Where Loyalty Lies
Disclaimer: I don't own neither Roswell, nor Dark Angel.
Category: Roswell/Dark Angel XO
Rating: ADULT
Pairings: Liz/Alec, Max/Raed, Maria/Zack, Krit/Syl
Summary: Takes place after series finale of DA and Departure on Roswell- except Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess all left for Antar; set in DA timeline. When White and his agents get a trace on Liz they come after her and everyone she knows. Kyle is killed along with her parents and the Sheriff. Fleeing for their lives, Liz takes Maria to the one place she has heard of rebellion, where her sister is the leader of 'their' kind. Nothing is certain, but for a supersolid and her Ordinary friend- loyalty is their only protection.
Chapter Four
"Liz?" Maria asked groggily, turning her head to face Liz.
"I'm here," Liz replied. She had been sitting beside Maria's bed ever since she returned from her first foray into the mainstream of transgenic activity.
"Are we safe?" It was Maria's first coherent question.
"We are," Liz said, taking up her friend's hand. Maria's color had returned, but she still looked relatively meek.
"And the baby?"
"The baby is fine. How do you feel?" Liz questioned.
"A little numb and tired," Maria answered, turning her head to look at Liz more fully and giving it a squeeze. Liz felt a rush of relief at the knowledge.
"That would be the medicine they gave you, and before you ask, it's safe for the baby."
"Did you find your sister, Max?" Liz watched as Maria's eyelashes fluttered shut and her voice turned exhausted.
"Yes. Just sleep for now 'Ria. We'll talk later," Liz told her, laying Maria's hand down beside her on the cot.
"Okay," came the response, and then Maria was gone, sleeping deeply with long even breaths all on her own.
"Is your Ordinary going to be okay?" came a voice behind her. It was little Michael.
Liz faced him, turning from her place on the cot beside Maria's. Michael had taken to being her shadow around the infirmary, and he asked her to tell him stories constantly. When Liz told him about her past, detailing her life outside Manticore, he would relax and act as if he was like any other child his age should be.
"Yes. And I told you to call her Maria," Liz reproached without anger.
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked next, ignoring her attempt to reprimand him.
"What do you mean? I'm fine," Liz responded, eyebrows raised.
"You looked…sad earlier, when you got back," Michael replied. He had gone from stiff and rigid soldier to lax and concerned little boy. The change was not lost on Liz and she remembered everything from the moment she left earlier that morning to the moment she returned.
"I'm not sad. I just had a busy morning," Liz said. She didn't want to go into detail about why, or how she had become upset.
In truth seeing Alec had been like walking through a time portal. He was the spitting image of Ben, and the entire time she was with him her memories played on a reel in her mind- repeating over and over again.
Ben had come to her in Roswell. Not right after the escape, or short years later, but just after Max had healed her. It was late at night and Liz was working out on her balcony when a slight shift from below caught her ear. She had spun around defensively and watched with wide eyes as a man she had never seen before climbed up her ladder and into her private space.
He explained that he had tracked her down, that he had caught wind of the fact she was alive, and he wanted to come for her. When Liz explained that she was with Max and that she was happy in Roswell; he had been upset, angry. He didn't want to leave her alone. He had read the clippings about the shooting and he feared for her- Lydecker could catch her any day with that kind of publicity out there. But she had refused.
In the weeks to follow he had stayed with her, hiding out during the day, and returning to stay with her at night. They spent hours talking; Liz told him about her life and how she had ended up in Roswell and with the people she was with, and he in turn told her about the years he had spent after the escape just trying to blend in- find his place.
Slowly, Liz began to feel for Ben. She remembered the way his voice sounded when they whispered to each other at night. She remembered when he held her after she told him the truth about the shooting. She remembered him consoling her when Tess came to town, and the way he had told her she would survive- that she was soldier, and that she was strong. He had been her rock as the disastrous romance between her and Max panned out.
If he hadn't left, Liz knew she and Ben would have stayed close, but Max stopped that from happening. One night when Liz was waiting for Ben to show up for their evening ritual, Max appeared. He scuttled up the ladder and onto the balcony to profess his love for Liz. It had taken a while, but Liz finally started to accept that Max was destined for Tess. They had got into an argument and that's when Ben showed up. There was a lot of testosterone fueled threatening, and Liz had been the one to break it up.
Max told Ben that this Roswell was his town, and Liz was his girl, and that nothing would stop him from getting what he wanted. Liz knew Max was just jealous, but she had agreed partly that there was a lot of unnatural beings living there, and maybe there were too many. When Liz voiced her opinion to Ben, he asked her to come away with him. But Maria, Alex, Kyle, her parents- they all still needed her, she wasn't ready to leave them.
Ben told Liz that he wasn't staying in someone else's territory and that he would provide for them if she came along. She wanted to, Liz recalled. With everything in her being she wanted to go with him- forget everyone else- and go find the rest of her family. But she couldn't. So he left, and for long days after she been numb.
Max became overtly romantic, singing to her, trying to win her back. Liz felt her heart thump louder and stronger at the memory. Future Max had been the one to finally get Liz to separate from Max- and her heart broke with a finality that pushed her far away from the group. Asking Kyle to do what he did to help push Max towards Tess had been unfair, and thinking about it now, Liz regretted never telling him before it was too late. Nothing could rouse her from the pain she had felt, not until Alex died. Then she had been on a mission to prove that someone alien had done it.
It was during her quest to find answers and look into who could have killed one of her best friends that Liz discovered something. Ben was dead. He was gone for good. The file was of a John Doe in Seattle- obviously a cover story for Lydecker. The picture added to Liz's heartache, and Liz was ready to fall apart. On top of all of that, she found out the truth about Alex's death- Tess had done it. And by the time she and Maria had reached the pod chamber, Max; Michael; Isabel; and Tess were already in the sky, hurtling at top speed toward their home planet.
Shortly after White and his men swooped in, and Liz had taken Maria and run. They had been in seedy back alleys, run down apartment buildings, and dirty bus terminals for months on a zigzagging route to Seattle- to Max and the resistance. It had been many days of cold weather, hot weather, damp weather, and even snow without food and water, and among vile pigs unfit to live before they reached their destination. Scaling the wall with a pregnant Maria was like carrying a struggling hippo out of water during the summer- way to damned hard.
The exhaustion and fatigue had hit the second they landed on the other side of the Terminal City perimeter, and to Liz the sound of Max, and who she now knew to be, Alec speeding toward them had been a godsend. Weakness had settled into her bones and Liz had barely held on for Max to acknowledge her before dropping into unconsciousness.
"When is she going to have the baby?" Michael asked, tilting his head to the side in question.
"About six months," Liz responded, coming out of her reverie.
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
"A girl," Liz told him. The medic trained transgenics had let Liz in on that small bit of news two days after their arrival.
"You think she'll be a good soldier?" Little Michael questioned.
Now there was a question, Liz thought. The baby was Michael's and in his own right, Michael was a soldier. Liz recalled the many conversations Liz and Maria had had over the subject of the baby, and whether or not he or she would have powers. Maria was hoping that the baby would be normal, but to Liz the idea of having a defense when growing up in the broken world around them was not so repulsive. It was controlling the baby's exposure of said powers that would be the problem.
"If that's what she wants, I think that the baby- after she grows up- will be a fine soldier," Liz stated, smiling as Michael nodded pragmatically as if that made enough sense for him to accept.
"She sleeps a lot," Little Michael said, pointing at Maria.
"She's been through a lot, and she is carrying a baby," Liz explained. The idea of the baby seemed to intrigue Michael, Liz noticed. He was always asking her questions about Maria, or the baby, or how the baby would be when she wasn't a baby anymore. He was like a constant game of twenty questions, but the second another soldier came close, or walked in, he shut up in a hurry.
"Did you see Max when you went out?"
"Yes."
"Did you meet Alec?" Michael asked more excitedly, eyes shining.
"Yes," Liz answered, looking back down at Maria.
"He's a great soldier," was Michael's proclamation.
"I'm sure," Liz said, still averting her eyes.
"So is Max," Michael stated as an afterthought.
"I know," Liz said. She did know, Liz thought. Max radiated authority and strength. Others admired her, and even when they were alone, Max held a certain amount of readiness. It was something she admired in her big sister, more so because she had a balance.
"She's been sad though, since Logan left," Michael confided. He was particularly observant, even for an X5.
"Logan?" Liz asked, but stopped when she saw Max come into the building. Michael clammed up as usual, and stood up straight.
"Hi Michael," Max said smilingly, rubbing his head for a second in affectionate greeting. "Liz."
"Hi Max," Liz said, watching as Michael saluted them both and then walked away.
"I heard you and Jondy threw down," Max said off-handedly.
"She asked me to join her for a fight," Liz responded a bit defensively.
"Best way to earn respect around here, ring matches are a big deal. Maybe you should exercise during the day more," said Max, joining Liz on the cot.
"Maybe," Liz said flippantly. She didn't want to commit to that- she wasn't big on getting to know other people, she couldn't afford to get close to others, especially in times of war. "Will Maria be alright here in Terminal City? I heard about the health risks to Ordinaries."
"We injected her with an antigen which should keep her body working at optimum levels; as long as she gets one every six months she should be fine," Max answered, looking at the woman in question.
"Good," Liz said, running a hand through her relatively short hair. She had cut it when they went on the run. It had been down to her waist, but Liz had wanted to change it up a bit- throw off suspicion rather than having to dye her hair.
"What was up with you and Alec earlier?" Max questioned, cutting through the frivolous pleasantries.
"What do you mean?" Liz evaded.
"I mean, you looked like you saw a ghost," Max rejoined, crossing her arms, and making a stern 'be straight with me' face.
Liz thought about telling her. Max was the closest female X5 to her. They had shared quite a few secrets back at Manticore, and it was a wonder that they had survived so long without having one another to lean on.
"I knew him before I came here," Liz started.
"Alec?" Max asked confused.
"No, Ben. He found me when I was back in Roswell. He came to me because he wanted to protect me," Liz said, mind full of him in many different positions around her room: staring at her pictures, sitting on her bed, hiding behind her door as her dad knocked to come in; they were all so fresh to her.
"I saw him too, but it was right before he…died," Max confessed.
"Things in Roswell weren't right, he couldn't stay. I was the one that sent him away," whispered Liz, clamping down on her emotions. "Maybe if I hadn't he wouldn't have-"
"Liz don't. Ben made bad decisions and he was in charge of that. Manticore really screwed did a job on him. Getting out was hard, he was confused," Max cut Liz off, face fierce with determination and concern.
"I know. He told me that he prayed to the Blue Lady that the rest of us were alright, and that finding me had renewed his faith in her. I guess sending him back out on his own wasn't such a good idea," Liz continued to whisper, forcing herself to remain in control.
"I killed him," Max confessed softly, her voice dropping to Liz's level.
"What?" Liz asked, turning sharply to stare at Max.
"Lydecker was closing in on us, and he had a broken leg- there was no way we could both get out. He asked me to," Max had a sheen of tears in her eyes, and Liz felt for her sister. Tears of her own were starting to rise, but Liz bit them back. She needed to be strong, she needed to rise above weakness.
"He shouldn't have done that to you. But I don't know what I would have done if I was facing a return to Manticore," Liz lied. She knew she would have trembled with fright and sobbed for Max to kill her too. Going back to that nightmare would be a living hell. "You said that Brin wanted to go back?"
"She didn't want to die," Max defended. Liz nodded. Brin had been one of the ones that hadn't been as dead set against Manticore as the rest, she probably could have gone either way with escaping.
"Tinga had a family?"
"Yeah. She even had a son," Max said with a smile, and Liz returned it. Tinga had always
seemed like the family sort to Liz, not that she displayed any mothering tendencies, it was just the role Liz cast for her in her mind.
"And you took down Manticore?" Liz questioned, the details still a little fuzzy.
"It's more involved than that, but Manticore is gone," Max said, blushing.
"Whose Logan?"
Liz recognized the frozen expression on Max's face as the one she herself had probably worn earlier in the day. Clearly Logan was someone of importance.
"A friend," she finally responded. Liz nodded, not arguing or pushing. "I want you to go on the next mission- we need food. Our storage supplies are running low and despite our surplus of liquor, we lack actual nutrition."
"I'll need a debriefing," Liz answered, going into soldier mode.
"How about I debrief you tonight, over drinks. Maybe we can play a game of pool in the
abandoned bar that we recently got up and running. You could meet my friends, Sketchy and Original Cindy, maybe even Krit and Syl," Max suggested.
"Have they changed a lot?" Liz had wondered what Krit and Syl were like all grown up. They had been the immature duo that constantly got reprimanded and put through extra training.
"Syl has mellowed out a lot, but Krit still has a hot temper," said Max with a hint of humor in her tone.
"Okay," Liz agreed.
"Maybe I'll get you some clothes too, and a place to stay," Max offered.
"I don't really want to leave Maria, but clothes would be good."
"I have soldiers running security in close rotation, and Maria will be in good care. You should
really get something more comfortable than a cot to sleep on," Max argued, standing.
"And what if Zack comes back and demands everyone run off to do whatever it is he thinks is important?" Liz countered, standing to face Max.
"I'll make sure that doesn't happen. He didn't mean it the other day; he just gets carried away when it comes to security. He's not exactly happy with the fact I'm fighting this war," Max informed her, and Liz paused. That sounded an awful lot like her old CO.
"His reservations aside, Zack should have realized it was wrong to deprive someone of medical attention. He's prejudiced against anyone he doesn't consider in his unit, or of his kind," Liz accused, her voice gaining in volume.
"He has his orders. And I don't want to make this an order, Liz, but it's not healthy for you to stay cooped up in here. Just stay in one of the low-rises. Or train during the day. Show me that I don't have to worry about you, soldier," Max said in a dressing down. Liz clenched her fists, but shut down her irrational anger.
"I'll start training, but I want to stay here in the infirmary until Maria is able to go with me," Liz answered, her voice cold.
"Fine," Max responded, strained. "And Liz, I really am only trying to help you. You're my baby sister, and I can't say that about anyone else."
With that Max left to get Liz clothes and tell the others to meet at the bar later that day. All Liz could do was sigh in resignation.
A/N: I'll be posting the first 18 chapters to bring everyone up to date. This is a work in progress still, not a fully complete story. I look forward to your reviews. EK!