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 9
Waking up slowly, still somewhat weak, the first sight that greeted Caitlin was Isabel's tear streaked face. The woman was smiling at her, overjoyed at seeing her cousin awake. Smiling back, Caitlin reached out a hand to her loyal cousin and friend. Shooing the hand aside, Isabel bent down and hugged her.
"I'm so glad you're awake! I was so worried. We were all so worried." Isabel whispered as fresh tears began running down her face. Pulling back from her cousin, Caitlin wiped away the tears and smiled into the beautiful young woman's face.
"I'm glad too. Isabel?" As Caitlin spoke, Isabel looked at her. "Thank you." Surprised, Isabel didn't know what Caitlin was thanking her for but felt sure she didn't deserve it. As she began shaking her head but before she could speak, Caitlin said, "No, listen Isabel. I'm serious. Thank you. If you hadn't been strong, I never would have made it back here. Thank you." Isabel wanted to bust out into tears again, but for some odd reason found herself smiling instead. Not quite understanding, she just hugged her cousin again. As she did so, Caitlin quickly formed a connection with her.
As soon as the connection was formed, Caitlin was rushed with images of Isabel staring in shock at Petrax as his hand burned through her soft tissues. The shame and mortification Isabel felt became Caitlin's in a matter of seconds. Aware of how easily she could get lost, Caitlin began sending Isabel images of the little boy who had guided her back to them. His gift to Isabel was clear, it was the gift of hope. Isabel saw the little boy and gasped audibly. Not expecting to see a mini version of Clay, Isabel found herself focusing on his smile. It was a huge smile; showing perfectly aligned white teeth. Transfixed on the boy's face, Isabel barely noticed the subtle change within her. Reluctantly, Caitlin ended the connection with her cousin. Although Caitlin knew how much Isabel needed to see that her unborn child was okay, she ended the connection when her task was complete, and she had passed on the strength and hope of an innocent to Isabel. As Isabel now looked into Caitlin's eyes, she smiled with a light that had been extinguished years past. Hugging her cousin, both smiled.
"Hey! What's going on here? Holding out on us, Isabel?" James half-roared, humor written all over his face. Abashed, Isabel quickly looked back to Caitlin and then to James.
"No, I… She just woke up." Isabel almost stuttered, her embarrassment evident. Glaring at James, Caitlin quickly spoke up.
"Really James! Pick on someone your own age." At that, James turned a bright red. He was sensitive about his age and Caitlin knew it. "Go back outside, I need to talk to Isabel for a moment." Summarily dismissed, James left the tent with a string of curses. She was his sister after all. He was getting tired of being put on the back burner. A few minutes after he stomped out, a gentle smile came across Caitlin's face as she looked at her cousin. "Do you feel… any different?"
Surprised by the question, Isabel tilted her head and thought about it. I don't know why, it doesn't make any sense after all, but I do feel different. I feel… happier, stronger. Smiling, Isabel looked at Caitlin and nodded. "It's strange, but I do feel different. I feel much happier, much more hopeful. And this happiness, this hope, it seems to give me a strength I haven't felt in years." As Isabel explained how she felt, Caitlin nodded her head.
"Good, that is the gift my child has given you. He has given you his innocence and his hope. He saw a need, he saw your emptiness and has filled it." Caitlin said, causing Isabel to shake her head.
"I don't understand. What you're saying, it isn't possible." Isabel said, confused.
"Isabel, there is something you should know. We haven't told any of you guys. I don't know why, perhaps it is because we haven't had time with all that has gone on or perhaps it is because we just never thought to tell you all. You see, we are very strong together. James and I, with our abilities to amplify each other's powers, we are a dangerous team. Even Clay, he is as important to our group as either of the two of us. Our greatest strength, however, is also our greatest weakness. For generations, our people have had the ability to pass our gifts on to our loved ones. We have to do it before death claims us, but if we are able to we pass our knowledge and our powers on. This way our loved ones are stronger for the loss." Caitlin tried her best to explain, understanding how strange it would sound.
"So you can give your powers to other people?" Isabel asked.
"Yes, our powers or our knowledge or whatever other gifts we possess." Isabel nodded at Caitlin's answer.
"Caitlin," Isabel hesitated to ask, but knew she needed an answer. "What happens if you don't have time? You said it is your biggest strength and greatest weakness at the same time. How?" Isabel asked.
Sighing, Caitlin looked at Isabel head on and answered, "If we don't have time to pass our gifts on to our loved ones, our loved ones often suffer painful losses. Some are overtaken by misery and despair, losing themselves in their grief until they go mad. Others encounter death, dying when they would have otherwise lived if they had been given a certain power or knowledge. The significance of this ability is stressed to every member of our planet from birth. Claire often spoke of the consequences if we were to lose someone and they not have time to pass their gifts on."
"I see. I guess that's why James asked Clay if your child could be the reason why you were trapped in that place of misery and sorrow that Max and Liz described." Isabel said.
"Oh no, it wasn't our child. In fact, he was the one who came to me and led me out of the void. You see, he connected to me and I received all of these flashes. Petrax was the one who was responsible, not our child. I don't know how it was possible for him to visit me, or to pass his gifts on, but seeing him was so amazing." Caitlin said, getting misty-eyed. Smiling at the look of joy on her cousin's face, Isabel almost decided not to ask the last question she had. As Caitlin's eyes came back into focus, Isabel built up her courage.
"Caitlin, what about Sonya? It didn't sound like she had time to pass on her gifts." Isabel asked. Looking over sharply, Caitlin was surprised. Understanding her cousin's curiosity, she decided to share the knowledge that her child has given her about that whole incident.
"Evidently, Sonya was just beginning to discover a new power, the power of clairvoyance. She had a vision of her death three days before the night she was killed. Not much later that same day she had a vision of my death, as I tried to stop the assassin from killing her. Someone was to die that night, there was no way to stop it. She cared as strongly for me as I did for her, and made the decision that I should stay here and be the strength that both James and Clay needed. So a few nights before her death, she visited James and passed on certain gifts to him. The next night she visited me, and passed on certain gifts. On both of the nights, she did this without telling either James or myself. The night she died, she visited Clay. Him she told of her impending death, and gave him certain gifts. Knowing that her gift of dreamwalking would drive him away from us, she also knew that it was the one thing that would bring him back, when he was ready." As Caitlin finished, Isabel smiled sympathetically. She knew that Caitlin had spent the last three years wishing she had died in Sonya's place. Knowing the full story and the plan behind it, Isabel saw the obvious peace it brought to her cousin.
"It's so strange that you guys have powers. I mean, Nasado, the shapeshifter who watched over us for a while, he told Michael that the reason we had powers was because of our human side. That our human DNA is centuries ahead of the humans today, and that's why we have powers at all." Isabel said, marveling that the alien side could have powers too.
Nodding her head, Caitlin understood what Isabel meant. "Yes, that's partly true. The reason why they chose Earth is because of the similarity. Centuries from now, as mankind continues to evolve, they will discover tremendous gifts. Abilities that up to now is spoken of only in science fiction books and movies. But our alien DNA has combined extremely well with our human DNA. On the planets Antar and Vorak, the people there have wondrous gifts. Many of them are different from what we possess. I suppose they must have known that. This combination of DNA is extremely powerful. In many ways allowing us to combine gifts from our alien side with powers from the advanced human side. In this case, being a hybrid has its advantages." Caitlin explained, smiling at the wisdom Claire and the others exhibited in choosing this combination.
"That's amazing. Do you know more about Antar and Vorak? It sounds like you learned a lot from Claire." Isabel said, gently speaking Claire's name so as not to bring up any painful memories. Smiling, Caitlin tilted her head.
"All we learned from her I have shared. I know there was a lot more we could have learned from her, but she passed on before we could." Caitlin said. "Well Isabel, I'm glad you are feeling stronger. I have to go find James. It's rare for him to be so visibly upset, I need to find out what's going on with him." Understanding, Isabel gave Caitlin a quick hug and helped her up. As they walked out of the tent together, several voices exclaimed at once.
"Hey! You're up!"
"Caitlin! You look so much better!"
"When did you wake up?"
"Are you feeling okay?"
Bombarded by questions and hugs from the greatly relieved group around her, Caitlin couldn't contain the smile on her face. After answering everyone's questions and sufficiently reassuring everyone, Caitlin asked where James had stomped off too. Glancing at the trail Maria pointed to, Caitlin smiled and said a quick goodbye one more time. Heading down the trail, Caitlin looked around and realized how beautiful everything was. The green trees seemed brighter than usual and she couldn't remember a day when the sky has been so blue. Walking through the forest, the calm carrying her son's gifts had given her began to wade. Starting to think maybe it was associated with just one gift in particular, the gift she passed on to Isabel, Caitlin wasn't paying attention to the branch right in front of her. As it smacked her hard in the face, a few gashes began bleeding. Resisting the urge to respond to the pain with a string of curses, Caitlin slowly stilled as she began hearing voices. Recognizing the melodic timber of one and the deep resonance of the other, a bright smile splayed across her face.
"I'm serious Clay. Getting Caitlin pregnant was… reckless! What were you thinking? That's my sister for crying out loud!" James almost stuttered in anger.
"Calm down James. I wasn't trying to get her pregnant. Besides, I don't see what the big deal is. I love her, and that child was conceived out of love." Clay said, trying not to get angry at his best friend's presumption. He understood well the feelings of the older brother, but at 25 it was way past time to be getting overprotective.
"You don't see what the big deal is? You don't see what the big deal is. Well, call me old fashioned, but I think you should be married before you start having kids." James said, trying his best to contain the emotions raging beneath the surface.
"Married?" Clay said, stunned at where James was going. He doesn't actually think…?? Oh my gosh! He does! At that moment, Clay began laughing. With every look of shock and anger that flitted across James' face, the harder Clay's laughter became. Laughing so hard he was on the verge of tears, Clay finally sighed and wiped his cheeks. "James, my man, you ought to know me better than that. I've planned on marrying Caitlin almost my entire life. The day she woke up after Max and Liz healed her, we promised to spend the rest of our lives together. We are getting married. I don't know when, things aren't exactly safe right now, but we are getting married." Clay said, reassuring his best friend. Realizing what an ass he had been, James looked away in shame.
"I'm sorry man, I should've known better than to even go there." James said. Smiling, Clay walked over and gave James a quick and forceful hug.
"It's okay, if the situation had been reversed, I so would have gone there with you and Sonya." Clay said, forcing James to look up. Seeing the truth in his admission, James nodded. An understanding reached, a peace existing, both men stood a second longer before quickly turning behind them at the weak cry. Caught once again by an obtrusive branch, the cry escaped Caitlin's lips before she could stop it. Her eavesdropping discovered, she stepped out and greeted her two favorite men.
"Hey guys!" Caitlin said, amused when both Clay and James went to give her a hug. After the two men released her, Caitlin looked up and smiled at both. "I'm glad you guys are talking again." Winking at James, Caitlin decided to ignore the crimson that began moving it's way up his cheeks.
"Well, you know, we depend on you to keep us together." Clay said, smiling innocently. Smiling back at him, Caitlin sighed.
"I know. I try." At that, James "Humph"ed before Caitlin and Clay began laughing lightly. Ignoring the two, James stepped forward and placed a hand on his sister's shoulder.
"You okay, sis? What happened?" James asked, desperately needing to know if what he suspected was true or not. Understanding his need, Caitlin shared all that had happened.
