*******
Who Will You Run To?
Fingers hovered over the paper, pen poised to finish what had been started. Something in the back of his mind held him back. A memory, a premonition. Something. Dropping the pen with a soft clatter, he sighed and closed his eyes. He was tired. Plain and simple. So much had been going on lately, and he had begun to feel as if he was loosing his mind. Not to mention the dreams. Of her. Always of her. They had been keeping him up at night.
Turning away from the table with a shove, he considered ignoring the phone when it rang. But the shrill sound was almost like a siren's call to him. He was drawn, unwilling to let the machine pick it up. At the fifth ring, he felt panic rise up within him. What if the person calling hung up?
"Hello?" he asked, the desperation he felt leaking through into his tone.
The voice at the other end was shaky, hoarse and whispered. Weak and frightened, but he knew it the instant his ears registered the sound.
"Alex?" Scared and oh so alone.
"Isabel?" His heart caught in his chest and he closed his eyes tightly. A flood of emotions hit him like a tidal wave. "Isabel, what's wrong?"
"Oh God Alex," relief was in her words, but he could still hear the fear in the hushed sound. Could hear the tremor it caused. "Alex, I'm in trouble. I need help."
"Where are you?" he demanded, already reaching for his keys. It didn't matter if it was the ends of the Earth. He would be there. "Isabel, tell me where you are."
A soft whimper. Enough to make his heart break. A deep breath. He could feel the uneasiness. "Roswell. I'm in Roswell Alex."
Alex froze, his hand only inches from the doorknob. Roswell? What was she doing in Roswell? Hadn't they all left that place? Even though he had never known for sure, he had always assumed Never imagined she would have stayed.
"Isabel? What's going on? What do you want me to do?" Helplessness welled up in him at the thought that she was alone and so afraid.
The sob ripped through Alex and he squeezed his eyes shut once more. Wishing only that he could reach out to hold her, he tried to steel himself against the other sobs that fell out into the otherwise silent air of the open connection. It didn't work. Each one slammed into him like a runaway train, knocking the air from his lungs.
"Just come. Please? I'm in so much trouble Alex" The words came out in a half whimper half plea. He needed to hear no more. Actually, just hearing her voice had been enough. Had she not told him where she was, he would have done anything, gone through anything, to find her.
"I'm on my way Is. Just hang on. I'll meet you in our place. Ok? I'll be there soon."
*******
She fell into his arms as soon as he came close enough. Sobs tore through her body, carrying over into him, ripping out his heart. It would have been easier had she just reached into his chest and pulled his heart from his body. Even if she had then tossed it to the ground and stomped on it, it still wouldn't have hurt as badly as he hurt now. The sound of her voice kept echoing in his head.
"Shhh," he whispered gently, stroking her hair as he lowered them both to the ground. "Shhhh. It's ok. I'm here now."
Isabel clutched him tightly, almost painfully, pulling him ever closer to her. Wanting to melt into him. Alex would make it better. Would take her pain away. He always had.
"I'm so sorry," she sobbed against his chest. "I tried, but I just couldn't do it anymore."
Alex held her, his mind unable to come up with something that was so horrible that she was in such a state. Then she looked up at him and the light fell across her face.
The black eye was horrible, but not as horrible as the obviously broken nose. He sensed there was more than what he could see, felt the scars on her body without touching them. Gently he took her face in his hands.
"Isabel? What happened?" Anger and pain made his voice harsher than he intended. Made him sound as if he was upset with her.
Flinching from him, from the tone of his voice, she pulled away. Unable to meet his stare. "I'm sorry maybe I should have just" Doubt flickered through her since the first moment she had decided to run. Since she knew she would be going to him.
Alex grabbed her roughly by the shoulders. "Isabel, tell me what happened!" he demanded. Her obvious fear sickened him, but anger shoved it aside. He would gladly kill whatever had done this to her. But in order to do that, he had to know what had happened. With a whimper, she broke completely, giving herself over to him.
Almost as if she was collapsing into herself, Isabel curled up, letting herself rest against him. Only when he wrapped his arms around her did she begin her tale.
"It started after you guys left. Max, Michael and I stayed not for too long, but long enough. I don't know how it happened. It just did. One minute you were gone, then next Kyle and I were dating. Or something. When it was time to go, he wanted to come with us. I don't know why we agreed, but we did. Keep the enemy close or something. But by that time it didn't seem like he was the enemy."
She took a shaky breath and clutched his hand tightly between her own, drawing strength from him. Starting to feel safe after all this time. "And a few years went by. And things settled down. Next thing I knew next thing I knew we had gotten married." Alex could feel the tears soak through his shirt, but didn't dare to interrupt. Not to mention he didn't think he could speak around the lump that had formed in his throat. "Max and Michael thought it was a bad idea from the beginning. But it seemed ok. He was there, and he always said the right things." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And you were already gone." His heart stopped as he felt his own tears begin to rise. Alex had never known for sure if his leaving had bothered her. "As soon as Max and Michael were gone had moved on, things changed." The bitterness in her voice overrode the fear, and while it might not have been the emotion Alex would have chose for her, it was better than hearing how terrified she was. "It took a while. Long enough that I hadn't used my powers in so long they were weak. I never wanted him to think never wanted to give him a reason, you know? I should have known better. He hit me one night. Said it was my fault that his father was always too busy for him. Always hunting aliens. He said he should kill me for it."
Rage boiled inside of him forcing bile to rise in his throat. Her tears had dried and she looked at him with haunted brown eyes. It was an expression he would not soon forget. Reaching out, hand quivering with hesitation for an instant, she pressed her fingers against his cheeks. Cheeks wet with tears.
"How long?" he whispered, searching her face for some sign of the Isabel he had once known. The Isabel he had loved. Still loved.
Now that they were touching him, her fingers didn't seem to want to stop. They slid along his cheek, across his jaw, over his lips, tracing lines she thought she had long forgotten. The blackness she felt inside of her swelled at the question, but suddenly it had little power over her.
"As long as you've been gone," she said softly. "Ten years. It didn't get really bad until his dad died six years ago. He didn't hit me much until then. But after Valenti died, then it got worse. He blamed me for it. Said it was me his dad had been hunting for when he was killed. Told me that he should have killed Max and Michael when he had the chance. But me he wanted to make me suffer."
"Christ," Alex breathed. Guilt plagued him, telling him that if he had only stayed, if he had only tried harder, none of this would have happened. Regret mingled with the guilt, making him feel as if he might loose what little dinner he had managed to choke down in the car. "Oh God Isabel I'm sorry"
"Don't say it," she pleaded, pressing fingers against his lips. "Even if you were there, it might not have changed anything. We can't ever know. There's no point in even thinking it."
"Max and Michael?"
Isabel shook her head then winced at the pain it caused. "I never told them. They'd kill him." The look on Alex's face told her he would gladly do it as well. Would rip Kyle into pieces for what he had done. "It would have brought attention to them Alex I didn't want them to suffer too."
Raining kisses down gently against her face, he tasted the salt left on her cheeks. Easing her against him, he held her tightly to him, kissing the top of her head. Wanting to pass his love to her, he tried to will it into her. Tried to take her pain into himself.
"Then what happened?" As the words left his mouth, he knew he was unprepared for the answer. Knew just hearing it would kill a part of him just as living through it had obviously killed part of her.
"He tried to kill me." The words were soft, muffled against his chest, but they rocked him to his core. Alex could form no words, scared that the only thing that would escape his lips was rage. Never, in all his years, had he been so maddened. Rage seethed within him, keeping him silent while she finished.
"A few nights ago he called from work. Told me he had done a lot of thinking. I don't know how I knew, but I did I could feel it. There was just something about the way he said it. I almost left then. Almost just walked out. But it was like I needed it to happen. Needed it to explode like this." Isabel took a deep breath, soaking in the feeling of Alex's arms around her. Growing reaccustomed to the feeling of being loved. Of being unafraid. "He came home and I could see it. Knew what kind of mood he was in. The gun surprised me. I'll admit that. He yelled. Screamed at me for all the things he imagined I had done to him. He his me once, with his fist. I think he broke my nose..." As if it might have happened in a dream, she reached up to touch her nose lightly, feeling to ridge there. Pain flared but she didn't notice. "This time I fought back, shoved him away from me as I headed for the door. I heard it a second before it went off. Maybe turning was the only thing that saved me. I'm not sure."
He almost protested when she pulled away from him. She lifted up her shirt and the protest died on his lips. The livid red wound in her side captured his attention as if magnetic. It was a flesh wound, but the angry color made him think of the blood that must have spilled from it. Gingerly he reached out, placing his hand against it. The heat that radiated from it told him it was still healing, still sore. Still possibly deadly.
Isabel didn't pull away from him, instead she reveled in the feel of his hands on her skin. In the feel of the pain that was now a healing pain. Her hand slid over his, holding it there, letting the wound feel the coolness of his skin. It was like water in the middle of the desert.
"When I turned, I felt it graze me. Felt it tear at me. I'm not sure he knew what he had done really. The look on his face seemed confused. Like he hadn't really expected the gun to go off. But then it dawned on him. Then he knew exactly what had happened. And he aimed at me again."
Her hand slid from his allowing him to pull her once more. Tears trailed down his cheeks again, his mind reeling with all the words she had said. If only he had known his soul screamed at the loss of such a wonderful person. No matter what happened now, Isabel would never be the same. Waiting until she was safely wrapped in his arms again, she continued her story.
"I was out the door before he could think twice about it. Thankfully I had known... had prepared. He wouldn't follow me. Not far anyway. So I headed for the woods. Too much work involved for him to follow me there. I had hid my bags in a cave I had found once. Clothes, money and my plane ticket. I had bought it almost a year ago open ended. To Phoenix. Thought I might hide there. It's big maybe big enough to hide. But it wasn't right. I knew it as soon as I landed. You weren't in Phoenix."
Isabel looked up at him.
"He's hunting me Alex. He'll kill me this time."
She couldn't suppress the tremor that ran down her spine. Alex searched her face, her eyes, wanting more than anything to be able to put the pieces of her life back together again. Hands pressed against either side of her face, forcing her to look at him, not letting her look away.
"Not this time," Alex said. His voice was gentle, but Isabel could not mistake the steel that was in it. "He's hurt you for the last time. It ends. Now. I promise you that."
*******
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
She nodded once. Fear was etched on her features. The hold all of this had on her was a force that Alex could only imagine. He had never known her to be scared of anything really. Not like this. Reaching out a hand, he pulled her close as she took it, holding her tightly to him. The temptation to just take her and run away was strong. Even if Kyle tracked them back to his home, he would be prepared to deal with Isabel's nightmare there. But Alex knew she was right. Kyle would never stop until he had killed her for all the things he imagined she had done to him. They had to stop it here.
"I - " She stopped, almost unable to form the words. A simple act of rebellion had turned into so much. It was nearly overwhelming. "I want to heal myself. I don't want him to see what he's done."
Alex pulled back a few inches to look at her. The black eye was still ugly, but finally fading to the sickly yellow color instead of the blue-black it had been when he had first seen her. Her nose was less swollen, but still painful. And crooked. He was scared when she rested her head against him that it would get bumped and do more damage.
"Are you strong enough?" he asked softly. If she expended herself too much, things could easily go wrong.
The first smile he had seen from her in years pulled at her mouth. It was weak, a shadow of the smile he knew she was capable of, but a smile nonetheless. For now it would be enough. After this, he had all the time in the world to give her a reason to really smile at him. A smile that reached into her eyes.
"I can if you help me." Isabel searched his face. Had she already asked too much of him? Would he desert her now? She knew there would be no way she could do this alone.
"How?" His response was simple. There was no need to think about it. Anything that needed to be done, he would do. There were just some things that never changed, even with time. He would still lay down his life for hers if need be. Would do anything she asked of him.
"Hold me," she whispered. "Think of all the times we had together. All the good things."
Arms wound their way around her waist, hauling her to him. Pressing her close, his hands roamed her back, as if merely having his hands on her wasn't enough. He needed more some kind of contact he couldn't seem to get. Her hand pressed against his temple then. A cool touch, gentle, almost nonexistent. But it was enough.
Scenes ran through his mind. Images of them together. Of Max and Liz Michael and Maria. Pictures of them at the Crashdown. Flashes of Isabel watching him. Vivid scenes of them together talking, playing making love. Alex felt all the emotions again, felt the love he had always felt for her. Felt the fear of loosing her. The heartache when he did lose her. Finally, one last look as they had climbed into his car and left Roswell for good. A look over his shoulder at her face. The neutral expression not enough to keep him in this place. The look that had led to this.
His eyes opened as she dropped her hand away from her own face. Brown eyes looked out at him from under unmarred skin. The nose that had been so painful was now straight again, the swelling completely gone. But even alien magic couldn't get rid of the haunted expression in those eyes. That was something that had been there for so long that it would take years to get rid of. If it ever went away completely.
"Alex?" Her eyes locked onto his. So much had happened but he had always been her rock. The one thing that had kept her hanging on.
"Yeah?" Again he was struck with the urge to just take her and run. Take her someplace she would be safe. This was too dangerous. Something was going to happen What if he managed to really kill her?
"Don't leave me again?" It came out as a plea. The sob followed and she almost apologized. But she had done too much of that over the years and she would not apologize for something she wanted. Not this time.
A small sound escaped the back of his throat as he hauled her to him once again. Hugging her as tightly as he dared, he shook his head. "Never," he promised her. "I'll never leave you behind again. I swear. When this is over, we'll go home. Our home. Letting you go again would kill me. I can't lose you again."
Isabel began to speak again, but was cut off but another voice. A voice she feared. A voice that turned her insides to liquid with terror. The voice she would hear when she died. She knew that.
"Well, isn't that just fucking cute?" the voice drawled. "Should have known you'd come running back here. You never did have much imagination. Always longing for the good old days."
"Kyle." Isabel breathed as she pulled away from Alex. Loath to stop touching him, she was even more unwilling to leave Kyle at her back.
"But I'll admit, this wasn't the first place I looked. Kinda figured you guys would be mooning over each other at the Crashdown like old times. Had no idea I'd find you here. I mean, didn't you get enough of High School when we were there?" A smirk covered his features. "Wait, that was the only time someone gave a damn about you, wasn't it Isabel?"
"That's enough Kyle," Alex told him. "It's better you find us here now. That way when you get the divorce papers, it won't be a surprise." With one hand, he forced her behind him. Fear made it easy as she gave no resistance. "It's over Kyle. You've done enough damage. Why don't you go back to whatever rock you crawled out from under."
The laugh was cold, unlike the sound Alex was used to hearing form Kyle. True, Kyle had never been one of his favorite people, but up until Isabel's phone call, he had never known him to be mean or violent. Something had obviously happened to change him, but Alex didn't think he ever wanted to know what it was.
"That bitch won't ever divorce me. She's too damn scared of her own shadow to go anywhere." The tone was amused. Alex felt his blood rise. "Not the brightest girl out there. But if you knocked her around enough she was ok in bed. Always kind of a cold fish though."
Everything dropped into slow motion for Alex then. His mind kept screaming at him not to let Kyle get to him, but his body was already in motion. There was nothing he could do to stop the events already set into motion.
"Then again, maybe she was different for you. Always knew it would be you she went running to if she ever got the guts to do it. She never stopped talking about you. Even after she stopped mentioning Max and Michael, she still rambled on about you. Told me I'd never be half the man you were. Guess you really fucked her good and hard Whitman."
"Alex! NO!" Her scream cut through the stale air of the abandoned and collapsing school. But it still wasn't enough to stop what had already begun.
Black steel flickered in the meager light as Kyle pulled out the gun. With a cool smile he fired at Alex. The bullet took him in the shoulder, sending him backward into the far wall. The cry of pain that escaped him was involuntary. He struggled to his feet, lunging towards Isabel. Kyle was going to shoot her and he wasn't going to miss this time.
"Get down!" he yelled as he fell a few feet from her. Reaching for her, he forced himself along the rotting wood, telling himself he'd make it to her in time.
Just like before, she heard the click of the hammer and the smell of gunpowder before she felt it. The shot rang out like thunder, deafening all three of them. She felt it as her lung collapsed, as her heart began to miss beats. The blood was warm as she sank to the floor, laying silently in it. One last look. Alex. Reaching for him with a hand sticky with her own blood, she saw the horror on his face. Something had gone wrong. It wasn't supposed to be like this.
"Alex?" she whispered, the confusion the only thing he could hear in her voice.
Alex screamed as she breathed her last breath, shoving himself up from the floor. The blood from his wound was running down his arm, but the wound had gone strangely numb. Turning to face Kyle, the rage on his face made the other man take a step back.
"You killed her," he said, his voice arctic. "Are you happy now? You killed her. You ripped away any happiness she ever had, then you killed her."
Kyle looked between them, first at his wife, then at Alex. A faint frown covered his face as he rested his gaze on the other man. "She's dead?"
"You're damn right she's dead. And you killed her." He lunged, taking Kyle by the throat with his good hand. Slamming him against the wall, Alex squeezed. "I should kill you now. Rip your throat out. Make you eat that barrel. Put you through all the things you've done to her all these years." Kyle's head thunked against the wall as Alex slammed his head back. "But that's not good enough. No, I think I'll let the cops take you away. Take you to prison. Let all the inmates take care of you. No sympathy for the son of an officer. No mercy for a wife beater. You'll be the lowest of the low there. If you're lucky, maybe one will take a fancy to you." Emphasizing his words, Alex slammed Kyle's head into the brick. "Because then, only one of them will get to use you. But I hope that they will all just hate you. Then they can take turns. And if you're really lucky, they'll kill you quickly when they're bored with you. Quick knife into what some might consider a heart. But I hope they take their time cutting you open."
When his knee connected with Kyle's groin, Alex dropped him. "Welcome to your hell Valenti," he said as he dealt a blow to his head, knocking Kyle unconscious.
Turning away from the other man, Alex stared at Isabel. His heart had stopped in his chest and he felt the tears in his eyes. No matter what the plan had been, seeing her like this killed a part of him as well. The cell phone seemed cold, like death, in his hand as he dialed. The voice he heard didn't seem to be his own, but he knew it was. He could feel his lips move.
"It's done." A pause. "Yeah, she's dead." Another pause. "Hurry."
Flipping the phone shut and tossing it aside, he knelt beside her body. Taking the still warm hand in his, he brought it to his mouth. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth as he kissed it.
"I'm sorry Is. I'm so sorry."
Unable to stop it, the sobs wracked him. Isabel would never exist again. Never again would she smile at him. Hug him. Kiss him. Name the constellations. Isabel was dead.
*******
The final words of the minister floated through the air and the casket was lowered into the ground. With dry eyes, Alex tossed a handful of dirt into the hole. He had cried all of his tears. There were none left. Rising, he looked towards the sky. The blue held promise and he had to smile faintly at that. A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts.
Michael offered him a smile. The dark blue of his uniform seemed out of place, and the black tape over his badge just seemed odd. It wasn't an officer that had died, but the girl who had been his sister. It was family and that's all that really mattered.
"You were right," he said to Alex. "He wasn't well liked. Kyle died this morning. Didn't even last a full week." There was no humor in his words regardless of the smile that played on Michael's mouth. "Rumors of the video tape went around. They didn't take kindly to all he had done to her. And being an officer's son didn't help him any either. Even if he had made it, I don't think he'd have made it much past trial. With that tape with her death on it he would have been tossed into the darkest whole they could have found. Nothing would have let him out alive."
The smile held a faint note of satisfaction in it. "That was her idea... the tape. She knew." Alex sighed softly and closed his eyes. The day had been so long. But it wasn't over yet. There were still things to be done.
"Come on," Max nudged him gently. "We can't keep everyone waiting. Liz and the kids will kill me if we don't hurry."
Alex laughed softly and shook his head as he started for the two stretch limos waiting for them. He paused, watching as Max climbed into one, followed by Michael and Maria. Waiting until their door was closed, he cast one look around the cemetery, then opened his door and climbed in.
"Is it over?" she asked softly as the door closed.
"Over," he agreed as he turned to look at her.
The hair was a shade of auburn he had always liked. Her nose was straight, with just a slight hitch at the bridge. Her mouth was pink, turned into a slight smile. A girl no one would ever know. But he knew. The brown eyes that looked at him hadn't changed. She leaned in, kissed him softly, then slipped her hand into his as she leaned back against the leather seat.
"I love you Alex," she said softly. Those words meant everything.
Alex smiled, squeezing her hand tightly. "How does it feel to almost be Mrs. Elisabeth Whitman?" he asked.
"Better than being Isabel ever felt," she replied as she dropped her head to his shoulder.
Wrapping his good arm around her, he smiled. They had a wedding to attend.