Sean had tucked the newly purchased tickets in his pocket and was about to leave the building when he had decided to surprise Winter, something she frequently did to him and he rarely did in return, at least successfully. He made his way through the mass of people that filled the lounge and circled around the building, coming out from a different set of doors that were a ways behind Winter's slender form. He smiled as he saw her impatient bouncing and began to walk slowly towards her when she broke into a run. He stopped; utterly confused until he saw who she was running for. The blood drained from his face and he too broke into a run. They knew that some of their kind were shape shifters and that not all of them were friendly, if this was one of those...His steps quickened and he ran even faster, trying to push his way through the crowds that had suddenly taken on a menacing aura, if anything happened to her…
Their faces did not grow less confused or angry and the situation was about to grow unbearably tense when Winter felt a familiar presence behind her and sighed internally with relief. She reached back and finding his hand pulled him forward into clear view beside her. The young man who had been about to speak's mouth shut with an audible snap as he locked gazes with someone he could easily have used as a shaving mirror, the others reactions less audible but just as clearly shocked to her eyes.
The dark eyed girl was the first to recover and she spoke directly to the young woman whose position now so closely mirrored hers, hand intertwined with the one she loved. "It's ok; I can see why you made the mistake." A slightly sardonic grin crossed her face though it quickly disappeared and the anger was gone from her eyes, the fear and confusion still lingering like shadows in their chocolate depths.
She smiled back, though once her eyes had traveled the circle it quickly died. The other six faces were rather removed from such happy things as smiles and their dark and concerned expressions did not bode well for any happening in the near future. She stepped forward before anyone else could speak and cleared her throat, drawing all their gazes, the intensity of which made her briefly reconsider her actions in the moment before she spoke. "This is not the place for what will inevitably be a long conversation. We," she gestured to herself and the young man behind her, "have a hotel room, I think that would be a little more discreet than this." She said, waving her hand at the busy airport where their little group was already drawing a few odd looks.
Max had noted the looks they were getting and did want to leave the area as soon as possible, but, go with them? He looked around his little group. Isabel seemed indifferent, as she had seemed frequently in the weeks since they had fled Roswell. Maria and Kyle both simply looked curious though their postures betrayed their wariness. He could tell that Liz wanted to go with the two; something seemed to have passed between her and the girl that had kissed him, some sort of recognition. His eyes met Michael's and he knew that he at least was as unhappy with the idea as he was, if not more. The last duplicates they had met had had less than honorable intentions. He was about to say something to that effect when the girl's voice once again filled the air.
Winter felt the others instant concern at possible exposure and was content that most of them would agree but, she watched the silent exchange between the one who looked so much like the person whom she would willing give up her life for and had in fact and then the face immediately to his right, a clearly suspicious young man, and spoke again, sensing their unwillingness. "We're not like they were, this is our home and we have no desire for another, me just being here should prove that." Startled expressions crossed their faces, followed by identically cautious expressions at how she had known to say that.
However the increasing attention they were drawing seemed to convince them that she was right and this was not the place, however great the risk was to go with them, the risk was greater to stay here and that however much they didn't trust them, they needed to know who they were and what they knew.
Her partner spoke for the first time, "We have a taxi waiting, it shouldn't be too hard to get another, I don't think we'll all fit in ours." He gestured to their group with brought the total number of young people to eight. He turned, not losing a hold of her hand and the others followed after exchanging one last glance, warning and agreement, they would go, but they would not trust, not yet.
When they reached the taxi's Max had to make a quick decision, two of them would have to travel with these strangers and he indicated to Michael with a nod of his head that he and Liz would do so while Michael could take the others in the second taxi and reinforce the message that they were to reveal as little about themselves as possible until they knew more. He felt bone weary as they waited for the second taxi to pull up and got all eight of them, and his six's bags, situated in the trunks and seats of both of them.
Despite his declaration that he was resigning leadership, as Michael had so pointedly reminded him inside the Airport, more often than not it seemed that he was taking charge, simply for lack of anyone else doing so and it was beginning to wear on him, the continued responsibility he felt to all of these people, the responsibility he felt to keep them safe. Liz looked back at him and smiled as she stepped into the cab and he felt himself relax as he always did in the warm reassurances of her love.
Sean told their cab driver that the other cab would be following them and then settled back into his seat, his arm wrapping around Winter as he dropped a kiss onto the top of her head, her hat now in her lap along with her glasses. He turned his eyes to the young man and woman sitting on the other side of her, studying them. The young man looked identical to him, differences in haircut and clothing the only thing telling them apart. The lines around his eyes told the same story the lines around his did, and when he looked into those disturbingly familiar brown eyes he saw the same worries and stresses he saw when he looked into the mirror.
His gaze shifted down to the petite brunette who was studying the two of them with a scholar's light in her chocolate eyes. Her hand was still linked with that of his double and he could see the rings they both wore, their love and commitment clear to the world. He reflexively glanced down at the small hand resting on his leg, half expecting to see the ring he had placed on it last night until he remembered they had agreed to leave it at the hotel room, wanting to remain as undistinguishable as possible.
His reverie was interrupted by the voice of his beloved. "We have room service back at the Hotel if you all are hungry; I know I'm always starving after flying." She said, smiling friendlily at the two though he could feel the faint tension in her shoulders. She trusted them, he could only assume because of her powers, and she wanted them to trust her. Knowing she could keep the conversation going for a moment he reached out with his mind for the others, he needed to let them know who was coming, prepare them for the shock and get them ready for any actions necessary if Winter's trust was misplaced.
Liz smiled back at the girl and said "That would be great; plane food leaves much to be desired."
The girl nodded, an empathizing smile in her silvery green eyes and laughed slightly. "That it does." Silence fell for a moment, the 'twins' were staying resolutely silent and Liz realized with a sigh that it was going to be up to the two of them to keep up any semblance of civil conversation.
She knew she should wait to ask any important questions until they were all together and cast around for a safe conversation topic. "Done a lot of flying?" She finally asked, her mind completely empty of anything to talk about that wasn't alien related.
"Lately yes." The girl replied, her tone mingled amusement and weariness. "You?"
"Not much but I have a feeling I won't be able to say that for long." She said, then feeling Max tense decided to change the topic again before revealing anything more. She still wasn't sure why she felt that they didn't have to worry about what they told them, and she wasn't sure why she already trusted the girl who sat next to her on the seat of the cab but until she did know, Max was right, it wasn't safe to say anything. "So how bout 'them Raiders?"
It went silent for a moment, then her and the other girl locked gazes and both giggled simultaneously while the two males unconsciously exchanged knowing glances tinged with amusement and exasperation and then realizing they had done so both quickly returned to their previously distant expressions, unknowingly affording the girls more amusement.
Michael stared out the window at the taxi they were following and then glanced at the taxi driver to make sure he was fully engrossed in the music he was blasting from the radio and the traffic he was weaving in and out of before turning to the others. "I think we all know what I'm going to say." He said, his mouth making a sharp line across his face as he met each one of their gazes.
Kyle opened his mouth and said in a mildly sarcastic tone "Don't trust them, don't tell them anything, be prepared to run away, flee for our lives, or stand back and let you blow them up, did I get the general drift?"
Michael gave him a mild glare before reluctantly nodding, "Yes, you got the drift. Just because he looks like Max doesn't mean he's good, the others we met definitely were not."
Kyle interrupted again "You really are gonna have to tell me about these others sometime since clearly I had disappeared off the face of the earth or something when you met them or whatever."
Michael glared at him again and he subsided into silence though Michael could tell he wasn't going to be silent for long. "Just be careful, they could be killers just like Lonnie and Rath were, no matter what that girl said." He looked down at Maria as he said this last bit, she was the most vulnerable of all of them and he couldn't bear it if something happened to her, he would kill again, even one of his own kind, just to prevent her from getting hurt. They all nodded and the back of the cab settled into silence, Michael alternating his gaze between the view outside the taxi and the beautiful young woman leaning on his shoulder.
Isabel had quickly drifted back into her own world after Michael's little speech, ignoring the little glances Kyle was giving her. She knew he was worried about her, she knew they all were, but she just couldn't bring to herself to act normal. She hadn't seen Jesse in over a month and what scared her the most wasn't that she might never see him again but that she would survive if she didn't, that she would be ok, not happy, not like she had been, but ok and that, not her desperate desire to see her husband again, was what had kept her so silent and withdrawn in the weeks since they had left.
The first week had not been so bad; the camaraderie between the six of them had grown greatly as they became closer emotionally as a result of their enforced physical closeness. Max and Liz's wedding had been beautiful despite its hurried nature, but, it had reminded her of her own wedding, and her, for now, broken marriage. Her misery had been profound, her depression lasting for days, but, to her surprise, it had begun to lift, bit by bit over the following weeks she had begun to adjust, she still missed Jesse, thought about him almost every minute, but the grief had all but gone and she knew she would be able to go about her life until she could see him again, normal and happy, relatively speaking, and the guilt she felt from that knowledge weighed her down as much as her original depression over their departure had.
How could she continue to live? How could she go on without her husband? She had vowed to love him until death parted them and he had vowed the same, she had lied to him and he had stayed true to her despite it, helping them escape, even killing for them, he had saved their lives and she was betraying him by not living her life in mourning, by not being miserable every moment of every day. A part of her knew this was ridiculous, that Jesse would not want her to be miserable, that he would want her to be happy but she just couldn't get rid of the guilt, she wasn't sure she wanted to. A slight jerk broke her out of her reverie and she looked up to see the taxi they were following pulling out of traffic.
Their cab followed it and pulled to a halt in front of a surprisingly large and luxurious hotel. The four of them got out and Isabel gazed up at the building, a hint of a pleasantly surprised smile crossing her face. So far all they had stayed in, when not sleeping in the van before they had sold it to an extremely forgetful old man, was crappy little motels that, if they were lucky, were only dirty versus dirty and cockroach infected. A Hotel as nice as this had never even been considered, despite the fact that with their powers money was not an issue, they all still tended to behave as if they needed to watch how much they spent, and, she supposed, those crappy little motels were less likely to have thorough records of their visitors. Clearly these others had found a way around this. They each grabbed their one bag, Liz and Max coming over, and exchanging a few quiet words with Michael before following their two waiting companions into the Hotel lobby.
Her brother's look alike nodded at the man behind the desk before leading them into an elevator and pushing the button for the third floor. The elevator ride was completed in awkward silence, no one knowing exactly what to say or what they even could say, the only thing filling the air besides breathing was the cheerful notes of the elevator music, Isabel amused to see that Kyle was tapping his foot along to the beat. The music was halted by a ding as the elevator slid to a halt, the doors opened and they all stepped into the hall, the two strangers leading them towards a door at the end, the girl stepped through while the young man held it open for the six of them.
They all filed in, Isabel surprised to see not a normal hotel room but the main room of what was clearly a suite. Her eyes traveled around the room before falling on the two other occupants of it, her eyes meeting deep brown ones, identical to her own, the blond hair framing the face the same as hers had been for most of her life. All doubt that this was a setup, that the other Max was a shapeshifter, or that they had been mindwarped into believing he looked like he did was gone. She might as well have been looking in a mirror and was sure Michael was feeling the same way.
There was a tense silence for a moment, then the two dark haired girls came to separate decisions to break the ice. They both held out their hands and said "I'm Liz." "I'm Winter." Simultaneously. They smiled and shook hands, both sensing the same kindred spirit they had felt in each other since the airport.
Winter turned slightly so she was facing everyone in the room, raised her free hand and gestured to the others of her group, "That's Kat.. Katherine, and Devin." She dropped that hand and raised the one that was still linked with her dark haired young man's and said "And this is Sean."
The girl with the long reddish blond hair in the other group let out a short snort of laughter that died at an admonishing look from Liz though amusement was still clearly visible in her eyes. Liz turned back to Winter and the others and smiled "That's Maria and the brooding young man hovering behind her is Michael." Her smile widened slightly though something in her eyes belied the assumed increase in amusement. "The brunette goddess is Isabel and he is Kyle." She said gesturing to Kat's look-alike and the young man standing a few feet from her. "As for mine," she said with a slight wink to Winter, "His name is Max."
Winter winked back, her own smile widened as well though she had noticed that Isabel hadn't really reacted to her introduction and seemed withdrawn somewhat from the rest of the group. She was however eyeing Kat, who was eyeing right back and Devin and Michael seemed to have engaged in a game of Who Blinks First.
She shook her head and gestured to the long couch and two arm chairs that filled the room while settling herself on the ground in front of them and pulling Sean down with her. She rested against his chest, her legs crossed, his extended out to either side of her. Kat and Devin seating themselves at one end of the couch, thus placing all of their group is less threatening positions.
As Winter had hoped this caused the others to relax somewhat and they were soon following their example. Michael and Maria sat on the other end of the couch while Isabel and Kyle each took an arm chair. Liz surveyed this and then promptly seated herself close to the two on the floor, Max settling beside her and unconsciously mimicking Sean and Winter's position. Winter took a breath and began what she knew was a talk that would last well into tomorrow despite the fact that it was only now five in the evening. "So, I assume we're all aware of the otherworldliness of most of this room's inhabitants." Sean, Kat, and Devin gave faint nods, the others reluctantly following suit a moment later.
She gave them all an understanding smile and continued "I understand your reluctance, and with everyone's permission." She said, glancing around the room but mainly focusing on Kat and Devin, unable to really look at Sean from this position, "I'll tell our story first?" Her group nodded.
Sean and the others were confident in their powers; if these others weren't trustworthy they would be able to defend themselves. Besides, they were them, not only their doubles but the first other aliens they had ever met. If sharing their story helped them to trust that they were trustworthy, then that was all to the good.
Max however, held up his hand in interruption, "First, I'd still like to know just how exactly you knew what Michael and I were thinking." The tension had crept back into the room and she could see the change in the newcomers as Max reminded them of their suspicions, all of them sitting straighter and withdrawing as much as possible from her own group.
"I didn't know what you were thinking, not exactly anyways, but I knew what you were feeling and when I kissed you," Kat and Devin's eyes widened and their mouths formed perfect O's as this information passed her lips, she gave them a warning look and they remained silent though she could tell that this wasn't going to be the last time she heard about it. "I saw that you had met others like us, the third foursquare."
Now it was her groups turn to tense up, she felt it in Sean as his muscles tightened and the arm that was draped around her waist drew her closer to him, Kat and Devin had interest and calculating looks on their faces, their first meeting with their 'twins' and it turned out it wasn't the first for them. "And," she continued, "I saw from the flash that they weren't trustworthy, that they had done something to you, so when I saw you and Michael and felt what you were feeling, I knew you were worried that we too would betray you, that we would try to hurt you."
Their group was exchanging glances, clearly verifying that what she had said was true, while her own group, she could see the worry on their faces. They had always worried that their enemies would find them, but the idea that they themselves, or at least another form of them, had become enemies...it brought back to many bad memories and awakened to many more fears.
Max turned to her, his face still suspicious, "What do you mean you 'felt' what we were feeling?"
As all their eyes rested on her once more she tried to think how to phrase what she was about to say, "I could feel what you were feeling because I've been changed, I'm no longer a normal girl, and because of that change I have certain gifts, certain abilities, just as she does." She said, gesturing to Liz.
Everyone's gaze turned on the other girl for a moment but soon returned to Winter, Max speaking once more "How did you..."
It was her turn to interrupt and she did so, raising her hand and speaking before he could continue, "I could sense it in her just as I can sense it in the three of you," pointing to Isabel, Michael, and himself, "Can't you sense it in the four of us?"
Max did not continue speaking and she could tell by the thoughtful expression on his face that either he hadn't tried, or wasn't aware that he could. Before anyone else could respond Liz spoke up, her eyes meeting Winter's, "I think I can, I think that's why I trusted you at the airport, I could tell that we were the same."
Winter nodded, that sameness was one of the reasons she herself had trusted the other girl. To everyone's surprise it was Michael who spoke next, growling out an abrupt, "Well I don't know about the rest of you but I would like to hear this story, questions can wait until after, and there will definitely be more questions."
Winter smiled and nodded her acquiescence, cocking an eyebrow at Max. There was silence for a moment more and then he gestured his agreement. "Very well," Winter said, "Our story."
Devin, Kat, and Sean were interested despite themselves in how the others would respond to their past and the others were very curious, wondering how familiar this story would sound, how many questions it would answer, and how many more it would bring up. They still weren't resigned to trusting this group but their willingness to share what they knew, assuming they weren't lying, was a good sign. It had been a long lonely summer so far and the idea of trusting someone again, while scary, was also very tempting for the six teenagers.
Winter shifted slightly, getting as comfortable as possible and then opening her mouth, began the tale.