Chapter Eleven
They all seemed in unison as they moved about Kal's kitchen making breakfast for themselves. She'd offered but Maria, the perky short blonde, had waved her off. Michael was busy cooking while Kyle and Laurie were shyly working together to lay the table. Alex was getting plates out intent on passing them to the nervous couple setting the dining table when Kal came down "Mm, that smells good, Consuela" he greeted her and she just smiled
"Well then thank the chef" she replied nodding at Michael
"Okay we've got egg in the hole for Maria, three fry ups for Alex, Laurie and Kyle, toast and cereal for Kal... I didn't know what you wanted. There's plenty of bacon and egg left and Consuela I hope you don't mind but I made you a Spanish omelette" he smiled warmly
"Thank you Michael" she replied, she was a little surprised but all of them sat down together to eat breakfast.
"So when does training start?" asked Maria as she tucked into her egg in the hole and helped herself to some bacon
"I'm going to call and arrange for a martial arts trainer to come and teach you all basic defence and offence. He should be here by tomorrow by the earliest and as for the other stuff... I'll teach you that later" he purposely glanced at Consuela and they understood that she didn't know that she was dining with aliens and he wanted to keep it that way "You have the morning to yourselves. Consuela, I'm not going to need you today so you can go home, your pay won't be affected"
"Thank you, sir" she smiled; today was starting out to be a really good day!
"As for the rest of you. You can do what you want as long as you stay on the property and away from my office until four o'clock. I'm going to be pretty busy until then and I don't want to be disturbed. At four I'll start on teaching you"
"Cool" said Alex "You don't mind if I go on your computer in the downstairs parlour?"
"No, knock yourself out... but I think considering that computers got you into the problem were Tess wanted to kill you I think it'd be best that you play about in the pool or something" Kal suggested the entire group went quiet and Alex went pale. Consuela just wondered what was going on, was that why they were all here? Were they some young group of really talented hackers that were being targeted by someone? She guessed that Alex could have been but none of the other kids seemed to fit the bill. It would continue to puzzle her until she figured out why they were here and where they'd come from; Kal Langley was the last person who'd willingly put up kids in his house. Hell, she knew he couldn't stand kids and most of the films he made had nothing to do with children whatsoever!
After breakfast was finished they all got up without being asked and did the dishes, even Kal seemed surprised by this and the two of them just watched the five of them work as a perfect team moving around each other with ease like they'd done this a thousand times before. When they were done, they disappeared upstairs to get changed into their swim wear but only Alex, Laurie and Kyle came back down and went out to the pool.
Maria sat down on the bed, even though Alex and Kyle were like brothers to her Michael had gotten possessive when he'd seen her standing there in her bikini and refused to let her leave their room
"No way am I letting my wife go out like that! They'll look at you"
"Of course they will... they do have eyes, SpaceBoy" she replied with a smirk, enjoying his possessiveness and the fact that he'd addressed her as his wife. He didn't seem aware that he'd called her that, all she knew was that he was highly jealous and highly turned on, especially seeing his eyes darken "Michael... Michael..."
"Maria" he replied just as breathlessly as he crawled over her and she lay down
"I'm not ready for...that... not yet" she said fearfully then realised this was Michael, he'd give his life to keep her safe, he would never hurt her!
"I'd never do anything you weren't ready for" he whispered and her eyes fluttered shut; the situation seemed dangerously charged and she was distantly aware that she was just wearing a bikini and he was just wearing swim trunks "I'd never hurt you"
"Michael..." he moaned his name breathlessly and it drove him crazy just hearing his name spilling from her lips. He leaned down kissing her softly, she froze for a moment before she welcomed him to deep the kiss and she arched up against him.
He broke the kiss for air then rolled to the side pulling her into his arms as they started making out on the double bed. He pulled away from her mouth and nipped along her jaw and neck; a brief flash appeared in his mind and somehow he knew that Liz had seen them make out during some random heat wave in the cafe after it was closed.
"Maria..." he pulled away breathing heavily "I think we should go out to the pool now... otherwise I'm not going to be able to stop" he couldn't even look at her as she lay there flustered in the thing bikini; he could practically smell her arousal and it was driving him insane
"Yeah, yeah" she nodded just as breathlessly agreeing with him. They went down keeping their distance from each other as they descended the stairs; unbidden Michael got an image of taking her on the stairs. He knew that one day when they were old enough to be together he'd make that fantasy come true.
As soon as they got outside he dived into the pool thankful that the water was cool against his heated body. Maria wandered over to the chair next to where Laurie was sunbathing; she'd borrowed one of Maria's other bikinis and was now sitting in the sun
"Have fun?" she asked with a smirk seeing how flustered Maria was and she spotted the hickey now forming on Maria's neck. Maria sat down on the chair next to her with a smile and said nothing.
The guys were mainly goofing off in the pool together; Alex rolled his eyes as Michael kept trying to show off for Maria and Kyle kept surreptitiously glancing at Laurie. He'd woken up early enough to see Kyle sneaking out of Laurie's room and heading back to his own; he was glad for his new friends but he missed Isabel a lot
"Guys, I'm going to call Isabel and see how they're all doing. I think she should be at lunch at the moment" he got out of the pool and went inside.
At the mention of Isabel's name Laurie couldn't help but feel her jealously rear its ugly head and Maria noticed her scowl
"You're jealous of Isabel" she commented, then guessed why Laurie would be jealous "Wait... so you like Alex?"
"No. I don't like Alex... I mean I do, just not in the way you and Michael like each other"
"Then who... Kyle?!" she gasped with an excited grin "You like Kyle!" she practically shouted it just as Kyle was trying to show off by doing a professional dive off the board. When he heard Maria he lost his balance and ended up slamming into the water on his belly. Michael winced for the shorter boy
"That must have hurt" he mumbled
"Kyle!" cried Laurie and she jumped into the pool to make sure he was okay. Kyle came up for air and groaned in pain but it was forgotten as Laurie quickly swam over to him and began feeling for injuries; she had no idea what effect she had on him. Michael just scowled realising that his sister like Kyle and that Kyle liked her; it wasn't that he didn't trust Kyle... it's just no one would be good enough for his sister and he was going to make it clear that if Kyle wanted to date her then he'd have to get his permission.
"Laurie, I'm fine. Just a belly flop" he said trying to allay her fears. Honestly, he wanted her hands off him because they were playing havoc with his teenage hormones
"Hey Valenti!" called Michael and pushed some water at him, it was meant to be playful but he put a little power behind it. It backfired and a wave hit both Laurie and Kyle.
"Way to go Michael!" cried Laurie as she retrieved the top half of her bikini which had come off due to the force of the wave. Kyle had gone bright red
"I'm going to go to my room for a bit" he said as he climbed out of the pool, then added under his breath "And take a very long, very cold shower"
"I'm watching you, Valenti!" Michael called trying to sound intimidating but considering what Kyle had just said; he suspected that the taller boy had heard him and he... wanted to watch him
"Whatever you weird pervert. Stick with Maria" he said "Leave me alone"
"Michael! Why did you do that?" demanded Laurie
"Because you're my baby sister and I have to protect you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you" he replied sounding sincere
"You don't want anything good to happen to me either!" she snapped "I'm a big girl and I'm two years old than you. I was locked up for years at Pinecrest and now I finally find someone whose nice and caring and you treat him like crap! You know Kyle... do you think he'd ever hurt me? Do you really think I could do any worse?"
"No" he said, looking down feeling well and truly told off
"If he does anything I don't want then I'll come to you and you can kick his ass but until then let me decide what and who I want" she climbed out of the pool and went after Kyle.
Maria got up from her chair and sat down at the edge of the pool. Her legs dangled in the water and she held out her arms
"Michael, come here" she ordered him warmly. He waded over to her and she held him close, his head resting against her stomach and she stroked his hair
"She hates me" he stated, she just shook her head
"She doesn't hate you, Laurie doesn't know you. I know you want to look out for her but that wasn't the way. She just needs to get to know you and deciding you know what's best for her isn't the way to do that. What you need to do is find something she enjoyed doing and do it with her... like she said she's been locked up at Pinecrest for a long time so she's missed out on a lot of things. Why don't you teach her to drive or something or even ask her about her grandpa? That's something you have in common; you're his clone and she's his granddaughter"
"Are you sure that would work?"
"I know so. But for now just give her some time to cool down" she said then she slowly slid into the pool "She's right you know, she could do a lot worse than Kyle Valenti"
"Grrr" he growled, even though he knew that both Laurie and Maria were right. Didn't mean he liked it.
*
Liz had worked tirelessly setting up her furniture in her new place. There were a lot of boxes scattered around and all she'd been able to do was put the draws back in the units and put her bed up. She put some clean sheets on her bed then sat down looking around the empty room; she would get used to it when everything was here and she'd been there for a few days but for now she was extremely lonely.
Frantically she looked round then got up and opened her front door stepping outside for a moment, she sighed with relief just at the ability of being able to leave her apartment. Being imprisoned for ten years was taking its toll on her. She went back in then sat down and turned on the TV thinking that would be some distraction but it wasn't. The room seemed to close in on her and she felt claustrophobic; she grabbed her coat and left quickly.
It was dark out and deep down she knew that she shouldn't be walking the streets of Roswell late at night because even though it was a small place it still had serious crime. But she couldn't help it... before she'd came here almost a week ago, had it been that long ago, she thought to herself, she'd been imprisoned near enough every day for ten years. Liz didn't think she'd ever have the chance to be free... she needed the open space even more than she needed her apartment and she needed to be around people.
Without realising she'd walked clear across town, her feet carrying her to the one place she knew she'd be welcome regardless of the time; she just needed to see him. When she'd been on Antar, even though she couldn't see him because they were kept separate, just knowing he was there nearby was enough to soothe her and make the whole nightmare bearable.
He was asleep when she got there, she stood at his window leaning against his window ledge in his room watching him sleep. Liz just didn't have the heart to wake him; she sighed deeply knowing she couldn't stay here. This was a different time and he was just a kid to her. Suddenly the door to Max's room creaked open and Isabel was standing there
"Hey" she whispered quietly so as not to wake her brother
"Hey" Liz whispered back, she glanced at Max one last time then followed Isabel down the hall to her room. They sat down on the taller girl's bed and Isabel pulled the covers up over both of them
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not really..." she began then looked up at her "I got scared... In the new apartment by myself. It made me think of being in my cell on Antar"
"Liz..." Isabel gasped, she could see Liz was trying to hold back her tears
"It's stupid. I was being stupid"
"No you weren't" Isabel snapped; how could she even think like that "You have every right to be scared and frightened... you're probably the only person who truly has that right. What happened to you... you lost everything"
"Please... don't" she begged her. She didn't want to hear it or relive it "Don't talk about it?"
"So you can pretend it never happened? We all died, Liz, you lost everything! Your home, your family... your babies"
"No! Please! I'm begging you don't talk about it!" she was openly crying "I failed you all! I'm sorry! Oh God Isabel I'm so sorry! I should have fought harder! I shouldn't have given up when Kivar came to Earth! I just- I just didn't know what to do!"
"Liz, look at me" Isabel ordered her and she looked up through her tears "Don't you realise just who you are?" Liz shook her head "You're a saviour! The most strongest, bravest person on Earth, Antar or anywhere else! You've been through hell and you're still strong"
"But I wasn't strong enough" she protested
"No, maybe you weren't" Isabel agreed with a nod "But you knew that, didn't you? That's why you came back. Now you don't have to deal with the weight of both worlds on your shoulders"
"I don't?" she sniffled still very emotional
"No, of course you don't. You have us now... we'll share your pain and help you with everything we've got. You have your family back and we'd do anything for you, I'd do anything for you"
"I'd like to sleep" said Liz, it was such a simple request and a little odd to Isabel but from the memories she'd gotten when Liz was imprisoned on Antar she knew that Liz hardly got a full night's sleep. She was too afraid to fully rest half the time and she was tortured and abused by guards the rest
"Lie down" said Isabel. They both lay down in the bed, Liz wriggling closer to her for protection and safety. The taller girl linked fingers with the shorter who raised a brow questioning what she was doing "I'm going to protect you in your dreams" Liz just nodded and they both closed their eyes. Isabel could sense nightmares starting in Liz so she quickly did her best to alter the dreams, she changed the scenery to something she'd been thinking about ever since Liz explained and show her how much Alex meant to her
"Congratulations Alex! Congratulations Isabel... Mrs Whitman!" chuckled Liz in the dream world
"Thanks Liz!" said Isabel hugging her sister in law. They were both happy.