Title: Duty
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for tons of debt from school. And if you
don't recognize it, it's my idea.
Rating: Pg-13
A/N: Sorry about the confusion, I forgot to put the beginning on, the first
time. Also, this is post-graduation, and I realize that it's going to be
confusing, but it will get better, the more you read, which is kinda why I
wrote it that way. I also wrote this because I think the group is more
important than just driving around. Also I missed huge parts of the third
season, so if things are a bit off, that's why. But just put it towards
creative license of a fanfiction writer. Please let me know what you
think, either way. I want to make sure you guys like this if I'm
continuing to post it. And really sorry about the way the previous posting
looked like, I didn't realize it looked like that. I hope this is better.
Prologue
"And who is this?" Isabel asked as she pushed several buttons on the black box sitting on the table. As she pushed the final button, an image of a young man with dark hair rose from the box.
The question raised an insolent look from the young woman in front of her; And Isabel could just tell what was going to come next.
"Gandhi."
So Isabel didn't have Liz's abilities to foresee the future, but she had known that the girl wouldn't give her a straight answer.
"Ana, this is serious. You need to be--"
"Well prepared, and so on and so forth. Isabel, we've been over this a hundred times, plus it doesn't matter. I've been preparing for this my whole life. I know what to do and I know what's expected of me. We don't need to go over it again." Ana rebutted.
"This is new information, I need to make sure that you don't screw up who has what abilities and who--"
"I will not stand by and let you throw the fact that I have been lied to, my entire life, in my face. I know the information you need me to know, and I don't want to go over it again. Isn't it time we leave?" Ana asked.
"Yes. Do you have everything you need?" Isabel asked.
"Hmm, let's see, the clothes on my back, and.oh yeah, me!" Ana turned to walk out the door, her brown hair, which she had recently shortened into a messy bob fly when she changed directions at Isabel's next words.
"Your journal is in your pocket. I'm not stupid." Isabel said.
"I can't help it, it's a habit. Ke'rn gave it to me." Ana responded, her blue eyes locking with Isabel's amber ones, challenging Isabel to force her to give up the one item she had ever been given as a gift.
"Fine, just don't let anyone but you hear it. It's encoded to your genes, right?" Isabel relented with a sigh.
"And Ke'rn's." She replied. Suddenly Ana stopped in the hallway; she looked at Isabel for a moment before she looked away, and then looked up at her again. Ana was only slightly shorter than Isabel, but Isabel had always thought that Ana had some quality about her that made her seem larger than she truly was. The phrase 'larger than life' came to Isabel's mind.
"What's wrong?" Isabel asked her, using her eyes to search the younger woman's face, trying to figure out what Ana was so obviously having trouble stating.
"I don't know how long I'm going to be gone, and. I don't want Ke'rn to wait for me. He'll be 28 in less than two full rotations," Ana said, using the Antarian way to measure time. One rotation, was equal to the human term for day, a full rotation was a year. There were similar ways for time measure. Although Isabel had learned all of those Antarian terms, it was simply easier to say on hour, instead of 1/24th of a rotation. So she rarely used those terms, but then Ana had been raised as an Antarian.
"So?" Isabel asked, not understanding where Ana was going with her statement.
"Once he reaches 28, he's required to bond with someone. I want you to make sure that he does complete the bonding on his 28th year of birth, which is required by his station."
"Ana, I'm sure if you agreed to the promise, and he then told his parents, they would be willing to wait until you returned." Isabel countered.
"I don't want him to wait, we don't know if I am coming back, and I don't want him waiting for something that may take forever to happen, or may not happen at all." Ana replied.
"You will be coming back, you and your daughter are going to be back her, safe and sound." Isabel said, and Ana could see that Isabel wouldn't even allow the thought of Ana not returning to enter her mind.
"You know that's the first time you've ever let anything slip about what's going to happen. Ke'rn doesn't even know that I'm pregnant." Ana said, "and you're not going to tell him!"
"Why?"
"I don't need him following me."
"We don't even know if that's possible." Isabel interjected.
"Sure we do. He's the same as me. The same amount of human and Antarian blood flow through our veins."
"So? Max, Michael, Tess, and I all have the same amount, as well. We're all equally half human and half Antarian, yet Michael's never been able to dreamwalk, and I know that I can't mindwarp." Isabel replied.
"Not that you'd even want to try to do that, after what Tess did you to you all." Ana countered. "So in all reality we don't know for sure, and to be absolutely sure, I don't want him following if he's able to. He needs to be here to complete the requirements of his station. Promise me you won't let him wait. Promise me Isabel!"
"I promise."
Ana and Isabel walked through the hallway quietly for a few moments, before Ana interrupted it.
"Okay, tell me how this is going to work again?"
"I thought you didn't want to know. Didn't you just say that you didn't want to go over all this information again?" Isabel asked.
"It's either that, or I start thinking about other things. Tell me how it works."
"The Crystal is already placed in the Granolith, the calculations are already entered, all you need to do is step into the Granolith, and it does all the work. Next thing you know, you should be there." Isabel answered.
"And how do I get home? The point isn't to change anything; it's to prevent the timeline from being changed, right? So how do I get back?" Ana asked her, commenting on the one thing that Isabel had hoped she wouldn't ask.
"We don't know, the crystal is on Antar, and you left before we reached Antar." Isabel replied.
"So I'm supposed to come back, but we have no idea how, right?"
"Yes, but you'll know. Just like you'll know when to reveal yourself, and when to tell the truth about everything, you'll know." Isabel replied. "The shuttle will take you to it, and you have the directions there, all set?"
"Yeah, Isabel, thanks.for everything." Ana said, just as she was about to step into the shuttle, Isabel grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.
"Be safe, just because things turned out the way they did when I went through it doesn't mean it's going to happen this way around again." Isabel whispered in her ear.
"I don't think I've ever seen you cry." Ana said in wonder. No matter how long Isabel had been there for her, Isabel had always reminded her of a ice statue. To see Isabel crying now, it was unbelievable.
"Well, remember, I'm the Ice Queen, and a bitch." Isabel said, a smile cutting through her tears.
"I'll remember that, by the way, your hair? Awful."
"Now I know you're human. Antarians have this awful train of thought that one should never comment on the appearance of anyone else. Especially someone of my station." Isabel said with a smile as she fingered her long bright red hair. "Besides, I'm only doing it to make my husband crazy. As soon as it succeeds, I'll change it to something better."
Ana looked at her for a second longer and then walked through the doors into the shuttle, for the first time in her life, unsure of what her future would bring.
Prologue
"And who is this?" Isabel asked as she pushed several buttons on the black box sitting on the table. As she pushed the final button, an image of a young man with dark hair rose from the box.
The question raised an insolent look from the young woman in front of her; And Isabel could just tell what was going to come next.
"Gandhi."
So Isabel didn't have Liz's abilities to foresee the future, but she had known that the girl wouldn't give her a straight answer.
"Ana, this is serious. You need to be--"
"Well prepared, and so on and so forth. Isabel, we've been over this a hundred times, plus it doesn't matter. I've been preparing for this my whole life. I know what to do and I know what's expected of me. We don't need to go over it again." Ana rebutted.
"This is new information, I need to make sure that you don't screw up who has what abilities and who--"
"I will not stand by and let you throw the fact that I have been lied to, my entire life, in my face. I know the information you need me to know, and I don't want to go over it again. Isn't it time we leave?" Ana asked.
"Yes. Do you have everything you need?" Isabel asked.
"Hmm, let's see, the clothes on my back, and.oh yeah, me!" Ana turned to walk out the door, her brown hair, which she had recently shortened into a messy bob fly when she changed directions at Isabel's next words.
"Your journal is in your pocket. I'm not stupid." Isabel said.
"I can't help it, it's a habit. Ke'rn gave it to me." Ana responded, her blue eyes locking with Isabel's amber ones, challenging Isabel to force her to give up the one item she had ever been given as a gift.
"Fine, just don't let anyone but you hear it. It's encoded to your genes, right?" Isabel relented with a sigh.
"And Ke'rn's." She replied. Suddenly Ana stopped in the hallway; she looked at Isabel for a moment before she looked away, and then looked up at her again. Ana was only slightly shorter than Isabel, but Isabel had always thought that Ana had some quality about her that made her seem larger than she truly was. The phrase 'larger than life' came to Isabel's mind.
"What's wrong?" Isabel asked her, using her eyes to search the younger woman's face, trying to figure out what Ana was so obviously having trouble stating.
"I don't know how long I'm going to be gone, and. I don't want Ke'rn to wait for me. He'll be 28 in less than two full rotations," Ana said, using the Antarian way to measure time. One rotation, was equal to the human term for day, a full rotation was a year. There were similar ways for time measure. Although Isabel had learned all of those Antarian terms, it was simply easier to say on hour, instead of 1/24th of a rotation. So she rarely used those terms, but then Ana had been raised as an Antarian.
"So?" Isabel asked, not understanding where Ana was going with her statement.
"Once he reaches 28, he's required to bond with someone. I want you to make sure that he does complete the bonding on his 28th year of birth, which is required by his station."
"Ana, I'm sure if you agreed to the promise, and he then told his parents, they would be willing to wait until you returned." Isabel countered.
"I don't want him to wait, we don't know if I am coming back, and I don't want him waiting for something that may take forever to happen, or may not happen at all." Ana replied.
"You will be coming back, you and your daughter are going to be back her, safe and sound." Isabel said, and Ana could see that Isabel wouldn't even allow the thought of Ana not returning to enter her mind.
"You know that's the first time you've ever let anything slip about what's going to happen. Ke'rn doesn't even know that I'm pregnant." Ana said, "and you're not going to tell him!"
"Why?"
"I don't need him following me."
"We don't even know if that's possible." Isabel interjected.
"Sure we do. He's the same as me. The same amount of human and Antarian blood flow through our veins."
"So? Max, Michael, Tess, and I all have the same amount, as well. We're all equally half human and half Antarian, yet Michael's never been able to dreamwalk, and I know that I can't mindwarp." Isabel replied.
"Not that you'd even want to try to do that, after what Tess did you to you all." Ana countered. "So in all reality we don't know for sure, and to be absolutely sure, I don't want him following if he's able to. He needs to be here to complete the requirements of his station. Promise me you won't let him wait. Promise me Isabel!"
"I promise."
Ana and Isabel walked through the hallway quietly for a few moments, before Ana interrupted it.
"Okay, tell me how this is going to work again?"
"I thought you didn't want to know. Didn't you just say that you didn't want to go over all this information again?" Isabel asked.
"It's either that, or I start thinking about other things. Tell me how it works."
"The Crystal is already placed in the Granolith, the calculations are already entered, all you need to do is step into the Granolith, and it does all the work. Next thing you know, you should be there." Isabel answered.
"And how do I get home? The point isn't to change anything; it's to prevent the timeline from being changed, right? So how do I get back?" Ana asked her, commenting on the one thing that Isabel had hoped she wouldn't ask.
"We don't know, the crystal is on Antar, and you left before we reached Antar." Isabel replied.
"So I'm supposed to come back, but we have no idea how, right?"
"Yes, but you'll know. Just like you'll know when to reveal yourself, and when to tell the truth about everything, you'll know." Isabel replied. "The shuttle will take you to it, and you have the directions there, all set?"
"Yeah, Isabel, thanks.for everything." Ana said, just as she was about to step into the shuttle, Isabel grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.
"Be safe, just because things turned out the way they did when I went through it doesn't mean it's going to happen this way around again." Isabel whispered in her ear.
"I don't think I've ever seen you cry." Ana said in wonder. No matter how long Isabel had been there for her, Isabel had always reminded her of a ice statue. To see Isabel crying now, it was unbelievable.
"Well, remember, I'm the Ice Queen, and a bitch." Isabel said, a smile cutting through her tears.
"I'll remember that, by the way, your hair? Awful."
"Now I know you're human. Antarians have this awful train of thought that one should never comment on the appearance of anyone else. Especially someone of my station." Isabel said with a smile as she fingered her long bright red hair. "Besides, I'm only doing it to make my husband crazy. As soon as it succeeds, I'll change it to something better."
Ana looked at her for a second longer and then walked through the doors into the shuttle, for the first time in her life, unsure of what her future would bring.