Sacrifice
A Sequel to Quietly into the Night
Conventional Couples
Rating: PG-13

Author's Note Thanks to my wonderful friends Margo and Virginia who, between the two of them had all my Roswell fics saved!

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Antar – Capitol City

With the call to mobilize, the group swung into action like a well-oiled machine. They had their few belongings packed and all evidence of their having been there completely erased. Liz grabbed Lexie and swung her up into her arms. As one, Kyle and Max both reached for Kam. They laughed, and Kyle began to back away.
"Sorry about that man," said Kyle as he stepped away.
"Don't worry about it," said Max with a small smile. "I know you'd protect him with your life. Naloch," he said turning towards the older man. "What happened, who betrayed us?"
"We're not certain at this point, but we have confirmation that a squad of guardsmen are on their way."
"Damn it. Can't anything ever go our way? Forget it, where are we headed."
"To a small outpost we have hidden in the mountains. It isn't anything luxurious, but it's shelter, and there is food up there. We should be able to hide for quite a while."
"Does anybody know we're going there?" asked Michael
"No," said Naloch grimly. "Nobody knows it's there at all, except for Jereon and Saranara. It's an old hunting lodge that belonged to my wife's family. I spread the word a long time ago that it had been destroyed in a fire."
"Good," said Michael. "We need some time to regroup and come up with a plan. Will we be close enough to the city to get regular updates?"
"We'll be close enough, but I don't know how we can get the updates if we don't want people to know where we are?"
"We'll figure that out when we get there, but for now, let's just get the hell out of her," said Max.

Naloch let them through the tunnels for a short distance. As they walked, Jereon moved up to walk next to Isabelle.
"I am amazed Princess," he said.
"At what, that I can walk?" snapped Isabelle. "Don't be, I've been doing it for quite some time now."
"That's not what I mean. I can't believe how quickly you all managed to get organized and get ready to move out. It was nothing short of amazing."
"Oh," she answered, slightly mollified. "Well, Max, Michael and I always talked about being prepared to run when we were younger, and then after Max saved Liz and everything happened, we really had to put it to the test. We were running for quite a while. We had to be prepared to pick up and leave without any notice."

"That must have been a very difficult time for you Princess, I mean Isabelle."
"Yeah, it was, but it really gave us the opportunity to learn about ourselves, and to basically grow up. Don't misunderstand me, I would have been quite happy to live out my life in Roswell and not have to run at all, but that wasn't an option for us."
"Father told us about your adventures on Earth, it sounds quite amazing."
"Amazing isn't quite the word I would use for it," said Isabelle. "It was scary, and heartbreaking. We had to leave our homes and our families – people we loved to protect them as well as ourselves. If we had to do it all over again, I know for a fact there are some things I would do differently."
Jereon looked at Isabelle. His glance took in her tightly compressed lips, and the suspicious moisture in her eyes.
"You are thinking of your husband?" he asked.
"Yes, no, I don't know," Isabelle answered irritably. "Yes, I was, but I was also thinking about Alex, and even Grant?"
"Who is Grant?"
"Oh nobody really, just one of the many men who died because of me," said Isabelle glaring at him.
"What?"
"In my life on Antar, my brother and my fiancée, as well as countless others died because of me," began Isabelle. "And on Earth, Grant was killed by that crystal spore queen thing that looked like something out of a Star Trek episode. Tess mind-warped Alex to death, and Jesse," she stopped talking and looked resolutely ahead.

"I think Isabelle, you have far too high an opinion of yourself," said Jereon.
Isabelle turned and glared at him, but he pressed on, undaunted.
"You are no more responsible for the things that happened on Antar then I am. On Earth, the man Grant was not killed because of you, if anyone is to blame, it is those who decided to create you. Your friend Alex was killed by someone who was quite evil, but that wasn't your fault."
"Yes it was, if Alex didn't know us, if we were never there, he'd still be alive."
"See Isabelle, you said it yourself' if he didn't know US if WE were never there. It was simply a matter of what you call fate."
"Don't you dare talk to me about fate, you don't know anything!" whispered Isabelle fiercely.
"As for your husband," Jereon continued as if she had never spoken. "He was a brave man, known to all on Antar who are loyal to the Royal Family. He fought Kivar's mind-warp, and sacrificed his life to save all of you."
"But if I had let him run with us," said Isabelle, "He may still be alive."
"And if you had let him run with you, Kivar still might have found him and you would all be dead now. You have suffered greatly Isabelle, but nobody has died because of you, and those who had the opportunity to know you were lucky indeed."

Jereon put on a burst of speed and moved up to walk with his father. Behind Isabelle, Liz turned to Max, a frown on her face.
"Did you know she felt this way?" she whispered to her husband.
"No, I really didn't. Right after we came back from Antar, she packed up and left. I knew she was having a hard time dealing with Kyle, but I didn't realize how much guilt she actually harbored."
"Max, I love you, I always will, but I swear, sometimes you can be so positively dense. I don't understand how you couldn't see how much she was hurting."
"I saw it Liz, there just wasn't too much I could do about it. I was busy being a Dad to a newborn baby, remember?"
"Look Max, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you, I just can't believe how badly she is hurting. I'm going to go up and talk to her for a minute. Lexie, want to go talk to Auntie Isabelle with me?"
"No, I want Daddy to carry me! It's my turn," said the little girl.
"How about you Kam, do you want to come with me?" The boy nodded and he slid out of his father's arms and took his mother by the hand. Liz and Kam quickly caught up with Isabelle. Kam released his mother's hand and slid his and into his Aunt's. She looked down at the small boy and smiled, but it didn't fill her eyes.
"Isabelle," said Liz.
"Don't," answered the other girl. "Don't say it Liz. I just can't right now."
Liz looked at her and saw that she was struggling to hold onto her composure.
"Ok, I won't say anything now, but we do have to talk."
Isabelle nodded, but didn't say anything and Liz dropped back to walk with Max and Lexie. Kam looked up at his aunt.
"Why is your heart so sad Auntie?" he asked.
"What makes you think my heart is sad?" she asked, trying to force an upbeat tone into her voice.
"Cause I can feel it in my heart," he said pointing towards his own chest.
"What do you mean Kam?"
"I can feel you being sad, your heart hurts, and it makes mine hurt too. You miss Alex, and Jesse, right?"
"H-how do you know about them?"
"Mommy and Unca Kyle used to tell me about them all the time. Mommy was sad when she named me cause she ran out of room for Jesse," he answered matter of factly.

Isabelle puzzled out Kam's last remark and surmised that Liz wanted to honor Jesse by including his name.
"Well you know what tiger? It's ok that it didn't fit because I think Kam's a really cool name. Can you feel when people are sad all the time?"
"Nope, only some times. I can usually tell with Mommy and Unca Kyle, but they know how to make it so I can't feel them."
"Oh really, well I guess I'll have to get them to show me that trick. We can't have you go around having a hurt heart because of me," said Isabelle.
"Want me to make you feel better? I'm real good at it," said the little boy.
"Sure Kam, how do you do it?"
"You gots to pick me up," he commanded.
Isabelle lifted the boy up into he arms, and he hugged her tightly and kissed he on the cheek.
"I love you Auntie Isabelle," he said. "There, now you should feel better."

Isabelle chuckled to herself, but stopped when she realized she did feel better. She didn't know if it was alien magic or just simple love, but whatever it was, it worked. Up ahead, Naloch raised a hand and signaled for them to stop.
"We're coming to a cave that is located at the base of the mountains. We can rest here for a while, and then we must begin our climb.
"No," said Liz in a quiet but urgent voice. "They'll be here shortly. We have to move now."
"A vision Liz?" asked Maria as she leaned against Michael.
"I don't know if it's a vision, or just a feeling, but we need to move and now!"
Without a word, Naloch began walking through the tunnel and into the cave. In a few minutes, they walked through the entrance and out into the dusky twilight.
"How much farther is it?" asked Max.
"Just another couple of miles," responded Naloch. "If we hurry, we'll be there in about an hour."
Max looked at the others and the all nodded. "Let's do it," he said.