My goodness
this took a long time to get up! Sorry
this took so freakin' long, but writing it was a lot harder than I
expected. Anyways, enjoy.
Title: Nightmares
Author: Shannon (aka on Fanfiction.net, superCANDYgirl)
E-mail: slaygirl2000@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: I know that Roswell does not belong to me. I do not pretend that it does. I do, however, pretend that Michael is my love slave.
Rating: PG-13,
perhaps R
Category: I/A with an M&M moment.
Summary: This is the sixth episode of my version of season 3. Isabel's having nightmarish visions. (sorry
for the vagueness)
Spoilers: Everything that's happened so far in the
series, nothing that I write is based on anything I've heard for S3.
Distribution: If you want it take it, but let me know please.
Feedback: YES!!! I live on feedback.
Author's
Note: This is the sixth episode, and the first
time you really have to pay attention to air dates. This does not follow immediately after "Busted" timewise, though
it is the next episode.
Air
Date: November 27, 2001
Isabel pushed open the door to her house, checking to see if anyone was behind her. The entire walk home she had the feeling she was being followed, but she never saw anyone. Must be my imagination, she thought, shaking her wet hair. It had been raining all week, and didn't look to be getting any better. Isabel paused when she heard unfamiliar laughter coming from the kitchen. "Isabel, sweetie, is that you?" Diane Evans called.
"Yeah mom," Isabel replied as she entered the room. Before her were two people she had never seen before in her life. One was a woman who looked to be about Diane's age, with dark brown hair and eyes to match. She was smiling, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. The boy standing behind was about 17, with hair like his mother's, though his eyes were green. He was lean, and kind of lanky, though it looked like he was in shape. Isabel realized that except for his eyes, he bore a slight resemblance to Alex. She cringed, and looked away.
"Isabel, honey, I want you to meet Sarah Frazer, an old college friend of mine. This is her son, Jonathan," Diane introduced everyone, and "nice to meet you"'s were exchanged. Then Diane excused herself and Isabel for a minute, and took Isabel to the living room.
"What's up, mom?" Isabel asked.
"Sarah recently went through a rather difficult divorce, and she and Jonathan just moved here. I was thinking maybe you could show Jonathan around town, help him get acquainted with things?"
Isabel hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. "I don't know mom, don't you think Max would be better for that, since they'll be going to school together and all?"
"Oh, but sweetie, you were always so much more outgoing than Max. Besides, I think it would be good for you. You've barely talked to anybody in over 6 months. Don't you think it's time you started getting out more, meeting new people? Who knows, you just might like Jonathan." Diane searched her daughter's face. She could see she wasn't getting through to her. She was unhappy about this, Isabel really did need to start moving on with her life. Diane sighed, and resorted to guilt. "Please, Isabel, as a personal favour to me? It would mean a lot."
Isabel cursed silently. She really didn't want to do this, she didn't need some guy following her around, not now. It had only been a month since the whole Garok thing, and sad as it was, she still hadn't given up hope that what he said was true, that Alex was out there somewhere. But she knew her mother wouldn't let it go, and she didn't want to let her down, so Isabel grumbled, "Fine."
Diane threw her arms around Isabel. "Oh, thank you sweetie! You don't know how much I appreciate this." Isabel sighed. This was going to be a long week.
Isabel and Jonathan were supposed to meet up the next day at 10:00am. It was a Saturday, so neither had school. At her mother's insistence, Isabel had worn a knee length beige skirt, and a green sweater. Anything other than black, as her mother had put it. She took her time walking downstairs when the doorbell rang, not feeling an especial need to hurry. She opened the door, and Jonathan stood on the porch, in a deep blue shirt and black trousers. He held out his arm for her, and she reluctantly looped hers through it. The second Isabel did so, she felt a strange energy go through her, and blacked out for a moment. But it passed quickly, and she didn't think much else of it.
By 6:30 that night, they had both had their fill of alien related tourist traps, and decided to go to movie. For some reason Isabel couldn't understand, Jonathan thought that "Evolution" would be a refreshing change. They sat near the back, Isabel on Jonathan's right. They were watching the previews when Isabel felt something that sent a shiver down her spine. She shuddered, then jumped slightly when Jonathan placed his hand on her knee. "Cold?" he asked.
She looked up, and nearly screamed at what she saw. Alex was standing in the row in front of them, giving her the definition of "if-looks-could-kill" stares. Isabel moved Jonathan's hand from her leg, and Alex disappeared. She sat, stiff as a board, fidgeting nervously. What the hell just happened? She wondered. Her distress went unnoticed by her companion, and when the movie started, he slipped his arm around her shoulders. Isabel turned to look at his hand in surprise, and this time she couldn't hide the small shout that escaped her lips. Alex sat in the seat next to her, staring at her accusingly, and this time bleeding profusely from his head. Isabel jumped out of her seat. Once again, as soon as the contact was broken, Alex disappeared. Incredibly freaked, Isabel muttered an apology to Jonathan and ran out of the theatre, making sure he didn't have time to grab her.
Isabel bolted upright in her bed. The clock read 4:33am, and it was the 17th time that night she had woken up from the nightmares. They had plagued her since she first fell asleep, but somehow she couldn't keep herself from drifting off. They were terrible. Some of them were Alex dying – horrible, bloody, painful deaths, sometimes at the hands of Max or Kyle; some were a dead Alex killing Max; some were Alex forcing Isabel to kill Max. In the last one, Max had murdered Alex by stabbing him through the heart, and Alex had risen and forced Isabel to kill Max, and then Kyle had killed Isabel for what she did. This time, Isabel vowed not to go back to sleep. She couldn't take it, these dreams were killing her. And they were so real. No she would stay awake this time.
Isabel whimpered as she felt herself helplessly falling back into the hells of her subconscious.
"It is not my fault you have cold feet!" Maria shrieked at Michael the next day in the museum, just before opening.
"Who hogs all the blankets?" Michael yelled back.
"Who hogs all the pillows?" The decibel level was rising.
"You use me as pillow!" he cried.
"Then use me as blanket!" By this time the two were inches from each other. Maria stood with her hands on her hips, and her lips pursed. Michael's eyes lit up, and he grinned deviously at her. Maria smirked back, and within seconds they were all over each. Their tongues tangled, hands roamed, and Michael backed Maria up against the wall. She groaned as she felt his hand slide down her thigh. Which was the exact moment when Isabel burst into the museum.
The first thing Michael and Maria noticed (after disentangling themselves) was how truly awful Isabel looked. She had no make-up on, her hair was an absolute disaster, she had dark bags under her eyes, and she was actually wearing a sweat suit. Until this moment, Maria wouldn't have believed that Isabel Evans, the Elle McPherson of West Roswell High, would actually own a sweat suit, let alone be seen in public in one. She would have commented, but something about the look on Isabel's face stopped her. Michael immediately stepped forward, concern filling his features. He wrapped his arms around Isabel, who began sobbing into his chest, while Maria looked on with worry. "Iz, what happened, what is it?" he asked.
Her response was choked out between sobs, and was barely comprehensible. "Alex…dead…everywhere…nightmares…killing Max, Alex, Kyle…they wouldn't stop. I couldn't stop sleeping. Help." The last word was a weak plea, and Isabel pulled her head up to look at Michael, her face the picture of horror as she stared behind him.
Not again, she thought. A bloody, bruised Alex stood behind Michael. "Destiny," he said bitterly. And started walking towards them. Isabel noticed the knife in his back then. She screamed and pushed Michael away. She whirled around, and slammed right into Kyle, who had just come in.
"Isabel, what…" he asked, steadying her. But the look on her face just grew even more terrified. Alex stood behind Kyle, holding a gun to his head. "Traitor," he said to her. Isabel immediately threw Kyle off of her, screaming hysterically. "Make it stop, make it stop…" she shrieked over and over again. Michael tried to get her to calm down, but she wouldn't let him touch her. Same with Kyle. Max came running from upstairs where he had been unlocking the museum. He grabbed Isabel by the shoulders.
"Isabel, what happened?" he demanded firmly. Again, Isabel shrieked louder, seeing Alex hold a knife to her brother's neck. She twisted out of his grasp and started running towards the stairs. At that moment, however, a huge tourist group arrived. Isabel desperately tried to push through them, but there were so many, that everywhere she moved she ran into someone. Soon she was surrounded by a group of teenage boys at the centre of the group. Everywhere she looked she saw bleeding Alex's, glaring at her, threatening her, hating her. It was too much. Finally, with one defeaning scream, Isabel collapsed unconscious to the floor.
It was hours later and Isabel still had not woken up. Everyone was gathered in her room, while she lay comatose on the bed, trying to figure out what to do. Michael had told them what Isabel had said to him before she went psycho on everyone. They had all agreed that someone was dreamwalking Isabel, making her see these things, but the debate was still raging over who it was, and how they could help her.
"I'm telling you, it's gotta be Tess," Kyle was saying. Maria thought it was possible but not likely. She, Michael and Liz said nothing. Max, however, was shaking his head vehemently.
"It can't be, she's on another planet. Besides, Tess can't dreamwalk," he said authoritatively.
"Right," Maria piped up, "just like Isabel and Kyle can't mindwarp, Michael can't heal, and Liz can't dreamwalk. Face it Max, you've all improved your powers, there's nothing saying she hasn't too. It could be her."
"Maria's right Max. We have no idea what she's capable of. I think that has been thoroughly proven," Liz joined in. There was an uncomfortable silence in the room for a minute.
Out of nowhere, Michael shouted, "Liz can dreamwalk!"
Maria looked at him funny. "Yes we all realize that. Duh. What planet are you from?"
He glared at her, but otherwise ignored her comment. "Liz can dreamwalk Isabel. See what's going on in there, maybe find out who's doing this to her." Maria smiled at him, and everyone else nodded their agreement.
"That's probably the best plan. Good thinking Michael," Max began. Maria pretended to faint at Max actually liking a plan of Michael's, and everyone chuckled, the tension that had been mounting momentarily breaking. Max turned to Liz, "Be careful. I don't want you getting stuck inside there too." She nodded, and kissed him quickly, then laid down on the bed next to Isabel. She took her hand, and waited for the connection, while the others watched solemnly.
The second she was in, Liz felt something restricting the connection. There was an invisible barrier between her and Isabel's dream world that was keeping her from having full access. She could see what was happening, but could not become part of it. Isabel stood between two Alex's, clearly confused and upset. Liz could see lips moving, but could not hear what was being said. She trying pounding on the barrier and calling Isabel's name, but it quickly became apparent that the people in the dream world could not see or hear her. Frustrated, Liz leaned against the barrier. After a moment, she realized that by touching this forcefield she could sense what was going on, though she still could not hear anything. And so she waited, letting the information come to her.
It was less than 5 minutes later when Liz woke up with a gasp. The others rushed to her side, and immediately began asking questions. She silenced them all and began talking, explaining what she knew.
"Isabel's trapped in there. Whatever's doing this to her put up a barrier in her mind which keeps her from getting out, and stops anyone from really getting in. When I touched the barrier I was able to sense what was going on. Isabel's in there with two Alex's. One of them is the real Alex," at Maria's shocked expression, Liz nodded, and continued, "Yes, our Alex. Don't ask me how, but it's him. The other Alex, isn't really Alex, but someone pretending to be him. Outwardly you can't tell the difference. Fake Alex is what's doing this to Isabel. It wants control of her body. The dreams and the visions were meant to weaken her mind, so it could get in to this stage. But it has to completely connect with her in a weakened state to take control. If Isabel physically touches Alex 2 in the dream world, it'll have access to everything inside. But she has to touch him, not the other way around. If she touches the real Alex, she'll have the strength to break the hold." There was silence as everyone absorbed this information. Kyle was the first to speak.
"How do we help her make the right choice?" he asked.
"We can't. We can't get in, she can't get out, she can't see us," Liz said defeatedly.
"There has to be something we can do," Max insisted.
"There's not," Liz was just as firm. She looked him apologetically, wishing she didn't have to be the bearer of bad news again. Max growled angrily, and kicked the wall, putting a hole through it. He swore under his breath, and used his powers to fix the wall. He stalked off to a corner.
"We just have to wait," Liz said resignedly, "and hope that Isabel's love for Alex is as strong as it seems." The others looked around, varying degrees of certainty on their faces and waited.
Isabel stood in the dreamscape and sobbed, as the two Alex's argued back and forth, her stuck in the middle. Isabel knew what would happen if she chose the wrong one, she had known it the second she arrived in this place after passing out. Though she suspected that that was because it was what fake Alex wanted her to know, as she could not sense who was the real one. She was surrounded by grey, though the place had the appearance of a room. It had walls and a floor, though no real ceiling. It was morbid, though she supposed that was appropriate. She had no idea how long she had been here, but it felt like an eternity. She did, however, have some suspicions as to who was causing this, but couldn't be certain without touching the person, and well, that wasn't really an option. The volume of the voices rose as the two argued over who was the real Alex. The duplicate played the part to perfection, and Isabel was very confused. If only she knew who the dupe was.
Suddenly, the shouting got too loud for her to handle, and Isabel screamed at the top of her lungs, which was considerably louder here as there were no limitations so to speak. "STOP!!!" It came out so strong, that her body convulsed on the bed, though Isabel was unaware of this. "Just shut up! You're not getting anywhere, and you're giving me a headache, so screw off, and let me think for a minute," she said, quieter this time, though just as powerfully. The two Alex's stopped talking, and just glared at each other. It seems the real Alex showing up had not been part of the fake's plan, and was really pissing whoever it was off. Isabel rubbed her head, and tried to think of something to help her. What about asking a question only real Alex would know? She thought. But what if they can read my thoughts in here?
"We can," the Alex on her right said, and Isabel looked up in surprise. The other Alex glared harder. That's gotta be the real Alex! Why else would he say that? Fake Alex wouldn't want me to know that. But what if it's fake Alex trying to make me think he's real Alex so I'll choose him? But then why would the other Alex get madder? Damnit!! Looks like I'm going to have to do this the hard way. Isabel walked up to each of the Alex's in turn, careful not to touch either of them, and looked them in the eye for several moments. She hestitated, then marched resolutely over to the Alex on her right, and cupped his face in her hands. The connection was formed instantly, and she saw Alex as a child, him watching her at school, his anger over her relationship with Grant, and them at prom. He leaned in to kiss her, and she returned it with all her heart. They finally pulled apart, to see that fake Alex had returned to her normal appearance.
"Lonnie," Isabel said angrily. She had suspected as much.
"Shit," she cursed, "Thanks a lot Opie. This ain't over. You either Princess. Me and my boy'll be seein' you soon."
"Get. Out." Isabel commanded, and Lonnie disappeared.
Isabel turned back to Alex. "It's you, it's really you!" she cried as she threw herself into his arms. Alex smiled into her hair. "Alex, we thought you were dead! Where are you, what happened to you, how long have you been here, was it you all along?" Alex silenced her with a kiss. She looked up at him expectantly.
"Isabel, I'm sorry, but I can't. Not now. It's too dangerous, for everyone. I'll explain everything later, if I ever manage to make it back to you. Isabel, I don't know if I can ever return," he looked at her with pain filled eyes. She started crying.
"You have to," she demanded.
"And I will try, but I don't want you to spend your entire life waiting for me," he said, clearly not really meaning it.
"You know I will anyways. Promise me you'll come back."
He gave her a little half-smile. "As long as I am alive I will search for a way back to you. Whatever it takes. I love you Isabel."
"I love you too. You have to go now don't you?" she looked up at him, pain and understanding in her eyes. He nodded, and kissed her. It took all of their willpower to let go.
"Alex?" she asked as he began to fade. "Were you here all along?" He nodded, and she smiled, then he disappeared. Isabel cried for a while longer, before she woke up.
Everyone could tell the minute Isabel had made her decision. Her body relaxed, and tears fell down her face, though she wore a happy smile. They knew she had made the right one, and understood why she didn't wake up immediately to tell them what the danger was. Everyone had the feeling that they weren't out of trouble yet, as their enemies tended to be persistent. One failure like this would only make them more determined. When Isabel stirred, everyone moved forward, making sure not to crowd her. Isabel opened her eyes, and cried quietly for a minute. Respectfully no one said anything. Finally, she composed herself. She looked up, and could see the question in everyone's eyes. She gave one word as an explanation.
"Dupes."
AN – Yes, I do have an explanation for all the Alex stuff, honestly, but it wouldn't be like TV if I told you everything right away now would it?