Title: New Ties
Summary: After the group leaves Roswell to escape from the FBI (in the final episode of Roswell), they continue to live their destinies. The group meets other hybrids that join them. This fanfic was written after the final episode of Roswell, and may or may not have accurate names in it for the planets mentioned in the V solar system the aliens come from.
Disclaimer: I do not own Roswell or any of it's characters. I only claim the characters that I created in this fanfic, not the original ones. I wrote this for fun, not for profit, so please don't sue.
Chapter 1
Walking along the rough trail, the small group of friends enjoyed expending energy on the nature hike instead of on fighting for once. With all that has happened in the last few years, the trip into the Rockies served as a nice break. Plus, Liz and Max were finally able to have some alone time for a decent honeymoon.
"Guys, I'm so glad we decided to take this time to enjoy ourselves," Liz exclaimed, looking at her five best friends in the whole world. Everyone smiled, except Maria who instead opted to slap a fly from her arm.
"Oowww!" Maria looked up in pain, as everyone kept walking and ignored her screams for the hundredth time that morning. As the group continued, silence fell once again, forming a content, companionable atmosphere.
Blast Screams Blast Screams Blast
"What was that?" Michael yelled, not quite understanding where the noise had come from and why the energy inside of him was buzzing. "Does anyone else feel that?" He looked at the group, wondering if he was the only one who felt like he was about to explode inside.
"Yeah, I do. It's so strong Michael." Isabel said anxiously. This was more power than she's ever felt, much less held inside her. Everyone looked at Max with questions on their faces. He slowly nodded his head that he too felt an immense power surge. As the screams became more intense, the group looked around to determine where they were coming from. It was then that Max noticed Liz's shaking hands.
"Are you okay Liz?" Max said softly, concern written all over his face. Liz looked up, saw the worry in his amber eyes, and quickly nodded to reassure him.
"Yes, yes Max, I'm fine. It's just, so much energy, so much power. I've never…" Liz struggled to explain the intense sensations resulting from the energy coursing through her. Max nodded, he understood. It was a first for all of them. Maria and Kyle looked at each other, concern for their friends increasing.
"Are you guys going to be alright? What should we do? You can control it, right??" Maria looked on the verge of panic as the group stood there, staring at her. "Well?? What do we do??" Maria was barely hanging on to her sanity, but she wouldn't be for long if someone didn't answer her. Understanding her need, Michael walked up and hugged her from behind.
"We'll be okay Maria, we just need to figure out what is causing this and keep a grip on it." Pulling gently at Maria's waist, Michael pulled her closer for a fuller hug. Responding to his strength and the vibes of love radiating from him, Maria took a deep breath and slowly released it. Gaining some control, she said in a much calmer voice, "Okay, so where do we start?"
Blast Screams Blast Screams
Energy levels throughout the group became intense, and everyone inhaled sharply. Looking around the group, Kyle began to get worried. "Guys, maybe we should try and find out what's causing that noise and those screams. You guys seem to be getting worse." Kyle walked over and held Isabel's hand, willing all his strength and courage into her slender frame.
Nodding her appreciation, Isabel gently squeezed his hand for continued support. "I think he's right, every time the noise gets louder, the levels of energy inside of me seem to spike." The others nodded that it was the same for them, and Max decided to go in search of the cause after figuring out which direction all the noise was coming from.
As the group walked after him, it became clear that the safety of the trail they had followed was being left behind in favor of a more unknown course. Trees became larger and denser, making it more difficult to walk the newly made path.
Screams Blast Screams Blast
As the noise became intense, Max increased his pace to match in unconscious response to the energy that was building up inside of him. Moving past a large, ancient tree, Max stumbled out into an open area. His friends soon followed. They found themselves standing on a ledge, looking down into an open expanse of lush greenery. The large clearing would have been beautiful if not for the unnatural charred streaks throughout the scene and the desperate look of the people.
A young woman had her back to them, as waves of people came at her from the front. Calling on energy she didn't know she had, the woman held up her hand and released an intense amount of energy on the first wave. As the first wave melted into ash, the second wave came forward to attack. The woman threw up a shield, encasing herself in a blue haze. Screams filled her lungs that had the blood curdling in the veins of the small group.
Looking around, each wondered if they should help this woman who was obviously otherworldly, like the three of them. Max nodded his consent as all four of them at once put up their hands. Sensing an incredible power surge from unfamiliar sources, the woman looked up in shock.
"What the…??" Looking up, Caitlin tried to get a grip on the power she felt coursing through her. Looking behind her, she saw the group of six sliding down from the ledge overlooking the unfolding scene. Who…?? Before she could finish the thought, a blast of heat energy rocked the shield knocking her back. "Oohhh!"
Looking up at the noise, each teen saw the blue haze start to flicker. Moving faster, the group saw the blue haze gain in intensity just as quickly when the woman stood back up.
No, you don't. Refocusing her energy, Caitlin brought the shield back to its full strength. Deciding it was time to take care of the threat, Caitlin drew on the energy filling every fiber of her being. Concentrating as she slowly lifted her hand, she dropped the shield and released a blast that incinerated the entire second wave of attackers. Exhausted, Caitlin dropped down to her knees. Inhaling deep breaths, she tried to get oriented again.
"Hey! Hey! Are you okay?!" Max yelled as the group came closer. Looking up, Caitlin saw the six teens running towards her. Looking around, she saw the next advancement of soldiers. Before she could stand back up, Michael released an energy blast at the attackers. Destroying two soldiers and knocking four others back, he ran to take position in front of the woman lying on the ground. Max, Isabel and Liz all followed suite. Instantly picking up on who had come to her rescue, Caitlin quickly stood back up.
"What are you doing?! Are you crazy?! Get out of here!" Caitlin screamed. Confused, the group just stared at her like she was crazy.
"HEY!!!!" Recognizing the deep, melodic voice screaming at her, Caitlin turned to see the young man lift his hand. Misunderstanding, Max raised his shield to protect the woman who didn't want protection. Looking at the stranger, the young man instantly recognized who the small group was and reached out with his mind to gently knock Max down, forcing him to lower his shield. As the shield went down, the young man's hand went back up and released an enormous amount of energy at Caitlin.
Screams As he did so, Caitlin let out a deep, guttural scream that made the hairs at the back of everyone's neck stand on end. Expecting her to collapse or disappear into ash, the group stood in shock as the woman stood up straighter than before. Buzzing with intense energy, Liz barely stood still as her body began absorbing some of the energy flying by them.
Looking around, Caitlin saw the stunned teens and the onrush of the next wave of enemy soldiers. "Well, if you're staying then at least protect yourselves!" Caitlin yelled, bringing Max and Michael out of their shock in time to realize that they were in danger. Letting out another energy blast, Michael killed three soldiers before they were able to take aim on Liz, Maria, and Kyle. Max put his shield up, but the blasts it was taking from the enemy would soon be too much for him.
Evaluating the situation, Caitlin looked at the young man who had given her a power boost. He seemed to be holding his own okay, so she took the initiative to protect their unsuspecting rescuers. Focusing on her task, Caitlin slowly raised her hand. Using her energy creatively, Caitlin concentrated on forming the four corners of a square. Soon, Max and Michael found themselves being physically pulled in front of the group at two corners. Next, Isabel and Liz were pulled to the two corners behind the group. Leaving Maria and Kyle behind her, Caitlin fueled the energy of the individuals standing at the four corners of an invisible square. She alternated fueling their energy and drawing on it. Soon, the energy reached a level where it could no longer be controlled. Using her remaining strength to focus her energy on two separate tasks, she released an enormous energy blast at the young man standing to the side of the squared off group. After his screams subsided and he absorbed as much of the energy as he could take, she let the remaining energy flow out of her, beyond the four corners of the make shift square, and upward to create a large blue shield. The shield went up as a magnificent blue wall, shocking the teens. No one knew what the woman was doing when she forced the group into a square position. Everyone realized what was happening around the same time. Somehow, the energy blast the young man had given her earlier was enough to enable her to recharge his energy and protect them. She served as the guardian, taking on the energy requirements of the shield she created solely upon herself, while the young man acted as protector, using the energy flowing freely from him to destroy the enemies. Wave after wave, the guardian and the protector held out, until finally, the attack was over.
Sensing the destruction of all their enemies, both collapsed to the ground in unison. Rushing over to the woman, Liz and Isabel lifted her head off the ground and gently placed it in Liz's lap. Isabel then reached out and held the woman's hand. She didn't understand why, but she had an overwhelming sense that this woman was special to her. Max and Michael ran to the man who had managed to save them all. He was lying on the ground, panting for breath. They looked him over and saw he wasn't hurt, just exhausted. Everyone stood in silence, trying to understand what had just happened. As the two people gained their strength back, they began to slowly sit up. Searching around the area, they both first verified that there was no longer any danger. Next, they searched for each other, and saw the small group starting to move around them protectively. Smiling, they knew from this moment on they would no longer be by themselves.
"Are you guys going to be okay?" Liz asked in concern. Looking into her eyes, Caitlin nodded yes and then slowly stood. She walked over to where her brother was standing and hugged him fiercely. Backing away, Max and Michael met up with the others. As everyone watched, a gentle gold haze surrounded the two strangers. The glowing siblings radiated understanding, power, and love all at once. Breaking away, the young woman walked over to the group of teens.
"Why? You could have gotten killed, why did you try and help us?" Caitlin needed to know. While she sensed the enormous amount of power and strength these people contained, even the humans, she needed to know if they were to finally be reunited or not.
"You were in danger." Max looked at both the young woman and the young man standing protectively at her side. "We were hiking when we heard the noise of your fight. Our energies started spiking so we had to find out what was going on. Who are you?" Max looked at them both for an answer.
As Caitlin looked to her brother, she saw the fatigue his eyes held, years of fighting taking their toll. Looking deeper, she saw the concern he had for them all, and the trust he felt instinctively for the strangers. Deciding he was right, it was time to lay things on the line, Caitlin took the lead.
"The question is: who are you? Do you know who you are?" As Caitlin asked, she looked from Max to Michael to Isabel and then to Max. As Max nodded, she released the breath she had been unconsciously holding. "I'm Caitlin, and this is my brother, James." James grinned at Isabel, Maria and Liz. Suddenly, Max, Michael and Kyle walked closer to where they were standing. Understanding the feelings each man and woman emanated, Caitlin glared at James and took a step forward.
Laughing, James walked up and placed his arm around Caitlin's shoulder. "Ah, no fears guys. I'm harmless." As Max, Michael and Kyle all looked at James head on, he gave one of his best Groucho impressions, threatening to take each woman away from them. Realizing he was just kidding, they each smiled at how ridiculous he was being.
"Did I say he was my brother?? Maybe they were wrong and stuck me with some genetically similar freak." Caitlin grinned, ignoring the hurt expression playing across James' face.
"Awl, you know you love me." James said, still looking somewhat unsure. Everyone else laughed as the siblings continued the playful banter.
"I'm Max, by the way. And that's Michael and Kyle. This is Liz, and that's my sister Isabel and our friend Maria. Obviously you guys know who we are. So who are you guys?" Max asked, curious to know who their new found friends were.
"Well… we're friends. We don't know much about ourselves really. Just what we learned from Claire as we grew up. She was a shapeshifter, and she raised us for most of our lives." James said, a look of sadness overcoming his face as he thought of Claire. Squeezing his hand, Caitlin understood where his thoughts were going. They both missed her greatly.
"Claire taught us everything we know. She helped us understand who we were, what we can be now, and how our powers work." As Caitlin finished, the group started understanding how important this woman must have been to them, and how there was probably a great emptiness without her in their lives. As the silence stretched out, Max's desire to learn more grew.
"So are you guys from Antar? Like us?" Max asked, looking at Caitlin. To his surprise, it was James who answered.
"No, we are from one of the planets in that solar system. It is called Vorak." James answered. At the look of confusion and all the unasked questions on their faces, James continued. "It is a sister planet to Antar. The royal families on both planets were distant cousins of each other. Before Kivar went after the Royal Four, he massacred the families on Vorak to build his power base from there before moving on to Antar. After he slaughtered everyone, he cut off communication between the two planets by having his spies lead the Royal Four to believe that their cousins had betrayed them. The people on the planet Vorak stood no chance in escaping Kivar's wrath." As James continued his explanation, Max and Isabel started to understand who these people were and why they felt such a powerful draw to them.
"So these people were killed and the Royal Four never even knew about it." Kyle stated, dumbfounded. As the two siblings nodded, Max and Isabel looked at each other uncomfortably. They knew there was more to the story, but they weren't sure they wanted to hear it.
"Yeah, I guess so. Claire never told us how much the Royal Four came to learn towards the end. I think partly it was because she herself didn't know. After the massacre, Claire and some of her trusted friends started devising a way to right the wrongs Kivar had inflicted on her people. They used advanced technology to combine human DNA with the DNA of their royals and sent them all here to Earth. Claire came with them, to act as a guardian and to teach them all they would need to know." The more James spoke, the more familiar the story got.
"So you guys are the royal cousins Claire looked after?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, we are. I was Kristlyn and James was called Kilsnar. Not exactly typical human names so Claire named us after the Scotch-Irish family who helped her when she first landed here. The ship was destroyed not long afterwards, so her hope of taking us home went with it. We've been living as normal people ever since." Caitlin answered Michael's question just to inadvertently raise another.
"Normal? You call fighting those creeps normal?" Maria asked, looking at the most recent char streak across the ground. Caitlin flinched and remained silent, leaving James to answer Maria's question.
"No, not normal. We had nice, calm lives up until out 17th birthdays. Somehow, Kivar's men discovered we were alive and he left the task of destroying us to the tyrant he gave Vorak too as payment for his loyalty and his help in getting rid of all of the royal families. The tyrant's name is Petrax, and he has sent assassin after assassin after us for years now. This has been the biggest battle we have ever fought. I guess he got tired of all the failures." As James explained, Liz took a closer look at the faces of Caitlin and James. For the first time that afternoon, she realized that they were much older than the rest of them. She also saw the fatigue on each of their faces, evidence of their stolen youths.
"How old are you guys?" Liz asked, the unexpected question forcing Caitlin to look at her.
"I'm 24, and James is 25. He's a little older, but not much." Caitlin answered.
"24? You guys have been fighting for… seven, close to eight years?" Michael asked in wonder, imagining how lonely they must have gotten in that time. Not being able to trust anyone, or talk to anyone, other than each other. As James nodded, Max felt a wave of shame rush through him. He felt guilty for all these two had been through. Liz looked around, watching the mixture of wonder and guilt cross each person's face.
"Well, you guys have us now. You won't have to fight by yourselves anymore." Liz walked over and gave Caitlin and James each a hug as she spoke. Both melted, allowing a tear of gratitude escape their eyes. As Liz stepped away from James, a flash shocked her into stillness.
****FLASH****
Voices, people sitting around a campfire, laughter.
Mixture of noises, screams, loud thunder.
Deep, intense, deadly voice, "I have come for you Kilsnar. At last, you will die and your precious Kristlyn will be mine."
Raised hand, energy explosions, determined voice, "No, Petrax. You have come here only to die."
Energy Blasts, Screams, Bright Blue, Green Shields, Bright Flash of Gold, Blackness.
****FLASH****
"Liz? Liz, are you okay?" Max asked as he wrapped his arms around her. Liz was shaking from the intensity of the flash. "It's okay Liz. It's okay." Max reassured her, gently rubbing the sides of her arms. Perplexed at what had just happened, Caitlin looked at James. She saw the same question written across his face that she felt sure he saw written across hers.
"I don't understand. What's wrong?" Caitlin asked, never having liked being kept in the dark. Liz broke away from the comfort of Max's arms. Looking at the concerned group, she decided it was best to keep her premonition to herself for the time being. She didn't fully understand it's meaning yet, and she didn't want to lead them astray.
"Nothing really, sometimes I have premonitions and sometimes I have flashes of someone's past. When I stepped back from James, I saw some images briefly. Not enough to understand any of them though. I just… wasn't expecting it. I'm afraid I'm still trying to get use to it." Liz explained; everyone seemed to understand.
"You get premonitions?" James asked, disbelief written across his face. Misunderstanding his disbelief, Liz chuckled.
"Yeah, I know it's hard to believe." Liz smiled. Caitlin understood where her brother's thoughts were going. Looking at him, she wondered if he had reached the same conclusion she had.
"It's not hard to believe, not really. It's just that, well, it shouldn't be possible. Your human, and only the King's chosen mate has the gift of premonitions. It doesn't make sense that you would have that ability. I can feel the power that courses through you, through all of you." Caitlin looked at each person in the group to emphasize her point. "It's just… unexpected." Caitlin stopped trying to explain, seeing the futility of it.
"Liz is my wife, my love, my soul mate. We have a very deep connection that even we don't understand." Max said as he hugged Liz closer to him. Looking into her eyes, the love that filled her soul shown brightly. Not completely understanding how it was possible, but understanding that Max and Liz obviously belonged together, the siblings looked at each other and shrugged. Looking around, Kyle realized how late it was getting.
"Guys, I think we should get going. It's getting late and we still have quite a ways to go before we get to the campgrounds." Kyle said, feeling uneasy about traipsing in the woods after dark.
"Sounds like a good idea to me. Where are you guys staying?" Isabel asked Caitlin and James.
"Our car is outside of the campgrounds. The rest of our stuff is in it. We were playing everything by ear." James answered, feeling uncomfortable at basically admitting they lived out of their car.
"You guys should come with us. We should all probably stay together anyway and this will be fun. We can make smores and melt marshmallows and sing campfire songs! It'll be a blast!" Maria exclaimed, getting excited about the upcoming evening.