Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Melinda Metz, various publishers and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Walking Away


 Shuddering Alex scrutinized his surroundings. His blue eyes fell on to his adopted sister sitting in the corner reading several books on pregnancy. Feeling something off, he got up and canvassed the area. Slowly he made his way over to her.

Feeling Alex approach her, Tess watched him cautiously make his way towards her. Quirking her eyebrow she silently asked him what he was doing. He squatted down next to her.

"I feel like someone just walked on my grave," Alex whispered as he looked around again. Slowly he relaxed his guard. "I think it's time for us to go back to our apartment."

"I agree. Reading these books is making me nauseous," Tess answered as she put her book aside. She needed Alex's help to stand up. Once she was on her feet, she took a tentative step towards the door. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just I feel maladroit at handling my life. It just seems like Liz handled this better," Alex replied. Glancing around, he triple checked to see if he could spot anyone out of the ordinary.

"Liz had a reason to handle it better; she was intrigued with Max and his thaumaturgy when he healed her. Since you're not in love with me, you're dealing with everything with a grace that few have," Tess explained as she complimented him. Together they left the bookstore, walking slowly they passed a coffee club that was hosting a live band.

"Do we want to chance it?" Tess asked as she saw his look of longing.

His fingers twitched as if he was playing a note on his guitar. Shaking himself out of his trance, he was just able to decline when he noted who was playing. 'My god, it's the goo-goo dolls!' Alex thought as he sucked in his breath.

"I vote that we do it," Tess ordered as she softly shoved Alex towards the door. "We have no other plans tonight." She was surprised that he was resisting the pull of the possibility of meeting the band members.

"You should listen to her," a voice called out from the alley way startling both of them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. But I hear we're pretty good for a local grunge band. And besides it looks like you play guitar. You do play guitar?"

Alex just gasped at the man coming out of the shadows in shock. It took a hard elbow in his gut to sharply pull himself out of his stupor.

"Yes, he plays the guitar. And he loves your band," Tess answered for him.

"Well, maybe he can jam with us. But to do that, you'll need to step inside," the voice suggested as he made his way into the coffee shop.

"Do you know who that is?" Alex whispered excited. "Uh, do you?"

"No, I assumed he traveled with the band," Tess stated as smirked at Alex's childlike excitement.

"That was John Rzeznik, he is the lead!" Alex exclaimed. "And he offered to allow me to play with them."

"But to do that, we would need to step inside," Tess commented as she pointed towards the door. "Let's not keep the man waiting." Seeing Alex's hesitation, Tess squared her shoulders. "You don't want to ruin this opportunity for someone else, now do you?"

"How would I do that?" Alex asked perplexed.

"Well, just think I like this. If you a fan, and turn him down, he'll think his band it not good enough for the likes of someone like you to play with. He might not offer this opportunity again. Therefore, it's imperative that you step up and when that chance comes you get up there and you play with them," Tess explained as she maneuvered Alex inside the club.

Throwing an arm around her shoulders, Alex smiled down at her. Quickly he found them a table. He helped her into her seat. Taking his seat, he leaned close and whispered, "Thanks Maria."

Feeling slightly better that Alex was finally in his element. Hearing the band play live, Tess smiled at Alex completely getting into it. As the night continued she got into the band.

Towards the end of the evening, John did bring Alex up onto the stage. Tess was impressed that Alex readily agreed to go up and play with the band. Several band members questioned him about what instrument he played and whether or not he could sing. He admitted that he could sing, but not as good as a friend of his. Together they choose a song.

The band and Alex got in sync with each other. Tess was amazed that Alex could sing. The song seemed to pour out of him. Looking around, she was dumbfounded that people were holding up lighters. People were mouthing the lyrics to the song. Several patrons were had tears sliding down their checks.

Turning her gaze back to Alex, Tess felt for the first time in a long time that she was seeing the real Alex. Not the Alex that he portrayed or the Alex that he was struggling to come to terms with what had happened to him. Listening to the words, Tess allowed herself to be moved. 'He's really good.'

They played several sets, before calling quits for the night. Thanking the band profusely, Tess was sure she embarrassed both Alex and the band with her gratitude. She could tell that playing with the band made a huge difference to Alex even if he didn't.

Everyone wrote off her emotional state due to pregnancy. Together, she and Alex slowly made their way out of the establishment. Smiling at him, she laughed at how flushed his face was.

"Admit it," Tess pestered.

"Admit what?" Alex avoided.

"You loved it. Every minute of it," Tess stated as she gave a little hop.

"No, it was alright," Alex dismissed.

"Yeah, like I buy that," Tess stressed. "Just admit it and I won't have to torture you." Upon seeing his disbelieving look, Tess started to tickle him.

"Ok, ok. I'll admit it. I liked it," Alex huffed out between laughs. Tess smirked at him as she attacked him again. With a shriek, Tess was holding him back from tickling her. "Fine, I'll admit it. I loved it, every minute of it."

"See you should listen to me," Tess stated as she laughed at Alex's excitement. As they continued to make their way back to the apartment, they didn't realize that they were being watched.

The person watching them waited until the apartment light went on, before turning and heading back down the road. As he approached the coffee house, a small smirk graced his face. He noticed that the band was still pacing away their equipment. Entering the establishment, he headed direct towards the man in charge.

"Thanks John," he said.

"Hey that was no problem. I owed you a favor, and I couldn't possibly think of a better way of repaying then to help a kid realize his dream," John dismissed.

"Your nephew is really good; did you see the crowd?"Robby Takac stressed. "People are already starting to ask if he has a record coming out."

"Well, Tom has always been the shy one. Now Tess, one the other hand, needs no encouragement to do something. She's a bit reckless. But nothing we can't handle," he stressed as again smiled politely.

"I would encourage your nephew to make a demo. I know that you'll help him get a record deal. Anyways we're going to get going, I'm glad we were able to help Mr. McCain," John stated.

"What about the recording?" Mr. McCain inquired.

"MTV stated that they will play it for their un-plugged serious and several fans are going to put it on their MySpace or on YouTube pages. He's going to get a lot of buzz, so jump on the record deal," Robby laughed excited.

"Well thank you again," Mr. McCain stated as he proceeded to leave. Watching the man leave, both John and Robby shared an uneasy smile.

"I was thinking, maybe he's stressed with his niece being pregnant," Robby stated as he attempted to understand the situation.

"Well, I found the two of them much more approachable then McCain. Plus we no longer have to worry about owing McCain a favor. That boy is going to explode once his record is made, I'm really glad we did this," John laughed as he packed up his guitar.

"Me too, now we don't have to worry about him anymore, but I wouldn't mind jamming with his nephew again that's for sure," Robby offered as he and John proceeded to leave the coffee house.

Unknown to them, hidden in the shadows was McCain. Smiling in satisfaction at his intervention, he waited until all the patrons had left before he broke in. Moving quickly, he found what he was looking for.

'Primitive, positively primitive,' he thought as he quickly took advantage of his superior technology. Within seconds, he had a visual three-d display of the band with his nephew.

Using his equipment, he isolated on the boy in question. He noticed the dual overly that humans usually call auroras. Bringing them down, he knew instantly that one was human and the other was familiar… way to familiar. 'Rath No, I would have known, there would have been something on the news. If is it not Rath… Nicholas!'

Dismantling his equipment, he quickly made use of the free Wi-Fi and uploaded his recording of the jam session. He paid particular detail to how he worded the little blog that went with it. 'Rath should be able to decipher the location.' Moving quickly, he packed up his things and left the coffee shop.

Making his way back up the street towards her apartment, he felt it. A presence he had not felt in decades. His senses picked up on the residual energy and before he could stop himself, he moved closer. As he approached, the lights on the street flickered. In an instant he received his orders. 'It will be done.'


 Until next Time ….