Boxes
by Tracy (biancaheart@yahoo.com)

Rating PG13

Category: AU, FF, Unconventional couples to begin with, but will be Conventional Couples by the end--stick with it, it won't be bad, I swear

Spoilers: "Baby It's You"- the AU takes place after this...
 

Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell...I don't own anything...okaybee?

Author's Note: This work was composed on the Roswellian Ramblings Board at www.roswellunderground.com.  There are some inside references to  "Egyptian" type qualities that board members will recognize and appreciate, but any Roswellian should be able to enjoy this story J


FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED!





Boxes, boxes, boxes everywhere.

This was her home now. Her first house. No longer did she live with her Mother, Father, brothers and sisters. She was an independent woman. Against all of her parent's protests, she had moved back to their hometown, where they both had grown up. Roswell, New Mexico, a town that hadn't outgrown a fascination with an event that had happened years and years ago.

Brett, her college boyfriend who didn't think that continuing their relationship beyond graduation would benefit anything, had come here interviewing for a job. Jill, still blind from the adoration and gleam that radiated from Brett, had come along, with dreams of white picket fences in her future. The relationship fizzled, but Jill felt amazingly at home among the cheesy décor.

So, in an act of sheer madness, she applied for the Deputy job, the job that Brett didn't get.

At the age of 22, Jill Valenti packed up her bags, kissed her parents goodbye, and drove a U-Haul across country from Florida.

Tomorrow, she would start her first "real" job.

But today, she had to unpack and try to make this house a home. Her home.

Nobody had lived here since 2001. The realtor said that once, a family had lived here, but the teenage son died in a tragic accident. The mother divorced her husband after the funeral, and the father, left all alone in a shrine to the past, had gone crazy.

There were no relatives, and so the house had basically stayed a masoleum, a monument to a past gone horribly wrong.

The furniture was nice, mostly new, and Jill decided it would only take a little cleaning to spice it up.

She strolled over to the kitchen table, and picked up her purse. She withdrew a Cd and started to play it with her powers.

***


A long time ago, he lost track of time. Time didn't mean a thing. He transcended time.

It would have been better for him if he would just be dead.

He saw the Sheriff come to the door and tell his father about the death.

He saw his friends, mourning for him in his very room.

He saw his parents fight and divorce.

He saw his mother walk away.

He saw his father be taken away.

He saw his friends grow older, and move away.

He had stopped living a long time ago, but he hadn't stopped watching.

The future went on, but he could have no part in it.

Realtors showed the house from time to time, but nobody wanted to buy a haunted house.

He wanted to leave the house, but he couldn't. Somehow, beyond his own understanding, he was tied to this house. He couldn't leave, no matter how hard he tried.

So he stayed, in his house, day after day, without Internet access, dreaming of what might have been. He had learned how to be good at dreaming.

But on this one day, something was different.

He felt someone in the house. And he could hear someone singing along to music.

It had been ages since he had heard music of any kind. And this person could sing—like an angel.

He walked down the stairs, or did what any ghost did that is close to walking.

There was a woman in his living room. A young woman. She danced and swayed to the music like it was in her blood. The song was one he remembered being on the radio, but not one that he could remember the name of. He was doing good to remember his name anymore.

She turned around, and he caught a glimpse of her face for the first time. She was beautiful. He hadn't seen beauty like that since Isabel came by to give her goodbye speech before she went to college.

Her hair was shoulder length, a golden blond waterfall that fell at her shoulders. Her eyes were the most unique shade of blue, a shade of blue that made her eyes sparkle and shine. Her face was perfectly shaped, as if God had sent out an order to make this girl-this woman different. She was unlike anything she'd ever seen before.

Sighing, the girl sat down and pulled a small device out of her pocket. She punched at it for a second, and then talked into it.

It must be a phone, he reasoned.

"Hello, Mom?" The girl said with a voice that seemed musical. "Yeah….it's taking longer than I expected. No…the traffic was just fine. No…that thing with Brett is over once and for all….and No, I haven't looked him up…cousins, really? Oh, an uncle, sort of. Okay. Saturday. Saturday, I'll go visit them in the retirement home. Yes, I know that her memory's bad…Say…did I leave a box of photos there? I did? Great…can you ship them…Thanks. How's Dad? Ah, ok. Say hi to everybody. I love you. Bye."

After the phone call, she finished doing a few more chores. She certainly was a busy bee, he thought, watching her zip around the room.

At one point, she picked up his picture from the mantle.

"I wonder what you'd think of the place now." She said, before moving the picture to a more out of the way location, over on the bookshelf.

She ordered a pizza, and he was surprised when she grabbed a bottle of Tabasco from the kitchen and poured it on her meal. Could she be????

After her meal, she started to explore other parts of the house. She ventured upstairs and entered his room.

"This was your room." She said, looking at the décor of the room. "The boy in the picture. My parents always told me about how terrible it is to loose a friend, for someone so young to die. It happened to their friend, it happened to you, and it happened to Jett." Her eyes started to fill, and tears began to flow down her face.

He wished he could put his arms around her and tell her everything would be ok.

She laid down on his bed, and cried into the comforter.

He sat there, feeling more and more useless than he ever had in all these years.

When she fell asleep, he lifted up the comforter and covered her up, not wanting her to feel the cold chill he'd felt for years.

***


She was late.

It was her very first day as an independent woman, and she was late going to work.
She barely remembered falling asleep. Memories—memories of Jett, had come flowing back to her. Jett…the reason why she couldn't just live with her parents. She couldn't deal with the guilt- with the fact that she had failed…

She grabbed a clean white T-shirt and a crisp pair of black pants out of her suitcase, and dressed as quickly as she could. She still had to call the water company about getting her water turned back on…

"You're late." The impressive figure in the Sheriff's uniform said as she entered the office.

"I'm sorry, I haven't exactly unpacked my alarm clock yet." She said, running her fingers through her hair. "It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't. We don't look too kindly to nepotism, even though it is a small town. A name with a legacy won't keep you this job, believe you me."

"I know, sir. It was an accident, I swear."

The officer's face changed from a frown into an easygoing grin, much like her Dad's. "Now that the unpleasant part is over with, can I welcome you to Roswell? I've seen your pictures, but I don't think we've ever met in person."

She looked confused. "Excuse me."

He pointed to his name badge. "Rob Valenti. Your Uncle. My father is your Grandpa, and my mother is your Aunt Maria's mother."

"So you're the family that my mom was talking about, huh?"

"Probably Chad, Anna, and I. I'm sure Mom would love for you to come to dinner tonight."

"I'd love to." Jill said, a genuine smile flitting to her face. She might just make it after all.