What is the Truth?
By Didi
Disclaimers: Do I really need to do this? I mean how many of you would believe me if I did say that I owned them all?
Timeline: Starts just at the end of Season 2 but I'm writing it my way cause I simply refused to except the way the writer screwed up that storyline. So, here's my take on the end of the episode and what happens afterwards. Forget everything that was on UPN, it didn't happen.
Caution: I can handle creative criticism and all but please no flames of any sort. Oh and if you are a Max/Liz fanatic, I doubt you'll like this story much.
Note: Thank you to everyone that reviewed.
"Spoken," *thoughts*
~~~~~
"Maria, what drug are you on?" Isabel asked as she paced the length of the small motel room, agitated beyond believe.
"I'm telling you what I saw," Maria replied heatedly. "And I don't appreciate being accused of..."
"That's enough," Valenti yelled as he pulled Maria back when the girl moved a little too close to the angry Isabel for his comfort. Isabel's love for Alex was never questioned, her rational logical self was never in doubt, but when you combine the emotions of love and grief, the reaction one is likely to get is not always as predictable. "Everyone just calm down."
Isabel wrapped her arms around herself, trying to push back the tears that threatened to spill. She's cried too many nights with Alex in her thoughts. For Maria to raise her hopes like this... It was beyond cruel to let her believe, even for a mere second, that Alex Whitman was alive. *I can't keep doing this. I just can't.*
"Issy?" Michael got up from his seat on the bed and touched Isabel on the shoulders, feeling her deep pain. "You all right?"
She nodded though refused to look at him. "We're not getting any answers. All we seem to be getting is more questions."
"If Alex is alive," Kyle mused quietly from his little corner where he's sat since entering the motel, his thoughts keeping him occupied. "Then Tess lied to us. Lied to me."
"The better question is why would Tess say that she killed Alex if he's still alive?" Liz asked quietly to Max, who stared out the window in complete silence. "Why would she lie about something so... so..."
"Cruel," Isabel finished, her eyes on her brother now. She may be hurting but she could see that he was too. "Max? What should we do?"
Max stared at the sky beyond the pane of glass that protected them from nature. "We find Tess, we find Alex, and we get some answers to all of this. They are connected; we all know that now. So what I want to know is, how?" He turned to the others, eyes cold and lifeless. "Is Alex dead? Was that a clone of some sort? What if the skins used Alex's DNA to create someone we can trust? I can't have all these unanswered questions lying around, not now. Especially not when I have a child that may need me."
Valenti nodded his agreement. *Good boy, Max. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment. There are still so much we don't know.* Clapping his hands to get their attention, he stood. "So we go with the same game plan, only we add Alex's name to the list. Anyone that spot either one of them, don't make contact until we can get the troops together, got it?"
There was nothing more to do but agree to the conditions laid out before them.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was almost a four days later when Michael and Kyle, on their numerous walks about town spotted a young man that resembled Alex so much that it took Michael three tries to get Kyle to shake himself out of his stunned stupor.
"Hey, hey," Kyle hissed as he grabbed unsuccessfully at Michael's arm. Exasperated and lacking any better ideas, he followed the impulsive alien across the street, darting into an ally just in time to avoid being see by the Alex look-alike. "We're supposed to wait for the others, remember?"
Michael tossed a look of irritation over his shoulder. "And wait for what? He's going to be gone by the time the others get here." Reaching over, he pulled the cell phone from Kyle's pocket. "Call them and give them directions as we follow Mr. Dead over there."
Kyle only managed to catch the phone three inches from the ground after Michael tossed it in his general direction before taking off down the street again. Muttering over the guy's inconsiderate nature, Kyle dialed the number as he jogged behind the long legged alien. "Hey, we spotted the ghost."
"Where?" Max asked as he grabbed Isabel by the arm to keep from crossing the street as they had planned.
"We're headed west on," he glanced at the sign ahead of him. "McDowell Street, north of Durant Avenue."
Max glanced briefly at the bent map in his hand. "We're about three block down and four blocks behind you. Call your dad, we're on our way."
"Got it," Kyle glanced up and nearly collided with Michael. "Hey, what's the big..."
Grabbing Kyle by the shirtfront, he pulled him into an alley and pressed them both to the wall. "Shh..." He counted to ten before poking his head around the corner. "All clear."
Rubbing the area where Michael's knuckle punched him in the chest, he grimaced and dialed the phone again. "Dad?"
"Yeah?" Valenti glanced at the two girls that were busy consuming double helping of ice cream.
"We've spotted Alex."
There was a pause. "Where?"
"North of Durant Avenue, we're headed west, just passed Flower Glenn." He glanced at Michael who pointed toward the side of the street. Somewhere during the trek, the streets seem to have gotten more gritty and just a but more intimating. "Not a great neighborhood here, Dad."
"Got it," Valenti traced the street on the map with his finger. "We're on our way now. Remember, don't make contact until everyone gets there." He paused for a moment, the parental concern coming to surface. "Is Tess with him?"
"No," he shook his head and heard the regret in his own voice. He would have liked to at least see that she was okay. "He's alone."
"Hey," Michael had slowed and came to a virtual stop hugging the side of a building. "I think he's arrived at his destination."
The destination turned out to be a small cabin toward the end of town, behind it was a rather vast expansion of nothing. Settled on a piece of dry worthless land, the cabin should have long been abandoned but was currently occupied, as indicated by the soft glow of light in the window. To say that the place looked shabby was being awfully kind.
Isabel and Max, both looking grime and pale, joined Michael and Kyle ten minutes later. Valenti showed up another fifteen minutes after that with the girls in tow. No one said a word for a moment, both afraid and excited over the possibilities. "What do we do?"
"I checked out the place already," Michael announced quietly, his eyes still on the door. "There's only one entrance to the place that that's through that door." He pointed to the yellowish wooden door that sat at the center of the little shack.
"We can surround the place easily," Maria noted soberly as she watched the daisy curtains flutter in the double windows.
"And do what?" Valenti asked sternly. "Storm the place, powers a blazing?"
"What do you suggest, Dad?" Kyle asked nervously. Something about this just seemed wrong. *It's too quiet.*
"Let's take a look, see if we can figure things out without revealing ourselves," Jim holstered the gun he had in his hand. "Like Max said, for all was know, those are skins in there and Alex was created into a husk to gain your trust."
Max nodded his agreement. "No one makes a move without my say so, okay?" He looked pointed at Michael who held up his hand in agreement. "We move in, nice and slow."
Walking nonchalantly one by one down the street, the collected hind the little hut. Peering through the side window, Isabel was hard pressed not to gasp in shock as she gazed at the Alex-look-alike putter around the kitchen. The lean face and dark eyes, slender body and long arms, it was Alex through and through. The quiet dignity, loyal trusting face, it was like he had stepped out of one of their memories and was mocking them with his very presence.
Michael grabbed Isabel and covered her mouth just in time to muffle the cry of pain that threatened to erupt, exposing them. Max turned and stared at his sister, silently asking her to be strong for them.
Liz grabbed Kyle's hand as she watched Alex pour tomato juice into a glass, those long slender fingered hands steady and strong. How many hours did he spend playing the guitar with those same fingers? Stacking a sandwich together quickly, he picked up a knife and neatly sliced it into quarters. Picking up sandwich and juice, he walked into the other room.
"When did Alex learn to cook?" Maria asked, her knuckles white from clutching the windowsill.
"That's putting a sandwich together, not cooking," Michael commented as he slowly released Isabel. "Any idiot can do that, even a dead one."
"Come on," Max gestured to them as they rounded the corner toward the next room.
The window was larger, letting in more light. The soft buttercup color curtains fluttered in the through the open window, allow some of the stifling hot window cool the interior of the cottage. The room held only the basics with a bed, a stool, a nightstand and a sleeping bag in the corner. Someone had put a glass bottle with a yellow daisy on the nightstand, next to a basin of water. For a moment, they didn't know what they were seeing.
Alex sat on the stool, carefully lifting a small white towel from the basin and wringing it dry. He had set the sandwich and juice on the ground by his feet, careful to avoid splashing water on it.
"What is he doing?" Kyle asked, shifting to see if he could get a better view over the top of Liz's head.
"It looks like he's washing his hand," Maria answered in a low hiss.
"Shhh..." Valenti hushed the two with a quick wave.
Max shook his head, denying what he knew was true even before Alex shifted enough for him to see. Lying curled on the bed, face contorted in pain even in sleep, pale golden locks limp with perspiration, was the woman he had said goodbye to not more than ten days ago.
"No freaking way," Michael muttered as he stared in disbelief.
"Oh my god," Isabel said as Tess's face came into view from behind Alex. "What the hell are they doing together?"
By Didi
Disclaimers: Do I really need to do this? I mean how many of you would believe me if I did say that I owned them all?
Timeline: Starts just at the end of Season 2 but I'm writing it my way cause I simply refused to except the way the writer screwed up that storyline. So, here's my take on the end of the episode and what happens afterwards. Forget everything that was on UPN, it didn't happen.
Caution: I can handle creative criticism and all but please no flames of any sort. Oh and if you are a Max/Liz fanatic, I doubt you'll like this story much.
Note: Thank you to everyone that reviewed.
"Spoken," *thoughts*
~~~~~
"Maria, what drug are you on?" Isabel asked as she paced the length of the small motel room, agitated beyond believe.
"I'm telling you what I saw," Maria replied heatedly. "And I don't appreciate being accused of..."
"That's enough," Valenti yelled as he pulled Maria back when the girl moved a little too close to the angry Isabel for his comfort. Isabel's love for Alex was never questioned, her rational logical self was never in doubt, but when you combine the emotions of love and grief, the reaction one is likely to get is not always as predictable. "Everyone just calm down."
Isabel wrapped her arms around herself, trying to push back the tears that threatened to spill. She's cried too many nights with Alex in her thoughts. For Maria to raise her hopes like this... It was beyond cruel to let her believe, even for a mere second, that Alex Whitman was alive. *I can't keep doing this. I just can't.*
"Issy?" Michael got up from his seat on the bed and touched Isabel on the shoulders, feeling her deep pain. "You all right?"
She nodded though refused to look at him. "We're not getting any answers. All we seem to be getting is more questions."
"If Alex is alive," Kyle mused quietly from his little corner where he's sat since entering the motel, his thoughts keeping him occupied. "Then Tess lied to us. Lied to me."
"The better question is why would Tess say that she killed Alex if he's still alive?" Liz asked quietly to Max, who stared out the window in complete silence. "Why would she lie about something so... so..."
"Cruel," Isabel finished, her eyes on her brother now. She may be hurting but she could see that he was too. "Max? What should we do?"
Max stared at the sky beyond the pane of glass that protected them from nature. "We find Tess, we find Alex, and we get some answers to all of this. They are connected; we all know that now. So what I want to know is, how?" He turned to the others, eyes cold and lifeless. "Is Alex dead? Was that a clone of some sort? What if the skins used Alex's DNA to create someone we can trust? I can't have all these unanswered questions lying around, not now. Especially not when I have a child that may need me."
Valenti nodded his agreement. *Good boy, Max. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment. There are still so much we don't know.* Clapping his hands to get their attention, he stood. "So we go with the same game plan, only we add Alex's name to the list. Anyone that spot either one of them, don't make contact until we can get the troops together, got it?"
There was nothing more to do but agree to the conditions laid out before them.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was almost a four days later when Michael and Kyle, on their numerous walks about town spotted a young man that resembled Alex so much that it took Michael three tries to get Kyle to shake himself out of his stunned stupor.
"Hey, hey," Kyle hissed as he grabbed unsuccessfully at Michael's arm. Exasperated and lacking any better ideas, he followed the impulsive alien across the street, darting into an ally just in time to avoid being see by the Alex look-alike. "We're supposed to wait for the others, remember?"
Michael tossed a look of irritation over his shoulder. "And wait for what? He's going to be gone by the time the others get here." Reaching over, he pulled the cell phone from Kyle's pocket. "Call them and give them directions as we follow Mr. Dead over there."
Kyle only managed to catch the phone three inches from the ground after Michael tossed it in his general direction before taking off down the street again. Muttering over the guy's inconsiderate nature, Kyle dialed the number as he jogged behind the long legged alien. "Hey, we spotted the ghost."
"Where?" Max asked as he grabbed Isabel by the arm to keep from crossing the street as they had planned.
"We're headed west on," he glanced at the sign ahead of him. "McDowell Street, north of Durant Avenue."
Max glanced briefly at the bent map in his hand. "We're about three block down and four blocks behind you. Call your dad, we're on our way."
"Got it," Kyle glanced up and nearly collided with Michael. "Hey, what's the big..."
Grabbing Kyle by the shirtfront, he pulled him into an alley and pressed them both to the wall. "Shh..." He counted to ten before poking his head around the corner. "All clear."
Rubbing the area where Michael's knuckle punched him in the chest, he grimaced and dialed the phone again. "Dad?"
"Yeah?" Valenti glanced at the two girls that were busy consuming double helping of ice cream.
"We've spotted Alex."
There was a pause. "Where?"
"North of Durant Avenue, we're headed west, just passed Flower Glenn." He glanced at Michael who pointed toward the side of the street. Somewhere during the trek, the streets seem to have gotten more gritty and just a but more intimating. "Not a great neighborhood here, Dad."
"Got it," Valenti traced the street on the map with his finger. "We're on our way now. Remember, don't make contact until everyone gets there." He paused for a moment, the parental concern coming to surface. "Is Tess with him?"
"No," he shook his head and heard the regret in his own voice. He would have liked to at least see that she was okay. "He's alone."
"Hey," Michael had slowed and came to a virtual stop hugging the side of a building. "I think he's arrived at his destination."
The destination turned out to be a small cabin toward the end of town, behind it was a rather vast expansion of nothing. Settled on a piece of dry worthless land, the cabin should have long been abandoned but was currently occupied, as indicated by the soft glow of light in the window. To say that the place looked shabby was being awfully kind.
Isabel and Max, both looking grime and pale, joined Michael and Kyle ten minutes later. Valenti showed up another fifteen minutes after that with the girls in tow. No one said a word for a moment, both afraid and excited over the possibilities. "What do we do?"
"I checked out the place already," Michael announced quietly, his eyes still on the door. "There's only one entrance to the place that that's through that door." He pointed to the yellowish wooden door that sat at the center of the little shack.
"We can surround the place easily," Maria noted soberly as she watched the daisy curtains flutter in the double windows.
"And do what?" Valenti asked sternly. "Storm the place, powers a blazing?"
"What do you suggest, Dad?" Kyle asked nervously. Something about this just seemed wrong. *It's too quiet.*
"Let's take a look, see if we can figure things out without revealing ourselves," Jim holstered the gun he had in his hand. "Like Max said, for all was know, those are skins in there and Alex was created into a husk to gain your trust."
Max nodded his agreement. "No one makes a move without my say so, okay?" He looked pointed at Michael who held up his hand in agreement. "We move in, nice and slow."
Walking nonchalantly one by one down the street, the collected hind the little hut. Peering through the side window, Isabel was hard pressed not to gasp in shock as she gazed at the Alex-look-alike putter around the kitchen. The lean face and dark eyes, slender body and long arms, it was Alex through and through. The quiet dignity, loyal trusting face, it was like he had stepped out of one of their memories and was mocking them with his very presence.
Michael grabbed Isabel and covered her mouth just in time to muffle the cry of pain that threatened to erupt, exposing them. Max turned and stared at his sister, silently asking her to be strong for them.
Liz grabbed Kyle's hand as she watched Alex pour tomato juice into a glass, those long slender fingered hands steady and strong. How many hours did he spend playing the guitar with those same fingers? Stacking a sandwich together quickly, he picked up a knife and neatly sliced it into quarters. Picking up sandwich and juice, he walked into the other room.
"When did Alex learn to cook?" Maria asked, her knuckles white from clutching the windowsill.
"That's putting a sandwich together, not cooking," Michael commented as he slowly released Isabel. "Any idiot can do that, even a dead one."
"Come on," Max gestured to them as they rounded the corner toward the next room.
The window was larger, letting in more light. The soft buttercup color curtains fluttered in the through the open window, allow some of the stifling hot window cool the interior of the cottage. The room held only the basics with a bed, a stool, a nightstand and a sleeping bag in the corner. Someone had put a glass bottle with a yellow daisy on the nightstand, next to a basin of water. For a moment, they didn't know what they were seeing.
Alex sat on the stool, carefully lifting a small white towel from the basin and wringing it dry. He had set the sandwich and juice on the ground by his feet, careful to avoid splashing water on it.
"What is he doing?" Kyle asked, shifting to see if he could get a better view over the top of Liz's head.
"It looks like he's washing his hand," Maria answered in a low hiss.
"Shhh..." Valenti hushed the two with a quick wave.
Max shook his head, denying what he knew was true even before Alex shifted enough for him to see. Lying curled on the bed, face contorted in pain even in sleep, pale golden locks limp with perspiration, was the woman he had said goodbye to not more than ten days ago.
"No freaking way," Michael muttered as he stared in disbelief.
"Oh my god," Isabel said as Tess's face came into view from behind Alex. "What the hell are they doing together?"