Title: Providence

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Author's note: I don't really have anything to say here, so on with the story…

Chapter Twenty-Six: Faith

Valenti instructed the terrified Mrs. Evans to go back to her home and try to relax while he dealt with Tess' disappearance. Promising to keep her informed of any developments, he shooed her out the door. As she left, he glanced down at the notepad on which he had written Mrs. Evans' description of the events. Someone, matching the description of this mysterious Seeker, had kidnapped Tess and vanished all in broad daylight in the middle of the town.

How was this possible? Slamming his fist against the wall, he reached for the phone, dialing Kyle number.

"Hey, Dad," Kyle greeted, sounding slightly confused. It was rare that his father would randomly call him in the middle of the day, but with everything that had been going on lately… his thoughts automatically turned to Tess. "Is Tess alright?"

"No. Come home," Valenti instructed. Without waiting to explain what had happened, he hung up, then dialed Max's number.

Max picked up on the third ring. "Sheriff… uh… I mean, Mr. Valenti? Everything alright?"

Valenti let out a breath, feeling the air pass through his slightly parted lips. The tightness that had clenched down on his chest the moment Mrs. Evans burst through the door and told him what she had seen squeezed tighter, taking his breath away.

"It's Tess. She's been kidnapped."

Darkness. A lot of it. Heavy and thick, like dark oil. Pressing down, everywhere, pulling and pushing, filling the air. Humid, damp…

Gasping for breath. Eyelids fluttering, trying to fight against the darkness.

Everything was spinning, spinning, spinning…

She was lying on something soft and lumpy, like a badly stuffed mattress. It was damp, drenched in her own sweat. There was something over her, pressing down against her skin. A blanket, perhaps, but it felt heavier than that. Or maybe she was just weaker.

Tess struggled to open her eyes and found herself lying on a sofa. Pushing herself into a sitting position and shoving the blonde curls out of her blue eyes, she glanced around. The room was empty except for the sofa. The floor was covered with a threadbare gray rug, and the high walls were plastered with fading blue wallpaper. There was one window, near the top of the far wall, and sunlight poured into the room through the dirty glass.

She stood up quickly and hurried to the door. Pulling at the handle, she found it was locked. She stepped back, raising her hand, prepared to blast the door open, but her powers didn't even make a dent. The door was too strong, to heavy… like the material the FBI had used at their base at Eagle Rock, she couldn't manipulate it.

She sighed. Of course, she hadn't expected escape to be that easy. She looked around again, gaze lingering over everything, mind working frantically. She didn't know where the Seeker was, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before he came back. And she wanted to be far away by the time that happened.

"What exactly did my Mom see?" Isabel asked, settling herself onto the sofa in the Valenti living room. "I mean, are we sure this was a kidnapping?"

"Positive," Kyle said before his father could answer. He was looking over the notes his father had taken, reading Mrs. Evans description of the man who had taken Tess. "This fits the Seeker," he added. "Do we think it's him?"

"So, what exactly did my mom see? I mean… just Tess standing on the street, and then a guy talking to her, and then when the bus went by, they were both gone? Maybe they walked away together?" Isabel suggested, reluctant to consider the possibility that Tess was really gone.

"Isabel," Kyle snapped disbelievingly. He'd arrived at his house ten minutes before Max and Isabel, and his father had filled him in on everything that had happened. Then he had to sit and listen to his father explain everything to Max. Then Michael showed up, and once again they had to repeat the entire explanation. Kyle paced impatiently through the entire thing, worried that every second his sort-of sister was coming closer and closer to death.

Michael glanced from Kyle to Isabel. Max had called him after the alien king had been informed of Tess' alleged kidnapping, and he'd gotten to the Valentis' as quickly as possible. It was the first time he'd seen Isabel since he and Maria broke up, since Maria had told him that she knew he was in love with someone else…

He pushed the thought away. If Tess was in danger, this was not the time to think about his future with Isabel.

"Kyle, Isabel's just trying to make sure we know everything before we rush into something. Not be prepared is only going to get us into more trouble, and that won't help Tess," Max explained softly.

Kyle narrowed his eyes at Isabel and shrugged silently.

"Kyle, Tess and I may have had our problems, but don't you dare think that I don't care about Tess," Isabel said firmly. "I just…" she glanced over at Max. "She ran out of the Crashdown," she said at last, her voice barely above a whisper.

"It's not your fault, Izzy," Max replied quickly. "We didn't know Tess was in any danger." He rubbed his eyes wearily and added, "And if I recall correctly, you were jus trying to defend her in that conversation."

That caught Michael's attention. "What happened?" he asked, confused.

Isabel bit her lip and replied very hesitantly, "We got into an argument, Maria, Liz, Max, and I. Some… not so flattering things… were said about Tess. At some point during our argument… she came into the Crashdown… and heard it. She ran out. Matt was there also, and he went after her, but she was already gone…"

"Is that why Liz and Maria aren't here?" Valenti asked delicately. He'd wondered about that, why the three aliens had shown up without the two human girls.

Isabel flushed red and nodded, but Max spoke up, bringing the conversation back on track.

"So, we assume that Tess has been kidnapped by the Seeker. We need to find her. Isabel, can you dream-walk her? Figure out her location?"

Isabel raised an eyebrow. "If she's not sleeping, I may not be able to get through." She ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes, trying to pull herself back together. Fear was eating away at her, they all knew how much danger Tess was in right now, and no matter what Max said, Isabel couldn't shake the feeling that if she'd just somehow managed to stop Tess from leaving the Crashdown, this wouldn't have happened.

"You did with Max when he was in New York," Kyle pointed out.

"Yeah, but Max is my brother," Isabel objected. "Tess isn't…" She opened her eyes and looked at Kyle. "But I'll try. I'll do my best to find her, assuming…" She stopped abruptly, unable to say what she was thinking.

Assuming Tess was still alive.

"She is," Max said firmly, knowing what his sister was implying. "We'd feel it if she wasn't."

"How can you be so sure?" Kyle cut in. "I mean, the Seeker wants Tess dead, we all know that. He told us that." Shaking his head in anger and frustration, he added bitterly, "And you guys just let him go."

"We didn't have a choice. We couldn't kill him," Max argued back.

"Yeah, and now he's going to kill Tess!"

"Kyle," Valenti interrupted, his voice low. "Laying blame isn't going to save Tess. Let's just focus on getting her back, alright?" Kyle nodded sullenly, and Valenti turned to Isabel. "So, if you can locate her, then what?"

Isabel slanted a look at Max. "Depending on where she is… and what condition she's in…"

"One step at a time," Max replied. "First, we need to find her."

The walls wouldn't budge, and although she'd managed to use her powers to shatter the glass on the window, it was too high up for her to reach. The sofa was bolted to the floor in the middle of the room, too far away from the window for her to use it as a support. She'd even tried to remove the hinges on the door, and that attempt had failed as well.

There was no way out of the room.

Tess felt panic flood her as she realized she was well and truly trapped, and this time she had no idea how she was supposed to get out of it.

Had anyone even noticed her absence yet? When would they realize she was gone? Would they miss her at all?

Maria's angry voice rang in her mind. Clearly, the blonde human didn't think much of her. No, Maria wouldn't notice her absence, and even if she did, she'd probably just relish it. And Liz and Max… they'd just sat there while Maria…

Isabel had stood up for her. Tess allowed herself a small smile at that, looked like Isabel really meant what she said about starting over.

She looked around the room again. "How do I get out of here, Nasedo?" she murmured. "You taught me this, you taught me how to get out of any situation. Why don't I remember?" She closed her eyes. "Tell me how to do this."

"Get up."

Alex glanced up in surprise at the man who had suddenly appeared in the doorway to his room. He had been lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling and contemplating his next move. It was odd, how relaxed this entire project was. He was safe in Alex's body, they wouldn't attack him. It was too risky, they might harm the real Alex. He had all the time in the world, because no one was going to attack him yet.

Until the Seeker appeared in his room, staring at him with cold anger.

Alex sat up slowly, offering the other man a cool smile. "What a pleasant surprised…" he drawled. "What can I do for you, Seeker?"

"You can answer my questions," the Seeker replied. He glared at Alex. "You sent me after the wrong Queen. The dupe. Why?"

"Why did you wait so long to ask me that question?" Alex replied with a smirk. "You must have been wondering it all along."

"Perhaps," the Seeker conceded. "But before, I had other problems to concern myself with. Now, I want answers."

Alex shrugged. He might as well be honest with the Seeker, he was starting to believe that he might even be able to work with this other man. Perhaps they could reach an understanding. "I didn't want you to show up here yet. I thought it would take you longer to find the dupe of Ava."

"Why did you want me to be later?" the Seeker demanded. He knew the answer, but still… he had to hear it.

"Because I intended to kill the Royal Four, and then you would show up just in time to take the fall for it. The Intergalactic Council would assume you'd killed them all, you did want revenge after all. Nothing you say would ever convince anyone otherwise… and I'd be in the clear." He stood up and smiled. "It was a good plan, don't you think?"

"Killing Ava was my revenge!" the Seeker snarled.

Alex turned and walked over to the window, staring out at the sky. "She'd be dead. Who cares who kills her?"

The Seeker scoffed, "If that was true, then why didn't you just let me kill her? Why did you bother to come all the way here yourself? It can't be easy, entrusting your thrown to someone else. What makes you think it will still be there when you get back?"

Alex glanced over his shoulder. "I trust my subjects. I trust their fear of my wrath." He faced the Seeker fully, leaning back against the cool glass of the windowpane. "The Royal Four mean nothing to me. They're pathetic half-breed remnants of a once powerful family. Dead or alive, they're no threat. No, it's the Granolith I want. That's why I'm here."

The Seeker accepted this in silence. Then he said, "I don't want to die. I didn't care before, but now…" He trailed off, then gave Alex a scrutinizing look. "I have Ava."

Alex looked interested. "Really? You've managed to catch her unawares? I'm impressed."

"What do you know about how my daughter died?" the Seeker asked, ignoring Alex's comment. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for an answer, wondering how much honesty he was going to get.

"I know exactly what you and everyone else on Antar heard. The Queen killed her," Alex replied with an ugly smirk. "I guess she just… got in the way."

"Why?"

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, confused.

"Why did Ava kill her?" the Seeker pressed. "I've heard thousands of different rumors about the reasons for her death, but none of them ever made sense. What secret did she know about the Queen?"

"How would I know?" Alex replied. He narrowed his eyes and added, "And why do you even care? She'd dead, and that's what matters."

"You were sleeping with the Princess. Did Vilandra not tell you anything?" the Seeker sneered. "Maybe she didn't love you all that much…" He laughed at the anger that leapt into Alex's eyes. "Tell me, did you see her die? Was she on your side then, or had she realized you were a pathetic traitor?"

Alex forced himself to remain calm and push aside thoughts of Vilandra… his Vilandra… now dead. Focusing instead on the Seeker, he said, "Maybe she did tell me. What's it to you?"

"You want the Granolith. I want Ava dead. And now I'm starting to think I want the full story behind Lessa's death as well. And… I want to be safe. I want to avoid the Intergalactic Council," the Seeker replied. He scrutinized Alex carefully. "Now, I'm guessing you have a plan to get the Granolith. You may even know where it is. But you can't get it yet, or you would have already done so."

"So?" Alex asked, curiously.

"So, maybe we can help each other," the Seeker answered.

Tess wasn't one to give up, but she had to admit there was no way out of the room. Nothing had worked, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't form any connection with the other three hybrids. Either something was blocking her powers, or she was too far away to find them. Her ability to sense others and to enter their minds was limited by distance.

Isabel's, on the other hand, was not.

She sat down on the sofa. Maybe she should just try to go back to sleep and trust that Isabel would find her? It seemed a ridiculous plan, she had no way of knowing if her absence had even been noticed yet. But what other choice did she have? There was no way out of here.

Nasedo had always taught her that she could work her way out of any problem if she just thought about it hard enough. Never give up, never give in, think on your feet, make your plans running.

She'd gone soft. She'd become too human. Living here, among the others… It was her powers that had played the integral role in saving Max from the white room, in rescuing them all from the skins with that giant fireball… and now… she couldn't even save herself anymore.

She closed her eyes. Nasedo may have taught her how to protect herself, but he never taught her how to work with others. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe she needed to stop thinking she could do everything by herself. Maybe she needed to trust that the others would realize she was missing and would come after her. Maybe she just needed a little faith.

"I can't find her," Isabel said in frustration, pulling her hand away from the yearbook. "I don't understand, it's like… something's blocking my powers. I can't even figure out where she is."

She, Michael, and Max had disappeared into the room Tess slept in, and borrowing Kyle's yearbook, attempted to find the fourth hybrid. It was the newest yearbook, it had only come out last week, and Tess smiled cheerfully up from one of the pages.

Kyle and Jim were still sitting in their living room, waiting for the aliens to come back. Kyle had wanted to watch Isabel, as though he wasn't completely convinced that she was going to make a good faith effort at finding Tess. But she'd told him, quite coldly, that if he hovered over her, she was never going to be able to concentrate, and he'd reluctantly agreed to remain in the other room.

Max and Michael exchanged worried looks, then Max said, "If the Seeker has her, it is possible he's trying to keep her from contacting us and us from finding her."

Isabel didn't say anything, just stared down at the yearbook for a moment. Her face reflected internal indecision, as though she wasn't entirely sure whether or not to say what was on her mind.

Michael, seeing her expression, reached out and placed a hand on her arm. "Izzy? What is it?" She looked at him, wordless shaking her head, not wanting to answer the question, but Michael pressed, "Tell us."

Isabel swallowed and said, "I don't even sense her, Michael. She's just… she's just not there. Maybe the Seeker is blocking us from finding her. But… there's another explanation."

Max knew what his sister was going to say before she'd even formed the words, and he forced himself to remain calm. But the fear was already bubbling within him, surging through his veins. Every feeling he'd ever tried to deny, every emotion about her he tried to ignore, came flooding back, as Isabel murmured her explanation.

"She could also be dead."

"No." Both sets of eyes turned to Max, he'd spoken the word with so much fervor and conviction. He shook his head, refusing to meet Isabel's gaze. "She's not dead. She can't be."

"Max…"

"No," Max said again, cutting into Michael's words. "Look, we don't have proof that she's dead. So right now we should operate under the assumption that she is alive. She has to be alive, we have to believe that she's still alive…" He didn't finish the sentence, but they were all thinking the same thing.

Because she's family.

"Is she is alive," Isabel said at last, "we'll find her." Even she had trouble believing her words, but she knew better than to tell Max that. For right now, they would simply have to believe that everything was going to be alright as long as they could find Tess.

People want proof.

Does smoking cause lung cancer? Is global warming real? Am I good enough at my job? Does my boyfriend really love me?

Show them studies, show them experiments. Give them examples, anecdotes.

Proof.

The more you smoke, the more tar fills your lungs, preventing oxygen from seeping into your blood, lowering your body's ability to function. Your boyfriend bought you roses on your birthday, took you out to dinner because you wanted to go to this new restaurant that had just opened, sat through the latest chick flick with you on your anniversary.

You don't always have proof. You can't always promise that something is going to work out. You can't always make a guarantee.

Sometimes all you have to go on is faith, and that has to be enough.