Hi, again! here's the 4th chapter. Hate it? like it? love it? Review or just read!
PART# 4
Later that night, Tess was sitting with Kyle watching TV. She kept looking at her watch. Kyle noticed that and asked:
"Waiting for someone?"
"Yes, Michael and I are going over to Leona's house." she replied.
"Really? Where else?" He implied.
"What are you trying to imply with that?" She asked.
"Nothing, just curiosity."
"Well, for your information we are just going to see how she's doing."
"Well, she cannot be any better than she is now; it's just been a day since she found out about her brother."
"Kyle, I'm going to support her at all hours. I'm her friend and as a friend I'm trying to make sure she's ok."
"You guys are going to tell her about her brother, aren't you?"
"What?"
"Tess, does Max know about this? Have you guys consulted with him about this?" He asked, trying to stop her from doing something that'd upset the whole situation.
"Kyle, we're big kids now. We don't need Max to tell us what to do and say anymore. Besides.. since when have you called him Max?"
"Whatever, Tess! If Evans told you to shut your mouth, he said it for some reason, didn't he? He didn't say that just to piss you off. Besides, I`m more worried about Leona!"
"Guess what? I don't care! I will be honest with her, and I know she'll understand because she's different!" she heard someone knocking. "That must be Michael."
"Tess, please think twice about this. You don't want to get Evans angry at you now, do you? Besides, if you tell Leona about her brother, she'll be more upset than she's now. Why don't you guys tell her when everything calms down, when she feels better?"
"And let her find out before we tell her? No!" she said and then headed towards the door.
"Tess..."
"No, Kyle! I'm going! And you better not open your mouth to Max about this! Let us handle this, ok?" Then she saw Michael on his motorcycle waiting for her. She got onto the motorcycle and held on to him tight. Kyle wanted to make her stop, but he knew he couldn't even if he tried. So, he let her go. He would just have to wait and see how it turned out.
Max had gotten home and went straight to his room where he locked himself up. He kept thinking about Leona. He knew that some day she would know. He hoped that she would understand, but he felt that, somehow, she wouldn't. He heard someone knock on the door. He groaned and got up.
"Isabel, when a door is locked it means..." he stopped when he saw Liz standing before him. "Hi!" he said in surprised bewilderment.
"Hi? When your door's locked it means hi?" She said joking.
He laughed shyly. "Very funny. What are you doing here?" he said, leaving the door open. He went to lie down in his bed, and closed his eyes.
"I came here with Isabel; I just wanted to ask her some things." she said entering.
"Oh." he replied. Liz didn't know what to say. She saw Max' face. She could see that he had a lot of things on his mind, and one of those things was Leona. She wasn't sure it was the right moment to ask, but she just had to.
"Um...Max?" She said and he replied with a mumbled `yeah' "What happens when you heal people?" He looked at her confused by the question.
"Um... I heal them."
"No, I mean, I know, but what really happens afterwards?"
"What do you mean?"
`I mean, don't they have some kind of side effects or something?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Max! Could you just answer my questions? Don't question me in return!"
"I just want to know the reason for your question. Um...is there something wrong?" He said indifferently.
"No, it's probably nothing." she replied, hurt by the way Max was treating her. "I...I probably should go now. I'll talk to Isabel. See you." Max, feeling guilty for the way he treated her, began to wonder why she still had such an effect on him every time he tried to avoid her.
"Liz, wait!" He called. She stopped and turned around. "Do you need help with something? Is it about my powers?" He asked
"Well, kind of."
"Kind of?"
"I'm not really sure what it is but..." she broke off, she kept wondering if she should tell him.
"But what?"
"I think I...I..." she hesitated.
"Come on, Liz! Spill it. You can trust me." he said that only to make her feel better, if it worked.
"Well, I think I might be getting powers." she lowered her head to avoid eye contact with him.
"Powers? What kind of powers?" He asked.
"I don't know, but I got a glimpse of it this morning."
"What happened?" He got up to sit on his bed.
"I changed a blue shirt into a black shirt." she said, now looking at him.
"You changed colors?" He said raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, and just in case, I asked Isabel for help but she didn't know what to think. She told me that perhaps if I asked you, you'd know."
"Well, I don't know any better than she does." he replied. "you think that healing you might have done this to you?"
"I don't know. But you know what? I think we better let that go for a while."
"No, Liz. What if it's dangerous? What if you can't control it? The least we could is help you find out what this is and how it works." he said. He couldn't believe what he had done to her; he introduced her into what she couldn't control. He took away her chance to be normal, like everybody else.
"But right now you have more important things to think about...you know...Leona." she replied. "I think that she's the important one right now."
"I know, but I don't know what to do."
"It's not the first time you don't know what to do, but you always figure it out in the end." "Do you think it's best if we tell her what really happened?" He asked, hoping that she'd give him the right answer.
"Well, one thing she always respected was honesty." Liz commented.
"So you think we should tell her."
"What I think is that you should be honest with your heart about what you really want to do and your heart will come up with the answer soon." she said smiling. He looked at her a little puzzled.
"You could've just told me to follow my heart, not give me a game of words."
"Ok, sorry." she said chuckling, "so what does your heart say?"
"Do you want to come with me to pay her a visit?" He asked hopeful.
"Sure." she replied.
"Ok, let's go." he called, then he just grabbed his jacket and his keys.
"Hey, what about Isabel?" he looked at her and said:
"I think she will be busy today." When he was at the door, he called to Liz, "You coming?"
She looked at him and nodded in agreement. When they got into the car, Max turned the radio on. He said that every time he was nervous he'd just turn on the radio to relax. Max was nervous for two reasons, or better said, two women: Liz and Leona. When he turned the radio on, "I Shall Believe" was playing. Liz looked at him and Max looked back.
"What?" he asked, "Do I have something on my face or what?"
"Yes!" then she saw how he frowned and looked in the mirror, "You have the face of pure terror!" she said grinning. Max looked at her with a serious face as if saying, `That is not funny'. He started the car and drove away with Liz besides him, listening to their song, but he didn't know that. Only Liz knew that.
Isabel was in her room talking to Alex; the thing she did every time she was alone. It had been a year now, and even tough he was dead, he would appear to her and she would talk to him about everything that happened lately.
"What do you think we should do?" She asked him.
"Well, all year long you made her sound like a special girl. Perhaps being that special makes her different." he replied.
"What do you mean?" She asked, turning to look at him.
"I mean...she's not like others. I think she'll understand the situation better than the FBI."
"Alex, I can't tell her! I'd feel so ashamed and I know she won't forgive us for killing her brother!"
"But you owe it to her for letting her into your crazy world." He said in a soft voice.
"I know that Max wouldn't let us tell her, at least not until he has a plan."
"Honey, he went to her house today and I'm pretty sure he went to tell her."
"Why didn't he ask me to go with him?" She asked in a furious tone, getting up from her bed.
"He went with Liz." he said calmly, knowing that Isabel wanted them to get back together more that anybody in the world.
"Oh, that's reasonable." she sat down again. She went silent trying to imagine the scene where her brother tells Leona the truth. She imagined her face, the tears rolling down her cheeks, the screaming, and the anger in her eyes. She spoke again:
"You think my brother will tell her everything?"
"He's planning to tell her. So, probably he will." He touched her face making her turn to look at him. "If it makes you feel any better, whatever happens, I'll be here with you until the end." He saw her smiling and he kissed her softly on the lips.
"I love you." she said.
"I love you, too. I will always love you." he replied and disappeared.
Isabel saw him disappear and let the tears roll down her cheeks. Then she swept them away and got up, taking her car keys with her.
Michael and Tess finally arrived at Leona's house after stopping at a store to buy flowers for her. Tess kept saying that they had to choose the right flowers and Michael rolled his eyes every time she didn't know which flowers to buy. They both took deep breaths before ringing the doorbell. Leona opened the door and invited them in.
"Here, we brought you flowers." said Tess, giving the flowers to Leona once they were inside, "to brighten your mood!"
"Thanks! You shouldn't have." Leona replied with a smile, taking the flowers from Tess. "Well, I better put them in water. They are beautiful. Do you want me to get you something on my way to the kitchen?"
"N...No, we're fine." replied Michael, who seemed a little more nervous than usual.
"Ok, I'll be right back." she said. Michael and Tess heard the water faucet open. They took seats while they were waiting for her. Leona called from the kitchen:
"Are you sure you don't want something? I have chocolate cake if you want."
Tess and Michael looked at each other thinking that the nervousness made them hungry already. They answered in unison,
"Sure!"
Later, Leona came back with three little plates with pieces of chocolate cake and a bottle of Tabasco.
"I always make sure that my mom includes Tabasco sauce in the grocery list, just in case you decide to come by and want some dessert." Leona winked at both of them.
"Which we always do." said Tess smiling back.
"Well, it's nice to be here. Beats being alone at home." agreed Michael with his half smile.
Leona handed out the plates to them and sat down with her plate in her hand.
"I really appreciate your visit. I felt so lonely being here having to remember the past and looking at pictures of my brother." she said.
"Anything for a friend. No...wait...a best friend!" replied Tess smiling. Leona smiled back at them. Michael gave Tess a look that meant that it was time to tell her, Tess just nodded. Michael sighed and started:
"We came for something else, Leona."
"We really need to tell you something." said Tess, and then they saw her frown.
"It's more like a secret of ours and we vowed not to tell anybody, not even you." said Michael, who now was playing with his ring, "but we know that we can trust you with this, and to tell you the truth, you won't like this."
"You guys, whatever it is, you can tell me. I promise that whatever you say will stay here." Leona said almost afraid that they will prove to her that her uncle was right.
"But, we're not sure...after you know this, you won't want to be our friend anymore." Tess said, almost trembling.
"If this is about your lives as aliens, let me tell you, I'm used to it. I know that you do what you have to do to protect yourselves." she replied.
"Leona, we..." started Tess, but hesitated. Michael interrupted her.
"I killed a man..." he saw how Leona's jaw dropped open and her eyes widened.
Tess shook her head,
"No, Michael! We're all in this together. We killed a man!" she said desperately.
"I can't believe this." Leona whispered, still shocked.
"Leona, we didn't do this because we wanted to, we had to!" Said Tess.
"When I realized he was dead, I felt ashamed and guilty; I couldn't live with myself after that." Michael said, seeing how shocked Leona was. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Leona jumped, startled and without looking at them she asked,
"Does Max knows about what you did?"
"He was there. So was Isabel." Tess replied. Leona got up then, and went to open the door. Max was standing before her with Liz behind him. Leona looked at him and without saying anything, she stepped aside in sign to tell him to come in. Max frowned when he say the look on Leona's face. As he stepped in the house, he saw Michael with Tess, who seemed to be crying. Both Tess and Michael turned around to see who it was. They were both shocked to see Max standing there.
"Oh! This is just great!" Michael said, referring to Max.
"What's wrong?" Asked Liz when she saw all of them so serious.
"You told her!" Max said to Michael.
"Not everything!" Michael replied.
"Oh, there's something else?" Leona asked in her most calm voice and shutting the door.
"Told her what?" asked Liz, confused.
"About a man they killed." she said still calm, even when she was still angry and hurt inside. Liz looked at her shocked, and then she looked at Max.
"Michael, Tess, we're leaving...NOW!" Ordered Max.
"No! We're not done here, Maxwell!" yelled Michael.
"Michael!" Max yelled back, "I'm serious! We're leaving!"
"No! You're not getting out of here until you tell me everything!" replied Leona, standing before the door. Max looked at her in disbelief. Liz was besides him, witnessing in horror everything that was going on. "Max, just tell me what really happened. I already promised that I am not going to say a word about this." Leona looked at him seeing how he hesitated.
"Max, please! I want to know what really happened. After all, I am already in too deep to get out. Let me help you!"
"You wouldn't understand." said Max.
"Try me." she replied. Max then looked at Michael and Tess. He saw how their eyes were pleading with him to finish what they started. He turned to look at Leona, who was waiting for his answer. Then he sighed and said,
"No. I...I can`t." and headed towards the door saying, "Let's go." Leona knew what that meant. Whether she liked it or not, that meant that the Royal Four just slipped through her hands and that she wouldn't be able to protect them properly. Michael and Tess looked at her; she looked back at them. There was this deep sadness in their eyes that made her see how guilty they felt. Liz didn't say anything, but it was clear to see that she didn't feel comfortable by the situation and that she wished to have done something else than just watch. She followed Max after he crossed the door. Michael and Tess were behind her, not wanting to make Max any more angry than he already was.
Leona saw them leave. She couldn't believe what a coward Max was. They had the opportunity to come clean and he blew it. It was time for "plan B." She went upstairs to the attic and looked for the package Pierce had sent her before he died. She found it under a bureau where she had left it the day it came in. When she cleaned the dirt off of it, she got out of the attic closing the door behind her. She headed to her room and once there she started to rip the paper off of it. She looked at the wooden box that lay before her eyes and looked at the golden lock it had on it. She remembered where she had left the key and went to the wall in the right side of her bedroom. She waved her hand once in front of it and a little vertex opened. She put her hand inside and looked for the key. Her hand touched a book and when she got it out, she saw the key attached to it and read the lines in the cover in her Antarian language. It was a book of prophecies in which the gods had written to
help her in her search for the Messiah. She waved her hand in front of the wall once again to close the vertex. With the book and key in her hand, she sat down before the wooden box. Even though she struggled a lot to open the lock, she finally opened it with her powers, thing she didn't think of at first. Her mind was a turmoil of thoughts that she couldn't think straight.
When she opened it, she was shocked to see what she found inside of it. She opened a folder she had found inside. She kept reading the files, but there was a moment when she couldn't take anymore of it and closed the folder. Then, she put it back inside and closed the box when she heard her uncle knock on the door. Quickly, she hid the box under her bed and got up to open the door.
"Hey!" said her uncle, "Do you feel like eating Chinese food? Because right now, we have some delicious fried rice and egg rolls, how about it?"
"It does sound good, but I'm not hungry." she replied lowering her head.
"Come on! You have to eat." pleaded her uncle, "You're not looking that fat if that's what you're worried about." Leona chuckled at his comment, then said:
"No, it's not that. It's just that I told them about Pierce." she saw how her uncle's smile faded.
"How did they take it?"
"They seemed shocked but nothing else."
"They didn't say anything to you, did they?"
"No," she said sighing, "I can say that I'm really disappointed."
"There's no need for me to tell you that I told you so."
"Ok, so you were right, now what?"
"You'll have to come up with something else to make them talk."
"That's it? You don't want me to punish them?"
"Leona, I was really angry and out of my mind when I asked you to punish them." he replied, "I shouldn't have asked you that knowing what happened the last time you did punish them. I'm sorry, but I believe that somehow, they'll get what they deserve."
"I can say that they're having a really hard time with teenage stuff." she said and her uncle laughed at her statement.
"Really? Those humans, who can understand them?"
"Try asking your wife. She's human and I think she'll be pretty much offended if she heard you say that."
"I heard that, all right!" replied a female voice. Both Leona and her uncle looked at her. Her uncle went pale when he saw his wife with her arms crossed. Leona suppressed a laugh and her uncle tried to say something but nothing came out. Finally, her aunt spoke,
"It's ok, I'll try to explain everything you need to know later, but now it's time to get ready for dinner."
"I'm not hungry, Aunt Rose. I'll be in my room working on my homework." Leona said.
"But, you need to eat! You're not that fat, if that's what you're worried about." She replied.
Leona rolled her eyes at her statement, "Why does everybody think that I'm skipping dinner because I don't want to look fat?" she thought.
"No, it's not that! I'm not hungry, that's it."
"Ok, but it's your loss. Your aunt and I are going to eat it all, and I'm warning you this is your last chance to get something to eat." commented her uncle.
"Thanks, but no thanks." she replied smiling.
"Ok, if you need something, holler or something and we'll be there." said her uncle, not yet convinced to let his niece to go to bed without eating.
"Thanks." she said. She went back into her room and closed the door behind her once the couple was down the stairs to the kitchen.
Leona sat on her bed and let her head fall to her hands. She thought about what she had found in the box. She couldn't still believe it. Later, she lay down and she thought about how different her life would've been if none of this had happened. How different it would've all been if she had never fallen in love with Zan.
Meanwhile, at the Crashdown Cafe, the gang, including Sean, argued about what happened at Leona's house, especially Max and Michael.
"How could you do that without my consent?!!" yelled Max, who was really angry for Michael's disobedience.
"Maxwell, did you think I was gonna be able to handle it any longer, knowing that Pierce's family is out there grieving for him and I'm here walking free? At least I have a conscience! You seem to lack one!!" Michael yelled back.
"Michael, you almost put us in danger!"
"Why didn't you think of that before you healed Liz?!! Huh??!! That's where ALL our real problems began...thanks to YOU!" Michael was furious, but most of all, he just couldn't take the guilt any more.
Max tried to take a swing at Michael, but missed because Kyle stopped him before he could reach Michael`s jaw. Sean also cooperated by standing before Michael trying to calm him down. Whatever he said seemed to work.
"Why do I feel like everything is my fault?" Asked Liz. Isabel, who was besides her, laid her hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
"Liz, none of it is your fault. We ALL have to be responsible for our own acts, even though it's easier to blame it on someone else." said Isabel.
"Are you sure about that? Because Michael seems to be the only one who always screws up!" accused Max. Maria approached him slowly and did what no one expected of her: she slapped Max all across his face. Everyone was dumbfounded about what Maria had done, but Isabel wasn't for long, as she commented,
"If you didn't get enough of that, just tell me and I'll be happy to do it for you!" The gang fell silent. Max felt so ashamed at that moment, he didn't know what to say.
"Well," spoke Sean, "now that the secret's out, what are we gonna do?"
"WE?" replied Kyle, referring to Sean wanting to be included in it.
"Yes, I want to help, you know." he replied, "and don't tell me I can't, because I'm in, anyway."
"That's the same excuse Liz used so she could be included in every alien activity of theirs." commented Maria, rolling her eyes at her delinquent cousin.
`That's not true!" Liz protested, "I did it, because I wanted to help!"
"Liz, please! Every one of us knows why you did it. So don't make us say anything if you don't want anything spilled." Maria warned her friend with a little grin. Liz rolled her eyes after Maria's comment.
"Now, getting back to Leona," started Sean. "do you think she'll say anything?"
"I think her parents must be on that case by now." commented Kyle
"Her parents?" Sean asked confused.
"Her parents are FBI." Michael cleared.
"Damn!" He replied looking at Liz.
"I know." Liz agreed
"How do you know they're not from the Special Unit?" He asked.
"We don't know that. In fact, we're not sure." replied Max.
"Um.." Said Sean clearing his throat, "do you want me to find out?"
Everybody just turned to look at him in disbelief.
"I'll think of something. You don't get out of jail without experience, you know?" He commented. Maria rose her eyebrows as Isabel smiled at the comment. Max kept thinking about his offer.
"Ok, but you better be careful. You don't want her to find out about your purpose to know about the Special Unit all of a sudden." replied Max.
"Hey, I heard it from Maria. She filled me in." he said pointing at Maria.
"Ok, we'll meet you here for any information you got." Max replied.
"Ok, I'll be here." Sean said smiling.
"I usually think that it's going to be a huge mistake, but I actually trust him now." commented Maria.
"I told you a little faith won't hurt ya." replied Isabel.
In the kitchen, Max and Michael were alone. Max spoke first,
"I'm sorry about all the things I said about you."
"I am more sorry for bringing Liz up into our problem. She shouldn't be the one to blame. She's blaming herself because of me." Michael replied looking down.
"I don't even know what has gotten into me now. I feel...I don't know...out of my mind."
"You always were out of your mind, Maxwell!" he replied.
"Ok, I'll take the credit for that, but now, I seem to be crazier than before." he kept commenting.
"Um...hormones?" Michael joked.
"Hey!" Max said almost frowning.
"Well, it seems to be the only explanation." Michael commented grinning.
"You're not so great yourself!" He said almost laughing.
Then they stopped to think, and a few minutes later they turned to look at each other.
"I think there will be more of what happened earlier." Max replied.
"Why?"
"Because, now that we have this little problem with Leona, I think we're going to completely lose our minds." said Max.
"You still don't trust her?"
"I trust her, but I'm afraid for you guys, and personally, I didn't like you disobeying my orders."
" Max, what are you so angry about? You told me you were going to talk to her about the same thing!"
"I know, but what pissed me off was the fact that you both went to tell her, without telling me. I mean, you were the one who made me trust her when I didn't. I kept telling you that she was a danger to all of us, but you were persistent and you never gave up. Why didn't you do the same now? I could've gone with you guys."
"Ok, sorry about that. I should have persuaded you into telling her but you are so stubborn, hardheaded, so difficult to handle, so..." he broke off as Max interrupted him.
"Hey, hey, hey, I got it!" He said "I admit it, too, but you're not so good yourself!"
"I know and I'm sorry for every time I screwed up."
"We all screwed up, Michael. I didn't have any right to blame it on you." he replied and both guys shook hands and hugged. Kyle watched them hug and he went up to them and said, jokingly,
"Oh, I love you guys, too!" and he hugged them. Michael and Max threw a look at Kyle as if saying "Very funny".
"What? You gotta share the love, don't you?"
"I'll give you more than love!" replied Michael, "how `bout a taste of my powers, Buddah boy?"
"I...I'm just trying to lighten up the mood here!" replied Kyle as if trying to make a point. "Now, did you want me to tell my dad about this? Just in case."
"Yes, I think we're gonna need Valenti here. But, not yet. We need to plan everything, at least until tomorrow." commented Max.
"I'm still nervous. I don't know how she's going to take this." Isabel replied.
"Me, too!" said Maria, "didn't she say anything while you were there?"
"No, there were no screams, no crying, no nothing." replied Michael.
"That is thanks to me." said Max.
"But once she knows that this is about her brother, there will be a lot of that." commented Liz. Then Liz turned to see Tess, who hadn't spoken a word since they got there.
"Tess, you all right?" Asked Liz. Then everyone turned to look at Tess.
"Does it seem like I'm all right?" she replied, "I'm tired of all this. Why can't we just live our lives?"
"There's nothing else we want more than that, but I guess we're stuck with this." said Max.
"Obligations, responsibilities, promises, etc, etc..." replied Tess, "for the first time in my life, I wish I was somebody else. I don't want to be The Queen for Antar. I want to be just a person. I want to have friends and not worry about risking their lives by being their friend. I want to walk free and be in love with whomever I want, even when we're not the same...species. I want a lot of things that I'm sure there's not a chance in hell I'm gonna get here or ever!" Then she started to cry softly, looking out the window, seeing how empty and dark the street was. Max approached her, but she stopped him by saying,
"No, Max! I don't want your pity. I want a life. I was ok. I was fine. Ever since Pierce appeared and died and I realized he was Leona`s brother, I knew, I just knew that I can't have any of those things. I realized that if I lose Leona as my friend, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
"We don't want that to happen either." replied Isabel.
"I think I better call Leona. I want to know how is she. Liz, can I use your phone?" commented Kyle.
"Sure," replied Liz.
"Boyfriend Kyle to the rescue!" said Michael sarcastically.
"Shut up, Guerin!" said Kyle annoyed at his sarcasm.
"Yeah, you better. You don't want Leona to know you are here and start to ask Kyle about it, do you?" commented Sean.
"The boy has a point." said Maria.
"Ok, then let's just think about what we're going to do." commented Max, as he made his way to the room at the back.
After a while, everyone was thinking of new ideas for a plan. They worked as a team, except for Tess, who didn't want to be a part of it. They all realized how difficult life is without someone to love, someone to lean on, without a friend or family. Some of them were already living proof of it, but somehow, they found their way through it and found somebody. They knew that it's not enough being happy on their own. They need more than just happiness and peace. They need a friend.
PART# 4
Later that night, Tess was sitting with Kyle watching TV. She kept looking at her watch. Kyle noticed that and asked:
"Waiting for someone?"
"Yes, Michael and I are going over to Leona's house." she replied.
"Really? Where else?" He implied.
"What are you trying to imply with that?" She asked.
"Nothing, just curiosity."
"Well, for your information we are just going to see how she's doing."
"Well, she cannot be any better than she is now; it's just been a day since she found out about her brother."
"Kyle, I'm going to support her at all hours. I'm her friend and as a friend I'm trying to make sure she's ok."
"You guys are going to tell her about her brother, aren't you?"
"What?"
"Tess, does Max know about this? Have you guys consulted with him about this?" He asked, trying to stop her from doing something that'd upset the whole situation.
"Kyle, we're big kids now. We don't need Max to tell us what to do and say anymore. Besides.. since when have you called him Max?"
"Whatever, Tess! If Evans told you to shut your mouth, he said it for some reason, didn't he? He didn't say that just to piss you off. Besides, I`m more worried about Leona!"
"Guess what? I don't care! I will be honest with her, and I know she'll understand because she's different!" she heard someone knocking. "That must be Michael."
"Tess, please think twice about this. You don't want to get Evans angry at you now, do you? Besides, if you tell Leona about her brother, she'll be more upset than she's now. Why don't you guys tell her when everything calms down, when she feels better?"
"And let her find out before we tell her? No!" she said and then headed towards the door.
"Tess..."
"No, Kyle! I'm going! And you better not open your mouth to Max about this! Let us handle this, ok?" Then she saw Michael on his motorcycle waiting for her. She got onto the motorcycle and held on to him tight. Kyle wanted to make her stop, but he knew he couldn't even if he tried. So, he let her go. He would just have to wait and see how it turned out.
Max had gotten home and went straight to his room where he locked himself up. He kept thinking about Leona. He knew that some day she would know. He hoped that she would understand, but he felt that, somehow, she wouldn't. He heard someone knock on the door. He groaned and got up.
"Isabel, when a door is locked it means..." he stopped when he saw Liz standing before him. "Hi!" he said in surprised bewilderment.
"Hi? When your door's locked it means hi?" She said joking.
He laughed shyly. "Very funny. What are you doing here?" he said, leaving the door open. He went to lie down in his bed, and closed his eyes.
"I came here with Isabel; I just wanted to ask her some things." she said entering.
"Oh." he replied. Liz didn't know what to say. She saw Max' face. She could see that he had a lot of things on his mind, and one of those things was Leona. She wasn't sure it was the right moment to ask, but she just had to.
"Um...Max?" She said and he replied with a mumbled `yeah' "What happens when you heal people?" He looked at her confused by the question.
"Um... I heal them."
"No, I mean, I know, but what really happens afterwards?"
"What do you mean?"
`I mean, don't they have some kind of side effects or something?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Max! Could you just answer my questions? Don't question me in return!"
"I just want to know the reason for your question. Um...is there something wrong?" He said indifferently.
"No, it's probably nothing." she replied, hurt by the way Max was treating her. "I...I probably should go now. I'll talk to Isabel. See you." Max, feeling guilty for the way he treated her, began to wonder why she still had such an effect on him every time he tried to avoid her.
"Liz, wait!" He called. She stopped and turned around. "Do you need help with something? Is it about my powers?" He asked
"Well, kind of."
"Kind of?"
"I'm not really sure what it is but..." she broke off, she kept wondering if she should tell him.
"But what?"
"I think I...I..." she hesitated.
"Come on, Liz! Spill it. You can trust me." he said that only to make her feel better, if it worked.
"Well, I think I might be getting powers." she lowered her head to avoid eye contact with him.
"Powers? What kind of powers?" He asked.
"I don't know, but I got a glimpse of it this morning."
"What happened?" He got up to sit on his bed.
"I changed a blue shirt into a black shirt." she said, now looking at him.
"You changed colors?" He said raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, and just in case, I asked Isabel for help but she didn't know what to think. She told me that perhaps if I asked you, you'd know."
"Well, I don't know any better than she does." he replied. "you think that healing you might have done this to you?"
"I don't know. But you know what? I think we better let that go for a while."
"No, Liz. What if it's dangerous? What if you can't control it? The least we could is help you find out what this is and how it works." he said. He couldn't believe what he had done to her; he introduced her into what she couldn't control. He took away her chance to be normal, like everybody else.
"But right now you have more important things to think about...you know...Leona." she replied. "I think that she's the important one right now."
"I know, but I don't know what to do."
"It's not the first time you don't know what to do, but you always figure it out in the end." "Do you think it's best if we tell her what really happened?" He asked, hoping that she'd give him the right answer.
"Well, one thing she always respected was honesty." Liz commented.
"So you think we should tell her."
"What I think is that you should be honest with your heart about what you really want to do and your heart will come up with the answer soon." she said smiling. He looked at her a little puzzled.
"You could've just told me to follow my heart, not give me a game of words."
"Ok, sorry." she said chuckling, "so what does your heart say?"
"Do you want to come with me to pay her a visit?" He asked hopeful.
"Sure." she replied.
"Ok, let's go." he called, then he just grabbed his jacket and his keys.
"Hey, what about Isabel?" he looked at her and said:
"I think she will be busy today." When he was at the door, he called to Liz, "You coming?"
She looked at him and nodded in agreement. When they got into the car, Max turned the radio on. He said that every time he was nervous he'd just turn on the radio to relax. Max was nervous for two reasons, or better said, two women: Liz and Leona. When he turned the radio on, "I Shall Believe" was playing. Liz looked at him and Max looked back.
"What?" he asked, "Do I have something on my face or what?"
"Yes!" then she saw how he frowned and looked in the mirror, "You have the face of pure terror!" she said grinning. Max looked at her with a serious face as if saying, `That is not funny'. He started the car and drove away with Liz besides him, listening to their song, but he didn't know that. Only Liz knew that.
Isabel was in her room talking to Alex; the thing she did every time she was alone. It had been a year now, and even tough he was dead, he would appear to her and she would talk to him about everything that happened lately.
"What do you think we should do?" She asked him.
"Well, all year long you made her sound like a special girl. Perhaps being that special makes her different." he replied.
"What do you mean?" She asked, turning to look at him.
"I mean...she's not like others. I think she'll understand the situation better than the FBI."
"Alex, I can't tell her! I'd feel so ashamed and I know she won't forgive us for killing her brother!"
"But you owe it to her for letting her into your crazy world." He said in a soft voice.
"I know that Max wouldn't let us tell her, at least not until he has a plan."
"Honey, he went to her house today and I'm pretty sure he went to tell her."
"Why didn't he ask me to go with him?" She asked in a furious tone, getting up from her bed.
"He went with Liz." he said calmly, knowing that Isabel wanted them to get back together more that anybody in the world.
"Oh, that's reasonable." she sat down again. She went silent trying to imagine the scene where her brother tells Leona the truth. She imagined her face, the tears rolling down her cheeks, the screaming, and the anger in her eyes. She spoke again:
"You think my brother will tell her everything?"
"He's planning to tell her. So, probably he will." He touched her face making her turn to look at him. "If it makes you feel any better, whatever happens, I'll be here with you until the end." He saw her smiling and he kissed her softly on the lips.
"I love you." she said.
"I love you, too. I will always love you." he replied and disappeared.
Isabel saw him disappear and let the tears roll down her cheeks. Then she swept them away and got up, taking her car keys with her.
Michael and Tess finally arrived at Leona's house after stopping at a store to buy flowers for her. Tess kept saying that they had to choose the right flowers and Michael rolled his eyes every time she didn't know which flowers to buy. They both took deep breaths before ringing the doorbell. Leona opened the door and invited them in.
"Here, we brought you flowers." said Tess, giving the flowers to Leona once they were inside, "to brighten your mood!"
"Thanks! You shouldn't have." Leona replied with a smile, taking the flowers from Tess. "Well, I better put them in water. They are beautiful. Do you want me to get you something on my way to the kitchen?"
"N...No, we're fine." replied Michael, who seemed a little more nervous than usual.
"Ok, I'll be right back." she said. Michael and Tess heard the water faucet open. They took seats while they were waiting for her. Leona called from the kitchen:
"Are you sure you don't want something? I have chocolate cake if you want."
Tess and Michael looked at each other thinking that the nervousness made them hungry already. They answered in unison,
"Sure!"
Later, Leona came back with three little plates with pieces of chocolate cake and a bottle of Tabasco.
"I always make sure that my mom includes Tabasco sauce in the grocery list, just in case you decide to come by and want some dessert." Leona winked at both of them.
"Which we always do." said Tess smiling back.
"Well, it's nice to be here. Beats being alone at home." agreed Michael with his half smile.
Leona handed out the plates to them and sat down with her plate in her hand.
"I really appreciate your visit. I felt so lonely being here having to remember the past and looking at pictures of my brother." she said.
"Anything for a friend. No...wait...a best friend!" replied Tess smiling. Leona smiled back at them. Michael gave Tess a look that meant that it was time to tell her, Tess just nodded. Michael sighed and started:
"We came for something else, Leona."
"We really need to tell you something." said Tess, and then they saw her frown.
"It's more like a secret of ours and we vowed not to tell anybody, not even you." said Michael, who now was playing with his ring, "but we know that we can trust you with this, and to tell you the truth, you won't like this."
"You guys, whatever it is, you can tell me. I promise that whatever you say will stay here." Leona said almost afraid that they will prove to her that her uncle was right.
"But, we're not sure...after you know this, you won't want to be our friend anymore." Tess said, almost trembling.
"If this is about your lives as aliens, let me tell you, I'm used to it. I know that you do what you have to do to protect yourselves." she replied.
"Leona, we..." started Tess, but hesitated. Michael interrupted her.
"I killed a man..." he saw how Leona's jaw dropped open and her eyes widened.
Tess shook her head,
"No, Michael! We're all in this together. We killed a man!" she said desperately.
"I can't believe this." Leona whispered, still shocked.
"Leona, we didn't do this because we wanted to, we had to!" Said Tess.
"When I realized he was dead, I felt ashamed and guilty; I couldn't live with myself after that." Michael said, seeing how shocked Leona was. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Leona jumped, startled and without looking at them she asked,
"Does Max knows about what you did?"
"He was there. So was Isabel." Tess replied. Leona got up then, and went to open the door. Max was standing before her with Liz behind him. Leona looked at him and without saying anything, she stepped aside in sign to tell him to come in. Max frowned when he say the look on Leona's face. As he stepped in the house, he saw Michael with Tess, who seemed to be crying. Both Tess and Michael turned around to see who it was. They were both shocked to see Max standing there.
"Oh! This is just great!" Michael said, referring to Max.
"What's wrong?" Asked Liz when she saw all of them so serious.
"You told her!" Max said to Michael.
"Not everything!" Michael replied.
"Oh, there's something else?" Leona asked in her most calm voice and shutting the door.
"Told her what?" asked Liz, confused.
"About a man they killed." she said still calm, even when she was still angry and hurt inside. Liz looked at her shocked, and then she looked at Max.
"Michael, Tess, we're leaving...NOW!" Ordered Max.
"No! We're not done here, Maxwell!" yelled Michael.
"Michael!" Max yelled back, "I'm serious! We're leaving!"
"No! You're not getting out of here until you tell me everything!" replied Leona, standing before the door. Max looked at her in disbelief. Liz was besides him, witnessing in horror everything that was going on. "Max, just tell me what really happened. I already promised that I am not going to say a word about this." Leona looked at him seeing how he hesitated.
"Max, please! I want to know what really happened. After all, I am already in too deep to get out. Let me help you!"
"You wouldn't understand." said Max.
"Try me." she replied. Max then looked at Michael and Tess. He saw how their eyes were pleading with him to finish what they started. He turned to look at Leona, who was waiting for his answer. Then he sighed and said,
"No. I...I can`t." and headed towards the door saying, "Let's go." Leona knew what that meant. Whether she liked it or not, that meant that the Royal Four just slipped through her hands and that she wouldn't be able to protect them properly. Michael and Tess looked at her; she looked back at them. There was this deep sadness in their eyes that made her see how guilty they felt. Liz didn't say anything, but it was clear to see that she didn't feel comfortable by the situation and that she wished to have done something else than just watch. She followed Max after he crossed the door. Michael and Tess were behind her, not wanting to make Max any more angry than he already was.
Leona saw them leave. She couldn't believe what a coward Max was. They had the opportunity to come clean and he blew it. It was time for "plan B." She went upstairs to the attic and looked for the package Pierce had sent her before he died. She found it under a bureau where she had left it the day it came in. When she cleaned the dirt off of it, she got out of the attic closing the door behind her. She headed to her room and once there she started to rip the paper off of it. She looked at the wooden box that lay before her eyes and looked at the golden lock it had on it. She remembered where she had left the key and went to the wall in the right side of her bedroom. She waved her hand once in front of it and a little vertex opened. She put her hand inside and looked for the key. Her hand touched a book and when she got it out, she saw the key attached to it and read the lines in the cover in her Antarian language. It was a book of prophecies in which the gods had written to
help her in her search for the Messiah. She waved her hand in front of the wall once again to close the vertex. With the book and key in her hand, she sat down before the wooden box. Even though she struggled a lot to open the lock, she finally opened it with her powers, thing she didn't think of at first. Her mind was a turmoil of thoughts that she couldn't think straight.
When she opened it, she was shocked to see what she found inside of it. She opened a folder she had found inside. She kept reading the files, but there was a moment when she couldn't take anymore of it and closed the folder. Then, she put it back inside and closed the box when she heard her uncle knock on the door. Quickly, she hid the box under her bed and got up to open the door.
"Hey!" said her uncle, "Do you feel like eating Chinese food? Because right now, we have some delicious fried rice and egg rolls, how about it?"
"It does sound good, but I'm not hungry." she replied lowering her head.
"Come on! You have to eat." pleaded her uncle, "You're not looking that fat if that's what you're worried about." Leona chuckled at his comment, then said:
"No, it's not that. It's just that I told them about Pierce." she saw how her uncle's smile faded.
"How did they take it?"
"They seemed shocked but nothing else."
"They didn't say anything to you, did they?"
"No," she said sighing, "I can say that I'm really disappointed."
"There's no need for me to tell you that I told you so."
"Ok, so you were right, now what?"
"You'll have to come up with something else to make them talk."
"That's it? You don't want me to punish them?"
"Leona, I was really angry and out of my mind when I asked you to punish them." he replied, "I shouldn't have asked you that knowing what happened the last time you did punish them. I'm sorry, but I believe that somehow, they'll get what they deserve."
"I can say that they're having a really hard time with teenage stuff." she said and her uncle laughed at her statement.
"Really? Those humans, who can understand them?"
"Try asking your wife. She's human and I think she'll be pretty much offended if she heard you say that."
"I heard that, all right!" replied a female voice. Both Leona and her uncle looked at her. Her uncle went pale when he saw his wife with her arms crossed. Leona suppressed a laugh and her uncle tried to say something but nothing came out. Finally, her aunt spoke,
"It's ok, I'll try to explain everything you need to know later, but now it's time to get ready for dinner."
"I'm not hungry, Aunt Rose. I'll be in my room working on my homework." Leona said.
"But, you need to eat! You're not that fat, if that's what you're worried about." She replied.
Leona rolled her eyes at her statement, "Why does everybody think that I'm skipping dinner because I don't want to look fat?" she thought.
"No, it's not that! I'm not hungry, that's it."
"Ok, but it's your loss. Your aunt and I are going to eat it all, and I'm warning you this is your last chance to get something to eat." commented her uncle.
"Thanks, but no thanks." she replied smiling.
"Ok, if you need something, holler or something and we'll be there." said her uncle, not yet convinced to let his niece to go to bed without eating.
"Thanks." she said. She went back into her room and closed the door behind her once the couple was down the stairs to the kitchen.
Leona sat on her bed and let her head fall to her hands. She thought about what she had found in the box. She couldn't still believe it. Later, she lay down and she thought about how different her life would've been if none of this had happened. How different it would've all been if she had never fallen in love with Zan.
Meanwhile, at the Crashdown Cafe, the gang, including Sean, argued about what happened at Leona's house, especially Max and Michael.
"How could you do that without my consent?!!" yelled Max, who was really angry for Michael's disobedience.
"Maxwell, did you think I was gonna be able to handle it any longer, knowing that Pierce's family is out there grieving for him and I'm here walking free? At least I have a conscience! You seem to lack one!!" Michael yelled back.
"Michael, you almost put us in danger!"
"Why didn't you think of that before you healed Liz?!! Huh??!! That's where ALL our real problems began...thanks to YOU!" Michael was furious, but most of all, he just couldn't take the guilt any more.
Max tried to take a swing at Michael, but missed because Kyle stopped him before he could reach Michael`s jaw. Sean also cooperated by standing before Michael trying to calm him down. Whatever he said seemed to work.
"Why do I feel like everything is my fault?" Asked Liz. Isabel, who was besides her, laid her hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
"Liz, none of it is your fault. We ALL have to be responsible for our own acts, even though it's easier to blame it on someone else." said Isabel.
"Are you sure about that? Because Michael seems to be the only one who always screws up!" accused Max. Maria approached him slowly and did what no one expected of her: she slapped Max all across his face. Everyone was dumbfounded about what Maria had done, but Isabel wasn't for long, as she commented,
"If you didn't get enough of that, just tell me and I'll be happy to do it for you!" The gang fell silent. Max felt so ashamed at that moment, he didn't know what to say.
"Well," spoke Sean, "now that the secret's out, what are we gonna do?"
"WE?" replied Kyle, referring to Sean wanting to be included in it.
"Yes, I want to help, you know." he replied, "and don't tell me I can't, because I'm in, anyway."
"That's the same excuse Liz used so she could be included in every alien activity of theirs." commented Maria, rolling her eyes at her delinquent cousin.
`That's not true!" Liz protested, "I did it, because I wanted to help!"
"Liz, please! Every one of us knows why you did it. So don't make us say anything if you don't want anything spilled." Maria warned her friend with a little grin. Liz rolled her eyes after Maria's comment.
"Now, getting back to Leona," started Sean. "do you think she'll say anything?"
"I think her parents must be on that case by now." commented Kyle
"Her parents?" Sean asked confused.
"Her parents are FBI." Michael cleared.
"Damn!" He replied looking at Liz.
"I know." Liz agreed
"How do you know they're not from the Special Unit?" He asked.
"We don't know that. In fact, we're not sure." replied Max.
"Um.." Said Sean clearing his throat, "do you want me to find out?"
Everybody just turned to look at him in disbelief.
"I'll think of something. You don't get out of jail without experience, you know?" He commented. Maria rose her eyebrows as Isabel smiled at the comment. Max kept thinking about his offer.
"Ok, but you better be careful. You don't want her to find out about your purpose to know about the Special Unit all of a sudden." replied Max.
"Hey, I heard it from Maria. She filled me in." he said pointing at Maria.
"Ok, we'll meet you here for any information you got." Max replied.
"Ok, I'll be here." Sean said smiling.
"I usually think that it's going to be a huge mistake, but I actually trust him now." commented Maria.
"I told you a little faith won't hurt ya." replied Isabel.
In the kitchen, Max and Michael were alone. Max spoke first,
"I'm sorry about all the things I said about you."
"I am more sorry for bringing Liz up into our problem. She shouldn't be the one to blame. She's blaming herself because of me." Michael replied looking down.
"I don't even know what has gotten into me now. I feel...I don't know...out of my mind."
"You always were out of your mind, Maxwell!" he replied.
"Ok, I'll take the credit for that, but now, I seem to be crazier than before." he kept commenting.
"Um...hormones?" Michael joked.
"Hey!" Max said almost frowning.
"Well, it seems to be the only explanation." Michael commented grinning.
"You're not so great yourself!" He said almost laughing.
Then they stopped to think, and a few minutes later they turned to look at each other.
"I think there will be more of what happened earlier." Max replied.
"Why?"
"Because, now that we have this little problem with Leona, I think we're going to completely lose our minds." said Max.
"You still don't trust her?"
"I trust her, but I'm afraid for you guys, and personally, I didn't like you disobeying my orders."
" Max, what are you so angry about? You told me you were going to talk to her about the same thing!"
"I know, but what pissed me off was the fact that you both went to tell her, without telling me. I mean, you were the one who made me trust her when I didn't. I kept telling you that she was a danger to all of us, but you were persistent and you never gave up. Why didn't you do the same now? I could've gone with you guys."
"Ok, sorry about that. I should have persuaded you into telling her but you are so stubborn, hardheaded, so difficult to handle, so..." he broke off as Max interrupted him.
"Hey, hey, hey, I got it!" He said "I admit it, too, but you're not so good yourself!"
"I know and I'm sorry for every time I screwed up."
"We all screwed up, Michael. I didn't have any right to blame it on you." he replied and both guys shook hands and hugged. Kyle watched them hug and he went up to them and said, jokingly,
"Oh, I love you guys, too!" and he hugged them. Michael and Max threw a look at Kyle as if saying "Very funny".
"What? You gotta share the love, don't you?"
"I'll give you more than love!" replied Michael, "how `bout a taste of my powers, Buddah boy?"
"I...I'm just trying to lighten up the mood here!" replied Kyle as if trying to make a point. "Now, did you want me to tell my dad about this? Just in case."
"Yes, I think we're gonna need Valenti here. But, not yet. We need to plan everything, at least until tomorrow." commented Max.
"I'm still nervous. I don't know how she's going to take this." Isabel replied.
"Me, too!" said Maria, "didn't she say anything while you were there?"
"No, there were no screams, no crying, no nothing." replied Michael.
"That is thanks to me." said Max.
"But once she knows that this is about her brother, there will be a lot of that." commented Liz. Then Liz turned to see Tess, who hadn't spoken a word since they got there.
"Tess, you all right?" Asked Liz. Then everyone turned to look at Tess.
"Does it seem like I'm all right?" she replied, "I'm tired of all this. Why can't we just live our lives?"
"There's nothing else we want more than that, but I guess we're stuck with this." said Max.
"Obligations, responsibilities, promises, etc, etc..." replied Tess, "for the first time in my life, I wish I was somebody else. I don't want to be The Queen for Antar. I want to be just a person. I want to have friends and not worry about risking their lives by being their friend. I want to walk free and be in love with whomever I want, even when we're not the same...species. I want a lot of things that I'm sure there's not a chance in hell I'm gonna get here or ever!" Then she started to cry softly, looking out the window, seeing how empty and dark the street was. Max approached her, but she stopped him by saying,
"No, Max! I don't want your pity. I want a life. I was ok. I was fine. Ever since Pierce appeared and died and I realized he was Leona`s brother, I knew, I just knew that I can't have any of those things. I realized that if I lose Leona as my friend, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
"We don't want that to happen either." replied Isabel.
"I think I better call Leona. I want to know how is she. Liz, can I use your phone?" commented Kyle.
"Sure," replied Liz.
"Boyfriend Kyle to the rescue!" said Michael sarcastically.
"Shut up, Guerin!" said Kyle annoyed at his sarcasm.
"Yeah, you better. You don't want Leona to know you are here and start to ask Kyle about it, do you?" commented Sean.
"The boy has a point." said Maria.
"Ok, then let's just think about what we're going to do." commented Max, as he made his way to the room at the back.
After a while, everyone was thinking of new ideas for a plan. They worked as a team, except for Tess, who didn't want to be a part of it. They all realized how difficult life is without someone to love, someone to lean on, without a friend or family. Some of them were already living proof of it, but somehow, they found their way through it and found somebody. They knew that it's not enough being happy on their own. They need more than just happiness and peace. They need a friend.