Title: Truth
Author: Dark Roswellian Angel
Elizabeth McDowell
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. If I did, "Roswell" would still be airing, and Liz would have stood up for herself more often.
Copying/Downloading/Posting: Please let me know first, and let me know where my work will be posted as I would love to come visit it. Make sure that it is put under my name, as I would love to hear how others feel about it. Thanks ;)
T due to some violence
This is part of at least a 2-fic series crossover. Possibly 3, depending on what kind of response I get.
A.U. that is still based on the series. M/L is not in this first fic of the series, but keep your eyes out for her in the next fic.
Synopsis: The aliens tell their families the truth and think that everything will be okay. But they still have a prediction to prevent.
"So, Mom, Dad, that's why we have been so distant, why we keep disappearing. It isn't that we don't love you because there's no one that we love more than our family. That's the answer to all of your questions. Why you found us the way you did, why we disappear on road trips so often, why we seem different, why we seem so secretive. That's the truth about us."
Max and Isabel sat on the couch holding hands. Across from them on their own couch sat their parents. They had sat like this for countless family councils. However, this time was very different. Last night the siblings had announced that they had some things they needed to discuss with their parents. Poor Philip and Diane had believed that their children were simply going to discuss their college plans for the upcoming fall. They'd had no reason to expect to hear what their children had just spent the last 45 minutes explaining.
"Mom? Dad?" Max's voice was becoming even more tense. "Are you okay?" The pain and fear were becoming more deeply etched on his handsome face.
Max and Isabel looked at their parents. Neither of them had said anything for over half an hour now. In fact as the twins had explained their part in the '47 crash, their "hatching," their relationship to Michael, and their exposure to Maria with the resulting Skin and F.B.I. attacks, the two adults had remained almost perfectly still, the only noticeable changes being the increasing pressure in their lifeline handhold on each other and the color slowly draining from their faces. They had hardly seemed to breathe, let alone blink during the whole narration.
"Mom, please say something… anything," Isabel whispered. She had expected some kind of reaction… she'd even toyed with the idea that her parents would think that she and Max were pulling a joke on them. She knew that Max's nightmare was that their parents would erupt with angry accusations and threats. Neither of them had been prepared for the stone cold silence that seemed to fill the room. Anything would be better than this horrible silence. "Please, say something? We love you… we need you to understand." One lone tear fell from Isabel's eye and crept down her lovely cheek.
At the sight of her children's pain, something seemed to snap in Diane and she finally stirred, focusing first on Max and then on Isabel. "What you're saying- is it all true?"
"Yes," they both whispered. It was too late to go back now.
Phillip finally responded. It sounded as though he were speaking from far away. "It all makes sense…" Three heads whipped towards him, and he looked deeply into his wife's eyes. With a small, slightly self-mocking, smile he continued "I mean, two healthy children just appear in the middle of a Roswell highway late at night with no clothes, no adults to be seen, no wounds that would suggest an accident, no memories of whatever happened. They don't know any language that any linguist we ever found could recognize, and no one ever shows up looking for them." He turns his gaze to his children. "We even actively looked for your families, though I admit it was definitely a halfhearted search. We didn't want to find anyone who could take you away from us."
"We always had suspicions. There were too many signs not to have them- how we found you, Max's bird, the grease fire, Isabel's ability to get ready in five minutes and always have nail polish that perfectly matched her clothes, and some of your coded discussions. But we always pushed our suspicions to the back of our minds. They were too ludicrous to really consider as a possibility. You were our blessings from heaven, our children sent from the sky to fill the empty spot in our hearts and our lives. And now we find that you really are."
"Mom? Dad? Do you… I mean, can you…" Max couldn't finish his question, couldn't ask if the only parents he'd ever known could possibly still love him.
Diane had always been able to sense what was on her quiet son's mind. Quickly realizing how vulnerable her little ones felt, she immediately went over to hug her children. "We love you. Of course, we still love you. Don't ever wonder about that. Nothing could ever change how we feel about you, right Philip?"
"Of course. You are our children, regardless of where you come from. You were meant to be a part of our family. You were meant to be here with us."
"It'll take some getting used to, but that's what'll have to happen. We love you too much to let anything, even something this big, make us take the chance of losing you. Either of you."
As Isabel broke into happy sobs, and even Max's strong jaw began to quiver at the unconditional love their parents had for them, Philip joined his wife on Max and Isabel's couch. The four of them sat together in a group hug for the rest of the evening, content with just sharing their silent love for each other.
Eventually the lateness of the hour was noticed, and Philip suggested they talk more in the morning. Before retiring for the night, they hugged again, and Philip kissed his babies' foreheads just like he had done when they were little.
About an hour later Max had still been unable to fall asleep. He was elated that things had turned out so well. His parents knew the truth and they didn't think he was a monster. In fact, they had shown that they even still loved him. And as they had sat together on the couch, he had felt the connection, and he had found nothing but love in that connection. None of the feelings his nightmares had always been full of had been present- fear, revulsion, hatred. He felt strengthened, encouraged by his parents' acceptance. Thank you God for tonight. Help us in our next step-
A soft knocking came at his door and Isabel came in before he invited her. Even after a night like tonight, she was still typical Isabel.
"Can I sleep in here, tonight? I'm too scared that I'll wake up and all this will have just been a dream," she said with a small smile.
"Of course," Max reflected back on how many times his little sister had slept in his room, usually when she was feeling vulnerable, when she had needed reassurance, when her warm beautiful heart had managed to make her Ice Princess façade slip. He smiled and motioned at the guest bed that his parents had gotten when it became apparent that Michael was spending more time at their house than at his own.
Thinking of Michael, Max sent waves of reassurance to his brother. He knew how worried Michael was about how tonight's discussion would go. He almost considered the Evanses to be his own parents. After he felt that the feelings had reached their intended destination, Max climbed into his bed and was soon asleep.
Listening to her brother's soft snores, Isabel turned to look out the window. The same old familiar, yet mysterious, five stars that had drawn the three aliens since they were children seemed to be smiling and winking down at her.
Dear God, thank you for tonight. Thank you for sending us to them. Thank you for their love. Please, help us with our next step; help us do what has to be done.
So, what do you think? I'd love to hear, and that button down there is just so very irresistible. Go ahead- push it- you know you want to. And when you do, lots of lovely candy and cookies will suddenly appear next to you.
And, I know that it's somewhat OOC for the two of them to be praying, at least for Max to be praying. And I swear I'm not going to go all preachy on you- that's not really my personality. But I was watching "A Roswell Christmas Carol," and it just didn't quite sit well with me. I mean, if God exists, then it's for the whole universe, right? So, that means that it's just as likely for Antarians to believe in God as for earthlings, and for it to be the same God, right? So, I figure that it's totally possible for Max and Isabel to believe in God, too. Okay, so I'm done with that. Hope I didn't offend anybody by being too OOC. And I hope that even if you think I'm missing a few cards from my deck that you give the rest of the story a chance :) Thanks
