STRANGE DAYS

Chapter 21

See first chapter for disclaimers.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This one is AU from an episode of the show, Roswell. What if Max had had company during his time as a 'guest' of the Special Unit? If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. R&R.

Angel & W.I.T.C.H.

And now…

Roswell and ?

The Cellmate

"So, what are you in for?"

Max eyed the older man cautiously. He'd lost consciousness at some point during the interrogation, and it had taken him a moment to gather his wits when he awoke. Still strapped to the table, and still aching from Agent Pierce's 'efforts to extract information he didn't have. There had really been no chance of waking up in his own bed to discover it had all been a bad dream, but Max was still disappointed. The discovery that he was no longer the only prisoner in the white room had been sufficiently distracting, and he had managed to shove the pain he felt to the back of his mind.

He didn't look like a Unit operative, too ragged looking, with a collection of scars on his bare chest and arms that was difficult to credit. Max didn't recognize him either, but he had seen enough movies to be instantly suspicious.

"Wash and trim," the man croaked through dry lips. Apparently, they hadn't given him any water for a while. "Manicure if I have time."

"Uh-huh," Max looked away, wondering what the man was doing here. It was too obvious a trick.

"Name's John, by the way. I'd shake hands but…" He jerked at his restraints irritably.

"Max."

John raised his head as best he could and looked around curiously. "So I guess this is the part where they put the dashing hero in with a spy and hope he'll open up while the bad guys eavesdrop."

That was a surprise. Did the man think that he was the one being played? "Guess so," Max answered; his tone flat. Even if that was the case, Pierce was bound to be listening. "Not going to work. I don't know the answers to his questions."

"Yeah, me neither. Guy just refuses to believe I'm human." The stranger seemed more irritated than worried. Again, Max thought the reaction was odd. Shouldn't he be pretending to be scared? Trying to coax Max into reassuring him or something? And why use a 30 something man for that? Didn't all the movie villains tend to put nubile young women in the cell with the hero? Max winced. There might be something to the stranger's words, but that didn't make them any less absurd. This isn't a movie, I'm no hero, and Pierce is no evil villain…well…

"You don't seem terribly worried," Max noted, in lieu of pursuing that line of thought.

"I've been through worse," John gave an awkward shrug. "Pierce is an amateur at torture."

"You've been tortured before?"

"I don't like to talk about it, even when the walls don't have ears." Max nodded thoughtfully at this. Either Pierce was being very subtle or this man really was another prisoner. "Yo, Colonel Klink! It's not gonna work!" Max shot the man an annoyed look.

"Quiet!"

"What?" John looked at him, seeming puzzled.

"At least he's laid off with the scalpels and needles. You want him to give up on this and start again?"

John considered this for a moment. "Good point," he acknowledged. "So," he continued in an exaggeratedly cheerful tone, "what galaxy are YOU from?" Max gave him a stony look, but relented after a moment and allowed a tight smile at the stranger's antics.

"This one. This planet, in fact. You?"

"Same. So, where are we anyway?" Max considered carefully before answering. It would be better not to engage at all, but he realized that he had made a good point. At least he wasn't being tortured at the moment. As long as he was careful not to say anything that Pierce didn't already know, he should be fine.

"Not sure."

"Who are they?"

"FBI Special Unit. Alien hunters. The guy in charge is Agent Pierce. He was posing as a sheriff's deputy in Roswell when I met him. That's where I'm from."

"Roswell? As in UFO central?" Max gave an awkward shrug of his own while considering his answer.

"If you believe that nonsense," he answered dismissively. "I guess Pierce does."

"And you don't?"

"I believe what I can see." He glanced at his cellmate, "and not all of that."

"Fair enough," John answered amiably.

"So what's your story?"

"I'm an astronaut. I was… away for awhile."

"That's it?"

"Eavesdroppers."

"Right." They lapsed into silence for a time, one that John didn't seem to be able to endure long.

"I spy with my little eye something beginning with 'C.'"

Max sighed, wondering when Pierce would start the torture again. The explosion ended that line of thinking. He craned his neck and tried to determine the source of the sound. It had come from outside the white room, but more than that he couldn't be sure of. A glance over at John gave him a hint as to what was happening though. "You know what's happening?"

"Hope so. My friends like to make an entrance."

They didn't have long to wait. Pierce led a small group of agents into the room. Through the door the sounds of a battle were clearly audible. There were gunshots and what sounded to Max's ear like bad sci-fi special effects. The men took up defensive positions while Pierce drew his gun and put it to Max's head.

"Call them off!"

"What?" Max demanded. "You think I'm doing this?" Pierce wasn't given a chance to answer. The first through the door was a redheaded woman, running on the ceiling. Max almost got himself shot craning his neck to gape at the display. She was firing two strange looking pistols with unnerving accuracy. It proved a sufficient distraction for the next intruder, a hulking figure dressed in red and carrying a sword of all things.

"Stop where you are!" Pierce demanded, even as the last of his men fell. The creature in red cast him an irritated glance as he began to undo John's bindings.

"Raaasss!" The sound accompanied what Max realized was the creature's tongue as it struck their captor in the throat. Pierce dropped like a felled tree.

"Friends of yours? I hope?"

John grinned at him. "Yeah. Hey Sputnik, cut him loose would ya?" The redhead dropped to the floor and quickly released Max.

"Barbarians," she muttered haughtily, as she helped him up. "Have you enjoyed your homecoming?" she asked, turning to John.

"It's everything I've had nightmares about, " he answered dryly. "Let's blow this pop stand." He turned to Max. "Wanna come with? Looks like you're not terribly welcome on Earth either."

Max shook his head. "It's my home. My family is here. Speaking of… you didn't see anyone else trying to mount a rescue did you?"

"If you mean those five children," the woman addressed as Sputnik answered, "we convinced to wait outside, we told them we would get you out. So hurry up." She turned and strode out of the room.

Max glanced at John. "Let me guess. She grows on you."

"Gawd, I hope not." He looked around. "She's got a point, though. Let's all go home."

THE END