Title: Time After Time
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Chapter Fifty-Three: By Your Side, At Your Back
"Leave him," Carla ordered tersely, barely sparing Rath's still body a second glance. He was alive, that much was obvious from the steady rise and fall of his chest. Beyond that, she did not care about him, did not care what happened to him. Not with so much at stake.
Max nodded, his mouth too dry to speak. His eyes scanned over the dimly lit sewers, searching for any signs that he might be wrong about what he was seeing, that Lonnie had not disappeared with Tess. But there was no sign of either hybrid, and he knew they were in trouble.
"Come on," Carla said, grabbing Max's arm. "Snap out of it. We don't have time for panic, we need to find Lonnie. Now, before something happens to Tess."
It was the pure fear in her tone that caught Max's attention, and he gave a slow nod. He still did not trust the rebel skin, not in the slightest, but she was not lying about her worry. She did not want Lonnie to harm Tess, though what her reasons behind that were, Max had no idea.
In that moment, he also did not care.
"This way," he indicated, nodding to the tunnel in front of them. He could still feel Tess' presence somewhere, and although that ability had never been enough to pinpoint actual locations, it told him that she was still alive.
For now.
They ran, their feet slapping on the concrete floor of the tunnel, the noise echoing all around them. Carla followed Max without question, knowing he had a far better chance of locating the missing Queen in this labyrinth of tunnels than she did. But that did not stop the anxiety from twisting sharply in her chest because she knew the consequences of this. She knew what would happen if they failed.
All their plans would be lost.
They had come this far, come all the way to the Summit. Of course, Max had still refused the deal and destroyed any chance they had at succeeding with Plan A, but they had other options. Plans B and C, and both of those required having all four royal hybrids.
Ava's presence had thrown a wrench into everything as well, and she still did not know how that would end up affecting them. The mayor would be interested in these developments, but hopefully whatever problems arose would be something easy enough to thwart.
There was far too much at stake to fail now.
In front of her, Max came to a sudden stop, his eyes going wide. There was a branch before him, a fork in the tunnels, corridors going both right and left. He caught his breath, sending a frantic look over his shoulder at Carla as though somehow she could offer help.
"Pick one," she said firmly.
He gaped at her. Did she think he was psychic? How was he supposed to know where Tess was, which path they had taken? "I… I…" He faltered, knowing that if he chose the wrong one, they would never find Tess in time. Knowing that the results of the wrong decisions would be disastrous.
"Just pick. Close your eyes, concentrate, and choose!" Carla hissed. "She was your wife in a past life and she's still your family now! You can find her, you just need to concentrate." She paused, her gaze moving back and forth between the two corridors. "Where is she, Max?" she asked softly, quietly. "Which one?"
He closed his eyes, blocking out everything else but the frenzied beating of his own heart and the thought of Tess. Drawing a slow breath, he focused everything he could on her, praying silently for the answer.
"Right," he said finally, his eyes snapping open.
"Are you sure?" Carla pressed.
"No," Max admitted. "But that's the way I'm going."
They took the right fork, pushing deeper into the sewers. The air grew moist, heavy with humidity and the scent of mold. It was enough to make Max gag, but he thought of Lonnie and Tess and kept running.
He had no idea what he would do when he found Lonnie. He knew she was not to be trusted, knew she was probably the enemy. But she looked like his sister, shared the same DNA as Isabel, and he wasn't sure he could actually fight her.
Carla watched Max as he ran. She knew he would never have the strength to do what was necessary. He was not a murderer, though she'd heard rumors that he had ended the life of an FBI agent and a couple of Nicolas' skins. But he would not do it willingly, and certainly not to someone who reminded him so much of his sister.
Fortunately, he did not need to do anything. She could do it for him.
The corridor eventually opened into a circular platform not unlike Rath and Lonnie's home. Tess was there, kneeling on the floor, both hands pressing into the sides of her forehead. Her eyes were closed and her face was lined with concentration, beads of sweat forming at her hairline. Lonnie stood above her, one hand twisted tightly around Tess' wrist, the other on the hybrid Queen's shoulder. She, too, had her eyes closed, and was biting her lip with the effort of whatever she was doing.
It was clear that the two were locked in a silent battle of wills, and it was unclear who was winning. Lonnie seemed to have an advantage, but Tess was still holding her own, fighting against the other's power.
Max did not hesitate.
He flung out one hand, sending Lonnie slamming backwards, away from Tess. She hit the ground, but was on her feet a moment later. Her glance went from Tess to Max and Carla, and then, outnumbered and worried, she did the only thing she could.
She turned and ran.
"Make sure Tess is alright!" Carla instructed, already chasing after Lonnie.
Max knelt at Tess' side as Carla disappeared back into the tunnels. "Tess?" he asked, gingerly helping her to stand. "Are you alright? What did Lonnie do?"
"I… I don't know…" Tess breathed, her voice shaking. She wobbled unsteadily on her feet, then said, "She was trying to get into my head. Looking for information. And… I don't know, I think she wanted to… to hurt me. Or worse. I tried to fight her off…"
"How did she do all that?" Max asked with a frown. "Does she have different gifts from Isabel?"
"I don't know," Tess replied with a shrug. "Our powers are growing. Maybe Isabel will be able to do that soon…" Again, she trailed off, then asked, "Rath? What happened to him?"
Max glanced over his shoulder. "He's unconscious." He wasn't sure if he should go back to Rath, or chase after Carla and Lonnie. But Carla, he decided was more than a match for Lonnie, and he wanted to find Rath before the dupe General woke up and ran off.
"I'm really ready to go home," Tess muttered under her breath. "I don't think I ever thought I would say this, but Roswell is so much better than New York City."
By the time Carla finally caught up with Lonnie, she had grown tired and irritable by the chase. That alone had been enough to tempt her vindictive side, and she threw Lonnie headlong into the wall without even the slightest bit of hesitation.
Lonnie sprawled onto her back, but regained her composure quickly enough and scrambled to her feet, giving Carla a cold stare. They were only yards away from a small metal door that would lead Lonnie out of the sewers and onto a subway station platform, where she could easily disappear into the crowd.
But as Lonnie's eyes darted towards the door, Carla pointed her fingers at the far wall and send a burst of heat flooding through the air. It sealed the door shut, melding metal to metal, and effectively cutting off any chance Lonnie had at escape.
"So you want a fight, huh?" Lonnie asked, lips twisting into a sneer. "You think I ain't gonna kill you?"
"I think you can't," Carla replied calmly, her expression betraying no fear. "You aren't strong enough."
"That so?" Lonnie challenged. "You think you're so great, so high-an'-mighty? You come and you tell us about this sit-down, this get-together we should be goin' to, you take us all over the country to pick up a couple of pathetic desert-dwellers like we're just followers you can string along… Well, guess what? I ain't followin' your instructions any more."
"I don't need you to," Carla answered. "You screwed up, you lost. You're no good to me anymore. And I was perfectly content to leave you here, let you go about the rest of your pathetic life down in the sewers, but you've proven that you can't be trusted. And I don't leave loose ends."
She raised a hand, prepared to attack.
Lonnie reacted before Carla could do anything, however, and sent a blast of energy towards the skin. Carla waved her hand the heat dissipated midair. Her cool green eyes never wavered, never faltered even for a moment as she extended both hands and let electricity dance at the tips of her fingers.
"Good. But not good enough," she said, and the electricity jumped into the air, crackling as it raced towards Lonnie. The dupe Princess dodged quickly to one side, and then electricity hit the metal door behind her, sending sparks cascading into the air.
"Neither are you," Lonnie replied in a hiss, her eyes smoldering with fury. "I got more power than you know. More than my pathetic Roswell lookalike."
Carla rolled her eyes in an almost bored manner. "You have more power than Isabel does not, but that is only because she has not tapped into her full potential. All their powers are growing, and I wouldn't be surprised if they far surpass you."
"Yeah? Tess wasn't lookin' so hot against me, was she?" Lonnie countered, stepping closer to Carla.
"That was a neat trick," Carla agreed with a slow nod, "but you didn't get into her head, did you? You might have been winning, but you hadn't won yet. And you won't, Lonnie. Not now, not ever."
"Yeah? You gonna' kill me? That the plan? And what you gonna do when you need me again, huh?"
"Like I said, you're not use to me anymore," Carla answered. "You failed. I won't need you again."
"We did what you said we should," Lonnie spat angrily. "It ain't my fault Max was too chicken to go through with the deal."
"No… but everything with Ava is your fault," Carla answered, and for the first time, some emotion showed in her eyes. Her voice shook, just slightly, just enough to show that she was disturbed by Ava's appearance, by everything that she had learned about the dupe Queen. "You turned her against us. You ruined this, Lonnie. You and Rath… you ruined everything."
"Ah… ain't that sweet," Lonnie smirked, lips turning up at the corners. "You care about the little doormat. God, Ava was pathetic."
"Didn't turn out to be so pathetic in the end, did she?" Carla asked quietly, eyes boring into Lonnie's gaze. The hybrid went pale, and Carla tilted her head to the side, regarding Lonnie frankly. "You didn't think I knew about that, did you?" she pressed, sensing that she had the advantage. For all their talk, neither Rath nor Lonnie ever quite realized just how much she knew about them, and just how much power she truly had.
Lonnie remained silent, for once unable to think of the appropriate words for her answer.
"No, Ava wasn't so pathetic when she threw Zan in front of a moving vehicle," Carla continued. "You'd be surprised, the things I've managed to pull out of your head, Lonnie. And trust me, you were never fit to rule."
"If I ain't fit to rule, why'd you come to me?" Lonnie demanded, her tone irate.
Carla narrowed her eyes. "Because you and Rath wanted to come here, and the other four didn't. I doubted I could get Max to the Summit without you two to encourage him. But you going home… that was not the plan."
Lonnie hesitated, then something seemed to click, and her eyes went wide. Splotches of colors appeared on her cheeks, and she inhaled sharply with the realization that she had been used. "You were gonna leave me and Rath on this God-forsaken planet," she muttered furiously. "Switch us with Michael and Isabel. You only cared so long as we got you to the Summit, and then…" She trailed off, now almost shaking with rage. "How dare you?"
"Don't be naïve," Carla snapped irritably, "and stop acting innocent. This is a war, and I will do what is necessary to win. You were a means to an end, nothing more, and you've served your purpose."
The end, of course, had never been as simple as returning home. Carla knew perfectly well that Antar had been long since ruined by the war, and it would take more than pretty words and bargains to fix it. Zan had not been able to stop Khviar or the other four planets from destroying his world, and it was unlikely that Max would be able to undo what his predecessor had done.
No, it was Michel whom they were relying on now.
Carla's musings were interrupted by Lonnie, who flung out both hands in an attack, a surge of warmth filling the air around her. But she was no match for the rebel skin, and it was only a matter of time before Carla easily gained the upper hand and forced Lonnie back against the sewer tunnel wall.
For a moment, Carla did nothing.
Then she reached out and placed her hand on Lonnie's chest, and a pulse of blue light left her palm. Lonnie's eyes were momentarily filled with pain, and then they glazed over, clouded by death. She slumped forward, falling sprawled at Carla's feet, lifeless.
Carla frowned distastefully, studying Lonnie. She felt no remorse for what she had done, for taking this life. It was necessary, it was the only way to tie up the loose ends. It was disappointing that the New York set had not turned out more useful, but no matter. What was done, was done, and there was no point worrying about it now.
Still…
"We could have retuned to Antar," she said, spitting out the words angrily as she stared at Lonnie's body. "We could have convinced Michael to return home…" She shook her head and looked away. That was the first step, getting Michael back to Antar. After that, they still would need to take the throne from Max, and ensure that Tess and Isabel did not interfere either. It would not have been easy, but it would have been possible – if only they could have gotten Michael home first.
That would not happen now.
At least, she reasoned, it would not happen this way. Plan A had failed. It was time to salvage what she could and move on to Plan B.
She turned and walked away from the dead Lonnie, back towards Max and Tess.
"He's gone," Max said numbly.
He and Tess were standing in the place where Rath's body had been, but it was empty now. There was only one logical explanation for it, only one possibility. And he did not like it.
But Rath must have already woken up and left.
Tess shivered. "He's still out there, somewhere."
"Yeah…" Max sighed, ran a hand through his hair. There was nothing they could do about it now, though, and so he said finally, "I guess we should find Carla and get out of here."
"Do you trust her now?" Tess asked curiously, thinking over what Max had told her, that Carla had joined him in the fight, saved him from Rath and helped him find her.
Max considered this for a moment, then shook his head grimly. "No. Not at all." There was something about her, something cold and inhuman, something he did not like. Did not trust. She was a mercenary in every since of the word, and he had the feeling that there was little she would not do to get her way.
"Good," Tess murmured. "Because I don't either."
Liz slammed her locker door shut, worry and apprehension eating at her. She knew it was ridiculous to be this worried, it had only been twenty-four hours since Max and Tess had left. But she wanted them back, wanted to know that they were safe. She was even worried about Tess, which made it official that she was losing her mind.
"Liz? Are you alright?"
She glanced at Trudy, who had seemed to materialize out of thin air. It was off, Liz reflected, but the other girl always had the strangest ability to show up when she was frustrated or scared about something.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Liz said wearily, wishing she could explain what was wrong and knowing that she couldn't. She wasn't even friends with Trudy, but she just had to talk to someone…
Instinctively, she scanned the hallway for Maria or Alex. Isabel would have been alright as well… At this point, she reflected ironically, she would have gladly spilled her guts to Michael if she thought he'd be willing to listen.
"Ugh… I really am going insane."
Trudy smiled sympathetically, not understanding exactly what the problem was, but recognizing that this was the appropriate time to say a few comforting words. "I doubt you're going insane," she countered. "But whatever the problem is… can I help?"
"Not really," Liz answered, forcing a smile. No one could help at the moment. No one except Max, who had conveniently not answered any of her phone calls. She'd missed one from him, but she'd tried calling him back… and she'd gotten nothing. No answer. It was like his phone didn't have reception.
Where was he? It was New York City, how could he possibly not have reception?
"Is it about Max?" Trudy questioned softly.
Liz groaned inwardly, but gave a small nod. "Yeah, I just… he hasn't answered my calls. He's not in school today, he's… sick. Sort of."
Trudy grinned and asked, "He's playing hooky?"
"Yeah, something like that. But he won't call me back." She knew she sounded like a jealous girlfriend, but she could not stop the words from leaving her mouth. She just wanted to talk to him, desperately wanted to know that he was alright…
"Maybe he didn't get your call?" Trudy suggested.
Liz shook her head. "How could he not get my call? I mean, he'd have to practically be in the sewers to not get reception!" She huffed impatiently and folded her arms over her chest, annoyed. Catching sight of the fairly amused expression on Trudy's face, her frown grew and she asked with an edge to her voice, "You think I'm overreacting?"
"I think it's only 7:45 in the morning," Trudy replied. "There's still plenty of time for Max to call you. And it isn't as though he's actually sick, is it? So he's fine, and you don't have anything to worry about. It's not the end of the world. Just wait and see… it will be fine."
Liz nodded, feeling a little foolish. Isabel had assured her that if anything happened to Max, she and Michael would know. And since Isabel had not called her, she could assume that whatever had happened to Max, whatever was happening right now, he was fine.
Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't in danger. That didn't mean he would be hurt or worse in the next few minutes. That didn't mean…
Her cell phone rang, the jangling noise cutting through her thoughts. Quickly, she yanked her cell phone from her pocket and glanced at the caller ID, relief flooding through her as she saw Max's name.
Trudy patted her on the shoulder. "Told you it would be fine," she said, giving Liz a faint smile and walking away.
Liz watched her go for a moment, then flipped open the phone. "Max?"
"Liz."
She lowered her voice as she glanced around the hallway, making sure her conversation would not be overheard. "Are you alright? Tess? What happened? Max?"
"We're fine. I'm getting on the plane now, I'll be home this afternoon. Look, Liz… Did… did Rath do anything to you?"
"Do anything?" she repeated, confused. There was something in his voice, something that she could not identify, something that she did not like. Her thoughts turned quickly to Rath, and she drew slow breath and fought back the urge to shiver. "Just… I mean, he freaked me out. Said some stuff." But all he had done was talk, and she couldn't explain really why it had scared her so much. "But other than that… no, not really. Why?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, of course I'm sure. Max? What's going on?"
"I just needed to make sure you were okay," was Max's answer. "I have to go, the plane is starting. Can you tell everyone that I'll be home shortly, and we will fill them in tonight?"
"Sure, no problem… Are you really okay?"
"Yeah. I miss you."
She let out a slow breath. "I miss you, too."
"So… you didn't take the deal? Why?"
It was Isabel who asked the inevitable question. They'd gathered at Michael's apartment later that afternoon to discuss the ramifications of the trip to New York. Michael had accepted everything in surly silence, displeasure written across his features. Liz had been mostly just relieved that they made it out of the entire situation safely, and she'd voiced that sentiment, which Alex had echoed. Maria, as usual, had no hesitation in voicing her thoughts, and muttered angrily about Rath and Lonnie.
But it was Isabel who asked the inevitable question.
"I didn't trust Rath and Lonnie," Max answered firmly, and without pause. "And certainly not Nicolas. Any deal that gave them power and even the semblance of my support… No, I couldn't do that. Besides, returning the Granolith? Too risky. We don't know what it can do, and I won't let it fall into Khivar's hands."
"What did you see in that flash from Ava?" Isabel pressed, her eyes turning towards Tess.
The petite hybrid shook her head and said, "Trust me, you don't want to know the details." And the look in her eyes was enough to make Isabel lapse into an uneasy silence.
"But Ava and Nicolas are still out there," Alex said softly, cutting into the conversation. "And so is Rath. Not to mention Carla. We still don't know anything about her…"
"She helped Max," Liz protested. "That's got to mean something. Doesn't it?"
"At this point, I have no idea," Max answered honestly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him, biting her lip, worry clear in her eyes.
Isabel looked away from her brother, staring blankly at the floor. She knew that she should not really care about Lonnie's plight, knew that she should not have felt any connection with the other hybrid. Just because they shared the same DNA did not mean that they were in any way similar, and Lonnie had obviously been corrupted, twisted. Evil. But Lonnie was dead now, killed by Carla, and Isabel could not help but feel just the tiniest bit of guilt over that.
Or perhaps she felt guilty about everything Lonnie had done. After all, if they both shared the same DNA, how was it possible that Lonnie had turned out so badly? What had happened to her, what had caused her to become that person? Was it some tie to their past-lives? After all, Vilandra had betrayed her brother and her planet for Khivar. Lonnie had turned against every moral and ethical ideal she had to save herself.
Was she, Isabel, doomed to betray her family as well?
It was complicated and confusing to think about, and it was giving Isabel a migraine. But the guilt persisted despite her best efforts to push it back.
"Who do you think is more of the threat?" Maria asked, not really paying attention to Isabel's downcast expression. "Carla? Rath? Nicolas? Ava?"
"Don't forget the leaders of the other worlds," Michael muttered grimly. "They didn't really seem to be on our side, either. They could attempt something against us again."
"But what do we do?" Alex countered pointedly. "How can we fight them?"
"Rath isn't stupid," Max said after a moment of thinking, "he won't come back right away. Not without a plan, not without strength of some sort. He's outnumbered, and he knows that."
"Fine, so that rules out Rath. At least for now, because he could always come back later. But what about Nicolas and Ava?"
Michael did not listen to Max's answer. His mind had turned instead to Rath, and he wondered silently about his dupe. Rath's life had obviously not been pleasant, growing up in the sewers. But Michael certainly had not been blessed with a good childhood either, and yet he had not turned into Rath.
So what had happened? Where were the differences?
And, more importantly, if Rath came back, would Michael have the ability to fight him? It had been Carla who had killed Lonnie, and although Max had not said anything about his own feelings on Lonnie's death, Michael knew that the hybrid King would never have been able to hurt anyone who shared the same DNA with his sister.
Max might be able to fight and kill Rath. But Lonnie?
Never.
So, Michael mused, it was probably better that she was the one who had been killed now. Rath would be less of a problem for them later.
Then his expression grew grim once more. It disconcerted him, how easily it was to think about death. He could stand there, without much prompting, and consider all the different scenarios, all the possible ways that this could have worked out better. Or worse. It was as though the death of another alien meant little to him as long as it served the purpose of protecting his family.
They were at war, and survival mattered above all else. He knew that, and he knew that war changed people, changed the way they thought, changed how they reacted to different circumstances.
But he still didn't like it.
"At least this part is over," Liz said, her voice breaking into Michael's thoughts. He turned his attention back to the conversation as Liz continued, "The immediate problems have been solved. Everything else, we can deal with when it happens. In the future."
"She's right," Alex agreed. "There is nothing we can do right now besides prepare ourselves and wait. If Nicolas comes back, he comes back."
"Not if," Max cautioned. "With Nicolas, with Khivar, it is not a question of if. It is a matter of when."
"And what happens then, Max?" Isabel asked sharply, her voice tense. "What happens when we have to fight? What is to stop us from becoming…?"
She trailed off abruptly, but Tess supplied the rest of the question, "What is to stop us from becoming like them? Rath, Lonnie, Zan, Ava?"
There was a silence in response to her words, and she knew it was a fair question. What she had seen in Ava's memory was enough to tell her that Zan had not been any better than Rath or Lonnie. And while Ava might not have started out quite as corrupted as her three family members, time and oppression had changed her, brought out her vindictive side.
It was Maria who answered in her usual brash fashion. "That's ridiculous. You won't become like them. You're nothing like that. I mean, sure, Rath and Space Boy here are both annoying to have real conversations with, and I bet neither is great at talking about feelings, but beyond that…"
"Not really helping," Michael interrupted with a glare.
"Well, look," Maria reasoned, "do you think Max and Isabel are going to turn into these horrible people?" Michael did not answer, and she pressed on, "And does anyone here think that Michael is going to turn into Rath?" When no one in the group replied to her question, she said, "So there you go. We all trust each other. We all trust that we won't become traitors to the group, that we won't turn on each other. We're in this together. That's the difference between the four of you and the ones from New York. They weren't a family, they weren't working as a team. You are. And as long as you trust each other, and Alex, Liz, and I, everything will be fine."
Isabel chewed her bottom lip, Michael gave a half-shrug, Tess looked thoughtfully at Maria, and Max slowly nodded.
It wasn't much, but it was all they had at the moment, and it would have to be enough.
Next Chapter: Regular Teenage Problems
Due: Sun 5/31
