypse." "But, he might not know how to use it?" She said almost hopefully, she didn't want to think about this. "If he did he would have used it already." "Liz," Michael said almost wearily. "Use your head. He's a little psycho, you don't think he'll work it out?" "Maybe not." He shook his head and stood up. "That's not a chance that we're taking. We have to tell the others, this has to be worked out." Liz looked down and felt her face flush. Everyone would know about what had happened, about it all. Max would know... Michael stopped as he walked to the door. "Liz, we have to." She nodded her head but didn't look up from her hands. How would she be able to face him? Michael opened the door and walked out before turning back to look at her. "Listen, I won't tell him anything I can avoid but I'm not going to lie to him. I won't mention the wedding thing but - you should. There's too many secrets flying around. Okay?" She nodded her head and forced a smile. "'k, thanks..." He nodded his head. "Tell your dad I can't work. I'll see you later. Bye, Liz." He disappeared out the door and let it close behind him. She closed her eyes and fell back on the bed and thought about what she had done. "Bye, Michael..." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Michael walked out of the
Crashdown and sighed. He couldn't believe what had happened in
the space of a day. The Liz situation was perhaps the most
disturbing thing about it. How could she have forgot to mention
the little fact about a potential war they were the cause of? He
walked straight over towards the UFO centre. He had to let Max
know, and that meant getting over the crap they had to deal with. Michael looked down at Brody. This little twat had annoyed him from day one. "I would move that finger before I move it for you." "Michael!" Michael spun around to see Max running over towards them both. "Brody, I'll take this." "You'll take him out of here!" Max nodded his head as he stepped between Brody and Michael. "Yeah, okay - come on, Michael." "Take your break, Evans. Just get him out of here," Brody said pointing at Michael before he stormed off towards the office. Michael looked after Brody and shook his head. "Bit of a temper on him, that one." "You bring it out on him," Max said simply as Michael began walking away. "Whatever, come on - I have
to talk to you. It's important." Michael let out a laugh. "I would say no. Nicholas has the granolith and we have to get it back. And Liz is worried that if we get it back it will start some kind of a war - she's totally freaking about the medallion and how she thinks it's going to be the death of us all." Max's eyes widened. "Excuse me? Why would she think that?" Michael shook his head. He didn't want to tell but, it was important. "You should probably sit down." "Yeah, I'll sit down on the sidewalk. Just tell me." Michael sighed. "Okay, last year before you thought she slept with Kyle a future version of you told her she had to split with you because if she didn't then there would be a war. So that's why she split with you, to save us all from some kind of war. Anyway, she said that you told her she would become friends with Serena and she has and now she thinks the new medallion means that the war is going to happen." Michael noticed that Max was about
to flip at what he had told him. "You, well, the future
version of you told her she couldn't..." Michael looked at Max who was rubbing his eyes. He felt bad for his friend but he couldn't let him dwell on it - that wasn't important. "Max, I know you are upset at this. But a little perspective. You can deal with the personal aspect later - now we have to face the real possibility of a war with another race and the fact that Nicholas has a weapon." "I'm sorry I'm letting the 'personal aspect' get to me - after all, it's only my feelings!" "Feelings don't make a good leader!" Michael retorted as he grabbed Max's arm. "Now get over yourself - you've kept your fair share of secrets! Now we have to deal with Nicholas now! We can't let him go this time! So start acting like the leader you're supposed to be!" Max shook his head as he took a deep breath, trying to clear his head. "You want us to go to New York and what? Kill him? You think it will be that easy? It's a kinda big city or don't you realise that or does your brilliant plan come with a way to find him?" Michael shook his head. "We go there, we find him, we kill him and take back our Granolith." Max began to laugh. "You are kidding - that simple? What about school? What about our parents or should we forget about that?" "We have to get him sooner rather than later!" Max looked at him and nodded. "Fine, we'll do it in the summer - that way we have time to work out a real plan and we don't have to worry about school."
"We have lives here, Michael.
All of us, we can't give this up in a half hearted effort - if we
go in, we go in prepared." "Hi Max, " Isabel said with a sigh as she brushed her hair around her ears. "What's up?" He looked up and saw the man was
no longer there before he turned back to his sister. "You
have no idea..." "Thanks Isabel, at least you tried," Max said with a sigh as he looked over at the Crashdown mournfully. Why hadn't Liz told him? Why hadn't she trusted that they could have worked it out together? "Max? What's wrong?" Max looked at his sister sadly.
"He told me something, about Liz. About why she split up
with me last year - she did it to stop a war that would have
happened if we had been together..." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Max walked into the Crashdown
later that night and saw Mr. Parker at the counter. Isabel had
convinced him that the only way he could get over it would be to
talk to Liz about it but, as he stepped through the familiar
doors he felt a feeling of dread overwhelm him. "Hi, Mr
Parker. Is Liz in?" "Okay, Maria, can you please
be quiet. Shhh. Yeah, I get that idea. Wait a second," Liz
said and indicated at Max to come in. Before Maria had a chance to
respond Liz had hung up the phone and sat down on the bed and
looked at Max who was watching her. He took a deep breath, what
was he supposed to say to her? She sighed. "Maria is little
worried about the fact that Kyle will be her stepbrother. I mean
her and Amy has lived alone for most of her life - I think she's
scared it will change something." He shook his head but couldn't disguise the hurt expression. Even after all this time it still hurt. She looked at him with tears in
her eyes. "I had no choice, you have to see that? It was the
hardest thing I've ever done but I did it. And you know why?
Because you asked me to...I would only have done that for
you." She sighed as she looked at him. "It hurt so much saying those things to you, but you had to believe it. You had to..." She whispered quietly. Max just looked at her, his heart breaking at what had happened. He reached out and touched her face. "You didn't have to go through it alone, I would have been here..." She gave him a sad smile.
"That's what I was afraid of, if I had told you I wouldn't
have been able to say goodbye...if you knew what we had. What we
were going to have. I couldn't have put you through that." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Michael walked into his apartment building a few hours after his argument with Max. He couldn't understand what was going on between the group of them - they weren't as much friends anymore as strangers. Even Max and Isabel - the three of them had barely had a civil conversation in months. And now, the whole Nicholas thing - why wouldn't Max listen to him? Because Max is Max, he's always right. He doesn't need anyone else. He has to be right - he has to be in control. He pulled his key out of his back pocket and looked up and saw a man sitting outside of his apartment. He immediately stopped walking and felt his senses become heightened. The man looked familiar although he was sure he hadn't seen him before. He took a defensive stance. "Hey. Can I help you?" The man jumped up at the sound of the voice and gave a smile. "Michael Guerin?" Michael got his hand ready in his pocket in case he had to make a quick getaway - he knew there was something wrong here. "Who wants to know?" The man looked at him with penetrating green eyes and took a step towards Michael. "Maybe it would be more appropriate for me to greet you as Rath? Is that the preference?" Michael looked around desperately. He could not have anyone hearing this. "I don't know who you think you are, but I suggest you leave!" The man shook his head. "Please, calm down! There's no reason to get violent just yet. Give me a minute and I'll explain to you why I'm here. I can prove who I am, and believe me, it is as beneficial to you as it is to me. Let us talk?" Michael squinted. On one hand he
should have knocked the guy out and called the others but, for
some reason he knew he had to hear this. "Okay, you get five
minutes no more, and it better be good." Michael said as he
opened the door and insinuated that the man should enter the
apartment. "No, I have a full staff who waits on me hand and foot..." Michael muttered as he closed the door. The man smiled, "You are very much the same as you were." "Who the hell are you?" The man looked up and pulled out a gold disc from his robe and handed it to Michael expectantly. "My name is Taral," the man began as Michael looked at the medallion which was exactly the same as the one that he had taken from Max. What the hell is going on here? The held the medallion in front
Michael and asked "Have you seen one of these before,
Rath?" "You don't have a brother because they never told you about me. But I have always been here - and now is the time for our family to be complete. We only have a small group of us left, but we need you. Join us, I swear on my life that I am not here to hurt anyone - we are just trying to do the right thing. And we need you." He held out his hand towards Michael who looked at it suspiciously. A part of him was torn so badly - Liz's warning about another race taunting him in the back of his head and a larger, more primal desire to belong to something bigger. To belong to a family, a real family. A blood family. He took a deep breath and reached out for the offered hand. The instant they made contact he received a clear flash of the past. This man, his family, his friends...he pulled back quickly, feeling almost overwhelmed from the emotions. It was true - he had a brother. After all this time...he had someone. Someone who would always be there, like Isabel was with Max. Someone who would help. Someone who would love unconditionally. He felt a deep knot form low in his stomach. Why couldn't he have had this when Hank was alive? "It's true...you, you were telling the truth." Taral nodded his head. "Yes, and I am telling you the truth when I tell you that I have been looking for you for years. But now we are reunited," he grinned, "now I have my brother by my side like we were always supposed to be, we have nothing to fear." Michael looked up at him and felt himself smile happily. Brother? He had a brother. There was a slight knock on the door and Taral smiled as he walked to the door and opened it to reveal Ava standing there. She waved at Michael as she reached up and kissed Taral as she stepped into the room. Michael looked up at the two of them. Okay, now he was confused. "What is she doing there?" Taral looked at her proudly. "She was the reason I found you. She has been watching you for months while I brought our people together." Michael looked at him. "People?" Taral reached over and touched Michael's shoulders. "There are only four others, everyone else is dead. But they are loyal and we are so much stronger now that we are together," Michael looked up at Taral.
"Stronger for what?" Michael looked anxious. "Enemies? You want to fill me in on who?" Taral nodded his head and pulled a photograph out of his pocket and handed it to Michael who felt himself smile as he looked at the image - all doubts fading away. Taral saw this smile and reached
over and touched Michael's hand. "And the first person we
will deal with is Nicholas. Are you in, brother?" Michael nodded his head and gave a smile as he took Taral's hand and let him pull him into a hug. "Oh yes, I am definitely in." TBC |
||
| Please visit our reaction thread to post feedback. |
||
Do you want to know the latest VS3 news? Cookies and spoilers on upcoming episodes? Discuss possible plot twists and character development? If so join our MAILING LIST for the latest news, discussion and update info. |
Virtual Episodes -- Writers -- Home -- Message Board -- Links