Previously on Roswell, Ava, Lonnie, Rath, and Zan were in New York. The supposed original engineered Royal 4. Rath kills Zan and the remaining duplicates and headed to Roswell to find his replacement, Max.
Ava decides to stay behind when Lonnie and Rath recruit Max and Tess for the Summit. It was just as well for Ava considering Rath would have eventually killed her. Anyway, Ava stayed in Roswell to help warn Max of Lonnie and Rath's plans of killing him and their coalition with Kivar.
As for the Roswell Royal Four, Tess went back to Antar to have her child. She soon returned to Earth because her fully human baby was rejected from the throne. She enlisted help from Max one last time to save their child. She sacrificed herself for her baby's freedom and safety. Max decided to give their child up for adoption.
The government eventually caught up with the team of Roswell teens. They all decided it would be best to leave Roswell. They have been running from government agents ever since. Max and Liz decided to get married in the midst of all this chaos and have been living a happy life ever since, along with their companions Michael, Maria, Kyle and, Isabel.
***
"Isabel," a bulky FBI Agent said. "Special capabilities: 'Dream Walking' and molecule manipulation," he continued, standing next to a slide projector that was depicting a picture of Isabel as a sophomore in high school. He clicked the button in his hand and the screen changed to an image of Michael. "Michael, special capabilities: Telekinesis and molecule manipulation," he continued to address the audience of government agents, one of them raising his hand. "You have a question?"
"Don't all three have telekinesis?" the curious agent asked. "Yes they do. However, this ones abilities are far more powerful than the other two," he answered firmly and went to the next slide. "Max, special capabilities: force fields and molecule manipulation. We also have reason to believe he can heal the injured and dying as well."
"In hunting these three, be aware of their abilities. They have killed quite a few of our men," he paused. "They are, however, not very unbeatable," he clicked his button again and the machine projected a new image. "This is Tess. We contained this one in the spring of 2002. She took out 40 men before it was all over, but we did it and we can do it three more times."
***
"Thanks for shopping at Target and come back soon!" a perky blonde haired, blue eyed nineteen year old told a customer as she gathered her stuff. The customer flashed her a smile and made her way towards the entrance/exit. The next customer in line came to the register with a box of blank tapes and a few newly released c.d.'s. "Hi, did you find everything you were looking for?" she asked. Her nicely flared Angelina Jolie lips formed a warm smile. "Uhh, yeah…" the tall dark man said. He looked at the blonde girl as she rang up his items.
She looked strangely, but vaguely familiar to him. He looked at her nametag and said her name. "Tess?" She looked up at him with that same friendly smile not saying anything. "Do you know a women named Isabel? She's about your age." He looked at her oddly. How could Jesse forget Tess? They had crossed paths last spring when she came back to Earth to return Max's child. The only thing that confused him was the fact that she died last spring, fending off FBI agents.
"Izzy? Yeah, she's an old friend, but she…" the cash register had finished calculating Jesse's grand total. "That comes to $47. 89," Tess said. He handed her a crisp $50 and she rang up the change.
"So how do you know her?" she asked handing him his receipt and change. "She's my wife… look … here's my number. Call me," he wrote his number on the back of his receipt and handed it to Tess. "Ummm… I may look like a home-wrecker, but that's not my deal-" Jesse cut her off. "No, I'm not hitting on you," he giggled. "I just know who you are… or what you are actually," he continued. Tess' heart raced. How could he know who she was? Isabel must have told him everything, Tess thought. Tess looked at Jesse with an all of a sudden non-perky gaze, almost defensively, but at the same time unsure.
"Oh yeah? What would that be?" she asked coldly. "Something that could get you into a lot of trouble. You know what I mean. And you know it would be dangerous for me to even say it out loud." Tess was starting to get the feeling he really did know. She looked around thanking her lucky stars there were no other customers around.
"You could almost say it's out of this world," Jesse joked. Tess instantly froze and her face blushed and heated itself with fear and uncertainty. Her stomach began to knot up. What was she to do in a situation like this? Was this man one of the good guys or was he like all the others?
"What do you want?" she asked in a shaky voice. "I just wanna talk about what you are and the others." That didn't explain much. Tess thought. "Look I don't know what you really want with me, but I just want a normal life. You know, white picket fences, 2.7 children, and 2 cars in the garage. That's not who I am anymore. So please, just leave me alone," Tess said eager for Jesse to just walk through those automated doors and never enter her life again. She handed him his items in a red and white plastic bag with a Target logo on it.
"Yeah, I wanted that once. It's hard to be normal married to a hybrid. When Isabel left… I have to say I missed the adventures she took me on. You don't miss that? He looked at her wide-eyed, hoping for an answer he could swallow and accept. "Sometimes," Tess said meekly. She hated to admit it, but it was true. Jesse smiled and made his was to the exit.
"Hey wait," she said softly. He turned around. "What's your name?"
"Jesse."
"I'll give you a call Jesse."
"It's a date then," he joked and left the store. Tess sat back on her red stool and awaited her next customer.
***
"Is that the house?" Rath asked. Lonnie scoped out the neatly kept lawn and glossy windows of the suburban house. "Yeah it looks about right. Hasn't changed much," Rath turned off the car and looked at Lonnie. "So what now?" he asked her.
"We go in and greet our old friends," she answered. "Sounds cool." Rath and Lonnie got out of the car and went to the front door. Should we knock?" Lonnie asked Rath. He answered her with a twisted smile and waved his had over the padlock, activating his telekinesis. The lock on the door clicked and he opened the door.
"Honey, I'm home," Rath joked. Lonnie smiled that usual evil smile. What was left of the Evans family came into the living room. A look of confusion, awe, and maybe even some happiness was plastered on their faces immediately. A jumble of fast moving words spewed out of Mrs. Evans mouth uncontrollably.
"Oh my God, Isabel- where's Max- Are you all okay- Is all of this chaos over
now-" Mrs. Evans was cut off and calmed down by her husband. "Isabel … Michael, you both look so different," he told the two. They both looked at each other with blank expressions on their faces. Mrs. Evans looked at the both of them with glistened eyes. Lonnie almost didn't want to tell her the truth.
"I'm not Isabel…" she looked at her counterparts parents." You might want to sit down," Rath told them.
***
The phone rang in Tess' apartment as she was heating an aluminum racquet of Jiffy Pop over a black stove. The kernels were nearly done so she set it aside and turned the burner off. She picked up the ringing phone and answered. "Hello?" she said. "Hi, is this Tess?"
"Yup."
"This is Jesse… we met the other-"
"Yeah I remember… it is not everyday you meet someone who knows your most treasured secret," Tess answered smartly. "Yeah, so I was thinking we could get together," Jesse suggested. Errrg! There he goes with that again. Just stop flirting around with me like that. Tess thought. "Look I told you I'm not into married men," Tess said with a grin on her side of the phone lines. She exhaled deeply and decided to agree before he could even get a word in edge wise. She didn't want to argue with him. She might as well just get this over with so they could both go their separate ways. "Fine, lets meet at the coffee shop on Clover Street," she told him. "Yes-I'll see you there," Jesse said excitedly.
***
Jesse was sitting at a small table by himself. Tess walked in the shop. Jesse was sipping a frothy drink and had a scone sitting on a small saucer next to him. "Hi," she said sitting next to him. "Hey, what's up?" Jesse greeted. "I'd ask you the same thing. What is it exactly that you want to know?" Tess asked wanting to get down to business. "You thirsty? Hungry?" Jesse asked in a "let's slow things down a little bit" tone.
"Yeah… sure. Miss?" Tess called to a young waitress across the room that was about the same age as her. She strolled over at a regular pace. "Can I help y-Tess? Is that you?" The waitress asked. Tess looked up at the girl and answered "Yeah…" feeling a bit confused. "Have we met before?" she asked in a small voice. "We were class mates at Roswell High. We didn't really talk to each other though-you know, being in different crowds and all," the waitress answered without even giving her name. "Oh, right," Tess answered, lost in her thoughts a bit. Was Tess a bitch to people in high school?
"You hung out with Kyle a lot and I had the cheerleaders. Anyway, how are things going for you?" the waitress asked. "Well, you know… I didn't go to college so I got a job at Target? I have my own apartment and money my foster dad left me," Tess answered. "Nothing special or fantastic going on with me," she continued. "Yeah I know what you mean. I'm stuck here living with my parents until I can make enough money to go to college…" the waitress seemed uneasy about the whole subject. "So what can I get you?" she asked Tess. "I'll have … uhhh… whatever he has, but make the scone blueberry," she answered pleasantly. "Sure thing. Be back in two shakes," the waitress answered and walked away to get Tess' order.
"Where should we start?" Tess asked Jesse. She had almost completely forgotten he was there in the midst of all the conversation with the mystery waitress. "Well for one, you can tell me who you really are. Are you a shape shifter or something, because from what I can tell, you aren't Tess. Especially after viewing that conversation," Jesse said. Isabel sure knows how to pick 'em. This guy is smart and handsome. Tess thought. What the hell is wrong with me? There is no way I just thought that. I mean sure he's cute, but he's married and so many other things. Oh, My God I am actually going over this in my head. Errrg! Okay Tess, calm yourself down. Stop! Get your mind out of the gutter, girl. She moved on to try to answer his inquiry the best she could.
"I'm just like Isabel. I'm a …" Tess had to stop herself because the mystery waitress had returned with her order. "Here you go, one blueberry scone and a medium soy latté. Enjoy." she told Tess setting the order in front of her. "Thanks," Tess replied with a wide smile. The waitress smiled back and said "It was good to see someone from Roswell High again. Take care okay."
"I will," Tess said. "You take care of yourself too."
The waitress smiled and disappeared into the crowd of new customers waiting to be …waited on.
"So where were we?" Tess asked taking a sip of her latté. "You were saying something about being just like Isabel or something like that," Jesse said. "Oh right. I'm a hybrid just like her. I thought you knew that," she said trying to play it cool again. "Stop lying. I know your not Tess. Tess is dead. She's been dead for nearly a year," Jesse finally came straight out and said what was burning on his mind. "I dunno what you're talking about," Tess said coolly. She girlishly nibbled at her scone, playing innocent with Jesse. "No seriously, you don't have to lie. I was there the night she died… the night she gave herself in," Jesse explained. He wanted to make this person feel comfortable. Jesse had to admit, he missed the alien scene.
Why can't this guy just back off? Tess thought. "So are you a shape shifter?" Jesse pressed Tess again. Tess cutely rolled her eyes and grinned. "No… if you really wanna know the truth, fine I'll tell you. I'm a duplicate. I'm not Tess. My name is Ava. I was made as a backup to Tess," she admitted. She looked at Jesse expecting him to have some sort of shocked expression on his face. "Hmmm… I forgot about that. Isabel mentioned that to me before," Jesse said with a smirk on his face. "You really are married to Isabel," Ava commented on Jesse's knowledge and lack of surprise.
***
"So where is the duplicate of Max if you all have one?" Mrs. Evans asked after being filled in on what the two really were. Rath and Lonnie were surprised at the parents'…lack of surprise. How much had Max and Isabel told their parents, because it seemed like they could have known everything.
"I'm gonna tell you the truth, cuz you seem like a nice lady Mrs. Evans. Zan died two years ago in a car accident," Lonnie explained. Mrs. Evans didn't seem too surprised by that either. She seemed more disappointed, if anything else. "Well you two can stay here as long as you need to," Mr. Evans said to the two nineteen year olds, trying to change the subject. They stared back at them in their grungy clothes and ratty hair. "Why thank you Mr. Evans," Rath said mockingly, as if he were trying to make fun of Michaels conceived all American image. He found it easy to make fun of the Roswell Royal 4's constant cheeriness.
In the moments following, there was a lot of silence between the two pairs. Mrs. Evans couldn't help but stare at Lonnie. Lonnie caught her gaze and reacted. "I remind you of Isabel, huh?" Lonnie asked. She smiled her evil and almost smutty smile at her counter parts parents. She waved her right hand in front of her own face and a new image was in the place of Lonnie's. A girl with the same face, but long flowing blonde hair and bright healthier looking skin replaced the sun-deprived piece of paste that had just been there. Her lips sparkled with an obvious truckload of lip-gloss on them.
Lonnie's brown eyes gleamed peacefully with a child like innocence that only the dorky residents of Roswell maintained. "Isabel?" Mrs. Evans gasped for air staring at a 1999 version of her daughter. She quickly snapped out of her trance, realizing that Lonnie was only using her powers to reconstruct her molecular structure. She composed herself and wiped the tears that had formed in her eyes.
"Must bring back memories," Lonnie waved her hand and her appearance rewound back to its original form. "So I guess it's out of the question to stay here. If they're looking for Max and Isabel," Rath assumed referring to the government. The four of them just sat there and looked at each other. "That's the answer to the question I guess," Lonnie said. "We're just passing through town. You know…we've been having some trouble with the government ourselves. We were just wondering if you had seen Ava around here?" Lonnie got to her feet.
"Ava? I'm not sure what you're talking about," Mr. Evans replied. "What was that other girls name, the blonde one who was hot for Max?" Lonnie asked Rath. "I dunno," Rath shrugged. "Oh, you mean Tess," Mrs. Evans said. "Yeah, we're looking for her copy. Her name is Ava. She had pink and black hair last time I saw her," Rath explained.
Why exactly do Rath and Lonnie want this girl? Mrs. Evans asked herself.
***
"So was Zan your boyfriend?" Jesse asked Ava. "Not exactly. We just used each other for sex," Ava replied casually taking a sip of her soy latté. Jesse couldn't help but blush when he thought of the amazing alien sex he would have with Isabel. "I see," he responded to her. They could both sense each other grinning even though they weren't making eye contact with each other. They were both looking down at their pastries.
"You still wear your ring?" Ava asked curiously. "Yeah, Jesse paused to look at his wedding band. "I haven't really had the heart to take it off."
Ava felt weird about all of this. She did, however, long for someone to connect with about her alien past. "Oh," Ava said. How can I be thinking of this guy when he still loves his wife? Ava asked herself. "You're a good man you know. Isabel was lucky to find someone like you," Ava said uncontrollably, not even knowing why.
For some reason Ava felt she had to look behind her at the people passing her by in the store window. She found that there were two all too familiar faces entering the coffee shop. "No way," Ava said under her breath. She became uneasy and all of a sudden realized what this was. "You!" she said angrily to Jesse. She knew all of this was too weird. It was all a trap. "What?" Jesse looked at her with an extreme look of confusion. Ava looked into his eyes and somehow realized that it was quite possible that Jesse was telling the truth. Ava's guard was still up, but she somehow felt this man was innocent in all of this.
The two lanky street junkies approached Ava and Jesse's table. "Ava, Ava, Ava," Lonnie said shaking her head playfully. "Honestly, we leave you here for a couple of years and we find you hookin' up with a pathetic human," she continued. "No-I'm not with him. He's married to Isabel," Ava said nervously. "I have to go Jesse. It was nice talking to you," Ava said gathering her things and leaving money for her order on the table. She stopped when she realized Jesse hadn't answered and was staring blankly at Lonnie.
"Jeez, not again. I'm not Isabel!" Lonnie seemed angry at the idea of someone not being able to see the difference between her and Isabel. "But if you want we could arrange something naughty… if the right offer came along," Lonnie joked and swiped her hand in front of her face and again altered her appearance to resemble Isabel. Ava freaked out and firmly grabbed her arm. "Leave him alone," Ava said assertively. She wasn't afraid of Rath and Lonnie anymore. Believe me, you two don't wanna mess with me. Two years has done a lot to my powers. Ava thought, almost wanting them to start a fight so she could try out her stronger abilities. "You can't just use your powers like that around here. This is Roswell. You have to be low profile," Ava said in a low tone. "Hey! Who died and made you Queen?!?" Rath said, moving closer to her implying to ease off Lonnie. "Zan did, incase you forget," Ava snapped smartly. Lonnie and Rath didn't have any smart-ass quips to come back with for that one.
"Let's leave, now," Ava said calmly. "This isn't the time or the place to be dealing with any of this." Lonnie and Rath gave each other a look and silently agreed to do as Ava wished. "Whatever," Lonnie said removing her arm from Ava's grip. "She rolled her eyes cutely. Like she can really take me. Lonnie scoffed silently. Lonnie and Rath advanced to the exit as Ava began to gather her cell phone and purse. She looked at Jesse not knowing what to do. He was close to tears after seeing Lonnie. "Jesse?" Ava asked him feeling small and lost in his pool of hurt and suffering. "Are you going to be okay?"
"I knew she had a clone, but I didn't know it would feel like this. I wasn't expecting to ever see her," he answered. Ava stood still, looking at the door where Lonnie and Rath were waiting for her. She didn't want to leave them there unsupervised and she didn't want to leave Jesse alone right now. "Jesse…" she didn't know what to say. "I have to go, you know, alien stuff," she smiled at him. He smiled back trying to shake off the feeling of what had just happened. "We'll talk later, okay? I just really have to take care of this," she said. "Okay," Jesse said. Ava looked him over one last time to see if he was okay and for personal reasons. When she convinced herself it was all right to leave him, she joined Lonnie and Rath at the exit and left.
***
"So what do you two want?" Ava asked, not really in the mood to talk to these two festering sores from her past. Lonnie, Rath, and Ava were all walking down by a strip mall. Ava was keeping her self occupied by looking in the clothing store windows, wondering what clothes would look good on her. "Nothin', Ava. Can't we just come to see our deer friend if we want. I mean it's been two long years since we last saw each other," Lonnie said. Ava rolled her eyes, already becoming impatient. She just wanted to get these two out of her life as fast as possible and never see them for the rest of her life. "Cut the crap, Lonnie. We were never really friends. The only reason why you kept me around was because Zan would have been mad at you," Ava said sharply. All of those bad memories from New York were flooding back into her mind. She didn't want it all to take over her life again. All she wanted to do was to have a normal life. All Ava needed to do was pretend to be Tess Hading, but it seemed like that wouldn't be possible anymore.
"So what's stopping me from killing you right now?!?" Lonnie was becoming a little fed up with Ava's attitude. "I dunno, you tell me. There must be something you need from me. What is it? You need my help to steal something or kill someone? What?" Ava asked. Ava had to admit that she was enjoying this feeling of being able to stand up to Lonnie without having to worry about being killed or being alone. She felt empowered to kick some ass if the opportunity came up. "Ladies, ladies," Rath tried to soothe the boiling situation. "Listen Ava, we need your help. There are government agents after us from New York and we need you to help us fight them off."
"What?! What are you proposing I do?" Ava looked at the two quizzically, knowing she wouldn't like the answer she got. They all stopped walking when she asked that. "Come with us, Ava. We're stronger together," said Lonnie. "She seemed sincere. Ava was developing some kind of detector for that lately. She could tell that Jesse was being sincere back in the cafe and now Lonnie and Rath were reaching out to her. Is this the same thing? Ava thought to herself. She was considering Lonnie and Rath's skills in deception. She used to be apart of their little games, but now she wasn't able to tell the difference between the truth and their illusions.
"I can't go with you. I have a life here. I have friends now. I have a job that is decent and an apartment I feel cozy in. I can't throw all of that away. I don't want to be a nomad anymore. You have to understand that I just want to leave all of that behind now. I can't deal with it anymore," Ava explained to the two. "The two seemed disappointed at her answer. This all has to be a trick. How can I possibly trust these two?
"I don't think you understand, Ava. These people, whoever they are, wanna kill us," Rath pleaded. "We need your help in fighting them. We can't do it alone," Lonnie added. They both seemed to be gaining up on her now. They were trying to get inside her head and make her feel sorry for them. She almost did…almost.
"No. You guys are gonna have to leave me out of this. You two are on your own," Ava walked away from Lonnie and Rath at a comfortable pace as her haughtiness clogged the air around her. Ava was done with all of this. Lonnie and Rath watched her walk away, their last hope slipping through their fingers. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Lonnie whined. She didn't want to be killed or put in the white room. Without Ava all Lonnie and Rath could do is run. "If we die she dies with us," Rath declared, pulling Lonnie close to him.
"C'mon, let's get out of here," Rath continued. The two turned around and strolled in a new direction not knowing where to go or what to do. Rath held Lonnie close, her head buried in his chest. He had never seen or heard Lonnie cry before. There's a first time for everything, I guess, Rath thought, not exactly knowing how to supply comfort to Lonnie. Emotions were new to the pair and they weren't too sure of how to deal with them. Rath knew one thing though. It all had to be coming to an end for them, because hell would have to freeze over to get Lonnie to cry. Rath felt like a child again. There was no one to protect him and no one to look to for compassion. What a way to go. At least we'll be together when we go, Rath thought looking down at Lonnie as he started to notice people looking at the two out-of-towners. The Roswellians couldn't help but analyze the scruffy young lady weeping in the embrace of the only piece of life she knew other than her own. They were both scared to leave this world and they were no longer too alien to express that they were feeling that.
***
When Ava got to her apartment all she wanted to do was relax. Before Jesse had called, she was queued up for a night of rented movies and Jiffy Pop. She wasn't so sure she was in the mood for that right now. She went to her answering machine and hit a blue button and it played back two messages. "Tess, what's up? We have to do something tonight. Come out with me. I'm going to club Slippery. Call me if you get back before ten," a young girl with a raspy voice vibrated on her answering machine. "Not really in the mood to party tonight, Sandy," Ava said to herself, while she hit the blue button again to play the second message. There was a message playing, but there was only blankness. Then she heard a phone click and a stream of dial tone flowed from her machine. "Okay then," Ava said as she scanned the caller id for the silent cowards number. "Uh-huh," Ava said when she came to the number and name of the caller. "Jesse Ramirez, I must have left some impression on you," Ava conceded.
She contemplated weather or not she should call him. "Why the hell not," she came to the decision to go ahead and do it. She dialed his number and after two rings Jesse picked up. "Hello," he answered. "Hi, you called?" Ava mused, not exactly posing her line as a question. "Uh… yeah, I don't like talking to machines," Jesse admitted, feeling nervous on the other end. Even a phone call with this hottie made him nervous. Jesse couldn't even figure out how he managed to get through their little get together at the coffee shop.
"I was just calling to see if everything was alright with the whole alien situation you had going on back there," Ava blushed at the sound of Jesse's thoughtfulness. "I'm good. It was nothing I couldn't walk away from." Literally. "What about you," Ava returned the thoughtfulness. "Are you okay? You seemed pretty shaken up when you saw Lonnie."
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. It just caught me by surprise," Jesse explained. Ava found that understandable. She could recall feeling the same way when she met Max two years ago. Avan though she never really loved Zan, he was the closest thing she had to a boyfriend. Zan was someone who could protect her and take care of her, and that was as good as love to Ava. "I know you feel weird about all of this and I don't want you to get involved. I've dealt with Lonnie and Rath and I want to keep it that way if it comes up again in the future, alright?" Ava asked casually, careful not to offend or damage Jesse's feelings. "I'll try my best, but you know it's not always that easy," Jesse replied. Ava laughed at the truth that comment had. "You've got that right."
"So what are you up to tonight?" Jesse asked completely changing the subject. That caught Ava off guard. Why is he asking me that? "Nothing, I rented a couple of movies," Ava answered reluctantly. "Nice choice. You really are trying to be human aren't you?" Jesse laughed softly. "You betcha'", Ava replied with a grin on her face. There was silence for about 30 seconds. What the hell. I'm gonna be the ballsy chick for a change. Ava wanted to make a move, but was a little unsure of the repercussions.
"Do you wanna come over and watch them with me?" Ava asked innocently. This was different for Ava. She had never gone to high school so she never really had a boyfriend. There was always Zan. Good old cold robotic Zan. Ava couldn't believe that Zan was the only experience she'd had. "Uhhhh… sure. Are you sure about your house cuz' my house is fine too," Jesse said. I should probably get out of this apartment for a couple of hours. Being cooped up here on a Saturday night sucks sometimes. "Your house would be good." Ava said. "Sounds great," Jesse responded happily. Ava wrote down the address and said "goodbye" to Jesse. So, I'm really going to do this. Ava thought to herself with a cheesy smile plastered on her face. She was nervous, but she wanted to hang out with Jesse. It was just hanging out, right? Could this be a date for the two? Ava didn't want to think about that right now. She just wanted to go to Jesse's place and enjoy a couple of cozy movies.
***
Knock, Knock, Knock.
Ava attempted some last minute primps before she ventured into Jesse's apartment. She teased her curly blonde hair and rearranged the twins that hid under her lacy black bra. Why am I wearing black underwear? I guess I wasn't paying too close attention to 10 Things I Hate About You. I must want something other than watching a movie. Okay Ava, it's okay. You're only here to watch movies and snack on some popcorn-that's all! Get in-get out-and go home!
In the midst of all her thinking, Ava realized Jesse was taking an awful long time to answer the door. Ava couldn't help but worry a little bit. She also couldn't help but wonder if Jesse was doing a little last minute primping of his own. Ava shrugged it off and rang the doorbell instead this time. She waited for about a minute and looked at her watch. She was on time. So where was Jesse? Maybe an emergency came up. Ava contemplated and confabulated a bit. She turned around and started to pace back to her car, but half way there someone quickly stepped in front of her.
"You lookin' for your boyfriend Jesse?" a tough New York accent hummed through Ava's ears. She looked up at a tall and lanky looking Lonnie that stood before her. No. Please don't let this be what I think this is. "Yeah I was supposed to meet him here to watch some movies," Ava tried not to lose her cool. "How sweet. What you got there?" Lonnie snatched the plastic bag of movies and had a peek to satisfy her rude curiosity. "Crazy/Beautiful and Save The Last Dance? Wow, somebody's dreamin' of an interracial love-fest tonight!" Lonnie scoffed. Ava blushed, snatched the two tapes back, and stared Lonnie down for about 30 seconds as she thought of her implication. Maybe I do want Jesse. That would explain how I've been acting lately and why I chose these movies. "What do you want Lonnie?!?" Ava demanded. "You know what I want, your help. The Special Unit is back and they're not gonna stop until they put us in the White Room," Lonnie said seriously.
"No, they are going to throw you in the White Room. I have nothing to do with this. If you and Rath had just kept a low profile, none of this would be happening. I'm not going to let you drag me into this." Ava stepped to her right and moved passed Lonnie to her small red Mazda. "What if I told you Rath has Jesse?" Lonnie said slowly and softly, almost as if she didn't want to resort to what she had just said. Ava turned around and stared at Lonnie again. This was exactly what she was afraid of. Jesse was now a hostage to Ava's worst enemies. "Give him to me now and I wont have to hurt you," Ava said sternly, trying to add a tinge of bluff to her statement. She wasn't sure if she could take Lonnie anymore. Ava's thoughts were so flustered now and she didn't know if she would be able to concentrate. "Ava let's cut da crap here. There are two of us and only one of you. Who do you really think is gonna win?" Lonnie said still completely serious.
"Fine, I'll do whatever you want me to do just bring me to Jesse," Ava demanded thoughtlessly. She didn't even think about that response before it flew out of her mouth. "Fine with me," Lonnie surrendered. The two slipped into Ava's Mazda and Lonnie dictated directions to Jesse. I can't believe all of this. Lonnie is in my car, showing me where to go to save Jesse. I should have never met him at that coffee shop. Now the Special Unit is probably going to hunt me down too…my life is over because I was stupid and fell for a stupid guy.
***
"Where exactly are we going Lonnie?" Ava asked. She was unusually calm considering Jesse was in possible grave danger. She had to keep telling herself that Rath wouldn't hurt him as long as she cooperated. Ava did not even want to think about the reverberation that would occur after Jesse was freed. Would Ava be alive tomorrow? Would she be alive in a couple of hours? She wasn't exactly sure of all the details, but she knew the Special Unit was bad news. All of this was so ridiculous. Ava was walking into this situation with a minimal amount of knowledge and preparation. She would just have to take everything as it came.
"We found the Granolith. The Special Unit led us right to it. That's where Rath is holding your little boy toy." Ava was happy she got a straight answer from Lonnie. She was tired of being kept in the dark. "Maybe we could fix it and go home," Lonnie continued. She was watching the scenery go by through the window. "We could stop running away from people who hate us. We could have a life to live up there without fear." Ava only grinned and found she was starting to giggle at Lonnie's statement. "Do you really think we would be happy up there? You must be crazy Lonnie. There's a revolution up there. That's why we were sent here." Ava couldn't even believe that Lonnie was saying something like this. Why do I care where Lonnie wants to go? If she wants to go back to Antar, why should I stop her? She's just getting in my hair now anyway.
"More power to you though, Lonnie. If you wanna go back to fight the good fight go right ahead," Ava said hoping that would cancel out her last statement that could have possibly persuaded Lonnie to stay on Earth. "Thanks. That means a lot to me, Ava." Lonnie said. To Ava's surprise, she was serious. Lonnie had never thanked Ava for anything. Lonnie really has changed. Ava didn't know how to respond to Lonnie's gratitude so she didn't.
"So what's the deal here, Lonnie? What do you want me to do?" Ava changed the subject. "I need you with Rath and me just incase the Special Unit decides to mess with us. They've been fixing the Granolith to try n' go to Antar on their own. Me and Rath are going to put a stop to that. We need help though. We're stronger together," Lonnie explained. "The Special Unit is trying to kill you?" Ava asked. "They've always wanted to kill us," Lonnie replied. "I thought they wanted to capture us and study us." Ava glanced at Lonnie who was still staring out of the passenger window.
"Yeah well people change I guess." Lonnie kept her gaze on the moving scenery outside of the car as she answered. "I guess so," Ava said, thinking of Lonnie and Rath's new leaf. "Pull up here." Lonnie pointed to a dirt trail and Ava turned onto it. "Keep going until you see a real huge rock looking thing. You can't miss it." Ava kept driving for about a minute and a half and came to the beautiful formation that seemed to be reaching for the sky. Something Lonnie and Rath were obviously reaching for as well.
Ava pulled up to the Granolith and the two female hybrids stepped out of the compact car.
"Follow me," Lonnie told Ava. She did and the two made their way up the rocky spike in the ground. They hiked up a dirt trail and found themselves in front of a formation of boulders. "Here we are. It's exciting isn't it?" Lonnie joked. It was excited to Ava. This place was the key to everything Ava wanted to see two years ago back in New York. It almost didn't matter to her now, but she was still a little curious. "Maybe just a little," Ava said through a moderately sized smirk. "Here we go then." Lonnie waved her hand in front of a piece of wall and a silver handprint emerged in front of them. Lonnie pressed her hand up against the print and a thicket of boulders in front of them slowly crawled behind another thicket of orangey brown boulders.
Ava and Lonnie slowly went into the cave that gave off a natural blue-purple light. Everything in the cave looked so exotic and foreign, but it all somehow seemed a little familiar. "This is where it all began for us, huh?" Ava didn't exactly direct her question at Lonnie. She rather said it as a reflection of the amazement she was feeling right now. "Not exactly," Lonnie started, matter-of-factly. "We were grown somewhere else. This is where those Roswell squares were made, but I guess it kinda did all start here. Just not for us," Lonnie finished.
"We haven't found Area 51 yet." Ava turned around to see who said that. It was Rath. He and Jesse were standing at the cave entrance together. Jesse looked unharmed in comfortable blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Ava smiled at Rath's comment once she gave Jesse a look over and realized he was okay. "You guys know how to work the Granolith to get home?" Ava asked Rath and Lonnie?
"I'm afraid your Granolith doesn't work little missy." Again, another voice came form the direction of the entrance. A tall blonde haired man dressed in all black FBI-looking gear stepped into the cave. "Agent Bronson at your service. Pleased to meet you, Ava." Ava was completely confused about everything all of a sudden. "What's going on?" Ava asked sheepishly. She turned around and looked at Lonnie. "I'm sorry Ava. This is the only way," Lonnie said. Even though she was expressing her words painfully, Ava didn't care. She knew what all of this meant. This was all a trap. She turned to look at Rath again as well. He just looked away. She looked at Jesse as well. Her heart lifted when she saw a sincere expression of fear and confusion on his soft face. She wasn't alone in all this.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to come with us. These two have promised you to us for experimentation," Agent Bronson pointed to Rath and Lonnie. "What?!" Jesse questioned in an outraged voice. "You already had Tess to experiment on. Why do you need Ava?" Jesse followed up. "We needed Tess alive. We managed to stop her, but there wasn't much left of her body after that cute explosion she caused," the Agent smiled devilishly. "We prefer not to work with bits and pieces, if you know what I mean."
"I'm not going in that White Room of yours," Ava asserted. "I'm not going to be your little experiment." Ava had to think fast. If she was going to walk away from all of this alive, she was going to have to be smart about all of it. She was hoping that she would never have to use her two years of training for something like this, but she was glad she had worked so hard developing her gifts.
Ava dove into herself calling up strength to deceive Lonnie, Rath, and Agent Bronson. She breathed deep and hard and scrunched the space between her eyebrows as she summoned power. Reality and illusion flickered in and out of her vision as she penetrated the minds of the three and planted streams of deception in their minds. It was done. Now all Ava had to worry about was sustaining the mind-warp, but that wouldn't be so hard.
"Where did they go?!?!" Agent Bronson screamed at Lonnie and Rath. The two hybrids were just as confused as him. In an instant Jesse and Ava had disappeared from the three's sight. "She's mind-warping us!" Lonnie answered. The three didn't know what to do. Agent Bronson considered shooting randomly around the cave in hopes to shoot Jesse or Ava, but he couldn't take that chance. Bronson needed them alive. Or at least he needed Ava alive.
"You can't hold the mind-warp forever Ava! We'll find you when you get weak!" Lonnie screamed into the emptiness of the cave. Lonnie didn't want to let her last hope for survival to slip through her fingers. Lonnie decided to feel her way around the cave in hopes of bumping into Ava or Jesse. Rath did the same as Agent Bronson stood and watched the two make fools of themselves. "Pathetic," Bronson mumbled to himself. He took out a walkie-talkie from his back pocket, radioing for the men outside to be alert. "You wont get far, Ava. There are 45 men out there waiting to intercept you."
I dunno if I can handle 45 men. I've been practicing, but I'm not that strong. Ava thought to herself. Ava could still see Jesse. He made sure to stand still for lack of knowledge of what to do in this situation. He could see Ava signaling for them both to make their way towards the opening in the cave. Jesse nodded in acceptance of the unknown plan and slowly strolled in the direction of freedom along with Ava, being very careful not to bump into Lonnie or Rath and not to make any noise.
Once the two got outside it only took one FBI agent to notice Ava and Jesse had exited the cave. Soon the whole group of 45 knew they were out and now they weren't too sure on what to do. Ava and Jesse just looked at the group with the same expression of confusion and unclearness of what was about to occur. The agents obviously had orders not to shoot Ava. So how exactly were they going to contain them?
Ava could hear a crackly voice echoing from the inside of the cave that must have been coming from Bronson's walkie-talkie. "Agent Bronson! We have Ava in our sights how do you want us to contain them?" Ava couldn't tell which one of the Agents was radioing in to Bronson, she and Jesse had to be about 40 yards away from the group from their position on the walk/entrance way of the Granolith. It would only be a matter of seconds before Bronson answered the calls of the confused Agent and stepped out to the pathway himself to help in the bringing down of Ava.
Ava didn't want to be so close to Bronson at this moment so she made the decision to make a run with Jesse into the thicket of FBI agents. I dunno why I have the idea that we are going to be safer over there. Before Ava grabbed Jesse's hand, she heard Bronson reply to the crackly voiced man with "Use the magnesium bombs and distortion grenades." Uh Oh. "Jesse we have to make a run for it," Ava told her partner in crime. "What are you crazy do you know what magnesium bombs are?" Jesse whispered to Ava, still unsure if he should use a normal tone of voice considering Agent Bronson was still close. Did it matter anymore? They were as good as caught. "I didn't really pay attention in high school chem., those few times I did manage to drag myself to class," Ava replied with a whisper. "It's not good," Jesse explained. "I don't even wanna think of what kind of distortion grenades they have."
There was no choice. Ava knew they couldn't just stand there waiting for Bronson, Lonnie, and Rath. The only way to Ava's car was through the profusion of FBI agents. Not that Ava thought they would make it to her car, but it seemed good to have some kind of goal. Ava knew that what it really came down to was that she needed to fight off these people. Right here, right now. It wasn't exactly going to end here, but the fight had to start somewhere. "Jesse we are going to have to do this. We can make a run for my car…just stay close to me, okay?" Ava asked to see if Jesse was comfortable with all of this. "Sure, why not?" Jesse humorously answered.
The two grabbed hands and glided down the path to her car. In a matter of seconds, Jesse and Ava were met by armed agents. Ava could feel excitement and energy building up inside her. This was the moment. The moment where it all came out and ruptured into something powerful. There was a stand off when Ava met the group of men. One Agent held his hands up and tried to talk before all the things physical needed to occur. "We don't want to hurt you Ava, we just need you to come with us. This doesn't have to be difficult." The agent looked into Ava's eyes and continued to negotiate. "What'd ya say Ava? Are we going to do this the hard way or the easy way?"
Ava cutely rolled her eyes and giggled a bit before responding. "What do you think?" Ava lifted her arm and made the palm of her hand visible to everyone in front of her. She aimed it forward at the talkative agent and her telekinetic power surged invisibly in front of her, quickly propelling the agent out of her way. She did the same to about ten more agents before they had a chance to react. Jesse stood aside watching this incredible vessel of power work her magic.
"Ava!" Lonnie yelled from the Granolith pathway, Rath and Agent Bronson standing beside her. Ava looked back, as did Jesse. Ava must have lost concentration and broken the mind-warp when she started having it out with the men in front of her. Since Ava was distracted, the non-injured agents took this opportunity to take out their weapons. Jesse could hear the computerized activation of the distortion grenades. He turned back around to see the newly armed agents. Some stood clutching grenades and others had nightsticks in their grips, obviously ready to attack the two.
Ava found herself giving her attention to both Lonnie at the Granolith and the agents blocking her car. She didn't know what to do now. She could try to mind warp all of them, but she might end up passing out and being captured.
Lonnie stepped up to the plate and decided to take matters into her own hands. "I didn't want to do this Ava, but you left me no choice." Lonnie lifted her arm and telekinetically attacked Ava from the 40-yard distance between them. Ava was thrown backwards, right over the agents. They all moved out of the way and allowed her to fall with a powerful thud. Lonnie ran to meet Ava when she got to her feet. Soon she was standing right in front of her. "Cheap shot," Ava said, the expression on her face was solidly serious and unwavering. "Life is full of cheap shots-" Lonnie practically cut her words off with the action of an attempted sucker punch. Ava, however, wasn't being caught off guard twice and ducked before she was hit. While close to the ground Ava ineptly clipped Lonnie off her feet and recovered her stance.
Lonnie quickly rolled to her feet and gained her own stance. Ava could see that Agent Bronson was keeping his distance, as were the agents behind her. Smart boys. They all know better than to get in the way of female business. Ava could hear Agent Bronson on another agent's not too distant radio. "Let's see what this one can do?" Agent Bronson said referring to Ava. "Looks like we've got an audience" Lonnie joked, still trying to keep a serious tone. "Why don't you take off your top and give em' all a real show," Ava mused. "You know Ava, out of all the years I've known you, that is the first joke I have ever heard from you. Congratulations, your not an old BITCH after all," Lonnie quipped back. A stir of "Ohhhs" murmured among the group of FBI agents watching Ava from behind her. Ava didn't bother looking back at the immature men.
"That's the problem with you Lonnie. You never knew when to shut up and fight!" Ava lifted her arm and braced herself for the recoil of her telekinetic energy blast. Lonnie reacted quickly and lifted her lethal arm and palm to meet Ava with one of her own jolts of telekinesis. The power of telekinesis was in itself invisible, but when Lonnie and Ava's powers met in between the two of them there was a visible, but translucent ripple of energy showing up the air. Ava and Lonnie were now at a stand off. They were both streaming out huge amounts of telekinetic energy against each other. Ava could feel her stance weakening and she was being pushed backwards from the force of Lonnie's power. Maybe I should have trained a little harder. Ava thought as she felt her body loosing this battle.
Ava could see Lonnie through the ripple of see-through energy balling up in front of them. She seemed completely focused and comfortable. She looked like she could hold this up for a couple of days. "I was always smarter than you, Lonnie. That's one thing I'll always have over you," Ava mumbled to herself, her speech wavering from all the energy that was flowing around her, not to mention the energy she was emitting to battle Lonnie. Ava concentrated hard. She snapped her eyes shut, making sure she didn't loose control over her telekinesis. She needed enough time to do what she needed to do. Again, reality and images in Ava's mind flashed and flickered. Ava came up with an image in her mind that would absolutely distract Lonnie. Ava braced herself for entry into Lonnie's mind.
Lonnie's thoughts swam around in Ava's vision. She bypassed all of Lonnie's images, thoughts, and memories and planted the necessary image in her mind. Lonnie opened her eyes to see if the mind-warp had worked on Lonnie.
"You killed me Lonnie," A calm haunting voice whispered in Lonnie's right ear. She turned to her right to see her bloody and broken brother by her side. "Aaah!" Lonnie screamed uncontrollably. She lost her concentration and her flow of energy ceased. The energy that had built between Lonnie and Ava had ruptured and exploded, sending both Lonnie and Ava hurtling backward in opposite directions. Again, the FBI agents moved out of her way and let her thud to the ground. "Errg! I know you guys hate me and want to experiment on me and all, but could you catch a girl every once-in-while." The FBI agents just looked at each other as Jesse ran to Ava and knelt down beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Yeah, just had the wind knocked out of me."
"What's wrong with Lonnie? She's flippin' out over there" Jesse said half laughing at the scene of Lonnie looking as if she were about to loose her mind. "Yeah, she'll be fine. It's just a mind-warp." Ava rubbed her temples. Her head was throbbing from all the energy she was using to battle with Lonnie. "What exactly are you making her see?" Jesse stared in wonderment as Lonnie ran around in circles. "Stay away from me! Your dead! Leave me alone! Please!" Lonnie screamed. "Her dead brother has come back to pay her a visit." Ava looked up at Lonnie after she had completely come to. She had to admit the scene was somewhat funny to her. She tried to fight back a laugh, but couldn't, it slipped out uncontrollably.
The FBI agents behind and around Jesse and Ava were at a loss for what to do now. They patiently awaited orders from Agent Bronson for a few a seconds. They all stared at him, standing with Rath at the Granolith entrance way. Bronson reached for his walkie-talkie and Ava couldn't help but think Uh-ohh, round two. Again, Ava could hear Bronson on their radios. "Okay men, commence with her containment. The fun and games are over."
Ava and Jesse scurried to their feet. The FBI agents again moved in with their magnesium bombs and distortion grenades. "Headphones on men," one of the agents ordered. All 45 of the agents went into their trusty utility compartments and took out pairs of folded compact headphones. They slipped them over their ears before Ava even had a chance to react. What the hell are they doing? Ava was feeling out of the loop. What are they gonna need those for? The FBI agents soon answered Ava's questions and released the pins from the distortion grenades. They threw them all towards Ava and Jesse. "Run!" Jesse screamed. Ava tried to run towards her car, but the grenades went off before they could reach it. "Aaagh!" Ava squealed loudly. She could hear Jesse's loud tormented screams as well. The grenades were releasing an extremely high-pitched wave of sound that felt as if it was cutting through their minds and nearly breaking through their skin. They were brought to their knees immediately as Ava was feeling her mind-warp with Lonnie sever. She could see Lonnie in pain as well. She looked at Rath and Bronson at the Granolith entrance with headphones on. They seemed to be watching in amusement. She couldn't take it any more.
"That's enough!" Ava screamed. She daringly removed her hands from her ears and swiped the grenades away from her with her powers. They flew into the desert right before it seemed like Ava's mind was going to explode. Jesse and Ava were breathing hard, trying to recover from the ordeal. It took every bit of strength to not collapse and die just then. "Are you okay?" Ava asked Jesse. "Yeah I'm fine," Jesse's tone was breathy.
"Magnesium bombs, now!" Bronson commanded over the radio. Ava whipped her head around to see the agents getting ready to throw another set of weapons at them. Ava reacted quickly and used her mind to throw as many of the agents as far away from her and Jesse as possible. She hadn't noticed she missed a handful of agents. Before she could realize it, they were throwing the magnesium bombs at the two. The world turned bright for a period of time that seemed like forever. Jesse and Ava screamed as the bright light tormented them and again brought them to their knees.
"Ava! Do something!" Jesse begged. Ava's eyes were already closed and she was already working her way inside the minds of the few agents still fighting the good fight. By the time she made her way inside of them, she didn't know what image to plant inside of them. She chose a to plant an image of a UFO crash landing in their direction. The classic production played in the minds of the agents. Ava couldn't see the men because the bombs were still going off, but she could hear them screaming in fear and yelling things like "Retreat!" and "Run for your lives!" Ava could kind of make out the sound of Bronson's voice yelling at his men for being such cowards.
It took a while for the magnesium bombs to settle down, but when they did, Ava was ready to get into her car and drive as fast as she could away from the Granolith. "Jesse, get up. We have to go before something else happens." Ava helped Jesse up of the dry ground. "Is it over? Are they gone?" Jesse asked in a hoarse voice, that only meant Jesse was in a lot of pain. "For now, but I wanna hurry up and get out of here." Ava could barely see anything. The bombs left her completely disoriented, but she was dead set on the goal of reaching her car. She knew Bronson, Lonnie, and Rath were in the area so she mind-warped them to think Ava and Jesse were again nowhere in their sights.
Ava and Jesse's vision slowly came back, making it easier for the two to stumble to Ava's Mazda. "Ava! If you leave us, we'll hunt you down. We won't rest until we kill you!" Ava heard Rath scream. "You're one of us, Ava! You'll always be one of us. Nothing is gonna change that!" Lonnie added. Ava wasn't bothering to look back. She was nearly to where her car was parked. Jesse and Ava dragged each other along the short distance left to the compact car. "Damn it Ava, don't do this!" Lonnie wailed. Ava winced at the pain she heard in her old friends voice. "We're supposed to be family." Ava ignored that comment and used the mind-warp to erase her car from the vision of her three standing opponents. Ava and Jesse dragged themselves into the car.
Lonnie could hear the slamming of the car door and the starting of the engine. Ava thought about mind-warping that out of all of their minds, so none of them could stop Ava's getaway. However, she was too weak to do such a thing. She was totally drained of energy and power. Ava was surprised she was even able to sustain her current mind-warp. Before Ava could drive away, she decided it would be best to give this non-televised drama an ending it deserved. Ava mustered up all the spare strength she could to add one more thing to her mind-warp.
Lonnie, Rath, and Bronson were just standing around wallowing in their failed capture of Ava. "I want to tell you something Lonnie," an image of Ava emerged suddenly in front of Lonnie. Lonnie tried using her telekinesis on the image, but unfortunately, it was just an image of Ava. "That wont work on a mind-warp, Lonnie," the calm image of Ava spoke to Lonnie. "I just want you to know that we stopped being family when you and Rath killed Zan. You both threatened to kill me and you've tried repeatedly to ruin my life. You said the only reason why you didn't kill me was because you loved me…"
Lonnie's eyes were beginning to well up with tears. She knew Ava's speech was the conclusion of all of this. Lonnie wasn't about to care anymore. She didn't want to fight anymore. She just wanted to give it all up. Nothing in her life mattered anymore. There was nothing this planet had to offer her and there was no way of getting back to Antar. "You did all of this just so you could find away home. You stepped on anybody and everybody to get ahead and still you have no way home," Ava continued. Back in the car, Jesse watched Ava concentrate on her mind-warp. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but he awaited patiently until she was finished.
"What do you want from me? I'm sorry. Is that what you wanna hear?" Lonnie asked lifelessly. "I don't want anything from you. I just want you to know that I loved you guys once. I think there is apart of me that may still love you. I want you to know that I understand why you did all of this and I understand how desperate you both were." Ava finished. Lonnie nodded her head before she spoke this time. "You go and have your dream life Ava, Tess, or whatever you wanna be called now. You deserve to be happy. I can still give myself into Bronson." Ava didn't exactly know what to say or think when she heard that come out of Lonnie's mouth. There had never been a time where Lonnie had sacrificed anything for her. "If that's what you think you have to do, Lonnie, then I wont hold you back," Ava's voice became shaky. She was ready to leave now.
"Hey Ava?" Lonnie said softly before the mind warp of Ava disappeared. Ava paused to listen. "He's a good man for you. He'll probably treat you nice. Don't let him slip through your fingers." Ava winced at the thought of what Lonnie was saying. "I'm not interested in him," she tried to explain. "Yeah, right Ava. I know your type, and he's your type," Lonnie argued. "Don't worry. He likes you too. I can tell. No human can resist us Antarian women," Lonnie winked at the image of Ava.
Jesse was observing Ava's laughter back in the car and glanced out the window to see Lonnie speaking to nothing. Mind-warping is so confusing Jesse thought to himself with a smirk on his face. All of this was too interesting to him. There was so much legacy being written here at this moment. There was so much the residents of Roswell didn't know about and Jesse was damn glad to be one of the few people who knew what was going on with all this alien business.
"So your gonna let them through you in the White Room? Ava asked, but more so in a statement type format. "There's at least one time in every persons life where you know when it's time to do the right thing. This is my time." Lonnie managed to force a smile on her face when she realized that what she was doing was the right thing to do. Sure, it's not the best way to go, but it's the way I choose to fix this.
"Goodbye Lonnie."
"Goodbye Ava."
After the two said their goodbye's Ava allowed reality to flow back into Lonnie's mind once again. Lonnie was glad she could see the world for what it was now. She could see clearly now that Ava's mind-warp had shown her the way. The right way. It was time to begin the end. Lonnie stared at Ava and Jesse in the blue Mazda and watched them drive off along the dusty path in which they had come. Lonnie turned around to see Rath and Agent Bronson with pissed off expressions on their faces. They couldn't see Ava driving off, but Lonnie was sure they could hear the loud car roaring down the rocky road. She walked the short distance to where the two were standing began her explanation.
"You let her get away! Why?" Bronson was screaming at Lonnie. He grabbed her short dirty blonde hair and she released a painful yelp as he shook her back and forth by the hunk of hair he had clutched in his hand. The scene looked odd to Rath. He had never seen Lonnie be ruffed up like that before. It all looked new and strange to him as he stood aside like a five year old watching an abusive father knock around his sister. A very tall sister. Lonnie had to be the same height as the towering Bronson, making the situation that much more difficult to comprehend.
"Stop it!" Lonnie screamed. Bronson got bored with the abuse he was forcing upon Lonnie's scalp and released her to the sand on the ground. She got up as she began to explain herself. "She was too strong for me…but it doesn't matter. I want to make a new deal-" Lonnie barely had the chance to finish what she was saying before Bronson slapped her across the face while she was wiping dirt off her baggy cargos. "Uuuhh!" Lonnie panted awkwardly. Lonnie looked pathetic to Rath at this moment. Messy black tears streamed down Lonnie's soft face as she trembled uncontrollably before she spoke.
"You, are in no position to make a deal with me! I make the deals here!" Bronson barked. "Just hear me out. Listen, I'll give you me to throw in the White Room as long as you promise to leave Ava alone. You don't need her. She's not a threat to you. She just wants to live a normal boring life here in Roswell. She was doing fine until you came here and messed everything up for her," Lonnie pleaded. "I want you to let Rath do whatever he wants as well," Lonnie finished.
"Sounds tempting…but I think I'll have to pass," Bronson replied. "If you need someone to hunt down you can keep going after those other Roswell dorks," Lonnie offered quickly. Bronson mulled that over a bit and when he didn't seem sold on the idea Rath stepped in. "I'll help you hunt them down."
Lonnie was shocked to see that Rath would volunteer for something like this. This was his one chance to be free and he was passing it up to spend God only knows how much time hunting other aliens. "Now that's a deal. Looks like I get both of you with that package," Bronson scoffed. Lonnie looked at Rath and knew that this was the way it was going to have to be. This would probably be the only way Bronson would be happy…for now at least. Lonnie nodded in Bronson's direction. "It's a done deal then," she said. "It's a done deal."
***
"So what movie did you bring?" Jesse asked, half joking. "You can't be serious" Ava giggled as she came to a red light close to Jesse's home. "The night is still young, it's only 1:00," Jesse joked. Ava looked at the time that was built into her dashboard. "Wow, I have to go to work tomorrow," Ava said with a yawn. "I'm calling in sick tomorrow," Jesse said, sounding beat after a night of dueling bomb wielding FBI agents. "What do you do?" Ava asked as the light turned green. She eased her foot down on the acceleration pedal and drove towards Jesse's street. "I'm a lawyer." Jessie smiled and looked at Ava. "And I already know you're a Target girl." Ava laughed softly when Jesse said that. "Yup, that's me."
"Maybe I will call in sick tomorrow. I don't think I've used any of my sick days," Ava said, looking pensive. "Maybe that's why I win employee of the month all the time," Ava turned to the somewhat familiar street that was Jesse's and started scanning for the right house. "You really shouldn't go in tomorrow. You've been through a lot tonight." Ava thought about that for a second. "Yeah, I guess."
She finally found Jesse's house and parked in the driveway. "You know…maybe we could watch the movie. You know, since we both aren't going to work tomorrow." Ava looked at Jesse as she turned off the car engine. "I wouldn't mind that. We never really did get to know each other. There's so much I wanna know about you," Jesse smiled. "Yeah, I think after all of this it would be good to get to know some stuff about each other and be friends," Ava said, while nodding. "But I want to get something straight…" Ava didn't exactly know how to put this, but what better way was there to say it than to just say it. "I don't want anything sexual to happen between us. I mean, I know we said we would watch the movie, but sometimes guys have these weird innuendos for things like movies. Like watching a movie means 'I wanna jump your bones' or something. Okay?" Ava looked at Jesse completely serious. "Got it." Jesse held up his hands in a surrendering motion. "Good."
The two got out of their car and walked towards Jesse's front door. As Jesse got out his keys to get inside, he asked "What movie did you get anyway?" Ava held up the DVD she had had in the Blockbuster bag and said the title. "Crazy/Beautiful," Ava smiled at the cheesiness and awkwardness of the movie she chose. Jesse laughed aloud. "Are you sure you're not the one with the innuendo's?" Jesse asked as he struggled to get the door open. His keys didn't seem to be functioning. Ava put her hand in front of the lock and activated her powers. Her hand glowed with a beautiful red light that looked almost nuclear. The lock clicked and Ava swung open the door with Jesse's keys stuck in the keyhole. "I'm sure, don't worry," Ava cat-walked slowly in front of Jessie and into his apartment. As she passed the door, she waved her hands in front of the keys and they magically unstuck themselves from the door. Jesse just smiled, picked up his keys from the floor and followed Ava into his living room, then closed the door.
***
"We've found something, Sir," a scraggly looking FBI agent told Agent Bronson. "What is it?" he asked the agent, not seeming to be the slightest bit interested in what he had to say. He was watching Lonnie being experimented on behind a one way viewing glass/mirror. "We may have located the aliens that escaped Roswell last May." Bronson's attention focused on the agent. "Go on."
"Liz Parker was spotted at a gas station rest stop in Montana. She was the only one who was spotted, but agents are saying she got into and old van that seemed to be holding around four or five other people," the agent explained. "This could be it," Rath said. He was standing next to Bronson, also observing Lonnie as a lab rat from behind the one-way window. "Looks like we're going to Montana," Rath stated. "Looks that way," Bronson added. Rath stood confidently next to Bronson as his new right hand man. "What if we can't take them?" Rath asked. "Then we'll just have to take Lonnie out of early retirement and hope her powers with yours will help." Bronson stared through the looking glass at the group of researchers in white body suits analyzing and experimenting on Lonnie. Wires and electrodes were coming out of her body in every direction. Lonnie was lying on an uncomfortable looking body board with a blank look on her face. Rath stared at his trapped friend, immersed deeply in his thoughts. I'm going to get you back Lonnie.