Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. It's been a while. But in my defense, June did not exist this year, so it hasn't really been as long as you might think.
So we've all seen Emily's episode of Touched by an Angel, right? Don't worry if you haven't, I really just ripped off the idea of her family being in Witness Protection. That and the family structure itself (older sister, parents still married). There, you're all caught up.
Warning: HAHAHA YEAH. This fic is completely ridiculous and a waste of time. Your life will be better if you choose not to read it.
Disclaimer: Even my three-year-old niece knows that people writing fic don't own the original properties. Do we really need these things?
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The Shepherd family spent six months in Scottsdale. Then there was a scare: someone suspicious hanging around who the Marshals thought might have ties to Deane, and they were relocated to Malibu. New names, new history, new everything. Again.
Five months after that, they found out it had been a false alarm. But by then they were settled in Malibu: Katie – Melanie – Samantha liked her school, Antonia – Lilly had made friends with a little boy in her class. And Heather had given birth. They wanted at least one member of their family to have a name they were born with. So they stayed.
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The black SVU followed the two girls on the sidewalk, keeping a couple careful car-lengths behind them. School had just let out and kids were streaming down the street in both directions. The driver had to stop several times as teenagers darted across the street in front of the car.
"So it's your turn for movies and my turn for snacks," Miley said brightly, obliviously. "I totally can't wait for tonight, it's been forever since we've had movie night."
"Uh-huh," Lilly said. She glanced back over her shoulder at the SVU. The windows were tinted and the driver was wearing sunglasses, his face impassive. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Why hadn't it passed them yet?
"Lilly?" Miley asked. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Lilly said. It was probably nothing. It had been eight years. "Can we...let's just walk faster, okay?"
She picked up her pace again when she and Miley split up inside the neighborhood and the SVU was still behind her. Farther back now, but still there. It's just your imagination, she told herself. Maybe the driver was lost, or checking addresses or something.
Her house was right down the street, and Lilly was sufficiently spooked that she wanted to run for it, but she forced herself to stop instead, to test her theory. If it wasn't them, the car would go past her. If it was them...she didn't want them to know where she lived.
She got her cell phone out and put it to her ear, pretending to talk to someone and walking around in a little circle on the sidewalk that let her keep an eye on the SVU. Every time she had to turn her back on it her muscles tensed up. If it was them, they might grab her or shoot her or worse. But she wasn't going to be responsible for leading them to her family.
The car had stopped when she did. After a minute, the driver floored the gas and the car roared past her, tires squealing as it turned the corner at the end of the street.
Lilly ran for her house.
Her heart was hammering in her chest when she slammed the front door behind her. What she found in the kitchen didn't help any. Both her parents were there, sitting at the table. Next to them was Karen Phillips, the U.S. Marshal who had taken over their case when Tess left.
"Lilly," her mother said delicately, like she was getting ready to break bad news.
Lilly felt like she was going to pass out or throw up. Or both. "So you know already? Or was it you?" she said.
Karen raised an eyebrow. "Know what?"
"I think someone was following me home from school. A black SVU."
Karen swore under her breath and yanked a cell phone from her belt. "That wasn't us," she said, hitting a button on the phone, and then she started barking orders into it.
Lilly parents both got up and came to hug her. Lilly trembled in their arms. It hadn't been her imagination. "Why now?" she asked her dad. "After all this time?"
"Karen came to tell us there's going to be a new trial," her mother answered. "They want your father to testify. We didn't know they'd found us."
"Where's Ian?" Lilly asked.
"Upstairs in his room," her dad said. "I picked him up from school before Karen came to see us. We didn't think he needed to hear any of this." Lilly's brother was seven. Almost the same age Lilly had been when they'd gone into the program. He didn't even know about it. They hadn't told him yet.
"Have you talked to Sam?" Lilly asked. Her sister was in grad school upstate.
"Oh, god, Samantha," her mother said, moving towards the phone. "If they've found us..."
Karen snapped her phone shut. "We're moving you to a safe house tonight, you'll be relocated tomorrow. Sam will meet us at the new location. Don't worry, the Marshals are on their way to get her now, she'll be taken to another safe house. Your ride will be here in ten minutes, we need to be ready to move."
Heather put the phone down. Eric tightened his arms around Lilly. Ten minutes? They couldn't just leave, not like that. She couldn't just disappear.
"I have to go to the bathroom," Lilly said faintly. Her knees wobbled but her voice didn't.
"Be quick," Karen ordered, then addressed Lilly's parents. "We need to go upstairs and explain things to Ian. And pack, one suitcase each. You know the drill."
Lilly ran down the hall to the bathroom. She still had her cell phone clutched in her hand. She locked the door, then turned on the tap and snatched up the bar of hand soap, using it to write BRB -L on the mirror. Unlocking the window, she slid it open, kicked the screen out, and climbed outside, cell phone in her teeth.
She took the back way, running through people's yards and around their swimming pools, dialing Oliver as she ran. "Oliver," she said urgently when he picked up. "I need you to meet me at Miley's house right now."
"Okay," Oliver said, sounding confused. "I can be there in five. But I thought you guys were doing Miley-Lilly movie night?"
"Just get there," Lilly snapped. "Now." She hung up and dropped the phone on the ground. She'd have to leave it behind anyway, and hopefully she'd be back before her parents and Karen noticed she was gone.
She bolted through the back door of the Stewarts' house at a dead run. "Lilly," Mr. Stewart said from the living room, looking a bit surprised she hadn't come in the front. "It's good to see..."
Lilly didn't even acknowledge him. There wasn't time for that. She barreled up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and his voice trailed off into confusion behind her.
Miley was in her room. "Hey, you're early," she said, pleased to see Lilly nonetheless. Lilly shut the door and doubled over, sucking in air. She was in good shape, but she'd never run so far so fast before. "Okay, where's the fire?" Miley teased.
"Miley," Lilly gasped out, straightening. "I need you to sit down."
Miley did, slowly, on the bed. "Lilly, what's going on?" She let out a nervous little chuckle. "You're kinda scarin' me."
"Miley, I know we said we weren't going to keep secrets from each other," Lilly said. "I know you're going to be angry, but you have to understand that I couldn't tell you. I wasn't allowed."
"Oh-kay," Miley drawled. Her brows drew together. "What the heck are you talking about?"
She'd wanted Oliver to be here, too, so she could tell them both at once. But there wasn't time to wait. At least this way one of them would know. "My name isn't really Lilly Truscott. It's Alyssa Sullivan. Me and my family are in the Witness Protection Program."
Miley blinked once, twice. "What?"
Lilly sighed. "Eight years ago, my father witnessed a murder. He testified against the guy that did it, and we had to enter the program because he sent people after us."
Miley blinked again, then started laughing. "This is a joke, right? I'll admit you had me worried for a minute, Lilly, I thought something was really wrong! Don't do that to me, okay? April Fool's isn't even for another month."
"It's not a joke!" Lilly yelled, and Miley stopped laughing. "I don't have time for you to not believe me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I couldn't. The only reason I'm telling you now is that they've found us again and we have to leave. We're leaving right now, I'm not even supposed to be here. I snuck out."
"You're leaving?" Miley asked dumbly. "Where are you going?"
"I don't know," Lilly said. "They won't tell us until we're on the plane."
"When...when will you be back?"
Lilly looked down at the floor and clenched her hands into fists. Her fingernails dug into her palms. "We can't come back."
"Lilly, are you...," Miley said shakily. "Are you serious? Because if this is a joke, it stopped being funny two minutes ago."
Lilly met her eyes. "It's not a joke. We're leaving in a few minutes. For good."
Miley's eyes brimmed over with tears. Two of them rolled down her cheeks, quickly followed by more. "No."
"I'm sorry," Lilly said. She took a step closer to the bed, reaching out a hand. Miley grabbed her wrist and pulled, hard, sending Lilly sprawling forward across her lap. Miley moved and before Lilly knew what was happening she was sitting on the bed between Miley's legs, Miley's arms wrapped tight around her waist from behind.
"You can't leave," Miley said into her hair. "You can't."
Lilly's head dropped forward. She laid her arms over Miley's, elbows to fingers. "I have to. I'm sorry. I wish I didn't."
The door swung open to reveal Oliver, sweaty and red-faced. "Okay, Lilly, this better be..." He sucked in a couple breaths, staring at them. Lilly could tell he wanted to make a joke about their odd position, but the looks on their faces stopped him. "What is it?" he said instead.
Lilly explained in terse sentences. Oliver had the same reaction as Miley: he laughed.
"No way," he said. "I've known you since you were seven."
"I've been in the program since I was six," Lilly said.
"She's leaving," Miley said.
"What?" Oliver said.
"The people who are after us found us," Lilly said. "We're being relocated, and they're not going to let us come back."
"When?" Oliver asked. All of the color had gone out of his face now. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. And he sort of had, because she was about to become one.
"Now," Lilly said. Miley's arms squeezed her harder.
"But...you'll be able to call us, right? Email? They've got to let us see you sometime," Oliver said.
Lilly rubbed her fingers against the back of Miley's hand. "We can't..." She cleared her throat. "We aren't allowed to have contact with anyone we used to know."
Oliver walked over and plucked at Miley's arms. "Let go," he said harshly. "Let her get up."
Miley wouldn't let go, but Lilly stood up anyway, pulling Miley up with her. Oliver put his arms around both of them and they stood there, Oliver hugging her from the front, Miley hugging her from behind, all of them crying, until Mr. Stewart yelled up the stairs five minutes later.
"Lilly, your parents are here!"
Oliver released her, trying to smile, and Lilly gave him a blurry smile back. "I guess this is it." She tried to take a step towards the door, but Miley was still attached to her back. "Miley, I can't walk like this."
"Good," Miley said stoutly. Lilly had to pry her arms free, and even then Miley didn't let her go completely, her hands fisted in Lilly's shirt at her hips. They made a train going down the stairs: Lilly, Miley, Oliver bringing up the rear.
Her parents and Karen were at the front door. None of them looked very happy. "What were you thinking, Lilly?" her mother hissed. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"
Lilly heard Miley make a strangled noise in her throat at that, and Oliver put a hand on her shoulder. "I couldn't just leave!" she said.
"We need to get out of here," Karen said. "We still haven't located whoever was tailing you."
"What in the Sam Hill is going on here?" Robby Ray asked. No one paid him any attention.
"Let's go, Lilly," her father said.
Oliver gently pulled Miley away from her and Lilly went to her parents. She looked back at them as they went out the front door. "Bye," she said. There was so much more she wanted to say to them, but there wasn't time, and she didn't know how. They already knew, anyway. Most of it.
There was a van on the street, dark blue with tinted windows; they headed for it. Ian was sitting in the middle seat. He looked scared, and confused, and Lilly wished there were something she could do to make him feel better. He probably didn't even understand what was happening. She hadn't the first time. Not really.
She climbed all the way into the back. Her dad sat next to her, and her mom sat next to Ian. Karen was up front with the other agent who was driving.
The engine purred to life. "No!" Lilly heard behind her, and turned to see Miley running from the house towards the van. "Lilly, you can't leave!"
Oliver ran after her and scooped her up with arms around her waist. She kicked at his shins with her heels and pounded on his arms to make him drop her. "Lilly!" Tears were streaming down her face again and Lilly felt answering tears well up in her own eyes.
Miley broke Oliver's hold and started to run for the van again, but he grabbed onto her shirt with one hand. "Mr. Stewart!" he yelled. "Help!" Robby Ray came out and they each took one of her arms, holding her back.
"Lilly, wait, come back!" Miley screamed.
The van pulled away from the curb and Lilly's father put an arm around her shoulders. "It will be all right," he murmured. "Just like last time. As long as we're together."
It wasn't like last time, because last time she'd been six, her family had been everything to her, everyone, but Lilly nodded anyway and buried her face against his shoulder, didn't look back at the people she was leaving behind.
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Yeah, I really don't want to spend that much time on this. It'll be two more short-ish chapters, next one up tomorrow night, last one on Monday.