Chapter Fourteen

Spike and Buffy strolled into the strangely empty lounge, followed by Dawn, Kyle, Tess, Isabel, Alex, Maria, Michael and Kennedy. They all took seats around the large table, the conversation they had begun in the corridors continuing. It had begun with Maria innocently asking Dawn how they were connected to Angel, and soon the entire Roswell crew had learned that Buffy was a Slayer, exactly what that meant, and amusing stories of things that had happened to them over the years.

"And then Buffy was all 'Wrong sister. I'm the one that dates dead guys. And no offence but, they were hotties. I mean, I'm sure you had a great personality...'

"Dawn I think they've had enough stories of the 'a thousand and one ways Buffy nearly got herself killed' variety." Buffy butted in, eager to change the topic of conversation onto something a little less embarrassing.

"So, what's your story then?" Spike questioned as he looked around the room. "More precisely, what are you, coz I can smell that some of you aren't exactly human. Thing is, it doesn't smell like demon either."

Isabel turned and looked at Tess and Michael in a silent request to know if it was ok to tell them. As soon as both Tess and Michael nodded, she turned back to Spike and explained. "That's because we're not either. Well we are half human, but the other half is not of this earth. We're aliens. We arrived on the crash in Roswell back in 1947. We were in, well I guess you could call it incubation pods, and when we woke up we looked like normal 7 year old children. We only recently learned that we were created from the old leaders of our home planet, Antar, after they died when our planet was invaded. This is our second lives, in a way."

At this, Tess took over telling the story. "Max, Isabel and Michael were found and taken into foster care in Roswell, but I was raised by an alien who was sent down to protect us, called Nacedo. I only met up with the rest of them a few months ago. Now we all have our own unique powers, things that we are best at. Max is a healer, Isabel is good at dream walking, I can mind warp people into seeing something that isn't there and Michael…well he's good at blowing things up." Tess answered, glancing at Michael with a smile upon her face.

"So how did you find out about them?" Dawn asked. " Since I'm assuming that this isn't common knowledge."

"About a year ago, Liz was shot in her parent's café in Roswell, and Max saved her life. He then told her and she told me. After that, it was just one thing after the other. What with the FBI investigating us all, all the local sheriff too." Maria explained.

"Of course," Alex began, " I could tell my two best friends were keeping something from me and I really wasn't happy. Eventually, I gave Liz an ultimatum. Tell me or I would go to the local sheriff and tell him everything I knew. She told me, and at first I thought she was crazy. Then I saw what they could do with their powers and realised she was serious. Life got kind of crazy after that."

"After I arrived, things got even crazier. Then Max was captured by a member of the F.B.I. In getting him out, we revealed our secret to the local sheriff. We weren't sure what he was going to do, but then Kyle, his son, got caught in the crossfire." Tess added.

"So then Max healed me and I came into the secret group." Kyle finished off.

"Wow. Sounds like you've have interesting lives." Buffy exclaimed. "Mind you, no-one here has. I'm a slayer, Spike's a vampire and Dawn, well….."

"I was created by monks from a 'key' to a gateway that opened up portals into different hell dimensions. They did it to try and keep me from a hellgod called Glory who wanted to use me to get back to her own dimension. I've only really existed as a human for about 3 years, though the monks planted memories in everyone's minds so that they would think they knew me." Dawn carried on Buffy's sentence for her. "I think what Buffy was trying to say is that your secret is safe with us, because the only people we ever spend any time with are all 'not exactly human' too. And as for past lives, well you know about mine, Spike was originally a geeky Victorian guy called William before he was turned into a vampire and Buffy has died twice. We can relate."

"Nice to see you haven't lost your ability to cut straight to the chase Lil' Bit." Spike joked. "You always did just say whatever came to mind."

"Well with all the madness that we go through someone needs to be straightforward. What with Giles being British and bookish, Andrew trying to be cryptic and clever, Faith giving everyone nicknames and saying she's 'five by five' whatever that means, and Willow being well….herself, as even with all that wicca power she still has an amazing ability to babble uncontrollably."

After this, a silence fell over the room as thoughts turned to the events that were unfolding even now back at Angel's office.

"So…..what does everyone want to eat?" Spike asked, standing up from the table and walking towards the phone, where there was a large assortment of different take-out menus. "We could have Italian, Chinese, Mexican…………"

To be continued...

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